Love Unexpected [6/11]

[london9calling]

Title: Love Unexpected
Pairing: Xiumin/Luhan
Warning: Unbetaed
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Seoul is a dangerous place for wolf human hybrids, extermination orders have been carried out on their species for over a decade. Amidst this life and death reality exist two hybrid pack leaders- one from the streets and the other hidden among the highest rungs of society. When they are forced to work together their lives will change forever – for better or for worse.
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

Kaisoo's Story

8 weeks ago

Jongin was minding his own business, or at least trying too. His efforts were going to waste as two of his fellow dance majors (along with a tag along gaggle of admiring co-eds) caught up with him. He had been walking alone, ear buds in, classical music soothing his soul. Now he found his neck in a playful stranglehold, courtesy of his classmate.

“Yah, Jongin! Where are you off to?”

“Practice.” Jongin didn’t bother pointing out the question was ridiculous since the three of them practiced around this time every day that school was in session.

“Of course! “ Jongin’s classmate -a friendly guy (known for his terrible jokes that no one laughed at) named Taemin, ruffled Jongin’s hair before releasing his hold on his neck. Taemin was a friend, but not a close one. Jongin didn’t really have close friends outside of his pack, it was a liability to get close to humans.

Jongin smoothed his hair and shot Taemin an annoyed look. The gaggle of girls that were following giggled, which annoyed Jongin just a tad bit more. His introspective walk had been completely ruined.

“Don’t look at me like that!” Taemin acted offended, but his smile said otherwise. He launched into a list of reasons why Jongin should be nice to him, but Jongin had stopped listening.

He had caught a scent, carried in the wind, a hybrid’s scent. It was not from a wolf he was acquainted with. It was a strong, almost musky scent. Jongin’s eyes wandered the campus before him, but he knew the scent was coming from behind him, from the other side of campus.

“Hey- I just remembered I forgot something back in the science building. I’ll see you guys later.” With that Jongin was off, pushing himself through the group of girls (who gave him an offended look) he backtracked his path. He heard Taemin yell something sarcastic as he was hurried off, but he didn’t catch what the words were. He didn’t really care to be honest.

The paths in the university had been salted, for the most part they were free of snow and ice. But there was still some slippery patches, slowing down Jongin’s journey.

The scent grew stronger and it did not seem to be moving. Closer and closer Jongin walked, his strides purposeful. He knew there was danger in confronting another wolf alone, but he also had a burning desire to know who this creature was. A desire that won over any potential danger he feared.

When he found the hybrid he stopped in his tracks. It was far from what he had been expecting, at least judging by the strong scent he followed there.

It was an omega, a rather small one. He was bundled up in a black puffy jacket, his breath steaming into the cold air. His eyes were seemingly darting around the university campus, taking in the scene. Then he noticed Jongin –their eyes locked.

Neither moved. Jongin was completely unsure what to do next. This man had the biggest eyes Jongin had ever seen on a human or a wolf. His face was composed and he didn’t really show any emotion- but those eyes made him seem surprised or scared, even if the rest of his face was expressionless.

Jongin took a step forward, towards the hybrid. It was the wrong thing to do apparently as the smaller man turned and retreated at a fast pace. Jongin could have ran after him, but he didn’t. Maybe it was because he thought the man was scared, would be more afraid and he would hate to make it worse.

It was only after a few minutes, after he could no longer make out the other hybrid’s form retreating down the road that he turned around and resumed his walk towards the practice rooms. It was about ten minutes later that he realized his breathing had gotten faster, deeper since he had caught the other hybrid’s scent on the wind.

***

7 weeks ago

Kyungsoo had been avoiding Jongin since he had so rudely walked into his room earlier in the day. Kyungsoo tried to tell himself his avoidance had everything to do with Jongin’s poor manners and nothing to do with what Jongin had saw – what had shocked the other wolf so bad he had basically stood still as a statue.

Now that dinner was over and most of the fighting was over (he was actually quite surprised that more fights hadn’t broken out between the two packs) the wolves dispersed through the house to do their own things. Kyungsoo made his way back to his bedroom.

He found himself shutting and locking his bedroom door. He made a beeline for the window seat that overlooked the gardens of the house. He sat down and pulled a pillow to his chest, hugging it he stared out the window absentmindedly.

