“Rrrrrrrr”

Daesung stood in the doorway, eyeing Seunghyun skeptically, barring him entrance to the living room. Seunghyun didn't look very confident, fear in his eyes, even though he was obviously trying to hide it. “Hey boy, it's okay, he's a friend.” Jiyong patted Daesung's head in an attempt to calm him down, but he just kept on growling, not taking his eyes off Seunghyun even for one second. “Wait, should I look him in the eyes to establish dominance, or was that a sign of aggression, I forget.” Seunghyun had his hand in his bag, desperately looking for something.

Before Jiyong could answer, Seunghyun's hand popped out of his bag sporting a brand new tennis ball. Daesung's whole body got tense, his eyes on the ball. “Here boy! See! A ball! Aaahhh, yellow ball!” Seunghyun moved the ball in mesmerizing circles while talking to Daesung like he was an imbecile. All the while Daesung's eyes were glued to the tennis ball. Really?! Jiyong wanted to smack Seunghyun, how condescending and disrespectful could he get? Daesung wasn't a dog! He was a human being! He deserved to be treated as such. How was he ever going to adjust to society or realize he was actually human if they treated him like a clueless puppy?

Jiyong was going to intervene and give Seunghyun a big scolding, when Daesung edged a tiny step forward, towards Seunghyun. It was working. It was actually working! Still, Jiyong wasn't sure this was the right way. Weren't they disrespecting Daesung? But then again, he did think he was a wolf, so treating him as such would only be seeing him as he saw himself, right? Jiyong was confused. He should never have gotten himself into this situation, caring for others was too complicated. He decided to wait and see how it played out between those two. Having them at each other's throats was beneficial for no one, so condescending or not, if that tennis ball could make friends from foes, it was worth the try.

With extra tiny baby steps, Daesung approached Seunghyun's outstretched hand, all the while keeping a skeptical eye on it. It was clear he didn't trust anything that was attached to Seunghyun. He finally got up close and started sniffing like he was a trained narcotics dog at a Columbian airport, nothing getting passed him. High and low, the boy sniffed the day away. That was one careful wolf boy, maybe that was how he managed to survive out in the wild for all these years. Come to think of it, that was no small feat. How did one even begin to do something like that? Where had he gotten food? How had he survived the freezing nights? How old had he been when he was abandoned, left as food for the forest creatures, only to become one himself?

Then Jiyong realized something, it just popped into his head. How come it hadn't occurred to him before? By his behavior, it was near certain that Daesung thought he was a wolf. But he didn't just wake up one day, suddenly getting the idea into his head that he was a wolf. He had to be raised as such, right? And if he was raised a wolf, then there had to be a wolf-mom somewhere out there that had taken care of him. Or even a whole pack of wolves! Jiyong shuddered at the thought. He did not fancy meeting them on a dark winter evening, would they even understand that he was trying to help Daesung? Wouldn't they just perceive him as a threat and attack him on the spot? Wolves weren't human, they didn't have rational thought. Jiyong promised himself never to go wandering off after dark. He valued his life more than having it end in a bloodbath, being ripped into a thousand pieces by a pack of crazed wolves.

Daesung had been all alone though, when Jiyong had found him. If he had a pack, had they abandoned him? Left him to die? Jiyong didn't know which was worse, to think that Daesung had been alone all his life, or that the only family he had had, had abandoned him so heartlessly. They were wolves after all. There had to be a reason that misbehaving men were so often called wolves. Brutal and unforgiving, that had been Daesung's life until now. How was he such a cheerful little thing? How had he not been broken by life, his sunshine swallowed by the black hole of reality? It was amazing. Inspiring even. Jiyong had always been quick to go to the dark place, almost looking for reasons to go there. He felt safe there. If you shut everyone out and expected nothing from nobody, it was harder to get disappointed. He practically lived his life by that motto. He owed nobody nothing, and nobody owed him anything in return. Well, except for Seunghyun. He owed Seunghyun his life, his everything. And he wanted to give it to him. But Seunghyun didn't want his everything, he only wanted his friendship, his brotherhood.

All this time Seunghyun hadn't moved a muscle. He was waiting for Daesung to react, ready to jump at the slightest indication of malice. Daesung carefully nudged the ball with his nose, jumping back and watching its reaction intently. It was a weird vision, both Seunghyun and Daesung on edge, every muscle in their bodies on alert. Jiyong hoped this would bring them closer, or at least stop them from constantly growling at each other. They had to get along for this whole arrangement to work. Seunghyun would never let Jiyong keep Daesung if he attacked him or showed even the slightest hint of violence. Jiyong was sure Daesung wasn't the type to get violent unless provoked. Therefore he held his breath, hoping Seunghyun wouldn't provoke him in some twisted attempt at testing him and how safe it was to be around him.

Nothing happened. Daesung repeated the action, only now giving it a proper shove with his nose. Seunghyun's hand moved from the pressure Daesung had put on the ball. Daesung's eyes grew two sizes bigger, staring at Seunghyun to see what he would do. His gaze a mixture of defiance and fear. Jiyong had almost the same look as Daesung, waiting to see if Seunghyun would react. But Seunghyun didn't move an inch. What patience! Jiyong would have long given up by now, but Seunghyun was incredibly stubborn in stuff like this so he would probably not stop until he either got a good reason to kick Daesung out or until Daesung accepted him. Jiyong only needed one guess to divine which scenario Seunghyun was hoping for.

When Seunghyun didn't react, Daesung continued his investigation of this yellow mystery object, biting into it only to spit at the bad taste, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Seunghyun exchanged a smirk with Jiyong. He could see it was supposed to mean 'Oh this wolf boy is just too much!', but it was clear that Daesung's innocent, curious, puppy-like manner was wearing Seunghyun down. If only there were no unforeseen issues in the near future, it was actually becoming a possibility that the two would be able to warm up to each other. Jiyong crossed his fingers, sending Seunghyun an encouraging look. Seunghyun appeared as if he was going to smile back at him, but before the smile could materialize on his lips, they suddenly did a 180°, a big incredulous frown forming on Seunghyun's face. For a second Jiyong didn't get what was going on. Why had his mood changed so suddenly? Then his eyes were pulled lower, cold water running down his spine.

The puddle on the floor said it all. Both Seunghyun and Jiyong were too surprised to do anything but watch it grow bigger. Seunghyun was staring mortified at his hand, unable to make a single sound. With that expression on his face, there was no need for sound.