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“I was so close to calling the cops.”
Lucas, later than ever, had the decency to look guilty. Mark suppressed the smile threatening to bloom onto his cheeks, crossing his arms and looking away from the approaching male in faux anger. Not that he could ever be mad at his best friend– especially when he’s infectiously radiant and fully equipped with the world’s most dangerous puppy eyes.
The two had made plans to hang out in celebration of the end of exams. As usual, they promised to meet at their little hideout up in the hills where the trees made way for a small opening and the sky was the clearest. It was their sanctuary, a secret exclusive to the two ever since 12-year old Mark wandered too far from the park and stumbled upon the spot, along with a crying Lucas.
Knowing the other, Mark had proposed they meet up at 3, whereas he himself arrived a little after 4. The orange clouds he had noticed before leaving the house drifted slowly into the horizon, pulling along the hues of purples and indigos to take its place in the sky. It was to no surprise that the taller boy wasn’t there yet, so Mark took to laying out the blanket and unpacking the food as he waited.
“Don’t give me those eyes.” Mark’s hand flew up to push Lucas’s face away from where it perched on his shoulder, using the brief moment to turn his head and grin away from view.
“Markieee, I won’t be late again. It’s a one time thing I swear.” whined the Canto male, nuzzling his head against the other’s neck. Mark was so close to forgiving him until he spotted two hands sneaking towards the tupperware of sandwiches sat by his side.
“Two times, actually.” Mark swiped the tupperware further from Lucas’ reach and took big bites out of his handmade sandwiches.
A grumble followed by a large hand wrapped around the younger’s wrist. Mark spent the next three seconds with his heart in his throat as Lucas leaned in to steal the final bite, plump lips barely grazing his fingertips and caused his breath to hitch. Pleased with himself, the charming asshole grinned before turning around to hold up a tall plastic cup.
“Guess you don’t want your pearl milk tea with half sugar and extra pudding.” recited the male, squinting to see the printed words as the sky had grown darker by then. “I waited in line for half an hour just for you. You’re welcome, by the way.”
The promise of the sweet, heavenly drink broke Mark out of his trance to find Lucas smirking at him again. As he reached forward to grab the cup, the other used his height to his advantage and raised the drink further away from Mark’s grasp. A determined huff left the shorter’s lips before he pounced on his prey.
It had been a while since Mark laughed so hard his stomach ached, rolling around on the picnic blanket as they play-fought like in the old days. But not to worry, they always made up in the end– more often than not with Lucas’ head on Mark’s lap and the stars began to twinkle into view, remnants of the sun completely setting out of the sky. The brief silence was broken when Lucas turned his head, eyes locked onto Mark’s face.
“I miss stargazing with you.”
Mark’s hand stopped stroking Lucas’ blonde locks to meet those large eyes, heat rising to his cheeks before he turned back to the sky. The softness in Lucas’ voice didn’t go unnoticed, replaying in his mind as Mark hummed, fingers resuming their previous pace.
“Me too.” the words came out as a sigh, “I missed you too.”
They sat there in comfortable silence; Well, as comfortable as it can get as Mark thought over his words, wondering why the fuck did I say that . Completely unaware of the other’s distress, Lucas had the audacity to grab his free hand and plant a kiss on it, sending another wave of heat to Mark’s face.
Physical affection had grown to be a normal thing between the two. Sure, Mark had thirty different alarms blaring in his head when Lucas hugged him, or held his hand as they walked to the smoothie bar, or threatened to kiss him when Mark nagged at him to brush his teeth– but that’s on him when he fell in love with the human embodiment of an affectionate puppy.
Now, with Lucas rubbing his head against the palm of Mark’s hand for more pats, he wanted to scream. The silence began to grow suffocating as Mark struggled to rack up something, anything to break the silence.
“Mark, I need to tell-”
“Dude, Look! A full moon!” the younger realized too late that he had cut Lucas off, caught up in the view above them. The stars reflected in his eyes looked like they belonged there instead of the sky as the clouds parted like curtains to bask them in silver moonlight.
