Jeno made sure to keep his eyes fleeting from the road to the dashboard every few miles. He watched as the little blue arrow on the car's dash was leading him further and further into the forest, away from all signs of civilization.

Why he had suddenly decided to trust a complete stranger was so unlike him. Jeno was cautious, always prepared for the unexpected, always weary of people trying to get too close.

Mark had been the one and only exception in his life, and that was solely because Mark was a very persistent guy and they had more or less grown up together throughout high school, so he had grown well accustomed to Jeno's lack of social cues pretty early on.

Still, he couldn't comprehend the overwhelming sense of security with the stranger.

Obviously there had still been a bit of caution, which just came with the territory, but Jeno was still stumped by how easily he had rolled over and accepted this stranger's help. He knew deep down that if he really wanted to, Jeno could have gotten mark to the hospital by himself.

Sure, there might have been a few complications along the way - since he had also taken a beating - but they still would have been capable of achieving on their own. Only now he was in the driver seat with his wounded best friend in the back, racing past the speed limit to get to some place in the woods, to meet with a person he had never met before. All because his body was telling that the stranger could be trusted.

Why?

He wasn't sure, but he expected that he would receive some answers when they reached their destination.

"How long?" Mark's voice was light from the back seat but Jeno could still hear him over his own racing heart.

The boy sent the directions another glance, his tongue swiping against his dry lips as his eyes returned to the road ahead. "We're about ten-"

Jeno's nose drew in a scent he had never smelt before. It was almost like the entire air inside the car had turned stale all too quickly. He whimpered as it burned against his nostrils, his eyes filling with tears of disgust.

Somehow he managed to keep his water-logged eyes trained on the road, his fingers coiling around the top of the wheel. Knuckles grew white as he pulled the car back from the edge of the path and back onto the main road.

"Dude...?" Mark sounded exhausted, the word slipping through his laboured breathing.

Jeno shook his head and kept his eyes straight, gritting his teeth as his entire body prickled with goosebumps.

"I'm fine." He hissed out through his tensed jaw, clearing the bile from his throat so Mark wouldn't get too suspicious. "We're five minutes away Mark, think you can stay with me until then?"

"I'll do my best!" He let out a breathy laugh and Jeno's heart thrummed in relief.

Jeno pressed down harder on the acceleration pedal and allowed the force of the speed to push him gently back against his seat.

"At least you didn't need your nausea meds!" Jeno jokes to break the tension, while also trying to keep Mark awake and alert.

His best friend laughed from the back seat, wincing a second later. "Dick," he hissed, letting out another faint chuckle. "Stop making me laugh. I'm in pain!"

"I would rather have you awake and in pain, then passed out and lifeless." Jeno snapped, blinking the water in his eyes away as the sight of a house started to break its way through the foliage on their left side.

"is that where we're supposed to go?" Mark wondered, his neck straining against the seatbelt as he peeked through his opposite window. "What is this place?"

"I don't know." Jeno admits, flicking down the indicator despite knowing that they were alone on the road with no other cars following them. "Let's just hope that this Chandler will know what to do."

"Chanyeol," Mark corrected him, smiling faintly as he felt the car jerk around the bend in the road. "The dude said you needed to get me to a Chanyeol."

"Chanyeol." Jeno said, nodding his head in understanding.

He sent his best friend another quick glance before allowing himself to try and find a suitable parking spot, hopefully close enough to the doorway so he wouldn't have to carry Mark too far.

He slammed on the brakes and quickly exited the vehicle. He glanced up at the house as he rushed around the back of the car and over to Mark's side. Jeno could faintly make out a silhouette from the doorway, but he disregarded the presence, in favour of dragging his best friend up from his impromptu hospital bed.

Mark hisses in pain, groaning when he's forced upright and against Jeno's shoulder. He helps to steady him, gently placing his arm from Mark's uninjured side over his shoulder before going to a step in the direction of the house.

Jeno couldn't stop the wince that escapes his lips when he realizes that the house they were approaching had several steps up to the main door, his body was still coursing with adrenaline so there was no real problem if he was to carry his best friend up the stairs. But, Mark would enjoy it far too much.

