Archive of Our Own ^beta

Suddenly, the shrill shriek of a hawk cut through the muffled sound of the blizzard, and the traveler froze, primal instincts kicking in and warning of a predator. His first impulse was to flee, but then his rational side successfully regained control. Not that there would’ve been anywhere for him to run to or hide in, anyways.

Squinting through the haze in front of him, his suspicions were confirmed by the mere shadow of a form circling above. But rather than diving down to target him, it only screamed once more, before dropping down on top of roof of the two-story inn.

Taking in a shaky breath, the traveler steeled his nerves, hunkering down for the last few hundred feet until his destination.

At long last, a hesitant knock sounded on the large wooden door, followed by a few more raps soon after. A small panel near the top of the door slid open to reveal a blinking eye, before it was swiftly shut and the door creaked open.

“Welcome to Safety Inn, how may I help you?”

A bright-eyed boy greeted the traveler, the steady light from inside finally illuminating the features of a nervous-looking young man bundled up snuggly in order to brave the swirling snowstorm outside. Even with the door open for a few seconds the frigid air had already managed to settle inside the entryway.

After ushering the traveler inside, the boy immediately swung the door back closed, firmly bolting it shut before turning to the traveler with a smile.

“Freezing out there, huh? I’m assuming you’ll want to stay the night, with this weather? I’m Bambam, if you’d like to head this way.”

“Yes, that’d be nice,” the traveler said, voice slightly croaky from the cold as he followed Bambam forwards. He had a heavy pack strapped to his back while one hand carried another rucksack.

“I can take those,” a voice sounded from behind him and the traveler jumped when the weight from this back was suddenly lifted. He was greeted by another boy, this one visibly taller than the other, but also smiling in that same welcoming way as he introduced himself.

"I'm Yugyeom, nice to meet you.”

A hint of fear flashed through the traveler's eyes as he recognized the taller boy for what he was, but he quickly regained control over his expression, though perhaps also out of fear.

“A single room, then? And would you like to order dinner from us?” Bambam continued amicably, his placating tone indicative of the fact that he'd noticed the traveler's unease. And slowly, the man began to relax.

“Y-Yes, dinner would be nice.”

“Alright, here’s a menu, whenever you decide what you’d like to eat you can fill out this slip in the pocket on the back, and drop it off back here. I’ll let you know when your meal is ready, and you can decide if you’d like to eat in your room or in the common area.”

“I’ll eat in my room, thank you.” The man said hastily as he took the proffered menu. Bambam nodded, fully expecting this answer.

"Sounds good, it will be brought to you when ready. Also, do you have any special requirements for a room? We do have a cat shifter staying here now as well, and if I'm not mistaken you'd prefer a room on the opposite side of the inn?"

The man blanched while Bambam suddenly looked suspiciously smug, having the confirmation that his guess about their guest's identity had been correct. Yugyeom, on the other hand, only rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry sir, there's a reason why we're called Safety Inn, you're perfectly safe here," Yugyeom said kindly, shooting one last glare at Bambam who was now biting back a snicker. He snatched the keys from his hand, then gestured to their guest.

"You can follow me, I'll escort you to your room."

When Yugyeom returned, Bambam was still giggling behind the front desk, earning another exasperated but grudgingly amused look from the younger.

"You absolutely terrified the poor guy. You know how rare it is for mouse shifters to travel alone like that."

"I know, know," Bambam looked genuinely contrite, but his amusement won over by a long shot. "But did you see his face? It was like he genuinely believed he'd be eaten!"

At this, Yugyeom only shook his head some more, but couldn't quite help a small smile.

"You're a menace, you know that?"

Bambam only stuck his tongue out at Yugyeom.

"At least we're tied up now. You won the past three weeks in a row, I can't let you win again, now can I?" Bambam sniffed.

"That means I have an eye for it, and I don't even have to terrify our poor guests in order to guess their species. There's a reason why I've been winning, though I suppose my innate superiority is the reason why you've resorted to such pathetic measures..." Yugyeom grinned.

"Hey! Now now that's just a lie!"

With that, Bambam launched himself onto Yugyeom's back, his legs wrapping tightly around his waist to free up his arms, allowing him to whack Yugyeom on the head and tug on his hair.

"Yah yah yah that hurts! Get down, you crazy monkey!"

"Oh who's superior now, the big 'ol bear can't even take the little monkey? Who’s so superior now?”

“You play dirty!”

“As if you don’t! You totally had Youngjae-hyung help you last time!”

“What about me?” A third voice piped up mildy from behind, causing the other two to spin around, Bambam still firmly attached to Yugyeom’s back.

