Donghae suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, his eyes widening as he pressed his small hands against it. "Not here, not in front of him."He pleaded inwardly even if he already knew that it wouldn't change anything. The dizziness from before seemed to return as well, the world spinning with him in lazy circles as his knees gave out, a soft, strangled cry of pain escaping his already dry lips as he started to fall.

The elder's eyes grew wide the moment he saw Donghae fall, his ears flat against his head, obviously showing his pain. Luckily, he had managed to catch his mate in time, worry overtaking all of his emotions as he heard the cries and whimpers he let out. 

"Shh, love, I'm here."Hoping that the soothing would help, he gently laid the small boy down on the ground, careful not to lie him on rocks or patches of thorny plants. He could see how the frail boy held onto his chest and carefully lifted off his tiny hands, kissing them both before gently caressing his chest as he seriously had no idea what to do.

"Please..."The tiny boy whispered suddenly, his face contorting in pain again,"leave me alone..."he pleaded, even if he wanted his mate to stay with him. His touches seemed to soothe the fire that burnt in his chest, making him let out a soft sigh of relief. Of course, he didn't want the older male to leave. He wanted him to stay with him for eternity. The problem though, was that this eternity wouldn't last long for them. It would only crush the other's heart... If they had never met, he could have lived with the fact that he was just mateless which wasn't common, but not too rare either. Some people just weren't meant to be with anyone and they somehow still managed to live. However, now that he had met his mate, for which the small, brown-eared creature blamed himself as he should have known that going to such an open place had it risks, he was aware of the fact that he had a fated lover, that he had someone that belonged to him. 

Because of this, the younger felt like hiding the truth was pointless now. As he felt his mate's gentle touches, listened to his sweet lies of It's okay's when he knew it wasn't, he realized that what he had been doing was wrong... If they had never met, it would have been better, but now... Now he couldn't just ask his mate to forget him. He knew that it was impossible because he would have never been able to forget him, either. So... even if he hated himself for having to destroy the elder's possible dreams of a happy, long life, he had decided to use the short time he had left on Earth to be with his mate, to cherish their love.

Once the pain subsided finally, leaving the boy only with a soft pang of guilt in his chest, he sat up and looked at the elder, his eyes full of love and regret."What's your name?"He croaked, the tiniest of smiles gracing his lips when he noticed how his mate's eyes lit up at the small question.

"My name is Hyukjae, love."He said as he gently wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. 

Donghae instinctively cuddled closer to him, sighing contently as he laid his head on his mate's shoulder, enjoying his warmth and the feeling of finally being complete he provided to him by simply holding him close. "I like your name."He mumbled childishly, his small ears twitching a little.

Hyukjae chuckled softly as he rubbed small circles into the boy's back, hoping that his pain had left by then as he couldn't be sure."Are you okay now?"He asked, smiling when he felt the small boy nod into his shoulder.

"Yeah, it happens quite often to be honest."He whispered, biting into his lower lip. He felt the urge to tell his mate about the disease that had been haunting him since the day he was born, about why he had been dizzy right before his chest hurting but he just couldn't. Even if he knew that Hyukjae had the right to know, he just couldn't bring himself to explain his story to his mate. 

"Why?"The elder asked, sincere worry lacing his voice as he kissed the top of the younger's head gently before nuzzling his nose into the soft locks, inhaling  their sweet scent.

"I don't know."Donghae lied, biting into his lower lip as he snuggled closer to his mate, feeling safe and happy in his arms."I think I'm just a bit weak cause of what I am and all.."He added, knowing that the last part was sort of true. Most people viewed shifters as savage animal-like humans, which in a sense, were true as the majority of them were really like that. A few other clans though, like Donghae's were different as they weren't able to shift into the bodies of predators but into the bodies of weak but quick herbivorous creatures. 

"Oh."Hyukjae said with a smile. It made sense as it was obvious that his mate was everything but physically."What are you exactly though?"He asked curiously, playing with the younger's ears gently.

"I'm a deer."Donghae mumbled, blushing deeply. He had always been embarrassed of what he was as many people would laugh at him, or even call him 'Bambi'. Well, he did look like the animal from the movie in his other form but it didn't matter.

"Aw, how adorable."Hyukjae cooed as he kissed the small deer's ear gently."Now I know why your ears are this cute."He chuckled, smiling when the younger whined and hid his face in his T-shirt, obviously blushing deeply."I'm a werewolf though, which means I should eat you."He added, laughing when Donghae shook his head and glared at him playfully.

"No you shouldn't."He said, his beautiful eyes finally shining with happiness which made his mate's heart race.

"Maybe I should."The elder laughed, playfully taking the smaller boy's hand and biting into his wrist, chuckling when he heard a cute squeal and a whine from the deer-shifter. "You look yummy."He added, letting Donghae pull his hand away.

"You're a meanie wolf."The younger boy pouted, pointing at his mate with a playful whine."But I don't care, you are my meanie wolf..."He added. Hyukjae just laughed and hugged him again, kissing the top of his head softly.

"I am, my cutie deer. I am..."He said.

Maybe Donghae was sick. Maybe he hated how he would have to leave his mate soon. But as he cuddled closer  to Hyukjae, listening to his heartbeat, he realised that for now, he shouldn't care about it. He was in the arms of the person he belonged to and he was going to live happily until his last heartbeat. If not for himself, then for his mate.