お帰り [Welcome Home] - Chapter Eleven
Title: お帰り [Welcome Home]
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 11/?
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
And if you haven't seen it already, we have another lovely HyunSaeng Fanart by Curione~~~ <33333
A/N: KyuJong and HyunJoong are played by curionenene , while JungMin and YoungSaeng are played by yeonah .
Snapping a picture and deciding that he better get out of the stairwell before someone came up from the dungeons, JungMin carefully eased himself back to the door and opened it, slipping back out into the hallway.
Turning around, he yelped and ducked to avoid a bullet between the eyes as he startled a hunter who had been walking by that precise second. Kicking out, JungMin knocked their feet from under them and took off down the hallway, heading back the way they had came.
The hunter must have sounded the alarm, because that was loud, JungMin wincing and covering his ears as it echoed down the hallway. "Kyu? Where are you?" He asked into the earpiece, hiding around a corner.
“Hiding in a cupboard.” KyuJong hissed back - he’d gotten the rudest shock in his life when the alarm rang and knew that it would be only seconds before all the hunters ran out. He had barely dived into the cupboard in time. “What the hell did you do, Min?”
"Nothing," JungMin protested. "I found the stairwell and someone snuck up on me." He quickly fiddled with the cell phone in his hands and sent the pictures to his email in case the phone was smashed. "The pictures are all on email now. Where are you?"
He straightened and started towards where KyuJong had said he'd go earlier, and nearly smashed into the hunter he'd startled before. Dropping to the ground, JungMin avoided a knife in the chest and pulled out his own switchblade, tackling the man over and covering his mouth before slitting his throat.
KyuJong sighed, rubbing his face and forcing his irritation down. This wasn’t him - it was the blasted ego that all ankou were afflicted by, and if he had completed his seal ring he wouldn’t have gotten ahead of himself and agreed to this stupid plan. “Don’t worry about me, Min. It’s too dangerous where I am. Too many hunters. Just get out. I’ll meet you at our apartment.”
"Are you kidding? All someone has to do is open that cupboard and you're stuck. I'll come get you." Straightening and looking around for more hunters, JungMin hurriedly pulled the dead man's cloak off and threw it on, hoping that from a distance at least he wouldn't be given away. Ignoring the blood staining his fingers and the collar of the cloak, JungMin stood and ran in the direction KyuJong had gone in.
“Min? No! Don’t! It’s too-ack!” KyuJong yelped when the door of the cupboard he was in suddenly opened and his eyes were assaulted by the sudden light. Looking up, he saw two hunters looking down at him in surprise. They hadn’t quite decided what to make of him yet it seemed…
Crap. KyuJong cursed before he quickly pushed his way through them while they were distracted, hoping that there was no one else in the corridor, only to crash straight into a whole group of hunters.
Okay…this was not good.
JungMin knew he was getting closer when he saw more hunters. Thankfully, the fact that he was wearing one of their own cloaks seemed to cause their eyes to gloss over him for the most part. Hoping they wouldn't get a good look at his face, the human ran towards the center of the commotion.
YoungSaeng tried to peer over the tall hunters to see what was going on. Why had the alarm sounded?
Suddenly, he got a face-full of a familiar scent through all the human odors...ankou.
"What the hell?" he muttered, eyes widening. Looking around at the other hunters, and seeing they were all distracted, the felinefolk took advantage of his proximity to HyunJoong and yanked the hunter down a little so he could whisper into the man's ear. "The ankou's here," he hissed frantically.
“What?” HyunJoong growled under his breath, looking up to try to spot the ankou in the midst of all the hunters. “Where?”
He needn’t had asked, for at that moment, the crowd parted as two hunters carrying the struggling ankou walked past HyunJoong and YoungSaeng.
“Okay…” HyunJoong whispered to YoungSaeng, entirely unsure as what to do. “Now what?”
YoungSaeng stared at the ankou as he passed, then looked up at HyunJoong. "They can't take him," he whispered back insistently. "You know what they would do to him." An ankou wouldn't be killed. An ankou would be controlled. They couldn't let that happen...
The felinefolk's hands curled into fists. They could kill every non-human in the city with the power of an ankou.
HyunJoong bit his lip - his thoughts ran along the same line as YoungSaeng’s. Well…so much for all their hard work…
“Seems like there’s no helping it…” HyunJoong muttered before he stepped out, putting a shoulder on one of the hunters who had KyuJong captive. “Hey.”
The hunter looked up at HyunJoong in disgust. "What?" He snapped.
YoungSaeng started to move to the side subtly, and paused when he noticed red in the corner of his vision. Turning his head slightly, he saw the ankou's human master, wearing the cloak of a hunter and focused on his partner. Seeing the redhead glance around quickly, his gaze falling on YoungSaeng and his cat ears, the felinefolk stared at him and mouthed 'wait' while all the hunters were distracted before turning back to HyunJoong.
HyunJoong smiled winningly at the hunter and laughed lightly as if nothing was wrong and he wasn’t about to totally blow their cover. “Well…nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that I can’t let you take that ankou.”
“And…why not?” The hunter stared at HyunJoong in confusion - so far none of the others had caught on yet either.
“Well…because…ah, to heck with it. Just let go.” And without further ado, he punched the hunter hard in the stomach, causing him to fall on his knees, letting go of the ankou.
YoungSaeng was there in an instant, knocking the second hunter to the ground and landing on his chest, a hard hit to the head knocking him out. Pushing the ankou towards his human master, his eyes glowed golden as he yanked his coat off and threw it on the first hunter that started for HyunJoong, blinding him so that the felinefolk could swipe his feet out from under him.
JungMin automatically ran forward to catch KyuJong when the felinefolk pushed him away from the center of the group, pulling KyuJong behind him before he slashed out at the nearest hunter, hair falling into his face.
So then…the felinefolk and his master were on their side?!
No time to think. The hunters were snapping out of their stunned shock.
HyunJoong’s gun was out, taking down whoever he could as he ran towards JungMin, gesturing at them to follow him. They needed to get out of here…and fast. “Come on!”
KyuJong blinked, confused at exactly at just what happened. He had barely the time to compose himself before another hunter launched himself at JungMin. His eyes flashed silver and the hunter fell dead before them.
Damn, there were too many questions KyuJong needed an answer to, but this wasn’t the time…“Min!” He tugged at the human’s hand pointing in HyunJoong’s direction. “We gotta go!”
JungMin looked back at KyuJong, nodding and following after the hunter with the ankou's hand held tightly in his own.
YoungSaeng followed after them, distracting the hunters who followed with quick maneuvers around them, taking full advantage of his agility. Suddenly in an attempt to catch the felinefolk, someone grabbed his tail and pain raced through his body.
Shrieking, YoungSaeng kicked backwards and was let go, tumbling to the ground before he got up and ran after his master and the two anti-hunters.
HyunJoong heard the shriek and he immediately turned around to see what had happened. It was like this that he didn’t notice the hunter coming up from his right, a menacing gun aimed at his head.
“Watch out!” KyuJong cried out before his eyes flashed silver again. The hunter too, fell dead, but at a price. KyuJong grunted as he nearly fell forward, exhaustion suddenly hitting him.
JungMin moved to support KyuJong when his partner nearly faceplanted, automatically wrapping one of the ankou's arms around his shoulders. "Need me to carry you?" he asked, taking out his gun instead of his switchblade and firing at a hunter in their way.
KyuJong shook his head, managing to get his feet moving at least a little. “I’m…fine…just support…them.”
