I'm a Wolf and You're a Giant
Author: ANONYMOUS
Recipient: jazzyou
Title: I’m a Wolf and You’re a Giant
Word Counts: ~9000
Side Pairing(s): Xiukai if you squint
Rating: R
Warning(s): none
Disclaimer:The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celeokbrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Park Chanyeol is an awkward and stressed-beyond-belief premedical student. Perhaps his discovery of the honey-colored wolf is just what he needs to help him out of his college slump. And maybe his lack of a love life too.
Author's Note: Thank you to E for always ranting with me, making me laugh, and always encouraging me to write my fic. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I couldn’t have finished my fick without you. And much much love to my beta H for putting up with me. You’re the best. Thank you<3
"Fuck this shit!"
An array of biochemistry and animal behavior notes fly messily through the air as a stressed out Chanyeol drops his head onto his desk. It's the week before spring break, but that unfortunately also means that it's midterms week. All he has to do is survive one more day of exams, and then he'll be home free. He slowly lifts his head off the desk and blows his fringe out of his face. So close, yet so far...
Chanyeol stares blankly at his notes that are now scattered across the floor for a solid two minutes before he trudges his way across the room. He slowly picks up his notes in shame. "Just kidding, I have to graduate and go to med school..." he mumbles aloud.
He slowly transitions from sitting cross-legged on the floor with his notes to being curled up in a ball. A knock on the door disturbs him from his personal time of self-pity. "Come in..." Chanyeol mumbles.
His roommate cracks the door open and pops his head through. "Going out for drinks with the guys. I'd invite you to come, but..."
The tall and tan male trails his eyes down to his pitiful-looking roommate on the floor who looks like he’s ready to give up on life. “That bad, huh?” he says with a faint smile. “But at least you’re almost done! Just two more left, yeah?”
“Go away, Jongin. Flaunt your freedom elsewhere please,” Chanyeol replies.
Jongin sighs and goes over to crouch down next to his roommate. He pats Chanyeol a couple times on the back and gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Do you need to take a nap? I can set an alarm and call you later to wake you up.”
Chanyeol groans into the floor one last time before uncurling from his ball of self-pity and sitting upright to face his roommate. “Nah, I’m fine. I took a nap earlier. Besides, if I fall asleep now, I’d probably sleep all the way until my exam tomorrow.”
“Maybe you just need to take a break,” Jongin suggests. “You could take a walk outside. Get some fresh air and stretch out your limbs. God knows how long and uncoordinated they are. But I think that’d be good for you.”
Chanyeol finds himself nodding his head as he considers the suggestion. A walk through the park preserve near their school campus does sound rather nice… A quiet ding sound suddenly catches both of their attentions.
“Ah, that must be Minseok hyung here to pick me up,” Jongin says as he checks his text messages. He gets up and runs his hands down his button-up to smooth out its creases. He makes his way back to the room entrance.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll drink enough for both of us!” he says with a wink. “But in all seriousness, hang in there, buddy! I know you’ll do well tomorrow! You’ve literally been studying for forever!”
“Thanks, Jongin…” Chanyeol replies with a soft smile.
Jongin salutes him and then proceeds to jog out the room and out to his hyung waiting in the car.
--
Chanyeol makes a mental note to thank his roommate later. The fresh air does wonders for him. He can feel himself finally beginning to relax for the first time in weeks. His two remaining midterms aren’t what’s particularly killing him. Rather, they’re the cherry on top to his other loads of stress. The stress of student organization duties, taking three science courses, studying for the MCAT, and preparing for medical school applications in general are what’s killing him. He doesn’t have time to go out with his friends as much as he used to, let alone have time to meet anyone. He can’t even remember the last time that he had an actual relationship. And the aforementioned combination has put him into a slump since the beginning of the semester. He often finds himself questioning his decisions, his future, his lack of a love life, and ultimately his happiness.
But Chanyeol takes a deep breath and forcefully pushes all those thoughts away. Just for a couple hours, he will unwind and forget about all his stress. And this setting is just perfect for that. The weather is fantastic, and the moon is bright tonight. He happily continues his trek along the walkway. The clusters of trees surrounding him on either side strangely do not make him afraid. On the contrary, they actually make him feel a little safe. They act as a shield and block out the outside world for him and give him a peace of mind, something that he desperately needs right now. Besides, the park preserve is a part of his school campus and is known for being relatively safe. In his two and a half years at the school, there had been no incidents reported.
The tall and lanky boy’s new peace of mind apparently recharged him with a newfound confidence. Instead of turning back around on the walkway, he decides to venture deeper into the forest. Every step he takes strangely makes him feel more relaxed. He stops thinking about chemical structures, medical school, and his lack of a boyfriend.
---
Chanyeol finally thinks about things that a normal college student would think about. He ponders on what to eat tomorrow after he finishes his exams and how much sleep he’ll be able to get tomorrow night. He narrows his food choices down to Chinese food or Korean BBQ as he continues steadily on the walkway. The mouthwatering images of Kung Pao chicken and galbi are put on hold when he suddenly hears the trees rustle somewhere to his right. He pauses mid step and subconsciously holds his breath.
After a minute of silence, Chanyeol takes a slow look at his surroundings and realizes how deep into the forest he is. He gulps and then lets out a shaky breath as he hears trees rustle even louder.
“Nope, I definitely did not imagine those sounds,” he thinks to himself. “But dude, I can’t die yet. I haven’t even said bye to the guys. I haven’t properly thanked Jongin for being a good roommate. And I still haven’t fulfilled my Kung Pao chicken and Peking duck cravings! God, please don’t let me die in the middle of this miserable college slump. At least let me take my last midterms tomorrow so I can die feeling accomplished. Or at least let me get laid one last-”
A loud yelp suddenly cuts off his pleads. Chanyeol snaps his head over in the noise’s direction. He hears a faint whine follow and registers it as an animal sound. “That sounds like… A dog maybe?”
For some strange reason that Chanyeol can’t fathom, he finds it in himself to go investigate the sounds of distress. What if a poor dog is in trouble and needs his help? What if it’s lost and needs to find its way back to its caretaker? Chanyeol has always had a big heart for animals. Besides, it’s not like the campus park preserve houses dangerous animals. The most dangerous things that call this place home are the squirrels that will throw their acorns at you when you don’t feed them food from the school cafeteria. So it’s not like this forest houses dangerous or silly beasts such as bears or… wolves or anything.
The leaves under his feet crackle loudly with each step he takes to the source of the previous yelp and whines. Chanyeol eventually reaches a small clearing, and his breath stops as he takes in the sight before him. The moonlight gleams brightly on the forest clearing and gives him a perfect view of the animal curled up on the ground. His eyes slowly take in the beautiful honey-colored fur coat and eventually make their way up to the animal’s own eyes. Time seems to stop, and he stares, mesmerized, into the deep, emerald eyes.
The animal also locks gazes with the human, and the two of them continue to silently stare at each other. Chanyeol finds himself falling deeper and deeper into those captivating emerald eyes. He takes a careful step towards those eyes, and when the animal doesn’t flinch or move away, he deems it safe to move closer. They continue to keep eye contact throughout Chanyeol’s advancement until the animal breaks away its gaze and lets out a huff.
The loud huff finally snaps Chanyeol out of his trance. He looks to where the animal has directed its gaze, and his eyes land on a bleeding and wounded hind leg. His premed background immediately kicks in as he kneels down to examine the damage. He pulls his hoodie over his head and wraps it around the wounded leg before applying firm pressure to it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His primary goal is to get the animal to safety, so Chanyeol doesn’t think twice about it before he carefully lifts it into his arms and heads out of the park preserve towards his car.
---
Chanyeol kicks the door to his apartment open and hurries to his couch to settle the animal onto it. He then rushes to the kitchen to fill a basin with warm water and grabs a bar of soap so that he can disinfect the wound. He wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. The animal wasn’t exactly a light one. And the walk to his car earlier felt farther than he remembered.
He pulls over a stool and settles down right next to the couch. The animal watches Chanyeol quietly as he carefully works on the wound on its hind leg. When Chanyeol turns his head back to the animal, he swears that the emerald eyes look almost human-like.
“Uh, I just cleaned and disinfected your wound. The bleeding looks like it’s stopped too,” Chanyeol says to the animal. “I’m going to wrap and bandage your leg up now, okay?”
He swears that the animal nods in acknowledgement before he grabs the bandage. The animal leans its head onto the arm of the couch and slowly closes its eyes as Chanyeol works.
“There! All done!” he says as he takes a look at his handiwork. “You probably shouldn’t walk on it anytime soon though so that it’ll heal faster…So, I guess you can sleep in my room for tonight?”
He looks back at the animal and is surprised to see it asleep with its chest rising and falling in an easy rhythm. He doesn’t have the heart to move it lest it wakes up from its peaceful slumber. Chanyeol thanks the heavens that Jongin is spending the night at Minseok hyung’s place. As he watches the animal breathe in and out steadily, he finally takes a real look at it under the living room’s bright light. Back at the forest, his mind let him think that he was saving an injured dog, a Siberian husky perhaps. But there was also the practical side of Chanyeol that knew better. The animal resting on his couch is much too large to be a dog. The color of its eyes are too unnatural to belong to a dog. Nope. Chanyeol didn’t bring a husky back home.
He brought a wolf back home.
---
Chanyeol wakes up in the morning before his alarm clock even has the chance to go off. Hell, even the sun isn’t out yet. He rolls over and buries his face into his pillow with a groan. Last night’s events wore him out so much that he went straight to bed and knocked out.
Wait. Last night’s events. Chanyeol immediately bolts upright from his bed. The situation finally dawns upon him. “I found a freaking wolf last night in the school’s park preserve. A wolf. A real, live wolf. And I let a real, live wolf stay overnight in my apartment. What was I even thinking?? What if it bit my head off in the middle of the night??”
Chanyeol looks at his closed bedroom door, afraid of what lies beyond it now. “But, the wolf was acting so... understanding last night? It was like it knew what was going on and intentionally allowed me to help it. And those emerald eyes... ”
He marches towards the door and grabs the knob with conviction. “It’s okay, the wolf won’t hurt me. He’s friendly…” He takes a deep breath and swings the door open. The sight that greets him in the living room makes his jaw drop and his eyes widen in shock.
There is a buck naked boy in his living room. The naked brunet stares back at him with equally wide eyes. He slowly puts down the roll of bandage that he was using on his ankle and calf.
“Umm... Hi?” the boy offers along with an awkward wave.
---
“So let me get this straight…” Chanyeol starts.
The brunet is sitting across from him in a chair with his posture straight as he gets interrogated by the taller male. (Fully clothed this time. Chanyeol lent him some clothes. They were a bit large on the smaller boy, but hey, at least he was clothed.)
“So you’re a wolf hybrid?”
The brunet (Baekhyun, as he had introduced himself) nods his head.
“And you were on a run in the forest preserve before I found you?”
Baekhyun nods his head again.
“And not only do you go to my university, but you’ve also been my classmate?”
Baekhyun nods his head once again.
