Extra Pairing: BaekYeol

            For all the shows of apathy and aggression Baekhyun put on, he was ridiculously sensitive.

            It was something that Chanyeol had found out pretty quickly over the past half year of knowing the shorter boy. Back when they had just met for the first time, he’d had a hunch, one that had been repeated confirmed as time went on. It was a hunch that, more so than most people, Baekhyun was the type of person to put on fronts. Not just occasionally or for necessary situations, but constantly. So much of his life was hidden behind a barely noticeable mask that never seemed to drop, to the point where sometimes it felt like the mask was actually his true self.

            It didn’t matter what it was. It could be his dislikes, like how he claimed to despise packs. While Chanyeol was sure his dislike was partially true, it was just so obvious that his ‘I never wanted to join a pack anyway’ was all for show. Other times, he’d throw fits about cuddling up during a movie, only to practically fall into him when the lights were dimmed and no one was looking. No matter what it was for, Baekhyun constantly felt the need to hold up the façade of toughness, of unapproachability. Maybe it was because he had been a rogue for so long, or maybe it was because of something else, but either way, every inch of his personality was barricaded with walls.

            To say Chanyeol found it annoying would be an understatement.

            “You’re frowning—what’s wrong?”

            The words only made Chanyeol’s frown deepen as he looked away indignantly. Minseok sighed as the action as he adjusted the bags in his hands. They were both on grocery duty this week, and usually that wouldn’t mean much. In fact, they were usually some of Chanyeol’s favorite times, so much so that he often volunteered himself for the job. His work as a composer didn’t give him as much interaction with regular humans as other jobs would, so he always enjoyed going around and doing the mundane things like errands. Getting to see normal humans just go about their lives, getting to talk with them and hear their stories, always made him feel happy and inspired.

            His usual joy for the shopping trip was quickly spoiled, however, by none other than his boyfriend.

            It had actually been his and Baekhyun’s turn to go do the grocery shopping, but the other had ditched last-minute for practically no reason. Chanyeol pestered for a bit, but all he got out of the other was that ‘he had a bad feeling about something’ before he was dragging Jongdae into his room and locking the door. Minseok had kindly offered to go with him then, seeing as both their boyfriends were seemingly unavailable for god-knows-how-long, but Chanyeol still couldn’t help but feel hung up on Baekhyun. Would it kill him to actually give him at least some sort of explanation? Why did he always have to be so vague and cold? It’s not like people think he’s mysterious or something. He’s a massive nerd, he loves Sailor Moon, he plays League of Legends like every day, he ing yelps in his sleep, he—

            “Nothing’s wrong,” Chanyeol huffed, cutting off his own mental ramblings.

            “Yeah, and I hate coffee,” Minseok shot back with a scoff. “C’mon, what’s got the Happy Virus all pouty and upset?”

            “It’s just…” he started, not really sure where to start. Minseok was a great listener, but he really didn’t want to bother the older man with all his troubles right now. He’d chew Baekhyun’s out on his own later. He could get something off his chest for now, though. “I dunno, just a bit upset at Baekkie, but I’ll talk to him later.”

            “Ah, yeah, that was kinda weird, how he just zoomed off like that.” Minseok looked thoughtful. “Wonder if there’s a storm coming or something? Usually, rogue wolfs get super in-tune with nature and stuff like that, right? Maybe he got freaked out or something by that.” Chanyeol guffawed at the statement.

            “Oh, yeah, I’m sure it’s that, hyung. He’s just like a dog.”

            “Well, technically we’re all dogs, just really domesticated ones.” Chanyeol brought his hand up to his chin in mock-thought.

            “Does that mean Dino Dae’s our owner, since he’s the most human of us all?” Despite himself, Minseok was cackling.

            “Hey, hey, hands off my mate.”

            Chanyeol grinned, his frustration from before practically gone. This was why he loved talking things out: it practically always left him in a better mood. Nothing felt better than relieving a mental burden you had by talking with someone there to ease it for you. Now if only Baekhyun would learn a thing or two about opening up—

            His frown was immediately back, and he huffed a groan.

            “Yeah, at least you have a mate.” Minseok sighed at that. It was no secret within the pack that they'd yet to complete the bond, but no one seemed to know why. Hell, even Chanyeol wasn't all too sure why.

            “It’s been like, six months. What’s holding you two back?”

