but jiyu couldn’t find it in herself to find any genuine warmth or concern in those words. “who’d run the company if i was hurt, right?” her own biting tone stung her, so how could she notice the slight falter in her father’s expression before he quickly returned to his usual, hard facade. 

all of this unfolded before seonghwa’s and san’s eyes, and they waited with breath for the older man’s reaction.

“seeing as how these conditions are practically...unlivable,” he surveyed their surroundings; the broken glass shards on the floor from the broken windows, some overturned furniture from the brawl some of the blood pirate members had with their captors, and the blood on the floor from when her father shot the leader in an attempt to stifle the situation. “perhaps it’s best if you return to the family home now.”

“n-now?!” jiyu’s head shot up to stare at her father in shock, “but—”

“you sure have a lot of energy to argue with me for someone who was just held at gunpoint,” her father sighed, running his hands through his tousled hair. 

‘did he...run all the way up here?’

“sir, the vans are ready whenever you and the young miss are,” one of her father’s secretaries informed him before acknowledging jiyu with a polite bow. “you haven’t aged a day, miss,” he chuckled. 

jiyu always regarded him as an uncle. supposedly when she was a toddler, she always followed him around asking the man to carry her since her father always refused. growing up with the young heiress, the man grew to love her like she was his niece, despite her being his employer’s daughter.

“likewise, uncle,” she softly giggled.

“...go gather your hybrids. we leave in twenty minutes once the team finishes up here,” her father interjected the reunion with curt words before turning away from her and stepping out of the penthouse. 

after gently urging seonghwa and san to go and gather the others, her eyes couldn’t help but catch the back of her father’s head as he discussed with the commander about what to do with the black market members. she couldn’t deny the heavy feeling in her heart from her father’s brusque tone.

“if i may be so bold, jiyu,” the secretary, mr. jeon, decided to speak on behalf of his boss after seeing the way jiyu’s eyes unconsciously followed her father, “your father was extremely worried about you once he received word of your situation from your butler. he was quite literally shouting at me from the back of the car to drive faster. he does care for you, and i think you know that, too.”

“good morning, lovebug,” a husky voice from beside her sleepily mumbled before she felt someone hug her from behind. “what’s got you so deep in thought so early in the morning?”

“sunwoo...!” so wrapped in her thoughts, she failed to notice her fiancee asleep next to her. “yesterday—”

“eric and i snuck into the room jongho and the others were in just in case things went south and they needed backup,” he explained, tightening his grip around her waist, he buried his face into the crook of her neck. “do you know how much i wanted to barge in with my team when i hard you say they were holding you three at gunpoint?”

reaching up to tousle his already-messy hair, she pecked his cheek. “sorry for making you worry,” she apologized, imagining how worried he must’ve been while in the room with the others.”but where did you go after? i didn’t see you or eric after we left.”

“...we snuck back out the window since my father technically didn’t know i went along with our team...one of my bodyguards rushed us back home before i came here later,” he sheepishly explained, whining when he heard laughter. “i-i was scared to death you know...!”

“i know, i know, i’m sorry...it’s just amusing imagining you and eric climbing out of my window afterwards to rush back home.”

“hm...what should i do to silence you?” he asked, lips climbing up and down her neck as he placed butterfly kisses here and there.

“sunnie, quit it...!” she covered his mouth with her hands, looking down to see his chocolate brown eyes staring back at her like a puppy. “we’re in my family home!”

wrestling her back into bed with him despite her protests, he tucked her head under his chin before drawing comfortable patterns on her back. “speaking about being here, will you be okay? i know you don’t have the best memories here...”

it’d be a lie to say she’d be completely okay. being back in her family home only reminded her of her limited days of freedom before she was subject to a life of corporate meetings, business parties, and the pointless chit-chats and gossip from the other elites. “i have you and the other eight boys. it’ll be a lot more tolerable.”

sunwoo didn’t reply, only humming as his way of acknowledging what she said. the two didn’t say anything else, allowing the peaceful silence to engulf the room. feeling sunwoo’s hand draw random patterns onto her back while occasionally dropping pecks onto her head, it practically lulled her back to sleep.

had someone not knocked on her door, she definitely would’ve fallen back asleep. peering up to see who had cracked her door open, she giggled when she saw jongho peeking in before yunho’s appeared above jongho.

opening her arms out towards the two, she beckoned them over. “come over here before someone sees you peeking and gets the wrong idea,” she chuckled before grunting at the impact of yunho charging into her open arms.

jongho lagged behind. jiyu knew physical affection wasn’t exactly his cup of tea, so when he sat down on the bed next to her and laid his head on her shoulder, it surprised her, but who was she to complain during this rare moment?

“are the others still asleep?” she asked.

yunho burrowed deeper into her comforters before nodding. “the bed that the lady showed us to last night was really comfy so they all fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow.”

“after yesterday, it’s understandable that they’d all be exhausted,” she mumbled, reaching over to run her hands through jongho’s hair. “i’m just glad nothing bad happened to you all. i still never formally apologized for putting you all through that. you especially, jongho.”

