The stillness was almost uncomfortable. Taehyung’s words had left everybody in shock: no one had expected those words to come out of the young wolf’s mouth and the omen, bad enough as it was, only came to add to general tenseness sprinkled in the air.

The words uttered by Taehyung had caused a deep silence inside the room and even a drop of water falling into the ground could be heard if people tried enough. It was a terrible thing to hear and Sehun had, in fear, grabbed Baekhyun’s arm, looking into the older male’s eyes with a worried expression. The older male gently pried the hands from his arm, taking them into his own in order to calm him down.

Baekhyun was frowning at the tall male: their representative had spoken nothing about the capacity of having visions, only controlling elements, therefore he felt like it was strange of him do make such an affirmation.

The silver haired wolf, Jimin, looked surprised at the statement but his surprised was short lived, since he morphed his expression to a disgruntled one, pouting slightly and slapping the taller male on the arm.

“Stop that, Taehyung!”

The voice of the male was surprisingly high and soft. It surely matched the male’s own soft aura but contrasted deeply with his toned and lithe figure.

His mate turned to the silver haired beauty with a questioning look on his face and the two of them seemed to communicate through a series of minuscule expressions and small gestures, which was surely a sign of lots a deep bond between the two mates.

Finally, Yoongi turned to the tall male and slapped him on the back of the neck, annoyed at something that everyone else couldn’t really figure out, huffing tiredly and turning his body to face the crowd.

“I apologize for Taehyung’s behavior; as it seems, he thought it would be funny to inappropriately make a joke in a delicate moment like this.”

“Was it inappropriate?” asked Taehyung with a childlike innocence, blinking repeatedly in their direction and shuffling towards Jimin, seeking some kind of security at the smaller’s side.

“He was joking?” exploded Youngwoon, spitting everywhere, foaming at the mouth with the scare that he had caught.

“Yes, he was.” Nodded Yoongi. “Taehyung doesn’t have any experience interacting with many wolves aside from us, who are used to his quirky behavior, and only used to socialize with the wolves from our pack.”

“Then put a freaking leash on him.” Retorted Youngwoon irate. “It’s bad enough that he is a freak of nature and now you are telling me that he is socializing inept?”

The young male recoiled at the words, obviously not expecting the words, probably hurt at the harshness, although he refused to let it come apparent on his face.

“I would like to ask you to refrain yourself from making such comments in the presence of my pack member.”

Heads turned to Jimin as he made the bold statement, his face expression locking into a tight one. His voice, despite its softness, result of his natural timber, was laced with anger. Baekhyun could relate: they had offended one of his pack mates after all.

“Taehyung is not a freak nor is he socially inept. He has a quirky personality and what you referred yourself as being ‘social inept’ is nothing more than the result of your treatment for different wolves. From birth that all of you exclude people like us, marginalizing us and hunting us as if we are some kind of animal that you wish to kill. We are forced into solitude or confined to small groups of individuals because you make us live like this. We want to socialize, we want a life within a large pack, we want to interact with other people but we cannot because of your actions and your treatment to people like us. You are talking a whole lot of stuff of how we are freaks and monsters but whose behavior is at fault? I am going to be hypocritical and say that all of us are innocent of the accusations you made, not at all; however, the majority of us just wants to feel integrated in a pack, like we belong there, and not live in a constant fear of not waking up tomorrow or having to run from place to place. If we are strange, socially inept, freaks and whatever else it is that you call us, than it is entirely your fault. We didn’t ask for these powers. The majority of the times, we don’t even want them, since the burden is too much for us bear. What do you want from us? To roll over and play dead? Just because you don’t accept our differences? Tough luck because we are not!”

“This is precisely the problem.” Interjected Seungwan, taking the opportunity to make a point out of Jimin’s speech. “This marginalization of masses, the elitism that we see where groups of individuals see themselves as better than others is creating a rift between elements of the same species and it’s creating more troubles than solving a problem. We understand that you seem that it is unfair that some have more abilities than others, but it is not anyone’s fault and that’s the main point to retain from this. That and the fact that this elitist perspective of facts is making us retrogrades: we are unable to accept the natural evolution of the species and we are unable to accept people as similar beings. What does that says about us? What does that make us?”

