Fire Away, Fire Away part two
Pairing: LayHan (side KrisYeol)
Rated: PG13
Length 3.2K
Part One
His cousin was an asshole.
“So you want to mate with another man?” Kris’s face contorted into scary expressions as he laughed wildly at him. “Oh man, I gotta tell Chanyeol this. He’ll never believe the village slut turned gay overnight.”
Luhan dropped his head to his palms and whimpered loudly. “What do I do? You’re the pack’s big gay wolf, you’re supposed to help me. Give me some advice.”
“Okay first of all, don’t ever call me that again. It sounds like I belong on some creepy children’s show. And second, what advice are you wanting? You need to make him your mate, just let it happen. If you’re feeling drawn towards him then he’s experiencing the same feelings and not having a clue as to why.”
Wincing, Luhan remembered all the times he had tortured Yixing in school, all the annoying things he had said just to see that adorable frown cross his face. “That might be a problem considering he hates my guts.”
All of these weeks in school were spent with the thrill of when he would get to see Yixing again, tease him a little and put that angry crease down his forehead. There was no way he would even think about Luhan in a good light after all that, he was sure of it.
“I doubt that.” Kris patted his shoulder. “He wouldn’t have put his scent on you if he disliked you that much.”
His head popped back up in shock. “Wh- Wait, what?” He sniffed his shirt. “I just smell like sweat.”
“Yeah, that too.” His cousin wrinkled his nose. “You need to take care of that. Showers are a daily thing, Luhan.” He leaned back in his desk chair and cracked his neck. “I’ve noticed it for a couple weeks now. Figured you would tell me when you were ready so I never questioned it. But you smell like mints.”
“Spearmint.” Luhan mumbled. “He smells like spearmint.” His head was fuzzy with the knowledge that Yixing had unconsciously placed his mark on him. Was he interested then? Should Luhan act on this or take it slow?
Kris slid his jacket on with a small grin. This would be interesting watching the two dance around each other. “Just ask him out. It doesn’t even have to be a date. You two are lab partners, ask him for a study session. One that happens to end with coffee or beer or fucking against a tree, I don’t know what regular people do on dates.”
That could work, Luhan decided. He could just say that he owed Yixing for doing all of the work on their lab and that he wanted to repay him. Surely he wouldn’t say no to a friendly coffee after class. What else did he have going for him anyways? Sitting behind him in Chemistry and listening to Yixing and Xiumin talk had given him small bits of information he wouldn’t have gotten any other way.
Yixing lived off-campus in a small apartment with a friend from high school and worked a part-time job to pay for rent and tuition. He had mentioned once before that he worked twelve hours shifts on the weekends to ease the workload through the week. So Luhan knew he wasn’t busy for at least two hours after class tomorrow.
He had no reason to deny a meet-up.
---
“No.” Yixing curled away from Luhan’s faltering smile and shoved his notebook into his backpack. “I’m busy.”
Luhan frowned, not used to hearing no and to hear it from his future mate stung deep. “Doing what? You don’t go to work until five.”
Yixing’s hair flipped back as his head spun around in shock. “How did you… Look, I’m sorry Luhan but I already made plans to go to the library with Xiumin today.”
He glared murderously at the cocky smirk on said boy’s face. His inner voice told him to rip that grin off with his bare hands and see if Yixing changes his mind then. Just the thought of Xiumin’s dirty hands soiling that flawless skin had a low growl erupting from his throat.
“I’ll see you Monday morning for our lab, okay?” Yixing plastered a weak smile on his face as he followed the red-haired boy towards the door. “If you don’t want to come then don’t worry about it!”
There was a good chance Luhan was going to bring this school down to bare brick and dust. His chest was crawling with the monster inside of him that was dying to get out and devour everything in his path.
He barely made it through the long ride home on his motorcycle before slamming it the ground, clothes ripping to shreds around him.
“Luhan?” Kris watched him as he paced across his front yard, snarls and growls loud in the quiet of the village. He gently pushed Chanyeol into the house and whispered for him to lock the door. “Did something happen at school today?”
Luhan chewed angrily on Kris’s patio furniture and refused to acknowledge him. This was all his cousin’s fault. He’s the one that told him to ask Yixing out and look what happened. Not only did his mate turn him down but he did it to go be with someone else.
