A/N: This chapter is focused on Yugbam's backstory, with Youngjae coming in the last third-ish of the fic.

~~

Yugyeom was shaking as he walked across the grass, the sun’s warm rays doing nothing to relieve the cold hard panic that had settled in his gut. He began to walk faster, until he’d broken out to a jog, neck craning as he looked for someone.

All around him was the sound of muffled sobbing and stifled cries, which conflicted just too much with the bright colors and whimsical decor of the circus tents around. Many were wrapped up tearful goodbyes and perhaps ultimate farewells, and a few were simply immobile with shock and despair.

Yugyeom kept moving, however, eyes sweeping past each familiar face to look for the one that mattered most.

“Yugyeom!”

Yugyeom whipped around so fast at the cry of his name he almost tripped over himself, but the next moment he’d fallen to the ground anyways, thrown completely off balance by the weight of another person clinging to him with all his strength.

“Bam…” Yugyeom breathed out, unable to help the relief that flooded through him. He let himself fall back onto the ground, eyes slipping shut as he focused entirely on the body in his arms, pulling the slight figure closer into him as he tried to calm his pounding heart.

“Thank god, thank god, I know they didn’t take very many, but just in case, I didn’t know, what if they’d taken you, thank god thank god….” Bambam babbled into Yugyeom’s chest and Yugyeom only held Bambam tighter, not saying a word yet because they both knew Yugyeom had been frantically looking for Bambam with that same fear in mind.

“But Yubin-noona and Changmin-hyung and….” Bambam broke off with a choked sob and Yugyeom felt his own eyes growing wet, heart lurching.

Yubin and Changmin were the ringmasters of this circus. Heavy emphasis on the past tense, because as of a few hours ago they were no longer so. And in just a few hours, this whole circus would cease to exist altogether.

Why? Because they were a fraud. A total and complete scam. They’d been the most renowned circus around, known for near magic-like performances where their animals responded to the ringmaster’s command like no other, knew tricks and skills beyond anything any other circus had to offer. Never even once was there an accidental death or injury. They’d been hailed as a sensation, travelling the country to put on their show in small towns and big cities alike.

What no one had known was they were all shifters. Every last lion, tiger, elephant, and even monkey. Every last heartstopping act that had left the audience breathless and anxious for the ringmaster’s safety had simply been a perfectly scripted act. A child slipping entirely inside a lion’s mouth? No danger ever existed- that act in particular had featured a father and son.

They still didn’t know how they were found out. But all that really mattered was they’d been exposed, and the populace were raging with fury. All the most prominent members of their circus had been arrested earlier today, and there was no way they could continue on as before.

There was no choice but to disband, to flee with each looking after him or herself.

“Bam, we should go,” Yugyeom finally whispered, willing his voice not to break.

“But where do we go? What can we even do?” Bambam asked back, fingers twisting the fabric of Yugyeom’s shirt.

Yugyeom bit down on his lip so hard he drew blood, and he shuddered slightly. The future was too daunting- in a matter of hours, they’d lost everything. They’d both grown up in the circus, and held no other memories from a time before. Indeed, nearly everyone here came from a similar background- for whatever reason, had no family, or no home to go back to. Yubin and Changmin had been ones to start it all, taking in every lost and broken soul and giving them somewhere to belong. This circus had become their home, their safe haven, their ticket to survival.

Except no longer.

Inhaling deeply, Yugyeom steeled himself before finally detaching himself from Bambam’s hold. He stood, pulling the other boy up with him.

With tears streaking down his face, Bambam looked so fragile, his thin frame shaking and pupils blown with fear and shock. Yugyeom knew his own hands were shaking as well, but he tried to minimize the trembling when he took Bambam’s hands in his own.

“We’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

Yugyeom didn’t know if he was trying to convince Bambam or himself by repeating those words in a mantra.

~~

“I’m hungry,” Bambam kicked aside a stick that had been his path, watching it fly through the air before snapping on impact with the ground. Yugyeom, walking ahead of him, sighed noisily in response.

“I’d asked you if you wanted any of the fish, but you said you didn’t, so…”

“Because I’m sick of fish!” Bambam exclaimed, taking two quick running steps before launching himself onto Yugyeom’s back. Yugyeom let out an oomph, pitching forward from the sudden additional weight.

“Get off,” he said as he tried to dislodge him, but with no success as Bambam only clung on tighter, nearly choking Yugyeom in his hold.

“Can’t you catch something else? Please? I’m practically going to turn into a fish from eating so much of it!” Bambam whined loudly and Yugyeom tried to duck his head out of the way, his right ear ringing from the loud volume of Bambam’s voice.

