Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For the next month or so, Jongin doesn’t get to see Chanyeol as much as he would like too. He mopes around a lot in the interim—taking all of Baekhyun’s teasing and Jongdae’s overwhelming concern in stride—especially in the aftermath of this… realization about his body’s desire to be bitten by Chanyeol. He has yet to particularly voice that out to either of them, for fear of course that either Baekhyun or Jongdae might look at him cross. Jongin’s aware it’s weird, terrible even.

It’s one thing for him to fuck around with supernatural creatures and get off on the thrill of the encounter, but it’s an entirely different category for him to search out a werewolf specifically for a bite. There are rules in place. Regulations. And the last thing Jongin would want is for Chanyeol to get in trouble because he was too busy thinking with the wrong head on his body.

So he takes Baekhyun’s teasing comments about “missing his puppy” and laughs it off with him, takes Jongdae’s very obviously placed jabs and reminders about paperwork he doesn’t want to fill out, and sits on top the mountain of thoughts he has rolling inside his head—because what human would want the bite of a wolf? What human would go out of their way to search out a werewolf in this regard? Jongin grumbles to himself constantly, agonizing over just what the hell it could all mean.

In some ways, he’s kind of happy that Chanyeol’s been too busy with work for the last two weeks, as it’s allowed him more time to think about just… everything and anything. To examine his life now under a more objective eye. Jongin craves being around Chanyeol a lot more than he considered possible, especially since their relationship is still fairly new. Jongin has always prided himself on his self sufficiency, so wanting to be surrounded by and held by Chanyeol constantly is a new feeling that has taken Jongin a lot of getting used to. Even now, with being away from Chanyeol physically for so long, Jongin feels like his skin is being pulled taut over the bone, feels like he wakes up every day with a massive headache between his eyes, and goes about his time through a fog. Chanyeol’s text messages to Jongin when he’s got a break at work help to ease the feeling behind Jongin’s ribcage, but he knows deep in his gut what he needs most is to be right next to Chanyeol, caged in his arms, and surrounded by that wonderful scent of his.

Jongin sighs, forlorn, flopping onto his bed as he comes out of the shower from a long day of work. He opens up his and Chanyeol’s text message chat.

Sorry, baby. I’m still at work. But I’m free on sunday night. Miss you.

Jongin feels a smile spread across his face unwillingly. Baby, he thinks, and runs a hand over his face, covering his cheeks. “He misses me,” Jongin says softly to himself. There it is again, that bubbly feeling behind his ribcage, that pull of attraction towards Chanyeol bringing him in. The reassurance that Chanyeol misses him and desires him just as much as Jongin does to him takes over the forefront of his mind. He rubs his hand over his cheek again, and snaps a few photos of himself in bed, hair still wet. He proofs the photos first and sends the two cutest ones. He’s got his grey blanket bunched up all the way under his neck, as he scrolls through his messages and social media apps, replying to friends who texted him earlier in the day.

Enough aimless scrolling on instagram later, and Jongin’s phone pings with a reply from Chanyeol.

youre so cuteeeeee :(((((((( i wanna kiss you… see you on sunday love… until then, enjoy this post gym selfie:)

Jongin feels his heart skip a beat, as he opens the accompanying photo attached.

He drops his phone on his face right after. Chanyeol’s shirtless in the photo, his huge biceps on display. There’s a sheen of sweat over his body, and a black baseball cap on his head. He’s flexing his muscles at the camera, which Jongin finds so hot, but the equally adorable smile on his face that shows his cheek dimple is what really makes Jongin blush as he stares at the picture.

chanyeol… Jongin furiously types, face bright red from blushing, are you trying to give me a nosebleed ;0;

Enjoy it:), is Chanyeol’s calm response, i miss the way your hands feel on my skin. See you on sunday

See you..*^*, Jongin writes, sad, but excited nonetheless. Sunday comes in just a few days. He can’t wait to see Chanyeol, the thought makes him giddy inside. He exchanges just a few more pleasantries with him, reminding him to eat and telling him about the weather, before Jongin feels sleepiness creep up on him and he bids Chanyeol a goodnight.

Jongin turns his phone screen off, plugging it into the charger at his nightstand. He craves to be near Chanyeol so much, he feels himself burning with it. And just that one hour of back and forth while Chanyeol was taking a break from work did more to lift up Jongin’s spirits than anything else he’s done the entire day. The thought scares him, and makes him question himself. Why is he so drawn to Chanyeol?

And why, for the love of God, does he want Chanyeol to bite him so badly?

Unfortunately, there aren't really any other wolves Jongin knows who he can ask for help. In the last few months of dating Chanyeol, Jongin hasn’t so much as met any other wolf, save for Ten and Mark at the newspaper. And he doesn’t feel comfortable enough with either of them to broach the subject, especially when the topic concerns their boss.

Besides, Ten still scares him, to a certain degree.

What this means then, of course, is that Jongin has to turn to asking other supernatural creatures for help. And who better to ask for information, than the nosiest ones of all?

Jongin hasn’t yet met Johnny, but he relents. He figured sooner or later it would’ve happened since Sehun seems to be pretty committed to him, he only wishes it wasn’t because he needed a vampire’s inherent nosiness to help aid him in his problem.

Jongin picks his phone up, dialing Sehun’s number. It rings three times before Sehun picks up, out of breath on the line.

“This better be good,” Sehun gasps out, “I’m with Johnny right now.”

“Hyung, don’t say that!” Jongin can hear a voice in the background say, followed by Sehun’s laughter.

“Actually,” Jongin says, biting his cheek, “it’s Johnny’s help I need…”

“Oh?” Sehun’s voice perks up on the phone, and Jongin can hear the sheets rustling around as Sehun sits up in bed. “What’s up?”

Jongin sighs, “I wanna ask him about… about what he knows about werewolves,” Jongin admits.

Sehun snorts. “Oh, this is good,” he says, cackling, “this is gonna be so good.”

Jongin resists the urge to hang up the call, as Sehun’s laugh fills his ears.

***

“So, like,” Baekhyun says, “do you wanna uh… go on a date with me? Or whatever?”

Jongin watches the way Jongdae’s face seems to contort into the five stages of grief, all within seconds. His eyebrows are pinched together and his nose scrunches up like he’s just smelled something bad, and Jongin contemplates turning back into his room and getting lunch elsewhere. It’s one of the rare times where he has a weekday off because the studio is closed for renovations. He cluelessly thought today would be a nice time to grab lunch with both Baekhyun and Jongdae during their free time, but obviously…

“Huh?” Jongdae asks, very smartly.

“A date,” Baekhyun grits out, “like. A date.”

“With who?”

Baekhyun looks like he wants to smash his head against the freezer. Jongin does not blame him.

“With you, Jongdae! With you! What the hell? Who else? Jongin?”

“Hey!” Jongin interjects, “I resent that!” They pay him no mind.

“Good,” Jongdae says, and gets up from his seat at the kitchen table, walking over to Baekhyun in his sweater vested glory and all. “We can go on a date.”

“Really?” Baekhyun asks, and his voice gets a little shy.

“Yeah,” Jongdae says, tone even, “I just wanted to really hear you say it.”

“You are such an ass!” Baekhyun yells, and shoves Jongdae’s shoulder with his own. They keep bickering lightheartedly, but Jongin doesn’t miss the way both of their ears and cheeks are flushed red. He thinks he can manage to have lunch by himself for today.

“Enjoy yourselves you freaks,” he says, walking out of the apartment.

“I thought we were all going together?” Jongdae asks.

“I’m not third wheeling,” Jongin rolls his eyes, slipping his feet into his shoes by the door.

“Fair enough,” Jongdae says, shrugging. Baekhyun looks at Jongin, throwing him a wink. Jongin thinks that means I owe you one but Baekhyun’s got a backlog of IOUs, it’s so hard to keep up. He walks out of the apartment with a snort, hands in his pockets as he makes his way out of the apartment building. Jongin really doesn’t have a particular place in mind of where he wants to go—instead, he allows himself to soak up some much needed sunshine. He takes a deep breath of the warm, springtime air, let’s the sunshine soak into his skin. He walks down the street, careful not to bump into people, and goes aimlessly into a small cafe. Jongin thinks he can just get himself some hot chocolate and maybe a sandwich off of their menu considering his original lunch plans fell through.

He looks up at the menu board as he waits in line, and feels the unsettling sensation of being watched wash over his skin. The hairs on the back of his neck rise, and Jongin looks around the cafe to find the culprit. Everyone inside seems to be immersed in their own world, either reading books, on their phone, or on their laptops, and no one in particular is paying him any mind. By the time Jongin gets to the front counter, he feels slightly better, but the eerie sensation sticks to his skin.

“I’ll have the chicken breast and avocado sandwich, and a hot chocolate please,” he politely tells the barista. She nods her head punching his order in, offering Jongin a small smile before reading out his total. He wordlessly hands over his card, and feels like someone is staring at him once more. He nods along to the barista’s words but it feels like they don’t fully click in his head.

Jongin wordlessly accepts back his card and a table number, with the knowledge that his order will be brought to him when it’s done.

“Weird,” Jongin mumbles to himself, as he settles into a small booth in the back, away from the crowd at the front of the store. He relaxes against the cushion slowly, exhaling a deep breath he didn’t know he was carrying. His chest feels oddly tight, and he hopes it’s just because of hunger pangs and not a more serious medical issue.

Jongin scrolls on his phone while he waits, fingers tapping a little agitatedly against the table. Something feels wrong, inside the cafe, and the hairs on his neck stand up as the feeling in his gut twists to an uncomfortable degree.

“Here’s your food, sir,” a petite female voice says, and Jongin feels so spooked he nearly jumps out of his seat.

“Sorry, sorry!” Jongin says, grateful he didn’t wack into the tray she’s carrying.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” she replies politely.

“It’s fine,” he mumbles, “it’s just one of those days… ha,” he says to himself. She places the tray on the table and bids him a good meal before walking off back towards the entrance to the kitchen.

Jongin shakes himself, wondering just what’s going on with him. He thinks maybe being away from Chanyeol for so long is starting to get to him, and reminds himself that in just two more days, he can see him once more. The thought makes his mood instantly lighten, as he starts to dig into his meal before him. Jongin eats quietly, just letting the din of the cafe and the soft pop music over the speakers fill his ears. That must be it, he thinks. He must just be jittery because he hasn’t seen Chanyeol in person in weeks. All he needs is to just see him, to touch him, to be held by him, and then everything will go back to normal.

Then he’ll stop feeling like his bones are about to snap under an invisible weight.

“You’re no wolf,” a random gruff voice says from a spot much too close to Jongin’s personal space. He puts the last quarter of his sandwich down, before looking up to be met with a menacing face, and a set of rather curious eyes. “You smell like one though,” the man continues. Jongin feels unnerved in the way the man watches him, and realizes this must have been the person who’s been staring at him since he walked in, that uneasiness creeping back up.

“Can I help you?” Jongin asks politely, wiping the crumbs off his face. He studies the man carefully. He has cropped, short black hair, and eyes that search Jongin relentlessly. He looks slightly more menacing, if a bit untrusting of Jongin as a whole.

“I said,” the stranger speaks, “you’re no wolf.”

“You would be right,” Jongin responds sarcastically, feeling a bit annoyed at this person. He hasn’t taken his eyes off Jongin’s face, or body, since he approached him. “Is there something you need?”

The stranger gives one menacing sneer at this, and chuckles before saying, “Not really. Just trying to figure out whose chew toy you are.”

Jongin feels his face burn under the weight of the strange wolf’s gaze.

“That’s none of your business,” he snaps at the man, who is unaffected by Jongin’s bristled tone.

“To you, maybe,” he replies, nonchalant, “but for wolves—we know everything about each other. There’s no such thing as a secret.” He grins slyly. Jongin watches the man as he takes a deep inhale of air through his nostrils, before letting out a scoff and rolling his eyes.

“Should’ve known,” he continues on, and the look of disgust has yet to leave his face. “One of Park’s whores, of course.”

Jongin feels the color drain from his face.

“I’m not his whore,” he snaps.

“What else would you be?” The man pushes on, and invades Jongin’s space even more as he takes a step closer. Jongin feels the hair on the back of his neck rise. “Do you think you’re his boyfriend or something?” he asks cruelly. Jongin feels his face react to the wolf’s words, the blood rushing up to his cheeks as his eyes bug out of his head.

“Oh you do, don’t you, you sweet little thing?” The wolf stretches a hand out, as if to cup Jongin’s face, but stops his movement halfway.

“Can’t let myself get in trouble,” he adds on as an afterthought. His eyes bore into Jongin’s some more. “Though I have to say, you might be the most beautiful little human Alpha Park’s ever taken on.”

“We— I’m not—”

The werewolf makes a low tsk sound while shaking his head, and Jongin can feel the judgement rolling off of him in waves.

“You should ask Alpha Park about his ex-conquests. I’m sure you’ll love to hear the stories of all the little humans he’s kept before you.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Jongin bites out, meeting the werewolf’s gaze head on. Something inside him just snaps at the way this werewolf looks at him. “Chanyeol could have dated whoever he wanted to before me. I don’t care, because he’s with me now. That’s what matters.” Jongin doesn’t know where this bold streak comes from, but he uses it to stand his ground. “You don’t know him. You don’t know me. He’s my boyfriend.” Jongin feels his blood pump red hot in his veins, overtaken by the sudden streak of pure possessiveness over Chanyeol. “He’s mine.”

The werewolf’s jaw drops, if only slightly. “Feisty,” he says, looking at Jongin with brand new eyes. “Not like the usual humans Alpha Park lugs around.”

Jongin huffs out a last breath. “You should leave me alone.”

The werewolf is still studying Jongin curiously. They stand at an impasse, before finally, the werewolf’s eyes cut away from Jongin and he shrugs. “You smell too much like him,” he adds on before turning away. “I think you’re the longest pet he’s ever kept.”

“I’m not a damn pet,” Jongin grits out, he clenches his fist on the top of the table.

“Sure, sure,” he says nonchalantly. “Boyfriend. Whatever makes you sleep better at night.” The werewolf snorts. “When you have the courage, ask him about all the other little humans he’s had before you and why he’d only fuck them once and then leave. I’ve never seen him play with his food for this long.”

The werewolf gives Jongin one last feral grin before turning around and walking away.

Jongin feels the fight drain out of him almost immediately. His eyes settle on the other half of his sandwich, as worry twists in his gut.

He no longer feels hungry.

***

Jongin tries to put the meeting with that strange werewolf out of his mind, and the next two days are just the right amount of insanely busy at the dance studio that he more or less doesn’t have much of an opportunity to let his brain fester on everything that happened that day. He throws himself into his work and his classes, intent to just focus on the current things he needs to get done, and not on the what ifs that won’t stop plaguing his mind.

After he finished up at the cafe and walked his way back home, he couldn’t help his mind from obsessing over what the wolf said. You’re just one of Park’s whores, he intoned. And the malice his voice was laced with was enough to make Jongin nearly frantic. Because despite his own fierceness in that moment of pushing back against the wolf’s words, despite his declaration that he didn’t care if Chanyeol had been with other humans before him, Jongin can’t help the feeling of uncertainty that seemed to claw at his mind, the jealousy that fired up in his stomach and rearing its ugly head.

Jongin finishes the last of his cool down routine in the dance room, grateful that work has kept him too busy to focus on anything other than teaching his students how to dance. He reaches for his water bottle near his bag, the welcome distraction being enough to keep those more sinister thoughts at bay.

“Hyung,” Taeyong says, from across the room. He’s just finishing wiping the mirrors down that they used for today’s lesson. It’s Saturday evening, not a day that Jongin usually works, but he found himself unexpectedly covering Taemin’s usual shift because his friend called in sick.

“Yes, Taeyong?” Jongin responds, taking a sip from his water bottle.

“I just wanted to say I enjoyed working with you today,” Taeyong says shyly, “Usually I shadow Taemin hyung for his Saturday evening classes… getting to shadow you was really fun.”

Jongin feels a blush rise to his cheeks. “Taeyongie…” he says softly, covering his face.

“It’s true!” Taeyong says, spraying the mirror with Windex and wiping it down with old newspaper again. “I really enjoyed today. You and Taeminnie hyung have different teaching styles. I feel like I’m learning so much.”

“Well,” Jongin says, blush high on his cheeks, “you’re welcome to shadow any of my classes if you want,” he offers. “Though keep in mind I mostly teach the babies, so it’s definitely a handful.”

“Ah,” Taeyong exhales, “I love kids.”

“Great! You can stop in any of the weekday classes if you want. Just let me know beforehand.”

“Thank you, hyung,” Taeyong says with a smile. Jongin soon joins Taeyong in cleaning up the room in the companionable silence, wiping down the rest of the mirrors and putting the barres away before turning the lights off. He and Taeyong say their final goodbyes to each other before going their separate ways.

The drive home is uneventful for Jongin, however, he does remind himself he has tomorrow to look forward to. After weeks of busy schedules blocking them from meeting, Jongin is finally going to get to see Chanyeol again. The warmth fills his body with renewed vigor, a sense of calmness trickling in. It’s been so long since he’s been in Chanyeol’s touch, he can practically almost taste it, and feel the way his arms would wrap around his lithe body.

The thought is enough to carry him into a peaceful sleep, away from the more troubling thoughts of the past week.

***

Jongin finds himself dreaming of a wolf.

It is large, nearly the size of a small horse, with fur a deep shade of midnight black. The wolf’s eyes are yellow, piercing Jongin and keeping him frozen in place. The wolf steps towards him slowly, paws digging into the dirty earth below them. Jongin cowers, a little fearful of what the wolf may do, but the closer it steps towards him, the less afraid he finds himself feeling.

In fact, it almost seems as if the closeness to the wolf calms Jongin down. The dream becomes fuzzy, with Jongin’s mind distracted by the full moon in the sky. The next thing he notes is the large wolf right in front of him, paws forward on the ground, bowing lowly, almost akin to a gesture of submission. Jongin reaches a hand out, fingers touching the wolf’s muzzle, before sliding up to the wolf’s ears. He runs his hands across the expanse of the wolf’s fur, a laugh bubbling out of his mouth.

“It’s been too long,” the wolf says. The mouth doesn’t move, but for some reason, Jongin knows the voice he hears is coming from the wolf.

“I’m glad you’re home.”

Jongin wakes up in bed with a start, forehead sweaty. The blinds across his window are drawn open, as the sight of the full moon greets him warmly.

