Myungsoo was rolling around lazily in his dorm's living room. Most members were out on a schedule, only Myungsoo and Sungyeol had a free afternoon and decided to catch up on some much needed sleep. Sungyeol was taking a nap in his room, while Myungsoo chose to stay in the chilly living room rather than his own stuffy bedroom. But he was restless. The wolf inside him didn't want to rest. He wanted to play, preferably with his favorite playmate, Sungyeol, who was sleeping and Myungsoo was struggling not to barge into his room and get him to play with him.

A soft whimper escaped his lips. Again. He really, really wanted to be close to Sungyeol.

“Stop whining, tramp,” Sungyeol suddenly spoke up next to him and softly kicked Myungsoo, before flopping down next to him. “I can't sleep if you keep making these noises.”

“Sorry,” mumbled Myungsoo his reply and snuggled up to his favorite human.

“Why are you whining anyways, you useless werewolf?”

Sungyeol had started to scratch Myungsoo behind the ears and if Myungsoo were in his wolf form he surely were wagging his tail. He was so thankful of how understanding and accepting Sungyeol was of his condition. In the beginning it had been quite difficult. A seven member group consisting of four wolves and three humans – three humans who didn't have a single clue about supernatural beings before they were confronted with them – had led to quite a few misunderstandings and to way too many dangerous situations, especially because three of the four wolves were alphas. But now, so many yeas later, most problems were solved and they had managed to built their own little, happy pack.

“I want to play,” Myungsoo admitted and Sungyeol chuckled.

“And you are supposed to be a grown up, frightening alpha? To me you seem more like a little pup.”

“Hey! Even grown up, frightening alphas have a soft side! Look at Sungkyu-hyung and Hoya-hyung.”

“Puppies at heart, you are all puppies at heart,” Sungyeol said laughing and just hearing this sound made Myungsoo unbelievably happy. He always was the happiest when Sungyeol was happy as well. Or when they were cuddling. Myungsoo loved cuddling, especially with Sungyeol. He smelled so good and he was warm and just perfect to cuddle with once he was comfortable with one.

“So...” Sungyeol started and grinned down mischievously at the werewolf. “You want to play?”

Myungsoo nodded excitedly. When Sungyeol was in the mood to play, fun was guaranteed.

“Fetch!”

Sungyeol had snatched away the cushion Myungsoo had rested his head on and thrown it to the other side of the room. Myungsoo had the urge to groan and roll his eyes, to tell his best friend that he wasn't a dog, but Sungyeol's eyes were sparkling in delight and Myungsoo just went with it. He scrambled to his feet and ran on all four after the cushion, picking it up with his teeth (something he'd never do again, because it was disgusting), ran back to Sungyeol and let the cushion drop onto his lap with a “woof”. Sungyeol laughed and patted Myungsoo's head.

“Good boy,” he praised and Myungsoo's chest swelled in pride, which was stupid, because they were only fooling around. Still, Sungyeol just had that effect on him and Myungsoo craved his attention, his praise, his touch, his affection, his everything.

Myungsoo then felt the urge to get closer to his best friend and without really thinking about it, he threw himself on Sungyeol. Immediately they started to wrestle, like they often did when they weren't to tired. Myungsoo of course knew that he had to be careful. He didn't look like it and he may wasn't as strong as Hoya, but as a werewolf he definitely was a lot stronger than Sungyeol, who also happened to bruise extremely easily. This was actually the most exhausting for Myungsoo, to hold himself back and not let his instincts take over, to not just bite and and do everything he was able to do with the other wolves, because they understood. If he were Sungyeol, though, or one of the other humans, they certainly were disgusted. So he took what he got. Skinship, lots of skinship.

They were rolling around together, struggling to be the one with the upper hand, laughing, enjoying themselves to the fullest. Sungyeol's smell and warmth was surrounding Myungsoo, his touches leaving a tingling feeling on his skin. He was overwhelmed and he slowly lost control of his wolf nature. But he was sure he could keep it inside, like he always did, until Sungyeol's hand accidentally grazed Myungsoo in his most intimate area.

Then everything happened so fast. Something snapped inside of him and with a low growl and the thought mine clear in his head, Myungsoo sank his teeth into the sensitive flesh between Sungyeol's shoulder and neck. His best friend screamed in agony and then he heard a growling and one pair of arms wrapped around his waist and shoulders and another pair of hands grabbed his jaw and pulled him off of Sungyeol.

Myungsoo struggled, he had to get back to his Sungyeol, his mate, but the other two combined were too strong. They pinned him against the next wall and he was barely able to move, but he heard his mate sob and he had to go to him and comfort him, his mate was sad.

“WHAT THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?” he heard Sungkyu scream. Of course, of course it were Sungkyu and Hoya holding him back, the other two alphas.

