Don't Be Scared (And Let Out the Beast) [3/5]
❇ Title: Don't Be Scared (And Let Out the Beast) [3/5] for laughingvirus
❇ Pairing: Kai/Suho, Chanyeol/Suho, Chanyeol/Lay, Baekhyun/D.O.
❇ Rating: NC-17
❇ Length: 36,051 words total
❇ Warnings: bare-backing, fingering, fisting, intercrural sex (thigh-fucking), rimming, sex toys, heat, underage sex (between two minors), issues of agency & consent, graphic description of lycanthropy
❇ Author note: So I may have gone all out during the making of this fic. ALL. OUT. I hope you enjoy the result of this madness. Title from EXO’s Let Out the Beast.
Thanks to G, A, who also helped beta (I love you), and especially the lovely S, the latter of whom helped tremendously, alongside listening to me spout rubbish like, “You know what would make this fic better? If there were fairies.” (Sadly, there are no fairies in this fic.)
❇ Summary: Joonmyun was always warned that there were monsters in the woods behind the school, but he thought they were just tales his friends made up to scare him. They weren’t.
The next day there is no uncomfortable horniness, and Joonmyun realises that he was right; it only affects him during the full moon. For some reason, this doesn’t make him feel any better.
Nor does the fact that not only does Jongin not show up to lunch all week, unsurprisingly, neither does Chanyeol. It is the longest that Joonmyun hasn’t spoken to Chanyeol since they first met.
But Joonmyun doesn’t want to push things. He doesn’t want to push Chanyeol before he’s ready, so when Kyungsoo suggests he try to accost Chanyeol after one of the classes they share, Joonmyun shakes his head. “I’ll give him as much time as he needs,” he says. “That’s the least I can do.”
And it works out in his favour when he opens his front door on Saturday to Chanyeol standing there looking sheepish.
“Sorry,” Chanyeol says. “It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have shouted at you. Yixing-hyung told me that I upset you, and I didn’t mean to.”
Joonmyun doesn’t reply, just tugs him down for a hug, because although he wanted to be strong and allow Chanyeol his space, he did really miss him.
Once they’re settled in Joonmyun’s bedroom, Chanyeol says, “I’ve done some research, and I think I’ve worked out what was wrong with you. But you’re not going to like it. I don’t like it.”
“What is it?” Joonmyun asks, sitting forwards with his hands on his knees. This is it.
“He-” Chanyeol swallows. “I think he-” He shakes his head. “It’s so hard to stomach.”
“What?” Joonmyun asks eagerly.
“I think he made you his mate,” Chanyeol rushes out.
Joonmyun does what he does every time he learns something strange and horrible and new-he passes out.
But not for long. He wakes up moments later to Chanyeol fanning his face. “You’ve got to stop doing that,” Chanyeol repeats. “I can’t catch you every time you faint.”
“Sorry,” Joonmyun says. “But-mate? How am I supposed to cope with that?”
Mate. It’s a strong word that implies a life with the other person, like the human concept of soulmates. Joonmyun isn’t even eighteen yet. He hasn’t yet worked out what appeals to him in a partner. He doesn’t even know what sexuality he is.
But all kinds of choice have been removed from him. He’s going to be stuck with Jongin for the rest of his life.
Chanyeol shrugs. “All I know is your body-it’s reacting.”
“Can’t I just…ignore it?” Joonmyun asks quietly. He’s still holding out that there’s a chance that if he ignores it his body will forget.
“That will happen to you every single full moon if you don’t try to do something about it,” Chanyeol says. “You’ll get hot and sweaty and hard and it’ll happen at any time of the day all three full moon days. Do you want that?”
Joonmyun shakes his head mutely, because that would be so much worse. “How do I make it stop?” he asks, but he already has a vague idea, remembering how his body had clenched, how he’d felt wrong somehow.
It takes Chanyeol a few moments to get the words out, and that’s confirmation enough. “He has to mate with you, during the day of the full moon,” Chanyeol manages at last. “The wolf is dominant,” he adds.
Joonmyun curls up into himself, head against his knees. What Chanyeol is saying is that Jongin needs to fuck him for this to stop.
Joonmyun may be a teenage boy but aside from the few short relationships he’s had (with girls) he doesn’t have a lot of experience with love, and he’s never had sex before. The idea of his first sexual experience being getting fucked in the ass by a werewolf somewhat frightens him.
“I didn’t choose this,” Joonmyun says, into his knees. “This isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Chanyeol says. “I told you we shouldn’t have been friends with him.”
“I’m a bleeding heart, I guess,” Joonmyun grumbles. He doesn’t intend to throw Chanyeol’s own words back in his face, but he feels Chanyeol curl up next to him.
“I said I was sorry,” Chanyeol says. “I didn’t mean what I said, I was just lashing out. You’re not a bleeding heart.”
“I am, though,” Joonmyun says, as Chanyeol’s words sink in. “You were right. I was too nice, and Jongin-he misunderstood, and he took advantage of me. I shouldn’t have been so nice.”
“No, Joonmyun,” Chanyeol says, forgoing honorifics once again. “It’s not your fault. The wolf took over and it bit you. And I hate to say it, but Jongin probably didn’t intend to bite you. Maybe. Who knows what’s going on inside his head. But the most important thing is you didn’t ask him to bite you and therefore it’s not your fault.”
Joonmyun sniffs, but he nods his head. “This is scary,” he says. He’s comfortable enough around Chanyeol that it isn’t awkward to admit it. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this. I’m too young.”
“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol says. “I wish there was a way to make it all go away, or to mean that you never had to see him again after the first time, but it might happen every full moon. Though it’ll definitely settle down after the first time you, y’know.”
Joonmyun and Jongin might have to have sex together for the rest of their lives. The idea of this is rather quite terrifying at first. Joonmyun wonders if he’ll enjoy sex. He’s sure he will; it’s sex, what’s not to like? But will he enjoy it with Jongin, a werewolf two years younger who has never had a real friend, let alone a relationship? Will he learn to enjoy it? He’ll have to.
Joonmyun lifts his head from his knees and tries to still his nerves. He needs to learn more about what will happen. “Are there…are there other things that will happen if we’re away from each other?”
“I’m not sure,” Chanyeol says, and he shrugs. “I couldn’t find much because human mates aren’t that willing to talk. Usually they wanted to be mated together because of love, and mating is the only way to truly be with a werewolf. There was one who talked to some wood-protector therianthropes after her mate died. She only really talked about the heat, and getting pregnant, and missing him. I know you’re not a girl so the babies bit doesn’t count, but the rest seems to be the same.”
Joonmyun drops his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling. “Great,” he says. “And now I have to tell him.”
“Good luck with that,” Chanyeol says, sincerely. “And I won’t run away next time. If you need me, I’ll stick around.” He pauses. “As long as my boyfriend’s okay with it,” he says thoughtfully.
It takes a moment for it to filter through to Joonmyun, but when it does it shoves away his fears about this long relationship. “You got together?” he asks, with a smile. “I’m glad for you, you deserve this.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, and he grins. “I’ve liked Yixing-hyung for years. I never knew that he liked me too.”
They fall into conversation about how the two of them got together, but always, at the back of Joonmyun’s mind, is the idea that he is basically now in a relationship that’ll last the rest of his life, and he’s still not sure what to make of it.
~*~*~
During Monday lunchtime nobody mentions that Chanyeol and Joonmyun have made up like they never fought in the first place. Chanyeol just sits there and chats like he’d never left.
Partway through lunch Jongin shows up, somewhat shyly, hovering nervously like they’ll reject him.
The rest of their group turn to Joonmyun to see his reaction. He’s had a lot of time to think over the weekend about everything, and he hasn’t quite got used to anything. But he shrugs all the same.
Jongin sits down next to Kyungsoo, though, rather than by Joonmyun like usual. Joonmyun thinks that’s probably a good idea. He’s not sure if he’ll manage to keep quiet if he sits by him.
“I’m watching you,” Chanyeol says to Jongin, but it’s not as nasty as it once would have been. Jongin nods his understanding.
“How did you do on your exams?” Kyungsoo asks.
“Well enough, I think,” Jongin says. “Not going to be first place, but still good enough. Thanks to Hyung for helping me.”
Joonmyun nods, but doesn’t say anything.
They chat through lunch until the end. “Hyung,” Jongin says, catching up to Joonmyun. “Do you…do you still want me to help teach you to dance? Now my exams are over?”
This gives Joonmyun the opportunity he’s been looking for, to get Jongin alone and away from prying eyes and eager ears. “Sure,” he says.
“Let’s do it earlier, when we used to study,” Jongin says, and it’s settled.
~*~*~
Joonmyun waits until his dance lesson has finished before bringing it up. He thinks that this way he still got to spend time with Jongin if he explains it wrong by mistake and Jongin wants to leave.
“Um,” he begins. “You know when you bit me?”
Jongin freezes. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I never intended to hurt you.”
“Well,” Joonmyun says. “It-it kind of did something.”
He can see the fear in Jongin’s eyes as he says it, and he realises that to Jongin, turning someone else into a werewolf would be one of his worst nightmares. He is well aware of the fear of thinking he’s now a werewolf, but at the same time, he thinks it must be different, and still very hard, for Jongin.
“Not like that,” he says, hastily. “I’m still human, don’t worry. I’m not a wolf.”
The relief exuding from Jongin is palpable. “I’m glad,” Jongin says. “But what did I do to you?”
“We-um.” He’s practised in the mirror, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “You marked me as your mate.”
“Oh,” Jongin says quietly, and he looks at Joonmyun with wide eyes. “I-I didn’t know I could do that, I’m so, so sorry.”
Joonmyun shrugs. “It just means that we…” He shakes his head. Now it comes down to it, he can’t say it. The words catch in his throat and no matter how he tries to cough them up, he’s too embarrassed to say them aloud.
“It’s okay, I can find out,” Jongin says. “Don’t say it if you’re uncomfortable.”
Joonmyun just nods his head mutely. It’s all too much for him.
“I’m so sorry that biting you caused you pain, Hyung,” Jongin says. “And I do understand if you don’t want me to sit with you at lunch.”
“We’ll have to get used to each other,” Joonmyun says softly. “That’s what happens with mates. They live together, breathe together. So it’s fine.”
