“Do you think the hunters showed up?” Sungjong asked as he glanced up at the house in front of him. Someone put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He looked back, finding Dongwoo there.

“Of course they did. You can’t expect the mayor to just let them ditch such an event.” He responded. “Don’t worry about it too much though. We’re all here.”

Sungjong wasn’t comforted however. His thoughts went back to you, “That’s what I’m worried about.” He whispered.

The werewolves began adjusting their ties as they walk up the stairs to the mayor’s front door. They were greeted with a warm smile from the mayor’s wife. Sunggyu was the first to shake her hand. She gave it a gentle grip, “Nice to see you all could make it.” Sunggyu put on a smile and nodded, not wanting to respond. If he did, she would surely keep him there for ages.

She opened once she remembered greeting you a moment ago, but then she stopped herself. She got a mischievous idea into her head, “Should I show you all in then?”

“There’s no real need,” Sunggyu tried to reason but she wouldn’t let him.

“I insist.” She grabbed him by the arm and hooked herself onto him. She didn't tell them you were there. She got a satisfied smirk on her face as she saw them all looking peeking inside the house to find you. She saw herself as triumphant over you as she gestured for the werewolves to follow her in for a drink, leaving her position at the door to Minah, who shot a furious glance at Myungsoo before huffing at him; miffed that he had abandoned her last time without a word of apology. He gave her one polite nod, something she pretended to though truly couldn't be angry at.

The werewolves followed the mayor's wife into the foyer of the house. All of them looked around nonchalantly, wondering if you had come or if your scent merely hung in the air because the hunters were there too.

They didn't have time to look however as the mayor stood at the top of the stairs and began his evening greeting. The mayor’s wife left then and ascended the stairs to take the place beside her husband.

"Citizens of Springfield, we welcome yet another fall to our great and virtuous town. As is ceremonious, I will give a speech." The mayor's eyes scanned the crowd and he caught sight of you, the hunters, and the werewolves, both groups on opposite sides of the large foyer. A sly smile came onto his face, "However, I shall keep this short and simple." He rose his glass of wine in the air, "Let us remain as a closely bound family and not be deterred due to those who wish to uproot us."

He gave you a pointed look and you had to fight the urge to throw a variety of appetizer plates at him. He then turned to his left and gave a large grin to his wife.

She smiled back widely before nodding in pleasure of his short, unnecessary speech.

He turned back to the crowd now, "Let's enjoy ourselves." Some people clapped, others cheered, but you just took a deep breath as you stared up at him on the stairs, utterly disgusted.

"Hey," U-Kwon nudged you from the side. You directed your attention towards him, "We're going to mingle." He pointed his thumb at the group of hunters.

"It's a hassle but we'll be right back." Taeil assured you. B-Bomb gripped your shoulder gently before slipping away from the refreshment table. U-Kwon and Taeil followed him and disappeared in the same way.

Zico saluted you with two fingers, "Try not to get into too much trouble." He smirked the way he always did and left, a neutral Kyung and an excited P.O followed him.

You turned to the table again, "Try not to get into too much trouble?" You repeated Zico's words. You couldn't help but think of Sunggyu when you came with the werewolves to the founding day party. He had told you then to not get into any trouble. A smile crept onto your face, "Both of them assume I'm some kind of troublemaker." You shook your head in disapproval though you still couldn't get rid of the smile you had.

Suddenly, a crunching noise came from beside you. You flinched and your smile immediately left your face. When you turned, you found Jaehyo there, eating one of the assorted cookies. Apparently, he hadn't left with the others. He paid you no mind as he gulped down on a cup of juice. You couldn't help but wonder if he was still in high school. He seemed like he would be but at the same time, he seemed too mature for that. He felt you eyeing him but ignored the fact. You decided to go ahead and ask him.

"How old are you?" You asked him. When he didn't respond, you peaked over to get a look at his face. Suddenly, he locked eyes with you. You quickly backed away, becoming nervous all of a sudden.

