The Abandoned Wolf

14. Getting Closer

Birds chirped happily outside as they bathed themselves in small puddles of water on the ground that was left by last night's rain. Within minutes, the sun rose and the strong and warm rays of light invaded Kyungsoo's room. The boy was still dreaming about playing with Pororo on the clouds when the sun rays landed on his face. A frown appeared on his face as he woke up. He felt something warm around his waist and hot air was blowing the top of his head every few seconds. He slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a chest heaving up and down in a steady pace. Trailing his eyes upwards to see who the chest belongs to, his eyes widened in shock and screamed.

"Who?! What?!" Luhan shot up from the bed just to knock the red-headed male off, making him land on his butt. "Bambi!" Luhan crawled over to the other side of the bed and looked at Kyungsoo, who was glaring at him.

"What happened?!" The rest of the MoonStone pack members poured into the room and rolled their eyes when they saw that it was just Luhan.

"Hyung did it again, huh?" Jongdae lazily smirked as he leaned against the creamed-coloured wall. Kyungsoo replied him with a huff of annoyance. He did not expect to wake up just to fall off his bed.

"I'm sorry Bambi." Luhan sheepishly smiled as he scratched the back of his head.

"It's alright hyung." The red-headed male got up from the floor with a smile. He knew the older male did not mean to do that.

"You have to be careful of Luhan hyung at night. He may not like people on his bed but that does not mean he will not go to someone else's bed to cuddle with them." Jongin's advice suddenly rang in Kyungsoo's head and the doed eye boy wanted to face palmed himself for forgetting his friend's words.

"Let's all get ready! We'll be heading out in 10 minutes!" Minseok suddenly announced and they went back to their own rooms to wash up and change.

"Where are we going?" Kyungsoo asked as he watched Luhan got out of bed.

"Oh, we are having breakfast at the Halo Lake. Minseok's already on his way there." The older male explained and Kyungsoo nodded.

They went to change and once Kyungsoo was done, he headed out of the house to see everyone waiting for him. "Ready?" Yixing asked them and the next thing Kyungsoo knew, they were shifting. In seconds, 5 wolves stood in front of him. Yixing had raven black fur like his brother with streaks of light brown and white in it. Luhan was a pure white wolf. Baekhyun have blonde coloured fur like Jongin. Jongdae had light brown fur and Zitao has greyish-brown fur. Baekhyun nudged Kyungsoo's hand with his muzzle and Kyungsoo shifted to his red wolf.

*Lovely. * Every single one of them thought, even Zitao. Luhan was the first one to express his feelings as he went to Kyungsoo and rubbed his nose into the silky red fur and if Kyungsoo was in his human form, he would be blushing.

*Let's go.* Yixing told his members and they ran towards the forest. Kyungsoo could not communicate with them because they are in different packs but he knew he was supposed to follow them as well. The alpha remembered Kyungsoo could not run as fast as they so he ran slower than usual.

"Have a nice day!" Some of the citizens greeted them as they ran through the town. It was not their first time in their wolf form running in town and they were not the only ones too. As long as a fight does not break out or the shifters do not start attacking the humans, they felt like it was nothing.

Soon, they reached the forest and Kyungsoo noticed that his friends started running faster, like they felt free. At a distance, the red-headed male could already smell Minseok. "Hey guys." The beta smiled when he saw the rest and continued setting up the table while Jongdae and Baekhyun started 'playing'. They were snapping their jaws at each other and Baekhyun suddenly jumped at Jongdae but the latter flipped their positions around so he would be on top of Baekhyun instead. However, Baekhyun did not let Jongdae stay in that position for long as he broke free and they started growling at each other.

Kyungsoo looked at them in worry. He was not sure if they were just playing or really fighting. If they were fighting then surely someone would stop them but no one was interfering so that must mean that it was nothing serious. Despite that, the doe eyed boy could not help but to worry that they might get hurt. He suddenly felt something cold against his cheek and saw that it was Yixing pressing his nose against him. The alpha rubbed his head in Kyungsoo neck and Kyungsoo could not help but to respond as he rubbed himself against Yixing. It was a sign of affection for animals and they realised that they were more daring and true to their feelings when they are in their wolf form. They ARE wolves to begin with after all. They just have the ability to change into a human.

After Jongdae and Baekhyun finished their mini fight, everyone changed back and dug into breakfast, thanking and complimenting Minseok while they are at it. "I'm full! I'm going for a run!" The beta announced as he shifted to his brown wolf and ran off. Baekhyun and Jongdae continued their fight from earlier on while Luhan and Yixing cleared the table. Kyungsoo looked around, searching for one particular black-headed male and saw him by the Halo Lake. Walking quietly towards him, Kyungsoo took off his shoes before sitting a few spaces away from Zitao. The wushu expert turned to look at Kyungsoo but did not say anything except for watching him as he dipped his feet into the water and sighing contentedly when the cold water soothed him.

"Zitao." Kyungsoo spoke as he swung his legs which were in the lake and Zitao could not helped but to mentally coo at Kyungsoo short but adorable legs. "Do you hate me?"

Zitao's eyes widened at the doe eyed boy's words. Hate? How could Zitao hate him when he does not even have enough time to love him? As much as Zitao wanted to deny his love for Kyungsoo, he could not deny that it was also a fact. "What makes you say that?" Zitao managed to find his voice and looked at Kyungsoo, who was just looking at the water in front of him, as if intimidated to look at the black-headed male.

"It's just that you hardly talk to me like the rest does. I know everyone has different personalities but I've seen you when you were with the others and it is different when you are with me. I may be thinking too much but I really hope to be friends with you too and... I don't want you to hate me." Kyungsoo sniffled and Zitao immediately felt like an ass for making the boy cry. He knows how Kyungsoo was treated when he was young and having another person to hate him just makes Kyungsoo upset.

"I don't hate you." Zitao spoke and the doe eyed boy looked at him, his orbs glistening with his tears but happiness was also in it. *And I never will.* He thought but did not say it.

"Really?" A smile was plastered on Kyungsoo's face and the black-headed male confirmed it by nodding his head. Kyungsoo could not express his feelings at the thought of making another wonderful friend so he opted for just grinning at Zitao. "Thank you." Kyungsoo's words were filled with gratitude and Zitao could not help but to give a small smile. With that, the both of them just sat by the lake, enjoying the breeze and the relaxing smell of the forest.

It was not until when Kyungsoo's feet had turned all wrinkly did the boy finally decided to remove his legs from the lake. Yifan was right; the lake really does give them energy and Kyungsoo simply loved to come into contact with that magical water. "Are you ready to go?" Zitao asked and Kyungsoo nodded and wore his shoes. Although Zitao and he did not say anything after that, they did not need to. Just by sitting beside each other is enough.

"Let's go!" Luhan waved and they went towards him where the rest was. Baekhyun noticed the smile on Kyungsoo's face and he nudged the younger male.

"Did something good happen?" Baekhyun wriggled his eyebrows playfully and the red-headed male laughed at his friend's silliness. Glancing behind his shoulders, he saw Zitao talking to Yixing about something. Yixing had expressed his fondness for him and Zitao finally opened up to him, even if it was a little bit.

"Actually, yes." Kyungsoo looked at Baekhyun and grinned.