Two months pass by in a blink of an eye. It’s late February. Tao is officially out of school, and supposed to be applying for college, only his scores weren’t that good, and he doesn’t feel like studying, anyways; he fights over it with his parents, and they eventually agree for him to take a gap year under one condition: he finds himself a job.

That’s how he gets hired in the Chae bakery, taking Xiumin’s place.

“I was going to resign, anyways,” Xiumin explains to him after brining him the news. They’re in a shoe shop, and Min is lurking around in search of some new heels. Tao is staring at Xiumin, wide-eyed. “School is getting more difficult, and I want to focus on it for the time being. I already asked Heejin if it was possible to take you in, and she said she’s gonna talk to her parents about it.”

“I know nothing about being a barista!” Tao exclaims.

“I knew nothing, too,” Xiumin reminds him. “You’ll learn.”

A week later the pack comes to see how Tao is doing on his first day of work, and he welcomes them with a smile, wearing a baby pink apron.

“He hasn’t burnt himself today yet, so I’d say he’s doing fine,” Heejin’s mother points out, smiling at them all. Once she’s gone, Heejin snorts.

“He actually burnt his fingers five times already,” she says. Tao gasps.

“Traitor,” he says, angrily throwing a cloth over his shoulder and walking away, to the coffee machine.

The whole pack is in town, since it’s still Winter break, and in half a month, you’re going away.

Kai isn’t taking that very well.

Taemin is staring at him now. Kai is gazing out the window, completely still, arms crossed on his chest. Taemin hasn’t seen him this gloomy in a long time. He slowly starts to realize just how much his relationship with you has changed him. And now you’re about to go away.

“Kai,” he calls. No response. “Yo, brother.”

Kai snaps his head at him. “What?” he asks. “Sorry, I was—“

“Brooding?”

Kai glares at him. “Thinking.”

“About Dal leaving?” Taemin asks, jumping off the kitchen counter and slowly approaching his miserable relative.

“No,” Kai replies.

“That’s a lie.”

He stands next to Kai and looks out the window as well. He tilts his head to the side, spotting Mrs. Yi on her balcony. She’s enjoying her morning paper, as always, and looks murderous today. As always. He almost shivers; old ladies can be scarier than the scariest demon.

“She’s working on teleportation, you know,” Taemin says, nudging Kai’s elbow. Kai grunts in a reply.

*

You know there’s something weird going on the second you enter the apartment building Kai lives in and feel literally everyone in his apartment. Your triangle tattoo is warming up like crazy. You enter Kai’s loft and you’re almost startled to death with sudden screams, music blasting through the speakers, and star confetti being thrown at you.

The whole pack is standing in front of you, in the corridor, and they’re all wearing party hats and other accessories deemed necessary by…Chanyeol, probably.

Everyone starts clapping, screaming, singing, and greeting you with kisses, hugs and hair ruffles; you’re very confused, but happy nevertheless; you look around the room, frowning.

“What is this all about?” you ask, laughing. You spot Heejin and Minjoon in the corner, there’s Maeng behind the boys, Siwon, Heechul, even Changmin, and then there’s your whole pack. The Jungs are there, too. You feel a bit overwhelmed, and there’s music on, so it’s quite loud.

“It’s a farewell party,” Kai replies, approaching you with a party hat. He wordlessly puts it onto your head, slapping you on the neck with the rubber band. You stare up at him, eyes filling with tears. 

“Do you really want me out of your lives so fast?” you ask, voice breaking. Half of the room awws, the other half starts screaming 'no!' and coming closer to you as to show you that they really don't want you to go. Kai's first reaction is to wrap an arm around your head and your hair. He almost tells you that you're dumb. At this point, you're crying, and everyone is huddling around you to hug you and tell you that you're silly.

“We just wanted to make sure we're all in town when we throw the party,” Eun explains, wrapping her arms around you as well. You're now squeezed between her and Kai, who's moved his arms a little so that he can envelop both you and Eun in an embrace. “And we've got presents!” 

You gasp in surprise. “No way,” you say. “Christmas was two months ago, you can't spend your money on me like that,” you add, outraged. You hear chuckles and awws.

“I want to go first!” Chanyeol yells, making his way towards you with a huge present held above his head. 

They take turns in giving you their gifts, and ten minutes in, half of you are crying, both from laughter and from emotion. It seems like everyone is slowly realizing that you're going away. It hasn't quite gotten to you yet, either. You get some stuff for your new room - in an apartment you're going to share with Sehun - and some notebooks, pens, the usual school stuff. Binders, colorful sticky notes (Luhan's gift), plushies, a few framed pictures. Your heart is literally swelling in your chest, heavy with feelings.

