Wolfgang

Running

He is running. He is running as fast as he can. He does his best not to run into any trees or trip over rocks or fallen branches. He can hear them following close behind him. He tries to resist the urge to look behind him. When he gives in, he regrets it immediately. Not only does it make him even more nervous to see how close they are, but he also misses a stone in front of him.

He trips on it and falls down with a shout. He rolls a little on the ground, groaning, but manages to get up quickly. They are so much closer to him now and he can clearly see them running towards him. He can't just sit around. He's too close to give up now.

And so he starts running again. He has done this so many times at this point, he has learned this part of the forest by heart. He knows he's almost there, he knows all of it will be over soon. And yet, it still seems like it's taking forever. The adrenaline has fully taken over his body, along with a mixture of excitement and fear.

He hears a howl. He is only a few hundred meters away now. At the realization, he feels a force consuming him. For a few moments, his body fills with energy. He feels stronger. He can see, hear, smell so much better. He can determine the exact distance between him and the others just by the sound of their footsteps. He can see every detail around him, even the corners the light can't reach. He can smell the mixture of wood and grass along with the humidity, a result of the rain of the previous day. His nose also catches some scents with which he is very familiar – four ahead of him and three behind him. And he can run way faster.

Before he knows it, he's already crashing into Hyunjin, who catches him in his arms. They both fall on the ground. Jeongin would normally hurry to get off the older and check if he's okay, but he is too tired – from the running and the sudden rush of extra energy. Hyunjin just laughs a little and pats his back.

Jeongin hears footsteps coming closer to them. When he looks up, he sees Chan smiling down at him.

"You alright?" the older asks.

"No," Jeongin says breathless and rolls of Hyunjin.

Of course Chan arrived before him. Jeongin tries to think of a moment when the older could have run past him, but he can't find one. He doesn't give it too much thought. He's already exhausted and, honestly, he has accepted the fact that Chan will always be stronger than him by now. He's not really surprised he finished before him again.

"Well, you'll be happy to hear that you broke your record," Seungmin says as he walks up to them.

Jeongin feels a sense of pride at the sight of the number 07:26 on the timer in Seungmin's hand. Usually, it would take him around ten minutes to finish running on this path. Three whole minutes isn't something small.

"And," Seungmin continues talking. "this time you arrived before Changbin-hyung too, not just Jisung and Yongbok."

As if on cue, Jisung comes and falls on the ground next to Jeongin, breathing heavily. Yongbok is also out of breath as he sits down. Changbin seems to be in the best state out of all of them, even though sweat is dripping down his face and neck and there are visible stains on his shirt.

Looking around, Jeongin notices someone is missing.

"Where is Minho-hyung?" he asks.

"Oh, he already went home to prepare dinner," Chan says.

Jeongin whines. He's used to Chan being faster than him, he has come to terms with that. But the fact that Minho still manages to beat him, to the point that he has time to return to their house and start cooking, doesn't settle well with Jeongin. Sure, he's younger, but only for three years and he's an alpha, he's supposed to be faster.

Chan gives him a nudge to make him look at him.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You did great today, really."

"Oh, oh!" Hyunjin jumps up suddenly. "His eyes turned red towards the end!"

"Ah, right!" Seungmin agrees.

Chan and Jeongin look at each other in shock. Ever since Jeongin presented as an alpha a couple years ago, his eyes had turned red only twice and it was during his rut. But it never happened because of Jeongin's will. Until now.

Chan gives him a smile and extends his hand to help him get up. Jeongin can see how proud the older is in his eyes and can't help feeling a little proud himself.

"See? You're improving so much," the older alpha tells him. "Now let's go home and enjoy whatever Minho has made."

Jeongin grins and nods. They all start walking, but then Jisung – who is still on the ground – yells.

"Yah! Wait, wait! I can't walk! I'm too tired!" he says in an overdramatic tone.

Everyone knows he in fact can walk just fine, but doesn't want to. But they also know he's not going to listen to them easily.

Chan looks at Hyunjin. The omega stares back at him for a moment, before realizing what he wanted him to do.

"What? No! I'm not carrying his lazy ass! He can just walk by himself," he says.

"No, I can't, I really can't," Jisung says, shaking his head.

Chan sighs. He doesn't want to ask any of the others to carry him, because he knows they're tired too. He turns to Seungmin, but before he can ask him, the beta speaks.

"Minho-hyung says we should leave him here," he says and shows the rest his conversation with Minho on his phone. "He'll come by himself sooner or later. He'll be too scared. All alone, at night, when it's dark, and you don't know what might appear and who might attack you..."

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up," Jisung cuts in and actually stands up.

The rest of the pack laughs. Changbin pats Jisung's back and they all start walking back.

"So, Innie, anything you want as a reward for doing so well today?" Hyunjin asks.

The youngest thinks about it for a little bit.

"Oh! Can we get ice cream for dessert?" he asks, mostly directed at Chan.

"But we already have the brownies Felix made yesterday," Chan says a little hesitant.

"I mean, we could have both," Jeongin murmurs.

"Oh, we could combine them!" Felix joins in, suddenly very excited at the idea.

He and Jeongin hold hands and jump around in excitement at how good it sounds. The other five stare at them, some in fascination, some in confusion.

Jisung turns to Chan.

"We're getting ice cream, aren't we?"

Chan nods, defeated.

"Yup, we're getting ice cream."

Jeongin and Felix cheer, while the others laugh.