KyuJong couldn’t sleep that night, tossing and turning in bed. Thoughts of what had happened up on the rooftop wouldn’t leave him alone. As far as he knew, no one else had noticed he’d somehow synched himself to Pantera besides the panther spirit. Maybe Yuetu; the rabbit had been giggling to himself about something. As for the others…SungMin, DongHae, not even KiBum had said anything.

How was it even possible? He wasn’t a Keeper, let alone Pantera’s Keeper. KiBum had clearly failed in his efforts to sync to Pantera, and from the way the others had talked they hadn’t really expected a new Keeper to be able to do it so easily. Yet all KyuJong had done was close his eyes, and the transition had been so smooth and gentle he’d barely noticed he wasn’t in his own body anymore until he’d opened his eyes and seen through Pantera’s instead.

Making a low noise of frustration, KyuJong punched his pillow and tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. He had to talk to someone about this. But who would even believe him? Would he be able to get Pantera or Yuetu alone long enough to ask, or should he risk asking SungMin? Something told him being able to tune to a spirit beast that wasn’t his wasn’t something he should go talking about to everyone he knew.

He drifted off to sleep at some point, until his alarm clock woke him up. KyuJong sat up, pushing his hair out of his face and rubbing his eyes. He would talk to SungMin when he saw him Tuesday, until then he’d just have to keep what had happened to himself. Easier said than done; he was getting a headache just thinking about it.

At least classes gave him something else to think about for a while. It was still a couple hours before his class was due to start, and the apartment was suffocating suddenly. Some fresh air would do him good.

Grabbing something quick to eat, KyuJong headed out to make his way to the campus. He was a little glad he didn’t run into KiBum or HyungJoon on his way out of the apartment complex; he wasn’t sure what to say to KiBum, and HyungJoon would pick up on his distracted mood instantly. Stepping out of the building onto the street, he decided to take a different path than usual. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the time, and arriving at the campus too early would leave nothing for him to do before class but think.

It had been strange that he could see spirit beasts at all. Strange, but not a reason for KyuJong to think he was anything other than an ordinary person with a very weird talent. He wasn’t a Keeper, just someone who could observe from the sidelines. But what had happened was forcing him to re-evaluate himself, and it was a very uncomfortable feeling.

He had thought he knew who he was and exactly what he was capable of…now he wasn’t so sure. Was this how KiBum had felt when he became a Keeper, scared of finding out exactly what he didn’t know about himself? What he thought he knew?

The strumming of a guitar drew KyuJong out of his thoughts, and he looked up just in time to stop himself from tripping over someone sitting against a building wall. It was one of the many musicians KyuJong saw all over Seoul, guitar case open for tips in front of him and strumming away idly on the instrument.

“Sorry,” KyuJong mumbled an apology for nearly running him over, backing up a few paces. The guitarist glanced up at him around his baseball cap, lips quirked into a lopsided smile. He didn’t say anything in return, just going back to his music.

Shaking his head to clear it of questions he couldn’t answer, KyuJong let himself be distracted by the music instead. He looked down at the empty guitar case and wished he had at least some change to contribute, but until he got an actual paycheck from the coffee shop he had to watch his money.

It was nice music though, the guitar played with obvious talent, so he lingered around the musician to listen. It wasn’t like he was in a rush.

“Stressful morning?”

Blinking, KyuJong looked back down at the guitarist. The other man who looked a little older than him wasn’t looking up, but there was no one else he could have spoken to nearby. “…What?”

“You’ve got heavy shoulders,” replied the guitarist, bringing the song to a close before starting up another.

Bemused, KyuJong shrugged after a moment. “I…guess you could say that. Doesn’t everyone?” Everyone around here seemed to be stressed. It was far from the relaxed country life he was used to; everyone was always rushing in the city.

“Heavy shoulders maybe, but no one else looks lost this morning. Just you.” The other man finally looked up, the baseball cap lifting to show an attractive face, larger than normal eyes and that crooked smile.

Caught by the disarming smile and the peculiar words, KyuJong looked down at him strangely. “…How am I lost?”

A small laugh was his answer, along with a few more notes on the guitar. “You look like someone who had his world turned upside down.”

