The calm comes after the storm.

Ae Sook’s parents were the type of parents who were modest, yet liberal, and when Ae Sook was younger, it felt like a god sent punishment. Supervised play dates, protected bike rides in the streets, and absolutely no sleepovers.

For example, her very first one was with Da Bin was when she was 13.

And now, to think that a werewolf gave her an ultimatum to live in a house with 5 other guys, her parents would probably be rolling in their graves right about now. Or sending a horde of demons to their front door, because who in their right mind, would let their 21-year-old daughter live in a house with 6 strange wolf men?

No one, and that was the exact reason why Ae Sook let out a slight burst of profanity, breaking the long moment of silence at D.O’s departure.

“What the literal ?”

Ae Sook stares at the door, her arms limp at her side and her eyes blinking lazily, almost like if they were slow enough it would rewind back time.

She suppresses a bubble of laughter. He can't be serious.

“You know, noona,” Ae Sook feels a light breath on her neck, “if you're living with us, you’re going to need to wash your mouth out a bit. Cussing puts on the wrong images for us young ones,” Sehun says, his eyes turning up in a slight smile before someone comes to smack his head from behind.

“Idiot, when we had the coin jar rule, you filled up the jar so much with your quarters that we took it to pay for our lunch and we still had some change left over,” Baekhyun spills, his voice thick with indifference but layered with amusement.

The apples of Sehun’s cheeks slowly fill to a bright shade of pink before he erupts on Baekhyun.

“Hyung, no I didn’t! Remember when you went through your gangster rap phase and-”

Deadly as a serpent, Baekhyun slams his hand on Sehun’s mouth and hisses, “Go on and reveal all my secrets and let’s see how your survive the night, maknae.”

Apparently, this issue matters a lot to the werewolves right now given the current situation, because then Chanyeol, followed by Kai, and the reprimands by Suho follow after, creating a level of noise equivalent equal to a slaughter house.

Ae Sook scoffs. The idea at first to live with werewolves was completely insane, but now seeing how they interacted with one another, it was impossible. And frankly, Ae Sook was confused about what to do with the situation in front of her. First, they kidnapped her, insulted her, locked her up, but on the other hand, they bandaged her and fought like puppies.

Confused was the wrong word: she was thoroughly disturbed.

Not able to take the noise anymore, Ae Sook screams, “Would you guys shut up and have someone explain to me why I have to move into a stranger’s home? Because otherwise, I’m leaving and going home.”

Like something from movies, everyone pauses in a tangle of limbs. Sehun is at the middle of the pile, with his hands in Baekhyun’s hair while Baekhyun’s hands are fisted in Sehun’s shirt. Trying to pry Baekhyun off the maknae, Chanyeol, the blubbering giant, is on the ground, with his arms around Baekhyun’s middle in an effort to push his back. Suho, uncharacteristically so, is on Baekhyun’s back in a marred form of a piggyback ride.

Ae Sook can’t help but roll her eyes at the absurdity.

“You guys really need to pick a side. A girl can’t deal with the extremes of both emotions. Decide if you want to rip my throat out or if you want to annoy me to death, because I can’t handle the anticipation.”

In the time while Ae sook was speaking, Suho had slid off of Baekhyun’s back and onto the ground into a sturdy position that clearly exemplified his position as leader of the pack. Everyone else’s limbs retracted within a second, like they were never tangled before, and suddenly, from the scene a few moments ago, the atmosphere of the room has grown dangerously stark.

“We don’t do that,” Suho says, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment.

“What do you mean?”

“We don’t kill people, either by ripping their throats out or annoying them. We’re not the same as the ones who go rogue. We mate with humans, live with them, and protect their kin, and that’s as insulting to us as saying we committed murder to our own kind.”

Ae Sook takes a sharp breath, one that whistles in her lungs. Clearly she’s made an offense to their kind, but then again, there has been no offense committed towards her greater than her parent’s death.

“See our eyes?” asks Suho, pointing to his purple pupils. “We haven’t killed anyone, because if you have, your eyes turn red. ‘Those who have tasted blood have it shine on their soul’,” he recites, every word filled with a diluted disdain.

A heavy silence hangs in the air before Ae Sook clears . “Well, I suppose scarlet is a nice color on some people. And I’m all about color, and for one, your walls are ugly and I can’t live here.”

They’re actually not. They’re exactly Ae Sook’s style with a beautiful cloudy gray color that contrasts with the dark wood at the front of the room, but it’s just her weak attempt at proving her inability to live here.

At her declaration, Sehun lets out a bark of laughter. “You’re gonna wanna try harder on that one, noona.” He goes over to a chair near her, sitting down with another little laugh.

Running a hand through her matted hair, Ae Sook feels her steam rising. “Then please enlighten me as to why I even need to be reasoning not to move in with people I’ve known for less than a day.”

“When someone finds about werewolves, and they’re human, it’s assigned by code that the werewolf who found them has to take responsibility of them and in most cases, it’s taking them into their home and monitoring them before the council decides whether or not it’s safe to our existence to let them go,” Baekhyun comments, picking at some nonpresent dirt under his fingernail.

