Hyunjin was sitting on one of the couches of the common room and stared at the ceiling while waiting for his friends to arrive. Jeongin was sitting next to him, doing basically the same thing. The siren let a sigh escape him and let himself fall to the side, so his head rested on his cousin's shoulder. The kitsune didn't let that bother him and continued to stare holes into the ceiling in hopes of making the time pass faster.

The training of the two had ended around half an hour ago. They had made their way to the common room on the third floor almost immediately, not losing much time. In retrospect they should have taken their time, considering that they now needed to wait for an unpredictable amount of time, but neither of them dared to complain about it. They knew that their friends were probably training a lot harder than them.

"This is boring", Jeongin said and suddenly stood up, causing Hyunjin to fall to the side, almost hitting his head on the couch's armrest. The siren quickly caught himself, successfully keeping his head from making contact with the piece of furniture. The black-haired male then glared at the blond in front of the couch, who seemed to be in thought and seemingly didn't notice Hyunjin's glare.

"We should do something, so waiting is not so boring", the kitsune suggested, looking at his cousin. Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, already questioning what they could possible do without leaving this place.

"You know we have to stay here, right?", the siren reminded the blond. Jeongin rolled his eyes at that.

"Of course I know. I'm not stupid, hyung", he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking around the room with a bit of a mischievous glint in his eyes. Hyunjin wasn't sure whenever he liked it or not that his cousin was looking around the room like he was searching for trouble.

"We could play a game", the kitsune then said, looking back to Hyunjin with his eyes shining with excitement. Hyunjin squinted his eyes at the blond. Something about this suggestion was suspicious. What was the kitsune aiming at with this?

"What kind of game?", Hyunjin asked carefully. Jeongin grinned lightly. "One truth, two lies", the kitsune answered, confusing the siren to a certain extend. Why had the blond looked around the room when the game didn't require that? Oh wait, he probably did it to confuse or distract Hyunjin, but it was still a stupid game choice considering that they grew up together and therefore knew a lot about each other. Still, the siren was bored enough to consider agreeing.

"Alright, let's play", Hyunjin answered while properly sitting up. He wasn't entirely sure if he already knew Jeongin's true intentions, but he was a bit too bored to say no to a little game to pass the time. The kitsune's smile grew a little bit and he let himself plop down next to Hyunjin. He turned towards his cousin and laid his legs over the siren's lap.

"I'll start", the kitsune smiled. "First, I never directly lie to Auntie. Second, I never missed a day in school. And third I don't have a best friend", Jeongin said, looking at his cousin expectedly. Hyunjin chuckled at the obvious lies.

Jeongin had missed days at school before for various reason. Mostly he didn't feel good or fell sick over the weekend. It was the most normal thing ever to miss at least one or two days of school due a sickness. The second lie was that Jeongin didn't have a best friend. The blond's best friend was non other that Hwang Hyunjin himself. Ever since they were little, Jeongin and Hyunjin referred to each other as cousins and best friends since they knew each other the best.

The truth was the first one since the young kitsune was a little bit too scared to directly lie to Ms. Hwang. After all, she was half kitsune and would be able to see through his lies immediately. It was also important to consider that when Ms. Hwang hated something it was being lied to, meaning she would grill Jeongin the minute she realized he lied to her.

"First one is true. You would never directly lie to my mum. You are too scared to do that", Hyunjin said in a little bit of a teasing tone, despite having the same type of fear. Jeongin rolled his eyes a little, but then nodded, proofing that Hyunjin was right. The siren smiled a little bit with pride.

"My turn then", the siren said and then paused to think for a minute. What things could Jeongin possibly not know about him? There wasn't much if he was honest, so he settled for simpler things.

"So, first off I don't like dogs. Second, I love dancing. Third, I never thought about going to university", the siren said, being sure that Jeongin already knew the true one since it was quite obvious. Even though it was a surprise to some people, Hyunjin loved dancing. He used to not like it that much when he was younger, but it grew to him over time.

