“Papa, did you see my red hoodie? The one with ‘B’ letter on it?”

“Papa, I can’t find my socks! Why some of them don’t have the other pairs?”

Jongin sighs before he decides that he can wash the dishes later and his kids need him for now. He leaves the kitchen and goes to the nearest room first, finding the first son, Baekhyun, who throws almost all of his clothes on the bed, looking for the said hoodie. Not far from him, the second son, Jongdae, holding a different pair of socks with a pout on his face. He can’t help to smile although if this happens in a daily basis, he will be angry by now seeing how messy their room is.

“Baby,” Jongin approaches Jongdae first, “Maybe you put it on different drawer? Try to look for it first, okay?” Jongdae nods his head before resuming his task.

He looks at Baekhyun and lets out a long hum, “I think you told me before that you left it on your friend’s house the other day when you sleepover on the weekend?” At that, Baekhyun’s mouths open in a big ‘o’ then he yells loudly, “Yes! I forgot to ask him to bring it when we met at school!”

“Then tell him now, so you can bring it to the dorm.” Baekhyun immediately grabs his phone and scroll through his screen, doing exactly what Jongin just told him.

Leaving his boys to do their things, Jongin walks out of the room and takes a peek at the room next to it. Weirdly, he doesn’t find his youngest son inside the room, only a suitcase filled with clothes and an opened cardboard box on the floor. “Kyungsoo?” he calls out.

“Here, Papa,” he heard an answer, but it comes from the living room. He follows after it and finally finds Kyungsoo who’s sitting on the floor in front of the bookshelves beside the tv.

“What are you looking for?” Jongin asks him, leaning closer to see what he’s doing. He expects to see a fiction novel that Kyungsoo likes to collect, but instead, he sees a page filled with old photos.

“I was looking for some books to bring but I found this album photo,” Kyungsoo smiles, pointing at one of the photos, “You look so young, Papa.”

Jongin scoffs, taking a seat next to his son. “Of course, it was from the time I just got into high school,” He recognizes the uniform that he wore at that time and the gate where he took the photo next to his parents. He was smiling widely with his mother clinging to his arm, while his father being awkward and tried to act normal by putting his hand on Jongin’s shoulder.

“This one from high school too?” Kyungsoo points to another photo, this time with Jongin in the middle of eating his food, the background makes Jongin remembers some old memories inside his head.

“Yeah, it’s your grandparents’ house,” he answers, “Nothing changed from the house, right?”

Kyungsoo laughs before nodding his head. “I can tell it’s the same house,” Before he can flip to the next pages, both he and Jongin turn their heads to the loud footsteps coming to them, revealing Baekhyun and Jongdae flashing wide smiles.

“Papa, I found the socks! It was in a different drawer!”

“Papa, the hoodie is really at my friend’s house!”

Although they said it at the same time and Jongin might only hear some words of it, he can tell that whatever taking their attention before is no longer a problem again. He settles with, “That’s great, then.”

The two boys then stare at the album photo on Kyungsoo’s lap, their eyes sparkling with interest. “What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks before he sits in front of Kyungsoo, Jongdae following beside him.

“Oh, is that Papa?” Jongdae’s voice is dripping with excitement. “Papa, you don’t change that much!”

“Are you complimenting me so I’ll let you watch Music Bank this week?” Jongin jokingly asks.

“No, I’m not!” Jongdae looks at him as if his papa just betrayed him. “Although is it okay if I do? EXO is having a comeback this week and I want to go.”

His kids asking something with big puppy eyes is one of Jongin’s weak spot, but he grow used to it as the years passed by and now he can manage to say, “We’ll talk about it later with your dad, okay?”

Jongdae obviously disappointed with the answer but thankfully, Kyungsoo chooses that moment to finally flip the album’s page to show another batch of old photos, instantly taking his brother’s attention. This time, all of them recognizes the person who sits next to Jongin at one of the photo.

“Oh, it’s Dad!” Baekhyun sits closer to Kyungsoo, “Dad doesn’t change much either.”

Jongin chuckles. If Chanyeol hears what Baekhyun just said, he must be really happy right now. It’s the compliment from their dear son, after all.

“Papa, did you meet Dad when you were in college?” Kyungsoo asks.

Jongin shakes his head. “Nope, we met when I worked as dance teacher after graduating from college.”

“Then how did you meet him? Did one of your friends introduced Dad to you?” Jongdae questions him further.

“Did you know that he’s a werewolf when you met him?” Baekhyun adds.

“No, we accidentally met each other and I didn’t know he’s a werewolf at that time,” Jongin calmly answers them. His triplets don’t need to open their mouth to ask Jongin to tell them the story, it’s enough by looking at their curious stares at him.

But really, do Jongin have to tell the triplets that the first time he met their Dad, he was from head to toe?

—

It’s been three months since Jongin started his new job as a dance teacher for an academy, which is why he’s still adjusting to the new routine and that’s precisely why he finds himself on the floor of the dance studio instead of his own bed, waking up after God knows how long he slept. He remembers that he was in the middle of making the choreography for the next class but he must have passed out in exhaustion, resulting him waking up at five am with sweaty clothes from the day before.

Jongin groans the minute his body feels sore all over. It’s not the first time he accidentally sleeps in the room but really, he had enough. “No more hurting your body, Kim Jongin,” he mumbles to himself.

He rushes home immediately, not even bothering to take a shower first although he brought clean clothes and shower necessities just in case something like this happens. He just wants to go home quickly and sleep again for the next ten hours if he can. Thankfully, his apartment is nearby, only fifteen minutes away by foot so the distance between him and his bed is not that far.

He’s walking through the park, no one in sight—because it’s a goddamn five am—when he hears rustling in the bushes. He stops on his track, looking anxiously to where the sound came. It’s quiet for a moment before there’s another rustling, this time louder than the previous one.

Jongin recognizes something similar to this from a horror movie, where the main character hears something and doesn’t do anything. Jongin remembers yelling to his tv, to the character to run as fast as they can because something is going to happen. But now, he knows why they don’t run.