YoungSaeng's tail felt like it was on fire, the pain disorientating, but he couldn't stop to check it. Instead, he put on a burst of speed and overshot the other three, slamming full-force into a hunter who had moved to close the door on them and sending both of them into the wall.
“YoungSaeng!” HyunJoong cried out, loosing a barrage of bullets at any hunter who dared come near the felinefolk. Rushing forward, he grabbed his partner, holding him under his arm and motioning at JungMin and KyuJong to get out the door now.
The felinefolk held on to HyunJoong tightly, panting a little. His gaze went from JungMin and KyuJong as they hurried out the door, down to his tail. He'd been cut, blood slowly dripping from the tip of his tail from a long cut that went halfway down it's length. Like his ears, his tail was extremely sensitive, and it was suddenly all he could do to hold on to his master. At least it hadn't been severed.
Seeing a hunter coming up, YoungSaeng grabbed HyunJoong's hand, the one holding the gun, both their hands overlapping as he swung the man's arm around to aim and pressed the trigger.
HyunJoong had been concentrating on getting KyuJong and JungMin out of the door so he hadn’t noticed the hunter coming up. Letting out a small yelp as YoungSaeng suddenly grabbed his arm, he quickly relaxed, trusting that the felinefolk had a good reason to do this, and kept his eyes out for any other threats coming along.
Using HyunJoong's arm and gun to take out another hunter, YoungSaeng pulled his master towards the door. "Let's go," he panted.
Outside, JungMin shot at the hunters standing guard on the streets, his free arm wrapped around KyuJong's waist to keep the ankou standing. "Come on, we're just about out," he murmured to his partner.
KyuJong nodded, closing his eyes and gathering as much energy as he could, just in case they needed it for one more kill in order to get out.
“Damn.” HyunJoong only now noticed YoungSaeng’s wound as he nearly slipped on a puddle of blood that had distinctly trailed up to YoungSaeng’s tail. He bit his lip, tightening his hold on YoungSaeng and practically lifted the felinefolk up, keeping YoungSaeng’s tail right off the ground as he began to run forward. “Hang on.”
Squeaking when he was lifted up off the ground, YoungSaeng opened his mouth to protest and gave up when another wave of dizziness hit him. Instead he buried his face in HyunJoong's shirt and nodded.
Seeing the hunter and the felinefolk leaving the building, JungMin shot at one more person in their way before shifting so that he could pull KyuJong onto his back. "Come on, up you go." He hoisted the ankou up and ran after the other two.
HyunJoong ran as fast as he could - or rather as fast as he could without losing JungMin and KyuJong. They were out of the building, but weren’t out of the woods yet. It was a few more alleyways before they could get to the secret passage that would lead them safely to an organization safe house. That is…if there were no hunters waiting for them there.
JungMin followed after HyunJoong, careful not to accidentally dump the ankou on his back. There were hunters following them, he could hear them.
Breathing unevenly, YoungSaeng slowly opened his eyes again and peeked over HyunJoong's shoulder behind them. Damn...the hunters were too close. The other two weren't fast enough, the human hampered by the ankou on his back.
"They're going to catch up," he whispered, fingers curling into HyunJoong's shirt. They needed a distraction. Looking around them, YoungSaeng's attention was drawn up to the rooftops.
Well, there were no crates this time, but clotheslines would be distraction enough.
The pain in his tail could wait. "I'll meet you at the safe house," YoungSaeng said, then before HyunJoong could say anything the felinefolk disappeared, leaving an armful of clothes instead as the black kitten dropped to the ground and darted into the shadows.
“Hey!” HyunJoong hissed as YoungSaeng darted out of sight before he could even protest. Growling in frustration, HyunJoong knew that he had no choice but to let YoungSaeng go.
Gesturing frantically at the other two to follow him, HyunJoong ran as quietly as he could to the junction, before pointing them in the other direction. “Go straight down and turn into the fourth door on the right. Someone will be there…just say who you are…and be careful! Now go!”
JungMin nodded, panting a little as he glanced behind them before running in the direction he was told. Who were those two, and why were they helping them? Then, it occurred to JungMin that they were heading right for one of the safe houses...how had the hunter known?
Did they know the locations of all the safehouses?
"Kyu, you hanging on?" he asked, breathing unevenly as he ran towards the secret passage that would bring them to safety.
The hunters chasing after them hurried along, catching up gradually. The ones in the front started to aim, bullets taking out a chunk of the wall next to HyunJoong.
Suddenly there was a dull thwack and a pile of clothing fell on the hunters in the front, causing them to crash into each other and fall. YoungSaeng ran along the balconies above them, snapping the wires of any clothesline he could reach. Several times he nearly tumbled off, lacking in balance with his tail injured. The black kitten raced along, jumping over the gaps and hoping the owners of the clothing didn't mind picking them up off the street.
HyunJoong let out a sigh of relief when YoungSaeng’s distraction came -- just in time as the hunters began to shoot at him. Sure he was leading them away from the other pair, but he certainly didn’t fancy spending the rest of his time in a hunter’s holding cell…not that that time would be very long…
Casting that grim thought aside, HyunJoong quickly doubled back when all the hunters were distracted, climbing a nearby staircase towards the roof. He could see the trail that YoungSaeng took easily - it was marked by the blood that dripped off his hurt tail.
Gritting his teeth, HyunJoong set off after YoungSaeng, running faster than he ever had in his life.
Meanwhile, KyuJong and JungMin were almost at the safe house. KyuJong had blacked-out several times, trying to keep track of all the hunters coming at them. When JungMin asked his question, KyuJong snapped out of his daze, stuttering apologetically. “I’m fine!” He replied a little too quickly. “I’m just… Min! Look out!”
And shifting his weight, KyuJong quickly threw JungMin off balance and out of the way of an oncoming bullet.
JungMin yelped as he landed face first on the ground, dizzy for a moment before he realized what was going on. Pushing himself up, he got out of the way just in time to avoid another bullet, nearly dropping KyuJong from his back.
"Dammit..." He fumbled for his gun and yelped as a bullet skimmed by, knocking the weapon out of his hands. The hunter smirked, aiming properly this time.
YoungSaeng dumped as many of the lines as he could, slowing down more and more as the pain started to really set in, even adrenaline not keeping it away for long. Looking back finally and seeing the hunters were sufficiently buried, the kitten started towards the safe house.
Suddenly he lost balance completely, tumbling off the roof he'd been perched on and hitting the concrete balcony hard, too dizzy to even land on his feet like usual. He lay there, panting as he tried to focus.
“Min!” KyuJong yelped when was nearly let go, and he had to scramble to stay on JungMin’s back.
It took the ankou two seconds to see the hunter aiming at them, and another five to realize that JungMin’s gun had fallen out of his hands. It took KyuJong, however, only one second to realize that if he didn’t do something now, he would lose the only person that he truly loved.
And in that same long second, KyuJong ripped the seal ring from his neck with an inhuman strength, the chain snapping, tearing a wound open in his skin even as he tossed the ring away and his eyes grew a dangerous white.
To have an ankou point his hand at you in any circumstance was never a good thing, but to have him point it while he was in full power meant instant death. And KyuJong pointed his hand at the man, his voice full of authority as he ordered the offending hunter in front of them to die, “Bás.”
HyunJoong was startled as he saw a bright light erupt from the corner of his eye, screeching to a halt, he stared in the direction just as the light faded away. “What the hell was that…?” He asked himself. Wasn’t that the alleyway in which he had sent JungMin and KyuJong towards…?
