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Jihoon waited by the corridor where the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws separated on the way back from the great hall. He’d been so eager to see Seungcheol after an entire summer apart but now that he knew Seungcheol would find him any moment, he felt so nervous. He’d been shocked and then a little scared after Seungcheol had opened up to him a few months ago before the break.
His boyfriend was a werewolf. Seungcheol was a werewolf.
Jihoon didn’t know what to do with himself at first. But after much thought, after obsessing about it for the remainder of the term, he’d come to a conclusion. And while he was home, he’d executed his plan.
“What are you still doing here?” Seungcheol asked, pecking him on the cheek as he watched other students walk by the both of them. “You should be in your dorm.”
“I have something to tell you.” Jihoon said. “Oh. And happy new school year.”
“Happy new school year to you too.” Seungcheol smiled. “What is it?”
“After you told me… about your situation,” He saw the smile slip from Seungcheol’s face so he rushed on. “So I’ve come up with a plan. More than a plan actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“Uh… okay. So while I was home, I talked Professor Gillies into training me and then when I was ready, I went and I got my certification. With my dad’s permission, of course.” He tried to hold in the sheepish smile he knew was growing on his face.
“Certification for what?”
“To be an animagus. Ah!” he spread his hands out as he opened his eyes wider in a brighter smile than before. “Tada!”
Seungcheol laughed, looking like he didn’t believe.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m an animagus, hyung. Now when you leave for the full moon, I will leave with you. You won’t have to be alone. I’ll be with you.”
Seungcheol hugged him, nearly crushing his bones as Jihoon laughed at Seungcheol’s clinginess.
“Why would you bother?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I love you?”
Seungcheol’s hold on him only tightened as if he was afraid that someone would swoop in and pull Jihoon from his grasp.
“I love you.”
“I know you do.”
Pulling away, Seungcheol looked at him.
“What’s your form?” He asked and Jihoon slipped from his hands.
“You’ll just have to wait to find out.”
He followed the few straggling Ravenclaws still headed away from Seungcheol.
“What?” Seungcheol asked loudly. “You want me to wait till the full moon?”
Jihoon pretended to think about it.
“I might be persuaded to show you sooner.” He winked and just before he turned the corner, he added. “If you’re a good boy.”
And then he was gone.
*****
Seungcheol dreamt of Jihoon that night. He’d gone to bed with Jihoon on his mind so when he closed his eyes for the night and he was still seeing Jihoon’s face, he didn’t even question it. He just went right along, letting Jihoon’s tiny, frolicky body lead him to places.
But when he tried to see the pendant hanging off of Jihoon’s neck that he was sure held the form of his animagus, Jihoon just slipped out of reach again, moving so swiftly that Seungcheol couldn’t help but want to pursue.
As he woke the next morning, feeling lightheaded and oddly expressive with himself, he refused to acknowledge the strange looks he got from his year mates. He had double periods of DADA with Slytherin and then he had Divination with Ravenclaw. Unable to concentrate every time someone in a Ravenclaw robe moved, Seungcheol was off to a rather bad start of the term as the professor deemed him unserious, unfocused and lacking of a future.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to care. The rest of his classes for the day were rendered useless as well. And by the time night rolled around, Seungcheol just about accepted that his attention was going to be on nothing else till Jihoon told him what his form was.
Which was the very next morning.
On his way to breakfast, he was pulled into a classroom where a laughing Jihoon stood.
“Good morning.” He’d greeted as Jihoon gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before dragging him over to a desk and positioning him on one.
“Watch.”
He dropped his schools robes and Seungcheol was amazed to find that Jihoon was wearing nothing beneath it.
“Did you walk from your dorm in the nude?” He asked, flabbergasted.
“Idiot, hyung.” Jihoon said, gesturing at a folded heap of school clothes.
“Right. Okay.” He shrugged, waving for Jihoon to go on.
So Jihoon took a deep breath and… he began to morph. Right before Seungcheol’s eyes as he bent to his knees and grew smaller and smaller till…
Till a tiny, fluffy rabbit was at Seungcheol’s feet.
“WHAT?!” Seungcheol bellowed as the rabbit startled, hopping back a little. “You’re a bunny?”
The rabbit raised its head and dropped it a couple of times till Seungcheol understood that he was nodding.
“A bunny? You think this is going to help me? Jihoon, you can’t come out with me on a full moon.”
Jihoon started shifting back to human form as Seungcheol paced, angrily.
“Do you know,” he began, agitated. “That wolves eat rabbits?”
“I’m a bunny.” Jihoon said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that wolves know how to make that distinction.”
“I’m trying to help you.”
“No.” Seungcheol shook his head. “Please, don’t do this. If you come out with me and I find you and eat you, what am…” he trailed off, struggling to get his thoughts in order.
This was even worse than if he’d never had such a loving boyfriend. Now he was having thoughts of eating him. His mind was his at the moment and he wasn’t an uncontrollable wolf but he couldn’t shake the feeling that one day, one day he was going to eat Jihoon. He was going to see him and then his belly would growl and then he’d pursue the white rabbit-bunny and then he’d eat him. Raw. And unprepared.
