#charming instruction

**

You tried to focus on your breathing as Junmyeon led you back down that hallway to the room storing the werewolf artifacts. How fitting.

Once the door was closed, Junmyeon turned to you and opened his mouth. “(y/n), I am so-”

“No.” You put up a hand to stop him. This was your speech to give. Afterwards, you’d let him have his say, but you had to go first. “Let me go first. Please. I know that you have something that you’ve wanted to tell me for a while. But, please, I need to get this out.”

Junmyeon nodded, keeping his lips tight shut together.

Taking a deep breath, you just poured out the words, not really stopping to think in fear that you might clam up when you needed to make sure it all came out. “Okay. I realize that we both have been idiots in this situation. I jump to conclusions because I believe my eyes way too quickly and you suck at properly explaining things. The blame for the fights and the avoidance and the misunderstandings comes down on both of us. Agreed?”

Junmyeon nodded wordlessly.

“But,” you swallowed thickly, “despite all that, I can’t say that I would go back and stop myself from going into the woods that night.” A spark lit up Junmyeon’s eyes when you told him that and it was exactly the encouragement you needed to go on. “I know this might not be fair for me to ask again, but,” you licked your lips, “you don’t… have feelings for Soomi like that, right?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I used to have a fleeting crush, but that’s it. And those feelings are long gone.”

“So, she wasn’t you mate?” Oops. You didn’t mean to ask that one out loud; you were just too relieved at his answer. The happiness in your voice at his answer was just too apparent to hide.

With a chuckle, Junmyeon shook his head, “No. She’s not my mate.”

“Okay. Um.” You were shifting your weight from foot to foot, building up the courage you needed to go on. “So, I don’t know entirely how the whole ‘mate’ thing, works, but-”

Oh, god. Here it comes. Were you about to make a complete and utter fool of yourself? Most likely. But this is what you prepared for, right? The possible rejection? The absolute need to know the answer no matter what it could be?

Keeping your gaze fixed on your intertwined fingers, you whispered, “Can I be your mate?”

When you risked peeking up at Junmyeon, you expected him to be shocked or sorrowful right before he turned you down. What you received instead was well beyond any hopeful expectation you could have guessed.

Grasping your face in his hands, Junmyeon pulled you towards him until his lips collided with yours. He moved softly against you, but there was also a sense of eagerness behind it that grew as the kiss went on. By instinct, your own hands came up and wrapped their fingers around Junmyeon’s wrists, binding him there because you never wanted him to move.

Those lips that you never thought you would actually be able to taste were now locked in with yours.

Too soon, Junmyeon slowly pulled away. You stayed trapped between his palms, lips swelling and tingling, itching for more. Electricity was surging through your body and all you wanted to do was just grab his sweater and bring him back for another kiss.

Instead, you restrained yourself and asked, “Does that mean yes?”

Bowing his head, Junmyeon laughed before looking up at you again. “That’s what I was trying to tell you on the porch, (y/n). You are my mate.”

Your jaw dropped. “W-what?”

“It’s not a pick and choose process,” he explained as he caressed your cheek. “From the very beginning, you’ve been my mate. From the moment I saw you sitting there in my classroom.”

Rather than squealing or jumping for joy, you shoved Junmyeon. It wasn’t too forceful. You didn’t actually want him to go away, but you were certainly a little irritated.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?” you whined. “All of this could have been avoided. Did you think I would run away?”

With soft fingers, Junmyeon brushed his knuckles against your cheek. His smile had dimmed a bit as he mulled over the words stuck on his tongue.

“I didn’t think you would run away,” he countered quietly. “But-” he sighed. “But I did worry that you would still choose to leave. I was scared of you accepting me and then leaving, never knowing when you’d come back. I didn’t want to hold you back or make you feel like you had to stay.”

“Don’t you think that should be my choice?” You crossed your arms, waiting for his answer.

“I-” He sighed, nodding, “Of course, it should be. I was just… scared.”

You raised an eyebrow questioningly. “The big bad wolf? Scared?”

Junmyeon scoffed. “I’m hardly the big bad wolf. I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to stay.”

Biting back a laugh, you kissed his cheek. “That’s sweet, but I can make my own decisions.”

The smile on his face grew once more as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “I’m sorry.”

“Just clue me in next time,” you chastised. As he leaned in to kiss you once more, your brain pulled you in a completely different direction, remember his earlier statement as to why he was here. The curiosity was eating at you, desperate for answers. You jumped out of his arms, turning towards to the artifacts instead. Ignoring the slight whimper coming from behind you, you asked, “What exactly was it that you were researching on?”

Sighing heavily as he realized where your attention now lied, he stepped up next to you. He pressed an index finger up against the glass panel that separated the worn leather book and you. “Soomi’s… apprentice? I’m not sure exactly what to call her….”

Junmyeon glanced at you from the corner of his eye, perhaps looking for any sort of reaction to Soomi’s name being mentioned. You waited patiently for him to continue. What use was the feeling of jealousy when you were his mate? Junmyeon’s eyes were on you and only you. Not even the mention of an old crush was going to bring you down from that fluffy cloud nine.

“Anyway,” he went on with a grin, “I guess she’s one of the few witches who can see the future, although it’s random and not as helpful as one would think. She senses that something is coming for the pack, but she can’t see exactly what it is. I was hoping there might be a hint of what possible threat could be coming.”

A threat?

“Did you find anything?” you asked desperately. The fact that something could come and harm your new family before you even got a chance to really get to know them frightened you and made your blood run cold.

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, I didn’t. The worst thing we’ve ever come across was a pack of hybrids and we were able take care of them without too much incident.”

“Well, that’s good. Wait,” you frowned, “what are hybrids?”

Running a hand through his hair, Junmyeon scrunched his face. You could see the wheels churning in his head as he tried to figure out how to define this new creature that had entered your ever changing world.

“They’re wolves who have been changed into vampires,” he explained. “The combination is unstable, but the ones who make it through the transition are extremely powerful.”

“How did you guys handle that?” you gasped.

Junmyeon smirked. “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

“Um.” You clicked your tongue, unsure of how exactly to respond to that. “Okay.”

It was simple enough to interpret that he meant the pack worked together to take them down, but did he have to phrase it that way?

With a laugh that rose deeply from his chest, Junmyeon clapped his hands a few times. You couldn’t quite understand what he was finding so funny. Was he laughing at his own dorky sentence?

Still chuckling at your confused expression, Junmyeon cupped your jaw and kissed your cheek. “I’m sorry,” he sighed happily, “but when I say things like that, the guys tell me to shut up or roll their eyes. The fact that you just went with it is refreshing.”

“You poor thing,” you giggled. Pushing through the palms still holding your face, you kissed Junmyeon enthusiastically. The fact that you were now able to do that almost any time you wanted made you feel all bubbly inside.

Removing his hands and sliding them down to grasp your fingers, he kissed your nose. “At least I have someone on my side now.”

You cringed. “Eh, it would depend on the situation whether or not I’m on your side.”

That just made Junmyeon shift his gaze up to the ceiling, exhaling deeply.

“Come on,” you laughed as you stepped away. “If you couldn’t find anything here about what the threat might be, we should try the university library.”

“The library?” Junmyeon questioned. “Why there? It’s not like there’s a secret stash of ancient scrolls saying ‘beware of these monsters’ just waiting there to be read.”

You bit back the more sarcastic comment you wanted to let out, instead saying, “No. But there’s still a lot on folklore creatures. If you’re real - and vampires and witches - aren’t the odds in the favor of others being real, too?”

Junmyeon huffed, knowing exactly how right you were.

“Also,” you added, “I have class that I can’t be late to. Let’s go.” Before you could make it two steps towards the door, Junmyeon pulled you back. You stared up at him, confused. “What?”

“You know,” he swallowed, eyes trained down on your hands, “we can’t be… together like this, at the school. We have to be careful, at least until you graduate.”

Oh…. right. Before, you’d been focused on that aspect. It’d been the perfect excuse to distance yourself from Junmyeon, reasonable and understandable. But now that you discovered that your feelings had validity and you were his mate, that little detail had gone out the window. It didn’t seem important to you anymore until Junmyeon point it back out again.  

“Yeah,” you sighed. “That’s true. I guess, I should just go by myself. You did cancel class, so most of the students probably think you’re hungover.” Pursing your lips, you asked, “Is the research the reason you canceled class?”

Junmyeon scrunched his face. “No… it was because of you.”

“Because of me?” you repeated.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Going to class and seeing you try to hide all the way in the back was torture. I knew I needed to speak with you, plead with you to let me explain, but I couldn’t do that in the lecture hall. So, I gave myself a break before trying to catch you in a more appropriate location. Finding you in the museum was pure luck on my side for once.”

“Or fate,” you shrugged.

He smiled broadly. “Yes. Fate.” Kissing your forehead, he released your hand from his grip. “How about I take you to dinner tonight?”

You raised an eyebrow. “What happened to keeping it lowkey?”

“I know a place where we won’t be caught.” He added a wink to the end, like a visible period.

“Okay,” you scoffed playfully, “I’m going to leave before you get any cheesier.”

That made Junmyeon pout. “I finally get to tell you that you’re my mate and you just brush me off.”

You didn’t actually feel bad, but you pulled him into a hug anyway. “If it weren’t midterms time, I’d skip class to spend all day with you.” Leaning back, you looked up at him, “But it’s my senior year and I really can’t afford to do that.”

Unable to resist, you kissed him one more time before heading for the door.

“I’ll see you tonight! At the park!” You waved to him. “Don’t be late!”

You ran out of the museum, simply to keep yourself from giving in to the urge to skip class and spend the rest of the day with Junmyeon even as his laughed followed you out. It was too tempting, but you took deep breaths, making it to the bus stop in time to catch your ride back to the university.

