Characters: Wolf!Baekhyun x Human!OC

Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy

AU: Wolves

Written for Mari 🌼

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Sohee’s last encounter with a wild wolf has left her scarred in more than one way. Luckily, she can always depend on her best friend, Baekhyun, who she trusts with just about anything. They’ve been close ever since elementary school, but unbeknownst to her, he has a secret—he is not human.

The summer sun beat down on Sohee as she waited for her best friend to show up. She had already bought two iced lattes for them in the tiny coffee shop on the street corner. Now she lingered on the sidewalk and kept an eye on the nearby forest, knowing that he would emerge from the path in between the trees sooner or later. While she avoided said forest like the plague—for good reason—her friend Baekhyun had no qualms and took a shortcut through the woods whenever they met up. Their hometown was situated in a rural area of South Korea and the house where he lived with a bunch of his friends was right at the edge of the forest.

When her eyes searchingly scanned the treeline, she spotted his ash blond hair in the distance—he had bleached it recently and the new look suited him. Waving at him, she caught his attention and prompted him to pick up his pace. Despite running all the way from the forest into town, he wasn’t out of breath when he reached her and brushed his hand through his fluffy hair, trying to make it look neater.

“Hey cupcake! Sorry, I’m a bit late,” he grinned sheepishly, eyes forming crescents. Baekhyun had the kind of smile that simply took your breath away—Sohee would never grow tired of seeing it.

“You always make me wait, Baekhyunnie,” she rolled her eyes in fake annoyance and held the iced latte under his nose. “But it’s okay, I like you anyway. Here, I got your favorite!”

“Thanks, I knew I could count on you,” he smirked and took a sip from the cup. He wore his favorite shirt, the one she had bought him for his birthday a few months ago. It had a huge PUBG logo printed on its front. He loved that game.

Sohee had known Baekhyun since elementary school, and although she had preferred to play with girls at this age (boys had cooties!), something about Baekhyun had intrigued her and drawn her to him from the first day she had met him. She couldn’t quite describe it, but he was different—refreshingly different. When they had been children, he had loved to play hide and seek with her and the other kids in the neighborhood. Sohee had no idea how he had accomplished it, but he had always found every single hiding spot, no matter how absurd it was. He was a natural at this game and many others as well. Tag for example. His stamina was out of this world, so he had bested everyone else. Nevertheless, he had never bragged about his skills. On the contrary, he had encouraged the other children to try a little harder next time and not to give up while wearing a big goofy smile on his face.

Over the years, this smile had matured and become quite alluring—Sohee would be lying if she said he didn’t make her heart flutter. He was a ray of sunshine, spreading a good mood wherever he was. Since he went to the gym often, he had become more athletic as well, and as his best friend, she often got to see him shirtless when they went swimming together or spent time at the lake. In moments such as these, she questioned the nature of their relationship—did she perhaps have a crush on him?

Many of Baekhyun’s female admirers were jealous of Sohee for spending the entire semester in university and the summer break with him. However, despite the countless admirers he had, Sohee had never seen him date anyone since high school, and even then, it had never seemed serious. She had often about this, asking why he was so picky, to which he refused to give her a straight answer. In the end, he had given up on dating altogether. She herself had dated a few guys back in high school, but they had quickly broken up (definitely didn’t have anything to do with Baekhyun’s intimidating glares). Sometimes, Sohee thought he had gotten jealous. Not that there was any reason for this.

“Want to come home with me later? We could play PUBG if you want, my new laptop arrived this week,” she suggested while they strolled down the sidewalk, enjoying their iced lattes and basking in the summer sun.

He considered it for a second, but then he cringed. “Uh… no thanks, I’d rather not. You should visit me instead.”

“Don’t tell me you still don’t like Sushi?!” Sohee laughed and playfully nudged his arm. “Come on, my cat is very cuddly and sweet.”

“She hates me. The last time she saw me, she hissed at me and wouldn’t stop making a fuss. So annoying,” he groaned.

“Don’t act like you’re innocent, Baekhyunnie! I caught you growling at her when you thought I wasn’t looking,” she remarked and scrutinized him. “How the hell did you do that?”

