“Seoul Royal School is a prestigious high school tucked away in a deepest spot in Apgujeong. Surrounded by green foliage and a lake, it’s almost easy to mistake it for a retreat rather than a school. The school is catered more for the rich and privacy appreciating upper-class, an-”

“Goodness, Baekhyun, I told you to just give me a brief overview on the school, not an essay ripped from Wikipedia.” Kyungsoo squinted at his friend, who gave a tiny shrug before switching to his other internet tab on shoujo manga.

“Well. Just be glad that you got accepted into the school, you’re one of the lucky few scholarship student they accept over the years.” Baekhyun mumbles as he concentrated on the newest chapter of Boys over Flowers. “Mm, if I were you, I’d be over the moon. I heard that the boys there are really cute. Especially the group there, called Exo or something. They’re kinda like F4 except that they’ve got about six members? So it’d be F6 then. Let me show you their pictures.” Baekhyun then clicks on a new tab, and opens up google search.

“Um… why would there be pictures of them? They sound kinda obnoxious to be honest, if they’re really like the F4. And besides, what kind of a name is Exo?”

“Because apparently they’re so good-looking that bands of girls have gotten together to specially stalk them and take pictures of them. Exo isn’t the name they’ve given themselves though; the girls called them that because they’re so good-looking they reckon they’re aliens from other planets.” Baekhyun motions Kyungsoo to come over, pointing at the screen. “Okay, just look at them, pretty self-explanatory.”

Kyungsoo clambers over the bed and peers over Baekhyun shoulders. He was scrolling down a fansite that screamed EXO and the background was plastered with hearts and everything pink. Kyungsoo shudders.

“Okay, this is Yifan. Leader of the group or something, he's also known as Kris” Baekhyun stopped at a picture of a scowling blonde, eyebrows knitted together, but not in an unattractive way. Baekhyun then points to the other boy beside him, he had a mess of red hair and looked young enough to be in middle school, and then he scrolls down to show a murderous looking boy with his hair shaven at the sides, “The redhead is Luhan, the one with the shaved hair is Zitao.”

“This is Prince Joonmyun, a nickname that the girls have given him due to his smile,” Baekhyun scrolls down to a picture of a charming looking boy, who was laughing with another blonde who looked like his face was on the verge of splitting apart, “And the one next to Joonmyun is Happy Virus Chanyeol.” Baekhyun said that dreamily, and Kyungsoo had to snap his fingers in front of his face to bring him back. Kyungsoo points at the other boy sitting next to Joonmyun and Chanyeol.

“He looks really broody.” Kyungsoo comments, tracing the sides of the boy’s jaws with his eyes. Those were some nice looking jaws.

“Oh, that’s Jongin.” Baekhyun waves his hands dismissively, “He’s really moody. I believe him to be the second Edward Cullen.”

Kyungsoo nodded as Baekhyun went into another long explanation of why Chanyeol would be the perfect boyfriend for him, and hits Kyungsoo when he calmly reminded him that Chanyeol doesn’t know of his existence.

Kyungsoo couldn't keep his mind off those broody eyes.
 

Jongin breathes in the night air, and lets out a loud whoop of pleasure as he soared across the ledges in between the mountains.

Careful.

He hears Yifan’s voice in his head, and he snorted. Trust Wufan to be suddenly all fatherly.

I heard that Jongin.

Jongin laughs, and increased his speed, feeling exhilarated as the wind whipped at him from all angles.

Meet us at my house in twenty minutes. We’ve got things to deal with.

What kind of things? Jongin’s eye twitched in annoyance. It’s been so long since he’s out for a run, and he doesn’t appreciate being interrupted.

Pack matters. Zitao’s voice floated over, loud and clear, despite him being miles and miles away from here. Come soon, it’s urgent.

Alarmed, Jongin pawed the ground in front of him as he skidded to a stop. Is anyone hurt?

No, nobody’s hurt. Just come soon.


Jongin straightened his cuff links as he stood outside the Wu mansion, eyes twitching nervously as he waited for one of the servants to open the door. He’s never liked coming to Yifan’s house, because it reeks so strongly of power it makes the instinctual beast in him want to run. That, and the fact that Yifan’s father was a .

