CHAPTER 1: MOMENTUM

“!” Xiao Lu hissed in pain as his arm was being bandaged.

The smaller guy, Xiumin, who sat across him in the small train cabin, was currently redressing the gauzes littered throughout his arms.

Looking away from his task and at the man in front of him, Xiumin gave Xiao Lu a berating look. “Serves you right for picking up another fight, that was your third outburst in a single month now,” he looks down again to secure the bandage with a pin. “If this continues, we’re going to run out of places to stay in.”

Sitting beside Xiumin was Kai, the youngest in their group. He momentarily glanced up from his laptop to smile sadly at Xiao Lu. Their leader, Yi Fan, who sat beside the injured man, just closed his eyes and continued to face the train’s window.

Xiao Lu bit his lip at Xiumin’s words and looked down in guilt. For the past weeks, his ability to control his anger had been waning, and he was picking up a lot of fights that forced his group to be on the constant move. If it were just simple brawls, they would not be in this train traveling from mainland China to Korea, but the problem laid in their secret: lycanthropy.

They embodied a creature that was believed to be unreal, a figment of a human’s imagination. It was a secret that they kept amongst themselves knowing that normal human beings would never understand and would simply take pity in their predicament. They were bound to be hated and feared just like how it was told in the myths.

No one in their group knew why they were cursed with a medieval fantasy. They were not reared from lycanthropic parents, and they were also not bitten or scratched by so-called werewolves. All four of them just grew up and one day, in a fit of rage, their animalistic tendencies sprouted. Together with it came an increased sense of smell and hearing, an inhumane agility and strength, as well as the ability to discern the feeling of hostility and fear from others.

With Xiao Lu having the most sensitive awareness in his surroundings, even the slightest feeling of aggression from another individual could set him off to lose control of his powers. It was the sense of innate protectiveness over his group that made him run into trouble, and whenever he fought, it only meant that other people would become suspicious of their abilities. To mend this and to keep from garnering unwanted attention, they changed their location whenever they felt that their secret was at risk of being found out.

Xiao Lu knew that it was his fault why his group was, once again, on the move. Two months ago, they were already getting accustomed to permanently settling down in Shaoxing, China. But with his sudden and repeated bouts of outrage, lately, they had to constantly hop from one city to another. This time, however, Yi Fan had finally decided that leaving China might be the only way to find a place that would not trigger Xiao Lu’s rage. At first, the older protested at this, telling his group that there was no need to move to a whole new country on such short notice, but Yi Fan had no intentions of changing his mind. The leader reasoned out that since Kai was of Korean nationality, it gave them the advantage of having connections in the country. Xiumin, who was half-Korean, agreed, and Kai only followed Yi Fan’s orders, so the three of them overrode his qualms.

The train ride continued in silence as Xiumin finished treating the other’s wounds. Only the clacking sound of Kai’s typing and the bustle of the train could be heard.

Xiao Lu leaned back and looked at each of his companions. Yi Fan continued to stare outside with his head propped in his hand, face unreadable like usual. Xiumin was disposing the used bandages and cotton balls, and Kai was still typing like a madman in his laptop, the bright screen of the gadget reflected in his dark orbs.

“Aha!” Kai suddenly raised his hands as he let out a delighted gasp at something on the screen, his action almost causing him to drop his laptop in the process.

Xiumin, a bit startled, patted his chest to soothe his surprise. “Don’t do that, Kai.”

“Sorry, ge.” The younger gave him an apologetic smile and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Yi Fan left his former stance and set his gaze on the youngest one in their group. “Have you found a place where we could stay?”

“I got something even better.” Kai pointed at a logo of a university located in Busan. “This school for the rich provides meals and housing for their students. Since a new academic year is about to start, I hacked into their system, enrolled, and got ourselves some spots.” He grinned and continued, “For free, if I may add.”

Xiao Lu’s eyes widened, thoroughly impressed as he counted the number of zeroes that were made in the ‘transaction’. “Wow, this must be your largest thievery feat yet, Kai.”

Yi Fan and Xiumin shook their heads at the two. They did not encourage such acts, but they understood that Kai’s crimes were needed to be done for them to survive. Besides, Yi Fan also had a different agenda for choosing universities as their choice of lodging.

“Do they have what we need?” The leader asked.

Kai turned serious and nodded. “Yeah, and their equipment is more advanced than the ones in China.”

“That’s good.“ Yi Fan locked his hands together in front of him and smiled a little. “Thank you.”

The thief grinned again. “No problem, ge.” He turned his laptop back to himself and started completing more forms.

Noticing how their leader looked hopeful, Xiao Lu softly grasped the former’s elbow. “Hey, Yi Fan.”

 “Yeah?”

The older shifted in his seat, pouting and unsure. “I’m sorry…” He started. “I’ll try not to cause trouble for everyone anymore. For all of us.”

Yi Fan smiled softly at him. He knew that Xiao Lu was blaming himself and feeling bad for bringing everyone down once again, but as the leader of the group, the one being followed by his companions, he had to reassure the others that everything was alright.

“Okay, I’ll keep your words, Lu-ge.” He said softly. “We’ll be fine.”

Xiumin suddenly stretched and sighed loudly. “Of course, but I won’t be anywhere near fine if this train doesn’t get any faster.” He patted his stomach lazily before groaning tiredly. “When will we arrive? I’m starving…”

Xiao Lu laughed at his friend and grinned mischievously before spouting the word that infuriated Xiumin the most. “BAOZI.”

“Shut up!”

Kai joined in their laughter and Yi Fan chuckled at their antics.

‘As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine’, the leader thought.

A/N: Woot, still an introductory chapter XD (Nothing makes sense, lol)