Because they’re too scared to do anything, just like what Jongin feels right now.

Suddenly, there’s someone who comes out of the bushes, but a handsome man who’s from head to toe is certainly not what he expected to see.

Jongin doesn’t know if he should scream or pretend to die.

Before he can think of what to do, the person notices him and equally surprises to see him, judging from his loud ‘woah!’ and he immediately covers the bottom part of his body. Jongin feels himself taking a step back, but the guy stops him by yelling, “I’m not a ert!”

He apparently can read Jongin’s mind, because that’s exactly what he thought of him. A ert who likes to flash himself to someone, usually in the quiet place like this.

“Um, my name is Chanyeol,” the guy introduces himself, “Can you help me?”

Jongin looks warily at him while thinking if there’s anything in his bag that can help if the guy strikes at him. Maybe he can stab him with his toothbrush? Will it catch him off guard?

“Please?” he begs to Jongin. “I just got robbed and I can’t go home like this.”

Hearing his plea makes Jongin feels pity, which he shouldn’t have. He doesn’t know if he’s lying or not.

“I swear to God that I’m not lying to you,” Chanyeol tries to convince Jongin, “Or just—do you have any clothes? Can I borrow it?”

“Um—”

“Please?”

“O-okay,” Jongin stutters out. He doesn’t take his eyes off Chanyeol while opening his bag and takes out his clean clothes. He walks closer to Chanyeol and gives the clothes with trembling hands, which Chanyeol takes and wears immediately. Chanyeol is bigger than him and Jongin apparently brought one of his biggest t-shirts so it fits Chanyeol but the training pants is another story, judging from how tight it is and the bottom part only meets Chanyeol’s ankle.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol stares at him questioningly, “I don’t have any shoes.”

He looks down at his bare feet and laughs. “It’s fine. It’s better to walk home barefoot than being .”

With Chanyeol finally wearing something on his body, it makes him less creepy and Jongin finds himself laughing along with him. “That’s good then.”

“Um, what’s your name?” Chanyeol asks.

“J-Jongin.”

“Okay, Jongin, how do I give the clothes back?”

“It’s fine, just keep it.”

“Really?

Jongin nods. “Yeah, it’s okay.”

Neither of them says anything for a moment before Chanyeol breaks the silence. “I’ll go now. You should go home too.”

“O-oh, right,” Jongin scratches his neck before waves awkwardly, “Bye.”

Chanyeol flashes him a toothy smile and waves back to Jongin. “Bye.”

Jongin watches Chanyeol runs to the opposite direction and when he’s far enough, Jongin turns away and continue his walk to his apartment.

—

“Papa?”

The call brings Jongin back to the reality, with him sitting on the floor and his sons looking at him intensely.

“Y-yes?”

“So, how did you meet Dad?” Baekhyun repeats his question. “Was it embarrassing? That’s why you don’t want to tell us?”

“No, dear, it’s not,” Jongin lies, but they seem to buy it. Well, seems like he just needs to skip the first meeting and shares the second meeting instead, saving him and Chanyeol from the embarrassment. “Actually, we met when your dad saved me from another werewolf.”

They gasp in unison. “Another werewolf?!”

—

Despite Jongin’s promise to himself that he never gonna sleep in the studio again, he finds himself repeating the same mistake a few weeks later. He woke up at six am and this time, he really needs to go home because he promised his parents to have breakfast together at his apartment in less than an hour.

He’s running as fast as he can but once he arrived at the park, suddenly he heard rustling in the bushes. Déjà vu, that’s exactly what Jongin feels at that time as he slows down.

But this time, instead of an unexpectedly kind Chanyeol, something big jumps out of the bushes. Surprised by the movement, Jongin screams and falls backward.

The street lights illuminate the thing and Jongin cowers in fear. It looks like a dog, but bigger, and has a grey fur with a pair of blue, intense eyes, that pierce through Jongin. He approaches Jongin slowly, like what a predator does to his prey.

He needs to get up and run, but Jongin can’t feel his legs. He can’t do anything.

I’m gonna die, Jongin can’t help to think.

Suddenly, it stops on his track and turns the attention away from Jongin, only to get attack by something from his left. Jongin notices another dog, bigger and has a black fur, trying to bite the grey’s neck.

They aggressively attack and growl at each other, letting Jongin gather his courage and stand back on his feet. He opted to run, but then the grey one runs away first, leaving the black dog alone with Jongin.

When the black dog turns to him, Jongin swears he will really die this time if this one decides to kill him too. But no, instead of charging towards him, it only stares at him with his golden orange eyes, shining brightly like a sun, before it goes to the bushes where the grey one went and disappears behind it.

His parents notice at how pale Jongin that morning and he lies to them, saying he spent an all nighter and just need to sleep. They believe him as they go home right away after the breakfast to let him rest, but of course, he can’t. Instead, he opens his computer to find out what creature that wanted to attack him this morning.

His conclusion is a wolf.

It has similarity in physical and fur color, but Jongin finds it hard to believe. He never saw a wolf in Seoul before, moreover wild wolves that loiter around freely. He also never heard any news of someone getting attacked by a wolf. It leaves a big question inside Jongin’s head.

The next day after the incident, Jongin is ready to spend his friday night alone with eating chicken and drinking beer when the doorbell rings. He walks to the door and takes a peek on the door hole. He can’t hide his surprise even after swinging the door open, revealing Chanyeol behind it.

He wants to ask how he knows where Jongin lives, but the question stops at the tip of his tongue when he looks straight into his eyes. He sees something that’s impossible to happen.

He sees a flicker of golden orange.

“It’s you,” he realizes, “You were the one who saved me.”

Chanyeol blinks. “You remember.”

Doesn’t know what to say, Jongin wordlessly steps aside to let Chanyeol inside before shutting the door. “Um, you can take a seat on the couch,” he walks to the fridge and opens it, “What do you want to drink?”

“Anything’s fine,” He looks at the untouched chicken , “I’m sorry that I interrupted your dinner.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jongin assures him, “Besides I’m tired of having dinner alone, so thank you for interrupting me.”

