I will take your hand and we'll rise up from the dust.

The sensation of his blond hair moving against his eyelids was irritating. He huffed in frustration as his mind all too quickly crawled out of the fog of sleep. Tiredly, he moved a hand to push back his hair before blinking his eyes open. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus, however, when they did, he found himself staring at the empty chair opposite him where a plate of pancakes remained. Untouched.

If the crushing wave of distress wasn't enough to steal the air from his lungs, the violent riptide of desperation and fear certainly was. Jisung lifted his head slowly, gulping dryly as the realisation that it hadn't been a dream, that Chan really hadn't returned home, set in with an unprecedented clarity. Jisung glanced up at the clock and became panicked when he noticed that the time read as 5:17.

His chair toppled over as he stood swiftly and rushed around the table to find his phone. Shaky fingers reached out towards the neglected device. Jisung winced at the sight of his phone. The screen was cracked from top to bottom and when he pressed the power button, the screen only showed a glitched black, blue and grey display. An arrow of anger towards himself wedged itself into his chest as a confusing mixture of frustration and sadness embedded themselves into his lungs until every breath felt like he was inhaling ice and exhaling fire. He placed the broken device on the table gently, his fingertips brushing the polished wood warily.

Jisung walked dejectedly towards his bedroom. Fishing out his laptop from under his bed, he turned on the heavy graphic designer laptop. A chilling numbness crawled across his bones when his eyes landed on the date and time.

It was the early morning of the next day. Jisung squeezed his eyes closed as a sob escaped past his wobbling lips. Fat tear drops slid sneakily out from underneath his eyelids, racing merrily down his face in an endless stream. Not only had he broken his phone, he had also slept away precious hours he could have spent looking for Chan. He knew that everyone will twll him that he was overreacting, but the pit of dread in his stomach was telling him otherwise.

Something horrible had happened to Chan. Jisung was sure of it.

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Felix stared down at his phone screen with a frown. Chan hadn't responded to any of his messages since the other night and it was putting him on edge. He had heard word that hunters were out hunting more than usual and that they were becoming bolder with each new victory. He had warned Chan and the older had told him not to worry but had asked him to take care of Jisung if something did happened to him.

Felix tried calling his friend once more, this time being notified that the number he was trying to call was no longer available. His frown deepened. It could be nothing, but to be sure, he would have to check in with Jisung. He pocketed his phone and walked down the street swiftly. Felix peered at everyone around him from his peripherals cautiously. Any one of the bodies striding past him could be a hunter. It was what put many Mysts at risk of being hunted easily because unless you knew the weak tingling scent of magic that a hunter exuded, you would never be able to distinguish human from hunter.

Felix inhaled slowly, allowing his scent receptors to sift through the dozens of smells surrounding him. He focused on a particular scent as it sparked his interest. The scent was sharp and crisp, trembling with anxiety and determination. It was perculiar to smell those two emotions together, as humans - and hunters - were generally either anxious or determined. Not both at once.

Distracted by the alluring scent, Felix slowed, eyes roving over the bustling faces around him, trying to discern where the scent could be coming from. Weaving his way through the pulsing mob of people, he followed his intincts, a strange tugging in his chest pulling him towards the scent.

He nearly tripped over his own feet when his eyes landed on a lost looking Jisung. The boy looked almost exactly the same as he had three years ago. Felix had only seen him for a split second before Chan had been dragging him off to the studio to record some music. The only difference seemed to be Jisung's bleached sandy blond hair. As Felix stepped closer to the boy, he noticed that his expression was pinched by distress and his eyes held a barely concealed panic.

Jisung held eye contact with Felix for a second before glancing away and returning to his agitated pacing. Felix appraoched him slowly as if he were a wild animal. While he knew that Jisung couldn't actually hurt him, he was still afraid that the boy might lash out if he startled him.

"H-hey, you're Chan's friend, Han Jisung, right?" He asked shakily, making his voice small and uncertain.

Jisungs head snapped in his direction, his wide eyes staring at Felix with hope. "You know Channie hyung? Do you know where he is? Is he okay? Why hasn't he messaged me? Why hasn't he come home? Does he hate me? Did I do something to upset him? Can you tell him I'm sorry if I did, please?" Felix blinked, astounded by the bombardment of questions which Jisung had somehow managed to spit out rhythmically despite nearly stumbling over his words in his rush to get them out.