"i don’t blame you,” he reassured, rubbing his head on her shoulder for good measure. “and it wasn’t scary because i trusted you and everyone else. i knew you weren’t going to hand me over so easily or give up without a fight.”

that was the first time jiyu’s ever heard words of confirmation from jongho that he trusted them. despite him not ever voicing it aloud, jiyu always knew that jongho created such strong bonds with the other boys, that he had subconsciously put his trust into them, too. last night’s incident proved it to her with how he so easily allowed them to help him leave his old life behind. 

“thank you.”

although jiyu only offered two words in response, it conveyed so much more— feelings that she couldn’t put into words. 

“and thank you for helping, too,” jongho added, lifting his head up to face sunwoo. “you and eric really came through to help in a tight spot...”

softly smiling at the boy’s words, sunwoo reached over and tousled the bear’s chocolate brown hair, even scratching behind his bear ears. “any loved ones of jiyu is someone i’m willing to protect. i’m just glad we all made it out in one piece, buddy.”

it truly was a heartwarming sight. to see how sunwoo so warmly accepted the eight boys was a gift that she always cherished. deep down, although she never admitted to anyone, she was always thankful to her father for choosing sunwoo to be her fiancee. 

“jiyu!” a knock sounded on her door before it cracked open to reveal yuta peeking in. “breakfast is—when did sunwoo arrive?”

not missing the little smirk on her personal attendant’s face, her cheeks flushed a light red before she hurled a pillow in his direction. “we didn’t do anything!”

“when did i ever—never mind,” giving up arguing with her, he cleared his throat to recompose himself. “anyways, as i was saying, breakfast is ready so come down to the dining hall whenever you’re ready. the kitchen staff made enough for a feast considering your return to the family home, so you’re always free to join as well...sir,” yuta finished his piece with a polite bow.

hearing that title being addressed to sunwoo, jiyu crinkled her nose before turning to the said man, who mirrored her expression. 

“i think you can just call him by his name, yuta,” she stifled her giggles upon seeing sunwoo’s weirded-out expression. “and act normally! it’s weird seeing you all formal and polite.”

“...even i have to admit that didn’t suit him, and i’ve known him for less than a day...” jongho mumbled. 

“thank god, being polite and formal’s too stifling,” yuta sighed out of relief before handing her an envelope. “i almost forgot. this is for you.”

ripping the envelope open, the blatant surprise and confusion was evident on the girl’s face. looking over her shoulder, sunwoo made the paper out to be an official adoption form—an adoption form with jongho’s name on it. all that was left that needed to be filled out was jiyu’s signature. 

“was this your doing, yuta? i never asked yet, but thank you—”

“it wasn’t me,” yuta interrupted with a small smile. “it was your dad.”

silence filled the room as jiyu took a few seconds to comprehend the information. ‘father did this? there’s no way, maybe yuta’s just messing with me—’

“no, i’m not lying if that’s what you’re all thinking,” yuta quickly defended himself upon seeing the four pairs of doubtful eyes on him. “your dad personally handed me that folder a while ago. you can ask uncle jeon if you still think i’m lying.”

“...but why?” she whispered, still trying to connect the dots behind her father’s actions. “why would he—”

“i think that’s something you’ll need to ask him yourself,” yuta said before handing her a pen. “first things first, are you signing it?”

taking the pen from yuta’s outstretched palm, jiyu signed the paper, eliciting small cheers from yunho, who threw himself at the bear out of pure happiness. “come on! let’s go tell the others!” he excitedly suggested before dragging jongho out of the room despite his protests of not wanting to wake them up. 

seeing the door close behind the duo, jiyu couldn’t stop the warm smile from spreading across her face as she steeled her resolve to protect the eight boys from whatever may come in the future, whether it be from outside threats or her own father.

“i’m going to give this to him myself,” she announced, standing up from bed and burning with determination. “he never does these things unless there’s something that benefits him or the company.”

“i think you’ll be fairly surprised this time around,” yuta quietly mumbled as he remembered what the man had told him when he, too, questioned as to why the man did this for his daughter.

marching to her father’s office, millions of possibilities were floating around in her head as to her father’s intentions. to gain her favor? to gain the favor of the eight boys? what is it was a trap and it wasn’t even an adoption form to begin with?

standing at the door for a few minutes as she gave herself a pep talk, she took a deep breath before knocking. “it’s me....”

hearing a muffled “come in”, she pushed the two doors open to see her father working at his desk. the office was quiet, spare the clacking of the keyboard. seeing his daughter standing at the door with a piece of paper in her hands, a quiet sigh escaped his lips. “i see you have a question about that. was there something i missed on there?”

“what’s the reason for this?”

roughly, but gently slamming the paper on the desk in front of him, jiyu had so many questions that she so badly wanted answered, but she knew bombarding her father with them was no use. 

“do i need a reason to give that to you?” standing up from his chair, the older man took his glasses off before turning to look out of the floor-to-ceiling windows behind his desk. “there’s only one reason for an adoption form. i thought your years of working for that recovery center taught you.”

