T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Seventeen

The Institute was sombrely quiet on the night after the funeral. In the special agents’ sleeping quarters, the usual faint sounds coming from each of the bedrooms was so minimal, it was as if no one was there. Half of them had gone to sleep earlier than they normally would, the other half couldn’t sleep, most were watching television or flipping through a book, only a few were restless. This few included Ryeowook and Yesung. These two were only still up and about because of each other mainly. Yesung was busying himself with his reptiles instead of getting to sleep and so, because Ryeowook had chosen to stay in his room that night, he was wide awake as well.

‘I’m going to see if Heechul’s up.’ He announced, putting down his phone that he’d been idly playing with. Yesung spun around and stood up, a turtle in each hand.

‘Why?’ He questioned.

‘I wanted to give him what I found at the warehouse, remember?’ Ryeowook got up off the bed and retrieved said item from the desk then moved closer to where Yesung was stood. Ddangkkoming blinked at him.

‘Oh right, yeah.’ The teleporter nodded. ‘Careful you don’t actually wake Heechul up.’

‘Please. I’m not stupid enough to get myself almost killed again.’ Ryeowook grinned but he found himself reaching down to rub one of his worst scars subconsciously. He left Yesung’s bedroom and softly treaded the hallway carpet down to Heechul’s. He couldn’t hear any noise from inside but he decided to try knocking anyway. It surprisingly didn’t take long at all for Heechul to come and open the door.

‘Wookie, what’s up?’ The shifter exclaimed drowsily when he appeared, re-fastening his dressing gown ties. He beckoned Ryeowook into his dimly lit room; the fairy lights that hung over the curtains at the head of his bed twinkled in greeting.

‘When I went back to the warehouse, I found something and I’ve been meaning to give it to you ever since I got back but Kangin was keeping a pretty heavy guard over you.’ Heechul smirked.

‘What is it?’ He asked. He hadn’t got any makeup on and the shadows under his eyes were striking in the half-light.

‘It’s Jay’s phone.’ Ryeowook pulled it out of his pocket and held it out for the other boy to take. ‘I didn’t go through it entirely, I just wanted to see if there was anything useful in there. The only thing that stood out was the last text he sent to you.’ Heechul brought the phone to life and visibly stiffened when his own face from over seven months ago smiled back at him. He quickly went to the inbox and brought up the message that Ryeowook had mentioned.

‘Please listen to the voicemail.’ He read aloud. ‘It’s dated from about a week after he left but I never got that text… or a voicemail.’

‘That’s weird.’ Ryeowook frowned until he saw the lightbulb go off in Heechul’s head. ‘What?’

‘I smashed my phone, remember? I kept trying to message him and call him and he’d never answer so I smashed my old phone. I didn’t get a new one until another week later.’

‘If your voicemail number is the same then you might still be able to listen to it. Though, surely you would have noticed it by now?’

‘Wookie, who leaves voicemails anymore? Of course I haven’t checked it.’ Heechul sniggered quietly and Ryeowook felt strangely uplifted to see the slight smile on his friend’s face. The redhead went over to bed and picked up his own – new – phone. He typed in the number for his voicemail and the pair went silent as they listened into the dial tone and then the computerised voice.

‘You have two new messages. First message received at 4:09am on March 16^th. New message: Chullie… Rella where are you, we’re in the taxi an I got you a take’way wait no I got me a take’way bu- Rella I love yooooooou im stayin in your room tonigh can’t stop meeee-Sungmin off im on the phone how do you hang on what- Message deleted.’

Heechul and Ryeowook exchanged entertained looks and then broke out into laughter. ‘That was the night Donghae tried to challenge a gorgon to a dance battle and got himself kicked out of the club so I went home early with him.’

‘Hah yeah and you were with this guy that had been talking to you all night and he followed you out with Donghae.’

‘He told the driver to let him out about ten minutes after because he “didn’t realise I was babysitting my little brother”.’ Heechul made the air quotes with his fingers and they both laughed again. Once the amusement subsided, Heechul pressed a number on his keypad and the computerised voice sounded again.

‘You have one new message. Message received at 1:16am on October 24^th. New message: …Heechul-’ Jay’s voice was cut off before it even began and Heechul looked tentatively up at Ryeowook.

‘I’m going to bed now. I’ll let you listen to it on your own.’ Ryeowook smiled. He started retreating out of the room.

‘Thank you Wookie.’ Heechul said softly. He suddenly stepped forwards and wrapped his arms around the younger boy’s frame. ‘I’m glad we got you back in one piece.’ Ryeowook squeezed back tightly then let go and opened the door.

