Minjoon is home. He doesn't know how he got here, or who brought him. He doesn't remember opening the door or seeing his parents, he doesn't remember taking off his shoes or sitting down on the bed. He just knows that he's sitting on his bed. There's a constant buzz in his ears; he can't hear anything besides that. His body is pretty numb, too.

"Minjoon?" someone asks. He looks up. That's Tao. He's standing in Minjoon's room. That's a first. "Are you okay dude? Can you talk? Are you hurt?" 

Is he? He touches his elbows and knees and torso, as if looking for possible wounds, but it's not like he feels any pain. He's a little sore. He did hit the ground pretty hard. Right.

Because that weird thing pushed him away from Heejin. 

"Is Heejin alright?" he asks, his voice raspy. Then he starts to take in all the details in his room; Tao has the bedside table lamp. He left his pajamas on the chair and also forgot to take the dishes to the kitchen the night before. And there's Tao. Who's looking at him with such worry, fear and panic, that Minjoon feels like he's made of glass. 

"She's safe," Tao assures, nodding energetically. "Suho is with her. She's home. Wanna try calling her? She might be asleep though." 

Minjoon just stares at him. "What the ," he breathes out finally, "happened out there?"

Tao pursues his lips. Minjoon has literally never seen the guy as flustered and unsure as now; it makes Minjoon's level of anxiety rise even higher. 

"That wasn't real," he says, more to himself than to Tao. "Right?" he asks. "That wasn't real." 

"Maybe you should sleep," Tao suggests. 

"I don't want to sleep," Minjoon spits. "What the hell was that thing out there?" 

He suddenly remembers all the weird . He thought that only happens in the movies, but no, there're images literally flashing before his eyes; Kyungsoo in that stupid air vent, Kai carrying Dal (who has her ankle twisted in a weird angle), Sehun asking why he had to punch someone, Suho talking on the phone about buying chloroform, and then the more unusual things: talking about ghouls, wendigos, wolves. He was almost sure that Tao was a gamer, like he himself was, but kept it as a secret. Minjoon was almost sure that Tao and the rest of his friends are just huge fans of WoW, or some other like that. 

He stinks, he realizes. He stinks like fear and sweat and anxiety. 

"Calm down," Tao says to him, taking a step closer towards the bed. "You're safe." 

"That thing," Minjoon starts. He slowly lifts his eyes up at Tao. "Was it real?" 

They stare at each other for the next ten seconds. Then Tao nods shortly and when he speaks up, he looks guilty. "Yes." 

*

He doesn't sleep that night. Tao leaves soon after assuring him that nothing bad is gonna happen to him, that he's safe and well-protected; then his parents come home and he goes to take a shower before they can see him in such a state. He's worn-out and incredibly tired by the time he goes back to his room and he plops down onto his bed, but he doesn't sleep. He keeps the lights on the entire night. 

He dozes off around six in the morning, but it's barely a short nap that leaves him breathless, sweaty, and scared. He has to take another shower. 

He goes downstairs, opens the fridge in search of something to drink, and that's when his mom comes in. She's putting on a sweater when she sees him. 

"Hi," she greets. "You're not going to school?"

Minjoon turns to look at her. His mom goes from carefully curious to outward shocked. 

"Have you slept at all?" she asks, approaching him in a truly motherly-like manner that Minjoon knows is gonna end with hugging and uncomfortable face tugging. His mother's hands touch his cheeks and she takes in his face and appearance. "Minjoon," she says gently. "Are you okay?" 

"I think I'm sick," Minjoon says. "Can I stay home?" 

"Are you sure you can stay home alone?" his mom asks, concern in her eyes. "I'm gonna be back late. Dad finishes at five." 

"I'll be fine," Minjoon assures. "Gotta sleep it off." 

His mom mutters something, coos at him, hugs him (he actually enjoys that today and hugs her back like his life depends on it) and then tells him to keep his phone on. She heads to work a few minutes later. Minjoon stares out the window to see her go and then feels all the hair on his neck stand up when he realizes he's completely alone. 

