Chapter 6

The next morning, Minho went out to meet Onew making sure he left a note for Taemin so he wouldn’t worry. He walked until he got to the familiar monument. Looking around, he spotted his friend by the gates talking to Changmin. “You be careful going to work.” Onew said gaining a chuckle from the older boy, “I’ll be fine Onew, it’s you who should be careful, don’t loose your way.” The older said becoming serious. Onew nodded. Minho made his way over to the two older boys, “Hey, are you ready?” Minho said to the older. The older nodded and after a final good-bye to Changmin, the teo headed off into the forest.

They wandered into the forest, nostalgia coursing through them as they remembered playing in the forest. Onew would be the one to watch over them, whenever he could come and play, but since most of his friends had their own protected, he doesn’t come by the clan much. Minho had a similar story, except he and Onew never had a chance to meet until they met when they were already guardians. Taemin and Changmin had a history of being a tutor and student and so, the two met that way have been friends ever since. They wandered deeper and deeper into the ever dense forest, passing by many small streams and large thick trees until they came upon an area where small houses stood. These houses were built into the trees to provide camouflage, they were large enough to fit a full grown adult male, and they were spacious enough to have two floors. Taking a good look around the boys smiled; they were home. “Hello, is anyone here?” Onew spoke out announcing their presence. He gained the attention of some of the older members of the clan, ones that were too far in years to have a guardian, and some of the young parents and their children that were not old enough to have a protected. They were welcomed with warm greetings and an abundance of questions from the young ones about how it was like to live with humans and what it was like to be a guardian. The two boys answered as much as they could, but they had to find Jonghyun, “We don’t have a lot of time to stay, unfortunately.” Onew said smiling apologetically. “We need to see Jonghyun, where is he?” Minho spoke out. One of the elders pointed to one of the houses, “He just came back from hunting and said he wanted to rest for a bit.” He informed the two. Onew and Minho thanked the elder and went to the said house.

There were many things that Jonghyun didn’t expect. He didn’t expect to be a good hunter, he didn’t expect to have a protected, he didn’t expect to become a guardian, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to see Minho and Onew at his front door. He was surprised and curious as to why they decided to pay him a visit. “M-Minho, Onew?” he stuttered. The two smiled when they saw how surprised the other looked to see them. “Hi there.” Onew greeted the shocked vampire. “We came to see you.” Minho added. Jonghyun stepped aside to let the two boys inside, “What do you need? This is a little weird even for-oh no, you aren’t going to get on my case on being a guardian, too?” He said after closing the door. The two vampires didn’t really like to admit it, but they knew that Jonghyun was not all brawn, he had brains too. He knew the legend and he knew that most vampires, once they leave to become a guardian, don’t usually comeback unless they are Jonghyun’s father, aka the clan leader, so when vampires came back, it was either; to raise their children, they’ve lost their protected and have returned as failures, or they came to persuade Jonghyun to get a protected. “Well sort of…we aren’t here to really persuade you, but we do want you to listen to something. Minho began as he made himself comfortable on the couch. Jonghyun and Onew joined the other, “You two should already know how I feel about this.” Jonghyun said leaning against the cushions. “Just hear us out, Jonghyun.” Onew said facing the younger boy. Jonghyun sighed “alright, fine, let’s hear it.” Minho began, “Taemin and I met someone, this someone does not have a guardian, he never had one, and I think that you were supposed to be his guardian.” Minho ended looking at Jonghyun who gave him a look saying ‘are you serious?’ “Stupid…” Jonghyun replied, “huh?” “That’s stupid, how do you know that I’m supposed to be his guardian? Beside, even if this is true, I am not going to do it.” Minho looked at the older, “Why not?” “I already told you, I am not going to be a slave to a weak human like you two.” The two looked at Jonghyun, “Jonghyun, humans are not weak, they go through hardships just like we do, you have never interacted with a human, what gives you the right to call them weak?” Onew said sternly. Minho nodded. Jonghyun turned silent; he wasn’t going to be a slave to them. “On top of that we do not get treated like slaves, we protect them, watch over them, and we help them in day to day activities, we help them and most importantly we are friends with each other.” Minho added in making Onew nod, “Really, so how is it that you two don’t come here anymore?” Jonghyun questioned. “We need to be there for our protected Jonghyun.” “Oh, why, do you need their permission to be out by yourself?” Onew stood up and said, “Jonghyun, we stay by our protected so we can protect them if they are in trouble, its selfish guardians that wander away from their protected that endanger their said protected and you know how that especially since you’ve never seen your protected.” Jonghyun stood up as well, “Really, so why is it that you’re here?” Minho smiled and said, “Please go and try to be his-“ “No.” “Then you’re a coward.” Onew stated. Jonghyun looked at the older, “How does it make me a coward?” He wondered. “You’re afraid of humans.” Jonghyun’s eyes widened, “What?” “Why else don’t you want to be a guardian?” Onew asked. “I want to be free! Not follow them around like an animal.” Jonghyun said raising his voice slightly. Minho sighed, “Jonghyun, can you at least try, a month, at least.” The other looked at Minho and said, “Make it a week, and what’s in it for me?” Onew rolled his completely appalled at the younger’s attitude towards this, and Minho too, he suddenly turned this into a bet? “If you can’t become a guardian, a true guardian, then you’ll get your so called freedom back and you can go back home and if you can then I’ll do your hunting for a week.” Jonghyun nodded, “deal.”

On the way home, Minho and Onew were silent, “Why did you turn this into a bet?” Onew asked. Minho shrugged, “I don’t know it just came out, I’m sorry.” The older shook his head disapprovingly. “Well, it’s a little late to take it back, let’s just hope that Key doesn’t find out.” Minho nodded agreeing.

Jonghyun was pacing back and forth, ‘Why did I agree to this, why, why, why?!’ he thought to himself. Then he realized “Those guys, didn’t give me the name of the person that I am supposed to look for.”

A/N: Hey everyone!

So here is the next update to guardian I hope you guys are enjoying it.

I have a poll for you guys to check out, its something that I want to do, but I don't know if you would be interested so please vote in the poll so I'll know if you guys would like this kind of thing.

Thank you and see you in the next update!