04 May 2017 @ 09:41 pm
it stops tonight - 2  
pg | chanyeol / xiumin ; & other members
abo au
summary: chanyeol loses his memory but he's working hard at getting his life back. he's almost there and yet... he feels like something is missing.





Things fall into place easily with Jongdae and Baekhyun. Junmyeon's right. They're like the best friends he's never had and their codes match really well. With Minseok, things are a little more difficult.


"Hyung, am I doing this side-kick right? It doesn't feel like I'm connecting."

Minseok looks up from beneath his sweaty bangs, but even so something about the sight makes Chanyeol think : pure. It's not a thought that normally comes from looking at a sweaty man, but somehow Minseok pulls it off.

Minseok grabs a small hand towel and furiously scrubs at his damp hair. The sight reminds Chanyeol of a small rodent, despite the fact that Minseok is a wolf by all rights. Chanyeol hides his smile but soon intakes a sharp breath when Minseok draws close. There it is again... the sweet and cooling scent of spearmint.

Minseok grabs Chanyeol's hips then, causing Chanyeol to let out something like a yelp. Minseok looks at him oddly, but eventually laughs at Chanyeol's comical expression.

"You're not turning your hips out enough" Minseok says, gently adjusting Chanyeol's stance. "Like this, then kick out with the full length of your leg."

Somehow, after Minseok's guidance, the sidekick feels much more comfortable and feels more powerful on his muscles.

"Thanks hyung. What would I do without you?" Chanyeol says, gratefully.

But the comment makes Minseok stiffen for a split second. It's long enough that Chanyeol notices, but when he blinks, the moment is gone and Minseok is smiling again.

"No problem, Chanyeol."

Minseok waves off the compliment. And maybe it's Chanyeol's imagination but the last smile he sees on Minseok's face before Minseok turns around to go back to his own practice, is somewhat tight lipped. It makes Chanyeol think that something else is going on. He recalls the day he woke up. The way Sehun had been so nervous when Jongin had brought Minseok up. And then there was that conversation with Kyungsoo...




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It's after the first month after his accident that Chanyeol gets things more or less organized in his head. He was a member of the EXO pack. He was an alpha. He still remembered his childhood friends. Jongdae and Baekhyun had joined the pack, albeit a little late. And Minseok had joined when his own pack had moved to another country. Wolves left their parents' pack when they were of age, but Chanyeol still knew where his parents were. He had one older brother, who was overseas in his own pack.

And that's where Chanyeol's instruction and own memories ended.

It's also after the first month that Kyungsoo first broaches the subject of Chanyeol's accident.


Chanyeol's sitting in the exam room, waiting for his weekly check-up when Kyungsoo enters the room. The beta is a healer in more ways than one. Drawing his powers from the ground, Kyungsoo was fabled to be one of the top healers in all of Korea. When it was announced that Kyungsoo was to first join the EXO Pack, Chanyeol can remember Junmyeon's boasting on Kyungsoo's behalf as if it were yesterday.

But right now, Kyungsoo can't be more intimidating. There's a different look in Kyungsoo's eyes than he has on Chanyeol's usual check ups. And Chanyeol bounces his left leg in anxious anticipation while Kyungsoo settles into his seat, opposite Chanyeol, and folds his hands together with a sigh.

"Is there... anything you remember about that night?"

Chanyeol squeezes his eyes shut. Right off the bat, when he had woken up, he had been told by all the healers, not to try and force the memories. But it would be a lie if Chanyeol had said he hadn't tried to remember at all.

A sigh escapes his lips as he shakes his head.

Kyungsoo sighs too, hiding it with a cough, adjusting the thin wire frames on his head. His eyes focus on somewhere outside the window. A high crag peers over their town just at the edges of the neighborhood. Kyungsoo takes off his glasses and starts speaking, still staring at the mountain.

"Do you remember that story that the elders told on the first day I arrived here?"

Chanyeol looks up at Kyungsoo. The day Kyungsoo had come to the pack, there had been a huge celebration, gathering all the nearby packs to their neck of the woods. Elders from Seoul had come to see Kyungsoo off as well. And, as per tradition, there had been the handing down of wisdom in the form of story telling.



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The crowd calms and the fire light glows on everyone's faces. Chanyeol sees Junmyeon sneaking glances at the new healer. And even Chanyeol's older brother, Kangyeol is smiling fondly at the younger faces around him.

