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Beomgyu’s got a thing for irritating people. He lives off their reactions, craves the thrill that comes with having his throat nearly ripped out. It sounds a bit masochistic, but it’s nothing of the sort. Beomgyu—for a lack of better words—just likes being a little shit.
Taehyun was his favorite to tease; he was mature and level headed, but Beomgyu knew all the right buttons to press. He loves the adrenaline that courses through his veins each time Taehyun chases him for miles, until ultimately pinning him underneath the younger while he stifles a laugh at the snarled death threats. So when Taehyun suggests for Beomgyu to join the pack he’s in, the latter is eager to act on it. Surely someone with as much pride as Taehyun would only be subordinate to someone who clearly demonstrated their strength.
And those kinds of people were always the most fun to crack.
“What’re they like?” Beomgyu inquires with unexplainable curiosity, already making a mental list of ways to irritate his soon to be leader. “Tough? Edgy? Try hard like you?”
Taehyun gives him a pointed look at the last question, but sighs, too lethargic to entertain Beomgyu’s childish antics. “You’ll find out.”
With that, they reach the pack’s den: a fenced off house, painted white and surrounded by a variety of flowers, looking anything but intimidating. Beomgyu wants to laugh, so he does.
“This is where your pack resides? Have to say, Taehyun, didn’t take you for a ‘daffodils and daisies’ guy,” Beomgyu teases, plucking a handful of flowers into his right hand.
With an exaggerated sigh, he twirls around to face Taehyun and sways. “Romeo, O’ Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?”
“Here , Juliet,” sounds a voice from behind Beomgyu that makes him freeze in place. It’s an addictive kind of alluring, yet an octave low enough to be threatening. Accompanying the voice is a heavy scent of evergreen mint mixed with firewood ash. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t trash my garden.”
Taehyun snickers when Beomgyu tries to convey his exasperation to him through facial expressions. Brat. Then again, Beomgyu probably deserved it.
“Sorry,” comes the sheepish apology as he turns on his heel to face the owner of the commanding voice. His eyes slowly rake up the stone pathway until they land on a lithe figure standing by the door. The stranger's hair is blonde, fading into a somewhat neon shade at the tips, and falls messily over his eyes. Those, by the way, are sharp and staring daggers into Beomgyu in a way that sends shivers down the culprit’s spine. What catches Beomgyu’s attention the most, however, is his plump lips which sport a bruise on the left side and a lip piercing on the right.
Beomgyu thinks his lifelong shenanigans might come to an end here.
“It’s okay,” immediately, the male does a complete 180 and flashes him the most blinding smile Beomgyu has ever seen. It reaches his eyes, forming them into crescents, and Taehyun snorts at the way Beomgyu is left gaping.
“You’re gonna catch a bee in there,” Taehyun states, patting the older on the back once before moving past him. “Yeonjun,” Taehyun acknowledges with a bow of the head that’s far too polite to be friendly.
Oh. This was—
“I heard you wanted to join my pack?” Yeonjun cuts through Beomgyu’s train of thought, eyebrows raised with curiosity. His features are still sharp, but Beomgyu finds himself feeling a lot more at ease than before. Perhaps it’s because Yeonjun is no longer glaring at him like he’s got a tombstone with Beomgyu’s name on it.
“Yeah,” Beomgyu breathes out cautiously, not missing the middle finger Taehyun gives him behind Yeonjun’s back. So this is why Taehyun hadn’t wanted to say anything.
“Cute. You’ll fit right in.” Because Beomgyu can’t handle flirty people.
The pack is relatively small, Beomgyu notices when he reaches the living room where everyone is seated. It makes sense since the town they’re from isn’t exactly the most populated.
Taehyun’s on the couch and busy with his phone, not bothering to spare Beomgyu a glance when he walks in. To his right is a towering figure with lilac tinted locks that are hard to miss. He’s also got a dimpled smile that Beomgyu finds himself staring at—that is until the boy on the unnamed male’s lap obscures his vision. He’s younger, with a bowl cut that normally would make Beomgyu laugh, but for some reason it makes him all the more endearing.