“you know that’s not what i meant,” she replied, feeling the irritation bubble within her chest. “you and i both know that you wouldn’t do something like this unless there was something behind the scenes that benefitted you. if this is your way of making me stay, there was no need. i could’ve gone through with the process myself.”

her father was silent. not hearing anything from him made her more frustrated, yet she was also afraid if she had overstepped her boundaries. not that she cared much.

“is it so strange that i did it with no hidden motives?”

“must i answer that with how you’ve treated me all these years since mom died?”

her mother’s death was a sore topic for both herself and her father, although it greatly affected her father more than it did her. she knew it was wrong of her to bring up her late mother, but she figured it was the only way to get her father to talk.

“you treated me more as a puppet for this company rather than your own daughter. ever since the funeral, you’ve never once listened to my wishes, you never listened to my feeling, to me. so forgive me for doubting my own father when he does listen to my wishes all of a sudden.”

with his back turned to her, jiyu failed to realize brief expression of hurt that flickered across his face. it was true that the death of his wife impacted him in more ways then he could’ve imagined. but it wasn’t just the death of his wife, it was the reason. he may have took care of the “reason” but it still haunted him to this day.

and seeing jiyu, a carbon copy of his wife, it scared him that there was a slim chance of losing her the same way he lost her mother.

“you really do take after your mother. personality and looks.”

he sounded so wistful, as if reminiscing the past. “i can’t explain it to you now, but i really did do everything to protect you, even if it meant taking away your freedom. i’m sorry for that.”

the more jiyu heard him speak, the more it sounded so foreign to her. what was he trying to hide? did it have something to do with her mother? just what piece of the puzzle was she missing?

“what do you mean—”

“despite my worries, you’ve built yourself a good life outside.” seeing san and seonghwa’s protectiveness over her last night, it gave him a surge of relief to know that his daughter was safe. and perhaps, things could be different this time around. “seeing how much you risked your life to help that boy, i figured i’d hand that to you,” he motioned to the paper on his desk. 

“you’re not making any sense right now.”

“one day, jiyu. one day...i’ll be able to share my reasons. but all i can offer now is my apologies for everything i’ve done.”

walking over to the coat hanger, the man grabbed his black trench coat and picked up his briefcase before offering her a sad smile. “i have to take care of some business abroad for a while, so i won’t be home. the staff will help you and your friends settle down, and you’ll have lessons to take over the company starting next month—”

“wait, time out. what’s the meaning of this? where are you going? what have you been talking about—”

“i really need to leave soon, so i’ll answer your questions when i come back. and don’t worry, i’ll be back in time for your’s and sunwoo’s wedding. i’ll be back soon, jiyu.”

and with that, her father left.

and jiyu couldn’t process a single thing that her father had been rambling about. she came to get an answer about the adoption form, and she never received one. yet oddly, despite the rollercoaster that she just went through, something in her gut reassured her that things will turn out okay. 

“man, why does he always have the last say in everything? the least he could do is offer a better explanation,” she grumbled, grabbing the form off the desk before leaving her father’s office. 

joining the others in the dining room, her earlier worries melted as she heard the laughter and voices of the eight boys that had burrowed their way into her heart. seeing them laugh so freely after going through such a horrific experience brought her an unexplainable amount of relief and joy. 

hearing wooyoung cheerfully usher into the room and hearing seonghwa softly telling her to join them, she took a seat next to sunwoo, who gently held onto her hand before worriedly peering into her face. “everything okay?”

she didn’t know how to respond. the truth would be no, since she had absolutely no idea what her father was going on about in the office. but her gut answer was yes, she felt okay and strangely at peace. 

she glanced at the boys seated at the long table. 

seonghwa, her first ever hybrid friend that everyone thought was violent and unapproachable, but is now the softest and kindest wolf that has an impeccable amount of love to offer.

yunho, the puppy seonghwa found and offered a second chance to. the puppy that they all loved so dearly for his bright and warm energy.

hongjoong, the one that was initially so distrustful and cold, but grew to be the best “leader” and protective spirit for his loved ones.

mingi, the bunny who would run away from her at every given chance, but with some talking and a gentle spirit, he was able to build his trust in the world and reunite with his best friend—perhaps fate brought them together again.

yeosang, the elegant fox that went through so much more than one could imagine at a breeding facility, but was able to get through it all with the help of seojun and the love and care that he’s received ever since escaping.

san, the cat that had snuck his way into her room to escape the winter cold, the cat that had carried years and years of guilt over something that wasn’t directly his fault, the cat that showered all his friends with love to make up for the years that he couldn’t with anyone else.

wooyoung, the loud and cheeky dolphin that had been on the run from people that were willing to hurt him in the name of science. the dolphin that just longed for people he could call his family.

and lastly, jongho. the bear that spent years in the same place as hongjoong. the bear that had no choice in hurting others to ensure his own life. the bear that just wanted to badly to break away from his life of blood and killing. and he did. because he was also the bear that was the new addition to their little family.

of course, she couldn’t forget eric, the german shepard that was sunwoo’s best friend. the one that gave sunwoo the nudge to follow his feelings, which led jiyu and sunwoo to where they are now. 

seeing all their faces around her, she smiled before squeezing sunwoo’s hand a bit tighter. 

