I haven’t got the chance to talk to Maia yet and the information I have with me is so fatal it would cause me my life, Maia’s life as well as the wolves that currently plot against the government.

I carried my food tray to the kitchen, still rather flushed with how I had hugged Kihyun from the back. I do not dare to have thoughts other than gratitude and a master will always be a master. I do not throw away the rules of a slave just because they are special. I do not dare to.

I see Wonho in the kitchen, leaning against the fridge with his back to it. He waves the glass of milk he holds in his hand and smile. I bowed.

“You can make do without the bow though.” He pointed out and takes another mouthful of milk, watching me and waiting for my response. I don’t know why I feel so uneasy but I just do and my mouth is parched.

My steps aren’t exactly light when I walk to the sink, he stood just two steps away from me and as cheerful as his handsome face shows, I know it hides something scary behind those smiles.

“No sir, it’s the rules.” I say. Confident he’ll leave after such simple and end of point sentence I’ve brought to this nerve-wrecking conversation.

But he nods a few times and stare into the glass of milk. He seems to be thinking about something.

“I hope we do not see betrayal from you.”

The food tray clatters messily into the sink as my palm loses the strength to hold it upon hearing this warning of his. “It takes a lot to gain our trust… especially Kihyun’s and I hope you do see how well he has been treating you.” He continues calmly while I froze with goosebumps crawling on my skin.

“I’ve been observing you and I hope you spend more time with Kihyun.”

“Spend… more time?” I’m rather confused and I don’t try to hide it.

“Yes.” He says as if it isn’t such a surprising thing. “I notice he has been smiling more often ever since you were here and that is a big thing considered how depressed he has become ever since the rest of our brothers were captured and locked in the dungeon.”

Wonho stares at me after he finishes the sentence and the word ‘dungeon’ fades into the silence around us but rang loud in my mind.

“I know everything.” He states. “I know Kihyun has revealed it to you.”

I calm my breathing and chanted to Maia’s name in hopes that she would perhaps turn up and save me from this suffocating situation. I wouldn’t want to go through it a second time after merely surviving it from Kihyun.

Dungeon, brothers, locked and the government… Just too much for me to sit and wait for answers to come.

I bit my lip hard till I couldn't bear the pain anymore and then with a deep breath, “What happened…?”

That was all I need to ask and Wonho started speaking as though I needed to know what exactly happen.

“We once stood hand in hand with the government, fighting against enemies that invaded our land. Life was tough but there was harmony. The wolves were considered top-grade warriors back then…”

I have no words to explain how I felt. Wonho pause his words and I could see his sullen eyes as he traveled back to the memory of the past. This was something I have never heard before, not even the elderly from the village has told such stories, the government and the wolves working? Together?

“We lost the fight. There were outsiders that took control and our people were pushed back to the lowest level of the society chain. The wolves fought but was captured by these barbarians. All were killed except for seven…”

“I…” I stutter, I wanted to say anything, whatever it is to help him wave off this sudden anger and disappointment that he is carrying now. To think that wolves were killed and that only seven of them are alive.

“The new government kept our clan alive in the dungeon as a threat to the other countries. They wanted to grow new wolves through our DNA and make it stronger before wiping us. Kihyun and I were the only ones that escaped successfully.”

There was a shaky sigh coming from his lips and he places the glass of milk into the sink with a little throw. I could see the veins on his arms and his muscles are all tensed up. I understand everything now. I understand what their plans were, I understand the amount of stress and guilt they carry as they were the only two that escaped.

It is not easy for them. Maia and I are the only two that knew about their existence. This made me all the more determined to help and side with them.

“I will never betray the two of you!” My voice sounded way louder than I wanted and Wonho flinch slightly. A little surprised to see my reaction. I retracted and duck my face after realizing what I just did. I hope my intentions to help the wolves are clear to Wonho and that they trust that I will never betray them.

I see somebody’s shadow edging towards us and I pause to see who it was. Maia walked in with light steps and waited at the stairs, somewhat far away from Wonho and my distance. I threw her a look, in hopes that she could save me from Wonho but she stood there grinning, loss in thoughts.

“I believe the two of you could use some talking.”

The way Wonho said it places a big amount of trust between both Maia and I. The fact that he could give us the privacy to discuss things out meant a lot, to me at least. Right now, I have to ensure that Maia and I have the same intentions.

“You knew about it all along? Even before I do?” I ask, in a tone mixed with disbelief and slight disappointment. I had to make sure she knew about the wolves. It doesn’t matter how she knew. But I was more concerned why she hadn’t told me the moment she knew… if she did. It would have saved me so much.

She shrug. “Well, it was interesting to see how you would join the game.”

“Maia, you know we’re having a serious talk here.” She’s testing my patience but I’m not giving her what she wanted to see. “This is not a game. I could have been done away if I had not gain their trust!”

“No they wouldn’t.”

Maia turn serious and then, staring into my eyes very confidently. “And no, you wouldn’t fail because you are by far the best human I ever met.”

She starts laughing hysterically when silence decides to engulf the touching moment she created. But more than anything, I’m more worried about Maia and my future with the wolves as our masters. I cannot hide the concern, the fear is immense too but I try to hide it as much as I can.

“Maia, I’m being serious here. What do we really do now?”

“Simple!” She exclaim with a beam. “We wait.”

But she said that the previous time too and I ended up receiving the shocking news from Kihyun personally. This time, I wanted to try and get some information. If I don’t have the guts to get it from Kihyun of Wonho, then I should try to get it out from Maia.

“What do you know?”

Maia giggles with a look of mischief in those eyes. She knows something! I admit I felt a little affected when Maia knew about the wolves before I do.

“I asked Wonho myself. You should ask Kihyun yourself.”

“Maia…” I murmur her name is exasperation when I realize it was pointless to ask her something where she obviously has no intention in revealing. “Fine. I’ll stop asking you.”

She shrugs and giggle dizzily. There is nothing I can do with her mischief and the thought of getting information from Kihyun weigh too much on my shoulder. But from what I know, there is a high possibility that Wonho and Kihyun were to go back to the dungeon and attempt to save their brothers… but wouldn’t that be suicide?

And I figured since I have sworn honesty with them then I should let them know how dangerous it is. And this is the first thing I will talk about to Kihyun. 

*

Happy New Year :)