The days were warming up again. Which was a good thing for Baekhyun since his coat was a bit thinner than the others. He loved rolling around in freshly fallen snow, but his teeth would chatter for an hour after turning back into a human. With the temperature rising and the end of the spring semester coming closer, he was spending more and more time in the forest with his other lucky brothers that weren’t yet bitten and swollen by the mating bug. 

Not that he thought that there was anything wrong with the fact that, as wolves, they had a predestined mate. He was indifferent to it, for the most part. Unlike Junmyeon, however, Baekhyun didn’t feel like simply waiting around for that event to happen. He dated. And he enjoyed it. 

“I think we should see other people.”

Sometimes. 

“What?” Surely Baekhyun misheard and Daisy actually said that she wanted to go on a double date with other people other than his pack mates. 

Daisy tossed several of her wheat colored curls over her shoulder, her chin raising slightly. She held her music theory textbook against her chest with both arms like she was in some kind of high school romantic comedy. As always, she was pretty, even in this scene. Well put together outfit, makeup obvious but expertly applied. Baekhyun had no idea how her eyeliner could be so straight. The black lines brought out the multiple colors that made up her hazel eyes. Baekhyun liked those eyes. 

Liked. Because right now, they stared blankly at him. No hint of the flirtation that normally gleamed in them when they were looking at him.

“I think we should see other people,” Daisy repeated, as if she were stating the date of an upcoming concert. 

“Why’s that?”

She shrugged. “I just think it’s best.”

Hardly an answer. But Baekhyun didn’t care. Daisy’s mind was made up. And this wasn’t one of her moments where she wanted Baekhyun to shower her in compliments and pretty words. Besides, Baekhyun wasn’t in the mood to placate. This was not what he had expected when he left the other, rushing away at the sight of Daisy’s urgent text. 

Not bothering to add anything else, Daisy the balls of her brown leather boots and walked down the sidewalk to the music hall for class. 

Shaking his head with a pout, Baekhyun headed in the opposite direction, back through the university courtyard where his friends were waiting. 

Chanyeol, Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Jongin were lounging in the grass, laughing and joking loudly, unaware of Baekhyun’s reappearance. Usually Jongdae was with them as well, but for the past week, he’s been staying home, holing himself up in his room. Junmyeon had tried multiple times to coax him out, but it was no use. These moods weren’t entirely new, especially given Jongdae’s personal history but they had never lasted this long before. 

Baekhyun sat down in the still somewhat dewy grass, the water damping the underside of his jeans. It was ignorable, though. His mind was too preoccupied to really register the clinging fabric. Finally noticing him, Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. “That was short,” he teased. Baekhyun grimaced. 

“You’re normally gone longer,” Sehun added with a snicker k

The muscles in Baekhyun’s lips ached from how tightly he pursed them. “She broke up with me.”

There was a moment of silence. 

Then the laughter broke out.

“What’s so funny?” Minseok approached, hand in hand with his mate, Ji Yeon. She was a nice addition to the pack, often giving them back the teasing they sent her way It was a bit funny that she started off so shy with them and now acted as if she’d known them forever. Maybe mates were as destined for the rest of the pack as they were for their individual wolves. Friendship-wise, that is. 

“Baekhyun’s a lone wolf again,” Jongin managed to say between laughs. 

Ji Yeon frowned as she surveyed the grass, found a dry spot, and sat down. “So you did end up breaking up with Daisy?”

“Try the other way around,” Chanyeol corrected. Minseok snorted in response. 

“Don’t tell me you’re only upset that she’d beaten you to it,” Ji Yeon said in her motherly, judgemental way that was pretty typical. She reminded Baekhyun of Junmyeon sometimes, which was odd because he would have assumed Minseok was destined for a female version of Jongdae. Yet, here they were. 

“I’d changed my mind about breaking up,” Baekhyun huffed. But… she did have a point. He wasn’t sure if it was only his pride that was hurt in this moment. 

“You do that a lot.”

Baekhyun’s instinctual response was to stick his tongue out at her. 

“Look on the bright side,” Chanyeol said, slapping his best friend on the back, “now you can find someone else!”

“If Junmyeon lets him,” Kyungsoo murmured. 

“Junmyeon wouldn’t ever force that order. He only strongly suggests loneliness.” That was something that Baekhyun was one hundred percent sure about. Alpha though he may be, Junmyeon very, very rarely ever used his position to force his orders on any of them. His word was law, but he only touched that power when absolutely necessary. When it came to something as simple as dating? Junmyeon would merely roll his eyes, sigh, and mutter about how someday they would all see what he was talking about. Easy enough to ignore. 

But Baekhyun liked Daisy. Not like… liked her, but a little bit. Enough for this to really . 

Checking his phone, Baekhyun sighed. He still had forty-five minutes until he even needed to start thinking about heading for the nice distraction that would be class. Thankfully, though, the conversation moved on to the plans for Friday night. Good. A point in his favor. Baekhyun didn’t want to have to go off on his own if they all kept teasing him. At least, he didn’t want to go off on his own yet. Later, he would need the silence. Later, he would need the time to think about what he needed to do - especially since he had class with Daisy three times a week. 

