Awaken

"That's mine!"

"Nu-uh! I got here first!"

"I was saving that for later, Minho!"

Chan has gotten used to this setting. If you weren't from that household, you might've thought they're bickering over something serious. But for him, he just wanted to jab a wooden stake to his heart.

"What are they doing?" Chan sighed, glancing over Jeongin who was busy braiding Felix's hair. His hands stop fumbling the fox's soft locks as his head whipped over the kitchen. "Fighting over the last pop tart... again." Changbin stood up after answering Jeongin's question. He made his way towards the chaos.

"Hyunjin, Jisung, Minho... not this again." he sprinted towards the 3 of them. Changbin snatched the pop tart from Jisung’s hand, earning a fit of whines and groans from the struggling trio.

"I'm going shopping tomorrow. I'll buy a box for each of you, just please shut the up." Changbin walked back towards the living room, plopping beside Jeongin. Jeongin's eyes danced all over the room, confused about what just happened. The cause of the ruckus heads towards the living room also.

Hyunjin drops to the floor laying his head onto Felix's lap, a pout evident on the wolf's face. Meanwhile, Jisung and Minho sat beside each other on the other edge of the sofa where Jeongin was sitting.

The two of them suddenly became 'close' with each other. Although most of the time, little to none words were exchanged between them, weirdly enough they were inseparable. Woojin was the first to notice. Except for the pack and Chan, none of them have known each other for quite some time.

Chan eyed Minho and Jisung cautiously. Minho wasn't the type of person to get close to someone else suddenly. He was the exact opposite.

He was a bit of an outcast, aside from Chan and Felix, he doesn't have any other acquaintances. Chan even came up with the idea that Minho pursued him from Japan to Korea, because he was lonely. His massive shrine may be filled with gifts and offerings but by the end of the day, he was alone.

That hypothesis alone was petty, according to Chan. Minho could easily fall in with other 'antic' beings. However, when Chan asked him about it when he waited for Minho to finish his busking session near Myeongdong, his answer: "I just didn't feel like it." vague.

"Want the last pop tart, kid?" the boy gasped so cutely even Satan would've cooed. Jeongin wearily eyed the ones who were fighting over it just a minute ago. Absolutely no one would refuse to give it to him. Getting the approval he needs, he lifts up his hand, ready to accept the treatment. But, Changbin shakes his head. Motioning the boy to open his mouth, Jeongin complied, biting off a small chunk. He held Changbin's wrist and the wolf automatically let go. The boy stands up, carefully nudging away Felix. "Jeongin.." Hyunjin was at a loss for words. Minho and Jisung were also flustered and almost teary-eyed when Jeongin offered them the rest of the treat.

The scene alone made everyone smile.

"Oh-" Seungmin disappears into thin air, reappearing after 10 seconds with a handful of paper bags. He lifts up the contents, shaking them a little. "Jeongin's mom asked me to bring these." as the room burst into cheers, Seungmin headed towards the kitchen. lance ambling behind him, showering him with questions. "Mom sent these. I thought she was at grandma's. And why were you at my place?" The rest of the group started preparing the table, utensils, and side dishes were laid out in an instant.

Seungmin answered all the boy's questions while he took each of the dishes from the paper bags. Jeongin’s mom called him. "Mom has your number?!" The witch told him his mom gave him her contact details when he walked him home the day after their sleepover.

Continuing the story, Jeongin's mom told Seungmin over the phone that she went to get something at their home and decided to cook a little meal for the 9 of them. Jeongin eventually grasped the idea, not waiting a second on offering the witch a helping hand. And oh, it was totally not just 'a little meal'.

"Jeongin, I'm telling you! You will love your room! I personally decorated it for you." the boy sheepishly nodded his head for the 5th time that night. As soon as he showed up at the mansion, Woojin began bragging about 'his' room.

Has it not occurred to the alpha that he only stayed over for ONE night and he suddenly gets his own queen-sized bedroom? Not that he had a choice. All of the rooms in that massive mansion were either queen-sized or king-sized. Even the bathrooms are outrageous. Jeongin can't help but feel embarrassed. However, he was also grateful for all of them. Being accepted like family felt overwhelmingly awesome.

As soon as dinner was finished, Woojin pushed him off his seat, grasping the boy's hand tightly as they made their way upstairs. A smile was evident on the alpha's face. "Ta-da!"

