The Seekers

There wasn’t much the Immortals could do to convince the stubborn human out of their home. 

So there they all stood, all 13 of them in the living room, eyeing the woman sitting in the center of the living room. 

She had her arms crossed and her eyes roamed from one Immortal to the next. The Immortals felt her strong presence, feeling utterly different from what they have experienced with those of her kind.

“So?” Haneul questioned, waiting for at least one of the Immortals to say something. She turned her head to stare at Joshua, who gulped and looked away. She bit her lips and turned to face Hoshi, “Will you tell me why you are...undead?” she asked, a little frightened with the fact that Hoshi was still alive and breathing in front of her. 

Hoshi stared at Haneul, “And why should I tell you, Hum-Haneul?” Hoshi quickly corrected himself before Haneul could retaliate. 

“That’s a stupid question,” Haneul replied. 

“Humans always say, there are no such thing as stupid questions,” Jeonghan replied knowingly. Haneul glared at Jeonghan from across the room, causing him to quickly hide behind the magazine in his hands. 

“Any sane human would be passed out by now seeing that you, Mister, who is still alive,” Haneul pointed out to Hoshi. “But you see, I am a sane human, but I can also identify what is real and what is not. You are standing in front of me with fresh, but cold skin. Do you underestimate my knowledge?” Haneul dared Hoshi and the rest of the Immortals. 

The Immortals really did not know who they were dealing with, especially for a human who had a background with the well-known Institute.

Although she didn’t work for The Institute like her brother did, Haneul still heard plenty of stories from Hanbit and sometimes even followed him on his missions.

She knew almost everything.

At least everything to keep sane from what had just transpired.

There was a brief moment of silence in which the Immortals were contemplating their thoughts through each other’s minds. 

“Is this Human being serious?!” Seongcheol roared, causing the Immortals to flinch in silence. 

“Is there a way we can make this annoying creature leave our home?” Seungkwan replied with a mental eyeroll. 

Was that possible? He did it anyway. 

“Hyung, what should we do?” Chan and Hansol asked Hoshi. 

“Minghao, what do you suppose?” Hoshi asked Minghao in return. 

“I am not so sure myself,” Minghao replied worriedly. 

“We should let her stay,” Joshua muffled. Everyone glanced his way, wanting to know why. “It seems like she is safe, maybe even safer with us,” Joshua pointed out. “If she is a Seeker, her accomplices should have been here since last night, but there has been no movement from Minghao’s reports this morning. Therefore, this human woman is deemed unharmful to us,” Joshua added and mentally smiled. 

“I agree with Joshua hyung!” Chan exclaimed. 

“You agree with Joshua on everything, Chan!” Seongcheol shouted which caused Chan to glare at Seongcheol’s physical form across the living room. 

“Well, what should we do then?” Hansol wondered, shifting his feet here and there as he waited on the decisions. 

“Keep the Human, play with her, and see what she’s like. We can send her away later,” Mingyu teased and stared at Haneul. 

“Is that Promiscuity speaking?” Seokmin wondered. 

“No. It is I, sir Kim Mingyu,” Mingyu remarked cheekily. 

“Dammit Mingyu,” Seokmin cursed while Mingyu chuckled in the back of the Immortals’ minds. 

“I very well like sir Kim Mingyu’s idea,” Jeonghan added, receiving a physical smack in the back of the head by Hoshi. Haneul stared at Hoshi and Jeonghan curiously and waited patiently, having no idea what the Immortals’ silence meant as they had only been staring at her. 

“I am in favor of her staying now,” Jihoon muffled. “She seems like a lovely lady,” he added with a physical grin. 

There was a long sigh from Hoshi as he jumbled his own thoughts as well as his friends’ thoughts around. 

“No matter what, we have to send her back,” Hoshi finally decided. “She cannot stay here,” he said, receiving a few frowns from the Immortals who had agreed for the human in their living room to stay. 

“We will see who wins over this decision.” Those in favor of Haneul staying threatened Hoshi. 

“I will,” Hoshi replied loudly and cleared his throat.

“You will what?” Haneul asked curiously. 

Hoshi stepped forward, “Haneul,” he called. 

“Yeah?” Haneul replied, looking up at Hoshi with big, round eyes. Hoshi had no idea why, but he felt his body tremble just a tad bit. 

“We cannot tell you who we are,” Hoshi replied to Haneul’s earlier question. 

“And why is that?” the human questioned with curious eyes. 

“Because we simply cannot,” Hoshi argued. 

Haneul stomped her foot and stood up. She faced Hoshi and pouted, “You are all acting very suspicious. If I leave here, I cannot promise what I would not tell the police,” she threatened. 

The Immortals’ eyes widened at the word ‘police’. They hissed and took a few steps back from where they stood. Haneul suddenly heard the Immortals’ hissing louder and their dark crimson red eyes finally reappeared, flashing in front of her. 

Those 13 crimson red eyes glared back into Haneul’s own as if she had just entered the first layers of Hell. 

Haneul couldn’t help, but think back to the visions that she recently had when she was unconscious. 

Were the 13 figures who she saw in her dreams the 13 men who stood before her?

What significance did they each hold? Why did they seem so familiar to her, but yet, they become unfamiliar as she tries to get to understand them?

Haneul suddenly wanted to know more about them than her brother’s murderer.

Haneul stood idly in front of the Immortals, their hissing barely scared her this time. 

