Silver Lining

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It's a few days later that Chan finds himself standing nervously outside of the flower shop, a bag of rice cakes from the bakery in one hand as he rakes the other through his unruly hair in the reflection of the store window.

It shouldn't be this difficult, right? He just needs to walk in there and see how he's doing and give him the rice cakes and leave; Lee-hyung doesn't mind him, Felix has seen him as a wolf and as a naked man so, honestly, there's really nothing to worry about! The worst that could happen is that Felix thinks he's a weirdo and kicks him out; no serious harm done.

You're not some mutt with his tail between his legs; you can do this! Be a man! Be an alpha!

With a sharp inhale, he walks into the shop.

"Welcome! What can I get for you tod-" the old man's face falls, crossing his arms and raising a suspicious eyebrow, "If it isn't the notorious Bang Chan-ah; whatcha need, pup?"

"Pup?" Chan pouts, "Hyung, I'm a full grown man now."

"Mhm, sure." Lee doesn't seem convinced, pushing up his rounded glasses to get a better look at the other's face. "You may look older but you're still the same dumb pup who wandered in here during the spring and messed up all my flowers with your lumbering snout."

The werewolf whined, scratching his neck in embarrassment. "I said sorry about that, you know..."

Lee's lips twitch into a slight smile. "Yeah, you did. But I'm sure you're not here to reminisce or pay this old man a visit so what do you want?"

Chan chuckles with a shake of his head. That's Lee alright: always so straightforward. "Well, you caught me: I was actually wondering if Felix was well enough to visit?"

"Felix?" The man's brows raise in surprise, but only for a moment before his tone drops to one of accusation, "How did you find out about my apprentice, hm? Being nosy in a different sense now?"

"What? No! I just..." Chan swallows, lowering the volume of his voice, "I heard he was attacked."

Lee's gaze doesn't relent. "Which time we talking about here? Nobody cared when the boy was shot with an arrow by those darn school kids but now he gets jumped by wolves and your pack is all interested? How do I know it wasn't your guys who hurt him, hm?"

Chan's face pales but his eyes glint with something dangerous. "The kids at school did that to him?" he questions darkly.

The old man scoffs, "So you didn't even know." The younger goes to protest but the other adds, "His supposed friend spread rumors all around campus that Lix-ah was a hybrid; next thing I know, he doesn't come home from school and the only thing the other kids could tell me was that it was hunting season . He stopped going to school after that; I couldn't get him to. He disappears every morning now- well, at least before the incident in the woods. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, hm?"

"I've... seen him around," the werewolf only half -lies, unsure how much Lee truly knew about what Felix is and what he has been up to. "But I swear my pack had nothing to do with him getting hurt; we didn't even know he was hurt until I overheard Hana-noona talking about it at the market the other day." Guilt starts creeping in again, Chan's shoulders slouching, "If I knew he was going to be that close to the border, I would've- I would've-"

"Hey, don't pop a vessel; if this is some personal mission to assuage your guilt for not keeping a better watch on the ferals, then I suggest you go home and do just that instead of bothering my boy."

Chan shakes his head, "No, no that's not it... not entirely; I genuinely just want to check on Felix. I- I don't know him very well, and not for very long, but I still care about his well being, okay? Can I just... Can I see him?"