Hoya sauntered forward, his feet taking large, swinging steps. He was feeling good. Great in fact. Much better than he could have ever imagined he would feel when he saw you again. After so long, your eyes set on him. They fluttered as they blinked, your attention on him. It was a small thing. It was a small thing to feel good about. Simply having you look at him after so long felt like the ray of sunlight at the end of the tunnel. It was warm. It was welcoming. And now, it was something else.

He didn’t expect that your curious eyes would look at him the way they did moments ago. Moments ago while he leaned down to inspect the paint on your car. Moments ago as he leaned down where you were sitting in the driver’s seat of your car. And the look in your eyes was different. Like you were no longer an oblivious passenger to the fifteen seat bus that was the love polygon that you rode in. Like you weren’t just along for the ride anymore.

That way you looked at him sent a low roar vibrating through his body. He had to stop himself from growling outright.

That way you looked at him that conveyed a message he knew you probably never intended to convey. Nevertheless, you did.

With your eyes, you told him one simple sentence.

I want you.

And he was feeling good. It was your human hormones talking and he had to resist the urge to answer them. He wasn’t touchy feely Zico whose hands roamed to places without him even realizing it. He wasn’t the always ready to pounce at the chance to touch you Sungjong. He wasn’t the sweet like candy Woohyun whose acts of physical contact were natural. Nor was he Dongwoo who could get away with it in a subtle way. He was Hoya. Lee Howon. He was a B-bomb, something he found almost immediately after the two were left to sit next to each other on the plane to London that day they left back in December. Something he found out as the two talked about the two things they had in common. Their werewolf halves and you.

He was too close. He was standing on the line that separated friend and love interest. He was too close to try to touch. Too close that he could only look. He had taken that one step over the line towards the friend zone. And as he arrived in London, as he met in B-bomb his own hesitant self, he decided he would retrace his steps. That he would take steps back. That he would infiltrate the other side.

And he was feeling good.

He was feeling good because he succeeded.

Because with that one look from you, he knew he succeeded.

The thought was enough to cause a smile to break out on his face. “Infiltration success.” He murmured to himself as he opened the front door of the large house that belonged to Zico’s pack and went inside. Inside, where someone called for him almost immediately.

“Hoya, did she leave already?”

Hoya looked up, meeting eyes with Sunggyu who had just exited the living room. Sunggyu, the person who made all of this possible in the first place. Sunggyu, who brought him to where he is now. Sunggyu, who indirectly gave him the happiness he felt right now. Sunggyu, who changed his life that day almost eleven years ago. Sunggyu, who brought him here where he was surrounded in the warmth of his fellow wolves. In the warmth of being by your side.

A kind of emotional warmth he hadn’t known as a child. As he lived without anyone to rely on that winter in Russia. The winter in which his body may have been warm but he himself never felt so cold. An eight year old huddled on a bench in a park as the snow continued to fall. As people continued to pass by, not a single one looking his way. He wasn’t an orphan. He had parents. But much like Woohyun, he was pulled from them due to the humans who hunt them, the hunters. His parents were ruthless. Not by their own nature. His original pack was one that favored strength over compassion. His parents grew up like this, valuing those who could help them survive.

And Hoya couldn’t.

When the hunters arrived and his pack had to fight back, a battle they lost due to the sheer number of hunters, they were forced to flee. He wasn’t the only one left behind but he was the only one who survived among those who were. Among those who stayed and fought to prove themselves, all clinging to the small hope that the pack would come back and claim them once more.

They fought hard. They fought hard against the hunters. But, as Hoya knew all along, their pack never came back. And they were decimated. Except him. Him, who as he watched everyone continue to fight a bloody, endless battle, he decided something. He decided he didn’t want to return to a pack that let their brethren die like this. He deserted them.

He didn’t want to simply stop fighting on his own. He tried to convince them. To persuade them that it wasn’t worth the fight. But, the sense of belonging was too strong. Their pride was too strong.