“Man, that’s amazing that you can remember your classmates. Especially the ones that you’ve never even spoken to. That psych class we took together had like, a hundred students! I can’t even remember my classmates from last semester! Do wolves have crazy memory skills or something?”
“Uh... I just explained what I am to you, and you’re only curious about my memory capacity?” Baekhyun replies with raised eyebrows.
“Why not? I think it’s a quality to commend you on. You must have photographic memory or something. I’m jealous. Studying must be so easy for you.”
“Well, it’s a bit easier for us to remember individuals since we can differentiate people through their scents. Yours in particular is hard to forget. It’s a very nice scent.”
Chanyeol flushes at the compliment (albeit strange compliment) and looks down at the fidgeting fingers in his lap. “O-oh, umm… Thank you?”
Baekhyun smiles back at him. The little crescents that his eyes make when he does so stirs something inside Chanyeol when he looks up. What a nice smile.
“Oh, wait. What time is it?” Chanyeol mumbles as he pulls out his phone and nearly jumps off the couch. “Oh shit! It’s already 7:30AM! My first midterm is in an hour!”
He immediately rushes into his room to brush his teeth and grab a new hoodie. When he returns out to the living room, Baekhyun is still sitting in the chair where he left him. “You! Baekhyun! Do you have any exams to take today?”
Baekhyun shakes his head for the first time that morning.
“Good. You shouldn’t be up and around without crutches anyways. I’ll be back after I take my last two midterms. My roommate is going to be back around noon to grab some stuff before he heads out for spring break. You can stay in my room. Feel free to grab any food in the fridge, too.”
“Wait! Can I borrow your laptop? I still have a paper due later this afternoon!”
“Yup! The password is ‘happinessdelight.’ All lowercase, no space,” Chanyeol replies back while lacing up his shoes. He heads out of his apartment with high spirits. He’s never felt this awesome before heading into a dreaded midterm. Maybe Baekhyun is his good luck charm. Well, he’ll make that conclusion after he sees his grades. But honestly speaking, Jongin is right. He’s been studying forever for these exams. He should end up fine.
---
Jongin does end up being right. (Big surprise.) Chanyeol returns home with his spirits still high. He had breezed through both midterms. He’s sure that he did very well on both. Returning home with confidence and happiness after an exam is a foreign thing to him, as is returning home to a cute brunet in his room.
Baekhyun is typing away furiously on the laptop when Chanyeol comes into the room. He’s sitting on the floor with his back leaned against the bed and the laptop on top of his thighs.
“Are you almost done with your paper?” Chanyeol asks.
“Yup! Just need to write the conclusion now.”
Chanyeol nods his head in approval and takes a cautious seat next to Baekhyun on the floor. He quietly studies the boy’s human features. His eyes trace a line from Baekhyun’s mouth, where his tongue is poking out haphazardly as he concentrates, to his cute button nose, and to the slight droop at the corners of his eyes until it finally lands on his soft-looking brown hair. He feels the sudden urge to touch it. So he does just that.
Baekhyun flinches away slightly when Chanyeol runs his palm over the top of his head. He repeats the action.
“Are you... are you petting me?” Baekhyun asks skeptically.
Chanyeol abruptly stills his hand and awkwardly pulls it back into his lap. “Uhh…”
“I’m a wolf hybrid. Not a dog.”
“Um, sorry,” Chanyeol mumbles. “Force of habit, I guess. I have a labrador back at home, and I love petting her. She also still acts like a puppy even though she’s huge. She always jumps on me and wants to be carried whenever I come home. That’s why carrying you back to my car last night wasn’t so bad.”
Chanyeol blushes again once he realizes that he’s starting to ramble, which is a nervous habit of his. “Umm, sorry for rambling and distracting you…”
Baekhyun lifts one eyebrow at him. “Uh-huh… well, I’m just gonna go back to finishing this paper now.”
The two of them sit in silence until Baekhyun shouts a gleeful done! with a final click on the mousepad. He closes out all his windows and shuts the laptop with victory.
“I made my paper deadline!!” he says with a full grin (accompanied with the cute crescent moon eyes).
Chanyeol tries to ignore the feelings that stir within him again. “That’s great! It looks like we’re both ending off the midterm season with victory!”
“SPRING BREAK HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!!”
Both college students get up and grab each other’s hands before jumping up and down in joy to celebrate. They only make it to two jumps before Baekhyun winces and begins to lean over.
“Oh no! Your leg! I almost forgot!” Chanyeol exclaims as he grabs onto one of Baekhyun’s arms to help support him. “Is it still bad?”
“It’s healing. I just need to take caution so that I don’t open the wound back up.” He takes a slow seat down onto the bed, and Chanyeol joins him.
“So… What are your spring break plans?” Chanyeol inquires. “Does this injury hurt your plans at all?”
“No, I was just gonna hang around here for the break. I’d have to fly if I wanted to head back home. Although this injury is a little annoying… I could heal faster if I stay in my shifted form, but my roommate is also staying for the break and doesn’t know about me, so…”
“You can stay here!” Chanyeol blurts out.
Baekhyun whips his head over to Chanyeol. “Don’t you have plans or something? And you just officially met me. We’re still strangers.”
“Well, I was planning on going back home, but I was going to drive there, so I can just talk to my parents and tell them that I’ll be staying here. I need to study for the MCAT anyway. I should get a head start on that animal behavior paper too. And I should probably read ahead for my classes. I also have some things that I need to get done for my student organizations.” Chanyeol realizes that he’s rambling once again and catches himself before he continues. He awkwardly coughs and clears his throat.
“But besides, I’m not the only one here who’s trusting a ‘stranger.’ You wouldn’t have allowed me to take take care of you last night if you didn’t feel safe with me.”
Baekhyun opens his mouth to defend himself, but thinks otherwise and closes it. And wait, is that a faint blush that’s adorning the cute shortie’s face? “Well, if that’s okay with you then...”
“Yup! I don’t mind if you randomly stay shifted in the apartment. I’m used to having my labrador around me all the time at home anyways.”
“I told you, I’m a wolf. Not a dog...” Baekhyun mumbles.
“I’ll go order some take-out for us! We need to celebrate the start of spring break with some much needed food! I hope you like Chinese, because I’ve been craving Kung Pao chicken…”
Baekhyun watches Chanyeol pull out his phone and then head outside the room once he dials the number.
“Make yourself at home, Baekhyun! I’m sure we’ll be good friends after this break!” Chanyeol yells from the living room.
---
Chanyeol quickly discovers that he likes Baekhyun. The first couple days of their spring break consisted of lazing around the apartment catching up on sleep and playing board games with each other. (Baekhyun won at every game. Chanyeol refused to believe that he’s a bad gamer. He blamed his losses on Baekhyun’s secret wolf skills and his own lack of.) The two also spent a substantial amount of time on netflix together accompanied with food that Baekhyun cooked or food that Chanyeol ordered out. There’s only a limited amount of dishes that Chanyeol can cook. He and Jongin usually rely on Minseok hyung to drop off real food to them whenever they get swamped with school work.
Chanyeol also discovers other things during the break. Such as his rapidly growing feelings for the wolf hybrid. Baekhyun had insisted on wearing Chanyeol’s borrowed clothes even though Chanyeol offered to grab clothes from Baekhyun’s apartment for him. The constant exposure of Baekhyun’s collarbones was not healthy for Chanyeol’s heart. (And maybe another body part also.) The brunet had also declined Chanyeol’s offer with a “It’s okay. I’ll heal quickly, so I’m not going to be staying here that long anyways.” Chanyeol ignored the sadness that those words invoked. Because maybe he didn’t mind spending his entire spring break with Baekhyun.
Baekhyun ended up staying at his apartment anyway.
“I mean, we’re both gonna stay here all throughout the break. Why don’t we keep each other company?” Chanyeol suggested.
Once Baekhyun’s leg finished healing, Chanyeol didn’t waste any time and took Baekhyun out of the apartment to hang out.
“I feel bad that you’ve been cooped up all day in my apartment! I need to take you outside for a walk to get some fresh air,” Chanyeol explained.
“Why do I feel like that’s something that you say to your dog…”
Nevertheless, the two students ended up dragging each other everywhere on outings during the week. They visited the movie theater, went shopping, tried new restaurants, and went to the amusement park. A small, hidden part in Chanyeol liked to consider these outings as ‘dates’ of some sort.
His favorite ‘date’ had to be the first time that he joined Baekhyun on a run.
“Hey,” Chanyeol said one night. He was studying for his MCAT while Baekhyun was doing some reading for sociology. “I don’t know why this never crossed my mind, but why were you in the park preserve near campus? Do you always hang around there?”
“Nope. The forest in there is way too close to the community. I was only there that night because I was starting to go crazy from all the pent-up energy. I hadn’t been on a good run for weeks prior to that. I usually go to an area a little ways off from the city. But I was so desperate during midterms that I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going on a run. Right now.’ I didn’t think that anyone would be out there late at night. Although I guess that I was lucky that you were there.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. How did you get injured?”
Baekhyun awkwardly shifted around on the couch. “Uh, well, it’s kind of a dumb story… I was taking a quick breather, and then a squirrel started throwing acorns at me. And it wouldn’t stop either! It just kept throwing acorns for no reason. I got so mad that I started climbing the tree to go teach it a lesson. Then I caught your scent, and it threw me off, so I ended up slipping and injuring my leg when I landed.”
Chanyeol nodded his head in understanding. Those squirrels could be quite mean and dangerous. Another thought crossed his mind. “Hey, what do I smell like? You said it’s a nice scent, right? Is that why you let me get closer to you back then?”
“It is a nice scent. You smell like… A nice blend of rose blossoms and spicy green herbs. It smells like home, honestly. And I didn’t find you to be a threat since I recognized your scent right away. You seem like someone who has a big heart, so I trusted you. I knew you wouldn’t try to hurt me,” Baekhyun replied with a warm smile.
Chanyeol blushed at the sudden confession. It was flattering to know that Baekhyun had taken note of him.
“Hey…” he started shyly. “Do you mind if I join you on your next run?... Feel free to decline if I’ll be imposing on you! I just think it might be a good way for me to relieve some of my built-up stress. Yeah, relieve stress. That’s all…”
Baekhyun studied him for a bit before the corner of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Yeah, you can join me. If you think you can keep up. You want a study break? How about tonight?”
Later that night after a drive out of the city, Chanyeol found himself standing on the edge of a forest with baekhyun.
“I’m a bit on a smaller side for a wolf. So you might feel like you’re crushing me, but don’t worry. I’m a lot stronger than you think,” Baekhyun said with a wink.
There went those growing feelings stirring inside of Chanyeol again. He looked away and cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll look away so you can shift… You better not drop me!”
Chanyeol promptly heard the rustling of clothes after he turned away. The noises set his imagination off, and he had to will away the naughty images that his mind had created. He had let out a deep sigh. He hadn’t had sex in a very long time, and the effects of it were showing.
After a few beats of silence, Chanyeol cautiously looked back, and the sight of the familiar honey-colored wolf greeted him. The emerald eyes seemed to twinkle at him before the wolf turned around and leaned down. Chanyeol threw the backpack that was housing Baekhyun’s clothes onto his back and then started to climb onto the wolf’s back. “Um, try not to go too fast at first, okay? I’ve never ridden a motorcycle or anything, so I won’t be used to this.”
