I'm so sorry for this monstrosity (it's almost 10k words  h o l y   c o w  i can't even) but, uhhh, anyways, ENJOY! 8D

“All right, Hakyeon, be good—and play nice with the other kids, okay, little pup?” Hakyeon’s mama said, ruffling her son’s dark hair before giving his cheek a gentle pinch, causing the four year old to squeak and bat at her hand.  She laughed as she left, knowing that her outgoing boy would have no problem getting along with the other kids in the preschool.

Hakyeon, left to his own devices in the classroom full of other kids and lots of toys, decided to go introduce himself to a group of kids playing with blocks.  Just as his mother had predicted, he was playing happily with them in no time, stacking the blocks without a care in the world.  The other three boys had introduced themselves as Jaehwan, Wonsik, and Hongbin, and they had decided to build the world’s highest tower of blocks.

“How tall does it have to be to be the world’s tallest tower?” Hakyeon asked, surveying what they had so far with narrowed, calculating eyes—or as calculating as a four year old could be.  Mostly he just looked like he had smelled something funny.

Jaehwan stood on his tiptoes and stretched his arms up as far as he could go, “This high,” he replied, eyes sparkling with excitement at the challenge.  Hongbin, the youngest of them gaped up at where Jaehwan’s hands were, as if he couldn’t even imagine a tower of blocks that high.  Wonsik was busy stacking the blocks just so, making sure that it was stable and everything was perfect.  Accepting the challenge, Hakyeon gathered up as many blocks as he could and started to help.  

They worked for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, with Hakyeon and Jaehwan gathering blocks while Wonsik carefully stacked, with only mildly helpful assistance from Hongbin.  The block tower was already really coming together despite only Wonsik really doing anything useful, and was already taller than Hongbin.  Wonsik was having to stand on his tiptoes to stack the highest blocks.  Unbeknownst to the tower-builders, the class’s teacher, a female beta, was watching worriedly from her desk, wondering when the blocks were going to come tumbling down—and if any kids were going to be under the block avalanche when it happened.

They were all distracted from the impending block doom when another parent appeared at the doorway to the classroom.  As the teacher rose to greet the new parent, Hakyeon found himself distracted from their tower building by the fact that he didn’t immediately see a child to go along with the parent.  That seemed odd to Hakyeon, because why would a parent come to preschool without a kid to drop off?  Ignoring Wonsik’s order for more blocks, Hakyeon decided instead to watch the interaction between the teacher and the parent.  He was watching so intently that he quickly noticed what appeared to be a tiny hand gripping onto the woman’s skirt.  Squinting and craning his neck, as if that would help him see behind the very solid adult better, Hakyeon tried to get a glimpse of the new child.

“Hello,” the teacher greeted the parent, before smiling and peeking at the child hiding behind the woman, “Who is this?”

The mother smiled a little apologetically, “This is Taekwoon.  Sorry, he’s a little shy.”  Then, to the child, she crooned a soft, “Taekwoonie, say hi to your new teacher.”

Hakyeon got his first glimpse of Taekwoon when the small, chubby cheeked child just barely peeped around the edge of his mother’s leg.  His sharp eyes were staring distrustfully at the teacher, but he uttered the world’s softest “hi.”  Hakyeon thought it was probably the cutest thing he’d ever seen—even cuter than his older sister’s new kitten.

“We’ll take good care of him,” the teacher was saying, holding her hand out for Taekwoon to take, smiling encouragingly at him.  At his mother’s prodding, Taekwoon finally edged out from behind her and tentatively took the teacher’s hand, looking very uncomfortable and kind of teary-eyed.  With one last smooch to her son’s head, the woman left, leaving Taekwoon with the teacher, who started to lead him over to where the kids were playing.

“What do you like to play with, Taekwoon?” the teacher asked, her eyes scanning the room for something for Taekwoon to do to take his mind off the fact that his mother wasn’t there.  The little boy said nothing, only sniffled a little, his eyes now glued to the floor.

Meanwhile, Hakyeon was still watching Taekwoon, wanting really badly to play with the other boy.  He was about to call out to the teacher when Jaehwan finally noticed that Hakyeon was no longer working on their tower.

“Hakyeonnie~ What are you looking at?” he asked, leaving Wonsik and Hongbin to their precarious block-stacking.  He followed Hakyeon’s gaze to the new boy, “Who is that?  Do you know him?”

“No,” Hakyeon replied, “But I want him to play with us.  Can he play with us?”

“I guess,” Jaehwan giggled, “He’s too little to help us build the world’s tallest tower, though, cause it’s already taller than Hongbinnie.”

“Maybe we can build the world’s next tallest tower?” Hakyeon suggested, perking up at the idea.  It seemed like a very good one to him.  With that in mind, he waved his arms wildly at the teacher, “Teacher!  Teacher!  Can he play with us?”

The teacher smiled at Hakyeon’s enthusiasm, while Taekwoon paused his sniffling to stare in confusion at the grinning boy, “That’s very nice of you to offer, Hakyeon.  What do you think, Taekwoon?  Do you want to play with Hakyeon and his friends?  They’re building a very big block tower.”

Taekwoon blinked up at the tower, seemingly intimidated by how big it was.  He looked back to Hakyeon, who continued to grin at him and was now bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet, barely able to contain himself.  Taekwoon seemed to have a hard time making up his mind.  The block tower was just so tall, but Hakyeon seemed very friendly.  Maybe it would be okay.  

He finally gave a shy nod.  The teacher released his hand and gave his shoulder a gentle pat before leaving him in Hakyeon’s (hopefully) capable hands.  

At first, Taekwoon didn’t know what to do.  Finally, Hakyeon reached forward to take his hands, tugging him over to the pile of blocks that hadn’t been used yet.  He handed Taekwoon some blocks before starting to stack some next to Wonsik’s tower.

“Your name is Taekwoon, right?  I’m Hakyeon!” he chirped, grinning up at Taekwoon, who looked like he had no idea what to do with the blocks in his hands, “Come on, help me build the world’s next tallest tower!  Wonsik and Jaehwan are already building the world’s tallest tower, so we’ll build the next one, okay?”