When Jihoon bundled him into his arms, holding unto to Seungcheol tightly, he was suddenly made aware that he’d been crying.
“I won’t come then.” Jihoon said, his voice breaking. “I’ll stay in the castle. You don’t need to cry. Hyung, please.”
He could hear the breaking in Jihoon’s voice. He knew what it meant. So he shrugged away and nodded at him as he walked briskly from the room.
Just in time to give Jihoon the space to cry his own tears.
*****
Jihoon didn’t bring up the animagus fiasco again. He figured he’d given his pitch and he’d only upset Seungcheol after everything. He’d trained and taken his lessons very seriously but when he’d had his first try and all he got was a fluffy bunny tail, he’d refused to let it deter him.
They were in love and being the equivalent of dinner was not going to suddenly make his werewolf boyfriend want to eat him, was it? WAS IT?
So he went to class. Ate his meals. Made out with Seungcheol. Went to choir practice with his cousins. Had classes with his professors. And then the full moon peaked out one Tuesday night and Jihoon nodded to himself as he hid in the unused cabin by the forest, waiting for Seungcheol to show up.
He hadn’t given it much thought and honestly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss it with anyone because they’d all just try to talk him out of it. But he’d already made up his mind. He could communicate with Seungcheol. Seungcheol was not going to eat him. They’d survive the three days in the forest without more incident than a few scrapes with the other local animals and then they’d be on their way out so that Jihoon could point in Seungcheol’s face and tell him: “I told you so.”
He’d already turned by the time Seungcheol’s heavy footsteps came thumping down the uneven path to the forest. So he hopped off the curb and followed, watching and waiting as Seungcheol moved without looking back. Immediately Seungcheol passed a particular spot, a light shimmering glistened in the dark as he finally looked back at the barrier going up behind him.
He frowned at it before he continued on his way.
A few paces in, Seungcheol stopped by a tree as he pulled of his robes and removed his shirt and trousers just as he groaned a little. The shift was obviously and starting and so he had to move fast if he was going to need these clothes back in three days.
As soon as he was naked, he unfolded a leather bag and put them in, still grunting as his nose began to elongate and a tail started to protrude. He winced through almost every bit of transformation and Jihoon knew he’d be crying if he weren’t a bunny without tears. When he’d wrapped the clothes up, he tossed it back over the barrier and waiting, closing his eyes as the change continued to take hold on his body.
Jihoon sniffed the barrier, stepping a toe over it before he hopped and landed on the other side but he didn’t feel any different. So he stepped back over and found that he was able to move back and forth at will. Which meant that the barrier was specifically for Seungcheol.
He turned back and passed it again, moving further away as he realized he didn’t know where Seungcheol was.
A low growl somewhere to his left caught his attention and when he looked up at the scary yellow eyes that were focused on him, Jihoon’s heart nearly stopped in fear. He took a step back as the werewolf sniffed the air in his direction.
He’d been so sure that he wouldn’t look like food, but now, as he watched the angry werewolf take off in his direction, bounding many feet in one step, he suddenly realized how wrong he was. Scared out of his mind, Jihoon turned back to the barrier and began hopping towards it, wondering why he’d moved to far without knowing where Seungcheol had been.
He could hear the wolf behind him and his tiny hops weren’t doing much.
I’m going to die. Tonight, I’m going to die.
He hopped and hopped and hopped and took one last hop, about to break through the barrier when a large, clawed paw grabbed him midair. He squealed and shut his eyes as the wolf brought him to his mouth and Jihoon just knew he was dead.
The wolf placed him in its jaw, holding Jihoon securely as it turned around and headed deeper into the forest. Jihoon wasn’t dead yet. But he knew he’d soon be. Seungcheol was taking him somewhere private so he could sit down and tear him limb from limb till he was no more.
He could feel his bones quivering every step Seungcheol took, realizing that it was another step in the direction of his death. He really should have listened. He should have stayed put. But this was how he was going to die. In the mouth… at the teeth of the love of his life.
He hadn’t even started school yet. He didn’t even know anything about life. He was just a second year student who’d thought he was doing something for his hyung. Now, here he was, about to die.
Seungcheol slowed around an opening as he ducked under a gathering of trees as Jihoon’s eyes adjusted to the dimness of a cave.
Yes, this was going to be his tomb.
But the wolf just lay down and emptied Jihoon unto the ground between where his forepaws were. Jihoon lay where he’d been kept, looking up at the wolf and quivering in fear. How was this going to be? Was he going to be eaten whole? He’d much rather be eaten whole because then he’d die in an instant. Right?
Seungcheol leaned down and just as Jihoon flinched, Seungcheol gave his entire body a long, wet lick from head to tail. Startled, Jihoon blinked, not daring to move. Until Seungcheol did it again and again, fluffing Jihoon’s fur with his paws as he turned him around and around in his grip.
Was he preparing Jihoon’s body to eat him? Was this what wolves did? Would he taste better or go down better if his fur was mated in wolf saliva? What the hell was going on here?
