Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1
    You knew you shouldn’t have come back to this place, but something that you couldn’t control made you want to. You had to.
    The dead leaves crunched under your feet as you trudged through the used to be path. You had made the path and, after you stopped using it, you had let it become over grown. You could just remember traveling it every weekend after school. After moving here just for your last year of high school, you only really had one friend who even cared enough to come with you.
    Swallowing sharply, you push away the sad memories as you finally made it to where you were going. Instead of feeling satisfied at your progress, you feel fear, surprise, and curiosity take over you.
    There was a boy standing there in front of you. He was just staring out at the sea at the edge of a steep cliff. Just the sight of him gave you flash backs.

Exactly a year before
    “Amber wait up!!” You laughed as you tried to keep up. She pretended to not hear you as she sprinted down the trail, leaving you behind until you couldn’t even see her anymore.
   “Amber I-... Amber?” You panted with your hands on your knees. She was standing at the edge of the cliff, staring out at the thrashing water. She didn’t turn back to look at you as she slowly leaned forward.
   “Amber!!” You screamed out as she fell forward and disappeared from your view.

Present
    You blinked, remembering how no amount of rescue teams could find her once you got back to town and how devastated her family was. She had been showing some signs of something wrong at home, but no one excepted what happened.
   “Goodbye.” You snapped out of your thoughts as you heard the boy whisper and watched as he started to lean forward.
   “No!” You surged forward and yanked him back into your chest by his grey hoodie. Tumbling onto the ground, you grunted and let go of the wriggling boy. Immediately, though, you decided that you shouldn’t have done that, in case the boy tried to throw himself into the water again. Jumping up to your feet, you wait for him to yell at you. But he doesn’t. Instead he started to growl at you. Your head spins around as you start to run down the way you came as fast as you could.
    Of course, you knew what was going to happen. You never were the fastest runner or the best in situations like these, but you kept running. Four legs are faster than two, your brain was screaming, so why even try to get away. Yet, your body wouldn’t listen. But at least you could say you went down fighting.
    Well, actually, you went down falling. You groaned and grabbed your leg in pain while you laid on the ground. You were pretty sure there was a vine around your foot, but the again it was anyone’s guess in this late hour.
    You couldn’t hear the footfall through the thrumming sound in your scheming head, but you did hear the deep guttural growl from the trees. Adrenaline pumped through you as you threw yourself up and started off again. The pain tweaked every time you took a step and the dizziness you had felt was worse, but you were only focusing on the chance of escaping from the certain death that was upon you.
    In a matter of seconds, though, your dreams of escaping were crushed. Well, you were crushed by an oncoming, flying wolf, but same thing.
   As you tumbled to the ground the only thing you could think was that this was the end. No doubt about it. Goodbye world. Not many people would miss you anyway. Well, actually some would, but you hoped that with time they would move-
    You opened your eyes to see the wolf standing over you, causing you to push away from it. Not even a second later, it’s teeth were in your side.
Gasping and whimpering, you laid in pain, scared to move another inch. It let you go and you watched as it got nearer to you again.
   “Don’t move.” The words seemed to come from the wolf’s growls. You didn’t even question the logic of it and listened. The wolf seemed somewhat satisfied about that as it took a small step back to look back at the wound it had undoubtedly created on your side.
     Closing your eyes, you embraced the thought of dying. You wished your life had been longer, even though it did have it good points along the short way-
    Then you felt it. The lapping at your side. Pain shot through you as you looked down to see the wolf cleaning your wound. You guessed that was ok. You had seen it done before on a documentary. It was supposed to keep the wound from getting infected or something.
    The cleaning stopped. “Don’t leave.” Receding footsteps. Silence. You stared up at the sky. Through the branches you could see the stars a bit. It was calming, despite the situation you were in. Only for a second, though, because then you heard branches crunching.
    “Are you dead yet?” An amused voice cut through the silence. You didn’t answer the boy, of course. A heavy sigh.
    “Let me get you up.” Although the sentence sounded sort of sweet, with the way his voice came out monotone and bored.
    You saw the male’s figure as he approached you and helped you to your feet. Before you could do a thing he picked you up over his shoulder, keeping the hurt side away from him. You didn’t know whether to be happy or scared at this point. He hurt you and could still kill you at any moment, yet he cleaned your wound and is carrying you out of the woods. You decided to pick scared since you really didn’t know where he was taking you now.

    After what felt like years of being carried like a dead person, it seemed like you had arrived at your destination. The boy put you down with a grunt before you looked behind you at where you were.
    It was a two story house that was lit up by lights inside. You felt unease about the place as the boy walked up the stair to open the door. He went inside and you could hear someone.
    “Jihoon close the do-“
    “Shut the fuck up Yoongi.”
    “What the hell are you all up about?”
    “I need you to shut the fuck up a second and listen to what I have to say.” You gulped as the shouting stopped and it was replaced by footfall.
    “What is it- oh my gosh... Jihoon what the he-“
    “Shut up! Ok?” The boy who had carried you here, Jihoon, hissed angrily at the other male. This “Yoongi” was taller than the other, but also looked very much like Jihoon. Yoongi sighed and shook his head.
   “Damn it Jihoon.”
   “Well what was I supposed to do?”

   “Not this, thats for certain.”
   “Just-... just take care of this for me. I need to go.” Jihoon made his way down the steps. Something in you clicked as he walked past and you grabbed his arm. All you could think was about what he was about to do when you found him.
   “What the-“
   “Stop. Don’t do it. It won’t help anyone. I know. My friend did that. Right in front of me. If you don’t come back... then I might do it too. I can’t take anymore death in this place.” Jihoon looked you in the eyes for a second and softened before grimacing and pulling himself out of your grip.
   “Get your filthy hands off me!”
   “Jihoon don’t hurt her!”
   “Shut up Yoongi!”
   “Ji-“
    “Don’t touch me or you’re dead!!” Jihoon went back and forth yelling at you and the other guy there. It looked like Yoongi was about to yell went someone else came.
   “Jihoon, Yoongi! What-... oh...” The new boy was a bit shorter than Yoongi and looked way different. He stared between both of the boys and then looked at you. “Oh...” He seemed to somehow understand.
   “You shouldn’t swear in front of ladies.” Is all he said as he descended the stairs to stand beside you.
   “You’re going with Jihoon to keep an eye on him. I’ll stay and help her.”
   “Jimin I swear I don’t need someone to wat-“
   “Thanks Minnie.” Yoongi cut Jihoon off as he too came down the stairs. Jihoon huffed and left without another word with Yoongi not far behind. Jimin sighed and looked back at you.
   “Come on, honey, let’s clean you up.”

