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Junhui didn’t think he was ever going to be bought.It wasn’t technically legal to buy or sell omegas or hybrids, not since the International Court had ruled against it, but to have your contract sold… well, that was entirely legal.Most omegas and hybrids were contractors. Since it was nearly impossible for a hybrid or omega to attain anything more than a high-school degree, and even rarer for a hybrid or omega to find a paying job, most omegas and hybrids ended up signing contracts with companies, agreeing to work for free in the field of that company’s choice in exchange for having their basic needs met.It wasn’t an ideal life, of course. They didn’t have vacation days, and the lack of pay meant they didn’t have the funds to go home or have hobbies. If they got sick, they only had access to the company health office, which varied in quality.Still, for many people, it was the only way to avoid becoming a drain on their parents’ finances and guarantee an independent life. At the very least, it was more than they’d have otherwise.Junhui knew he would end up becoming a contracted hybrid. His parents tried to tell him that they would take care of him for the rest of their lives and even after their deaths, but Junhui saw the tightness around the corners of their mouths, the dark circles under their eyes. If the company hadn’t scouted him, Junhui would have gone to one himself.They were an international company based in Hong Kong, specializing in training up pretty hybrids and omegas to become professional arm candy for the rich and famous.At fifteen, Junhui was pretty – a slim, delicate cat hybrid with big eyes and a slender tail. He and his family had been on vacation in Hong Kong when a scout from the company stopped them on the streets and told them that he wanted to buy Junhui from them.Junhui’s parents wanted to walk away right then and there, but Junhui forced them to stop and listen as the scout painted a picture of a safe and comfortable life: food and board paid for until someone bought them, a rigorous vetting process to make sure their buyers wouldn’t abuse them.It was a much better offer than Junhui had even dared to hope for.“I’ll be fine, I promise,” Junhui insisted to his crying parents. “I’ll be so close to home.” Shenzhen was only an hour away from central Hong Kong.He tried to smile. “I’ll be back before you know it, and then I’ll be the one to support you.” He wiped away his mother’s tears, and then his father’s tears. He had to bend down to do it. He was taller than both of them now.Then, he knelt down to look Fengjun in the eye. His little brother’s eyes were dry, but he was only three. Junhui did smile, sincerely. Fengjun was not a hybrid, nor was he an omega. He was born an alpha, and Junhui had no doubt that he would be able to take care of their parents well.He kissed Fengjun on the forehead. “Take care of mama and baba for me, okay?”Junhui stood up, and Fengjun grabbed Junhui’s tail to try to stop him. “Where you going?” he asked, round eyes guileless.Junhui shook his head. “I don’t know.”“How will we find you again?” Junhui’s mother asked, grasping her son with both hands. “You don’t have a cell phone, and they’ll make you go someplace far away.”“Of course I’ll find you,” Junhui said. “I’ll come back, and I’ll find you. You don’t have to worry about me.”“Worry?” she cried. “How can I not worry? You’re my baby. Even if you weren’t leaving, I’d worry – now, I’ll have more cause to worry!”“Mama, I’m leaving so you won’t have to worry,” Junhui said gently.“You’re so stupid,” she said, wiping her eyes stubbornly. “That’s the stupidest logic I’ve ever heard.”Junhui chuckled. She wasn’t wrong. It sounded pretty stupid to Junhui too – and he had four ears. Still, his bottom line was that he couldn’t become a drain on his parents, and if he didn’t leave, the only path his future could take would be to eat his parents out of house and home and watch as his beta father tried to make enough money to support them.Maybe, with Junhui out of the picture, they’d be able to afford to send Fengjun to college.“I’ll be okay,” he said. He looked both his parents in the eyes. “I promise.” That was eight years ago, before Junhui knew that contacts could be sold.Junhui stayed with the Hong Kong company for six months, learning how to clean crystal champagne glasses and jade teacups, how to speak formally in both Korean and Japanese, how to tilt his head and smile and laugh.He was surrounded by rare breeds and intoxicating omegas of all kinds: panthers with dark skin, polar bears with light skin, pure human omegas with green and brown and blue eyes.Of all those people who were all learning to be gentle and gracious and permissive just as he was, he grew close to the only other Chinese person who would talk to him: Yanan, a rare white beta fox from Shanghai.Both far from their homes and both so new to contract work, they kept each other afloat for those first six months.Then the company sold Junhui’s contract.What they told him was that they could no longer sustain training common breeds.What he heard was that he wasn’t good enough.The company sold him to a South Korean company that specialized in short-term work. They leased him and the other contractors out for periods of three months to whoever needed the extra hand: construction companies, cleaning companies, retail work companies, and one memorable time, a bounty-hunting company.It was there that he met Minghao.Minghao was a pure human omega. Typically, pure human omegas weren’t wanted for short-term leases because generally such leases tended to be for manual labor and people still believed that omegas were weak and fragile. However, Minghao, skilled in martial arts and b-boying, was the perfect candidate for being an unobtrusive protector, and therefore was often leased out on six-month contracts for bodyguard work.Junhui, on the other hand, despite also being fairly skilled in martial arts, was too tall and striking to be desirable as a bodyguard. Instead, he was leased out for short construction jobs during most of the year and as a retail worker during the holidays since, his bosses at those retail jobs liked to tell him, his personal companion training combined with his good looks made customers want to buy more.“Doesn’t that bother you?” Minghao asked one day. Junhui was curled up in his lap, purring gently as Minghao rubbed the spot behind Junhui’s ears.Junhui was slow to respond. “What bother me?”“That they don’t look at you as a real person but as some kind of… some kind of robot, with statistics and trade value?”Junhui shrugged with one shoulder. “Not really,” he said, thinking of his brother at home and wondering if he was doing well. He must be in elementary school by now. “This is okay.”“How can you think that?” Minghao wanted to know. “How is this okay? What part of this is okay to you?”Junhui shrugged again.Minghao sighed. “Nothing about you makes sense to me, Jun-ge.”Junhui chuckled at that. “I used to get that a lot.”“Used to?”Junhui dislodged Minghao’s fingers from his hair to meet his eyes. “No one pays attention to me anymore. Except for you.”Minghao gnawed on his thumb and watched Junhui breathe, in and out, in and out. “I’m going to get out of this,” he vowed. “I’m going to get out of this somehow. I’m going to do something bigger and better than just this.”Junhui only blinked at him once, slowly. “Okay,” he said, before butting his head up into Minghao’s hand.Minghao resumed petting his ears.Neither of them said anything after that.Junhui and Minghao worked together for two more years, until one day, Minghao suddenly disappeared. Contracted hybrids and omegas had no belongings, but curfew was strict, and there was no way Minghao would just suddenly not come home.Junhui went to their bosses to ask about what had happened to him.“Sold,” the boss told him. Without elaborating further, he handed a sheaf of papers to Junhui. It was another three-month lease. “And you got another job.”Junhui assumed Minghao had been sold to another company again, and prepared to go to work at his new lease. Junhui lasted at the company only another three months. The same day he learned Minghao had been sold, he accidentally dropped a steel slat fifteen stories, ruining some of the infrastructure they’d already laid down.His superiors at the construction site reported him to his company.Three months later, the company sold him off.This time, he was sold to another South Korean company, operating out of Gangnam. Junhui had wondered, briefly, if he’d be sold to somewhere in Hong Kong or Japan or even China, but he supposed staying in South Korea was okay too. After eating it with plain white rice every night for two years, kimchi was sort of growing on him.His new company’s business model was to open small shops with dirt-low prices staffed entirely by hybrids and omegas. They still didn’t get paid, but they also didn’t have to be sent to a new job where they had to learn new rules every three months, and they were taught trade skills that they could own and hone for themselves.Junhui, with his nimble fingers and good looks, was taught to be a hair cutter and stylist and assigned to work at a small hair salon called ‘Snips of Silk,’ was located at the edge of Gangnam.Two contractors were already working there: Tia Ray and Son Hyunwoo – and the two of them together gently took Junhui under their wing and taught him how to bring the best service to their customers.For the first time in nearly four years, since he’d first become a contracted hybrid, Junhui felt like he was enjoying himself. His customers were all very pretty and kind, his coworkers were fun to be around, and there was a special kind of warmth that bloomed in his chest when he watched a customer’s eyes widen when they saw themselves in the mirror for the first time after their styling.Minghao had once said he wanted to do something bigger and better.For the first time, Junhui thought he was starting to understand what that meant. “Alright,” Hyunwoo said, locking the front door of their salon and flipping the sign on their door to ‘CLOSED,’ “Junnie will take over garbage duty for today. Tia, what do you think about sweeping up?”Tia and Junhui gave Hyunwoo twin thumbs up, and set off to do their respective duties.Hyunwoo was like their little team’s unofficial leader. He was the one who had been working at Snips of Silk the longest, had the most styling tricks up his sleeve, and was the one management came to if they needed to make changes to their shop.Therefore, it was all the more surprising to learn their large and lovable leader wasn’t just an omega, but a chipmunk hybrid.“Yeah,” Hyunwoo said, smiling in the way that made his top teeth show and his eyes disappear. “These are chipmunk ears.” He flicked the two tiny ears that laid on top of his head.“I thought you might’ve been, like, an armadillo or something,” Junhui admitted, peering around to see Hyunwoo’s fluffy chipmunk tail.Tia burst into laughter from where she was sweeping up.Tia was another pure human omega, like Minghao. She was even from China as well, although from Hunan instead of Liaoning.Junhui loved Tia.He was pretty sure everyone loved Tia. She was warm and sweet, smart and sharp, like a mother and a big sister and a confidante all rolled into one.When she was younger she had harbored a dream of becoming a singer, but every record label turned her away because there was no such thing as an omega singer. Unable to fulfil her dream, she signed onto this company instead, and had been working for them for eight years now as a hair washer and stylist. Sometimes, when she thought no one was watching, she still looked wistfully at their radio, which played every day in the shop as they worked, and if she felt especially content that day she would even sing along, voice deep and low and sweet.Junhui was not someone who felt angry about many things. But, if there ever was something Junhui would feel angry for, he would feel angry for Tia. Tia dumped the cut hair into the bin and propped her broom up on the counter. “You thought he was an armadillo?” she teased, tugging at Junhui’s cat ears gently. “Armadillos don’t even have tails like that.”Junhui tilted his head to the side with a small smile. “No?”“No,” Tia confirmed. “They have hairless tails, with scales on them.”“I didn’t know that either,” Hyunwoo confessed, swinging his tail over to his front so he could better see his own fuzzy tail. “If you’d told me that armadillos had hair on their tails, I’d have believed that.”Tia smiled. “Yeah?” she said.“Yeah.”“Then I suppose you’ve got a lot to learn,” she said nonchalantly. “I liked armadillos a lot when I was a kid.”Junhui started. “Really?” he asked.Tia laughed. “No. Not really. But I did see a picture of an armadillo once, which is clearly more times than you two have.”“You’re right about that,” Hyunwoo said. He unfolded his body from where he was leaning against the counter. “C’mon, guys. I got a couple dollars as a tip today. If we work fast at this, maybe we can stop by Auntie Eunju’s to get some pancakes.” One day, a man with beautiful, glossy, black shoulder-length hair came into their shop.Junhui, as their youngest employee and the one with the most charm was in charge of greeting customers, so he immediately leapt to the man’s side and bowed respectfully. “Welcome to Snips of Silk!” Junhui said with a bright smile. “How may we help you today?”“Oh, I’m just here for, um, a dye job,” the man said, but he seemed distracted, typing away at his cell phone.“Okay,” Junhui said amicably. “Did you have a color in mind?”“Uh,” the man said. He looked up, finally looking at Junhui. When he did, his eyes widened.“Oh!” the man said.Junhui smiled. He got that reaction sometimes, even though he was not pretty enough to be a personal companion, or petite enough to be a bodyguard. It made him feel a little special, even if it didn’t mean as much as Tia’s love or Hyunwoo’s laugh. “I’m Jun,” he said, “and I specialize in hairstyling. If you don’t mind, I can be the one to dye your hair today.”“Oh,” the man said faintly. “Oh. No, I don’t mind.”The man let Junhui guide him to one of their hair-washing stations. Tia was busy with a girl who needed to be styled for a performance, so it was up to Junhui to wash the man’s hair.Junhui carefully wrapped the man’s shoulders with a towel and helped him position his head over the sink. “Comfortable?” Junhui asked.“Mhm,” the man said.Junhui turned the water on and carefully began to wet the man’s hair. “Your hair is really soft,” he said.“I know,” the man said, and Junhui grinned at his confident answer. Junhui had always admired people who responded to compliments confidently. “But I feel like I want a different color, you know?”“Yes, I think that would be fun,” Junhui said. He rubbed shampoo into the man’s scalp, keeping the soap away from his eyes. “It’s dangerous to dye hybrid hair, though, because having that much bleach near our ears isn’t good.”“Oh,” the man said. “Yeah, that makes sense.”Junhui nodded. He began to wash the suds out of the man’s hair. “Have you thought about what color you want yet?” he asked.The man hummed. “I think I’d just like it bleached,” he decided. “I think blonde would be a good look on me.”Junhui tried to imagine the man with light yellow hair. “I agree,” he said.The man laughed. “I’m sure you have to say that, but thanks anyway.”“No, really!” Junhui insisted. “I think you’d look really refreshingly handsome, especially with the long hair.” The man’s hair was all clean now, so Junhui wrapped his head in a towel and helped him sit up.The man smiled at Junhui, and it was dazzling like diamonds. “I’m glad you think so, then,” he said.“Yes!” Junhui agreed. “Let’s sit you down in front of the mirror, shall we?” As Junhui predicted, the man did look beautiful with light yellow hair, and with a sparkling smile he paid the fee and pressed an extra thirty-thousand won into Junhui’s palms. “You complimented me a lot today,” he said, when Junhui’s slack hands refused to take the money.Junhui was not so proud as to refuse so much money. He stuttered out a thank you – possibly in the wrong language – but the man seemed to understand him anyway and smiled at him once last time before turning smoothly and gliding out of the shop, sunlight striking his hair and turning it into woven gold.“He seemed to like you,” Hyunwoo said.Junhui whirled around to see Hyunwoo standing behind him, resting his chin on his hands on the broom handle.Junhui blinked. “Is it time for closing already?”“You spent a lot of time with that customer,” Tia said with a laugh. “You did a good job though. He looked great.”“His hair was easy to work with,” Junhui said.“So was he,” Hyunwoo said, nodding towards the bills Junhui still held loosely between his fingers. Tia laughed. “So what are you gonna do with all that money?” she teased. “You’re a rich man now.”Junhui contemplated the won. He smiled. “How do you feel about fried chicken?” The next day, the man came again, and he brought Minghao with him.Junhui saw him through the door and dropped his scissors and immediately pounced on him, wrapping all his limbs around Minghao’s slim frame and curling his tail around Minghao’s leg and refusing to let go.Somewhere behind him, Hyunwoo picked up the scissors and apologized to the customer Junhui had been working on – quite luckily, she was one of his regulars, and didn’t mind Junhui’s eccentricity.Junhui, however, was not thinking about any of that. He couldn’t comprehend the sight in front of him.Omegas and hybrids never got to see each other again once they were separated, never ever. It wasn’t that they were banned from it, but companies allowed no days off except for illnesses, and omegas and hybrids didn’t have the money to travel. To see someone from a previous company was like a dream.“Are you really Minghao?” Junhui asked, just to be sure, because it could be some stranger that looked like Minghao and sounded like Minghao and smelled like Minghao but wasn’t Minghao and Junhui was going to get fired very fast.“Yeah,” Minghao said, rubbing the spot behind Junhui’s ears like he knew Junhui liked best. “It’s me.”Before Junhui could ask how – who – what – when – Tia said, “Do you guys want to use the back room? I’ll cover for you.”Both the man and Minghao looked at Junhui.“Jun-ge?” Minghao asked, when Junhui didn’t immediately respond.Slowly, Junhui uncoiled himself from Minghao’s body. He tucked his hands into his work apron and wrapped his tail around his leg. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said, and then ran inside and shut the door.Minghao and the man walked into the back room to find Junhui already hiding under the desk.The man seemed concerned, saying to Minghao, “Hey, if he’s scared of me, I should – ”“No, it’s not you, Jeonghan-hyung,” Minghao said, exasperation dripping from every word. “Junhui-hyung’s just silly.” Slightly louder, he said in Chinese, “Come on, Jun-ge, you know Jingtan-ge won’t hurt you. Get out from under the desk.”“But it’s so comfortable under here,” Junhui said. “Truly, this is meditation-like. I don’t know if I can bring myself to leave.”“Jun-ge!”Junhui popped up from behind the desk, only his eyes and ears showing. He gave Minghao and the man, who was watching the entire exchange curiously, a little wave. “Hi,” he said.The man smiled. “Hi,” he said back. “I’m Jeonghan.”“Jeonghan-ssi?” Junhui tried.Jeonghan smiled. “Try ‘hyung.’”“Jeonghan-h-hyung – aaahhh, so embarrassing.” Junhui ducked under the desk again.Laughing, Jeonghan walked over so he was leaning over Junhui’s desk, jaw propped up on his elbow. “Sorry for not telling you my name earlier, Junhwi-ah. I didn’t realize it was you until I described you to Myungho-ah.”“Myungho?” Junhui asked from under the desk. “Did you tell them about me?”Minghao sighed. He didn’t say anything at first, so Junhui thought that was all the answer he’d get, but then he heard footsteps. First a pair of designer sneakers appeared next to the desk and then Minghao’s face ducked under the table. “Hey,” Minghao said. “You have room down here for one more?”“When did you get so smooth?” Junhui complained, but he moved over so Minghao could scoot in next to him, shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh.“It has been three years,” Minghao reminded Junhui. “I tried looking for you, you know. I went back to the company where we worked together and asked them about you. They told me you’d been sold, and said they couldn’t tell me where to. ‘Privacy laws,’” he added, sneering around the words.Junhui didn’t especially care about what his old bosses had to say. “Where did you go?” he asked, bumping his head into Minghao’s and wrapping one hand around Minghao’s fingers. “You disappeared so suddenly.”Minghao sighed. He dislodged Junhui’s hand so he could wrap his arm around Junhui’s shoulders, and offered his other hand to Junhui instead. Junhui took it, nestling deeper into Minghao’s side and curling his tail around Minghao’s waist.“I didn’t mean to leave so suddenly,” Minghao admitted. “I didn’t mean to leave without telling you either. There was just… an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.”Minghao explained that his last six-month job was to a full human beta named Jisoo. When he’d arrived at the designated meeting place – some high-rise apartment in the center of Seoul – Jisoo had shown up with an omega named Seungcheol and an alpha named Jeonghan. Jisoo admitted the lease he’d signed with Minghao wasn’t really for him, but for a friend who for some reason or another, wasn’t able to get leases.“He was a hybrid,” Minghao said, fingers tightening on Junhui’s in anger. “That’s why he couldn’t get leases. Because he was a fucking hybrid.”The hybrid’s name was Hansol, and he ran a bar in Gangnam called the ‘NYC Lion,’ after the American Football League that his mom followed when she was a kid, and his own hybrid-lion genetics.“Only hybrids and omegas are allowed to work there,” Minghao said, residual awe coloring his voice. “I’d never seen anything like it. Not at home, not when I was in Thailand, not here. But there were only hybrids and omegas there, Jun-ge. Hansol’s their bartender, and their only runner is a bear hybrid named Seungkwan.”Because of their hybrid-and-omega only staff, they were occasionally the target of hate crimes – worse, since Hansol’s beta mother had decided to take a three-months-long trip back to America to see family.Jisoo had suggested hiring a bouncer, and Hansol had been adamant that they get another omega or hybrid to take on the job, but none of them knew anyone proficient enough in martial arts.So they hired Minghao.Minghao was good at his job, and he liked it. His cold stare was enough to drive away anyone who wasn’t serious about being polite at the door, and if there was someone ballsy enough to kick up a fuss indoors, he’d have them out on their ear in seconds.“It was fun,” Minghao admitted. “I’d never had so much fun doing my job before. Hell, I didn’t even realize that my job could be fun. And it wasn’t just that – they paid me too, and I got off days to do what I just liked to do. I have an Instagram now, Jun-ge, and – and actual outfits. I just didn’t know there could be so much. It was like all the doors had opened at once and everything was within reach of my fingertips.” He looked down at his hands and smiled. “It really was like magic.”Junhui held his breath. “And then?” he prompted.Minghao bit his lower lip. He explained, words shaky and slow, that after five months had passed, Hansol and the others were reluctant to let Minghao go, and Minghao himself very much wanted to stay at the NYC Lion.Minghao had been all packed up and ready to go when Seungcheol had entered his room with a sheaf of papers in his hands.“It was my contract,” Minghao said, slightly choked up at the memory. “They bought me.”Junhui gasped. “Are you serious?” The usual rate to buy an omega or hybrid was to pay the equivalent of how much it was to lease them for an entire year. Omegas or hybrids who worked at prostitution houses tended to go for cheaper, but Junhui had never heard of someone who wanted to buy an omega from a leasing company.