Bringing your fingers up to your lips, you reminisced about that first kiss, the one that took you by surprise after such a simple question. You didn’t think that the answer would be yes, let alone that you had been Junmyeon’s mate all along. You felt a little dimwitted. The signs were there. How else could you so quickly become one of the most important people in his life? Just because you knew his secret?

“Stupid,” you whispered to yourself. But you were grinning from ear to ear.

**

You’d had a date with Junmyeon every night this week and you were absolute heaven. It’d been a bit of an adventure, sneaking around, making sure you didn’t get caught. But you didn’t want to do for the rest of your life.

None of the time spent with Junmyeon was extravagant. You either went on short walks through the park, did take out in your living room when you knew Cam and Gemma would be gone, or twice you went to a little mom and pop restaurant that was hidden on the edge of the business district and easily missed. In all honesty, it was hard to keep yourself from stealing kisses or burying yourself in his side while out in public, but you pushed through it, keeping your hands to yourself. Until the two of you were only, that it.  

At first, you wanted the end of your last year of college to come so you could get the hell out of here. You still wanted to experience dig sites. You still wanted to go out and explore the world, but you were less eager to run. Now you wanted the end to come just so you could be somewhat normal with Junmyeon while still keeping those possibilities in your line of sight.

You were bouncing in your seat as you drove down the dirt road, getting closer and closer to the farmhouse on this beautiful Saturday morning. There would be no need to be careful, no need to look over your shoulder, and no need to worry about being caught. Junmyeon had asked you to come over and there was no way you could say no.

A few other cars were littered in the front yard when you pulled up. Apparently, it would be a full house today. It was understandable, considering school was calming down before fall break hit. It didn’t matter to you as everyone in the pack already knew about you and didn’t care that you were a student in Junmyeon’s class.

Hopping out of the car, you barely made it to the top of the porch steps before Junmyeon came outside. He didn’t waste any time picking you up into a bear hug, your feet coming up off the ground while he was breathing in your scent through his nose that was buried in your neck.

“Hi,” you giggled.

Junmyeon put you down and kissed your deeply before greeting you. “Hi.” Releasing a long breath, he intertwined your fingers with his. “Come inside. Everyone is gathered in the living room. We’re going to talk about the vision.”

“They don’t know yet?” you gasped.

“Not yet,” he admitted. “I took your advice and went over all the books I could find in the folklore and fables section of the library, as well as my own research. Nothing really stuck out to me, but hopefully Soomi’s apprentice will see something again soon and give us another clue. I wanted to see if I could find more answers before worrying the rest of the pack.”

“You know, I’m still surprised you didn’t think of looking there yourself, Professor,” you teased.

Junmyeon narrowed his eyes at you. “I’m sorry. I had a slightly more pressing matter to figure out first.”

“And who’s fault is that?” you mocked, tapping his nose with your finger.

Shaking his head, he sighed at you. “Let’s just go get this meeting over with.”

At least ten boys were all shoved into the living room, several of them accompanied by their mates, explaining the many cars parked in the front yard. Jiyoung waved at you enthusiastically from Jongdae’s lap on the floor. You bobbed your head in response, a little embarrassed at your last encounter.

Junmyeon sat you down in one of the few single chairs that looked like it’d been taken from the kitchen table while he took the empty seat beside you. The same couple that you remembered from the first morning you came to the farmhouse were the last to come into the living room: Kris and his mate. They took the last empty space on the edge of the long couch, the girl sitting on the tall wolf’s lap as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Slapping his knees with his palms and pushing himself up to his feet, Junmyeon instantly commanded the attention of the room without uttering a single word. It awed you, the kind of energy the alpha could give off. “So, I’m sure you’re all curious as to why I called a meeting.”

One of the younger wolves with sandy blonde rolled his eyes. “If this is you trying the chore chart again, Junmyeon, I’m leaving.”

He exchanged a slight chuckle along with another white blonde wolf. They looked like a couple of trouble makers. You put together that they must have been the Sehun and Tao that Junmyeon told you about. But which was which?

“No,” Junmyeon frowned deeply. “This is serious. Apparently, a witch that is training under Soomi had a vision and-” He sighed, ruffling his hair with his fingers nervously. “Something’s coming.”

A hushed silence fell over the room. Several looks were thrown across the room from one wolf to the other while each evaluated the news.

“Well, that’s… vague,” Jongdae snorted.

Junmyeon nodded solemnly. “I know, Jongdae. But she didn’t see much. Just that something was coming.”

“I’m assuming that it imposes a danger to us,” the tall wolf said, actually taking the situation seriously.

“That’s the notion Soomi’s apprentice got.”

“But how does she know that it’s dangerous?” the silver haired one asked. That must have been Chanyeol, based on Junmyeon’s description from dinner the other night. “She didn’t even see what is was, right? Besides, what could be worse than the alpha pack?”

“It’s still good to be prepared,” Junmyeon insisted. It was obvious he was getting frustrated from the lack of concern from the pack and you wanted to reach out and squeeze his hand reassuringly. But Junmyeon was the leader. He’d handled things like this without your help, he could do this as well.

Kris asked, “Did she see anything else that could hint at how we prepare for whatever it is?”

With a shake of his head, Junmyeon replied, “No, unfortunately. Soomi said she would let me know if Nia sees anything else, but until then we just have to be extra careful. I need everyone to keep an eye open for anything suspicious and stay alert. Let me or Kris know immediately if anything catches your attention. We’ll investigate it from there.”

There must have been some sort of ending signal that you didn’t catch as the boys all started dispersing throughout the house, some whispering to either each other or their mates but none of their voices sounded concerned.

**

“You sure have been in a better mood lately,” Gemma mused, peeking at you from the corner of her eye as she folded laundry in the living room.

Shrugging, you mostly kept your focus on the boot you were lacing up as you sat on the couch. “Things just been looking up lately.”

She pursed her lips. “Does a certain motorcycle boy have anything to do with it?”

Your fingers froze. Ever since the party, you hadn’t spoken about Junmyeon - or his alter ego “Junie” - to either of your friends. As far as you knew, they both still hated him and would go into fighting mode if he was brought up. Since they didn’t know the whole story, you thought if you told them about where you now stood with Junmyeon, you’d get scolded for giving him a second chance. You were planning on figuring out a way to tell them. Eventually.

You just needed to figure out how to paint him in the most angelic light possible first.

“Why would you think that?” you asked, trying to remain casual.

Gemma snorted. “Don’t play that. Cam heard you on the phone this morning about ‘going for a ride on the bike’. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.”

Okay. You were caught. In your defence, Cam was usually in bed on Saturdays until at least ten o’clock. You didn’t think you needed to whisper in your call with Junmyeon at eight-thirty.

“Is he at least treating you well?” The fact that Gemma was giving you a little smile as she asked that surprised you.

You nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah, he is.”

“Good, good,” she nodded. “So, you guys have figured your crap out?”

Now that made you roll eyes. “It was just a misunderstand. We’ve worked it out and we’re fine now.”

“Okay.”

You narrowed your eyes at her, arms folded across your chest as you leaned back into the couch. “Why are you being so calm about this?”

Gemma went back to folding her laundry, obviously slowing down the process and putting too much focus on each step and sorting the clothes by type. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Seriously?” you scoffed. “I know for a fact that when that thing my freshman year happened, you and Cam were like bodyguards on the edge. This time around, I was practically a zombie and you’re just… fine that I’m still seeing him?”

“We’ve grown up since then,” she said simply.

You stared at her, trying to figure out what was going on in that head of hers. “Gemma….”

Right as she looked over at you, your phone buzzed. It was a text from Junmyeon saying that he was waiting downstairs for you. Saved by the bell.

Standing up, you sighed. “I’ll see you later.”

“Have fun on your motorcycle lesson,” she called out after you.

Your hand froze on the knob, the door barely cracked open. Did she just say “lesson”?

Looking over your shoulder, you tried to figure out if Gemma used that phrase coincidentally or if that was her subtle way of telling you that she knew who “Junie” really way. That would certainly explain her calm demeanor at the news of you still seeing the guy on the bike. If it was the latter, Gemm gave no indication as she kept on folding.

Oh, well. If either of them knew, they wouldn’t be able to keep it to themselves for long. So, you put that thought aside and left the apartment.

Junmyeon was parked just outside the door, engine roaring and rumbling, making the bike shake. He’d originally wanted to come meet you at your door, but you once again explained to him how nosy the other residents were and how it was best if he stayed outside, disguised under the helmet. As soon as you were just a few feet away, he flipped the visor up.

“You ready?” he yelled over the noise.

You nodded eagerly.

Junmyeon reached behind him, unbuckling a helmet from the back seat and handing it over to you. With fluttering anticipation, you snatched the helmet and slid it over your head. As soon as you were seated behind him, arms securely around his waist, he took off down the street.

It felt like you were flying as Junmyeon sped down the street. Brick and iron buildings gave way to trees that were covered in leaves changing from stark greens to vibrant reds and oranges. The city was far behind you and nothing but open road lied ahead.

Bravery suddenly washing over you, the craziest idea went off in your brain.

One by one, your fingers let go of each other until you were no longer clinging to Junmyeon. You stretched out your arms on either side of you, letting the wind whip through your fingertips. Even over the growling bike, you could hear Junmyeon laughing at your courageous act.

The job at the museum had been offered to you last week and Junmyeon had been overtly ecstatic for you when you told him. Only one little detail he didn’t know of yet: by summer, you would be off to a dig as an assistant in another country. You had wanted to wait until things calmed down first before you dropped that bomb on him. You wouldn’t be gone too long, just a month or so at the most. But still. That was at least thirty days away from Junmyeon.

So many unknown elements were ahead of you on the long road you would travel with Junmyeon. Moments like this with your wolf would be rare since he was the leader and responsible for so many lives. Already, a few different dates had been canceled because of pack emergencies. But that just would make the dates that you did get to go on even more special. And you would cherish everyone until you left.

