T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Five

Donghae remembered waking up in the early hours of the morning to the sounds of yelling and destruction. ZhouMi had coaxed him back to sleep which hadn’t been a particularly hard task and the brief moment of wakefulness receded to a dreamlike memory. When he woke up in the morning, everything appeared as it should be.

Kibum came over to check on his ankle and give him some food but, more importantly, to tell Donghae what had happened the night before. Now he knew why everyone was moping around with stony faces and Ryeowook looked on the verge of tears every second. He been unsurprised but mildly bemused as to why Heechul had dressed like he’d walked out of a fashion magazine earlier but now it seemed to make more sense. Though the shifter wasn’t the only one with a defense mechanism because it looked like Leeteuk was in denial.

‘What’s Teukie smiling about?’ Donghae murmured to Kibum and nodded over at their leader.

‘He’s trying to look at this in a positive light.’ Kibum explained. ‘He says it’s given us something to work with.’ Donghae huffed and rolled his eyes. Of course, the younger boy didn’t have to ask to know what he was thinking and they gave each other knowing looks. Leeteuk had suffered the least out of all of them during the war and that fact was definitely a sore spot between quite a few of them. They would never wish the pain onto him but he just didn’t get it sometimes.

‘How’s the ankle?’ Donghae jumped when Heechul’s upside down face appeared above his where it lay cushioned on the cabin floor.

‘It still hurts.’ He pouted, putting on the baby voice that got him exactly what he wanted.

‘Aww Haebaby.’ Heechul replied in an equally ridiculous voice. ‘It’s that nasty Kyuhyun’s fault. He wasn’t watching out for you.’ They both laughed together and Kibum took the opportunity to float away.

‘Are we going home today?’ Donghae asked. Heechul sighed.

‘No, the jet isn’t coming back for us until tomorrow. But that does mean I can show off my legs for a bit longer.’ For emphasis, the shifter stretched out his long legs that were barely covered by a pair of designer denim shorts.

‘Heechul?’ Kangin’s voice called from the entrance to the shelter and the pair on the floor looked up. ‘We’re heading out now.’ Heechul sighed once again and slowly got to his feet.

‘Where are you going?’ Donghae whined.

He wasn’t sure yet how deep the feelings for Heechul ran but he was definitely enjoying the view of the other boy’s hips swinging as he walked ahead. The bottom of his loose, cropped t-shirt didn’t quite meet the top of his shorts and left a sliver of skin peeking out for all to admire. Hankyung had considered the fact that he may just be physically interested in Heechul since he dressed so androgynous and, as far as Hankyung was aware, he’d only ever liked girls. He’d decided not to think about it too much and just feel what he wanted to feel; it was simpler that way.

‘Are we going the right way?’ Kangin questioned at large and, before the other two could reply, Shindong could be heard through the walkie-talkie.

‘You’re nearly there. You kind of veered off to the right a bit so when you find the stream just follow it up to the den.’

‘After three hundred yards, turn left.’ Heechul mocked, imitating the voice of a satnav. Shindong didn’t reply; he was probably rolling his eyes. ‘Batpig has more than one nickname.’ Hankyung didn’t need to be told what it was and he laughed along with Kangin. He’d discovered that he was one of few that actually found Heechul’s humour funny and he wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad.

‘There’s the stream.’ Kangin then pointed out and they all headed in that direction. Before too long, they stepped out into the clearing and nearly vomited at the stench. Vampires living were disgusting but dead ones… about 34732069300 times worse.

‘Let’s get this over with.’ Hankyung decided and the other two immediately agreed. They’d brought face masks as a precaution which helped somewhat with the smell but dragging the bodies into a pile was no picnic either. Heechul announced he was going to check the area to see if they’d missed anything, being so kind as to leave Kangin and Hankyung to deal with the rest of the corpses. It was rotten work but they managed it and Hankyung felt a deep satisfaction in setting the bastards alight.

‘Kind of reminds me of-’ Heechul started to say as they watched the blaze. The other two looked at him in askance when he cut himself off midsentence.

‘Reminds you of what?’ Kangin probed. Heechul looked down at his feet and didn’t say anything for a while. ‘You ok, Rella?’

‘You remember sitting on top of that hill and watching them burn down?’ The shifter said quietly.

