Guardian (Part One)
Title: Guardian
Fandom: SS501, U-KISS, Epik High
Pairing: HyunSaeng, SooBum, implied!KyuMin
Word Count: 14,000
Genre: AU, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence
Summary: 25 years ago, an incident occurred that released unspeakable evil across the world. At the same time, chosen children across the world were born, and at their coming-of-age received a gift called the Sight. These children were chosen to find and erase the evil from the Earth. But what they didn’t know was that they were never left to accomplish this task alone.
A/N: Happy birthday fic for renichifreak <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNNIE~~~~ I really hope you like it, and I don’t know what happened to the prompt >.<;;; Prompt was “Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses”. HUGE thank you to mskatness for betaing and fixing up my awkward sentences~!!!!
Do you believe in divine intervention?
Someone watching over you, keeping you safe?
Not everyone does, and it’s hard to prove what you can’t see. But some people have had those moments, where you should have been hurt…a bully in the hallway, a fall down the stairs, a car crash.
But then the moment passes. A teacher appears and the bully leaves, you place your foot just so you don’t fall, the car swerves to the side just in time.
Is it just chance?
Sometimes.
*****************************
“Another one?!”
“Stop whining, we’ve got work to do!”
“But that’s the fifth one today!”
“I’m sorry if this doesn’t allow for breaks between,” grumbled the older man who pushed by the two squabbling, walking briskly down the street.
Staring after him, JungMin turned around and cuffed the younger off the head, earning a shriek.
“See, now he’s pissed, can’t you stop complaining for one night?”
“I’m sorry,” protested the man beside him, covering his head to avoid being brained. “It’s just these missions give me the creeps.”
“Don’t make me call your brother to come get you,” JungMin rolled his eyes, before turned around to jog after the man who was leaving. “Wait up Kyu!”
“No way are you calling him, he’ll want to help,” HyungJoon protested, running after them.
“Then maybe I should call him, we need all the help we can get, especially when you’re no help at all.”
KyuJong shook his head at them both. “Leave KiBum out of it, he just finished a long day. We can take care of this one by ourselves.” Turning around to continue walking, he smiled as the two continued to bicker in hushed tones. It was always like this, but for all their arguments, they were a tremendous help and he didn’t know what he’d do without them.
“Are you two done? We’re supposed to be following quietly.”
JungMin and HyungJoon both shut up instantly, looking around the area. “Who are we following again?” HyungJoon asked.
KyuJong’s eyes were focused on a figure in the front, weaving between the crowds. To all others around them, it was a normal middle-aged man on his way home after a long day of work, paying no attention to those around him.
But in KyuJong’s single, silver eye, hidden by bangs grown specifically for that purpose, his form was surrounded with taint. A black and red aura curled around him in wisps, and when the man half-turned to avoid bumping into someone walking the other way, normal black eyes were stained over with blood red.
“Just keep quiet, follow behind me and get ready.”
There were those who lived in the city who shouldn’t…those who masqueraded as normal people, and were anything but. None of them were clear on the specifics…their superior mentioned something about a second Pandora’s Box, 25 years ago…but they knew what their duty was.
Because when KyuJong reached puberty and one of his ordinary black eyes turned a startling silver, he had been able to see things no one else could. And like the dozens of other chosen children around the world with what they’d come to call the Sight, he had become part of those whose duty it was to rid the world of these creatures.
The moment came as the man they were following turned into an alley, presumably to head back to a small apartment off the main streets. KyuJong followed after him quietly, JungMin and HyungJoon silent now that they had picked up on whom they were following. For all their jokes, they knew how serious this was.
Serious enough for JungMin to quietly release the safety on the handgun hidden in his jacket. At the same time, HyungJoon pulled out a small spray bottle from his pocket, uncapping it.
The light pop of the cap coming off made the man in front of them pause, not moving for a long moment. KyuJong held out one hand for the other two to stop as well, watching warily from behind his bangs as the dark aura around the ‘human’ started to grow, morph.
There was no mistaking this one.
KyuJong brought down his hand sharply and stepped to one side, JungMin moving into place with practiced ease. The gun came out of his jacket and he aimed, pulling the trigger.
But the bullet never reached its target, the man disappearing on the spot. Startled, KyuJong looked around for the aura again, shifting to press his back against JungMin and HyungJoon’s in a triangle.
“Where is it, Kyu?” JungMin murmured, gun out and ready.
“I’m looking, it’s fast,” KyuJong replied, pushing his bangs out of the way so he could see better, mismatched eyes searching the darkness. He could hear shuffling noises around them, heart rate quickening.
“It’s a narrow alley, it can’t be too far awa-” HyungJoon shrieked as the man appeared right in front of him, face distorted and mouth stretched out in a maniacal grin, razor teeth showing.
The bottle in HyungJoon’s hands was knocked away, the youngest grabbed by his collar and thrown against the wall with a shout. Diving for the bottle, KyuJong picked it up and whirled around just as the man morphed, shedding its human disguise like a second skin to reveal the demon underneath, bone structure twisted and skin dark gray, eyes glowing red.
“Move Joon!” JungMin yelled, firing again. The bullet ricocheted off the wall as the demon disappeared again, going after the redhead and knocking him over.
“Catch!” KyuJong tossed the bottle at HyungJoon who was closest to where the demon was pinning JungMin down, the gun skidding across the ground. HyungJoon fumbled slightly before aiming the bottle at the demon.
“Yah!” He yelled to get the demon’s attention, and the second the creature looked up, he sprayed it with a faceful of holy water.
Shrieking in pain, the demon staggered back and clutched at its face before disappearing. JungMin sat up, one hand against a scratch along his cheek that dripped a small amount of blood.
“Where the hell did it go?”
KyuJong looked around for it, silver eye catching on a flash of red around a corner. “It’s running. Come on!”
“Why can’t we ever get them on the first shot?” HyungJoon whined as he and JungMin got back to their feet and hurried after KyuJong, the older man running after the demon.
They couldn’t let the demon get away; they’d seen what these creatures did to people, tore them into mangled pieces and took on their appearances, masquerading as them. They never let a demon go if they had the choice.
They chased the creature through the alleys, trying to gain some ground, but the demon was fast. KyuJong was glimpsing the aura less and less, straining his vision to catch it.
Finally, he had to stop. “I lost him,” he panted, leaning against the brick wall beside him. JungMin and HyungJoon slowed to a stop beside him, just as out of breath.
“We were so close too,” JungMin groaned, wiping away the blood from his cheek before resting against the wall beside KyuJong.
“Four out of five still isn’t bad,” HyungJoon tried to look on the positive side.
“It should have been five out of five,” KyuJong murmured, looking at the youngest. HyungJoon met his silver eye and swallowed, looking away with a nod.
JungMin watched them both. “Well, let’s head back, I think we’re done for the ni-“
BANG!
The gunshot that rang through the alley startled them all, KyuJong jumping away from the wall and looking around frantically.
“What was that?” HyungJoon asked, eyes wide.
“I have no idea…it came from this direction.” KyuJong took off again, the other two right on his heels.
Turning the different corners, they were just in time to see the demon they had been chasing writhing on the ground. Terrible screeches left it as it slowly dissolved, disappearing from the world. KyuJong stared at the spot as the dark aura completely evaporated.
A man standing at the other end of the alley lowered the gun in his hand, clicking the safety back on and slipping it into his pocket. He observed the three who’d just appeared, lips quirked slightly to one side.
“…Uh…” JungMin stared at him, and at the shorter man standing behind him. They’d never seen these two before.
“Are you part of the Seekers of this city?” asked the man who’d shot the demon, looking at them.
KyuJong took a startled step forward. The Seekers was the name given to those who hunted the demons. At first it had just been the chosen children with the Sight, but that term had grown to include mediums and paranormal investigators like JungMin and HyungJoon. “Yes, we are,” he said carefully, staring at them. “Are you…”
His unfinished question was answered as the dark-haired man behind the first one came forward, brushing his hair out of his eyes to show one silver eye. “We’re traveling Seekers.”
“…Woah,” HyungJoon murmured, staring at them both. The other man had tilted his head to one side, revealing a silver eye as well.
KyuJong snapped out of the startled daze he’d been in, bowing deeply. “My name’s KyuJong, these are my friends JungMin and HyungJoon,” he offered, looking up at them after a moment.
“HyunJoong,” replied the one who’d killed the demon with a nod. “This is my partner YoungSaeng,” he motioned to the shorter man beside him.
“Do you need a place to stay?” KyuJong offered, a little out of his element. They’d never had any Seekers come into the city. It was just their small group of seven. Only two of them, KyuJong and HyungJoon’s little brother KiBum, possessed the Sight; the others were paranormal investigators, mediums, or just best friends who knew far more than they should.
And in one day, two Seekers from the outside world appear, both possessing the Sight.
HyunJoong shook his head. “No, we have our own accommodations. When do you next meet?”
“Tomorrow at noon,” KyuJong replied. That was their next group meeting, to go over any new developments. Well…their next formal meeting anyways. Their group was so small and tight-knit, they met practically every day anyways.
The brown-haired man nodded, watching the three others come closer. “Where?”
“One of our apartments…uh…I can give you the address,” HyungJoon said hesitantly. They weren’t used to people coming in from the outside at all, the youngest fumbling as he got out his wallet to pull out a business card.
Watching them as HyungJoon gave them the card with his address, KyuJong’s eyes continuously went to their own silver ones. He’d only seen the silver mark of their Sight on himself and KiBum, and couldn’t look away. Glancing towards HyunJoong’s silver eye, he blinked in surprise.
