..•.:*´¨`*:.•.¸¸.•´¯`•.○.•´¯`•.¸¸.•..:*´¨`*:.•..

When Kyuhyun came back he noticed the delicious smell of food from afar, so instead of going to check on Youngwoon first, he went to the kitchen. Feeling slightly surprised to see Sungmin dressed up in Youngwoon’s favorite apron and cooking food for a battalion.

"I know I told you I would try to bring two werewolves with me but I think this is too much," Kyuhyun announced his presence. Sungmin looked around, his eyes were a bit red but Kyuhyun decided to not comment on those. Instead he pointed at the two werewolves entering the room after him. "These are Lee Donghae and Lee Hyukjae, they will stay around for a while."

Sungmin nodded at them.

"Nice to meet you," He greeted. "I am Lee Sungmin," He said noticing how the other two seemed somehow apprehensive. They probably also knew about the other Sungmin. With a newfound resentment he looked at Kyuhyun. "I believe Youngwoon is safe now. The wound started to heal about an hour ago." Sungmin announced.

That information seemed to astonish the three of them.

"Already?!" Hyukjae questioned surprised, the two werewolves left the kitchen the next second to go see for themselves. Sungmin frowned at their reply. At seeing his confusion, Kyuhyun decided to stay and explain.

"Usually a wound caused by a silver weapon takes up to a week for it to start healing. However the healing process depends on how much a werewolf wants to live. Youngwoon must be desperate to get back in shape." his tone was soft.

Sungmin’s eyes widened for a moment and in the next second he was looking back at the food he was cooking.

"Kyuhyun-ssi, I really want to become a hunter, what do I have to do to achieve that?" Sungmin questioned, apparently out of the blue. Kyuhyun stared at his back with tender eyes. He didn't expect that talk to come so soon, but the hunter figured Sungmin had been shaken, seeing Youngwoon so gravely wounded for the first time.

"You’ll need to be tested by our guild leader, if approved you’ll be put under a one month training period in each division. You will then be assigned a mentor who will teach you our way of life and the details of what we do." Kyuhyun replied still softly.

Sungmin nodded, turning off the stove and bringing the last dish to the table.

"When can I go to be tested?" Sungmin questioned, still not looking at the hunter.

"When I get back. Well with Youngwoon like this I’ll only leave after making sure he is perfectly fine so it might take a few weeks." Kyuhyun replied and at that, Sungmin looked back with a determined face.

"I can’t wait that long," He retorted. "Is there a way for me to leave tomorrow or even today?

Kyuhyun was surprised with the request.

"I believe Youngwoon would want to see you when he wakes up." Kyuhyun interjected.

Sungmin bit his lips, he measured his words, trying to make sure if those were really the words he wanted to say.

"I would actually rather leave before he wakes up. I just… Everybody has mistaken me… I just can’t take it anymore… I am not him but I feel like I am losing myself. I need to get away to find myself again." He replied closing his eyes and relieving those moments with Youngwoon… his lips were still tingly.

"Two of my men just arrived in town. They can take you to our guild leader right now if you want. I can write you a recommendation letter." Kyuhyun replied, being understanding of how difficult things could be for both Youngwoon and Sungmin.

"Please." Sungmin pleaded. After coming to an agreement, they both went to the library where Kyuhyun wrote his recommendation letter and Sungmin wrote Youngwoon one of farewell.

After they had lunch Kyuhyun accompanied Sungmin to town and watched him go. It was sad to see Sungmin caress the wolf statue at the train station, but there were things that needed be done. Kyuhyun stayed in town a while longer though, making sure the barrier had been well fortified by his apprentices. Only hours after Sungmin had left did Kyuhyun go back.

When he almost reached the mansion, he saw Donghae and Hyukjae by the front gate trying to hold Youngwoon back.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?! You should be resting!" Kyuhyun scolded as he rushed to help the other two get Youngwoon back inside.

Youngwoon held Kyuhyun’s shoulder with a vicious grip, his face clearly showed how much agony he was in.

"Where is he?! Where is Sungmin?! I can’t smell him! I can’t hear his heartbeat!" Youngwoon questioned, his eyes turning unfocused as the little strength he had acquired back was already leaving him.

"He left, Youngwoon. He went to meet Jungsoo so he could become a hunter." Kyuhyun replied confused with how Youngwoon was acting up.

It took a moment for the information to sink in but when it did, the werewolf fell on his knees crying.

"I asked him not to go… I pleaded for him not to go…" Youngwoon mumbled. "Why did he lie to me? He lied to me…"

"Youngwoon?" Kyuhyun called crouching down in front of his friend. "You are not mistaking them right?" Kyuhyun questioned softly.

