Part 3: Chapter 29

Several hours later, Luhan left the guys to finish patching up the black masks.  They had called the Doc to ask his opinion, but he had explained at as long as there was no serious internal bleeding or broken bones, taking them to the hospital would probably only cause more problems.  Basics bandaging would be fine.  The wolf would do the rest. 

At the door, he unconsciously did just as the man and Kris had done and turned to look back at the room.  He looked at the guys that had become his friends in the short month that he had been there.  Before he could give himself time to doubt his decisions, he turned to leave but in doing so, caught Tao’s eye.  His tall friend was crouched by a black mask who was getting patched up by Chen. 

Tao’s eyebrows furrowed.  Still watching Luhan, he turned his head and called out to Kai.  Luhan slipped out the door before Kai could look up.  He needed to pack.  There really wasn’t time to second guess his decisions.

At his apartment, it took him all of five minutes to gather his things.  This town had become home to him in the short time that he’d been there.  But it had nothing to do with the apartment or personal belongings.  It had nothing to do with what he could throw in a duffle bag. 

It had everything to do with the people he had met and befriended.  And the girl he had fallen in love with. 

His door opened and closed, the click of the knob was soft, but it sounded painfully loud to Luhan’s ear.

“You were just going to leave without discussing this?”  Kai asked softly from the entryway.  Luhan turned to see him leaning back against the closed door, arms crossed over his chest. 

“What’s there to discuss, Kai?  I made the deal.  It’s over.”

“The hell it’s over,” Kai countered, voice raising.  “You sold yourself to him to protect Sohee.  How do you think she’s going to take this?”

“It’s only for five years-“

“That’s right, five years,” Kai cut him off.  He stepped away from the door.  “You’re going to disappear for five years, doing who knows what, with the enemy, and then what?  Then he comes back and we’re right back at square one.”

“Not square one,” Luhan argued, his voice soft and controlled to counter Kai anger and frustration.  “Look Kai, I can’t just leave Kris.”

“That’s what you’re doing?  You’re choosing him over us?”

“There are no sides in this Kai!  I’m choosing the only path to safety that I can see.”  When Kai opened his mouth, Luhan cut him off.  “We made a promise, remember?  To do whatever we had to do to protect Sohee.”

Kai closed his eyes.  “I remember.” 

“That night, right here in this room, you told me you feared she was involved in all this.  Now we know, she’s not just involved, she’s at the center of all of it.  This guy wants her and what hope do we stand against him, Kai?  He touched me and I froze, too scared to even twitch the wrong way.  He attacked you and Kyungsoo and had me pinned to the wall in the blink of an eye.  When it comes down to it, we’re a bunch of teenagers.  Only a fraction of us have even had our First Turn yet,