“Monsters.” Stated Jimin softly, burrowing himself on his mate’s side.

The gesture showed vulnerability and it was certainly a reflection of the hardships that Jimin and the others had gone, throughout the years, thanks to narrow minded individuals that took great pleasure in harming and stalking them like preys.

“That’s exactly it.” Blurted Somin weakly. “We feel scared all of the time and I fear for mine and mine’s lives every day and it is so mentally draining. I don’t feel safe anywhere, not even in my dreams. I just want to find a mate and live a peaceful life beside it. It’s all that I want.”

“We are not bad people.” Stated Jimin softly, losing a tad of the hard expression he had previously wore. “We just want to be given an opportunity and we want to be treated equally as everyone else. If I had done something wrong, I would take any penitence given to me to repent from my bad actions but I have done nothing but to exist and I am being punished by that and it is not fair. It’s not fair for me and it isn’t fair for the people around me.”

Seungwan faced the voters, walking to the center of the room, just to be right in front of them.

“This is it ladies and gentleman: this is our appeal. I know we are specifically talking about Baekhyun and Chanyeol, Sehun as well, but this decision will reflect itself on how we do intend to live from now on, fully aware of everyone’s opinions and the true facts about our own existence and the existence of special individuals such as the ones in front of you. We can either opt by acknowledge each other’s individualities and learn to accept them, taking a step into promotion peace between everyone, or we could chose to remain as we are, separating ourselves from the rest of the world by perceiving them as a lower breed than we are. The Council’s involvement on the production of chimeras is another subject that has to be talked about in a completely separate meeting from this one, since we are here to debate completely separate things but, as it has a slightly involvement with the current topic, I ask of you to take it into consideration and give your opinion with it in mind. The fact that we have evidence that the Council is working against its own pack and it has contributed into the elimination of other packs and in several other matters, as public punishments without proper cause, is worrying, leading to the question of how we are being ruled and manipulated into agreeing into certain matters. I also ask you to take into consideration all of the information that our Alpha leader, the Guardian members and myself have transmitted you, alongside with the testimonies of these people in front of you. These people have proved to you that they want the same of us: peace and safety and that they are not abominations or monsters but actual sentient creatures who have done nothing to deserve the suffering we have been imposing on them. In Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s cases, we can see that everything they did was not detrimental to us in any way: they helped to win a battle against an enemy, they helped us finding more about the people who have been supposedly helping us lead this pack, they protected our people in time of need and the crime that they committed, which was the murder of a member of the Council, was justified from the moment that we come to realize that it was in self-defense and to protect family and a mate, evidence that is only supported by the medical reports. We believe that they are innocent and allies in our quest for equality, peace and evolution and we stand firmly behind them while asking you to believe and acknowledge their innocence as well.”

With those final words, Seungwan joined Yifan at his table, sitting beside him and smiling at her brother, who smiled back. Junmyeon wasn’t so subtle in his congratulations, locking his fingers with Seungwan and squeezing them tightly with a big, proud smile on his lips.

Youngchul seemed a little shaken up at the turn of events, looking at everyone with wide eyes and trying to make heads and tails about the situation and decide what to do next. He cleared his throat three times before adjusting his glasses.

“I guess that this side has finished presenting their point of view…I mean, the defense side of this case has presented their arguments as to why Byun Baekhyun, Oh Sehun and Park Chanyeol should be considered innocent. I would like to ask if the accusing party would like to add something to this discussion?”