Chanyeol chuckles. “This is probably the first time I heard someone thanking me when I bother them.”

Jongin laughs in return. He offers a can of beer to Chanyeol, which the other accepts, and takes a seat beside him. He opens the beer and gulps it down immediately, makes Chanyeol looking at him weirdly.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can hear your explanation while being sober,” he smiles sheepishly.

“Fair enough,” Chanyeol takes a sip of the beer before putting it down on the table. “Hm, I think we need to reintroduce ourselves again?”

Jongin hums. “I’d agree. I’m Kim Jongin. I’m twenty-three years olds and I work as a dance teacher,” he gestures at Chanyeol, “And you?”

“I’m Park Chanyeol, twenty-five years old, working as a manager of Cloud Nine’s café.”

Chanyeol swiftly gives Jongin his name card, a simple mint colored card with his name and his position plastered on it. Above it, ‘cloud nine’ and the location of the café written neatly.

“Okay,” Jongin decides it’s time to move to another question, “And what are you?”

“I’m part of a werewolf pack,” he laughs nervously, “I know it sounds bizarre but it’s the truth. We have existed since a long time ago, hidden from the world until now. It’s like an old fairy tale, really, we have two forms, both human and wolf and we come out at the full moon to release our wolf form.”

The gears inside Jongin’s head moves quickly as he lists series of questions he has. “How do you know my address?”

“I followed your scent,” Jongin eyes widen at that, “I’m really sorry but I’m worried after what happened yesterday. As a werewolf, I can smell your distress and fear, so I stayed close by just in case something happened. I hope it doesn’t sound creepy.”

Rather than thinking it’s creepy, Jongin genuinely thinks that it’s really kind of Chanyeol to be worried about a stranger. “It’s not. Thank you, Chanyeol. But what’s with the grey wolf from yesterday?”

“The others from my pack found him immediately and managed to tame him, then we found out that he’s a lone wolf,” Chanyeol gulps down his beer, “He’s pretty young and he’s not part of any pack, which means he doesn’t have anyone to guide him through his shifting phase. Usually, as a young pup, they already receive several training to gain their control over their wolf, including controlling their anger and thirst to hurt someone because in our true form, if we fail to hold back, that can lead to aggression and the imbalance will lead to inability to shift back to the human form.”

Jongin can’t help to recall what happened the day before and the image of those terrifying blue eyes is frankly disturbing, so Jongin clears out his throat and drinks his beer again, hoping that being drunk will make him less scared. Chanyeol seems to notice his behavior changes as he says, “Don’t worry, he’s not gonna hurt you anymore. The alpha of my pack already gets a hold of him.”

“Alpha?”

“That’s how we address our leader. My alpha invites him to our pack so he can get proper training and makes him swear to never let something like that happen again. He’s lucky because you don’t report it to the police, but if he attacks someone and the incident gets exposed to the media, the whole world will know about the existence of werewolf and God knows what’s gonna happen to us.”

“You all can be use by the government,” Jongin adds, his brows furrow in concern.

“That’s basically what they do in X-men,” Chanyeol throws in the jokes, probably to ease Jongin’s worries. “Oh, I forgot to bring your clothes, the one that you lent me before.”

Jongin waves his hand dismissively. “It’s okay, I already said you could keep it. Did you find the one who robbed you?”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “I didn’t, but it’s fine. I just lost some cash and my phone.”

“What did you do that night?”

“Well… it was a full moon.”

From such a short answer, Jongin finally understands what happened. “You changed into your wolf form and left your belongings at the park?”

Chanyeol groans. “Yeah, in our true form, we have to be around nature to be able to release our true self as a wolf. We have to run around, and if we able to do it, hunt an animal or two. Usually, I go to a quiet park so I can change to my form without someone seeing me. I wrap my belongings inside my clothes and put it on the tree branches. That time, when I went back, I didn’t find anything left. I don’t know why they have to take my clothes too, it’s nothing fancy.”

Jongin shrugs. “Maybe they thought it was funny if you walked home .”

“But they didn’t think of a chance that someone as angelic as you to walk by at the perfect time,” Jongin hopes he’s not blushing because Chanyeol just called him angelic, “If I were you, I would run away as fast as I could.”

“That was the plan actually, but my feet fell asleep.”

Chanyeol snickers. “Just like what they do in horror movie?”

“Just like what they do in horror movie,” Jongin takes the chicken, sadly a little bit cold already, and offers it to Chanyeol. “If you don’t have anything to do, we can watch a movie together.”

Chanyeol takes the drumstick. “Thank you. You really don’t mind having me here?”

“I don’t. Besides, you saved me twice already, from the wild wolf and having a lonely friday night,” He raises his drumstick to the air, “Cheers for Park Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol only watched him in amusement. “Are you a lightweight? I think you’re already drunk.”

“I’m not!” Jongin denies, although he somewhat agrees with Chanyeol, “Come on, Chanyeol, you should make a toast too!”

Although he’s forced to do so, Chanyeol sounds so genuine that it melts Jongin a little when he raises his drumstick and says, “Cheers for our friendship.”

“Cheers for our friendship,” Jongin repeats and give a light toast with the chicken on his hand.

—

“Wow,” Kyungsoo exclaims, “Dad is actually a cool person.”

Jongin bursts into laughter at that. “He’s still a cool person, although his jokes are teribble sometimes.”

“A ham sandwich walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender says, 'Sorry we don't serve food here.' ’ Jongdae quotes one of the jokes and snickers by himself. Jongin has a feeling his second son will be as terrible as his dad once he becomes one in the future.

“So, you two became friends?” Baekhyun asks eagerly. Jongin knows for sure that his eldest son is a er for romance, so of course he will be this excited to hear about his parents’ love story.

“Yeah, we became friends and hangout a lot. Y’know, watching movies, having dinner together, etc.”

“Are you sure you two were not dating already?” Jongdae asks teasingly.