"Second one is true. You love dancing", Jeongin said, leaning back a little. Hyunjin nodded as confirmation while a little smile adored his lips. Jeongin grinned back at him, showing his white teeth a little bit.

"Alright, my turn again", the kitsune said and straightened his back a little. "First, I'm not a member of any group. Second, I'm not a kitsune. And third I think my dear cousin is in a relationship and didn't tell me", Jeongin said like it was the most normal thing ever. He smiled cheekily and looked at Hyunjin with anticipation glimmering in his foxy eyes.

The siren had to bite back a laugh because of the look on his cousin's face. Did the kitsune really want to play this game just to ask him this? Somehow he couldn't even be mad about it. He knew something was up when Jeongin suggested to play a game.

"Did we play this game just for you to ask this indirectly?", Hyunjin chuckled. Jeongin nodded almost eagerly and continued to look at his cousin with anticipation. He obviously wanted to know if he guessed correctly or not. It made him look like a cute, little kid, which made Hyunjin want to tease him a little bit.

"Well, first I hate my little cousin. Second, my hated little cousin isn't my best friend", the siren started and then paused, watching how Jeongin waited for him to continue with sparkling eyes. "And third I have a boyfriend", the siren ended with a shy little smile on his lips.

As if it was his cue, Jeongin smiled brightly. "I knew it. It's Changbin-hyung, right?", the kitsune asked and Hyunjin nodded as an answer. The kitsune smiled like he won the lottery and let himself fall backwards.

"I knew it", he said more to himself than Hyunjin. The siren brushed a stray strain of hair behind his ear, trying to hide his shyness a little bit. He and Changbin had kind of a silent agreement to not announce their relationship to the rest just now. Maybe the vampire wanted to wait for after the rescue mission. ... after the rescue mission, huh?

Just thinking about the event that was looming over the NCT headquarter made Hyunjin's stomach turn, especially because unlike most of his friends he wasn't taking part in it. He would stay back at the headquarter with Jeongin, his mother and the wolf hybrids and werewolves that couldn't fight while the rest would be on a mission, risking their lives for the sake of others. Maybe the reason Changbin hadn't announced his relationship with Hyunjin was the fact that he wasn't sure whenever he would make it out of the rescue mission alive.

"Hyung?", Jeongin's worried voice ripped Hyunjin out of these dark thoughts and let him focus back on his cousin. The kitsune was sitting in front of him again, looking a bit worried. Hyunjin felt something wet on his cheek and instinctively touched it, noticing that it was his own tears. The siren quickly wiped them away, knowing that he shouldn't cry now.

"Everything alright?", Jeongin asked, laying his hand on Hyunjin's shoulder. The siren quickly nodded and tried to put on a smile.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just had some bad thoughts", he admitted. Jeongin looked at him with sympathy and leaned forward, hugging his cousin. Like it was an instinct, Hyunjin hugged the blond back while trying to pull himself together.

"Trust me I understand it", the kitsune mumbled, reminding Hyunjin of the fact that Jeongin was Felix's mate. They shared a special bond just like Minho and Jisung or Chan and Byungho. They were all connected with their mate by a red thread, which grew stronger over time.

A part of Hyunjin wished he could change his mind and join the rescue mission, but his mother would metaphorically kill him and he feared that he would be too much of a sudden change. Besides, he couldn't really do anything to help unlike Jeongin, whose magical skills and illusion as well as his natural ability to teleport could be essential assets for the mission.

The siren was pulled back to reality when he felt Jeongin tense a little bit and then just pull back from the hug. For a second, Hyunjin was worried, but then he noticed the concentration in the blond's eyes and realized that he had just heard something.

"I think the rest is finally coming", the kitsune stated, focusing back on Hyunjin. The siren nodded and wiped his face with his shirt, just to be sure there were no more tears visible. He didn't want to worry the others since they already had enough on their plate.

