As a pseudo, temporary liaison, Henry joined Ryeowook with JR and Kangin soon after they divulged the barest bit of history between them, where they all then watched Kyuhyun work at the computer, his brow furrowed and his fingers flying over the keys.  “What’s he doing?” JR finally asked as he sat between Kangin and Ryeowook, clearly puzzled.

                “Probably hacking,” Kangin responded distractedly, running his bottom teeth over his top lip in a rather amusing fashion.

                “Eh?” Henry blinked, tilting his head to the side while he gave a questionable glance at Ryeowook.

                For his part, Ryeowook had no clue either and he shrugged, letting his gaze settle on the rest of the community.  He’d been around Kyuhyun long enough now that seeing him working at the computer didn’t really register as odd anymore.  He was more concerned with the other occupants in their company.  The wolves he understood, more or less, and even the people here as well.  They all looked just as scared as any human would, though Junsu had set a guard around the injured soldiers near the entrance where Wonsik and Hyoyeon were keeping watch.  He finally realized that Wonsik was the first werewolf he’d seen when Henry had shown him the injured one in the barn.  He looked much better off now, fortunately.

                Yoochun held a tentative position between his people and the Chois, bristling any time Seunghyun even shifted to move his direction.  Rather irritatingly, it only seemed to amuse the other male, prompting the taller wolf to do it more often, just because he could.  His companions didn’t seem to care with Junhong and the other little one playing games with Sulli to the best of her ability; when she wasn’t resting anyway.

                “Is he a werewolf?” Ryeowook asked, patting Henry’s arm as he nodded towards the young man with narrow eyes and an easy smile.

                Henry blinked as he focused for a second and shook his head.  “Nah.  That’s Jongup.  He’s wolf-kin.  Like me.  I think he’s Junhong’s cousin actually.”

                Leaning over after hearing the bit of the conversation, Kangin added his own two cents, “It doesn’t make sense they were born into the Choi pack.  The big one doesn’t do much killing unless he has to, though I’d watch out for the black nosed runt hovering near them,” he scoffed, letting his gaze land on the werewolf touching his nose lightly with displeasure.  “That’s Daehyun.  A Jung.  Though what he’s doing all by himself, I have no idea,” Kangin shrugged, frowning at the wolf when he noticed he was being scrutinized.

                “He must be lonely,” Ryeowook blinked with a sad expression.  He jerked in surprise and shrank into himself when he realized all eyes had turned to him.  “It’s hard being separated from your family,” he explained in a quiet murmur, though his eyes flickered to JR who pursed his lips and shifted uncomfortably, the hint of a guilty air about him.

                “Either way, it’s no fun when one of those bastards tries to bite you,” Kangin grumbled with a roll of his eyes.  “Hey kid,” he called once, reaching out to flick Henry with his fingertips.

                “Hey!” he yelped, waving off the immediate concern he noted in Yoochun’s gaze when the other werewolf perked up without hesitation.  “You are out of your mind,” he hissed at the vampire with an irritated frown.  Kangin just shrugged, his expression indicating he was unconcerned.  “What?” Henry bit back when the vampire didn’t continue.

                “What’s up with the runt and the Hunter?” he asked, looking towards Minsoo and Luna.

                “Her name is Luna,” Henry corrected defensively, glaring at the vampire while Ryeowook placed a calming hand on his arm.  “And they’re… friends,” he explained awkwardly, not really sure how else to put it.

                “Hah!” Kangin barked a laugh and clapped once, very much amused.  “That’s impossible,” he snorted derisively, though his expression turned unsure when he watched them a moment longer and saw the way Luna looked over the injured male.  She was tender and worried, hovering at his side like a heartsick woman.  His lip curled in preemptive disgust as he gave Henry a concerned look, “Don’t tell me they’re sleeping together.”

                Offended, Henry jumped to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at Kangin, “How dare you!?”

                “What?” the vampire blinked in confusion, scooting away from the wolf-kin when a quick look around showed they’d quickly become a focal point of attention.

                “Take that back, walker,” Henry hissed as he relaxed marginally when Ryeowook hopped up beside him to act as a calming agent.

                “Easy Henry.  It’s just Kangin’s way,” he soothed with a grimace at the rest of the wolves in particular looking their way.

