For the rest of the night, Jongin fought with himself, voice off key and feverish as the first night of the full moon came and went, until it was closer to morning. Taemin had fallen asleep a few hours after Jongin first started talking to himself, and lay curled up in a ball on the mattress that had been pulled to the other side of the room, body indistinguishable beneath the blankets and the pillows. 

 

Some time after 7am, Jongin finally stirred, his eyes opening as he managed to pull his way through the first wave. it would get easier from now on, he'd be able to keep a hold on Kai and there would be no more arguments, but... he'd still be weak for the next two days.

 

Shifting a little, he breathed out, eyes first on the ceiling before they fell on Taemin in the distance. He smiled weakly, watching his little brother as the lump moved with each breath, before he turned a little to his left, eyeing the sleeping Joonmyun before he relaxed.

---

 

It was another sleepless night for Joonmyun as he continued to listen to Jongin fight with Kai, the young boy losing quicker and quicker to the wolf inside with each argument. Blocking it out was near impossible, because the harder Jongin fought back, the louder Kai became, and the human found himself fending off tears more than once. 

 

Five-am finally claimed him, and he drifted into a light doze, neither awake nor sleeping as he curled up in the chair next to the bed. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but he didn't dare move, afraid that any shift would bring up a new battle between the boy and the wolf. 

 

Joonmyun was pulled from his sleep a short while later, by light filtering into the room, light that told him the moon had set for the day. A quick glance at Jongin confirmed that the boy was calm, and surprisingly awake, though he looked awful, trashed, and Joonmyun's heart ached for him. 

 

"Hey," he murmured, afraid that speaking too loud would startle him or wake Taemin. "How are you feeling?" He had to feel like , of course, and Joonmyun felt stupid for asking; he was concerned though, and didn't know what else to do. 

---

 

Body aching and head sore, Jongin almost slipped back into sleep, but when he heard Joonmyun's voice he looked up, eyes trained on the elder male before he smiled faintly. "Hey..." his voice was soft, croaky, but completely Jongin. "I feel... super-duper."

 

There was a hint of amusement in his voice, and he smiled a little more before slumping back into the bed. "I'm sorry-- I'm sorry about... last night, about what you heard. About... all of it..."

 

His eyes lifted to Joonmyun again, watching him carefully before he shifted, rolling onto one side. He was more tired than anything, and this position was infinitely more comfortable, plus he could actually see Joonmyun comfortably.

---

 

Despite Jongin sounding absolutely awful, he still managed to be sarcastic, a Joonmyun cracked a small grin at the boy; he was a trooper, Joonmyun would give him that. He'd put up one hell of a fight last night, and as much as it had scared the elder, he was proud of Jongin for not giving in or giving up. 

 

"Don't apologize," Joonmyun murmured, shaking his head a bit as he relaxed but still stayed curled up. "It's not your fault; you had no control, and you shouldn't apologize for what you can't control." Now, if Kai had come through to apologize -- which wasn't all that likely -- Joonmyun still would have told him the same, because he knew that Kai had meant everything and wasn't sorry. 

 

Joonmyun's eyes raked over Jongin's features as the boy shifted onto his side, and he took in every bit of exhaustion, wishing he could take it from him just so that he didn't feel as bad as he looked. After a few long moments, of which the elder's eyes never once left Jongin, he remembered hwat Sunny had said the night before, and he glanced at the small fridge in the corner before back to the boy. "Are you hungry? I understand if you're not, but Sunny said you should eat something."