“It’s not,” Jongin whispers, but he doesn’t protest.
~*~*~
Their conversation resumes several days later when Jongin has done his research.
“I understand why you didn’t want to talk about it,” Jongin says, shuffling his feet and doing his best not to look at Joonmyun. “Us…doing it.”
“Yeah,” Joonmyun says. “It’s just a bit…much to think about.”
“I have some bad news,” Jongin says, and this time he looks up. “Mating is linked directly to the wolf attributes.”
This alarms Joonmyun. “Does that mean I’ll have to-to do it with the wolf?” He shudders.
“No, no,” Jongin reassures him, a look of disgust on his face. “Nothing like that. But, um, it can’t be done until the wolf is sexually mature.”
Joonmyun furrows his brow in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I…can’t have sex until the wolf becomes sexually mature,” Jongin says, his voice slightly stronger.
“And…when is that?” Joonmyun asks, because he still doesn’t understand the issue.
“January,” Jongin says. “When I turn sixteen, the wolf matures.”
It’s October.
“So…I have to deal with this heat until January?” Joonmyun asks, all but throwing his hands up in the air in despair.
“I can help you, if you want?” Jongin asks quietly. “We can’t, you know, but there are other things I could do to help you. It should calm the heat down if I help.”
Joonmyun nods quickly, because coping with it on his own had been almost unbearable. It would be embarrassing, but he’s going to have sex with this boy eventually, so he may as well allow him near his dick if it will help. He just hopes that it does help.
Thankfully there’s another three weeks before he will have to test it, and he is particularly grateful for those opportunities to get used to the idea, before anything actually happens.
~*~*~
Despite being a five-week month, October passes by in a daze of music club, homework, group gaming sessions, several therianthrope group meetings, dance practice, and a lot of school. Joonmyun feels like he’s aged months in these three weeks.
As it draws nearer and nearer to the first full month day of November, Joonmyun tries to prepare himself for what is about to happen to him.
The proper full moon is a Monday, which means that the first day is Sunday. Joonmyun has to prepare weeks in advance to make sure he’s allowed out during the day. Jongin had said that the first session had best be at his place, in case it happens during the day and Joonmyun’s parents are around. Neither of them particularly wants to explain to parents what they would be doing.
Most of Joonmyun’s preparation comes in the form of getting his brain used to the idea that Jongin’s going to be helping him to get off. He’s got plenty of time to get used to that before any actual sex happens, and he appreciates that steady build-up, because he knows he will need it.
He doesn’t know what Jongin’s preparation is, but he hopes it involves learning how to make everything feel good for Joonmyun, because he’s the one who will be feeling it.
All-too quickly, Sunday comes, and Joonmyun makes his way to school, where Jongin had said he’ll meet him. They’re planning on doing their homework together until the heat hits. Jongin had brushed off any other suggestions.
“My home is really small,” Jongin says when he arrives, and he doesn’t look at Joonmyun when he says it, just watches as his feet scuff against the pavement. “Sorry about it.”
He leads Joonmyun down the road to a brick building that is separated from the rest. It’s two storeys high, and Jongin leads him through the gate and punches the entrance code into the access code box beside the door. It clicks, and Jongin heads in and up the stairs. Joonmyun follows hastily, so that he won’t get locked out.
Jongin lives on the top floor, at the far end of the corridor. He lets them in with a key he fishes out of his pocket.
Jongin’s flat is smaller than Joonmyun could ever have imagined, just two rooms. The main room is a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom all in one, with a sofa-bed doubling as a couch. There’s a small table in front of it that Joonmyun presumes is also his breakfast table, and a slim wardrobe for Jongin’s clothing.
Joonmyun remembers how Jongin had called it his home, and he can actually see it. The place looks lived-in, if neat. There’s a shelf of books above a tiny television, no bigger than a tablet screen, that sits on the breakfast table, and a large and old laptop resting on the floor beneath it. The walls are white but there are a few posters stuck up, mostly of Michael Jackson, though there is one of Han Yeseul, one of someone called Musiq Soulchild, one of Shinhwa, and one of a large red flower. The one thing the place is lacking is any sign of family. There are no pictures of Jongin and his parents-or adoptive parents-anywhere.
Jongin kicks his shoes off in the doorway and crosses to sit on the sofa bed. He gets his homework out and places it on the table before him, and then pats the bed beside him. Joonmyun nervously follows suit, toeing off his shoes and perching next to Jongin.
He’s on Jongin’s bed. He can’t believe this is happening, even if all they’re doing is working on their homework together.
Maybe it-whatever it is-can sense Jongin there next to him, a warm and unobtrusive presence, because it’s only an hour before the heat starts acting up. His entire body flushes, and there’s a steady pressure building up in his crotch.
“It’s happening,” he says, and he’s sure his face must be tomato red by now, a combination of the hot flush and the blush from the embarrassment he’s feeling at admitting it.
“Okay,” Jongin says slowly, and then he puts his pen down and turns to face Joonmyun. “How do you want to do this?”
“I was hoping you would know,” Joonmyun whines. “But can we do it before I burn up? I’m so hot.”
“I won’t stop you if you want to take your clothes off,” Jongin suggests, though his tone is full of mirth.
But Joonmyun doesn’t think this is that bad an idea, and he tugs his long-sleeved t-shirt off. The moment it’s off, even though his body welcomes the cool against his skin, he suddenly feels self-conscious. He isn’t as well-built as Chanyeol is, though he does work out sometimes, but he feels like maybe he should look better if they’re going to be in this arrangement. He didn’t feel like this when Chanyeol saw him naked.
Jongin doesn’t comment, however, he just waits patiently as Joonmyun sits with his hands on his belt, thinking. His trousers are going to have to come off eventually, he decides, and he stands and undoes them, kicking them down in a smooth motion. This leaves him in his underwear, plain and non-holey blue briefs. It pains him to admit that he had spent an uncomfortably long time that morning trying to find nice underwear, because he doesn’t want Jongin to think badly of him if he shows up in old ones with holes in them.
Jongin rustles around his bedding and finally extricates a large, unopened bottle of lubricant from under one of his pillows. Joonmyun gulps as Jongin rips the plastic off the bottle top, knowing that the whole bottle is to help him. He absently wonders where Jongin got the bottle from.
By this time, the head of Joonmyun’s cock is pressing solidly against the material covering him and he feels extremely uncomfortable. He makes the decision to stand and shove his briefs down, kicking them off into his jeans on the floor. Now free, his cock curves solidly up towards his stomach. Joonmyun takes a sneak peak over at Jongin’s crotch, to find that there’s not a vague sign of interest there. He feels put-out. Does this mean Jongin has little interest in him?
Jongin squeezes lubricant into his hands and rubs them together, before he reaches out and wraps his hand around Joonmyun’s dick. Joonmyun moans and bucks his hips up immediately at the sensations. Part of him feels cooler at Jongin’s touch, and he appreciates it.
“Sorry if this is bad,” Jongin mutters, “I can’t exactly practise on myself.”
And Joonmyun can tell that Jongin is inexperienced, but the experimental strokes and the way his thumb rubs over the head certainly show that he’s either researched or he’s willing to try to make it feel good. And it does.
“Faster,” Joonmyun moans, and Jongin obeys, his hand moving up and down at a quicker rate, until Joonmyun comes ropes of white over his hand, with a quiet cry. His cock doesn’t soften, although Joonmyun doesn’t really know why he’d thought, hoped, it might this time.
Jongin looks at his cock as if perplexed.
“It does that,” Joonmyun says. “It’s usually three or four times before it stops.”
Jongin furrows his brow. “Okay,” he says, and he begins to stroke Joonmyun again. Even though Joonmyun is still shaking from his orgasm, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable that Jongin is stroking him so soon after he’s come. In fact, it’s almost welcome, like he can’t get enough of the buzz rippling through him. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“No,” Joonmyun says. “It doesn’t even feel like normal. Usually it would feel too good to try again, but this just feels…pleasant. Keep going.” His breath comes out in little moans as he says it, and he reaches a free hand down to cup his balls.
“Oh,” Jongin says, and then his other hand is against Joonmyun’s balls as well, cupping them and rubbing the surface gently. If there’s one thing Joonmyun can say about Jongin, he’s a very quick study.
Jongin gets him off less like it’s a duty and more like he actually wants to. Joonmyun relishes in the feeling of almost being cared for. It’s Jongin’s fault he’s in this state after all, so he’s glad that Jongin is taking responsibility. Jongin could have just done the least possible; got it over and done with in the shortest amount of time necessary, but he’s taking his time and allowing the feeling to build up. He barely removes his hand from around Joonmyun’s erection during the whole time.
It takes three times for Joonmyun’s cock to go soft again, and the third time he comes loudly, so loudly that later he will worry that the neighbours may have heard, when Jongin’s finger passes under Joonmyun’s balls and skates over his hole. His body clenches like he’s trying to suck the finger inside, and it’s the first time he’s ever wanted something like that, to feel something inside him. He’s not sure if it’s the heat making him desire this, or if it was a latent need he hadn’t awoken until now-the desire to be fucked.
When it’s over and his body has cooled, Jongin shows him to the bathroom, which is a tiny wet-room with the shower squished in next to the toilet. It’s definitely not big enough for two people, although Joonmyun doesn’t understand why he’d even had that thought.
Joonmyun has a quick shower, not wanting to use all the water, and then dries off with the towel left outside. He dresses, feeling rather embarrassed now it’s over. He knows it was necessary, but it doesn’t help him feel any better about it.
It’s heading on into the afternoon, so Joonmyun packs his things and starts home, knowing that Jongin has to have enough time to get to the woods before the moon rises and he turns, and Joonmyun wouldn’t want to impede on that time in any way. He’s still afraid of the wolf.
Once he’s home, though, he wonders what tomorrow will be like, and if it will be better. He thinks that months of handjobs may not be enough for him-he’s sure he needs more than that, but he doesn’t think he knows how to say so.
~*~*~
The heat strikes during lunch of the full moon day, and Joonmyun scrambles to his feet hastily. “Just forgot, I have to do something,” he says, and holds his bag over his crotch so that his friends won’t see how hard he is.