Baekhyun must have enjoyed teasing the tall male, because he let out a haughty laugh and immediately surged into the forest. Chanyeol closed his eyes and grabbed tightly onto the wolf’s fur for his life.
“Stop, stop! You’re going too fast!”
The human and the wolf eventually came to a large clearing. Chanyeol had cracked one eye to scan the area before he slowly descended off the wolf.
Baekhyun trotted a few meters away before he plopped down onto the center of the clearing. Chanyeol followed and took a seat down next to him and he took the backpack off. The wolf nodded its head up to the sky. When Chanyeol looked up, he could understand why the wolf liked chilling in the clearing. It offered a great view of the sky. He could see the moon and make out several constellations.
“This is nice,” Chanyeol said quietly. “Being out here is nice. It makes you forget about all your troubles and stress. I feel like I really need this right now. I’m already dreading next week when school starts back up. Do you get stressed a lot too, Baekhyun?”
The wolf gave him a sympathetic look before it placed its head down onto its paws.
“I don’t know. I’m just so stressed all the time. I realize that that’s part of the college experience, but sometimes it’s just too much. And it’s not like I procrastinate or anything. I feel like I do everything right. I keep up with my readings, meet my deadlines, and go to professors’ office hours. So why am I so stressed out all the time?”
Chanyeol let out a strong huff after he finished ranting. The wind began to blow, and he shivered. He only brought a light jacket along with him. He pulled the jacket tighter around him and looked down at the ground to contemplate everything he just let out. His thoughts got interrupted when he suddenly felt warm fur surround him. The honey-colored wolf settled himself around Chanyeol, thoroughly wrapping himself around the shivering boy. Chanyeol found himself subconsciously leaning into the warmth but caught himself and straightened up. The wolf growled lowly and used his tail to push Chanyeol back down. It glared at Chanyeol until he finally relaxed into the wolf-made cushion.
“Thanks, Baekhyun…” Chanyeol muttered with a smile. He turned his head back up to the sky and a comfortable silence fell upon them until Chanyeol began to mumble quietly.
“Sometimes, I feel like the stress is just a personal problem. It makes me wonder that if I’m not doing anything wrong academically, then maybe the problem lies elsewhere. And then I start questioning all my decisions. Like maybe the premed pathway isn’t for me. I don’t even have a clue what I want to specialize in. Does that mean that I’m not passionate about the field that I want to go into? So maybe I brought all this unhappiness upon myself the minute I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. Or maybe not having a boyfriend for so long has started to affect me. Or maybe this is just a mid-college slump. I just don’t know anymore…”
Chanyeol felt the fur around him tighten a fraction. He turned to the wolf and met those emerald eyes again. “Thank you for listening. You probably came out here to unwind, and here I am, throwing all my complaints onto you.”
He smiled and then began to softly stroke the beautiful fur. The wolf closed its eyes and rumbled lowly in approval. Chanyeol snuggled closer into the warmth and eventually nodded off to sleep.
---
Yup, Chanyeol definitely developed feelings for the cute and friendly wolf hybrid. It was hard not to after spending an entire week with him. Every day, Chanyeol discovered something new about the brunet that made him fall in a little deeper. The adorable eye smile and his natural friendliness drew him in, but his ability to make him laugh and feel at ease and his willingness to lend an ear are what made him stay.
But unfortunately, his feelings may have manifested too quickly last night. Today is Sunday, the final day of spring break. And Chanyeol spends the morning pitifully under his blanket. He lies in bed and ponders about what went down last night between him and Baekhyun. The activities throughout the week had worn them out, so the boys decided to stay in and call it a netflix night.
“Why am I such a idiot…?” he mumbles under the blanket. “Baekhyun probably thinks I’m an idiot…”
Everything had been going well on Saturday night. The two of them were comfortably relaxed on the couch enjoying the romantic comedy movie. They kept moving closer and closer towards each other until their thighs made contact. Chanyeol began questioning whether or not this was a good or bad thing until Baekhyun took the initiative and leaned his head onto Chanyeol’s shoulder. The owner of the said shoulder stiffened for a second. Once he relaxed, Baekhyun cuddled closer to him. Eventually, Chanyeol plucked up the courage to wrap an arm around Baekhyun and pull him closer. The short male smiled at the action.
Both boys continued to watch the movie cuddled up to each other. Chanyeol wondered whether he should take this opportunity to let Baekhyun know about his growing feelings for him. After all, it could be reciprocal since the cute brunet cuddled up to him first. He started weighing the pros and cons of the possible outcomes until he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He carefully looked down and met Baekhyun’s gaze.
“Um, hey, is something wrong?” he asks.
Baekhyun had refrained from answering and just continued to stare at him, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He was about to open his mouth to question Baekhyun again when the said boy leaned up and kissed him. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if it was because it had been a long time since he kissed someone or if it was because Baekhyun was the one kissing him, but his heart turned into an acrobat and performed flip after flip on him.
Baekhyun began to pull away after their initial lip contact until Chanyeol’s mind finally registered the situation. Holy shit. Baekhyun is kissing is me. The boy that I spent my entire spring break with and slowly, but surely, fell for is kissing me.
Chanyeol promptly lunged forward and captured Baekhyun’s upper lip between his. The wolf hybrid wasted no time in responding and eagerly kissed back. The protagonist’s confession to the female lead sounded in the background as the two boys devoured each other’s lips. They slowly shifted around until Baekhyun had his thighs on either side of Chanyeol, effectively straddling him. His hands made their way up to run through Chanyeol’s hair while Chanyeol’s own hands found perch on Baekhyun’s waist.
They angled their heads and pecked once, twice, three more times until Chanyeol’s tongue came out to softly trace Baekhyun’s bottom lip. He parted his lips and allowed access for Chanyeol’s tongue to slide in and stroke hotly against his own. Both boys continued to map out each other’s mouths when the movie’s credits started rolling. Chanyeol’s hands stroked up and down Baekhyun’s sides slowly in time with each caress of his tongue.
He almost jumped when he felt Baekhyun’s hands slide under his hoodie. They broke their kiss, and sharply gasped to bring much needed air back into their lungs. Chanyeol leaned back and allowed the shorter male to pull his hoodie and shirt off. Before he had the chance to reach for Baekhyun’s shirt, the brunet placed his hands on Chanyeol’s naked chest and slowly pushed him until he was lying back onto the sofa.
Baekhyun then pulled his own shirt off, and Chanyeol feasted his eyes on the exposure of smooth and milky-looking skin. Funny, you would think that a wolf hybrid would have a hairier or sturdier-looking chest. He wondered how much smaller Baekhyun was than the average wolf hybrid until his mind shot him a What are you doing you fool, you have a cute boy making out with you. Get back to it.
But instead of doing just that, Chanyeol suddenly sat up and pushed Baekhyun off of him in the process. He immediately stood up from the couch, and turned around to face the other boy. His heart dropped a bit when Baekhyun looked up at him like a kicked pup. Chanyeol could almost visualize the droopy ears on his head. The kicked pup opened his mouth to say something, but Chanyeol beat him to it.
“Umm, I’m kinda tired and sleepy,” Chanyeol began. “I’m gonna go turn in for the night. I haven’t even gotten around to cleaning the apartment yet and Jongin’s coming back tomorrow. So I should go to sleep now so that I can get up early tomorrow. Yes. It’s late. Bed. You-I mean, sleep! Bed. Sleep. I’m gonna go do that now. Uh, Goodnight.”
And with that, Chanyeol stiffly darted into his room and shut the door without looking back.
Chanyeol slowly pulls his comforter over his head in embarrassment. He’s not sure what caused him to abruptly cut Baekhyun off last night. It might have been the feeling of Baekhyun’s delicate fingers feeling up on his lower abs (or lack thereof), the growing strain in his pants, or the cheesy music that played with the rolling movie credits. “I probably ruined any chance that I had with him. Why was I being such a bumbling fool? Is this what happens when you go under a dry spell for so long?”
He frustratingly huffs and musses up his hair. He proceeds to roll over in bed and effectively plants his face into his pillow in shame. A knock on the door interrupts his thoughts of wanting his sheets to open up and swallow him away from the world.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks softly behind the door. “I’m not sure if you’re awake, but um, I made breakfast. Feel free to come out and join me…”
Chanyeol hears him walk away and feels guilty for being the one to cause Baekhyun’s crestfallen mood. After an agonizing ten minutes in bed, he grabs the courage to go out and face Baekhyun. C’mon, man. You’re better than this. Go fix things.
Baekhyun visibly perks up the minute that Chanyeol steps out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. Chanyeol can almost see the perked up wolf ears on Baekhyun’s head. He takes a seat across from Baekhyun and takes a look at what’s on the table. Wow, look at all this food. How long has he been up preparing all this? And ooh, are those breakfast crepes that I see?
Chanyeol quickly snaps out of his food trance and peeks a look at Baekhyun. The boy looks back at him with a gleam of hope behind his eyes. Chanyeol finally opens his mouth to apologize for his brusque actions last night when Baekhyun beats him to it.
“I’m sorry, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun proclaims desperately. “I’m sorry about last night. I was moving way too quickly. I mean, we hadn’t even talked about our relationship yet, and there I was, throwing myself on you. I know we’ve only known each other for a week, but we’ve spent every single minute of that week with each other, and I think I want to prolong that time with you. I like you a lot, and I still hope that we can work something out between us. I’m sorry.”
Chanyeol stares with his mouth hanging open at Baekhyun’s confession. Confession. That means that Baekhyun returns his feelings. The cute wolf hybrid also wants to be with him. His heart becomes an acrobat on him once again, and does flip after flip while the joy of Baekhyun’s confession slowly fills up his entire being.
“Baekhyun, I really like you a lot too. And I should be the one apologizing about last night. I was being a nervous and inept fool. It’s just that I haven’t liked anyone so much in a long time. I also haven’t had a relationship since like, freshman year. But if you’re willing to give me a chance and some time to get my shit back together, then I would love to start a relationship with you.”
Baekhyun’s eyes twinkle at his response, and both boys get out of their chairs to meet each other halfway for a hug. “You dummy, I’ll still like you even if you turn into an awkward mess around me,” Baekhyun says as he buries his face into Chanyeol’s chest.
Chanyeol chuckles and tightens his arm around the shorter boy. He perches his chin on top of Baekhyun’s head and closes his eyes. I’m so lucky.
But unfortunately, their heartwarming hug is cut short when he feels Baekhyun suddenly stiffen in his arms. Uh-oh, what did I do wrong this time?
Baekhyun pushes Chanyeol back and turns his attention towards the front door. And the door swings open right on cue.
“I’m back!!” Jongin shouts happily as he throws his arms into the air and steps inside. A short, built man follows him in, and Baekhyun directs his gaze onto him.
Jongin, with his arms still up in air, takes in the scene before him. “Uhh, Chanyeol hyung, who is this? And why is he glaring at Minseok hyung? And ooh, are those breakfast crepes that I see on the table?”
