Baekhyun jolted into consciousness. He awoke so abruptly that he barely even registered where he was and once he hazily remembered the events of last night panic instantly filled him as his wide eyes rapidly flickered around the room and observed the beige walls of his kitchen and the smashed glass littering the floor surrounding his feet. There was pain ringing in his mind as he gingerly brought a hand up to touch the tender skin on the back of his head, locks of his brown hair had clumped together from the dried blood clinging to the strands. But it wasn't just his head that hurt, there was a pain in his hand and once he had looked down Baekhyun was instantly horrified. The palm of his hand was a blend of purples and chilling blacks and the bruising continued up his arm, splotching it with the disgusting evidence of the night before.

Last night was not a dream. Last night was not a dream. When the thought finally hit him an onslaught of questions attacked his brain and tears streamed down his face due to pure frustration because he couldn't answer any of them. Why had the wolf appeared, and was he the thing that the other had been searching for? If the joy he remembered feeling from the other was actually how the other boy felt then why did he attack Baekhyun? Where was the wolf now?!

Baekhyun tried to stand but his legs buckled underneath him, resulting in him crumbling painfully to the floor once more. So instead he crawled, limbs moving sluggishly as he made his way over to the door to get fresh air to hopefully clear his mind, and it was in that moment that he noticed the large claw marks littering his garden. Much to large to be that of a cat, or a dogs, or even a freaking bear for all he knew, The beautiful flowers has been dug up, their once rich colours now dirtied by dark brown dirt, large gashes ripped through the trunks of trees serving as chilling reminders of that if this was real, if all of this was real, the wolf and the boy he was linked with truly existed then Baekhyun was in terrible danger. His exhales sounded strained as they wheezed out of his constricted throat, the boy was now flat out hyperventilating. The ability to breath seemed to of escaped him like the oxygen rapidly escaping his lungs, flowing free and never returning fully which left Baekhyun gasping for air, Choked sobs mingled with sharp intakes of breath that never seemed to make it to his lungs as his vision became distorted with tears. The sobs soon turned into screams as he hurriedly scrambled away from the door, palms slicing open on shards of glass until he was out of the kitchen and collapsing in the hallway.

And that was how his mother found him. Crying, screaming, and bleeding whilst curled up on the floor shaking when she stumbled in from the night before. He didn't care that she had been out all night, he chose to ignore the smudged mascara and tinged black tear streaks running down her face for another occasion. As right then, Baekhyun was the one that needed comforting and his wailing seemed to snap his mother out of her daze and the woman immediately rushed to her sons side and held him, questions rapidly spilling from . It took some time before his mother made sense of the jumbled words escaping his mouth, but when she did she was filled with the same horror he felt and dialled the number of the police with shaky hands. Baekhyun had decidedly chosen to leave out anything to do with his dreams, the wolf, or the boy. He neglected all of those questionable facts and settled for the 'I came down and found it like this' story. His mother took some time to deliberate her next decision and in the end said that she wanted him out of the house while the police men were there as she didn't want to stress Baekhyun any further.

So despite his own feeble protests she forced food down his throat which he was sure that he'd end up bringing back up again as he would probably end up hanging his head over a school toilet and puking his guts out. His mother then sent him upstairs to get dressed, a simple task to most people but not to Baekhyun. With every single minuscule movement he made the back of his skull would throb and he was struggling to even move the fingers of his heavily bruised arm. So with an embarrassed look plastered on his face he weakly called out for his mother and she came running and looked at him with pity as he gestured to the buttons of his white shirt that he just couldn't do up. He felt absolutely pathetic as he stood there and let his mother dress him, but the thought was quickly forgotten when she began cleaning the cuts on his hands with disinfectant which caused little flashes of pain to buzz with every new wound she found. His worried mother then bandaged his cuts gently and eyed the bruising on his arms with worry and suspicion before sending him out of the door and off to school.

Baekhyun's mind was hazy, he could barely think straight let alone walk straight and after a very slow meander to school he finally arrived. He numbly nodded through the scolding he got for being late but when the teacher at the doors saw the multitude of injuries the words died in the middle aged man's throat and then Baekhyun felt himself being asked where his form room was, an arm came to rest gently on the small of his back as he was guided there.

