“Jackson.”

Jooheon's whisper was only a faint sound in the sun flooded room as he gently shook his boyfriend's shoulders to wake him up. An unidentifiable groan was Jackson's response as he slung his arms more tightly around Jooheon but the younger boy wouldn't stop nudging him.

“What?”, Jackson finally mumbled into Jooheon's hair, still too sleepy to open his eyes.

“Your father is calling for you”, Jooheon said in a shaky voice. As if that had been a cue Mr Wang's muffled voice travelled through the walls, calling the name of his son.

Jackson stirred a little bit as if to try and get rid of the sound but quickly gave in.

“Yes?”, he shouted into the direction of the closed door, his voice still deep and husky from sleep.

“We have to open the shop soon, so wake up”, was the answer from the other side of the door.

Jackson sighed. “I guess we'll have to get up then.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed but Jooheon held him back.

“What is it?”, he asked and pecked Jooheon's lips lightly.

The younger boy looked down nervously.

“I… should I sneak out? You haven't really introduced me to your father yet and he doesn't know that I am here”, he finally explained and it was the truth. The day before they had come to Jackson's place before his father had returned from the shop and they hadn't left his room to say hello.

“Maybe I should introduce you now”, Jackson answered and pecked Jooheon again.

“But uhm is your father okay with this? I mean, he won't hate you because you are gay?”

Jackson just laughed loudly in response.

“Okay, first of all he already knows that you are here. We are werewolves, we can smell people from a mile away. And second, no I don't think he'll have any objections about us dating each other, so get dressed. I want to introduce you as my boyfriend”, he said, picked Jooheon's shirt up from the floor and playfully threw it at him.

Jooheon blushed a deep shade of pink when he took it and searched for his pants on the floor as well.

“Tse tse tse… and you said that I am the scary one”, Jackson muttered from the other side of the room where he picked out clothes from his closet while casually examining the long, bright red scratches on his back.

“You are”, Jooheon insisted and slipped his shirt on, trying his best to cover the dark marks that Jackson's lips and teeth had left on his neck and chest.

They tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen where Mr Wang was preparing breakfast.

“Good morning”, he said and turned around with a pan of fried eggs in one hand, not even slightly surprised that Jooheon was there, half hidden behind Jackson.

“Good morning Sir”, he mumbled.

Mr Wang laughed. “So you are Jackson's boyfriend, huh?”

Jooheon looked at Jackson for a second and then back to Mr Wang. “Yes Sir. I'm Jooheon.”

“Nice to meet you, son. Let's sit down then, we can talk while eating breakfast”, Mr Wang said but both him and Jackson froze in the middle of their movement while Jooheon sat down.

“What's wrong?”, he asked and looked from one to the other, searching reassurance in the eyes of his boyfriend. But there were only anger, disgust and… fear?

“Jackson?”, Jooheon said cautiously with shaking voice. The expression on Jackson's face scared him and the sudden tension in the room felt almost physical. Jackson didn't react to his words and just scrunched his nose.

“Go. Leave”, Mr Wang hissed, “Take your boyfriend and hide. Whatever happens stay hidden until it's safe again.”

“Dad…”, Jackson said but his father interrupted him.

“Go, Jackson. Now!”

Jackson nodded and grabbed Jooheon's arm roughly, pulling him off the chair and out of the kitchen.

“Jackson? What is going on?”, Jooheon wanted to know as he got dragged down the hallway and pushed through a door into a dark room. As soon as Jackson had closed the door behind them he couldn't see anything. The older boy didn't bother to turn on the lights and just continued to shove and pull Jooheon further into the darkness, ignoring Jooheon's protests.

“Get in there”, Jackson snapped and Jooheon hesitantly stretched his arms out in front of him to feel the wood of a door frame under his fingertips. He shivered at that, his sudden loss of sight heightening his other senses and making him hear strange sounds, trying to tell him that the wood under his fingers was moving like water.

“Jackson”, he screeched and immediately Jackson's hand covered his mouth.

“Shut up”, the older boy hissed and grabbed his arm again.

“Jackson, please stop. I'm scared. You are hurting me”, Jooheon whimpered as he stumbled behind Jackson and then got pushed against a wall after a few steps, “Let go of me. Please Jackson, you are scaring me.”

