Them and Us | Ateez

What started as a

Mingi takes a deep breath in through his nose before exhaling it through his mouth. He begins the slight jog past the trees, letting the narrow forest path lead him deeper.
This morning he decided to start earlier since the forecast mentioned rain starting from ten in the morning and going steady till six in the evening.

The male listens to the usual mix of branches and leaves snapping under his shoes as he runs.
Grey clouds gather above his head, waiting to release their pent up pressure.
Mingi thinks about his first lesson in the evening by mr. Anex. He is rather curious to know more about the inhabitants of the graveyard.

Something around him shifts, becoming different. The red head looks around the many trees to spot anything out of place. The energy feels weird yet not with malicious intent.
Changing his pace to walking, the male turns to the left side of the path.

Something is coming his way.

With bated breath, he waits for someone to appear.
A brown wolf makes an appearance between tree barks, only his white muzzle and chest standing out between all the brown.
Mingi recognises the werewolf.

"Hey." he says.
The wolf lets out a sound from the depths of his throat, stepping on the path as well.
"You're quite early."
He receives a tap on his leg by a black nose.
"Or I'm the one who is." he corrects himself. Not sure how to keep the conversation going with an animal, he points at the path with his thumb.

"I'll go now. The cookie was delicious by the way, thank you..."
And now the red head understands that he does not know the male's name. He doesn't have a chance to ask for it either.
Turning, Mingi resumes his morning run. The brown wolf jogs next to him, occasionally brushing his right leg while avoiding some tree roots.
"To bystanders it probably looks like I'm taking my dog for a morning walk." the male comments carelessly, pretty used to Wooyoung and their way of talking.

Only this isn't his roommate.

"I didn't mean it disrespectfully, sorry, you don't look like a dog, it's obvious that you are a wolf!" Mingi tries to correct himself while his pace fastens due to nervousness.
The werewolf lets out a low rumble before running faster. His nose touches the man's pants and by the third time, the red haired male understands it must be on purpose.
"Do you want to go faster?"
He receives a bark that's not similar to any of the dogs he has heard.

Slightly chuckling since embarrassment overcomes him only when the animal is in his human form, the male nods.
"Race you till the fountain!" he is just glad he didn't offend him.
Trees begin to pass by Mingi in a blink of an eye as the path slithers back towards the Academy. It leads him well yet he feels the big animal behind him, lurking as if in shadows. That reminds him of their first meeting and many images enter his head.
He's a good runner but an even better overthinker.

Mingi passes a tree, turning left before facing the back to see where the werewolf is.
He feels fur rub against his leg as something brown zooms past him.
"Aish." huffing, the red head tries to catch up yet it's something unreachable for his body.

The forest moss changes to short grass as the building grows closer and the wolf - further away. Mingi reaches the said fountain while panting. He places his hand on his chest and feels a heart hitting against it. The male walks in slow circles with the wolf's dark eyes following him until he concludes it's alright to sit down. The marble fountain is cold under his grey sweatpants and his organism reacts to it by sneezing.

"Bless you." a sombre, honey-like voice says.
Mingi lifts his head to see the tall werewolf stretching with his arms above his head. Following the lines of his muscles, the brown eyes end up being captured by a pair of black ones.
The man tilts his head to the side as his body relaxes.
"A nice run?" he offers as if he's ready to go again.
"Yeah." the other agrees.
With the dark haired male sitting beside him, Mingi turns towards him more.