Jongin woke up early, even after he spent the whole night out hunting. Patrolling, actually, is how they referred to it - making sure the streets were clear of vampiric violence. In fact, the streets were very clear as far as they could tell - so Jongin hadn't actually done much.

He still felt good about it, because at least his first night didn't end in disaster. He couldn't have slept much, but he didn't feel tired. He felt wide awake. The house was still dark and quiet - Baekhyun had actually probably already left to school. Sunlight was filtering in through the windows, but Jongin was pacing around the back halls, not knowing what to do with himself.

He watched himself for a while in the bathroom mirror. He pulled on his lightened hair - far from used to it, but loving it all the same. It had been his own decision to change his hair. He thought, he could get a tattoo if he wanted. Maybe if he got one big enough, his family would never want him back.

He did miss the dogs, but he would have been forced away from them soon enough. He wondered if they were okay, and if one day, just maybe, he and the rest of the hunters could go and take them back. Not just the dogs, but maybe they could rescue his sisters.

Then there was Sehun. No one had forgotten Sehun, and Suho had assured more than once that they would do whatever they could to rescue him. The truth was that, Jongin was horrified to think of Sehun. In any case, Chanyeol had his plan, and Jongin was thankful for it. He imagined that Chanyeol had the hardest job of any of them - from what he could tell, Chanyeol's job wasn't very different from what the worst parts of his own life had been like.

Given, Jongin didn't know what it was like to fight a vampire physically. He just knew he was really excited to try.

He walked around the kitchen, opening cabinets and the refrigerator multiple times. They had lots of food, but he still didn't feel good about taking anything without it being handed to him. He wasn't contributing to their budget yet, and was already far enough of a burden.

He wiped down the already clean tables, picked up specks that were barely visible on the floor, and eventually he was joined by Joonmyun, then Minseok, then Kyungsoo, then Jongdae.

It was Joonmyun who noticed Chanyeol wasn't in his bedroom early on, and Kyungsoo who wrote it off, saying that happened all the time.

Jongin did a good job at putting it at the back of his head, but there were butterflies - or more like birds in his stomach every time he noticed Joonmyun worriedly checking his phone.

"I'm off to work," said Jongdae, who was going in late.

Jongin hugged him goodbye, which had become standard for all of them.

The rest of them watched TV for a while. It was a mindnumbing variety show, and time went by quickly. The sun went down, and Kyungsoo wondered aloud what they were going to do for dinner. He didn't seem worried, but Joonmyun was still clutching his cell phone.

Jongin was going to hug Baekhyun when he came in. He even opened the door for him, but Baekhyun walked in fast and asked immediately, "Have you heard from Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun, who shared a room with Chanyeol, had the best relationship with him - Jongin thought.

"Kyungsoo thinks he might have met someone," Joonmyun's smile was fleeting, and it was clear he was worried. "We haven't heard from him yet, but I'm sure soon..."

"No," Baekhyun said firmly, eyes wide. "He always at least sends a text."

"If his phone died, or something..." Joonmyun cleared his throat. "There's no reason to panic."

"He's a vampire hunter," Baekhyun argued, in a loud voice that Jongin had never heard from him before, "There's reason to panic!"

Joonmyun's voice had a finality, as if Baekhyun needed to listen, 'or else'. It was a tone that reminded Jongin horribly of his mother. "We're going to eat and then we're going to patrol. We'll go around his usual places. Right now, that's the best we can do."

Jongin really didn't want to eat, but knew he needed to, and knew how to make himself as well because it wasn't his first time. He swallowed heaps of rice, feeding them to the birds that wouldn't settle down in his stomach. He felt sick by the end of dinner. Everyone was tense. Jongdae got home in the middle of eating, and tried to make jokes to lighten the mood, but his heart didn't seem in it.

They were all worried. Jongin might have liked to tell himself that as vampire hunters, they were used to this sort of thing, but it couldn't be more clear that they weren't. It was all he could do to hold in his own concern. He hadn't earned the right to be so worried.

He couldn't help but notice Baekhyun often glaring towards him with looks of resentment.

Nothing could have been more relieving than getting outside of that house. Even if the night was freezing, and his clothes - which were Joonmyun's - were far too restrictive to be very effective in fighting vampires, he felt sudden confidence that tonight they could accomplish something.

He was paired with Kyungsoo when Joonmyun split them all up, which came as a relief. Kyungsoo seemed the most controlled of everyone, and Jongin would certainly appreciate escaping any more resentful looks.