“yeah, i’m okay.”

✧ notes: and we are finished with season one of the series! thank you for all of the support and love received on this season, and i’m sorry for my lack of consistent updating :( 

“what’s gotten your brows all furrowed up like that?” jiyu asked, coming up to him and poking the space between his furrowed brows. “you’re going to get premature wrinkles, you know.”

“as if i already don’t have them from the seven kids already,” hongjoong grumbled, but they both knew it was out of love. hongjoong had really grown to care and love for the boys and jiyu as if they had been his own family since the beginning. “but i just find it strange how no one’s tried to come after jongho yet...and the text message you got last night, too..”

peering at the message made jiyu’s stomach drop. it was from an unknown number, so how did they manage to get in contact with her. 

‘keep jongho safe...i already did you a favor by sending him to you so don’t let my efforts go to waste.’

"jongho, are you sure there’s really no one you know out there that could want to help you?” jiyu asked again as she showed jongho her phone. 

the bear shook his head. “i swear i don’t.”

any attempts to message the unknown number to ask for their identity was useless, as they’d been left on read every single time. 

“with all that you’ve told me, i’m pretty surprised, too. they don’t seem to be the type to just sit idly by as one of their hybrids is free.”

it was quite unsettling, the peaceful reaction from the blood pirates left a bad taste in her’s and hongjoong’s mouth. remembering the state she found hongjoong in when they first met sent a shudder down her spine. mercy was never in their vocabulary with the amount of blood and wounds they inflicted upon the tiger. it didn’t occur to her until later that they had only left him alone because they assumed he would’ve bled out and died. 

shaking her head of the horrid memories, she reassuringly pat the tiger’s head. “it may not be much reassurance, but i have yeonjun and chanhee keeping a close eye and ear out for any movements from them. for the time being, jongho’s safe here with all of us looking out for him.”

that’s right, jongho had moved into the penthouse the day before. he wasn’t officially adopted, but jiyu had requested for him to be relocated to her home so she can simultaneously keep an eye on him and protect him. 

and the boys were serious about their duties in protecting jongho. perhaps it was because he was the youngest hybrid, but the seven boys had holed themselves up in his room the moment he arrived to make sure they have eyes on him 24/7. it was oddly adorable at how passionate they were.

“i don’t doubt everyone’s skills when it comes to fights...but there’s just been this nagging feeling for a while. there’s so many things that don’t add up.”

pursing her lips, jiyu really didn’t know how to set hongjoong’s mind at ease. she wasn’t the organization, she knew remotely little to nothing about them— aside from what hongjoong had told her about them. all she could do was reassure him that jongho would have a higher chance of protection with them then at the recovery facility.

but how hongjoong wished he had trusted his gut instincts.

that night, insistent knocking—borderline banging—woke jiyu and the others up. quickly fumbling for her ipad to check the camera, her dazed eyes widened when she saw a group of men at her door, adorning jackets with the familiar, stomach dropping logo. the blood pirates had somehow managed to locate her house and jongho.

hongjoong’s jaw tensed upon seeing the familiar logo on the back of their jackets. he should’ve acted on his previous feelings and suggested they relocate somewhere. he, out of everyone, knew how the pirates operated; he knew they would’ve come on way or another. 

“well…this is a way to start the day, i guess,” jiyu grumbled while rubbing her eyes. sleepy jiyu was certainly someone that should be messed with, blood pirates or not. 

“what do we do?!” jongho whispered, frantic that there was a chance he could be caught along with hongjoong. but he also felt an immense wave of guilt. had he not involved himself with jiyu, would the outcome be different? only he and hongjoong were involved with the blood pirates, why was it that jiyu and the others be involved, too? 

listening in on their conversation outside, jiyu’s mind started working as fast as it could for a plan. 

“i don’ know why boss made us come here,” one of the men grumbled, cracking his knuckles.

“that bear’s supposed to be here according to the scouts. livin’ with some girl, too so this should be an easy retrieve is we offer her money.”

“...must be loaded to be living in a place like this, though. wonder what the girl’s making jongho do to have him live here,” she heard one of them scoff. it made her blood boil, but she had bigger problems on hand.