He was tired, the last week had taken a lot out of everyone. He was angry too – at Chanyeol for causing this whole situation; for making them move in with this group of spoiled, jaded hybrids that they had nothing in common with. He had come to the conclusion he probably would never trust the Eastern Dawn Pack, after all trust was a hard thing to give.

It had taken Kyungsoo a long time to get used to the idea of trusting others to begin with. He had been cast aside by his own pack when he was only a pup, left to die in the woods. Something had awoken in him – maybe it was just pure survival instinct – when he had been abandoned. He would do anything to survive, and part of surviving was learning to only trust himself. Other wolves had hurt him, other wolves had abandoned him, humans had tried to kill him, and in his short life he had never met one single being he could trust not to fuck him over.

That had changed when Minseok, Chanyeol, and Suho had found him. He was near starvation, an undersized creature with open sores – they could practically make out all of his bones under the fur that hung on his small frame. Minseok was the one that had grabbed him. No, not grabbed him, held him. Took him along to Seoul. Petted him and told him it would be okay, that they would never hurt him. That they had been hurt too.

At first he had tried to run away, but Minseok caught him. He fed him, by hand, for the first few nights until Kyungsoo started to get his strength back. Later, before the pack had entered the city, it was Minseok and Suho that had taught the young wolf how to control his shifting, how to stay in human form for long periods of time, how not to get caught.

It was probably a year before Kyungsoo came to the realization he trusted the Cloud Mountain Pack, and that was a huge revelation for him. It had messed up his philosophy of this ugly world. He was still cautious, still reserved, but he had other hybrids to lean on. Which is why he would follow them to this rich hybrid’s mansion – because in the end he trusted them. He may not like all of Minseok’s choices, but he trusted that they were for the best.

Memories were flooding back. Amidst his introspection he failed to notice that a hybrid was looking up at him from the gardens below. He only discovered the fact when Chanyeol knocked on his door, asking him to open up so they could play a game.

Kyungsoo snapped out of his memories. He caught the voyeur then, locking eyes with the man. It was Jongin, staring. Just staring. Kyungsoo stared back for a moment before pushing the curtains closed. The last thing he needed was to make new friends- or get to know the enemy.

***

6 weeks ago

Jongin was sick of it. Kyungsoo had been avoiding him since the day he had moved in- and he was sure it had everything to do with what he had accidently seen on moving day.  The scars that crisscrossed Kyungsoo’s back were ugly, terrible things that had made Jongin feel angry. He wasn’t sure why he was angry- he had seen worse scars in his life – but he was. And he needed to talk to Kyungsoo about it. But Kyungsoo wasn’t going to talk to him – ever apparently.

It bothered Jongin, to his very core. He was used to making friends (well acquaintances at least) easily. People liked him. He was never one to be too loud, too boisterous, talk too much or talk too little. He was a nice guy, loyal to his pack. And none of that seemed to matter to Kyungsoo.

“What’s wrong Jongin?” Yixing took a seat at the counter of the Angel Café, putting a hand on Jongin’s shoulder, he gave his pack mate a friendly squeeze.

Jongin considered telling his hyung everything that had happened – but he was smart enough to know that he would sound ridiculous. Instead he decided to take the vague route.

“Yixing, how do you talk to someone that doesn’t want to talk to you?” Jongin asked, keeping his gaze locked on the coffee cup in his hands.

“Hmmm. Do they hate you?”

“I don’t know. Probably.”

“I think Luhan would probably be the expert on this one but have you tried to find out why they don’t want to talk to you?”

“I know why.”

“Oh. Well then can you do something about that?”

Jongin thought hard. He couldn’t un-see, could he?

“Not really.”

“Well then I vote you make them talk to you. You know, get them alone and confront them.”

“That sounds…kind of aggressive?” Jongin did not want to be aggressive with Kyungsoo, he just wanted to talk to him.

“Take your pick. Maybe being a little more upfront would be the best route?”

Jongin let his shoulders fall. He gulped down the rest of his Americano in one shot.

“I guess I will try to be aggressive then.”

----

Aggressive was easier said than done, and so was cornering Kyungsoo. Jongin knew his routine, and for the most part Kyungsoo was like clockwork. Unless Jongin tried to talk to him or be somewhere Kyungsoo was sure to be at, then the unchangeable set in stone schedule was magically adjusted.

Aggressive. Be more aggressive. Jongin kept repeating the words internally as he waited. There was no way Kyungsoo could ignore him here. Absolutely no way he could scurry off or have the foresight to change his plans. Nope- it was not going to happen. Because Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to do anything- or he would make it worse.

