Hurried footsteps echoed through the hallways of the hospital. The door of the room is roughly opened by a worried Onew rushing in.

In the bed of that room Kibum was sitting, waiting patiently for the nurse to come. His mind was lost in a train of thoughts that seemed to have no end.

"Key! What the hell were you thinking?!" Jikin yelled at his friend , causing the younger to jolt out of his trance. Kibum turned to face his friend, standing up from the bed and rushing to the other man's arms. 

After arriving at the hospital earlier that morning and getting his wounds trated, the reality of last night's events downed on him. The reality of the situation had hit him like a lightning bolt, living him in a daze. He was well aware of how close to death he had been, and that he had been lucky that those wolves weren't just any mutant wolves. In this moment, all  he wanted was someone who comforted him.

Understanding his friend's actions, the older man wrapped his arms around his closest friend. 

That morning Onew had heard about the constant mutants sightings when the convoy parted. When the news came that Key had been attacked and the state the team had found their leader after a gun shot went off, Onew had been restless.

-It was a close call, not as close as the one that day, but close nevertheless- it was all Onew was able to think when he saw Key conscious and sitting in the bed when he entered the room.

"Sir?" A nurse cleared and called over to Kibum, motioning the soldier to follow her. Key followed the woman obediently, while Onew walked to the front desk to wait for his friend. After some minutes or so, the young man came with a bunch of papers and package of medicine in hand.

"Thanks for waiting hyung, but I wont be able to participate in the free run tonight" Key said to his friend.

"No problem, and don't worry about that, everyone agreed to leave it for another time" Onew smiled at his friend who smiled gratefully at him in return.

"But I am still interested in the truth behind your little insident" said Onew leading the way to a dinning place close to the hospital. They took seat in some of the tables outside and waited for the waiter to come.

"Ok so let us start by the basic, I know that you tend to be reckless but,  the surface is not the best place for you to be like that" Onew scolded his young friend "why do you act like that, it's dangerous, that's the-"

"The outside, I know hyung and that's precisely it, we used to run out there without the need of artificial lighting or air previously treated, we could run without stupid rules at every corner, look at us Onew" Key retorted signaling around " Everyday, we live in fear. In fear of stepping out and being confronted face to face with reality, pushed to the depths of the oceans, forced to live in domes" he said getting a little altered, like he always did when this topic was brought. 

"We are surviving Key" Onew tried to reason with his friend, running a hand through his temple.

"We are running away Jinki, don't you see it, for six years, we've been running, running from them" Key hissed pointing at nothing in particular. Onew just looked at his friend, as if he was trying to solve an impossible puzzle. After a minute of looking at his friend, Onew just sighed and looked up, watching how a whale passed over the dome without a single thing to worry about. He knew that Key had a point, but there was nothing that they could do besides adapting to this lifestyle. 

Jinki had accepted this fate without a word, but after so many years Key still seemed to have problems adapting. Who could blame him, Kibum wasn't fond with adapting to a standard way of living in the first place. He always liked the diferent, he always looked for the extraordinary in the most ordinary things, and that's what had landed him in the hospital countless of time.

Onew could walk next to any hospital in the city and they would greet him and asking about Key, every single hospital had an extent list of what they liked to call Key incidents, and this morning one more aded to the list.

"Key, you need to understand that it's for the best. Those things are dangerous" Onew tried to reason again. 

"Not all of them" Key said, eyes widening after realizing what he had just said. Onew's brows knitted together in a frown and was about to question his friend  when the waiter came. He instead looked at the woman and smiled giving the menu a last glance before telling her what he wanted. After they ordered what they wanted and the waiter went back inside of the cafe, Onew looked back at his friend and continued. 

"What do you mean by 'not all of them' Kibum?" the older asked, leaning forward to hear what his friend had to say. Key laughed awkwardly and looked anywhere but his friend. When the younger noticed that his friend wasn't joking he quieted down, gulping loudly.

"That's funny, well you see um... You know that no one actually knows what happened to me in that alley right" he started waiting for his friend's response. Onew only nodded and Key took this as his sign to continue

"well the thing is that I went to patroll, that part is true, but while I did that I came across a man. Turns out that the man was a mutant that almost killed me. He took a hold of my rifle and pushed me out of the building where I found him. When I got pushed out of the building the strap of the gun got stuck in my neck and I almost choked. To free myself I cut the strap with my knife and fell to the alley. After that everything is a little confusing because I hit my head when I fell, but another mutant came and scared the first mutant away" Key explained.

"Yeah the others mentioned something about more mutants around the area, they were most likely fighting for food, remember that they eat humans" Onew tried to make sense, having his theory denied by Key. 

"The second mutant was a wolf, and I'm pretty sure that it's the same wolf from six years ago" he told his friend. Jinki just crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat heaving a sigh.

