A few days later, San is briskly running through Chrysalis after he woke up that morning. His heart races from how fast he's moving, but also at the thought of seeing Seonghwa's beautiful face once again. Seonghwa is the light of his life that burns so bright, the fire within his soul that ignites emotions he wasn't sure he would ever be able to find in his life.

San always wanted a mate, but the responsibilities of his rather poor pack made it seem impossible. With Seonghwa, San is able to see a fulfilling future, but the complications rise once again with the whole 'rules situation' and Seonghwa already being promised to another alpha of Chrysalis. He shakes his head, getting distracted from his array of thoughts and slides open the door.

They're going on a hike through the mountains this morning, or, that's what Gyungho announced to them yesterday evening.

"Eun-" Areum starts, turning towards the slid open door, but is surprised to see a strange alpha standing in the doorway, "Who are you?"

San's eyes widen in embarrassment and he immediately begins bowing deeply to the floor, apologizing, "I'm so sorry, miss. I didn't mean to intrude, I must've gotten the wrong room," He explains frantically, trying to be as formal as he can be.

Areum giggles and waves her hand in the air, "No, no, it's not a big deal. I was waiting for someone, actually... Are you looking for Seonghwa?" She asks, tilting her head, knowing there can't be anyone else the alpha man was looking for on this wing. It's only her room and Seonghwa's room.

San nods, finally standing up from his knees, his eyes brightening up from hearing Seonghwa's name, "Yes, I was coming to get him for the hike today~"

Areum studies the alpha's face, noticing his reaction to mentioning her brother's name and she hums to herself, "What's your name?"

"Choi San."

Areum taps her finger on her arm, knowing she's heard that name before. She thought she had heard her mother mentioning something about him before, "From Eclipse?"

"Yes, Miss Areum," San bows again instinctually.

Areum giggles again, finding it amusing how the alpha -- San -- keeps referring to her so formally, "Just Areum is fine. Go get my sleepyhead of a brother and have a great time today," she smiles brightly, but there's some sadness behind it, as she wishes she could be going on this trip with them.

San's heart sinks just a bit at seeing her face, knowing that the Park's daughter has been ill for some time now. Will she even be able to attend the festival...? San himself had only heard about the festival a few days ago, but he overheard Eunji saying how she didn't want to dance in it without Areum. Not that San was purposefully listening to Eunji's conversations, he was just walking by.

San exits Areum's room and goes to the room next door. How could he have gotten them mixed up? It's not like this is his first time to Seonghwa's room. He scolds himself and slides open the door to Seonghwa's room, putting his cheerful face on quickly, "Good morning Seonghwa--"

San swears that his heart stopped in that moment, his eyes flashing a deep crimson at the small glimpse of Seonghwa's bareback his eyes catch. His wolf purrs deeply at the sight of his fated mate in such a state, impure thoughts ravaging his mind at the doing of his wolf.

Seonghwa whips around, tugging his robe tight with clearly rosier cheeks than normal, "What are you doing?" He asks, his voice flustered. He sees the red fading in San's eyes and his own wolf wants to give into him. Seonghwa looks at the ground, hiding, knowing his eyes will have a golden tint shining in them.

"I-I..." San stutters for a few seconds, truly at a loss of words, so he waits for his body to calm down before continuing, "I was coming to get you for the hike. You are going, right, Hwa?"

Seonghwa nibbles on the inside of his cheek, feeling the way his stomach does somersaults at the nickname his fated mate has given him. He gives him a nod, walking over and his nostrils are overwhelmed even more by San's intoxicating rose scent. He wouldn't tell anyone, especially not San, but the smell of the two of their scents mixed together melts his mental walls down.

San smiles happily, showing off his dimples as he's about to wrap his arm around Seonghwa, but holds back. He learned about their no-touching rule, and even if they are fated mates... Seonghwa hasn't necessarily accepted him yet, so San wants to try and respect his mate's pack values the best he can for him.

That won't stop him from making suggestive comments, though, "You look absolutely breathtaking this morning, Seonghwa."

Seonghwa hums, biting down on his bottom lip in an attempt to hold back his words, but he's becoming more and more unable to control his mouth around San, "Thank you. Now, shall we go?" He says, going past San and out of his room, unconsciously letting their hands brush against each other.

San smirks and laughs as he follows Seonghwa, meeting up with everyone in the center of the grounds.

San notices how Yunho and Mingi are talking with Kyelin, Dongwoo, Yeosang, and Wooyoung. San's been concerned about Wooyoung's health over the past few days ever since Sunghee had left Chrysalis. He couldn't help but notice the purpling of the veins on Wooyoung's neck around his mating mark. San knows the deeper meaning for them and it makes his heart ache for his friend... He hadn't seen it in person before, but he knows all of the signs of a mate's rejection after the fact of the mating process. He doesn't want to pity the boy, but he does. San worries if Wooyoung will even make it through this hike, but seeing that Yeosang and Dongwoo are at his side puts him at some sort of ease.

Jongho and Hongjoong walk up together soon after San and Seonghwa do, and they actually seem civil for once. San knows something has been going on with the two of them. He thought he saw something in the group sleeping area the other night, but his eyes could've been mistaken...

"How is Areum doing, Seonghwa?" San asks, knowing he's going into a touchy subject, but he will lighten it as soon as he can.

Seonghwa's surprised by San's interest in his sister's health, "She's been in the same state for a while, nothing has really been changing..."

