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Awo!

The sound echoed throughout the building. The yellow moon continued to shine brightly up in the night sky. It shone and was the only light up in the starless, inky black sky. The cold wind howled along and made the leaves, the twigs and the sleeping buds of flowers dance vigorously.

It was a dead night.

The light only came from the big, bright moon. No stars twinkled like any night. The scent of blood never left Minjee's nose as she woke up from a light nap. Her head ached a bit and her eyes squinted to adjust to the dimly lit room. She found herself lying down on a soft, white bed, a white sheet wrapping her body. "Where..?" Minjee blinked as she observed her surroundings. It was most definitely not her room. She hated plain colors, especially the typical and boring color of white.

"Ugh, what happened..." Minjee breathed as she tried recalling things. There, it hit her. She remembered running into nine strange men, to Tao, to Sehun and to Kai. She recalled the horrible sight of Sulli and Krystal with three other girls, laying down on the cold ground, bloody and lifeless, bruised and wounded. It made her break down yet again and panic, her breathing pace quickening.

She began shaking in fear. Her hands felt cold as chills ran down her spine, up and down, continuously. Help. The only word crossed her mind over and over again. She was really, really scared and at that moment, she despised going out and volunteering to buy one small thing. Oh, none of this would've happened if Haewon was the one to go and buy cheese!

"Excuse me." a familiar voice called out as the door creeked open. It was Tao, his eyes now back to being charcoal black and his face scratched with worry. "Minjee? Can I come in?"

"Ah!!!" Minjee literally screamed in fear and covered her face with her hands. "Don't come near me, you beast! Stay back!" she cried as she started crying.

"Minjee-! N-no, don't cry! I'm not going to hurt you!" Tao said, trying to calm the poor, dumbfounded lady, down. "Please, listen."

"You just killed two of my friends! How am I going to listen?!"

"They were never your friends, Minjee. Look, I'll explain later, just calm down for now, okay? Please...?"

In that moment, Minjee saw honesty in Tao's eyes. She breathed in and out and tried calming down. Sure, she was scared when Tao held her hand but as she felt a light squeeze, she calmed down. The touch of Tao's hand calmed her down slowly, and soon enough, she had. "Good. That's it." Tao brightly smiled and took the girl by hand. "Come on, the explaining starts!" he said.

"C-can't I stay here in this room?" Minjee shivered.

"Then you wouldn't understand things!" Tao pouted. "Come on, if you get scared, just squeeze my hand as hard as you can, okay? I'll protect you."

"Promise...?"

"Promise."

With that assured, Minjee followed him along the hallway, just to see eleven men gathered in the living room. One meeting of their eyes made Minjee fear them and hide behind Tao, trembling. With a few assuring words, Minjee slowly looked again and was lead to sit down beside Xiumin and Lay. Minjee trembled but with Tao still holding her hand, she felt a bit calm and secured. She knew that a few familiar faces helped her keep calm.

"Okay... I'm pretty freaked out now and I'd really love to run and scream like a wuss, so start the explaining to at least lower down my fear of you guys." Minjee pleaded. "And start it like... now."

"Okay, so, where do we even start?" Suho asked, rubbing the back of his nape. "There's too much to begin with."

"How about starting to the fact you killed five girls lately?" Minjee suggested.

"Oh, that part would be quite easy to explain." Luhan nodded. "So, who does the explaining?"

"Shouldn't Suho-hyung do it?" Chen suggested.

"Why not let the leader do it?" Suho whined.

"Oh, for Pete's sake, I'll do it!" D.O cried and faced Minjee. "You see, those girls are sent here to locate us. Locating us for the reason of, well, killing us."

"So, you killed them to save yourselves?"

"Not exactly. We are most capable of defending ourselves, but someone can't. That someone is you, Kang Minjee. You see, someone clumsy left his scent on you when he kissed you!"

"Kissed me- wait, Tao left me his mark?!" Minjee gasped as she eyed the guilty Tao. She playfully squeezed his hand tightly, making Tao twitch and squeeze back playfully. "Great." she sighed.

"And with that, those five located you and desired to kill you first." D.O continued. "You see, once someone left a mark on you, you're included in whatever crimes they have committed. With this case, with Tao's scent left on you, you're in this madness with us. If we're being killed, you are too."

"... Wow. So my life changes with one stolen kiss?" Minjee blinked. "Wow."

"Should I start my twenty paged apology now, Minjee?" Tao joked.

"Wait, I'd like to hear more explanation. What are you guys exactly? Are you cannibals or something? I saw your eyes glow red lately!" Minjee stated out.

"Oh, that." Baekhyun nodded. "I'll explain that part. You see, girl, don't freak out, but we're wolves. Those girls? They're another wolf pack named f(x). We're called EXO, pretty cool, eh?"

"Wolves? Then why do you look like humans?"