And he ended up by himself, in that snowy park. Waiting. Wondering. Sitting there as he waited and wondered when one of the scouting hunters would spot him and put an end to him. He sat there as he was lost, without a single idea of where he would go from there.

That’s when someone stopped. When one of the people who were passing by, Hoya wondering if any one of them could be a hunter, stopped. When the ten-year-old Kim Sunggyu stopped. Behind him were two others. Two others he couldn’t see the faces of but now knew to be nine-year-old Dongwoo and eight-year-old Woohyun.

That’s when Sunggyu approached him, grabbing onto his stiff arm as he asked why he was sitting there.

In his exact words, he said, “Shouldn’t you be fighting?”

He knew. He knew then about the situation Hoya’s pack had found themselves in. About the situation those who were left behind were left to deal with on their own. Hoya’s reply to him that day was as such, “It’s not worth fighting for.” Sunggyu was silent. He was silent as the snow continued to fall gently down, covering and dulling the stench of blood Hoya could smell faintly in the distance. And then, Sunggyu let go of his arm. Hoya thought that was it. That that was the end of their interaction. That he would continue walking on by and Hoya would be left in the cold again. But, he didn’t. In an instant, Hoya was lifted to his feet as Sunggyu gripped underneath his arm and tugged him upwards off of the park bench.

“Then, I’ll give you something worth fighting for.”

And he had. Sunggyu had come through with his words.

Hoya had something to fight for. Something to protect, to maintain, and to nurture. Many “somethings” in fact.

He fought for his pack. For his own and now for Zico’s. He fought for all fourteen of them. He fought for his friends. He fought for himself. For his lifestyle and his own preservation. He fought for his future. And he fought for you. To continue to be by your side. To set your eyes ablaze in that emotion that made him feel like he was flying high on cloud nine.

All of it was worth fighting for. All of it made him happy. All of it warmed his already warm blooded body.

All of it made possible indirectly through Kim Sunggyu.

“Yeah,” he replied to Sunggyu’s question about you, his smile still on his face as he passed by the older werewolf, the one he was proud to call his leader. He reached out and patted him on the back, “Thanks, Sunggyu.” He felt on his own back as he walked by Sunggyu’s own hand patting twice, understanding completely what Hoya was saying thanks for and sending him back a gesture. A gesture that told him he’d do it all over again.

As he entered he living room, Jaehyo looked up at him from the couch, his face neutral as he pointed towards the kitchen that was abuzz with noise as Kyung, Taeil, Woohyun, and Jiyeon discussed whose job it was exactly to do the dishes now.

“Hoya, mind taking Jiyeon duty tonight?”

He stared straight forward, his eyebrows furrowed downwards at Jaehyo who was attempting to throw to him quite the unwanted job of looking after Jiyeon aka “Jiyeon duty” when he much rather be on “Hyunjoo duty” instead.

He laughed. He laughed at the sight of the brick wall in front of him. The brick wall that blocked the way in front of him, preventing him from escaping from the people who blocked the way behind him. The humans who were much too cocky. Much too predictable. Much too confident.

He had known they were following him. He had known since they started as he exited the antique store twenty minutes ago. The antique store he was waiting in until they arrived. Waiting for who?

As he his heel slowly, coming face to face with those who blocked the way out of this dead end alley, his lips curved upwards. “Could I help you two with something?”

So then, waiting for who?

The two dark figures took steps forward, pulling back their jackets and producing from them guns. Guns that after knowing the unrelenting force behind B-bomb’s crossbow seemed like small pellet guns. It was a funny sight as he watched these two, the people whom he was waiting for, level their guns at him.

These two hunters.

The alley was dimly lit from its entrance by the lamps that lined the street the alley turned off of. He knew they could see him. That they could see his flashy fuchsia hair. That they could see the grin his full lips broke out into, his teeth shining brightly in the darkness as though he were the Cheshire cat of Wonderland.

“Oh, I get it,” he raised his finger in the air and wagged it at them, “you’re looking for a place to store those bullets of yours.” He bit down on his lower lip, narrowing his eyes at them as he thought twice about their intentions. The two hunters, both male, however, did not stop to contemplate their actions as one of them shot off then and there. In an instant, he was on the ground, clutching at his stomach. He attempted to get up, attempted to fight back, just as he attempted to shoot his target moments ago. Attempts which all resulted in failure.

