The rumors for the Welcome party had been flying around for about two weeks now but today, it was finally happening. Seeing as there hadn’t been any official statement or proper organization – the students were doing everything on their own, informally, within the university premises – it was surprising to see the crowd that had turned up. It was veritable sea of people, bumping and pushing into each other as they gathered into the hall that was used for everything from assembly to convocation.

The sound system was blasting loud music and it made talking a difficult task, the numerous yells overlapping each other and only managing to add to the noise. So it was surprising – maybe even a bit worrying – that he heard her the moment she called his name.

‘Over here!’ He waved his arm, grinning as he spied her moving towards him, pushing through the crowd. He grabbed her hand the moment she was within reach and pulled, yanking her into his chest.

His breath left him with a whoosh but that was alright. He didn’t mind having her on his chest.

‘Stay.’ He stopped her from pulling back, putting a hand on her back to stop her from backing away. She stilled, glancing up at him in surprise. He smiled, noticing how pretty she looked with her eyes all wide and quizzical. His heart gave a loud thud, beating steadily faster.

‘Kai!’  Her voice was breathless – as it often was when she was around him – and it only added to her cuteness.

‘Wanna dance?’ he murmured, slowly straightening her, keeping her close. Her eyes widened a bit but she nodded, a pretty blush rapidly staining her cheeks.

‘I’d like that.’ She spoke quietly but like before, he heard her clearly. 

‘Ugh!’ Yet another voice that was only too easy to hear. ‘Stop it already, you’re embarrassing me!’

Tiffany’s lips pursed into the familiar irritated line as he grinned at Sehun’s comment.

‘Leave, then.’ He threw over his shoulder, moving to block her view. He really did mean it when he said she looked cute when irritated – a big reason why he let Sehun bug her – but right now, he wanted her attention.

‘I’ll do just that.’ Sehun announced, pushing his way out of the hall. The loud beat didn’t give them any chance for talking but Kai didn’t mind, taking the time to simply enjoy the silence between them as they swayed.

His dancer side came to the forefront after a while, wanting to show off in front of her, and he busted some awesome moves – as awesome as he could manage in the limited space. She looked satisfyingly awed and he tried to get her to dance along with him.

Several attempts, painful digging of heels on his feet and who knew how many bumps into people around them later, he decided to take her word that she really wasn’t cut out for dancing. Laughing at her horrible failure, they decided to leave the floor for someone more capable.

‘That was fun!’ She exclaimed as they tried to catch their breaths.

‘I’ll teach you how to dance.’ He promised, making her giggle again.

‘Teach all you want,’ she smiled, moving back towards the crowd, ‘but I can’t promise I’ll learn it.’

‘Ya!’ He stopped her, ‘Let’s get out, ‘kay?’

She stared at him in surprise for a moment before another smile broke across her face. ‘Sure.’

It wasn’t really surprising that they ended up in the secluded spot, an alcove that provided them with adequate privacy. It was even less surprising that he was tempted to take advantage of the situation and kiss her.

He’d only kissed her once so far and the lack hadn’t been due to any disinterest on his part. However, he didn’t believe in using her as Sehun had suggested – quite apart from the fact that he wasn’t sure he would be able to control himself, it didn’t sit right with him.

He wasn’t going to kiss a girl just because his Shadow was and he was feeling its side effects. No siree. He would kiss her when he was in full control of his capacities and there weren’t any ulterior variables confounding his decision.

When he’d been fast on his way to complete breakdown – Mei finally accepting Luhan’s claim, giving herself to him… it still had the power to hurt him, even though he was fine with it most of the time – but Tiffany had stepped beside him, been his support and the only reason he was able to continue with his life.

He wasn’t going to sully her sincerity, he’d be damned if he used her more than he already had. She had no reason to stick with him. Truth be told, he still sometimes wondered why she’d agreed to go out with him in the first place, knowing his heart could never belong to anyone but Mei.

But she had. And he wasn’t going to play with that.

People’s hearts were fragile, he knew that better than anyone. And even the littlest things had the greatest power over them. Like a small smile, given at the right moment. Or a mathematical explanation. Or even a silly nickname.

She had a lot of power over his. And he feared it was only increasing, every time he was with her. Add the fact that she obviously liked him – Tiffany wasn’t exactly subtle and her face was very expressive, he saw how it lit up every time she saw him – and it wasn’t any surprise that he was falling for her.