“Here, kiddo,” Siwon says, handing you a tiny box with a cute bow tied on top of it. 

You squint at him. “I hope it’s not something similar to what you gave Chen at prom night,” you say. You’re about to open it, but he stops you with his hand.

“When you’re alone,” he says, winking at you.

“Oh my God, Siwon, you sound like such a creep,” Baekhyun moans in disgust.

“That’s because he is a creep,” you point out, grinning at Siwon. He raises both his hands and flips off the entire room, making everyone laugh.

It’s Maeng’s turn then. It’s so odd to see him in Kai’s loft, you get a little weirded out, and you both go all stiff and awkward.

“Here,” he says, handing you a present bag. “For your new room.”

You look inside to see a slightly pink succulent in the bag. You gasp in delight and look at Maeng with eyes shining, feeling emotional. A cop who once wanted you persecuted and thrown into jail is now giving you a plant. Krystal can probably see question marks inside your head.

“It's so cute,” you exclaim. “Thank you,” you add, still disbelieving. Then you open your mouth and stare at him for a few seconds. “Who helped you pick it out?” you ask curiously.

Maeng goes a bit pink. He looks at Eun over his shoulder; Changmin and Heechul are doubling with laughter.

“It was hilarious,” Heechul decides to point out. “He was so cranky—“

“Shut it,” Maeng threatens.

You get so much stuff you have to put it all on a pile, and once it’s all there, you just stare at it in disbelief. Baek snaps a photo of you, and Amber hugs you from behind, rubbing her head on your neck.

“Happy?” she asks.

“I’m having very mixed emotions right now,” you admit, tears once again appearing in your eyes.

At some point during the party your mom decides to drop by, and she seems to be as moved as you are, if not more. She has an emotional breakdown in the middle of the room because she realizes you’re going away, and Siwon has to physically force her to sit down. Then he gives her alcohol, and an hour later, they’re both faced drunk, just like most adults in the room (except for Junsu, who seems to be an abstinent).

Sehun, of course, has brought some more wolfsbane-laced beer with him, so now half of the room is practically drunk.

“I didn’t know werewolves could get drunk,” Daehyun says to Kai. “I thought you guys were like Steve Rogers post-serum.”

“Neeerd,” Chen calls to him. Daehyun makes kissy faces at him. “Gaaaay.” 

“All for you, Chen,” Daehyun retorts, winking at him. 

“Well, if the right kind of wolfsbane’s involved, we do,” Kai explains, ignoring their small banter. Daehyun gives him a strange look, and Kai notices it from the corner of his eye, so he turns to look at the boy. “What?”

Daehyun gives him a once-over. He’s holding a beer, his free hand pushed into his jeans’ pocket. “So how many beers do you have to drink to be drunk?”

Kai looks to the side, considering.

“Like, six?” he says. “The first time Sehun made us beer, he added too much wolfsbane, and we could get drunk after a few gulps. He’s improved, though.”

“Six beers?” Daehyun snorts. Kai eyes him warily. Daehyun takes a sip of his drink and shakes his head. “I bet you’d pass out after three.”

“Oh, because you hold your liqueur that well?” Kai snorts, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. Daehyun snorts, rolling his eyes.

“Dude, I’m a professional drinker.”

“Isn’t that alcoholism?” Kai asks, smirking.

“Guys,” says Kyungsoo on the other side of the room. He points at Kai and Daehyun. “They’re up to something. Kai has his game face on.”

Yixing, Chen and Kris all look to where Kyungsoo is pointing, and let out similar ‘ohh’ sounds. They've grown accustomed to Kai and Daehyun competing over everything and anything - from the amount of food they could eat to the amoung of movie references they could make in a day. Kai's game face, when in Daehyun's close proximity, meant that was going down.

And it was. 

“Who thinks Kai can hold eight beers?!” Daehyun yells.

“Ohh, you’re on!” Luhan screams.

*

Krystal is exiting the bathroom when she hears someone ringing the doorbell. She frowns, wondering if she’s going to open it to hear some neighbor complaining about the noise; she goes to unlock it anyways. She’s met with two pairs of eyes.

“Myungsoo!” she exclaims happily, opening the door widely, with a whoosh. Myungsoo’s smile goes from super bright to curious.

“Are you tipsy?” he asks, letting out a snort.

