#tadaaaaah

But there was something freaky about him.

Sometimes he went around like he knew something nobody else did and would walk around unseeingly. On semi-frequent occasions you swore that he’d swing his head around to look at you incredulously or smile to himself, head tipped downwards like he was trying to contain his laughter, as if he heard what you said. Which would be normal and all–if you were in his vicinity. But, no, you would be at your designated spot in the cafeteria chatting with Minghao and Sicheng or walking behind the crowd of students during a field trip, and he would just incline his head so that he could look at you. There were also the times where he would be extremely irritable, not come in for a day or two and then come back and act like his usual self. That didn’t happen often but they occurred enough for you to notice–you didn’t know how he got away with it, one of your suspicions inclued that he was secretly a witch or something. Although you knew that the more logical reason was because he was dubbed as the town’s Golden Boy.

However it wasn’t just him, his entire family was freaky. It wasn’t something that you could put your finger on, not exactly, but you knew that they weren’t just any normal family.

There wasn’t any evidence to support your claim, not that you said it out loud or anything because contrary to what your brothers have said about you, you did, indeed, have some self-preservation and self-awareness. Besides, it wasn’t your fault that you had a tendency make more reckless decisions than they did. At that point your mother had already abandoned her dreams for another one of her children to become a doctor. Which was the best, honestly, because it gave you more freedom to do what you wanted.

Even with your lack of evidence you knew that they were just weird. But what was weirder was that nobody seemed to notice that they were weird. Apart from you that was. Everybody seemed to be blinded by the fact that they were a wholesome, good-doing family that were pleasing to the eye–they were practically local celebrities with the way people fawned over them. It was a great achievement that their ancestors founded your small town years and years and years ago, really, it was, but it was strange that not one person from any generation left for somewhere else, like a big city or something. Did nobody find that strange? Was it really possible that nobody in their family tree took the chance to book it as soon as they graduated high school?

The girls surrounding you screamed hysterical encouragements when Jaehyun managed to steal the ball from an opposing player, spun around and began zooming towards the other end of the court before you could blink. You narrowed your eyes when you noticed that halfway down the court, Jaehyun seemed to catch himself. It was barely there, his expression of realization, before he slowed down which allowed the other players on the team to catch up to him.

There was something freaky about the Jeongs alright, and you were going to find out exactly what it was.

*

There wasn’t any sort of plan that you had in mind to carry out your investigation to uncover the truth, in fact you didn’t even know where to begin and so that paired with the overwhelming amount of homework you obtained meant that you pushed it to the back-burner. You were up to your eyeballs in various essays and math problems that you barely had time to breathe, granted it was your fault that you left a few last minute but the point still stood.

It was your poor time management that brought you to hurriedly end the sentence of the last paragraph on your poetry essay. Fortunately Mrs.Kim collected them at the end of her classes which often worked in your favor. If Sicheng knew that you didn’t finish your assignment he would have scolded you for ages seeing as he was basically an advocate for education which was fitting since him and Jaehyun were in an unsaid competition for valedictorian and salutatorian. Although what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him and you would be lecture free.

“...and that is all for today, please hand over your assignments to the person in front of you and pass them up.” Mrs.Kim ended class earlier than usual and you have been seasoned enough to learn that that meant she had something up her sleeve. After she received everyone’s essays she placed them on her desk and spun quickly to face the class. “For your next assignment, you are going to work on a project. It’s worth fifty percent of your grade and you can choose whatever topic you want as long as it remains relevant to writing or English composition. Since it’s worth that much, you’ll have until the end of the term.” There were no objections until she added, “I’m going to call out your assigned partner.”

The only person you were friends with in the class was Minghao and the two of you looked at each other in synchronization with matching faces of dread. It wasn’t that you particularly disliked anybody in the class, what with the town so small that you basically grew up everyone in your year, but it sure would be amazing if you could work with one of your best friends. Minghao having an affinity for creative writing and such was only a bonus.

You remained hopeful as Mrs.Kim read through her list since she didn’t call out either of your names. That was until she said, “Minghao and Yugyeom.” You slumped in your chair, placing your cheek in the palm of your hand as you moodily waited for your name to be called. “Y/n and Jaehyun.” 

The name of your partner had you straightening up in your seat, ignoring the envious gazes shot your way. This was great, you could totally ace this project and jump at the opportunity to analyze Jaehyun at a closer level. When you turned to glance at him, you found him looking at you already so you gave him what you hoped was a friendly smile before you diverted your attention back to where Mrs.Kim was finishing off calling out the names.

When the class was over, you packed up your stuff and zoomed over to Minghao. He threw his arm around your shoulder and the two of you started mock crying over the fact that you weren’t project partners as you walked over to the cafeteria. 