“Fish is great! Besides, if you wanna eat something else how about you go catch it? I do all the work!” Yugyeom whined back in an equally nasal tone, and then gave his body one more vigorous shake. “And get off!”

“Fine then,” Bambam huffed as he lightly leapt off of the other’s back. “I’ll show you how things are supposed to be done.”

Yugyeom looked on skeptically as Bambam stood still to think, his eyes darting left and right to survey the landscape.

They were in a wooded area, and had been for the past two weeks. After their panicked flee from the circus grounds, they’d made it their priority to find a water source, having enough sense to know that water was the most crucial to survival. Lucky for them, they stumbled upon a small stream not long after, and had been following it ever since.

As for a destination, they had none in mind. Their departure from the disbanded circus had been rushed and thoughtless, with their only goal being to leave alive and together. Before the tents started to come down, the most they had time for was to grab the most essential of their belongings, stuffed into two small packs. And for a good stretch of time their travel had been motivated by lingering fear, a desperation to get away and eliminate the possibility of being captured, or worse, separated.

A week into their travels, however, it finally began to sink in that they were safe. Most likely, the officials had never been looking for them in the first place, as they would’ve been taken away as soon as the others had. A sobering thought, as if that were the case they never would’ve had a chance, but it made them all the more grateful.

So since then they only travelled aimlessly, choosing to follow the stream simply because of the convenience it provided.

Unfortunately, that also meant a lot of fish. Yugyeom, despite being raised in the circus environment, seemed to have all his hunting abilities intact whenever he shifted into his bear form. And while Bambam had absolutely appreciated being able to sit back and do nothing, he’d about had his fill of fish.

Ready to take matters into his own hands, Bambam’s eyes narrowed, expression unusually serious as he continued to scan the surroundings.

“Are you serious…?” Yugyeom was still unconvinced, too used to the overly confident declarations Bambam tended to make without anything to back them up.

Bambam ignored his friend, eyes lighting up as he spotted something familiar. He quickly darted over to a large tree, crouching down at its base. Yugyeom watched on curiously as Bambam began to tug on something wrapped around the bottom of the trunk, grunting.

Yugyeom squinted slightly, moving in closer to get a better look. It was just a green vine, extending down to tangle with the exposed roots of the tree, but also upwards into the leafy canopy casting a welcome shade over them.

“What are you doing?” Yugyeom couldn’t help but ask, watching the vine come free after a few more persistent tugs. Bambam only shot him a smug smile, starting to wrap the flexible vine into a neat coil. After circling his wrist four or five times, he ripped the rest off, brushing off his hands as he stood, head craning upwards.

A sharp exhale was all the warning Yugyeom got before Bambam shifted, his clothing falling into a heap as a light gray figure shot up into the branches. A spider monkey, smaller than most would expect (he’d always been able to comfortably perch on top of Yugyeom’s head or shoulders), which also made him surprisingly quick. His size granted him even greater agility, maneuvering through the branches with a practiced ease. Before long, the only sign of him visible from below was the slight rustling of the leaves above.

Yugyeom hmphed, plopping down at the base of the tree to wait as it was clear Bambam wasn’t interested in answering his questions. Luckily, it was just a few minutes later that the small monkey dropped backed down to the ground with something clutched tightly in his hand.

“What’s that?” Yugyeom scrambled to his feet, the smug look on Bambam’s face clearly evident despite the fact that he no longer had human features.

To respond, though, Bambam still decided to shift back, donning his clothes quickly with the mysterious new object held carefully out of view.

“What do you think?” Bambam teased, trying to sound mysterious, but the excited gleam in his eyes quite ruined the effect. When Yugyeom just shot him an impatient look, he cleared his throat, straightening slightly.

“....tada!” Bambam finally brought his hand back into view, proudly displaying the small contraption made of vines and sticks in his hand.

“What…?” Yugyeom immediately edged in closer, hands reaching to touch but Bambam quickly moved it out of reach.

“Don’t touch! And you really don’t know what it is?” Bambam’s voice was teasing again, dangling the fragile looking object above his head, which just so happened to be eye-level for Yugyeom.

Gaze trailing from the stand-like structure the sticks created, to the small loop created by the vines, it finally clicked.

“Is that a noose? You’ve made a spring trap?” Along with surprise, Yugyeom couldn’t quite hide the bit of grudging acknowledgement that crept into his voice.

“Bingo!” Bambam snapped his fingers, grinning. “I learned from Jinwoon-hyung! Remember?”

