YooJin scanned his surroundings as he walked through the automatic glass doors of the hospital lobby.

He immediately spotted an odd form in white bunny ears and a butler leotard at the reception desk several feet in front of him and ran toward it, his mind too frantic to process what exactly it was that his eyes were seeing.

“June,” he said, placing his hand on the shoulder of the man who was frantically waving his arms around trying to explain something to the receptionist.

June turned around and YooJin briefly saw the angry expression on his face, the ear on his headband flopping ungraciously, before his friend recognized him.

“YooJin!”

“What happened?”

June shook his head furiously, glaring in the direction of the nurses. “Liam– he–. There was an accident in the city and he was there, at the bank trying to get a loan. I don’t know what it was – some people were saying invisible creatures or some kind of monster. Paramedics found him and called me.” He cursed suddenly. “They wouldn’t even bring him to the hospital. He just left him there! I’m trying to get him admitted but they won’t take him!”

YooJin’s eyes widened. “Where is he now?”

June pointed to the waiting area, which was filled with injured people and several others who had been obviously psychologically affected by a ‘ghost’ attack. YooJin scanned the crowd for the familiar form when he spotted a beta woman he recognized, who was an employee of Liam's.

He quickly turned back to June when the latter's voice suddenly rose. June was now facing down a doctor who had apparently come out to deal with the commotion. “What the hell do you mean you can’t see him! His injuries are more severe than anyone else’s here!”

“Our policy clearly states alphas first,” the doctor replied loudly.

“Screw that policy!” June screamed back. “His face! Just look at his face!”

YooJin suddenly felt his blood run cold and he stepped up to the doctor who was only an inch or so taller than him and grabbed him by the collar. “Why does our secondary gender matter in a case like this?” he growled.

The doctor grabbed at YooJin’s hands. “Hundreds of people were injured, we only have so many beds. We can’t push out the ones we are seeing to right now. Every single case we’ve admitted already has been in critical condition.”

“Bullshit!” June hissed, moving forward and shoving his face in the doctor’s direction so powerfully that the man was forced to take a step back. June's costume tail shook violently. “I just saw them admit woman who had scraped her knees.”

“The risk of infection–”

“The risk of infection?” he yelled. “Look at his goddamn face!”

And again YooJin’s blood ran cold and he turned back briefly to look at where the beta woman NaBi was. He could only see her back. Unable to help himself any longer, YooJin released the doctor and rushed over only to be stopped suddenly by a small body that had launched itself against his waist.

Looking down, his eyes met that of a little girl’s.

He blinked and then peered more closely and a second later, recognized the child from the department toy store. YooJin met her gaze, realizing the fear within them.

He cursed internally, looking back briefly at NaBi then June, who was still in the midst of an argument with the doctor. Taking the girl’s hand, he let her lead him to the corner of the hospital, only a few yards away. There he saw the still unconscious form of the children’s grandmother and her little brother crouching beside her, his small hand upon her forehead.

“Mister!” the boy said as soon as he spotted his sister, then jumped up and ran toward them.

“What happened?” YooJin asked as he knelt down beside the old woman and pressed his fingers against the side of her neck. Her pulse was steady but weaker than before. “Where is the police officer who brought you here?”

“There was a big crash outside and he ran out,” the boy replied.

“Did nobody come to check on your grandmother?”

The girl shook her head as the boy replied. “They said she has to wait because she is old.”

He closed his eyes. Shit.

“Alright,” said YooJin and stood. “I’ll do something about this.” He then paused and turned back toward the children. “What are your names?”

“I’m Jin and she’s Bora.”

He nodded then stood up with the woman in his arms. “Come with me,” he said as he led the children to where June and the doctor were.

“She needs help,” YooJin said, interrupting their argument, which had now grown loud enough for several bystanders to openly begin watching them.

Both June and the doctor looked at him and then the old woman and the children.

“Look, she’s old,” the doctor said, with a sigh. “We need to look after the ones who are more likely to survive first.”

YooJin stepped in between June just as he was about to launch himself at the man.

“You look,” YooJin hissed. “I don’t give a damn about the stupid policy, I don’t give a damn about alphas, betas, omegas, or age. Help her, she has two children she looks after. If your stupid policy leads to something happening to her then who is going to take care of her children. You?”

The doctor met his eyes for a long moment before flicking to the children who were staring up at him with large eyes.

He sighed again. “Even if I wanted to, all the beds are filled up, all the doctors are busy. Even I’m here wasting my time on you guys when I need to be going back.”

He turned away then after giving a short instruction to the receptionist, he began to walk back through the double doors from which he came.

June swore loudly as he removed the left flat that he was wearing and flung the shoe at the double doors just as it closed once more.

A tug at YooJin’s coat sleeve made him look down. Bora was staring up at him, a silent question on her face.

YooJin turned and looked at June then at NaBi. His mind raced and raced. He needed to do something but they were just a bunch of omegas, children, and beta women. He hated to admit it but they were powerless…

“This useless BLEEPing place. When I get rich, I swear I will shut all these institutions down even if I have to sell my–”

“June,” YooJin said suddenly, reminding him of the children’s presence. June quieted and closed his eyes tightly in dismay. But then June’s words reverberated within him.

Money.

YooJin’s gaze automatically shot toward the hospital entrance. He knew someone with money.

Without another word, he placed the old woman in June’s arms.

“Where are you–” June began to ask but YooJin was already running toward the exit, hoping, praying that he would still be there.

When his feet touched the pavement, he turned to the left then the right, searching for that nondescript black car when he spotted it in a parking spot reserved for the stakeholders of the hospital.

