Everyone was in a bad mood with Chanyeol missing, and it was worsening as time moved on. It had been three days now.

Minseok wasn't surprised that the worst mood seemed to have fallen over Kyungsoo, who had taken to punching innocent objects at random. He broke the handle off of his coffee mug, ripped a curtain down from the kitchen window, and kicked over a shelf of nick-knacks. Of course, he'd apologized and righted all of it to the best of his ability, but it was scary none the less.

Baekhyun was spending time alone in his room. The absence of Chanyeol made him the only one sleeping in a room on his own. Jongin was still on a floor between Kyungsoo and Joonmyun's beds, but no one was going to offer Chanyeol's bed to someone else just yet. Besides, Joonmyun and Jongdae had each tried to talk to Baekhyun and been snapped at - he was probably best off on his own.

Jongin was holding in his emotions as well as he always seemed to, but he wasn't as physical lately.

Joonmyun kept trying to cheer everyone up, but would repeat himself and get lost in the middle of his positivity speeches.

Their patrolling had never seemed so futile. Try as they might, they couldn't learn anything new about Chanyeol or Sehun. There wasn't even a peep about Jongin yet. That wasn't too mention how vampires just weren't turning up. It felt like they spent nights out only to receive the inevitable disappointment.

Jongdae felt like the safest to talk to, right now - so it was lucky that it was he who shared a room with Minseok.

"We're letting it effect us too much," Minseok said it with caution, even though he trusted Jongdae not to be upset by something like that. "I care about Chanyeol and I want to find him, but we're falling apart."

"Yeah," Jongdae agreed, to Minseok's great relief. "I'm disappointed in us." He lowered his voice to add, "Jongin is still counting on us. He's not one of us yet, he's still the boy we rescued, but..."

"He must feel very guilty and helpless," Minseok said softly, frowning and feeling bad for not reaching out to Jongin himself.

"We need to stop acting like there's no hope. Chanyeol's gonna be in touch soon, I know he is." Jongdae hadn't seemed so confident before, but now his positivity came with ease. Minseok wondered how long it had taken him to convince himself. "If anything is hopeless," said Jongdae, "it's Sehun."

"Why...?"

Jongdae shook his head. "Chanyeol always knew what he was in for. When we all moved in together, we pretty much agreed we were up for dying any minute. That's what being a hunter is like. Chanyeol knows how to handle himself. Sehun isn't the same. Even if he was best friends with a guy like Jongin, he can't know half as much about surviving vamps as Chanyeol does."

"Do you think we should give up on saving him?" Minseok asked.

"No, I think we should work particularly hard on saving him," Jongdae said, slowly. "I think we need help." He stared, meaningfully.

Minseok stared back.

"I think it might encourage everyone, I mean, if maybe we had some new.. extra.. strength..." Jongdae continued his meaningful look.

"Like Jongin?"

"No. Like Kris."

Minseok blinked several times at Jongdae, wondering if he was feeling alright. "Kris lives in China."

Kris had given them advice before. They were something like hunter penpals, having met through an internet network using code. Kris was not only fluent in Korean, but fluent in 'hunter' Korean. In China, where the vampire problem was a little more talked about, there were training programs that helped young men become hunters - Kris had been through one, and had since created his own six member vampire hunting group.

They had mused about a few coincidences between the two of their groups, and at one point tried to get Kris to talk to Joonmyun on the phone, suggesting the two would hit it off as perhaps more than friends.

It turned out, Kris wasn't single. Joonmyun had been mortified.

"Kris said that if we ever needed help with something major, he could arrange a trip with his whole group." Jongdae said. "If we've faced something major so far, it's the Kim family."

"I thought we agreed that we were already letting this effect us too much," Minseok mumbled.

"Let's be honest though," said Jongdae, "Lives are at stake. It's not like we would be making him say yes, we don't know he will."

"Or if Joonmyun will," Minseok very quickly added, mindful of how furiously their leader had been blushing after that phone call. Then he said, "Maybe we should talk to Kris first and see if he thinks he even needs to come over.. before just asking..."

Jongdae frowned. "Right. It's just sometimes.. I think he thinks we're a little more capable than we are."

Minseok considered that and it was fair enough. It seemed like he had to constantly remind Kris that they were doing well to kill one vampire a week - very unlike the five per night that the Beijing-group supposedly took care of.

"Let's talk to Joonmyun first," Minseok said, decisively. "That's all we can do."

"Right," Jongdae smiled, "I'll count on you."

Later in the day, after Jongdae had gone off to his part time, Joonmyun was anxiously watching his phone that sat on the arm of one couch. "Baekhyun had time to eat already, didn't he? Why do you think he hasn't sent a text?"

Their leader had gone a bit paranoid about everyone checking in. Last time Baekhyun had forgot to send a message during his lunch break, Joonmyun had very nearly gone to burst in on one of his classes.

Right now, Minseok was the only other in the room. Kyungsoo and Jongin had just returned from training, and were either passing out or showering in the back of the house. He didn't particularly know what to say to Joonmyun's question though - Joonmyun's guess at why Baekhyun hadn't sent a text was as good as his own.

Instead, he decided it was a good opportunity to bring up his conversation with Jongdae. "Maybe we're in over our heads," he said. "Maybe it's more possible to find Sehun and Chanyeol than we think, and all we need is a little extra help..."

Joonmyun's phone sounded off, a sound Minseok knew as one which signified a received text. He stayed quiet as Joonmyun looked at the screen and smiled, obviously relieved. "It's Baekhyun."

"Good," Minseok said, and felt too awkward to continue where he left off.

Thankfully, a second later, Joonmyun looked at him, blinking his eyes. "Extra help?"

Minseok relaxed a bit, giving a smile. "Do you remember Kris?"

"Ah," Joonmyun's smile was awkward. "You thought maybe we should invite them from China.. in case they might be able to help?"

Minseok was a bit impressed by Joonmyun's perception for a moment, only then he explained.

"Jongdae mentioned that idea yesterday."

Of course he did. Minseok frowned. It wasn't actually the first time Jongdae encouraged someone into voicing an idea that Joonmyun had already rejected - it was just the first time someone had fallen for it. Although, he wouldn't have asked if he didn't honestly think it was a good idea. "Why not?"

"It's such a big favor," Joonmyun said, sighing. "All of the money they would spend getting here and home, and they're needed where they are - truly needed. Like I told Jongdae, advice would be great. I don't distrust them at all, so it's alright if we explain everything.."

"I agree," Minseok said, and decided it was better not to mention how capable Kris usually imagined them. "I can send an e-mail now."

And so he did.