Before Jongin retorts back, Kyungsoo adds, “But you didn’t find it hard?”

“Hm?”

“Y’know,” Kyungsoo pauses, “Falling in love with a werewolf...?”

When you’re a human , Jongin can hear the unfinished sentence.

Chanyeol shared this concern with him from way back, when he noticed how their triplets never bring their partners to meet them. They somehow guessed that none of the relationships last long, and the main factor might be that their kids were afraid to open up to their partner about being a werewolf.

It reminds Jongin with how Chanyeol used to be.

—

“How does it feel when you change into the wolf form?” Jongin asks one day. They’re at Chanyeol’s apartment, just finished with their dinner and currently watching a family drama on the tv.

Chanyeol props his chin on his hand. “Hmm, I don’t feel anything, to be honest. I can feel my body changing, but it doesn’t hurt or burn, or anything.”

“Huh, that’s weird.”

“I know right?” Chanyeol chuckles.

“And you can change anytime? Not only in full moon?”

“Yeah, but changing into a perfect form requires a lot of energy. It doesn’t require much if I only change my hands or my head,” Jongin can’t help to think how funny it is to have a human body with a head of a wolf, “But under the night of a full moon, we get our energy from it instead.”

“Does it feel different in the full moon?”

“It does. From all the energy we get, we grow stronger in a full moon.”

“Ah, I think I understand,” Jongin mumbles, not so sure because this werewolf things still amazed him sometimes. “Um, if I ask you to change to your wolf form, will you do it?”

Chanyeol’s brows furrow. “You want to see me in my wolf form?”

Jongin nods. “I was too scared at that time and I don’t really remember how you looked. Is it okay?”

“It’s okay, really,” Chanyeol rubs his neck, “I just don’t want you to freak out.”

“I won’t,” Jongin firmly says.

Chanyeol only stares at him in silence, as if he’s trying to find a trace of doubt in Jongin’s eyes.

“Fine,” he gives in.

Chanyeol stands up, slowly taking his clothes off. Jongin shrieks in surprise before turning away. He can hear the smirk on Chanyeol’s face when he says, “Why are you surprise? You already saw me before.”

Jongin huffs. “Whatever.”

Chanyeol laughs boisterously, but Jongin doesn’t miss the low mumble, “How adorable.”

This is exactly why Jongin wonders about the status of their relationship. He can feel the attraction between them and although Chanyeol is always this honest with his words,  Jongin can see the older guy putting distance between them sometimes. It’s like he’s afraid to be in a relationship with Jongin.

“Jongin?”

Stepping out of his thought, Jongin turns to Chanyeol, seeing him already . He tries to maintain his face - God, please, stop blushing already!

“Yes!” Jongin accidentally yelps out loud, making himself finches in process. How embarrassing. “Um, you can do it now, I’ll watch.”

Chanyeol holding back his grin, obviously amused by him. “Okay.”

Chanyeol closes his eyes before slowly get down on all fours. Jongin gasps when black fur covers his skin and his nails grow into long claws. The changes from his human face into a wolf one also fascinates him rather than making him afraid.

Once Chanyeol turns into a perfect form of a wolf, Jongin calls out hesitantly, “Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol looks straight at him with his bright golden orange eyes, but he doesn’t move from his spot. Jongin has a feeling he wants him to be the one who takes the first step.

Jongin reaches out and genuinely surprised at how soft his fur is. He rubs it gently and Chanyeol seems to like it. When Jongin moves to scratch his neck, Chanyeol nudges his hand instead.

“Do you want me to pat your head?” Jongin laughs, “You spoiled wolf.”

But he’s still pat Chanyeol’s head gently, and laughs some more when Chanyeol closes his eyes, seems like he loves to be pampered.

“You,” Jongin murmurs, “How come you thought I would be afraid of you?” He can feel the warmth radiating from Chanyeol and he loves to be near this warmth for so much longer, “I like every part of you, including you as a werewolf. Nothing will change the way I feel for you.”

Suddenly, Chanyeol goes rigid and he backs away from Jongin. His eyes are unreadable and Jongin doesn’t know if he said something that makes Chanyeol picks up his scattered clothes before running away to his room.

Does Chanyeol don’t feel the same to him?

Did Jongin read him wrong all this time?

Jongin doesn’t know if Chanyeol wants to talk to him or not but he’s still going to the room, clearing his throat first before calling softly, “Chanyeol?”

“Yeah, come in.”

Jongin sees him standing in the middle of the room, still topless with his pants hang low on his hips. He still can’t read the blank stare that he shoots towards him.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asks.

Chanyeol shakes his head. “No, it just,” he sighs, “I’ll take it the wrong way if you say something like that.”

“But I’m serious,” Jongin takes Chanyeol’s hand and intertwined them together, “I like you, in a romantic way.”

“We’re different,” Chanyeol affirms loudly.

“But I’m happy when I’m with you,” Jongin confesses sincerely. “And I can see that you are also feeling the same.”

It’s rare for Jongin to be this confident in a relationship, to be the one who bares his feeling first because his pace never works the same as the other. Somehow, he always takes more time to be able to do something.

Chanyeol is the only exception.

He never feels so comfortable around someone who spends so little time with him, and falling in love with Chanyeol is one of the easiest things Jongin ever does. Really, it’s as easy as falling asleep - not a poetic way to describe it but it’s true anyway.

Chanyeol squeezes his hand gently, taking Jongin back from his thought. “You never fail to amaze me, Kim Jongin,” he chuckles lowly, “Although this werewolf is like an old tale, you still believe me. Although I’m in my wolf form, you still hold me dearly just like you do when I’m a human. Although I take a step back, you bravely chase after me.”

He puts his hand on Jongin’s cheeks and rubs it gently with his thumb. “After all of things you do this whole time, there’s no way I don’t feel the same.”

Jongin smiles before Chanyeol pulls him into a hug. He can hear Chanyeol saying ‘I like you too, a lot’ but he also can hear the uneasiness beyond his voice. But it’s okay, he thought as he clings to him tightly. They just need to keep going forward little by little, together side by side and everything will be fine.