“Kai, I can’t see,” the male underneath him grunts and Kai replies with a muffled whine, eyes narrowed at Beomgyu as if saying ‘he’s mine’. Maybe Beomgyu had been staring at Soobin longer than he’d thought, but it’s not his fault he finds dimples attractive. “Baby.”
Beomgyu wants to gag at the pet name and—when espying his reaction—Kai finally relents and allows his boyfriend(?) to regain his sight. Their eyes meet and something in Beomgyu keens, as if recognizing the male’s power over him. That’s never happened before—well, not until Yeonjun, two minutes ago. The ‘dimpled-boy’ smells like cinnamon and Beomgyu catches a hint of vanilla in there as well, but he assumes that it comes from Kai who’s clinging onto the taller boy as if he never leaves his side. (That ends up really being the case, Beomgyu learns a little later on.)
Soobin, Beomgyu learns from the way Kai quietly calls for him after seeing the way him and Beomgyu stare at each other, seems to be the second in command. And, given the way he immediately snaps his attention back to Kai and calms the younger’s distress signals in the matter of mere seconds, Beomgyu thinks it's fitting.
“We’ve got a guest room upstairs, but it’s currently being used for storage,” Yeonjun comments and Beomgyu’s attention draws back to him quickly, like a moth towards light. “Luckily, my bed’s big enough for two.”
Hell no.
“That’s alright, I live with my parents,” Beomgyu is quick to refuse the offer. He can barely manage forming words to talk to the guy, there’s no way he’s going to last sharing a room—more specifically a bed —with him.
“Lame,” Yeonjun replies with a chortle, intent clearly impish. Beomgyu’s not used to this. Normally he’s on the teasing end. “It’s no pressure, of course, but it would be safer to stay with us.”
Yeonjun’s right. Beomgyu knows this. In fact, he’s not even sure how he’s lasted the past two years without a pack. His family had moved when he’d turned 18, causing him to withdraw from his old pack reluctantly, and ever since then he’d been living life as a lone wolf. Granted, Taehyun and he had met right off the bat since Beomgyu had crashed into him on the first day of university. (Taehyun’s resinous scent had been overwhelmingly nostalgic, causing Beomgyu’s head to spin and everything had gone downhill from there.) They’d become somewhat inseparable after that and Taehyun didn’t intimidate half the student body for no reason; his looks weren’t the only thing that could kill—for sure.
“Thanks,” Beomgyu responds and an awkward silence rests between them. It turns out being only awkward for Beomgyu because Yeonjun wastes no time slinging an arm around the former’s shoulder, dragging him close. “Loosen up, pup.”
Beomgyu’s eyes shoot up to meet Taehyun’s, knowing that the red-head has something snarky to say. “Yeah, loosen up, pup. ” Kang Taehyun better sleep with his eyes open.
In the span of a month, Beomgyu finds himself comfortable enough to return to his childish demeanor. He begins with Kai, hiding the younger’s plushies or ‘hurting’ them in plain sight, because the way Kai scrunches his nose up and sniffles has Beomgyu melting. Sure, Soobin scolds him every time per Kai’s request because Soobin is beyond whipped , but Beomgyu doesn’t stop because Kai is too cute.
He gets bolder, making Soobin his next target. Soobin’s easy enough, all Beomgyu has to do is wrap his arms around unsuspecting Kai’s waist (who is naturally affectionate and therefore doesn’t recoil) and Soobin stares him down with the most disapproving look he can manage.
There are times where he accidentally goes too far and makes Kai cry or blush , both of which have Soobin reacting the way Taehyun normally does. Beomgyu thrives off the chase, the hunt, the thrill.
But Yeonjun. Yeonjun is a different story.
Beomgyu can’t find his weak spots. He’s tried, making playful comments that jab at the older’s overflowing ego, but Yeonjun always finds a way to one-up him and Beomgyu hates it.
“Does your neck ever get tired of carrying that huge head of yours around?”
