"'Wetland Wolves'?" Amber says, squinting at her phone screen. "Am I reading that right?"

"Are you reading werewolf fanfiction?" you question just as Chen laughs and spits out chunks of a hamburger. You make a face, flailing around to get rid of his saliva from your arms, and turn to him with a betrayed expression.

"Sorry," he apologizes. "It's just that I imagined Kai in his wolf form, totally wet."

"He'd be miserable," Eun says.

"Miserable Wolf," Chanyeol says in a manner that reminds you of an advertisement for a movie.

"The Wolf Chronicles," you say after a beat. 

"Wolf Club," Amber adds, squinting at her screen, then looking at you. "What are we doing?"

"Wolf Hard?" Xiumin says, slurping on coke.

"Now you're just being silly," Sulli points out. 

"Mad Wolf," Luhan butts in.

"The Breakfast Wolf."

"Pretty in Wolf," Kris mumbles.

"The Wolf Within," Sulli participates.

"Oh my God, I like that one," Amber says. "The Wolf in Our Stars."

"Wolfpiercer!" Tao exclaims.

"Fifty Shades of Wolf," Luhan says, chuckling. 

"She's All Wolf," you add.

"Wolf's Just Not That Into You," Kai says. The whole table erupts in a loud 'ohhh!' and you shove at him playfully. 

"Now that's a good fanfic name," Amber says, punching something into her phone. 

"Wolves And Other Drugs!" Tao says, shouting again.

"Stop yelling," Chen reminds him.

"Wolf: An Upexpected Journey?" Eun says.

"Love, Wolf," Chanyeol whispers, mostly to the girl, and she giggles.

"Ugh," Chen groans. "Buffy the Wolf Slayer."

"Ouch, brutal," Kris laughs. 

Kai's phone rings suddenly, 2NE1's 'I Am The Best' blasting in full volume. Kai cringes a little.

"Don't answer it," you say distractedly.

"It's my Hyoyeon ringtone," Kai replies. 

"Oh God, answer it." 

Kai does. He puts the phone to his ear and stands up from the table. 

"Hey," he says. 

"Hi!" Hyoyeon exclaims, a little over-enthusiastic on the other side. Kai frowns at the phone.

"Are you okay?" he asks, pure concern in his voice. 

"Of course I am," Hyoyeon says, her voice squealy. She clears . "So. Um, I'll drop by soon." 

"Drop by where?" 

"I'll visit you." 

"You mean, here?" Kai asks, making sure. "Hyoyeon, are you sure everything is alright?" 

"Yes!" she assures. They're both silent for the next few seconds. "Are you there?" 

"Uh, yes," Kai nods. "Um. Why are you coming again?" 

Silence fills the line yet again. Then Hyoyeon lets out some kind of an abortive gasp. 

"Shopping for baby stuff," she says. Kai blinks a few times, glances over his shoulder to see you laughing at something so hard your whole face looks like a Shar Pei puppy. Then he turns back and tilts his head a little in wonder.

"Hyoyeon," he says, very seriously, "you called me to make a baby joke? I told you that it's way too soon for us to have kids, can you drop the jokes already?"

"Oh my God," Hyoyeon groans. "You're so dumb. Not for your kids, ."

It takes a few seconds to sink in.

"You're pregnant?!"

*

"Stop fidgeting," you say a little annoyed. 

"Can't," Kai replies. He's playing Piano Tiles 2 and is super enthusiastic about it. You're worried he might break the screen. "Hyoyeon is pregnant. I did not see it coming."

"I don't think anybody did."

"She met that guy, like, three months ago."

"Must be true love!" 

"You can't just get pregnant, it's serious stuff. She should plan it, not just...urgh. I swear, I. Donghae I get, he was never the responsible one, but Hyoyeon?" 

"Maybe she wanted a child," you say. You peek over his shoulder to see him breaking your record at Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2. "Seriously? And I thought I was exceptionally good at this piece. I'm pretty sure you're using your werewolf powers, so that doesn't count." 

"Of course it counts." 