Then the question flew out of his head as he saw a small black figure in his line of sight tumble off the roof. “Saeng!”
YoungSaeng managed to open his eyes at the blinding light, searching for its cause. That wasn't good...not at all...
Struggling to get up and see, the kitten sank back to the cold balcony with a mewl of pain, eyes fluttering shut as he finally gave in to it and lost consciousness.
JungMin lowered his hand from over his eyes, blinking in surprise as shivers ran down his spine. The hunter was dead. That wasn't anything unusual...he was used to the sudden deaths that KyuJong could cause.
What was different was the tone of his partner's voice, the word he'd heard, and the sudden amount of power he could feel in the air, even his human senses picking up on it. "...Kyu...?"
The ankou didn’t answer immediately, lost in the power that he had denied himself for so long. He slid off the human’s back, directing a haughty look down at the human - he didn’t need help to stand, especially not the help of a lowly human.
Blinking in surprise at the look he was given, JungMin protested when KyuJong slid off his back. "Hey, are you sure you're okay to stand? You nearly fell over before." He touched one hand to KyuJong's shoulder, concerned. What had that light been? "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe..."
KyuJong glared at the hand on his shoulder, hissing in disgust. How dare a human touch him? A dirty, lowlife human! What scum! How dare he think himself worthy of being in his presence?
Knocking the hand away, he lifted his own to point it at JungMin’s chest. He would kill this man for this offence.
"Kyu?" JungMin drew his hand back as it was knocked away, shocked. KyuJong had never acted like this before. What was going on?
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, eyes widening as the hand was pointed at his heart. "...KyuJong?" He didn't move, not understanding that this wasn't his KyuJong anymore, that something had changed.
KyuJong…why was this human calling him by such a name? Such a common name…a name that wasn’t his. His name was far more superior…a name fit for an ankou…it wa-
’No…that is my name. KyuJong. Kim KyuJong…’ KyuJong’s breath caught as his eyes flickered from white to brown to white again.
’Stop…I’m not that other person any longer…I’M NOT A MONSTER!’
With a scream, KyuJong backed away from JungMin, his other hand grabbing his raised one, pulling it down. But he knew that this wouldn’t be enough. His other consciousness had been locked up for far too long, and KyuJong knew that it wouldn’t give up without a fight. Not unless KyuJong sealed it up…
His hands shaking, KyuJong whimpered as he reached into his pocket, grabbing for the only thing that would stop himself. Cold metal touched his fingers tips and he scrambled for it, sliding it onto his finger before it was too late.
He felt his powers dwindle to nothing almost immediately, the power imbued in the ring effective - for which KyuJong was grateful. But with it, KyuJong no longer had the strength to stand, and he fell to his knees, swooning. The sudden absence of power was too great for his mind to comprehend and he blacked out, collapsing onto the floor.
Staring, JungMin instinctively jumped forward as KyuJong collapsed, managing to catch the ankou before he hit the ground. "KyuJong?!" He exclaimed, checking his partner's vitals with quick hands. He was alive...good...
"What happened to you?" he whispered to the unconscious man, brushing KyuJong's hair back out of his eyes with a gentle hand. That had been...different. He could still feel goosebumps from the sudden power and authority that had vanished as suddenly as it had come.
Looking around the alleyway, JungMin carefully gathered the ankou in his arms and stood. He needed to get KyuJong somewhere safe...
Ignoring the questions that buzzed around in his head, the human turned around and hurried on down to the safe house.
The light seemed to have died down, as did the monstrous power that HyunJoong sensed. Heaving a sigh, HyunJoong concentrated on making his way down to the balcony that YoungSaeng had landed on.
He slid down the roof tiles, landing onto the cold stone not far away from the small, prone form. “Saeng!” HyunJoong quickly knelt down, gathering the black kitten into his arms, especially careful in inspecting his tail. He bit his lip as he examined the wound…YoungSaeng had been running around with this?!
“Tch… you idiot.” HyunJoong chided despite knowing that YoungSaeng couldn’t hear him. And with a tired sigh, he stood up with YoungSaeng safe in his arms. “Come on, let’s go get you healed up…” And without wasting any more time, HyunJoong began to make his way towards the safe house.
He knew that this issue was far from over - the higher-ups in the organization would need an explanation as to why HyunJoong and YoungSaeng had blown their cover. But at the moment, only the small black kitten in his arms was important.
*******************
JungMin fixed the damp cloth on KyuJong's forehead again, sighing faintly to himself. They'd made it to the safe house without further mishap, and allowed inside after JungMin had verified their identities. Now, he was just waiting for something to happen. KyuJong had no physical injuries at least...but those JungMin could tend to. He couldn't do anything about exhaustion or mental injuries.
That light...and the strange behavior of his partner. What had it been?
It was then that the door clicked open, and in entered one rather harassed-looking HyunJoong. True enough, a call had come for him from the higher-ups, demanding an explanation. He’d done his best in giving the shortest explanation possible, but he knew that he’d probably had seemed unapologetic - rude even. But he really didn’t care at the moment.
Nodding at JungMin when he noticed the other man in the room, HyunJoong slowly walked in, cradling a black kitten in his arms whose tail had been tightly bandaged.
Looking up, JungMin gave a curt nod in return, his free hand finding KyuJong's own, twining their fingers together without even thinking about it. He watched the hunter warily, still not sure what to make of this. The cat in the other man's arms must be the felinefolk, and he was a little surprised to see the injury.
He waited for the other man to settle down before deciding on a question. "Who are you, exactly?" he asked slowly. They were hunters, weren't they?
HyunJoong had been answering questions the whole day, but he guessed that JungMin deserved an answer after all that. Shifting YoungSaeng gently in his arms, HyunJoong began to answer JungMin. “My name is Kim HyunJoong, and I have been working undercover for the organization as a plant inside the hunter HQ.”
Staring at the other man, JungMin took in that information, frowning lightly. An undercover anti-hunter...he supposed it made sense. Piecing things together in his head, he tried not to wince at the memory of the vampire with his head blown to bits. That could be addressed later.
"...Alright...” He nodded slowly. "Why did you help us?" he asked then. "I mean...don't get me wrong, thank you. But you can't go back there now." Their cover was completely blown. How long had it taken to get one of their own inside hunter HQ?
“No… I can’t.” HyunJoong sighed but gave JungMin a tired smile before pointing at KyuJong “It’s mostly because of him. With an ankou in their hands, the hunter’s association would no doubt get down to killing every non-human in the world, and we just couldn’t let that happen.”
“Besides,” HyunJoong shrugged. “As important as the cover is, I’m not one to leave a comrade in trouble. And it’s a bit of our own fault for being careless enough that you two could find us…”
JungMin's gaze hardened as he adjusted his grip on KyuJong's hand. "They won't ever get him," he muttered protectively. It wasn't about what they could use KyuJong for...though that was horrible enough. It was about what they would do to him. He couldn't let anything happen to KyuJong...not ever.
"I never heard anything about us having anyone undercover," he said after a moment. Though it would make sense for them to not have. JungMin looked down at KyuJong, gaze concerned. "What now...?"
“No one except the higher ups know.” HyunJoong answered before shrugging. “I don’t know…they’re still beating my ass for losing our cover, so it’ll probably take around to get over it to make a decision…stupid paper pushers…I wish Hyung and his partner would come back soon…”
JungMin blinked at the older man. "'Hyung'?" He'd never even talked to the higher ups except on a few rare occasions, and then they were mostly referring to KyuJong. He wasn't ranked very highly...just what level was this guy on?
