We are Stray Kids - A Stray Kids Fan-Fiction

Chapter 66: Warmth and Scent

After a while of just being cradled by Chan, Byungho slowly calmed down. He still felt a kind of throbbing pain in his chest and a restricting feeling on his neck from crying, but it was slowly fading. The brunette couldn't feel the numbness from before anymore, which at first seemed like a relief, but then he remembered what had been linked to this numbness.

Only a barely noticeable movement was required for Byungho to check if his wings were indeed visible. He could feel their weigh on his back, which made him internally panic, because if they were physically there for him Chan was able to see them.

"Byungho? What's wrong?", Chan asked in a soft tone. The wolf hybrid had noticed Byungho's panic and seemed to be wondering why, even though the answer almost surrounded him.

Byungho didn't answer because he was still trying to find the right words to explain why he had gigantic black wings, that were hidden underneath a spell. When Chan wanted to gently pat his hair to calm him, the brunette involuntary flinched and automatically backed off. The gigantic, black wings, which had previously surrounded Chan and Byungho, now folded themselves behind the brunette's back, taking on their smallest, visible form.

Byungho tried to calm his beating heart and rapid breathing. He tried to convince himself that he was okay even though he clearly wasn't. His wings shouldn't be visible. He should have stayed far away from Chan. He knew this would happen! Why didn't he just stay away? He could have easily stopped Hyunjin from dragging him to the rest of Stray Kids, to Chan. He could have prevented all of that if he had taken one small opportunity to just say no. He ...

"Byungho!", he heard Chan's voice piercing through his many thoughts. He looked up from the ground he had been mindlessly staring at and was met with Chan, who had gotten a little closer to him again.

"Calm down, Byungho. It's okay", Chan tried to reassure the older male in a soft voice. Byungho looked at Chan, whose warm, dark brown orbs didn't express things like shock, betrayal or fear. They were just gentle, soft and understanding as well as filled with concern and empathy.

"It's okay", Chan repeated again, slowly making another step towards Byungho. The brunette just looked at his boyfriend for a minute before looking back to the ground. Did Chan even see his wings? Why wasn't he even a little shocked? How could he be so calm while facing something he had never seen before, something even the angels up in heaven hated with all their heart?

"Byungho?", Chan called his name again in his soft voice. Almost automatically did Byungho look up again. He was face to face with Chan, who slowly reached forward to take Byungho's hand again, intertwining their fingers.

"It's okay", he repeated once more and only now did Byungho truly understand what he meant with that. He meant that he was okay with everything, Byungho not being a warlock like he had said for years and that he hid what he really was from him for such a long time.

Byungho felt how his eyes got watery again. He was such an idiot for not trusting Chan from the beginning. He was Chan after all, one of the people that just accepted you for who you were and always supported you no matter what.

"I'm sorry, Channie", the brunette barely managed to say. Chan showed the other a soft smile and shook his head before he gently laid his free hand onto Byungho's cheek, gently wiping away the traces of the brunette's tears. The warmth of the wolf hybrid's hand on his cheek comforted Byungho more than he had thought, but it was the understanding and empathetic glimmer in the dark orbs of his boyfriend that made him feel truly okay for the moment.

"There's nothing to be sorry for", Chan softly said and put their foreheads together, closing his eyes. Byungho did the same and just let himself be fully comforted by Chan's presence and words. Maybe it was the mate bond they shared or something different but a comfortable warmth began flowing through Byungho's body that gave him a certain strength. A strength he didn't know he had in him.