Myungsoo was in hell, he was sure of it. They were in the dance studio at practice after a radio interview and Myungsoo wanted nothing more than to go back home, but Sungkyu had told him not to act like a whiny little puppy and Myungsoo really tried, he just couldn't help it. Sungyeol wasn't there with him, what did Sungkyu expect? That he'd jump around excitedly with his tail wagging like Dongwoo always did? Certainly not.

He just wanted to go back to the dorm and be close to Sungyeol. As close as Sungyeol allowed him to be, that is.

For the umpteenth time a whimper left Myungsoo's lips. It caught the attention of the leader who only groaned in annoyance.

“Okay, guys,” he called out after he paused the music. “Let's take a break.”

Myungsoo huffed. He didn't want a break. He wanted the practice to be over so he could go back to Sungyeol.

Suddenly Sungkyu appeared in front of him, his expression angry and Myungsoo automatically ducked his head a little. An angry Sungkyu was never fun to deal with. He may didn't seem like much of a wolf, but one shouldn't underestimate him. He was stronger than he looked, especially when he was angry.

“What the is wrong with you?” snapped Sungkyu at the younger who let out another whimper that suspiciously sounded like Sungyeol. Sungkyu sighed in exasperation. “Do you think you are the only one suffering from being parted from their mate? Get yourself together.”

“But hyung,” Myungsoo whined. “I miss him!”

“And I ing miss Woohyun every second I don't have him next to me, but do you see me whining like a kicked puppy? No! So pull yourself together or I'll have you stay here the whole night!”

Myungsoo suddenly felt very guilty. He hadn't considered how Sungkyu must be feeling when he wasn't with his mate. Obviously he was just as much in pain as Myungsoo was, even though they were mated for a long time already. And the knowledge that Sungkyu couldn't be with Woohyun at the moment, because of him, because Woohyun had to take care of Sungyeol, it made him feel really bad.

“Hyung, I-”

“Forget it, just try to concentrate. The sooner you get the moves right, the sooner we can both go back to our mates.” Sungkyu's anger faded and he looked at Myungsoo with sympathy.

“Is it always going to be like this?” Myungsoo asked. “Is it ever going to get better?”

Sungkyu chuckled. “No, not really. There are days when it's even worse than in the beginning. Every day it feels a little different. You know what helps me concentrate when I am on my own and really have to focus but all I think about is Woohyun? I imagine him telling me to do my best so that he can be proud of me and that I can quickly finish and come back to him.”

Myungsoo nodded, mumbling his thanks, not really noticing the blush on the elder's cheeks, because his thoughts already drifted to Sungyeol. He imagined his smiling face, teasing him of behaving like a lost pup and that he better be a good boy and give his best or he won't get his reward later.

Sungkyu was right, that definitely helped. He felt a lot more motivated and focused than before and when Sungkyu told them that break was over, Myungsoo was the first one on his feet, ready to dance.

The leader was obviously pleased with the change in his attitude. The practice went on successfully until two or three hours later Sungkyu told them that they had done enough for the day and that they'd head back home.

While all the others were exhausted and barely managed to walk straight, Myungsoo buzzed with energy and happily skipped out of the building and into the van. The thought of seeing Sungyeol soon driving him on.

Sungyeol was the only thing occupying his mind again and he didn't even noticed the glances of the others, including his manager.

The drive took way too long in his opinion and when he finally saw them closing in on the building their dorm was in, he got really excited and couldn't sit still any longer. When the van came to a halt, he was ready to jump out and run all the stairs up to their apartment, but a hand held him back. His manager's hand.

“Stay a moment, Myungsoo,” Hyoan told him and a chill ran down Myungsoo's spine.

They waited until everyone – even Sungkyu – had left the van and closed all the doors. Only then Hyoan let go of Myungsoo's shoulder, but his gaze was still resting on the younger and unsettling him.

“I heard what happened,” the manager started and Myungsoo swallowed hard. Hyoan was the only of their managers who was also a werewolf, he was in charge of the supernatural stuff that happened to the boys and Myungsoo knew, this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

He decided to wait for the manager to continue speaking.

“Did you do it on purpose?” asked Hyoan and Myungsoo's head snapped up to look at the older male.

“NO! Of course not! It was an accident, I swear! Please, hyung, you have to believe me, I'd never-”

“Calm down, I believe you,” Hyoan reassured Myungsoo. “It's still quite a mess you got yourself into.”

“I know.” Myungsoo let his head hang low again.

