Jongho's shoes clacked to stop as he stood in front of a large oak door with his hands securely inside his pockets. Currently, he was trying to muster up the courage to possibly open it. He sighed as he stared at the golden nameplate glinting back at him on the door underneath the fluorescent lights.

Kim "Eden" Younghwan

The very man had called earlier and asked if the younger had time to come to his office that morning as a means of reply to his late night message. This was it. He had truly left Seonghwa's squad now. The mere notion sent a knot in his stomach but he knew it was for the best. There was a lot resting on his shoulders now and he couldn't afford to fail or back down now.

Resigning himself to what was to come, Jongho reached out a hand and knocked twice on the wood. There was a muffled voice from the other end presumably telling him to come in. The young agent dropped his hand to the handle and turned it to enter. Eden's office was very reminiscent of the director's but only slightly smaller in size. The inside was surprisingly sparsely decorated considering the amount of awards the elder had but still had a nice view of the city.

"Ah, Jongho," Eden looked up from whatever he was working on at his desk at the other's entry. "Glad you could make it."

The young agent took a look around, noticing that they were the only two in the room. "Where is everyone else?"

"Why don't you have a seat," The older gestured to the chair in front of him as he dropped the pen in his hand and leaned back. "I actually wanted to meet with you separately before we joined up with the others."

Curious, Jongho followed the instructions with a raised eyebrow. "Am I in trouble or something?"

"No, you aren't in trouble." Eden chuckled for a moment before he regained seriousness. "Before we started working together, I wanted to get an insider's perspective on what happened the night of the botched mission."

The younger's brows downturned as he frowned. "You mean, you want to know exactly how Xion died."

Eden nodded, his face a little solemn. "I recognize that this may be painful for you, but any information is key."

"If you're the task force head, you have access to the mission report. Everything you need to know is in that file." The rookie crossed one leg over the other and placed his hands in his lap. He had a feeling he knew where this game was heading.

"Now, you see Jongho," Eden leaned forward in his chair, the furniture creaking with the movement as he placed his elbows on the desk to look over his laced fingers. "This is where I tell you that I think you aren't saying everything."

Jongho tried not to show any outward reaction on his face at the accusation and instead replied back coolly, "False reporting is a serious and fireable offense, sir. Surely you wouldn't assume I would risk my career at the CCG like that when I just got here?"

"Perhaps not you," Eden said, not backing down. "But you are on a team, correct? Maybe it was one of them. Knowing about a false report is just as serious."

"Well, then it is nice that neither of those things happened, isn't it?" The younger raised an eyebrow and stared down the other on the opposite end of the desk, as if daring the elder to challenge him. It was slightly exhilarating, if not also a little terrifying to stand up to a higher ranking official but he couldn't risk the kind of theories Seonghwa had getting out and possibly in the hands of the mole before anything is solidified.

There was a beat of silence as each agent waited for the other to back down. Finally, Eden suddenly burst into gut busting laughter. "Ah! This is why I like you Jongho, you are always surprising me."

The younger was mildly surprised at the older's outburst but schooled his features back into place. "So? What does this mean now?"

"I still want a first person perspective from you," Eden mentioned, his chest still hiccuping with residual humor. "But I won't try and pressure you for more than is in the report, if that is what you are worried about."

"What difference does it make just telling you?" Jongho tilted his head curiously. "All the information is the same. You don't have to waste your time."

"It is the emotion that I wanted to hear," Eden crossed his arms on the desk. "Tell me, Jongho, why did you join the CCG?"

The younger thought about it for a moment. He was reminded of the drunk talk he had with Yeosang a few days ago. "I guess I thought I wanted to help people. Ghoul's are a real threat and there are so many people powerless to stop them. I guess I wanted to be the person that would do that for them so you didn't have to look over your shoulder all the time on the street...I wanted to be a hero."

Eden nodded, seemingly accepting the other's response. He pointed towards the door. "I see agents walk through those doors everyday that have forgotten that very sentiment or never had it in the first place when they signed up. Some want power and others just want the perks that come with the job. People who enjoy the adrenaline rush or may just be sociopaths in hiding also sign up. You have a good heart, Jongho. What you went through was horrible but it can live as a reminder to you. Never forget those feelings because they will be your driving force."

Jongho took a moment to regard the other's words but didn't say anything himself just yet. Eden, seeing the younger's silence, continued. "You were right to think I may have wanted you to reveal something to me that wasn't in the report, for you to slip up. It is good to be wary. You should always think twice about who you should trust because there are always people in the background working for their own agenda."