Was it that obvious? KyuJong looked down at him, chewing on his lower lip. “…Maybe.” The guitarist grinned knowingly, and KyuJong felt his face flush a little. “How do you know that?”

“I’m good at reading people. Stay for a minute, listen. You’ll feel better.”

“I…don’t have much change on me,” KyuJong mumbled. “I won’t be able to leave a tip.”

“Did I ask for a tip?”

“…I guess not,” KyuJong chuckled sheepishly, stepping back to lean against the wall out of the way of passerby. He closed his eyes and listened to the guitarist play. Sure enough, a song in he could already feel the tension leaving his shoulders. No, he didn’t know what he was capable of anymore, if he was a Keeper or a normal person. But he’d figure it out. There was no sense in stressing out until then.

He stayed there beside the guitarist for nearly half an hour, feeling inexplicably welcome beside this stranger he’d never seen before in his life. It might have helped that the man was gorgeous, and KyuJong might have been sneaking sidelong glances at him as the guitarist played.

Finally he sighed and pushed away from the wall. He had to get to school. “I…have to go. Thanks, really.”

“Feeling better?” The guitarist asked, closing off his song.

“Yeah,” KyuJong smiled down at him, and flushed when the smile was returned. “So…I’ll go now. Good luck with everything.”

“HyunJoong,” the guitarist replied, absently plucking at a few strings on the guitar. “My name’s HyunJoong. I play here weekday mornings and in Hongdae Park weekend evenings.”

“Oh…okay,” KyuJong nodded. “My name’s KyuJong,” he offered his name in return.

“See you around, KyuJong.”

“See you.” KyuJong turned and walked down the sidewalk, trying to ignore the red in his cheeks. He could hear HyunJoong start playing again as he walked away, and smiled to himself. Maybe he’d come by again tomorrow morning.

By the time he arrived on campus, he had just enough time to get to class. KyuJong took his usual seat in the lecture hall and pulled his books out of his bag slowly. He frowned down at the journal where he kept all his spirit beast notes before leaving it in the bag today. He was relaxed now, he wasn’t going to stress himself out all over again.

Straightening, KyuJong blinked when a coffee cup appeared in front of him. “Tada.” He followed the hand holding it up to a grinning HyungJoon. “Morning!”

“Morning,” KyuJong chuckled, looking back at the Styrofoam cup as it was placed on the table in front of him. “Is that…”

“For you.” HyungJoon slid into the seat next to him. “I forgot how you like your coffee though.”

“You didn’t have to,” KyuJong smiled either way, touched at the gesture. HyungJoon shrugged. “You’re in a good mood this morning.”

“Yeah, well, Choco wasn’t barking all night so I actually got some sleep,” HyungJoon laughed, stretching out his arms.

KyuJong blew lightly on the lip of the cup before taking a careful sip. “It tastes good, you got it right Joon,” he chuckled.

HyungJoon beamed happily next to him, wringing his fingers together on the table. “Great. Uh, hey. I was wondering, are you free tonight?”

“Tonight?” KyuJong blinked, taking another careful sip of the coffee. “Why?”

“Well, there’s a premier of a really cool movie tonight, and I thought maybe you would like to go with me,” HyungJoon explained, looking up at the ceiling and twiddling his thumbs.

“Oh, uh…” KyuJong frowned. “I don’t—“

“You don’t have money to spare, I remember,” HyungJoon hurriedly cut KyuJong off. “I’m paying. My treat.”

“But I owe you so much already,” KyuJong protested. “It just doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s fine, really,” HyungJoon shook his head. “So, are you free tonight?”

KyuJong still felt bad about HyungJoon paying everything for him, but he swore he’d pay the younger man back. “…Sure, it sounds like fun,” he smiled and nodded after a moment. HyungJoon puffed up happily. “You know…you’re the only person to really make an effort to be friends with me since I’ve came here. I’m really glad you’re my friend, Joon.”

HyungJoon blinked at him before deflating a little. “Yeah…we’re good friends, aren’t we,” he gave KyuJong a weak smile. “Oh, look, we’re starting.”

