+ yangyang | M

@q. kun The heavy hand at the door kept knocking, echoing in Yangyang's head and throwing him into a state of immobility. He was scared up to a point of paralyzation, with his natural defense instinct against his father being nothing but a show of submission in hopes that he would be deemed disciplined enough to not get hit. But the trance didn't last long when Yangyang felt his weight being lifted off of the bed and onto a strong back, whimpering softly when the quick movement hurts the bruise next to his ribs.

He said absolutely nothing, preferring to press his face into the the back of the other's neck for comfort as he held onto him for dear life. When they were met with cold night air, the wind causing his father's scent to slowly fade further away the more distance they put between them and his room. Once safe in the other's car, Yangyang finally found himself some time to steady his breathing and give his poor lungs a chance to get some oxygen. After unconsciously securing his seatbelt with a soft click, Yangyang let his body sag into the seat. He inhales sharply, a quick thought running through his mind as he slowly processed what was happening to him.

"You do know he's going to flip the whole place trying to find me, right?" Yangyang spoke softly, cautiously, nowhere near comfortable judging from the volume of his voice. "Me getting hurt is one thing, but I'm not heartless enough to let you get dragged into hell with me." Sighing softly, Yangyang rested his head agaisnt the car window, watching the blur of lights and concrete pass by as they drove to god knows where. Yangyang was getting progressively worried again, though not as much before. He becomes silent soon after, tucking his cold hands into his equally cold pockets.

@l. yangyang Kun could feel it — every inhale and exhale from Yangyang, when his body stilled in fear, even as he was practically falling apart like a roof crumbling down. He could tell the other wasn’t even going to try and hide how he truly felt, fear and anxiety skyrocketing to the roof to bother about how he was presenting. The terror exuding from Yangyang was so intense, Kun actually had to tell himself to stay calm and not let his own panic get the better of him, it was the least he could do for the boy.

Kun had a feeling they couldn’t stay in Yangyang’s room anymore, they needed to leave. With a deep breath, he stood up while still holding onto the boy, pulling him up to his feet. He parted long enough to look at the other and tell him. “We’re getting out of here, it’s not safe. Come on, I’ll take you to my place for now.” There was no time to pack bags and the likes. If they don’t leave now, he had a feeling he would be dead while Yangyang would face something far worse than the afterlife. “I’ll bring you back here when everything is less heated, maybe.”

Kun didn’t wait for Yangyang to agree before having him carried on his back, wrapping the latter’s arms around his neck and his legs around his waist, walking to the window and carefully opening it. He was mindful while stepping out and finding his seating on the tree branch, noiselessly shutting the window before making his move, crawling to the trunk and climbing down the tree. He dared a quick glance to the window before sprinting off to where he parked his car, unlocking it before reaching the passenger’s side to help Yangyang in.

Kun didn’t waste a second in starting the car when he got into the driver’s seat, driving off onto the road and making his way to his own home. “Wear your seatbelt,” reminded Kun at some point as he drove onto the main road, unconsciously looking at his rear-view mirror as if expecting another vehicle to be following him. He couldn’t believe he practically just kidnapped a pissed wolf’s son! “This will be a long ride.”

@q. kun There's no room for complaints or whining when the other pulls him into a tight embrace. Yangyang might have flinched from surprise, but soon enough he found himself melting into that oddly comforting warmth, pressing his face into the taller's chest until he pulled away. He couldn't keep himself up any longer after that, and the fact that he was noe panicking was not making his current situation any better. He could sense a threat nearby, that threat being his own father, who he could currently hear storming up the stairs. Yangyang knew that sound all too well, angry and frustrated, foretelling him of more beatings. Instinct told him to press his back against the door or get under his bed and relive the memories of his horrible childhood.

It was rather endearing though how the other werebeast was trying to comfort him, but sometimes his trauma seemed to speak louder. The familiar scent of an angry wolf presented itself outside his door, and for a moment, Yangyang stopped breathing, clinging to the other's shirt as if his life depended on it. But honestly, at this point, it probably did. He curled up into his embrace, suddenly so vulnerable and frightened as if he had been possessed by a soul that wasn't his own. There's a knock at the door, heavy and intruding. Yangyang speaks through his fear, hoping his voice was loud enough.