“Let me go!” Myungsoo snapped at them. “My mate needs me!”

Shocked gasps were heard and then Myungsoo's head got bashed into the wall. The angry growl of Hoya was the last thing he heard before he out.

Myungsoo was confused when he regained consciousness. Why was he in his bedroom? Hadn't he been in the living room with Sungyeol just now?

At the thought of Sungyeol he started to feel weird. His whole body was aching and telling him that only being with Sungyeol could make it stop hurting.

Sungyeol, he wanted his Sungyeol. He whimpered.

“So you are finally awake, huh.”

He recognized Sungkyu's voice immediately, but it sounded a little off. Indifferent, with suppressed anger underneath. Myungsoo wondered, if he had done anything wrong.

He wanted to ask his hyung, who was standing next to the door, what had happened, but everything that left his mouth was “Sungyeol”. Sungkyu's low growl sent shivers down Myungsoo's spine and a cold feeling clenched around his heart. Was everything okay with Sungyeol.

“He's in his room,” Sungkyu told him disgruntled.

“Is he okay?”

Sungkyu snorted. “You have no clue what happened, do you.”

“No... What happened to Sungyeol?”

Suddenly Sungkyu looked very tired and he strolled over and sat down next to Myungsoo.

“You bit him.”

“W-what?” Myungsoo stared at Sungkyu in shock. “N-no way! I'd n-never hurt h-him.”

“You did. You bit him, you hurt him, you traumatized him and worst of all, you mated him without his consent. You were so far gone, so obsessed with getting to your mate, that you didn't even realize that it was you he was scared of. Hoya had to knock you unconscious. Maybe he used a little bit more force than necessary though. He is really mad at you. We all are.”

Myungsoo stared at Sungkyu with wide eyes.

“I... I really...?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Oh god.”

As realization sunk in of what he had done, to his best friend of all people, he felt even worse than before and he started to sob. He had hurt Sungyeol, his Sungyeol. He had lost his control and broken the trust all his band members had in him, most of all Sungyeol's trust.

Unexpectedly Sungkyu pulled the younger wolf into his embrace and his back in a calming motion. And it helped, at least as much as it could help when Myungsoo felt so, so incomplete without his Sungyeol.

“I know, you don't want to hear this,” Sungkyu quietly told him. “But even though you want nothing more than to be with Sungyeol, you need to stay away from him for some time.”

Myungsoo wanted to protest and started to struggle in his hyung's embrace, but the older male tightened his hold and just kept talking.

“What you did to him was horrible and he'll need time to come to terms with it. He needs time to overcome his fear and to forgive you. And I know it's hard, I know how strong the desire is to be with your mate, but you need to be stronger than that. For Sungyeol. It was a huge shock for him that you bit him and I think, he could have gotten over that pretty quickly, because you were playing. But the fact that you mated him... that really hit him hard and he is a human, he doesn't understand our need to be with our mate.”

“But Woohyun-hyung...” Myungsoo interjected.

“Woohyunnie was the one who suggested to mate, he had time to prepare himself, to talk to all of us and to my parents and learn about what it means to be mated to a wolf. I didn't just jump him and made him mine. Sungyeol wasn't able to do any of this. And as I said, they don't understand our urge to be close to them. Woohyun sometimes still looks at me as if I were insane and he is far more open for skinship than Sungyeol. Sungyeol will need his time to think about everything. So I just want you to try not to pressure him, not to touch him without his consent, okay?”

Myungsoo nodded. Sungkyu was right, he needed to give Sungyeol time, no matter how much he was aching for him. But there were doubts gnawing on his mind.

“But what... what if... he never...?”

Sungkyu sighed. “Look, I know a little about being with a human mate and although they don't understand the bond between two mates and they don't feel it as strongly as we do, they still need us. Only that it is more subtle and they can go longer without physical contact, they don't get as miserable without. But trust me, sooner or later they crave for us just as much as we do.”

“Really? Sungyeol will actually accept me?” Myungsoo sniffled.

“Well, he is quite stubborn, but eventually he will at least tolerate you.”

It was such a Sungkyu thing to say, that Myungsoo actually almost started to laugh, if he weren't still so miserable.

“You think I can go and apologize to him?” Myungsoo asked quietly when Sungkyu had finally released him from his embrace.

Sungkyu looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed and Myungsoo knew the answer even before his hyung spoke up.

“I don't think that's a god idea. Sungyeol didn't let any of us wolves near him, not even Dongwoo. Also Hoya is keeping watch in front of his door and I think he is intending on staying there the whole night. As I said, he is really mad at you. He is way too protective for his own good.”

“Is Sungyeol alone?” Myungsoo wanted to know. “He always says he wants to be alone when he's upset, but he actually needs someone to hold him and-”

“Myungsoo, don't worry, we know. That's why Woohyunnie and Sungjong are with him. Sungjong will probably spent the night with him.”