Eden got up out of his desk and walked around the piece of furniture. He perched himself on the edge, staring the younger right in the eye. "I also thought it would be good to try and work through any lingering emotions you have. If you are going to be on this task force, I need you focused. I don't need a loose cannon focused only on revenge. That kind of behavior is too much of a liability for me to have around. Trust me, I've seen it."

The younger's hands curled slightly in his lap, gripping at his dress pants. He could kind of see where Eden was getting at but found it interesting that the man was basically telling him not to trust him. It was an odd bit to include if you were trying to get someone to open up but it could also be deceptively clever in a way. However, for a team to work, they needed to be built on trust. You can't stare into the face of death if you can't trust the people around you to pull you out. If the younger opened up, maybe just the tiniest bit, the other would do the same. This was all a calculated game of chess and Jongho needed to play his hands right. He needed information and sometimes things needed to be given in order to receive. He would have to watch every word that would come out of his mouth from now on, however.

Jongho took a deep breath and began recounting one of the worst events in his life.

XxX

Yunho sat on the edge of his bed as he brushed Mingi's bangs back away from his face gently. After the cult members had left, the two Ghouls were quick to escape from that hellish place lest anyone came back, and now, the student was resting in Yunho's room on his bed. His expression was peaceful and his breathing was even but for some reason, he still hadn't woken up yet.

The blonde sighed as he stood from his perch, his hand grazing the brunette's face one last time. He turned to exit the room and closed the door softly behind him, knowing he would be back in that room in the next few minutes to check on the other again. The blonde looked up and saw San standing in the hallway.

"I heard what happened," The Ghoul said softly, as if he were speaking in a hospital. He took one look at his blonde friend and his heart clenched in his chest. His eyes were red rimmed, from crying or lack of sleep, San couldn't really tell. His hair was mused and he hadn't changed out of his club outfit. "How is he?"

"Uh, well," Yunho sighed as he ran his hand through his already messy hair, his voice hoarse. "He hasn't woken up yet but he doesn't seem to have any major injuries. W-We don't really know what they did to him until he does... If he does..."

"Hey," The shop owner chastised lightly. "You can't think like that. He'll be fine."

Yunho took in the words spoken to him but his eyes started to water. A hand flew to his mouth as the other arm wrapped around his waist as if to close himself off. He choked on a breath. "San, you didn't see it, the place was like some gothic horror show. He looked like a zombie, so unresponsive. Oh god, I-I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't wake up."

San rushed to comfort the other. Despite the blonde being taller, he folded the distraught Ghoul into his arms. "Shh, Yunho, he will wake up. I'm sure of it. We have to stay positive."

"I need him." The other's voice broke, tears finally breaking and spilling over his eyelids. It was like all the stress of the night was being released all at once like a waterfall. "It hasn't been long but I need him. He-he is the only thing that makes me feel normal. I can't lose him, San."

The tattooed Ghoul's heart broke to hear his friend's sobs. He gently stroked the blonde's hair and continued to shush and comfort him as best he could. From over the other's head, San spotted Wooyoung enter the room, his eyes immediately zeroed in on the two embracing and his eyes grew pained. Yunho was such a pure soul. Neither he, nor Mingi, deserved something like this and he felt partially responsible.

"Has he been like this long?" Wooyoung whispered as he came up to the two. Yunho's cries had subsided for the moment into lazy sniffles as tears silently ran down his cheeks and he blinked drowsily. The winged Ghoul hoped he could finally get some rest soon.

"About ten minutes." San replied, watching the blonde out of the corner of his eye. "God, what was he even doing there?"

"Mingi got a flyer from some girl at his school." Wooyoung filled in. "Turns out she was wack-a-doodle and part of some cult. It sounded like they were going to sacrifice Mingi so she could 'ascend,' whatever that means."

San looked over at his partner and raised an eyebrow. "'Ascend'? Is that a metaphor for some kind of suicide pact?"

"No, I don't think so." Wooyoung shook his head. "I-I think they were making Ghouls. They stabbed a girl with some syringe and her eye changed colors. It kind of looked like Hongjoong's."

The shop owner nearly choked on air. A million things were running through his head all at once as his eyes flickered around, Seoho and the other's words flying back into his mind. The underground organization that practiced cannibalism. The club that they supposedly were going to operate out of. Wooyoung, Mingi, and Yunho had found it but they had no idea what they had managed to walk into.

