Lost Boys - Until our dying breath ( Jikook )

Chapter 3

Blood sticks to Jimin's frozen fingers, dripping wet and hot to the touch. He's haunting the empty backstreets of Soul City, his presence announced by the sweet melody of his flute and outlived by the dead bodies he leaves behind.
Today, as well, he plays the song of murder. Small dogs, big ones, jackals, foxes. They all howl along to his tunes, crowding around him like rats bewitched by the pied piper, their old masters long gone.

He can taste the smell of cigarettes and old booze on the tip of his tongue. It's the scent of the city, greed, blood stained purity, the desperation of the fallen. He inhales it all as he plays his last notes to calm the soul fragments of the deceased. They look like snowflakes as they dance, surrounded by a ghastly red glow.

It's over and done, just like that. Min Yoongi’s territory has been successfully defended for another day. But what's this? A bright light floods the end of the alley, pouring over a creature as if it's an angel sent by the heavens.
Is it just another dog?
No.
It's a wolf as dark as the shadows. 

“And who might you be? I've never seen you before,” Jimin coos, his fingers sliding through beautiful silk fur. The creature tilts its head, so innocent and cute. The master he protects has to be nearby but they are nowhere to be seen.
“Did you like my song?”
As if to say yes, the wolf wags its tail. Beautiful, big, and strong. Whatever family it protects must be an incredibly powerful one.
As he strokes the big beast, Jimin's emotions start to slip. Once upon a time, he thought power would be his key to happiness. However, now that he's older, only emptiness and grief remains.

That must've been why, when he saw JK’s empty expression, he thought they might have something in common. Maybe, they see the world through the same dirty lens. But of course that can't be right. JK is clearly struggling to hold onto his sanity while Jimin gave his away a long time ago.
Just when a bitter feeling of defeat threatens to overwhelm his mind, the wolf rubs its head against Jimin's leg and licks the blood from his fingers.
“What is it, boy?” Jimin giggles, all troubling thoughts forgotten. “Do you want me to follow you?”

The creature howls, then it runs with Jimin following close behind. It turns around several corners and passes through almost blocked off streets until they reach a dead end filled with tiny whimpers and cries.
Ah. That's why those damn dogs were creeping around the area. This must be where they hide the stolen goods.
Jimin's face twists in displeasure. Just thinking about it makes his stomach churn. Stolen goods. That's what alphas call them. In reality, they are omegas just like him.

There used to be a time, long before Jimin was born, when their biggest fear was to be thrown out of their homes, killed, or to be simply left to die. These days, they don't have to worry about that kind of thing. But that doesn't mean they are living worry-free.
Pheromone insanity was what they called it when more and more alphas started killing each other. Being as perfect and outstanding as they were, the remaining alphas quickly figured out the cause. Too many alpha pheromones and too little omegas to calm them down. They didn't know omegas had that kind of effect on an alpha's mind. If they did, maybe they would have treated them better. Well. Or maybe not.
As soon as they went public with their findings, people started hunting the few remaining omegas down to sell them at insane prices. The two most successful omega hunter families quickly gained an insane amount of influence over the city.
One was the Min family, famously protected by their cat spirits, the other was the Jeon family, protected by canines.
Unable to compromise or defeat each other, they eventually cut the city in half. Kitten Hills in the south, Lycan Woods in the north.
Like this, they ended the constant territorial wars between cats and dogs, but for the omegas it was only the beginning of a new nightmare.
Now, they are being abducted and trafficked from one side of the city to the other. It got even worse after the whole Jeon family was assassinated a few years back.
The Kim family, distant relatives who replaced them, still struggle to keep their part of the city in check. No matter how much they condemn omega trafficking, the smaller sub groups don't care. All they see is money. And by God, there's a lot of money to make when it comes to selling omegas.