"What's this guy's name, anyways?" you ask, leaning back on the couch. You grab the TV remote and start surfing through the channels. "Sooyoung told me he has some lame nickname. B-Boy?" 

"His name's Lee Minhyuk, he's twenty-five, born on the fourteenth of December, he plays the piano." 

Your finger freezes on the remote. You turn your head very slowly. Kai is still going at it on your phone, his tongue sticking out and his face a bit...flushed. You don't think you've ever seen him as worked-up over something so trivial as now, and it's Kai you're talking about. Also, this monologue of his? He said it all so quickly you could barely tell the words apart.

"Oh, and his nickname used to be B-Bomb," Kai adds.

"Kai," you say gently. "It's just a guy. If Hyoyeon likes him, it means that he's nice. You should trust her judgment." 

Kai's face morphs into a truly frightening one at that. He smirks. But it's not a normal smirk, it's a murderous smirk, followed by a sarcasstic snort. He literally looks like he's about to kill someone. To death. Choco whines from the floor. You shush him gently. 

"You're scaring me," you admit. "And Choco!"

"You don't need to worry," he assures.

"Yeah, I don't, but Minhyuk probably does," you say, raising your brows. "Please don't kill him." 

"We'll see." 

"Oh my God, Kai," you say, flicking him on the forehead with your fingers. "You can't kill your sister's boyfriend! He's her child's father!" 

Kai catches your hand as you're withdrawing it and turns to look at you. 

"I'm not gonna kill him, okay?" he says with a light scoff. 

"You're giving off murderous vibes," you point out.

"Chanyeol gives off murderous vibes when he sees a hamburger," Kai deadpans. You tilt your head to the side, contemplating.

"True," you admit, nodding. "But that's different. Minhyuk is not food." 

"Minhyuk is here," Kai says. 

"I don't follow," you say, making a face. "Oh! As in, they're here? Great!" 

You jump off the couch, Choco barking at you with enthusiasm, and go to the kitchen to boil some water for eventual coffee or tea while Kai stands up slowly, dusts himself off, and starts to whistle to himself. You give him a look as you're pouring water into the electric kettle.

"Kai," you say, trying to sound serious and a bit threatening, "if you hurt him, I'm gonna cast an itching spell on you and I swear I'm not gonna take it off for a week." 

Kai glances at you and smiles, even though he's whistling. Oh God. You probably need reinforcments for that. 

You set the water to boil and go to shoot a quick SOS text to Kris when the doorbell rings. You almost jump out of your skin. You practically throw your phone back onto the counter and all but run to the door, hoping that you won't see blood splattered all over the walls there. Okay, it can't be this bad, Kai is not actually a criminal, and sure, he might be a werewolf, but he's not rabid. Or something.

You peek around the corner to see Hyoyeon hugging Kai, a huge smile visible on her face. She's positively glowing. Now that you think of it, you can't remember knowing anyone who was pregnant before. Hyoyeon pulls away from Kai and you look at her tummy, curiously, but there's no sign of belly swelling. The baby must be tiny. That'd make sense, though. It hasn't been long since she's gotten a boyfriend, after all. 

"Dal!" Hyoyeon says when she sees you. She steps away from her brother and you walk closer towards her. She embraces you and you hug her back.

"Hi," you say. "Congratulations!" 

"Thanks," she says, giggling. She pulls away, sends you a tight smile and looks over her shoulder. "Guys, this is—"

She closes abruptly and you peek around her shoulder to see Kai and a man - who you assume is Minhyuk, obviously - shaking their hands. It's a bit odd for werewolves to shake hands. That's the first thing that comes to your mind. 

Then you see Minhyuk's forced smile and fear in his eyes and how Kai looks blissed-out. Also, Kai's hold on that poor man's hand is tight. Skin-going-white tight. No-blood-circulating tight. Close-to-bone-crushing tight.

"B-Bomb," Kai says. Okay, no, he sneers. Like a predator. His smirk is freaking dreadful. 

"It's Minhyuk, actually," B-Bomb says, his lips and whole face twitching as he's trying to seem unphased by Kai's visible hostility.

