sixteen;

       "What do you think? Flowers or animals? Or should I do scenery? Buildings maybe? Ooh, how about trees? No, that's still scenery. What about mountains? Shit, that's also scenery. Wait! I got it! Mythical creatures."       Eunha and Yunho were in one of the—now empty—unoccupied bed rooms. Hongjoong told Eunha to pick one of the rooms to prep for the baby. It was one of the smaller ones, especially compared to Seonghwa's or Yeosang's. It didn't have a wash room implanted within the room.        And Yunho was brainstorming what he wanted to freestyle on the wall. "I like mythical creatures. What do you have in mind?"        He seemed stumped again, stepping back to examine the space he had to work with, hand resting on his chin. "I'm sure Yeosang has a book on what you need."        "I got it." He replied almost immediately, grabbing several tubes of paint to squirt on the perfectly carved wooden slab, taking one of the bigger brushes he had and dipped it in a dark shade of blue. Eunha was seated on the floor, watching him work intently. She relaxed in the silence. Yunho never brought up what happened last week, which relieved her.        Nor did he mention the real reason San acted that way. And it never crossed her mind. Yunho knew that, otherwise she would have brought it up to hurt him. He didn't say anything because of how wounded her words felt before she left.        Yunho did eventually tell Seonghwa in secret what had happened. Which was eventually passed on to Hongjoong. He didn't seem happy to hear about San's outburst, especially since it was now affecting the others.        They only heard the tail end of the altercation, the slamming of San's body into the wall caught their attention. To them, Yunho understood it looked he would be the antagonizer. But hearing the full story placed them in a different perspective.        San was struggling with his masculinity. Deep rooted from his childhood in school, only his journal knew the full story. He's confided with Wooyoung in the past, and what hurt most about Yunho's words was about Wooyoung. He never thought of Wooyoung as weak or by no means 'less of a man'.        He actually thought that's what made Wooyoung strong, powerful. Being able to hand over control in such an intimate setting, into the hands of someone else. Even though he was younger than him, he looked up to him. And that's why he loves him so dearly.        But Yunho was right. He regretted every harsh word he said to her, especially since he let his anger do the talking. And he revealed things he didn't even know were true.        He didn't trust Eunha. He didn't trust Hongjoong. He didn't trust anyone, not even himself.

It took Yunho a few hours of painting before he decided to take a break, turning to find the human had fallen asleep against the wall. He got distracted by his work that he had forgotten she was with him. He smiled down at her and sat his paint pallet to the side, carefully scooping her up in his arms. Luckily he didn't disturb her slumber, carrying her to the hybrids room. Hongjoong was already there, surprised by his sudden entrance. Yunho laid her on his bed and turned back to his captain. "I told the wolves I would update them about the situation." He nodded in response, but looked uneasy. "You're sure this is what you want to do?"       Hongjoong eventually got his emotions reeled in and his thoughts in order, finally speaking to Seonghwa about a possible plan to figure out what happened with Zero. But first he needed to know how and why they were separated. They were hoping someone in the Wonju village could help.        The brunette hybrid stayed in the silence for a moment, contemplating something in his mind before he answered. "Yes. Seoho and Youngjo still haven't returned, and I have to do something." He paused, eyes landing on her sleeping form. "I just don't know what else to do." The tall vampire frowned slightly at his depressed state, lending comfort by placing his hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be alright, she's safe. And we're going to find Zero, I promise."

Yunho left hours ago, leaving the hybrid and his mate alone. He placed her under the duvet and cuddled up next to her, just listening to her soft breathing. When she woke up, she found his face inches away. "Hi, baby girl." She yawned and stretched, arms plopping down on the blanket. "Hi. How late is it?" "Not quite midnight yet. Did you want to go back to sleep?" Hongjoong pushed the hair away from her face, revealing her sleepy eyes and puffy face. "No, I think I'm awake for now. I have to pee." He understood the assignment, picking her up and walking her to the wash room. "I can walk myself, you know." He didn't listen, finally setting her down in front of the toilet. "I know you can, but doesn't mean you should. I mean, you're carrying our baby." She did her business before being carried back to the bed, pulling a deep sigh from her. But she conceded and let him. "There's something I wanted to tell you." He tucked them under the duvet and pulled her to his chest. "It's about our little one." This peeked her interest, sitting up to stare at him. "And what's that?" "I did some thinking, but Seonghwa helped me as well. You asked about a possible girl name, and I think I have the perfect one." She watched him intently, waiting for the reveal but he was definitely dragging it out on purpose, confirmed by his growing smile. "Jiha."        The name sounded familiar, but a second later it clicked in her mind and her eyes began to tear up. "Is it-"        "I remembered them as soon as you asked me about names. I wanted to incorporate both so I asked Seonghwa, and he came up with Jiha. I immediately fell in love with it." Her hand covered her mouth to cover up the sob that tried to leave. "I know you will always miss Jiho and Jia, as I do with Bumjoong. I thought it would be the perfect way to honor them."       "I love it." She cried out, pulling him into a tight hug. "I really love it. Thank you, Joongie. I love it."        Eunha tried to hold her tears back but the hormones weren't having it, immediately crashing through.        "I'm sorry to have upset you, baby girl."        "No, no you didn't upset me. I'm just really happy. Our little Bumjoong or Jiha."

       Eunha returned to the soon-to-be baby's room and found Yunho was back at his work, having done the base coat for each wall. He used the dark blue first, and was now coating over it with a lighter—more sky blue—color. "You said mythical creatures, what do you have in mind?"        "I have one in mind. It was told to us by older sailors we took on as crew. Some said it was just a legend, but others claimed to have seen it with their own eyes. It was sighted mainly in the North Atlantic. But rumors spread of it being seen halfway across the world." Yunho spoke as he painted, turning every few moments to get a glance of his beautiful wife.        "Are you speaking of the Kraken?"        "How did you know?" This made him stop entirely and whip around to face her, the mysterious tone in his voice now gone.        Eunha couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. "You forget, I was raised on books. Philosophy and fiction. You gave it away when you mentioned Scandinavia."        Yunho playfully rolled his eyes, which made her laugh more. "Yes, I'm talking about the Kraken."        "Do you think it's real?" He went back to his painting but flipped her question.        "Do you?"        Eunha scoffed at him and crossed her arms. "I've never been out to sea, that's why I asked you." He didn't give her an answer but she knew he was still listening, focusing more on the wall and paintbrush in hand. "I think people just got confused with something else, and ships go missing all the time—even now. Anything can happen out there. Maybe people just go stir crazy out there."       "I've never experienced anything unusual while I was out to sea." He stopped his paintbrush mid stroke before slowly turning around to face her. "But people also used to believe vampires were mythical creatures."