The sound of water running told Jongin it was time. So he went for it. It had been a rather aggressive move to snag the key to Kyungsoo’s room from where So Ra had it hidden. It had been rather aggressive to decide his plan of action. Yixing would be proud.

It had to be quick. So he unlocked the bedroom door, shut and locked it behind him and walked across the room to the bathroom. He repeated his actions – unlock, slam, lock. And he was sure Kyungsoo was three seconds away from screaming at the top of his lungs so he practically shouted – as quickly as he could- what he needed to say.

“I-am-sorry-I-walked-in-on-you-but-I-hate-whoever-did-that-to-you- someone-as-beautiful-and-kind-and-wonderful-as-you-should-never-ever-be-hurt-like-that-I-would-kill-them-if-I-could-I’m-sorry-hyung-please-stop-ignoring-me-I-have-my-back-to-the-shower-hyung-I-can’t-see-anything-so-don’t-worry-sorry-hyung.”

Silence. After the long string of words with barely a breath in between there was now silence. The shower was still running, the bathroom full of steam. From where Jongin was standing all he could make out was the white wall tiles.

“Hyung?” Jongin was scared. Kyungsoo wouldn’t shift and attack him, would he?

“Jongin, get the fuck out of my bathroom.” Kyungsoo finally spoke, which made Jongin’s face light up. But the words were not exactly what he wanted to hear…still at least he didn’t scream.

“Hyung you are going to just ignore me again.” Jongin whined.

“Did you mean that?”

“Huh?” Jongin almost turned around to converse with Kyungsoo but caught himself before he ruined the moment further.

“About wanting to kill whoever made those scars?”

“Yeah. I mean…I don’t know it just makes me so angry that anyone would ever hurt you. It makes me crazy.”

More silence.

“Why?”

“I um…I just….hyung, I like you a lot.”

“I guess so.”

“Does that mean you are going to stop ignoring me?!”

“Jongin, if you get the fuck out of my bathroom this instant I will stop ignoring you.” Kyungsoo answered.

“Yes-thank-you-hyung-you-won’t-regret-it-sorry-again.” Jongin practically ran from the bathroom, a huge grin on his face.

Once the younger man was gone Kyungsoo cried. His tears were mixed with the hot water of the shower, washing away the traces of his emotional state. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was crying, but he knew that it wasn’t anger that brought it on. It was a tugging at his chest, a feeling not unlike what he faced when he had made his first friends. When he had realized there were wolves out there that thought he was worth something, was someone who deserved a nice life. Sometimes realizing other people’s feelings were much more difficult than realizing your own.

***

4 weeks ago

“Hyung, I went to look for the chocolate but I couldn’t find the small bricks so I brought the larger ones.” Jongin set down a pile of baking chocolate on the counter. Kyungsoo just nodded, busy with his latest cake.

“Hyung, do you need anything else?” Jongin asked, “Are you okay? Warm, cold? I can ask Luhan hyung to turn down the heat.”

“I’m fine Jongin.” Kyungsoo put the mixer down and gave Jongin a heart shaped smile.

It had been three weeks since they had shattered the divide between them. If someone saw them now – baking happily at the Angel Café – they would never be able to believe that such a short time ago they were not even speaking to each other.

“That’s good. Hey, do you want to watch a movie tonight?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Another heart shaped smile. Jongin felt a flutter in his stomach. Kyungsoo speaking to him was better than the Kyungsoo who ignored him – but talking or not Kyungsoo was perfect. His Kyungsoo was perfect.

***

Present day

Jongin had carried Kyungsoo’s textbooks upstairs for him, insisting on it even though Kyungsoo was completely capable of carrying them himself. Kyungsoo didn’t argue though, because Jongin carrying his text books didn’t really make him angry. It was something he could imagine Luhan and Minseok fighting about – but they were different. They were a lot different than Jongin and Kyungsoo. Passion (not to mention their hot tempers) infused everything they did. With Kyungsoo and Jongin there was passion, but more overwhelming than the passion was unspoken understanding. A wonderful understanding.

“Hyung, when school starts you are going to have to have lunch with me, you have to promise.” Jongin set the books down on the desk in his- no - in their room.

“Of course I’ll have lunch with you. I don’t think I would be able to stand having lunch with anyone else.” Kyungsoo replied. It was a half-truth. He would be comfortable with his pack, but other than that it was Jongin. It was only Jongin.

