The trip to the hospital and the ensuing chaos was a blur to KyuJong. HyungJoon and the otter Keeper were pulled out of the ambulance and rushed into critical care. HyungJoon for blood loss and what looked like shallow gun wounds, and the Keeper because no one could tell what exactly was wrong with him. KyuJong could have told them he was fine and would probably be waking up soon, but all he could do was watch them take HyungJoon away.

He was shown to the waiting room, and left there. KyuJong slowly lowered himself into a seat, staring down at his hands that were still stained with HyungJoon’s blood. This was all his fault. If he’d just ignored the spirit battle, not run outside to check it out, HyungJoon wouldn’t have followed him. He wouldn’t have been hurt, and he wouldn’t be in a hospital emergency room possibly dying of blood loss.

His best friend, hurt because of him.

After a minute of sitting there, he fished out his phone. He had to call KiBum, tell him his brother was in the hospital. Explain why. He still didn’t know how he was going to explain to the doctors what had happened; they would surely be asking him soon. One problem at a time.

The dial tone seemed to go on forever before KiBum’s voice answered. ”Hello?”

“KiBum?” KyuJong swallowed, closing his eyes. “I…something happened. HyungJoon’s in the hospital.”

”…What?!” There was a scrambling noise from the other side of the phone. ”What do you mean, what happened? Is he okay?”

“He’s…I don’t know, he’s in emergency care right now,” KyuJong whispered, trying not to tear up. “I’ll explain when you get here, okay? Can you get here?”

”I’m already on my way.” KiBum hung up, the phone beeping in KyuJong’s ear. He closed it and put the phone away, eyes shutting tightly.

It only took fifteen minutes for KiBum to make it across the city to the hospital, but it seemed like an eternity to KyuJong who was waiting desperately for some sign that HyungJoon was okay. “Where is he?” KiBum asked as he pushed into the room, panting and out of breath. Pantera appeared by his feet.

KyuJong pointed at the doors to the emergency ward. “He hasn’t come out yet.”

KiBum stood there for a long moment, staring at the doors before turning to KyuJong, lips thinned. “What happened?”

KyuJong exhaled shakily. “There was a spirit battle, out on the streets. He was caught by one of their attacks. I’m sorry, KiBum.” I’m so sorry…it’s all my fault.

KiBum dropped down into a seat, covering his face with both hands. “…He’ll be okay,” he said finally, as if he was trying to convince himself of that. “He’s always okay.”

“Right,” KyuJong whispered. HyungJoon had to be okay. He watched Pantera lie down by KiBum’s chair, his elbow lightly before resting her head on his foot.

It was another half an hour before a doctor appeared. “Are you both here for Kim HyungJoon?” he asked.

“Yeah,” KiBum jumped to his feet quickly. “I’m his brother. How is he?”

“He’ll be fine,” the doctor smiled at them. “He’s been moved to another ward to recover, and he’ll have to stay here for a couple days to rest.”

“Can we see him?” KiBum asked, eyes wide. The doctor nodded and turned to lead them down a hallway.

KyuJong followed a few paces behind as KiBum continued to ask the doctor questions of HyungJoon’s condition. Relief hit him hard; HyungJoon would be alright. He was hospital-bound for a while, but he’d be okay. Still, KyuJong knew he wouldn’t be able to relax until he saw HyungJoon for himself.

As they walked down the hallway past other hospital rooms, KyuJong was startled by a familiar pink light in the corner of his eyes. Glancing to the side before he could help it, he found himself looking into a hospital room.

SungMin sat beside a girl with hair as blonde as his, Yuetu in his lap. The blonde girl had an eagle spirit perched on the back of her chair, it’s color a lighter pink than Yuetu’s. They seemed to be talking quietly, watching a motionless figure in the bed in front of them. From the door, KyuJong couldn’t see who was in the bed.

Realizing he was lagging behind, KyuJong hurried to catch up to KiBum and the doctor. HyungJoon was most important right now.

When they arrived at HyungJoon’s room, KyuJong released the breath he was holding. HyungJoon was lying in the far bed, hooked up to monitors and his eyes closed. “He’s just asleep until the anesthesia wears off,” the doctor said before either of them could ask, hanging a clipboard by the foot of HyungJoon’s bed.

