Hoya and Taeil.

Here they were, sitting in the living room of Zico’s home with you. Taeil hadn’t changed much, if at all. He hadn’t changed much physically anyway. He was still shorter than everyone else. He was still just as built as he was before, and before he was barely built at all. But, what had changed was his hair. His hair that was still colored black. Yet, it wasn’t cut into that bowl cut that he had somehow grown to like as his own trademark hairstyle. His fringe had grown longer.

And that made all the difference in the world.

Coupled with the fact that his large black rimmed glasses were no where to be found, allowing his dark black eyes to stand out, Taeil was undeniably living up to the attractive nature of what he was, a werewolf.

You would have been able to marvel in Taeil’s newfound appealing look if not for Hoya who was also in front of you at this moment.

Hoya.

Hoya who was as muscular as always. Hoya who was as kind looking as always. Yet, Hoya whose eyes looked at your differently. You felt unsettled by it. You felt unsettled by the deep look in his eyes. The one that you were sure would make any girl hot under her collar. Thankfully, you weren’t wearing one today but you could still feel your skin starting to heat up just by having him simply look at you from across the coffee table as he sat in B-bomb’s favorite lounge chair, his hands together as his elbows rested on his knees.

You hadn’t even noticed that someone else was looking at you now. Someone who was siting next to you on the couch. A certain someone whom you had just met moments ago. You hadn’t noticed until Hoya himself pointed it out.

“Stop staring at her. It’s not like she’s the first human you’ve ever seen.” He sounded irritated again. Still, his eyes continued looking at you in that same way and you couldn’t help but find yourself wanting to hear his voice dripping in that same annoyance again. Because it was new. Because he didn’t get irritated often. And it was a marvel to hear.

The person who sat next to you, her long black hair falling over her shoulder as she leaned towards you, narrowed her eyes, “I haven’t decided if I like her. Yet.”

This person who was B-bomb’s sister, Jiyeon. Jiyeon, who for some reason didn’t bother you with the way she was staring at you. Staring at you as though analyzing every single fiber on your clothes. Every single piece of hair out of place. And for some reason, it was funny.

She was funny.

And you had no problem with her probing eyes looking you up and down.

“Okay. I approve.” She suddenly said, catching your attention again with her tone that insinuated she was alluding to something else. Something else she approved of.

She leaned back, a grin on her face, as lifted her knees to her chest and swerved around, resting them onto the space that was between you and her on the couch. “I’m honestly so glad there’s someone else here now. These two are the second most if not the most boring men I’ve met in my life.” She sighed and rolled her eyes as she waved her finger in the air whimsically, “Jiyeon, sit still. Jiyeon, stop touching that. Jiyeon, you can’t leave yet. Jiyeon, Jiyeon, Jiyeon.” She looked towards them now, a scowl on her face as she matched glares with Hoya and Taeil, “Are you two my keepers or something?” 

“As a matter of fact,” Taeil spoke up as he took a seat down onto the armrest of the chair Hoya was occupying, “we are. Seeing as how you apparently need one.” Jiyeon scoffed and what she did next surprised you. What she did next was in no way what Taeil deserved. But, a small laugh still escaped your mouth at the sight.

She stuck out her tongue at him. But not just that. She lifted her clenched fist and flicked him off. Flicked him off and you could’ve sworn that Hoya’s scowl faltered for a moment, his lips resisting the urge to smile.

Taeil simply jeered at the sight. He was used to handling people like this. He had become desensitized to it after living with the others for so long. Zico and Kyung had desensitized him to it. Jiyeon rebounded quickly as she turned towards you again.

“So, red head told me you were coming today, but he didn’t tell me why.” Jiyeon said to you, her statement insinuating to you the question of why you had come and you saw no reason not to answer.  That is, after you understood who she meant by red head.

“Sunggyu told me he would explain everything. About where everyone else is. About why they’re not here in the first place.” You watched for her reaction and you were surprised to find that she simply nodded her head once, her lips parting in understanding.