“A what?” Lucas shot up from the comfort of Mark’s lap at a speed that sent the smaller male jumping backwards, eyes so wide that Mark worried they might fall out of his head.
A shiver ran down the younger’s spine,“What’s going on? Are you okay, dude?”
Mark was unnerved at how terrified he was. Scrambling for his phone, the smaller male could only sit and watch as his best friend frantically scanned through whatever was on the screen. Small inaudible mutters fell from the taller’s lips when a small glimmer caught Mark’s eye; He reached forward to remove the long strand of hair from Lucas’ face.
A yelp pierced through the air.
Lucas hissed as his hand went to his cheek where Mark had plucked out the strand of…. hair? When Mark looked back up from his hand, more and more were sprouting out of the blonde’s skin, running from his face to his arms. A low guttural sound bubbled from Lucas’ throat when he doubled over, but not before giving Mark a strong shove.
“Mark, go away! Don’t look!” Lucas wrapped his arms over his head, curling up into a ball on the ground. In true best friend fashion, the idea went in one ear and left from the other as he tried stroking the blonde’s back.
“Let’s get you to a hospital. Come on, can you stand?” Whatever’s happening, he’s not leaving the boy alone.
“Please- don’t look!”
“I’m calling an ambulance-” a hand shoved Mark with such strength that the boy skidded backwards.
A dull throb had everything spinning in Mark’s vision and his ass hurt like a bitch. He could hear as Lucas groaned and thrashed around. A myriad of thoughts ran in his mind simultaneously– What the fuck was happening? Is Lucas okay? Is he gonna be okay? I swore I saw hair. Was it hair?
“Yukhei?” shakily, the younger called out with his hands rubbing at his eyes. When he was met with no reply, he tried again.
“Bro, this isn’t funny.” The throbbing slowly subsided. But the pain was replaced by fear upon realizing that his best friend’s silhouette had been replaced with an empty space, just the moon shining down on Mark with no Lucas-shaped obstruction. Wide eyes trailed down and down until it settled on a pile of clothes sitting on the grass. His head turned left and right, wondering if the giant had ran off into the woods naked. No, that can’t be it.
Just then, the clothes shifted. More specifically, something underneath the pile wormed around, slowly then frantically before coming to an abrupt stop and Mark held his breath.
Its brown fur gleamed under the moonlight as it opened its jaws, teeth bared on full display, in lazed yawn. Mark’s wide eyes trailed over its figure over and over again, refusing to believe the thing- the animal- before him could be real. Or worse yet, could be Lucas.
There, from the pile of clothes, emerged a Welsh Corgi.
The pup’s two beady eyes turned to the shorter male and stared as it recollected itself. Standing up on the little nubs you call feet, the dog took a step away from him, ears pressed flat and a whine in its throat.
“What the fuck,” Mark rubbed his eyes a second time, “Yukhei? Is that? Are you? Oh my god I’m losing my mind- are you naked?!”
The younger male chuckled as he ran a trembling hand through his hair. Reasons upon reasons came rushing into his head in an attempt to be rational. Maybe Lucas spiked his boba tea, or Mark accidentally used some bad mayonnaise for the sandwiches. When the thoughts strayed further away from rationality, Mark guffawed as the small Corgi tilted its head to the side, taking another step back.
The younger froze upon noticing the pup retreating. The initial shock was still there but the sight of the poor thing cowering away gave his mind some kind of sobriety.
“Oh no, I’m sorry.” the younger spoke carefully as he stopped moving, arms raised when Lucas took one step back, “Can you come closer?”
The dog flinched before turning on his heel and sprinted for the trees. Wasting no time, Mark gave chase. The trees grew denser as he dove deeper and the human cursed when he couldn’t feel his cellphone in his pocket.
“Yukhei!” The faint crunch of leaves ahead of him acted as Mark’s only guidance through the darkness. Loose branches smacked at his face as he pushed through, calling out with no reply.
