Just a little further.

Jongdae felt like throwing up but he kept going, hand slapping against the doorframe as he held onto it, feeling woozy and uncoordinated. Vague, biting disorientation finally made room for some sense of familiarity as he stumbled inside.

Home.

He couldn’t smell it though, couldn't smell anything, and he really did want to throw up, but he mustn't-

"Jongdae? Oh god. What happened?"

Hearing Junmyeon's voice made him want to sigh in relief. Finally, a drop of familiarity. An anchor. Something reassuring.

He only lightly shook his head though, the motion enough to cause his head to pound.

"Later," he rasped out, stumbling down the hall and towards his room. His nails scraped over the wood in a terrible way, his movements dithery, limbs slightly numb.

Only when he'd closed the door behind him, did he allow himself to relax. He slid to the ground next to his bed, upper body draped over the mattress as he closed his eyes and just breathed.

In and out.

In... and out.

His eyes were red, his head was pounding, but at least the world wasn't spinning like this.

Predictably enough, it didn't take long for Junmyeon to knock at his door. He'd probably checked the calendar and assumed it safe to come after him with the full moon being far away still.

"Jongdae?"

A vaguely questioning hum was all he managed to offer in return, but it was enough for Junmyeon to push open the door.

"Are you okay?" he heard him asked, voice soft and tone probing.

Like vulnerable, naive prey asking to be eaten.

It was a side he seemed to show to nobody but Jongdae. A sign of trust. And Jongdae, being the terrible person that he was, always felt tempted, anyway. Seduced, even. He never acted on it though.
That was his way of trusting Junmyeon. Feeling safe to remain just how he was, sitting on the floor with his eyes closed, enjoying the soothing absence of visual inputs. Giving himself a push to force out a few, croaky words.

"I feel like ."

Junmyeon had the nerve to huff but he didn't sound all that amused.

"I can see that. What happened?"

"Someone placed a scent today," Jongdae groaned. "To keep me from finding whatever they were trying to send. Smelled strange. We opened it, and inside was a cloth drenched in pure vinegar and citrus oil."

Junmyeon made a horrified sound.

"That's awful," he breathed out, and Jongdae heard the door closing.

"I wanna puke," Jongdae only whined, while doing his best to avoid just that.

"That's an attack. Someone attacked you," Junmyeon added, sounding both stunned and furious. "What are they going to do about it?"

"Who knows," Jongdae sighed. "Everyone had to drop their work right away, as they're now forced to open every letter and package to check. Deliveries are gonna be late. People will be pissed."

"So what?" Junmyeon countered, and he could hear him shrug. "That's what happens when criminals attack. It's more important to catch the culprit now and show people that doing something like this is pointless."

Jongdae only hummed. The mattress dipped but he couldn't feel the other's body heat.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, with a small, unhappy sound stuck in his throat. Junmyeon was sitting as far away from him as possible, hands awkwardly folded in his lap.

"What, you think I'll bite you?" Jongdae asked, cringing over how weak and irritated his voice had come out.

"What? No," Junmyeon dismissed him with a wave of his hand, looking surprised instead of angry. "I just didn't wanna add to the smells and everything."

He never got angry at him. Even when he really should. It was strangely frustrating. Like a small itch that refused to hurt no matter how hard he scratched.

"You don't smell," Jongdae whined, voice cracking and shoulders slumping as the petulance took over. "Vinegar smells. Chlorin smells, and so do lemons and oranges and chili. Your scent is perfectly fine."

"I've helped unloading deliveries earlier, I smell like sweat," Junmyeon muttered, shifting uncomfortably, but Jongdae wouldn't have it.

"You smell like you. It's not even dirt, you just smell like- you. Nothing bad about that."

Flustered, Junmyeon rolled his eyes and got up, only to sit down next to him.

"Better? You don't seem to be so sick after all, if you-"

His voice rose comically and just came to a stop when Jongdae pressed his cheek into his thigh, all but draping himself over his lap.

"Yeah. Better," he murmured, closing his eyes again.

For a while, it was quiet. Jongdae inhaled deeply, steadily. His nose was still burning but every intake of the familiar, mild scent felt like a soothing touch of ice over a feverish forehead.

He could hear the sigh of Junmyeon giving up on his self-conscious squirming, could feel the muscles go lax beneath him.

After what must have been a couple minutes, he felt a hesitant, careful touch on his back. Fingertips lightly running up and down, drawing circles and swirls, wandering higher but ultimately lingering. Stalling.

Jongdae didn't move into the touch, didn't arch his back or flinch away. He just kept very still, kept his breathing calm, suppressing the strange anticipation. What they were doing right now was not entirely new, and did not necessarily... mean anything.

It didn't have to.

But it could.

It... could.

It was clear that Junmyeon was aware of it, clear by the way he’d hesitated. Ultimately, his fingers wandered higher though, caressing the sliver of skin he could reach, the touch leaving a shiver in his wake.

Jongdae stayed still, but he held his breath as he felt the pads of his fingers run over his neck, up to his hairline and down again.