“Yeah, wanna kiss it better?”
“Want some oil for your joints, hag?”
“I can think of a better use for all that oil.”
“Are you always this dumb?”
“I guess love does that to a man.”
Beomgyu has also moved into the house, though not without convincing Yeonjun to buy him a separate bed first. They settle for a bunk bed after hours of debating. Beomgyu calls ‘dibs’ on the bottom bunk and Yeonjun says ‘fitting’ which leads to a full blown wrestling match. (Yeonjun pins Beomgyu down with ease, but Beomgyu will take that memory with him to the grave.)
Being roommates only gives Yeonjun more time to make Beomgyu’s life hell. He’ll moan obnoxiously everytime Beomgyu’s on the phone with his parents, purposely walk around shirtless just to tease Beomgyu when he catches his eyes on him, and spend more time in Beomgyu’s bed (pressed up against him) than on his own.
“Can you stop that?” Beomgyu hisses, covering the speaker of his phone with a palm. He’s talking to his mother about visiting over the weekend and Yeonjun’s back on his regular bullshit, asking him to pass the nonexistent ‘blunt’.
“Sorry, baby,” Yeonjun’s not really apologetic; his wink and smirk give that away. He does end up quieting himself down, much to Beomgyu’s relief, so the younger male resumes chatting with his mother.
Then, the bed dips and Beomgyu knows that he has to end the call now because Yeonjun’s definitely up to no good. “Got it, mom,” Beomgyu hastily interrupts her. He can tell she’s displeased by the way she says his name sternly, but he has no time to waste. “Call you next time! Love y—Yeonjun!”
Beomgyu shrieks as he feels something trickle down his shirt. He hangs up the phone and tosses it aside, standing up immediately to try and wiggle the ice cube out from inside of his shirt.
“You love me?” Yeonjun asks with a lopsided grin and Beomgyu grimaces upon recalling his last few words. “I get it. It’s hard not to.”
“In your dreams,” Beomgyu hisses, finally freeing himself from the ice cube’s chilling touch. The area of his shirt that’s now wet presses uncomfortably to his skin. Beomgyu hates the feeling of moist clothing. Well, who doesn’t ?
“You guessed it,” Yeonjun pipes way too cheerily for Beomgyu’s liking. He hates this. He hates losing. And with Yeonjun, he’s always losing.
Beomgyu stares at Yeonjun for a second, simply stares as he tries to come up with a good retort, but he ends up blank. He doesn’t want to credit Yeonjun’s exceptional talent in being a pain in the ass, but it’s either that or admit that he’s speechless because of Yeonjun’s looks and Beomgyu will never be doing that.
He will never admit that he actually finds Yeonjun attractive, that his eyes never fail to have Beomgyu swimming endlessly in them, that he’s always trying his hardest not to look at Yeonjun’s lips because the temptation to just lean in and kiss them will become far too much for him to handle.
Sometimes he thinks Yeonjun knows by the way Yeonjun smirks at him when nobody’s looking or by the way Yeonjun rests their foreheads against one another and taunts him, breath hitting his lips from their proximity.
Yeonjun’s smirking at him right now and motioning to stand—to corner Beomgyu like he always does—when the door swings open.
“Hey, lovebirds, dinner’s ready,” Taehyun grimaces in disgust even though Beomgyu and Yeonjun are ten feet apart. Beomgyu thanks the heavens for his interruption and dashes out the door without looking back.
(A part of him wishes he’d stayed, closed the door, and seen where things went until Taehyun came looking for them again.)
Things get progressively worse. (Or progressively better. Beomgyu’s not really sure.)
Yeonjun stops being so wordsy and starts being more handsy. When Beomgyu finally thinks he’s getting the upper hand in their constant bickering, Yeonjun retaliates with actions. An insult will result in Yeonjun smacking his thigh, an uncalled for joke means Yeonjun gets to tackle him onto the ground, and mocking him—
Beomgyu, out of habit and not much thought, mimics the way Yeonjun flinches at the thunder outside. As soon as what he’s done sinks in, he freezes in horror. There’s no way Yeonjun would—
A cushioned smack resonates in the common area and Beomgyu purses his lips together to silence the yelp that almost evades him. Yeonjun’s laugh is the next thing he hears, followed by a, “Never fails.”