"He's going to kill me. , he can probably smell you here." Yangyang muttered under his breath, watching the door shake from the force of someone clearly trying to push through from the outside. It wouldn't take very long until it would break and Yangyang was seemingly paralyzed, unable to move and simply relying on the other to keep himself from breaking down more right then and there.

@l. yangyang a groan involuntarily made itself known as kun dropped his head. "of course it would be in the big bad boss' office." where else could you possibly keep the most essential item while also trying to avoid the one man you're attempting to stray away from with your whole existence. shaking his head with a soft sigh, he turned to the medicine bottles which he kept by his bedside table, frowning at the sight of them due to the sheer numbers. yangyang must have applied lots of those medicines to ease the pain - an indescribable pain gnawed at his heart at the thought, and he had to shake his head in order to will the feeling away.

kun watched yangyang silently as he explained, noticing how much the younger was struggling to just get the words out, biting his lower lip to contain his own emotions. finally, when the other was done talking, he couldn't stop himself from taking the other werebeast's hand into his, holding it firmly though not too tightly, while gazing into his eyes. he wanted to say something, but found it hard to form a sentence with the correct words, so after just staring at the younger in silence for god-knows-how-long, he ended up just hugging him tightly, pouring all his unspoken thoughts into that one gesture and hoping that yangyang got the idea without him actually speaking it out loud.

he stayed in that position for a good while before pulling away, hearing him out as he continued to speak, noticing him actually crumbling now with the realisation that his father was in the house and might come to the room. at his instruction, kun quickly stood up and locked the door, looking at the curled figure of the younger werebeast and frowning deeply, feeling a lump in his throat at the sight. sighing helplessly, he sat beside the boy and pulled him into a side embrace, rocking him back and forth to calm him down. "it's okay, he won't come in, i won't let him hurt you." he repeated it a few times until yangyang had considerably calmed down, stroking his hair and rubbing his arm the whole while and hoping it could help in making him feel less anxious.

@q. kun Yangyang still manages to lag behind as the other urged him to sit, his weight once again finding the edge of his bed, accompanied with the slightest dent in the mattress from how long he sat there motionless and unaware. "Nope. The only first aid kit that exists here is in my father's office, and I'll be damned if I ever decide to sneak in there. This... this is slower, but safer," he gestured to his bedside table, crowded with medicine from the pack healers, meant to soothe pain but not really meant to help heal quickly. But it was either that or he would risk going into the office and getting hit again — and he would rather not.

"He wasn't always like this. He was still nicer to me up until I turned twelve, strict but never really used to hit me," memories slowly started to flood his mind and Yangyang paused, afraid that he would trigger his trauma and lose it right then and there. He gripped at the sheets, a whimper from his own lips going unnoticed. "Hitting me became a regular thing after that. The first few times were for training, was supposed to be for numbing me," Yangyang looked down at his arms, taking note of how he couldn't feel them but the wounds on his body were already at a point where it made it difficult to breathe. Clearly the numbing process wasn't perfect, although he was sort of... thankful?... that at least one part of his body was beginning to feel less. In his state, it would be really convenient if he just didn't feel anything.

Yangyang moved his gazed from his arms to the other's face, eyes darting to the door every once in a while as if he were nervous. "He's home," he informed him, his nose twitching at the newly-arrived scent of an overpowering wolf just a floor down and at the end of the hallway, "He smells angry. What if he comes up here?" For a moment, Yangyang fell silent, body completely still until his brain registered his own words. The thought of it almost immediately cripples him and he's whimpering before he realizes it, pulling his knees up to his chest and curling up, his gaze immediately flying to the door he had supposedly left unlocked for the pack healers. "Lock," he breathed out, already starting to panic, "Lock the door... please. I won't letting anyone in... I can't let 'him' in."

@l. yangyang kun felt as if the air had been knocked out from his lungs, watching the trembles racking yangyang's body and the tremor in his voice as he spoke, as if he was barely holding himself together. his breath surely hitched in his throat when his gaze landed upon the bruises on the other's arms, scanning the black and blue littering the fair skin and blemishing the once smooth dermis. the dreadful feeling only heightened as the other werebeast pulled up his hoodie to showcase the injuries underneath, all the raw red and purple marks scattered across his torso, standing out so sickeningly and screaming what kind of hell the younger just went through.

kun breathed slowly, feeling a rising anger within him at the knowledge that the person who inflicted these wounds were no other than the father of the victim, his fists clenching and releasing multiple times as he tried to calm himself. instead, he glanced upwards to make eye contact with yangyang, speaking softly as he tried to control his voice to not show his fury. "do you have a first aid kit with you?" first, he needed to treat these wounds better so they could heal faster and easier, since as it seemed they were taking quite the time to recover and judging by the glossy layer atop them, yangyang did nothing more than soothe the pain only.