"Am I going to have to carry your ass, again?" Jeno wonders, letting the humor slip out of his words.

He earns a breathy laugh from his friend for his effort, Mark gently tightening his hold on his shoulder as he chuckles. "Probably," he admits with a shrug of his uninjured shoulder. "I find myself enjoying the princess treatment from you."

"Yeah," Jeno groans, shaking his head from the impending headache. "I figured you would. Don't get too used to it though," he pauses to breath through his pain. "I plan on knocking you on your ass when you're fixed and healthy."

"Deal." Mark agrees, also feeling a level of pain that he otherwise hadn't noticed from all the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

They had arrived at the place the stranger had recommended, now their bodies were growing weary, tired, and very aware of the amount of pain they were in.

Jeno knew that he could hold out a little longer though, the incoming headache only burning behind his eyes at this moment in time. He would have plenty of time to rest once he pawed Mark off on this Chanyeol person.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Jeno was mentally preparing himself to take on Mark's additional body weight when the door at the very top of the stairs opened and what could only be described as an otherworldly growl rang through his ears. His neck snapped upwards and his heart raced at the sight of guy, about their age, hissing at them with fangs and yellow eyes.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Mark hissed as Jeno's grip on his waist dropped in favour of blocking his best friend from the leaping monster.

Mark sank against the staircase, body impacting the last step with a low thump, as his eyes watched as the body of the man at the top of the stairs leaped down the ten steps and collided against Jeno's.

They both fell to the ground with a louder thump than Mark. Jeno somehow managed to get right back on his feet as the boy staggered up himself.

His hair was a light brown and his eyes were a shimmering amber. The lower half of his face was definitely not human given that the guy possessed ridiculously long canines from both his top and lower jaws.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The boy hissed.

It was at that Jeno realised that the guy was also packing claws, or what might have been acrylic? He couldn't tell.

"I'm trying to get my friend over there some medical attention!" Jeno hissed right back at him, pointing with his forefinger at Mark who raised his hand in stunned welcome. "Why the hell are you attacking me?!"

"This is not your land, you're trespassing!" The latter growled, shimmering eyes growing brighter as his face started to contour to be filled with... more hair?

"Dude, I was told to come here, I'm not looking to cause any trouble,"

"By whom?" the other yelled. "Who told you to come here?"

"Some dude in the woods!" Jeno knew how ridiculous it would sound but he didn't really have any other option. The boy in front of him was starting to mellow out, but that didn't make him forget the fact that he had tried to attack them. "I didn't get his name, only that he told me to come and find Chanyeol."

At the mention of the other guy's name, the boy seemed to calm further. His glowing amber eyes retracted and the growing hair on his face seemed to subside too, giving way to a more baby-faced look than Jeno was expecting. The boy standing in front of him wasn't anything older than sixteen at best.

"Oh," his voice was softer now, younger. "Sorry about that." He politely bowed and Jeno felt the whiplash already begin to take affect. "We don't get many out-of-towners and we didn't know if you would be a threat."

"You think I'm the threat? Dude you're the one that leaped from ten feet in the air and morphed into something out of a horror comic!" Jeno deadpanned, watching as the boy's lips pulled back to reveal a row of perfectly normal white teeth and not the sharp canines they possessed a moment ago.

"Right," the boy laughed, though Jeno could tell by his body language that he was beginning to regret that. "Sorry about that and I'm sorry of I scared your friend, like I said, we don't get a lot of people out here who are all that friendly. I'm sorry for leaping at you and thinking that you were a threat, I'll help bring your friend inside-"

"No!" Mark squeaked from his spot on the steps. "I think that I would much rather stay outdoors and AWAY from the four walls of the house harboring a freak!"

The boy shrugged his shoulders, looking at Jeno with a small smile on his face. Judging from the lack of murderous intent swirling in his brown iris, Jeno was certain that he had been used to people calling him a 'freak'. It was a lot better than the initial 'monster' term that Jeno had used when the guy leaped at him.

"My name's Jisung, I'm the youngest of the house so I'm still not entirely used to new people so I apologize-"

"That's what you do to people you don't know?" Mark yelled, looking surprisingly better than when he did prior to getting into the stranger's car earlier. "I'm starting to freak out thinking about what you do to those you do know!"

