Black Pearl

Part I

                Taemin was in the cave, asleep. The sun was warm on his red fur as he turned over. He could hear Siwon on his other side, whimpering in his sleep. He did that every once in a while when Taemin would move away from him and sleep by himself. He just felt weird.

                Ever since Siwon had proposed to him, he felt that something was amiss. He didn’t think being engaged would feel this way. He thought it was going to be butterflies and sunshine, but no. he was actually questioning his decision. He loved Siwon, but he wondered if Siwon felt the same.

                Like wolves, Lycans couldn’t produce offspring unless the leader conceives first. Since the wolves had puppies, all the females in Taemin’s tribe had wanted puppies. They were asking him every week if he was going to get married already, when he was going to get married, when they were going to have children. It made Taemin’s head spin.

                He felt that Siwon proposed to him because he felt he had to, because there weren’t any other available Lycans in the area, or because he felt bad. When Taemin had wanted him back almost a year ago, he said he couldn’t, because his heart belonged to another. Was he just second best? He rolled over, itching his ear. He wanted to go talk to Onew. He got up, stretched, and walked over to Onew’s tree.

                He scratched at it softly, as to not wake up anyone else. Onew’s honey colored head poked out. Taemin signaled for him to follow. They walked out of the village and to the lake, taking on their human forms as they approached the shore.

                “So, what’s this about?” asked Onew. Taemin rubbed his arm nervously. Onew was happily married, would he understand his doubts? Did Onew have any? He took a deep breath.

                “Well, I’ve been having some doubts lately…” he began, sitting upon a rock. Onew took a seat next to him and patted his back.

                “It’s alright, everyone has doubts before marriage.” He said. Taemin nodded.

                “Yeah, but not everyone has the leader of their tribe as their fiancée, and have everyone’s hopes of children upon your shoulders.” he said, resting his head in his hands. Onew snapped his fingers.

                “Kyungsoo! You could talk to him!” he suggested, Taemin looked over at him and rolled his eyes.

                “No offense to him, or you for that matter. But I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” He said. Onew shrugged.

                “Why not?” he asked. Taemin sighed.

                “Because, he’s the one who caused all these doubts in the first place!” he cried, shooting up and grabbing at his hair. “If it weren’t for him, Siwon and I would already be happily married.” He said. Onew sighed. He didn’t know how to talk to him when he was like this. He never had these problems when he and Donghae got together. But, Taemin was right; he hadn’t been engaged to the leader. He turned to him.

                “What are your doubts, exactly?” he asked. Taemin’s lip turned out.

                “That he doesn’t really love me. That he only proposed to me because he couldn’t have Kyungsoo, and that,” tears began rolling down his cheeks. “That, he, he only wants to marry me because everyone else wants children. I, I just don’t know if I want to marry him right now.” Onew’s mouth hung open. This was huge.

                “W-what are you saying?” he asked, his voice shaking slightly. Taemin pursed his lips.

                “What I’m saying is, I’m not sure if I want to marry him anymore.” He said. Onew nervously ran his fingers through his hair. He never thought he would be hearing Taemin saying things like this. He thought that everything was okay, apparently, he was dead wrong. He wondered what Siwon thought of the whole situation?

*****

                Siwon lay in the cave, alone as usual. Taemin never stayed too long nowadays. He wondered why. What was wrong? Was it something that he had said or done? He hadn’t talked to him a lot lately. With all the preparations for the wedding, he was gone a lot. Perhaps Taemin was mad that they couldn’t see as much of each other as they usually did.

                He got up, stretching his stiff limbs as he stood and fully extended his body, his legs shedding their fur as he turned from Lycan to man. He ruffled his hair as he stepped outside. It was a calm morning. The sun was shining; a soft warm breeze blew through the trees. He turned and headed towards Minho’s hut.

                He knocked as he entered. Minho turned as he blew out several candles. “Leader Siwon,” he said, bowing respectfully. Siwon bowed back. They sat across from each other. “So, what brings you here?” he asked. Siwon shifted uncomfortably.

                “I, um…I, I have realized that Taemin isn’t too happy these days. I want to know how to make him happy. We don’t talk a lot,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Minho nodded.