"come, sit," instructed kun softly as he gently grasped yangyang's arm, grip loose as he softly tugged the latter to his own bed, making him sit down whilst he knelt before the other to examine the bruises and cuts better. he frowned as he glanced over all of them, a sigh leaving his lips involuntarily as he mused, "i can't believe someone is actually capable of doing something so horrendous like this to their own child." there was a bitterness in his voice as he spoke, practically glaring at the hideous injuries that blemished the younger's body. "is he always like this? does he hurt you like this a lot?"

@q. kun Worry and concern was not exactly the first thing Yangyang had expected to sense from the other. And although he would never admit it, it warmed his heart a little to know that at least there were some people in the world who actually gave a damn about him. Moving away from the window to give him enough space to hop in, the wolf stood in the middle of the room, spacing out from waiting until he heard the other were's voice speaking to him.

"Oh that," he mumbled, staring down at his hands, fingers running over the most recent cuts. "My client, he-" Yangyang managed to choke out, but was obviously struggling to form proper sentences without stuttering and pausing, "He-...he backed out. Didn't want to push through anymore, and my father took it the wrong way." It was getting progressively harder for him to breathe, hands searching for the hem of his shirt in search of anything to grip and calm himself with, his trauma and nightmares threatening to come to the surface.

"He hit me," Yangyang whispered, so hushed as if he were afraid that his father would overhear him even through the walls of the mansion. Feeling a little overwhelmed, the younger's hands started shaking. At the other's questions, he held up his arms, revealing the bruised undersides blooming in blue and purple across his skin. Knowing that he had nothing to lose and nothing more to hide at this point, his fingers once again find the hem of his shirt, raising it up just slightly above his ribs. It was pulled high enough to reveal even more bruises and some scars, some were old but a majority of them seemed to be new, fresh and red, a little shiny from all the medicine and ointments that Yangyang had been applying to ease the pain. "This is what he did to me, because he wouldn't ing listen to what I had to say. He never does."

@l. yangyang At first glance, Yangyang seemed perfectly fine. However, with the way he moved, sluggish and lagging, along with the expression on his face, clear exhaustion through the bags under his eyes, Kun figured otherwise. The other werebeast may seemed fine appearance-wise, but his actions spoke volumes of how he truly felt.

“You didn’t come to the nightclub these days, I was starting to get worried,” confesses Kun as he waved Yangyang away to make room for him to enter, quickly hopping into the younger’s room before sliding the window shut, not wanting anyone to notice that he had been here. “It’s almost been a week since you came, so I was wondering if something happened to you.”

Kun scanned Yangyang’s face, noticing the healing lips and the fading bruises. He frowned, lifting a hand to the other’s face before stopping himself, fingers hovering over the younger’s lips by a few inches. He bit his lower lip before curling his fingers, pulling his hand back to himself and fighting the urge to touch the other.

Instead, he asked, “What happened? And don’t try to say it’s nothing because it obviously isn’t the case.” Kun needed to know — there was a nagging thought in the back of his head, anxious for Yangyang’s well-being for whatever reason. The thought of the latter being hurt ached his heart, a pain which he couldn’t comprehend flooding his conscious at the implication.

“Were you hurt?” Kun asked, albeit voice barely above a whisper, a feeling of dread overcoming him. “Was it your father? Is he why you didn’t come back to the nightclub?” He still remembered how fearful Yangyang seemed the other night while talking about his father. “Did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?”

@q. kun Yangyang had been dreading the day that his client would give him a call back, pacing around in his father's office, waiting for the phone to ring. Halfway into the week, he finally gets the call. However, his client had decided to cancel, the tone in his voice giving away the fact that he was scared to push through the assassination in fear of putting his own business and name into jeopardy. With the matter now closed, Yangyang felt his chest grow cold again, his fingers going numb. All of a sudden he could already hear his father's heavy footsteps just right outside the office. He could smell the disappointment, it was immense.