"Is he okay?" Jisung wondered, looking at Jeno but his body was still facing in Mark's general direction.

"He was bitten by a monster in the forest and I also think he's finally going into shock."

"Oh..." Jisung nodded his head, looking surprisingly like he knew exactly what Jeno was talking about. "Right in the torso huh?"

"Yeah..." Jeno agreed, allowing his eyes to cast over the youngster. He stood a little shorter than Jeno, probably to his collarbone, but Jeno could tell that he would tower over him in time. He wore a pair of jeans and a pair of old black and white converse. "How old are you anyway?"

"Oh?" Jisung's lips curl into a small smile. "I just turned seventeen in February!"

It was pretty close to Jeno's original estimate.

"So, can I bring him inside?" Jeno wonders.

"I thought he didn't want to go inside?" Jisung looked confused, his big brown eyes looking innocent despite how close he had come to killing Jeno a few minutes ago.

Jeno shook his head and began leading the younger boy back towards the stairs and by association, his best friend. Mark watched them approach with bated breath, his eyes wide and his shoulders shaking from the draining adrenaline.

"You're going into that house." Jeno announced much to Mark's dismay.

"I am not."

"I will throw you over my shoulder." Jeno sighed, feeling tension rest against his neck. If he didn't get a drink of something sugary soon, he was pretty sure that he would be the one ending Mark's life and not the wide gashes in his stomach. "So do you want to show some dignity to our new host, or are you going to force me to make you look like an idiot? It's your choice."

"Fine." Mark grumbled, letting his famous puppy eyes and pout be seen.

He raised his arm up and Jeno crouched down to place it around his neck and shoulder. The younger quickly looped his arms under Mark's legs and hoisted his best friend up into his arms, turning back to Jisung who regarded them both with a surprised expression.

"Any chance you can grab our bags from the back of the car? I won't go too far-"

"I got them." The boy nodded happily, smirking at Mark's current positioning. "You can just bring him straight into the living room, the front door leads you straight into it! It shouldn't be long before Chanyeol comes home with Yixing."

"Yixing?" Mark wonders, stopping the boy in his tracks to their car. "Whose Yixing?"

"He's the guy that's going to make sure you heal up nice and easy, he's our inhouse medic. He takes care of all of us!"

"All of you?" Now it was Jeno's turn to sound surprised, the young boy only smirking back at him as he nodded his head.

"There's eleven of us living here right now." Jisung chirped, somehow managing to get closer to the car without either of the best friends realising he did it. "Though sometimes there's twelve, but that's a pretty rare occurrence."

"Where the hell did you take us, dude?" Mark whispers into Jeno's ear when he finally starts making his way up the stairs.

"Where I was told you would be helped." Jeno hisses, though he doesn't find himself straining from the incline.

They manage to get to the very top of the stairs without any problems or pauses. Jeno uses Mark's leg to push open the front door a little more before entering over the threshold. He follows Jisung's instructions and enters the room directly in front of the main door, surprised to see how comfy and cosy the interior looks.

He gently settles Mark down onto the largest sofa he sees and smiles gently as his best friend lets out a tired sigh of pleasure at the plush material beneath his back. Jeno props the pillow at his friend's neck and Mark hums his gratitude.

"We made it in one piece huh?" Mark laughs breathlessly, somehow still holding on tight to the gauze that Jeno had placed on him about twenty minutes ago now.

"Will you let me take a look?" He wonders, settling himself down on his knees beside his best friend.

Mark whines at the thought of seeing the wound again, but he relents and lets Jeno takes hold of the wrapping.

They both watch as Jeno gently peels the gauze backward, the blood stained on the material still wet but drying. Mark releases a loud gasp at the sight staring back at him, while Jeno's pulse starts to thrum in his ears. The giant gash in Mark's abdomen is all but gone, just a single scar the length of the wound remaining.

"This cannot be happening..." Mark splutters, eyes searching for his best friend's reaction. "This is not possible!"

Jeno had to take credit for his ability to possess a poker-face. Of course he was frightened. He had seen the wound himself. Saw it bleeding with his own two eyes. And yet, there was nothing there. Nothing to indicate that Mark was attacked, nothing to indicate that what they went through had been real. They could only account for trauma and mental exhaustion. What did they come all this way for? A doctor who could treat what was no longer there?