His eye…it wasn’t completely silver. It was rimmed with a light rose…like an albino’s pink. Which didn’t make any sense; HyunJoong’s other eye was black, and his complexion was completely off for an albino.
He might have seen very few people with the Sight, but he knew that wasn’t supposed to happen normally.
“We’ll meet you then,” HyunJoong nodded, taking the business card and slipping it into his jacket pocket. He turned and walked away, YoungSaeng observing them for a moment longer before following after him.
KyuJong turned back to the other two to see them as stunned as he felt.
“Daniel’s going to want to know this right away,” HyungJoon said, pulling out his phone to send a text.
“Were we expecting anyone?” KyuJong asked, JungMin shaking his head.
“Not as far as I know…”
“His eye was weird, did you see?” HyungJoon asked, looking up at them. “It wasn’t fully silver like yours, KyuJong hyung.”
“I saw,” KyuJong murmured, leaning against the wall.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we’re not going to figure anything out just standing here,” JungMin sighed. “Let’s get back home, we’re going to see them again soon anyways.”
KyuJong nodded, straightening with a sigh as he brushed his bangs back over his silver eye. “Sleep sounds good right about now.” He glanced back at where the demon had died before turning to head back onto the main streets, his two friends right behind him.
************************
“Is your brother up?”
“No, he’s still sleeping.”
“This late? The others will be over soon!”
“Then you get him up, I do it every day.”
Footsteps came closer to the edge of the bed, and then backed up. HyungJoon mumbled something incoherent into his pillow, burrowing his face in it.
Suddenly someone landed on the bed beside him, half-squishing him, and HyungJoon shrieked, flailing around on his stomach in a lousy attempt to be free. The next thing he knew, he was being rolled out of bed and he landed on the floor with a thud, in a tangled mess of blankets and pillows.
“Time to wake up!” Cracking his eyes open, HyungJoon looked up to see a grinning face far too cheerful for this time in the morning.
“Get off, SooHyun,” HyungJoon groaned, swatting at the man sitting on his legs. “KiBum, get your maniacal boyfriend off of me!”
“Why, he’s having fun,” KiBum chuckled from the doorway, both his black eye and silver eye showing his infinite amusement as SooHyun refused to get up off his older brother. The doorbell rang behind him. “Oh, that must be Kevin.” He padded off.
“KiBum~!” HyungJoon whined, and shrieked again as SooHyun started to tickle him mercilessly.
Heading to the door, KiBum unlocked it again and opened it. Kevin smiled widely at him from the hallway, and then blinked at the dying screams coming from inside the apartment.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, that? SooHyun got here early and woke HyungJoon up.” KiBum stepped aside so his best friend could come in.
The younger man tried not to laugh, eyes dancing. “Your brother’s never going to sleep in again.” He stepped in and slipped out of his shoes before going down the hallway to the living room.
KiBum closed the door and headed after him. “He says that every time, and yet he still does it.” He leaned into his brother’s bedroom, where SooHyun was still tormenting him. “Okay, I think he’s had enough hyung.”
SooHyun rolled off of HyungJoon with a laugh, the older brother groaning in pretend pain as he lay sprawled out on the ground.
The doorbell rang again, and KiBum went back to get it, opening the door for KyuJong and JungMin. “You just missed SooHyun waking HyungJoon hyung up.”
“Oh darn,” JungMin pouted, KyuJong laughing as they stepped in. By the time they got to the living room, HyungJoon had appeared in proper clothes, sulking as he sat as far away as he could from his brother’s boyfriend.
“Is Daniel hyung going to be here soon?” Kevin asked, curled up on the couch and playing with the TV remote. “There have been a lot of demons lately, right KiBum hyung?”
“Seven last week,” KiBum sighed, making a face as SooHyun pulled him down to sit beside him before settling against the older man.
“We got you beat, five yesterday,” HyungJoon groaned, trying to settle back down for sleep. “I’m running out of Holy Water.”
“Not to mention the proper bullets, they’re murder to get,” JungMin grumbled, tapping his fingers against his knees.
“We’ll ask Daniel hyung to help us get some more, he’s got all the connections and I don’t like you going into those shady shops,” KyuJong frowned. “And as for Holy Water, it’s hard finding a priest with a strong enough faith to bless the water. I really don’t know how Daniel finds these people.”
“He’s definitely got all the right connections,” Kevin smiled, resting his head back against the couch and closing his eyes.
The doorbell rang again, KiBum standing with a sigh when he saw HyungJoon wasn’t moving. “Well, we’ll be able to ask him in a few seconds.” He padded over to the door, unlocking it again.
When he opened it though, it wasn’t their superior he saw. Eyes widening at the two men, KiBum quickly ducked his head slightly so his hair fell in front of his silver eye, hiding it.
“Uh…can I help you?”
The shorter one of the two stepped forward with a polite smile. “We’re here for a meeting.”
“A…” KiBum trailed off, eyes widening when the dark-haired man’s head tilted to one side and a silver eye peeked out from behind long bangs. Staring, KiBum stepped back after a moment. “Uh…Hyung!” He yelled behind him.
HyungJoon scrambled to see what was going on, peeking around the corner. His eyes widened to see the two standing outside. “O-oh! YoungSaeng sshi…HyunJoong sshi…”
At the familiar names, KyuJong got up from his seat and hurried to the front door. He hadn’t thought the Seekers would actually show up, some part of him wondering if the encounter had been real. “KiBum ah, it’s okay, let them in. It’s nice to see you both again,” he bowed politely as KiBum shuffled back out of the way, YoungSaeng and HyunJoong stepping into the entrance.
“Hope we’re not interrupting,” HyunJoong smiled, taking off his shoes.
“No, our leader hasn’t arrived yet so the meeting hasn’t begun,” KyuJong shook his head. The others had gotten up to see the new arrivals too, looking utterly confused.
KiBum moved away from the door, grabbing his older brother’s sleeve on the way by and tugging him back towards Kevin and SooHyun. SooHyun was looking at the two newcomers in confusion, Kevin’s lips parted and eyes wide in shock.
“Who are they?” KiBum asked his brother in a hushed whisper.
“Uh…two traveling Seekers,” HyungJoon swallowed, glancing at the others. “You okay, Kev?”
“Y-yeah,” Kevin swallowed, blinking as he snapped out of it. “They have silver eyes too.”
“Yeah, they helped us out with one of the demons yesterday,” HyungJoon continued, glancing over his shoulder nervously at the two new Seekers who were bowing politely as KyuJong scooted around them to close the door again.
HyunJoong looked around at the people present as they all moved back to the living room. “This is all the Seekers in Seoul?” he frowned lightly, glancing at YoungSaeng. “We heard there were more.”
“It’s only us,” KyuJong shook his head, motioning for them to sit on the couch as JungMin and HyungJoon got more chairs out of the bedrooms for everyone. “Daniel sshi, our leader, says there used to be more but then the amount of demons skyrocketed and the Seekers either left for their own protection, or were killed.”
HyunJoong nodded slowly, looking at each person in the room in turn. “How many with the Sight?”
“Right now, only myself and KiBum ah,” KyuJong replied, motioning to the younger brother. “JungMin ah and HyungJoon ah are paranormal investigators and SooHyun ah’s our medium.”
Nodding in understanding as each person was named, HyunJoong’s gaze went to Kevin, whose own eyes widened slightly. “And him?”
“A nosey best friend with horrible timing,” KiBum chuckled, and Kevin smiled nervously, not breaking HyunJoong’s gaze.
Nodding slowly, HyunJoong looked away after a moment, turning back to KyuJong who seemed to be the group’s spokesperson with their leader missing. “You say there’s been a high amount of demons in the area?”
KyuJong nodded. “Even with exorcising an average of three demons a day between both teams, the number is constantly increasing. We can’t keep up with only two teams.” He, HyungJoon and JungMin were in one team, with KiBum, SooHyun and Kevin (after much arguing) in the other. Daniel was far too busy keeping tabs on everything to join a team himself; they rarely saw him.
YoungSaeng pursed his lips, leaning forward with his elbows against his knees. “We have a theory about that, but we’d like to wait until your lea-“
The doorbell rang, and HyungJoon laughed nervously. “That must be Daniel sshi.” He hurried to get it, clearly not comfortable in the newcomers’ presences. YoungSaeng was okay, but HyunJoong’s stare was beginning to become unnerving. Especially with that strange, silver eye rimmed in rose.
The door clicked open, and there was hushed conversation in the entrance way before Daniel and HyungJoon reappeared a moment later. “You both must be HyunJoong and YoungSaeng sshi,” Daniel smiled politely as he bowed. The two on the couch stood to return the bow, only sitting back down once Daniel had taken a seat.
“What brings you both to Seoul?” Daniel asked, his hands clasped in front of him as he smiled at the two.
YoungSaeng spoke up first, glancing at HyunJoong before turning back to Daniel. “We’ve been working throughout South Korea, and have noticed a pattern in traveling demons. They all seem to be originating from this city. There was a similar incident in Japan a year back, and after comparing both cases, we believe we have found the reason why there are so many demons in the Seoul area.”
Daniel frowned at that, the others listening intently. “And that would be…?”
HyunJoong glanced around the group again, before looking back at Daniel. “We believe there is a demon nest here, in Seoul.”
“A…nest?” HyungJoon looked nervous; that didn’t sound good. KyuJong looked confused, but both JungMin and SooHyun had paled.