Although he knew that this was the best for Sungyeol, he couldn't stop the growl rumbling in his chest at the thought of someone else sleeping next to his Sungyeol.

“Calm down. For you it's more important than ever to keep yourself under control. You can't act on your instincts or you'll scare Sungyeol away.”

“How do you do it, hyung? Staying in control all the time? Not being next to Woohyun-hyung at night, even living in separate dorms.. How do you deal with it? Although I just... I just mated him... I already feel like dying.”

Sungkyu chuckled a little embarrassed. “Every couple has to find its own way to deal with certain situations. But it definitely helps to know that I am the one Woohyun always returns to. And to be honest, you don't really think we are actually separated during the nights, do you? He just really likes the sneaking around, it tur-”

“HYUNG! I don't want to know that!” Myungsoo quickly cut Sungkyu off, really not wanting to know anything about the couple's life. Even knowing that they had a life was disturbing, especially because they hadn't had any romantic feelings for each other before they had mated. They had only been best friends and Woohyun had done Sungkyu a huge favor by proposing the mating. For wolfs in the idol business it was definitely a lot easier having a mate in the same group and it prevented accidents from happening. Accidents like unplanned matings with strangers. Also it gave the mates strength and the fans absolutely loved the dynamics of mates, even though they didn't know about the supernatural beings in their favorite bands.

To see that Sungkyu and Woohyun had grown from best friends to lovers thanks to their mating gave Myungsoo hope that Sungyeol could fall for him as well. Because Myungsoo knew one thing, that he had been in love with his best friend for quite some time already. He may not have known until this day, but now it was more than clear to him. He was in love with Sungyeol and he wanted nothing more than for his mate to love him back.

Someone knocked and by the way Sungkyu perked up Myungsoo didn't even have to see the person to know who it was. A moment later Woohyun entered. He looked tired, but when he saw Sungkyu it appeared as if his energy returned and he grinned.

“I see that the big, bad wolf woke up,” he teased and he walked over to them. Sungkyu immediately pulled him onto his lap, most likely not even aware of doing so. When Myungsoo saw the two mates like this, jealousy bubbled up inside him. He wanted this as well, being so natural and close with his own mate.

“Myungsoo, calm down,” Sungkyu called out, protectively pushing Woohyun from his lap behind him. Of course he had noticed the change in Myungsoo's mood. Sungkyu was really perceptive of the other wolves' mood, especially when his mate was around.

“Sorry, hyungs, it's just so... new. All these weird feelings...” Myungsoo looked down on his hands in shame.

“Well, if it helps you to feel better, I actually came to tell you about Sungyeol,” Woohyun spoke softly and Myungsoo perked up. “He cried a lot. I mean, it hurts like a . And then the emotional trauma and all-”

“Woohyun, he feels bad enough, no need to make him feel even worse,” Sungkyu scolded halfheartedly.

“Sorry, Myungsoo. Anyways, we got him to calm down. He didn't want to hear about how it is to be mated to a wolf just yet, but I told him that he can always come to me and I think that helped a little. Also Sungjong cursing you helped a lot. He fell asleep just now when I left. I think he'll need one or two days to get over the shock, but then I'm sure that he'll at least talk to you.” Woohyun stopped talking to breathe, but continued immediately. “By the way, if you wanted to mate him, why didn't you ask him beforehand?”

“I-I didn't. I-it was an a-accident,” Myungsoo stuttered out and Woohyun looked confused.

“That's possible? How's that possible? Hyung said that you can only mate someone if you intend to mate during the bite.” Woohyun then looked at his mate in suspicion. “Did you lie to me, hyung? Were we mated even before I proposed to mate? I mean, you really enjoy biting me during-”

“YAH!” Sungkyu called out and slapped one of his hands over Woohyun's mouth. He was blushing and Myungsoo had the feeling, that he may have missed something in the past about the status of their relationship. It shattered his hope that Sungyeol may fall in love with him because of their mating. “I didn't lie to you. You just don't get it. Most of the matings happen unintentionally. It's about what you think during the bite. If you think, yay, biting, or are consumed in lust or I don't know what, nothing happens. But when you think about possession, when you want to own the other during the bite, or want to give yourself to the other, that's when the magic happens.”

Woohyun pried Sungkyu's hand off his mouth and smirked at the older. “What did you think when we mated?”

Sungkyu blushed even more when Woohyun asked him that and started to splutter out nonsense, before he took a deep breath and then redirected the attention to Myungsoo.

“That's not important right now, important is what Myungsoo was thinking when he bit Sungyeol.”