"You don't have any way of knowing Key, what if they just spared you because they were in the mood, plus those could be completely different creatures that happen to have similarities like the fur color" Onew tried reasoning with his friend again, straightening up when the waiter appeared with their food. After she placed the food on the table and entering the restaurant, Key took a glance behind him to make sure that no one was near hearing range.

"Oh but I do know" Key replied, a sly smirk playing in his lips when he turned around. Onew raised an eyebrow, interest rising in him as to how Key would try to convince him.

"Your not taking me seriously" Key accused taking a bite of his food, Onew shaking his head confirming Key's acusation. Key huffed in frustration at his friends behavior.

"You know how I always tell you that six years ago, when I saw that wolf, we made eye contact but not in a threatening way" Key reminded his friend of the story that could easily have been told more than a hundred time, Onew humming still to focused on his food.

"Well guess what, we did it again, and this time from a closer distance" Key anounce, pleased at the reaction that he got. When Kibum told his friend that, Onew choked on the pice of meat that he was eating.

"What exactly is closer distance Kibum?" Jinki asked in a low voice. Key raised his hand and smirked again, his old friend's eyes getting wider.

"You didn't" Onew said incredulously. Key's smirk turned into a wide smile.

"But I did, It's him, I know it" Key said excitedly. For some reason, every time that Key thought of what was supposed to be an extremely frightening encounter, it ended up giving him an exciting thrill instead.

"Key are you..." Onew started, looking around and lowering his voice, suddenly well aware of the people walking around them "Key, are you insane?!" Onew whispered yelled. Kibum on the other hand just kept eating, staring at his friend clearly amused.

"Do you know what could have happened?!" Onew questioned his friend, his food long forgotten at his side.

"Yeah, but it didn't, that's how I know that this one is different, I just know it and he's not alone, there is another on-" Key started rambling excitedly, getting interrupted by an exasperated Onew.

"I'm gonna stop you there, once again, you are being reckless, those are wild beings that no one knows about" Onew said marking the end of the conversation. Key attempted to say something only to get stopped once again, this time by Onew holding up a finger to silence him.

"Key, you know that to me you are like family, another brother, and because of that, for your own safety I won't support you on this reckless actions, so please jut let it go" Onew warned Kibum standing to go and pay for the food, stoping and facing Key once again "you acted recklessly, I'm sorry Key but you won't be welcomed in the free running reunions until you stop this wolf nonsense" Onew informed his friend and disappeared into the building when he finished. Key didn't even wait for his friend. 

He stood up and sprinted away, running as fast as his legs would allow him. He ran all the way to the military base, the place that was responsible for his job. He straightened up before entering the building.

He walked over to the office of his superior, knocking on the door and waiting patiently. When glass doors opened to reveal an extremely white room Key flinched. He marched inside the office and waited for orders.

"Rest soldier" a voice commanded from the other side of a glass desk. Key did as he was told and relaxed his body a little, hands resting in front of him.

"Now tell me what you came to do in my office Kibum" the man told Key, eyes coming to meet with the young soldier's.

"I came to request a day off if that was possible sir" Key said in a deep serious voice. The man hummed and looked at a small notebook the he had in a side of the desk. 

"Interesting, not a single day off in the past two years, ok I'll give you tomorrow free, but if you are in the need of more time, feel free to notify my assistant" the man said turning around in his chair "your dismissed" 

Thanks to his habit of getting constantly hurt and ending in the hospital, Key tried to miss work as least as possible. 

"Thank you Commandeer  G-dragon" and with that Key turned around and parted to his house. 

He walked through the busy  streets trying to distract his mind from everything that was going on. He couldn't believe that now that he was closer than ever to know more about that encounter, he was being asked to let it go. Well they should know better. Key was not a quitter, and he would find a way to prove his theory. 

In his way home he saw a group of soldiers coming back from patrolling the entrance of the tunnels. When they passed close to Key, the boy bowed his head respectfully to them, the soldiers returning the action. When the soldiers passed by, Key couldn't help to overhear their conversation.

"We need to report to the commander about the mutants" a soldier named Joon commented.

"Yeah, they are roaming closer to the gates than what they used to" another soldier, G.O if Key remembered well, added.

"They never did that before; those damn wolves and their smart little brains" Mir muttered angrily. After that Key couldn't catch anything else from the MBLAQ squad, but what he heard was enough for his natural curiosity to ignite.

Key waited for the soldiers to be out of sight before darting to his house. He stood in a crossroad and waited for it to be safe to cross. When the signal changed into that of a green man, the neon roads disappeared so that no car was able to drive through there. 

The young man had always found amazing the high technology that the cities possessed.