A mournful whine burst through before he could stop it and Kris nodded as he realized what was happening.
“That boy didn’t say yes.”
He sliced through the porch umbrella and spit its shreds towards Kris.
Kris sighed and made himself comfortable on the front steps. “You just have to try again and again and again. Sometimes it’s not worth it unless it takes hard work to get it, Luhan. Keep trying.”
Bones cracked together painfully loud as Luhan forced the wolf back into his cage. “He has a date. With someone else.” His lips were numb and the pang in his chest had turned into a full-fledged panic attack. “He’s supposed to be mine.” Luhan’s teeth chattered and he curled into himself trying to throw off the waves in his bloodstream. “Why doesn’t he want to be mine?” A jilted mate was the worst emotion a wolf could have besides their mate’s death.
“Come inside Luhan.” Chanyeol’s voice was quiet as he emerged from the house. He waved off Kris’s protests that he should have waited in the safety of their home. “Baby, you know I don’t listen to anything you tell me to do. Go to town and get us some supper. I want pizza. We’ll wait inside for you.”
He slipped past Kris and placed a reassuring hand over Luhan’s clammy shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you some clothes.”
Kris growled under his breath when his mate passed him holding tightly onto his naked cousin. “Watch yourself.”
“Leave him alone.” Chanyeol snapped, shoving him out the door. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t of told him to ask the boy out. He should have taken his time and waited.” He pointed towards their truck in the driveway. “Now go. Yifan.”
Luhan managed a chuckle as he watched Kris slink down the stairs with a chastised expression. “He’s going to lock you in the house when he gets home.”
“I know.” Chanyeol winked at him. “I’m counting on it.”
After he had helped Luhan into a pair of Kris’s shorts and a spare t-shirt he pushed him gently towards the table. “Do you want something to drink? I made Kris buy some tea bags when I moved in. I can’t stand that sludge he calls coffee.”
“Tea is fine.” Luhan absentmindedly traced over the pattern on the table. “Thanks. For sticking up for me.” He mumbled, not used to anyone but Kris taking his side.
Chanyeol placed a mug of hot tea in front of him. “So what about this boy. What all do you know about him?”
Luhan had never tried to get to know Kris’s mate. This forced intimacy between the two of them was uncomfortable. But he had to admit, he didn’t want to push the other boy away. A part of him wanted to spill every single fact and nugget of knowledge he had learned over the last month.
“Yixing.” He spoke up quietly. “His name is Zhang Yixing.”
Humming in reply, Chanyeol stirred sugar into his tea and waited for him to continue.
“He’s twenty-one and he’s going to school to be a doctor. This is his second semester in school because he took a few years off to care for his mother.”
Chanyeol’s brows quirked in thought. “So he puts the ones that he loves in front of his own needs.” He grinned the half crazy smile that Kris thought was so adorable but that Luhan likened to a serial killer face. “No wonder you like him. Kris told me you guys normally mate with someone who has the trait you need the most. I’m loyal. I don’t care who you are, if you need something I’m always there guarding your back. Kris needed that. But you want love. Above everything else you want someone to take care of you and put your needs first.”
He wished his cousin didn’t have such a big mouth when it came to Park Chanyeol. The Alpha needed a muzzle. “My parents never wanted me.” Luhan started to explain. What did Chanyeol do to this tea that made him spill his guts all of a sudden? “They always left me at Kris’s house growing up. I just want to come home to a house with someone waiting for me.” He tugged his lip between his teeth and prayed to god he wouldn’t start crying. That was the last thing he needed right now.
But explaining why he jumped from bed to bed and never let anyone inside just brought back memories that he only wanted to push away.
His mother leaving him alone in the house for days on end until Kris would come searching for him and take him to his home. His father’s breath hot in his face as he screamed at him that he was unwanted, unworthy of his DNA.
“You want to be loved.” Chanyeol said gently. “So show Yixing that you are worthy of his love. Don’t scare him off with your over-the-topness. You have the weekend to calm down and prepare to try again.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s watch some TV till the beast gets back with the pizza.” He cleared the table of their mugs and rinsed them off in the sink. “And you owe us a set of patio furniture. Don’t cheap out either. Make ‘em sturdy. Your cousin gets frisky when we’re outdoors.”