“That’s why I love you hyung, because we like to keep to ourselves when we can.” Jongin hugged Kyungsoo from behind, pulling him into his arms.

Kyungsoo relaxed into the taller, younger man, feeling secure in his embrace. While it was true both of them avoided others at times, they never avoided each other. At least not yet. They had done too much of that in the beginning.

“Wait! Did you say you love me?!” Kyungsoo had barely caught it. He struggled to turn around and face Jongin but the younger man tightened his hold, pulling him closer. Jongin had never said it before, neither had Kyungsoo.

“Yeah. I do.” Jongin whispered into Kyungsoo’s ear.

Kyungsoo thought for a moment before speaking out – his voice a whisper “I love you too.”

He had never spoken those words to anyone outside of his pack and most certainly not in the way he meant it when he told Jongin. But this was right, it felt right. He loved Jongin with all of his heart, he was certain of that. More importantly he trusted him.

***

It was a straight up howl, there was nothing else it could be. Luhan bolted up in bed at the noise, his mind operating in that hazy place between sleep and wakefulness. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness he reached a hand out to feel for Minseok but the other man was not there. Luhan threw off the covers and ran towards the source of the howl, anxiety coursing through him.

And then a growl. And then something less wolf like, the retching of a human being.

Luhan threw open the bathroom door, letting it bang hard against the tile wall. The sight before him made him feel sick, but he had little time to start throwing up when loud pounding sounded on his bedroom door.

“Luhan hyung, what was that howl?”

“Is everything ok?”

Of course the pack had heard it.

“Yeah, yeah – just go back to bed. Everything is fine.” Luhan yelled. He wasn’t really sure if everything was okay, but he didn’t need everyone and their brother rushing in to see the site. Apparently his words were enough because the knocking stopped.

“Everything is NOT OKAY!” Minseok was kneeling on the floor, his arms flung over the toilet. There was a spot of vomit on the floor near the toilet, apparently at some point he had missed his target.

“Minseokkie!” Luhan pinched his nose with a finger and crouched down to put a hand on Minseok’s back. It was evident that Minseok had shifted to wolf form and back before Luhan had entered the room.

Minseok yanked away from Luhan’s touch “I am sick and I feel like dying and it is all your fucking fault!”

Luhan tried to think of what he had done that would make Minseok throw up. He didn’t make dinner the night before – right?! So it wasn’t food poisoning. No…oh, of course.

“Is it morning sickness?”

“What do you thi-“Minseok retched again, throwing himself forward to ensure he made it in the toilet.

Luhan wasn’t sure what to do. No – he had absolutely zero idea of what to do. He looked around and found a towel, grasping it like a life line as he watched his mate puke his guts out.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Luhan stuttered. If Minseok wanted an apology he would give it (even if he was pretty sure he was not one hundred percent responsible for Minseok’s condition).

The retching stopped and much to Luhan’s surprise Minseok shifted into wolf form. He laid down on the cold tile floor, letting out a small whine.

Luhan tore off his clothes as quickly as possible and shifted as well. He may not know what to do with a sick human Minseok, but instinct would guide him when it came to a wolf Minseok.

Luhan neared his mate, his head hung low.

Minseok, who looked in every way the picture of weakness, sprung up and snapped at Luhan as he neared. And then he shifted back into human form and launched himself onto his mate.

Luhan let out a yelp. It wasn’t that he was actually hurt by Minseok’s actions, just really surprised.  Minseok started to grab at Luhan’s ears when Luhan shifted back as well, leaving a handful of hair in Minseok’s grasp.

“Ow! Ow!” Luhan started shouting, struggling to get away from Minseok’s death grip on his scalp.

“It is all your fault!” Minseok yelled, and then he let go just as abruptly as he had attacked.

Luhan started rubbing his scalp, checking to see if he had a bald spot, when Minseok burst into tears.

“What’s wrong Min?!” Luhan hesitantly reached out for his mate, who looked all the more pitiful as he was currently nude, crying, and sitting on a bathroom floor.

Luhan was relieved (so was his hair) when Minseok fell into Luhan’s arms.

“I don’t know Lu” Minseok practically wailed.

“Shhhh...it’s okay.” Luhan had no idea if this was true, but he had a feeling that the hormonally driven mood swings he had heard about had just arrived.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Minseok sniffled into Luhan’s chest.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“And we have school in four hours.”