She stared at them and held steady as the Immortals continued hissing and giving Haneul glares that could kill.

“It is not normal for such beings to come back alive. I can see your scars from behind that light shirt,” Haneul finally pointed out, referring to Hoshi. “You have been stabbed seven times, bleeding without stopping yet you are standing here...alive...and talking to me,” Haneul tried to tell Hoshi. “All I want to know is how is that even possible? I will leave on my own once I receive an answer,” she promised. 

Is all of Kang Hanbit’s theories true?

Do paranormal creatures actually exist in their world?

If it’s true, then Haneul had to find out on behalf of her twin brother.

After all, it was the work that had him killed.

Hoshi stared at Haneul, wondering what he was suddenly feeling. 

Did she care for him? What happened when he died? 

Did she cry for him? Just exactly why is she so curious? 

Hoshi had no idea as to why, but at that moment, her words had him reconsider his decision for a bit.

“She is asking about your death again,” Seokmin thought, his words carrying into the rest of the Immortals’ minds. 

“Tell her so that she can leave this place once and for all,” Seongcheol said. 

“Hyung,” Minghao’s voice called for Hoshi. Hoshi glanced quickly over at Minghao. “She is a stubborn one. We can all see that she refuses to leave if we do not answer her curiosity. Therefore, we should let her know. Once she leaves this house and disappears into the forest, we will erase her memories as we do with all humans who come into contact with any one of us,” Minghao suggested. 

“Or that too,” Hansol and Chan replied with a physical nod. 

Hoshi thought for a while and came to a conclusion, “Well, if we must find a way to get rid of this stupid Human, we will,” he said. 

“Great,” everyone replied and waited for Hoshi to explain everything that had happened to him. 

“Are you guys talking behind my back?” Haneul asked with an arched brow. The Immortals’ eyes rounded and they all chuckled afterwards. 

“Haneul,” Hoshi called for her, catching her attention. 

Haneul turned her head and looked into Hoshi’s eyes; eyes that were now returned to normal. “So? Are you going to keep thinking about it or will you explain it to me?” she wondered. 

Hoshi sighed, “I will tell you,” he answered. Haneul nodded and sat back down, waiting for the Immortal to begin explaining what on earth had happened to him.

Hoshi stared at Haneul and then glanced at the Immortals then back at Haneul. 

“Whatever I am about to tell you, you must promise us you will bury it deep, deep in your heart. In other words, you are not to tell anyone about us,” Hoshi warned beforehand. 

Haneul shrugged, “Sure thing cutie,” she replied and waited. Hoshi rolled his eyes and turned away from the human. 

“You see, we are not like you,” Hoshi began. 

“But you are. You have two hands, two eyes, two legs, and hair,” Haneul responded sarcastically. Hoshi bit his lips and spun around. He glared at the human. “Oh, oh. Okay, sorry. Go on,” Haneul apologized and gestured for him to continue. 

“We are not like you even if we do look like...a human,” Hoshi said. “We are invincible,” he chose an adjective to describe himself and his friends. 

Haneul tried holding back her laughter, but it just didn’t work. She busted out laughing so loud, it scared the Immortals surrounding her. 

Hoshi glared at Haneul, “Why are you laughing?” he questioned. 

Haneul shook her head, “N-Nothing...its just...are you guys descendents of Thor? I mean, Asian descendents?” she asked sarcastically between her laughs. 

“Human!” Hoshi shouted and Haneul quickly stopped her laughter. She glared up at him and silenced him with one look. 

“I am kidding,” she said and gestured once again for Hoshi to continue.

“Well, this will take a while,” the two younger Immortals, Seungkwan and Chan, whispered to one another. Seungkwan and Chan chuckled, waiting for how Hoshi would continue his explanation to the strange human. 

“How should I go on with this?” Hoshi mumbled to himself. He looked up from staring at the floor and looked straight into Haneul’s eyes, “We are Immortals. We have lived for a very, very long time. But we are demons as well. We have been doomed with our own demons for a long time now. I am Violence from within. If anything angers me, I will turn violent and kill anything in response without a second thought. Violence irks and tempts me. You have seen me attack you last night. That was Violence. If Joshua had not killed me then, you would be in Hell right now. Joshua, keeper and demon of Pain, stabbed me to stop my harm to you. I am cursed as well. I have to die every midnight and then by sunrise, Jun will come pick me up from Hell and return my soul to my body. I therefore have woken up in bed today while you freaked out like a normal human would,” Hoshi finished and waited for Haneul’s response.

Hoshi might as well just be very honest with Haneul. He hated beating around the bushes anyways. 

His detailed information came as a shock to the rest of Immortals for they had assumed he would only tell her what needed to be said instead of the entire truth. 

Nonetheless, it was too late to take back what has been said.

Haneul blinked at Hoshi and pointed at him, “So you are saying you are due to immortality?” Hoshi nodded. “You are a demon?” she asked again. He nodded again. “All of you?” Haneul questioned all of the Immortals, turning her head one degree to another. Everyone nodded in reply and watched as the human curiously stared at them. 

Haneul blinked and stayed silent for a while. 

“Pardon me for a second,” Haneul said and fiddled around in her jacket. She pulled out her phone from within her jacket and unlocked it. 

“What are you doing, Human?” Seungkwan questioned, eyeing Haneul curiously. 

“Oh, you know, just calling the mental hospital for a second.”

“HEY!” The Immortals c