“So you’re the wolf that I’ve been smelling around this apartment,” Baekhyun says with narrowed eyes towards the other short male.
“Easy there, pup. I have no intentions with Chanyeol. I’m already taken,” Minseok replies cooly.
Jongin drops his arms and stares back and forth between the two. “Wait, what. What are you guys going on about? Wolves? Huh?”
“I guess you weren’t planning on telling him, huh?” Baekhyun directs at Minseok.
“Wait! Hold on for a second here!” Chanyeol declares. He stomps up to Minseok and leans forward to stare down intensely at his hyung. Tension quickly fills the air of the apartment. “Is this why you have such a high alcohol tolerance level and always beat me at drinking games? Not fair, hyung!”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, and Jongin facepalms.
---
Things sail pretty smoothly after that. Jongin took the news of wolf hybrids surprisingly well. They also broke the news to their close friend circle who all approved of Baekhyun. The guys also took to the idea of wolf hybrids very well, especially considering that their youngest, Sehun, also came out of the den and revealed himself as another wolf hybrid.
“How many of you guys are there?!” Jongin squawked incredulously.
“You’d be surprised of what else is out there,” Baekhyun cryptically replied.
All in all, the group of friends adapted to the introduction of the species very nicely. One particular weekend night, the whole crew gathered at Chanyeol and Jongin’s apartment to hang out and drink. And during the drinking games, Minseok, Baekhyun, and Sehun had to take double shots anytime it was their turn or whenever the whole group did shots together. Chanyeol had proudly dubbed it ‘the wolf handicap.’
It had been a crazy night, and Baekhyun was beyond tipsy, so it was safe to say that Chanyeol was drunk off his ass. The couple stumbled into Chanyeol’s room later accompanied by Minseok’s wolf whistling (literally) and spent the rest of the night sloppily making out on Chanyeol’s bed before falling asleep with their limbs tangled together. Joonmyun, their kind upperclassman friend, had assisted Minseok in putting all of the other younger ones to bed outside in the living room.
Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s new couple-status relationship also sails smoothly. Baekhyun had eased Chanyeol back into the dating game quite successfully. And somewhere along the way, he essentially became Chanyeol’s best friend. The two spent a lot of time together, from studying to going on dates to try new restaurants again. While that side of a relationship came easily to Chanyeol, unfortunately, the physical side did not.
When the two boys weren’t cuddling and watching netflix together in Chanyeol’s room (Jongin had banished them from using the living room because “This is a communal area! So stop sucking face on our couch all the time! Take that shit to your own room!”), they were on his bed with Baekhyun easing Chanyeol back into the physical aspects of a relationship.
“I-I haven’t done this in a while,” Chanyeol breathed out.
Baekhyun made a small sound of acknowledge before he continued to trail kisses down the expanse of Chanyeol’s neck. “I know you’ve been stressed lately about the MCAT and all your science classes. Just relax a bit. Let me take away some of the stress for you, Yeollie.”
Chanyeol’s brain had a hard time generating a response because Baekhyun’s beautiful hands were caressing his bulge the entire time. He promptly trailed his hands up to Chanyeol’s belt and undid his pants to pull his member out. He stroked his boyfriend’s shaft slowly before working up to a steady pace that had Chanyeol closing his eyes and panting in pleasure. He leaned up to kiss Chanyeol again and the taller male moaned into his mouth.
He came embarrassingly quickly, and turned his head off to the side after he came down from his high. Baekhyun cupped his face and gently brought it forward to look into his eyes. He smiled at his blushing boyfriend. “Do you feel better?”
“Huh? Yeah… Of course. What, did my quick orgasm give it away?”
Baekhyun chuckled at him and placed his head onto his boyfriend’s chest.
“Wait. I-You-I need to help you now,” Chanyeol sputtered.
“It’s fine, Yeollie. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go to sleep now. You can return the favor next time.” Baekhyun pulled the covers over their naked bodies and snuggled up to Chanyeol’s warm chest.
Chanyeol fell asleep that night thinking about what a wonderful and patient boyfriend he had.
---
Dating Baekhyun is pretty fun. The two boys always know how to make each other laugh and know how to have fun together on all their outings and dates. Teasing also plays a central role in their relationship. Chanyeol likes to apply what he learns in his animal behavior class to Baekhyun’s own behavior and mannerisms.
“We learned about predator-prey relationships today in class,” Chanyeol said one afternoon in the apartment. “Now all your mannerisms when we have sexy times make sense to me now. Wanna hear my analysis on it?”
“Hey Baek, the social structure for wolves is so interesting. I didn’t know that the levels of hierarchies were so strict. Is this why you always yield to Minseok hyung during games and arguments? Kudos to you for wanting to keep unity and social order in this apartment.”
“Baekhyun, I wish I could use you for my final term paper. I’d have so much material to analyze and discuss.”
“Shut up Chanyeol, or I’m never sucking you off again,” Baekhyun said with conviction one day.
But despite the teasing, Chanyeol is genuinely curious about wolf hybrids. He frequently asks Baekhyun his fair share of questions. Some of them are a bit ridiculous, but they can turn out to be cute and funny due to Chanyeol’s blubbering.
“Did you like, imprint on me or something when we first met in the forest? Does that make me your mate?”
Baekhyun looked up from his anthropology readings in confusion. “What are you talking about, Yeol? We met when I was injured and bleeding. I’m sure that meeting my soulmate was the last thing on my mind. Us wolf hybrids don’t imprint anyways.”
“So you mean… You didn’t feel it when our eyes met?”
“Feel… What exactly?”
“You know! That-that feeling!” Chanyeol stuttered. “Didn’t you feel a connection between us? It was like time stopped when I looked into your eyes. I didn’t care that I had two midterms the next day. I didn’t care that I was a little scared at the time. Nothing else seemed to matter but you in that moment.”
Baekhyun’s eyes grew a fraction at the sudden, bold confession. After Chanyeol’s words sunk in, he slowly smirked. “I dunno Yeollie, that just sounds like love at first sight to me,” he cheekily replied.
Chanyeol had a coughing fit and turned away with his cheeks flushed. He brought that one upon himself that time.
While some of Chanyeol’s questions sometime end up being a little silly, Baekhyun was always secretly touched that Chanyeol was so passionate about learning more about his kind. He finds Chanyeol’s curiosity endearing most of the time. But of course, in addition to the endearing questions, there were also some that were a little more different than others.
“So is there like, knotting whenever you have sex?”
“Chanyeol, have you been reading fanfiction again?” Baekhyun deadpanned.
“N-no, of course not! We’ve just been learning about mating strategies in animal behavior class lately. That’s all. Yup.”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes but decided to humor his boyfriend anyways. “Knotting only occurs when we have intercourse while we’re shifted. Otherwise, having sex for us is just like any other human’s experience.”
“So knotting only happens within the species? Interesting.”
“Why do you ask? Are you thinking about having sex with me soon? Or were you curious about what your characters in your omegaverse fanfictions feel?”
Baekhyun’s bluntness made Chanyeol choke on his water and inadvertently spill his cup all over the table. He hastily grabbed nearby napkins to wipe off the mess he created. Baekhyun studied him for a bit before he shook his head and went back to the game on his phone.
Sometimes, new sides of Chanyeol reveal themselves during his random interrogations. For example: his jealousy. It’s another quality that Baekhyun finds sort of endearing about Chanyeol. But this is only due to the way that his boyfriend cutely presents it.
“Have you ever knotted before?” Chanyeol brokenly whispered.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Baekhyun replied in-between planting kisses on Chanyeol’s hip bones.
Despite the growing strain in his pants and the sexy atmosphere, Chanyeol still found it in himself to huff audibly in annoyance.
“What’s this? Getting jealous? We haven’t even had sex yet.”
“Yeah, well maybe we should then.” Chanyeol froze the minute he registered his brash statement. Sex with his boyfriend was a special thing to him. How could he say that so impulsively? After a few breaths, Chanyeol slowly leaned his head down to steal a glance at the brunet between his legs.
“Well, we could. And maybe we should then,” Baekhyun replied right before taking the tip of his boyfriend’s cock into his mouth.
There are also times during his questioning where Chanyeol thinks that he may have learned more than he should know.
"So, if you bit me, would I turn into a wolf hybrid too?"
Baekhyun finished chewing his burger and gulped it down before answering. "Chanyeol, I'm a wolf, not a vampire."
"Oh, right. Yeah." Chanyeol replied dumbly. He grabbed his milkshake and was ready to take a sip right before another thought crossed his mind and he slammed his milkshake down onto the table. "Wait, do vampires exist too? Do they also go to school with us??"
Baekhyun grinned mischievously at him and gave a cute shrug. "Who knows my dear little human? Who knows?..."
(Chanyeol entertains the possibility of Joonmyun hyung being a vampire. His rich hyung with his always-perfectly styled hair and pale alabaster skin. And maybe his wealth could be old money. Like, really old money.)
But putting aside their fun dating life and sexual activity, what Chanyeol appreciates the most is Baekhyun’s ability to read him. His boyfriend can always sense when something is amiss and and even knows how to approach him about it. For example, if he comes home feeling like he bombed an exam or feeling frustrated after an irritating club meeting, Baekhyun always knows what to say to console him while running his fingers carefully through his hair. Baekhyun also knows what to do whenever the stress builds up for him again. He sometimes takes Chanyeol out on a run and lets the boy vent, break down, or cry all he wants away from the suffocating walls and expectations of their school.
“Hey, let’s go on a run. It’s been a while.”
Chanyeol broke his eyes away from his textbooks and laptop for the first time that night and turned to his boyfriend. “I don’t know, Baekhyun. I have two exams again on Monday. I should really stay in and study more.”
“Nonsense. You’ve been studying perfectly fine for both exams. You can take a break.”
After ten more minutes of arguing, the wolf hybrid and human found themselves in the familiar forest right outside of the city again. It became somewhat of a routine for them. Chanyeol would relax into Baekhyun’s warm fur while letting everything off his chest (and sometimes taking a nap), and Baekhyun would give him wise words and advice the next day over dinner. The wolf hybrid never failed to remind Chanyeol why he fell in love with him.
---
Things are good. Final exams are over. Chanyeol and Baekhyun have officially finished their junior year of college. And Chanyeol can finally say that he feels happy. He finally feels like he’s surpassed his college slump. And he can thank his wonderful and considerate wolf boyfriend for that. His ability to lend an ear, to motivate, and to make him laugh never makes Chanyeol regret his venture into the forest preserve that fateful day.
"So do you have any idea of what you want to specialize in yet?" Baekhyun asks while scooping a piece of their shared banana split. "Or are you just gonna go with the flow?"
"I do have an idea actually..."
Baekhyun perks his head up in surprise. "Really? I'm happy for you, Chanyeol!" he says with a smile. "Pediatrics?"
Chanyeol smiles and shakes his head with a chuckle. "Actually, I'm thinking of going into veterinary science," he replies with a knowing smirk.
Baekhyun slowly returns Chanyeol's smirk with one of his own. "Oh, really? Then why don't you use me as practice, Dr. Park?"
