Taekwoon hadn't given it much thought the first time it happened. 

"She's on her period, guys." Wonshik sighed, pulling Jaehwan off her prone form, where his elbow had been digging into her already enflamed uterus. 

"How do you know that?" Jaehwan griped. 

"She's pretty regular. Tenth of every month, all year long." Wonshik retorted, letting Jaehwan go and offering her his hand. 

Sanghyuk's nose scrunched up. "It's still kinda gross that you know that."

"Grow up." Hongbin rolled his eyes. "It's a woman's biology. No matter who you're with, this happens. It's part of life."

"Enough talking about Taek's plumbing!" Hakyeon announced. "Get ready. We're going out for dinner."

Taekwoon hadn't thought much more of it after that, following the flow of her bandmates and gettign ready for dinner in the room she shared with Hakyeon. But, that was the first time she had noticed him act that way and then she started to observe and realize the true scope of what was happening. 

Hakyeon had gone early that morning to do some talkshow, so Taekwoon had been free to sprawl over their bed and sleep some more in the comfortably dim room. She was only vaguely interrupted by Wonshik gently opening the door. She didn't acknowledge him and he seemed to assume she was asleep. He softly closed the door and walked over to the table on her side of the bed and set down a glass and a pill bottle. He hovered there for a moment, then brushed her bangs off her forehead and tenderly kissed her. 

"You're going to be in pain when you wake up, but there's Midol and water here for you. Get good rest, Woonie."

Now, Taekwoon knew that her boys adored her, each in their own fashion. Hakyeon was like a brother, always looking out for her and caring for her, but not in a completely overbearing way. Hongbin was her best friend and partner in crime, helping her get back at the others when they messed with her too much and being her buddy in silence. Jaehwan, for all of his trouble, wasa pretty harmless, only trying to play around and show her his affection. Sanghyuk, too, liked physically interacting with her even though he was the one that went overboard more often than not. Wonshik . . . Well, she wasn't quite sure where she was with Wonshik, but she did know that since LR, they had gotten really close and connected, Hakyeon gently teasing them sometimes, calling them an unofficial couple. 

It wasn't unusual for Hakyeon, sometimes even Hongbin if it was really bad, to leave her pills and water for her period cramps which flared up the first three mornings of her cycle. But they were her brother and best friend. She had done similar things for them - helping Hakyeon move aorund when he'd injured himself, showering with Hongbin when he'd been sick enough to have toruble walking. She had sung to Jaehwan and Sanghyuk once, camped out in the living room with one plastered to either side of her, when they got particularly homesick. She had spent more than one night seated on Wonshik's lower back, delicately working out kinks from his muscles that had occurred either during his workout or when he was slumped somewhere, sleeping with his laptop and lyricbooks. 

Laying in bed, she didn't even feel the telltale wetness of her period, nor the aching cramps in her hips. If Wonshik was right and she was getting her period today, she was three days early. 

Wonshik lightly caressed her face and left the room as quietly as he'd come. Immediately, she sat up and the cramps hit her, her muscles spasming. 

She kept an eye on him more often after that. She noticed several things, things so subtle that no one else (someone who wasn't looking for it) would ever see. 

Wonshik had an uncanny ability to know her cycle. He always got more gentle in the days leading up to her period, inconspicuously diverting the more hyperactive members away from her. He hovered around her more on those days. Not to say that he wasn't physically affectionate with her most of the time anyway, but he would dog her steps and make sure that he sat next to her in interviews and shows. He wasn't obnoxious about it and indeed, until she had started to seriously pay attention, she hadn't even noticed it. He also had a habit of cuddling up to her more on her period, nuzzling his face into her collarbone when they were watching movies. 

She also thought deeply on her memories, to see if this had been going on the whole time. She found that it had, but as his closeness to her increased, the more this happened. It became really pronounced after LR, when they had gotten so comfortable with each other that they had started to share hotel rooms. She thought more on that, too. 