“You know that you are responsible of Sungyeol's well-being from now on, right? I trust you with that, Myungsoo. He's a good kid and I always thought that you two would make great mates, even if it's only for the time you two are active in this business. I really hope, you can work things out with him. It must have been a huge shock and he surely is scared out of his mind. But knowing our Sungyeol-”

“MY Sungyeol!” Myungsoo growled and immediately slapped his hands over his mouth when he realized that he just had threatened his manager.

“You are quite the possessive one, of course you are. I should have known already.”

Thankfully Hyoan didn't take it personally and only laughed at Myungsoo's small mishap.

“S-sorry, hyung.”

“It's okay. But you need to learn to control yourself. And don't get into another fight with the others. Luckily neither you nor Hoya got hurt today, but it could have ended badly.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Good. Now hurry, I bet you are dying to get to your mate.”

Myungsoo looked up again and grinned at his manager, before happily making his way out of the van.

“Oh, and Myungsoo...” Hyoan called after him. “You are on cleaning duty for the next two months.”

This time Myungsoo groaned, but still nodded at his manager and waved him off. He knew he deserved it for his phenomenal stupidity.

Then he quickly made his way to the elevator where he saw Sungkyu waiting for him and it touched him. It was a really nice gesture, showing him how important he was to the leader, waiting for him even though he already could be with his mate instead.

“You okay?” Sungkyu wanted to know and Myungsoo nodded. “Good, then let's go and see what our mates are up to.”

Together they entered the elevator and went up to the floor the apartment of Woohyun, Sungyeol, Sungjong and Myungsoo was located on. The closer they got, the more nervous Myungsoo grew. He had been so fixated on seeing Sungyeol again, he had totally forgotten that Sungyeol probably didn't want to see him.

“Hey, it's going to be okay,” Sungkyu told him, when they finally arrived at the door of the apartment and Myungsoo only nodded as a reply, showing the older that he had heard. But he didn't believe it. Sungyeol was stubborn. It could take days, weeks or even worse months for him to get over it. Maybe he'd never forgive Myungsoo.

Defeated he followed Sungkyu into the apartment and kicked off his shoes. But then the smell of Sungyeol hit his nose and he immediately calmed down again. The scent alone was comforting.

For now, this was enough, knowing that Sungyeol was close by, being able to smell him, maybe being in the same room as him as soon as Sungyeol wasn't as afraid of him anymore.

He noticed that a small smile had formed on Sungkyu's lips and Myungsoo exactly knew why. Although Sungyeol's scent dominated his sense of smell, he also could make out the smell of the others, of Woohyun. He wondered if Woohyun's scent was as strong to Sungkyu as Sungyeol's was to him. Probably.

Then another scent hit his nose and immediately his stomach started to rumble. Food.

He followed Sungkyu on the heels in the direction of the kitchen and what he saw there made his heart skip a beat. He had the urge to howl, but he didn't, that would be so embarrassing.

Sungyeol was standing there (Woohyun was there, but who cares? Not Myungsoo, not when Sungyeol was there), laughing about something someone (Woohyun) said to him. The sound of Sungyeol's laugh, had it become even more beautiful since yesterday? Oh, how Myungsoo loved the sound of it. It didn't even matter that it had not been him to make his Sungyeol laugh, he was just so glad to hear him laugh at all.

His attention was diverted, though, as something rather unusual happened.

Sungkyu had stepped behind Woohyun (Myungsoo noticed him only then), wrapped his arms around him and then actually kissed him! It was only a kiss on the cheek, but Myungsoo had never seen them showing this kind of affection. He had known that they surely were affectionate when they were alone, but the leader never had more than hugged his mate in front of the other INFINITE members.

“I missed you,” Sungkyu mumbled and nuzzled his nose into the crook of Woohyun's neck. “So, so much.”

“OH MY GOD!” Sungyeol screeched and scared the out of Myungsoo. “You really are! You are totally in love with each other!”

Woohyun chuckled happily and Sungkyu tightened his hold on his mate's waist, still keeping his face hidden in Woohyun's hair, but he didn't deny it. But Myungsoo's attention was back on Sungyeol, on the weird tone in his voice that Myungsoo hadn't heard so far, underlying with emotions Myungsoo couldn't point out.

Again an embarrassing whine left his lips and Sungyeol's head snapped around and his eyes widened, as if he hadn't noticed Myungsoo's presence until then.

They stared at each other for a moment, Sungyeol still looking surprised, maybe a little afraid, but then the second unexpected thing happened. Sungyeol smiled at him. It was tiny, but a smile nonetheless and a huge weight was lifted off of Myungsoo.

“Don't think I'm forgiving you this easily,” Sungyeol quietly spoke up. “I won't. I first need to wrap my mind around everything and... I'm still scared. Of you, of what you can do. I'll need time. But I'll try. For you. You are my best friend after all.”

