It had been a whole week and a half ( Donghae kept insisting to himself that he had not been counting days) that he had managed to remain in touch with Hyukjae throughout. Something had been keeping him on edge though. It was the middle of the day by now, sunlight streamed through the windows and his teeth were insistently chewing lightly on his bottom lip.

Hykjae had not openly stated it, but since each Shifter carried the scent of the species they shifted to- and since donghae had come across a lot of them- He could tell what kind Hyukjae was.

Donghae would know, being a wolf-shifter himself.

He replayed the last few weeks in his mind, brows furrowing as he stared up blankly at the ceiling, arms crossed behind his head as he rested in there, laying straight out. He liked how his acting skills had not depreciated at all. It seemed had had Hyukjae fully fooled but not as attached as Donghae would like Hyukjae to be. Perhaps the guy was cautious, which was generally a good thing, in this case though Donghae would want Hyukjae not being cautious at all. From their unofficial breakfast date Donghae had kept making small gestures to signify that he was indeed interested. From little gifts to notes or at times just randomly showing up at the resautraunt to check on Hyukjae who, gratefully, seemed very happy to see Donghae again. It was safe to say Hyukjae seemed interested enough himself, but like any relationship, this needed to be solidified on an emotional bases, that would be the point where they would truly connect in a bond.

That would be when Hyukjae would fall into their trap.

Donghae knew mostly everything about Hyukjae, it was  a habit, he would study his ‘subjects’ as thoroughly as he could before stepping into the field and starting this game for real. See Donghae was definitely not what he showed himself to be. Donghae had not bumped into Hyukjae on that street corner by accident, it was planned. Donghae had not been in Hyukjae’s restaurant just by chance, it was planned, the rest that followed was also a plan, a plan to win over Hyukjae’s heart and mind, given to him by his superiors.

Before him his father had worked for a company’ which happened to be an organization of shifters and humans, working in collaboration with the Government so as to ensure that no injustice was done againt the Shifter kind. The world had changed, sure, but the prejudices that lay deep within the dark corners of the hearts of humans mostly, against shifters, was always there.

Hence this organization came into place and its members were all over the place, scattered in different locations yet united under its name. They were called the Circle, their symbol that they would endorse on official meetings only, would be a silver sphere. Naturally Donghae’s father saw a future for young Donghae there as well, he saw great potential on his son hence Donghae was introduced and gradually trained from a young age.

As Donghae grew so did the organization, things changed and the amount of Human members in the organization began to depreciate, Donghae was not ever told why. He didn’t miss the level of secrecy that increased with time.

‘You wouldn’t understand’ that’s all he was told along with that he was too young. Donghae was eighteen by then, he didn’t consider himself to be in the ‘too young’ category anymore and he definitely didn’t like the secretive behavior almost every member. Including his father. So after his Father’s mysterious disappearance some of members that were a few years older than Donghae took him under their wing, that’s when Donghae started actual ‘work’

He became a scout initially, a minor one who would simply patrol different ‘territories’ ( Shifters were subject to their animal instincts, hence different species had marked certain areas as theirs), but the superiors that monitored his movements saw potential in him, he himself knew the effect he had on people. Aside from practicing in front of the mirror he practiced his skills on others. He knew how the slightest tilt of head accompanied by a small smile would enchant others, how when he would hold the others gaze steadily with his, others would be falling for him like flies. His boyish grins and bubbly laughter, along with the manly charms were a deadly combination to lure targets into his trap. His large sad-looking eyes casted a spell that simply drew people in, winning hearts was his specialty.

He didn’t have any malevolent intentions to begin with, it was just work for him, Hyukjae’s just happened to be one of the tasks given to him and this was not the first time he had heard of Hyukjae either, so getting to study him deeply and face-to-face was indeed something donghae enjoyed but lately his mind was not at peace. Let’s say he was not entirely happy and content with what he did. The official title given to him was Head Scout and unlike his subordinates he didn’t just scout around or patrol different territories, he had to engage personally with his targets, geto to know them, get into their lives, their minds, their hearts, which meant that intimate moments were to be made as well, the emotional involvement almost always meant a 100% chance of his objectives being achieved.

He puffed out his cheeks absentmindedly, not knowing his teeth were now gnawing at his lips, an unhappy scowl and dull eyes staring at the ceiling. His restlessness did not come at a convenient time; he was told that Hyukjae was to be a valuable asset in the organization’s ‘cause’.

A huff, he felt his frustration growing. That’s when he heard the insistent knocking on his door.

“It’s open” he called out, not moving an inch and the door was thrown open, an unhappy Kangin walked in “Dongsaeng, I’ve been knocking for over an hour now.”

“You don’t mean that hyung, it must have been a minute only.” Donghae drawled tiredly, sliding his eyelids close.

“Y-yeah a minute ...still!” hands on hips and scowling he roughly tapped donghaes side with his foot, earning a string of annoyed whines, swinging his legs over the side of the bed an irritated Donghae stared at him “Hyung please. I’m tired.” His clipped tone had Kangin watching him carefully. Spreading out hands in his defense he tried to calm him down “Alright you can rest but after meeting someone.”

Donghae plamed his face “who now?”

“Gain is here.”

Donghae’s hand fell from his face, a soft thud on the bed as he stared up at Kangin this time with wide surprised eyes “Why is she here?” his tone heavily laden with distaste.

Kangin shook his head, crossing his arms over his broad toned chest “ I don’t know exactly why myself, said it was just to check up on her favorite bunch of friends.”

Donghae averted his gaze, he didn’t want to meet that woman, even Kangin knew she was not good news. The fact that she was the boss of all of them didn’t help  things. She was the one calling the shots.

“I might have an idea though..” Kangin’s voice had him looking up at him again “Some of our men have been reporting some fishy stuff going on within a small circle of the Government.” Scrunching his brows kanging raised a hand to place it gently over Donghae’s shoulder, peering into the younger’s eyes “Look, I know just how much you dislike that woman and I share part of your sentiment but if this is about what I think it is, we will have to set our dislikes aside to work together.”

“Which is what, hyung?” Donghae asked quietly and Kangin half-turned to walk out “It’s…said the Government is coming up with this so called cure.”

Donghae narrowed his eyes in confusion “ Cure?...I don—“

“Cure for us Hae. “ Kangin cut in, holding donghae’s gaze calmly “Cure for us shifters, a polite way of ending our kind."