---
He watched Yixing read over that week’s lab instructions with a small smile on his lips. Yixing hummed while he read, something Luhan had picked up on in their last experiment.
“Oh. You’re here.” Yixing didn’t sound pleased, but at least he didn’t outwardly grimace. Small improvements, Luhan thought. “Well I’ve already got all of the things we need set up so if you want you can come back in an hour or so I should be done.” He turned away without giving Luhan a second glance.
With a sigh of defeat Luhan turned towards the door. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t just help the other boy do the experiments. “Okay.” Luhan didn’t try to hide the slump of his shoulders. “Don’t gotta be an asshole about it.” He muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry that I just want to help.”
“What?” Yixing unexpectedly grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the room. “You want to help? Mr. I’m too good for this school and everyone in it? Mr. I like to make tease everyone until they finally snap and then I pout when they get angry?” His lips thinned in anger as he finally told the older boy exactly what he thought about him. “But now you decide you’re going to be nice to me and I’m supposed to just jump for joy about it?”
Luhan stared at him with a shocked expression, his mouth dropping open. This was more than Yixing had said to him all month. He wanted to remember the angry glint in his dark eyes and the slight muscles bunching as he crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He swallowed when he discovered that even his wolf was silent, both of them in awe of the surprising dynamo that was Zhang Yixing.
“Well? Are you not even going to say anything? That’s a first. I didn’t think you ever shut up.”
He closed his mouth and dropped his head trying to appear smaller. This version of Yixing made him and his wolf turn submissive, the deep desire to be controlled outweighing everything. “Don’t be angry at me.” His fists clenched into his jeans and he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth to stop any unwanted whimpers from escaping.
Yixing’s eyes widened when he realized that Luhan was surrendering to him. There wasn’t even some random smartass comment coming from him in reply. Luhan had completely given him all control. “Page twenty-four.” He mumbled, taking a step backwards. “I’ll do the control experiment, you do the observations.”
That was all the acceptance Luhan needed for his wolf to rumble happily. Their mate was including them.
Even though Yixing never spoke to him about anything that didn’t pertain to their project, Luhan still was reenergized. If Yixing didn’t feel anything for him, he wouldn’t have unconsciously marked him with his scent, he kept repeating to himself. Some small part of Zhang Yixing felt for him and Luhan swore he wouldn’t rest until he had dragged it to the surface.
---
Chanyeol clapped his hands together excitedly when he saw Luhan’s bright eyes and happy grin behind the screen door. “Did it go better today?” He shoved Kris away from him and rushed over to grab Luhan’s arm, dragging him into the house. “Did you take my advice and calm down?”
He nodded as he snatched a handful of the chips out of the bowl Kris was holding as he scowled childishly on the couch. “He let me help with our lab today! And I tried to be subtle and mention that I was having problems with a chapter in our book and he offered to meet me tomorrow after work to help!”
Kris jerked the bowl back towards his chest when Luhan stared to reach for it again. “Mine.”
“Don’t be greedy.” Chanyeol snatched it out of his hands and handed it to Luhan with a smile and a soft pat on his shoulder. “Our Luhan had a big day and deserves a treat.”
He smirked at his cousin. Kris hated it when Chanyeol gave anyone but him attention. The fingers stroking through his hair was probably making Kris’s wolf growl deep inside his chest.
“I hope he shows up with a hickey.” Kris’s eyes were fixated on the way Chanyeol was smoothing out Luhan’s collar.
Luhan popped a handful of chips into his mouth. “I hope your dick falls off.”
He managed to leave the house with only two small bite marks on his legs and a scratch down his shoulder which was nothing compared to their usual fights. Maybe Yixing would be one of those people who get turned on by scars. Luhan nodded, a big grin on his face as he bounced happily towards his house. He should wear something to show them off.
“What happened to you?” Yixing curled his lips up in disgust when Luhan pulled a chair up next to his in the library the next day. “You should put something on those they’re going to get infected.”
Luhan glanced down at his black wife-beater and gym shorts. He thought he looked sexy in loose clothes. The top showcased his slight muscles and the long scar over his bicep just emphasized them. “Got attacked by a dog.” He was expecting Yixing to fawn over him again like he did when he thought Luhan was sick, not act like he was an infected leper. And wasn’t Yixing wanting to be a doctor? “They’re fine. The asshole bites me every chance he gets.”