Recipient: jazzyou
Title: I’m a Wolf and You’re a Giant
Word Counts: ~9000
Side Pairing(s): Xiukai if you squint
Rating: R
Warning(s): none
Disclaimer:The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celeokbrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Park Chanyeol is an awkward and stressed-beyond-belief premedical student. Perhaps his discovery of the honey-colored wolf is just what he needs to help him out of his college slump. And maybe his lack of a love life too.
Author's Note: Thank you to E for always ranting with me, making me laugh, and always encouraging me to write my fic. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I couldn’t have finished my fick without you. And much much love to my beta H for putting up with me. You’re the best. Thank you<3
"Fuck this shit!"
An array of biochemistry and animal behavior notes fly messily through the air as a stressed out Chanyeol drops his head onto his desk. It's the week before spring break, but that unfortunately also means that it's midterms week. All he has to do is survive one more day of exams, and then he'll be home free. He slowly lifts his head off the desk and blows his fringe out of his face. So close, yet so far...
Chanyeol stares blankly at his notes that are now scattered across the floor for a solid two minutes before he trudges his way across the room. He slowly picks up his notes in shame. "Just kidding, I have to graduate and go to med school..." he mumbles aloud.
He slowly transitions from sitting cross-legged on the floor with his notes to being curled up in a ball. A knock on the door disturbs him from his personal time of self-pity. "Come in..." Chanyeol mumbles.
His roommate cracks the door open and pops his head through. "Going out for drinks with the guys. I'd invite you to come, but..."
The tall and tan male trails his eyes down to his pitiful-looking roommate on the floor who looks like he’s ready to give up on life. “That bad, huh?” he says with a faint smile. “But at least you’re almost done! Just two more left, yeah?”
“Go away, Jongin. Flaunt your freedom elsewhere please,” Chanyeol replies.
Jongin sighs and goes over to crouch down next to his roommate. He pats Chanyeol a couple times on the back and gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Do you need to take a nap? I can set an alarm and call you later to wake you up.”
Chanyeol groans into the floor one last time before uncurling from his ball of self-pity and sitting upright to face his roommate. “Nah, I’m fine. I took a nap earlier. Besides, if I fall asleep now, I’d probably sleep all the way until my exam tomorrow.”
“Maybe you just need to take a break,” Jongin suggests. “You could take a walk outside. Get some fresh air and stretch out your limbs. God knows how long and uncoordinated they are. But I think that’d be good for you.”
Chanyeol finds himself nodding his head as he considers the suggestion. A walk through the park preserve near their school campus does sound rather nice… A quiet ding sound suddenly catches both of their attentions.
“Ah, that must be Minseok hyung here to pick me up,” Jongin says as he checks his text messages. He gets up and runs his hands down his button-up to smooth out its creases. He makes his way back to the room entrance.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll drink enough for both of us!” he says with a wink. “But in all seriousness, hang in there, buddy! I know you’ll do well tomorrow! You’ve literally been studying for forever!”
“Thanks, Jongin…” Chanyeol replies with a soft smile.
Jongin salutes him and then proceeds to jog out the room and out to his hyung waiting in the car.
--
Chanyeol makes a mental note to thank his roommate later. The fresh air does wonders for him. He can feel himself finally beginning to relax for the first time in weeks. His two remaining midterms aren’t what’s particularly killing him. Rather, they’re the cherry on top to his other loads of stress. The stress of student organization duties, taking three science courses, studying for the MCAT, and preparing for medical school applications in general are what’s killing him. He doesn’t have time to go out with his friends as much as he used to, let alone have time to meet anyone. He can’t even remember the last time that he had an actual relationship. And the aforementioned combination has put him into a slump since the beginning of the semester. He often finds himself questioning his decisions, his future, his lack of a love life, and ultimately his happiness.
But Chanyeol takes a deep breath and forcefully pushes all those thoughts away. Just for a couple hours, he will unwind and forget about all his stress. And this setting is just perfect for that. The weather is fantastic, and the moon is bright tonight. He happily continues his trek along the walkway. The clusters of trees surrounding him on either side strangely do not make him afraid. On the contrary, they actually make him feel a little safe. They act as a shield and block out the outside world for him and give him a peace of mind, something that he desperately needs right now. Besides, the park preserve is a part of his school campus and is known for being relatively safe. In his two and a half years at the school, there had been no incidents reported.
The tall and lanky boy’s new peace of mind apparently recharged him with a newfound confidence. Instead of turning back around on the walkway, he decides to venture deeper into the forest. Every step he takes strangely makes him feel more relaxed. He stops thinking about chemical structures, medical school, and his lack of a boyfriend.
---
Chanyeol finally thinks about things that a normal college student would think about. He ponders on what to eat tomorrow after he finishes his exams and how much sleep he’ll be able to get tomorrow night. He narrows his food choices down to Chinese food or Korean BBQ as he continues steadily on the walkway. The mouthwatering images of Kung Pao chicken and galbi are put on hold when he suddenly hears the trees rustle somewhere to his right. He pauses mid step and subconsciously holds his breath.
After a minute of silence, Chanyeol takes a slow look at his surroundings and realizes how deep into the forest he is. He gulps and then lets out a shaky breath as he hears trees rustle even louder.
“Nope, I definitely did not imagine those sounds,” he thinks to himself. “But dude, I can’t die yet. I haven’t even said bye to the guys. I haven’t properly thanked Jongin for being a good roommate. And I still haven’t fulfilled my Kung Pao chicken and Peking duck cravings! God, please don’t let me die in the middle of this miserable college slump. At least let me take my last midterms tomorrow so I can die feeling accomplished. Or at least let me get laid one last-”
A loud yelp suddenly cuts off his pleads. Chanyeol snaps his head over in the noise’s direction. He hears a faint whine follow and registers it as an animal sound. “That sounds like… A dog maybe?”
For some strange reason that Chanyeol can’t fathom, he finds it in himself to go investigate the sounds of distress. What if a poor dog is in trouble and needs his help? What if it’s lost and needs to find its way back to its caretaker? Chanyeol has always had a big heart for animals. Besides, it’s not like the campus park preserve houses dangerous animals. The most dangerous things that call this place home are the squirrels that will throw their acorns at you when you don’t feed them food from the school cafeteria. So it’s not like this forest houses dangerous or silly beasts such as bears or… wolves or anything.
The leaves under his feet crackle loudly with each step he takes to the source of the previous yelp and whines. Chanyeol eventually reaches a small clearing, and his breath stops as he takes in the sight before him. The moonlight gleams brightly on the forest clearing and gives him a perfect view of the animal curled up on the ground. His eyes slowly take in the beautiful honey-colored fur coat and eventually make their way up to the animal’s own eyes. Time seems to stop, and he stares, mesmerized, into the deep, emerald eyes.
The animal also locks gazes with the human, and the two of them continue to silently stare at each other. Chanyeol finds himself falling deeper and deeper into those captivating emerald eyes. He takes a careful step towards those eyes, and when the animal doesn’t flinch or move away, he deems it safe to move closer. They continue to keep eye contact throughout Chanyeol’s advancement until the animal breaks away its gaze and lets out a huff.
The loud huff finally snaps Chanyeol out of his trance. He looks to where the animal has directed its gaze, and his eyes land on a bleeding and wounded hind leg. His premed background immediately kicks in as he kneels down to examine the damage. He pulls his hoodie over his head and wraps it around the wounded leg before applying firm pressure to it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His primary goal is to get the animal to safety, so Chanyeol doesn’t think twice about it before he carefully lifts it into his arms and heads out of the park preserve towards his car.
---
Chanyeol kicks the door to his apartment open and hurries to his couch to settle the animal onto it. He then rushes to the kitchen to fill a basin with warm water and grabs a bar of soap so that he can disinfect the wound. He wipes the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. The animal wasn’t exactly a light one. And the walk to his car earlier felt farther than he remembered.
He pulls over a stool and settles down right next to the couch. The animal watches Chanyeol quietly as he carefully works on the wound on its hind leg. When Chanyeol turns his head back to the animal, he swears that the emerald eyes look almost human-like.
“Uh, I just cleaned and disinfected your wound. The bleeding looks like it’s stopped too,” Chanyeol says to the animal. “I’m going to wrap and bandage your leg up now, okay?”
He swears that the animal nods in acknowledgement before he grabs the bandage. The animal leans its head onto the arm of the couch and slowly closes its eyes as Chanyeol works.
“There! All done!” he says as he takes a look at his handiwork. “You probably shouldn’t walk on it anytime soon though so that it’ll heal faster…So, I guess you can sleep in my room for tonight?”
He looks back at the animal and is surprised to see it asleep with its chest rising and falling in an easy rhythm. He doesn’t have the heart to move it lest it wakes up from its peaceful slumber. Chanyeol thanks the heavens that Jongin is spending the night at Minseok hyung’s place. As he watches the animal breathe in and out steadily, he finally takes a real look at it under the living room’s bright light. Back at the forest, his mind let him think that he was saving an injured dog, a Siberian husky perhaps. But there was also the practical side of Chanyeol that knew better. The animal resting on his couch is much too large to be a dog. The color of its eyes are too unnatural to belong to a dog. Nope. Chanyeol didn’t bring a husky back home.
He brought a wolf back home.
---
Chanyeol wakes up in the morning before his alarm clock even has the chance to go off. Hell, even the sun isn’t out yet. He rolls over and buries his face into his pillow with a groan. Last night’s events wore him out so much that he went straight to bed and knocked out.
Wait. Last night’s events. Chanyeol immediately bolts upright from his bed. The situation finally dawns upon him. “I found a freaking wolf last night in the school’s park preserve. A wolf. A real, live wolf. And I let a real, live wolf stay overnight in my apartment. What was I even thinking?? What if it bit my head off in the middle of the night??”
Chanyeol looks at his closed bedroom door, afraid of what lies beyond it now. “But, the wolf was acting so... understanding last night? It was like it knew what was going on and intentionally allowed me to help it. And those emerald eyes... ”
He marches towards the door and grabs the knob with conviction. “It’s okay, the wolf won’t hurt me. He’s friendly…” He takes a deep breath and swings the door open. The sight that greets him in the living room makes his jaw drop and his eyes widen in shock.
There is a buck naked boy in his living room. The naked brunet stares back at him with equally wide eyes. He slowly puts down the roll of bandage that he was using on his ankle and calf.
“Umm... Hi?” the boy offers along with an awkward wave.
---
“So let me get this straight…” Chanyeol starts.
The brunet is sitting across from him in a chair with his posture straight as he gets interrogated by the taller male. (Fully clothed this time. Chanyeol lent him some clothes. They were a bit large on the smaller boy, but hey, at least he was clothed.)
“So you’re a wolf hybrid?”
The brunet (Baekhyun, as he had introduced himself) nods his head.
“And you were on a run in the forest preserve before I found you?”
Baekhyun nods his head again.
“And not only do you go to my university, but you’ve also been my classmate?”
Baekhyun nods his head once again.
“Man, that’s amazing that you can remember your classmates. Especially the ones that you’ve never even spoken to. That psych class we took together had like, a hundred students! I can’t even remember my classmates from last semester! Do wolves have crazy memory skills or something?”