Even though that Yienx was a city for the least wealthy, it still had its tech. The streets just like any other city were made with neon particles, the vehicles that cruised through them were able to fly through it with a grounding system. The only vehicles that still had tires were the military cars from the convoy, and the ones that people that lived in the lower areas of the city possed. 

Security had also improved with all the technology. A curfew had ben set, where all the streets would shut down at a certain hour. That way no one would be able to drive late at night with the neon sonic vehicles.

All the changes that were made in the city and granted a better lifestyle for some people were thanks to the man that was in charge of everything that happened in the city. This was the man that Key had just payed a visit to, Commander G- Dragon. That man was like the governor of the city, if he said it, you have to do it.

Key juts shook his head and kept walking. The commander had always been a good man, but something about him put Key on the edge.

He had a great passion for killing and getting rid of the mutants to recover the surface; But Key was sure that most of the people in the city thought the same way. Maybe it was the way that he expressed himself about the creatures. Or maybe now that Key had some solid proof about mutants that weren't agresive, the man's claims of them being heartless monsters without soul and a great thirst for blood irked him. He didn't knew, but the feeling just kept crawling beneath his skin, so he just chose to just shrug it off for the moment.

Looking up front he saw the door of his house. He pulled out the key and unlocked the door, stepping in and placing all the papers of the hospital and medicine in the table. He pushed the door closed and took a look at the mirror that he had in the hallway, good for rushed moments going out. He sighed as his reflection stared back at him. He raised his hand and pressed it lightly against the gaze that was wrapped in his head, flinching at the contact. 

He lowered his hand and continued staring at his reflection.

The right side of his hair had been shaved off so that the nurses could work with his wound. Dried blood covered the back of his shirt, neck and head. In his neck also an angry red stripe had appeared, right were the strap of his rifle had trapped his neck. On top of that, his body had a few cuts and bruises scattered around it.

"Pathetic" Key muttered, glaring at his reflection. He always thought that he was pathetic, and it all started when he couldn't save his own mother from the mutants. After that his problems only increased, getting into fights and hurt countless of times.

"Why?" He asked chin trembling and eyes watering "WHY?!" He yelled to the mirror pressing his forehead to the cold surface. Tears rolled down his face and dropped to the floor. He pressed his hands at the sides of his head and sniffed loudly, ignoring the pain from his wounds. The boy sighed and pushed away from the wall, trying to control himself. He dragged his body down to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He removed his shirt and threw it to the trashcan.

"Well, that's one less shirt for my drawers" Key muttered turning his head back to the mirror that was above the sink. He was met with now red puffy feline eyes from crying. 

"Now let's get rid of you" Key said referring to the bandages in his head. He raised his hands and undid the bandages, revealing a few stitches and dry blood in his head and bandages. 

"It doesn't look so bad, at least it wont leave another scar in my body" Key commented touching the edges of the stitches with the tip of his fingers.

He sighed and the shower, removing his pants and underwear and stepping in quickly. He carefully washed the wounded side of his head, watching as a river of blood came down from his hair. The boy made a tsk noise with his mouth and ran his hands through his hair, washing it carefully. Once his head was clean from any dirt and dried blood he washed the rest of his body and stepped out of the shower when he was done. He turned the water off and dried his body and hair, wrapping his lower half in the towel soon after.

He walked out of the bathroom and walked to his bedroom, looking for some clean boxers and putting them. He draped the towel on his head and pulled a kit that he had underneath his bed.

"Well, here we go again" Key said opening the kit. He pulled the bottle of alcohol and a pack of cotton balls. He applied the liquid to the soft material and removed the towel from his head. He pressed the cotton to the wound, hissing when the substance came in contact with the wounds. When the wounds were cleaned, he pulled a clean gaze from the kit and wrapped it around his head.

Key was ready to stand up and leave the room, when he saw the screen of his phone light up with a message. He reached over to his bed and grabbed the device. 

"Well look who's looking for me, too bad, not in the mood" Key said angrily and placed the phone back in the bed, letting the message that he received from Onew unanswered. 

The boy pushed the kit back under the bed and walked to the living room, slumping in the couch and turning on the tv. He flicked through the channels until his eyes slowly closed and he fell asleep. Light snores lefts the boy's parted lips as some random news flashed in the tv. 

Some hours passed before the boy jerked awake at the feel of stiff muscles. He groaned and sat up, rolling his head a little trying to ease the pain in his neck. He ran a hand down the back of his neck and shivered as the cold air hit his body. He looked down and remembered that he had fallen asleep on the couch only wearing his boxers. 

The boy just stood up with a huff and walked over to the huge glass wall that granted him a view of the entire ocean. Being a soldier put him in what could be considered one of the most dangerous living places in the city, the walls of the dome. But for the boy, this was the most calming and relaxing place that he could think of.