“And so if an entire family sees a werewolf, they’re gonna drag them to live in their home?”

“Well, the werewolf can move in with them,” Sehun interjects. Flashing a grin, he asks, “Looking for any roommates?”

“More like coffin buddies,” growls Ae Sook in response. “So how long does this beautiful process take?”

“Depends on the council. The process on how they determine a person’s clearance is complicated, and it varies, but standard time is usually 3 months? Four?” At the last part of his answer, Kai looks up to the ceiling, like it’s going to give him an answer.

“And you can’t just, like you know, give me a phone call every once in awhile? Check up on me?”

“It’s not wise. You’re already being hunted, and your case is already more complicated than the typical one. At this point, it’s more safety on your part, because in truth, rogues can kill easier than any other werewolf, and police officers don’t have anything on them.”

Ae Sook can tell Suho knows about Hwan, and it upsets her quite a bit. If they know so much about her life already, how much do the other ones know?

Knowing she has to admit defeat, she clasps her hands together tightly, making her knuckles turn a ghostly white that alarms the boys. Letting go, something changes in Ae Sook’s eyes, almost like the hard pressure of her hands went to her eyes to create a strong outer layer that hides all her emotions.

“And what do I tell Hwan? My friend? My aunt?”

“To Hwan, we’re the sons of your parent’s good friends who have a residency in Hong Kong, so they can’t come right now, but they temporarily want you to stay with us. Same thing to your friend. As for your aunt, you’re still living with Hwan. She’s going to question why her niece is living with 6 guys, so let’s stick to one,” Suho offers as the final verdict.

For a moment, Ae Sook is silent as she accepts the ludicrous situation that she has to live by. When she thinks she gains a bit of mental strength, she replies with a flippant “fine”, turning her back on the werewolves as she begins to walk out the door.

“Who’s going to take me home? I need to pack.”

“D.O will. You can update him on the situation as he takes you home.”

It takes all of Ae Sook’s strength to turn around and not scream at all of them.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

Opening the door, Ae Sook reveals D.O sitting on his bed, which of course has to be facing the door, with a book in his lap. At the creek of the heavy oak door, D.O’s eyes snap up from his the [page of his book and come to connect with Ae Sook’s.

A moment of tension passes between them, with Ae Sook not wanting to trigger a lecture and D.O not being completely over his flickering anger, before D.O casually voices his inquiry.

“Did Suho talk to you?”

Ae Sook crosses the threshold of the room and closes the door gently behind her before giving a slight nod in confirmation.

“So why did they send you up here?” D.O asks dismissively as his eyes trail back down to the book and away from her.

Ae Sook, taking it as a sign that he doesn’t completely care, takes the time to travel towards his desk, which requires a step down to reach it. Passing it, she slowly makes her way to the window.

Even though D.O has an air of ignorance and his eyes are focused on the book in front of him, all of D.O’s senses are attentive to Ae Sook’s traveling presence. He doesn’t want to give away his curiosity, but he sneaks a peak by using the mirror by his door to see the back of her figure poised by the opening.

Because he walked out on the room first, he wasn’t ever able to see the back of her outfit, but now, as D.O glances at the dipping fabric, it catches him off guard to say the least. He would have expected a girl like Ae Sook would be someone with all delicate body proportions, because she didn’t seem like one who was perpetually defensive, and he had just assumed the current situation had made her that way. But now, even looking at that small portion of her body, D.O can see her muscles ripple as she twitches, showcasing her inner strength.

“Suho said you would take me home.” The sound of Ae Sook’s voice makes D.O jump a bit, causing his eyes to quickly avert back to his book, hoping that she didn’t catch him watching her.

“Why me? There’s 4 others downstairs.”     

“All the others heard his verdict, so he apparently wanted me to explain it you. I guess I’m moving in tomorrow.”

“Not anything I haven’t heard before.”

Silence muffles the air around the room, making D.O shift with an uncomfortable weight. He abandons his book yet again to look into the mirror, and this time, he finds Ae Sook turned around, her eyes focusing on the mirror as she leans against the window with crossed arms. In an indirect manner, their eyes connect, and D.O notices how much colder they look empty than when they were filled with rage. After a few seconds, she lets one arm dangle, her palm face-up and expecting.

“I need your phone to call Hwan.”

D.O blinks at her in the mirror, motioning to his desk. “It’s on the left side, charging.”

He watches her as she goes to retrieve the phone, and like he expected, she turns to him for the passcode. He would never give his passcode to his pack even to save his life, but somehow, before he even knows what he’s doing, his mouth starts moving: “100700”.

Ae Sook just blinks once before glancing down at the screen as her fingers fly across the keyboard. In a second, the phone is resting against her ear, and D.O can hear the rings from across the room.

On the third ring, the phone receiver clicks as a tired voice comes to on the other end.

“Department of Yongin, Detective Hwan. May I ask who is this?”

Ae Sook can tell right away by Hwan’s voice that he’s drained. She hopes that it’s all the stress piling up on him from work, not because he’s been worried about her, but knowing Hwan, that’s most likely the case.

