The Breaking Point

The night air was heavy, thick with the scent of blood and regret. MJ's pulse pounded in her ears as she stood between Jae and Chuck, the tension between them snapping like a live wire.

"You're lying," MJ spat, her fingers tightening around the handle of her spear. "Jae wouldn't—he couldn't—hide something like that from me."

Chuck's expression was unreadable, his usual smirk absent. "Think about it, MJ. Have you ever seen him get hurt? Have you ever seen him bleed?"

She opened her mouth to argue, but the words caught in her throat.

Jae had taken hits that should have shattered bones. He moved too fast, too precise, like something other than human. And those eyes… the way they flickered red when he was angry, when he fought—

No. No, she refused to believe it.

MJ turned to Jae, desperate for him to deny it. "Tell me he's wrong."

Jae's jaw clenched.

Silence.

Her stomach dropped.

"Say it!" she demanded, her voice breaking.

Jae exhaled, slow and controlled, but there was something in his gaze—something dark, something ancient. "I can't."

The world tilted.

Chuck shook his head. "See? I told you. He's not normal, MJ. He's not like us."

MJ's fingers trembled. "Then what are you, Jae?"

His lips parted, but before he could answer, a snarl ripped through the night.

They weren't alone.

—

The Ambush

The beasts came fast, shadows lunging from the darkness. Their eyes glowed an eerie green, their teeth jagged and wrong.

MJ didn't have time to process Jae's betrayal—survival came first.

She ducked as claws slashed past her head, rolling onto the cracked pavement. The nearest beast—a mutated wolf-thing with too many eyes—snapped its jaws at her.

MJ thrust her spear forward, sinking the tip deep into its throat. Hot, black blood splattered across her hands, but she barely flinched.

Another lunged.

Chuck was there, twin blades flashing as he sliced through its side. "You're gonna have to be mad at him later, sweetheart," he called over the chaos. "Right now? You fight, or you die."

MJ didn't need the reminder.

She spun, dodging, striking, her body moving on instinct. But there were too many. And she was already exhausted from the last fight.

A weight slammed into her, knocking her breathless. Clawed hands pinned her to the ground, and then—

Rotting flesh. A skeletal face hovering inches from hers, its grin stretched too wide. It reeked of death and something worse.

Its mouth opened, revealing jagged teeth.

"Don't you wanna feel my bones on your bones?" it hissed, its breath ice-cold against her skin. "It's only natural."

MJ struggled, panic flaring.

"Don't you wanna feel my skin on your skin?" the creature rasped, its skeletal fingers dragging down her arm. "It's only natural."

A scream clawed up her throat, but before she could unleash it—

A blur of movement.

Jae.

His blade flashed, cutting through the undead horror like it was made of paper.

The creature shrieked, then crumbled into ash.

MJ gasped for air, trembling, but Jae was already in front of her, his hand gripping her chin, tilting her face up.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was low, controlled, but she could hear the edge underneath.

She swallowed hard. "I—I'm fine."

His fingers lingered for a second longer before he exhaled sharply and pulled away.

Chuck whistled, wiping blood from his blade. "Well, that was disgusting."

MJ forced herself to stand, still shaken. "What the hell was that thing?"

Jae's eyes flickered red for a split second. "A warning."

She hated how his presence still made her feel safe, even now.

But she wouldn't forget what Chuck had said. She couldn't.

She turned to Jae, crossing her arms. "You still owe me answers."

Jae studied her for a long moment, then smirked. "When I was a kid, I used to run through the kitchen pretending to be blind Superman."

MJ blinked. "What?"

His smirk widened. "Because I had no supervision."

MJ stared at him. "Seriously?"

Chuck groaned. "I hate that I laughed at that."

But MJ wasn't laughing. She was watching Jae carefully. The way his posture had shifted, the way he was avoiding the real conversation.

And then—

His eyes glowed brighter.

For a split second, red beams flickered from his gaze, slicing through the darkness.

MJ's breath caught.

Jae just smirked, tilting his head. "Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

No. No, she definitely hadn't.

—

The Aftermath

They made camp near the ruined remains of an old subway station, the fire casting flickering shadows on the walls.

MJ sat apart from the others, staring at her hands.

So much had changed in just one night.

Jae wasn't human.

Chuck had exposed his secret.

And yet, sitting there in the dim firelight, she couldn't shake the feeling that her world had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

She glanced toward Jae. He was sharpening his knife, looking completely unaffected.

MJ bit her lip.

If he wasn't human… then what was he?

And more importantly—

Why did she still want him?