—

Jongin remembers clearly Chanyeol’s explanation from back then.

“Most of the werewolf get married to someone from the other pack,” Chanyeol told him, “We just have some trust issues here. We mate for life, Jongin, so it’s not easy for us to find someone who’s not a werewolf and they can accept us wholeheartedly or keep the pack as a secret for the rest of their life.”

Noticing the heavy air that suddenly surrounded them, Jongin only smiles before he ruffles Kyungsoo’s hair gently.

“I fall in love with your dad because he’s kind and easy to talk with. I love his big smile and how happy he makes me feel. He loves his family the most and I thought it’s really sweet,” he says, “Werewolf or not, it won’t change the way I feel about him. Someday, all of you will also find someone who will accept you just the way you are. So don’t worry, okay?”

Jongin hears a low sniffle and wordlessly takes a box of tissue on the coffee table. As he Jongdae’s hair when the boy grabs the tissue and wipes his tears, he silently hopes all of his sons will find their happiness, just the way Chanyeol and he found one in one another.

“But papa,” Baekhyun tosses his tissue to the trash can, “Grandma and Grandpa are okay with dad being a werewolf?”

He knows right away that his eldest son is referring to his parents. “They were mostly surprised by it,” He remembers when they thought Chanyeol was playing with them, but then he changed his hand into a claw and they screamed loudly, “But they said if I’m happy with Chanyeol then it doesn’t matter.”

Kyungsoo hums. “And dad’s family also took it well, right?” It doesn’t sound like a question, as he already knows the answer when he points at one of the photos. It’s their wedding day, both Jongin and Chanyeol wearing a white tuxedo. They stand close to each other with Chanyeol’s hand on his waist, beside them were Chanyeol’s parents and older sister. All of them were wearing the same big smile on their faces.

“Yes, not only his family but also the pack. They accept me although I’m a human, saying I’m the perfect match for your dad,” Jongin says fondly, “It’s really a blessing to be part of the family.”

—

It’s in the middle of the storm and loud thunder that the electricity suddenly goes down, leaving Jongin standing in front of Chanyeol’s door in pure darkness.

“Chanyeol?”

“Coming!”

He can hear footsteps from behind the door and when it opens, Chanyeol is there holding a flashlight.

“Hey,” he greets him.

“Hi,” Jongin greets back before stepping inside. He stacks his shoes neatly on the shoe rack before tailing behind Chanyeol.

“It’s weird that the power doesn’t go back right away, so I’ll call the landlord first,” He leaves a peck on Jongin’s lips, “You can put the candles if you want.”

Jongin smiles. “And have a candlelight dinner? How romantic of you, Park Chanyeol.”

“You love the idea anyway.”

“I do,” Jongin pushes him away, “Go make the call, I’ll get the candles.”

“Okay, it’s on the bottom drawer on the living room.”

“Got it.”

Chanyeol gives him another flashlight and Jongin uses it to find the candles. Once he found it, he puts it in different places including the dining table, next to the foods that Chanyeol have prepared.

“They said there’s something wrong with the generator and they’re currently fixing it,” Chanyeol explains to him and takes a seat across Jongin.

“It’ll take some time, I guess?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “Maybe. I hope we have enough candle to last us a night.”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Jongin smiles, “Let’s eat, okay?”

“Ah, not so fast!” Chanyeol grabs the wine bottle next to him and pops it open, “Let’s make a toast first.”

He pours it to Jongin’s and his glasses before raises it. “Happy second anniversary, sweetheart.”

Jongin giggles. “Happy second anniversary, Yoda.”

He can see Chanyeol rolling his eyes.

“I thought you are a romanticist like me.”

“But I’m also a realist,” he tips the glass and takes a sip, “Don’t worry, your ears are cute and I love it.”

“I know you do. You always bite it when we have —”

“Nu-uh!” Jongin glares at him, “What did I say about talking vulgarly on the dining table?”

“It’s inappropriate,” Chanyeol smirks, “But it turns you on.”

“I didn’t say that!”

The dinner goes smoothly although several loud claps of thunder make them flinch, and worse, makes Jongin’s chicken slips through his fork and falls to the floor. Chanyeol tries to hide his laugh when Jongin yells, “My chicken!”

After that, they decide to do the dishes later once the power is back up again and proceed to cuddle on the couch while talking about random things.

“Hey,” Chanyeol begins, “Don’t you think when it’s dark and quiet like this, it’s as if we’re the only one who lives in this world?”

“Is that supposed to be romantic? Because it sounds creepy instead,” Jongin suddenly receives a flick on his forehead, “Hey! I’m just trying to be honest.”

Chanyeol puffs his cheeks. “You are no fun.”

“Aw, don’t be mad,” Jongin pecks him on the cheeks, “But y’know, I don’t mind if we’re the only who live because as long as I’m with you, everything’s gonna be alright.”

Chanyeol affectionately ruffles his hair and Jongin can feel his smile on his skin when he drops a kiss to the crown on his head. “Yeah, I know,” he murmurs, “I know that if I have you by my side, with your smile, your laugh,” he sneaks an arm around Jongin’s waist, “Your warmth, your kindness, your love, your everything, I know that everything will be just fine.”

He suddenly drops down on one knee and looks up to Jongin. “That’s why, Kim Jongin,” he grabs something out of his pocket and presents a small box in front of Jongin, who’s still can’t grasp what the hell is happening, “Will you give me the honor and the joy of being your husband?”

He opens the small box, revealing a silver ring with a matte finish around the edge and sound wave pattern in the middle.

Brings up his palm to cover up his gasp, Jongin blinks away the tears and looks straight into Chanyeol’s eyes. “Is this—are you serious?”

“Never been this serious in my whole life.”

Chanyeol’s face illuminates through the dark with the light from the candle, and somehow it reminds Jongin of the time the first met on the park when Chanyeol shone brightly under the streetlamp, but never he would have thought that the same guy would be this important to him.