He makes his way to the toilets at the furthest point of the school, down by the dance rooms where he and Jongin usually practise. This way people are less likely to walk in on him.
He locks himself in one of the cubicles and once again shoves his tie in his mouth as a makeshift gag, before working his erection out through his fly and jerking himself off once.
He’s just come when Jongin arrives. “Hyung? You in here?” he whispers, and Joonmyun lets him in, locking the door behind him.
Jongin sinks to his knees once he’s in. “Never done this before either,” he breathes, and then his mouth is on Joonmyun’s dick.
Joonmyun has no frame of reference for blowjobs, so he can’t say if it’s particularly good, but he knows that Jongin is giving his all, and it feels great. Jongin alternates sucking and licking, and his head bobs, and to be honest just the warmth around Joonmyun’s dick is more than good enough, and everything else is just a warm and delightful bonus. His orgasm builds upon him far too quickly, though there is just enough time to breathe an “I’m coming!”, allowing Jongin enough to get out of the way and catch it before it stains their clothing and makes it obvious what they were doing.
He’s still hard, so Jongin uses his spit as lube to get Joonmyun off a third and final time. “Is it always three times?” he asks, and Joonmyun shakes his head.
“It’s been four before,” he says, as he cleans himself off with toilet tissue. “Maybe, once we finally get to, you know, it might even just be once.” He pauses. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem,” Jongin says. “And we can only hope. I can’t blow you repeatedly without my jaw hurting.” He sighs. “We should do research on other things you can do, other ways of-” He nods down.
“Okay,” Joonmyun says, and he buttons himself back into his trousers. “There’s still tomorrow.”
Jongin nods. “Let’s hope it’s at a better time tomorrow,” Jongin says. “Do you want to do our dance practise tomorrow, if it hits in the afternoon?”
Joonmyun nods hastily. “That would be the best solution. Those rooms don’t have cameras, right?”
“No,” Jongin agrees. “It’ll be okay back there. I’ll make sure it’s good for you.”
Joonmyun is learning that Jongin really means what he says, and that he’ll do his absolute best to make sure that Joonmyun enjoys it.
Joonmyun is already looking forward to tomorrow.
~*~*~
Luckily for both of them, it hits during their dance practice.
“I’m so glad,” Joonmyun says, feeling strangely relieved at the sight of his erection. He’d been worried it wouldn’t come when he’s still at school, which is a weird fear to have. “Last month it hit late one night. There was no way you would have been able to help me, as you would have been in wolf form then.”
“That makes no sense,” Jongin says, with a frown. “Maybe we should get you some kind of tool to use, if I’m not around or already in wolf form?”
Joonmyun gapes at him. “Are you…are you suggesting we get me a dildo?” he hisses. He can’t believe they’re already talking about this. This is the third day and they haven’t even started yet.
Jongin shrugs. “Whatever will help you,” he says. “If you need a dildo, we’ll buy you a dildo. Where do you think I got the lube from?”
Joonmyun drops backwards onto the ground and covers his face with embarrassment. “You seem to be taking this very well,” he grumbles.
“I’m taking it responsibly, I hope,” Jongin says. “I bit you, and it gave you this reaction. If I have to go out and buy you a dildo so you can get yourself off at home, then I will. I’m good at looking old enough.”
Joonmyun isn’t surprised in the least. He thinks that if Jongin were to dress up and hold himself without any fear or shyness in him, he’d look much older than his fifteen years. He could probably pass for nineteen or twenty; old enough to visit a sex shop without being noticed. “I could just hope it never happens again?” he suggests, but he knows better.
“I’ll go and buy you one as soon as I can,” Jongin promises, as if he hadn’t said anything.
“Now we’ve finished this embarrassing conversation,” Joonmyun says, moving his hands away from his face to indicate his swollen crotch, “can we fix this?”
Jongin laughs and helps Joonmyun tug his trousers and underwear down to his knees.
“I looked something up last night,” he says, and he gets a tiny bottle out from his bag. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“What is it?” Joonmyun asks, body clenching with nerves.
“Putting my fingers up there,” Jongin says, nodding down, and Joonmyun swallows. His body is already saying yes without him even being conscious of it, and he nods quickly.
“Please,” he begs.
Jongin gently spreads his legs so he can fit between them, and he coats his fingers in lube. “This will be interesting,” he says aloud.
Joonmyun suddenly starts panicking about this, because what if he’s all gross down there and Jongin never wants to help him again because of it?
But then there’s a finger against his hole, warm pressure but not pushing inside, and when Jongin asks if it’s okay, Joonmyun nods almost desperately.
The first finger hurts, even with the lubricant. Jongin goes slowly for him, pushing it in carefully until one finger is in fully, and pulling it out to do it again. After a few moments, it’s bearable, and Joonmyun accepts another finger, feeling the burn a bit more with two pressed inside. Jongin feels around for something and then a jolt of pleasure rushes through Joonmyun, and he moans. Jongin does it again, consistently running long fingers over that part of Joonmyun until he comes almost explosively over the both of them with a shout, his hips bucking and his back arching with the movements.
Jongin doesn’t pull his fingers out, but this time he leans down and takes Joonmyun in his mouth again. From the day before he seems to have gained an idea of what gets the biggest response from Joonmyun, and he focuses on doing that, sucking wetly, making sure that the room echoes with the sounds of Joonmyun’s moans. Joonmyun is so grateful that there’s nobody around to hear the noises he’s making, because they’re positively obscene.
Jongin pulls off him just as he starts to come a second time, Jongin’s fingers pressed gently against his prostate. This time, Joonmyun goes soft immediately, and he lets out a sigh of relief. He’s grateful that it didn’t take too long, even if he does enjoy it.
“Well, that’s the first full moon down,” Jongin jokes, and he pulls his fingers out carefully. Joonmyun feels empty without them, and his hole clenches around nothing. He misses the feeling of being somewhat full, but he already knows that what he really needs is a cock to sate these desperate urges. “Second for you, I suppose. Did it live up to your expectations?”
“Aren’t you cocky,” Joonmyun says, arm over his eyes again, but his tone is light. “It was good.”
“I’ll try to see how to make it better for you,” Jongin assures him. “There are two full moons in December. That will give us more time to see what’s good before the one at the end of January, when I’m mature. I hope it will be worth it for you.”
“I’m sure it will,” Joonmyun says, and he yawns. Jongin laughs.
“Maybe you should go home and get some rest? It’s been a hard three days for you, but it’ll be normal again until this time next month. You can relax now.”
Joonmyun nods, and carefully gets himself to his feet. He pulls his clothes back on properly and grabs his bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow then? Though I’ve got music club. You should join!”
“I’ll think about it,” Jongin promises him. “Bye, Hyung!”
Joonmyun heads home thinking that for only three days of his life, that was pretty good. Short of them actually having sex, he can’t think of ways that he could have made it better.
His porn searches later in the week beg to differ. There are a lot of things they could have done, and he looks forward to experiencing some of them with Jongin in the future.
~*~*~
It’s nice waking up knowing that he won’t have to deal with the heat today.
He revels in the day, answering more questions in class than normal because he’s in such a good mood. During lunch his friends pick up on it.
“Someone’s unusually happy,” Jongdae says. “What’s the cause of this?”
“Probably got an A+ instead of an A on one of his essays,” Kyungsoo says with a laugh.
“That’s probably it,” Baekhyun agrees.
Joonmyun tries not to catch the eye of either Jongin or Chanyeol.
“So, maybe you should do a solo today,” Chanyeol says, trying to change the topic quickly.
The music club is that afternoon and they’re doing more performances; of what they’re good at. Joonmyun has already decided to sing SHINee’s Love Like Oxygen because he’s pretty good at imitating Jonghyun in it.
“Someone should dance along,” Chanyeol says.
“Are you offering?” Joonmyun and Kyungsoo ask in synchrony, and Chanyeol shakes his head rapidly.
“You know what I’m like when dancing. Someone with actual skills should perform,” Chanyeol says, rolling his eyes.
They all turn to Jongin.
“Uh,” Jongin says, “maybe next time? I’m not sure I’m ready to perform in public.”
Joonmyun nods. “I understand,” he says. “When you’re ready.”
The others tease Joonmyun for his choice of words, but mostly they understand, and they don’t want to force Jongin to do anything he doesn’t want to do.
The rest of the day passes without a hitch. Joonmyun’s voice only cracks once mid-song, and he’s pleased with himself for managing it.
Once music club is over, the last two days of the week fly by. It’s a little awkward when Joonmyun and Jongin are alone together during their session, but Joonmyun tries not to focus on that and instead dances as well as he possibly can, making sure he can hit the steps.
“You’re getting really good at this,” Jongin praises, and Joonmyun thinks that the next step is learning to sing whilst dancing, much like a K-pop idol. At the moment he definitely can’t manage that.
But hearing praise from Jongin makes his heart swell, and he realises that he just wants to make the younger boy proud.
~*~*~
The next week is unexciting except for the school assembly midweek.
They file into the hall and take their seats in their classes. Joonmyun doesn’t have this lesson with Yixing, so he looks around to see where he and the rest are. Yixing is only a few rows in front, and the rest are scattered around the hall. Jongin is much closer to the front of the hall, and he appears to be ignoring his classmates entirely.
“Good morning everyone,” the Headmistress says, coming to stand at the front of the hall.
Joonmyun rises with the hall to bow to her, before settling back in his seat.
“We have several announcements to make,” she continues. “There are two school trips in the next two months. One is a zoo trip taking place next week, and the other is a camping trip in December for three days.” There is quiet applause around the room, though Joonmyun bets that the students want to cheer. The Headmistress waits for them to stop, before she says, “The camping trip is to help everyone warm up and give time to study properly for their exams. Remember to study hard. Your teachers will give you the permission slips to give you your parents when you’re back in class.”
The other announcement is the New Year Festival, which is held in late January every year. This year it is holding a talent show, and the teachers would like people from the various clubs to show their talents in recitations, music, dance and martial arts.
“For those students who do better with a pen or a paintbrush, there will also be various stalls put aside to showcase their work,” the Headmistress states.