He practically runs upstairs to find his phone. He calls Heejin, but she doesn't pick up. He doesn't know who else to call, so he settles for Tao. He doesn't pick up either. He's getting even more anxious at this point. That's when the doorbell rings. 

Now, Minjoon was never really a people person. He likes people, he does, but things like social interaction or opening the door to a mailman always made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He's already scared out of his bones, and when someone rings the doorbell, he actually wants to crawl into a hole and die. 

That's kinda what he does, but he crawls into his bed and he doesn't die, just goes through a minor panic attack. 

"I'm freaking out," he says to himself. "Jesus. I'm freaking out. Calm down." 

That thing yesterday was weird. It was real, it was very real, it touched him and pushed him out of the way. It wanted to hurt Heejin. She saw it some nights; it observed her in the darkness. What if it's here with him, now? What if he's hiding in his bed and that thing is looming next to his bed, staring down at him?

The doorbell rings again. Minjoon gets even more scared. Just go, human. 

What if it's not a human?

His phone buzzes in his palm and he lets out a very unmanly yelp. He stares at the screen to see an unknown number flashing there. He frowns. Is that the government? Oh God. Is that the government?! 

He doesn't pick up. Obviously. So then he gets a text. 

Open the door. It's Kyungsoo

The hell? How did Kyungsoo even get his number? 

He gets out of his bed. In one swift move, because if something is standing next to his bed, it's at least gonna get whacked in the face with a duvet as he's standing up. Then he goes downstairs, still in his pajamas, and opens the door to see Kyungsoo behind it. 

"Hey," Kyungsoo says. Minjoon blinks at him a few times. "Um. So I...heard that you were pretty panicked." 

"Heard from Tao?" Minjoon asks, confused. 

"No. Heard, as in...your heart—you know." 

Minjoon really doesn't. He doesn't even know Kyungsoo that well. How the hell did he know where Minjoon lives?

"You don't know," Kyungsoo states then. Minjoon feels more and more tired with each passing second. "Tao didn't tell you?" 

"Tell me what?" he asks, sounding very exhausted. Even he can hear that. 

"What we are." 

Now, that sounds like something out of Heejin's favorite fantasy book. Minus the cheesy romance. 

"You wanna go grab some coffee?" Kyungsoo asks. Minjoon thinks about his empty house, empty room, empty soul, and concludes that anything is better than staying here. Alone. So he nods and goes to put on some clothes. They head for the city in complete silence that would be awkward if it wasn't for this whole situation being so bizzare. Minjoon doesn't know what to ask and Kyungsoo doesn't know what to say. 

"The thing you saw yesterday was a Mare," he speaks up a few minutes into the walk. Minjoon nods dumbly. "It's an evil spirit. We banished it. Well, Dal did; she's the expert at that." 

"At banishing things?" 

"Banishing, killing, summoning," Kyungsoo lists. Minjoon nods again. "We deal with these kind of things." 

"Spirits." 

"Monsters," Kyungsoo nods at him. "All kinds of things." 

"Right." 

Minjoon doesn't even know what he's being told. He just knows his brain isn't working very well at the moment. 

"We've been doing it for a long time," Kyungsoo explains. "Since Kai came to town, basically. There's more and more monsters everywhere, but now we're better at handling them." 

"Right, because that's something you do daily?" Minjoon asks, going for a short chuckle that comes out hysterical. Kyungsoo shrugs. God, they're both so awkward. 

"We, uh. We're a pack." Kyungsoo says.

"Not a gang, then?" Minjoon questions.

"We prefer the term 'pack'," Kyungsoo admits, smiling a little. He tries to maintain an eye contact with Minjoon as they walk, but Minjoon doesn't really feel up for it, although he does appreciate Kyungsoo being so patient with him and all. "We're not exactly human. That's why." 

"Jesus ," Minjoon mutters, feeling his heart rate speed up again. He glances at Kyungsoo to see his super wide, huge eyes, and has a trouble breathing for a second. He takes a wary step back. "Okay, uh. Nice. Good to—know." 