Yet here he is, smiling between the tears and answers, “Yes,” and he repeats, “Yes, I will.”

He can see Chanyeol letting out the breath he holds, seems relief that Jongin finally gave his answer, before he takes the ring out of the box and puts the ring on Jongin’s ring finger. It fits perfectly.

Jongin raises it to the air, admiring it for a moment before he tackles Chanyeol to the ground and hugs him tightly.

“Oh God, there goes the mood,” Chanyeol groans, “You tackle me like a football player. Good job, baby.”

Jongin ignores it, instead he whispers, “Thank you,” before hiding in the crook of Chanyeol’s neck. If his fiancé - God, it’s so weird that they’re engaged already - feels a warmth stream of tears on his skin, he doesn’t say anything.

He only pulls Jongin into an equally tight hug and whispers back, “I’ll never let you go.”

At that very moment, Jongin swears that they’re the happiest people alive.

—

Baekhyun doesn’t miss the chance to ask, “What’s the record on Papa’s ring says?”

Jongin glances briefly at the ring that never leaves his ring finger for more than twenty years and smiles shyly.

‘I’m lucky to have you.’

That’s what the record says, but he wants to keep it to himself only so he winks playfully at his son. “That will be a secret.”

Of course, Baekhyun huffs loudly. “And Dad’s ring?”

That’s another question that he doesn’t know what to say because ‘Kim Jongin says yes!’ is corny as , so he ignores the question as he helps Kyungsoo to flip to the next page. “Oh, look, this is my pregnancy photo!”

Baekhyun looks like he doesn’t want to let his Papa off easily, but he’s also interested in the new batch of photos. Most of them are Jongin with his hands over his big bump.

“You are amazing, Papa,” Kyungsoo says. “Having triplets is surely not easy, especially for the first pregnancy.”

“It’s not,” Jongin confirms, “but most of the time, the thought of having three cute little babies always kept me going and made it less difficult.”

He gazes lovingly at the photo of his triplets beside his bed after his successful birth operation. They looked so small and fragile, and he looked happy although his face is screaming ‘exhausted!’ and asking for more sleep.

“To be honest,” Jongin begins when the new page reveals his sons all on their tummy holding their heads up, “from all the things that happened, the one that I wasn't prepared for was raising three energetic werewolf toddlers.”

Jongdae laughs. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jongin sighs dramatically, “It was really hard.”

—

Jongin expected that raising werewolf child will be totally different from a human child, that it will be a lot harder with the fact that he will raise three at once after knowing he’s pregnant with triplets.  Knowing his concerned, one day, Chanyeol came home with a notebook filled with things they have to remember for raising pups. He confessed that he tried to gather as many as he can and hope that it would be a lifesaver for him and Jongin.

But still, no matter how prepared they thought they are, they still caught off guard when they have to face the real situation, just like the moment Jongin wakes up by a sound of wolf’s howl at the middle of the night. He quickly gets up and runs to his kids’ room, where three of them are wide awake and howling at the same time. Chanyeol stands beside him, wearing the same clueless expression. Jongin remembers Chanyeol’s mom saying that wolf pups tend to howl at night because it’s their instinct to do so and that’s why they need to move into a soundproof place so their secret will be safe.

Jongin also remembers the time when he takes a peek to the living room, where his sons playing together but instead of human toddlers, what he sees is three wolf pups poking at each other. They look at him at the same time and start shaking with excitement.

“Um, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol is in the middle of planning the new interior for ‘Cloud Nine’ in his room so he hears a distant, “Yeah?”

“Can you come here, please?”

Chanyeol immediately gets out of the room, his eyes filled with concern, but it quickly goes away the moment he sees what making Jongin called him.

“Oh God, look at my pups! Look at how cute they are!” he coos instead, crouching lowly next to them. His pups obediently show their bellies to their dad so Chanyeol rubs it gently one by one.

“Did I miss something here?” Jongin asks cautiously.

“You don’t have to worry, because they’re still young they can’t control their form yet so they will change anytime,” Chanyeol smiles, “The wolf pups guide’s page three, remember?”

Jongin takes note that he needs to read the book once again because apparently, he forgot some details already.

“Just take it easy, okay?” Chanyeol puts his hand on the small of his back, “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Hm, I hope so too.”

—

“I swear, you all were extremely active, especially Baekhyun and Jongdae,” Jongin pretends to glare dagger at the two them, “You won’t stop crawling from one spot to another and I couldn’t take my eyes off of you two even for a second.”

Baekhyun looks at him sheepishly. “I don’t remember anything.”

“Of course you don’t,” suddenly, one particular photo takes Jongin’s attention. “Oh, this one was from the time all of you went through teething stage.”

—

According to the wolf pups guide’s page five, teething is a real pain in this . Usually, a human baby starts chewing on their fingers or toys to help relieve pressure on their gums, but that’s not the case for his triplets.

“No, baby, don’t chew on the pillow,” Jongin takes the pillow away from Baekhyun’s reach, making his oldest son looking at him as if he just betrayed him.

He also pulls the blanket away from Jongdae’s mouth and he whines at him immediately. Out of three of them, Jongdae is the whiniest one.Sometimes, he looks so adorable, but at times like this, he won’t stop whining until he gets what he wants and it’s always driving his parents crazy.

“Don’t chew on those, okay? I know that it’s not a weird thing because they did say wolf pup is usually stronger than a human kid, but still, it’s not a nice thing to do,” Jongin quickly puts the pacifier on both Baekhyun and Jongdae’s mouth before they find other things to chew on.

Jongin thinks Baekhyun is still glaring at him and Jongdae still whining although the pacifier seems to calm him down a little, which is great.

When he lets himself to relax a little, he suddenly realizes something.

His youngest is nowhere in sight.

“Kyungsoo?!”

He looks around and can’t help to gape in horror when he sees Kyungsoo already changed to his wolf form and currently chewing on table’s leg.

“Kyungsoo!” He grabs his son and takes him far, far away from the poor table. He can see lots of drools and chewing pattern on the wood.