***

“Is everything okay?” Jongin asks Chanyeol over dinner. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, chewing on it nervously. Despite the fact that he hasn’t seen Chanyeol in over two weeks, Jongin can’t help but feel like there’s some sort of distance between them. He has half a mind to wonder if perhaps Chanyeol might be planning on breaking up with him, but the mere thought of that sends such a deep shiver down the back of Jongin’s spine he feels like he might go crazy.

“Yes,” Chanyeol says, looking up at Jongin and meeting his eyes. His gaze feels different today, somehow. Like Chanyeol is brimming with something he wants to say to Jongin. He has half a mind to tell Chanyeol to spit it out, but he doesn’t want to push him too much. It’s been so long since they’ve seen each other and Jongin’s afraid Chanyeol might get spooked and run away. “It’s just… been a long two weeks hasn’t it?” Chanyeol puts his fork down and turns his attention entirely to Jongin. “I missed you,” he blurts out, uncharacteristic of Chanyeol.

Jongin feels heat rise to his cheeks, he automatically covers them with the palms of his hands. A feeling like freeness floats inside of him at those words. “I missed you, too,” he responds automatically, the urge to touch Chanyeol overwhelming. Jongin meets Chanyeol’s gaze and sees not a smirk, but a soft, warm, loving smile adorning his face. The softness is different, somehow, tinged with something that he hopes Chanyeol will let him in on soon.

Jongin wonders, for once, if Chanyeol’s had a similar breakthrough. If he’s had the werewolf equivalent of Jongin’s bite-related meltdown.

Jongin watches as Chanyeol picks up his spoon between his fingers once again, and goes back to eating dinner. They slip back into silence as they eat, one that feels a lot less heavy than it did before. Jongin chews his food and steals glances across the small dining table at Chanyeol, mapping the curve of his jaw, the jut of his chin—the way his ears stick out on the sides of his head between his hair.

“What are you looking at?” Chanyeol says after his plate and Jongin’s have both been wiped clean, and their dinner is all gone save for the crumbs. He’s gotten up from the table and Jongin trails after him.

Jongin smiles, closing the door of the fridge. “Just thinking about… how much I enjoy spending time with you,” he says, voice a little shy.

Chanyeol puts the plates down into the sink, silent. Jongin wonders if for a brief moment he’s said something wrong, but soon enough Chanyeol comes up behind him, wrapping his arms around Jongin’s waist. He ducks down and rests his head in the junction of Jongin’s shoulder and neck, breathing in deep. Jongin can feel the puff of Chanyeol’s hot breath against his neck and the way it raises goosebumps across his skin.

They stand in silence like that, in the middle of the kitchen for what feels like a lifetime.

Jongin feels his body start to react to the proximity of Chanyeol’s touch, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. “Can we t-take this to the bedroom? Please?”

Chanyeol chuckles against the side of Jongin’s neck, pressing a kiss to the side of his face that he can reach. “Of course we can.” Chanyeol moves fast as lightning, his arms knocking Jongin off his feet as he scoops him up bridal style and carries him to the bedroom.

“Please!” Jongin shouts, laughing. His feet swing in the air and his arms automatically hook around Chanyeol’s neck.

“I won’t drop you.”

“I know,” Jongin murmurs, “you’re very strong.”

A growl escapes through Chanyeol’s teeth, and Jongin feels a pleasant warmth starting to creep in his body.

Chanyeol pushes the door to his bedroom open and gently deposits Jongin on the bed. Jongin makes quick work of pulling Chanyeol down on top of him, letting Chanyeol’s body blanket his own.

“I wanna kiss you so bad,” Jongin says, bottom lip jutting out.

“I wanna kiss you too,” Chanyeol says softly, reverently. His hands are on either side of Jongin’s head against the bed, his body like a weight against Jongin’s hips. Chanyeol leans down and kisses Jongin gently, without all the urgency Jongin seems to feel. He whines as Chanyeol’s lips touch his own, slightly chapped but just as plump and soft as ever. Chanyeol’s fingers find a way to Jongin’s chin, and he rubs against the skin there, coaxing Jongin’s head back. Jongin gasps into Chanyeol’s mouth, gently opening it. Chanyeol presses his tongue between Jongin’s parted lips, and Jongin allows the sensation to overtake him.

He lays there, on the bed, and makes out with Chanyeol for what feels like hours. Chanyeol takes moments to pause and kiss around Jongin’s face, their spit mingling when he pulls apart. He nuzzles against the juncture of Jongin’s neck, in the same place so many months ago where he freaked out when Jongin bared it to him.

“M-My neck,” Jongin whispers, voice hoarse, “it’s okay now?”

“Mmhmm,” Chanyeol agrees, his kisses wet and feather-light against Jongin’s pulse point, “better than okay.” He takes a deep breath, inhaling Jongin’s scent.

“I’m wearing new cologne,” Jongin blurts out, and Chanyeol lets out a snort.

“It’s not the cologne I’m trying to smell,” Chanyeol says, “it’s just you.”

“Oh.”

Chanyeol presses his tongue flat against Jongin’s pulse point, sending a shiver up Jongin’s spine.

“I’m going to kiss you again,” he breathes out.

“Please.”

Chanyeol pushes his tongue back inside Jongin’s mouth, and Jongin revels in the wetness. He lets himself get lost in the slick slide of Chanyeol’s tongue against his own, the way his mouth seems to produce just a little too much spit—whether from excitement or as a byproduct of him being a werewolf—and kisses him back just as fiercely. Jongin runs his fingers through Chanyeol’s soft, black hair, tugging against the hairs at the scalp. The movement elicits a wonderful moan out of Chanyeol’s mouth, that Jongin soaks up hungrily. He pets Chanyeol’s head, like he did that one time so long ago in the office. Chanyeol’s moan this time is less guttural. It’s softer, almost as if he doesn’t want Jongin to hear it. He leans deeper into Jongin’s touch.

Chanyeol’s weight presses Jongin tightly against the bed, warm and constant. Jongin can feel himself hardening in his pants, legs spreading wide automatically to accommodate Chanyeol’s body between them.

“Fuck,” Jongin gasps out, turning his head to the side to pull back and suck air into his lungs. Spit connects his and Chanyeol’s mouths as they part, and Jongin feels ravenous at the sight.

“You smell so good,” he says, and Jongin tilts his head back up to press his nose against Chanyeol’s neck. He breathes in Chanyeol’s scent, deeply through his mouth and nose, almost as if he smelt it enough he could commit it to memory.

“Ah—” Chanyeol says, stilling above Jongin.

Jongin freezes. “I-I’m sorry,” he says, turning his face away, “I f-forgot your neck is off limits. I’m sorry.”

Chanyeol pulls back and studies Jongin’s face carefully. There’s a look in Chanyeol’s eyes that Jongin just cannot seem to place… but feels… familiar in a way he isn’t used to.

As if, somehow, Jongin’s seen him like this before.

“It feels good,” Chanyeol says gruffly, voice so low in the quiet room, that Jongin isn’t sure he’d have heard Chanyeol if he wasn’t this close to him.

“Do it again,” Chanyeol says, and Jongin listens.

Jongin presses his neck into the space of Chanyeol’s neck, running his nose up and down, inhaling his scent deeply.

“You smell really good,” Jongin says offhandedly.

“Describe it to me,” Chanyeol asks. And Jongin thinks it odd, perhaps, but agrees nonetheless.

“You smell woodsy,” Jongin murmurs, taking another deep inhale. “Like… Like I’m laying in the grass, in the middle of the woods or something. It’s earthy…. Strong.”

“Fuck,” Chanyeol says, and his hips thrust against the bed, reminding Jongin that they’re both still fully clothed. “Keep going.”

“I d-don’t know how else—” Jongin takes a huge gulp of air. Talking against Chanyeol’s neck is proving difficult, when this delicious smell is everywhere. His tongue accidentally grazes against Chanyeol’s skin, causing Chanyeol to tense up and thrust down against Jongin’s body again.

“Jesus Christ,” Chanyeol bites out, his voice deep and desperate.

His smell seems to get stronger, Jongin thinks, and he takes another whiff of Chanyeol’s neck like he’s hanging onto a lifeline. Jongin can feel Chanyeol’s rock hard dick pressed between their bodies, pressed up against where his own cock is aching in his pants as well.

“You smell like summer,” he continues softly, “warm… inviting… pleasant.”

Jongin kisses under Chanyeol’s chin, lips barely grazing the skin. Chanyeol’s fists on either side of Jongin’s body tighten, and Jongin feels like they’re standing on a precipice.

He licks Chanyeol’s neck once more, delicately, fleetingly, like if he presses his tongue against Chanyeol’s neck too hard, Chanyeol will freeze up and push him away.

“You remind me of home,” Jongin says softly, nursing his bottom lip between his teeth. “That’s what you smell like to me. The forest near my mom’s house. The fresh cut grass after my dad mowed the lawn.”

Jongin takes another deep inhale, and watches as Chanyeol visibly shakes in his arms. So different from the imposing wolf he met months ago.

“I have a favor to ask,” Chanyeol says softly after a bout of silence.

“Hmm?” Jongin says, encouraging.

“Can you…” Chanyeol’s voice trails off, and Jongin thinks this is the first moment of true vulnerability Chanyeol’s ever let him see.

“Could you please just… hold me?” his voice comes out barely above a whisper.

“Of course, hyung,” Jongin says, and he pulls Chanyeol against his side, as they snuggle together on the bed in silence.

Jongin’s arms tighten around Chanyeol instinctively, protectively.

It’s the first time he and Chanyeol will sleep in the same bed, despite the many times they’ve gotten each other off.

They didn’t even get past making out, but somehow, this seems much more intimate than all of those previous times combined.

Jongin wonders, once again, what is going on through Chanyeol’s mind. He runs his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair, nails grazing against his scalp, and Chanyeol lets out a soft little growl in his sleep, the kind that an unruly puppy might make while dreaming.

Chanyeol feels like that, Jongin thinks. His puppy.

His. Just his. And no one else’s. The wave of pure possessiveness that rushes through Jongin’s body would’ve choked him before at any time, but now he revels in it. There’s something different about their relationship now. Something that has changed with the tide. Before, when all Jongin imagined was the knot, it was breathless, rushed, and sparking quickly like the light of a flame.

Now, though, after months of being with Chanyeol, it feels more like Jongin is stoked over warm coals, a steady fire burning slowly. Strong. Dependable.

He lets out a soft sigh, turning his body as much as he can towards Chanyeol, pulling him impossibly closer. Their bare chests touch, their legs tangle, and Jongin feels an overwhelming astute sense of belonging.

One that has that godforsaken feeling in the pit of his gut completely silent.

This right here, Jongin thinks, lying with Chanyeol in bed, under a warm blanket, his soft snores lulling Jongin into his own sleep, is exactly where Jongin needs to be.

***

Sometimes, Chanyeol looks at Jongin funny.

He’s long passed it off as a werewolf thing, and it definitely had to have been, or must be. His gaze would pierce through Jongin like he could spot anything, tell anything, like he could read him like an open book.

Like Jongin was bare for Chanyeol and Chanyeol alone.

Now though, there’s another tinge to that gaze.

Sometimes, Chanyeol looks at Jongin like he has something he’s desperately trying to convey. There’s a faraway look in his eyes, a sadness that Jongin can recognize but cannot seem to understand.

They’re happy together, aren’t they?

In fact, they’re closer than they’ve ever been, and spend more time together than Jongin thought was possible, because for some reason now, Chanyeol cannot bear to have Jongin out of his grasp for too long. Chanyeol’s emotions move through the wind, ebbing with the tide. Jongin wishes he was a wolf, too. If only so that he could read Chanyeol the same.

Because Chanyeol gets that look in his eyes, and Jongin wants to ask what’s wrong. But any time he thinks about bringing it up, it’s gone just as quickly as it settles.

And they still haven’t had sex either.

Jongin wants to ask, but he doesn’t want to be pushy. He can tell Chanyeol’s going through something, and it’s not like Chanyeol’s not satisfying him in other ways. Jongin can’t remember the last time he’s been eaten out so thoroughly he nearly blacked out from the pleasure.

“I’m here for you,” he murmurs against Chanyeol’s ear. They’re in Chanyeol’s bed again, and Chanyeol’s breathing is evened out. He’s asleep. It’s another time of Jongin spending the night at Chanyeol’s place, something that has been happening with increasing frequency ever since their dinner two weeks prior.

Jongin’s got a space in Chanyeol’s drawers for his clothes, a toothbrush and razor in the bathroom, and a couple hangers in the closet. He can’t deny that it feels almost like he’s slowly moving in. And maybe before that would’ve worried him. But with Chanyeol… it feels right.

Because Jongin’s just the same as him. He can’t stand to not be around Chanyeol either.

He pats the side of Chanyeol’s cheek, and wishes he had the courage to say some of these thoughts while Chanyeol was awake. Thoughts like I feel like I’m moving in, and it should scare me because we’ve only been together for five months but it doesn’t. I love being around you. I don’t even care about the knot anymore. I just want you. I enjoy your company. I enjoy being around you. I think I might even lo—

He shakes his head, settling himself back down against the pillows, and curling towards Chanyeol’s chest. Instinctively, Chanyeol’s arms wrap around Jongin’s body, pulling him closer into his warmth. Jongin breathes him in, calming himself down.

“I’m here for you,” Jongin repeats into the night, “I want to be here for you forever…” he says softly.

***

“I’m Johnny,” the vampire says, over coffee. He is gently sipping a monstrosity that has, if Jongin’s memory serves him correctly, twelve shots of espresso.

He’s equal parts amazed and disgusted.

“Nice to meet you,” Jongin says, “I would introduce my name as well but I figure you already know who I am. Hyung is fine, if, uh… your kind use honorifics.”

Johnny snorts and Sehun, who is right next to him, rolls his eyes. They’re meeting up at a much more private location, Sehun’s apartment to be exact, because as Johnny phrased it, “Being around other vampires in public gives them too many opportunities to eavesdrop.”

Jongin can’t say he disagrees.

So after they stopped by a cafe, called Fang, no less, and ordered some treats to go, Jongin finds himself sitting on the plush white sofa in Sehun’s brand new ritzy apartment building, a nice view of the city below from fifteen stories up. Jongin rubs his feet on Sehun’s soft shag carpet, generating what he hopes is a little bit of static electricity. He reaches a hand out and touches Sehun’s arm, who yaps in dismay.

“You dick,” Sehun says, rubbing the part on his arm where Jongin zapped him. He only snorts in response.

Johnny watches them carefully, out of the corner of his eye, while he sips on what the young, blonde haired barista dubbed the Namericano. He eyes Jongin ruefully, a smirk turning up the corners of his mouth.

“Did you know that werewolves mate for life?” Johnny says as a non sequitur.

“Huh?” Jongin says, nearly dropping his jelly filled donut.

“Well, actually,” Johnny hums, “that’s kind of a lie.” He puts the Namericano down and wipes the nonexistent dirt off the sides of his mouth. His eyes briefly flash red.

“When they mate… for real, it only happens once.”

“How do you know these things?” Sehun asks, looking at Johnny.

He merely shrugs. “I know a lot of things. I know a lot of people.”

Sehun rolls his eyes good naturedly, obviously used to Johnny’s cryptic ways.

“It’s weird then, don’t you think?” He looks at Jongin as he speaks.

“What is?”

“Werewolves mate with other werewolves for life. I don’t entirely know why. But they don’t usually go after humans. At least…” Johnny bites his bottom lip, looking unsure of what to say.

“Come on, say it,” Sehun pushes, knocking their shoulders together.

“At least for as long as Jongin and his wolf have been together. They don’t ever last that long. What is it? Four months?”

“Almost six,” Jongin says softly. He feels the blood drain from his face. Another one of Park’s whores, aren’t you?

“What—What do you mean—” his voice trails off.

“There’s nothing that ties a werewolf to humans the way vampires are tied. By blood. By our need to… to eat,” Johnny states matter-of-factly. “Werewolves don’t have that. They can eat human food all they want, they can subsist off the land, they can do everything we can’t do.” His eyes flick down towards the tattoo of the sunflower on his arm, a mark from a witch long ago who left him the gift of walking in the sun.

“So, what? They think they’re better than humans or something?” Sehun poses.

Johnny shrugs. “More like they just don’t need you guys. Or care to need you guys. Werewolves are completely self-sufficient.”

Sehun nods along, while Jongin feels too stunned to contribute. “It makes sense,” Sehun adds, “it’s why they never interact with us anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“They don’t need to.”

“My reasoning is werewolves are just as nosy about humans as we vampires are about you. But they’re just… more discreet, maybe.” Johnny shrugs. “A bunch of silent observers. Nosy.” He snorts.

Jongin nods his head, thoughts turning into a tsunami in his mind.

“So,” Jongin says, and his voice sounds thick. “Hypothetically speaking, if-if a werewolf was dating a human… there’s a possibility it’s… it’s all for… for what? For observation of my—our—behavior traits?”

Just another one of Park’s whores.

“Hypothetically speaking,” Johnny says politely, “yes.”

Jongin feels crushed.

“However,” Johnny trudges on, unaware of the maelstrom of emotions that Jongin feels. “I would consider the likelihood of that possibility something to be measured against how much you trust the werewolf you’re around.”

“Hey,” Sehun says, patting Jongin’s knee. “You trust Chanyeol, right?”

Jongin does. He does. Of course.

But he can’t help but think of those awful words that werewolf told him in the cafe. Why didn’t he ever bring it up with Chanyeol? Why did he just brush it off?

Sehun seems to take his silence negatively, as he starts patting Jongin harshly on the knee to get him out of his head.

“Jongin,” he says, “Jongin, what is it?”

“I…” Jongin gulps. “I was at lunch once… like a month ago and… and this wolf came up to me and h-he said all these things, all these terrible things… th-that—” Jongin cuts himself off, the memory of the harsh words still an open wound. “That I was just… one of Chanyeol’s whores.”

“Jesus Christ, Jongin. Why didn’t you say anything?!” Sehun moves his hand and rubs Jongin’s arm in a soothing gesture. Jongin shrugs.

“It didn’t seem that… that important.”

Sehun rolls his eyes. “Dude! Some weird werewolf is coming at you in a public space and you didn’t think that was crazy?”

He bites his lip, eyes cast downwards. “I guess… when you put it that way…”

“Chanyeol?” Johnny says, voice stern but completely neutral, like it’s just dawned on him who the werewolf is that they are referring too. “Park Chanyeol?” His tone does not betray what he could be thinking, but it is the absence of gentleness in Johnny’s voice that makes Jongin pause.

“...Yes,” he says, softly, “he’s my—my—we’re…” his voice trails off, remembering the werewolf’s words. What? Did you think he was your boyfriend or something?

“I see.” Johnny says, and betrays no further insight.

