xix. Planning Ahead for the Future

There was silence between the two of them. Silence that Jaehyo sought to take advantage of. As Sungyeol remained shielded, hidden by the thick dark green leaves of the evergreen trees, Jaehyo decided he’d ask Sungyeol the question that had been plaguing him since early February. A question regarding the conversation the two had had behind closed doors, with not a single other werewolf ear listening in.

In actuality, they had conversations like that often. Conversations they hid from the rest of the group. Words they would never say to another soul but each other. There was a sense of security in it. In sharing secrets with someone who wasn’t close to them.  It was impersonal. It was impersonal on a level that made it feel less dangerous. That made it feel more comfortable. Because whatever Jaehyo told Sungyeol when they were alone together would remain between them. Because whatever Sungyeol told Jaehyo when they were alone together was usually never mentioned again.

Usually.

“Hey.” Jaehyo suddenly called, his voice carrying upwards into the trees. The two had decided to take a few minutes to rest; to stay in place and assess their situation. Jaehyo decided that now was as good a time as any to mention to Sungyeol what he had been thinking about for so long, “I’ve been wondering something.”

Sungyeol sunk down, opting to now sit upon the branch he was previously standing attentively on. He guessed that Jaehyo was going to bring it up sooner or later. He was surprised it had taken him this long to say anything about it. Still, he played ignorant, not exactly looking forward to the topic that Jaehyo was attempting to bring up, “What is it?”

Jaehyo crossed his arms against his chest, his eyebrows furrowing downwards, “Have you told anyone else yet?”

The answer to his question was immediate. “No.”

And honestly, Jaehyo had a feeling he hadn’t. If Sungyeol told anyone but Zico and Sunggyu, then Jaehyo would have heard it. He would have heard the backlash right after, even if he wasn’t even in the room when Sungyeol told the others. Even if he was miles away, he was sure he’d hear the heated conversation that would take place afterward. But, Sungyeol hadn’t even told Zico and Sunggyu, the two who would understand his decision the most. The two who would respect his decision the most. And that left another question hanging between them. A question Jaehyo was not intending to simply overlook, “Are you going to?”

Sungyeol titled his head back, letting his reddish brown hair mesh against the dark brown bark of the tree. His closed his eyes, a sigh escaping from between his light pink tinted lips. “I don’t know.” He didn’t know. Sungyeol didn’t know if he would ever tell anyone else about his decision. The decision he made back in February.

“You don’t know or you don’t want to?” Jaehyo shot right back at him as he looked up, his eyes narrowing as he searched for the tall werewolf above him. Above him somewhere, hidden from view, Sungyeol was hiding. Hiding himself from the consequences of what he had decided to do. Of the responsibility he had to take when he goes through with it.

“It’s complicated.” Sungyeol responded, only to be rebuffed once more by the quick witted Jaehyo.

“Isn’t everything?”

Silence hung between them again. Silence that echoed in it the sounds of blissful peace. To Sungyeol, it seemed as though even Nature agreed with his decision based off of the quiet stillness she now surrounded the two of them with. His decision to what?

Jaehyo revealed the answer to this question as he finally spoke up, breaking the silence, “When are you leaving?”

Sungyeol was leaving. Leaving where? Jaehyo already knew the answer to that question. Leaving why? He knew the answer to that as well. What Jaehyo didn’t know was when. When would Sungyeol be leaving?

Sungyeol looked down, the top of Jaehyo’s head visible through the leaves which shifted slightly as the breeze picked up. Nature was edging him on, agreeing with the answer that he would give, “Soon, I think. After we deal with the hunters here.”

“And, are you taking her with you?”

Sungyeol froze at that question. He no longer simply saw the top of Jaehyo’s head through the leaves, his saw his eyes. His fox like eyes that were staring up at him. Jaehyo had found him in his hiding place, he had spotted him among the green he camouflaged himself in. He had honed in on the one question that Sungyeol had had no answer for. The one question he hadn’t even thought about. It was enough to shake his resolve, to make his camouflage fail, the consequences of what leaving meant staring right at him, leaving him no place to hide anymore.

The question of, when he left, would he take you with him? Leaving meant being away from you. It meant leaving you. You, the odd girl who he once thought twice about as he road past you on his bike that day during the second day of school. And since then, he wasn’t the only one whose attention you caught. Even the person who now asked him such a question had been caught by you. Or so he thought.