“Well that’s easy. Not everyone is here because they had to separate.” She crossed her arms against her chest, ignoring the looks she was getting from Hoya and Taeil that told her to stop talking and wait until the others came, “Hunters came. Ran us out of Europe. It’s like they were holding a damn hunter convention there or something.” She sighed and mumbled her next words beneath her breath, “Not even a week after I come to see Minhyuk and the whole place goes to .”

The front door opened just then, quieting your questions down as you looked towards the entrance of the living room, awaiting who it was. It wasn’t Sunggyu. Instead, it was Jaehyo and Kyung. The two having arrived back from grocery shopping it seems. Before Kyung could even get a word out as he and Jaehyo set down the bags by the entrance, Jiyeon spoke again.

“And I mean real hunters. Not fakers like these guys were.” She scowled and she pointed at them as though she were completely disgusted with the idea.

Their reactions were visibly obvious. They were both shocked for a moment. Shocked not at her words but at the fact that that was the first thing she had said as soon as they arrived. Then, Jaehyo bit down on his bottom lip as he put his palm to his forehead, not believing that she couldn’t keep shut for just an hour. The amount of time it took them to leave, in which they more than willingly put Hoya and Taeil in charge of her instead, and come back. 

“Can’t you wait until everyone gets here?” Kyung voiced out Jaehyo’s own thoughts as he approached the couch, his tone one of disbelief.

Jiyeon huffed before answering, not seeing why she had to wait for anyone when they were all just going to say the same thing anyway. “When did you become such a hardass, Kyung?” She wasn’t used to the Kyung who was patient. The Kyung who never had anything but an arrogant smirk on his face. Thus, she was confused with the sudden mood change.

“Curse one more time. Just try it.” Hoya spoke, causing her to focus on him instead, his tone deadly. He seemed irritated to the point that she must have done it many times before you had even arrived.

Jiyeon’s mouth formed an oval shape, her lips pouting forward, “Oh, suddenly you’re not so boring, are you?” He continued to glare at her and she groaned, “Fine.” She raised her hand, the fingertips of her thumb and index finger meeting, and ran it along her lips, zipping them closed.

Jaehyo sighed as he slumped over to the couch and pushed Jiyeon’s legs out of the way before sitting down between you and her, “Good, about time you promptly shut the hell up.” Jiyeon’s jaw fell open and she pointed at him with both of her index fingers, astonished none of the other werewolves seemed to care that Jaehyo just cursed at her. She breathed out as she glared at him, crossing her arms against her chest before leaning back in her seat. She was giving up, yet she was in no way okay with it.

The front door opened and into the room not even a few seconds later walked a dark brown haired Sunggyu. Dark brown with the slight hue of red underneath. He had dyed it. Just like he said he would. And it looked great, just like you thought it would. The front door closed and it wasn’t long until Woohyun joined him at the entrance to the living room. Sunggyu read the situation immediately and turned his eyes to the black haired, fuming with anger, woman next to you.

“Jiyeon? Care to explain?” He let his eyes travel across the room, locking gazes with each person before he laid his eyes on you. A soft smile spread out across his face, “Or maybe you explained enough already.”

“She spilled the beans already, huh?” Woohyun shook his head as he bent over, picking up the grocery bags Kyung and Jaehyo had left at the entrance, “We’ll have spoiled beans on our hands too if we don’t get this to the kitchen.” It was a joke. It was a joke yet no one but you cracked a smile. Though you only thought it was funny because of the cheesy grin he shot your way after he said it. Woohyun frowned, dissatisfied with the reactions he got, before pointing towards Jaehyo and Kyung, “Just get over here and help me!” The two stood up from the couch, grumbling all the way, before following him. Woohyun himself complained before he disappeared into the kitchen with them, “P.O. always thinks that one is hilarious.”

“So, what are you still curious about?” Sunggyu asked as he shifted his jacket off of his shoulders and slid it onto the arm of the couch before sitting down next to you.