Yeonjun’s right, it never fails. Beomgyu always reacts the same way: stiffening in posture and trying his best not to showcase his humiliation. That’s because he burns every time Yeonjun touches him; an unmatched heat tickles him from the inside out and the blood racing to his cheeks is telling enough. Regardless, Yeonjun’s found an effective way to shut him up and he begins to suspect that Yeonjun is growing too comfortable with this information.
Under no circumstances should a grown man be this nonchalant about smacking another grown man’s ass in front of their friends; or so Beomgyu thinks, but with the way nobody reacts to it, he assumes he’s the odd one out. That doesn’t mean he’ll start feeling any less embarrassed by it. Especially not when it usually elicits the most squeaky noises from him that he’ll never be able to live down.
Instinctively, his hands reach around to cover his behind, even if it’s too late. Yeonjun only rolls his eyes playfully and goes back to chatting with Taehyun as if nothing had happened.
“You two could give Soobin and I a run for our money,” Kai snorts, shooting Beomgyu an inquisitive glance. “Is there something the rest of us should know?”
Beomgyu shakes his head so fast he thinks he gives himself a whiplash. “Absolutely not, that’s disgusting!” He exclaims, but with the way his voice cracks, he’s sure he sounds anything but convincing.
“Course they aren’t,” Soobin appears behind Kai, arms wrapping around the younger’s waist and chin tucking onto his shoulder. “If they were, there wouldn’t be this constant tension surrounding them.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Beomgyu states firmly, arms folding over his chest. He can’t help but look at Yeonjun, wondering if he’s paying any attention to the nonsense coming out of his second in command. Yeonjun’s still heavily invested in his conversation with Taehyun, however, and Beomgyu catches himself before he pouts.
Soobin reads him though—like an open book—and just sighs. “Hopeless.”
“I wanna try something,” Kai says, detangling Soobin’s limbs from around him (much to the older’s dismay). Kai takes two strides with his long legs and stands face to face with (or well, ‘face to air with’ because he’s almost a head taller than) Beomgyu.
That—well first, it hurts his pride, but second—it makes Beomgyu nervous.
“Fall,” is Kai’s one word command and Beomgyu looks up at him incredulously. It seems to eat away at Kai’s patience because the younger shoves him lightly and Beomgyu’s ass meets the ground not even a second later due to his lack of balance. Wolves were supposed to be agile, but when an overgrown 19 year old plants a palm on your forehead and pushes you backwards, you’d be caught off guard too, wouldn’t you?
In mere seconds, before he can even complain, Kai’s fallen on top of him with a thud. He feigns hurt so well that Beomgyu almost falls for it. He can hear Soobin clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth in disapproval.
Beomgyu stares up at Kai questionably, unsure of what to do, and luckily Kai understands that he’s poorly experienced in putting up a show. “Sorry, my bad,” Kai begins his act with a pout, making sure he’s loud enough for the intended audience to hear and sure enough, Beomgyu notices that Taehyun and Yeonjun grow silent.
“Forgive me?” Kai asks and nuzzles his nose against Beomgyu’s neck, dangerously close to his scent gland which has the older shuddering. In response, Beomgyu hesitantly reaches up to pat the boy’s head reassuringly, allowing his fingers to card through the soft hair.
“Always,” he whispers and then Kai grins wickedly. Beomgyu begins to grow suspicious.
“Thanks, Beommie! I’d get up, but you’re just so comfy,” Kai lets out an elongated sigh and then collapses onto Beomgyu—point blank—with absolutely no care for the latter’s comfort. Beomgyu grunts at the force of the impact, but continues to caress Kai’s hair because it’s all he knows how to correctly do at the moment.
