Jaejoong pulled up to the road at the foot of the cliff where Taekwoon was waiting for them, casting a worried look at the elder. However, he was in much of a hurry, sparing only a nod at the younger without even wondering how he got there without transportation. Instead, he brisk walked right past him before breaking into a run up the road. 

"What happened?" he asked Hongbin.

Hongbin shook his head. "No idea," he said. "That's what we need to find out."

"I've alerted Wonsik and Sanghyuk," Taekwoon informed as they made to follow Jaejoong. "They're one call away."

"Good," Hongbin said as they ran up the road.

At a point they split from the road up a trail through the woods before reaching a clearing by the side of the cliff.

Hongbin's eyes widened as he recognized the clearing...it was the same place they had seen the hell hounds the first time.

Jaejoong spotted the sisters huddled up against a tree, shaking in their shoes as tears streamed down their faces. He was at their side at once, trying to talk to them.

"What happened?" he inquired. "Why are you two here?"

Sooyeon seemed even more terrified as she curled deeper into her ball while Soojung attempted to use her trembling hand to wipe the tears from her eye. "O-oppa..." she said, her voice shaky and barely audible. "Y-you're h-here..."

"What happened?" he asked again, this time slower. 

Sooyeon sniffed. "W-we don't k-know..." she told him, sobbing. 

"T-the dark c-creatures were c-chasing us..." Soojung said, clutching onto Jaejoong's sleeve.

Dark creatures?

Hongbin turned to Taekwoon, sharing a quiet look with him. 

"It's okay, it's okay," Jaejoong consoled the two sisters. "I'm here now, and look, so are Hongbin and Taekwoon. We're going to get you back safe and sound." 

They didn't even cast the two teenagers a look, instead choosing to grab a hold of their cousin as they shook like leaves.

"Dark creatures?" Jaejoong asked, the thought suddenly striking him. "What dark creatures?"

Soojung peeked over his shoulder, seemingly to look at Hongbin and Taekwoon. However, her eyes filled with terror and she whined.

"T-those dark creatures!" she exclaimed, pointing in their direction.

Hongbin knew something was off if she was accusing them of being the hellhounds, however, when Jaejoong turned around and his eyes widened too, he wondered whether they were the culprits. Giving a slight nudge to Taekwoon, the two turned around to see what had scared their longtime friends so much.

They were  with the sight of the cliff, with the full moon behind it, illuminating the three hellhounds standing there, just looking at the small group.

Taekwoon immediately gave a growl and moved over to stand in front of the other three. Hongbin's eyes glowed, and he stood in a protective stance, holding a arm in front of them.

"No matter what happens, stay behind us!" he told Jaejoong.

The elder's eyes were as wide as dinner plates when he saw the yellow and green glowing eyes on Hongbin and Taekwoon respectively. "H-Hongbinnie? T-Taekwoonie? W-what's this?" he stuttered.

"Now's not the time, hyung!" Hongbin barked.

"Listen to him!" Taekwoon pleaded. "We'll explain everything later. Right now, you need to trust us!"

They didn't wait for his response as they turned back to the hellhounds.

Hongbin felt a strange sense of déjà vu. In this situation, in this place, he was reminded of the first time he saw the hellhounds, of that fateful night that started it all.

He stared into the red trenches of the lead hound, keeping up a low growl. He pushed away the fear gripping at his heart as he stared at pure death, hoping that they would be able to intimidate them into leaving them alone. 

The hounds suddenly charged forward. Taekwoon roared as he shifted into a wolf to meet them halfway. Hongbin turned around to Jaejoong.

"Take them and go!" he said. 

The elder was dumbfounded, his world imploding, and didn't seem to register Hongbin's command.

"Didn't you hear me?" Hongbin asked, raising his voice. "Get out of here, NOW!"

With that final force of power, Jaejoong managed to scramble to his feet, helping his sisters up. Hongbin turned back and shifted to intercept the two remaining hounds that were barreling towards the family of three. 

He opened his mouth, anticipating the taste and smell of smoke, but the force with which the hounds shot through him hit him like a truck. He fell to the ground, his head spinning and ears ringing. Through the sound, he could hear Taekwoon's yelp as it seemed he was also in the same position.