For such tiny legs, Lucas was fast.
“Yukhei, come on man!” The pain from Mark’s soles had burned a way up to his calves, chest heaving as his eyes tried to adjust to the dark. The shadows of the trees made them indistinguishable from one another and it wasn’t long until Mark found himself lost, so strained his ears to listen for footsteps instead.
Soon enough, soft barks could be heard from his right. The shorter male took off again– ignoring the fire in his lungs and the pounding of his heart in his ears. He couldn’t bear the thought of Lucas all alone again like the day he found him, especially when he was so tiny and vulnerable.
“I’m coming, Yukhei! Stay there!”
This time several barks answered back. They grew louder and louder and Mark spotted a sliver of moonlight shining through the trees. He followed the ray of hope and picked up the pace, using his remaining energy to propel forward until a thought hit him.
Do Corgi barks sound that deep?
The younger finally got out of the dark forest and stepped into an opening. Mark’s eyes quickly spotted the small brown and his face broke out into a relieved smile. But before he could take a step, something got to Lucas first.
A low growl sounded from the wolf-like beast, black and white fur shining under the moon. The blood in Mark’s veins went cold as it pounced onto Lucas’ smaller form, earning yips and groans as the two dogs rolled around in the grass. Teeth were bared as they tussled– the only thing stopping Mark from getting in between them.
Oh my god it’s mauling him. I- I gotta do something,
Frantically, Mark’s hands searched the ground, grabbing a handful of pebbles as he charged towards the two animals.
“Hey!” holding a pebble up, Mark hesitated, “Back off! Don’t make me hurt you!”
The human didn’t really want to hurt it, or any animal for a fact. The dog– a full grown Siberian Husky, now that Mark could see it clearly– looked up from where it had pinned the Corgi to the ground. It’s snarl turned into a confused head tilt, dark brown eyes scanning the human so intently that Mark shuddered under its gaze.
It understood him. The larger dog sat down obediently with Lucas pinned under one of its stronger paws. The fierce expression on its face grew into one of those smiles only dogs could do that stole the hearts of millions, seemingly oblivious to the crisis going through Mark’s head.
“O-okay? I’m just going to…” Mark approached it slowly, arms raised as he did with Lucas before. The Husky made no move to growl or bark and watched him calmly, following his movements. It even lifted his paw when Mark reached out to grab the squirming Corgi from under it, holding Lucas tightly to his chest so he wouldn’t run again.
“Good boy, good boy…” Mark backed away, but something about those sharp eyes felt so familiar.
A shrill whistle caught the three’s attention. Where Lucas and Mark froze, the Husky barked at the sound with its tail wagging behind him. A human , Mark thought as the tension flowed out of him in a relieved sigh.
True enough, a man’s voice was heard before his figure stepped into the clearing.
“Baby! Why did you run off like that?”
The Husky bounded and leapt onto the man with such force that Mark winced, pleased to find the man still standing and the big pup slobbering him up with love. It was then that the Canadian caught sight of the red hair, the towering height, and recognized the soft laugh he had grown familiar with.
“Johnny?” a cough of disbelief followed, “Hyung, you have a dog?”
“Mark! Dude!” The redhead kneeled down and gave his Husky one last pat before the two walked over, Johnny pulling Mark into one of their bro-hugs when Lucas cried out in the middle. “Oh shit, sorry- Wait, you have a dog?”
“I asked you first.” the younger could tell how textbook shady he must look, averting eye contact and scratching his head, too preoccupied with coming up with the next excuse to notice Johnny chuckling.
“Haha yeah, this is my neighbour’s dog.” The redhead was met with a displeased whine from his furry companion. It nudged at the man’s hand, pointing its nose at Lucas who had buried his face in his paws where Mark cradled him like a baby.
The two dogs grumbled and barked at each other as if holding a conversation. Both Mark and Johnny could only look at them back and forth, a chorus of “uhh”s and “hmm”s followed in an attempt to fill the ever growing tension.
