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Junhong bolted upwards in his bed, chest heaving, and breathing loudly through his mouth. He couldn't remember what he had dreamed about, what woke him up, but he could still feel the tight grip of fear. He wasn't sure what made him so scared but he felt too terrified to try to think of the dream, the nightmare. His throat felt like he had sand for breakfast, lunch and dinner, also his body felt too hot.

The boy pushed the blankets away, for once delighted by the chill of the winter air and looked around. He would feel silly if he'd turn on the light, like a scared child, but the noise coming from the hall told him there was someone else awake and that made him feel much better. With hesitant steps he got out of his room and walked towards the kitchen. Opening the fridge just slightly, he took out the milk bottle and poured himself a cup, almost grabbing Himchan's by mistake.

With the cup in hand he made his way to the source of the sound, the tv.

"Something wrong?"

Junhong twitched and almost dropped the cup. Even though he knew someone had to be here otherwise the tv wouldn't be on, Yongguk's voice still surprised him.

"Couldn't sleep" replied the teen after a few moments before adding "Can I stay here?"

He really didn't want to be alone right now, that fear wasn't completely gone, it edged away inside of him but was still present and passing thoughts of pain and fate made him almost tremble.

"You don't have to ask"

Yongguk's voice was low and to a stranger it would seem like he was sending the boy away but Junhong knew better. He smiled briefly before sitting down at the opposite end of the couch.

He hadn't seen Yongguk much in the past week since school started. Not like he expected to, Yongguk was obviously a very busy man .. err werewolf. Though, at times like this, he seemed more like a normal, lazy teen. The black jeans, casual white shirt and bare feet made him look approachable.

The tv was on a comedy show but Junhong couldn't recognize the characters, the three boys and three girls kept talking but he found it difficult to focus on the words, Yongguk wasn't even trying.

It didn't take long for the residual fear from the nightmare to slip away and Junhong just relaxed and stretched his legs a bit more but not too far, he didn't want to disturb the alpha.

Yongguk noticed the boy trying to press himself closer to the couch and without saying a word he got up slightly and pulled a white blanket from the armchair before gently handing it to Junhong. The boy looked surprised but took it with a shy smile plastered on his face.

The boy's fascination with the tv show grew as their jokes made him forget the bad night. One of the guys was kind of stupid but that made him even more funny. Almost an hour later, and two episodes at that, he felt his side grow numb and without over thinking he the other side, unaware of the werewolf's eyes watching his every move.

The mop of blue-black hair was not more than one meter away from Yongguk and even though he knew it was all kinds of wrong, he couldn't stop himself from inhaling deeply. He couldn't say he was surprised when some time later the boy felt asleep, it was almost 4am but his heart did beat a little bit faster when the slumbering teen slid closer, pressing his cheek into Yongguk's leg in obvious search for warmth.

Bang stared down and blinked like an owl. He was not really sure what he was supposed to do right now. He had never been in such position with someone other than the members of his pack and then it was something else, packs were very close, it was normal, as if they were related. This however... He knew it was wrong but his hand seemed to grow a mind of it's own and he slowly slid his fingers through the boy's weirdly colored hair, it was soft, silky and the small sigh the boy released would've been lost to a human's ear but Yongguk heard it all too clearly and his mind kept on repeating it.

Yongguk's elegant fingers ghosted over the smooth skin of Junhong's neck and jaw, tv show long forgotten as he sank deeper and deeper in his thoughts. Not even his influence and power managed to find anything... this boy appeared out of nowhere and a dark part of the alpha's mind kept suggesting that one day he might vanish into the nothing he came from. The mere thought made the red haired male pull the younger tighter...

~ * ~

Himchan stood awkwardly by the arcade leading to the tv room, his eyes glued to the amazing picture before him.

Yongguk was asleep, slumped slightly in a sitting position, his face showing odd calm and content while their youngest friend was half sitting on the alpha, head resting on the alpha's abs and one of his arms going around their leader's torso.

The second eldest had never seen his best friend sleep like this, Yongguk would usually wake up as soon as someone entered the room and his sleeping face was always a slight frown. Was Himchan supposed to wake him up? It was weekend so the other's wouldn't be up until maybe an hour later but the raven haired boy knew Yongguk would be embarrassed to be found like this. However he didn't have the heart to wake them up..

Deciding on a subtle way to make this work, Himchan started making his favorite guilty breakfast, pancakes & bacon.

Himchan heard Yongguk wake up almost 10 minutes before said man stepped in the kitchen, when he did the younger of the two just nodded slightly. Yongguk had changed out of his sleeping attire and even though Himchan was sure his friend didn't notice, there was a small smile gracing his features.

"Slept well?" asked Himchan snickering lightly.

Yongguk glared and kept chewing on his bacon stripe. He knew Himchan must've seen them together and he was maybe a little embarrassed.

Channie glanced at his friend before narrowing his fox like eyes and putting his hands on his hips "Yah! Guk-ah, go wake up the kids, can't let them sleep until noon"

The alpha almost flinched. Whenever his friend got in that pose it meant that nagging mood was activated. Deciding to save himself the trouble he got up from his chair left the kitchen.

