Jiyong bit into his lower lip as he tilted his head to the side in utter confusion. He had just heard a soft, sweet voice whisper something in response to Seunghyun, in his own head. It was creeping him out to say the least, especially since he still categorized himself as a sane, mortal being.

Silly boy. He heard the same voice chuckle. It was airy and blissful, somewhat similar to his own voice yet different. The words in his head echoed just like the light-hearted thrills of birds. Jiyong would have probably adored this voice for being so unique, so indescribable had it not been him who had been cursed to hear it. Because even though Seunghyun's dark, almost wild eyes were staring at him curiously, the small boy was quite sure that his mate hadn't heard the voice.

Which pretty much meant that something was wrong with him.

Jiyong has always had a strong fear against anything that could make him different. His style was the only thing through which he could actually fight this fear, especially back when nothing had gone wrong, when he had been happy. He could dress up in any way and convince himself that even if he didn't look completely common, he still didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

However, everything else that he had done in his short life was to achieve a perfect way of being ordinary. As a child, he always followed the trends: if his class's popular people liked a cartoon he wasn't very fond of, he watched it only so he would be able to talk to the others about it. If they liked a certain toy, he managed to convince his parents to buy one for him, even if he didn't like it. 

In his early teens, when everything started to fall apart - even if he hadn't noticed it - he rebelled, like others. He had quite an amount of friends who smoked, so he took up the habit even if he detested the foul taste of cigarettes. He drunk as well despite how he could barely stand the taste of alcohol. He learned to like it to some extent though, but he still favored peach juice to it.

And when everything turned for the worst, Jiyong hid in the shadows so no one noticed him. Even though he desperately needed help many times through the time he had spent in his rundown apartment, he had managed to blend in and go unnoticed. Just like he had always wanted to.

And maybe that was why he hated the fact that his mask of normalcy was slowly cracking: he was everything but normal and he knew it. It was the cruel wake-up call of reality: Kwon Jiyong had never been completely ordinary and he was never going to be. 

Calm down, boy. He heard the same voice whisper. Oddly, he obeyed, his once tense body suddenly relaxing. You are completely normal.

My mate... Seunghyun heard his voice growl lowly. He couldn't help chuckling inwardly at those short but meaningful words. A wolf could only be truly happy if both of his or her minds - the human and animalistic one - were in bliss. And it seemed like finally, that state had been achieved by the simplest of things: The voice of Jiyong's wolf.

Seunghyun had to admit that he was quite intrigued by his mate. Not only was the boy supposed to be human, but he was quite an