Forest

"We have 2 hours before Woojin comes back."

"I thought they just left for Busan?"

Seungmin nodded, pulling Chan down a small alley as a shortcut.

"Traffic was stop-start by the time they turned around."

Chan clicked his tongue. ", I really can't sense where they are." Each one of Chan's strides were worth at least two of Seungmin’s. With the slightest of effort, he outran him, barely breaking a sweat and not panting in the least.

He noticed Seungmin was having a hard time catching up, making him level his speed with the witch.

"Let's go up there," Chan glanced up to where Seungmin was pointing. "It's the tallest building in this area, if we make our way up we can have a wider scope. It'll make them easier to track." Chan nodded, he grabbed Seungmin's hand.

"Hang tight." the witch nodded as he attached himself to the vampire's back.

With one swift movement, Chan leaped in the air. Seungmin made sure to put up a spell to make them unnoticeable to the people around the area. Chan landed on his feet softly, Seungmin proceeding to initiate the search.

"Recon, now." Seungmin was already on it.

"They couldn't have gone too far." he murmured underneath his breath as the ritual began. "Just a small one would suffice." Chan squatted down in front of him, waiting for him to finish drawing on the rooftop floor. "Step back." Chan did what he was told.

Suddenly there was a cold breeze tickling their skin. He stared intently at the witch whose hair and eyes were glowing brightly. He looked down to see the sort of summoning circle, doing the same thing.

Seungmin's vision was whisked away by the wind, his eyes were everywhere around the perimeter within the search spell. "Let me find what I seek.'' As he said those last words, his vision was now inside a dark place. "What?"

Chan tapped his foot on the floor. He was growing impatient by every passing minute. He rushed to Seungmin when the witch turned back to normal. "So? Where are they?"

"I-I can't pinpoint their exact location but," Seungmin pointed southeast. "They're in that part of this area."

Chan’s eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean you can't find them? You're the one who put that goddamn spell that won't let other people track them!" Seungmin had to admit it was mainly his fault.

Earlier, before Jisung escaped with Changbin and Jeongin, he made sure to put some safety measures just in case he and Chan won't survive. He didn't really bother to tell Jisung because of how dire the situation was earlier.

But he's not a complete idiot to not know how to undo the spell.

"I know. I made sure make that spell undoable-"

Chan turned around and sat on the edge of the rooftop, massaging his temples as he tried to control his anger. Seungmin stopped his sentence midway and stared at the boiling vampire.

He stood up and took a deep through his nose, forming his lips into a thin line. "Then why can't we find them!"

Seungmin put up a silencing hand.

"Chan, yelling doesn't help the situation. But-"

"But what!"

"JUST LISTEN FOR ONE ING SECOND YOU OVERGROWN TOENAIL!"

Chan's mouth hung with lips slightly parted and his eyes were as wide as they could stretch.

He did not expect Seungmin to flip out. The witch rarely loses his cool, only when situations are dire or... when Hyunjin becomes unbearably annoying.

"You gotta let me ing talk."

Chan had to admit he would have his tail between his legs if he had one. He cleared his throat and composed himself, throwing his hands up in the air as a sign of defeat.

He doesn't want to be turned into whatever Seungmin could think of hexing him to.

Seungmin took a deep breath, calming his nerves down. Woah, he really kinda lost his cool right there. But it did work on making the vampire stop flipping out.

"Okay, I already removed the spell but they entered an area that doesn't allow me to find them." Seungmin stared at Chan. Good, it looks like he'll listen now. He walks by the edge of the building, pointing southeast.

"They're somewhere in that area." he looked back at a fidgety Chan. "You may speak now."

"What do you think happened to them?" even Seungmin couldn't answer his question. He knew the boys got away. But he lost track of them when he lost consciousness. And when he got woken up by Chan, he already lost them. He can't find them anymore.

Earlier, after Chan talked to the people who would clean up the hall, he dragged the vampire out of the building. Chan was puzzled why Seungmin was in such a hurry, but he did mention Changbin was heavily injured so he did not raise any questions and they sped off down the road.

"They probably wandered off to an off-limits area."

Chan tilted his head. That is possible.

In cities, there are more neutral zones than rural places. In Seoul in particular there are about 50 of them.

'Neutral Zones' are areas that are basically 'No Powers Allowed'. Any spell or hex no matter how powerful they are will be dispelled as soon as the person sets foot in a neutral zone. Supernatural abilities will temporarily be weakened to the point that it would eventually be useless.

Creatures that can transform or shapeshift will go back to their original forms and a gold bracelet will automatically appear on their left wrist, sealing their ability to transform. The said sealing bracelet would disappear as soon as they exit the area.

But, there are areas where their abilities work normally. They're just hidden.

"Jisung must have gone to one, he knows there's help there. He doesn't know a lot of neutral zones but..." Chan's voice trails off, he appears beside Seungmin, overlooking the area where he was pointing to. "I know where they are. Let's go."

-

Gazing straight ahead, only half-aware of a world outside the claustrophobic comfort of the car, Woojin hands impatiently taps the wheel. The almost soundless changing of the gears, the pattern of traffic lights. He just couldn't help but worry about the boys, especially Changbin.

He knew something bad happened when he felt a sudden strike of pain on his back, it was as if he was thrown to a wall. The impact was softer but he knew whoever it was, the impact was more than what he felt.

1 hour into the ride, he received a call from Seungmin. His head throbbed dangerously. Woojin tried to calm himself, saying it was just Seungmin asking for souvenirs or checking up on them about the trip. Although the last statement is already a dead giveaway. Something bad has happened.

"Woojin? What's wrong?" his consciousness slowly came back as he looked at Hyunjin stirring up from his nap.

, he was mindlessly panicking, he forgot about Hyunjin.

Woojin felt guilty for waking the tired wolf up, and the fact that he had no clue why they were going back. He found himself gnawing on the inside of his cheek.

"Woojin?"

Hyunjin winced at the humming in his ear. He was woken up because of Woojin's anxious voice inside his head and his worry altogether. Hyunjin is the beta, he is more connected to Woojin than the rest of the pack.

Hyunjin couldn't decipher the jumbled words inside his head but he can tell something is wrong just by looking at the alpha. Woojin went back to his stunned state.

"Woojin." Hyunjin's questioning tone had vanished. He put a hand on the alpha's thigh, squeezing it a little bit. A small smile formed on his lips when he saw his tense shoulders soften under his touch.

"Pull up. Let's talk." It was as if Hyunjin had Woojin underneath a spell. Before he knew it, he was slowing down eventually into a stop to the side. He sighed deeply, from a kind of mental depletion. His eyes dilated with pain and fear. "There