That made Yixing’s eyes brighten a little. “You have a dog? I love dogs! My Toby lived for twelve years.” His shoulders slumped and the smile dimmed. “I haven’t had a chance to be around very many animals since I took care of my mom for so long. I miss them.”
A shiver went through his skin. Down boy, he ordered his wolf.
“Maybe you can come over sometime. There’s lots of them where I live.” His eyes sparkled when he realized he had Yixing’s complete attention. “But mine is the best.”
Yixing didn’t look like he believed him, but he would. All he had to do was earn Yixing’s trust and get him to understand that he was just a hard shell with a soft interior. Then he would be his.
An M&M. Luhan decided with a smug smile. He was an M&M and he would melt in Yixing’s hand. That brought mental images of himself in Yixing’s hands, Yixing’s delicate fingers tracing across his skin, his soft voice singing him to sleep every night, Yixing, Yixing, Yixing.
“Luhan?”
He realized he had been whimpering under the combined weight of his thoughts and snapped back to attention.
“I’m chocolate!”
Yixing tried to subtly scoot his chair back a few inches. “Um okay… I’m glad we got that out in the open. Now if you want to study we need to get started because I have to leave by four. I’m going to supper with Xiumin.”
Luhan successfully managed to push back the roar that was creeping up his throat, but he had to look away so that Yixing couldn’t see the way his eyes were flickering between dark brown and ice blue.
“You and Xiumin must be really close then.” He reached for his book and tried to pretend the dampness in his eyes was really just allergies. Once they mated there shouldn’t be any interest in anyone else. Yixing should see him and only him.
“Not really.” Yixing’s stiff reply surprised him. “I mean, he’s nice and all, but he’s a little… overly friendly sometimes.”
Yixing wasn’t in a relationship with Xiumin? This new knowledge sent a spark through Luhan’s chest. Maybe now he wouldn’t have to tear the other man’s appendages off one by on.
“I think he wants to date me.” Yixing’s nose scrunched up at the thought. “He tried to hug me goodbye after we went out to eat the last time, which would be fine, but then his hand brushed across my ass.”
Okay maybe just a couple appendages wouldn’t hurt.
Part Three
Rated: PG13
Length 3.2K
Part One
His cousin was an asshole.
“So you want to mate with another man?” Kris’s face contorted into scary expressions as he laughed wildly at him. “Oh man, I gotta tell Chanyeol this. He’ll never believe the village slut turned gay overnight.”
Luhan dropped his head to his palms and whimpered loudly. “What do I do? You’re the pack’s big gay wolf, you’re supposed to help me. Give me some advice.”
“Okay first of all, don’t ever call me that again. It sounds like I belong on some creepy children’s show. And second, what advice are you wanting? You need to make him your mate, just let it happen. If you’re feeling drawn towards him then he’s experiencing the same feelings and not having a clue as to why.”
Wincing, Luhan remembered all the times he had tortured Yixing in school, all the annoying things he had said just to see that adorable frown cross his face. “That might be a problem considering he hates my guts.”
All of these weeks in school were spent with the thrill of when he would get to see Yixing again, tease him a little and put that angry crease down his forehead. There was no way he would even think about Luhan in a good light after all that, he was sure of it.
“I doubt that.” Kris patted his shoulder. “He wouldn’t have put his scent on you if he disliked you that much.”
His head popped back up in shock. “Wh- Wait, what?” He sniffed his shirt. “I just smell like sweat.”
“Yeah, that too.” His cousin wrinkled his nose. “You need to take care of that. Showers are a daily thing, Luhan.” He leaned back in his desk chair and cracked his neck. “I’ve noticed it for a couple weeks now. Figured you would tell me when you were ready so I never questioned it. But you smell like mints.”
“Spearmint.” Luhan mumbled. “He smells like spearmint.” His head was fuzzy with the knowledge that Yixing had unconsciously placed his mark on him. Was he interested then? Should Luhan act on this or take it slow?
Kris slid his jacket on with a small grin. This would be interesting watching the two dance around each other. “Just ask him out. It doesn’t even have to be a date. You two are lab partners, ask him for a study session. One that happens to end with coffee or beer or fucking against a tree, I don’t know what regular people do on dates.”