He turned his body towards you and raised an eyebrow, "I'm 19." Your eyes widened, you couldn't believe he was two years your senior. "So are Taeil and B-Bomb. The rest of us are seventeen except for P.O, he's sixteen."

 You didn't respond to him, only stared at him. You were still processing all of this information. If Zico, Kyung, and U-Kwon were 17, they should have been in school. So why weren't they? P.O should have been a year under you. You couldn't imagine what school would be like with them there.

"I'm only telling you now so you don't bother us with that stuff later." Jaehyo spoke up again. You thoughtfully nodded.

You decided not to press the issue any further. Jaehyo was not a person who you wanted to get angry. Besides, being curious about them would make you feel more attached. You thought over and regretted bringing the topic up in the first place. Meanwhile, a certain someone spotted you.

His heartbeat grew faster and the first thing he wanted to do was go to your side. But he knew better. He trusted you enough to know he shouldn't intervene now. He would have other chances to talk to you. But still, he found himself walking towards you. You were beautiful from a distance and he had the urge to see you closer, to be near you. It took the voice of a younger boy to break him out of his trance.

"Woohyun, you okay?" Sungjong asked the older male. He quickly turned around, fearing Sungjong would see you. He knew Sungjong wouldn't let it go as easily as he would.

"Yeah I'm fine. Come on let's go dance." He threw on a large smile and hooked his arm around Sungjong's neck and steered him away from your vicinity. Now the only problem for him was driving your present image from his head to avoid waltzing back to you instinctively again. 

Sungjong didn't understand Woohyun's sudden urge but did not put two and two together about both your scent in the air and your voice vibrating throughout the large room. Instead, he followed Woohyun, otherwise blocking you out of his mind for the moment.

Meanwhile, Jaehyo looked around and saw people starting to go outside. “The main dance is starting soon.” He told you as he finished up the food he was eating. He looked to you, finding you looking up at him with wide eyes, wondering what you were supposed to do. He felt himself stutter for a moment, “L-let’s go.” He uttered out. He shook his head at his slip up and left ahead of you. You struggled to keep up with him as he walked.

When you finally caught up to him in the backyard, you caught sight of a large open circle in the middle of all of the people. Classical music was playing and one by one, men and women started to come out of the crowd and start ballroom dancing. Everyone was beautiful as they danced under the lights that hung from tree to tree. You were in awe as you watched. So much so that you didn’t notice that someone had come up from behind you and was currently guiding you into the circle. You only noticed when you found yourself almost tripping over the dress of a girl who twirled past you.

Before you could question it, you found yourself eye level to someone's lips. You traced the lips upwards, past the nose. You found yourself looking into a rather playful pair of eyes. “Zico.” You mumbled his name. Then, you finally regained your senses. You pushed away from him and looked around you where couples were elegantly dancing with ease, “What the hell are you doing?” You glared at him as you attempted to leave. He grabbed onto your wrist and brought you back to him effortlessly, “Why’d you bring me out here?” You tried to wrestle free from him.

“What else would you do out here but dance?” He smirked at how flustered you were.

“I don’t dance.” You growled at him before breaking free from his grip.

He got a teasing smile as he grabbed your hands again and wrapped them around his neck. He placed his own hands onto your waist. He pulled you closer to him, “See it’s easy.” He mumbled against your ear.

For a moment, he had you. The sensation of the small hairs on the back of his neck under your fingertips and his breath by your ear almost got you. But, you were stronger than that. You let go and pushed him away, “That’s not how we’re supposed to dance.” You accused him as you pointed at the other couples who were dancing hand in hand, nowhere near as intimate as he had just been with you.

He raised his hands in the air as if he was being arrested, “You caught me.” He showed you his teeth as he leaned over and grinned. You scowled at him, which he found just about as menacing as a baby panda. He gave in and held both of his hands up, waiting for you, “Well are you going to dance with me “properly” or not?”

You huffed as you averted your eyes and grabbed onto his hand and put your other onto his shoulder. He let his hand lay onto your waist. Soon, he was leading you in the dance. You weren’t sure if he was experienced in dancing because he often came to the mayor’s events, or because he danced with a lot of other girls.