Now it was Myungsoo's turn to blush. He still heard the mine in his head. When he had played with the other wolves and bit them, he never had such thoughts, he always only thought about playing, about teasing them. But this time with Sungyeol, it had been different.

“I wanted him to belong to me,” Myungsoo mumbled. “I didn't know what I was doing, I just... I just bit him. I...”

“You lost control,” Sungkyu finished his sentence and Myungsoo nodded. “That's why I kept telling you not to play with the humans when we aren't around. These things happen way too easily. If we hadn't come back when we did, you may had done even worse to Sungyeol.”

“Worse?” Myungsoo squeaked out. What could be worse?

Sungkyu sighed. “Your parents never gave you the talk?”

Myungsoo shook his head. “They always said I was too young and then INFINITE happened and we never got the chance and I was too embarrassed to ask you guys.”

Sungkyu sighed again, not believing what he was hearing and Myungsoo looked back down in shame.

“The bite connects the souls of the two mates, but this connection isn't complete until the mates connect in the most intimate physical way afterwards. And a wolf's instinct is to do so as quickly as possible,” Sungkyu explained. “Or in other words, you need to have to complete the bond with your mate. If we hadn't come home then... Myungsoo, you could have him.”

It was like a punch in the face. Sungyeol? No! He couldn't, he wouldn't! Or would he...?

He still couldn't really remember what had happened after he had bitten Sungyeol, but he knew how strong his desire was to be with Sungyeol right in this moment. And if he wasn't even able to remembered what he had done to Sungyeol, who knows what he could have done to him without the others interfering.

“D-does Sungyeol k-know?” Myungsoo asked, stuttering again.

“No, he doesn't,” Woohyun reassured the younger, although it was obvious that his smile was a little strained. He must have been shocked by this information as well. “I barely knew anything about mating, I still don't know much about it. But it never concerned Sungyeol, so he never asked about it. We actually talked about it not that long ago, when he saw my bite mark last full moon. But we didn't talk about the details of mating, he said he doesn't want to know if not necessary. That means, he still doesn't know about the part yet. So he definitely doesn't know what could have happened.”

“Oh god, he is going to hate me even more, when he finds out.”

“If you want to, I can tell him, but it's probably for the best, if the two of you talk about it,” Woohyun offered.

“W-what happens, if w-we d-don't...?”

“Depends,” Sungkyu replied. “If you aren't together at all, you'll get sick, both of you. You first, sometime later Sungyeol. Depending on the bond, it could break-”

“Sounds good to me,” Myungsoo interrupted. “I don't want to force Sungyeol into being my mate.”

“If it were that easy,” Sungkyu snapped, obviously annoyed that Myungsoo had interrupted him. “For Sungyeol it might be going well, he is after all a human. But you, you'll go crazy if the bond is broken without a stronger bond taking its place right afterwards. Or worse, you could die of a broken heart. Nope, not gonna happen, not as long as I am leader of INFINITE. So stop interrupting me and listen.

“You will get sick, if you won't have any contact and the bond could break. But the bond also could drive you mad if you don't have contact to your mate. We can prevent that from happening though. There are ways to soothe the aching when the mate is not around. Woohyun will talk to Sungyeol about it tomorrow, because I doubt Sungyeol will be ready to talk to you for the next few days. But then you two should at least go back to friendly touching like you always do. That will keep you both healthy. The bond won't be complete, but it won't drive you mad. But you'll always feel that something is missing and no matter what you do, that feeling won't disappear until you finally sleep with Sungyeol. Over a long time it can poison your relationship. Think of a really unhappy marriage, but you can't get divorced, no, you have to stick to the other or you get sick or might die. So the sooner you sleep with Sungyeol, the better. But as I told you, do not pressure him.”

Myungsoo felt so bad about the whole ordeal and he felt even worse, because the thought of having with Sungyeol excited him. But he also wanted Sungyeol to want it too.

“I won't. I'll wait until he is ready, I promise.”

“I don't have to give you the bees and flowers talk as well, do I?” Sungkyu asked horrified at the thought.

“Of course not!” Myungsoo exclaimed equally appalled.

Woohyun laughed at the two werewolves, before he leaned forward and petted Myungsoo's head. “Get some sleep, Myungsoo. You'll need the energy, the next few days are going to be hell for you.”

The two older men got up then and left Myungsoo alone in his room. He didn't miss the way Woohyun slipped his hand into Sungkyu's and intertwined their fingers. It fueled the fire inside Myungsoo, his wish that it were him and Sungyeol being like this.

“Give him time,” he mumbled to himself, before he curled up, wrapping his arms around his legs and tried to sleep.

 

*

 

It was still dark when Sungyeol woke up. He didn't even know what had woken him, maybe Sungjong next to him had moved? Or a sound from outside of his room? It also could be his aching shoulder.