That could work, Luhan decided. He could just say that he owed Yixing for doing all of the work on their lab and that he wanted to repay him. Surely he wouldn’t say no to a friendly coffee after class. What else did he have going for him anyways? Sitting behind him in Chemistry and listening to Yixing and Xiumin talk had given him small bits of information he wouldn’t have gotten any other way.
Yixing lived off-campus in a small apartment with a friend from high school and worked a part-time job to pay for rent and tuition. He had mentioned once before that he worked twelve hours shifts on the weekends to ease the workload through the week. So Luhan knew he wasn’t busy for at least two hours after class tomorrow.
He had no reason to deny a meet-up.
---
“No.” Yixing curled away from Luhan’s faltering smile and shoved his notebook into his backpack. “I’m busy.”
Luhan frowned, not used to hearing no and to hear it from his future mate stung deep. “Doing what? You don’t go to work until five.”
Yixing’s hair flipped back as his head spun around in shock. “How did you… Look, I’m sorry Luhan but I already made plans to go to the library with Xiumin today.”
He glared murderously at the cocky smirk on said boy’s face. His inner voice told him to rip that grin off with his bare hands and see if Yixing changes his mind then. Just the thought of Xiumin’s dirty hands soiling that flawless skin had a low growl erupting from his throat.
“I’ll see you Monday morning for our lab, okay?” Yixing plastered a weak smile on his face as he followed the red-haired boy towards the door. “If you don’t want to come then don’t worry about it!”
There was a good chance Luhan was going to bring this school down to bare brick and dust. His chest was crawling with the monster inside of him that was dying to get out and devour everything in his path.
He barely made it through the long ride home on his motorcycle before slamming it the ground, clothes ripping to shreds around him.
“Luhan?” Kris watched him as he paced across his front yard, snarls and growls loud in the quiet of the village. He gently pushed Chanyeol into the house and whispered for him to lock the door. “Did something happen at school today?”
Luhan chewed angrily on Kris’s patio furniture and refused to acknowledge him. This was all his cousin’s fault. He’s the one that told him to ask Yixing out and look what happened. Not only did his mate turn him down but he did it to go be with someone else.
A mournful whine burst through before he could stop it and Kris nodded as he realized what was happening.
“That boy didn’t say yes.”
He sliced through the porch umbrella and spit its shreds towards Kris.
Kris sighed and made himself comfortable on the front steps. “You just have to try again and again and again. Sometimes it’s not worth it unless it takes hard work to get it, Luhan. Keep trying.”
Bones cracked together painfully loud as Luhan forced the wolf back into his cage. “He has a date. With someone else.” His lips were numb and the pang in his chest had turned into a full-fledged panic attack. “He’s supposed to be mine.” Luhan’s teeth chattered and he curled into himself trying to throw off the waves in his bloodstream. “Why doesn’t he want to be mine?” A jilted mate was the worst emotion a wolf could have besides their mate’s death.
“Come inside Luhan.” Chanyeol’s voice was quiet as he emerged from the house. He waved off Kris’s protests that he should have waited in the safety of their home. “Baby, you know I don’t listen to anything you tell me to do. Go to town and get us some supper. I want pizza. We’ll wait inside for you.”
He slipped past Kris and placed a reassuring hand over Luhan’s clammy shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you some clothes.”
Kris growled under his breath when his mate passed him holding tightly onto his naked cousin. “Watch yourself.”
“Leave him alone.” Chanyeol snapped, shoving him out the door. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t of told him to ask the boy out. He should have taken his time and waited.” He pointed towards their truck in the driveway. “Now go. Yifan.”
Luhan managed a chuckle as he watched Kris slink down the stairs with a chastised expression. “He’s going to lock you in the house when he gets home.”
“I know.” Chanyeol winked at him. “I’m counting on it.”
After he had helped Luhan into a pair of Kris’s shorts and a spare t-shirt he pushed him gently towards the table. “Do you want something to drink? I made Kris buy some tea bags when I moved in. I can’t stand that sludge he calls coffee.”
“Tea is fine.” Luhan absentmindedly traced over the pattern on the table. “Thanks. For sticking up for me.” He mumbled, not used to anyone but Kris taking his side.
Chanyeol placed a mug of hot tea in front of him. “So what about this boy. What all do you know about him?”