“A bit,” Krystal admits. She looks at Seon, who’s standing behind Myungsoo and is leaning against the wall. She looks uncomfortable, and one look inside her head is enough for Krystal to know that she’s freaking miserable right now – that’s how unsure she feels about coming here. And how she hates the fact that Krystal knows that. But Krystal is known for being discreet. Seon knows that, too. “Hi. Come in.”

“Myungsoo,” Seon says sharply, about to complain, when Yixing shows up at Krystal’s side, almost knocking her over. Krystal trips, and both Yixing and Myungsoo extend their arms to catch her; she ends up hovering above the floor, held up by strong arms, and confused as to what’s happened.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry, I came in too fast,” Yixing says, heaving her up without a trouble. Myungsoo gives him a surprised look; sometimes he forgets the dude is a werewolf. Yixing grabs Krystal’s shoulders, moves her to the side, and makes sure the girl is standing on her feet and not tilting to the side.

“What happened,” Krystal asks.

“Oh my God, you’re not tipsy, you’re drunk,” Myungsoo says, laughing. He comes into the apartment, Yixing sending him a tight smile as he walks past. He takes Krystal’s hand and leads her into the living room, leaving Seon and Yixing alone.

Seon smiles uncomfortably. Yixing just grins goofily at her.

“You came,” he says.

“Not sure I should’ve,” Seon replies gruffly, looking away from him and scratching her neck. “Listen, maybe—“

“Who’s that?” Amber asks, appearing in the corridor. She notices Seon and opens in a gasp. “Yo! People! Even Seon came!” she screams, practically running back into the living room. Seon’s face becomes an image of fear and panic, and she looks like she’s about to roll down the stairs and jump out the closest window. “Dal, you’re popular!”

“Tell her to come in and shut the door, all the noise is getting out!” Kai screams from the other room. Seon looks at Yixing in surprise.

“He sounds drowsy,” she points out, coming into the apartment. Yixing leans over her to shut the door behind her, and she tenses a bit, taking a step to the side. Yixing doesn’t even realize she did it. He locks the door and looks down at her, all innocent and open and kind.

“We have beer,” he explains. “I mean, the kind that can make us drunk. Kai and Daehyun are currently trying to see which one of them will get drunk faster. My money’s on Kai.”

“You made a bet?” Seon asks, smiling a little. Yixing nods, and she notices the unusual flush to his face, and how he’s even more…mellow than usual. “Have you had that beer, too?”

“Yes,” Yixing admits, nodding. “And I feel like hugging you, so please don’t kick my if I decide to do that. It's the alcohol talking. You coming in?”

Okay, so drunk Yixing is more straightforward than usually. Seon feels her face heat up, which is new for her. She also thinks that she wouldn't mind Yixing hugging her, which makes the whole thing even more terrifying. She nods, and Yixing starts talking about the game Daehyun and Kai are playing. They enter the living room to see them in the center of it, and practically everyone is standing in a circle around them as they keep on gulping down beer.

Amber, Baekhyun, Min, Chen and Luhan are dancing by the TV, and Tao, Minjoon, Suho and Heejin are sitting on the couch. The rest are laughing at Kai and Daehyun.

Yixing suddenly leans towards her, his hot breath hitting her ear; Seon outwardly shivers, and she feels Yixing’s hand hovering above her hip, not touching, just gently grazing, to get her attention. She’s not used to this much commotion and loudness, and she seems to be hypersensitive.

“Want something to eat?” Yixing asks her, speaking directly into her ear. Her hair tickles her neck. She nods, but it’s a purely instinctual reaction; she turns to see him walking to the kitchen. Myungsoo decides to join her, leaving Krystal for a moment.

“Relax,” he says, also speaking to hear ear. “They’re your friends.”

Seon nods, looking around the room. She catches Kyungsoo staring at her, and she goes completely tense. Panic seeps through her and guilt floods her; she still remembers Kyungsoo’s scream when she pierced her with her arrow. Her heartbeat goes a bit frenzy.

Kyungsoo moves, and she realizes he’s walking over. Oh God. He’s gonna kick her out, isn’t he? She shouldn’t have come—

“Cool t-shirt,” Kyungsoo says to her. She stares at him, dumbfounded, literally struck with shock. Kyungsoo walks past her, leaving her gaping, and Myungsoo giggles. Yixing comes back with a bowl of chips, and she doesn’t even notice him.

And then someone screams, “Oh my God!” and everyone whips their heads in the direction of that scream. Everyone’s eyes stop on the couch, from which Suho and Heejin have jumped off, and on which—

“Oh. My. God.”

