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Soft sun. Gentle ticks of a clock somewhere close by.
He feels like he’s drifting on a soft cloud. The scents of lavender and rosemary calmly billow through the room and to his nose, along with the slightest tinge of iron — it’s Seonghwa-hyung’s potion no doubt, set up like a diffuser in a cauldron.
There’s a soft pillow under his head, a warm and cozy nest of blankets tucked around him. A strong arm encircling his waist, gentle fingers petting his hair. Yunho.
There’s the gentle sound of voices murmuring, a soft, unhurried conversation. It rouses him from his suspended daydream.
“—on how he’s feeling when he wakes up,” Hongjoong’s firm but kind voice drifts towards his ears.
“We could just celebrate on Thursday?” Seonghwa proposes.
“That’s a possibility, yes. But—“
Mingi exhales, low and long. Yunho’s fingers pause in his hair. “Baby?” His voice is low. “You awake?”
He shifts his legs and slowly presses his nose against Yunho’s neck, inhaling the warm scent of baked cookies from the alpha. “Mmnph.”
There’s a breath of amused laughter against his hair, and Yunho starts slowly rubbing big, warm circles on his back. “How are you feeling?”
Mingi yawns, nuzzling at the alpha’s shoulder. “Sleepyyyy. Comfy. Safe. Brain no longer soup.”
“That’s good,” Yunho drops a kiss on the side of his head. “Do you think you’re ready to face the world? The hyungs were planning on starting dinner.”
Mingi presses his lips flat, and does his best to cuddle closer to Yunho, slinging one leg over the alpha’s hips. “No moving. Comfy.”
“This is why we call you princess, you know,” Yunho murmurs, voice dipping into his lower register. His hand slides down, resting on Mingi’s lower back like a hot brand.
The wolf tilts his head back, just enough to lock gazes with Yunho. The alpha’s mouth slides from a smile to a smirk and he parts his lips, ever so slightly—
“Gross, none of us want to see you two eyefucking.”
Wooyoung’s voice slices through the air. Mingi drops his head back on Yunho’s shoulder, grumbling.
“Wooyoung, you really have the worst timing.”
“Thank you, I try my best,” Mingi can hear the smug smirk in Wooyoung’s voice. “Hyungs, the princess is awake!”
There’s a beat of silence, and then the loud scraping of chairs and footsteps.
Seonghwa’s the first one in the room, hair messily falling into his eyes as he lasers-on to Mingi. Hongjoong is a half-step behind him, the two eldest members of the pack making a beeline for them.
“Yunho, you should have told us as soon as he was awake,” Seonghwa scolds, plopping down on the sofa bed and placing the back of his hand against Mingi’s forehead. “He’s not hot any more, Joong-“
“How are you feeling, Mingi?” Hongjoong says, lips flat as he tries to hide his worry.
He’s feeling like he’s getting really sick of that question. Mingi huffs out through his nose, turning away from Seonghwa to bury his face in the blankets.
Yunho laughs, stroking over his back. “He said that he’s feeling better, but he’s still sleepy.”
“Well, he needs to eat, at least,” Seonghwa says. “We bought meat to grill, baby, and Wooyoung made some soup if you don’t feel like you can handle anything heavy.”
“I made it just for youuuu~!” The fox sings, dropping onto the bed and draping himself over both Mingi and Yunho.
The breath punches out of his chest as Wooyoung lands on top of them. Hongjoong immediately starts scolding, tone sharp, but Mingi blocks him out, adjusting against Yunho’s chest to redistribute some of the weight.
“You’re heavy, Woo,” The alpha protests.
“Sorry. Should we make a Mingi sandwich instead?”
Seonghwa honestly squawks when Wooyoung pushes him out of the way, and just like that, Mingi’s curled up between Yunho and Wooyoung, the fox clinging to his waist and nuzzling the back of his neck.
“Oh for—“ Hongjoong cuts himself off. “Mingi needs to eat, you two!!”
“Put the soup in a thermos and bring us crackers,” Wooyoung suggests. “Dip and eat. Oh and water! Mingki definitely needs more water.”
There’s a pause, and then Hongjoong says “That’s not a terrible idea—“ as Seonghwa groans, “Not on the couch, you heathens!”
“If we make a mess, we’ll clean it up, hyungs,” Yunho says sweetly. “Promise.”
“Double promise.”
