Sanghyuk sidled up to Minah who stood by the microwave reheating the pasta. Patting her shoulder to get her attention, he cleared his throat and looked down.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Minah replied, trying to hold back the giggle threatening to bubble past her lips “what’s up?”
“About earlier today,” he began, looking down and squirming “I’m really sorry…you know for chucking you into the pool. I saw that you didn’t have your phone in your pockets and just went for it…”
“Thank you for your concern for my phone,” the giggle finally slipped past making Sanghyuk whine petulantly.
“I’m trying to apologise! I didn’t know your sandals were rocks!”
“Han Sanghyuk!” Hakyeon hissed from the other end of the kitchen holding up a stack of plates. Sanghyuk raised his hands in surrender.
“I’m sorry I tried to kill you.”
“Sanghyuk!” Hakyeon looked like he was ready to throw a plate at the giant human standing beside Minah who was now doubled over with laughter. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she opened the door of the beeping microwave to pull the pasta out before turning to Sanghyuk.
“You’re forgiven. Now take this out there and don’t eat any on the way.”
Sanghyuk’s serious face turned into a giant grin as he took the dish from her “I make no promises,” he winked “Jaehwan will come soon with the prepared speech as well. He went to the loo because ‘Hakyeon’s glare was making him queasy’” he added conspiratorially making Minah chuckle.
“I did nothing except tell him off!” Hakyeon added defensively, trying to pile glasses onto the stack of plates in his arms. Minah walked over to take the glasses from him, shaking her head.
“Thank you for defending my…honour. Now let me save yours before these glasses fall and Wonshik throws a fit about us breaking the only glasses he has at home.”
Hakyeon grinned sheepishly, following her out to the large dining table where Haneul was setting jugs of drinks while Wonshik counted the number of forks and spoons that were on the table. Minah smiled as she set the glasses down, she was fond of how Haneul and Wonshik worked as a unit, weaving in and out of each other’s actions and thoughts. There was a silent intimacy between them that Minah admired, it was something that couldn’t be broken into.
“How were the interviews?” he asked in a low voice, opening the box of cake to take a look at it.
“It was alright, there was the same problem as always.” Haneul sighed, running her hands through her hair. Wonshik reached over to squeeze her shoulder soothingly.
“You were too smart for the interviewees?” he grinned making her huff as she undid the plastic around the delivery noodles Hongbin had ordered as his “contribution” (given that all of Hongbin’s experiments in the kitchen seemed like material that would land someone in the hospital).
“Basics are such an issue, they don’t know the basics of anything. I had to ask them so many roundabout questions to see if they even know how to use Excel, honestly.”
“Well I think it’s mighty nice of you to at least give them a chance with your roundabout questions,” Wonshik nodded solemnly, pressing a quick kiss on the top of her head before plucking the plastic wrap from her fingers and heading into the kitchen to dispose of it. Minah turned to see Hakyeon busily piling his plate.
“Minnie-aaah!” Jaehwan’s voice chirped as he barreled into the room freezing at the sight of Hakyeon “uh…sorry for trying to kill you.”
Haneul’s palm met her forehead and Hakyeon sighed.
“Does no one know how to apologise?”
“No, no they don’t.” Haneul sighed, picking her own plate up to reach for the sandwiches.
“What! I still apologised didn’t I? Acknowledged what I did and everything!” Jaehwan declared, waving his arms around defensively as Minah patted him.
“Yes yes, you are forgiven. Could you please call the people setting up board games in the living room to come and get their food?”
“Calling can be done,” Jaehwan nodded before hurrying to the door that connected the living room to the dining hall and bellowing “GRUBS UP LOSERS!” which caused a murmur to fill the room as people scrambled up to come into the dining room and pile their plates. Haneul turned to Minah.
“So I was just telling the boys, while you were upstairs with Miya, that I wasn’t comfortable sending you home alone like this,” she said, nodding at Minah’s get-up. “I know you’re alright, but I think nearly drowning is a traumatic experience.”
“Seriously Haneul, I’m fine,” Minah chuckled, waving her hand dismissively.
“It would really give me some comfort…” Haneul bit her lip, frowning.
“Alright, I’ll ask Sanghyuk to drop me off. Don’t worry!”
“Actually…” Haneul began, looking right behind Minah.
“I volunteered to drop you off,” Taekwoon’s voice piped up beside Minah as he picked up a plate making her start. Minah opened her mouth and shut it before opening it again.
“Please don’t trouble yourself! Honestly, I live in the middle of nowhere, I’m sure it will be way out of your way. You did more than enough to help me out today, I owe you big time as it is.” she rambled, wringing her hands, feeling his eyes on her.
“I live in the same neighbourhood, which is why I offered when Wonshik mentioned it,” he said, reaching for the pasta and serving himself some. Minah gaped yet again at the taller feeling heat creep up her cheeks. She cursed herself. She cannot have a crush on this random handsome man just because he saved her. For all she knew, he was probably dating someone. No one this good-looking could be single, she said to herself, the idea sounding like a very convincing argument. Shaking the thought out of her head, she cleared her throat.
“Uhm, if you don’t mind, then thank you.”
He nodded in response, picking up a cookie from the box Jaehwan had brought in.
Minah was certain she looked like a wet cat clinging onto Taekwoon as he helped her clamber onto the side of the pool, the buzzing in her head nearly drowning out the sound of Hakyeon screaming at Sanghyuk and Jaehwan. Taking another large gulp of breath, she noted the look of concern in Taekwoon’s eyes and nodded, trying to avoid looking anywhere but his face.
Which didn’t help much either, given that it was a terribly attractive face. Neither did it help that he was very close, almost standing between her legs.
“Are you alrigh-” Taekwoon began almost at the same time as Minah did.
“Thank you…” she found herself turning very red under his gaze. “I usually can swim…it’s just…” she wondered why she was whispering.
“Sandals. Excuse me…” the taller replied, reaching to unbuckle the offending footwear off as Minah watched in shock.
“Please! You needn’t!”
“They made you sink like a rock,” Taekwoon mumbled, easing the footwear off and casting them outside the pool where they fell with a clatter. He ran his fingers through the wet strands of his dark hair and let out a sigh through the poutiest pink lips Minah had ever laid eyes on, “I knew those two were up to no good, but I didn’t expect it to go like this.”
“Seriously though, thank you.” Minah’s vision was covered in white as Hongbin threw a towel around her and hauled her to her feet. Violently rubbing her hair with the fluffy fabric, he tugged her towards the house and away from Taekwoon.
“Are you alright? Let’s get you into some dry stuff.”
Minah opened her mouth and closed it, noting the guilty look on Sanghyuk and Jaehwan’s face, Hakyeon and Wonshik’s concerned looks and Taekwoon’s t-shirt by their feet with a half-eaten sandwich lying beside it. She bit her lip and looked down at the soaked ends of her dress and the stringy strands of hair hanging from her forehead. Looking back, she saw Taekwoon clambering out of the pool.
Throwing the kitchen door open, Hongbin led Minah in only to see Haneul setting her bag down on the counter and looking at the dishevelled and very soaked Minah in stark contrast to the crisp business formals she had on. She sighed, shaking her head before holding her hand out to her friend.
“Do I want to know what happened?”
Wrapping the towel tight around herself, Minah nodded to the backyard “Sanghyuk and Jaehwan threw me in the pool. While I had my sandals on…you know, the ones we bought together.”
“Might as well have tied a stone to your leg and thrown you in!” Haneul gasped before turning to Hongbin incredulously “And Hongbin pulled you out?! He can’t even swim to save himself!”
Rolling his eyes, Hongbin sighed “no, Taekwoon jumped in. In fact, he stopped mid-sandwich to jump in. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan thought she was staying underwater to fuck around.” He patted Minah on the back “have you got anything dry for her to wear?” he asked Haneul.
“I think some of Wonshik’s old t-shirts and shorts should do. I think I may have left something or the other behind, let’s see.” Haneul replied thoughtfully before nodding to Hongbin “go on, give them hell for me…unless Hakyeon is already on the task.”
Hongbin grinned “you bet your butt he is. I’ll just go out and make sure everything is alright and leave you guys to it.”
Watching Hongbin leave, Haneul quickly led Minah upstairs to find her a worn pair of sweatpants and one of Wonshik’s old t-shirts (after much debate about his very questionable fashion taste). Talking to Haneul was very comfortable for Minah. They had been online friends even before Minah had moved to Seoul having come in contact through one of Minah’s high school fests. She liked the warmth that Haneul spread, making everyone feel welcome and at home.
No wonder Wonshik was head-over-heels for her.
“I expected them to pull something like that, but honestly I didn’t expect to nearly drown,” Minah commented, tugging the t-shirt over her head, “I think I’m drowning in these anyway,” she said, stepping out of the bathroom and doing a dramatic twirl for Haneul.
“As long as you’re dry,” Haneul replied looking at her phone. “Haven’t Ara and Miya turned up yet? They were both pretty excited about meeting Hakyeon and Taekwoon.” It dawned on Minah that in the confusion, Haneul hadn’t had a chance to greet her friends either.
“No, they haven’t. I was expecting Miya sometime soon. Ara said she had a meeting with her boss. You should head down and meet Hakyeon and Taekwoon, I’ll just dry my hair and join you.”
Haneul set her phone aside “yeah, I’ll head down. I think Sanghyuk and Jaehwan will be preparing a ‘we’re sorry’ speech scripted by the one and only Cha Hakyeon. I don’t want to miss that!” she chuckled, heading to the door of the room before pausing and cocking her head “I think Miya is here.”
Minah leaned out of the bathroom to hear the steady thump-thump of footsteps coming up the stairs and prepared herself for the ball of energy that was their beloved Miya. If Jaehwan was a cute ray of sunshine, Miya was sunshine in the shape of a human being. Exuding happiness (and inappropriate jokes) and lifting everyone’s mood up, Miya was a pleasure to have around.
“3…2…1” Haneul counted down and the door flew open as Miya stormed in waving a bunch of irises tied together neatly with a violet ribbon and eyes wide.
“SANGHYUK TRIED TO KILL MINAH?!”
“I see Hongbin got to you first,” Haneul commented, holding the door open for the taller one to rush in and tackle Minah into a hug.
“You’re alive!” Miya threw her arms around her friend again dramatically making the latter giggle into her shoulder.
“Yes, very much alive, thank you.” Minah eyed the flowers clutched between Miya’s fingers “Are those for Hakyeon or Taekwoon? Because they’re getting crushed.”
Miya quickly detached herself from Minah and examined the flowers checking if there was truly any damage caused.
“Why are you gifting flowers of hope to two men returning from enlistment?” Haneul squinted at the flowers while Minah noted the sheepish grin and the blush creeping up Miya’s cheeks.
“They’re flowers of hope?”
“Did you just buy seasonal flowers? Because irises do quite well at this time of the year. I’m sure Hakyeon will appreciate them…not sure about Taekwoon, I’m sure he’d rather have a tub of ice cream…” Haneul mused as Miya turned redder.
“They’re not for either of them…uh…someone gave them to me…”
There was a moment of silence as Minah and Haneul processed what Miya had told them.
“Oh my god, who is it?!” Haneul exclaimed while Minah rubbed her own hair with the towel thoughtfully.
“What’s the ethics of people giving their counsellors flowers?”
“No no! It’s not someone coming to the centre! It’s from the part-timer at the florist’s next door!” Miya replied frantically waving her hands (flowers and all) to somehow make Minah’s train of thought come to some form of a halt.
“Oh?” Minah smirked, nudging Miya slightly.
“The part-timer has a wittul crush on our baby Miya?” Haneul giggled, joining in on the nudging.
“Nothing of the sort! I was just having a particularly heavy day so I came out of the centre for some air and a cup of tea! I was sitting on the bench outside just…decompressing and he came over and asked me if I was alright! I just told him I was getting a little overwhelmed at work and he ran into the shop and came back with these and ran away!” the tallest exclaimed as Haneul cooed.
“That’s so sweet! He was giving you a bunch of hope!”
“Was he cute?” Minah nudged her friend again. Miya threw herself on the bed in response (holding the flowers away to prevent them from being crushed) and mumbled into the mattress.
“I’m taking that as a yes,” Haneul replied, plucking the flowers out of her hands. “I’ll put these in a vase so you can take them home when we’re done with dinner.” Heading towards the door she turned back “wash up and come down.”
“Okay!” Miya called into the mattress giving the eldest a thumbs up while Minah patted her back. Miya rolled on the bed and looked at her friend who was shooting her an amused smile. “Minah! He looked like a cute little bunny!”
“Hmm,” Minah hummed thoughtfully “we do like bunnies…except Hongbin sometimes. Are you going to talk to him any time soon?”
Miya stared at the ceiling for a long moment, letting some of the stress of the day ease out of her body with a long exhale. “I don’t know…I should thank him for the flowers I suppose.”
“Maybe ask him to a cup of tea or something?” Minah replied, plopping down beside Miya “I need to figure out how to thank Taekwoon as well.”
Miya frowned “thank Taekwoon?”
“Yeah, he got me out of the pool. Didn’t Hongbin tell you?”
Miya rolled her eyes “no! He told me you nearly drowned and I was too worried to care about who saved you so I ran upstairs!”
“And now you can see I’m fine! Now go wash up, I’ll wait for you.” Minah smiled, lying down on the bed as Miya rolled off it and hurried into the bathroom. The former sighed, feeling more at ease with Haneul and Miya around. She wondered when Ara would be coming in given that she’d been frequently having meetings with her boss…what was his name again?
“Miya! What is Ara’s boss’ name? Was it Myungsoo?’
“Nah! It’s Kyungsoo!” Miya called back, rinsing her face.
“Huh, I was always bad with names,” Minah grumbled, starting when the door opened and Taekwoon’s head popped in.
“Uhm…” she struggled to sit up as he walked in.
“I was wondering if you were alright…so I came to check on you…” he began as Miya stuck her head out of the bathroom to see who the intruder was. “Sanghyuk was feeling too guilty to come…he’s been pacing like a mad man downstairs.”
“Oh…uh…yeah, I’m alright.” Minah sat up, fixing the t-shirt which she was practically drowning in. “I was just waiting for Miya,” she added, nodding towards the bathroom.
“Hey! Welcome back!” Miya waved with a grin as Taekwoon shot her a familiar warm smile.
“You’ve grown…” he commented as the youngest smirked proudly.
“I’m still growing, can you believe?”
Minah found herself smiling at the familiarity between the two, freezing when Taekwoon turned back to her and feeling scrutinized under his gaze. Heat flooded up her cheeks as she met his gaze, wondering if it was normal for someone to have such intense eyes.
“Are you sure you’re alright? Do you want to head back home?” he asked as Minah shook her head.
“No, I’m quite alright, thank you. I think we can head down and put everyone’s worries to rest,” she said, standing up and nodding to the door. Taekwoon shot her get-up an amused look before stepping out. Miya on the other hand smirked.
“What?” Minah blinked in confusion as she stepped out of the room.
“Nothing, other than you let your googly eyes for Jung Taekwoon slip,” Miya whispered, following her friend out.
“I had no googly eyes!” Minah hissed back.
“Sure, okay….Ara!” Miya waved at the new entrant standing at the end of the stairs greeting Taekwoon. Ara’s short bobbed hair bounced as she enthusiastically waved back.
“Hello, ladies! Sorry, I’m late, had a meeting! I brought cake though!” she held up a large box with a grin. Taekwoon quickly relieved her of the cake before heading into the kitchen.
“You’re having an awful lot of meetings these days,” Miya smirked as Ara shrugged in response.
“Kyungsoo had ordered the book I’d been looking for for months, so he called me in to hand it over to me.”
“That’s quite nice of him…isn’t this the second time in the month that he did this?” Minah quirked her eyebrow at Ara who shrugged again.
“Yeah, but it’s an acquisition for the shop as well. So I get to read it at work.”
“You know most bosses don’t let you read at work even if it is a book store?” Minah replied “maybe you’re a special employee.” she winked, while Miya held back a cackle.
“I am good at my work,” Ara nodded thoughtfully, making Miya and Minah roll their eyes. Ara often seemed oblivious to the attention she was gaining with her existence. Her pixie-like features and friendly demeanour attracted a great deal of men, women, and everyone in between, only to have their hearts very gently broken. From what Minah had understood, Kyungsoo had hired Ara not just for her skills in book-keeping, but the customers she attracted.
Apparently, the boss himself was interested. But she’d let Ara figure that one out for herself.
“I’m so good at my job that he’s ordered the Guardians book I’d been crying to you guys about! They should be coming in a few weeks…imports, you know.” Ara puffed up proudly and Miya patted her shoulder.
“You sure are the employee of the decade, now come. I’m starving.”