"We're not dangerous," Kyungsoo says, not trying to close the distance between them. "We're safe, I promise. We're not gonna hurt you." 

"I know," Minjoon nods. "I mean, I think I do. I did hear Suho wanted to buy chloroform, and you know what they use that for in movies? Melting people. Melting people's skin. You know what this knowledge does to me?" 

Kyungsoo almost chuckles at that. Minjoon thinks that damn, even in a situation like this he's able to crack a joke; you go, Minjoon. 

They turn right when they spot coffeeheaven, and they stand in the line to get their shots of caffeine. They sit down once they get it and stare out the window in silence. Minjoon feels his brain clear up a little the more coffee he drinks. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out to see a text from Heejin. 

Are you ok? 

He writes back 'yes' and looks up at Kyungsoo. He punches in another message, saying he's with Kyungsoo, just in case the guy decides to kill him. Maybe the police will look through his messages, or something. He looks up at Kyungsoo again after thinking that. 

"You can't read minds, can you?" he asks suspiciously. Kyungsoo snaps his eyes at him. 

"No," he says. Minjoon breathes out with relief. "That's Krystal's thing." 

Minjoon chuckles. He thinks it's a joke. He looks at Kyungsoo to see him dead serious. Kyungsoo always looks dead serious though, so is he telling the truth? 

"Wait, seriously?" he whispers. Kyungsoo nods, tips of his lips quirking up. "No. You're lying." 

"You'll see for yourself." 

"So what are you?" Minjoon asks then. "A vampire?" 

"Do I look like a vampire?" Kyungsoo smiles fully now. Minjoon squints at him.

"Nephilim?" 

"As in angels' children?" Kyungsoo asks, making sure he got that right. He shakes his head when Minjoon nods. "Not even sure that's a thing. I feel like I would know." 

"A mutant?" 

"You could say so," Kyungsoo smiles even wider. He looks like he's enjoying this game while also making Minjoon feel more comfortable about it all. 

"Okay, so I'm close," Minjoon says. "Mutant X-Men style, or just...a genetic mutant or something?" 

"A genetic mutant or something." 

"You can just tell me, you know." 

"I think you already know, actually. You just don't want to sound dumb because it's the dumbest option there is. Next to vampires, of course."

Minjoon stares at him for a long while. Kyungsoo nods slowly, surely, and Minjoon leans back in his chair. "No," he says. "No way." Kyungsoo's smile grows wider. He takes a sip of his coffee, looking smug. "No freaking way you're werewolves." 

Kyungsoo laughs into his cup. 

*

Kyungsoo takes him to Kai's loft. Minjoon feels very odd because of that; he's never been at Kai's place. 

"Is that Krystal girl going to be there?" he asks right before getting on the elevator. 

"No," Kyungsoo says, laughing out loud. "Even if she were, she usually tries hard not to listen into your thoughts. I don't know which is worse, getting your mind read or hearing all the weird crap that some people have inside it." 

"Point." 

They get on the right floor and head for Kai's apartment. It's loud inside; Minjoon can already hear them all screaming. He swallows hard when Kyungsoo opens the door and follows him inside nervously. He hears barking and when he looks down, he spots a very brown, very happy dog; it greets Kyungsoo first, then sends Minjoon a curious look and sits down in front of him, tilting his head to the side. 

Minjoon puts his arm out towards the dog. It takes a careful whiff of Minjoon's scent, then touches his hand with his wet nose and stands up, allowing Minjoon to pet it; Minjoon crouches down. He loves dogs, and this one here is really beautiful. 

"Minjoon!" he hears. He turns around to see Heejin and some other people standing behind her; his vision is pretty much tunnel vision, though. Heejin throws herself at him and they hug very tightly, both breathing out with relief. "I'm so happy to see you! Are you hurt?"

"Am I hurt?!" Minjoon asks, squealing. "You were being stalked by an evil spirit from hell, why would I be hurt?!" 

"Well, you do look like ," someone says. Then Minjoon hears a thump and the same person that said it yells in pain. "Watch it, dumbhat!" 