The other boy nodded again shyly before sitting down to start stacking his blocks on top of Hakyeon’s.  Their quiet block-stacking didn’t last very long though, before Jaehwan jumped on Hakyeon from behind with a loud whoop, startling a yell from Hayeon and a terrified squeak from Taekwoon, who scrambled backwards and accidentally bumped into Wonsik’s much taller tower, finally causing the block avalanche that the teacher had been dreading.  Poor Hongbin happened to be in the way of the avalanche, getting pelted and then buried by the lightweight blocks.  There were so many blocks that Hongbin quickly disappeared from view under them, only his little sneakers sticking out.

Wonsik let out a wail, “My tower!” he shrieked, before realizing his friend had been buried alive in blocks, “Binnie!!” he yelped, starting to try and dig out the other preschooler, who had begun to cry.

“…Oops…” Jaehwan mumbled, looking sheepish, “Uhh, it was an accident?” 

“Are you okay, Taekwoonie?” Hakyeon asked, scrambling to the other boy’s side to make sure none of the blocks had hit him.  The teacher was already rushing over to count the casualties of the block disaster (or maybe to dig Hongbin out and kiss his ouchies better), but Taekwoon ignored her in favor of clinging to Hakyeon, shaking and hiding his face in Hakyeon’s shoulder.

“Taekwoonie?” Hakyeon squeaked, startled.  He patted the other little boy’s back as his mother had for him when he was upset, trying to remember what she always told him to calm him down, “There, there,” he murmured, “It’s okay—you didn’t mean to.  It was Jaehwannie’s fault, right?”

“Hey!” Jaehwan yelped, “I didn’t know he was going to be so scared!” he pooched out his lower lip and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting for a moment before smiling sheepishly, “Uhh, I’m sorry for scaring you, Taekwoonie.  Are you okay?”

Taekwoon lifted his head just enough so that he could look at Jaehwan over Hakyeon’s shoulder, his eyes looking a little teary again.  Still gripping onto Hakyeon’s shirt, Taekwoon gave a small nod.  Hakyeon patted his back again soothingly.  Taekwoon kept his face tucked into Hakyeon’s shoulder, taking in deep breaths as if Hakyeon’s scent was comforting to him.  Hakyeon, confused, sniffed his own shoulder but couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary.  Curious, he gave Taekwoon’s fluffy black hair a cautious sniff.  He was surprised by how nice Taekwoonie smelled.  Rubbing his cheek against the top of Taekwoon’s head like a cat, he couldn’t help but grin and pat Taekwoon’s back again.

As the teacher rushed over to help dig Hongbin out of the pile of blocks and scold the kids for doing something so dangerous, Hakyeon couldn’t help but smile and think about how much fun he and Taekwoon were going to have.  He wanted to play with Taekwoon every day—and the others too of course, though he might’ve been having second doubts about Jaehwan.

The rest of the day went along without incident, and Hakyeon and Taekwoon did indeed play together quite a bit.  It mostly consisted of Taekwoon watching Hakyeon play, while Hakyeon kept calling out for him to “Watch this!  Watch this, Woonie!”  They ended up having so much fun that neither of them wanted to leave when preschool was over.  When their mothers came to pick them up, Taekwoon started quietly sniffling again, tears welling up in his eyes and rolling down his round cheeks.  He and Hakyeon clung to each other and refused to let go.  Fed up, their mothers finally promised them that they would see each other tomorrow, and that they would try to work out a way for them to play together on the weekend as well.  At that, Taekwoon finally allowed himself to be pried away from Hakyeon.  Hakyeon waved sadly as Taekwoon’s mother scooped him up and carried him out of the preschool and out to their car.

“I’m glad you made a good friend, Hakyeon-ah,” Hakyeon’s mama said, smiling cheekily.  She had thought it was just about the cutest thing she’d ever seen, watching the two little pups cling to each other and refuse to let go.  

“Are you ready to go home?” she asked, reaching out her hand for Hakyeon to take.  After waving goodbye to Wonsik, Hongbin, and Jaehwan, who were now playing with hand puppets, he looked up at his mama and nodded.

“I can’t wait to play with Woonie again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day…” Hakyeon happily chatted about each day he was going to play with his new friend, all the way out to the car.

And sure enough, when he came to preschool the next day, he waited impatiently for his new best friend to get there, even turning down “world’s tallest tower, part two!” with Jaehwan and the others.

This time, when Taekwoon arrived, he wasn’t hiding behind his mother—he was out ahead of her, pulling her along by her hand.  Or perhaps he was being tethered by the firm grip she kept on his hand, because when he spotted Hakyeon waiting for him, he started to tug against her, trying to pull free so he could run to his new best friend.  She finally relented and released him, laughing at how excited he was to play with Hakyeon.  Suddenly free, Taekwoon stumbled over to where Hakyeon was waiting.  Hakyeon pounced on his new friend as soon as he was within arm’s reach, wrapping Taekwoon up in an excited hug.  Taekwoon reciprocated, his little hands grasping fistfuls of Hakyeon’s shirt.  He barely even heard his mother tell him goodbye—he was too busy listening to Hakyeon chatter excitedly about all the stuff they were gonna do and all the games they were gonna play, and about how they were gonna be best friends forever.

oOo

Years passed, and Hakyeon and Taekwoon remained best friends.  Like with most childhood friendships, though, things were bound to change as they got older.  For Hakyeon and Taekwoon, that time came while they were at the end of middle school, about to enter high school.  

Up until partway through middle school, all of the students had classes together like normal, but during middle school (usually closer to the end of it, though it varied from student to student), kids found out what their rank would be for the rest of their lives—alpha, beta, or omega.  As if puberty by itself wasn’t bad enough, they suddenly gained the ability to shift into their wolf forms, and their rank was decided at around the same time, usually by the releasing of alpha, beta, or omega pheromones, along with sudden growth spurts for alphas and changes in behavior for all ranks.  Alphas tended to be more aggressive and have shorter tempers, while betas were steady and calmer, and omegas became more submissive.  There were always exceptions—not every alpha was a muscle-head with a short fuse, and not every omega would roll over and show their belly at one look from an alpha.  The surest way to tell which was which was to go by the pheromones they gave off.

Once a child’s rank was decided, they were swapped to classes specifically for their rank.  While the different ranks could of course still interact (they had combined lunches, for example), it was usually easier for them to learn if they weren’t distracting each other.  Until their hormones settled down, it was difficult for omegas to be around the betas and alphas, and vice versa, without their attention being drawn away from what the teacher was saying and to how nice the alpha/beta/omega the next desk over smelled.