Myungsoo could cry and he really just wanted to hug Sungyeol and never let him go, but he couldn't, not when he didn't want to scare him away immediately.

“So you better give your best, Kim Myungsoo, or I'm so gonna kick your ! I'm only giving you one chance to woo me and convince me to be your mate. One chance or game over. Understood?”

Myungsoo furiously nodded his head to show Sungyeol that he had understood every single word. But his heart was beating too fast and he couldn't really comprehend all the things his best friend had said, but he was giving him a chance and that was all that Myungsoo needed to know. He'd give his best and make his mate, his Sungyeol, happy, no matter what.

Sungyeol suddenly started to wriggle out of his sweater, the shirt he wore underneath also rode up his stomach and revealed the soft flesh of his tummy. Myungsoo couldn't take his eyes off the sight, until the shirt fell down again and once more hid the skin of his mate.

Hesitantly Sungyeol took a step towards Myungsoo and extended his hand that held his sweater. Myungsoo noticed that it was slightly shaking. He really was afraid of Myungsoo and that hurt. But it was his own fault.

“H-here, take i-it,” Sungyeol stuttered out. “I-I wore it the whole day. Woohyun said, it'll help you.”

He was a little confused as to why Sungyeol and Woohyun thought that dirty clothes could help him, but Myungsoo still took it from his best friend.

“Thank you,” he mumbled and unconsciously hugged the sweater close to his chest. Sungyeol nodded once and left the kitchen. Myungsoo heard him walking to his room and shutting the door behind him. Myungsoo released the air he didn't know he was holding and tightened the hold on the sweater. Without really thinking, he buried his head in the soft material and inhaled deeply. It smelled like him, like Sungyeol. He could sniff on it all day.

Woohyun's chuckle pulled him out of his thoughts.

“I knew he'd like that.”

“Yeah, I know you are awesome,” Sungkyu replied. “When is dinner ready?”

Woohyun laughed again and Myungsoo peaked out from the sweater he had pressed against his face to watch the two older mates interact with each other. Sungkyu was still hugging Woohyun from behind, but now he had rested his chin on the younger's shoulder instead of hiding his face in his hair. From time to time he slightly turned his head to press a gentle kiss against Woohyun's jaw.

It looked so intimate that Myungsoo felt like an intruder, but he had the feeling that they wanted him to see. They wanted him to see what he could have with Sungyeol if he tried hard enough. He was eternally grateful to have them, to know that they were supporting him although he was the idiot of the century.

He sniffled a little, trying to keep his tears in.

“Aww, our little puppy is crying,” he heard Woohyun speak up teasingly. “You think he wants a hug?”

“Myungsoo, come here,” Sungkyu gently called out and Myungsoo obeyed immediately and shuffled over to his hyungs who engulfed him in their warm embraces. He still had his face pressed into Sungyeol's sweater and he closed his eyes and imagined that his mate was with them in this hug. It was a great feeling, his loving hyungs cuddling him and his nose filled with Sungyeol's scent, his words still warming Myungsoo's heart.

“I have a chance,” he sobbed and Woohyun laughed again and Sungkyu ruffled his hair. “He doesn't hate me completely, I still have a chance.”

His hyungs hugged him even tighter, still laughing and only after a few minutes Myungsoo noticed that he was laughing as well. He just was so happy. Sure, his situation was far from perfect, but at least it was way better than it had been that morning and the previous night. And there was a bit of hope that soon everything would be fine.

They hugged a little while longer until Woohyun remembered that there was food on the stove. He let go of them and returned to his cooking. Sungkyu held onto Myungsoo a little longer, but Myungsoo knew that his hyung rather wanted to hug his mate than him. He pulled back and smiled at the older.

“Thank you,” he said to the other two, Woohyun hummed in response and Sungkyu smiled back at him. “I'll be in my room until dinner is ready.”

He walked towards his room, but he stopped for a moment in front of Sungyeol's door. If he focused, he was able to hear Sungyeol breathing, a beautiful sound, so calming and reassuring.

Smiling and once more pressing his nose into Sungyeol's sweater he finally made his way into his room and threw himself on his bed with a happy sigh. Only then he noticed that something was different. These weren't his bed sheets, this wasn't his pillow either.

He took a sniff and he almost fainted. He was surrounded by Sungyeol's scent. These were his pillow and bed sheets!

He immediately leaped off of the bed and fell face first onto the floor.