“Hwan, it’s me.”

For a second, the air goes so still that even a breath would disrupt it, and D.O finds himself holding his.

Then, like a dam breaking, Hwan’s deep exhale attacks the receiver. “Ae Sook?” His voice cracks on the last syllable of her name, and it makes Ae Sook’s heart ache.

“The one and only,” she says quietly, attempting to lighten the mood with humour.

“Oh my god, where are you? Are you okay? What happened to you?” He barrages questions at her all in one breath, not letting her speak. Almost as second thought, he begins to let his detective side speak. “Wait, Ae Sook, stay on the line and don’t hang up. I’ll track the IP address of your phone and I’ll be there right away so-”

“There’s no need Hwan, I’m really fine. I just need you to come pick me up,” she says, her voice leaking a hint of exhaust at the situation, but Hwan’s voice is what keeps her dealing and listening.

“Why- Wait, how- Are you-,” he struggles to form a complete coherent thought before he stops himself, and with the absence of his voice, Ae sook can hear a ruffle of papers coming from the other end.

Taking another deep breath, the released air rattles in Hwan’s throat, highlighting his shaken nature. When he answers again, his voice is completely stable. “Okay, tell me where you are.”

The sound of car keys jingling now rattle into the receiver.

“Actually, let’s meet up halfway. I’m with a friend, so we’ll meet with you along the main road by the university, alright? Is Dunkin Donuts okay?”

“A friend? Ae sook, are you sure you’re safe right now? You don’t have to lie to me-”

Cutting him off for a second time, Ae Sook reassures rather sharply, “I said I’m fine, Hwan. Stop bickering and go drive to Dunkin and buy me some donuts. I hungover and hungry, and it’s not a good combination. I’ll explain everything to you later.”

With a hesitant pause, Hwan considers. “Fine, I’ll see you in a few,” he says softly, leaving the call running for a few more seconds before he finally shuts it off.

This entire time, D.O had been listening to the words exchanged between the two, and as of right now, it was really hard to convince himself that the two weren’t in a relationship, and that made him angry.

In fact, he found that a lot of things about Ae Sook irritated him more than he liked, and her relationship was just one of the many, but the most current. How could someone, whose parents just got killed, have opened their heart so quick when it was clearly going to be a problem later? Apparently, Ae Sook already had moved in with him too, which proved it harder for D.O to protect her.

A cop was nothing against a wolf. It was only a treaty between the wolf ripping the guy’s jugular out, and sometimes that wasn't enough either.

The contact of the phone with the hard wooden table pulls D.O out of his daze. Leaving the iPhone on the table, Ae Sook starts walking to the door before she stops in a hesitant bounce in front of D.O’s closet, almost like she's trying to gage something about it. Thinking better of it, Ae Sook walks past it and to the door where she assumes her position.

“Let’s go.”

Giving Ae Sook one last look, D.O closes the book and tucks it under his pillow behind him before he stands up. Looking at Ae Sook standing by the door, with her barely covered legs and thinly veiled arms, D.O understands why she stopped at the closet.

He gets up and starts to walk towards the door, and under the impression that he’s following her, Ae Sook moves forward without looking back. However, D.O swerves to walk in the direction of the closet before he swipes off an article of clothing off one of the shelves, then proceeding to follow Ae Sook. Once he crosses the threshold and is in the hallway, D.O sees that Ae Sook has made it all the way to the edge of the stair case.

He runs after her with soft footsteps, trying to reach her before she takes the first step down. Just in time, he slips the thick jacket over her shoulders, letting it settle with a weight that surprises her.

Turning around, Ae Sook looks at D.O while her fingers flutter about the fabric resting on her shoulders. On instinct, she pulls the jacket closer around herself, and she’s glad for its size that reaches below her knees, encompassing her in a rich warmth that smells like Klein.

Ae Sook nods in a quiet thank you while she turns around, proceeding down the steps whilst buttoning all the large securities on the jacket.

Following after her, D.O can't help but notice how nice his scent compliments hers.

<> <> <> <> <> <>

Once they exit the house, D.O leads Ae Sook to a decent sized shed that veers off the left side of the road. Using a small key that D.O pulls out of his pocket, he unlocks the door to reveal a type of display case of cars that reflects the number of members in the house, but with a few plus, or maybe multiple, additions.

Looking around, Ae Sook looks at all the brand name labels that she’s seen before, but has never taken the time to learn. As D.O taps a button on his key and a high pitched chirp emits from a more modest looking car (is that a maserati?), Ae Sook’s view of the werewolves steer away from Da Bin’s type of wealth to more of Sae Ryun’s.

The corroded kind.

Not giving the car a second glance, she opens the front passenger door to slide into the leather seats with the grace that she used when she hops over Da Bin’s convertible. Ae Sook waits for D.O to finally be settled before she slips on the seat belt and clicks it into place while the soft hum of the engine vibrates beneath them.

Without a word, D.O starts down the gravel road that Ae Sook has never seen before. As the car moves along the road, her eyes fo