Children were taught about the different ranks and what came along with each rank all during elementary school, so that when their rank was decided in middle school, they hopefully weren’t caught by surprise.  Hakyeon, Jaehwan and the others were very excited, wondering what rank they would be, but Taekwoon didn’t seem as thrilled about the different ranks and what they meant.  While Hakyeon and the others chatted happily about what they thought they would be, Taekwoon sat next to Hakyeon and remained quiet.  Taekwoon being quiet wasn’t unusual, but even when Hakyeon reached out to pat Taekwoon’s arm excitedly, the chubby-cheeked boy kept his eyes on his hands and didn’t react.  Hakyeon, now able to read Taekwoon like a book, picked up on it immediately and turned to face Taekwoon, tuning out the chatter of their other friends.

“What’s the matter, Taekwoonie?” he asked softly, tugging at Taekwoon’s sleeve.  The other simply kept his eyes down and shrugged, not really wanting to voice his worries.

“Is it about the rankings?” Hakyeon guessed, figuring Taekwoon’s mood had something to do with what they had been discussing.  When he saw the slight tensing of Taekwoon’s shoulders, he assumed that he was right, “You know it doesn’t matter what any of us end up as—it won’t keep us from being friends, right?”

Taekwoon finally glanced up, his dark eyes unreadable to most, but Hakyeon knew him well enough to see the worry there.

“I don’t want to be separated,” the boy said in his soft voice, barely above a whisper.  Despite Jaehwan’s obnoxiously loud laughing, Hakyeon always managed to hear Taekwoon—it was like his ears were specially tuned to Taekwoon’s voice.

Hakyeon smiled sweetly at his friend, “Hey, you never know!  We might be the same rank and stay together, but even if we aren’t, that’s not going to keep us from hanging out, right?”  Feeling somewhat overwhelmed by a sudden desire to hug Taekwoon, he scooted his chair over and flung his arms around the other boy, laughing as he rubbed his face on Taekwoon’s shoulder and took in that same comforting scent.

Taekwoon didn’t hug him back—he had gotten a lot shyer about public displays of affection since preschool—but he did give Hakyeon a small smile.  Maybe everything would be all right, just like Hakyeon said.  Taekwoon was given to worrying quite a bit, and lately he had started to notice things… things he didn’t feel comfortable talking to even Hakyeon about.  He was determined to figure it out on his own and not worry Hakyeon about it.

oOo

It wasn’t until several months later that what Taekwoon had been worrying about happened.  Hakyeon and Taekwoon had planned on hanging out over the weekend as per usual, but something came up.  Taekwoon’s mother called Hakyeon’s mother and let her know that Taekwoon wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be able to spend time with Hakyeon over the weekened, but would hopefully see him at school on Monday.

Hakyeon wasn’t too worried, since Taekwoon’s mother wasn’t worried, and if anyone was going to freak out over Taekwoon being sick, it would be his mother.  He kind of wanted to go see Taekwoon, though, and maybe nurse him back to health.  Taekwoon was the kind of person to cocoon himself in a blanket and refuse to move for days when he was sick.  Sometimes Hakyeon had to physically drag him to the shower to clean up or the kitchen to eat.  This time, though, Taekwoon’s mother was absolutely adamant that Hakyeon stay away until Taekwoon was better.  It struck Hakyeon as a little odd, but he agreed to stay away until Taekwoon was feeling better.

The only problem was, Taekwoon didn’t come to school on Monday.  He didn’t come on Tuesday either.  By Wednesday, Hakyeon was starting to have Taekwoon withdrawal.  He decided that he would drop in on Taekwoon and see how the other boy was feeling.  It would be a fun surprise and would hopefully make Taekwoon feel better.

Except, by the end of the school day, Hakyeon was starting not to feel so good either.  He felt kind of feverish, and there was a sickly twisty feeling in his stomach.  His teacher noticed immediately and had him sent to the office to wait for one of his parents to come and get him.  They told him not to worry, that he wasn’t really sick, and that everything would be fine.  He just needed to go home and rest for a few days.  Hakyeon didn’t want to go home and rest, though—he wanted to see Taekwoon.  Surely he would be feeling better by tomorrow, and they could see each other again.  Hakyeon didn’t think they had ever gone so long without seeing each other before.  It was starting to make him feel lonely.

After a while, Hakyeon’s mama arrived to pick him up.  She took one look at him, sweaty and out of it, and grinned.

“Let’s get you home, pup,” she chuckled, helping Hakyeon to his feet and pulling him out to the car.  She hustled him home and settled him into bed with a cool cloth on his forehead and orders to rest, and to call her if he needed anything.

After tossing and turning for most of the evening, Hakyeon finally managed to fall asleep.  Several hours later, he woke, and he wasn’t just a middle school boy anymore.

He was a wolf.

Hakyeon gave a high pitched yelp, scrambling to free himself from the confining blankets.  Unaccustomed to four legs rather than two, he got even more tangled.  He yodeled out a panicked howl, not sure what was going on or why he was suddenly a wolf, when just a few hours before he had been a boy.  His mother must have heard him, because she poked her head through his door and grinned at him.

“Aw, you’re so cute, little pup,” she cooed, coming into his room and reaching out to help untangle him.  Scratching him calmingly behind one big ear, she sniffed him, her eyes twinkling as she deciphered his smell.

“Looks like you’re an omega, pup,” she giggled, cupping his face and giving his big black nose a smooch, “I thought you might be, but I wasn’t sure.  I wonder what Taekwoonie ended up being?  Once you’ve settled down and gotten then hang of changing shapes, you can go back to school and ask him about it.”

Hakyeon whined, not sure what she was talking about.  Taekwoon had changed too?  Was that why he’d missed school for so long?  His mother must’ve understood his confusion, because she answered him as if he’d spoken out loud, rather than made animal noises.

“That’s why he couldn’t come over last weekend—he was in the middle of his change as well.  His mother wasn’t sure what rank he would be, yet.  He’s so shy and quiet, wouldn’t that be neat if he ended up an omega as well?  Then you two could be in the same class,” she giggled before yawning loudly, “Ahhhh… I think I’ll head back to bed, now that you’ve calmed down.  Remember, if you need anything, just come get me, okay pup?”