"Well, it's a disguise. We can turn into humans and wolves." Baekhyun smiled. "But we can only be wolves or have our control over our wolf sides during a full moon."

"... Wow." Minjee nodded, informations stacking up in her head like boxes. Nothing was really getting into her, and it wasn't obvious, but she wanted to scream. She was too afraid but she had to keep up a wall of courage and seal herself in. She didn't want them to see a hole of weakness in her, or else, she's dead.

Or so she thinks.

"Hey, how'd you even know my name?" Minjee asked as she eyed everyone, of course, still holding Tao's hand. "Are you some stalkers or something?"

"How about thinking that instead of stalkers, three brothers here are extremely cloes to you, hm?" Chen asked, giving her a judging look. Minjee simply blinked and looked at Sehun, Kai and Tao. Of course, how can she be so idiotic? The three must've given some information about her!

"... Okay. So, now you know me, how about telling me who you are?" Minjee questioned as she eyed everyone. "I suppose I only know three among you, and those are Tao, Sehun and Kai. Who are the rest?"

"I'm the eldest, Xiumin!" Xiumin greeted with a wave. "Kim Minseok is my real name, but yeah, everyone here calls me Xiumin!... Or sometimes, baozi." I see why you're called that. Minjee smiled

"I'm the second eldest, Luhan. An honor to meet you!" Luhan greeted. "You're... a boy? And the second eldest?" Minjee gasped as she saw Luhan's rather gently created eyes and feminine facial features. "Yes, I am." Luhan sighed. I guess it's not the first time someone asked him that. Minjee secretly chuckled.

"I'm Wu Yi Fan, the leader of this pack. Call me Kris." Kris casually introduced. Kris. So that's the name of this creepy guy.

"I'm the supporting leader, Kim Joonmyeon. You may call me Suho though, it's kind of a nickname." Suho introduced, smiling brightly. He's way too shorter than Kris.

"Hello!" Lay greeted warmly, making Minjee feel a lot comfortable around this dimpled guy. "I'm Lay, but my real name is Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you!" Aw! He's cute, look at those eyes... and the dimples!

"Hi! Byun Baekhyun here at your service!" the brunette headed Baekhyun greeted. He looks rather like a poodle.

"Park Chanyeol here, at your service, ma'am! I hope we get along well!" Chanyeol greeted with a wide grin. That face? With that deep voice? Uh, no.

"Kim Jongdae or Chen here, the troll of the pack!" Chen smiled. I expect you running around trolling then, Jongdae.

"Do Kyungsoo, the mom of the pack. Call me D.O instead." D.O cutely smiled. He seems to be the only sane person here.We're gonna get along for sure.

"And you're Kang Minjee, twenty years old, right?" Kris suddenly spoke out. "Yeah, we know you. We've been watching you since you were ten."

"Since I was what?! Are you guys sure you aren't stalkers?" Minjee cried as Kris' words echoed in her head. "Are you guys future readers since you guarded me, who was soon going to be involved in you crimes, since I was a kid?"

"No. It's just... you were also the reason we got to be outcasts." D.O explained. "Me? Why?" Minjee blinked in curiousity. "What did I do so horrible that you got to be outcasts?"

"No, we were the ones who acted too. We ourselves were the reason why we ourselves got out of the pack families." said Suho. "You were just mainly... erm, I don't know. Something or someone?"

I have no idea what you guys are saying. "Anyway, so I was someone you used that made you become outcasts... is that it?" she asked, just to be answered by a nod. "Oh gosh... I'm sorry." she softly said.

"It's in the past, we can't do anything about it anymore." Baekhyun said, smiling faintly as he eyed the young lass. "There's nothing to be sorry about anymore."

Minjee simply nodded. She then faced Sehun and Kai and as if they were completely able to read her eyes, they smiled back and in unison, they said, "We forgive you, noona." Those words were enough to stregthen up Minjee and make her smile. She knew now why Kai and Sehun acted like that lately. They only wanted to protect her, that's all. That was the main reason of everything... And now, she can sleep peacefully without anything bothering her anymore.

"So... what am I to go to now that I know who you guys are?" Minjee asked as she turned her eyes onto everyone. "I mean, you guys are some sort of wolves, or werewolves, I suppose. Do I get some threat or are you killing me as well to silence me up?" she questioned.

"Hey, we're not killing you!" Lay said as he looked in shock into Minjee. "We're here to protect you. f(x) is not the only group existing in our world. There are a hundred of packs and all of them know of our crimes."

"And if we know anything better, those packs will compete to find and cease our existence." Kai said in sorrow. "It's a big opportunity for wolves to kill crime makers like us."

"Wait, what is this crime you talk about anyway?" Minjee asked, cocking a brow at the twelve. "If the crime's equal value is death, it must be serious! So... what is your crime?"

