#ask star

How You Meet 🐺Bang Chan

He smells you before he actually sees you. He's at the only park in the small town a few miles away from the pack settlement when the scent of dark coffee and something like raspberries filters through the myriad other scents that he's learned to tune out. His eyes find you without much effort, drawn to you like a magnet. You're playing hide and seek with a group of small children and you have strategically placed yourself on a leafy branch of a tree. His eyes meet yours just as the tiny seeker wanders under the tree you're hiding in. You give Chan a broad smile and press your finger to your lips. It is the epitome of childishness, but a dormant, quietly primal part of him is ready to guard your secret with his teeth bared. No one will ever hunt you if he has anything to say about it. After the game ends and the children scatter, you make your way to him.

"You have a keen eye. You should team up with me when it is my turn to seek. We'll find the littles in no time."

He just nods. From then, he's at the park often, a new addition to the playgroup. And if he gets a little giddy every time he is on your team and you win, well, that is no one's concern.

🐺Minho

Minho would never have met you if it wasn't for Han. You and Han had become friends when the server at the local coffee shop announced to you that they had run out of blueberry muffins. One dramatic dialogue about the tragedy of it later, you and Han were fast friends.

You were at the same coffee shop with him months later when a storm blew out of nowhere. Rain cascaded from the sky in sheets, rattling windows. Han called Minho and begged him to come and pick you both up so you would not get washed away from the surface of the earth. Minho had been tempted to ignore Han's call but eventually decided that taking the car was better than dealing with Han's dramatic whining later.

If Han alone was noisy, you and Han together were nothing short of a cacophony. But somehow, when the car filled and echoed with the sound of your laughter, it didn't grate on Minho's nerves. And when you sang completely off key to the songs in Han's playlist, his lips almost twitched into a smile. When he pulled over at your apartment and you grinned at him and said, "See you again, MinMin," he'll never admit it, but he hoped that he would see you again, even if it meant hearing that ridiculous nickname.

🐺Changbin

You saw Changbin before he saw you. You watched him argue with the ducks in the pond, trying to convince them to eat the bread he was tossing into the water. When the ducks quacked back, you were almost convinced that they were communicating back with the man who looked like he could you snap you in half, if not for the pink bunny eared hat and the sunflower sling bag.

You had spotted the problem early on. The chunks of bread that he was tearing were too small and soaked up water quickly, effectively becoming fish food instead. It took you a couple of tries to get his attention, your voice far too soft in the chaos of his conversation with the ducks. You explained the issue and showed him how to tear the bread, your fingers precise. He took advantage of your shyness, and while you refused to meet his eyes, he studied your face with a broad grin on his. When the ducks dove after the pieces you tossed to them, he cheered, dubbed you the duck whisperer and insisted that you tell him your secret to duck whispering over a coffee.

🐺Hyunjin

The only reason Hyunjin allows you to tell people the story of how you first met is because your eyes light up with a different kind of delight at the memory.

You met Hyunjin from the other side of a door, literally. You were trying to leave the building where you worked, while Hyunjin was trying to enter it. Except Hyunjin kept pulling a 'push' door. The wooden door wouldn't budge when you tried to open it. Unaware of the events taking place on the other side, you yanked the door at the same time that Hyunjin realised that he had to push it. The momentum sent him crashing into you, and you into the ground. His first thought was that you smell delicious, like lemon cake. Your first thought was that he is an idiot.

You began to see him around more often, and when he finally brings himself to ask you out for a coffee, you told yourself that you agreed only because you wanted him to stop walking backwards on the stairs.

🐺Han

Han had been using your office as a place for him to safely ride out anxious episodes when the world around him gets too loud, too overwhelming. He first stumbled across it by accident, the gentle scent of lavender and vanilla drawing him in. He didn't know whose office it was, but it felt safe and that was all he could focus on. The lights were gentle and warm, unlike the bright, clinical white lights that the rest of the office used. The curtains were translucent, letting in enough light during the day without becoming a safety hazard for vampires (it is the only way he can describe the ambience). There is familiarity. The lavender and vanilla diffuser is always from the same brand, as are the chamomile tea bags that are kept on the shelf. The blanket on the two seater is always rabbit fleece, alternating between pale green or deep blue. He knows that they are laundered every week, and that the owner of the office uses lily scented softener.