“I mean,” he said as he chewed on his apple, “at least we get to make new friends?” 

Before you could even reply, there was a small ‘thud’ of a tray being dropped on the table and when you looked over at Minghao’s right, you found Yugyeom about to sit down. The sound was repeated on your left and you weren’t entirely surprised to find Jaehyun settling in the empty seat beside you. 

“Um,” he arched his eyebrows in a questioning manner, “that’s Sicheng’s seat.”

The corner of Jaehyun’s lip quirked upwards, “Sicheng has lunch with you guys later.” That time it was your turn to arch your brow at him quizzically. How did he know when Sicheng had lunch with you and when he didn’t? It was weird. But then again you knew that the other jocks had lunch later too, although that was basically common knowledge wasn’t it? Refusing your thoughts to spiral, you chalked it up to his freakiness instead. He definitely saw your expression though he did nothing but give you his award winning smile.

“Uh, okay,” you turned to face Minghao but found him and Yugyeom immersed in conversation. “So,” you said as you bit into your sandwich, “our project.”

“Our project,” Jaehyun parroted with a nod, “anything you want to do?”

“I haven’t really thought about it.” That was a small lie, you wanted to do something related to ancient folklore or Greek Mythology, or basically anything to do with mythical creatures in history or something. But you weren’t about to tell him that because you knew that not everybody had a fascination for Greek Mythology and the like, since it wasn’t as if every kid read the Percy Jackson & the Olympians when they were growing up and developed a somewhat obsessive fascination with them. “What about you?”

Jaehyun considered you for a moment, head slightly tilted, his dark eyes boring into you. “Yeah, same.” There was a small pause. “Well, how about you come to my place on Friday? We could, you know, brainstorm and stuff.” When you nodded your agreement, you traded phone numbers and dispersed when it was time for your next class.

*

“What do you think of the Jeongs?” You asked as you piled vegetables onto your plate. It was a rare evening where your entire family was present for dinner since your both your dad and oldest brother had early shifts at the hospital. It was a great opportunity to gather some intel on Jaehyun and his family. 

“Mrs.Jeong is a great mayor.” Is the reply you earned from your mom once she finished chewing her food, “she’s fair, kind and always thinks about the citizens. But she’s also firm and nobody can do anything without her knowing.”

“Mr.Jeong is the same,” your dad answered before including, “very hands on and always ready to help.” When you looked to Gongmyung for confirmation, he nodded and gave you a thumbs up.

“And Jaehyun?” You asked somewhat hesitantly. The chances of them knowing him were large considering whenever you went to visit the hospital to bring lunch to your dad and Gongmyung, Jaehyun was around talking to whoever–staff, patients, visitors. Your mom probably knew him because he was one of the volunteers to help bag items at the grocery store. Judging what they said about his parents, they would probably sing his praises and not include anything they found off about him.

Doyoung, who had been eyeing you curiously, said, “are you asking what we think about them as some sort of”–he swung his chopsticks around as if it would help him find the word–“approval thing? Do you have a crush on Jaehyun or something?”

The question had you choking on your food, shaking your head vehemently. It was concerning that your mom brightened at what your brother said, eyes sparkling with hope as she batted her eyelashes at you. Gongmyung and your dad furrowed their brows, staring at their plate of food in a huff.

“Oh shut up frog face!” You retorted once you got yourself together. “I do not have a crush on Jaehyun”–from the corner of your eye, you saw your mom deflate into her seat and Gongmyung release a small sigh–“we have a project together and he invited me over on Friday so,” you trailed off, trying to find the right words, “I guess I just wanted to know if, um, you guys are alright with them or whatever.”

Before Doyoung could reply, your mom butted in. “Well, why wouldn’t we be alright with them? They’re a lovely family.” She tittered with excitement, “a project, huh?”

“Yeah, for Mrs.Kim’s class.” You finished the last of your food. “So it’s okay if I go, right?”

“Of course!”

Gongmyung and your dad grumbled to themselves while your mom went on a tangent about baking something for you to bring over to them. Doyoung shrugged his shoulders when you passed him a look and took some meat off your plate, smiling unapologetically when you glared at him.

*

The Jeong residence was in the middle of nowhere. Okay, admittedly that was an exaggeration but it was only because they lived a few miles from the rest of the people who lived in the town. Practically everyone knew where they lived due to their choice of location. You had never been inside of their house before but you did go trick-or-treating there when you were younger. Doyoung used to tell you scary stories about how the Jeongs ate people because why else would they live in the woods, y/n?

Other variations of his story included how they buried ‘annoying little kids’ around the area. Gongmyung would scuff the back of his head and assure you that the Jeongs were definitely not people-eaters or buried kids. 

