Because y'all insisted on a sequel to love is pain; pain is love. o u o

again, pardon the word vomit because i don't even know what im writing  hELP Me KrishO is desTROying  MY LiFe. 

Other Pairings appearing in this: KaiSoo, HunHan and TaoLay. It's in order, so skip whatever pairing you don't like. ouo

It'd been over a week since the last incident, and Joonmyun had been healing up quick and fine. The bruises on his back were disappearing, most of his bones were already in place, and the gashing wound was almost gone. To him, it's become almost a daily morning routine to wake up and see Kris' sleeping face right beside his; to watch as those deep chocolate eyes open drowsily, and to hear a husky voice saying "Good morning, Joonmyun-ah."

Today is no different. He wakes up, staring right into the sleeping face of the Alpha. Despite his drowsiness, he smiles at how cute the bigger man looks when asleep, and he chuckles quietly to himself. He then begins trying to untangle himself from under Kris' long, muscular and warm limbs, earning a grunt in his quest to get to the bathroom. When he finally manages to get out and swings his legs to touch the floor, he gets swept back into bed just as they touch the wood panels by a strong arm, finding himself a nice of view Kris' collarbones. 

"Where are you going?" The deep, sultry voice of his mate floats into his ear; the whisper of his breath onto the sensitive lobe of his ear making him shiver slightly. 

"To the bathroom?" He replies meekly, looking up to meet the drowsy, albeit loving gaze Kris gave him. 

They stay like this for god knows how long, before Joonmyun feels embarrassed and looks down. He hears and feels his lover chuckle, the vibration reverberating through his body, and he sighs, leaning closer into the warm embrace. 

"Joonmyun-ah."

"Hm?"

"Can you tell me... what is love?"

He looks up at Kris, a little surprised by what his lover asked. All those years together, and Kris was asking now? 

"Well, love is..." He starts, but then he stops. His eyes widen, because he knows exactly what love is to him. "It's... different to each person. You have to find out what love is to you."

With that and a kind, angelic smile aimed to his stunned lover, Joonmyun ups and leaves the Alpha alone on the bed.

Sorry, Kris, but you'll have to figure this one out on your own.

... or with the lousy help and advice from the pack.

Kai was drinking milk from the carton in the kitchen when the Alpha enters with a frown marring his handsome features. He had his arms wrapped around a tiny Kyungsoo, who was cooking and flipping pancakes. 

The Alpha takes one look at them, and he seems to be even deeper in thought, if that was possible. Kyungsoo notices first, and turns to him.

"Something bothering you, Kris?" Kyungsoo asks, wiping his hands on his pink apron and looking at the Alpha. Despite Kyungsoo being one of the lower wolves, he was the so-called "mother" of the group, next to Joonmyun, of course, and he rarely called Kris by his title or "duizhang". 

"Can I ask the both of you a question?" Kris shoots back, and Kyungsoo just merely nods, while Kai doesn't have a response as he continues to down his milk like a greedy wolf. "... What is love to you?"

Kai continues to chug his milk, his sleepy mind barely registering the Alpha's question until-

PFFFFFFFFT.

Both Kris and Kyungsoo stares at the milk stains on the floor.

"MY KITCHEN!" Kyungsoo shrieks, shoving Kai off him as he hurries to clean the mess up. 

Bewildered by what just happened, Kris just stands there and waits until the two - mainly Kyungsoo - are done cleaning up the mess. 

"Well, to answer your question..." The shorter male pauses for a while, putting the dirty rag under the water and rinsing it out while his lover stared dumbly at the Alpha. "For me, love is... staying by his side, cooking for him, and making sure he doesn't get into trouble. Love is to see his smile and know that I'm the cause for it. It's cheesy, but it's true."

With that said, he pokes at his still shell-shocked mate, glancing at the Alpha to see if he understood. Kris gives a small smile and a nod, moving off towards the living room.

They both stare after him, before Kai finally opens his mouth-

"Staying by my side, cooking for me, making sure I stay out of trouble... Seeing my smile and knowing you're the cause for it..." He mutters against Kyungsoo's neck, and the latter barely lets out a squeal before Kai grabs him and pushes him onto the kitchen counter.

"KAI, NOT IN THE KITCHEN!" He wails, but it's to no avail because Kai is slipping his pink apron off him-

"It was distracting in the first place, that apron."