‘Course I do.’ Kangin responded, his tone hesitant. Hankyung contented himself to listen. ‘I’ll never forget. But… don’t think about it Chul-ah. I mean with what’s been happening lately, there’s no point making yourself feel worse.’ Heechul stayed silent as he shuffled over to the trickling water and sat down beside it, looking down into the stream.

‘Is he alright?’ Hankyung couldn’t stand not knowing anything about Heechul’s past because it made it difficult for him to be of any comfort and he wanted to comfort the other boy, to make all the pain from his eyes dissipate forever.

‘He’ll be fine.’ Kangin said, unconvincingly. He paused for moment then deeply breathed out. ‘We grew up on the same road, me and Heechul. When the Dark Elves invaded our town, they ransacked our houses, murdered our families and burnt them to the ground. I managed to escape as a wolf so I went to find him. He was hiding under the stairs, couldn’t get a word out of him, he was so scared. Managed to get him to transform to a wolf as well so I could carry him better. I ran out with him and up the hill round the back of the estate…’ Kangin trailed off. His eyes were fixed on the flames dancing in front of him without really seeing them, his mind was elsewhere.

‘I didn’t realise you’d known him that long.’ It was all Hankyung could think to say. There wasn’t much point in saying sorry, it wasn’t his fault and he couldn’t change what had happened.

‘He’s like my brother.’ Kangin admitted. He abruptly scoffed out a snigger, lightening the mood in an instant. ‘More like a sister sometimes.’ Hankyung grinned.

‘Everyone’s bummed out. We should do something fun.’ Sungmin suggested from where he lay across Siwon’s lap.

‘Like what?’ The other boy inquired.

‘I know! I know!’ Donghae interrupted, jumping up and down. Kangin placed a hand on top of his head to stop him from moving about so much but it had little effect.

‘What do you know, Donghae?’ Heechul sighed. They should have just left him in the shelter so he’d have trouble coming over to pester them but no; the poorly baby had to be carried out so he was included.

‘We should play ‘guess what I am’!!’ He cried in excitement. Hankyung was startled when, all of a sudden, the others perked up, agreeing with Donghae on his choice of game. Clearly it must have been a favourite though Hankyung and ZhouMi had no idea what it entailed.

‘Fine, fine. We can play.’ Heechul replied. It sounded like he was in charge of whatever game this was.

‘Err… how? How do you play?’ ZhouMi asked.

Henry gave him a brilliant smile and proceeded to reveal the rules. ‘We take it in turns to close our eyes and then Heechul-hyung changes into an animal. You have to guess what he is or else you get a forfeit!’

‘It’s the forfeits that are the best bit.’ Eunhyuk added. ‘But you don’t get so many if Heechul likes you ‘cause he’ll go easy on you.’ Heechul smirked around at them all menacingly.

‘Mmhm.’ Shindong agreed with thinly veiled resentment.

‘Hey I do like you Batpig.’ Heechul refuted though his sincerity was questionable.

‘Mmhm.’ Shindong repeated.

‘Wait, how are we supposed to guess if we’ve got our eyes closed?’ Hankyung interrupted, confused as to the fly in the ointment.

‘You’ll see.’ Donghae wiggled his eyebrows up and down which should have been funny but it was verging on crazy. ‘Me first! Me first!’ He called and Heechul turned to him with an evil grin. Donghae obediently closed his eyes and Hankyung watched as Heechul’s body morphed into a little green frog. He hopped across the grass and landed in Donghae’s open palms. The latter thought for a moment and cautiously gave Heechul a soft prod. ‘You’re a frog!’ He exclaimed and opened his eyes.

‘Well done.’ Heechul congratulated once he was back to normal and the others cheered. ‘Do you get it now?’ He asked of Hankyung.

‘Seems simple enough.’ The Chinaman replied.

‘Oh just wait. It’s going to get a lot harder.’

‘That’s what he said!’ Sungmin interjected giving Siwon’s face a pat. The other boy looked aghast while the rest of them laughed.

The game continued and Heechul began to increase the difficulty level of his animal transformations. This meant that Leeteuk had no idea he was a baby panda and subsequently was instructed to throw his clothes into the camp fire. Heechul and Sungmin were a mean team in giving forfeits and Hankyung was worried to say the least. Leeteuk had only been allowed to keep his boxers on because Kangin had stepped in. Now it was Kibum’s turn and the psychic had been forbidden to use his gift though who could tell if he had or hadn’t.

