There was an unwritten rule between the Fallen ones. They couldn’t bond with anyone, as friends, or as a fling. This was to completely erase their humane feelings. What they should care about were rulebreakers, those that fed in the open and harmed the humans.

“Sehun?”

Sehun opened his eyes. Hana was in front of him, her hands now reaching to touch his hands. No, he wouldn’t let her. Sehun didn’t want anyone to break down the walls he built for years. He slapped her hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

His voice was cold, and he thought it was good. He wanted Hana to stay away. He was a beast, a monster. He was a hunter and Hana, the hunted one. He shouldn’t feel bad about pushing her away. But when Hana stared at him with those big, hopeful eyes, he felt guilt, and remorse.

“Sehun, are you okay?”

How could she be so nice after everything he’d done to her? “Are you stupid?” He snapped at her, for the first time in his cold, emotionless years, he yelled and lost calmness, “I told you not to touch me.” There was despair in Sehun’s voice that no one could understand.

“I’m just worried about you, that’s all,” She sounded so gentle, so soft.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Sehun glared at her, and for a second, she seemed quite taken aback. Maybe she was scared of his sudden change in mood. “I don’t care about you. So you shouldn’t care for me as well.”

Hana frowned. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She was just worried.

“You do care… about me,” Hana met his glare. She wasn’t mad. Jung Hana was frustrated at how one person could be so stubborn. “You do! If you don’t care, you wouldn’t have promised me those things! If you don’t care about me, you won’t even stand here, snapping at me like a you are!”

Did she just call him ? He was no female.

“I’m not a ,” He muttered, still pissed off. But who was he mad at? Certainly not Hana. He was pissed off at himself.

“You’re a male equivalent of ,” Hana talked back almost immediately. She wasn’t exactly angry. Trying to talk sense into Sehun wasn’t exactly the easiest thing on earth. “Seriously, Sehun, why are you always pushing me away? You’re a nice person, I’d admit that, but your menstruational period is worse than a girl’s!”

Sehun froze. He wasn’t an idiot, he understood everything Hana said. Sehun looked at Hana. For all these years, she was the only one he’d ever talked to. Sehun didn’t even talk to Luhan, because he thought it was unnecessary. He’d cut off all ties just to become the Fallen. He wanted to feel nothing, because love would bring out pain, and he hated pain.

“I’m not nice,” Sehun mumbled, loud enough to be heard, “I’m not nice to you, or to anyone else.” Hana shook her head. This male was helpless. “If you didn’t help me, twice, I would have been dead by now.”

That was another thing Sehun would like to keep quiet about. Sehun’s job was to help human, but he’d never helped them more than once, and heck, he never even remembered the faces of the humans he’d help. Hana was an exception for all his life.

“I just wish you wouldn’t push me away, Sehun,” Her sadness poured over him with so much guilt. He shouldn’t be affected by her, but he did. He was attached. The girl was starting to become a part of his life, which no one else could get in.

‘”No,” Sehun spoke aloud, his voice was colder than ice. Hana looked up when Sehun suddenly, and abruptly stood up from his seat, “I’m going out now. Don’t ever go out if you fear for your safety. You’ll only be safe here…”

Hana was too shocked to react. He was gone, with a click of the door and out. Why was he being so goddamned difficult? Why couldn’t they talk like normal persons without Sehun being so cold and emotionless all the time? Did being the Fallen require him to feel nothing, to see nothing and to receive no kindness? Poor Sehun…

And she was just about to tell him about her dreams…

***

“Sehun!” Luhan appeared out of nowhere.

The younger male raised his eyebrows at him. Luhan looked bad. He was sweating, almost terrified. And whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

“What are you doing here?” Sehun bluntly asked. He was in the park near his apartment. The night wind was howling around him, chilling and cold. Sehun held his fingers and twirled it around, and a sudden wind swirl started to appear around him, like a protective shield. “Go away, Luhan. You’re the last person I want to see now.”

Luhan didn’t have the time to talk back to Sehun. His heart was slowly pounding inside his fragile body. “Sehun, I don’t have time for your bull. One of my informants just told me… The witch died. The witch who put the spell to your house…!”