“well,” jiyu quietly tried thinking of all the outcomes of them coming across the group outside, “they don’t know that we know who they are, so we can use that to our advantage somehow. luckily, i don’t think they know my identity either, so we just need to stall them for as long as we can until i can contact both yuta and sunwoo for backup.”

climbing off the bed before the men could start another round of loud knocking, she motioned for seonghwa and san to follow her for backup. “alright, the rest of you, stay here and watch out for both jongho and hongjoong. hongjoong, call yuta and sunwoo and quickly explain to them the situation. tell them they’ll get a signal from me to attack, they’ll know it when they hear it. do not leave this room unless you deem necessary, okay?”

it was moments like these, leaving out the potential life-or-death part, where her side as a company heiress really showed. the way she was so calm and able to assign tasks in the midst of dealing with such dangerous people was like a reality check for the boys that soon, she’d be taking over her father’s business whether she liked it or not. 

seeing hongjoong taking her phone to start contacting for backup, jiyu tiptoed to the front door with seonghwa and san in tow. her heart was pounding. there was no room for mistakes, otherwise it’d cost her hongjoong and jongho. feeling san and seonghwa’s quick, yet comforting cheek rubs against her head, she took a deep breath before pressing the button of the monitor doorbell. 

“isn’t this quite a late time to be pounding on my door?” she asked, faking the grogginess as if she had just woken up. seeing the mens’ faces on the monitor, she prayed that backup would come soon. 

“ah, apologies for the rudeness, miss, but we have some urgent business with you. do you mind allowing us in?”

seeing one of the men with a briefcase in their hands, she assumed they’d try bribing her with money first for jongho. but she also saw the glint of a gun that was discreetly holstered to their waists behind their jackets.

“sirs, it’s three in the morning, is it non-urgent enough to wait til the morning?”

seeing his face morph into irritation for a split second before disappearing, jiyu could only hope that she could stall them long enough. hongjoong should’ve finished contacting sunwoo and yuta by now. 

“we’re unfortunately on a time crunch, ma’am. if you cooperate with us nicely, we’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

“they’re really giving us no choice,” san whispered, preparing himself in case a fight broke out. seonghwa did the same—nails turning sharper, teeth growing pointier, and senses heightening. 

there wasn’t much they could do against a gun, but they were willing to do anything if it meant giving them more time. 

“don’t risk yourselves, alright?” jiyu pleaded before unlocking the door and opening it just the slightest. 

“so to what do i owe the pleasure of this early in the morning?”

seeing some of them visibly gulp at the sight of seonghwa’s and san’s cold gazes made her a little more reassured. “don’t mind them, they don’t...appreciate being woken up this early, either.”

the man from the monitor cleared his throat, a fake laugh booming from his chest. “of course. will you allow us in? i’m sure you’ll be more compliant after hearing with what we have to say and offer.”

sighing loudly to cover up her own nervousness, she cracked the door open a little wider for them, praying that this wasn’t a mistake. “very well. you have ten minutes.”

ten minutes should be enough for her family security team to arrive, so she just had to hold out for that long. 

the smiles—sneers, more like—made her sick to the stomach. “excellent, we’ll be out in five.”

back in the room, yeosang pressed his ears to the door to hopefully get intel of what was happening outside. hearing the voices, the door opening and closing, his brows furrowed in concern. “i think they’re inside,” he whispered. 

they all tensed, jongho burrowing deeper in the closet with yunho and hongjoong. he wasn’t going to lie—he was terrified. terrified of being the reason that they would het hurt, terrified with guilt that he was the reason they were in this predicament. feeling yunho squeeze his hand the slightest bit tighter gave him hope and reassurance, but it could only do so much for the raging wave of emotions deep in his heart. 

“yuta and sunwoo said they were on the way a few minutes ago,” hongjoong said, hoping his words could give them some comfort. they thought the man coming for san was dangerous, but this one definitely took the cake. he’s never sensed so much fear from everyone, jiyu included no matter how much of a strong front she put up. 

and seeing everyone so quiet for the first time ever since he’s known them sent a chill down his spine. they were never this quiet. 

he could only pray that jiyu, seonghwa, and san would be safe and in one piece. he could only hope that they could all see each other again after backup comes. 

“so miss, allow me to explain to you why we’re here,” the man, one jiyu assumed was the group’s leader, said. they had taken seats on the sofa in the living room, jiyu sitting across the man with san and seonghwa next to her. the other men stood around their leader, almost as if they were preparing to attack. 

“i’m sure you’ve heard of an organization called the blood pirates, yes?”

jiyu’s clenched her fists a little tighter. one wrong word in this conversation could blow their cover. 

“i’ve heard of them in passing. never too much into detail.”

"all of us here are members of that organization,” he motioned to the four men around him, “and we unfortunately...lost one of our members during his daily routine. 

daily routine meaning daily no-mercy ring fights.

one of the men standing slid an ipad over to her, where a picture of jongho was displayed. “do you recognize this fella?” he asked. 

staring at the picture as if she was trying her best to think, her mind went into overdrive. they certainly cut to the chase quick.

“hm...he does look a little familiar,” she mumbled.

“ma’am, we believe that you’re keeping him in hiding here,” the man said, motioning for the briefcase. 

opening the briefcase and sliding it over to her, she was met with the sight of at least a few thousand won* stacked inside. her breath hitched, acting as if the sight of all the money surprised her. seonghwa’s and san’s eyes also slightly widened. they’d never seen that much cash in their lives. 