“Er…yeah. I think you know him as Tablo…” HyunJoong had let the casual honorific slip - sometimes he forgot that to others, his ‘hyung’ was held in a position of reverence. “Please…don’t look at me like that. It’s just that I joined the organization at a very young age…and I grew up with him together…so…”
Eyes widening at the name, JungMin looked shocked. Tablo was one of the organization leaders...only a few people knew his real name, same for the name of his partner. JungMin saw Tablo...once. From a distance.
"Woah..." he murmured, caught off guard. That meant this man was probably his superior several times over.
About to bombard him with questions, JungMin paused when he noticed the black kitten's ears twitching slightly.
HyunJoong knew what JungMin was thinking, and he was about reassure him that such things didn’t matter when he felt YoungSaeng moving in his arms. Blinking, he looked down, carefully checking if he had held YoungSaeng too tight while talking with JungMin. “You okay, Saeng?”
The kitten squirmed ever so slightly, slowly waking up again. YoungSaeng felt warm, pleasantly warm after the cold of the balcony. It took him a moment to figure out where he was, golden eyes half-opened and blinking at the arms holding him.
Hearing HyunJoong speak, rumbling in the human’s chest, YoungSaeng gave a tired but positive mew before he buried his head in the crook of HyunJoong's arm. The pain in his tail was a steady, distracting throb, but he could tell it had been bound at least.
HyunJoong chuckled a little, gently stroking the kitten’s soft fur before looking up at JungMin. “And this is YoungSaeng. I think your ankou’s met him before…and you have to thank him for saving your lives several times over.”
"Who are you talking to?" YoungSaeng opened his eyes again and peeked over HyunJoong's arm slightly until he could see the other two in the room. "Oh. Hello." So they'd gotten out alright...that was good.
JungMin smiled faintly at the golden eyes that peered at him and his unconscious partner. "Thanks, YoungSaeng..." He chuckled as YoungSaeng mewed faintly and disappeared in the hole of HyunJoong's arms again.
Looking over at KyuJong again, the human sighed and ran his fingers through the other man's hair, worried eyes on his face.
HyunJoong smiled warmly as YoungSaeng buried himself in again when he noticed JungMin’s worried demeanor. Looking over at the unconscious ankou, he hesitated for a moment before asking quietly. “What happened?”
"I'm...not quite sure myself," JungMin said quietly. "He was exhausted...and one of the hunters found us. Something...I don't know, something happened to him. He killed the guy, and started acting differently. Then he screamed and put this ring on his finger, and passed out."
Waking up a little more at that, YoungSaeng pushed himself up and rested his front paws on top of HyunJoong's arm as he peered at the ring. "That's a seal ring..." He yelped as his front paws slipped and he nearly fell out of HyunJoong's lap, still badly off-balance.
“Careful.” HyunJoong chided, quickly adjusting himself so that YoungSaeng would be more stable in his arms. He lifted YoungSaeng gently up, moving over so that the felinefolk could get a good look at the ring. “A seal ring you say?”
JungMin blinked at the other man until he realized HyunJoong was replying to the meows coming from the felinefolk. "You can understand him?" That was new...YoungSaeng sounded like a normal cat to him.
Nodding, the kitten carefully stretched out and nosed the ring gently. "Yeah...it's definitely a seal ring...fresh off the market." What confused him was the lack of spells on the ring. Normally one wouldn't seal their powers away completely... "HyunJoong, there's no constraints on this ring. No spells. Normally people put spells on their rings." He'd never used one himself, but he knew the more unstable non-humans had one.
“Yeah…” HyunJoong shrugged. He couldn’t really explain it either - just that he’d been able to understand most non-humans, whether they spoke human tongue or not. Although it was a lot easier with YoungSaeng…
“Hmm…he says that this seal ring has no spells on it…it means that KyuJong sealed away his powers completely…” He looked curiously at JungMin before looking down at KyuJong, a little perplex. “Any idea why he’d do that?”
JungMin shook his head, confused. "I've never seen that ring before...well...he always carries a ring around his neck, but I never..." Trailing off, he blinked and brushed the ankou's collar to one side. "The ring's gone," he murmured.
"I think he's been...hiding something from me lately," he said slowly, still a little hurt that KyuJong never told him what was wrong. "He's been distracted. But this is the first time that's ever happened."
YoungSaeng looked down at KyuJong, silent for a moment before he tilted his head back to look at HyunJoong. "Would Tablo sshi know anything about ankous?" Ankous were rare, and anything beyond the basics of what they were was beyond his knowledge.
“Hmm…I don’t know…probably.” HyunJoong sighed, running a hand through his hair, before remembering that JungMin couldn’t understand YoungSaeng. “Sorry…Saeng was just asking if Tablo knew anything about ankous…I know I certainly don’t - at least not beyond the basics…”
JungMin nodded slightly, then sighed, running his free hand through KyuJong's hair without even noticing what he was doing. "Maybe he'll explain when he wakes up..." He hoped so.
"Hopefully Tablo sshi returns soon," YoungSaeng commented, before scooting backwards slightly so he was against HyunJoong's shirt again, wondering if he should shift back but unwilling to leave the warmth of the human's arms. "We need to figure out what to do in the meantime."
“Yeah…” HyunJoong replied in answer to both YoungSaeng’s and JungMin’s sentences. He smiled a little at YoungSaeng’s actions, pulling him close as if to say he wasn’t going to let YoungSaeng leave his embrace anytime soon. “I think we can only wait for orders, so until then I guess we can only relax…”
Nodding, JungMin shifted around until he was comfortable in the seat, curled up beside KyuJong and absently playing with the ankou's hair. YoungSaeng's reaction was to burrow further into HyunJoong's shirt, a faint purr escaping him.
It wasn't long before JungMin found himself starting to nod off, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he leaned against the back of the couch. "We're probably going to be staying here for a while, huh?" he murmured.
HyunJoong already had his eyes closed in a semblance of sleep - as a veteran in his line, he knew that he should take every chance of sleep whenever he could. And so, not even bothering to open his eyes as he answered. “Yeah…get some rest. We’ll have a lot of shit to deal with in the morning.”
Not something to look forward to. Sighing softly, JungMin closed his eyes and slowly dozed off, hand stilling in KyuJong's hair.
YoungSaeng blinked at them sleepily from the safety of HyunJoong's arms, before burying his face in the human's shirt and falling into a light catnap, gentle purrs leaving him every now and then.
With everyone asleep around him, one would think that HyunJoong should fall into slumber faster than one could blink. But he didn’t. And after several tries and failures, HyunJoong gave up, opening his eyes, and stared blankly at his sleeping companions.
With a soft sigh, HyunJoong looked down at the kitten in his arms and gently stroked the soft black fur without waking YoungSaeng.
“You did good today.” HyunJoong commented in a whisper, his eyes going to the bandaged tail. “Thank you…”
**************
The sounds of running, shouting. Frantic sounds of an emergency. Around him, sirens blared, red lights flashed and metal doors slammed shut in a bid to keep the prisoner inside the facility.
He knew that it would be of no use.
Figures appeared, rounding the corners only to be knocked back like rag dolls as a blur darted by. Weapons flashed, all missing, and soon he was in front of the last door, closing even as he approached. Putting on a burst of speed, he slipped through at the last possible second and was rewarded by the sound of metal closing behind him, trapping those who had tried to keep him in that place.
Finally...finally he was free.
'I must find him.'
Authors: curionenene and yeonah
Chapter: 11/?