San's eyes flitted down to the blonde in his arms and the other next to him. There was no need to hold secrets anymore. This was getting too real too fast and it wasn't something they could just leave alone now. Wooyoung was right when he said it a few days ago. That hiding things would hurt him, hurt them all, more.

Stealing his resolve, he looked Wooyoung in the eye. "I need you to call a meeting."

XxX

Hongjoong inhaled deeply as he slowly rose to wakefulness. He stretched on the soft bed, like a cat, and wrinkled his nose as a scent that was unfamiliar filled his senses. He cracked open an eye to notice that the sheets underneath his head were a different color than the ones he had at home and he didn't remember changing them just yet. The student turned his head to the side and noticed that someone else was in the bed with him. For a moment he stiffened thinking he had done something stupid before he remembered the events of the night before.

Seeing as he was the first one awake, the red-head shifted onto his elbow to get a better look ad his current bed companion. Seonghwa's normally pointed and intimidating features were currently soft with sleep and his normally pristine hair was endearingly mused and natural from moving in his slumber. The red-head bit his lip as he couldn't resist reaching out to try and brush some hair out of the way. He almost couldn't believe he was here. What had started out as a nightmare ended up like some kind of daydream.

The older must have been able to sense the red-head's movement as his eyes blinked open slowly. Hongjoong pulled his hand back as if he had been burned, hoping the other didn't notice, and his cheeks heated in embarrassment. Seonghwa smiled sleepily at the other.

"Hey, you," The agent's voice cracked from disuse. Seonghwa turned on his side so they could lay face to face. There was still quite a bit of bed in between them, but it was nice. "Did you sleep ok?"

"The best," Hongjoong replied. He tried to keep the smile off his face but he just couldn't help it. For once, there were no nightmares, no voice in his head, no lingering fear. He felt totally relaxed and it was all because of the person staring at him as if the red-head held the world in the palm of his hand. It both sent a little thrill through his chest and an uneasy feeling.

Seonghwa reached out and brushed the other's face that was covered by the gauze he had put on the night before. Hongjoong winced as his thumb brushed against where the bruise had previously been. "How's your eye? It was pretty swollen last night."

"I think it will be ok," The red-head shrugged as best as he could while laying on his side. He was glad that he managed to cover the eye in his shocked state. He wasn't sure he would have been able to explain how his black eye magically healed in a few hours.

Seonghwa's eyes ran over the student's face to try and gauge whether or not the other was lying or not. Seeing no outward signs, he sighed. "Come on, I'll make you breakfast. What are you feeling?"

Hongjoong's eyes widened as he watched the other pull the covers back and get to his feet. He tried to think of something quickly. "Just coffee is fine."

"Just coffee?" Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you must be hungry. I'll make you one of my world class omelettes. Breakfast of champions."

Before Hongjoong could protest, the agent was already out the door and making his way into the kitchen. The red-head shook his head fondly but figured he would have to find a way to stealthily toss out the food or something. He really didn't feel like making himself sick at the moment. The student was about to follow the other into the kitchen but a buzzing sound stopped him. He looked over onto the nightstand to see his phone sitting on top of it. The vibrations were so strong that the device nearly knocked itself off of the table.

Hongjoong reached over and grabbed the phone, hitting answer before he pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hongjoong?" It was Wooyoung's voice on the other end, his voice sounding relieved. "I've been trying to get ahold of you for the last half-hour."

Confused, the red-head raised an eyebrow and took the phone from his face for a brief moment. He clicked on the screen and saw that he had four previous missed calls from the blonde. It must have been urgent for the other to call him that much.

"Wooyoung? What's up? Why did you call so many times?"

"It's Mingi." The words cut through the speaker as sharp as a knife, the other's tone of voice making Hongjoong's blood run cold.

"Is he ok?" The red-head exhaled. He couldn't bring himself to speak over a whisper.

"There was an incident at the club." The blonde responded. "We are having an emergency meeting."

"I'll be right over." The red-head was up on his feet before Wooyoung could even say anything else. Hongjoong rushed out of the room and spotted Seonghwa whistling over a sizzling pan, completely oblivious.

"I have to go," The student said in a rush. He was already at the door and trying to put on his shoes. He made a face as they were still wet from the night before.

"What?" Seonghwa called from the kitchen. He made his way out into the entryway, the spatula still in hand. "You have to go right now?"

"Emergency-Mingi- have to go check on him." The other tried to explain as he struggled with a shoe.

"Mingi?" Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. "Your friend I met at the cafe? Is he alright? Do you need me to drop you off?"