Jaehyo shot down these thoughts of his with his next statement, “I’m not asking because I oppose the idea. I’m asking for the sake of everyone else.”

Sungyeol had thought he heard wrong. He had to question Jaehyo’s words, what he really meant. No, if he really meant what he just said. “Then, you don’t-”

He was cut off as Jaehyo interrupted him, “I don’t.”

Jaehyo had, at one point, felt for you what the others did. Before they all left for London, he was sure that he had. That he carried an infatuation for you. And the longer he spent away from you, the more he missed you. Yet, he wasn’t the only one. He witnessed how much the others missed you as well. Perhaps it was his loyalty to all of them that did it. That killed within him the feelings that had begun to take root.

Whatever it was, after seeing you again, seeing you for the first time again as Woohyun embraced you tightly and you simply stood there, letting him do it, Jaehyo wasn’t jealous. No, he actually found the whole situation to be hilarious. He just felt like cracking a smile and a laugh or two. He realized it then. He realized that what he was feeling was just attachment. Strong attachment, sure, but simple attachment nevertheless. He didn’t “like” you. He didn’t “love” you. He cared for you. Deeply. Strongly. But, not passionately.

And this is what drove his next statement about you, the walking billboard of emotions he found pleasure in reading every time he happened to catch sight of it, “But, if she goes with you and she gets hurt, you’ll get hurt two times over. Don’t count on me holding back a single bit.”

Sungyeol laughed, a flood of relief washing over him due to Jaehyo’s proclamation. Not only because it meant there was one less person who liked you, adding one to the already existing two that he knew for sure did not. He felt relieved because it meant that when he left, there would be someone else here for you. Here, Jaehyo would be watching over you without having his actions clouded by his emotions.

“If she goes with me?” Sungyeol stared off into the distance, a self-pitying smile adorning his face, “I highly doubt she will.”

Jaehyo scoffed, his fringe fluttering in the gentle breeze that passed once more as he shook his head in denial of Sungyeol’s statement. Nature it seemed, at this point in time, agreed with his words instead.

“You shouldn’t sell yourself so short.”

“So, you told her how you felt right?” Kyung asked as he chewed down, having brought with him a pack of gum. He did so because he knew the younger werewolf, the one he affectionately nicknamed Smile Boy, wouldn’t be in the mood to talk. And Kyung for one was not a fan of staying quiet for long periods of time. He needed something to do with his mouth, and bubble gum seemed to be the appropriate cure. It wasn’t enough however, as he soon found himself unable to hold back his voice any longer. He decided to be direct and choose a topic that he knew Sungjong would respond to. And, he was right. Sungjong did answer him, no matter how short his answer was.

“Yeah.” Sungjong continued to walk a few steps ahead of him as they trekked through the forest. Kyung wasn’t as fast as him, meaning he couldn’t exactly go running off whenever he wanted. Something he had to talk himself down from with every single second that passed by, the gnawing of Kyung’s teeth down onto the wad of gum in his mouth irritating him and pushing his patience with the carrot haired werewolf to all new highs.

Kyung, ever curious, didn’t let up just because he got a less than enthusiastic answer from Sungjong, “And, what did she do then?”

At that question, Sungjong couldn’t help the twitch of his lips upwards as he remembered the look on your face, “She flushed as red as a cherry.”

“And, how is she acting now?”

Sungjong stopped his stride, turning around to face Kyung. He was confused as to where all of these questions came from. He was also confused because Kyung had actually said three sentences to him and not a single one prompted from him an angry response. It was odd. It was far from normal. And, as a result of feeling slightly weirded out by Kyung’s expectant face as he raised his eyebrows, a sly smile on his face, Sungjong’s words came out hesitantly, “She accepts it, I think.”

Kyung pursed his lips, taking two large steps until he was standing in front of Sungjong before pivoting on his heel to face him, “You think?”

Despite the change in atmosphere from what he was used to when left alone with Kyung, which now that he thought about it, rarely, if ever, happened, Sungjong was spurred on by the topic of conversation, just as Kyung knew he would be, “I think she’s starting to accept everything now.” Sungjong suddenly remembered the scene he witnessed yesterday and his lips formed a tight frown, “Woohyun and her were talking yesterday and then there’s Zico and Myungsoo and Hoya and Sunggyu and it’s just unfair.”

