“You-.” The smile was still on his face. It made me wonder for a moment what kind of expression was I making. “D-did you just-” kiss me?!

It was unmistakable. As if little pieces of the sun claimed his eyes, they pulsed with light. The second time seeing them felt just as devastating as the first, if not worse. My heart was beating so fast it could’ve been a humming birds. The butterflies had grown so intense it was near numbing for my limbs; the sensation was warm and cold, disconcerting but I could still feel my body tingling positively, pleasurably.

My mind was clear, practically empty, save two particular thoughts.

The golden eyes were real. He just kissed me.

Friends did not kiss.

“Was it that much of a surprise?” His expression held only the hint of a grin, and his voice managed to send a violent aftershock of tingles across my skin.

“We- I...wha-” I tried to speak. He quietly stepped around, pushing me by the shoulders to move us down the corridor. All the while my stupefied gibberish evolved into proper korean. “K-k-kai-sshi what d-did y-, why did you-” All this time I had thought I had seen wrong; the longer the image of those things remained in my mind the more I’d been willing to consider I was a fraction delusional.

“Breathe.” I could hear the boyish smile in his voice. Relaxed, keeping up the earlier calm. His hands were steady on my shoulders and it was starting to not feel so safe with them there anymore. I couldn’t think properly.

“W-why would you do that?” I asked, exerting forced calm. I hadn’t been mistaken about Sehun and Lay either. That day, when I woke on the infirmary bed, their eyes had all been golden colored. But they changed them back to brown when I wasn’t aware. How was that possible?

Kai only answered my question with another “Don’t tell me that was your first-?” He left it hanging; it almost sounded playful. My frustration rose a notch.

“I n-never said that.” What did that kiss mean? How could he do that, then be so unaffected afterwards, like it never even happened. Just what was he thinking? What did this mean?!

“Awe, how adorable.” It was a female’s voice that spoke, light and with mirth. I froze. Kai turned to her first. From the moment a syllable was uttered his golden irises shuttered, then quickly flickered to their original brown. Like the light of an old bulb burning out. I blinked at them, then mutely followed his gaze.   

A couple paces behind us, leaning against the wall was a girl. From her crossed arms and relaxed posture she could very well have been standing there for quite some time. Her heels were lacquer black. “It really must’ve been your guys’ first kiss.” I wanted to shake his hands off. Now.

She walked up to us slowly, eyeing every single detail. Pin pricks ripped up my arms, my blood immediately turning to ice.

“What are you doing here Yukiko?” Kai asked, calm and unruffled. The familiarity felt distinct. The girl smiled, revealing a line of pearl whites. It combined with the fair, delicate features of her face starkly contrast to the whole of her form.

Her hair was bluntly cut above her shoulders and the color of charcoal. This blended seamlessly with her blazer, making the golden rose crest shine like a beacon of light against darkness. Even though she wore the same uniform type as my own everything felt darker, like she was actually wearing black from head to toe.

“I was looking for you,” Her voice was an inviting soprano, feminine and charming. Her eyes shifted from his own to mine “and I also was hoping to meet your friend too.” I felt the terrible urge to tremble, a deep rattling building up inside my bones. Every rational nerve in my body was screaming danger, but I was trapped between two looming towers I didn’t want to cross. I had nowhere to run.

She was right in front of me, speaking. “You’re Lena-sshi, correct?”

I only nodded, which felt more stupid than actually opening my mouth. Her features were smoothed and composed, a graceful sort of calm that outdid Kai’s. My response seemed to satisfy, her attention immediately shifting back to their original object. Instantly it felt like I became invisible.

“I’ve heard so much about this girl. You both look like you’re getting along well so far.”

“There’s no reason for us not to be.” Kai’s voice didn’t lose its positivity, but I was already feeling queasy in my stomach from nerves.

“True,” I could feel her gaze slide over me, careful. Attentive. With her bambi eyes and humored smile, she almost looked approachable. Friendly even. “I should probably warn her not to get so tangled up with you though. Even if things are... tame now.” She leaned in a little closer, as if she were sharing a secret between the two of us “You’ve probably already guessed, but Kai’s a bit more forward with his interests. He’s especially good at stealing a girl’s firsts.” I in a breath, quiet but pained. Kai pulled at my shoulders, so my bag pressing against his chest.  

“You make it sound like I’m out to get her.”   

“Well it’s not like we can pick through your thoughts ourselves. I’m just try to help a girl out.” Yukiko tilted her head, a little grin on her pale pink lips. “It’s not like I ever got a warning. If I did maybe you wouldn’t have been able to get so much out of me.”

Kai wasn’t going to defend himself, he wasn’t going to contradict her because there was no reason to. To blatantly lie here would only make things worse.

And here I was looking like the little naive rabbit that fell for the routine trap.

Yukiko put a hand on my shoulder, this time truly speaking in a whisper. “It’s tempting, but try to make him work a bit before you give in hm? For the both of us.” Then she was gone, her heels clicking softly until I couldn’t hear them anymore.