He caught his reflection in a window beside his form room and winced at the sight, instantly regretting witnessing the mess that he was. His eyes were blood shot, so very bloodshot that the whites of his eyes didn't even look white anymore and instead looked a dirty pink colour that was streaked with slashes of crimson. Dark purple shadows were cast beneath his eyes and the skin surrounding them was red and puffy from the all the crying. His skin was of a deathly pale colour which made the stark bruise stand out even more in contrast. Fingers reached up and fiddled with his hair in an attempt to fix the birds nest looking thing on his head, but it did no use as the brown locks were determined to continuing sticking up in every direction. The pain of moving his hands seemed delayed and caught up with him half way through sorting out his bangs, a sharp stinging sensation rattled through his broken body. He swore out loud as red blossomed on the white bandages, he didn't have any spare ones which meant that he would have to go to the nurse at some point during the day. The old woman would undoubtedly want to know everything that had happened and probably wouldn't help him until Baelhyun had told her every detail. He wearily gazed down at the blood spreading through the fabric that covered most of his hand, completely oblivious to the fact that Tao and Luhan had appeared in the doorway and were staring at him with a dangerous mixture of fear, worry, and curiosity.

"Baekkie oh my god what happened?! Are you okay?" Tao asked as he suddenly moved towards Baekhyun and his hands fluttered around the boy, unsure of whether touching him would hurt him. Upon deciding to wrap an arm around Baekhyun Tao led him into their form room which all three of them were luckily together in. The teacher didn't even bat and eye at the three boys fussing over Baekhyun, he was much to used to their antics to be surprised by anything now. Though once the teacher saw the bandages and dark bruises he made a mental note to keep an eye on the boy.

"There was someone in the house last night" Baekhyun's gentle voice was barely heard by the others but by the horrified expressions on their faces he knew that they had. "I don't know when, it was only me in the house and I was asleep, I woke up and saw the smashed door but cut my hands on the glass. I'm okay, I'm fine, just a bit shaken I promise" he continued with, his now calmer voice assuring his friends that really he was okay did sooth them but worries still occupied their heads. Before his friends could quiz the shaken boy any further the teacher announced that the day had begun and that their first class would begin. The four of the begrudgingly moved to sit in their assigned seats, but Tao was having none of it and quickly moved to steal the seat of whoever sat next to Baekhyun.  Luhan quickly followed suit as stole the seat on Baekhyun's left. When the owners of the now occupied seats strolled into class they protested to the teacher but the man responded in a hushed tone and gestured to Baekhyun's injuries, both girls quickly fell silent and their complaints ceased.

The day progressed incredibly slowly for Baekhyun, he felt like he was lost deep within his own thoughts and imagination. It was a dangerous maze that he was stuck in, every turn led him to a new terrifying possibility and no matter how fast he ran the dark thoughts chased after him like blood thirsty hounds. He was constantly stressing about the incident which happened last night. What did it mean? Was he what the wolf was looking for, and if so what would happen now that the wolf had found him? During the times that he had invaded the mind of the other Baekhyun had seen on many occasions the wolf tearing animals to pieces with ease and then feasting on the flesh, so the original worry he had had mutated into plain terror as the fear for his life now blossomed in the back of his mind. The weather outside ironically mirrored how he was drowning amongst his thoughts, it was pouring down with rain outside. Big fat drops of liquid splashed onto the ground and pounded on the windows and the roof, a viscous wind howled around the building sending it's cold chill into every inch of the school. Baekhyun couldn't wait to go home, so that he could finally focus on his thoughts and attempt to sort this dire situation out. But maybe home wasn't even an option anymore? Unless his mother had managed to fix the door within the day he probably wouldn't be spending the night in his own bed, he probably wouldn't be sleeping in his own room for quite a while.

But the gods appeared to not be finished with Baekhyun as yet another dauntingly and impossibly high hurdle had been thrown in his face, a math test that Baekhyun definitely should of studied for. He placed his head on the desk in defeat, and because he couldn't even be bothered to lift his head again he let it loll to one side as he heard commotion from the front of the room. The sight that greeted Baekhyun made his heart race for no clear reason. Standing a few metres or so away was a boy. Very tall and completely dripping wet. He scanned his eyes over the other's form as black trousers and a now see-through white shirt clung to his body. Every defined muscle and inch of skin within the clothing was now on display for Baekhyun to drink in, the material was clinging to every curve and dip that graced the other's thin form.