"No!" Hongjoong said with a little more force than he meant to. He couldn't risk the other showing up and what he might see or hear. "I mean, no, it's ok. I need the run."

"Are you sure?" Seongwha didn't look convinced.

"It's fine." The red-head looked up from his shoe to see the worried and mildly disappointed look on the agent's face. Hongjoong paused and reached out his hand. He already had his shoes on so he couldn't step out of the entry. Seonghwa heeded the call and walked a few steps closer. The student reached out and grabbed the spatula free hand and gave it a squeeze. "I have to go but I'll call you later, ok?"

Seonghwa examined Hongjoong's face for a moment and then sighed. "Fine. Let me know how he is, alright?"

The red-head nodded and rubbed his thumb over the back of the other's hand in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. Reaching behind himself, he grasped for the door. As the student stepped out, the two held on until they couldn't anymore. The door clacked shut behind Hongjoong leaving Seonghwa standing in the entryway, alone, with his hand still extended in the air.

XxX

Yeosang stood in the simulation room, dodging robots. He twirled the metal bo staff in his hands effortlessly before he slammed it into the side of an approaching android. The hunk of metal flew into a wall and short circuited as it collapsed. The young agent did the same thing to another bot with the back end of his staff before he turned on the spot and jabbed. Instead of metal, the staff sunk into something soft. Yeosang was puzzled as he saw blood and was horrified when he looked up.

"I should have asked for that transfer." Xion spat as if there wasn't currently metal pierced through his middle. "I should have just saved myself and Jongho."

Yeosang let go of the staff as if burned. He stumbled a few steps away in shock before his back bumped into something. He flipped around to see Xion, once again in front of him, but with blood dripping from his eyes like morbid tear drops.

"W-we didn't want to leave you," The brunette's voice was weak, "Leaving was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"I was wrong to trust you," The stoic expression was gone now and replaced with anguish that crushed at the brunette's soul. "I had a family, a brother, and what do you have? Nothing! You should have died!"

Hands reached out and wrapped around Yeosang's throat, lifting the agent off of the ground as he struggled for breath. The brunette reached his hands up and clawed at the ghostly hands to try and pry them off but to no end. The agent gasped and kicked his feet in a last ditch effort as his vision began to tunnel. The ghost of Xion seemed to enjoy the desperation in the other's eyes.

"Now, die!"

Yeosang gasped harshly as he was abruptly brought out of his disturbing sleep. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest and he coughed as he tried to regain his breath. Sweat caused his shirt to cling heavily to his chest. The agent flopped back down heavily on the bed and grabbed a pillow that was beside him, tossing it across the room in frustration.

"Dammit," Yeosang cursed. This was the fifth night in a row he had woken up from a nightmare, the cold phantom of Xion's fingers tight around his throat. He hadn't told anyone about them, not even Jongho, but they were really starting to get to him. The other day he had even thought he saw Xion's ghost in the middle of the day, just watching him with a criticizing gaze.

It was survivor's guilt, something that they learned about extensively in the academy but no one is actually prepared to experience. The CCG is just a gathering of those who have suffered losses. Everyone will lose a superior or subordinate eventually. Yeosang was just naive enough to think that he would be good enough for it to never happen to him, let alone so soon.

How wrong he was.

Sighing, the agent held his hand up above his face. He was scheduled to get his plaster cast off today and replaced with a smaller, less restrictive brace. The brunette made a fist as best as he could and extended his fingers again. He made a face as the slight movement caused a twinge in his arm. He couldn't still be in pain. He needed to heal faster, become better. Jongho was risking everything working with Eden and he had to be there to help carry the weight in his absence.

Yeosang let his hand flop back down onto the bed. There was nothing worse than feeling useless and right now, that is exactly how he felt. Right about now, Jongho was meeting with Eden regarding the new task force and, what was he doing? Lying in bed like an invalid. He needed to do something, anything but he didn't even know where to begin.

The brunette shifted his head on his pillow, spotting his work laptop sitting on his nightstand from the night before. Getting an idea, he sat up and grabbed it. Opening it up, he typed in his passcode. After a few clicks here and there, he had found himself on the dark web.

Scrolling through a few articles, he didn't find much. Some of the headlines were rather interesting. It was a wonder what people would do or sell to make quick cash. He was about to lose hope when a link caught his eye.

He moved his cursor over it and clicked.