Yugyeom nodded, but couldn’t help expression his doubt once more.

“But can that flimsy thing really catch anything?”

“Of course!” With his abilities being questioned once more, Bambam finally took offense, scowling at Yugyeom angrily before turning on his heel to walk away

“Just you wait! And I’m not sharing any of it with you?”

Yugyeom had to hide his laughter as he watched Bambam stalk off, shaking his head slightly. It was always amusing and oh-so-easy to get Bambam riled up, and his reactions were the best. Still, for someone usually quite lazy, it was kinda cute to see him so worked up about something.

“Fish still tastes better though…”

~~

A small pillar of smoke rose up and through the trees, dissipating only once it broke through the leafy canopy at the top. It wasn’t threatening or out of control, though, just a bit...thick. It was even more so at the base, the billowing gas spreading outwards from the hissing fire as two figures struggled to bring it back under control.

“Yah Kim Yugyeom you’re not supposed to use wet sticks to start fires!” Bambam shrieked as he tried to bat the smoke away from his clothes, but to no avail. He got a lungful of it instead with his next breath, spluttering and coughing as he stumbled further away from the flames.

“I didn’t! I just broke the branches off a tree! How was I supposed to know that if they’re still alive and green inside they’ll cause smoke too?!” Yugyeom jumped to defend himself. He was still standing close to the fire, having tied a t-shirt around his head to cover his nose and mouth. “And come help me, you monkey, if you want the smoke to stop!”

In the end, it took a good ten minutes before they managed to get their campsite back under control. Yugyeom sank to the ground with a relieved sigh, while Bambam rushed to check on their cooking food.

“Aw man, it’s probably been smoked through already,” Bambam lamented as he carefully lifted one of their cooking sticks from next to the fire, this one with a rather deformed looking squirrel speared through it. It hadn’t even been skinned and the burnt black fur gave it a rather charred look, but after slicing into it with a knife the still juicy meat inside was revealed. “Ah well, at least it isn’t burnt yet.”

In the end, the rather unreliable looking trap that Bambam had put together somehow did manage catch something. While he’d been hoping for a rabbit or something slightly more substantial, his fresh catch was more than enough for him to parade proudly in front of Yugyeom’s face, singing “I told you so.”

Even Yugyeom’s subsequent catch of a good half dozen fish hadn’t been enough to put a damper on Bambam’s high spirits.

“Well, I like smoked fish anyways,” Yugyeom shrugged, carefully picking up one of the fish sticks, blowing on it gently to cool it. On the other hand, Bambam’s impatience had led him to already try to take a bite, leaving him hissing when it burnt his tongue.

“Ahhhh hot hot hot,” Bambam jumped up, fanning his mouth with one hand as he scrambled to look for water. Yugyeom only cracked up at the sight, but was nice enough to hand his friend the bottle.

“Be more patient,” Yugyeom chided, only to earn a glare back.

“You’re just jealous,” Bambam sniffed, tearing into the body of the squirrel with his teeth. He’d hacked away most of the skin and fur, but if anything the cooked squirrel looked even more misshapen than before.

“If you say so…” Yugyeom wrinkled his nose at the sight. “Honestly, don’t monkeys just survive off fruit and maybe bugs?”

“Ewwww! I’m a monkey shifter, okay? Not a monkey!” Bambam punched Yugyeom in the arm twice, and not too lightly either. “Just because you have the diet of an actual bear doesn’t mean I have too. I’m never eating bugs, that’s so gross!” He made a face, clearly disgusted by the concept.

“...True,” Yugyeom conceded. Finally deeming his own meal sufficiently cool, he carefully took a bite, spitting out the bones. “I think real bears eat a lot of insects, too. Fish is fine, but I don’t wanna try stuff like larvae either. Or stuff like dead -”

Yugyeom suddenly broke off with a frown, tilting his head slightly. Bambam immediately took note of the familiar posture, leaning forwards.

“What is it?” Bambam asked, slightly nervous. “You smell something?”

Yugyeom only pursed his lips slightly, his face a look of concentration. After a moment, he gave a short nod sticking his fish stick back in the ground to stand up to move a ways away from the fire.

With the possibility of an unknown threat approaching, Bambam, too, quickly abandoned his meal, following behind Yugyeom anxiously.

“Is it humans? Hunters? Or other shifters?” Bambam couldn’t help but ask again after a few seconds, clearly worried.

“Humans,” Yugyeom responded, growing paler by the second. “Three or four of them, heading straight this way. Fast. God, maybe five minutes away. I should’ve smelled them earlier!” Yugyeom’s hands formed fists as panic seized his system, and he strained to gather more information. “I also smell...metal. I think, they might have guns.”