Indignation burned a pit in my stomach. I was stupid. I was so stupid.

“Lena-” My feet were moving before he could finish. Unfortunately his limbs were long and grace, making it child’s play to keep up with me. As we reached more crowded halls he had less of a chance to speak. With people glancing from left and right his words were reduced to a hush. “Let me explain.”

Nope, that wasn’t a good idea “You don’t need to explain anything to me.” My words carried a particular bite but I didn’t care. My defenses had already shot through the roof, filling every crack and placing every crumble back into its place. If I had been a person watching everything my first reaction would have probably been to laugh.

What the hell was I expecting? He has a reputation for this!

So many emotions piled in my head; the longer my mouth remained closed the more it felt like my mind would just spontaneously combust. It had been so naive to think there hadn’t been some truth to the rumors I had heard. I predicted the possibility, I promised myself to be careful.

Why didn’t I immediately react? Why did I let him kiss me?!

Embarrassment burned a gaping hole in my stomach. My chest felt tight, like all the air had been squeezed out and my ears thumped with the sound of my heartbeat. I wanted to snap at him, I wanted to point out his changing eye color.

I bit my tongue, letting the pain be a distraction.

Once we reached the common area he sidestepped, allowing me to climb the staircase first. I stalked through the various shelves of the library. It wasn’t until we were nearby the little nook he made a real effort to stop me.

“Lena,” He tugged my arm gently. I refused to meet his gaze, even when he was in front of me. I could feel its intensity searching my face, trying to read what I wasn’t letting show “tell me what your thinking.”

“Why would you do that.” I sounded emotionless.

“Did what she say really make you that mad.” He wouldn’t answer my question, so we were dancing around the subject. Neither of us were willing to say the right words.

“It just reminded me of some things. I shouldn’t have forgotten them in the first place.” I said stiffly, trying to slip past. He cornered me against the shelves, his hands half extended out to touch me. I exhaled slow, my palms tightening to fists. If he reached any closer I would run.

“I wouldn’t hurt you that way.” He murmured lowly. “You need to trust me.”

You give me nothing to make me want to. It’s too easy to doubt you.

“What’s going on?” The sharpness of Sehun’s voice nearly made me jump. We both turned, my stomach dropping to the floor. Both Sehun and Lay were standing at the end of the end of the shelf row, watching us intently. Neither looked exactly pleased. A twinge shot through me when I noted their brown irises. My heart still hadn’t calmed down, its beats pressing against my chest furiously.

Sehun came forward first, his eyes trained on the kingka behind me “What happened?”

“Nothing really.” I tried to exert nonchalance into my voice. It wasn’t convincing.

“What’s the matter?” Lay murmured, his eyes flickering over the situation. Even if without saying a word it felt like they were gaining ground. Fitting the pieces into the puzzle without any guidance. A second wave of mixed emotions pummeled through, hard enough that the backs of my eyes stung. Without a word I walked right by them, slipping out of the situation in the most blatant way possible. Just as an awkward wallflower would do.  

Lay was the only one who thought to follow me. He didn’t say a word, but I caught his eyes betraying confusion and concern.

Was it for me, or was it for the friend that just got busted?

Lena stared at her container of food. I looked at my own, then at her, then repeated. Nearly half of the lunch hour had ticked away with us like this. She had been deathly quiet from the moment we left; her mind seeming to be miles away.

I wasn’t getting anywhere with Sehun and Kai either.

“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU TWO GO?!” Gaping silence was the only response I received, no matter how much I strained to reach them mentally. It was like they were deliberately shutting themselves away. The moment Sehun and I found them together it had been instantly clear what had happened, and not even from the way things looked. Kai’s mind had been completely unravelled; I could hear his thoughts, feel his emotions so intensely. It was like they were seeping in, clutching at my own so that we would be the same. The sensation was nearly overwhelming, but it made everything so clear at once.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” My mouth felt dry as I spoke, like I had eaten grains of sand. Her head lifted the slightest notch, barely registering.

“Yes,” She mumbled, shifting her fork methodically through rice. The silence stretched again. This was going well.

“Do you uh, want to talk? I mean, about what happened earlier?” I said, abrupt in every sense of the word. She shook her head, a little tight smile on her lips. It was to be polite, but inside her thoughts were probably a dark storm.

“It looks like I soured the mood here,” Lena murmured. I didn’t like the smile she wore, the lack of genuity made it empty, almost cold.  

“Kai does that all on his own sometimes.”

“Does he?” Was her response after a half-beat, her fingers fiddling with her coffee tin. I sighed, grasping it from her and standing.

“It’s not often that it’s intentional.” I continued, throwing the can away in a nearby trash bin. She stood too.

“We aren’t going to wait, huh?” She asked, directly ignoring my words.

I sighed a little “If they haven’t come back yet, they probably won’t come at all.”

She took a moment to consider, then started to pick up her belongings. What Kai did wasn’t only going to affect her opinion of him, but of the two of us as well. It was clear enough from her cooled responses. The thought unconsciously held on to me, as much as I tried to remain nonchalant. Normal, because that’s what would be best in this situation, right?