They sit in stony silence for a minute, before Sehun’s need to be nosy outweighs everything. “Well!? Are you gonna elaborate?!”

“I… I don’t…” Johnny’s eyes flit to Jongin, and for a second, they hold a sliver of emotion in their burgundy depths. Something that looks akin to…

Pity.

Jongin feels his throat constrict, and screws his eyes shut, willing it away.

“I don’t know if I should,” Johnny settles on, voice uncharacteristically soft and serious. “I don’t know if it’s my place.”

Jongin gulps, staring at the wall behind Sehun and Johnny’s heads. He focuses on a framed photo of a fern, the ridiculous house decor taking him just that little bit out of his head.

“It must be true, then? Isn’t it?” he asks, voice impossibly low.

“No,” Johnny is quick to say, “but… but it’s not a whole no either.”

Jongin sighs and feels a shiver wrack through his body.

“Johnny!” Sehun says, chiding, “Why can’t you just be honest!?”

“Babe,” Johnny says, voice neutral, “it’s not that I don’t want to.” He looks at Jongin again, but Jongin cannot meet his eyes. “I’m in a pact with the Head Alpha of Chanyeol’s pack. He helped me”—Johnny points to his tattoo—“so I owe him a favor. And I would consider not bad mouthing one of his own as something that falls partially under the category of that favor.”

“Ugh,” Sehun says. “You supernatural beings are… confusing, to say the least.”

“Jongin,” he continues, turning towards his friend, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Jongin lies, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine.”

Sehun doesn’t believe him for one minute.

“Look,” he says, “we know wolves mate for life, right? We know they don’t interact with humans—”

“So this is just some fucking game to him—”

“--Unless there’s a reason for it?” Sehun barrels through. “Come on, Jongin. You’re smarter than this. You’ve got to talk to him. To… to your—”

“Boyfriend…” Jongin says softly, though the word feels like shards in his mouth.

He looks at Johnny carefully, who’s face betrays nothing at seeing Jongin’s outburst.

“I want him to bite me,” Jongin says softly, speaking of the feeling that has plagued him since the last time he was at Sehun’s house.

“You—what?!”

Jongin shrugs. “It’s what I feel. I can’t help it. Ever… ever since I saw y-your neck and I just couldn’t stop thinking about being bit and suddenly everything in my mind made sense. I need him to bite me. There’s… a part of me that craves it.”

Sehun shakes his head, while Johnny continues to silently observe.

“You’d say that, even when… with all this confusion, with what you just said?”

There is no doubt in Jongin’s mind. That despite the inner turmoil, the bite is perhaps the only thing he has clarity on.

“Yes.”

“Oh goddddd,” Sehun drags out. “God. You’re fucked.”

Jongin looks at Johnny, whose expression has shifted from pity to one of… curiosity. Similar to the way Chanyeol looked at him all those many months ago. Jongin can almost hear the gears turning in the vampire’s head.

“Babe,” Sehun says, nudging Johnny’s arm. He blinks in response. “Tell Jongin he’s gone off the deep end.”

Johnny gives a thoughtful hum. “This changes things,” he replies, but gives no indication of elaborating.

Sehun makes a motion with his hands, but Johnny doesn’t continue.

“I do not pity you,” Johnny says, taking the words out of Jongin’s brain. “But you can’t go on like this.”

“What?” Jongin snaps, tired of the vampire bullshit. “Dating Chanyeol?!”

Johnny, at least, seems unaffected by Jongin’s outburst. “No,” he says, “pretending like the problem doesn’t exist. You’ll eat your own heart out, little human,” he takes a sip of his coffee, “before Chanyeol ever gets the chance too.”

Jongin deflates back against the couch cushion, all the fight in him gone. He wishes the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

“Just,” Sehun says, squeezing Jongin’s arm after a long bout of silence. “Promise me you won’t… do anything stupid?”

Jongin snorts. “What do you mean?”

Sehun rolls his eyes. “Run away. Block him. Ignore everything. Your usual spiel when shit gets too hard.”

Jongin at least has the decency to look cowed. “I want him to bite me,” Jongin says out loud again. A laugh bursts from his lips. “Oh my God,” he repeats, as if it’s just started sinking in. “I want a werewolf to bite me. I want him to turn me.” He starts laughing harder now, the reality of his situation sinking in. Now that the thought exists outside of his head, Jongin’s starting to realize just how fucking crazy he must sound.

Who on Earth wants a werewolf to bite them?

“I’m crazy,” he says softly. “I’ve reached peak-crazy.”

“Actually,” Johnny says, a lilt to his voice. Jongin looks up. “Stranger things have definitely happened.”

Sehun nods in agreement. “Definitely,” he says, “definitely not the weirdest thing you’ve ever said, Jongin. This feels like the conclusion to this fetish of yours anyway.”

“It’s not a fetish!” Jongin whines.

“It’s not,” Johnny agrees. Jongin looks a little shocked. He studies him closely, trying to read what Johnny’s not saying.

“It’s more than that,” Jongin says softly.

“It definitely is.”

***

“I’m sorry, Jongin,” Johnny says much later in the night, after dinner is over and the day is all but gone. His tone is genuine. “I wish I could tell you more but… it’s not my place to say.”

“It’s alright,” Jongin breathes out, throwing away the pizza boxes into the recycling. “I get it. You don't butt in because it's not your business. I understand.”

Johnny nods to him once, picking up his now empty Namericano cup and politely excusing himself to the bathroom.

Sehun watches him as he walks away, before turning swiftly again to face Jongin.

“Do you want to stay here tonight?” he offers.

“No, No. I… I should go home and… and sleep.”

“Jongin—”

“I need my bed. I need to lay in my bed and stare at the ceiling for a good few hours before my head explodes. Or I do something terrible like call Chanyeol up right now and yell his ear off. Or tell him that I… you know.”

“Want his delicious knot and sexy teeth?”

Jongin makes a face. “You have a wonderful way with words.”

Sehun smiles at that, before his gaze turns serious. He looks like he’s going to push, but ultimately decides against it. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will.” Jongin says. “I will if I do.”

“Hyung,” a voice says from behind Jongin as he’s part way to the door. He turns around and sees Johnny.

“I’m sorry I can’t say much about Alpha Park,” he murmurs, and Jongin thinks he actually looks upset he can’t break the rules to divulge this one secret.

“It’s alright,” Jongin swallows.

“I can however,” he continues, “tell you the name of his superior.” Johnny gives him a half smile.

“If you ever run into that werewolf again—the one who insulted you—or any werewolf for that matter, tell them that Kim Junmyeon is your friend. And that should get them to back off.”

Jongin doesn’t know who that is, or what the power of that name might hold, but he nods his head once more in thanks for Johnny’s kind gesture.

He bids both of them good night before excusing himself out of Sehun’s place, not looking back once as he closes the door.

***

As Taeyong promised, about a week later he shows up at the next dance class that Jongin and Taemin teach together.

Jongin was expecting him of course, especially after Taeyong politely messaged their work group chat with a reminder last night that he’d stop by, but what Jongin was not expecting was just who Taeyong was going to bring with him.

Ten.

Jongin has only about five minutes to be shocked at Ten of all people being there in his workplace before the class has to begin, and he and Taemin are immediately swept up into teacher mode. He does his best to ignore Ten’s presence, but Jongin can’t help but feel the heavy gaze of the wolf following his every move.

It makes him itch.

Jongin feels self conscious throughout the class, Ten obviously not having expected to see Jongin here either. He hangs out towards the back of the studio, observing silently and listening carefully as Taemin shouts instructions out to the students. Soon enough however, Jongin watches as Ten joins in with the lesson.

Jongin can’t say he’s surprised that Ten can dance so well, after all, he’s felt the benefits of… werewolf prowess first hand. He can’t imagine the actual agility provided to a real werewolf’s body. He moves gracefully, as if floating on air, an agile control that Jongin recognizes comes from years of experience.

As Jongin and Taemin bid goodbye to the rest of their students, Jongin feels that cautious gaze flicker back over to him near immediately. Jongin doesn’t know, as he watches as Taeyong and Ten approach them, whether or not to play it off like he doesn’t know Ten at all.

He doesn’t get a chance to make the decision, however, as Ten does it for the both of them.

“Didn’t think I’d see you here,” he says. This time his trademark smirk is not on his face.

“I work here,” Jongin replies, and feels a little like he’s being interrogated.

“Obviously,” Ten snorts.

“You know each other?” Taeyong asks, looking back and forth.

“You could say that,” Ten replies before Jongin can.

Taeyong looks between the both of them once more, before nodding his head slowly.

“This is my friend, Ten,” he says to both of them, though Taeyong’s attention is mostly focused on Taemin.

Ten’s eyes do not leave Jongin’s—not once. Jongin shrivels under his gaze.

“Nice to meet you!” Taemin says joyfully, “we enjoy having visitors here, especially ones who join in the practices very enthusiastically. Where did you learn to dance?”

“I used to be a professional dancer,” Ten says. He looks toward Taemin and offers him a small smile.

“I see,” Taemin says, bringing his hands together. “Your technique was flawless.”

“Well,” Ten says, “Thank you. It’s been quite a while, actually.”

“Really?” Taemin responds, “I never would’ve guessed with how in tune your form was—”

“Hey,” Taeyong interrupts, “I need to talk to Jongin hyung for a bit,” he turns towards Taemin, “do you mind keeping him company?”

“Not a problem,” Taemin says, “I was actually just about to ask you how you landed the pirouette…” His voice trails off as Taemin grabs Ten and moves them to the other side of the room to discuss the dance routine they just went over in the previous class.

“So,” Taeyong says, now that he and Jongin are more or less alone. He turns towards the stereo near them, hitting the play button. The studio fills with Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” as Taeyong turns to face Jongin. He reaches out and grabs Jongin’s hand between his.

“Why did you—”

“That’s so he,” Taeyong says, whispering, “can’t hear.”

“So you know what he is then,” Jongin whispers back.

“Of course I do,” Taeyong sighs. “He’s my best friend.”

Jongin sucks a low breath in between his teeth. “Small world.”

“Indeed.”

Taeyong squeezes Jongin’s hand between his, rubbing his thumb over Jongin’s knuckles.

“What happened, hyung? I’ve never seen Ten act so cold.”

“I don’t know,” Jongin says truthfully. If Taeyong knows Ten, then there’s a high chance he knows Chanyeol. And if he knows Chanyeol, well. Jongin doesn’t see a point in skirting around his relationship with his coworkers. Especially someone already in the know. “The… the person I’ve been seeing these last couple of months is part of the same pack that Ten is in,” he continues. “Their Alpha? Leader? I don’t know. But it’s his boss at the newspaper. I haven’t seen Ten in months though. And the last time I did he was his usual… self.”

“Coy?” Taeyong smirks.

“Yeah.”

“Ten is… very protective of the other wolves in his pack,” Taeyong says after a long silence.

Jongin nods.

“You and your… wolf are doing fine, I assume?”

“Yes,” Jongin says, “I… I mean… well I don’t think I have a reason to worry.”

“You sound unsure.”

Jongin gulps. “There’s things I… need to talk to him about. Stuff I’ve found out that… makes me a little nervous.”

Taeyong purses his lips.

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, well, Chanyeol—”

“Chanyeol?!” Taeyong whispers, interrupting Jongin. He looks forlorn. “Oh, hyung,” he says, “just what have you gotten yourself into?”

“God,” Jongin says, squeezing Taeyong’s hand. “I have no idea.”

Taeyong pulls him into a hug.

“I suppose you can’t tell me anything about… whatever is going on either, can you.”

“Even if I could, I don’t know anything. Ten might be my best friend, but wolves still keep their privacy unless you’re like, mated to them.”

“Mated?” There’s that damn word again.

“Um…” Taeyong says smartly, “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

“You ready to go?” Ten’s voice sounds off right next to where Jongin and Taeyong are standing. Jongin nearly jumps out of Taeyong’s arms in surprise.

“Yeah,” Taeyong says, pulling himself out of his hug with Jongin. He squeezes his hand one last time.

“You’ll keep in touch, right?” Taeyong says. And keep me in the loop, his eyes say.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jongin says, trying and probably failing to act nonchalant. Ten gives him one more once over, mouth set in a thin line and expression pinched.

“See you around, Taemin hyung,” he bids lowly as a farewell.

Ten does not say anything to Jongin as he and Taeyong close the door behind him.

“A little rough around the edges, isn’t he?” Taemin says as the two of them turn the stereo off and clean up the dance studio.

“Who?” Jongin asks.

“Ten.”

“Yeah,” Jongin gulps, “you’ve got no idea.”

***

“You’re my brother, and I love you, but I do not want to hear you and my best friend having sex!” Jongin shouts in the direction of Jongdae’s bedroom over a plate of scrambled eggs and rice. His hair is standing up in all directions, his glasses are falling down the bridge of his nose, and his pajama shirt is stained with ketchup where an inexpertly aimed glob of sauce fell on him.

Overall, Jongin’s having a very bad morning.

He barely got any sleep last night as he tossed and turned, mind reeling over the cold shoulder Ten gave him, plus the cryptic conversation with Johnny a few weeks prior.

He hasn’t been at Chanyeol’s house in a while either, despite how much of his stuff is there. It’s funny if Jongin thinks about how he’s managed to get a closet full of clothes there without so much as seeing Chanyeol’s roommate Kyungsoo. But now it’s not funny anymore, when all Jongin can think about is how much he misses being in the same space as Chanyeol. Jongin feels like his own bed sheets are too itchy, his own room too small.

He misses Chanyeol’s place, Chanyeol’s bed, and Chanyeol’s scent.

Jongin feels a little bit like he’s being suffocated. There’s so much happening around him, so much information he’s getting and yet at the same time it’s not enough.

His conversations with Chanyeol have been normal, if a bit stilted, and that’s only because Jongin has this… this big thing weighing on him and no idea how to bring it up to Chanyeol. Because the worst thing Jongin can think of happening is that Chanyeol leaves him. Or they break up. And for some reason, that possibility makes it feel as if he has an anvil weighing on his chest.

He sighs, moving the rice on his plate back and forth with his spoon.

Jongdae and Baekhyun make their appearance after a few more minutes, Jongdae with his pajamas on, and Baekhyun with a bathrobe on and wet hair.

“Good morning, Jongin,” Baekhyun says, ruffling his hair.

“I hate you both,” he grumbles, and Baekhyun laughs.

They putter around in the kitchen, briefly discussing work and other menial day-to-day things.

Baekhyun asks Jongin about work and Chanyeol. To which Jongin allows himself to go in depth in his discussion of work, talking about his new students, about how Taeyong is now a regular shadowing his class, and does his best to avoid any in depth conversations involving Chanyeol.

Baekhyun’s like a bloodhound when it comes to something being wrong and the last thing Jongin wants is to be talked into spilling out his guts before he’s even had a chance to fully figure things out himself.

He sighs, putting his bowl in the sink.

“I’ll be out for the day,” he says, “so you don’t have to worry about me coming home early, or whatever. Work ends at 7.”

Jongin is out the door pretty quickly after that. He also might have lied to Jongdae and Baekhyun, too. He does not have work at all today, and instead makes his way to the park a few blocks from their place, finding an empty bench to sit on and brood.

His brain hurts and his body aches.

But mostly, his heart feels sad.

Johnny’s words keep replaying in his head every time he closes his eyes, and Jongin can’t seem to make left from right past the supernatural red tape he keeps encountering.

Plus, he still wants Chanyeol to bite him. And that doesn’t even touch on the… kink fantasy Jongin has, the one that started this whole charade in the first place. Wanting Chanyeol to fake knock him up, wanting Chanyeol to knot him so hard until it felt like he couldn’t breathe—

Jongin looks out ahead in front of him, pulling his jacket just a little tighter around his body to stop the chilly air from making him cold.

It feels unreachable, he thinks, digging his hands into his pockets. How the stupid werewolf knot and some stupid fantasy started this whole charade, and now Jongin feels like he can’t function properly without Chanyeol in his life anymore. It’s as if a limb is missing, and that makes Jongin feel more melodramatic than he’s ever wanted to be.

He watches the way the morning sun shines over the playground in the park, the rays reflecting off the swing sets, the side, and the other things little children would run and laugh and play around on. For some reason, the thought of seeing happy little kids makes something in Jongin feel like he’s in mourning, though he has no idea why.

“I feel pathetic,” he murmurs softly to himself, grateful that no one else is around. “I’m running in circles. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

He taps his leg for what feels like an hour, watching as the sun rises higher in the morning sky, and the sound of people commuting up and down the street start to fill the silence in his head.

You’ll eat your own heart out little human, before Chanyeol gets the chance too.

Jongin sighs. He hates it, but he knows what he has to do.

He picks up his phone before he loses the nerve and fires a quick text message off to Chanyeol.

We need to talk.

Chanyeol’s answering ping of okay does not ease the turmoil in Jongin’s gut.

***

Jongin looks out the window at Cafe Knotted and gives Chanyeol a small wave through the glass before he hears the bell at the door go off, signaling Chanyeol’s entrance into the cafe.

It took them a week to get their schedules lined up enough to meet again in person, and Jongin has half a mind to think that Chanyeol’s been covertly avoiding him for a while.

“Hey there,” Chanyeol says, before sliding into the booth across Jongin. It feels much like their first meeting, Jongin thinks, but different now. Because instead of the butterflies in Jongin’s stomach that lead to their creating this… arrangement, all he feels is dread.

“Hey,” he says softly, looking at the menu to distract himself.

You can do this, he thinks, you just need to be honest.

“What’s the occasion?” Chanyeol asks, and his eyes dart around the cafe a bit before settling on Jongin’s face. He gives him a true smile, big, teeth showing, eyes sparkling. Jongin falters, wondering if maybe…

He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts.

“I’ve missed you, you know that right?” he starts off slowly, “We hardly ever see each other.”

The smile slowly drops off Chanyeol’s face. “Y-You’re right,” he says, “and I’m sorry it’s… it’s work…”

Jongin waves him off, but notes the way Chanyeol doesn’t meet his gaze when he tells him.

“Yeah,” he agrees, “work.”

They fall into a slightly uncomfortable silence as Jongin continues to look at the menu in front of him.

Chanyeol clears his throat, causing Jongin to look up.

“I… I miss you too.”

“You do?” Jongin asks, trying to keep his voice neutral but knowing that his own excitement is betraying him.

“Yeah.” Chanyeol says. “I know it doesn’t feel like it. I’m sorry. But I miss you too.”

Jongin sags in relief, even just a little bit.

“I actually needed to talk to you about something,” he says quietly. “It’s been bothering me for a while.”

“Sure,” Chanyeol says, “what is it?”

