“Come on, Soo.” Chanyeol whined, pawing at Kyungsoo's knee like a kicked pup. Kyungsoo, for his part, did his best to ignore the over-grown man child, pointedly shifting a couple inches further along the sofa. For a moment he even allowed himself to think that maybe this time his over enthusiastic house mate had gotten the message. But this was Chanyeol that Kyungsoo was dealing with. Not one to be disheartened or deterred - as Kyungsoo'd learned very quickly after he moved in - Chanyeol reached for him again, hand landing on Kyungsoo’s leg. The span of his splayed fingers made Kyungsoo's - to quote Jongdae - 'generous' thighs appear slimmer than Kyungsoo ever remembered them being. Mildly startled - since physical contact wasn't really his thing - Kyungsoo slapped at the offending hand, brushing it off.

Chanyeol, lax as he was with regards to personal boundaries, responded with a pout as though Kyungsoo had been in the wrong to rebuke him.

Shaking his head to himself disapprovingly, Kyungsoo shifted another inch along the sofa and attempted to feign interest in the T.V. He wasn't going to let Chanyeol try to win this battle of wills with pouting and his god damn watery puppy eyes. He may be new to the house - 'fresh meat' as Sehun had described it his first night in the house - but Kyungsoo was a quick study.

He'd already seen Chanyeol use his trembling lower lip to great effect against another of their housemates, Baekhyun, who seemed incapable or possibly unwilling to recognize when Chanyeol was manipulating him. Maybe it was a side-effect of having lived alone most of his life, maybe it was just a quirk of his typically distrusting nature, but Kyungsoo had no intention of letting Chanyeol pull any of that kind of on him. Housemate or not.

Realizing that Kyungsoo wasn’t going to play ball, Chanyeol paused for a moment as though he’d finally got the message. Kyungsoo hoped he'd gotten the message and decided to let it go. But if there was one thing Kyungsoo had learned about his housemate and neighbour this past month it was that Chanyeol was as persistent as he was tall. And just as Kyungsoo let himself believe that maybe he was going to finally leave him alone, Chanyeol changed tact.

“Describe it then. How big is it?”

Kyungsoo pursed his lips as he felt his neck flush. As the newest member of the house he'd expected to get the whole twenty-questions and fifth-degree from his new housemates. What he hadn’t anticipated was just how invasive some of his housemates’ questions would be. Just last week, during a surprisingly heated debate Jongdae had asked him his thoughts on the filmography of a star Kyungsoo had never heard of. What it had to do with Genesis vs SNES, Kyungsoo still didn't understand.

Jongdae’s question that night had been inappropriate, or at least that's what Kyungsoo had thought until the rest of his housemates had started throwing about their thoughts on the matter. But Chanyeol, he was knocking it out of the park, way beyond any kind of common decency in Kyungsoo's mind. Asking about stars, while not something Kyungsoo was used to talking about, was something that he accepted was just what happened when you shared a house with eleven other guys, but asking about that…

Keenly aware that the house’s youngest resident, Sehun (a runaway that the house kind of ‘adopted’ eight months ago), was listening in with half an ear as he watched his afternoon soap, Kyungsoo flushed to the tips of his ears. Was this really the kind of conversation Chanyeol should be having around minors?

“Can't be bigger than Suho-hyung.” Chanyeol mused flippantly, sitting back and throwing one of his arms over the back of the sofa.

“Suho?” Kyungsoo asked before he had a chance to stop, momentarily surprising himself. “I didn't think--” . Kyungsoo mentally kicked himself. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the grin plucking at the corner of Chanyeol’s mouth as he watched Kyungsoo try to back pedal.

“For a small guy, he's bigger than you'd expect.” Chanyeol stated matter of factly as he stretched out his obscenely long legs under the coffee table, the toe of his sneaker knocking against Sehun’s knee.

Willing himself to focus on the T.V., Kyungsoo tried not to think about how ‘big’ the house’s unofficial deputy leader, Suho, was. Or about how small he felt sitting next to Chanyeol sprawled out on the sofa. Kyungsoo didn’t think about things like that. He had no reason to. What did it matter to him how big those around him were? He didn’t have a size complex.

He didn’t.

For a moment it was quiet and Kyungsoo could feel Chanyeol watching him out the corner of his eye, knowing that he was finally getting to him. Under the scrutiny Kyungsoo shifted in his seat, not used to being the focus of anyone’s attention. Chanyeol’s persistence was making him uncomfortable. So he tried to focus his attention on the drama unfolding on the television screen, but as the female lead tore into a peripheral character over some slight from the previous episode Kyungsoo sensed Chanyeol moving, unconsciously taking up more of the sofa.