“Yes!” nodded Sooyoun in a calm manner despite all that had been said about her and the Council. “I have a lot to add up to the accusations that were made against me and the esteemed members of the Council; in addiction, I also have something to say regarding the supposed information that has been discussed here. First of all, I would like to say that even despite the allegedly ‘evidence’ that was shown to us regarding … special creatures, I have to discord from the arguments presented since, while the evidence from where they came from might be correct and scientific research seem to lead into genetic field, which I believe it does since my understanding on that field is sparse, I have to say that the Council is presenting anything but an elitist solution to the problem that these creatures present; let us call them hybrids for a better understanding. These hybrids have been an integral part of society however, despite their words, we cannot be sure that these are, in fact, their true motives and that they are not the ones with an elitist point of view, seeking our trust only to exterminate us further on the way. We know nothing of them! We knew nothing about berserkers and Oracles in the first place and now you try to infiltrate a whole new group of hybrids? Seems unreasonable and dangerous, at least in my perspective! These are things that take time and an association like this, without further investigation might lead to our demise; they claim that their packs were attacked but what do we know that proves those statements as true? Exactly nothing! Also, they talk about inequality, stating that their differences are the cause of it and of course it should be like this: people are different and they are treated in different ways: our society even has different ranks and they each do tasks accordingly. People are different and that difference is accepted, hence the reason as to why there are roles in our society. If these hybrids want to be treated as equals they should be submitted to the same rules as to us- In this particular case, Baekhyun and Chanyeol did murdered someone and Sehun is still an accomplice and conspired with them.”

“It was in self-defense.” Cut Junmyeon coldly. “The medical reports prove it.”

“And a homicide is the solution? You kill because you are punched a little?”

“It was a little more than a punch.”

“It was a murder and they shall pay the price for that.” Replied Sooyoun. “They have to pay, or where is the equality in this?”

“I don’t disagree with you when you say that there should be equality on punishment of inappropriate; however, I do consider that the context matter: had you tell me that they had been imprisoned peacefully and retaliated, that would be something but the fact is that they didn’t. They were taken peacefully and abused every single day while imprisoned without the proper consent of the leader of this pack.” Explained Namjoon earning him some nods from the voters, which was something that pleased Sehun and left Sooyoun looking at him, red in the face, and practically foaming in anger at seeing her argument thrown off so easily.

A knock on the door broke the heavy feeling on the room, allowing the tired, yet focused minds to take a break from all the debating that had been done so far and everyone looked behind them when Youngchul gave permission for the doors to be opened.

When the door opened, some wolves came in carrying with them a great amount of what Baekhyun assumed to be documents, since there were paper sheets everywhere. He quickly realized that these must’ve been the wolves that had been on the underground lab at Seungwan’s request, since he recognized, after a lot of staring, that one of the wolves was Heechul, he had seen the man once or twice while on the village.

Seungwan approached them, asking a few questions in a low voice to the three males and the woman standing with them, before they made their ways to where Youngchul was. There was a lot of conversation going on, Baekhyun couldn’t exactly hear what was going on, that was how low they were speaking, but Yifan and Soo Man were summoned to the man’s presence and, seconds afterwards, they, as in him, Sehun, Chanyeol and all of the other hybrids, where requested to leave the room for a few moments, since there was, quoting ‘important information regarding organizational aspects of the pack’ that had been brought up and was to be discussed privately between the opposing parties at the voting and the voters themselves.

Yasuo, whom Baekhyun found to be quite funny, especially because he had such a lazy demeanor and a nonchalance about the issue that was actually hindering the Council members, questioned if it would be truly necessary to proceed like that, to which Youngchul stated that the information could affect the general decision of the voters, meaning that it should be discussed, leaving the man to sulk in his seat, grumbling over his breathe at how the meeting seemed to be dragging as more and more information kept appearing.

They all walked out, escorted by some guards, and stood outside, right in front on the room. It was a little awkward to have so many different people sharing the same space. The group with the wolf called Somin basically formed a shield around her and kept to themselves a lot, the only one who really tried to interact with the other’s was the tall wolf. Baekhyun could understand that they didn’t felt comfortable, despite sharing some similarities after all, the only link between them, aside from said similarities was Seungwan, who wasn’t present at the moment.

The other group was interacting with Minseok and Kyungsoo, Byulyi was nice and she liked the straightforwardness in Minseok’s character and the sweetness from Kyungsoo’s own personality. She had heard vaguely of them through the stories that Seungwan shared with them and she had interest in knowing more. Jihoon was interacting with Luhan while Yewon stood quietly beside him, listening to the conversation.

The male quartet had asked directions for the bathroom and three guards that were there with them had kindly accompanied them to it.