   “There we go.” Jimin smiles down at your foot that he had just finished bandaged up. You give him a relieved and happy smile. It made you feel just a bit better to have someone so nice to you in a situation like this one.
  “Are you tired?”
  “Very.” Jimin let out a little giggle at your words as he helped you to your feet.
   “Of course you are, little human. Let’s get you to bed.” The way he called you ‘little human’ made you feel a bit odd, but you couldn’t really argue with him in your state.
   “Jihoon isn’t here so he can’t argue about you taking his bed.” Jimin sighed as you both finally got up the stair.
  “What? Jimin no.... I can’t do that.”
  “Oh of course you can little human. By the way, I feel bad for not calling you by your name. Uh... what is it?” You smiled at Jimin as he continued to help you hobble to a room.
   “My names Y/n.”
   “Aww, I like that name little human. Is it ok if I still call you that though.”
   “Uh, ok.” You mumbled as he pushed open a door. Smiling, Jimin swept you up and carried you to a bed.
    “Jimin!” You laughed as you fell into the covers.
    “Here you are little human. Sleep well. Just tell if you need me.” He smiled before leaving you and shutting the door behind him.
     “Bye...” You whispered softly. You slowly get under the cover and cuddle into its warmth before drifting to sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2
    You wake up with a start, sitting straight up in your bed. Taking a shaky deep breath, you look around the room. No one was there in the little wash of sunlight coming in through the window. Feeling your pocket you had your first discovery: no phone. Someone must have taken it from you.
    The second discovery was the small wooden stool that hadn’t been there yesterday. The room smelled like others had been in there. Smelled... when did your senses become so good?
    You pushed away the start of some thoughts you didn’t want to think about as you stretched. That’s when it hit you: you could get away. It’s not that they (well... the boy Jimin) hadn’t been nice to you, it’s just that you didn’t enjoy being... well, kidnapped.
    As you went to get up out of the bed, you realized that your foot was completely better. Maybe you hadn’t hurt it that bad after all. Or maybe you could heal better now-
    Suddenly, you heard a loud noise causing you to fall out the bed. You just laid there, halfway embarrassed for being such a scaredy-cat and halfway waiting for someone to come in there to get you. You waited. Nothing. Taking a deep breath, you heaved yourself to your shaky morning legs and started towards the door.
    Your journey was surprisingly uneventful until you reached down the stairs. That’s when you could hear voices of all the people in the house.
   You peeped around the corner to see if Jimin might be there so that you could have at least one person you could trust there. You almost gasped loudly as you saw thirteen people all in the living room. The only one you knew out of all of them was Jihoon, and that wasn’t the best thing. Not that you really needed someone trustworthy there, you weren’t planning on staying any longer.
     As you crept towards the door, you couldn’t help but to listen in on the boy’s conversation.
    “-and that’s when it started. It kind of scared me at first, not going to lie.”
    “Stop dragging it out Seokmin.”
    “I wasn’t Seungkwan! You’re just jealous because you weren’t there.”
     “Ugh, whatever. Just hurry it up already.”
     “Fine. So I took a video for you all to see.”
     “You can’t just take a video of a girl without her permission!!” You paused in your pursuit of escape to really listen now.
     “Well what was I supposed to do?! Wake her up and stop what I wanted to see?” Everyone started mumbling amongst themselves. Were they talking about you?
     “When she wakes I’ll ask her, ok?”
      “Well then ask her now.” Everyone stopped talking at one of the boy’s comment.
    You were caught and you knew it. Within seconds you were spotted by all of the others. Without a thought into hesitating, you booked it out the door.
    You were glad for your healed foot so that you could run at full speed. Something in you wanted to change into something you didn’t really want to face, so you forced it not to come. Well, you were until you sensed that some of the boys had decided to chase after you.
    Without even a thought towards it, you changed. Pain ripped through you, but you didn’t even break your stride.  The animal part in you took over and didn’t even let you take a break to try and elevate the hurting you felt. You just let it do its thing. You ran through the brush expertly while taking a sharp turn, probably to throw the others off of you for a second or something, you weren’t even sure.
     All the colors seemed heightened now. Not just that, but all your senses were. It probably would have looked beautiful around to if you weren’t fearing for your life.
     Suddenly, you skidded to a halt. There was a giant river that was rushing quickly. Usually, the river was a calm and peaceful sight to be seen, but there had been some rain at the start of the river and now it was flooding. You spun around to face your followers.
     There were four male wolves staring at you blankly. They didn’t move at all except to blink every so often. Your lip curled into a snarl as you took a moment to readjust yourself to your surroundings.
     Your eyes dilated to take in all the new sites as you dug your claws into the ground. You sniffed like crazy, taking in the scents of the forest and the over wolves. You only thing you could really smell at the moment, though, was your own fear.
     You could tell a lot about them in this state. It was even apparent who was the youngest and the oldest of the four. As much as you wanted to be excited about this, you also wanted to cry from how wrong this all seemed.
     When you had almost became a bit more comfortable with the statue wolves, one of them moved. The youngest twitched slighted and his ears when backwards for a second, listening to something else. That’s when you could hear it: the others were coming too.
   Your fear went through the roof as you contemplated whether or not to actually take the swim or not. The animal part of you, however, already had some plans.
You started to size up the wolves that were there to find the weakest link to use to escape.
    The four seemed to know that you were going to run for it because they started to approach you slowly and speak to you kindly.
     “Don’t run, ok? We’re here to help.” They weren’t growls like they should have been. It sounded like regulars words to you, making you want to cry for some reason.
   “We don’t want you to get hurt.” The oldest’s words didn’t help you.
   “Or you to hurt others.” Neither did the youngest’s.
   “We just want you safe. That’s why we’re here, so just give us a second to explain everything.” Now he drew your attention. The way his voice hit you want different from the others. He seemed to you to be the leader, of at least the four of them. For some reason, they calm you down a bit, but only for a second.
    You hear a branch break and the reality sets in. Your animal side takes the liberty to make a decision and you launch yourself at the oldest. He was deemed the weakest because of his tinier bones.
    The fight was a blur of pain, blood, and tussling around on the dead leaves. It didn’t even last for a minute, though, because you were separated by another wolf.
     “Junhui, what were you thinking?!” The wolf that broke up the fight growled. Now he was definitely the leader. Maybe they had more than one though...?
    “What was I supposed to do Seungcheol?! She attacked me!”
    “Performance team, take Junhui to calm down and heal a bit, ok?” The other three that had been with you nodded and took off with the other one.
    Now everyone’s eyes were on you. You gulped, wanting to run away again. This time, though, it didn’t seem possible to you.
    “Now usually I would punish you, no matter whose jurisdiction you were under...” and heavy sigh from the leader before he continued, “but since I know who is responsible for doing that, I will let him decide. Jihoon?” The boy in question stepped up. You realized you had been shaking the whole time the other had been talking and tried to stop, but your body wouldn’t let you.
     “I think...”, a long stare and a deep sigh, “she’s been through enough. She doesn’t need anymore punishment. Let’s just take her back with us.” A some bit of relief rushed over you as you heard his words, but it didn’t last for long. You still were their prisoner of sorts.
     The boys didn’t even seem mind you after the decision was made. They did, however, form a circle around you, keeping you from escaping again. You swallowed roughly as you started limping along with them.
    You didn’t want to, but you started to whimper and your tail went between the legs. Something told you that if you were in your other form then you would be crying right now. As you tried to stop yourself from doing that, you felt a muzzle on your neck.
   “Are you really that weak?” Jihoon.
   “I-I..” you started, but broke off into another whimper. The boy sighed into your fur before speaking again.
    “I know it’s hard. I know. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this. When I see you like this... it hurts me because I’m the one responsible for all of this. You were probably perfect and I messed it up. But not I’m going to help you. Or at least try to. While I am trying to help you, though, I need you to help me by not fighting.” A pause. You don’t respond, but you don’t whimper again either. He sighed for the umpteen time. He continues. “You being messed up because of me makes me... makes me want to throw myself off a cliff again. So I need you to help me by letting me take care of you. You’ll need it. You don’t want me to... to want that again, do you?” You shake your head so fast. Why? You don’t even know him...
     “Good... good... thanks....” Jihoon trails off before straightening up. Your eyes snap to the others you could see. Even though they had obviously heard the whole thing, they acted like nothing had even happened. You sighed this this time.

    You were surprised at your healing speed. The wounds you had gotten (and given) in the fight had already healed to mere scratches and were said to heal to nothing by dinner time.
    Now you stood in the living with the boys. Lots of them sat on the floor in on each other so that you and Jihoon could be the only ones sharing one of the couches. Even though you two were sharing, though, he was on the far end from you, something you kind of liked.
    “First thing’s first, you should get to know our names.” The leader guy said. Before anyone could say anything else you shook your head.
   “No... first thing’s first, I call people who might think I’m miss and report it to the police.” You said with as much confidence you could muster. The others mumbled and nodded with agreement.
    “Ok... well then who confiscated my phone then?” You had the courage to ask. The leader boy sighed, dug it out of his pocket, and handed it to you.
    “Here, but don’t get any funny ideas. We’re all watching you.” You gulped at his threatening tone as you nodded in understanding.
    You unlocked the phone quickly and pulled up the contacts. You found the one you wanted to call first and clicked on them. With the strongest feeling of wanting you had ever had, you listened for an answer.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3
   “Hello?” Your heart leaps.
   “Nayoung! Oh thank goodness you picked u-“
   “What happened to you? You don’t show up for work and can’t even be bothered to call?! I even called and texted three million times and you left me on read!?!” You winced as the girl yelled through the phone.
    “Sorry Y/n... Roa was super worried about you.” You sighed as Nayoung took control of the phone.
   “It’s ok... I probably deserve that, to be honest. I’m sorry for disappearing like that. It’s....” you looked at the boys watching before continuing, “it’s complicated. I’ll be back to work next week. I twisted my ankle and I’m not feeling so good. I’m staying with..... with some friends, I guess, for now. Don’t worry about me ok?” There was some scuffling on the other side of the line.
    “That’s fine. I do have one question though... why didn’t you text back or call sooner?” You swallowed sharply at the girl’s question.
   “You see.... I said it was complicated for a reason. I can’t say right now, but I promise I’ll have something to tell you. Now get back to work.” You smiled at the last bit to try and lighten the mood. It didn’t really work.
    “Ok... bye.”
    “Bye Unnie.” You sighed as the phone turned off the call. You finally met the stares of the others as you switched off the small device.
     “Who is Nayoung?” One of them asked. You hesitated, wondering whether to tell them that personal information, but decided to answer.
      “She’s a coworker. Basically the manager/owner of where I work.”
     “Where’s that?” The room’s mood shifted to uneasiness as Jihoon asked that question. You turned to look at him. His eyes searched your face, probably to read how you were responding to this question, and opened his mouth to say something else, but you cut him off.
     “A diner in town. They’re really the only people who will miss me. Well... there’s my old housemates... but we don’t talk at all during the week now that I moved. We only meet up over the weekends to rant and drink. Not that I drink, but-“
     “You don’t need to explain yourself.” He cut you off. You couldn’t look away from Jihoon now. Someone cleared their throat and you and Jihoon snapped your heads to look at them.
     “M-maybe we should start the i-introductions...?” The boy stutter out. You almost felt bad for him in his situation, so you nodded and let him start.
    “Ok well I’m Chan. I’m the youngest here; the maknae.” He shifted a bit, seeming a bit nervous. You could smell the fear wafting lightly from the boy.
    “I guess I’ll go next in the age order. I’m Vernon. I am half Korean and half Caucasian, so I speak English too.” The next boy nodded as he pushed some of his bangs out of eyes with his fingertips. His eyes darted all over you before he was smacked by the boy beside him.
    “Don’t search her as if she was some kind of prey! I’m sorry. I’m Seungkwan by the way. Uh... what’s your name? I don’t think I quite picked it up.” You could sense the others amusement, probably at the way he was being so formal.
    “I’m Y/n.” There was a silence after you talked. It felt a bit odd in the room, as if the others were trying to probe you and feel out of you were... worthy? Was that the right word.
    “I’ll go next. I’m Minghao and I’m Chinese.” You nodded at the boy as he finished.
   “I’m Mingyu. My mate is Minghao.” He smiled toothily at the Chinese boy, who only looked half-fazed. A murmur went around the room about the sharing of that information, but they calmed down quickly.
    “I’m Dokyeom, Seokmin, or DK; whichever you prefer!” They others rolled their eyes at his bright words. You almost felt the need to shield your eyes from his blinding smile.
   “I’m Wonwoo and Soonyoung is my mate.”
   “Aww~ I love you too Wonu. I’m Soonyoung.” ‘Ewws’ and ‘gross’ echoed through the room at the couple’s cute kiss.
     “Blech. I’m Junhui and I’m also Chinese.” You thought the boy looked oddly more vampireish than like a werewolf, but you guess you couldn’t say anything. You had just attacked him.
    “I’m Joshua. I speak English too, but I’m full Korean.” He smiled. Again someone who didn’t look like a werewolf. Too feline if you were concerned.
    “I’m Jeonghan and my mate is this hunk of muscle and leader right here, Seungcheol.” Again another reaction of disgust from the boys.
    “Be quiet! I’m Seungcheol, the oldest and main leader here. Soonyoung and Jihoon are also sub leaders.” You nodded. Turning away from the others to look at the boy beside you.
    “Uh, I’m Jihoon. You know that. Now we’re done with the names. Um.... Seungcheol?” The shorter boy was looking to the leader for what to do next, you guessed. Seungcheol just laughed causing Jihoon to grimace.
     “Sorry sorry... ok so I think that you two should talk alone while we go and do something else. How’s that?” Jihoon growled softly, but nodded with a look at you.
      You shrug, not really knowing what to do or say at this point. It was obviously pointless to fight them, but it felt wrong to just conform to them without a say in it. Well, you did have a say, but not too much of one.
    “Ok then, it’s settled. Everyone go home and we’ll talk soon.” The oldest clapped and the others started to disperse.

