It's a sunny day and Jungkook was in the courtyard with his homework spread out on the table. He was currently chewing on the end of his pen as he flipped the pages of his history book, trying to find the answer to a stubbornly difficult question. Just as he let out an exasperated sigh, a hand appeared to his left and pulled the book away. Jungkook turned his head and looked up with big eyes of surprise to see Hoseok standing there.
 

"This is the wrong book." said the older, who had flipped the book over, he looked through Jungkook's textbooks and picked up a thin navy bue one, "This is the one that covers the time period you're looking for."
 

"Are you sure?" asked Jungkook as he took the book and skimmed through it, his eyes lighting up in delight when he found the answer he had been searching for, "Whoa, you're right! Here it is!"
 

Hoseok chuckled as he pulled up a chair beside Jungkook and sat, merely watching as the younger finished up his homework. When he was done, Jungkook stretched his arms over his head and looked over only to quickly avert his gaze when he saw Hoseok was staring at him. He awkwardly cleared his throat and started organizing his things, a small smile appearing on his face when he received some help. When his things were put away and his books were neatly stacked, Jungkook turned towards Hoseok again and finally noticed something different about the older.
 

"You're not wearing your mask today, either." said Jungkook, his smile growing.
 

"It's strange not having it on." said Hoseok as he brought up a hand to his chin, his eyes never leaving Jungkook's, "But you're more relaxed when it's off, so I guess it's not so bad."

Jungkook's face grew warm as he shyly looked away, feeling happy by Hoseok's considerate gesture. The latter had stopped wearing his mask only when it was just the two of them, but he's been doing it more so these last few days even when the two weren't together. Others in the academy have noticed as well and would do a double take, not recognizing the werewolf at first glance.
 

"Was there a special reason for always wearing the mask or was it for fun?" asked Jungkook, something he had always wondered about but lacked the courage to ask.
 

"There was a reason." replied Hoseok, he stared off into the distance and his brow furrowed as he recalled, "When I was younger, I had this tendency of picking fights. No matter how trivial it was, a stare or even the tone of voice, anything would get me riled up."
 

"They were the bloodiest, most messy fights ever because I didn't just use my fists, I used anything and everything I could reach. Eventually, word spread to my parents and they immediately sent me here since the dean's a former friend of theirs or something like that."
 

"I always got that fighter vibe from you." blurted Jungkook, his eyes widening in slight panic when Hoseok looked at him with raised eyebrows, so he right away shook his head while frantically waving his hands, "No, no, what I meant was your stance always looks so tough!"
 

"Namjoon told me the same thing when he and I first started talking." said Hoseok with a chuckle, then his brow furrowed once more, "It's because I came to the academy already wearing the mask, reason being I got jumped by a group I had previously fought with a few days prior. One of them had a broken bottle and..."

Hoseok let the last sentence trail off as he gestured to the left side of his face where Jungkook saw some faint but still noticeable scars. Without thinking, Jungkook scooted his chair closer and reached out to softly place his fingertips on the marred skin while feeling a clench in his chest. There were three long slashes resembling claw marks, the longest reaching from Hoseok's ear down to almost his chin, giving him a "dangerous" appearance.

"My first few days here were hard." continued Hoseok, his tone soft as he leaned into Jungkook's touch, "The other werewolves could sense my hostility so they knew to avoid me and that made me mad. I would then purposely instigate something with the other students to provoke them, but they just ran away."
 

"It was until Namjoon suddenly approached me about a week later and asked why I was so angry all the time." Hoseok grimaced a bit as he remembered, "I kind of... shoved him into some lockers and stormed off, not in the mood for his crap. I later met Jin and he had some colorful words for me, turns out I had pushed Namjoon a little too hard and dislocated his shoulder."
 

Jungkook gave Hoseok a disapproving look as he lowered his hand, making the older let out a faint whine as he grabbed the younger's hand and put it against his face again.
 

"I-I apologized, you can even ask him." he quickly added, stuttering and looking uneasy for the first time, "After Jin gave me that earful, he punched me in the face to boot and I actually dropped to the floor because the scars weren't fully healed, you know? It hurt so bad I was almost crying... And I've never cried after getting hit."

"At the time, I didn't know about Jin's abilities so when he started apologizing profusely saying he didn't mean to hit the side with my scars, even though he couldn't see them through my mask, I kind of panicked and ran away from him. I looked for Namjoon the next day and honestly apologized to him, his way of forgiving me was throwing a ball of fire at me."
 

Jungkook let out a laugh at that last part, making Hoseok actually pout. The younger found it oddly endearing and freed his hand to poke Hoseok on the nose, making the latter give a startled blink and stare at Jungkook in adorable confusion.
 

"I didn't know you could be this cute." said Jungkook with a laugh, then awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he looked away, "Um, there was a time where I thought I had offended you or something. The way you would just glare at me and follow me around sometimes... I-I was genuinely scared of you."
 

He looked back at Hoseok and was surprised to see the older's eyes were wide with shock and his mouth was ajar in disbelief.
 

"But that's not the case anymore!" he quickly continued, "When we finally started talking and I found out you actually like me, I slowly started being less scared. Now I... I..."
 

Jungkook's cheeks turned red and he abruptly turned away, looking embarrassed. He felt a hand gently grab his chin and turn his head, seeing Hoseok had composed himself and was smiling brightly. The brightest he had ever smiled.
 

"Finish your sentence, Jungkook." said the older, sounding joyful yet the tiniest bit teasing.
 

"No." said Jungkook while slightly fidgeting.
 

"Why not?" questioned Hoseok while tilting his head to the side as he leaned in close.
 

"You're not being cute anymore." complained Jungkook with a pout of his own.

"I'm not trying to be." murmured Hoseok with a smirk now, his eyes alluring.

Jungkook didn't know what to say to that, but his breath caught in his throat when Hoseok suddenly pulled the chair towards himself while the hand on the younger's chin went to his nape. Their faces were now so close and the look Hoseok was giving Jungkook had the latter hypnotized, his mind going completely blank.
 

"I never meant to scare you." continued Hoseok in that low tone, "It's just... the second I saw you in the hallway, in the middle of so many people, I knew you were the one for me. I had found my missing piece without even trying and I... I just had to be near you, no matter what."

"I get that that's a werewolf thing, wanting your mate close to you, but you could have approached me more normally." said Jungkook softly, his cheeks blushing pink as he lowered his gaze, "Every time you suddenly appeared in front of me... and looking ready to murder me, no less... my instinct was to run away from you."
 

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that." said Hoseok with a soft chuckle, he then pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Jungkook's mouth before nuzzling the younger's cheek, "But my sense of reason at the time wasn't there, all that mattered was getting to you."
 

There was a brief moment of comfortable silence between them before Hoseok raised his head to look at Jungkook again and tilted his head to the side.
 

"How did you figure out I was after you because you're my mate?" he curiously asked.
 

"I had to get some hints because I'm kind of dense about those things." admitted Jungkook with an embarrassed smile, "Namjoon had brought it up once and I didn't believe him... well, I didn't want to believe him."
 

"Why not?" asked Hoseok with a small frown, his thumb gently rubbing the younger's nape.

Instead of answering, Jungkook just looked nervous as his eyes darted about before he simply let out a small whine and rested his forehead on Hoseok's shoulder. The latter was confused, but he merely smiled fondly and rested his own head against the young