T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Twenty One

As soon as Kyuhyun opened his eyes, a swarm of medics burst into the room. Sungmin screamed in outrage at being separated from him and blew up a blood bag as he was forcibly removed which left a horrific splatter across the floor and window. Kangin tightly held onto him even as he struggled to be released. The group looked into the room at what was going on in nervous anticipation. Kyuhyun was still awake but he was barely moving, his body seemed weightless as the doctors and nurses tended to him, lifting limbs that dropped straight back down. Typically, it wasn’t long before an orderly came to usher them away from the scene.

‘Go back to your common room and we’ll send someone to tell you what’s going on as soon as we can.’ He pleaded with them. Reluctantly they did as he said although Sungmin had to be carried over Kangin’s shoulder most of the way. They traipsed back through the hallways and stepped through into the common room only to be met by three grave faces – Kibum, Shindong and Master Chen.

‘Ah you’re all here, well, this makes things easier.’ Master Chen beckoned them to quickly come inside and sit down. ‘I’ve been informed about Kyuhyun’s state and this may seem like a lot to ask, particularly of you Sungmin, but I need you to let the doctors take care of him now and concentrate on something else. We’ve… had contact.’

‘With the Dark Elves?’ It sounded like a question but it wasn’t – Siwon knew, they all knew.

‘Precisely and I’m going to show you now but… ah… well just watch.’ Master Chen produced a remote from his inside pocket and clicked a button that controlled a screen on the wall behind him that usually stayed hidden behind a painting. The artwork slid aside and the screen came to life. The picture was fuzzy at first but as it adjusted, a terrible sight came into view.

‘Hankyung!’ Heechul cried out.

In the centre of the shot, Hankyung was strapped to a chair. His face was bloodied, as was most of his body but there was an eerie calm in his expression that unnerved every single one watching him through the screen. Then, an elf came into view. It was him – the King so-called – and he strode in front Hankyung with his snooty nose aloft and a smirk twisting his mouth. His long robes trailed behind him so he appeared to glide towards the camera. His evil face filled the screen and the occupants of the common room collectively shuddered.

‘Institute.’ His hissed. ‘I am King Jaejoong and I have taken your greatest warrior from you.’ He moved away again and began to circle the chair Hankyung was seated upon. Once he was stood right behind him, he suddenly took out a blade from his belt and everyone in the room gasped.

‘No!!’ Heechul screamed.

They waited, horror-stricken. But Jaejoong smirked once again which turned into a laugh and without warning, swung the sword to cut through the bindings that held Hankyung down. Now no one knew what would happen next, they kept their eyes glued to the screen. Hankyung was still seated and Jaejoong was sheathing his sword. There was silence for the moments it took the elf to walk back around the chair, stop to Hankyung’s cheek with his palm and then leave the frame entirely. Hankyung still had that same unreadable look on his face and then he opened his mouth.

‘Go, Sungmin. You should be with him.’

Sungmin heeded Master Chen’s instruction without hesitation. A regular agent had come to inform them all that Kyuhyun was in a stable condition and more importantly, wide awake. He now led Sungmin to the room in which they were keeping Kyuhyun, where there were no objects of a medical nature just a bed and a chair and with the plainness of the room, it felt like the trial of Kyuhyun’s life being in danger was over. Sungmin could breathe. He went calmly to the bedside and looked down into the eyes he’d missed.

‘Hi.’ Kyuhyun whispered.

‘Hi.’ Sungmin’s reply came out strangled as he jostled joyful tears and an overwhelming grin. He sat down in the chair. They stared at each other for quite some time, staring and smiling and drinking in the sight of one another.

‘What happened?’ Kyuhyun eventually croaked which made Sungmin’s happiness waver at the prospect of reliving the past few days.

‘You saved us.’ He said and the other boy’s eyes widened slightly.

‘I remember going to the Troll Market and… lots of bodies. But not much else.’

Sungmin nodded. ‘We went down to the Skeletrain station because it looked weirdly untouched and when we got there, we realised that there was a train due in so we waited… it was your plan but-’

‘What?’