He picked up the phone and shuffled back across his sheets so that he could rest up against the hundreds of pillows stacked at his headboard. He pulled the covers over himself and turned off the bedside lamp so that it was only the fairy lights still glowing, casting warm yellowy orange colours around the room in a mock-candlelight effect. Heechul curled up on his side and placed the phone next to him. He the screen and dialled his voicemail for the second time, allowing it to connect as he tucked his hand back against himself and relaxed enough to listen.

‘You have one new message. Message received at 1:16am on October 24^th. New message:…Heechul…

I know you’ve um… been trying to call me and stuff. I just couldn’t… I had no idea what to say to you. Heh I still don’t. I mean, I’m trying to figure out what I want to say, what I need to say. ’Course sorry is the first thing. I’m sorry I left without telling you. I’m sorry we had to have that fight before I did. …I’m sorry I never explained why I went… to you, to anyone. I… Well you’ve heard me go on a million times about how I’ve always wanted to travel and, well, the thing is… ..

…Me and Jungmo. We… We’re not like the rest of you. All of you have got this darkness looming over your heads because of what the Dark Elves did to your families and I get it, I understand it, I just… I’m an orphan! So is Jungmo. You know that. It just always felt like all of you were on some revenge mission for your parents and we’ve never been able to fully commit the way everyone else did.

So, um, that’s why I wanted to leave. At least, originally. I erm… there’s something else. I didn’t want to tell you, I don’t want… I c- …this is so stupid. …Heechul… Chullie I got bitten by the chimera on that mission with Jungmo. I’m… I just needed to see the world before, um… Y-you have to believe me, I never wanted to leave you bu-but I had to, I couldn’t tell you this and see your face I… I needed you to be mad at me, to hate me so you could forget me and move on…

I’m such a ing idiot. Eheh you should know that best of all. I’m so… so sorry. I know I… I know I never said this to you enough but you know I love you, don’t you? I would have given you the moon if you’d asked. I still would.

‘Why don’t we let Kangin sit down and then address the matter that’s written all over your faces.’ Master Chen said without looking up from a case file he was reading through. Kangin gratefully settled himself at the large oval table. As soon as his bum touched the cushion, questions were fired from all directions.

‘What happened?’

‘Where is he?’

‘Is he alright?’

‘Why was he screaming?’

‘Was someone hurting him?’

‘Alright, alright!’ Kangin cried, holding up his hands in surrender. ‘Wookie found Jay’s phone at the warehouse and he gave it to Heechul last night.’

‘We figured out he’d sent Heechul a voicemail message after Heechul had smashed his old phone.’ Ryeowook interjected.

‘Yeah so he listened to it.’ Kangin paused, looking conflicted.

‘What did Jay say?’ Sungmin prompted, he was on the edge of his seat.

‘He, err… you all remember the mission with the chimera that Jay and Jungmo took care of?’ There was a murmur of agreement. ‘Well the pair of them had been thinking about leaving for a while before that but then… Jay got bitten.’ Sungmin gasped. ‘He was dying and he didn’t want anyone to know, especially Heechul, so he took off.’ Kangin finished solemnly and sighed, looking down.

‘Well this certainly raises a few questions.’ Master Chen commented.

‘If Jay was dying then how did he… he was… what?’ Ryeowook shook his head in utter confusion. Kangin opened his mouth to speak again but gave up, he was clearly done with everything. Sungmin didn’t blame him.

‘Master Hwang had a word with me yesterday.’ Master Chen interrupted, looking pointedly at Kangin and the latter visibly relaxed. ‘You all should be aware… it seems that Jay, Jungmo, Dongwoo and the two security guards had all rather impossible times of death. Jay and Jungmo, for example, have been dead for over six months.’ There were a number of outbursts in varying degrees of disbelief. ‘The science department are trying to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, you’re all welcome to look into it yourselves. I’d say this entire establishment could use an all hands on deck attitude in the current situation.’

‘Everything just keeps getting weirder and weirder.’ Yesung muttered.

‘I agree.’ Master Chen replied sympathetically. ‘But to keep a little of normality, I’ve got a job for a few of you.’ He shuffled around his papers and files until he found the one he wanted. ‘It’s a berserker that’s gone loose near a village up in the north. According to witnesses it’s taken a bear-like shape so it’s pretty large. No one’s been killed or injured so far but we’d prefer it to be taken out before anything does happen.’