Minjoon is sitting on the couch, his arms raised, as in surrender, and Tao is straddling his lap. Now, it wouldn’t be that weird – Tao does weird sometimes – if it wasn’t for the fact that Tao is kissing Minjoon. On the lips.

Silence fills the room. For the next two seconds, everyone’s just staring, and Tao is tilting Minjoon’s head back and to the side to have better access to his mouth. Then he grins and passes out, and there’s a loud smack heard when he pulls away from Minjoon.

You gape at them with your mouth open. Heejin looks like she’s going through shock, and she’s covering her whole face with her palms and  crouching down. Next to her, Suho is covering his mouth with his palm. Kai decides to stand up from the floor and his eyes are as wide as Kyungsoo. Actually, everyone is wide-eyed.

Minjoon raises his eyes at them very, very slowly. Someone has turned off the music for this.

“You,” Minjoon says, slowly pointing a finger in the general direction of the room, “will never speak of this again.”

Silence. And then Baekhyun laughs, followed by Chen, followed by everyone in the room. A freaking hysteric breaks out, and the only people not enjoying it are Minjoon and Heejin. Heejin, poor soul, is staring at Minjoon in utter horror, feeling like she’s just walked in on her parents, or something.

Minjoon tries to move, but Tao is currently passed out in his lap, and he lets out some desperate noises trying to push him off. He’s completely red.

“Minjoon, macking down with his boo,” Chen sing-songs, making everyone laugh even harder. Minjoon seems to have gotten a sudden shot of energy at that, because he pushes Tao off his lap and stands up angrily.

“Say ‘boo’ again and I’ll shoot you in the stomach,” he threatens, looking like an angry hamster.

“Okay, loverboy it is,” Chen replies.

“What did I say, Chen, what did I just say?” Minjoon asks, approaching him (more angrily).

At this point, everyone’s a mess, and Heejin is still shocked, so Suho hugs her. Chanyeol joins in.

*

Daehyun wins the bet. Kai is the first one to get drunk enough to almost pass out, but he doesn’t thanks to the fact that Min brings in the chocolate cake. You blow out the candles and you cut it, and you turn off the loud music to put on a movie instead. Everyone gathers in front of the TV; you move the couch, so that there’s a lot of space between it and the TV, and you gather every pillow, duvet, and blanket that Kai has, which is a lot. Kai could probably open a store with sleeping essentials alone, and would make a lot of money on them.

The adults leave you to your own devices, and go out to a bar instead. You huddle in a pile in front of the room, limbs tangled and breaths mixing; it’s calm, warm, and nice. Your head is resting on Kai’s chest, and he’s cradling your shoulders; your legs are tangled. You decided to sit in the corner, a little bit further away from the rest, so you can see them all wriggle around like little bugs under the blankets. It makes you smile.

Kai’s rubbing your shoulder with his palm, and you can hear his steady, even breathing. It calms you down. He’s as hot as a stove – both literally and metaphorically – and you feel like a reptile feeding off his warmth. Especially your feet.

“Thanks for the party,” you whisper, feeling a bit tired. You turn your neck towards Kai and your nose grazes his cheek. It’s already dark outside, and half of the pack is passed out after all the dancing and drinking. The other half is still watching the movie, and Krystal has disappeared with Myungsoo in the kitchen.

Kai kisses the top of your head instead of replying.

You look at your pack, feeling their presence with both your human and magical senses; you wonder how it’s gonna be like when you’re away. If you’re still going to feel their closeness with your triangle tattoo. You feel scared at the prospect of not being able to feel them, and Kai must’ve felt it, because he hugs you a bit tighter.

It’s quiet. Someone lowers the TV’s volume, Yixing and Seon are dozing off, no longer talking, just enjoying each other’s company. Using your magic, you flip the switch on the lamp that’s standing on the dinner table further into the room.

Then Tao decides to wake up. He shoots upright, hitting Minjoon in the head as he goes, and looks around the room in a frenzy, like he’s just woken up from a nightmare.

“Why did you do that?” he mumbles. Someone snorts.

“Just go back to sleep, Tao,” Kris says, yawning widely. Tao levers him with a look.

“Don’t tell me how to live my life,” he grunts and falls back onto the floor, making all of you either smile or giggle at his antics. Minjoon rolls his eyes.

God, how lucky you are to have them. 

HAVE SOME disgusting FLUFF wow how original of me

I love you my triple vanilla brownies!!!
Shout out to all Minjoon x Tao shippers. This is for you.
(also I had so much fun making that chapter pic XD)

PS I saw this post

And I immediately thought of Dal as the queen bee and the boys as the bees LOL

PS I passed my exams! :)