Joonmyun feels excited. He’s proud of the art he makes. He enjoys the feeling of putting pencil to paper and showing the world something of himself, something uniquely him, and he already knows that he wants to paint a wolf. It would be meaningful to him and it would look beautiful. His fingers itch with the chance to sketch out his design. He could even merge it with his incomplete art project; his painting of the woods. He could end up with a picture of a wolf prowling through the woods.
Once they’re out of the hall, his friends talk about how they should do some kind of musical performance, showcasing Chanyeol and Yixing’s abilities to play instruments and Jongin’s ability to dance and the others’ singing talents, but Joonmyun is still mostly thinking about his painting.
~*~*~
His parents sign the forms for him without questioning them too much. They do worry if he’ll be able to study away from home, but Joonmyun assures them that he is capable of studying anywhere.
“We never had study trips in my day,” Joonmyun’s father grumbles. “This is some new-fangled nonsense, if you ask me.” His wife swats him gently on the arm and chides him for being jealous.
Joonmyun absently wonders who is going to sign the forms for Jongin, due to the fact his parents aren’t around. In fact, he wonders how Jongin is even able to live on his own, but he knows Jongin’s parents pay for the place he lives in. He doesn’t have a job so they must pay his bills as well.
Surely someone must have signed his forms, though, because he seems just as excited as the rest of them. “I’ve never been to a zoo before!” he says at lunch the next day, body vibrating with excitement. “I wonder what it’s like?”
“It’s a place full of animals,” Jongdae says. “That’s all.”
This doesn’t seem to make him any less excited. Joonmyun wonders if it’s the prospect of seeing animals when in a form that doesn’t scare them, or if it’s just that he gets to go with them. For the first time he gets to do something with people who don’t hate him.
The rest of the group seem to operate on a principle that if Joonmyun likes him, even after he bit him, he must be alright. And he is.
~*~*~
It has been years since Joonmyun was last at the zoo, and the feeling of the place hasn’t changed, that idea of excitement and desire to run around like a small child and draw all the pretty animals.
The teachers keep them outside the entrance as they discuss the point of the trip. It’s cold and the students huddle together for warmth. Joonmyun finds himself pressed into Jongin’s side.
“During this trip, there will be talks on wildlife and conservation and rehabilitation. We would like you to go to one of these talks, and then to make a project on what you learnt. It doesn’t have to be an essay. You can give a presentation describing what you learnt, or describe it during images. You can even, if you so wish, write a song or a poem.”
“Once inside, you may walk around on your own. We will give you maps. Meet us back at the café for lunch at one o’clock.”
They swarm through in single file, and they get handed maps once through the payment desk. Joonmyun meets up with his friends once in the zoo.
“Where does everyone want to go?” Chanyeol asks.
“I bet Joonmyun wants to see everything cute,” Baekhyun says instantly, and he laughs, not unkindly.
It’s no secret that Joonmyun likes drawing fluffy animals, because they look good on paper and people tend to prefer drawings of cute things.
“We can go to the children’s petting zoo,” Jongdae says, with a shrug. “Let him get it out of his system.”
The seven of them make their way there, to the side of the zoo specifically for children.
Once inside, Joonmyun purchases a bag of feed for the animals from one of the vending machines. They navigate the petting zoo, greeting the small rabbits first, and then the goat kids. There’s a particularly inquisitive kid that follows Joonmyun around the zoo, trying to chew on his clothes with its lips. Joonmyun gives it a big handful of feed and a stroke, but it doesn’t stop following him.
Joonmyun settles down after he’s greeted all the chicks, the pot-belly piglets and the llama crias. The kid comes over to sit beside him. He lifts a lop-eared rabbit into his lap and gets out his pad of paper and begins to draw the scene.
Meanwhile, Chanyeol has found a duckling and is playing with it, Yixing is with the chicks, and Baekhyun has a Shetland pony to feed. Kyungsoo and Jongdae have a cria each; Kyungsoo’s an alpaca.
Jongin sits down at the side of the zoo, looking around him with wide, frightened eyes. He’s been there a few moments when a tiny pink teacup piglet trots up to him and nudges him. Jongin looks down in wonder.
“Pick him up,” Joonmyun tells him, and he smiles. “He likes you.”
Jongin nervously picks up the little creature and settles him on his lap like a dog. The piglet is very interested in exploring him, but he seems happy, and before long he settles down for a nap, like the rabbit in Joonmyun’s lap. Jongin smiles down at the creature, and he seems content to just remain there as Joonmyun works through his drawing.
When Joonmyun’s finished, he turns the page and begins to sketch Jongin, his content smile, and the baby piglet in his lap. As he draws, he thinks that seeing Jongin smile like this was the best gift he could receive today.
As much as Joonmyun would like to, they can’t stay there forever. They leave after a good forty minutes with the animals. Joonmyun’s kid and Jongin’s piglet don’t want them to leave, and both try to follow them out before the zoo attendants spot them and gently pull them back to play with a pair of young children. Joonmyun waves goodbye to the kid as it is led away, and finally they’re out.
They head to the talk on conservation first, stopping to look at flamingos and tigers. Absently, Joonmyun is reminded of Zitao’s animal form, and wonders if he’ll come to see the tigers himself.
Just round a few more corners is a lone wolf.
The wolf is in a large cage on its own. There is grass beneath its feet and its habitat has water and natural-seeming objects and obstacles for the wolf, like a tree stump and a long rock, but the wolf seems miserable. Jongin stops still beside it, looking in with a sad look on his face.
“Hey there,” he says to the wolf, who stops pacing its cage to look at him. “Don’t be sad, it’s not that bad in here. I know what it’s like to feel trapped. It gets better.”
He stops talking to watch the wolf, almost like he’s having a conversation and listening to the response. The image is sad, a miserable-looking boy and a miserable-looking wolf sharing an experience, and it makes Joonmyun feel sad as well.
He almost can’t bear to pull Jongin away from his kindred animal, but they’re still five minutes from the lecture hall, and the talk starts in only a few minutes. He links his arm with Jongin’s and slowly pulls him away, giving Jongin to say goodbye to the wolf.
As they walk towards the lecture hall, Joonmyun loosens his arm from Jongin’s, dropping his hand down by his side. Not a moment later, he feels Jongin link their fingers together, and he sneaks a look down at their conjoined hands, entwined for only the second time. His long and thin fingers are dwarfed by Jongin’s larger, stockier ones, and Joonmyun thinks they match rather well.
~*~*~
Joonmyun writes his project when he gets home from the zoo, talking about the ways that conservation zoos protect animals, and the few conservation trusts around the world that keep endangered animals and put them back into the wild when they’re no longer in danger of becoming extinct. He annotates the project with his own drawings, showing the cycle of conservation life.
When he’s finished his project, he takes out the drawings he did. He gets his drawing tablet and begins to re-sketch the scenes.
It takes him a good hour or more to work on the drawing of Jongin with the piglet, capturing Jongin’s smile perfectly. He colours it with the appropriate amount of light and shading and then saves the drawing.
Later that night he prints off a copy and rolls it up, wrapping an elastic band around it, to take to school the next day as a gift.
Jongin, when he receives it, doesn’t seem to have any words to give Joonmyun except, “Thank you.” He cradles the drawing, as the rest of them coo over his shoulder about how skilled Joonmyun is, and won’t let any of them touch it.
He catches Joonmyun once the rest have left for class. “This is amazing, Hyung,” he breathes. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”
“It’s just a drawing,” Joonmyun says with a smile. “You looked so happy, and it was very cute. I like cute things.”
Jongin’s blush rises up his face, and Joonmyun reaches up and ruffles his hair. For a moment Jongin’s just a cute boy, not the one who sucks Joonmyun’s dick until he comes, and Joonmyun is thankful for that.
~*~*~
It takes them another week of discussing ideas of what they can do for the January festival before Jongin meekly suggests that he join the music club, to the group’s delight.
“Wonderful!” Yixing says, with a smile. “Would you like to dance for us?”
“Can you sing?” Baekhyun asks over him, and then he makes a noise of pain. “What did you do that for?” he hisses at Kyungsoo, who just smiles back at him innocently.
“I’m not good at singing but I can try,” Jongin says. “I can sing back-up for you?”
“You can just dance if you want to,” Yixing assures him. “Don’t listen to Baekhyun. He’s not even in our music club.”
Jongin joins that week, coming along with Joonmyun as he heads to the music room. He’s made to do a performance on the spot to prove his worthiness to join late. He throws himself into the chorus of Sorry, Sorry followed by a quick freestyle and wows the room with his ability to sing and dance at the same time. He was wrong when he said he can’t sing-he’s no Jongdae or Kyungsoo, but he’s certainly passable.
Joonmyun had known he could dance already, from the weeks of learning, but it’s different to sit there and watch as he performs to the best of his ability, and he feels a kind of pride that he found Jongin first.
“I thought he was just a weirdo, but he’s really talented!” he hears one girl whisper to another at the end of the club meeting.
“Yeah, and isn’t he cute? Do you think he’s got a girlfriend?” her friend replies.
Joonmyun swallows down the urge to say he’s taken, and sticks to clapping Jongin on the shoulder instead.
~*~*~
They spend the last week before December starting to rehearse as their newly formed unit. Chanyeol is on the drums, Yixing on the guitar. Joonmyun sings along with Baekhyun, who is doing his absolute best to overshadow Joonmyun with all his vocal prowess. Jongin dances to the music as their centrepiece, occasionally singing backup when required. Kyungsoo and Jongdae have their own choir performance, and therefore are both unable to take part in their band. Joonmyun loves them but part of him is happy that their band is so small and that he’s not relegated only to standing and singing harmonies for the more talented singers.
He enjoys the practices more than he thought he would, what with them taking time away from his art and his homework. He gets to spend time with most of his favourite people doing something they love together, where there’s no animosity between Chanyeol and Jongin. Joonmyun thinks that Chanyeol even becomes grudgingly accepting of Jongin, so much so that, if Jongin’s five minutes late, he starts wondering where he is. He always claims it’s because they’ll have to start over again when he comes, but Joonmyun knows it’s because he’s worried. Without one member, they’re incomplete, and it doesn’t have the same feeling as with all of them.
It’s also fun to joke around and relax at this time of year, especially with the way Joonmyun’s life has gone.
However, that means that December’s full moon sneaks up on Joonmyun before he’s really aware of it.