Sohee was a little surprised when genuine uneasiness crossed his face, but he regained control in a blink and put on a convincing smirk. “Well, wouldn’t you like to know? It’s one of my many talents.”

“Like your amazing sense of smell?”

“Exactly.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if you told me you’re a werewolf or something,” she joked and giggled.

He choked on his iced latte and coughed, wiping his mouth. Baekhyun fell silent for a while and received a confused glance from Sohee until he finally blurted out, “What if I was a werewolf? Would it bother you?”

“Huh, what kind of question is that? Weirdo.” She took a sip from her latte to give herself some time to ponder before she answered. Since she had brought up the werewolf thing, his demeanor had changed drastically—Baekhyun normally was quite easy-going and liked her jokes, but now he was tense. His back was rigid and he didn’t look at her anymore.

“You know what I think of wolves, Baekhyun. They’re terrifying and dangerous. I’m glad werewolves don’t exist since they would be even worse,” she muttered seriously. The wolves residing in the local forest were the reason why she hadn’t gone near it for six years. It was simply too risky—she still bore a scar on her shoulder from her last visit and she wasn’t about to add another one.

“Right,” Baekhyun sighed and gazed at the paper cup in his hand. His tight grip left little indents on its surface. “Just maybe… it’s time to confront your fear… You’ve been avoiding the forest for so long, even though there haven’t been any wolf attacks in years.”

Now it was her turn to pale—this topic was not easy for her, so he generally avoided it, but now he had changed his mind for some reason and gazed at her with pleading, sorrowful eyes. As if it was vital to him that she confronted the horror hidden in her memories and the anxiety she continued to suppress.

She had been fifteen years old when it had happened. That day after school, she had wandered into the woods on her own. The forest had been known to be a safe place, and the wolves who lived there had never bothered anyone. Not a single person had ever been attacked by them. However, this would change on that particular day. Sohee had encountered a large gray wolf that had acted aggressively when it spotted her. Sohee didn’t know what had compelled it to attack her. It had pounced on her, shoving her to the ground and injuring her delicate shoulders with its claws. She had struggled to keep the teeth away from her neck. Maybe she had screamed—she couldn’t remember. Her recollection from that day was blurry. All she knew was that someone—or something—had chased the wolf away. The image of beautiful golden eyes had burned itself into her mind. It was the clearest memory she retained from that day. At some point, Baekhyun must have found her and called an ambulance. She had been treated at the hospital, and he hadn’t left her side until her worried parents had arrived. To this day she couldn’t explain why he had looked so guilty afterward.

“What does it matter if I like wolves or not, Baekhyun?” she asked, tilting her head.

He offered her a wistful smile and shook his head. “It was just an idea, forget about it.”

Their conversation had ruined his good mood and Sohee didn’t understand why. It didn’t happen often that she saw such a sorrowful expression on him—witnessing it was painful. Her heart ached to see that big sunny grin she found so beautiful or even the attractive smirk he sometimes showed her. Why was it so important to him that she confronted her strongest fear? If only she knew the answer. Maybe he was concerned about her and wanted her to overcome her trauma. Perhaps that was why he kept urging her to overthink her opinion on the wolves in the forest. They had spoken about this topic before, but she had always declined his offers of help.

As she met his dull amber eyes, however, something within her changed. If it meant so much to him, to a person she valued deeply, shouldn’t she try to face her fear? Hadn’t she run from it for long enough? Six years had passed and she had made no progress at all. She kept locking the anxiety away, letting it eat at her without doing anything about it. The issue would never be solved if she didn’t take matters into her own hands.

She took a deep breath. Hopefully, she wouldn’t regret this. “I want to overcome my fear, but I don’t know how,” she whispered, risking a shy glance at him. And there it was—his smile was back, brighter than before. Her heart swelled.

“I’ll help you! Don’t worry, Sohee, you don’t have to do this alone.”

Sohee ignored the fear bubbling in her stomach, she attempted to control the trembling of her fingers. She walked a few steps ahead of him in order to conceal the insecurity written all over her face—however, there was no point in hiding it. She couldn’t hide anything from her best friend. He always noticed when she had something on her mind.