‘As the train got closer… you figured out what was going on and told us all to get the hell out because there was a bomb on it. So we ran.’

‘I didn’t get out in time, did I?’ Kyuhyun guessed and Sungmin shook his head, lowering his eyes to the mattress. ‘I probably deserved it.’ Kyuhyun tried sniggering but the other demon was furious.

‘No you didn’t!!’ He screeched and smacked a hand down on the bed. ‘You might be a demon but nothing you’ve done in your life has ever deserved getting blown up for!’

‘Oh really?’

‘Really!’

‘What about that time I let all of Yesung’s turtles loose?’

‘Even that.’

‘The time I managed to get everyone to ignore Donghae all day?’

‘Kyuhyun~’ Sungmin laughed.

‘He thought he’d died and come back as a ghost then cried for an hour.’

‘Kyu stop. You’re not a bad person.’

‘I beg to differ.’

‘And what makes you so sure of that hmm?’ Sungmin raised an eyebrow at him. He was resting his elbow on the bed and his jaw in the crook of his raised hand with a lazy but fond smile on his lips.

‘Because it’s taken me over five years to tell the person that I love… I love them.’

Sungmin’s arm dropped. He smile faded. He stared into Kyuhyun’s face with such a desperate hope and longing that he felt like his heart could burst out of his chest. It hurt so much to have feelings that consuming about another person. How could anyone think that love was healthy? Yet… regardless of the ache in his chest and the lump in his throat, Sungmin had never felt happier in his entire life than in that moment.

‘I-I… love you too.’ He choked out. He could barely speak at all. Kyuhyun was positively beaming, the grin threatening to split apart his face.

Silence clung to the common room like a suffocating blanket. The special agents were stupefied by shock and confusion. It was only after several long minutes did Master Chen clear his throat. He took out the remote again and clicked it to send the TV back behind the painting, removing the sight of Hankyung’s apathetic face on the screen. He paced briefly in a small circle as if readying himself for what he was about to say but then came to a halt near an armchair and slowly sank down into it. His face bore the hardships he had suffered over the years and never had anyone seen him look so old.

‘Now…’ He began, barely louder than a whisper. ‘I don’t believe for a minute that that was truly the Hankyung we have come to know.’ He ran a hand through his thinning hair.

‘His eyes were red.’ Donghae murmured.

‘Precisely.’ The worn man swallowed thickly and turned away from them all. ‘But any day now we can expect an attack on the Institute and I will do what I can to bring the troops of regular agents back here to protect it but we are outnumbered.’ His voice shook. ‘Hankyung is very powerful.’

‘You’re surely not suggesting we surrender?!’ Kangin exclaimed.

‘Of course not. However…’ Master Chen’s eyes flicked back, specifically to where Heechul was sitting. ‘Our only chance is to take out their most valuable assets.’

Heechul stared straight back at him, almost without blinking. The others around them watched uncomfortably. Master Chen’s expression was pleading but Heechul was unreadable. That is until they all saw him gulp and suddenly look down. As his eyelids closed, they pressed out a tear from each that slid down Heechul’s cheeks. Master Chen let out a breath they hadn’t realised he’d been holding in.

‘I’m going to initiate lockdown. They’re going to come to us and we’re going to be ready.’ The last word was punctuated with a commanding look to let them all know that they should be preparing themselves; sooner rather than later. Then Master Chen got up and left the common room.

‘Heechul.’ Kangin muttered and moved to where his friend was sitting. The wolf sat at Heechul’s feet and held his hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it.

‘All those times Hankyung went a little scary and his eyes turned red… do you think that the elves were controlling him somehow?’ Donghae voiced to the group.

‘It’s… possible.’ Leeteuk answered, sounding unsure.

‘No I don’t think so.’ Kibum disputed. ‘I think his powers are stronger than he can control. I need to do some research.’

‘We don’t have time for research!’ Siwon exclaimed. ‘The elves could turn up on our doorstep at any moment.’

