*Kikwang’s POV*

We stayed at Chantelle’s house for the next few days, deciding that it would be best to remain there until it was time to start our journey.

We spent most of the days talking and strategizing about how we’d approach Dr. Park and what would be the plan for the near future. We also began some training. The more experienced fighters taught the unexperienced the basics. Chantelle also had some weapons that we practiced with.

I really didn’t get to see Doojoon all that much, and I really did try to search for him. I just wanted to be by him, because I was scared.

Hyunseung’s advice still lingered in my head. We’re about to go into this war, but I wanted to make sure that we’re on good terms. It doesn’t even have to be the way it used to be. I just wanted us to be good with each other.

I sat on the plat form we trained on. I was drenched in sweat, since I had just spent two hours being taught by Chantelle

The hybrid sat down next to me, no ounce of sweat apparent on her skin. She was perfectly fine.

“Ah~, that was fun, don’t you think?” She stretched, full of energy. It was obvious that it was boring to her. She only enjoyed it because it amused her watching me. Taecyeon was right, this girl is off. You can just tell by the gleam in her eyes, the unevenness, it showed in both of her violet colored eyes.

“Hopefully I don’t have to get in a real physical fight.” I remarked, chugging my water down. “Just make sure you stay on the defensive. Offensive is harder. If you can hold yourself down, then someone more experienced will rescue you…aka your dark knight, Doojoon.” She advised but teased at the same time.

I sighed, but smiled a little. She was right, no matter how mad he is, he’s always there to get me out of trouble. “How come you stay with Jun K when you know he goes to parties and swoons other girls?” I took the chance to ask while we were alone. “And what about Chansung? Taecyeon told me about how you two could’ve been mates?”

“Whoa~, one question at a time please.” She said.

“Sorry.” I apologized.

“Jun K and I have sort of an open relationship, but not quite. We don’t go around dating other people. Jun K has been doing that way before we got together. And honestly it’s just a hobby for the both of us. But we both know, no one compares to the other. I don’t think it’s something you’ll be able to understand.” She laughed.

I nodded in confirmation.

“Just know that it’s not a big deal to us, unless one of us actually starts dating someone, then there’s a problem. It takes a lot of honesty and trust. With Chansung, yes we’re extremely close. We’re literally one person, that’s how close we are, but that’s why it never worked. We do flirt of course, but there’s no feelings left over.” She explained.

I blinked, trying my best to understand, but there was no hope. “And you and Taecyeon are best friends?” I decided to change the topic. She nodded. “And Doojoon?” I finally asked, causing her to bust out in laughter.

“Doojoon is like a younger brother to me, so you have nothing to worry about. But like I said, if you have any problems, feel free to come to me…” her smile slowly faded to a look of annoyance, “…because I know how controlling he can be, and it’ll only get worse the more you allow him that power. You have to set your boundaries.” She simply said.

Her words left me in silence.

The smile reappeared as she jumped to her feet. “Whelp, make sure you rest up and get ready because we have an appointment with Dr. Park Youngmin at Daegu.” She smiled crookedly before leaving.

I sat there a while longer, not feeling like moving. I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I was just sitting there, not knowing what to think about at this point. It wasn’t until Jongup came when I started thinking about the war for the first time. “Hey Kik.” The werewolf greeted, being friendly as always.

“What’s the matter?” He asked innocently, as he sat down next to me. “I’m just now thinking about the war for the first time…crazy isn’t it?” I said.

He just smiled warmly, “Hmm, not really. Honestly for me, I don’t even want to think about it.” He confessed.

“Are you scared?” I asked him.

He nodded, “Not so much that I’m afraid to die, because I’ve lived pretty long anyway. But I’m more scared of losing Himchan. I keep thinking about what if I fail to protect him? And if I do die in the middle of this, will he still survive this? And then I start thinking about Hongbin and Hyuk. Will they be able to defend themselves? It’s a lot.” He sighed.

I smiled at him for reassurance. Honestly there was no confident advice that I could give him, because I felt the same way.

“You guys will get through this.” Was all I could say, not wanting to remain silent.

He smiled a friendly smile back at me. “And so will you.” He assured, patting my back. I thanked him.

“I also don’t want to kill anybody.” He confessed, fiddling with his fingers.

“Haven’t you killed strays before?” I questioned.

“Yeah, way back when we were trying to find the garden. Even though they pretty much had no heart, it still didn’t feel right. And now we’re going up against humans and possibly other demons. I just keep thinking about the demons. What if I end up killing someone who has a mate? That’s a horrible feeling when you lose a mate. Or even a human. What if I end up killing someone who’s married and has kids? How will they feel?” he said.