Mingi pokes his head out to add, “Extra promise,” sticking out his lower lip.
“Forget heathens, you lot are menaces!” Seonghwa declares, but there’s a faint edge of something that might be a smile pulling at his lips. “Fine, but you have to sit eating up, and with a towel over your laps.”
With that, he disappears into the kitchen. Hongjoong takes a moment longer, eyes drinking him in. But whatever he finds leaves him satisfied: he gives them a quirk of his eyebrow and follows Seonghwa.
“Worth it,” Mingi yawns, turning his head to gaze into Yunho’s eyes. “Feed me?”
“Of course, baby,” Yunho tucks a stray lock of hair behind Mingi’s ear, smiling softly at him.
Mingi beams.
“What did I say about eyefucking?” Wooyoung teases, poking Mingi’s side playfully. “C’mon, we better get rearranged before hyung gets back, or he’ll really be mad.”
That is—a good point. Mingi twists in Yunho’s arms, almost accidentally elbowing Wooyoung as he tries to sit up.
“Watch it princess!” Wooyoung says. “Your elbows are lethal weapons, you know!”
Mingi sticks his tongue out at the fox, plants a hand on Yunho’s hip, and pulls himself up. Cool air hits his body and he inhales slowly, taking another lungful of calming lavender and rosemary.
When he open his eyes again, Yunho has a hand around his waist, sat up on his right side. Wooyoung’s disappeared from sight, but he can hear the fox playfully shouting at their hyungs from the hallway.
“Still doing alright?” Yunho asks, brushing a kiss against his neck. Mingi hums, finding the arm around his waist and lacing their fingers together.
In that peaceful moment, however, a smell hits his nose. Before he even realizes he’s moving, his whole body is turning towards the front door.
“Min?” The alpha asks. Mingi tilts his head, inhaling again. Oh, that’s—!
Right as Wooyoung starts cursing from inside the hall closet, the lock on the front door clicks open, the wooden door swinging open.
“Ah,” Yeosang smiles at him, standing in the doorway, holding a blue box. “Sannie, Jongho! Mingi’s awake.”
“Welcome home,” Yunho says at the same time that Jongho barrels past Yeosang, dropping several boxes on the floor and practically running towards them.
“Hyung!” Their maknae says, and Mingi has barely a minute to blink before Jongho’s on him, inspecting his face and limbs, staring him dead-on.
“Jong, I’m okay,” Mingi says, which just causes the other werewolf to frown and switch his attention.
“Yunho-hyung?”
“He woke up about ten minutes ago,” The alpha reports cheekily, grinning as Mingi huffs and makes a weak attempt to escape Yunho’s arms (he doesn’t get very far). “No headache, no sensory overload. The hyungs are bringing dinner and water.”
Jongho nods very seriously and turns back to Mingi. “I’m feeding you,” He says.
“Yunho already got bestie privileges!” Wooyoung yells from the closet, emerging several seconds later with a veritable mountain of towels.
“That is bullshit,” San announces from the front door, stooping down to retrieve several of the packages Jongho dropped. “Yunho got to cuddle Mingi all day and now he gets to feed him too?”
“He asked me,” Yunho says smugly as Mingi hides his face in his hands. “Get on my level, nerds.”
“Mingi, what if I want to feed you?” Yeosang says, swinging the door shut and locking it behind him.
“You’re last in line, hyung, I get second dibs,” Jongho says firmly.
“That’s not a thing,” Wooyoung scoffs. “There’s no way that’s a thing!!”
“CHILDREN,” Hongjoong bellows. Everyone falls silent. Mingi peeks between his fingers to see the werewolf carrying a tray full of various kinds of grilled meats and side dishes. Seonghwa is right behind him, a tin of crackers tucked under his arm, a thermos in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
“Thank you,” Hongjoong sets his tray on the table. “It’s quieter time — please use your inside voices or I’ll put you all in timeout.”
Seonghwa coughs, and then gestures at Wooyoung. Thirty seconds later, there’s a towel draped over his and Yunho’s laps, and the water bottle laying on the couch cushions.
The rest of the pack take this opportunity to descend into the living room properly as Hongjoong disappears and then reappears with plates and cutlery. Jongho goes to fetch drinks, and Mingi dutifully opens his mouth as Yunho feeds him a soup-dipped cracker.
