hydra | svt

CHAPTER FIVE.

wonwoo

"...grave danger"

the words seemed to echo in the back of my mind as i stood with the rest of my friends, as stunned as a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. the man, who had introduced himself as mr. min, sat perfectly still as his butler disappeared from the room. he was a rather stoic man, and that's coming from me; he didn't seem to be one for smiling, simply turning up the corners of his mouth ever so slightly. he took a sip of very aromatic tea, from a sky blue teacup engraved with gold.

"what type of danger? if i may ask sir," jeonghan said politely.

"well, it's about the key. it's been passed down from generation to generation and has kept our family safe for centuries. without it, the min family is destined for bad luck!" he cries dramatically. i hear jihoon kiss his teeth behind me.

"geez," he murmurs and i struggle to hold in a laugh, as does soonyoung.

"but it was stolen from me not long ago and i'm afraid the power it possesses is one of a kind. any wizard, good or bad, could only dream of that kind of magical strength." he slowly sits back down, his hand quivering as he brings the teacup to his lips. his smile is tired.

"i'm not sure what the key opens; my father passed away before he had a chance to tell me but i desperately need it back. will you get it for me?" he looks at us over the rim of the teacup, hope glimmering in his eyes. what other choice do we have?

"of course. do you have any suspects or leads so far?" joshua asks softly.

"my family has made an enemy of almost every rich family within a ten mile radius, but i suppose only our inner circle know about the key. and you now, of course." he places a finger on his chin before sighing. "but the three estates next door to mine have been trying to undermine me for a long time. they're known as the bae's, the kim's and the park's."

seungcheol has a certain smirk on his face as he steps forward, offering his hand to mr. min.

"we'll do whatever it takes. you can trust us!"

-

"well, this is certainly an adventure, isn't it?"

i'm sat with the other 96 liners as we all watch seungcheol and jeonghan bicker over the map. i sip on banana milk before offering some to junhui, who takes it gratefully. we've made little to no progress so far and our leaders are officially stumped. soonyoung has brought out pokemon go and, to his delight, discovered a rare pokemon in the forest. naturally, he sent jihoon to get it; he was reluctant at first but soon relaxed and they began to play together peacefully.

"how about searching one of the houses that belongs to a family mr. min mentioned?" as per usual, our pacifist hong jisoo comes to the rescue and seungcheol and jeonghan are hushed immediately.

"oh yeah, that makes sense. let's split up to make it quicker. 95z you're with me and we'll tackle the kim family. 96z you'll be in charge of the park's. 97, 98 and 99z you'll take the bae family. any objections?" it's surprising how fast our leader can come up with a plan after a logical idea is suggested to him, it's all it takes to set the gears in motion. that's probably why we all work so well together. i turn to my roommates and lift the corner of my mouth.

"what are you guys waiting for? let's go!"

-

the park estate is probably the largest out of the three families aforementioned. it's pristine white pillars could challenge those by the greeks and it's beautifully kept front garden outdoes anything else i'ver ever seen. we materialise right at the foot of the mile long driveway and i take in the trees that reach into heaven, and the path that seems to wind itself around the estate; the design inspiration was clearly victorian and i absolutely love it. i continue to gape awkwardly at the manor before soonyoung nudges my shoulder.

"are we going to go kick some ass or not?" he says, smiling widely. i nod my head, smiling a little too. we all head up the drive carefully, staying as quiet as possible. i can hear jun's keys dangle against his leg with every step we take and i suddenly feel very light and giddy.

"it's good to be back," i mutter to myself.

once we get close enough so that i can see the cream blinds in the windows, we begin to build our plan of action.

"we have to draw everyone outside so that two of us can snoop around inside. it's quite a large manor so i think wonwoo and i should be the ones to look inside. soonyoung and jun, can you stay outside and keep them busy?" jihoon asks, drawing various things in the grit of the driveway. all three of us nod and before we know it, jun has summoned a spirit.

"open, gate of the ram! aries!"

there's a thick puff of smoke; once it clears, a petite girl of about 5'1 stands shyly next to jun in a fluffy white sweater. brown ram horns stick cutely out of her bubblegum pink hair; she looks slightly worried and blinks a couple of times.

"aries, meet wonwoo, soonyoung and jihoon." jun says, pointing to each of in turn. aries waves, her large does eyes flitting back to jun immediately.

"ok, so i'm going to need you to create a distraction. can you do that?"

jun is always kind to his spirits, but he's extra soft with aries. anybody could see how easily frightened she is and jun's voice helps to calm her a little. she seems to be nodding along to jun's instructions; he stands back up to his full height to address us.

"aries will use her wool magic to create a think fog of pink wool. this will allow wonwoo and jihoon to sneak in unnoticed and create a diversion at the same time."

just a jun had said, a misty pink wool fills the area. we put our hands over our faces to become immune to the lulling effects and i clutch jihoon's hand, teleporting us to the roof - all of this for some measly key.

we arrive without much trouble, immediately diving behind some firewood stored up there. if we glance out far enough, we can see one of the servants that work here and their futile efforts to stop junhui and soonyoung but we haven't got much time. probably fifteen minutes max to search the entire house.

"this is like finding a needle in a haystack, how are we supposed to find the key?" jihoon shouts over the commotion below. i shrug my shoulders before pulling my phone out of my pocket, an idea worming it's way to the front of my brain.

"seriously wonwoo? this isn't the time to play games."

"no, give me a second."

i quickly search for what i'm looking for and only a hundred or so images appear. they're low quality but i think i can just about make out what it is. closing my eyes, i imagine the key in my mind with nothing but a blank background. i haven't attempted this much; though every time i have, it's brought us to the vague location of whatever i imagined. my eyebrows furrow with how hard i'm concentrating and i grab jihoon's arm hastily. i feel my body's particles breaking down and i'm floating in an empty space before they rebuild themselves in a very grand hallway.

jihoon blinks at me a few times, peering outside the window. he begins to laugh and i run over to him.

"what's wrong?"

"this isn't even the same house!" my heartbeat picks up and glance out of the window, just as jihoon had done. it all look fairly familiar but the stained glass of the window makes it harder for me to recognise.

"where even are we?"

"i have no idea, but let's search this hallway before someone discovers us." we both begin to search along the walls and peer behind the photo frames, like real detectives you know suddenly i hear a pair of voices and i look at jihoon in panic, who's rifling through a bookcase i'm sure is only for display. there's no convenient closets or rooms to hide in but my partner, the short genius, seems to already be one step ahead.

"hold on tight," he mutters as he produces a grappling hook, made out of the purest ice i've ever seen, and shoots it straight up towards the ceiling. thankfully the old design of this house means there are some beams for us to hold on to as two men, one familiar and one not so much, turn the corner.

i almost let go in surprise after eavesdropping in on their conversation.