“Well…” Jongin gulps, closing the menu. “I… I was at this other… cafe a few weeks ago? A month ago? I don’t really remember but… but this wolf,” he whispers the word, “came up to me because he said I smelled familiar.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows rise, and his eyes sharpen.

“He said he recognized the scent on me as… yours.”

“What else?” Chanyeol’s voice betrays no emotion.

“He called me one of your whores,” Jongin says, sucking in a breath between his teeth. “Is it true?” Jongin asks, voice wavering.

“No, Jongin it’s not—”

“Well look at what we have here,” a condescending and familiar voice chimes in. Jongin freezes in his seat as the familiar tone of the werewolf registers in his mind. It seems as if everyone in Cafe Knotted has frozen in place, attention turned towards the wolf now standing near Jongin and Chanyeol’s table.

“Get out of here, Byungwoo,” Chanyeol says, turning towards the wolf.

Byungwoo pays Chanyeol no mind, his entire focus on Jongin.

“Look at you here, scruffy,” he says, “didn’t I tell you to ask Alpha Park about his slew of exes weeks ago? How long has he been dragging you around by the collar?”

“He—He—”

“Let me guess,” Byungwoo says, turning to Chanyeol, “you haven’t told him about the myriad of humans you used to chase after and fuck around with so bad at Club Doomsday we’d have to get the vamps in to cover your sorry ass mistakes and get them to compel humans to forget about you?”

“Did he tell you about that yet?” Byungwoo turns to face Jongin.

“He’d run through humans like he was training for a triathlon. As if us wolves don’t have enough shit to deal with already. And pulling in favors with the vampire community because he could never muster up the balls to give those humans a clean break.”

Jongin feels his breathing coming on much faster. He tries to meet Chanyeol’s gaze across the table, but Chanyeol isn’t looking at him. In fact, Chanyeol’s looking everywhere but him.

“Byungwoo,” Chanyeol says, getting up, “you need to leave. Now.”

“What will you do, Alpha Park? Banish me? You can’t. Suho’s got you on a fucking leash after the shit you pulled last time. Someone needs to put you in your place. And stop letting you cock up the good thing we got going on here.”

“It’s not like that with him!” Chanyeol says loudly, “Jongin’s different.”

“That’s what you said every single time. Do you forget we always know what’s going on? There’s no such thing as a secret between werewolves.”

Jongin is sitting there, watching this argument unfold, but the voices sound like they are coming from miles away. He feels like his head has been submerged underwater, a vice grip around his neck threatening to choke him.

“So it’s true?” Jongin says softly, and despite the lowness of his voice it’s enough to get the two wolves to stop coming to blows. Jongin looks at Chanyeol, squarely in the face. “Is it true what he said? You… you’d mess with humans and then ha-have vampires...” Jongin’s voice trails off.

Chanyeol looks at him, desperately. Jongin watches the way his throat bobs as he swallows.

He breaks Jongin’s gaze.

“Yes,” he says, “I used to be that way.”

“Okay.” Jongin says, making an aborted movement with his head. “And this,” he gestures between the two of them, “was just some elaborate scheme—okay.”

“No, Jongin please—”

“I can’t be here,” he says, voice far away. “I can’t—Oh God, I’m going to be sick.”

Jongin pushes himself out of the booth and bumps into Byungwoo on his way out the door of Cafe Knotted. He does his best to avoid the pitying glances of the other wolves in the establishment but it’s too late.

Jongin’s seen their eyes, and he can tell when someone’s saying I’m sorry with a gaze.

“J-Jongin, please!” Chanyeol shouts from behind. Jongin does not look back. He also does his best to fight the childish urge to run away, even though he feels he has every right to, after being so… humiliated in front of what felt like a good chunk of the werewolf community in Seoul.

“Jongin,” Chanyeol says, and his voice sounds from right behind him. Jongin pulls his coat tighter, stops in his tracks, and takes a deep breath.

Against his better judgment, he turns around.

“Yes?” he says, voice hard as he tries to mask the sadness threatening to consume him.

“Please, please it’s… it’s not what you think it’s—”

“So what is it then?” Jongin cuts him off. “Is this,” he gestures to the two of them with his hands, “just some game to you?”

“No!” Chanyeol shouts, then tones his voice down when he remembers they’re in public. “No. It’s not a game. You’re so… you’re more to me than—” Chanyeol cuts himself off, looking away. “I knew this would happen,” he mumbles under his breath.

Jongin takes a deep breath in the ensuing silence.

“You’re not a game to me, please,” Chanyeol says.

“You’ve been ignoring me for weeks,” Jongin replies, “Add to that on top of what that werewolf just said, I sure feel like a fucking game. What are you gonna do? Call up one of your fucking vampire friends and have them compel me to forget about you!? Fuck that!”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Chanyeol says, “Not to you.”

“But you have done it before. To other people.”

Chanyeol doesn’t meet Jongin’s gaze.

Jongin sighs. “I need to go home,” he says, putting his hands in his coat pocket. “I need to go home. And think.”

“Are we… breaking up?” Chanyeol says in a small voice.

“Were we ever even together!?” Jongin bites back. Chanyeol visibly flinches at his words, and Jongin knows it’s a fucked up thing to say, but he barrels on. “Has every damn werewolf in this city—hell, every supernatural being—just watched me and felt pity for me? Knowing I was the loser human chasing after Alpha Park? Just another notch in his bedpost of conquests—”

“Jongin, no it’s not—”

“I need to go home,” he repeats. Jongin feels his lower lip wobble in a clear sign of distress. He knows he’s merely seconds away from crying. If he cries in front of Chanyeol he knows he’s never going to make it the three blocks he needs to walk.

“I need time. I need… I just need some time to breathe. I can’t do this with you right now. Don’t call me. I’ll call you when I’m ready, Chanyeol.”

Jongin looks at Chanyeol’s stricken expression, the way he’s chewing on his bottom lip. He looks like he’s about to say something, but then he swallows his words, and nods his head.

“Okay,” he replies softly. “Please… please call me.”

Jongin can’t muster up a vocal response to that plea, so he nods his head really fast and turns around, continuing his walk home.

He does not look back once, but he feels eyes on his back the entire time.

***

Jongin is, for lack of a better word, absolutely fucking miserable.

True to his promise, Chanyeol does not call or text even once. Jongin doesn’t know whether to feel relieved that Chanyeol is following his wishes, or upset that Chanyeol isn’t blowing up his phone with texts and calls begging for Jongin to talk to him again.

It’s a tricky situation, to say the least.

Jongin’s work at the dance studio has also taken a turn for the worst, as old injuries started flaring up especially bad over the last week. The owner, a nice fellow named Yunho, has given Jongin time off to quote, heal yourself up, after one too many unsuccessful attempts at a basic pirouette nearly killed Jongin’s waist and left ankle again.

The great thing about being off on sick leave from work is that Jongin can now spend all hours of the day wallowing in his misery instead of just a small portion. The bad thing about being off on sick leave from work is that all Jongin does is wallow.

He can’t seem to stop. He has binge watched every single horror film he could find on Netflix and then some, and while most of them sucked—at least to his taste—when the movie was on at least he had a distraction.

All the things that gave him some semblance of joy feel empty… and Jongin finds himself devoid, in a bone deep sense of the word.

Something is missing.

And that miserable itch is back in full force.

Jongin eats through a freezer full of Baskin Robbins Rainbow Chocolate Chip Ice Cream pints and nearly a whole case of instant ramen in the ensuing weeks. He feels himself… deteriorating, as dramatic as it sounds, and more often than not he's glued to the couch or the bed.

And his dreams, oh, his dreams.

Usually, Jongin’s not the type to dream, or even remember what he dreamt about. But like clockwork, since the fight with Chanyeol, Jongin has dreamt of the same forest, and the same large black wolf every single night. In his dreams, the wolf is far away from him. Unlike the first time, where the wolf approached him cautiously, these times he looks… afraid.

The wolf, despite its size, seems to cower at the sight of Jongin, tail tucked between his legs as he lays in a heap on the forest floor, face pressed down into the dirt and facing away from Jongin.

Jongin finds himself spending every dream walking towards the large beast, but never making any progress. It’s almost as if he’s walking on ground that keeps expanding, keeps moving, and while he runs and runs to approach the wolf, it hides and hides, facing away from him.

“Just let me get to you!” Jongin shouts, but his voice sounds foggy even to his own ears, like he’s trying to hear through water. “Please!”

The wolf ducks its head even further down, paws covering its eyes. Jongin tries to get to him, to touch his fur again. He runs faster, pushes himself harder. I just need you to look at me, I just need you to know, I just need you to remember—

Jongin wakes up in a cold sweat, shoving his blanket off his body. His chest heaves as he sits up and tries to gather his bearings. His skin is covered in a thin sheen of sweat and his hand shakes ever so slightly in front of him.

To the left of him on his bedside table, the clock reads 03:42.

“Ugh,” Jongin says, at the same moment that his bedroom door is kicked in. Jongin rolls over and flips on the bedlight near his table jumping up out of bed.

“JONGIN!” Jongdae shouts. He’s dressed in nothing but some sweatpants with a bat in his hands.

“Hy—what?!” Jongin says, confused.

“Are you alright?!” Jongdae says, wielding the bat in his hands, ducking around and looking in Jongin’s room.

“Yes,” Jongin says, blinking at his brother. “Care to say why you have a bat with you?”

Jongdae tilts his head to the side, looking at Jongin with a curious expression. He finally lowers the bat down at least, letting it hang at his side.

“You were screaming,” Jongdae says softly. “I thought someone was in the house and trying to kidnap you.”

“I’m not a kid,” Jongin grumbles.

“To me you’ll always be,” Jongdae says, closing Jongin’s door behind him. He pushes Jongin down onto his bed very easily and sits down on his side.

“Is this what I think it—”

“Are you going to willingly tell me what’s been eating you alive or do I have to bully it out of you?”

“It is,” Jongin grumbles, completing his thought.

Jongdae looks at him again, his signature eyebrow arched up neatly. The bat is now resting on the floor, rolling away from the both of them. Jongin focuses on the movement as he tries to center his breathing.

“It’s my,” he gulps, “werewolf problem.”

Jongdae nods, a clear sign of acknowledgement.

Jongin worries his bottom lip between his teeth, trying to find a way to make sense of this to his brother. God. He feels like he’s having a conversation about the birds and the bees.

“What would you do if… if you felt like you’d been played in a relationship?”

Jongdae’s eyes narrow. “Did this fucking asshole cheat on y—”

“No! No!” Jongin says quickly. “Nothing like that. I just… I guess it’s more like I was kept in the dark for so long about… about something.”

“Well what was it?” Jongdae asks. He rubs his hand on Jongin’s knee, a comforting touch.

Jongin stays silent.

“You can tell me whatever it is,” Jongdae adds. “I won’t judge you, Nini. You’ve—these last few weeks have just…” Jongdae takes a deep breath. “You’re not you and it’s freaking me out. Just tell me.”

Jongin runs his fingers through his hair, before letting the pads of his fingers touch gently against his own cheeks. “I didn’t… I didn’t really get an answer.”

“He didn’t tell you?! Didn’t explain himself?!” Jongdae’s voice is harsh and unwavering.

“More like I didn’t ask… for an explanation, or. Or anything. I just. This random werewolf came up to our table and humiliated me in front of everyone in the restaurant we were at and… I had to leave before I started crying in public.”

“Oh, Jongin,” he says, and swiftly Jongin feels himself pulled into Jongdae’s arms. He melts into the touch, letting his brother hold him while Jongin feels a wave of tears creep up on him and silently roll down his face.

“And now i-it’s too late to get any sort of answer because I shot him down and told him to never call me again but my chest feels so empty and my body feels weak and I c-can’t—” Jongin hiccups through his words before everything melts into a jumbled tearful mess. Jongdae holds him tightly and Jongin turns, letting himself cry against his brother’s bare shoulder.

Jongin lets all the pent up emotions crash down on him in a spectacular tsunami. He lets the flood gates open as he confides to Jongdae in a disjointed jumble of babbling about his relationship with Chanyeol, all the way from the beginning. He leaves out the bit towards the end about the vampire compulsion. Something inside him begs to keep that part hidden, for now at least, until he can muster up the courage to talk about it with Chanyeol.

Jongdae rubs his back throughout the entirety of his tear fest, picking up a shirt off the ground for Jongin to wipe his face on.

“Oh, Jongin,” he says, when Jongin finally managed to stop crying and speaking. “This sounds like a spectacular case of miscommunication. And… some werewolf funkiness neither of us can fully grasp the concept of.”

“Yeah,” Jongin hiccups, wiping his running nose on the shirt in his hand.

“So,” Jongdae continues, “what’s the plan of action?”

“Plan?”

“Jongin,” he says, scolding. “Do you think I’m going to let you sit here and whine only? And not force you to do something about this?”

“Hyuuuuung,” he whines.

“You get two days before I tell Baekhyun and let him handle this.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly,” Jongdae brushes Jongin’s sweaty hair from his face. “Come on, you can do this. He’s waiting for your call.”

Jongin sniffles.

“Do you think I made the right decision? To leave?”

“I know you get overwhelmed, champ. I also know you’ve got the worst temper in the world. I think that was the best decision. Last thing I’d need is to have to pick you up from the police station because you got arrested for fighting in public.”

That gets a laugh out of Jongin, and he feels some of the tension in his body abate.

“Thank you,” he says quietly.

“I’m here for you,” Jongdae says, “now come on, shower time. I’ll cook something.”

“It’s almost five in the morning.”

“You’re telling me you aren’t hungry?”

“Okay fine,” Jongin relents, “but don’t burn the house down while I’m in the bathroom.”

“I’ll try not to,” Jongdae says, rolling his eyes.

***

Jongin fiddles with the cord of his earphones before he steps through the doors of Cafe Knotted once again.

It feels a little weird, he admits, to be here weeks after what might be in the top five most humiliating moments of his life. Jongin wrestles with himself to keep his breathing steady, as he approaches the counter to place an order. He’s not here to meet anyone, but more so to reacquaint himself with surroundings he left behind. The smell of freshly ground coffee fills his nose as he waits for his hot chocolate, and it’s enough of a distraction for Jongin to release the tension in his body.

Besides, he thinks, there’s no such thing as a secret between werewolves, right?

Jongin has a feeling whoever is looking for him will find him eventually.

He receives his drink with two hands from a barista he is positive recognizes him from before, and finds a nice secluded spot to sit in towards the back. The booth chairs are soft and comfy and smell like citrus, and Jongin finds himself leaning back into it, relaxing.

He watches people for a bit, mind going adrift to last night with Baekhyun and Jongdae. Needless to say, Baekhyun was not amused by Jongin’s pity party, and nearly rolled him out of bed in his haste to get him to agree to leave the house for once.

“I can’t watch this shit!” Baekhyun had said, pulling the blanket off of Jongin and nearly causing him to fall to the floor. “I cannot take another day of seeing you wallowing!”

“But hyuuuung,” Jongin whined, muffled and into the pillow.

“No ‘buts’,” Baekhyun had soldiered on, “now get out of bed!”

“Jongdae promised he wasn’t going to tell you for another two days.”

“I have my ways of getting information out of him,” Baekhyun smirked, to which Jongin replied with a disgusted face.

Baekhyun hounded him for all the details on everything he missed, and much like the previous night with Jongdae, he filled Baekhyun in on everything he felt was important enough to share. Talking about it for a second time made Jongin feel less insecure. Jongdae was right. Leaving at that moment was the best thing he could’ve done.

It’s been weeks, and sure, while Jongin misses Chanyeol like crazy, and feels so upset it’s almost as if a chasm as big as the Marianas Trench has opened in his chest, he feels oddly… happy that he didn’t say something he might’ve regretted.

“But you’ve gotta get your man,” Baekhyun said, shoving Jongin’s shoulder slightly.

“Huh?” Jongin had said, after a shower and two waffles.

“This whole thing, Nini,” Baekhyun made wide gestures, “you need to go out there, and talk to him again. The bite. Your pregnancy kink. This werewolf mumbo jumbo. Call him up. Tell him you’re ready to speak to him. And if… well if it doesn’t work out, then at least you know. And you aren’t left sitting here debating about these what-ifs for the rest of your life.”

He wanted to tell Baekhyun something to the contrary, but found himself nodding his head in agreement, almost against his own volition.

“You’re right,” is what Jongin said instead, much to his chagrin, which is how he ended up here, back in Cafe Knotted, trying to regain some semblance of calm before he called up Chanyeol.

A part of Jongin knows he’s doing this just a little bit backwards. That perhaps he should have called Chanyeol first to arrange the meeting, instead of showing up first and calling, but. He knows just as well, if Jongin gave himself too much time to dwell on it, he might walk away again like he did the last time. Jongin takes his phone out of his pocket, and puts it on the table. He stares at it, as if it’s an alien thing, as if it might jump up and attack him, as he wills himself to summon the courage to pick it up and dial Chanyeol’s number.

He doesn’t get that far though.

“Is this seat taken?” a soft, smooth voice says.

Jongin nearly jumps because of the fright caused by the stranger. He looks up and is face to face with one of the most handsome men he’s possibly ever seen in his life. Smooth, marble skin, small eyes, and a disarmingly cheerful smile. The man is short—shorter than Jongin at least by the looks of it—and he holds a cup of what looks like hot green tea in his hands.

“I-It’s free,” Jongin stutters, motioning with his hand to the seat across from him. He pretends not to notice the way there are empty tables literally everywhere around them as the stranger takes a seat.

He sips from his cup of tea leisurely, eyeing Jongin carefully from the corner of his eye. He has a smile on his face, and his posture seems relaxed, so Jongin allows himself to relax in kind as well.

“My name is Suho,” the kind man says, and Jongin’s eyes perk up in recognition. A distant memory of a name that the last werewolf mentioned.

“But,” the man continues, “I think you might know my real name. Perhaps your friend with the sharp teeth told you.” He takes a sip from his cup leisurely.

“Junmy—”

Kim Junmyeon raises a finger, and Jongin’s voice dies in his throat. “Names are very valuable information, and I like to keep mine close to the chest.”

“Right,” Jongin says, tapping against the table.

“Anyway,” Junmyeon says, “I’m here to apologize.”

Huh?

“Um…” Jongin says intelligently, finally meeting Junmyeon’s eyes.

“This thing… with Chanyeol. It never should’ve gotten that far.”

Jongin deflates. He reaches for his phone to put it back in his pocket, but Junmyeon motions for him to stop. “You mistake what I mean,” he says, eyes imploring.

“I don’t think I do,” Jongin snaps, getting more flustered the longer he sits here with Junmyeon across from him.