The heat was sweltering, coming in almost visible waves. Fanning herself, Minah eyed the condensation rolling down the jug of iced tea considering if she wanted to pour herself another glass. She wasn’t particularly used to the humidity having moved to Seoul just a year and a half back to attend university.
“Don’t stare at it, just drink it.” Hongbin groaned over the loud music, picking up a magazine to fan himself vigorously from the deck chair he was sprawled across. “Trust Wonshik to throw a ‘welcome back hyungs!’ party in the middle of fucking summer.”
Peeling the light fabric of her sundress off her skin and watching it flop back, Minah nudged him with her toe. Hongbin was one of Sanghyuk’s gaming friends who she’d hit it off with quite well. “He’s just being nice to his hyungs, and if I remember correctly, they’re your hyungs too.”
“Psh, yeah, they are.” Hongbin rolled his eyes, reaching for the cold jug of iced tea and pouring himself a glass before clumsily waving it around. “But a pool party for this is a bit much.”
“You wouldn’t be complaining if you knew how to swim. And don’t act so impersonal. The last time you got drunk, you sobbed about missing your Hakyeon hyung after calling Hyogi and me. I didn’t miss the clingy hugging when he arrived either, Mr Lee Hongbin.”
“Shut up, I did not,” Hongbin grumbled, as the woman in the red sundress shrugged, picking up the jug and poured herself a glass. “Remind me as to why I’m friends with you again?” he glared at her cheeky grin.
“Because I’m Hyogi’s classmate and he thought I was fun so he introduced me to you guys.” She replied, taking a deep sip of the too-sweet tea.
A whoop cut through the music as Jaehwan cannonballed into the pool, sending water everywhere. Hongbin ducked behind the magazine watching the excited man dog-paddle across the pool to a dark-haired man floating on his back with a screech of “Taekwoonie hyung!” making the man baulk at the bundle of energy speeding his way.
Minah eyed the interaction with a shudder. She didn’t know very much about Jung Taekwoon other than that he was one of Hyogi’s favourite hyungs (even if he didn’t admit it), and that he and Hakyeon (who had smiled kindly at her upon meeting) had just returned from their mandatory enlistment. Sanghyuk had mentioned that both Hakyeon and Taekwoon had been strong influences in his life from when he had just gotten into middle school.
Taekwoon caught her eye the moment she saw him with his imposing, broad stature, long limbs and almost feline features. He had nodded at her and softly greeted her when Sanghyuk had introduced them earlier that day. He hadn’t stood around to make small talk, instead choosing to drape himself over Jaehwan who had been lazing on the couch.
Minah turned to see Cha Hakyeon sitting by the pool with his feet dipped in, chatting away with Wonshik. Hakyeon was very handsome too and Minah wondered if Sanghyuk exclusively made friends with good looking people. He had been friendly and open, telling her that Sanghyuk has been full of praise for her and to come to look for him if Sanghyuk caused any trouble, leading to a very whiny overgrown manchild Hyogi.
There was a certain familiarity between everyone there that had her twisting the fabric of her dress awkwardly between her fingers, hoping that perhaps Hongbin’s sister Ara would turn up from her part-time job at the local bookstore or Wonshik’s girlfriend Haneul would come in with some more food even though Minah had brought (far too much of) her famous pasta and a variety of sandwiches, but Haneul had texted her that she would be late since she was busy taking interviews. Jaehwan’s cousin, Miya, was running late since she was volunteering at the local counselling centre that day. As much as Minah felt like she had been adopted into this little family, sometimes she felt like an outsider.
“Damn it, the iced tea is over,” Hongbin sighed, breaking her reverie, as he stumbled out of his seat to pick up the jug. Minah held her hand up and shook her head.
“You are definitely not making the next batch, you pretty much made liquid diabetes in a jug.” She declared, taking the jug from the shaky table. “Also, where is Sanghyuk?” she wondered aloud, and Hongbin nodded to the kitchen.
“Eating as much pasta as he can before Taekwoon gets to it.” the dimpled man snickered making the lady roll her eyes.
“Didn’t he say he’s going to swim after this?”
Hongbin shrugged, “if he has a deathwish, who am I to stop him? Now off you go to make your ‘oh so perfect’ iced tea.”
Fighting the urge to smack Hongbin’s handsome face, Minah trudged back into the house as another wave of heat hit her, making her grateful for her choice in clothing. The sandals were not particularly ideal but had been bought to fit the aesthetic. The heavy soles made a racket as she hurried into the kitchen to unsurprisingly find Sanghyuk with his cheeks stuffed and an attempt at a wide grin of greeting.
“S’good.” he mumbled with his mouth full, stabbing his fork into the large bowl of pasta. Minah shook her head before reaching for the iced tea premix concentrate and carefully measuring out the liquid into the jug. Sanghyuk nudged at her with another cheesy (no pun intended) grin.
“Must you insist on grinning like one of those men who flip women’s skirts?” Minah grumbled, nudging him. Towering over her, Sanghyuk managed to look somewhat offended with his mouth full.
“Why would you even say that?” he whined, making the shorter shoot him a look.
“You’re planning something, I know it.”
“I am planning absolutely nothing at all!” Sanghyuk gasped, holding his hands up as if to show he was innocent. Minah didn’t drop her glare as she vigorously stirred the iced tea before turning to the freezer to get the ice out and drop it into the jug. Shovelling a last forkful of pasta into his mouth, Sanghyuk turned to her.
“I’ll see you outside!”
“Sure!” Minah called back, banging the tray on the counter to get the ice out before plopping it into the jug as the dark liquid sloshed noisily in it. She remembered the watermelon juice Jaehwan had brought being put in the fridge as well and hurried over to retrieve it. Heaving the two jugs, she nudged the back door of Wonshik’s house open with her hip before very carefully walking down the little stone path to the pool. She eyed the contents of the jugs wearily as they sloshed around, threatening to spill out.
“I got it!” a voice called chirpily, and Minah noticed Hakyeon coming towards her to relieve her of her burden. “Kim Minah right?” his sharp features morphed into a kind smile “those sandwiches you brought are a hit, thank you!”
“Ah, thank you!” Minah found herself blushing at the flattery “I figured we’d all get hungry if we were playing by the pool.”
“Yeah, Taekwoon just got out and he’s attacking the sandwiches like it’s his last meal” Hakyeon laughed, nodding towards the dark-haired man silently munching on what looked like an egg sandwich. Minah found herself grinning as she walked with Hakyeon towards the pool. Hakyeon set the jugs on the table, drawing Jaehwan’s attention.
“Hey! Minah! You’re here! Excellent!” Jaehwan smirked, edging towards her and making her eyebrows quirk in suspicion.
“I was here the whole time.”
“Yes! Sanghyukkie! Minah is here!”
“Ah yes! Wonderful!” Sanghyuk scurried over with a giant smirk pasted across his face.
“What are you two getting up to?”
“Nothing.” they chorused, standing on either side of her. Minah vaguely heard Sanghyuk mumble a “3…2…1” and she found herself heaved into the air. On reflex, she screamed as the two men held her limbs and swung her towards the pool with mirthful laughter being the last sound she heard when her body hit the water.
Now, Minah knew how to swim. She’d been comfortable in water ever since she was very young. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she knew this had been Sanghyuk’s plan, but what was now causing her to panic was her sandals weighing down her legs as she frantically tried to kick her way to the surface of the water. Holding whatever little breath she had managed to gasp in whilst screaming, she reached for the straps of her sandals and began struggling against them cursing the existence of buckles. She could feel the burn in her lungs for the lack of oxygen which was enough to distract her from the splash in the water.
Once the physical strain kicked in, she nearly quit, cursing Sanghyuk with her last breath as a figure sped towards her and an arm wrapped securely around her, yanking her up to the surface. In her panic, she swung her arms around the shoulders of the person and took in a deep gasp of air before turning to identify her rescuer only to find that she was pressed up against the very naked chest of the handsome stranger named Jung Taekwoon.
You have to configure a system that worked for you and was easy for them to learn. Once you had it worked out and had gotten approval from Director Kim, the hard work began. So far, your attempts at teaching the guys sign language was going okay. But this morning, you couldn’t lie, you were a little excited. You were scheduled to work with Subject 04. He was always a delight. So cheery and talkative. It actually throws off your coworkers. They seem to think he’s the evil mastermind amongst the group, more so than Subject 61 who has burned many of the scientists multiple times before. Needless to say, you were not looking forward to working with him. His blue eyes are all you could see anymore. Every time you looked at him, they pierced right through you.
You shook off the feeling and focused on getting ready before heading down.
~~~~~
“Subject 61 is with you today,” Jin told you right as you got to your desk.
You freeze, “What? I thought I had Subject 04?”
“You do. We’ve noticed that Subject 61 is more docile is it’s near Subject 04 so they’re being paired up from now on. Don’t worry. It’ll be chained up when you’re doing your thing.”
Why did his smile make you worry even more. Him calling 61 itfills you with a silent rage. These are still people.
When you entered the testing room, Subject 04 was sitting on his stretcher, swinging his legs back and forth over the edge as he greeted you with a smile. Subject 61 on the other hand…was chained up to his, just like Jin said he would be, his glare piercing right through you. The butterflies began to swirl in your stomach and your face felt warm.
“Hello there. How are you two today?”
They don’t say anything (they never do) but 04 signed his hellos. Not after long, you got to work.
~~~~~~
As you worked with 04, you couldn’t help but glance over at 61 every now and then. This whole predicament hurt your heart but 61 didn’t have control of the flames that would randomly rise from his body. You also haven’t had much of a chance to work with him one on one. Again restrictions. But you ask 04 if 61 was usually like this.
“No. He angry. No talk,” 04 signs each word. You nod. What is he like normally? Perhaps you could find out at a later date.
Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted someone watching you in the door window. Looking at your watch, you’re shocked to find the time flew by. Gathering your things, you open the door and allow the assistants to wheel the boys out. You winced, hearing the straps tightening the boys down
“You know they’re supposed to be contained before doors open. Forget again and I’ll make sure the Director trashes this little experiment of yours,” Jin hisses.
“I know that, but 04 isn’t like the others, he won’t-“
“Are you questioning the Director’s rules?” Jin eyes bore into you.
After a moment, your head falls forward, “No.”
He scoffs, “Best remember your place here.”
Not wanting to be around anyone for a moment, you took off for the bathroom.
~~~~~~~
As you walked out of the bathroom, your foot caught your ankle, sending you into the bookshelf. Pain shoots through your elbow as you catch yourself, but as you rub your injury, you notice the bookshelf shifted. Normally, that would make sense, but not when the shelf was angled intothe wall. Looking around before, you push the shelf a little more.
Click!
An opening appears as the shelf moves further back. It was only open a crack, but that was all you needed to see an empty hallway with what looked like stairs towards the other end. You pull the shelf back to where it was before. ‘Perhaps?’
~~~~~~~
For the rest of the night, you noticed your coworkers watching you. Actually, you’ve been noticing their stares since you started your project. It was unsettling and more often than not, the feeling would not go away when you clocked out for the night.
Tonight was one of those nights. All throughout cooking dinner and your shower, you couldn’t shake the feeling. As you got changed, your mind wandered to the pile of paperwork that had been gradually getting bigger lately. So you decided that you were going to head back. Perks of living on this base, you guessed.
A guard raised an eyebrow as you unlocked the door, but at the mention of unfinished paperwork, he shrugged it off, letting you through. You make your way down to the laboratory, but as you entered the main hallway, a light caught your eye. It was coming from the main containment room. ‘What the hell? Shouldn’t those be off?’ As quietly as you could, you snuck up to the double doors, unsure what to expect. But hearing them talking amongst themselves was definitely not on the list. It was a bit muffled, but you could catch what they were saying.
“Do you guys think we’ll be able to get out of here?” A sweet tenor voice asked.
“I don’t know, Lay,” one admitted baritone voice, “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they kill us soon.”
‘They have names???’ You couldn’t help but lean in a little closer.
“Or they’re just going to use us as weapons,” a deep voicegrowls, “I bet that’s why they’re using that one lady to teach us those signs.”
“Maybe that’s just how they communicate? Chanyeol, remember this is a different planet,” a hopeful puppy-like throws out, “She’s been nice to me as much they’re letting her. I think she’s different.” Perhaps that was 04? He certainly has the face for that kind of voice.
“Doesn’t matter. She looks at me like I’m a wild animal. Just like the rest of them.”
“That’s just because of your fire. We never got the chance to even adjust to what the Lunar Eclipse did to us,” Suho tries to calm him down, “Also, why is she the one you look at the most?
You take another step closer, but your ankle rolls. BANG!Goes the door as you collapse onto the floor.
You had lost track of the days, the area calming you that much. It had been too long since you last went hiking in the forest of your hometown. You used to a lot, but city life was where your dream job had taken you and now your heart yearned for something else. And that something was calling to you from the trees.
It had to have been a couple weeks when you finally decide to pack up and head back home. It was when you began walking along the trail for an hour…you realised this wasn’t the trail. Nothing looked familiar. Your heart starts to race. Your eyes frantically search the area, trying to find some semblance of a path. Scrambling towards a clearing, you fall to your knees. Shaking your head to ward off the encroaching dark thoughts, you pull your phone out. The screen flickers before going black.
‘Great…’
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it began to pour.
On the other side of the clearing, you notice an open area underneath a cliff overhang. You quickly make your way over to it, carefully watching your step so to not slip. It’s a cave! At least it’ll keep you out of the rain for now. Plopping down, you stare dejectedly out at the trees, listening to the rain. ‘What am I going to do now? I don’t know how long I’ve been wandering. And who knows when this storm will let up-‘
“Are you lost?” A baritone voice calls.
You spin around, startled to see a tall man with dark hair, broad shoulders, and a slightly concerned look on his face, although that might just be your brain tricking you. His outfit threw you for a loop though. It was made up of different kinds of large leaves woven together with a twine of sorts, patterned in a way that showed off his figure but still left you intimidated. A large jewel was stitched on at the base of the neck and you could swear it was glowing but again it might just be your brain. He looked like a soldier from those fairy books you read as a kid.
Honestly, if you were in a different situation, you would be asking for his number. He took a step closer, but you scramble to your feet, raising your hand out in front of you, “Don’t come near me.”
The man stops, but questions you again. You debate answering. A good amount of people have gone missing in these woods and while you certainly one right now, you didn’t intend on staying that way.
“What’s it to you?” You settle on.
He sighs, “My name is Sehun. I am a guardian of these woods and a guide to you.”
“A guide?” You scoff, “Guide to where? Murder? Kidnapping?”
Sehun’s eyes begin to glow as he waves his hand in the air as rustling leaves sound behind you. You look over your shoulder to see vines have woven into a barrier, trapping you in here with this strange man.
“There have been many like you that have gotten lost in these woods. It’s simply my job to guide you to the grove,” Sehun sighs, “Now if you will follow me.”
You stammer, “Wait, what? To where??”
“To your new home.”
“What about my family? My friends?”
He doesn’t say anything, but his solemn eyes say everything. No one will ever hear from you again. You’re just another one of the missing now.
The two of you continue walking for a while, neither wanting to break the silence as you descended further into the dark.
At one point, you came across a ledge that he had to help you down with, but your foot slipped, forcing you to knock him to the ground. The jewel definitely was glowing a subtle blue, but it was enough to see his red cheeks.
“Uh…you okay?” He sputtered. You nod before scrambling off of him and offering him a hand. As you two continued on, he seemed to stay back a little, walking with you instead of in front of you. All too soon though, your walk had come to an end.
At the end of the tunnel, sunlight peaked through another curtain of vines. With another wave of his hand, the vines pulled away. The light was blinding, but once your eyes adjust, you couldn’t believe it. Stretching for miles was vast valley of fields and small huts bathed in the afternoon sunlight. There was no way that this could not be a part of the forest you grew up near and yet here it is. Hidden in plain sight!
“What’s going on?” He growls, his voice rumbling through you.
You were panicking. Why did he have to wake up so soon. ‘Fuck, Yeollie, where are you?’
“Uhhh…” is all that comes out of your mouth as you trip over your feet.
His eyes flash orange as fire began to flicker around his fingers, but he stops, swaying as his eyes slowly blink before rolling back. You try to catch him but you were too slow. His body collapses with a loud thud just as you grab his sleeve.
“Shit,” you mutter as you try to get him out of the hallway. Fear forgotten, you rush to get a bowl of water and a towel. After placing a pillow under his head, you grab the towel, soaking it before
As time passed, he kept whimpering in his sleep. It was just nonsense for the most part, but when those murmurs turned into actual words, your stomach sank. Stuff about tests, needles, cages. You couldn’t believe it. ’What has he been through???’
