"So, like, claws?" He asks, pressing closer to Chanyeol sitting by his side.

Jongin nods excitedly from his spot in front of Baekhyun, on the floor. Carmen is napping peacefully in between his spread thighs.

Baekhyun chews on his lower lip, hugging his cup of tea closer to his chest. "And teeth? Muzzles and pointy ears?"

Kyungsoo heaves a sigh. "Yes, Baekhyun. I'm quite sure you've seen them all already."

Baekhyun pouts and Chanyeol throws an arm over his shoulders to cheer him up.

After a short nap (in Chanyeol's bed) and a few encouraging kisses, Baekhyun finally made his way out of his lover's room. The others were already waiting for him in their favourite livingroom, armed with blankets and mugs filled with green tea, courtsy of Yixing. Baekhyun hesitatntly made his way to one of the couches, the left one, that was normally occupied by Yifan. After no more than two minutes, all eleven of them were seated around the room, looking at him expectantly and seemingly ready to answer any questions. Baekhyun felt a little trapped. Luhan's piercing gaze was not helping.

It's not hard to accept, he finds. His thoughts were already filled with many bizzare scenarios before the tuth was reveiled, but grasping the whole concept of... shape-shifting... proved to be a little challenging. Baekhyun assumes it'll take a few days for the news to fully sink in.

He wiggles a little to get more comfortable. The blanket thrown over his body slips a little, but ahead of him fixing it, Chanyeol's bigger palm pulls it higher.

"Does it hurt? Shifting?" He feels his eloquency drifitng further and further away with every word he says, but it's not like it bothers him at the moment.

"Not really." Zitao answers from where he's seated next to Kyungsoo on the couch facing the grand terasse. "You can hear bones cracking a little, but it's more like... stretching."

Minseok scoffs. "That's awfully accurate, actually."

"I feel we haven't stressed one thing enough." Luhan cuts in suddenly, voice cold and expressionless. Sehun whines a tired 'hyung' from Junmyeon's left. "You can't tell anybody about this, Baekhyun. Hell will break loose if you, we'll be finished, I've seen that happen."

Baekhyun drops his gaze to the contents of his mug and swirls the liquid inside. He tries not to mind Luhan's lack of trust towards him, but the sting in his heart comes nonetheless. Chanyeol hugs him closer.

"We've talked about this, Lu. Baekhyun knows he has to keep the secret safe." The taller's voice blooms in the air. Baekhyun feels protected.

As much as he appreciated Chanyeol's care, he doesn't want to be the reason of the two of them possibly breaking apart. Luhan is only worried, only wants to ensure that his family is safe and Baekhyun understands his cautiousness. He'd probably behave similarly.

"It's okay, Chanyeol." He mutters quietly, detaching one hand from the warmth of the mug and patting the younger's thigh. Baekhyun gathers his courage to look Luhan is the eyes. "I-" He clears hsi throat when his voice comes out shakier than expected. "I understand that you're uncomfortable with me knowing your secret, Lu. But if I ever had to choose between my life and your lives, I'd die."

The silence that falls over them is heavy and sticks to his skin like the hot, humid air in summer. Jongdae shifts on his seat next to Baekhyun.

"No one is dying, Baek." Yifan speek finally, attempting to shoo the seriousnes away. "We trust you, have for a while now. And since you've never done anything wrong, we'll leave it at that."

Junmyeon shots him a smile, agreeing with the words. 

Baekhyun exhales and nods, searching for a light question to ask. His mind is blank.

"Hyung, ask about some fun things, aren't you curious?" Jongin supplies with a bounce to both his voice and his body. Baekhyun sends him a quizzical glance and a dangerous glint appears in the younger's eyes. "Hunting."

Sehun groans, but Baekhyun already caught the bait.

"Hunting? Is it fun? What do you hunt for?"

Now Luhan groans and Zitao laughs his hyena laugh. Baekhyun can't help the smile creeping onto his lips.

"Deer." Minseok says, a playful smirk gracing his lips.

Jongdae and Chanyeol chuckle lightly, causing Luhan to glare at them.

"Will you ever stop, tards? It's getting old, oh my god." Baekhyun is confused. "It's my name, lu in chinese means a deer. Ha ha, can we get the over it?"