Key smiled looking out, different kinds of fish dancing around in the open sea, free to do whatever they wanted. He always wished to be able to be free one day, just strolling in the surface like he used to.

The young man noticed that the sea looked darker in color so that meant that it was most likely night time. His smile turned wider with excitement at the thought of what he was about to do. He turned in his heels and dashed to his room, scurrying through his drawers hurriedly. He put some clean sweatpants and a dark black hoodie. He took a look at his head and changed the bandages to clean ones. He also grabbed a beanie from the top of his drawer and slipped it in his head. He took one look at his phone, which was filled with missed calls and text from Onew and Minho. Key only snorted and turned off his phone, slipping it in his pocket before walking out of the room.

Key made his way out of his house and locked it, securing his house keys in his free pocket. He did a last check up and when he was sure that he had everything he strolled down the street heading west. The boy didn't went in his neon bike because he had a feeling that by the time that he decided to come back, the neon streets would be long gone until tomorrow.

He entered a more crowded part of the city, and also where he practiced the free run with his friends. He walked calmly until Onew's voice sounded from above. Then a round of cheers followed by crowd of footsteps thundered from the top of the buildings. For a split second Key  was filled with rage at the thought of his friend arranging a run without him, but then remembered the priority and looked around for a building to hide from the eyes of his friends. The last thing that the boy needed was someone questioning were he was heading. 

He managed to scurry though the building, and spot the exit. However luck didn't seemed to be at his side.

"Hey I think I heard something" came Ambers voice from somewhere in the same building where he was hiding. Key cursed at his luck; his friends had started a searching game. It was something like hide and seek mixed with free run. 

The boy also heard the faint murmur of Onew agreeing at Ambers statement followed by the footsteps. Key looked around desperately and saw a stairway that could be usefull. He rushed up the stairs and looked around for a place no so obvious to hide from his friends. 

"Amber up here" Onew said walking in the room. The young boy looked around, brushing some of his long hair away from his face. The room was crowded with dust and spiderwebs, being the room of a hotel that closed about a month ago. The man looked in the bathroom, under the bed, and in almost every possible direction. A wisp of air ran through Onew's hair causing him to look at the culprit. A window laid open in the room, allowing the air of the city to enter the building.

"Never mind, who ever we almost caught escaped, there's a window opened up here" Onew yelled over his shoulder turning to leave. Before leaving the room, the man gave a last suspicious glance at the window marching over to it and looking over the edge. He looked around the building in search for any suspicious activity before disappearing back in the building and strolling down the stairs.

Key left out a sigh that got caught in his throat. He waited a while until he felt Onew jump from the top of the building to another, then he decided that it was safe to move. Key stood at the very edge that was above the window, only one step away from falling. He pushed himself back inside the building and descended the stairs, walking back to the streets. He walked along with the crowd of people, becoming practically invisible. 

After an hour and a half, he stood there. Right in front of the gate with the least security ever, and all because Key was one of the few that knew about the secret passages that lead to the surface.

"Ok Key, you can do this, be brave" Key muttered to himself, eyes closed as he relaxed. The boy took a deep breath and touched the handgun that he had hidden in the back of his belt for safety. Muttering a quiet ok, Key brought his hands up to the doorknob of the smaller double doors that lead to the sourface. The boy opened his eyes, and the doors at the same time.

A rush of adrenaline went through his body as a current of wind entered the tunnel. Key couldn't help but smile the widest he could as he gave his first step alone to the outside. The boy closed the door behind him and hid the entrance with a thick bush. When the boy turned around to face the 'wildernes' at the distance, that once was their home, a very unmanly squeal escaped his lips without his own consent. He quickly placed a hand over his mouth and looked around to see if he had attracted attention of any kind. 

Key was ecstatic, the sense of freedom that he so much dreamed of, now here at his grasp. The young man walked a few steps before removing his shoes to feel the wet grass beneath his feet. He smiled as the mud and dirt got in his bare feet. He took a deep long intake of fresh air that he only felt when he want in a mission. His ears caught every sound that could be heard in the night sky as his eyes closed to enjoy the moment at its fullest. But a sound that his ears weren't so happy to hear took over the night air. 

He jumped around to be faced by a pair of eyes glaring at him. A mutant tiger stood before him, teeth and fangs exposed in a threatening way. Key stepped back, but the creature only took two steps forward. The boy reached over to his belt and pulled his handgun out with trembling hands. The beast made something like a snort and slapped the gun away from the human's hand with it's enormous paw, claws missing the hand just by mere centimeters. Key stumbled backwards and fell, eyes wide staring at the creature that growled at him. 

In that moment the only thing that Key thought about once again was, why?

Why did he had to walk out?

Why couldn't he let go?

Why didn't he accept whatever Onew told him?

Why?