            “What else?” he asked, jeering. “Baekkie practically avoids talking about it like the plague. I swear he has commitment issues or something.”

            It was true: practically any time he had tried mentioning mating to Baekhyun, his boyfriend would either just switch the topic, or completely shut him down before he could even try. Sure, he understood that Baekhyun didn’t have the best experience with sticking in one place, and that he still wasn’t entirely adjusted to the fact that he was actually in a pack now. But surely this was kinda ridiculous, right? They’d imprinted on each other after all—they were practically set up for each other, but here they were, still doing nothing and suffering for it. And god, if Chanyeol had to go through another full moon without giving or getting a knot from his boyfriend, he was probably going to implode.

            “But it’s not like you guys haven’t done anything yet, right?” Minseok questioned insistently, while Chanyeol just shrugged.

            “I mean, we’ve fooled around, but no knotting, no bites, no anything. I’m gonna tear my hair out at this rate, I swear.”

            “Well figure it out soon. We don’t need your bald spot growing any more, Chanyeol-ah.”

            “Now that was uncalled fo—”

            “Hey!”

            The sudden voice had Minseok and Chanyeol both freezing in their places. It took a couple of seconds for Chanyeol to register that that voice was, indeed, human sounding, and not a wolf’s growl or even wolf telepathy. The scent, however, that immediately filled his senses was far from human. It was a wolf, a full-bred (he’d made it a point to start noting the differences since meeting Jongdae), and most likely a Beta at least. Really, the presence was nothing out of the ordinary, but other wolves stayed away from them for the most part, and if those that stumble upon them most certainly didn’t skip along in human form by them.

            Finally, Chanyeol snapped out of his reverie to turn to the source of the voice.

            Though the person approaching them was quite effeminate, it was obvious from this posture, his voice, and his scent that he was a man. His hair was bright blonde, bordering on silver, and parted down the side. His clothes were ragtag, almost like he’d just found them on the dirty ground and thrown them on. Something about him seemed off to Chanyeol, but he couldn’t piece together anything in explanation.

            “I’ve finall—oh.” The man stopped dead in his tracks once both he and Minseok had turned around. “Never mind, sorry about that. I thought you,” he nodded to Chanyeol, “were an old friend of mine, since you smell kinda like him, but I guess not. I mean, I should’ve figured when I saw you from behind, since I don’t remember him being that tall, but I barely saw him in his human form so I couldn’t be too sure—”

            “Who are you?” Minseok interrupted, his voice polite but terse. So it looked like he was uncomfortable as Chanyeol was. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

            “Hm? Oh, I’m not from the city, I’m from Gangwon.” The man seemed either unaware or unperturbed by the pair’s discomfort, giving them a bright smile instead. “Names Kim Heechul; pleasure to meet you!”

            “Same here,” Chanyeol said reluctantly. “Where’s your pack?”

            “No pack here, buddy, I’m a rogue. Came up here by tracking my friend’s scent to find him, but I can’t seem to figure out where he is. He’s definitely in this city though; these forests practically reek of him.”

            “Oh,” Minseok said blankly, shooting a quickly glance at Chanyeol before stepping up in what seemed to be a welcoming manner. “Well, these are actually our grounds, and our home isn’t too far from here. If you want, you could come up there with us and we can ask around the pack to see if anyone knows your friend?”

            “That’d be awesome, if you wouldn’t mind!”

            Chanyeol knew Minseok was only doing this for formalities’ sake. It was their policy after all: take in whoever came around, and help them out as much as possible. It was their way of keeping the peace and showing that they were open and pacifistic. Unfortunately, that also meant they couldn’t just turn people away based on gut-feeling alone; at least, they couldn’t do so if they didn’t want to risk their own reputation. 

            Gulping, Chanyeol could only hope this wouldn’t be a mistake.

            Wonder if there’s a storm coming or something?

            “I’ll lead the way.”

----

            The walk up to their home was noisy and uncomfortable to the point where Chanyeol was practically clawing for relief internally when the familiar clearing came into sight.

            “Wow,” Heechul whistled as they walked up to the house. “Fancy place you guys got here. Not that I expected the EXO pack to live in caves like us provincial wolves.”

            “You know about us?” Chanyeol asked, bewildered.

            “It’s practically impossible to be in Seoul for a couple days and not hear about you guys. I’ve heard your guys names and stuff too. Your Alpha’s from China, right?”