Myungsoo didn't dare to taint the pureness of Sungyeol's smell with his own. Okay, maybe he just wanted to preserve it for the coming night, so that he could press his nose into the pillow while he wore Sungyeol's sweater. The (almost) perfect night.

But if he had Sungyeol's pillow and bed sheets, where were his?

A blush crept onto his cheeks when he put one and one together. Sungyeol had them! Sungyeol would spent the night surrounded by Myungsoo's scent. That was so romantic.

He giggled. At the mere thought of Sungyeol sleeping with his pillow Myungsoo started to giggle like a school girl talking to her crush.

“Hyung, you are creeping me out,” Sungjong suddenly spoke next to his ear and Myungsoo jolted away in shock. “Why are you rolling around on the floor with Sungyeol-hyungs sweater in your arms and are laughing crazily? Did you steal it?”

“NO!” Myungsoo denied, but couldn't stop giggling. “He gave it to me! My Sungyeol gave me his sweater.”

Sungjong looked at him skeptically, but didn't say anything about it.

“Dinner is ready, let's go eat.”

Myungsoo nodded and immediately scrambled onto his feet. Dinner time meant seeing Sungyeol! He couldn't wait to get to the living room and have dinner – with his Sungyeol, who didn't hate him.

“Someone's in a happy mood,” Sungjong mumbled to himself as he followed Myungsoo out of the room, not that Myungsoo heard what the younger was saying. He was howling his mate's name over and over in his head, shutting out anything else.

There Sungyeol was, wearing another sweater which was hiding where Myungsoo knew his bite mark was (for which he felt bad, but he also wanted to whole world to see the mark, the sign that Sungyeol was his). He looked so good, Myungsoo couldn't take his eyes off of him for a few seconds. But when he finally wanted to move over to the table and sit down next to his mate, he had noticed that the seats on both sides of Sungyeol were already taken.

To Sungyeol's right there was Dongwoo, laughing nervously when he noticed Myungsoo looking at him with a scowl. Myungsoo wasn't mad at him, by the look on his hyung's face he was able to tell that he hadn't chosen this seat. Indeed Myungsoo knew exactly whose idea it was, Hoya looked way too smug to not have anything to do with the taken seat.

On Sungyeol's other side there was Woohyun and by how close he was sitting to Woohyun (hot jealousy was pulsating in Myungsoo's veins) he knew, that Sungyeol had asked him to, because he still needed the comfort (and Myungsoo was thankful to his hyung, but it didn't help with the jealousy at all).

As the seats next to Woohyun and Dongwoo were taken as well by Hoya and Sungkyu, Myungsoo wouldn't even be close to Sungyeol. At least he was able to look at him from across the table. That was better than nothing.

Without having to think about it twice, Myungsoo flopped down next to Sungkyu and Sungjong made himself comfortable between him and Hoya, serving as buffer between the two wolves that were still not on the best terms after their little fight earlier that day. An all too vulnerable buffer, but Myungsoo was sure that he had himself under control now (and Sungkyu would definitely hold him back in case he lost it again) and Hoya would never do anything that endangered their precious maknae.

It was a rare sight to see them all together eating in one of the dorms these days, but Myungsoo liked it. To be honest he didn't like that they were separated in two dorms. He wanted his pack to always be together (yes, he was such a softy). But at least he was in the same dorm as Sungyeol.

Myungsoo stole a glance at his mate, who was busy staring at the food on the table.

“Dig in,” Woohyun said and immediately everyone picked up their chopsticks and started to stuff their faces. All but Myungsoo, he was too busy watching Sungyeol eat, how the older boy put food in his mouth and how his rosy lips closed around his chopsticks, how his tongue swiped across the corners of his mouth from time to time. It was the most alluring sight ever.

A nudge against his rips pulled him out of his trance and he looked at Sungkyu in confusion.

“Stop staring and eat,” the other wolf told him and Myungsoo felt his cheeks heat up. Quickly he started to eat to hide his embarrassment. But every so often he would gaze at Sungyeol for a moment to make sure that he was eating enough and no one bothered him.

While eating Sungyeol was joking around with Dongwoo and Sungjong, so Myungsoo concluded that he was feeling a lot better already. At least good enough to stay in the same room as Myungsoo for longer than a few minutes. It gave Myungsoo hope, that with each passing day Sungyeol could stay longer with and get closer to him again. But for now he simply enjoyed watching his beautiful mate.

 

*

 

Sungyeol could feel Myungsoo's eyes on him. He was not stupid, he knew his best friend. He knew when he was obsessed with something, it was all he focused on. Right now, Myungsoo was obsessed with him and that was really scary. Of course Sungyeol also knew that it wasn't Myungsoo's fault, but he couldn't help himself and blame the younger. For everything. For their situation, for the weirdness and especially for the fright Sungyeol was feeling.