Chanyeol, from what everyone could see, was really over the moon with Jongdae’s presence; he kept looking at the smaller male’s face, in a completely adoring way, as if he didn’t believe that Jongdae was actually in front of him. Jongdae was over the moon as well, hugging Chanyeol repeatedly to himself and nuzzling the other’s shoulder much like a cat would.

Yixing and Jongin were talking to Baekhyun and to Sehun. It had been surprising to discover that his brother’s biological and adoptive were mated; it was kind of strange if Baekhyun was to be completely honest, but not exactly bad. Jongin looked a little worse for the wear but he explained that he had a really bad fever a few days before, pretty much after mating with Yixing, and it was still affecting him.

More surprising than that was the fact that Jongin revealed that he had known Yixing was his mate almost two weeks after they had been captured, seeing the man’s face on one of his visions. He didn’t elaborate what exactly had been seen but from the red on his cheeks, Baekhyun could guess and Sehun did too, understanding what Jongin had said without words and grimacing on the thought.

Yixing had also explained that Jongin seemed to have less visions that he used to and when he did the aftermath wasn’t so bad, as it seemed that the intensity of the symptoms had lessen.

Baekhyun grew a little worried at the news; it was something that had never happened before and he feared that it could be a symptom of some sort of illness or a side effect from his own abilities; his obtained knowledge of their mating also led him to the possibility of being some sort of effect related to that.

Thankfully for him, Jongin had smiled, while cupping his cheeks and squishing them between his hands that Seungwan had lend him a book about the subject as soon as he confide in her; as it seemed, Seungwan had been in contact with the for as long as she had disappeared, although Jongin wasn’t really sure as how she knew he was worried about the lack of visions, and the book, a compilation of discoveries made throughout the centuries about Oracles, explained that the hurtful and overbearing effects of a vision were a result of a chemical imbalance on his organism and that the existence of a mate and the mating process would allow the Oracle to compensate that chemical imbalance and lessen the effects. As it would seem the problem of Oracles going insane with their abilities had a very easy answer for it and the answer itself was a mate.

With this little bit of knowledge Baekhyun couldn’t help but to feel a little powerless and somewhat defeated. Of course he knew that he wasn’t aware of that little fact and that finding Yixing again was a complete chance of fate but he really wished that he had learned that a long time ago. He could’ve been searching a mate for his brother, it would probably lead him to Yixing in the end, but at least he would’ve had a more precise goal all these years, instead of simply running away just to survive. He wished he had a more meaningful purpose to justify his constant moving around. He was aware that it was to maintain his brothers alive and that had been his top priority but having a path instead of running around aimlessly would’ve been better.

He observed as Yixing helped Jongin sitting on the bench after the male sneezed for the fifth time in a row, in less than two seconds, claiming softly to his mate that he should take things easily and listen to him, despite Jongin’s insistence that he didn’t need to rest. In the end Yixing had won the small argument. Yixing was gentle with Jongin and that filled Baekhyun’s heart with warmth; he may had not contributed anything at all for his brother to improve his health: especially his mental health which had been deteriorating from the consuming visions but, at least, know he had found the right person to do so.

The arms sliding down from his shoulders into his chest didn’t really scared him because he had heard Sehun behind him; it had been comforting and he allowed a small smile to paint itself on his lips when Sehun’s chin came to rest on his shoulder.

“I can hear the negative thoughts cogging inside your brain.” Commented the younger beta lightly. “What’s causing them?”

“Who says I was thinking negatively about something?”

His reply earned him a raised eyebrow and a smug smile on Sehun’s face, as if he had said the dumbest thing ever to be heard, which puzzled him a little, since he didn’t think he did say something absurd.

“I know you, Baekhyun.” Replied the male “You have that expression on your face that practically screams that you are thinking something bad about yourself; you have some furrowed lines on your forehead, your mouth is smiling but in a pinched, stiff kind of way and you are twisting your hands on your lap… that’s all I need to know. Please talk to me and tell me what’s on your mind, I hate to see you like this.

“I’m fine, Sehun.” Tranquilized the older male, a gentle smile replacing the previous one, content just by being in Sehun’s presence. “I’m just a little… I don’t know exactly what to call it but I wish I just had known that a mate was what my brother needed. I spent so many years running without aim. Had I known… It would solve a lot of troubles.”

