Chapter 9

As soon as Seung Joon closed the door, he immediately dropped his smile. He turned around to see two men dressed in complete black, standing firmly behind him. Seung Joon narrowed his eyes as soon as his eyes met their crimson orbs.

“Your report?” Seung Joon demanded from the two men in the room, his typical friendly tone replaced with an unfamiliar, cold and distant voice.

“We spotted two rouges in Alice Park’s neighborhood, three in Kim Seo Hwa’s, one in Park Doo Jeon’s area, one near the outskirts of town, and just a few moments ago, one wandering rouge just a few blocks away. We’ve successfully took out all of them,” the first henchman reported.

“So that was the odd presence I felt before sending Alice away,” Seung Joon sighed, eyes narrowed into slits.

“We can assure the safety of Miss Park’s journey home. Don’t worry,” the second henchman reassured him once they caught a glimpse of concern in their master’s eyes.

“Alright, good job,” Seung Joon nodded appreciatively. “Bring Suho and the others here at once.”

“Right away.” the two men accepted their next task in a heartbeat, voice full of confidence yet calmness at the same time.

In a matter of a second, the two henchmen were gone from Seung Joon’s eyes. As he waited for his men’s arrival alongside their guests, Seung Joon approached his living room to see several maids tidying up the place in preparation for the meeting. As soon as the master of the house made his presence known, the maids quickened their pace before speedily leaving the room to give him some privacy. Heaving a content sigh, Seung Joon made his way to the center of the living room and took a seat on the sofa.

It didn’t even take them more than two minutes, and just as promised, the henchmen brought back their six guests into his home. A smirk spread across his lips when he heard the familiar sound of grumbles and wails of complaint at the entryway, unsure if he’s feeling pleasant due to their quick arrival or their feeling of dismay.

“God, I hate teleporting,” Baekhyun bemoans, holding the urge to throw up as he tried to soothe his chest with his hand.

“I could never get used to the after-effects,” Kyungsoo complained softly, passing a pained glance at Suho who seemed equally affected.

Sehun, on the other hand, had his hand on his forehead in attempt to hold the ache he felt in his head. “What are you all complaining about?” Sehun muttered at them, his effort to seem tough seemingly not good enough to impress his brothers.

“You’re one to talk when you’re having a headache yourself,” Chanyeol nudged the younger’s head, earning a pained grunt from the blonde.

“Mind your manners, this is the house of Kang Seung Joon,” one henchman scolded them as more of them emerged, almost encircling the boys in a defensive stance.

Jongin, who isn’t as pained as the rest of his brothers, managed to scoff. “I could never get enough of how they glorify the man so much,” Jongin murmured to the others, chuckling in sheer mock.

“Let’s get this done and over with,” Suho sighed as he cracked his neck, hissing at the slight discomfort he’s feeling.

“This way.” the henchman nodded and led them deeper into their house.

As if they weren’t already familiar with the interior of Kang Seung Joon’s house, the boys followed the henchmen into the living room alongside the few others who followed behind them. The sight is almost akin to moving a quarantined group of criminals with all the guards watching them on all sides. As soon as they entered the living room, Sehun literally had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying anything stupid after seeing the master of the house sitting leisurely on the sofa with a smirk on his face that all of them wish they could wipe off.

“Welcome,” Seung Joon greeted them eloquently as he gestured to the henchmen to leave with a wave of his hand. “Thank you for coming on such short notice,”

Jongin and Sehun looked back to glare at the henchmen that stood behind them, silently waiting for them to leave, to which they did as soon as Seung Joon gave them the order.

“It’s no problem at all,” Suho replied with a similar, elegant tone, his body language complimenting his manner of speech. “Although I am rather confused with the summon, Seung Joon. I believe none of my brothers and I did anything wrong,”

Seung Joon merely chuckled after hearing his words. “Before I respond to that statement, why don’t you and your brothers take a seat?”

“We don’t plan on staying that long,” Sehun blurted, to which Suho swiftly reprimanded him for.

