[27]

Boop
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CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

"Come Back Again. Come Back, Come Back" - Come Back Again, Infinite.

"Well he's got to be here somewhere Kyungsoo, where else could he have possibly gone?" Yixing threw his hands in the air with exasperation, and they looked around, feeling their minds at their wit's end.

"We're gonna have better luck finding the Mad Hatter at his tea party than we are finding Baekhyun at this rate" Bitterly commenting, Kyungsoo also spun around, seeing the same thing he had seen all morning.

"Come on, let's keep looking, everyone at home is waiting on Baekhyun and us to return safely.

"You're right" Kyungsoo's head bobbed, and he exhaled, jump-starting into another sprint with the hopes of finding Baekhyun soon.

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"Jongin?" He didn't know how long he could keep raising his voice for, he had called the name of every person he knew by now, but no one was answering, and no one was meeting him halfway.

He didn't even know where he was at this point.

The pain in his ankle had transcended unbearable, and now it was losing feeling. He couldn't walk on it. It caved under his weight every time he tried to force himself into using both his feet, trying to get home or to come across someone quicker. Taking any turns scared him too much, the forest was nothing like what he could remember, so he dragged his body in a straight line, hoping it would take him in the right direction towards home.

When it all got too much for him, he sat down, slowly lowering himself in front of the nearest tree with his back against the body of it.

"Minseok?!" He hollered, holding his breath and waiting for a response. He pressed for his ears to listen closer, to pick up on any sounds he could hear. But no one called out to him in return.

"Water?" He pinched his brows, confused.

"Do I hear water coming from that way?" Head tilting to the left, Baekhyun listened closely, curiosity pulling him to get back up and follow the sound.

If I find water, I might be able to find my way home from there. Hurry, come on legs.

The sounds became more transparent; Baekhyun became more sure of what he was hearing. A spark of adrenaline hit and he forced his damaged ankle to support him, almost running closer to the sounds that he knew now, were coming from a familiar body of water. He pushed through the bushes and stomped over rocks, shoving his way out into the clear air under the sunlight. There it was, the river, all he had to do now was follow it.

"Home" His lips mouthed the word, his breath husky. He looked left, looked right and stayed where he was, unsettled in his decision.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Cupping his hands around his mouth, he carried his voice across the river and eagerly waited for a response again.

"Hello!" Nothing. Baekhyun huffed in frustration and looked at the water.

"Maybe I'll know where I'm going if I cross this river?" He looked across, trying to find the map in his mind that would tell him where to go.

If not, I could cross over again.

Baekhyun's feet stumbled until he was ankle deep in the water, looking back one last time before he settled on his decision. Lips drawn into a tight line and jaw clenched, Baekhyun sunk into the water and pushed forward, ankle immediately screaming in protest.

"Come on" He willed himself to continue, pushing forward until he was shoulder deep in the water. He kicked off on his good leg and moved forward, eyes on the other side of the river that beckoned him closer. His arm rose up and back down to paddle through the water, making sure but slow process as he drifted towards the middle.

To his dismay, he couldn't fight against the strongest point of the current that resided in the middle of the river, he tried and tried, gritting his teeth and grunting to prove his worth. Pain only resulted from his efforts, and he was dragged where the current wanted him to go as his hand shot underwater to clutch his seizing leg, hollering out, unable to stay quiet under so much pain.

"God damn it!" Raising his voice, Baekhyun punched a closed fist through the water to vent some of his pent up frustration.

"Come on!" Willing his body to move, he tried to escape the current that was casting him away.

"You hear that?" Kyungsoo perked up and spun around, and Yixing shot back to his feet.

"Yes, but how could it be coming from the river if we've already followed it?" He remarked, and Kyungsoo shoved aside a tree branch to run forward.

"Oh, who cares?! Baekhyun's voice is coming from this direction, and we need to find him!"

"Come on man!" Kyungsoo waved an arm for the stunned Yixing to follow and he shook back to life, leaping into action and bounding after Kyungsoo. They broke through the trees and cast their eyes to the river. Flailing arms and a bobbing head snagged Yixing's line of sight from the corner of his eye, and he gasped.

"There!" He was running across the long grass and towards the water before Kyungsoo's eyes could even pinpoint a stranded Baekhyun struggling against the river.

"Baekhyun!" His vocal cords strained and Baekhyun gargled in response, picking his head up and spitting out the water that got into his mouth through his heavy breathing.

"Help!" His arms waved over his head, crashing against the water and creating a commotion.

"I'm here!" Yixing jumped into the water without a second thought, held his breath and kicked his legs. His eyes snapped open to target Baekhyun as soon as his head was above the water again.

"To your right!" Exclaimed Kyungsoo with his arm, jabbing towards Baekhyun's direction. Yixing turned and kicked, forcing the water away as he pushed through, fighting the current to get closer to Baekhyun.

"Yixing" Baekhyun gasped, wide eyes looking to the other male in desperate search of saving.

"Quickly!" Yixing shot his arm out, and Baekhyun scrambled to reach it.