Before LR, she had only ever shared a bed with Hakyeon, disregarding the nests they sometimes made in the living room where all six of them slept together. She had slept pressed to all the members at one point or another, be that in their living room, the van or planes and sometimes when Hakyeon left int eh early morning, she would find herself with another bandmate - usually Hongbin - as company. But she had never consciously agreed to share a double bed with anyone other than Hakyeon. She had felt her connection to Wonshik tighten over their time together and when a hotel had screwed up their reservation, she had brushed it off, saying that she had no problem sharing a room with Wonshik. 

It was those nights that she had leanred that he was a cuddly sleeper, liking to nuzzle into her and sometimes wrap himself around her. He would give throaty mumbles of approval when she would curl into him or press into him in return. His favourite position seemed to be with her head tucked into his shoulder, his chin on her head. He liked to keep her close that way. 

It was very curious.

She was laying across the couch, Hakyeon curled up on a chair and Jaehwan and Sanghyuk curled up on the loveseat together, bickering quietly. Hongbin was sitting on the floor, back pressed against the couch and doing stretches. Wonshik walked into the room, eyeing them all. 

Lazily, Taekwoon met his eye and dropped a leg off the edge of the couch. It was rare that she felt affectionate enough to let anyone lay on her with permission, but she was feeling it right now and she knew that Wonshik wasn't going to move much once he was settled. As expected, his eyes lit up and he moved onto the couch, deftly manuveuring her until there was a comfortable place for him to rest. 

He wound up twisted, body on its side but feet on the floor. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his face was pressed into her stomach. It looked uncomfortable as hell, but Wonshik didn't seem to mind, fingers over her side. 

Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Taekwoon fell asleep. When she woke up, the dgital clock over the television said it was one thirty. Hongbin, Hakyeon, Jaehwan and Sanghyuk were gone. Sleeping in bed, probably. She must have rolled over at some point, because she was on her stomach, head pillowed on her arms. She tried to get up, but was blocked by a heavy weight stretching from her mid back down the rest of her body. 

The weight grumbled, arms around her waist that she didn't realize where there tightening. 

"Wonshik?" She asked, trying to twist to get a better look. 

The man only grumbled more, shifting to accomodate her movement but not letting her go. HIs nose brushed against teh back of her neck. 

"Wonshik." She said again, louder. He huffed through his nose and she squirmed at the sensation. "Wonshik, we shouldn't sleep on the couch."

He made a dissenting noise and mouthed at the bare section of her shoulder which had managed to make it out of her overlarge shirt. He growled low in the back of his throat. "Nah, stay . . . "

She still couldn't see more than a silhouette of him from the corner of her eye. She reached back with her free hand and felt around, managing to find his face. She tapped his face. Her patience was thinning. "Wonshik, move."

He didn't reply, the circle of his arms tightening. 

She stretched and reached back further, grabbing a fistful of his hair. She pulled on it and he made a pleased sound, kisses getting pressed into her shoulder. She didn't know what was going on, but it was making her nervous and that alone wasn't good. She tightened her grip and pulled. 

Wonshik jolted awake, hissing in pain and rubbing at his scalp. "Aish! What was that for?'

"You wouldn't wake up."

He almost fell off the couch trying to give her room to get up. When he caught himself, he looked her over. "Where did you get that bruise?"

"You were on me." 

She agreed that it was a strange action for him to have done, but it didn't call for the way that he stiffened. 

"It's okay, Wonshik."

He shook his head, backing away like she burned him. Her brows furrowed as she frowned. 

"Are you okay?"

"I- . . . " His eyes were wide and startled - afraid, she realized - and he looked nearly ready to cry. "I forgot to shower."

So did she. It didn't really matter, did it? "Let's shower together."

"NO!" He pulled himself back. "I mean, it's not right. I'm- . . . Goodnight, Taekwoon."

She tried to reach otu to him as he rushed form the room. "Shikkie-" But he slipped past her and vanished into the darkness of the hostel. 