‘It could be important.’ Kibum stated and stood up to leave, he lingered however when Donghae began speaking again.

‘Do you remember when we were in Faust and Hankyung had that… episode?’ He directed the question to Kangin.

‘Of course.’ Kangin grunted.

‘He said it was something to do with a suppressed memory so do you think something happened to him a long time ago, that the Dark Elves did maybe?’

‘The elves destroyed his town and they chased him back to his home.’ Heechul suddenly spoke. ‘His parents owned a dumpling shop but Hankyung was so scared, his fire got out of control and it caught on the gas ovens. He blew the entire place up and everyone in it apart from himself.’

ZhouMi gasped, the revelation hitting him hardest since he’d known Hankyung for so long and never heard anything about it. The others were equally stunned. Kangin turned where he sat and looked up at the heartbroken yet beautiful face, surrounded by auburn hair. Heechul was no longer crying. He looked frighteningly like he’d lost all hope. There was no joy in his eyes, only sadness and longing for someone he’d obviously thought would never cause him any more pain than he’d had to suffer in his lifetime.

‘How do you know this?’ ZhouMi whispered.

‘How did he survive?’ Kibum asked, almost at the same time. He looked stern.

‘I told him my story… and he told me his. He said his fire protected him.’ Heechul replied. Donghae began to complain about not having heard Heechul’s story but he was cut off by Kibum and the group collectively widened their eyes.

‘He’s a phoenix.’ Kibum said.

‘What?’ Heechul’s breathing stuttered.

‘Forget the research… you just confirmed my theory. He’s a phoenix.’ The psychic repeated.

‘How can you be sure? No one’s heard of a phoenix in decades.’ Leeteuk questioned.

‘They’re very rare.’ Eunhyuk pointed out.

‘Exactly and they have regenerating powers!’ Kibum said animatedly but the others were still staring at him in confusion. ‘Don’t you see what’s happened?!’ He cried.

‘You’re going to have to explain.’ Shindong said.

‘Ok...’ He huffed a little and paused, piecing together how best to proceed. ‘After Yesung caught Hankyung in his chamber looking like the human torch, I got curious about pyrotechnics and what they could do since we’ve never met one before. While I was researching their powers in the database, I came across several articles about pyrotechnics gone missing and they were all dated from when the Dark Elves were terrorising Netherworldian communities, back when we were children.’

‘So you think the elves were behind those disappearances?’ Leeteuk asked.

‘I think the elves were trying to find a phoenix.’ Kibum replied. ‘I think they were just beginning to experiment with necromancy and needed knowledge about regeneration, ergo, phoenix. So they started tracking down pyrotechnics and testing to see if they were phoenixes but obviously, if they didn’t pass the test… they didn’t survive. That’s why we haven’t heard of one in so long.’

‘Where does Hankyung come into this?’ Yesung cut in.

‘My theory is that the elves found Hankyung and discovered that he was a phoenix so they kept him and collected the data they needed, probably performed all kinds of tests on him. But he must have escaped somehow.’

‘All this would mean that he’s been lying and keeping secrets from us this whole time. If the elves had captured him and experimented on him, surely he would have known instantly that they’ve been using necromancy but he seemed just as surprised as the rest of us and I don’t think he’s that good of an actor.’ Shindong said, looking completely puzzled.

‘The memory that made him lash out in Faust… the memory he said he suppressed… what if he didn’t suppress it? What if he was forced to forget it?’ Ryeowook questioned.

‘Like some kind of spell?’ Eunhyuk suggested.

‘Yes!’ Kibum agreed. ‘It makes sense! What would the Dark Elves want with a scared little boy who could barely control his powers? They made him forget what had happened to him and-’

‘And chased him back to his home.’ Heechul finished. The group collectively took a breather as the new information took hold of their brains. Then, Heechul shakily stood up and looked at Kibum, determination in his eyes. ‘We have to fight them and beat them so we can get Hankyung back.’ He said.