“What happened to you?” You mumble out loud, “And why do you look like Yeollie?”
Speaking of Chanyeol, you pull out your phone to see nothing. ‘His class ended an hour and a half ago. Where is he?’
~~~~~~
Chanyeol’s leg bounced as the end of class got closer. He needed to get back to Y/N.
“Alright. That’s it for the day,” the professor announces as he closes his book, “Remember to—“
Chanyeol didn’t bother to stay and listen. He had to get home. Right as he made it outside, he’s approached by two men in suits and then a sharp pain in the back of his head before everything goes black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
AN: I’m so sorry it took forever to update this, especially with a small update ._. I do want to update more but I’m super stressed and got a lot going on so bare with me.
A/N: Bruh this took longer than necessary to write but eyyy better late than never
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“But why do they have to send you now?” You follow your husband to the front door, trying to hold him back, “Why your group?”
Junmyeon’s shoulders slump forward as he sighs, “You know we’re their last defence.” He pulls you into a tight embrace as he could, “I’ll be back before you know it. For both of you.”
He places a hand on your extended stomach, a sadness in his eyes.
“I love you, Y/N,” he says before giving you a deep kiss. And with that, your husband left.
~~~~~~~~~
A month later, you were cradling your newborn as you watched the news. Tears began streaming down your cheeks as they reported that the battalion had failed their mission. Your child began to cry and as you tried to comfort them, a wave of red mist swept across the planet, swallowing everything in sight.
~~~~~~~~
600 Years Later:
No matter how old you got, you would never tired of the feeling of water racing through your fins.
“Y/N!! You’re going to be late for Professor Gilbert’s class!” Your friend, Minseok, yelled after you as he tried to keep up.
“Why bother? It’s going to be boring anyway.”
He finally catch up to you, his purple tail swaying as he slows down, “Even if it’s on the Great Flood?”
Fuck. He knows me too well. Your eyes narrow, “Fuck you. Fine let’s go back”
You quickly turn back to in the direction of the college.
~~~~~~
The Great Flood. You didn’t know why, but you were always drawn to the part of history. After this strange mist settled across the world, the waters rose and over the centuries, your kind developed. But the thing that caught you was before the mist. Governments across the world sent their best troops against the source but to no avail. It was the last group ever sent that is huge mystery in your history. No one knows what happened to the soldiers even after searching for them once society got back up and running.
But we never forgot our history. We don’t dare go to the surface. The red mist still covers the lands with its never ending storm. Those that were curious about the above world were either driven crazy or never heard from again.
As kids, we’re taught the general idea of what went down, but this class, Humanity 405, gets into the details. That’s the only reason you paid attention, but Professor Gilbert didn’t mention it being in the lessons this week, so to say you were excited would be putting it lightly.
~~~~~
That night as you were chilling in your room rereading your favourite scroll, your father called you into the living room. With an annoyed sigh, you tossed the scroll onto your bed, not caring if you lost your place. The currents would push it around no matter what. You swished out into the lounge where your father was waiting with arms crossed and a stern look on his face. Your mother looked worried as she watched you enter.
“What’s up?”
“What kind of child doesn’t address their father with respect?”
You roll your eyes, “Oh my bad. What’s up, sir?”
“Y/N. Not now,” your mother pleads, “Honey, just tell her.”
After a moment, your father booms out, “You are to be married next month to the eldest son of the Truehold clan.”
“What?”
“Sweetheart, it’s a respectable family.”
“You’re going to be 20 soon so it’s time for you to put your family first,” your father proclaims, as if that makes his crazy idea any better, “It’s time for you to grow up and stop these silly dreams of becoming a shaman. You are to be the wife of dignified family.”
You don’t know what to say. Everything was closing in on you. You needed to get out of here.
Grabbing your satchel, you burst out the door, your father’s calls fading away the faster you swam. How could he? You and your father rarely got along, but an arranged marriage? That was going to far. So what if you didn’t want to do what he wanted career-wise. There’s no shame in being a shaman. It’s a respectable career and definitely better than just being a wife and a breeder.
You didn’t pay attention to where you were going, just focused on getting as far away as possible right now. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed what looked to be a tunnel hidden behind a large amount of coral. Tunnels were great for getting around the city discreetly. You had utilised them on more than one occasion (one could even say mastered them), but this one you didn’t recognise. Plus it was heading away from the city.
To hell with it. You be-lined for it, careful to not disturb the coral and slither through. It was longer than you were anticipating but soon, there was the telltale sign of light at the end. However, you were not ready for what was on the other side.
This place. It was unlike any other. It almost looked like the etchings of the Old World before the Great Flood. Time and the ocean had not been kind to the structures though. Fish and other wildlife had taken claim to their new home as well. Sort of a deep sea coral reef had overgrown everywhere. A giant dome structure kept it tucked away from curious eyes, but at the top of the dome, the red mist could be seen. You had never seen the red mist before and to be so close..
But that wasn’t the thing that threw you off. It was something more than the mist.
There in the distance floating high above the ruins was a human. At least it was what you assumed was a human. No one’s ever seen a two-legged before. ‘Who was that man? Why does he seem so familiar?’ You couldn’t help but think as you circle around the area, not daring to get any closer. But then again…. Something was pulling you closer, urging you to go to him.
Against all reason, you begin to approach the two-leg, quickly looking around just in case. From what you knew, he had a traditional Korean beauty to him with bright red hair. His lips caught your eyes though. They look so soft…
The feeling of his lips against your snapped you back to reality. ‘Why did I kiss him?!’ You pull away, but don’t let go. It was then it finally dawned on you. He’s one of the soldiers that went missing!
A drum sounds in the deep. You pull him closer, just to have something to hold on to. When you looked up however, the water was quickly falling closer, as if being drained somewhere. Not thinking, you quickly swim back towards the tunnel, him still in your arms. Right as you reach the entrance, the water level crashes around you, subjecting you to air. You gasp as straight up oxygen fills your lungs, forcing the water out. Amidst your coughing, you hear another deeper cough nearby.
Your eyes widen as the man was curled on his side, arms gripping his stomach. His eyes blink open, revealing the warm brown looking back at you. He gasps, disbelief riddling his face as he scrambles away from you as far as the pile of debris would allow.
“Y/N?” His baritone voice was so soft yet rough from disuse.
‘What the hell?’ “How do you know my name? I don’t know you.” ‘Well…personally.’
“I’m Kim Junmyeon. Y/N was the name of my wife. You..you look a lot like her.”
He doesn’t say anything for a while, instead looking around, taking in everything before asking, “What year is it?”
“It’s 600 AGF.”
“‘AGF’? What’s that?’
“After the Great Flood.”
You began to tell him about the history and as you go over what happened, he slowly curls in on himself.
“Everyone is gone. We failed,” he pulls his knees to his chest, “And now I’m stuck here.” You want to comfort him but you’re kinda stuck in the tunnel entrance. ‘Wait. That’s it.’
“I have a friend who’s in the shaman field. I can see if they can help you. The surface is dangerous. No one even knows if there is still land above the water, but I can see if he has a spell or potion that could at least help you breath underwater.”
He looks up, tear tracks on his cheeks, “What? Magic exists now?”
“It didn’t before?” You were confused. Magic was everything in today’s society. “It’s normal for us. Everyone can at least do a little bit. Those who are gifted tend to become shamans,” you hold your hand out and little sparks of colour flit around your fingers, “My father doesn’t believe women should be shamans or have magic in the first place….but he’s a loser anyway so what does he know.” You try to brush it off and thankfully he doesn’t pry.
“I wonder if the mist had a hand in that.”
“Maybe. That’s a huge topic at universities nowadays. I should get going to the shamans. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” You dive before he can say anything.
~~~~~~~
There was something you wanted to snag at home. Hopefully, your parents would be asleep given how late it was.
But right as you entered your home, your father was waiting with your mother and an unfamiliar man sitting across from him.
“Y/N. Where have you been?!” Barks your father, “Is this how you want to treat your future husband?”
You lock eyes with the guy, a slimy smirk creeping onto his face. With a quick glance at your father, all you said was yes before hightailing it out of there. You could try to sneak back in later but honestly, you’re probably never going to see yourfavourite scroll again.
“Y/N!” Your father’s voice boomed. You glance behind you, seeing him approaching fast. You speed up, quickly looking around for a specific opening.
There! The tunnel for the outskirts! You slither through no problem and don’t look back. You can hear your father screaming behind you but you ignore it. Swimming as fast as you can, you end come out on the outskirts of the other side of town. Breathing a sigh of relief and quickly looking around, you scurry to the small alleyway tucked between two buildings. At the back of the dimly lit alley was The Summoning Scroll. With a speedy glance behind you, you hurry through the door.
“Ah, Y/N! I had a feeling you would drop by soon. Exams coming up and in need a potion of luck?” Kyungsoo, your friend and one of many apprentices to a great shaman, called as you slipped inside. Upon seeing your distressed state, he came right up to you, “Is everything okay?”
You shake you head and begin to explain everything from your father to Junmyeon in the ruins. He pulls you into a hug.
“I’ve always known your father was difficult, but this is too far. As for this two-legged, I think we might have something here.”
He swishes around, searching the various shelves as you lay down. It had been quite the day, and you just knew it wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
The door bursts open, startling the crap out of both of you.
“Kyungsoo, did you about Y/N? Her father is going crazy on the east side looking for her!” Cries Minseok. Kyungsoo and you exchange a look before he says, “Yeah, she just told me like five minutes ago.”
Minseok looks confused before noticing you laying down on the sponge bench.
“Y/N!” He swims over to you to give you a hug, “Why did you runaway?”
“Arranged marriage,” Kyungsoo shouts from across the room before you could answer. To be honest, you were a bit thankful. You didn’t want to explain it again. As he gave you a hug, Kyungsoo makes a sound of success. He brings over a scroll to show you.
“It’s the recipe to make a potion that’ll him an aqua-dweller.”
“Can you make it?”
His brow’s pull together in frustration and concentration, “We’ll see. This is a very old recipe. Obviously, we haven’t needed it in a long time since two-leggeds have fallen into legend, but I can try.”
“Thank you, Kyungsoo.”
“Wait, two-legged? What are you on about?” Minseok looks to you, face pulled in confusion. While Kyungsoo went about making the potion, you catch Minseok up to speed. You watched Kyungsoo after finishing, but it wasn’t long before he was done.
He pulls out a bottle, swirling the mixture into it before plopping a cork on top.
“So where are we going?” He smiles.
“‘We’?”
Kyungsoo grabbed his bag, putting the potion inside before pulling the strap over his head, “Yeah, I want to meet this two-legged.”
“Me too,” said Minseok. You looked between the two before shaking your head. ‘Honestly what did I expect?’
“Fine. Let’s go. We’re going to have to keep an eye out for the asshole so keep up.”
You lead the way, quickly taking them to a different tunnel than the one you took before. He was surely going to be keeping an eye on it. Thankfully there was another one that led to the east side that was relatively close to the entrance. Only one problem: You still had to swim by your house.
Minseok was the one to poke his head out, watching for anyone that could be coming.
“All clear,” he whispers and the three of us scramble out of the tunnel. Moving as fast as you could, you lead them to the tunnel, thankfully still hidden by the coral. You slither through first knowing if you stayed behind, you would have been noticed. A few minutes later, Minseok asked if we were getting close. You shake your head. It wasn’t long until you could see the light.
To your shock, the water level was rising again and Junmyeon had started to climb one of the large piles of debris. It was shallow, but the three of you could easily swim up to him.
“Junmyeon! I’m back!”
He perks up at your voice and visibly sighs with relief but stiffens at the sight of the guys.
“Junmyeon, this is…”
“Kyungsoo and Minseok. I guess everyone got reincarnated.”
The guys exchanged a look, wondering what was going on. You didn’t know either, reincarnation wasn’t a concept you knew, so you quickly changed the topic, “Kyungsoo made a potion for you and Minseok just wanted to meet you.”
Nodding, Junmyeon plopped his legs in the water and downed the potion. Before our eyes, water began to swirl up his legs, quickly concealing his body from our sight. In the blink of an eye, the water collapsed and his golden tail shimmered in the light.
“It worked!” Kyungsoo gasped under his breath, “It actually worked!”
The water began to rise yet again, enveloping the ruins once more. The red storm at the apex rumbled, almost displeased with everything that’s happening.
“Well that can’t be good,” you say under your breath, “So what now? I can’t return home. Plus if we go out this tunnel, I’ll most likely be captured.”
Junmyeon gasped, “Captured? Why?”
“Y/N’s father is an asshole. And honestly, if she were to go missing, we would be questioned, Kyungsoo.”
“Perhaps we simply never return? Do you think there would be another way out of here?” The shaman suggests.
You shrug, “It’s possible. But after that, I don’t even know where we could go.”
“There’s other cities. We could try finding those.”
“I certainly would like to. I would like to explore this world. The planet I called home drastically changed in the past few centuries. Plus now I’m a merman so I’ll need to get used to this life.”
Minseok leaned in close to Kyungsoo, “What’s a ‘merman’?”
“No idea,” he whispered back.
You smile, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s look for a way out of here.”
It took some time, but soon, Minseok had found a tunnel on the opposite side that you had entered from. Now the four of you were embarking on the next chapter of you life together.
You couldn’t believe it. The nerve! You were fuming as you stormed out of the restaurant. That was the third guy this winter break. Always the talkers. You could barely get a word in before they would either cut you off or completely dismiss what you were saying. You were done. You’ve given up with the world of dating. Maybe you’ll adopt that cat you’ve always wanted. Maybe even move to a new country.
A chill wraps around you as you let your feet carry you away from the shining lights of the . You were thankful that you were able to walk to the restaurant but now as your thoughts swirled in your mind and the cold chilled you, you weren’t aware of where you were going.
You cry out, finally snapping out of it when pain shoots through your wrist. Spiralling up your arm were vines of ink, the design sending a tingling sensation up your entire arm.
“What the-.”
Wind picks up around you, swirling leaves along the path, forming a mini tornado between two trees in front of you. Suddenly, a shimmer begins to form and the dark and dingy leaves start to change into crisp, beautiful autumn colours. The scenery changes between the tree as sunlight hits your face, warming you from the cold winter night. Curiosity takes over as you walk towards the light.
“A bride has arrived!” A voice cheers.
You spin to see a small humanoid creature with bright red and white mushrooms coming out of their head. He barely came up to your knees.
“Wh-what?”
“Please miss. You must help us. You must marry the Princes of Thorns,” another one demands.
You look around to see a bunch of these creatures gathering around you, “What do you mean? How is marrying this prince going to help you?” Were you actually considering this?! You just met these things. Hell you don’t even know if you’re still in the same city, let alone planet!
“He cursed our village. We can’t leave the forest and we found out no other creature could see us.”
“Why would he do that?”
“We don’t know. Please Miss. If he doesn’t get a bride, he will destroy us all.” They start to bow at your feet causing your stomach to twist into knots.
“Why would he destroy you?”
“We made a deal to give us freedom in exchange for a bride. But we have no women available and the deadline is today. Please miss! You have to help us!” He begs.
Reluctantly, you agree. They pulled you into a small hut where they began to decorate you with various jewellery and placing a flower crown on your head. While they took off your coat, the rest of your clothes stayed on. One of the smaller creatures ran up to what seemed to be the elder to whisper something to him. The elder’s eyes widened, “He’s here!”
Quickly they rushed you out to present you.
The man in front of you was beautiful. Under his thorn crown, pastel pink hair fell into his dark eyes. He wore ornate intricate robes of deep autumn colours and soft pink wings stretched out far from behind him. His soft features contrasted what you were told of this man.
A/N: Jin is not Jin from BTS. Thought I should clarify just in case.
~~~~~
The week flew by as coworkers caught you up to speed in how to perform tests, things to look for and other ‘handy tips’ for the job. Now you didn’t want this promotion before, but now you really didn’t want it. You were to push these men’s limits above and beyond. Even more so, you were not to hold back any punishment for not doing what you wanted. From what you could tell, a lot of the staff took this notion to heart as each day you were around the subjects, various cuts, bruises and other injuries would appear. What confused you was that Subject 10 never had any. His file was restricted to those that were assigned him and the higher ups, but perhaps they just liked him better.? At least you could only hope.
In any case, this was a new week. A new week where you would begin tests on Subject 04, who you quickly found out was sat next the pink haired Subject 61. Subject 04 was a rather talkative fellow and would literally brighten up the room whenever someone he liked walked in. His puppy dog looks helped calmed your nerves. How could he still be nice through all this?
“Oh I get the new one. This will be fun,” he chuckles. A small smile graces your lips, but its short lived as you roll his bed towards chamber three. Once inside, you unlatch the restraints and help him up. You were told that he has certain “freedoms” due to his kind nature, this being one of them.