Youngwoon looked at his friend and thought back to what happened while he was poisoned. Sungmin had been there, It was his scent, his warmth, his soft light blue aura. Sungmin was taking care of him, he told him he wouldn’t go, that he would never leave him… but then at one point, right before the kiss, he said something strange… that moment… he spoke like the other Sungmin, the Sungmin that was buried in his past… could it be that from that moment onwards everything had been just a delusion caused by the poison? Was he dreaming? Youngwoon shook his head before he lowered it, letting it rest on Kyuhyun’s shoulder.

"It’s impossible to mistake them, Kyuhyun… Impossible to mistake this… I love him… the Lee Sungmin from this day and age… I love him…" Youngwoon said with such a hurt tone that Kyuhyun regretted sending Sungmin away like that.

..•.:*´¨`*:.•.¸¸.•´¯`•.○.•´¯`•.¸¸.•..:*´¨`*:.•..

Later that night, Kyuhyun sat beside Youngwoon’s bed as the werewolf tried to sleep. Kyuhyun was very worried. In a matter of hours, Youngwoon had bled out all the poisoned blood from his system. He had never witnessed his friend do that so fast, but after Youngwoon felt the void of Sungmin’s presence the healing seemed to stop completely. As if Youngwoon couldn't care less if he died from it or maybe, after losing the one he loves for a second time, he had given up on his life.

When awake, Youngwoon would just stay in bed, refusing to go to another room, refusing to leave the only place inside the house that was still heavily impregnated with Sungmin’s smell. He would barely eat, barely talk.

With a sigh, Kyuhyun went to the library and fetched the letter Sungmin had written and that he had hidden in a book hoping Youngwoon would find it eventually. When the hunter re-entered the bedroom Youngwoon was trying to sit. Alarmed, Kyuhyun rushed to him and forced him back down.

"Youngwoon, stop acting like a lovesick fool, damn it. If Sungmin was here do you think he would be happy with the way you are right now?" Kyuhyun scolded placing the piece of paper over his friend’s chest. "He had left it in the library hoping you would find it when you were well enough to walk around." He added and to give his friend some space he left the room again.

Youngwoon picked the paper up and read what Sungmin had written him.

|Thank you for taking me in. I have never felt so alive in my life before, Youngwoon. You brought life back into my soul. For years, I had only seen the bad in people, for years I had only seen the worst the world can give, it shaped me to believe that that was the best I could be. But now I know I was only a shadow of myself. I’ll take what you’ve given me, Youngwoon, to become someone new, someone better. Next time we see each other again you will see the change and I hope you will smile at it. Know that you are my best friend, Youngwoon, so don’t you dare die. Continue to show me the world can be bright and beautiful. Till we see each other again, the best thief in Korea, S.|

After reading the letter Youngwoon threw it away still crying. The whole time they had lived together Youngwoon could never understand Sungmin. With everybody in town he could read them like an open book, their heartbeats and auras have never lied to him, but with Sungmin it was always a mystery. He never knew what feelings Sungmin’s heart was reacting to, his aura would only shine in blue and lavender, it was always confusing between between sadness, loneliness and overconfidence. Youngwoon hid his face in his hands and thought back to his memories while he was poisoned. The smell and the aura were unmistakable, but the words, the way he was not stressing the words so he could make sure Youngwoon was not mistaking who he was, it was confusing him. But he was still refusing to accept that his mind could be somehow mixing them up.

After a long moment of consideration Youngwoon decided what to do with the rest of his life. For four hundred years he had waited for someone that was dead, now he would wait for someone that is alive. Sungmin had written ‘till we see each other again.’ He would hold on to those words for the rest of his life.

..•.:*´¨`*:.•.¸¸.•´¯`•.○.•´¯`•.¸¸.•..:*´¨`*:.•..

Every two weeks Sungmin would send him a note, a few lines telling Youngwoon how his days were going, how his journey to become a hunter was taking place. The first note was on his impressions of the guild, he talked about the leader and how his test had been, the note ended pretty much like his small goodbye letter. | Till we see each other again, the retired best thief in Korea, S.|

After that the notes were all about the people he met while on training, the places he was told to go. He also complained how outdated the guild was for not really using technology in their favor. With each note, Sungmin was sounding much more proud of himself, was letting Youngwoon know that slowly he was finding his place in the guild because of his technological knowhow. The way he was addressing himself at the end of the notes slowly changed. | The new hunter-in-training | The best trainee in class | The new night shift guard | The new sub-commandant of the night shift guard | The new intelligence force member |

The last title he gave himself made Youngwoon frown because he knew that division had actually been founded by Kyuhyun, it was a division that had specialized in forming alliances with other hunter guilds as well as werewolf packs all around Korea. They were said to be intelligence because they knew the value of differentiating between the two kinds of werewolf that existed in the world. They knew that forming those alliances was the best way to keep the hunters alive and strong, especially when for one reason or another their supply on vampire blood would go short. They were the best in eradicating vampire clans and werewolf nests as well as the best in creating effective defensive mechanisms for the cities they would take control. But that also meant he was a nomad hunter, a hunter without a house, a hunter that would travel to wherever his skills was required. It meant Sungmin was probably not coming back.