**

Junmyeon didn’t lead you too far into the woods. He stuck to the tree line, pulling you in close once he was leaning up against a sizable trunk that kept you somewhat hidden from the house. Hands resting on your hips, he leaned his forehead on yours and sighed deeply.

You could tell he was still stressing over the meeting. Perhaps he was expecting more concern and questioning from the pack rather than the nonchalant reception that was bestowed upon him instead. While you didn’t know the boys all that well, they all seemed to give off that carefree vibe, which was possibly be the bane of Junmyeon’s existence, if you had to guess. But that probably just came with the territory of being a leader. And being the mate of the leader, you figured it was your job to help him stop worrying.

“Just give them a little time,” you reassured him as you rubbed his arms. “Soon, they’ll take it more seriously. It’s just because the information is so vague at this time, they don’t know what to be cautious of. So, they blow it off rather than stressing about something they have no control over.”

Junmyeon pouted, squeezing your sides. “Then why am I stressing about it?”

“Well, I don’t know too much about werewolf pack dynamics….” You scrunched your face mischievously, “But I’m pretty sure it has to do with the fact that you’re the leader and it’s kind of your job to worry over every little thing.”

“I do not worry about every little thing,” he protested.

This was coming from the same person who didn’t tell you the truth about the connection between the two of you because he was overthinking on whether or not you would hightail it out of here and leave him in the dust. Granted, you didn’t give him much hope for any other outcome, but still.

You held your thumb and index finger up, leaving a minuscule amount of space in between. “You do. Just a little bit.”

Junmyeon opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it, sighing heavily. “Okay. Maybe a little. But someone has to worry about these things or else we’ll all be doomed.”

“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing that you’re the leader instead of one of the others.”

He let out a short laugh. “Well, me and Kris. And it was nice that he-”

A little over the current discussion, you simply pressed your lips against Junmyeon’s for a quick kiss to stop his talking. Well, it was supposed to be a quick kiss.

Catching the back of your neck with his hand before you could pull away, Junmyeon deepened the display of affection, taking full advantage of the isolation. Under your palms that were resting on his chest, you could feel his content purr vibrating both you and him. The sensation made you giggle. Junmyeon broke off the kiss at the sound.

“What’s so funny?” he murmured, frowning at you.

“You’re like a cat,” you chuckled. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say.

Junmyeon scoffed, the corners of his mouth turning up in astonishment. His eyes turned back to you, “Do you realize how insulting that is?”

“Um, sorry?” you snorted. He did not find it as funny. “It’s not my fault! You were purring!”

“I was happy! I can’t control it!” he whined.

You rolled your eyes. “I was just saying that it was cute!”

“Hardly the word I want to hear in the middle of kissing you,” he grumbled.

Stepping back, you crossed your arms, just staring at him. He kept pouting, just making him even cuter.

It was ridiculous. The big alpha wolf wanted to be seen as anything but cute. But he made it hard with that fluffy brown hair, puckered lips, and big, round brown eyes gazing at you. You almost wanted to snap a picture of it, but that didn’t feel appropriate in the moment. Honestly, it felt silly, him taking offense to that four letter word, but it wasn’t worth starting an argument.

You threw your hands up. “Okay. Fine. I won’t call you cute anymore. Never again. I will purge that word from my vocabulary unless I’m talking about a puppy or small child.”

Junmyeon’s eyebrows shot up to nearly his hairline. “I didn’t say that.”

Narrowing your eyes and smirking, you teased, “So, you do want me to call you cute?”

He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “I wouldn’t mind it under certain circumstances. Just not when I’m kissing you. Because that makes me want to show you exactly how not ‘cute’ I can be.”

Now that kind of had you taken back. “Are you sure you’re a college professor? Because you are acting a bit more more like a college boy right now.”

With a predatory gleam in those russet eyes, Junmyeon stalked towards you. Instinctively, you stumbled back until your back hit a tree, the curved edges of the bark piercing your shoulder blades.

Your breath quicken and you couldn’t stop the audible gulp in your throat from how much like a wolf he being. That reaction seemed to just egg Junmyeon on. He didn’t stop until the space between you was completely gone, a hand on each side of your hip to keep you in place. His lips were right against your ear as he whispered, “I’m only a professor on campus.”

Oh, that’s not good.

Junmyeon nibbled at your ear before moving down to your neck. You giggled anxiously. He’d never gone this far before. What really made you nervous was the fact that you didn’t want to stop.

“Junmyeon! Junmyeon, are you out here?!”

Junmyeon growled, slamming a fist into the bark above your head. “Oh, for crying out loud.”

You snorted, covering your mouth when Junmyeon shot you a look.

Chanyeol and Jongin came running through the trees. You straightened up, hoping that there was no evidence of what you and Junmyeon were doing left on your face.

“What is it?” Junmyeon asked grumpily. You could tell he was trying to remain calm and not be irritated at the boys in case it was a real emergency.

“Sorry to barge in,” Jongin actually looked really guilty, which made you want this whole thing end even quicker, “but no one can find Tao. Did he run past here?”

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, we haven’t. Why?”

“No one can find him,” Chanyeol explained. “He stormed off after the meeting. He seemed really pissed.”

“That’s not good.” Junmyeon ran a hand through his hair before glancing at you. Turning back to the other wolves, he asked, “Did you see what direction he took off in?”

“He went out the front door,” Jongin replied.  

“So, you think he went into town?” Junmyeon guessed.

Chanyeol shrugged. “Maybe? And you know Tao when he’s mad. He doesn’t really have the best control.”

“Alright.”

You could see how reluctant Junmyeon was to be the leader, to go after his wayward member, but it was an instinct that he couldn’t ignore.

“I guess I’ll go track him down,” Junmyeon sighed.

“I need to go back into town anyway,” you inserted. Maybe if you were the one to take him, he’d be less pouty about it.

“Luhan wants to go with you,” Chanyeol added. “Said if anything, he can drag Tao to the empty bar while he does opening work.”

Junmyeon nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

The four of you headed inside, grabbing Luhan before splitting off and going back outside to your car.

It wasn’t a very chatty car ride. Luhan stayed quiet in the back seat while Junmyeon held your hand from the passenger’s seat. He made random comments about the area’s history or how the road needed repaving every once in a while.

Apparently, Tao preferred to hang out downtown, so that’s where you dropped the two wolves off. You told Junmyeon that he could find you at the museum once he was done. When he questioned why you would go there, you simply shrugged and said to kill time.

That wasn’t entirely a lie. You really did like to spend free time at the museum, wandering around and trying to find new pieces to memorize.

But today you had a little mission.

Even though Junmyeon said he’d already gone through the little book of his family’s history, you thought that maybe a fresh pair of eyes could pick up some new clues.

Mrs. Kang wasn’t surprised to see you at all when she saw you in the main lobby. Junmyeon had told you earlier in the week that he had you added to the very limited list of people with access to the back room. Mrs. Kang handed you a key card with no hesitation and left you to go on your merry way. Getting a pair of cotton gloves from the supply closet, you buckled yourself down at the table in Junmyeon’s secret room after carefully taking out the book from its resting place.

You flipped through the pages slowly, gliding your eyes over the heavily faded words. Some paragraphs were almost completely illegible from the old ink wearing away with age. One particularly worn page caught your eye about halfway through the book. The edges were particularly feathered and torn, giving you the impression that this page’s contents were immensely important in the past. Almost all the writing was gone on the pages, but certain words you were able to make out.

Enemies.

Beware.

Hunted.

Future encounters.

Bingo.

At the very bottom of the page, underneath the missing information was a familiar looking symbol still present enough to make out. It was a circle overlapping three points. That could be the clue you were looking for in order to keep the pack - Junmyeon’s family - safe. But where did you take it from here?

Junmyeon came to the museum about forty-five minutes later, finding you in the “caveman” section, as Cam liked to describe it.

“Finding anything new and interesting?” he teased as he came up behind you, encircling his arms around your waist.

You shrugged lazily. “Perhaps. Did you find Tao?”

Junmyeon scoffed. “Yeah, he’s been found. But he’d ran off in the forest, not to town. Apparently, he just ran in a different direction than where we were.”

“Poor leader.” You turned around in his arms, linking your own around his neck. “It’s so hard being you.”

That just made him roll his eyes. “You’re so mean to me.”

You motioned to exit with your head. “Come on. Since I’m so mean, dinner’s on me.”

Junmyeon made his impressed face, the kind he made when a student in class gave him an answer he wasn’t expecting. “I like that idea. And I think I know just the place.”

**

Triquetragirl49: I’m glad that the new article helped!

Archaeology4life: It was a great read! Thank you!

Triquetragirl49: How’s the paper coming?

Archaeology4life: Not too bad! Teacher’s a hardass, though. Lol

Triquetragirl49: Well, hopefully he’ll at least enjoy your paper on irish werewolves.

Archaeology4life: Fingers crossed! If I don’t get an A, I might have to complain to the dean. Jk

Triquetragirl49: Remind me again why you were focusing on that subject?

Archaeology4life: I just came across something about werewolves and a connection to the triquetra in some research. I was surprised that they were both related to protection.

Triquetragirl49: Kind of related. Werewolves were still considered dangerous and best for everyone to stay away from them.

Triquetragirl49: At least, according to the legends, that is. Considering they’re not real!

Archaeology4life: I’m sure if wolves were real, they wouldn’t be dangerous.

Triquetragirl49: You never know. There’s a lot of scary stories out there lol.

Archaeology4life: Yeah… you’re right lol

Archaeology4life: Thank you again!

Triquetragirl49: Of course! Just let me know if you want to know anything else! I’ve enjoyed talking to you!

Archaeology4life: Same!

“What are you smiling at?”