He looks at the people gathered in the corridor. God, there's so many people. He waves at them awkwardly, seeing a few unknown faces. He knows most of them, though; Suho wanted him to meet them after all. In response to his wave, he gets a lot of different reaction. Dal leans back, closing her eyes with relief washing over her face, Kai huffs out a breath, Baekhyun makes a full body-spin, also relieved, Amber and Yixing smile at him widely. 

"Dude, have you heard?" he whispers to Heejin, pulling away from her but still holding her shoulders. "They're freaking werewolves." 

"I know," Heejin whispers, her eyes wide as saucers. "I called it." 

"No you didn't."

"We can hear you," Kris reminds them, laughing. Minjoon and Heejin turn to look at them, both reminding the pack of deers caught in the headlights. 

*

They get sat down in the kitchen. Dal, Kai and Suho are sitting in front of them. The rest of the pack is walking about in the loft and creating a nice background noise with the occassional yells or threats. They're trying their best to make it all as simple for Minjoon and Heejin as they can. Heejin is buzzing out of her skin; Minjoon thinks that she feels like she's now part of her own fantasy book. She never got a letter from Hogwarts, but she did befriend a literal pack of werewolves that fights evil creatures. 

Minjoon feels a bit out of place. 

"That's why we were absent so much," Dal says, continuing with her story. "Sometimes monsters attacked during school, and we just had to get out." 

"Minjoon always joked we should look for a Bat signal in the sky," Heejin says. Minjoon smiles at the memory. 

"That's true," he says, a bit detached. Dal talks more, but he turns his hearing off; he can't make out the words. Something entirely else is on his mind now. Now it's Kai's turn to talk, but he can't hear him, either. 

He interrupts Kai suddenly and sharply, not thinking about it. "What about Minho?" 

Kai closes his mouth with a click. Some of the boys in the living room get quiet all of a sudden; they were surely listening in. Minjoon looks up to see Dal pale, Kai shocked, and Suho sad. Minjoon feels something bitter on his tongue. 

"He—got killed," Dal chokes out. "He followed us out into the woods. Stumbled upon a fight. Got slashed and bled out. The only way to save him was giving him the bite, so Kai did. Minho became a part of the pack. But then he followed us into another fight, and he—" 

Her voice gets stuck in . Minjoon feels tears prickle his eyes. He hears Heejin let out a very shaky breath. 

*

He's alone in the kitchen. It's a very cozy kitchen, with a nice retro-like fridge and light furniture; there's lots of light coming in through the big windows. He can hear the pack talk in hushed tones in the living room. Then he hears footsteps. Tao stands next to him. 

"Wanna watch a movie with us?" he asks. Minjoon would never say 'no' to a movie, so he just nods, feeling tense just thinking about coming out of that stupid kitchen. He follows Tao into the living room to find the pack sprawled all over the armchairs, the couch, and the floor in front of the TV, with pillows, blankets, and teddy bears thrown across their legs, torsos, even faces. They have created a literal tangle of limbs and hair and some of them Minjoon can't even see from under legs and heads. He just knows that Suho is hugging Heejin, Kyungsoo is spooning with Chen while his head is on Kris's thigh, Kris has Luhan's head on his left shoulder and Yixing's head on his right shoulder, Amber is playing with Baekhyun's hair, and Sulli is squeezed between Xiumin and Min. 

When Tao and him enter the room, the whole pile shifts. It's barely noticeable, but it creates some space for Minjoon to squeeze in. He sits down on the floor, next to Heejin, and then Tao lies down behind him. He feels pillows under his ; then someone hands him a blanket. Heejin looks up at him and takes his hand into her own, squeezing it warmly.

Minjoon looks at the heads in front of him and at the people behind him and next to him. He focuses on the TV - of course they're watching Tangled - and feels himself getting drowsy. He puts his head on Heejin's shoulder and feels Tao wiggle a bit; then the boy's head ends up on Minjoon's thigh. He doesn't even mind. 

He closes his eyes, the last thing he hears being Rapunzel's voice on the TV and someone from the people around him giggling quietly.

I hope you enjoyed, peanut butter caramel bars :)