Luhan had never tried to get to know Kris’s mate. This forced intimacy between the two of them was uncomfortable. But he had to admit, he didn’t want to push the other boy away. A part of him wanted to spill every single fact and nugget of knowledge he had learned over the last month.
“Yixing.” He spoke up quietly. “His name is Zhang Yixing.”
Humming in reply, Chanyeol stirred sugar into his tea and waited for him to continue.
“He’s twenty-one and he’s going to school to be a doctor. This is his second semester in school because he took a few years off to care for his mother.”
Chanyeol’s brows quirked in thought. “So he puts the ones that he loves in front of his own needs.” He grinned the half crazy smile that Kris thought was so adorable but that Luhan likened to a serial killer face. “No wonder you like him. Kris told me you guys normally mate with someone who has the trait you need the most. I’m loyal. I don’t care who you are, if you need something I’m always there guarding your back. Kris needed that. But you want love. Above everything else you want someone to take care of you and put your needs first.”
He wished his cousin didn’t have such a big mouth when it came to Park Chanyeol. The Alpha needed a muzzle. “My parents never wanted me.” Luhan started to explain. What did Chanyeol do to this tea that made him spill his guts all of a sudden? “They always left me at Kris’s house growing up. I just want to come home to a house with someone waiting for me.” He tugged his lip between his teeth and prayed to god he wouldn’t start crying. That was the last thing he needed right now.
But explaining why he jumped from bed to bed and never let anyone inside just brought back memories that he only wanted to push away.
His mother leaving him alone in the house for days on end until Kris would come searching for him and take him to his home. His father’s breath hot in his face as he screamed at him that he was unwanted, unworthy of his DNA.
“You want to be loved.” Chanyeol said gently. “So show Yixing that you are worthy of his love. Don’t scare him off with your over-the-topness. You have the weekend to calm down and prepare to try again.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Let’s watch some TV till the beast gets back with the pizza.” He cleared the table of their mugs and rinsed them off in the sink. “And you owe us a set of patio furniture. Don’t cheap out either. Make ‘em sturdy. Your cousin gets frisky when we’re outdoors.”
---
He watched Yixing read over that week’s lab instructions with a small smile on his lips. Yixing hummed while he read, something Luhan had picked up on in their last experiment.
“Oh. You’re here.” Yixing didn’t sound pleased, but at least he didn’t outwardly grimace. Small improvements, Luhan thought. “Well I’ve already got all of the things we need set up so if you want you can come back in an hour or so I should be done.” He turned away without giving Luhan a second glance.
With a sigh of defeat Luhan turned towards the door. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t just help the other boy do the experiments. “Okay.” Luhan didn’t try to hide the slump of his shoulders. “Don’t gotta be an asshole about it.” He muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry that I just want to help.”
“What?” Yixing unexpectedly grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the room. “You want to help? Mr. I’m too good for this school and everyone in it? Mr. I like to make tease everyone until they finally snap and then I pout when they get angry?” His lips thinned in anger as he finally told the older boy exactly what he thought about him. “But now you decide you’re going to be nice to me and I’m supposed to just jump for joy about it?”
Luhan stared at him with a shocked expression, his mouth dropping open. This was more than Yixing had said to him all month. He wanted to remember the angry glint in his dark eyes and the slight muscles bunching as he crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He swallowed when he discovered that even his wolf was silent, both of them in awe of the surprising dynamo that was Zhang Yixing.
“Well? Are you not even going to say anything? That’s a first. I didn’t think you ever shut up.”
He closed his mouth and dropped his head trying to appear smaller. This version of Yixing made him and his wolf turn submissive, the deep desire to be controlled outweighing everything. “Don’t be angry at me.” His fists clenched into his jeans and he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth to stop any unwanted whimpers from escaping.
Yixing’s eyes widened when he realized that Luhan was surrendering to him. There wasn’t even some random smartass comment coming from him in reply. Luhan had completely given him all control. “Page twenty-four.” He mumbled, taking a step backwards. “I’ll do the control experiment, you do the observations.”
That was all the acceptance Luhan needed for his wolf to rumble happily. Their mate was including them.
Even though Yixing never spoke to him about anything that didn’t pertain to their project, Luhan still was reenergized. If Yixing didn’t feel anything for him, he wouldn’t have unconsciously marked him with his scent, he kept repeating to himself. Some small part of Zhang Yixing felt for him and Luhan swore he wouldn’t rest until he had dragged it to the surface.
