24. I'm A Man Too

I'd gone out to buy dinner since by the time Yeon woke up he'd be hungry, not to mention, we'd both overexerted ourselves releasing a lot of scent. I needed an energy boost.

Yeon had been scenting out gradually in his sleep, I hoped he was dreaming of me and often times, I'd let out a bit of my scent and got my satisfaction watching him relax afterwards.

After taking a quick shower, I started heating up some food, I was too hungry to wait for Yeon to wake up. That was when I got a call from Elric. I was tempted to ignore it but I knew I wasn't going to avoid him forever.

"Have you calmed down yet?" From the way he casually spoke, he seemed calm.

"Yea. Is that why you called to check on me?"

"You were always the mean one of us two. What, you think I'd fight with you over a guy? Have some faith in me Stan. Besides, I have my pride. I know a loosing battle when I see it."

Was he giving up? That was unlike him. "What do you want Elric?"

"I visited your apartment at the campus and you weren't there. You missed your lectures today so I thought I'd check on you Stan. Besides, it's been a while since we hanged out..."

"What do you want Elric?" There was no way he was calling me for that. Besides, Elric only came for lectures because his family was forcing him, not to mention hit on girls and guys.

"You got me." I heard him chuckle from the other end. "I wanted us to talk about Yeon and before you snap at me, you really need to control your temper Stan, I almost peed my pants yesterday you know. Not to mention, you scared an innocent girl too infront of her apartment."

"I'm going to hang up if you called to lecture me."

"Okay hold on. If you want me to hit the nail on the head, I'll gladly do so though this is not a conversation we should be having on the phone." I heard him take a deep breath before he blurted out, "You marked Yeon right?"

What the hell was this idiot talking about...wait....did he follow me when I went to look for Yeon the day he'd disappeared? That can't be! He'd been with Yeon's sister making out without a care to who was around. No one had followed me that day.

"That's the only explanation I have from how you reacted yesterday Stan. You roared at us you asshole, you should have already known by now you two are fated."

He knew....Elric knew?

"You have just made Yeon more and more attractive to me now. How comes you didn't complete his marking when you had the chance, or were you afraid to mark a guy and end up like your dads?"

"I...I didn't mark him, he was already marked when I found him." Why was I stuttering? I was saying the truth.

"Yea yea you can lie all you want but yesterday, even a fool could tell you two are fated mates from the way you roared at us. Look Stan, I don't mind handing Yeon over to you and stepping aside but you were careless asshole. You and I both come from broken families...and you're familiar with my mother's case, being marked by a fated mate then loosing them. I can't imagine what would happen to my mom if my father had passed on without completing his marking on her and I wouldn't wish that on Yeon. He is a sweet guy so either you complete the marking or let someone else like me handle it."

"I won't deny I've been careless." I decided it was pointless to deny what was already out in the open. I might as well tell him the truth. "Yeon was marked multiple times when I found him and the police together with the hospital have evidence of this. I found him almost passed out then he imprinted on me briefly. I think that's when he unlocked my scent manifestation and I unconsciously manipulated it to calm him down after biting over the bite marks he'd gotten on his shoulder."

"That's disgusting Stan....did you at least brush your teeth afterwards?"

"You idiot, I'm being serious here!"

"You bit over someone else's bite marks...three at that"

"I was drawn to him stupid! How could I know his scent would make me go like that?"

"Can't say I blame you there when it comes to his scent. I wanted to burry myself in him the first time I smelled him."

"Watch it stupid..."

"Yea yea, you'll punch me through my phone right?" What's with this guy? He was pushing it despite me telling him the truth about everything.

"Look Stan, I do hope you paired up with him, though technically that's pointless now that you two are fated."

"No...he still hates my guts."

I heard him burst out laughing and was tempted to give him a piece of my mind but I was afraid that would wake Yeon up. Clearly, Elric was enjoying this.

"I'd hate to be in your shoes Stan. You have to start from scratch with him and knowing you being a hopeless romantic, I'm sure you're waiting for him to fall in love with you first, you want to play it cool, smoother him up until he warms up to you so you can slide into his heart which need I remind you he already likes you if he imprinted on you."

"Ah...well...he imprinted on those guys too that's why the police said it's hard to reason with them. I merely got the leftovers when it was weaker...just pure lust, sometimes I wonder what would have happened to me if I wasn't his fated mate."

"Well look at you looking at the bright side Stan. I'd never be jealous of you but I do envy you finding your fated mate before me and now that you've explained it, Yeon's case does sound complicated. I hope he isn't in love with those those kidnappers."

"Thankfully no...he seems to have been in love with someone else, so he may have been thinking those guys were him."

"Are you telling me whenever he goes into heat, which by the way he's been with you, he sees someone else instead of you? Stan you're screwed...."

