Kaisoo's Story

8 weeks ago

Jongin was minding his own business, or at least trying too. His efforts were going to waste as two of his fellow dance majors (along with a tag along gaggle of admiring co-eds) caught up with him. He had been walking alone, ear buds in, classical music soothing his soul. Now he found his neck in a playful stranglehold, courtesy of his classmate.

“Yah, Jongin! Where are you off to?”

“Practice.” Jongin didn’t bother pointing out the question was ridiculous since the three of them practiced around this time every day that school was in session.

“Of course! “ Jongin’s classmate -a friendly guy (known for his terrible jokes that no one laughed at) named Taemin, ruffled Jongin’s hair before releasing his hold on his neck. Taemin was a friend, but not a close one. Jongin didn’t really have close friends outside of his pack, it was a liability to get close to humans.

Jongin smoothed his hair and shot Taemin an annoyed look. The gaggle of girls that were following giggled, which annoyed Jongin just a tad bit more. His introspective walk had been completely ruined.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Taemin acted offended, but his smile said otherwise. He launched into a list of reasons why Jongin should be nice to him, but Jongin had stopped listening.

He had caught a scent, carried in the wind, a hybrid’s scent. It was not from a wolf he was acquainted with. It was a strong, almost musky scent. Jongin’s eyes wandered the campus before him, but he knew the scent was coming from behind him, from the other side of campus.

“Hey- I just remembered I forgot something back in the science building. I’ll see you guys later.” With that Jongin was off, pushing himself through the group of girls (who gave him an offended look) he backtracked his path. He heard Taemin yell something sarcastic as he was hurried off, but he didn’t catch what the words were. He didn’t really care to be honest.

The paths in the university had been salted, for the most part they were free of snow and ice. But there was still some slippery patches, slowing down Jongin’s journey.

The scent grew stronger and it did not seem to be moving. Closer and closer Jongin walked, his strides purposeful. He knew there was danger in confronting another wolf alone, but he also had a burning desire to know who this creature was. A desire that won over any potential danger he feared.

When he found the hybrid he stopped in his tracks. It was far from what he had been expecting, at least judging by the strong scent he followed there.

It was an omega, a rather small one. He was bundled up in a black puffy jacket, his breath steaming into the cold air. His eyes were seemingly darting around the university campus, taking in the scene. Then he noticed Jongin –their eyes locked.

Neither moved. Jongin was completely unsure what to do next. This man had the biggest eyes Jongin had ever seen on a human or a wolf. His face was composed and he didn’t really show any emotion- but those eyes made him seem surprised or scared, even if the rest of his face was expressionless.

Jongin took a step forward, towards the hybrid. It was the wrong thing to do apparently as the smaller man turned and retreated at a fast pace. Jongin could have ran after him, but he didn’t. Maybe it was because he thought the man was scared, would be more afraid and he would hate to make it worse.

It was only after a few minutes, after he could no longer make out the other hybrid’s form retreating down the road that he turned around and resumed his walk towards the practice rooms. It was about ten minutes later that he realized his breathing had gotten faster, deeper since he had caught the other hybrid’s scent on the wind.

***

7 weeks ago

Kyungsoo had been avoiding Jongin since he had so rudely walked into his room earlier in the day. Kyungsoo tried to tell himself his avoidance had everything to do with Jongin’s poor manners and nothing to do with what Jongin had saw – what had shocked the other wolf so bad he had basically stood still as a statue.

Now that dinner was over and most of the fighting was over (he was actually quite surprised that more fights hadn’t broken out between the two packs) the wolves dispersed through the house to do their own things. Kyungsoo made his way back to his bedroom.

He found himself shutting and locking his bedroom door. He made a beeline for the window seat that overlooked the gardens of the house. He sat down and pulled a pillow to his chest, hugging it he stared out the window absentmindedly.

He was tired, the last week had taken a lot out of everyone. He was angry too – at Chanyeol for causing this whole situation; for making them move in with this group of spoiled, jaded hybrids that they had nothing in common with. He had come to the conclusion he probably would never trust the Eastern Dawn Pack, after all trust was a hard thing to give.

It had taken Kyungsoo a long time to get used to the idea of trusting others to begin with. He had been cast aside by his own pack when he was only a pup, left to die in the woods. Something had awoken in him – maybe it was just pure survival instinct – when he had been abandoned. He would do anything to survive, and part of surviving was learning to only trust himself. Other wolves had hurt him, other wolves had abandoned him, humans had tried to kill him, and in his short life he had never met one single being he could trust not to him over.

That had changed when Minseok, Chanyeol, and Suho had found him. He was near starvation, an undersized creature with open sores – they could practically make out all of his bones under the fur that hung on his small frame. Minseok was the one that had grabbed him. No, not grabbed him, held him. Took him along to Seoul. Petted him and told him it would be okay, that they would never hurt him. That they had been hurt too.