‘Who do you want to send?’ Shindong asked.

‘It’s a level 3 threat so Donghae, Ryeowook and Hankyung are on rota. I wanted to make sure you were ok with this?’ Master Chen looked over at Ryeowook.

‘I should be fine. Might be a little out of practise but this ought to get me back on track.’ The boy replied.

‘Great. So you three will need to leave here by-’ All of sudden, the intercom starting buzzing in the middle of the table. Master Chen grumbled under his breath as he reached over and pressed it. ‘Yes Ailee?’

‘Sir, Mrs Lee is here. She’s-’ Squawking and high heels could be heard in the background. ‘I’m afraid she’s already made Chansung in security cry. I tried to stop her g-’ The shouting match going on in the main lobby was getting louder. Sungmin’s stomach plummeted and he slumped down so far in his seat that he was almost underneath the table.

‘Ailee?’ More squawking. ‘Ailee?’

‘Sorry. Yes sir?’

‘Is it possible to keep her in the lobby until I’ve finished with my meeting?’

‘Erm…’

‘Never mind.’ Master Chen rolled his eyes. ‘Thank you.’ He switched off the communicator and looked over at Sungmin. ‘Your mother is going to give me a heart condition, I can see it now.’ Sungmin just gave up and hid underneath the table altogether. No one else would admit it but they were all considering doing the same.

Everyone listened in trepidation as the sharp clacks of Mrs Lee Seoyoon’s high heels got closer and closer to the conference room. Even Master Chen looked greatly uncertain as to what might happen once she reached them. Sungmin started chewing on his hair he was that nervous and aggressively pulled away from Kyuhyun’s hand trying to drag him back out from under the table. When the door finally banged open, the entire room launched to their feet and started bowing at ninety degrees.

‘Mrs Lee.’ Master Chen addressed with a forced smile.

‘Save it Chen. You’ve got some explaining to do.’ Mrs Lee had a glare that could slice steel in half and reduce a grown man to a blubbering mess. ‘Where’s Sungmin?’

‘Err…’ Master Chen worriedly flicked his eyes to the empty space at the table but Sungmin had already resigned himself to coming out from his hiding place.

‘I’m here mother.’ He said, brushing out his rumpled skirt.

‘What the devil were you doing down there? Urgh never mind. I see you’re still playing dress-up. Honestly, darling, you really don’t have the figure for that outfit.’ Sungmin swallowed the choking noise that had come out in shock. His widened eyes caught the almost imperceptibly small movement of Kyuhyun stepping closer to him. ‘And cut your hair for goodness’ sake! I never asked for a daughter.’ He looked down and stayed quiet.

‘Mrs Lee what can we help you with today?’ Master Chen decided to interrupt, feeling just as uncomfortable as everyone else. Sungmin’s mother proceeded to make herself at home in Eunhyuk’s chair that he’d previously vacated. Master Chen dropped back into his own but the others remained standing.

‘I want to know what the bloody hell you plan on doing about the Dark Elves. I’ve heard reports of over six deaths already.’

‘It’s been five deaths actua-’

‘The Netherworld is under threat and I find you all here having a nice little chat. Don’t even get me started on how easy it was to bypass your security. Honestly, the lack of vigilance is greatly concerning and I for one am n-’

‘Mrs Lee, please, The Institute is being pushed to its limit trying to organise patrols and security measures and we still have to keep up with the regular jobs. I’m doing everything I can right now to try and keep things running as smoothly as possible.’

‘Well you’re obviously not doing a very good job! Need I remind you of the chaos that ensued the last time the Dark Elves were at large and it was all down to poor management.’ Mrs Lee rose from her chair and slammed her fist down on the table. ‘These creatures have no conscience! They will stop at nothing to get their revenge and if you don’t take my advice and triple your efforts, then I’d seriously consider your position as the head of this organisation because, believe you me, you can easily be replaced!’

‘Mrs Lee, why don’t you go to the café and I’ll join you wh-’

‘This is exactly what I’m talking about! I don’t have time to sit around drinking coffee! I especially don’t have time for the way you’re obviously letting him get away with anything he wants.’ She gestured at Sungmin and the latter tensed even further.

‘Look, you may be a benefactor of The Institute, but the way it is run still falls under my responsibility. I am doing the best I can right now and if that’s not good enough for you then I’m sorry but that’s just the way it is.’ Master Chen’s voice was firm and he had adopted his usual intense presence but there was still something in his face that suggested he was afraid of what Mrs Lee might do to him if she didn’t like what she heard. She was Sungmin’s mother, she was a demon and she could be absolutely terrifying.