Maybe it was Doyoung’s fault that you always kept a watchful eye on Jaehyun growing up, what with all those stories. Although if he didn’t tell you those false tales, you wouldn’t have noticed that there was something up with your classmate. 

As you finally approached the Jeong house, you marveled at its appearance. There was a cute little stone path leading up to their house, various flowers littered here and there. The house itself was a very pretty and clean colonial house with a porch that had wooden seats and a table. How could Doyoung ever have scared you when their house was so inviting? It was probably the rest of the area, you supposed, since it was all dark, looming trees.

You hopped off your bike and held the handles as you walked up to their house. Unsure of where to leave it, you leaned it against their porch knowing that the chances of it being stolen were slim. Once you were sure it wouldn’t collapse on the patch of daisies, you removed the apple and cinnamon loaf that your mom made for the Jeongs.

It was when you fell on the second step that you were glad that you were holding on tightly to the pyrex loaf pan. If you broke it you wouldn’t want to know how your mom would react. You cradled it in relief and hoped that the jar in your backpack was in tact or else the stuff inside it would be a horrible, sticky mess until you could get home and wash it.

“Are you okay dear?” Mrs.Jeong’s voice chimed from above you and you found yourself looking at her concerned face when you glanced up. 

“‘m fine,” you winced slightly, rubbing at your leg, “probably gonna leave a bruise though.”

“Sorry about that,” she apologized, smiling at you serenely. “My husband was supposed to fix that in case we have any visitors.” She griped lowly, probably not wanting you to hear.

“Oh, uh, do you not get many visitors then?” You asked awkwardly as she lead you inside. What were you supposed to say to that? ‘Yeah that sucks, maybe you should invite more people over or something.’ Maybe it would have been better if you said nothing at all.

“Not really. Our other relatives live elsewhere and Jaehyun doesn’t really invite anybody here.” She sighed wistfully before turning to smile at you brightly, “so imagine my surprise when he told me that somebody would be coming here, and such a gorgeous somebody too.” 

There was a loud thump upstairs that had you pulling a face whereas Mrs.Jeong just chuckled to herself as if she were in some sort of inside joke. You didn’t know what to say in return but it seemed like she wasn’t expecting one anyway, judging from the way she turned around to lead you into the kitchen. 

“You have a very nice house.” You complimented once you took a seat by the island. It was open spaced and minimal, family photos here and there and you had to resist the urge to look at the baby pictures of Jaehyun. 

“Thank you, my husband and I weren’t too fond of the idea of getting too many items when inherited this house. Now, can I offer you something to drink?”

You shook your head. “No thank you. Oh, um, actually my mom made this for you,” you slid the loaf pan towards her before shrugging your backpack off and unzipped it, shoulders relaxing at the sight of the perfect condition of the mason jar. “She made this too. It’s peach jam. And that’s an apple and cinnamon loaf.”

“There was no need but thank so you so much. Jaehyun will love the jam.”

“Hey y/n.” Jaehyun greeted from behind you. You spun around and gave a flimsy wave, hoping that your smile wasn’t awkward. “C’mon we can go to my room.”

As you hopped off your seat, Mr.Jeong came from behind his son. “Oh, you must be y/n! It’s nice to finally meet you. Your dad talks about you all the time. Sorry ‘bout that step by the way, I’ll fix that as soon as possible.”

How did he know that you tripped on a step on your way in? The only explanation that you could come up with was that he either saw it happen, like maybe he was looking out the window for some reason, or maybe he was by the doorway and saw his wife standing over you. But that was impossible since you definitely would have seen him on your way in and you were absolutely sure that you didn’t. 

Not knowing what to say, and still confused, you chuckled awkwardly. Jaehyun looked as if he were restraining the urge to smack his hand on his face. “It’s nice to meet you too, sir.” You turned to face his mom, “you too, ma’am.” And with that you walked over to Jaehyun and allowed him to lead you to his room.

Just as he was about to close the door, he groaned and left it slightly ajar as he mumbled under his breath. You surveyed his room; there were various movie posters, which looked to be a mixture of thriller and horror, that covered up the entirety of one of the walls. There were a few fashion magazines spewed on his table, a stack of CDs on his shelf and little Pokémon figurines on his window sill. It was neater than you thought it would be, too. Cleaner than your room anyway for sure. 

You copied Jaehyun when he sat cross legged on his carpeted floor, placing your bag beside you. “So,” you began as you took your notebook and pencil case out of your bag. “Come up with any ideas?” 

“Yeah, I was thinking maybe we could focus on one author and analyze their work? Or that we could analyze a classic so that our project would only focus on one book instead of a lot of different ones.”

You hummed. “That sounds pretty good, were you thinking of any specific authors or books?”