Only after his words left his lips did he realize what he had just done. Unknowingly, he had spilled everything to Kyung. He had spilled to him his slight inferiority complex to those five in particular. Sungjong was expecting a snippy comeback, to have his statement thrown back at him alone with a snide comment. He wouldn’t even be surprised if it were used as blackmail against him at a later date. But, instead, he got back a relatively subdued response.

“Then, I guess they’re your main competition?”

Sungjong laughed just once, sarcastically, before he continued forward once more, moving past where Kyung stood in front of him, “As if they’re not yours too.”

Kyung slipped his hands into his pockets as he began following Sungjong once more, “They’re not.”

It was too casual. It was said without the slightest emphasis, as though it were a well known fact. As though it were something Sungjong should have known already. But, he didn’t. Even now, he needed a more in depth explanation for why those two words just left Kyung’s mouth. When he turned back, he found Kyung standing there, his normal self. Normal being a broad smile that held behind it teasing insinuations and large blinking eyes, complete ignorance being feigned by the, in Sungjong’s honest opinion, anything but cute used-to-be hunter.

Apparently, Kyung understood the look that Sungjong was throwing him as he promptly elaborated his statement, “Everyone just keeps on assuming things.” He threw his hands up into the air dramatically, “Have I ever said a word about liking Hyunjoo? Have I ever confessed “I love Song Hyunjoo” through every glance I send her way? Have I ever marked her? Have I ever held her in my arms as though I couldn’t be happier than I was while doing just that? Have I? The four of us are being unjustly accused. That’s what’s unfair.” An exasperated sigh escaped him because no matter how animatedly he spoke, no matter how exaggerated his words were, everything he was saying was true. “Taeil, P.O., Jaehyo, and I are innocent bystanders so I’d like it if you stopped with the jealous glares every time I happen to come within even a single meter of her because it’ll do you no good being jealous of me. You say you’re worried about Woohyun? You need to be more worried about the interaction you’re not seeing.”

Sungjong was left dumbstruck by the flood of words Kyung had just thrown at him. Kyung laughed at that. At Sungjong’s slack jaw and wide eyes. He approached the frozen statue that was the young werewolf and patted him on the shoulder, a smile on his face, “Arguing is what we do, so don’t take this as me proposing an armistice between us. Just know that at the end of the day, I’m rooting for you Smile Boy.”

He was here again, even though he knew you wouldn’t be. Even though he knew you no longer had a need to study in the morning. He was sitting here, his chin resting in his open palm, his elbow propped up onto the wooden table in this high ceiling building, Springfield’s town library.

His head was a pile of fluffed up, light gray feathers. His eyes a pitch black, like that of the night sky absent of stars. His lips a dark pink as he bit down onto his lower lip, wondering. Wondering how to approach the situation that was you next. Anticipating. Anticipating every word you would say and every response he would give. Ecstatic. He was ecstatic just thinking about Monday morning. Why?

Well, he wouldn’t spoil himself too much with the thought. He would simply wait for it. While he was waiting so expectantly though, he knew others would be less than enthusiastic about his wonder. About his anticipation. About his ecstatic thoughts of the future. He knew one of these people followed him here.

And this person pulled out the same seat you had sat in every morning while you studied and settled right down into it.

“That seat’s taken.” He spoke, his tone distant yet harsh, his words baring fangs that threatened to rip the person who had just sat down out of the seat they now occupied.

“You have no business reserving it for anyone.” The person answered back, his tone just as venomous as he refused to back down so easily.

“You have a point.” He conceded, knowing where the boundaries were drawn between him and the male in front of him. Between him and, “I can’t help but ask though. What business do you have with me, Enforcer? What was it again? Daeryong? No, Soryong, right?”

“You, Cha Hakyeon,” The male, Soryong, leaned forward, resting both of his elbows on the wooden table top, his voice reaching a dangerously low whisper, “should know more than anyone what my business with you would be. You’re not only here earlier than planned but you’re already making active contact. Daily contact. Don’t pretend you don’t know why I’ve come here to see you.”