---
Chanyeol clapped his hands together excitedly when he saw Luhan’s bright eyes and happy grin behind the screen door. “Did it go better today?” He shoved Kris away from him and rushed over to grab Luhan’s arm, dragging him into the house. “Did you take my advice and calm down?”
He nodded as he snatched a handful of the chips out of the bowl Kris was holding as he scowled childishly on the couch. “He let me help with our lab today! And I tried to be subtle and mention that I was having problems with a chapter in our book and he offered to meet me tomorrow after work to help!”
Kris jerked the bowl back towards his chest when Luhan stared to reach for it again. “Mine.”
“Don’t be greedy.” Chanyeol snatched it out of his hands and handed it to Luhan with a smile and a soft pat on his shoulder. “Our Luhan had a big day and deserves a treat.”
He smirked at his cousin. Kris hated it when Chanyeol gave anyone but him attention. The fingers stroking through his hair was probably making Kris’s wolf growl deep inside his chest.
“I hope he shows up with a hickey.” Kris’s eyes were fixated on the way Chanyeol was smoothing out Luhan’s collar.
Luhan popped a handful of chips into his mouth. “I hope your dick falls off.”
He managed to leave the house with only two small bite marks on his legs and a scratch down his shoulder which was nothing compared to their usual fights. Maybe Yixing would be one of those people who get turned on by scars. Luhan nodded, a big grin on his face as he bounced happily towards his house. He should wear something to show them off.
“What happened to you?” Yixing curled his lips up in disgust when Luhan pulled a chair up next to his in the library the next day. “You should put something on those they’re going to get infected.”
Luhan glanced down at his black wife-beater and gym shorts. He thought he looked sexy in loose clothes. The top showcased his slight muscles and the long scar over his bicep just emphasized them. “Got attacked by a dog.” He was expecting Yixing to fawn over him again like he did when he thought Luhan was sick, not act like he was an infected leper. And wasn’t Yixing wanting to be a doctor? “They’re fine. The asshole bites me every chance he gets.”
That made Yixing’s eyes brighten a little. “You have a dog? I love dogs! My Toby lived for twelve years.” His shoulders slumped and the smile dimmed. “I haven’t had a chance to be around very many animals since I took care of my mom for so long. I miss them.”
A shiver went through his skin. Down boy, he ordered his wolf.
“Maybe you can come over sometime. There’s lots of them where I live.” His eyes sparkled when he realized he had Yixing’s complete attention. “But mine is the best.”
Yixing didn’t look like he believed him, but he would. All he had to do was earn Yixing’s trust and get him to understand that he was just a hard shell with a soft interior. Then he would be his.
An M&M. Luhan decided with a smug smile. He was an M&M and he would melt in Yixing’s hand. That brought mental images of himself in Yixing’s hands, Yixing’s delicate fingers tracing across his skin, his soft voice singing him to sleep every night, Yixing, Yixing, Yixing.
“Luhan?”
He realized he had been whimpering under the combined weight of his thoughts and snapped back to attention.
“I’m chocolate!”
Yixing tried to subtly scoot his chair back a few inches. “Um okay… I’m glad we got that out in the open. Now if you want to study we need to get started because I have to leave by four. I’m going to supper with Xiumin.”
Luhan successfully managed to push back the roar that was creeping up his throat, but he had to look away so that Yixing couldn’t see the way his eyes were flickering between dark brown and ice blue.
“You and Xiumin must be really close then.” He reached for his book and tried to pretend the dampness in his eyes was really just allergies. Once they mated there shouldn’t be any interest in anyone else. Yixing should see him and only him.
“Not really.” Yixing’s stiff reply surprised him. “I mean, he’s nice and all, but he’s a little… overly friendly sometimes.”
Yixing wasn’t in a relationship with Xiumin? This new knowledge sent a spark through Luhan’s chest. Maybe now he wouldn’t have to tear the other man’s appendages off one by on.
“I think he wants to date me.” Yixing’s nose scrunched up at the thought. “He tried to hug me goodbye after we went out to eat the last time, which would be fine, but then his hand brushed across my ass.”
Okay maybe just a couple appendages wouldn’t hurt.
Part Three