                They all froze and held very still when a stern-faced and very exhausted looking Chaerin walked into view and gave them a particularly displeased glare with a finger over her lips.  “Keep your voices down.  The injured are trying to rest,” she hissed and Ryeowook shivered at the strange dual tonality in her voice.  She only lingered for a moment before she continued on, making her way to Luna’s side to finally check on Minsoo; apparently he was among the last of her priorities.

                Sufficiently chastised, Henry and Ryeowook sat down while Kangin shifted in place uncomfortably and JR just looked confused.  “There’s something odd about her,” the half-turned admitted with a frown.  He’d felt it earlier but their most recent exchange confirmed it for him.

                “She’s a puppet.”  “She’s possessed.”  Kangin and Henry looked at each other at the same time with disgruntled expressions as they spoke over themselves.

                Ryeowook exchanged a look with his brother and JR asked first, “What do you mean?”  He looked between Kangin and Henry, clearly uncertain, and then focused on the latter when the vampire deferred to the other male’s expertise.

                Henry took a breath and focused on Ryeowook and JR equally.  “Chaerin and Ken are people we call possessed.  Literally.  The spirits that live in them have been in relative contact with the Parks for generations.  It’s a mutual partnership of sorts.”  When they both looked more confused, Henry focused on Ryeowook in particular.  “Remember when they came to the cabin and gave us a hand in the back?”

                “Ne,” Ryeowook nodded, quickly scanning to locate the siblings.  Chaerin was still with Luna and Minsoo though Ken was curled up in a corner between the Parks and the Kims.

                “Krystal’s spirit inhabits Chaerin and when she was still alive, she was a gypsy healer.”  At the incredulous look he got in return, he laughed once and nodded in agreement.  “I know how crazy that sounds.  Trust me.  It took Yoochun forever to convince me he wasn’t just trying to pull my leg.”

                “How did that happen?” JR asked with a perplexed look, though he turned to eye the young woman in question.

                Henry winced at the question and scratched the side of his face.  “It’s a curse as far as I can tell.  Apparently, it used to be a lot worse,” he nodded with a sad expression.  “The spirits aren’t as angry as they once were so our protection isn’t as vital anymore but they continue to help us with the understanding that we’ll return the favor if they need it.”

                “Protect them from what?” Ryeowook asked with a frown.

                “Hunters.  The cops.  Idiots that don’t know any better,” Henry explained with a shrug.

                “You wouldn’t think it to look at em but when they’re possessed, they’re a bit like you, Wookie,” Kangin explained with a nod, scratching his chin distractedly.  “And don’t let her fool you either,” he snorted with a finger pointing at Chaerin.  “In this generation, she lucked out with two spirits and the other one’s a feisty little bastard when he wants to be.”

                When both Ryeowook and JR looked to Henry for an explanation, he sighed in irritation.  “He calls himself L. Joe because he doesn’t want to give his real name.  After all, he maintains that names have power.  Just… don’t give him a knife and you’ll be okay.  Mostly,” Henry cautioned with a grimace.

                “And Ken?” the half-turned asked in a quiet whisper, his gaze settling on the sleeper with mixed feelings.

                “Ironically enough… he’s got a thief living with him.  From what I hear, Taemin would never have been suspected when he was still alive,” Henry snorted with a shake of his head, scratching at the hair on the back of his neck.

                Well that was certainly food for thought.  Ryeowook never would have suspected either of them with that sort of condition.  It sort of explained why they were so easy around the wolves, though it made him wonder why Kyuhyun had been hanging out near their house the day he’d been taken.  He wanted to ask about it, but JR spoke before him.

                “Is it hard on them?  Being possessed I mean?” he asked when he flinched as he watched Chaerin collapse, saved by the last minute when Yoochun caught her so he could ease her body to the ground instead.

                “Very,” Henry nodded sadly.  “She won’t remember any of this when she wakes.  They never do,” he sighed while his gaze slid between the siblings.

                The comment made Ryeowook shiver.  He couldn’t imagine being on autopilot like that and not remembering anything.  That was just too eerie.  And it really seemed rather unfair to him.  Rubbing his arms to chase the chill that had caught him away, he perked up with Kangin when they both noticed Kyuhyun standing up.  For just a moment, the vampire looked at Ryeowook, his expression unreadable, and he felt a dire chill run through him.

                “What’s wrong?” Henry asked, placing a hand on his shoulder when he noticed Ryeowook’s pale face.

                “I don’t know,” Ryeowook murmured in response while he tracked Kyuhyun with his eyes, watching the vampire shift to speak with Junsu.  His response was hardly reassuring.  Even from where they sat, they could all see the veritable hackles on Junsu stiffen and his posture spoke anything but ease.