‘I see. Well. I suppose I have no choice but to let you carry on.’ Her clipped tone suggested danger. ‘But don’t come crying to me when it all goes up in smoke.’ She adjusted her clothes primly and took a step towards the door. Her sudden change in attitude was setting everybody on edge.

‘Your son is safe here, I trust you know that.’ Master Chen voiced before she could begin to leave. Mrs Lee looked up and over at him with a spine-chillingly expressionless face.

‘My son was taken from me by the Dark Elves.’ She said coldly. Sungmin’s stomach plummeted and he dropped his vision to the floor. Master Chen was too uncomfortable to try and say anything else. He sighed. All of a sudden, the door opened once again and who should walk in but Heechul. There was a murmur of gasps and mutterings of his name. Sungmin’s eyes rounded when he looked up and saw him.

Heechul began to say, ‘Sorry I… I-’

‘Well if it isn’t the original female impersonator himself.’ Mrs Lee exclaimed. Heechul froze. ‘I honestly would have thought you’d have grown out of this by now. It’s no wonder The Institute is a shambles when they’ve got such childish special agents.’ Sungmin heard Kangin growl. ‘And walking in late to a meeting as well. Hah! You just love to get all the attention don’t you?’ Fists starting clenching. Heechul cowered. ‘If your mother and father could see you now, by god, you-

‘Umma!! Leave him alone!!’ Sungmin didn’t even realise he’d yelled until his mother was glaring at him in shock.

‘What did you just say to me?!’

‘I… I said…’ Sungmin gulped. He’d never, ever shouted at her before. However, he was used to getting his self-confidence knocked down but snapping at Heechul was crossing the line. ‘I said leave him alone!’ Her eyes narrowed but there was no backing down now. ‘Heechul’s been through enough recently without you going on at him.’

‘I’m sure whatever trivial matter he’s suffered is being greatly exaggerated.’ Heechul was getting paler and paler but Sungmin saw red.

‘You have no ing idea what goes on here!! Yet you flounce in like you own the place!’

‘I beg your pardon!’

‘Just go home. Leave Heechul alone and… and leave me alone. I… I know you wish it was me that had been killed not Sungjin. But he’s not coming back Umma.’

‘How dare you-’

‘Go, Umma!’ Sungmin and his mother glared at each other so fiercely that the others didn’t dare breathe. Flecks and flashes of red shone in both of their gazes and it almost seemed like they’d break out into battle until Mrs Lee straightened her posture, sent one last disgusted expression to Master Chen and stormed out of the room. As soon as she was gone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Sungmin…’ It took Sungmin a few moments to let the adrenaline rushing through his system calm down but once he’d settled back to normal, he looked up and realised Kyuhyun had said his name.

‘Kyuhyun?’ He murmured.

‘You stood up to her.’

‘I… I did.’ He let out a shaky breath while the shock wore off. But then, as reality sunk in, a bright smile worked its way across his face. ‘I stood up to her.’ Kyuhyun grinned at him and it was the best thing he’d seen all week.

‘Well, now that that’s over, why don’t we finish our meeting?’ Master Chen announced and the special agents sat down. ‘Of course, before we get back into everything, Heechul. Are you alright?’ All eyes shot over to the shifter now sat next to Kangin, looking paler and thinner than they’d seen him in a long while.

‘I’m ok.’ Heechul muttered, forcing a smile.

Ryeowook, Hankyung and Donghae left that afternoon for a village near to Soyang Lake. A regular agent travelled with them to run through the information that had been passed onto the Institute about the beserker that was at large. Since the meeting that morning, it had already charged through several houses and injured eight people. Ryeowook only kept one ear tuned into the voice of the regular agent while the rest of his attention focussed on the beautiful scenery out the window as the car sped further north.

Since escaping that dreaded warehouse, he’d begun to relish any opportunity to go outside and appreciate the natural world. He’d found it strange, at first, that he should be so enthusiastic about fresh air since he lived in an underground base. But at the Institute he was free, he could leave whenever he wanted, he wasn’t strapped to a metal table for the majority of his day. So he rolled down the car window and inhaled in the northern breeze, smiling when the sun hit his face and warmth spread through him.