You slammed the screen of your laptop shut just as Junmyeon slid into the empty space across from you in the breakfast booth. Since he had a department meeting this evening, you’d beaten him to the farmhouse and decided to kill some time by getting back in touch with your new internet friend.

Finding triquetagirl49 in a folklore chat room on a history website had been pure luck and she’d giving you so much information on how that old celtic symbol could be related to werewolves. It seemed more like a good thing, representing protection for both humans and wolves alike. You weren’t sure when you should share this information with Junmyeon or exactly how to present it, so you decided for now to just keep it to yourself for the time being.

“Funny article on The Mummy trilogy,” you lied smoothly.

He shook his head, laughing to himself. “You and those movies. Don’t you have them memorized by now?”

“Maybe,” you pouted. “We can watch something else, though, if you want. Or do something else. We don’t have to watch a movie.”

Junmyeon held out two hands, moving them up and down like a pair of scales. “Let’s see… hold my mate close on my bed while we watch her favorite movie or do something else that involves less intimate time and possibly run into someone else in the pack.” He gave you a pointed look. “I think movie wins.”

You beamed. “Good!” Hopping up, you started for the staircase. “Let’s go!”

Junmyeon laughed as he followed you up to his bedroom. By luck, a majority of the wolves were out and about with their mates on this beautiful friday night. Since you and your wolf still had to be careful about who saw you together, it was a night in for the pair of you. But you didn’t mind. In fact, you had been looking forward to it all week.

Jumping on the bed, you pushed yourself all the way up to the headboard while Junmyeon turned on the TV and readied the movie before heading into the bathroom. While you waited on him, you fluffed up the pillows to make yourself more comfortable.

When he emerged from the bathroom, you tried to keep your focus on the bright screen. Junmyeon had decided that it was completely appropriate to come out in just a pair of sweatpants. Just sweatpants. No shirt.

He was such a tease.

You made no protest as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in close to him. Leaning your head on his chest, you watched the movie for a good fifteen minutes or so until the scene with Rachel Weisz in the museum, knocking over the bookshelves and creating that cringe-worthy disaster came on the screen.

That’s when Junmyeon got a little restless.

At first, he was just playing with your fingers and planting kisses on your shoulder. Then he moved his lips up to your neck, tickling the sensitive skin. Out of reflex, you flinched into the kiss, closing off access from Junmyeon.

“It’s cute that you know every word,” he whispered. It was obvious that he cared nothing for the movie and he was just trying to distract you and maybe even give him all your attention instead.

Taking the bait, you turned to tell him to be quiet. Before one word could escape your lips, he’d captured them in his own. You never saw another minute of the movie, too preoccupied to pay it any mind.

**

Jiyoung kept her attention on the road, not even silently judging you as she took you back home. You weren’t sure if that was because the two of you didn’t really know each other or if because – perhaps just a little bit – she understood.

The first words she spoke were to simply ask you where you lived once the city limits came into view. You directed her towards the student apartments and fell quiet again.

Outside your building, you unbuckled your seatbelt and softly thanked her for driving you the long way home. Before you could open the door, however, Jiyoung pressed down on the lock button, trapping you inside with a click. You whipped your head around, eyes round and wide.

“Look,” Jiyoung sighed, turning in her seat to face you, “I’m not going to lecture you or scold you or anything. I’m just going to say that I know what you’re going through right now.” A little sympathetic smile turned up in the corner of her mouth. “Your heart is hurting. A lot. But once the pain has dulled down, listen to it. It’ll tell you where to go from there.”

You frowned, fingers still glued to the door handle. “What do you mean you know what I’m going through? You’re with Jongdae. You’re happy.”

“I wasn’t always.” Running her hands down the steering wheel, she moved her gaze down to the radio. “I was in love with Jongdae for the longest time. All that pining from a far stuff. He – uh – kind of ignored me for a while. And when he was finally looking at me, it wasn’t all sunshine and fireworks. It took a lot a work, but we got there eventually. I just… I just don’t think you should run away quite yet.”

“I’m not running away,” you defended. “I shouldn’t have ever attached myself to Jun- Professor Kim. He’s my teacher and any sort of relationship beyond that is inappropriate. I’m putting things back where they belong.”

“But he won’t be your teacher forever,” Jiyoung argued.

And you wanted to agree with her. You wanted to say something about how – maybe after the semester was over or after graduation – then you could go back and listen to whatever Junmyeon had to say; maybe actually put up a good fight and tell him that you thought you could be good for him, that you felt something for him that was so deep and drowning you didn’t know how to describe it. But right now you were treading water, limbs tiring out from struggling to stay afloat. You’d found a life preserver and now you were going to cling on to that to keep yourself from going under.

Maybe… Maybe in the future, once you’ve recovered and pulled yourself up again, you could give it another try. You could put your heart a little further out there once your skin has thicken and you were more ready for rejection. But now you were shattered, too broken. You needed time to pick up the pieces.

“It doesn’t matter,” you told her. “I’ll be gone after graduation.”

She gasped. “But-”

“Please just open the door.” You tried hard to convey your annoyance and eagerness to get inside.”

Giving in, Jiyoung unlocked the door and you scrambled out of there faster than a wolf on fire.

**

After you begged him to let go, Junmyeon couldn’t stand there and watch you fade away.

Why wouldn’t you just let him tell you? Why couldn’t he have just told you earlier so all of this could be avoided? Why was he such a coward?

Why? Why? WHY?

Junmyeon let out a long howl before taking off in the woods. He didn’t remember shifting. He didn’t know what direction he was going in or where he was headed, just that he need to run. He needed to do something and this was the answer his instincts had given him.

His paws pounded against the dirt floor, pushing him farther and farther away from the farmhouse. Several howls echoed in the distance behind him, calling for their alpha to come back home. Junmyeon pressed on, ignoring the cries.

Around him the trees began to thin after running for who knew how long. He never tired, never slowed down, just kept going.

Additional paws hurrying to catch up with him beat in rhythmic sync some distance behind him. Then, a body much bigger than Junmyeon’s slammed into him, causing him to lose his footing and roll over several times. The wolf inside had taken control and Junmyeon leaped, teeth bared, at whoever the beast deemed a threat. He latched on to a neck, not paying attention to the russet colored fur.

Junmyeon, stop!

Two more wolves wedged themselves in between Junmyeon and his opponent, shoving him away. Just as he turned to attack again, his senses pushed through, screaming at him that the wolves were his brother. Kris huffing and shaking off the nicks left from Junmyeon’s teeth. They would heal, but in the meantime they would sting.

Why the hell did you pounce on me like that? Junmyeon growled.

Kris flicked his head to Junmyeon’s right.

You were about to hit the city limits, Chanyeol whined. No one there is supposed to see us.

Junmyeon blinked. Why did I come this way?

You were headed for your mate, Kris answered, his thoughts conveying the venom he felt for being on the receiving end of Junmyeon’s anger.

Your urge to stop her was probably too great in this form, Yixing added. Your feet took you where your logic wouldn’t.

Junmyeon let out something that somewhat resembled a sigh. I’m sorry, guys. I just… He couldn’t finish that thought. Turning to Kris, he thought instead, You should be at home resting. You barely have energy as it is.

Kris had mastered “the look” in wolf form years ago. I’m fine. Making sure you don’t expose all of us by making a scene is more important.

It took will power for Junmyeon not to snap back. Instead, he huffed, looking at the boys who came after him. Never had he been so thankful for their loyalty that stopped him from doing something incredibly stupid.

Come on, Kris flicked his head in the direction of the farmhouse with that natural authority Junmyeon always envied. Let’s get out of here before we’re spotted.

Reluctantly, Junmyeon agreed and everyone started slowly moving away from the tree line. Before they could get too far away, he paused, turning to look behind him once more as if you would miraculously know that he was there and come running to him. He messed everything up after having it all land perfectly in his lap. You were everything to him and yet – with mistake after mistake – he let you down.

Hanging his head, he walked on, fearful for the pain that would be awaiting him soon.

**

Cam and Gemma nearly broke down when you came shuffling through the door. Apparently, they’d made it back to the apartment last night but didn’t realize you weren’t with them until they woke up this morning. They were just about to call the police when you walked in, dropping their phones to come suffocate you in their overbearing hugs. At least, that was what you could understand from as they were talking at the same time.

“Oh my god, I thought you were kidnapped!” Gemma sniffed your ear.

Pulling back, Cam was a bit more aggressive. “Why the hell did you leave?”

You shrugged. “Junie showed up. I – um, I accidentally drunk texted him and he came to get me. I guess he didn’t like the idea of me being at the SAE house. I crashed at his place.”

Gemma let you go to get a better look at you. “That Junie guy actually had the nerve to show up?”

“What gave him the right to decide whether or not you could be there?” Cam snapped.

“It wasn’t like that,” you mumbled. You didn’t want to have this conversation. Mostly because – despite everything else – you were a little thankful he’d come to get you. Who knows what could have happened. You didn’t get that wasted very often and the fact that you couldn’t remember chunks of last night – despite no harm coming to you – freaked you out. “I wanted to leave with him.”

Shaking her head, Gemma crossed her arms while giving you a look of pity. “Oh, (y/n)-”

“Don’t!” You snapped. You were not going to stand there and take another psycho-analyzed lecture. “I’m not going to see him again. I’m moving on with my life and that’s the end of it. So, don’t go all ‘shrink’ on me.”

Cam’s mouth dropped. “(y/n)-”

“Just leave me alone.” You pushed through your friends to your room. Throwing yourself on your bed, you clung to your pillow, wrapping around it like a child with their safety blanket.

You did exactly what you said you would do.

While you couldn’t continue to skip class altogether, you made sure to sit in the very back, closest to the door for a quick getaway. The few times a paper or a quiz needed to be handed in over the next week, you’d make acquaintances with whoever sat next to you and get them to hand it in for you with some excuse about having to leave as soon as possible. The ultimate goal was to make it seem as if you weren’t there at all. You even wore a baseball cap pulled down to cover up most of your face. That probably made you stand out more than blend in, but it kept you from staring at him, so that was a silver lining.