“Guns?!” Bambam, too, blanched, eyes flitting back and forth as he tried to process this sudden information. “But, why? Why are they heading this way? And fast? Did we…”

Bambam trailed off as he realized the answer to his own question, and both boys turned their gaze on the smoke from their campfire rising high up into the air. It was also then that they realized the stench of the smoke was probably what had prevented Yugyeom from picking up on the threat earlier, but now it was too late to do anything about that.

“But how would they know we’re shifters? We could be regular humans just camping, right? Do we even need to run?” Bambam tossed out a few ideas, trying to be optimistic. Yugyeom bit his lip, brow furrowing.

“Maybe, maybe they saw our tracks? Bear tracks are pretty hard to miss, and if they found a place where the tracks suddenly shifted to human ones…” Yugyeom took a shaky breath, but then shook his head. “But, maybe? If we just stay here and act confused, maybe they’ll leave us alone? Humans can’t identify shifters from regular humans anyways.”

This time, it was Bambam who rejected the idea.

“No, if they saw your tracks already then it’d be a dead giveaway. Two kids, alone in the middle of the woods, far away from any sort of town or city, traveling with only two small packs? We might as well write “shifter” on our foreheads!”

“Then do we run?” Yugyeom asked helplessly. “We’ll go faster if we shift, but no matter what we’ll leave tracks. With how fast they’re going it seems like they have a car or something, and - wait, wait.”

Bambam bit his lip, only able to watch on helplessly as Yugyeom strained his senses.

“I thought I smelled guns, but I’m not picking up on any gunpowder. So I think all they have are tranquilizers probably? No, no, I’m fairly certain. It’s just tranquilizer guns.”

With that new piece of information, a bit of weight lifted off of Yugyeom chest. Just tranquilizers. They could deal with that, right?

But now, given their options…

“Bam, shift and go!” Yugyeom suddenly barked, spinning on his heel to grab their two small packs and ing them into Bambam’s hands. “We can’t stay, but if we run they’ll be able to follow my tracks, human or bear. Go up into the trees and hide!”

“What? No!” Bambam rejected the idea without a second thought, turning angry instead. “What the hell, I’m not just going to leave you!”

“We don’t have time!” Yugyeom said back desperately. “It’s the best option! They’re almost here, there’s only three of them, and they don’t even have actual bullets! I’ll be fine, just wait for the right moment, okay? I know you can do it.”

“But I -” Bambam wanted to protest further, but even he could hear the faint hum of an engine approaching. With Yugyeom’s last words at least he understood Yugyeom wasn’t actually telling him to go on without him, but the thought of leaving Yugyeom at the mercy of those humans, even if only temporarily, was unbearable.

But they didn’t seem to have any other choice.

“Are you sure?” Bambam couldn’t help but ask one last time, voice shaky.

“I trust you,” was all Yugyeom said back, eyes unwavering as he stared back at his best friend.

No, Bambam had always been more than just his best friend. And with that thought, Yugyeom felt his heart calm a little, eyes reassuring as he met Bambam’s worried ones.

Bambam finally swallowed, nodding as he steeled himself.

“You shift first, I’ll grab your clothes. Maybe, maybe you can trick them into thinking you’re just a regular bear too.”

Though the probability of that was next to zero, Yugyeom complied regardless, slipping out of his clothes as he simultaneously shifted. Every part of him ballooned in size, muscles rippling and dark, coarse fur sprouting from every inch of his skin. While he’d always towered over Bambam, once his transformation was complete he stood even taller, finally dropping down onto all fours with a slight growl.

Bambam had already taken off, still in human form as the two packs would be too heavy for his smaller form to carry. Presumably, he’d shift after stashing all their stuff somewhere, and then watch from above.

Yugyeom began to pace around the fire slightly restlessly; all that was left was to wait.

~~

Getting hit with a tranquilizer wasn’t as bad as Yugyeom thought it would be. Well, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting in the first place, as he’d never been forcibly sedated before, but all in all it had been rather painless. Just the slightest sting as the dart made it past his thick fur and stuck in his flesh, instantly followed by a numbing sensation that rushed through his bloodstream. It wasn’t particularly unpleasant, just rather unnerving as his limbs rapidly turned to jelly.

There were three men total, all fairly young. And it wasn’t a car they arrived on, after all, but a small buggy, which made more sense given the terrain of the woods. Yugyeom had been standing upright on his two hind legs, tense and apprehensive when they finally rode into the clearing. Besides the driver, the two other men already their guns already hoisted and ready to aim, faces grim and determined.