Sehun is cuddling with Luhan on the couch in the living room, head on his lover's shoulder and half of his body on Luhan's lap, but not really watching the sappy romance movie that the older has popped into the DVD player. He has a bored look on his face, while his lover is completely absorbed into whatever the characters are saying on the screen. When Kris enters, he looks up and nods in acknowledgement, not saying anything to jostle his mate out of his stare. 

Again, Kris takes a look at the two of them before he seems to be deep in thought again.

This time, Luhan notices first, and he takes the initiative to pause the movie - though he knows that Sehun has been bored of it since the moment he popped it in - before looking at the Alpha.

"Something wrong, duizhang?" He asks, and Kris looks at him.

"Tell me," The Alpha starts, face all serious. "What is love to you?"

Upon hearing that, Sehun tumbles off the couch, because Luhan suddenly leaps up and sends him flying into a mouthful of carpet. The doe-eyed male gets sparkles in his eyes as he clasps his hands together.

"Why, duizhang, love is something beautiful! It's the feeling you get when you see that special someone, the warmth you feel whenever you're with him, and the way his gaze... his gaze sends shivers up and down your spine! Love is when you know that this is the person you truly like with all your heart, and you belong to him, just like how he belongs to you, heart, mind and soul!"

He rants on about sunshine, unicorns, rainbows and sunsets; whereas a pissed Sehun sits on the floor. As Kris passes the youngest, he glances down, and finds Sehun looking at him.

"You should know what love is," Sehun mutters to him so softly he almost misses it - he probably didn't want Luhan to hear. "It’s in your eyes every single time you look at him."

Kris doesn't understand at first, but it dawns on him when Sehun turns and grabs Luhan into a hug, resuming the movie his lover was watching just now. Luhan immediately fixates on the screen, whilst Sehun fixates his gaze on Luhan. It's a burning gaze, one of desire, lust and... love.

Kris encounters Tao and Lay on the balcony when he steps out to take a breather. It's been about six hours since he got up, and the previous couples before him were not of much help, though he did sort of figure something out. He wants to ask another person before he confirms it, though, and he finds the two lovers staring mindlessly at the sky.

Clearing his throat makes Lay jump, while Tao just turns to face him.

"Hi, duizhang," The younger greets him, dark hair falling into his deep eyes. Beside him, Lay gives a nod, his gaze asking about Joonmyun's stitches.

"He's fine," Kris directs to the healer before turning to Tao. "Hey, Tao."

"What's wrong, you seem worried?" Lay questions, and they both stare at Kris.

"What's love to you two?" He asks them.

Lay chuckles, guessing the reason for this at once. After all, Kris had just gotten Joonmyun back, and it’s not really a surprise for Kris to doubt what love was after abusing his lover for so long. Tao thinks for a bit, before he looks at Lay, takes his hand and smiles at Kris.

"Love is... being able to be yourself around him, to be able to communicate even without words; to be able to understand that his love for you will never die," Tao concludes with a soft smile.

"Love is something you'll know when you see it," Lay smiles kindly towards Kris, nodding. "You'll get your own special definition of love."

Kris nods, thanking them before he leaves. They stare after him, before Lay turns to the skies again.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Tao asks his lover, turning to the skies. 

"I'm sure they will be."

Kris looks at the time: 5:09PM. He shuffles into the kitchen, where Kyungsoo's absence rings like a warning bell in his head. They were probably in the bedroom, from what he heard, and he thinks that he should go out and buy dinner for Joonmyun, because there are several notes tacked on the refrigerator, whereby almost everybody has gone out, save for Kai and Kyungsoo, but he knows that the latter will cook for Kai later on.

As he collects his keys, he wonders briefly what Joonmyun is doing. He'd been so busy running around and asking the members what love meant to them, he'd almost forgotten about how bored Joonmyun must be in their room - he briefly wonders if he should ask the younger out to dinner, but decides against it as he wants to clear his cloudy train of thoughts.

He breathes in cool fresh air as he steps out of their humble abode, and he pulls his jacket snugly around him as he strolls out of the woods, making it seem as though he was only exploring and enjoying nature. Reaching up, he pulls his beanie down and adjusts his sunglasses as he strolls through the town, blending into the masses of people despite his giant height, only receiving a few glances compared to last time he came into town with Joonmyun.

"Wow Kris, you're popular," Joonmyun whispered to him.

Kris chuckles as more heads - mainly females - turn to gaze upon his sculptured beauty. He glances down at his shorter lover, and pulls him closer. They enter the small cafe, and Joonmyun orders a sub with lots of meat in it. Even the waitress and cashier stare openly at him, and he notices Joonmyun shift uncomfortably as they stare at him in incredulity, probably wondering what a gnome was doing with a tall model.