Jeno fell against his ankles, gaze still heavily set on his best friend's torso. He watched as Mark's torso rose and fell with his heartbeat, his hands having come to pull at the ends of his hair.

"This cannot be happening," he whispered over and over again to himself. "This cannot be happening."

"It is happening," Jeno deadpanned, grabbing his best friend by the wrists. "This is happening whether you want it to or not. We have no idea what happened to you out in those woods and we're here to get some answers and to see what the hell else we're missing here."

"You can't leave me!" Mark gushes, tears welling up in his eyes as he turned their grip around and held Jeno by his wrists. "Please, you can't leave me alone with these people. I don't know what's going to happen to me, I can't do this alone-"

"You're not going to," Jeno interrupted him, wiggling his hands out of Mark's grip. "I'll be here as long as you need me, I promise."

"Jeno?!" A deep unrecognizable voice shouted from outside the room.

Mark's grip reappeared on his wrist, but his best friend managed to snatch his hand away again. With a delicate nod, he pushed himself back up onto his legs and made his way back to the front door. He was met halfway by an extremely tall man whose lips had curled to call his name again.

"Jeno?"

"Yeah," he nodded and smiled as politely as he could given the circumstances. "Chanyeol?"

The taller nodded his head, a small smile of his own appearing on his lips. For a moment, Jeno was just glad to know that he didn't possess canines like Jisung, or - rather - that he didn't show them off like Jisung did.

"I'm so sorry for the delay, I received word of your incoming but I couldn't get here quick enough to welcome you myself. I hope Jisung didn't give you too much trouble."

"He was fine." Jeno announced, surprising himself and the youngest whose eyes widened at his words. "Though you understand that I have a few questions."

"I would expect nothing else." Chanyeol agreed, nodding his head. "I've reached out to Yixing and he's making his way back here as quickly as he can, I expect everyone to be returning with the next ten minutes."

"Everyone? I'm assuming that this includes all eight other members?" He wonders, pausing for a moment to look at Jisung who blushed at the inclusion.

Chanyeol observed them for a moment before smiling politely, though he chose to clear his throat first before continuing. "Yes, but I can assure you that Yixing will be completely devoted to ensuring that Mark's condition is approving-"

"The bite mark is gone." Jeno doesn't understand why he finds himself relaying the information so easily.

Today has already been such a strange day, he didn't understand why his body wanted to continue to defy what his mind had been screaming at him the entire time.

"It's all healed."

"So, he's in recovery?" Jisung announces his thoughts aloud, but Jeno knew that he was really asking Chanyeol a question that Jeno wasn't supposed to subject himself to figuring out.

"Not completely," Chanyeol returned a sad smile back to Jisung who Jeno only noticed now had gathered both of their bags from the trunk of the stranger's car. His attention snaps back to Chanyeol who pauses to close the front door. "I'm afraid that it's only the beginning of his transition."

"Transition?" Jeno questions, watching as Chanyeol's lips straighten into a line against his chin. "What the hell do you mean by transition?"

"That guy in the woods told you that your entire life has been changed right?" Again, Jeno found himself nodding. "I'm willing to tell you both everything, but I need you to withhold from acting emotionally, we don't want anyone getting hurt here."

"I can't promise anything." Jeno admits, still blinking through his headache and the water in his eyes which was still present from that awful smell earlier. "But I understand and I'll hold my tongue long enough for you to explain everything."

"Then let's get you settled." Chanyeol declared, standing straighter as he led the way back into the living room.

Jeno returned to Mark's side, smiling sadly at his best friend who looked back at him with tears trailing down his cheeks. Mark swiped at the trails and sniffled as Chanyeol approached the fireplace, intent on starting a fire to warm them up a little. Jeno didn't even realise that his best friend had been shaking, body still draining itself of the adrenaline.

"Why don't you begin with what happened to your friend?"

"We're on a college field-trip to the South Korean heritage centre but we found ourselves away from our group and in the middle of a clearing." Jeno figured that he could avoid the details leading up to their isolation, especially since Chanyeol didn't seem the type to wallow in specific details. "We were surrounded by a small wolf pack, about three in total but we didn't know how many more were hiding in the tree-line."