“Are you serious?” SooHyun asked, all joking gone as he leaned forward.
“Very,” HyunJoong nodded.
“That’s…that’s insane,” JungMin murmured. “We can’t take on a whole nest on our own.”
“What are you all talking about?” KiBum frowned. Kevin picked at his sleeve nervously.
“You’ve all heard the story about Pandora’s Box, and how a second box was opened to release the demons into this world, right?” YoungSaeng asked mildly, looking at them each in turn. “The demons flocked to centers of power in the world, and set up nests there. Places to have their young, where the energy in those areas would help them grow strong, even stronger than their parents. It takes many years for a nest to be completed, but once it is, the amount of demon offspring in the area doubles…triples.”
“And you believe the nest here has been completed,” Daniel murmured.
“No,” HyunJoong shook his head. “If it had been complete, you would all be dead.”
HyungJoon paled and attached himself to his brother’s arm. KiBum scowled and tried to detach him, but gave up quickly, shaken by the news.
“How much time do we have?” Daniel asked seriously, eyes narrowed.
“Maybe about a month,” HyunJoong replied. “In that time, we have to destroy the nest itself, or Seoul will become the demons’ playground.”
“But we don’t have enough people for that,” KyuJong protested. “And the other Seeker groups have no energy to spare, they’re being overrun by demons too.” Demons that had come from Seoul.
“We don’t even know the first thing about taking on a nest,” Daniel shook his head.
“But we do,” YoungSaeng smiled at them. “We’ll be sticking around for the month, and helping you with the problem.”
“How do you know how to deal with a nest?” JungMin frowned.
“Because we’re the ones who destroyed the nest in Japan,” HyunJoong answered simply, before standing. “It’s been a while since we were in Seoul. We’ll need maps of the city, and each of you to mark exactly where you’ve been spotting demons in the last five weeks.”
The others looked at each other in surprise, before KiBum got up and ran to get a map. JungMin and HyungJoon cleared off the coffee table to give them enough room, and went to get markers.
“This is going to be interesting,” JungMin sighed to HyungJoon, twirling markers around his fingers as he looked back out into the living room.
“Interesting is definitely one thing to call it,” HyungJoon winced, eyes worried. “I don’t want KiBum anywhere near this nest.”
“You can’t coddle him forever, and he’s taken out a number of demons on his own,” JungMin shook his head. “Besides, he has SooHyun and Kevin, and those two are practically glued to his side every second of the day. They’ll keep him safe.”
“Yeah,” HyungJoon smiled nervously, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Okay, let’s get this started.”
They headed out into the living room and sat down around the table. The group spent the next hour circling spots on the map where they’d seen demons, hoping to find a pattern. There had been a lot of demons around, and Daniel had to get out their notes on the past few meetings to make sure they had their facts straight. It was a good thing they usually took notes on where all the encounters were.
Finally HyunJoong leaned back, looking at the map. “Is that all?” It was unsettling. There were so many marks on the map they could hardly read the street names.
“Think so,” KyuJong nodded, going over the list in his head.
“Hope so,” HyungJoon shivered.
YoungSaeng leaned over, mismatched eyes scanning the map before tracing out a shape with his fingers. “The majority of the sightings are in or around this area.” It was right in the middle of downtown.
“They couldn’t hide a demon nest there, they’re high-class buildings, too much security,” KiBum frowned.
“You’re thinking about this area, KiBum,” SooHyun leaned over with one arm around KiBum’s waist, tracing out half of the area YoungSaeng had indicated. “Here though…” He indicated the rest of the area.
“That’s the industrial park, isn’t it?” JungMin asked. “Empty containers and rusty buildings.”
“Perfect for a demon nest,” HyunJoong nodded.
“That’s still a big area to cover,” Daniel murmured, gaze thoughtful.
“Considerably smaller than the rest of Seoul,” HyunJoong shrugged.
“What now then?” KyuJong asked, looking at them. “How are we going to deal with the nest? You said you’ve done this before…do you really think it can be done with just us?”
“Not just you, precisely…we’re going to need to reach some of our own contacts,” HyunJoong shook his head. “That will take the majority of the time. For now though, we need to do some reconnaissance work.”
“We have to find out exactly where the demon nest is, how many demons are in it, and how many are at an age where they can attack once we move in,” YoungSaeng picked up, eyes narrowed at the map. “The bigger the nest, the more power we’ll need.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get rid of them?” Daniel asked.
“I’d say two weeks at the earliest,” HyunJoong replied, looking up at their leader who was frowning.
“That’s cutting it close.”
“We know,” YoungSaeng sighed. “If we’d picked up on the fact there was a nest here earlier, we would have dealt with this long before now. But there’s no choice, we’re going to have to proceed carefully. There’s been too many deaths as there is, we can’t afford more.”
“We’ll be okay, right?” HyungJoon asked, looking around the room and sticking close to his brother.
“As long as you do what we say, you’ll be fine,” HyunJoong smiled before standing. “YoungSaeng and I have some work to do, when are you all available to search for the nest?”
They looked through their schedules and determined it would have to be in two days. The threat of a demon nest in Seoul was more than enough excuse to skip out on work suddenly, if only they could explain so to their bosses. KiBum and Kevin had a day off from school, so they at least were in the clear.
Getting up to see the two to the door, KyuJong and Daniel thanked them for coming, promising to meet them at the arranged date and time. Only once YoungSaeng and HyunJoong had left and the door was closed did they relax a little.
“A demon nest, seriously?” KiBum murmured, a little overwhelmed as the two went to sit down again.
“This is beyond anything we’ve ever dealt with, we’ll need to be careful,” Daniel shook his head, and then looked at them all. “Stay vigilant while out on the streets, we can’t lose any of you, understood?”
They all nodded. “Who are they, though?” JungMin asked. “I’ve never heard of traveling Seekers before.”
“Neither have I,” Daniel sighed. “I’m going to do a little background research on those two, in the meantime they seem to know what they’re talking about so follow after them.”
KiBum nodded, not entirely happy about following two strangers, and it showed in his face.
“HyunJoong sshi…his silver eye was weird,” SooHyun frowned. “It wasn’t completely silver.”
“Pink around the edges,” HyungJoon nodded.
“It might just be an alternation in the gene that gives you the Sight,” Daniel sighed, shaking his head. “But I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Didn’t you say the Sight was ‘divine intervention’, or something?” KyuJong asked.
“Considering the only ones with the Sight were a few dozen children born within five years of the second Pandora’s Box, with absolutely nothing in common with each other, that’s what we suppose it is,” Daniel nodded.
“What ‘divine intervention’,” JungMin grumbled, blowing his hair out of his face. “If Heaven wanted to help us, they would do something more than give a handful of people something else to be bullied about and enough demon sightings for nightmares the rest of their lives.”
KyuJong sank a little lower in his seat with a sigh. “I don’t understand it either.”
“Maybe we’re supposed to deal with this on our own,” Kevin murmured quietly, looking down at the floor. “If it was a human who opened Pandora’s Box.”
“We’ll never know, and asking questions like that will only frustrate you all,” Daniel shook his head, standing. “We will do what we can with the help we were given. Now, go out there and see if you can find anymore demons.”
“Yes sir,” SooHyun jumped to his feet, pulling KiBum up with him. Kevin stood reluctantly as well.
“I have work,” HyungJoon sighed, pouting a little.
“So do I,” KyuJong shook his head. “We’ll go demon-hunting tomorrow night.”
Daniel nodded with a small smile. “Don’t look so down, KyuJong,” he said, ruffling KyuJong’s hair a little. “We’ll figure this out.”
The younger man tried a smile as he pulled his hair down in front of his silver eye again. “Yeah…”
“Oh, Daniel hyung, we’re going to need more Holy Water and ammo,” JungMin said, remembering.
“I’ll get you some for when you go nest-hunting,” Daniel nodded with a smile.
Their leader left with a wave, the youngest three getting ready to do the same. “Stay safe,” HyungJoon frowned, passing KiBum his pack with Holy Water sprays and extra gun cartridges.
“We will hyung,” KiBum smiled at his older brother to reassure him. He squawked when HyungJoon pulled him into a hug before returning it, patting the older man’s back until he was let go.
“We’ll make sure he comes back in one piece,” SooHyun grinned, Kevin nodding along beside him. The youngest member of their group looked slightly troubled though.
The three of them filed out, KiBum closing the door behind them. HyungJoon dropped down onto the couch with a sigh, rubbing his temples.
“They’ll be fine Joon,” KyuJong smiled sympathetically as he rubbed his friend’s back. The older brother was like this whenever KiBum was out hunting demons, only relaxing when the younger brother texted him to let him know he was back home safe and sound.
“I know, it’s just this whole news about a demon nest…” HyungJoon sighed, shaking his head.
“We’ll get rid of it,” JungMin said firmly. “Right now though, we’ve got work, and if I remember correctly, your shift starts in twenty minutes.”
HyungJoon looked at the clock and squawked before bolting from the couch, running to get ready.
KyuJong blinked at his fast departure before chuckling, shaking his head as he smiled at JungMin. “We should get ready too.”
“Yeah,” JungMin chuckled, standing and stretching out. “And get lots of rest, so we’re ready for nest-hunting.”
“Right,” KyuJong smiled, standing as well. “And Min?”
“Yeah?”
“I haven’t had nightmares in a while.”
“Am I taking credit for that?” JungMin grinned over his shoulder at the older man.
“Conceited,” KyuJong rolled his eyes and pushed the redhead’s shoulder as he walked by to the door, smiling as JungMin laughed at him.