It was well into the early hours of the morning before any of the special agents went to bed that night. Sungmin and Kyuhyun were updated on what was going on and the things that had been deduced about Hankyung. They were then left alone, curled up together on Kyuhyun’s hospital bed. A few troops of regular agents had already arrived from the closer areas, many of them with injuries. They didn’t even seem relieved to be back at the Institute. All was quiet and no elves decided to show their faces.

When the sun rose, Leeteuk awoke in a daze and for a brief few moments, the past month or so felt like a dream. But then he stretched and patted the empty space where Kangin hadn’t slept since the funeral and his memories returned to him. He sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes that stung from tiredness; he hadn’t slept properly in weeks. A certain thought came to him, as it now did on a daily basis – his vision of Hankyung, the fire, the… death. He relived it every morning and always told himself that visions don’t have to come true but this time, this time he comforted himself by thinking that even if the vision did come true, at least now he’d know that it wasn’t Hankyung in control.

He reluctantly left the warmth of his bed and dressed himself in the first clothes he came across then ducked into his bathroom to quickly run his toothbrush around his mouth. He had no idea what would happen that day. Whether the elves would appear or not, whether they’d figure out a battle strategy, whether they’d actually come close to standing a chance against the elves with such depleted numbers and no clue how to kill an undead army. There was only one thing Leeteuk was certain he wanted to achieve – fix things with Kangin.

It didn’t take him long to find the wolf; somehow he always just had a sense of where the boy was when he needed him. He was at the Watch Tower chatting to a group of regular agents about the state of the world where they’d been deployed. Leeteuk didn’t interrupt the conversation while Kangin was still smiling so he waited, watching with fondness the joviality that would surely be extinguished once the elves turned up and, probably, once he had a chance to talk to Kangin by himself. The lycanthrope spotted him where he stood to the side and immediately made an excuse to the regular agents so that he could join Leeteuk instead.

‘Hey, what’s up?’

‘I want to talk.’ Leeteuk chewed his bottom lip.

‘Oh ok.’ They left the Watch Tower and in the process of walking back into the heart of the Institute, found an old room that held no clear indication of what it had previously been used for. It was empty so Leeteuk led Kangin inside and helped himself to the single chair in the corner. Kangin agreeably sat cross-legged on the floor.

‘I think it’s best if I just say what I want to say.’

‘This is the break-up speech, isn’t it?’ Kangin joked, grinning his wolfish grin. Leeteuk responded to him only with a sad smile and promptly, the grin was gone.

‘It’s not that I want to break up, it’s just it already feels like that’s happened.’ The psychic began. ‘Everyone jokes about us being an old married couple but when you think about it, we are. The honeymoon period is over. I still love you but… I don’t feel the same way about you as I did when we first got together.’

‘Oh.’ Kangin muttered. His brow was furrowed, making him look like he was trying hard not to show his upset. The psychic’s stomach clenched and he got off the chair to sit in front of Kangin, grasping one of his hands and trying to meet his eyes.

‘I don’t want to have to fight the Dark Elves, not knowing whether either of us are going to live or die, without ending this rift that’s come between us! I want us to be ok again… but I don’t think that means being in a relationship.’ Leeteuk felt his emotions welling up. Kangin didn’t say anything for far too long and it was worrying. But then, the wolf looked up and finally locked eyes with Leeteuk.

‘Ok.’ He said gruffly.

‘Ok?’

‘Heh, yeah. Ok.’ Kangin repeated. His smile was back, downhearted or not. ‘You said it all, Teukie. We’ve been trying too hard to make it work when it wasn’t working in the first place.’

‘Exactly.’ Leeteuk whispered. He couldn’t have asked for a better ending but it didn’t stop the tears.

‘Hey don’t cry.’ Kangin pulled him into a hug. He was big and warm and strong, he gave the best hugs. The hugs that could make even the toughest of the tough feel like a child in his arms because they felt so protected and loved. Leeteuk wished Kangin could experience the same feeling. ‘We’re gonna be alright.’ He murmured.