Sehun looked at the other’s face. He frowned a little when he understood that Baekhyun was being self-deprecating and blaming himself for something he had no control over. With a small sigh, he sat down on Baekhyun’s legs, snuggling up to his chest with his arms behind the other’s neck. They were in public and both of them weren’t big fans of big public displays of affection but Sehun’s nerves had been frayed all day and Baekhyun was having stupid thoughts, so it was justifiable and he didn’t really care if there was a crowd in front of him.

He felt Baekhyun’s smile in his neck and his arms wrapped around him. It was nice like this and it felt as if they were in their own little world.

“You know you are being a little dumb, don’t you?” asked Sehun with his eyes closed, earning himself a soft questioning hum in reply. “Despite your best efforts, you cannot predict exactly what is going to happen in the future. Not you, no Jongin, not the banshees, no one! Fate is what it is and it is its unpredictability that makes life worth living. I understand that would this bit of knowledge you could’ve spared your brothers and yourself a lot of grief but, if you think about it, there was a lot that you would’ve miss as well. Fate is a fickle thing and, despite what we want or not to happen, things eventually work out for us. You wouldn’t have met me at all if you had known all of these things.”

Baekhyun hummed once again. Sehun had a very valid point and thinking about it made the berserker really think if the knowledge would’ve brought him to Sehun. He didn’t want to appear as someone who didn’t care for his brothers, he obviously did and almost everything that he had done in his life was to benefit them, but Sehun had become someone truly valuable, someone whom he grow to care and to love, if he could use that words so soon. Fate was, in fact, a quirky little thing and he wondered if this time fate was giving him a pat on the shoulder and a wink, telling him that finding a potential mate, and he only thought of potential since he and Sehun hadn’t had a proper conversation about the subject, was his reward.

The thought hit him in the chest with full force and he would lurch forward if he could. Maybe this was his reward, maybe he was finally allowed to some peace and quiet in his life instead of the normal hustle and bustle that he was so used to. It was overwhelming to realize that, that he was finally able to be a little selfish and hold on to what he wanted for once; he actually didn’t think he could let go of Sehun ever, and that was facilitated over the fact that his brothers also had mates who, in some way, belonged to this village.

There was, of course, that impending sense of doom that came to him whenever he thought about whatever was going on inside that room and the deliberation that would end everything, either for good or bad but thinking of Sehun as something that he was allowed to have was exhilarating.

Sehun seemed to know what was going on his head, the younger was always good at reading people and Baekhyun was one of the people that he considered the easiest to read. He looked at the older and smiled at him, lifting a hand to caress the smooth cheek.

“You are allowed to be happy. Mother Earth always looks after her own and she traced you a good fate upon crooked lines: she tested your spirit and your strength and you never broke, so she gave you your reward.”

“My reward?”

“Yes, she gave you the power of happiness.” Replied the younger male, tucking his face once again on Baekhyun’s neck and inhaling the scent that clung to Baekhyun’s skin. “You just have to use it.”

“And how do I do that?”

“You let go of the things that make you suffer and you let go of the burdens that don’t belong to you. You don’t have to suffer other people’s pain, you know that? Ease them up but don’t make it your own. And most importantly, embrace what you have and the good things that happened in life. Good things are meant to be well lived and memorable, stop to appreciate them and don’t miss out on them because you were too distracted with more negative things!”

Baekhyun didn’t reply but Sehun felt his arms tightening around him, locking him in place and almost making him unable to move. The young beta let out a little laugh and kissed the juncture between Baekhyun’s neck and shoulder.

“What are you doing? You’re squishing me!” he complained, feeling that Baekhyun’s negative thoughts had evaporated. He knew that Baekhyun hadn’t forgotten them, the negativity haunted everyone from time to time, and the older was particularly prone to have a metaphorical closet full of skeletons, but it seemed as if the male was pondering over the pearls of wisdom that Sehun shared with him, which eased the air and turned it into something less dreadful. Now, Baekhyun seemed to be in a particularly mischievous mood and Sehun loved to explore those little bits.

“I am not squishing you.” replied the older male, still firmly holding onto the younger beta. “I am simply holding on to one of the greatest things in my life.”

