chapter 25

"It won't be long," Myungsoo says. He leads them along the creek and Sunggyu takes his time admiring the canopies and beautiful flowers around them. He's never seen a forest like this before and it's absolutely stunning.

"The mermaids… they’ll like you. But they won’t like us,” Hoya mutters. Sunggyu is too busy focusing on the weird feeling that falls over him - like water rushing up from his feet to his head. It’s odd - he’s never felt this before - but it feels kind of nice, too.

“Isn’t Dongwoo in this forest?” Myungsoo asks and Hoya suddenly seems very interested. “He'd help us. He's good friends with the mermaids."

"Someone called for me?"

Sunggyu whips around to see a young man with pink hair hovering just inches above the ground, a kind smile. "Wow, Sunggyu! You're so grown up now!"

"Dongwoo?" Sunggyu guesses.

He nods and floats over to them. "Then shall we get to the Crystal lake? It's just in that cave."

//

The water is crystal clear, as the name suggests, and Sunggyu can see the reflection of its ripples on the walls of the cave. "We've scared them away it seems. I'll go talk to them!"

Dongwoo disappears under the crystal surface and it's all of a minute before he comes up again, this time with a trail of beautiful girls with long hair following. They truly are beautiful and they seem to shimmer like the water. One of them scowls at the vampires standing behind Sunggyu and the leader seems to be sneering at Woohyun who is stood beside Sunggyu. "Kim Sunggyu," she says.

Sunggyu glances at her meekly, feeling an annoying blush rise. "That's me."

Her face softens and she swims over to the edge. "You've come a long way. You must be tired."

"Not at all."

"We usually don't let vampires enter but Dongwoo told me why you're here. Of course I knew already."

"How?"

"I have people that tell me everything. I can't stay connected to the world in this lake, can I? I'm Taeyeon, by the way."

"Thank you for letting my friends enter."

Taeyeon smiles and shakes her head. She pauses before speaking again, this time her voice more serious. "You have to be careful in there, Sunggyu. I get a very bad feeling from the maze."

"I'll be fine."

She frowns when she looks at Woohyun. "You had better protect him with your life, vampire. I don't trust vampires and I do not think it is right for a pure and rare being like him to be with an evil monster such as yourself but now he's in your hands. Take responsibility."

Woohyun nods, his eyes bright red. "Then if you're all ready, follow me."

The mermaids swim up to the edge holding a hand out for each person. Sunggyu takes Taeyeon's and suddenly a bubble forms around him as he emerges, the other following suit. Beyond the crystal surface lies a city and Sunggyu glances around in awe as he watches a community of mermaids interacting and watching back. He looks behind him to see reluctant mermaids pulling the three vampires along and smiles at them.

Sunggyu doesn't know how long they are underwater but Taeyeon slows to a stop at an air pocket leading to another cave. There are ruined statues all around and Sunggyu feels himself being pulled deeper into the cave by this indescribable feeling. He turns to the edge, squatting down. Taeyeon leans up and pecks Sunggyu on the cheek, causing him to blush. "Be careful, Sunggyu."

Sunggyu nods and he takes Woohyun's hand. "Ready? Woohyun asks and Sunggyu nods.

"Thank you, Taeyeon," he says before she and the others dive back under.

"Why did they only send you three with Sunggyu?" Dongwoo asks as they forge on ahead.

"Because they were worried having too many people meant too many deaths," Myungsoo answers.

"That sounds awful."

"There was probably another reason but it doesn't really matter."

Silence falls on them as they go deeper into the cave. As they move further into the cave, curious blue lights – almost like stars – shine on the ceiling of the cave. They come to the first fork in the cave and Hoya asks Sunggyu which way they should go. Sunggyu has never been here before and no normal person should know the way to a place they’ve never been to but then again he isn’t very normal. “Left,” he answers simply and he leads them down the left tunnel. In here the air is moist and smells of the the sea. Sunggyu breathes calmly as he leads their little group through each turn and twist and he’s surprised that, as everyone said, he knows the way. He doesn’t even think about it, just listens to the wind and lets his feet go the way they want. It’s quiet but the silence is comfortable and Sunggyu finds it’s easier to just lose himself in the maze, follow the path, follow his path. He feels Woohyun’s fingers ghosting over the inside of his wrist, sending little jolts through his body.

Sunggyu glances back at him and he offers a smile, small and warm, and Sunggyu returns it. Minutes bleed into hours and Sunggyu feels his heels ache and his legs are lead. Maybe it’s because he starts to walk slower, more staggeringly, he doesn’t know, but Woohyun notices somehow and leans down in front of him. Sunggyu gives him a look and all he says is, “Hop on.” So Sunggyu does and he snuggles into the heat of his back, breathing directions into the shell of his ear. Sunggyu fiddles absentmindedly with the collar of Woohyun’s shirt and Dongwoo watches with amusement for a moment. Everything feels in place, as it should be, and Dongwoo feels content. Woohyun is happy with the boy he fell in love with years ago and they’re doing okay.