     The house was silent; empty except for the two of you. You took a few deep breaths as you thought up how to start talking.
    “Uh, so, yeah..... where’s Yoongi and Jimin?” You cringed at how awkward you sounded.
    “Well, my brother doesn’t live and neither does anyone else. This place is mine.” You didn’t know what to say at his almost sour words. He sighed and started again. “I- I’m sorry. I’ve never the best at... at, well, anything. Yoongi, his mate and his pack aren’t really my business now that I have my own pack to be in and take care of.” You hummed in response to his words.
     “I guess we should get to the point, shouldn’t we... whatever that might be.” A shared nervous laugh.
    “Yeah I guess so.” Jihoon muttered in reply.
    “You’re a werewolf. So... now I’m a werewolf?” The boy swallowed roughly and didn’t meet your eyes as you asked that question.
     “Well, Maybe. Maybe not. But probably, yes.”
    “Oh... ok... so am I in your pack.”
    “... no... maybe....”
    “I’m on my own?”
    “For right now?” You sighed as the boy shrugged out that last sentence.
   “I feel so much better now, thanks.”
   “Fuck, what am I supposed to do?”
   “I don’t know, maybe like not turn people who try and save your life?”
    “Now you can shut the fuck up!” Jihoon growled gutturally. You didn’t back down though. The animal part of you, you could only assume, wanted to test the waters out. You stared at him with a hard face as you dug your nails lightly into his thigh.
   “You little-“ He cut himself off and took a deep breath. “Ok ok... I’m sorry about my behavior. It’s been tough for me lately.” You released your grip and, for some reason, lightly, soothingly rubbed his thigh.
    “That’s ok. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” Your... relationship, for lack of better words, seemed to be too close for someone in the situation that you two were in. It felt odd, but right at the same time.
     ... but you did have some concerns.
    “When can I go back?”
    “Excuse me?” Jihoon blinked, obviously surprised by your sudden question.
    “When can I go home?”
    “Oh... well it’s-.... you want to leave so soon? Don’t you like us?” You could tell that he was trying hard to avoid the real reason that behind his unwillingness to let you go.
    “Don’t jump around the truth Jihoon.” The awkward grin slipped off the boy’s face.
    “I-... it’s a important reason... I-“ he was cut off by his phone dinging. Jihoon threw you an odd look as he peeped at what his phone screen read. With a heavy sigh, he turned it towards you.
    “That’s... me?” You breathed out you saw the image on the phone. You let him nodded in conformation before continuing. “Isn’t this the definition of wrong?”
    “Just shut up and watch it.” Jihoon grumbled as he hit play.
    The video was normal at first. You were sleeping naturally, despite the guy talking in the background about how you had just done something big. About thirty seconds in, just as it looks like the guy is going to give up, something changes.
     Well, actually, you change forms. Not just once, mind you, but multiple times, all the while whining and whimpering about something.
     “She’s saying something like ‘Jihoon... Jihoon where are you?’ in the wolf dialect even while in human form!” You recognized the voice now that it was clearer. It was that boy named Seokmin. Or was it DK. Dokyeom?
    The video shut off shortly after that. You looked at Jihoon with a burning face.
    “So... someone’s dreaming of me?” The boy said with a smirk and amusement dancing in his eyes.
    “Shut up.” You scoff and roll your eyes at Jihoon. “But... do you-“
    “Know why? Yes and no. It’s probably normal for new werewolves that are without their changer.”
    “Oh...” you wondered how he knew what you were going to ask, but you pushed that aside. “So this is why I can’t go home?”
    “Yes. We are afraid that if you go home without one of us that there could be something that happens and you might need us and yeah... but you should be ok to go out this weekend, as long as one of us goes with you.” You nodded, mute as your eyes found the floor in thought. You didn’t know what to say to him, how to act about all of this. It overwhelmed you and you just wanted to-
     “Are you ok? I know this is a big change for you...” Your gaze met Jihoon’s as he trailed off. It’s like he understood you... a bit at least.
    “I feel trapped here. I’m scared.” There was something about him that calmed you down while also making you feel stressed. It confused you too much.
   “It’s ok. Uh... i-... you could-... we could...” it was obvious that Jihoon was started to get worked up about you not feeling comfortable. He stood up from the couch to looked around in circles to find something.
    “Stop that.” His eyes snapped to yours. There was tension in the air. You couldn’t help but say, “Are you usually like this?”
   “What does that mean?” He growled. Not knowing what to say, you just sat there and stared at him. He eventually sighed and shook his head. “No I’m not... I just-... I can’t explain what this is. I want to hurt you, but also help you in anyway I can at the same time. I’ve never done this before. I’ve never wanted to! I-... I don’t regret it though? Urgh what am I saying?!” You wanted to giggle at the way he whined and yelled at himself. You didn’t though. You just stood up and put a hand on his arm.
    “It’s ok. I understand a little bit. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” You giggled at your own joke as Jihoon rolled his eyes, but smiled softly. You went to smile back, but then something hit you hard and you all you could say was, “I need to change. Right now.” Jihoon looked nervous.
    “Right n-“
    “Yes right now.” You ground your teeth, not knowing why. Jihoon squeezed your hand to get your attention.
    “Ok. Let’s go then.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4
    This time you didn’t run wildly through the forest, you decided to enjoy yourself. Your nose was going crazy trying to take in all the new smells. You could even smell squirrel, rabbit, and deer trails, making you mouth water.
    “Don’t even think about hunting. You would regret it later.” You looked over at Jihoon as he stated that with a pointed look.
    “Can you read my mind?” You asked, making him chuckle.
    “No, but I can pick up on your emotions and your aura. Just from those I can make a pretty good guess at what you’re thinking about. That’s only because I am the one who turned you and because you’re starting to become affiliated with me and my pack.” You nodded, not really understanding, but still agreeing with him. He seemed satisfied with his answer as he started to survey the land around himself. You took that moment to look him over.
   He had black fur that matched his hair color and his eyes were the same as his naturally dark eyes. Even though he was a bit shorter as a human, he was the same size as the others in wolf form. He gave off a leader-like aura. You wondered what you looked like.
    “What’s on your mind?” He asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. You shrugged before answering with a question.
    “Are you an Alpha?” Jihoon snorted at your words.
    “Alpha is such a human term, but yes I guess you could call me an Alpha since I lead my unit of the pack. As a leader, I naturally start to create a leader aura to the ones around me. The others would be called a Beta, if you’d like. We don’t use the term Omega in the pack if we use one at all. It makes us feel like we submit to everyone or everything and none of us do that.” You nod, this time understanding his explanation. Well, a bit, anyways.
    “Ok... well... I guess that’s all I had to ask. What should we do now?” The boy paused in thought at your words.
    “Hmm.... I guess we could go for a run?” He smiled at you slyly and you smiled back.
    “If by run you mean race.... then let’s do this.”