By the time the licking was done, Jihoon was scared out of his wits and confused as hell. But then the wolf bundled him in its paws and then rubbed his cheeks against Jihoon’s body as he growled. But it wasn’t the same mincing growl Jihoon had heard before. This one sounded… almost… content? He was in a cave with a wolf that was cuddling him.
A wolf was cuddling him.
Jihoon was sure if he was human, he’d be laughing with relief. He wasn’t going to die. He wasn’t going to die. At least not yet. If this was some prelude to death, at least the death was far away.
As he lay there in the dark, being mushed by the larger animal, Jihoon didn’t even know what was happening till Seungcheol turned over and moved him around that he realized that Seungcheol was sleeping. He’d cuddled Jihoon and was now sleeping.
He tried to squeeze out from the wolf’s grip but every time he got an inch free, he was fastened back and the snuggling became even cuddlier. It was not like he was being suffocated or anything. He was just really scared out of his mind and he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep that way. Not when Seungcheol’s jaw was rest on his back.
So he spent the night awake, twitching with fear every time Seungcheol so much as moved.
And when morning came, his eyes were dropping in fatigue but he still managed to keep alert.
Yawning widely, Seungcheol raised his head and looked around the cave. Then he stood to his feet and grabbed Jihoon in his jaw again. Jihoon waited as Seungcheol left the cave. He jumped over the large gully they’d passed on the way in and the moment his feet touched the ground, he lowered Jihoon to the floor and stood.
Jihoon looked up at him, not sure what he was supposed to do. But Seungcheol just leaned down and used his nose to push Jihoon forward.
Okay then, he thought as he began to take small tentative steps forward. He didn’t want to hop away and trigger some prey-predator instinct. But then a flash of color passed by their side and Seungcheol’s head snapped up. Seconds later, he was galloping away as he left Jihoon all on his own.
And Jihoon was free.
So he began hopping away, hoping he remembered his way back to the barrier. He considered changing back to human but just as he was about to shift, he heard quick steps headed in his direction and he turned to find Seungcheol returning with –URGH- a dead animal between his teeth.
The wolf circled around Jihoon and then dropped the mangled body in front of him as Jihoon tried to shift from it. But Seungcheol just pulled it closer as he plopped down beside it and started to it. When the wolf was almost done with the food, he looked up at Jihoon and prodded the dead body in his direction again.
Jihoon would have smiled if it weren’t for the fact that there was a dead animal right in front of him. But it appeared that Seungcheol was trying to feed him. Seungcheol was taking caring of him. Offering him food.
Feeling a little emboldened by this, he hopped away, nudging at a tiny plant with plum berries on its weak stems. He could eat those. He hoped they were edible. As he raised himself up on his hinds, he caught a few in his mouth, dropped down and pulled them off as he ate, looking up at Seungcheol.
As if deciding that it was okay, Seungcheol left him to the plant while he ate the remaining of the poor animal.
When he was done, he began pacing, playing his tail as he waited for Jihoon to finish. Jihoon was still having the time of his life, by the way, plucking and chewing on what he hoped were berries. They tasted juicy and they went down just right. He could gorge on these for the day and seeing as they were in a cluster of more plants like it, Jihoon felt that he probably would.
After filling his belly, he slumped back on the ground as Seungcheol came over and nudged him to his feet. But Jihoon didn’t really think he could move. So Seungcheol raised him from the ground and placed him on his back as Jihoon scrambled, struggling to dig his tiny nails into Seungcheol’s fur. As soon as he steadied, the wolf began to walk, taking slow, calm steps to ensure that Jihoon didn’t fall over.
I was right! Jihoon thought smugly to himself. When the full moon was over and they got back to the castle, Jihoon was going to scream it at Seungcheol every single chance he got.
*****
Two mornings later, when Seungcheol woke up more than a few feet from the barrier, he gasped as he stared down at the form of a tiny, ball of fur sleeping curled in his arms. He didn’t know whether to be angry or touched that Jihoon had done such a stupid, heartbreaking thing as to come with him. He could never have imagined that when he confessed to Jihoon a year ago, this was where they’d be: cuddling in a forest, the morning after a full moon.
As the bunny turned around in his arms, blinking up at him sleepily, Seungcheol realized that he was now in love with a bunny too.
“Are you my Lee Jihoon? Or have I suddenly imprinted on some hapless woodland creature?”
The bunny blinked a few more times before he pulled its head back and nodded at him. Laughing, Seungcheol kissed Jihoon on the head, reveling in the sweet feeling of being loved.
He could not remember what had happened throughout the night but if Jihoon had survived three nights in his presence as a wolf, then that meant that there was a possibility that it was safe to have Jihoon run with him… or cuddle with him, during the full moon.
Which meant that Seungcheol didn’t have to make the trip to and from the forest alone. He didn’t have to run around feeling powerless anymore. If Jihoon was by his side, he could do anything. And now that he was a bunny, he could be with him all the time.
When Jihoon’s paws reached up and brushed against Seungcheol’s head, drawing his attention, Seungcheol leaned down and planted a kiss on Jihoon’s furry head as he smiled heartily to himself.