“Uh... I just explained what I am to you, and you’re only curious about my memory capacity?” Baekhyun replies with raised eyebrows.
“Why not? I think it’s a quality to commend you on. You must have photographic memory or something. I’m jealous. Studying must be so easy for you.”
“Well, it’s a bit easier for us to remember individuals since we can differentiate people through their scents. Yours in particular is hard to forget. It’s a very nice scent.”
Chanyeol flushes at the compliment (albeit strange compliment) and looks down at the fidgeting fingers in his lap. “O-oh, umm… Thank you?”
Baekhyun smiles back at him. The little crescents that his eyes make when he does so stirs something inside Chanyeol when he looks up. What a nice smile.
“Oh, wait. What time is it?” Chanyeol mumbles as he pulls out his phone and nearly jumps off the couch. “Oh shit! It’s already 7:30AM! My first midterm is in an hour!”
He immediately rushes into his room to brush his teeth and grab a new hoodie. When he returns out to the living room, Baekhyun is still sitting in the chair where he left him. “You! Baekhyun! Do you have any exams to take today?”
Baekhyun shakes his head for the first time that morning.
“Good. You shouldn’t be up and around without crutches anyways. I’ll be back after I take my last two midterms. My roommate is going to be back around noon to grab some stuff before he heads out for spring break. You can stay in my room. Feel free to grab any food in the fridge, too.”
“Wait! Can I borrow your laptop? I still have a paper due later this afternoon!”
“Yup! The password is ‘happinessdelight.’ All lowercase, no space,” Chanyeol replies back while lacing up his shoes. He heads out of his apartment with high spirits. He’s never felt this awesome before heading into a dreaded midterm. Maybe Baekhyun is his good luck charm. Well, he’ll make that conclusion after he sees his grades. But honestly speaking, Jongin is right. He’s been studying forever for these exams. He should end up fine.
---
Jongin does end up being right. (Big surprise.) Chanyeol returns home with his spirits still high. He had breezed through both midterms. He’s sure that he did very well on both. Returning home with confidence and happiness after an exam is a foreign thing to him, as is returning home to a cute brunet in his room.
Baekhyun is typing away furiously on the laptop when Chanyeol comes into the room. He’s sitting on the floor with his back leaned against the bed and the laptop on top of his thighs.
“Are you almost done with your paper?” Chanyeol asks.
“Yup! Just need to write the conclusion now.”
Chanyeol nods his head in approval and takes a cautious seat next to Baekhyun on the floor. He quietly studies the boy’s human features. His eyes trace a line from Baekhyun’s mouth, where his tongue is poking out haphazardly as he concentrates, to his cute button nose, and to the slight droop at the corners of his eyes until it finally lands on his soft-looking brown hair. He feels the sudden urge to touch it. So he does just that.
Baekhyun flinches away slightly when Chanyeol runs his palm over the top of his head. He repeats the action.
“Are you... are you petting me?” Baekhyun asks skeptically.
Chanyeol abruptly stills his hand and awkwardly pulls it back into his lap. “Uhh…”
“I’m a wolf hybrid. Not a dog.”
“Um, sorry,” Chanyeol mumbles. “Force of habit, I guess. I have a labrador back at home, and I love petting her. She also still acts like a puppy even though she’s huge. She always jumps on me and wants to be carried whenever I come home. That’s why carrying you back to my car last night wasn’t so bad.”
Chanyeol blushes again once he realizes that he’s starting to ramble, which is a nervous habit of his. “Umm, sorry for rambling and distracting you…”
Baekhyun lifts one eyebrow at him. “Uh-huh… well, I’m just gonna go back to finishing this paper now.”
The two of them sit in silence until Baekhyun shouts a gleeful done! with a final click on the mousepad. He closes out all his windows and shuts the laptop with victory.
“I made my paper deadline!!” he says with a full grin (accompanied with the cute crescent moon eyes).
Chanyeol tries to ignore the feelings that stir within him again. “That’s great! It looks like we’re both ending off the midterm season with victory!”
“SPRING BREAK HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!!”
Both college students get up and grab each other’s hands before jumping up and down in joy to celebrate. They only make it to two jumps before Baekhyun winces and begins to lean over.
“Oh no! Your leg! I almost forgot!” Chanyeol exclaims as he grabs onto one of Baekhyun’s arms to help support him. “Is it still bad?”
“It’s healing. I just need to take caution so that I don’t open the wound back up.” He takes a slow seat down onto the bed, and Chanyeol joins him.
“So… What are your spring break plans?” Chanyeol inquires. “Does this injury hurt your plans at all?”
“No, I was just gonna hang around here for the break. I’d have to fly if I wanted to head back home. Although this injury is a little annoying… I could heal faster if I stay in my shifted form, but my roommate is also staying for the break and doesn’t know about me, so…”
“You can stay here!” Chanyeol blurts out.
Baekhyun whips his head over to Chanyeol. “Don’t you have plans or something? And you just officially met me. We’re still strangers.”
“Well, I was planning on going back home, but I was going to drive there, so I can just talk to my parents and tell them that I’ll be staying here. I need to study for the MCAT anyway. I should get a head start on that animal behavior paper too. And I should probably read ahead for my classes. I also have some things that I need to get done for my student organizations.” Chanyeol realizes that he’s rambling once again and catches himself before he continues. He awkwardly coughs and clears his throat.
“But besides, I’m not the only one here who’s trusting a ‘stranger.’ You wouldn’t have allowed me to take take care of you last night if you didn’t feel safe with me.”
Baekhyun opens his mouth to defend himself, but thinks otherwise and closes it. And wait, is that a faint blush that’s adorning the cute shortie’s face? “Well, if that’s okay with you then...”
“Yup! I don’t mind if you randomly stay shifted in the apartment. I’m used to having my labrador around me all the time at home anyways.”
“I told you, I’m a wolf. Not a dog...” Baekhyun mumbles.
“I’ll go order some take-out for us! We need to celebrate the start of spring break with some much needed food! I hope you like Chinese, because I’ve been craving Kung Pao chicken…”
Baekhyun watches Chanyeol pull out his phone and then head outside the room once he dials the number.
“Make yourself at home, Baekhyun! I’m sure we’ll be good friends after this break!” Chanyeol yells from the living room.
---
Chanyeol quickly discovers that he likes Baekhyun. The first couple days of their spring break consisted of lazing around the apartment catching up on sleep and playing board games with each other. (Baekhyun won at every game. Chanyeol refused to believe that he’s a bad gamer. He blamed his losses on Baekhyun’s secret wolf skills and his own lack of.) The two also spent a substantial amount of time on netflix together accompanied with food that Baekhyun cooked or food that Chanyeol ordered out. There’s only a limited amount of dishes that Chanyeol can cook. He and Jongin usually rely on Minseok hyung to drop off real food to them whenever they get swamped with school work.
Chanyeol also discovers other things during the break. Such as his rapidly growing feelings for the wolf hybrid. Baekhyun had insisted on wearing Chanyeol’s borrowed clothes even though Chanyeol offered to grab clothes from Baekhyun’s apartment for him. The constant exposure of Baekhyun’s collarbones was not healthy for Chanyeol’s heart. (And maybe another body part also.) The brunet had also declined Chanyeol’s offer with a “It’s okay. I’ll heal quickly, so I’m not going to be staying here that long anyways.” Chanyeol ignored the sadness that those words invoked. Because maybe he didn’t mind spending his entire spring break with Baekhyun.
Baekhyun ended up staying at his apartment anyway.
“I mean, we’re both gonna stay here all throughout the break. Why don’t we keep each other company?” Chanyeol suggested.
Once Baekhyun’s leg finished healing, Chanyeol didn’t waste any time and took Baekhyun out of the apartment to hang out.
“I feel bad that you’ve been cooped up all day in my apartment! I need to take you outside for a walk to get some fresh air,” Chanyeol explained.
“Why do I feel like that’s something that you say to your dog…”
Nevertheless, the two students ended up dragging each other everywhere on outings during the week. They visited the movie theater, went shopping, tried new restaurants, and went to the amusement park. A small, hidden part in Chanyeol liked to consider these outings as ‘dates’ of some sort.
His favorite ‘date’ had to be the first time that he joined Baekhyun on a run.
“Hey,” Chanyeol said one night. He was studying for his MCAT while Baekhyun was doing some reading for sociology. “I don’t know why this never crossed my mind, but why were you in the park preserve near campus? Do you always hang around there?”
“Nope. The forest in there is way too close to the community. I was only there that night because I was starting to go crazy from all the pent-up energy. I hadn’t been on a good run for weeks prior to that. I usually go to an area a little ways off from the city. But I was so desperate during midterms that I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going on a run. Right now.’ I didn’t think that anyone would be out there late at night. Although I guess that I was lucky that you were there.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. How did you get injured?”
Baekhyun awkwardly shifted around on the couch. “Uh, well, it’s kind of a dumb story… I was taking a quick breather, and then a squirrel started throwing acorns at me. And it wouldn’t stop either! It just kept throwing acorns for no reason. I got so mad that I started climbing the tree to go teach it a lesson. Then I caught your scent, and it threw me off, so I ended up slipping and injuring my leg when I landed.”
Chanyeol nodded his head in understanding. Those squirrels could be quite mean and dangerous. Another thought crossed his mind. “Hey, what do I smell like? You said it’s a nice scent, right? Is that why you let me get closer to you back then?”
“It is a nice scent. You smell like… A nice blend of rose blossoms and spicy green herbs. It smells like home, honestly. And I didn’t find you to be a threat since I recognized your scent right away. You seem like someone who has a big heart, so I trusted you. I knew you wouldn’t try to hurt me,” Baekhyun replied with a warm smile.
Chanyeol blushed at the sudden confession. It was flattering to know that Baekhyun had taken note of him.
“Hey…” he started shyly. “Do you mind if I join you on your next run?... Feel free to decline if I’ll be imposing on you! I just think it might be a good way for me to relieve some of my built-up stress. Yeah, relieve stress. That’s all…”
Baekhyun studied him for a bit before the corner of his mouth quirked up into a smirk. “Yeah, you can join me. If you think you can keep up. You want a study break? How about tonight?”
Later that night after a drive out of the city, Chanyeol found himself standing on the edge of a forest with baekhyun.
“I’m a bit on a smaller side for a wolf. So you might feel like you’re crushing me, but don’t worry. I’m a lot stronger than you think,” Baekhyun said with a wink.
There went those growing feelings stirring inside of Chanyeol again. He looked away and cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll look away so you can shift… You better not drop me!”
Chanyeol promptly heard the rustling of clothes after he turned away. The noises set his imagination off, and he had to will away the naughty images that his mind had created. He had let out a deep sigh. He hadn’t had sex in a very long time, and the effects of it were showing.
After a few beats of silence, Chanyeol cautiously looked back, and the sight of the familiar honey-colored wolf greeted him. The emerald eyes seemed to twinkle at him before the wolf turned around and leaned down. Chanyeol threw the backpack that was housing Baekhyun’s clothes onto his back and then started to climb onto the wolf’s back. “Um, try not to go too fast at first, okay? I’ve never ridden a motorcycle or anything, so I won’t be used to this.”