But the whole situation was misunderstood. It's not like his client had canceled because he wasn't good enough, but his father refused to listen to reason no matter how hard he tried to explain the details to him. Yangyang was lucky enough to be able to run back to his room after a long physical argument, hissing when he realizes his lip had been cut open again, more bruises scattering along the area of his lower sternum and ribs. He raised his shirt to check the damage in the mirror, and honestly there were enough wounds for him to pretend being dead with. Every single day went on like that, facing the long-lasting temper and disappointment from the man he still called a father. At the end of the week, Yangyang had given up on trying to leave his room in fear he would run into him in the hallway.

So instead, his door had been locked. Only ever opened when the pack healers got worried for him and brought him food and medicine. Yangyang refused to eat much and usually treated his wounds by himself, wanting to shut out the rest of his pack for the timebeing out of growing anger. Today he sat tiredly on his bed after replacing his bandages. The bruises on his face had faded but the rest of his body was suffering, no longer healing on its own as fast as before. He was getting better but at human's pace, which wasn't a very good thing considering the possibility of getting beaten up again. Flinching at the sudden noise from his window, he turned around, squinting as he struggled to see with his blurry vision. Realizing it was the werebeast from a few days ago, Yangyang sighed in relief, ever so slowly pushing himself off of his bed to unlock and open the window.

"What brings you here?"

@l. yangyang after the window was opened, conveniently unlocked, kun slipped into the dark room, carefully planting his feet onto the ground before setting yangyang down. he looked around the room, making out the slight layout as the light was slowly into a soft dim. he scanned the interior for a moment, only allowed to appreciate it briefly before the other's stiff actions alerted him. he kept quiet as he listened for what the younger was worrying about, catching voices at the front of the mansion. he observed the other a bit longer until the voices moved into the mansion, no more outside, taking that as his cue to leave.

huffing an amused chuckle seeing yangyang's oddly flustered state, he shrugged. "sure, yeah, goodnight." he moved to the window though before he got out, he gave yangyang one last look, voice soft as he spoke, "get yourself treated, okay?" he eyed him for another second longer. "be careful. goodnight."

and then out of the window he went.

~*~*~

the next day, yangyang wasn't in the club, though the businessman was around. the day after that, still no sign of the other werebeast. some days, the businessman didn't come, but at some point he stopped paying attention. most of his focus was on the missing werebeast. was his work done for real? why wasn't he at the nightclub?

or maybe, did something happen to yangyang?

almost a week passed with no sign of yangyang before kun decided that he had enough of this waiting game, he was going to get to the bottom of this. after work that night, he drove his way to yangyang's home, having saved the latter's address to his gps, a bit because he had forgotten to erase it but mostly because he thought he might need it again. and needing it he did.

kun decided to park his car some distance away from the mansion, having a feeling that whoever yangyang's father was, he wouldn't appreciate seeing a stranger's car in front of his house. he made the walk to the latter's mansion, advancing to the side and towards the tree he had climbed that night, making swift work at ascending the length. very quickly, he was on the branch near yangyang's room window, the light was on, though just slightly, enough to allow him to look inside. he instantly spotted yangyang on his bed and tilted his head, reaching out carefully to knock on the window, hoping to catch the other werebeast's attention, waving his hand in greeting and offering a slight smile once the other saw him.

@q. kun Being carried wasn't exactly Yangyang's idea of help, but he wasn't stubborn enough to refuse it and had no time to argue with the other. Holding on tightly like his life depended on it, the wolf in a breath, holding it for a while as they climbed further away from the ground. Normally he wouldn't mind the height, but with his anxiety bothering him, suddenly he found himself fearing Earth's gravity. Still, he knew he couldn't cower on the branch forever. He nods silently, reaching over a little to test if the window had been locked and thankfully — it wasn't.

Just as he was about to finally let relief wash over him, his sensitive ears pick up the sound of another car pulling over, accompanied by the sound of familiar voices not too far from the mansion. Yangyang immediately felt his chest get cold with dread, his breathing becoming uneven all of a sudden. "Damn me to hell already," he quietly muttered under his breath, holding onto the other were tightly as they slipped into the darkness of the room. He spends an amount of time getting off the other's back to find the light switch, preferring dim over bright. But now that he was slightly safer and less at risk in his own room, he wondered how the taller was going to leave without getting seen and what he was supposed to do about the scent of tiger all over him.