Hakyeon nodded his head, the motion odd in his new body.  He tried to make a comfortable nest out of his blankets, curling up and sighing.  He hadn’t really thought much about what it would be like to change.  It was very different from how he’d imagined it.  He wondered how Taekwoon had managed, and what rank he was.  Hopefully he would be able to go back to school soon and see him.  He missed Taekwoon so much—it was like an ache in his heart.  As his mother went back to bed, he let out another whine, this one much softer and sadder, before finally drifting off to sleep.

oOo

It took the rest of the week for Hakyeon to get the hang of changing back and forth between his wolf and human forms, and also for his pheromones to settle down enough to where he could be around alphas and not drive them nuts.  By the time the next week rolled around, he was about stir-crazy from not being able to see his friends—especially Taekwoon.  He felt like he hadn’t seen Taekwoon in a year, rather than just over a week.  He was more than ready to go back to school by Monday, getting up early and rushing out to catch the bus long before the bus arrived.  By the time the bus got there, he was chomping at the bit to get to school.  He jumped into the bus and rushed to his usual seat next to Jaehwan, behind Wonsik and Hongbin.  Taekwoon lived much closer to the school than any of them did, so he usually just walked the few blocks rather than taking the bus.

Wonsik was sleeping, but Hongbin turned around in his seat to peer at Hakyeon, as if looking to see what was different about him.  Jaehwan immediately pounced on their newly returned friend, as if it had been years since they’d seen each other.  Hakyeon wheezed as all the air was squeezed out of him by his very excited friend.

“Oh thank God you’re back,” Jaehwan wailed dramatically, “I thought Taekwoon was going to snap and kill us all before you came back to school, but maybe now you can calm him down.  He’s attempted to murder me at least ten times in the past few days—I barely escaped with my life!”

Hakyeon blinked at Jaehwan in shock.  Taekwoon, murderous?  The quiet boy had always been just that—quiet, and very shy.  He only really opened up with Hakyeon when they were alone, though he’d gotten used to the others over the years.  Hakyeon couldn’t even imagine Taekwoon trying to hurt anyone.

“Is he okay?” Hakyeon asked, looking worried.

Jaehwan snorted, pouting at Hakyeon, “Oh, of course—I almost get killed, but you ask if Taekwoon is okay.  I love you too, Hakyeonnie.”

Hakyeon rolled his eyes at Jaehwan’s dramatic nature, “Obviously you’re still alive, but I haven’t seen Woonie in over a week.  Why is he trying to kill you?  What did you do this time?”

“Excuse me,” Jaehwan muttered, slouching back in his seat, “ I did absolutely nothing, thank you very much.  He’s just much more temperamental now that he’s changed and his rank has settled.  I never thought Taekwoon of all people would be an alpha, but it’s like his personality has done a complete 360!”

“I think you mean 180,” Hongbin corrected, still studying Hakyeon as if he were a particularly interesting bug, “You look prettier, Hakyeon.  Are you an omega?”

Ignoring Jaehwan’s pouting, Hakyeon grinned sheepishly at Hongbin, “Yes, I’m an omega.  Did Jaehwan say that Taekwoon ended up an alpha?”

Hongbin nodded, “He came back the first day you were gone.  He’s a lot taller now.”

“His cheeks are still cute and chubby, though,” Jaehwan giggled, “Makes me wanna pinch them!” he made pinching motions with his hands, still grinning, but returned to his pout a moment later, “Though when I tried that he slammed me into the wall—it was pretty scary.”

Hakyeon stared at Jaehwan, eyes practically bugging out of his head from the image of quiet, shy Taekwoon being that rough with anyone.  As the bus pulled into the school’s parking lot to let the kids out, he couldn’t help but worry about what Taekwoon was going to be like when he finally got to see him for the first time in over a week.  Surely Taekwoon wouldn’t be so violent with him?  They were best friends and had always been the closest out of their group of friends.  Besides, Jaehwan was annoying enough that even Hakyeon got frustrated sometimes and had to karate chop him in the neck a little.  Surely it wasn’t as bad as Jaehwan was making it out to be.

As they all piled off the bus and into the school, Hakyeon waved goodbye to the others and made his way to the office, where he would get his new schedule for his omega classes.  He was just thinking about how he wouldn’t be able to see Taekwoon till the classes’ combined lunch when he entered the office and spotted Taekwoon sitting in one of the chairs looking very surly and sulky, and also sporting a very shiny black eye.  There was blood where his lip had split as well, and his hair looked tousled as if someone had roughly grabbed it.  Across the office was another boy who looked to be in about the same shape, and was glaring daggers at Taekwoon, who was ignoring him.

Hakyeon stopped and stared for a minute, shocked at the difference in Taekwoon that had happened in just over a week.  He and Hakyeon had been around the same height before, though Taekwoon had perhaps been just a bit shorter, and Taekwoon had still had most of his baby fat.  Now he seemed much taller and more muscular, though like Jaehwan had said, his cheeks were still full and cute.  

Because he was studying the changes in Taekwoon very closely, Hakyeon noticed that Taekwoon’s nostrils flared as if he were taking in some sort of scent.  Directly after that, his shoulders tensed and he raised his head to stare at Hakyeon with wide eyes.  Hakyeon stared back, both of them unblinking, as if seeing each other for the first time.  For once, Hakyeon didn’t know what to say.  So much had changed since the last time he had seen Taekwoon, but then again, this was Taekwoon, his best friend in the entire world, who he also hadn’t seen for over a week.

Squaring his shoulders, Hakyeon strode determinedly over to Taekwoon, only pausing briefly before practically flopping on top of the other, wrapping his arms tightly around him.  Taekwoon remained very stiff and unresponsive, which was unusual for him.  He didn’t always reciprocate Hakyeon’s affection, especially not in public, but he never seemed uncomfortable with them before.  Hakyeon started to pull back to ask Taekwoon what was wrong, but just then his brain caught up with his nose, and he noticed that something smelled absolutely fabulous, and that something appeared to be Taekwoon.  There was the strong scent of alpha pheromones (which were getting stronger by the second, it seemed), but also that familiar Taekwoon smell, which had somehow gotten even more appealing.

Before Hakyeon realized what was going on, he had already planted his face into the crook of Taekwoon’s neck, inhaling that amazing smell for all he was worth.  Taekwoon remained stiff and unresponsive for another few moments before he let out the breath he had been holding and shoved his nose into the space behind Hakyeon’s ear, copying Hakyeon’s almost frantic inhaling.  His hands came up to grip Hakyeon’s hips, the hold strong enough to bruise, but Hakyeon didn’t mind.  He was too busy trying to figure out how to get as close to Taekwoon as possible, preferably without having to move his face from where it was, since he didn’t want to lose that mouthwatering scent for anything in the world.