~*~*~
❇ Pairing: Kai/Suho, Chanyeol/Suho, Chanyeol/Lay, Baekhyun/D.O.
❇ Rating: NC-17
❇ Length: 36,051 words total
❇ Warnings: bare-backing, fingering, fisting, intercrural sex (thigh-fucking), rimming, sex toys, heat, underage sex (between two minors), issues of agency & consent, graphic description of lycanthropy
❇ Author note: So I may have gone all out during the making of this fic. ALL. OUT. I hope you enjoy the result of this madness. Title from EXO’s Let Out the Beast.
Thanks to G, A, who also helped beta (I love you), and especially the lovely S, the latter of whom helped tremendously, alongside listening to me spout rubbish like, “You know what would make this fic better? If there were fairies.” (Sadly, there are no fairies in this fic.)
❇ Summary: Joonmyun was always warned that there were monsters in the woods behind the school, but he thought they were just tales his friends made up to scare him. They weren’t.
The next day there is no uncomfortable horniness, and Joonmyun realises that he was right; it only affects him during the full moon. For some reason, this doesn’t make him feel any better.
Nor does the fact that not only does Jongin not show up to lunch all week, unsurprisingly, neither does Chanyeol. It is the longest that Joonmyun hasn’t spoken to Chanyeol since they first met.
But Joonmyun doesn’t want to push things. He doesn’t want to push Chanyeol before he’s ready, so when Kyungsoo suggests he try to accost Chanyeol after one of the classes they share, Joonmyun shakes his head. “I’ll give him as much time as he needs,” he says. “That’s the least I can do.”
And it works out in his favour when he opens his front door on Saturday to Chanyeol standing there looking sheepish.
“Sorry,” Chanyeol says. “It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have shouted at you. Yixing-hyung told me that I upset you, and I didn’t mean to.”
Joonmyun doesn’t reply, just tugs him down for a hug, because although he wanted to be strong and allow Chanyeol his space, he did really miss him.
Once they’re settled in Joonmyun’s bedroom, Chanyeol says, “I’ve done some research, and I think I’ve worked out what was wrong with you. But you’re not going to like it. I don’t like it.”
“What is it?” Joonmyun asks, sitting forwards with his hands on his knees. This is it.
“He-” Chanyeol swallows. “I think he-” He shakes his head. “It’s so hard to stomach.”
“What?” Joonmyun asks eagerly.
“I think he made you his mate,” Chanyeol rushes out.
Joonmyun does what he does every time he learns something strange and horrible and new-he passes out.
But not for long. He wakes up moments later to Chanyeol fanning his face. “You’ve got to stop doing that,” Chanyeol repeats. “I can’t catch you every time you faint.”
“Sorry,” Joonmyun says. “But-mate? How am I supposed to cope with that?”
Mate. It’s a strong word that implies a life with the other person, like the human concept of soulmates. Joonmyun isn’t even eighteen yet. He hasn’t yet worked out what appeals to him in a partner. He doesn’t even know what sexuality he is.
But all kinds of choice have been removed from him. He’s going to be stuck with Jongin for the rest of his life.
Chanyeol shrugs. “All I know is your body-it’s reacting.”
“Can’t I just…ignore it?” Joonmyun asks quietly. He’s still holding out that there’s a chance that if he ignores it his body will forget.
“That will happen to you every single full moon if you don’t try to do something about it,” Chanyeol says. “You’ll get hot and sweaty and hard and it’ll happen at any time of the day all three full moon days. Do you want that?”
Joonmyun shakes his head mutely, because that would be so much worse. “How do I make it stop?” he asks, but he already has a vague idea, remembering how his body had clenched, how he’d felt wrong somehow.
It takes Chanyeol a few moments to get the words out, and that’s confirmation enough. “He has to mate with you, during the day of the full moon,” Chanyeol manages at last. “The wolf is dominant,” he adds.
Joonmyun curls up into himself, head against his knees. What Chanyeol is saying is that Jongin needs to fuck him for this to stop.
Joonmyun may be a teenage boy but aside from the few short relationships he’s had (with girls) he doesn’t have a lot of experience with love, and he’s never had sex before. The idea of his first sexual experience being getting fucked in the ass by a werewolf somewhat frightens him.
“I didn’t choose this,” Joonmyun says, into his knees. “This isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Chanyeol says. “I told you we shouldn’t have been friends with him.”
“I’m a bleeding heart, I guess,” Joonmyun grumbles. He doesn’t intend to throw Chanyeol’s own words back in his face, but he feels Chanyeol curl up next to him.
“I said I was sorry,” Chanyeol says. “I didn’t mean what I said, I was just lashing out. You’re not a bleeding heart.”
“I am, though,” Joonmyun says, as Chanyeol’s words sink in. “You were right. I was too nice, and Jongin-he misunderstood, and he took advantage of me. I shouldn’t have been so nice.”
“No, Joonmyun,” Chanyeol says, forgoing honorifics once again. “It’s not your fault. The wolf took over and it bit you. And I hate to say it, but Jongin probably didn’t intend to bite you. Maybe. Who knows what’s going on inside his head. But the most important thing is you didn’t ask him to bite you and therefore it’s not your fault.”
Joonmyun sniffs, but he nods his head. “This is scary,” he says. He’s comfortable enough around Chanyeol that it isn’t awkward to admit it. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this. I’m too young.”
“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol says. “I wish there was a way to make it all go away, or to mean that you never had to see him again after the first time, but it might happen every full moon. Though it’ll definitely settle down after the first time you, y’know.”
Joonmyun and Jongin might have to have sex together for the rest of their lives. The idea of this is rather quite terrifying at first. Joonmyun wonders if he’ll enjoy sex. He’s sure he will; it’s sex, what’s not to like? But will he enjoy it with Jongin, a werewolf two years younger who has never had a real friend, let alone a relationship? Will he learn to enjoy it? He’ll have to.
Joonmyun lifts his head from his knees and tries to still his nerves. He needs to learn more about what will happen. “Are there…are there other things that will happen if we’re away from each other?”
“I’m not sure,” Chanyeol says, and he shrugs. “I couldn’t find much because human mates aren’t that willing to talk. Usually they wanted to be mated together because of love, and mating is the only way to truly be with a werewolf. There was one who talked to some wood-protector therianthropes after her mate died. She only really talked about the heat, and getting pregnant, and missing him. I know you’re not a girl so the babies bit doesn’t count, but the rest seems to be the same.”
Joonmyun drops his head back against the wall and stares at the ceiling. “Great,” he says. “And now I have to tell him.”
“Good luck with that,” Chanyeol says, sincerely. “And I won’t run away next time. If you need me, I’ll stick around.” He pauses. “As long as my boyfriend’s okay with it,” he says thoughtfully.
It takes a moment for it to filter through to Joonmyun, but when it does it shoves away his fears about this long relationship. “You got together?” he asks, with a smile. “I’m glad for you, you deserve this.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol says, and he grins. “I’ve liked Yixing-hyung for years. I never knew that he liked me too.”
They fall into conversation about how the two of them got together, but always, at the back of Joonmyun’s mind, is the idea that he is basically now in a relationship that’ll last the rest of his life, and he’s still not sure what to make of it.
~*~*~
During Monday lunchtime nobody mentions that Chanyeol and Joonmyun have made up like they never fought in the first place. Chanyeol just sits there and chats like he’d never left.
Partway through lunch Jongin shows up, somewhat shyly, hovering nervously like they’ll reject him.
The rest of their group turn to Joonmyun to see his reaction. He’s had a lot of time to think over the weekend about everything, and he hasn’t quite got used to anything. But he shrugs all the same.
Jongin sits down next to Kyungsoo, though, rather than by Joonmyun like usual. Joonmyun thinks that’s probably a good idea. He’s not sure if he’ll manage to keep quiet if he sits by him.
“I’m watching you,” Chanyeol says to Jongin, but it’s not as nasty as it once would have been. Jongin nods his understanding.
“How did you do on your exams?” Kyungsoo asks.
“Well enough, I think,” Jongin says. “Not going to be first place, but still good enough. Thanks to Hyung for helping me.”
Joonmyun nods, but doesn’t say anything.
They chat through lunch until the end. “Hyung,” Jongin says, catching up to Joonmyun. “Do you…do you still want me to help teach you to dance? Now my exams are over?”
This gives Joonmyun the opportunity he’s been looking for, to get Jongin alone and away from prying eyes and eager ears. “Sure,” he says.
“Let’s do it earlier, when we used to study,” Jongin says, and it’s settled.
~*~*~
Joonmyun waits until his dance lesson has finished before bringing it up. He thinks that this way he still got to spend time with Jongin if he explains it wrong by mistake and Jongin wants to leave.
“Um,” he begins. “You know when you bit me?”
Jongin freezes. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I never intended to hurt you.”
“Well,” Joonmyun says. “It-it kind of did something.”
He can see the fear in Jongin’s eyes as he says it, and he realises that to Jongin, turning someone else into a werewolf would be one of his worst nightmares. He is well aware of the fear of thinking he’s now a werewolf, but at the same time, he thinks it must be different, and still very hard, for Jongin.
“Not like that,” he says, hastily. “I’m still human, don’t worry. I’m not a wolf.”
The relief exuding from Jongin is palpable. “I’m glad,” Jongin says. “But what did I do to you?”
“We-um.” He’s practised in the mirror, but it doesn’t make it any easier. “You marked me as your mate.”
“Oh,” Jongin says quietly, and he looks at Joonmyun with wide eyes. “I-I didn’t know I could do that, I’m so, so sorry.”
Joonmyun shrugs. “It just means that we…” He shakes his head. Now it comes down to it, he can’t say it. The words catch in his throat and no matter how he tries to cough them up, he’s too embarrassed to say them aloud.
“It’s okay, I can find out,” Jongin says. “Don’t say it if you’re uncomfortable.”
Joonmyun just nods his head mutely. It’s all too much for him.
“I’m so sorry that biting you caused you pain, Hyung,” Jongin says. “And I do understand if you don’t want me to sit with you at lunch.”
“We’ll have to get used to each other,” Joonmyun says softly. “That’s what happens with mates. They live together, breathe together. So it’s fine.”
“It’s not,” Jongin whispers, but he doesn’t protest.