If there was anyone that Kyungsoo would describe as ‘big’ it would be Chanyeol. Everything about him from his legs to his ears was ridiculously exaggerated – and Kyungsoo means everything. The day he moved in Kyungsoo had had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing Chanyeol ‘as nature intended’ in all his over-sized glory. Kyungsoo had just dumped his bags in his new room - next to Chanyeol's as it would turn out - and the ever helpful Suho had offered to give him a tour of the house. Of course Suho had forgotten that Chanyeol (aspiring musician and part-time bartender) had been out for a six mile run that morning with his roommate, fitness fanatic, Tao, and had decided to nap on the sofa afterwards in all his glory to cool down. To say it had been a shock would be an understatement. It had nearly given the unsuspecting Kyungsoo a heart attack and he couldn’t look Chanyeol in the eye for days after.

Needless to say, at the time Chanyeol hadn't seemed all that small, not that Kyungsoo'd been looking. Not intentionally at least. In all honesty it had kind of been hard to miss. Chanyeol had been far larger than Kyungsoo had expected. Not that Kyungsoo'd made a point of remembering, but from what he did remember Kyungsoo found it hard to think of Suho as being ‘bigger’ than Chanyeol.

Was it even physically possible?

“Really?” Kyungsoo asked quietly, succumbing to his curiosity just a little. Maybe he could distract Chanyeol with talk about Suho.

“Yeah, Suho-hyung is huge.” Sehun drawled - seated on the floor by the edge of the coffee table, hugging the pillow in his lap - as the end credits ran up the T.V. screen.

“Tao’s bigger though.” Chanyeol added. “He's got at least a couple of inches on Suho.”

“Yeah, but that’s no surprise, really." Sehun agreed, glancing back at Kyungsoo and Chanyeol over his shoulder as Kyungsoo's jaw dropped and the embarrassed flush on his neck burned hotter. “I mean, just look at how tall the bastard is.”

“How big is he?” Kyungsoo couldn’t help but ask, suddenly very aware of his own size next to the 6ft-whatever Chanyeol and fellow giant Sehun. Was it really necessary for anyone to be that big and unwieldy?

For most of his life Kyungsoo had lived alone with very few close friends. With a non-existent father and barely there mother, Kyungsoo had left home at an early age and been self-reliant ever since. He wasn’t outgoing by nature and kind of just drifted through life alone for the most part, until he met Suho, who had offered him something he’d never really had before. A pseudo-family, or group of friends at least. Something completely new to Kyungsoo and he was still learning the ropes. He’d never been involved in a conversation like this before and now he was beginning to feel self-conscious as he looked at Chanyeol’s foot next to his own.

“Bigger than the rest of us that’s for sure.” Chanyeol said, a lilt of envy in his voice. “Lucky bastard.” He muttered under his breath as he absently picked at lint on one of the cushion covers.

“But what about Kris?” Kyungsoo knew he should just stop while any self-confidence he may had was still relatively intact. But apparently he was a masochist.

Chanyeol’s mood brightened instantly at the mention of house’s tallest member. “Not as big as you'd expect.”

Kyungsoo's eyebrows quirked up. “Oh.”

“Yeah, barely average.” Chanyeol smiled, apparently taking great pleasure in Kris’ supposed shortcomings. “Believe it or not, Jongdae's bigger than him, won't let the poor bastard live it down, of course.”

The revelation surprised Kyungsoo. If anything he’d expected the physically imposing junior lawyer to be far bigger than 'average'. The first time Kyungsoo had met and shaken hands with Kris he'd been immediately intimidated by the size of his other man's hands, which looked more than capable of crushing Kyungsoo’s skull. Not that Kyungsoo had a size complex.

He didn’t.

But then again, now that he was thinking about it, Kyungsoo wasn't quite sure just how big 'average' was. He’d never had anything to compare himself or others against. He had no sense of size.

“So?” Chanyeol prompted, nudging Kyungsoo with his foot. Kyungsoo just ducked his head and flushed. “Come on, you've seen mine.”

Sehun scoffed, tossing the pillow in his lap into the armchair to his right. “Not like he had a choice.” He argued, but Chanyeol ignored him and continued with his line of questioning.