Shortly after that, Hyunjin could hear the rest approaching, but he wasn't prepared for Felix being the first one, who was storming around the corner.

"Innie I'm back", the cat hybrid declared loudly before basically throwing himself on the couch to hug the kitsune.

"Hyung you are heavy", the kitsune complained, but he still had an adorable little smile on his lips. One that even Hyunjin rarely got to see over the years, but the siren still had to refer from laughing at Jeongin's expression because it was obvious how he tried to mask his cute smile with an annoyed look. It didn't really work, but it was the effort that counted, right?

Felix just happily nuzzled his head on the blond's shoulder and for a short moment Hyunjin swore he heard the cat hybrid purr, but then the rest had to walk in.

"Young love. Adorable really", Jisung commented in a teasing tone when he saw Felix and Jeongin. The kitsune turned his head towards the warlock with an raised eyebrow.

"Because you and Minho-hyung are that much older and wiser?", the blond deadpanned. "Definitely", Jisung replied with a smug little grin on his face that was obviously just to tease them. Jeongin just rolled his eyes and gave up.

Hyunjin chuckled to himself while watching them, but then his gaze fell onto Seungmin. The redhead was standing beside Byungho, almost leaning onto the older and seemed a bit zoned out. A certain tiredness, maybe even exhaustion, was visible in Seungmin's dark eyes and it worried Hyunjin endlessly. Was the training for the magical creatures so hard today or had something happened to the redhead?

"Guys don't forget why we are here in the first place", Chan reminded, gaining everyone's attention. Hyunjin only glanced at his leader before his gaze wandered back to Seungmin. The redhead seemed a little more awake now, but he obviously wasn't entirely fine.

Byungho nudged Seungmin into Hyunjin's direction and in the end the redhead flopped down onto the couch beside the siren. One look from the older brunette was enough to let Hyunjin understand that for the time being the siren should take care of the redhead, but without making it obvious. Still, Byungho sat down on the ground in front of the two younger males, leaning against the couch while looking at Chan.

The wolf hybrid with the silver-grey hair sat in front of the group with Changbin by his side while Minho and Jisung had settled down in front of the couch just like Byungho. Hyunjin had to admit that the serious glimmer in Chan's eyes and the clam expression on his face made him look like the leaders of stronger, bigger groups. It amazed the siren since he knew he could never pull something like that off, but his eyes still flicker over to a certain vampire.

Changbin sat on the ground cross legged with his hands placed on his ankles. He seemed focus on the current situation, but his black eyes still flickered over to Hyunjin and Seungmin from time to time. Hyunjin could imagine why. The vampire was just as worried about the redhead as Hyunjin was, but he kept it to himself for the sake of the group meeting.

"Alright. Let's start with the basic formation that we keep up while searching in the hunters's headquarter. We already had a pretty good one for the trainings fights, but I would say that Byungho shouldn't stay back with me and rather be a little bit more in the front or completely in the middle", Chan began, looking at everyone for a moment. Hyunjin felt something move beside him and his eyes once again fell onto Seungmin.

"I would put him completely in the front and not Minho", Seungmin spoke up while straightening his back a little. He probably tried to not seem so tired.

"I agree with Seungmin", Byungho said, backing up his younger brother. "We wouldn't be as fast as we are with Minho at the front, but it's more easy for me to cast spells if I don't need to worry about hitting an allies. Besides, my shield would be a lot more stable if I was directly behind it", the brunette added.

Chan seemed to take this into serious consideration, but he still asked for Minho and Felix's thoughts as well as Changbin's observations from today's training. Hyunjin just listened to them discuss and plan things until he once again noticed a little movement beside him. Seungmin had leaned back again. His eyes seemed to almost fall close by themselves, but the redhead wouldn't allow that.

The siren felt his chest hurt a little when he saw Seungmin's exhausted state. He wanted to just wrap him up in a blanket and stay with him until he was sound asleep, but he knew he couldn't do that. So instead the siren's gaze feel onto the redhead's hand that rested on the younger's thigh. Without thinking too much about it, Hyunjin let his hand slip under Seungmin's, intertwining their fingers automatically.