Baekhyun must have enjoyed teasing the tall male, because he let out a haughty laugh and immediately surged into the forest. Chanyeol closed his eyes and grabbed tightly onto the wolf’s fur for his life.
“Stop, stop! You’re going too fast!”
The human and the wolf eventually came to a large clearing. Chanyeol had cracked one eye to scan the area before he slowly descended off the wolf.
Baekhyun trotted a few meters away before he plopped down onto the center of the clearing. Chanyeol followed and took a seat down next to him and he took the backpack off. The wolf nodded its head up to the sky. When Chanyeol looked up, he could understand why the wolf liked chilling in the clearing. It offered a great view of the sky. He could see the moon and make out several constellations.
“This is nice,” Chanyeol said quietly. “Being out here is nice. It makes you forget about all your troubles and stress. I feel like I really need this right now. I’m already dreading next week when school starts back up. Do you get stressed a lot too, Baekhyun?”
The wolf gave him a sympathetic look before it placed its head down onto its paws.
“I don’t know. I’m just so stressed all the time. I realize that that’s part of the college experience, but sometimes it’s just too much. And it’s not like I procrastinate or anything. I feel like I do everything right. I keep up with my readings, meet my deadlines, and go to professors’ office hours. So why am I so stressed out all the time?”
Chanyeol let out a strong huff after he finished ranting. The wind began to blow, and he shivered. He only brought a light jacket along with him. He pulled the jacket tighter around him and looked down at the ground to contemplate everything he just let out. His thoughts got interrupted when he suddenly felt warm fur surround him. The honey-colored wolf settled himself around Chanyeol, thoroughly wrapping himself around the shivering boy. Chanyeol found himself subconsciously leaning into the warmth but caught himself and straightened up. The wolf growled lowly and used his tail to push Chanyeol back down. It glared at Chanyeol until he finally relaxed into the wolf-made cushion.
“Thanks, Baekhyun…” Chanyeol muttered with a smile. He turned his head back up to the sky and a comfortable silence fell upon them until Chanyeol began to mumble quietly.
“Sometimes, I feel like the stress is just a personal problem. It makes me wonder that if I’m not doing anything wrong academically, then maybe the problem lies elsewhere. And then I start questioning all my decisions. Like maybe the premed pathway isn’t for me. I don’t even have a clue what I want to specialize in. Does that mean that I’m not passionate about the field that I want to go into? So maybe I brought all this unhappiness upon myself the minute I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. Or maybe not having a boyfriend for so long has started to affect me. Or maybe this is just a mid-college slump. I just don’t know anymore…”
Chanyeol felt the fur around him tighten a fraction. He turned to the wolf and met those emerald eyes again. “Thank you for listening. You probably came out here to unwind, and here I am, throwing all my complaints onto you.”
He smiled and then began to softly stroke the beautiful fur. The wolf closed its eyes and rumbled lowly in approval. Chanyeol snuggled closer into the warmth and eventually nodded off to sleep.
---
Yup, Chanyeol definitely developed feelings for the cute and friendly wolf hybrid. It was hard not to after spending an entire week with him. Every day, Chanyeol discovered something new about the brunet that made him fall in a little deeper. The adorable eye smile and his natural friendliness drew him in, but his ability to make him laugh and feel at ease and his willingness to lend an ear are what made him stay.
But unfortunately, his feelings may have manifested too quickly last night. Today is Sunday, the final day of spring break. And Chanyeol spends the morning pitifully under his blanket. He lies in bed and ponders about what went down last night between him and Baekhyun. The activities throughout the week had worn them out, so the boys decided to stay in and call it a netflix night.
“Why am I such a idiot…?” he mumbles under the blanket. “Baekhyun probably thinks I’m an idiot…”
Everything had been going well on Saturday night. The two of them were comfortably relaxed on the couch enjoying the romantic comedy movie. They kept moving closer and closer towards each other until their thighs made contact. Chanyeol began questioning whether or not this was a good or bad thing until Baekhyun took the initiative and leaned his head onto Chanyeol’s shoulder. The owner of the said shoulder stiffened for a second. Once he relaxed, Baekhyun cuddled closer to him. Eventually, Chanyeol plucked up the courage to wrap an arm around Baekhyun and pull him closer. The short male smiled at the action.
Both boys continued to watch the movie cuddled up to each other. Chanyeol wondered whether he should take this opportunity to let Baekhyun know about his growing feelings for him. After all, it could be reciprocal since the cute brunet cuddled up to him first. He started weighing the pros and cons of the possible outcomes until he felt a pair of eyes watching him. He carefully looked down and met Baekhyun’s gaze.
“Um, hey, is something wrong?” he asks.
Baekhyun had refrained from answering and just continued to stare at him, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He was about to open his mouth to question Baekhyun again when the said boy leaned up and kissed him. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if it was because it had been a long time since he kissed someone or if it was because Baekhyun was the one kissing him, but his heart turned into an acrobat and performed flip after flip on him.
Baekhyun began to pull away after their initial lip contact until Chanyeol’s mind finally registered the situation. Holy shit. Baekhyun is kissing is me. The boy that I spent my entire spring break with and slowly, but surely, fell for is kissing me.
Chanyeol promptly lunged forward and captured Baekhyun’s upper lip between his. The wolf hybrid wasted no time in responding and eagerly kissed back. The protagonist’s confession to the female lead sounded in the background as the two boys devoured each other’s lips. They slowly shifted around until Baekhyun had his thighs on either side of Chanyeol, effectively straddling him. His hands made their way up to run through Chanyeol’s hair while Chanyeol’s own hands found perch on Baekhyun’s waist.
They angled their heads and pecked once, twice, three more times until Chanyeol’s tongue came out to softly trace Baekhyun’s bottom lip. He parted his lips and allowed access for Chanyeol’s tongue to slide in and stroke hotly against his own. Both boys continued to map out each other’s mouths when the movie’s credits started rolling. Chanyeol’s hands stroked up and down Baekhyun’s sides slowly in time with each caress of his tongue.
He almost jumped when he felt Baekhyun’s hands slide under his hoodie. They broke their kiss, and sharply gasped to bring much needed air back into their lungs. Chanyeol leaned back and allowed the shorter male to pull his hoodie and shirt off. Before he had the chance to reach for Baekhyun’s shirt, the brunet placed his hands on Chanyeol’s naked chest and slowly pushed him until he was lying back onto the sofa.
Baekhyun then pulled his own shirt off, and Chanyeol feasted his eyes on the exposure of smooth and milky-looking skin. Funny, you would think that a wolf hybrid would have a hairier or sturdier-looking chest. He wondered how much smaller Baekhyun was than the average wolf hybrid until his mind shot him a What are you doing you fool, you have a cute boy making out with you. Get back to it.
But instead of doing just that, Chanyeol suddenly sat up and pushed Baekhyun off of him in the process. He immediately stood up from the couch, and turned around to face the other boy. His heart dropped a bit when Baekhyun looked up at him like a kicked pup. Chanyeol could almost visualize the droopy ears on his head. The kicked pup opened his mouth to say something, but Chanyeol beat him to it.
“Umm, I’m kinda tired and sleepy,” Chanyeol began. “I’m gonna go turn in for the night. I haven’t even gotten around to cleaning the apartment yet and Jongin’s coming back tomorrow. So I should go to sleep now so that I can get up early tomorrow. Yes. It’s late. Bed. You-I mean, sleep! Bed. Sleep. I’m gonna go do that now. Uh, Goodnight.”
And with that, Chanyeol stiffly darted into his room and shut the door without looking back.
Chanyeol slowly pulls his comforter over his head in embarrassment. He’s not sure what caused him to abruptly cut Baekhyun off last night. It might have been the feeling of Baekhyun’s delicate fingers feeling up on his lower abs (or lack thereof), the growing strain in his pants, or the cheesy music that played with the rolling movie credits. “I probably ruined any chance that I had with him. Why was I being such a bumbling fool? Is this what happens when you go under a dry spell for so long?”
He frustratingly huffs and musses up his hair. He proceeds to roll over in bed and effectively plants his face into his pillow in shame. A knock on the door interrupts his thoughts of wanting his sheets to open up and swallow him away from the world.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks softly behind the door. “I’m not sure if you’re awake, but um, I made breakfast. Feel free to come out and join me…”
Chanyeol hears him walk away and feels guilty for being the one to cause Baekhyun’s crestfallen mood. After an agonizing ten minutes in bed, he grabs the courage to go out and face Baekhyun. C’mon, man. You’re better than this. Go fix things.
Baekhyun visibly perks up the minute that Chanyeol steps out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. Chanyeol can almost see the perked up wolf ears on Baekhyun’s head. He takes a seat across from Baekhyun and takes a look at what’s on the table. Wow, look at all this food. How long has he been up preparing all this? And ooh, are those breakfast crepes that I see?
Chanyeol quickly snaps out of his food trance and peeks a look at Baekhyun. The boy looks back at him with a gleam of hope behind his eyes. Chanyeol finally opens his mouth to apologize for his brusque actions last night when Baekhyun beats him to it.
“I’m sorry, Chanyeol!” Baekhyun proclaims desperately. “I’m sorry about last night. I was moving way too quickly. I mean, we hadn’t even talked about our relationship yet, and there I was, throwing myself on you. I know we’ve only known each other for a week, but we’ve spent every single minute of that week with each other, and I think I want to prolong that time with you. I like you a lot, and I still hope that we can work something out between us. I’m sorry.”
Chanyeol stares with his mouth hanging open at Baekhyun’s confession. Confession. That means that Baekhyun returns his feelings. The cute wolf hybrid also wants to be with him. His heart becomes an acrobat on him once again, and does flip after flip while the joy of Baekhyun’s confession slowly fills up his entire being.
“Baekhyun, I really like you a lot too. And I should be the one apologizing about last night. I was being a nervous and inept fool. It’s just that I haven’t liked anyone so much in a long time. I also haven’t had a relationship since like, freshman year. But if you’re willing to give me a chance and some time to get my shit back together, then I would love to start a relationship with you.”
Baekhyun’s eyes twinkle at his response, and both boys get out of their chairs to meet each other halfway for a hug. “You dummy, I’ll still like you even if you turn into an awkward mess around me,” Baekhyun says as he buries his face into Chanyeol’s chest.
Chanyeol chuckles and tightens his arm around the shorter boy. He perches his chin on top of Baekhyun’s head and closes his eyes. I’m so lucky.
But unfortunately, their heartwarming hug is cut short when he feels Baekhyun suddenly stiffen in his arms. Uh-oh, what did I do wrong this time?
Baekhyun pushes Chanyeol back and turns his attention towards the front door. And the door swings open right on cue.
“I’m back!!” Jongin shouts happily as he throws his arms into the air and steps inside. A short, built man follows him in, and Baekhyun directs his gaze onto him.
Jongin, with his arms still up in air, takes in the scene before him. “Uhh, Chanyeol hyung, who is this? And why is he glaring at Minseok hyung? And ooh, are those breakfast crepes that I see on the table?”