Youngwoon put that note along with the others in a silver box he had placed on a high right in front to his precious Black Rose. After that letter, he no longer opened the notes Sungmin would send him, as every time a new note arrived he would spend hours standing in front of the sword looking at it.

"You know I won’t let you use it right?" Kyuhyun said from the second floor of the library where he had been comfortably sat, reading a book.

"That’s not what I am considering. I asked this sword to be crafted so young master Sungjin could avenge his brother by killing me. I still remember that day when you gave the sword to him, when you told him the truth about his brother’s death. I was actually surprised that he knew I was not a common wolf. He had taken the sword saying he would never use it because he knew how much his brother loved me. Sungjin kept the sword as it would be his reminder that his brother had died for the one he loved. That had been the only time I had sought death and I was denied it. After buying the house I found the sword was still here. This sword actually means how much I loved young master Sungmin." Youngwoon replied not taking his eyes from the sword. But there was something in his tone that made Kyuhyun set aside the book he was reading to stand up and get to the railing so he could have a better look at Youngwoon. He was right in time to see the werewolf taking the sword off the wall.

"This blade means how much I loved him." He added as he took a firm hold of the hilt with his left hand, his right hand moved over the blade ghostly, not really daring to touch. "Now I want it to mean how much I love Sungmin."

"Youngwoon!" Kyuhyun shouted alarmed as he saw the werewolf taking a firm hold of the blade with his right hand and applying all the strength he had to break the sword at the point the blade connected to the hilt. His blood dripped onto the floor but before Kyuhyun had managed to get close enough to make Youngwoon stop, the blade detached itself from the hilt and he let it fall by his feet.

Kyuhyun took Youngwoon's injured hand in his to see the extent of the damage.

"Please, make a new blade for Black Rose, use the platinum I stole from those vampires hundred years ago." Youngwoon said, reaching the overly decorated hilt to Kyuhyun.

"A sword to kill off vampires instead of werewolves?" Kyuhyun mumbled as he took the item from Youngwoon.

"Give it to him when he get’s formally accepted as a hunter, not a trainee or an apprentice but a full fledged hunter." Youngwoon added, walking away right after to go treat his newly acquired wound.

"Breaking the sword as a sign he is breaking up with his past. Why do I feel like he is also giving up on Sungmin with this?" Kyuhyun mumbled to himself. "Now I am actually glad he stopped reading Sungmin’s mail." The hunter added, looking at the general direction Youngwoon had gone to, making a decision that would put an end to all that mess. He had vowed to see Youngwoon finally finding happiness - he would not let it slip through Youngwoon's fingers.

..•.:*´¨`*:.•.¸¸.•´¯`•.○.•´¯`•.¸¸.•..:*´¨`*:.•..

When Sungmin saw the gate from afar he felt some sort of nostalgia. A few days back, he had received his mentor’s information and was fairly surprised to see that he had actually been assigned to Kyuhyun. He had been trained by Heechul for months and they had already forged a mentor-apprentice bond of sorts so it was slightly shocking to know they had assigned someone else to be his final mentor. When he asked why, "You must not question the guild’s decision, Sungmin." Was the only reply he got.

Therefore there he was once again at Youngwoon’s doorstep as Kyuhyun was still living in that town, still looking after the werewolf. There was something about that fact that unsettled Sungmin in more than one way. He adjusted the backpack strap on his shoulder and walked the very last steps towards the house.

He thought something was odd, Youngwoon was definitely not home, but he could also not sense Kyuhyun’s presence in the house. Sungmin thought that maybe they were hunting because they were also not in the back yard. Despite the fact that the front gate was locked, Sungmin still got in uninvited much like the first time he had been there. He simply jumped over the wall with his new inhuman powers.

Sungmin then heard a howl from somewhere in the woods. He smiled at recognizing the sound so he decided to get into the house through the same way as that last time. He rounded the house and got in through the inner garden. He heard another howl, one that was much closer. He smiled to himself somewhat bitterly because, despite telling himself for all those months that he had definitely given up on Youngwoon in that lifetime, just the sound of that howl made his heart skip a beat. He had never been so sure that what he felt wouldn’t fade away.

Leaving his backpack beside the fountain, Sungmin sat on it and stared at the rose bush, the roses were as beautiful as ever. Sungmin looked up at the roof as he heard a low growl.