“Haha that’s cute, they’re communicating.” Johnny casted a wary look at the younger male who nodded absentmindedly. The man knelt down to stroke the Husky, whatever he whispered to it was thrown to the wind as it barked louder. Whatever the two were on about, it got heated as Lucas started going nuts again, crying out in a way that squeezed Mark’s heart painfully.
“Hey! Dude, I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” His claws dug into Mark’s skin.
Johnny retreated as quickly as he had approached when Lucas snapped at him, “Why don’t you put him down?”
“I can’t, he’ll run away again-” teeth bit down at the hand holding him back and Mark yelped, “Wong Yukhei, stop!”
Time froze. The full weight of his words only came crashing down as dread fell to the pits of his stomach. Oh! He could laugh it off, say it was a joke and deal with Johnny’s teasing ...or he could seem even crazier by telling the truth. Either way, Mark would end up the butt of a joke.
“Mark...Is that Lucas.”
The words came out more of a command than a question. The nervous smile faltered from Mark's face when it was met with serious eyes and none of that usual cheery expression the redhead was known for.
Sighing, Mark looked at the pup in his arms. Lucas’ ears were pressed back, guilty puppy eyes still having the same effect on him as it did when he was a 6 foot, stupidly grinning human– that it had the power to get Mark to do anything and forgive him for everything.
“Yeah. It’s him.” He didn’t have any courage to face Johnny and focused on stroking Lucas behind the ears instead, regret pricking in his chest for snapping at his best friend, “I know it sounds crazy. You don’t have to believe me. Call me insane or whatever but I’m not-”
“I know you’re not lying.”
The tall redhead shared a look with his Husky, nodding at it before his lips curled up into a grin. It was comforting in a way, but Mark still had more questions than answers.
“Okay. I didn’t expect you to believe me so easily.”
“Lucas isn’t the only one.”
Mark’s eyes were almost the size of the moon watching over them. When he opened his mouth, no coherent words could form and Johnny’s smile deepened when he whispered, “Who?”
The elder shrugged, crossing his arms in nonchalance as if they weren’t talking about werewolves (weredogs?) being real, or that the two with them could be actual people instead of animals. “A bunch of people! You probably know them already.”
A nudge at Mark’s thigh had him looking down to find the Husky staring up at him with those brown eyes and the pieces slowly but surely clicked together.
“Like there, that’s Jaehyun.”
◑ ━━━━━ (U・ᴥ・U) ━━━━━ ◐
“So you’re telling me, I almost stoned Jaehyun-hyung?” a groan was thrown to the sky as Johnny laughed next to the shorter male, shouldering the picnic basket since Mark was still set on carrying Lucas all the way home. “Holy shit I could’ve killed him!”
Johnny wheezed harder; If Mark wasn’t in such a state of panic he might have taken offence to that. “I don’t think you could even if you tried. Have you seen his teeth?”
The Husky– Jaehyun– nipped Johnny’s hand in a scold which only fueled the man’s laughter. The moon resumed her peaceful path across the night sky, enjoying all the chaos she caused as the four walked together, considering Jaehyun’s apartment was only one block away from Mark’s.
“Wait, so, they all turn into dogs during the full moon, like in the movies? And they just...do whatever dogs do until it goes away tomorrow?”
Johnny hummed in a tone of approval; Since Jaehyun and Lucas couldn’t really speak at the moment, Johnny had filled Mark in as a representative.
“You play with them, feed them, cuddle, oh and take them out for walks too.”
Just like owning a pet for one night, Johnny didn’t need to add. A question rose into Mark’s mind and he moved closer to the redhead to whisper out of someone’s earshot, “You don’t have to put Jaehyun-hyung on like...a leash or something?”
On cue, the aforementioned barked in protest.
“Nah, he won’t run away. Not like this little fella right here, huh, aren’t you a little troublesome fella?” Johnny cooed, ignoring the growl rising from Lucas’ throat. Despite being amused, Mark swatted the older away and patted his best friend to soothe his anger. Wow, smaller dogs do have more bite in them– a stark contrast to the cheery, even-tempered human Lucas.
