12. Wolf or Not

"So, uhm," Leah inaudibly sighs at her empty home. "I'm home, Papa. Where are you?"

Her father starts freaking out instantly. "What? I thought you weren't being serious, Leah. Oh dear, you didn't have to come all the way home for me, darling--"

"Where are you, Papa?"

"I'm not in town, Leah," Her father says in a worried tone, "Something came up, it's a little wedding anniversary. I couldn't say no to it. But I'll be back tomorrow morning. Maybe we still need to buy some groceries--"

"Papa, I got this, Okay?" Leah chuckles at the way his father is fretting at her arrival. "You just concentrate on your work. I'll be waiting for you but don't take too long. I miss you, Papa. Also, I can only stay for a short time. Gotta go back."

"I know, I know you've got studies," Her father sighs in the phone. "I'm so sorry I'm not there in the house."

"Oh, and I kind of have some friends with me," Leah looks over her shoulder to find the tired eyes of the boys blinking at her. "And they're all--um, nevermind. I'll take good care of them and myself." Leah nervously chuckles, not keen on telling her father her friends are all guys. He'll freak out ten times more and might even have a panic attack because he's that protective about her.

Kyungsoo groans and takes his seat on the stairs of the porch with a tired expression. Leah hangs up five minutes later after hearing her father recite the do's and don't's, like wash your hands before eating, don't trip on the stairs, show your friends their rooms, don't cut yourself. Leah is used to hearing most of that stuff all the time. She places her phone in the pocket of her dirty pants.

"Can't we do anything about Haechan?" she says, crouching low to caress his fur once again. Haechan's eyes are filled with awe as he looks around, sniffing at this and that her father keeps in the porch. He hasn't been able to transform yet because he isn't ready for the trick Chanyeol knows so he will be  in his human form.

Baekhyun nods, "Your clothes might fit him?"

Chanyeol nervously chuckles at the idea because he knows Haechan might refuse to wear Leah's clothes, given his sassy attitude and constant attempts to prove himself manly. "Or maybe your father's?" He suggests.

Leah hums at the idea before turning to the door. She now doesn't have any equipment to open it with because her bag is missing and the bunch of keys was inside that. She frowns at the unfortunate circumstances before looking back at guys. "We need to break it, I guess. I don't have the key."

Baekhyun reluctantly nods, "On it."

"Stick to the list, alright?" Leah reminds them again as she slides down the strip of paper towards Baekhyun. Baekhyun hums, taking it in his hand. Leah observes him for a moment before letting out a sigh. Baekhyun looks up at the sound with an anxious look. In the kitchen now, it's been three hours since they entered this house through a broken door. The boys later used her father's glue gun to put the pieces of wood back together just for now. Leah has to call someone to repair it later. The sky is glowing pink already and the sun is setting. Leah looks Baekhyun in the eye with longing. "Be careful."

He smiles, "We're just going to the supermarket, Leah."

"You're not safe anywhere," she says, placing her warm hand on his.

Baekhyun's eyes grow sad at her words. He leans closer against the kitchen counter and places a reassuring hand on Leah's cheek. "We'll be alright. When we go back to the city, we'll see what we can do about it. Okay?"

The girl heaves a sigh, "I'm so sorry this is happening to you."

"Leah, Leah, Leah," Baekhyun offers her a smile, ruffling her hair, "Look at you worrying about us." Leah rolls her eyes, making him chuckle loudly. What he does next surprises her a little. He kisses three of his tall fingers before pressing them to her cheek, like an indirect kiss because he knows they aren't as close to each other for him to actually place a kiss on her cheek.

"Go," Leah almost pushes her towards the living room, blushing furiously and as usual, trying to hide that she wants to pinch the life out of his cheeks. Baekhyun giggles at her reaction before waving his hand at her. "Be safe, okay? And don't lose your way. I'm trusting you with them."

"Don't fret like this," Kyungsoo pulls Baekhyun with himself. "You seriously remind me of mom."

"I can't help but worry because sending you three somewhere without some supervision is a bad idea," Leah walks out of the kitchen to send the boys off. Chanyeol is already waiting outside in the little lawn for the rest two. Haechan is still trying to find his fit in her room so they are leaving him behind with her. "Just try not to make a scene, okay? No silly pranks," Leah keeps on giving them the instructions, stopping on the wodden porch. Chanyeol waves at her before bringing out his phone for the GPS.

Leah watches their backs disappear among the little houses of her neighborhood. She stares until she can't see them anymore. Afterwards, she leans against the wooden pole near her and hugs it. Her heart races with all her mates away from herself. Leah rewinds the words of Mark. She wants to see him again, she wonders how he got away with letting her escape.

"Noona."

Leah breaks out of her haze with a soft gasp. Turning around, she sees that Haechan is already dressed. She smiles at the boy. "You must be hungry," she says, draping an arm on his shoulder. Haechan shakes his head shyly and looks down at his feet.

"We just had lunch," He tells her.

"Just so you know, you look alright in my clothes," Leah stops when she's inside the house. Haechan meets her eyes. "I really want to thank you, Haechan. You are so brave," she keeps both her hands on his shoulders and squeezes them, "And putting my clothes on is also another brave thing you've done today. I hope you'll not feel embarrassed because this is all I can do about the situation, Haechan."

Haechan shakes his head, "I'm fine. I'm not embarrassed, Noona."

Leah smiles at his words. "Do you want to watch the TV? Sehun told me you like to watch dramas."

"That will be him," Haechan rolls his eyes as if saying he likes dramas in the TV hurts his manly ego. "I usually watch WWE whenever I can."

Leah supresses a smile and leads him to the sofa, "I think we have that channel. Let's watch."

"You'll watch too?"

"Yeah, why not?" She ruffles his hair before turning the TV on with the remote. "I also have to call your brother. I'm just so glad he didn't tag along with you guys." She plops down next to Haechan, passing the boy the remote.

"He did want to," Haechan informs her. "He hasn't completely healed so Seulgi stopped him."

"Seulgi?"

Haechan nods, "I know. Hyung probably didn't talk about her to you. You see, we're four siblings. Seulgi is in between me and Hyung and then there's little Freya. Have you met her yet?"

"Yeah, yeah, I met Freya," Leah nods at the information. She watches the channels being flipped one after another. Now she wonders why Sehun has missed his sister when talking to her about his family. Haechan stops at the channel where two men are fighting in their expensive underwears. She grabs he