‘You’re a seal.’ Kibum decided and opened his eyes. The group jeered and laughed.

‘Hah! No, he’s a sea lion!’ Sungmin squealed with malice. Kibum -faced them all.

‘Same difference.’ He muttered in annoyance.

‘Bummie needs a forfeit!’ Donghae pointed out. Hankyung was sat next to him and he’d begun to wish he hadn’t because, even with a busted ankle, Donghae was physically incapable of sitting still. He watched the wheels turning in Heechul’s head as he and Sungmin tried to think of a suitable dare. They’d decided early on that no one else was capable of coming up with anything good.

‘I’ve got it!’ Sungmin suddenly declared, his expression was villainous, which Heechul appeared to appreciate. ‘You have to tell us what everyone is thinking about right now.’

‘Yes! Genius!’ Heechul gave his cohort a high five. The group groaned.

‘Whatever.’ Kibum rolled his eyes. He looked around at everyone sitting in the circle and focussed his attention to them individually, no doubt sifting through the thoughts of ‘stop reading my mind’ and the failed efforts to not think about something. Of course, when you’re trying not to think about something, it jumps to the front of your mind and this was why Hankyung was beginning to panic.

‘Go on. Tell us.’ Heechul then prompted, far too eager.

‘Ok Yesung is thinking about various ways to kill you.’ They all laughed. ‘Ryeowook is worried that you’re going to give him a horrible forfeit. Eunhyuk wants to know if his power means he can walk on the moon without a spacesuit.’ Eunhyuk looked down from his gaze up at the sky when he heard his name and blinked around in confusion. ‘Kyuhyun is… thinking about quantum electrodynamics?’ Kibum frowned at Kyuhyun and the demon smirked.

‘Little .’ Heechul cursed under his breath.

‘What else is he thinking about?’ Sungmin demanded but Kibum ignored him. There was no point wasting his energy trying to prod into the dark recesses of Kyuhyun’s mind when the other boy was obviously going to put up a fight.

‘Siwon is thinking about his new training regimen for when we get back.’

‘Boring.’

‘Kangin has got some pretty good dares, you might want to ask him about those.’

‘Come to the dark side Beastie.’ Heechul and Sungmin took this opportunity to go and sit on either side of Kangin to be a better force for evil. Hankyung thought they looked more like Kangin’s harem but he quickly dismissed it so that Kibum wouldn’t say it out loud.

‘All I’m getting from Donghae is ‘just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’ Donghae grinned. Then all eyes turned to Hankyung. He gulped but noticed the ambiguous look Kibum was sending him, he couldn’t figure out what it meant and everything in his mind was whirling about for all to see. ‘Hankyung is thinking about China.’

‘Boring.’ As Kibum moved on to ZhouMi – who was wondering where Heechul’s clothes went when he shifted – Hankyung breathed out in relief. But he was perplexed. Kibum hadn’t said what he was thinking about, at least not specifically. Yes, it was China that had risen up to fill his head but in the most general sense because nothing could cloak over the memory of what had happened there so many years ago. He shook himself in an attempt to physically jostle his thoughts back into order and concentrated on what was happening in the present.

‘Henry wants to know if he actually looks like a hamster.’

‘Yes. Yes you do.’ Heechul said seriously. Henry pouted.

‘Leeteuk thinks we should all be in bed and Shindong is thinking about pizza. There you have it.’ Kibum finished.

‘I want to know what they’re thinking about.’ Eunhyuk challenged, pointing at Sungmin and Heechul who immediately starting protesting.

‘Ah no. We came up with the forfeit. We’re in charge.’ Sungmin said, flicking his hair over his shoulder.

‘Yeah, we come up with the rules.’

‘Sungmin’s thinking about shoes and Heechul wants a bubble bath.’ Kibum said quickly and received a pair of glares that he ignored.

‘We could have figured that out ourselves.’ Kangin grumbled.

The game progressed a little further before Leeteuk decided to express his feeling that they should be going to bed verbally and, reluctantly, the group acquiesced. Hankyung felt slightly put out that he hadn’t got a turn however, the worry that he’d get a forfeit was overriding it. He wasn’t keen to swap his underwear with anyone like Yesung had had to, or Shindong’s foot like Ryeowook.