He had pulled Joonmyun home quickly when he saw the younger trying to blink tears out of his eyes. 

Smiling to himself, Kris enters the same small cafe, and he orders the same sub that Joonmyun ordered at that time, along with another set meal and drinks - black coffee for him, and passion fruit tea for Joonmyun. As he juggles his purchases, he feels the need to hurry home to see Joonmyun, to eat with Joonmyun. He swallows thickly as he hurries his steps, the sudden burning desire to see his mate fuelling his stamina.

When Kris enters his shared room with Joonmyun with takeout in hand, he had expected Joonmyun to be resting in bed - but no, there's Joonmyun, trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle... on the bed. The lumpy surface was proving it difficult for the puzzle pieces to stay together, and his lover has lines on his forehead all from that frowning.

"You'll get ugly wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," He tells Joonmyun as he places the takeout on the bedside table.

Joonmyun barely glances at him, fixing another piece into place, murmuring a "Says you when you always have that face on."

He wrinkles his nose and sits down beside his auburn-haired lover.

"I brought takeout," He tells him, sliding his arms around the younger's waist. "The same sub from the same cafe."

The sentence succeeds in pulling the younger's gaze on him. "What drink did you buy me?"

"Passion fruit tea."

With an incoherent mumble, Joonmyun packs the puzzle away and shifts the takeout onto his lap. They eat in silence, and Kris contemplates whether to inform Joonmyun that he has gathered his thoughts at last, and could give him a half-decent answer-

"So, did you ask any of the pack?" The redhead looks at him, tilting his head in a cute manner.

"I did," Kris replies through a mouthful of chicken, earning a glare from the younger at his lack of table manners. "I asked Kai and Kyungsoo, Luhan and Sehun, and Tao and Lay."

Joonmyun remained quiet for a moment. 

"What's your answer to your own question then?" He asks carefully, placing his words in front of him slowly, as if he's afraid of hearing something he doesn't want to hear.

"I'll tell you later."

It's now night time, and the stars are shining brightly in the sky. Joonmyun swears this is the brightest he's ever seen them glow. He decides to leave the curtains open, and shuffles over to bed, where Kris is propped up on his elbows, reading a book. Lifting the covers, he snuggles into them and covers himself, closes his eyes and waits.

Not even five seconds later, he hears the rustling of a page being marked, the soft thud of a hard-cover book against wood, and the click of the bedside lamp engulfs them in darkness. Soon enough, there's warmth next to him, and strong arms surround him in a cocoon, while his legs are tangled with longer ones. He breathes in deep and looks up into the eyes of his lover, which sparkle under the reflection of the stars and the moon.

"Are you going to tell me now?" He asks, breaking the silence between them. He has his hands on Kris' chest, and he can feel the older's heartbeat on his right palm.

He feels Kris shifting closer; folding him even tighter if that was possible into him. His eyes never leave Kris', and he can see the love and seriousness in them.

"Love is... feeling you next to me. It's the bubble of warmth I get whenever you snuggle against me, the tingles I feel in my fingers whenever you touch me, the shivers that run down my spine whenever you call my name. Love is sweet, like a dessert after a full-course meal; like a sour candy after all the sourness has been removed, sweet like a bubblegum wrapped in tons of cotton candy. It's something that I feel every day, because love is something you've taught me to feel."

Kris trails off and places a soft kiss on Joonmyun's lips. The younger can feel his vision blurring as he tries to blink away his tears. He wants to reach up and rub them away badly, but Kris beats him to it, softly wiping the pad of his thumbs against the moisture in his lids.

"Joonmyun-ah, love is sweet; really sweet, just like candy, like gum, like sugar..."

Kiss after kiss is placed on his lips, the side of his mouth, his nose and forehead. Kisses are peppered down all over his face, and Joonmyun squirms under the soft handling of his lover.

"Love is sweet, just like... just like you."

huehuehue. 2,572 words of mushyness and crap. Tell me, dear readers, what is love? o u o /shot. Hueee. Hope you enjoyed this crapwordvomitofmushynessandeverythingelse. 

// If you all don't get why Kris is asking Joonmyun what love is, it's because in the previous one-shot (Love is Pain; Pain is Love), Kris sort of abuses Joonmyun - and that is somehow his "love" for Joonmyun, and now because he doesn't want to "love" in such a negative way anymore, he wants to find out what love is so that he can treat Joonmyun better. If that makes any sense lmao. Or you can just think of this as an epilogue to the one-shot. o.o;