                Tensions rose even higher when Yoochun and Seunghyun were called over, drawing the attention of every conscious eye in the room.  “That’s not good,” Kangin murmured, uttering the understatement of the year as he slowly rose to his feet, giving JR a hand up and waving for Ryeowook and Henry to do the same.

                They all watched as Kyuhyun drifted to rejoin their group, positioning himself firmly beside Ryeowook, separating him slightly from his brother, but they all knew it was so he wouldn’t have to be next to Henry.  “What’s wrong?” Ryeowook whispered in a tiny voice, staring at Kyuhyun’s profile as he wrapped his fingers around the vampire’s wrist, searching for an answer he wasn’t sure he was going to get.

                “Listen,” Kyuhyun instructed without looking at Ryeowook, though he did shift his arm enough so that he could fold Ryeowook’s hand in his, the hold tense but somehow still tender.

                Ryeowook fell silent and his lips, leaning around the vampire to nod at his brother inquiringly.  JR gave him a similar, mute response as he swallowed hard, picking up on the angry energy in the air just as much as everyone else.  None of them were particularly surprised when Yoochun stepped forward to call the cave to attention as exhausted sleepers were roused, though the very worst of the injured remained untouched.

                “Friends.  Allies.  Family members,” he began in a strong and even voice, making sure his gaze touched upon everyone in the room.  “For centuries, we have remained hidden from the public eye.  Safe and secure and tracked only by the Hunters when there was just cause.”  Seunghyun snorted at that addition but Yoochun ignored him and went on.  “We do not often ally ourselves with vampires,” he nodded in concession towards Kyuhyun and Kangin who responded in kind.

                “Speak for yourself,” Junsu murmured so that Ryeowook had to clarify what he was saying by reading his lips, though it was apparent the vampires heard him fine by the twitch of Kyuhyun’s lips.

                Yoochun’s lips thinned slightly when he heard but declined to comment otherwise.  “But now we find ourselves against a common foe.”

                “They’ve always been a common foe,” Seunghyun added with a shake of his head.

                Both Yoochun and Junsu issued warning growls in his direction and he subsided, lending his presence at least to the collective support.  “The vampire Kyuhyun, who is a Cho, has managed to confirm that the attack on our party yesterday was meant as a rescue mission.  Their intent was to reclaim the humans and to annihilate the ‘monsters’,” he explained calmly, pausing briefly for the immediate clamor of responses to die down before he continued.

                “We never asked to be saved!” one skinny but tall young man grumbled as he jumped to his feet, delicate features sharp in the false light of the cave that also served to highlight the black roots of his natural hair growing in under the blonde dye.

                “Easy, Jiyong,” Junsu soothed with a raised hand, gesturing for calm.  Frowning in irritation, the recognized Jiyong plopped himself back on the ground unceremoniously with his arms crossed over his chest.

                Yoochun glanced at Junsu to see if he could continue and at a nod, he went on.  “While there might have been a time when we could reason with the humans, their government has gone too far.  Or will very soon,” he explained in a dire and heavy tone of voice.

                “If you hadn’t killed all of them yesterday, we might have been able to explain the matter,” Junsu hissed quietly under his breath, the words barely loud enough for Ryeowook to pick up on which meant the rest of the humans would not have heard it.

                Seunghyun’s response was equally quiet.  “Would you rather we let you die?”

                Yoochun cleared his throat, making both werewolves fall silent.  “Last night was regrettable,” he conceded evenly.  “I am, however grateful to the Chois who lent their aid or we might have had a worse outcome for the day.  And right now, we will need all the numbers we can get.”  An oppressive silence descended upon the cave and no one wanted to speak.  “Kyuhyun.  Would you care to tell us what you found?” Yoochun offered, directing all eyes to the vampire and his group.

                The only clue Ryeowook had that Kyuhyun was annoyed by the surprise spotlight was the tightening of the vampire’s fingers around his hand.  Otherwise, he maintained a very calm mask and nodded, taking a brief moment to compose himself.  Really, all the rest of them wanted to do was shuffle away and get out of the immediate line of sight, but none of them wished to abandon the others either.