            “Right,” Minseok confirmed warily as he pushed open the door, only to be greeted by an overenergetic Jongin.

            “Food!” he exclaimed like the puppy he always seemed to be as he rushed over at them. His eyes were deadset and locked on the grocery bags as he called out to the kitchen. “Kyungsoo hyung, can you make lunch no—oh.” Jongin froze in his tracks as he finally raised his head and saw Heechul, moving away slowly as he bowed his head slightly. “Hello.”

            “Heya,” Heechul greeted, seemingly unfazed as he just looked around the living room. “Damn, this place is even cooler on the inside than on the outside. You got what, ten people living here?”

            “Twelve, actually,” Minseok corrected lightly before grabbing the bags from Chanyeol’s hands and moving to escape to the kitchen. “I’ll go call Kris.”

            “No need.”

            Chanyeol jumped slightly as the Alpha was suddenly speaking, striding up quickly to them as Jongin closed the front door behind them and slid away.

            “And the Alpha appears,” Heechul commented with a sly grin. The look was predatory and analytical at the same time, as though he was out hunting and was thinking of the best way to take the deer in front of him. It had Chanyeol squirming for some reason; Kris, on the other hand, looked completely calm and composed as he pulled a tight smile onto his face. Ah yes, this wasn’t their Kris, the socially inept, barely-fluent-in-Korean Kris who spoke in riddles half the time and lost his socks on an hourly basis. This was ‘leader Kris,’ the responsible, stoic, polite pack leader that handle all their for them because none of them really knew how to do anything by themselves.

            God bless 'leader Kris.'

            “It’s a pleasure to welcome you to our lands,” he greeted lightly. “I’m the pack leader, and I go by Kris. Your name is?”

            “Kim Heechul,” Heechul responded giddily, shaking Kris’s hand enthusiastically.

            “Right. So what brings you to our lands, Heechul-ssi?”

            “He’s in the city looking for an old friend of his,” Chanyeol offered on his behalf as he ushered them towards the couches. If they were going to chat, might as well do it civilized and sitting down. As they sat down, Tao, who had been sitting there doing who-knows-what on hs phone, practically scrambled away. Odd, the younger boy usually always tried to stick close to Kris when his mate was taking charge. Maybe even he had started feeling wary of Heechul. “Figured we could offer some help in finding him, if that’s possible.”

            “I’m sure we can,” Kris said airily with a nod before turning back to Heechul. “So, where do you think he may be?”

            “Nearby your lands, I suppose,” Heechul answered, leaning back on the couch like he lived there. “His smell is super strong around here—I nearly mistook Chanyeol over here for him, after all.”

            “I see. Perhaps he’s in a neighboring pack? We tend to run into them every once in a while—”

            “Pack? Ha, no chance. He’s a rogue like me, always has been and always will be.”

            “That’ll be harder, then, since rogues are a lot harder to track by scent alone.” Kris paused, thinking hard. “What’s his name? Maybe we’ve heard about him through the grapevine.”

            “Oh, it’s—”

            “Heechul hyung.”

            Chanyeol’s heart dropped at the voice.

            “So you are here!” Heechul practically screeched, standing up and joyfully skipping over to the source of the voice. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Baekhyun-ah!”

            Chanyeol could only watch in a mixture of confusion and dismay as Baekhyun gave a tense hug to the rogue wolf. The look on his face was completely unreadable, more blank and stoic than even most of Kris’s faces. Besides him, Jongdae stood meekly, and was it just Chanyeol’s imagination, or did he look kinda terrifed?

            “Oh, baby Jongdae’s here too!” Heechul cooed happily.

            Chanyeol looked over at Kris, who looked just as confused as he did. The rogue seemed not to notice— or, even if he did, he didn't seem to mind, punching Baekhyun on the arm in greeting and pinching Jongdae's cheeks like he was a toddler. Neither of the best friend pair seemed even remotely pleased about the interaction, but they said nothing about it, only nodding to Heechul's questions and humming a response when appropriate.

            “C’mon, I’ll show you around the grounds,” Baekhyun offered finally, his tone pleasant but his face still blank.