Nervous. Junmyeon was so nervous it was making him feel a bit dizzy. Or maybe that was Jongdae himself feeling dizzy. He wanted it to stop, just how he always wanted the other to be comfortable, so he blindly nuzzled into his thigh. It was just a small, wordless gesture, but it seemed to be enough to keep Junmyeon going, and his fingers wandered up into Jongdae’s hair, turning from careful petting to slow, soothingly carding through his strands.

Despite everything Jongdae had just felt, the doubts were already back on the doorstep of his mind.

This, too, didn't have to mean anything.

And maybe it shouldn't. It was all up to Junmyeon, really.
Jongdae might be the snarky, evasive and potentially dangerous creature, but it had always been up to Junmyeon and him alone.

Jongdae had sworn to himself to never initiate anything with him because indulging in carnal desires and moving on was not an option for either of them, he'd always known that. Junmyeon wasn't the type and Jongdae might be, but not for Junmyeon. Because he had been smitten ever since he'd first entered the building. It had been nothing but fleeting, friendly intrigue back then, but the budding affection had grown too fast for Jongdae to gain control until he was stuck in the awkward position he was in now.

To be perfectly honest, charming a human was easy as a werewolf. Getting them to undress and drop to their knees wasn't hard. But Jongdae had always harboured too much respect for Junmyeon to even think of doing that. Yet they had somehow gotten into this position, with Junmyeon's fingers shyly dancing across his skin, faintly humming to conceal his rapidly beating heart.

It might be an entirely foolish decision on his part, but Jongdae was starting to feel a little drunk on the other's scent, and also caught in a moment of weakness, so he sat up straight in a rapid movement.
Startled, Junmyeon drew away, only to draw up his shoulders in defense when Jongdae fully climbed on the bed, looking at him an intensity he just couldn't help. He made up for it by inching in slowly, predictably, hands loosely resting on his hips as nosed into the crook of his neck. This time it was Junmyeon who stayed still and waited, whose breath stuttered.

"Is this okay?"

He felt him shiver over the question breathed against his skin but the light grip on his waist was reassuring. Cautious, but affirming.
Jongdae channeled the rush of relief he felt into slowly pushing Junmyeon down and into the mattress. They lay there with their limbs loosely entangled, Jongdae’s face buried in the crook of Junmyeon’s neck, their hearts racing and skin burning.

Being enveloped by the other's scent and feeling his warmth was so overwhelmingly nice that Jongdae wanted to moan, but he held back.

They stayed just like that, hands wandering aimlessly, teasingly dipping beneath the fabric without any real intent of going further.

Junmyeon's heart was finally starting to calm down when he decided to speak up, small and somewhat raspy.

"In retrospect, I'm kinda glad Luhan dumped me so early on."

"Why are you talking about him now?" Jongdae whined, and the atmosphere finally cracked down into something more bearable. More breathable.

He could feel Junmyeon smiling, vaguely felt it against his skin as he refused to open his eyes.

"I've just been wondering," he said quietly, awkwardly trailing off, his hand still resting in Jongdae's neck as if fearing the other might look up at him any moment. "How long we would have fooled around before... I just. I don't know."

Jongdae waited patiently, refusing to give into the urge to run his lips over the exposed skin.

"I thought if I put myself out of there, surround myself by some people and find someone to be with, I'd not do anything stupid, you know?"

"Stupid like what?" Jongdae hummed, pressing closer when he could feel the nervousness return.

"Like chasing away one of my best tenants?"

Jongdae chuckled. He couldn't help it. Maybe he, too, had been more on edge than he'd realized.

"I'll only leave if I make you uncomfortable."

"And do you think I do this kinda thing with people who make me uncomfortable?" Junmyeon asked, lightly accusing and probably smiling and still nervous. Because while Jongdae had always been able to sense the other's attraction, Junmyeon had stayed blissfully unaware of his. Somehow.

"Junmyeon, I enjoy this," Jongdae stated firmly, holding him in place, staring at nothing in particular as he tried to gather his thoughts. To express them clearly. To wipe all the doubts and insecurities out of Junmyeon’s voice. "And I'm so into you it's embarrassing. It's just not really my place to make advances with me being... you know."

"Stubborn?"

"What?" Jongdae asked dumbfounded, mentally stopping in his tracks.

Junmyeon pretended to think about it.

"Lippy? Clingy? A general nuisance?"

Picking up on where he was going, Jongdae nipped at his skin before he could help it.

"I'm not clingy-"

"Sure you aren't," Junmyeon muttered peacefully, burying his face in Jongdae's hair.

"This is different!"

"I know."

"I feel like you don't take me seriously," Jongdae whined.

"I do."

It was hard to say whether it were those two words shutting him up or the kiss pressed to his hair, pure and caring in a way he couldn't remember anyone before Junmyeon touching him.

"It's okay. I can make all the advances. If that's okay, I mean."

Jongdae tried to mirror him, pressing a slow, lasting kiss to his neck so his breathed out response could tickle the warm, sensitive skin.

"More than okay."