******************************
“Okay, how are we doing this?” KyuJong sighed, hands on his hips as he looked down the long, dusty street. It was out of business hours so the industrial park was deserted, the sun low on the horizon.
Daniel passed out more Holy Water bottles and gun cartridges to the others, JungMin undoing the safety on his gun with a click. KiBum watched the surrounding areas warily, long bangs tucked behind one ear so both eyes were visible.
“We need to be done and gone before the sun sets completely,” HyunJoong told them, leaning against a wall with his arms folded across his chest. His silver-rose eye was eerie in the near-darkness. “Once it goes down, all the demons will wake up.”
“Won’t that make it easier to find them?” HyungJoon looked over at him.
“Yes, but the goal is to be alive to tell about it,” YoungSaeng sighed.
“Okay, so sunset is in two hours,” Daniel frowned. “Is that enough time?”
“It will have to be, we had to wait until the area was clear,” HyunJoong nodded. “So we’re going to split up. YoungSaeng and I will take this part of the park.” He held out the map so that they could see where he was indicating.
“My team will take the middle,” KyuJong said, pointing.
“That means we’re taking the rest,” KiBum nodded, glancing to his boyfriend and best friend for confirmation.
“I will go with you both, to even out the numbers,” Daniel said, looking to YoungSaeng and HyunJoong. They both nodded, YoungSaeng frowning slightly.
“If you find anything suspicious, call right away,” YoungSaeng told them sternly. “If you need to run, then run, don’t try and fight.” KyuJong nodded unhappily.
The group split up, heading into different areas of the park. HyungJoon shivered at how spooky the place was at this time of the evening, sticking close to JungMin and KyuJong. The wind howled as it blew through the rows of buildings of their section of the park, rusting metal structures that hadn’t been used in years.
“Do you think we’ll actually be able to take down a whole nest?” HyungJoon murmured, looking at the other two nervously.
“They say we can, so we have at least a chance,” KyuJong replied quietly, eyes scanning the growing darkness for any sign of an aura.
“They said we could with some contacts of theirs. Who are these contacts? Other Seekers?” JungMin asked, frowning.
“No idea, but they must be, who else would be able to deal with demons?” HyungJoon sighed. “I don’t like this. They both seem a little…strange to me.”
“Did Daniel hyung find anything on them?” JungMin asked.
“No, as far as I know he didn’t. Well, we can’t expect him to find anything in only two days, right?”
“Still-”
“Both of you, quiet,” KyuJong hissed suddenly, both younger men shutting up instantly. The older man’s gaze was trained on a spot where he’d seen, for a split second, a red wisp.
JungMin took out his gun, eyes narrowed as he looked where KyuJong was looking. The older man advanced slowly, heart pounding in his throat.
By the time they’d reached the corner though, there was no sign of an aura. KyuJong looked around them, and groaned in frustration.
“Lost it?” JungMin murmured.
“Yeah, I thought it was-” KyuJong turned around and his eyes widened. “JOON!”
HyungJoon shrieked as he was suddenly slammed onto his stomach, sharp claws digging into his back. JungMin fired his gun and the demon released an ear-piercing screech, webbed wings unfurling from its back as it leapt into the air, darting around the corner.
“You okay?!” JungMin hauled HyungJoon to his feet, seeing the small rips the claws had made in the back of his shirt. HyungJoon nodded, shaking.
“After it!” KyuJong bolted down the alley after the demon, the other two right on his heels. HyungJoon scrambled to pull out his phone, calling Daniel’s number.
“Since when could these things fly?” JungMin asked, panting as he lengthened his strides to catch up with KyuJong’s.
“No idea!” KyuJong yelled in return. “But it was smaller than the others.”
“A younger demon then?”
“Must be!”
And where would a child demon run if faced with death? Right back to the nest.
“Daniel hyung?” HyungJoon panted as he hurried after the other two, phone to his ear. “We found a demon and are chasing it!”
“Where are you, we’ll be right there!” the older man replied, quickly relaying what HyungJoon had said to the other two with him.
HyungJoon gave him the street names they were passing by. “We think it’s heading back to the nest! It’s flying, but it’s not going high off the ground so we can follow it!”
Daniel repeated what he’d said. Suddenly there was a fumbling sound across the phone, before YoungSaeng’s voice came sharp and clear through the line.
“Fall back, don’t follow it any further!”
“Wait, what? Why? You said to find the nest!”
”Only the baby demons have wings and fly that low to the ground! You FOUND the nest, go back!”
“WHAT?!” HyungJoon skidded to a stop, eyes wide. “KyuJong, JungMin! Stop!”
The other two skidded to a stop, looking back at him. “What is it?” JungMin yelled. “We’re going to lose it!”
“We’re at the nest, we need to go now!”
KyuJong stared at him, then flinched when he saw movement in his side vision. Whirling around, he backed up slowly as, through his silver eye, the shadows between the buildings started to glow with swirling red wisps.
“…Oh God…” he whispered, before grabbing JungMin’s hand and bolting back in the direction they’d come.
Suddenly pain shot up his leg and he fell onto his stomach with a yell. Sharp claws dug into his jeans, dragging him backwards as he lost his grip on JungMin’s hand.
“KYU!” JungMin aimed and fired at the demon dragging him, the creature disappearing with a screech. He and HyungJoon helped KyuJong back to his feet, the Seeker limping as blood slowly soaked through his jeans.
“Let’s get out of here!” They ran as fast as they could, KyuJong struggling to keep up and panting with the pain. There was a horrible screeching behind them, and they knew the demons were following.
Gunshots rang out, HyungJoon lifting his head to see YoungSaeng and HyunJoong standing at the end of the street and firing at the demons chasing the three. Daniel appeared beside them and threw something over their heads; there was an explosion that rocked the ground under their feet, KyuJong crumpling with a choked gasp as his leg refused to support him through it.
“Come on,” JungMin panted, helping him up again and getting the older man onto his back, before standing and hurrying towards the others, HyungJoon right beside him.
“Get away from here,” HyunJoong ordered as they came closer, HyungJoon looking over his shoulder to see a dozen small demons following as well as some adults.
Daniel pulled HyungJoon on, pointing further down the street. “Your brother’s waiting, get to them,” he had to yell to be heard over the demons. HyungJoon nodded quickly and pulling JungMin along with him, the redhead slowing under KyuJong’s weight.
Suddenly, a loud keen rang through the air. When they looked back, the demons were retreating from HyunJoong and YoungSaeng, the two standing their ground with guns out but not firing. The demons were gone in a matter of seconds, KyuJong blinking over JungMin’s shoulder as the overwhelming aura vanished.
“What just happened?” HyungJoon blinked, staring at where the demons had been.
“I have no idea…whatever happened, they’re completely gone,” KyuJong murmured, looking around, and wincing from the pain in his calf.
“We should get you somewhere, that doesn’t look good,” JungMin frowned, watching the blood drip and soak his own jeans.
“I’m fine,” KyuJong murmured, resting his head on the younger man’s shoulder.
“Guys!” KiBum, SooHyun and Kevin were running towards them. “You all okay?” SooHyun yelled. KiBum ran right to his brother, checking him over for injuries.
YoungSaeng held up one hand for quiet, catching their attention. HyunJoong was looking around with a frown, not paying them any notice. After a moment he started to walk towards the wall, pausing in front of it with one hand against the brick and looking up and down its length.
“What’s up with him?” KiBum murmured, frowning. KyuJong shook his head slowly, watching.
HyunJoong walked down the wall away from them, the group curiously following when YoungSaeng did the same. After a moment the Seeker reached a cardboard-covered door, graffiti littering the wood. He pressed his hands against the wood, and then started to pry it away from the door.
HyungJoon blinked owlishly as YoungSaeng started to help. “What’s going on?”
The wood came away from the door, and they all stopped, staring in surprise. There was a small niche between the wood and the door, and inside that niche…were two teenage girls. Alive.
“Hey,” HyunJoong murmured with a small smile, holding out his hands. The smaller girl was being held protectively in the older one’s grasp, both of them dirty with scraped knees and torn edges on their clothes. The smaller one sniffled, eyes watery as she stared at the offered hand before taking it.
“…Where in the world did they come from?” HyungJoon stared with his mouth wide open. HyunJoong helped the younger girl out of the niche, YoungSaeng doing the same with the older one. They couldn’t hear what was whispered to the older girl, but she smiled gratefully and nodded before wrapping her arms around her friend and hugging her tightly.
“They were hiding from the demons,” YoungSaeng told the others softly. “We’re going to bring them both home, here’s our information if you need to reach us.” He held out a slip of paper with a telephone number and an address. “Clean out KyuJong sshi’s wound with holy water, it’ll sting but you don’t want any poison from these creatures infecting it.”
The others nodded, and watched as YoungSaeng and HyunJoong led the two away. “How did he know they were in there?” KiBum asked with wide eyes.
“No idea…” Daniel shook his head. “Looks like I’m going to have to work harder to find something on them. In the meantime, you all head back home, and look after KyuJong.”
“Do you need the hospital?” JungMin asked KyuJong, frowning as they started to walk.
“No, it’s not that deep,” KyuJong shook his head. “Besides, how would we explain this to the doctors?”
“No idea,” JungMin sighed. “So home treatment it is.”
Kevin played with the edge of his shirt nervously as he looked down the street where the demons had come from, glancing at where the girls had been hiding. “Come on Kevin,” KiBum called, his best friend turning and hurrying to catch up.