And that was about all the detail Yugyeom managed to take in before the sharp pain pierced his abdomen.

Well, at least their previous suspicion that these men were actively hunting them had been confirmed, Yugyeom thought faintly as his knees finally gave out, mind growing fuzzy. Running would’ve been futile, so this had been the best course of action after all.

He must've hit the ground pretty hard, given the height he was falling from, but he only felt the slightest bit of the impact. Yet despite his severely dulled senses, the dosage of a single dart didn’t seem to be terribly potent given how he was still clinging to consciousness. He could feel himself slipping further and further, though, not quite able to prevent a low whine from escaping his throat.

Dimly, he could hear the men’s voices from somewhere above, discussing his current state.

“He’s a pretty big size, didn’t think a single dose would be enough to knock him down.”

“He’s a shifter, too, think he could be faking it?”

“Nahh. Though we should probably wrap him up in the netting while he’s out cold.”

“I still think we should stick him with another one, just in case.”

“Oh come on, man, these tranqs are expensive! We don’t have much left to begin with.”

“Yeah man, relax. If he starts stirring we can hit him with another then, no need wastin’ it now.”

“And besides, just look at him. See that tan pattern on his chest? We’ve got ourselves a moon bear here, don’t wanna do any more damage than necessary. He’s gonna be worth tons.”

“Fine, fine, then, let’s get him tied up first.”

Yugyeom could tell by the noises around him, and the distant feeling of certain limbs that he was being manhandled by the hunters, presumably being bound. But his senses were now dulled to point where he really had no idea what they were doing with him.

That fact probably should’ve alarmed him more, but for whatever reason Yugyeom didn’t feel even the slightest bit anxious, or worried. Even when the men’s voices started to fade into a low buzz, no panic rose from within him.

He knew Bambam would come. There was nothing to worry about, because he trusted Bambam with his life.

And probably his heart, too, a faraway voice sounded from the back of his mind.

But maybe that was just the drugs talking.

~~

It wasn’t easy watching Yugyeom go down like that.

Bambam had been well hidden, high in the branches where the leaves completely obstructed him from view. His shifted form was small to begin with anyways, so he felt no danger in watching the entire confrontation go down.

Though it could hardly be called a real confrontation. Yugyeom hadn’t resisted at all, dropping like a ton of bricks when he’d been hit with the tranquilizer. And Bambam could only grit his teeth as he watched the disgusting men poke and prod at the giant bear, their loud voices and boisterous laughter grating on his ears. It took all the self-control Bambam possessed to hold himself back, to not to something undoubtedly stupid, so perhaps it was a good thing that it didn’t take long for the hunters to tie Yugyeom up.

But the image was still so wrong. Bambam had always been the more lively of the two of them, the chattier one, the fidgety one, but Yugyeom himself was always so full of life. He was meant to tower over others, strong yet never intimidating. If anything, Bambam had come to realize he only felt absolutely at ease with Yugyeom at his side, with Yugyeom watching his back.

Bambam himself had always been rather adventurous. He wasn’t fearless, but he’d always been more willing to take risks, to go out further on a swaying limb. Back at the circus, he’d always been the more eager of the two to learn new tricks and attempt new stunts.

But he would have to be absolutely daft to not realize he always felt safer when Yugyeom was there with him, even if he was only watching from the sidelines. When Bambam needed comfort, Yugyeom’s outstretched arms were where he found the most consolation. When he was sick or injured, nothing ever made him feel warmer than Yugyeom’s companionship and gentle gaze.

So watching Yugyeom be so vulnerable for the first time, when he could only watch from afar, simply made his stomach churn. There was so much disgust - for the bastardous hunters, for how they touched and caressed Yugyeom’s fur as their mouths spewed nonsense about profit and money, but also disgust for himself, for being powerless to prevent this from happening.

Luckily, Bambam had never been one to wallow in self-pity and disgust for long. Watching as the men slowly took over their campsite, clearly planning to camp out for the night before continuing on their way, Bambam’s negative feelings quickly manifested in a much more vindictive mood.

They hurt Yugyeom? Fine.

He’d just have to pay them back in kind.

~~

Yugyeom’s senses came back to him slowly. His head was the first thing to clear, the eerie shapes swimming behind his eyelids slipping away as he managed to grasp onto coherent thoughts once again. The feeling in his limbs came back even slower, and finally, actual control over his body.

He cracked open one eye first cautiously, unknowing about his current situation. The next eye followed shortly after, and peering upwards, they both widened simultaneously in shock.

