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Hongjoong was tired. Not the, he’s not been getting enough sleep kind of tired, but the bone deep doesn’t want to move kind of tired that always comes up as they draw closer to full moons. It had taken him way too much self convincing to get out of bed today, and the fact that if he didn’t the others would come looking was the only reason he had at all. He had to find some energy before the end of the day, he had a shift tonight and he so didn’t want to answer the questions that would come up if he called in.
So here he was, dragging himself along after Yunho to a handful of stores to help stock up on supplies they were running low on. The familiar was definitely catching on that something was wrong and Hongjoong was bracing himself for the questions that would definitely be coming. As they stepped out of the second store, the bag over Hongjoong’s shoulder now carrying new supplies of bandages and other assorted items, Yunho flipped open the notepad he was in charge of, checking items off.
“Seonghwa-hyung needs crystals for the new transportation charms,” announced Yunho, “so that’s next.” Hongjoong just nodded and followed the younger man through the streets. Clearly this was some kind of a routine check list because Yunho seemed to have everything planned out already.
“You’re quiet today,” said Yunho after a few minutes as they walked.
“Oh? Sorry, guess I didn’t sleep well,” said Hongjoong quickly and Yunho cocked his head.
“Wooyoung-ah was worried about you this morning, said your energy was off,” said Yunho frowning, “and Mingi didn’t say anything about you waking up in the night.” Hongjoong had forgotten the younger wolf had snuck in to sleep with him again last night, damn he needed a better explanation now.
“Probably just my wolf,” he said. Hexes that sounded weak even to him. Yunho frowned but was quiet for a couple of more blocks.
“Is it the full moon?” he asked and Hongjoong nodded quickly.
“Yeah, probably that,” he agreed easily glad that Yunho was supplying answers for him.
“Mingi and Jongho can get kind of twitchy as we come up on full moons, too much energy,” said Yunho nodding. He pulled the door open to the crystal shop and Hongjoong followed him in. It doesn’t take them long to find the rocks that Seonghwa wanted for the charms and Yunho clearly had experience picking them as he filtered through the bin easily enough before heading to the counter. They’re in and out and walking down the sidewalk again, Yunho checking the list again.
“We’ve got two different magic shops to hit,” he said nodding, “and a pharmacy.” Hongjoong could feel himself wilting, he wanted to go home and curl into a ball and just be done with the day.
“You are definitely not okay,” said Yunho stopping in his tracks, “hyung, you look exhausted. Are you doing too much helping with the clinic and working shifts at Edenary? We can run the clinic without you.”
“No, I like helping with the clinic,” complained Hongjoong quickly. “I’m fine, Yunho-yah.” Yunho grimaced and glanced up the street they had just turned down.
“Here, look, let’s stop for coffee and food real quick, yeah? And you can stop lying to me or yourself, whichever it is you’re doing long enough to tell me what’s going on,” said Yunho grabbing Hongjoong’s arm and tugging him down the street. Hongjoong immediately starts complaining but falls quiet when he realizes where they are.
“Oh, Yeosang-ah and I were here only a little bit ago,” he said.
“Oh yeah? Oh, the late night run weeks ago now? With the pain jinx?”
“Yeah, they seemed like fun,” said Hongjoong nodding as Yunho pushed the door open. Yunho drags him into the line and they get up to the register Yunho ordering sandwiches for both of them.
“Oh, hey! You’re the healer from a few weeks ago,” said the boy behind the counter face lighting up, Jungwoo if Hongjoong remembered right.
“Ah, technically Yeosang was the healer,” said Hongjoong awkwardly, “but yeah.”
“Healer?” asked one of the customers that was near the end of the bar. “Did something happen?”
“You remember I blew up an espresso machine, hyung?” asked Mark handing him a bag.
“Oh! I didn’t realize anyone had gotten hurt,” said who was definitely a witch.
“Here I’ll give you a discount,” said Jungwoo cheerfully before telling them their total.
“Hey thanks, that’s super nice of you,” said Yunho swiping the card quickly. It was the one that Seonghwa used for the whole family.
“You’re a werewolf, right, Hongjoong-ssi? Ready for the full moon?” asked Jungwoo cheerfully.
“Oh, yeah, I guess. We should probably talk to Mingi and Jongho,” said Hongjoong thoughtfully.
“What do you usually do on full moons, hyung?” asked Yunho curious.
“You don’t normally spend them together?” asked Jungwoo as he started on making their drinks.
“It’s technically the first full moon as a pack,” said Yunho shrugging. “Jongho and Mingi were our only wolves until Hongjoong-hyung found us, they weren’t particularly keen on full moons and the clinic is always chaos.”
“I thought werewolves needed to shift?” asked Mark.
“We do,” said Hongjoong nodding, “I think I yelled at them and Seonghwa-hyung when I found out.”
“Oh yeah, Wooyoung was pretty annoying too, insisted he’d been right and we shouldn’t have let them talk to us about it,” said Yunho shrugging. “There’s a reason we needed hyung, we were kind of a mess.”
“Well, it’s good you’ve got that sorted then,” said Jungwoo nodding. “I don’t know how covens and packs compare but Doyoung-hyung would be pretty frustrated if we’d done something like that.”
“Yeah probably not much different,” agreed Yunho nodding. “At least in that regard. You reacted about how any good Coven Head would have.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that,” said Hongjoong making a face and Mark laughed.
“Hey maybe Doyoung-hyung’s more like a Pack Head than a Coven Head and we just don’t know,” he suggested and Jungwoo snickered.
“I should tell him, he’ll think that’s hilarious,” said Jungwoo nodding and handing them their drinks. Mark handed Hongjoong a bag with the sandwiches as well before moving over to take the next order. Yunho corralled Hongjoong into a booth by the window and they pulled the food out.
“So, before you answer this, think about how you felt when you found out Jongho and Mingi hadn’t been shifting on full moons,” started Yunho and Hongjoong groaned.
“That’s different,” he complained.
“It is not,” insisted Yunho. “What’s wrong? You’re exhausted and you’re dragging and I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.” Hongjoong huffed and took a bite of his sandwich as he tried to find the words for it.
“I don’t know how to tell you,” he stated finally.
“Try.”
“Yunho.” He definitely sounded like a whining child, great just what he needed today.
“Hyung,” echoed Yunho copying his tone and Hongjoong sighed deeply.