“Do you need to take the day off? The professors would understand-“

“No!” Minseok would not miss his first day of school. “Just, give me a little while. I’ll be okay.”

Luhan nodded, he knew there was no use arguing with Minseok, if he said he would be going to school he would be going no matter what Luhan tried to do to stop him.

Holding Minseok tight Luhan found one thought blaring in his mind, a new worry – something that could be very, very terrible. What if Minseok shifted at school by accident? What if he got sick and it just happened? Luhan breathed in deeply, hoping to whatever power that be Minseok would have a good first day of school – without accidental shiftings or vomiting all over the classroom.

***

The first day of school after the winter break was always a bitch. School in general was a bitch for Sehun. He never really cared for it and he could not wait until he would graduate from the infernal place and never have to set foot in a classroom again. One more semester and he would be free.

He repeated it to himself as he walked the familiar route to school. His hyungs were all off to the University or to work (or sleeping in until they could do one of those things). Leaving for school that morning had been kind of lonely, with only So Ra giving him a pat on the head and a good bye.

It wasn’t that he needed a big sendoff, he wasn’t a baby or anything. It was just nice to have a pat on the shoulder from his hyungs at least before going back to school. Was that so much to ask?

And Tao, he hadn’t even said a word to Sehun. In fact he had been gone before Sehun woke up. That fact had especially annoyed Sehun, but he wasn’t sure who he was mad at for it. Minseok and Luhan had been sending Tao out to tail god knows who – it wouldn’t be the first time they had sent him out really early in the morning or in the middle of the night. It could very well be one of their faults that Sehun didn’t get a goodbye kiss from his boyfriend that morning. Still, the least Tao could have done was leave a note or something- but there was nothing.

Sehun huffed. He knew he was frowning, his lips downturned in an expression his hyungs often called his grumpy face (they found it cute, which always annoyed Sehun more). He stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the walk sign to signal it was okay to cross the busy street.

Buses, scooters, and cars whizzed by- the morning congestions in full force. Sehun had long ago started to listen to music on his walk to school. He pulled out his phone and switched over to his newest obsession (which was really an older song he had recently discovered) and pushed play.

He knew when the light had changed because the crowd in front of him started moving across the street. He followed mindlessly, silently mouthing the words to the song as he walked.

Sehun was about halfway across the road when he felt a pain in his shoulder. A person walking the opposite direction had rudely ran into him and continued walking. The effect of the collision was Sehun’s phone on the road – with a very noticeable crack across the screen.

“Damnit” Sehun mumbled, looking behind him he saw the man was already across the road. It would do no good to go after him at this point so he just picked up the phone and ran across the street before the traffic would resume.

Sehun cursed under his breath as he fidgeted with his phone, trying to get the home screen to pop up. But nothing. This was certainly a horrible start to what would probably be a horrible day he decided. Tao and the hyungs be damned.

***

Minseok was smoothing his hands over his clothes for the umpteenth time that morning.

“You look fine.” Luhan smiled at his mate, putting an arm on the small of his back. They had taken the car to school, arriving a half an hour before classes. Minseok had insisted they were early, Luhan had went along with it. He was just glad Minseok had stopped puking.

Minseok took a deep breath. This was a lot harder than he had thought it would be and he hadn’t even sat through a class yet. He was plagued by gut wrenching anxiety. Here he was a hybrid at university. And what if he didn’t know as much as he thought? What if he failed his classes? What if the teacher called on him and he said something stupid? What if he puked in class? What if he looked dirty or poor? What if he didn’t buy the right textbooks? What if-

“Really, it will be okay.” Luhan offered up a wide reassuring smile.

“I am nervous.” Minseok said, like it wasn’t glaringly obvious.

“Just take it easy. I’ll walk you to your first class and we can eat lunch together, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Minseok grabbed Luhan’s hand. He needed as much reassurance as possible. He was seriously surprised that out of his pack he was the only one having this reaction. Suho and Kyungsoo had been pretty low key in coming to school, they didn’t spend two hours getting ready and they didn’t look like they wanted to hyperventilate either. Chanyeol – well, he was Chanyeol after all. Minseok didn’t expect him to get nervous.

“If you need anything today just call my cell, okay?”

“Thanks Lu. Sorry”

“Seriously stop apologizing or I am going to hit you.” Luhan teased.

