Delighted squeals and barks of laughter erupt from the small clearing. Life seems to revolve around them, birds gently tugging on their clothes in curiosity, squirrels inching into their laps, climbing up to nuzzle into your hair and along your neck.

Squealing at the feeling, you wiggle in J-Hope’s arms.

“WAH!” you laugh, “that tickles! Oppa make them stop!” you whine. He only laughs, shaking his head.

“Nope!”

The rest of the day goes on like this. You would wiggle from his grasp, only to be chased by him again. He smiles, fueled by your laughter. Chanyeol is wrong, you have to like him… right?

Out of breath, you collapse to the ground in his arms, gasping in breathless giggles. He laughs, wrapping his arms around you.

“Are you hungry?” you ask, looking up at him, realizing the sun is beginning to set. He shrugs, having not thought about it… when was the last time he went without a meal this long?

Never.

And he still wasn’t hungry.

“I’ll eat if you cook” you can’t help but giggle at his wolfish grin. He sits up after a few minutes, stretching. “We should head back”

He hates the words, but the others must be worried.

And Monsta isn’t pleasant when he is worried. Nodding, you sit up, glancing warily at the blackened forest, wincing at the sight of thorns on the trees. Nothing good could ever come from in there. Following your gaze, J-Hope softens, taking your hand.

“I will protect you from anything that comes at us” he whispers, half hoping you didn’t hear.

But you did.

It gave you a sort of warmth, gently squeezing his hand, smiling at the ground shyly. Since when has he become so… sweet?

“Neh,” you whisper, beaming up at him. He grins.

“Want to ride on my back?” nodding, you jump to your feet in excitement. He laughs, standing, and heads to the edge of the clearing. You watch after him confused. Grinning, he sends you a cocky smirk, winking confidently.

“What, babe? Unless you want to see me already…” flushing, you turn away, allowing him to do what he needs. He barks a laugh, hiding behind a tree to undress before shifting. You wince, as always at the horrible shredding sound that comes with his shifting. You can almost imagine his skin stretching until it rips, allowing the fur to poke through.

Shivering, you whine softly, jumping when J-Hope comes to nuzzle the back of your leg, his clothes in his mouth. Dropping them at your feet, he kneels, waiting patiently. Grinning, you pet his head before bending for his clothes.

You could almost feel his gaze on your .

“” you mutter, shooting a dark glare back at him. He blinks up at you in innocence. Huffing, you move to his back, “casually” smacking him in the face with his clothes before climbing on.

He whines, shifting. You giggle.

“Mush, puppy, mush” you cry, bouncing on his back, acting like he is a dog. He growls, you blink down at him in innocence.

“What?” you coo, nuzzling into his fur. He grunts, taking off suddenly, making you squeak and hold on closer to him. He pants in satisfaction, barking a laugh at you, sprinting towards the EXO house, taking mental notes on the shadows following you.

They are moving too fast, yet they aren’t trying to catch up.

They are just stalking.

Pushing through the trees, he meets the many familiar faces he has come to know as EXO… all in wolf form, seeming agitated. Nothing they did, he assumes. Maybe it has something to do with their new shadow friends.

He huffs at Kris who nods, motioning for him to get inside… quickly. Whatever has them spooked, it’s serious.

He doesn’t have to be told twice.

Taking you inside, you slide off of his back and onto the couch only to be met with the tired, grouchy face of Luhan. You brighten, throwing your arms around him.

“LuLu!” you hum happily. “Can you see? Are you better?” he pauses, softening down at you, nodding.

“Yeah… thanks for looking after me” he whispers, wrapping you up in his arms protectively. J-Hope scowls, nudging your leg gently to get your attention back. Luhan makes a face, obviously wanting to have your attention, but lets you pull away to face the large wolf sitting at your feet.

He glances at the clothes in your hand before looking back up at you. Nodding, you hand over his clothes, waiting for him to come back.

He hopes back in the room in record time, gathering you back into his arms, ignoring Luhan’s jealous stare. Smiling, you relax, leaning into J-Hopes chest closing your eyes.

Today was great.

For once, you are oblivious to everything going on.

Silently above you, the two are glaring at each other, Luhan’s arms slithering around your waist, his head resting on your shoulder, J-Hope’s arm around your shoulders, and his head on top of yours. Shifting a bit you laugh at them, shaking your head.

“You guys are so immature” you whisper, knowing they are fighting like J-Hope and Lay do. Luhan pouts up at you, his wide doe eyes seeming to widen even more. You groan, looking away.

Why are all of these guys so good at looking cute?

And they know it is your weakness.

“It’s not immature” J-Hope insists, his arm tightening on your shoulders. You roll your eyes, looking down at your lap so you don’t have to look at either of them, knowing they will pull whatever cute look they can to make you cave.

Saving you, Kris comes in, in human form, only his shorts on. Normally, you may have drooled a bit, but the serious look in his eyes swipes any thoughts of that away.

Why are all of these wolves so built?

Makes it hard to be a woman here. Frowning, you glance up at him, tilting your head.

“What is wrong?” he stares at J-Hope then Luhan. He is a man of few words and what he says goes… because it usually means life or death. Two words are all it takes for fear to bubble in your stomach, the stony look returning back to J-Hope’s face, Luhan’s normally bubbly face unreadable.

“They’re coming”

“Who is?” you whisper, confused and scared. Was it those who were in the forest behind you? J-Hope thought he was the only one that noticed the shadows stalking the both of you on your way back to the house.

You noticed.

Kris only shakes his head, looking to his left where Suho had just appeared, and all light in his eyes gone. This is really serious.

“What do they want?” Monsta asks, appearing out of nowhere behind you. You have long gotten used to this. V and Jimin appear on his flanks, their normal childishness gone as well.

“Her…” Sehun states, staring at you. Looking around, everyone is here… even Jin looks worried. Well, …

Am I the only one who doesn’t know that is going on here?

“Yes” Chanyeol looks at you, slight amusement in the twitch of his lips, but nothing more. You huff crossing your arms. Why can they all read your mind?

“What will we do?” Xiumin asks allowed, for your sake. They can all communicate without words, so talking allowed ever is just for you.

“Leave.” Kris states, turning back towards the door, his shoulders seeming to hunch a bit in exhaustion, worry evident.

“What of the tree?”

Everything goes still…

The tree of life… their reason for living, their job, their savior and their life force.

“Why is it always me?” you groan, slamming your head back, ignoring the clank of your head hitting the metal. Everyone winces.

Okay, part Two kinda of J-Hope moments...

i hope you enjoy~

making this story go somewhere different...

comment who you think is coming ^~^

i enjoy reading your comments and i try to respond to them all! 

keep them coming, it is what encourages me to keep writing!

-author kitkat_bunnytime