“It’s not unusual,” he said finally. “I just do this sometimes, usually before full moons. You said Jongho and Mingi get twitchy they have too much energy, I’ll do that too but usually not until like day before day of, it’s got something to do with the magic being amped up.”
“That’s not what this is. But it is full moon related?” Hongjoong sighed.
“Not technically, that’s just when it normally happens, it’s like a trigger I guess,” said Hongjoong. “I’ve spent almost all of my full moons alone, okay? That’s unusual, it does shit to your wolf.”
“Okay, can you explain what it’s doing to yours?” Hongjoong huffed out another sigh. He so didn’t want to have to try and explain this, but Yunho was definitely not going to let him get around it.
“It kills my motivation,” he said finally, “that’s a half decent way of putting it. I’m tired, I don’t want to move, I have to convince myself to get out of bed in the morning, and I really just want to curl up into a ball in my bed and not move for like the entire next week. Not because I don’t want to be here with you, I love getting to be around you and this is fun. But it’s like I can’t feel it even though I know I’m supposed to. All that’s there is just tired, like bone deep tired. The kind of tired you can’t fix?” Yunho’s quiet for a time, long enough that Hongjoong’s starting to worry.
“Hyung that sounds like depression,” he stated finally and Hongjoong made a face looking up.
“No? That doesn’t make sense,” he said, “it just happens sometimes, not all the time, usually with full moons. It’s definitely my wolf.”
“Your wolf is depressed,” stated Yunho nodding. “You’ve spent too many full moons alone and it does stuff to your wolf when that happens, right? You just said that. Well, I think it makes your wolf depressed. You had a pack, a family pack, didn’t you spend full moons with them, did this happen then?” Hongjoong’s quiet for a while.
“No,” he said finally.
“See, it’s because you’ve been alone too long.”
“No, I didn’t spend full moons with them,” corrected Hongjoong softly and Yunho was quiet.
“Why?” he asked finally and Hongjoong sighed.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“I need you to try, hyung. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on,” insisted Yunho and Hongjoong grimaced.
“Look, my family pack wasn’t like Mingi and Jongho’s if that’s what you’re thinking, but they weren’t exactly good. I mean they’re great for lots of people and were great for most of the other wolves if not all of them. But my family it was complicated okay?” Yunho waits for him to gather his thoughts as he takes another bite of his sandwich.
“You’re probably right,” said Hongjoong finally, “that it is that I’ve spent too many full moons alone. But there’s not a whole lot that can be done about that. Full moons are for packs, a wolf with a pack isn’t going to want to spend it with a wolf without one and I’ve never exactly had werewolf friends that weren’t part of a pack or invited to another pack’s full moon as part of their trial period. And my family is complicated, was I guess. There’s a reason I moved to Seoul years ago and didn’t look back. They didn’t want me and they didn’t need me. My grandad was Pack Head, and I have an older brother. When dad died, that made my brother next in line to be the Pack Head, I just didn’t measure up, you know? I like who I am, I like my wolf, but I’m used to being the odd one out, Yunho-ah. My family didn’t want me and therefore neither did the pack, I was just extra.” Something that looks like a cross between deep sadness and fury crosses Yunho’s face but it’s gone in a moment.
“Well, not seasonal depression then or a wolf form of it, it’s childhood trauma,” stated Yunho and Hongjoong snorted rolling his eyes.
“My family didn’t hurt me,” he insisted.
“Neglect is abuse too,” said Yunho firmly and Hongjoong frowned.
“But they didn’t,” he started and Yunho frowned.
“They did. They didn’t meet what you needed in a pack or a family, that’s neglect, hyung. You’d be furious if that had happened to Mingi and Jongho,” he pointed out and Hongjoong wilted. He was right, he would be.
“You’re annoyingly smart, Yunho,” he said finally and Yunho snorted.
“I’ve had a lot of practice. You’re not exactly my first or only stubborn hyung,” he pointed out. “We have potions that can help with depression but I don’t think you’ll like the side effects. Wooyoung has a tea he insists helps, we’ll try that when we get home and then we’re going to do whatever it is your wolf is wanting and you’re not going to be quiet about explaining it to me.” Hongjoong rolled his eyes.
“My wolf doesn’t know what it wants remember? It just wants to curl into a ball for the next several days and not move,” said Hongjoong.
“On your bed….by yourself?” Hongjoong groaned and wadded up a napkin to throw at Yunho.
“Aish leave me alone,” he whined and Yunho grinned looking victorious.
“I’ll text Wooyoung that he better have the best plushies for the nest on hand when we get home.”
“I hate you.”
“What would you do without me, hyung? Wallow in sadness when you could be building a nest? Lame,” insisted Yunho. “Come on, let’s get the errands done so we can get home.” Hongjoong nodded and stood up, following Yunho out the door waving goodbye to the witches behind the counter.
When they get home Wooyoung and San are both sitting on the couch in the living room a pile of plushies and blankets between them noisily debating what did and did not actually need to be in the pile. Yunho takes the bag from Hongjoong who just stands in the entry to the living room watching the two for a minute, the two younger members of his pack absorbed in their debate that they didn’t notice their arrival.
“What are you doing?” he asked finally, both younger boys’ heads whipping around to look at him wide eyes on both their faces, as if they’d been caught.
“Uhhhh, compiling a pile of nest supplies?” said Wooyoung finally, “San thinks we have too many plushies but he’s the one that stole all of Seonghwa-hyung’s pillows.”
“Why?” asked Hongjoong feeling utterly lost, “and why are we doing this in the living room?”
“More space!” insisted San. “If we build a giant nest in the living room you can fit more people in it.”
“Unless it has to be in you room? Does it need to be? We tried to search it online but there really wasn’t any good information,” said Wooyoung nodding.
“It doesn’t have to be in my room,” said Hongjoong hesitantly, “it’s just never not been?”
“Okay, so do you want to try a living room nest or do we move the pile to your room?” asked San enthusiastically.
“You want to help?” asked Hongjoong feeling very out of his depth.
“Of course. It’s very much not fair that the only other times you’ve actually built a nest were times I couldn’t be part of it. Wooyoungie gets to be part of your nest, hyung,” said San immediately switching over to whining.
“Yeah! San-hyung’s been so annoyed about that,” agreed Wooyoung nodding, “I didn’t hear the end of it for days last time.”
“You’re all so weird,” said Hongjoong shaking his head.
“Oh? How come?” asked San surprised.
