The one thing Lee Jihoon knew how to do was to survive.

And within surviving, he learned how to fight.

How to defend.

How to kill.

Not that he killed any humans. The only thing he ever killed with his two hands were those monsters that popped up in the dark of streets occasionally.

He only killed to defend himself, to make sure that out of him and his opponent, he was the one walking away victorious.

And the one thing Lee Jihoon didn’t do was teams.

He never found himself in the need to work with others in order to survive.

Of course, he had to work with others to achieve certain things, but he never considering truly “working” together. They were merely using each other for their benefits.

This was the main reason why he refused the female so profusely.

But the thing that surprised him the most was how she took his words.

She merely blinked at him and sighed. “Well, I was secretly hoping otherwise, but I shall accept your choice,” she simply replied.

He couldn’t believe it.

“That’s it? You’re not going to put up a fight? Make me do whatever the hell you wanted me do?” he shouted in confusion.

She stood up and looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. “Would you like me to? Would it make you feel better if I did that? Then you have an excuse to fight back, right? No, thanks. I asked you to make a choice, and I will accept whatever that choice is. Even if it doesn’t align with what I think or hope, I have no right to tell that you’re wrong.” She turned around and started to walk away. She stopped and looked back at him. “I just hope you will have no regrets with your choices. I wish you the best, my good sir.”

He watched as she walked back to the two males.

“Shall we go home?” she asked them.

The quiet one glanced at him and turned back to her with a curt nod.

The other one looked at him, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something but slowly closed it. He too nodded.

And without another word or look, they disappeared from his sight.

Jihoon didn’t regret his decision. He tried to live every day as his last. Because honestly, there was some truth in that statement. He really didn’t know when he would drop dead and die. Whether it would be due to a nasty encounter or something stupid, you never know when you live on the streets.

With that being said, he was trying his best to not think about the group from yesterday.

He didn’t regret his decision, but something was gnawing at him. And he didn’t like it.

He had an inkling that it was the fierce protection the woman had for the other two guys. It obvious to him that she had some kind of higher authority over them. But it wasn’t as if she acted like it. It was more like there was an equal footing between the three of them.

He wondered what it was that made him feel so bitter. Was it the fact that he never in his life had something like that? Someone sticking up for him no matter what?

Jihoon growled, punching the nearby wall, and immediately feeling the pain of the scabs on his knuckles splitting open. He winced and brought his hand back to see blood trickling down. He reached into his pocket and brought out a faded cloth. Using his teeth, he ripped a strip of it off and tied it around his bleeding hand.

Even with the pain, Jihoon still couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He knew it bothered him more than he would like.

He could not stop thinking about it. And it had been days, almost weeks since their encounter. He stared at the night sky, staring at the small stars that glimmered weakly. The city lights made it impossible to see anything remotely astronomical.

The only thing was the bright full moon that seemed to mock him.

He felt the chilly wind pass through, and he tugged his jacket tighter.

He sighed, rolling over, trying to fall asleep.

But he just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

What if he had said yes? Would he be living in a warm house with food and water? A place to call home?

But that would mean he would have to get along with those people. He had reluctantly agreed that the female was strong and tolerable. But the two other males, well, he didn’t think they would want him there.

But there was no point in regretting it now. He told her no and that was the decision he made.

All he could do was continue surviving.

Because that was what he did best.

A howl rang through the air. It was primitive and rough. The kind of howl that set people on edge.

Jihoon jumped up and crouched tentatively. He heard similar sounds too often in his life.

It was a cry of one of those monsters.

He peeked down the building, hoping this one couldn’t fly. He watched as it stepped into the moonlight.

It was large, larger than any one he had ever encounter. It had sharp pointed ears like a wolf, but that was where all similarities ended. It had a pig snout, eyes that drooped, and claws that glinted in the light.

He saw that it started to sniff the air, and its gaze suddenly fell on him.

Jihoon instinctively brought his head down, hoping that it didn’t see him.

It was quiet, and he looked up, thinking that he was in the clear.

But he was mistaken as the large creature was suddenly flying over him and landing with a loud thud right behind him.

Jihoon hissed under his mouth. It didn’t look like it had wings, so it either clawed its way up and jumped on the walls to get its way on top of the roof.

He crouched down, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pocket knife. He watched as it stood up and shook its head like a dog in water. He knew that he had to wait for his chance. Jihoon was aiming for its heart.

He had found, by accident, that the only way to kill them is by stabbing it through the heart. It had to stop beating to actually kill them. Letting them bleed to death was no way to kill them. It usually took four or five stabs for Jihoon to kill one of them.

But as he was watching the beast, he realized that it wasn’t looking for him. It looked like it was running away from something.

The creature sniffed the air, turning around with a rapid movement. Jihoon thought that it had saw him, and he prepared himself to attack. But it turned away from him, eyes staring at something else.

Jihoon looked back to see a dark figure on the roof next to the one he was on.

He looked back at the creature to hear it growling, its mouth glowing. It opened it and globs shot at the figure. He could hear the sizzling when the liquid dropped down on the floor. Jihoon took a step back. It was acid.

He glanced back to see the figure was no longer in sight. He swallowed nervously and steadied his hand.

But before he could do anything, it was shot.

It was like it was in slow-motion.

A bullet, glowing an illuminous blue, rang through the air, piercing straight through its heart and out. It fell face-forward, and the moment it touched the ground, it disintegrated into dust.