                “I hacked into the US Government’s head military research facility- Yes it’s possible,” he asserted when he saw several skeptical faces around the cave.  “And found that they have managed to capture and experiment on our kind: both vampires and werewolves.  Enough so that they are preparing to unleash relative hordes of half-turned humans against us.”  A collective gasp rose in response to his claim and there were none too few who still didn’t believe him.  “For now, it’s nothing more than death row inmates across the country who are being fed the lie that if they help the humans defeat us, they will win their freedom.  And their humanity,” he sneered with a disgusted hiss.

                Ryeowook jumped at the mere mention and tensed beside him, turning hopeful eyes on the vampire.  “Is there-”

                “There is no cure,” Kyuhyun whispered with a sidelong glance, his expression unreadable.  Ryeowook felt his heart plummet anew and he swallowed the bitter taste in the back of his throat while the vampire continued.  “These shock troops are being imbedded with microchips that can be detonated at will if they so much as step out of line.  Or destroy the person and whoever they happen to be fighting with at the same time,” he added caustically, further disgusted by the antics of those in power.

                “But that’s inhumane!” another person spoke from the crowd, prompting a large array of agreed mutterings in their wake.

                “That’s the government,” Kyuhyun snorted darkly, not in the least bit surprised.

                “You can be sure they’re not telling the whole truth when they explain as much to the people,” Yoochun reminded them sharply, letting his voice rise quickly above their own.  “After all, who is going to miss or care about those consigned to death already?”  His reluctant disgust was plain to see and even Junsu appeared not to have the heart to argue.  Seunghyun, however, seemed mildly vindicated with a very minimal smirk on his lips.

                Confused and upset conversations started to break out amongst the people gathered, with humans drawing closer together and the wolves pacing in small circles.  No one really seemed to know what to think or do with the news.  Ryeowook tensed up again though when Seunghyun looked their way, letting his eyes fall upon the half-turned for but a second before he focused on the vampire beside him.  “Anything else you’d care to add, Cho?”

                Kyuhyun snorted at being singled out again, amused and irritated by the gall of the wolf.  “There is one thing,” he nodded slowly, meeting Seunghyun’s eyes evenly in a partial staring match between the two.  While half the people waited with baited breath to hear him continue, he declined to follow up until silence reined.  “They haven’t managed it yet and I’m not positive they will succeed in the end either, but…”  He frowned now and narrowed his eyes.  “They are trying to engineer a virus to target nonhumans.”  Firmly suppressed anger suffused his face when he spoke again, “The initial tests did not succeed but they were not without side effects.”  The tone of his voice left no doubt that the side effects were very negative in nature.

                “Thank you, Kyuhyun,” Junsu nodded as he quickly grabbed the fragmenting attention of the rest of the people to try and maintain a semblance of order as he struggled to corral all their people and figure the next step.  For once, the Kims, Parks, and Chois seemed in total agreement about something.

                Freed from the impetus of speaking, Kyuhyun turned and removed himself from the vicinity of the center of the cave, shifting instead to rest along a wall by himself.  His absence immediately left Ryeowook feeling rather vulnerable and unsure, even in the company of friends.  “How does he know how to hack into the government?” JR asked, his face a mask of confusion.

                Kangin tapped his head meaningfully and shrugged.  “You can do a lot with technology when you never forget anything.”

                “Everybody forgets stuff,” Henry murmured defensively as he edged closer to Ryeowook, grabbing both arms supportively.

                “Not a Cho,” Kangin promised quietly, a heavy, sincere note in his voice.

                “Wookie?” Henry asked when Ryeowook remained unusually quiet.

                “Hm?” he chirped in response, finally dragging his attention back to the moment at hand.  “Sorry,” he apologized, dredging up a weak smile for his friend.

                “You okay?” the younger male asked with concern, searching the brown eyes before him.

                The answer was a resounding no.  Ryeowook was definitely not okay for a whole lot of reasons that none of them could do anything about, but really, there was no point in saying it.  “Yeah,” he lied instead in a breathy voice.  “It’s just a lot, you know?”  At least that was true.

                “Ne,” Henry agreed softly, still searching the other male’s face.  “You can talk to me,” he reminded him gently, tightening his fingers on Ryeowook’s arms.

                Oh, Ryeowook knew he could, but he didn’t know what to say to him anymore.  There had been a time before any of this happened that words would come easy, but now he had no clue.  Now, more than ever, they really did live in two different worlds and he wasn’t sure where their realms aligned anymore.  “I know,” he nodded in agreement, leaving it at that.