“Sehun, mind your manners,” Suho simply glanced at him, and Sehun reluctantly pursed his lips shut.

The others moved only when Suho did. The older moved to take a seat across Seung Joon, and the five of them followed shortly. As soon as they sat down, the maids came in with refreshments neatly placed in their trays, swiftly placing the drinks for each of them. Seeing the service they’re getting, the boys stared oddly at Seung Joon.

“What is this all about?” Baekhyun lifted a suspicious brow, feeling rather cautious of the sudden courtesy they’re getting from him.

“Why? Can’t I be a good host to my guests?” Seung Joon asked as he picked up his own refreshment. “Go on, I didn’t poison them,”

Chanyeol forced a dry chuckle before pushing his drink away from him. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not thirsty,”

“Very well then,” Seung Joon shrugged, seemingly unbothered. “Then let me cut to the chase since it seems that all of you seem rather restless today,”

Seung Joon placed his drink down on the coffee table along with his courteous smile. He looked up at them with a now more serious expression, and it was at that point where the boys could tell that something is wrong.

“Earlier this year, we’ve been getting reports of wild and sporadic attacks in the country. Just this month, the attacks seem to have spread into our area,”

“Attacks?” Kyungsoo’s stoic expression instantly switched into one of surprise. “In this day and age?”

“Wait, you can’t possibly think that we’re the ones responsible, right?” Baekhyun frowned at him. “Because if this meeting is to accuse of the attacks, I—“

“Rest easy,” Seung Joon calmly cuts in. “I didn’t bring you here to point any fingers, but to simply make you aware of the situation, since this matter regards all of us,”

“Then have you any idea of who’s responsible for the attacks?” Suho asked him.

Seung Joon gave him a nod, folding his arms across his chest. “After we’ve done our inspection, we’ve found out that the attacks were done by rogue vampires,”

The faintest gasp came out of their mouths. “That’s impossible,” Chanyeol scowled. 

“Rogue vampires? Was there a revolt we aren’t aware of?” Baekhyun’s released a snort out of sheer disbelief.

“There’s none,” the vampire shook his head. “That’s why it’s a big problem,”

The boys frowned at his words, and all for a reason. Ever since the Board of Armistice has been established, wild attacks have lessened substantially due to the regulations they’ve made. Rogues in itself are especially scarce, since non-humans tend to take solace in groups or alliances. To have attacks done by them are quite uncommon, and to have sporadic ones over a period of time? They’re considered alarming. In fact, it’s quite distressing to them that these attacks have caused the member of the board to go as far as contacting the hybrids.

“Not only that, but we’ve found that their scents have been lingering around several people, including several young students in our school,” Seung Joon added before setting his gaze on Sehun. “And one of them is Alice Park.”

Everybody’s eyes immediately travelled to Sehun, and none of them could describe the blonde’s expression.

“… They’re after Alice?” his voice came out sharper than they expected. Actually, he sounded rather furious.

“We’re not entirely sure, but for now, we’ve placed her as a potential victim along with the other people we’ve identified,” Seung Joon replied, his cool voice highly contrasting Sehun’s.

“So this is why you’ve been sticking around Alice,” Jongin managed to scoff, finding it daunting that now it all made sense to him. “You’ve been watching her back,”

“Of course, why else would I bring humans to my home?” Seung Joon answered airily. “I’ve been covering the potential victims’ scent with mine to keep the rogues at bay. It’s quite effective on several of the victims, we couldn’t trace them anywhere near them, but it proved to be ineffective for the rest of them,”

“Looks like your initial accusation is now flushed down the drain, Sehun,” Chanyeol threw a mocking look at the younger.

“Shut up,” the blonde muttered, looking away as he huffed.

“So that’s what it was,” Suho turned to exchange a knowing look with Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, I’ve only realized it now,” Kyungsoo nodded, sighing as he rested his back on the sofa whilst folding his arms. “It did smell like a bloodsucker, now that I think about it…”

“What are you talking about this time?” Baekhyun pulled a face at Kyungsoo and Suho.

“Remember when we caught that weird scent around Alice earlier this month?”