"This is all mine?" the boy carefully stepped inside, his eyes wandered around from the grey-toned colored bed to the cream walls decorated with minimalist paintings and wall accents. As he looked back to Woojin, he was welcomed by his uncanny resemblance to 'The Scream' painting.

"W-wait... this is not how it's supposed to look!" Woojin was pushed aside from the door frame while the rest of the boys flooded inside the room. Jeongin eventually joined in with the rest, admiring how the room looked while they found their spots. The bed shifted at the weight of 4 people-Jeongin, Hyunjin, Chan, and Minho. While Felix and Jisung settled on the sofa beside the bed, Changbin peered over the window, hands inside his pockets. Seungmin, on the other hand, remained near the door, observing the shock on the alpha's face.

"I changed it up a bit. Not all teens go through an emo phase. And I'm telling you, Jeongin is definitely not one of them." Changbin walks over to the small storage room near the bathroom and begins to pull out boxes of the previous decoration of the room. Hyunjin trails behind him and pulls out a My Chemical Romance poster from one of the boxes. "MCR? All Time Low? Linkin Park? You should've put these in Chan’s room." Hyunjin let out a loud 'ouch' as he soothes the spot where Chan hit him with a slipper.

"Ha. Ha. I'm not emo, Hyunjin."

"You're emo, Chan."

"Yeah. I saw your playlist before."

The room burst into laughter. Woojin closed the door behind him with a pout and walked over to the bed. "Thank you." the alpha smiles and wraps his arms around Jeongin.

-

(note: everything will be a bit fast-paced from now on, I'm adjusting my writing style a bit so that it's not boring to read. I'm adding more dialogue now.)

At the break of dawn, Jeongin shuffles around the bed. Wandering his hand on the bedside table. He momentarily squints his eyes from the sudden light emitting from his phone and slowly opens them up to check the time. 5am. He gets up and stretches his muscles for a few minutes, his eyes traveling around the unfamiliar room.

"I should probably get used to this." he mumbled.

He fixed up his bed before going downstairs. As he arrives at the final step of the stairs, he sees Woojin and Chan chatting in the kitchen. Woojin was seated onto one of the dinner table chairs while Chan was leaning against the kitchen counter holding a glass of what seems to be blood.

They were immersed in a conversation. But Chan noticed the boy as soon as he woke up, his mellow heartbeat was replaced by a resting one indicating that he was awake.

The alpha glances over to his direction. "Jeongin, come here. Breakfast is almost done." Woojin motions the boy towards them. Jeongin ambles towards the kitchen, half-asleep. He crashed into Woojin's arms, nuzzling his face onto the alpha's chest. "G'morning hug..." It took a while before Woojin wrapped his arms tightly around him. Chan smiles.

"Chan also." The vampire welcomes the boy into his arms. The warmth of the boy made him grin. But when he was about to tighten his grip, Jeongin pulled away. "Cold." Chan's dilated eyes followed the boy as he made his way back to the wolf, sticking to him like glue. "Hm... better." Woojin chuckles. He continues to caress the boy's back. "Did Chan feel like a corpse?" Jeongin nodded against his chest, he could feel the vibrations from the alpha’s chuckle.

"Jeongin, I have to cook. We can cuddle after." Jeongin slowly pushes away from Woojin, the lack of the wolf's warm demeanor makes him frown. Woojin pats the boy's head and turns toward the stove. Chan downs his glass of blood, sitting beside Jeongin. "We can cuddle if you like. I'm warm now because of the blo-" loud thuds coming from the stairs made Chan shut up. Hyunjin pops out of the corner, running towards the kitchen.

"Jeongin~ if you need warm hugs, Hyunjin is here~" Jeongin snapped out of his half-awake state, nonetheless, he took up the offer. Opening his arms in the air as Hyunjin approaches him. Chan was pushed aside as Jeongin koaled himself onto Hyunjin after that they headed towards the living room. "I can't believe that ." Woojin chuckles at Chan's remarks.

He walked towards the vampire and gave him a pat on the back. He then proceeded to set the table, Chan standing up, silently helping Woojin. "Judging from his appearance. Hyunjin probably woke up because he heard the words 'cuddles' and 'Jeongin' in one sentence." Chan scoffs as he places the last plate on the table. "That's all it takes to wake him up? For 's sake, Changbin gave up last month on 'Waking up Hyunjin duty." Woojin laughs.