Minseok flashed a gummy smile. He was so thankful Luhan was there, even if he had been cursing his existence only a few hours before. His emotional state had definitely become more precarious in the last few days (well, maybe weeks, but he didn’t want to admit to his mood swings going back thaaaat far).

They made their way to the humanities building, an imposing stone structure that was already bustling with students and faculty.

“The room is down this first hall at the end.” Luhan opened the door wide, ushering Minseok in.

When they arrived at the classroom Luhan squeezed Minseok’s hand “Remember, I am a call away. And you will do fine. Terrific actually.”

Minseok nodded. It was now or never – he was a man after all (well, a wolf, but still. Bravery was called for). He dropped Luhan’s hand and went into the classroom. He found a seat and took out a notebook and a pen. The classroom was about half full.

As the minutes ticked by more students arrived. None sat next to Minseok though, which made him wonder if he smelled bad. Maybe they knew he was a hybrid? Or he looked weird and they didn’t want to be near him. As his anxiety came roaring back he somehow failed to notice someone sitting down in the chair next to him.

“Minski, right?”

He smelled her first, that overwhelming scent of too much perfume and hairspray. Minseok turned slowly, a scowl already forming. Of all the people to sit next to him on his first day at school.

“I’m Sohee, Luhan’s best friend, remember?” She was extending a hand (with some very bright nail polish topping it off) in greeting.

Minseok would have shook her hand even though he didn’t really like her. It was polite after all – and even if she was a rude demon he had the decency to be polite.

But Sohee’s perfume was too strong, too overwhelming for Minseok to return the greeting. It was, however, the right strength to make his nausea return full force.

On the first day of Minseok’s school career, the first day he went to university, in his first class no less, he threw up all over his classmate.

Life was truly wonderful.

***

By the time Sehun reached the school he was even more pissed off. He had let his broken phone dominate his mood – he let the fact no one cared about his first day back at school drive his anger – and now he just kind of wanted to punch something or curse at someone.

When one of his lovely fellow classmates – a very sarcastic opinion given the fact he had been one of Sehun’s biggest problems throughout his high school career – decided now was the right time to greet his returning classmate Sehun was ready.

“Is baby Sehunnie having a bad day already? What’s wrong, still sad you don’t have parents or a family or anyone that likes you, you freak?”

Sehun knew that at some point during the semester he would probably punch someone. He hadn’t thought it would be on the first day though. He raised his fist, ready to clock the bastard when he felt his arm being held back.

As he whirled around to figure out who had stopped him he saw the bully’s eyes grow wide as saucers. He backed up a few feet.

“I would suggest you apologize.” It was Tao, staring circles of death into the annoying little shit that dared to mock his Sehun.

“Uh.” The kid looked genuinely frightened. After all it had been Tao that had rushed into the schoolyard so many weeks ago to end the ensuing fight between Sehun and himself – based on that experience he had a bit of reputation of someone not to trifle with (at least among the students). “I am sorry Sehun, please forgive me.”

The bully was on his knees in a second, pleading with Sehun to have some mercy.

“Yeah, whatever. Go.” Sehun rolled his eyes at the sight, not ready to give the kid any more than a way out of his sight.

The bully leapt up, threw out a string of thank yous and dashed into the school.

“Are you alright?” Tao reached out a hand to touch Sehun’s cheek. His eyes dashed up and down, as if to see if Sehun was hurt anywhere.

“Yeah. Nice to see you too!”

“Hey, what’s this? Are you mad?”

“No.” Sehun’s actions said otherwise as he turned his head as he said the word.

“Well then I would expect you don’t want these then.” Tao mumbled, pulling a small bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.

“Flowers!” Sehun’s expression lit up. So Tao remembered! And he even bought him flowers! He caught himself then and went back to feigned disinterest, “Well, I guess if you bought them I will take them.”

Tao grinned, handing the bouquet over.

“Sorry I wasn’t around to see you off. But I am here now, right?”

“Yeah.”

Tao could swear a slight blush was creeping up his Sehun’s face.

“Have a good day Hun-ah. I will see you at home.” Tao stepped forward, reaching out he pulled Sehun into a kiss. A sweet kiss on the steps of his high school for all the world to see.

“Bye.” Tao winked at him as he turned and walked away, not even glancing back.

“Your boyfriend is so cool!” One of the female students whispered as she took in the scene.