“I didn’t want them to, at first,” Minghao admitted. “You know how expensive it is. It’s crazy. But they pooled their resources – they live together, all nine of them – I guess ten now – and they went ahead and did it.” He turned to Junhui and grabbed both his hands. “I’m so sorry, Jun-ge. I should have come back for you. I should have gone back to at least tell you – ”Junhui didn’t let him finish, throwing himself at Minghao and wrapping his arms around Minghao’s slim waist. “I don’t care about that,” he said into Minghao’s hair. “That’s just so amazing. That’s what you always wanted, isn’t it? To leave the company system? That’s so, so, so amazing.” He couldn’t stop himself from purring into Minghao’s neck. “That’s so great. I’m so happy.”Minghao huffed out a laugh, but slowly, his hands came up and he rubbed slow circles into Junhui’s back.“You’re so stupid,” he said. “You should be mad at me.”Junhui shook his head. “I’m not mad. You’re happy now. How could I be mad?”“Stupid,” said Minghao again, but his hand came up and he scratched behind Junhui’s ears, Junhui purring happily.“Jun-ge, I…” Minghao hesitated. “I wanted to come see you after Jingtan-ge found you to let you know where I was but I also… I also wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me.”Junhui pulled back. “What?”Minghao leaned forward, talking faster. “I know it’s a lot, but I could buy your contract for you too. I have money saved up, now that I’m actually getting paid, and Jingtan-ge and the others are willing to help. They want to see you too. They know how much you mean to me.”Blinking slowly, Junhui said, “That’s… I don’t completely understand, Minghao.”Minghao growled in frustration. “I mean I want you to get out too! I want you to come with me! There’s just – there’s just so much out there! I want you to have it too! You deserve to have it too.”Junhui flinched at the sudden increase in Minghao’s volume.Minghao immediately softened. “I’m sorry for yelling, Junhui-ge. I didn’t mean to get upset. I guess I just… I really wanted to give this to you.”“I know,” Junhui said softly. “I’m sorry.”“I can give you a moment?”“Thanks.”Junhui shuffled away from Minghao, just a couple of inches, just enough to give him a little room to breathe and think.It was a lot to take in. Minghao was offering… to free Junhui from the company system entirely. There would be no more rules to dictate what he could or could not do. It would be just him.Minghao seemed to think this was some exciting opportunity, but Junhui just felt… terrified.He wasn’t like Minghao. Minghao had always had big plans for himself, had always wanted to be free, had always known exactly what he wanted to do with that freedom.Junhui, on the other hand, didn’t have any dreams or aspirations – hell, he didn’t even have any hobbies. Up until a few minutes ago, he had never even thought about the future. To take what Minghao was offering meant to leave everything he’d ever known for something he knew nothing about. He felt like he’d suddenly been dropped into the middle of a large field – vulnerable, lost, and alone, with nothing to point to him where to go.Junhui tried to explain to Minghao. “I don’t want to say no to you – I want to go with you, but I’m… I’m scared. Not of you, just of… everything else. I know it’s stupid but… it’s just overwhelming.”Minghao watched Junhui’s eyes grow wet as he tried to explain what was going through his mind, his hand twisting and untwisting in his lap, and reached forward to put his hand over Junhui’s. “It’s not stupid, Jun-ge, and I… I guess I don’t really understand, but I believe you. We can take this slower if you want.”“Slower?”Minghao let out a long breath. “Yeah. You don’t have to make this decision now, you know – or – or ever, if you don’t want. It’s not going away. I’m not going away.”There was a sound from on top of the desk above them, and then Jeonghan’s delicate face poked over the side of the desk. He had to lean upside down, and blood was rapidly rushing to his face, turning his pale skin red. He looked ridiculous. “Moon Junhwi-ssi,” he said, “I don’t know what you were talking about, but I just wanted to let you know the offer will always be on the table, okay? This isn’t a one-time deal. We really like you, and we want to get to know you better. Myungho-ah used to tell us stories about the cat hybrid who helped him a lot when he first came to Korea.” He smiled brightly, and even with bright red skin and veins that were beginning to pop out of his face, Junhui thought he was beautiful. “We just want to pay forward what you gave to our Myungho.”Minghao colored slightly at the ‘our,’ but Junhui didn’t notice, squeaking, “Really?”Jeonghan smiled. “Really.”“Okay. Okay. I, um.” Junhui ran his hands through his hair. “I’m – I’m still not really sure what I think right now. Can I – can I call you? Just in a little bit?”“Yes!” Minghao blurted out. “That’s – that’s all I really want.”Jeonghan wrote down his and Minghao’s numbers on a piece of paper, which Junhui clutched in his hands as he saw them to the door. Tia was still cleaning up after her last customer but Hyunwoo was free, and he trailed after Junhui like a giant bodyguard.Junhui saw Minghao lean over slightly to scent Hyunwoo, before nodding in satisfaction. “Thank you for taking care of Junhui-hyung,” he said.Hyunwoo smiled. “Of course,” he said. “And we’ll keep doing it for as long as he lets us.”Junhui rubbed his cheek against Minghao’s one more time, breathing in Minghao’s sweet fabric softener scent before Minghao stepped out the door. “I’ll call you,” he said. “I promise.”“I know,” Minghao said, and he tangled his and Junhui’s fingers together before smiling at him one last time and disappearing down the street with Jeonghan.Junhui watched them from inside the glass doors, thoughts involuting on themselves. Hyunwoo reached over and plucked the paper from Junhui’s hands, smoothing out the wrinkles that Junhui had clenched into the paper. “Yoon Jeonghan and Seo Myungho,” he read out loud. He looked up at Junhui. “That’s some soap opera.”“Yeah,” Junhui sighed.“What did they want to talk to you about?”“Um….” Junhui fidgeted.Hyunwoo rocked back on his heels and waited.Junhui sighed. “Minghao used to work with me, at a different company. Jeonghan’s family bought his contract, for good, and he offered to do the same for me.”Hyunwoo’s eyebrows furrowed. “You mean, like, to work for them?”“No! No, I mean….” Junhui wrapped his arms around himself. “Minghao’s free now,” he said softly. “Minghao’s always wanted to be free, and now he is.”Hyunwoo’s expression cleared. “Ah. And they offered you that same freedom?”Junhui nodded, but didn’t say anything else.Hyunwoo looked over at Tia, who put her broom down and came over to lean her shoulder against Junhui’s arm. “C’mon,” she said to both of them. “Let’s sit.”They huddled together in the back room, trusting that if someone needed them outside they’d ring the bell.Tia slowly stroked Junhui’s hair. “Why do you look so sad, Junhui? I’d have thought you’d be happy to be able to go with your friend.”“I am!” Junhui said. “I am. I… I do want to go. With Minghao. But I….” He tugged at his tail, fingers anxious. “I don’t really know what to think about all this. It feels like all of a sudden, everything’s been blown wide open and nowhere is….”“Safe?”Junhui blew out a puff of air. “Yeah. Safe.”Tia contemplated Junhui’s words for a moment. She said, “It is new, and scary, especially for us, who have lived our entire lives within the contract system. With all those new choices, suddenly, there’s many more ways to get hurt.” She smiled at Junhui. “Do you feel scared?”“Yeah,” Junhui breathed out. “I do.”Tia nodded. “Mhm. That makes sense. I would feel scared too.”“Yeah,” Junhui said. He wrapped his arms and tail around himself. “I want to see Minghao, but I feel scared. I don’t want to go.”“What do you feel scared of?”Junhui shook his head. “I don’t know. Everything. I don’t know what will happen.”Tia smiled. “That’s okay. It’s okay to take time, you know, and it’s okay to feel scared. Big decisions like this don’t have a right or wrong answer, no matter what it seems like.”Junhui let out a long, shuddering breath. “You’re right,” he said, pressing himself closer to Tia. “Sorry, Tia-jie.”Hyunwoo brushed his tail up and curled it around Junhui’s waist. “She’s right. You can take time. This isn’t an easy decision, and you don’t have to make it now.”Junhui sniffled, burrowing deeper into their embrace.“You know,” Tia said suddenly, sitting up a little straighter, “What if you just… hung out with Minghao sometimes? You could become more comfortable with the situation. Leave the actual decision-making for later. But for now, this is something you can do.”“Oh,” Junhui realized. “Oh. Oh, I like that.”Tia grinned. “I’m glad! Do you want to call Minghao and let him know?”Junhui nodded, and sprang up from Tia and Hyunwoo’s laps to bounce to the phone outside. From the back room, Tia and Hyunwoo could hear Junhui talking:“Hi, uh, Minghao? Haha, sorry, I know we just talked. Oh, no, that’s – I just wanted to ask if we could, um. Go slow? Start by hanging out more? I’m not really ready yet, and I want to keep what I have right now – I like my life right now, I like my job, and I like Tia-jie and Hyunwoo-hyung. But I want to see more of your life, too.” Junhui’s voice became quieter. “And… I want to know more. About what it’s like.”Minghao said something that made Junhui sigh softly. “Yeah. Thank you, Minghao. Um, oh, when do I – I get off work at seven, and curfew’s at nine. Tomorrow? Uh, that – that sounds good. That sounds good.”There was a pause and then Junhui giggled. “Okay, then, it’s settled. I’ll see you then. Bye.”Hyunwoo and Tia smiled at each other.“I guess he’s growing up,” Hyunwoo said.Tia sighed. “They always do.” She broke into a grin. “He’s gonna do great, though.”Hyunwoo laughed, the sound resonating in the small and cramped back room. Outside, he could hear Junhui cheerfully greeting a new customer and calling his and Tia’s names. “Yeah. He sure is.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Minghao
I found him!!!
Jeonghan
*I* found him actually but whatever
Wonwoo
Found who?
Seungcheol
Oh, you found Moon Junhwi? Wonderful!!When will you bring him back to meet us?
Jeonghan
Hes a little overwhelmed with everything, hyungLeave him be for nowWe’ll bring him back when hes readyMyungho’s got a date with jun tho :P
Mingyu
Myungho?? No!! I wanted to be the first one
Minghao
Finders keepers losers weepers sucker
Jeonghan
I wonder how many times i’ll have to repeat this, but I was the one who found him
Minghao
Yes hyungThank youReally
Jeonghan
Any time :) Junhui found himself becoming more and more anxious as seven PM drew near. He’d already dropped his scissors twice, and he almost bleached the wrong guy’s hair. (Almost. He’s still a professional.)“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he confessed as Tia and Hyunwoo cleaned up and he nervously straightened his work clothes. “I know Minghao, and I’m the one who asked to hang out. But what if he’s changed? What if we’re awkward? I won’t know what to do. I almost don’t want to go anymore.”Hyunwoo smiled at Junhui. “What you’re worried about are all things that can happen. But they haven’t yet, right? Don’t you owe yourself the chance to find out? I don’t want you to maybe miss something that you could really enjoy over feeling anxious about things that haven’t happened. Plus, if you do go and you don’t feel comfortable or something too scary happens, you can leave and come back here, and we’ll help you feel better. That’s what a home is for, you know. A place to go back to when the world outside is too scary.”Junhui, embarrassed, hid his face in his hands. “Don’t you guys like to spend time alone after work?”Tia and Hyunwoo exchanged a glance.Before Junhui could react, Tia stepped forward and lightly slapped Junhui on the back of the head. “Dumbass,” she scolded gently. “We’re your family. Even if we like to unwind after work, it’s not a hardship to spend time to give you support instead. So come right back here if you feel uncomfortable, okay?”Junhui peeked through his fingers and smiled. “Okay.”They smiled back at him, and had just turned around to continue cleaning up when Junhui said, voice high-pitched and nervous, “Do you, um. Mind scent marking me? You – you don’t have to if it’s too weird! I just think I’ll feel better if I feel like there’s a piece of... home with me.”“Of course!” Tia said. “C’mere.”Junhui bent his head down so Tia could press their cheeks together. She always smelled like cherries and a little bit like motor oil; it made him feel warm and safe.Hyunwoo was almost as tall as Junhui, so Hyunwoo only had to stretch his neck up a little to reach Junhui’s cheek. Hyunwoo smelled like wood and leaves, and like sunshine and fresh air.Junhui sighed as his coworkers’ – his family’s scents enveloped him. “Thank you, jie, hyung.”Hyunwoo ruffled Junhui’s hair. “You’ve marked us too, you know. So thank you.”Junhui couldn’t think of anything to say; he could only throw himself onto Hyunwoo to give him a big hug. “I love you guys,” he breathed.“Love you too, Junnie,” Hyunwoo laughed.“Ah, he’s here!” Tia said, and no sooner had she said it, they heard knocking on glass.Then the door chime tinkled and Minghao’s voice said, “Jun-ge?”Junhui disentangled himself from Hyunwoo just enough to look at Tia and Hyunwoo. The broad smiles on their faces stirred up a warm, hopeful feeling in his own chest, and he turned to Minghao with a big grin on his face.“I’m here, Haohao!” Junhui returned just before curfew, unable to hide his big smile as he entered his room.Tia and Hyunwoo were sitting on his bed, both holding different books. They looked up when he came in. Seeing the grin on Junhui’s face, Hyunwoo immediately broke into a smile. “I see you had a good time?”“Minghao likes me!” Junhui trilled happily, throwing himself into Tia and Hyunwoo’s laps.“Does he?” Tia said, stroking Junhui’s hair.Junhui rolled over so he could sit between Hyunwoo and Tia. “I was so nervous,” he said. “I don’t know, I thought maybe it would be awkward. But it’s super easy to get along with Minghao, and… it was just a lot of fun!”“I’m glad you had fun,” Hyunwoo said. “Do you think you’d do it again?”Junhui smiled. “I think so.” Minghao sometimes took Junhui out for a few meals at restaurants Jeonghan had recommended, but he mostly came by at noon with boxed lunches, because he worked through dinnertime.Jeonghan had also started to come around more often. Since Junhui didn’t seem scared off by Minghao’s invitations, he also started to drop by after work, bringing little deserts and snacks for Junhui to share with Tia and Hyunwoo. (Junhui liked the jellies the best.)Junhui liked being around them. It felt like his little family was getting bigger, friend by friend, and all his days were brighter than before.One day, during a rare lunch when both Jeonghan and Minghao were free and could share it with him, they took him out to the Korean restaurant he liked best out of the ones Minghao had brought him to before.Jeonghan and Minghao were acting twitchy, bending over to whisper into each other’s ears and arguing quietly when they thought Junhui was distracted.Junhui waved a hand in front of them. “Are you okay?”They stopped elbowing each other and said at the same time, “Nothing!”Junhui put down his chopsticks. “I said I’d only let you pay for me today if we could have fun together! Please tell me what’s going on.”Jeonghan sighed. “I told you we wouldn’t be able to keep anything from Junhwi for long. Just tell him!”“How did I become the bad guy in this?” Minghao complained.“Minghao?” Junhui asked, voice sweet.Minghao glanced up at Junhui, who was batting his eyelashes with exaggeration, and sighed. “The others have been asking about you and want to meet you.”Junhui blinked. “Others?”“We’ve told you, right?” Jeonghan asked. “We live kind of like a pack, and there’s ten of us in total. Seungcheol-hyung’s pack leader; he’s an omega deer – and he’s pregnant,” he added with a hint of pride. “Next is Jisoo-hyung, who’s a beta, and me; I’m an alpha. Wonwoo’s a beta, Soonyoung’s an alpha, Jihoon is an alpha rabbit, Mingyu’s an alpha hawk… you know Minghao, and after him there’s only Seungkwan and Hansol, who are an omega black bear and an alpha lion in that order.”“Wow,” Junhui said. “That’s… that’s a lot.”“Hey,” Jeonghan said, leaning over the table and taking Junhui’s hands in his. “You don’t have to meet everyone at once, or at all, if you don’t want to. This is really up to you. of course we’d love for you to get to know us better, but this is your – ”“I want to,” Junhui said quickly.“ – choice, we don’t want to force you – you what?”“I want to,” Junhui said again.“Are you sure?” Jeonghan pressed. “You don’t have to, I mean it when I say that. I don’t want you to feel pressured just because we keep taking you out to eat. We do that because we like you, not because we want you to do something in return for us.”Junhui sighed. “I know! I know, I do. I don’t have to come out to see you if I don’t want to, either – I have a job, you know,” he added with a crooked smile. “But I want to see the people who have taken care of Minghao for so long… one at a time, at least.”He laughed, and Jeonghan laughed with him, relief evident in his smile.Jeonghan said, “How do you feel about coming to the NYC Lion this Wednesday?” Minghao was the one who picked Junhui up.“Jeonghan has a meeting with a client tonight,” he explained when Junhui strapped himself into the car. “He said to have fun.”Junhui laughed. “I’m sure it will be.”Minghao nodded. “Hansol – the owner of the bar – is usually there, but he’s actually also out to visit his mom, so it’s just me and Seungkwan today.”“Seungkwan is the… omega black bear?” Junhui said, trying to remember.“Yep.”Junhui cast a sideways glance at Minghao. “Your pack… is unusual, aren’t they?”Minghao smiled slightly. “I’m surprised it took you this long to ask about it.”Junhui fiddled with the ends of his sleeves. “I guess,” he said. “I don’t really know. I guess it’s just hard to imagine.”“I know,” Minghao said softly. “It was hard for me to imagine too, until I met all of them. After that, it was surprisingly easy to see it.”“See what?”“See new possibilities.”Minghao pulled into the parking lot in front of a small building that had the words ‘NYC LION’ printed neatly on the sign above the door. Aside from one other car, they were the only ones in the lot.“We kind of wanted you to have the place to yourself tonight,” Minghao confessed. “Sorry if that’s a lot. But since Hansol was going to be out anyway, we figured it was the perfect time. Seungkwan can’t handle that many customers on his own, anyway.”“If the store is closed, then what are we doing here?” Junhui wondered.Minghao scowled. “Mingyu wanted to make you food, and this place has a better kitchen than our house.”Junhui perked up. So he would finally be able to meet the ghost who’d been making lunches for him for the past few weeks now. “Oh, that’s cool!”“It’s not,” Minghao said. “He’s annoying.”“Oh, is that so,” Junhui said, an entirely far too knowing glint in his eye. “I know you, Xiao Haohao. Whenever you say someone’s annoying, that means you – ow!”Minghao kicked Junhui in the ass. “Just go in!”Grinning, Junhui pushed the doors open and stepped into the NYC Lion.The bar was, as Minghao had explained, empty. All the chairs were on the tables, and there was no one behind the bar. However, Junhui could pick up a fresh scent of blackberries and lemons, meaning that someone had just been here recently, and somewhere in the back of the store he could hear the faint sounds of yelling.Minghao strode past Junhui, heading for the double doors in the back. “C’mon. I can hear them.” He pushed the doors open.“Why did you turn the oven off! We already agreed I was going to make the Chinese buns!”“You’re taking too long! The oven was going to set itself on fire if you didn’t get the buns in within the next thirty seconds!”“I was going to get them in within the next thirty seconds!”“You definitely were not, you haven’t even rolled out the dough yet!”“Just because you can’t work as fast as I can – ”“Myungho!”Trailing after Minghao, Junhui saw two heads pop up at the same time.There were two people arguing in the kitchen – one, the one who smelled faintly of blackberries, was shorter, with light-colored hair and two rounded black ears sticking up from his head. This must be Seungkwan, the omega bear hybrid.The other person, who was tall, even taller than Junhui, smelled of lemons, and had hawk-sharp eyes and a pair of large feathered wings folded behind him. That must be Mingyu, the alpha hawk hybrid.Seungkwan shoved Mingyu away to greet Minghao cheerfully, “Hi Myungho-hyung!” before his eyes slid to Junhui, who was only standing a few paces behind Minghao.Seungkwan gasped. “Is this Moon Junhwi-hyung? He’s so beautiful! You didn’t mention that he’d be so beautiful, Myungho-hyung!” Seungkwan dashed over to Junhui’s side and guided him with a firm hand towards one of the stools at the counter. “Sit, sit! You must be tired. We would have had food ready for you if someone – ” he glared at Mingyu, “ – wasn’t so stupid.”“Is that how you talk to your hyung?” Mingyu glared, but he didn’t seem terribly upset. Turning his head away from Seungkwan, he bowed slightly in Junhui’s direction. “Hi, Junhwi-hyung. I’m Mingyu.”“Ah, yes, please take care of me,” Junhui hastened to say, returning his bow.Seungkwan waved away Junhui’s politeness. “No, no, it’s our pleasure, really,” he said. “After everything Myungho-hyung said, of course we’d want to meet you!”As Seungkwan and Mingyu turned towards the stove again, bickering good naturedly, Junhui nudged Minghao and asked, “What did you tell them about me? There’s no way they’d be that interested in a stranger, right? Did you tell them I could fly or that I had magic powers?”Minghao shrugged. “I just told them the truth, that you helped me a lot when I first came to Korea. I guess they’re just a bunch of people who easily care about others.”“Mmmm….”Junhui considered Mingyu and Seungkwan, who were still arguing over what to put in the pot. They didn’t know Junhui – had never even talked to him before today, didn’t even know he existed before Minghao talked about him. They didn’t owe Junhui anything; had no reason to do anything for him.But they still made Junhui lunch sometimes, still went out of their way to reach out to him and make him feel welcome, and even came into their place of work on their day off to make Junhui dinner.Junhui had never been able to even imagine such kindness. Even seeing it before his eyes, he still had some trouble believing it.Junhui’s gaze slid sideways and met Minghao’s eyes. Minghao was smiling at him, a light-hearted, weightless smile that Junhui had never seen before, not even when they worked together every day for two years.Junhui thought he was beginning to understand what Minghao wanted to show him.He slid off his chair and approached the bickering hybrids. “Um, excuse me?”They both turned to look towards Junhui, bodies still half in argument.Junhui stifled a laugh. “I was wondering if I could help you guys?”Seungkwan and Mingyu started protesting at the same time.“Absolutely not, Junhwi-hyung!” Seungkwan said, hands already trying to push Junhui away. “You’re the guest! We were supposed to have something ready for you!”Mingyu took the opposite tack and turned his puppy face onto Junhui. “I just really wanted to treat you, Junhwi-hyung,” he pouted.Junhui turned his head towards Minghao with ‘HELP ME’ printed very obviously in his eyes.Minghao just grinned at him.With a nervous laugh, Junhui turned back towards Seungkwan and Mingyu. “I just felt like we might have more fun if we did it together? Since – since I’m here already. Plus it’ll be awkward if I just sit here and watch!”Seungkwan broke first, scoffing at Junhui but smiling anyway. “You’re so pure, hyung,” he said, rolling his eyes.“Yeah,” Mingyu agreed fervently. “Hey, Myungho! How come you aren’t helping?”Studying his nails, Minghao answered, “Because I don’t want to, Mingyu.”“Even Junhwi-hyung’s helping!”“Junhwi-hyung offered,” Minghao shot back coolly. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll understand that me not offering is me not helping.”“You’re such an asshole,” Mingyu complained, even as he accepted defeat and turned back towards the stove.With a burst of self-confidence, Junhui nudged Mingyu playfully with his elbow. “Don’t worry about Haohao,” he said conspiratorially, although he made sure his voice carried. “Haohao’s just cranky today.”“I heard that,” Minghao said irritably.“We know,” Mingyu called back, and then, with a sly grin, added, “…Haohao.”Seungkwan’s mouth fell open.Minghao looked up with narrowed eyes. “What did you call me?”“You’re gonna die,” Seungkwan whispered, taking a few steps back.Mingyu kept going, flashing his canines. “What, Haohao? Do you dislike this, Haohao? What are you gonna do, Haohao?”“You’re a dead man walking, Mingyu,” Minghao growled, and that was all the warning Mingyu got before Minghao pounced.That was the day that Junhui learned being six-foot-two and a predator bird hybrid did not guarantee you enhanced reflexes. Or even normal reflexes.A few hours later, an uncomfortable amount of flour still in Junhui’s hair and ears, Minghao and Junhui had to bid Mingyu and Seungkwan farewell so Junhui could make his curfew.“It was really nice to meet you, Junhwi-hyung,” Mingyu said with a charming smile, although the bruise on his left cheekbone was starting to purple.“Yes, maybe next time we can actually make you something,” Seungkwan said. “Stay warm, okay? Spring is when people get sick because they shed their winter coats too quickly. I’ll make you a scarf and have Minghao bring it to you next time, okay? Or you can just come back here! I promise it won’t be this big of a mess.” Seungkwan shook some errant egg from his hair.Junhui giggled. “It was fun,” he said with a beaming smile. “I’m really happy to meet you.”Seungkwan’s expression softened. “We’re happy to meet you too, Junhwi-hyung.”Junhui grinned, and without another thought threw himself onto Seungkwan with both arms outstretched to hug him.“Oh!” Seungkwan said, staggering a step back. “Um, okay. This is nice.” After the initial shock had passed, Seungkwan easily wrapped his own arms around Junhui and ran a hand down Junhui’s back, eliciting a purr. “Oh, you’re kind of tactile, huh,” he mused.“It makes me feel better,” Junhui admitted past Seungkwan’s neck. “I hope you don’t mind. I’m sorry, I should have asked.”“It’s okay,” Seungkwan said. “I don’t mind hugging you. Hyung is so cute,” he teased, scratching behind Junhui’s ears.Junhui purred louder.Then Mingyu approached them, expression uncertain. “Um… Junhwi-hyung? Do you… do you mind if I, um. Scent you? You can say no!” he added, holding his hands up. “I just… it’ll make us feel better. That you’re leaving with our scents. It feels a little like protection to us. And like you’re a part of the family.”Junhui turned the thought over in his head.To offer to scent someone else was like accepting them as family. It was a big commitment, and aside from Tia and Hyunwoo, he’d never scented anyone before. He couldn’t understand why Mingyu would offer this to him within just a couple hours of meeting him.Then he remembered what Minghao had said: ‘I guess they’re just a bunch of people who easily care about others.’Junhui couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be that trusting, that open, that loving.But he thought he would like to know.New possibilities, right, Minghao?Junhui took a deep breath, decided to leap. “Okay,” he said. “You can, if you want to.”Mingyu’s expression cleared, and Junhui realized that maybe this might be as big a deal for Mingyu to offer, leaving himself vulnerable to rejection, as it was for Junhui to accept.They stepped closer to each other, Junhui tilting his head up and Mingyu tilting his down, and then they touched their cheeks together. Mingyu only rubbed his cheek against Junhui’s for a second, nothing untoward or overly familiar, but Junhui could clearly smell Mingyu’s lemon and mint scent envelope him for a brief moment.Mingyu stepped back soon after, grinning abashedly. “Thanks, Junhwi-hyung.”“Hey, let me, next! If that’s okay, Junhwi-hyung,” Seungkwan clarified.Junhui smiled and nodded that it was. Seungkwan leaned close, and Junhui smelled blackberries and oranges before he stepped away.Minghao came over and rubbed his cheek on Junhui’s as well, adding his familiar fabric softener scent to the mix. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the whole ‘Haohao’ thing, Junhui-ge,” he hissed into Junhui’s ear, but he still stroked Junhui’s hair so he knew Minghao wasn’t actually mad.Junhui laughed. “Okay, Xiao Hao,” he said, grinning.Minghao kicked him in the side. “Asshole. We gotta go.”“I know.” Junhui sighed.Junhui waited by the car as Minghao said his goodbyes to Seungkwan and Mingyu, promising to meet them at home later and giving them both a kiss on the cheek.As Junhui slid into the car with Minghao, Seungkwan called, “Come back, Junhwi-hyung! We open again tomorrow, ‘cos Hansol’s back but you can just sit in the kitchen and keep us company if you want!”Junhui blinked, and then he grinned. He yelled back, “I’d love to! I’ll make Minghao pick me up!”Minghao gave Junhui a side-eyed glare. “Really? I’m at your beck and call now, am I?”“Aw, you love me.” Junhui blew on his fist and plunked it onto Minghao’s chest.Minghao didn’t try to remove it. He sighed. “I guess I do.” Junhui couldn’t sleep.That night, after scenting Tia and Hyunwoo and wishing them goodnight, he went back to his own room and lay in bed, the lights turned off. He felt like his skin was buzzing and his mind was rattling and if he didn’t stand up and go somewhere his bones would try to leave without him.Unfamiliar scents filled his room – there was Tia’s warm cherries and motor oil, Hyunwoo’s wood and leaves, and Minghao’s fabric softener, but he could also faintly smell lemons and blackberries.After turning over for the tenth time, Junhui threw off his covers and rolled out of bed.He didn’t bother changing out of his night clothes, instead just shrugging into a jacket and opening the window.Curfew was enforced with security cameras lining the hallways, and a security guard stationed at the front entrance. There were, however, no guards and no security cameras on the back of the building, and Junhui happened to be very good at scaling walls. He only lived on the third floor, and compared to some of his previous construction jobs, making his way down three or four window-ledges wasn’t that hard. He landed on the ground with only a soft thump.Next came the hard part.Junhui had to find a phone to use.Their hair salon was guarded by an electric security system, and it would show up on the record if Junhui broke in to use their phone. Instead, he made his way to the nearest subway station, where Minghao had mentioned there would be phones he could pay for with coins.Seoul was much more heavily patrolled than Shenzhen was – from what he could remember, at least, wasn’t that a sad thought – so Junhui had to hide behind walls and around corners to avoid security guards who would undoubtedly throw him in the pound if they found an unattached hybrid wandering around at night.However, it was two in the morning. Any people that were awake were few and far between, and Junhui eventually made it underground unscathed.The trains had stopped running by now so the station was more or less empty, but Junhui still tried to keep his tail in his jacket and his ears under his hood as much as possible. The thought of being discovered froze his blood in his veins and sent his heart pounding.After a minute of searching, he found a phone on the other side of a security box. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the box, but his hands shook as he tried to take out some coins from his pocket.A few silver pieces clattered to the floor. Junhui stopped breathing, a jolt of fear running under his skin.He stayed still for a few seconds, but when no one said anything, he slowly bent down to pick them up, carefully placing them into the palm of his left hand and wrapping his fingers around them so he wouldn’t drop them again.He stood up to face the phone once more. There were instructions written on the phone box with accompanying pictures, but the companies had never taught Junhui how to read Korean. He could only hope that the idea of a ‘pay-phone’ was as straightforward as it seemed.Tucking the phone under his ear, Junhui carefully put his coins into the coin-sized slot, one by one, until they were all gone. Then he waited for the tone to change, and, with shaking fingers, dialed the number he had memorized nearly a month ago.The phone rang.And rang, and rang, and Junhui suddenly realized that it was two in the morning, and everyone was likely to be asleep. Did he come out all this way for nothing? Tears of frustration began to pool in his eyes as he imagined having to go back to his room empty handed.Then the ringing stopped, and a sleep-thick voice on the other end mumbled, “Hello?”Junhui fumbled for his words. “H-hi – hello? Is this – Jeonghan-hyung?”“Jeonghan-hyung?” the voice on the other end said, sounding slightly more awake. “Sorry, who is this?”“O-oh, I’m sorry, I’m – I’m Junhwi? Moon Junhwi? I don’t know if Minghao said anything, I’m really sorry for disturbing your sleep, I’ll just – ”“Whoa, hey, it’s okay, please don’t hang up,” the voice assured him. “I’m not mad. Of course we know about you, Junhwi, Jeonghan’s been talking about you for weeks. I’m Jisoo – or Joshua, whichever you prefer. I’m one of the betas in the pack, the same age as Jeonghan. I’ll go get him, okay?”“Thanks,” Junhui breathed.Junhui heard the sounds of bedsheets ruffling, and then, “Jeonghan. Hannie. Wake up. Junhwi’s calling.”“Who?”“Junhwi.”“Junnie?”“Oh, for goodness sake, Jeonghan, wake up.”There was more rustling, and then Jeonghan’s voice yawning and saying, “Junnie?”More guilt poured into Junhui. “I’m so sorry, Jeonghan-hyung, I didn’t think about waking you up – I just – I just – ” Without his permission, his tears spilled over. “Shit.”“Junnie? Junnie, are you crying? Oh, Junnie, I’m not upset, I’ll take your calls at any time, I want to. Junnie-ah, where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”“Y-you don’t have to – ”“Moon Junhwi,” Jeonghan said firmly. “Location, please.”Junhui looked around. “I think I’m at – I’m at – OO Station?”“Okay,” Jeonghan grunted. There were a few bumps; Jeonghan clearly was getting out of bed. “I’m going to come pick you up, okay Junnie?”Junhui whispered, “Okay.”Jeonghan asked Junhui not to hang up, for as long as his coins would let him stay on the phone, and Junhui listened to Jeonghan ramble about where his clothes were, his socks, his shoes, his keys, his car, the roads, the lights – anything that came to mind.Junhui found that listening to the rhythm of Jeonghan’s sweet, smooth voice slowed his tears and dried his eyes. His breaths were no longer so wet and ragged, and eventually Junhui was able to match the pace of his breathing to the pace of Jeonghan’s words.Jeonghan was in the middle of complaining about pedestrians when the line went dead.Junhui’s ear felt cold. Jeonghan’s voice had filled the empty space, but now it was only silence.Junhui sank to the floor, still holding the phone to his chest. If he concentrated hard enough, he could still hear Jeonghan’s voice in his head, prattling away. He tried to keep his breaths slow and even.Many, many breaths later (and at the same time, none at all) Junhui heard the sounds of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. “Junhwi!” Jeonghan’s voice reverberated throughout the empty space.Junhui flinched at the volume. “H-here,” he tried to say, but it came out like a croak.“Junwhi?” Jeonghan called again.Junhui stood up and placed the phone back on its hook before starting to move towards where he thought Jeonghan’s voice was coming from. “Here!” he said, his voice slightly louder.“Junnie!”Maybe Junhui was tired too, because Jeonghan seemed to come out of nowhere, barreling into Junhui’s body like a rock. His hands flitted all over, patting down Junhui’s hair and feeling his arms and torso. “You scared me so badly, Junnie,” Jeonghan scolded.“I’m really sorry, hyung,” Junhui whispered.“I forgive you.” Jeonghan pulled back and squished Junhui’s cheeks between his hands. “Now tell me what’s bothering you?”Junhui fidgeted in Jeonghan’s grasp. “I don’t want to bother you even more tonight – ”Jeonghan knocked his head into Junhui’s. “How many times do we have to tell you! It’s not a bother! If it is, I’ll say so! Junnie, since when have you ever known me to not tell someone when they’re bothering me?”Junhui couldn’t help a wet giggle. “Never?”“Exactly, never. You don’t have to be afraid of me lying to avoid hurting your feelings, okay? Not with me. I’m here because I want to be, because I care about you. Now tell me what’s wrong. Oh, actually, wait,” Jeonghan said when Junhui opened his mouth. “It’s cold out here, and you’re not even wearing real clothes! C’mon, I brought my car.”Junhui trailed Jeonghan to where his car was, indeed, parked outside the station entrance. He definitely would have been ticketed had it been daytime, but no one was around to penalize him.Jeonghan unlocked his car and sat down on the driver’s side. “Come, come, sit! It might smell a little strong, but it’s warm.”Junhui didn’t know what Jeonghan was talking about until he slid into the car and shut the door. Their entire pack must have been in this car at one time or another, the smells nearly overwhelming; a mix of fruits and nature and the countryside and the city. Junhui chased after what he recognized as Minghao’s scent and clung to it for stability.Jeonghan was watching Junhui carefully. “Are you alright?”Junhui took a deep breath and nodded. “I think I’m more used to it now,” he said, finally unfurling his tail and letting his ears free.Jeonghan reached over to ruffle Junhui’s hair. “Okay.” He started the car. “I’ll take us to the NYC Lion, and we can get warmed up in there. Sound good?”Junhui nodded again.After a few moments of silent driving, Jeonghan stuck a finger in the air and exclaimed, “Ah! You can mess around with the radio or the CD player; I don’t use it much. Do you like music?”“I love it,” Junhui said.Jeonghan hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you’ll find something you like in there.”Junhui carefully combed through the selection of CDs that their pack kept stored in the car, occasionally pulling one out to examine it more closely. Finally, he picked one and slid it into the player, a flash of silver catching in Jeonghan’s peripheral vision. Jeonghan wondered what Junhui chose.When the first few notes came out of the speakers, Jeonghan had to laugh.Junhui tilted his head at him. “What’s so funny?” he pouted.“Sorry, sorry,” Jeonghan said. “It’s just – that’s not really a CD that’s on the market. Jihoon-ah wrote that.”Junhui’s eyes widened. “Jihoon?”“He’s another one of the pack that you’ll meet one day, hopefully. He works as a music producer.”“Ah.” Junhui settled back into his chair. “I like it. He’s really good.”Jeonghan smiled. “He’ll be glad to hear that.”Junhui smiled, and they let the sounds of Jihoon’s smooth instrumentals carry them home. Jeonghan pressed a warm glass of tea into Junhui’s hands. “Here you go.” Junhui took a sip as Jeonghan stepped around him to sit down on his other side at the shiny metal counter in the kitchen, a glass of water in his own hands. “Now spill, Junnie.”Junhui fixed his eyes on his glass, watching the steam rise. He felt like his thoughts were going the same way, curling away from his brain, dissipating when he tried to reach for them.“You called me Junnie,” he said.“Hm?”Junhui looked up. “You called me Junnie. You always call me Junhwi-ah.”Jeonghan let out an embarrassed laugh. “Ah, did I?”Junhui nodded.“I’m sorry,” Jeonghan said sincerely. “I can stop if you want. I kept thinking of you as our Junnie, and I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly tonight.”“No, don’t,” Junhui said. “I like it.”“Oh. That’s good.” Jeonghan shifted, a little confused about where Junhui was going with all this.“I just… all of this….” Junhui waved a hand at the air. “I feel like. I feel like I’m starting to change. And I don’t know what that means.”He looked at Jeonghan. Jeonghan’s brows were furrowed and his lips turned down. “I don’t think I understand.”Junhui’s mouth twisted. He wasn’t sure he could explain it himself. “I went home with Seungkwan and Mingyu’s scents today,” he said.Jeonghan looked surprised. “You let them?”“Yeah. And when I went to bed today, I could still smell them. They said….” Junhui clutched at the tip of his tail. “They said it was like accepting me as part of the family.” The tears began to well up again, and Junhui sniffed, trying to hold them back.Jeonghan leaned forward, laying his hand over Junhui’s. “Was that too much of them to do?”Junhui shook his head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t scary when they asked. It wasn’t scary when they did it. It wasn’t scary when I went home. I just think it’s… different. And that’s why I feel scared.”“Aaahh,” Jeonghan said. “Change is scary.”“Yes, yes, that’s what it is.” Junhui nodded so hard his head bobbled. “Change is scary.”“It must be hard to deal with all these changes, huh,” Jeonghan mused. “Come, come, Junnie.” He spread his arms out. “How do you feel about a hug?”Without a word, Junhui fell into Jeonghan’s arms, wrapping his own arms tightly around Jeonghan’s waist. Humans didn’t have quite as strong a scent as hybrids did, but Junhui could still smell the intoxicating scent of something like roses and burning wood.They stayed like that, Jeonghan stroking Junhui’s hair and Junhui just breathing, in and out, clutching Jeonghan’s clothes. Jeonghan hummed something pretty, soft and low, soothing Junhui’s frazzled mind.After some time, Junhui said, muffled in the folds of Jeonghan’s clothes, “I’m sorry I dragged you out here in the middle of the night just for this. This was a little pointless, wasn’t it?”“Nope, Junnie,” Jeonghan said, cheerfully popping the consonants. “You know, just sitting with your feelings is doing something. Not everything has to be – or even can be – fixed. Do you feel calmer now? Like you can manage yourself again?”Junhui considered it, and then nodded. “I think so.”Jeonghan beamed. “Then that’s already a lot!”“Yes,” Junhui said. He hesitated, and then gave Jeonghan an answering smile of his own, small, but bright. “I feel ready to go home now.”Jeonghan stood up and offered a hand to Junhui. “Shall we go?” Junhui waited for Jeonghan to unlock the car doors, hands under his arms to stave off the cold. The sun still hadn’t risen, but the sky was turning light.Just as Jeonghan started to duck into the driver’s side, Junhui said, “Jeonghan-hyung?”Jeonghan’s head popped back up. “Yes, Junnie?”Junhui fidgeted, shy. “Thank you.”“Aww,” Jeonghan cooed. “You’re welcome. I’m happy you called me.”“Can I – can I – kiss you on the cheek?” Junhui blurted out, before immediately regretting it. “I mean – you don’t have to! I just. Minghao, today – and I thought – ”“Of course you can!” Jeonghan said, eyes widened. “I’d love that, Junnie. C’mere.” He presented his cheek to Junhui with an exaggerated twist.Junhui laughed. Skipping over to Jeonghan’s side, he pressed a light kiss onto Jeonghan’s cheek before pulling back, his own cheeks flushing red.Jeonghan pressed his fingers to his cheek and smiled like Junhui had given him something precious. “Thank you,” he said, eyes soft in the early morning glow.Junhui tilted his head to the side. “What for?”“For letting me sit with you.” Junhui arrived safely back at the dorm, making Jeonghan stop a block or two away so he could sneak back onto the back of the property.Easily scaling the three floors, Junhui tumbled back into his room and slipped back into bed. The clock on the wall said he still had two hours or so before wake-up, and Junhui intended to spend those hours sleeping.Mingyu and Seungkwan’s scents still clung to his walls, but this time, they helped to lull him to sleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Minghao was reading on the couch when he heard the sounds of someone ambling down the stairs, followed by the milky sweet scent of a new baby.He gasped. “Seungcheol-hyung!” he called, putting aside his book and rushing to help his pack leader down the stairs. “You know you shouldn’t be walking down the stairs like this!”Seungcheol brushed him aside. “I’m pregnant, not dying,” he said irritably.“Sorry, we know, we’re just worried about you, hyung,” Minghao said earnestly.Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “I know I’m the first one pregnant in this family, but I’m not even showing yet!”“But the morning sickness – ”“I’m getting better, Myungho, I didn’t even throw up this morning!”“I know, I know, but it’s just hard for us to watch you suffer and not be able to do anything,” Minghao admitted.Seungcheol softened in the silence following the admission of his newest family member. Minghao, although he certainly was much better at it than he was three years ago, still had difficulty expressing his emotions openly, and to even say this much was an accomplishment for him.Seungcheol smiled. “Okay, Myungho-ah. Come help me down and then we can go get breakfast, okay?”Minghao’s answering smile sparkled.Seungcheol let Minghao gently pull him into the kitchen and sit him down on a barstool with the promise that breakfast would be ready soon.“So,” Seungcheol began as Minghao started rooting around in the refrigerator for kimchi, “why are you even awake now, anyway? Don’t you have a shift tonight?”Minghao slowly turned around, lower lip between his teeth, caught out. “Junhui-ge’s coming back to the NYC Lion tomorrow,” he said. “Hansol’s gonna meet him.”Seungcheol’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh!” he said, leaning his chin on his palm. “I see. Couldn’t sleep?”Minghao grinned sheepishly. “Not really. Woke up really early this morning and just gave up going back to sleep.”“You should sleep more,” Seungcheol scolded gently, but smiled when Minghao just rolled his eyes at him and returned to making breakfast.Seungcheol watched Minghao work, cracking eggs and dishing out kimchi, movements as smooth and graceful as a feline.Seungcheol’s thoughts ticked on with the steadiness of second hand of a watch. “Say, Myungho….” “Hmm?” Minghao turned his head around to look at Seungcheol in askance.“Do you want me to extend a formal invitation to Moon Junhwi to join our pack?” Seungcheol asked.Minghao drew in a sharp breath.Seungcheol raised an eyebrow. “Do you not? It’s okay if you want to wait longer, Myungho.”“No, no, I do, but….” Minghao chewed his lower lip. “I’m afraid he’ll say no.”“Ah, I understand. I think I would feel the same way. But he hasn’t said no, has he?”Minghao shook his head slowly. “Not yet. But a month and a half has already passed, and he’s already met half of us. If he hasn’t said yes by now, doesn’t that mean it’s already a no?”Seungcheol shrugged. “I don’t think so. Maybe he’s just a really slow thinker,” he joked.“Cheol-hyung,” Minghao whined.“Sorry, sorry,” Seungcheol laughed. He motioned for Minghao to come closer.Minghao gratefully collapsed against Seungcheol’s side, letting his pack leader hold him in his arms. “I’m just scared,” Minghao breathed, as Seungcheol nudged at Minghao’s cheek with his nose. Minghao tilted his head up, letting Seungcheol scent him. Seungcheol’s warm, milky sweet vanilla and chocolate scent filled his senses, and Minghao felt himself relaxing.Seungcheol hooked his chin over Minghao’s shoulder. “I know this is scary, and I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do to change that. But no matter what, we love you,” he said. Minghao could feel his jaw moving against his collarbone. “We won’t leave you. We’ll be right here.”Seungcheol’s words soothed something in Minghao that Minghao didn’t even know was anxious. Minghao nuzzled deeper into Seungcheol’s chest. “Thanks. I know.”Seungcheol smiled. “Good. Do you want me to call a pack meeting?”A softer smile drifted over Minghao’s face. “Yeah. I think so.”
