Kyungsoon’s POV

    I awoke in an unfamiliar room. The walls were a dark navy blue and the sheets on the bed where I was currently laying matched perfectly. The dark color made the room appear smaller than it truly was. Despite its small appearance, it was very comforting. Outside the door I could hear voices.     

    “You need to tell her.” Hongbin whispered.

    “It’s not safe.” Taekwoon rasped softly.

    “Well she already knows something is up. I think she would be better off with more information.” There was a moment of silence before Hakyeon continued. “You're not going to be with her every moment of the day. Being aware will make her safer."

    I heard footsteps leaving, and the door open. I fell back to the bed and closed my eyes. One set of footsteps drew nearer. I felt the bed dip as they sat down.  Fingertips gently brushed a strand of hair away from my face. I stopped breathing when I felt them draw closer. Quietly I heard Taekwoon whisper, “I know you’re awake.”

Taekwoon’s POV

    Kyungsoon’s eyes snapped open, and I suddenly realized I was too close. I pulled back and silently watched her. Her cheeks took on a rosy hue once again. She sat up and looked back at me. There was a long awkward pause before she spoke. “So, is this your room?” She asked softly.

    I nodded and the silence stretched.  “So you’re Leo?” I nodded again, and she mimicked my movement. “Why did you follow me? I let you into my home, and even changed in front of you.” She didn’t sound angry, more curious or confused.

    As I felt my face and ears grow warm, I turned to look down at my hands. “I was anxious. I felt like something very bad was going to happen, and then I met you.” I looked up and saw her eyebrows draw together in offense and confusion. “You weren’t the bad thing” I held up both hands and waved them quickly. “But I felt that I needed to protect you. This was the best way to avoid putting you in more danger.”

    “Are there more people like you?”

    “My immediate family is the last of the Amur Leopards, but there are many other species of shifter. In this town, there are only the six of us.”

    “So that others are shifters too? Why didn’t Hongbin tell me sooner?”

    “Yes, they are shifters too. Hongbin needed our permission to tell you. This is why he brought you over Friday, he wanted permission.”

    “Ok, so why wasn’t I told on Friday?”

    “Because I stopped him.”

    “Why? What right did you have to stop him?” Her voice started to take on an offended tone again.    

    "I wanted to protect you.”

    She exhaled loudly. “ From what? It doesn’t seem like any of you plan on hurting me. When you were a leopard, you weren’t out of control.”

    Only now did I notice that Kyungsoon had been inching forward during the conversation. We were nearly touching. I stared awkwardly off into the distance, not wanting to meet her gaze. “Hunters have come. The want nothing more than to destroy everything supernatural. That’s why Chohee was here. She overheard a conversation and knew why they were here.” I looked over quickly to see how she was reacting. She looked very worried. I turned my body to face her, and grabbed both of her hands. I leaned forward so there was only a few inches between us. “They are here for Vampires that have been in this town for a while. Right now, it seems like only one of them suspects that there might be shifters in this town.”

    She held my gaze for a moment before staring down at our joined hands. Her face flushed. “I’m glad they aren’t after you, but what about the Vampires? Should I be worried about them too?”

    I let go of one of her hands and placed a single finger on her chin. Applying gentle pressure, I made her look me in the eyes. “You don’t have to worry about anything. I will protect you no matter what.”

    Kyungsoon’s eyes drifted closed, and our faces inched closer. My eyelids were growing heavy and drooping. We were only a hair apart, when Wonsik opened the door with a crash as it slammed into the wall. Our eyes snapped open and we pulled apart quickly.

    “Hey! Kyungsoon, Hakyeon told me you’d be awake by now.” Wonsik sat down by the head of the bed and draped an arm around Kyungsoon’s shoulders. He continued, ignoring my glare. “I heard that hyung has been telling you everything about us. Did he get to the part about soulmates yet?”

    I stood quickly and angrily chased him back out of my room. He mouthed “You’re welcome” and left laughing.

    I returned to the bed and saw that Kyungsoon had shifted her position. Her feet were no longer on the bed, but were resting on the floor as she sat on the bed. I returned to my seat next to her, and grabbed her hand nearest me.

    She pulled her hand back, and turned her head sideways to look at me. “What does he mean by soulmate?”

    Mentally cursing Wonsik, I started explaining, “Each shifter has a soulmate. There is one person in the world that can make them complete. All the shifter legends state that when you first see you soulmate you know, but it had never been described. I had no clue what to expect.”

    He face fell, “so you’ve already met your soulmate?”    

    I smiled at her, “Yes, and this last Thursday when I exited the coffee shop in town and saw her for the first time, it clicked. It was like she had the key to open my locked heart. I couldn’t help but stare, and the I followed her home.”

    She had a confused expression, then upon realizing what I had said, her eyes grew wide with shock. “But we only just met? How can I be your soulmate?”

    I smiled, amused. “Humans can grow to love another being. Shifters' love only grows. Most soulmates who are both shifters, get married less than a month after meeting, although some Soulmates grow up alongside each other. You don’t realize your soulmate until you are at least 16. Most common is 18, but there have been older realizations too.”

    “So Chohee and Ken, I mean Jaehwan, are soulmates?” I nodded. “Why is she ok with it?”

    I shrugged, “I’m not sure, I missed that part of the story.”

    “Have the other’s met their soulmates?”

    I shook my head. “Just us and Ken, I mean Jaehwan and Chohee.” She chuckled musically at my slip up. I smiled and felt my ears grow warm. “I think that’s why we are here though. All six of us felt pulled to this location. We can sense when our soulmate is near, even before we’ve met them. I’ve heard we can also tell when you are in pain, but I can’t say for sure, and I hope I never can.”

    She touched my cheek and I turned my head to nuzzle her palm. I was smiling softly. She chuckled again, “You smile a lot more than I thought you did.” I was saddened when she pulled her hand back. My cheek still felt warm from her touch.

    “I only smile when I have a reason.” I stated simply.

    “And what is your reason for smiling now?” She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

    I gently cupped each side of her face and gently ran my thumbs on her cheeks. “You,” I breathed before letting my lips fall gently on hers.

    Kyungsoon froze for a moment, before sighing and leaning into the kiss. Unbidden she opened and began to return my affections.     

   The door swung open again, this time Sanghyuk was the culprit. We separated slowly. “Come on you two.” He stated, disgusted. “Hyung says, if you don’t come to eat now, there won't be anything left to eat.” He turned and left, shutting the door behind him.    

    Kyungsoon began to laugh and I started to chuckle along. I stood and pulled her to stand as well. “Lets go eat.”     

    She nodded, “Also, you need to learn to lock the door.” I smiled and bent to place a kiss on her nose, before pulling her out the door, and down to the dining room.