Sehun ignored her. He watched Tao go, his face bright red and his expression full of butterflies and unicorns and no more thoughts of a broken phone or uncaring hyungs. Maybe this last semester would be a new start.

***

If someone had asked Minseok if throwing up on his classmate was a ticket towards popularity he would have answered with a resounding no. But reality was a strange lot as he found himself the new star of his first period literature class – all due to vomiting all over Sohee.

When he had thrown up on her his first reaction was to run out of the room in tears. But fate must have intervened because he couldn’t get up or he would risk throwing up again. He was still nauseas.

Sohee screamed which turned everyone’s attention to the situation.

“Oh my god!” Sohee was the one that leapt up and ran from the room.

“Are you okay?”

A few concerned students made their way to where Minseok was sitting, his head in his hands.

He nodded, not willing to remove his hands and show his face.

“That was kind of funny if you don’t mind me saying.”

Great, funny. Minseok was sure the tears would be flowing in the next few seconds.

“I mean, I always wanted to see someone puke on her and you did it. I think you are my hero.”

Wait? What! Minseok removed his hands and stared up in surprise.

The student leaning over his desk had a mirthful expression on his face, his eyes wide and his smile jovial.

“Here’s a napkin to wipe your mouth.” He offered to Minseok.

Minseok took the napkin, wiping his mouth he tried to discreetly check his clothes. Apparently his aim was spot on because he was clean and so was the desk in front of him.

“Sohee always wears that god awful perfume – I’ve been waiting for someone to finally give her the reaction she deserves.” The man continued, “Or when she opens her mouth I kind of want to puke on her too, but hey – maybe we can do that later. Changmin by the way”

“Min – um, Minseok.”

“Minseok? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“No, today’s my first day.”

“Oh, well welcome. Hey, if you want to avoid Sohee you can always come and sit by me.” Changmin motioned behind him towards where he was sitting.

Minseok took him up on the offer and he was very, very glad he did. Changmin was friendly and apparently pretty popular. Which means he met a whole slew of students before and after class – always introduced as Changmin’s “hero” without a trace of sarcasm to be noticed.

Sohee made her way back into the room right before class started. She had changed her sweater. She shot Minseok an angry death stare but he was too busy being introduced to someone to notice. She spent the rest of the class period pouting over what had happened.

As class ended Minseok felt like things might just be okay after all.

“Hey, if you are free for lunch you want to grab something to eat?”

“Uh, actually I am supposed to meet someone.” Minseok was not about to miss his lunch with Luhan.

“Are they a student here? Maybe I know them.”

“Luhan.” Minseok found talking to Changmin was easy, he readily told him anything.

“Luhan! Of course, we go way back. And not like Sohee and him go way back,” Changmin let out a laugh as he looked over at Sohee and rolled his eyes, “Do you mind if I tag along?”

“Well, um..”

“Hey, that’s cool, I understand. Just tell Luhan I said hi okay.” Changmin flashed a dizzying smile and said goodbye.

Minseok put on his backpack and made his way towards the door. College was certainly an interesting place.

***

“You threw up on someone!” Chanyeol exclaimed, his mouth hanging open to show his half eaten sandwich.

“Yes! Now close your mouth!” Minseok’s lunch with Luhan had turned into lunch with Chanyeol, Suho, and Luhan. Kyungsoo and Jongin were still in class. Minseok had wanted to shoo his pack mates away, but they probably would not have listened. They were too busy taking nonstop about their morning to care or listen.

“It was Sohee.” Minseok admitted, looking at Luhan for a reaction. He did not disappoint as he burst out laughing.

“You threw up on Sohee?” Luhan seemed to find this to be the funniest thing in the world. He may have shown some concern for his mate but Minseok seemed perfectly fine and pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.

“Yeah. She ran out of the room screaming her head off. “Minseok kind of felt proud of himself, no matter how wrong that was, “Then someone called me their hero.”

“Puhahaha. Hero? Seems like you are pretty popular already.” Luhan slapped his knee, still laughing.

Minseok smiled, “Oh, and Changmin says hi.”

Luhan stopped laughing. He shot Minseok an inquisitive look. “How do you know Changmin?”

“He was the one that told me I was his hero.”

“Who is Changmin?” Suho asked.

“An old friend.” Luhan replied, “Hey, is he in any more of your classes?”

“I’m not sure. Why?” Minseok rose an eyebrow at his mate. Was Changmin the person they needed to contact?

“Oh, just thought I could say hi to him. If you see him again tell him to call me, okay?”