“Wanna cuddle with you like this more often,” Kai mumbles sleepily, though Beomgyu’s sure he’s wide awake right now. Beomgyu’s breath hitches when Kai fits his head into the crook of Beomgyu’s neck again, lips barely brushing over his nape. “You smell so good,” Kai compliments and then his thin lips force themselves into a pucker that touches Beomgyu’s skin for a split second.
And only a split second because Soobin’s standing beside them at the blink of an eye and hauling Kai off of Beomgyu with an inhumane growl. “Kai,” his voice is stern and has a visible effect on his lover. Kai’s eyes are cast downwards, unable to meet Soobin’s, but he mouths “you owe me, big time” to Beomgyu before Soobin drags him away. Owe him what exactly?
Beomgyu sits up, watching their retreating fingers shrink in the distance, and then Taehyun’s noise of annoyance snaps him back into reality. “That probably means I won’t be able to go back to our room for a while. I’d rather not see them making out for the umpteenth time.”
Beomgyu’s eyes seek Taehyun, wanting to grin at the boy snarkily, but he ends up fixating on Yeonjun who’s staring at him in a way that knocks the wind out of his lungs. The expression on his countenance is unreadable for the most part, but then Yeonjun rolls his tongue over his lips and quirks his eyebrows upwards. Now that’s unusual.
Yeonjun looks—and Beomgyu hopes he doesn’t jinx it—annoyed.
At first, he’s sure that he’d just imagined Yeonjun’s look of irritation because why would Yeonjun be annoyed in the first place? He wasn’t possibly jealous, was he?
But then Soobin nonchalantly pulls Beomgyu onto his lap one afternoon (he figures it’s to get back at Kai, who puffs up his cheeks angrily and looks away) and Yeonjun’s gaze meets his with such intensity. Something compels Beomgyu to scoot off of Soobin and he realizes, after he looks up again at Yeonjun for approval, that it’s because he’s submitted to Yeonjun without noticing it.
The third time it happens, Taehyun is the unfortunate victim of Yeonjun’s aggression. They’re all huddled up on the couch to watch a horror movie and at a jumpscare, Beomgyu curls up against Taehyun for comfort. Having known him for years, it’s no surprise Taehyun can easily calm him down by wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him in close.
This particular night is different.
After the movie ends, Beomgyu is haste in removing Taehyun’s arm because he could sense the sudden thickness in the air. Taehyun seems too sleepy to notice, making a noise of confusion at Beomgyu’s peculiar actions, but before he can reach out again for Beomgyu’s warmth—
“Don’t you dare,” Yeonjun’s hand is at the base of Taehyun’s throat; there’s no pressure being applied, but it’s threatening nonetheless. “Keep your hands off him.”
“Yeonjun,” Soobin’s the voice of reason amid the tense scene unfolding before the five of them. He reaches out to curl a hand around Yeonjun’s shoulder, silently telling him to ease up, and Yeonjun does so, but not without roughly shrugging Soobin off.
“Whatever,” Yeonjun mutters, climbing off a very dazed and confused Taehyun. Beomgyu’s breath hitches when Yeonjun looks at him and he fights the urge to follow the older to their shared bedroom. There’s this need to look after Yeonjun and make sure he’s okay and it’s so, so hard for Beomgyu to ignore. God these instincts could fuck themselves.
“What the hell was that about?” Taehyun asks, but he’s too drowsy to actually care about getting an answer. “I’m going to bed.”
“He’ll apologize in the morning,” Soobin sighs, running a hand down Kai’s back since the youngest seems extremely perplexed. It’s in Kai’s nature to worry, so Soobin guides him to their room carefully. “Sorry, ‘Gyu. You’re on your own tonight.”
In all honesty, Beomgyu could sleep right there on the couch. There was no need, none at all, for him to go to their bedroom. Besides, he was probably the last person Yeonjun wanted to see and something about being fresh meat just didn’t seem appealing to Beomgyu.
The chase, the hunt, the thrill—it’s nice, but not when it comes to Yeonjun.
“Beomgyu.”