Moving on was easier said than done though.

Every time you turned a corner, you panicked when you saw his face. It was never actually him, just your mind playing tricks on you, superimposing his face onto whoever was headed in your direction. How could it betray you like this? You were trying to move on with your life and yet it seemed dead set on reminding you of him every chance it got.

Footsteps in the library would make you look up. At times you thought you heard his voice, making you whirl around in the middle of a busy hallway. Stupid songs on your playlist would make you think of him and you couldn’t even watch your favorite shows without wondering if Junmyeon was watching it was well.

One night, when you were particularly restless, you found yourself sneaking out of the apartment and heading for the little park. Just like that night with Junmyeon, there was no else around as you followed the concrete path to that secluded bench. You sat down, bringing your feet up and closing your eyes as you went back to that time.

You’d been so happy in that brief, fleeting moment. Still a little unsure and hesitant, but happy. Junmyeon had called you one of the most important people in his world. You’d believed it, taking in his honesty. But after that, you felt more like a convenience, something to shake up his world that maybe had become a little too boring.

The phantom feeling of his arms wrapped around you made you shrink into yourself more. If you were just a convenience, if you weren’t something more to him that a person who knew his secret, then why did he so desperately try to stop you? What was he going to tell you?

“Your my-”

You put your fists over your ears to try and block out the memory. His what? His friend? His confidant? What was so important that he had to tell you right then and there? What had you refused to listen to?

Regret was starting to way down you.

Did you do the right thing? Would you ever be able to move on? You wanted to. You wanted to so desperately, but everything reminded you of him, everything made you want to turn around and ask for him to tell you whatever it was he wanted to say, that you would listen to every word without judgement.

You felt like the lead in a rom com right after the dramatic turn in the plot. All you needed to do was wait a little while longer and he would miraculously show up, the feeling of needing to revisit this place again. After you’d jump to your feet, you’d then give some drawn out speech about you were an idiot and how you just wanted to protect your heart and how you had plans before he came along and that’s why you tried to push him away, but now you just might adjust them – not banish them completely – if that meant he would stay in your life.

Life wasn’t a movie, though. You didn’t get miraculous coincidences that –

Oh, screw it.

Pushing away your self-pity, you decided to take the chance. You ran out of the park and towards the campus. There were still cars in the parking lot, enough to indicate that evening classes were still in session. If you remembered the schedule correctly, Junmyeon didn’t have any, but there was still a chance that he could be in his office. The lights were still on in the hallway of the world studies building. You nearly slipped on the freshly mopped floor, but you figured that would just be the slight comic relief before you pressed on.

Coming up to Junmyeon’s office, your heart sped up. The light was on inside and the sound of movement was evident behind the door.

You could do this. It wasn’t that hard to turn the handle and walk inside.

The doorknob was cold when you grasped it. Slowly, you turned it before throwing the door open. “Junmyeon, I- Oh. Sorry.”

It wasn’t Junmyeon rummaging around in the office. It was a man from the cleaning crew. He hadn’t heard you enter at first, earbuds in and blaring loud enough for you to vaguely hear something resembling rap music.

Realizing that he was no longer alone, he turned around and plucked out the buds. “Yeah?”

“Sorry,” you mumbled, waving your apology before closing the door once more.

Well, at least you tried. If you couldn’t talk to him tonight, then you would just have to wait until class on Monday.

**

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Over and over, Junmyeon let the back of his head knock against the wall behind him. He had one elbow resting on a bent knee while the other leg was laying down flat as he sat on the floor of his bedroom. He hadn’t really moved since waking up this morning. Getting out of bed hadn’t been too bad, but after that all motivation had evaporated and he couldn’t leave the room for breakfast.

Tomorrow he’d have to face you again. Not nearly as close as you once had been, but your very presence in that classroom was just enough to drive him mad, even with you sitting all the way in the back, trying hide under a hat and hunched shoulders. Each minute that went by drained even more of his control. How much longer would he last before he snapped completely, running up those stairs in the middle of a lecture before snatching you up and hauling you away to make you listen to him?

He couldn’t do that. No matter how much he wanted to. He was lucky, though. So far, he’d only had one attack and it was last Thursday in the middle of dinner. The few wolves that had been home had rushed to his side, making him feel a little appreciated and cared for, but it’d subsided quickly and he hadn’t had one since. Kris grumbled around him a few times about the whole ordeal. His own attacks hadn’t let up, making it great cause for concern. Junmyeon didn’t want anyone worrying about him when his fellow alpha was in more danger.

Junmyeon scoffed. Fellow alpha. That was giving himself too much credit. While he was the official leader of the pack and certainly displayed the qualities of an alpha, he wasn’t on the same level as Kris. Junmyeon had been raised to be a leader of wolves, but it was in Kris’ blood. Others immediately looked to him and fell in line. When Kris left all those years ago, Junmyeon was surprised that more didn’t leave with him, just on instinct.

“Okay, you seriously need to stop.”

Baekhyun, along with Yixing, barged into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him before standing over Junmyeon. Fists on his hips, it was a bit of a comical sight. Baekhyun just wasn’t the serious one and when he tried to be, it was hard to keep a straight face. Yixing simply carried a look of concern.

“Stop what?” Junmyeon asked as he strained to stay composed.

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun replied, “Banging your head against the wall. We can all hear it and, honestly, it’s a little pathetic. You need to pick yourself up.”

A little offended, Junmyeon grabbed a dirty, rolled up sock and threw it at the younger wolf’s face. “Easy for you to say, your mate practically fell into your lap.”

“She is a little clumsy,” Baekhyun beamed. Letting the smile slip from his face, he sighed and sat down next to Junmyeon. “This is sad, though. I never expected you to mess up this much. Whatever happened to the smooth operator? Did you leave him behind in your college days?”

Yixing, still quiet as ever, sat down on the other side. He sported a thoughtful look, making Junmyeon wonder what was going through his head, but that was nothing new. Yixing was always hard to read.

“I didn’t care back then,” Junmyeon answered honestly as he turned back to the other wolf. “If they said no, I could always move on to the next one. I wasn’t exposing myself life this.”

Baekhyun snorted. “Yeah. You really did expose yourself to her that night in the woods, didn’t you?”

As much as he wanted to throw a punch, Junmyeon only had the energy to throw a look of annoyance in Baekhyun’s direction.

“It’ll be okay,” Baekhyun said, all joking out of his voice. There was no hint of his normal goofy grin on his face.

Junmyeon was taken back, but certainly grateful. “Thank you. I don’t know if it will be. I think I hurt her pretty badly. All because I couldn’t open my damn mouth and say what needed to be said. I should have just been honest with her along.”

“You should have,” Yixing agreed, “but your fear kept you from doing it.”

“My fear?” Junmyeon echoed. “My fear of what? Her rejecting me?”

Yixing shook his head. “No. Not that. You didn’t want to give her the option of choosing between you and her dream of archaeology. Because you’re scared of what she’ll choose. Our mates may accept us, but they don’t have to stay by our side. They don’t yearn in the same way we do. They can leave while we stay behind.”

Yixing was right, of course. He didn’t want to ask you to choose just for you go off on a dig. And then he’d be alone again, surrounded by his mated brothers living so happily while he pined for you. But it wasn’t right to make you choose him either. So, however unknowingly, he stayed quiet and kept that choice away from you. Then he wouldn’t have to face the worst possible outcome.

Well, second worst.

“I don’t want to hold her back,” Junmyeon whispered.

“It’s up to her.” Yixing smiled, “But her choice might surprise you.”

If anyone knew, it would definitely be Yixing. Junmyeon almost forgot about his previous predicament.

Baekhyun exhaled a loud huff. “Thank god Hae In just wants to be a kindergarten teacher.”

Junmyeon snorted. There was a lot for Baekhyun to be grateful for.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but Junmyeon was going to try one more time to speak with you. But first, he had another matter he needed to look into as well.

**

No. No, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening to you!

This morning you had a plan. You were going to corner Junmyeon when class was over, after sitting right there in the front know so he knew that you wanted to talk to him. It was all supposed to be fixed one way or the other. You needed to fix it.  

But you did what you normally tasked yourself with doing in the morning before you headed off to class: you checked your email. Right there at the very top was a new message labeled from “Professor Kim”. Your heart was skipping in your chest from excitement… until you opened the email.

It was a mass message to your whole class explaining that class would be canceled today and to turn in the papers electronically instead for this one time.

Letting out a high pitched whine, you let your head fall down to your keyboard. You didn’t want to wait until Wednesday to try again. What if he also canceled that class? How the hell were you supposed to see him now?

Your brain offered you the solution of driving back up to the farmhouse. You still had the directions, but you didn’t want to drive all the out there just to discover that he wasn’t there.

Was this all your fault? Did he cancel class because of you?

You scoffed at yourself. You didn’t think you had that strong of a hold on him.

Sighing, you closed your laptop and drummed your fingers on your table. You had nearly four hours before your next class would start. There was only one thing you could think to do to calm down. You needed to go to your happy place.

Getting dressed with the minimal amount of effort, you packed up for your things for class and headed out. The bus stop was right at the corner and yet you still barely made it in time to catch your ride before it took off.

The bus was crowded with commuters since it was still early in the morning, most of them talking on the phone or with each other. You found a seat near the back, cutting out the loud buzzing chatter, and counted down the stops until you were just a block away from the museum. Thanking the driver out of politeness, you walked the rest of the way, making it just in time for the unlocking of the doors.

“You’re here especially early,” Mrs. Kang, one of the curators, teased as she let you in.

You shrugged. “I had some time to kill.”