He turned away from KyuJong to pull his books out of his bag. KyuJong looked at HyungJoon’s hunched back, getting the feeling he might have missed something. When the teacher started talking, he shook his head and turned back to the front of the class. Couldn’t have been too important, or Joon would have told him.

Whatever happened to cause HyungJoon’s sudden bad mood, it was gone by the time KyuJong met with him after classes. “So, the theatre’s only a ten minute walk from here,” the younger man was bouncy. “Let’s go?”

“Sure,” KyuJong smiled, hands in his pockets and bag slung over one shoulder. They’d both had classes until late that day, the sun already on it’s way past the horizon and throwing colors across the sky. Turning, KyuJong followed HyungJoon towards the edge of campus.

“They’ll have food and stuff in the theatre,” HyungJoon was saying. “Good thing too, cause I’m starving,” he whined. “Back to back classes, someone kill me now.”

“Hey, at least you worked up an appetite,” KyuJong chuckled, glancing at his friend. “Where’s your brother?” He wondered why HyungJoon hadn’t asked KiBum to watch the movie with him; the brothers were very close.

“Oh, he’s working with Kevin today,” HyungJoon replied, grinning suddenly. “Kevin called while he was out last night, his manager liked some of KiBum’s work and wanted him for a photoshoot coming soon. Kevin and a couple other models will be in it. I think they’re meeting up to sign the contract today.” The older brother was bursting with pride.

“That’s amazing!” KyuJong exclaimed, beaming at HyungJoon. “He’s getting popular.”

“Yeah, he is,” HyungJoon laughed. “I told him if it keeps up, he’s gonna have to treat me to dinner more often. Umma hasn’t heard about it yet, but she’ll be proud of him too.”

“And your father?” KyuJong asked, smiling widely.

HyungJoon’s smile faded a little. “Who knows. Our dad walked out while we were just kids, it’s just us and our mom.”

“…Oh.” KyuJong deflated. “I’m sorry, I…I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” HyungJoon shook his head, quirking a rueful smile at KyuJong. “No big deal, we got over it years ago. I take care of KiBum in his place. Double role, brother and father,” he snorted.

“Well, looks like you brought him up right,” KyuJong offered, and that earned him a smile. It explained why the brothers were so close, rarely getting into fights even if they bickered and teased each other a lot.

They arrived at the building that the theatre was in. “It’s on the top floor,” HyungJoon hummed, holding the door open for KyuJong. Stepping in, KyuJong looked around. Looked like the first floor was a large shop. Finding the elevator, he pressed the button and waited.

“When does it start, anyways?” KyuJong asked HyungJoon as the doors opened and they stepped in.

“Uh…” HyungJoon checked his watch. “Half an hour. We have enough time to get our tickets and some food beforehand. I think the fifth floor’s a cafeteria.” He checked the sign next to the buttons for each floor. “Yeah. Food first?”

“Sure,” KyuJong replied, amused at the younger. HyungJoon pressed the button for the fifth floor and leaned back against the wall beside KyuJong.

A minute later the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, HyungJoon already looking around for food. “Oh, this place looks good,” he grinned, pulling KyuJong to a stand near the windows. KyuJong laughed, shaking his head as he followed.

“What do you want?” HyungJoon asked, looking from KyuJong to the sign.

“Uh…” KyuJong looked for the cheapest thing on the menu; he didn’t want to break HyungJoon’s wallet. “Ddeokbokkee?”

“Sure,” HyungJoon grinned, stepping forward to order.

Watching him with a small smile, KyuJong saw a burst of color in his side vision. He looked before he could help himself, peering out the window.

There; another burst of color. Bright, emerald green. A spirit battle…but the sun wasn’t even down yet. It must be close for him to be able to see it in the fading light of dusk. Frowning, KyuJong felt a twinge of unease. Something wasn’t right.

When another burst of color appeared, he realized why. It wasn’t coming from the rooftops…it was down on the street. But why? Hadn’t DongHae said something about that?

Seoul is way too crowded to fight on the streets, someone would get hurt.

Eyes widening, KyuJong pressed his hands against the windowsill and tried to lean over enough to see the street below. The fifth floor was too high up; he couldn’t see anything other than the bursts of color. What were they doing?