‘Yes, well, due to the heavy amount of technology we were using to keep you alive, the demonic energy inside of you lashed out because it felt threatened. It’s an ancient force so we should have known, really, not to interfere so much when it was trying to heal you itself. After it retaliated, we pulled away almost all the machines and since you’d been getting better since then, the demonic energy took over and finished off the job.’

‘So… I’m ok?’

‘You’re not fighting fit if that’s what you want to hear.’ Dr Kwon gave Kyuhyun a scrupulous look. ‘Your body is still very weak and after such an ordeal, you’re going to need a lot of rest.’

‘Basically you’re saying I can’t fight with everyone else when the Dark Elves get here.’

‘It would be exceptionally unwise.’

‘Kyuhyun…’ The demon looked over at Sungmin and his glare softened somewhat. ‘If you try and fight, you’ll get yourself killed for good this time and I’m not letting you do that.’

‘He’s right.’ The doctor agreed but at Kyuhyun’s venomous expression, decided to then take his leave.

‘This is bull.’

Yesung materialised into the armoury in a cloud of black smoke.

‘Oh hey Yesung.’

‘What are you doing down here?!’

‘You’re supposed to be resting your ankle, you idiot.’

The first was Donghae, the second was Ryeowook and the third was Siwon. Yesung -faced them all and despite the ankle in its awkward blue cast, he went ahead with what those three were doing: arming themselves. Or at least, picking out a selection of weapons for the battle to come. He immediately limped over to the enormous case of shotguns on the wall, eyes seeking out something special and was blown away by one in the middle. It had a long, double barrel and rose-gold plating with embossed decals. Yesung wouldn’t normally go for such an embellished gun but there was something about it that made his mouth water.

‘Oi! You need to get yourself back to bed.’ Ryeowook came fussing.

‘I’m fine, Wookie.’ Yesung smirked, reaching up to take the shotgun off the rack but as soon as he brought it down, it was snatched off him. ‘Hey!’

‘Please, please, go back to bed and put your leg up. I can’t stop you from fighting but that ankle is going to make you look like an easy target so at least let it heal the best it can until then.’ Ryeowook was genuinely pleading and Yesung imminently felt guilty for making him feel so worried.

‘I will. I-I’m sorry.’ He took the gun out of Ryeowook’s hands and set it down on a nearby surface so he could wrap the smaller boy up in his arms.

‘Thank you.’ Ryeowook murmured, clutching him tightly. When Yesung eventually let go, he smiled and vanished. It was with a fond shake of the head that the atmokinetic then noticed that the gun had gone with him.

‘I think another troop of regular agents has arrived.’ Donghae suddenly voiced. He was peering through the windows at the top of the wall where the hangar bay could be seen. Sure enough, it looked like a jet had just come into land and there were groups of weary agents piling out of it.

‘I didn’t think so many would arrive this quickly.’ Siwon commented. He wordlessly made the decision to go and greet the regular agents, leading Ryeowook and Donghae up to the hangar. Once there they discovered it was Captain Ok’s team that had returned and they went over to him. He looked extremely worse for wear with his arm in a sling and a black eye being the most noticeable injuries.

‘Oh hi guys.’ Taecyeon said as they approached.

‘Hey man.’ Siwon replied, pulling the other into a one-armed hug. Donghae and Ryeowook followed suit.

‘How have things been down here in the fort?’ The special agents gave short, bitter laughs.

‘How were things out in the field?’ Ryeowook asked and Taecyeon reiterated the same humourless laugh.

‘We’re expecting practically every team of agents back in the next day or two. Did you know?’ The captain said to which the others frowned at.

‘But they’re supposed to be fighting the elves across the country.’ Donghae formed a crease between his eyebrows.

‘Hah, yeah, they would if there were any elves to fight.’

‘What do you mean?’ Siwon questioned.

‘One minute we’re up to our eyeballs in elven blood and the next they’ve disappeared. They’ve all creepily retreated in the last couple of days but what’s even more frightening is realising that now they’re probably all together and ready to attack. I hope you guys are ready.’ Taecyeon explained.

