“Good morning, my love” Mark whispers in Jinyoung’s ear.

Jinyoung stirs in his sleep and turns around, face inches away from Mark’s. He opens his eyes and blesses his boyfriend’s eyes with a beautiful smile of his.

“Good morning, babe” Jinyoung whispers back.

Mark smiles too and drops a kiss on Jinyoung’s forehead.

“How did you sleep?” Mark asks him.

Jinyoung stares at him suspiciously. Since when is Mark so considerate after waking up?

“Good, I guess?” Jinyoung answers, a bit confused. “And you?”

“I had trouble falling asleep” Mark says while caressing Jinyoung’s dark hair delicately.

“Is something bothering you?” Jinyoung asks truly worried.

“Well, yes… I wanted to talk to you about something but you quickly fell asleep and I had to keep it to myself”.

Jinyoung bites his lip unconsciously, feeling a bit guilty that he left his boyfriend hanging. Mark tries not to stare at Jinyoung’s lips, but it’s a difficult task when they are so inviting and tempting.

“I’m sorry” Jinyoung apologizes, “I’m just feeling a bit tired these days. But now I’m awake, you can tell me now”.

Now it’s Mark’s turn to bite his lip. He doesn’t know really how to say what he wants, even when they have already talked about the issue more than once. The thought of it makes him nervous but excited at the same time.

“I just wanted to know…” Mark starts, swallowing hard when he sees Jinyoung’s curious eyes staring directly into his. “I just wanted to know if you still-“

“Guys, breakfast is ready!” Shura yells from the kitchen.

“Fantastic! I’m so hungry!” Jinyoung exclaims, taking the sheets off of him to get up from the bed. He then remembers that Mark was saying something and quickly turns around. “I’m sorry, Mark. But I’m truly hungry; can we talk about this later?”

“Y-yes, of course” Mark says.

He’s left both flustered and frustrated because he didn’t get to end what he was saying after taking the courage to do it. But he quickly forgets about it as his own stomach growls.

“Jinyoung” Mark calls his boyfriend who is profusely focused on the movie they are currently watching.

Well, only Jinyoung is watching it. Mark has been thinking of a way to say what he wants again without making it seem as if he was desperate about it.

“Yes?” Jinyoung asks without diverting his eyes from the television.

“Jaebum did well on the duel, didn’t he?”

“Yes”.

“He’s really strong, isn’t he?”

“Yes”.

“Mating Youngjae seems to have given him a lot of strength. And he seems happier than before”.

“Yes”.

“Seems like mating is something really good after all”.

“Yes”.

“So”, Mark says; he inhales deeply before ending the phrase, “would you like to-“

The doorbell rings, cutting Mark before he could ask the question. Jinyoung stands up and goes to open the door, unaware of his boyfriend clenching tightly his fists in annoyance and frustration.

“Mark, Jaebum wants you to go to his house” Jinyoung says as he walks towards Mark with Youngjae behind him.

“What does he want?” Mark asks a bit rougher than intended.

“He wants to speak about something important with you” Youngjae answers, a bit startled by Mark’s sudden bad behavior.

Mark sighs before leaving. As the door closes with a loud bang, Jinyoung and Youngjae stare at each other.

“What’s wrong with him?” Youngjae asks the other.

“I don’t know” Jinyoung answers with a shrug of his shoulders. “Maybe he’s in his male period or something”.

Youngjae grins at that and then takes a seat besides Jinyoung on the couch; both of them quickly being caught again by the movie playing on the screen.

“Two packs from the east and the north have contacted us” Yoongi tells the other three persons gathered in Jaebum’s living room. “They said they’re on our side. And another neighbour pack has shown his support to us since the people Hyunwoo’s squad freed from the humans has spread the news about what they had done to them and who gave them to the company”.

Jaebum nods. He’s gaining allies very fast, but is a good thing. Jeonghan also has a few packs supporting him; if they want to win this war they need more allies.

“Yesung called me” Seokjin informs. “They found the missing members of the lead pack along with Do Kyungsoo, but unlike him they are in the same state Namjoon was before. They have identified the poison used with them, but they can’t wake them up. Their hearts don’t beat but they are alive as their mates also are. They want to know how we waked Namjoon up”.

“Have you told them about Jinyoung?” Jaebum asks him.

“Yes. I told them he used his power to bring him back, and they asked if he could do the same for them. I told them that I had to consult it with you”.

Jaebum nods and then looks at Mark, who looks pensive at Jaebum’s table.

“Can you ask Jinyoung to come here for a moment?” Jaebum asks him, taking the other out of his trance.

Mark nods and mentally talks to his boyfriend. He hears a ‘yes’ in his head and nods to Jaebum. Not a minute after Jinyoung is knocking at Jaebum’s door.

“Did you need me?” he asks after coming in.