“So many visitors this morning,” Mrs. Kang murmured to herself. “Must be something in the air.”

You frowned at her observation, but shrugged it off.

For a while, you simply wandered around the first floor, staring at the dinosaur bones and reading the little plaques you’d memorized a long time ago. Soon you found yourself in front of the newsboard. One little flyer caught your eye. It was a job for the museum. It wouldn’t open up until next spring but it intrigued you and there was promise of a possible trip to an excavation site.

“(y/n)?”

You gasped, turning towards the voice. You nearly cried right then and there.

Junmyeon was standing just a few feet away. Like a miracle.

Out of instinct, you glanced around frantically before asking, “W-what are you doing here?”

He smiled at you. How could he be smiling at you right now? “I needed to spend some time with the artifacts. I had to research something.”

“And did you find what you were looking for you?” you asked.

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, unfortunately not.” He tilted his head, staring at you. “What are you doing here?”

“You canceled class,” you mumbled. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I came here.” Playing with your fingers, you fidgeted back and forth on the balls of your feet. “Can I talk to you?”

He chuckled. “You can always talk to me, (y/n).”

The cheesy line made you smile. “I appreciate that. But I mean… about something important.”

“Of course.” After glancing at the front, Junmyeon motioned towards the back door with his head. “Let's go back to the room.”

You nodded and followed him, your system going crazy with anticipation. This morning when you woke up, all you wanted was to talk to him. Now that opportunity was in front of you, you were scared as hell.

**

No, no, no, no, this could not be happening to you.

For the last month, you’d carefully planned this day. It was the first day of your last year of college. You’d picked out the outfit - fully aware that within two weeks you’d throw all cares of your looks and clothes out the window - and meticulously scheduled your day to be able to start off your year right. And you needed this year to go as smoothly as possible. As a senior, these last two semesters were the most important of your life. Three previous years of hard work could go down the drain if you didn’t keep your focus.

Okay, you could still probably graduate, but you wanted all the honors that came with graduating with top grades. And you wanted to make your parents proud. And you needed the good GPA in order to get a good internship or entry job after graduation.

When you’d sat down with your advised a few months previous to go over your schedule for the upcoming school year, you’d been itching with excitement. The classes that awaited you weren’t too difficult, but they would definitely be challenging and require your absolute attention. Which – given your past history – shouldn’t have been a problem.

Until the ultimate bombshell was dropped by your adviser.

You wanted to be an archaeologist. Someday. For now, you were settling for field assistant because you didn’t want to spend any more years sitting in a classroom reading about great finds when you could be a part of them. You didn’t care if your name was just a footnote about the people who were present in the digs, you just wanted to experience the thrill of finding evidence of an ancient civilization.

But to even get that far, you needed to graduate college. To graduate college in your specific field, you needed to check off all required classes. And you thought you had.

One little folklore class, one little elective that you had once been told was only an option and one you didn’t have to take, had snuck by you. When your adviser explained to you that there must have been some misunderstanding and that this class was in fact a required credit in order for you to complete your degree, your stomach had dropped. It was like your worst nightmare coming true. Not quite that dramatic, but close enough.

It wasn’t the subject matter that made you want to avoid the class. Actually, you found it somewhat intriguing considering how myths and old lore helped shaped the old world and influence their everyday lives. As someone who wanted to keep their focus on ancient civilizations, it probably would be a good class to have under your belt.

If only it was taught by someone else.

There was nothing wrong with Professor Kim. Maybe that was the issue. He was too… perfect. From the way he styled his hair to the glasses perched on his nose to the button-downs and slacks he wore for lectures.

It was your sophomore year of college that you first laid eyes on him. He was a brand new professor and the talk of the campus. Every other teacher on campus looked like the average college professor who was typically much older than the student population and usually had the fashion sense of two decades ago. Not to mention, most of them weren’t as fit or well put together. But when you walked out of the library with your two best friends, you realized that all of the gossip about the latest addition to the university staff was more than just talk and he was nothing like the average professor.

He was standing profile from you at over fifty feet away talking to other teachers, but your glasses helped you focus enough to be able to see his face. And your heart nearly leapt out of your chest and ran in his direction at full speed.

You were so enamored by his too-classic looks that you tripped over your own feet and nearly took Gemma down to the ground with you. In your embarrassment, you took off with Gemma and Cam, your two best friends, on your heels, calling out for an explanation. When you finally came to a stop, you huffed out what they wanted to know. Of course, they just laughed at you and your innocence when it came to attraction of the opposite sex.

After your disastrous freshman year relationship of seven months, you’d sworn off relationships and had never even given the thought of dating a chance since, too focused on your career goals to entertain the idea. Besides, you didn’t exactly know how to interact with them anyway. Sure, you’d had guy friends in the past, but that was different. You weren’t attracted to them. Maybe you just weren’t built for it. You were too awkward and didn’t exactly have the “street smarts” to navigate that world.

It was probably for the best. You never really found anyone that gave you butterflies or made you blush, anyway. There had never been a chemical reaction in your body like that ever not even with your fluke of an ex-boyfriend. Until you saw Professor Kim.

And that was exactly why you’d abstained from ever taking his class or stepping anywhere near him. If you saw even one single hair of his head, you’d take off in the opposite direction. The feeling you got in your chest whenever you caught a glimpse of him scared you. Keeping your head in your books and studies until graduation and then going on a dig far away from this place sounded like the perfect plan. And for the past two years, you’d done a bang up job of it.

It seemed fate just really liked to kick you down when you were skipping along happily.

In the end, there was no way around taking the class and you were forced to have your name added onto the list, probably bumping off some poor, unfortunate student who had thrown away the money just to be able to spend time in the presence of Professor Kim on a weekly basis.

You were a planner, though. And every plan had its deviations, right? Now that you were stuck in that lecture hall, you’d simply make sure that you sat all the way in the back where Professor Kim would be nothing but an ant in your vision. Most of the time, you might even be able hide him from your line of sight with your laptop.

In order for this mastery to work, you needed to wake up early enough to get from your apartment right across the street from the university to the classroom to secure your seat in the back. But you also had to make sure that you didn’t arrive too early so that it would only be you and maybe a few other students scattered across the room while Professor Kim wandered around the front getting ready for the first day of class.

You were initially set up for success. The alarm was programmed and on the highest volume your phone would allow. It was plugged in for the night to charge and you’d already picked out your outfit so there would be no time wasted in the morning.

Instead of waking up to your obnoxious alarm, however, you were woken up by a pillow to the face.

You snarled as you sat up in bed, sleep still crusty around your eyelids that refused to open all the way. Gemma was standing in your doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and one wrist elevated as she stared at the watch.

“Don’t you have class in like twenty minutes?” she snickered.

Still half asleep, you scratched the back of your head. “No. My alarm hasn’t gone off yet.”

“Try again.” Gemma stepped up closer to you and showed you the time.

Shit!

You grabbed your phone and pressed the home button to check what had happened. Then you found the issue. At some point, probably very early in the night, the charger had come out of the plug in the wall and your phone had died. You wanted to cry.

Jumping up out of bed, you were at least thankful for the clothes already laid out. You’d have to skip any other form of grooming and pampering this morning beyond a quick fix of your hair. After grabbing a granola bar and chugging a glass of juice, you ran out the door and prayed that you didn’t forget anything behind and that you still had a good spot to sit in.

When you arrived in the lecture hall, your stomach plummeted to the floor.

All the chairs in the back were taken, mostly by the male students, or those who just really didn’t care about the face of the teacher up front.

Slowly, you took one step down at a time, searching for any empty seat that you could take. Every semester, the World Folklore class was filled to capacity. There was even rumor of a waiting list to take the class. How could one professor be so popular, magazine-level handsome or not?

Finally finding the one empty seat in the entire room, you nearly cried. It was in the third row, right near the middle. What were the odds of that being the one chair that was free?

You scooted past the other students, apologizing on the way. One tiny piece of luck you got, at least, was that you didn’t hit any of the students with your bag. Settling down in the chair, you tried not to look too forlorn as you pulled out your laptop and readied yourself for the period.

Professor Kim wasn’t in the classroom yet, for which you were a little thankful. As you kept your head down on the keyboard in front of you, your glasses kept sliding down your nose and you kept pushing them back up a bit aggressively.

The consistent hum around the hall died out. Looking up, you shrank back in your seat. Now was the time. Just breathe, don’t settle on his face. You could do this. You could keep your mind focused on the material and not the teacher.

Walking up to the middle of the room and leaning up against the desk, Professor Kim smiled brightly.

“Welcome, everyone, to World Folklore. This class is about delving into ancient societies and learning about their stories that shaped their cultures.” As he went on with his lecture, his eyes searched around the room aimlessly, never settling even as the occasional student sat up straighter. “I want you to really get inside your heads and really tear these stories apart. Don’t be intimidated by the course work or the speed at which we go through the different types of stories. Unlike other credits, I want you to have fun and-”

He stopped suddenly, his hand that was keeping him balanced against the desk slipping and making him jerk a bit before stabilizing himself.

And he was looking right at you.

The smile was gone from his face, replaced with shock and awe. You shifted in your seat. Why wouldn't he just look away?

With a shake of his head, he did just that, after several seconds too long.

“I want you to have fun and really explore the possibility of ‘why’.” His earlier enthusiasm was gone, replaced by a slight nervousness. “Why did they create these stories? Why were they so scared of these tales? As we break down the different mythological creatures and their spread over the world, we just might end up answering those questions.”

While that might have been the same speech he gave every semester, you had a feeling that no classroom had ever heard it spoken quite like that.

Professor Kim spent the rest of the hour going over the syllabus and his expectations of the semester. Explaining in few details the different papers that would be written over the next few months, you had a sneaking suspicion that he was avoiding your section of the room. He’d always turning quickly, giving a majority of his attention to the left and right sides of the stadium seating. Somehow, rather than putting you at ease, it made you even more uncomfortable.