“I’m pretty sure Jaehyun and the others had a group chat to remind each other when it's the full moon again. Did Lucas not-” Johnny’s words died on his tongue when he turned to find Mark glaring at the poor Corgi accusingly. Lucas turned away as far as he could, still trapped in the human’s iron hold.
“Come on. You guys can talk it over tomorrow, okay? Look, you’re scaring the little guy.” singsonged the redhead, wagging a finger before Lucas shot up to bite it off. His attempt only failed because of his smaller size and Mark pulling him back with a click of his tongue.
The clock struck 9 by the time they arrived at Mark’s place, pushing the door open as Johnny dropped the heavy picnic basket by the entrance and waved them goodbye. “Make sure he doesn’t eat anything a dog shouldn’t!”
Only once the door shut closed did he put Lucas down, deeming it impossible for the little pup to reach the handle and run away again. The Corgi took cautious steps into the apartment; everything was so much bigger and so much taller in his dog form. Lucas watched as Mark took out all the untouched food, the clothes he had shrunk from, and the boba tea that had gone warm.
Mark’s exhausted sigh caused guilt to rise up in the pup again, “You can sit in the living room and wait for me while I put these in the fridge.” He glanced over at the anxious dog to smile, watching him light up and bounded for the pristine, white couch.
Lucas was drained down to the bone. The only thing he wanted to do was curl up in his best friend's bed and roll around, taking up Mark’s scent which never failed to calm him down. For now, the couch cushions shall do. Despite his short legs, Lucas managed to hop onto the couch and bury his face in the wool pillows, sniffing up another one of Mark’s scents.
The younger never had a particular smell. It changed with whatever he did– one day it could be the cologne Lucas bought for his birthday, or perhaps the smell of his detergent from his laundry, or the smell of grass and freshly cut cucumbers like when Lucas kissed his hand earlier. They changed with the seasons but one thing stayed the same, it was inherently Mark’s.
Before he had the chance to relax, the night’s disaster replayed in the Corgi’s mind. Everything had been planned months prior, way before their exams started yet the day managed to exceed all the worst case scenarios Lucas could think of.
“Just tell him. He’s your best friend, I’m sure he’ll still love you no matter what.” Ten’s slender fingers stroked through the soft fur of Lucas’ back on one of the nights where he snuck into Kun and Ten’s room for advice. Despite their grumbling (mostly Ten groaning about why he liked cats better), they still fell to the charms of his puppy eyes and consoled the little pup.
They’re right. Of course we are , Ten would add.
The duo had their fair share of quarrels and fights but Mark would never leave him no matter how many arguments or fist fights they went through. Because his best friend was an angel. The same Mark who kissed the bandaid on his scraped knee when they first met, who hugged and sobbed with Lucas when he first came out, and the same Mark Lee who was going to kill him right now.
“Yukhei! Off the couch!” The Corgi was lifted up once again with a howl of protest. “You’re covered in dirt and mud. Look at what you did. Look.”
From where he was lifted, Lucas had a bird’s eye view of the abstract art he’d created on the previously pristine white seats. Paw-shaped tracks of brown mud and the occasional leaves and twigs that must have caught onto his fur had Picasso quaking.
Mark’s eyebrows knitted together as he sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Fortunately, the combo of an apologetic whine and a wet tongue licking at the man’s face brought forth a small smile that sent Lucas’ heart soaring.
“Okay! Fine, geez. I’m not mad.” the Canadian giggled for the first time since they left, holding the pup from under his two front legs so they were face to face. When given an opportunity, Lucas took it– licking another stripe on Mark’s nose.
“Stop! That’s gross.” there was no bite behind the words, but Lucas whined anyways. “And you’re not sleeping here without a bath.”
