“Hana, wait!”

I carried on speed-walking, my feet slapping against the concrete with some force. People were looking at us curiously; me practically jogging with an incredibly handsome Myungsoo following, shouting my name. We truly were a sight to behold on this small town street filled mostly with middle aged people, all of who were probably wondering why we weren’t in school.

“Oh!” I stumbled back as I collided with a man rushing out of a shop.

“Watch it!” He grunted, giving me a dirty look as he picked up his plastic grocery bag.

I quickly bowed lowly, my drilled in manners kicking into gear.

“I’m sor-“

“I think you should be the one apologising.” I glanced up sharply at Myungsoo’s dark voice and felt my eyes pop at the furious expression on his face.

“Myungsoo, stop it.” I muttered quickly, giving the man a quick bow.

At the sight of Myungsoo’s expression, however, the man had sped off in fear. Not that I could blame him. Spotting his retreating figure Myungsoo took a step towards the man, his body rigid.

“Myungsoo!" I pushed at his chest. “What’s wrong with you? It was an accident!”

His eyes lowered to mine, where slowly his hard expression relaxed. He looked down at me for a moment, his expression curious before letting out a huge sigh.

“Come with me…” He muttered, grabbing my arm.

I protested. Heck, I was pulling as hard as I could to release his grip, but it was useless. Save for making a scene – something which I didn’t think wise, considering how he had reacted a moment ago – there was nothing I could do. So, I let him drag me down a deserted side street, where I finally managed to wrench my arm free.

“What is wrong with you?” I repeated, massaging my arm. “You’re acting-“

“Ridiculous? Foolish?” He spat. “Dammit Hana, don’t you get it? Don’t you understand how worried I’ve been – how worried my Hounds been? He’s been going frantic, driving me crazy. I could hardly control what was my own thoughts from his. I was this close-“ He held up his finger and thumb, both close together “-From shifting and hunting you down. You have no idea how unstable I am right now!”

“Why?” I scoffed. “Because of the Mark, right? Tell me again, Myungsoo. How did I get it?”

“What?” He asked, his brow puckering into a frown. “What do you mean? We told you how, it’s when I healed yo-“

“You know I was always curious, why is it you always heal me? You hate me, right? You said it from day one you didn’t like me. So why keep saving me?”

“Because Dara-“

“So this is all for Dara?” I shook my head. “What’s going on here, Myungsoo? I feel like all I keep hearing from you is lies and I want some truths.”

His face had twisted as I spoke, becoming unreadable, though something in his eyes told me he was furious.

“What have they been telling you?” He asked, his voice low.

Deadly.

“Why? Scared I’ve finally learnt the truth for once?”

“What have they said?” He snapped.

“As If you don’t know!” I shouted, my hands curling into fists. “You know damn well what they’ve told me, because it’s what you know! The truth, Myungsoo. They’ve told me the whole truth.”

He scoffed. “Right. Like what? That we’re scary monsters? Or that you should keep away?” I didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. I was too angry. “Then what do you want me to say, Hana? That we’re not monsters? That you shouldn’t keep away? I told you when we first met to stay away from me – I’ve told you plenty of times!”

“Maybe it’s time I listened.” I managed to grit out, my chin trembling.

I wanted to cry. We were staring at one another, him calm whilst I was shaking from anger. It was then that I noticed how close we were standing, almost nose to nose in our fury, and moved back to put some distance between us. But Myungsoo was quicker. His hands grasped my shoulders roughly and backed me up so my back slammed against the brick wall before I could even process what was truly happening. My eyes widened as his head bent down so he was at eye level with me, his hot, heavy breath fanning across tightly pressed lips.

“You want to run?” He whispered. “You want to leave us… Leave me? Then you just try it, Little Girl.”

 “I will. I have too”

“No. You. Won’t.”  

Then his hands tightened on my shoulders, causing me to gasp in pain. Using the opportunity, Myungsoo’s face tilted to the side and forward, his lips slamming against mine violently. My own hands flew up to his chest, attempting to push him back, but his hold on me was too tight. We stood there, lips pressed together unmoving as we both seemed to struggle with one another, a battle of wills we were both determined to win, our eyes locked on one another, staring each other down for dominance.

Then, we were kissing, and I’m not sure who started it first.

There was no denying that this kiss was real, since there was no way to deny our lips moving hungrily against one another or our arms clinging to each other desperately, trying to pull the other closer. I hummed into his mouth as his tongue tangled with mine, my head feeling so dizzy from lack of oxygen that my legs actually began to shake against the feel of his soft lips against mine, his body pressed against me and his hands holding me tightly.

His to