    “What did you two do today?” Jihoon rolled his eyes as his brother’s voice sounded through the phone.
    “Nothing really.” He stole a glance over at you to see you stuffing your face with food. This made him smile for seemingly no reason. “Why?”
    “Hm no reason really, just wondering. How ya feeling today?” Yoongi’s question made him sigh.
   “Better I think.” Jihoon could almost see his brother nodding on the other side of the phone.
    “Ok. About her leaving...”
    “What about that?”
    “Wow so defensive all the sudden.” His brother chuckled. Jihoon didn’t actually mean to be like that, he just couldn’t help himself. “You know that she can leave now if she wants to.”
    “What do you mean by that?” You glanced over at Jihoon now that he had started getting a bit upset and you could sense it. He waved you off, hoping that you couldn’t hear or understand the conversation he was having with the other boy.
    “I mean give her the pills. You still have some don’t you?” Yoongi asked. Jihoon let out something that was a mix between a growl and a sigh.
    “Yes of course I do, but why would I do that?”
    “Because shes not just something you can control whenever you want. She needs freedom. Y/n’s not a pet.”
   “I-...” What Yoongi said wasn’t a lie, so why was it so hard for Jihoon to accept it. “Ok ok, I will. If things go wrong, I’m blaming it all on you.” He could hear his brother’s soft laugh echo through the phone.
    “I’ll take all responsibility for it too. I’ve got to Hoonie, but I’ll come and see you soon. Bye.”
    “Bye.” Jihoon ended the call with a grunt before rubbing his face tiredly.
    “Is everything ok?” You ask him. Just your cute nicety made him want to grin ear to ear.
   “Yeah everything’s fine Y/n. I just... I need to talk to you about something serious.”

    “No way.” You breathed out as he handed to a small bottle with some pills in it.
    “Yes way. This is what you want... right?” Jihoon asked you hesitantly. You nodded rapidly.
    “I mean, it is, but like... this is ok? I can?”
    “Yep. Just take one of these for the next three or so days and once a day every time you start your heat. You’ll know when that is when it happens. If you ever want to change into wolf form, then never leave too far from your clothes. When you change back into human form and you don’t stand on your clothes, then you change back naked.” You blink at all the information his was giving you at once.
   “Wait... we’ll still be in contact though, right?” You asked worriedly.
    “Oh... yeah of course, but just incase we’re not with you at some time, you’ll need to know these things.” You hummed and nodded at his words.
    “Ok. Just put your number in my phone so that I can reach you if I need to.”

    “You ok?” You blinked up at Xiyeon’s concerned face with a sheepish grin.
    “Yeah. All good here.” You cursed yourself for spacing out again. You had just been so stressed lately since you had ran out of pills and Jihoon hadn’t even responded to one of your messages. You wanted to go back to see him, but you didn’t feel like going to a place that you were obviously not wanted.
    “Ok...” your coworker mumbled as she handed you a new pen and notepad. “Let’s go and serve some people.” You smiled at her sweetness.
“Let’s go!” You cheered as you started to get to work.

    “How’s life?” You asked halfheartedly to your friends as you all sat at the bar. They shared a look with each other.
    “You ok Y/n?” Aron asked you as he took a sip from his glass. You shrugged as you drew a small pattern into the condensation on your cup.
   “Eh, I’m a bit sad right now.... the person I wanted to get to know isn’t even replying to my messages.” You mumbled out. JR gasped from beside you.
   “How dare this guy! You’re amazing! Who wouldn’t want to contact to back?” The others nodded in agreement with the boy’s state.
   “You know what you need? A night filled with partying without responsible! I’ll drive us home tonight so that you can drink some.” Minhyun smiled happily. The others cheered as you giggled at their antics and took a big sip from your beverage.
    “Lets dance then.” You grinned as you left Minhyun and JR in charge of watching you drink and dragged the other three to the dance floor with you.
    The music was terrible and hurt your head, but you didn’t care as you crazily danced to the sloppy rhythm. Everyone was blurred and you lost your friends in the sea of people, not that that fazed you at all from your fun. Letting Jihoon and all the thoughts of your situation fly out of your head and you let go.
    “Hey there cutie.” A voice pulled you violently back into reality. It belonged to a dirty looking man who was grinning at you with a smile that made you uncomfortable.
     “Uh... Huh?” The man just chuckled darkly and took a step closer to you.
    “You don’t have a pack yet do you? Wait don’t even answer that. I know you don’t. I can smell it on you.” You gulped as he pulled you into him.
    “Hey! Leave her alone.” You both snapped you heads to see one of the baristas standing there with her hands on her hips. Relief flooded you.
   “Rosé!” You gasped at the girl. She smiled at you lightly before turning to the guy.
    “Leave her alone you scumbag.” She hissed at him. He only smirked evilly.
   “Oh little vampire thinks she can stand up to me?” Rosé’s eyes turned red as she hissed at him again. “You can’t say anything if she chooses me as her pack.” The girl paused, throwing a look at you. You didn’t even know what was going on. “What do you say honey?”
     “Um...”
     “Think about this carefully. I can give you what the pack that should have taken you in was supposed to give you. I’ll give you anything you want.” You shivered at his disturbing voice. He did have a good offer though...
    “Sorry, but she’s with me.” Someone from behind you laced their fingers with yours. A smile grew on your face as you saw who it was.
     “Jihoon.” You gasped. He didn’t even spare you a glance as he stared down the other guy. He growled at the drunk man as he back away with his hands up in surrender.
    “Ok ok, calm down child.” Jihoon huffed as the stranger finally slipped away into the crowds of people. He turned to look at you for just a split second before looked over to Rosé.
    “Thanks. I never thought that I would say that to a fucking vampire, but thanks.” She smiled lightly and shook her head.
    “Werewolves are all the same odd creatures. I didn’t stand up for her because she was a werewolf, I stood up for her because she comes here a lot and she doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. Take care honey.” She uttered as she turned on her heels and headed back to her spot behind the drink counter.
    “Did you really come here alone?” Jihoon asked as he finally acknowledged you. Although he was speaking to you, though, he didn’t look at you. He gaze flittered around the room. You squeezed his arm to get his attention. When he focused on you and nothing else, you started talking.
    “No, I came with friends... although why are you so worried. You haven’t even answered any of my messages for the past few months.” The werewolf looked down guiltily at your accusations.
    “I... I’ll explain that to you later, ok? For now let’s go and just party.” Jihoon mumbled as he tried to pull you into the crowd. You, not agreeing at all, didn’t budge an inch. He sighed and turned around. “Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to say to you at this moment. I promise to you that I’ll tell you.” You raised an eyebrow.
    “Promise?” You held out your pinkie towards him. He rolled his eyes, but took your pinkie in his and then pressed your thumbs together to seal it. You smiled lightly. “Good, now lets go!” You cheered, still feeling the drink you had, as you pulled the other with you.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5
    “I need a fucking drink.” Jihoon grunted as he pulled you to the bar. You seemed already tipsy by the way your cheeks wore a slight blush and you leaned on him as you had danced, although the boy didn’t actually know how much you had to drink.
   “We’ve only been dancing for 5 minutes.” You whined as you dragged your feet.
    “It been at least 20 minutes.” Jihoon rolled his eyes. Sighing in relief as he finally got to the bar, he sat down and ordered the cheapest drink. He starting downing the alcohol as quickly as possible.
   “Who’s driving you two home?” The barista asked with a certain tone and look of distaste towards Jihoon. The werewolf just glared at the girl.
   “What’s it to you?” The girl hissed lightly at his words, getting the attention of the other three vampires.
   “What’s you’re problem, beastie? The human girl is more important than you getting wasted.” She growled softly at him. He just rolled his eyes.
   “Don’t waste your breath on him Lisa. Same goes for the rest of you: Rosé, Jennie, and Jisoo.” Jihoon flinched at your surprisingly sober words. One of the girls, Jisoo, put her hand on your forearm.
    “But we’re worried for you. How will you two get home if you’re both drunk? You are such a good person that actually talks to us personally unlike the other regulars, so we all like you. If you got hurt...” the girl trailed off like she couldn’t finish her sentence. Jihoon sighed.
    “Calm down, I’ll get her home. I can’t even have that much since this shit can be toxic to dogs. It only affects me when I want it to. I’m not dumb enough to drive while drunk, ok?” He grumbled. The baristas shared a look before Jennie nodded at him.
   “Fine, We’ll give you our trust.... a little bit. We won’t come and interfere with you anymore tonight, but be careful.” Jennie said as she handed you a small glass of something. Jihoon watched as you smiled at the girl happily and took a few gulps. He smiled slightly, sensing that you would regret drinking so much tomorrow.
   “Thanks...”