Bath. That treacherous word. The pup started frantically squirming again, desperate to escape his cruel fate. Before his strength gave away, Mark darted to the bathroom and locked it behind him before placing the crying pup in the tub. His little feet along with the tub’s slippery walls rendered Lucas’ attempts useless, the dejected Corgi sliding down against the sides.
“It’s just a bath!” the younger rolled his eyes. Mark was smart enough to grab his phone on the way and did a quick google search on the do’s and don’ts of bathing your dog– the least he wanted to do was hurt Lucas. Yet he pup was already hurt enough, yowling up at the traitor.
“I’ll make it quick, I promise.” Mark stepped forward menacingly, his hands looking like claws where Lucas looked up at the human as he scrambled to the furthest corner of the tub.
An hour and a few muffled screams later, the two emerge from the bathroom limp and drained of any remaining energy. On one hand, Lucas was all warm and dry with his fur fluffed up from the hairdryer that he began to resemble a stuffed toy while Mark was soaked from head to toe, his hoodie discarded in the laundry basket as the loose t-shirt underneath stuck to his skin.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Lucas shot him the best glare a dog could muster.
“I’m gonna shower first but don’t-” the younger male raised a stern finger, “-mess up the bedroom.”
The pup barked twice and stopped clawing at the bedroom door for Mark to let him in, watching the small dog dash in and climbed onto the mattress. His mouth opened and closed again at the sight of Lucas prancing around in excitement. The corgi flattened himself and inhaled, kneading at the baby blue pillows with his paws as the small nub of a tail wagged behind him. Mark’s heart melted at the sight, lips curving up into a fond smile before he spoke, “Okay. Be a good boy until I come back.”
A good boy, yes that’s what he was. Lucas more than eager to please and barked as the human closed the door behind him.
It felt like an eternity waiting alone in the bedroom. He wondered if it was a dog thing, since time moved differently for them, and paced around on the bed with eyes that never left the door handle. Lucas’ ears perked up at the slightest of sounds, adrenaline rushing through his blood when footsteps approached. The door cracked open and Lucas jumped off the bed with a cheery greeting, barking and wagging with a tremendous energy that his movements resembled a snake’s.
“Woah, it’s only been 15 minutes bro.” the younger’s fingers stroked right behind Lucas’ ears as he picked the Corgi up, the pup complained when Mark wouldn’t let him lick his face. “I just showered!”
The two moved back to the bed where Lucas claimed his spot on the left where he always slept in when he stayed over. The younger tucked the blanket around Lucas’ form even though his fur was enough to keep him warm through the night, and the sentiment would have left Lucas a little flushed if actually he could. They have cuddled as humans before, but the older noted that Mark was much more open to touching him as a dog– the hand stroking his head was an example.
“Today’s pretty wild, huh.” Mark’s voice was hushed, eyes half lidded and glazed over before his head even landed on the pillow. Lucas could only stare; he wanted to turn back so bad, to explain everything in proper words in case he would chicken out the next morning. All that came out where whines and soft growls, earning a sleepy chuckle from the other. “Can’t believe I’m talking to a dog.”
The corgi scooted closer when Mark’s fingers stopped patting his head, slipping underneath the male’s arm to lay against his chest. “Go to sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow okay?”
Being a weredog came with its perks. Lucas’ heightened hearing caught every inhale, every exhale, each heartbeat and how it quickened for a second before the younger let out a final drowsy laugh.
Mark wrapped his arm tighter around Lucas, making sure he wouldn’t run off again as he breathed out,“Okay.”
Neither knew who fell asleep first, but Lucas remembered the steady heartbeat lulling him to sleep.
◑ ━━━━━ (U・ᴥ・U) ━━━━━ ◐
Mark was the first to stir awake. The sunlight peeking in through the curtains had him glaring and rubbing his eyes with a yawn. It was far too early but his bladder felt like it would burst any second. When the Canadian turned to roll off the bed, he found himself trapped under a tremendous weight.
A dazed humm caused the younger to still and stare at the ceiling. Moving his hands, the male felt warm skin against his palms where a small bundle of fur should have been. Slowly trailing upwards, his breath hitched as his fingers traced a smooth line of muscles, finishing at a mop of blonde hair.