Moving to the window to pick up more sounds, Yangyang hears the voices near, one of them being his father. Fortunately, the man had some visitors, meaning he wouldn't bother him tonight in favor of paying attention to his guests. He hears them knock, waiting for what felt like forever until someone finally came to the door. When the sound of it shutting closed echoed through the air, Yangyang urged the other were closer to the window, voice getting soft as he spoke. "I, uh- thanks for the help. My father seemed busy but I'd rather not risk him finding me awake... and with a stranger in my bedroom. So goodnight, I guess...?" Yangyang felt a little flustered, but at least he wasn't ungrateful enough to just send the other away without a word.

@l. yangyang Kun hummed thoughtfully, scanning the mansion briefly before his attention was diverted by Yangyang who asked for his help once again. Raising a brow in surprise and confusion, he turned off the car engine before exiting, locking the car before following the other werebeast to the side of the mansion. He noticed the boy looking up at something and followed his gaze to find the source, soon landing his gaze on the windows on the top most floor, one of them which he presumed to be Yangyang’s room.

“Help you up?” Kun asked incredulously as he looked between Yangyang and the window he’s staring at. He glanced around for a way to get up there, soon spotting the branches close to the window and following it to the tree, eyeing it until he reached the trunk and returned his gaze to the boy. Sighing, he nodded his head finally before grabbing Yangyang’s arm and turning around, at the same time pulling the smaller onto his back as he bent down, adjusting so the other was wrapping his arms around his shoulders and hooking his legs around his waist.

“Hold on tight,” instructed Kun as he approached the tree while carrying Yangyang’s weight on his back. Carefully, he climbed up the length of the tree, movement swift as he reached the first branch and grabbed onto it, pulling himself up to squat on it. He reached out for the next branch, then another, and then continued the process until he was on the branch nearest to the window, carefully crawling on it while still balancing Yangyang behind him. He glanced around briefly while gesturing to the window once they’re near, asking, “Is this your room window?”

@x. dejun The pack member could only sigh, but he had expected the outburst to happen sooner or later. He couldn't blame the other for feeling like this after their young heir's actions, but they couldn't help him either. This may have been wrong on many levels, but they were all bound by loyalty to stay in line and not meddle with the matters of other wolves no matter the gravity. He knew very well that he could not help this poor boy in fear that the pack would turn on him in an instant.

"I'm not trying to make you feel better, it's meant to be a warning. I know there's no point in sugarcoating things when you can already see the surface," the wolf stressed, before gesturing towards the door. Yangyang couldn't be seen from the doorway, but he was simply waiting behind the wall for their conversation to be over. "We can't do anything about him. Mentally, he's too far gone anyway. But... if you don't want to end up dead like the rest of them," there was a sudden pause, the wolf suddenly narrowing his eyes at the other when he realizes their captive was missing the telltale scent that would tell him he was a human. Shaking his head in an attempt to ignore it, he continued, wanting to leave the room already.

"You don't have to try please him. Just be calm around him, don't do something stupid that you'll regret later on. Most of his victims get released at some point. It's just a matter of how you handle it," deciding that he had briefed him enough, the wolf stood, turning to him one more time, "I'll be back to feed you later on. Shower's over there, and the wardrobe has some clean clothes from the... others. They decided to leave them behind." The wolf was quick to leave the room after that, closing the door behind him gently. The sound of a thud and a lock clicking soon followed after, only serving as a reminder of the other's predicament.

@q. kun The car ride wasn't exactly awkward, but the silence was admittedly almost deafening to a point where he had to tap his fingers against the car door just to reassure himself that he was still well capable of hearing. He got progressively anxious even as they neared his home, unable to keep his back pressed to the seat, almost fighting against the force of the seatbelt from how jittery he felt racing with the time. Yangyang gripped his phone tightly, giving the bright numbers on his screen one last check before tucking it back into the safety of his zipped pockets.

When they finally pulled up, a sigh of temporary relief left him to see that there was still no signs of his father. But he knew very well that he probably only had a few minutes left until he would show up as well. "Yeah, welcome I guess...?" Yangyang inhaled deeply once the seatbelt was off, trying his best not to stumble out of the car. He stood there for a few seconds assessing his choices. The front door was locked by now, and it would take forever for someone to open that if he ever bothered to knock. Desperate, he turned back to the other were, "Mind helping me one more time?"