Part Two
Fandom: SS501, U-KISS, Epik High
Pairing: HyunSaeng, SooBum, implied!KyuMin
Word Count: 14,000
Genre: AU, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence
Summary: 25 years ago, an incident occurred that released unspeakable evil across the world. At the same time, chosen children across the world were born, and at their coming-of-age received a gift called the Sight. These children were chosen to find and erase the evil from the Earth. But what they didn’t know was that they were never left to accomplish this task alone.
A/N: Happy birthday fic for renichifreak <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNNIE~~~~ I really hope you like it, and I don’t know what happened to the prompt >.<;;; Prompt was “Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses”. HUGE thank you to mskatness for betaing and fixing up my awkward sentences~!!!!
Do you believe in divine intervention?
Someone watching over you, keeping you safe?
Not everyone does, and it’s hard to prove what you can’t see. But some people have had those moments, where you should have been hurt…a bully in the hallway, a fall down the stairs, a car crash.
But then the moment passes. A teacher appears and the bully leaves, you place your foot just so you don’t fall, the car swerves to the side just in time.
Is it just chance?
Sometimes.
*****************************
“Another one?!”
“Stop whining, we’ve got work to do!”
“But that’s the fifth one today!”
“I’m sorry if this doesn’t allow for breaks between,” grumbled the older man who pushed by the two squabbling, walking briskly down the street.
Staring after him, JungMin turned around and cuffed the younger off the head, earning a shriek.
“See, now he’s pissed, can’t you stop complaining for one night?”
“I’m sorry,” protested the man beside him, covering his head to avoid being brained. “It’s just these missions give me the creeps.”
“Don’t make me call your brother to come get you,” JungMin rolled his eyes, before turned around to jog after the man who was leaving. “Wait up Kyu!”
“No way are you calling him, he’ll want to help,” HyungJoon protested, running after them.
“Then maybe I should call him, we need all the help we can get, especially when you’re no help at all.”
KyuJong shook his head at them both. “Leave KiBum out of it, he just finished a long day. We can take care of this one by ourselves.” Turning around to continue walking, he smiled as the two continued to bicker in hushed tones. It was always like this, but for all their arguments, they were a tremendous help and he didn’t know what he’d do without them.
“Are you two done? We’re supposed to be following quietly.”
JungMin and HyungJoon both shut up instantly, looking around the area. “Who are we following again?” HyungJoon asked.
KyuJong’s eyes were focused on a figure in the front, weaving between the crowds. To all others around them, it was a normal middle-aged man on his way home after a long day of work, paying no attention to those around him.
But in KyuJong’s single, silver eye, hidden by bangs grown specifically for that purpose, his form was surrounded with taint. A black and red aura curled around him in wisps, and when the man half-turned to avoid bumping into someone walking the other way, normal black eyes were stained over with blood red.
“Just keep quiet, follow behind me and get ready.”
There were those who lived in the city who shouldn’t…those who masqueraded as normal people, and were anything but. None of them were clear on the specifics…their superior mentioned something about a second Pandora’s Box, 25 years ago…but they knew what their duty was.
Because when KyuJong reached puberty and one of his ordinary black eyes turned a startling silver, he had been able to see things no one else could. And like the dozens of other chosen children around the world with what they’d come to call the Sight, he had become part of those whose duty it was to rid the world of these creatures.
The moment came as the man they were following turned into an alley, presumably to head back to a small apartment off the main streets. KyuJong followed after him quietly, JungMin and HyungJoon silent now that they had picked up on whom they were following. For all their jokes, they knew how serious this was.
Serious enough for JungMin to quietly release the safety on the handgun hidden in his jacket. At the same time, HyungJoon pulled out a small spray bottle from his pocket, uncapping it.
The light pop of the cap coming off made the man in front of them pause, not moving for a long moment. KyuJong held out one hand for the other two to stop as well, watching warily from behind his bangs as the dark aura around the ‘human’ started to grow, morph.
There was no mistaking this one.
KyuJong brought down his hand sharply and stepped to one side, JungMin moving into place with practiced ease. The gun came out of his jacket and he aimed, pulling the trigger.
But the bullet never reached its target, the man disappearing on the spot. Startled, KyuJong looked around for the aura again, shifting to press his back against JungMin and HyungJoon’s in a triangle.
“Where is it, Kyu?” JungMin murmured, gun out and ready.
“I’m looking, it’s fast,” KyuJong replied, pushing his bangs out of the way so he could see better, mismatched eyes searching the darkness. He could hear shuffling noises around them, heart rate quickening.
“It’s a narrow alley, it can’t be too far awa-” HyungJoon shrieked as the man appeared right in front of him, face distorted and mouth stretched out in a maniacal grin, razor teeth showing.
The bottle in HyungJoon’s hands was knocked away, the youngest grabbed by his collar and thrown against the wall with a shout. Diving for the bottle, KyuJong picked it up and whirled around just as the man morphed, shedding its human disguise like a second skin to reveal the demon underneath, bone structure twisted and skin dark gray, eyes glowing red.
“Move Joon!” JungMin yelled, firing again. The bullet ricocheted off the wall as the demon disappeared again, going after the redhead and knocking him over.
“Catch!” KyuJong tossed the bottle at HyungJoon who was closest to where the demon was pinning JungMin down, the gun skidding across the ground. HyungJoon fumbled slightly before aiming the bottle at the demon.
“Yah!” He yelled to get the demon’s attention, and the second the creature looked up, he sprayed it with a faceful of holy water.
Shrieking in pain, the demon staggered back and clutched at its face before disappearing. JungMin sat up, one hand against a scratch along his cheek that dripped a small amount of blood.
“Where the hell did it go?”
KyuJong looked around for it, silver eye catching on a flash of red around a corner. “It’s running. Come on!”
“Why can’t we ever get them on the first shot?” HyungJoon whined as he and JungMin got back to their feet and hurried after KyuJong, the older man running after the demon.
They couldn’t let the demon get away; they’d seen what these creatures did to people, tore them into mangled pieces and took on their appearances, masquerading as them. They never let a demon go if they had the choice.
They chased the creature through the alleys, trying to gain some ground, but the demon was fast. KyuJong was glimpsing the aura less and less, straining his vision to catch it.
Finally, he had to stop. “I lost him,” he panted, leaning against the brick wall beside him. JungMin and HyungJoon slowed to a stop beside him, just as out of breath.
“We were so close too,” JungMin groaned, wiping away the blood from his cheek before resting against the wall beside KyuJong.
“Four out of five still isn’t bad,” HyungJoon tried to look on the positive side.
“It should have been five out of five,” KyuJong murmured, looking at the youngest. HyungJoon met his silver eye and swallowed, looking away with a nod.
JungMin watched them both. “Well, let’s head back, I think we’re done for the ni-“
BANG!
The gunshot that rang through the alley startled them all, KyuJong jumping away from the wall and looking around frantically.
“What was that?” HyungJoon asked, eyes wide.
“I have no idea…it came from this direction.” KyuJong took off again, the other two right on his heels.
Turning the different corners, they were just in time to see the demon they had been chasing writhing on the ground. Terrible screeches left it as it slowly dissolved, disappearing from the world. KyuJong stared at the spot as the dark aura completely evaporated.
A man standing at the other end of the alley lowered the gun in his hand, clicking the safety back on and slipping it into his pocket. He observed the three who’d just appeared, lips quirked slightly to one side.
“…Uh…” JungMin stared at him, and at the shorter man standing behind him. They’d never seen these two before.
“Are you part of the Seekers of this city?” asked the man who’d shot the demon, looking at them.
KyuJong took a startled step forward. The Seekers was the name given to those who hunted the demons. At first it had just been the chosen children with the Sight, but that term had grown to include mediums and paranormal investigators like JungMin and HyungJoon. “Yes, we are,” he said carefully, staring at them. “Are you…”
His unfinished question was answered as the dark-haired man behind the first one came forward, brushing his hair out of his eyes to show one silver eye. “We’re traveling Seekers.”
“…Woah,” HyungJoon murmured, staring at them both. The other man had tilted his head to one side, revealing a silver eye as well.
KyuJong snapped out of the startled daze he’d been in, bowing deeply. “My name’s KyuJong, these are my friends JungMin and HyungJoon,” he offered, looking up at them after a moment.
“HyunJoong,” replied the one who’d killed the demon with a nod. “This is my partner YoungSaeng,” he motioned to the shorter man beside him.
“Do you need a place to stay?” KyuJong offered, a little out of his element. They’d never had any Seekers come into the city. It was just their small group of seven. Only two of them, KyuJong and HyungJoon’s little brother KiBum, possessed the Sight; the others were paranormal investigators, mediums, or just best friends who knew far more than they should.
And in one day, two Seekers from the outside world appear, both possessing the Sight.
HyunJoong shook his head. “No, we have our own accommodations. When do you next meet?”
“Tomorrow at noon,” KyuJong replied. That was their next group meeting, to go over any new developments. Well…their next formal meeting anyways. Their group was so small and tight-knit, they met practically every day anyways.
The brown-haired man nodded, watching the three others come closer. “Where?”
“One of our apartments…uh…I can give you the address,” HyungJoon said hesitantly. They weren’t used to people coming in from the outside at all, the youngest fumbling as he got out his wallet to pull out a business card.
Watching them as HyungJoon gave them the card with his address, KyuJong’s eyes continuously went to their own silver ones. He’d only seen the silver mark of their Sight on himself and KiBum, and couldn’t look away. Glancing towards HyunJoong’s silver eye, he blinked in surprise.
