Thursday, the big audition was almost here. School had ended for the day and the Btob members were busy importing their stage props. They scheduled their dress rehearsal for that night while Vixx had scheduled their final rehearsal for the following morning.

            The auditorium was now bursting with activity as the seven boys, the six shadows, and an additional helper prepared for the big show. Most of the boys were backstage while Peniel, Ilhoon and Junhyung sat in the first row of the audience, going over the song arrangement with Jiyoon.

            “I think it’d be best if Ilhoon took Minhyuk’s line after Hyunsik’s just before the first chorus and Peniel could have the first half of Minhyuk’s rap during the break down and Ilhoon can take the second half,” Junhyung explained to the two boys.

            “That could throw off Changsub’s choreography though,” Jiyoon argued.

            “Plus, that’d make the arrangement Ilhoon-centric,” Peniel continued. “This is not Ilhoon presents Btob. What if I just take Minhyuk’s entire part at the breakdown?”

            “That’ll throw off the symmetry for that entire portion of the song!” Jiyoon continued.

            “Ugh,” Ilhoon groaned, “Can’t we just perform the number as practiced?! Minhyuk could come back.”

            “I doubt it,” Junhyung commented. “You saw him at lunch; he’s trying to avoid us.”

            “Well, we have until tomorrow,” Peniel smiled. “We have to keep faith in him.”

            Ilhoon nodded as Jiyoon spoke, “But still, it’s good to have a backup plan.”

            Junhyung held up the music sheets and once again went over the lyrics with Ilhoon and Peniel when the doors to the back of the auditorium opened.

            “Ilhoon, are you in here?”

            Junhyung shuddered and quickly sunk into the floor at the familiar voice of his long time crush.

            “Ah there you are.” Gina approached the front row before turning toward the stage where the other boys were setting up. “Wow, you all really put a lot of work into this, haven’t you?”

            Ilhoon nodded nervously, subtly motioning with his hands for the other shadows to hide. Gina was thankfully too preoccupied glancing at the discarded sheet music to notice.

            “So is this your new song?” The teacher asked, picking up the papers Junhyung had dropped.

            “Nuh uh, uh,” Peniel took the papers and smiled.

            “Hey!” Gina cried but Ilhoon stood between the frustrated teacher and the cheeky foreigner.

            “Sorry, Ms. Gina,” Ilhoon chuckled, “We can’t let you hear our song until tomorrow, it could influence the competition.”

            “Ahh, c’mon,” the young teacher whined, “I’m not even judging, Mr. Hong is! I just want a peek at the lyrics.”

            “Sorry, Ms. Gina, but we want a completely fair and unbiased judging.” Ilhoon glanced back to Peniel and the boy ran back onto the stage where Sungjae was waiting for him.

            Gina pouted, causing Jiyoon to giggle. She turned toward the younger girl and her pout faded into a smile. “Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

            Jiyoon stood and extended her hand. “Hello, I’m Jung Jiyoon, Ilhoon’s older sister.”

            Gina shook her hand before pausing, looking the girl over. ‘She also looks a bit like Jaesoon.’ She sighed, shaking herself from her thoughts and smiling again. “Nice to meet you. I wasn’t really aware Ilhoon had any other siblings.”

            Jiyoon nodded before returning to her seat. “No problem. I just got involved in Ilhoon’s activities recently. Composing is starting become sort of a family thing.” A smirk appeared on her face as she inspected the young woman from top to bottom. ‘So this is the girl Oppa has a crush on. Baby sister approves.’

            “So anyway, I just want to confirm the plans with you for tomorrow. Papa Hong will arrive at two. The decision who performs first will be made by him, so be prepared for any eventuality. I’ve decided to open the audition for the student body to watch so I hope you won’t mind an audience.”

            Ilhoon smirked. “At this point, I think we're used to the attention.”

            Gina rubbed the boy's head before smiling, “Don’t get cocky, the stage can be a cruel mistress.”

            Ilhoon sighed, “We’ll do our best.”

            “I know you will.” She turned to look at the stage where the other Btob boys were still setting up. “I look forward to what kind of performance you boys are planning. The doors will open at two and the show will begin at two-thirty. I’m rooting for you.”

            “That biased attitude is specifically why you can’t be a judge tomorrow,” Changsub yelled, causing the teacher to glare.

            Gina sighed, “Keep that one on a short leash, would you?”

            Ilhoon laughed alongside the teacher for a moment before Gina turned to leave the auditorium. “Break a leg out there tomorrow, fighting!”

