TWM | MW [✔]

09.

Mingyu heard Wonwoo leave the hut and clenched his hands into fists. He didn't want to admit it, but the mage's words had gotten to him. There'd been a lot of truth to Wonwoo's outburst. Stealing him had been a last-ditch effort to save the pack, and Mingyu was blaming the mage for its failure when he was the one responsible. He'd chosen Wonwoo, dragged him away from... well, dragged him out of the frying pan, and thrown him right into the fire.

He waited another minute, struggling to settle his body when the urge to change kept rolling over him. Without a mage, his control was always on a knife edge. Add in the strong emotions of recent days, and he was like a kid again, shifting with the slightest provocation.

Once he had himself in hand, he went out in search of Wonwoo. The mage had said his piece, and now Mingyu needed to say his. Wonwoo hadn't gone far. He was crouched on the ground outside, leaning against the wall of the hut. He didn't move when Mingyu's shadow fell over him, acting like he wasn't even there.

Mingyu sank to the ground beside him, sitting cross-legged with the hut to his back.

"I'm sorry."

There was no response beyond the sound of Wonwoo's ragged breathing. Ragged and fast and...

He took a closer look at the druid, spying hunched shoulders and the rapid rise and fall of Wonwoo's chest.

"Hey."

When his hand met Wonwoo's shoulder, the mage turned away, curled against the wall of the hut. Not so easily deterred, he reached out again. Wonwoo tried to shrug off his touch, but Mingyu tugged him around until they were face to face. Tears were trailing down Wonwoo's cheeks, his eyes red. Each breath was a struggle. Mingyu caught the mage's hand and pressed it to his chest, over his heart.

"Breathe with me."

"I— I can't," Wonwoo rasped.

"You can. You will."

The mage rolled his eyes. If he'd had the breath to speak, Mingyu suspected he'd be saying something less than complimentary about him.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Stop fighting me and breathe."

Wonwoo gave in reluctantly, matching him breath for breath. The silence gave Mingyu time to think. He'd offered Wonwoo the chance to return to Maken Pack because he'd thought that was where the mage wanted to be. The truth was, his pack needed Wonwoo. They couldn't afford to let him go. Mingyu needed to convince Wonwoo that he wanted to stay. He'd been treating him like a prisoner, which probably wasn't too dissimilar from how Maken Pack had treated him. If Wonwoo had arrived at their pack willingly, as a prospective mage, things would have been different. That was the world—the life—he needed to show the mage.

When Wonwoo seemed calmer, growing restless at their closeness, Mingyu eased back to lean against the hut.

"I am sorry. This is not how our pack wanted to bring a mage into the fold. It isn't how I pictured meeting you, either. Nothing about this has gone the way it should have."

Wonwoo snorted. "Are you saying you would have wined and dined me? Instead of the bag-over-the-head midnight abduction?"

Mingyu made a face. "The pack can't exactly afford to wine and dine. But I'd have put on a clean shirt, maybe a tie."

"Do you even own a tie?"

"...Namjoon does."

"He'd let you borrow it?"

"He never wears it. It's not like he'd notice if it went missing for a few hours."

"Well, you can't wear a tie now anyway. I'd feel under-dressed." The mage glanced down pointedly at his shirtless chest and worn pants.