Jihoon whipped his head around, wondering who shot it.

Across on the next building stood a figure, hair flying in the wind. She was wearing a burgundy hoodie with white accents on the sleeve. He could also see that she was eating something which he recognized as a lollipop.

She opened her hand causing her weapon to drop, but it disappeared in mid-air. She moved her face slightly so now that the shadows weren’t covering it.

Jihoon recognized her with wide eyes. She, too, shifted her gaze and was now staring at him. The apathetic expression on her face changed to pure surprise.

She blinked at him and smiled politely. Her feet took her to edge of the building and it looked like she was going to jump down.

“Wait!”

She looked at him with mild interest.

Jihoon didn’t know what to say now that he caught her attention. He didn’t even know why he did it. He just instinctively shouted at her.

“That...I....” he stuttered. He wanted to yell at himself for being so flustered.

“Don’t be mistaken. I was put on a mission to get rid of it.” Her words were curt and straight to the point, but her tone was in no means rude. To Jihoon, she sounded almost apologetic and tired.

“I wasn’t going to thank you!” he shouted back, even though it was the first thing he was thinking.

She smirked, crouching down once more. “Stay warm tonight,” she said, her voice riding the wind softly.

“Wait, I... I…”

She stood up and smiled gently. She stepped back before jumping across to the next building where Jihoon was.

She landed with a soft thud and brushed her pants down. She looked at him and sat down, patting at the space next to her.

Jihoon silently sat next to her, trying to think what to say.

She bit the lollipop so that Jihoon could hear the crunching and pulled the stick out of . “You sleep up here often?”

Jihoon turned his head quickly to look at her, but she wasn’t looking at him but up at the sky.

“Sometimes,” he said quietly. “I like looking at the sky. It calms me down when I have too much on my mind.”

“Oh?” she hummed, looking at him expectantly.

He scowled. “Don’t be mistaken,” he said, echoing her previous words, “I wasn’t thinking about you.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” she asked instead.

“Has it? I don’t even remember.”

“So you say,” she snorted back. “Do you regret your choice? Do you wish you said yes?”

He stood up angrily. “Shut the up. I don’t. I am happy with my life now.”

“Mmm,” she hummed softly. “Sit down. I wasn’t accusing you of anything. Nor was I implicating that you were wrong.”

Jihoon turned red in the ears with slight irritation and embarrassment. But he did what she said and sat down.

“What’s your name?”

He looked at her with confusion. “Jihoon,” he finally said.

“I’m Jay. And look, I respect your decision, but I also want to let you know that if you need any help, I’m willing to help you.”

“Why would I? Why would you? I don’t believe people helps others just out of the kindness of their hearts. People use people. That’s what I do.”

She rolled her eyes. “You may have a sharp tongue, but you are in no means a horrible person. I know you tried to save me the first time we met. You could have left me to fend for myself, but you took it upon yourself to kill it yourself.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened in surprise.

He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t trying to help you. If that thing lived, it would be hard on me too.”

She laughed. “Whatever you say.” She stood up and looked down at him. “But like I said, don’t be afraid be ask for my help.”

“And how will I find you?”

“You’re a resourceful guy. I know you’ll figure out a way.”

Jihoon looked away, the feeling in his stomach sinking deeper and deeper. He didn’t want her to leave, but he also didn’t want to say anything to make her think that.

“And my offer still stand. Well, I guess in this case, I’m making you another offer.”

“What?” he asked incredulously, looking up at her.

She shrugged, crunching on the lollipop. “Like I told you the first time, I would like it if you joined. You would be a good addition. And it looks like you thought about it a bit.”

“I didn’t think about-”

She cut him off. “So, I would like to make you another offer. Help me out, and I offer shelter and food for you. You say that the only relationship you have with people is by using them. Then think of it this way. I’m using you to fight those creatures. And you’re using me as a source of shelter and food. Nothing else. I won’t ask you to get along with me or the rest of the guys. You can do whatever you want. What do you say?”

He looked down and back up at her and bitterly smiled. He knew that it was basically the same deal just worded differently. Worded in a way that didn’t step on his pride. He hated to think that she was pitying him, but he doubted it. They way that she talked to him, he just didn’t get that vibe. And he was willing to go along with it. If it meant that he would stop stressing this stupid situation, it was worth it. “You got yourself a deal.”

She smiled back. “And who knows, maybe you’ll change that mindset in the future.”

“I doubt it,” he replied with a snort.

“Hey, guys! I’m back!”

Jisoo poked his head into the living room to see Jay taking off her boots. “You were gone for like five hours. Does it take that long to kill a nibra? And did you bring the chicken?”

She grinned. “It was like two hours. Stop exaggerating. Plus, I brought a surprise.”

“If the surprise is fries, you already said you were going to buy it,” Seungcheol called out, walking into the living room.

“Actually, that’s not it.”

She moved to the side to reveal the boy.

“Surprise!”

Seungcheol stared at them, first at the boy and then at Jay and then back at the boy again. “Is this some kind of joke?” he finally said. “Because it’s not funny.”

Jisoo, on the other hand, kept blinking rapidly. He rubbed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the situation before him. “That’s...that’s the guy from that nibra incident in the shopping district. Um, what’s he doing here?”

“He accepted my offer and is going to join the team.”

Seongcheol and Jisoo looked at each other and then back at the two in front of the door.

“And don’t worry guys, I brought the food too,” she said with a grin, holding up the bag like some kind of trophy.