*Daehyun’s POV*

Youngjae wasn’t kidding when he said that he would be busy the upcoming weeks. We didn’t go on anymore mini adventures, nor did we hardly hang out at the fields because he’s working all day on his farm. Jongup was helping Kikwang’s parents out with their farming as well. Also, our talks at night are cut short because Youngjae is either exhausted or needs to go to sleep early because he has to wake up bright and early the next morning.

It wasn’t fair. As soon as I finally get his forgiveness he gets too busy to hangout. And when he gets free time, he hangs with Kikwang, because Doojoon I guess allows Kikwang to visit his friends and family one day week and has to return the next morning.

“Why are you so busy?” I complained one night, laying on the opposite side of the bed where Jae was allaying. “I already told you. I have to work on the farm.” He groaned in his sleepy voice, but I wasn’t going to allow him to fall asleep now. “But why now? Why so much all of a sudden? You have your wagon.” I said still not pleased with his answer.

I heard him chuckle a little. “We’re preparing for winter. It’s nearly impossible to farm when the snow falls or just to work in the cold alone.” He said. “But fall just started, you have plenty of time.” I told him.

“Winter is a long season. We have to make enough crops to survive the winter for food and money. The earlier, the more we can produce. And then during the winter we spend our time sewing clothes and making Knick knacks to sell in the market during the cold season. Then when spring comes we have to work even harder to get back on track.” He explained. “That’s a lot of work.” I murmured.

“Well, that’s a farmer’s life.” He sighed. “That .” I pouted. “Not really, it has its peaceful times, especially during the holiday, the landscape is wonderful.” Youngjae said. “I still don’t like you working so much. You have no time for me.” I frowned. “You sound like a child.” The younger remarked. Just then an idea popped to my head.

“Youngjae! Why don’t you live with me?!” I suddenly proposed the idea. The human quickly sat up and looked down at me. “Are you serious?” He questioned. I nodded rapidly, liking the idea a lot. “You won’t have to work as much and then we can hang out more.” I said, but he just laughed. “I can’t do that. I have to be with my family and help them.” He said.

I pouted, “It’s just an idea. He shook his head, “You’re silly.” I quickly sat up. “How about I work with you in the fields to make the process go faster.” I suggested.

Youngjae furrowed his brow, considering it. “That’s fine, but will you be able to handle working in the sun for hours?” he asked concerned. I nodded. “Yeah, as long as I remain covered. Plus the sun isn’t too bad in the fall so I can have some skin exposed. I said. “Well, I guess you can do it, if you want to.” He said. “Of course! I’ll start tomorrow!” I announced jumping out of the bed.

The younger yawned nodding. “You should go to sleep now.” I said. He laid back and pulled the duvet over him, snuggling into the bed comfortably. “Good night Daehyun.” He muttered, his eyes already closed. I climbed on the window sill. “See you tomorrow.”

-

“How do I look?” I asked Zelo the next morning. I woke up bright and early and found the most farm-like clothing I had. I was dressed in a navy blue plaid, long sleeve, button down shirt, with light blue faded jeans and a cowboy hat. “Um…You look like you’re going to work in a farm or go horseback riding.” The younger answered, looking at me strangely. “Why are you dressed like that anyway?” he asked.

“I’m going to help Youngjae and his dad work on their farm.” I announced, only to have the younger bust out laughing. “What’s so funny?” I asked not understanding.

“You? Work in the fields? I can’t even imagine you doing work like that. Pahahaha!” he was having a ball. “I-I can do it. Himchan is the one who can’t.” I defended as the said elder passed by, wearing fake circular glasses. “I can’t do what?” he asked entering the conversation.

“Work in a farm.” I said folding my arms. “Why would I do that?” Himchan said. “To help a friend out, so they can get their work done faster and they can spend more time with you.” I said. The elder just looked at me. “You just seem more of a city boy.” Zelo told me. “Well…doesn’t mean I can’t work on a farm.” I retorted. “Yes it does.”

“Fine! I bet you can’t work on a farm.” I challenged. “Yes I can.” Zelo argued back. “Oh yeah? Prove it.” I said. “Fine. I’ll help Jongup and Kikwang’s dad work in the fields.” Zelo accepted. “You can’t go by yourself.” Himchan interjected. “That’s why you’re coming with me. It’ll be fun.” The maknae clapped happily. “Yeah~…and you get to see Jongup work, flexing his muscles as he’s plowing the ground.” I teased. “Yah!” Himchan spat, blushing, taking a pillow off the couch and threw it at me.

I easily dodged it, laughing. “I don’t like him like that…and even if I considered it, I couldn’t like him like that.” He spoke quietly sounding somewhat sad.

“Too bad it’s not hot outside, otherwise you’d get to see him shirtless.” I teased some more. Himchan folded his arms rolling his eyes. “Let’s get ready then, Zelo.” He said going back to his room. “I’m going now. I’ll see you guys later.” I said, leaving the house.

I walked all the way over to Jae’s house and knocked on the door. Youngjae’s mother answered it and was happy to see that I was going to help her husband and son out in the farm. She took me to the back where they were working and informed Mr. Yoo that I was helping. He seemed very grateful and let Youngjae help me out and show me what to do.

“This doesn’t look too hard.” I said after he instructed me on how to do certain things. “Mm hm.” He said not sounding very convinced. “What?” I said, catching his tone. “You’re holding the rake backwards.” He chuckled.

I looked down and saw that he was right. “Tha-That’s because you handed it to me that way.” I defended. “Okay.” He said sarcastically. “Mm hm.” I nodded. “Let’ get to work.” He laughed slightly, grabbing his own tools.