But the moment of serenity is interrupted when Dongwoo hears something. He flinches. Woohyun, Hoya, and Myungsoo hear it too and Sunggyu looks around in confusion. He hops off Woohyun’s back, testing his balance, and glances at the frozen vampires before turning his eyes to Dongwoo. “What is it?”

Dongwoo hushes him quickly. They can all sense it, this dark aura, but they can’t see. Sunggyu watches as Dongwoo fades into nothing as he moves towards the darkness of the way they just came. Woohyun moves swiftly in front of him, covering him like a shield. Sunggyu steps around him, though, and ignores him when Woohyun calls his name. He lets out a breath and suddenly Dongwoo is materializing in front of him. “Sungjae is here–”

Sunggyu opens his mouth to say run or something (he can’t remember) but then he’s knocked off his feet in a flash and a knee drives into his chest. He gasps as hands close around his throat and he feels like something akin to a fish out of water. He grips the wrists of his attacker and digs his nails into the skin but he finds it’s like trying to move a marble statue. He can’t focus on what happens around him – all he can hear are grunts and yelling – so he tries to look above him. Minhyuk, he recognizes, pins him down effectively. Sunggyu searches for his voice but it gets stuck in his throat.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Minhyuk chuckles and Sunggyu just wants to punch him. Sunggyu struggles against his grasp but he’s useless against a vampire. “We won’t hurt your friends but only if you lead us to the Key.”

Sunggyu thinks he’s not surprised at all that Sungjae had lied to him. At the back of his mind he knew Sungjae wouldn’t give up so easily, especially not about this. “Enough!” he hears; it’s Sungjae.

Sunggyu pulls his eyes towards the loud command, the room falling into deafening silence for a moment before Sungjae speaks again. “Minhyuk,” Sungjae calls and then Minhyuk is standing, pulling Sunggyu up with his neck and dragging him towards Sungjae. Minhyuk lets him go when they approach and instead grips his arm harshly.

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt my friends,” Sunggyu growls and he thinks he sounds more like an angry hamster than someone actually intimidating. Still, he narrows his eyes and challenges Sungjae. He’s not afraid of Sungjae.

“I won’t. As long as you lead us to the Key.”

“That wasn’t in our deal.”

“No, but I’m not much one for rules anyways. So as long as you cooperate then your friends will be fine.”

Sunggyu looks around. Myungsoo is being pushed up against a wall by one of the vampires, Hoya and a vampire are tangled in a ball of fists and teeth, Dongwoo is pressed flush against the wall, and Woohyun is crouched in the middle of three vampires. “You think I’d be stupid enough to make any sort of deal with you again?” Sunggyu was stupid the first time, but a second? No way.

Sungjae shrugs. “I’m not asking. You see, you have no choice.”

As if that was the cue, Sunggyu hears a choked gasp and he whips his head around quickly. “Woohyun,” he breathes. One of the vampires – Hyunsik? – has his arm shoved through Woohyun’s chest, right where his heart his. He can see Hyunsik’s arm flex slightly and Woohyun cries out. Blood drips from his lips and Sunggyu physically feels it himself, like his heart is being squeezed. He chokes out a curse before using his free hand to clutch at his own chest. The pain spreads rather quickly and Sunggyu can barely stand.

“Stop,” Sunggyu’s voice shakes.

“So this is how it’s going to go; you will lead us to the Key. We’re close – you can feel it and so can I. If you successfully lead us to the Key, Hyunsik will let go of your dear Woohyun’s heart and allow him to live. Pretty simple, yeah?”

Sunggyu bites his lip and Hyunsik gives another squeeze, making both of them scream. “Stop! Please stop!” Sunggyu cries.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.”

Sungjae looks at Hyunsik and nods and Hyunsik rips away his hand, covered in blood. Woohyun falls to his knees, panting, and Sunggyu feels relief. Minhyuk shoves Sunggyu forward and he stumbles, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. The three vampires around Woohyun pull him up but Woohyun is too weak now to walk on his own so they have to drag him. Sunggyu breathes heavily as he stumbles forward, the feel of Minhyuk’s hand against his back, forcing him to move quickly, sending chills up his spine. Sunggyu looks ahead, into the darkness, and tries not to think about the feeling of fingers grasping his heart, Woohyun’s, but he doesn’t forget the pain.

oh man oh man its been a while

i'll be honest: writers block is killing me with this story but im trying mates 

oh and not proofread. ha.

i said before i was maybe working on a baekyeol fic but scrap that. i am working on a new fic. originally i was planning for it to only include vixx because IM GONNA BE COMPLETELY HONEST HERE AND TELL YOU GUYS HOW MUCH IVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THEM MAN OH MAN THEY ARE PERFECT 

but like i love woogyu so i want to include them too. i was planning to have every alternating chapter about woogyu and neo, so like every odd chapter would be woogyu focus and every even chapter would be neo focused. does that sound good to you guys? its gonna be about superhumans and its post-apocalyptic. would you read it? ive already written two chapter so yeah just tell me what you guys think about that