When Jaehyun brought up that he was thinking of Jane Austen’s work and that he couldn’t decide between The Picture of Dorian Gray or Dracula, you launched into a long conversation about the pros and cons of each. Jaehyun’s passion was incredibly clear as he spoke and you were taken away with how absolutely alluring you found it. 

You weren’t blind, of course. You knew that Jaehyun was all sorts of attractive and that it was the main reason why so many people fawned over him in school. It was actually ironic considering how nobody batted their pretty eyelashes at him all throughout middle school but did a one eighty as soon as he joined the basketball team and lost his baby cheeks, trading them for a defined jawline and muscles instead. You always considered Jaehyun cute, even back then when he had that awful haircut and hadn’t grown into his ears yet, but having a clear look at him now it was obvious that you found him handsome. Anybody would be stupid not to think he was.

“You really don’t have anything that you want to do?” Jaehyun asked after your lengthy conversation, searching your eyes. “I’m completely okay if we don’t do my idea.”

Although you couldn’t handle the intensity in his eyes, you held his gaze head on as you replied. “Yeah, I had an idea but I didn’t know if you would be, like, into it or anything.” He prompted you to continue with a movement of his hand, giving you a small boost of confidence. “I was thinking maybe we could do something on ancient folklore or Greek Mythology? Like, maybe we could relate it with cultural impact and stuff like that? I dunno, we don’t have to do it.”

“Ancient folklore?” Jaehyun repeated, “do you mean like with mythical creatures and stuff?”

You nodded. “Yeah exactly. Griffins, chimeras, the fae, vampires and werewolves.”

“That sounds interesting,” he replied after a moments of silence, a pensive expression written on his face, “there probably won’t be a lot of groups doing that topic.” You agreed with his statement by nodding your head. “Okay we should do that then! What mythical creature should we start with first?”

*

Surprisingly, the project was going pretty well. Within almost two months, the two of you gathered a bunch of information online and from the local library in between Jaehyun’s basketball practice and extracurricular activities. It also helped that Jaehyun had extensive knowledge, as did his parents, and they even had a few books of their own that helped to gather necessary information. Although you had to admit, it was quite frustrating whenever Jaehyun shot down any possible facts regarding certain creatures, vampires and werewolves especially. You hadn’t snapped at him yet but you were definitely on the brink of it, all it would take was one more unimpressed stare that he often paired with a dismissive wave.

Another surprising thing that resulted in doing the project was that you and Jaehyun had actually formed a friendship. The Jeongs had come over to your house for dinner several times and vice versa, your mom had ample amounts of peach jam for whenever Jaehyun came over, Mrs.Jeong stocked up her fridge with your favorite soda, and your brothers seemed to have taken Jaehyun under their wing–they did things like go fishing on the weekends and played video games together. Jaehyun and his jock friends even started sitting at your table and greeted you whenever they saw you in the hallway. It was actually really nice, and if Minghao and Sicheng weren’t professionals at sulking, you would have considered Jaehyun as one of your close friends–maybe even one of your best friends and you knew that was weird but there was a feeling you couldn’t explain whenever you were with him. Like you have known him for as long as you’d lived, which was technically true since everybody knew everybody in your town.

Honestly, you had almost forgotten about your opinion about the Jeongs being freaky because it was really easy to overlook their unorthodox behavior (which you weren’t completely sure whether or not they did it on purpose to try in hint that they were other) when they accepted how easily you and your family slotted into their lives.

“Hey loser,” Jaehyun grumbled as he dropped his tray and took the seat beside you, his arm automatically sliding across your shoulder, his hand lingering on the nape of your neck for a millisecond.

That was something that you noticed the Jeongs did a lot–touching you whenever possible, also including your whole family whenever it was possible. At first it started off with little touches like Mrs.Jeong rubbing the back of your head, Mr.Jeong giving you high fives and Jaehyun’s hand lingering somewhat firmly on your arm whenever he needed your attention for something. Eventually Mrs.Jeong would hug you tightly whenever you entered and left their home, Mr.Jeong would pat your head affectionately or clap the back of your shoulders, and Jaehyun?

He did all sorts of touching, a combination of the lot. It seemed that his preferred way, though, was to wrap his arm around your shoulders and push you into his side. When the other students started noticing his favor towards you, a lot of them had asked if you were together but before you could ever say anything, Jaehyun would be there, paralyzing them with his smile and swivelled you away from them. 

You couldn’t exactly pinpoint what had triggered the Jeongs to start being so affectionately with you but you were sure that it had something to do with the afternoon that Jaehyun fell asleep in your presence when the two of you were watching a movie. Mrs.Jeong had walked in, glanced between the two of you repeatedly and you couldn’t help but noticed how her expression softened. You remembered looking at her helplessly when Jaehyun threw his arm around you and pushed you closer but she did nothing but wink and exit the room, leaving you confined next to him for the next couple of hours.