After he had heard Myungsoo entering his room, he had walked back into the kitchen to help Woohyun with setting up the table and had deeply regretted it. He didn't want to see two of his friends making out in front of him ever again (okay, they couldn't know that he decided to return, still...). Luckily Sungkyu had the decency to act ashamed when he noticed Sungyeol, while Woohyun acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world (what it probably was to him).

He still had been grateful when Woohyun had asked if he wanted him to sit next to him during dinner. And he had been thankful when Hoya and Dongwoo had suddenly appeared (apparently Sungkyu had called them) and Hoya had made Dongwoo sit on Sungyeol's other side. Sungyeol still was a little scared of Hoya as well, but Dongwoo was okay. He still was able to see the cute little puppy in him, not the frightening beast.

When Sungjong appeared Sungkyu naturally told him to go and get Myungsoo. The maknae actually followed the command without protest and a short while later an excited wolf came bouncing in and Sungyeol had done his best to ignore the way his heart was beating way too fast (was he really still so afraid of his best friend?) and the person who caused this. Instead he focused on his conversation with Dongwoo, or more on his hyung's monologue about his day.

When they finally started eating, all his troubles slowly faded into the background and he started to joke around with the others and this was it! This was how things were supposed to be. It was just like a normal evening, like many they had spent together, when they still hadn't been separated into two dorms, when they all still had been living together. He had liked it better then.

He wondered if he felt like this already, how Woohyun and Sungkyu must feel about it. He knew even though the two liked to pretend that it had been their own choice, that in fact the managers had told them not to stay together (he had accidentally eavesdropped when his managers talked about it). He just couldn't understand why. It wasn't even as if they had divided them into wolves and humans. Or alphas and the rest. It just didn't make any sense.

Maybe it was to prevent any rumors to spread? But Woohyun and Sungkyu were sneaking into the other dorm all the time, which was even more suspicious if discovered.

It wasn't to prevent a pregnancy either, that wasn't possible, so why weren't they allowed to stay together? And would the managers separate him and Myungsoo as well? Somehow he didn't like that thought. He wanted to decide on his own if he wanted to be with Myungsoo or not.

He hadn't even noticed that he had become quiet, until Woohyun waved his hand in front of Sungyeol's face.

“You okay?” he asked worriedly and Sungyeol snapped out of his thoughts. Only then he noticed everyone looking at him with the same worried expression. Everyone but Myungsoo, who looked at him with a frown and guilty eyes.

“Yeah, sorry, was just thinking,” he replied and quickly shoved some rice into his mouth in the attempt of avoiding having to answer more questions. Luckily the others let it slide and continued their meal.

He found himself watching them. First Dongwoo and Hoya, who interacted so naturally. There wasn't anything weird or suspicious in their behavior. They appeared to be nothing more than friends and Sungyeol was wondering once more, how they could be like this when they were sleeping with each other quite regularly (really, why did Dongwoo always forget to take his heat suppressants, did he do it on purpose?), how they still were maintaining a healthy friendship and weren't all screwed up.

Next was Sungjong. Sungyeol really admired him. He had to put up with a lot from a young age and had become a strong and independent man, who didn't need the help of others (most of the time) without turning into a selfish prick.

Then he looked at Sungkyu and Woohyun, who were pressing their thighs together, but otherwise didn't show their affection at all (except the glances and smiles from time to time). Sungyeol admired them, he wasn't sure that he could handle their relationship if he were in their place. And he was so grateful to have them at the moment, especially Woohyun. He was of great support and Sungyeol was sure that without him he would have gone insane after the bite. Well, even more than he did already.

Finally he let his eyes wander over to the person he had always been the closest to in the group. The person who from now on would be the one he was closest to in the whole world. His mate.

Of course Myungsoo was staring at him as well and their eyes met. Sungyeol quickly looked away again. But that was stupid! He shouldn't be afraid of mere eye contact with his best friend. So just because he was stubborn, he forced himself to look back at Myungsoo although he felt his heart miss a few beats and his breath getting caught in his throat out of fear.

But when he finally really looked at Myungsoo, he found himself incapable of looking away, even if he wanted to. It was like some kind of force kept their gazes locked and started a fire in Sungyeol's soul. And in his body, in a dangerously low region.

By the way Myungsoo's eyes had gotten darker, Sungyeol knew he felt the same and that once more scared the out of him, effectively putting out the fire (desire) burning in his lower abdomen.