"Then Jeno collapsed against a tree," Mark continues, shifting slightly on the couch to find a more comfortable position. Jeno reaches down to support him by the shoulder. "The wolves ran off and then he starts rambling about a deep howl that I didn't hear. Eventually he gets up and tells me that we have to leave the clearing, but I saw this... creature, in the tree-line behind him. I didn't have a chance to say anything before he was thrown in the air and landed about ten feet away from me. I just remember this blinding pain and the thing licking my wound."

"I grabbed a rock close by and slammed it into the thing's temple," Jeno explains, completely dismissing Chanyeol and Jisung's surprised expressions. "Then I tended to Mark. We were interrupted by a stranger, who helped me get Mark into his car, and then he gave me the keys and told me to come here and find you."

A momentarily silence filled the room as Chanyeol observed them both, first taking in Mark and then focusing his attention on Jeno. He studied him the longest, eyes narrowed and forehead furrowed.

Eventually, he sat himself down in the armchair next to the roaring fire, turning to Jisung with a small smile on his face.

"Find them two rooms upstairs, they'll be staying the night." He speaks calmly, and just like that Jisung leaves the room taking their bags with him.

Jeno wanted to argue, to physically decline the offer but his mouth made no attempt to move. Instead, he sank down next to Mark's legs, his best friend moving them so Jeno could sit comfortably next to him. They both watched as Chanyeol slowly turned to them, content now that Jisung was gone.

"The thing you in the woods was-"

"A monster." Mark offers, though Jeno wasn't so sure.

The glowing eyes. How tall it stood in comparison to the other wolves. Sure, it was all very monster-like in appearance. But he had seen Jisung's eyes and had seen the abundance of hair grow within seconds before his own eyes.

"A werewolf." Chanyeol corrected, leaning forward in his seat.

Both of his arms rested against his knees, but his eyes were trained solely on Jeno despite Mark making a fuss from the revelation.

"A werewolf?" He screamed, eyes widening. "I got bit by a werewolf?!"

"So," Jeno silences his best friend down with a hand to his mouth, disregarding Mark's attempts to bite or lick him. "You said earlier that Mark's in transition. I'm assuming that because he was bitten by a werewolf, he's going to become one?"

"Last night was the full moon," Chanyeol explained, eyes shining in the glow of the fire beside him. "That gives us plenty of time to train him and prepare him. But," he hangs his head. "Yes. Your friend will become like that thing you saw in the forest."

"Is there a cure?"

"Once bitten, unfortunately not." Chanyeol really was trying to be as comforting as possible. His eyes grew weary of Mark's growing resentment. "But everyone here can help-"

"Is everyone in this house a werewolf too?" Mark shrieked, somehow managing to overcome Jeno's grip.

Jeno allowed his had to return to his own lap, though his eyes never fell from Chanyeol.

"Most of them." He agreed, though Jeno could tell that he wasn't very forthcoming with the information. Jeno wasn't going to push him.

"Can they help him?" Jeno asked, hoping that it would steer Mark away from asking any further questions than they would be able to process right now.

"With time." Chanyeol nodded, his hands clamped together in his lap. "But I should warn you that it is very dangerous for anyone who was bitten to be away from help. They need to make it to the next full moon before they can hope to return to society."

"Are you planning on keeping me prisoner?!" Mark hissed, baring the canines he did not yet possess.

Jeno slapped him upside the head, earning an immediate howl in response.

"Knock it off," he hissed. "you can freak out later! I need answers right now." When he turned back to Chanyeol, the taller was stunned back into responding.

"No, of course not! You'll be able to leave the house whenever you want, but I think that it would be best that you never go anywhere alone, at least until the next full moon. Until them, we'll take care of you, feed you, give you a roof over your head, and help you process everything that's happening in your body right now. It's going to take a lot of work that neither of you are cut out for right now. I would like to offer some professional help from people who have gone through this similar situation, but of course, this is entirely up to you."