He knew why the Enforce came. He came to stop him from taking it further, something he had no intention of doing. But, he didn’t counter the Enforcer’s assertion post haste as he usually would. Instead, he remained silent as he stared on at Soryong, sensing something in the Elite Enforcer’s words that went past duty. Past orders. He thought he was hearing things, seeing things that weren’t there. Things he had never seen in any of the Enforcers he had met in the past. So, he tested him. He tested him with his next statement, “I’m not rushing things with her. I know exactly how to handle it when it comes to exposing her to herself.”

And judging from the response he received at the mere mention of you, he was right with what he had seen in Soryong’s contorted features. From what he had heard in Soryong’s anxiety ridden voice.

“It may seem like she’s predictable, like you’re able to handle getting involved with her as easy as one, two, three, like you can read her like a book. But, she’s not so simply written.”

Soryong had passed Hakyeon’s test. Though, whether that was good or bad was something yet left undetermined. All in due time.

Cha Hakyeon leaned forward, matching Soryong’s serious gaze with his mischievous own. His wonder, his anticipation, and most of all his delight at what Monday would bring was all written there on his face, “Don’t you know? I’m counting on that unpredictability.”

Sungyeol heard a twig snap before it sliced his cheek on the way down. Down where? Down where he impacted against the snow littered ground, a body pinned beneath him as he slammed against the ground. A body belonging to a certain werewolf who wished that now of all times, he had his crossbow with him.

The owner of said body, B-bomb, quickly flipped over the taller werewolf, getting over his surprise at being tackled out of the tree he was surveying the area in just seconds before. He had to be quick about getting away from Sungyeol, his eyes having locked with another pair belonging to none other than Jaehyo as the two sailed downwards. He was outnumbered and taken out of the trees, out of his element, not at all a good way for him to start this brawl. And, just as he anticipated, Jaehyo didn’t wait to take advantage of B-bomb who was currently at a huge disadvantage. How so? Well, considering Jaehyo’s fist went colliding onto the ground where B-bomb just was in his scramble to get to his feet, Jaehyo’s opportunistic nature should have been more than evident.

Sungyeol’s swipe of his leg that sought to knock him off balance once more followed soon after, the two working together much better than he had thought they would. Then again, while they always argued with each other, they also always meshed well together. As though they shared the same train of thought, as though they knew what the other was thinking, they acted in tandem with each other. With each hit Sungyeol attempted to get in on him, Jaehyo was there, ready to follow it up with a punch or a roundhouse kick of his own.

B-bomb wanted to fight back.

He truly did.

But, that wasn’t what his team had planned.

He had to remain in the training exercise. He had to remain in the game. If he got out now, their plan would fall apart. That’s why he focused on defending himself as Sungyeol’s fist came sailing towards his face. A punch he dodged only to be pounded in the shoulder right after as Jaehyo weaved from behind Sungyeol’s tall frame and sent a kick that he didn’t have the ability to dodge his way.

B-bomb cursed beneath his breath that he didn’t have a choice at this point. He had to fight back. He could only take so many superhuman hits. He would apologize to Sunggyu later but staying “alive” was all that mattered right now. As he was a mere inch away from cutting the thin string that kept him anchored to his humanity, as he was a mere inch away from diverting from the plan the Blue team so meticulously thought up, he heard it.

He heard the sound of a powerhouse running towards him, feet crunching roughly down onto slightly wet ground. A powerhouse that came emerging from the tree line and tackled straight into Sungyeol, sending him crashing onto the ground. A powerhouse that went by the name of Hoya. 

Sungyeol groaned as he sat up on his elbows, the wind knocked out of him to the point where it took him a moment to gather his barings and assess exactly what made him feel as though a steel wall sought him out and slammed into him instead of the other way around. Jaehyo planted one of his feet back, taking a defensive position now beside Sungyeol as his mind worked quickly to come up with some kind of plan, any kind of plan, as to how he and Sungyeol where supposed to take on both B-bomb and Hoya. 

“Go ahead, I’ll settle this.” Hoya spoke, his words directed towards B-bomb who was more than grateful that Hoya had decided to show up at such a dire time. Though B-bomb couldn’t help but ask himself why the hell he didn’t show up earlier, asking such a question could be done at a later time. Not now. Not now when there were other things he should be attending to.