Hakyeon had managed to climb into Taekwoon’s lap by the time the office receptionist noticed what was happening.  She quickly came out from behind her desk to separate the two, which was no easy feat, considering the death grip the two had on each other.  After Taekwoon realized what he was doing, though, he pushed Hakyeon away as if he’d been burned, sending the other sprawling onto the floor of the office.  Hakyeon was pretty dazed, mostly from the amazing scent that was filling his nose and clouding his mind rather than the fall.  His head had started to clear a little when Taekwoon abruptly stood and left the office as fast as his feet could carry him.  

“Jung Taekwoon!” the receptionist called after him, looking exasperated with the lot of them.  When he refused to acknowledge her before he disappeared down the hall, she started grumbling to herself as she helped a confused and dazed Hakyeon back to his feet, “I don’t know what’s gotten into that boy.  He used to be so sweet—all this fighting and such is so unlike him…”

At the sound of someone snickering, she whirled to face the other boy sitting across the office, narrowing her eyes and pointing a stern finger in his direction, “And you—you need to stop riling him up!  Sit there and don’t make another peep till the principal calls for you, do you hear?”

After that, she led Hakyeon over to her desk, gathering a few papers and things that he would need for his new classes.  She sighed as she handed them to him, looking a little sad, “I was going to ask you if you could have a talk with Taekwoon when you got back, but it looks like that might do more harm than good.  Be careful, Hakyeon, and don’t do anything you’ll regret, all right?”  With that and a gentle pat on his shoulder, she sent him on his way, even more confused than he’d been before.

Hakyeon stumbled out into the hall, looking around for Taekwoon but not seeing him.  He sighed, scratching the back of his neck, before taking a look at his new schedule and setting off to find his first class.  Figuring out what in the world just went on with Taekwoon would have to happen later.

oOo

Later was apparently a lot later than Hakyeon had predicted.  Taekwoon somehow managed to avoid him for the rest of the week.  If Hakyeon had felt best friend deprived before, it was way beyond that now.  He was about ready to rip out his own hair, he was so frustrated.  The biggest issue was that he had no idea why Taekwoon was avoiding him.  They hadn’t spoken for over two weeks—he couldn’t get him on the phone, and Taekwoon avoided him like the plague at school.  Even trips to Taekwoon’s house after school had ended with him being turned away at the door by Taekwoon’s very apologetic parents, who refused to tell Hakyeon what was wrong.

“Just give him some time, Hakyeon,” they told him, “He’s still figuring some things out, so it would be best if you left him alone for now.”

That was all well and good, but the ache in Hakyeon’s chest had gotten worse, and he knew it had something to do with Taekwoon.  Every time he managed to get close to Taekwoon or even caught sight of the alpha, he felt the ache ease somewhat, but then Taekwoon would give him the cold shoulder and ignore his existence—or even worse, push him away—and the ache would come back with a vengeance.

Even Hakyeon’s friends had no idea what was up with Taekwoon.

“I dunno why he’s avoiding you,” Jaehwan mumbled around mouthfuls of food one day at lunch, “I haven’t tried to talk to him since he almost ripped my arm off.  I don’t want to die, thanks!”

“To be fair, you were poking at his cheeks again,” Hongbin pointed out, “You should probably stop doing that.”

Jaehwan, ever the epitome of maturity, stuck out his chewed food-covered tongue at Hongbin, who scrunched up his nose in disgust.  Hakyeon was already tuning them out, staring across the lunchroom to where Taekwoon was sitting by himself.  It was almost like there was a forcefield of sulky rage around him, because no one dared to sit within several feet of him.  He was hunched over his food, eating methodically.

“Oh look,” Jaehwan chirped, “Someone is going to sit with him!  Is that an underclassman?”

Sure enough, a boy was going towards the table where Taekwoon was sitting.  He plopped his lunch tray down across from Taekwoon, smiling and asking him something.  Taekwoon stared at the boy for a moment before going back to eating, which the boy apparently took as some sort of answer, because he sat down and started eating.

“…How did he not die?” Jaehwan asked, confused.

“I think his name is Sanghyuk or something,” Wonsik supplied in between bites of his food, “I only know because he’s kind of a school celebrity.  He changed way earlier than is normal and already knows his rank.  He’s an omega, if I remember right.”

Hakyeon’s head whipped around to stare at Wonsik, “What?!” he asked, voice louder than he meant it to be.  Heads immediately started turning to look at their table, and Hakyeon smiled sheepishly at them, “Oops.”

“What’s the matter, Hakyeonnie?” Jaehwan asked, peering at the other as if he’d grown a second head.

Opening his mouth to try and explain why he was suddenly so upset, Hakyeon realized he didn’t really know the reason and quickly shut his mouth again, shrugging in answer to Jaehwan’s question.

“I guess I was just surprised that he changed so early, is all.  He’s like a little kid, or something,” Hakyeon muttered, turning to stare at Taekwoon again.  Though it seemed like Taekwoon was ignoring the kid, Sanghyuk had managed to get closer to Taekwoon than Hakyeon had managed in a long time.  There may have been a little jealousy involved in why he was so upset, but Hakyeon wasn’t going to admit that anytime soon.

Over the next few days, Sanghyuk continued to sit with Taekwoon at lunch, while Hakyeon seethed quietly from across the room.  Taekwoon had apparently become used to Sanghyuk’s company, because he started to answer questions sometimes when Sanghyuk asked him something, when before he had ignored the other and remained silent.  It drove Hakyeon nuts, seeing Taekwoon talking with someone else, and another omega on top of that.

“Geez, Hakyeon, will you stop growling?  It’s getting annoying,” Wonsik finally snapped, putting down his sandwich.

Okay, so maybe Hakyeon hadn’t been seething as quietly as he’d thought.  He also noticed that his nails had partially shifted into claws, which he had been digging into the poor, defenseless lunch table.  He quickly tucked his hands under the table, frowning at the gouges he’d left in the table.  He sighed, slumping and letting his forehead thunk against the table.

“I don’t know what to do,” he whined, “Taekwoon won’t talk to me, and I miss him.  And now he’s hanging out with this… this baby omega and not with me and it’s driving me insane!”