He subsequently leads the other male somewhere off to the side of the mansion, gazing up at the highest window they could see from the wall. Yangyang wasn't even sure if he was in any appropriate state to be making his way up there. Sure, he had a tree right next to it, but he wasn't sure how well he would climb that either when he felt pain almost everywhere. But it was either that or he would wait for his father to catch him outside on the doorstep and risk getting beaten again, and both his health and pride would much rather settle for the first option. " the floors in this damn house. Just help me up please." If Yangyang could get up at least the first few branches, he would be fine by then.

@l. yangyang kun frowned at the dismissive way which yangyang responded to his concerns about the injuries that were covered by his clothes, though decided to not make any more fuss on the subject after noticing how antsy the latter seemed to be, as if he was racing against time to return home. nodding his head, he returned the medical equipment to their original spots inside the first aid kit, closing the lid and locking it before getting off the bench and placing the box into his locker, shutting the door. he pulled out his car keys from his back pocket and let it dangle between his fingers for a moment, showing the controller to the other werebeast for a moment before nodding to the exit. "let's get going then."

he led yangyang out of the nightclub and to the parking lot, going straight for his car and unlocking it, entering the driver's seat and putting on his seat-belt, starting the engine while waiting for the other to enter the passenger's side. he waited until the other had his safety-belt on before pulling out from its parking spot and driving onto the main street, asking, "what's your house address?" as he asked, he tapped away on the gps screen, entering the location of the other werebeast's home and allowing the electronic voice to lead him to their destination, following its instructions.

just as yangyang requested, kun drove as fast as the traffic law allowed, probably speeding past more red lights than it should be permitted. much to the weretiger's surprise, the neighbourhood which he arrived to seemed to be on the higher end, like the upper east side. as impressed as he was, he didn't take his time admiring the new discovery though, more intent on bringing yangyang back to his place. soon, he was coming to a stop in front of one particular mansion, looking up at the building with a hum as heasked curiously. "this is your home?"

@l. yangyang Dejun glared the poor pack member down, as if the latter had just walked right into his path like a poor nerd would to a bully, aside from the fact the bully would be as strong as the werebeast while the former fit the nerdy description more. Even so, it didn’t stop Dejun from staring heatedly as he listened to the other’s words, a futile attempt at making him feel less antagonistic. A scoff managed to slip from his lips as he briefly glanced at Yangyang, before quickly turning away to instead bore holes into the bedsheet before his eyes, not wanting to look at anyone right now.

“If you think I’ll feel better by that then you’re wrong,” spat Dejun, voice dripping with so much hate and venom. He tried to not direct his anger at the poor pack member, he really did — he knew very well that his wrath was due to Yangyang, not the poor werebeast tasked to help him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold back the sheer loathing within him as he spoke, “The fact you even mentioned that I might break by the end of everything sure does make me feel more at peace!”

He was tempted to do something stupid, maybe throw the lamp on a nearby table off, or fling the pillow at the pack member, perhaps even lunge himself at Yangyang. He just wanted to do something crazy, but he had to hold himself back, he had to endure the insane temptation, needed to push those thoughts away. He glanced at the werebeast and muttered, “What do you want from me?”

@x. dejun Yangyang stood by, regardless of whether the other could see him or not, he was always close no matter what. The wolf that he had assigned to care for the boy was one of the gentlest in the pack, so he hoped that Dejun would at least not feel hostile the entire time he stayed in that room. At some point, if he began to trust him more, he would let the other out into the garden for a little while. Right now, he could only hope. It was a difficult and slow process, but it was attainable, just like hoe his other toys had been.

Dejun reminded him of his last toy, just less human. So soft-spoken yet so fiesty at the same time. It was baffling, but it didn't take that long for Yangyang to eventually manipulate him, his obsession slowly suffocating him until the wolf had set him free. But it was rather late, the damage had already been done, sometimes they would even come around looking for him, missing the hold of their captor. It was a mess of very unhealthy relationships, but that's just how it worked for Yangyang. Although, he does have to admit that it hadn't always been like that.

Yangyang disappeared from the doorway, though he lingered nearby. The assigned wolf sat at the edge of Dejun's bed, keeping as much distance between them if that's what made the other more comfortable. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you, dear. But please... just endure it, he'll let you go eventually. That is, if you don't completely break before then. He's more gentle than he looks... or at least, he is, most of the time." Though it was sort of a useless warning, because most of Yangyang's victims were on the verge of insanity when they had been released, taking months or years to recover. And on some occasions, the others never recover at all.