You don't know what happens to your brain, but the only thing you can think of that moment is...laugh. 

You burts out laughing. It's so loud even Kai startles, looking at you over his shoulder with wide eyes. You notice, with great enthusiasm, that his grip on Minhyuk has loosened, and you laugh even harder, letting out a steady stream of "Ha! Ha! Ha!" at the best of your abilities. Like a true anime character, too. Then you practically pounce between then, using Kai's confusion to your own advantage, and subtly move him to the side with a twist of your hip. You then grab Minhyuk's extended hand and start shaking at it.

"I'm Dal! Ha! Ha!" you laugh, forcing the man to move. "Nice to meet you!" 

You push him towards the living room. He lets out a yelp. You walk past Kai, who's now doing his best Chloe meme imitation, and past Hyoyeon, who's red in the face and there are tears in her eyes.

You sit Minhyuk down by the living room table, whispering a quick "Sorry" to him before straightening up with a smile as Hyoyeon and Kai enter the room, Kai looking a bit baffled, and Hyoyeon giggling like a maniac.

"I can always count on you," she says, patting you on the back. You're still standing right next to Minhyuk, who's sitting down, and Hyoyeon puts a hand on the man's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, even as she's looking - and talking - at you. "Thanks for having us." 

"It's my house," Kai grouses, shooting daggers at Minhyuk. Hyoyeon rolls her eyes. 

"But Dal is a better host," she says. "Besides, she probably spends most of her time here." 

"That's true," you say, nodding. "Who wants some tea?"

*

"You played in a band?" you gasp. "That's so cool. What kind of music did you play?" 

"Rock, mostly," Minhyuk replies. "We were quite popular. Then life happened and I guess we didn't have time for it anymore. The guys I played in the band with are still my best friends, though." 

"You could totally try to play something with Chanyeol and Yixing," you say. "And Chen. And Kyungsoo. Can you sing?" 

"Sure," Minhyuk shrugs, then smiles a little. His smiles are super cute. He's even cuter when he's giving Hyoyeon puppy eyes, though. Even now, they're holding hands on the top of the table, and as he's talking, Hyoyeon is staring at him with a soft smile and happy eyes. Kai is mostly just grunting and being a pain in the , but you can see him softening with every word Minhyuk says. 

(Minhyuk is still a bit scared of Kai, though, and Kai visibly enjoys that.)

All the werewolves around you suddenly go completely still and you see them glancing at the loft's door. You frown, following their gazes, and hear the keys jingle in the lock. Then the door opens with a loud thud and someone all but runs into the loft. Kris shows up in the living room, panicked eyes roaming the whole room. He's wearing his police uniform. He looks at you and lifts his arms, as if asking you 'what the hell?' 

"This is your emergency situation?!" he yells. Sulli enters the living room, looking surprised that nothing weird is going on inside. 

"This is your response time?!" you yell right back. "It's been, like, half an hour!" 

"I was working!"

You close your mouth.

"I forget about that sometimes," you admit. 

"Wait," Sulli says, interrupting, "so nothing's wrong?" 

"It's all good," you say. "I just—" 

Kris growls, turns on his heel and stomps out of the loft, mumbling something to himself. You hear the door opening. 

"Oh, and hi, Hyoyeon, congratulations on having a baby!" Kris calls a second before he exits and shuts the door with a loud bang. Kai yells all of a sudden, and hits the table with his clasped fist. Then he stands up from his chair and tuns towards the door. He opens it and probably sticks his head out, because what he shouts next is a bit muffled. 

"Would you please stop slamming my damn door?!" 

*

Hyoyeon visits him the next day, alone this time. 

"So," she says, taking off her shoes. "How do you like him?" 

"He's alright," Kai gruffs. 

"Just alright?" Hyoyeon asks, squinting a little. She walks to the kitchen, Kai following shortly, and stars sniffling around. Literally. "Tell me more. And be honest." 

"He's nice," Kai says, looking at her with growing suspicion. Hyoyeon opens one of the cupboards and smiles when she sees Oreo stored inside. "You could've just asked." 