It was probably a good thing he wasn’t sitting up, otherwise he would’ve seen Hongbin and Wonsik exchange exasperated looks.

“You should just confront him and get him to tell you what’s wrong,” Wonsik said, going back to his food.

“Yeah!  And then karate chop him really hard in the neck to make him pay for almost killing me so many times over the past few weeks!” Jaehwan added, before remembering that this wasn’t really about him and tacking on a hasty, “Oh, and also because he’s been ignoring you—that too.”

Hakyeon and the others rolled their eyes at Jaehwan before going back to the problem at hand.

“I’ve been trying to confront him for ages, but he’s hard to catch for such a big guy,” Hakyeon sighed, “I don’t know what else to try…”

“You’re just going to have to corner him somewhere private and make him talk to you,” Hongbin explained, “There’s really no other way.  He’s really stubborn—you know that better than anyone else.  He’s going to keep avoiding the problem until something makes him face it, and it looks like that something’s going to have to be you.”

Hakyeon blinked at Hongbin, “Wow, that was pretty good advice.  You should look into a career in counseling or something, Hongbinnie.”  Hongbin simply gave him a smug smile before they all returned to their meals.  Hakyeon found himself looking at Taekwoon more than he was eating, though, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to make a plan of action for Mission: Confront Taekwoonie.  It wouldn’t be easy, but for his relationship with Taekwoon, he would do it.  They couldn’t continue on as they were.  For one thing, Hakyeon’s heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

He could only hope that Taekwoon felt the same way, and this wouldn’t be as hard and he feared.

oOo

“Jung Taekwoon!” Hakyeon yelled, pouncing on Taekwoon as soon as he exited his last class.  Taekwoon yelped, surprised at the sudden attack.  He was so caught off-guard that Hakyeon managed to grab him and pull him into one of the side hallways that didn’t see much traffic once school was over.

As soon as he realized who had grabbed him and what was going on, Taekwoon tried to push past Hakyeon and make his escape, but Hakyeon was prepared to talk to Taekwoon or die trying.  He put himself between Taekwoon and freedom, baring his teeth at the other as if he were in his wolf form rather than his human.  Taekwoon blinked in surprise at Hakyeon before he hunched his shoulders, looking off at the wall.

“Let me through,” he muttered quietly, so quiet that Hakyeon almost didn’t hear it.  His voice hadn’t changed, at least, and that gave Hakyeon the courage to move forward.  This was still Taekwoon, after all, even if some things about him had changed.

“No,” he growled, “I’m not letting you go till we talk about what’s going on.”

He tried to reach out and grip Taekwoon’s shoulder, whether to make sure he didn’t try to run away or just to be touching him, Hakeyon didn’t know.  Taekwoon frowned and shrugged Hakyeon’s hand off, though, and Hakyeon left it hanging between them, as if he wanted to reach out again but was afraid he’d be rejected a second time.  After a moment of complete silence from Taekwoon, he finally let it drop back to his side.

“…Why are you avoiding me?” he asked after a few more beats of silence had passed, “Did I do something wrong?”  He winced as his voice cracked on the last word.  He hadn’t realized it, but his eyes and throat felt tight, as if he might start crying at a moment’s notice.  He cleared his throat, blinking to try and clear his vision.  When had those tears welled up?

That finally seemed to break through to Taekwoon, causing him to turn back to Hakyeon, his brows furrowed in worry.  His gaze wavered as he stared at Hakyeon before he finally looked back to the floor, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

“No,” he whispered, “You didn’t do anything.”

Hakyeon started to take a step forward but decided against it, “Then why are you avoiding me?  These last few weeks have been awful.  I want my friend back, Taekwoonie.  Please tell me what I can do to fix this…”

Still refusing to look up, Taekwoon stuttered out a reply that Hakyeon had to lean forward in order to hear, “It’s-it’s not you, it’s—“ he let out an exasperated sigh, apparently at his inability to say what he meant.

“If it’s not me, then what is it?” Hakyeon asked, confused.  He frowned sadly at Taekwoon, “I miss you, Taekwoonie.  Please tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

Taekwoon glanced up at Hakyeon finally, though the eye contact was short-lived.  His gaze quickly shifted to the wall again, and his cheeks started to burn a rosy pink.  He mumbled something that Hakyeon couldn’t make out, even when he leaned forward to try and hear it better.  

“What was that?” he asked, “I’m sorry, Woonie, I didn’t hear what you just said.  Could you repeat it?”

Taekwoon let out a low growl and clenched his fists before huffing out in a louder but still whispery-soft voice, “I said I like you!” 

Immediately after this revelation, Taekwoon sank down into a crouch on the floor, covering his quickly reddening face with his hands and groaning as if he were dying.  Hakyeon still hadn’t processed what Taekwoon had said yet, so he just stared at the space where Taekwoon used to be standing for a few moments before his brain caught up with his ears.

“You like me?” he asked, looking down at where Taekwoon was huddled on the ground, apparently hoping that the floor would open up and swallow him, or maybe just that if he made himself as small as possible, Hakyeon would forget he was there, “What do you mean, you like me?”

Apparently that confession had opened up the flood gates, because suddenly Taekwoon was mumbling 50 miles a minute, “I mean that I like like you and you smell too good and I don’t know how to control myself when you’re around so I’ve been trying to stay away but it’s so hard and I miss you too but I know you only like me as a friend and I’m afraid you’re going to reject me and—“

“Holy cow, Taekwoonie, breathe,” Hakyeon yelped, shocked at all the talking Taekwoon was doing.  He reached down to pull him upright, ignoring the other’s protests, “So this is why you’ve been avoiding me for weeks?” he asked, frowning, “You should’ve just told me, Taekwoon.  Not being with you has been torture, and seeing you hanging out with that kid instead of me was awful.”

Taekwoon finally allowed Hakyeon to pull him up, glancing at the other in shock, “Were… Were you jealous?” he asked, voice softer than before, a hopeful look on his face.

“No,” Hakyeon denied immediately, before he blushed and looked away, “…Maybe.  I don’t know!” he grumbled, his grip on Taekwoon tightening.

“Does…” Taekwoon started, having to swallow heavily before being able to continue, “Does that mean you like me too?” he asked, flinching after he got the words out as if Hakyeon was going to hit him.