Fandom: SS501
Pairings: KyuMin, HyunSaeng
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, AU
Summary: Black and white... white and black. It isn't always possible to tell what is good and what is evil; and four players in the never-ending fight for freedom would know. In a world where things are painted by shades of grey, taking a stand could mean life or death. And the struggle to be free, truly free, may tear them apart until there is nothing left but ash.
And if you haven't seen it already, we have another lovely HyunSaeng Fanart by Curione~~~ <33333
A/N: KyuJong and HyunJoong are played by curionenene , while JungMin and YoungSaeng are played by yeonah .
Snapping a picture and deciding that he better get out of the stairwell before someone came up from the dungeons, JungMin carefully eased himself back to the door and opened it, slipping back out into the hallway.
Turning around, he yelped and ducked to avoid a bullet between the eyes as he startled a hunter who had been walking by that precise second. Kicking out, JungMin knocked their feet from under them and took off down the hallway, heading back the way they had came.
The hunter must have sounded the alarm, because that was loud, JungMin wincing and covering his ears as it echoed down the hallway. "Kyu? Where are you?" He asked into the earpiece, hiding around a corner.
“Hiding in a cupboard.” KyuJong hissed back - he’d gotten the rudest shock in his life when the alarm rang and knew that it would be only seconds before all the hunters ran out. He had barely dived into the cupboard in time. “What the hell did you do, Min?”
"Nothing," JungMin protested. "I found the stairwell and someone snuck up on me." He quickly fiddled with the cell phone in his hands and sent the pictures to his email in case the phone was smashed. "The pictures are all on email now. Where are you?"
He straightened and started towards where KyuJong had said he'd go earlier, and nearly smashed into the hunter he'd startled before. Dropping to the ground, JungMin avoided a knife in the chest and pulled out his own switchblade, tackling the man over and covering his mouth before slitting his throat.
KyuJong sighed, rubbing his face and forcing his irritation down. This wasn’t him - it was the blasted ego that all ankou were afflicted by, and if he had completed his seal ring he wouldn’t have gotten ahead of himself and agreed to this stupid plan. “Don’t worry about me, Min. It’s too dangerous where I am. Too many hunters. Just get out. I’ll meet you at our apartment.”
"Are you kidding? All someone has to do is open that cupboard and you're stuck. I'll come get you." Straightening and looking around for more hunters, JungMin hurriedly pulled the dead man's cloak off and threw it on, hoping that from a distance at least he wouldn't be given away. Ignoring the blood staining his fingers and the collar of the cloak, JungMin stood and ran in the direction KyuJong had gone in.
“Min? No! Don’t! It’s too-ack!” KyuJong yelped when the door of the cupboard he was in suddenly opened and his eyes were assaulted by the sudden light. Looking up, he saw two hunters looking down at him in surprise. They hadn’t quite decided what to make of him yet it seemed…
Crap. KyuJong cursed before he quickly pushed his way through them while they were distracted, hoping that there was no one else in the corridor, only to crash straight into a whole group of hunters.
Okay…this was not good.
JungMin knew he was getting closer when he saw more hunters. Thankfully, the fact that he was wearing one of their own cloaks seemed to cause their eyes to gloss over him for the most part. Hoping they wouldn't get a good look at his face, the human ran towards the center of the commotion.
YoungSaeng tried to peer over the tall hunters to see what was going on. Why had the alarm sounded?
Suddenly, he got a face-full of a familiar scent through all the human odors...ankou.
"What the hell?" he muttered, eyes widening. Looking around at the other hunters, and seeing they were all distracted, the felinefolk took advantage of his proximity to HyunJoong and yanked the hunter down a little so he could whisper into the man's ear. "The ankou's here," he hissed frantically.
“What?” HyunJoong growled under his breath, looking up to try to spot the ankou in the midst of all the hunters. “Where?”
He needn’t had asked, for at that moment, the crowd parted as two hunters carrying the struggling ankou walked past HyunJoong and YoungSaeng.
“Okay…” HyunJoong whispered to YoungSaeng, entirely unsure as what to do. “Now what?”
YoungSaeng stared at the ankou as he passed, then looked up at HyunJoong. "They can't take him," he whispered back insistently. "You know what they would do to him." An ankou wouldn't be killed. An ankou would be controlled. They couldn't let that happen...
The felinefolk's hands curled into fists. They could kill every non-human in the city with the power of an ankou.
HyunJoong bit his lip - his thoughts ran along the same line as YoungSaeng’s. Well…so much for all their hard work…
“Seems like there’s no helping it…” HyunJoong muttered before he stepped out, putting a shoulder on one of the hunters who had KyuJong captive. “Hey.”
The hunter looked up at HyunJoong in disgust. "What?" He snapped.
YoungSaeng started to move to the side subtly, and paused when he noticed red in the corner of his vision. Turning his head slightly, he saw the ankou's human master, wearing the cloak of a hunter and focused on his partner. Seeing the redhead glance around quickly, his gaze falling on YoungSaeng and his cat ears, the felinefolk stared at him and mouthed 'wait' while all the hunters were distracted before turning back to HyunJoong.
HyunJoong smiled winningly at the hunter and laughed lightly as if nothing was wrong and he wasn’t about to totally blow their cover. “Well…nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that I can’t let you take that ankou.”
“And…why not?” The hunter stared at HyunJoong in confusion - so far none of the others had caught on yet either.
“Well…because…ah, to heck with it. Just let go.” And without further ado, he punched the hunter hard in the stomach, causing him to fall on his knees, letting go of the ankou.
YoungSaeng was there in an instant, knocking the second hunter to the ground and landing on his chest, a hard hit to the head knocking him out. Pushing the ankou towards his human master, his eyes glowed golden as he yanked his coat off and threw it on the first hunter that started for HyunJoong, blinding him so that the felinefolk could swipe his feet out from under him.
JungMin automatically ran forward to catch KyuJong when the felinefolk pushed him away from the center of the group, pulling KyuJong behind him before he slashed out at the nearest hunter, hair falling into his face.
So then…the felinefolk and his master were on their side?!
No time to think. The hunters were snapping out of their stunned shock.
HyunJoong’s gun was out, taking down whoever he could as he ran towards JungMin, gesturing at them to follow him. They needed to get out of here…and fast. “Come on!”
KyuJong blinked, confused at exactly at just what happened. He had barely the time to compose himself before another hunter launched himself at JungMin. His eyes flashed silver and the hunter fell dead before them.
Damn, there were too many questions KyuJong needed an answer to, but this wasn’t the time…“Min!” He tugged at the human’s hand pointing in HyunJoong’s direction. “We gotta go!”
JungMin looked back at KyuJong, nodding and following after the hunter with the ankou's hand held tightly in his own.
YoungSaeng followed after them, distracting the hunters who followed with quick maneuvers around them, taking full advantage of his agility. Suddenly in an attempt to catch the felinefolk, someone grabbed his tail and pain raced through his body.
Shrieking, YoungSaeng kicked backwards and was let go, tumbling to the ground before he got up and ran after his master and the two anti-hunters.
HyunJoong heard the shriek and he immediately turned around to see what had happened. It was like this that he didn’t notice the hunter coming up from his right, a menacing gun aimed at his head.
“Watch out!” KyuJong cried out before his eyes flashed silver again. The hunter too, fell dead, but at a price. KyuJong grunted as he nearly fell forward, exhaustion suddenly hitting him.
JungMin moved to support KyuJong when his partner nearly faceplanted, automatically wrapping one of the ankou's arms around his shoulders. "Need me to carry you?" he asked, taking out his gun instead of his switchblade and firing at a hunter in their way.