Truthfully, you didn’t mind that they were so affectionate with you. It wasn’t as if you were touch starved or anything, but it was nice to know that there were other people who cared for you that weren’t limited to your family, Minghao and Sicheng. It made you feel part of something, even if you didn’t know what it was. You had suspicions of course, but you didn’t want to reveal your cards just yet.

“What’s up,” you greeted, easily melting into his side. You wouldn’t ever admit it to him, but you felt extremely comfortable whenever he had his arm around you and you also refused to feed into the voice that lingered at the back of your mind telling you that you were developing feelings for him.

When you got nothing but a low grumble in return, you slid away from him slightly so that you would have a clear view of his expression; his face was shrewd, brows knitted together as he glared at his lunch. When you thought about it some more, you realized that his grip on you was tighter than normal which made you purse your lips.

“Is it because of the game?”

It was the semi-finals later and everyone had been on Jaehyun’s back, constantly mentioning how he would be leading them to victory and whatnot which had to be all sorts of stressful because of the pressure. When he shrugged in reply, his mouth pressed together firmly as he refused to look at you, you slowly became aware that this was probably one of his irritable days. 

“Jae,” you called, wanting to reach out to direct his head in your direction but unwilling to do so because, well, you knew how that would look. The rest of the team, Mingyu and Jungkook in particular, would always make sure to drop teasing comments whenever you and Jaehyun so much as stared at each other for longer than three seconds. 

The longer he refused to look at you, the more the aggressiveness in his features increased. Mingyu and Jungkook’s teasing be damned, you were just going to go for it. You wiped the palm of your right hand onto your jeans since they became clammy at the thought and slowly, you brought it up to his cheek and redirected his gaze from his poor, unsuspecting lunch to you. Mingyu and Jungkook started acting up but seemed as though they were at a far distance as you stared concernedly into Jaehyun’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” You asked softly, trying to contain your panic and racing heart when he relaxed into your touch. For a moment, you thought that he wasn’t going to say anything since he just closed his eyes and kept inhaling and exhaling deeply, as if he were doing some breathing exercises. When he opened his eyes you swore that they were a molten yellow, like gold, but you decided not to comment on it because you wanted to root out why Jaehyun wasn’t acting like his usual sunny self. 

“Nothing. Everything’s fine. I’m fine.”

Not liking how curt he sounded, you frowned. After a second you hesitantly slid you hand down to the crook of his neck, like he did with you sometimes when he was within your vicinity. There was a soft sound of his quick inhale but you chose not to focus on it.

“If you’re sure,” you paused to search his eyes, not liking how troubled he looked, “but I’m here to talk if you need someone, alright? Always, for anything. Even if it’s something that you think is stupid.”

“Alright,” he repeated hoarsely, “thank you. I’m always here too, for anything. Promise.” The sincerity in his voice made your stomach flip-flop and it seemed like you couldn’t find your voice. In turn you allowed your hand to rest on him for a few minutes longer, meeting his heated stare head on before removing it as you cleared your throat, resuming your original position.

When you saw the shit-eating grins of the others, including Sicheng, you stuck your tongue out at them but you remained silent as you tried ignore how hot your cheeks felt. Even though Jaehyun said nothing either, content flowed through you when you felt his muscles relax beneath his hoodie.

*

(After he shot the winning basket with a few seconds to spare, the students surrounding you cheering with all their might, you were left breathless. The bright smile that he sent your way was a massive contrast to the expression that he was wearing seconds ago, his competitiveness consuming him. When you mirrored his smile, giving him two thumbs up, it only served to make him smile brighter–if that were even possible. His eyes followed you even as his teammates hoisted him up into the air, only stopping when they became engulfed by the students who flooded the court.)

*

There was a gnawing in your chest that stopped you from sleeping. It left you staring at the ceiling aimlessly, tracing the alien baby that got stuck on it from when you and Doyoung were competing to see who could throw theirs higher when the two of you were younger. The two of you got into trouble and it was something that you rued your older brother for the months that followed but now it was something that never failed to bring a laugh out of you. You remembered only forgiving Doyoung because he used up all of his allowance to buy you that fancy toy that you had been begging for for weeks. 

Deciding that if you weren’t able to sleep, you would go to see if Jaehyun was awake. It was a common occurrence for one of you to go to each others houses in the little hours in the morning whenever either of you was unable to fall asleep. You shot him a text as a heads up, not bothering to check for a reply because you knew that he would probably be awake anyway since it was a Saturday.