We left off on that note, not saying anymore…he was right. I never seen it that way before.

Jongup is too good of a person.

I’ve never even killed anyone before, and I don’t think I’ll be proud doing so. “Hopefully it won’t have to get to that.” I finally said.

After sitting another few minutes, I decided to leave the platform and took a nice, long, cool shower. Just washing away all my worries for that moment.

When I finished, I roamed down the hallway and to my slight surprise I saw Keomi sitting in the center of the steps messing with something in her hands.

I walked down and sat beside her. “Hey~…” I said gently. “Hi.” She said quietly, fiddling with the toy.

“Whatchya got there?” I asked.

“It’s a teddy bear.” She answered, showing me the stuffed grizzly bear, dressed in a pink dress and a pink bow on the side of its head. “Oh yeah?” I said.

“Yeah. Chantelle gave it to me. She said her name is Chantelle and that I should take good care of her.” She explained.

I was thrown off by the name of the bear, but honestly it really didn’t surprise me that Chantelle named it after herself.

“Ah~, I see. Do you like it?” I asked. She nodded, “It’s soft…and squishy…I’ve never had one of these before.” It was obvious that she was out of it while she spoke. Her movements were aimless and her facial expressions contradicted with the expression her words.

“What’s wrong?” I finally asked.

She bit her bottom lip as if to actually think about it.

“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to see people die again.” She whispered.

Again?

My eyes widened in realization when she’d witnessed Ryeowook’s death. “I didn’t like seeing that nice bakery guy die. He was nice.” She shivered at the memory.

“Do you want to stay with Taecyeon then?” That was the first and only solution that came to mind. Keomi likes Taec a lot and vice versa, and I know he’d protect her no matter what.

Keomi looked at me, eyes wide of Joy. “Really?!” She asked.

“Mm hm, I’m sure he’d be glad to let you stay with him.” I said.

“We can both stay with him! It’ll be fun!” She squealed.

I chuckled a little, “I can’t stay with him.”

“Why not?” She asked seeming disappointed. “I can’t just leave my friends…Plus I can’t stay with him. I have Doojoon.” I reminded her.

She made a face at this, “I don’t like Doojoon. He’s mean. He gives me mean looks. He’s a buttface.”

I couldn’t help but bust out laughing at this. “Buttface?” I repeated. I’ve never heard anyone call him that before. It was actually quite amusing.

“I’ll just leave you with Taecyeon.” I said, as my laughter finally calmed down.

She looked at me, “What about you?”

I paused, not wanting to make any promises. “I’ll come back for you.” Was all I could say, but she obviously didn’t look convinced.

However, before she could say anything, Doojoon came around the corner. He looked up at us as he made his way up the stairs.

Keomi just gave him an unapproved look. I bit my bottom lip, trying hard not to laugh, remembering what Keomi had said about him. “Hi.” I squeaked when he passed by. He looked at me strangely, but returned the greeting anyway.

The rest of the day was relaxing, almost serene as if there were no war.

Some of us played cards, others relaxed in the back yard, and some even played golf! But the aura in the air remained as a reminder of the actual reality of our blurred fates.

The following day came around out of nowhere, and before we knew it, the 21 of us were standing in the foyer, listening to Chantelle’s instructions. “Okay. Let’s get one rule straight. In order to survive in this world you need? Anybody know?” Chantelle began.

We all gave each other strange looks. Was she serious?

“Weapons?” Bang shrugged not understanding.

“No.” Chantelle said.

“Happiness!” Hakyeon answered proudly.

“Noo.”

“Harmony?” Jongup questioned.

“Close~…”

“Love?” Zelo tried.

“Nope.” Chantelle sighed. Now we were all confused once again. “Money.” Chantelle finally answered.

“You can have all the strength and fire power you need. But you can’t do anything without money.” She pulled out a bunch of debit cards and handed them to Jun K. He passed them out to each and every one of us.

“And that goes for this too. We need funds in order to support ourselves. Which is why I am giving each of you these debit cards, so you can buy any important necessities. All of them have different amounts of money ranging from $200 to $1,000.” Chantelle explained.

“Um…I don’t really need this. I’m a CEO of my own company. I have a black card.” Bang spoke up. Himchan rolled his eyes at this.

“Oh really now? And is your company building still standing?” Chantelle questioned, shutting down the pureblood’s ego.

This actually shocked Daehyun and Himchan, making the two snicker a little, even Zelo busted out into a smile.

“Any who, these cards actually belong to people who’ve recently died for whatever reason, so when making purchases you’ll be going by whatever name is on that card so you can hide your actual identity.” She continued.

I thanked Jun K for the card. “Isn’t that illegal?” Don