Failure at the hands of the now tsking male who stood above him, his shoe pressed into the hunter’s back to keep him down, “You didn’t let me finish thinking. That’s about as rude as thinking you can corner me.” His eyes went glancing to the other hunter whose hands were trembling.

Why did they send out rookies?

That’s what he thought to himself. That’s what Jang Dongwoo thought to himself as he looked on at the young hunter who looked as though he was a five year old who had just seen the boogie man as his right foot stayed planted on another hunter.

To test them, maybe? To gauge their strength? They had faced stronger hunters, much stronger, the first day the whole lot of annoying hunters arrived in London. It was only the fourth day now and they were suddenly sending out their underlings to try to finish them off. Why?

As Dongwoo let himself think about it, as he pondered that question, another figure appeared at the entrance of the alley and shot. Shot with the intent to kill. Shot with the intent to kill that proved futile as Dongwoo was not traveling alone. What accompanied that shot was Dongwoo’s realization of the answer to his question. What accompanied that shot was the sound of the shooter groaning in pain as he was pummeled by a kick from behind, causing his gun to misfire before he could aim straight.

“You actually think you can take one of us out with one shot?” The owner of the long leg that knocked the assailant down snarled. “It’s not going to be that easy.” The long legged male looked up, locking eyes with Dongwoo before turning his attention to the hunter who still had his gun pointed at the space right between Dongwoo’s eyebrows. “Are you going to take care of that or am I going to have to?”

Dongwoo didn’t hesitate to send his fist into the one last hunter’s cheek, causing him to fall to the ground. Dongwoo watched as the hunter used his hands to try to push himself back up, but then he was stunned frozen. He was stunned frozen by Dongwoo’s next words, “Don’t get back up. I’d rather not have to make you unable to.” The hunter let his hands give way immediately as he went back to lying on the ground.

“Good choice.”

Dongwoo looked up towards the one who had just spoke and had arrived to aid him just earlier. Lee Sungyeol. A rather irritated Lee Sungyeol who seemed to have noticed the same thing Dongwoo did just as he arrived.

“The hunters have moved on. Sunggyu and the others ended up throwing most of them off of our trail.”

Sungyeol wasn’t the one who spoke this time. This time, it was someone else who had entered the alleyway. It was a black haired B-bomb whom looked even more annoyed than Sungyeol did. He approached the two of them, his hands in his pockets.

“I dealt with five of them down the street earlier. They're tenacious, the young ones.” B-bomb spoke as he recalled the group of hunters he had faced himself. He didn’t kill them, of course. But, unlike the more merciful Dongwoo, he made sure they didn’t get back up with more than just his words.

“So only the scouts remain. Makes sense.” Sungyeol nodded his head as he crossed his arms against his chest. His frown remained throughout though, “Doesn’t make it anymore enjoyable for us here.”

Dongwoo slapped his hand into Sungyeol’s back, hitting him hard, though Sungyeol wasn’t effected in the least, “But, you know what this means right?” He glanced at B-bomb, giving him a wryly smile, “Soon, we’ll be going back.” B-bomb smirked back, understanding the meaning of his words. Sungyeol’s frown faded from his face, a slight expectant smile replacing it instead. And the three walked out of the alleyway together. The three who shared a bond like brothers walked together.

This felt good.

To Dongwoo, this felt good.

This sense of belonging. This sense of others relying on him. This sense of being a part of something. Almost eleven years ago, he was promised all of these things. He was promised a place where he would belong. Where he could trust those around him. He was promised this by a ten-year-old, nagging Kim Sunggyu.

Kim Sunggyu who came to him when he was nine-years-old when he lived in that old chapel in Germany. That old chapel that was home to him and many other young children. Children whom had no parents. Children who were orphans. That was him. That was Jang Dongwoo. Parentless as he lived in a place filled with humans. Humans who didn’t understand him. Humans who couldn’t help him ease his way into controlling his werewolf half.

