Noctura

eighteen

I sigh. "If he ever found out about me... I don't know. We've been best friends my whole life and I've been a Noctura my whole life. It's not like I'm suddenly different just because he knows I'm a Noctura. I think he would see that."

"I know you're best friends, Minho, but it seems really dangerous for you to be best friends with someone who works for the AAN and—"

Jinwoo is interrupted by a knock on the front door.

He quickly stands up and moves toward the bedroom. But before he goes in, he turns back. "Minho?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

"If it's Seunghoon, you should let him in. Or go somewhere with him. He'll start to get suspicious and you know we can't... we can't have him discovering me."

I nod. "Just stay in the bedroom, okay? I'm sorry."

Jinwoo shakes his head. "Don't be."

He disappears into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

I move to the front door and open it up to find Seunghoon standing there.

"Did you see that?" He asks, already coming into the house. "Did you see the TV? Were you watching it?"

"Yeah," I answer, shutting the door behind him. "Yeah, I saw it."

"Can you believe this?" He turns to me once he's in the kitchen. "That's the group Teagan was telling me about. They exposed themselves."

I nod.

Seunghoon shakes his head and grabs a glass from the cabinet. He fills it with water and quickly drinks it.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

Seunghoon looks over at me. "Do you know what this means, Minho?"

"What?"

"The Alliance," he tells me. "That guy, Yoon, is making an army. He's getting an army of Nocturas together to take down the AAN. Isn't it? Isn't that what he's doing?"

"I... I don't know," I respond.

"I can't believe this." Seunghoon downs the rest of the water in his glass. "What'll happen if the Cobras jump on board with this Alliance? Or the Malums?"

"Those are bad gangs," I say. "But they hate humans. They wouldn't join a group with humans in it."

"Maybe they would," Seunghoon says. "They'd help this group kill everyone in the AAN and then they'd betray the humans in the Alliance, killing them too. It's not impossible."

I don't say anything.

Seunghoon fills his glass with water again. He sighs. "Minho, we never talk about this stuff. I know you said it's because you're afraid of the Nocturas, and you have a right to be. But I'm in the AAN because of people like you. I'm fighting to protect you and everyone else who's afraid to fight."

He turns to me and looks me directly in the eyes. "But if the time comes, are you willing to fight? If a war between Nocturas and humans starts, are you going to stand up for your kind?"

...are you going to stand up for your kind?

Suddenly, I feel dizzy.

I put my hand against the counter to keep from falling.

"Minho, are you okay?" Seunghoon steps toward me. "Maybe you should be drinking some water."

"I'm fine," I tell him.

"Have you eaten?" He asks. "Are you starting to skip meals again? Minho, you know that's not—"

"I said I'm fine!" I snap.