Destined {𝕄𝕀ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾}

Chapter Fifty-Two

PRESENT DAY

The longer they remained in the forest, the more Minho wanted to leave, to run out and never look back. He couldn't stand the feeling; everything that moved in the darkness that his petty human eyes could not see terrified him, and soon enough he was too busy trying to calm his heartbeat to pay attention to anything that Jisung was saying.

The forest cleared to reveal a ginormous crimson castle. Minho's footsteps faltered. He stared at it, eyes blowing wide as something course through him at the mere sight of it; fear. He swallowed thickly, though he could barely bring his feet to move.

His neck burned softly, a dull, warm pain that was barely even there to begin with, but it still settled with a certain level of discomfort that was almost alarming. It felt wrong. He rolled his shoulders to get rid of the pain, but it did little to ease it.; he grimaced.

"Minho, are you okay?" Jisung was suddenly beside him, eyebrows furrowed in concern, his fingers lightly brushing the human's hand. The pain vanished in an instant. He nodded, rubbing his face.

"It's just... ever since we got here, I've been feeling strange." He swallowed thickly and gazed upon the Crimson Castle once more; he recoiled at the sight of it.

Jisung nodded, his smile sympathetic as he leaned in. "Me too." He placed both his hands on Minho's arms, and it comforted him more than it should have. "But we have to push through it, yeah? We'll be out soon." Minho nodded and smiled.

Jisung's hands fell from his arms, and the dull ache returned, though it wasn't quite so prominent anymore. He turned towards the castle in there; whoever was after him, he was up in that castle. He closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. Soon they'd have Felix back, and that was all that mattered.

~#~#~#~#~#~

Jisung approached Jeongin from where he sat against a nearby tree, picking at the dirt. He sat down next to him, and looked up towards the sky. "If you can, conceal the fact that you're a hybrid, okay?" Jeongin hesitantly shifted his gaze to face him before his eyes quickly snapped back to the ground.

"Jisung..." The said male looked over at him once more. "Why are you being so casual about this?" His eyebrows furrowed. "I mean... I'm a hybrid, an abomination. Anyone else would have killed me on the spot, so... why didn't you?" The boy curled his knees up to his chest and stared at the ground.

With a shake of his head, Jisung smiled softly. "I think it's ridiculous, really. Just because you were born from two different species doesn't mean you're bad. What you are shouldn't define who you are. Vampires can be kind, werewolves can be traitors, humans can be brave, witches can be... wrong, too." He hadn't known this before, hadn't believed it. The passed few weeks had proven so much to him, changed his entire perception of the world around him. "And in that light, just because hybrids have more power, doesn't mean they'll take advantage of it."

He chuckled softly. "Besides, dare I say you're my friend, and you haven't betrayed me; my own brothers have betrayed me, and yet you haven't. If they are allowed to go free regardless of what they have done, you should not feel afraid for doing nothing wrong at all." Jeongin buried his face in his knees.

Jisung wrapped an arm around him and brought the boy into a hug. "As long as I am Alpha, Jeongin, you will always have a place in the Sun pack, or the Riverock pack if you want it." Jeongin laughed softly, and shook his head.

"I was part of the Riverock pack once, you know." Jisung turned to face him with wide eyes. "After your... father... died, Alpha Yejun found out who I was and tried to kill me. If it weren't for Hyunsik, I would have died that day." Their eyes met. "Please, promise me... that... that we'll get him back, too." Tears welled in his eyes as he furiously tried to blink them away, to no avail.