Bleeding. Again.
The Howling - Part II: The Curse of the Full Moon
Jongin's jaw clenched, and for a moment his eyes flashed amber, but he took a deep breath and centred himself, before sighing and shaking his head. "Not that bad? You're /bleeding/ Joonmyun. Think about it... we're in the middle of werewolf territory, during a full moon... and you're /bleeding/."
He stopped himself, lifting his arm to eye the burns latticing the dark skin as if they were tattoos of mottled red, before he grimaced. "Come on, we'll get something for your foot, and something for my arm."
Jongin looked away, dropping his arm as he sighed and slumped his shoulders. He'd seen the look on the boy's face, the fear that had flickered through his eyes, the way he'd taken a step back. He'd scared Joonmyun, and... he hadn't meant to. This wasn't the person he wanted to be, but he didn't know how to change. He wanted to show joonmyun that he was nothing like the wolf, that he was gentle and full of smiles and gentle embraces and sweet words... not roughness and fierceness and what he'd just displayed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't-- I didn't mean to scare you. I just...--"
He trailed off, head bowed as he motioned with his hand for Joonmyun to follow him as he led him back towards the manor. He didn't know how to apologise, what to say... what to do...
It wasn't until Jongin reminded him where he was -- and, inevitably, what could happen -- that Joonmyun realized just how bad that one small scratch could be. Even with the pack off in the forest, there was no doubt that any substantial -- or insubstantial -- amount of blood would have them running back. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable, vulnerable outside the confines of Jongin's room.
He merely nodded, smile faded, when Jongin said they were going back inside, and he followed quietly. Joonmyun's foot stung more now that he thought about it, and he balanced his weight on his heel as he walked, not wanting to leave a trail of blood. The last thing he wanted was for Yoochun to come back, smell the blood, and then come looking for him.
At the door, Joonmyun remembered one thing and stopped, reaching out to stop Jongin as well. "What about Taemin? We can't leave him out here." Sure, they could always come back for him, but who knows how much time they'd have once they got cleaned up, and Joonmyun didn't want to be out of the manor, or even the bedroom, when the moon rose.
Jongin was starting to feel al ittle better by the time they'd arrived back at the stairs that would lead up to the third floor. At Joonmyun's question about Taemin, the wolf frowned and glanced across the garden, before he put two fingers to his lips and let out a loud, ear piercing whistle.
"Old signal between the two of us... it generally means...--"
"-- get your scrawny back to your hyung before he comes and finds you," Taemin's out of breath voice cut in to JOngin's sentence as the blonde smiled sheepishly, stumbling to a stop beside the two older males. "So, what's up... Hyung, did you hurt yourself?"
His eyes had zoned in on Jongin's arm, and he made a soft noise under his throat before he slipped past the two elder males and cimbed the stairs. "Come on. Sunny noona leaves a first aid kit for this under the kitchen bench. You do this every single time there's a full moon and you're allowed outside..."
Jongin stuck his tongue out at the younger, before nodding his head to Joonmyun. "Come on. Taemin knows what to do... and it's getting dark anyway; we should probably head back to the room before the moon rises..."
Joonmyun gave a soft chuckle, amused by the two boy's interaction, before following the younger boy up the stairs. Balancing oneself on the heel of their foot, even with a railing for support, was not an easy feat, and Joonmyun quickly found himself using Jongin so that he didn't topple over. It wasn't that his foot hurt, though there was a mild sting, but he really didn't want to leave a trail that any of the others could follow, not that they wouldn't be able to smell him already.
At the top of the stairs, he pulled away and muttered an apology before continuing on his own, still only using the heel of his injured foot to walk. "So..." Joonmyun felt awkward as he spoke, turning to glance at Jongin before watching where he was going. "Are you clumsy or... do things just jump out in front of you?" He gave Jongin a playful grin, hoping that the younger would be able to pick up that he was only teasing.
He was only trying to lighten the mood, but he felt like he was only making it more awkward.
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