He choked on the piece of meat he had been chewing on while observing the others and it finally enabled him to look away from Myungsoo. Woohyun patted him on the back, while Dongwoo and Sungjong died of laughter. Myungsoo looked at him worriedly, but Sungyeol knew better now than to look at him directly again.

When they all finished eating, Sungkyu cleared his throat and everyone turned their attention to the leader, who looked at them with stern but worried eyes.

“I think it's time that we talk about everything that happened since yesterday and how this effects all of us,” he started talking and looked at every single one of them. Although it was clear that most of them didn't want to talk about it, they all nodded their heads.

Sungyeol noticed that Woohyun secretly took Sungkyu's hand in his under the table to support him. Once more Sungyeol wondered, how he could have missed just how close the two were, how strong their bond was. He wanted a relationship just like theirs.

“Myungsoo has mated Sungyeol by accident. There is nothing we can do about it and in the end it's their business. So I don't want any of you guys to interfere with them, if they don't ask you for help. I don't want another fight like the one earlier today. Let's just all try to go on as normally as possible but be supportive and understanding at the same time.”

Again, everyone nodded and Sungyeol noticed once more Myungsoo's gaze on him, but he ignored it and kept his eyes on their leader. He had something else he needed to know.

“Hyung,” he spoke up and immediately everyone's attention was on him. “I can go to our schedules tomorrow, right?”

He had been quite sure that Sungkyu was going to say 'of course, Sungyeol', but his hope got crushed even before his hyung replied. The sad smile on the older's face told him all he needed to know.

“I'm sorry, Yeol, as long as the bite mark isn't healed, the managers want you to not participate in any activities. It's easier to say that you have the flu or something and not as bad for our image than rumors spreading about you getting into a fight.”

Sungkyu looked at him apologetically, but Sungyeol was now glaring at Myungsoo, telling him silently that it was all his fault. Myungsoo flinched and quickly looked down on his lap in shame.

“So I'm stuck here, although I didn't do anything.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed. “Great.”

Woohyun patted his back. “Don't worry. It'll be gone in no time when you diligently apply the ointment I gave you.”

“Well, it'd be gone faster if-” Sungkyu started to talk but Woohyun quickly shut him by pressing the hand that had been patting Sungyeol's back on his mate's mouth.

“I don't think that'll be of much help right now,” Woohyun whispered and Sungkyu nodded.

“What?” asked Sungyeol in suspicion and his hyungs shifted uncomfortably. “Tell me!”

Woohyun and Sungkyu didn't appear to tell him anytime soon and it made Sungyeol angry. But unexpectedly Hoya spoke up.

“Myungsoo could it.”

“Eeeeeeeh?!”

Sungyeol thought he had heard wrong. Or that Hoya was making one of his stupid jokes. No way did Hoya actually think that Myungsoo his wound would actually help, right?!

Hoya's serious face, Sungkyu's sigh and Woohyun's angry glare told him otherwise.

“You are joking, right?” Sungyeol almost pleaded.

“No,” replied Hoya dryly. “Our saliva contains some enzyme that speeds up the wound's healing. I didn't know that it also worked on humans, but apparently hyung knows what he's talking about.”

A wolfish grin appeared on Hoya's face as he teased their leader who just ignored the younger one. Probably to hide his embarrassment.

“I'll do it,” Myungsoo piped up and now everyone was staring at him.

“NO!” Sungyeol immediately exclaimed. “Definitely not!”

“And that's why we shouldn't have told them!” Woohyun huffed and glared at Sungkyu who just shrugged and smiled sheepishly at his mate.

Dongwoo suddenly scooted closer to Sungyeol and smiled at him.

“I can it, if you want me to. It probably won't be as effective as your mate's saliva, but I'm a wolf too.”

Before Sungyeol could even open his mouth to reply, Myungsoo was growling at their weird hyung. His eyes were glowing and Sungyeol froze in fear.

“Really?! That's exactly the reason why I gave him the ointment in the first place. To prevent all of this from happening!” Woohyun whined and clutched onto Sungkyu's arm. “Do something!”

Sungkyu sighed again, before he let out a low growl, effectively getting Dongwoo to back off of Sungyeol and Myungsoo to stop growling and turning back to normal. But it only worsened the fear that had wrapped around Sungyeol's heart. His whole body was in panic mode and so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment.

He ran.

Sungyeol scrambled onto his feet and fled out of the room. He didn't look back, he just ran as fast as possible on his shaky legs into his room and hid himself under the covers of his bed, wrapping them tightly about himself in an attempt to stop the terrible trembling of his body. It helped, the warmth of the blanket, the soothing scent of Myungsoo lingering on them – stop (what the ?!). He shouldn't be thinking that. He should be scared of Myungsoo, mad at him! Not being comforted by his scent.