You glanced towards Jiyeon, who the instant you did so stood up from the couch and made her way around the coffee table, “Did you guys buy any rice? It’s almost dinner time.” She yelled into the kitchen as she entered, garnering a “could you please lower your voice for once?” from Jaehyo and a subsequent laugh from Woohyun at the fact that Jaehyo just said the word “please.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Kyung and Jiyeon proceeding to bicker with each other in the kitchen. Taeil and Hoya receded into the kitchen as well not long after in order to play the role of mediators once more. The sound distracted you for a moment before you remembered Jiyeon’s words from before.

She said that everyone had separated. Woohyun had told you that Zico was with Dongwoo, Sungyeol, Sungjong, B-bomb, U-kwon, and P.O. If you matched this up with Jiyeon’s own words, it seemed as though the fourteen had slipped straight down the center with Zico leading one group and Sunggyu leading the other. The reason they split up was because hunters had shown up in Europe. You could only assume this is where they were before they arrived here. So then, it seemed as though they came back to Springfield as they ran. But why? This was your first question.

“Why did you all come back to Springfield? Why here?”

Sunggyu smiled as though the answer was obvious. “Because Springfield is our haven. It’s the place my grandfather set aside for us. The place that we belong. Our original home. It’s the reason Zico and everyone else are on their way here right now.” You nodded slowly before his next words caused you to go slack jawed. He took your breath away again and once more brought to you that feeling of anxiety, calm, and excitement all bundled up into one, “That and because you’re here.” Sunggyu crossed his legs, placing his hands in his lap as he brought them together, “Any other questions?”

You did have more questions. You truly did. You had questions about who these hunters were. If Zico and the others would be okay. You had all these questions and more if only he wasn’t looking at you the way he was, the way that was different from how he looked at you before they all left. And that’s when it hit you. When another question you had sprang to the forefront of your mind.

You still didn’t know why they had left that snowy day in December.

But before you could ask it, a voice interrupted the two of you.

“Where’s Myungsoo?” Taeil suddenly asked, his head poking into the doorway of the living room from the kitchen. And your question was pushed to the back of your mind once again as Taeil’s replaced it. Both you and him looked to Sunggyu for an answer, who simply smiled in response.

“He’s visiting Minah in the hospital. He should be back soon.”

And now, you knew for a fact that you weren’t hallucinating that Myungsoo was there at the hospital that day. That he really hadn’t changed a single bit since the last time you had seen him. Not at all like Kyung, Jaehyo, Taeil, Woohyun, and Sunggyu had changed. He remained the same.

And honestly, you liked that he had.

“Did Jiyeon surprise you?” Hoya asked from beside you. He was walking you out to your car that was parked in the driveway of Zico’s pack’s home. It was late at night now. You had enjoyed a dinner with everyone. A dinner cooked by Jiyeon and Woohyun, whose cooking skills combined made you almost cry as you remembered the taste of your own cooking in comparison. “She was supposed to go back to her pack but she ended up coming here with us instead.”

You pursed your lips, thinking about his question for only a second before shaking your head, “I think she’s hilarious.” He went quiet immediately, staring at you with wide eyes because that was the last kind of reaction he anticipated. You laughed before continuing, “Though she does seem prone to pick fights.”

Hoya’s facial features relaxed as he felt less astonished about that kind of response, “That’s only because P.O. isn’t here.” You looked away from your car door that you had just cracked open, about to open all the way and get inside if not for his comment. His comment that suggested an idea that caused you to freeze in the first place. You turned to him, eyes wide as you stared at him for a few moments.

When you finally found your voice, you spoke slowly “Then, Jiyeon and P.O., they’re,” your free hand that still held your keys in your clenched fingers went up to your mouth, “Really?”