            As Gina left a panicked young girl rushed past her, a tablet clutched tightly against her bosom. She quickly rushed down the aisle towards the front where Ilhoon was seated with his sister. “Ilhoon!” She yelled before stumbling in her haste and harshly falling to the floor.

            “Sohyun!” Ilhoon and Jiyoon rushed over to the girl as the other BtoB members came downstage to check the injured girl. “Sohyun, are you alright?”

            Sohyun hung her head down, catching her breath before looking up at the blonde boy, revealing a slightly discolored eye.

            Ilhoon gasped, pulling the girl up to her feet, “What happened?!”

            “Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” Sohyun brushed her bangs over the shiner, garnering concerned looks from the entire group. “It’s my own fault. But, nevermind, that’s not important right now. Ilhoon, your life is in danger, everyone’s is!”

            “What are you talking about Sohyun?” Jiyoon asked calmly.

            Sohyun sighed, “As you know, for several weeks now, I’ve been tracking a strange presence I’ve sensed around Ilhoon and up until recently, I haven’t had any luck determining what it was. But thanks to some help, we figured out just what is following you Ilhoon, or rather all of Btob, and the answer is all but good.”

            The boys exchanged awkward glances before Jiyoon approached Sohyun, “Um, Sohyun.”

            “Look, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but you have to believe me.” Sohyun took a deep breath before exclaiming, “You’re being followed by shadow demons! They’re dangerous monsters that want nothing more than to rob you all of your life force so they’ll be free to walk in the light. We have to do something to get rid of them before it’s too late!”

            The room was silent for what seemed like minutes before a snicker broke the tension and before Sohyun knew what happened, the room erupted into a fit of laughter.

            “Yah, it’s not funny! I’m being serious here!” Sohyun yelled, watching the boys openly mock her. Jiyoon simply sighed, shaking her head and placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

            “Took you long enough,” Sungjae remarked, catching Sohyun’s attention.

            “Of course we believe you,” Hyunsik smiled, wiping a tear from his eye.

            “We’ve known about this for months,” Peniel laughed, shocking the girl.

            “Y-you know about the shadow demons?” Sohyun stuttered, her eyes wide in both shock and curiosity.

            “Of course we do,” Ilhoon smiled. “We actually approached the shadows first. They’re not evil, just misunderstood.”

            “W-What do you mean you approached them? H-How can you be sure they’re not evil?”

            Ilhoon stepped aside allowing a black-haired shadow to emerge from the ground. Sohyun jumped at the action, stumbling back as the shadow offered a hand to her.

           “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Yong Junhyung, aka, Jung Jaesoon. I’m Ilhoon’s older brother.”

            “Ilhoon’s brother?” Sohyun questioned before four other shadows made their appearance.

            “Soo Beast,” the boys chanted, “Annyeonghaseyo, Beast imnida!”

            “B-Beast,” Sohyun stuttered as Doojoon leapt down from the stage.

            “Allow me to explain,” Doojoon smiled at the young girl. “It’s a long story but basically, we’re the lost boys from the abandoned school, although technically we were never really lost, we just turned ourselves into shadows and lived there ever since. My name is Yoon Doojoon and I am now Seo Eunkwang’s shadow.”

            “But how?” Sohyun asked and Kikwang kneeled down on the edge of the stage.

            “You can call me Lee Kikwang, Sohyun-ssi,” Kikwang smiled down startling the girl. “I’m Hyunsik’s shadow. The Btob boys found us in the old abandoned school and linked to us there.”

            “Y-you know who I am?” Sohyun was beside herself, trying hard to absorb the current situation.

            “We’ve known that you were a seer for a while,” Yoseob announced before jumping on Peniel’s shoulders. “We were just waiting for you to come and confront us. My name, by the way, is Yang Yoseob and I’m Peniel and Sungjae’s shadow.”

            Sohyun simply blinked in confusion as Ilhoon approached her and pulled her to her feet.

            “Thanks for the concern, Sohyun, but as you can see, we’re in no danger,” Ilhoon smiled as Junhyung stood by his side.

            Sohyun nodded slowly before picking up her dropped iPad. She looked away silently, unable to determine whether or not to trust the shadows. On one hand she was relieved. The demons were not at all what she had expected; however, she still felt a bit disappointed. Something in her was hoping that she’d be needed.

            Sohyun bowed a full ninety-degrees, holding back the tears that were threatening her eyes. “Sorry for the inconvenience. It’s...” She hesitated for a moment, knowing in her heart that this would be her last time meeting with Ilhoon. “It was nice meeting you all. I-I hope you shadow demons...”