She ran a hand through her short black hair and stood there for a long moment, wondering what the hell had gotten into him. She collected her blankets and cleaned up the room a little before she moved to the rooms. She found the door to the bathroom open and dark and cold. Wonshik hadn't showered. She dropped her things off and went back to the bathroom. She washed off her makeup and brushed her teeth. Her shirt was still hanging off her and she turned, looking at the blossoming bluish bruise, red still ringing the outside of it. Gingerly, she touched it, feeling the way it rose against her skin. 

"What does this mean?" She cocked her head at herself in the mirror, but neither of them had an answer to give. 

Taekwoon knew that Wonshik was avoiding her, trying to distance herself from him. 

It was another early morning, when no one but Hakyeon had any right to be awake, when Wonshik appeared in her room again. Hakyeon was off in China with Hongbin as of last night and she had been alone all night, left to sleep in peace. He set another glass down with pills, then sat down on the edge of her bed, pressing his forehead to hers. 

"God, out of everyone, why you?" He whispered, eyelashes batting at her cheeks. "There are thousands of scents in the world and millions of potential partners, even as just other wolves. But I get you." He sighed, pushing hair out of her face like she was made of glass. "I wish I didn't. I wish I could ignore this. I stepped over boundaries without even thinking about it and even when I try to step back, get a level head, you get your period again. You're intoxicating."

She blinked her eyes open and before his panic could register with his body and he could pull away, she flipped them over, holding him down on Hakyeon's side of the bed. "Explain."

"What?" His panic had set in and he desperately wanted to escape and run away. "Nothing. I didn't mean anything."

Her eyes narrowed. "I said, explain."

He swallowed thickly. "I don't know what you want me to explain, Taekwoon-noona."

Her gaze was like razors on his skin and he knew he wasn't getting out of this that easily. She had been awake, she had been listening and she was anything but deaf. "Wonshik, now."

"I'm one of the Wolves."

There had been a worldwide campaign before the beginning of the first World War to exterminate the wolf shifters and it had nearly succeeded. For the world at large, Wolves were formally acknowledged as a human sister-species by the United Nations, but in Korea, the devastation to the population and the working class had been so traumatic that in 1909 the government had called it off, instituting laws and restitutions for the protection of Korean Wolves. Even though it had been some time since the genocide, Wolves were still largely uncomfortable with people knowing who they were. It was no mystery as to why Wonshik had felt the need to hide that part of his identity. Her heart twinged with sympathy for him. 

"So that's how you know."

Her words seemed like the last thing he was expecting. "Know what?"

"My period. You always know when my period is on. You can probably smell it."

His eyes shot open wide, but then his cheeks went pink. "Yeah, I can. Not to mention your pheromones when you're in heat- I mean on your period!"

She cocked her head. "Heat? That's what you call it?"

He blinked. "Wait, you don't know what signals your body is giving out?"

She shook her head minutely. "What's it like?"

HIs head rolled on the pillow, Hakyeon's pillow. "The three days leading up to your time you smell delicious. Not like food, but it still makes me want to eat you."

She coloured at his words. "Is that why you crowd me?"

He nodded. "I can't help it. Since you let me get close to you during LR, I've gotten so possessive of you."

She nodded, letting him go and laying back down in bed, studing him from her back. "What about me is intoxicating?"

Wonshik got red. "The- The way you smell. Your pheromones do crazy things to my senses. You don't smell like food, exactly, but I want to eat you anyway."

She raised an eyebrow, but it took him a few seconds to catch up to what he implied. When he did, his face was even more scarlet and his hands flew to cover his face.  

"! I didn't mean it that way!"

She rolled onto her side, watching him. "Okay."

"I'm sorry. I don't want to pressure you into anything."

She lazily blinked and softly smiled. "Why would I feel pressure?"

"Well, I . . . " He gave an airy laugh. "You don't have any problem with me doing these things?"

She shook her head. 

"Are you sure?"

"You're very close to me, Wonshik. I don't mind."

He deflated against the beddding, relief rushing out of his lungs. "Thanks for understanding."

She nodded, hand reaching out to brush hair from his eyes. 

Taekwoon picked up on even more signs since learning that Wonshik was a Wolf. 