    You rested your head in the crook of Jihoon’s neck, taking a deep breath. He smelled nice, if you called sweat and natural scent nice. Dancing so much made you tired on the dance floor and after drinking you had lost any sense of embarrassment.
   “Hey... you good?” Jihoon mumbled into the shell of your ear, sending a shiver up your spine. For some reason, you suddenly felt really clingy and insecure about him leaving you, so you gripped his shirt tightly.
   “Uh, yeah.... just a bit tired.” You felt the vibrations through his chest as he laughed.
    “You should feel tired. It’s almost tomorrow.” You nodded, totally ignoring what he said as you just let the feeling of him talk lull you more into a calmness. You wanted to suddenly say something...

    “Yeah... can I kiss you?” Your words were slurred as you abruptly asked that to Jihoon. His heartbeat quickened.
   “But you’re drunk.” He inwardly winced at how totally deadpan he sounded. You just shrugged.
   “So? Is that a yes or a no?” You were doing things to him that he loved, but wanted to stop immediately.
    “Uh sure?” Why did he just agree? He couldn’t do this... he wasn’t ready! What if he was a bad kisser? What if-
   Your lips were chapped, but felt right against his equally dry lips. He didn’t kiss you back, wondering if he should or not. Would this be counted as taking advantage of you while you were under the influence?
    You pulled away a few seconds later to slightly lick your lips and then leaning in for another kiss. Jihoon almost stopped you when you did.
   Keyword: almost. He didn’t actually stop you even though he had every intention to as he put his hands on your arms. Instead, for some reason unknown to Jihoon himself, he pulled you closer into his as he kissed you roughly.
   And that’s how it went: you two kissing harshly for a minute before switching to sweet, soft kisses and then starting over again. You grabbed at the hem of his shirt frantically during one of the harder kissing moments. Jihoon knew where this would be going, so he stopped you.
    “Jiho-“ You started whining, but he cut you off with a finger to your lips.
    “Shhh. You’re too drunk for anything else ok? Let’s just dance a bit.”

    You nodded at the boy’s words as he wrapped his hands around your waist. You closed your eyes and just let him rock you side-to-side as you rested almost all your weight onto him.
    He grunted as you did, but didn’t say anything. All he did was push you away a bit to stay a little bit less than a foot away from him as he pressed a soft kiss into your lips. Before you could even lean into the kiss, though, he pulled away and started to kiss your neck.
    You sighed in contentment as his lips traveled down your neck. Your thoughts were all jumbled and blurred until he reached your collarbone.
    “Jihoon...” you said in a low voice as you gasped softly. He had bitten lightly into your collarbone.
    “Was that ok?” He asked, almost sounding self conscious. You nodded quickly as you rubbed up his neck. He gulped. “O-ok... tell me if you don’t feel comfortable anymore.” He mumbled as he went back to softly graze his teeth over your shoulder area, mostly around the collarbone. Something about his actions jumped out at you.
    He was.... he was marking you? You didn’t know exactly what ‘marking’ was, but it seemed to you that you were now going to be classified as ‘his only’. Although you were a strong girl who didn’t need anyone, it didn’t really bother you that he was making you his. Maybe it was that alcohol.... or maybe it was because you wanted it too.
     “You still good?” Jihoon asked hesitantly after pulling his head so that he could look you straight in the eyes. You just kissed him again as an answer.

    You woke up with the sun shining through the window brightly. Your head ached terribly as you rubbed your eyes and sat up.
    “There’s some pain medicine and water right here.” You whipped your head to see a smiling Chan sitting in a stool beside the bed. You silently took the things he offered to you.
    After swallowing the medicine and gulping down the rest of water, you finally felt good enough to talk. “Morning.” You said weakly.
    Chan’s laughed filled the room with an echo. “Morning to you too. Jihoon’s out right now if that’s what you’re wondering. It seems like you two had some fun last night.” Chan raised his eyebrow at you suggestively. You chuckled softly at him as you shook your head.
    “No. Well, I mean we did, but not what you’re thinking.” You assured the boy. He just laughed again and stood up.
    “Whatever you say. It’s already 12:00, so why don’t we go down for some lunch?” Chan offered as he helped you from the bed. You nodded in response as you finally got stable on your feet. “Ok, well there’s some clothes in the closet, so feel free to change. Call me if you need anything.” Is all he said before he left.
    Stretching and starting towards the closet, you decided to start getting dressed. You grabbed a grey tank top sort of shirt and good fitting jean shorts. After quickly changing and slowly getting ready, you heading downstairs.
    “Mmmm smells good!” You smiled as you entered the kitchen.
    “Thanks! Pancakes and bacon are my specialty.” Seungkwan, who was wearing an apron that read ‘kiss the cook’, grinned gratefully at you. Vernon came behind the boy, wrapping his arms around Seungkwan’s waist and kissed his cheek from behind. From the other side of the room Chan scoffed.
    “It’s the only thing he knows how to make.” Seungkwan raised his spatula at the youngest as Vernon giggled on his shoulder.
    “You’d think he’d be respectful as the youngest.” The cook grumbled before wriggle in the other’s grip and adding, “And I’d think my mate would back me up.”
     “I’ve got your back, babe! What am I supposed to do? I can’t attack him because I’ll just get in trouble.” You laughed at the boys’ banter as you finally took a plate and started to get some food.
    “Let’s eat while it hot.” You said, trying to end the little ordeal while it was still relatively ok. It worked.
You all ate the food together, happily talking about random things that the three boys brought up.
    You laughed at a joke before thinking of something to say. “How come you guys are the ones taking care of me?”
    “Because you’re on your heat and we are the ones who are supposed help you through it.” Seungkwan said after swallowing the food he was eating. He looked form you and then the other two boys, all who had grown very quiet, before asking “oh..was I not supposed to say anything?”
    “No, you were ok with saying that,” Vernon breathed out while putting his hand on the other’s shoulder, “but we should explain to her now. She has no clue what we’re talking about.” Seungkwan looked back to you in surprise.
    “Oh! I thought that Jihoon would have explained that to you... well it’s probably not what you’re think.” You nodded softly at Seungkwan’s words as you waited patiently for someone to explain. What else were you going to do anyway?
    “We are just here to keep you company and safe from other werewolves who will want to try and get you. Everyone is pretty ok with doing this, although the leaders are usually not aloud because of their Alpha ish role and that could possibly make them unstable around you.
    We’re not trying to say you’re weak by protecting you, it’s only because you don’t know the dangers just yet. Since this happens every month, like-... Uh your other lady process did before it was replaced with you heats, you should used to this soon and be able to do it without anybody.
    Also sorry that we don’t have any pills for you to take. We’re still working on that.” Chan explained. You looked to the other two boys to see them nodding in agreement with what the youngest said.
    “Ok... so why you three exactly? Why not any of the others?” You asked them before quickly adding “Not that I mind having you three, I was just wondering.”
    “Oh well it’s pretty simple why us. Me and Vernon are mates, so we were just one of the couples that they decided to pick. Chan is here because he needs to see what it’s like to take care of someone and watch how to deal with finding his mate like you and Jihoon have.” Your mouth dropped open at Seungkwan answered you.
    “What?!” The boys look at you,
surprised at your outburst. You just continued. “We’re not mates... I mean... we’re not....” You didn’t know what to say. You weren’t really mates, right? Well, you were mates. You knew that, but it just seemed to be happening too fast for you to actually think everything through. You got a bit. “I mean we are mates... but...”
     “Don’t try to think too hard about it Y/n. Calm down. It’s happening so fast, I know.” Vernon moved to rub circles into your back as you closed your eyes and took a breath.
    “Why am I like this? What is happening to me?”
    “It’s because you haven’t taken your pills. It’s your first time without them, so your body’s going a bit crazy on you.”
    “Oh...” What Vernon said made a little bit of sense. But still... “What are these pills exactly?”
    “We don’t know. Only the leaders know what they are really.” You nodded to Seungkwan.
    “Well... we’re not supposed to know.” Everyone’s head whipped to look at Chan. The two boys seemed to be just as confused as you. “But... Soonyoung Hyung told me when I asked him. He told me not to tell, but I think that now is a good time to. Promise not to tell the othe-“
   “We’ll promise just tell us.” Seungkwan grunted. The youngest held up his hands in defense.
   “Ok ok I’ll say. It’s a suppressant pill made some kind of silver substance.” The boys gasped. You understood why: silver, at least as you’ve heard, is super harmful to werewolves. “Exactly! That’s why it’s super risky and hard to get nontoxic ones from the right people.” Chan continued.
    “Well then... I don’t think we dwell on this part. Why don’t you tell us how you feel?” Seungkwan coughed out, looking to you with a smile.
    “I’m fine I guess. Just tired. I kind of what... Uh Jihoon...” You admitted embarrassed. How did you get so attached to the boy?
   “Ok, that’s good to know. Why don’t you call him, Kwannie? See if he can see her yet.” The aforementioned boy nodded at his mate before kissing him lightly and heading out of the room with the stack of empty dishes.
   “So... what now?” You asked the remaining werewolves. They shrugged. “What about talking about mates?” You asked. Your face grew a sly grin as you noticed the light blush on both of their cheeks.
   “Ok...”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

   Seungkwan hung up the phone with a small sigh. He knew that this all could go badly, but it was a good experience for the two new mates (or whatever they wanted to be called) and for the young Chan.