It’s an odd way to celebrate his birthday: despite being known among the loudest of the pack, Mingi’s more then happy to half-fade into the background, dutifully sipping his tea and accepting food from Yunho.
That’s not to say he completely ignores the conversation however; he responds every time he’s asked a question, and he’s eventually buried under bags and boxes by his packmates when Seonghwa announces dessert will only be after presents.
Mingi happily shreds through wrapping paper and oohs and aahs over his gifts. The standouts are: new headphones, his favorite fancy writing pens from a really expensive brand, three comfy sweaters in different colors, a gift basket of all his favorite snacks (Wooyoung shoots him finger guns and a wink), really expensive bath products, a jacket that’s very obviously been Hongjoong-reformed, and a day-long gift certificate to the most-exclusive supernatural-only spa in the area.
Mingi immediately whips around to Yunho in disbelief, who just smiles and pokes his nose. “Presenting is hard,” He says. “You’re going to need it.”
“This is some favoritism bullshit—“ Yeosang starts, bluntly.
“Where was my gift certificate for my presentation, huh?” San immediately yells.
“You’re a beta, you were fine,” Wooyoung says, and legitimately yips as San tackles him to the floor.
“I was NOT fine, thank you very much—“
“Fucking bestie privilege,” Jongho says, the rest of his sentence unintelligible.
“So much for quiet time,” Hongjoong says. Seonghwa pats him on the back.
Mingi can feel his ears burning. “Yuyu, this is too much.”
“My parents’ pack is rich as fuck, remember? Old money as far back as my family can trace their were roots,” Yunho pokes his nose again. “I’d rather spend as much as I can on my pack mates instead of it being used for politics and shit.”
“Did you just say politics?” Seonghwa asks, voice deceptively mild.
Yunho rolls his eyes. “Hyung, you met my childhood pack alpha, remember? I left for a reason.”
“More like you followed after Mingi like a lovesick puppy,” Wooyoung wheezes, still trapped beneath San.
“Well, that too,” The alpha turns his attention back to Mingi. “Please just accept it, baby. It’s a special occasion.”
“…fine,” The wolf pokes Yunho back, pushing his finger just below the alpha’s cheekbone. “But there will be consequences.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive,” Yunho gives him a big, wide smile, which is cheating.
Mingi huffs and turns around to start packing his presents away. “Thank you,” He says, smiling shyly. “You’ve made this a really good evening.”
“You’re so cute,” San reaches over the arm of the couch to pinch his cheek. “Of course we had to properlycelebrate your birthday, Min, even if it’s the evening before.”
“Never pass up a chance to throw any party,” Yeosang says in his best impersonation of Wooyoung.
The fox squawks from the floor. Seonghwa interrupts another potential brawl by flicking his hand; seconds later, a tray with a cake, two tubs of ice cream, bowls, and spoons floats in.
Mingi cuts off any squabbles about who gets to feed him by doing it himself, practically burying his face in his bowl as he leans against Yunho, ignoring everyone else as they laugh and talk.
Half an hour later, Mingi trudges up the stairs, carrying one of his bags full of presents. Yunho is behind him, carrying the other two as the ascend to the second floor.
The wolf can still hear the rest of the pack chatting and laughing below, but as he’d been about thirty seconds from falling asleep once more, Mingi had decided to retire for the night.
To nobody’s surprise, Yunho elected to go with him.
Mingi wants so badly to turn around and just stare. His mind is still kind of reeling from everything that happened today. It feels like a fever dream, almost.
But his body can’t quite forget the rush that zipped through him when Yunho confessed, a response to Mingi’s accidental revelation of his feelings. The sight of Yunho storing down at him with unadulterated love and adoration seems like it’s seared into the back of his eyelids.
It feels like Yunho’s love was a known, quantifiable thing just waiting for Mingi to discover it.
Their trek up the stairs and down the hall to Mingi’s room is in silence: a comfortable, yet charged silence. As they stop in front of his door, Mingi turns around.
Yunho’s as close as he can get, a soft smile on his lips. “Hey.”
“Hi,” Mingi can’t stop himself from leaning closer, carefully brushing his nose against the alpha’s cheek. “Come in for a while?”
“Yes, please.”
Okay. Okay. Mingi reluctantly turns around to let Yunho into his space, holding the door open for the other before closing it halfway.
A fully closed door is a temptation. With his presentation hanging over their heads, Mingi doesn’t want to risk anything.