                Henry gave him a sad smile and swallowed.  There was obviously something else he wanted to say but it looked like he didn’t know how to go about it either.  He nearly jumped when he heard his name from one of the humans that had spoken earlier.  “Henry,” the tall, skinny guy who had spoken before called, waving just out of reach as he eyed the rest of the group warily.

                “Huh?  What’s up, Jiyong?” he replied, taking a small breath and straightening his shoulders to regard the other male.

                “Luna wants you.  She needs someone to watch over the Hunter while she speaks with the wolves,” he explained with a shrug, still glancing at the rest of the group with a hint of suspicion.

                “Okay.  I’ll be right there,” Henry nodded, turning back to give Ryeowook a swift hug as Jiyong jogged off, glad to be away from the newcomers.  “You know where I’ll be,” he murmured, making sure the half-turned met his gaze first, offering a small nod as well, before he hurried off to attend to Minsoo.

                “Another wolf-kin,” Kangin mused while his eyes tracked Jiyong and then slid to Henry before coming back to their group.  “I guess it is mostly family here.”

                “Hyung?”

                Ryeowook inhaled slightly at the soft call from his brother.  It had been a while since he’d heard that title from his sibling and he had to fight the sudden rush of emotion that threatened to take him.  “Ne?” he forced a smile he didn’t really feel and took a step closer to his brother.

                “Would they really do that?” he asked in a very small voice, all the uncertainty that Ryeowook felt evidenced perfectly in his brother.

                Honestly, he didn’t know how to answer.  There were a lot of things he wouldn’t have even considered before he’d been abruptly introduced to the world he lived in now.  Since then though… there were a lot more possibilities than he even cared to contemplate.  They were both surprised when Kangin answered instead.

                “Of course it’s possible.  It’s not like they haven’t done something like it before,” he reminded them with an irritated grumble.  “People can get away with just about anything if they dehumanize the target enough,” he murmured with a dark gleam in his eyes.  Kangin shook himself quickly and scuffed the ground with his foot, very agitated by the thought.  “I hate this sitting around ,” he admitted gruffly, turning in place to walk towards the back of the cave where the tunnels extended further into the earth.  “I’m going for a walk,” he called, waving JR off when the young man would have followed him.

                Torn in several different directions at once, Ryeowook watched him walk off with tension writ in his posture.  The vampire didn’t even give Daehyun more than a passing glance as he brushed by, neatly disappearing into the almost total darkness around the cave wall.  A glance at Henry showed the young man to be attending to a sleeping Minsoo with Chaerin curled up nearby, and then there was his younger brother hovering uncertainly with nowhere to go, and Kyuhyun sitting stoically against the wall.  Ryeowook wanted to talk to the vampire, especially since he had more questions he needed to ask him but neither could he leave JR by himself.  Not before… and definitely not now.

                “Come on,” he urged, taking his brother’s hand in his and giving a reassuring squeeze when JR turned to look at him with a pitifully lost expression.  Ryeowook put on the fake smile again and added, “Let’s go see if there’s something we can do.  Ne?”

                JR nodded quickly, his nervousness shining through, and stammered, “O-okay.”

                As comfortingly as possible, Ryeowook drew him close and clasped the one hand in both of his, offering what silent support he could.  Very slowly, they headed towards the wolves, looking for an opening to ask somebody, but Ryeowook couldn’t help himself in looking back to check on Kyuhyun.  Somehow, he wasn’t surprised to find the vampire watching him.  Ryeowook sighed when Kyuhyun dropped his eyes almost immediately, and forced himself to do his best to bolster JR instead.

                Things had gotten rough in the past few weeks, but it sounded like they were going to get even worse before too long.  The only thing he did know how to do was be strong for his brother.  For him, he could wear the mask and pretend he was better than he was.  He just hoped he’d be able to keep it together long enough for the madness to start making sense.

(a/n: Despite school being a pain in the ... update!  I know not a lot happened but at least we've got more explanations.  No, didn't directly explain Kyuhyun and Junsu's tentative friendship but I intend to get to it the next one.  It didn't feel right to add to the group tension with a rather potentially tense one on one conversation between them, but you can look forward to that the next update.  Depending on how I work it, we might get some more answers from Kyuhyun in general!

Surprised?  Not surprised?  I feel like I'm sort of dragging here because we're not actually going anywhere yet but it's all useful info.  To me anyway.  You are welcome to disagree.  lol  Thank you guys so much for reading though and I hope you continue to look forward to the next update!)