When they made it to the village, it was clear without even stepping out of the vehicle that the berserker had been there. The place was deserted since the population must have fled not long ago and not one house had been left untouched. Glass was scattered across the paths from all the smashed windows and it beamed in the sunlight like a glimmering road going off into the woods. Flowerbeds and hedges were torn down and ripped apart, doors were broken in, roofs were crumbling and a large smattering of blood was covering the entire scene. There were no signs of any bodies… yet.

Ryeowook, Donghae and Hankyung clambered out of the car and grouped together with the regular agents to take a better look at it all. The foul stench of berserker’s breath lingered in the air. Now that they were out in the open, the light reflected off everything and dazzled their eyes so that it was far too difficult to tell what was right in front of them, let alone detect whether a giant demon bear was creeping up on them. Ryeowook pulled a cloud over the sun regrettably, the temperature dropped and the mountainous wind rustled their clothes.

‘Check for casualties.’ Donghae instructed to the regular agents and they obeyed fervently. ‘We need to track this thing down.’ He said, putting on his serious face.

‘We should split up and look for it then send a signal once one of us have located it.’ Ryeowook suggested.

‘Go up in the woods, Donghae take the lake and I’ll stay down here in the village.’ Hankyung delegated and the other two nodded. ‘I’ll send flames up in the air if I find it.’

‘Water fountain.’

‘Lightning.’

‘I really need some sleep.’ Was all the redhead said before ZhouMi was bustling him back down the corridor and to his own room.

‘Kangin isn’t going to come charging in here at some point is he?’ The psychic asked.

‘He’s training.’ Heechul replied with a discerning smile. The room was already dimly lit and the rumpled bed covers suggested that Heechul had already tried to take a nap. ZhouMi joined the other boy on the bed and instructed him to lie down, close his eyes and relax as much as possible which he did if only for a residual tremor in his hands.

‘All I’m going to do is put my fingers on your head and channel some positive emotions. Hopefully, once you get to a content enough state, you should fall asleep.’ He explained.

‘Will it be a dreamless sleep?’ Heechul questioned, a crease of worry already working its way across his brow.

‘Probably.’ ZhouMi began to gently place his fingers either side of Heechul’s head. ‘Though you could have a pleasant dream.’

‘I think I’ve forgotten what those are like.’ Appling a minimal amount of pressure to the temples, the psychic began to guide tendrils of good emotions through his own body and release them into Heechul’s brain. It was a calming process for himself as well as the other boy and for a while they sat in a peaceful quiet.

Then ZhouMi whispered, ‘It helps if you try and think of some happy thoughts as well.’ Heechul appeared to be pondering on it.

‘I liked it when we all went to Faust. Before everything went wrong.’ He murmured. The faint glimmer of a smile was starting to show. ‘I was dancing with Hankyung.’

‘You looked like you were having fun.’

‘I was.’ There was a pause as Heechul’s smile got wider. ‘Going to Borneo wasn’t as bad as I thought.’

‘Yeah?’ ZhouMi brightened, pleased that things seemed to be working.

‘When we went into the forest in teams and we found this waterfall pool. Hankyung had me on his shoulders and we were chasing Kangin.’ The soft chuckle bubbling from Heechul made ZhouMi smile as well and they lapsed into another cheerful silence that lasted longer this time. The Chinaman began running his fingers across Heechul’s forehead now in a soothing gesture, still emanating the positive feelings that had intensified due to their conversation. ‘I was actually having a good day before the alarms went off and we had to go rescue Wookie.’

‘Oh really?’

‘I was just… hanging out. With Hankyung and Sungmin.’ Heechul yawned. ‘We were only messing about in Sungmin’s room and talking… but it was nice.’ His voice was becoming airy as drowsiness sunk in.

‘You’ve mentioned Hankyung three times now.’ ZhouMi pointed out, hiding the excitement in his tone.

‘Have I?’ It was then a matter of moments before the nervous trembling stilled and the breathing slowed down to a steady rise and fall. Heechul was asleep. With a pleased smile on his face, ZhouMi continued to massage the other boy’s forehead a while longer and then quietly got up from the bed to leave.

He kept to the route of the shore until he guessed he was somewhere closer to the middle of the forest edge. Fresh-water fish passed him by, schools of smelt, carp and trout. Donghae watched them go with a happy smile; he truly loved to be underwater – even if the eels were giving him distasteful looks. He swiftly returned to the task at hand and swivelled around so that he was gazing up through the surface of the water and along the shoreline.