Hoya couldn’t contain it anymore. He laughed at the look on your face, “No.” You breathed a sigh of relief almost immediately before you caught him still laughing at you. You reached out and hit him lightly on his shoulder before turning to your car door again, this time getting inside without being surprised by Hoya’s words. You buckled your seat belt and looked up, finding that his words was the last thing you should have thought he could surprise you with.

He was leaning downwards, one hand on the top of your car and the other wrapped around the top of the door. He was inspecting the condition of the paint, having known that Zico had it redone before they left, but when his head shifted back downwards, he found you staring at him. Staring at him with your lips slightly parted, your heart beat accelerating in your chest. He cocked his head to the side, one of his eyebrows raising upwards as he whispered lowly, “What is it?”

Your voice came out without stuttering, your eyes not leaving his once, “You look different.”

“The bad kind of different?” He asked, not getting an inch closer to you though affecting you all the same.

“No.” You answered back with that one word he had used to answer your question moments ago.

Moments ago in which you felt so different from how you felt now.

When it was just the two of you here. Just the two of you alone, you didn’t feel so embarrassed to take in the view. You didn’t feel your body begin to heat up. Instead, you felt entranced. Lost. If Sunggyu left you wordless, if Woohyun left you powerless, then Hoya left you breathless. Breathless as you couldn’t take your eyes off of him.

That is, until he laughed lightly, his lips parting for a single second before they met and curved upwards just slightly as his eyebrows relaxed on his forehead, “You should see Dongwoo.”

“I should see Dongwoo?” You asked out loud to yourself while you gripped the steering wheel of your car as you drove, before you let out a sarcastic laugh, “I don’t even know what to think about who I’ve seen so far.” You couldn’t figure out why you couldn’t just pretend not to notice how they changed. Thinking about it though, pretending not to notice was impossible. And so was pretending you didn’t like it. At the very least, Myungsoo was still the same as always.

Speaking of the eternal poker face, there he was.

Walking by the side of the road as you drove away from the rather large home of Zico’s pack. Your body moved by itself as you checked behind you before pulling to the side of the road, out of traffic, and parking your car. The headlights of your car shone on him. The light didn’t pass through him. It didn’t cause him to fade away. It hit him, causing his black pea coat to turn a shade of dark gray.

He was real.

And even though you knew you weren’t hallucinating, even though it was a dumb thing to believe, you couldn’t help but feel anxious. To feel as though if you didn’t stop the car right then and there, then he would disappear.

He looked up, shielding his nose from the wind with the blue scarf he had wrapped around his neck. He looked up and met eyes with you and his expression didn’t change. It remained neutral. It remained neutral, yet you weren’t disappointed in the least.

The headlights of your car slowly faded, turning off as you had your car moments ago before you stepped out and closed the unlocked door behind you. He continued to move forward, his feet stepping down onto the snow that had stopped falling this morning but remained due to the cold temperatures Springfield was so used to. 

He came to a stop only two feet in front of you. You were so amazed by the fact that he was real that you flinched slightly, your eyes blinking blankly, when he surprisingly spoke first, “Are you trying to run me over again?” He asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. You didn’t get it. He knew you wouldn’t and changed the subject before you could think more about it with that insinuating brain you had that was able to figure things out if you were given enough time, “Did something happen for you to stop?”

Did something happen for you to stop, he asked? Well, he was there. Was that not enough reason to stop? You didn’t know why but you ended up giving a different answer to his question, “You weren’t at the house today. Sunggyu said you went to see Minah again and I was wondering how she’s doing?” Your voice raised in pitch at the end of your sentence, showing how confused you were by your own words.

Myungsoo’s expression remained the same as he answered you, despite being able to tell that’s not what you wanted to say, “She’s doing fine.”

Your heart relaxed just then. You had never gone to see her that day at the hospital even though you should have and you were worried about her. As much as the two of you had been through, you couldn’t hate her. In fact, you knew she had a certain charm about her that was in terms, likeable.