“Kyu?” HyungJoon came up behind him, blinking. His hands held two bowls of ddeokbokkee. “What’s up?”

Turning around, KyuJong hoped his smile wasn’t as strained as it felt. “I’ll, uh…I’ll be right back. Just remembered something. Meet you at the theatre.” He slipped around HyungJoon, hurrying to the elevator.

Just one minute, one minute to get down there and try to get them to move the fight to the rooftops. It wasn’t like he had a spirit beast, so he couldn’t be challenged. There were still too many people on the streets, and while normal people couldn’t see spirit beasts…they could still be hurt by one.

He counted down the seconds until the elevator doors opened on the ground floor, hurrying out and onto the street. It took him a moment to reorient himself and figure out from which direction he’d seen the light, before he broke into a light run around the building and into a back alley.

There, another green light. Now that he was closer, he could see a second light too: blue, so dark it was almost black. Before he could realize the light was familiar, he’d already turned around the corner and saw them.

Jaws snapping in a snarl, Asena the wolf spirit pounced after her target and missed. The otter spirit spiraled easily out of the way, green light pulsing as it switched direction in mid-air and slammed into Asena full-force. Both spirit beasts went tumbling end over end before the otter brought free and retreated out of reach.

Heart racing, KyuJong looked around and spotted that hunter from before…Zitao. The Chinese man was shouting instructions again, intent on the fight. Asena’s body pulsed blue and the light was back into her.

Kyu barely had time to duck back around the corner before icicles burst out of her body in all directions, shattering against the wall beside him. He saw the otter spirit easily evade them, clicking in disapproval.

“Doyarchu!” a strange voice called, soft given the situation. “We have to move this to the roof. Go on, up!”

The otter chittered in response and switched direction to swim up the side of the building. KyuJong poked his head around the corner again, and saw the one who’d spoken. The other Keeper was facing him, narrowed eyes and slightly chubby face hidden behind long black hair.

The otter Keeper spotted him, eyes widening slightly. He turned back to Zitao. “See? I told you we can’t do this here; let’s move to the roof!”

“Asena!” Zitao called. KyuJong couldn’t understand what the teenager said next in Mandarin, but it was clear Asena wasn’t going to the roof; she hit the wall and launched herself higher on the rebound, hitting the otter who was trying to escape. Doyarchu managed to mostly avoid the wolf’s sharp teeth…except for his back leg. With a cry of pain the otter went down, hitting the ground again and rolling away. His Keeper clenched his teeth and curled his hands into fists.

Zitao wasn’t listening…but he couldn’t ignore KyuJong. The other Keeper was too focused on the fight, but KyuJong wasn’t involved. Maybe he could talk sense into the Hunter. Squaring his shoulders, KyuJong moved around the corner and made a beeline for Zitao.

Asena the wolf turned her head and snarled at him. KyuJong froze, eyes wide. Even when Doyarchu attacked Asena and drew her attention away, he couldn’t move, shaking.

“Hey, Kyu! What’re you doing?”

His heart stopped. Forcing himself to turn around, KyuJong saw HyungJoon stepping around the corner. He looked confused, looking from KyuJong to the other two men in the alleyway. His eyes skimmed right over the wolf and otter spirits, unable to see them. “What’re you doing out here? Is everything okay?”

“Joon…” KyuJong whispered. In the corner of his vision, he saw Asena draw that blue light into her skin. Icicles exploded into existence, going in every direction. KyuJong screamed when one hit the wall beside him, covering his face against the ice splinters.

A choked gasp made him open his eyes. HyungJoon crumbled to the ground, ddeokbokkee spilling around him. “Joon!” The sight of his friend collapsing broke the petrified fear, and KyuJong ran to him. “Joon! Are you okay?!”

He dropped to his knees, shaking HyungJoon’s shoulder and pushing the younger man over onto his back. HyungJoon looked up at him with dazed eyes before he groaned quietly and his eyes slid shut. Ice splinters jutted out of his arm and side, shirt slowly becoming soaked red. “Joon!”

“Oh my God…” KyuJong looked up to see the otter Keeper staring at them, skin ashen. His concentration on the fight was broken and he stepped towards them. “Is he okay?”