After finally tearing his eyes away from the other's perfect body he slid his curious eyes up in order to study his face instead. Dark hair clung to his forehead but those that hadn't had curled into perfect ringlets which framed his gorgeous face. Water streamed down and dripped from his hair flowing over perfectly chiseled features and his mouth hung agape while he panted showing off plump lips and perfect teeth. Dark long lashes framed hazel eyes that were staring directly at him never wavering or even blinking. Wait, what?! Baekhyun thought, why is he staring at me? The boy continued to gaze longingly at him while he spewed out mumbled excuses for being so late and introduced himself to the class.

After hearing his name Baekhyun looked up to see the teacher gesturing towards him and then pointing at the empty seat behind him. He desperately tried to look away from the boy now walking towards him but it seemed like his brain wouldn't obey and his eyes continued to lock with the other's. In his peripheral vision he tried to focus on the windows, wondering if it had miraculously brightened up outside as for some reason the boy's eyes somehow looked amber instead of the previous rich brown. But it must just be the light Baekhyun told himself as he felt his eyebrows furrow and his face scrunch up in a look of confusion. Although suddenly Baekhyun felt his chest tightened considerably as the boy, Chanyeol he thinks, neared him and continued to pin Baekhyun to his chair with a stare so weighted by emotions that it was like there was a twenty ton weight settling over his body. But the hefty gaze wasn't suffocating, given it was seemingly pressing into him from all sides and making him sink further and further down in to his chair, Baekhyun somehow felt safe, surrounded and protected by it even. As the other got closer the eyes only became more amber looking and his chest tightened in response, remembering the amber eyes of the wolf that haunted him. But after convincing himself that there was nothing to fear about Chanyeol he felt his body relax and he opened his mouth to introduce himself properly to the new boy but after glancing to his left and seeing the look of pure fury on his best friend's face Baekhyun quickly closed his open mouth and curiously watched Tao out of the corner of his eye. But when he slid his line of vision away from his apparently enraged best friend the amber eyes were so close now and this time he couldn't deny the shudder of fear that overtook his body as he quietly whimpered under his breath.

Hearing Tao let loose a stream of aggressive curses under his breath made Baekhyun snap out of his downward spiral of frightening thoughts and turn to look at his bestfriend with a mixture of shock and confusion. Chanyeol stopped dead directly in front of Baekhyun and gingerly reach out a shaky hand to graze the arm covered in bruises, the taller boy then opened his mouth as if he was about to speak but he was stopped by a death grip on his wrist. Baekhyun turned to look at his friend only to see Tao's eyes harden with anger and witness the muscles twitching in his locked jaw. Tao's knuckles had turned white with the amount of force he was using to clamp down on Chanyeol and Baekhyun swore he could hear bones cracking under the pressure of his hand.

"Control yourself you idiot, you'll get yourself killed." Tao angrily whispered at Chanyeol.

"W-what by who? Are they here?" Chanyeol's voice came out breathy at first, still dreamily staring at Baekhyun until it turned harsh and angered with his second question. His other hand, the one not being crushed by Tao was still gently resting on his bruised skin and for some reason that touch alone, that whisper of a touch was enough to send his heart racing.

"No. By me, if you go anywhere near him. I swear if you hurt him I'll end you Chanyeol so do yourself a favour and stay the away from him." Tao growled out fiercely and Chanyeol neglected to respond to that. "So get your ing hands off of him and sit down like a good boy, I won't let you have him, over my dead body." Chanyeol retracted his hand from Baekhyun's arm and simply walked off to sit behind Baekhyun with a guilty look plastered onto his handsome features.