Yeonjun’s voice is even lower than when they’d first met and Beomgyu’s sure the entire household can hear the commanding tone, despite Yeonjun’s volume being barely audible. Stiffly, Beomgyu makes his way down the hallway to his— their —bedroom.
“Is this a game to you?” Yeonjun doesn’t waste a second, yanking Beomgyu into the room, locking the door behind them, and encasing Beomgyu between him and the wall. “Don’t fucking test me.”
Behind Yeonjun’s messy bangs, Beomgyu catches sight of the way his amber eyes crystallize and glow. The smell of mint is so strong, Beomgyu would normally find it nauseating, but because it’s Yeonjun he finds it enticing and allows himself to be engulfed by it. He relaxes against the door comfortably, despite Yeonjun glaring at him with such dissatisfaction.
“I’m sorry,” Beomgyu apologizes, even though he’s not exactly sure what for. To this, Yeonjun slams his palm against the space by Beomgyu’s head and scoffs.
“Are you really? This is what you wanted, isn’t it? To get on my nerves?” Beomgyu can’t reply because it’s true. The feeling coursing through his veins as Yeonjun looms over him is enough to have him weak in the knees and Beomgyu doesn’t think he’ll ever experience something as addictive as this.
“Speak up when I ask you something,” Yeonjun growls and it’s so deep that Beomgyu has to reach out and curl his fingers into the hem of the older’s shirt for support. There’s a silence that rests between them until Beomgyu finally finds his voice, despite how weak and pathetic it sounds.
“Yes,” he admits shyly, leaning in to hide his face in Yeonjun’s chest. He feels Yeonjun’s tense muscles relax and after a pregnant pause, arms snake around Beomgyu’s waist. A breath is released by his ear, sounding more exasperated than anything, and Yeonjun nips at his lobe lightly. “You drive me crazy.”
“You’ve got to stop scaring me,” Yeonjun continues, arms tightening around Beomgyu. They stand there, in each other’s embrace and Beomgyu wants to question what Yeonjun means by that, but Yeonjun seems to read his mind. “I don’t want them to steal you from me.”
At this, Beomgyu has to laugh. It earns him a pinch on the side and a half-hearted “brat”, but Yeonjun is so endearing that Beomgyu can’t stop the giggles that bubble past his lips.
“In case you haven’t noticed, Soobin and Kai act like a married couple and Taehyun would rather gut himself in the throat than look at me like that,” Beomgyu reasons, hands sliding up and over Yeonjun’s broad shoulders. “And if it helps, you’re the only one I’m interested in.”
They maneuver silently until their foreheads are pressed together, their eyes zeroing in on another’s lips with no shame. Yeonjun’s the first to lean in because Beomgyu wouldn’t dare do anything without his permission (he sends another ‘fuck you’ to his instincts), but they kiss with rivaling passion. More, more, more, until Yeonjun’s got Beomgyu hoisted up in his arms and Beomgyu’s got his fingers tangled in Yeonjun’s hair. They part for air once in a while and then resume kissing, coaxing lips apart and fighting for dominance with their tongues.
(It’s obvious who wins those fights. Beomgyu gets tired of cussing out his instincts.)
“Be mine,” Yeonjun manages in between kisses and Beomgyu groans against his lips. “ Shut up and kiss me.”
Despite the way his grunt elicits a shiver from Yeonjun, the older doesn’t falter, nudging Beomgyu’s face away from him momentarily. “Baby.”
“What?” Beomgyu tries not to whine, but then catches sight of how serious Yeonjun looks. “I’m yours , idiot,” Beomgyu reassures. “Now kiss me before I change my mind.”
He doesn’t mean it and Yeonjun knows that as well, but Yeonjun still tosses him onto the bed instead of fulfilling his request. Beomgyu’s this close to throwing a tantrum over it; luckily, Yeonjun reads his pouty demeanor and crawls onto bed, descending over him. “I won’t let you.”
(And if Beomgyu ends up breathless with his bangs stuck to his forehead from sweat and a constellation of hickies painted along the column of his pale neck—well, it’s quite the thrill , alright.)