Despite Luhan's very visible annoyance, the room is filled with laughter for the next couple of seconds. Baekhyun eyes all of them affectionately and lets himself melt into Chanyeol's embrace. He's missed it; the careless ambience, incessant teasing and amused smiles. It seems like for the last few weeks the house has been nothing but tense and heavy, empowerd by gloom that Baekhyun easily noticed. The moments he could actually enjoy happened rearer and were cut short as soon as his friends remembered their worries. Which reminds him...

"I... have something I'm curious about." With the corner of his eyes, he sees Chanyeol turning his head to look at him. His hear beats faster. Junmyeon catches his eyes. "On the Valentine's Day..."

The very last bits of laughter die out as soon as the words leave his mouth. Junmyeon breaks their eye contact and Baekhyun searches for moral support in someone else, but his friends' eyes are down, avoiding him. Baekhyun pressed his knees closer to his chest, sqeezing the mug inbetween.

"It's very complicated, Baek." Junmyeon speaks up after a moment of suffosticating silence.

Baekhyun's heart sinks. 

Luhan makes what seems like an off-handed remark in Chinese, inspecting the hem of his t-shirt. Junmyeon responds with a tired glance, but it only fuels Luhan to say a few more sentences.

Now, Baekhyun is by no means an expert in Chinese language, but he does understand one word from the older's angry rant.

Canlie.

Chanyeol.

He parts his lips to voice out whatever restes on the tip of his tongue, but Sehun is faster. He lets out a couple of words, one of which Baekhyun recognises as 'Luhan', but the man cuts him off. What he doesn't expect is Jongdae joining in, also in Chinese, sounds flowing effortlessly in the air. He doesn't know who to look at and end up turning his head back and forth between the three as they argue. Sehun's eyes are hard to read, somewhat cold and soft at the same time, but Luhan is an open book. Rage pours out of him, voice heavy and strained with anger, brown irises glazed with betrayal, and if it was Baekhyun fighting with him, he'd back off just to stop Luhan from exploding. But it's not him, it's Jongdae. 

Jongdae, who is currently trembling on his spot next to Baekhyun, body itching to spring up and do something. 

Baekhyun hates it, every second of it. Chanyeol pulls him closer.

It's Yifan's roar that eventually stops everything. The room goes silent, only Luhan and Jongdae's heavy breathing cutting through the tension. 

Baekhyun thought it'd be easier for all of them. Now that he knows and there are no more secrets to be kept, they could be even closer. No one would have to watch their words, their actions, just do whatever they want freely. It should be simple, freeing.

But it's not.

"I... won't ask any more questions, I'm sorry." he murmurs, not brave enough to look up from his lap.

"No, Baekhyun." Yifan cuts in once again. The younger tilts his chin up to peer at the taller from under his bangs and sees him standing up. "It's not your fault, we agreed to tell you everything you're curious about. You did nothing wrong." His voice carries so much authority and power that Baekhyun nods out of pure fear of disagreeing with him. Yifan turns to Luhan. "Apologise." The dumbfounded expression on Luhan's face makes Bakhyun's stomach flip. "You attacked Baekhyun and wrongly questioned his intentions. I understand that you may have your reasons, but please remember that you were in a situation similar to his a few years ago. Apologise, Luhan."

Yixing catches Baekhyun's eyes, but even the most angelic of them all cannot muster a smile right now. Baekhyun's heart can't take it.

"It's okay, Yifan, I-" he starts.

"Are you ing out of your mind?!" Luhan jumps onto his feet and Yifan takes a tentative step his way, a silent warning. The older growls, the sound coming from the very back of his throat, deep, threatening and inhumane. Baekhyun's vision blurs. "You're actually taking his side? Yifan, for 's sake, you know very well why I'm here in the first place, how can you be so irresponsible?" 

Rough fingers grasp Baekhyun's chin gently and turn his head to a side, where Chanyeol's worried eyes await him. He hears Yifan agrue back and then Luhan is hollering again, but Baekhyun doesn't regiester the message. Chanyeol looks at him as if he's precious, as if he could break because of this fight and at first he think it's ridiculous, but the pain in his heart tells him otherwise. He wants Luhan.

Baekhyun keeps staring at Chanyeol until he can't see him anymore, unshed tears obscuring the view. This is when he pushes up.

He stumbles a little, legs tangles in the blanket and the two stop in mid-sentence. Tears escape down his cheeks as he looks down to untangle himself and stand steadily on the floor, white socks bright against the carpet. Time stops and Yifan holds his breath.