“Hyung! Didn’t you help Yugyeom with that bat shifter last time? The only reason he guessed right was because you told him she wanted the room with the hook hanging from the ceiling!”

“Nuh-uh! I saw it for myself!” Yugyeom immediately protested.

“You had help!”

Youngjae only watched on amusedly as they continued to banter, cutting in only when they both needed a moment to take a breath.

“All I want to know is what you’ve done this time, our new guest seemed absolutely terrified to even step out into the hallway, and asked me to bring his order down.”

At this, Yugyeom stared pointedly at Bambam, who at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“I… may have mentioned the cat shifter also staying here, in passing, and we’re pretty sure he’s a mouse.”

Youngjae immediately burst into laughter, nearly dropping the order he had in his hand.

“Oh my god you’re terrible!”

“See!” Yugyeom added smugly, now secure in his victory on the matter. Bambam only pouted, shooting a disdainful look at Youngjae for not taking his side.

“You should’ve seen how scared he was, he was almost as jumpy as you used to be!”

That stopped Youngjae’s laughter, and now it was his turn to look petulant.

“Hey, that’s a low blow! And I wasn’t that jumpy!”

“Are you kidding? You’re a rabbit, all you do is jump and twitch!”

“Not in human form!”

“Do you remember the first time we met? You almost shot up a tree when you saw Yugyeom! And I thought I was supposed to be the monkey!”

This managed to get a giggle out of Yugyeom, while Youngjae flushed red at the memory.

“Well you try living alone in this place for a year, and everything’s out to kill you! Of course you’d be a little apprehensive of a bear!”

“Yah yah yah, what’s with all the racket?”

All three immediately stiffened at the addition of a new voice, fixing on sheepish smiles as they turned to face their self-proclaimed inn manager.

“Jaebum-hyung…”

Jaebum only raised an eyebrow and Bambam finally jumped down from Yugyeom’s back, giggling nervously.

“Are you guys messing with guests again?”

“No, of course not!” Bambam was quick to deny.

“Yes they were!” Youngjae was just as quick to rebuke. “And they’re being mean!”

Jaebum’s eyes narrowed as he immediately grasped the situation, stepping up to Youngjae to sling an arm around him. Bambam and Yugyeom slumped, knowing they’d both lost this one. Not that they really had a chance to begin with anyways, Jaebum always seemed to take Youngjae’s side.

“Do I have to repeat myself every time?” Jaebum said exasperatedly. “Really? How many times have I told you two to knock off your little games, and to not get other people involved?”

“Sorry,” they both mumbled, each wearing the perfect face of repentance.

Jaebum was ready to continue on with his lecture, but Youngjae was never one to hold a grudge for long, and thus took pity on his dongsaengs. Besides, once Jaebum really got going, it took forever to get him to stop, and if possible, Youngjae would rather not endure such an ordeal.

Not to mention, Yugyeom and Bambam would surely get him back for “tattling” if they all had to sit through an entire lecture. They were already staring at him desperately, and Youngjae felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought of all the pranks they’d be sending his way if this didn’t end now.

“Hyung, it’s okay, I’m sure they won’t do it again,” Youngjae cut in gently, pulling out his imploring eyes for the best effect.

“They better not,” Jaebum said with a huff. “We worked hard to earn this reputation of being a safe place to stay for traveling shifters, we don’t need anything tarnishing that image.”

He seemed ready to go on, but Youngjae cut in again. If Jaebum was in a lecturing mood and couldn’t be stopped, the least he could do was get himself out of it.

“Ah, hyung, I actually have a dinner order from the guest I need to get to Jinyoung-hyung, so I’ll just--”

“I can take that,” Jaebum said without missing a beat, taking the paper from Youngjae’s hand without even letting him finish his sentence. Youngjae only blinked, surprised by the sudden change, before things clicked and he had to force himself to hold back a snicker.

Of course Jinyoung-hyung would be the only one that could divert Jaebum-hyung’s attention.

Bambam and Yugyeom exchanged a look with Youngjae, catching on quickly.

“I think Jinyoung-hyung’s with Mark-hyung in the lounge watching some movie,” Yugyeom supplied helpfully, and Bambam only nodded gleefully along as Jaebum’s eyes darkened a fraction.

“I’ll take this to him, you three, stay out of trouble.”

And then Jaebum left, just as abruptly as he’d come.

Youngjae barely managed to hold in the snickers until Jaebum was out of earshot, and Bambam and Yugyeom soon followed in exploding into laughter.