Seungmin seemed a bit startled at that and opened his tired eyes a little wider to look at his hand that now was laying on top of Hyunjin's slightly bigger one. Then his eyes flickered up to the siren's face, who just greeted the other male with a light smile. The redhead tiredly mirrored the smile and let his head drop to the side, so it laid on Hyunjin's shoulder, which surprised the taller male. Immediately Hyunjin's heartbeat became faster and the siren prayed to all known gods that Seungmin wouldn't notice it.

"Wake me if they say something that includes me", the redhead mumbled barely audible, but Hyunjin still heard him. Even the redhead's voice sounded tired, which let the siren once again ask himself what they trained today to get Seungmin this drained while Byungho was seemingly fine. Before the siren could think about that, he reminded himself of the redhead's little request.

"I will. Don't worry", he whispered, giving the redhead's hand a reassuring squeeze. Somehow he wanted to give Seungmin a kiss on the head too, but he didn't for obvious reasons.

The discussions for strategies came to a halt when everyone slowly felt tired. Seungmin was never really involved in any of the strategies since he would be staying at certain spots outside of the hunters' headquarter along with Jisung and some other magical creatures. It was something Hyunjin felt kind of relieved to hear, but it made his worry for Changbin, Chan, Minho, Felix and Byungho only grow.

Seungmin basically woke up like it was his cue when Chan suggested that they should rest for today. He was the first one, who stood up and wanted to go, which wasn't that unusual for him, but Hyunjin was pretty sure the redhead just wanted to cover up his tiredness. Just glancing at his friends and seeing the little bit of worry displayed in their eyes let the siren know that they were well aware of Seungmin's obvious exhaustion. They were worried about the redhead just like the siren, but nobody addressed the issue, probably because it was an almost normal reaction to the hard training they had received.

"Hey, Seungmin could I talk to you for a minute before you head home? It's important", Changbin spoke up, looking at Seungmin. Hyunjin looked over to his "secret" boyfriend in surprise just like the redhead in question.

"Sure", Seungmin agreed then looked over to Byungho. "Go ahead and text dad. I will meet you, Wonpil-hyung and Woosu-hyung down in the lobby", the redhead added looking at his brother. Byungho hesitated for a moment, but then agreed and left the common room with the rest of the group. Jisung looked a bit vary about this, but Minho dragged him along. When Hyunjin wanted to head out too, Changbin stopped him by holding onto his arm.

"You are staying too", the vampire said, confusing Hyunjin even more. What important thing did Changbin want to talk about with him and Seungmin. Wait. Changbin didn't plan on confessing to Seungmin, right? No, he wouldn't do that, right?

"So what's so important?", Seungmin asked, looking at Changbin with a tilted head. Hyunjin looked at the vampire too and really hoped he wasn't doing what he thought he would. Changbin took a breath and closed his eyes for brief moment. When he reopened them, something in his expression had changed. He just seemed sincerely concerned to the point Hyunjin wasn't sure if he should just call it cute or admit that he was very much in love with Seo Changbin.

"Look, I know I shouldn't keep you up right now, but you know you can talk to us, right?", Changbin began, glancing at Hyunjin when he said "us". The siren was pretty sure the vampire just wanted a confirmation that Hyunjin would back him up, but the siren couldn't help but have a mental discussion about how much he liked Changbin saying "us" in that context.

Seungmin seemed a bit confused, tilting his head a little bit more to the side. His puppy-like, dark eyes were scanning over Changbin's face like he was searching for an answer to a question.

"Why are you reminding me of that, hyung?", the redhead asked, almost too innocently. A part of Hyunjin told the siren that Seungmin was trying really hard to keep something covered, but he couldn't name what it was or why the redhead felt the need to cover anything. Didn't he trust them?