Hakyeon bit his lip, “I-I don’t know.  I mean, there’s been this weird achy feeling in my chest since you’ve been avoiding me… and now that I’m this close to you I kind of want to give you a hug and never let go.  Does that mean I like you?” he asked, finally taking notice of that amazing scent Taekwoon always gave off now that he had completed Mission: Confront Taekwoonie.

He took a big whiff of the scent, feeling his toes curl at how nice it smelled, “Why do you smell so good?  Are you wearing cologne?”

Taekwoon blushed again, shaking his head, “N-no,” he mumbled, “You smell really nice too.  It makes me feel weird… That’s—that’s why I’ve been avoiding getting too close to you.  I can’t think straight.”

Hakyeon couldn’t help himself—Taekwoon just looked so cute standing there blushing and embarrassed, and he smelled so good—he finally gave in and buried his face in Taekwoon’s chest, nuzzling there like a happy cat.  He was practically purring too.  Taekwoon let out a choked noise, but apparently the lure of the scent was too much for him to resist, because he finally reached up to wrap his arms around Hakyeon.  He pushed his nose into Hakyeon’s hair and sighed, the tension finally leaving his body.  

“I think… I think I might like you too, Woonie,” Hakyeon finally murmured, not looking up from where he had his face buried in Taekwoon’s broad chest.  He felt Taekwoon tense up again, his arms tightening around Hakyeon.  

“R-really?” Taekwoon whimpered, trying to hide in Hakyeon’s hair so the other couldn’t see how red his cheeks were.

Hakyeon hummed happily, patting Taekwoon’s back to soothe him, just like he had all those years ago when they were little kids, “Yeah,” he murmured with a smile, “Just don’t avoid me again, okay?  I’ll have to punish you if you do.”

Taekwoon let out a strangled laugh before nodding, “Okay,” he whispered.

For a long time they were silent, simply basking in each other’s presence.  It was so nice to be together again, and even better to be holding each other like this.  Hakyeon felt as if everything was as it was supposed to be.  He and Taekwoon were meant to be together—he could just feel it.  It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.  He never wanted to be separated from Taekwoon like that again.  He could tell by the way that Taekwoon was holding him as if he might disappear at any moment that Taekwoon felt the same way.

“Hey, Woonie,” Hakyeon said after a while.  He felt rather than heard Taekwoon’s questioning hum, since the side of his face was still smushed up against Taekwoon’s chest.

“I think I missed my bus.  Can I stay at your house tonight?”

oOo

Later they found out that the reason they both smelled so nice to each other was because they were apparently very compatible as mates—to the point that they were almost destined to be together, which was kind of rare, that they had been able to find each other so young and stay together so long.  And stay together they did, all through the rest of middle school and through high school.  After high school they went on to college and moved into the dorms specifically set aside for mated couples.  Of course they had their fights—Taekwoon was stubborn and avoided things he didn’t like in the hopes that they’d go away and leave him alone, and Hakyeon was clingy and over-affectionate—but they always worked it out, as people who love each other should.

After college, the two officially got married.  They held a small wedding for just their family and friends.  Hakyeon insisted on having a bouquet, and Hongbin may or may not have kicked Sanghyuk in the leg in order to catch it at the reception when Hakyeon tossed it into the crowd.  After the wedding, Hakyeon and Taekwoon moved into their new house.  It was like becoming mates all over again, and they were very happy.

Things quickly settled into a routine.  They both worked, but they managed to arrange it so that their jobs were around the same time, so they always had time to be together at home.  In the mornings, Hakyeon would drag himself out of bed to start making breakfast, the smell of which would usually rouse Taekwoon enough that he could totter into the kitchen and drape himself over Hakyeon’s back while he finished cooking.  After a quick breakfast they would shower together (to conserve water, of course) and head off to work.  Taekwoon’s job finished sooner than Hakyeon’s, so he would usually start dinner and wait for his mate to get home.  After dinner was cuddling on the couch and then eventually bed.  It was a happy, comfortable routine filled with lots of love and affection between the two.  They seemed to live in their own happy world, almost like they were the only two on the planet, and they liked it that way.

Their happy routine changed, however, as things usually do.

One morning Taekwoon woke to the odd smell of… oatmeal?  His nose twitched as he rolled out of bed and shuffled his way into the kitchen, where he found Hakyeon scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal.  Taekwoon blinked in sleepy confusion at his mate, who, as far as he knew, wouldn’t touch oatmeal with a ten foot pole.  Not only was Hakyeon most of the way through a bowl of oatmeal, there was also another pot of the stuff on the stove bubbling away.  As he watched, Hakyeon finished off his current bowl and went for seconds… or what Taekwoon assumed was seconds.  For all he knew, it could’ve been Hakyeon’s fourth or fifth bowl.

“Hakyeon?” he asked, voice rough from sleep, “Why are you eating oatmeal?”

His mate paused in the middle of filling his bowl, looking over his shoulder at Taekwoon, “Oh, Woonie, you’re up!  I don’t really know why, but for some reason I’m craving it.  Do you want some?”

Taekwoon continued to stare at Hakyeon for a moment before deciding it wasn’t worth questioning.  He nodded his head, allowing Hakyeon to dish him out a bowl.  He ate quietly, his eyes trained on Hakyeon as the other plowed through at least two more bowls of oatmeal before finally calling it quits—and Taekwoon thought that might’ve had more to do with the fact that they ran out of oatmeal rather than Hakyeon actually wanting to stop eating it.  The rest of their day went on as usual, though at dinner that night, Hakyeon ate three times as much as he usually did.  Taekwoon didn’t mind, but it seemed odd to him.  He decided to ask Hakyeon about it, but all his mate could come up with was that he was “just hungry.”

Things only got even more strange from there.  Another morning a few weeks later, Taekwoon woke up, not to the smell of breakfast, but to the sound of Hakyeon crying.  Sounds were not usually enough to wake Taekwoon up, but the sound of his mate in distress did the job pretty well.  Immediately alert, Taekwoon hopped out of bed and made his way over to the closet, where Hakyeon was sitting in a pile of his work clothes and sniffling quietly.

“Hakyeon?  Are you all right?  What’s wrong?” he asked, voice soft and anxious.  He reached out to touch Hakyeon’s shoulder, turning him slightly so he could see his face.

