Minho's POV
The city was asleep, but Minho's mind wasn't.
He sat at the edge of his bed, the faint scent of rain still clinging to the air from an earlier storm. Everything felt too loud; the clock ticking, his breathing, the pounding of his heart that refused to slow down.
He'd told himself for days he could handle it, that the mate bond was just biology, something to be ignored. But every moment away from Chan felt like his chest was caving in.
When he closed his eyes, he could almost feel Chan: the steady calm of his heartbeat, the strength wrapped in quiet warmth. The wolf inside him howled in frustration.
"Stop it," Minho whispered, pressing the heel of his palm against his eyes. "I'm not- I can't-"
But his body betrayed him. His skin burned with want, his instincts screaming mate.
And then-
A knock.
Sharp. Controlled. Too familiar.
Minho froze.
No one came to his apartment at this hour.
"Minho?"
The voice was soft, deep, a sound that crawled right under his skin.
"Chan?" he breathed, pulse jumping.
---
Chan's POV
He hadn't planned it.
Not really.
But he'd felt the bond flare, a sudden spike of anguish and longing that had slammed through him in the middle of the night. It left no space for hesitation.
Now he stood at Minho's door, heart thudding, rain slicking the hair against his forehead. Every instinct screamed that his mate was on the other side hurting, resisting, but calling him all the same.
When the door opened, Minho stood there barefoot in an oversized shirt, eyes shadowed, breath trembling.
For a moment, neither spoke.
"Why are you here?" Minho asked finally, voice flat but his scent betraying him; nervous, sweet, aching.
Chan stepped closer. "Because you need me."
Minho's lips parted, a protest forming but Chan's gaze caught him, pinned him where he stood.
"You've been fighting it," Chan said quietly. "I can feel it, Minho. You're in pain because of it."
"I'm fine," Minho lied.
Chan's jaw tightened. "You're not."
The silence between them felt alive, sparking with the raw energy of the bond. The air carried that faint electric hum that happened when an Alpha and Omega's instincts collided not in violence, but in desperate recognition.
Minho turned away, retreating a step but Chan followed, slow, deliberate.
"Every time I close my eyes, I feel you," Chan said, voice low. "Every time you breathe, I know it's you."
"Stop—"
"I can't."
Minho's back hit the wall, breath stuttering as Chan stopped inches away. The Alpha didn't touch him, didn't dare but the space between them was molten.
"Tell me you don't feel it," Chan murmured.
Minho's throat bobbed. "I— I don't."
Lie.
The bond pulsed hot, alive and both of them felt it.
Chan exhaled slowly, forcing himself to step back, muscles trembling with restraint. "Fine," he said, voice ragged. "If you're going to deny it, then I'll wait. But know this, I'm not giving up on what's already ours."
Then he turned to leave.
"Wait."
The word slipped out of Minho's mouth before he could stop it.
Chan froze at the door, eyes glinting under the dim light.
"Don't…" Minho whispered, voice breaking. "Don't go."
Something in Chan's chest cracked open. He turned slowly, closing the distance between them in a few silent steps.
He didn't touch Minho not yet but the air between them felt like it could burst.
Minho looked up at him, eyes glassy and full of confusion. "This isn't fair," he said softly.
"No," Chan agreed, his voice rough. "It's not."
Their gazes locked, the Alpha and Omega caught in the gravity of something neither could escape.
And for the first time, Minho didn't move away.
---
At Stay University, laughter filled the café as Seungmin scolded Changbin for dropping crumbs all over the table, only to have Changbin steal a kiss mid-sentence.
Across from them, Jisung rested his head on Hyunjin's shoulder, half asleep, while Felix and Jeongin whispered jokes over hot cocoa, fingers laced beneath the table.
Their bonds had begun to settle; bright, steady, whole.
While somewhere across the city, two wolves stood in the dark, hearts burning and bonds still unresolved yet thrumming with promise.
---
Back to Chan and Minho
The air had gone still.
Chan took a slow breath. "You don't have to admit anything tonight," he murmured. "Just don't shut me out."
Minho's walls flickered, a fragile defense ready to fall.
"Goodnight, Minho," Chan said softly, stepping back toward the door. "But remember, your wolf already knows who I am."
He left before Minho could answer.
And when the door clicked shut, Minho sank to the floor, trembling from anger, from longing, from everything he could no longer contain.
His last whispered thought before sleep claimed him:
Why does it hurt so much to need him?