He answered your thoughts without you even having to ask, “You shouldn’t be jealous of nonexistent women. Believe it or not, you’re my first.” You looked up at him with wide eyes. He looked back down at you and smiled confidently, “What? That’s not why you were making such a sour looking face a minute ago?” Before you could retort, he twirled you away from him.

You landed onto something hard. It took your eyes a moment to adjust but when they did, you saw what had caught you, or rather who. It was B-Bomb. You turned back but Zico was nowhere in sight.

“Sorry to disappoint, but may I?” He held out his hands towards you. You got an automatic smile on your face due to his actions. B-Bomb was someone you were more than comfortable with. You hadn’t even noticed you were smiling as you held onto his shoulder and hand. That is, until he mentioned it. “You’re always grinning like that when you talk to me.”

Your smile went away quickly as the two of you began to dance together.

B-Bomb peered down at you, “You should do that in front of the others.” He saw the look on your face and laughed, “Don’t ask why. Trust me, even Kyung and Jaehyo would crumble underneath that smile of yours. Why do you think I’m so nice to you?”

You got into a playful mood and smiled widely, “Because you like me?”

He scoffed at you, “Act like this in front of them and we’d all be puddy in your hands.” But the thing is, you didn’t want to act like that in front of the other hunters. You were friends with B-Bomb before you joined them so acting this way towards him came naturally. No matter how much B-Bomb told you you should, you knew that if you really did, you’d think of them as important in your life. Being without them would make you feel like you did now without the werewolves at you side. You would miss them. When you had to separate from them, you didn’t want to feel that. Like you were missing something.

He saw your expression and softened. He changed the subject in order to prevent you from becoming uncomfortable with him, “Listen, the reason I wanted to dance with you is to warn you. I saw the werewolves around a moment ago. I’m sure Zico pulled you into dancing to prevent them from seeing you through all of the moving bodies. Just be careful alright? There’s only one song left until the opening dance ends and when it does, find Jaehyo again. Okay?” You nodded at his words. Sooner than expected, the song ended and B-Bomb spun you away from him.

You were used to it by now but you did not expect to come face to face with U-Kwon. He grinned widely as you set your hand onto his shoulder. “I’m not good at this.” You admitted to him. He shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter.”

He was quiet for a while after. You couldn’t help looking up at him and cringing every time you stepped onto his foot. But he seemed to not care in the least. U-Kwon had something to say to you but he didn’t know how to put his words together. As he heard the song dying out, he quickly got up the nerve to finally say it.

“You should make sure you come home on time.” You looked up at him, confused at the sudden scolding he was giving you. He cleared his throat, “Or at least call us to tell us you’ll be late. We were worried about you.” He added in the “we” even though he was the only one who was worried in the least.

You couldn’t help but agree with him. “Okay.” You said with a nod.

The song came to an end and U-Kwon let go of you. He bowed and backed up. Leaving you to go your separate way as people started to fill in the circle that once held many couples dancing. You decided to do as B-Bomb had told you earlier; return to Jaehyo.

You tried to look through people to find him. You expected him to be where you last saw him. However, when you retraced your steps there, he was nowhere to be found. “Jaehyo?” You whispered his name as you looked around. You pivoted on your foot, deciding to return to the dance floor to find U-Kwon again. It was better than being alone at this point.

You end up bumping into someone’s back as you turned. Your nose and forehead hit onto them hard. You winced and looked down as you cradled your face in the palms of your hand. “Ouch.” You said out loud as you rubbed your sore nose. You looked up slowly, still covering the forehead with your hand.

“I’m sorry.” A voice said from in front of you. You recognized it immediately even before your eyes adjusted. You screamed inside of your head that of all people, you had to bump into him. The person who now looked down at you was none other than Sunggyu.

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A/N:

I promised a longer chapter so here it is! 

Looks like Woohyun is the only one who has seen Hyunjoo so far. But it looks like Sunggyu is up next. Are you anticipating his reaction? You'll just have to read the next chapter to see it.

Leave a comment below my lovely readers~