Lucas, now back to his very human and very naked form, laid right on top of Mark with his head on the smaller male’s chest– another worry as the Canadian tried to calm his racing heartbeat. The desperate need to go clawed at Mark’s abdomen as he tried to quietly squirm out of Lucas’ confinement, only successful in stirring the other awake.
“Hmm, Mark?” Lucas drawled, eyes still closed as he rubbed his face against the younger male’s chest; blissfully unaware of the consequences of his actions.
“Can you get off me, I really need to go.” It took everything in Mark’s willpower to keep his eyes up and away from his best friend’s body no matter how tastefully sculpted it was. The strong, tanned arms only squeezed tighter around Mark’s waist,
“Don’t go.” sighed the blonde who was slowly regaining consciousness.
Those two words had the younger chewing his lip and heat rose to his cheeks. Before Lucas could fully wake up, Mark’s small hand pushed him away by the face as the warm body slipped away from his arms.
“I’m just going to the bathroom, and holy shit, dude!” The shorter male scrambled to cover his face and look at anything other than the man before him. Looking down at his body through bleary eyes, Lucas’ shot his best friend a dopey grin.
“You’ve seen mini-Yukhei a bunch of times already.”
“Shut up and just put something on!”
The Canto howled in laughter when Mark slammed the door behind him, peeking at his red ear tips and thinking cute . Obediently, Lucas walked over to Mark’s closet and dawned on a pair of black boxers from the pile of clothes Lucas left in Mark’s apartment; Having spent so much time there, he was just short of moving in completely.
It was a pleasant surprise to find his phone charged on the desk, right next to Mark’s. The horrific amount of notifications had Lucas shuddering as he jumped back to bed to wait– all the words he thought of last night, all the various possible scenarios had gone out the window by the time he turned back and a groan escaped his lips. Guess he’ll just wing it.
“Just tell him. He’s your best friend, I’m sure he’ll still love you no matter what.” echoed in his mind when the door opened not long after. Two mugs were clutched in Mark’s hand; The shorter male extended one to him, still refusing to look at Lucas’ direction.
“Hey.” the blonde called out without looking away from the screen as he accepted the drink. Lucas wasn’t even halfway through the wave of notifications from last night– Including but not limited to: Xiaojun, Hendery and Yangyang sending him words of encouragement, followed by 8 miss calls from Kun after Jaehyun spilled about their meeting the night before in the Pack group chat. Fantastic.
“Oho, Kun-hyung is gonna kill you.” Mark scooted closer onto the bed to lean his head on Lucas' shoulder. A pair of round glasses sat on his button nose, hair a mess and was that the shirt Lucas lost last week? The older’s face broke into a smile as he continued to scroll, Mark silently reading with him as they would normally. They could feel the air get heavier with each passing second and prolonged it as much as they could, knowing the conversation was inevitable.
“Are we gonna talk about yesterday?” Lucas sat up straighter after tossing his phone to the side, ignoring the new surge of messages for something much more important. Mark sat up so he mirrored the other as he twiddled his thumbs.
“Do you want to?”
“I do.” the blonde licked his lips, “I’m really sorry.”
“For what?” Mark raised an eyebrow as the corner of his mouth quirked up in bemusement.
“For everything. Running away, biting you, keeping it a secret, just everything. I meant to tell you about it sooner or later, but-”
Again, the words caught in his throat. A soft gasp escaped the Canto when a pair of gentle hands cupped his, stroking them slowly, “But?”
“But...Agh! This would have been so much easier if I was a big dog like Jaehyun-hyung, or Kun-ge!” Lucas’ free hand went up to ruffle his hair in frustration, missing the other’s growing bewildered expression.
“Why would it be easier?”
“Cause I want to protect you! And I can’t do that when I’m a lapdog!” He clenched down on the other’s smaller hands, dark eyebrows pulled even tighter together when the younger gaped at him, “I was...scared you’d laugh at me. Shit, man, I didn’t even know if you’d believe me if I told you we exist.”