“What the f…?! Sehun was about to curse, the invisible shield around him dispersed with a loud hissing sound. His eyes narrowed down instantly. “Tell me clearly what happened, Luhan!”

“They found Kahi and killed her,” Luhan breathlessly explained. For a second, he looked back as he used to be. He wasn’t the cold-blooded killer people perceived him to be, but the softhearted Luhan that would always smile and laugh. “They killed her, Sehun. The other Fallens just found out her body.”

“Who killed her?” Sehun’s voice shook. The whole world blurred out in front of him.

“They said it’s a woman, I’m not sure who it is,” Sehun’s face paled down even more. His blood stirred in anticipation and in furry. Then he remembered the protection spell Kahi had placed in his house.

The protection spell was made to ward off any Shadow creatures from coming in. For almost a few centuries, the spell was working off perfectly. That was why Sehun could leave the house without having to worry too much about Hana. , he just remembered.

Hana was still in the house.

Alone.

Without anything to protect herself from.

Sehun’s apartment wasn’t exactly the best hideout in Seoul because it was located in the center of Seoul. Other Shadow creatures would easily smell her scent and find her in no time. Sehun’s eyes widened. He brought nothing with him when he came out. Curse him for being so careless.

“Lend me your weapon,” Sehun breathed out, looking at Luhan straight in the eye. He tried hard not to glare, but he still did.

“What are you trying to do?!” Luhan shook his head, refusing to lend him any of his weapons. “Hell, Sehun, don’t be so reckless! Sehun!!!”

Without waiting for Luhan’s response, Sehun rushed back to his house. His knuckles balled up to a fist. He promised her, Sehun thought frantically. The life of this one human was his own redemption. If he lost her, he lost his chance forever…

***

Hana flinched.

There was a certain knocking sound outside. Maybe Sehun had come home. If it wasn’t Sehun knocking, she shouldn’t open the door for a stranger.

The knocking only got louder, almost to the point that whoever it was outside was banging on the door. Hana got up from the couch. Slowly, carefully, she walked to the door, her heart almost burst out when the banging didn’t stop. On her way, she grasped onto a baseball bat.

“Se…hun?” Her voice died down in the end. Hana looked into the LED screen and it showed nothing. There was absolutely no one, but the banging didn’t stop. “O-ow,” Hana stepped back and turned around. There was a sound of crack. And it got louder.

Hana didn’t have the time to scream. Her muffled voice was covered up by the sudden cracking noise and the door flew open. She accidentally dropped the baseball hat, cursing herself how she could be so stupid. Oh Lord, where was Sehun when she needed him?

For a second, everything was quiet, as if someone had frozen the time. The room’s temperature suddenly went down almost too drastically. Hana swore she could see her own breath when she breathed in and out. The air was chilly even though it was summer night.

She dared not to move. The girl felt stuck on her spot.

“This is her?” A gruff voice asked, and a hand appeared out of nowhere, forcing Hana to turn back. “She smells good…”

In front of her a man stood. A man wasn’t even good enough to explain. This thing, whatever it was, must have been a man once. The skin looked ripped off here and there, covered with torn off grey robe. Hana’s eyes widened. The thing’s feet didn’t even touch the floor. It floated in mid-air, a few centimeters up from the solid ground.

Another, one, two, three, five more appeared along side of the hooded thing. They all looked the same, had the same sick grin that showed their boney gums. The six ugly things surrounded her in an instant, and she cringed when they leaned in, breathing in her scent.

“Oh, it’s been so long since I last tasted a Marked one’s meat,” One of them chuckled, and it sounded nothing like human. “I request the head, if I can…” Another one chirped in, “I want the arms, both arms for me. I want them to be deep-fried.”

“We can discuss them later,” The thing that was closest to Hana held her on her arms so easily, but she was starting to feel the pain from the force it put. “It’s not easy to kill the witch. We can’t deal with the Fallen here. We must bring her back with us.”

“No!!!” Hana yelled, “Let me go! He will kill you! Sehun will kill all of you!” She could hear her own despair. She sounded so pathetic when the hooded things chuckled together, “He won’t be able to find you, my Sweet Little Human. We will eat you until no bones are left in your fragile little body…”