KyuJong shook his head, managing to get his feet moving at least a little. “I’m…fine…just support…them.”
YoungSaeng's tail felt like it was on fire, the pain disorientating, but he couldn't stop to check it. Instead, he put on a burst of speed and overshot the other three, slamming full-force into a hunter who had moved to close the door on them and sending both of them into the wall.
“YoungSaeng!” HyunJoong cried out, loosing a barrage of bullets at any hunter who dared come near the felinefolk. Rushing forward, he grabbed his partner, holding him under his arm and motioning at JungMin and KyuJong to get out the door now.
The felinefolk held on to HyunJoong tightly, panting a little. His gaze went from JungMin and KyuJong as they hurried out the door, down to his tail. He'd been cut, blood slowly dripping from the tip of his tail from a long cut that went halfway down it's length. Like his ears, his tail was extremely sensitive, and it was suddenly all he could do to hold on to his master. At least it hadn't been severed.
Seeing a hunter coming up, YoungSaeng grabbed HyunJoong's hand, the one holding the gun, both their hands overlapping as he swung the man's arm around to aim and pressed the trigger.
HyunJoong had been concentrating on getting KyuJong and JungMin out of the door so he hadn’t noticed the hunter coming up. Letting out a small yelp as YoungSaeng suddenly grabbed his arm, he quickly relaxed, trusting that the felinefolk had a good reason to do this, and kept his eyes out for any other threats coming along.
Using HyunJoong's arm and gun to take out another hunter, YoungSaeng pulled his master towards the door. "Let's go," he panted.
Outside, JungMin shot at the hunters standing guard on the streets, his free arm wrapped around KyuJong's waist to keep the ankou standing. "Come on, we're just about out," he murmured to his partner.
KyuJong nodded, closing his eyes and gathering as much energy as he could, just in case they needed it for one more kill in order to get out.
“Damn.” HyunJoong only now noticed YoungSaeng’s wound as he nearly slipped on a puddle of blood that had distinctly trailed up to YoungSaeng’s tail. He bit his lip, tightening his hold on YoungSaeng and practically lifted the felinefolk up, keeping YoungSaeng’s tail right off the ground as he began to run forward. “Hang on.”
Squeaking when he was lifted up off the ground, YoungSaeng opened his mouth to protest and gave up when another wave of dizziness hit him. Instead he buried his face in HyunJoong's shirt and nodded.
Seeing the hunter and the felinefolk leaving the building, JungMin shot at one more person in their way before shifting so that he could pull KyuJong onto his back. "Come on, up you go." He hoisted the ankou up and ran after the other two.
HyunJoong ran as fast as he could - or rather as fast as he could without losing JungMin and KyuJong. They were out of the building, but weren’t out of the woods yet. It was a few more alleyways before they could get to the secret passage that would lead them safely to an organization safe house. That is…if there were no hunters waiting for them there.
JungMin followed after HyunJoong, careful not to accidentally dump the ankou on his back. There were hunters following them, he could hear them.
Breathing unevenly, YoungSaeng slowly opened his eyes again and peeked over HyunJoong's shoulder behind them. Damn...the hunters were too close. The other two weren't fast enough, the human hampered by the ankou on his back.
"They're going to catch up," he whispered, fingers curling into HyunJoong's shirt. They needed a distraction. Looking around them, YoungSaeng's attention was drawn up to the rooftops.
Well, there were no crates this time, but clotheslines would be distraction enough.
The pain in his tail could wait. "I'll meet you at the safe house," YoungSaeng said, then before HyunJoong could say anything the felinefolk disappeared, leaving an armful of clothes instead as the black kitten dropped to the ground and darted into the shadows.
“Hey!” HyunJoong hissed as YoungSaeng darted out of sight before he could even protest. Growling in frustration, HyunJoong knew that he had no choice but to let YoungSaeng go.
Gesturing frantically at the other two to follow him, HyunJoong ran as quietly as he could to the junction, before pointing them in the other direction. “Go straight down and turn into the fourth door on the right. Someone will be there…just say who you are…and be careful! Now go!”
JungMin nodded, panting a little as he glanced behind them before running in the direction he was told. Who were those two, and why were they helping them? Then, it occurred to JungMin that they were heading right for one of the safe houses...how had the hunter known?
Did they know the locations of all the safehouses?
"Kyu, you hanging on?" he asked, breathing unevenly as he ran towards the secret passage that would bring them to safety.
The hunters chasing after them hurried along, catching up gradually. The ones in the front started to aim, bullets taking out a chunk of the wall next to HyunJoong.
Suddenly there was a dull thwack and a pile of clothing fell on the hunters in the front, causing them to crash into each other and fall. YoungSaeng ran along the balconies above them, snapping the wires of any clothesline he could reach. Several times he nearly tumbled off, lacking in balance with his tail injured. The black kitten raced along, jumping over the gaps and hoping the owners of the clothing didn't mind picking them up off the street.
HyunJoong let out a sigh of relief when YoungSaeng’s distraction came -- just in time as the hunters began to shoot at him. Sure he was leading them away from the other pair, but he certainly didn’t fancy spending the rest of his time in a hunter’s holding cell…not that that time would be very long…
Casting that grim thought aside, HyunJoong quickly doubled back when all the hunters were distracted, climbing a nearby staircase towards the roof. He could see the trail that YoungSaeng took easily - it was marked by the blood that dripped off his hurt tail.
Gritting his teeth, HyunJoong set off after YoungSaeng, running faster than he ever had in his life.
Meanwhile, KyuJong and JungMin were almost at the safe house. KyuJong had blacked-out several times, trying to keep track of all the hunters coming at them. When JungMin asked his question, KyuJong snapped out of his daze, stuttering apologetically. “I’m fine!” He replied a little too quickly. “I’m just… Min! Look out!”
And shifting his weight, KyuJong quickly threw JungMin off balance and out of the way of an oncoming bullet.
JungMin yelped as he landed face first on the ground, dizzy for a moment before he realized what was going on. Pushing himself up, he got out of the way just in time to avoid another bullet, nearly dropping KyuJong from his back.
"Dammit..." He fumbled for his gun and yelped as a bullet skimmed by, knocking the weapon out of his hands. The hunter smirked, aiming properly this time.
YoungSaeng dumped as many of the lines as he could, slowing down more and more as the pain started to really set in, even adrenaline not keeping it away for long. Looking back finally and seeing the hunters were sufficiently buried, the kitten started towards the safe house.
Suddenly he lost balance completely, tumbling off the roof he'd been perched on and hitting the concrete balcony hard, too dizzy to even land on his feet like usual. He lay there, panting as he tried to focus.
“Min!” KyuJong yelped when was nearly let go, and he had to scramble to stay on JungMin’s back.
It took the ankou two seconds to see the hunter aiming at them, and another five to realize that JungMin’s gun had fallen out of his hands. It took KyuJong, however, only one second to realize that if he didn’t do something now, he would lose the only person that he truly loved.
And in that same long second, KyuJong ripped the seal ring from his neck with an inhuman strength, the chain snapping, tearing a wound open in his skin even as he tossed the ring away and his eyes grew a dangerous white.
To have an ankou point his hand at you in any circumstance was never a good thing, but to have him point it while he was in full power meant instant death. And KyuJong pointed his hand at the man, his voice full of authority as he ordered the offending hunter in front of them to die, “Bás.”
HyunJoong was startled as he saw a bright light erupt from the corner of his eye, screeching to a halt, he stared in the direction just as the light faded away. “What the hell was that…?” He asked himself. Wasn’t that the alleyway in which he had sent JungMin and KyuJong towards…?