“I’ll see you later.” B-bomb pivoted on his heel, leaving Jaehyo with less anxiety as to how to deal with both of them though still leaving him with some nevertheless. Why? Because Hoya was stronger, much stronger, than B-bomb. B-bomb was a strategist, a one shot one kill kind of guy. And Hoya, Hoya was the type to well, send you down over and over until you stayed there. So, while Jaehyo no longer had to worry about taking on both the strategist and the powerhouse, he much rather the powerhouse leave than the strategist. Yet, that was how the fight whose outcome could not even begin to be hypothesized took a turn for the worst for the Red team.

And as B-bomb retreated into the forest, somewhere a quarter of a mile away, two members of the Red team were wishing they could do the same thing. Wishing they could flee from the fight they stumbled into. If only they actually had a chance of getting away. If only Kyung and Sungjong could actually run away from the pair of Taeil and Sunggyu.

“Screw it.” Kyung growled as he sprinted forward, his clothes ripping from his skin, tossed aside along with any care for the regret he was sure he would soon have.

“What else can I do then?” Sungjong followed after him, a blur as his pale skin turned into a layer of thick fur.

There was no running away from Sunggyu. And if there was no running away, then they could only fight to their fullest extent, not looking back, not taking the time to think about a single thing. Without thinking about a single consequence of what fighting head on would result it. Because, if they did, then in that single moment they would end up unconscious on the forest floor.

“Why can’t we just go after them now, again?” Sunhwa whined as she spun around on the couch, resting her legs on the backrest, her head of long orange hair dangling off of the edge of the couch. She was bored out of her mind. Her Saturday was free, wide open, yet not a single werewolf hunt was in sight. It was enough to make her theatrically question her purpose in life.

“They’re training.” The woman with long sand blonde hair, Zinger, answered her as she flipped another page of the magazine she was reading. “And Hyosung said that we won’t make a move until it’s over.”

“But,” Sunhwa drew out that single word as she kicked her legs, pounding the couch in frustration, “they’re right there! They’re just asking to be ambushed. They want to be mounted on the wall! Turned into a warm fur pair of boots. Sewn together into a cozy werewolf blanket.”

As Sunhwa continued to fantasize about the many uses of werewolf fur, Zinger let out a sigh and let her eyes scan over the pictures in the magazine she held between her light pink painted nails. Despite maintaining her calm and collected façade, deep down, she was looking forward to it as well. She was looking forward to what the future had in store for them when it came to the werewolf hunting department.

“I have to say I didn’t expect you two to be together.”

“Trust me, neither did we.” You answered him, his hair a newly dyed auburn color yet his wide smile of gleaming white teeth there all the same, even upon meeting him in this situation. This situation in which it was him against you and your “buddy,” Kim Myungsoo. This situation in which Dongwoo was the enemy. He was a member of the Blue team. Someone you shouldn’t be smiling back at so willingly at this moment. You couldn’t help it though. His smile was contagious. His laugh that came bubbling out of his throat right after was even more so.

“This is going to be interesting.”

“I’d have to agree with you.” Myungsoo answered, his hands leaving the pockets of his jacket as he was unable to resist the smiling virus and a rare grin of his own appeared like magic, like an illusion, on his face.

A/N:

I actually didn't like writing this chapter at first. Don't ask me why but the entire time I was dragging through it, dancing around a love hate relationship with it. But, after I finished and sat on it for a little while and actually read what I wrote, I thought, "Hey, this turned out much better than I thought it would. Much, much better than I thought it would." So much happened in this chapter that I am actually at a loss of what else to write here in my author's note. Let's see. 

Oh! I actually went back and read through a few chapters and my a/n at the end of each one and boy do I talk alot about eating. Like, alot. You'd think I don't get enough to eat in my daily life (I don't. Though that may just be because I'm a piggy. A chubby bunny.). Guess what? I'm craving a soda and some chips at 2 in the morning. Yep, I'm the chubbiest bunny around. 

Before I end this a/n, I want to mention that the theme that reoccured in this chapter was "The Future" and in a sense the "Running Out of Time." Things are happening slowly, happening soon but not right now. es are sprouting up left and right but not now, not in this chapter. Perhaps in next week's? Perhaps not? We'll see!

Baked Lays and Orange Soda at 2am. I regret nothing. 

Also, did you hear? Infinite is coming back! For those who haven't seen the teasers, you should watch them. Though, I advise you ready your fangirl feels before you do.

They are here, here, here, and here.