She had done research on Wolves as soon as Wonshik gave her space, looking up the kinds of common habits in Wolf society, their quirks and what gestures meant. Like she thought and had observed, male Wolves wouldn't get close to a female during her heat period unless he was accepted by her, either as a friend, brother or lover. Indeed, Wonshik had hovered over her, but it wasn't until LR that he had started with the pills and extra affection. Wonshik's constant physical attention was, according to the government research study, an unconsicous sign of affection that most Wolves of either gender took part in a lot of the time. In the case of Wolves who had surrounded themselves with humans and had largely been raised under human curtesies, this was a marking gesture, also unconscious, which meant that the Wolf held great esteem or care for the person being marked, especially if they were human. Cuddling and nuzzling were common for older Wolves to institute with younger ones, but if it was a younger to an elder, it was either seeking parental care or, if the elder was of the same peer group, mating. 

She sat back from her laptop. Wonshik was often very physically affectionate with her, comparable only to Hakyeon, and jumped at any opportunity to cuddle or snuggle with her, especially for long periods of time. Now, whether this was the kind of affection that male Wolves showed their noonas or was entirely romantic, she didn't know. The study had been blurry on that - it was likely done by humans, so -  and couldn't help her try to decipher his bodily cues. She didn't exactly want to ask him, etiher, and make him uncomfortable, thinking she was reading farther into his movements than she really was. Plus, that kind of conversationw ould have to take place privately, since Wonshik had asked her to keep his biology to herself. 

Another section talked about scent-marking and something called 'alpha-ness'. According to the study, Wolves would rub against each other and transfer scent. In an ideal pack, this would mean that all Wolves smelled equally of each other, marking them as one pack. Without a Wolf's senses, though, it was impossible to tell whether or not one had been marked and how thoroughly - coupled Wolves tended to mark eaach other more thoroughly and smelt more of each other than of general pack. 'Alpha' Wolves also existed, usually a bonded pair that would make decisions for the pack. If there were no capable bonded pairs, a single alpha would take over. It seemed with Wolves that there was no barriers on who lead, gender-wise, and it was simply the best-suited Wolf or Wolves. 

She wondered if he viewed her and Hakyeon this way, both of them being the oldest and Hakyeon turning to her sometimes for advice or comfort, though usually only im private (or as private as possible). They shared a room and had showered together more than once. Hakyeon had also made it his mission to make sure that she didn't get tossed around by the rest of the boys because she was so much lighter than them and stupid teenage boys grouped together might take the chance to test their limits, seeing if they could get past her superior age and get away with treating her as lesser because she was a girl. It had never happened and Hakyeon's preliminary steps turned out to be for naught because Wonshik, Jaehwan, Sanghyuk and Hongbin just weren't like that, but he had still very visibly asserted himself in a leadership position she considered comparable to an alpha's role. 

All in all, the study had been largely unhelpful, obviously done from afar and not providing the kind of in-depth answers to her questions that she was looking for. She still felt weird getting ready to ask Wonshik about it, but it didn't look like she had much of a choice if she wanted to move forward with him at all.

"You okay, noona?"

She looked up and met Hongbin's eyes. "Why?"

He raised his hands in surrender. "You've just been hidden in here for most of the day and I think you promised to go somewhere with Wonshik because he's pacing like a dog who's owner won't walk him."

That brought a small smile to her lips and she closed the open pages and her document full of notes, saving, and shutting down her laptop. "Has he said anything?"

Hongbin entered her room, closing the door and sitting down on the bed. She was a relatively modest person, but she wasn't careful with showing her body to her bandmates. They had seen her before, helped her dress, even, when injured, and had no problem hanging around each other as they dressed. Hongbin didn't even flinch when she took her shirt off. "Something about some ramyeon place he wanted to take you? I don't know if he discussed it with your earlier or not, but it did look like he wanted to drag you out earlier."

"I see." She dropped her sleep pants, her underwear a soft pastel seafoam lined along the top with periwinkle blue lace. Hongbin noticed how knotted her hair was this morning. "What do you think I should wear with these pants?"