Shifting back, he found Taekwoon on the ground in front of him, also human once more. The two shared a look, surprised to find themselves virtually unharmed. Hongbin pulled himself up on his elbows, turning to see whether Jaejoong had managed to make it to safety with the sisters, with the little amount of time they had managed to buy. 

He saw the retreating silhouettes of the three as they made their way into the forest, but much too slow for his liking. 

With the hellhounds hot on their trail, Hongbin had an bad feeling about this. He looked back at Taekwoon.

They're not going to make it, the other wolf mouthed. 

Gritting his teeth, Hongbin pulled himself to his feet, giving a hand to Taekwoon. The latter accepted the offered hand and the two wolves ran after the hellhounds into the forest. 

After about a minute of running, the two paused, looking around.

"Where did they go?" Hongbin wondered out loud.

Taekwoon sniffed the air, catching the smell of jasmine. "That way," he said, pointing to the right.

Hongbin gave him a nod and the two went off in the direction of the scent. As the went on, Hongbin noticed the trees getting a bit thinner, which could only mean a couple of things; either they were nearing civilization, or they were near the middle of the woods where the trees thinned out a bit.

The latter proved to be true.

As they neared the area, a scream resounded in their ears. Without thinking, the two bounded off in the direction where it came from, knowing that the voice belonged to Sooyeon. 

They burst out of the thick woods into a less dense area to find Jaejoong protectively holding the sisters back, them quivering behind him. He attempted to stare down the three hellhounds who were slowly closing in on them, but with the way his legs were shaking it was clear his faux courage would not last.

When the two wolves arrived on the scene, the hellhounds turned around once to look at them. Then with a frustrated growl, the lead hound ran at the three, its brethren following it. Having tapped into their top speeds, the wolves found themselves too slow to do anything.

A cloud of darkness surrounded them as the wolves watched in horror. Hongbin felt his stomach drop as he recalled what the hellhounds had done to his family and Kang Minhyuk's family. 

The cloud then broke apart into three, all going in different directions, away from the place. They left the limp bodies of Jaejoong, Soojung and Sooyeon in their wake.

Even as Hongbin caught the eye of one of them, he couldn't chase after it.

He and Taekwoon rushed to the bodies of their close friends. 

They found the bodies unscathed, however. Hongbin raised his eyes to meet Taekwoon's confused ones. both seemed to be asking the same question; what did the hellhounds do to them?

Hongbin pressed two of his fingers against Jaejoong's throat. "There's a pulse," he said.

"Here too," Taekwoon said, stepping away from Soojung. "Both are still alive."

Hongbin stood up. "Then what happened?" he asked. He then shook it off. "We need to call an ambulance. It's better we get them to a hospital as soon as possible."

Taekwoon nodded, pulling out his phone and moving a little way away to make the call. Hongbin stared after the one hellhound that had shared eye contact with him. He narrowed his eyes slightly, unable to find any trace of it anywhere. 

A growl behind him made him jump. 

Turning around, he found Jaejoong on his hands and knees, however, his eyes were blood red and his mouth had a set of massive and inhuman fangs. The sounds coming out of his mouth were anything but human.

"Um...Taekwoon..." Hongbin said, stepping back.

Taekwoon looked back and let his hand drop to his sides at the sight. Only this time, even Soojung and Sooyeon joined their cousin, sporting the red eyes and fangs, growling into the air.

The two then watched in horror as the three began to change.

A thick coat of hair slowly enveloped their bodies and their limbs lengthened. Their hands grew claws and their ears spiked up. Their face changed into something horribly disfigured as their mouths and noses grew into jaws, and their eyes changed from human to animal. 

The creature that was originally Jaejoong then stood on its hind legs, throwing its head up and letting out the worst sound in the world, something that he only understood as a disfigured howl. 

He turned around to Taekwoon. "Call Wonsik...right now..."

Wonsik walked along Sanghyuk's house, observing the artifacts on the mantelpiece. The young master of the house in question was currently in his room, sharpening his knives in preparation for the oncoming battle.

Just as he was about to return to the room, a flash of metal caught his eye. He moved towards a shelf on the other side of the living room, finding a small silver bullet.

He picked it up, admiring the craftsmanship. It was definitely hand crafted, and with exquisite detail, clearly a lot of care had been put into it. He ran his thumb over the cool surface, feeling all the engravings. 

"I see you found it..."