~*~*~
Their conversation resumes several days later when Jongin has done his research.
“I understand why you didn’t want to talk about it,” Jongin says, shuffling his feet and doing his best not to look at Joonmyun. “Us…doing it.”
“Yeah,” Joonmyun says. “It’s just a bit…much to think about.”
“I have some bad news,” Jongin says, and this time he looks up. “Mating is linked directly to the wolf attributes.”
This alarms Joonmyun. “Does that mean I’ll have to-to do it with the wolf?” He shudders.
“No, no,” Jongin reassures him, a look of disgust on his face. “Nothing like that. But, um, it can’t be done until the wolf is sexually mature.”
Joonmyun furrows his brow in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I…can’t have sex until the wolf becomes sexually mature,” Jongin says, his voice slightly stronger.
“And…when is that?” Joonmyun asks, because he still doesn’t understand the issue.
“January,” Jongin says. “When I turn sixteen, the wolf matures.”
It’s October.
“So…I have to deal with this heat until January?” Joonmyun asks, all but throwing his hands up in the air in despair.
“I can help you, if you want?” Jongin asks quietly. “We can’t, you know, but there are other things I could do to help you. It should calm the heat down if I help.”
Joonmyun nods quickly, because coping with it on his own had been almost unbearable. It would be embarrassing, but he’s going to have sex with this boy eventually, so he may as well allow him near his dick if it will help. He just hopes that it does help.
Thankfully there’s another three weeks before he will have to test it, and he is particularly grateful for those opportunities to get used to the idea, before anything actually happens.
~*~*~
Despite being a five-week month, October passes by in a daze of music club, homework, group gaming sessions, several therianthrope group meetings, dance practice, and a lot of school. Joonmyun feels like he’s aged months in these three weeks.
As it draws nearer and nearer to the first full month day of November, Joonmyun tries to prepare himself for what is about to happen to him.
The proper full moon is a Monday, which means that the first day is Sunday. Joonmyun has to prepare weeks in advance to make sure he’s allowed out during the day. Jongin had said that the first session had best be at his place, in case it happens during the day and Joonmyun’s parents are around. Neither of them particularly wants to explain to parents what they would be doing.
Most of Joonmyun’s preparation comes in the form of getting his brain used to the idea that Jongin’s going to be helping him to get off. He’s got plenty of time to get used to that before any actual sex happens, and he appreciates that steady build-up, because he knows he will need it.
He doesn’t know what Jongin’s preparation is, but he hopes it involves learning how to make everything feel good for Joonmyun, because he’s the one who will be feeling it.
All-too quickly, Sunday comes, and Joonmyun makes his way to school, where Jongin had said he’ll meet him. They’re planning on doing their homework together until the heat hits. Jongin had brushed off any other suggestions.
“My home is really small,” Jongin says when he arrives, and he doesn’t look at Joonmyun when he says it, just watches as his feet scuff against the pavement. “Sorry about it.”
He leads Joonmyun down the road to a brick building that is separated from the rest. It’s two storeys high, and Jongin leads him through the gate and punches the entrance code into the access code box beside the door. It clicks, and Jongin heads in and up the stairs. Joonmyun follows hastily, so that he won’t get locked out.
Jongin lives on the top floor, at the far end of the corridor. He lets them in with a key he fishes out of his pocket.
Jongin’s flat is smaller than Joonmyun could ever have imagined, just two rooms. The main room is a kitchen, sitting room and bedroom all in one, with a sofa-bed doubling as a couch. There’s a small table in front of it that Joonmyun presumes is also his breakfast table, and a slim wardrobe for Jongin’s clothing.
Joonmyun remembers how Jongin had called it his home, and he can actually see it. The place looks lived-in, if neat. There’s a shelf of books above a tiny television, no bigger than a tablet screen, that sits on the breakfast table, and a large and old laptop resting on the floor beneath it. The walls are white but there are a few posters stuck up, mostly of Michael Jackson, though there is one of Han Yeseul, one of someone called Musiq Soulchild, one of Shinhwa, and one of a large red flower. The one thing the place is lacking is any sign of family. There are no pictures of Jongin and his parents-or adoptive parents-anywhere.
Jongin kicks his shoes off in the doorway and crosses to sit on the sofa bed. He gets his homework out and places it on the table before him, and then pats the bed beside him. Joonmyun nervously follows suit, toeing off his shoes and perching next to Jongin.
He’s on Jongin’s bed. He can’t believe this is happening, even if all they’re doing is working on their homework together.
Maybe it-whatever it is-can sense Jongin there next to him, a warm and unobtrusive presence, because it’s only an hour before the heat starts acting up. His entire body flushes, and there’s a steady pressure building up in his crotch.
“It’s happening,” he says, and he’s sure his face must be tomato red by now, a combination of the hot flush and the blush from the embarrassment he’s feeling at admitting it.
“Okay,” Jongin says slowly, and then he puts his pen down and turns to face Joonmyun. “How do you want to do this?”
“I was hoping you would know,” Joonmyun whines. “But can we do it before I burn up? I’m so hot.”
“I won’t stop you if you want to take your clothes off,” Jongin suggests, though his tone is full of mirth.
But Joonmyun doesn’t think this is that bad an idea, and he tugs his long-sleeved t-shirt off. The moment it’s off, even though his body welcomes the cool against his skin, he suddenly feels self-conscious. He isn’t as well-built as Chanyeol is, though he does work out sometimes, but he feels like maybe he should look better if they’re going to be in this arrangement. He didn’t feel like this when Chanyeol saw him naked.
Jongin doesn’t comment, however, he just waits patiently as Joonmyun sits with his hands on his belt, thinking. His trousers are going to have to come off eventually, he decides, and he stands and undoes them, kicking them down in a smooth motion. This leaves him in his underwear, plain and non-holey blue briefs. It pains him to admit that he had spent an uncomfortably long time that morning trying to find nice underwear, because he doesn’t want Jongin to think badly of him if he shows up in old ones with holes in them.
Jongin rustles around his bedding and finally extricates a large, unopened bottle of lubricant from under one of his pillows. Joonmyun gulps as Jongin rips the plastic off the bottle top, knowing that the whole bottle is to help him. He absently wonders where Jongin got the bottle from.
By this time, the head of Joonmyun’s cock is pressing solidly against the material covering him and he feels extremely uncomfortable. He makes the decision to stand and shove his briefs down, kicking them off into his jeans on the floor. Now free, his cock curves solidly up towards his stomach. Joonmyun takes a sneak peak over at Jongin’s crotch, to find that there’s not a vague sign of interest there. He feels put-out. Does this mean Jongin has little interest in him?
Jongin squeezes lubricant into his hands and rubs them together, before he reaches out and wraps his hand around Joonmyun’s dick. Joonmyun moans and bucks his hips up immediately at the sensations. Part of him feels cooler at Jongin’s touch, and he appreciates it.
“Sorry if this is bad,” Jongin mutters, “I can’t exactly practise on myself.”
And Joonmyun can tell that Jongin is inexperienced, but the experimental strokes and the way his thumb rubs over the head certainly show that he’s either researched or he’s willing to try to make it feel good. And it does.
“Faster,” Joonmyun moans, and Jongin obeys, his hand moving up and down at a quicker rate, until Joonmyun comes ropes of white over his hand, with a quiet cry. His cock doesn’t soften, although Joonmyun doesn’t really know why he’d thought, hoped, it might this time.
Jongin looks at his cock as if perplexed.
“It does that,” Joonmyun says. “It’s usually three or four times before it stops.”
Jongin furrows his brow. “Okay,” he says, and he begins to stroke Joonmyun again. Even though Joonmyun is still shaking from his orgasm, it doesn’t feel uncomfortable that Jongin is stroking him so soon after he’s come. In fact, it’s almost welcome, like he can’t get enough of the buzz rippling through him. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“No,” Joonmyun says. “It doesn’t even feel like normal. Usually it would feel too good to try again, but this just feels…pleasant. Keep going.” His breath comes out in little moans as he says it, and he reaches a free hand down to cup his balls.
“Oh,” Jongin says, and then his other hand is against Joonmyun’s balls as well, cupping them and rubbing the surface gently. If there’s one thing Joonmyun can say about Jongin, he’s a very quick study.
Jongin gets him off less like it’s a duty and more like he actually wants to. Joonmyun relishes in the feeling of almost being cared for. It’s Jongin’s fault he’s in this state after all, so he’s glad that Jongin is taking responsibility. Jongin could have just done the least possible; got it over and done with in the shortest amount of time necessary, but he’s taking his time and allowing the feeling to build up. He barely removes his hand from around Joonmyun’s erection during the whole time.
It takes three times for Joonmyun’s cock to go soft again, and the third time he comes loudly, so loudly that later he will worry that the neighbours may have heard, when Jongin’s finger passes under Joonmyun’s balls and skates over his hole. His body clenches like he’s trying to suck the finger inside, and it’s the first time he’s ever wanted something like that, to feel something inside him. He’s not sure if it’s the heat making him desire this, or if it was a latent need he hadn’t awoken until now-the desire to be fucked.
When it’s over and his body has cooled, Jongin shows him to the bathroom, which is a tiny wet-room with the shower squished in next to the toilet. It’s definitely not big enough for two people, although Joonmyun doesn’t understand why he’d even had that thought.
Joonmyun has a quick shower, not wanting to use all the water, and then dries off with the towel left outside. He dresses, feeling rather embarrassed now it’s over. He knows it was necessary, but it doesn’t help him feel any better about it.
It’s heading on into the afternoon, so Joonmyun packs his things and starts home, knowing that Jongin has to have enough time to get to the woods before the moon rises and he turns, and Joonmyun wouldn’t want to impede on that time in any way. He’s still afraid of the wolf.
Once he’s home, though, he wonders what tomorrow will be like, and if it will be better. He thinks that months of handjobs may not be enough for him-he’s sure he needs more than that, but he doesn’t think he knows how to say so.
~*~*~
The heat strikes during lunch of the full moon day, and Joonmyun scrambles to his feet hastily. “Just forgot, I have to do something,” he says, and holds his bag over his crotch so that his friends won’t see how hard he is.