            “Please,” Hyunseung stopped her, “You can just call us shadows. It’s quicker.”

            Sohyun nodded, “I hope you shadows are able to be trusted. I-If you ever need someone to perform an exorcism... I may know a guy.”

            Sohyun turned, about the exit the auditorium when a voice halted her.

            “Where you going, Sohyun?” Sohyun paused, glancing back at Ilhoon’s call. “Don’t you wanna stay and help with our rehearsal?”

            Sohyun wanted so much to run back to the stage and do all she could to assist the boy but she knew it wasn’t allowed. “I... I shouldn’t, it’s not my place.”

            Ilhoon walked over the girl and promptly grabbed her hand. “If you’re worried about the queenkas or the other girls, don’t be. We won’t let them threaten you anymore.”

            Sohyun’s eyes widened before looking back at the smiling blonde. “How’d you know?”

            “Peniel told me he saw you crying after meeting them the other day. Well, don’t worry about them anymore. I swear, I will not let them hurt you ever again.”

            Sohyun’s eyes filled with tears before she promptly captured the taller boy in a big hug. Ilhoon’s cheeks grew bright red as he awkwardly patted the girl on the back. He could hear the whoops and hollers of the other boys but decided to ignore it, leading the girl back toward the stage.

            “Ok, if you guys are done acting like idiots,” Ilhoon called s, “let’s get this show on the road!” He let go of Sohyun’s hand before leaping up onto the stage with his group.

            Jiyoon walked over to her friend before patting her on the back. “C’mon, I could use your help setting up the audio and I know you took ‘Theater Tech’ this year.”

            “You knew about this,” Sohyun asked and Jiyoon nodded softly.

            “Ilhoon told me last week,” Jiyoon admitted. “I meant to call you about it, but I kinda got involved in this project with them, sorry.”

            Sohyun shook her head and smiled. “I’m just glad they’re all safe.”

            Meanwhile, up in the lighting booth a certain red-haired boy looked out on his group. His fingers gingerly brushed over the lighting panel as a sad look captured his features. It’s not that Minhyuk did not want to perform; his soul yearned for the audition. But in order for him to take his place among his BtoB comrades, he would be required to summon back Dongwoon, and that was something he was not about to do.

            The night continued as the Vixx members had once again met at Leo’s compound. Ken was quietly rehearsing his part for their audition while Hyuk played on his new laptop, but both of their activities were becoming difficult with the loud scolding their leader was giving to the other two juniors.

            “Lee Hongbin, how could you let this happen?!” N yelled. “I trusted you to keep Lim Hyunsik safe. Not only did you fail to prevent him from calling his shadow, you were almost discovered and all because you lost focus over some girl?!”

            “Hey she’s not just some girl,” Hongbin argued. “She’s a finely sculpted goddess with an angelic voice and a heavenly body, and someday she will be mine.”

            “She doesn’t like you, Romeo,” Ravi remarked, earning a sneer from the younger.

            “Oh, and don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Kim Wonshik!” N got in the rapper’s face. “Not only did you interact with the boy you insisted on protecting, you gave him a reason to call back the little demon!”

            “I just wanted a fair fight tomorrow,” Ravi argued. “I wrote a pretty awesome song, and I want to be able to show it off. Besides, I prefer to see Peniel smile than fighting with his brother.”

            “Yeah, I kinda wanna do this audition too,” Hongbin argued. “It’s been a while since we’ve performed together, and we practiced pretty hard.”

            N groaned, turning his head, “the audition’s not that important.”

            Ravi and Hongbin smirked placing their hands on N’s shoulders. “Besides, leader,” Hongbin argued, “It’s not like you tried very hard to prevent Eunkwang from calling his shadow.”

            Ravi agreed, “With your skills you could’ve stopped that hellhound and saved Eunkwang at any time, instead of allowing him to call his shadow back.”

            N quickly pushed off the two younger, sending them a hard glare. “You know damn well why I can’t interact with Eunkwang!” He sighed heavily. “And maybe, I want to do the audition, but that doesn’t change the situation. The shadows are evil, so we’ll have to kill them, and that requires you to get a lot stronger. For now, go rehearse for tomorrow, go!”

            N shooed the two boys out of the room before heading upstairs where his long-haired friend was awaiting him. Ken chuckled at the action before leaning back in his chair and looking at his sheet music. He glanced over at Hyuk who hadn’t said a word.

            “Looks like we’r