Jiyong felt a light tap on his shoulder. “5 more minutes..” he mumbled, not able to free himself completely from the tight grip of sleep. There was another tap. “Ooh just 5 more minuuuutes!” he begged. “You already got an extra 10 minutes and I have to leave in a bit.” A voice whispered. Wait, he knew that voice. It was not his manager like he had expected, but he knew that voice. His eyes popped open, the curiosity had succeeded in transporting him back into the world of the waking. A sugar sweet eyesmile greeted him, Youngbae put his finger up to his lips, stopping him from saying anything, pointing at Daesung who was still fast asleep, curled up in Jiyong’s arms. Sleeping, he was as cute as can be, no one could have guessed he was a savage beast by day. Although his long sturdy fingernails kind of gave it away. Jiyong made a mental note to do something about that, and not only to make them look nice. He wasn’t much interested in getting tetanus after being scratched by those monstrosities.

Youngbae indicated that he should join him in the kitchen, not waiting for him to get up. Jiyong carefully untangled himself from Daesung’s powerful grip. The most difficult task was the hand Daesung had slid under his robe and was now resting on his back, encircling him. Very slowly he crawled out of the sofa, freezing as Daesung stirred. He half-opened his eyes, mumbled something and then turned himself over and fell right back to sleep, snuggling with the blanket Youngbae had so kindly placed over them. Jiyong was clear! He felt he should get some kind of a medal for clearing this difficult obstacle course in record time. Then he noticed it, or more the lack of ‘it’. The terrible terrible mess they had made had disappeared, not even a trace of it left. Jiyong felt as if he was finally losing it, he hadn’t just dreamt the whole thing, had he? He glanced at the magazines that lay neatly stacked on the coffee table instead of being spread over the whole floor like Jiyong could have sworn he had left them. Their clothes that had decorated various parts of the room were nowhere to be seen. The floor even appeared to have been cleaned thoroughly, Daesung’s dirty footprints remaining only in Jiyong’s memory. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He whispered to himself as he headed to the kitchen.

“You.. you did this? You cleaned the whole..” Jiyong had started talking as soon as he closed the kitchen door, but was rendered speechless at the sight of Youngbae in front of the stove, wearing a flowery apron. He looked like the perfect wife, humming softly as he stirred something in a huge pot. It smelled heavenly. It was almost like watching a live version of one of those perfect catalogue photos that always looked too good to be true. Jiyong's stomach grumbled. He hadn't realized just how utterly famished he was. He collapsed into a nearby chair.

“Wow, you really are an angel! You almost make me believe in heaven.” Jiyong said stunned. Youngbae giggled happily. “It's almost ready. After seeing the state of this place I figured you must be hungry. How are you holding up? You're still alive I see.. more or less.”. “Yeah, it's been a bit..” Jiyong trailed off, not able to find the right words to properly describe the morning he'd had. “Mmm, I thought as much.” Youngbae gave him an encouraging wink. “I checked on the wound while you two were sleeping and you're right, it looks much better. It's healing, the swelling has gone down and so far no signs of an infection. We just have to keep an eye on it, to be safe. But I think changing the dressings every 4 hours should be enough.” Youngbae explained as he laid down a plate in front of Jiyong. It was overflowing with what Jiyong guessed was some kind of stew.

“Oh, and I also prepared some meals and put them in the freezer. I didn't think you guys were at the point where you could cook organized meals together, although the smeared ham on the floor looked mighty delicious.” Youngbae snorted, his eyes disappearing into a big smile. Jiyong could've cried he was so thankful, there was no way he would be able to do this without him. Yet he felt bad that poor Youngbae was using his precious free time cleaning up their crap. Jiyong knew just how little free time Youngbae got and the amount of crap-cleaning he had to do at work. Why was he being so kind to him? Jiyong never gave Youngbae much, other than grumpiness and a bad attitude. Why Youngbae put up with it was anyone's guess. It was clear that nursing was more than just a job to Youngbae, it was his calling. Jiyong wanted to show how much he appreciated this, but he wasn't really good at expressing genuine feelings. Fake feelings were more his specialty, hence his booming acting career. Real feelings were too awkward and dangerous.

“Youngbae..” Jiyong started. “I know. Don't worry, I'll definitely find a way for you to repay me the favor.” Youngbae gave him a mysterious look and squeezed Jiyong's shoulder lightly. “Hmm, I can feel some tightness building up there, are you doing the exercise plan I made for you?” Youngbae looked at him with X-ray eyes. “If you want to get better you've got to work for it!” Youngbae scolded him without waiting for an answer. “I know.” Jiyong said sullenly, feeling the scolding was uncalled for. He had been following the plan rigorously, but finding a wolf boy had thrown his life off course and the knots in his shoulders were probably from dragging him over half the mountain yesterday. However, Jiyong didn't make excuses, it wasn't his style. He felt it belittled him. Making excuses made you look weak, giving others the upper hand.

“Okay, I'll be going then.” Youngbae said softly. “You're not going to eat with me?” Jiyong replied disappointedly. Youngbae beamed at him, “Next time. I have a shift in a bit. I'll come back as soon as I can.”. “You.. you know you don't have to..” Jiyong was staring at his plate, hoping Youngbae wouldn't take him up on his offer. “No, I kind of have to. Where do you think you would be without me?” Youngbae answered playfully and giggled. His laughter tickled the bottom of Jiyong's stomach. Youngbae sure didn't break the 'cute nurse' stereotype, Jiyong thought.