“We” as in, the were-people, thought Mark with a slow nod. The larger male was hunched over at that point, eyes casted to the sheets with his bottom lip jutted out and Mark wanted to laugh for another reason entirely.
“I believe you.”
“I know and I’m stoked you do. But it was so embarrassing to turn in front of you last night. When people think of werewolves they think of big, scary dogs like Jaehyun. No one would think that someone as big as me would be so, so tiny and weak . I didn’t want you to think I’m weak.” The last part came out muffled as Lucas had buried his face in Mark’s pillow to hide from whatever expression the other had on.
The dots connected themselves; why Lucas cowered away from him and why he was so pissed at Johnny’s remarks. Mark ran his fingers through the blonde strands of hair, just as he did the night before as his features softened.
“You dumbass. I didn’t chase you through the woods just to laugh at you, or think you're weak.” His hands moved down from the elder’s hair, cupping his cheeks as he pulled Lucas’ face up to look straight into his glassy eyes. “Who cares what other people think? Just ‘cause you’re smaller than the hyungs doesn’t mean your bite isn’t any less painful. I can tell you that.”
Raising his right hand, Mark showed off the red bite mark with pride. Devastation fell onto Lucas’ face as he pulled the smaller male closer to inspect the damage he caused.
“Shh, it’s okay. Besides, I’m a big boy. I can fight for myself.” It’d be a lie if Mark said his heart didn’t flutter when Lucas said he wanted to protect him. Only him, no one else.
“I still want to,” The shorter male let out an embarrassingly loud squeak when the blonde grabbed his hands abruptly, “I want to protect you.”
“Wh-why?” The fire burning behind those large eyes silenced the remaining questions in Mark’s mind. Completely going blank when the distance gradually decreased between them.
“Cause we dogs are territorial, and I’ll never let anyone lay a finger on you.”
Their faces were only an inch apart, so close Mark could feel the warm breaths panting against his lips. The flushed male made a weak attempt to pull his hands away but Lucas held him in place with ease, trapping Mark to look into his eyes.
“I’ve been thinking about it for so long. Last night I wanted to officially ask you out, maybe even kiss you if you’d let me.” Lucas’ attention locked onto him, determined and unwavering like the trees in the forest from last night– the only thing separating him from a statue was the faint rosy tint on his cheeks.
“You really wanted to ask me out?” This wasn’t a dream. Yukhei liked him back . “You fucking idiot. Yes!”
“Yes?”
“Of course I’ll go out with you.” Mark felt his cheeks split and Lucas mirrored with his own blinding smile. The grip around his wrist weakened for them to swing back and forth, filling the one-person bedroom with two hearty laughs.
As they slowly died down, a question was thrown to the air as they shifted closer, relishing in each other’s warmth even if it was only their knees touching. “So, does this mean you’ll let me kiss you?”
With a roll of his eyes, the younger closed the distance between them– Years of pining seeping into the slow, tender push as they deepened the kiss. Mark’s hands cupped around Lucas’ face to tilt them and change the angle, soft fingertips running from his jaw to the back of his neck to pull him closer.
Mark’s head landed on the sheets as Lucas gently laid him down, only breaking the kiss when their lungs burned for air. The glossy red on the younger’s lips had the Canto’s eyes blowing even wider and darker as Lucas dove down to steal another kiss, and another, and another.
“Yukhei, stop! Sit!” Mark complained in between attacks, still kissing back. “Dude, no! Brush your teeth first.”
Lucas paused in a pout, eyes wide and pleading. Mark’s resolution lasted a solid 5 seconds before he broke, covering the smile breaking through with his free hand, “Don’t give me those eyes.” pushing Lucas away by the face to escape from underneath the giant for the second time that morning.
Mark took a headstart out of the bedroom, laughter echoing down the hallway with Lucas following like a lost puppy.
Only, he was far from lost.
Because together they’ve found home.