It turns out Hongjoong wasn't as good of an actor as he made it out to seem last night. He couldn't keep his composure when Jongho shoved him when they accidentally brushed against each other to meet with Daesung. Where Jongho had put his hands when he shoved him was where one of his major bruises were, so it hurt like a bitch.

Daesung locked them back up in the training building and said he would see them again tomorrow to see if things were different.

They weren't.

Hongjoong fell back onto the bed in the resting room, hating how they're still not able to leave. He's sick and tired of being with Jongho and he's been acting kind of strange lately... He keeps bumping into him and looking at him with soft eyes all apologetically, but then he gets angry and shoves him back. He needs to get it together, Hongjoong thinks.

During nighttime hours, he keeps thinking he hears him whimpering in his bed from across the room. Hongjoong has been wanting to ask him about it, but he doesn't know how to confront him. He's starting to get worried about him, afraid he might be homesick or have bad nightmares or something similar.

Why is Hongjoong getting so worried about Jongho, anyway?

Hongjoong brushes off his worry for him with a shrug of disgust. Cooping them up together in this place like this for so long must be screwing with their heads or something. 

Jongho has been trying to shove his wolf down the past few days, his wolf craving for affection from someone and with Hongjoong staying with him... That leaves him to be the only person his wolf can crave contact from. Jongho feels himself coming out of his rut though, and he's so thankful. He doesn't know how much longer he could deal with wanting affection from Hongjoong and he has restrained himself as much as he can from acting on those feelings that seem so strong.

Jongho prays that Hongjoong hasn't heard his whimpering at night, knowing it's his wolf begging for someone to hold or someone to hold him. He despises this feeling he gets, knowing he only wants to show his rare affection for his future mate.

That night, Hongjoong and Jongho are both in their respective beds trying to fall asleep when Hongjoong hears the whimpering noises coming from Jongho's bed again.

What is going on...? Is he okay?

Hongjoong can't help but feel worried. He finds himself sitting up and going over to Jongho's bed to check on him, "Hey, Jongho... Is everything alright? You sound upse--" Hongjoong is interrupted when he is pulled into a warm and tight embrace, being taken into a strong wave of cinnamon.

Jongho's wolf takes over his senses and while he's in this state, but Jongho himself doesn't mind either. He wraps his arms around Hongjoong, bringing him down to sit on the bed with him. He rests his head on his shoulder and inhales his gingery scent, his wolf purring at his rival's aroma.

"Jongho, what are you doing?" Hongjoong asks in a quiet yelling-like voice, his eyes wide from shock at the current situation. He hears Jongho's whimpering stop the longer they embrace, Hongjoong slowly wrapping his arms around to hold him too. Jongho's cinnamon scent mixes with Hongjoong's ginger scent and it fills the room as the two of them just sit there holding each other.

"I needed this..." Jongho whispers, slightly pulling back to look up into Hongjoong's eyes, the light in the room barely making it hard for Jongho to make out his features like usual. Jongho's wolf is pleased that it's finally receiving the sense of touch it's been longing for the past few days.

Hongjoong is speechless. His wolf likes the contact he's receiving, never having been held in such a way before. This is definitely a first for him and he can't say he doesn't like the way it's making him feel. He feels like this is something he could get used to if it were to continue happening.

Hongjoong's mind clouds with the happiness of feeling held, gently rubbing Jongho's back to comfort him.

"S-Sleep with me tonight?" Jongho asks while still gazing into his rival's eyes, his wolf internally pushing for this. Jongho has been looking at Hongjoong a bit differently recently... This forced proximity most definitely did not do anything to help him, along with his rut.

This was set up to be a disaster.

Hongjoong's cheeks heat up at the sudden request, his heart pounding faster and faster. He's not sure what to think, nor does he know what he should do in this situation.

Sleep with him?

He knows his own scent is getting stronger from how conflicted his heart is. His wolf is saying yes, but he is saying... He's unsure. An alpha getting affection from another alpha? Nightshade doesn't frown upon this sort of relationship, but it's not a very common one. He knows many of the packs surrounding them such as Riverside and their most royal pack line, Chrysalis, do not approve of these sorts of relationships... Those two packs even go as far as to say that it's forbidden.

Hongjoong had never thought too much about the fact of whether or not his partner was an omega, beta, or an alpha. He always assumed he would just end up with whomever he was to fall for. He always was going to just go with his heart and what it was telling him to do, for he knew his instincts would lead him in the right direction.

And now...

Jongho nuzzles his nose into Hongjoong's neck, breathing in his warm ginger scent. He feels Hongjoong's hesitation and slight pulling back, so he brings his face back up to press their foreheads together, delicately running his fingertips along Hongjoong's cheekbones, admiring the softness of his skin.

Hongjoong is beginning to think he might be falling for an alpha...

They both stay silent as they stare into each other's eyes, breathing heavily. They can almost feel one another's wolves begging to be together after fighting so much, finally being tired of all the conflict.

They're yearning for a connection.

Hongjoong feels his entire body relax after sitting there with Jongho for a while, his conflicted heart finally finding an understanding within his wolf. He slowly lifts his hand up and brushes it against Jongho's hand that's caressing his face. Hongjoong softly squeezes Jongho's hand, bringing it back down to the bed, interlacing their fingers against the sheets.