Junmyeon raises his hands up in a placating gesture. “What I meant was… it never should have come to that… very bad public humiliation here a few weeks back. That… had I been more… gracious a Pack Leader, Chanyeol would have never felt the need to hide his… intimacy with you.”

Jongin feels his shoulders sag again, this time for a different reason.

“It’s all true,” Junmyeon continues before Jongin has the chance to ask. “Everything you heard from Byungwoo. I admit… we werewolves have a lot of places we need to… grow up in, so to speak. Family is very important though. And I would do anything to protect my family.”

“That’s how Johnny knows you guys then, isn’t it?”

Junmyeon nods. “And he couldn’t tell you anything, quite literally, as he’s sworn to a magical vow of secrecy.”

“Magic?” Jongin asks, incredulous.

Junmyeon winks.

“Because of course,” he mutters offhandedly, “at this point anything is possible.”

“That’s a good attitude to have,” Junmyeon presses, which makes Jongin pause. He looks up at him. “You might need it for when you speak to Chanyeol. He’s been wanting to call you for a week, but only the sou—er, only your request for him not to makes him keep to his word.”

“This is a lot for me to take in,” Jongin says, fiddling with the cup on the table.

“You came here of your own volition, didn’t you? You’d go to Club Doomsday of your own volition, too.”

Jongin nods.

“So I hope you can understand me when I tell you this: I am not forcing you to do anything, and neither is Chanyeol. It’s against our own code of conduct. Forcing things, ourselves, onto other wolves, or people.” Junmyeon sighs, lost in thought. “If you didn’t want him anymore, you’d just have to say the word. And he’d be out of your life.”

“You’d get Johnny to erase my memory, wouldn’t you?”

It’s only Junmyeon’s years as a leader that doesn’t make him visibly flinch at Jongin’s words. Jongin has to admit that Junmyeon is much tougher than he seems.

“If it came to that, yes,” Junmyeon says, voice not betraying a single feeling.

“I see,” Jongin says, hollowly.

“It wouldn’t be for Chanyeol’s benefit, you know that right?”

Jongin gulps.

“Are you telling me you erased him out of his past relationships' memories' out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Yes, actually,” Junmyeon sips his tea.

They lapse into an uncomfortable silence.

“You might not get it, Mr. Kim,” Junmyeon continues after a while, “But the physical connection forged between a werewolf and anyone they lie with exists on a spectrum. From no connection—meaning there is no residual pull—to… to the strongest type of connection we wolves know.”

“Which is?” Jongin prods.

At this, Junmyeon actually smiles, although his teeth are very sharp.

“Something you will find out.” Junmyeon drains the last of his cup and stands up.

“You should give him a call,” he says loftily, as if he’s just given Jongin a big easter egg. “He’s waiting for you.”

Jongin stares at his cellphone for what feels like an eternity. He could take Junmyeon up on his offer. Have Johnny erase his memory. He could tell him right now he doesn’t want this and it would be gone.

Besides, if he doesn’t remember Chanyeol, there isn’t anything to miss is there?

Jongin sighs, fist clenching at his sides.

His insides are twisted in knots, that perilous tug in the pit of his stomach stronger than it has ever been.

If you don’t bother trying, you’ll be stuck with the what-ifs forever.

Jongin reaches for his phone, but he doesn’t dial Chanyeol’s number until after Junmyeon leaves.

***

Jongin knocks upon the door to Chanyeol’s place, rocking back and forth on his heels. He feels like running—this nervous energy thrumming throughout his entire being.

The door swoops open, but instead of being greeted by Chanyeol, Jongin meets the gaze of a shorter, angry looking man in black framed glasses.

“Oh,” the man says, “so you’re the guy.” The man sizes Jongin up, from head to toe, despite being half a head shorter than him.

“Um…” Jongin says, “Who are you?”

The man doesn’t look offended, merely chuckles.

“I’m the roommate,” he offers, smirking.

A lightbulb goes off in Jongin’s head. “K...Kyungsoo?” he asks.

“Would you look at that,” Kyungsoo replies, “the big guy actually does talk about me.”

“N-Nice to um… to meet you finally,” Jongin cringes at the sound of his own voice.

“I’m sure we will have more opportunities to meet,” Kyungsoo says sincerely, “if the smells you’re throwing off are anything to go by.”

A wolf then, he thinks to himself, but doesn’t even have a moment to feel embarrassment before Kyungsoo is opening the door wider, and beckoning Jongin inside.

“I’ll see myself out,” Kyungsoo says, putting on his shoes, “I won’t come back ‘til tomorrow. Chanyeol!” he shouts.

“What?!” comes an acerbic, and what sounds like a heartbroken voice.

“Your boyfriend is here! I’m leaving! Don’t call me and don’t ask me to come home until you’ve both made up and are decent!”

Jongin’s face flushes red. “Hey, wait I—”

“No explanation needed,” Kyungsoo chuckles, waving him off. “He’s been fucking miserable for weeks. Dear God, I’ve never been happier to see a human knock on the door.” Kyungsoo looks up at Jongin. “No offense?”

“Uh, none taken…?”

“Great,” Kyungsoo claps him on the shoulder before grabbing his keys off the ring and slamming the door shut behind him.

“Kyungsoo!” comes Chanyeol’s angry voice. He rounds the corner where the bedrooms are yelling, “How many times have I said to stop slamming the d—oh.” His tirade stops once he meets Jongin’s gaze.

Jongin stares at Chanyeol, soaking him in ways he hasn’t been able to for weeks.

“Soo wasn’t lying.”

“He wasn’t.”

“You really did come by.”

“I said I would.”

The silence between them is permeable.

“I’m sor—”

“Can we just—”

They both speak at the same time, before meeting gazes again. Jongin blushes, and feels the weight of Chanyeol’s stare on his body like an anvil.

“Go ahead,” Chanyeol says, motioning to the couch, for them to both sit down. Jongin watches Chanyeol sit, and actually starts to fully take him in. There are bags under his eyes, his hair is wet and flat as if he’d just come from a shower, and his skin looks pale.

“Are you… okay?” Jongin gulps, sitting next to Chanyeol on the couch. He presses their knees together, and Chanyeol seems to focus on that pinpoint of contact.

“Been better,” he says softly, gazing at Jongin’s face with an expression akin to longing. As if Jongin might disappear at any moment.

Jongin smacks his lips, unsure of where to start.

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol blurts out, voice uneven. “I’m really, really sorry.” He bites his bottom lip.

“I… I shouldn’t have left the way I did,” Jongin admits quietly, “I don’t… do well in situations like that.”

“I understand. You had every right to leave.”

“I should have called you earlier.”

“You called when you were ready.”

Jongin sighs.

“Just let me be sorry, okay?” he says, and he reaches out a tentative hand, pressing it on Chanyeol’s bare knee. Chanyeol sucks in a deep breath, and Jongin watches as some of the color seems to return to his face.

“What…” Jongin wets his lips. “What did you want to say?”

“Junmyeon told me he spoke to you. And gave you… options. If… If you want to take those… I wouldn’t hold it against you. I’ve been… less deserving of you the last few weeks.”

Jongin gulps. Squeezes Chanyeol’s knee.

“I could’ve fucked you that first night,” Chanyeol says, voice soft. The words tumble out of his mouth as if he’s afraid if he doesn’t say it now he never will. “In fact… I was going to.” He looks off into the distance behind Jongin’s shoulder, not meeting his eye.

“But then… then you said that I smelled so good,” Chanyeol continues on, and Jongin watches the way his throat bobs as he swallows. “You said I smelled good. You buried your face in my neck. It made me stop in my tracks. Humans don’t smell wolves.”

“But… it was your cologne,” Jongin whispers.

“No, it’s not cologne. It’s me. The real me. It’s the scent of my wolf.”

Jongin sits in the silence as the words register in his mind.

“Earthy, Like summer. Warm. Inviting. Pleasant,” Chanyeol ticks off all the points on his fingers, “You said I smelled like the fresh cut grass after your dad mowed the lawn. You said I smelled like home.”

Chanyeol puts his hand over Jongin’s on his knee. “Like home,” he repeats. “That phrase carried more weight than you—maybe either of us—realized.”

“Humans aren’t supposed to be able to pick up on us like that,” Chanyeol continues, “Least of all an Alpha wolf,” Chanyeol runs his hand through his hair. “But you somehow did and it made me think of all the other instances of humans I had been with before you.”

Jongin flinches at the mention of other humans, trying not to cry. “You fuck humans and jerk them around for fun?”

Chanyeol looks at his eyes. “I could ask the same of you,” his tone is strong, but not unkind. “You fuck monsters for fun?”

Jongin sucks his bottom lip in his mouth, nodding his head slightly.

“Whatever pull you had to the supernatural, that’s been me. But to humans only.” Chanyeol lets out a humorless laugh. “It’s always been a point of tension within the community. I’m known for it. For going outside our norms and wanting to… assimilate more among the human species.”

Jongin nods his head, feeling the fight drain out of him.

“And at least now…,” he pauses, unsure what to say. Chanyeol looks over to Jongin, eyes focused on Jongin’s hands in his lap. “It took so long. But now I know why.”

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything more. Jongin studies him and it occurs that perhaps Chanyeol might be waiting for Jongin to give him a nudge. To tell him he wants to hear the rest.

“Well,” Jongin says, his voice scratchy from all the previous tears. “If there was ever any time to explain the werewolf mojo. It might as well be now.”

Chanyeol looks at Jongin carefully, and for the first time in all the months Jongin’s known him, Chanyeol looks… nervous.

“Are you… sure?” he asks softly. “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes,” Jongin says. “I do.”

Chanyeol takes a deep breath, eyes flitting over Jongin before he turns to face Jongin’s body on the couch. He grabs one of Jongin’s hands, squeezing the flesh near his thumb. The action relaxes Jongin’s tense body as well. He sighs in relief. That seems to relax Chanyeol in turn, who finally stops his motions, and looks up to meet Jongin’s eyes.

“You’re my soulmate,” Chanyeol says.

Jongin nearly falls off the couch.

“Huh?” he says intelligently, mouth hanging open like a fish.

“Wolves… have soulmates. It’s our most coveted secret. Because… to hurt a wolf’s soulmate is to hurt the wolf itself.”

“I don’t—I don’t think I’m following along.”

“It’s faint,” Chanyeol continues, “because you’re a human. But if you were a wolf… we’d be able to feel each other’s emotions perfectly. It’s why I think I could read you so easily. Maybe you've been able to read me too without realizing.”

“Soulmate…” Jongin whispers out loud. It sounds ridiculous. It sounds absolutely batty. Jongin has half a mind to get up and leave because Chanyeol can’t be serious. And this can’t be real. But the sincerity in his eyes feels unmatched. And the curve of his mouth, in something akin to hopefulness, makes Jongin reign in doubt once more.

The strongest type of connection we wolves know.

“Keep explaining, please,” he says, and Chanyeol nods along.

“Every time you mentioned my… cologne,” Chanyeol says, chagrined, “it gave me pause.”

Jongin nods, not trusting himself to speak.

“I didn’t tell anyone. Thought it was just another one of those weird human idiosyncrasies. But then… then you started getting stronger.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t be coy, Jongin, it’s unbecoming of you,” Chanyeol snorts, a bit of his old self peeking through. “You know exactly what I mean. Your injuries healed up. Your body was more agile. You were getting stronger. And just by being with me. That’s when I knew.”

“I don’t—“

“Wolves get strength from their bond through copulation.”

“You sound like you’re reciting a textbook,” Jongin snaps.

“I am. It’s one of the first lessons we learn.” Chanyeol's eyes burn into his.

“You got stronger because of me, because of us… what we were doing.”

“You were avoiding me then, weren’t you?” Jongin breathes out, “you felt far away.”

“I was,” Chanyeol looks away. “I'm not proud to admit it. I was scared.”

“You were pushing me away!” Jongin yells. Upset. Mortified.

“You have to understand,” Chanyeol implores, “how difficult this was for—for me to accept. You’re human. There was no way we could be soulmates. But you were getting stronger just because of us touching, kissing, and having oral sex. And I felt like I was going crazy,” Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, letting a hollow laugh escape from his mouth. “I started wanting you around badly, started thinking about you all the time. Every single day. All the days you stayed here and you laid in bed with me, I never wanted you to leave. I was making Ten and Mark sick with how much I brought you up.”

Chanyeol looks back at Jongin. “I didn't think I could have you. Not in a way… a way that would matter. To my wolf. So I made the stupid decision to keep you at arm’s length, to pretend that you weren’t ready for my knot but in reality—”

Jongin interrupts him as something Johnny said ages ago flits through his mind. “It wouldn’t just have been knotting, wouldn't it? You would have… bonded yourself to me.”

Chanyeol’s eyes look like shards of glass. “Unbreakable, too,” he whispers. “But only for me. You could have a complete life, since you’re still a human. You could leave me and… and move on. And as a wolf I would be stuck in a one sided bond. Perhaps you would want me around, or need me around, but the instincts—the need—it wouldn’t be the same.”

“Oh.”

Chanyeol bites his bottom lip, fingers fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “If you want to leave… I can understand. If it’s too much… I… I get it.”

“I’ve been dreaming of a wolf,” Jongin admits. “When… we were good together… it was just once. But since we fought it’s been almost every night.”

Chanyeol's eyes blaze with something unspoken. “Could.. Could you describe the wolf to me?”

“Midnight black,” Jongin says, “he’s big… looks scary but… in my dreams, back when… when they were good, the wolf was nice to me.”

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol breathes out, and Jongin looks down at their laps, where their hands have joined together. Chanyeol’s arms are shaking.

“I… I’m starting to get what you’re not saying,” Jongin says quietly. “Is it safe to assume that the wolf I’ve been dreaming of is… is you?”

Chanyeol nods imperceptibly.

“You were scared in my dreams and I—I kept trying to run to you but my feet couldn’t move and I just—”

“Shhh,” Chanyeol quiets him, “it’s just a dream, it’s not real.”

“Is that why you look like you’ve been run over by a truck? This soulmate shit is serious business, isn’t it?”

Chanyeol breaks eye contact and looks away.

“I’m not going to force you to be with me just because it’s weakened me a bit. I can still live. I’m just tired, that’s all. But I could be fine.”

“Do you want to be alone?” Jongin asks cooly.

Chanyeol gulps. He still doesn’t meet Jongin’s gaze. “No,” he says.

“I don’t either,” Jongin admits. “For as… long as I can remember, I’ve always had a pull to the supernatural. It’s why I went to Club Doomsday in the first place. It’s why I’ve fucked nearly every supernatural being I could ever get my hands on.”

A growl escapes through Chanyeol’s teeth, and Jongin feels himself giddy at the sound. “You don’t like it when I mention being with other people. Do you understand how I feel now?”

“My brother used to joke that I was a furry,” Jongin continues, trying to lighten the mood, “I guess in a way he was right.”

“Jongin.” Chanyeol snorts.

“Look at me, please,” Jongin says, and Chanyeol turns to him, searching eyes gazing. Jongin pulls both of Chanyeol’s hands into his, angling their bodies so they are facing each other, so that Chanyeol can’t turn away.

“This pulling sensation in my gut goes away when I’m with you,” Jongin starts, “I got stronger when I was with you. I could land a pirouette again. I’ve dreamt of your wolf. What I’m saying is…” he takes a deep breath, “I guess stranger things could happen to me. But I want to be with you. I want us to… to bond. And I’m only mad that you tried to make that decision for me instead of letting me do it on my own.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol whispers, barely able to speak.

“I’m sorry too,” Jongin says, tracing Chanyeol’s fingers with his own. “I… I had a realization a while ago when I was hanging out with my friend—the one dating Johnny. I kept staring at his neck, looking at his bite marks. And then it hit me that I want that.” Jongin looks up at Chanyeol. “I wanted you—I want you—to bite me. To turn me. And that thought terrifies me. I should have told you… but we were drifting… I didn’t want to ruin what we had. I was afraid you’d leave me.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Chanyeol’s voice is barely above a whisper.

“Junmyeon told me to have an open mind,” Jongin says, “I understand what he meant. I understand what I want.”

“It would be… irreversible,” Chanyeol whispers, “My wolf wants you so bad. I don’t think I’d be able to help myself. I wouldn’t bite you unwillingly like some barbarian but… us having sex—me knotting you—it would spark quite the attachment.”

“I already want to be around you,” Jongin says, pushing himself onto Chanyeol’s lap and invading his space. He doesn’t know where the boldness comes from, but he rides the splash of confidence it feeds him. “I constantly want to be around you. I started getting weak, you know. And even when I was mad at you I still missed you.”

“God,” Chanyeol says, cupping Jongin’s cheeks in his palms. “I think the… connection goes much further than I assumed.”

“You thought you could leave me in the dark, and hope it went away?”

“No,” Chanyeol says, “I wasn’t trying to do that. But I was trying to see if you’d give up on me.”

“Don’t think I could,” Jongin says quietly. “You make me feel good.” Jongin sniffles, overcome with emotion. “I missed you so much. Even when you were around me. Please don’t keep secrets like this from me again.”

“How was I supposed to know you’d end up being the… most understanding human in the entire world?”

Jongin chuckles. “Stranger things have happened,” he repeats.

“They really have,” Chanyeol says, rubbing Jongin’s cheek.

“Can I ask you something?” Jongin whispers after a moment of silence.

Chanyeol nods.

“That time… that time after those 2 weeks when you were working and we… we just laid in your bed? What was that for?”

Chanyeol smiles. “That was after the time I realized you were my soulmate,” he says softly. “I know you wanted sex. I did too. But… I was emotional and… I thought if I wouldn’t be able to have you in the way my wolf needed… I could at least relish in what it felt like to be held in your arms. For once.”

“You stupid idiot,” Jongin says, burying his face in Chanyeol’s neck. “I can always hold you. You can always hold me.”

“I know that now.”

“So carry me to bed,” Jongin says through a stifled yawn, “and please do.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol whispers, getting them off the couch.

Jongin’s asleep in his arms before his back hits the mattress.

***

Jongin wakes up in the darkness, nothing but a night light on. Chanyeol is nowhere to be found. He scrambles out of bed, tense, and afraid that Chanyeol’s left him, before the door pushes open and the light from the outside living room floods into the bedroom.

“You’re awake,” Chanyeol says.

“I thought you left,” Jongin replies, scared. Chanyeol flips the bedroom light on before he rushes to him, sitting on the bed and pulling Jongin into his arms. He runs a hand over Jongin’s face.

“Not leaving,” he says, “I was making something for you to eat.”

“Oh,” Jongin says, burying his face in Chanyeol’s chest. “I was scared.”