Baekhyun just gaped at everyone else in the room who remained oblivious to the heated scene that just took place. Not one person had even looked up at the two arguing boys apart from him, it was as if no one else could hear them or even see them. His mind was hazy and he was confused to the point of it driving him insane, it was like he could hear them talking but not once did he register their mouths moving. Baekhyun allowed his body to slump down and rest on the table in defeat with a loud thud, sending his pen rolling off of the table and onto the floor next to him. With an audible groan Baekhyun slinked off of the chair and crouched down attempt to find it. His weary eyes scanned the dirty hard wood flooring, his face scrunching up in disgust with every fresh clump of mud or cluster of dust bunnies. He groaned yet again as he swivelled around on the spot still searching for the cursed pen, and when his eyes finally locked onto its small form he mentally screamed with relief. He fell to his hands and knees and began crawling over to the desk that it was underneath, but he winced in pain when the person sitting at said desk shifted their legs and ended up kicking Baekhyun in the face.

"Could you keep still for just like one minute and preferably not kick me in the face again, I just want to get my pen" Baekhyun said with an edge to his voice, he was losing his patience with the entire day in general.

"Oh um, um yeah, sorry I kicked you I promise I didn't mean to I'll keep still I promise" a deep voice quickly spoke from above Baekyhun, and as he peered out from underneath the desk he saw Chanyeol with yet another guilty look plastered over his face.

"Calm down it's fine, I've got my pen so you can mov-ow that hurt!" Baekhyun spoke before his voice rose to a shout towards the end accompanied by a loud thudding as he smashed his head on the table. He gingerly reached up to touch his forehead to check for any blood and he was relieved to of only found a slight bump instead. The initial pain had begun to fade settling for a dull throb that pulse in unison with his hands and back of his head. Although a new pain joined his ever growing list of injuries as he reeled back and landed heavily on his while smacking his elbow in the process all because an unknown hand had gently brushed the hair away from his forehead presumably to look at the new bump.

Chanyeol was laying on top of his desk, stomach probably uncomfortably digging into the edge of the wooden thing as he leant forwards once more reaching for Baskhyun again. Said boy remained stock still as the other gently tilted his face and prodded the newly forming lump with caution, eyes watching Baekhyun for any indication of pain. Baekhyun felt himself blush when Chanyeol looked at him with a mixture of concern and fear as he could see Chanyeol glancing over towards Tao every few seconds, probably to see if the other was watching the exchange between the two of them.

"Baekhyun are you okay, did you hit yourself anywhere else? Do you want to go to the medical room? Not to be mean but can you go anyway like you really don't look that well you need to rest, please?" Chanyeol asked with concern laced in every syllable he had just whispered towards the blushing boy.

"I'm fine I think, quit worrying, and would you just let go already I need to stand up and I can't do that if you don't let go" Baekhyun squeaked out under the tender gaze, why the hell was a complete stranger doting on him like a worried mother? Atleast he has one caring mother now, even if she is in the form of a six foot derpy male. Although Baekhyun did actually squeak this time as Chanyeol abruptly let go of his arm but only to then get up from his chair and come to stand in front of Baekhyun with an outstretched hand toward the boy on the floor.

Baekhyun reached up his non injured hand and gently placed it in Chanyeol's much larger one with caution. You might as well dub this as some cliché drama scene as upon standing Baekhyun's foot got caught on the table leg and he ended up stumbling forward fearing that he would tumble to the ground once more but instead he was met with a solid chest and a pair of arms that wrapped instinctively around his middle to steady him. Jeez, what does this guy do? Inhale protein shakes?! The bloody floor would of been softer! Baekhyun thought to himself as winced while he rubbed his nose. And when he gazed up his insides turned to complete mush.

But not the cute mush; not the butterflies in his stomach, not the racing heart, and the blushing face. This was a paralysing fear induced mush. There was acid instead of butterflies in his stomach and it was creeping up his throat and threatening to spill from his mouth, his heart was pounding but it was causing blood to stream past his ears with each beat. Baekhyun highly doubted that there was any colour left in his face as he swore that for a mere moment Chanyeol's eyes were a rich golden amber flecked with light browns and oranges with the pupil no longer circular but an elongated narrow oval instead. And then it was gone. Rich brown eyes stared back at him in place of the wolfs eyes that Baekhyun swore that he had just seen for the second time now. Had he finally gone insane? Was he just seeing things, but what if he wasn't?

"I think, I think I need to go to the medical room".

Word count: 3766

Hello readers, bit of a shorter chapter this time but there was actual Baekyeol interaction so I think that makes up for the slightly lacking length 😂 I hope you liked this chapter and I'll see you again next week for another update ☺️☺️