The corners of Jongho's lips curl up when Hongjoong eases and holds onto his hand, liking the gentle manner in which he holds it. He's not used to such fragility in their interactions since they're always fighting and his wolf practically purrs in delight at the new feeling. Jongho's mind is a bit jumbled from being at the tail end of his rut period, so who knows if this feeling will last, but he wants to enjoy it while he can. Hongjoong isn't in his rut too, is he?

Hongjoong's heart is pounding in his chest as they continue sitting with their foreheads together, feeling an almost bond-like connection from this contact. The power of being forehead to forehead always does this, seemingly heightening the emotions the two people are feeling. It's almost like they're able to feel each other's emotions and feelings.

Jongho begins to lean in, brushing his lips against Hongjoong's, making his wolf roar within him, happy with Jongho's actions. Jongho kisses Hongjoong deeply, a mild spark going through their lips and bodies as they finally connect.

Hongjoong's body stills when Jongho actually kisses him, not sure how to feel at first, but his wolf begs for him to kiss back.

So he does.

He hesitantly kisses him back, squeezing his hand tighter when he feels Jongho's soft tongue entering into his mouth. Hongjoong meets Jongho's tongue, playing with it for a bit before brushing it against Jongho's sharp teeth, liking the way his teeth grit against his tongue.

Jongho pulls on Hongjoong's hand, bringing him closer to him as he lays them back onto the bed, side by side. He can't help himself when he bites on Hongjoong's lower lip rather roughly, feeling some give in it when he realizes he might've broken some skin.

Hongjoong moves his hand up Jongho's arm and squeezes his shoulder before maneuvering it to pull at the skin of his back, their kiss getting rougher and rougher the longer they continue. Eventually, they both break away from each other and breathe heavily, their eyes hooded as they look into the other's eyes.

What the hell just happened...?

Both Hongjoong and Jongho's minds are a bit foggy from the intensity and suddenness of their affection. They don't take their eyes off each other, however. Jongho notices how a little cut of red comes from Hongjoong's mouth. He must've actually bitten him, huh?

Jongho hums and gets closer to Hongjoong's face once again, licking the small cut on Hongjoong's mouth, tasting his metallic blood once he brings his tongue back into his own mouth. He lets out a low chuckle and nuzzles back into his chest.

Hongjoong's whole face must be red after that action, feeling his lips tingling from Jongho's warm and wet tongue.

When they pull the covers up over themselves, Hongjoong stays laying in the bed with Jongho, wiping his mouth on his wrist, but he doesn't mind the blood that inevitably continues leaking out. He just sucks on his bottom lip to hopefully stop it.

And soon, they're passed out asleep together.

Trouble arises when the morning comes, Jongho waking up to feeling someone at his side in his bed. He turns over in bed and finds himself face to face with his sleeping rival. His hair is a mess from being rubbed against the pillow and he has the calmest look he's ever seen on his face, making Jongho's eyes sparkle slightly.

"What the-"

Jongho whispers in surprise but is startled when he sees Hongjoong stirring, sleepily opening his eyes to look up at him.

Hongjoong looks just as surprised as Jongho, though, when he opens his eyes to see his rival looking down at him with a shocked expression on his face.

They both weren't sure if that kiss last night really happened, and they sure as hell aren't going to bring it up to each other now. Not in this situation.

Jongho's eyes narrow as he sits up, his mood turning back to normal, slightly shoving Hongjoong's shoulder into the bed, "Get out of my bed."

Hongjoong huffs, sitting up and pushing Jongho back, "Don't shove me."

Jongho scoffs and crosses his arms, them both going back to their normal aggressive and somewhat bratty selves, "Did you know that some people say not to fight fire with fire? You'll just get burned," he says as he pushes Hongjoong harder, making him fall out of the bed.

Hongjoong makes a slight thud on the resting room floor but makes a quick recovery as he lunges at Jongho and tackles him off the bed and to the floor as well, "Well we better suck it up real fast then. Daesung is going to be back again."

"Oh, you don't have to worry," he says as he gets up off the floor, brushing himself off, "I do not plan on staying another night and I don't think Daesung will be able to keep us another one either. Today is our day."

Hongjoong hums, also standing up, heading back to his side of the room, "We can only hope."

It turns out, today was their day. Daesung's eyes were full of questions when he opened the door to see Hongjoong's bottom lip puffed out and a small cut in it, but there seemed to be a different air surrounding them. Daesung thought he had noticed a change in the two alpha men he had locked up together, so he did in fact let them leave and go back to their homes.

Something had changed in the two men, but Daesung just couldn't put his finger on what exactly.

Hongjoong and Jongho continued to fight roughly in sparring practice even after their "bonding exercise" as Daesung had put it... But at the back of the two boys' minds lingered that late night in bed together when their lips touched and sparks flew.

What will befall the two alpha men in the future?

End of Chapter Nine

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Hi, my loves ~ I hope you don't mind a slightly shorter chapter to end Jongjoong's opening arc. (or should it be Hongho?)

You know who the last two are now to have an arc... ;)

IT'S YUNGI TIME, Y'ALL

This also means that the next arc is the last one of the opening arcs! Hopefully, the way I decided to open this whole story made some sort of sense. I thought it would be fun to get a little one on one insight to the ships before the next few things I have planned!

Thank you all so so much for reading up to this point!!! I hope you enjoy the final opening arc with Yungi and I really hope you enjoy where the story moves after this point.