Chanyeol rubs his back. “Does your brother know you’re here?”

“Oh shit,” Jongin says, reaching for his phone in his pocket. He scrambles a bit before Chanyeol hands it to him, where it was lying on the dresser.

“Hey, it’s fully charged,” Jongin comments.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “I charged it for you. It was at 8% when you fell asleep.”

“Whoops,” Jongin says, before firing off a quick text to Jongdae.

Everything’s going well, he writes, I’ll be at Chanyeol's tonight. Maybe a few days.

The response he gets is definitely not from Jongdae. Enjoy your werewolf lover hehehe

Jongin rolls his eyes at Baekhyun’s reply, before putting his phone back on the nightstand.

“Food?” Chanyeol asks, and Jongin's stomach grumbles right after. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Hey, what time is it?” Jongin asks as they make their way to the kitchen. The smell of food hits Jongin’s nose quickly after, and his mouth starts to salivate. “What the hell, it smells so good in here.”

“It’s dinner time,” Chanyeol says, “you slept for like two hours.”

“I didn’t know I was tired.”

“I don’t think you were,” Chanyeol comments, placing a plate of spaghetti in front of Jongin. “I think your body needed recharging. From being around me again.”

Chanyeol hands Jongin a pair of chopsticks, and Jongin digs in. He glances up once and notices the satisfied look on Chanyeol’s face as he eats all the food Chanyeol’s given him. A memory comes to mind.

“Is that like a werewolf thing?” Jongin asks, wiping his face with a napkin.

“Hmm?” Chanyeol says, pausing as he eats his own plate of food.

Jongin shrugs. “I just remembered like, the few times you offered me food, and I accepted, your expression would become really happy.”

“Oh, yes. Offering gifts to a potential mate, and having the gifts be accepted are very pleasing.”

“Do I need to give you gifts, too?” Jongin inquires seriously. For some reason, he’s desperate to get this right.

“It’s not necessary,” Chanyeol says, “you’re a human. You don’t have to give me anything.”

“When I’m a wolf?”

The chopstick in Chanyeol’s hand snaps in half under the pressure of his strength.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“I’m not upset,” Chanyeol says, getting a new pair of chopsticks and throwing the broken one away. “It’s quite the contrary. You speak of this future of us w-where you’re a wolf. Where you’ve taken the bite and you’re my mate. It excites me a lot more than I can contain. Sometimes I get a little carried away.”

“You’re strong,” Jongin notes, eyeing Chanyeol’s arms again. It feels like it’s been months since he’s been able to soak up Chanyeol’s muscular form. And aside from the sickly way he looked like earlier when Jongin arrived, Chanyeol looks as normal as ever. Big, muscular arms, strong, wide shoulders, and that six-pack, of course, just lurking behind the flimsy material of the athletic shirt Chanyeol’s wearing.

“Jongin, please,” Chanyeol begs, “stop thinking. I can smell you and it’s driving me fucking insane.”

Jongin feels embarrassed at being caught. “Sorry! I… I forgot. It’s just that I haven’t seen you in so long and…” his voice trails off, eyes fixated on Chanyeol’s hands once more.

“Do you want it?” Chanyeol asks, taking Jongin out of his imagination.

“Hmm?”

“Look at me,” his voice is rough. Jongin complies.

“I said, do you want it?” A smirk plays on the corner of Chanyeol’s lips, and Jongin feels like screaming. Parts of the old Chanyeol are filtering back in, and the mischievous look on Chanyeol’s face is enough to make Jongin feel like no time between them has passed at all.

“Of course I do,” Jongin says softly. “I’ve wanted it for six months. Maybe even longer.”

“Everything?”

Jongin rolls his eyes. “Everything,” he says, tone unwavering. “The sex, the knot, the scenting, the bite… the kink… you know…” he blushes at this and Chanyeol stifles a laugh.

“I have a feeling,” Chanyeol says, “because of how important that aspect is for you, that if you turn into a wolf… that certain fantasy of yours might become a reality.”

“What?!”

Chanyeol merely shrugs. “Some wolves can have children. Male or female. It’s possible.”

Jongin puts his chopsticks down, hands shaking. “You’re saying I could… carry your baby?”

“Don’t say it like that,” Chanyeol snaps, putting his own utensils down so as not to break it.

“It upsets you?”

“No,” Chanyeol says, and turns to meet Jongin’s face. His eyes are burgundy red. “It makes me want to ravish you. It makes me want to fuck you until you can’t speak. Until you’re filled with me… until you’re pregnant and carrying my pups.”

Jongin feels his body turn warm all over.

“But I’m trying,” Chanyeol continues, “to atone for the mistakes I made earlier. I want to be a good… boyfriend to you. So I’m willing to wait.”

“And what if I’m not?” Jongin challenges. Chanyeol’s eyes flash.

“Don’t say those things,” he grits out.

“I’ve been waiting six months, Chanyeol,” Jongin says, “it doesn’t have to be about having a baby. Although… you have no idea how good that makes me feel. But I want the ravishing. I want you to fuck me until I can’t speak. I want all of those crazy things that make people look at me crossly. I need you to own me.”

Chanyeol moves so fast, Jongin can barely breathe before his back hits the wall, and Chanyeol’s standing over him, keeping him in place. “Don’t forget what I am,” he says, tone neutral. “Please don’t ask for things you aren’t ready for.”

“I am ready,” Jongin grits out. He says it with firm determination, but once he looks at Chanyeol and challenges him, he knows for sure, deep down. That he really is ready. This is everything he’s been wanting for so long. Everything he thought he couldn’t have.

Jongin smirks.

“Shall I… go and find another Alpha wolf to fuck me?”

The growl Chanyeol lets out rattles Jongin’s bones, he feels the impression of teeth at his neck, and then hears Chanyeol’s gruff, hard, voice in his ears. “No one else gets to fuck you but me,” Chanyeol says. “I’ll make every fantasy of yours a reality.”

Chanyeol licks the skin of Jongin’s throat, and Jongin’s legs shake.

Chanyeol steps back, giving Jongin a beautiful smile.

“Go finish your dinner,” he says, “you’ll need all the energy you can get.”

Jongin runs back to the table, in his haste to comply.

***

Chanyeol’s shirt is somewhere on the ground, Jongin thinks hazily, as their bare chests make contact for the first time in months. His hands fiddle with the waistband of Jongin’s slacks, unbuttoning them and pulling them off, discarding them towards the same pile of clothes now growing on the floor.

“You’ve gotten sexier since I’ve last seen you naked,” Chanyeol says, running his hands on Jongin’s body, starting from his ankles and going all the way up to his thighs.

“You too,” Jongin says, trying to catch his breath. Jongin finished dinner on autopilot after Chanyeol told him to eat his fill, brain buzzing with static, as it dawned on Jongin that he would finally get what he’s been wanting since the start of this.

Chanyeol pulls off Jongin’s underwear and throws it aside, burying his nose into the skin of Jongin’s hip.

“You smell so good here,” Chanyeol says, “so potent. I could fucking eat you out for days. Just have you whining by my mouth alone.”

“C-Chanyeol,” Jongin gasps. He looks down at where Chanyeol is situated between his spread legs. Jongin can already feel his cock hardening at Chanyeol’s words. He runs his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair, scratching his scalp, petting his hair.

“I love it when you do that,” Chanyeol says, leaning into the touch.

“Wolf thing?”

Chanyeol looks at Jongin’s face. “Mate thing.”

“Oh,” he blushes, but scratches Chanyeol’s scalp again. Jongin gets a smile as a reward.

“Tell me what you want me to do to you, baby,” Chanyeol says, kissing Jongin's inner thighs. His hot breath makes Jongin’s cock twitch against his belly, spurring him on.

“I wanna see you naked first,” Jongin asks. “And hard.”

Chanyeol nips Jongin’s thigh playfully, causing him to let out a little scream. “Of course you want to see that again.” Chanyeol gets up from the bed, taking his pants and underwear off and letting it join the rest of their clothes on the floor. Jongin takes this time to truly soak in the sheer size of Chanyeol. His huge, broad shoulders and chest, his muscular arms, defined abs and thick thighs… Jongin’s mouth waters at the sight.

“Like what you see?” Chanyeol asks, cocky.

“Yes I do,” Jongin says, wiping a little bit of drool from the corner of his mouth, completely unashamed.

Chanyeol moves back onto the bed, reaching for the bottle of lube and uncapping it. Jongin spreads his legs quickly, exposing himself to Chanyeol. He’s long past the point of shame here, and soaks in the way Chanyeol’s given his hole his undivided attention.

“So small,” Chanyeol says, running his wet fingers over the tight ring of muscle, “so tiny. I don’t think I’ll fit.”

“Y-You will,” Jongin says, swallowing. “Oh god, I will make you fit.”

Chanyeol lets out a delighted growl, as he pushes a finger inside Jongin. Jongin tenses up a bit at the intrusion.

“Haven’t done this in a while?” Chanyeol asks, neutral.

“Not since you,” Jongin whispers.

“Fuck,” Chanyeol says, pushing his finger in deeper, “so it’s just me that gets to touch your pretty little hole, isn’t it?”

Jongin nods jerkily.

“Hmm,” Chanyeol says, thrusting his finger in again. Jongin lets out a long breath, willing himself to relax.

“There we go,” Chanyeol praises, “there’s my good boy. Look at you,” he says, petting Jongin’s calf, “taking my finger so good. Maybe I’ll give you two.”

“Please,” he whines.

Chanyeol pours more lube on his hand, pushing a second finger inside Jongin. He hisses at the pain of the stretch, but wills himself to relax his body. He wants this so bad he might die for it. Chanyeol talks him through it, while stretching him open, and Jongin can feel his skin start to get warm as the temperature in the room rises.

Chanyeol’s fingers are so thick as they thrust in and out of him, and Jongin trembles every time Chanyeol stretches his fingers apart, widening his entrance.

“Three,” Jongin gasps out, “I can take three now.” He lets out small, shallow breaths in succession, letting the last of the tension in his body ease away.

Chanyeol gives him a look but complies with his request, pushing a third, thick finger inside.

“Oh, God,” Jongin moans, “Oh, fuck. Your hands are so… big…” Jongin's voice trails off as he breathes in deeply through his mouth.

“You’re so fucking tight, I can’t wait to feel you grip me. I’ve been imagining it for months. What it would feel like to fuck you. It’s not enough for it to be just my fingers. Fuck,” Chanyeol grunts, removing his digits and pouring more lube on his hand. He stares at Jongin’s hole intently, pushing his thumb against the rim.

“D-Don’t tease me,” Jongin begs, his legs shaking, as his arms start to hurt from holding them up for so long. “Chanyeol, please.”

Chanyeol rubs his other hand over the underside of Jongin’s thigh, and removes his thumb from Jongin’s hole.

“Are you sure?” he asks softly, fingers tracing over Jongin’s skin.

Jongin gulps, swallowing past the lump in his throat. His body burns, needs, sings.

Every part that Chanyeol is touching, feels like the precipice of something more. This is everything Jongin has been chasing after. This is everything that he has desired since he can remember. The first time he walked into Club Doomsday flits through his head, an amalgamation of scents, memories and sensations that left him needing more. That left him searching for something he couldn’t quite understand. That instinctual need, that feeling in the pit of his stomach that wouldn’t just go away no matter how many supernatural beings Jongin went through.

And all roads lead him here.

To Chanyeol. At last.

“Yes,” he says softly, “I’m sure.”

Chanyeol gives him a smirk and nods his head, coating his dick generously with lube.

“No condoms, right? You remember?”

Chanyeol snorts, “You’re the craziest human I’ve ever met,” he lines his dick with Jongin’s hole, pressing the head against the entrance but not pushing in just yet.

“Don’t tease,” Jongin repeats, trying to push down against Chanyeol’s dick. “I want it, I want it. I want it so bad. Please, please, please—”

Chanyeol pushes his dick halfway inside Jongin, cutting him off mid sentence. His arms fall away from his legs as he tries to regain his composure, blinking his eyes up at the ceiling as little bits of tears form at the corner of them.

“Oh,” Jongin breathes out, chest heaving.

“Too much?” Chanyeol bites out.

“So much,” Jongin says loftily, “so big… full.”

“My pretty baby,” Chanyeol coos, moving Jongin’s legs over his shoulders. He keeps completely still inside. “Just a little bit more alright?”

“More?!”

Chanyeol chuckles. “I’m not all the way in yet.”

“Oh my God.” Jongin moves his hands from the bed to tangle them in Chanyeol’s hair. “Slowly, please.”

Chanyeol nods, “Of course.” He bends down to capture Jongin’s lips in a kiss, distracting him from the pain of the stretch. He eases his dick in the rest of the way, slowly, swallowing up every little ah and oh Jongin lets out of his mouth.

“You sound so pretty,” Chanyeol murmurs, he licks Jongin’s cheek. “When I fuck you, I wanna hear you. Can you do that for me?”

“Y-Yeah,” Jongin says, feeling dazed.

Chanyeol’s fully inside him now, and Jongin feels like he’s going crazy. He can feel the way his own heart is beating triple time in his chest, the way his skin is overly hot and the sweat on his forehead is starting to make his hair stick to his skin. He breathes deep in through his nose, willing his body to adjust to the sheer size of Chanyeol inside him, and the weight of his body above him.

“Can I s-smell you, please?” Jongin asks, an idea coming to him.

“Hmm?”

“Y-Your neck, your scent. I think it’ll… help me. Can I… smell you, please?”

“Oh, fuck,” Chanyeol says, and immediately moves his head to a better angle so that Jongin can press his nose to his throat. Jongin takes a deep breath—letting grass, cedar, and a hint of sweet wine—fill his nose. Almost immediately his entire body deflates, all the tension gone. Jongin’s head fills with nothing but the scent of Chanyeol, dragging him into a wistful relaxation.

“Smell so good,” Jongin says, “your smell makes me feel calm.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol says softly, and Jongin can imagine the puppy expression on his face, totally at odds with the current situation they’re both in.

“I’m good now,” Jongin says, rubbing his nose once more against Chanyeol’s throat before pulling back and resting his head properly against the bed. “I need you to fuck me. Hard. I can take it.”

Chanyeol laughs. “You’re so eager,” he says, but doesn’t move. “You’re so fucking hot.”

“Do it, please. Do it… Alpha,” Jongin whines.

Chanyeol snaps his hips forward so hard Jongin feels his brain shake in his skull. He starts up at a quick pace, bending Jongin’s body back nearly in half. Jongin has a quick moment to thank himself for being a dancer before Chanyeol’s dick grazes just over his prostate and his eyes start to roll.

“Your smell right now is amazing,” Chanyeol grunts, arms braced on the bed as he fucks into Jongin, “and you’re only a human. You smell so sweet. Flowery. It’s gentle but it’s there.”

“A-Ah,” Jongin whines, “will it be stronger when I’m a wolf?”

“Fuck,” Chanyeol yells, “yes it will be. I bet you’ll smell so good. It makes me wanna eat you.”

“N-No,” Jongin says, “don’t stop fucking me.”

Chanyeol laughs, pushing himself off from hovering over Jongin and moving to a kneeling position on the bed. His big hands rest on Jongin’s waist, holding him tightly as he continues to thrust into him.

“You’re so small,” Chanyeol says, squeezing Jongin’s body. “Feel like if I squeezed you real hard, my hands would touch. Your waist is so slim. Fuck, and you’ve got my whole dick in you.”

Jongin clenches down on Chanyeol’s dick at his words, his mind going a mile a minute as Chanyeol continues to squeeze him. Chanyeol grunts, pace getting choppy, before picking back up again.

“You like that don’t you?” Chanyeol grits out, slamming his hips against Jongin’s. He’s now practically pulling Jongin’s body down onto his dick, and Jongin can’t do anything but just let Chanyeol do it. He feels so good like this. So happy. “You like being smaller than me? You like me pushing you around?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Jongin whines, pushing his body up to meet every one of Chanyeol’s thrusts, but being stopped by Chanyeol’s powerful grip.

“What else do you like? What else do you think of? Fuck, baby, tell me. Tell me everything.”

“Oeough,” Jongin moans, breath caught. “L-Love your hands on me, love your mouth. Love it when w-we kiss and it’s all wet and m-messy.”

“Oh, yeah?” Chanyeol says, voice mischievous. “You like it when I’m rough, you like it when you’re at my mercy.” His voice gets deeper, and Chanyeol moves positions once more, getting closer to Jongin. He looks him in the eye with a feral expression on his face, and Jongin notes that Chanyeol’s eyes are dark red.

“Open your mouth,” Chanyeol says. Jongin doesn’t hesitate. He knows what’s coming, he’s practically begged for it.

Chanyeol spits, right on his tongue. Jongin has a moment where his mind feels like it’s in freefall, like the only thing holding him to this plane is Chanyeol’s touch on his skin.

He closes his eyes and swallows.

“Good boy,” Chanyeol says. “My good, good, boy.”

Jongin shakes with pleasure, with the pure unadulterated praise washing over him. His neglected cock twitches between their bodies, and he can hear Chanyeol let out a small laugh.

“Baby loves it when he’s doing good,” Chanyeol says matter of factly. Jongin doesn’t even try to deny it. “I like being good,” he whispers, “but only for you.”

Chanyeol makes a choking sound, before moving to kiss the side of Jongin’s neck. “You’re everything to me,” Chanyeol whispers against the shell of Jongin’s ear, “you’re everything I ever dreamed of wanting.”

Jongin makes a noise of assent, the overload of sensation turning off all other functions.

“Open your mouth again,” Chanyeol says.

Jongin swallows his spit, just as easy as the first time. He shudders at the feeling, and Chanyeol kisses his cheek once more before pulling back, his arms returning to their place on Jongin’s hips where he continues to fuck him mercilessly.

Jongin doesn’t even register the sheen of sweat on his entire body, mind too preoccupied with how good it feels that Chanyeol is gripping him so tightly that there will definitely be bruises later.

“Your tight little body takes me so well,” Chanyeol says, voice rough, “no one’s ever taken me so well.”

“I’m not just anyone,” Jongin bites, breath coming out in a huff. “I-I was made for you. I’m your mate.”

“You are,” Chanyeol laughs, and it’s a sound that helps ground Jongin back in reality. “You’re my fucking mate. I’m going to fuck you every day if I can help it.”

“Please,” Jongin begs, he wipes the sweat from his forehead, “everyday. Anytime. Remember what I said—even when I’m—”

“Stop,” Chanyeol says briskly.

