Chapter 2

Suho didn’t see Kris again for another month. This time, when they met, they met purely by incident in the forest once again.

Suho was, as usual, admiring the natural beauty of the forest when he heard footsteps sounding behind him. He turned around, and was surprised to see Kris’s tall form approaching him.

“Kris?”

“Suho.”

Suho instinctively moved away from the edge of the path, so that he was safely in the middle by the time Kris reached him. “How’ve you been? It’s been a while, right?”

“I’ve been well.”

“And your friend? Xiao Lu?”

“He’s doing well enough.”

“That’s good.” Suho self-consciously played with the ends of his sleeves.

“What were you looking at? At the edge of the path?”

“Just rain droplets clinging to the pine needles,” Suho smiled. “Nothing too special.”

“Hm.” Kris walked over to the edge of the path and observed the particular tree that Suho had been looking at. “It’s very pretty.”

Suho nodded shyly from behind him. His heart was beating quicker at the sight of Kris’s handsome face, and suddenly he was hit with a wave desire, unlike anything he’d felt before in his life.

Kris’s nostrils flared briefly before he schooled his expression and turned around to face Suho. “Don’t you learn anything?”

“What?” Suho looked taken aback at the sudden change in subject.

Kris stalked forward and reached out to pull Suho close to him. “Didn’t you learn anything the first time, when those two men approach you?”

“I d-don’t understand.” Suho tried to gently push Kris away. “Kris, stop, you’re frightening me.”

“You shouldn’t come in to these woods alone, Suho.” Kris’s eyes gleamed brightly in the daylight, and Suho swore that he saw them flash red for a moment. “The woods are dangerous when you’re alone.”

Before Suho could object to what was happening, he was being pulled in to a passionate kiss. He let out a startled gasp, and then Kris’s tongue was inside of his mouth, and oh dear god why did it have to feel so good?

It wasn’t Suho’s very first kiss, but he’d never been kissed so passionately in his entire life either. Without thinking, he reached out and dug his fingers in to Kris’s coat front as he tried to keep up, but he was starting to feel dizzy, and soon he was just allowing Kris to completely control the kiss and do whatever he wanted with his mouth.

Eventually, they broke away for air, a strand of saliva connecting their mouths as they breathed heavily. Kris reached down and wiped the liquid off of Suho’s lips with the pad of his thumb.

“What…?”

Kris leaned in to kiss him again. They kept kissing like that, just standing in the cold with their arms around each other, until they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the path.

The couple broke apart, and Suho wiped his lips on the back of his hand as he looked up at Kris.

Kris, on the other hand, frowned as the footsteps got louder. “…he smells like you.”

Suho stared at Kris in confusion. “He smells like me?”

Kris caught himself and shook his head. “I have to go.”

“Will I see you again?”

“Yes.”

Suho watched as Kris slipped off of the edge of the path, his eyes filled with doubts.

“Suho?”

Suho turned around and was surprised to see his brother standing on the path. “Minseok! You don’t usually come out here.”

His brother ignored him, as usual. “Suho, let’s go home. People have been sighting wolves more and more frequently. It’s not safe here, even in the daylight.” Suho’s brother grabbed him by the hand and began to drag him away.

Suho glanced back for a brief moment, and was startled to glimpse a pair of red eyes gazing up at him from beneath a tree before the vanished, leaving only darkness in their place.

XXX

Despite his elder brother’s wishes, Suho continued to return to the forest in the hopes of finding Kris. He walked along the frosty paths, wishing that he would stumble across the taller man. More often than not he would, but he had a feeling that it was Kris who would find him and not the other way around.

After their initial kiss, they didn’t touch again after that. Instead, Suho began to coax Kris out of the forest. They went on dates in the parks, out to coffee, and once Kris even walked with Suho back to his school to pick up a book that he’d forgotten.

Suho wasn’t sure how he felt about Kris knowing so much about him when he still didn’t know very much about Kris. True, he knew a lot about his personality and his likes and his dislikes, but Suho wanted to know more about Kris’s family.

“Kris, where do you live?”

“Around.” Kris blew on his coffee and raised an eyebrow at Suho.

Suho puffed out his cheeks in irritation. “Why are you so secretive? Surely it isn’t that bad.”

“I don’t know where your house is, so why do you need to know where I live? It doesn’t matter, Suho.”

Suho eyed Kris suspiciously, but decided to drop the subject. “Ah…the neighbors keep fussing over me every time I return from the forest.”

“They do? Why?”

“They say that there are wolves in the forest. But people always say that there are wolves in the forest, so I’m not entirely sure why they decide that now is the best time to create a fuss.”

