ㅤ“𝘄ooyoung sweetie! come inside, hun!”

the seven year old boy ran inside to his mother who had called him.

“yeah mom?”

“meet our new neighbors.” it was then that wooyoung realised the two adults and three kids in the room.

wooyoung lived in a village where they accepted anyone of any kind. so he wasn’t surprised that the couple was a male beta and female alpha. their three kids were all boys too, one alpha and two betas.

wooyoung smiled at the boys and stuck his hand out.

“nice to meet you, i’m wooyoung.”

from then on, wooyoung had become close to the three kim brothers but had a closer connection to the younger alpha. the two boys referred to themselves as the ‘alpha bros.’

wooyoung really would not trade jungmin for anything. he was fond of the younger alpha and considered him a brother. wooyoung had never had any siblings since his parents couldn’t have any more pups after wooyoung so jungmin was his closest thing to a brother.

it was also that wooyoung noticed jungmin really look up to his parents. wooyoung knew jungmin’s parents were busy a lot so jungmin always come over his house and usually asked his parents for help on stuff or sought out some sort of validation from them.

wooyoung didn’t mind it all but the more the years passed the more jungmin had started to get on his nerves.

one day, wooyoung had gotten a 94 on a test and after school he walked with jungmin to his house, excited to show his parents his test. when they did, wooyoung ran to his mom and showed her the test.

“mom look! i got a 94 on the test today!!” his mother smiled fondly.

“good job woo, how about for dinner we have your favorite hm, for my smart little boy.” wooyoung hugged his mother tightly then jungmin entered the kitchen and showed his own test to mrs. jung.

“oh wow jungmin! a 100, good job, hun.” mrs. jung patted his head and wooyoung’s arms around his mother faltered. wooyoung was very happy with his 94 but then jungmin had to come and one up him by showing his mother his own perfect test score.

after that jungmin headed home and wooyoung went upstairs to work on his homework. after he finished be went to wash his hands for dinner as he heard his father come home.

as the three were sat at the dinner table wooyoung was silent as his parents talked. then his mother directed the attention to him.

“honey, today wooyoungie got a very good score on his test, show him wooyoung.” wooyoung nodded and went to grab his test. once he made it back he handed it to his dad.

“wow, a 94, very good woo, i’m very proud of you.” wooyoung had to admit the praise from his father made him smile but it quickly faded as a thought clouded his mind.

“thanks dad but i still could’ve done better, jungmin got a 100.” wooyoung stated and his parents shared a look before his father spoke again.

“wooyoung, this is still very good. doesn’t matter if jungmin got a 100. this is about you, you keep improving and that’s great. one day you will get a 100 but no matter the score your mother and i will be extremely happy because you tried your best.” wooyoung’s eyes teared up and he stood up and hugged his dad.

a small “i love you” was whispered.

———

now wooyoung was fifteen. his father had passed away when he turned thirteen and it still has been rough for both him and his mother. his mother got a job and wooyoung has been helping around the village for a little bit of extra cash too.

jungmin has not been helping either. every chance he got, he tried to one up wooyoung. wooyoung was getting so fed up but hid it well. the stress of it was getting to him oh so bad.

but at night he always stared out his window into the night sky. his house was very close to the border and one night as he was staring out he smelled something.

his head snapped in the direction of the alluring scent and smelled cherry blossoms. his inner wolf immediately yelled at him,

mate!

mate!

mate!

wooyoung had fallen into the sweet aroma that all of his stress went away. usually when he stared out the window and smelled the scent of the nature, he calmed down but he still had that knot in his back bothering him. the thought of jungmin always lingering in his head.

but this was different. the cherry blossoms immediately melting everything in his mind away.

for the first time he was, calm.

he liked it.

but as quick as the scent appeared, it disappeared. wooyoung couldn’t mask his disappointment. he sighed out and took one more breath of air before closing his window and lying in bed.

the next morning wooyoung walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. he left a small note for his mom then quickly got ready and left for school. wooyoung didn’t really eat in the mornings, he felt it was a waste of time. so in the mornings all he usually had was a granola bar.

he made it to school and jungmin was there waiting for him. wooyoung let out a sigh before approaching him.

“hey jungmin.”

“hey wooyoung.”

they talked a bit before entering school and heading to their separate classes.

at lunch, wooyoung was left alone, jungmin decided to ditch him without even telling him.

then during wooyoung’s last class he was lost in his thoughts. sure jungmin was annoying him with the constant one upping him but wooyoung still thought of him as a brother. wooyoung honestly felt bad for having such thoughts on his best friend but at the same time wooyoung knew his thoughts were true.

as the bell rang, wooyoung dismissed his thoughts and remembered he had to go help at a small shop. as he was about to go jungmin jogged up to him.

“where do you keep going after school?”

“to earn some money to help my mom.”

“mind if i help?” jungmin asked and wooyoung couldn’t refuse. jungmin was offering to help earn some more money for his mother. wooyoung gave a brief nod of the head.

the two walked to the small shop and wooyoung told the lady about jungmin joining them. luckily the lady didn’t mind so both boys got to work. after about an hour the two finished and the lady handed both of them some money.

together both boys walked home and jungmin invited himself over to wooyoung’s.

he saw mrs. jung and walked over to her with a smile.

“we made a bit of money for you mrs. jung.” jungmin smiled wider as mrs. jung smiled.

“oh, thank you jungmin, you didn’t have too.”

“nonsense, it’s the least i could do.”

jungmin then left and without wooyoung noticing, gave the slightly older alpha a small smirk.

“hey mom, how you feeling?”

“tired but i’m okay wooyoungie.” wooyoung was about to protest but his mother interrupted.

“promise, now head up to your room.” wooyoung sighed as he nodded. he gently closed the door of his room and pulled out the project he has been working on and added the money he recently earned into the envelope.

he hid it then went to lay on his bed. his thoughts drifted to a few days ago when he heard two adults talking about how they heard that they could earn more money in the city, with the humans.

though before he could think more on it his mother called him down and told him jungmin was on the phone waiting for him.

wooyoung rushed down and was handed the home phone by his mother, he smiled as she did.

“hello?”

“woo! i totally forgot to tell you this but last night i was heading back home when i smelt the most amazing thing ever!!”

wooyoung said nothing so jungmin continued.

“i think it was cherry blossom—”

wooyoung growled.

he left no room for jungmin to ask as he hung up. he made his way to his room and took out his things.

he got the letter and the envelope he had prepared and took a bag with some essentials. he knew his mother was asleep by now so he quietly walked into her room and laid the things on the bedside table. he then left a quick kiss on her forehead and whispered a small “i love you” and left through the front door.

making sure the coast was clear he ran to the boundary. he took a deep breath before meeting his new fate.