The Wus has always been the long line of alphas, each generation producing a wolf capable of leading an entire pack to war and winning while the previous generation take their place on the council. The council was made up of the leaders of the three main supernatural beings and the prime minister of Seoul. The three supernatural beings consisted of the werewolves, vampires and faerie folks. The council is more or less like a government, and helps to keep all the supernatural being in check. If anyone is caught straying, they’d be dealt with according to the laws. The werewolf seat on the council had always belonged to the Wus since the beginning of the fifteenth century, the vampire’s belonged to the Ohs, and the faeries’ to the Kims. The prime minister helped with ensuring that humans were living in peace with the supernatural beings, and made sure that they don’t get find out about them in return for the protection of mankind. It sounded like a fool-proof treaty on both sides, but Jongin knew better. Corruption runs when power is present, and it’s easy to fall into the routine of believing that everything was fine on the outside. Jongin knew that for one, vampires have been turning more humans for unknown reason, and that somehow the prime minister was turning a blind eye to all the sudden disappearances. It’s a wonder that Yifan’s father hasn’t said anything yet.

“You’re late.” Zitao remarks when he noticed Jongin striding in, brown hair in a mess. He must have just woken up. Zitao was the second son in the Wu family, and Yifan’s closest confidante. He wasn’t the actual son of Wu Heng, but an adopted one. Rumour has it that Wu Heng only adopted him because of his ability to fight off ten other wolves at the age of five, but Jongin dismisses it because it would be impossible for a half-grown pup to do that without being killed. He does agree with the fighting skills though, Zitao was one of the best close combat fighter he’s ever met.

“I came all the way here from Mount Haku, give me some credit.” Jongin flops himself over the couch, looking up to marvel at the gold chandelier. He’s been here more than his fingers could count, but honestly he never gets over how ing rich the Wus were.

“That place is bound to erupt someday you know,” Joonmyun wanders in, carrying a history book, “Stay away from there.”

“I don’t think he’d care,” Luhan quips from Jongin’s left, and Jongin reaches out to smack him. “Ow, what the .”

Jongin tensed as his ears picked up on the sound of whizzing in his direction, and reaches out his hands just in time to catch the phone before it hits his head. He hears a loud bark of laughter and figures that it’d be Chanyeol.

“Glad that you’re still fast, Jongin.” Chanyeol’s face popped into his line of vision, lips twisted upwards in his usual goofy grin. “Check out the new pictures of you. Are you channelling the broody vampire look recently? Look at all the comments.”

Jongin scowled as he went through the photos in the phone, they were all apparently taken by the fangirls who has ridiculously named their group Exo. Each photo of him caught him looking sullen and moody, and he almost fainted when he saw all the Edward Cullen and hearts comment. He snorted and threw the phone back at Chanyeol, who catches it reflexively.

“At least I don’t look like a creep.”

Jongin yelps and moved out of the way when Chanyeol came barrelling over, curses spilling from his mouth as Chanyeol tackled him to the ground and nipped at his shoulders. He pushes his hands against his shoulders, a smug smile on his face when Chanyeol gets thrown two feet away. Chanyeol gets up and smirks at Jongin.

“Oh you wanna play?”

Jongin was never one to back down from a challenge, so he nodded before giving himself into the beast within. He feels his shoulders shrink before broadening , his arms and legs retreating slightly and his body lengthening and expanding. He allows the heat to course through his body, and the sharp pain that spikes when he opens his mouth to howl. Opposite him, the change was also happening to Chanyeol, and he almost mirrors Jongin, except that his fur was a rich caramel gold flecked with white streaks, and that he was just slightly longer than Jongin.

On the count of three, Jongin hears in his head. He nodded. He shifted slightly, front legs going downwards, and he bared his teeth and growled lowly.

One, two, thre-

“Stop it, you two.” Yifan’s voice boomed low in their head, and they instinctively shied away. “We have things to talk about, you guys can play later.”

They both reverted to their human forms, pulling their spare pieces of clothings from their bags. Jongin stared morosely at the shredded piece of fabric on the floor, it was his favourite. He was about to engage Chanyeol in a headlock when Yifan sent them reprimanding looks and told them to sit down. He was holding a stack of papers in his hand, and what appears to be photos. Yifan walked over to the board and started sticking some of the photos on it. There were about three photos, all of the same stoic looking guy from different angles. Painfully thin, milky white skin and bubblegum pink hair.

“This,” Yifan jabbed at the photo, “Is Oh Sehun. And he’d be taking over the council seat within the next two weeks.”

Luhan let out a low appreciative whistle as the rest gaped.