A part of him wanted to hold back. Mei’s rejection, regardless of how much he understood it, hurt and he never wanted to go through something like that again. Besides, she wasn’t his mate.

But he was done resisting.

The whole deal with Chen had driven one thing very clearly into his head – they could, all of them, die at any moment. Whether it was Evil, or an illness or any other calamity, all of them were in a constant struggle between life and death. So, it didn’t make sense to waste all that precious time, resisting and staying away from something you wanted, something that was yours to take should you reach out.

He’d decided he wouldn’t resist anymore, wouldn’t hold his heart back, not when it desperately wanted to reach out.

The sunlight played over her hair, lighting her features and plunging them into darkness as clouds moved rapidly across the sky and they caught each other’s eyes. His fragile heart, completely mesmerized by her, jumped into his throat as he leaned forward. Slowly. Deliberately. Giving her the chance, the choice to back off.

She didn’t.

She held his eyes instead, watching intently as he closed the distance between them. The first brush of his lips against hers was tentative, questioning. She answered with a shuddering sigh, eyes sliding shut as she swayed into him.

Gently catching her against him, he wrapped an arm around her waist, bracing the other on the wall behind her and kissed her again, more ardently, cherishing every little movement she made – the way her hand traced across his cheek and jaw, the way she rose on tip toes to deepen the kiss, the way she panted softly after they broke apart, her breath falling onto his neck, her arms lodging around his waist.

‘Kai…’ she whispered, making his heart clench. He liked hearing her say his name. He liked it a lot.

‘Tiffany…’ he whispered back, by way of reply. Wondered if she liked that as much as he did.

They kissed again, getting more involved as the music drifted around them, lost in their own little world. And didn’t notice the numerous glances and glares they were garnering, most of them directed at Tiffany.

Truthfully, though, glances and glares were the last thing on their minds as he pulled her closer, as she struggled to get closer still but before she could get a really good grasp around the back of his neck, he suddenly pushed her away.

An involuntary whine escaped her, making him shudder and almost give in to the desire suddenly bombarding him. Desire that demanded he ignore everything, even his own resolution, and just take…

No!

Panting heavily, he detangled himself from her and forced her arms away because it was way too tempting.

‘I’m sorry… ‘ He muttered, cursing his Shadow fluently in his head. He’d thought they’d taken care of this particular problem but apparently not.

‘Kai?’ She sounded so confused. He wondered what she thought of him, running away every time like this. He wished he could explain, to assure her this was as frustrating for him as it was for her but really, he had to get away. Or he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

‘I gotta go.’ He all but ran away. 

Looked like he needed to talk to Xiumin. After all, he’d helped them before, maybe he could help him now as well. If nothing else, the guy could freeze him and stop him from teleporting everywhere and harassing everyone.

He teleported the moment he was alone.

………………… 

The football practice was in full swing and Luhan had just tackled the ball from his teammate when a familiar scent hit his nose and he stilled, taking a deep breath to relish the sweet smell.

‘Pass it, what the hell are you doing???’ Minho’s loud yell cut through his reverie and he hurriedly passed the ball but instead of chasing after it himself, he turned around with a huge smile on his face.

Mei was here.

She saw him looking at her and waved, blowing him a kiss. Grinning, he pretended to catch it, then jumped to get back into the game.

Naturally, Mei’s presence begged for a proper show. And a show he gave her, tackling the ball, passing impeccably and practicing every trick up his sleeve – in other words, making his team dance on their toes so they could keep up with him before he finally shot the ball straight into the net. The goalkeeper tried to block it, even got his hands on the ball but the speed and force behind it was such that he couldn’t get a grip and it landed.

Jumping excitedly, he turned around to high-five only to stop and stare at the sight of his teammates collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

‘The hell…’ Minho panted, bent over to catch his breath. ‘Is…wrong…with you?’ he straightened and glared at him. ‘I thought we wanted to make a team bigger clubs would envy – key point – team! Why’re you hogging the ball???’

Like Luhan, Minho had rejected the chance to play for prestigious clubs and opted to stay with their local club – the Wolves of Oulphesden – and vowed to make them rise in the ranks of national league.

Luhan grinned sheepishly. ‘My bad.’

He glanced at Mei from over Minho’s shoulder; her head was bent over her phone, grinning widely. Of course she had recorded it, she loved seeing him play.