The tight grip on his arm loosened and he sank to the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and tried to ignore the black shadows in the corners of his eyes. He could make out Jackson's dark silhouette crouching down in front of him and he jerked back, hitting the back of his head on the wall, as he felt a light touch on his cheek before he recognized it as Jackson's warm hand, caressing his skin with soothing movements.

“I'm sorry, Jooheoney”, Jackson whispered and pulled Jooheon into a protective hug, “I didn't mean to scare you. And I'm sorry if I hurt you.”

“Why are we hiding?”

Jackson sighed slightly before he answered. “There are people here. They are from that sect whose building burned down.”

“How do you know that they are here? I didn't see anyone.”

“We are werewolves, remember?”, Jackson chuckled slightly, “our senses are heightened. We could smell them. And I can hear them talking to my father right now.”

Jooheon nodded. “What do they want?”

“I don't really know. They were here before and they are looking for someone. A wizard. Maybe it's someone from their sect who escaped, but I don't know. They think my father knows where this person is and is protecting him.”

“And does he?”, Jooheon asked and his thoughts wandered to Hyungwon. Hadn't he said that it it wasn't easy to escape from the sect? That they'd come looking for him?

“No, we don't know who they are searching for.”

“Uhm”, Jooheon was unsure if he should tell Jackson the truth about Hyungwon, “I think I might know who it is.”

He felt Jackson stir next to himself.

“My friend, Hyungwon, he is from the sect. He's the reason why we went to the Magic World, to break that curse and… he said that they'd come looking for him. And he even is the son of their High Priest.”

Jooheon tensed after he had finished speaking, hoping that he hadn't just ruined Minhyuk's and Hoseok's chance of getting the cure since the werewolves didn't seem to be so fond of the sect.

“Hyungwon? Is he a wizard?”, Jackson asked slowly.

Jooheon shook his head. “I don't think so. He said that he wasn't. He can only do basic magic, the kind that all of their priests can do.”

“Then I don't think that it's him they are looking for right now. They are looking for an actual wizard.”

“But why?”

“How would I know?”, Jackson said and shrugged his shoulders. They sat next to each other in silence for a while. Jooheon was cuddled into Jackson's arms while the older boy rested his head against Jooheon's and seemed to listen intently to the voices that were too quiet for Jooheon to pick them up.

“No”, Jackson muttered suddenly, raising his head and looking at the door, “No no no no…”

“What's happening?”, Jooheon whispered and tucked himself tighter against Jackson's side.

“They took him”, Jackson said, shoved Jooheon away and jumped to his feet. His eyes were glowing in crimson and a deep growl escaped from his throat as he pulled the door open.

“Don't move. Stay here until I get back”, he bellowed at Jooheon who gulped loudly and nodded, staring at the floor with wide opened eyes. He saw the faint shape of Jackson disappearing into the darkness, shutting the door behind him. The sound of claws hitting the floor and low growls reached his ears from the other side of it. And then there was nothing, just darkness and the pounding heartbeat in his ears reminding him that time was actually passing. He didn't know for how long he sat there, too scared to move an inch, just waiting for Jackson's return but also dreading it. When he finally heard slow footsteps on the other side of the door, he backed into the wall behind him.

“Jooheon.”

Jackson's voice was soft and apologetic as he opened the door and sat down on his knees in front of Jooheon. He had the lights in the room behind him and for the first time Jooheon got to look at his surroundings. It was a closet. He was sitting in between piles of clothes, and the room behind Jackson didn't look much different from that, filled with boxes that were piled up until they reached the ceiling some of them dangerously lopsided.

“Jackson?”, Jooheon asked and the older boy sighed.

“Will you stop being scared of me?”, he scoffed.

“You are a werewolf.”

“I'm cute.”

“You turned into one when you left.”

Jackson sighed again. “Yes, I turned. I'm a freaking adorable wolf. You should be happy.”

Jooheon giggled quietly and stood up. “What happened to your father?”

“They… took him”, Jackson murmured, “He is gone.” His shoulders slumped down and both anger and sadness mixed on his expression.

“They took him? I'm so sorry. We… we have to get him back from those people”, Jooheon stuttered.

Jackson nodded in agreement. “And I'll have to find him fast. The new moon is soon and he has to make the cu