At first, there was nothing. The water was calm and still if only for the gentle rippling of waves. Donghae swam further, keeping his eyes trained on the surface until, all of a sudden, an enormous dark shape began to loom closer and closer to the shallows. It could have been any kind of wild creature but when it it’s snout into the lake and Donghae saw its unhinged and scarred jaw, the jagged teeth and the old blood now seeping through the water like red ink, he knew he’d found the berserker.

He tossed his body backwards and quickly propelled himself through the water until he was a lot further back from the edge of the lake. He waded down to the bottom and steadied himself. Then, wafting clouds of sand all around him, he launched himself out of the water and soared through the air in one giant leap. The lake gushed up with him and a shower of liquid rained down. At the peak of his jump, Donghae threw out his hands and sent a tremendous fountain up into the atmosphere that would be seen by his teammates. He flipped and span and came hurtling back down into the lake with a splash. Once he was back underwater, the berserker’s roars were muffled.

It didn’t take long before Donghae knew that Ryeowook had seen his signal. The sky grew black and it started to pour down. The sound of splattering rain on top of the lake was intensely magnified from beneath the surface and the fish began to dart away to deeper corners. Donghae could make out the shape of the berserker stalking up and down the banks of the lake and he wondered why it hadn’t tried to grab him out of the water. He rose up and let the top of his head emerge so that he could see properly.

The beast was giant. It’s black fur glistened in the downpour and its heavy footfalls made crunching stomps on the gravel. It wasn’t even looking out to the lake where Donghae had thought its attention would have been held after his showy display. He lifted his head further out of the water and looked across to the edge of the forest. Ryeowook was stood there defensively. He had small tornados whipping at either side of him that were sending the trees in his vicinity into a chaotic dance. The berserker was watching him predatorily, waiting for the opportunity to strike him down. But Donghae wasn’t going to let that happen.

He drifted back and forth within the lake, gradually increasing the force with which he was pushing the water around him. The waves began to grow and he matched them to his own rhythm, commanding the nature of the current like Poseidon. Donghae closed his eyes and rode through the waves as if he was a part of the liquid itself. He sensed the perfect moment and mustered his strength to send a huge tidal wave crashing down onto the shore that drenched the berserker just as it was about to advance on Ryeowook.

Donghae coasted along to the land with the force of the wave and jumped down onto more grassy terrain. He spun around and saw the berserker thrashing about in its fury but didn’t waste time to see what it would do next. He sprinted up the bank to the trees where Ryeowook was standing and joined him as the tornados faded into the breeze.

‘Where’s Hankyung?!’ He yelled over the din of the storm now building overhead.

‘Don’t know!’ Ryeowook cried back. They looked back at the demonic bear. It was recovering itself quickly despite the lake water gushing about in its lungs.

‘Strike it with lightning. It’s full of water, it’ll be electrocuted!’ Donghae commanded.

‘Right!’ Ryeowook agreed. He rubbed his hands together and flicked his eyes up to the sky. But, just as he was gathering a threatening black cloud, they both heard the pounding of footsteps hurtling down towards them and looked back into the forest.

‘GET DOWN!!!’ Hankyung thundered. Donghae and Ryeowook flattened themselves to the ground just as a jet of white hot flame flew over their heads and rushed down to the berserker, sending it up in a blaze. They watched on in astonishment, through the sheets of rain, Hankyung come charging down through the forested slope and hurdle over them. He jumped down onto the bank, erupting into a fiery silhouette on impact. The berserker roared at him though it was still in burning agony.

‘Lightning!!’ Donghae called to Ryeowook. Ryeowook didn’t hesitate. He scrambled to his feet and threw his hands up in the air, flicking soaking wet hair out of his eyes. The storm clouds rumbled as if the sky was about to fall but in one concentrated focus of energy, Ryeowook called upon a flash of lightning to come forking down and strike the berserker through its back. It’s bloodcurdling howls filled the air as it’s torched body dropped to the ground.

Donghae got up and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he caught a glimpse at Hankyung. The pyro was still a smouldering entity of flame but he wasn’t looking at the berserker anymore. He was looking at Ryeowook and Donghae. Donghae started slowly backing away out of fear. Ryeowook followed his line of sight and gasped, horrified, when he realised what was happening. In a split second, he made a judgement call and sent a phenomenal gust of wind blasting in Hankyung’s direction so that the boy was thrown careening backwards straight into Soyang Lake.

Now, Donghae could breathe. 

you beautiful people do not deserve my terrible excuses

I can only hope that you liked this awfully late chapter and that you'll wait for the next one 

it will be jampacked with Hanchul moments which I know you've been begging me for

a thousand apologies for my abominable updating

~JC