Disgusted by himself he struggled to get the blanket off of him, but only managed to get tangled even worse in it. A minute later he gave up in frustration, threw his arms over his face and lay still. He pushed all his thoughts aside. It was too exhausting dealing with all of his emotions.

It wasn't easy to focus on anything else but his situation, but he just tried to think of his family, or what dramas he'd like to audition for. Not that it helped, not when there was a knock on his door.

“GO AWAY!” he screamed, not caring who it was on the other side of the door.

“Sungyeol,” he heard the leader call his name from the other side of his door. “I'm sorry, if I frightened you-”

“I said, go away!”

Sungyeol wasn't mad at Sungkyu. He was more mad at himself. Also Sungkyu only had been the final straw, Myungsoo had frightened him a lot more than the older wolf.

“Do you want me to get one of the other humans? Woohyun? Or maybe Sungjong?” Sungkyu asked with concern.

“NO! Just leave me the alone!” Sungyeol grabbed something from his nightstand and threw it at the door. He just wanted to be alone, why did no one understand?

“Okay... just call one of us when you need anything,” Sungkyu told him just loud enough so Sungyeol could hear and then Sungyeol heard him walking away.

Now he felt bad for lashing out. His hyung only wanted to help him, but Sungyeol was so mad at himself and the world, that he let it out on the next best person. At least it hadn't been Dongwoo. Sungyeol knew that Sungkyu wouldn't take it to heart, not like the second oldest of the group would have.

Actually, Sungyeol thought, a Dongwoo hug wouldn't be such a bad thing right now. But he really didn't want to have any wolf near him right now, he had enough for the day.

He grabbed his phone and put his headphones in his ears, turning on some music to shut the world out. He closed his eyes and just tried to fall asleep, not that he had anything else to do, really.

Sungyeol was busy singing along to the lyrics quietly and didn't notice someone entering his room and tiptoeing over to him, until he felt his bed dip next to him. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he shot up (ripping his earphones out) only to come face to face with a startled Dongwoo, who started to laugh awkwardly after a few seconds.

“Sorry, I didn't want to scare you, I thought you were asleep,” the older explained sheepishly. Sungyeol just stared at him for a moment, before he plopped back down onto his pillow.

“What are you doing here, hyung? I want to be alone.”

He didn't need to be looking at Dongwoo to know that he wore a sad expression on his face.

“You don't want to cuddle with me?” he asked. “You know, my cuddles are the best! They make everything better.”

“It's okay, hyung, you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine.”

“No, you're not. We've upset you earlier and hyung is sorry, so let hyung cuddle with you, okay?”

Sungyeol sighed and Dongwoo let out a whooping sound, before he flopped down next to Sungyeol and wrapped his arms tightly around him. There was really no one who could resist Dongwoo, when he really, really wanted to cuddle with someone.

At least, he wasn't actually afraid of Dongwoo. It had been weird earlier, when he had offered to his wound, but it had not been frightening. In a weird way, it had been cute. The alphas were the wolves that frightened him.

“How did you manage to sneak in here, anyways?” asked Sungyeol after a few minutes of silence. “I bet my watchdog wouldn't be so happy to know you're here.”

Dongwoo barked out his trademark laugh at Sungyeol's reference to Myungsoo. “Well, hyung sent Myungsoo and Hoya to the gym, to blow off some steam. So he won't find out until he's back and even then, hyung stays with Woohyun tonight, so he'll be here to protect me in case Myungsoo goes all protective again.”

“But you're an omega, it's not like you...” Sungyeol trailed off, noticing how this must sound, but his hyung only laughed again.

“You two just bonded, of course he wants to protect you and have you all to himself, that's just how it works. Even if I'm a cute, cuddly omega, no threat at all. I think even Woohyun, who is a mated human, poses a threat in his eyes. It must take him all he's got to not rip Woohyun apart when he is close to you. Give him a few days – or weeks. Eventually he'll get himself together again.”

At the mention of Woohyun, Sungyeol's thought went back to their conversation earlier that day and there was a question forming in his mind, he really wanted to ask the wolf next to him, but no, he couldn't..

“Can you get puppies?” he blurted out and froze in horror as realization hit him, that he had actually just asked that (really? That was so embarrassing!). Dongwoo nuzzled his nose into the crook of Sungyeol's neck and giggled.

“Of course I can.”

“EH?!” Sungyeol sqeaked. “YOU CAN GET PREGNANT AND HAVE PUPPIES? HOLY !”

