"C'mon, I wanna play at the arcade!" Tao whines as he drags a half-struggling, half-agreeing, clearly conflicted Lay across the bustling streets of the small town to a mall - one that stood taller than the rest of the old shop houses, with new paint and acres of shopping and food paradise - where his beloved arcade was. 

It had been quite a while since they'd been let out of the house, and even though their reasons for leaving the house was clearly not very well-justified (although nobody would ever want to see their Alpha mating, that was for sure), they didn't want to miss the opportunity to flee from the place they called home. Especially so for the Beta, because he got sick of hunting, eating and sleeping all the time; sick of the routine they easily fell into as they were of predatory instinct, and being able to come out and enjoy being a human, to live how humans did every once in a while was oh so good for his mentality. Not to mention he finally got to hang out with the pack's medic, who had been so busy with treating the new pups that he'd totally forgotten about his favorite friend, also known as Zitao, the Beta. 

While Tao appreciated having more pups to help out with handling the household, not to mention in hunting matters, he never got the chance to grab the medic and just run away to enjoy time together like they used to in the past, way before any of the new pack had been tracked down. It's nice to finally be able to get some alone time with the wolf who held his heart and soul, and Tao could feel said organ beating a lot faster than it should. Tao is more than sure that the dense medic can't hear a thing though, because he's spacing out as they scurry across the now-empty street towards the building that he had wanted to go to.

"Lay, here! There's a dancing game here!" Tao continues to tug the medic along, hurrying towards the upper floor where the arcade was located. "It's been so long since I saw you dance, so come on!"

"Ah, slow down, Taozi!" Lay replies belatedly as he gets pulled onto escalator after escalator, smiling despite himself. It was definitely good to come out every once in a while, and now that things were settled with Suho back home, he could finally put his worries to rest. The rest of the new members were slowly gaining their weight back - especially the skinny omega, Sehun - and he felt like his burdens had been lifted off his back as he glances at the tall male by his side.

Tao was one of his best friends, his go-to buddy whenever he felt down or alone, and nothing could change that. He knew that they hadn't been interacting much because of their hierarchy difference - what with Tao helping Kris with Suho, and Lay attending to the medical needs of the new members - and when he sees the lights dancing in Tao's excited eyes as the Beta bounces on his feet, he lets another gentle smile bloom on his lips as he gets dragged along towards the arcade.

When they finally reach the arcade, Tao all but pushes him onto the flashing, tiled platform of the dancing game, and Lay takes a glance back at those eyes filled with bright emotions and shining from the reflection of the lights of the game; turning back to the game as his feet moves to the music while his heart beats erratically, out of rhythm with the blaring music from the machine.  

One glance back at the bright smile on Tao's face, and Lay knows that he's gone.

"Kyungsoo, hurry up! The candy store is this way!" Jongin whines as he pulls the shorter male along the bustling streets of the brightly-lit town. "It's been so long since I've seen so many lights, it's so bright and nice!"

"Jongin, can you slow down please?" The shorter male pleaded as he gets dragged through the crowd, offering short apologies to the people he bumps into courtesy of the younger wolf pulling him along like a... bulldozer. "Jongin, I can't keep up!"

Kyungsoo yelps as his hand gets knocked out of Jongin's, and soon he's lost the pup in the seemingly endless sea of people around him. Why, oh why, did they have to come to such a bustling, busy area of town? Kyungsoo bemoans the lack of height he has as he jumps up on his tiptoes to search for the pup, calling for Jongin and hoping to see that mop of messy brunette hair---

He gets shoved again to the side by some more people, and Kyungsoo grumbles as he massages his sore shoulder that had just hit a brick wall. People really didn't have any concern or sympathy for others when in a hurry, he complains to himself as he shuffles through the throng with timid steps, still craning his neck to look for his pair. Bouncing on his feet lightly and ignoring the judging looks that people give him as they shuffled around him, Kyungsoo tries to look for Jongin again as he heightened his senses more, sniffing the air for Jongin's familiar, musky scent-

"Kyungsoo!"

Was that-

"Kyungsoo!"

"Jongin?!" He yelps just as he's tugged in a circle into a broad chest with strong arms. He inhaled sharply in surprise, and his body started to relax at the familiar scent that wafted through his nose. It was Jongin, he had found Jongin at last, even though it had probably only been two minutes, but it had felt like the whole world had crumbled apart and time had been expanded so long that it felt like two years- or more like the end of the world, but Jongin was here and that was all that mattered, really. "Don't do that again, jeez. I almost had a heart attack. Suho would kill me if I lost you!"

"Suho wouldn't want to kill you," Jongin finally replies after a minute or so of hugging the elder wolf tightly to his chest - not that he was counting - and he flashes a relieved smile down at the shorter male. "He loves us too much to kill us."

"You're his baby, though, so he would technically still murder me if anything happened to you since I'm responsible for you," Kyungsoo mutters under his breath as they continue walking, albeit at a slower pace so that Kyungsoo wouldn't get swept up into the crowd again.

"That's pretty much true," Jongin agrees, and Kyungsoo just swats at his head, or attempts to, at least. The younger pup barks out in uncontrollable laughter, and Kyungsoo just shakes his head. "We're here! There's the candy store."

Without another word, Jongin pulls Kyungsoo into said store, running towards the sections of candy-filled panels as he eyes each and every one in utter glee and pleasure. Grabbing a small bag, he starts to pile candy into it with the tongs, carefully selecting some candies that he liked before he put that aside into a basket - that he made Kyungsoo rest on the crook of his elbow like an auntie - and grabbed another bag, filling it with even more candy than the first.

"Ah, Sehun likes these," Jongin utters at last, grabbing some sour heart-shaped candies and putting them into the bag. "I should get some gummy bears for him, too. He likes them... Baekhyun would want these, right?"

Kyungsoo mumbles an agreement as he follows the pup around the store, feeling sad for his wallet in the back of his pocket since it was just going to be empty later on. He mentally cries at the imaginary of his money flying away with a cheering Jongin in the corner, and looks at the pup out of the corner of his eye. Jongin has a bright smile on his lips, a cheerful twinkle in his eyes, and Kyungsoo finds himself softening and smiling at the child-like expressions Jongin was making. 

Maybe it wasn't that bad after all. 

"Here, this is for you," Jongin pipes up, startling Kyungsoo as he shoves a piece of the heart-shaped candy to his lips. "Thanks for the candy, hyung."

Smiling widely, Jongin pays for the candy and walks out of the door, the bell tinkling softly behind him as Kyungsoo stands there, stunned with his lips pursed around the sour sugar on the candy. Slowly, he pops the rest of the candy in his mouth, savouring the taste as he walks out after Jongin. The candy was meant to be sour, but somehow his heart felt sweet.

Perhaps, it wasn't that bad after all.

Hey what's up. It's been really long, hasn't it? Well this chapter has mostly fluff and all that jazz. I'm not really satisfied with it, but my mind's blank now and the story will progress more in the next chapter. Expect some drama, I guess--- I'm not really that capable of producing words right now cause I just got discharged from the hospital due to severe stomach flu, and yeah. ; w ; I'm fine now, a little weak, but here's the update because I love you guys. c: Hope you enjoyed (this really short one)!