“They’re just worried about you.”

“I know. But I have you to protect me, in the forest. What could happen with you around? Any wolf would take one look at the scowl on your face and take off with its tail between its legs.”

Kris chuckled. “You think too highly of me.”

Suho smirked. “I’m not sure if it was a compliment.”

“But…people have been sighting wolves again? How many, do you know?”

“There’ve been reports of sightings of a lone wolf,  although some people have started saying that a new pack moved in near the backwoods.”

“The backwoods,” Kris said slowly. “You’re certain?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Suho turned his head towards the door of the café as a group of young men came through the doors.

Kris looked at the men over Suho’s head, his eyes widening in surprise for a moment before returning to their normal size. “Suho.”

“Hm?” Suho turned back to face the table and crossed his legs in his seat.

“I live out in the woods. My house is off of the path.”

“Is that why you’re in the woods all the time?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know that anyone had built any houses or cabins out there,” Suho frowned. “Is it deep inside?”

“Yes, but Suho, listen to me.” Kris reached out across the table and put his hand of the younger boy’s. “Suho, don’t try and go looking for my house, ever, alright? You must never wander off of the paths.”

Suho frowned in annoyance. “Who said that I was going to look for your house? I’m not stupid, and I’m not a little kid. I know that I could get lost easily.”

Kris rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to treat you like a little kid, Suho. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Alright.” Suho smiled up at Kris and flipped his hand so that their fingers were intertwined. “I won’t go looking for your house. Ok?”

“I—”

They were interrupted by the arrival of a group of guys approaching their table. “Are you the one they call ‘Kris’?”

Kris glared at the intruders. “Maybe.”

“Your friend, Xiao Lu. Where is he?”

“Lu? He left a long time ago.” Kris squeezed Suho’s hand when the younger boy flinched in bewilderment. “I can’t help you if you’re looking for him. He didn’t tell me where he was going.”

“He left, huh?” A young man with blonde hair leaned on their table and smirked. “Why did he go?”

“He left for a woman,” Kris growled. “Were you suggesting something else?”

Suho edged away from the blonde haired man’s body as he eyed the group of men surrounding the table with unease. What was going on? And a woman? Hadn’t Kris said that Lu was a high school student?

“I wasn’t suggesting anything,” the blonde man smirked. “I thought you might want to meet someone, though.”

The crowd parted to reveal a short, very pretty brown-haired man. “Kris.”

“Lu.”

Lu looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up at Kris. “I…”

“He joined our pack recently,” the blonde man looked quite pleased with himself. Suho thought that such a self-satisfied expression didn’t belong on such an adorable person’s face. “What do you have to say to that, Kris?”

Kris dropped Suho’s hand and shoved his chair back, his face dark with rage. “What the hell have you done, Lu?”

“Kris, I—”

“Don’t say anything more, Lu,” the blonde man snapped. “If you want your friend back, Kris, meet us tonight. You’ll know what to do.”

The men left, dragging Xiao Lu away from them as Kris snarled at their backs. He dropped back in to his seat, fuming, while the rest of the café customers whispered worriedly over the incident that had just taken place.

“Kris?”

Kris pulled himself out of his reverie and looked across the table at Suho. “You must have a lot of questions.”

Suho bit his lip. “…Yes.”

“I can’t answer them now.”

“I see,” Suho said slowly. “Maybe I should go home now.”

“If that’s what you want. I’ll walk you back.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” I knew that I shouldn’t have trusted you…that gang of boys, and your friend. There’s something that you aren’t telling me, and this can only spell trouble. “’Bye Kris.”

“See you.”

Suho stalked out of the café with his coffee cup in hand, leaving Kris alone at the table.

XXX

Suho sighed wearily as he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He and Kris weren’t fighting, per se, but they hadn’t contacted each other for a week. Kris didn’t have a cell phone, so it was pointless to try and call him, and although Suho was tempted to search the woods for Kris’s house, he also remembered his promise to Kris as well.

Suho rolled over on to his side and glared at his alarm clock. “It’s too early to be thinking about this,” he groaned. “Why can’t I just fall asleep?” Why won’t he get out of my head?

Suho sighed and decided that even though it was two in the morning, sleeping was pointless. He rolled out of bed and padded across the room to his window which had a view of the street outside.

He gasped in surprise, and then rubbed his eyes just to make sure that the light wasn’t playing tricks on him.

Kris was definitely limping down the sidewalk on his street.