Woohyun had put on some ointment earlier on his wound (he refused to use any other word for it) and it had soothed the pain quite effectively (and Sungyeol really didn't want to know why Woohyun needed this stuff), but now it was hurting like hell again. Maybe he should put on some more of the ointment, Woohyun had left it on his nightstand just in case.

Sungyeol grabbed the pot from the nightstand and quietly walked out of his room. Outside, right next to his door he found Hoya softly snoring and Sungyeol had to suppress a snort.

What a great watchdog, he thought, before he made his way to the bathroom.

He switched on the light and locked the door behind him, then shuffled over to the mirror. He looked awful. His face was really pale, while his eyes were red and puffy from crying. His bottom lip was chapped from him chewing on it too much and his hair was a mess.

Sungyeol refused to look where he knew his wound was and instead tried to open the pot in his shaking hands. He struggled a little with the lid, but succeeded after a while. He scrunched up his face in pain when he removed the bloodied pad that was covering his wound and tossed it in the sink carelessly. Then he scooped up some of the gooey ointment and applied it carefully. It stung a little, but almost immediately the pain faded. Afterwards he covered his wound with a new pad. It wasn't placed as nicely as when Sungjong had done it earlier, but it was good enough.

Sungyeol wanted to go back to bed, but he felt as if he hadn't any strength left, so he simply plopped down on the cool tiles and waited for sleep to come back to him. It didn't take long this time, contrary to earlier, where it had taken him hours to calm down enough to drift off. But this time he was asleep in a matter of seconds.

A commotion outside the bathroom woke him up again.

“SUNGYEOL? Sungyeol-hyung, can you hear me?!” he heard Sungjong's panicked voice and a few bangs accompanying it. “Sungyeol-hyung, answer me or I tell Hoya-hyung to break down this door and believe me, he will!”

Sungyeol's head and whole body were aching and it took him some time to understand what was going on.

“Please, Sungyeol-hyung, tell me you are alive,” Sungjong now begged. “I'm worried.”

Sungyeol's eyes snapped open when he finally got what the issue was and he got to his feet and had to stand still for a moment, because he got dizzy. Then he slowly walked over to the door.

“Hoya-hyung, do it,” Sungjong spoke on the other side, just when Sungyeol unlocked the door and pulled it open. He saw Sungjong turning to him with huge eyes and Hoya next to him, ready to break down the door. Then Sungjong threw himself on him and almost choked him to death in his way too tight hug.

“Oh, Sungyeol-hyung, I was so worried when you weren't there when I woke up and just didn't come back. I thought something happened. Hyung, you scared me to death!”

“Sorry,” Sungyeol mumbled, still sleepy. “My shoulder started to hurt and I went to change the pad. I must have fallen asleep on the floor, I was too tired to go back to bed.”

Sungjong continued to hug him for a while and only when he pulled back did Sungyeol notice the other person standing a few feet behind Hoya.

Myungsoo.

When their eyes met, Myungsoo gasped audibly and quickly lowered his head, staring down at his feet. Suddenly the weird urge to go over and hug the younger came over Sungyeol, although he was still mad (and a little afraid). It made him even angrier.

“What's today's schedule?” Sungyeol asked the group's maknae to distract himself from these weird feelings he had.

“Oh, that...” Sungjong trailed off and Hoya sighed.

“Sungkyu-hyung called. He talked to the managers. You and Woohyun stay in today.”

“What?! Why? I'm not disabled!” complained Sungyeol immediately and Hoya rolled his eyes.

“It's easier to tell that you got sick than to explain where you got that nasty wound, which is quite difficult to cover up by the way.”

“And you really need to talk to Woohyun-hyung,” added Sungjong.

“I don't want to,” Sungyeol retorted stubbornly. “And we can just say that I got bitten by a stray.”

A soft whimper was heard, but Sungyeol refused to look at the boy who had done this to him.

“Myungsoo, go back to your room,” Hoya snapped at said boy and Sungyeol heard another whimper, then soft footsteps and finally a door closing. His heart clenched together painfully.

Stupid heart.

“Sungkyu-hyung said that you'd act up, but the decision is final. You stay at home. Be thankful to get some more rest. You'll need the energy. I don't know how it is to be apart from your mate, as I don't have one, but I heard it's hell.” With that the discussion was over for Hoya, but Sungyeol had just found a good opportunity to blow of some steam. He didn't care who he'd hurt, he just wanted to get rid of all that anger inside him.

“Yeah, because you want to wait for the one. Doesn't keep you from ing Dongwoo-hyung when he forgot to take his heat suppressants.”

It was a low blow and he knew it. They all knew, but they never talked about it, because it was Hoya and Dongwoo's own business. So Sungyeol wasn't surprised when Sungjong gasped in shock and Hoya growled at him, his eyes starting to glow and his teeth getting longer and sharper, his nails turning into claws and Sungyeol actually regretted what he said. These glowing eyes and the fangs reminded him a little too much of what had happened the day before.