Then the question flew out of his head as he saw a small black figure in his line of sight tumble off the roof. “Saeng!”
YoungSaeng managed to open his eyes at the blinding light, searching for its cause. That wasn't good...not at all...
Struggling to get up and see, the kitten sank back to the cold balcony with a mewl of pain, eyes fluttering shut as he finally gave in to it and lost consciousness.
JungMin lowered his hand from over his eyes, blinking in surprise as shivers ran down his spine. The hunter was dead. That wasn't anything unusual...he was used to the sudden deaths that KyuJong could cause.
What was different was the tone of his partner's voice, the word he'd heard, and the sudden amount of power he could feel in the air, even his human senses picking up on it. "...Kyu...?"
The ankou didn’t answer immediately, lost in the power that he had denied himself for so long. He slid off the human’s back, directing a haughty look down at the human - he didn’t need help to stand, especially not the help of a lowly human.
Blinking in surprise at the look he was given, JungMin protested when KyuJong slid off his back. "Hey, are you sure you're okay to stand? You nearly fell over before." He touched one hand to KyuJong's shoulder, concerned. What had that light been? "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe..."
KyuJong glared at the hand on his shoulder, hissing in disgust. How dare a human touch him? A dirty, lowlife human! What scum! How dare he think himself worthy of being in his presence?
Knocking the hand away, he lifted his own to point it at JungMin’s chest. He would kill this man for this offence.
"Kyu?" JungMin drew his hand back as it was knocked away, shocked. KyuJong had never acted like this before. What was going on?
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, eyes widening as the hand was pointed at his heart. "...KyuJong?" He didn't move, not understanding that this wasn't his KyuJong anymore, that something had changed.
KyuJong…why was this human calling him by such a name? Such a common name…a name that wasn’t his. His name was far more superior…a name fit for an ankou…it wa-
’No…that is my name. KyuJong. Kim KyuJong…’ KyuJong’s breath caught as his eyes flickered from white to brown to white again.
’Stop…I’m not that other person any longer…I’M NOT A MONSTER!’
With a scream, KyuJong backed away from JungMin, his other hand grabbing his raised one, pulling it down. But he knew that this wouldn’t be enough. His other consciousness had been locked up for far too long, and KyuJong knew that it wouldn’t give up without a fight. Not unless KyuJong sealed it up…
His hands shaking, KyuJong whimpered as he reached into his pocket, grabbing for the only thing that would stop himself. Cold metal touched his fingers tips and he scrambled for it, sliding it onto his finger before it was too late.
He felt his powers dwindle to nothing almost immediately, the power imbued in the ring effective - for which KyuJong was grateful. But with it, KyuJong no longer had the strength to stand, and he fell to his knees, swooning. The sudden absence of power was too great for his mind to comprehend and he blacked out, collapsing onto the floor.
Staring, JungMin instinctively jumped forward as KyuJong collapsed, managing to catch the ankou before he hit the ground. "KyuJong?!" He exclaimed, checking his partner's vitals with quick hands. He was alive...good...
"What happened to you?" he whispered to the unconscious man, brushing KyuJong's hair back out of his eyes with a gentle hand. That had been...different. He could still feel goosebumps from the sudden power and authority that had vanished as suddenly as it had come.
Looking around the alleyway, JungMin carefully gathered the ankou in his arms and stood. He needed to get KyuJong somewhere safe...
Ignoring the questions that buzzed around in his head, the human turned around and hurried on down to the safe house.
The light seemed to have died down, as did the monstrous power that HyunJoong sensed. Heaving a sigh, HyunJoong concentrated on making his way down to the balcony that YoungSaeng had landed on.
He slid down the roof tiles, landing onto the cold stone not far away from the small, prone form. “Saeng!” HyunJoong quickly knelt down, gathering the black kitten into his arms, especially careful in inspecting his tail. He bit his lip as he examined the wound…YoungSaeng had been running around with this?!
“Tch… you idiot.” HyunJoong chided despite knowing that YoungSaeng couldn’t hear him. And with a tired sigh, he stood up with YoungSaeng safe in his arms. “Come on, let’s go get you healed up…” And without wasting any more time, HyunJoong began to make his way towards the safe house.
He knew that this issue was far from over - the higher-ups in the organization would need an explanation as to why HyunJoong and YoungSaeng had blown their cover. But at the moment, only the small black kitten in his arms was important.
*******************
JungMin fixed the damp cloth on KyuJong's forehead again, sighing faintly to himself. They'd made it to the safe house without further mishap, and allowed inside after JungMin had verified their identities. Now, he was just waiting for something to happen. KyuJong had no physical injuries at least...but those JungMin could tend to. He couldn't do anything about exhaustion or mental injuries.
That light...and the strange behavior of his partner. What had it been?
It was then that the door clicked open, and in entered one rather harassed-looking HyunJoong. True enough, a call had come for him from the higher-ups, demanding an explanation. He’d done his best in giving the shortest explanation possible, but he knew that he’d probably had seemed unapologetic - rude even. But he really didn’t care at the moment.
Nodding at JungMin when he noticed the other man in the room, HyunJoong slowly walked in, cradling a black kitten in his arms whose tail had been tightly bandaged.
Looking up, JungMin gave a curt nod in return, his free hand finding KyuJong's own, twining their fingers together without even thinking about it. He watched the hunter warily, still not sure what to make of this. The cat in the other man's arms must be the felinefolk, and he was a little surprised to see the injury.
He waited for the other man to settle down before deciding on a question. "Who are you, exactly?" he asked slowly. They were hunters, weren't they?
HyunJoong had been answering questions the whole day, but he guessed that JungMin deserved an answer after all that. Shifting YoungSaeng gently in his arms, HyunJoong began to answer JungMin. “My name is Kim HyunJoong, and I have been working undercover for the organization as a plant inside the hunter HQ.”
Staring at the other man, JungMin took in that information, frowning lightly. An undercover anti-hunter...he supposed it made sense. Piecing things together in his head, he tried not to wince at the memory of the vampire with his head blown to bits. That could be addressed later.
"...Alright...” He nodded slowly. "Why did you help us?" he asked then. "I mean...don't get me wrong, thank you. But you can't go back there now." Their cover was completely blown. How long had it taken to get one of their own inside hunter HQ?
“No… I can’t.” HyunJoong sighed but gave JungMin a tired smile before pointing at KyuJong “It’s mostly because of him. With an ankou in their hands, the hunter’s association would no doubt get down to killing every non-human in the world, and we just couldn’t let that happen.”
“Besides,” HyunJoong shrugged. “As important as the cover is, I’m not one to leave a comrade in trouble. And it’s a bit of our own fault for being careless enough that you two could find us…”
JungMin's gaze hardened as he adjusted his grip on KyuJong's hand. "They won't ever get him," he muttered protectively. It wasn't about what they could use KyuJong for...though that was horrible enough. It was about what they would do to him. He couldn't let anything happen to KyuJong...not ever.
"I never heard anything about us having anyone undercover," he said after a moment. Though it would make sense for them to not have. JungMin looked down at KyuJong, gaze concerned. "What now...?"
“No one except the higher ups know.” HyunJoong answered before shrugging. “I don’t know…they’re still beating my ass for losing our cover, so it’ll probably take around to get over it to make a decision…stupid paper pushers…I wish Hyung and his partner would come back soon…”
JungMin blinked at the older man. "'Hyung'?" He'd never even talked to the higher ups except on a few rare occasions, and then they were mostly referring to KyuJong. He wasn't ranked very highly...just what level was this guy on?