His eye…it wasn’t completely silver. It was rimmed with a light rose…like an albino’s pink. Which didn’t make any sense; HyunJoong’s other eye was black, and his complexion was completely off for an albino.
He might have seen very few people with the Sight, but he knew that wasn’t supposed to happen normally.
“We’ll meet you then,” HyunJoong nodded, taking the business card and slipping it into his jacket pocket. He turned and walked away, YoungSaeng observing them for a moment longer before following after him.
KyuJong turned back to the other two to see them as stunned as he felt.
“Daniel’s going to want to know this right away,” HyungJoon said, pulling out his phone to send a text.
“Were we expecting anyone?” KyuJong asked, JungMin shaking his head.
“Not as far as I know…”
“His eye was weird, did you see?” HyungJoon asked, looking up at them. “It wasn’t fully silver like yours, KyuJong hyung.”
“I saw,” KyuJong murmured, leaning against the wall.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we’re not going to figure anything out just standing here,” JungMin sighed. “Let’s get back home, we’re going to see them again soon anyways.”
KyuJong nodded, straightening with a sigh as he brushed his bangs back over his silver eye. “Sleep sounds good right about now.” He glanced back at where the demon had died before turning to head back onto the main streets, his two friends right behind him.
************************
“Is your brother up?”
“No, he’s still sleeping.”
“This late? The others will be over soon!”
“Then you get him up, I do it every day.”
Footsteps came closer to the edge of the bed, and then backed up. HyungJoon mumbled something incoherent into his pillow, burrowing his face in it.
Suddenly someone landed on the bed beside him, half-squishing him, and HyungJoon shrieked, flailing around on his stomach in a lousy attempt to be free. The next thing he knew, he was being rolled out of bed and he landed on the floor with a thud, in a tangled mess of blankets and pillows.
“Time to wake up!” Cracking his eyes open, HyungJoon looked up to see a grinning face far too cheerful for this time in the morning.
“Get off, SooHyun,” HyungJoon groaned, swatting at the man sitting on his legs. “KiBum, get your maniacal boyfriend off of me!”
“Why, he’s having fun,” KiBum chuckled from the doorway, both his black eye and silver eye showing his infinite amusement as SooHyun refused to get up off his older brother. The doorbell rang behind him. “Oh, that must be Kevin.” He padded off.
“KiBum~!” HyungJoon whined, and shrieked again as SooHyun started to tickle him mercilessly.
Heading to the door, KiBum unlocked it again and opened it. Kevin smiled widely at him from the hallway, and then blinked at the dying screams coming from inside the apartment.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, that? SooHyun got here early and woke HyungJoon up.” KiBum stepped aside so his best friend could come in.
The younger man tried not to laugh, eyes dancing. “Your brother’s never going to sleep in again.” He stepped in and slipped out of his shoes before going down the hallway to the living room.
KiBum closed the door and headed after him. “He says that every time, and yet he still does it.” He leaned into his brother’s bedroom, where SooHyun was still tormenting him. “Okay, I think he’s had enough hyung.”
SooHyun rolled off of HyungJoon with a laugh, the older brother groaning in pretend pain as he lay sprawled out on the ground.
The doorbell rang again, and KiBum went back to get it, opening the door for KyuJong and JungMin. “You just missed SooHyun waking HyungJoon hyung up.”
“Oh darn,” JungMin pouted, KyuJong laughing as they stepped in. By the time they got to the living room, HyungJoon had appeared in proper clothes, sulking as he sat as far away as he could from his brother’s boyfriend.
“Is Daniel hyung going to be here soon?” Kevin asked, curled up on the couch and playing with the TV remote. “There have been a lot of demons lately, right KiBum hyung?”
“Seven last week,” KiBum sighed, making a face as SooHyun pulled him down to sit beside him before settling against the older man.
“We got you beat, five yesterday,” HyungJoon groaned, trying to settle back down for sleep. “I’m running out of Holy Water.”
“Not to mention the proper bullets, they’re murder to get,” JungMin grumbled, tapping his fingers against his knees.
“We’ll ask Daniel hyung to help us get some more, he’s got all the connections and I don’t like you going into those shady shops,” KyuJong frowned. “And as for Holy Water, it’s hard finding a priest with a strong enough faith to bless the water. I really don’t know how Daniel finds these people.”
“He’s definitely got all the right connections,” Kevin smiled, resting his head back against the couch and closing his eyes.
The doorbell rang again, KiBum standing with a sigh when he saw HyungJoon wasn’t moving. “Well, we’ll be able to ask him in a few seconds.” He padded over to the door, unlocking it again.
When he opened it though, it wasn’t their superior he saw. Eyes widening at the two men, KiBum quickly ducked his head slightly so his hair fell in front of his silver eye, hiding it.
“Uh…can I help you?”
The shorter one of the two stepped forward with a polite smile. “We’re here for a meeting.”
“A…” KiBum trailed off, eyes widening when the dark-haired man’s head tilted to one side and a silver eye peeked out from behind long bangs. Staring, KiBum stepped back after a moment. “Uh…Hyung!” He yelled behind him.
HyungJoon scrambled to see what was going on, peeking around the corner. His eyes widened to see the two standing outside. “O-oh! YoungSaeng sshi…HyunJoong sshi…”
At the familiar names, KyuJong got up from his seat and hurried to the front door. He hadn’t thought the Seekers would actually show up, some part of him wondering if the encounter had been real. “KiBum ah, it’s okay, let them in. It’s nice to see you both again,” he bowed politely as KiBum shuffled back out of the way, YoungSaeng and HyunJoong stepping into the entrance.
“Hope we’re not interrupting,” HyunJoong smiled, taking off his shoes.
“No, our leader hasn’t arrived yet so the meeting hasn’t begun,” KyuJong shook his head. The others had gotten up to see the new arrivals too, looking utterly confused.
KiBum moved away from the door, grabbing his older brother’s sleeve on the way by and tugging him back towards Kevin and SooHyun. SooHyun was looking at the two newcomers in confusion, Kevin’s lips parted and eyes wide in shock.
“Who are they?” KiBum asked his brother in a hushed whisper.
“Uh…two traveling Seekers,” HyungJoon swallowed, glancing at the others. “You okay, Kev?”
“Y-yeah,” Kevin swallowed, blinking as he snapped out of it. “They have silver eyes too.”
“Yeah, they helped us out with one of the demons yesterday,” HyungJoon continued, glancing over his shoulder nervously at the two new Seekers who were bowing politely as KyuJong scooted around them to close the door again.
HyunJoong looked around at the people present as they all moved back to the living room. “This is all the Seekers in Seoul?” he frowned lightly, glancing at YoungSaeng. “We heard there were more.”
“It’s only us,” KyuJong shook his head, motioning for them to sit on the couch as JungMin and HyungJoon got more chairs out of the bedrooms for everyone. “Daniel sshi, our leader, says there used to be more but then the amount of demons skyrocketed and the Seekers either left for their own protection, or were killed.”
HyunJoong nodded slowly, looking at each person in the room in turn. “How many with the Sight?”
“Right now, only myself and KiBum ah,” KyuJong replied, motioning to the younger brother. “JungMin ah and HyungJoon ah are paranormal investigators and SooHyun ah’s our medium.”
Nodding in understanding as each person was named, HyunJoong’s gaze went to Kevin, whose own eyes widened slightly. “And him?”
“A nosey best friend with horrible timing,” KiBum chuckled, and Kevin smiled nervously, not breaking HyunJoong’s gaze.
Nodding slowly, HyunJoong looked away after a moment, turning back to KyuJong who seemed to be the group’s spokesperson with their leader missing. “You say there’s been a high amount of demons in the area?”
KyuJong nodded. “Even with exorcising an average of three demons a day between both teams, the number is constantly increasing. We can’t keep up with only two teams.” He, HyungJoon and JungMin were in one team, with KiBum, SooHyun and Kevin (after much arguing) in the other. Daniel was far too busy keeping tabs on everything to join a team himself; they rarely saw him.
YoungSaeng pursed his lips, leaning forward with his elbows against his knees. “We have a theory about that, but we’d like to wait until your lea-“
The doorbell rang, and HyungJoon laughed nervously. “That must be Daniel sshi.” He hurried to get it, clearly not comfortable in the newcomers’ presences. YoungSaeng was okay, but HyunJoong’s stare was beginning to become unnerving. Especially with that strange, silver eye rimmed in rose.
The door clicked open, and there was hushed conversation in the entrance way before Daniel and HyungJoon reappeared a moment later. “You both must be HyunJoong and YoungSaeng sshi,” Daniel smiled politely as he bowed. The two on the couch stood to return the bow, only sitting back down once Daniel had taken a seat.
“What brings you both to Seoul?” Daniel asked, his hands clasped in front of him as he smiled at the two.
YoungSaeng spoke up first, glancing at HyunJoong before turning back to Daniel. “We’ve been working throughout South Korea, and have noticed a pattern in traveling demons. They all seem to be originating from this city. There was a similar incident in Japan a year back, and after comparing both cases, we believe we have found the reason why there are so many demons in the Seoul area.”
Daniel frowned at that, the others listening intently. “And that would be…?”
HyunJoong glanced around the group again, before looking back at Daniel. “We believe there is a demon nest here, in Seoul.”
“A…nest?” HyungJoon looked nervous; that didn’t sound good. KyuJong looked confused, but both JungMin and SooHyun had paled.