“Don't talk about things you don't understand,” Hoya snarled and Sungyeol took a frightened step back, afraid that Hoya would lash out on him.

But then something unexpected happened. Something, or someone – Myungsoo – crashed into Hoya und pushed him away from Sungyeol. He couldn't make out the faces or which arms and legs belonged to whom. He only heard the low growls and teeth clashing, clothes ripping. But he knew that it was serious and it scared him to death.

“Hyungs!” Sungjong screamed. “Stop it, you are scaring him! Stop it immediately, you make Sungyeol-hyung cry!”

Sungyeol hadn't even realized it, but Sungjong was right, he was crying. He never had seen something as frightening as two alpha wolves fighting seriously. He had seen them play fight before and that was pretty scary already, but it was nothing compared to what was going on right now.

But as soon as Sungjong had said that Sungyeol was crying, one of the bodies pulled out of the fight and zoomed over to Sungyeol, reaching out for him. Sungyeol shrieked in horror and the hands froze in midair between them.

Myungsoo looked so hurt, so broken in the moment he realized that Sungyeol was actually scared of him, Sungyeol almost felt bad for the younger. Almost.

He was still too scared of the other and way too angry at him to have any remotely compassionate feelings towards him.

Myungsoo kept staring at him and the longer he stared, the stronger Sungyeol's body started to shake, the more he cried. Hell, he hated crying, but he was scared out of his mind and hurt by what his supposedly best friend had done to him.

“S-sorry,” Myungsoo suddenly spoke up, looking ashamed of himself. He took a careful step backwards, slowly, as if not to further scare Sungyeol with any sudden movement. “I'm so sorry.”

Then he turned around and rushed back to his room.

“Damn,” cursed Hoya, who just got back up on his feet, looking a little disheveled but not seriously injured. “Myungsoo is seriously no joke, when he is trying to protect his mate.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sungjong snapped at him and wrapped his arms around Sungyeol to calm him down. “You shouldn't have wolfed out in the first place.”

“Well and he shouldn't have-”

“I'm sorry, Hoya,” Sungyeol sobbed. “I went too far.”

Hoya visibly calmed down. “I'm sorry, too. Sungjong's right, I should have been more considerate and not wolfed out on you. I'm heading back to my dorm now, I have to get ready for the schedule. See you later.”

“Maybe you should go back to bed,” Sungjong suggested – or more like commanded – when Hoya was gone. “Try to sleep until Woohyun-hyung comes to talk to you.”

With gentle force he pushed Sungyeol into the direction of his bedroom. Not that Sungyeol put up much of a fight anyways. He was still tired after all. Hoya was right, he should be happy to have a little more time to rest.

Sungjong even tucked him in and awkwardly petted Sungyeol's head, told him to sleep once more and then he left him alone.

Sungyeol tried to go back to sleep, but Myungsoo's hurt expression was haunting him. He had never seen him like this, not even during the time of his dating scandal and he had been miserable back then. But it was nothing like the expression he had seen on his best friend's face at Sungyeol's panicked reaction towards his attempt at touching him.

Sungyeol had never seen him so broken and to know that he was the reason for his best friend's distress, it broke his heart as well. It was all so confusing. On one hand he was so angry and hurt and he didn't want to see Myungsoo like ever again, but on the other hand he wanted to be close to him, wanted to see him happy, to make him happy.

But that was only this stupid werewolf magic that happened after the mating. He had to resist these urges, they weren't what he truly felt.

“Stupid werewolves,” Sungyeol mumbled to himself. “Stupid Myungsoo.”

He wasn't able to sleep until he heard someone softly knock on his door. As he knew that it had to be Woohyun, he didn't bother to reply, Woohyun would come in anyways.

“Stupid Woohyun,” he added to his earlier rant, but he immediately took it back in his mind, when he saw that Woohyun had food with him when he entered the room.

“Hungry?” he asked and Sungyeol nodded, before sitting up and making some space for Woohyun to sit down. Woohyun handed him the tray with the food on it and smiled warmly at him. “Enjoy.”

Sungyeol had already started to dig in and only waved one of his hands at the other boy. Man, he hadn't even noticed how hungry he was.

The food was gone in no time and with a satisfied groan Sungyeol leaned back and rested against the wall, closing his eyes and savoring the pleasant feeling of a filled stomach. It wasn't that easy, though, because he felt Woohyun's eyes on him. But neither of them started the conversation.

“Urgh, let's just get it over with,” Sungyeol groaned out and flailed his arms to prove his point (whatever his point was, he wasn't so sure himself).