A shriek and a burst of green light drove the Keeper to his knees, gasping. In the moment of distraction, Asena had seized the otter spirit in her powerful jaws, the animal writhing in pain.

“Stop!” Doyarchu’s Keeper yelled. With each frantic pulse of green light, his body jerked and he gasped in pain. “Stop the fight!”

“You lost,” Zitao replied, and Asena crushed the otter with a final burst of green light. The otter Keeper’s eyes hazed over and he collapsed on the ground. All that was left of the otter spirit were small green beads of light that fell slowly, winking out of sight.

Holding onto HyungJoon tightly, KyuJong watched as Zitao turned and looked at the two of them. The teenager frowned slightly, looking between KyuJong and HyungJoon.

Anger bubbled up under KyuJong’s skin, and suddenly he didn’t care so much about the wolf paces away anymore. “You hurt him!” he yelled. “Why would you fight where people could be hurt? What kind of person are you?!”

Zitao frowned, meeting KyuJong’s eyes. Whether it was because he didn’t know the Korean words or he had nothing to say, the Chinese man turned away without a word. KyuJong watched him lift a phone to his ear as he walked away, Asena disappearing after him.

HyungJoon. KyuJong looked back at his injured and unconscious friend, fingers shaking as he pulled the ice out of HyungJoon’s body. “Stay alive, please,” he whispered, fingers shaking as he pulled off his sweater and used it to try plugging the holes leaking blood.

He needed help. He needed an ambulance, SungMin, DongHae, KiBum, anyone. HyungJoon couldn’t die.

Hand fumbling as he tried to pull out his cell phone, KyuJong stopped when he heard ambulances blaring their horns and drawing closer. To his surprise, the ambulances came right to the mouth of the alley and paramedics ran out.

KyuJong couldn’t even explain what had happened, too shaken up to try. HyungJoon and the otter’s former Keeper were loaded onto stretchers, KyuJong following them to the ambulance. “I’m coming with you,” KyuJong told the paramedics, lips pressed into thin, colorless lines. “He’s my best friend.”

HyungJoon, don’t die…please…

Something made him look up as they were loading the two stretchers into the back of the ambulance. A soft blue glow that wasn’t Asena’s shown in the corner of his vision.

The blue tiger spirit sat on the other side of the street. Standing beside him, HyunJoong the guitarist watched as they all loaded into the ambulance and drove away.

Cliffhanger~~don't kill me .______.;;;

And I'm already plotting a sequel and spinoffs for this. What is my life. I asked over on The Sworn but I have no idea why I did LOL: How many readers would be willing to follow me into a sequel if the main character was from EXO? There will still be tons of other fandoms around, including SS501, but I dunno how many EXO-readers follow this ._____.;;; Or how many people are willing to read EXO-related stuff. I really wanna get more comfortable writing them ;; Best way to do that is slowly inject them into my stories.

Please vote, comment and subscribe if you enjoyed the chapter! (Or even if you want to kill me for it)

@curionenene: I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEAAAAAAANS. Well, yes I do. But I can't tell you :P And you're always on idle when I get online LOL I can't tell if you're there or sleeping~~~~

@Forest_pixi: LOL I'm sorry ;A; If it cheers you up, I'm actually debating making a prequel spinoff on when JunSu, YooChun, DongHae and Hyukkie were all BFFs and kicking together xD Hyukkie would be there at least. He might be in the sequel too even if he isn't in this particular story a lot. And you don't need to tempt me anymore for a KyuMin spinoff...my evil brain's tempting me enough.... ._____.;;; orz WHAT IS MY LIFE. And didn't I add you on LJ? o.o I thought I did. Didn't I? ;A; I'M BAD WITH FRIENDING PEOPLE ON LJ OKAY I DIDN'T FRIEND KAT'S RP ACCOUNT FOR LIKE 2 YEARS OR SOMETHING /automatically friends with everyone in her mind

@Forever5501: What's it about? :P

@ping501: LOL Naaaaah why would I take offense? Just ask all this crazy people who followed me from LJ, I love hearing my readers' guesses :D Even if I can't exactly answer all of them without giving stuff away. But it's so fun to me to hear where you think it's going XD And why am I Yoda? XDDDD