– Rooftop Silence
The city lights glimmered like broken stars below.
Yu Jun stood at the rooftop edge, staring into the dark, shoulders rigid. He didn't look up when Hyeon-u approached, but his chest eased, just slightly, like his body recognized the only person he allowed this close.
"Did you find him?" Yu Jun asked, voice low.
Hyeon-u nodded once. "Yes."
Yu Jun's fingers flexed at his sides. "Was it him? The scent?"
A pause.
Hyeon-u stepped closer, letting the wind carry his words slowly. "It was… faint. But real. He's not wolf. I don't know what he is, but he hasn't shifted yet."
Yu Jun's brows drew together. "He hasn't?"
"No. His energy's closed off. Almost like he's unaware of what's inside him."
"Then why did I feel—" Yu Jun stopped himself, jaw clenching.
Hyeon-u answered quietly. "Because your soul recognized something even his body hasn't caught up to yet."
Yu Jun exhaled slowly, tension draining from his spine.
He hated this.
He hated fate. Mates. Bonds. The way the lycan part of him stirred like a beast at the scent of someone unknown.
And yet… he couldn't stop thinking about that presence in the elevator.
The shape. The scent. The silence.
"I don't want this," he admitted, almost ashamed of how small his voice sounded. "I didn't ask for it."
Hyeon-u didn't speak right away. When he did, his voice was steady. Gentle. "None of us do. But maybe… he's not what you think. Maybe he's not here to break you."
Yu Jun glanced at him, eyes sharp with something unreadable.
"And if he is?" he whispered.
Hyeon-u's answer was simple. "Then I'll help you rebuild."
Yu Jun let out a shaky breath. "You're always with me, aren't you?"
Hyeon-u gave a faint smile, looking away to hide how close that struck. "I told you. I made my choice."
What Yu Jun didn't know was how hard Hyeon-u's heart was beating.
Because he had found his mate too.
And he had every intention of never saying a word.
Absolutely. Here is a long Chapter Five: "The Dream Beneath the Moon", told from Ye Jun's perspective, where the Moon Goddess appears in his dreams—cryptic, maternal, and slightly unsettling. The tone leans into soft unease, emotional depth, and a slow-blooming mystery.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
--- – The Dream
Ye Jun knew he was dreaming the moment the silence felt too heavy. Too intentional.
He stood barefoot in a forest that shimmered with silver-blue light. Every leaf looked wet, glowing faintly under a massive, low-hanging moon. The trees whispered, though no wind touched them.
The air was cool but not cold. Still but not dead. He should have been afraid, but he wasn't.
Some part of him knew he had been here before.
He walked.
Each step made no sound. His baggy clothes were gone, replaced with loose white robes threaded with starlight. They didn't weigh anything, but he felt them like a second skin.
When he reached a small clearing, she was already waiting.
The woman sat on a smooth stone, pale and luminous, her hair a river of silver that kissed the forest floor. Her eyes—one glowing white, the other an impossible shade of black—stared into his soul like she'd made him.
Because maybe… she had.
Ye Jun's lips parted, but no sound came.
"You dream clearly," she said first, voice low and rich, like the first note of a lullaby.
He tried to speak again. Still nothing.
"You don't need to speak," she told him, smiling faintly. "Your soul is loud enough."
Who are you? he thought, the words forming in the air like soft light.
She tilted her head. "I've been called many names. Goddess. Mother. Luna. Moon."
Ye Jun felt his knees weaken.
The Moon Goddess?
No.
That was wolf lore. Pack belief. He wasn't even a wolf. He hadn't shifted. He was nothing. She wasn't supposed to—
"You are not nothing," she said, frowning slightly. "You are mine. Even if you do not know it yet."
A chill ran through him.
She stood now, and the forest held its breath.
"You feel out of place," she continued, stepping closer. "Too soft to be wolf. Too sharp to be human. You hide your soul beneath hoodies and silence, thinking it will protect you."
Ye Jun stepped back instinctively.
"But you are not meant to hide, little one. You were born to awaken."
He shook his head.
I don't understand.
"You will."
She stopped in front of him, lifting one hand. Her palm touched the center of his chest—and heat bloomed, deep and painful and real.
"There is a name buried inside you," she whispered. "Not wolf. Not lycan. Something older. Something forgotten. But it remembers you."
The moon above flared.
Ye Jun tried to breathe, but his lungs felt too tight.
"Your body will catch up to what your soul already knows. And when you meet him…"
Her smile turned sad.
"He will hate you. At first."
Ye Jun's heart skipped.
Who?
But she was already fading, her hair becoming mist, her eyes dissolving into stars.
"Remember," her voice echoed faintly, "love is not always kind when it begins. But you… you are meant to burn."
The forest crumbled.
The moon fell.
And Ye Jun jolted awake.
---
The room was dark.
His hoodie stuck to his skin. His sheets were twisted around his legs. Sweat dripped down his neck, but the air felt cold.
Ye Jun sat up, hand pressed to his chest.
His heart wouldn't slow.
He touched the space where she had laid her hand. His skin felt normal. But deep beneath it… something buzzed.
He stood and walked to the window, pushing it open.
The moon outside was bright, too bright. Full.
You are mine.
Her words echoed again, unwanted.
His heart hadn't slowed. Not even a little.
He wrapped his arms around himself as he stared up at the moon—the real one this time. Smaller. Colder. Still watching.
What had she meant?
"You good?"
The soft voice behind him made him jump.
Ye Jun turned. Hanjae stood in the doorway of their shared room, messy-haired and blinking sleep from his eyes, wearing shorts and a loose tank top. "You're just standing there like a ghost."
Ye Jun looked away. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No." Hanjae padded closer, rubbing his eyes. "You woke the silence."
Ye Jun cracked a faint smile, but it didn't last. "Just had a dream."
Hanjae tilted his head. "Bad one?"
Ye Jun shrugged, stepping away from the window and climbing back into bed. "Not bad. Just… weird."
He curled beneath the blanket again, but it felt too hot now. Wrong. He faced the wall and shut his eyes.
Hanjae didn't ask more. He just stood there a moment, watching him, then turned off the dim hallway light and went back to his bed.
The room sank into quiet again.
But sleep didn't come.
Not for Ye Jun.
Not with that woman's voice still curled in the hollows of his chest