“Are you serious?” SooHyun asked, all joking gone as he leaned forward.
“Very,” HyunJoong nodded.
“That’s…that’s insane,” JungMin murmured. “We can’t take on a whole nest on our own.”
“What are you all talking about?” KiBum frowned. Kevin picked at his sleeve nervously.
“You’ve all heard the story about Pandora’s Box, and how a second box was opened to release the demons into this world, right?” YoungSaeng asked mildly, looking at them each in turn. “The demons flocked to centers of power in the world, and set up nests there. Places to have their young, where the energy in those areas would help them grow strong, even stronger than their parents. It takes many years for a nest to be completed, but once it is, the amount of demon offspring in the area doubles…triples.”
“And you believe the nest here has been completed,” Daniel murmured.
“No,” HyunJoong shook his head. “If it had been complete, you would all be dead.”
HyungJoon paled and attached himself to his brother’s arm. KiBum scowled and tried to detach him, but gave up quickly, shaken by the news.
“How much time do we have?” Daniel asked seriously, eyes narrowed.
“Maybe about a month,” HyunJoong replied. “In that time, we have to destroy the nest itself, or Seoul will become the demons’ playground.”
“But we don’t have enough people for that,” KyuJong protested. “And the other Seeker groups have no energy to spare, they’re being overrun by demons too.” Demons that had come from Seoul.
“We don’t even know the first thing about taking on a nest,” Daniel shook his head.
“But we do,” YoungSaeng smiled at them. “We’ll be sticking around for the month, and helping you with the problem.”
“How do you know how to deal with a nest?” JungMin frowned.
“Because we’re the ones who destroyed the nest in Japan,” HyunJoong answered simply, before standing. “It’s been a while since we were in Seoul. We’ll need maps of the city, and each of you to mark exactly where you’ve been spotting demons in the last five weeks.”
The others looked at each other in surprise, before KiBum got up and ran to get a map. JungMin and HyungJoon cleared off the coffee table to give them enough room, and went to get markers.
“This is going to be interesting,” JungMin sighed to HyungJoon, twirling markers around his fingers as he looked back out into the living room.
“Interesting is definitely one thing to call it,” HyungJoon winced, eyes worried. “I don’t want KiBum anywhere near this nest.”
“You can’t coddle him forever, and he’s taken out a number of demons on his own,” JungMin shook his head. “Besides, he has SooHyun and Kevin, and those two are practically glued to his side every second of the day. They’ll keep him safe.”
“Yeah,” HyungJoon smiled nervously, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Okay, let’s get this started.”
They headed out into the living room and sat down around the table. The group spent the next hour circling spots on the map where they’d seen demons, hoping to find a pattern. There had been a lot of demons around, and Daniel had to get out their notes on the past few meetings to make sure they had their facts straight. It was a good thing they usually took notes on where all the encounters were.
Finally HyunJoong leaned back, looking at the map. “Is that all?” It was unsettling. There were so many marks on the map they could hardly read the street names.
“Think so,” KyuJong nodded, going over the list in his head.
“Hope so,” HyungJoon shivered.
YoungSaeng leaned over, mismatched eyes scanning the map before tracing out a shape with his fingers. “The majority of the sightings are in or around this area.” It was right in the middle of downtown.
“They couldn’t hide a demon nest there, they’re high-class buildings, too much security,” KiBum frowned.
“You’re thinking about this area, KiBum,” SooHyun leaned over with one arm around KiBum’s waist, tracing out half of the area YoungSaeng had indicated. “Here though…” He indicated the rest of the area.
“That’s the industrial park, isn’t it?” JungMin asked. “Empty containers and rusty buildings.”
“Perfect for a demon nest,” HyunJoong nodded.
“That’s still a big area to cover,” Daniel murmured, gaze thoughtful.
“Considerably smaller than the rest of Seoul,” HyunJoong shrugged.
“What now then?” KyuJong asked, looking at them. “How are we going to deal with the nest? You said you’ve done this before…do you really think it can be done with just us?”
“Not just you, precisely…we’re going to need to reach some of our own contacts,” HyunJoong shook his head. “That will take the majority of the time. For now though, we need to do some reconnaissance work.”
“We have to find out exactly where the demon nest is, how many demons are in it, and how many are at an age where they can attack once we move in,” YoungSaeng picked up, eyes narrowed at the map. “The bigger the nest, the more power we’ll need.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get rid of them?” Daniel asked.
“I’d say two weeks at the earliest,” HyunJoong replied, looking up at their leader who was frowning.
“That’s cutting it close.”
“We know,” YoungSaeng sighed. “If we’d picked up on the fact there was a nest here earlier, we would have dealt with this long before now. But there’s no choice, we’re going to have to proceed carefully. There’s been too many deaths as there is, we can’t afford more.”
“We’ll be okay, right?” HyungJoon asked, looking around the room and sticking close to his brother.
“As long as you do what we say, you’ll be fine,” HyunJoong smiled before standing. “YoungSaeng and I have some work to do, when are you all available to search for the nest?”
They looked through their schedules and determined it would have to be in two days. The threat of a demon nest in Seoul was more than enough excuse to skip out on work suddenly, if only they could explain so to their bosses. KiBum and Kevin had a day off from school, so they at least were in the clear.
Getting up to see the two to the door, KyuJong and Daniel thanked them for coming, promising to meet them at the arranged date and time. Only once YoungSaeng and HyunJoong had left and the door was closed did they relax a little.
“A demon nest, seriously?” KiBum murmured, a little overwhelmed as the two went to sit down again.
“This is beyond anything we’ve ever dealt with, we’ll need to be careful,” Daniel shook his head, and then looked at them all. “Stay vigilant while out on the streets, we can’t lose any of you, understood?”
They all nodded. “Who are they, though?” JungMin asked. “I’ve never heard of traveling Seekers before.”
“Neither have I,” Daniel sighed. “I’m going to do a little background research on those two, in the meantime they seem to know what they’re talking about so follow after them.”
KiBum nodded, not entirely happy about following two strangers, and it showed in his face.
“HyunJoong sshi…his silver eye was weird,” SooHyun frowned. “It wasn’t completely silver.”
“Pink around the edges,” HyungJoon nodded.
“It might just be an alternation in the gene that gives you the Sight,” Daniel sighed, shaking his head. “But I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Didn’t you say the Sight was ‘divine intervention’, or something?” KyuJong asked.
“Considering the only ones with the Sight were a few dozen children born within five years of the second Pandora’s Box, with absolutely nothing in common with each other, that’s what we suppose it is,” Daniel nodded.
“What ‘divine intervention’,” JungMin grumbled, blowing his hair out of his face. “If Heaven wanted to help us, they would do something more than give a handful of people something else to be bullied about and enough demon sightings for nightmares the rest of their lives.”
KyuJong sank a little lower in his seat with a sigh. “I don’t understand it either.”
“Maybe we’re supposed to deal with this on our own,” Kevin murmured quietly, looking down at the floor. “If it was a human who opened Pandora’s Box.”
“We’ll never know, and asking questions like that will only frustrate you all,” Daniel shook his head, standing. “We will do what we can with the help we were given. Now, go out there and see if you can find anymore demons.”
“Yes sir,” SooHyun jumped to his feet, pulling KiBum up with him. Kevin stood reluctantly as well.
“I have work,” HyungJoon sighed, pouting a little.
“So do I,” KyuJong shook his head. “We’ll go demon-hunting tomorrow night.”
Daniel nodded with a small smile. “Don’t look so down, KyuJong,” he said, ruffling KyuJong’s hair a little. “We’ll figure this out.”
The younger man tried a smile as he pulled his hair down in front of his silver eye again. “Yeah…”
“Oh, Daniel hyung, we’re going to need more Holy Water and ammo,” JungMin said, remembering.
“I’ll get you some for when you go nest-hunting,” Daniel nodded with a smile.
Their leader left with a wave, the youngest three getting ready to do the same. “Stay safe,” HyungJoon frowned, passing KiBum his pack with Holy Water sprays and extra gun cartridges.
“We will hyung,” KiBum smiled at his older brother to reassure him. He squawked when HyungJoon pulled him into a hug before returning it, patting the older man’s back until he was let go.
“We’ll make sure he comes back in one piece,” SooHyun grinned, Kevin nodding along beside him. The youngest member of their group looked slightly troubled though.
The three of them filed out, KiBum closing the door behind them. HyungJoon dropped down onto the couch with a sigh, rubbing his temples.
“They’ll be fine Joon,” KyuJong smiled sympathetically as he rubbed his friend’s back. The older brother was like this whenever KiBum was out hunting demons, only relaxing when the younger brother texted him to let him know he was back home safe and sound.
“I know, it’s just this whole news about a demon nest…” HyungJoon sighed, shaking his head.
“We’ll get rid of it,” JungMin said firmly. “Right now though, we’ve got work, and if I remember correctly, your shift starts in twenty minutes.”
HyungJoon looked at the clock and squawked before bolting from the couch, running to get ready.
KyuJong blinked at his fast departure before chuckling, shaking his head as he smiled at JungMin. “We should get ready too.”
“Yeah,” JungMin chuckled, standing and stretching out. “And get lots of rest, so we’re ready for nest-hunting.”
“Right,” KyuJong smiled, standing as well. “And Min?”
“Yeah?”
“I haven’t had nightmares in a while.”
“Am I taking credit for that?” JungMin grinned over his shoulder at the older man.
“Conceited,” KyuJong rolled his eyes and pushed the redhead’s shoulder as he walked by to the door, smiling as JungMin laughed at him.
