“I’ve been wondering a lot lately what my life would be like if I’d never met Minho. Don’t get me wrong though! I really care about him and everything, but I just wonder… I think it’s probably because I keep trying to make sense of my past life. I keep trying to remember if I really had the perfect life that I remember so well, with the billion-dollar mansion, million-dollar wardrobe, the parties, the glamour… I remember having it all, but I can’t help but to think: 'If my life was really that perfect, how did I get here?'” – Jae

Minho was watching me, again. I could feel those deep brown eyes boring holes in my side. I cringed, but made sure to ignore the look otherwise. “How can you even eat that,” his deep voice finally questioned. Besides making me cringe again, it made me suddenly wonder when I’d become fluent in Korean.

I knew that I’d been living in South Korea for a while, although the number of years always escaped me. I remember why I came – to study abroad. That’s as much as I know for sure about bringing myself so far away from home. I’m still trying to figure what has made me stay for so long, however long that may be.

“Are you really going to ignore me again,” Minho’s voice resonated through my senses. I hadn’t noticed that I was looking at him. We both cringed at the sound of metal crunching. Looking down at the counter, the knife had missed the crust of the bread that I was aiming for and had collided with the side of my palm. He took the knife from my hands, setting it down on the plate and taking my hands into his much larger ones. Something warm and wet began to trace along the cut that once been along my palm, taking in the blood and revealing an already healing wound. He held my hand to his lips, kissing it before interlocking his fingers with mine and holding my hand at his side.

“I really wish you’d be careful.”

“It’s not hurting me. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Too bad that line doesn’t work on me.”

“When did you become so sappy? You sound like you’re from a romance novel.”

“I’m not sappy. I just care, you know that.”

Care. The two of us used that word a lot. Personally, we both knew it meant something more than that, or at least that’s what it felt like, but we never referred to it as anything other than “care.” We watched each other’s backs, fought battles with each other. Our lives with each other usually seemed to be a cold and grim existence where there was nothing but blood and dark days. On the other hand, we managed to find smiles and warm moments in the midst of everything. On those days, we would sit out in the park, take a long drive down to the beach, enjoy a movie in our little apartment, listen to music, or just snuggle close in the silence of our bedroom, not bothering with the outside world. Care was just one of those things that seemed natural for us. It didn’t matter what it was called.

“Sometimes I wonder if you care too much,” I finally said in return, slipping my hand from his and then taking the rest of the crust off of my sandwich, deciding to simply peel it off instead. Minho said nothing. As he spoke, he wasn’t looking at me, but at my hands as I finished with my sandwich. “I can’t help it” was all that I got in return. The silence that lingered behind it was one of our comfortable silences. We never felt the need to break it. Not until something crossed our minds that we figured we should say.

He wrapped an arm around my waist - his arm almost feeling as if it wasn’t even there, and then leaned in and kissed my forehead, his light chocolate bangs brushing the slightest bit over the skin there. I looked up at him and we shared a smile before I set the knife I’d been using in the sink. I took a bite out of the sandwich afterward and heard him make a soft noise of disgust. “Human food is really not as bad as you think it is,” I chuckled, after having swallowed the small bite. I was sure Minho was prepared to say something in return about how it just didn’t seem right for “people like us to eat that kind of stuff.” He didn’t get the chance to though. His arm tightened around my waist as we both glanced at the door, hearing the knock for the second time.

Minho eventually let go and made his way to the door. I turned, leaning by back against the counter for a moment as I took another bite out of my sandwich. I decided to follow him out when I heard the door clicking, opening. A familiar face stood on the other side, I was sure. Minho’s face only scrunched up that way, that one particular way, whenever he saw that one particular person. “Morning, Jonghyunnie-oppa,” I greeted, standing at Minho’s side, mostly behind him though. “Morning, Jae-ssi,” Jonghyun smiled in return as he held up a manila envelope, “We’ve got work to do, you two.”

Before I knew Minho, I knew Jonghyun. Jonghyun had told Minho that he would’ve kept me to himself if he’d known how to handle people like me. But, since Minho happened to be someone he knew that was..."similar," I was handed over. The three of us were all different from humans. In Jonghyun’s case, he was a shape-shifter. His forte being animals, although he could take the form of a human if he tried – it would just wear him down to the point of extreme exhaustion. I’m not sure when we met or how long we’d known each other before I was introduced to Minho, but I do remember how it all happened.