Chanyeol nudged him in the ribs. “What do you think, Baekhyun?” 

“Huh?” Baekhyun had missed the last portion of the conversation. 

“Pizza or fried chicken?” Jongin explained, his tone revealing exactly which one he would prefer to be picked. 

“Oh, um… pizza,” Baekhyun answered at random. He wasn’t very good at picking out what to eat several days in advance. 

Chanyeol punched the air. “Yes!”

“Do you think Yixing will join us?” Sehun asked. 

Minseok shrugged. “If Ming wants to.”

“Leave that to me,” Ji Yeon smiled. That was a good plan. If Ji Yeon went, Ming would be more comfortable overall. 

A minor sense of excitement started to lift Baekhyun’s mood. Going out with his pack could be a good distraction for the weekend, when he would usually be spending most of his time with Daisy. He was still frustrated at the day’s turn of events, but he’d worry about it later. There was nothing to be done at this moment, anyway. So, for now, he stretched out on the grass, hands interlocking under his head as he stared up at the clear, baby blue sky dotted with thin, almost see-through clouds that drifted slowly down their predetermined paths. It was peaceful, despite the happy voices echoing loudly around him. 

A smile spread wide across his face. Tonight, he would start scheming. With enough time and charm, he could win Daisy back. 

There was no doubt about that. 

**

The clicker of the plastic pen was scratched and dented to the point that it was a miracle it still even worked. 

“That’s bad for your teeth, you know.”

You rolled your eyes at Ran. “Let me have my bad habits.” There were worse things to do in order to keep your concentration and help your brain to think. The pen was right there and in your hand anyway. 

Ran, however, did not see it that way. “I’m more worried for the pen’s sake. I’ve seen the others in your bag. You’re the writing utensils’ public enemy number one.”

You laughed hard at that one. Maybe you could get that made into a sticker for your laptop. Or maybe even a t-shirt: pencil yellow with granite colored lettering. That could be your new favorite thing to wear with the light pink cardigan in your closet that hadn’t been touched in a while. Or maybe it could be a fun treasure hidden under your most worn hoodie. 

“What a wonder example you’ll be for the kids.”

“Those kids will be putting far worse things in their mouths,” you pointed out. Though, hopefully, the little kindergartners that a school would hopefully trust you enough to educate would be mostly grown out of that phase. 

Ran shook her head, the edges of her black bob brushing her bare shoulders. It was finally warm enough for a tank top, though she kept a gray jean jacket tied around her waist in case the temperature dropped out of nowhere. “Which makes me wonder why you want to be their babysitter.”

“Teacher,” you corrected, though it was a pointless one. Ran knew what you wanted to be after graduation. She just liked teasing you about it. “And that’s because some of us can’t make heads or tails of that engineering gibberish that you’re fluent in.”

Tapping a finger on her open textbook, Ran cringed. “Don’t worry. Sometimes I don’t understand it.”

“I doubt those A’s on your tests are due to bullting,” you snorted. 

“You’d be surprised as to what you could bull in engineering.” Ran sighed as she leaned back in the rickety chair that just barely matched the small table used as both desk and dining area in the apartment she shared with her roommate, Ming. Sweet girl, quiet, didn’t like to go out too often. 

Or, at least, she didn’t used to. Now, you hardly ever saw her when you came over to study with Ran. Though the two of you were in different majors, you found it easier to concentrate and get work done if you weren’t by yourself. 

“Where’s Ming?” you asked, changing the subject to keep up with your ever-bouncing thoughts. 

Ran grinned cheekily. “With Yixing.”

Naturally. You couldn’t blame her, though. Yixing was cute, as well as intelligent and kind. Too bad she met him first. “Wish I had someone like that.” That was meant to be more of a thought bubble. You hadn’t wanted to say that outloud, but it was too late to yank it back now. 

“They are disgustingly cute,” Ran agreed. “And not even in the annoying kind of way. Not so touchy in front of other people. Which honestly may be worse because you can’t hate them for that. They’re just…” she sighed again, “perfect for each other.”

You stuck out your bottom lip far enough for a bird to swoop in and land on it.

It was a bit sad how badly you wanted something like that. As focused as you were on school, you wanted a nice boy to hold your hand and eat dinner with. You wanted to kiss somebody and talk to them at all hours of the night. Those cute, stupid doemstic moments you heard about were your favorite. And it wasn’t like you hadn’t tried. Unfortunately, most of your interactions didn’t go beyond flirtations. The level of annoyance of it all was beyond the chart. 

“He had friends,” Ran said, reading the look on your face as easily as a children’s book. Instead of “See Spot run”, it said “I want boyfriend”. 

You raised an eyebrow. “Really? That are like him?”

Ran shrugged. “No idea. I’ve only heard about them from Ming. But if she likes them, then maybe.”

Tapping the pen against your lips, you  hummed along with your thoughts. If Yixing’s friends were like him, then meeting them could be a good thing. 

Looks like it was plotting time.