"We saved a human." Chanyeol said. "Yeah, saved a human before."

"Saved a human?" Something's fishy. I got saved when I was ten, and they were looking out for me since I was ten! Can it be that... "Am I that human you saved?" she asked, her voice slowly getting softer and softer as she felt her heart beat rather fast.

"... Erm." everyone thought. How are they supposed to reply? "You-"

"Yes, you were." Kris nodded. "You were that girl."

"Then... the wolf that stayed with me for three years is one of you." Minjee said and eyed everyone. "Who is he? I want to see him." Minjee pleaded.

"Tao-hyung, isn't she talking about you?" Sehun asked, whispering too soft. Tao refused to answer with words and simply nodded slightly. Minjee continued to stare at everyone. She knew how her wolf's eyes looked like, and that aura, it was the completely familiar to her. "Who is he among you?" she continued to ask.

"It's..." Tao began as his voice began to shiver. His hand was buried under his pocket, a golden bell laced around his fingers. He wanted to pull it out and let Minjee see it for herself. He imagined how things wold be if Minjee saw that familiar bell and then, she'd come running to his arms, hugging him tightly with tears spilling out her eyes. Oh, how wonderful that sight would be! A perfect reunion for the both of them.

Yet, how if things turned out the opposite way? What if Minjee gets too scared of him and never desires to come near her again? What if she denies him as a friend? What if she suddenly becomes furious over her and everything? There's just too many factors, and whatever choice he makes, there's a win and there's a loose.

"Who is my wolf?" Minjee repeated, this time, louder. Her voice was stern and seemingly tough. Her desire of wanting to know who exactly that "savior" of hers was big and strong. It was visible in her voice. "Please, tell me who he is among you!"

Her eyes scanned everyone. Her eyes were first placed on Sehun. It can't be Sehun. His eyes... aren't the same as my wolf's. He's not him.

Kai? No. His aura is not the same with his, nor is his eyes. It's not Kai. Definitely not Kai.

Tao?... He's creepishly similar to my Tao. His eyes are cat-like, just like my wolf's. His aura is similar, and so is his personality. Something tells me, it might be him.

It cannot be D.O. If it were to be him, why does he give me that motherly-look? And that cold shoulder? My Tao would never do such! Definitely not my wolf.

Er... not Chanyeol neither. He's way too... smiley to be my wolf.

Not Chen neither. Too troll-like.

Baekhyun? As far as I remember, I was with a wolf, not a freaking poodle!

Lay can be considered as my wolf. The way he looks at me and became greatly comfortable around me makes me suspect him as my wolf. Those eyes, that aura, it can be him.

Suho? Er.. no, my wolf was tall! Definitely not him.

Kris? Er... um, way too different with the wolf I got used to, but his eyes and aura tells something differently. The way he acts is different yet his eyes and aura speak the same. I'll put him in the positive ones.

Er, Luhan...? No. Just, no. He's, er, too girly?

Xiumin! Uh... no.

"Minjee." Tao called out, his hands shivering and his voice faltering. Courage gathered up full and he was ready to pull that golden bell out his pocket. With another look, he spoke. "Minjee... you're wolf. Um... i-it's-"

"It's me." Kris said, standing up, cutting Tao's words. Everyone turned at him, eyes widened in astonishment. Minjee raised her head to see Kris, his eyes slowly softening as he uttered those words. Tao turned to the golden-brown haired leader, his mouth ajar and eyes wide. Minjee was speechless.

"Wait, what?" Chanyeol gasped as he looked at Kris. "But! I thought it was-"

"It's me, Chanyeol. It's me." the leader softly said as he looked back again at Minjee, taking small steps closer to her. "I am her wolf, and I kept that a secret purposely."

"You're... him?" Minjee mumbled. "You're... Tao? But, you're name-"

"I changed my name on purpose. If I were to name my name the same, you'll recognize me. I'm sorry I hid myself this long. I'm sorry, Kang Minjee."

"It's okay!" Minjee sobbed as she slowly wrapped her arms around Kris, tears spilling out her eyes in joy. "You're here and we're reunited again, that's enough for me. Don't be sorry about things, I had forgiven you a long time ago already. I'm just... it's been seven years and I thought you're dead!"

"I was never dead." Kris slowly smiled and hugged Minjee tightly, his head running down her long, black hair. "I just had to go away to protect you. I knew that if I stayed beside you longer, troubles would've fell down on you, and I hated that."

"But still!" Minjee cried. "You're a big idiot of leaving me behind like that! I was worried sick and too depressed of your fake death!"

"I'm sorry. I'll be here now, okay? I promise." Kris smiled and hugged the female tighter. With Minjee busy crying, Kris eyed everyone and in that second, they understood their leader's plan. Tao, despite understanding things, was too confused and frustrated. It was supposed to be him Minjee was hugging, not Kris. He felt jealousy for a bit of a moment there, but being a matured one he is, he brushed it off.