            Heechul seemed pleased at that, obediently turning heel and heading back to the front door while Baekhyun followed. Bewildered, Chanyeol tried to make eye contact with his boyfriend, barely managing a mutual glance before the other was looking away. Chanyeol almost said something, but his words were caught in his throat as something touched his hand. He frantically looked down, only to see a folded piece of paper that had been pressed into his hands. He swallowed heavily, looking up to see Baekhyun again, only to see—

            “Passing notes about me already, Byun?”

            Chanyeol froze as Heechul was suddenly in his face, snatching the note from his hand before he could blink. He opened his mouth to stammer something out, only to be distracted by Baekhyun glaring holes into his head. As Heechul busied himself with unfolding and reading the paper, Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun only to see the man mouthing something at him.

            Talk. Later.

            “Ehhh, what’s this?” Heechul whined, sounding disappointed as he tossed the paper back at Chanyeol.

            “It’s just a list of all the things Chanyeol probably forgot to put in the shopping list,” Baekhyun said dryly before pushing on Heechul’s shoulder. “C’mon hyung, let’s head out.”

            “Fine, fine.” With that final huff, the two were finally out of the home, and a collective sigh of relief could be heard across the room.

            Taking another deep breath to himself, Chanyeol looked down at the paper, only to see that yes, it was indeed just a grocery list. Milk, onions, eggs—hey, he didn’t forget any of these things! He frowned over the list, but just a few seconds later, it hit him. It was a distraction, a diversion as Baekhyun mouthed what he actually wanted to say. Had he known this would happen? Is that why he was uneasy before? Who even was Kim Heechul to him, anyway?

            Talk. Later.

            Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know.

----

            And yet, despite what Baekhyun said, finding time to talk was damn near impossible.

            Since they had let Heechul into their home, it seemed like Baekhyun was practically never around. If he was out at work or sunning errands, he was out with Heechul, doing god-knows-what without even a word to any of the other pack members. On the bright side, the rogue wolf didn’t seem to be interested in anyone but Baekhyun, so if Baekhyun wasn’t around, neither was he, much to the relief of the entire pack. No one really knew why Heechul disconcerted them all so much, but no one really wanted to find out.

            Chanyeol shook his head to himself and set his guitar down.

            The second Baekhyun had first left that day, the rest of the pack was practically pouncing on Jongdae and bombarding the half-breed with questions. As it turned out, he didn’t know that much either about the rogue wolf, saying that they’d only met once when he and Baekhyun took a trip to Busan. It seemed that the two had known each other for a while, even longer than Jongdae had known Baekhyun, and all he knew about the pair was that they didn’t really get along well. Or, more accurately, it seemed like Baekhyun hated Heechul, but why that was, Jongdae couldn’t really say.

            Somehow, that made Chanyeol more uneasy than anything else. After all, Jongdae was practically the only source of information they had if they wanted to know anything about Baekhyun that the boy wouldn’t tell them (which was mostly anything, if he was being honest). It was understandable that he didn’t know much about the other before they met, but it certainly didn’t help ease Chanyeol’s restlessness.

            Sighing, he made his way outside from the back door—a walk would help clear his head a bit.

            “Oh, Chanyeol!”

            Or not.

            “Ah, Heechul hyung,” he greeted in what he hoped was an affable tone.

            The rogue had insisted that they all call him ‘hyung’ after he found out that he was the eldest, which they all did with great reluctance. It was almost funny, seeing Minseok, Luhan, and Kris, awkwardly address the man, completely unused to being younger than anyone else around them. It irritated them to no end, probably, and it was just one of the many reasons they were all hoping that Heechul would finish whatever business he had with Baekhyun and leave.

            “If you’re looking for your precious Baekhyunnie, he’s not here,” Heechul teased, and Chanyeol let out a shaky smile when he realized how close the other was to him.

            “No, just taking a walk,” he replied lightly, trying not to squirm as Heechul just stared him with this unreadable look. Just like Baekhyun. He slowly started walking, biting his lip when the other just followed along. “Have you been having a good time in the city?”

            “Huh? Oh, yeah.” Hechul seemed caught off guard, but the surprise left his face in an instance. “Different, that’s for sure, but that’s to be expected I guess. It’s not like I expected the sissy city wolves to be really strong anyway, but you’d think they’d put up at least a little more fight, you know?”

            Chanyeol froze.