San nods, seeing the saddened look in his fated mate's eyes, "You know, I accidentally went into her room this morning thinking it was yours," he chuckles, and his laugh only grows louder by Seonghwa's shocked expression furthering.

"You what?"

San nods curtly again, "She found the situation quite funny, actually. She was waiting for someone, too, and thought I was them. Ah, she must've been spooked, but I cleared it up, I promise!"

Seonghwa's eyes narrow, "How could you have gotten them mixed up? Do you have any sense?"

San smirks at Seonghwa's snappy tone that he missed, "Oh, Hwa... I thought you would've known the answer to that question by now," he winks playfully.

Seonghwa scoffs and shakes his head, crossing his arms.

Yunho overheard the two boys talking about the condition of Seonghwa's sister and he knows he wants to do something about it. He can't help but wonder if he would be able to cure it. One thing that he and Mingi both agreed on was to let Yunho secretly use his powers to heal his father. No one knew anything, they just knew that Yunho's father, Kangmin, finally recovered from his illness. Healing a few more people wouldn't hurt, right?

Yunho's thoughts are interrupted by Kyelin's arm sliding across his shoulders happily, "Yun, what happened to your smile? Mingi won't like it if you're frowning all day, isn't that right, Min?"

Mingi studies his mate, knowing he's thinking of the Park's daughter. It's the one thing he has a love-hate relationship with his mate about - Yunho's wanting to help everyone injured or ill ever since finding out about his healing magic. It's much too dangerous in Mingi's opinion, but as soon as Yunho's bottom lip pops out in a pout and his eyes shine similar to a young pup, his heart goes soft and he wants to give him everything he wants.

Mingi wraps his arms Yunho from the back after Kyelin lets him go and he rests his chin on Yunho's shoulder, "We will talk about it later tonight, my love," he whispers and gives him a soft kiss on his mating mark.

Yunho hums in agreement, watching Kyelin go back to join in on the conversation with Dongwoo, Yeosang, and Wooyoung. He thought he saw something stirring in Kyelin's eyes whenever she looked at Dongwoo, but it was weird for him to think about. She might have an affinity for the alpha, but Yunho knows she would never act on it when Dongwoo is happily mated to Yeosang.

The only time he ever saw Kyelin crushing on anyone was... Well, she's never really had any sort of crushes -- or at least, none that he knew of. Yunho wishes she could've had better luck in love, and not be smitten with an alpha there's no chance of having.

"Are we all ready for our hike today?" Gyungho's voice rings throughout the center of the grounds with power behind it.

Roaring cheers come from everyone gathered there, all of them excited to explore the woods, especially since they were given the go-ahead to choose between being in their human form or wolf form.

Hongjoong and Jongho both knew they wanted to do the hike in their wolf form, but after their recent exchanges, they were nervous about what their wolves would do once they had a bit more power. Growing up, their wolves became accustomed to one another and after that romantic encounter they had last year, their wolves craved each other more and more.

They gave a side glance before both of them shifted, being the first ones out of the whole group to do so. Their fur coats complement each other well, both being darker in color - it's clear they're from the same pack, or if not, a close-blooded one.

"Are we the only ones going to hike in our wolf forms?" Jongho says through their mind link, looking around at everyone else.

"Just wait," Hongjoong sends back, and soon enough, a few others shift into their wolf forms as well, but not many.

Gyungho bows his head once at the group and then turns, "Let's go, my eldest and I are the leaders for this hike, so don't be fearful to ask us any questions. It won't be too strenuous on your bodies, I can assure you of that."

Dohyon walks beside his father, his mate in tow. Seonghwa watches them and feels proud, glad that his brother has become such an asset to their family. He's always been the one to take initiative and was confident in his skills of becoming the head alpha in the future, so Seonghwa always would look up to him when he was younger -- even if he didn't seem like it. Seonghwa appreciated Dohyon. He hopes that in the future, he will be able to express that feeling better to him. For now, he's still taking his time coming back out of his shell and that's okay.

Seonghwa steals a look at San and sees that he's already staring back at him.

"You like what you see?" San asks, the corners of his lips turning up teasingly.

Seonghwa cocks an eyebrow and hums, turning his back away from him again and begins walking after everyone else. He senses that San is following behind him and it warms his heart up, finding it endearing how eager the alpha always is. It almost takes his mind away from his inevitable fate with Eunji.

Eunji?

Where is she, anyhow?

Seonghwa goes over all of the people walking and spots her towards the back, trying to catch up.

Was she visiting Areum? San did say that Areum said she was waiting for someone. Hmm... He can't put his finger on it, but something seemed different whenever he brought Eunji up to see Areum for the first time in a while. Ever since his parents allowed people to start visiting her again, he can only assume Eunji has been going there on her own accord. She's never brought anything up, though...

"I'm so excited for this hike. Being cooped up in one place was never my style anyway, right, Yun?" Mingi's voice powers through Seonghwa's thoughts. The alpha is quite compelling in his speech, always bringing others' attention towards him. That's the capability of a head alpha's son, Seonghwa thinks. Dohyon has always been similar.

Yunho giggles, nuzzling up under Mingi's arm that's bringing him in, "I know, I know... You like to move, but you always come home to me," he hums softly, a sweet smile appearing on his face.

Mingi kisses the top of Yunho's head, "That's right, my love. I'll always come home to you."

San's mind buzzes as he hears the mated couple's interactions, loving the way they are each other's perfect balance. His gaze wanders to Seonghwa, like it often does, and he imagines the two of them acting like that.

One day...

End of Chapter Twenty Six