Chapter 42

It was getting late when Chen’s rumbling stomach forced him out of bed. He crept out of the bedroom as quietly as he could but Baekhyun and Chanyeol were watching TV and he had no option but to pass them on his way to the kitchen. Baekhyun was first to notice him hovering in the doorway.

“Hey,” he said, twisting around in his seat, “how are you feeling?”

“Okay,” said Chen quietly. “A little hungry.”

“Of course you are.” Chanyeol jumped up and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll make you something.”

“You don’t have to,” Chen protested but his heart wasn’t in it. He still felt tired enough that he really hadn’t been up to making anything that took more than two minutes to heat in a microwave. Or better yet, could be eaten straight from the packet.

He sat at the kitchen and looked down at the bandage on his arm.

“How’s it feeling?” asked Baekhyun, seeing where he was looking. Chen slipped his arm under the table to hide it.

“It’s fine. Not as bad as before.” In truth it still hurt quite badly but he didn’t want his friends to worry too much.

“Suho came to see you while you were sleeping,” said Baekhyun. “He wanted to apologise and see if you were okay.”

“That was nice of him,” Chen answered dully.

“You’re not mad at him, are you?”

He sighed and shook his head. Suho had hurt his feelings a little but he hadn’t bitten him.

“Good,” said Baekhyun, “because he feels really bad about it. He didn’t even get angry at Lay when they bumped into each other and he apologised for what he said to Kris too. He’s just worked up about everything that’s going on. Sehun’s the maknae, you know? He’s Suho’s baby so he’s extra protective over him and he’s never been in a relationship before so he’s worried.”

“Baekhyun…” said Chanyeol gently from his position by the counter.

“And you know what Suho’s like. He takes this alpha thing really seriously and when something like this happens he blames himself, like he’s not a good enough alpha to keep us all in line and-“

“Baekhyun, you’re rambling.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Baekhyun immediately ducked his head at Chanyeol’s words. He shuffled his feet under the table and glanced up at Chen from under his eyelashes, waiting for him to say something.

“It’s fine,” Chen told him. “I understand.”

 Baekhyun nodded, satisfied with his answer, and managed not to say anything else. A few minutes later Chanyeol put a bowl of something that smelled delicious on the table. Chen’s stomach rumbled and he set about eating greedily. It had been a long time since he had eaten anything. After a few minutes, when the bowl of food had been mostly demolished, he slowed down enough for Baekhyun to attempt conversation again.

“What are you going to do about Kris?” he asked softly.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol nudged him under the table and gave him a look that told him to shut up. He turned to Chen and said, “You don’t have to answer that. It’s none of our business.”

“Sorry.” Baekhyun pouted and fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie, clearly disliking Chanyeol telling him off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Chen told them. He was feeling a little brighter after his meal but the mention of Kris had set his stomach rolling again and he suddenly lost his appetite. He put down his chopsticks and sat back. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Are you going to forgive him?” Baekhyun couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know. I want to. I mean, I shouldn’t but… It was an accident and I hate him for being so stupid and I’m mad at him but…” His shoulders slumped. It was very hard to form full thoughts when it came to Kris. He ran his hand over the bandage on his aching arm.

“It hurt so much,” he said, managing to speak past the lump in his throat. “Everything was perfect with him. Why did he have to ruin it? I had a boyfriend and a pack and proper friends for once. I wasn’t shifting all the time anymore or getting bullied.”  He sighed in frustration at the tears welling up again in his eyes. Shouldn’t he have run out of tears by now?

“You still have us.” Baekhyun leant forward to wrap his arms around Chen in an awkward but tight hug. “And you know Suho will let you join out pack if you need to.”

“Really? Because I attacked Kai when he was trying to protect Sehun. I just shifted without even thinking about it and I lost all control.”

“That was because you were protecting your pack mate,” said Chanyeol. “We can work on you staying in control. It’ll be fine.”

Baekhyun pressed a sloppy kiss on his cheek before untangling his arms. He made Chen look up at him by holding him under the chin. “We’re not going to abandon you, okay?”

“Promise?”

Baekhyun laughed and hugged him again, almost tightly enough to bruise. “Of course not. How would we live without our Chenny Chen?”

“Don’t call me that.” Chen managed a little smile as he wriggled out of Baekhyun’s grip.

“Do you want to stay with us tonight?” Chanyeol asked. The two single beds in their room had been pushed together since they first moved in so that they would have a little more space and it certainly wasn’t difficult to make room for Chen.

He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. We’ll take care of you.”

Chanyeol said it like it was nothing and immediately started to clear Chen’s bowl away but it meant a lot to the other wolf. It didn’t make what Kris had done hurt any less but, like the bandage covering his wound, it did help.

Taking a deep breath, Suho edged open the door to the room the younger pack members shared. He hadn’t been in there since taking his phone off the younger wolf. Sehun had probably heard the argument with Kris earlier but he had stayed in his room like he was supposed to. Suho had avoided coming to see him so far so he could try and get his thoughts in order. They were still jumbled so it hadn’t really helped but he couldn’t ignore the maknae forever.

“He doesn’t understand,” Sehun was saying miserably as the door opened. Suho paused. It seemed that whoever was in the room hadn’t notice the door open a little and Suho found himself frozen as he listened.

“He’s angry,” Kyungsoo soothed. “He’ll come around. Suho hyung never stays angry.”

“I don’t care.” Sehun sounded like he was pouting. “He treats me like I’m an idiot.”

“No he doesn’t.”

“He does! It’s like having my dad here, telling me what to do all the time.”

“He’s our alpha,” Kyungsoo laughed gently. “It’s his job to do stuff like this when you break the rules. He could be a lot worse.”

“He doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. When was the last time he had a boyfriend?”

“Sehun…” Kyugsoo reprimanded him gently but the youngest was clearly in no mood to hear it.

“I’m serious. He’s probably just jealous because nobody wants him. He could never get anyone as ice or sweet or handsome as Lay.”

Somehow controlled the shaking of his hand, Suho closed the door quietly and stiffly walked away. If Sehun was going to be a brat about the whole thing then he could stay in his room as long as he wanted. Suho sat down, elbows resting on his knees and one foot tapping irritably. And to think, he had actually been polite to Lay when he had seen him earlier.

The front door opened less than a minute later and Suho clenched his hands into fists as he looked up. Xiumin was standing nervously in front of him and, for some reason, Luhan was hovering close behind. They both looked nervous and when Suho’s eyes travelled downward he realised they were holding hands. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach.

Xiumin swallowed and shuffled his feet nervously. “Suho hyung,” he said, “I-I’m sorry but…”

Suho laughed hollowly. “Is this a joke?”

“N-no. We were going to tell you sooner and we know it’s bad timing with Sehun and everything but we didn’t want to lie anymore.”

Suho couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Xiumin, of all people? Sehun was young and emotional but Xiumin was always so careful. How had this happened? His eyes narrowed at Luhan who was hiding behind his lover and keeping his eyes low. His hand was still gripping Xiumin’s tightly, offering silent reassurance.

Suho stood up. “How long?”

“A-a few weeks.”

Xiumin watched him like a rabbit caught in headlights, tryig to read his alpha’s blank expression. It felt like agony waiting for him to say something but when he did it as even worse.

“You should go.”

“Suho, wait!”

“Pack your stuff. I’m having a shower,” he said without any feeling, “you should be gone by the time I get out.”

Xiumin gaped at the retreating back of his alpha. His legs felt like they had lost all feeling and yet somehow he managed not to fall. Luhan squeezed his trembling hand and looked at him worriedly but Xiumin was too shocked to even respond.

Yay, no more secrets!!!