XxX

When Hongjoong walked into the back room, he really wasn't expecting the sight that greeted him. Wooyoung sat on the couch with San standing behind it while leaning his arms on the backrest. Both of them were quiet as they occasionally kept glancing at the blonde on the armchair off to the side. The normally chipper Yunho seemed to have the life drained out of his very being as he sat with a heavy weight on his shoulders. There were black smudges under his eyes as if he hadn't slept and his hair was sticking up in all different places. He was dressed nicely, however, and it was a strike contrast.

Cautiously, the red-head stepped into the room, trying to prepare himself for what they were about to talk about. He grabbed a seat on the opposite couch from the other two Ghouls. "I'm here. What is going on with Mingi? Where is he?"

"He's upstairs resting," San was the one who answered, his voice soft.

There was a condescending scoff. Three heads turned to look at Yunho on the armchair. "Resting. That's one way to put it."

Hongjoong furrowed his brows. He had never heard that tone of voice from the barista before. "I don't understand."

"Mingi and Yunho went to a club opening last night." Wooyoung answered to try and alleviate the tension. "I got a separate invite and ended up running into Yunho. At that point, Mingi had gone to find a bathroom but he didn't come back."

"Wait," San looked down at the winged Ghoul on the couch. "I figured you had gone with the others. You went by yourself?"

Wooyoung nodded with a grimace. Oh, this was going to turn into a fight. "I had gotten an extra flyer from Mingi, before he thought he would want to go." He took a breath, preparing himself for the worst par. "When I went to talk to you...I accidentally saw your notes about a club covering for a drug trade. I thought I would check it out myself to prove to you I can be helpful."

"So you just walked into a possibly shady club without any kind of back up?" San said incredulously. "Do you want to die?"

"Drug trade?" Hongjoong was confused. "What do you mean? Did you find anything about that drug?"

"I wasn't alone!" Wooyoung tried to defend himself. "Yunho was there and in my defense, I didn't think anything was actually going to happen!"

"But Yunho being there wasn't planned!" The tattooed Ghoul ran a hand over his face in frustration. "You're too impulsive. This is exactly why I didn't want you to get involved in this "

"I'm impulsive?" The winged Ghoul scoffed. "Says the man who showed his face to the CCG agent."

"Oh, so we are going to bring that up again-"

"Enough!" Yunho exploded. He was tired of all the arguing. It was getting them nowhere. "How is any of this fighting going to help Mingi?"

"What exactly happened?" Hongjoong was growing frustrated with being out of the loop. "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?"

"You promised to tell me everything," The barista looked at the winged Ghoul seriously. "And you better start from the very beginning."

Wooyoung sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. "A few weeks ago, the Ghoul that attacked Hongjoong had a drug in their system that made them more aggressive and a lot harder to take down. We were afraid that something this dangerous would start circling around so I had asked San if he could get his old boys from the gang to look into it. I guess they found something."

"Actually," The shop owner cut in. "The drug trade at the club was just a theory." At the puzzling looks he received from the others, San hopped over the back of the couch. He should sit for this conversation. "I had a meeting with the boys awhile ago. They mentioned that there is word of an underground cult organization that seems to worship Ghouls and mimic their behaviors as if they really were one of us. Basically, a bunch of cannibals right under our noses."

Yunho and Wooyoung shared a look. The winged Ghoul was the one to reply. "We know that now. We found them. One of the members, a girl who gave Mingi the flyers, was there. I think she tried to set this whole thing up. She said she needed Mingi to 'ascend' but we aren't sure exactly what she meant. I think we walked in on some kind of sacrificial ceremony. The leader stabbed the girl with a syringe and her eye changed. We just don't know if it was the same drug Hongjoong saw."

The student rubbed at his chin. "I'm not sure. The drug from before was used on a Ghoul and made them more aggressive and harder to take down but the drug you all saw was used on a human..."

"Wait," Yunho held up a hand. "I'm still missing a piece. How did you know that the Ghoul who attacked Hongjoong had a drug in their system? Did you see it?"

The red-head shifted in his seat. He looked at the other two Ghoul's in the room, wondering if he should say anything. Wooyoung seemed to give him a look as if it were time to come clean. He sighed.

"I got that information," Hongjoong said while looking down at his hands. He didn't know he could see the look on Yunho's face when he told him. They really were dropping betrayal after betrayal on the blonde. "I've been....getting information from a CCG agent."

"A dove?" Yunho raised an eyebrow. "You've been meeting with an agent and you didn't think it in your right mind to tell me about it? How did this happen? Do you know how much danger you put us in? All of us?"

"He found me first!" Hongjoong tried to defend. "He was the one who rescued me that night and I just kept running into him after that. He only told me about the drug because it was pertinent to my case. That's all."

