Chapter 1: When Everything Falls Apart
It was a six-eyed demon, and it escaped from a portal that had torn open when a sixteen-year-old stabbed his friend for cheating in the game earlier by the railway.
The rain began pouring down in heavy torrents as people ran through the streets looking for shelter, but not from the rain — from something else entirely.
Women in expensive suits ran through the streets in a frantic manner, the rain almost dragging them down while men held their briefcases in their hands, eyes widened with fear and emotions flying all over the place.
"Run towards him, don't look back, run!"
A hunter shouted as he led perhaps twenty people to safety towards another set of two men who had a portal open.
The attacks were getting closer and it was impossible to see if they could fight this demon off.
"This might be a B-level demon, we don't think we can hold it down for much longer."
Jin-Ho screamed as he held his hands out, magical energy surging from his palms against the demon, holding it down with two other D-level hunters.
"Keep hitting it hard, Ahjussi, we need to restrain it and destroy it before it gets any bigger!"
Jin-Ho's eyes widened with determination, his face showing anger and you could see the little amount of fear breaking through his composure.
"Damn it, we can't hold this for much longer. It's feeding off their fear and we can't stop them from being scared — that's impossible."
The old man, who could be anything between fifty-seven, screamed as he kept throwing his fists of energy at the creature.
"Then fucking call the Emergency Response Team, we need backup. Send for backup, Naya."
"On it, sir!"
Naya screamed as her hands moved frantically through her cell phone while she stared at the demon which was growling so loudly, its six closed eyes glowing red.
Just then they heard a scream coming from very close to the demon, and Naya jolted forward. It was a female's voice and it seemed she was in trouble.
"Ahhh, ahjussi, there's a female voice coming from very close to the demon and it seems the demon will consume her. Where the hell is the Emergency Response Team? We can't hold this for long."
Jin-Ho screamed, now trying to move closer to stop the demon from moving towards its victim.
"Don't go any further—"
Just then, a young man ran towards them. In his hands were red roses, his hair flowing through the wind as he ran rapidly with all his might toward the demon, but the hunters tried stopping him as they pushed him back, trying to prevent him from going further.
"Rena, Rena is there, my girlfriend is there and the demon... she's going to die... I need to be in there..."
Lee-Min screamed as they tried to hold him down but he kept pushing them off, holding the flowers tightly in his hands. Today was supposed to be his anniversary with his girlfriend, their three-year anniversary, and today he had planned on proposing to her. But here she was, almost being eaten by a demon.
"The Emergency Response Team will be here to destroy the demon and save your girlfriend, but you need to stay put unless you want to put yourself in danger..."
But Naya's words got cut off as two portals opened up and three Emergency Response Team members stepped out from the portals, their faces glowing through the chaos and their expressions held this smirk that didn't seem to wear off even with the destruction around them.
Lee-Min stared at the men with anticipation, his resolve breaking down with every passing minute.
"Ayee, what do we have here?"
Ryo walked towards the men who had been holding down the demon and he could see their energy wasn't going to last much longer.
"Helpppp meee..."
The voice screamed again, this time her emotional fear was getting heavier which made the demon grow even bigger.
Lee-Min ran towards Ryo, his bulky form towering over him like he was an ant in front of him, and his face was filled with so much fear and pain that his heartbeat was so loud even in the chaos.
"Please do something, do something... I can't lose her..."
His voice wavered with fear as he held onto the flowers like his life depended on it. Ryo gazed down at the young man who wouldn't be more than twenty-five and down at the flowers which he was holding, his eyes twinkling with something Lee-Min couldn't grasp.
Ryo looked at him and realized his energy level was low — not even a lower-rank hunter. If he were to go any nearer to the demon, it would consume him.
"The demon can't hurt her yet. I'm waiting for the right time to kill it. They are doing a good job holding it down."
Ryo said nonchalantly, his hands placed inside his pockets as he stared at the demon like it was a toy.
"I am going in there to kill the demon. Rena is there."
Lee-Min screamed, not understanding why the man cared less about a human life being in danger.
But he was shocked to see the huge man, and from his aura, his energy was on another level entirely, turned abruptly to look at him.
"Who did you say is there?"
The man said, this time his eyes had turned darker than before, a huge contrast to how they looked a few seconds ago.
"My girlfriend is there, and she's been screaming for help."
Lee-Min said hurriedly, hoping he would do something about it unlike the others, and just like that—
"Sue-Rena!"
Ryo said, his voice breaking through Lee-Min and sounding much darker than before. Ryo didn't wait for his response before he dashed toward the scene where the D-level hunters were holding it down. Everyone looked at him in shock as he entered the danger zone, his speed unlike anything Lee-Min had seen as he opened his mouth in shock, the breeze from his movement blowing past him and almost letting the flowers fall.