Your personal reasoning for wanting to avoid Professor Kim and keep your bubbling hormones in check was logical. Why Professor Kim was acting in a similar manner towards you was the real question. You’d never actually met the guy so there was no way he knew who you were. Right?

The time for the end of class came. From your experience, the professor always stayed behind in case of questions or simply took their time gathering up their things to avoid the sea of exiting students. Professor Kim did no such thing. Leaving behind his papers, he practically ran out the back door.

Murmurs echoed around you and you even felt a few questioning stares thrown your way. It was hard, but you suppressed the whimpers that were tempting your vocal cords and tried to stay invisible as you hurried up the stairs and to your next class for the day.

**

This was not happening. This was not happening.

Waking up this morning, Junmyeon had been in a good mood. He’d gotten up in time to get ready, picking out a nice tie to match his light blue shirt hanging from his door. The break between semesters had been a bit boring, just keeping an eye on his brothers and making due with what the town had to offer while he waited for the new school year to start.

But now the new semester was here and Junmyeon was going to be back in the classroom where he loved being.

Everything had gone smoothly as he drank his coffee without spilling any on him, made it to the college without terrible traffic and in plenty of time for his first class. The only mishap was running into Yoo Shin, a fellow history professor at the university. Catching up with him had nice, but it made him a few minutes late and Junmyeon couldn’t stand tardiness.

The students hushed as soon as he came in. It happened every year, but it still boosted Junmyeon’s ego a bit with how easily he could quiet the room. Going into the usual speech to loosen his new students up, he sized up the audience, letting his eyes roam around the room.

And then he found you.

Right there in the third row was the person he’d been searching for so long a time. The shock of you appearing in front of him made him lose his train of thought. He couldn’t even remember the rest of his speech.

But you were his student.

Of course he’d be in this situation. Nothing in his life could be easy for him, could it?

Anyone else in the world, he’d be happy to pursue, to finally get to know his mate. He couldn’t exactly start a relationship with his student. It went against his personal standards... and school statues.

Unable to remember to rest of his usual spiel, Junmyeon had to make up the remaining part of his speech on the fly, cringing on the inside. Was he even making any sense? It was the hardest thing to keep his focus on anything but you and that was making it difficult to know what was even leaving his mouth.

So close. You were so close to him, but he had to act like you were just another student, like you weren’t the most precious thing to him on this earth now as the wolf in his chest whined with glee. After waiting so long for his mate to show up, it seemed like a miracle - and like a slap to the face.

A professor and his student. It sounded like a bad drama. He didn’t even know your name. He’d learn it soon, but he wanted to learn it by introducing himself like a normal person, not by the papers and quizzes you’d hand in.

Groaning, Junmyeon tossed his glasses down on the desk and hid his face in his hands.

As soon as class had ended, he’d booked it out of there and headed straight for the sanctuary of his office. It would have been too tempting to stay behind, to try and catch you and talk to you. He wanted to hear your voice. Was it as delicate as you looked? Or was it stronger, sassier, taking anyone who might underestimate you by surprise?

He’d already caught bad attention from the other students given his very obvious reaction to you. Keeping you after class right after that would have started rumors. That was not something Junmyeon needed right now.

Knock, knock, knock.

Junmyeon jumped at the noise, his heart racing in his chest. It didn’t calm down until Sehun poked his head in.

“Hey,” Junmyeon nodded, leaning back in his chair.

Sehun smirked. “It’s day one. You can’t be this stressed out already?”

Junmyeon shook his head. “I’m just needing a second cup of coffee, that’s all.”

The look on Sehun’s face clearly said that he wasn’t buying it, but right now wasn’t the time to talk about it. Junmyeon knew that divulging the latest upset in his life would come with a hail of questions. Ones that he didn’t have answers to yet. So, instead, he’d keep that information to himself. At least until he knew who you were and how to get to know you without crossing any lines.

“Well, I’m not getting you any,” Sehun teased as he shut the office door behind him.

“I wasn’t even going to bother asking,” Junmyeon laughed. Resting his elbows on the desk, he asked, “What are you doing here? Don’t you have class?”

“Not for another hour,” Sehun shrugged, sitting down in the chair across from him. “I was bored, so I figured I’d come bother you since you aren’t busy with grading yet.”

“That’ll start soon, though,” Junmyeon reminded him.

Putting his feet up on the desk, Sehun leaned back in the chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Until then, you’ll have to continue beating the girls off with a stick.”

Junmyeon shoved the feet off. “That joke is old.”

“Still better than yours.”

It was hard, but Junmyeon let that slide. The guys were always making fun of his jokes, calling them weak and overused. But he liked keeping the mood up and that was one of the few ways he knew how.

“So, why aren’t you hanging out with the others instead?” he asked.

Sehun scrunched his face up in an annoyed fashion. “Everyone is hanging out with their mate in between classes. I prefer not to be around that too much.”

“It’s not an infectious disease,” Junmyeon laughed.

“Might as well be,” Sehun grumbled. “With how quickly everyone’s finding their mates, it feels like the pack has been passing around a cold. Not that I care too much, but I’d still prefer not to catch it next.”

Junmyeon sighed and smiled at his youngest brother. “It’s simply the natural order of things for our species. One day, yours will find you and you’ll start singing a different tune.”

Sehun cringed. “Can I be last?”

With a scoff, Junmyeon waved him out of his office. “Just go get ready for class. Or go find Tao, he’s with you on not wanting a mate.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll get out of your hair.” Standing up, he headed for the door. With one hand on the doorknob, he looked over his shoulder and asked, “Hey, hyung?”

“Yeah?”

“If something was going on, you’d tell me, right?” The look on his face was suddenly so innocent and trusting. Junmyeon almost gave in and told him to sit back down.  

Junmyeon let one corner of his lip to turn up into a sorrowful smile. “Yeah, of course. If something comes up, I’ll tell you.”

Once Sehun was gone, Junmyeon picked up his glasses and placed them back on to his face. He didn’t necessarily think it was a lie. Eventually, he’d tell Sehun and the rest of the pack about finding his mate. He just needed some time to wrap his head around the situation. After that, he’d say something.

**

Your heart was still racing when you closed the door to your apartment. Raising your hand to your chest, you felt the drum beat keep a steady pace that was well above its normal rhythm.

He’d almost kissed you. He’d almost kissed you.

That had to be what he was doing, right? With the closed eyes and forehead touch? And, oh, god, did you want him to kiss you. How many times had your imagination fluttered in that direction when you weren’t keeping it in check?

Gemma and Cam were lounging on the couch watching some drama on the television and hadn’t caught on to your presence until now. The former tilted her head at you, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, jumping up from her spot and walking over to you. Out of instinct, she reached out and placed the back of her hand against your cheek. “Why are you so warm? Are you getting sick?”

You shook your head adamantly. “No, I’m fine.”

Taking a step back, Gemma smirked. “Okay, I know we silently agreed to not bring it up anymore, but did something happen with Junie?”

“O-oh, n-no, I, um, I just – no, you see-” Coherency apparently was a skill that had now left you entirely. An efficient enough lie couldn’t be conjured up and you were stuck as a stuttering mess.

Cam was giggling into her mug over on the cough, smartly pressing her lips together and keeping her comments to herself.  You threw her a glare, but stayed quiet, knowing that whatever biting remark you could come up with would just come out choppy and useless.

“Did he kiss you?” Gemma asked excitedly.

Chewing on your bottom lip, you shook your head. “No. But he almost did.”

Your admission cause Cam to accidentally swallow her drink down the wrong pipe, throwing her into a coughing fit. When she was finally able to breathe again, she screeched, “What do you mean he ‘almost did’?”

You started fidgeting with your fingernails, absentmindedly digging out the nonexistent dirt from underneath them. “Well, he was leaning in, but then a couple walking their dog came by, so he pulled back.”

Gemma and Cam gave you identical dumbfounded looks. It was actually quite comical, but you were able to hold back the chuckle building in your throat.

“So, basically, what you’re saying is that he didn’t want to be seen kissing you? Like he was embarrassed?” Cam inferred with a particularly curtly tone. She even slammed her mug down on the side table for emphasis.

You wanted to argue that that wasn’t the case. At least, you were pretty sure that wasn’t the case. They didn’t know that “Junie” was actually your professor and if he’d been seen kissing a student by the wrong person, he’d be in boiling hot water. And even if you were brave enough to confess that little secret to Gemma and Cam, you couldn’t be entirely sure how they’d take it. Cam might smirk at the sneakiness and forbidden aspects of it all, but you could only guess how Gemma would take it. You’d didn’t think she’d exactly be jumping up and down with excitement.

“I don’t think he was embarrassed,” you said meekly. “I think it was just the surprise at the couple’s presence. We were at the park and there wasn’t anyone else there at first.”

“Hm,” Cam pursed her lips, giving you the feeling that she didn’t entirely believe it. “Okay.” She narrowed her eyes at you. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just a little flustered, that’s all. I wasn’t expecting it.”

Gemma patted your head gently. “Okay. Just let us know if you need us to kick his butt.”

That truly managed to make you laugh. While you could see Cam really trying to throw a punch at Junmyeon’s face, you couldn’t imagine for a second the gentle Gemma trying anything to physically harm him. She’d probably instead start lecturing him on the possible psychological damage his actions could have caused you. That was much more her style.

“Thank you,” you smiled at your friends. “But I’m okay. I promise. He’s not going to do anything.”

You actually believed that last sentence. What happened back at the park was probably just a fluke, brought on by the heavy subject the two of you were engaged in. Junmyeon probably didn’t actually want to kiss you because he liked you in that way. He had a mate to find, remember? It was easy to get caught up in the moment. That couple was actually your saving grace, keeping the two of you from doing something you would regret. Yes, that was it.