Elder Han raises his hands and even the whispers of the night seem to quiet and only the crackling of the bonfire overlaps with Elder Han's deep, melodic voice.

"It is said that the first of us didn't rely so heavily on scent as we do now."

There are mumbles of disbelief throughout and Chanyeol touches his own nose in wonder. Every memory, every place, every thing had a scent, a smell, and an imprint deep within his mind as an aroma. How could one live without relying on scent?


But the Elder raises his hands again with an amused smile and continues as the crowd falls silent.

"Scent, for us, evolved from the first of us by the power of love."

There are faint groans from the younger ones at the sappiness of the statement. Even Chanyeol rolls his eyes and starts to doubt if this story is really true.

"At the beginning of existence, there was just one lone wolf. He was the first alpha and he roamed the land constantly yearning for a pack of his own. He prayed and prayed to the Moon to send him a companion. And one night, the Moon came to him in a dream."

Chanyeol hears Kangyeol chuckling softly behind him, not knowing that Chanyeol has craned forward to hear the Elder's words with rapt attention.

"'Wolf of my own creation' the Moon says. 'You have served me well and I know what you long for.'

The wolf, in awe of the Moon in his dream, can only gaze upon the glow of the Moon on the ground the Moon stands on.

'Therefore, I will grant you with a companion who will be your other half. Another half that you have yearned for. Another half that you never knew you yearned for. Someone who will grant you the pack you desire to lead.'

The dream fades and the lone wolf looks up at the black night sky. He doesn't know what compels him, but he climbs the highest cliff. Perhaps he does to be closer to the Moon, to beseech the Moon to fulfill her promise. And when he does, he sees a glow as bright as the Moon. But the soft light comes from below and the wolf cranes his neck down the crag to see what is causing the brightness."

Chanyeol holds his breath. What was the brightness? He tears his eyes from the Elder to look around him. All of the older wolves are smiling, knowingly. And Chanyeol hears his older brother sigh in longing, looking far off into the distance.

"Can you guess what it was?" the Elder asks, grinning.

It's a rhetorical question, but Chanyeol wants to know.

"What was it?" Chanyeol whispers to Junmyeon, sitting next to him.

But Junmyeon shushes him.

"Of course" the Elder says, nodding. "It was his mate, glowing in the distance. And to his Omega, the lone wolf glowed on that cliff before her."

There are sighs of contentment all around and again, Chanyeol sees the longing in his older brother's eyes. Chanyeol wonders if Kangyeol thinks of a special someone.

"And when they met, they took each other into each other's arms, taking in the scent of the other. To the lone wolf, lone no more, the scent was so beautiful and overpowering that it was enough to know that this companion was special to him, as special as the Moon."

Elder Han ends the night with the end of the story. And it's this night, right before Chanyeol falls asleep that he hears of Kangyeol's special someone.

"He's an Omega who lives in Beijing" Kangyeol whispers. "I met him while I went to see my new pack."

Chanyeol's eyelids are heavy. He's had a full day of excitement what with the festivities and the anticipation of turning 19 in a few months time. He's sad that Kangyeol will be leaving the next day. But Chanyeol knows that once you're eighteen, a wolf must find his own pack... and eventually his own mate. For now, it's just like old times, sharing a room and a bed with his older brother.

As Chanyeol's thoughts turn into dreams, his mind meanders to the Elder's story and his older brother's words fade into oblivion as sleep takes over.

"He doesn't know I fancy him" his brother continues, lost in his memories. "But I'm going to propose the moment I get back. I can't wait for you to meet him, Chanyeol-ah."

Chanyeol falls asleep too early to see the sparkle in Kangyeol's eyes.









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넌 아무 일 없던 것처럼 애써 나를 향해 웃어 보여도
even though you smile at me like nothing happened
가녀린 새하얀 너의 어깨가 조그맣게 떨려와, I'm telling you
your slender white shoulders shake slightly, I'm telling you
잠시만 나의 곁에서 내려놓고 쉬어가도 돼
you can let things go and rest next to me
먼동이 트면 저 달이 저무는 그 곳을 따라 그땐 날아가
when the far sun rises, follow to the place the moon
disappears to and fly away
 
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