Seungcheol
Pack meeting on Saturday, 10am!
Seungkwan
Is this to discuss what I think it’s to discuss??:D
Mingyu
I already said it’s not my fault asshole!
Jisoo
L a n g u a g e
Jihoon
Is this about moon Junhwi?
Seungkwan
Oh my gosh!Is it????
Seungcheol
I’m going to take a napBe there at 10am okayI’m not going to drag anyone out of bed
Hansol
Wow! Jihoon-hyung, isn’t this great?
Jihoon
Maybe “Why are you asking him to join our pack when half of us haven’t even met him yet?” Jihoon demanded. “What if he doesn’t fit in?”“This pack doesn’t have an entry requirement, Jihoon!” Jeonghan shot back. “If you find out that you don’t like him, you don’t have to hang out with him!”All ten of the pack squished into their small living room, draped over chairs and tables. Minghao had imagined that it would be a quick vote, but the discussion had quickly spiraled out of control.“It’s not unreasonable to want to meet him before we invite him into the pack,” Jihoon said stubbornly.Wonwoo agreed, “Jihoon has a point.”As Jeonghan and Jihoon argued back and forth, Minghao pressed himself into the corner furthest away from them, trying to stop himself from crying.In his mind, he’d conjured up an imaginary scenario, where everyone would be enthusiastic about welcoming Junhui, and then they’d traipse down to Snips of Silk to invite him into their pack. Junhui would say yes, and Minghao could finally, finally take care of the first person who had even made his life bearable in Korea.He wasn’t even sure why he had expected this to go so smooth. They were ten very different individuals, and at the end of the day, Minghao was the only one with a personal connection to Junhui – Minghao was the only one with something to gain. He couldn’t have expected everyone else to sacrifice their hard-earned time, money, and effort to welcome a stranger who half of them hadn’t even met with open arms.Still, the part of him that had hoped for – wished for – that happy ending felt as though it was being crushed.The tears rolled down Minghao’s cheeks before he could catch them.Jisoo noticed the change in Minghao’s scent immediately.“Myungho-ah, what’s wrong?” he asked, rushing to Minghao’s side.His words drew the attention of everyone else in the group, and suddenly Minghao hated himself for crying.Jihoon was especially flustered, taking two steps forward, hands flying everywhere. “Myungho, I’m – I’m sorry – I didn’t mean it – ”“No!” Minghao shouted. He wiped away his tears angrily. “I don’t want you to agree to this just because – just because I couldn’t stop myself from crying. You’re right. This is a group decision and I don’t have the right to make such a big demand of everyone. I dragged Junhui-ge into this, I’ll be the one to take care of him.”“No, Myungho!” Mingyu shouted. “We can’t accept Junhwi-hyung partway like this and then just leave him outside! I want him to be part of our family!”Seungkwan agreed, “Yeah! That’s just poor manners and bad upbringing. Since when did we have to judge someone in order to help them?”“Didn’t we already agree to pay for his contract?” Wonwoo wondered.“Yeah! If we’ve already agreed to go that far, then we should follow up our words with action and accept him into the pack!” Mingyu agreed.“I hope none of us are forgetting what he did for Myungho. That should be reason enough,” Jeonghan said, eyes narrowing, a sign that he was starting to get irritated.Jisoo stood up and put a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder. “Let’s not invalidate Jihoon-ah’s point, though,” he said.Jihoon, who was growing stiffer and stiffer as each person voiced their opinion, relaxed noticeably.“No matter how we may feel about Moon Junhwi-ssi individually, we are a pack, and this decision affects all of us,” Jisoo continued. “We have to make this decision as a group.”Seungcheol stood up and held his hands out; everyone else quieted down. “Seungkwan, Mingyu, and Jeonghan have already said they were in favor of accepting Junhwi, but Moon Junhwi is first and foremost Myungho’s family,” he said. “Let’s listen to what he has to say, and then Jihoon-ah can say his piece. Are there any objections?”There were none.All eyes turned towards Minghao as they waited for him to make his argument.Minghao couldn’t meet their gazes. He looked down at his hands, sniffling and trying in vain to stymy his tears. He didn’t want to tell everyone why he wanted Junhui to join the pack so much, not when everyone had been arguing over it just moments before – an argument that had been started by his selfish requests.Before Minghao could pull himself together, Wonwoo approached Minghao and pulled Minghao into his body, wrapping his long arms around Minghao’s shoulders.He buried his face into Minghao’s neck. “You’re part of this pack too,” Wonwoo murmured into Minghao’s skin. “I know it’s been four years, but sometimes I feel like you’re still holding yourself back. You have as much right as anyone else to ask us for what you need, Myungho. That’s what being our family means.”A slow warmth spread through Minghao’s heart. He pressed his body against Wonwoo and hugged him back with a wet smile. “Thanks, hyung.”Wonwoo smiled back. “Of course. I mean it.”Feeling much more ready to express himself, Minghao took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts. “I… I really want Junhui-ge to join our pack. I… I know it’s a lot to ask from everyone else, but Junhui-ge is really… he’s really special to me. He was the first person who cared about me when I came to Korea. I owe him… I owe him everything. I wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for him. To the company, I was only an animal. I wanted to die. But Junhui, he was…” The tears that Minghao had worked so hard to stop began to well up again. He forcefully scrubbed his sleeve across his eye. “He was the only person who made me feel like I was human. He was the only person who made me feel like I was worth something.” He paused to wipe his eyes again before continuing. “I want to help him, so much. I want to help him feel the way he made me feel when I first came. I want him to have what I have. I want him to be a part of my family.”Silence followed Minghao’s words. In the space left behind, Minghao just breathed. His brain felt hollow, as if he’d poured out all he had and now only the shell was left.Wonwoo pressed his body against Minghao’s, remaining a warm and anchoring presence against his side. Mingyu dropped to his knees on Minghao’s other side, pressing his cheek into Minghao’s shoulder and bringing with him the gentle scent of lemon. “You’re so cool,” Mingyu breathed.Minghao laughed wetly. “Of course I am. I had Junhui.”“No, you’re so cool,” Mingyu insisted.“Anyone is cool compared to you,” Wonwoo jabbed, but he was smiling and pressing kisses into Minghao’s cheek.No one said anything, but feet shuffled over to stand directly in front of Minghao. When he looked up, he saw it was Jihoon.Jihoon held out his hands, offering them to Minghao. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how much this means to you.”Minghao took them and pulled Jihoon onto himself, burying his face in his neck and breathing in his lotus scent. “I’m sorry too. This doesn’t affect just me. And I should have – I should have – I’m sorry for crying.”“No, no, no.” Jihoon wiped away Minghao’s tears and kissed his forehead. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re letting it out. And I wanted to say….” He pressed his cheek to Minghao’s. “I wanted to say that I originally thought that we were rushing into this, adding another person to our pack without really examining him first. But I understand now. Moon Junhwi is your family. This isn’t rushing. I think we should do it.”Minghao coughed, his voice hoarse with tears and phlegm. “Really? I don’t want you to say that just because I’m crying. I’m fine, I mean it.”“I’m not, I’m not,” Jihoon assured him. “But I think this means a lot to you, and I want to support that.”“I just feel like now I’m guilting you into doing this,” Minghao whispered.Jihoon gently butted his head into Minghao’s forehead. “Since when have you known me to feel guilty about anything?” he demanded, eliciting a weak giggle from Minghao. “This isn’t guilt, this is me understanding how much this means to you. I want this. I want to bring Junhwi home, I want to welcome your family, I want that vision you have inside your head of Junhwi becoming part of our family.” He rested his forehead against Minghao’s. “I’m sorry for making you worry so much.”Minghao kept his eyes on his lap, pulling at the edges of his sweater, his voice nearly too quiet to be audible. “Would you all hate me if this doesn’t go well?”Jihoon scoffed. “Why would we do that? Unless you have the power to see the future and haven’t told us, how could you know? We all made this decision, so we’re all taking responsibility.”“Also, we love you,” Mingyu added, rolling his eyes at Jihoon.“Yes, also that,” Jihoon agreed.Wonwoo nudged Minghao. “So? Do you feel okay with this now?”Minghao breathed in deeply, and then nodded. “Yeah. Thank you.”Seungcheol smiled. “All in favor?”Every hand went up.Minghao choked on a sob, the smile on his face stretching so wide it felt like it would split his face in two. With everything that had happened, Junhui had forgotten entirely about Seungkwan’s promise to make him dinner, and was surprised again when Seungkwan called the store the next week. “Hansol’s back, and we have everything under control!” Seungkwan said. “Mingyu’s gonna make the food before you get here. So let’s have dinner tomorrow night!”So, with Tia and Hyunwoo’s encouragement, Junhui agreed, so the next night he found himself back at the NYC Lion, squished into a booth next to Seungkwan and across from Hansol and Minghao. It was between typical mealtime hours and the NYC Lion was empty save a couple people nursing drinks at the bar, so Jeonghan has offered to cover the floor until things started to pick up again. Mingyu had disappeared into the kitchen, saying that he just had a few final touches he wanted to make to their dinner.“Junhwi-hyung, this is Hansol,” Seungkwan said, easily taking over the role of host.“Hi, Junhwi-hyung!” Hansol said enthusiastically before Junhui could even offer greetings. “It’s so nice to meet you! I’m sorry I wasn’t here the other day, Seungkwan and Mingyu-hyung just went ahead without thinking that I wanted to meet you too!” He pouted a little at Seungkwan, making Junhui laugh.“We’re meeting now aren’t we?” Junhui said.Hansol smiled, and it seemed to Junhui that there was something gleaming and pure about it. “Yes! And you’re just as nice as Seungkwan said you were!”Junhui blinked, unable to stop a smile rising on his own face. “Ah, you’re so sweet.”Minghao grinned, slinging an arm around Hansol’s shoulders. “That’s what everyone says when they meet Hansol.”“Aw, hyung,” Hansol complained, but he blushed and ducked his head.Junhui laughed. “Yes, I understand why.”Hansol opened his mouth to say something else, but Mingyu appeared at Junhui’s side, holding a giant steaming bowl of ramen. “The food has arrived!”“Is that all?” Seungkwan jabbed. “Shouldn’t there be something more than just ramen, hyung?”“There’s going to be more, and you know it!” Mingyu hissed.Seungkwan said something else to provoke Mingyu, but Junhui wasn’t paying attention. Through the steam rising from the bowl, Junhui watched Hansol’s mouth slowly close until his lips disappeared and his mouth formed the shape of a pout.Junhui waved at him until Hansol was paying attention to him, and then puffed his cheeks out and pouted so he matched Hansol. Hansol immediately broke into laughter, causing both Seungkwan and Mingyu to stop arguing and look over at him.“What happened?” Seungkwan asked, but Hansol couldn’t answer, just continuing to laugh and flap his hand in Junhui’s direction. Junhui grinned as well.Minghao, who had watched the entire exchange, simply rested his chin on his palm. “Ah,” he said, “you two really get along well.” They eventually got Seungkwan to settle down, and after Mingyu brought out the rest of the side dishes, they all sat down to eat together.“Wow, this is so good, Mingyu-ah!” Junhui exclaimed after his first bite. “No wonder you work here! You could get anyone to fall for you with skills like this!”“I’m really glad you think so, Junhwi-hyung,” Mingyu said shyly. “I wasn’t sure what food you’d like, so I tried to make everything good.”Junhui hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t know what Korean food I like either,” he said. “They only food they ever really fed us was boxed kimchi and rice.”Seungkwan leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Do you like Chinese food? Do you miss it?”Junhui laughed a little. “Yes, I do, but I can’t even really remember how it tastes.” It’s been nearly eight years since he’s left home, after all – almost a third of his entire life. Although he still considered himself Chinese, still considered China his home, most of the time, it seemed more like a dream than reality.“That’s so sad!” Seungkwan exclaimed, already halfway out of his seat with his arms spread wide for Junhui to hug out his problems.Junhui awkwardly accepted Seungkwan’s hug, patting Seungkwan on the back like he was the one who needed comfort. “No, no, it’s okay, really! I’m okay. I can at least remember how my mom used to make some dishes, so it’s not that bad.”“But the dorms don’t have kitchens,” Minghao noted just as Seungkwan started to calm down, eyes glinting at Junhui.Seungkwan gasped. “Junhwi-hyung!”Jun shifted uncomfortably. He really appreciated and loved Seungkwan’s special brand of care, but thinking about all he had lost only made him feel sad, and he wanted to spend the night enjoying all the new wonder in his life rather than dwell on something he couldn’t change.Thankfully, Mingyu cut straight through the heavy atmosphere and piped up, “What if you used the kitchens here?”Everyone turned to look at him. “What?” Junhui asked.Hansol caught on quickly. “Yes, yes, that’s a really good idea! What if you could add some Chinese dishes to our menu?”Junhui felt confused. “You mean… teach Mingyu how to make what I know?” Junhui asked.Mingyu started to vibrate in his seat. “No, no, I mean – are you thinking what I’m thinking, Hansol?”“I think I am!” Hansol beamed. “I mean asking Junhui to join our staff!”Junhui’s jaw dropped. The car ride back to Junhui’s dorm was silent.Minghao had originally wanted to come, but Junhui asked to talk to Jeonghan alone, and Minghao had acquiesced with just a quick press cheek-to-cheek before heading back inside to finish his work for the night.However, now that he and Jeonghan were alone, Junhui didn’t know what to say.Jeonghan drove quietly, giving Junhui the room to think about what he wanted to express. Just before they reached Junhui’s dorm, Jeonghan pulled over and killed the engine. Turning to Junhui, he asked, “Are you okay, Junnie?”Junhui sighed. He still wasn’t sure, and told Jeonghan so: “I don’t really know.”Jeonghan hummed. “Hansol told me what he suggested. Do you have any thoughts about that?”Yes. Too many. Junhui bit his lip and nodded.Jeonghan shifted so he could face Junhui in a more comfortable position. “Do you want to tell me what they are?”Junhui opened his mouth and hesitated for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts into words.Jeonghan waited patiently.When the words finally came, they spilled from Junhui’s lips in a waterfall, like discordant blocks from a bucket. “When I was with you guys, I just kept – I kept imagining. What it would be like to work with everyone. I keep thinking that it would be really fun, and it would be fun for the first time in my life… like there’s some extra spark to life than just getting through each day. I think – I think I really want this, that I want to try – but I just… I just I don’t know if I’m allowed to want this.”Jeonghan shook his head, placing his hand over Junhui’s. “Junhwi-ah,” he said, “you are always allowed to want, and no one – not even you – can decide whether or not you deserve what you are given. You can only try to fulfil your own dreams.” His eyes shined in the blackness of the night, like two stars that burned Junhui’s skin. “Do you want this, Junhwi-ah?” Junhui clambered into Hyunwoo’s room. As he’d thought Tia was already there, writing something down in her journal.“Hi, Tia-jie,” Junhui greeted.Tia looked up and smiled at him. “Hey, Xiao Hui.” She shuffled over on the bed and patted the space next to her. Without any further encouragement, Junhui leapt onto the bed and tucked himself into Tia’s side.“Awwww,” Tia laughed. “What’s up?”“Can we wait for Hyunwoo-hyung?” Junhui asked. “I want to tell him too.”“He should be back any second; he just went to the – ”“Ah, Junhwi,” Hyunwoo said, coming in the door. “I was wondering if you’d drop by tonight.”“Sorry. I feel like I haven’t been spending so much time with you guys lately,” Junhui apologized shyly.“We’re happy you’re making friends,” Hyunwoo replied, dropping down on his bed. “Hybrids and omegas in our position don’t often get to do that, especially not outside the company.”Junhui laughed nervously and grabbed one of the pillows from the head of the bed, clutching it to his chest and burying half his face in it. “Yeah. About that.”Hyunwoo lifted an eyebrow.Junhui confessed, “They offered me a job. With real pay. At Minghao’s bar.”“Oh!” Tia exclaimed.Junhui nodded. “I’m not sure what exactly this means, but it seems like a big deal.”Hyunwoo asked, “Are you excited?”Junhui nodded into the pillow. He held it even tighter to his chest. “I think I am,” he said. “And that’s why I’m scared.”Tia hummed. “I understand why you feel scared… but I’m actually really excited for you. I’m not scared at all.”Junhui peeked up at her. “What? Why?”Tia smiled at him. “I’m not scared for you because I believe you can do it. Whatever change is happening, or will happen, I know you’ll be okay. And we’ll always love you, no matter what.”“Really?”“Really.”A small smile spread over Junhui’s face. “Thanks,” he whispered. “I was scared you’d be mad at me.”Hyunwoo snorted. “What for? We love you, but you don’t owe us anything. Actually, we’re happy you’re starting something new. Of course we’ll miss you, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want you to spread your wings when you’re ready. And that’s it, isn’t it? You feel ready, and that’s scary.”Junhui nodded. “Yeah.”Hyunwoo smiled and leaned forward. He took one of Junhui’s hands and pressed it into Tia’s; he took the other and held it tight in his own. “I’m not gonna tell you not to be scared, ‘cause that’s stupid. Of course it’s scary, it’s something unknown. But I am gonna tell you that we’re going to celebrate you feeling ready. Because that is something to celebrate. We’re gonna celebrate it, and when we’re done celebrating, we’re gonna help you get ready, and we’re gonna watch you walk out of here with your head held high.”“And if you need to come back,” Tia added softly, “you can, and we’ll be here for you. Remember. That’s what having a home is for.”Junhui felt something inside himself break, but at the same time, the feeling of a new, resilient warmth began to bloom in his chest.As the warmth inside him grew and grew until it enveloped Tia, Hyunwoo, and the entire room, he thought – even though he felt lonely, leaving home, he didn’t feel like he was alone.That, Junhui supposed, was what having a family meant.He burrowed deeper in between Hyunwoo and Tia. “Can you read to me?” he asked softly. “Like you used to when I first came here?”Hyunwoo and Tia shared a glance.“Of course,” Tia smiled.“We’ll even do voices,” Hyunwoo added, grinning so broadly that his eyes disappeared.Junhui laughed, even as his eyes welled up with tears. “Okay,” he choked out.Then, he began to cry. The next morning, the phone rang at Junhui’s hair salon. He picked up the phone before it had even completed its first ring. “Snips of Silk, how may I help you?”“Is Moon Junhwi there?” an unfamiliar voice asked. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, Minghao’s friend.”“Ah. Yes.” Junhui smiled. “I’m Moon Junhwi.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Seungcheol
Iiiiits official! Junhwi said yes!