“So you’re the wolf that I’ve been smelling around this apartment,” Baekhyun says with narrowed eyes towards the other short male.
“Easy there, pup. I have no intentions with Chanyeol. I’m already taken,” Minseok replies cooly.
Jongin drops his arms and stares back and forth between the two. “Wait, what. What are you guys going on about? Wolves? Huh?”
“I guess you weren’t planning on telling him, huh?” Baekhyun directs at Minseok.
“Wait! Hold on for a second here!” Chanyeol declares. He stomps up to Minseok and leans forward to stare down intensely at his hyung. Tension quickly fills the air of the apartment. “Is this why you have such a high alcohol tolerance level and always beat me at drinking games? Not fair, hyung!”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, and Jongin facepalms.
---
Things sail pretty smoothly after that. Jongin took the news of wolf hybrids surprisingly well. They also broke the news to their close friend circle who all approved of Baekhyun. The guys also took to the idea of wolf hybrids very well, especially considering that their youngest, Sehun, also came out of the den and revealed himself as another wolf hybrid.
“How many of you guys are there?!” Jongin squawked incredulously.
“You’d be surprised of what else is out there,” Baekhyun cryptically replied.
All in all, the group of friends adapted to the introduction of the species very nicely. One particular weekend night, the whole crew gathered at Chanyeol and Jongin’s apartment to hang out and drink. And during the drinking games, Minseok, Baekhyun, and Sehun had to take double shots anytime it was their turn or whenever the whole group did shots together. Chanyeol had proudly dubbed it ‘the wolf handicap.’
It had been a crazy night, and Baekhyun was beyond tipsy, so it was safe to say that Chanyeol was drunk off his ass. The couple stumbled into Chanyeol’s room later accompanied by Minseok’s wolf whistling (literally) and spent the rest of the night sloppily making out on Chanyeol’s bed before falling asleep with their limbs tangled together. Joonmyun, their kind upperclassman friend, had assisted Minseok in putting all of the other younger ones to bed outside in the living room.
Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s new couple-status relationship also sails smoothly. Baekhyun had eased Chanyeol back into the dating game quite successfully. And somewhere along the way, he essentially became Chanyeol’s best friend. The two spent a lot of time together, from studying to going on dates to try new restaurants again. While that side of a relationship came easily to Chanyeol, unfortunately, the physical side did not.
When the two boys weren’t cuddling and watching netflix together in Chanyeol’s room (Jongin had banished them from using the living room because “This is a communal area! So stop sucking face on our couch all the time! Take that shit to your own room!”), they were on his bed with Baekhyun easing Chanyeol back into the physical aspects of a relationship.
“I-I haven’t done this in a while,” Chanyeol breathed out.
Baekhyun made a small sound of acknowledge before he continued to trail kisses down the expanse of Chanyeol’s neck. “I know you’ve been stressed lately about the MCAT and all your science classes. Just relax a bit. Let me take away some of the stress for you, Yeollie.”
Chanyeol’s brain had a hard time generating a response because Baekhyun’s beautiful hands were caressing his bulge the entire time. He promptly trailed his hands up to Chanyeol’s belt and undid his pants to pull his member out. He stroked his boyfriend’s shaft slowly before working up to a steady pace that had Chanyeol closing his eyes and panting in pleasure. He leaned up to kiss Chanyeol again and the taller male moaned into his mouth.
He came embarrassingly quickly, and turned his head off to the side after he came down from his high. Baekhyun cupped his face and gently brought it forward to look into his eyes. He smiled at his blushing boyfriend. “Do you feel better?”
“Huh? Yeah… Of course. What, did my quick orgasm give it away?”
Baekhyun chuckled at him and placed his head onto his boyfriend’s chest.
“Wait. I-You-I need to help you now,” Chanyeol sputtered.
“It’s fine, Yeollie. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go to sleep now. You can return the favor next time.” Baekhyun pulled the covers over their naked bodies and snuggled up to Chanyeol’s warm chest.
Chanyeol fell asleep that night thinking about what a wonderful and patient boyfriend he had.
---
Dating Baekhyun is pretty fun. The two boys always know how to make each other laugh and know how to have fun together on all their outings and dates. Teasing also plays a central role in their relationship. Chanyeol likes to apply what he learns in his animal behavior class to Baekhyun’s own behavior and mannerisms.
“We learned about predator-prey relationships today in class,” Chanyeol said one afternoon in the apartment. “Now all your mannerisms when we have sexy times make sense to me now. Wanna hear my analysis on it?”
“Hey Baek, the social structure for wolves is so interesting. I didn’t know that the levels of hierarchies were so strict. Is this why you always yield to Minseok hyung during games and arguments? Kudos to you for wanting to keep unity and social order in this apartment.”
“Baekhyun, I wish I could use you for my final term paper. I’d have so much material to analyze and discuss.”
“Shut up Chanyeol, or I’m never sucking you off again,” Baekhyun said with conviction one day.
But despite the teasing, Chanyeol is genuinely curious about wolf hybrids. He frequently asks Baekhyun his fair share of questions. Some of them are a bit ridiculous, but they can turn out to be cute and funny due to Chanyeol’s blubbering.
“Did you like, imprint on me or something when we first met in the forest? Does that make me your mate?”
Baekhyun looked up from his anthropology readings in confusion. “What are you talking about, Yeol? We met when I was injured and bleeding. I’m sure that meeting my soulmate was the last thing on my mind. Us wolf hybrids don’t imprint anyways.”
“So you mean… You didn’t feel it when our eyes met?”
“Feel… What exactly?”
“You know! That-that feeling!” Chanyeol stuttered. “Didn’t you feel a connection between us? It was like time stopped when I looked into your eyes. I didn’t care that I had two midterms the next day. I didn’t care that I was a little scared at the time. Nothing else seemed to matter but you in that moment.”
Baekhyun’s eyes grew a fraction at the sudden, bold confession. After Chanyeol’s words sunk in, he slowly smirked. “I dunno Yeollie, that just sounds like love at first sight to me,” he cheekily replied.
Chanyeol had a coughing fit and turned away with his cheeks flushed. He brought that one upon himself that time.
While some of Chanyeol’s questions sometime end up being a little silly, Baekhyun was always secretly touched that Chanyeol was so passionate about learning more about his kind. He finds Chanyeol’s curiosity endearing most of the time. But of course, in addition to the endearing questions, there were also some that were a little more different than others.
“So is there like, knotting whenever you have sex?”
“Chanyeol, have you been reading fanfiction again?” Baekhyun deadpanned.
“N-no, of course not! We’ve just been learning about mating strategies in animal behavior class lately. That’s all. Yup.”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes but decided to humor his boyfriend anyways. “Knotting only occurs when we have intercourse while we’re shifted. Otherwise, having sex for us is just like any other human’s experience.”
“So knotting only happens within the species? Interesting.”
“Why do you ask? Are you thinking about having sex with me soon? Or were you curious about what your characters in your omegaverse fanfictions feel?”
Baekhyun’s bluntness made Chanyeol choke on his water and inadvertently spill his cup all over the table. He hastily grabbed nearby napkins to wipe off the mess he created. Baekhyun studied him for a bit before he shook his head and went back to the game on his phone.
Sometimes, new sides of Chanyeol reveal themselves during his random interrogations. For example: his jealousy. It’s another quality that Baekhyun finds sort of endearing about Chanyeol. But this is only due to the way that his boyfriend cutely presents it.
“Have you ever knotted before?” Chanyeol brokenly whispered.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Baekhyun replied in-between planting kisses on Chanyeol’s hip bones.
Despite the growing strain in his pants and the sexy atmosphere, Chanyeol still found it in himself to huff audibly in annoyance.
“What’s this? Getting jealous? We haven’t even had sex yet.”
“Yeah, well maybe we should then.” Chanyeol froze the minute he registered his brash statement. Sex with his boyfriend was a special thing to him. How could he say that so impulsively? After a few breaths, Chanyeol slowly leaned his head down to steal a glance at the brunet between his legs.
“Well, we could. And maybe we should then,” Baekhyun replied right before taking the tip of his boyfriend’s cock into his mouth.
There are also times during his questioning where Chanyeol thinks that he may have learned more than he should know.
"So, if you bit me, would I turn into a wolf hybrid too?"
Baekhyun finished chewing his burger and gulped it down before answering. "Chanyeol, I'm a wolf, not a vampire."
"Oh, right. Yeah." Chanyeol replied dumbly. He grabbed his milkshake and was ready to take a sip right before another thought crossed his mind and he slammed his milkshake down onto the table. "Wait, do vampires exist too? Do they also go to school with us??"
Baekhyun grinned mischievously at him and gave a cute shrug. "Who knows my dear little human? Who knows?..."
(Chanyeol entertains the possibility of Joonmyun hyung being a vampire. His rich hyung with his always-perfectly styled hair and pale alabaster skin. And maybe his wealth could be old money. Like, really old money.)
But putting aside their fun dating life and sexual activity, what Chanyeol appreciates the most is Baekhyun’s ability to read him. His boyfriend can always sense when something is amiss and and even knows how to approach him about it. For example, if he comes home feeling like he bombed an exam or feeling frustrated after an irritating club meeting, Baekhyun always knows what to say to console him while running his fingers carefully through his hair. Baekhyun also knows what to do whenever the stress builds up for him again. He sometimes takes Chanyeol out on a run and lets the boy vent, break down, or cry all he wants away from the suffocating walls and expectations of their school.
“Hey, let’s go on a run. It’s been a while.”
Chanyeol broke his eyes away from his textbooks and laptop for the first time that night and turned to his boyfriend. “I don’t know, Baekhyun. I have two exams again on Monday. I should really stay in and study more.”
“Nonsense. You’ve been studying perfectly fine for both exams. You can take a break.”
After ten more minutes of arguing, the wolf hybrid and human found themselves in the familiar forest right outside of the city again. It became somewhat of a routine for them. Chanyeol would relax into Baekhyun’s warm fur while letting everything off his chest (and sometimes taking a nap), and Baekhyun would give him wise words and advice the next day over dinner. The wolf hybrid never failed to remind Chanyeol why he fell in love with him.
---
Things are good. Final exams are over. Chanyeol and Baekhyun have officially finished their junior year of college. And Chanyeol can finally say that he feels happy. He finally feels like he’s surpassed his college slump. And he can thank his wonderful and considerate wolf boyfriend for that. His ability to lend an ear, to motivate, and to make him laugh never makes Chanyeol regret his venture into the forest preserve that fateful day.
"So do you have any idea of what you want to specialize in yet?" Baekhyun asks while scooping a piece of their shared banana split. "Or are you just gonna go with the flow?"
"I do have an idea actually..."
Baekhyun perks his head up in surprise. "Really? I'm happy for you, Chanyeol!" he says with a smile. "Pediatrics?"
Chanyeol smiles and shakes his head with a chuckle. "Actually, I'm thinking of going into veterinary science," he replies with a knowing smirk.
Baekhyun slowly returns Chanyeol's smirk with one of his own. "Oh, really? Then why don't you use me as practice, Dr. Park?"