"Is that how you welcome an old friend?" Sungmin asked with a snort, but the only reply he got was another loud growl. In the next second he felt movement around him, he looked around and frowned at seeing five other wolves, five exact ‘copies’ of Youngwoon. "What?" he mumbled before the first wolf attacked.

Sungmin evaded, but the other wolves also jumped after him. He didn’t know why Youngwoon was doing that, but the last thing he wanted was to hurt the other, so he kept dodging until it proved impossible. At one point he had to jump over the fountain and once there, the only wolf that had not moved, the one still on the roof, jumped on him while Sungmin had avoided yet another wolf coming at him from the ground.

The result was the fact that Sungmin was toppled and forced into the water. When Sungmin resurfaced, he coughed the water out of his system and stared angrily at the guy sitting on him.

"What’s with this welcome?!" he demanded with a bitter tone.

"Punishment for leaving when I was on the brinck of death." Youngwoon retorted. "Plus I hate that sweet smell so much." he added but he didn’t move off Sungmin, forcing the hunter apprentice to lie inside the fountain with water reaching the middle of his chest. Sungmin’s heart rate increased when he heard the first reply.

"You were no longer dying. Kyuhyun said he had never seen you heal so fast. Plus you had other werewolves to help you guard the territory. I would just be dead weight if I stayed longer." Sungmin retorted, averting his eyes at feeling that old pain that would always come with the memories of that day.

"There it goes again…" Youngwoon mumbled taking Sungmin’s face in his hand and forcing the younger to look at him. "I need to know the truth, Sungmin… I am sick and tired of not understanding what makes you heart beat like this… when you were living here… your heartbeat was the biggest mystery to me. Every time your heart had been this erratic I thought you would leave, instead you always stayed. I had always told you, you were free to go, but you would just make yourself even more at home… then the only time I begged you to stay… the only time I wished you would never leave me, you lied to me… Why? Why did you do that?" Youngwoon spoke his heart out, taking hold of Sungmin the exact same way he did that day, the way his thumb moved over Sungmin’s cheek as he spoke, the way he applied pressure on his scalp at his questions.

Sungmin heart started to beat impossibly fast.

"The only thing I wanted was for you to not mistake me for him. That day you called out a pet name… the way your voice was so desperate… the way you were touching me… I was so sure you were suffering some kind of delusion because of the poisoning… I just couldn’t take it… the thought of you calling him while you were on the brinck of death… calling him when I was the one beside you… I couldn’t take it… it hurt me beyond belief." Sungmin replied unable to take his eyes away from Youngwoon’s. There was so much hurt in them, so much sadness as if they were mirroring all the feelings Sungmin had had that night.

"When the vampire stabbed me, my only thought was to get rid of it so I could get back to you. When he ran away I feared so much he had gone after you. I tried to get back, but the silver poisoning was too strong. At that moment I was so scared of dying because I had not told you how I felt, at that moment I realized how much I didn’t want you to go, how much I wanted to keep you to myself… I tried to tell you… I was trying to tell you…" Youngwoon replied, applying more pressure with his fingertips, trying to get Sungmin to move, trying to bring him closer. "The agony of not having you beside me… you left me in agony because I kept doubting my senses… your smell, your voice, your heartbeat… it was you I was holding, but then it was his words… his promise… for a second I was scared but then there were the kisses, filled with your smell, with your heartbeat, it was your voice filling my ears… was it a delusion? Did it not happen?" Youngwoon added, his tone turning desperate in the end.

Sungmin’s reply was to move, forcing Youngwoon to sit on his lap instead of his abdomen. Sungmin’s reply was to reach for Youngwoon’s nape, holding it securely while his lips found their way to Youngwoon’s. And they kissed, much like that night. Sungmin clung to Youngwoon’s neck while the werewolf held the hunter apprentice in a tight hold.

"It happened." Youngwoon mumbled into the kiss. "I knew it. It’s impossible to mistake this." He added pecking Sungmin’s lips between each word. Sungmin smiled, his heart still beating erratically.

"To clear the mystery." Sungmin mumbled back. "My heart beats like this because I love you. While I was living here my heart was beating so fast because I was jealous of him. Because the only thing I wanted was for you to love me instead. " He said with his heart aching from being filled with so much happiness.

Youngwoon smiled. Blue was also for jealousy, lavender was for unrequited love, not overconfidence. Youngwoon finally could understand Sungmin's aura.

"Now, please, don’t misunderstand me again. I love you too, Lee Sungmin. You. " the werewolf replied while claiming Sungmin’s lips one more time.

..•.:*´¨`*:.•.¸¸.•´¯`•.○.•´¯`•.¸¸.•..:*´¨`*:.•..