“Not a lot of wolves actually like nesting in the first place,” said Hongjoong shrugging as he moved over to sit on the coffee table by their pile on the couch. “It’s not an unusual instinct to hold on to but it is a lot more common in pups, a lot of wolves out grow it. You’re not even wolves but you want to be involved, I don’t get it. It’s nice though.”
“Well clearly it’s still important to some wolves as they get older,” said Wooyoung shaking his head. “And you matter to us and it matters to you.”
“Exactly,” agreed San, “and we’re not wolves, but people are tactile too you know. Wooyoung-ah and I don’t really do the building the nest part but we do plenty of cuddle piles and it’s not that different.”
“Besides I have fun building a nest with you,” said Wooyoung nodding, “it’s kind of like building a fort except you’re like a thousand times better at nest building than I ever was at blanket forts.” Hongjoong snorted a laugh at that and Yunho rejoined them.
“Are we building it out here then?” he asked clapping his hands together.
“Yes!” insisted San nodding, “help me move the coffee table out of the way and let’s get started.” Hongjoong stood up and Yunho grabbed the other end of the coffee table, the two of them moving it out of the way and closer to the TV.
“We should get like one of those padded roll up mats for when we do this again,” said Wooyoung surveying their pile. “Alright, hyung, the pile is yours.” Hongjoong snickered but grabbed one of the thicker blankets that the two had found and tossed the other end to Wooyoung and they got to work. It didn’t take long to get the nest set up with the extra hands and Hongjoong found himself with San plastered to his back and Yunho shifted and happily curled up against his stomach while Wooyoung warmed up tea in the kitchen.
“Yunho said something was wrong,” said San and Hongjoong groaned.
“I do not want to have this conversation again,” he complained and San huffed slightly.
“Okay well you’re gonna have to cause he told me to ask,” said San.
“Why.”
“Aish, you’re being so whiny about this, hyung. It can’t be that bad,” said San tugging on Hongjoong’s arm to get him to roll over and face him.
“You’re all making it such a big deal and I knew you’d make it a big deal which is why I didn’t want to talk about it,” complained Hongjoong.
“It sounds like maybe we should be making a bigger deal,” called Wooyoung form the kitchen. “I can get Seonghwa-hyung up here in seconds if I open the door and yell.”
“Don’t do that!” yelped Hongjoong.
“Then talk to me,” insisted San.
“Do you want me to tell you what I told him or what he said it was?” asked Hongjoong and San frowned.
“Start with what Yunho said,” he decided nodding, “I think he’ll be more honest about it than you.”
“Hey,” complained Hongjoong and San just poked his stomach in response.
“Okay, okay. Yunho said it sounds like I have some kind of depression trauma thing,” said Hongjoong.
“That sounds serious,” said Wooyoung rejoining them and climbing into the nest carrying a couple of mugs of tea, one in each hand and two following along with his magic behind them, those two heading straight to the coffee table.
“It’s not,” insisted Hongjoong. “It’s just a thing that happens sometimes, usually leading up to full moon. My energy and motivation just like disappears for a bit. It kind of really sucks but it’s not serious.”
“That doesn’t sound like it isn’t serious,” said San frowning. “Why’s Yunho think it’s trauma related?”
“Okay, so like if you spend too many full moons alone it does something to your wolf,” started Hongjoong, “no one has specifics because it doesn’t happen often, it takes a lot to get to that point and then when it does happen no one’s reactions are consistently the same.”
“Why were you spending full moons alone?” asked San immediately narrowing down to the problem and Hongjoong huffed slightly.
“You’re all exhausting,” he stated and Wooyoung flicked his shoulder gently.
“Just tell us what’s going on,” he said.
“I just did, my wolf’s messed up because I’ve spent almost all of my full moons alone since I was like really really little,” said Hongjoong. “So leading up to full moons my wolf is like anxious I guess.”
“Oh,” said Wooyoung quietly apparently jumping to the right conclusion making eye contact with San who nodded.
“You’re not going to spend this full moon alone,” said San. “Man your family pack sucked, no wonder you moved to Seoul, yeah?” Hongjoong rolled his eyes at that.
“My wolf gets all antsy on full moons, I can’t hang out here at the clinic like Mingi and Jongho have been doing. I’ll go run in a park or something for a bit and then come back to help,” said Hongjoong.
“Um no? How does that solve your problem,” complained San. “They don’t need all of us.”
“Yes they do,” said Hongjoong raising an eyebrow at him. “I have seen the clinic on a full moon before, San.”
“Okay, so they don’t need all of us all night,” insisted San, “we can run short staff it’ll be fine, people will just have to deal with it. We can do it like we’ve switched to for night and do urgent only until regular hours in the morning. We’ll be busy a few days longer but it will be more easily manageable rather than the chaos you walked into last time.”
“You’re going to be running short handed anyway,” pointed out Hongjoong. “Because Jongho and Mingi are going to shift and actually have a full moon this time.”
“Okay then you have them,” said Wooyoung nodding and Hongjoong laughed.
“Wooyoung-ah, have you met your maknae?” he asked and Wooyoung rolled his eyes.
“Jongho-yah’s still weird about the whole thing I know, but he does like you,” said Wooyoung nodding. “He won’t want you to be alone.”
“He won’t want me with them either. That’s definitely worse than being alone,” said Hongjoong rolling his eyes.
“Okay then I’ll go with you,” said San nodding. “They can run with just healers for awhile.”
“Yes let’s leave Horizon with just three healers on the full moon,” said Hongjoong making a face, “that’s a terrible idea, San.”
“Then take Yunho,” said Wooyoung. “We can run the clinic without someone at the desk for awhile and you’re not taking a healer.”
“Maybe,” conceded Hongjoong finally, “but his magic is going to drain fast and I don’t want to make that worse.” Yunho meowed indignantly at that and Wooyoung laughed.
“Pretty sure that just pissed him off, hyung,” he declared. “I think you’re stuck with him now.”
“Fine, fine,” agreed Hongjoong nodding, “I’ll take Yunho but we’re coming back before too long.” San and Wooyoung shared a look but neither said anything after that apparently deciding that was as good as they were going to get tonight.