Minho followed his gaze. ‘Figures.’ He muttered under his breath. ‘Fine, just go deal with her. We’ll take a ten minute break.’

Thumping his back, Luhan jogged over to her. Mei glanced up soon as he neared and jumped excitedly. ‘Luhan!!!’

Without waiting, he engulfed her in a bear hug and enjoyed the numerous slaps and punches he got in return for covering her in his sweat.

‘That’s so gross!!!’ she shuddered, trying to extract herself from his vice-grip. ‘Why d’you do it?’

‘Cause you’re so pretty, I can’t resist.’ He replied honestly. Or as honestly as he could without sounding creepy. He liked covering her in his sweat because then she smelled like him but of course, he couldn’t say that to her.

‘I stink like you now!’ She voiced his thoughts, wrinkling her nose and pouting. Ah, the wonders of a mate’s link.

‘Good.’ He muttered, dropping a kiss on her jutting lower lip. She giggled. ‘That tickles!’

‘Nope, that was my hand…’ he grinned, attacking her with pokes and tickling her until she was gasping for breath. Then he sat down on the ground and pulled her into his lap. ‘So, how was your day? I thought you were at the welcome party.’

‘Meh. It’s no fun without you.’ She grinned cheekily to show him she was being deliberately cheesy.

‘Ha ha.’ He rolled his eyes, then peered at her phone over her shoulder. ‘Did you record me again?’

She nodded, grinning. ‘You were showing off, weren’t you?’

‘Depends. Were you impressed?’ He murmured, enjoying the sensation of having her in his arms, her hair tickling him.

‘Blown away.’ She turned to smile at him; this close, he could see every reflection cast in her beautiful orbs and it was breathtaking. He leaned a bit closer, until their lips almost touched.

‘Yeah?’ His voice dropped to a barely audible murmur.

‘Yeah.’

Their eyes held as he meshed their mouths together before hers slid close, followed by his, the familiar rise of power roiling inside him.

Thankfully, he’d gained a lot of control over his powers, so making out with her wasn’t going to be a problem.

Relaxing, he deepened the kiss and her fingers dug into his thighs as she tried to lift herself closer. Chuckling at her efforts, he backed off and stood up. He wasn’t doing this with his all too avid teammates eyeballing his mate.

Pushing her behind him, he glared at the team and bared his teeth. A few blinked, a couple let out humorless chuckles but all of them turned and got back to minding their own business.

Grabbing her hand, he led her to a more isolated area – the changing room, currently devoid of all occupants – pulled her inside and pushed her against the door, before crashing their lips together again.

Mine!!!

It always made him proud that her claim on him rang loud and clear inside his head, just like his rang inside hers. It turned him on, wildly. And the urge to mark her overwhelmed him, to brand her as his so that everyone could see it. And know who she belonged to.

As if to counter his claim, to tell him who he belonged to, her nails dug into his neck before scratching down to his chest, leaving angry red marks.

Losing it completely, he growled and nipped at her lips before making his way down to her neck. She let out the most beautiful moan when he bit her, hard enough to bruise. Let them see, let all of them know…

The unceremonious banging on the door made her yelp as the doorknob dug into her back.

Growling ominously, he yanked the door open, to meet the scandalized eyes of his team captain.

‘What?’ He asked aggressively.

Minho opened his mouth, probably to retort, before he saw Mei peeking from behind the door.  Biting his lip, he glared between the two of them before focusing on Luhan. ‘Hate to break it up and all but your time’s up. Come on.’

Luhan would’ve pushed him away and gone right back to what he’d been so enthusiastically doing – who knew ten minutes could pass so quickly, right? – but Mei placed a warm, dainty hand on his back and well, how could he remain angry when she wanted him to calm down?

‘He’ll be over in a minute.’ She told Minho politely, making him blush. Nodding, he hurried off and Mei looked up at him. He grinned at the sight of her tousled hair, her lips swollen by his kisses and that prominent hickey right there.

She blushed under his scrutiny and tucked her hair behind her ear in an uncharacteristically shy gesture. ‘I… um… you said we’d make plans when…’

‘Let’s go out tonight.’ He interrupted her, smiling. She blinked. ‘Where?’

‘There’s a place I really wanna show you. I just found it yesterday.’

She smiled in anticipation. ‘It’s a date.’

Grinning, he pecked her on the lips before making his way back to the field, whistling.    

………………...

A/N

SO. MUCH. CHEESE.

and y :D

#feels