“He closed all of them.”

“He what?”

“Make me say it again and I won’t be able to control my temper. Saying it once was enough to make me feel like putting a bullet in his head. If I say it again, the thought will cross my mind again and with every passing second I’m going more insane to the point where deciding to do it would be as easy a decision as getting up in the morning.” Zico spoke quickly, his sentences coming out of his mouth in rapid succession.

There was silence on the other side of the phone. Zico shifted back and forth on his feet. “Breathe.” The voice on the other side said calmly. Zico growled in response and his grip tightened on his phone in his hand. He in a deep breath and let it out, his fingers slowly becoming less tense. He closed his eyes and felt himself calming down. He was losing it. Not because the mayor had closed all of the entrances to the Containment Zone he and everyone else knew of, though that was a big part of it.

He hadn’t had any Wolfsbane this morning. Neither had the rest of his pack.

That was the reason he felt like going over to the mayor’s house and tearing him limb for limb. Four days. It had been four days since you had been thrown into that underground place. Apparently that Woohyun guy raided the kitchen cabinets before he disappeared, which meant if he found you you at least ate something. Now however, he was dying to eat something and if not for the werewolf leader who was on the other side of the phone line, he would have surely not held his hunger back.

“We’ll come over. If we have your permission that is.” Sunggyu’s voice mused from the other side of the phone line. Zico laughed, finding himself much more calm than he thought he would be. The werewolf leader seemed to have that effect on people.

“Surprisingly, yeah you do. In fact, be here in five minutes.” Zico answered back and he could hear the hint of a laugh from the other side. Before he could say more, a small tone rang in his ear followed by the echo of another ring.

“I got a text message. Hold on.” He heard Sunggyu say. He pulled his cell phone away from his ear and looked to the screen.

“Me too.” He said, his tone more of a question than a statement. He opened it, and he felt his surroundings go silent. There were yells towards him as U-Kwon and Kyung ran towards him, but he didn’t hear it. He didn’t hear their words about the text message they had just received. He was in a state of shock at the words that were lit up in front of him.

The message said,

“Dont”

But more important was who it was from.

“Hyunjoo.” He whispered, his blood rushing through his veins. There was no more remaining calm.

Running. Running. Just keep on running. They could run forever if they had to. Yet they knew, they couldn’t run far. Because they had left someone behind. They had left you behind. The man in black had appeared. They were too busy fighting with each other to notice. He knocked you out with one swift blow to the side of your neck and you collapsed on to the ground. Before Woohyun could get to you, he was sent flying backwards by the man in black, his face actually stinging from the impact of the man’s fist.

Which meant one thing. Something Woohyun had been questioning for a while. Something Myungsoo had known since he first encountered the man down here.

But now was not the time to discuss why he was what he was. They continued running down the hallway, their faces dewy from the dripping of water from the ceiling above them, washing their faces with streaks of dirt.

White condensation came out of their mouths as they breathed heavily, almost tripping over themselves as they ran. They could shift. They could put their all into running away. There was no question that they could get away easily if they did. Yet if they did, there was no telling how far they would end up from where they started. How far they would end up being from you.

Still, they ran, making sure to turn left as often as possible. If they were lucky, they would end up doubling back. Why hadn’t they taken you with them in the first place? Because for some reason the man in black took no interest in you. He ran after the two of them, making who his targets were clear. If they stuck around, they could’ve fought back but not over your limp body. So Myungsoo, with a swift tug on his jacket, dragged Woohyun up into a standing position and pushed him to run. Run as fast as they could without letting go of their human forms.

It was odd though. The feeling that they felt as they ran. Fear. They were scared. That man exuded an aura that told them to be scared. To fear what he could do to them.

“Wait.” Myungsoo suddenly called out to Woohyun, making him stop. The two were now in a large room with pillars of concrete holding the high ceiling up. Above them, they saw overhanging walkways and orange lights shining down from above. “He’s gone.” He stated, his legs giving in on him as he leaned onto the pillar nearest him, his back resting on it as he breathed deeply, catching his breath. His lips parted and from them a puff of white smoke came out. It was getting colder now. It seemed as though it were morning already. He figured they must have lost the man in black long ago but still they continued to run. Driven by the fear of what the unknown man could do to them.

“This looks different. Where are we?” Woohyun asked, walking in large circles as he paced around, looking up towards the overhead walkways above him. The previous rooms always had blue light shining down from above, not orangish red. He stopped walking and stared forward as he realized something. “I don’t smell Hyunjoo.” He whispered, his voice rough from the previous run he endured.

“She’s fine.” Myungsoo responded, not in the least bit worried.

Woohyun turned to him slowly, his eyes wide. He took slow steps, his feet dragging on the dirt covered floor, as he neared Myungsoo, “She’s fine? Is that what you really think?”

Myungsoo’s eyes glanced at Woohyun from his peripheral, his mouth forming a neutral line on his face. “That’s what I really think.”

Woohyun’s mouth produced a low growl as he took another step towards Myungsoo. He laughed. Sarcastically at that. Laughed once before pointing towards the way they came from with his right hand, “Did you not see what just happened to her?”