He does end up calling out of his shift that night, and the one after, but the exhaustion passes like it always does and he spends the day before the full moon looking at what parks were near the clinic and what was likely to be the least busy. He wasn’t really counting on Yunho still wanting to go, pretty sure it had just been because they’d felt bad that he wasn’t feeling well, but it would be better to pick a park that wasn’t busy just in case and besides Hongjoong didn’t particularly like the more crowded parks anyway. They were definitely not lone wolf friendly and he’d had more than one difficult full moon because packs wouldn’t leave him alone and kept trying to run him out of the park.
Which he couldn’t blame them. Well he could blame some of them, but packs with young pups he could excuse they were always protective and a lone wolf wasn’t always particularly safe. He understands that, thought it did totally suck to not be able to enjoy his own full moon because a pack with too many protective instincts wouldn’t leave him alone.
It looked like there was a small park with a little bit of a wooded area nearby and that was probably going to be the best bet, the other parks were bigger and would definitely be much more overrun with packs. It narrowed Hongjoong’s options for where he was going to curl up during the full moon, but he could make due. And if Yunho did want to run there would still be space. Packs with pups would be likely to head to the bigger park anyway since they’d be busier and more well lit and therefore safer.
He’s pulled out of his thoughts as he hear’s Seonghwa and Jongho down the hallway arguing. They sound like they’re moving closer to him and he glances up, there’s no one in the waiting room at the time and they probably wouldn’t want him listening in anyway.
“You,” complained Jongho spotting him as they reentered the waiting room, both of them with patient files from earlier patients.
“Oh boy, what have I done now?” asked Hongjoong.
“You’re fucking up my life,” complained Jongho.
“Still? Wow, that’s pretty ambitious of me,” said Hongjoong and Seonghwa snorted while Jongho rolled his eyes.
“Seonghwa-hyung is kicking me and Mingi-hyung out of the clinic tomorrow,” complained Jongho.
“Oh, yeah that probably is partially my fault,” said Hongjoong with a nod. “You need to shift on the full moon though, Jongho-ah, it’ll help with instincts and your wolf and stuff. And you’ll have more fun.”
“I am plenty of fun already,” insisted Jongho and Hongjoong rolled his eyes.
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what it sounded like. I’m not stupid, hyung, you probably think I have a stick up my ass,” started Jongho and Seonghwa sighed.
“I think your wolf is out of balance and you’d probably be a lot happier if it weren’t,” stated Hongjoong firmly. “I do not think it would change you as a person, I don’t think it will make you like me, I don’t think it will help you be less high strung.”
“High strung,” echoed Jongho sounding appalled.
“You are,” said Hongjoong firmly, “some people just are, Wooyoung-ah is high strung too.”
“I am so telling him you said that,” said Jongho crossing his arms.
“BUT I do think that you will be healthier and happier if you actually get your full moons and I do not want you to end up with difficulties because you aren’t,” said Hongjoong insistently. “So yes, we’re kicking you both out of the clinic.”
“To do what?” snapped Jongho. “Go hide in the trees somewhere? That sounds awful. We’ll be much happier if you don’t kick us out.” Hongjoong tried not to wince at the way that statement pierced his heart. There was nothing wrong with finding a nice hiding spot in a wood area to enjoy the full moon, it was quiet and peaceful and people left you alone. It didn’t matter if you were by yourself.
“You don’t have to leave,” said Hongjoong, “if you don’t want to go anywhere, stay home and shift.” Jongho paused and cocked his head.
“That’s an option?”
“Yeah? Most wolves don’t, instincts usually pull them to get outside and directly in the moon, but you’ve clearly been alright in the past without being outside on the full moons so I don’t see how you shifting upstairs together would be a problem,” said Hongjoong shrugging and taking the files Seonghwa handed him. “If you do want to go out though there are plenty of parks nearby, I can give you a list of some of the bigger ones with more space. They’ll be busy, but they’ll also be well lit and more wolves with young packs around mean you’re more likely to get help if you need it.”
“You’ve been looking at parks then?” asked Seonghwa. “Yunho mentioned something about going with you on the full moon.”
“If he still wants to,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “I’ve been looking for smaller parks with plenty of trees, they’ll be a little less crowded and usually darker but it should be alright for if he wants to come with me still. Less likely to have a pack of annoyed wolves trying to run us off for having a familiar with me.”
“Packs do that?” asked Jongho frowning. “Run you out of parks on full moons?”
“Yeah, some of the more nasty ones and packs with young pups have a tendency to try and keep lone wolves away, instincts really. A wolf without a pack triggers the danger instincts in a parental wolf,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “You don’t have to have a park on a full moon but plenty of packs prefer it. Bigger packs usually travel outside city limits for full moons for plenty of space.”
“What if we shift for only a little bit and then come help,” suggested Jongho.
“And end up right back where we started with you and Mingi not having full moons?” asked Seonghwa raising an eyebrow at him.
“You spend more than half the night shifted and then you can come help,” said Hongjoong, “if you stay home for the shifting. If you want to go run and play instead it can be a third of the night.” Jongho scowled as he thought about it before nodding.
“Fine, deal, hyung,” he stated, “but you have to follow those rules too.”
“I will follow those rules if I don’t have Yunho with me, if I do I’m coming back sooner because I am not about to run him ragged on a full moon when he and Seonghwa both need his energy up,” said Hongjoong shaking his head. Jongho rolled his eyes but nodded.
“Fine,” he agreed. “Send me a list of parks, I’ll talk to Mingi-hyung.” Hongjoong nodded and grabbed his phone to text the list to Jongho who headed upstairs to go find Mingi.
“What’d he say that hurt you?” asked Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s head snapped up to look at him startled.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said quickly and Seonghwa sat down.
“Don’t lie to me, Joong,” he said seriously. “Besides that I can definitely tell that you’re lying, my magic lends itself to emotions and souls remember? I could tell something he said hurt you, what was it?” Hongjoong sighed.
“It’s not important, hyung. And he’s not technically wrong. I usually spend my full moons curled up in a wooded area somewhere, most wolves do think that sucks and sounds awful,” said Hongjoong shrugging.
“Does yours?” asked Seonghwa hesitantly and Hongjoong rolled his eyes.
“If I didn’t prefer it I wouldn’t do it,” he pointed out.
“But you’ll run if you have Yunho with you instead of picking a spot to curl up in,” said Seonghwa and Hongjoong shrugged.