“Sure. What do you want to know?” Woohyun replied with a shrug of his shoulders, his gaze never leaving Sungyeol's face. Sungyeol, however, kept avoiding eye contact.

“Don't know,” mumbled Sungyeol, pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs.

“Come on, Sungyeol, I know you are curious,” Woohyun tried to coax him to talk, but Sungyeol was still way too confused to decide on a question. “Ask me anything, really, I'll answer to the best of my abilities.”

Sungyeol finally made eye contact and he saw the honesty in the other's eyes. He suddenly felt at ease, well not completely, but he at least didn't feel completely lost anymore, because he had Woohyun who would help him understand everything that was going on.

He took his time to think about what he wanted to ask, but he still didn't know. He had so many questions!

“How is it?” he blurted out after a minute and Woohyun looked at him a little confused, until it clicked in his mind.

“Being mated to a werewolf?” he asked to make sure and Sungyeol nodded. “How to reply to that... it's... the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. Being mated is always full of contradicting feelings. I always feel protected but at the same time I have never felt as vulnerable as when I'm with hyung. I know that he'll always protect me, but when he looks at me, it just feels as if he can see right into my soul and that can be quite unsettling, especially in the beginning of your relationship. But you always know that you are loved unconditionally and that is the best feeling in the world.”

“But... is it real? Isn't it just the bond that forces you to feel this way?” This was what troubled Sungyeol the most. He didn't want to have feelings that weren't his. He didn't want to have to love someone. It was the loss of control over his own fate that scared him so much.

Woohyun chuckled. “No, definitely not. The bond can't make you fall in love. I didn't know so far either, but apparently bonds can also turn out pretty bad. You have to put in a lot of effort to make it work, to make it good, but in the end it's worth it. It's so worth it. I don't regret mating with Sungkyu at all.”

Sungyeol was sure that he had never seen a more beautiful smile spread on his band mate's face. He looked incredibly happy and Sungyeol wondered if one day he could be like this as well, with Myungsoo.

“You are really happy with Sungkyu-hyung, aren't you?”

Woohyun just kept grinning and nodded his head once more.

“I never knew. You both are so good at keeping it low. I really never knew,” Sungyeol spoke more to himself than to Woohyun, but the older laughed at it.

“Hyung likes to pretend to be professional.”

“You think...?”

Again, it seemed as if Woohyun knew exactly what Sungyeol wanted to know. “I truly believe that you could be as happy with Myungsoo as I am with hyung. But you need to give him a chance and you need to give it time. It's okay if you still need a few days to think about everything, but you really need to talk to Myungsoo about it. He is miserable, you know, he feels really bad for hurting you – and for accidentally mating you.”

Sungyeol closed his eyes and sighed.

“Come on, Yeol, you know he'd never hurt you on purpose.”

“I know. But it's just... I'm scared. What if he hurts me again? What if the hyungs and Hoya aren't there to safe me. I really thought he was going to kill me, you should have seen his eyes. I have seen his wolf eyes before, this time they were different. They were terrifying.”

“Yeah, they can be pretty terrifying. Hyung and I get along pretty well most of the time, but one time we had this really big fight and he wolfed out on me and I thought, that's it, these are my last moments on this planet, but when he calmed down he felt a lot worse about it than I did. To be honest, sometimes I still get scared. They are so strong, they could easily snap us in half, but I learned to trust hyung and you need to trust in your mate that from now on he will never hurt you again. At least not if you don't want him to.” Woohyun wiggled his eyebrows and Sungyeol groaned.

“Really? I don't want to know this stuff about you and hyung.” Sungyeol kicked the other who immediately pretended to die of pain and they both laughed for a while, before returning to be serious again. “Do I have a choice? Is there any way to get out of it?”

“For you, there is. For us humans, there always is,” Woohyun replied with a sigh. “But you breaking the bond could mean Myungsoo's death.”

Sungyeol stared at Woohyun in horror. “H-he could d-die?”

Woohyun nodded, a grim expression on his face. “The easiest way for both of you is to try and work it out. If you really don't want this bond, we can try to find another mate for Myungsoo. But to find someone who is actually able to break your bond with him, that's a slim chance.”

“But I really c-can't face him at the moment.”

“That's okay,” Woohyun told him and patted Sungyeol's knee comfortingly. “Take your time. Process everything that happened and then take baby steps towards him at your own pace.”

“What about him? Is it okay for him?”

“He is more worried about you then about himself. He'll be happy that you don't refuse him right away. And there are ways to cope with separation from your mate. He'll survive if you are willing to help out a little.”

Sungyeol looked at him in suspicion and Woohyun laughed again.

“It's nothing bad, I swear! We just have to keep his most important senses satisfied. Giving him your worn shirts for the night to sniff and cuddle for example. That will do for some time.”