Myungsoo nodded once, not changing his nonchalant tone as he answered. “I did.”

A huff came out of Woohyun’s mouth in disbelief, “And you can still say that she’s fine? Really? Especially when its obvious you already know what he is!”

“He’s a werewolf. I know.” Myungsoo answered back in rapid succession. That’s right, the man in black was a werewolf. A strong one at that. A tenacious one at that. The prospect that Myungsoo would have to fight him sooner or later was beyond unnerving because besides strong and tenacious, the man was unrelenting. And Myungsoo, Myungsoo was actually fearful of him. He crossed his arms against his chest and continued to lean back onto the pillar behind him. He said his next words despite his inner thoughts, “But like I said. She’s fine.”

Woohyun couldn’t believe the utter confidence he had at this moment. As though everything was fine and dandy. As though the man in black actually was just a mere fluffy bunny under his black coat and hat. “What makes you say that?” He asked, his confusion showing through his tone.

Myungsoo turned his head to him again. He gave him a look that asked why in the world Woohyun would even question what he was saying. “Because like us, he hasn’t shifted. He’s a werewolf but for some reason, he’s decided not to shift. Which means she can just run away. Out smart him again. Which means she’s fine.”

Woohyun didn’t have an objection to his words. In fact, he agreed completely. The man in black hadn’t shifted all this time. You could run away, something you seemed so good at lately, without a problem. Woohyun’s feelings had overwhelmed him to the point where he didn’t consult these thoughts of his but was merely trying to think of ways to get back to you as soon as possible.

Yet Myungsoo, the last person Woohyun wanted to be able to understand you, had known you so well. How had the two of you become so close? You were around each other often, forced most of the time. Still, despite the lack of conversation that actually focused on a specific topic, Myungsoo knew you. He knew how you were. Woohyun knew this wasn’t because you were easy to read.

It was because Myungsoo had been paying attention.

“How are you always so keen on this? On knowing how she is?”

Myungsoo’s body stayed still as he responded, his harsh tone returning, “How are you not? She’s easy to see through.”

Woohyun nodded once, overlooking Myungsoo’s tone and focusing more on the truth of his words, “Yeah, yeah she is. I know she’ll be fine. I know she is fine,” he sighed and gripped onto the front of his shirt, twisting it into a knot. His eyebrows came to a point on his forehead and his upper lip twitched as he cringed. Myungsoo braced himself for Woohyun’s next words, holding tightly onto his forearms as his arms remained crossed. Why? Because he felt someone tugging at the curtain he had worked so hard putting up whenever Woohyun talked like this. Like this, about you.

“But there’s this voice in the back of my head that’s telling me even if she is fine I need to be by her side. Not for her but for me.”

Myungsoo straightened up, leaning off of the pillar as he unclenched his fingers from the fabric of the long sweater you had found for him earlier. Had it been hours? Days since then? He had been down here so long he had forgotten how Woohyun’s usual way of talking about you caused him to have a volatile reaction. He didn’t want to hear it. No more of it. He waved his hand, telling Woohyun to follow, “Then we better go find her for you then.”

Woohyun stood rooted in his spot, speaking up once Myungsoo had taken a few steps forward. “And what about you?”

He stopped but didn’t turn back, “What about me?”

“What’s the voice in the back of your head saying to you?”

The question seemed to echo off of the concrete walls that made up the large, spacious room the two occupied. It was quiet. Both as Myungsoo prepared himself to answer and as Woohyun prepared himself to hear Myungsoo’s answer.

After a long moment of silence, with no words coming out of Myungsoo’s mouth in response, Woohyun spoke again. “Decide now, while I’m giving you a second chance to grab on again. Decide if you want to hold on.”

His words while the two of them were in front of you were brought up again. Myungsoo had understood its meaning. You had obviously not by the way your eyes were coated with confusion as you stared up at the two of them, lips parted as you obviously thought about what to do to stop them. Of course you wouldn’t understand. You had never considered it before obviously. The possibility that Woohyun liked you. Liked you not as a human who wasn’t fearful of them or as a friend who he could joke around with. He liked you as woman who accepted him for who he was. And he wasn’t the only one.

Woohyun wasn’t the only one who decided to “hang on.” To continue to like you in the same way he was.

If Myungsoo held on, if he didn’t let go, it would mean saying he liked you as the others did. In a way that wasn’t interested in the surface of you but for who you were. For who you are. Letting go meant giving up on liking you for them. But for Myungsoo, Woohyun’s behest to him to let go was meaningless.

Even now, he knew he had never grabbed on. Never been attracted to you past what might have been his own desires for a relationship with a female of his own kind.

He knew.

He knew he didn’t like you. Didn’t love you.

“She’s annoying.” He responded, his mind clouded by his thoughts, his conscious whispering the same phrase, I know, over and over in his head again and again.

Woohyun sighed, figuring this would be like all the other times Myungsoo talked about you.

Still, Myungsoo continued, his voice fading out to the point that Woohyun had to strain to hear him. “She’s like an itch I can’t scratch. A virus my body doesn’t know how to deal with. She’s annoying. But,” Myungsoo stopped talking. He was onto something. He had almost reached a final conclusion to what you were to him when something caught his attention. He looked towards the ceiling and blinked a few times.