Once you were bundled up, you tiptoed down the stairs, slipped on your shoes and left. It was easy to escape since your family were a bunch of heavy sleepers and your bicycle was never chained up to anything or in the garage, it just leaned against the side of your house, waiting to be used.

The cycle to their house was something that you could do with your eyes closed at that point, the cool air whipping against your skin as you began to peddle faster. You wanted to be there as soon as possible, Jaehyun always had the best snacks stashed in his room. When you saw the comforting sight of their home, you began to slow down as you squinted to get a better view of Jaehyun’s room. The fact that his lampshade wasn’t on made you feel a little dejected. Maybe he was asleep. 

Not wanting to give up, you got off your bicycle and left it at its usual position by the porch. You fished your phone from your pocket and frowned when you saw that you didn’t get a text from him, which always let you know that he would leave the front door open so that you could slip inside. After some heavy debate, you decided to try and see if the door was open. No dice. With a sigh, you spun back around to make your way back to your ride when something ahead of you made you freeze.

There, by the line of trees that started a few meters away from the end of the path, was a wolf. As far as you were concerned, there were absolutely no wolves in your area even though there was a huge forest. So you must have been extremely sleep deprived because there was absolutely no way there was a wolf staring at you, right? Right? 

Wrong. No matter how many times or how hard you pinched yourself, the wolf didn’t disappear. It seemed to be waiting for you to make the first move. You wanted to, honestly, but your feet were firmly planted on Mrs.Jeong’s pristine porch.

With a shaky breath, you slowly took a step forward, keeping your eyes on the wolf in case it made any sudden movements. When it seemed unbothered by your action, you took another then another until you reached your bicycle. Your heart dropped into your stomach when you heard a crunch on your right, knowing that it had to be another wolf because the one you kept your eyes locked on hadn’t moved. Your pulse was all you could hear in the silent night, palms sweaty with nervousness. You were going to get mauled weren’t you? You were going to get mauled in front of Jaehyun’s house on Mrs.Jeong’s pretty flowers. 

The whine that kept from the wolf on your right made you slowly look at it’s direction. When it took a step closer you fumbled back, unceremoniously landing on the innocent daisies, eyes wide with fear. Another whine escaped the wolf and it was only then that you heard the panting of different wolf closer to you. When it did nothing but bump it’s snout on the side of your head, you relaxed a bit which the whining wolf took as a sign to creep closer to you. It stayed patiently by your feet, as if waiting for a sign. After weighing out your options, you decided that if these wolves actually wanted you dead, they probably would have maimed you already.

Against your every instinct, you reached a trembling hand out towards it. It pawed it’s way over to you and bent its head so that it was under your hand. The other wolves seemed to take it as a sign to edge closer to you. It tickled when they licked your cheeks and hand, and you couldn’t help but coo at how cute they were. It was a huge relief when you realized that they meant no harm. 

Your brows furrowed when the wolf you were petting looked at you, it’s huge eyes achingly familiar and that was when it dawned on you. “Jaehyun?” When it, no he, whined, a small gasp escaped your lips. You turned to look at the others, “Mrs.Jeong? Mr.Jeong?” When you got a response to both, you felt a little faint. 

They turned and left you sitting there as you gathered your thoughts, emerging from somewhere after a few minutes and stood above you.

“Are you alright honey?” Mrs.Jeong asked gently after a couple of minutes of roaring silence. She didn’t come up to you like she normally did, trying to soothe you by rubbing the back of your head, and you found that you missed it.

“I’m, uh, I don’t know.” You replied honestly, your thoughts were a mess. You had your suspicions but you didn’t think that they were true. Before you found out the truth, you liked to imagine that you would reenact the scene from Twilight where Bella was confronting Edward about his true nature and it would be this whole thing that you and the Jeongs could laugh about if they got the reference. Although now that you were actually faced with the truth, you didn’t know how to react. It was literally like those expectations versus reality posts that were online. 

“Why don’t we head inside so you can warm up, hm?” Mr.Jeong suggested and you nodded numbly, your legs carrying you on autopilot as you entered their house. When your eyes flickered over to Jaehyun, you found him with his head down and you hated how ashen he looked.

You nodded thankfully at Mrs.Jeong when she passed you a glass of water. You took your time to drink it, wanting to prolong the oncoming conversation as much as possible. When the glass was empty, you placed it on the coffee table and, not knowing where to look, you met Mrs.Jeong’s patient eyes.

“So,” you said as the nerves you felt were slowly disippating, “werewolves.”

Mrs.Jeong looked as though she was fighting down a smile, laughter dancing in her eyes, “werewolves.”