Suho felt a surge of adrenaline work its way through his body as he cautiously slipped out of his room and crept downstairs; he sighed in relief when he saw that their house alarm was off. He grabbed a coat to cover his body from the chill, stuffed his feet in to his sneakers and then silently slipped out of the house.

“Kris!”

Kris raised his head to see Suho coming towards him, a worried look on his face. “Kris! Are you alright? Oh no, you’re hurt—“ Suho quickly ducked under Kris’s arm so that Kris could lean on him. “What happened?”

“Suho?” Kris stared down dumbly at the boy supporting him. He hadn’t stumbled here on purpose; he’d made a careful point of not tracking Suho’s scent back to his house. However, it appeared that in his half-conscious state, he had indeed followed the comforting scent of the younger boy.

“Kris, what happened?” Suho repeated, less urgently. “Do you need medical attention?”

“What are you doing out so late at night? It’s dangerous…” Kris trailed off when he realized that Suho was only wearing his pajamas under his coat.

“Don’t scold me about doing dangerous things when you’ve clearly just been in a fight,” Suho said gently. “Come on, Kris.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you in to my house. It’s better than having you running around outside in the cold.”

Kris hesitated. “Your family…”

“We’ll have to be quiet. But I don’t want you outside when it’s so cold out, and you have injuries. Come on, Kris.”

Kris sighed and gave in to Suho’s insistent tugging. Suho led him inside the house and carefully guided him up the stairs. To both of their relief, Suho’s parents and brother didn’t seem to realize that anything was amiss.

“Wait here,” Suho whispered softly. “I’ll be right back.”

Kris nodded wearily and sank down on to Suho’s bed. When had it come to this, that he would turn to this beautiful, innocent, far too young boy for help when he was wounded?

Suho returned a few minutes later with a roll of gauze, a jar of antibiotic ointment, and several other medical supplies. He reached out and the small lamp by his desk and guided Kris to sit under the light.

“What were you thinking? Aren’t you supposed to be a college kid who knows better?”

“It was those guys from last week. They had Lu…I couldn’t just leave him.”

“Lu? Your friend?” Suho frowned as he began cleaning Kris’s face off with an alcohol wipe, and winced at sight of a long gash on Kris’s cheek. “What happened to him? Were you unsuccessful?”

“No, I got Lu away from them.”

“Then where is he?”

“Ah…” Kris debated internally for a moment before responding. “He returned to the house in the woods.”

“He’ll be fine on his own? He must be frightened.”

“From what I gather, he’ll be leaving again soon. He has a girl he cares about, far away from here, who he needs to get back to.”

“At such a young age?”

“Huh?”

Suho looked at Kris in surprise. “You said that Lu was a high school student.”

“Oh. Well, yes he is…”

“Kris, what is it that you’re not telling me?”

“If I’m not telling you something, then I’m not telling you for a good reason.”

Suho pursed his lips and shook his head. “You’re impossible.” They sat in silence, with Suho continuing to wipe Kris’s face clean of blood for several minutes.

“This is going to sting,” Suho warned as he began cleaning out the cut on Kris’s face.

“I’ve had worse.”

“Do you get in to fights a lot?”

“Something like that.”

“But…why? You don’t seem like the aggressive type to me.”

To Suho’s surprise, Kris burst out laughing and tried to muffle it beneath his palms. “Oh, Suho, you have no idea.”

“Are you a violent person, then?” Suho tried to mask his hands’ sudden shakiness, but he didn’t think he succeeded very well.

Kris reached up and grabbed his wrist. “Suho, I’m not violent towards the people I care about. I only get violent if other people try and threaten my loved ones.”

“Do you care about me?” The childish question slipped out from between Suho’s lips before he could stop himself.

“Yes.”

Suho swallowed hard and looked away, unable to stand the intensity of Kris’s gaze. “Why?” he whispered. “We’ve only known each other for a couple of months. Why do you care so much?”

“Do you really want me to say it?” Suddenly, Kris’s eyes took on a much darker, more dangerous look.

Suho recoiled; he hadn’t seen such a look in Kris’s eyes since the day of their first encounter, and then on the day of their first (and only) kiss. “Kris—“

Kris caught Suho’s chin in a firm grip and held him in place. “It doesn’t matter why I care so much about you,” he murmured, his eyes softening slightly. “The only thing that matters is that you’re mine.”

I’ve fallen for this irresistible, powerful feeling and I’ve let go of myself.

 

a/n: Lol...i have four exams tomorrow, but I still found time to post this because I love all of you dear subscribers and commentors! Thanks so much for supporting this story, and I hope that this chapter was enjoyable to read. See you in the next update :)