Hyunjin took a step over to Changbin and turned to look at Seungmin. The redhead still looked with a little bit too much innocence at them. It was almost scary how Seungmin could look innocent and cute while remaining to be extremely observant and cautious despite obvious exhaustion.

"Seungminnie, please don't do that", Hyunjin mumbled out loud by accident. The siren only noticed his mistake when the innocence in the redhead's expression was gone and a bit of fear flashed in Seungmin's dark eyes. The dark orbs flickered over to Changbin before they refocused on Hyunjin, letting something in the siren's chest uncomfortable tighten. What was the redhead so afraid of? What was he trying to hide so desperately?

"We're worried about you because you have been unusually tried today. That's all it is", Changbin reassured Seungmin and suddenly the little bit of fear in the redhead's eyes was replaced with something Hyunjin couldn't read or describe. The redhead let a sigh escape him while his shoulders slump a little. He seemingly stopped trying to hide his tiredness.

"I'm sorry. I will be fine tomorrow. Today was ... was just a different type of exhaustion", the redhead finally admitted, running a hand through his red hair while looking at the ground. Hyunjin was a bit vary about this and glanced over to Changbin, who seemed to feel the same way. The vampire didn't seem convinced either.

"I just need a good night sleep, so don't worry", Seungmin reassured them, waving his hands around while showing a small smile. The smile didn't really reach the redhead's eyes.

"Just know that you can talk to us", Changbin repeated his previous statement. "I will", the redhead immediately answered and then took a hesitant step forward. At first, Hyunjin didn't understand the gesture, but then Seungmin huddled them both into a hug.

"I will", the redhead repeated in a much more sincere tone, making Hyunjin's heart melt. The siren let his head rest on the redhead's shoulder, putting an arm around the redhead's back and let the other sneak around Changbin's waist.

"Glad to hear that", Hyunjin heard Changbin say in a quiet voice and he couldn't agree more with the vampire. He wasn't sure whenever Seungmin would keep his word, but a part of him hoped he would.

————————

The following five days went by quickly. Of course, the training continued and every individual in each group did their very best. Everyone became more skilled and stronger with each passing day, but nobody really knew when the rescue mission would really happen. This was until Taeyong called in a meeting of all the groups's leaders.

Of course, Chan was participating this meeting along with Changbin while the rest of their friends was training in the halls on the first floor. The meeting room they sat in was on the fourth floor of the NCT headquarter and a rather large room with a long desk and serval black swirling chairs. It was probably the biggest meeting room Chan has seen so far, but he also forgot to count in how many he had already been in. The NCT headquarter was just a tad too spacious to keep track of that.

Every leader of the groups, that were participating in the rescue mission, had already taken their seat on the table. Chan had Changbin to his right and to his left sat Hyunjun, the leader of the group IZ and one of Chan's and Changbin's classmates back at Miroh High. Chan also knew the elf, because Hyunjun and Byungho became kind of friends over time, even though the wolf hybrid couldn't really remember how that happened.

To Changbin's right sat Sungjin as the leader of Day6, even though his group was a little split up in the rescue mission. After all, Dowoon and Wonpil were part of the group that Changbin would lead. Chan still didn't know whenever he liked the thought of the black haired vampire being on the frontline of the mission or not. Though, he understood why it had to be this way. The vampires had to back-up Taeyong and his group with their speed and therefore fast reactions.

The wolf hybrid closed his eyes for a moment and collected his thoughts. He needed to focus on the meeting now. After all, it had to be important. When he reopened his eyes he immediately focused on the person on the very end of the table. Taeyong stood there with Kun by his side. The guardian leaned on the table and seemed to be thinking. Still, the way the male with the red hair seemed to be putting his whole weigh on his arms told Chan that he wasn't in the best shape. WhenTaeyong raised his head and let his blue eyes scan over the people on the table, an unparalleled determination was burning in them. It was probably the pure reason the guardian was still standing.

