As he came to a stop for the umpteenth time, you were about to hide again, only to have something yank you from the left roughly. You yelped as your vision blurred and you were lifted off the ground.

Your hands immediately clenched into fists and began to pummel the force that now held your backside to a tree trunk. Your muffled yells and curses got louder as did the kicking of your legs and the pounding of your fists as the force’s grip on you got stronger.

“Shut up!” A stern voice whispered to you, “Quit squirming like I’m trying to kidnap you or something!” You immediately went limp as you squinted your eyes, trying to focus them on who was in front of you. Your eyes widened when you finally found yourself face to face with Kyung. Your hands went up to his that were covering your mouth. “Are you ready to stop screaming now?” You nodded your head slowly. He lowered his hand from your mouth and lowered your body back to the ground. You stared at him wide-eyed, not really believing he was there. “If you’re wondering how I found you, truthfully it wasn’t that hard to spot you clumsily trying to sneak after Zico.”

You decided to ignore the insult, seeing as how you weren’t the sneakiest of people, “What are you doing here?” You whispered as you looked around the corner, finding Zico starting to walk further and further away; still completely unknown to your presence.

“I could ask you the same thing though I’m sure I’ll get the same answer.” He half smirked as he looked around the corner of the tree trunk to take a peak at Zico.

“You’re following Zico?”

“With everything that’s going on, he’s sneaking off at night to wherever he goes. He even refuses to tell B-Bomb about it, whom he trusts the most. Color me curious.” Kyung rounded the corner of the tree and took quick and silent steps after Zico. You stumbled after him, figuring that you both were enemies with a common goal, amazed he could move so quickly yet not make a single sound. Meanwhile, you kept cracking every twig and branch in your path.

Suddenly, after a few more moments of following Zico, Kyung abruptly turned around, “Zico must be in deep with his thoughts to not hear all the damn noise you’re making.” You apologetically smiled, making him scoff at you. “Try to step onto the more barren parts of the ground, the areas with less leaves and branches. Keep on your toes and don’t let your heel create unnecessary noises as you walk.” You stared at him and blinked a few times, not realizing that he was actually giving you advice. He narrowed his eyes at you and frowned, “Are you listening?” He waved his hand in front of your face.

You nodded to him quickly.

His eyebrows scrunched together, not thinking you understood what he was saying. Nonetheless, he continued on through the woods. You looked down at your feet, carefully following his instructions. Your eyes widened that the next step you took made absolutely no noise. Your lips tugged upward into a slight smile.

You next step was just as quiet and you couldn’t help but feel a pressure in your chest, like a fluffy, invigorating sort of excited feeling. You looked up, finding Kyung a few meters ahead of you. You quickened your pace to catch up with him. Suddenly, he came to a halt. He swiftly turned around though he flinched when he found you right behind him. He got over his shock quickly however and he grabbed your forearm and tugged you behind a tree with him. Before you could ask why he shushed you and pointed to the clearing in front of the two of you.

There was a structure of some kind leading underground. It looked like stairs though you couldn’t make out what it was leading to. There were old, crumbled stone piece remnants of what probably use to be a wall on either side of the stairs. Zico came to a stop at the top of the stairs and gazed down them. Whatever was down there was what made him keep secrets from his own friends. Whatever was down there, it gave you the feeling that it was the answer to most of your questions.

Suddenly, Zico looked up, making you cower behind the tree in worry of being discovered. Kyung held a hand to your mouth; something you were thankful for because you had made quite a loud gasp that would have definitely gotten Zico’s attention this time around.

“I know you’re there.”

Your eyes widened. You looked to Kyung warily. Kyung bit his lips and sighed. Before he could step out however, someone…or rather…something revealed itself first.

Your heart pounded so loudly against your eardrums that you thought it was audible. “No.” You whispered lowly, “There’s no way.” Your eyes shook as you focused harder, trying to change what you saw step out from behind a tree from the west side of the clearing.

“A wolf.” Kyung revealed.

There it was, a wolf, in all of its glory, stepping out of hiding towards Zico. It’s mane was ashen white with patches of darker gray on his neck and stomach. It’s eyes were a penetrating dark gray, so close to black you thought you were staring into two pitch black holes. Despite the eeriness of the creature, it was strikingly beautiful. The way the moonlight hit its fur blinded you and left you stunned.

“I know you’re not one of those werewolf boys and you’re not just some animal who lives in the woods. So, who are you?” Zico said with a scowl as he addressed the wolf. Your eyes widened at the fact that he said this wasn’t one of the werewolves you knew. Your heart grew relieved at the confirmation of what you already knew was true.

The wolf was silent, motionless despite the persistence with which he posed his question. It’s eyes stared at him with a kind of pity in them, from what you could see. It was a familiar look that you had seen before though could not pinpoint from where.

Zico frowned and raised his arms up as if he was giving up, “Are you going to attack me again? Why are you so insistent on keeping me out of there?” He pointed to what lie in the darkness at the bottom of the stairs he stood above.

Still, the wolf did not answer his questions. You had the feeling it was edging Zico on, trying to get him to say more but for what reason you had no idea. You didn’t even know why you had the feeling that you understood this wolf’s actions when you shouldn’t have.

Zico grew visibly frustrated as he rubbed the back of his hair and his eagle like eyes closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re taunting me aren’t you? Because you know I don’t know how to get past the first gate? You watch me every night behind the cover of trees. You can’t be so dumb to think I didn’t notice.” Zico’s words stuck in your head as you watched on.

“A gate?” You questioned lowly, your head pounding as you thought harder about things.

The wolf made a move now, however it wasn’t to Zico’s pleasure. The wolf started to back away with the intent of leaving. Zico opened his mouth to say something though nothing came out. You could have sworn the wolf looked your way once more before it turned and darted into the cover of the trees. Zico shook his head in frustration before moving away from the stairs.

He started to walk back the way he came. Kyung gripped you close to him and shuffled slowly to the left as Zico passed by the tree. Your heartbeat rapidly grew faster as you were just an arm’s length away from Zico. Kyung kept you close however, hidden in the shadow that the tree casted. Soon, Zico was out of sight, and Kyung let you go. He stared at you with his dark eyes and you back at him, the both of you trying to make sense of what you had just seen.

The night ended just like that, with you absentmindedly following Kyung back to the road and then walking back to your house, completely forgetting about ice cream as a series of words floated through your head.

Gate. Hunters. Necklace. Werewolves. Elites. 

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A/N: 

Everything will make sense. I promise. I can't have Hyunjoo figuring out everything in one chapter. Build up is needed~

See you all next chapter!

Don't forget to leave a comment below~