    The werewolf made his way from the room he was to the living room when he heard you saying something like, “So you really like him then?” making him stop and listen.

   “Yeah... Kwannie is just so amazing. I love him so much that it hurts sometimes.” His mate said with a laugh, making Seungkwan’s heart melt.

    “Awww~! That’s so cute.” You sang out as Vernon blushed. He just shrugged in response.

   “I think it’s gross, but I can’t really say anything. I’ll probably be like that with my mate when I meet them.” Chan confessed honestly. You grinned at both the boy’s cute smiling faces.

   “I wonder when that’ll be.” All you turned in surprise as Seungkwan entered the room and sat beside Vernon. “I talked to Jihoon. He’s coming over with Yoongi for extra supervision. It can get dangerous. This is a learning situation, Chan, so pay attention closely to everything that happens.” Seungkwan added, making the atmosphere a bit tenser as he throws a look over at the youngest. Said boy nodded intently. Seungkwan sighed and leaned back against the couch while closing his eyes. “Now all that’s left is to wait.”

   “He’s here.” You said, pushing yourself to your feet. You could sense it even before he opened the door. All the boys followed suit, Chan and Vernon standing up and heading towards the door while Seungkwan headed to stand beside you.

    “Now you need to calm yourself down, ok? Whatever you present will set the pacing for all of this. I know all of this is new to you. Don’t rush anything. One wrong move and Jihoon could either attack one of us or attack you. I know that sounds odd, but it’s true. New mates... or whatever, are very sensitive with all of this.” Seungkwan said as he squeezed your hand while offering you a smile. As the sound of the door opened echoed through the house followed by the scent of the two visitors, Seungkwan let go of your hand and turned to face where the others would be entering.

    “Leave me fucking alone! Why do you all act like I’m some shitty beast that will kill her?” You let up a small, silent gasp as you heard Jihoon’s voice. When had you become so soft for this boy? It was definitely your heat’s fault. You were usually pretty good at keeping in any of you feelings, but now it felt like everything you had was out on in the open for everyone to see. You took a deep breath, antsy for what was going to happen next.

    “That’s because you could be one, Jihoon. It’s not like we’re just doing this just for the hell of it. We have to be careful. You know that.” You could hear Yoongi say even though you still couldn’t see him yet. Someone, most likely Jihoon, sighed.

    “Ok... whatever. Let’s just-... let’s just go.” You unconditionally reached just a few inches and grabbed the back of Seungkwan’s shirt. He shot you a reassuring look as the others finally got into the room.

    You flushed as you saw Jihoon. He was wearing a beige sweater with a slightly bigger neck, so you could barely glimpse the edge of a hickey you gave him the night before. “Jihoon.” You said as Seungkwan moved to the side and you let go of his shirt. You let your gaze flick to his brother as you added, “Yoongi.” The latter boy dipped his home towards you before you looked back to Jihoon.

   “Hey, Y/n. You good?” Jihoon asked as he approached you a bit hesitantly. You nodded in response as he finally got to you. You couldn’t help but melt into his hug and sigh contently into the crook of his neck. He chuckled lightly. “That’s good. Seemed like you missed me.” You tighten your grip on him.

    “I’m so confused and I hate this. My body is betraying me. Why do I feel like this?” You whispered so quietly that you were almost afraid that Jihoon wouldn’t even be able to hear. By the way he sighed, it seemed that he did, in fact, hear you.

   “You’re... this is... it’s difficult to explain to you because I myself don’t even know. It’s because of your heat, but other than that I’m clueless. I do know one thing, though: I won’t ever leave you.” Your breath caught in your throat as Jihoon said that.

   “Really? Are we actually mates now?” There was a few beats of silence.

    “If you want to be.” More quietness.

    “We’ll try it out, ok? I don’t know what will happen, but I think that I want this too.” You feel Jihoon take a deep breath. He pulled you away to stay an arm’s length away from him as he smile and let out the breath he had taken in.

     “Thats more than I can ask for.” It felt like you two were the only people in the whole world. Well, only for a moment.

    “Ok, this is all great, but let’s all sit down and try not to kiss and gush over each other.” Yoongi said with grin on his face. Jihoon growled lightly, but listened to his brother and took you with him to sit on the couch you had been previously sitting on.

    “What are we going to do?” You asked as you put your hand on Jihoon’s thigh and smoothed down his ripped jeans. His sighed and leaned into your shoulder.

    “Let’s just talk and watch some TV.” Vernon offered as he turned on the television.

    And just like that, the tense atmosphere resolved into nice conversations and still yet nice quiet spells where everyone watched the cooking show. After laughing at another joke from Seungkwan, you dug your nails into your mate’s knee before letting go and picking lightly at the strings from the smaller hole in the fabric. Jihoon didn’t seem to care at all about that, but you did start to feel Chan’s gaze shift to you. You glanced over to see him staring you down, watching your every movement. It made you feel a bit uncomfortable, but you couldn’t blame the boy. He was told to watch you two and learn, so he was trying to just that.

    “He doesn’t have to stare that hard. His head might just burst.” You heard softly chuckle in your ear. As you nodded you thought about how you still couldn’t get over the fact that it seemed like he could read your mind.

   “Yeah, but let’s just let the kid get his fill in.” After you finished speaking, Jihoon laughed. The laugh was in his throat, though, lessening the sound from the others who were absolutely absorbed in the cooking show, including Chan now. As they watched the steaks sizzling on the grill in someplace like Texas, you turned to face Jihoon a bit better. You gave him a confused look.

     “It’s just-... we’re not that much older than him and you’re making it sound as if he is 2 years old.” You smiled and rolled your eyes.

     “That’s what you find funny?” You scoffed teasingly as you softly bopped him on his scrunched nose. At that, his face smoothed down completely as he frowned at you. It scared you for a second, since you thought he was going to attack you, before you saw him starting to smile again. You hissed out lightly with a smile and you smacked his shoulder lightly. This time he giggled out loud, causing the others to look over.

    “Having fun?” Yoongi asked with a cocked brow. Jihoon rolled his eyes at his brother, getting serious again. The former just laughed. “That’s ok, go ahead. Get some good bonding time with Y/n before she goes home.” You blinked. You hadn’t even thought about that yet, but Yoongi did have a point. You did have to go home sooner or later. You didn’t live here.

   “Whatever.” Is all the shortest grunted as he gently took your hand. It was not a very big gesture, but it sent off major signals of clinginess and reluctance at letting you go. Your smile was small as you turned your head to look back at the TV like the others did while running your thumb over his knuckles. You felt him sighed out in contentment.

     “You don’t want me to go?” You smirked. Jihoon just rolled his eyes, but with a smile growing on his face.

     “Shut up.” You reaches out, acting like you were going to brush something off his shirt just to reveal a bit of the mark you had left. Jihoon noticed, though, and pulled it back up with a blush creeping into his face. “I was going to cover them up, but... I just still can’t believe you did that! I was so surprised when I woke up with at least five more than I remember.” You laughed at his whispered accusations towards you.

    “Well... oh well.” A sudden thought hit you. “Um... don’t you think our relationship is going a bit... I don’t know, fast?” You could feel and see Jihoon physically tense.

     “You don’t like it?” Again, a self conscious part of him that you would have ever guessed he would have had. Then again, all his parts surprised you. The fact that he could go from mad to happy and to this in mere moments blew you away.

     “No, I do like all of this. But... well I’ve never been in a relationship like this. I feel so committed and it’s not even been that long. Like we’re mates now! Isn’t that basically like getting married?!” Your whispers dropped in volume, but increased in intensity as you got more and more into what you were saying. You finally looked into Jihoon’s slightly wilted look.

     “I-... you don’t want to be with me?”

     “I do! I keep saying that, but I’ve never really been in a relationship so this is a big jump for me. Don’t you feel that way too?”

     “I....” you felt terrible for saying all of what you did. “I do understand you. I’m kind of in the situation that you’re in too. I just tell myself not to think about things that pressure my thoughts like that. It makes me have-... ah like a relapse to when we first met. You get me?” You nodded and laced your fingers together. You wanted to lean in and kiss him, but, as you watched his eyes flitter from you to the other boys, you decided against that right now.

     “Then... Uh well you don’t really have to think about it right now. We can talk everything through later, when we can both breath easier about what exactly we are.” You offered. Jihoon looked back to you with a genuinely relieved and relaxed smile.

    “I don’t deserve you enough. That makes me feel bad about not talking to you for so long.... I’ll explain that later, ok?” You nodded with a look that told him to take his time. His grin grew as he put his free hand over your already linked hands.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

    “I’ll drive her home now.” Jihoon mumbled as he started to pull you out of the living room. Yoongi, who had continued to pester him about that ever since you two actually started watching the TV show that was on, stood up and stopped Jihoon for a second.