Yugyeom scrambled to his feet, or as much as a bumbling bear could stumble. His front legs buckled when he first tested them with his weight, but managed to prevent himself from completely faceplanting in the dirt. A second try finally allowed himself to hold steady, and once he was solidly planted, the bear was replaced by a boy.

“Bambam, how, what -”

Yugyeom’s words were whispered loudly, but still whispered nonetheless. The image greeting him was all too shocking, and he could only stand there and gape while his best friend finally noticed he was conscious again.

“Oh, you’re up!” Bambam responded cheerily from the tree branch he was currently situated atop of, hands busy with the rope he was currently tying around the trunk. Connected to rope, was one of the three hunters, clearly unconscious and unresponsive as the shifter lashed him securely to the tree branch. They were a good eight meters above the ground, Yugyeom estimated, and he could not even begin to guess how Bambam even managed to hoist the man up so high.

Looking around a bit more, it wasn’t too hard to locate the other two hunters, all similarly tied to different trees.

“Just wait a sec, I”m almost done!” Bambam called down, smugly finishing up one last knot before nimbly climbing back down.

“Are you feeling ok? Bambam asked, the worry evident in his voice as he took stock of Yugyeom’s condition. “Do you have a headache or anything?”

“No, no, I'm fine,” Yugyeom flushed as Bambam’s eyes trailed up and down his body unabashedly, “Um, where are my clothes?” he added hastily.

“A-Ah, wait, just a sec, I hid our packs I'll be right back!” Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Bambam grew embarrassed as well, quickly averting his gaze as he scampered off. Yugyeom in a deep breath as Bambam disappeared from sight, willing himself to calm his racing heart.

“Here,” Bambam's return was swift, and he all but threw the clothes at Yugyeom, who hastily pulled everything on.

There was a slight awkward pause afterwards, something strangely tense hanging in the air between them. Crickets, too, had begun to chirp, adding to the uncomfortable atmosphere. It was also the telltale sign of the approaching dusk, however, and Yugyeom knew it wouldn’t be wise to linger much longer.

Taking a peek at Bambam, who was currently looking everywhere but him, Yugyeom forced himself to push aside his shyness, clearing his throat.

“How did you do all this?” Yugyeom repeated his question from before, trying his best to sound genuinely impressed. Not that he had to try very hard; he still had no idea how Bambam had managed to pull this off. It wasn't that he doubted Bambam's abilities, rather he knew better than anyone that Bambam was an absolute menace if provoked, but still. This situation was a bit…more than he expected.

“Hmph, the cocky bastards never saw it coming,” Bambam sniffed, the tips of his ears still tinged red but unable to give up this opportunity to boast. “Don't know how the hell they've managed to hunt anything with those horribly dull senses, I stole their guns from right under their noses and they didn't even notice.”

“You knocked them out with the tranquilizers?!” Yugyeom asked in disbelief, shyness from before completely forgotten.

“Yep. Gotta give ‘em a taste of their own medicine, after all” Bambam said smugly, finally looking Yugyeom in the face properly again. Upon seeing his friend’s expression, Bambam visibly relaxed, finally putting the odd little incident behind them as he slung an arm over Yugyeom's shoulder, a conspiratorial glint in his eye.

“You wanna see the goodies I found in their buggy?”

~~

Youngjae was having a great day. It was sunny and not humid, having just rained the night before. And because of the rain, his garden’s thirst had been thoroughly quenched, all the plants looking happy and healthy.

Youngjae was humming as he stepped out of the house, gardening tools in hand as he nearly skipped around to the back. From the looks of it, some of the carrots would be ready to be dug up today. The tomatoes were also doing well, as were the cucumbers, and the bell peppers had just begun to bud.

Despite the house, in many ways the garden felt like the biggest inheritance he received after Granny’s death. It held so many precious memories, the two of them simply toiling away under the sun. Weeding, watering, setting in new stakes for the tomato plants and propping up new racks for the cucumbers vines. All were happy memories, cherished moments that Youngjae now clung to desperately.

And frankly, the garden was what managed to stave off his loneliness. Granny had never been very talkative to begin with, but her warm presence had always been enough to keep Youngjae anchored down. And while her death hadn’t been sudden or unexpected, it was still absolutely devastating. The first week afterwards he’d lived in a haze, lost and crying as he struggled to come to terms with the fact that he was now alone.

But no, he wasn’t entirely alone yet. He had the garden, and so after making it through the worst of his mourning, he poured his entire being into that small patch of land. The first time he smiled again was when the first crop of strawberries were ready for picking, and since then, he’d been more or less okay.