Jongin smirks. “When I’m sleeping, and I wake up to your c-cock in me, all stretched out and I’m just y-you're little, just your little—”

Chanyeol thrusts his dick in so hard, Jongin feels the air leave his lungs. His mind spins, thoughts going out the window as he tries to refocus on what he was thinking of.

“You’re just my little slut,” Chanyeol says, and he slows down his pace. “Just my little werewolf slut. You just want to hang off my knot so bad. Want to be so filled with my cum. Did you know that Alphas cum an obscene amount? I don’t know if you can hold everything in you…” Chanyeol pats Jongin’s tummy with his fingertips. Jongin feels a shiver race up and down his spine.

“I know, I’ve seen it,” Jongin says, breath coming short.

“Naughty baby, bet you watched all that werewolf porn didn’t you? Bet you jerked off thinking about being knotted, being so full you can’t walk. When did you start imagining it was me?”

“Day 3.”

Chanyeol smiles, and Jongin shudders at the way the low lamplight seems to glint off his sharp teeth.

“Bite me, turn me, please,” Jongin says.

Chanyeol squeezes Jongin so hard, he feels his eyes nearly bug out of his skull.

“Ow!” he yelps. Chanyeol releases his grip, smoothing the skin.

“Too much,” Chanyeol says, “I would be asking for too much.”

“Alpha I want it, I want you to bite me.”

Chanyeol continues his brutal pace, bending Jongin’s body in half once more. He lowers himself down, nipping at Jongin’s ear. “You would be so perfect as my mate, so soft and supple.”

Chanyeol’s teeth graze the skin of Jongin’s throat. His sharp canines feel like electricity—Jongin can almost feel the way the blood in his body is pumping in time with Chanyeol’s hot puffs of breath against his neck. He can feel everything inside him sing. This is it. This is it.

A culmination years in the making. A drive. A need.

A primal instinct.

Chanyeol’s hips keep moving in a staccato rhythm, the only sound in the room.

“You really want it,” he says, near breathless.

“I do,” Jongin moans.

A hot puff of air against his neck. Sharp teeth grazing along the skin of Jongin’s throat. He scrunches his face up, preparing for the pain.

But it does not come.

Instead of the bite, Chanyeol retracts his teeth, and kisses Jongin gently on his pulse point. His soft, plump lips are a balm to Jongin’s overheated skin.

Chanyeol kisses his neck softly, nipping at Jongin’s ear playfully. He pulls back, studying Jongin’s face.

“I will bite you,” he says, rubbing a thumb over Jongin’s cheekbone. “But not right now.”

Jongin sniffles, tears forming at the corner of his eyes. “But you will, right? You’ll make me yours?”

Chanyeol laughs, a very soft and sweet sound. “You’re already mine.”

Jongin has no time to bask in the tenderness of the moment in full, as Chanyeol grabs his ankles and starts fucking him again at full speed. He bends Jongin in half once more, reckless abandon.

Jongin is overwhelmed—sight, touch, and smell. Everything is Chanyeol and Chanyeol only. He feels dizzy, dazed, and destroyed. But in all the best possible ways. Jongin feels like a musical instrument. Chanyeol’s fingers running up and down his skin, playing his body with well-practiced ease. He pulls sounds out of Jongin’s mouth that he didn’t know he was capable of making. He fine tunes him, fixing his strings—and all Jongin has to do is sing.

He feels the tears on his cheeks before he realizes he’s sobbing from the pleasure. He blinks rapidly, breathing coming out in harsh rough pants, looking up at Chanyeol’s face from underneath his eyelashes.

“You’re so much smaller than me,” Chanyeol’s voice comes out rough. “Fuck, you have no idea how you look like taking my dick. You’re so fragile. So breakable. So human…”

Chanyeol continues thrusting, body feeling huge hovering over Jongin.

“I could break you,” he says, not meanly. But purely as if stating a fact. The sky is blue. The grass is green.

And Chanyeol could snap Jongin’s body in half if he so desired.

“Could break you and mess you up ‘til there was nothing left. You’re putty in my hands. All for me. Fuck,” he says, accentuating his thrust, “so small and so lithe. Your body is swallowing my dick.” Chanyeol takes his hand and reaches down to where their bodies are joined. He rubs his thumb over Jongin’s stretched rim, Jongin lets out a little hiss of pain.

Chanyeol smirks at him, pushing his thumb inside Jongin’s hole, right alongside his dick.

Jongin lets out a cry at the stretch, feeling pulled tight like a little string.

“My knot would stretch you even wider,” Chanyeol says, pushing his thumb in more. “Can you take it?”

“Yes!” Jongin shouts, rocking his body up in time against Chanyeol’s movements. “I-I can take it, Alpha. I can take anything—everything.”

Chanyeol removes his thumb. “You’re so little,” he repeats, “I can’t wait to see you knotted up.”

Jongin makes an affirmative noise, batting his eyelashes at Chanyeol who’s looking at him like he’s his next meal.

“Open your mouth,” Chanyeol says.

Jongin complies, thinking Chanyeol is going to spit on him again, but instead, Chanyeol places his index and middle finger in Jongin’s mouth, resting right on top of his tongue. “Suck.”

Jongin wraps his lips around Chanyeol’s fingers, sucking on the digits eagerly. He imagines it to be Chanyeol’s cock, imagines how wide and far his mouth would have to stretch to fit Chanyeol’s dick inside it. Jongin would have to practice his breathing, he’d have to train his gag reflex. He’d do anything, anything, to show Chanyeol just how good of a… mate he can be.

“Your small mouth is so perfect,” Chanyeol says, pushing his fingers deeper down Jongin’s throat. “My dick is too big for you to take it all the way, but you can suck me, right Jongin? You’d like that, wouldn’t you baby?”

Jongin nods, unable to speak with Chanyeol’s fingers in his mouth. He makes happy noises, as he continues to sloppily suck on Chanyeol’s fingers before he pulls them out.

“You’re so good,” Chanyeol whispers, taking his fingers and bringing them back down to Jongin’s hole. He adds lube to his hand again, covering the spit, before slowly pushing a finger alongside his dick into Jongin.

“Oh—oh—ah,” Jongin moans brokenly. Body straining to accommodate. He breathes out harshly through his mouth, trying to center himself.

“Shh,” Chanyeol says, soothing him. “You’re doing so good, you’re taking me so well.”

Jongin nods his head, lost in pleasure. Chanyeol keeps up the pace, fucking his one finger in and out of Jongin, letting him get used to the size. Jongin keeps letting out soft little moans, body slowly starting to relax.

Jongin feels near delirious, as Chanyeol pushes the second finger in. The stretch is painful and not at the same time. He has half a moment to wonder if his body is making room for Chanyeol to fit. He takes him in, cock and fingers, and Chanyeol fucks in and out of him, letting him get used to the size.

“God,” Chanyeol groans, “you’re taking everything so well. I can’t believe it.”

“Ah,” Jongin whines, as Chanyeol’s cock grazes over his prostate. His dick twitches against his abdomen, letting out a dribble of precum. “I said I would.”

Chanyeol chuckles. “You did.” He continues pushing his fingers in and out of Jongin, the offset rhythm making sparks fly in Jongin’s head, every bit of pleasure keeping him on the edge, while never being enough to push him over. Chanyeol keeps going, keeps fucking Jongin like that for a few long minutes. The only sound in the room being their skin touching, and Jongin’s moans of pleasure.

Chanyeol must deem Jongin stretched enough, as he removes his fingers from Jongin’s hole and wipes them on the bed. He bends down, getting closer to Jongin’s chest, warm breath making goosebumps rise up on Jongin’s skin.

Chanyeol takes one of Jongin’s nipples into his mouth before he can react.

“Ah!” Jongin moans, body arching up. He can feel Chanyeol’s grin against his chest, as he sucks on one nipple, as his hand tweaks the other. Jongin whines, the sharpness making his mouth feel dry. Chanyeol runs his tongue over Jongin’s left nipple, before releasing it from his mouth and blowing on it. Jongin feels his nipple harden under the exposure to the cool air and Chanyeol’s warm breath.

Chanyeol makes quick work of doing the same thing to Jongin’s other nipple, and all Jongin can do is bask in the moment, enjoying all the effort and attention Chanyeol keeps giving him. Because above all else, Chanyeol is doing his damn best to make Jongin feel good.

Jongin’s so drunk on the pleasure, like time has slowed down to all the points their bodies touch, that the only thing he can focus on is Chanyeol’s mouth on his body, and the in and out in and out sensation of Chanyeol’s dick inside him.

Which is now getting bigger.

“M-My knot,” Chanyeol grunts, fucking Jongin earnestly. He moves away from Jongin’s nipples. “It’s starting to form. O-Once it’s in you, Jongin, that’s it.”

Jongin hums, a noise of content. He wriggles his legs out of Chanyeol’s grip, moving them to wrap around Chanyeol’s waist. He has to spread himself a little bit wider to accommodate Chanyeol’s bulk. But he hooks his ankles behind Chanyeol’s back, locking him in place and pulling him forward.

“Finally,” Jongin says, grinning through the pain.

“You’re the craziest human I have ever met,” Chanyeol laughs. His knot continues to grow, and Jongin starts to see black spots form at the sides of his eyes.

It’s too much. It’s too much—

It’s not enough.

He pulls Chanyeol’s body impossibly closer to his again, and Chanyeol hmmphs as he nearly falls on top of Jongin. Jongin takes a deep, shuddering breath. The pain in his backside dulls to the back of his mind as Chanyeol hovers over him.

He continues his leisurely pace now, just grinding into Jongin’s body, his knot now too big to pull out. Jongin feels overwhelmed in the best sense, and grateful that Chanyeol stretched him out that second time earlier. He thinks this would have hurt so much more. He chews on his bottom lip, running it between his teeth. He runs his hands over the expanse of Chanyeol’s large back, before they move of their own volition, back to Chanyeol’s head. Jongin’s fingers pet against Chanyeol’s scalp, as he tangles them in Chanyeol’s hair.

“Too much?” Chanyeol whispers.

Jongin shakes his head, at a loss for words. “Just right.” He yanks Chanyeol’s head down for a kiss, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. Jongin moans and Chanyeol pushes his tongue inside, running it against Jongin’s teeth. Jongin lets Chanyeol push into his mouth, much like his body, lets Chanyeol take and take and take whatever he wants. There’s spit dripping out of the side of Jongin’s mouth, but he does not care.

It’s Chanyeol. And it is always going to be Chanyeol.

He pulls back, and Jongin looks at the spit that connects their mouths, smiling a little. “I wanna see you come,” Chanyeol says, and wraps his big hand around Jongin’s forgotten dick.

The precum on his dick makes the slide easier, and Jongin lets himself get lost in the feeling. Chanyeol pumps his hand over Jongin’s cock faster, timing it with the gentle grinds of his dick inside Jongin’s body, cock brushing over Jongin’s prostate over and over. It’s just this side of pain, being stretched open so wide, and the juxtaposition of that feeling mixed with the way Chanyeol’s thumb rubs against the underside of Jongin’s cock makes him get there all too quickly once again.

“Let me see you,” Chanyeol says, hand movements going sloppy, hips hitting as hard as he can in the small space. “Let me see.”

Jongin looks up at Chanyeol, eyes wide. He looks feral, staring at Jongin beneath him, the intensity of his gaze threatening to burn Jongin from the inside. He pants harder, his tongue sitting heavy in his mouth as he feels himself so close to the edge.

“My pretty little slut,” Chanyeol says, voice rough. “Only I get to fuck you like this. Only I get to see you like this. Split open on my cock,” his hand goes faster, and Jongin feels his back start to arch off the bed, so close to his own finish line. “I’ll make you so pregnant, Jongin. I’ll give you exactly what you want. Fill you up just how you like. Just like you imagined.” He twists his hand on the upstroke, and Jongin lets out an indecipherable scream.

“There’ll be no room left for anyone else,” Chanyeol says, “Just me.”

He spits on Jongin’s face right as he twists his hand around Jongin’s dick.

Jongin’s vision whites out as his orgasm overtakes him. His back bows off the bed, arching up into Chanyeol’s grip.

He passes out from the pleasure before his body goes back down against the bed.

***

When Jongin slowly comes to, his mouth feels heavy and his brain feels like mush. But the most telling sensation that he experiences is that he is exceptionally full.

“Wha…” he says softly, blinking.

“Hello, my sweetheart,” Chanyeol says, and his voice makes all the memories rush back into Jongin’s head at the speed of light. He twitches against the bed, before remembering that Chanyeol’s knot is inside him, and he can’t move.

Chanyeol’s hips continue their slow grind against Jongin’s body. He moans, open mouthed against Jongin’s collarbone, and Jongin can feel it. Chanyeol’s cum pulsing inside him, filling him up.

“Did you come yet?” Jongin asks, worried that Chanyeol had been waiting for him.

“Yes, love,” he snorts. “Right after you passed out. It didn’t take much for me.”

“Good, good,” Jongin groans.

“You were out for a bit there,” Chanyeol says, grinning. “You look beautiful when you come.”

“I’m so full,” Jongin says loftily. Chanyeol takes part of the ruined bedsheet, and wipes the spit and sweat off Jongin’s face. He thanks him by patting Chanyeol on the head.

“Oh fuck,” Chanyeol says, his dick twitches inside Jongin’s body. “Sorry,” babe. I’m going to be cumming a lot,” Jongin can feel the warmth inside him, as Chanyeol’s cock releases inside his body. “More than usual, oh fuck.”

Jongin smacks his lips together, adjusting to the feeling. “How long was I out?”

“Just a few minutes.”

“Hmmh,” Jongin moans, blinking. “Okay, then.” His whole body feels sore— from his legs, to his hips, to his thighs, to his chest— and Jongin feels like he’s been run over by a truck in the best way possible.

Chanyeol’s dick is still twitching inside him, his wonderful boyfriend’s slow grind making his knot drag over Jongin’s prostate in the most delicious way. Jongin looks at his own spent cock between his legs. He can see himself getting half-hard, but he doesn’t think he’s got the energy to go again. At least not right now. He smirks, thinking to himself about when he will one day have the stamina to rival Chanyeol’s own.

But for now, well, Jongin’s having a terrible time keeping his eyes open.

“I think I’m going to nap,” Jongin says, “my body hurts.” He adjusts a little bit on the bed, trying to get comfortable against the pillows.

“My knot will go down soon. I’m sorry, love,” Chanyeol touches Jongin’s cheek.

“No, no,” Jongin says, wriggling. “Don’t be sorry.” Chanyeol groans at Jongin’s movements, as another spurt of cum fills him up. “It feels so good. I’m so full.” Jongin rubs a hand over his belly. He thinks he could be imagining it, the tightness he feels, the roundness on his stomach that wasn’t there before.

“So much cum,” Jongin says, voice soft. “So much.”

“Yes,” Chanyeol laughs, kissing Jongin’s cheeks. “It’s a lot.”

“All for me,” he blinks slowly, going boneless against the pillows.

“Do what you want, Alpha,” Jongin says, “I’m gonna sleep.”

“God,” Chanyeol says, grinding his hips against Jongin’s body. “I love you so much. Love you so much,” he peppers Jongin’s face with kisses. “That stupid ad you put out was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Jongin snorts, remembering what brought them together. It feels like a lifetime ago.

“Me too,” he agrees, stifling a little yawn, as Chanyeol continues fucking him long into dreamland.

Jongin falls asleep with a small smile on his face.

***

“Is this really necessary?” Jongin asks Baekhyun a few weeks later. He’s currently setting the table at Jongin and Jongdae’s apartment.

Well. Jongdae’s apartment only now.

Because Jongin’s moving out in a week.

“Yes it is,” Baekhyun fake sniffles, “Our baby is growing up so fast!”

“That is disgusting,” Jongin says, as the front door bursts open to Jongdae wielding seven large boxes of pizza.

“That’s a shit load of pizza, hyung,” Jongin says, carrying some from Jongdae’s arms.

“Werewolves eat a lot of food right? I’m not going to be embarrassed because we don’t have enough food for this party.”

“It’s hardly a party?” Jongin notes, stealing a slice of pepperoni off one pizza when Jongdae isn’t looking. “Chanyeol and a few of his friends are coming over and you guys get to meet him. I don’t think it’s a party.”

“I invited Sehun,” Baekhyun quips. “And he will be bringing his boyfriend.”

“Oh great,” Jongin rolls his eyes. “Do we have drinks?”

“Fridge is stocked,” Jongdae says, laying the pizzas out. “And I have a cooler of back ups.”

“You guys really are doing this, huh?”

“Like I said,” Baekhyun repeats, but this time he pulls Jongin into a one armed hug. “The baby is growing up! Leaving the nest! And whatever else uh, baby birds do. I don’t have to chew up food and spit it into your mouth anymore.”

“You never did that,” Jongin makes a disgusted face, although the mention of spit makes him think of something entirely different.

“Anyway!” Jongin says, shrugging Baekhyun’s arm off his shoulder. “Chanyeol will be here in like twenty minutes, can you guys try not to embarrass me?”

“Can I tell him we had sex?” Baekhyun asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No you cannot!” Jongin shouts.

“What?!” Jongdae shouts, “You guys have had sex!?”

“Uh…”

“Oh my God,” Jongin says, “We aren’t doing this right now!”

“Byun Baekhyun…”

“Oh, is that the doorbell I think I hear the doorbell ringing—”

“We will continue this discussion later!” Jongdae says, before looking at Jongin and winking.

“You’re evil, hyung,” Jongin says, hiding a snort.

“What can I say?” Jongdae says, opening up the last box of pizza. “Baekhyun’s more fun when he thinks he’s in trouble.”

Jongin hides his laugh behind his hand, “I can’t help but agree.”

***

The dinner goes off without a hitch as Chanyeol, Ten, Mark, and Kyungsoo arrive soon after. Johnny and Sehun make their appearance an hour later, bringing a huge fruit tray with them for the table.

“It’s got watermelons,” Johnny says, carrying the large tray of fruit in his hands.

“I heard watermelons,” Mark pipes up from the living room, coming into the kitchen with Chanyeol trailing behind him.

Despite the fact that the apartment is now crammed with humans, werewolves, and one disgruntled yet overly chill vampire, Jongin can’t deny this is probably one of the nicer gatherings with friends he’s had.

“What’s on your mind, baby?” Chanyeol asks, pulling Jongin out of the kitchen and leaving Mark to his own devices with Johnny and Sehun.

“Nothing,” Jongin says, “just happy. It’s nice seeing… this, you know?” Jongin makes a gesture with his hand to the room at large, and Chanyeol nods in agreement.