Sehun blushed heavily at the implication and hid his face behind his hands before the berserker wrestled the appendages out of the pretty features. He embarrassed himself further by giggling a little at the words before mumbling a small ‘cheesy’ and quickly kissing Baekhyun’s defined jaw.

That made Baekhyun chuckle lowly, truly having fun at the moment with his tall beta and forgetting everything else for the time being. Sehun tried to tickle him in retaliation to which Baekhyun answered with raised eyebrows.

“I am not ticklish.”

Sehun pouted before dissolving into laughter, falling into Baekhyun’s space who looked into him with so much tenderness that Sehun just had to smile before gently pressing a kiss into the other’s lips and letting his head nestle itself on the other’s shoulder.

Chanyeol gazed at his brother from afar, noting how the older seemed genuinely content and at peace. He was happy for his brother; his brother looked happy and Sehun was happy and everything was sort of okay, which was also good: it was good to have a moment of peace.

It was the first time that Chanyeol had seen Baekhyun so relaxed since they knew each other, face void of its usual tenseness and hard expression, and it made him feel happy for his brother. He never had something like this on his life; life had been pretty harsh on the older male so far and even he, himself, had given Baekhyun a lot of hard times with his nasty temper and badly aimed anger. He deserved this and it pleased Chanyeol to see that he had found someone who treasured him like he should be treasured.

“They look really happy, don’t they?”

Chanyeol looked at his mate, who was standing beside him with a gigantic smile on his face. He pressed a kiss on the fluffy locks of hair on the other’s head before he turned back to look as his brother, eyes impossibly soft.

“Yes, they do. They really do.”

“And so do we!” commented Jongdae cheekily, hugging his mate to himself.

“Let’s hope everything stays like this for a while.”

“It will.” Replied Jongdae fiercely, making Chanyeol look at him and staring in awe at the determined look on the smaller’s face. “Because no matter how much times we stumble and fall down, at one point we will be able to walk freely without any rock to keep us from our way.”

Jongdae closed his eyes once, for a few seconds, before opening them again, declaring in a firm voice.

“Happiness will come to us. We will make sure of it and ensure it one day at a time.”

It took hours for the door of the room to open again. By then, everyone was out of energy and no one was talking to anyone, opting for standing in silence and waiting to be called again. Mated pairs kept close to each other and some people were nodding off, clearly tired. Baekhyun was one of them, under the caring gazes of Sehun and his brothers.

The cringing of the door broke everyone out of their inert stupor and made them turn into the doorway, alert and dreading.

Youngchul’s face appeared before them, face a little too pale and anxious for anyone’s comfort but resolute.

“The new information obtained was analyzed and the voters had time to an opinion. Your presence is requested inside the room. It’s time for the final deliberation.”

A/N: Hello everyone, how have you all been doing? I hope that you are doing great! AHAAAAAAAAAAAAA, TRICKED YOU! After all, Taehyung was being Taehyung's usual alien self and just spewing the first thing his mouth allowed. However, his words were the opening sentence to a debate about the nature of the hybrids and what they want, which is equality and the freedom to roam around without being feared and marginalized by other people. They want to be treated like equals and them coming forward to the meeting was exactly to express what they feel, how it to be a hybrid or a friend of a hybrid and, also, to show a little but of power in numbers and expose their reality to other people. Of course that the Council managed to distort that and tried to turn it against them but will they suceed or will people see that hybrids just want peace? The results of the voting will be known on the next chapter and will see what happened!!!!
Also, precious little moments that came from the reunion of friends and mates, along with SeBaek fluff. They are so fluffy and it was sooo good to write them off when the general atmosphere is tense as heck! ^^
By the way, this story is almost reaching its end and there will be only two more chapters until its done.
I would love for everyone of you to send your thoughts, theories and opinions via comment or message. Upvote the story and subscribe to it if you have like it so far and, if you haven't yet, go check my other stories to see if they are worthwhile.
In the mean time, I wish you all the best: be safe and healthy, love yourself, love people around you and be receptive to the love they have to offer you. BE HAPPY!
Have an amazing week and enjoy it to the fullest!
Lots of love,
<3