He heard the shower running and his senses told him it was Jongup in there so he advanced towards Youngjae and Daehyun's room. The wolf knocked once and with that he knew Daehyun was awake. The vampire slept almost as lightly as the alpha himself. Even though he just took Junhong to bed, merely 20 minutes ago, he felt wrong just walking in there to wake him up.

Yongguk walked to the bed and watched the teen who took so much of his thoughts recently. Junhong was curled in a ball, hugging his pillow tightly and seemingly unbothered by the sun that lit his face, making him seem paler than he actually was. The scene woke up painful memories and Yongguk couldn't stop them from flashing in front of him when his hand gently touched the boy's cheek...

The air seemed heavy, filled with dust and faint smoke but it bothered no one in the house. Yongguk grimaced, even after so long he couldn't get used to it. He walked aimlessly through the stone halls before reaching the warmest side of the building. A gummy smile instantly appeared on his handsome features as he opened the double doors and stepped inside, warmth surrounding him.

The chamber was supposed to be a waiting room but someone insisted in turning it into a library, heavy books and scrolls filling each available surface. Yongguk chuckled when he spotted drawings... of himself, of girls, of random animals and even of the big oak next to the pond. They were good and even though the paper was more yellow than white, Yongguk would always appreciate them more than the paintings around the place.

With his mind still set on the art work, he walked to the hall then knocked lightly on the door. His patience wasn't much so just a few seconds after he opened the door loudly. His eyes shut tightly when he noticed that the room wasn't empty and the only inhabitant was still asleep. He opened one eye hesitantly and when he noticed the boy hadn't moved he allowed himself to relax and step closer.

He was probably the only boy that Yongguk would ever call pretty but with his brown hair, soft features and flawless skin the alpha doubted anyone would call the boy otherwise. Especially when he was awake and he looked straight at you with the warmest brown eyes ever. He was younger than Yongguk, with a few years, not many but just enough to make a difference, despite the small gap the difference in boy structure was significant, the boy wasn't a wolf, he was small, fragile even. Right now, when he was curled around a blanket, he looked just like a human.

Much to Yongguk's surprise he woke up, eyes fixating immediately on the wolf.

"Yongguk" he pouted and the wolf's name came out more like a whine than anything else.

The wolf laughed, showing his pointy fangs "Disappointed?"

"I wouldn't go that far but for a second I thought..." he puffed his cheeks and Yongguk gasped in fake indignation.

"So that's how it is.. then I should go and leave you all alone"

The boy tossed a heavy pillow at the wolf's head and Yongguk's reflexes weren't sharp enough to catch it.

"Stay, I want to show you some new sketches!"

Yongguk smiled when the boy rushed out of bed, not bothered by the fact that he was wearing just pants, and rushed to the side of the room to grab a few rolled-up papers, the alpha's eyes glued to the smile on the younger's face and completely ignoring his endless string of words.

"Hyung?"

Yongguk took a hasty step back, being dragged out of the memory that he could remember just like it had happened yesterday.

The alpha coughed "Sorry Junhong-ah, breakfast time. You can sleep more later"

Junhong nodded hesitantly but he couldn't shake from his mind the pain that he had seen on Yongguk's face when he opened his eyes. The elder seemed to look through him and even though he seemed to be smiling sadness poured from his eyes.

~ * ~

Yongguk vanished from the house immediately after waking them up. Even though Himchan had asked him where he was going, the leader didn't reply and just grunted out a 'out'.

"You seem worried about him Channie" Jongup noted as he hugged his mate closer. They were currently cuddling on the sofa, enjoying the time alone since Junhong was doing homework and Daehyun took Youngjae out for a date.

"I am" whined Himchan while pressing his face closer in Jongup's neck "He's so bipolar these days Uppie, he smiles like a miracle happened then goes all empty stares on me... he doesn't even seem to want to talk about what's bothering him and I'm his best friend. I should know"

"I'm sure he's just worried about the whole situation. He got no word back on Junhong's problem?"

To be honest they were all quite worried about that. No one seemed to know how that happened to the boy and more than that, how to reverse it.

"None and it bothers him a lot. He spends all his free time reading books.."

"I saw those, where did they come from? I don't think they were around before" Jongup had, like everyone else, noticed the huge books that appeared around the house. They were in strange languages that neither one of them could read but Yongguk spent most of his time with his head hidden behind the pages.

"He went to his safe and took everything he thought could make him understand what happened to Junhong ... if his frustration is to tell us something then he's no closer to knowing the truth than he was weeks ago"

Himchan didn't even know how right he was because indeed Yongguk was nowhere closer to the truth. As he stepped in that night he felt relief flood him when he could feel his pack's presence in the house.

His relaxed mood lasted just a few short moments until he saw, on the small mail table in the hall, a plain letter with a cursive script he knew too well. Without bothering to move from the tight space he opened the envelope carefully before taking out the single paper inside.

I might have an idea, meet me tomorrow?

~Y

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Happy New Year everyone!!! Hope you guys have a wonderful time <3