“How furry are you?” He shot from the hip and Kyungsoo was almost floored by his persistence and how direct his questions had become. “This one," Chanyeol knocked Sehun's back with his other foot. "Wooly as a bloody mammoth. Sheds like one too."

“Oi,” Sehun barked in protest, reaching back to punch Chanyeol's shin. “How about you stop describing others’ and talk about your own for a change.”

“Fine. I’m a kind of rusty colour." Chanyeol explained turning back to Kyungsoo. “But you already know that. It’s a little thick, but surprisingly soft. Just like my hair." As though to demonstrate he ran a hand through his own hair. “What about you?”

“I don't know.”  Kyungsoo murmured, growing more self-conscious as the conversation continued.

“How can't you know? Surely you've looked?” Chanyeol asked disbelieving.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Seriously? Not even once.”

“No, to be honest I don't know what it looks like.” 

"What ‘what’ looks like?" Suho asked as he walked into the lounge room, scratching at the back of his neck, a cup of fresh coffee in hand.

Kyungsoo found himself involuntarily remembering what Chanyeol and Sehun had said about Suho. He couldn’t help but wonder for a moment. Was the mild mannered public servant really as big as they said he was? Was he actually 'huge'?

Kyungsoo found it hard to believe. Suho was barely taller than Kyungsoo. There was just no way.

“His wolf.” Sehun answered over his shoulder. “Chanyeol wants to know what it looks like.”

Suho glanced down at Chanyeol. “Really?”

“What?” Chanyeol shrugged. “We're his brothers now, shouldn't we know what his wolf looks like?”

“I suppose, but Kyungsoo’s been a lone wolf most of his life, I doubt he even knows what he looks like.” The pack beta turned to Kyungsoo and asked, “Do you?”

“No, not really.”

“Well, that won't do.” Chanyeol stated, standing up, hands on his hips. “Now you're going to have to show us?” he concluded, excited at the prospect that he would get to see Kyungsoo out of his skin. “Come on-” He started as he reached down to Kyungsoo.

“Not until the next moon.” Suho cut in, batting at Chanyeol’s hand.

Chanyeol deflated faster than a burst balloon. “Why not?”

“Jongin doesn't want Kyungsoo shifting until we're all present, just to be safe.”

“But, summer break isn't for another three weeks.” Chanyeol groaned. “I can't wait that long. I want to know now.”

“Alpha's orders.” Suho sing-songed, patting the disappointed Chanyeol fondly on the head. “I know you're impatient, but you're just going to have rein yourself in this time. Find something else to occupy yourself until then, ok?”

“Okay.”

 -.-.-

Three days later - to Kyungsoo's horror - Chanyeol started up a betting pool with the rest of the housemates, posting a small chart on the fridge, right above the month’s power bill, to record everyone’s bets alongside a calendar with the first full moon of summer break circled twice in red.

It didn’t take long, of course, for the bets to start coming in. The first was one of the pack’s deltas, Jongdae (a small-time realtor with a nasty wicked streak) who bet that Kyungsoo would be a black wolf since his hair is black. Flawless logic, really. This was seconded by Suho, who also added that Kyungsoo will of the fluffy variety to his bet. Another pack delta, Luhan (a music student struggling through his honors year) bet, on the basis of Kyungsoo's small stature and somewhat timid demeanor, that the pack's newest member would be the smallest, and no doubt the cutest of them all.

The somewhat flaky gamma Yixing - purely for the sake of annoying his roommate Luhan - bet that Kyungsoo would be small, of course, but bigger than Luhan, leaving the vivacious strawberry blonde with the title of the smallest in the pack.

Xiumin - a quiet delta, who had initially refrained from betting until Luhan literally twisted his arm - surprised everyone by betting that Kyungsoo would turn out to be one of their largest wolves. Kris - the pack's secondary alpha and Jongin's mate - initially laughed the idea off as ridiculous, until Chanyeol pointedly reminded him that Suho was bigger than him. To which the alpha mumbled something about size not being everything.

Pack alpha Jongin (a college student in his senior year) just laughs over the speakerphone as Chanyeol explained everything to him and bet that Kyungsoo would be fluffier than Sehun, by virtue of his squishy cheeks.

Of course they all knew that discerning the appearance of an individual's wolf on the basis of their human form was little more than a pseudo-science and that for most Lycanthropes their human form actually has almost no bearing on their wolf, but they all enjoyed speculating and joking at Kyungsoo's expense anyway as they counted down to the days until summer break and Jongin's return.