I was sitting in an alleyway behind a school. My arms were wrapped tightly around my knees – which were pulled up to my chest, as I tried to keep myself warm. I heard someone coming pass the alley and slid deeper into the shadow, but I guess my movement had caught their attention. “Hey, what’s wrong,” the figure asked, hesitantly making his way toward me. The scent I received when he reached his hand out to me made me freeze. I looked up at him to see his puppy dog eyes looking at me sweetly, matching the smile that played on his full lips. When I didn’t answer, he opted to take my hand and pull me up, “You could catch a cold if you stay out here.”

“I-I don’t have an-anywhere else to go…”

“Do you want to come with me?”

“A-Are you sure th-that’s o-okay?”

“Of course. I’m Jonghyun, by the way. You’re welcome to call me Jjong, though.”

I paused, trying to remember what my name was. All I could remember was: “Your name shall be Jae. We wouldn’t want your family to worry, now would we?” As for who had said that to me or why, it’s always been hard to recall, but I informed the good samaritan that that was my name. “Well, let’s get you to my place and get you all cleaned up,” he smiled again, not having let go of my hand. I followed without any protest or hesitation. There was nothing else that I could do.

I was more than thankful that Jonghyun had found me. I cared about him, too. Who knew if it was the same “care” that I felt for Minho? But I knew they both meant a lot to me.

“What’s the job,” I questioned, breaking the tense staring contest between the two of them. Minho’s arm was around my waist again, but I paid no mind to it. “We’ve got trouble around town,” Jonghyun answered, finally breaking his glare away from the giant at my side, “There’s a werewolf pack collecting recruits around town. The initiation has been putting innocent people in danger.”

“Well, we’ll be glad to help,” I smiled, taking another bite out of my sandwich.

“Great, thanks,” he smiled in return, pausing and watching my food, “Can you make me one before we go though, please?”

“You can make your own,” Minho cut in, coldly.

“Stop it, you two,” I sighed, “It’s just a sandwich. Relax.” Minho looked down at me, surrender in his brown eyes as the brows over them slid together. He sighed before letting me go and then walking towards the couch a few feet away. He was going to sulk and I was going to let him. Always trying to treat them fairly and keep them from killing each other was a task. Other than them, I surprised myself as to how I managed to do it.

I headed to the kitchen, continuing to eat at my sandwich and with Jonghyun on my heels. “Why do you stay here,” he asked suddenly, once we were in the confines of the small kitchen. I didn’t answer at first. Conversations with him were like conversations with Minho, honestly. Neither of them would’ve found that as a compliment, but it was the truth, nonetheless. I ate what was left of my food as I grabbed the fixings for his. Jonghyun leaned his back against the counter. The only difference between him and Minho in these kinds of situations was that Jonghyun always seemed to find it hard to look at me while the latter held me in his gaze.

“You’d still be with me if I hadn’t given you up,” he mumbled, looking as if he was kicking himself mentally.

“Things happen for a reason, don’t they? I really wish you wouldn’t make such a big deal about it.”

“But it is a big deal.”

“You keep thinking that and it’s going to start hindering your work sooner or later.”

He was quiet after that. I realized that I probably shouldn’t have said it that way. Something about it made me feel bad. “Jae-ssi, do you hate me,” he was pretty much whispering. I simply shook my head. There was no way that I could. Our eyes met for a moment and I could easily tell that there was something he was hiding. I handed him his sandwich once I was done. “Let’s get going,” he sighed, smiling weakly, “Thanks for the sandwich.” I let him get away with kissing my cheek as we walked into the living room. I figured I’d ask him what was bothering him another time. There was work to do.

Minho, Jonghyun, and I left the small run-down apartment. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Somehow, the second we’d stepped foot into the parking lot to get into Minho’s car, I sensed that something awful was going to happen. And I’d learned to trust my gut, it hadn’t failed me yet. This werewolf pack was going to be an interesting job to handle.