You focused back on Myungsoo, though if you were being technical, you never once unfocused on him this entire time. Your eyes were locked on his frame like a hawk in case he up and vanished again. As you were about to tell him your real answer to his question, as to why you stopped, because you felt silly for changing your words early, a slight breeze blew by. The breeze rustled the evergreen trees that lined the road and moved your hair into your eyes. You buried your nose into the collar of your fleece jacket as it passed and when it did, you sighed as you shifted your hair out of your face.

Myungsoo experience the breeze as well but it didn’t faze him. He was wearing the scarf and jacket for show because if he were simply walking outside in his sweater than his actions would be questioned. He simply watched in silence as your hair flipped in front of your face, his bangs only ruffling slightly on his own head which proved to be much more manageable considering the length of his compared to yours. And as he watched, he breathed in through his nose.

And he noticed something. He noticed the scent the wind carried. A scent mixed with Woohyun’s. With Hoya’s. With Sunggyu’s. With Taeil’s. With Kyung’s. With Jaehyo’s. With the female werewolf’s he had met in Europe, Jiyeon’s. A scent that wafted off of your body. And all of those combined scents were fading. All of them fading slowly but surely away with not a single one dominating over the others. And as they faded away, your own started to reveal itself.

He couldn’t help himself. It was too easy. The temptation was too great when the opportunity was staring at him in the face without a single thing standing in his way. Without a single person or werewolf standing in his way.

“What’s that?” He spoke up, his words causing you to look down towards your jacket, away from him for only a moment as you checked to see if your jacket had been disheveled by the wind. A moment that was more than long enough for him to do what he intended to do.

To shift his hands from his pockets as he took one step towards you. To let his hands reach up, his fingers slipping beneath where your hair laid framing your face. To let his thumbs come to rest on either side of your lips, as he raised your head up, pulling your eyes to look at his once more. And he smiled. He smiled mischievously as he ran his hands downward, back to where your jaw met your neck, and down to where your neck ended. His fingers slipped under your round-necked sweater and the collar of your jacket and stopped just before your shoulders began.

And you were as still as a statue. As still as a statue as you felt your skin tremble, the tiny hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Your body became engulfed by it, the feeling of his warm fingertips on your skin. And when he pulled away, when he let his hands slip away from you, your upper body moved forward slightly. As though not wanting his warmth to leave so soon.

Your blinked, your eyes slightly hazed over. But through your blurry vision, you saw him his hands go back into his pockets and his lips curve upwards again, slight dimples forming on his cheeks that you had never seen before because you had never seen him smile so widely. So playfully.

Myungsoo was satisfied with himself now. Satisfied with what he had just done. Satisfied that he had just marked you, just a little bit. Completely satisfied as he leaned forward towards you, his impish smile still gracing his face as he said his next words.

“I want to get you in trouble.”

Scratch that, Myungsoo had definitely changed. And what a fool you were for thinking you wouldn’t have liked it better this way. 

A/N:

Finishing this chapter with time to spare and it feels so good just like I knew it would! (and by time to spare I mean that I had at least thirty minutes to read over and edit before it had to go up like right after.) I am going to specify again something else before I get down into the nitty gritty about this chapter. Taeil's. Hair. Here. Oh. My. What? How? When? Why? I love it. And from this day forth he shall have this hair style until I feel like changing it to the curly brown hairstyle he has now (why did he change it in the first place? My brain cannot comprehend. I love both but that black hair. wow. it's wonderful. what? I'm supposed to be talking about the rest of the chapter and not fangirling over how awesome Taeil looks in that picture? Oh. Okay...) 

Now, regarding this chapter, there was a Myungsoo and a Hoya scene. Need I say more? Oh. Right, we did find out why everyone else is with Zico (elites and werewolves and hunters oh my!) and about why they returned to Springfield. But seriously here. This chapter had a Hoya and a Myungsoo scene. 

Also. Have you guys seen it? What? You haven't? Watch it here. Just watch it. Don't ask questions. Just watch. And Enjoy.

You are all welcome.  

(this chapter was over 4,000 words long. Did it end too soon?)