Kyungsoo, however, had reached a point of worry. He kept sighing curse words as he turned and looked here and there. Joonmyun had dropped them off on a heavily populated street with two or three clubs, all of which were playing different headache inducing beats.

With only the two of them around, Jongin tried comforting Kyungsoo. He kept hands on Kyungsoo's shoulders, massaging him to the best of his ability. Kyungsoo didn't argue with the treatment.

They didn't go in any clubs. It would have taken money and Jongin had no ID. They weaved in and out of crowds, eyes open and checking all around - then disappearing into the space between buildings to have some quiet, and glance around for anything that could be considered a clue.

"I'm going to kill him," Kyungsoo huffed while Jongin rubbed his shoulders, during one of these trips for quiet. It felt like they had been searching a long time. Jongin's positivity was beginning to waver.

Three men and one woman slipped into the same space as them, all laughing and seeming drunk.

Kyungsoo immediately brushed Jongin's hands off of his shoulders. "Let's go."

But as he started to lead the way out, one of the men broke from the group to face him and ask, "What? Got a problem?"

" off," Kyungsoo responded, too irritated to bother with politeness as he continued forward. Jongin, however, hesitated. Apart from being plain shocked that Kyungsoo would respond in such a way, there was something about this group.

The man who dared to ask Kyungsoo if there was a problem now dared to move directly in Kyungsoo's way, snickering like it was a game. The other three looked at them too, laughing along - whether with a joke they'd told each other, or with what the man was doing, Jongin wasn't sure.

"Were you trying to have a private moment?" asked the man, and Jongin realized what was off about him. As cold as it was, he didn't look it - and he was only wearing a t-shirt. The whole group was like that.

Kyungsoo either caught onto the same, or was just not in a mood to deal with any . He ped his coat as he stepped back. As the man moved closer in what Jongin thought to be an intimidating stance, Kyungsoo punched up into the man's chin.

The other three joined the fight fast, and Jongin felt behind. He had to his own coat, too. His weapons were inside, and his movement would be limited within it. He watched in amazement, however, as Kyungsoo managed to hold his own, remarkably pulling out of their grips whenever they tried to hold him, kicking, hitting, or blocking them at every turn.

Jongin was so amazed to see it that he was taking an especially long time getting his coat ped, and absent mindedly he pulled an arm out of a sleeve, forgetting about the knives that he was supposed to keep close to him.

He only realized what he was doing when one of those men turned and looked at him, sneering with sharp lookingteeth. Jongin just pulled his arm back in the sleeve when the guy rushed over, grabbing at him. Unsteadily, he dodged. Apart from his training with Kyungsoo, Jongin had received some training when he was younger, in martial arts and self defense.

All of that seemed to fly away. He just felt angry and he wanted to hit this guy as much as he possibly could.

It worked for a while. He beat his fists into the man, receiving just a few hits in return. The others, apparently, were all stuck on Kyungsoo - not that Jongin had any space to watch any more. He struggled, meaning to do everything he could to attack - which meant entirely forgetting defense. He felt like he was on top, but didn't seem to notice just how often the man was hitting him. There was a dull pain, but maybe he was just too numbed by the cold.

Then, all of a sudden, he was on the ground without knowing why - and the man was dropping on top of him and there was a fist in his hair, jerking his head to one side.

A clattering next to him made Jongin reach out instinctively, then he had a knife in his hands. As the man leaned down, he stabbed through his chest. Hesitation, then Jongin was covered in dust.

Kyungsoo moved into view, holding a hand out.

Jongin took it, blinking at Kyungsoo's face. There was blood leaking from his mouth and one eye looked reddened and squinted.

"Good job," Kyungsoo said, breathless as he took his knife back from Jongin.

Jongin felt his own face to check for blood. His nose was wet - but he found that was snot. "They were..."

"Vampires," Kyungsoo said. "Let's go."

Jongin didn't want to go. Adrenaline was pumping through him. Yet, within the next ten minutes, he was trying to calm himself down in the back of Joonmyun's car.

"Did you find anything?" Kyungsoo asked under his breath.

"No," Joonmyun answered.

Jongin closed his eyes, and the meaning of that no didn't sink in with him. He replayed what had happened back there, realizing only now how often he must have been hit. He focused on what had happened, not paying any mind to the muttered conversation that continued on, starting to feel sore all over.

At some point before they got home, he heard Baekhyun let out a sob, and refused to let himself imagine why.