Wonwoo
To the dress?
Jihoon
Stop it
Seungkwan
♡〜٩( ˃́▿˂̀ )۶〜♡
Hansol
=。:.ﾟ٩(๑>◊<๑)۶:.｡+ﾟ
Mingyu
o((*^▽^*))o
Jihoon
Emojis should never have been invented
Seungkwan
Cmon hyung
Hansol
You know you want to
Jihoon
UghFine(*^▽^*) Junhui called Minghao the moment Seungcheol hung up the phone. When Minghao picked up the phone, without waiting for Minghao to say anything Junhui yelled, “I said yes! Minghao, I’m going to join your pack!”At first, there was nothing on the other end of the phone but silence. Junhui was about to ask if Minghao was still there, but then, he heard the sound of quiet sniffling.“Minghao? Are you… are you crying?”“No!” Minghao shot back, but his voice was choked and it was only more clear that he was crying.Junhui cried, “I’m really sorry I made you wait for so long, xiao Hao, but I’m ready now. I really want to be part of your family!”“Shut up, Wen Junhui,” Minghao choked out, now sobbing in earnest. “You always were. You were my first family.”Junhui’s throat threatened to swell up. “You’re my family too, xiao Haohao. I love you so much.”The crying on the other end of the phone stopped.After a few long seconds of nothing but silence, Junhui began to panic. “Xiao Hao? Xiao Hao? Xu Minghao? Do I need to call Jeonghan-hyung? Minghao!”Suddenly, Minghao wailed, “You’re so unfair!” and then hung up, leaving Junhui to stare at the beeping phone on his hand.“Was that Minghao?” Tia asked, chuckling.Junhui turned to her, eyes wide. “What was that? What did I do wrong? Do you think Minghao is really mad at me?”“You can wait a couple hours and then ask him,” Tia suggested. “It sounded like he needed a little time to cool off and be coherent anyway.”“Oh no!” Junhui cried, tears starting to spark up in his eyes. “What if I really did make him mad? What if he doesn’t want me to join his pack after all?”“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, xiao Hui,” Tia said, rubbing her hands up and down Junhui’s arms, trying to comfort him. “Let’s try not to put words in Minghao’s mouth, okay? Minghao didn’t actually say any of that, right?”Junhui shook his head.“Then couldn’t there be some other explanation for why he reacted that way? Like perhaps he was overwhelmed or shocked?”Junhui slowly nodded.Tia smiled. “Okay, so that means we can’t know what he meant by that until we ask him, right?”“En.”“Alright.” Tia ruffled Junhui’s hair and dried his eyes. “Let’s get to work, and then we can call him during your break, how does that sound?”Junhui finally broke into a smile. “It sounds good,” he said. (Minghao was not angry. Seconds after Minghao picked up the phone, Tia heard the melodious sounds of Junhui’s laughter coming from the back room.) On the first of June, Jeonghan began negotiations with the Junhui’s company.Adachi Yuto, a fresh graduate from law school and the newest associate at Jeonghan’s law firm, accompanied him to their first meeting.“Thank you so much again for this opportunity, Yoon-ssi,” Yuto said, somehow managing to walk and bow at the same time.Jeonghan waved a hand. “Nonsense. What kind of partner would I be if I didn’t try to get our newest associate as much exposure as possible?”“Your consideration is appreciated,” Yuto demurred, bowing again.“Besides,” Jeonghan raised an eyebrow, stopping Yuto in his tracks, “I picked you for a reason.”“You – you did, Yoon-ssi?” Yuto asked, fumbling over the syllables.Jeonghan grinned, shark-like. “I heard that you and your pack freed a hybrid from an illegally-run company a few years back. It was reported that you were a first year paralegal at the time.”“Y-yes,” Yuto stammered. “I was, but one of my pack is – ”“Lee Hotaek,” Jeonghan interrupted. “Yes, I’ve heard of him. He’s usually a corporate lawyer, but he pulled some strings to get one of the best criminal prosecutors on the case. In interviews, he said that his paralegal at the time was of the utmost help to him.”“I – I don’t know if I’d call that help – ”“You reviewed the case notes that I sent you last night?”Yuto straightened immediately. “Yes, sir.” Moon Junhwi, twenty-three-year-old male cat hybrid, currently contracted at one of Seoul’s small-business style companies, wanted now to terminate his contract.It was one of the trickier parts of becoming a contracted omega or hybrid that no one really thought about except for those who read the fine print. In order to terminate a contract, one would need a lawyer. To hire a lawyer, one needed money, which is something very few omegas or hybrids had, and even if a lawyer agreed to take on their case pro bono, the time, transportation, and resources that omega or hybrid would need to work with that lawyer were often just not there. For Moon Junhwi to even make it this far was a miracle, and Yuto was not naïve enough to think Jeonghan had nothing to do with it.“So you know why I asked you to come along. It’s company business, but I’m not going to lie and say this isn’t personal. Junhwi is one of our pack now, and we’re going to fight tooth and nail to get him out.” Jeonghan’s gaze sharpened on Yuto. “I’m telling you this so you understand.”Yuto nodded. “I do,” he said, and he did. He understood because Yanan was sitting at home, tail between his knees, finishing up his online degree in music production this year. He understood because Yanan had stopped trying to hide his own ears and tail when they went out. He understood because Yanan’s smile was brighter than the sun, and Yuto would rather die than let it go out again.Yuto didn’t know who Moon Junhwi was or could be, but he knew, from the determined shine in his boss's eyes, that Jeonghan wanted the same thing for his Junhwi as Yuto had been able to grant to Yanan.Jeonghan smiled. “Good.” “So…” Soonyoung drawled, sauntering into the living room with a little spring in his step.Only Wonwoo and Minghao were present, Wonwoo stretched out along the couch, his laptop on his chest, Minghao dozing lightly on the other end of the couch. They both looked up when Soonyoung announced his presence.Wonwoo arched an eyebrow. “So?”Soonyoung bounced onto the couch, jostling Minghao and eliciting an annoyed growl from him. Cooing gentle apologies, Soonyoung manhandled the drowsy Minghao until he was nestled against Soonyoung’s chest, head resting comfortably on his shoulder. Minghao purred with contentment.“Well?” Minghao mumbled into Soonyoung’s shirt. “What were you gonna say?”“Weeell….” Soonyoung smiled widely. “My birthday’s coming up.”“How could we forget,” Wonwoo said, rolling his eyes. “Even if we didn’t know when your birthday was, you’d never let us forget it.”Soonyoung grinned. “I’m just a very important person. So? What are you planning on getting me?”“A one-way ticket away from me,” Wonwoo deadpanned.“So cruel!” Soonyoung cried. “Myungho-ah, tell me your gift will be much cooler than this loser’s.”Minghao hummed, too comfortable to move his head to talk clearly. “Junhui-ge’s birthday is five days before yours.”Wonwoo raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Really? So it’s on the… what, the tenth?”“Mhm.” Minghao shifted so he was more comfortable, shoving his hands underneath Soonyoung’s body so he could hug Soonyoung more fully.Soonyoung automatically brought his hands up to support Minghao. “Really? That’s awesome! Do you think Junhwi-ssi would want a birthday party, Myungho?”“Bet he’d love it,” Minghao murmured. “Bet he’d be really happy. We were never able to celebrate properly at the company.”“Well then it’s settled!” Soonyoung said with a decisive nod. “We’re going to throw Junhwi-ssi a birthday party!”“Isn’t two birthday parties within five days too much?” Wonwoo wondered. “Maybe we should combine yours and Junhwi-ssi’s.”“He might feel like we don’t care enough about him to give him his own party though,” Soonyoung argued. “I want him to feel special – he is special!”Minghao pulled his left hand free and patted Soonyoung on the face to get his attention. “I’ll ask him later, but I don’t think Junhui-ge would dislike it if we had a joint birthday party; I think he would feel even more like we wanted him to be part of the family. He’s soft like that.” He tilted his head up to give Soonyoung a soft, toothy grin. “However, if all that talk about giving Junhui-ge his own birthday party was really just because you wanted your own birthday party….”Soonyoung gently smacked Minghao’s shoulder. “I mean, if you’re offering to throw me two birthday parties, I won’t say no.”Minghao rolled his eyes. “Why should we have to throw you two parties? Just one day of celebrating you is enough. Too much, actually.”“So mean!” Soonyoung cried. “Wonwoo, back me up!”Wonwoo snorted without looking up from his laptop. “Are you serious right now?”“Yeah, asking you was probably a mistake,” Soonyoung admitted easily. “Anyway, Myungho, what would Junhwi-ssi like in a party? Is he a big party or a small party kind of person?”Minghao shrugged. “I dunno, we’ve never had a party,” he said. “I’ll ask him.”Soonyoung’s eyes sparkled. “Ask him if he likes balloons! Or streamers! And cake, what kind of cake! We’ll need at least two!”Wonwoo slapped Soonyoung on the head. “Don’t listen to this dumbass, Myungho. Just ask Junhwi-ssi approximately what he likes, and we’ll take care of the rest.”As Soonyoung whined at Wonwoo for hitting him, Minghao could only laugh, burrowing deeper into Soonyoung’s arms and letting sleep take over again.There were good times coming, and Minghao was excited for all of it. It was another late night.Jeonghan blindly stumbled into their house, eyes dry and blurry. He shucked his coat and shoes off into a haphazard heap at the door and barely made it to the couch before he collapsed onto the plush. What time was it?He pulled out his phone to check, but the bright screen light burned his eyes, causing him to drop his phone on his face. “Fuck!” Jeonghan yelled, forgetting for a moment that it was late and everyone was asleep.Slapping a hand over his mouth, Jeonghan held his breath, hoping that everyone was deep enough asleep that no one had heard him.To his dismay, however, no more than a few seconds passed when the sound of rustled sheets came from the bedroom that he, Jisoo, and Seungcheol shared.Jeonghan groaned, pulling himself upright and preparing to urge his lovers to return to bed.A moment or so later, Jisoo and Seungcheol came stumbling out of their room. “Hannie?” Jisoo whispered. “Are you back?”“Yeah,” Jeonghan whispered back. “Go back to bed.”Jisoo shook his head no. He and Seungcheol continued on their ambling path through the living room until they flopped onto the couch on either side of Jeonghan. Seungcheol immediately crawled into Jeonghan’s lap and curled up there, eyes fluttering closed. Jisoo pressed in close and rested his cheek on Jeonghan’s shoulder.The combined scents of his partners and the warmth of their bodies calmed Jeonghan down, and he felt like he could take a deep breath for the first time that night. “Sorry for waking you guys up,” he said quietly, petting Seungcheol’s hair. “You should go back to sleep.”Jisoo hummed. “You’ve been coming home late recently.”Jeonghan laughed bitterly, rubbing the heel of his palms against his eyes. “Yeah, it’s just. Junnie’s case.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Fighting these cases is harder than I remember.”“Mmm… it has been four years since you had to help Myungho,” Jisoo said.Jeonghan snorted. “Somehow, I don’t remember it being this hard. Maybe because it was the first time, or maybe because that company was just easier.”“It sounds frustrating,” Jisoo said softly.“Frustrating doesn’t even cover it,” Jeonghan groaned, letting his head fall back against the couch. “I hate this so much.”Jisoo made a sympathetic noise. He took one of Jeonghan’s hands in his and gently began to rub his thumb across the back of his hand.For a few minutes, the three of them simply breathed in each other’s scents and grounded themselves in the present moment.A thought occurred to Seungcheol. He shifted on Jeonghan’s lap with a soft, rustling murmur. “Hannie? Can I ask you something?”Jeonghan grunted without shifting his head. “Uh huh.”“Do you resent Junhwi? For requiring this much?”Jeonghan’s head snapped up at the question. He stared at the back of Seungcheol’s head on his lap, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”Seungcheol turned over so he was facing Jeonghan. “I mean… it’s hard on you, you know? You have so much extra work, so much extra pro bono work. Do you ever resent Junhwi for it?”Jeonghan considered the question. His first instinct was to say no, of course not, but the solemn quietness drawn over Seungcheol’s face made him pause. Seungcheol was genuinely worried, and genuine worry deserved a genuine response.“…No,” Jeonghan decided, after some thought. “I guess maybe there have been times where I’ve conflated the stress of this case with Junhwi, but I know I’m not really mad at him, because none of this is really about Junhwi. It’s just the system that he’s stuck in that’s the real problem.”“Do you resent Myungho then?” Seungcheol pressed. “For wanting Junhwi?”Jeonghan cried, “No! Of course not! Myungho loves Junhwi! What’s wrong with that?”Wrapping his arms around himself, Seungcheol nodded and said quietly, “Okay. I’m sorry for asking. I just wanted to be sure. This is always so stressful and I just… I don’t want my family to hate each other.”Jeonghan pulled Seungcheol up so Seungcheol was resting against his chest, face tucked into the side of his neck. Rubbing Seungcheol’s back slowly, Jeonghan promised, “We wouldn’t. We understand that it’s neither Junhwi nor Myungho’s fault that this is so difficult. But….” Jeonghan gave Seungcheol an abashed smile. “Even so, I’m glad I got the chance to say it out loud.” “If I hadn’t confirmed that with myself, maybe I would have ended up subconsciously resenting Myungho or Junhwi.”Seungcheol snuffled into Jeonghan’s skin. “Okay.”“Thanks for checking in with me, Cheollie,” Jeonghan murmured, pressing a kiss into Seungcheol’s hair. “You’re a really good leader.”Jeonghan could feel Seungcheol smile into his skin. “I know,” he said. “I’m the best.”Jeonghan laughed. “Okay, I think it might be time for some of us to go back to bed, and deflate our fat heads a little.”Seungcheol bit down on Jeonghan’s shoulder in retaliation. “I’m not fat!”“No, you’re not,” Jeonghan cooed. He hoisted Seungcheol up in his arms and attempted to stand up, only to collapse down on the couch again. “Maybe you are a little.”Laughing at Seungcheol’s enraged hiss, Jisoo ruffled Seungcheol’s hair. “He didn’t mean it, baby. You’re as beautiful as the day we met you.”Seungcheol removed his face from Jeonghan’s neck just enough to narrow his eyes at Jisoo. “I’m even more handsome,” he asserted.“Oh my gosh.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Shua, let’s get this baby back into bed before he makes us build him a statue in his honor.”Together, with Jisoo supporting some of his weight, Jeonghan managed to stand up with Seungcheol wrapped around him like a koala, and the three of them staggered off to bed.Seungcheol immediately released Jeonghan once his back connected with their soft duvet and burrowed back under the covers, promptly shutting his eyes. Jisoo crawled into bed on the left side; and after quickly brushing his teeth and changing out of his work clothes, Jeonghan contentedly slumped onto bed to the right of Seungcheol.The three of them cuddled close under the blankets, not minding the heat from the extra bodies.“Miss this, Hannie,” Seungcheol mumbled.“I know,” Jeonghan whispered back. “Hopefully it’ll be over soon.”“Do you think the company starting to cave?” Jisoo asked. His fingers crawled over Seungcheol’s hip, searching for Jeonghan’s hand, and Jeonghan gratefully tangled his fingers in Jisoo’s.Jeonghan answered, “I never count my chickens before they hatch, but… in my experience, the companies always cave. They love their money too much. Plus, this time I brought help.”“Ah, that new associate? Adachi Yuto?” Jisoo smiled amusedly. “I’d’ve thought Lee Hotaek would have snatched him up.”Jeonghan scoffed. “As if his offer could be better than mine. Adachi doesn’t want to work in corporate law, anyway.”“Mhm. I’m glad he’s here to help you, and that you have someone else who knows how difficult this is at your side.”Jeonghan sighed. “Doesn’t make it easier.”“Sorry,” Jisoo said after a moment. “Sorry that this is so hard.”“Me too,” Jeonghan said.Jisoo smiled at him, soft in the darkness. “No matter what, we’ll always be here for you.”Jeonghan smiled back. “Thanks.”Jeonghan closed his eyes, slowing his breath to match Seungcheol’s. Seungcheol hadn’t spoken for a while, so Jeonghan assumed he was already asleep.However, as soon as Jeonghan settled down, Seungcheol shifted. “Jeonghan?” he slurred, voice thick with sleep. He reached out blindly for Jeonghan, hand settling on his cheek. “Thank you for doing this. For Myungho, for Junhwi, and for me. For our family. We love you.”Jeonghan kissed where Seungcheol’s pulse pounded in his neck and nestled into his chest. He closed his eyes. “I love you too.” There was, of course, only one reasonable place to hold a joint birthday party: the NYC Lion.Junhui had been ecstatic when Minghao had told him about their plan. He insisted that he didn’t care if he got a full, half, or partial birthday; he was just happy that they’d thought of him at all.Minghao was not pleased with this answer, and insisted that Junhui needed to tell him something, or else Soonyoung-hyung would ruin the whole thing by turning it into some bizarre and inappropriate flamenco-themed dance party.Junhui laughed at the image, but agreed that perhaps something more low-key was in order. Good food was a must, and perhaps some fun music. Junhui hadn’t had a cake since he’d left China – and even before then, cakes were only bought sparingly. He trusted that Minghao would do something he liked.The only question that Junhui had was if Hyunwoo and Tia could come with him. They were his family too, and he felt it was only fitting that his current family come meet his new family, at a celebration that might be one of the last times he could spend with them.Minghao readily agreed, and they picked a date and time when Hyunwoo, Junhui, and Tia might be able to close up on time and enjoy a small gathering until their curfew.On the designated night, Hyunwoo carefully locked all their doors, and the three of them rode in Jeonghan’s car to the NYC Lion.Junhui spent the entire ride vibrating on excess energy. He really wanted his families to like each other, and Tia and Hyunwoo’s approval mattered very much to him.“I really hope you like them,” Junhui said again, hands fluttering in the air.Tia smiled at him. “This is about you, xiao Hui. If they make you happy, I like them. We support you, no matter what.”Junhui pressed his cheek against hers. “Thanks, Tia-jie.”Jeonghan glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Junnie, do you feel nervous?” Jeonghan asked.Junhui thought about the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. “A little,” he admitted.Jeonghan nodded. “Don’t worry, Junnie,” Jeonghan added. “Myungho and I will make sure everyone’s on their best behavior.”Junhui laughed at the thought of Minghao running around and trying to control a crowd of Mingyus and Seungkwans.“Remind us who’s going to be there again?” Tia requested, holding Junhui’s hand in hers and rubbing it gently.Jeonghan hummed. “There’s me, obviously. Myungho, who you’ve all met. Seungkwannie and Mingyu, who Junhwi’s met but you or Hyunwoo-ssi – and Hansolie, of course. I think you only haven’t met Jihoon, Wonwoo, Soonyoung, Jisoo, and Seungcheol.”“Seungcheol’s your leader?” Hyunwoo confirmed.Jeonghan nodded. “Yes. I’ll introduce you both to him when we get there.” He smiled at Junhui in the mirror. “Myungho’s determined to stick by your side the entire night.”The thought warmed Junhui’s heart, and he couldn’t stop a fond smile from spreading over his lips.“I will too, of course,” Jeonghan added. “If you want.”Tia turned to Junhui. “Do you want us to stick by you?” she asked. “We can if you want, or if you think you’re up to it, you can just have Minghao for now.”Junhui thought about it. “Just Minghao for now,” he decided. “I’ll come get you if I start feeling overwhelmed.”Hyunwoo grinned at him and twisted around to ruffle his hair. “Sounds like a plan.”By the time the four of them pulled up to the front of the NYC Lion, two other cars were parked up front and bright lights shone out of the window. Junhui could hear excited shouting even from outside the building.Jeonghan grimaced apologetically. “Ugh, those kids. Even when it’s just them, they’re still loud enough to wake the neighbors.” He glanced sideways at Junhui with a teasing smile. “Are you sure you want to meet them, Junnie? It’s not too late to back out, you know.”Junhui looked back at Hyunwoo and Tia. They were both smiling at him, waiting for his decision.Junhui felt a rush of confidence. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I think I can do this.”Jeonghan’s smile softened. “Great. Let’s do this.” He pushed the door open.Minghao was in the middle of talking when they entered, loudly saying, “ – hui-ge’s bringing his family, so remember that Jun-ge is the cat hybrid – ”Minghao’s voice was lost in the sudden burst of noise when the other members of Minghao’s family caught sight of Junhui.“Moon Junhwi!” An energetic ball of personality and orange hair came flying towards them, only to pause when he realized he couldn’t quite tell the difference between chipmunk ears and cat ears.“Are you Moon Junhwi?” the orange-haired man asked Hyunwoo.Hyunwoo laughed and shook his head, turning his head towards Junhui, who raised his hand with a sheepish grin. “I’m Moon Jun – ”“Moon Junhwi!” The man with the orange hair beamed. “I’m Kwon Soonyoung! Myungho-ah says I’m the same age as you, so just call me Soonyoung. Welcome to the pack!”“Oh, hello,” Junhui said, a little taken aback by the man’s energy. “Thank you.” His mind ground to a halt, and he suddenly couldn’t find any words to say.Thankfully, Jeonghan stepped in. “Back up, Soonyoung, and let everyone else introduce themselves. We don’t you to scare Junnie off before he even arrives.”Although he whined, pouting at Jeonghan, Soonyoung did step back to allow the rest of the people whom Junhui had yet to meet introduce themselves.There was a short, rather taciturn (but extremely cute) alpha rabbit hybrid named Jihoon, a taller beta man with fox-like eyes called Wonwoo, and another beta man with a slim face and gentle eyes named Jisoo – “We talked over the phone,” he said, both lips and eyes curving up in a smile. Junhui flushed at the memory and ducked his head.Then, finally, a beautiful man with sweeping eyelashes; dark, warm eyes; and a gummy bright smile stepped forward to take both of Junhui’s hands in his. “We’re so happy that you decided to join our family, Junhwi!” he said. His hands felt warm and dry, and his vanilla-tinted orange chocolate scent left no doubt in Junhui’s mind. This had to be –“Seungcheol. You can call me Seungcheol.” Minghao’s pack leader beamed up at Junhui.Junhui couldn’t stop himself from dropping into a deep bow. “Thank you so much for allowing me to join your pack, Seungcheol-ssi, I can’t even begin to say how grateful I am – ”Seungcheol still hadn’t let go of Junhui’s hands; he used them to pull Junhui upright again. “Please don’t thank me, Junhwi-ah. It was nothing. Or, well, it’s not nothing, but what I’m trying to say is that it’s no favor to welcome you into our family, Junhwi. This is something all of us wanted.” He smiled. “Do you do hugs, Junhwi-ah?”Dumbfounded and without words, Junhui could only nod and let Seungcheol pull him into a big, warm, wooly hug. From this close, Seungcheol’s orangey chocolate scent was even stronger, and Junhui could pick out the other scents that stuck on him – Jeonghan’s roses, Mingyu’s berries, Minghao’s fabric softener.Seungcheol stretched up on his toes so he could speak directly into Junhui’s ear. “Thank you for saying yes, Junhwi. It means a lot to Myungho, and it means a lot to us.”Junhui burrowed deeper into the embrace, tightening his arms around Seungcheol and tucking his head into his neck. He didn’t know how to say what he wanted, so he could only repeat, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” into Seungcheol’s hair and hope he conveyed the happiness and warmth that threatened to burst from his chest. With introductions over, Seungcheol’s attention was diverted to Tia and Hyunwoo, who had engaged him in conversation and were asking him questions. Seungkwan spotted the opportunity to act as host and had dragged Hansol with him.Soonyoung declared that it was time to dance. Grabbing Junhui by the hand, he began to pull him over to an empty space in the bar where chairs and tables had been cleared away. Minghao followed at a more sedate pace, unwilling to be away from Junhui, but also not willing to be caught up in whatever Soonyoung wants.“Dance?” Junhui asked, feeling shy. “I’ve never….”“That’s okay, I’ll show you!” Soonyoung said. “Didn’t Myungho tell you? I teach dance!”Junhui shook his head.Soonyoung whipped his head around towards Minghao, betrayed. “You didn’t tell him about me! How could you forget?”Minghao grinned. “Maybe I did it on purpose.”Soonyoung gasped before breaking into laughter himself. “You cheeky asshole. I’ll teach you not to make fun of your elders!”“Make me,” Minghao retorted.Soonyoung pointed at Minghao. “A dance battle, you and me!”Junhui gasped. He knew Minghao could dance, but he’d never actually seen it. It suddenly was very important that he see Minghao dance.Minghao glanced over at Junhui, and seeing Junhui’s eagerness in his smile and the sparkle in his eyes, sighed in one, long exhale. “Fine. Let’s do it. Only for Junhui-ge, though!”“Yes, yes, yes!” Soonyoung cheered. “A dance battle! This is the best way to see what dance is all about, Junhwi! I’ll show you how much fun it is!”Junhui watched as Soonyoung went off to find Jihoon, insisting that they needed proper battle music, while Minghao corralled Mingyu into stretching with him. Although Junhui had spent some time with Minghao’s family – Junhui’s family, too, now – It was still a surprise to see how much more open Minghao was with them.Back when Junhui had first met Minghao, Minghao had just arrived in Korea, taken forcefully from his parents who had neither the influence nor the money needed to stop the growing company industry from doing as it liked. The Minghao of that time had been angry and bitter – angry at the society that had said he was worth nothing, bitter that he could do nothing about it.Although Junhui hadn’t really understood his anger – Junhui had always known he would be in this system, had been prepared for it – he still tried his best to support Minghao, to make their experience together something Minghao could enjoy.It had worked, partially – Minghao had eventually relaxed, had eventually settled in to the rhythm of his new life. Still, there was always a tightness around Minghao’s eyes, and he had never really, truly smiled.Now, watching Minghao laugh and grin as he pushed Mingyu into a split, Mingyu yelping in pain, Junhui thought that no matter how anxious he felt about his decision, it would always be worth it to see Minghao so happy.“He’s a lot more open now,” a deep voice said into Junhui’s ear.Junhui jumped and took a half step back to see Wonwoo giving him a half smile, his hands shoved into his pockets.“Who?” Junhui asked, when his brain caught up to the conversation.Wonwoo jerked his head toward “Myungho,” he clarified.“What was he like when he first came to you?” Junhui asked, curious.Wonwoo pursed his lips as he thought. “Not as bad as when he met you,” he decided. “He was still closed off, but he didn’t push any of us away when we tried to become friends with him. Well, maybe with the exception of Mingyu, but that’s just how they are,” he added.Junhui laughed. “Yes, they are funny,” he agreed.Wonwoo nodded. “Honestly, from almost the moment he met us, he talked about you.” Wonwoo smiled at Junhui’s expression. “Don’t look so shocked. He told us it was because of your support that he felt brave enough to accept our offer, you know. I just thought maybe you might want to know that.”“Oh.” Junhui didn’t know what else to say, but Wonwoo didn’t appear to need an answer, giving Junhui one last nod before moving away to make fun of Mingyu’s flexibility.Junhui couldn’t shake Wonwoo’s words from his head. Although Minghao had said the same as Wonwoo, had told him Junhui helped him, Junhui didn’t understand how. Junhui wasn’t special – he wasn’t especially smart, or wise, or kind. He was just himself. What was it Junhui could do for Minghao?Loud clapping shook Junhui from his thoughts.Soonyoung stood in the middle of the cleared space, holding a pair of chopsticks to his mouth like a microphone. “Alright people, let’s get it going! In the northern corner today we have our reigning champion, the unbeatable Seooooo Myunghoooo, let’s hear it for him!”Soonyoung whooped and hollered like he was part of the audience, and Junhui quickly followed his lead. He felt a hand touch his shoulder, and he turned around to see Hyunwoo and Tia standing behind him, drawn by all the noise. He smiled at them and let their scents and touch ground him as Soonyoung went on to introduce himself as the ‘wet and wild Hurricane Hoshi.’Junhui expected that would be all, but Soonyoung had one more person to announce. “Aaaand finally, the man behind the magic, the bun behind the fun, Seoul’s one and only rabbit rabble-rouser, Woozi!”Soonyoung spread his arms towards the edge of the cleared space, where Jihoon stood behind a table with some machinery set up. Jihoon offered the small crowd a half-hearted wave and a shy smile.“He’s the one who made that CD that you liked,” Jeonghan commented, coming up on Junhui’s other side.It took Junhui a moment to remember what Jeonghan was talking about, but when he did his eyes widened. “Him? Woozi?” he asked, tripping slightly over the name.Jeonghan nodded. “That’s his stage name. I told you he works as a producer, right?”Junhui thought back. “Yeah, you did.”Jeonghan smiled. “He doesn’t DJ for a living – not too many people will let a hybrid DJ for them, even if Hoonie keeps it under tight wraps – but he can produce for people, and they’ll buy his music through his agent, all without even meeting him.”“Wow,” Junhui said softly. “That’s really cool of him.”“You should tell him you liked his music, Junnie,” Jeonghan said, a twinkle in his eye. “I bet that would make him happy.”Junhui blushed. “Would it?”“Of course!” Jeonghan reached over to pinch Junhui’s cheek. “Who wouldn’t be flattered by praise coming from this cute face?”Junhui was about to protest that he wasn’t cute, he was handsome, when Seungkwan’s voice cut through the ambient noise. “Alright, people, we’re about to start, two rounds each. You ready, hyung?” he asked Jihoon.Jihoon flashed him a thumbs up and moved one headphone over one ear.Seungkwan nodded. “Alright, let’s spin the bottle to see who goes first… and… Myungho-hyung, you’re up first.”Minghao made a playful slashing motion over his throat before pointing at Soonyoung, who returned it with a wink. The music started up without a word from Jihoon, and before Junhui knew it, the battle had begun.Minghao struck quickly. Junhui had always known Minghao was fast, he’d never had a chance to see how fast until this moment. Minghao moved as if his body was a sword and he was an expert wielder, his body movements flashing too quickly for Junhui to follow properly.Minghao ended his round with a flip that had everyone else whooping, even Tia, who cheered louder than Junhui had ever heard her cheer.Soonyoung jumped into his set as soon as Minghao bowed out of the ring.When he began to dance, Junhui could see that he didn’t intend to compete with Minghao on speed or power. Soonyoung’s dance style was lighter and smoother, and he used a different set of movements than Minghao. He ended his set with a cool little twist that hit the beat just right, prompting everyone to cheer again.Junhui had never seen anything like it.He watched the rest of the dance competition in a daze, buoyed on Minghao and Soonyoung’s energy and the call of the music.When Soonyoung finished his last round, Seungkwan made a few comments and then moved so he was standing in front of Junhui. “Well?” he said. “Who won?”Junhui jerked in surprise. “Me?” he asked, pointing at himself.Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Yes, you, hyung,” he said. “They both wanted to impress you, after all. That makes you the judge.”“It was me, right?” Soonyoung shouted, grinning from ear to ear.Junhui looked back and forth between Soonyoung, who was hopping up and down and grinning, and Minghao, who was wiping sweat from his forehead and smiling a small smile at Junhui like he knew what Junhui was going to say next.Well, maybe he did, Junhui thought, a smile curving his own lips. Minghao did know him best. “I can’t decide!” Junhui said. “You were both great!”“Aaaw,” Soonyoung complained, but before Junhui could think he felt disappointed, he bounded over and slung an arm over Junhui’s shoulder. “So?” he asked. “What did you think?”“Of what?”“Of what, he says,” Soonyoung scoffed. “Of dancing!”“Oh!” Junhui thought for a moment to try and put the words together. “I loved it,” he decided. “It looked really fun, but I don’t think I can – ”“Nonsense!” Soonyoung cried. “Dance isn’t about doing flips or popping just right, it’s about having fun!”“And love and respect,” Minghao added quietly.Soonyoung used the arm around Junhui’s shoulder to begin steering him towards the cleared floor. “So come on! Now that we’ve showed you what it’s like when we have fun, it’s your turn to join in!”Junhui protested, “I still don’t – ” before the heavy bass of music cut him off. He looked over towards the DJ table to see Jihoon flashing him a smile before turning his attention back to the music. Hansol stood next to him, holding a pair of invisible headphones up to one ear and pretending to scratch a record with his other hand.He turned back around to see Minghao and Soonyoung already grooving. Mingyu joined in, and so did Hyunwoo and Tia. Tia held out a hand to him, but before he could take it, Junhui felt a tap on his shoulder.He turned around to see Seungcheol smiling up at him. “Dance with me?” he requested.“Oh, um.” Junhui looked back at Tia, but she simply mouthed go at him, making a shooing motion. Junhui turned back to Seungcheol, who was still smiling. Junhui said, “Okay.”Watching how Seungcheol wiggled to the music, Junhui carefully tried to copy his movements, and soon, he found his own body taking over. “Yes, that’s it!” Soonyoung shouted, shimmying his way towards Junhui. “You’ve got it!”“I do?” Junhui asked, a smile beginning to bloom on his face.Soonyoung nodded so hard his hair flopped over. “Yes!”Junhui beamed and wiggled even harder, trying to copy what he had seen Soonyoung do. “This is fun!” he shouted over the music.Soonyoung’s mouth fell open. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, oh my god, Myungho, Myungho, he’s a natural! Myungho, I need him! This is incredible!”“What?” Minghao snapped, turning around to see what Soonyoung was shouting about.Feeling self-conscious, Junhui stopped dancing, but not soon enough. Minghao had already seen.A big smile overtaking his face, Minghao ran towards Junhui and threw his arms around Junhui’s neck. “I’m so happy I got to see you dance,” he said into Junhui’s neck. “I never thought I would. I’m really happy.”“I’m not even good,” Junhui protested.Minghao shook his head, his hairs tickling Junhui’s face. “Doesn’t matter. You were having fun. That’s most important.”Soonyoung asked, “Do you want me to teach you how to dance, Junnie? Sometimes you can have more fun if you learn more.”Junhui’s eyes widened. “You would?”“Of course!” Soonyoung said. “I love teaching people how to dance. It’s spreading joy!”“I can help too,” Minghao said, pulling away from Junhui just a little, so Soonyoung could hear him too. “If you want.”Junhui thought about how fun it was to simply lose himself in the music, and how much fun Minghao and Soonyoung looked like they were having when they battled. For the first time in his life, Junhui felt as if… he wanted something. He wanted something without anyone else telling him to do it.A little voice inside of him, weak but still present, told him to follow that feeling.Junhui said, “Yes. I want to.” Jeonghan pulled Junhui away from Soonyoung and Minghao, saying that one couldn’t possibly just dance all night, and Junhui had to eat, too, before he had to go back to meet his curfew.Jisoo was standing by the bar where all the food was, cheerfully loading more onto his plate.“Shua!” Jeonghan called when he saw Jisoo. “What’s good?”“All of this,” Jisoo answered, turning around. When he saw Junhui, he smiled. “Junnie-ah,” he said. “You got away from Soonyoung’s craziness?”“I liked it,” Junhui said, feeling the need to protect his new friend.Jisoo laughed. “I’m glad. He’s a little energetic, but we wouldn’t have him any other way.” He smiled at Junhui. “Are you hungry?”Relaxing when he realized Jisoo had just been teasing Soonyoung, Junhui nodded.Jeonghan patted Junhui’s belly. “We want to get him fed before he has to go back to make curfew.”Jisoo made a little ‘O’ with his mouth. “Well, in that case, let’s eat!” He passed Junhui a plate. “Just take whatever looks good. Don’t worry about finishing it if you don’t like it; Mingyu makes an excellent leftover stew.”Junhui looked over at the plates and plates and plates of food that lined the surface of the bar. It seemed that Mingyu had decided to cook the same dishes that Junhui had liked best the last time, as well as some others he probably asked Minghao’s opinion for. There was a warm plate of spicy rice cakes, a clay pot of thinly sliced marinated beef soup, and crispy pork belly, as well as what looked like an honest attempt at hefen, a type of stir-fried wide rice noodles from Guangdong.Junhui tried the hefen first. It had cooled down a little since their impromptu dance battle, and the soy sauce used didn’t taste like the kind from home, but the thought that Mingyu had even made an attempt to bring Junhui a piece of home again made it taste like the best plate of hefen Junhui had ever had.“Try some of this,” Jisoo said, piling more food onto Junhui’s plate.Junhui obediently ate all of what Jisoo gave him, opening his mouth whenever Jisoo waved his chopsticks near Junhui’s face.As Junhui was working on chewing a particularly large rice cake, Jisoo said, “We never got to talk about what happened that night, when you called us.”Junhui’s eyes widened and he nearly choked on his food.Jisoo laughed. “It’s alright, keep eating. I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad you called us. I was glad to have heard your voice. And I'm happy that you relied on us! As your family, we want you to feel comfortable with asking us for what you need.” He gave Junhui a sweet smile. “I hope you keep asking us for what you need.”Junhui ducked his head into his food and mumbled his thanks, trying to will away the flush spreading across his cheeks. He didn’t know how to respond to so much open kindness directed towards him.Thankfully, Jeonghan came to his rescue, hip-checking Jisoo out of the way. “Is Jisoo scaring you with all his icky feelings again?” he cooed.Jisoo rolled his eyes. “I’m not the one who’s allergic to feelings.”“That’s because you’re weird,” Jeonghan said, sticking his tongue out at Jisoo. “Don’t worry, Junnie,” he said to Junhui. “I’ll protect you from the weird feelings man.”Junhui couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle at the face Jisoo pulled.Jisoo warned, “You say that now, but in two more weeks you’ll be coming back to me for advice on how to tell Wonwoo that yes, it does matter if he uses all your conditioner, and you would really love it if he didn’t do it again.”“Then that is a problem for Jeonghan in two weeks’ time,” Jeonghan said primly. “Right now is Junhwi’s welcome party! No more feelings.”Jisoo snorted. “Alright, then. How do you like the food, Junnie-ah? Mingyu asked Myungho what he thought you might like… Myungho bit his head off again, though,” he added, laughing.“I really like it,” Junhui said sincerely. “Look, this is hefen, which is a dish from my province! It tastes really good!”Jisoo asked, “How do you say that?”Junhui repeated himself, drawing out the sounds so Jisoo could hear them more clearly, and then Jisoo repeated echoed the words back, pronunciation nearly perfect.“Wow, that’s really good!” Junhui complimented.Jeonghan bragged, “Our Shua has a knack for languages,” pressing a swift kiss to Jisoo’s cheek.Jisoo rolled his eyes. “It’s not a knack, I just grew up speaking two languages, so I have practice mimicking sounds I don’t really understand. I grew up in the States,” he explained for Junhui’s benefit.“Oh! So you’re American?”“Yeah, but I’ve also lived in Korea for… almost ten years now? I came here for school and just never left. That’s why you’ll hear some of the pack call me Joshua. It’s my English name.”“Wow,” Junhui marveled. “So your English must be really good.”“It’s as good as your Chinese,” Jisoo replied in English with a smile, prompting another impressed noise from Junhui.“Don’t praise him, he’ll get a big head,” Jeonghan complained. “And I told you to stop saying things I can’t understand!”“I only said how you were the prettiest person in our entire pack.” Jisoo fluttered his eyelashes at Jeonghan.“Bullshit,” Jeonghan said, with feeling.Junhui couldn’t help but laugh at Jisoo’s scandalized expression.It seemed that the sound of Junhui laughing drew the attention of the other pack members, for Soonyoung bounded over a moment later. “What’s happening, what’s happening, what’s happening?”