“Thank God he’s okay,” KiBum whispered, going beside the bed and looking down at his brother.

“KyuJong sshi, is it?” the doctor turned to KyuJong. Jumping, KyuJong looked back at him and nodded. “My colleague would just like to have a word with you about the cause of his injuries.”

Chewing on his lower lip, KyuJong nodded. He’d have to make something up; no way would any of these doctors understand what had really happened. “I’ll be right back, KiBum,” he glanced towards the bed. KiBum nodded, not looking at him as he sat down next to HyungJoon and took his brother’s hand.

KyuJong followed the doctor out of the hospital room and to what looked like a meeting room. He was left there to wait, sitting down in one of the chairs and trying to calm his nerves.

After a few minutes, the door opened again and a doctor in a white coat stepped into the room. “Sorry to keep you waiting. KyuJong, yes?”

“Yes sir…” KyuJong nodded, looking up. His eyes slowly widened as the doctor closed the door and turned to face him.

“Is something wrong?” the doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Would…” KyuJong swallowed. “I’m sorry, but would your name happen to be…Daniel…sshi?”

“Daniel Armand Lee, yes.”

“The snake,” KyuJong blurted out, trying not to stutter over the words. “The massive snake…you’re it’s Keeper.”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Have we met before?”

Yes, KyuJong wanted to say. A long, long time ago, in a tiny farmtown behind his family’s barn. But he didn’t know how to explain, so he just shrugged. “I…saw you and the snake fighting on the rooftops.”

Relief hit him again; he could explain what was going on now, Daniel would understand.

“My friend…HyungJoon? He was hit by a spirit beast attack,” KyuJong said slowly. “There was a fight going on in the streets, and I went to check it out…he followed me and was hurt.” Guilt twisted his insides again.

Daniel nodded. “I had the feeling it was a spirit beast attack.” He wrote something down on the clipboard he’d brought with him. “Don’t worry about official statements; we get a couple spirit beast-related injuries a year, I handle those cases so nothing gets out to the media.”

KyuJong nodded in understanding. “He’s…going to be okay, right?” He had no idea what a spirit beast attack would do to a human.

“Aside from blood loss, he’s fine. If he asks, you can explain the injuries away as shallow gunshot wounds; he was caught by some idiots with a BB gun.”

Relieved, KyuJong looked down at his hands. “Oh…what about the otter Keeper? The guy who came in with HyungJoon?”

“Aside from the usual memory loss resulting from losing a challenge, he’s fine. He’s already awake, I just came from talking with him.” Daniel was frowning, tapping his pen against his clipboard.

“Is…something wrong?” KyuJong asked carefully.

“Hm?” Daniel glanced up at him and shook his head with a smile. “Nothing for you to worry about. We’ve been getting a lot of defeated Keepers in here lately.”

“It must be the Hunters,” KyuJong said quietly.

“Hunters? Yes, that would definitely explain most of it…” Daniel hummed to himself for a moment before stepping towards the door. “Thank you for your time, KyuJong. You can go back to your friend now, but visiting hours end soon.”

“Okay,” KyuJong nodded, standing. Daniel left the room first and KyuJong followed, heading back towards HyungJoon’s room.

On his way there, he passed by the room he’d seen SungMin in. The two chairs beside the bed were empty. Leaning in a little more, he saw a young woman lying in the bed, her eyes closed and an oxygen mask over the lower half of her face. KyuJong frowned before continuing on towards HyungJoon’s room.

“This ,” HyungJoon moped, picking at his bedsheets morosely. “My arm’s injured, not my legs.”

“You know what Daniel sshi said,” KyuJong tried to speak gently. “If you try walking around too much, you’ll just fall over with all the blood loss.”

“I know what he said, doesn’t mean I have to like it,” HyungJoon grumbled.

It was the second day of HyungJoon’s hospitalization. The younger man was awake and very, very bored. KyuJong and KiBum came by as often as they could, making sure between their schedules someone was always available to keep HyungJoon company. KyuJong had even called into the coffee shop and explained to an annoyed KyuHyun that he needed Tuesday off so he could look after his friend. According to KyuHyun, SungMin had been taking the last couple days off as well and it left the coffee shop understaffed.