"I HEARD THAT." Chan flinches at Hyunjin's voice but shakes his head right after, a grin creeping up in his face. The empty table was soon filled in by half-awake beings.

Chan gaped at the scene in front of him.

"It's the last piece! It's mine because I'm special!"

"Yeah right. Pfft, special."

Jisung and Minho were bickering over the last piece of toast.

"Faaaa"

"Soooooo"

"Oi, mate! You didn't hit the note!"

" off, Lix."

Felix and Changbin were having a low note battle to see who has the deepest voice. It's an obvious win for Felix but Changbin was known for being competitive.

"Why don't you move in with us too? We have plenty of room."

"I'll think about it, Woojin. I can't leave my lab unattended."

"You can move your lab here too! The basement is really spacious."

"Oh, that's an offer I can't refuse. But, yeah okay. I'll think about it."

Woojin and Seungmin were immersed in their own world. It's like watching ancient people talk. Mature.

Chan's eyes landed on Hyunjin who was busy fiddling with his phone, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Hyunjin,"

"Hm?" the wolf hums in response, not even bothering lifting his head up.

"No phones at the dinner table."

"Wait, Chan. I'm trying to find that email for that energy drink thing. Skimmed it before I ing forgot to mark it as important." Chan frowns. "Check it after breakfast." Hyunjin sighs, mumbling under his breath as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. Jeongin chuckles beside Chan. "He's like a kid."

They exchanged glances, Chan smiles at him.

"Yeah, right?"

Jisung swatted away the hands of whoever offered to help with the dishes. Well, except for Minho who shoved him aside from the sink.

Hyunjin continued on skimming through his phone, he headed towards the living room. Catching Woojin's attention when he lets out a groan. "What's up?" Hyunjin whines, letting himself fall onto the alpha's lap. "I can't find that email!!"

"The energy drink one? I have the details written down already." Woojin tells him. Hyunjin beams at him, thankful for his actions. The older laughs. "I'm your manager. Remember?" the younger wolf nods. He tends to forget about having Woojin as a manager since he was a freelance model and mostly handles all his projects on his own.

"Wait, Hyunjin’s is a model?" Wide-eyed, mouth agape, Jeongin asked.

"Wow. People hire you. Talk about bad taste." Seungmin mocked. Hyunjin pouted, throwing a pillow at the witch. "Bite me." Seungmin just sticks his tongue out.

"Yeah. He's been a freelance model for about a year now." Jeongin nodded at Woojin's answer, he was still in awe. Seungmin hums in thought. "You're aware of the hunters within the entertainment industry, that's why you didn't choose to sign up under a management, correct?" he nailed down the reason behind Hyunjin's work choice. Woojin nods on behalf of the wolf, giving the witch a smile.

"Wait. What are hunters?" Jeongin whipped his head around the room. Trying his best to meet eyes with any of them. His eyes automatically landed on Woojin, which the latter answered. "The same ones who kidnapped Jisung." Jeongin hums, it was a very difficult topic to talk about. The awkward silence went on for 5 minutes before they returned to their normal chaotic business.

Jeongin heads upstairs a while later. It was 10am and he had a class at 12pm. His university was a bit far from the mansion, so he had to prepare and leave early.

Seungmin also washes up, finishing a bit earlier than the boy. He walked in on the rest of the group talking about the boy. "You can't let him live here." they turned their heads towards Seungmin who was walking towards them. Chan knitted his eyebrows.

"Why not? It's for him to decide."

"Chan." Chan clicks his tongue, shutting up after Woojin's warning. "I think someone in his family knows." the rest suddenly straightened their postures. An eerie atmosphere creeps in as Seungmin crosses his arms, continuing his words. "I'm not sure who. But he/she knows who we are and where we are. Even you, Woojin." as heads turn towards him. The alpha remains calm. His face was solemn and peaceful amidst the sudden interrogation. Seungmin's eyes linger at him. He knew about the alpha's past, Woojin told him. And he's still wondering why he did. Woojin held his gaze also. His face may be calm, but his terrifying presence exudes from his eyes. The witch couldn't hold his gaze much longer, he turned his head away.

"How did you find out?" Jisung spoke up from beside Minho, everyone else was listening attentively. "Remember I dropped by Jeongin's