Yunho sets the two bags on top of Mingi’s dresser. Mingi follows suit, reaching out to carefully grab Yunho’s hand and gently tug him towards the bed.
The alpha follows easily, kicking off his slippers and folding his legs under him. Mingi lets his own slippers drop onto the floor as he collapses back against his comforter.
His exhale is loud in the quiet of the room. Yunho holds his hand gently, idly playing with his fingers.
“Hey, Mingi.”
The wolf cracks an eye open, rolling onto his side so they’re facing each other. “Hey, Yunho.”
Yunho’s smile is gentle and kind and utterly fond. “I’m in love with you.”
Mingi can’t help but smile back. “I think I remember you saying that earlier,” He teases.
“I just wanted to remind you,” Yunho lays down next to him, still holding Mingi’s hand. “Whatever happens tomorrow, however you present. It won’t change anything. You’re it for me.”
“Gods, Yuyu,” Mingi swallows, squeezing Yunho’s fingers desperately. “Me too. I can’t imagine anyone else but you…” He trails off.
Yunho’s eyes are dark. “Mingi…”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t-“
“Don’t apologize. I very much, so badly want to be your mate. But that’s a discussion for after tomorrow, baby.”
Mingi scoots closer. “I don’t truly need a label on us, Yunho. I just need you.”
“You have me,” Yunho’s gaze stares into his. “Mingi. I would very much like to kiss you.”
The wolf swallows, and then nods once. “Yes, please.”
It takes them a moment to adjust, to find the right angle of approach, but it’s worth it.
There’s no sense of fireworks when they meet. Instead, it’s warmth and comfort and coming home, the scent of warm cookies lingering on his tongue. There’s no battle for dominance, just love and Mingi easily yielding underneath Yunho’s lips and tongue.
“You taste good,” Yunho rumbles in his chest as he pulls back. His eyes are dark and focused, and Mingi can’t help but purr back at him.
“Again?” He can’t help but ask.
Yunho hums, considering, and dips his head down again. The kiss is deeper this time, Yunho unrelenting as he slides his free hand into Mingi’s hair, using it to tilt his head back.
Mingi whines and gasps, mouth parting. Yunho smiles against his lips, sliding his tongue against his bottom lip. There’s a pause before the alpha pulls back, thin trail of saliva connecting them as they stare into each other’s eyes.
Mingi licks his lips, shifting against the bed. “Yunho-“
The alpha ducks his head, pressing his nose to his scent gland. A loud whine pulls from Mingi’s mouth as Yunho shifts against him, replacing his nose with his mouth to gently lick over the skin, warm cookie smell mixing into rich chocolate.
“Yunho. Yunho.”
“Calm down, baby,” The alpha murmurs, soft and deep and warm. “I’m just making sure you smell like me.”
“You are a horrible tease,” Mingi does his best to calm his heart rate, clutching at Yunho’s shoulders.
“Sorry,” Yunho rubs his face over Mingi’s neck once last time, letting go of his hair. “All done, baby. Sorry for being a ‘horrible tease’.”
Mingi pouts, wrapping his arms around the alpha’s back, clinging to him. “You’ll have to make it up to me.”
“Just for you,” Yunho brushes their noses together, thumb gently massaging the base of Mingi’s neck.
They lay in silence for several long, seemingly never-ending moments, before Yunho sighs and shifts. “I should go.”
Mingi frowns, but reluctantly loosens his hold on the alpha, staring at him.
Yunho gathers Mingi’s hands together, pressing kisses to them as he gets off the bed. “I love you,” He says, squeezing gently. “Sleep well, princess.”
Mingi manages to keep a small smile on his face as Yunho kisses his cheek in farewell. He keeps smiling as the alpha leaves, closing the door behind him.
It’s only when he hears Yunho’s door open all the way down at the end of the hall that he lets it drop, tiny frown pulling at his mouth.
Mingi sighs, covering his face with one arm. He already feels an ache, a sadness without Yunho by his side. He knows if he had asked, truly, Yunho would have curled up with him all night long.
Scowling, Mingi climbs up the bed and under his covers. Sets his alarm, turns off the lamp light. Closes his eyes.
The faster night passes and his presentation comes, the sooner he can see Yunho again. That’s the thought that syas in his mind as his breathing evens out and his heart rate decreases.
It accompanies him all the way to the edge of unconsciousness.
~the end