“Running on a full moon is only fun with other people,” he said, “at least my wolf thinks so. Not every wolf does. I like the trees and that they’re usually quieter on full moons and you can pick a nice big one to hide by and people leave you alone. It’s peaceful. But Jongho’s not wrong, most wolves think what he does about that, it’s weird. Wolf instincts usually are pulling to run and play on a full moon, it’s why we get so antsy and twitchy. You’ve seen Mingi lately, he hasn’t been able to sit still all week.” Seonghwa nodded looking like he was thinking, both of them being interrupted by a patient walking in.
Hongjoong doesn’t think anything about the conversation the next day as the influx of patients starts. As they move closer and closer to sunset he can tell his wolf is getting twitchy and he’s not sure whether to hope that Yunho was serious or that they’re busy enough that no one notices him slip out. Mingi and Jongho head upstairs as the last rays of sunlight dip down below the horizon, Seonghwa and Hongjoong both insisting that they were officially being kicked out of the clinic. Hongjoong waves Seonghwa off when the older tries to push him out too, saying he’ll head out after this last rush of patients is checked in and not to worry.
The oldest witch shakes his head at him but takes his word for it before heading back with another patient. Hongjoong does get the latest rush of patients checked in before his wolf starts to whine at him for not being outside. So he shot a text message to Seonghwa letting him know he was leaving and the park he was planning to be at in case they needed to come find him before slipping out into the night, past a coven hurrying through their front doors.
He takes a breath before shifting and shaking his fur out trotting off down the sidewalk. He makes it to the end of the sidewalk pretty quickly but apparently not fast enough for no one to know he was gone.
“I cannot believe you were just going to leave me like that,” complained Yunho jogging to catch up to him. Hongjoong snorted and nudged his head into the younger boy’s side, his wolf ridiculously pleased to have company for the full moon after all. Yunho rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand gently against his head.
“Lead the way then, hyung,” he said cheerfully before shifting and happily weaving between his legs. Hongjoong snuffled the top of the maine coon’s head before heading off down the sidewalk again, this time with the cat at his side. He’s not sure how well the cat will be able to keep up and doesn’t really want to test it, so he makes sure he picks an easy pace rather than running towards the park. Yunho seems to have no trouble with keeping up, loping along at his side. Hongjoong towered over him like this despite how large of a cat he was, he was a little worried about accidentally squishing him. Yunho for his part seemed totally unconcerned.
There are a couple of small packs at the park when they get there, playing and tumbling around and Hongjoong’s wolf definitely wants. But Hongjoong’s wolf also wasn’t alone this year and he was not about to be greedy. So he winds his way through the park Yunho right next to him and finds an empty spot near the tree line, it was perfect. He twirls around a couple times just to doublecheck that this was the place before sitting down and carefully reaching a paw to bop Yunho’s head, the cat having sat down to watch him survey their spot. Yunho meows indignantly and crouches into a pounce before jumping at one of his paws, Hongjoong quickly dancing away.
The moon is high in the sky by the time Yunho starts to look tired of their game, the cat starting to droop a little. Hongjoong flops down onto the ground next to him and Yunho curls up, setting his head on one of Hongjoong’s paws. They should start to head home, Yunho was tired and he would be going straight back to work after this. He glances up at the full moon above them again and tries to gauge if he thinks it’s been long enough that he’s keeping his agreement with Jongho. It would have to be.
He stood up and stretched out before nudging the cat now blinking one eye open to pin him with an annoyed glare. Yunho refuses to move and Hongjoong nudges him again, the cat making a dramatic show of yawning and putting his head back down. Hongjoong sits down and considers his options, he could maybe try to pick him up but he wasn’t sure that wasn’t crossing a boundary. So instead he tried to nudge him again.
“ He’s going to swipe at you. ” Hongjoong spun around and startled to find himself faced with Mingi who’s tail immediately started wagging.
“ If you keep nudging him he’s definitely going to get annoyed, ” agreed Jongho skidding to a halt as he joined them from across the park.
“ Well then how would you get him home? ” asked Hongjoong knowing he sounded huffy.
“ Yeah, not gonna happen, ” said Mingi making a show of looking at the cat who blinked one eye open to glare back at him. “ You’re just gonna have to let him nap before he agrees to go anywhere. ” Jongho nudged into his side just shy of playful, clearly still annoyed with him and about the whole thing but also obviously trying to goad him into playing.
“ Well I can always shift and carry him, ” said Hongjoong nudging his head into Jongho’s gently, trying to discourage the playing without outright denying the younger wolf.
“ Mmmmm, no, ” insisted Mingi whole wolf body practically wiggling with excitement before also nudging into him.
“ Yah, come on. It’s not fair to Yunho-yah to make him deal with all three of us. He’s been a good sport, let’s take him home, ” said Hongjoong gently.
“You better not be planning to leave, hyung.”
“What and just when we get here? That’s not fair.”
“Hey, I wanted to get to be part of this too. You’re just going to leave when we finally get away?” Hongjoong whips around and does shift then, the rest of the pack having apparently caught up from where Mingi and Jongho had left them behind.
“What-if you’re all here who’s at the clinic?” Seonghwa shook his head.
“Oh we closed it,” he said. “We’ll reopen early in the morning. It just took this long to get through the rest of the patients. Right! Now, let’s do this full moon thing. Yunho-yah said there were other packs playing.”
“You should have said this was supposed to be a whole pack thing, hyung,” insisted Wooyoung bounding over to flop on top of Jongho who made an annoyed noise.
“We could have closed the clinic earlier and done it all together to begin with,” said San nodding. “I knew you were holding out on us.”
“Aish, we’re here now leave him alone. You know he didn’t want to be a bother,” said Yeosang ruffling San’s hair.
“ Play with us? ” asked Mingi sounding nervous and how was Hongjoong supposed to say no to that. Sure he definitely felt like crying but his wolf had never been so happy in his entire life. So he shifted and cheerfully dove on top of Mingi who yelped and started wiggling, the two of them wrestling. Hongjoong made sure he was careful that Mingi didn’t ever feel like he wasn’t winning, the last thing he wanted was to ruin a full moon just because he’d triggered a panic attack.
They don’t head back until the early hours of the morning, Seonghwa carrying Yunho while Mingi and Jongho chased Wooyoung and San back, Yeosang laughing as he watched them. And for the first time in a really long time Hongjoong’s happy. Seonghwa looks down at him and a small smile plays at his lips, maybe he could tell.
Up ahead of them the other four have made their way into the clinic, Wooyoung letting in a small coven that looked like they were panicking and Yeosang jogged ahead to help.