“Nothing,” Jisoo told him. “Jeonghan is being uncouth again.”“I’m a grown-ass adult – !”“A grown adult should understand how to speak without being rude.”“Why don’t we have the cake now,” Seungcheol interrupted. He smiled sweetly at both Jisoo and Jeonghan. “This seems to be about the right time for that, doesn’t it?”“I’ll get it,” Mingyu volunteered. He disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing moments later with a lovely, small, round cake with fruits littering the top. “It’s not that sweet,” he explained as he set the cake down on the bartop. “There’s ten of us – eleven, now, and, well….” He gave a short laugh. “Ten cakes in one year is a lot, even for us.”Junhui couldn’t speak.He’d had fun that night, definitely. The entire pack had gone out of their way to make him feel welcome and involved; he’d hardly had time to feel overwhelmed.Seeing the cake reminded him that this was his birthday party – that these people, who he hardly knew, who hardly knew him, had taken time out of their busy lives to celebrate his birthday, a day that hadn’t meant anything to them before recently. They’d even made him a cake!Unbidden, hot tears began to well up and blurred his vision. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” he choked out, voice trembling with the effort not to let his tears fall. “I don’t… I don’t deserve this much.”“Oh, Junnie,” someone sighed.There was a deep breath let out, and then a warm body wrapped him up in a hug. It came with an unfamiliar scent, like spring leaves and running water. Junhui hardly had time to get used to it, however, as more scents piled on – fabric softener and lemon and roses and cherries and more that seeped into the mixture before he could pick them out individually.“We’re happy to be celebrating with you,” Wonwoo’s deep voice said by Junhui’s ear.“And me!” Soonyoung chimed in. “You’ve made my birthday so fun!”Junhui immediately felt guilty for having taken so much of the attention away from Soonyoung, who was supposed to share half his birthday party. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry – ”“Oh, hush, you!” Soonyoung pushed through the crowd and clamped onto Junhui tightly, shoving aside everyone else. “I’ll tell you if you need to be sorry, okay? But really, you’re the best birthday present I could have ever gotten.” Soonyoung pulled away just enough for Junhui to see his wide-cheeked smile before Junhui got pinched on the cheek himself. “If you want to make me happy, join my dance team, okay? I’ll teach you everything you’ll ever need to know!”“But if you don’t want to, just say so,” Wonwoo added. “Soonyoung is a little persistent at the best of times.”“I can be a lot,” Soonyoung agreed. “But only in the best ways.”“I’ll do it,” Junhui said, so surely that he stunned himself. “I… I want to do it. It looks like fun.” He tried for a smile, and was surprised that it felt genuine on his face.Soonyoung cheered. “Yes! Victory dance!” He released one of Junhui’s arms so he could step around in a little wiggle that must have been his victory dance. “And now for my prize! Everyone step aside so I can have Junnie to myself.”“You’ve already elbowed us all out of the way, what else is left?” Jihoon’s dry voice said from the back.“Should we sing now?” Jisoo wondered.Seungcheol sighed. For the first time, Junhui could see how difficult it must be to try to organize ten fairly rowdy people – now eleven, Junhui reminded himself. He bit the inside of his mouth to hide his smile and the warmth growing inside him as he thought of himself as one of the pack.“Let’s just sing, or else we’ll stand here without doing anything all night,” Seungkwan decided, taking charge. “Ready? Five, six, seven, eight!”Everyone except Soonyoung and Junhui started singing happy birthday, well in tune, and with Seungkwan even adding on lovely harmonies and improvisations.It was the most beautiful thing Junhui had ever heard. He let the warmth inside him expand, and bloom on his face as the widest smile he’s ever made. “It’s good to see you again, Seungcheol.” Dr. Om smiled warmly at Seungcheol, his eyes crinkling. Washing his hands, he asked, “How are you feeling?”“Better, now that I’m in the second trimester officially,” Seungcheol laughed. “The nausea has finally started to go away a bit.”“I see your baby bump is showing more as well!” Dr. Om observed. He dried his hands off and took a seat by the exam table where Seungcheol was sitting. “Do you have any questions for me?”Seungcheol shook his head.Dr. Om nodded. “That’s alright. Remember that if you do, you can always text me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. I understand that pregnancy is a scary time – almost as scary as actual parenthood,” he added with a chuckle.“You’re telling me,” Seungcheol said dryly. “I think Jeonghan has every parenting book ever written somewhere in our room. Jisoo has called his parents no less than twenty times in the past month for pointers, and Wonwoo has been drawing up his own curriculum for pre-schooling. I think they’re more worried than I am. I’m just trying to get through these next few months.”Dr. Om laughed out loud. “That seems about right for first-time parents,” he agreed. “Honestly, there’s no right answer. We all just try our best, and we admit to and own our mistakes when we inevitably make them. Although,” he added wryly, “me saying that won’t change anything, I’m sure.”“Probably not.”“Well, honestly, there’s not too much to do this time,” Dr. Om said, standing up. “We’ve already scheduled you for a blood draw for your second trimester labs, right?”“Yes,” Seungcheol nodded.“Then really, all we have left is the ultrasound to check how everything’s coming along. Do you want your packmates in the room for this?”“Yes, please. If we leave them in the waiting room for much longer, they might wear a hole through the floor.”“Alright.” Dr. Om smiled. “I’ll step out to grab them, and we’ll be right back.”Seungcheol settled in for the short wait as Dr. Om left the room. These hospital beds were getting more and more comfortable, he mused. Although he bet the room where he’d be giving birth wouldn’t feel half as good, even if it was the same type of bed.A stampede of footsteps announced his pack’s arrival. Dr. Om reentered the room, with Jeonghan, Minghao, and Wonwoo hot on his tail. At the start of the pregnancy, they’d agreed that only three people at a time would be allowed to accompany Seungcheol on his doctor’s visits, to be decided by availability and rock-paper-scissors. Minghao and Wonwoo had beaten out Mingyu and Jihoon, and Jeonghan had… probably cheated.“I’m going to warm up the ultrasound machine now, okay? You guys know the drill by now, right?”Everyone nodded, and Dr. Om proceeded with warming up the gel and spreading it over Seungcheol’s slightly enlarged belly. Picking up the wand, he pressed it against Seungcheol’s skin and moved it slightly before finding what he was looking for.“There they are! Your pup!”Jeonghan, Minghao, and Wonwoo all crowded closer so they could see better.“It’s so small,” Minghao marveled.Wonwoo sniffled. “They’re perfect.”Dr. Om looked over the image. “I don’t see anything concerning, so we’ll just make a follow-up appointment for a month. Would you like me to print out a copy for you?” he asked, smiling like he knew exactly what the answer would be.“Yes!” Jeonghan nearly leapt on the man. “Please!”Dr. Om chuckled. “Alright.” He pressed a few buttons on the computer before removing the wand from Seungcheol’s stomach and placing it back in its holder. He handed Seungcheol a few paper towels and said, “You can use these to wipe off the jelly. I’ll be right back, and then you’ll be good to go!”After Dr. Om left the room, Minghao leaned in and plucked the paper towels from Seungcheol’s hands. “Let me.”Seungcheol nodded his consent, and Minghao proceeded to gently wipe off all the gel from Seungcheol’s belly before tugging Seungcheol’s shirt back down. Seungcheol grabbed Minghao’s free hand before he turned to toss the now wet and sticky paper. “I’m happy to be doing this with all of you,” he said, smiling. “I can’t think of anyone else who I’d rather have with me than you.”Minghao looked lost, but then Wonwoo rested his hand on top of both of theirs. They both looked up at him. “We’re happy to be doing this with you, too, hyung,” he said.“All of us,” Jeonghan said. “All of us.” Extra:The door to Mingyu’s room banged open, and before Mingyu even registered the disturbance, Minghao collapsed onto his lap, tears flowing freely from his eyes. “Mingyu! Gyu!”“Are you okay?” Mingyu asked, instantly concerned. Minghao, although not as emotionless as he might want everyone to think, usually didn’t like to display his tears so openly.Minghao sniffled. “Yes. No. Maybe? I don’t know.”Mingyu softened his voice. “Can you slow down and tell me what happened?”“Um. Junhui – Junhui said he’d – come? He said he’d come? He said he’d come!”“That’s wonderful!” Mingyu enthused warmly. “When?”“In – in two weeks. I think. Or – longer? I can’t remember.”“Okay. That’s good. So why are you crying?”Mingyu wondered if he shouldn’t have brought it up, because at the mention of crying, Minghao only sobbed harder. “Junhui – he told me he loved me.”“Oh my god.” Mingyu smoothed his hand down Minghao’s hair. “There, there. Isn’t that a good thing?”“Maybe?” Minghao squeaked. “I don’t know. I want cuddles.”Mingyu started laughing. “Oh my god. I should get Junhwi-hyung to say I love you more often! A cuddly Myungho is so rare!”Minghao looked up from his pillow with a glare. “Shut the hell up and hold me, or else there will be no cuddles.”“Yessir.”
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Jeonghan settled Junhui’s case before the month was out, and, with their pockets sagging with their newfound wealth, Junhui’s company agreed to let him go at the end of June.The time passed quickly. Jeonghan and Minghao still called Junhui every morning, or sometimes Soonyoung or Wonwoo or Hansol; and Jeonghan still dropped by with various snacks and treats after work sometimes, but there was something different in the air, and everyone could feel it. Soon enough, it was the first of July, and Junhui was being heralded out of the company dorms for good.Junhui wasn’t allowed to take anything from the dorms, not even his clothes, so when Jeonghan came to pick him up, he brought Mingyu’s clothes with him.The Seoul summer air was hot and sticky, and the rough fabric of Mingyu’s jeans stuck to Junhui’s legs, despite being a little too large for him.“We’ll miss you,” Tia murmured, holding Junhui close.Hyunwoo produced something small from his pocket and held it out to Junhui in his fist. “For you,” he said. Junhui took the item gingerly. It was a small cat keychain. Warm in his palm from Hyunwoo’s body heat, the small cat winked up at Junhui, a paw held up to her mouth as if she was about to bathe herself. Like so many other times in the past few months, Junhui found himself near tears. Tia started to laugh, but her eyes were wet as well. “We love you so much, Junhui. I hope you’ll be happy.”“I – I love you too,” Junhui choked out. “I love you both so much, I miss you so much – ”“We love you too, Junnie,” Hyunwoo said, eyes sad. “We’ll miss you.” The worst moment was when the car door closed, and Jeonghan began to drive away.The reality of the situation hit Junhui, and he forced himself to sit still and fold his arms in place, even though all he wanted to do was to tell Jeonghan to stop the car and run back into Tia and Hyunwoo’s arms.Hansol and Minghao had come with Jeonghan to keep Junhui company in the back seat. Junhui found himself grateful for it, because at the first sight of Junhui’s trembling lips, without even being asked, Hansol curled up into Junhui’s side, mane of hair at the right height for Junhui to rest his cheek on, and Minghao wrapped an arm around Junhui’s shoulders and gently pushed him so the three of them were piled on top of each other. Although Jeonghan almost certainly glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the tears fall from Junhui’s cheeks, he didn’t say a word, and let Junhui cry it out by himself. The house was quiet when they arrived.The pack lived in a modest high-rise, bought with their collective incomes with plenty to spare so they could support their omega and hybrid members. “It’s not a lot,” Hansol apologized, opening the door for Junhui, “but it’s home.”Junhui stood in the doorway silently as Jeonghan, Minghao, and Hansol all shucked off their shoes in one messy pile and entered the house. For the first time since he’d met them, Junhui felt like a stranger. In all the other times that he’d spent time with the pack, it had been in a neutral location, where some of them were familiar with the place and some of them had not.This, however, was the pack’s private and personal home, made evident by how Minghao carelessly threw his jacket over the coat stand; how Jeonghan immediately collapsed onto the sofa; how Hansol wandered into a different room, disappearing from view.Junhui gripped his small cat charm tightly. “Jun-ge?” Minghao poked his head back into the entryway. “Are you coming?”“Y-Yes,” Junhui managed to call back. He carefully removed his shoes – a loan from Wonwoo – and set them down gingerly by the doorway. With his fingers still wrapped tightly around his small cat charm, he ventured his first few steps into his new life.Mingyu and Minghao were already bickering in the kitchen, playfully jostling each other as they tried to do different things to the food.Wonwoo was sitting quietly at the kitchen counter, reading a book. He looked up when Junhui entered. “Oh, Junhwi,” he greeted. “Hey.”“Hi,” Junhui whispered.Wonwoo squinted at Junhui for a moment, then placed his book flat on the counter to save his spot and slid off his chair. “Come on,” he said, taking Junhui by the arm. “There’s still some time before your welcome dinner, and you might want to spend a little time to relax.”“Relax?”Wonwoo merely sighed, and pulled Junhui deeper into the house, introducing Junhui to the various rooms as they walked past – the kitchen, the living room, the bathrooms, Jihoon’s studio. Junhui felt nervous in the man’s presence. He hadn’t really talked much to Wonwoo at his and Soonyoung’s birthday party, save the few words that the man had spoken to him about Minghao. He risked a peek at Wonwoo out of the corner of his eye. Wonwoo’s face was as blank as it had ever been, perfect lips set into a mild downward slope. Junhui began to worry – what if Wonwoo hadn’t wanted him here at all? What if he was, as he feared, an intruder into the pack’s private home? Anxiety rose like bile in Junhui’s throat, and his ears and tail involuntarily stiffened and pressed down flat.Wonwoo noticed the change in his companion’s scent almost immediately. Although he wasn’t as attuned to Junhui’s scent, Junhui smelled very sweet, like cherries and flowers. Any bitterness soured the sweetness immediately. Wonwoo stopped walking. “Is something wrong?” he asked, taking in the hybrid’s coiled posture.“N-Nothing,” Junhui stuttered, voice so quiet that Wonwoo could barely hear him. Wonwoo frowned further. “Are you sure?” he pressed. First impressions were important, after all, and he wanted Junhui to get off on the right foot. “You just don’t look all that comfortable, that’s all.”Junhui shrugged and resolutely refused to meet Wonwoo’s eyes. Wonwoo suspected that he might not be able to get Junhui to say what was on his mind outright – which, if he thought about it, made sense; the man had spent his entire life in the service industry and likely would have suffered severe repercussions if he ever spoke his mind. After a pause, he decided to resume walking, hoping that with a little light conversation he would be able to draw Junhui out of his shell.Light conversation.Hooray. Just what Wonwoo was good at. “So what do you like to do, Junhwi-ah?” Wonwoo attempted to ask conversationally. Junhui furrowed his brow. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I never had time to like anything.”Right, of course. Wonwoo mentally hit himself in the head. Junhui had spent his life as little better than a slave, an indentured servant, of course he wasn’t able to have hobbies. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that. It was insensitive of me to ask.”Junhui shook his head. “No, it’s okay, I don’t really mind. It’s true. But I appreciate of you thinking about it.” He offered Wonwoo a shy little smile. Despite the cold face, it seemed that Wonwoo was warmer than he looked. Wonwoo smiled back. “Thanks. I wanted to apologize anyway. I guess since you didn’t have an opportunity to find out before, what do you think you’d be interested in trying out now?” When Junhui didn’t answer, Wonwoo pressed on, “I like to read, and I have a lot of books. Would you like to look at them?”Junhui froze. He’d forgotten that no one – no one besides Tia and Hyunwoo – knew that he couldn’t read. He’d only just set foot in the house; he didn’t want to make a bad impression. “Um… t-thank you, but I – I don’t want to….”“It’s no problem,” Wonwoo insisted. “Really.”“No, I….” Junhui snapped his mouth shut. Shame burned in his stomach and flushed his cheeks. He bowed his head. Wonwoo frowned. “Junwhi-ah?”“I… I’m sorry,” Junhui whispered. “Sorry? Sorry for what? Junhwi-ah, it’s – ”“I can’t read.”Wonwoo’s eyes widened. “What?” Junhui didn’t repeat himself, but Wonwoo processed his words a moment later. “Junnie,” he said.Junhui wasn’t listening. He shrunk into himself, ears pressing down on his head and tail curling between his legs. His words came out choked. “I’m – I’m sorry.”“Junnie,” Wonwoo murmured. “Oh, Junnie. I don’t know what you’re thinking, or what you’re worried about, but… that doesn’t matter to me.”Junhui unfurled his tail just the tiniest bit. “What?”Wonwoo came close, stopping shy of touching Junhui. “It doesn’t matter to me that you don’t know how to read in Korean.” His voice was low, and it burned in Junhui’s stomach. His dark eyes refused to let Junhui step away. “I think it’s really admirable of you to even know how to speak Korean as perfectly as you do. I don’t forget the reason you don’t know – it’s because you were sold here, and were never given the time or opportunity to learn.”“But Minghao – ”“Minghao is a different person, with different circumstances that led him here,” Wonwoo interrupted. His eyes softened when he saw Junhui was still confused. “Maybe we don’t have to talk about this right now. What do you say to me teaching you how to read?”Junhui waved his arms around, crying, “That’s too much trouble!”Wonwoo shook his head. “If it was too much trouble, then I wouldn’t have offered. I know maybe sometimes other people say things they don’t mean, and I can’t speak for them, but I will never offer you something that I’m not willing to follow through on. I promise.”Wonwoo used so many words, Junhui thought dazedly. They seemed to fill the air and mix together without forming any sensible meaning at all. It was like he was talking about something completely different from Junhui, even though they were both speaking the same language on the same topic. “I… I don’t know… what….”Wonwoo watched Junhui flounder, lips turned downward. It seemed that Junhui was on a different page than he was. Wonwoo remembered Minghao being the same way when he first joined the pack, unable to understand someone doing something for him just because they wanted to. Maybe Wonwoo needed to rephrase. He reached out and caught one of Junhui’s fluttering hands with his own. “I want to teach you how to read, Junnie,” he said, dark eyes locked on Junhui’s so there would be no more miscommunication. “I would like that very much.”Junhui chewed on his lower lip as he considered Wonwoo’s words. Although he still didn’t quite understand Wonwoo’s meaning, it seemed Wonwoo… Wonwoo was okay with teaching him how to read Korean. Wonwoo wasn’t saying it “Okay,” Junhui said softly. “I believe you.”Wonwoo cracked a small smile. It seemed as though he was finally getting through to Junhui, even if it was just a little. “Good,” he said firmly. “Do you want to go pick out a book now or later?”Junhui thought about it. “Later?” he asked, voice squeaking on the last syllable. “Okay.” Wonwoo smiled warmly. “Do you want to continue the tour instead?”Junhui nodded, and took Wonwoo’s offered hand. The two of them wandered together through the rest of the house, Wonwoo occasionally pointing out places of interest or sharing short anecdotes about things that have happened there. Eventually, they reached a corridor with multiple partially-shut doors, where the scents seemed to stratify a bit.