CHAPTER ONE

Hongbin sighs. He stares at the cold cup of coffee in front of him before letting out another sigh, longer than the one he let out earlier. He turns his head and takes in his surroundings; he was in a small, hidden diner in a small farming town. He was waiting for Sanghyuk, the younger contacting him a few weeks ago about meeting today. He didn’t know how the younger managed to contact him, but somehow he did.

Of course, Hongbin thinks, that it might have been a trap set by the administration, which was why he was seated at the farthest cubicle where his back was safe and he could clearly see anyone who entered the diner. In his thigh-belt was a small gun and hidden in his boot was a knife.

An older waitress approaches Hongbin’s table, offering him a warmer replacement to his cold coffee. He gives the woman a dimpled smile and shakes his head – he wasn’t there to drink coffee, after all.

Hongbin takes one long look at his surroundings. When he sees that there was no imminent danger and when that bubbling feeling in his stomach subsides, Hongbin finds himself lost in his memories of that night. It was when it all started. That dreaded night – that split second before tears fell and screams rang. Were they at fault? Maybe. He didn’t know. Doesn’t.

But he did. No matter how hard Hongbin wanted to push the notion away, he knew that it was true – they were at fault. He was at fault. It was an act of betrayal. It wasn’t unexpected; they all knew it was bound to happen. It was their mission, after all but somehow, without them knowing, but in an unspoken promise, they all decided to not push it through. But in that moment, in a blink of an eye, it happened. A trigger was pulled. A gunshot was heard. Blood had spilled. A life was taken.

Maybe, Hongbin thinks to himself, just maybe, his sins have arrived in the form of Sanghyuk, to get their revenge. All the blood spilled on his hands – maybe they were coming for his head. But maybe, if there was a God somewhere, maybe he’d spare him. He couldn’t lose Sanghyuk. He had already lost everything – he couldn’t lose the younger boy. The mere fact that the boy had contacted him brought joy to him; an emotion he had not felt since their days at Paradise.

Just then, Hongbin hears a bell chime, signalling that someone had opened the door to the diner. He looks up and sees Sanghyuk. He takes in the image of the boy; sunken cheeks, tired eyes, a few bruises on his face and arms, but intact. A wave of relief comes over him and he finds himself raising his hand to signal Sanghyuk of his location. Sanghyuk sees him and gives him a small smile.

When Hongbin sees his smile, it feels as if everything had gone back to normal. As if, nothing had happened and that they were all back in Paradise, living what sad, little life they called “normal.”

“I’m so happy to see you safe, Sanghyuk-ah,” Hongbin says as he motions for the boy to take a seat.

The moment the boy takes the seat across him, the mood falls and Sanghyuk loses his smile. “I’m going to straight up ask you, hyung,” he begins. Hongbin knows where his words were going to lead and although he didn’t like it, he owed it to the younger boy, especially after what happened that fateful night at the park. “-where is Wonshik-hyung?”

Hongbin shifts his gaze away from the younger male. He fiddles with his fingers underneath the table. He feels Sanghyuk’s gaze seemingly boring holes into him but he finds himself unable to utter a word in response to the younger male. Hongbin knew that he owed Sanghyuk the truth, however, he had also vowed, in an unspoken promise to Wonshik, to never speak of what had happened that night.

Sanghyuk stares at Hongbin. He sees the expression of conflicting emotions on his face. He knew Hongbin wouldn’t out Wonshik. Sanghyuk lets out a long sigh before giving Hongbin a small smile. “Never mind, hyung. It’s okay. You don’t have to answer me. I don’t want to trouble you,”

Hongbin furrows his eyebrows at Sanghyuk’s words. He wants to tell him but he swallows down his words. “I’m sorry,” he says after a moment. It was not his position to say.

Sanghyuk smiles and shakes his head. “It’s okay. I understand,” he says. He stares at Hongbin. The amount of hesitation Sanghyuk had to fight off just to meet Hongbin was great, although he would never say that to him. The scars were still fresh, he still resented the older male; resented him with every fibre of his being. However, a part of him, a part he thought he had long buried, still believed that there was still a piece of the old Hongbin in him.

But Sanghyuk knew; he somehow knew that ever since that night, Hongbin had not taken another life; at least, those who aren’t out for his head. Somehow all of them, although he had not seen any of the older males in years, were greatly affected by the events that transpired that night, although he had no idea what happened. He has been searching for clues all these years but has come up with nothing.

Silence falls before them before Hongbin speaks. “How did you contact me? How did you know I was going to pass through here?” In all honestly, it was the main thing that has been eating Hongbin away. How did Sanghyuk find him? He was always careful of not leaving tracks and he knew that the only person able to track him was Taekwoon who was the best tracker out of them.

“I honestly don’t know, hyung. Somehow I just knew. It’s like, there’s a small voice inside me telling me to go here; that you’d be here and that I could contact you. I know it’s hard to believe-,” Sanghyuk says. Hongbin shakes his head and smiles. He knew that because of the experiments they underwent back in Paradise, inhuman abilities would appear inside them. They all had some, and apparently, as they grow older, new abilities would appear.

Sanghyuk sighs and hangs his head. “I feel like I’m moving farther away from being human as the days go by,” he tells Hongbin in a shaky voice. Hongbin doesn’t say anything, understanding well the meaning behind Sanghyuk’s words. He felt it too, after all. “I don’t want to be a monster,”

wow! ha ha ha a chapter after 3 years.