“The vampire alpha’s son?” Joonmyun asks, disbelief written all over his face. “He couldn’t be any older than all of us.”

“The previous alpha got murdered, so his son is taking his seat.” Yifan explains, brows furrowed, and Jongin abruptly realises that it was becoming one of his trademark expression, “And my father wants us to guard him. Ensure that he doesn’t get killed and all that.”

Various gasps went up in the air when the news of the murdered alpha was processed.

“Murdered? The alpha getting murdered?” Zitao sputtered, mouth opened in an O.

“Yes, murdered, assassinated, killed, whatever.” Yifan waves his hands around, before continuing in a low and serious voice, “This means that there might be a revolution within the vampire community, God knows how long the rest has been trying to get rid of the Ohs. And if we’re not careful, the werewolves might be dragged in too. We wouldn’t want to be on their bad side, so you guys better take great care in ensuring that Oh Sehun is safe, or else we’d find ourselves in the middle of a war for the first time in ten centuries.”

Yifan then sticks another few photos onto the board, this time of a cuddly looking boy who looks no more than fifteen years old, his heart-shaped lips were spread in a large smile and his eyes were all crinkly. Jongin feels a sharp tingle in his heart and wills the feeling away.

“Now this,” Yifan begins, an unsure expression on his face, “Might be the new seer.”

Jongin’s head reeled from the implication behind the words. The new seer. A seer was someone revered, people believed that they’ve been bestowed the eyes of God on back then, and they were very important for their words that could either bring peace or total destruction. But the thing is, it’s been centuries since the world has last seen a seer, and the all of the previous ones came to no good end. For them to suddenly spit out a new seer, it’s kind of hard to believe.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol asked worriedly, “Because if you are, I think it’s best for us to get to him before the rest does.”

Yifan shakes his head before continuing, “We’re not very sure, that’s the thing. The only thing we’ve found out about this boy is that he’s from the Dos, and they’re well-known for producing seers over the millennia. He isn’t staying with his actual family though; he’s been adopted so he doesn’t know of his heritage. The only thing he knows is that his birthname is Do Kyungsoo. We’d just have to keep a look-out for him, because seers mature at a later age than us. And just make sure that the vampires and faeries doesn’t hear of him. He’d be transferring into our school tomorrow, along with Sehun and his group of friends.”

Yifan then turns to Jongin, who was starting to have a headache from all the new information processing in his head, “And Jongin, you’d be the one who will oversee Kyungsoo’s safety, since he’s in most of the classes you’re in. Just report back to me if you sense anything weird going on.”

Jongin nodded, and then stood up just as the maid servant came in and announced dinner for everyone. He had a premonition of what was to come for the near future, and it sure wasn’t a good one. Jongin pushed away all the bad thoughts as Chanyeol drapes a lazy arm over him and begins telling him about his day, both stumbling towards the dining table together.

 

Dark clouds loomed above the forest, and the lightning briefly bathed everything in white. The chanting coming from the cave got progressively louder as the rain started coming down in large droplets coupled with crackling thunder.

On the floor was a drawn pentagram, along with old symbols and wordings. And within that circle of pentagram was a man seated on the chair. His clothes were torn and ripped, and he was bleeding profusely from all the gashes made on his body.

“Are you not going to tell us?” One of the men asked, voice surprisingly gentle.

“I told you already, I do not know!” The bleeding man cried out desperately.

“I’m going to give you one last chance Oh Yehun. Do you know?”

“I do not know!”

There was a sharp burst of light as the ruby encrusted dagger embedded itself into Yehun’s chest, and his screams were almost painful to the ears as he disintegrated, leaving black ash behind.

“Find the next alpha.” The same man who spoke earlier instructed, and he left the cave in a flurry of billowing robes.


Kyungsoo startled awake, sweat drenching the back of his t-shirt as he leans over and collects his breath. It was raining outside, and the trees were whipping at his windows at a ferocious speed. His hands were clammy when he reaches out to take his alarm clock, and groans to see that it’s only two in the morning. He shook his head lightly as bits and pieces of the intense nightmare came back to him. It was only just a dream, he tells himself as he settled back between his pillows, throwing the blanket over himself. Kyungsoo was going to start at his new school tomorrow, and it’d be better if he can tackle school when he’s clear-headed instead of being half asleep.


This time he drifts off to sleep, swathed in complete blissful darkness.