Though now, things were starting to get a bit out of control. Be it during the day or at night, Youngjae really had nothing else to do besides tend to the garden. Over the past few years, it’d also grown in size, and he now always ended up with much more fresh produce than he could ever consume on his own.

While he felt a bit wasteful, letting most of it go uneaten and back to the soil, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

And that was when the loneliness would start coming back, in waves.

But this particular day was a good one. He was excited, because for the first time he’d tried planting something bigger - watermelons. To get the seeds, he’d travelled a full two days to the nearest town to buy them, bringing as much of his excess produce as he could to trade for other essentials as well. The trip to town was always a nerve wracking one, given the distance and the fact that he now had to travel alone, but luckily he’d always managed to make it there and back safely.

So far.

But yes, back to the watermelons. He’d planted a total of three, with two seedlings eventually breaking ground. And of the two, it looked like one would be ready to pick today, and Youngjae couldn’t wait to have a taste.

Squatting down in the dirt, Youngjae was just ready to inspect the watermelon one last time when suddenly, his muscles froze, an icy burst of fear rushing down his spine as his senses went into overdrive. His mind hadn’t yet grasped the situation, but his instincts had already kicked him, silently screaming danger danger danger.

Casting his gaze out frantically to locate the source of this threat, Youngjae’s heart rose to his throat when a large figure emerged from the edge of the woods - a large black bear, upright on two legs, a splash of tan across its chest.

Youngjae’s body moved on its own before his brain could finish processing the rest. He was already halfway up a tree by the time his mind finally caught up, belated relating the facts that 1) he was still in human form 2) he should’ve shifted and run instead because 3) climbing up a tree in an attempt to escape from a bear was probably the stupidest thing he could ever do.

By now, the bear had made its approach to the base of the tree, large front paws propped up against the side of the trunk as it cocked its head at Youngjae’s shaking form. It was only now that Youngjae realized that the one figure was actually two, given the small monkey perched on its shoulder.

And then finally, the most important revelation hit him.

They were both shifters.

Forget the fact that shifters were supposed to be able to identify other shifters immediately at first glance, the two very human-made backpacks they were carrying were also quite indicative of the fact they were no ordinary animals. Also, the bear couldn’t possibly be out to eat him if it had a monkey, of all things, on its shoulder.

Before Youngjae could beat himself up too much over his blind fear, or fully become embarrassed by how he was trembling so much the whole tree was practically trembling with him, the monkey had leapt off of the bear’s shoulder, ping one of the packs on his way down. In a flurry of falling garments, a lanky young boy soon appeared, meticulously zipping up his fly before looking up to greet him.

“Hey, it’s okay! Yugyeom won’t hurt you, I promise! I’m Bambam, what’s your name?”

It took Youngjae a few tries to get his vocal cords to cooperate.

“Y-Youngjae.”

A slightly awkward silence followed, during which Bambam elbowed Yugyeom not so discreetly.

“Yugyeommie, you’re scaring him,” Bambam muttered out of the side of his mouth, probably in what he thought was a quiet voice but Youngjae managed to hear all the same. Well, yet another blow to his already demolished pride. At least he wasn’t shaking so much any more.

Still, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t much more relieved once a second boy stood in the bear’s place. He was still big, but also friendly-looking as he ran a hand through his hair abashedly, grinning up at Youngjae apologetically.

“I’m Yugyeom! We don’t mean you any harm, we promise!” He said earnestly, and Youngjae nodded, embarrassed once again by current position.

“Why don’t you come down?” Bambam coaxed again, Yugyeom also smiled at him encouragingly.

Youngjae shifted slightly, hands tightening against the rough bark as when the branch creaked with his weight.

“I… I don’t know how to get back down…”

~~

In the end, it had been a combined effort between the three of them to get Youngjae out of the tree. Bambam had been doling out climbing tips non-stop while Youngjae tried his absolute best to keep his shaking under control, but the hero of the day was undoubtedly Yugyeom, who deftly caught the rabbit shifter when he finally lost his footing and began to freefall towards the ground.

Granted, Youngjae hadn’t been that high up to begin with and probably would’ve survived just fine, but being caught by gentle arms was a lot more welcoming than anything the solid ground would’ve provided.

As thanks, and to redeem his embarrassing behavior from before, Youngjae invited the other two boys to stay the night once he learned their story. It was an offer Yugyeom and Bambam gladly took, especially after learning the large, used-to-be inn was all Youngjae’s own.