"My ankle" He explained why he was struggling so much, and Yixing grunted, trying to withhold against the current.

"Use your arms" Yixing wheezed out. He pulled back, though the current had a suction on them that didn't want to let go. It overtook their heads and sent them underwater. Yixing closed his eyes on instinct and tightened his arms around Baekhyun's torso as their feet clattered against the river flooring. The mud and rocks scrambled under their weight but Yixing did his best to use it as a way to push them back up to the surface in the direction he now hoped was away from the current. With desperation for air, their mouths opened, and they all the air they could get into their lungs as soon as they were above water again.

"Come on Baekhyun, you've got to get out of here" Yixing's words sounded as exhausted as Baekhyun felt and he could only nod in response at first.

"I'm trying; it's my ankle" Finally, miraculously escaping the current, they bobbed through the water as Yixing pulled them back to land. Baekhyun's whole right leg could only curl defenselessly by now, his left leg kicking, trying to help Yixing get them out of the water.

"What the hell was that? We've been looking for you all day to find you drowning in the river" Kyungso kicked his way through the water until he was waist deep, coming in and scooping Baekhyun up, taking his weight from Yixing, how crawled on his hands and feet the rest of the way back to the long growing grass.

"I didn't mean to! I was over there," Baekhyun croaked, throat sore, "and I thought I need to be over this side" His arms dropped and he hobbled and hopped, trying to stand on his own. Kyungsoo grunted, ignoring Baekhyun's efforts in helping, to grab him under the shoulders and scoop him up onto the higher land, dragging him across the grass the same way once they were back before the forest that separated them from home.

"How long was I gone for?" Baekhyun trembled, strained and exhausted.

"You think we know the time? We've been out here looking all over for all of you" Yixing chuckled bitterly. Baekhyun swallowed and looked at him as Kyungsoo straightened out his arms and just let Baekhyun slump on the ground in a heap.

"The others are lost?"

"No, you're the last one" Kyungsoo shook his head.

"Do you think you can shift?" Yixing asked Baekhyun with a desperate kind of hope.

"Why?"

"So you can use three legs instead of one" He answered Baekhyun who looked down at himself, unsure.

"We can see," He answered, and Kyungsoo nodded.

"Come on, let's get home. You two can run, or hobble-" His eyes shot pointedly at Baekhyun. "-your way home, I'll follow and make sure no one is still out there, trying to shoot at any wolves again" Kyungsoo swallowed, looking into the forest.

"Shooters?" Baekhyun winced, and Kyungsoo nodded.

"We'll talk about it when we get home. Everyone's a little confused right now" Yixing's wolf slinked ahead of them first, caution slowing his movements into a slow crawl towards the forest. Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun, noddin

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bebexol
Once again thank you to everyone who came along on this journey with me!

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byunbaek_hyun34
#1
Chapter 11: Baek's so cute when he is jealous 🤣🤣😍😍
PuffTedEBear
#2
Chapter 5: I sit here reading one of my favorites, every time I say Boop I think of BBH being raised in the wild and it just blows my mind the thought of Baekhyun being some wild child from the woods like a modern Tarzan. Would his name be Kyoongzan? He is noisy enough for the yell as he swings through the trees.
STOP ME! I'M RAMBLING ABOUT BBH THE LOST MAN OF THE JUNGLE HAHA.
*I think I love him even more though*
PuffTedEBear
#3
Chapter 3: I've been feeling sad and depressed and need a pick so I'm coming around to some of my favorite stories to cheer me up. Boop ❤
_Nora_0607
905 streak #4
Who's promising whom? 👀
noonimm
#5
Chapter 4: Baekhyun was so cute when he tried to mimic whatever she did. But goshhh the way he would protect her and instantly get panic if he sensed something was wrong was so 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
noonimm
#6
Chapter 3: The early learning stage baekhyun is always one of my favourite. He was so so so cute like a curious puppy combined with a 2nd year kindergarten kid. He was too cute that we could not stop staring at him — like minah said, afraid we would miss anything he was about to do.

Ps. Really love every Minah's reactions to show her fear here *inserts teary eyes emoji* Minah my baby.
noonimm
#7
Chapter 1: This chapter still gave me anxiety when she was running away in the wood, and how it brought a little smile when he tried to cheer her up 🥹🥹
Sharo001
707 streak #8
Chapter 32: I really enjoyed this story, and I am so sorry to hear you won’t be on AFF anymore. However, I do have a Wattpad account, so I will definitely look for you there. Stay strong, you have every reason to be proud of your writing.❤️
dinjin
#9
THIS LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!!! i remember a few years ago wolf aus were super popular but so hard to come by these days :(( so happy you're keeping this au alive!! i’m all for hurt and comfort and baekhyun is my bias wrecker so i know this fic is going to hit me like a truck but i can't wait to start it, currently drowning in school work BUT THE MOMENT I DO, PLEASE ANTICIPATE MY COMMENTS HEHE ❤️❤️❤️
noonimm
#10
I’m back again to satisfy myself from puppy-baek-craving. Ughhh how much I miss this story