Bonded

Hero's Soup
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Bonded

The suffocating silence bothered Jeongin. The rest of the pack rushed at the doorstep, including Jisung, bombarding him with questions he couldn’t quite understand. Amidst the chaos, Seungmin stood in front of the boy, blocking him away from Chan whose eyes have been gazing at him intently.

A firm grasp on Woojin’s left wrist made him look up, “Woojin.” Jeongin’s voice was desperate. Woojin knew he wanted answers as well.

He pulled the boy to his side, earning the long-awaited silence. Seungmin was about to speak up when his eyes found Jeongin’s, they were practically begging him to just stay quiet.

The witch’s furrowed eyebrows relaxed as he sighed in defeat, pushing the rest inside the house. Seungmin went back and dragged Felix and Minho by their ears, both breaking into a fit of whines. The alpha turned to Jeongin, giving the boy a small smile before leading him inside the house. Woojin’s hand was big and warm, Jeongin felt reassured with just that.

His eyes wandered around the wide hallway, his muddy shoes leaving stains on the carpeted floor. Jeongin reminded himself to apologize to Woojin later. The hallway was decorated with simple paintings on the walls and a few vases on top of stools. The pack probably didn’t want to redecorate the place in honor of the previous owner.

With that, he started coming up with questions regarding the wolves and Chan's lives. Plus, the mansion.

The hallway leads to an open space. Jeongin, who was whisked away from his thoughts, saw the rest of the boys gathered at the circular sofa, their heads were on the same level as his and Woojin’s feet. “Careful of the steps, Hyunjin usually slips.” the mentioned wolf whimpers, receiving a loud cackle from Changbin.

“He trips at least twice a week.” the sunken living room thing wasn't Hyunjin style, he tends to forget about the level difference.

Felix giggled uncontrollably, “What?” His deep voice was cut off with the sudden stares from everyone in the room. For the first time in a while, the tension was broken. Chan huffed out air, he too was tired of the heavy air around them. He smiled, “Felix is easily amused, pay him no mind.” The first playful words coming from him swept the suffocating air away.

Felix pouted, shouting a loud ‘Hey!’ afterward. While the others laughed, Woojin pulled Jeongin, settling him in between Jisung and Hyunjin. “Are you okay now, Jisung?” the wolf nodded, giving the boy a smile as they opened up a small talk. Hyunjin leaned over, gingerly placing his head on the boy’s shoulder.

Jeongin flinched and grew stiff at the sudden contact but loosened up at the sight of Hyunjin. “Jinnie, don’t make the boy uncomfortable.” Hyunjin whined and attached himself to Jeongin, earning a soft giggle from Woojin. The alpha eventually gave up, he can’t change the fact that Hyunjin is a cuddle bug.

The laughter died down, it was silent. But not the same silence as earlier. Woojin beams as he faces Chan. “Oh, why don’t your friends introduce themselves, huh, Chan?” Felix and Minho spares Chan a glance, finally speaking up when the older one nods. They don’t usually get permission from someone higher than them, they were free spirits, usually messing with people back in Japan. But after meeting Chan, they pay so much respect to the vampire.

Felix’s meeting wasn’t the best one, but it was pretty memorable.

Chan was on a trip to Japan; he was importing vases from a very famous antique shop in Okinawa. It was a hard gamble as the owner of the shop didn’t want anyone to re-sell his products. Chan was a very patient person, he tried to talk as calmly and casually as possible. But the old man was not having any of it. He was close to just hypnotizing him, but it bothered his conscience, not that he has one anyways.

On his way out, he was bothered by an eerie presence, it was subtle but he can tell the sheer amount of power being suppressed. His head snapped towards the rooftop of a candy shop. There, he saw a small white fox watching him intently with his doe eyes, his speck-littered face standing out in the open.

The fox was sure his presence was hidden. As he made eye contact with the man, his small body shivered in fear. Chan’s deep and dark orbs flashed red; he smiles at the fox. Nodding at him before going his merry way.

Felix was a bit... well, arrogant. The town where his shrine was located was somewhat peaceful. The bad spirits were nothing more than deranged souls who strayed from their paths. And he wasn’t the only God/Guardian in that huge town. There were lots of them. Ranging from powerful to mediocre ones. Felix was one of the most influential and known Gods. His personality in most cases is pretty normal. He was a nice God, a bit playful, nonetheless. But the residents don’t have complaints against the fox.

They admired him the most whenever they got to see a glimpse of his full form. His huge figure partially hidden in the depths of the woods as the moon reflected against his glimmering white fur, littered with black specs focused on his face. Felix was beautiful indeed.

The fox had no particular reason for staying. But he had a reason for leaving. It was Chan.

“I’m Felix. I am uh, a 9 tailed fox, Minho and I are both from Japan.” Chan snickered as Felix began unveiling his tails one by one. The room broke into gasps. Minho turned to Chan, on cue, they both laughed underneath their breath as they shook their heads simultaneously.

Lix was a bit of a show-off. It wasn’t the worst, but you can’t help but scoff whenever he does so.

Chan glances at Jeongin who was busy admiring Felix’s tails. He can’t help but break into a smile when the boy stood up and asked Felix, politely, if he could touch them. Felix gave the boy a big smile, telling him it was fine.

“Wow, so fluffy!” The rest literally melted when the boy jumped up and down with a silly smile on his face. His braces are on full view for everyone to see. And when most of them have moved on by the majestic scene, Jeongin couldn’t stop admiring the fox. Felix forced him to sit down between him and Seungmin.