"Does he know?" Yunho continued his tirade. "Does he know about you and that is why he keeps showing up?"

Hongjoong felt his cheeks heat thinking about the kiss from last night and their date. "No, no I don't think so." He squeaked.

"Don't get mad at Hongjoong," The other blonde in the room placated. "I was the one that put him up to it."

"Do I even know anything that is happening around here?" Yunho rubbed at his forehead. "It seems like you guys are better off running this whole thing without me because it's like you all are ready to sign your own death certificates."

"There is something big going down Yunho," San said softly. "I thought our mission was to help people. We can't do that if we just sit around on our hands and let innocent people get killed."

The blonde scoffed. "Unbelievable, a whole web of secrets." He shook his head wryly. "I don't know what stings more. The fact that I don't know whether or not I can trust you all or the fact that you didn't trust me."

The three other Ghouls in the room hung their heads, ashamed. There was nothing more painful then the look of betrayal and pure hurt in Yunho's eyes. They really blew it.

Yunho stood from his chair and made his way towards the doorway. He needed to get some air. It was all too much at once. He opened the door and was about to step through when a body stopped him. He looked down and spotted a head of blue hair.

"Oh, sorry," Leedo rubbed the back of his neck apologizing. "I was trying to find San. He wasn't in the shop so I figured he was here." The man glanced around the blonde's shoulder, noticing the three additional sets of eyes on him. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Leedo," San stood up from his spot on the couch and joined the others at the doorway. "What are you doing here. You don't normally contact me during the day. Are the others ok?"

"The others are fine," The other brushed off. He continued to look skeptically at the rest of the Ghouls sitting in the room. "I would say I could come back another time but it's actually kind of important."

"It's fine," San answered, knowing that the blunette was weary of sharing information with so many others he didn't know well. "Whatever you need to say to me, you can say to them."

The tattooed Ghoul glanced out of the corner of his eye as he said it, noticing Yunho's soft smile of appreciation. "No more secrets." San whispered.

Leedo still looked a bit skeptical but brushed away his concerns. If his old leader said it was ok and trusted these people, then he was sure it would be fine. The older man made his way into the room and that is when they all noticed he wasn't alone. Behind him trailed a smaller man who gripped onto the back of Leedo's jacket for dear life, his head bowed. The other man seemed nervous and fidgety as he tried his best to hide behind the slighter taller bluenette. The rest of the Ghouls in the room regarded this new person curiously as no one seemed to recognize him.

"It's ok," Leedo whispered to the smaller man beside him, pushing him forward just a little. "They're the ones I talked about." 

The other moved forward rather reluctantly and didn't release his hold on the other. The young man had light brown hair and long eyelashes that brushed his cheek whenever he blinked.  He seemed maybe a year or two younger than the rest of them. His head was still lowered but he lifted it at the blunette's probing. 

"My name is Xion...and I used to work for the CCG."

XxX

The night before

He couldn't believe it, a one eyed-ghoul. He had never seen one in person before and it was a sort of surreal feeling. He took a look at the young man in front of him and couldn't help but be mildly curious and feel a sense of concern for him. The one-eyed Ghoul bared its teeth like a feral dog as the other man tried to take more steps forward.

"It's ok." Leedo held his palms out and tried not to make any sudden moves. He spoke softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The one-eyed Ghoul hadn't brought out it's Kagune yet as they seemed torn between running away and attacking, as if it were at war with itself. The blunette could see the confusion and fear in  other's gaze and it tugged at something inside him. From what Leedo could see in the dim light, the other's cheeks were sunken in with hunger. Maybe he could bring them to that cafe San and Wooyoung always went to. No one should be forced to rifle through the trash.

Leedo seemed to have pushed his luck too far, however, as he took another step too quickly. It seemed to have spooked the other Ghoul. The war within the hooded one seemed to be over and the attacking side won out. Leedo winced as the other Ghoul leapt forward and the blunette felt teeth sink deep into his shoulder, warm blood seeping out of the wound.

The gang member prepared himself for the pain and tearing but none came. Instead, the man at his shoulder went stiffened. Something dripped onto his jacket. At first he thought it was just blood but then there was another one, and another, followed by a small sniffle. He realized then that the other Ghoul was crying.

"Hey," Leedo said as softly as his deep voice would allow. He reached up and placed his hand lightly on the back of the other's head. "It's alright. You're hungry, right? I can show you a place to get food."