At first he had tried to run away, but Minseok caught him. He fed him, by hand, for the first few nights until Kyungsoo started to get his strength back. Later, before the pack had entered the city, it was Minseok and Suho that had taught the young wolf how to control his shifting, how to stay in human form for long periods of time, how not to get caught.

It was probably a year before Kyungsoo came to the realization he trusted the Cloud Mountain Pack, and that was a huge revelation for him. It had messed up his philosophy of this ugly world. He was still cautious, still reserved, but he had other hybrids to lean on. Which is why he would follow them to this rich hybrid’s mansion – because in the end he trusted them. He may not like all of Minseok’s choices, but he trusted that they were for the best.

Memories were flooding back. Amidst his introspection he failed to notice that a hybrid was looking up at him from the gardens below. He only discovered the fact when Chanyeol knocked on his door, asking him to open up so they could play a game.

Kyungsoo snapped out of his memories. He caught the voyeur then, locking eyes with the man. It was Jongin, staring. Just staring. Kyungsoo stared back for a moment before pushing the curtains closed. The last thing he needed was to make new friends- or get to know the enemy.

***

6 weeks ago

Jongin was sick of it. Kyungsoo had been avoiding him since the day he had moved in- and he was sure it had everything to do with what he had accidently seen on moving day.  The scars that crisscrossed Kyungsoo’s back were ugly, terrible things that had made Jongin feel angry. He wasn’t sure why he was angry- he had seen worse scars in his life – but he was. And he needed to talk to Kyungsoo about it. But Kyungsoo wasn’t going to talk to him – ever apparently.

It bothered Jongin, to his very core. He was used to making friends (well acquaintances at least) easily. People liked him. He was never one to be too loud, too boisterous, talk too much or talk too little. He was a nice guy, loyal to his pack. And none of that seemed to matter to Kyungsoo.

“What’s wrong Jongin?” Yixing took a seat at the counter of the Angel Café, putting a hand on Jongin’s shoulder, he gave his pack mate a friendly squeeze.

Jongin considered telling his hyung everything that had happened – but he was smart enough to know that he would sound ridiculous. Instead he decided to take the vague route.

“Yixing, how do you talk to someone that doesn’t want to talk to you?” Jongin asked, keeping his gaze locked on the coffee cup in his hands.

“Hmmm. Do they hate you?”

“I don’t know. Probably.”

“I think Luhan would probably be the expert on this one but have you tried to find out why they don’t want to talk to you?”

“I know why.”

“Oh. Well then can you do something about that?”

Jongin thought hard. He couldn’t un-see, could he?

“Not really.”

“Well then I vote you make them talk to you. You know, get them alone and confront them.”

“That sounds…kind of aggressive?” Jongin did not want to be aggressive with Kyungsoo, he just wanted to talk to him.

“Take your pick. Maybe being a little more upfront would be the best route?”

Jongin let his shoulders fall. He gulped down the rest of his Americano in one shot.

“I guess I will try to be aggressive then.”

----

Aggressive was easier said than done, and so was cornering Kyungsoo. Jongin knew his routine, and for the most part Kyungsoo was like clockwork. Unless Jongin tried to talk to him or be somewhere Kyungsoo was sure to be at, then the unchangeable set in stone schedule was magically adjusted.

Aggressive. Be more aggressive. Jongin kept repeating the words internally as he waited. There was no way Kyungsoo could ignore him here. Absolutely no way he could scurry off or have the foresight to change his plans. Nope- it was not going to happen. Because Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to do anything- or he would make it worse.

The sound of water running told Jongin it was time. So he went for it. It had been a rather aggressive move to snag the key to Kyungsoo’s room from where So Ra had it hidden. It had been rather aggressive to decide his plan of action. Yixing would be proud.

It had to be quick. So he unlocked the bedroom door, shut and locked it behind him and walked across the room to the bathroom. He repeated his actions – unlock, slam, lock. And he was sure Kyungsoo was three seconds away from screaming at the top of his lungs so he practically shouted – as quickly as he could- what he needed to say.

“I-am-sorry-I-walked-in-on-you-but-I-hate-whoever-did-that-to-you- someone-as-beautiful-and-kind-and-wonderful-as-you-should-never-ever-be-hurt-like-that-I-would-kill-them-if-I-could-I’m-sorry-hyung-please-stop-ignoring-me-I-have-my-back-to-the-shower-hyung-I-can’t-see-anything-so-don’t-worry-sorry-hyung.”

 Silence. After the long string of words with barely a breath in between there was now silence. The shower was still running, the bathroom full of steam. From where Jongin was standing all he could make out was the white wall tiles.

“Hyung?” Jongin was scared. Kyungsoo wouldn’t shift and attack him, would he?