"Thanks for gathering here", Taeyong began, immediately having the rooms attention on him if he hadn't already. The man with the red hair shifted his weigh away from his arms and straightened his back.

"Some of you already know why we have gathered here and some don't. Still, there is only one simple question I need to ask everyone of you that doesn't need much explanation", the guardian continued and his intense blue eyes made Chan shudder internally. With just that, the wolf hybrid had basically erased the image of the exhausted Taeyong from his mind.

Taeyong took a little breath before he said his next sentence. "I'm asking you, as the leaders of your groups, if your members, the family you chose, are ready for the rescue mission", the guardian asked, looking at every leader in the room. When Chan's gaze met Taeyong's for a brief moment the wolf hybrid not only saw the guardian's intense blue eyes, but also something that told Chan that whatever he would say on behalf of StrayKids it would be understood.

"All of you may have noticed that we never set a date for the rescue mission and this is the reason why. We want every single creature, that will participate in it, to be ready, to be prepared for what's to come. There would be no use in rushing, because the last thing we want is to lose more than we can win. So, if any of you feel like their group isn't ready yet, we will wait and train them a little more", the guardian went on while his gaze continued to search for the ones of the other leaders.

"I just need to know this now, because if we can all agree that everyone is ready for this mission, we will go through with it tomorrow", Taeyong finished. For a short moment, Chan swore a bit of pain flashed in the guardian's eyes when he moved a little with his shoulder.

"I guess I can say for Shownu, JB and all of KARD that we are ready for this and have been the minute you and Taeil asked us for help", a brunette male spoke up. Chan got to know the male as J.Seph a member of KARD, the group of Matthew, who Chan got to know a little over the last days. According to Matthew, KARD had no real leader or at least never settled for one officially, but when something needed to be discussed among the leaders Chan had only ever noticed J.Seph to be there.

The wolf hybrid ripped his gaze away from the other leaders and stared at the surface of the table in front of him. This was a big decision he had to make right on the spot. Sure, he had watched all of the members of his group train and knew what they could do and what not. He made it his mission to get to know their strengths and weaknesses in the last days, but he still felt a bit overwhelmed. The impact of the decision he would make now was huge.

Chan couldn't help but glance over to Changbin. The vampire still had his gaze focused on Taeyong, but he hadn't said anything yet. His black eyes with the light red shimmer had something calculating in them, which Chan had seen before. It was the same look Changbin had on his face while he was fighting.

"This is a little big", Chan heard someone mumble next to him, letting his gaze wander to his left where Hyunjun was sitting. The elf with the grey hair with the lilac shimmer was tapping his right pointer finger on his thigh while he was lightly biting his lip. He was obviously thinking about the decision Chan had to make too. It reminded the wolf hybrid of the fact that Hyunjun was around his age and just as inexperienced as a leader as he was despite having been in a group for much longer than him.

"Okay don't look at the others. Think for yourself", Chan reminded himself and looked at his hands. He had to make the right call now, so he had to think this over carefully. What strengths of Stray Kids had shown themselves over the last few days and what weakness should he take into consideration?

He began with Minho since the cat hybrid with the hazelnut brown hair had surprised him the most with his quick reactions and great fighting skills. What he lacked in technique did he make up with an incredible flexibility and fast reactions. Of course, Minho wasn't invincible, but on the spot Chan couldn't remember ever having noticed any great weakness in his fighting style. Sure, Changbin managed to give him a hard time every time they fought against each other in training, but Chan had seen the uncrowned vampire king train once; he was way too used to quick movements.

Next one that came into his mind was Felix. The ginger had probably the same kind of skill set as Minho, but he was a bit too careful to not hurt anyone if he trained with others. Still, Chan was well aware of the fact that the ginger cat hybrid could kick and hit someone with a lot more might if he wanted that. The only thing that worried Chan about Felix was the fact that the ginger looked at his other team members a little too much and therefore got distracted easily. Though, it was something Chan could take care of with ease.