            “Wait wha—”

            He cut himself off almost immediately when he turned around, only to see Heechul barely a few centimeters away from his face and studying him carefully. Shocked, he stumbled backwards, cursing to himself as he just ran completely into a tree. Looking up, he moved to stand up straight, but he didn’t get that chance as suddenly Heechul was there again. His hand pressed onto Chanyeol’s chest, he kept him in place as he continued to stare with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

            Chanyeol winced as the pressure on his chest that wouldn’t budge as he tried to move away. The amount of strength behind the seemingly casual hold was ridiculous. Heechul was just a Beta, right? It sure as hell didn’t seem like it.

            “Hm…” Heechul hummed, as Chanyeol’s breath hitched as familiar flashes of red shined in the rogue’s eyes. Oh god, he wasn’t going to shift now, was he? “You know, when I found out that Baekhyun had actually gone ahead and joined your pack, I couldn’t believe my ears.”

            “Hyung?” he questioned slowly, immobilized by a fear he hadn’t felt for years.

            “Jongdae—little baby Jongdae—I could get. Sweet kid, really, but he’s a weakling. All the half-breeds are, no matter how much they train. Jongdae's no exception, and he was probably sick of being chased down all the time.  Needs a pack to watch over him like the kid he is. Plus a soul mate? That's, like, the full package right there! Him joining a pack was probably inevitable, now that I think about it. But Byun Baekhyun? No way in hell would he toss aside his life like that for some 'family fun time bonding,' or whatever the hell it is you pack wolves do.” Heechul paused, thoughtful. “But then again, if I had a pretty face like yours waiting at home for me, I’d probably give in to the temptation and abandon ship too.”

            A yelp escaped Chanyeol’s lips before he could control it as Heechul’s hand trailed down his body, going questionably low. Immediately, he was growling, moving to shove the other off him, but he tensed as a light sharpness pressed against his chest. He glanced down to see that the hand on his chest had completely shifted into full wolf form, with the claws out and ready to stab into him at any second. The rest of Heechul’s body, however, remained unchanged.

            He has that much control over his shifting?

            “Wonder what Byun would do if I ed you right now?” Chanyeol panicked as Heechul spoke, but the man only continued with a feral grin. “You haven’t even completely mated yet, have you? You reek of each other, sure, but it's not the right smell. God, imagine what he’d say if he saw you wrecked on my knot.”

            “Get off me, you bastard” Chanyeol snarled, but he probably didn’t sound nearly as intimidating as he wanted to as he knees shook slightly and Heechul’s hand only pressed further onto his chest. The man gave a loud bark of laughter at his words, his grin only growing. “I’ll kill you.”

            “You’ve seen blood before—I like that,” he chortled, and Chanyeol forced himself not the flinch as the roaming hand slid under his shirt. “That’ll make ing you that much more fun—”

            “Let go of him, you piece of .”

            Even Chanyeol couldn’t control his shocked grunt as the voice froze both of them in place. He looked up, taking a deep breath in as he saw who it was.

            “Baekkie…”

            But was that really Baekhyun? It certainly didn’t seem like it. Baekhyun had always seemed a little wild, but nothing like this. Hair matted and in disarray, clothes mismatched and torn in practically all directions. He was completely barefoot, and what seemed like his entire body was covered dirt and grime and—was that blood? He gulped as the familiar reddish browns stained some parts of his clothes and, more importantly, stained his fingers and mouth.

            It’s not like I expected the sissy city wolves to be really strong anyway, but you’d think they’d put up at least a little more fight, you know?

            Chanyeol’s unease only grew as he realized that Baekhyun looked completely like the typical rogue wolf. Not the rogue they had met a few months ago, who lived in a cabin and liked gardening. This wasn’t their Baekhyun—wasn’t his Baekhyun. This was the feral, ferocious Baekhyun, the rogue who’d killed twenty Alphas before he even turned twenty, who wouldn’t know the word mercy if it smacked him in the face.

            This was Heechul’s Baekhyun.

howdy ho, y'all! see, i told you baekyeol would come soon
had to split this extra into two parts, though, since as it's going rn this extra's gonna be like 8k+ words total (for ref, i usually keep my chapters within 3-4k words lol)
the next part will be up soon, so don't worry about that! as a little forewarning, it will include some detailed violence/gore, so be prepared for that (ill include a reminder at the beginning of next chapter, too)

hope you guys enjoy this first part, and look forward to the next part plus a possible taoris extra in the coming weeks! <3