He spins Kyungsoo around, forcing him to look at him in the eyes. “That table right there is not for you to chew on so you can’t do something like that ever again, promise papa?”

Kyungsoo crooks his head, looking through his adorable big eyes as if he begs a differ. Damn, he knows Jongin is weak with his big sparkling eyes.

“You can’t look at me like that every time you did something wrong,” Jongin tells him, although he probably won’t understand it. “But really, no more chewing on the table—wait, Baekhyun, Jongdae, not the leather couch!”

—

Jongin grimaces at the memory of seeing his kids chewing on the leather couch. It was the gift from Jongin’s parents to celebrate their marriage and living together. He remembers telling them what happened and they look at him like he grew a second head, although when it happened again, this time with his triplets chewing the dining table’s legs, his parent finally understand what he was going through.

Kyungsoo seems to feel guilty about that. “Sorry, Papa.”

“It’s fine, baby,” Jongin replies.

He knows that he faced many difficulties because he was inexperienced. During that time, Chanyeol’s mom helped him a lot. She answered Jongin’s calls when he panicked about something, and sometimes she offered to babysit everytime Jongin and Chanyeol needed to leave the house for their works, their triplets usually clinging tightly to their legs and begging them to stay and watch a cartoon together with them and Grandma. Chanyeol’s mom is truly his savior, and suddenly, Jongin has an urge to buy something for her in order to thank her once again.

Jongin continues to share other stories such as the time when they started talking and repeating whatever their parents said ( “One time your dad said ‘’ and you answered “what’s your name?’ question with a chorus of ‘’ and it went as horrible as it sounded.” ), the phase of coloring on the wall although they had enough drawing books to fill in ( “You guys just won’t stop!” ) and the time when they started walking.

“It was a disaster,” Jongin sighs, “We kept saying that you have to hold hands together but no, all of you just ran in three different directions without batting an eye.”

Jongdae snickers, looking like he’s imagining it on his head. “Sounds like a hassle.”

“I can feel my hair turning gray just by hearing all the things we did,” Kyungsoo adds.

“Oh, you have to hear this first. One time, we went to the mall and suddenly, all of you gone missing. I broke into cold sweats and Chanyeol frantically shouting your names here and there, but then we heard an announcement goes like this,” Jongin clears his throat, “ ‘Looking for missing parents with names Daddy Chanyeol and Papa Jongin. They are extremely tall, kind and have a nice smile. Please for Daddy Chanyeol and Papa Jongin to go to the information center because your kids are looking for you.’ and I swear almost everyone stares at us in bewilderment.”

The triplets erupt in laughter almost immediately, clearly understand how ridiculous it is. Baekhyun clutching at his stomach as he says, “Oh God, that’s hilarious!”

“How come we thought they were the one who got lost,” Kyungsoo massages his temple as if he’s getting a headache from hearing the story although it’s a story involving him as well.

Jongin shrugs. “That’s just how innocent all of you were.”

“We’re still innocent!” Baekhyun protests with all his might, although he quickly changes it when he sees Kyungsoo rolling his eyes. “Um, okay, I guess we’re not anymore.”

“Oh, I remember this one,” Jongdae suddenly points at one photo with them on their wolf form, looking straight at the camera, “Was it from the time we learned how to change to our wolf form properly?”

Although wolf pup can abruptly change into their form when they’re still baby, they stop doing that as they grow because they can control their emotion better. Once they’re at the age of preadolescence, they’re on their shifting phase where they need to learn properly of how to change into their wolf form and how to change back into human form, gain control over their wolf, including controlling their anger and thirst to hurt someone so it doesn’t lead to aggression or worse, the inability to shift back to the human form. They also learn how to change back and forth quickly between the wolf and human forms.

It was a foreign field for Jongin as a human even with all the information he gathered inside his notebook, and that’s where Chanyeol stepped forward.

—

“So, boys, are you ready?” Chanyeol asks.

“Yeah!” his triplets answer in unison and equally excited for the lesson to start.

They’re currently at their Chanyeol grandparents’ house in the countryside. They figure it’s better for their kids to learn while being near to nature, unlike their house in the middle of a crowded city, so they arranged their summer vacation this year to visit them. If their kids learn fast, they probably can join the pack run on the next full moon together with other wolves including Chanyeol.

“Okay. Now, who remember what you should do before shifting?” Kyungsoo raises his hand, “Yes, Kyungsoo?”

“We have to call our wolf and ask them to take control,” he pauses, “but not too much?”

“That’s right! Even in your wolf form, you’re still in charge of your body. You can’t let the wolf takes over all the control or else you can’t change back into a human form. Now, if you want to change back, what should you do?”

“You need to ask them kindly to go,” Baekhyun chips in.

“And if they don’t want to, you have to be firm!” Jongdae adds, “Says that’s the rule and they have to follow it.”

“Good, you all remember the key points!” Chanyeol smiles while stealing a glance at Jongin who gives him big thumbs up. Chanyeol is always good with kids and they listen to him most of the time, so no wonder everything is going smoothly so far.

“Now, are you ready if I ask you to change?”

Jongin can see the look of hesitation clearly in their eyes. “It’s okay, baby. You have your daddy’s here, and you have me. We will help you so everything’s gonna be fine.”

They look at each other before nodding his head.

“I’ll go first,” Baekhyun steps forward. He takes off his clothes and gives it to Jongin.

“Okay, close your eyes. Breathe in, breathe out,” Baekhyun easily does what Chanyeol says, “Now, call them.”

It takes a moment before Baekhyun falls on all fours. Slowly, the fur and claws take over his skin and fingers - and here he is, a wolf with a mixture of grey and white looking at them through his yellow eyes. He yips loudly as if saying ‘I did it!’ to them.

“Good job!” Chanyeol his head gently as Baekhyun ducks it lowly and tucks his tail between his legs and under his body - a sign of submission to the dominant one. He nudges Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s hand with a hint of playfulness.

“Okay, now, let’s shift back,” Chanyeol crouches down, meeting Baekhyun’s eyes, “Tell them to go because you want to change back.”