He peered around her at the black skinny jeans she was holding out. "Something white or pastel, but cool. Definitely a cool colour, like blue or purple. Soft."

"Hmm." She tossed the jeans back to him and he laid them out beside him. She emerged from her shared closet with Hakyeon with two sweaters. One was long and open in the front, a tender dream with grey-purple weaving on the bottom and a pastel lavender t-shirt accompaniment and the other was an overlarge knit number that would surely come down halfway down her thighs and was a kittenish black and pink. "I also have black leather."

Hongbin cocked his head. "The black and pink. I like the wide collar." 

She nodded, returning to her closet. "Shoes?"

He looked at the pants. "Converse. Black with black socks."

She made an affirmative noise and came back out with a soft bra on, pulling her sweater on over her head, socks in one hand. She bent down to pull them on, the held out a hand for her pants. Hongbin gaev them to her along with the belt he'd chosen, She pulled both on and adjusted herself once more. "Good?"

Hongbin picked up Hakyeon's brush and circled her, gently brushing out the tangles and fluffing her hair with his fingers. "There."

She shook her head, letting her hair settle. They walked out the door together, Hongbin turning left into the kitchen to supervise Sanghyuk's cooking and Taekwoon to the right, down to the living room/entrance. 

"Wonshik-ah?"

He stopped his pacing and turned around, face lighting up. Jaehwan made a face behind him, but she ignored him. Hakyeon was asleep on the couch. "I was wondering when you'd come out!"

"You could have just gotten me."

"I didn't want to disturb you if you were sleeping." He moved closer, but his steps stalled for a moment when he got close to her. His whole body stopped, his gaze flickering to where he could see Hongbin teaching his dongsaeng how to cook and flaring. 

"Was there something you wanted to do with me?" She asked, snapping him out of his trance. 

"Uh, yeah. There's this new little ramyeon place with a barbeque and I thought you might like to go out for lunch with me. I'll pay."

She nodded, silently ducking into the closet by the door to grab the Converse Hongbin had mentioned. When she came back out, she flicked Jaehwan on the forehead. He mock-recoiled, pouting at her. "Tell Hakyeon where we've gone when he wakes if we're not back."

"Okay, noona." He pouted harder, but grinned when she gently over the attacked area. 

"Baby." She murmured, grabbing her wallet and shoving it into her back pocket. "Lead the way, Wonshik."

He grabbed her hand, a little too gently not to have been deliberate, and pulled her from the hostel. How curious.

When they were far enough from the hostel not to be bothered, but not yet at the restaurant, she nudged him with her shoulder. 

"What was that about?"

"Hmm? What?" 

"Glaring at Hongbin."

"Oh. I didn't- I wasn't prepared for you to smell so strongly of him."

She nodded. "He picked out my clothes and brushed my hair."

Wonshik pulled her closer. "You never ask me to do that, even when I'm in your room."

She shrugged. "Hongbin and Hakyeon know how I like to dress and what looks best. You don't dress like me."

"That doesn't mean that I don't know what looks good on you. I spend enough time looking to know what you like."

She raised an eyebrow and he flushed. 

"I mean- Uh-"

She shook her head. "So, you can smell humans?"

His gaze screamed at her to be more discreet. One could never tell at face value who knew a Starlight or a reporter. "Wolves can smell humans, yeah."

"Does human scent transfer like Wolf scent?"

"More. It's stronger than Wolves because humans don't smell very well. Wolves, when scent-marking, have a very sharp scent, but not particularly strong."

"I see." She walked closer to him. "How does scent rub off?"

"Neck, cheeks, wrists, large bodily contact. It's really strong with , though."

"And it bothers . . . Wolves when people they are close to smell of other people?"

Wonshik looked at her out of the corner of his eye, pulling her onto a less-crowded back street. He ducked again into another alley and pulled her close to him, running his own hands through her hair. "Yes."

She let him pull her head back.

"You're not wearing makeup, are you?" He asked, thoughtfully. 

"No."

"Can I?"

She didn't know exactly what he was thinking of. "Okay."