“now, let’s make this easy,” the man’s “friendliness” melted away, his true colors now showing. “if you quietly hand him over, this briefcase will be all your’s. with a few conditions, of course.”

seeing san’s ear flick towards the door—a movement so small and gentle that none of the other men paid a second thought to—she suppressed the smirk that was itching to spread across her lips. there was a reason she brought san out with her—after all, he was able to catch on to the quietest of noises. 

feeling reasuerd that backup was here, she fixed her gaze onto the man in front of her. “i live up in a penthouse, did you really think i would be persuaded by this much? assuming i have jongho, for goodness sake.”

seeing his jaw tense, he motioned to his men to search the area. “resisting really won’t work, kiddo. we know you have him.”

a growl rumbled from seonghwa’s throat when one two of the men aimed their guns at the three of them on couch to prevent them from moving. san hissed, at the man closest to him, smirking when he saw the gun shake slightly. for members of the blood pirates, they sure didn’t have the guts that lived up to their name. 

as the men searched the first floor, it rubbed the leader in a weird way at how calm jiyu was despite her situation. in his eyes, she was just some spoiled rich kid who couldn’t live without her parents’ money. did she really not value her precious life enough?

but he didn’t think much of it. after all, she was just a normal citizen at the end of the day. a casualty wasn’t going to affect their mission.  

feeling san’s tail brush against her back, she knew it was his signal. 

“mister, pointing your guns at us,” she made sure to emphasize that part for everyone to hear, “really is useless because i’m telling the truth. i really don’t have jongho.”

and at that moment, it was like a scene from an action movie coming to life in her living room. her door was knocked down as men dressed in her family security team’s uniform with rifles filed into the room. even her balcony window was knocked down as sunwoo’s team filed in—how they managed to climb to her balcony, she’ll ask later.

in no time, all the men had surrounded the baffled organization members. 

“all weapons down and step away from the mistress this instant!” 

seeing the two men with the guns pointed at them become caught off guard, seonghwa motioned to san to grab their guns. now the tables were completely turned, the organization members that were apprehending them were now the ones completely outnumbered and surrounded. even though they had their own weapons, it was completely useless to go against trained bodyguards.

“w-w-what is this?!” the leader, completely stunned from the turn of evens, roared as his glare fixed onto jiyu, who wore a smirk that he so badly wished he could wipe off her face. “you brat—”

“i don’t think you’re really in a position to be threatening me. after all, you really went after me not even knowing who i am? you already basically signed your life away when you so loudly knocked on my door.”

“you have no idea who we are and what we could do to you regardless—”

pulling a small device out from the pocket of her nightgown, the man’s face visibly paled when he recognized it to be a voice recorder. and it hit the five black market members when they realized that they had been played the moment they stepped into the penthouse.

“and you have no idea what i could do with this. i’m sure you’re aware of how badly you’ve been wanted on the national blacklist, this just seals your fate,” she laughed, a sound so pure and mocking. 

“b-boss, what are we supposed to do now?” one of the men asked, voice shaking as he took note of the many rifles pointed at him. 

gritting his teeth, the leader pointed his gun at jiyu and turned the safety click off. “you bitch!” he shouted. 

jiyu’s eyes widened, san and seonghwa covering her with their bodies. hearing a gunshot, her heart and breath stopped when she realized that seonghwa and san had hugged her to them to protect her. immediately pulling out of their arms, she looked around and noticed the rest of the blood pirate members had been pinned to the ground after the gunshot had sounded. 

but what was odd was that their boss was the one crying out in pain and clutching his shoulder to stop the blood from flowing out, the gun on the ground in front of him. 

“what are you all standing there for?” a voice boomed from the front entrance, “apprehend them. now.”

jiyu’s eyes widened at the familiar voice. her blood ran cold as her heart dropped to her stomach. refusing to turn to the front door to look at the source of the voice, she looked straight ahead and watched as the bodyguards seized the blood pirate members. 

feeling the person’s presence come closer towards her, she gripped onto seonghwa’s and san’s hands, something she does when she becomes anxious. sensing her dread, the wolf and cat coldly gazed at the older man that walked up and stood right in front of them. 

“what? no hello after five years?” he addressed jiyu. 

releasing her tight grip on the two boys’ hands, jiyu looked up at the man’s face. taking in the familiar older man’s appearance, she took a deep breathe to calm all of the various emotions that had been released upon his arrival. 

“hm...me, too,” jiyu agreed, remembering how hongjoong was teetering between life and death when she first met him. “you’ll get to see him soon.”

if anyone were in jongho’s shoes, it would’ve been natural to despise someone who ran away from a responsibility—a responsibility that ultimately got passed down to them after. but jongho understood where hongjoong came from to run away, hell anyone with the opportunity would’ve done the same thing. jongho didn’t hate hongjoong for “abandoning” them, rather he was grateful that he managed to not only escape, but also find a loving family. 

“have you ever seen hongjoong...fight?” jiyu suddenly asked. seeing hongjoong’s mood slightly dampen over the past few days ever since hearing about the blood pirates again made jiyu’s heart twist. not that she blamed jongho’s appearance—he was a victim, too.