“Yes” Jaebum says, motioning for him to take a seat next to Mark. “The lead pack wants you to do with their missing members the same you did with Namjoon since they were poisoned with the same venom”.

“And you want me to go with them?” Jinyoung asks.

“It’s your decision” Jaebum answers.

“Of course I want to help them” Jinyoung says, placing both hands on the table. “But-“

“Mark can accompany you” Jaebum declares, knowing too well what his problem is.

“Really?” Mark asks, staring at him with hopeful eyes.

“Yes, you can go with him as my representative” Jaebum says. “I authorize you to take any decision you could need to take while you’re away. Also it’ll be good to our pack if they see we send our people with them”.

“There’s another thing” Jinyoung points out. “I need people at my surroundings to take more energy from them or I’ll faint before I can finalize the process. And if they are like me, better”.

“I can send Youngjae with you, but he has to be with Hyunwoo’s squad for the night”.

“Great, but this task could last several days. I only have been able to heal two persons in one day and I had Youngjae and Bonnie in both operations. I could be away from the pack a bit longer. Do you think you can have Mark away until I’m finished?”

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem” Yoongi intervenes. “For now we’re just going to visit other packs to obtain their support before facing Jeonghan and his allies. And we still have to wait for Hyunwoo’s squad to make several doses of their antidote”.

“That’s right” Jaebum says, “you can leave now to pack all the things you will need for your stay at Junmyeon’s pack. I’ll call him to let him know you’re going”.

“Hey, Jinyoung” Mark calls his boyfriend as they finish packing their things, “do you think we’ll be able to sleep together?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” Jinyoung asks, still focused on making sure that he has everything he needs already packed. “Would you miss me that much at night?”

“Uh, it’s just… I thought that maybe we could-“

“Guys we’re leaving!” Youngjae shouts from the other side of the door.

Mark sighs and runs a hand through his hair nervously. Why can’t he ever end what he’s saying?

“Let’s go, Mark” Jinyoung says, grabbing his things before going out.

Mark also takes his bag and carries it with an angry face following Jinyoung. Jinyoung and Youngjae notice his smug face as they leave, but Jinyoung quickly shrugs his shoulders while mouthing a ‘definitely male period’ to Youngjae.

“Hi guys!” Shura’s cheerful voice salutes them as they exit from Seokjin’s house.

“Hello family” Youngjae greets back.

“Are you going somewhere?” Jinyoung asks as he sees Shura, Seokjin, Jungkook and Yugyeom carrying luggage.

“I thought it’ll be better if I accompany you since I know Yesung” Seokjin answers, “they just tagged along”.

“And Jaebum and Junmyeon already gave us their permission” Jungkook adds.

“Well, the more the merrier” Jinyoung comments, “let’s go”.

“It’s done” Kihyun mutters, holding a test tube in front of his eyes. Jooheon stares at him curiously until Kihyun adds “the first sample of the antidote”.

“Well done!” Jooheon congratulates him while patting his shoulder. “It wasn’t really difficult to make, was it?”

Kihyun doesn’t respond; he just stares at the tube with his brows furrowed. Jooheon starts to get worried after a few seconds of silence has passed with Kihyun still immobile with the tube in his hands.

“Kihyun” Jooheon says while shaking Kihyun’s shoulders a bit, “are you okay?”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Kihyun asks suddenly, his gaze still focused on the thing between his hands.

“But you found the right formula to do it, and your calculations are always right”.

“But what if I made a mistake? What if it doesn’t work after all and werewolves die? We won’t know if it works if we don’t prove it but who would put their life at risk for it?”

Kihyun finally places the tube above the table with a sigh.

“What if I fail them? I could cause a major slaughter and I would never forgive myself for it”.

“You know what I think?” Jooheon asks, removing the security glasses from Kihyun’s head. “You need to rest. You’ve been put under a lot of pressure and you need a break. Maybe after breathing fresh air you will start seeing things right again and you’ll understand that your calculus is infallible”.

“You’re right” Kihyun says, also taking his lab coat off. “I’ve been working non-stop on this. I need a break”.

“Wonderful. Now go find Changkyun and tell him to treat you to coffee or something”.

They smile at each other before Kihyun leaves. Jooheon then returns to his previous spot, ready to make the second sample of the antidote but stopping right before mixing the tubs in his hands.

But what if it doesn’t work?

He shakes his head, convinced that Kihyun doesn’t err with his calculus. He decides to trust his friend and finally mixes the two substances in one tube.

“Seokjin” Mark softly calls the older male.

Seokjin hums to let him know he’s listening. They both are walking ahead of the siblings, Jinyoung, Youngjae and Yugyeom as Seokjin is the one who knows where Junmyeon’s pack is placed.

“Where are we going to stay at Junmyeon’s pack?” Mar