Silver Lining

~~☽~~

Jeongin wanted to go to the village today; Chan didn't think it was a good idea but the youngest had insisted that nobody would even be able to tell that he was a hybrid because he has yet to have his first changing. The alpha said that wouldn't necessarily make a difference because he still smelled like the rest of the pack and had habits of a canine (there was a high possibility of the elders in the village being able to recognize what he is in an instant).

So, Chan had insisted on going with.

It wasn't that hybrids were forbidden from entering the village; maybe a hundred years ago, they would have been killed at the first signs of not being human but now, being half wolf was just... frowned upon. The older folks still held hate after ferals attacked in the early days and now they just assumed that all the other packs are the same unpredictable beasts; the newer generation discriminated against hybrids and pushed them out to the woods to be with their own kind .

Chan didn't really like the village, lots of bad memories growing up, but sometimes it was necessary to take a trip down there so he was known by many living there. Jeongin had been raised entirely within the pack house (dropped off when he was just a pup) so he had yet to be acquainted with the harsh reality of being different; the alpha will make sure that he is there for his group member in case things get ugly (even if that also means that he's going to have to see some familiar faces).

There is a fond smile stretching his lips as he watches Jeongin hop from stall to stall, looking at all the wonders the human world has to offer. Chan stayed back a ways, keeping an eye out and not wanting others to automatically associate the youngest with being part of his pack (he wanted this experience to be the best it possibly could be for Jeongin; he's not sure how many more opportunities for the young hybrid to visit here without bias that there will be before he makes his full transition into wolf hood).

He himself receives a few wary glances here and there from folks that knew him from long ago when he still lived here with his family, kids who he once went to school with now fully grown and remembering him as nothing more than a dumb mutt to tease before he became strong and confident enough to put an end to all their ridicule (which scared them and their parents so bad that he was casted out for being a monster . His life only became easier when other hybrids like him sought out his house in the woods and they formed a family of their own).

"Did you hear what happened to the boy working for Lee's flower shop at the corner? He was beaten up pretty bad; folks say he ventured too far west collecting seeds and ran into the ferals."

The old woman's voice immediately catches his attention with the mention of the ferals. Anybody traveling from the village westward would have to pass through his lands first and he doesn't remember catching whiff of any humans lately; maybe the ferals are on the move again? He should have been watching the borders more closely...

"Aw the poor thing; it's a shame what happened but I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually the kids just messing with him again. He never really fit in with that lot; they say he's a bit strange in the head, does weird things," the younger woman replies, lips pursed in dismay as she picks the yellowest of corn to put in her basket.

Another elder woman chimes in, "They better not be: that boy is as cute as a button and as sweet as sugar. I'll personally knock some sense into those youngsters' heads for treating him any differently than the other folk."

"Ah but Hana-unnie, they say he's another one of those mutts -" The younger lady goes to say but the first woman cuts her off.

"I know what they say and that don't change a thing! He could be part goldfish for all I care and my opinion still says the same. That child has been an angel since his mother first brought him here and has had a sunshine smile on his face even after she died and Lee took him in." The woman shakes her head, hands on her hips as she grumbles, "I'm more worried about them ferals corrupting him, ya see? It is mating season, you know; a cute blue-eyed and silver haired foreigner like him will probably seem like easy pickings-"

"Excuse me," Chan says before he even gives it a second thought, brown orbs wide and a hopeful edge to tone, "Did you say blue eyes and silver hair?"

The second lady, a Kim Hana who was married to a fishmonger Chan's father used to do business with, wags her finger at him in an instant. "Nuh-uh, don't you even think about it with that alpha wolf-muddled brain of yours, Bang Chan-ah! You stay away from sweet little Felix, you hear me? Lord knows that boy has been through enough, let alone some clumsy oaf like yourself ravenging him with your pack."

Chan frowns, his ears flushing in embarrassment. "But noona, I just wanna make sure he's okay," he whines, "He must have gotten hurt just outside of my lands; I'll only need to ask him a few things-"

"Don't matter," Hana, who has always been a stubborn woman, replies firmly, "Boy's a mute, has been since his mother died; you won't get anything from him. You best be on your way, watching for them ferals before they strike again, yeah?"

A mute? The omega is a mute? No wonder he has yet to speak to him then; perhaps Felix doesn't transform because he knows that there would be no easier communication that way. But besides that, if the silver wolf truly is this Felix they speak of, then that means that the reason Chan hasn't found any trace of him in a while is because he was attacked . The thought makes the alpha miserable; he should have been there, he should have figured it out sooner. If something serious happened to his potential soulmate all those nights ago because Chan hadn't been guarding his lands as well as he should, he will never forgive himself.

"Please, noona, can you just tell me where to find him? For old time's sake? I can't help feeling responsible if he was attacked by the patches of wildflowers along my borders and I wasn't- my pack wasn't- there to protect him," the hybrid pleads, jutting out his bottom lip and putting on his best puppy-dog eyes, "I only want to see if he's okay, I swear it."

The elder's narrowed gaze, after a few moments, softens as she visibly deflates with a sigh.

"Unnie," the younger lady from before gasps, "You can't be serious-"

"So what if I am, Mira? I doubt this lovesick pup is gonna do any more harm," Chan feels slightly bashful as Hana gives him an unamused look, "Yongbokkie is a tough nut to crack; coming on strong isn't gonna win him over so keep it in your pants, Chan-ah."

The blush on his ears spread down his neck and across his cheeks and the woman gives a knowing chuckle. "He lives above the flower shop over yonder; bring him rice cakes. Being a florist's assistant, he's fastidious about bouquets."

A smile tugs at his lips against his wishes, his inner wolf doing somersaults and wishing to run around the woods happily yapping to anyone that'll listen; he bows to the women with a, "Thank you, noonas; I'll be on my best behavior," before practically skipping over to where Jeongin was inspecting an array of hanging cured meats.

"Two pounds please," Chan says with a grin at the stall owner from over his pack member's shoulder, pointing at the meat the youngest was eyeing and catching Jeongin by surprise.

"Wha- Hyung, you don't- That's really expensive!" Jeongin babbles incredulously, tugging on Chan's arm.

"No, it's fine; we have extra money saved from the animal pelts we sold before the winter."

"But Hyung-"

"I'm in a good mood and it's your first time at the market, Innie; just enjoy the treat while it lasts," Chan laughs in response, clapping the younger on the back before tacking on, "That's Changbin's favorite so good luck hiding it from his sensitive nose."