He was seven when he first transformed. It happened during a game of hide and seek. He was “it “ and he couldn’t find anyone. And he was desperate to. And he got frustrated. And that’s when it happened. That’s when he shifted into his wolf form for the first time. And he found all of them. He found them as they went screaming out of terror.

When he woke up the next morning, he was confused. He was disorientated. But, he was also different from that point on. No one knew. No one knew what had happened to him when he disappeared during that game of hide and seek. They only knew that a wolf appeared and threatened the children’s lives. That the wolf ended up disappearing itself before police officers could subdue it.

The wolf that was Jang Dongwoo disappeared because he saw it. He saw the officers holding guns in their hands and he came out of where he was hiding. He didn’t understand. He thought they were trying to help him get back to the chapel. That he had been out too long and the nuns sent for them to find him. Police officers were the good guys. But, he was wrong. He realized he was wrong as a bullet went flying in to the ground, only a few inches from where he stood on all fours in his shifted form. That was his first experience in his wolf form.

From day one, he associated what he was with being unwanted. He associated others as untrustworthy because if he ever told them what he was, he was scared that next time their guns wouldn’t miss. He became secluded. He became quiet. But, most of all, he became angry. He became angry that he was the only one who was the way he was.

That’s why it took three months for him to get over his anger. That’s why it took three months for Kim Sunggyu to finally be able to take him away from that place. Three months before a single line from Sunggyu changed his mind. Until a single line swayed him.

A single, one hit K.O. line much like the one that Sunggyu used on Hoya. He told Dongwoo one day at the end of March, “Come with me. Come with me and if you can’t trust me, you can leave. I won’t stop you.”

Dongwoo had never been given a choice before. He was always a werewolf. He could never trust anyone without being scared of what might happen to him. Yet here was Sunggyu, giving him a choice. Giving him a chance to trust someone. That’s what did it for him. That’s when he started to look up to Sunggyu who was only one year older than him. Kim Sunggyu was the one who taught him how to trust someone. That there were people he could trust. People being both his own kind that were his and now Zico’s pack and a human. A human who went by the name of Song Hyunjoo. You.

He saw it in you as well, the way your eyes lit up whenever they trusted you with anything. It was different from his own past issues with trusting others. It was different in that you instead wanted to be trusted instead of learning how to trust as he had. He felt connected to you because of that. He felt as though he could sympathize with you. And his attachment to a part of himself that he saw in you, the scared part of you that feared never being trusted by anyone, the scared part of you that feared being rejected, grew. It grew into what it was today. Into this feeing of excitement. This feeling of anxiousness. These feelings that he got at the thought of returning to you. To you, the one human he could trust beyond doubt, no matter how sketchy your wayward actions got. Because everything you did that was sketchy was for them. Every dangerous situation you got in was because of them. For them.

When he first met you, he could barely remember your name. Now, he couldn’t imagine never knowing it.

His face broke out into a Cheshire like smile once more as the thought of seeing the stubborn, clever, and undeniably irresistible you soon crossed his mind.

Getting back to you was exciting. Being with you was like the ray of sunlight at the end of a dark tunnel. They thought this way about you. Why? Because both Jang Dongwoo and Lee Howon found you to be one special girl. 

A/N:

I'm not trolling you guys, I swear (because the last chapter ended off pretty cliff hangy). I just needed to show some love to Infinite H with a chapter. I really don't get to express my love for Jang Dongwoo all too often in this story. That's right. You all heard it here first (well, most of you did~). My bias among all kpop idols is Jang Dongwoo. Is it surprising? That doesn't mean I ignore my bias for Infinite as a whole, oh no. I certainly did not ignore Hoya in this chapter (HoBaby's HoAbs for life!). Did you like finding out about their pasts? Of course, I tied it back into the current plot line of the rest of the story instead of just doing a "Back to the Past" chapter or something. Would I do any less for you guys?

I can't with Infinite H. I am unable to can. I have lost the ability to can.