“Yeah, I know, get on the treadmill and wait for the order,” his voice lost its cheer as he muttered. As he got into position, you left for the door in the corner of the room. The small control room looked into the larger room with a panel of various buttons below the window. After taking a deep breath, you gave Subject 04 the go ahead.A few minutes later, Jin, an old office worker with a stern face and thick glasses, joined you in control room through the hallway door.
“Okay, please try to run faster,” you voice was weaker than you intended, now nervous with the old man’s presence.
“You have to be more assertive with your commands,” Jin snapped, slamming his hand on the command panel, “The subjects won’t learn to follow orders otherwise.”
You jump but quickly try to compose yourself. Then an idea popped into your head.
“What if I try to get them to understand silent commands?”
He stares at you, giving you a curt nod before issuing electric shocks to Subject 04. You may not have been down here long, but you knew you had to help these men escape no matter what.
You had met your friend Lay one night when you were travelling through Seoul a few years ago. It was a spur of the moment decision on your part. You had gone on a walk through Gangnam at night, finally able to get out of the apartment when you ran into him. Apparently, he had gotten lost somehow. He could have easily been a nice meal since you had gone a bit longer since your feed, but there was something about him. He just seemed so nice to you, and here you were debating on eating him. What the hell was wrong with you? It if were only 10 years prior, you would have. Hell, even last year and yet…well…you two ended up spending the night together drinking soju and singing your hearts out at karaoke.
Now here you were, relaxing in the lounge of Baekhyun’s apartment with the two going at it on Super Smash Bros. Baekhyun had learned about your secret rather quickly after being introduced to the wild boy. He played it off as a joke but your panic had told him otherwise. You chuckle at the memory as you take a swing of some apple soju and continue to scroll through your phone. Lay cried out in defeat as Baekhyun laughed at him. He looked at the screen for a moment before turning to you, “Hey Y/N?”
“Hmm?”
“What does it feel like to get bitten?”
You freeze as you meet Baekhyun’s eyes.
“Why do you want to know?”
Lay moved onto his side, “I’ve also been wondering. You rarely speak about anything related to vampires.”
You shift uncomfortably, “Again, why? It’s not like you’re vampires.”
Baekhyun moves closer, Lay not far behind.
“Still. We’re curious,” Lay begs. You sigh, unable to deny him.
“Do you know what happens to your victims when you bite them?”
“My ‘victims’?” You raise an eyebrow at that.
Baekhyun winces, “Sorry. Your unwilling blood donors.”
You roll your eyes, “It’s hard to explain. There’s this kind of venom in my teeth that releases euphoria.”
“What about turning?” Lay’s eyes were wide with curiosity.
“Traditional blood exchange,” you shrug, “Nothing special.”
You look between the two, eyes narrowing, “I take it you both want to be bitten?”
Baekhyun nods excitedly. With a sigh, you place your phone on the end table next to you glass. At least I already ate earlier.
“Okay, give me your wrist.”
He gives you his arm. Bringing it to your mouth, you bite down. He gasps before falling back against the couch, eyes rolled back in pleasure. You lick the wound before pulling away, but he doesn’t seem to want to move, too dazed to do anything really.
“I guess getting bit just makes you high,” chuckles Lay
Shaking your head as you giggle, you pick Baekhyun up and take him to his room.
“He should be fine in a little bit,” you plop back down on the couch, “What about you? Do you want a go too?”
A blush creeps up Lay’s neck and cheeks, making your mouth water. What the fuck? I just ate and had a snack. Why is he making me feel like I haven’t?
“Yes, please,” he says under his breath; his nerves palpable in the air. He joins me on the couch, not unlike Baekhyun. Without asking him, Lay offers his wrist to you. With a soft smile, you bite down….and the most sweetest and decadent flavours burst into your mouth. You growl, quickly pinning him to the floor and ripping into his neck. He yelps as his hands claw at your back, trying to pull you away, but you ignore him, gulping down that sweet sweet nectar.
“..Y/N..,” he breathes as his grip loosens. Breaking away, you stare in horror at the site before you.
Baekhyun’s voice calls out.
You rush into the bathroom, tears blurring your vision. Your hands cover your ears, you don’t want to know anything, but the light knock on the door forces you to face reality.
“Y/N?” Baekhyun’s voice is soft, “Is everything alright?”
The lump in your throat
“Lay’s okay. He just a bit weak but he’ll live.”
Fresh tears roll down your cheeks. You’ll probably have to move to a different country now. It’s too risky being near him anymore. The door knob rattles before the door swings open. You fall to the floor. Baekhyun kneels down, putting a hand on your shoulder, “Y/N, are you okay?”
“Why would I be okay???” You shout, “I haven’t lost control in the last one hundred years!! And now?!”
You push away his hand and go to start gathering your things, but he beats you to the front door.
“So that’s it? You lose control and then decide to leave without giving him an explanation? He’s your friend. He at least deserves a goodbye.”
You sigh, your bag slipping off your shoulder to the floor.
Everyone has the first words their true love says to them on their wrist. They were always in black ink and everyone liked to proudly display them. Only thing was…you didn’t. Your parents were baffled when you were born and even now, none of you knew what to make of it. The white script embellishing your arm with the haunting words ‘You’re not supposed to be here.’
~~~~
Here you were now, 25 and still single. Over the years, you adapted to wearing long sleeves all the time. You’d rather answer the forever question of ‘aren’t you hot’ than explain the words.
“What are you going to do when you find them? You know they glow a bit when you’re close to them,” Alex huffed. He already found his partner. She wasn’t who you were expecting to be his soulmate, but as long as he was happy, you couldn’t really complain.
“I’ll deal with it if it happens. You know those that haven’t found their soulmate by 26 have a very small chance of actually meeting them.”
He waves you off, “That’s cause you don’t get out of the apartment.”
“Oh, will you leave me alone about that,” you roll your eyes.
“I will once it stops being true. Your soulmate isn’t going to just wander into your apartment with a happy relationship on a platter. So you know what? You’re coming with me to a party this weekend.
A sinking feeling fell to the bottom of your stomach. You didn’t know why, but this wasn’t going to end well.
~~~~~~
You tried to talk your friend out of going to this one party but the reverse ended up happening. So here you were, in the mansion of Alex’s cousin’s friend’s penthouse (at least that’s what you gathered), wishing you weren’t. You pull at your sleeves as you stand in the corner. That feeling hadn’t left you the entire week and now it was even worse. You couldn’t even eat anything all day, the nervousness consuming you.
You didn’t even know how long you were standing there. People would just pass you by, no one even looked in your direction. A small part of you wanted to lift you sleeve to see if the tell-tale glow was there, but those words made you stop. You didn’t want to think of them.
That’s when your friend stumbled over to you.
“Y/N!” He slurred as he fell against you, “You need to let loooose. Come on!”
He fumbled for your hand right for a moment before grabbing it and dragging you into the hallway.
“Alex, what are you doing?”
“There’sss more upsstairss…,” he smiles. He drags you into the elevator as you try break away. Right as he let go, the doors closed. Fuck.You back away into a corner, eyes on Alex as he presses a button. That feeling was back tenfold. Something was wrong.
Right as the elevator started move, an eerie creak reached your ears. You lock eyes with Alex, terrified before you both lurch forward as the cable snaps. Screams rip from you throats as you plummet to the ground. The terror on your friend’s face was the last thing you saw before blacking out.
~~~~~~
You shot up with a gasp and looked around. Were you in the lobby of the condos? It looked far fancier than the condos though. Next to you was Alex, passed out.
“Alex..,” you shake his shoulder, “Alex, wake up.”
Your heart starts to race as you check his pulse. There was none.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck. You look up to see someone approaching. They wore a gorgeous tan flower dress that dragged on the floor, but they looked skinny. Like worryingly skinny. A black veil hid their face and their hair was long with dark poofy curls.
Your senses were screaming at you to run. Fuck it. You book it out of there. Racing down the giant staircase, you turn down a hallway. After a while, you stop and hide in a small alcove to catch your breath. But in no time, the feeling returns as dark smoke begins to whip around the corner. You peek around wall to see the smoke stemming from their feet as she walked towards you. You bolt yet again.
~~~~~~
It didn’t matter how far you ran throughout the building, the figure was right behind you. You turned a corner and thank the gods! An open door! Quickly you slither into the room, slamming the door behind you. Stealing a glance out the peephole, you just catch their hair as they glide by.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” a deep voice declared behind you. Your heart stops. Turning, there’s a tall man standing behind you, staring at you with dark puppy dog eyes like he can’t believe you were there. His brown hair is swept off to the sides falling just below his brows. His features were soft, and yet so sharp. He wore a tailored black tuxedo that fit him in all the right places.
“Oh, I’m sorry-AH!” You cry out as sharp sting burns your arm. Not thinking you rip your pass your elbow to gaze upon the cursed words…only to see the tell-tale glow. You’re so enthralled by your own, you don’t hear the man gasp and pull at his own sleeve.
“It’s you,” he breathes. At that, you look up to see the dark script upon his forearm.
“But why—“
BANG!
The door bursts open to reveal your chaser.
“Reaper 808. Stop your pursuit,” the man demands in a calm voice as he pulls you behind him.
Their voice is a chilling whisper “She is from the human world. She must be claimed.”
“And she already has been. By me.”
They stare at each other before 808 bows.
“Now go. Another soul has arrived.”
They nod before leaving, closing the door behind them. Kai turns back to you, “I’m sorry about that. They were doing their job.”
It took a moment to form the words before asking, “And what exactly is their job?”
“They are what humans call ‘grim reapers’. They and their coworkers guide souls to their rooms to prepare them for their next life. As for me, I’m in command here for this is my kingdom, though your kind tend to refer to it as the Underworld.”
“Sounds like Hotel Del Luna come to life,” you mumble.
“I know what you speak of, as some of my patrons have mentioned the ‘dramas’ of your realm but I don’t know what it entails.
You go on to explain the show and as the realisation dawns on him, you couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction. However, his expression turned solemn.
“This reminds me,” his eyes look down, troubled, “Since you’ve now stepped foot in my kingdom, you can never return to yours. I’m sorry.”
“I can never go back?” You softly gasp.
The was a moment of silence as he let you accept the reality.
“You know, I’ve been wanting someone by my side for a while now,” his hand moves gently up your arm near your words, holding his out next to it, “I guess the universe agrees.”
“But I don’t even know your name.”
He smirks, “I go by many names, but you..you may call me Kai.”
After a moment, you take his hand, “Then yes, I’ll stay with you.”
okay, so even after writing this, i’m 90% sure that minseok would NEVER let anyone eat in his pristine living room, BUT I CAN DREAM
Movie Night with Minseok: 550-ish words of self-indulgent fluff that I cranked out in about an hour. Um, enjoy?
You checked the time on the microwave again, smiling at the cheery pop of the popcorn inside. A little over 30 seconds left, good.
“You know, I’ve never understood why popcorn is considered such a movie food. You would think if you’re watching a movie, you’d want to hear what was going on. It seems to me like the crunch would make it like, the actual worst movie snack. Right?”
Minseok laughed as he swept behind you to set a bowl on the counter. “Oh, yeah, what about your snack?” He used the countdown as an excuse to snuggle into your back, his chin dipping to rest on your shoulder.
You reached up to sweep your fingers through his hair as you leaned into his embrace. “My snack? I made brownies!” You tried for offended, but it came out as another laugh as you gestured at the pan with the butter knife you’d been using to cut them. “And okay, I also bought ice cream, but neither of those are crunchy. Usually.”
The microwave chose this moment to chime its end, and you weren’t sure if that helped your argument or not, though from the warm huff of your boyfriend’s laughter against your cheek, you doubted it mattered.
Minseok lingered at your back for another moment longer. “Yes, yes, you and your sweet tooth.” From someone else, it might’ve been a criticism, but his voice had that warm, playful edge to it that had helped make you fall for him in the first place.
He pressed a kiss to your cheek before he took the two steps to open the microwave, which washed his kitchen in the familiar scent of melted butter. Carefully pulling the hot bag out, he dumped it into the bowl while you tried to maximize the number of brownies you could fit onto one plate.
“Besides, chocolate and coffee go so well together,” you said with a jerk of your chin to his shiny, well-loved coffee maker.
Not that he’d made coffee, but the night was young. And considering that Minnie has suggested a mini Marvel marathon, you were definitely going to need caffeine at some point.
Snacks in hand, you both made it to the couch to settle in for a night of superheroes. You propped yourself in the plush couch corner while Minseok arranged the food on the coffee table along with a few bottled waters he’d set out here earlier. Once everything was set to his satisfaction, he leaned back into the cushions at your side. Not quite snuggling yet, but again, the night was young. You had plenty of time to fall asleep on each other in a cozy ball of limbs.
“Okay, so where do you want to start, babe?” you asked Minseok as you reached for a water. “I’ve already seen, uh, most of the Marvel films, so it’s up to you, as long as the films are post-Civil War.”
He pulled out his phone as you drank and scrolled over the screen as he replied, “Well, I was looking up the best order to watch them in, and the only thing I could figure out was that nobody could agree what that best order was. So…” He continued to explain his reasoning, gesturing every now and then as he spoke. You couldn’t hide your grin as you screwed the cap back onto your drink. Damn, he was a nerd, but he was your nerd.
You didn’t know how you and Chanyeol had ended up here, sprawled across the middle seat of his ridiculously big SUV. In fact, you only knew two things at that moment: His rough kisses on your neck were probably going to leave marks, and his fingers were working magic……
You didn’t know how you and Chanyeol had ended up here, sprawled across the middle seat of his ridiculously big SUV. In fact, you only knew two things at that moment: His rough kisses on your neck were probably going to leave marks, and his fingers were working magic……
You didn’t know how you and Chanyeol had ended up here, sprawled across the middle seat of his ridiculously big SUV. In fact, you only knew two things at that moment: His rough kisses on your neck were probably going to leave marks, and his fingers were working magic……
You didn’t know how you and Chanyeol had ended up here, sprawled across the middle seat of his ridiculously big SUV. In fact, you only knew two things at that moment: His rough kisses on your neck were probably going to leave marks, and his fingers were working magic under your skirt as he pulled your panties down your legs.
When the lacy fabric hit your knees, you slipped your fingers over his and whispered, “Here, let me.” You twisted from one knee to another, with a hand gripping Chanyeol’s shoulder for balance. A flick of your wrist, and the scrap of lace landed somewhere near his feet.
He watched the whole show, and his grin glowed in the sliver of light that streaked in from outside. “You’re twisty. I feel like I just watched a magic trick!” His laugh hit you low in your body, matched by the slide of his fingers over your now-bare folds.
“Yoga,” you replied before pressing a quick, smacking kiss against his lips. Your fingers strayed down to his belt, his waistband, and the glorious hardness underneath. “And for my next trick…”
The rest happened in a rush of sensation. One second you were achingly empty; the next, Chanyeol filled you with his cock. You moaned as you sank down onto him, and your shaking fingers dug into his shirt for balance.
“Oh, you like that, don’t you, baby?” Again, his voice felt like another caress, and in response, your muscles pulsed around him almost without thought.
“Fuck,” Chanyeol gasped and bucked his hips underneath you. “I’ll take that as a yes."
"Just keep talking, Yeol. Keep talking to me while you fuck me.” It was all you could manage as you worked your hips over him.
And he did. He kept up a steady, low chorus of, Yes, baby, or, Oh, yeah, that’s good, or many other gasped phrases that kept you moving against him.
Soon, though, you noticed another sound catching your attention. This didn’t match the rhythm of bodies moving together, panting breaths, or low exclamations and encouragement. What was it? If you paid a bit closer attention, maybe you could figure it ou–
Your eyes snapped open to an annoying radio jingle and pale sunlight streaming into your bedroom window. Instant realization had you sitting up in bed. A dream? That whole thing had been a dream?! (Oh, you like that, don’t you, baby?)
You didn’t know what to make of this. (Baby.) “What the fuck, brain,” you sighed and rolled to turn off your alarm. The music had been disruptive, but you knew that it wasn’t going to erase Chanyeol’s voice from your mind. It really had sounded like he’d been whispering dirty things in your ear.
This was going to stay with you for a while. (Mmm, baby…) For now, though, you had to get your ass out of bed and take the longest and possibly coldest shower of your life before getting ready for class.
Another wolf-finds-his-mate story, but I kicked it up a notch and created a whole new world around it.
Pairing: Chanyeol x Reader
Genre: Supernatural (EXO as wolves, but more species involved in the storyline)
Word count: 5039 words
Warning: None!