He makes his way to the toilets at the furthest point of the school, down by the dance rooms where he and Jongin usually practise. This way people are less likely to walk in on him.
He locks himself in one of the cubicles and once again shoves his tie in his mouth as a makeshift gag, before working his erection out through his fly and jerking himself off once.
He’s just come when Jongin arrives. “Hyung? You in here?” he whispers, and Joonmyun lets him in, locking the door behind him.
Jongin sinks to his knees once he’s in. “Never done this before either,” he breathes, and then his mouth is on Joonmyun’s dick.
Joonmyun has no frame of reference for blowjobs, so he can’t say if it’s particularly good, but he knows that Jongin is giving his all, and it feels great. Jongin alternates sucking and licking, and his head bobs, and to be honest just the warmth around Joonmyun’s dick is more than good enough, and everything else is just a warm and delightful bonus. His orgasm builds upon him far too quickly, though there is just enough time to breathe an “I’m coming!”, allowing Jongin enough to get out of the way and catch it before it stains their clothing and makes it obvious what they were doing.
He’s still hard, so Jongin uses his spit as lube to get Joonmyun off a third and final time. “Is it always three times?” he asks, and Joonmyun shakes his head.
“It’s been four before,” he says, as he cleans himself off with toilet tissue. “Maybe, once we finally get to, you know, it might even just be once.” He pauses. “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem,” Jongin says. “And we can only hope. I can’t blow you repeatedly without my jaw hurting.” He sighs. “We should do research on other things you can do, other ways of-” He nods down.
“Okay,” Joonmyun says, and he buttons himself back into his trousers. “There’s still tomorrow.”
Jongin nods. “Let’s hope it’s at a better time tomorrow,” Jongin says. “Do you want to do our dance practise tomorrow, if it hits in the afternoon?”
Joonmyun nods hastily. “That would be the best solution. Those rooms don’t have cameras, right?”
“No,” Jongin agrees. “It’ll be okay back there. I’ll make sure it’s good for you.”
Joonmyun is learning that Jongin really means what he says, and that he’ll do his absolute best to make sure that Joonmyun enjoys it.
Joonmyun is already looking forward to tomorrow.
~*~*~
Luckily for both of them, it hits during their dance practice.
“I’m so glad,” Joonmyun says, feeling strangely relieved at the sight of his erection. He’d been worried it wouldn’t come when he’s still at school, which is a weird fear to have. “Last month it hit late one night. There was no way you would have been able to help me, as you would have been in wolf form then.”
“That makes no sense,” Jongin says, with a frown. “Maybe we should get you some kind of tool to use, if I’m not around or already in wolf form?”
Joonmyun gapes at him. “Are you…are you suggesting we get me a dildo?” he hisses. He can’t believe they’re already talking about this. This is the third day and they haven’t even started yet.
Jongin shrugs. “Whatever will help you,” he says. “If you need a dildo, we’ll buy you a dildo. Where do you think I got the lube from?”
Joonmyun drops backwards onto the ground and covers his face with embarrassment. “You seem to be taking this very well,” he grumbles.
“I’m taking it responsibly, I hope,” Jongin says. “I bit you, and it gave you this reaction. If I have to go out and buy you a dildo so you can get yourself off at home, then I will. I’m good at looking old enough.”
Joonmyun isn’t surprised in the least. He thinks that if Jongin were to dress up and hold himself without any fear or shyness in him, he’d look much older than his fifteen years. He could probably pass for nineteen or twenty; old enough to visit a sex shop without being noticed. “I could just hope it never happens again?” he suggests, but he knows better.
“I’ll go and buy you one as soon as I can,” Jongin promises, as if he hadn’t said anything.
“Now we’ve finished this embarrassing conversation,” Joonmyun says, moving his hands away from his face to indicate his swollen crotch, “can we fix this?”
Jongin laughs and helps Joonmyun tug his trousers and underwear down to his knees.
“I looked something up last night,” he says, and he gets a tiny bottle out from his bag. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“What is it?” Joonmyun asks, body clenching with nerves.
“Putting my fingers up there,” Jongin says, nodding down, and Joonmyun swallows. His body is already saying yes without him even being conscious of it, and he nods quickly.
“Please,” he begs.
Jongin gently spreads his legs so he can fit between them, and he coats his fingers in lube. “This will be interesting,” he says aloud.
Joonmyun suddenly starts panicking about this, because what if he’s all gross down there and Jongin never wants to help him again because of it?
But then there’s a finger against his hole, warm pressure but not pushing inside, and when Jongin asks if it’s okay, Joonmyun nods almost desperately.
The first finger hurts, even with the lubricant. Jongin goes slowly for him, pushing it in carefully until one finger is in fully, and pulling it out to do it again. After a few moments, it’s bearable, and Joonmyun accepts another finger, feeling the burn a bit more with two pressed inside. Jongin feels around for something and then a jolt of pleasure rushes through Joonmyun, and he moans. Jongin does it again, consistently running long fingers over that part of Joonmyun until he comes almost explosively over the both of them with a shout, his hips bucking and his back arching with the movements.
Jongin doesn’t pull his fingers out, but this time he leans down and takes Joonmyun in his mouth again. From the day before he seems to have gained an idea of what gets the biggest response from Joonmyun, and he focuses on doing that, sucking wetly, making sure that the room echoes with the sounds of Joonmyun’s moans. Joonmyun is so grateful that there’s nobody around to hear the noises he’s making, because they’re positively obscene.
Jongin pulls off him just as he starts to come a second time, Jongin’s fingers pressed gently against his prostate. This time, Joonmyun goes soft immediately, and he lets out a sigh of relief. He’s grateful that it didn’t take too long, even if he does enjoy it.
“Well, that’s the first full moon down,” Jongin jokes, and he pulls his fingers out carefully. Joonmyun feels empty without them, and his hole clenches around nothing. He misses the feeling of being somewhat full, but he already knows that what he really needs is a cock to sate these desperate urges. “Second for you, I suppose. Did it live up to your expectations?”
“Aren’t you cocky,” Joonmyun says, arm over his eyes again, but his tone is light. “It was good.”
“I’ll try to see how to make it better for you,” Jongin assures him. “There are two full moons in December. That will give us more time to see what’s good before the one at the end of January, when I’m mature. I hope it will be worth it for you.”
“I’m sure it will,” Joonmyun says, and he yawns. Jongin laughs.
“Maybe you should go home and get some rest? It’s been a hard three days for you, but it’ll be normal again until this time next month. You can relax now.”
Joonmyun nods, and carefully gets himself to his feet. He pulls his clothes back on properly and grabs his bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow then? Though I’ve got music club. You should join!”
“I’ll think about it,” Jongin promises him. “Bye, Hyung!”
Joonmyun heads home thinking that for only three days of his life, that was pretty good. Short of them actually having sex, he can’t think of ways that he could have made it better.
His porn searches later in the week beg to differ. There are a lot of things they could have done, and he looks forward to experiencing some of them with Jongin in the future.
~*~*~
It’s nice waking up knowing that he won’t have to deal with the heat today.
He revels in the day, answering more questions in class than normal because he’s in such a good mood. During lunch his friends pick up on it.
“Someone’s unusually happy,” Jongdae says. “What’s the cause of this?”
“Probably got an A+ instead of an A on one of his essays,” Kyungsoo says with a laugh.
“That’s probably it,” Baekhyun agrees.
Joonmyun tries not to catch the eye of either Jongin or Chanyeol.
“So, maybe you should do a solo today,” Chanyeol says, trying to change the topic quickly.
The music club is that afternoon and they’re doing more performances; of what they’re good at. Joonmyun has already decided to sing SHINee’s Love Like Oxygen because he’s pretty good at imitating Jonghyun in it.
“Someone should dance along,” Chanyeol says.
“Are you offering?” Joonmyun and Kyungsoo ask in synchrony, and Chanyeol shakes his head rapidly.
“You know what I’m like when dancing. Someone with actual skills should perform,” Chanyeol says, rolling his eyes.
They all turn to Jongin.
“Uh,” Jongin says, “maybe next time? I’m not sure I’m ready to perform in public.”
Joonmyun nods. “I understand,” he says. “When you’re ready.”
The others tease Joonmyun for his choice of words, but mostly they understand, and they don’t want to force Jongin to do anything he doesn’t want to do.
The rest of the day passes without a hitch. Joonmyun’s voice only cracks once mid-song, and he’s pleased with himself for managing it.
Once music club is over, the last two days of the week fly by. It’s a little awkward when Joonmyun and Jongin are alone together during their session, but Joonmyun tries not to focus on that and instead dances as well as he possibly can, making sure he can hit the steps.
“You’re getting really good at this,” Jongin praises, and Joonmyun thinks that the next step is learning to sing whilst dancing, much like a K-pop idol. At the moment he definitely can’t manage that.
But hearing praise from Jongin makes his heart swell, and he realises that he just wants to make the younger boy proud.
~*~*~
The next week is unexciting except for the school assembly midweek.
They file into the hall and take their seats in their classes. Joonmyun doesn’t have this lesson with Yixing, so he looks around to see where he and the rest are. Yixing is only a few rows in front, and the rest are scattered around the hall. Jongin is much closer to the front of the hall, and he appears to be ignoring his classmates entirely.
“Good morning everyone,” the Headmistress says, coming to stand at the front of the hall.
Joonmyun rises with the hall to bow to her, before settling back in his seat.
“We have several announcements to make,” she continues. “There are two school trips in the next two months. One is a zoo trip taking place next week, and the other is a camping trip in December for three days.” There is quiet applause around the room, though Joonmyun bets that the students want to cheer. The Headmistress waits for them to stop, before she says, “The camping trip is to help everyone warm up and give time to study properly for their exams. Remember to study hard. Your teachers will give you the permission slips to give you your parents when you’re back in class.”
The other announcement is the New Year Festival, which is held in late January every year. This year it is holding a talent show, and the teachers would like people from the various clubs to show their talents in recitations, music, dance and martial arts.
“For those students who do better with a pen or a paintbrush, there will also be various stalls put aside to showcase their work,” the Headmistress states.