Felix paused for a moment, completely awed by the blond boy standing before him, even as said boy picked at his nails nervously. A harsh tug inside his chest encouraged him to embrace Jisung as he shook his head. He closed his eyes as he uttered the words that he knew would crush the flicker of hope shining in Jisung's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jisung hyung. I have no idea where Chan hyung is. I was actually coming to find you because I haven't heard from him since the other night and I thought maybe you would know what was going on," Jisung wrapped his arms tightly around Felix and clung to him like his life depended on it.

"I-I-I don't know. He didn't come home and I just have this aweful feeling that something horrible happened to him and the police are saying that they are too busy to deal with a hunch and I just don't know what to do. I don't even know where to begin to look! I know nothing about Chan outside of the things we do together," a tear drop startled Felix as the warm liquid fell onto his neck. He held Jisung tighter as the tears continued to fall. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to comfort Jisung. Chan never told him. He would just tell Felix when he couldn't see him because Jisung was upset. He knew that Jisung would sometimes pretend he was fine to the point that he really did seem like nothing was wrong even when he actually really upset. Chan had admitted to Felix once that if it weren't for his sense of smell, he would have never even guessed that something was wrong with Jisung. But this was the complete opposite to what Chan had ever mentioned. He had said that sometimes Jisung's emotions were too messy for even his wolf to decipher, but Felix could pinpoint every single emotion Jisung was feeling. Each emotion suggesting that what Jisung desperately needed was

"I'm sure that's not true. I'm sure you know plenty about him outside of the things you do together. I know Chan hyung can be a bit secretive- or rather private... but that's just how he is,"he paused, unsure of what to say next. He really didn't know Jisung, and he knew telling Jisung that he had the same gut feeling as he did would not be a comforting thing to hear. He glanced around and noticed a lot of people looking at them. "How about we go back to your place and talk more there? I am sure Chan hyung is fine, he probably just got sidetracked at the studio or-"

"But I checked there! He wasn't there!"Jisung pulled away from Felix and stared at him in disbelief. "And why wouldn't he message me? I live with him! Chan hyung would never not tell me if he was going to be away!"

Felix held his hands up apologetically. "I don't know, okay? I just- I'm trying to be hopefully here," he whispered, frustration creeping into his voice. "Let's just- Let's go somewhere more private. Too many people are watching us," Jisung looked as if he were about to refuse but as he glanced between Felix's face and the people around them who shamelessly met his stare, he changed his mind. He grabbed Felix's wrist and began dragging him down the street.

"Fine, but I am only doing this because I need help finding Channie hyung."

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Felix thought he could convince Jisung to stay home and wait for Chan while he searched for his friend, but, Jisung refused to be the one stuck sitting around being useless all day and told Felix that he was welcome to be laze about, but he was going to find Chan with or without Felix's help.

After a long argument, Felix caved, the tugging in his chest morphing into crushing stone the more upset and distressed Jisung became, until the pressure was too much and he granted Jisung's wish.

"Fine. You can come with me," Jisung's eyes lit up with joy at his words and a part of Felix cooed at how cute the blond boy looked when he wasn't frowning. "But, if your hunch is right, and something horrible has happened to Chan, then, you not only have to be prepared for a dangerous situation but also the possibility that Chan-" Felix swallowed hard and tears stung the corners of his eyes. He hoped beyond all hope that anything, anything, else had happened than what he was about to say. "The possibility that Chan hyung has tortured or killed," Jisung's face fell and Felix wish he could say something to make Jisung smile, to make him forget about the very likely devestating scenario they were going to face if they found Chan. Because even that was a major if. Hunters had learned how to cover their tracks and hide themselves over the years. It made sense considering many of the Mysts they hunted began to hunt them back as revenge.

This search for Chan would likely only end in despair and dead ends.

Heya! Please, don't stop reading because Ch1 and Ch2 have been hella crap. Ch3 is going to be where I just jump into the story. I will just use dialogue and flashbacks/memories to explain what happened between Ch2 and Ch3 in future chapters.

I genuinely hope you stick around for the rest of the story because it is so much better than how these two chapters make it appear.

Thank you for reading SBW 💛

(btw the official colour for this story will be yellow)