Heechul couldn’t be bothered babying him for the rest of the flight; he did it far too much anyway. He smiled wryly when he saw Sungmin and Siwon cozied up in a corner together but bypassed them to go and sit with ZhouMi who should do a good job of making him feel less anxious. Ever since the night of the mission, he hadn’t been able to stop his stomach from churning and it was getting harder and harder to suppress his memories.

‘Feeling down?’ ZhouMi guessed as soon as he sat beside him.

‘What do you recommended Nurse Mimi?’ Heechul replied, coming up with a nickname out of thin air – he was good at that.

‘How about thi-’

‘Did you know they have actual plane food on here?’ Hankyung suddenly appeared carrying trays of what must have been the plane food though only God knew why he needed six. He seemed startled when he caught sight of Heechul as if he hadn’t seen him there when he came over and his nose tinged pink.

‘Are you going to eat all of those by yourself?’ ZhouMi incredulously questioned, wrinkling his nose. Hankyung surveyed the trays and looked a little disheartened.

‘I don’t think I can. You need to heat some of them up.’ He said. Heechul couldn’t believe he’d actually considered eating them all but then a thought occurred to him and he raised an eyebrow at Hankyung. ZhouMi appeared to catch on to what he was thinking because he copied the expression and they both stared sceptically. ‘What?’

‘You need to heat them up?’ ZhouMi repeated in a meaningful tone. It took Hankyung a second and then he snorted a laugh.

‘Oh. Yeah.’ He clicked his fingers and a flourish of flame flickered and sparked around his hand before it whooshed through the gaps between his digits and disappeared. ‘I don’t think I’ll have them right now though.’ He decided and set the trays of food down on the seating beside him. Heechul found himself sniggering and was about to return to what he come over to ZhouMi for but abruptly realised that he felt better all by himself. He wouldn’t need the latter’s power anymore. The thought made him smile.

He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Hankyung yet. Sure he was good looking and managed to make Heechul laugh quite a bit but he gave off the impression that he was straight and Heechul was in no mood to let himself get hung up on a straight guy. He’d been fortunate that gay men weren’t as rare as he’d anticipated going into the Institute. However, as he’d come to learn, not many had the staying power to deal with everything Heechul had going on up in that head of his. He swore he’d marry the first guy that could actually put up with his baggage.

When eventually the jet landed, Heechul found he didn’t have the energy to stick around with the others or go off to see Master Chen and report back just yet. Kangin helped him carry his things straight back to his room and then he went into the adjoining bathroom to start filling up the tub. He could hear Kibum saying ‘I told you so’ in his head and he smirked. He quickly took off his clothes and threw them in the washing basket.

‘Well I don’t think I tanned.’ He murmured as he caught his reflection in the full length mirror. He examined the way his body was filling out with age and becoming more masculine. Heechul frowned. He missed his teenage girly figure where his waist was thin and his shoulders less broad. He looked away from the mirror before he got annoyed and went into the bathroom again.

He rounded the corner that would take him to Eunhyuk’s room. He and Donghae usually came as a pair so it seemed logical. Hankyung knocked on the door and waited before hearing someone say ‘enter’ as if he were being called into the Institute’s inner sanctum. He opened the door and watched Eunhyuk swivel around on a 70s egg chair. Apparently this was a Bond movie. No fluffy white cat though.

‘What can I do for you Mr Hankyung?’ Eunhyuk said. Hankyung nearly laughed.

‘Have you seen Donghae? I have a training session with him and I can’t find him anywhere.’ He explained. Eunhyuk seemed to snap back to normality and he got up off the chair to start his running machine and kick it up to full speed. He was something off a blur as he ran on the spot, going nowhere but still impossibly fast.

‘Nope. Haven’t seen him.’ Hankyung groaned. ‘He might have gone down to your training area to wait for you.’

‘He doesn’t know where it is yet, Master Chen didn’t tell him.’

‘Oh…’ Eunhyuk kept running. When he spoke his words were distorted due to the high speed he was sprinting at. ‘You could try Sungmin or Kyuhyun. That’s who I saw him with last.’ He finally said. Hankyung said thank you and left the room. He headed down the corridor and knocked on Sungmin’s door but received no answer so kept going until he reached Kyuhyun’s room. After he knocked, the door opened a crack and Kyuhyun’s foreboding figure appeared.

‘Can I help you?’ He asked, narrowing his eyes.