“We’ll stay closed a little longer so people get some sleep,” said Seonghwa, “San and Yeosang are going to take shifts staying up to deal with emergencies.” San made sense, vampires were usually nocturnal and with the city’s magic being haywire tonight it figured the vampire wasn’t going to sleep easy. Yeosang didn’t make sense though.
“Yeosang’s magic is tied to the night too,” explained Seonghwa apparently being able to tell that Hongjoong was confused. The empathy magic was kind of wild, usually Hongjoong had a much more difficult time communicating with none wolves when he was shifted and some wolves even. The fact that he could understand Jongho and Mingi just fine and they him was a huge statement that their pack bonds were definitely forming and would be strong once they’d fully formed.
“You should ask him sometime,” said Seonghwa holding the clinic door open, “he’d be happy to tell you.” He would, he maybe wouldn’t be able to fully understand the magic theory behind Yeosang’s magic but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to know. They headed upstairs and Seonghwa set Yunho down the cat familiar meandering over to pick a blanket still on the couch from the nesting shenanigans earlier in the week and curled up to go to sleep.
“Get some sleep, Joong-ah,” said Seonghwa stretching his arms above his head. “I’m going to make sure that San is talking the other two into sleeping.” Hongjoong watches him head off down the hallway before heading to his room and shifting, changing into clean clothes. He hesitated a moment before grabbing a couple of blankets and heading to the living room. Yunho peeks one eye open to watch him before stretching and moving over to help him lay the blankets out on the ground, bunching them up. The cat claiming a corner of the nest once they had the blankets settled. Hongjoong hears the shower turn on down the hall and hesitates before going to see if the others are still up and want to join him and Yunho. He starts with San who still has the door open and is rummaging through his dresser for a clean hoodie.
“San-ah?” he asked and San’s head popped up the vampire immediately turning to look at him.
“Hey, hyung,” he said brightly. “You had fun right? I had so much fun! I’m still kinda wound up a little you know? I think I got Jongho and Mingi convinced to at least think about sleeping though.”
“I had fun,” agreed Hongjoong nodding and then hesitated. “Yunho and I made a nest in the living room if you wanted to uh wanted to.”
“Oh hell yeah,” agreed San eagerly not even waiting for Hongjoong to spit it out. “I’ll bring Wooyoung’s plushie pile. Oh! I can bring some of mine too, if you want.” Hongjoong nodded quickly.
“Yeah, definitely,” he agreed.
“Great. Gimme a minute to get changed and I’ll be there,” said San cheerfully and Hongjoong nodded stepping back out of the room before hesitating in the hallway.
“It won’t hurt to ask them, hyung,” called San apparently being able to sense his hesitation. Hongjoong rolled his eyes but the vampire was right. He could ask. It’d be fine if the other two wolves were packed out for the night. So he moved over to their door and knocked lightly. There was no response and he hesitated. They definitely weren’t asleep yet, but that was okay.
“Uh, Yunho and San and I are going to be in the living room,” he said through the door, “we’re building a nest. I’d like if you joined us but you don’t have too. Thanks for tonight, it was fun.” He turned and started back towards the living room, pausing when the door creaked open.
“Do we have to bring something for the nest?” asked Jongho hesitantly. “We uh, we don’t know how that works?”
“Not if you don’t want too,” said Hongjoong turning to look at him. “You might prefer it? If you bring something the nest will smell like you too, but you don’t have to. Sannie’s bringing his and Wooyoung’s plushies.”
“Did you invite hyung?” asked Jongho hesitantly and Hongjoong shook his head.
“He’s in the shower, I’ll try to catch him once he’s done,” he said and Jongho nodded.
“Give us a few minutes,” he said finally and Hongjoong nodded before heading back down the hallway. It’s a few minutes until San appears with as many plushies as he could carry and happily drops them to the floor just outside the nest set up and starts helping Hongjoong set them up. Mingi and Jongho don’t make a sound and Hongjoong figures maybe they’d changed their minds.
“I’m going to check on Yeosang and Wooyoung and will be right back, okay?” said San standing up once they were done.
“Make sure they know to join us when they’re done, if they want,” said Hongjoong and San nodded.
“I will,” he agreed. “I’ll be right back.” He headed down the stairs and Hongjoong’s wolf is very pleased with the set up as he looks around. It’ll be even better when San comes back and he has more packmates with him. Yunho blinks an eye open and purrs loudly at him and Hongjoong snickers and runs his fingers over the cat’s head gently, maybe Yunho had access to Seonghwa’s empathy magic. That would make a lot of sense actually.
“I need a hyung!” called Jongho sounding a little frantic and Hongjoong hesitated. Yunho gave him a look that clearly stated he wasn’t going anywhere so Hongjoong stood up and headed down the hall knocking once on the door.
“San just went downstairs, do you need me to get him?” he asked. Jongho was quiet a moment before tugging the door open and ushering him in.
“No, you’ll have to work. You probably know what you’re doing,” said Jongho. Mingi was lying on the floor still shifted his eyes squeezed shut and his body language definitely tense.
“What happened?” asked Hongjoong immediately moving over to kneel next to him, Jongho crouching on the other side quickly.
“He’s stuck,” said Jongho face tight and hands fluttering frantically like he wanted to be doing something but couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to be doing.
“Stuck,” echoed Hongjoong.
“Stuck shifted. He can’t shift back,” snapped Jongho.
“Okay, take a deep breath for me, Jongho-yah, okay?” Jongho sucked in a deep breath probably too quickly but it would have to be enough.
“It’s okay, it happens sometimes,” said Hongjoong reaching to catch the maknae’s still frantic hands. “You freaking out is just going to make Mingi-yah freak out more.”
“Right,” muttered Jongho nodding. “It’s okay?”
“Yeah,” agreed Hongjoong nodding and carefully offering his hand to Mingi who didn’t react beyond a little sniff, so he carefully threaded his fingers through the fur on his head gently scratching his skull.
“Full moons can make wolf magic a little haywire. The wolf is wild you know? And the magic it’s tied to is wild magic, full moons mean the magic is stronger and more in control, your wolf is closer to the surface. Some people can’t shift back on full moons,” said Hongjoong nodding. “That’s not a bad thing, it just means their wolf is happy and their magic is strong. If you want to shift back we can try to talk through it, Mingi-ah.” Mingi’s tail thumps once against the floor at that but he doesn’t say anything.