The entire time we walked through the common area Lena was silently alert, her eyes scanning every square inch for the two in question. I watched from the corner of my eye, staying as unseeming as possible. If I pointed it out she would only become rigid.

I have to be careful around you. I thought, almost understanding Sehun’s icy response to Kai’s proddings; it was just too easy to mess up. Not that we were going to be able to stop trying.  

“You can be mad you know,” I said quietly. She didn’t look at me, I wasn’t even sure she heard this time. “I mean, if that’s what you feel right now. Anger.”

“I’m not angry.” her voice was painfully unconvincing. I sighed, rubbing the side of my neck.

“It doesn’t look that way.”

She bit her lip, her head bobbing down. “Sorry.” That word irked me.

“Don’t say sorry for being upset. Don’t say it if you haven’t done anything wrong either.” The words left my lips impulsively. She met my eyes, hers larger and colder than I’ve ever seen them. Like a guard was being built, shutting away the person I had been expecting. A brush of heat hit my chest, but I swept the ridiculous sensation away to the back of my mind.

Physical protection wasn’t the only thing she needed. We were making a space for ourselves in her world, and to do so we had to push her straight through the boundaries of her comfort zone. Some would actually thrive from it, but now it only felt like she was trying to survive the change.

“You’ve changed a lot in only a day.” She murmured, her eyes searching my face intently. I held them, not entirely sure what she was finding.

“I said I would.”  

She smiled just a little, not warm and not cold either “That’s true. And I’m still the same.”

“Why the hell did you do that?” Sehun’s voice was flat and dark, burning with a frigid cold. It made Kai’s expression almost uncanny, too still and calm. “We have a plan.”

“You’re acting like I committed an offense.”

“She won’t play this off. What you did was too much, it’ll ruin everything.”

“There isn’t anything to ruin.” Kai countered, meeting the icy fury head on. “She not close to us. The only thing keeping her around is curiosity and my pushing. She wouldn’t try to open up otherwise.”

“So treating her like one of your ‘girlfriends’ will help?” Silence. Each stared hard at the other.

Kai spoke slowly, a bite in his words “This is different.” Sehun did know. He just wasn’t going to admit it.

“So is that what you want then?” Sehun asked “To date her?” A romantic relationship was the last thing he considered. It was still hard to build up friendship, so it had seemed logical to let the former be swept to the back of his mind. If he did think about it, it wasn’t with positivity; the only outcome he could picture was a competition. “She’ll only see this as you messing with her mind, she won’t believe-”

“Then what?” Kai burst. “She made me like this. You expect me to walk around her boundary lines when I’m the one having a heart attack because she looks so fragile?!” His tone was low, but fierce. “I am literally going crazy over the littlest of things, things I don’t care about!” But he did now.

Sehun said nothing, rigid. For a couple moments there was only the sound of breathing. “Sehun, you’re the one that’s good at keeping emotions in check. Lay’s too careful to even lift a finger. I’m...not the same. Waiting does nothing for me.”   

“It’s not an option for you to choose, the vampire’s still out there.”

Kai spoke stonily “Are you even sure he’s pinned on her? For all we know he’s found a different prey-”

“He knows something about imprinting. We can’t just let him go.”

“You guys can’t let who go?” Neither wolf answered the new voice. Chen looked between the two and instantly knew this was bad timing on his part. “Are you guys seriously going to fight over a kiss?” Once again neither answered, making Chen frown.

One wolf was so silent and out of character it was uncomfortable to even look at him. The other looked so angered it was as if he was above to spin a tornado in the middle of the library. In truth Chen hadn’t exactly set out with the intention of finding them. He had been pondering over Sehun, but he had never expected the two to be here. He hadn’t expected to overhear everything he heard either.

“Why are you here hyung?” Sehun murmured, the ice in his voice near hostile. Chen eased his way between the two, trying to diffuse the situation.

“This is not something worth beating his Sehun-ah. Both of you take a moment and just calm down-”

“He’s imprinted.” Sehun said darkly. A cold feeling shot through Chen at the words. Bewilderment and fear molded in a funny combination that made his stomach churn. He slowly turned towards the second youngest member.

“Lay did too,” Kai continued quietly “the three of us imprinted on Lena.”

The new information was simple to grasp, but pressed Chen’s ability to react. His mind was suddenly blank, leaving him mute, staring between the two in the midst of their clash.

“Don’t try anything like that again.” Sehun warned. “She won’t even let you if you try.” Kai chuckled at the words, but it lacked mirth.

And something else, Chen realized the longer he stood in between the conversation. It was a thing Kai always seemed to have, regardless of whatever he did or said, stupid or intelligent. It was apart his character, so subtle of a piece that it took Chen a while to realize that it had disappeared, and made him all the more disturbed when he realized it was absent. Self-assurance.

“Worry less about me.” Kai said “Just go.” check on her.  The rest of the sentence hung in the air. Sehun said nothing, and was gone before Chen could think to call him back.

~~~

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