“a few times...” jongho hesitated on continuing, not wanting to to tarnish the reputation jiyu associated hongjoong with. would her opinion on him and hongjoong change if she knew how much bloodshed the both of the caused?

seeming to pick up on his hesitance, jiyu cautiously reached out and gently ruffled his hair. “don’t worry, i’m aware of how grueling it must’ve been for the both of you. i told this to hongjoong, but you only did what you needed to do to survive. we all want to survive in this world, no? so don’t be afraid of my or anyone else’s opinions—i’m pretty sure they would’ve done the same as you two.”

did people really have to consider them monsters when they were just trying their best to survive in the world just like everyone else? the only difference was just they were placed in the wrong environment, a situation where your life is literally on the line.

jongho was never really one to care about how others thought of him, considering how he’s never had the chance to interact with others outside of the blood pirates’ circle. but seeing and sensing how the other nurses were slightly more on guard around him did help him understand that he was different from the other hybrids here—scarier, stronger, and more, dare he say, threatening. 

“alright, i’ll be back later!” she announced, indicating that her morning time with him was over, “remember to eat your lunch when it arrives, alright? see you later, jongho!” she waved with a smile before leaving the room. 

it was a wonder how jiyu easily adapted to him, then again, she met hongjoong before him, so she had some experience—but how did she manage to conceal his identity from an entire organization?

it had been something he wanted to ask, but he never found the right time.

unbeknownst to the bear, seven boys had surprisingly showed up at the recovery center wanting to meet him.

jiyu’s eyes practically popped out of her head upon seeing the familiar boys waiting by her desk. they were sure attracting some attention—her coworkers whispering amongst themselves as to why there were seven hybrids, some of them were familiar faces, waiting by jiyu’s desk. 

“h-how did you even get here?!” she whisper-shouted after dragging them to an empty meeting room. 

(it took the trip a little longer than expected since wooyoung kept wandering around in fascination.)

“...we called sunwoo,” mingi sheepishly revealed. it was a sight to see an hour ago, all seven hybrids practically begging sunwoo to drive them to the recovery center since they couldn’t just walk there nor take a taxi. 

“you called sunwoo?” jiyu reiterated. and right on time, her phone’s ringer went off. sliding it out of her coat pocket, she internally face palmed at the message her boyfriend left for her.

sunshine 😚 💗 : i dropped off six furballs and a dolphin at your workplace :)

wifey 💗 : ...yes, i found them 😭

sunshine 😚 💗 : they said something about you dealing with an illegal organization...let me know if you need anything, okay? stay safe, i love you ❤️

wifey 💗 : thanks, sunnie. love u too ❤️

“...we’re still here,” seonghwa piped up upon seeing jiyu’s lovesick smile as if she wasn’t pressing them about suddenly appearing a minute ago. 

clearing her throat, embarrassed at letting herself go in front of them, she tried composing herself before planting her hands on her hips. “why did you need to come by here?”

“someone’s been a little restless about the whole blood pirate situation so we decided to bring him here to meet the rescued one,” wooyoung explained, pointing to hongjoong, who’s ears perked up in surprise at being exposed. 

“i-i didn’t ask to come here, though—”

snorting at their rough, yet caring natures towards hongjoong, she handed him the file she had in her hand—jongho’s file. “he’s doing exceptionally well, if that’s what you’re curious about,” she reassured, softly smiling when she saw hongjoong’s tense figure slump out of relief. 

it warmed her heart to see how much he was worried for the bear hybrid. 

“...would you like to see him?”

hongjoong’s eyes whipped up from the file to give her a flustered look. “i don’t want to disturb him—”

“just go for it, hyung!” yunho encouraged, “you were worrying about him nonstop, right? and who knows, maybe he needs a little comforting from someone that understands what he’s going through. go see him.”

placing a hand on hongjoong’s shoulder as he pondered over yunho’s words, jiyu gave it a little squeeze. “he’s been wanting to meet you, you know...he was really worried about whether you were alive or not when i first met him. you won’t be disturbing him at all, i promise.”

a million thoughts flashed through hongjoong’s head. jongho didn’t despise him for abandoning the others? he didn’t harbor bitter feelings for him for indirectly pushing him to become the new champion? he was worried about his wellbeing instead?

but yunho was right. as someone who knew what the bear went through, maybe he can redeem himself as a pillar of strength for jongho in this unfamiliar and new environment. 

“...okay, i’ll go see him.”

walking back towards jongho’s room with the seven boys in tow, she held onto hongjoong’s hand for reassurance the whole way. 

behind the strong facade and bright smiles he’s always put up for them was a tiger that bore a sense of guilt for essentially leaving his ring mates behind while he flourished living a brand new life. and jiyu felt heartbroken for not being able to see past his smiles, for not being able to fully understand the darkness that often times consumed his mind and thoughts. 

taking a deep breath, she entered the code to jongho’s room and the door slid open to reveal the bear hybrid burrowed underneath the comforters, his head peeking out as his eyes were fixated onto the TV in front of the bed. 