“I’ll wait for you, Sohee,” he thought as he followed her, his eyes gleaming like molten gold. “No matter how long it takes.”

***

Baekhyun took her change of heart seriously. A day later, he offered to accompany her into the woods. He was just as nervous about the endeavor as her, but for a different reason. The next hours might have a large impact on his life and his relationship with Sohee. Her overcoming her fear was crucial to him—a lot depended on this, much more than she realized since she was unaware of his biggest secret. As long as she was afraid of wolves, she could never find out about his true nature. The fear of being rejected by her was overwhelming—what if she was scared of him if she learned the truth? He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her like this.

Baekhyun could never be fully honest with Sohee, and the ongoing secrecy tainted their friendship. She was his treasure; someone he cherished. He didn’t like to hide his true nature from her. The weight of his secret rested on his shoulders every day, and he continuously asked himself if she would still like him if she knew that he wasn’t so different from the rogue wolf who had once hurt her.

***

It was now or never. Sohee stood at the treeline, her gaze moving from the hiking trail to Baekhyun. Her friend was quiet today, and she hadn’t seen him smile at all. Nonetheless, his presence felt reassuring and gave her the strength she needed to go through with this. He knew the forest like the back of his hand, and his lack of fear calmed her.

“Are you ready?” he asked and studied her, assessing her worried expression.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Let’s get it over with.”

Baekhyun’s unreadable gaze rested on her for a few seconds. Then, he took her hand and linked his fingers with hers. The low timbre of his voice was like a gentle embrace. “I know you’re afraid, but I promise nothing will happen to you. You’re completely safe.”

He tugged at her arm and they entered the forest together. Sohee’s eyes flitted around, jumped from bushes to trees, to every shadow she could see. She was prepared for the worst—but she didn’t spot any wolves, not even when they ventured deeper into the woods. The more time passed without an encounter, the calmer she became, and eventually, she began to admire the pretty scenery. The forest wasn’t as dark and scary as she remembered. It was flooded with sunlight, golden rays breaking through the tree crowns and painting patterns of light and shadow on the ground. The leaves rustled in the breeze, and sometimes, she heard the chirps of a bird. They spotted a majestic deer and a tiny rabbit that she observed with a smile on her face. When she stepped on a twig, the cute animal got spooked and hopped away. Baekhyun and Sohee followed the hiking trail for about thirty minutes without any incidents until they reached a clearing.

“How do you feel?” he asked, his tone leading her to believe he was worried about her answer.

“I’m… okay. It’s overwhelming, but I’m okay. Your presence helps a lot.”

“That’s good. You’re doing very well.”

“We… we haven’t seen any wolves though.”

“They aren’t in the vicinity.”

“What? How do you know?”

His eyes widened a fraction. “It’s an assumption,” he said and cleared his throat. Sohee saw through his lie and wondered what he was hiding from her. His behavior had been a little odd today, almost as if he was nervous, but the more time they spent in the forest, the more relaxed he got. The same was true for her—she no longer felt her heart pound in her chest.

“Well, this isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The forest is much more beautiful than I remembered.”

“It is,” he agreed with a peaceful smile. “That’s why I like to come here often. And… if you want to, you could tag along from now on.” It was a careful question, and frankly, he reminded her of a shy puppy when he posed it. He gazed at her as if he had expected to startle her with mere words.

“Um… okay. I think I can do that.”

He breathed out. The amount of relief she discovered in his gorgeous amber eyes was staggering, it engulfed her and suddenly, she felt the very same emotion. What she had accomplished by coming here today was something she could be proud of. Sohee glanced at her hands and noticed that they weren’t trembling anymore. Her fingers traced the scar she bore on her shoulder, felt its ridges through her shirt. The scar on her body would remain forever, but perhaps the one in her mind could be healed.

The path got more treacherous as they walked uphill—Sohee often stumbled over loose rocks on the ground and got a little annoyed at the fact that Baekhyun was always a few steps ahead of her. She didn’t want to slow him down, but if she walked any faster, she was afraid she might just break her ankles the next time she stumbled.

“