"Like you'd have told me where you keep Oreos," Hyoyeon snickers. "You'd probably, like, give me some niche cookies you don't even like." 

"Not true!" Kai defends. Hyoyeon quirks a brow at him and pulls a cookie out. She starts chewing on it while looking at him pointedly. Kai feels attacked. "I'd never do that. Especially not now!" 

"Aw, cute," Hyeyeon says, smiling. "Speaking of."

She puts the whole Oreo inside and once her hands are free, she starts digging through her purse. She pulls out an envelope and takes a photo from it.

“This one is yours to keep,” she says, handing him the photo. “Put it on your fridge.”

Kai takes the tiny black and white photograph from her and squints at it. “It looks like a peanut.”

“I think she looks like a cashew,” Hyoyeon says thoughtfully.

“She?”

“I have a very strong maternal feeling about my child being a girl,” Hyoyeon says. “Minhyuk thinks it’s a boy, but the baby’s not inside of him, so his opinion doesn’t really count.”

Kai is about to hug her or tell her congratulations or actually put the photo on the fridge when the door to the loft open. You walk in, taking your shoes off as you go.

“Dal, come over here and tell me if my unborn child looks like a peanut or a cashew,” Hyoyeon calls. 

It's a perfectly normal thing to ask, apparently, because you just shrug and walk over to them, glancing down at the photo. “Definitely a cashew.”

“Told you!” Hyoyeon says, tapping Kai on the head with the photo.

*

"I'm really happy for you," Kai whispers, dipping his head a little so that his mouth is closer to Hyoyeon's ear. She smiles, patting him on the head a few times, taking her time to his hair the way she used to when they were both kids. "I can't wait to meet her." 

"I'm glad," Hyoyeon whispers back. "You'll be a great uncle. You already are. But you're gonna be even better." 

Kai smiles widely, then laughs. They pull away. Hyoyeon walks over to hug you and Kai is met with Minhyuk's innocent stare. He snarls. 

"Kai!" you and Hyoyeon scold at the same time. He rolls his eyes, taking a step back from the man, and eyes him carefully. Minhyuk is grimacing, not averting his eyes. 

"I hope we can get along," he mutters, still making this stupid face. Kai stares at him for a few seconds and Minhyuk looks like he's about to die of embarrassment and turn away, but before he can, Kai stretches his hand out towards him. Minhyuk looks surprised at that, then scared.

He still clasps his hand around Kai's. He hasn't really noticed the first time, but the man's grip is firm. Not bone crushing, but firm and sure.

"Let's get along," he says, a bit begrudingly. Minhyuk's eyes widen hilariously. 

Once they leave, you stand next to Kai and nudge him with your hip. He sways a little to the side. 

"Dazed?" you ask. 

"I don't even know," Kai replies. "It's just weird. A little bit." 

"It's nice, though, right?" you ask. "Children are great." 

"Yeah," he admits. "But it's scary. Life is so...fast. It feels like Donghae dropping Kyuhyun by on my porch happened minutes ago." 

"Uh-huh," you say. "I gotta study. Wanna watch something before I go?" 

"Sure." 

You sit down and catch the last minutes of The Kardashian's. You're laughing at the utter ridiculousness of the show when Kai asks, "Do you want kids?" 

Your smile falters and your heart starts beating a little faster. 

"What?" you ask, turning to face him awkwardly. 

"Kids," Kai repeats, his ears going a little red. "Do you want to have kids in the future?" 

You stutter. "Uh. Yes. Of course." 

"Okay," Kai says, nodding, not looking at you. "Good." 

"Great." 

"Uh-huh."

You look back at the screen, feeling your face growing hot. Kai clears his throat next to you, scratches his nose awkwardly, and clears his throat again. 

The beginning of this chapter was inspired by a conversation I had with emchan. That legit happened. Only there's only two of us so

If you don't know what Chloe meme is, then here:

That's Chloe. She's my spirit animal. This is the face Kai makes when Dal grabs Minhyuk and drags him away in style XD

Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading Belgian pralines!