“These are the bedrooms. We all double or triple up in this house, because Korea’s housing system isn’t really built for packs like ours,” Wonwoo explained. “Jeonghan-hyung, Joshua-hyung, and Seungcheol-hyung have the master suite, which works out since Shua-hyung takes forever in the bathroom and Cheol-hyung needs the extra space now.” He smiled, eyes taking on a dreamy quality as he mentioned Seungcheol’s name. The expression left as soon as it came, and Wonwoo continued briskly, “Since we’re the next oldest, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and I share the same room, with Seungkwan and Hansol in the last room.”Wonwoo stopped in front of a door left slightly ajar. Junhui could see the pale light of the early morning streaming through the door, dust motes floating through the air.Junhui sniffed; he could smell fresh fabric softener and lemon blackberry just a little too sharp – fresh scents, from very recently. Wonwoo regarded Junhui with his dark eyes. “Myungho and Mingyu’s room. We thought… you might want to stay here. With the people you know best. If you don’t, that’s fine too; we can kick Mingyu or Minghao out, or change rooms altogether, if you want to stay with someone else – ”“No!” Junhui blinked, surprised at his own sudden opinion. “No,” he said again, trying to sort out his own emotions. “I think… I think I like it like this.”Wonwoo stared for a moment longer, and then a true smile spread over his face. It transformed his cold marble visage into something warmer, more beautiful – sillier, even. It felt more sincere. Junhui thought he liked it very much. “Good,” Wonwoo said. “Then shall we get you settled in?” Junhui reappeared downstairs after Wonwoo showed him how to use the shower, and gave him a small collection of clothing to wear. Mingyu pounced on him when he arrived downstairs. “Jun-Jun-Junnie-hyung!” he sang, hauling Junhui into a hug. “Oooh, you smell like me!” He buried his face in Junhui’s hair, soft from the shower and one of the products that Wonwoo had told him to use.Junhui squirmed, trying to hide his heating cheeks.A slim hand touched his arm, and Junhui turned in Mingyu’s grasp to see Minghao standing beside him. “Do you like the room, ge?” he asked. Minghao smelled nervous, although he was trying to hide it behind a veneer of indifference. Junhui smiled at the man his first friend away from home had become. He didn’t think the Minghao he had met so many years ago would allow himself to feel an emotion as vulnerable as nervousness. “Yes,” Junhui said softly. “I like it very much.”Minghao smiled, his posture relaxing. “Good,” he said. “I wouldn’t have let you go anywhere else anyway.”Jeonghan poked his head out from the kitchen. “Children? The food is ready! If you don’t come, we’ll start without you!”“Not a child!” Mingyu complained. However, he was grinning, and with a cat-like satisfaction even Junhui couldn’t have managed, he hooked one arm through Junhui’s and the other through Minghao’s. “I worked really hard today, so let’s go enjoy the fruits of my labor!”“Yes,” Junhui laughed, even as Minghao hissed something irritable and jabbed Mingyu in the ribs. “Let’s.” The dinner was a quieter affair. Without music and a dancefloor to energize him, Soonyoung was less loud, although perhaps just as enthusiastic. The pack kept a perfect balance of keeping him in the conversation while giving him space to eat, with Minghao his ever watchful guard. After dinner, Junhui slipped up back to his room, Mingyu and Minghao still devouring the last of the food with Soonyoung downstairs. With careful fingers, Junhui peeled Mingyu’s clothes off his body and carefully folded them up, storing them neatly beside his bed. Then, he took one of Wonwoo’s softer shirts and the shorts that Mingyu had given him and put them on. He padded over to the full-length mirror that hung inside Minghao’s wardrobe. Wonwoo’s shirt was a little tight for him, and Mingyu’s shorts a little too big. He hugged himself, reveling in the feel of the soft material, in the scents of his new family – washed out, but still present. Junhui was hit with a realization: this would be his life from now on. These warm scents, these soft clothes, the happy voices from downstairs. Gripped by a sudden fit of giddy madness, Junhui hurled himself full body onto the bed that Wonwoo said was his. He hit the mattress hard, bouncing twice before losing his balance and knocking his head into the wall. “Ow,” he giggled, rubbing his sore skull.With a satisfied sigh, he flopped back onto his bed.The soft sheets and fluffy pillow tickled at his memory. The beds at the company were always much less comfortable. Hyunwoo used to complain that he was too old to sleep on a bed so soft.Junhui pressed his face to the pillow and breathed in deeply. The sheets smelled new and clean with older scents lingering underneath, woven deep into the fabric – the lemon and blackberry and rose scents he was beginning to associate with the pack. There was no trace of Tia’s sharp cherry motor oil or Hyunwoo’s thick woody scent, which he had gotten used to over the past four years.Junhui missed them, the ache of loss deep in his chest. He didn’t think he would ever stop missing them. However….The door opened. Junhui sat up to see Minghao walk through the door with an irate Mingyu in tow, the two of them bickering at such a rapid pace that Junhui couldn’t even follow their argument.When they noticed Junhui in the room, they both smiled and moved to sit by him, Mingyu settling on the edge of the bed while Minghao hopped over Junhui’s legs and nestled in close to his side. Sweet lemon and fresh fabric settled around his shoulders like a warm cloak, enveloping him in its soft embrace.Junhui closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.Yes, he missed Tia and Hyunwoo. But for the first time in a long time, he felt hope, too. His new home felt safe and warm and bright, and he could imagine a future here.With his cat keychain a comforting weight in his pocket, he opened his eyes. Minghao and Mingyu were both staring at him, warmth and affection plain on their faces.Junhui’s heart swelled until he could feel it pushing against his ribs. “I’m happy,” he told them, giving them both a quick press to the cheek.Eyes bright, Minghao grinned back at him. He said, “I’m happy too.”
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Junhui settled into a routine fairly quickly. He worked in the kitchen with Mingyu, studied Korean with Wonwoo, and learned dance from Soonyoung. He fast became a regular fixture at Seungcheol’s prenatal visits as well, Seungcheol insisting that his fresh ocean breeze scent calmed him more than anything else. Junhui was so busy adjusting to his new life that he didn’t notice the rest of the pack pattering around, him rearranging things until he bumped into Jeonghan in the hall holding a truly giant pile of pillows. Junhui hurried shaved a few off the top, asking, “Why are there so many pillows, Hannie-hyung?”“Oh.” Jeonghan blinked a few times as if to get his mind in order. “Vernonie’s rut is coming up, so we’re just preparing his bedroom.”“Rut?” Junhui had forgotten about those. “What do you guys do for them?” he asked, moving a step behind Jeonghan as he tottered towards Hansol’s bedroom. “Oh, just. We let them ride it out in their bedroom, no big deal.”“Bedroom?” Junhui frowned. Having ruts alone was excruciatingly painful for alphas. It seemed uncharacteristically cruel for the pack to treat one of their own members this way. “Don’t you guys use suppressants?”“Uh.” Jeonghan used his foot to kick Hansol’s bedroom door open, finally dropping his huge load of pillows onto the floor. Junhui followed suit, putting his armful of pillows on the floor next to Jeonghan’s.Stepping back, Jeonghan ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, Junnie, I wasn’t paying attention. What were you asking?”Junhui asked again. “Why don’t you use suppressants?”“Suppressants?” Jeonghan repeated. “Oh. Oh. Uh, well, we don’t… we don’t need them?” His voice reached a new pitch towards the last few words and he subtly began to back away from Junhui, as if he was searching for an escape. Junhui tilted his head, confused. “Are you just going to lock Hansolie up? That doesn’t seem nice.”“No!” Jeonghan shrieked. “We would never – oh my gosh. I need help. Shua! Shua, I need you!”There was a minute or two of awkward waiting before Jisoo appeared, an irritated expression on his face. “Jeonghan, we’ve talked about this. Could you please not yell for me like I’m a maid?”“I’m sorry, Shua, I just.” A red Jeonghan waved a hand towards Junhui, who was beginning to get the impression that he’d said something very wrong. “Junnie caught me preparing for Hansol’s rut.”Jisoo’s brows furrowed. “So? He knew Hansol was an alpha, right, Junnie? Why are you – ”“No, you don’t understand!” Jeonghan backed into the hallway, escape possible now that Jisoo had arrived. “Junnie asked me what we do for ruts and heats here!”Jisoo’s mouth fell open in a small, surprised ‘o.’ “Ah. I see. Well, that’s a conversation we were going to have to have at some point. Do you mind repeating your question, Junnie? Hannie’s just a little overwhelmed right now. I’ll try to answer as best I can.”Junhui wilted under both Jisoo and Jeonghan’s eyes. He didn’t mean to cause Jeonghan such distress. Ears flat on his head and tail stiff between his legs, he asked, “Is Jeonghan-hyung mad at me?”“Oh, no.” Jeonghan reached out and wrapped his arms around Junhui’s shoulders. “I’m just a little uncomfortable with answering your question, and I needed some help. It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong.”Junhui clutched the back of Jeonghan’s shirt. “Okay,” he whispered.A hand tapped Junhui’s shoulder. Junhui turned his head just enough to see Jisoo standing next to them, smile gentle. “Would you like to ask me your question, Junnie?” he asked.Junhui pressed in closer to Jeonghan and buried his face in Jeonghan’s neck. “I just wanted to know why you don’t use suppressants instead of locking Hansolie up alone in his room. It seems mean.”Both of Jisoo’s eyebrows shot up. “Hansol won’t be alone.”Junhui’s ears perked up. “He won’t?” he asked, not daring to raise his head just yet.Jisoo smiled at Junhui’s reaction and reached out to fondly pet his ears from over Jeonghan’s shoulder. “No, he won’t. Everyone here can choose whether or not to use suppressants, but generally we’ve all chosen not to. If someone’s heat or rut comes around, someone usually volunteers to help them out. When your time comes, of course, you can choose what you’d like to do. It’s not mandatory to volunteer to help.”Junhui’s head popped up, his eyes wide. “Help?”Junhui’s confusion was beginning to confuse Jisoo as well. Surely despite his lack of education Junhui couldn’t be that uninformed about the biological necessities of alphas and omegas. “Junnie,” he asked gently, “what did you do for your heats at the company?”“Heats?” Junhui asked.Jisoo nodded.“I don’t have them. I’m an alpha.”Both of Jisoo’s eyebrows flew up. “Really?”Junhui clung closer to Jeonghan. “Yeah.”“But you smell so sweet.” Jisoo inclined his nose towards Junhui’s neck. “May I?”Junhui nodded and tilted his head to allow Jisoo access to his neck. He shivered a little when the tip of Jisoo’s nose skimmed along his skin. “Hm. Jeonghan,” Jisoo said. “Junnie – if you don’t mind, may Jeonghan scent you?”“That’s okay,” Junhui said, voice strangled. Jisoo backed away, giving Jeonghan room to sniff Junhui’s neck. Jeonghan hummed. “Like cherry blossoms and the ocean. Not an alpha scent at all. You smell a little like Seungkwannie, Junhwi-ah.”Junhui moved away from Jeonghan self-consciously, covering up his neck with his hand. “Is it bad, that I’m not an omega?” Jisoo’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, no! No, Junnie, you can be whatever you like. Jeonghan and I were just surprised. I’m sorry for making such a big deal out of it.”Junhui’s shoulders relaxed. “Oh. That’s okay. I understand. It’s just that no one’s mentioned it before...” he said, words trailing off into a question.Jisoo could think of any number of reasons companies wouldn’t care about the secondary sex designations of their employees, and none of them were good.Thankfully, before Jisoo could get too upset and upset the fragile peace that had just been achieved, Jeonghan leapt towards Junhui, sailing gracefully through the air to land on Junhui’s shoulders.“That’s because your sweet scent matches your sweet personality, Junnie!” Jeonghan sang, throwing his arms around Junhui’s neck. Junhui staggered under Jeonghan’s weight but managed to keep them both upright.Jeonghan pressed his cheek against Junhui’s. “We like you however you are. If you choose to be a beta today and an omega tomorrow, it doesn’t matter, because you’re still our Junnie.”Junhui’s scent sweetened as he preened under Jeonghan’s warmth.Jisoo smiled. Trust Jeonghan to cut right to the heart of things. “Jeonghan’s right,” he agreed, placing his hand over Junhui’s shoulder. “That sort of thing doesn’t matter here. We like you because you’re you, not because of your gender.”Jeonghan leaned in to whisper into Junhui’s ears, smile conspiratory. “You know, Vernonie and Shua don’t like anyone to make a big deal out of their secondary genders either.”Junhui looked over at Jisoo, eyes wide. Jisoo shrugged. “I just don’t think it’s that important in the grand scheme of our lives, that’s all,” Jisoo said honestly. “I don’t want something I think is unimportant to dictate the things that I think are.”“Oh,” Junhui said. “I see.”“I’m quite the opposite, Junnie.” Jeonghan winked at him. “I’m proud of being an alpha, and I like it. I feel like it’s another way for me to protect all of you.”Jisoo rolled his eyes, but his smile was fond. “It takes all types, as I’ve had to learn over the years. Repeatedly. Like slamming my head into a wall.”“What does Hansolie think?” Junhui asked, curious.“You’d better ask Hansol about that.” One corner of Jisoo’s lips tilted up. “I think he’d explain better than I can.” “Being an alpha?” Hansol scratched his head. “I dunno, I never really thought about it. I mean, it’s just part of my biology, isn’t it? Just means I’ve got ruts twice a year.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t really like it, if I’m being honest. It’s kinda scary, you know? Everyone says we’re more violent and aggressive, that we’re dangerous. I don’t want to be violent or dangerous, but I don’t know if I can be anything else. They say it’s biology, after all.” Leaning over towards Junhui, he took a small sniff. “At least you don’t smell like an alpha, or act like one. I wish I was like you.”Junhui blinked. “You do?”Hansol shrugged. “Well, yeah. I mean, I didn’t even know you were an alpha until you said so. Er, well, I don’t know if you want to look like an alpha or not….”“I don’t really know. I mean, for my entire life, it wasn’t the alpha-ness that mattered, but my….” Junhui gave his tail a rueful tug. Hansol nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, my mom always said that none of that – ” he waved a hand at Junhui’s extra parts “ – mattered. It’s because of her that I can even do what I do now, you know? I guess that’s why being a hybrid doesn’t matter to me as much as being an alpha.”“Oh, that makes sense,” Junhui mused. “At the company, we were all hybrids or omegas. It didn’t matter if we were an alpha hybrid or an omega hybrid, we were treated the same. And we were locked in the Containment Room for ruts or heats so no one ever saw the difference.”“’The Containment Room’?” Hansol yelped. “That sounds… that’s torture!”“It was okay.” Junhui shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. It hadn’t been… it hadn’t been easy, of course not, but he had survived. He didn’t like dwelling on painful things. Changing the subject, he said, “Jeonghan-hyung told me about what you guys do for ruts?”“Oh.” Hansol blinked. “Yeah. I mean it’s not… it’s not being locked up. We usually just stay in our own room and someone will, um, help out. It doesn’t hurt as much if someone’s helping. Myungho-hyung volunteered to help me this time.”“Minghao?”“Yeah but – Junhwi-hyung.” Hansol’s eyes shone at Junhui with a blinding sincerity. “You don’t have to help if you don’t want to. Really. If you want suppressants we can get you them, and you’ll never have to volunteer if you don’t want to, and – and – ”“Hansolie!”Hansol froze with his mouth open.Junhui blushed. “I – I’ve thought about it. I’m not saying… I’m not saying I can do it now, but I want to be a part of… what you guys do.”“You don’t have to!” Hansol protested. “Really, Junnie-hyung, you don’t have to. It’s not a – it’s not some requirement – ”“I know, I know, but I. I don’t know how to explain it.” Junhui huffed in frustration. “It just sounds… nice. Like family. I want to do it.”Hansol studied Junhui. “Okay,” he said. “Of course you can if you want to. But you can stop any time, okay? Really. Even if it’s in the middle of a rut, it doesn’t matter.”Junhui smiled, soft and low. “I know.” And he did. Even though Junhui wasn’t confident that he would be able to stop himself from crossing his own boundaries, he trusted his – his family to make sure that he didn’t over-exert himself. To keep asking for his permission and his boundaries. And even if he did over-exert himself, to take care of him. “I trust you.”Hansol gave him a lopsided half-smile in return. “Okay. Do you….” He bit his bottom lip. “Do you maybe want to help me this time? With Myungho-hyung?”Junhui hesitated, and then slowly shook his head. “Not… not this time, I think. Maybe….” He tilted his head to one side. “Maybe next time?”Hansol’s half-smile broke into a brilliant grin. “Next time? Of course! I can’t wait, Junhwi-hyung!” There was a knock on his studio door, but Jihoon ignored it. Everyone knew that if it was important, they could barge in, and if it wasn’t, they could leave it outside. When the door opened and Seungcheol’s voice said, “Jihoonie,” Jihoon knew it was important. With a sigh, he saved his file and turned around in his chair. “What is it?”Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “A little respect for your elders won’t hurt you, Hoonie,” he said, moving into the room and settling down on the couch. Jihoon eyed the soft curve of Seungcheol’s belly.Following Jihoon’s line of vision, Seungcheol looked down at himself. “Oh! No, it’s not that, you can stop panicking now.”Jihoon let out a sigh of relief. He didn’t think it was – for one, there would be a lot more screaming outside if something had been wrong with the baby – but he couldn’t help it, this was the first baby for all of them. “If it’s not that, then what is it?” he asked, pulling up a knee and resting his chin on it.“It’s Junnie.”Jihoon’s eyebrows flew up. “Did something happen?”“Nooo,” Seungcheol said, drawing the sound out. He raised an eyebrow. “Not with him anyway.”Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Just get to the point, hyung.”Seungcheol threw up his hands. “You’re the only one who hasn’t gotten along with Junhwi yet!”“What do you mean? I get along plenty with him!” Jihoon argued.“No, you don’t! Everyone has something they do with him – he keeps me company and helps me with baby stuff, has long talks with Jeonghan, reads with Wonwoo, cooks with Mingyu – what do you do with him?”“I didn’t know I needed scripted and supervised activities with him,” Jihoon muttered. “Isn’t it enough that I like him?”Seungcheol sighed and shifted forward so he could pull Jihoon closer. “Hoonie, we’ve talked about this. We’ve been with you long enough to be able to read you most of the time, but Junhwi needs your communication.”“How is this my fault!”“It’s no one’s fault! It’s just how the two of you function, it necessitates communication. You’ve always been the strong and silent type, and Junnie… I think he’s still figuring it out. If in the future, you’d prefer Junhui to come to you rather than you to him, then you can tell him so, but for this first time….” Seungcheol smiled. “You’ve been here and working on it for longer than he has. Really, if you don’t want to, then there’s no pressure and I’ll tell Junhwi-ah to come talk to you and that there’s nothing to be nervous about. I just thought it would be nice for you to be able to guide him in this,” he said earnestly. “You’ve worked so hard on this.”Jihoon groaned, leaning back in his chair and throwing his hands above his head. “Well, if you put it that way. Fine! I’ll talk to Junhwi-ah first.”“Thank you so much,” Seungcheol said. Getting off the couch, he knelt on the floor by Jihoon’s chair, overriding Jihoon’s protests. “I’m proud of you, you know. I understand that offering your openness to Junhwi is hard for you, but I’m really hoping that this could turn into something good. For the both of you.”Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You’re so soft,” he accused Seungcheol, although his gentle hands on Seungcheol’s shoulders belied his harsh words.Seungcheol grinned. “I know. That’s why I’m your pack leader.”Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Yeah. It is.”