                “Have you…bonded?” he asked. Siwon’s face turned bright red as he shook his head. Minho scratched his cheek. “Have you tried?” he asked.

                “Every time I try to hold him he pulls away from me. I don’t know what I did.” He looked at Minho, his eyes pleading. “I don’t know what to do.” Minho shook his head. Why was Taemin acting this way? This wasn’t like him at all.

                “Try again, make him talk to you. Don’t give him an option to cop out of it. You need to stay strong and tell him that you two need to have a talk.” He said. Siwon nodded.

                “Alright, I’ll do it. I just want the old Taemin back.”

*****

                Taemin and Onew sat by the lake. They had been sitting there in silence since Taemin announced his doubts. It was awkward. Was he supposed to talk him out of it? Tell him to stay with Siwon. But for who? Siwon? Himself? The clan? What would that do for him? They both turned as they heard a rustling of leaves. It was Siwon. He emerged from the brush and came towards them. Onew stood and bowed.

                “Leader Siwon,” he said politely. Siwon acknowledged him, looking back at Taemin. He just looked at him and turned his head.

                “Onew, leave us. Taemin and I need to speak alone.” Onew’s eyes grew wide.

                “Of course, Leader Siwon.” Taemin looked at him. Why was he leaving him alone? He got up, intent on leaving as well. He didn’t have anything to say to Siwon at the moment. Nothing good, or necessarily bad. Either way, he was sure he wouldn’t be interested. Siwon grabbed Taemin by his shoulder and led him back in front of him.

                “You’re staying here,” he commanded. “You and I are going to have a talk.” He said. Taemin stood there, stone faced.

                “Alright then, talk.” He said. Siwon sighed.

                “What has been your problem lately?” he asked. “I’m worried about you. You’ve been acting really strange lately. I wanted to know if there was anything that I could do to help you,” he said, placing his hands on his shoulders. Taemin turned away. He didn’t want to have this conversation right now. Siwon turned his face towards him. “Taemin, what is wrong with you?” he asked. Taemin sighed.

                He loved Siwon. He really did. But he couldn’t get past what had happened with Kyungsoo, or the fact that he felt like second place compared to him. The ‘great’ Kyungsoo had been fought over by the leaders of the clans. Siwon got hurt because of Kyungsoo. Taemin was almost killed because of Kyungsoo. What made him so special? What was so great about him anyway? He had just been some unfortunate human that got turned and married the Alpha male. Lucky for him.

                Taemin spent the entire time he had spent in the beginning of his stay with the clan just trying to muster up the courage to be able to look at Siwon without blushing. When he finally talked to him, it was weeks before he could look him in the face again. Not to mention the first time he and Siwon kissed. That’s when he figured out that Siwon’s heart belonged to someone else. And when he saw Kyungsoo…did Siwon even know the pain he felt when he brought him here? He turned to Siwon.

                “You know exactly what you did, now leave me alone.” He said, ripping his arm away. He wasn’t in the mood for games tonight. As he began to walk away, he felt another tug on his arm, and suddenly flew backwards into Siwon’s arms. He struggled against his muscular exterior, but in the end he could resist no longer. His head rested upon his shoulder, his face towards the sky as his arms went limp at his sided.

                “Taemin, please tell me what I can do to make you happy.” He turned him around so that they were face to face. “We are going to spend the rest of our lives together. That’s hundreds of years; I want you to be happy. Please tell me what’s wrong so that I can fix it. I want to make you happy.” Taemin turned to him.

                “Nothing would make me happier than spending the rest of my life with you, Siwon.” He said, his face. Siwon nuzzled him. Taemin took Siwon’s face in his hands and made him look Taemin in the eye. “But right now, I’m dealing with some stuff. I need you to give me space to think about this. Alone. Can you do that for me, Siwon?” he asked. Siwon stared back at him with sad eyes, nodding slowly. Taemin kissed him on the forehead and unwrapped himself from his arms. He looked back once before he ran off into the woods.

                Siwon sat there in stunned silence. Taemin needed to be alone. What could be the problem? What had he done? What hadn’t he done? What exactly was he dealing with that he couldn’t tell Siwon? He looked back at the woods. ‘Taemin, what can I do?’

END OF PART I