New to the series? Start your adventure here:Prologue (Don’t skip it, it contains info you’ll need in a small part of this chapter) The posts will always contain a link to the next part, unless that part hasn’t been posted yet.
Part 3
The light that shone through the open windows, brightened the whitely painted parquet floor and wheat brown walls of Chanyeol’s bedroom. Whereas last night, the artificial lightening from his simple pendant Scandinavian ceiling light gave the feel of a cosy bedroom, the atmosphere in the room was now more heavenly. The sound of whistling birds filled the room and small details such as the tree stump nightstands, his carefully located acoustic guitar and the present house plants even made one overlook the small mess on his desk.
Chanyeol felt very comfortable. Despite his legs being tangled up with (y/n)’s under the sheets, the feeling of his arms holding her close and her perfume, now perfected in his presence, satisfied his inner wolf immensely and he wanted time to stop so he could stay like that forever.
He opened his eyes, curious to (y/n)’s sleeping figure. As her head was nestled snugly in his neck, he carefully tried to lower himself without waking her to be at eye-height with her.
He had never studied someone’s aspects up close with that much interest. She had spider’s-leg, succubus-black eyelashes that fluttered over her grape shaped eyes, sliver-of-moon eyebrows, a pert nose and velvety soft lips that made him want to kiss her. As he studied her, he could not withhold the urge to touch her. Gently, he removed his palm from her waist and combed her hair behind her seashell-shaped ears, stroking the same smooth skin several times with feather light pressure.
It was nice, being sane around her without having to take any wolfsbane-oil. Last night calmed him down, and he knew he was safe for at least the rest of the day, safe for the last day of mating season. He was in love; In love with her peacefully sleeping figure, in love with the individual that was her. He gently placed the palm of his hand on her waist again, hoping she’d continue to sleep for another while.
Now is not the time to revel in her presence, Chanyeol thought. Last night had been a reckless move on his part, a move to which he now had to figure a solution should he not want either of them to suffer the consequences. The first sexual intercourse with one’s mate, the first mating, strengthened the link between mates and absence sickness became a real threat. Chanyeol had to find a way to keep her close from now on.
I’m in love with you. Is that how you say it? He wondered. He imagined himself softly whispering it in her ear as she woke up, but figured it was too straightforward to use it as a morning-greeting. He thought of different scenarios in which he would greet her good morning, but a large variety of possible answers from her part came to mind; Good morning, Hey, Oh shit I’ve got to go, Oh my god what did I do, Hey there handsome, … It was fascinating how he could come up with such a range of possibilities that even included some that didn’t seem realistic; You raped me, You took my precious flower asshole, I hope your parents don’t mind me being your student, Who are you, What have you done to me, Get out, I hope I’m pregnant, …
He had to confess to her. Today. Or at the very least, get her to go out with him regularly. It was only now, that he was able to understand how all the girls that had confessed to him back in the past, must have felt even when he rejected them gently. You can’t reject someone without breaking a heart. He thought about how (y/n) could remind him that he was her lecturer, and how he would answer her. He would stop being a lecturer for her and tell his thesis to go to hell.
Another ten minutes of deep thinking further, he was starting to lose faith. He needed help. He cautiously untangled his limbs from (y/n)’s and got up from the bed, looking down as he felt that he was standing on fabrics that weren’t his. He was standing on her clothes. Apparently they didn’t get as far as he had believed them to go. He made no sound as he put on new boxers, black sweats and a grey tank top, stealing some glances back at (y/n) from time to time, until he left the room.
“Noona”, he called for his older sister, standing in the hallway in front of her door and he knocked a few times. As expected, she was awake and opened the door cheerfully, being a morning-person.
“Good morning. Come on in”, she said and she immediately turned around towards her desk to pick up the second earring that paired with the one she was putting in as she navigated through her room.
“You have to leave for work?” Chanyeol asked. His sister was a news anchor at CBS, and he never knew her schedule. Sometimes she worked on weekends as well.
“No, I’m going out with Tae Song this afternoon and I thought it’d be easier to get ready since I was in my morning routine anyways”, she explained, plugging in the other earring and turning around to face Chanyeol again. “You remember? Tae Song? The cute guy that now works as our director of photography?”.
“Why do that?” Chanyeol questioned, leaning against the doorframe. “You know he’s not your mate. Why waste time on him?” he raised an eyebrow at her.
“Because it is becoming really embarrassing at my age to not have dated”, she exclaimed. “Talking about mates”, she changed the subject and grasped her hair brush from her desk, “There’s a female in your room, I can smell it. The boys told me you met (y/n) at the festival last night. I guess she slept in?” She brushed through her hair for the fifth time that morning and checked with her hands whether it was still soft enough.
“Yeah about that”, Chanyeol closed the door behind him and walked inside. “We had sex”.
“You what?” His older sister immediately stopped in her tracks and eyed Chanyeol as if he had just made the biggest mistake of his entire life.
“I know”, Chanyeol sighed and walked over to her bed, seating himself on the edge with his head down.
“That was tremendously irresponsible of you”, his sister pointed out, following him with her eyes.
“I know”. The poor male raised his feet onto the bed, leaning his chin on his knees and holding onto his legs.
“Chanyeol, your bodies have gotten to know each other. They’ll want to be close to each other and if you don’t obey, you’ll get absence sickness. Seeing each other in lectures and recitations is not going to cut it anymore. Your body is going to retaliate”.
“I know”.
“Stop saying that you know. If you know then why did you do it?”
“I couldn’t help myself”, Chanyeol defended himself. He thought back of last night, how he was already struggling to stay gentle with (y/n). He remembered how he managed to keep his actions in check using a lot of willpower but glitched once, when he asked her if she was ready for the real deal. That sounded way out of place. Luckily, he had managed to redeem himself.
“Pabo! You know you have to be patient with human mates, take it slow".
“I’ve known her for three weeks already. Sehun and his mate-”
“They saw each other every day for two weeks. They dated for two weeks since the moment they met. Two weeks. That’s fourteen dates. How many did you have?” his older sister asked and she witnessed Chanyeol burying his head in his knees. “Right. I thought so”.
“What do I do?”. It was barely impossible to hear him, the sound muffled by the position he was in.
“We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry”, his Noona plopped down next to him and caressed his back. Chanyeol had been blessed with an older sister like her. She was always there for him. She would scold him, but then she would do everything she could to help him. “So… Let me get this straight. You two had sex. She’s now in your room. Did she mention anything to you about loving you or liking you? Is she still sleeping or have you two spoken already?”
“She’s still sleeping. Neither of us confessed anything last night”, Chanyeol summarized the facts.
“Ok…” His sister nodded. “Let me think” and she got up to pace around the room whilst Chanyeol raised his head towards her, feeling hopeless. “If I were her…” She thought. “Hmmm… Ah!”
“What?”
“I know!” She exclaimed. “What we’re going to do is… We’re going to make her feel at home and make sure she feels she’s welcome here despite being your student. That’s very important. And you, you’re going to tell her you like her”
“Ya! I could’ve come up with such a plan myself. Telling her I like her isn’t easy”, Chanyeol got up, slightly irritated. “Do you know how hard it is to mentally prepare yourself for the thousand ways she can reject me? I’m too nervous to do this. Besides, I don’t even know if I can get myself to say those words”.
“That’s why girls write love letters”.
“I’m not a girl, I’m not writing a love letter and perfuming it with roses”, Chanyeol crossed his arms stubborn.
“Then find another way”, his sister urged him. “Think, Chanyeol. You’re aiming for a PhD; how hard can it be to use your brains for something else than Neuroscience?”
Chanyeol kept pacing around his sister’s room. With his guitar, he had been working on a song for (y/n) in his free time, but the song wasn’t finished yet and he did not trust he could sing clearly without a twenty-minute warm-up. He first wanted to perfect it before singing it to her.
It felt like the Gods were helping him when his eyes caught sight of a small object on his sister’s desk. It was the perfect plan. “Hey, do you mind if I lend your voice recorder?”
Chanyeol snuck into his room again, holding onto some clothes he had lend from his older sister. He tip-toed towards the bathroom that was shared between his and Kyungsoo’s room and left them there, suddenly hearing (y/n)’s cries.
“Dad”, he heard her twist and turn her head in the bed and he ran towards her, finding her having a nightmare. She was pinching her closed eyes and sweat began to appear on her forehead.
Chanyeol climbed on to the bed and held her hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand to soothe her. It worked miraculously. After a few seconds, (y/n)’s complexion relaxed and she smiled in her sleep. Soon after, she opened her eyes.
“I – uh. Sorry. You were having a bad dream”, Chanyeol quickly let go of (y/n)’s hand and pushed himself back as to not seem like he invaded her private space.
“No, thank you. It helped”, (y/n) pushed herself up against the headboard, her palms flat on the matrass.
“You were calling for your dad. Had a dream about him?”, Chanyeol was worried. She had been sleeping peacefully until he had left her.
“When I get nightmares I always call for my dad. It’s a habit. Whenever I’m scared or nervous I always call for him in my mind… but he never shows. My dad raised me, but left when I was twelve. My parents weren’t on the same page when it came to parenting. They’re opposites. My dad was always there for me and he was sweet and kind and loving, while my mom is very strict with a large variety of rules and she prefers for me to suffer so I can become a strong and independent woman. She’s the one who made my dad leave.”
“I’m sorry”, Chanyeol felt sorry for her, but somewhere he was happy that she shared that with him. They were getting closer.
“It’s not your fault. He sends me letters. And gifts”, (y/n) smiled. “Every birthday, every important event in my life such as high school graduation, start of college. He doesn’t even miss Christmas. Last year he got me-”, she stopped midsentence and scratched the back of her head. “Wow, I’m not sure what’s with me today. I never told anybody about any of this” and let her head drop, only to discover she was still naked and her boobs were out in the open for Chanyeol to watch. “Oh my god and especially not naked”, she grabbed the sheets and pulled it over her, her head included.
“I swear I wasn’t watching”, Chanyeol laughed. He hadn’t even given them attention; he had been too focused on what she was saying for him to notice that they were on display. “I left some of my sister’s clothes in the bathroom. You can take a shower and change there”. He rubbed his hand on the blob in the sheets, knowing her head was there. “I’ll get you some water in the meanwhile. Your body has slept for an entire night and needs to hydrate”, he smiled at her shyly hidden posture under the sheets and got off the bed, leaving the room. Nevertheless, he turned around once more to catch a glimpse of her cuteness.
“I’m here”, Chanyeol’s sister walked in to the bedroom, her hands stuffed with several facial products.
“She just got out of the shower”, Chanyeol said, putting his guitar down. He had been trying to practice a little but was distracted by the scent of (y/n). She had used his male shower gel and it was a surprisingly attractive combination with her fragrance.
“Ah, perfect. I got Suho to help you out with that one thing, so don’t worry about that”, his sister walked towards the bathroom door.
“Noona”, Chanyeol called after her, wanting to say something but decided to hold his tongue.
“Don’t worry. I can sell the news, sure I can sell my little brother too”, she winked and knocked on the bathroom door. “(y/n)”, she called. “I’m Park Yoora. Chanyeol’s older sister. Mind if I come in?”
“Make-up remover, thought you might need it”, Yoora shook the bottle as she opened the door to the bathroom and witnessed (y/n) trying to clean her face with whatever she found in the bathroom that was used solely by males.
“You’re an angel”, (y/n) said and bowed to introduce herself. “I’m Jang (y/n)”. Yoora slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, but that didn’t mean Chanyeol couldn’t hear their conversation anymore. “You’re the news anchor?”
“Yes. That’s me. Look, I’ve got you completely covered. I’ve brought makeup removal, facial cleansing oil or, should you have oily skin, I also have milk based cleanser, tonic, essence, moisturizer”, Chanyeol heard all the bottles being thrown in the sink. So that’s how she was going to make (y/n) feel at home. “Overkill for your usual routine?”
“Only slightly. I don’t use essences or ampoules or masks or serums”.
“You wouldn’t say? From what I can see you have perfect skin. Can I touch it? Oooh it’s soft. Blessed with good skin and good features. You could pose as a siren”, Chanyeol bit his tongue in horror and shook the moment he heard the word Siren. Why wasn’t his sister cautious with her words?
“Pose as a what?”
“Ah nothing. I just meant… In Greek mythology you’ve got these women who looked very attractive and could sing and they lured sailors over and then ate them… Sirens. Man-eaters… You look like you could get any guy… In my head it sounded a lot less offensive, sorry”. Truth to be told, Sirens were a real thing. There were very few of them, maybe ten alive at the same time. Sirens, like witches, were part of nature and some were born without having magical parents. Unlike witches however, Sirens usually ate their men before they could get to the actual deed of procreation, which explained why there weren’t so many of them. None of them had sexual intercourse.
In the real world, Siren’s didn’t eat sailors but young males to keep their beauty and their psychological powers. They could compel anyone. They were masters of the mind and were considered amongst the most dangerous of creatures. They could adapt anyone’s memories, make people forget things, make people do things against their will, they could control anyone. To his luck, Chanyeol had never encountered one before and his mate couldn’t be one of them, or he’d be dead by now.
“It’s ok. I get where you were coming from, but a little farfetched”, (y/n) replied. Chanyeol let out a sigh, his sister managed to save the situation.
“You know… my brother usually doesn’t bring girls home. I know you’re one of his students but considering your ages I can understand that things turn out differently than what seems right. If my brother brought you here, I believe he thinks you’re special and if that’s the case, I need you to know that nobody here will judge either of you, no matter what you decide to do”.
“News travels fast, doesn’t it?”
“As a news anchor I can only confirm that”.
His sister had only left a few minutes ago and Chanyeol was patiently waiting for (y/n) to come out of the bathroom, sitting on his bed. He looked up as he heard her touch the doorknob to come out.
“Hey”, Chanyeol held up (y/n)’s red high heels. “I’ve got your red heels…”, he imagined how those would match the classic outfit Yoora composed of a light blue jeans and a white shirt. He looked up at her, trying to project the image onto her and out of his own will, traced the lines of her necklace that disappeared into her cleavage. That goddamn necklace. Just remembering its blackness already made him shudder.
“High heels in the morning, I prefer not”, (y/n) shook her head as she smiled. “I want to walk around flat for a while”.
“Of course. Do you need me to ask my sister-”
“I’m fine. I like walking around bare-footed. Even outside. My mom tells me to wear high heels the entire time, so I like walking around without them. I always do it when she’s not watching”. Chanyeol felt rejected, but nodded. “Would you know what the fastest way to the city is? I’ve slept in late and I’ve got one of those big Sunday family lunch dinners to attend to”. Every time (y/n) said she had to leave or wanted to leave, it left a cut on Chanyeol’s heart. He wanted her to stay with him and not leave anymore.
“I can drive you. It’s Sunday so there aren’t much busses to the city. Two today, I think”, he suggested instead.
(y/n) was waiting outside while Chanyeol was watching her from a window in the grand hallway of the Main mansion. He had told her he forgot his car keys and would go grab them, but he was planning something else. He had already send Suho a text to inform him of (y/n)’s location and that he was waiting for action.
This was the only way he could do it. He was too scared to say it out loud in front of her. Despite his looks, Chanyeol was a very sensitive person and worried too much, especially when he had to overcome the problems he had caused himself from being too impulsive.
There she was. Chanyeol saw a little girl, one of his wolf-pack, arriving with three balloons. There was one green, one yellow and one red balloon. She walked steady towards (y/n) and called for her once she was almost there.
“Unnie”. (y/n) looked at the little girl and squatted through her legs to make it easier for her.
“Hey there, little girl. Some beautiful balloons you’ve got there”, she beamed as she glanced at them.
“They told me to give them to you”.
“To me?!” (y/n) pointed at herself, her mouth slightly agape out of surprise.
“Together with this”. In her small hands, the girl had a small device that looked like an old mp3 player. A chord of in-ear earbuds was wrapped around it. “They said to press play”.
“They? Who are they?” (y/n) asked but the girl had vowed not to say anything. Once (y/n) grabbed hold of the device and the balloons, the girl turned around and ran away on her cute pink sandals. She had done her job.
(y/n) stood up and unwrapped the in-ear earbuds cord from the device, which revealed to be a voice recorder, and placed them in her ears, looking at the balloons briefly before pressing the play button.
(y/n)
He did not have to introduce himself. His voice stuck out really well and he knew she recognized his voice by seeing her so pleased.
Before I take you home, I have one small mission for you. In your hand you have three balloons. A green one, a yellow one and a red one. I’m going to tell you something and ask you a question. Then you will respond to me by letting go of the balloon that pairs with the answer of your choice. Red stands for No. Yellow stands for Maybe and Green stands for Yes.