Time passed and Minjee fell asleep due to fatigue. Her head lay quietly on Kris and noticing how late it was, he decides to bring her back to her home. Without even waking her up, Kris placed the sleeping lassie on his shoulders and grabbed hold of her waist as he headed to a nearby window. "I'm taking her home. You guys, stay here." Kris ordered as he jumped out the glass window, leaping from houses' roof to roof.

With him gone for a few minutes, Tao let out a deep sigh everyone didn't fail to notice. "I know what you're thinking, Zitao." Suho said and faced the younger. "Why Kris-hyung took your identity in Minjee's eyes, right?"

"It's just... he knows that Minjee was referring to me." Tao frowned, tears threatening to slip down his eyes. "I just, I always wanted to be around Minjee, and I was ready to reveal who I really am. Why did gege had to do that?"

"I'm sure he has a reason." Sehun frowned as he patted Tao. "I'm sure of it."

"Kris-hyung never acts without a reason." Kai nodded. "Remember that time he flushed down my pet goldfish? Yeah, it was for the reason that we might eat it or we may not grant it living."

"Kai, that's a totally different situation with what Tao has here." Luhan pouted.

"Even still! He acted for a reason and that's something similar!" Kai cried, flailing his arms lightly. Everyone was sent laughing midly, except of course, Tao.

"Tao, I'm sure it'll be okay." Lay said, trying to comfort the younger. "Don't be sad anymore, please?"

"How can I be not sad, gege?" Tao sighed deeply.

"I think I know the reason of Kris' actions." Xiumin said, tapping his chin. "Well, spit it out, what is it?" Chen questioned, raising his brow at the elder.

"I think it's because of who Tao is." Xiumin said. "I mean, if he, yes, admits who he is, it's his responsibility then! Minjee is his responsibility and he can't handle it. For now, Kris has to take charge of this madness. As soon as it soothes down though, he'll slowly give you the right to be with Minjee. He'll grant you the right to confess to her that you are her real wolf. For now, he has to stand as her 'Tao' and protect her until things simmer down."

"Ah, I think I get what Xiumin-hyung is saying." Baekhyun nodded.

"You get that, don't you, Tao?" D.O asked.

"I do." Tao nodded.

"Then show a smile! Frowns don't suit you!" Chanyeol chuckled, tapping Tao's shoulder lightly.

"Okay, I will smile." Tao said, slowly putting up a smile despite the worries. "Quit tapping my shoulder, gege!" he giggled, brushing off Chanyeol's hand playfully.

"Aw, isn't our lil' brother the cutest!" Chen laughed, hugging the younger tightly.

"What?! I thought I was the cutest?" Luhan pouted, flailing his arms up in the air. "This is war, Tao!"

"And I thought you hated being the cutest, hyung." Sehun smiled. "You wanted to be the manly one!"

"Wha- Sehun! Oh Sehun! You're supposed to be standing up for me, darn it!" Luhan yelled as he playfully hit the youngest among them, just to be countered by a light punch on his shoulder by Sehun himself.

Ah, such a wonderful family they were, despite the troubles, they found times where they can have fun and play like little kids they used to be.

"Nrgh. Where...?" Minjee yawned as she found herself around someone's arms. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her body and when she looked up, that familiar smile and face greeted her. Golden-brown hair was dancing along with the sound of the wind and the moon reflected Kris' face.

"Good evening." Kris greeted with a faint smile. "I've taken you home."

"You did?" Minjee gasped as she looked around. Oh, the familiar scene of her room, the sweet scent of the lavander greeting her a warm welcome back. "Oh, you did. Th-thanks." she blushed slightly as she stood on her own. "And, um, how did we get here so fast, eh?"

"I leaped roof to roof." Kris casually answered.

"You what-?! Oh, right, werewolf." Minjee giggled as she rubs her nape. "So, um, goodnight, Tao?"

"Please, call me Kris." the golden-brown haired man smiled as he ruffled the female's hair. "My name's now Kris, okay? I don't go by Tao any longer."

"Understood, Kris." she chuckled softly and bowed. "Well, goodnight, dear wolf."

"Good night, mistress." he joked and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Have a well rest. We'll be checking on you tomorrow yet again."

"Uh, s-sure." she nodded, now blushing bright red. "I'll look forward to it."

"Of course. Well, farewell." he smiled and jumped off, leaving the rather pink colored faced Minjee dumbfounded as she watched her "wolf" jump off, vanishing in the horizon. Minjee slipped quickly into her dreamland, a peaceful slumber kissing her immediately. Kris, meanwhile, as he went back to their lair, had his smile vanish within seconds.

"I'm sorry, Minjee. I'm terribly sorry for the lies."