The gang member didn't move as he felt the teeth leave his shoulder abruptly. The other Ghoul pushed away from him harshly, as if he couldn't get far enough away. The hooded figure stumbled back a few steps and turned his head away to avoid looking at the blunette. 

"Not hungry," The Ghoul mumbled. The figure reached up and wiped aggressively at his mouth to get rid of the blood presumably there.

Leedo had to stop himself from scoffing. "You can't deny it for forever." He pushed. "A Ghoul's hunger is hell you know and you don't strike me as the hunting type."

"You don't know me." The smaller snapped.

"True," The other nodded. "But I want to help you."

The one-eyed Ghoul turned his head and raised an eyebrow where it was still hidden under the hood. "Why? Why would you help some random person."

"Because that's what me and my friends do." Leedo shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Being a Ghoul is hard enough, let alone without people to support us."

The other Ghoul just continued to look at the taller skeptically,  trying to see if he could really believe what was happening right now. Leedo didn't seem to mind the probing looks, however, as he stood cooly with his hands in his pockets. The smaller's eyes locked on the still bleeding shoulder and sighed before standing a little straighter. He reached up and grabbed at the hood on his head, pulling it back to reveal more of his face. It was a young man with bright doe-like eyes. Leedo's blood was still visible, smeared on his chin.

"If I tell you who I am, maybe you'll think twice about helping me."

Leedo just smirked. "Try me."

XxX

"I can't believe you!" San gapped at the blunette in front of him. "Why would you do that?"

"You brought a dove? Here!?" Yunho's voice seemed to go up a few octaves. He wasn't sure if it was from shock, anger, or both. He didn't know San's boys that well but he had hoped they would be smarter than that.

"Leedo, are you crazy?" The tattooed Ghoul kept going. He stepped closer to his old subordinate, getting nearly into his face. "You've exposed everyone here. Do you want to get us killed?"

"Stop!" A voice cried while a smaller body inserted itself between the group, hand's extended. San and Yunho took a step back in shock as they stared into a red and black glaring back at them.

"A one-eyed Ghoul," Yunho whispered.  Wooyoung and Hongjoong perked up from where they were listening in the background. 

"We sure are running into a lot of those now-a-days..." San mumbled to himself.

"Don't come for Leedo," Xion said fiercely, his eye blazing in anger. "He's done nothing wrong. I said I used to work for the CCG."

"Oh, yeah," Wooyoung scoffed. "They start hunting you down when they found out your secret?"

"No," Xion's eyes shifted over to the blonde. "I died."

The air suddenly seemed to have been sucked out of the room as everyone regarded the new arrival. His tone was so straightforward it was shocking. Hongjoong couldn't hold the burning question in his mind back anymore.

"You didn't used to be like that, did you?" He took a step forward, nearly joining the gathering at the door. 

The young man moved his eyes from Wooyoung to Hongjoong, seemingly sizing the other up. Finally, he sighed. "No, not always."

"What happened?" The student probed further. "If you don't mind me asking."

Xion seemed to weigh his options for a moment. If there was anyone that was going to help him, here was his best bet. He gestured to the couch, motioning if he could sit. Together, everyone migrated and found a place in a seat.

"I was an academy early release," Xion began his tale. He folded his hands in front of him. "My team and I were investigating an attack by Lady Red when my partner and I were ambushed in our stake out spot. She had bombs."

The ex-agent's hands knuckles whitened as his hands tensed at the memory. "We were injured and I had broken my leg. I injected a cortisone shot and kept going. We had nearly escaped when the Ghoul we were fighting set off another bomb. The floor collapsed from underneath us. I managed to protect my teammates but I was impaled by a metal pipe."

Xion moved a hand to his abdomen as if feeling a phantom pain. He shook off the feeling and kept going. "I told them to leave me. I was as good as dead. The building collapsed and everything went dark. When I woke up, I was on the street and weeks had passed." He looked up and made eye contact with all the others in the room. "When I woke up, I had become this."

There was a beat of silence as everyone seemed to let the man's words sink in. Xion had lowered his head back downward, an overwhelming feeling bubbling up in his chest. Leedo looked over and noticed that the younger's hands were shaking, just slightly. The blunette reached out and placed his own hand on top of Xion's clasped ones. The other looked up and smiled softly at the other in appreciation.

"You just...woke up?" Hongjoong asked curiously.

Xion nodded. "Two weeks of my memory is just a black hole. Though, sometimes, I get these, I don't know, visions, sometimes. Of white walls and beeping machines-"

White. Surrounded by white. Figures crowding around him.