I hanged up unable to take anymore of Elric's ridicule. I can't believe I just told him the truth about what had happened and what's been happening between Yeon and I...but that also meant Yeon's sister knew I'm fated to her brother.

What a pain this is going to be. Knowing Elric, he'd remain quiet about the matter but I didn't trust Mijin. Hopefully, Elric may have advised her to remain quiet about it, considering their entanglement before.

My chest crumpled when I was startled by Yeon waking up and calling out Elric's name.

"Finally you're awake. That's good." So now I had to deal with him calling out both Niel and Elric in his sleep and heat. I saw him look around confused and thought I'd brief him. "Before you start panicking, this is my other place. It's not far from campus and provides a great escape when I want to avoid people."

"Why did you bring me here if you don't want people coming here?" Thankfully, he wasn't displeased by my presence. It always surprised me how brave he often was, walking around campus with eyes like that, unbothered by others and here he was with me again in an unknown location. Or was it because we were fated that he didn't panic? He seemed to want to get out of bed but later changed his mind. Maybe he was still exhausted from the things I did to him last night.

"I needed to get away from your sister and Elric, whom I'm disappointed you've suddenly become fond of." I responded as I walked and sat on the bed infront of him. The sight of his unkempt hair and straight from sleep face brought a smile to my face.

"I've never seen you smile. You always were a grumpy one."

"Takes one to know one, yet how quick you forget we were laughing a few weeks ago after your heat....which reminds me, I'm still waiting for my favorite pajamas and the clothes I lent you?" I don't know why, but I was tempted to tease him.

"I gave them back!"

"Calm down now Yeon. I can't handle you going into heat again."

"I went into heat?" He seemed to not remember. Did I release that much scent as Elric had said?

"You did, and the marks you're staring at on my neck were graciously given to me by your lovely ferocious sister. I seemed to have...created a suffocating situation upon everyone before taking you away." I went on to update him what had transpired and warned him of my dislike of him having multiple scents on him. He seemed displeased by my decision to scent him, yet he was willing to accept other's scents?

"Let me bring to your attention that your eyes are hard to ignore. They stand out and secondly, whenever I smell your scent, it gives me a tingling sensation at the tip of my nose...like right now and thirdly, yes, your sister's boyfriend gave me my clothes back, though I'm a little disappointed you couldn't wait to give them to me yourself." I felt like a nagging child. Was I being too needy?

"What do you want from me?" For some reason, I couldn't answer him back. "Why are you sitting here all quiet? You're not doing much to stop rumors around campus that we are dating, word on the street is everyone is all of a sudden supporting the fundraising for that silly support group! Why are you also defending and speaking on my behalf to others? I never asked you to do that! It makes me uncomfortable...as if you're looking down on me..."

Wait, wasn't Elric the one who did that? Even so, I couldn't tell him now, it seemed too late for that.

"I never once looked down on you and secondly, those people were constantly talking behind people's backs so I just pointed it out to them. If any of them came to apologize to you, they did so of their own accord. I never forced anyone into anything on your behalf Yeon."

He stared at me for a while before continuing, "I can't understand your actions. The moment I feel like I'm starting to get you, you do something completely spontaneous."

Damn it, he was releasing scent...I could sense it getting to me and the way he kept his hands on his lap, it was clear to me he was hiding something.

"You seem to forget Yeon that I'm a man too, patiently waiting for you until you grant me permission." I reached to touch his cheek and when he didn't push me away, I moved a bit closer to him. "Turns out I'm more selfish than I thought. Yeon, I'm sorry about last night."

"You even know how to apologize! This has to be a dream for sure."

"You went into heat again, you may not remember but your heat lasted much longer than last time. I jerked you off till my hands hurt..."

I was loving the shock on his face which tempted me to tease him further, even if I had to lie about it. Tapping his lips, I added, "How could I refuse a pretty face when it's flushed red and begging for me to take it, and looking at you right now, I would never have expected you to blush so hard just from a simple guy talk."

"Hey...you're too close. And stop touching my face..." I decided not to push my luck too far and let my hand fall from his face.

"You probably don't care Yeon but I'm happy that you had your first heat with me."

"You're right. I could care less. Now keep your mouth shut and let me find my way out."

"Elric..." Regardless of what he'd said, I still felt I needed to warn Yeon about him. "I'm sure he is buying his time, waiting to pounce. What will you do if he climbs on top of you and kisses you so suddenly?"

"He already asked me out and need I remind you to stay out of my business. I need to find myself a pair as soon as possible and at the moment, he appears to be the best option."

"Look elsewhere then..." I almost begged.

"Where? You?"

"I want to be with you Yeon. Does that give me the right to become your pair?"