“Jongin, get the out of my bathroom.” Kyungsoo finally spoke, which made Jongin’s face light up. But the words were not exactly what he wanted to hear…still at least he didn’t scream.

“Hyung you are going to just ignore me again.” Jongin whined.

“Did you mean that?”

“Huh?” Jongin almost turned around to converse with Kyungsoo but caught himself before he ruined the moment further.

“About wanting to kill whoever made those scars?”

“Yeah. I mean…I don’t know it just makes me so angry that anyone would ever hurt you. It makes me crazy.”

More silence.

“Why?”

“I um…I just….hyung, I like you a lot.”

“I guess so.”

“Does that mean you are going to stop ignoring me?!”

“Jongin, if you get the out of my bathroom this instant I will stop ignoring you.” Kyungsoo answered.

“Yes-thank-you-hyung-you-won’t-regret-it-sorry-again.” Jongin practically ran from the bathroom, a huge grin on his face.

Once the younger man was gone Kyungsoo cried. His tears were mixed with the hot water of the shower, washing away the traces of his emotional state. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was crying, but he knew that it wasn’t anger that brought it on. It was a tugging at his chest, a feeling not unlike what he faced when he had made his first friends. When he had realized there were wolves out there that thought he was worth something, was someone who deserved a nice life. Sometimes realizing other people’s feelings were much more difficult than realizing your own.

***

4 weeks ago

“Hyung, I went to look for the chocolate but I couldn’t find the small bricks so I brought the larger ones.” Jongin set down a pile of baking chocolate on the counter. Kyungsoo just nodded, busy with his latest cake.

“Hyung, do you need anything else?” Jongin asked, “Are you okay? Warm, cold? I can ask Luhan hyung to turn down the heat.”

“I’m fine Jongin.” Kyungsoo put the mixer down and gave Jongin a heart shaped smile.

It had been three weeks since they had shattered the divide between them. If someone saw them now – baking happily at the Angel Café – they would never be able to believe that such a short time ago they were not even speaking to each other.

“That’s good. Hey, do you want to watch a movie tonight?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Another heart shaped smile. Jongin felt a flutter in his stomach. Kyungsoo speaking to him was better than the Kyungsoo who ignored him – but talking or not Kyungsoo was perfect. His Kyungsoo was perfect.

***

Present day

Jongin had carried Kyungsoo’s textbooks upstairs for him, insisting on it even though Kyungsoo was completely capable of carrying them himself. Kyungsoo didn’t argue though, because Jongin carrying his text books didn’t really make him angry. It was something he could imagine Luhan and Minseok fighting about – but they were different. They were a lot different than Jongin and Kyungsoo. Passion (not to mention their hot tempers) infused everything they did. With Kyungsoo and Jongin there was passion, but more overwhelming than the passion was unspoken understanding. A wonderful understanding.

“Hyung, when school starts you are going to have to have lunch with me, you have to promise.” Jongin set the books down on the desk in his- no - in their room.

“Of course I’ll have lunch with you. I don’t think I would be able to stand having lunch with anyone else.” Kyungsoo replied. It was a half-truth. He would be comfortable with his pack, but other than that it was Jongin. It was only Jongin.

“That’s why I love you hyung, because we like to keep to ourselves when we can.” Jongin hugged Kyungsoo from behind, pulling him into his arms.

Kyungsoo relaxed into the taller, younger man, feeling secure in his embrace. While it was true both of them avoided others at times, they never avoided each other. At least not yet. They had done too much of that in the beginning.

“Wait! Did you say you love me?!” Kyungsoo had barely caught it. He struggled to turn around and face Jongin but the younger man tightened his hold, pulling him closer. Jongin had never said it before, neither had Kyungsoo.

“Yeah. I do.” Jongin whispered into Kyungsoo’s ear.

Kyungsoo thought for a moment before speaking out – his voice a whisper “I love you too.”

He had never spoken those words to anyone outside of his pack and most certainly not in the way he meant it when he told Jongin. But this was right, it felt right. He loved Jongin with all of his heart, he was certain of that. More importantly he trusted him.

***

a/n- I feel like this was all kittens and rainbows and sap but I loved writing it! Kaisoo makes me jaldjakjdnkjhafhkl.

Thank you again for the subs!

I have an urge to write out Jongdae and Suho’s story up to this point but Xiuhan is calling my name as well. I may end up posting Suchen in a few chapters (unless they win the fight in my brain). If not look forward to Xiuhan being back in full force next chapter, with the much awaited first day of university arriving as well as some developments with Papa Sung Woo.

Oh, and I have come to the conclusion that this fic is going to be a long one. I don’t see it ending any time soon (clearly I have gone above and beyond my original 16 chapter plan). Thanks for reading and once I feel like we are getting towards the end of the story I will definitely let you guys know. Until then- thanks for reading! Hugs!