"It's in here," Wonsik said, stepping aside to let Hakyeon and Jaehwan through.

Once inside, Jaehwan let out a low whistle. "This is one large library..."

"Heh, our druid would have killed for a resource like this," Hakyeon told Wonsik.

"I could spend weeks just on the first floor," Jaehwan said, mouth dropping in awe as he looked around.

Wonsik closed the door behind them and moved in front. "Grandfather!" he called out. "We found N!"

Old Man Kim shuffled out from behind a large bookcase. "You're back already? And you found N? Well, that's a pretty surprising feat-"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw the two new arrivals.

"Grandfather, this is N," Wonsik said, introducing Hakyeon.

Hakyeon bowed in greeting, but before he could introduce Jaehwan, Old Man Kim came up to him, intensely studying his features to the point of leaning uncomfortably close. Not to mention, he was also carrying his rolled up newspaper in his hand.

"Not the newspaper, not the newspaper," Wonsik murmured.

Old Man Kim spent a little while sizing Hakyeon up, moving around him and tapping his newspaper in thought. He then finally stood in front of him again.

"You're shorter than I imagined," Old Man Kim said, "and girly looking too."

Hakyeon looked lost at that, not knowing what to say. Jaehwan leaned into Taekwoon. "Is he always like this?"

Taekwoon nodded silently, as Jaehwan's attention was drawn to Old Man Kim walking up and standing in front of him.

"And you...who are you?" Old Man Kim asked.

Jaehwan gulped. This tiny old man was slightly intimidating. "Um...I'm Ken, N's right hand."

"Right hand, eh?" Old Man Kim asked. "You his Beta, then?"

Jaehwan shook his head. "I'm...er...actually an Omega, sir."

"It's a long story," Hakyeon cut in before Old Man Kim could ask.

The eldest looked between the two newcomers for a moment before waving his rolled up newspaper around. "Well, we don't have time for all this anyways! Come, have some tea! Let's discuss!"

Once all of them were settled and sipping on warm drinks, Sanghyuk coughed. "So, what's our plan?"

"I think first we need to catch N and Ken up with what's been happening to us," Wonsik suggested.

Hongbin nodded. "Sounds like a good place to start."

Hongbin took over the briefing, telling Hakyeon and Jaehwan everything, from the first night he saw the stag, to the most recent, where they killed Woori and her family, and why they started looking for them at last.

Once Hongbin was done, Hakyeon pursed his lips and held his chin. "So all of this started when you saw a white stag out in the woods, huh?"

Hongbin nodded. "We think it might be the dimensional rift's form."

Jaehwan was also deep in thought. "Sir," he asked Old Man Kim, "there was only one documented case ever about hellhounds entering our dimension, right? And that case is also pretty hard to come by."

Old Man Kim nodded. "Well, did they say anything about how to close the rift?" Jaehwan asked.

Old Man Kim shook his head. "They didn't mention that at all. But perhaps we can try to logically find a way around this."

"But why are we focusing on the stag?" Sanghyuk asked. "Shouldn't we first take a care of the hellhounds?"

"In normal circumstances, yes," Jaehwan said, "but these are not normal circumstances."

"Hellhounds are tied to the dimensional rift," Wonsik explained. "That gives them a free escape rope to get out of any situation. Think of it like...they've got a foot in each dimension, hence we can't really hurt them, because they're not truly here."

"So if we close the rift..." Sanghyuk began to understand.

"We can probably kill the hellhounds," Hakyeon finished. "If they don't already die because their connection to their dimension is severed."

"So how do we close it?" Sanghyuk asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Taekwoon told him.

Wonsik got up and paced around a bit, deep in thought, when he suddenly stopped and snapped his fingers. 

"I think I might have an idea."

The others all turned to him as he placed his palms on the table. "The stag is a form of energy, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Hongbin trailed off, trying to see where Wonsik was going.

"And the dimensional rift is created because...hypothetically...energy has been removed, like bricks being removed from a wall, right?"

"Yes, I guess that's true," Old Man Kim agreed.

"Well, energy can be absorbed, especially pure energy forms like this stag," Wonsik explained. "So what we do is, we collect the stag's energy and then we use that to patch up the gaps in the dimensional barrier!" He smacked his palm on the table like he'd just discovered the cure for cancer.

Everyone's eyes widened as they realized the almost obvious solution. Sanghyuk then put his hand up.

"Um, quick question, how are we supposed to absorb the stag's energy if we have no idea what it looks like?"

Wonsik opened his mouth to argue but then closed it when he realized that he was right. "I guess you're right, none of us know what it could be..."

"Except Hongbin," Taekwoon interjected.

All eyes turned to Taekwoon, who simply pointed a finger towards Hongbin. "Hongbin is the only one of us who's seen the stag many times, and the only one it visited in his dreams." He straightened up. "I think Hongbin can find the stag for us."

Hakyeon nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking," he agreed. "If it appears to Hongbin, then the rest of us can ambush it."

"How do you absorb energy forms like that?" Sanghyuk inquired.

Hongbin exhaled deeply. "You do it by killing the form."

"Basically, we have to go on an old fashioned wolf hunt, right?" Jaehwan guessed.

Hakyeon hummed in agreement. "We do," he said. "And when it comes to absorbing the energy-"

"I would advise a bit of precaution," Old Man Kim cut in. "It would have required a lot of energy in order to make a tear large enough for the hellhounds to come through. If that's so, not just anyone can completely absorb the stag's energy."

"What are you saying?" Hakyeon asked.

"I'm saying, it's going to take someone with an energy signature of an Alpha to do that."

A moment of silence occurred that Wonsik broke with a light laugh. "Is that all? Well, we've got two Alphas with us, so I don't know what the big deal is."

"Hongbin should do it," Hakyeon suddenly said, his voice cutting through the air and bringing everyone's attention to him.

"What?" Hongbin asked.

Hakyeon stood up, looking the younger in the eye. "You should do it, Hongbin," he said.

"Why me?"

"Because I have a feeling it's you who's going to have the last stand," Hakyeon said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You should take the final bite."

"What are you saying, Hakyeon?" Jaehwan asked, a little panic seeping into his voice. "You sound like-"

"It's nothing like what you're thinking, Jaehwan-ah," Hakyeon reassured him. "But I do think that since all this started with him, it's going to end with him too."

Hongbin swallowed, nodding. "I'll do it."

Hakyeon smiled, pulling away from Hongbin. However, Hongbin caught something in the older Alpha's eye, an expression of...sadness?

What was all that about?

In the meantime, Sanghyuk leaned into Wonsik a bit. "Hey, you remember those silver bullets we used a while back?"

Wonsik nodded. "Yeah, I remember them, why?"

"If those bullets worked on those werewolves, do you think...perhaps...they might work on the hellhounds?"

Wonsik paused for a moment to think about it. "In their current state, no, I don't think anything will."

"No, no," Sanghyuk quickly shook his head. "I meant once we close the rift, we're effectively taking away their immortality, right?"

Wonsik nodded. "So perhaps we can then kill them with mortal instruments," Sanghyuk suggested.

Wonsik pursed his lips. "It sounds a little far-fetched, but I'm willing to try just about anything at this point."