KyuJong brought in notes from school with him, using the fact they had most of their classes together to his advantage along with homework to keep HyungJoon occupied. As expected, HyungJoon had asked as soon as he’d woken up what had happened. He seemed to buy the BB gun reasoning, though was obviously confused because he definitely didn’t remember seeing any sign of a gun. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to remember the icicles either.

“So much for the movie, huh,” HyungJoon looked thoroughly depressed. “I picked the perfect time to get in the middle of a fight.”

Feeling guilty again, KyuJong sighed and patted HyungJoon’s shoulder. “We’ll go see a movie when you’re released, okay? And I’ll have a paycheck by then, so it’ll be my treat.” Something for the younger man to look forward to and distract him from his predicament, KyuJong hoped.

Watching HyungJoon try to write in a workbook with his left hand (his right arm was still bound up), KyuJong blinked and looked up at the door when two people stepped into the room. “Yah, turtle!”

HyungJoon looked up, blinked and groaned. “Someone really hates me,” he whined, covering his face with a pillow. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that how you greet people who take the time to visit your sorry ?” one of the young men huffed, his hair a vibrant red and styled wildly. He punched HyungJoon in the shoulder when he reached the bed. “What did you do, fall down the stairs?”

“I was shot, I’ll have you know,” HyungJoon grumbled, rubbing his shoulder. “No seriously, what are you two doing here?”

“Visiting our hospitalized coworker,” the one with the brown hair said with a grin, placing a wrapped present on the edge of the bed. “For you.”

“…” HyungJoon eyed the present like it was a time bomb before looking up at KyuJong who looked confused. “Uh…these two are JungMin and HongKi. You seriously got me something?” He looked at the two new arrivals in surprise.

“We figured you might be bored,” JungMin smirked, sitting down in an empty chair. “Who’s the cute guy?”

HyungJoon flushed red and sputtered. “He’s…uh…he’s KyuJong, he’s my friend.”

“Friend?” HongKi echoed, grin just as wide as JungMin’s.

“Kyu, can you uh, go find Daniel?” HyungJoon stuttered, turning redder by the second. “I wanted to ask him…uh…something. A question.”

“What question?” KyuJong blinked, confused.

“Just— go get him? Please? Kyu?”

“Okay, okay,” KyuJong stood up. He left the room, feeling very confused as JungMin erupted in laughter once he was gone and HyungJoon squawked at him to be quiet. Shaking his head, KyuJong walked down the hallway in search of Daniel.

He made it a hallway down before seeing a group of three people standing by one of the elevators. Checking quickly to make sure none of them were Daniel, he continued on.

“Excuse me, would you happen to be KyuJong sshi?”

Blinking repeatedly, KyuJong turned around and looked at the man who’d spoken to him. “Uh…yeah. That’s me.”

The speaker was very tall, with a bright smile and a large nose. “Hello. Do you have a moment to talk?”

“Sure? Do I know you?” KyuJong glanced between the three of them, certain he’d never seen any of them before.

“No, but you know our friend,” the smiling man held out a hand. KyuJong took it, returning the polite bow. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhou Mi.”

Zhou Mi? KyuJong’s eyes widened and he straightened, dropping the other man’s hand as he took a step back. That wasn’t a Korean name. “…Who’s your friend?”

“A rather…passionate young man named Huang Zitao. Please don’t be alarmed; we’re not here to fight. I’m actually here to apologize on his behalf.”

KyuJong couldn’t help but feel wary of these people, despite Zhou Mi’s words and his wide smile. “What do you mean?”

“Zitao told us what happened, and I want to apologize for causing your friend injury,” Zhou Mi replied. “It’s against our code to hurt others, and against his code in particular. But Zitao tends to become…” He frowned and glanced at the young man to his left, saying something in Mandarin.

“Near-sighted,” offered his companion in accent-less Korean.

“Yes, very near-sighted, when he has his attention on something. He didn’t see your friend until the challenge was over. As the oldest of our group, I’m here to apologize for the trouble he’s caused you and your friend. I’ve already spoken with the hospital staff, and his visit will be paid for.”