It was actually much harder than I thought. I had to be extra careful so that I didn’t mess up anything. It wasn’t tiring, well not for me at least, since I don’t get tired as fast as humans do. But it was mind provoking. I had to stay alert and focused. It was extremely tedious. Luckily, we were able to take a couple a breaks, so I could talk to Youngjae for a short time then get back to work. I was glad that it wasn’t too hot as well.

Even though I didn’t get to talk to Jae as much as I would have liked to, it was still nice being around him. His presence alone made my day and his smiles and laughs made my heart jump, even if he was laughing at me.

“Daehyun, can you feed the pigs for me?” Mr. Yoo asked. “Yessir!” I said putting down my stuff. Mr. Yoo smiled, “Thank you.” I nodded and quickly jogged to the pen where the animals were.

I immediately spotted the pigs and walked over to their pen. I found a large bucket labeled ‘Pig Food’. “Wow…couldn’t be any more obvious.” I said to myself, picking up the large bucket. I made a face at the smell, it stunk.

I walked over to the pen and poured the grub into the long tray for the pigs to eat. “Come and eat piggies~.” I sang. However, the four pigs just looked at me. I looked back at them. “Um…your food is here.” I said awkwardly, but they didn’t move at all. “Huuh, maybe they don’t understand what I am saying.” I thought out loud. I decided to move them towards the tray of food.

I opened the gate, entering the pig pen and walked up to the 4 animals. I picked up the first pig who was sort of heavy but actually kind of cute. “Come on Pork Chops, it’s time for you to eat.” I cooed carrying the pig to the tray of food, then I walked back to the remaining three.

I picked up an even heavier pig that was pretty chunky. “Oooh~…You’re a meaty one. Mmm you’ll make plenty of hot dogs.” I said placing him down next to Pork Chops and went back to the other two.

“Awe~…You’re so cute~.” I said picking up a tiny little piglet. “You’re pretty small, but you’ll be good for some tasty bacon.” I said about to take it to the tray of food when the last pig rammed into my leg. It was the biggest pig, probably the mother.

“Yah! Chill it Chitlins.” I spat. “I’m not going to hurt your baby.” But the pig didn’t back down, instead it bit my jeans, tugging on it. “H-Hey stop that.” I said hopping backwards on my other foot, trying to pull away. Pork Chops and Hot Dog ran back, joining the fun, running around my other leg in circles.

“H-Hey…stop, I’m trying to give you your food. Stop playing around. St-Aaah~!” I ended up losing my balance, falling into the mud. I groaned not liking the icky feeling. Bacon crawled out of my arms and my face. “Are you okay?” I hear Mr. Yoo’s voice.

I looked up to see Youngjae and his father standing by the fence. “Yeah the pigs weren’t…” my voice trailed as I looked over at the pigs that were now eating their food in innocence. “…eating.” I narrowed my eyes at them as I stood back up.

“They can be a bit mischievous, especially around strangers.” Mr. Yoo chuckled, guessing what might’ve happened. “Heh, yeah. I should probably clean up.” I said, getting out of the pen, locking the gate back. “Youngjae probably has some clothes for you to change into.” Mr. Yoo said. “I do.” The said person spoke up. “Good. I’ll leave that to you tow. I’m going to go back to work.” And with that Mr. Yoo left us, leaving us alone together.

Youngjae walked up to me, laughing and shaking his head. “You’re not farm material.” He said. “Wh-What makes you say that?” I asked, folding my arms. “Because, you don’t need to go inside the pen to feed the pigs.” He said. I blushed a little in embarrassment, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Don’t worry. I’m not either.” He smiled warmly. I smiled back at him. “Let’s get you cleaned up, then we can feed the horses and brush them.” He said pulling me towards the house. “Great…” I murmured. “Haha don’t worry. I’ll be there to make sure that they don’t attack you.” He assured.

His laugh was just amazing, his smile was amazing. I just loved everything about him. He was smart, caring, nice, and intrigued with every little thing that he’s never seen before. He was fun to be around. There’s no doubt about it, I was right about my feelings the moment I saw him back at the market. I have deep intimate feelings for Youngjae…I think I might…I think I loved him.

*Kikwang’s POV*

I’ve stayed at the beast home for a little over a month now and I’ve actually enjoyed myself. It’s not like I didn’t think I would have fun, but I just didn’t think I’d get along with Doojoon very well after running away, but I was wrong of course.

Doojoon was really nice and caring. He acted as if I never ran away or said what I had said in the woods, however he did mention breaking the bond every now and then, which always put a damper on the mood. Other than that I was actually able to get closer to him. He even told me things that he never told the others. For instance, parts of his childhood that he kept secret, of course he didn’t tell me everything. He had a terrible childhood, I felt so bad for him, it was why he was the way he is.

I also learned about how the Beast Clan was formed, it was pretty amazing. They were all really close.

Doojoon had met Hyungseung when they were 12, both of them were abandoned and without a home. They decided to put their intelligence together and build a home for themselves here in the woods. It was a long and expensive process, so they both, over time, decided to form their own clan.

They both did as many jobs they could. They worked multiple jobs. Hyungseung had worked all day from the second the sun rose till the sun completely vanished, working at a butcher shop and delivered newspapers and other items to people with Doojoon.

Doojoon on the other hand worked all day and all night, only getting three hours of sleep a day. He did more laborious work, helping a group of guys build up different parts of the palace in the Kingdom that the king wanted built (like statues of himself or to extend his palace). Then Doojoon would deliver stuff with Hyungseung, and at night he guarded people’s farm animals from wolves (since that was a problem at