“What are you talking about?” Dongwoo then asked a little perplexed. “Of course I can't get pregnant. I'm a man.”

“N-not?” Sungyeol stuttered out, his face flushing in embarrassment. “B-but you're an omega. You get in heat and stuff.”

Now Dongwoo was laughing. “There are female alphas as well, you know. Ah... I can't wait to meet my beautiful mate. She'll be the most beautiful woman in the whole universe!”

“I don't understand,” Sungyeol muttered and Dongwoo laughed again.

“The heat is just there to get wolves in the mood, you know. And it's always the omega who gets into heat. When we get into heat, we practically get really, really . Also our scent changes and this turns alphas on. So in the end, it's just to ensure reproduction. As I'm a male omega, my scent has a stronger effect on female wolves than on male wolves. But when you are in heat, you don't necessarily care about gender, not when all you can think about is .”

“But Hoya...”

“What about him?” Dongwoo asked confused.

“If your scent has a stronger effect on females, then why are you two...?”

Sungyeol felt so embarrassed about the whole conversation, but he was just too curious at the same time.

Dongwoo giggled in embarrassment. “It still affects male wolves as well. Sungkyu-hyung stopped being affected by my heat when he mated Woohyun, but he never had that much trouble resisting me anyways. I wonder why? I have no clue. Hoya as well could resist me easily, he has himself under total control. But did you ever wonder why we were separated like how we are, when we moved to the dorms?”

“Yeah, but I have no idea, it doesn't make any sense.”

“Because you are a human. But to me it makes perfect sense. They put me together with Sungkyu and Hoya because they can protect me when I'm in heat and won't try to ravish me. They weren't so sure about Myungsoo. As you saw today, he isn't the best in fighting his instincts.”

Sungyeol nodded in understanding. It was weird imagining Myungsoo trying to jump Dongwoo (and somewhere deep inside the thought made Sungyeol angry, not that he'd ever admit that), but Sungyeol couldn't deny that Myungsoo was the wolf with the least self control.

“That still doesn't explain why you and Hoya...”

“Why we have ? Ah, you see, he's doing me a favor. A huge one. It can be quite painful to be in heat. All you want is to have and the desire increases until either you have or the heat is over. I'm eternally grateful to him, I don't know what I'd do without him. He lets me have him any way I want and doesn't complain. Not many friends would do that for one, you know. He just hates to see me suffer, so he makes sure that I'm satisfied.”

Sungyeol didn't reply when Dongwoo finished his explanation (what was he supposed to say anyways? Urgh, gross, I don't want to know that or wow, that's true friendship or something completely different?).

“You aren't disgusted, are you?” Dongwoo asked worriedly. “That we are sleeping together?”

“No.” And that was the truth. He didn't mind at all. He never had been able to understand why Hoya and Dongwoo were doing what they did, but now it made sense and Sungyeol felt bad for how he had treated Hoya this morning. But he didn't have a problem with it. He wasn't the straightest of people to begin with.

“I'm glad,” Dongwoo whispered and snuggled closer to Sungyeol.

“Hyung?”

“Yes, Yeol?”

“I've been awful to Hoya.”

“It's okay, you didn't know.”

“I thought he used you, when...”

“When it's actually the other way around?”

“No. That's not what I wanted to say.”

“I know,” Dongwoo said with a low chuckle. “I'm just teasing you. You wanted to say, when all he did was helping me.”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence.

“It's quite complicated to live with us, isn't it?” Dongwoo sounded delighted when he said that, cute, weird Dongwoo.

“Yeah. Just when I think I figured it all out with you guys, something happens and I'm just back to where I've been before. I hate being this clueless.” Sungyeol was frustrated. He just wanted to have some sort of certainty back, but then he received another new information and got thrown back into his pit of questions.

“You'll work it out. I know you will.” Dongwoo's hold around him tightened and it comforted Sungyeol. “And if you want... I can still your bite mark.”

“HYUNG!” Sungyeol exclaimed in horror and Dongwoo laughed out loud. Of course, only Dongwoo would think of this as funny. Okay, it kind of was and soon enough Sungyeol found himself laughing along.

“You want me to stay the night?” Dongwoo asked, when they had calmed down and Sungyeol contemplated it for a bit, then he shook his head.

“I'm okay now. Your cuddles already did their purpose and I really don't want anymore drama today,” he explained.

Dongwoo giggled happily, when he heard that he was able to help and cuddled closer to the younger.

“Just let me stay a little longer.”

Sungyeol chuckled and agreed. He didn't mind Dongwoo staying a little longer. Not when he was hugged like this (but it's the wrong wolf, it's not your wolf). No, not at all.

 

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