“I frickin’ knew it!” Clearly that wasn’t the reaction they were expecting, from the looks of surprise displayed on their faces. “There was always something, uh, how do I explain it? Other about you guys. I could never place my finger on it but you guys were definitely a little weird to me. Not a bad weird! Just, you know, you guys are bit different from everyone else who lives here. I mean, who lives in the woods, right? Not that there’s anything wrong with living out here! Your house is amazing! But, yeah, don’t think I haven’t noticed you guys try to drop some hints.” You felt yourself relax when Mr. and Mrs.Jeong chuckled. “I’ll admit that I was a little scared earlier but could you blame me? I was tired and just wanted to chill with Jaehyun, like we always do.” You gulped a breath of air, “hey, be real with me, do you guys have, like spidey sense or something? Or you know, is anything from the movies real?”

“Wow,” Mr.Jeong laughed, “looks like we had nothing to worry about at all.” 

From there they told you about their family history. They explained the truth about how their ancestors actually stumbled across the land and answered all the questions that you had patiently, with fond smiles. They also told you that touching was a way to scent mark you and your family because that was a pack thing and that you had been pack for some time, that it had been cemented the day that Jaehyun was willing to fall asleep in your presence. They then told you that they could hear when people lie, something about an uptick in someone’s heartbeat, and their senses were enhanced compared to a regular human.

The relief hidden in their eyes was plain as day, although the same couldn’t be said for Jaehyun since he still withheld his eyes from you.

“I’m sorry you had to find out that way,” Mrs.Jeong once you couldn’t think of any other questions to ask them. “We were supposed to tell you after tonight’s full moon so that we could formally add you and your family to the pack.”

“Oh,” your shoulders sagged, “sorry I ruined your plan.”

“Don’t worry about it kid, we were expecting something like this to happen sooner or later.” Mr.Jeong assured you. “We can just invite them over for some lunch later and tell them then.” He added after sending a thoughtful look at his wife.

“Yeah, that would be cool.” You responded, “I can’t wait to see their faces!” Doyoung was going to freak and you were already anticipating it so that you could record their reactions somehow.

The two adults laughed and you joined them, keeping a worried eye on Jaehyun. His mom seemed to notice because she stood up immediately, lightly slapping her husband’s shoulder so that he would follow. She gave you a wink, shooting her son a firm look when he looked up after she cleared her throat at him pointedly.

“Is this why your always moody each month? ‘Cause of the full moon?”

Jaehyun’s eyes snapped up to meet yours. “I’m not moody.” 

“Aha! Got you to look!” That had him pouting and you allowed a few beats of silence to pass before you laughed at the absurdity of it all. Before you knew it, he began laughing with you too, staring off with small chuckles before it escalated to a full laugh. “Werewolves, huh.” You stated once the two of you were composed.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun wasn’t fully relaxed yet, you could tell–what always gave him away was how he held himself just a tad too stiff and the way he gripped his knees. “I wanted to tell you before but mom wouldn’t let me because even though you’re really nice and seemed like you would accept us, she said she couldn’t take the risk.”

“Understandable,” you said, nodding agreeably, “does anybody else know?” He shook his head. “Is that why you guys don’t have many visitors?” When he nodded in agreement, you hummed thoughtfully, “then how come you asked me to do our project here?”

“You’re going to think it’s stupid.” 

You arched a brow, “remember what we said to each other in the cafeteria?”

“Well, yeah but–”

“No buts! C’mon, I promise I won’t laugh.”

The two of you had a stare off but he surrendered because he figured out that you weren’t going to give up.  “Okay,” he sighed, redirecting his stare to his knees again, “before I joined the team, back when I was shorter and wasn’t as popular as I am now, you probably won’t remember but it was my birthday and nobody really knew even though we’ve all grown up together. Everyone was more focused on Valentine’s day but you went up to me, wished me a happy birthday and even gave me a card.”

“Oh,” you whispered as the memory came back to you. “I remember that. You looked so sad but I remembered it was your birthday because I heard Seokmin greet you before we had to go back to class, so I made you a quick card and gave it to you.”

“Yeah, I still have that card, and since then I’ve always wanted you in the pack because my mom used to tell me that the pack would always make you happy, make sure you’re never forgotten or feel left out.” 

“Jaehyun–”

“Wait! There’s more,” he met your eyes and kept his locked on yours as he continued, seeming to gain confidence in whatever he saw in your expression, “that’s why I wanted you to be pack at first but as we grew up I realized that you would be an amazing pack member because you’re loyal, smart, witty and you make me happy. And you probably think it’s creepy that I know that but my hearing is enhanced because I’m a werewolf, so I always hear a lot of things. I’ve learned to tune out most things but I never block out the sound of your voice.”