Hakyeon’s eyes were puffy and red, as if he’d been crying for a while.  His nose was a little runny, which accounted for the sniffling Taekwoon had heard.  At the sight of his mate’s worried face, Hakyeon burst into loud crying, flinging himself at Taekwoon and knocking him to the floor.  He clung to Taekwoon like a koala, crying and snotting on his sleep shirt.

Taekwoon started to panic.  Hakyeon almost never cried.  Taekwoon was usually the emotional one, and Hakyeon had to console him.  The reversal of roles threw Taekwoon for a loop.  He didn’t know what to do.

“Hakyeon?  Hakyeon, what’s wrong?” he asked, trying to pull Hakyeon off of him far enough that he could see his face.  When Hakyeon refused to be budged, he settled for petting him gently, starting in his silky hair and making his way down his back in soothing , hoping to calm him.  It seemed to work, because Hakyeon went back to just sniffling, though he still shook a little.  He finally attempted to talk, voice muffled somewhat by Taekwoon’s shirt.  Taekwoon didn’t catch a whole lot of what he said, but he did hear something about not being able to find something.

“What couldn’t you find?” he asked, confused.  Hakyeon had never thrown a fit over losing something before.

His mate finally surfaced for air, and to wail at Taekwoon, “I lost my favorite shirt and I wanted to wear it today but now I can’t because I can’t find it and I don’t know why I’m crying but it won’t stop!”

Taekwoon was shocked, but he did his best to soothe his mate.  He didn’t understand what was going on, but he managed (somehow) to get Hakyeon up and make them both a quick breakfast.  Hakyeon sat at the table and sniffled pitifully until Taekwoon gave him food.  During their shower, Taekwoon noticed that Hakyeon was looking a little pudgier around his middle than he used to, but wisely decided not to mention it.  Hakyeon was already upset enough about losing his shirt—he didn’t want to set off the waterworks again.  Taekwoon had already reached his limit for crying mates, thank you very much.

After that episode came even more.  Sometimes it was crying, sometimes Hakyeon would lash out at Taekwoon without any provocation.  Taekwoon was at his wit’s end.  Assuming that it was an omega thing, he decided to ask for help from one of his few omega friends.

“…Are you an idiot?” Sanghyuk asked after the long silence he’d given Taekwoon after the alpha had explained what was going on with his mate.

Taekwoon thunked his head against the wall, not up to dealing with Sanghyuk’s sass right at that moment, “Please spare me and just tell me what’s wrong.”

Sanghyuk sighed, and Taekwoon could practically hear him rolling his eyes across the phone, “Have you ever thought that your mate might be, oh, I dunno, pregnant?”

Taekwoon might’ve dropped the phone at that.  He stared down at the lit up screen with a silly selca of Sanghyuk staring back at him, mouth open and mind blank.  He could faintly hear Sanghyuk yelling at him for dropping the phone, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care in the face of what he’d just been told.

Hakyeon was pregnant.

oOo

Everything changed after that.  Taekwoon suddenly felt like he was walking on eggshells around his mate at all times of the day and night.  Hakyeon was extremely hormonal and would either start crying or snap at Taekwoon at a moment’s notice.  The morning sickness was nearly the end of Taekwoon, who couldn’t stand to see his mate in any sort of pain.  He tried his best to take care of Hakyeon, who appreciated it and thanked him for it in the rare bouts of calm he had.  As the pregnancy went on, Hakyeon had less morning sickness and more moodiness, along with very random food cravings (usually oatmeal), and bouts of insatiable .  Taekwoon felt like he was on a boat out in stormy seas, or perhaps on a particularly terrifying roller coaster.  He tried his best, and he knew it would be worth it in the end.

Hakyeon was worth it.

One night, quite a few months into the pregnancy, the two were lying in their bed with Taekwoon spooning the now very pregnant Hakyeon.  He had his arm draped protectively over Hakyeon’s rounded belly, rubbing it gently and feeling their pup kick.  They were both half asleep, so Taekwoon was surprised when he heard Hakyeon softly call his name.  He hummed sleepily rather than answering, just to let Hakyeon know he was listening.

“I love you, you know,” Hakyeon said softly, “I have since we were pups.  Puppy love, haha,” he chuckled, laughing at his own little joke.

Taekwoon’s arms tightened around his mate, pulling him closer, “I love you too,” he whispered, placing a gentle kiss on the back of Hakyeon’s neck, “And I love our pup,” he murmured, giving Hakyeon’s belly another gentle rub and smiling happily as he felt their little pup kick.

Hakyeon snorted, ruining the soft, romantic moment, “Is that another kind of puppy love?” he laughed, turning his head to grin at Taekwoon, who rolled his eyes and leaned forward to press his lips against his mate’s, shutting him up in the best way Taekwoon knew how.

“Shut up and go to sleep.”

aaaaand that's a wrap!  I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the wolf stuff haha 8'D I tried to make it as uncomplicated as I could while still including it as an important part, since the prompt asked for "Wolfau where Leo is an Alpha and N is an omega. There should be a good amount of fluff and maybe even have mpreg (with no scene ofc). A happy ending would be great as well."  This is my first time writing wolf!au, a/b/o, and mpreg, so I hope I didn't disappoint 8'D 

Also, for the lols, here's my outline I made before writing this, which I mostly stuck to LOL

OUTLINE:

• Start with Neo as “pups” (babs in pre-k)
• They’re really clingy with each other
• Hakyeon understands Taekwoon best
• Cute toddler stuff okay
• Time skip! 
• Woonie becomes an Alpha and Hakyeon becomes an Omega!
• Things start getting awkward in later middle school-early high school
• Woonie starts to try to avoid Hakyeon
• Hakyeon is sad but finally confronts him
• Turns out Woonie has feelings for him 
• Hakyeon is a little shocked at first, but then realizes he has feelings for Woonie too
• They’re cute and fluffy and couple-y
• Maybe a little bit of drama? Nothing big of course
• Time skip pt 2!
• Happy happy married/mated life!
• Hakyeon starts acting weird
• Woonie is scared something is wrong LOL
• They find out Hakyeon is preggers
• Cute cuddling in bed as an ending scene maybe?
• At some point Hakyeon needs to think/say something about “pups/puppy/puppies” and “love” so everyone can be like oOOOH THAT’S THE TITLE OF THE FIC bahaha
• I’m so smart
• I write good

Thank you so much for reading!  And I hope everyone has some very Happy Holidays <3