He turned around to find Sanghyuk standing there, his face expressionless. "Who made this?" Wonsik inquired. "It's definitely hand crafted."

"My father," Sanghyuk said.

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. Sanghyuk moved forward to collect the bullet. "One of my father's...hobbies...was crafting bullets of silver."

"Why?" Wonsik asked. "They don't do any harm to supernatural creatures. Why would a hunter craft silver bullets if he won't ever use them?"

Sanghyuk shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "All he told me was that his father had taught him and his father before him. The exact reason I'm not sure of, but it was one of the first things he taught me when I could finally join him in the field."

Wonsik nodded, looking at the bullet again. "I have to give it to him, he had good skills."

"He did, he really did," Sanghyuk sighed. He then looked up. "Do you want to learn how to make them?" he suddenly asked.

Wonsik narrowed his eyes. "Why all of a sudden?"

"I don't know," Sanghyuk said depressingly. "I guess...with all of the stuff going on...I just wanted to do something that I knew...and I guess...I wanted to share it with someone..."

Wonsik couldn't help but smile. All too often it was easy to forget they were all just kids. He took in a deep breath. "I'd love to learn."

A bit of a twinkle returned to Sanghyuk's soulless eyes as he perked up slightly. "Really?" he asked. "Well, let's go down to the basement. My dad had his metalworking equipment there."

Wonsik found the process intriguing as he watched Sanghyuk melt a piece of silver and pour the melted metal into a mould, taking it out once it had cooled and then using a small machine to sketch intricate designs on the surface. Finally, he blew the dust away and placed a freshly made silver bullet on the table.

"Woah," Wonsik said, his mouth dropping in awe. "That was really cool."

"You try now," Sanghyuk urged.

Wonsik cast a look at the hot fire. "Are you sure you want me near this stuff?" he asked again.

"Don't worry," Sanghyuk assured. "I'm here. I'll help you out."

Wonsik followed the younger's instructions of carefully melting the silver and then pouring it into the mould. He then stepped back, allowing Sanghyuk to remove it and add the finishing touches. 

The next time, Sanghyuk urged Wonsik to try it out himself, making quite a few bullets and having Wonsik handcraft all of them. 

He found that he soon got the hang of it, and once he got the hang of it, it actually became fun. 

When Sanghyuk finally turned the fire off, they found themselves with around a dozen silver bullets scattered across the table. Wonsik chuckled lightly.

"Look how many we made," he said.

"We certainly made a lot," Sanghyuk agreed.

"But it was worth it," Wonsik smiled at him. "I got to learn something new, and have fun for the first time since this war started."

Sanghyuk gave a weak smile. "If only we could do this more often," he sighed. "But I think Hongbin and Taekwoon need us."

Wonsik raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you have a favorable view of them?"

Sanghyuk shook his head. "I don't," he said. "It's just...like you said, we're at war. In a war, I'd rather have them on my side than against me."

Wonsik then folded his hands on the table. "I'm curious then," he said. "What's your opinion of me?"

"You?"

Wonsik nodded. "Even though I know a lot of stuff, I'm still very much allied with the wolves. Do I fall into the same category as them?"

Sanghyuk thought about it for a moment. "Under normal circumstances, yes."

"Then...?"

"These aren't normal circumstances."

Wonsik was about to say more when his phone suddenly rang, startling them both. When he saw the caller ID was Taekwoon he ran to pick it up in a hurry. "Hyung, what happened?"

He stayed silent as he listened to the situation from the other side. "Wait...Werewolves?!" he exclaimed.

Werewolves? Sanghyuk mouthed.

"Werewolves? You mean like actual, fur covered, half-man half-wolf creatures, turn every full moon kind of werewolves?"

Taekwoon said something else to which Wonsik nodded. "Ah...okay, I understand. We'll be there soon."

He put the phone down. "What happened?" Sanghyuk asked.

"The situation's strange," Wonsik related. "Apparently the hellhounds did something to those three that made them turn into actual werewolves."

"Actual werewolves?" the younger repeated. "Like the werewolves from the horror movies?"

Wonsik nodded. "From what I could get, yeah."

Sanghyuk heaved a huge breath and leaned against the table.

"What are you thinking?" Wonsik asked after a moment.

"I'm thinking it's good we made so many silver bullets."