You might call me crazy but I’m going to say it anyways. I like you. From the first lecture when you sat in my lecture hall, I have not been able to keep my eyes off of you. You have the most beautiful smile, you’re very sweet and kind. By the few I have seen from you, I can tell you have a good heart.
I have wanted to approach you since day one. If it hadn’t been because I am your lecturer I would’ve been blunter and sat down for a chat with you, asked you out, dated you, but I had always been too scared because it’s not done that a lecturer dates his student. So I took a distance.
Last night when I saw you at that festival, you can’t imagine how ecstatic I was, seeing you out of the university. I could not withhold myself, I had to talk to you. I swear, I didn’t plan on what happened last night, but it got me to believe that this thing, this thing that feels so right but what we’ve been taught is wrong, is a mutual feeling. You make my heart go badum badum badum. Being around you makes me really happy. I want to make you feel the same. I want you to be the happiest girl on earth. I want to be given the chance to lift you on cloud nine, because I am convinced that, regardless we still have to learn a lot about each other, that I can definitely bring you there.
So, what I would like to ask you. Will you be my girlfriend?
If nerves could kill, Chanyeol would’ve died by now. He could even hear his own recording and he knew it had finished. Which balloon was she going to let go?
(y/n) looked up at the balloons once again before fiddling in her purse to find a pen and a small notepad. She sank through her knees, using them to stable the notepad on it this time so she could write. This made Chanyeol even more nervous. How hard could it be to just let go of one?
And if he thought that was the most stressed one person could be, he had not anticipated seeing Buttercup on the scene.
“No no no no no. Not now. Please not now”, Chanyeol could see Buttercup holding a needle in her tiny hands to pop the balloons. “Throw a bucket of paint over my car instead but don’t do this, please”, he was begging, his hands clustered in his hair.
As if on cue to Chanyeol’s words, (y/n) turned her head around towards Buttercup who was nearing the green balloon. Of course she was going to pop the green one.
Chanyeol witnessed (y/n) watching in the direction of Buttercup, who was now so close to (y/n) and hidden behind her that he couldn’t even see the pixie anymore. What was happening? He had no idea but after ten seconds, (y/n) casually turned her head back to her notepad and continued writing whilst Buttercup was nowhere to be spotted. His Yes balloon was safe.
With her pen, (y/n) made a hole in the paper that she ripped off the notebook and fastened it onto the green balloon. She then stared only at that one and her lips finally lifted into a smile as she let go of it, tracing it with her eyes as the balloon carried her message into the sky.
“Found your car keys?”, (y/n) asked when Chanyeol came outside, walking down the porch.
“Better. Found myself a girlfriend”, he replied with a smirk.
“Oh? Who’s the lucky girl?” (y/n) grinned as she asked and Chanyeol went along.
“Some pabo that always called me Professor Park until last night. I really liked it when she used my first name”.
“I should try that, Assistant Professor Park”
“Oh so now you’re finally getting it right?” Chanyeol gave her a kiss on her forehead and then looked up at the two other balloons she was still holding on to.
“I’m just kidding. I’ll call you Chanyeol from now on, unless we’re in class”.
“Say that again”, he asked almost seriously.
“I’ll call-”
“No no. My name. My name”.
“Chanyeol”, she said in the sweetest voice she could. It was almost silly how much Chanyeol liked it.
“Good. You wrote something down on paper? A message for me I’ll never get?” he asked. He had no idea where that balloon would land. If he had known before, he would’ve asked one of the pack’s witches to use a spell on it.
“Nothing important. Just that your perfect ears and neck belong to me now”, she chuckled.
“My ears and neck?”, Chanyeol cracked.
“Don’t laugh, they really are outstanding features of you I really like”.
“Go easy on them, they have a lot of sensitive spots”.
“I promise!” she stuck out her hand flat like a girl’s scout. “Hey, just one thing. Why do I have to let go of the option I choose for? It doesn’t make sense that I let that one float away and hold onto the others. I should hold onto the one of my choosing. It’s not logical”
“Are you questioning me and my creative ideas?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at her but kept smiling. “You’re still holding onto the other ones because the choice that you’ve made is not an obligation. You hold those as a sign that you are aware that anytime, should you change your mind, you can still tell me No or Maybe. This should be something we both want”.
“I never looked at it this way”.
“Let’s get you home before you’re too late for lunch”.
As he got onto the highway towards the city’s centre, Chanyeol grasped hold of (y/n)’s hand. These were the little things he had always dreamed of doing with his mate. Holding hands whilst he drove was somewhere on top of that list. Her little palm fit perfectly in his large one. He was already dreaming about how, starting the same evening, he’d learn the pleasure of never-ending phone calls and texting now that he had entered his own number in her smartphone under the contact name Assistant Boyfriend Park.
They talked about a wide variety of subjects, including how Chanyeol’s mom and dad owned a pasta restaurant and a bar in the city respectively, covering the reasons they both went into neuroscience, which was the same fascination for the subject. (y/n) also elaborated on her dad that she talked about earlier that morning and before they knew it, they had arrived at their destination.
“I have five minutes left to get up there”, (y/n) pointed at the big hotel building, at one of the top floors. She had requested he drove her to the lunch venue, otherwise she was going to be late. “Important dinner it is, if it’s held in this hotel”, Chanyeol eyed the building and identified it as one of the most expensive hotels from the area.
“Yeah”, she put on her red heels.
“Text me when you’re home”, Chanyeol asked and (y/n) nodded.
“I will. You drive carefully”.
“Did I not drive carefully?”
“You did. But you had a girl with you. You pulled up suspiciously quick for someone who drives exactly the speed limit”, she beamed.
“I got caught, didn’t I?”
“You did”, (y/n) leaned in to Chanyeol and held her arm around his waist and so did Chanyeol, both of them puckering their lips onto each other, above the gear stick. Unlike the night before, their kiss was carefree loving and sweet. They both knew the other liked them, so they didn’t withhold their lips to tell the same.
Chanyeol immediately missed her when she got out of the car and disappeared into the hotel lobby. This was something he was never going to be able to fix. Missing her when she wasn’t with him. Having asked her to be his girlfriend, he could see her more often and avoid either of them having absence sickness. But it was still there, and it was a real threat.
“Kyungsoo-ah”, Chanyeol called for him in his car.
“Hyung”.
“I’ve seen three of them again, when I drove out of town”, Chanyeol pulled up and left back home. There was still a witch tomb to be cleaned today.
“The board is already investigating”, Kyungsoo assured him.
“It’s been five weeks now. They have been around our town for five weeks. What’s taking them so long? Why aren’t we informed?”
“Have you tried asking your parents? They’re on the board too”.
“Didn’t get the opportunity to. I’ll see if I can pay my home a visit tonight”
Author’s note: 40 minutes later than I promised + not my best writing. It has been a horrible week at work and I was too stressed out to even start writing when I came home from work.
Another wolf-finds-his-mate story, but I kicked it up a notch and created a whole new world around it.
Pairing: Chanyeol x Reader
Genre: Supernatural (EXO as wolves, but more species involved in the storyline)
Word count: 8912 words
Warning: Long read, Somewhat angsty, Dork! Chanyeol, five second sex scene that I have not written like I would write smut but more held-back, lots of things happening and after a while you won’t even be able to tell what the biggest problem is. I promise it’ll all make sense later on.
New to the series? Start your adventure here:Prologue(Don’t skip it, it contains info you’ll need later on.) The posts will always contain a link to the next part, unless that part hasn’t been posted yet.
Part 4
Chanyeol leaned his bum onto the table top of the chestnut brown, wooden desk, allowing him to compromise some of his tallness and spread his legs spaciously for (y/n) to stand in between them. Owing to his long legs, his dress shoes remained settled on the floor, though the idea to wrap them around her legs had emerged from his cerebrum several times. As if holding her waist in his arms was not enough, he wanted to capture her prisoner of love and hold on to her like there was no tomorrow.
He acted as much out of desire for her as out of necessity. Since the day they had intensified their mate-bond, Chanyeol would wake up to minor headaches that disappeared by virtue of a few kisses, hugs and minutes of physical contact, shared with his girl.
He wished for things to be different, but for now he had to make do with sneaking around like teenagers at locations where (y/n) was not supposed to be; empty lecture-hall back offices having the amplest space were at the top of Chanyeol’s preferred list. He felt guilty for urging her to have rendezvous with him like these. Unfortunately, there weren’t many other options considering the dangers of abstinence.
(y/n) didn’t seem too bothered with the situation as he imagined her to be. Be it the back office of a lecture hall for an elaborate make-out session or the janitor’s closet for a quick kiss, she seemed genuinely happy to be with him. She had only complained once, stating she had become unable to focus on the course material during his lectures because he was too attractive in both his looks and voice.
Surreptitiously, Chanyeol had been trying to find a solution to that problem and was planning to put some of those solutions to the test on their next legitimate date. From the get-go, he resolutely reserved illegal college appointments for experiencing and showing his love. He held no wish to squander their limited time together in explaining the process by which information is transmitted from the presynaptic cell to the postsynaptic cell, which change occurs in the postsynaptic cell and whatnot. He just wanted to be close to her. As simple as that. As simple as (y/n) holding onto his white shirt with her small clenched hands, as simple as their kiss. Slow but passionate, contributing to a whole new level of intimacy. It made Chanyeol’s heart do things inexplicable; slow down and skip at the same time.
“Aren’t you a sneaky little thing?” He pulled away unhurried, the tip of his nose brushing over (y/n)’s. Chanyeol opened his eyes to find hers were still closed and smiled at the thought of her enjoying their kisses as much as he did.
“How so?” (y/n) asked, opening her eyes to drown into Chanyeol’s.
“You’ve been holding onto my shirt for less than five minutes and somehow you’ve managed to pull it out of my pants. Go on like that for an hour and I’ll be naked".
“Sorry!” (y/n) laughed and let her head fall in the crook of Chanyeol’s neck to hide her embarrassment, causing her grasp on his shirt to tighten haphazardly. When she noticed, she decided to draw them around his waist instead, capturing him between her arms.
“You’re too cute”, Chanyeol chuckled and gave her a kiss on the head. He rested his chin upon her hairs as he combed through them with his long fingers. “Hey, promise me you’ll stay the night tomorrow?” he whispered, maybe because he was aware those kind of requests were not what one would call taking things slow; it was barely the fifth day he could address her as his girlfriend. Then again, nothing in their relationship was normal. Lecturer-Student relationship, sex after a first non-official date. Rationally, he blamed everything on their magical bond but emotionally, he couldn’t help but blame it on his feelings for her that grew stronger by the minute.
(y/n) nodded silently, then nuzzled her head deeper into Chanyeol’s neck.
“Promise!” Chanyeol requested as he smiled broadly to her response. He had felt her nod but still wanted to hear her say it, just because it would spike his happiness.
(y/n) untangled herself from Chanyeol, staring deep into his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck instead. “I swear on Charles Sherrington’s and Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s graves that I will find an indisputable excuse for when my mom hears me out on why my bed remained unslept on a Friday night”
“Swearing on the founding fathers of neuroscience’s graves. That’s a heavy promise”, Chanyeol said. “Now add the part where you’re going to spend that night with me, and swear it on Otto Loewi’s grave”, he demanded with a smirk.
“Who the hell is that?”, (y/n) burst into laughter, causing Chanyeol to laugh along with her as he explained.
“Module three point two. We saw it yesterday. Neuroscience and behaviour lecture. His frog experiment that won him the Nobel prize?” He remembered how he re-read the third module on Monday afternoon for teaching purposes and how the textbook mentioned the funny details on how Loewi awakened one night with the sudden idea, wrote it down on a note, went back to bed and then woke up unable to read his own note. The next night, Loewi woke up to the same idea and rushed to the laboratory instead.
“Sorry, I can’t recall”, (y/n) shook her head as she tried to regain composure from her laughter. Bad student, Chanyeol thought. You’re ought to read the modules before the lectures. Then again, back in his days he wasn’t any better so he held his tongue. “So Otto Lewis’s grave it is?”
“Otto Loewi”, Chanyeol articulated. “Not Lewis”.
“That’s what I said!”
“No, it’s not”, he shook his head, earning a pout from (y/n). “Fine, for once I’ll do with Otto Lewis, whoever he may have been. He better be worth a lot”, Chanyeol made a mental note to google that name later on.
“I solemnly swear on Otto Louis’s grave I will spend the entire night in your presence”. Chanyeol shook his head, hearing another wrong pronunciation of the name Loewi. She’s never going to get that right, he sighed to himself, and hoped she’d get it right in writing.
“Ah, we got a lot of work to do”, Chanyeol pulled her close to him again, wrapping her in a tight hug.
__
There were many perks to a small town. Even more to a small town with mainly supernatural inhabitants that had impeccable hearing skills. The alpha’s long howl was audible for the entire pack throughout the town. As each family contained at least one wolf, information could be passed on quickly, allowing emergency gatherings to be organised last-minute.
It was to say the least unusual that they had requested all adults to gather in the barn. In fact, it was the first time this ever happened, as far as Chanyeol could recall. All non-adults were requested to gather in the Main mansion or to be brought there by their parents for babysit arranged just in the nick of time for the meeting, whilst the adults fidgeted to find a good spot beside their preferred groups of friends or family.
This was what a real pack looked like. Not small groups of ten or twenty people, but an entire legacy of people, most descendant from one same wolf that existed a thousand years ago. Taking into account not only the wolves but also all mates, be them wolves, witches or humans and large groups of lost pack-members killed at devastating battles throughout history, two hundred would be the more accurate number.
For a wolf pack, this was not an exceptionally large number. South Korea had three big wolf packs, according to Chanyeol’s knowledge, and one of them was rumoured to have at least double the amount of members. As for the biggest one known? Russia, apparently, rumoured to have a pack consisting out of no less than a thousand members.
There were also smaller wolf packs, but they were in the vast minority compared to the large ones. The only way to create a new pack is for one to become an omega and start a new pack from one’s offspring. Wolves, being herd animals, however, rarely left their pack, the only frequent recurring exception being when one found their mate in another pack. This would cause a non-wolf member of the pack to move to the wolf’s pack, and if both were wolves, the one with the smallest pack would move to the bigger pack.
To manage such large groups, most alpha’s opted for having their own advisory board or council, much like mundane politics. Every six years, adult members of Chanyeol’s pack could vote on who they preferred to be on the board, the only difference being that there was no political war nor contestants or advertisement to endorse people. People just chose who they deemed fit for the position. Last time, it had caused Chanyeol headaches, not knowing if he’d vote for his mom or his dad. Unable to make a decision, he ended up flipping a coin when he was in front of the ballot and to his luck, both his parents made it onto the board.
The lucky one, or maybe unfortunate one, - Chanyeol could never tell if it was a blessing-, to be the alpha of their enormous group? Joonmyeon’s father Kim Yongha. He had become their alpha after killing their previous one, a result of a policy which stated that alpha’s should be killed when they reach the age of eighty. Enough reasons not to sign up for becoming the next himself, Chanyeol thought as he tried to squirm himself through the huge amount of inhabitants with a can of beer at hand, looking for his friends. Thanks to his wolf abilities, he had found them quickly.
“We saved you a seat”, Jongin patted on the square straw bale next to him. As usual, it was the young adults that secured the spots to sit on. Chanyeol plopped down on the bale, taking another sip from his drink.
“You’re late. You were calling (y/n)?”. Minseok, who was sitting behind him on the straw bale, hovered his head between Jongin and Chanyeol’s shoulder.
“I’m not late. It hasn’t even started yet”.
“You’re avoiding the question. How is the absence sickness?” Minseok asked instead.
“Slight headaches in the morning but we’re making up for that tomorrow”, Chanyeol tried to stay cool about it. He wasn’t going to tell them how he would sneak (y/n) into places she was not supposed to be at, at College, for make-out sessions. His friends were well aware of their Lecture-Student relationship and providing them with such details would just feed their dirty imaginations. Chanyeol knew some of them could not help but think of their statuses as some sort of fetish in the bedroom.
“Oooooooh. Huge fireworks tomorrow night”, Jongin laughed and Chanyeol gave him a dead glare, remembering how he still had to kill Baekhyun for timing the festival’s fireworks to the minute he found ‘his release’. He turned to look behind him, finding Baekhyun playing a game of cards with Kyungsoo, then back in front of him to the wolf pack. Maybe now was not the right time to do so
“Your parents really didn’t tell you anything?” Minseok figured it’d be best to switch subjects.
“They didn’t”, Chanyeol shook his head, sipping from the can once more and looking in front of him to the huge crowd that had gathered.
“That’s curious. Your parents tell you everything”, Jongin pointed out.