He rushed toward it and banged on the window.

The driver rolled it down.

“Where is he? Where is TaeHyun Moon?”

The driver looked at him briefly for a moment and YooJin could see when the man recognized him. “The young master just went into the hospital.”

YooJin looked at where the driver pointed and saw a door on the side of the hospital building. Nodding in thanks, he ran toward the door just as it opened from the inside.

Two men stepped outside and YooJin instantly recognized the first one.

“Alpha,” he said. “I need your help.”

TaeHyun looked at him in surprise.

“My friend was hurt by those ‘ghosts’ and there’s an old woman who fell. The hospital won’t take them.”

TaeHyun held his gaze, seemingly assessing his words, when he turned to the man next to him. This man wore thin gold framed glasses, was nearly as tall as TaeHyun, broad of shoulder, and handsome. Though a bit older, it was obvious to anyone that he too was an alpha.

“I’m a doctor,” said the man in a firm voice when YooJin met his eyes. “Just lead me to them.”

Together they burst through the door of the hospital. YooJin spotted his motley crew who were again gathered at the corner of the lobby. YooJin could make out the forms of both the children’s grandmother and Liam side by side on the ground and he momentarily froze, suddenly scared at what he would see.

For Liam Chae was an uncommon omega. The owner of the strip club “Cranes”, he was tall, elegant, and commanding. He was the sole reason why YooJin had not immediately whithered when he had left his parents. He had taken in a battered kid who had just been kicked out from the room he had rented and who need just a little bit of help, giving YooJin a job and eventually teaching him to be a manager of the club floor.

He was his mentor, his brother, and his friend. If something happened to him–

Shaking his head quickly, YooJin directed the alphas to them. He froze once again when they stood in front of them, this time, his body completely rejecting any command as he stared down at Liam.

His unrivaled beautiful face and the rest of his exposed skin was swollen, marred with lacerations and bruises. His silver hair splayed out beneath him as though he had been laid to rest…

“Yoon,” came TaeHyun’s and that snapped both YooJin and the doctor from whatever trance they had been in.

YooJin turned to see the doctor blink, his gaze glued on Liam’s form, frozen as though he too was shocked with the scene before him.

The doctor finally turned away and nodded before kneeling and checking the condition of the old woman first.

To everyone’s surprise, the doctor pulled out a small stack of yellow charms from his coat pocket and, selecting one with a script that YooJin had never bothered to learn in school, pressed it against the old woman’s chest.

Immediately a silver glimmering line ran down from her head to toes.

June turned to YooJin, his eyes wide as he mouthed, ‘What the hell?’

“You said she was knocked down?” the doctor asked, now manually checking her pulse and other parts of her body.

“Yeah,” said YooJin, briefly meeting the children’s eyes.

“She has low blood sugar. She has woken up a few times but likely no one noticed because she keeps losing consciousness. Considering her age, she needs to be checked into a hospital but for now, something with sugar will do.” He pulled out a few dollar bills and handed it to the little girl. “Can you go to that vending machine and grab any juice you can find?”

Bora nodded and ran toward the machine, her brother only a few steps behind her.

They returned in less than a minute with a small can of grape juice in her hand. She handed the drink to the doctor who smiled in thanks.

The doctor opened the can with a loud pop and reached over to prop the woman up against his raised knee. He lifted the can to her open lips and prompted her to drink by stroking her neck. He set her back down after a few minutes then reached back into his pocket for a metal straw.

YooJin peered at him curiously.

The doctor smiled. “A little goes a long way in helping the earth.” He then placed the straw in the now half full can of juice before handing it back to Bora. 

“She’s probably going to sleep for a little bit longer,” he said, addressing the children. “Give her the rest of the juice when she wakes up. We will get her some care but for now, I don’t think you need to worry about anything serious.”

The doctor then turned to Liam and again YooJin saw him physically freeze. He cleared his throat. “What did you say his name was?”

“Liam,” YooJin replied.

“Ah…” He cleared his throat again and reached out his hand to gently touch a large scar that ran from his cheek to the base of his neck. “This is the result of a ghost attack but it’s quite unusual,” he said, “these lacerations only form when held by a ‘ghost’ for a long period of time and the creatures are unable to touch the victim's mind.”

YooJin saw the doctor briefly stroke the hair at Liam’s temple.

“I’ve only seen this once. We don’t know the reasons why, it happens so rarely. He will likely remain asleep for a while but he will reobtain his consciousness and he is not in any danger. However, the scars—” He looked up then and met TaeHyun’s eyes. “Perhaps Bai Suzhen…”

“What?” asked YooJin and both alphas turned to look at him.

“It is a Chinese legend of a white snake,” replied TaeHyun, meeting his eyes steadily. “Her venom could cure any physical ailments.”

“How do I–?”

“You can’t, she is trapped in a dungeon, sealed away. Only hunters of the highest class are allowed…”

“Hunters…” YooJin repeated.

“Hunters… wizards like me.” He then turned and addressed Yoon. “If you’re done, we should go.”

The doctor stood but his gaze remained on Liam’s still form. “I’d like to examine him more–”

“Yoon.” TaeHyun was already heading toward the door.

“Wait,” said YooJin, as he reached out and grabbed the alpha by the sleeve of his suit. “Tell me how to become a hunter.”

The alpha turned back to look at him. “You can’t. You’re an omega.”

He yanked the alpha back, suddenly furious. “Screw being an omega! You said I was a wizard or whatever, that means I can be a hunter too. You need me, right? Then let's make a deal. I’ll be your omega if you make me a hunter.”