Ryo surged energy from his hands, which didn't require much effort, and his eyes traveled through the demon's body looking for the weak point. He found it, right at the neck. A sinister smile broke through his face as he summoned a sword from his storage supplies, and in one single dash, his sword came slicing across the neck of the demon and right into its weak point. The eyes of the demon widened in shock before they slowly closed in surrender, and slowly, its body disappeared into dust that scattered in the air. And the rain stopped falling.
Lee-Min's eyes widened with terror as he saw the action unfold before him, every resolve to move forward falling away as he watched the bulky man kill the demon in one slash.
"He must be an A-level Hunter... or maybe S-level. His aura is so strong and undeniable."
And just as Ryo killed the demon, the rain stopped falling and the area started clearing while the blue sky became visible again.
His eyes quickly flashed around the scene, his heart thudding with fear, searching for her, for Rena. Then he found her — she was huddled on the ground, just where the demon had been, her hands clamped over her face as her voice was breaking in slow, tired sobs.
"Rena."
Lee-Min screamed as he jolted forward, his heart shattering into pieces at how scared she was. But just as he was about to go hug her, the huge man circled his arms around her waist as he lifted her up, hugging her so passionately, so intensely like they were... like they were something more.
Ryo's hands wrapped around her waist in a quick motion as he lifted her up, his face pulled toward her neck in a passionate hug as he tried everything possible to take away the pain she felt.
"Rena..."
He heard a voice say, the same familiar male voice that had told him about his Rena being captured by the demon earlier.
Rena raised her head, the gentle breeze blowing through her black hair in soft waves, and her eyes widened in pure shock at who she saw — Lee-Min.
"Rena... What's... what's going on, Rena..."
Lee-Min whispered slowly, his voice barely audible.
"Ummm..."
Rena stammered, her eyes looking everywhere but at Lee-Min.
"Do you know him, Rena?"
Ryo said, his hands not leaving her for once as he held her possessively. He knew what the answer was, but he wouldn't mind killing this young man in one swift move if he didn't back off. After all, he was a powerful hunter and he... his eyes circled around him dangerously. He was weak, nothing special.
Lee-Min could see the bulky man looking at him, but he stood his ground. He wasn't going to allow someone — just not someone, anyone — destroy his relationship with her, not after everything he'd done for her.
"I don't know him... no, I know him and I broke up with him, but he keeps coming. He keeps coming to me, Ryo. He's never been my type, from day one. You are the one I love, Ryo, my hero."
She whispered slowly as she threw him a smug look before smashing her lips against Ryo's.
Lee-Min stood there in shock, the flowers in his hands wet from the rain, his dark hair which he had arranged prior to his proposal now messy and looking so unkept, and his clothes drastically wet. He watched his girlfriend, the woman he had grown to love, kiss a man he had just met today — or maybe be someone who belonged to one of the organizations he vowed he would never be a part of.
Suddenly, she turned to stare at him, like she wanted to say something more, like what she had to say wasn't enough already and his heart hadn't been shattered enough already.
"Lee-Min, I am doing you a favor by leaving you. You are weak, pathetic, and cannot even protect me. And the flowers, they're so cheap. You can't even take care of your mother, your sister — you have a lot of problems in your life ahead. So I am breaking up with you officially, and the flowers... I can't... they look so pathetic..."
She said once more, her hands holding tightly onto Ryo who was giving him a smug look.
"Goodbye..." She said finally before leaving the scene.
Lee-Min stood there, alone, with flowers that were too drenched by the rain. His head dropped down as he stared at the trace of white paint which divided the road where he stood. His hands let loose, the flowers dropping on the ground in a loud, wet thud, its petals scattering around the ground as one tear broke out from his eyes.
His head was blank. His eyes were filled with so much betrayal and pain he had never felt, even after losing his father because of this organization.
It took him a while to process it, and when he did, he realized she had left him because he was the opposite of the man she followed. What was his name again... Ryo...
He tightened his hands into fists as pure rage ripped through his body, and when he closed them and reopened them, they looked darker than before.
Just then, someone tapped him gently on his back. He slowly turned and he was surprised to see that same lady he had heard being called Naya by one of the men.
"Your phone has been ringing. You dropped it by accident..."
She said, handing him the phone, and he grabbed it. Truthfully, his phone had been ringing and it was his sister. She had called him five times and he pressed the call button, worried to the core about why she had called him this many times. She picked up on the first ring.
Her voice came breaking through the speaker quickly and it sounded like she was in pain.
"What's the problem?"
He asked, hoping this was good news as dread washed through him.
"Mother... mother is in the hospital. She fainted... they... said... they said it's cancer... mother is going to die, Ahjussi."
She screamed on the phone. Lee-Min stood there, shocked, frozen as he felt his heart stop beating for a second.
The rain had stopped, but inside his chest, a storm was just beginning. Everything he had built his life around — his love, his hope, his family — was crumbling all at once. The flowers at his feet looked as broken as he felt, their red petals scattered like pieces of his shattered heart.
As he stood there in the aftermath of the demon attack, Lee-Min realized that sometimes the real monsters weren't the ones that came through portals. Sometimes they were the ones that lived inside the people you trusted most.