    “Then promise to behave. You too, Y/n.” Jihoon caught you glancing over at him as Yoongi said that. The shorter nodded and linked his pinkie with his brother before looking over for you to do the same.

    Once you had, Jihoon started again at his goal of taking you home. He couldn’t help but notice how Yoongi followed you two all the way to the door before stopping you for a second time. “If you don’t come back home tonight.... make sure to keep limits.”

   “Shit, Yoongi, what should I say to you? That I won’t? I will! I told you that a hundred times, but yet you still have to ask again.” Jihoon growled, letting all his anger out. He felt you tense beside him, so he grabbed your softly for a second before releasing it. Yoongi obviously noticed it since his eyes flittered down to watch the movement for a second before sighing.

    “I’m sorry. It’s just that-... well when I first became mates with Jimin it was super hard to control myself. I know how hard it is, especially during a time like this. At any rate, I trust you. Maybe this is just my way of saving you for the possibility of doing what I did.” The brothers’ eyes met. Jihoon knew exactly what Yoongi was speaking of.

   Jihoon wanted to say how he understood his brother’s worries because it was really really hard to control himself sometimes. He wanted to add, though, that he wasn’t Yoongi and that this was different. Jihoon would control himself. He would be safe with Y/n.

    He wanted to say all that, but he didn’t. If his brother didn’t already sense what he was thinking, then Jihoon would tell him later. All Jihoon did was nod and finally slip out the house.

    “Are you ok?” You asked Jihoon as he turned the car down your road. He nodded while saying, “I’m all good. What about you? You’ve been a bit quiet.” Shrugging, you pointed out the tiny house that was your’s on the block.

    Looking at your home as you got out the car almost embarrassed you. It was so much smaller and not as nice as Jihoon’s. For what you were making, though, it was a pretty good steal. You glanced over at Jihoon to gauge his reaction, but he was just looking at you with a waiting expression.

   “Huh?” Jihoon chuckled at you as you said that.

    “I asked you if you had to go to work tomorrow.” His smile rapidly faded as he turned serious. “Are you sure you’re ok? Do you need to take a pill? I think I might have some in the car if you do.” Jihoon was quick to rush to you and hold your arms as if to keep you steady. You just giggled at his behavior.

   “I’m fine, Jihoon, really.” You places a short kiss onto his nose. He scrunched up his face in mock disgust as he wiped off his nose. “And I do have to go to work tomorrow.” You added before taking yourself out of his grip.

     He let you lead him into the house. You sat him down on the only sofa in the whole house and watched him to see his thoughts on the house. He looked over at you for a second before seemingly getting what you were waiting for and glanced around the place.

    “It’s... quite small. Small but homely I guess you’d say. If you’re alone here, then it’s probably not too bad. If you were alone at my house, though, it feels like an empty void. That’s why I usually have guests over when I’m home.” You nodded at Jihoon’s words.

    “That makes sense....” You trail off, suddenly thinking of something else you wanted to say. “Is it too personal to ask about Yoongi and his mate? They seem pretty nice, but what was he talking about earlier? What happened?” Jihoon sighed at your questions.

   “Well... it is kind of personal, but you’d probably find out one way or another, so I’ll tell you.” He took a deep breath before continuing.

    “When they first started being mates everything was fine. They were separated, like everyone is, for a bit before they could meet again. Before this, there was never a fuss of people watching over them when they met like the others are doing for us. It’s only because of what happened.”

   Jihoon paused, probably for dramatic effect, but also, you believed, for himself. Something in the air made you feel like he was afraid of what happened and if it would happen again. “Anyway... one day they were alone together and he started to lose control of himself. He almost hurt Jimin. He... he almost took advantage of him.” You saw Jihoon’s eyes start to glisten as his voice cracked. He cleared his throat before continuing. “So that’s why I stayed away for so long. I saw what it was like for them after that. Jimin even be in the same room as Yoongi without smelling of fear. It was terrible. Of course... they did get over it. They’re so happy now that no one would even believe that if you told them.”

     “So you didn’t contact me because you were afraid of doing what you’re brother did? Do you-... you feel like that could still happen now?” Jihoon’s eyes snapped to yours as you asked that. You hated to do it, but you needed to know.

     “I-... I don’t think so. I’ve been training myself for everything during the while I didn’t talk to you and I think I’m good. I’m sorry it took so long, but I could be sure.” You nodded at Jihoon’s totally honest confession.

     “Well... since we’re having serious conversations right now, should we continue it?” Jihoon hesitantly nodded in agreement to your question. “Ok, well then... how come you were going to throw yourself off a cliff when we first met?”

     “Oh, you go straight for the tough ones, don’t you?” Jihoon asked rhetorically with a small chuckle.

     He hushed your attempts of an apology with a kiss. “I don’t blame you. I was going to do that because... Hmm, that’s a big thing to try and explain. I was pressuring myself to find a good steady job other than working on music part time while also thinking about what I was going to do about finding a mate. I felt like nothing was going right with my life as all my songs weren’t as good as usual. I-... I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just taking a walk. I didn’t plan to ever-... but yeah... then we met.” As he said the last words, he looked you in the eyes. You leaned forward to kiss him again, a second longer than he was done with you a moment ago.

     “You seem better now, so that’s all that matters to me. To make this fair, you have a turn with the questions.” You offered. Jihoon hesitated before answering.

     “Ok... how about we taking about our relationship?” Jihoon gulped. You took a deep breath before taking his hand in your’s and offering a easy smile.

    “That’s a good idea. What do you think?” Those words felt so heavy for you to say. The other just squeezed your hand with a sigh.

    “I-... I think that we should be partners? Like together on probation?” You giggled lightly, despite yourself.

    “How about we use some old human terms and call us ‘girlfriend and boyfriend’ and ‘dating’?” Jihoon softly smiled back in pure happiness. It made you chest feel light as he nodded in response.

    “It’s your turn.” Jihoon pointed out, but you just shook your head while mumbling something along the lines of, ‘I don’t need another turn. Everything’s fine’ before leaning forward to steal a kiss. The other pressed forward into your lips as moved a bit closer to you.

     “Are you not staying the night?” You asked with a slightly tilted head. You two had kissed for a while before talking and just feeling content in each other’s company before Jihoon remarked that he should be on his way.

     “You’re so cute.” He whispered as he placed a hand on your cheek and ran a thumb over the high part of your cheek before taking his hand away. “You have to go to work tomorrow, don’t you? I don’t want to keep you up. Plus... if I stayed, it might not work well for us...”

    “Well...” you understood what he was talking about, but something in you were reluctant to let him go. “Please don’t leave. You can sleep in here if you feel like you’ll do something.” You offered quickly as Jihoon pushed himself up off the couch with a shaking head.

    “Y/n...”

    “Jihoonie... please...”

    “Y/n.” Jihoon’s voice was softer, sadder, as if he was sympathetic towards you. You stood up and hugged him tightly. He sighed heavily into your ear before rubbing your back. “Fine, I’ll stay the night, but I want you to lock your bedroom door for me. Is that ok?” You pulled away to look at him.

     “Why so many precautions all the sudden? You’re not a monster...” it came out as barely a breath. You brush a stray hair for his forehead before caressing his cheek as his eyes started to gleam. He suddenly pulled you back in to hug you tightly.

     “I know I’m not. I just would feel safer that way.” Jihoon muttered into your hair. You smiled slyly as an idea formed in your mind.

     “But you got to wake up next to me, but I haven’t gotten to wake up next to you. That’s not fair.” You looked up to catch a sudden flush spread across his face.

     “Well... I didn’t really think about what was happening at that time. It could wrong...” Jihoon trailed off as he glanced down at you when you pulled away. You smiled up at him.

     “It’s ok, Jihoonie. You don’t have to sleep with me if you don’t want to, but I won’t lock me door. You know, just in case you change your mind.” The boy rolled his eyes with a smile at your statement before laughing quietly. Your smile grew after this because of how purely beautiful and rare his laugh was.

    “What are you smiling at?” Jihoon asked with a cute smile. You shrugged.

    “You.” His nose scrunched up in fake disgust.

    “Ew you’re gross.”

    “But you like me anyway.”

    “I guess you’re right, but you can still be gross.” You rolled your eyes and just hugged Jihoon again. He started to rock side-to-side slowly. It was a comforting gesture that made you feel safe in his arms.