Woohyun followed his gaze, his eyes narrowing to see what Myungsoo had apparently caught sight of. It was dead quiet as the two gazed upwards. Then, something black came crashing down through the walkway above them. The pillars beside them shook and pieces of broken metal and concrete came falling down. Myungsoo pivoted on his heel quickly, running back towards Woohyun who also had turned to get out of the path of the falling debris.

The undisturbed dirt went floating through the air. Woohyun coughed as he waved his hand in front of him, squinting to see through the smoke. Myungsoo covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his sweater and shifted one of his feet back. He could smell him. The man in black. Only a second later, his guess was confirmed as the man’s figure hidden by the last remnants of the smoke neared him. Yet there was something else he smelt. Someone else. His hand fell from his face, his arms limp.

Woohyun snarled, his coughing ceasing as he too caught onto the smell coming off of the man in black. The fear in both of them flowed down the drain. In place of fear sprouted rage.

Woohyun spoke first, a growl akin to the unearthly snarl he would produce after he shifted into his wolf form.

“Why the hell do you smell like Hyunjoo?”

To say you were getting sick and tired of being knocked out would be an understatement. You rubbed your sore head as you pushed yourself up. You coughed once. Dust had gathered in your lungs. Along with your cough, light white smoke came out of your mouth. Only then did it hit you, only then did the goose bumps on your skin start to prickle like many little tiny needles sticking you all at once. You rubbed the leather of Myungsoo’s jacket in an attempt to warm yourself. It gave you temporary relief because as soon as you stopped doing so, you could feel the goose bumps start to crawl up your skin again.

When you were with Myungsoo and Woohyun earlier, you didn’t feel all too cold. It must have been nighttime now. Maybe even early morning. That meant it had been four days since you got down here. At least you weren’t cold and hungry thanks to the food Woohyun had brought yesterday. You were still cold though. And Woohyun and Myungsoo were gone now. That’s what you figured anyway based off of the fact that you were alone in this hallway. To think that you ended up separating from them after thinking about it seconds before, “Lucky me, huh?” You said out loud as you stood up slowly.

You took in your surroundings as you steadied yourself with the wall beside you. It looked like the same place you had passed out in. You pulled out your phone from your pocket, trying to get some light from it. You stared at it in disbelief, your lips slowly curving into a smile as you saw what was right next to the time it displayed. Roaming. Your phone was roaming.

Unfortunately, right next to that roaming symbol was the battery status. Your phone produced a small beep, the battery life nonexistent at this point. “No. No no no no no.” You said over and over as you held your phone up high. You ran to the left down the hall and the roaming symbol disappeared. In an instant, you pivoted and ran down the hallway in the opposite direction. You waved your hand in the air like a maniac, looking for any sign of a signal. You came upon a set of stairs leading upwards and took them without hesitation. Small windows at the top of the hallway where the ceiling met the wall let in the dull blue light of the morning.

That’s when you found it. You jumped up and the flash of a bar appeared before disappearing when you hit the ground. You quickly looked down, scanning the ground. There was various debris and pieces of wood. You quickly shoved your phone into the pocket of Myungsoo’s jacket and started to drag pieces of concrete on top of each other. You heard your phone beep inside of your pocket and cursed outwardly as you continued to stack the unstable pieces of concrete on top of each other. You spotted a piece of fabric on the ground and grabbed it. It was what was apparently a used to be blue tarp. You pulled it over the concrete and laid it out.

You climbed the concrete mountain you built in two bounds, using the edge of the narrow window to steady yourself. There were bars on the outside of it, including a thick second layer of glass. You pulled your phone out and stood on the tips of your toes, in a deep breath as you saw the measly two bars on your phone.

You lifted your arms above your head and typed as fast as you could, conveying the one message you wanted the others to see more than anything. Your phone beeped again and you panicked as you quickly listed who you wanted to send the message to. Twelve people. You typed in the first part of your message and quickly sent it, not worrying about grammar errors. As you were typing the second part, the bars disappeared from your phone. You tried to balance on the unstable mound of concrete beneath you as you attempted to go even higher on your toes.

In an instant, your phone slipped from your grasp and you were sent flinging onto the ground by a powerful force.

Your phone landed on the metal floor and the screen changed, the sound of wind was produced from its speakers as its screen turned black and the battery died.

The message you had never finished sending was,

Don’t come.

------

A/N:

The scene with Myungsoo and Woohyun took me a long time to write. Probably because it was as long as a single chapter. So as I promised one of my lovely commenters, this chapter truely was a long one. After chapters of a lot of build up happening, things are steadily moving along. Can't wait for the next chapter to find out what happens to Hyunjoo, Myungsoo, and Woohyun? Can't wait to find out the secrets surrounding the Man in Black in the next few chapters? Well neither am I! 

Also, I responded to all comments on the last chapter! I do enjoy recieving comments so I thought of course I enjoy replying to them as well~

I'm leaving you guys with another cliffhanger. Meh, what can I say. 

I love to tease.