Felix has always been nice. Sure, he was a bit playful with the townspeople near his shrine but in general, he was just a quiet God. Looking over his people. His specialty was love so inevitably everyone in his village is always oozing with love. Not only romantic but all kinds of love!

Minho was a different case. He was stubborn and naive. He liked playing with the locals, The schoolgirls who visit his shrine, he usually blows wind gusts towards the girls, their skirts riding up as the harsh wind hits them. He would throw rocks at the roofs of some elderly people, just for the heck of it. They know it was him. The god of their village. His shrine was atop a small hill, with a perfect view of the whole village. The elderly would curse at him, using mantras to make the God go back to its shrine.

You would really expect him to have a bad reputation within the town. With his usual childish acts and pranks, he should’ve been a stray god by now. But he wasn’t. Minho is weird and arrogant and obnoxious. But the village was thankful for him, Minho has done a lot of stupid things but none of them are gravely bad. He has done better than any god that has set foot in their small town. Minho always gave them a good harvest, plenty of fish, and nature was always bountiful and vibrant. And his petty pranks made the village livelier.

That’s why when Chan stumbled upon his shrine, he couldn’t help but admire the size of it. It was vibrant and clean. Offerings piled neatly on the shiny wooden floor. People from all around the village visit back and forth. Chan was impressed, despite the bad reviews of the God, the locals still respect and admire him.

But, up to this date. He never really knew why the cat left Japan. He never knew why Chan snuck into his hotel room on his last day there.

“I’m Minho. I’m a ‘Bakeneko’.”

“What’s that?”

“It means ‘Ghost Cat’. I came from Japan.”

Changbin nodded, somewhat satisfied with the answer given to him. It was a pretty straightforward description.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, they all engaged in conversations. It wasn’t just a small, casual talk to fill in the gaps. They talked about stuff close friends normally drabble in. Woojin can’t help but smile as he admires the people around him going along just fine, despite the multiple feuds they had within the span of a day.

Seungmin who was wandering his eyes around finally decided to ask the question that has been sitting in his head. “How did you guys get ahold of this place?” his tone directed to Woojin. With a weary look, the rest of the pack turned their heads to their alpha. “Yeah, how did you find this place?” Seungmin followed Jeongin’s gaze towards Woojin, thankful because he backed him up.

Woojin can’t help but break into a smile with the boy’s gesture. Jeongin’s head was tilted to the side as he playfully wrapped one of Felix’s tails around his wrist.

“Well, to make things short. There was this soldier who stumbled upon our small den during World War I. He was miles away from his battalion. He was a wise guy to say the least.” A few pairs of eyes followed Woojin’s finger, pointing at a huge portrait on the cream-colored walls.

Woojin lowered his hand, proceeding with his story.

"Jisung,” the said wolf lets out a small whine, lowering his head. Hyunjin threw a hand around the wolf, nuzzling him closer. “Was still very sensitive back then–” his next words fell to the floor, unsaid, as he saw Jisung shaking a bit in the arms of Hyunjin. He cleared his throat and decided to choose his words wisely. “Changbin was very territorial. While Hyunjin was the most rational between all of us. It was hard not to trust the man; he was very clever for his age. He didn’t like war. Wished he could stop it, but instead he was forced to join the army in the name of his family’s honor.”

Jeongin was compelled by the story. His eyes glistened in curiosity as he listened to the alpha’s soothing voice. He felt like a kid again, listening to his teacher’s stories during kindergarten and preschool. Woojin continues his history class. Changbin left 5 minutes ago, telling them he was gonna go get some snacks since everyone didn’t have the appetite to eat a heavy meal. The story about the mansion was finished, and the rest of them started telling their own stories.

Minho, bulling everyone into believing he created Japan. He earned a smack on the head from Chan because of it. And the rest earned a very disgusting look that screams ‘why the did you believe him?’

As they continue to munch on their chips, Jeongin gazes at Felix who was fast asleep on his lap. Jeongin’s fingers running through the fox’s strawberry tinted locks. The boy tried to reach out for his bag on the side of the couch. He was also trying hard not to wake the fox. He mumbled a silent thanks to Jisung who made his task easier.

The current state of his bag made his frown, his mom is definitely gonna question him about it. He sighed and carefully opened it. Rummaging through his notes and a few personal necessities, his hand found what he was trying to retrieve. Jeongin placed his bag between his knees and continued to unlock his phone.

There were only 2 missed calls from his mom, he sighed. Thankful that it wasn’t his dad. He buried his face in front

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Oke_DDaeng
#1
Subscribed immediately after I read the foreword hehe
hearteulove #2
hey, im back! so happy to receive your notifications!!!
Sheeska #3
Chapter 8: This kind of tear me up , it's sad that jeongin jas no friend
But now they all find each other, truly love this chapter cannot wait to read more :)
hearteulove #4
please update soon T.T
Naomiie18 #5
Chapter 1: Ok. One chapter in, and there's no going back! Such a good introduction!!! I can't wait to read the next chapter (and that is exactly what I'm going to do next hihi). It is very well written and it is incredibly promising. I already love this!
Sheeska #6
Chapter 7: Love it,
I like how you reveal a littlw bit in each chapter
I trully csnnot wait to read more
Thank you so much for your hard work
Cannot wait to see chan and jongin interaction :)
Sheeska #7
Chapter 6: Cannot wait to read more, seriously this is so good
mj_pa13
#8
Chapter 1: I'm already hooked on your story. This is great! <3