“I agree,” Chanyeol says, pulling Jongin into his arms. They bask together in the comfortable silence, letting the din of the rest of their friends wash over them before Jongin suddenly sees Ten appear before his eyes. He gives an inquisitive look to Chanyeol who all but once releases Jongin from his grip. “I’ve gotta check on Mark, alright? Gotta make sure your friend didn’t scare the shit out of him.”

“Johnny’s harmless.”

“It’s definitely not Johnny I’m worried about.”

Chanyeol walks back to the kitchen, leaving Jongin alone with Ten who has yet to say a word to him. The uncomfortable, and awkward atmosphere continues to stretch on before Ten says, “He’s crazy about you, you know?”

That definitely isn’t what Jongin was expecting him to say. “Huh?”

“Chanyeol,” Ten repeats. “He is crazy about you. Wouldn’t stop talking our ears off. Mine especially.”

Jongin nods, “I’m crazy about him,” he says softly.

“I know that now,” Ten says, chagrinned. “Didn’t know it before. I really thought you were leading him on. It was fine when you were just some guy trying to fuck an Alpha wolf. But then Boss told us you were his soulmate. And seeing him sad all the time sucked.”

“I didn’t know it at the time,” Jongin says.

“I know that too,” Ten’s mouth curves up into a half smile. “Sorry for being an ass at the dance studio.”

Jongin smiles. “I understand. Wolves are very protective of their own.”

Ten’s smile is all sharp teeth. “Welcome to the family,” he says, giving Jongin a saucy wink. Jongin has no time to interpret what Ten might mean by that before he’s pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

“Introduce me to Taemin again, won’t you? I think I wanna take up dancing.”

“Anytime,” Jongin says, as Ten squeezes the air out of his body.

They exchange a few more pleasantries before Chanyeol comes back and wraps his arms around Jongin’s waist. Ten takes that as his cue to leave.

“What did Ten want?” Chanyeol whispers.

“He apologized for being mean to me,” Jongin says, putting his hands over Chanyeol’s.

“Nobody’s allowed to be mean to my baby.”

Jongin snorts, “Except you of course.”

Chanyeol’s chest rumbles as a laugh comes out of his mouth. “Well,” he says, whispering in Jongin’s ear. “That’s because you like it.”

Jongin turns around in Chanyeol’s arms to look up at his face. “You’re right,” he knocks their shoulders together, “I do.”

Jongin enjoys the comfortable silence with Chanyeol for a bit longer, before making his way to the kitchen to get a drink.

Sehun and Johnny are making out against the fridge when he walks in, and Jongin doesn’t even let that surprise him. Johnny at least, has the decency to look embarrassed.

“I gotta get there,” Jongin says, pointing at the fridge.

“Sure you do,” Sehun says, rolling his eyes.

“Sorry!” Johnny says.

Jongin laughs. “I’m so used to Sehun’s antics, this isn’t surprising in the least.”

They step aside and Jongin opens the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water. He holds it in his hands, the condensation making his fingers cold.

“I’m glad it all worked out for you,” Johnny says. Jongin looks up from his hands.

“Me too,” he adds, grinning. “I understand now why you couldn’t say anything. I respect your loyalty.” Jongin looks over at Sehun, who’s only looking at Johnny.

“What happens now?” Sehun asks, turning towards Jongin.

Jongin shrugs. “I’m moving in. We’re living together. I know it feels fast but… it feels right.”

“And…?”

“And I haven’t had even the faintest desire of wanting to look for another supernatural being in months. I only care about Chanyeol.”

Sehun smiles.

“You’ll still come around and visit right, before you get knocked up?”

“Shut up, Sehun!”

“But you didn’t deny it,” he snorts, giving Jongin a smirk. “I know a thing or two about wolves. Make me the godfather, why don’t you?”

Jongin looks at Johnny, who raises his hands up in defeat. “Sehun is a little too persuasive when he wants to know something.”

“You would be right,” Jongin rolls his eyes at the both of them. “Yes,” he adds on, “I’ll make time to visit you.”

“Good,” Sehun says.

“You might have to fight with Baekhyun over being the godfather, though.”

Sehun gives him a mischievous look. “Oh, there will definitely be more than one kid,” he smirks, pulling on Johnny’s arm, “Now, if you’ll excuse us.”

Jongin can’t even give Sehun a retort before he’s pushed Johnny back up against the fridge, resuming their kiss.

Jongin shakes his head, laughing, before heading back out to the living room and commandeering a spot on the couch next to Chanyeol who’s currently engaged in a conversation with Kyungsoo.

“Oh look, the guy who stole my roommate is here.” Kyungsoo places his plate of pizza on his lap. Jongin hides a laugh behind his hand, as he squeezes himself next to Chanyeol’s side.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to move out, you know.”

“And be subjected to your soulmate-y shit everyday? It was fine when you were just pining but the last few weeks have been more than enough exposure for me.”

“You know, Kyungsoo,” Jongin adds in, “my brother is looking for a roommate.”

Kyungsoo turns to where Jongdae and Baekhyun are near the TV screen with game consoles in their hands, currently arguing over who’s winning in Mario Kart.

“I’d rather live in the forest,” Kyungsoo mutters.

“Suit yourself,” Jongin giggles. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes.

“Oh, I definitely see why you’re soulmates,” Kyungsoo says. “You were both made to annoy the shit out of me.”

“Come on, Jongdae!” Baekhyun shouts, interrupting their conversation, “You keep using the fucking bananas and I keep hitting it every time!”

“It’s not my fault you suck at driving a go-cart!” Jongdae fires back, bumping his shoulder into Baekhyun’s and making him fall off the rainbow road.

Kyungsoo turns back to face Jongin. “Fine,” he says, “I can live with you two for a little bit longer.”

Chanyeol laughs, and ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair. Jongin sees Kyungsoo look shocked before he shakes his head good naturedly.

“You will owe me for the rest of your life,” Kyungsoo mutters.

“I already do,” Chanyeol replies, as Kyungsoo goes back to finishing his pizza.

Jongin relaxes against the couch cushions, curling against Chanyeol’s warmth. All his friends continue to have their conversations around them, but Jongin closes his eyes gently, face turned towards Chanyeol’s chest. He feels Chanyeol’s hand on his waist, holding him, his fingers softly tracing his skin under his shirt.

“I love you,” Jongin whispers against Chanyeol’s chest.

Chanyeol’s grip around his waist tightens, an indication that he has heard Jongin’s words. Jongin feels Chanyeol’s breath against his forehead, soft lips leaving a kiss there.

***

Going “home” that night is a weird feeling for Jongin, now that he’s more or less completely moved into Chanyeol and Kyungsoo’s place. Kyungsoo decided to stay with Jongdae and Baekhyun just for tonight in Jongin’s old room since he deemed Chanyeol and Jongin as still too deep in the honeymoon phase.

“I don’t want to see anything,” Kyungsoo had said, as the party winded down and everyone took their leave. “Baekhyun has offered me the spare bedroom. I’ll live for a night.”

“Baekhyun offered, huh?” Jongin snorted. “I wonder what he’s thinking of.”

“Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Kyungsoo asked, but Jongin merely squeezed his shoulder and bid him goodbye.

Jongin closes the front door behind him, taking his shoes off.

“Babe,” Chanyeol calls from the living room, “come here.”

Jongin locks the door before making his way to the living room, seeing Chanyeol sitting on the couch. There are a bunch of papers in front of him on the small table, and he’s got a big grin on his face.

“What’s all this?” Jongin asks, sitting down.

“I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure,” Chanyeol says, “I wanted to make sure it was approved first.”

“Approved?”

Chanyeol hands him the paper on the top of the pile, with shaky hands. Jongin’s eyes scan it quickly, before his mouth widens in shock. He almost drops it.

“You—We—”

“I can bite you,” Chanyeol says, getting off the couch and taking Jongin with him. He spins Jongin in the air, letting out a carefree laugh. “The Werewolf Regulations Department approved. J-Junmyeon—he, he fast tracked the request. There won’t be any red tape. I won’t get in trouble and neither would you. I mean, you still have to have a witness sign off on the form, and we have to get it notarized so your brother probably has to be the one but—”

Jongin cuts Chanyeol off with a kiss. He runs his fingers through his hair, petting his scalp, and pushes his tongue into Chanyeol’s mouth as he melts into his arms.

They separate after a long moment, Jongin’s face pressed against Chanyeol’s chest, nose buried in his shirt.

“I love you,” Jongin says again, voice a little choked up.

“I love you, too.” Chanyeol rubs his big hands on the small of Jongin’s back.

“Oh my God,” Jongin says, pulling back to look into Chanyeol’s eyes.

“What is it?”

“I can get pregnant. I can have your… What did you call them? Pups?”

“Don’t say that,” Chanyeol grits out, voice low. “You know what it does to me.”

Jongin smirks. “Come on Alpha, go knock me up.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “You need to be a werewolf first, for that to happen, you know.”

Jongin scrunches his face up, wiggling his eyebrows. “What about practice?” He pulls himself out of Chanyeol’s arms and runs to the bedroom, Chanyeol hot on his heels.

Chanyeol catches him before he gets to the bedroom, and picks him up bridal style, only to lay Jongin on the bed just as gently. He makes quick work of pulling off Jongin’s jeans and underwear. Jongin doesn’t even blush anymore, at how hard he already is, just from Chanyeol grabbing him all over.

“I want to spit in your mouth again,” Chanyeol says, “It’s really fucking hot, the way you squirm.”

Jongin blushes crimson. “You’re a very dirty man, Mr. Park.”

“Au contraire, Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol snorts, “I think you’re one too.”

“Mr. Park,” Jongin says, correcting him.

“Huh?” Chanyeol asks, tossing his shirt to the side.

“I’d be Mr. Park, too,” Jongin continues, “we’ll be as good as married, won’t we?”

“Jongin…”

“Chanyeol,” Jongin’s smile is blinding. “I’m so happy.”

Chanyeol lays his body on top of Jongin’s, nose pressed against his neck. He takes a deep, shuddering breath against Jongin’s skin, before pulling back slightly. His eyes tinged a little red.

Jongin rubs their noses together in a kiss. “You smell so good,” he murmurs, “and to think I thought it was cologne the entire time.”

“You smell good to me, too.” Chanyeol kisses Jongin’s face, his neck, his collarbones—working his way down Jongin’s chest.

“T-Tell me what you smell.”

“Wildflowers,” Chanyeol murmurs, kissing the skin of Jongin’s now bare hip. “Honey. Fresh grass,” his tongue traces a pattern against the inner skin of Jongin’s thigh. “The earth and all her glory.”

“Ah,” Jongin says, body still a bit sensitive.

Chanyeol moves back up and kisses Jongin’s chest, sucking his sensitive nipples into his mouth.

Jongin blurts out something that’s been burning in his mind for weeks.

“The bite,” he says.

Chanyeol looks up. “Hmm?”

“Could you do it now?”

Chanyeol studies him carefully, expression tightly composed much like the first time they met. This time though, the smile breaks across his face. “We can wait a few more days,” he says softly, hands tracing over Jongin’s cheek. “Someone you know does need to watch you sign that form as a witness. There’s no going back after that.”

“I wouldn’t,” Jongin gulps, and feels contentment flooding his veins. “I want you to bite me. I want to be a werewolf for you.”

Chanyeol rubs his nose against Jongin’s navel.

“You’re it for me, Chanyeol,” Jongin continues, the words tumbling out of his mouth. “A-And you once said that we could be together like this and I could stay a human. But you would be s-stranded and I can’t let that happen. Because what you feel for me? I feel the same.”

Jongin takes a deep breath, looking down at Chanyeol’s face between his thighs.

“It’s permanent, Jongin. I… I got the approval because you said you wanted it but you know I’d never force you.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” he pets Chanyeol’s hair again, “but if you can’t leave. Then I don’t wanna leave either. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he says softly.

“And,” Jongin adds on, voice harsh, “you’re mine.”

Chanyeol hides a small laugh against Jongin’s stomach, but Jongin smells Chanyeol’s approval in his choice of words.

“Too much?” Jongin jokes.

“I’m a werewolf, a species who identifies their soulmate by scent nearly on sight,” Chanyeol rubs his hand over Jongin’s half hard dick. “Hearing you want me does many things to me. Your possessiveness turns me on.”

Jongin laughs, a loud, high pitched, happy sound.

“Then you’re mine,” he says, “you’re all mine and no one else’s.”

Chanyeol growls again, but this time it is one of contentment. “You’re mine,” he murmurs, enveloping Jongin’s smaller body under his. “I’ll spend every day proving to you how much I love you.”

“Ah,” Jongin says, feeling his dick getting hard again between his legs. “I’m glad I have your werewolf healing again,” he jokes, “I think I could take everything you’d give me.”

“Someone wanted practice, right? For breeding?”

“Oh, God,” Jongin says.

“I do prefer the title Alpha.”

“You dick,” Jongin laughs.

Chanyeol smirks, eyes red. “Turn over.”

Jongin shudders, rolling over onto his stomach. “Alpha,” he says softly, presenting himself.

“Fuck,” Chanyeol says, hands tracing the lines of Jongin’s body. His hand spans the entirety of Jongin’s waist, and Jongin shakes in this position. Vulnerable and open, but—

Safe.

Chanyeol kisses the top of his spine, the back of his neck. “I’ll bite you here,” he whispers against Jongin’s ear, “and then it’ll be you and me forever.”

“And our babies,” Jongin says, smirking, “don’t forget them.”

Chanyeol grips Jongin’s hips tighter, pushes his face against the bed.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, voice tight, “them too.”

He opens Jongin up so easily, since they fucked before the party, pushing two fingers in quickly. The bottle of lube is somewhere near Jongin’s knee, and he can feel the extra lube drip down the inside of his thigh as Chanyeol continues fingering him.

“When you’re an Omega, we won’t even need lube, you’ll just get wet naturally,” Chanyeol says, pushing a third finger in alongside the first two. “Just wet and open and ready for my cock whenever I want. For me to fuck you whenever I like.”

“Yes,” Jongin says, a hitch in his voice, “whenever you like. Whenever Alpha wants.”

“God,” Chanyeol grunts, “you’re the best fucking—you’re just so—” he struggles with his thoughts.

“Y-You are too,” Jongin says, whining at the stretch.

Chanyeol thrusts into him languidly, like they’ve got all the time in the world. The pace makes Jongin whine and writhe, but Chanyeol’s strong grip holds him nearly immobile, so all Jongin can do is keep still and take it. The feeling makes his brain turn to static, as Jongin can feel every muscle of his body stretch to accommodate Chanyeol’s size.

His face is pressed against the pillow, as Chanyeol’s fingers leave imprints on his skin, and Jongin’s never felt more relaxed than in this moment.

His mind wanders forward, thinking of the future, of himself as a werewolf, of he and Chanyeol as mates. He thinks of the home they’ll have, the children they’ll love, the life they will make.

Together.

Chanyeol consumes him, his every waking moment. Every place on Jongin’s body where Chanyeol touches him feels like it is scorching. Chanyeol is the only person in the world. Jongin can’t imagine how it was living life without him.

“Wanna see you,” Jongin says, voice thick, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

Chanyeol pulls out, rolling Jongin onto his back. “What’s wrong?”

“Put it back in,” Jongin groans, opening his legs up. Chanyeol snorts.

“I just wanted to see you. I love you.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol says, fitting himself between Jongin’s legs like he belongs there. “I’m not going anywhere. Not again.”

He guides his cock back into Jongin’s hole, putting Jongin’s legs on his shoulders. Chanyeol kisses the little tears off Jongin’s face, until Jongin grabs him by the hair and kisses him on the lips.

“What—ah,” Chanyeol groans, “what were you thinking of that made you smell so good?”

“Our future,” Jongin says softly, “our life together.”

Chanyeol groans, hips pistoning into Jongin just that much faster.

Jongin puts their foreheads together, getting lost in the sensation of Chanyeol fucking him. His thrusts become erratic, and Jongin can tell he’s close. Chanyeol puts a hand around Jongin’s own neglected cock, jerking him off in time with his thrusts. He opens his eyes, and sees that Chanyeol’s gaze hasn’t left him, even as he continues to thrust.

“I think about it too,” Chanyeol whispers, voice shockingly vulnerable. “you’re my home.”

Jongin lets out a loud and lustrous moan, back arching off the bed as he cums over Chanyeol’s hand. A loud moan escapes his lips, and Jongin has to blink several times to regain his vision. He’s breathing hard through his mouth, trying to regain composure. Tears drip down his face unbeknownst to him.

You're my home, Jongin thinks, You’re my home.

By the time he’s fully focused, Chanyeol’s knot has already formed at the base of his cock, and he continues his slow grind inside Jongin’s body.

“Forever and ever,” Chanyeol whispers into Jongin’s neck. Chanyeol takes a deep inhale of Jongin’s scent.

“I c-can’t believe we’ve proposed marriage to each other during sex,” Jongin snorts, voice heavy, “without actually saying it.”

Chanyeol’s teeth graze against Jongin’s pulse. His breath hitches, but Chanyeol does the same thing he did before—he kisses Jongin’s skin gently, lips warm, leaving not teeth marks, but the imprint of something more to come.

“Soon, my love,” Chanyeol whispers, “we have all the time in the world.”

Jongin moves his head a little bit, pressing his nose to Chanyeol’s throat. He scents him, inhaling Chanyeol’s smell, grounding himself in the familiarity and the love that Chanyeol can’t seem to control. Jongin licks over Chanyeol’s pulse point, causing him to curse. His hand grips against the bedsheet, movements going erratic as he grinds into Jongin’s body.

Jongin giggles to himself, licking Chanyeol’s neck once more.

“Fuuuuuuuuck,” Chanyeol groans, as he cums soon after. Jongin can feel Chanyeol’s knot stretching his rim wide, and can feel all his hot warm cum filling up his body.

Jongin feels sublime.

But above all else, he feels full.

He rolls closer into Chanyeol’s embrace, breathing in his scent once more. Chanyeol’s cock spurts out another wave of cum into him, and Jongin groans, body feeling tight. Chanyeol pats him on the back, rubbing circles into Jongin’s skin.

Thoughts of their future continue to fill Jongin’s mind, but he knows he can wait.

He looks up at Chanyeol’s face, and sees nothing but love, affection, and happiness in those beautiful eyes. Jongin cups Chanyeol’s cheek gently, and moves in to press one soft, gentle kiss to his lips.

“All the time in the world, indeed,” Jongin agrees, relishing in all the promises and wishes there is to come.

He’s got great friends, an awesome job, supernatural healing capabilities, and the best werewolf boyfriend in the world.

Stranger things, Jongin thinks, have definitely happened, indeed. But there’s nothing strange about finding his home.

He holds Chanyeol’s hand in his, and the world feels complete.