“Okay. He is still my best friend after all, no matter what he did to me. But is that really all? Just giving him my dirty clothes? Is that what you do when you aren't with Sungkyu-hyung?”

“Basically,” said Woohyun, hesitating a little. “There are some other things, but I don't think you actually want to know, that's for later when you have progressed a little in your relationship.”

“Oh,” Sungyeol replied, blushing. Woohyun was right, he didn't want to know.

Woohyun chuckled in embarrassment, his shoulder's shaking.

“Any other questions?”

“Yeah, I still don't know how this whole mating even works... and I saw Myungsoo bite the others dozens of times, but they aren't mated, so why me? Why am I mated to him just because he bit me?”

“Okay... I'm not a wolf, so I don't quite understand it myself, but hyung explained it to Myungsoo yesterday, because he didn't even know himself. He never got the wolf talk. Apparently it has something to do with what you think at the moment you bite someone. But I think you should ask Myungsoo about that, that's something between the two of you.”

Sungyeol wasn't satisfied with the answer, but he understood why Woohyun wouldn't go deeper into it.

“Then what are my duties as his mate?” he asked instead and Woohyun laughed out loud.

“Duties? There are no duties. It's just like any other relationship, just with the added wolf magic, which doesn't do much but to intensify and make mates more aware of the feelings people already have for each other. His more than yours, because you are human. As far as I know the whole mating thing is the wolf way of marriage. And to reassure that the pups have both their parents-”

“PUPS?!” Sungyeol shrieked. “I AM SUPPOSED TO GET PUPS?!”

“Dude, calm down.” Woohyun rolled his eyes. “We can't get pups, obviously. Or did you ever hear about a man getting babies?”

“No,” Sungyeol admitted embarrassed.

“We are human, wolf laws don't apply to us. It may be possible that Dongwoo can... he isn't an alpha after all and gets into heat and stuff... but I don't really want to think about it.” Woohyun shuddered at the thought and quickly got back to their topic. “We won't get pups, so calm your .”

“Wait... being mated to Mungsoo... I... I can't have kids?”

Woohyun nodded, suddenly looking sad himself and it confirmed Sungyeol's assumption and it made him swallow hard. He never really considered having kids, he was still young after all. However he had always known that one day, he'd like to have a little him, or a little version of his wife. But now that option was taken from him.

“And you... don't you want to have kids one day?” he asked to take his mind off of himself for a moment.

Woohyun chuckled, but it was joyless. “Of course I do.”

“Did you know before you mated that you wouldn't get to have kids?” Woohyun nodded. “And you still went through with it?”

The slightly older nodded again and Sungyeol looked at him in shock. He never had known how selfless the other could be, giving up having children for their hyung. That was the most selfless thing Woohyun probably had ever done.

“I mean,” Woohyun started quietly. “It's not like we can't have children. We just can't have our own children, right? We can still try to adopt. There are orphanages specifically for werewolves, they don't care about what gender the couples are. And... and there is still the possibility... that... that Sungkyu-hyung finds his true mate and breaks our bond.”

Woohyun pulled a face and it was that moment that Sungyeol realized how deep the feelings of Woohyun towards their leader truly were. He had never thought it possible, had always thought that they were just best friends plus the mating, but now he wasn't so sure anymore. Woohyun giving up his dream of his own children, Woohyun obviously afraid of Sungkyu leaving him for a person that might not even exist.

“You love him,” Sungyeol blurted out and he didn't know what he expected, but certainly not the stupid grin spreading on his band mate's face.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Yeah, I do.”

“What about hyung?” Sungyeol wanted to know and Woohyun's smile shrunk a little, he looked thoughtful.

“He says so at least.”

“HE CONFESSED HIS LOVE TO YOU?”

Now Woohyun laughed out loud again and Sungyeol liked that a lot better than the gloomy look from their talk about children.

“Don't act so shocked, we all know that he actually is a big softy.”

Sungyeol still couldn't believe it. They all were in a band for years already and Woohyun and Sungkyu were mated for quite some time (two years and a few months when he remembered correctly), but to hear that they actually loved each other and he hadn't been able to tell, that they all hadn't been able to, it was a huge surprise. And he knew one thing, when he was stuck in this situation with his best friend, he definitely wanted to have what Woohyun and Sungkyu had developed. Love. A love so strong that the most selfish person Sungyeol knew was willing to sacrifice one of his dreams.

“Do you think that Myungsoo and I, that we could be like you and hyung one day?” he asked shyly and avoided eye contact once more. He felt Woohyun shift on the bed and he looked up to see his friend smiling warmly at him.

“I have no doubt.”

 

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So here is the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it^^ As you can see, it will also contain lots of woogyu, I just have too many feels. OTL

Next chapter will be up next weekend at latest.

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, commented and voted already. I really appreciate it <3