‘I’m looking for Donghae, have you seen him?’ Hankyung jumped back in alarm when the door suddenly lurched fully open and Sungmin bounced into view.

‘Oh it’s you!’ The shorter boy exclaimed. ‘There’s no need to be so suspicious.’ He whacked Kyuhyun’s arm.

‘Not everyone is allowed in my room.’ The demon grumbled. Hankyung raised an eyebrow. He managed to get a look at the forbidden area and noticed it was meticulously neat apart from where, perhaps, Sungmin had been sitting. There was a lot of shelving along one wall that played host to an enormous flat screen TV, numerous games consoles and, of course, all the games that went along with them. So this is what Kyuhyun used the Institute’s money on.

‘Have you seen Donghae?’ Hankyung repeated, addressing Sungmin this time.

‘Sorry, not since breakfast. Try Yesung though, he wanted Donghae to help clean out his fish tanks.’ The latter replied with a smile. Hankyung tried the process the information but was momentarily side-tracked when he noticed Sungmin was wearing a large – definitely boy’s – t-shirt and, hopefully, shorts or underwear underneath. The picture didn’t quite match up. This was Kyuhyun’s room not Siwon’s.

As he left the demonic pair, he wondered whether he was just completely misinterpreting the situation but he knew what it looked like and it didn’t make sense. Surely they hadn’t… but… had they? Who was he to judge? Then he pieced together what he knew of them and how he’d seen them act around each other. It was always like they were together but, in reality, were not. They should be, Hankyung thought, it’d save everyone a lot of bother. He approached Yesung’s door and knocked.

‘Come in, it’s open!’ He stepped inside and his eyes flew open in surprise. Aside from a laptop and a few books, the majority of surface space in the room was taken up by vivariums and tanks of all shapes and sizes. Hankyung stepped cautiously around them, gazing at everything in befuddled wonder. He then spotted Yesung down at the side of his bed attaching a lamp to a shallow wooden box filled with sawdust, rocks and… tortoises.

‘Err, Yesung?’

‘Oh, hi, sorry just a sec.’ Yesung fiddled with the lamp some more and tested that it worked at the socket. Then he stood up and grinned at Hankyung. ‘Ok what can I help you with?’

‘I see you like reptiles.’ It wasn’t what he was there for but it was important.

‘Hah yeah. Turtles are my favourite but I’ve got some Horsefield tortoises, a couple of snakes and a Bearded Dragon. Oh and some tropical fish.’ Yesung smiled as he looked around at them all, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

‘Cool.’ Hankyung couldn’t think of anything else to say to that really. ‘Err anyway, have you seen Donghae? I’m supposed to be training with him.’

‘Urgh Donghae.’ Yesung griped. ‘He promised he’d come help clean my fish tanks but he never showed up. He said he liked doing it as well because, you know, they’re fish!’ He rolled his eyes and dropped down to sit on the end of his bed. Hankyung sighed.

‘Well if I ever do find him, I’ll remind him for you.’ He said and Yesung nodded his appreciation.

Well, now he was stuck. He really didn’t fancy searching the entire facility just to find Donghae; he’d probably get himself lost. He’d thought that at least one of the group would know where he was but apparently not. Hankyung closed Yesung’s door and exhaled noisily, considering whether to just go down to the chamber and train anyway. He looked up and spotted Heechul’s door just down the hall. He knew it was Heechul’s because there was a giant English letter ‘H’ hung against it.

For some reason the thought of entering Heechul’s bedroom was somewhat nerve-wracking. It was like going to a girl’s house after school and getting to see what her bedroom is like after dreaming about her for weeks. But Hankyung didn’t have some high school crush, he just… didn’t know what to expect. Nevertheless, he went over and knocked on the door.

‘Go away Leeteuk!’ Came a shout from within. Hankyung decided it was probably better if he went in than try and explain it wasn’t Leeteuk through a wall. He opened the door and stepped inside but quickly wished he hadn’t. Heechul was lay on the bed – thankfully clothed – tangled up in the duvet with an arm thrown over his eyes. He was crying.

‘Heechul?’ Hankyung tentatively took a step forward. As much as he wished he hadn’t been so stupid as to enter uninvited, he couldn’t leave now.

‘I said go away!’ Heechul screamed, his throat sounded raw from crying.