“Er…yeah. I think you know him as Tablo…” HyunJoong had let the casual honorific slip - sometimes he forgot that to others, his ‘hyung’ was held in a position of reverence. “Please…don’t look at me like that. It’s just that I joined the organization at a very young age…and I grew up with him together…so…”
Eyes widening at the name, JungMin looked shocked. Tablo was one of the organization leaders...only a few people knew his real name, same for the name of his partner. JungMin saw Tablo...once. From a distance.
"Woah..." he murmured, caught off guard. That meant this man was probably his superior several times over.
About to bombard him with questions, JungMin paused when he noticed the black kitten's ears twitching slightly.
HyunJoong knew what JungMin was thinking, and he was about reassure him that such things didn’t matter when he felt YoungSaeng moving in his arms. Blinking, he looked down, carefully checking if he had held YoungSaeng too tight while talking with JungMin. “You okay, Saeng?”
The kitten squirmed ever so slightly, slowly waking up again. YoungSaeng felt warm, pleasantly warm after the cold of the balcony. It took him a moment to figure out where he was, golden eyes half-opened and blinking at the arms holding him.
Hearing HyunJoong speak, rumbling in the human’s chest, YoungSaeng gave a tired but positive mew before he buried his head in the crook of HyunJoong's arm. The pain in his tail was a steady, distracting throb, but he could tell it had been bound at least.
HyunJoong chuckled a little, gently stroking the kitten’s soft fur before looking up at JungMin. “And this is YoungSaeng. I think your ankou’s met him before…and you have to thank him for saving your lives several times over.”
"Who are you talking to?" YoungSaeng opened his eyes again and peeked over HyunJoong's arm slightly until he could see the other two in the room. "Oh. Hello." So they'd gotten out alright...that was good.
JungMin smiled faintly at the golden eyes that peered at him and his unconscious partner. "Thanks, YoungSaeng..." He chuckled as YoungSaeng mewed faintly and disappeared in the hole of HyunJoong's arms again.
Looking over at KyuJong again, the human sighed and ran his fingers through the other man's hair, worried eyes on his face.
HyunJoong smiled warmly as YoungSaeng buried himself in again when he noticed JungMin’s worried demeanor. Looking over at the unconscious ankou, he hesitated for a moment before asking quietly. “What happened?”
"I'm...not quite sure myself," JungMin said quietly. "He was exhausted...and one of the hunters found us. Something...I don't know, something happened to him. He killed the guy, and started acting differently. Then he screamed and put this ring on his finger, and passed out."
Waking up a little more at that, YoungSaeng pushed himself up and rested his front paws on top of HyunJoong's arm as he peered at the ring. "That's a seal ring..." He yelped as his front paws slipped and he nearly fell out of HyunJoong's lap, still badly off-balance.
“Careful.” HyunJoong chided, quickly adjusting himself so that YoungSaeng would be more stable in his arms. He lifted YoungSaeng gently up, moving over so that the felinefolk could get a good look at the ring. “A seal ring you say?”
JungMin blinked at the other man until he realized HyunJoong was replying to the meows coming from the felinefolk. "You can understand him?" That was new...YoungSaeng sounded like a normal cat to him.
Nodding, the kitten carefully stretched out and nosed the ring gently. "Yeah...it's definitely a seal ring...fresh off the market." What confused him was the lack of spells on the ring. Normally one wouldn't seal their powers away completely... "HyunJoong, there's no constraints on this ring. No spells. Normally people put spells on their rings." He'd never used one himself, but he knew the more unstable non-humans had one.
“Yeah…” HyunJoong shrugged. He couldn’t really explain it either - just that he’d been able to understand most non-humans, whether they spoke human tongue or not. Although it was a lot easier with YoungSaeng…
“Hmm…he says that this seal ring has no spells on it…it means that KyuJong sealed away his powers completely…” He looked curiously at JungMin before looking down at KyuJong, a little perplex. “Any idea why he’d do that?”
JungMin shook his head, confused. "I've never seen that ring before...well...he always carries a ring around his neck, but I never..." Trailing off, he blinked and brushed the ankou's collar to one side. "The ring's gone," he murmured.
"I think he's been...hiding something from me lately," he said slowly, still a little hurt that KyuJong never told him what was wrong. "He's been distracted. But this is the first time that's ever happened."
YoungSaeng looked down at KyuJong, silent for a moment before he tilted his head back to look at HyunJoong. "Would Tablo sshi know anything about ankous?" Ankous were rare, and anything beyond the basics of what they were was beyond his knowledge.
“Hmm…I don’t know…probably.” HyunJoong sighed, running a hand through his hair, before remembering that JungMin couldn’t understand YoungSaeng. “Sorry…Saeng was just asking if Tablo knew anything about ankous…I know I certainly don’t - at least not beyond the basics…”
JungMin nodded slightly, then sighed, running his free hand through KyuJong's hair without even noticing what he was doing. "Maybe he'll explain when he wakes up..." He hoped so.
"Hopefully Tablo sshi returns soon," YoungSaeng commented, before scooting backwards slightly so he was against HyunJoong's shirt again, wondering if he should shift back but unwilling to leave the warmth of the human's arms. "We need to figure out what to do in the meantime."
“Yeah…” HyunJoong replied in answer to both YoungSaeng’s and JungMin’s sentences. He smiled a little at YoungSaeng’s actions, pulling him close as if to say he wasn’t going to let YoungSaeng leave his embrace anytime soon. “I think we can only wait for orders, so until then I guess we can only relax…”
Nodding, JungMin shifted around until he was comfortable in the seat, curled up beside KyuJong and absently playing with the ankou's hair. YoungSaeng's reaction was to burrow further into HyunJoong's shirt, a faint purr escaping him.
It wasn't long before JungMin found himself starting to nod off, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he leaned against the back of the couch. "We're probably going to be staying here for a while, huh?" he murmured.
HyunJoong already had his eyes closed in a semblance of sleep - as a veteran in his line, he knew that he should take every chance of sleep whenever he could. And so, not even bothering to open his eyes as he answered. “Yeah…get some rest. We’ll have a lot of shit to deal with in the morning.”
Not something to look forward to. Sighing softly, JungMin closed his eyes and slowly dozed off, hand stilling in KyuJong's hair.
YoungSaeng blinked at them sleepily from the safety of HyunJoong's arms, before burying his face in the human's shirt and falling into a light catnap, gentle purrs leaving him every now and then.
With everyone asleep around him, one would think that HyunJoong should fall into slumber faster than one could blink. But he didn’t. And after several tries and failures, HyunJoong gave up, opening his eyes, and stared blankly at his sleeping companions.
With a soft sigh, HyunJoong looked down at the kitten in his arms and gently stroked the soft black fur without waking YoungSaeng.
“You did good today.” HyunJoong commented in a whisper, his eyes going to the bandaged tail. “Thank you…”
**************
The sounds of running, shouting. Frantic sounds of an emergency. Around him, sirens blared, red lights flashed and metal doors slammed shut in a bid to keep the prisoner inside the facility.
He knew that it would be of no use.
Figures appeared, rounding the corners only to be knocked back like rag dolls as a blur darted by. Weapons flashed, all missing, and soon he was in front of the last door, closing even as he approached. Putting on a burst of speed, he slipped through at the last possible second and was rewarded by the sound of metal closing behind him, trapping those who had tried to keep him in that place.
Finally...finally he was free.
'I must find him.'