Henry sprinted down the corridor in the same direction as two regular agents who disappeared through a set of double doors into a large conference room. He just managed to slip inside as the doors shut and quickly found the special agents. Eunhyuk shuffled over on the filing cabinet he was sat upon, making room for Henry to perch there as well. Then he pointed to the bruise across Henry’s nose and mouthed the word ‘sorry’ to which Henry just smiled, there were no hard feelings.

‘…and I want a large team on this side of the river. The more vantage points we cover, the more of an upper hand we have. We know this place to the last clump of soil so let’s use it.’ Master Gong commanded, gesturing to areas on the 3D map spread across the table in the middle of the room.

A meeting had been scheduled that lunchtime. Master Gong was there delegating regular agents to sections of the terrain surrounding the Institute. Not all the agents had been called in, of course, only the troop leaders like Captain Ok and his trusted commanding officers. All of the special agents were there, save for Kyuhyun, Yesung and Hankyung. Master Chen was waiting patiently to take over the meeting in order to give them instruction and alongside him were Master Lee and Master Hwang.

‘We have no idea when these bastards are going to show themselves so while we have the time now, I want to begin evacuation of all personnel who are not prepared to fight. I need at the most five agents to man the jets and transport staff out of here to a safe location.’

That morning they had already started shutting down entire sectors of the Institute. The training facilities were empty, stripped clean of any protective weaponry that could be used. The gym was deserted, the trainees had been shipped off to a Netherworldian academy and Master Chen’s faithful assistant Ailee had brought him his last cup of coffee. Only the most vital organs were still running like the kitchens and the medical bay, but it was just a matter of time before they too were evacuated and empty.

‘Special agents,’ Master Chen now took up the torch and addressed his team. ‘I think all of you have been training for this, for what may seem like you’re whole lives. And now we are finally faced with the biggest threat the Institute has seen since the first time the Dark Elves were at large.’ He paused, rubbing his fingers against each other where they were clasped and then eventually dropping them to join his hands behind his back instead. ‘I know you’re scared but I want you to remember why you’re doing this,

Almost all of you can say that they’ve had either their mother or father or sibling killed by the Dark Elves, and for some of you… your whole family. Because of that, you’ve become the people you are today and in some way, regardless of whether it brought you to the Institute in the first place, it has kept you fighting. But I don’t want you to think of revenge. When we go out there to meet those elves in battle, I want you to fight for the people sat next to you right now. Don’t avenge the family that was taken from you, fight with the family you built together.’

Throughout the speech, the special agents had silently reached out for one another until by the time Master Chen’s words came to an end, they were all tightly gripping onto hands, shoulders and arms. They’d been arguing so much lately through stress and fear that they’d forgotten that the most important weapon they had right then was each other.

‘I’m going to pass over to Master Hwang now who has some insight on how we can actually defeat the elves.’

‘Err, thank you, yes.’ Master Hwang pushed his glasses up his nose and fumbled with the papers and files he was carrying precariously. Eventually he resorted to dumping the lot onto the table which caused the map to flicker. He pulled out a book from the pile and flipped it to a page he’d had marked. ‘Ah yes, here we go. Since we’ve been going through trials and tests to make sure no one is a revenant, I’ve been doing a lot of research into said zombie-like creatures. Anyway, I found something in here that mentions something… abou… aha! Here, whoever casts the spell over the animated corpses and therefore wields power over them… blah blah blah… if they are slain, the corpses will breathe life no longer.’

‘Are you saying if we find out who reanimated all those dead elves, we can kill them off in one go?’ Taecyeon asked incredulously.

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying.’ Master Hwang replied.

‘I bet it’s the King.’ Kibum said.

After a full day of preparations, last minute training strategies and helping with the evacuation, the special agents were now making a temporary camp in the common room. Since the Institute was now under threat and its future was decidedly unclear, the team had spent a majority of that afternoon packing up their belongings and storing them away in a safe-hold that was kept deeper in the cliff side where the chambers were situated. Sungmin said a sad farewell to his shoes, Kibum had to get Eunhyuk to carry his tonne weight of books and Yesung made special arrangements with a generous volunteer to look after his reptiles.