Last but not least were the Kim brothers. They had proven that they were excellent magic user in the last few days. Seungmin could take care of probably more than one portal if he wanted to and Byungho had been right when he had argued that having him in the very front of their fighting formation was the most efficient way to use his magical abilities.

The brunette had improved his shield spell by a lot in the last few days, but his combat spells weren't bad either. Besides, Chan knew that the older had an ace up his sleeve that was a lot mightier than he could comprehend.

Jisung was assigned to BTS for the rescue mission, but Chan still tried to keep track of the young warlock's improvements. According to the young warlock himself, he was giving it his best. He had learned the portal spell and perfected it to the best of his abilities together with Park Jimin. The training of his combat spells was going well too, even though Chan hoped the younger wouldn't need them. The same thing he hoped for Seungmin.

Jeongin and Hyunjin were training basic combat skills and according to them and Yedam was doing good too. Even though Jeongin, Hyunjin and Yedam wouldn't participate in the rescue mission, they just naturally came to Chan's mind.

The wolf hybrid noticed that despite the little time they all had to train, they all had improved their skills greatly, leading to Chan finding no real weakness. There wasn't anything, which would immediately make him worried enough to not even think about leading them into the rescue mission.

A soft nudge let Chan look over to Changbin, who was looking at the wolf hybrid. "Have you decided yet?", the vampire asked. The wolf hybrid nodded. He didn't know why, but he felt like he should make the right decision now. Changbin showed the other a little smile and then let his gaze focus back onto Taeyong. Chan followed the vampires gaze and noticed that Taeyong was looking into his direction, waiting for his answer. The wolf hybrid took a little breath before opening his mouth to talk.

"Stray Kids is ready", Chan announced, looking at Taeyong. The guardian nodded, showing a light smile and then let his gaze wandered over to the person next to Chan. Hyunjun, who had his gaze fixated on his lap, where his right pointer finger anxiously tapped onto his thigh, making Chan feel sympathetic for the elf.

"Hyunjun?", Taeyong called the young male's name. Hyunjun flinched a little and then looked up to the guardian. Taeyong looked at him with empathy in his eyes. "Do you need more time to think this through?", the red haired male asked him with an understanding tone. Hyunjun stopped for a moment and then timidly nodded.

"I would like to talk this over with Junhee-hyung", the elf answered and looked over to the leader of ACE. The brunette dryad nodded in agreement and stood up from his place opposite of Hyunjun and walked to the room's door, waiting for the young elf.

When the two were out of the room, Chan allowed himself to lean back in his chair, asking himself whenever or not he made the right choice. Maybe he was too inexperienced to correctly make a decision in this situation, but on the other hand he didn't know why they shouldn't be ready. If everything went according to plan, they wouldn't need to face any hunters and Chan wanted to believe that this would be the case.

"I think you made the right decision", the wolf hybrid heard Changbin say quietly beside him. Chan looked over to the vampire and was met with his friend's black eyes. The calculating gaze he had when he was looking at Taeyong was gone and replaced by the sympathy and kindness that Changbin's eyes usually held. It made Chan almost regret that he was too deep in thought to notice the vampire's reply.

"Did you agree too?", the wolf hybrid asked in a hushed voice. That question must sound stupid to the vampire to some degree, but Chan need to know for sure. Changbin only gave him a nod with an unreadable expression and said nothing.

With that out of the way, they waited quietly like the rest of the leaders. Over time Chan was pretty sure they all just waited for Hyunjun's decision since nobody seemed to be deep in thought or something similar.

After what felt like an eternity, the door of the meeting room was opened and Junhee stepped into the room with Hyunjun following him. All eyes naturally wander to them and for a moment Chan felt sorry for the elf, but Hyunjun seemed a bit more confident now, which relief the wolf hybrid.

"IZ is ready too", the elf declared with a steady voice. After he said that Taeyong, who at one point had taken a seat, raised his voice one more.

"Then it's settled. We are going through with the rescue mission tomorrow", he declared.