I

               Taemin wakes up entirely drenched in his own sweat.

               As he struggles to get a hold of his breathing, he notices the pounding sound in the background – the sound that must have woken him up. It’s late. No one’s supposed to be here. Taemin grabs his handgun and quietly makes his way to the door. He flings it open, leaving the intruder to stumble into the room, and just as he’s about to shoot, the intruder puts his hands up.

               “Whoa, there. What do you think you’re doing with that?”

                Oh.

                It’s just Kai.

                Taemin exhales slowly. The dream must have gotten to him. He shakes his head, and lowers the gun. “Hey, Kai.”

                “That’s one way to greet your friends,” Suho comments from behind Kai. Taemin places the gun on a nearby table and sits down on the couch he had been sleeping on earlier.

                “Are you okay?” Kai asks, sitting down next to him. “Did something happen to you? Did one of the Pack come by?”

                Taemin shakes his head. “No, no. Just… show me what you’ve got.”

                Kai looks suspicious, but drops the subject. He opens up his backpack and takes out a laptop. “We’ve got the whole place scoped out. It doesn’t seem like it’s anyone’s territory, but we should still be careful, since, you know–”

                Kai’s words fade into background noise as Taemin’s eyes glass over. His hands are still clammy from the sweat, and his mind is still swirling. That was an awful dream, a terrible nightmare. It felt so real. He can still feel his blood rushing, his hand clamping around that innocent neck–

                “So, you got that?” Taemin jerks up to see Kai looking at him expectantly.

                “Yeah, I’ve got it.”

                “Then, tell me what I said.” Taemin flushes. He can’t. Kai rolls his eyes. “I’ll send you the graphic and a run-down of the plan. Don’t worry about it. You look tired, so just get some sleep instead.” Taemin nods, bids Suho and Kai goodbye, and collapses onto the couch once more.

                It’s late. He should sleep.

                He really doesn’t want to.

                -

                Taemin ends up getting absolutely no sleep, and the bags under his eyes are proof of that. He steps into the café the next morning, hoping the coffee will give him some sort of buzz, buys an overly-priced drink, and settles down at a table in the corner. He winces when the coffee burns his tongue, but he’s so eager to get some caffeine that he bears the pain long enough to take a large swig. It hurts as it goes down his throat. He is about to brave another sip when someone sits down in the chair across from him.

                “Well, look who it is.”

                Taemin looks up into the eyes of company that may be even more unwelcome than the visit he received last night. With pale skin and hair as white as snow, Kim Jonghyun is easily recognizable. He is not, however, a person – if he can be called that – that Taemin likes to see.

                Yet, somehow, even as much as he dislikes Jonghyun, he can never turn down a conversation with him.

                Jonghyun just has that sort of effect on people.

                “You look haggard,” Jonghyun comments before taking a sip of his coffee, like it was the most normal thing in the world to say.

                Taemin chuckles. “Thanks.”

                “How long have you got left before the transformation? I didn’t get a lot of sleep during mine. My blood was half coffee back then. I was so tired, but I’d always stay up.” Jonghyun shakes his head, as if looking back at pleasant times. “I think I still do.”

                “I told you before,” Taemin says shortly. “I’m not like you. I’m not transforming into anything.”

                Jonghyun blinks, and then he grins. “Of course, you are.”

                “You don’t know that.”

                “Yes, I do.”

                “How?”

                Jonghyun leans in so close that Taemin can feel his breath on his face. “I can smell you from a mile away.”

                -

                Taemin decides that it is wisest to but some instant coffee from the store. That way, he can consume the cheap caffeine without having to worry about running into creatures like Jonghyun. That way, he can also look over what Kai sent him so he can actually know what he’s planning to do in three nights.

                The graphics are fantastic – it’s a completely realistic representation of the layout of Hongdae, where trouble always brews on full moon nights. Beasts of all shapes and sizes prowl the streets, looking for the same thing others are looking for: a good time. But on full moon nights, a beast’s definition of a good time and a human’s definition of a good time diverge into two separate entities.

                And that is why Kai is there.

                Maintaining the balance between two distinct worlds is a difficult and messy job, but Kai makes it look easy. Every full moon, he’s there, protecting people who will never know his name, defeating monsters twice his size, just because he wants to.

                Kai’s a strange one, alright.

                But Taemin respects that and wants to help. So, he does anything he can. He rides a motorcycle, shoots a gun, and fights alongside Kai and his friends because it makes him feel right. It’s to prove the others wrong.

                “You know,” Jonghyun had said in one of their previous conversations. “One of these days, you’re going to change. And that little friend of yours will kill you. I’d get away from him as fast as I could if I were you.”

                But Taemin is not Jonghyun.

                He will not change.

                He is sure of it.