‘Heechul… it’s me. I-it’s Hankyung.’ The shifter went very still and the sudden silence of the room was stifling. Then, slowly, Heechul removed the arm covering his face and began to sit up. Hankyung saw the tear tracks down his cheeks, the smudged eyeliner and the red eyes. ‘I was just… looking for Donghae.’ He thought it was only right that he explain why he intruded.

‘O-oh..’ Heechul stammered. He looked down so that his hair fell in front of his eyes. Hankyung sighed.

‘Are you ok? Do you want me to get Kangin or someone?’ He asked. He didn’t get a response for a long time and he was beginning to wonder whether he should leave when Heechul finally looked up through his lashes at him.

‘No but… can you…’ He trailed off and Hankyung noticed he’d stretched out a hand towards him. He looked so dejected but it seemed like it took a lot of his pride to give in and reach out for comfort. It was that which made Hankyung swallow his nerves and go sit down on the bed beside the other boy, cautiously put his arms around him and hold him close. Heechul didn’t say anything or audibly sob, he let the tears still trickling down his cheeks fall onto Hankyung’s chest and gather there.

‘What’s wrong?’ Hankyung eventually whispered.

After a pause, Heechul replied. ‘I had an nightmare.’ Another pause. ‘I get them a lot. Donghae went to the pool by the way.’

‘Oh. I better go and find him soon. We’re should have started training about ten minutes ago.’

‘You should go then.’ Heechul suddenly pulled out of the embrace and sniffled.

‘But… I can’t just leave you.’ Hankyung protested.

‘I’ll be fine. Kangin’s meeting finishes soon.’

‘But-’

Hankyung would shoot out flames in all directions that Donghae would douse with a tidal wave, sending it curling it up around the metal chamber and crashing down into the grates at the sides. But Hankyung would use this time while Donghae was concentrating to sneakily catch him off guard with another attack. They’d caused a few reactions from the combination of their powers, the greatest being the amount of scorching hot steam they could create. It was lucky the Institute provided special training suits that could protect them against each other to some extent.

‘Shall we take a break?’ Hankyung called, shaking excess droplets of water off his dark hair. Donghae nodded in agreement and they retreated the bench at the side of the chamber to sit and take a breather.

‘Are you going easy on me?’ Donghae questioned, in a slightly teasing manner but he meant the question.

‘No, why?’

‘You kept looking like your brain was somewhere else so I wondered if you were putting all your effort into it.’ He picked up a water bottle from the side of the bench and drank a gulp, watching Hankyung’s face for a reaction.

‘Did I? Sorry.’ The older boy muttered. ‘I accidentally walked in on Heechul crying earlier. He’d had a nightmare. I didn’t really want to leave him on his own but, well, we had to train.’ He explained slowly. Donghae put the bottle back down and gave a short sigh.

‘He gets them a lot. Even when we were kids.’ He said, his mind flicking back to the memory. ‘I used to share a room with him and he’d wake me up because he was yelling and crying so much. So I’d try to calm him down but he just told me to go back to sleep.’ Hankyung shifted on the bench, listening intently so Donghae went on. ‘Then he’d go off to Kangin’s room and leave me on my own. He never told me what his nightmares were about, said it was too horrible. He’s always looked after me but he’ll never let me look after him, no matter how bad it is.’

‘I wish I could help him.’ Hankyung admitted softly. Donghae calculated the expression on his face and knew he was being sincere. Then he remembered something from earlier and grinned.

‘Good because Sungmin and Ryeowook are conspiring to get you two together.’ He revealed.

‘Um what?’ Donghae laughed.

‘They were plotting after you left at breakfast.’

‘Oh wonderful.’ Hankyung replied sarcastically and Donghae continued to laugh. A few moments later, his smile changed to a more earnest one and he considered the Chinaman.

‘If you don’t like him that way… don’t hurt him.’ He said hesitantly. ‘He really means a lot to me.’ Hankyung fixed him with an honest look.

‘Donghae, I’d never hurt him.’ Donghae grinned.

‘Good because if you do, Kangin will break your face.’ Hankyung laughed. ‘I’m not kidding.’ 

I think this was a bit of a filler chapter...

it's definitely shorter than the previous ones, possibly less exciting

I needed it to... well fill cause its a... filler 

yep

I hope it's not disappointing in any way, I promise chapter six is going to be action packed and a barrel of laughs

please don't hate me for my filler

I appreciate all of your support for this fic so much <3 thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far, I hope you're enjoying it still 

~JC