At least, that’s what you would keep telling yourself.

**

Junmyeon was anticipating seeing you in class today. He wanted to see you again. He wanted to see if he could get you to agree to meet up with him, maybe take you for a run in his wolf form. You’d turned him down last time, but maybe he could persuade you.

Just a little bit of alone time, that’s all he was asking for. A place where you wouldn’t be interrupted, where he wouldn’t be scared of being seen by the wrong person. A place where he could build up the courage to try and kiss you again.

Maybe his plans were getting too elaborate.

He was sure he was getting close to being able to tell you everything. Hearing the way your heart was beating as he leaned in last night was a beautiful melody that he would never get tired of listening to for the rest of his life. And you would have let him kiss your lips. That was the strike that lit up his little match of hope after you’d been pulling away from him.

There was a lightness in Junmyeon’s steps as he headed towards the classroom. Sure, he was an idiot, but wasn’t everyone a fool in love?

Yeah, he could definitely say he was falling in love you. He felt elated when he could make you smile. He loved watching that sparkle in your eye when you were mesmerized by his family’s artifacts. The way you would clam up when you were flustered or the way you could read into the cultural significance of the fairytales he was lecturing on. You paid attention and listened to him on a level that he wasn’t used to. He wanted to get to know every single facet of who you were and fall deeper in.

You were already there when Junmyeon walked into the classroom. He nearly exploded when he saw that you were back in your front row seat, materials out and ready to start the period. No one else was around you and the other students that were scattered among the room were too busy talking to each other or scrolling through their phones to pay too much attention.

As calmly as he could, he walked up to you, earning your curious gaze when he reached the long, curved table where you sat.

“Can I see you after class?” he whispered. When you nodded, he simply smiled before walking back to his desk.

He was practically bouncing with anticipation throughout the whole lecture. It was a stupid thing to be excited about, but he couldn’t help it. Part of him always expected to be rejected whenever he asked you about staying back or meeting up with him. But you never told him no once he was finally able to ask. You would avoid him at times, not giving him the chance to say one word, but hopefully those times were behind him.

As class came to an end, you continued to just sit there in your seat as all the other students filed out. Junmyeon busied himself at his desk, pretending to go over lecture notes and piling up the quizzes he’d collected at the beginning of the hour.

“You wanted to see me?”

With his back still to you, Junmyeon smiled widely. Your voice was quiet and unsure and he couldn’t help but find it adorable. Turning around after he was able to get his face under control, he started, “I was, um-” he cleared his throat. Smooth, Junmyeon. “I was just wondering if you had any plans Friday afternoon.”

You frowned guiltily. “Well, yeah, actually I do. Midterms are next week, so I’ll be spending the weekend studying. I have a big test on Monday.”

Junmyeon deflated. He’d completely forgotten about that crucial part of the semester, second only to finals. “Oh, right. Hm.” Racking is brain, he tried to come up with some sort of solution. The next meeting outside of the classroom would have to be on your terms. “May I see your phone?”

“M-my phone?” you stammered.

He chuckled. “Yes. The cellular device you used to talk and text.”

By the look on your face, you didn’t entirely appreciate his comment, but you fished your phone out from your back pocket, unlocking it before handing it over. Junmyeon quickly added in his contact information before giving it back to you.

“There,” he sighed. “Now if you find yourself a little bored or needing a break from studying, you can get ahold of me. I’ll be free all weekend, if you change your mind.”

Your eyes were wide, filled with innocent surprise. “Okay…. I’ll, um, let you know. I should head to my next class now.”

“Of course.” Junmyeon watched as you hurriedly ran up the steps, tripping only once as you dashed away. The chuckle bubbling up in his chest couldn’t be held back anymore as he piled the papers scattered on the desk together and left the lecture hall.

Since he didn’t have another class until later in the afternoon, he headed back to his office to get started on grading the ever growing pile of quizzes that he’d been putting off. It took him a good hour and a half to get through the multiple classes’ worth of grading and plug the results into the school’s site. His eyes were beginning to glaze over and he was already looking forward to when he could head home.

Knock, knock, knock.

Junmyeon perked up at the sound. Did you, perhaps, change your mind to come see him?

“Come in,” he called out, hurrying to clear out the papers from his desk.

But it wasn’t you that slowly walked through the door.

It was Soomi.

Standing up from his desk, Junmyeon rushed over to the door, glancing up and down the hallway to make sure it was empty from any nosy gossipers before closing the door and turning back around.

“Soomi, I told you-”

She put up a hand to stop him. “I’m not here for that. I’m here on business.”

“Business?” Junmyeon frowned. He walked back to his desk, sitting down taking off his glasses. “What do you mean?”

Soomi didn’t sit down, opting instead to keep standing, arms folded across her stomach. She sighed. “Nia had a vision.”

Junmyeon couldn’t understand what was so important about those four little words. “Who’s Nia?”

“She’s my trainee,” Soomi explained. “She’s one of the few among the witches that can receive visions without casting a spell.”

“They just come to her?” Junmyeon didn’t like where this conversation was headed.

“Yes,” Soomi confirmed. “Poor thing still isn’t able to completely handle them when they come on nor be able to control them. We’re working with her on them, but it’s still touch and go.”

Junmyeon nodded sympathetically. “And what did Nia see?”

“Something is coming.” The way Soomi lowered her voice and stared at Junmyeon made the hair on his arms stand up.

“What’s coming?”

Soomi shook her head. “Nia couldn’t see. It all came in flashes, she said. She couldn’t get a clear grasp on what she was seeing. But there was strong emotion with it. Fear, terror, the need to protect. She collapsed after it was over, the vision was so forceful. Something is coming for the pack and you must be prepared.”

There wasn’t anything Junmyeon could really say. A vague notion didn’t give them a good foundation on how to proceed. Until there was more information, there was very little they could do to prepare.

“I appreciate the warning,” Junmyeon sighed. “I’ll talk to the boys. I’m sure it won’t be anything that we can’t handle. We did take out a pack of hybrids.”

Soomi kept her gaze down, licking her lips as if she were trying to get the words she was holding back to slip out. She rounded the desk, carefully hopping up to sit on the now cleared table top. Taking Junmyeon’s hand in both of hers, she stayed quiet.

Junmyeon wanted to pull away, to tell Soomi to please get off his desk, but the gentleman in him just couldn’t find a nice way to say it. He’d instead let you say your piece and leave.

“Junmyeon,” she whispered, “I know you've found your mate, but that doesn’t mean my feelings for you just go away. I don’t want anything happen to you.”

“I appreciate that, Soomi.” Out of politeness, he squeezed her hand, before starting to pull away, “But, I think-”

“Junmyeon- oh.”

Shit.

**

Why did it have to be you?

Why did you have to make stupid decisions? Let yourself hope on useless things?

It had seem at like a good idea at the time. Yes, Junmyeon had give you his number, but it felt a little silly to text or call when you could just… see him.

So, after your second class of the day, you headed off to the professor’s building, telling yourself that if he wasn’t there then you would text him. You were sure you could carve out the time to spend a little of Saturday afternoon with whatever he’d had in mind. At first, you’d thought that maybe you’d see if Saturday morning would work, but you knew that if you did block out the morning from him, you’d be too tempted to spend the entire day with him.

When you reached Junmyeon’s office, you hadn’t been thinking that he might not be alone. The sign outside his door didn’t indicate he was with another student so, like an idiot, you just opened the door. And your heart didn’t just sink.

It cracked into a million pieces you didn’t believe would ever be put back together again.

Soomi was sitting on Junmyeon’s desk, holding his hand while looking down at him with that look you knew all too well.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled. “I should have knocked.”

Junmyeon jumped up from his seat. “No, (y/n), wait-”

You didn’t stick around to hear whatever explanation he’d felt the urge to give you. You didn’t need one. It was none of your business and you needed to get out of there before either of them saw you break.

Once out of the building, you didn’t stop running. Only when you reached the crosswalk off of school grounds were you finally forced to stop. Bouncing on the balls of your feet, you wanted to just sprint out into the street to get to the other side, in case someone actually decided to come after you. The chances of that happening were slim to none, but you let the thought linger anyway.

Safe inside your apartment, you threw yourself down on your bed and let the tears flow free.

For the next several days, you just stayed there in bed. Not even the urgency of midterms could coax you out of your room and onto campus grounds. You only crawled out of bed when your roommates were gone to use the bathroom and grab snacks so you didn’t starve to death. Other than that, you simply lied there and stared at the wall, playing the scene of Junmyeon and Soomi over and over. Your phone rang several times, but you never answered it or even bothered to look to see who it was. You had a pretty good inkling and you didn’t feel like talking to him.

“(y/n)?”

It was Friday night and Cam and Gemma had more than caught on to the fact that something was wrong. Both of them tiptoed into your room and sat as carefully as they could on the bed.

“Hey,” Gemma greeted softly. You barely peeked out from under your covers. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

You shook your head, too ashamed that you were falling into the same pattern of hopelessness that you’d experienced your freshman year, only this was a hundred times worse. Back then, you saw the light at the end of the tunnel, you just had to pick yourself up and walk towards it. This time you felt like you were lost in a cold, dark cave with no idea which way led out.

“We’re going to go to a party,” Cam informed you as she rubbed your leg in a motherly fashion over the covers. “I think you should go with us. Maybe take your mind off of whatever happened?”

“I don’t think a party is the solution,” you grumbled.

“Not a solution,” Gemma chimed in. “Simply a momentary distraction. Why not show the world that you’re strong and don’t let temporary setbacks or people who aren’t important keep you from living your life?”

With a huff, you flipped the covers off of your top half, letting you stare at your friends. “I’m not a huge supporter of drinking away your problems.”

Cam shook her head, “That’s not-”

Flinging up into a sitting position, you stopped her, “But, this one time, I can give into to the idea and live a little like a college student for one night.”