“Yeah, sure Luhan.” Minseok answered, “So how was your day?”

“Wonderful, since I am having lunch with you.” Luhan flashed his greasiest smile at Minseok, causing the elder to roll his eyes.

“Luhan, if you don’t stop it I am going to throw up again.”

“Too strong for you?” Luhan rose his eyebrows a few times in a sleazy show, causing Chanyeol and Suho to groan and tell them to get a room.

Minseok just shook his head at Luhan’s cheesiness, but he couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face. His first day of school was going so much better than expected he couldn’t contain his happiness. It was an amazing thing indeed when things turned out a thousand times better than expected. If only everything could be that way.

***

Minseok hadn’t heard from Luhan since lunch, their classes occurring at opposite ends of campus he didn’t really expect to catch up with him at any point before they both ended their schedule for the day. He didn’t see Changmin again either, which was a little disappointing since Minseok had taken an instant liking to him. None the less the effects of Changmin’s reach were widely felt as he had classes with several students he had met in the first class, and all of them treated him like a shiny new person to befriend. They were all nice, helpful, and generally fun.

The last class that Minseok went to was his philosophy class. Minseok was less than excited for the class and to be honest he was getting tired. Being pregnant was starting to take its toll on him, he desperately wanted a nap. But he focused and made it through the hour as the professor droned on. When the class was dismissed Minseok felt a wave of relief rush over him. Finally.

Or not.

As the students started to file out of the room Luhan filed in. Minseok was confused, he didn’t remember Luhan saying he would be meeting him here. Before he had a chance to greet him Luhan walked up to the professor.

“Professor Jung, its been awhile.”

“Luhan! My favorite student that never visits.”

Minseok was surprised to see the professor skip over a handshake and give Luhan a warm hug. The remaining students filed out of the room, leaving Minseok alone in his desk.

“How have you been?” Luhan asked, still not noticing Minseok.

“Good, you know – took off to the jungle again. Didn’t find what I was looking for but I did meet some pretty interesting people if you know what I mean.”

“Ha, is that right?”

“Did you need something?” The professor noticed Minseok standing near the desks averting his eyes. The last thing Professor Jung wanted to do is get off on the wrong foot with one of his new students, he was a very caring teacher. If the boy needed something he would definitely help him.

Luhan turned to see who Professor Jung was talking to. When he saw it was Minseok his face lit up.

“Minseokkie!” Luhan rushed over and threw an arm over Minseok’s shoulder, “I didn’t know you were in this class!”

Minseok wanted to remark that Luhan had only looked at his schedule fifty times but he decided not to.

“Professor Jung, this is my mate, Minseok.” Luhan beamed proudly as he introduced Minseok.

The words rang in Minseok’s ears. Did Luhan just say mate…not boyfriend?

“So the little prince finally found a mate, huh. Guess you have been busy.” Professor Jung smiled at the pair. His face was chiseled, his smile warm, his eyes twinkling with something that seemed to be a mixture of kindness and an honest authority.

“Yep and I am going to be a Dad too.” Luhan gestured at Minseok’s stomach.

Minseok felt like punching Luhan – it seemed like Luhan was busy showing him off without really caring what he thought about the whole thing.

“A papa too?! My, my you have been BUSY.”

“A papa?” The door to the classroom shut causing the three occupants of the room to look over at the new comer. It was Changmin, “Would that explain why you needed to meet us? Did you finally make up your mind to work with us?”

Minseok looked from the professor to Changmin to Luhan. What in the hell was going on?

“Well that depends on our discussion. It turns out Sung Woo is working with the feds.” Luhan didn’t’ bother to say a word to his mate who was busy looking completely lost at what was happening before him.

“Hmm. I would have expected as much to be honest.” Professor Jung nodded.

“Wait- what is going on here?!” Minseok had enough.

“Oh, sorry Min. Um, I would like to meet Professor Jung Yunho and Shim Changmin, also known as Korea’s top hybrid rights activists.”

Hybrid rights activists? Minseok had thought he had heard of everything – hell, he was a wolf human hybrid for crying out loud. But humans that acted as hybrid rights activists? This was a first. Definitely a first.

“Oh, right. Hybrid rights activists.” Minseok nodded, his mouth hanging open after he spoke the words. Luhan laughed and reached a hand over to close his mate’s gaping mouth. Sometimes Minseok had the best reactions.

Part 7