    “Then let’s be gross together.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 8
   You woke up to the sound of your alarm sounding. Blinking, you untangled yourself from Jihoon’s arms and legs that were warmly wrapped around you before shutting off the beeping device. The boy grunted and reached out for you again.
    “Hoonie... I have to go to work now...” You mumbled in protest, even as you took his outstretched hands in your own. You had actually woken up early in the morning and just admired the boy as he slept peacefully beside you before falling asleep again.
  Jihoon frowned softly, making you immediately regret your words. “Don’t look like that. You looked so amazing a second ago without that face.” His face was dusted a light pink as he scrunched up his whole face up.
  “Don’t day things like that, Y/n. They make my heart unwell.” You giggled at Jihoon’s groggy grumble as he rubbed his face.
   “I’m sorry, Hoonie. Don’t wake up just yet. You can sleep here all day for all I care.” The boy lets out a whine as you try to push him back down into a sleeping position.
   After you won and got him down, you quickly got out the bed and onto your feet. Jihoon followed shortly, grabbing you before you could out the room. “Don’t go yet.” His words came out as a growl as he spun you around to face him. You gulped as you saw his darkened eyes staring at you.
    “Hoonie.” Your voice was half warning and half questioning his actions. Jihoon took a long deep breath with his eyes closed before suddenly pulling you into his chest.
    “Have a good day at work. I’ll pick you up from work, so call or text me when your shift ends, ok?” His still half drowsy whisper sounded in your ear as he hugged you. Before you could even enjoy the very soft moment, though, Jihoon was already flopping back into bed. You sighed and shook your head with a fond smile.
     “Ok, got it. Make sure to check in with the others today and don’t be a stranger. Love you.” You paused after saying all that, thing of whether you shouldn’t have added the last part. Before you could say anything about it though you heard the tiniest, “l love you too.” from Jihoon. It made your heart melt happily.
     “Sleep well.” You whispered before slipping out of the room with the things you needed to start the day.

    “What’s got you so happy today?” Your co-worker, Kyla, asked you with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow. You rolled your eyes fondly at her as you threw away your old pen and retrieved a new one.
    “Is it just a crime to be happy?” You asked incredulously, making Kyla and Yuha, another waitress who had been obviously listening in to your conversation, laugh.
    “In this business and how much you work it might as well be.” Yuha said with a bright smile as she brushed her hair behind her hair before starting to stack dishes up. You shrugged as you eyed the floor.
   “Well... maybe I do have a reason... BUT I don’t need all you sharing my business to randos because none of what I’m saying is totally set in stone. Actually, it is, but who knows what will happen in the future so... yeah I’ll agree to tell you if, and that’s a big if, you only share it with the other girls here, ok? No one else.” You stuck out both of you pinkies to the girls. They both happily accepted them with high expectations.
   “Ok. It’s-oh no we have a customer! Let me go serve her.” You said slyly, making both girls groan and hurry you along. After sitting the girl, giving her menu, and filling a few other customers needs, you finally got back to the two workers. “Ok... So why was I saying?” You joked.
    “Just get on with it.” Yuha whined childishly. You giggled before nodding.
    “Ok ok, I am. So... I have a boyfriend?” You said hesitantly. Kyla and Yuha both stayed quiet for a second before looking at each other and squealed loudly. You shushed them as they excitedly hugged you.
     “I’m so happy for you, honey!” Kyla smiled she backed away from the hug. “When can we meet the guy?” She added with a raised eyebrow.
    “He’s going to pick me up today.” You whispered to them as you glanced over your shoulder to see if there were any costumers needing service.
    “I can believe this! It’s so exciting.” Yuha cheered. She went to say something else, but was stopped by Kyulkyung, who suddenly swept in with a plate of food for her to deliver. You almost laughed at the girl’s sad face as she diligently did her job before turning back to Kyla.
    “I know you’ll want to talk with him, but I don’t know if that’s the best thing for y’all to do at the moment. Is that ok?”
    “Of course! Just don’t leave without letting us at least see the boy.”
    “Ok.” You smiled fondly at your friend as she pinched your cheek lightly, commenting on how cute you were. You ducked away from her as you pushed her to go take someone’s order.
    “Huh?” You whispered in surprise as your phone buzzed in your pocket. The caller ID read ‘it’s JR’. You gulped before answering. “Hello?”
    “What happened to you?!” You winced as the boy’s voice rang through the phone.
     “Sorry... I just...”
     “How did you get home?”
     “I... Do you remember that guy I kept talking about?”
     “You went home with some guy?!?!” This time it was Minhyun yelling at you. You sighed out.
    “Yes, but nothing happened, ok? Me and him are together happily and not for any kind of benefits.” There was a small bit of movement on the other side of the line before they answered.
    “If you’re good with him and he’s safe, then we’re happy and good with him.” Aron’s voice assured you with a smile in his words. You grinned slightly because of that.
     “Thanks guys. Now I have to get back to work now, so I’ll talk to you later.”

     “Ok, but make sure to plan to met with us soon so we can meet this guy too.”

      “Ok, Ren, I will.”

     You started to clean up a bit as you noticed your shift was about to end “So who’s working the dinner shift?” You asked Nayoung as she appears from the kitchen wearing her manager badge.
    “Oh, no one.” She comments lightly and nonchalantly. You blinked a few times, confused.
    “Huh? But... why?” You asked. Nayoung smiled at you cutely as she answered, “I talked with some others and the higher ups, and they said it’s ok to not do dinner here today. Everyone’s been to hard at work and busy with life that we need a break. You especially.” You rolled your eyes, but nodded in agreement. She wasn’t wrong.
     “Oh... ok.” Was all you could reply while the thought of what you were going to do with Jihoon while you had to do some extra closing time clean up.
     “Do you need a ride home today?” She asked, even though from the small sly smile on her face that she already knew about your arrangements. You smiled while shaking your head, half to answer her question and half to show your disappointment in her behavior.
      “Oh ok. Well I hope I can check your ride to make sure they’re safe.” Is all Nayoung said before slipping back into her kitchen oasis. You continued to clean up a bit more as the last costumer left and it was about time for Jihoon to arrive.
      “Y/n! Can you take this trash out for me?” You look up to see Roa smiling at you from behind the counter.
      “Hmm... well my ride is almost here...” you tired to bargain, but the girl just grinned wider at you and shook her head. She opened her month to say something, but was cut off by Yehana.
     “That’s ok. I’ll keep them company if they come while you’re gone.” Yehana beamed as you sighed and gave into their little game. Before you could go through with it, though, the door opened to reveal the one you had been waiting on.
      “Jihoon.” You said softly, getting his attention. He matched our smile and walked over to you. You wrapped your arms around him in a slightly softer hug. It made you remember how he had been this morning, so soft and, dare you say, cute.
      “Y/n.” He mumbled into the crook of your neck as he hugged you a bit tighter. “I’m here to get you.”
    “I know.” You giggled before reluctantly pulling away. Your eyes fluttered to see all of your co-workers watching your interactions. Jihoon followed your gaze and then looked back to you.
     “Sorry if I’m too clingy or lovey acting right now. It’s a... a family thing, you know? We like to show our appreciation for others in public so that they get the message.” He said cryptically and whispered the ending. You nodded knowingly.
     “You’re all good.” You assured him as you shot a look back to your friends. They all had big smiles on their faces and Nayoung was even doing a shooing motion to say it was ok to go. You gave them a grateful smile before pulling out the building with you.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9
   “I’m sorry about this morning, Y/n.” You cocked your head, confused at what Jihoon meant. You two were sitting together at your house, eating a dinner of pork chops and mashed potatoes you had fixed. Not the best food ever, but, still, it was something.
   “You know, how I kind of acted weird and sort of growled at you?” Oh... that’s what he meant. “Well... I’m sorry. I was tired and half asleep at that moment. I didn’t want you to lead, so the animal in me took charge and decided to demand you not to go.” Jihoon blushed slightly in embarrassment, making you smile.
    “It’s ok, Hoonie. We can still work things out like that together and talk through any possible misunderstandings like we are right now.” Jihoon nodded at your words as he ate the last bit of his potatoes.
    Your grin turned from happiness at his cuteness to fondness at his softness as you reached over the table to pet his hair down for a second. He looked up at you with confused eyes, but leaned into your touch. “What’s up, Y/n?”
    “Nothing. Just admiring the most beautiful thing in the whole universe.” Jihoon rolled his eyes at your answer and pushed your hand away.
   “Finish your meal already.” He mumbled as he looked at the floor, another blush forming across his cheek. Your smile never leaves.
    “Ok. For you, I will.”
    “Gross.”

    After that you two lived happily ever after, the end.

    Ok, well, that’s not how it quite goes, but that’s what you thought of it. Yes, you couldn’t see your boyfriend all the time because you still had to work almost every weekday and had to leave Jihoon to do his freelance song work. Yes, there were fights and misunderstandings and just times of hardly any communication, but you both got through it together. Maybe with some tearful talks and late night make ups and make outs, but you two made it through regardless. It was happiness in its finest, although Jihoon didn’t see it that way.
    “Happiness is only a word. It’s just a dream that everyone wants, but that doesn’t make sense. I don’t even wanna believe that. Yeah, I just want it simple.” Were words in his song, ‘Simple’, and something he believed in. He though that you were the thing in life that made everything simple. You were his happiness.
    So, there. That’s your story. Well, part of it anyway. You still have lots to go: getting married, having kids, growing old.... but how, when, and if that happens is up to you. So, what’s your ending? What do you choose?