It takes longer for him to shift back and the first thing he says after being human again is, “He kinds of stubborn. He hid from me so I couldn’t find him and asked him to go.”

“It’s their instinct to do so,” Chanyeol pats his shoulder before squeezing it, “But you did a great job for a first timer so don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon.”

Jongdae and Kyungsoo take turns after that and they do well just like Baekhyun.

“See, I told you it’s gonna be fine!” Jongin gives them a group hug, his chest swells with proud.

Chanyeol joins them then adds, “And you all deserve a reward! Who wants a barbecue tonight?!”

“Me, me, me!” they holler at him.

—

“And we ate a lot of meats that night,” Baekhyun rubs in his tummy with a sigh of content.

“And we joined the pack run! It was so much fun.”

Kyungsoo nods his head, agrees with Jongdae. “If only we can do that here. There’s not much fun running alone or in small groups because we need to lay low.”

“It’s the rule and it’s also for your own good. You need to follow it,” Jongin reminds him. “Do you remember when you broke it in the middle school?”

“When we scared the bully with our wolf form?” Jongdae asks. “We just growled at him and he ran while calling for his mommy. He deserved it, though. He needed to know that he’s not the strongest and he didn’t have a right to step on others.”

“But he reported it to his parents and they told the school that there were wild dogs living on the school’s land,” Jongin stares at them judgingly, “The alpha was furious. We knew you wanted to give him a lesson, but what you did also endanger the pack. All of you were grounded, your dad got lectured as well.”

Baekhyun shudders. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

“Me neither,” Jongdae murmurs, “But I didn’t regret scaring him. I know it’s an abuse of power and it’s wrong, but he completely stopped bullying anyone after that and that also matters.”

“I know, baby. I’d understand your intention but don’t do it again, okay?” Jongin looks at them as they nod their heads. “Now, let’s talk about the time Kyungsoo becomes Romeo at the school play!”

“Papa, not again!” Kyungsoo tries to take away the album from his hands as he shows the photos of him wearing a fake crown with a shy smile.

Before Jongin realizes, it’s already past lunchtime and his sons are not done with their packing yet.

“But we want to hear more stories!” Baekhyun whines. For a moment, Jongin doesn’t believe he’s gonna turn twenty this year judging from how spoiled he sounds.

“We can continue it later,” Jongin assures him, “the faster you finish your packing, the faster we get back to it.”

Motivated by his words, Baekhyun immediately stands up and runs back to his room. Jongdae follows behind him, looking like he wants the same reward. Kyungsoo stays in his spot because he’s not done picking out his books yet, but Jongin can see the same sparks in his eyes. They are triplets, after all.

Later that night, Chanyeol comes home after their sons went off to dreamland, splayed across their bed after a long day spent packing their stuff.

“Today, Kyungsoo found our album photo,” Jongin tells him once Chanyeol is out of the shower, “They were interested in our stories, so I told them some of it.”

“I hope you only told them the good ones,” Chanyeol says, which earns a laugh from Jongin.

“Don’t worry, most of the stories are about them growing up,” Jongin looks outside the window of their room and watches the lights from high buildings shining brightly through the darkness of the night. “Don’t you think time flies so fast? They turn twenty this year and will leave this house soon.”

“I know right,” Chanyeol nods his head, “It felt like yesterday the first time they call us daddy. Do you remember that time?”

Jongin hums. “Of course, I am.”

—

From the very first day they were born, Jongin and Chanyeol already talked a lot to their triplets. They teached them how to call them ‘daddy’ and the name of the things near them. Of course, they didn’t respond at first but slowly as they grow, they start letting out a giggle and mysterious words that only them who understand.

One day, Jongin can’t contain his surprise as Baekhyun called out to him.

“Dada!”

Jongin stops spooning the food to Baekhyun’s mouth as he asks, “C-can you say that again, baby?”

Baekhyun giggles at him before shouting while pointing at him, “Dada!”

Jongin feels his tears falling when Jongdae and Kyungsoo join their brother and the air suddenly fills with ‘dada!’ word.

At the same time, there’s a sound of someone enter their passcode before the door is open. Chanyeol comes in view, his smile falters when he sees Jongin.

“W-what happened? Why are you crying?”

He looks at his sons as if he hopes they will explain what happened to him, but Jongdae does a pretty a good job as he points at Chanyeol and says, “Dada!”

Chanyeol immediately freezes on his spot.

“Did he just—” he gapes, “He called me Dada! Oh my God, Jongin, did you hear that?!”

Jongin nods and he laughs when Chanyeol is crying as well when they start saying ‘dada!’ like there’s no tomorrow.

—

Suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling that he can’t explain, tears threatened to fall from Jongin’s eyes when he feels a pair of hands slip around his waist, pulling him into Chanyeol’s chest. He tries to blink away his tears as he puts his palm on top of Chanyeol’s. “Sorry, I think I got a little bit emotional.”

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol tighten his arms around him, “I’m also their parents, so I know exactly how you feel. I’d also feel sad to see them leaving, but they won’t forget us. They won’t forget that this is their home and they will surely come back to us.”

“I know. It just, this anxiety feeling is eating me a little bit,” Jongin admits, baring his true feeling to his husband. He thought raising three werewolves were hard enough, but watching them leaving their nest is even harder. “I think it will be lonely without them being noisy, asking me where to find this and that, or if dinner is ready or not because they are dying of hunger already.”

Chanyeol chuckles lowly, his warm breath tickling Jongin’s neck. “You won’t be lonely.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll always stay by your side, so you don’t have to worry because everything’s gonna be fine.”

Jongin turns his head slightly, meeting Chanyeol’s gaze. “That sounds awfully romantic.”

“What can I say? I’m a romanticist, after all,” Chanyeol sounds satisfied with his answer. “I bet you are falling for me all over again.”

“Don’t be so smug,” Jongin warns him, although deep inside, he can’t deny that Chanyeol’s words offer the comfort that he’s looking for and make him believes that everything is indeed going to be fine.