“i thought you were coming back after lunch—”

jongho froze mid-phrase when he noticed the seven boys crowded behind jiyu, trying their best to peek over each other in hopes of catching a glimpse of the infamous bear. 

but what really shook jongho to the core was the tiger hybrid next to jiyu that couldn’t seem to make eye contact with him.

“h-hongjoong hyung?”

letting go of hongjoong’s hand, she rubbed comforting patterns on his back to help him relax. “how about we leave the two of you alone for a bit to talk? i’m sure there’s a lot you two want to say.”

seeing the both of them nod, she ushered the others out of the room before closing the door behind them. 

“i hope hyung gets the closure he needs...” san mumbled his wish aloud as he stared at the closed door. it was a mutual wish amongst them—for hongjoong to be able to let go of the guilt that he’s quietly carried around for months. 

but on the other side of the door, hongjoong only felt his remorse grow as he took note of the bandages wrapped around jongho’s arms. had he still stayed, the young one wouldn’t have had to experience a life that tortured—

“hyung, you don’t have to feel sorry,” jongho’s whisper broke the silence between them. “i don’t hate you for leaving. no one did—if anything, we were all glad to see you be free...”

hongjoong couldn’t lift his head. tears gathered in his eyes the more jongho spoke.

“did you know i’ve always admired you? it might be the wrong situation to look up to someone back there, but i couldn’t help myself. after fighting for a certain amount of time, we start to lose that human side of us, lose the compassion and feelings for our opponents...but you never did. you always held onto the human side of you. and that’s why i looked up to you, hyung.”

“but i ran away,” hongjoong hiccuped, no longer being able to hold back his tears any longer. “i should’ve helped you all, i should’ve came back—” 

“hyung, stop.”

jongho’s voice was firm, yet gentle. much like the others and jiyu, he didn’t want hongjoong to carry around the unnecessary guilt of something that was out of his control. 

“we wanted you to be safe, we wanted you to find a new life and make your escape worthy. coming back for us would’ve jeopardized your life and everything that you’ve gained out here.”

he thought of jiyu, who had held his hand at the door and reassured him with a warm gaze. he thought of the other boys who all wore matching worried expressions when jiyu ushered them out. it was clear that he found his place, his home. 

why leave all that behind to come back to the place that had inflicted the most pain in his life? no one would blame him for leaving, it was a natural thing to want. 

“so please. don’t feel guilty for leaving us. and it’s not your fault that i got pushed into your former title. don’t apologize or be ashamed that you lived. as rude as this may sound, you aren’t obligated for everyone’s life.”

‘so don’t be afraid of my or anyone else’s opinions—i’m sure they would’ve done the same as you two.’

he never realized how much of an impact jiyu’s words were to him until that moment when he relayed her message in his own words. it was like his eyes were opened, his heart ready to heal. 

and hongjoong felt liberated from jongho’s message to him because in a way, he was right. survival was a common want for everyone, human or hybrid. so why did he feel guilty for running away when it was something any other hybrid would’ve jumped at the chance to?

“heh, that sounds like something jiyu would say,” he tearily chuckled, finally plucking the courage to raise his head and look at jongho for the first time since coming into the room.

“...well, she did tell me something similar,” jongho sheepishly admitted. “you’re really lucky...finding someone like her.”

hongjoong nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with the bear hybrid. “then you’re really lucky, too. don’t forget she’s been helping you as well.”

“...i suppose,” he bashfully agreed. 

“...hey, what do you think about adoption after all this over?” hongjoong suddenly asked after a long moment of silence. he may not have directly mentioned it, but judging at the way jongho’s ears immediately perked up, he knew the bear had caught on. 

“r-really? w-will she be okay with that?”

“something tells me she was already thinking about it the moment she laid eyes on you,” hongjoong smirked, knowing jiyu enough to figure out her thought patterns and process. “besides...i figured she’d adopt you either way for your own protection.”

a family was the last thing jongho’s ever thought about ever since he was separated from his family as a child. he didn’t even know if his biological parents were alive, let alone trying to find a new family. finding them was always on top of his list should he ever find a way to leave the hellhole of a “home” he’s been at for the majority of his life. 

"finding your real family is a piece of cake for jiyu, jongho,” hongjoong reassured. the bear’s expression told him everything he needed to know. “the amount of people she’s tracked down for some of us is unreal. besides, ii wouldn’t put it past her to already be on the job.”

jiyu, contacting yuta about jongho’s family’s whereabouts: “i just got a random chill...”

“why is she doing so much for me? for all of you?” it had been a question that’s been festering on his mind for quite sometime now—why was she willing to go so far and risking her life for a few hybrids?

pursing his lips, hongjoong remembered back to the beach where jiyu had laid bare her past to them. “i don’t know what she went through as a kid, but all i can tell you is that she does these things with a genuine heart. no hidden motives or agendas, no malicious intents, nothing. that i can say with a hundred percent certainty.”