They could have all continued to sleep in their rooms but a unanimous decision was reached to stay together in the common room that night. They felt safer as group and it meant they could keep all their weaponry within reach to suit up at a moment’s notice as well as being much more easily contactable by Master Chen or anyone else. They’d moved around the armchairs and sofas into a bigger circle around the fireplace and then brought in mattresses for those of them sleeping on the floor, along with as many pillows, cushions and covers as they could find to make the makeshift sleepover more comfortable.

Of course, in true sleepover fashion, they ended up pulling out their stash of alcohol and commencing a hearty game of never-have-I-ever. Fifteen minutes in and Sungmin was already verging on drunk. He protested that everyone has to try something at least once but that didn’t help nullify the scandalised expression on ZhouMi’s face.

‘When do I get a turn?’

‘You should just be grateful that the doctor said you could sleep up here. We’re not letting you drink, Kyuhyun.’ Leeteuk reprimanded.

‘Aww come on! I can at least say the things, I don’t have to drink.’ Kyuhyun retorted. ‘I’ve got a good one as well!’ He broke off into a chesty cough.

‘Fine, what is it?’ Sungmin conceded, giggling slightly.

‘Never have I ever slept with someone for the sake of a mission.’

‘’s sake.’ Heechul muttered and downed a shot. People laughed until Donghae excitedly gasped and flapped his hand in the direction of ZhouMi who was trying to surreptitiously sip from his glass. Then everyone else started gasping and whooping.

‘Care to elaborate?’ Heechul teased, saluting ZhouMi with his shot glass.

‘It was in China… I needed information.’ The other boy replied, his face a startling scarlet. Ryeowook, who was the closest to him, starting going pink around the ears as well due to the emotion rubbing off on him. Kangin wolf-whistled.

‘Alright, alright, my turn!’ Eunhyuk announced. ‘Never have I ever… hah! Never have I ever slept with a guy.’ He chortled with laughter as everyone except Henry, Shindong, Kibum and Donghae drank a shot. Sungmin threw a pillow at him.

‘That was too easy.’

‘Fine then you come up with a better one.’

‘Oh I will!’ Sungmin grinned menacingly. He sat in thought for a few moments and then eventually, his evil smile returned. ‘Never have I ever farted during .’

‘I hate you so much.’ Eunhyuk grumbled, reaching for the bottle. Those of the group that had not known about this titbit of information, which was a fair few, broke down into manic laughter.

The game progressed and more secrets were revealed. They had all had a fair bit to drink, save for Kyuhyun, which meant as the night wore on, they all began to get drowsy and content. Kangin was in his wolf form and lazily spread out in the middle of the mattresses so that Donghae could his belly. He and Leeteuk had broken the news that they were no longer in a relationship which they all toasted to in commiserations but also celebrations at the start of a new future. They’d turned down all the lights in the common room so that only a few lamps shone around them and the fire still burning cast an orange glow.

Sungmin shuffled over to where Kyuhyun was propped up on a sofa. He placed his folded arms next to the other demon’s body and propped his chin on them. Kyuhyun was fighting off sleep. His eyes were dozily drooping and his breathing had slowed to an even pace. Sungmin watched him for a while, tracing the lines of his face that were outlined by the firelight and seeing the reflection of that light as Kyuhyun eventually turned his gaze towards him. Without thinking about it, Sungmin stretched up and planted his lips on the other boy’s, moulding their mouths together warmly.

‘Finally.’ They heard Heechul whisper.

It wasn’t long after that they were all either already fast asleep or just about to trip into dreamland. The fire was nearly burnt out and the room was calm and still. It had been a subconsciously beneficial decision to have alcohol that night for it meant that they could much more easily drift off without having to worry about what might happen in the near future. The elves could arrive in five days or five minutes and this period of calmness would be over. Chaos was coming.

And it did.

At 4:28am, the alarms started wailing.