“We don’t have a witch in the family to do privacy spells and with an entire town full of supernatural hearing wolves who could pass by our house and overhear everything, that can mean only one of two things. Either they’ve got no clue what’s going on, or something bad is happening”, Chanyeol said, assuming that if his parents withheld information from him, it’d be not to cause panic in the entire town.
“I guess we’re ought to find out now, aren’t we?” Minseok nodded. “This is what the meeting’s for, right?”
“I guess. I don’t see why else”, Jongin agreed.
From the looks of it, their group was not the only one who had been left guessing on what the fuzz was about. Many of the pack members seemed confused, turning the entire event in a bring-your-own-booze festivity. Some believed that this assembly meant exceptionally good news, reason enough to start the party early and drink away, whilst others suspected bad news, also reason enough to get a head start on the alcohol. Compared to others, Chanyeol conveyed the impression of a good boy with his plain beer.
Although it was not in Chanyeol’s hearing focus, he noticed immediately the sound of a candle that was blown out, hinting the board had finished their private pre-discussion. He was not the only one, as everyone suddenly fell silent and turned their heads into the direction of the board members that marched inside the barn, the alpha in their middle.
The board members spread to stand with their families, Chanyeol’s dad joining Yoora. His mom did not seem to be present. Maybe she’s on babysit-duty, Chanyeol thought. Their alpha, Joonmyeon’s dad, however, secured a place in the middle of the barn.
“May I have your attention please”, he broke the silence and raised his voice so that even non-wolf pack members could hear him clearly. Chanyeol could barely see Yongha as he did not stand on a platform or foundation to stick out from the crowd. “First of all, I’d like to express my extreme gratitude for everyone who without doubt had other important matters to attend to and had to abandon those responsibilities in order to join us for this emergency announcement”. Damn, he always blows things up as if we all live extremely busy lives. I was just calling (y/n), Chanyeol thought. Loosen up, alpha.
“As many of you have gathered, this meeting covers our official statement concerning all the reports of strange mundane behaviour, we have been fortunate to receive from many of you”. You make it sound like it’s a good thing, Chanyeol remembered how he first informed his parents of the bizarre demeanours.
“I, your alpha, and the board would like to express our apologies for the investigation to have taken so long since it was not a frivolous matter to investigate as we have done many in the past. You see… it appears that our town, our inhabitants, we, you, are being watched. We are being observed by none other than the South Korean government as a result of an unresolved incident that took place mid-August. I, and the board, we fear we have been discovered as wolves and that we are being threatened to be either massacred or turned into living experiments”. High-pitched deep inhales could be heard from mainly women, fright striking them. Human mates clung onto their wolf partners in search for protection. In Chanyeol’s group of friends, calmness remained. They knew their alpha would not provide them this information without offering a solution.
“From the information we have been able to gather, the government is checking with the army to invade our town. We have examined our options and concluded that moving our entire pack is not one of them. Finding a new home will not settle the issue and neither will many of you be willing to leave behind all the memories that have been created here. This town is too precious to all of us. This is our home”, people nodded in agreement. “We have contacted our ally-packs to request help in resolving this matter and following the code, there will be no blood-shed. We are kind-hearted and we are proud of that. We will not harm any South Korean citizen, even if they pose a threat to us, just because they have been requested to carry out a task. Is that clear?”
“Clear”, all wolves shouted in unison. Some Yes’s could be heard, uttered by the human mates who had no idea how to respond to the alpha. Despite being threatened, there was a gargantuan feeling of solidarity.
“We are no vampires or sirens, but for now a massive human brainwash is our only option. Starting tomorrow we will be providing temporary housing for witches from other packs and together with our witches, we are certain that we will find a human way for them to forget everything they know. In addition to this, the board has decided to implement some additional rules for you to follow until a vast plan of action is decided. Note that these rules apply with immediate effect. Rule number one. No-one, no single exception, will take on their wolf-form until further notice. Not in our town, not in our woods, nowhere! Remember that you could be followed as an individual”. We can hear when they’re nearby, Chanyeol thought, but was immediately shook when the alpha raised his voice as if it was aimed at his thoughts. “NO EXCUSES. Equal goes for the witches under us. No magical activities shall take place without permission of the board”.
“Second rule. Nobody leaves town without permission. Right now we have no estimation on when they are planning to invade our town and we want to make sure that when they do, we are at our strongest, should we have no concrete plan of action yet. For that, we need everyone present. We are betting our luck that they have not figured out the majority of our abilities and the presence of witches and we will most certainly make use of that advantage in case of need. The only approved exception for now, concerns our children who may leave for school in groups. As customary, a bus will leave in the morning to drop the children at school and will pick them up. University students, employees and self-employed adults stay here. For those in need of proof of illness, Doctor Oh will help you with that”.
Chanyeol’s eyes widened. He was not allowed to leave town anymore? He was not allowed to go to College for his lectures? He was not allowed to go see his mate?! No, they had to make an exception for him. He would become useless if he couldn’t see his mate. He’d get absence sickness. They would understand that he couldn’t ask a human mate to move in with him after a few weeks, right?! How was he supposed to explain to his mate that he was fit enough to see her in his town, but not to lecture?
“Additional questions?” Yongha shouted.
“What was the incident?” Chanyeol recognized Jaemin, one of the wolf students he had over the summer, his father speak up. “The incident… you mentioned it was caused by an unresolved incident”, he swallowed deeply, fearing he was not allowed to ask that question. Yongha sighed, emotional pain visible in his eyes.
“It was a wolf… A wolf who killed a twenty-two-year-old male college student in our woods”, he responded, not raising his voice anymore. He was in deep thoughts with the boy and his family. “Apparently, similar incidents have happened across Seoul since that day. Many… serial killers… make their first victim close to home and that’s why they chose to keep a close eye on us. Most probably, we are falsely being accused for murder”.
Grief covered the entire barn. One would think that in a supernatural world, homicide was a regular occurring thing. Part of that may be true, but this did not apply for wolf packs. Wolves were love-hung, kind-hearted, compassionate creatures. To them, murder was unforgivably horrendous and happened scarcely ever, which only raised more questions as to which rogue wolf would turn serial killer.
“You boys stay in the Main mansion”, Chanyeol’s father was suddenly standing next to him and his friends. “We don’t want an empty house for them to prepare their last ammunition or… whatever. I imagine you’re all going to spend a lot of time together anyways, with the town-arrest. You might as well live together. Better make a party of it, but don’t get drunk”
“You sound like we’re counting our last days, Papa Chanyeol”, Yixing pointed out. “What’s the use of partying if we can’t get drunk?”
“You can have fun without. Besides, I don’t want to see you drunk. You already look like you’re on weed half of the time; I don’t want to see the combo”.
“If I thought you did, I wouldn’t have mentioned it so casually. Relax”. Chanyeol’s dad then turned to his son, who had become exceptionally quiet. “Hey, what’s wrong? We’re going to get through this, promise”, he flashed his son a small smile.
Chanyeol sighed deeply. “The plan isn’t remarkably promising, is it?” His dad took a seat next to his son on the straw bale, giving him a few pats on his back.
“There are still many things to sort out first, with the arrival of other pack’s witches”, his father nodded. “I know that’s not reassuring but our pack has survived worse throughout history. You read our history books, you should know. Besides, they’ve been watching us for weeks already. I’m certain we’ll have a waterproof plan before they invade. What happened to my ever so optimistic Chanyeol?”
“It’s just a really bad timing”, Chanyeol traced his fingers through his hair, then scratched his jaw nervously.
“If there’s anything I can do for you”, his dad gave him a few more pats on the back.
“Dad”, Chanyeol looked up to face his dad for the first time, his eyes twinkling in a begging sadness. “I need an allowance to go to college. You can give me that, right?”, he asked. His dad was going to give him at least that much, right? Considering his situation.
“Son, you know I’m really proud of you? You’ve grown up a lot and you feel responsible to teach those bachelor students, but you don’t have to feel guilty about this. Just stay home”.
“Pa, you don’t understand-”,
“Of course I do. Your mom and I are closing our businesses as well. It’s just temporary. You can work on your thesis instead and like that, your time won’t go-”
“No no no, dad”, Chanyeol cut him off, slightly panicking and shaking his hands in front of him to show his disagreement. “You really don’t understand. I need…”, he felt a bit shy to say it and lowered his head to watch the straw-covered floor. “I need… skinship”, his heart skipped a beat when he uttered the last word.
“You need what?”, his dad raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of the term before. Despite being a cool dad, engaging in music and having his own bar, he was not up to date on the present-day slang words used by the youthful adults.
“You know…”, Chanyeol exhaled deeply, having to go in detail. “Touching… kissing- I have a mate!”, he blurted it out. Although it had been no secret to his friends, the friends of his friends and his sister, his parents had no clue on the recent developments in Chanyeol’s love life.
“You found your mate?” Chanyeol’s dad’s face lit up, excited. “Why haven’t I met her yet? She works at your college?” He bombarded his son with questions. “Why didn’t you tell us? What’s her name? What’s she like? How far-”
“Dad!” Chanyeol interrupted him, stomping his feet. “Stop! She’s one of my students, alright?” Chanyeol’s frustration had caused not only his friends, but also some of the people standing in the barn, to shift their focus onto him. Great, just great, Chanyeol thought. Now everyone knows I’m screwing one of my students. Could this day get any worse?
“Eh”, his dad wasn’t sure what to respond. “Well…”, he looked around discovering various eyes on him, awaiting his response, and concluded he had to handle the situation as mature as possible. “That’s… unfortunate”.
Oh, really? Chanyeol judged his father’s observation and was boiling inside as a result from all the unwanted attention he was getting. On the outside, he tried to remain calm as his father contemplated on what to say.
“I admit I’m not a fan of those kind or relationships, but if she’s your mate, I have no doubt that what you’re both feeling is pure and I fully support you”.
“My husband was married when I was hired by his pregnant wife as their cleaning lady and at first, we had an affair for-”, an elder woman started telling her unfortunate wolf love-story to the people around her, causing others to turn their heads into another direction.
“Alright Grandma. Everyone knows that story”, her granddaughter interrupted her and tried to calm her down. Chanyeol chuckled. He wasn’t the only one who had overstepped boundaries.
“Listen, son, I’m not the one who can grant you permission to leave town, only Yongha can. I’ll need some details on how advanced your relationship with this girl is but we’ll do that at home, ok?”
__
Chanyeol was being Chanyeol. There was no other way to explain or bring into words the idiocy of the situation. When he was in his element, he did not hold back the dork within him. He was the type to get over-excited over the most foolish things and go all-in whenever an opportunity rose for him to act like a buffoon. He should’ve worked in the entertainment industry.
Chanyeol was testing one of the solutions he had come up with to handle the attractiveness-problem. He knew the solution he was to test first, was going to flunk terribly, but he still wanted to see how far he could go with his stupidity for (y/n) to handle. Quite frankly, he needed this. He needed this to take his mind off his other problems. Whilst the witches were searching for a solution to the army-threat and he was waiting for permission to leave town, life went on, and he still had some conquering to do. He had to get his girl to become as comfortable as possible with him before he’d break to her about being a wolf.
The ceiling of his room was decorated with a bunch of helium-filled balloons in an expanded diversity of colours, one of his new preferred objects; the green ones being his absolute favourite. Dressed in nothing less than a ridiculous white-pink rabbit-onesie, (y/n) stared at him with mouth agape as she watched him jump up to try and catch hold of one of the wires that hung loose from the balloons.
“And you also said my voice was too attractive”, Chanyeol grinned and untangled the wire from the balloon he had caught, guiding the mouthpiece to his lips and inhaling deeply from the inflated material. “So, Otto Loewi”, he sounded like a chipmunk. (y/n) let herself fall onto her back, on the bed, from laughter. Her tears were evident in her eyes. She hit Chanyeol’s giant Rilakkuma several times with her palm, unable to restrain herself from rolling in the aisles. When she finally started to regain her composure, Chanyeol inhaled from the balloon once more.
“He won the Nobel prize for his frog experiment that-”, he couldn’t finish his sentence before he found his girlfriend bursting into laughter again, holding onto Rilakkuma for support to stay seated.
“Grant the frog some attention, princess”, Chanyeol said in his normal voice after (y/n) stopped snorting, leaning his hand on his hip impatiently but looking amused himself.
“I thought you were a bunny, not a frog”, (y/n) wiped away her tears.
“Oh no, I am a frog”, Chanyeol inhaled what was left of helium in the balloon. He then crouched down, his hands flat on the floor between his knees, pretending to be one. “Kiss me, princess”.
“Ieuw yuk”, (y/n) giggled.
“Kiss me kiss me kiss me”, Chanyeol demanded, still in his high-pitched helium voice, puckering his lips and closing his eyes.
“No, gross!” He had a cushion thrown to his head.
“If the princess doesn’t kiss the frog, how can he ever turn in a prince huh?” Chanyeol pouted, back with his normal, deep voice.
“Never!”
“I guess the frog will have to take the initiative then”, Chanyeol jumped towards (y/n) in his frog posture. When he reached the bed, (y/n) jumped off it quickly, trying to run. A one-minute chase later however, Chanyeol had managed to corner her, locking her in against a wall, sitting down.
(y/n) pretended as if she found him disgusting as his lips got closer to hers, pinching her eyes fearful and trying to pull away further against the wall. Chanyeol gave her a slow kiss, lingering onto her lips for a few seconds before he pulled away and she opened her eyes.
“Ya! Why are you still a frog?”, she played along and raised her voice at him, finding him in his frog position still.
“Because it’s you who has to do it!”, Chanyeol defended. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad, was it? Just kiss me already”. Still acting as if she was disgusted by the frog, (y/n) gave him a hasty peck.
“See. You’re still a frog! Hopeless case! You’re just a frog”, she complained.
“Aren’t you the most impatient princess ever? Magic takes time! It won’t work with such a quick kiss. Do it properly!” (y/n) eyed Chanyeol out of disbelief. He could imagine her thoughts. How was this her lecturer? How was this her boyfriend? Nevertheless, a few seconds later she complied and leaned in, swinging her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer for a deep, sweet kiss. She can definitely handle the idiot within me, Chanyeol thought, no, she loves the idiot within me. He leaned forward so his knees sank to the ground as she kissed him, transforming from a frog into a prince.
“Where’s my prince? All I see is a man-child”, (y/n) pouted.
“What?” Chanyeol’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t like me?”
“Give me back the frog. I liked him better”.
“Ya! You’re really a rude princess!” Chanyeol shouted at (y/n). There was a short moment of silence before (y/n) finally spoke, sticking her lip out.
“How is it that I find this bunny-with-a-chipmunk-voice-pretending-to-be-frog person so charming?” The comment made Chanyeol’s face lit up.
“Because you like meeeeeeee!” He sang happily.
__
(y/n)’s nails pinched into Chanyeol’s back as she held on to him closely, her heavy breaths aligned perfectly to Chanyeol’s movements. With the same frequency, his mind flooded with the thoughts of how much he loved this girl he was being intimate with, how he wanted to be even closer to her. He sank his lips to her neck, planting kisses at her most sensitive spots which caused some moans to escape from (y/n)’s lips.
Getting a kick out of (y/n)’s sonority, Chanyeol continued leaving pecks in her neck when all of a sudden, he felt an excruciating pain in his mouth. His wolf fangs were forcing their way out beyond the bounds of his will. He had the begrudging need to mark her as his mate and tried to force his fangs back in but the more he tried, the more his body retaliated. He felt his chartreuse yellow eyes rise to the surface, too and he knew he would not be able to hold back if he didn’t get out of bed soon.
“Sorry”, Chanyeol quickly shot up from the bed and ran towards the bathroom, smacking the door closed with a loud bang after he entered. Hastily, he locked the door, switched on the lights and observed himself in the mirror. His fangs had come out completely. Touching one gently with his index finger, he tried to use his wolf-powers to suck them back in, without result.
He let the tab water run, splashing some of the cold water in his face in hopes of his wolf eyes and canine teeth disappearing, but nothing he did have any effect.
“Chanyeol, are you ok?” he heard (y/n) knocking silently on the door, concerned.
“I-” He tried to think of an excuse. “Eh- I’ve got something in my eye. It stings”, he made up through his fangs.
“I can have a look. Maybe there’s something in it”, (y/n) offered but Chanyeol was quick to refuse her help.
“No, it’s ok. I get this more often”, he lied.
“You should let a doctor check that. Wash it out with some water”, she advised him.
“Yeah I will. You go back to bed already, I’ll join you once I’m done”, Chanyeol assured her.
“Oh, ok”. He heard she was disappointed for not being allowed to help whilst she strolled back to the bed.