That was a surprise to KyuJong. “…Why? I thought you’re Hunters,” he said slowly.

“We might be Hunters,” spoke the one who had flawless Korean. “But we don’t make it a point to hurt others. Our goal is to become the strongest in our region and defeat the Spirit King; nowhere is there anything about injuring innocent bystanders.”

“MinSeok is right,” Zhou Mi chuckled. “There maybe be Hunters with…laxer moral codes, but we try to avoid being the same. Zitao just gets a little carried away sometimes.”

The third Hunter nudged Zhou Mi’s elbow slightly, speaking in Mandarin. Zhou Mi nodded to him before smiling at KyuJong. “We’ll take our leave. Please apologize to Pantera’s Keeper for us.”

“Pantera’s Keeper?” KyuJong’s eyes slowly widened.

“He is the injured one’s brother, right? Please give him our apology. This isn’t how any of us would have liked to face him. When his brother is recovered…” Zhou Mi placed his hand on the third Hunter’s shoulder. “Henry would like to challenge him. He has until then to get ready.”

KyuJong bit his lower lip. “I’ll…let him know?”

“Thank you, KyuJong sshi,” Zhou Mi smiled brightly at him. “Have a good day.” The elevator door opened and the three Hunters filed in. KyuJong watched as the door closed behind them.

KyuJong stood there for a long moment, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Wasn’t life complicated enough? Shaking his head, he turned to find Daniel. Now KiBum would have his first challenge to worry about, against a Hunter…and he still wasn’t synched to Pantera. He’d been skipping out of practice with SungMin to look after HyungJoon.

Finding Daniel in one of the offices, he relayed HyungJoon’s strange request and the doctor stood. They headed back to HyungJoon’s hospital room.

“You two are such s!” HyungJoon shouted just as KyuJong and Daniel stepped into the room. The present was unwrapped and open in front of him, and he was brandishing one of the magazines as if trying to hit JungMin and HongKi with it. HongKi was curled up in a laughing ball and JungMin had moved out of hitting range, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, you won’t be bored anymore!”

Daniel stooped to pick up one of the magazines that had fallen to the ground. Both eyebrows went up and he held out the magazine to HyungJoon. “I don’t believe you’re allowed these on hospital grounds.”

“They’re not mine!” HyungJoon protested loudly, chucking one of the magazines at JungMin.

KyuJong choked and burst out laughing when the magazine landed open on the floor. HyungJoon looked at KyuJong with a wide-eyed, kicked puppy expression and whined before covering his face with a pillow.

“Someone kill me now, please.”

Wow! :D Got over 100 views more than before I went on vacation! You guys are awesome, seriously. And hi to all my new subscribers!!

A big thank you to Rhapsodos for not only upvoting the story, but for reviewing Spirit Wars over at Love Reading Review Shop! Go check them out if you're looking for recommended fics or for a place to have your own reviewed :)

This chapter was a little short, but I just got back from a couple days vacation so please forgive me ><;; I'll also be putting together a master story for the spirit beast's AU, since there will be other stories in this universe soon :) I'll post the link here once it's up!

Please comment, subscribe and/or vote up the story if you liked reading! It means a lot :)

@Forest_pixi: I'M SO SORRY BB LOL ORZ I didn't mean for Saengie to go so quickly ;A; Like I said on LJ though, he'll have his own story at one point. I'm working on someone else's spin-off at the moment. And DongHae's off dealing with his own problems, he ain't gonna help your biases xD;;

@Forever5501: Still happy you guessed it was Hyun XDDD Sneaky Decerto reference in there...lolol and Joonie would probably follow KyuJong like a puppy until the end of the earth. Thanks for the vote of confidence on the EXO spin-off! :D And don't worry, I'll definitely be contributing to the SS501 fics here~

@ping501: With all the threats poor Tao's getting, I feel bad XDD;; Poor panda. And Saengie both entered and left the picture in the same scene ><;; Short cameo for otter. Kyu will be dense for a while longer, I'm afraid, I might need to cameo in a reader to knock his head in XDDD

@curionenene: Keke YOUR GUESSES BB, I LOVE THEM. Though if there are the four kings in here, they aren't the only ones who know of KyuJong~