“Um,” you were oddly flattered. You never thought that throughout the years that you had been watching Jaehyun that he was watching you back. How did you not notice? It probably had something to do with other wolf traits. You had even more questions to ask at that revelation. “That’s– Wow.”

Jaehyun smiled sheepishly at you, ducking his head, “yeah.”

“That’s actually sort of cute? Like, I can’t believe you actually remembered that?”

“I used to think about it all the time,” he mumbled, “you’re part of the reason why I joined the team. I liked basketball but I also thought that it would get you to notice me since you never hung out with anyone but Minghao and Sicheng.”

“Oh,” you said again dumbly, feeling speechless. “well if it helps, you were always on my radar.”

Jaehyun visibily preened at your words, “really?”

“Yeah, really.”

You looked at him questioningly when he let out a groan, hiding his face behind his hand. “Nothing, my mom just said something.”

“Wait a minute! Does that mean she was teasing you when I first came here?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And that your dad actually heard me fell instead of seeing it?”

“Yeah. I heard you fall as well. Mom kept nagging dad about it after you left to fix it.”

“Hm,” you paused, thinking of any other instances, “is that why you were looking at me funny when you asked if I had any ideas for our project? ‘Cause you knew that I was lying?”

“Mhm and I agreed to your idea because it was unique and because it would be easy, since we’re werewolves and all.”

“Oh true,” you thought some more, “so I could become one too, right?”

“Definitely. Mom’s never turned anyone but gran did when dad asked for it, before mom was the alpha.” He assessed you for a moment, “why do you want to be turned?”

“No,” you responded after some you considered it, “at least I don’t think so. I like being human.”

“Fair.”

“So.” You trailed after a pregnant pause that consisted of you and Jaehyun staring at one another. You decided you liked this look on him, there was something different about the way he carried himself now that the truth about his nature was out there.

It was starting to get brighter, you could hear the birds chirping but you didn’t feel an inch of exhaustion. Not after what you had just learned. Part of you wanted to stay and ask Jaehyun endless questions but ultimately your logical side won.

“I should get going, my parents will look for me if I’m not there for breakfast.”

“I’ll walk you.”

The walk back was full of banter and it was great to listen to Jaehyun tell you how amazing it felt that you finally knew the truth, and how he couldn’t wait until the rest of your family knew. He then told you about other things, like how they sometimes hunted game or the one time he almost shifted in class because he heard someone talk badly about someone else.

“Well,” you said as you stopped by your mom’s car in the driveway. “This is me.”

“No way.” Jaehyun replied sarcastically with a roll of his eye to which you stuck your tongue out.

It was probably the left over adreneline from earlier or maybe it was because you decided that you didn’t care, but you let go of your bicycle in favor of wrapping your arms around him tightly. You didn’t let him go for a while, allowing him to bury his face in the crook of your neck. When you let go of him, he had a cute smile plastered on his face.

“After lunch tomorrow!” You shot him a confused look as you grabbed your bicycle from its position of the pavement. “I, uh,” he scratched the back of his head, “tomorrow, after we tell your family, we should go on a date.”

“Really?” You asked in disbelief.

“Yeah! But only if you want. You don’t have to say yes.” He was uncharacteristically nervous, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, and you couldn’t help but find it adorable.

“I’d love to go on a date with you.”

Your answer earned you a mega watt smile, “great! I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Duh.” You replied sarcastically. It did nothing to wipe the smile of his face, “I can’t wait.” You added seriously.

“Me neither.”

Feeling a rush of braveness, you motioned him towards you and when he complied, you placed a kiss on his cheek and ran to your door. When you looked back you saw him watching you with a dazed expression, sending you flying kisses and stopped to motion you to go inside.

Once you stepped inside your house and shut the door quietly, you placed your head on it and squeezed your eyes shut as you tampered down the high pitched squeal that threatened to make its way out of your throat. When you managed to compose yourself, although unable to calm your racing heart, you jumped at least fifty feet in the air when you caught Doyoung staring at you with his arms folded against his chest.

“Um, hi?” You hoped he didn’t see anything that happened between you and Jaehyun.

“I knew you had a crush on Jaehyun.” He said triumphantly because of course you were wrong. “If he treats you anything less than you deserve, he’s dead.”

You grinned at him teasingly. “Love you too.”

Doyoung made a face in response. “Gross.” Despite what he said, however, he still smiled at you fondly and ruffled your hair affectionately. “Now go to sleep you idiot, it’s five in the morning.”

“Shut up frog face.” Although that didn’t stop you from following him as quietly walked up the stairs. “How did you know anyway? Did you see what happened outside?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ve known that you two have been doing this for ages. It’s not like you’re quiet when you close your door or when you two talk. Did you forget how thin the walls are in this place?”

You hummed. “Thanks for not snitching on me.”