Hongjoong winced as he listened to the other talk. Flashes crossed his mind like a strobe light.  He tried not to let the pain show on his face.

"Sometimes there is this shooting pain in my chest but it only lasts a moment-"

Electricity running through his veins. Muscles pulled tight.

The red-head couldn't help the groan that came out of his mouth as he reached up the grab at his forehead. The pain was now as if someone had stuck a searing white-hot poker in between his eyes. The sound must have clued the others in as their attention was redirected. 

"Hongjoong?" Yunho asked in concern, already half out of his chair to go to the other. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," The red-head spoke through gritted teeth. The pain was slowly fading. He opened his eyes back up and blinked as the room came back into focus. "I-I think I've been getting flashbacks lately...of the hospital."

"Really?" Wooyoung's eyebrows shot up in shock. "You haven't been able to remember this whole time. Why now?"

"Don't know," Hongjoong sighed. He looked up and made eye contact with Xion. "But I'm starting to get an idea."

The ex-agent blinked in confusion at the attention. "What?"

"A few months ago, I was kidnapped," The red-head stated bluntly. "When I woke up, I was in a hospital room with no door. I managed to escape, but when I did, I had become-" Hongjoong reached up and pulled the gauze off of his face from that morning. "This."

Xion's mouth went dry as he took in the eye that matched his own.  He never expected to run into another one-eyed Ghoul like himself. From what he knew at the academy, they were rare and hard to come by.

"Two weeks had passed while I was there and I'm just now getting snippets of that time." Hongjoong continued. "By the sounds of it, you might have gone through something similar."

"But he just woke up outside," San questioned. "If the same thing happened to Xion, from what you told me about your escape, I wouldn't think they would just throw him in an alley."

The red-head frowned. That was true, he had fought tooth and nail to escape. They didn't want to lose their precious 'test subject'. Then an epiphany hit him like a train.

"They let him go." Hongjoong exhaled. "They let him go to try and find me."

"Uh, are you sure?" Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. "We love you Hongjoong but that's a little self centered, isn't it?"

"No, I-" The student sighed as he rubbed at his brow. "No, look, something-something happened to me last night. I was attacked."

"What?" Yunho gasped.

"What happened?" San cut in. "Are you alright?"

"I was targeted." Hongjoong's hands clenched as he tried to stay calm and repress the memories of the night before. He blinked as there was a flash of red before it was gone. "Someone sent a Ghoul after me. He was told to bring me to 'them' alive. I think it might be the hospital trying to get me back."

"And you think I have something to do with this?" Xion asked in a mildly affronted manner. "I don't even know you."

"Xion doesn't have anything to do with that hospital," Leedo spoke for the first time in awhile.

"How do we know that," San raised an eyebrow. "I know you like to see the best in others, Leedo, but you just met the guy. He was an agent once. Loyalties like that don't just die overnight."

"Look, I didn't even want to be here." The ex-agent grew defensive. "I only came because Leedo said you all could help me."

"And help you with what exactly?" Wooyoung raised an eyebrow. 

"To move forward," Xion's voice was small. "To find out what happened to me. To see if this is reversible."

Leedo brought his hand to the ex-agent's back and rubbed soothingly as the other's voice cracked. He was sure this was hard on the other. To suddenly wake up as the very thing you were meant to hunt was probably daunting. It could really mess with you head. 

"I don't think it is," Hongjoong shook his head solemnly. "Trust me, I've been down that road and it's not helpful."

"You don't get it," The younger spat. "I have a family, a brother, that thinks I'm dead. I can't show back up as--as this thing."

The red-head grimaced at the other's words. Was this how he sounded when he had talked to Yunho? Ignorant and insensitive? Hongjoong frowned.

"You'll come to learn Xion," The red-head sighed as he stood from his chair and making his way towards the door. "That sometimes, human beings are the real monsters."

The room descended into silence as the door closed behind Hongjoong with a clack, leaving Xion with his head lowered and knuckles white.

Notes:

So, decided to post this chapter early and only on Wattpad because I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have next week with work picking up. Think of it as a gift for Ateez' comeback especially because this chapter was more of a boring filler. I've hit a bit of writer's block atm (I have the ideas just not exactly sure how to connect the dots right now) so hopefully my brain starts working again.

Also, the album preview was beautiful and once again, Ateez adds to their 0 skip discography. What can I say but Ateez kings and world domination.

Song Recs for the fic:

If I Killed Someone for You- Alec Benjamin

The End of All Things- Panic! At the Disco

Hold Me- Eric Nam