Seunghyun grasped the edges of the small, plastic chair he was sitting on, his knuckles turning white. Jiyong had been in the emergency room for hours now and there had been no news about him since then. His heart stopped during the short minutes the ambulance had needed to get to the hospital, but by the time he had disappeared behind the grey doors, it had been beating again.

The wolf had no idea what to think. His mate was suffering there, his condition probably worsening as the time passed and he himself, the one who should have supported him was there in the waiting room, helpless. 

He had never felt like this before. Seunghyun felt weakened by all the emotions that had crashed down on him. He was terrified of the unknown, of why Jiyong's heart had stopped so abruptly if the problems were with his stomach and he was longing to be by his mate's side to hold his hand and calm him down. He was furious at himself as he knew well that he should have noticed that something was wrong, that his pretty little human was seriously ill...

It all made no sense to Seunghyun, why it was him who had to suffer like this, why not another wolf. Why couldn't someone else be in Jiyong's place? Why couldn't the boy be back with his mate, in the elder's arms right where he belonged?

Because you ed everything up. His wolf was right. Seunghyun knew it very well yet deep down, in the depth of his soul he was still clinging to the lie he had made up so many hours ago. His mate had been the one to say those things about him, it had been Jiyong who had made the mistake, not him. 

Seunghyun was as innocent as a newborn, or at least, he was struggling to believe that. He wanted to think that he had done nothing wrong, that the events that had occurred had been random, caused by someone else, maybe Jiyong himself.

Because really, the small boy could have told his mate that something was wrong the food, no? He could have just said that he didn't want it and nothing would have happened, right?

Seunghyun groaned in frustration as he leant back in his chair, eyes sliding shut for a few moments. He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He felt like his energy had been cut short just by the loss of his mate's presence.

It was honestly terrifying to depend on someone so much. Seunghyun was aware of the fact that his and Jiyong's lives were linked.

If someone from a mated couple was suffering physically, the other was going through similar terrors, albeit only on emotional levels. They shared souls, in a way, meaning that they both needed to be content and blissful for the other to feel the same completely. Surely, these things were hardly noticeable with pairs that had barely met, but they were still there in the air. 

This was why mates could never really be separated. One couldn't really live without the other. Their love was caused by more than just attraction to another being as it was caused by the instinct to survive as well.

Seunghyun let a snarl escape him as he thought of how lost Jiyong must have felt, if he was awake,

If he's alive. We can't know that yet. His wolf growled lowly, voice deep and threatening. Humans are surrounding him, they are dangerous enough to break him. And we are here, letting everything happen to him.

Seunghyun thought nothing just stared ahead, gaze filled with loneliness as he struggled to keep his wolf under strict control. Wolves whose mates were suffering or worse often went on rampages, many times harming their family friends in the process. They couldn't think through in such cases...

The doors suddenly flung open and a small, chubby doctor stepped out, short hair disheveled and exposed skin glistening from sweat. His gloves were stained by blood, just like his white robe. However, relief seemed to be reflected in his eyes, merging with some pride.

"How is he?" Seunghyun asked, bolting out of his chair. He knew well that the blood was Jiyong's, he could just feel it.... And he wasn't sure what the mixed signals the doctors were sending him through his appearance and eyes could mean.

"Alright." The doctor replied, letting out a soft sigh of relief."Sure, do you know what a parasite is?"

Seunghyun surely did. Parasites, on contrary to what many human believed, were miniature demons. They came in every shape and size, gender and race. They weren't the same as the things mortal called parasites, but they were surely more dangerous than them. 

Parasites were ruthless killers even if quite an amount of them were barely bigger than one's thumb. Practically, they found a way to get under the creature's skin they wished to feast on, a