******************************
“Okay, how are we doing this?” KyuJong sighed, hands on his hips as he looked down the long, dusty street. It was out of business hours so the industrial park was deserted, the sun low on the horizon.
Daniel passed out more Holy Water bottles and gun cartridges to the others, JungMin undoing the safety on his gun with a click. KiBum watched the surrounding areas warily, long bangs tucked behind one ear so both eyes were visible.
“We need to be done and gone before the sun sets completely,” HyunJoong told them, leaning against a wall with his arms folded across his chest. His silver-rose eye was eerie in the near-darkness. “Once it goes down, all the demons will wake up.”
“Won’t that make it easier to find them?” HyungJoon looked over at him.
“Yes, but the goal is to be alive to tell about it,” YoungSaeng sighed.
“Okay, so sunset is in two hours,” Daniel frowned. “Is that enough time?”
“It will have to be, we had to wait until the area was clear,” HyunJoong nodded. “So we’re going to split up. YoungSaeng and I will take this part of the park.” He held out the map so that they could see where he was indicating.
“My team will take the middle,” KyuJong said, pointing.
“That means we’re taking the rest,” KiBum nodded, glancing to his boyfriend and best friend for confirmation.
“I will go with you both, to even out the numbers,” Daniel said, looking to YoungSaeng and HyunJoong. They both nodded, YoungSaeng frowning slightly.
“If you find anything suspicious, call right away,” YoungSaeng told them sternly. “If you need to run, then run, don’t try and fight.” KyuJong nodded unhappily.
The group split up, heading into different areas of the park. HyungJoon shivered at how spooky the place was at this time of the evening, sticking close to JungMin and KyuJong. The wind howled as it blew through the rows of buildings of their section of the park, rusting metal structures that hadn’t been used in years.
“Do you think we’ll actually be able to take down a whole nest?” HyungJoon murmured, looking at the other two nervously.
“They say we can, so we have at least a chance,” KyuJong replied quietly, eyes scanning the growing darkness for any sign of an aura.
“They said we could with some contacts of theirs. Who are these contacts? Other Seekers?” JungMin asked, frowning.
“No idea, but they must be, who else would be able to deal with demons?” HyungJoon sighed. “I don’t like this. They both seem a little…strange to me.”
“Did Daniel hyung find anything on them?” JungMin asked.
“No, as far as I know he didn’t. Well, we can’t expect him to find anything in only two days, right?”
“Still-”
“Both of you, quiet,” KyuJong hissed suddenly, both younger men shutting up instantly. The older man’s gaze was trained on a spot where he’d seen, for a split second, a red wisp.
JungMin took out his gun, eyes narrowed as he looked where KyuJong was looking. The older man advanced slowly, heart pounding in his throat.
By the time they’d reached the corner though, there was no sign of an aura. KyuJong looked around them, and groaned in frustration.
“Lost it?” JungMin murmured.
“Yeah, I thought it was-” KyuJong turned around and his eyes widened. “JOON!”
HyungJoon shrieked as he was suddenly slammed onto his stomach, sharp claws digging into his back. JungMin fired his gun and the demon released an ear-piercing screech, webbed wings unfurling from its back as it leapt into the air, darting around the corner.
“You okay?!” JungMin hauled HyungJoon to his feet, seeing the small rips the claws had made in the back of his shirt. HyungJoon nodded, shaking.
“After it!” KyuJong bolted down the alley after the demon, the other two right on his heels. HyungJoon scrambled to pull out his phone, calling Daniel’s number.
“Since when could these things fly?” JungMin asked, panting as he lengthened his strides to catch up with KyuJong’s.
“No idea!” KyuJong yelled in return. “But it was smaller than the others.”
“A younger demon then?”
“Must be!”
And where would a child demon run if faced with death? Right back to the nest.
“Daniel hyung?” HyungJoon panted as he hurried after the other two, phone to his ear. “We found a demon and are chasing it!”
“Where are you, we’ll be right there!” the older man replied, quickly relaying what HyungJoon had said to the other two with him.
HyungJoon gave him the street names they were passing by. “We think it’s heading back to the nest! It’s flying, but it’s not going high off the ground so we can follow it!”
Daniel repeated what he’d said. Suddenly there was a fumbling sound across the phone, before YoungSaeng’s voice came sharp and clear through the line.
“Fall back, don’t follow it any further!”
“Wait, what? Why? You said to find the nest!”
”Only the baby demons have wings and fly that low to the ground! You FOUND the nest, go back!”
“WHAT?!” HyungJoon skidded to a stop, eyes wide. “KyuJong, JungMin! Stop!”
The other two skidded to a stop, looking back at him. “What is it?” JungMin yelled. “We’re going to lose it!”
“We’re at the nest, we need to go now!”
KyuJong stared at him, then flinched when he saw movement in his side vision. Whirling around, he backed up slowly as, through his silver eye, the shadows between the buildings started to glow with swirling red wisps.
“…Oh God…” he whispered, before grabbing JungMin’s hand and bolting back in the direction they’d come.
Suddenly pain shot up his leg and he fell onto his stomach with a yell. Sharp claws dug into his jeans, dragging him backwards as he lost his grip on JungMin’s hand.
“KYU!” JungMin aimed and fired at the demon dragging him, the creature disappearing with a screech. He and HyungJoon helped KyuJong back to his feet, the Seeker limping as blood slowly soaked through his jeans.
“Let’s get out of here!” They ran as fast as they could, KyuJong struggling to keep up and panting with the pain. There was a horrible screeching behind them, and they knew the demons were following.
Gunshots rang out, HyungJoon lifting his head to see YoungSaeng and HyunJoong standing at the end of the street and firing at the demons chasing the three. Daniel appeared beside them and threw something over their heads; there was an explosion that rocked the ground under their feet, KyuJong crumpling with a choked gasp as his leg refused to support him through it.
“Come on,” JungMin panted, helping him up again and getting the older man onto his back, before standing and hurrying towards the others, HyungJoon right beside him.
“Get away from here,” HyunJoong ordered as they came closer, HyungJoon looking over his shoulder to see a dozen small demons following as well as some adults.
Daniel pulled HyungJoon on, pointing further down the street. “Your brother’s waiting, get to them,” he had to yell to be heard over the demons. HyungJoon nodded quickly and pulling JungMin along with him, the redhead slowing under KyuJong’s weight.
Suddenly, a loud keen rang through the air. When they looked back, the demons were retreating from HyunJoong and YoungSaeng, the two standing their ground with guns out but not firing. The demons were gone in a matter of seconds, KyuJong blinking over JungMin’s shoulder as the overwhelming aura vanished.
“What just happened?” HyungJoon blinked, staring at where the demons had been.
“I have no idea…whatever happened, they’re completely gone,” KyuJong murmured, looking around, and wincing from the pain in his calf.
“We should get you somewhere, that doesn’t look good,” JungMin frowned, watching the blood drip and soak his own jeans.
“I’m fine,” KyuJong murmured, resting his head on the younger man’s shoulder.
“Guys!” KiBum, SooHyun and Kevin were running towards them. “You all okay?” SooHyun yelled. KiBum ran right to his brother, checking him over for injuries.
YoungSaeng held up one hand for quiet, catching their attention. HyunJoong was looking around with a frown, not paying them any notice. After a moment he started to walk towards the wall, pausing in front of it with one hand against the brick and looking up and down its length.
“What’s up with him?” KiBum murmured, frowning. KyuJong shook his head slowly, watching.
HyunJoong walked down the wall away from them, the group curiously following when YoungSaeng did the same. After a moment the Seeker reached a cardboard-covered door, graffiti littering the wood. He pressed his hands against the wood, and then started to pry it away from the door.
HyungJoon blinked owlishly as YoungSaeng started to help. “What’s going on?”
The wood came away from the door, and they all stopped, staring in surprise. There was a small niche between the wood and the door, and inside that niche…were two teenage girls. Alive.
“Hey,” HyunJoong murmured with a small smile, holding out his hands. The smaller girl was being held protectively in the older one’s grasp, both of them dirty with scraped knees and torn edges on their clothes. The smaller one sniffled, eyes watery as she stared at the offered hand before taking it.
“…Where in the world did they come from?” HyungJoon stared with his mouth wide open. HyunJoong helped the younger girl out of the niche, YoungSaeng doing the same with the older one. They couldn’t hear what was whispered to the older girl, but she smiled gratefully and nodded before wrapping her arms around her friend and hugging her tightly.
“They were hiding from the demons,” YoungSaeng told the others softly. “We’re going to bring them both home, here’s our information if you need to reach us.” He held out a slip of paper with a telephone number and an address. “Clean out KyuJong sshi’s wound with holy water, it’ll sting but you don’t want any poison from these creatures infecting it.”
The others nodded, and watched as YoungSaeng and HyunJoong led the two away. “How did he know they were in there?” KiBum asked with wide eyes.
“No idea…” Daniel shook his head. “Looks like I’m going to have to work harder to find something on them. In the meantime, you all head back home, and look after KyuJong.”
“Do you need the hospital?” JungMin asked KyuJong, frowning as they started to walk.
“No, it’s not that deep,” KyuJong shook his head. “Besides, how would we explain this to the doctors?”
“No idea,” JungMin sighed. “So home treatment it is.”
Kevin played with the edge of his shirt nervously as he looked down the street where the demons had come from, glancing at where the girls had been hiding. “Come on Kevin,” KiBum called, his best friend turning and hurrying to catch up.
Part Two