"Can you give us some time to think about it?" Jeno wonders, hoping that Chanyeol didn't need an immediate answer. This was a lot to process and Mark was too emotional to make any life changing moves so soon. They needed rest and time to regroup.

"Absolutely, I've offered you both a bed for the night so please feel free to use them. Each room comes with it's own ensuite and we have a few essentials that you can use for the time being. But if it is alright with the both of you, I would like an answer as soon as you can provide me with one."

"Of course," Jeno nodded his head, finding himself approving of the idea. "thank you for the trouble."

"Before we completely dismiss this situation," Mark interrupts, shyly gazing across the room at the taller. "Say I do plan on agreeing to this whole thing, you cannot expect me to stay here without my best friend-"

"I wouldn't expect you to." Chanyeol is quick to explain, politely smiling as an excuse for interrupting Mark's rant. "I understand that you both would come as a package deal and I would expect that Jeno would like to be there throughout your training so that he is aware of everything for when you guys are ready to leave."

Mark bowed his head in gratitude, humming his approval as he collapsed against the pillow.

Jeno felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, his legs pulling him from the couch as his entire body swung in the direction of a closed door. The door slammed open and a blur of pink rushed in. The air was ripped from Jeno's lungs as he collided against the wall just next to the end of the sofa in which Mark lay.

Bright blue eyes burning into his own as fangs were bared against his face. Jeno was starting to grow frustrated with all these intense colours and power moves. The boy pressed his entire frame against Jeno's, a strong forearm pressing against his windpipe as the werewolf snarled and snapped.

"Jaemin!" Chanyeol snapped, rising from his seat once he noticed Jeno's new position against the furthest wall. "Drop him!"

"Who the hell are you?" The boy hissed, fangs retreating but eyes still bright blue.

Jeno heaved a tired sigh, tossing his head back against the wall. He raised a leg up and collided it against the werewolf's groin, slamming his forehead against the boy's and easily switching their position. The pink haired werewolf groaned against the wall, Jeno pressing his palm deeper into his neck as he kept him there.

"I am too fucking tired to be dealing with any more surprise attacks today," he announced to the others trailing into the room, their eyes blown wide at the sight of them. "If anyone else tries to kill me or my best friend today I might start getting a little more murderous."

Laughter erupted from the werewolf pressed against him, Jeno turning his head back to him to level him with an undisrupted stare. He wasn't all that surprised to find that the bright blue eyes which had been staring him down a few seconds ago, had given way to a pair of deep brown orbs. He allowed himself to lightly squeeze the boy's neck a little more, watching slightly perplexed as the boy sagged in his hold and how his tongue darted out to lick his plump lip.

"Got a name?" He wonders, letting his hands slip down to hold Jeno by his waist.

Jeno immediately releases the hold he had on the latter's neck and takes a step back. The heat of the boy's palms lingers as he pulls his arms back to his sides.

"Wouldn't it be polite to introduce yourself first?" Jeno wonders, tilting his head. "Not everyone throws me up against the wall in our first introduction."

"Jaemin Na, pleasure to have had you against me." He holds out a hand, mischief swirling in his gaze.

Jeno can't help but roll his eyes, though he still finds himself raising his own.

"Jeno Lee, pleasure to have overpowered a werewolf."

They shake hands and Jaemin lingers a little longer than he probably should have, but Jeno lets him take his hand back nonetheless. He observes Jaemin a little longer, before turning his attention back to Chanyeol who is just as surprised as the rest of the room.

"Can you stop being fucking Superman for five minutes?!" Mark hisses from the couch. "First it was getting up from flying ten feet, then it was killing that werewolf, Jisung was next and now Jaemin?"

"Everyone needs to stop trying to kill me today." Jeno huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as Mark huffs and deflates against the couch in defeat. "I knew we should have never gotten on that bus this morning, but you never listen to me!"

"Oh sure, blame me!" Mark groans, covering his face with his forearm. "I suppose that you want to pin this whole thing on me as well, huh?"

"You took us off the path!" Jeno yells, snapping a couple of the gawking men in the room out of their spell.

"What? Did you two take the wrong path from Grannies?" Jaemin wonders, still leaning against the wall with a smirk on his lips.

Great.

Fucking great.

Jeno was really starting to miss his own bed.