Joonmyun feels excited. He’s proud of the art he makes. He enjoys the feeling of putting pencil to paper and showing the world something of himself, something uniquely him, and he already knows that he wants to paint a wolf. It would be meaningful to him and it would look beautiful. His fingers itch with the chance to sketch out his design. He could even merge it with his incomplete art project; his painting of the woods. He could end up with a picture of a wolf prowling through the woods.
Once they’re out of the hall, his friends talk about how they should do some kind of musical performance, showcasing Chanyeol and Yixing’s abilities to play instruments and Jongin’s ability to dance and the others’ singing talents, but Joonmyun is still mostly thinking about his painting.
~*~*~
His parents sign the forms for him without questioning them too much. They do worry if he’ll be able to study away from home, but Joonmyun assures them that he is capable of studying anywhere.
“We never had study trips in my day,” Joonmyun’s father grumbles. “This is some new-fangled nonsense, if you ask me.” His wife swats him gently on the arm and chides him for being jealous.
Joonmyun absently wonders who is going to sign the forms for Jongin, due to the fact his parents aren’t around. In fact, he wonders how Jongin is even able to live on his own, but he knows Jongin’s parents pay for the place he lives in. He doesn’t have a job so they must pay his bills as well.
Surely someone must have signed his forms, though, because he seems just as excited as the rest of them. “I’ve never been to a zoo before!” he says at lunch the next day, body vibrating with excitement. “I wonder what it’s like?”
“It’s a place full of animals,” Jongdae says. “That’s all.”
This doesn’t seem to make him any less excited. Joonmyun wonders if it’s the prospect of seeing animals when in a form that doesn’t scare them, or if it’s just that he gets to go with them. For the first time he gets to do something with people who don’t hate him.
The rest of the group seem to operate on a principle that if Joonmyun likes him, even after he bit him, he must be alright. And he is.
~*~*~
It has been years since Joonmyun was last at the zoo, and the feeling of the place hasn’t changed, that idea of excitement and desire to run around like a small child and draw all the pretty animals.
The teachers keep them outside the entrance as they discuss the point of the trip. It’s cold and the students huddle together for warmth. Joonmyun finds himself pressed into Jongin’s side.
“During this trip, there will be talks on wildlife and conservation and rehabilitation. We would like you to go to one of these talks, and then to make a project on what you learnt. It doesn’t have to be an essay. You can give a presentation describing what you learnt, or describe it during images. You can even, if you so wish, write a song or a poem.”
“Once inside, you may walk around on your own. We will give you maps. Meet us back at the café for lunch at one o’clock.”
They swarm through in single file, and they get handed maps once through the payment desk. Joonmyun meets up with his friends once in the zoo.
“Where does everyone want to go?” Chanyeol asks.
“I bet Joonmyun wants to see everything cute,” Baekhyun says instantly, and he laughs, not unkindly.
It’s no secret that Joonmyun likes drawing fluffy animals, because they look good on paper and people tend to prefer drawings of cute things.
“We can go to the children’s petting zoo,” Jongdae says, with a shrug. “Let him get it out of his system.”
The seven of them make their way there, to the side of the zoo specifically for children.
Once inside, Joonmyun purchases a bag of feed for the animals from one of the vending machines. They navigate the petting zoo, greeting the small rabbits first, and then the goat kids. There’s a particularly inquisitive kid that follows Joonmyun around the zoo, trying to chew on his clothes with its lips. Joonmyun gives it a big handful of feed and a stroke, but it doesn’t stop following him.
Joonmyun settles down after he’s greeted all the chicks, the pot-belly piglets and the llama crias. The kid comes over to sit beside him. He lifts a lop-eared rabbit into his lap and gets out his pad of paper and begins to draw the scene.
Meanwhile, Chanyeol has found a duckling and is playing with it, Yixing is with the chicks, and Baekhyun has a Shetland pony to feed. Kyungsoo and Jongdae have a cria each; Kyungsoo’s an alpaca.
Jongin sits down at the side of the zoo, looking around him with wide, frightened eyes. He’s been there a few moments when a tiny pink teacup piglet trots up to him and nudges him. Jongin looks down in wonder.
“Pick him up,” Joonmyun tells him, and he smiles. “He likes you.”
Jongin nervously picks up the little creature and settles him on his lap like a dog. The piglet is very interested in exploring him, but he seems happy, and before long he settles down for a nap, like the rabbit in Joonmyun’s lap. Jongin smiles down at the creature, and he seems content to just remain there as Joonmyun works through his drawing.
When Joonmyun’s finished, he turns the page and begins to sketch Jongin, his content smile, and the baby piglet in his lap. As he draws, he thinks that seeing Jongin smile like this was the best gift he could receive today.
As much as Joonmyun would like to, they can’t stay there forever. They leave after a good forty minutes with the animals. Joonmyun’s kid and Jongin’s piglet don’t want them to leave, and both try to follow them out before the zoo attendants spot them and gently pull them back to play with a pair of young children. Joonmyun waves goodbye to the kid as it is led away, and finally they’re out.
They head to the talk on conservation first, stopping to look at flamingos and tigers. Absently, Joonmyun is reminded of Zitao’s animal form, and wonders if he’ll come to see the tigers himself.
Just round a few more corners is a lone wolf.
The wolf is in a large cage on its own. There is grass beneath its feet and its habitat has water and natural-seeming objects and obstacles for the wolf, like a tree stump and a long rock, but the wolf seems miserable. Jongin stops still beside it, looking in with a sad look on his face.
“Hey there,” he says to the wolf, who stops pacing its cage to look at him. “Don’t be sad, it’s not that bad in here. I know what it’s like to feel trapped. It gets better.”
He stops talking to watch the wolf, almost like he’s having a conversation and listening to the response. The image is sad, a miserable-looking boy and a miserable-looking wolf sharing an experience, and it makes Joonmyun feel sad as well.
He almost can’t bear to pull Jongin away from his kindred animal, but they’re still five minutes from the lecture hall, and the talk starts in only a few minutes. He links his arm with Jongin’s and slowly pulls him away, giving Jongin to say goodbye to the wolf.
As they walk towards the lecture hall, Joonmyun loosens his arm from Jongin’s, dropping his hand down by his side. Not a moment later, he feels Jongin link their fingers together, and he sneaks a look down at their conjoined hands, entwined for only the second time. His long and thin fingers are dwarfed by Jongin’s larger, stockier ones, and Joonmyun thinks they match rather well.
~*~*~
Joonmyun writes his project when he gets home from the zoo, talking about the ways that conservation zoos protect animals, and the few conservation trusts around the world that keep endangered animals and put them back into the wild when they’re no longer in danger of becoming extinct. He annotates the project with his own drawings, showing the cycle of conservation life.
When he’s finished his project, he takes out the drawings he did. He gets his drawing tablet and begins to re-sketch the scenes.
It takes him a good hour or more to work on the drawing of Jongin with the piglet, capturing Jongin’s smile perfectly. He colours it with the appropriate amount of light and shading and then saves the drawing.
Later that night he prints off a copy and rolls it up, wrapping an elastic band around it, to take to school the next day as a gift.
Jongin, when he receives it, doesn’t seem to have any words to give Joonmyun except, “Thank you.” He cradles the drawing, as the rest of them coo over his shoulder about how skilled Joonmyun is, and won’t let any of them touch it.
He catches Joonmyun once the rest have left for class. “This is amazing, Hyung,” he breathes. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”
“It’s just a drawing,” Joonmyun says with a smile. “You looked so happy, and it was very cute. I like cute things.”
Jongin’s blush rises up his face, and Joonmyun reaches up and ruffles his hair. For a moment Jongin’s just a cute boy, not the one who sucks Joonmyun’s dick until he comes, and Joonmyun is thankful for that.
~*~*~
It takes them another week of discussing ideas of what they can do for the January festival before Jongin meekly suggests that he join the music club, to the group’s delight.
“Wonderful!” Yixing says, with a smile. “Would you like to dance for us?”
“Can you sing?” Baekhyun asks over him, and then he makes a noise of pain. “What did you do that for?” he hisses at Kyungsoo, who just smiles back at him innocently.
“I’m not good at singing but I can try,” Jongin says. “I can sing back-up for you?”
“You can just dance if you want to,” Yixing assures him. “Don’t listen to Baekhyun. He’s not even in our music club.”
Jongin joins that week, coming along with Joonmyun as he heads to the music room. He’s made to do a performance on the spot to prove his worthiness to join late. He throws himself into the chorus of Sorry, Sorry followed by a quick freestyle and wows the room with his ability to sing and dance at the same time. He was wrong when he said he can’t sing-he’s no Jongdae or Kyungsoo, but he’s certainly passable.
Joonmyun had known he could dance already, from the weeks of learning, but it’s different to sit there and watch as he performs to the best of his ability, and he feels a kind of pride that he found Jongin first.
“I thought he was just a weirdo, but he’s really talented!” he hears one girl whisper to another at the end of the club meeting.
“Yeah, and isn’t he cute? Do you think he’s got a girlfriend?” her friend replies.
Joonmyun swallows down the urge to say he’s taken, and sticks to clapping Jongin on the shoulder instead.
~*~*~
They spend the last week before December starting to rehearse as their newly formed unit. Chanyeol is on the drums, Yixing on the guitar. Joonmyun sings along with Baekhyun, who is doing his absolute best to overshadow Joonmyun with all his vocal prowess. Jongin dances to the music as their centrepiece, occasionally singing backup when required. Kyungsoo and Jongdae have their own choir performance, and therefore are both unable to take part in their band. Joonmyun loves them but part of him is happy that their band is so small and that he’s not relegated only to standing and singing harmonies for the more talented singers.
He enjoys the practices more than he thought he would, what with them taking time away from his art and his homework. He gets to spend time with most of his favourite people doing something they love together, where there’s no animosity between Chanyeol and Jongin. Joonmyun thinks that Chanyeol even becomes grudgingly accepting of Jongin, so much so that, if Jongin’s five minutes late, he starts wondering where he is. He always claims it’s because they’ll have to start over again when he comes, but Joonmyun knows it’s because he’s worried. Without one member, they’re incomplete, and it doesn’t have the same feeling as with all of them.
It’s also fun to joke around and relax at this time of year, especially with the way Joonmyun’s life has gone.
However, that means that December’s full moon sneaks up on Joonmyun before he’s really aware of it.
~*~*~