“You planted this all by yourself?” Bambam asked, amazed when Youngjae showed them his garden. Yugyeom, too, appeared equally impressed, and Youngjae couldn’t but puff up a little with pride.

“Yeah, I spend a lot of time on it,” he explained, cheeks pink but eyes shining. “Speaking of which, are you guys hungry? If there’s anything I don’t lack here, it’s fresh food.”

And when he lead the other two inside, the parade of amazement followed.

“You have so many spices! You have so much salt!” Bambam nearly cried tears of joy at the sight of the plain white sack on the kitchen counter. Youngjae was at the sink, washing up the vegetables he brought in from the garden, and could only watch on in amusement as the two boys examined his kitchen.

“And sugar! You even have rice!” Yugyeom was just as excited, a large grin splitting his face as he opened one of the cabinets. “Wow, and we thought we had it good when we took those few pouches of salt and pepper from the hunters! We’d been living off flavorless fish for weeks!”

Youngjae reflexively stiffened at the mention of hunters, an involuntary shudder passing through his body. He was ultimately unable to curb his curiosity, however, and quickly followed up with a question.

“Hunters?”

Of course, Bambam was all too happy to narrate that particular story, especially since he got to cast himself as the hero. He went into all the juicy details with relish, and Yugyeom didn’t seem to mind he was the “damsel in distress,” content to stare at Bambam with a proud smile from the side.

Regardless, Bambam’s storytelling skills were rather commendable, given that Youngjae completely forgot what he was doing with the vegetables for five whole minutes, much too gripped by the suspenseful tale Bambam was recounting.

“And then we made off with all their supplies,” Bambam ended smugly. “Their stuff lasted us a good two weeks afterwards.”

“Wow…” Youngjae exhaled, half in awe, half in relief. The story was a thrilling one for sure, but also pretty terrifying to think about. If Youngjae had been in their shoes, he wasn’t sure if he’d been able to pull any of it off.

But then again, there were two of them. Youngjae was alone, and that in itself made a whole world’s difference.

“But still, what they had is nothing compared to what you have here,” Yugyeom shook his head slightly. “Where do you get all this?”

“Ah, it’s not that big of a deal, actually,” Youngjae was about to rub the back of his neck, a habit that he often fell into, but his wet hands finally reminded him of the task at hand. He quickly shut off the water that had been running for far too long, moving the vegetables over to the cutting board.

“There’s a town that’s about a two days’ walk away? So four days there and back. I go there to restock on important supplies every once in awhile, I have a little wagon that I bring to trade the vegetables I grow.”

“Woahh, that’s far. You travel there by yourself? And you’re a rabbit shifter, right?” Bambam was surprised, almost doing a double take.

“Yeah,” Youngjae made a face. “I don’t like making the trip so I don’t go until I really have to, and I try to stock up as much as I can with a single trip. Travelling by myself can be... scary,” he admitted. “I used to go with Granny more often but now I’m by myself…”

Youngjae’s voice trailed off, a pained expression flashing across his face. Yugyeom and Bambam quickly exchanged a knowing look, understanding a tender subject had been raised. Luckily, Bambam was all too good at lifting the mood, and he promptly launched into another story that Youngjae would hopefully enjoy.

“Well, since Yugyeom and I came from a circus, there was one time when…”

~~

Yugyeom and Bambam didn’t leave the next day. Or the day after that. Or the week after, or the month after.

Youngjae had never asked when they were planning to head on their way, and Yugyeom and Bambam never mentioned a thing about leaving. So they simply stayed and continued to stay, until it became quite evident they’d become permanent residents.

None of them said anything further on the matter, but they all knew secretly that this was the outcome they’d all been hoping for.

Youngjae’s loneliness had vanished, and he could hardly feel any safer than being able to cuddle up next to a large black bear at night. Bambam’s demands for better food and real beds to sleep in were satisfied, even if he did have to pull his weight in terms of chores (Yugyeom and Youngjae were both softies, though, and Bambam often managed to weasel his way out of the more undesirable tasks). And Yugyeom, well, he was just content to have somewhere to call home again.

Everything felt so complete, and they thought they would never want things any other way.

That is, until three became seven.

A/N: So sorry it took me so long to get this out OTL, do leave me a comment if you enjoyed! The next installment will be hyungline focused, with maknaeline coming in at the end, and I've already thought of a description so might as well tease a bit:

"In which Jackson wants to be a hero, Jinyoung doesn't want to be saved, Mark is whipped, and Jaebum is seriously pissed."

As usual, no guarantees on when it'll be finished, but it'll happpen eventually.... xD