Youngbae had seen himself out while Jiyong practically inhaled the stew. It felt wonderful getting something warm in his stomach. It made him feel a little more grounded. He took out his phone wanting to send Youngbae a simple thank you message, that was the least he could do. ! He had forgotten that his phone had drowned in the shower. Oh no! And he was going to ask Youngbae to have it fixed and send a text message to Seunghyun from his phone, so Seunghyun wouldn't worry. Or more so he wouldn't be pissed at him for the remainder of the week. Seunghyun really didn't like it when he didn't answer his phone. There were not a lot of things that could make Seunghyun's blood boil, but not answering his phone was one of those things and pretty high on the list as well. Oh, how could he forget? He was without a phone, cut off from the outside world. The only thing to do was to put the phone in a bag of rice and hope nothing bad would happen before it dried. Now what could possibly go wrong with a wild wolf boy in the house?

When Jiyong entered the living room, a very cheerful Daesung greeted him. Somewhere along the way the towel had been lost so as he bounced up and down in front of Jiyong, so did his privates. “We really have to get you into some clothes, huh, Daesungie.” Jiyong ruffled his hair a bit, making him bounce even more enthusiastically. “So you slept well, did you?” Jiyong said brightly, happy that Daesung's leg was getting better. Even though Daesung didn't understand a word he said to him, he found it comforting to talk to him. He was slowly warming up to this bundle of trouble.

Jiyong chose his least favorite boxer shorts and his least expensive sweats to lend to Daesung. Daesung followed him around, watching his every move intently. He was getting better at moving around without putting weight on his injured leg. Returning to the living room, Jiyong tried to think up the best way to get Daesung into the boxers. Before he had reached a conclusion, Daesung snatched them out of his hands, examining them curiously. First he held them with one hand and shook them fiercely, monitoring the boxers' reaction. Next he gingerly nudged them with his nose, sniffing them in the process. Lastly, using both hands, he tried pulling them apart, amazed as the boxers just kept stretching and stretching.

Suddenly there was a small thud and the boxers popped out of Daesung's hands, flying across the room. Daesung stared stunned at his empty hands and then at the boxers that lay on the floor on the other side of the room, apparently trying to make sense of it all. Jiyong smirked at how genuinely cute he was, discovering the physics of elasticity. He had so many firsts ahead of him. Who could have been so cruel, abandoning this beautiful healthy boy out in the woods with no chance for survival? Even so, against all odds, he had survived all the hardships life had thrown at him. Judging by the scars on his body, they had been many. Daesung was clearly a survivor. Jiyong couldn't help but admire him. Would he have had the strength to survive if he had been left in the woods instead of the orphanage when he was little? Jiyong doubted it. His skin itched with curiosity, what was this boy's story?

Out of the blue Daesung burst out with laughter. He collapsed, laughing so hard tears came out. It began as an incredibly dorky low sound, almost like a sheep “Baa-aaa-ha-aa-ha”. But by the time the tears started running down his cheeks, it was as if someone had turned down the volume, muting him. He lay there twitching, his face contorted with laughter, still no sound came out. Jiyong couldn't help but laugh at first, but he was starting to get worried that Daesung wasn't even breathing. His face was turning maroon and it was a while since Jiyong had last seen him take a breath. After a while Daesung finally calmed down. Jiyong wiped away his tears, checking if he was alright. He had an angelic smile on his face, almost as if he was high. Jiyong could feel his own heart beating. “Don't fall for this strange boy, heart.” Jiyong silently begged.

Take 2. Jiyong had fetched the boxers, but before he managed to try putting it on Daesung, Daesung grabbed them, intending to shoot them over the room again, only instead of flying to the other end of the room, they flew high up in the air, landing on Jiyong's head. Daesung's laughter was certainly not inaudible this time. It boomed, echoing all around the living room. It was so contagious Jiyong couldn't help but laugh with him. Oh, that silly boy.

Take 3. Same story. Take 4. Take 5. By the 6^th time Jiyong had stopped finding it funny at all, annoyance setting in. He just wanted to put some clothes on him, why did everything have to be such a struggle? Taking care of somebody sure was exhausting, he was relieved that pets hadn't been allowed at the orphanage. He wanted to take a breather but that wasn't an option. Jiyong considered just letting him continue to waltz around , but in the end he would have to wear something and in full honesty, Jiyong found it a bit unsettling having him run about in his birthday suit.

Okay, let's do this! “Daesung-ah, enough!” he told him sternly, scolding him with his eyes. Daesung stared back innocently, not comprehending what it was that he had done wrong. Jiyong measured the distance between them and pounced on him, catching Daesung off guard. With one hand he managed to snare the boxers around one of his legs, but Daesung was too strong. He swiftly turned the tables on Jiyong. Without knowing what had happened, Daesung had Jiyong pinned to the floor, growling playfully. Clearly he thought this was some kind of game, but Jiyong wasn't playing. He struggled to get out of Daesung's hold, pinching his arm to break free. They went a few rounds like that, Jiyong coming close a few times, almost managing to snag Daesung's other foot with the boxers but every time he fell short. This time he was going to make it, just a liiittle further. Jiyong's arm stretched further than he thought was physically possible, the elastic band of the boxers fully extended. He was about to catch Daesung's big toe into his boxer-trap when a barbaric pounding on the front door snapped Daesung out of playing mode and into ferocious wolf mode. His lips trembled as he growled angrily.