“I’m not coming to the nest without him,” said Jongho shaking his head. “You’ll have to do it without us tonight.” Hongjoong cocked his head.
“He doesn’t have to be shifted back to join us,” he pointed out, “Yunho’s shifted right now, hasn’t bothered to shift back since we left the clinic earlier tonight.”
“Oh,” said Jongho softly. “You don’t mind? That hyung’s stuck?”
“No? Hey, I’ve had my fair share of full moons where my wolf won’t let go,” said Hongjoong shrugging, “I’m a little surprised yours did without a fuss, Jongho-ah. Usually if your magic isn’t really well balanced out it’s a little bit of a struggle, especially if the wolf isn’t used to being the dominant side of your magic, and yours isn’t.”
“How can you tell that?” asked Jongho frowning.
“The way you talk about it and the way you deal with instincts and such,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “You’re almost textbook for an unbalanced werewolf repressing his wolf.”
“And Mingi-hyung?” asked Jongho after a minute.
“Has stupidly strong magic,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “I don’t know. He’s not as vocal about his wolf and his feelings as you are. You’re an open book.”
“I am not,” complained Jongho.
“Oh you definitely are,” said Hongjoong grinning, “it’s cute. Alright, Mingi-ah, what do you think? Want to stay shifted and just not deal with it tonight or do you want me and Jongho-yah to try and talk you through it?”
“ I want to shift back, hyung. I feel gross and I want clean clothes, ” complained Mingi his body language now significantly less anxious. Down the hall the shower cut off and Jongho perked up. He hesitated.
“Do you want me to stay, Mingi-hyung, or do you want me to go make sure Seonghwa-hyung doesn’t escape the nest?” asked Jongho.
“ Oh quick, go get him. You know he’ll go straight to bed if you don’t, ” said Mingi quickly. Jongho nodded and stood up.
“You won’t force him to shift back right? Let him do it on his own,” said Jongho, “I don’t care if I want you here or not I will definitely kill you if you force it.” He darted out of the room with those words to go find the oldest and Hongjoong watched him go a little baffled.
“Mingi, I can’t force you to shift,” he said turning back to look at the younger wolf who looked significantly more anxious again.
“ Well, yeah Jongho just threatened to kill you, ” pointed out Mingi and Hongjoong shook his head.
“No, I mean my magic doesn’t do that.”
“ I thought all pack heads had that kind of magic, ” said Mingi looking distinctly confused and Hongjoong sighed.
“It’s not actually tied to being pack head. Everyone has different kinds of magic and different things they can do with it. It’s not uncommon for a pack head to have that kind of magic, a lot of wolves that do eventually become pack heads and plenty of packs seek it out. Something to do with protection, I never really got it. It does run in my family actually, I’m the only Kim in like eight generations that didn’t get it,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “It’s part of why my family pack wasn’t exactly great to me. I was a little bit of a let down.”
“ I didn’t know pack heads could not have that, ” said Mingi perking up slightly. “ That’s so much better. You’re like that much more of a badass because you can’t actually make anyone listen to you, they just do anyway cause you’re good at being the pack head. ” Hongjoong snickered at that, but couldn’t ignore the way his heart swelled.
“Aish, you’re being too sweet,” he complained scratching Mingi’s head again gently. “But yeah I don’t have that kind of command magic, and it usually only works on people your pack bonded too anyway. I’m fast, that’s my magic. I’m fast and I have ridiculous reflexes, agility magic. Pretty sure Jongho’s is like strength or something.” Mingi giggled at that.
“ Jongho-ah says he’s always been like that. It’s genetics not magic. He has night vision and really good vision in general. Mine’s senses, like all five of them, they’re just way better than they should be, ” volunteered Mingi.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Hongjoong nodding. “Bet that can be kind of overwhelming, huh?”
“ I’m used to it now, ” said Mingi shaking his head. “ It kind of really sucked at first. ”
“Yeah I bet,” said Hongjoong nodding, “you want to try and shift back now? Feeling alright?” Mingi’s heart rate picked up again and Hongjoong frowned.
“Mingi-ah?”
“ Maybe we wait for Jongho, ” said Mingi quietly and Hongjoong shifted so he was sitting cross legged, still gently scratching Mingi’s head.
“You didn’t want to a minute ago,” he said. “You don’t have to shift back if you don’t want to.”
“ I want to. I feel gross and I want to get to be part of the nest. Wooyoung and San really like it, ” said Mingi.
“Okay. So let’s give it a try then, yeah?” Mingi definitely was acting more panicked again.
“Is it just because it’s me? I bet we can talk Yunho into coming in instead,” said Hongjoong and Mingi whined.
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going through your head, Mingi-ah,” said Hongjoong gently. “If you really do want to wait for Jongho, we can do that. I’m sure he won’t be long now.”
“ Our old pack was bad, ” muttered Mingi finally and Hongjoong grimaced.
“Yeah, I know. I can tell just by how Jongho acts and I’m not stupid Mingi-ah, I know you’re nightmares are almost definitely pack related,” said Hongjoong. “Is this about your old pack head forcing you to shift back?”
“ A little bit, ” said Mingi quietly whining again and Hongjoong really wanted to wrap him in bubble wrap and just not let him interact with anything that might hurt him ever again.
“ They were awful. I mean they were awful to both of us, but Jongho-ah’s always been like ridiculously strong, they liked hurting him when he was a wolf instead. They shoved him around a lot, ” said Minigi in explanation. “ They did that to me too, but they liked it better when I wasn’t a wolf. It uh, it was really bad. I couldn’t fight back and shifting back into human after wolf is disorienting and it’s hard and it’s really disorienting when it’s forced on you, and it’s not like they fed us so I didn’t exactly have any muscle mass. ” Hongjoong could only think of one reason they’d prefer hurting Mingi in human form and it sent white hot rage through his veins. He tried to shove his wolf back, to focus on keeping the more human thoughts forefront but it was a losing battle on a full moon and next thing he knew he had shifted and was flopped fully on top of Mingi insistently rubbing his head against the younger wolf’s.
“ Hyung? ” It was barely a whisper, like Mingi wasn’t sure he wanted to ask.