The first time you meet, he doesn't even realise you're in the office. He stumbles in, throws himself on the two seater and screams into the pillowy cushion. He screams again, this time out of fright, when you tap his shoulder to silently hand him warm chamomile tea. You let him ramble out apologies and explanations, and when he stops to breathe, you tell him you don't mind him using the office since you're hardly in it, preferring to work in a shared space with your team. You're just glad that you were able to create a space where someone finds safety.

🐺Felix

You hated bullies, and when you saw those three jocks picking on the platinum blonde boy who only ever had smiles for everyone in your department, you saw red. You didn't even know him, but he showed up for class with wildflowers in his hair and a smile that radiated sunshine and you believed that innocence like that was sacred.

Jock 1 had barely touched the little purple sprig tucked behind the fae-like boy's ear when your fist flew. Your knuckles split against his jaw even as your knee came up between his legs. Jock 2 and 3 must have seen something in your eyes, because they simply grabbed their friend and scampered. You tucked your fist against your side, the blood invisible against your black tee and leather jacket. Once the three bullies had disappeared out of sight, you turned to head back to your seat when a cool hand reached for your uninjured wrist.

"I have an herbal paste for your knuckles in my friend's car. He likes to box without gloves."

When you look back at that day later, Chan will tell you that it was an interesting sight, seeing Felix with the sun reflecting off his hair, decorated with wildflowers, and you, a good foot shorter, clad in all black and a warning on your face, make your way to his car.

🐺Seungmin

Everyone knew about the pack settlement on the outskirts of town. After all, it was common knowledge that weres preferred to have their homes closer to wild lands and when that pack had moved there, over two decades ago, the townsfolk were happy to let them build their settlement. Having the pack around meant that the town had just a little more protection from the dangers that lurked in the woods. And dangers did lurk there.

Those dangers did not deter you from your whimsical ideas though, and you found yourself exploring a deeper section of the woods late one afternoon. You're so lost in your own head that you don't hear him behind you, following you. It is only when you stop to sit, wanting to rest your feet, when you spot him from between the trees. You freeze, instinctively realising that this is a predator and you might be prey. But when he steps closer, you can see the disapproving frown on his face.

"I've been following you for nearly an hour and you did not even know. You're a hazard to yourself." He says flatly.

"Maybe. But somehow I get the feeling you aren't a hazard to me." You reply. He both hates and relishes how certain you sound.

After that, even though you never tell him when you go on one of your impromptu wood wanderings, you know he finds you and keeps you safe, even from yourself.

🐺Jeongin

You don't have a very clear memory of the first time you met Jeongin, so you have to rely on his recollection. You know it was a party, there was a lot of dancing and there was a lot of alcohol.

For as long as you can remember, you've been the life of the party, confident and outgoing. This party was no different, except there was a sweet faced boy, with a smile that made his eyes disappear, hiding in a corner and not dancing. You grooved your way to him, giggling when his face turned scarlet as you wrapped your arms around his neck and moved. Jeongin says that you didn't grind up against him, nor move in a way that made him uncomfortable, but you did insist that he dance. Eventually, he did dance, if only to keep you away from the beer kegs.

Apparently, you gave him many nicknames. When he recounts some of them, you aren't entirely convinced that he isn't exaggerating just to mortify you. You made him drive his brother's car around the neighbourhood twice before actually showing him where you lived. When he asked you why, you said it was so he knew the place well enough and would not get lost when he picked you up for your date.

Though you were mortified, with a good side of hungover, something warm bloomed in your chest when he showed up the next morning with soup and an after party survival pack.

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