__
Chanyeol opened the door to Soo’s coffee House, gesturing for (y/n) to walk inside first as he held the door open for her. He was in real gentleman mode today, contradictory to his squirrelly behaviour of the night before. It was a tee bit of an interesting paradox as to which Chanyeol would surface for his girlfriend. Sometimes it’d be the dorky one, mostly the sweet one, but either were equally adorable and lovable and he never failed to make his girl smile when he was around.
(y/n) stood still in the opening, waiting for Chanyeol to follow her inside and guide her further as she admired the place’s interior. Brick walls, fireplace, dark wooden tables and chairs, Bordeaux and beige couches. It screamed the perception of being home. No wonder Chanyeol promised it to be one of the most interesting places in town. He had just given her a tour around town, a two hour walk, Soo’s coffee house being the final stop.
They weren’t the only customers. In a corner close to the bar, an elder man was sitting. Spread at the table section, there were a few others enjoying their coffee, each of them entirely alone. With everything that was going on, many had to take some time to clear their thoughts, Chanyeol thought.
He slid his hand to hold (y/n)’s waist, guiding her towards a Bordeaux couch at the fireplace. As they both took a seat, Chanyeol quickly grasped something what looked like a thick but not too heavy medieval book from the coffee table in front of them.
“Ladies first”, he handed it over to (y/n) who kindly took it from Chanyeol’s hands and stared at the cover before opening it. It was made out of leather and had an old flap binding. From the sides, you could spot that if not real, the parchment inside was an exact replica of the animal membrane. “It’s the menu”, Chanyeol explained. “The first four pages are the menu and all the rest are, or used to be blank pages in which people can write with those feathers”, he pointed back at the coffee table that had three small jars of ink and two feather quill pens, one with a white feather and one with a Persian blue feather.
Curious, (y/n) opened the book in the middle and flipped through the pages, looking for the last piece of text someone left. To her surprise however, the writings were spread throughout the entire book, leaving open pages in between. “Ah yes, people write on random pages so you can’t tell which one someone wrote. They’re scared someone would check after them”, Chanyeol leaned over her shoulder to read along.
“She seems scared”, (y/n) said, hazarding a wild guess that the note she landed on was written by a female. The handwriting was very neat and elegant.
“It’s part of the concept. You can come in here and write your thoughts. If you’re scared, if you’re depressed or frustrated. Seldom, you will find a happy writing in those books. Most people use metaphors throughout their entire writing so people can’t tell what’s really going on but when you read through them, you can feel the emotion and you know you’re not alone. If there’s one coffee house where you’re not judged for coming in alone, it’s this one”, Chanyeol said.
“You wrote in these books too?”, (y/n) asked, lifting her head to the ceilings as she noticed that there was also very relaxing and lyricless music playing in the background.
“Sure. In several of them. Maybe one day you can tell which one is my handwriting and you can hunt through all the books looking for my entries, hmm?” He didn’t mind that much. Before she was going to be able to tell which one was his, he’d have a stable relationship with her without wolf-secrets. Part of him hoped that one day, she’d read his memo’s about his worries concerning her and she’d fall in love with him all over again.
“I like this place. I’m going to come here more often”, (y/n) flipped to the first pages and scanned the menu. “I think I’m going to go for the milk-tea-flavoured bubble tea”, she nodded after going through the options again.
“No coffee?”, Chanyeol frowned. “Kyungsoo has the best coffee you’ve ever ta-”
“And I believe you”, (y/n) stopped him. “But I’m a tea person”, she flashed a smile at him.
“Please tell me you’re not like my friend Sehun who’s obsessed with bubble tea”, Chanyeol pouted.
“Haha, no”. Chanyeol got up from the couch.
“I’ll go make the order. Also part of the concept… My friend Kyungsoo doesn’t want to disturb anyone so if you need anything, you have to go to the bar. Be back in a jiffy, ok?” he asked and (y/n) nodded.
“Double espresso with little milk, no sugar and a milk-tea-flavoured bubble tea?” Kyungsoo asked when Chanyeol arrived at the bar. He was a regular customer and Kyungsoo knew by heart his order. As for (y/n)’s, he heard using his wolf abilities.
“Exactly”, Chanyeol leaned his elbows on the bar, waiting patiently.
“She’s cute. Wish we got to spend some time together to get to know her, too”, Kyungsoo started working on the bubble tea.
“I’m waiting to meet Miss. D.O. as well. When is she coming along?”
“I don’t know. Five years from now?”
“Let’s hope not”, Chanyeol turned his head back to steal a glance at (y/n) who had started making her very own first entry in one of the menu’s. “Hey, would you happen to know what factor activates the involuntary need to mark one’s mate?” he then asked.
“I’m not sure. Why?” Kyungsoo poured syrup on the black boiled tapioca pearls. “Wait”, he realised and put down the syrup. “Are you there already? Was that what I heard yesterday? When she was asking if you were alright?”
“This growing onto your human mate thing is becoming difficult. First she’s my student, second I meet her during mating season and now I can barely touch her without feeling the need to mark her. Someone up there must be finding a lot of joy in giving me a hard time”, Chanyeol sighed.
“I’m convinced that’s not the case”, Kyungsoo consoled him. “I’d switch places with you pronto to have my mate”, he explained. “Anyhow, I think it has to do something with the mate herself. My mom always told me that when this happened to dad, she was ready to be marked and wanted to be marked. I’m not sure it’s the same for human mates. It rarely happens for them”.
“I haven’t even explained mine the concept of marking, how would she be ready for it?”
“It’s possible if she’s deeply in love with you”, Chanyeol heard a man sitting in a corner whisper. The grey-haired, older wolf had been eavesdropping on them. “Maybe you should consider telling her that you’re a wolf. I’m certain she can take it”, he kept reading his newspaper as if he wasn’t talking.
“How is it that I’ve known from the start this moment would arrive and I haven’t spared a single second to think about how I’m going to tell her?” Chanyeol cursed himself and ran his hand through his hair.
“One piece of advice”, the older man whispered back. “Don’t transform in front of her. Not until she has gotten used to the idea of you being a wolf. You can show off your eyes but don’t turn completely until she’s gotten comfortable with the idea. For humans, it’s a scary experience at first”. Not that transforming was allowed at the moment, Chanyeol thought. Nevertheless, it was good advice to begin with.
“You know what they say, Chanyeol”, Kyungsoo encouraged him. “If you’re destined mates, you will find the perfect way to convey the message”, he shoved the bubble tea and coffee to Chanyeol. “There you go”.
“Thanks”. Chanyeol turned around and looked at the old man with his newspaper, whispering another thanks to him as well, resuming his walk back to the Bordeaux couch where (y/n) was sitting.
“Here you go”, he handed the bubble tea over to her and she gave him a quick kiss to thank him. She placed the menu back on the coffee table.
“The ink dries fast”, she pointed out. Yeah, because the witches spelled all the goddamn books, Chanyeol remembered.
“Lucky you. Wait until I’m sitting here to correct your exam papers. I’ll find your entry straightaway”, he scoffed.
“There’s no name on those, only student numbers”, (y/n) reminded him. “Anti-discrimination policy”.
“What makes you think I don’t know yours by heart?”, he teased back.
“You’re not being fair!”, her tone sounded disappointed but she smiled. “You weren’t planning on giving me straight A’s were you? If I deserve an F, I want an F”.
“I swear I wasn’t. And why would you think you’re going to fail? This girl… You complained you couldn’t pay attention to my teaching and when I came up with a working solution, it appeared you had studied by yourself last Thursday evening. You don’t even need to come to my lectures…” Chanyeol made a long face.
(y/n) placed her bubble tea on the coffee table and turned ninety degrees so she could lay with her head in Chanyeol’s lap. “I wouldn’t want to miss those for the world”, she assured him. Chanyeol held on to one of her hands, running his thumb in circles over her hand’s back.
“I don’t want to go home”, she suddenly wailed. “I want to stay here with you”, she nestled her head against Chanyeol’s abs.
“It’s already close to noon. Your mom is going to get worried”, Chanyeol didn’t like the idea of parting ways either but tried to stay rational. In his town, their relationship was well known, but outside, it had to stay a huge secret. She couldn’t go home and tell she had found herself a boyfriend.
“She doesn’t get worried, only angry”, (y/n) corrected him. Chanyeol looked down at his girlfriend with her head resting on his thighs, her eyes closed. She was snuggling close to him as if she was looking for comfort from experiencing a nightmare.
“Hey”, Chanyeol asked silently. “Your mom… You mentioned she was very strict. She-”, he paused a second, scared to ask. “She doesn’t beat you up, does she?” (y/n)’s eyes shot open and she lifted herself from his lap.
“She used to”, she admitted silently, but immediately defended her. “Only a little! And it hasn’t happened in years anymore, I do everything she asks me to!” Chanyeol’s eyes grew wide, staring at her in disbelief. Was she telling him that it was alright?
“This is a serious matter. Why didn’t you tell me before? What would happen if you don’t follow her orders, would she still get physical?” He asked worried.
“I don’t know”, she looked down, not willing to face Chanyeol as she answered.
“Ok, now you’re lying to me”, Chanyeol read her. “Was that why you didn’t pick up last Wednesday? I couldn’t reach you the entire evening. What happened that day?!” He was connecting dots and determined to get to the bottom of it.
“Nothing”, (y/n) responded, slightly panicking. “Like I said, I fell asleep early”.
“Stop feeding me lies”, Chanyeol raised his voice. He was losing control over himself because he was concerned and cared deeply for her.
“Chanyeol, stop. You’re making her uncomfortable. She’s not ready to tell you this”, Chanyeol growled when he heard Kyungsoo whisper those words to him from the bar. “If you keep this up, she’s going to distance herself from you and you’ll both be worse off”.
“I swear, nothing happened. You can check. I’ve got no bruises or cuts or anything”, she stuck out her arms. “You would’ve noticed yesterday”. Chanyeol reminisced about the night before, how he had traced his fingers over her entire skin. She was right. He would have noticed.
“Promise me you’ll come to me when this kind of thing happens”, he begged instead, taking hold of her hands in his.
“Yeol-ah”, she asked with a low voice as her eyes twinkled. “I have to tell you something. Can you promise me you won’t get mad?”
“Of course”, he raised one of her hands to his lips, giving it a kiss.
“My mom wants me to marry Hae-Won”, she confessed. “I know I’m your girlfriend but I have to go on another date with him tonight”. Chanyeol’s mind turned blank. It took him a few seconds to process the information, causing him to lose control over his temper when it finally hit him.
“Hae-Won?! That annoying latecomer who hangs around you the entire time during my lectures?”, Chanyeol’s voice rose through the roof again.
“Chanyeol! You promised not to get mad”, (y/n) pouted. “It’s just to meet in the middle. That way my mom stays happy and I can still sneak out to see you without her getting suspicious”.
“You’re saying you have to date him to date me?”, Chanyeol asked, tears bottling up in his eyes.
“I promise you, I’m not marrying him. Not ever. Never ever. I want to be with you”, she held her hand to cup Chanyeol’s cheek.
“You’re asking me to trust you on this, aren’t you?” It hurt him. It hurt him badly that she was asking him for permission to do so and that she was driving him to say it was ok, even though it’d be against his will.
“Please? Things are complicated enough already. Just for now”, she implored. Chanyeol leaned in to kiss her. He did not want to speak the words she had requested him to, so he decided to grant her his promise with the touch of his lips.
“I hate your mom”, he said as he pulled away.
“So do I”, (y/n) climbed over him to sit on his lap, throwing her arms to hold his neck and pull him in for another desperate kiss.
__
Chanyeol’s big paws ran over the forest terrain, hard ground, dried leaves and log roots at an incredible high speed. He was not conserving his energy, reaching his top speed. Like his human form, he was also slightly taller than others in his wolf form. He was a grey wolf, one of few who had the same shade of fur as the name carried; soft, warm, dense, fluffy and grey. He had a broad snout, narrow chest but a longer tail that swung behind him with every movement of his build, together with dainty, small and slightly triangular ears. Needless to say, he looked graceful.
Whilst he ran, he kept his head at the same level as his back, looking in front of him with his sparkling, chartreuse eyes that distinguished him from non-magical grey wolves. The moonlight reflected on his fur and his wolf-irises made it possible for him to identify and jump over every hindrance that came his way.
He was breaking the entire set of new rules that had been set up by his alpha at once. Running in his wolf-form, having left town. He had pondered for a long time before deciding to do so, but after crying intensely for hours, he decided to take his chances to blow off some steam.
It was becoming too much for him to administer. A threat to his town and pack, his girlfriend that was facing an arranged marriage, the possibility he wasn’t allowed to go to College and see her, him not being able to get too intimate with her anymore due to unwillingly having the need to mark her and the pressure of finding a way to confess to her that he was in fact, a wolf. How did it progress to this?
Chanyeol stopped running when he reached the edge of a cliff that provided him with a beautiful scenery of Seoul at night. His mouth slightly agape, his tongue stuck out a little, teeth becoming apparent as he breathed heavily from the effort. It had been a while since he had run that fast, yearning to run away from his problems even if it were just temporary and literally.
After recovering from the pressing lack of air, he jerked his head up to face the sky and let out a long loud howl, increasing his pitch gradually until he had raised close to an entire octave from his initial mournful note. With every centilitre of air that escaped from his lungs past his oesophagus, relief washed over him and soon he found himself panting for air once more.
If it hadn’t been for the sudden cracking sonance of leaves behind him, he would’ve never considered the possibility he wasn’t alone. Alarming, he turned around into the direction of the sound, panicking as he sought the source. How could it have been so close? He should’ve heard something earlier. He should be able to smell its presence. All his senses were failing him. He ran his eyes through the tree trunks, back and forth. His heart started to race and his breathing became unstable. What was happening? Why could he not trace the sound again?
Golden. Bright golden. Bright, golden eyes suddenly met his from afar, holding his stare. It was puncturing, sucking out his soul with every passing second and Chanyeol realised, he had to run if he cherished his life and wanted to live to see tomorrow.
In a matter of nanoseconds, he turned around and sped out of the woods, looking behind him in fear of the golden eyes chasing him down. For unknown reasons, the golden eyes stayed put, not moving an inch but Chanyeol still had the tendency to run with the want to stay alive, scratching his body against a tree by accident as he ran out of the forest without being careful.
__
“I know who killed the boy!”, Chanyeol ran inside the Main mansion, his mother, father and alpha standing in the living room. They had been waiting for him to provide him with the results of their discussion on his permission to leave town, only to find out that he wasn’t there. Waiting along with them were his friends and his sister, who had been worried something had happened to their dearest friend or brother.
“Chanyeol!” His mom ran towards him and embraced him, relieved he was ok. Glad he was still alive himself, Chanyeol hugged his mom back whilst he leaned his chin upon her shoulder to face the others.
“The golden eyed, they’re in town”, Chanyeol looked up at Yongha. “They kill”, he said, still petrified from what he had just experienced. Confused, his mom let go of him and shot a terror-stricken stare at her son.
“No. That’s impossible” Yongha said headstrong and shook his head. “Impossible!” he suddenly yelled as he repeated the word.
“I saw one. With my own eyes. They’re here. In Seoul”, he said between breaths. “It explains everything”.
“Young Mee”, Yongha ordered Chanyeol’s mother. “Get the board witch”, he did not let go of his stare that was pointed at Chanyeol. “NOW!” He yelled.
Chanyeol’s mother left the mansion hurriedly, following the alpha’s instructions. Aside from Kyungsoo, Joonmyeon and Yoora, the rest of his friends were baffled by what was happening. They seemed to have no idea as to what was going on.
“You went out of town and you turned, didn’t you?” Yongha asked with a strong voice. Instantaneously, Chanyeol got on his knees and bowed deeply for his alpha, admitting his wrongdoing and apologizing. He let out a soft squeal as he did, feeling the cuts on his lower abdomen stretch open.
“Hmmmph”, Yongha huffed. “I refuse your request to leave town. Consider it your punishment. When your mother arrives with the board witch I expect you to wait for us in the integration room for investigation”.
“Yes, sir”, Chanyeol tried to hold back his tears, thinking of (y/n). Why had he been so stupid to break all the new rules at once?
“Who are the Golden eyed?” Jongdae whispered to Joonmyeon curiously.
“It’s the Flaithius family’s wolf pack”, Joonmyeon explained.
“Who are they?” Baekhyun joined the conversation.
“The most powerful wolf-family line in existence”.
“Why’s that?” Everyone’s attention was on Joonmyeon. He looked up at his father who gave him the approval to explain it to the guys as they already knew too much anyways.
“Because they found a way to defy freaking nature”.
-> Part 5
Author’s note: Wow, am I glad this chapter is finally finished. Sorry for the long wait and I hope you like it because now it all seems a huge mess but I swear it’ll all make sense as the story develops further :( Pinky promise! Also, I need Soo’s Coffee House in my life. Desperately!