“ I’m gonna kill them but I can’t kill them because I don’t know them so instead you get smothered, sorry you’re gonna just have to deal with it, ” said Hongjoong in explanation and Mingi huffed a quiet laugh. They stay like that for a while, Hongjoong can hear Seonghwa talking to Jongho down the hallway and is sure that Mingi can too. It surprises him when suddenly he has a human Mingi huddled under his wolf form instead of a wolf Mingi and he snuffles his hair lightly in reassurance, he has tear tracks down his face.
“ Clean clothes okay, Mingi-yah, then the nest, ” insisted Hongjoong and Mingi giggled slightly, reaching to bury his face into Hongjoong’s fur for a moment before standing up and heading over to the dresser. Hongjoong shakes his fur out and moves over to lay down in front of the door, eyes on the hallway.
“Jongho does that,” said Mingi a moment later, moving back towards him in clean clothes now, carrying a pillow his arms wrapped around it like it was the only thing anchoring him to reality.
“ It’s instinctual ,” said Hongjoong in explanation before shifting back, finally calmed down enough now that Mingi seemed mostly okay.
“Protective instincts mostly, get between your pack and the outside world and make sure anything that comes in has to get past you,” said Hongjoong shrugging. “Ready? It sounds like Seonghwa may have convinced Jongho to shower.”
“Okay,” agreed Mingi nodding and let Hongjoong usher him out of the room and down the hallway.
“Yay you brought Mingi,” cheered San apparently having returned from checking in with his soulmates and having claimed a place in the nest. Mingi nodded and let the vampire pull him down onto the blanket pile and wrap around him like an octopus.
“Wooyoung-ah will be up as soon as they see the coven out,” said San cheerfully, “ready to sleep now, hyung?” Hongjoong nodded and moved over to settle in by Yunho again who stretched before curling up on his chest and purring. San smiled slightly.
“You know they say cat purrs are magic?” he asked and Hongjoong laughed.
“I don’t think it counts if it’s a familiar that actually has magic,” he said.
“No really, cat purrs are supposed to be healing,” said San nodding. “He does that a lot.” Yunho peeked one eye open to glare at San but didn’t do anything else to complain and just went back to purring.
“Jongho said I had to join the nest,” announced Seonghwa joining them. “I know San stole my pillows last time so I thought I’d bring some along.”
“Great, here put them here,” said Hongjoong waving him over and directing where to set up the pillows. By the time Jongho joins them Seonghwa has found a spot in the nest and Yunho has sprawled out so he’s across both Hongjoong and Seonghwa, both older boys very amused at the familiar’s antics, Mingi is talking to San but sounding more and more tired, and San looks very awake but happy to be part of the cuddle pile anyway. Jongho hesitates at the edge of the nest before Hongjoong quickly waves him in, sandwiching him between him and Mingi.
“There, now go to sleep,” he muttered feeling his wolf finally relax at having most of the pack in one place. The only thing that would be better would be if Wooyoung and Yeosang came and joined them, but Hongjoong was happy to take what he could get and 90% of the pack in one place was a lot. It had been a pretty amazing full moon.
When Hongjoong next blinked awake the apartment was quiet and most of the pack was still in the nest, it’s either been several hours or hardly any since San had apparently not traded out with Yeosang, or they’d already traded out twice Hongjoong couldn’t be sure. It takes a moment to realize he’s woken up because Jongho’s sneaking out of the nest and heading towards the door.
“Jongho-yah?” he called quietly and the maknae froze before turning to look at him looking a little bit frightened.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered quickly.
“It’s okay. What are you doing?” The maknae shuffles his feet a little bit before answering.
“I need to check on Yeosang-hyung,” he said.
“Something happen?” asked Hongjoong sitting up.
“No! No, no, no, just go back to sleep. I’m just being weird,” said Jongho waving his hands. Hongjoong frowned and rubbed at one of his eyes.
“Okay, then let’s go check on him,” he said, his wolf now feeling a little bit restless. He wasn’t going to get it to settle back down again until he’d checked on Yeosang and gotten Jongho back to the pack again at this point.
“No, that’s okay I can do it. Nothing’s wrong, hyung, I just. I need to,” said Jongho crossing his arms. No he looked more like he was hugging himself.
“Full moon your instincts are more aggressive than normal,” agreed Hongjoong nodding, “and you’ve proven you’re pretty protective in nature. If your wolf is insisting you check, let’s go check, I’d rather know he was okay by himself too.” Jongho hesitates before nodding and heading to the door of the apartment, Hongjoong following after him. They headed down the stairs and into the main waiting room of the clinic quickly. There are a couple of people in various chairs across the waiting room but it’s pretty empty and Yeosang’s at the desk swapping out files. Jongho visibly relaxed when he saw the faerie and Hongjoong could feel his own wolf calm down.
“Oh,” said Yeosang surprised when he turned and saw them. “Are you okay?”
“Just checking in, hyung,” said Jongho nodding and Hongjoong nodded.
“Okay, well we’re all good down here,” said Yeosang with a small smile. “Don’t worry about me, yeah? You both should be getting more sleep.”
“You need sleep too,” said Hongjoong and Yeosang huffed a small laugh.
“I have thirty more minutes until I’m supposed to swap with Sannie, I’ll get plenty of sleep,” said Yeosang. “Go, go, I’ll be up in a bit.” Jongho nodded and headed back up the stairs, Hongjoong lingered a moment.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked and Yeosang nodded.
“I’m fine, hyung. Go with Jongho-yah, I’ll be up in a bit,” said Yeosang smiling at him.
“I don’t really like the you and San taking turns being alone down here thing,” said Hongjoong and Yeosang nodded.
“I figured,” he agreed, “but just tonight and it’s not like there’s a whole lot that’ll happen in here, besides you’re all just up the stairs.” Hongjoong nodded.
“Yeah, okay, but just tonight,” he said and Yeosang patted his shoulder.
“Okay, now really go back to sleep, hyung. I can feel the exhaustion coming off of you,” said Yeosang and Hongjoong laughed slightly.
“Yeah, okay. Really don’t wait longer than the thirty minutes though, I will come find you.” Yeosang laughed but agreed and waved him off, calling another patient as Hongjoong headed back up the stairs. He does wake up again later when Yeosang and San switch out and scoots back so there’s room between him and Jongho for Yeosang who takes the wordless invitation as it is and settles in easily. It’s easy to sleep through til morning from there, his pack around him and everyone happy, his wolf feels happy and settled for the first time he can ever remember. And looking over at Jongho and Mingi he got the sense that the other two wolves probably felt much the same as he did.