He checked around them again - wouldn't want to be caught up in a scandal, "Ravi caught assaulting Leo!" - then leaned down and pressed their throats together, the fleshy area next to their windpipes. There was a deep rumble, issued somewhere from deep in his chest, and he rubbed their cheeks together, pulling back for a second only to do it on the other side. His hands trailed down her arms and around her hips, where Hongbin had been handling her pants. 

"Why aren't you like this about Hakyeon?" For some reason, she was breathless. Maybe it was just his warmth stealing it all from her. 

"Hakyeon- Hakyeon's alpha. He can do what he wants and we all belong to him." Wonshik rumbled again and pulled back, taking her in. "Plus, you're his second."

She caught her breath again, though it was mostly filled with the scent of Wonshik's cologne. "Hongbin's my best friend. You should be used to smelling him on me."

He looked away, guilty. 

"Say what you're thinking, Shikkie."

"Since I've gotten this close, I want to imprint. Every time we're together, that's all I want to do."

The study had said nothing about imprinting. Maybe that's how bonds happened? "What do you mean?"

"I want to imprint." He repeated helplessly. "I want to tie myself to you, give you a part of my soul, be your bondmate."

"Oh." She breathed out. Bonding sounded a lot more serious than she thought. 

"Yeah." He sounded ashamed. "I won't, though. It has drastic effects on a human and it doesn't come undone."

She nodded. "Is this why . . . the scent helps . . . ?"

He took a calming breath. "I find the more you smell like me, the easier it is."

She nodded, taking his hand and leading them back into the sidestreet. He started to lead them to the restaurant, though he looked like wanted to throw up more than eat. 

"Which bodywash is yours?"

"What?"

"Which bodywash is yours?"

"The . . . Irish Spring."

She nodded. 

"Why?'

"So I can smell like you."

He stopped dead. "You would . . . You would do that?"

She nodded. "You smell good. I don't mind smelling like that."

A hard shiver ripped up his spine and she realized what that kind of admission must sound like to him. 

"Will it help?" She asked, voice impossibly smaller. "If I smell like you?"

"Honestly, I don't know. But I'm not adverse to finding out." Wonshik stepped close to her, taking her hand and rubbing their wrists together. "First things first, though. I promised you a lunch."

Wonshik being one of the Wolves wasn't any issue in Taekwoon's life. She smelled different and the guys noticed, commenting on how quickly Wonshik's bodywash kept disappearing, but she had brushed them off, saying she liked the smell and Wonshik was generous. Sometimes, when he was in a bad mood, she would wear one of his sweaters or exchange pillows with him, give him some of her scent, which helped to calm his nerves some. 

Wonshik caught her backstage after a live performance, hand on her wrist. "Will you go out with me?"

"Pardon?" She pulled the earplugs from her ears, deafened for a second by the roar of the fans and the blae of the speakers. 

"Will you date me?" 

SHe glanced around them, then cupped his face, pulling him down for a quick kiss. "Of course."

Things progressed smoothly from there, the couple outing themselves to their gorupmates, Hongbin shaking his head at them with a teasing smile. Wonshik became more possessive of her, which the members explained away as the freshness of a new relationship getting to him, but she knew it was something else, something Wolf. 

"What is it?"

"Everything in my body is telling me to bond you."

"Then bond me." She replied, running her fingers through his hair. 

"I don't want to just do it, plus its completely permanent."

"So we won't until you're ready." She reassured. "What else is bothering you?"

"I can smell your fertility."

Her lips quirked. "That's what's getting at you, is it?"

He flushed. "Mostly."

"Does this door lock?'

He blinked at her. "The door to my bedroom?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, it locks. Why?"

Taekwoon flicked the lock and reached to the hem of her shirt, puling it off and tossing it into some corner of his room. "How about you come and fix your problem?"

He practically crawled over to her and up her body. "Are you serious?"

"Completely." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, fingers tingling the back f his neck. "Ravish me, Wonshik. Satisfy the beast."

Wonshik and Taekwoon were bonded two months later, shortly before Wonshik revealed himself as a Wolf to the other members.