#the idea being the three pairs represent the underground the land and the sky

[squeakadeeks]

gharacter design explorations for these two (Furnace and Lignite) since its a fun aesthetic and i'm feeln it rn

[letspurpletogether]

The Guardian || M. Yoongi (M)

Summary: You have never meddled with hybrid affairs, not until the night you find a stray panther hybrid hiding behind some trash containers. 

Genre: hybrid au, romance, dystopian, angst, drama, mild smut.

Pairings: Panther hybrid!Yoongi x human!reader

Word count: 20k+

Warnings: Assault, mentions of abuse, some past trauma, and persecutions, blood, mentions of violence and death, threats to the reader’s life, mild smut, voyeurism/exhibitionism (kind of ig), masturbation (male). Some fluff along those lines too.

A/N: this used to be a drabble series since I was limited to the mobile app before. I merged the parts together to make this part one of what is going to be a two-shot now. Nothing has changed regarding the plot, just more words.

A thunder cracks the sky in two, making you almost drop the trash bag all over the ground. You take a deep breath, and tighten your grip around the plastic bag. The bakery’s closing time had passed about an hour ago, but it had been raining so heavily that you couldn’t head home just yet. So you decided to stay and start the clean-up you had schedule for tomorrow morning. Rain had subsided enough now for you to take out the trash without getting wet head to toes, but still the chilly weather makes your whole body shiver.

You go down the three cement steps that connect your bakery’s back entrance to the backstreets where all the trash containers are aligned. Carefully, trying to avoid stepping on a puddle you toss the big black bag over the edge of your container and wipe your hands clean on your jeans.

Glancing down at your feet, you notice your untied shoelace. You kneel down and tie them in a quick knot before you stand up again. But it is in that swift motion that your eyes catch the silhouette of something hiding behind the containers. At first, you can’t quite give shape to it. It is like a big dark ball of wet clothes, and you almost think your mind is playing tricks at you when you notice a fluffy tail wrapping around the ball.

You crouch down again to have a better look at it. It looks like a child, no- a person. A person hugging their knees, face hiding in between their arms. But then you remember the tail, and as you see it curling around one of his legs you realize this is an hybrid. And a stray one if he is here in an alley and not inside a shelter.

As your eyes become accustomed to the dim light, you can make out the shape of his head and the pair of round ears on top of a tousled and wet mane of jet black hair. They twitch when you try scurrying between the containers, closer to him.

“Hey there… Are you lost?”

A pair of yellow eyes look back at you alarmed. He hisses, showing off his pointy canines in a threatening gesture. You stumble back, landing on your ass, and palms against the rough ground. Your heart beat furiously inside your chest when you first tried to stand up.

You have never been this close to an hybrid before.

These… humanoid pets as the media called them. They are quite popular among the rich families. You would often seen them strolling around the privileged parts of the city alongside their owners in golden leashes and extravagant clothing when you were making deliveries. The idea of hybrids, of having themㅡa sentient personㅡas a pet to toy around with, had always made you cringe. Was it ethical? Was it right? Where they human? Or just talking animals? People always had different opinions on that matter.

As far as you know the are some non profit organizations advocating for hybrid’s rights. You’d seen their rustic posters on the subway stations, but they weren’t really popular. The media, owned by the big fishes that handled hybrids’ affair and distribution had them labeled as criminals, even terrorists groups sometimes. They accused these activists of spreading lies about the hybrids, misinforming the people and potentially endangering the lives of the creatures and their owners. Just last week on the news channel they broadcasted a story about the fire that destroyed an illegal underground shelter in the outskirts of town and killed ten people. Three hybrids among them.

The local authorities stated the tragedy had happened because the heating system for cold-blooded hybrids quarters had been installed without the normative precautions. After him, the press representative for BioTech Servicesㅡthe biggest company that arranged hybrid distributionㅡDaniel Lee had made a statement. “Let this be a lesson to you all”, he spoke in a stern voice, his thick black eyebrows scowling at the camera as if he was looking straight at you. “You might think you are doing good, but this is what happens when you don’t leave the protection of the hybrid creatures to the competent authorities”.

Hybrids had never interested you apart from the news. While some members of your family like your cousin Mia did want to own an hybrid (and was in a desperate search for funds to acquire the outrageously expensive license that allowed her to purchase one), you yourself had never meddled with hybrid affairs.

Not until tonight, at least.

And there is no doubt that the person in front of you looks very humanㅡexcept when he bared his teeth out and hissed at you.

What is an hybrid doing hiding behind trash containers in this part of the city? You can’t help but wonder. This is far from being the rich part of town. No one in this neighbourhood had the means to owns an hybrid that you know about, and if they do, well… they have it well hidden.

So what can you do about this situation? It isn’t like you can just take him home with you, you don’t have an owner’s license and by the way he reacted probably wouldn’t want to come voluntarily either. You could call BioTech Services but a part of you fears they would start an investigation that would ruin your business.

It had happened before a couple of years ago when a runaway hybrid was found hiding inside the warehouse of a small delivery company. They authorities teared the place apart looking for more runaways and strays, and the business owner was given an unpayable fine. The company closed shortly after that, never been able to recover from the damages caused. You definitely don’t  want that to happen to your store. It’s all you have, it is your life. Your grandma had passed on her apron to you so that you would continue her business and keep the Tradition alive. Tradition is the name under which your nana had opened the pastry shop for the first time over three decades ago.

You can’t risk losing it all because of a stray…

You can also report him to the district pound. But nothing can guarantee that the hybrid is going to stay here until they arrive. Either way, he can’t stay, is too dangerous.

You have to lure him out.

With a plan in mind, you go back inside and grab an old table cloth the hybrid can use to dry himself up and a gray hoodie left behind by your friend Seokjin the last time he was here eating all the strawberry pies. You also make sure to fill a take-out box with some of the leftovers of that day’s production, and the go back outside to give it all to the hybrid.

You step carefully again to the containers, and place the plastic bag with the items in his visual range. You squat down. “I don’t want any trouble, so here. Eat if you want and get cleaned up”. You push the bag closer to him, carefully in case he lashes out again. “You shouldn’t stay here, it’s cold and dirty and it might rain again later tonight. It’s not safe...”.

You wait a few more seconds hoping he would take the bag, but he doesn’t move. Distrusting eyes glaring back at you. There’s nothing else you can do, so you leave the alley to finish closing the store and head back home for the night.

The next following days, you slip back to your usual routine. Wake up early to bake your goodies, open the store, tend to your clients throughout the day. The usual… Except that you made an habit of checking the alley and around the containers every night to make sure the hybrid had really left. And although there were no traces of him anywhere, you did find the makeshift towel you gave him, hanging half-dry from the back door’s handle the day after.

Now, that a couple weeks had passed by, you’d forgotten all about that hybrid incident. Your day goes as usual, smiling to clients, welcoming them to your small world, having them eating your confections. It’s closing time, you are finishing locking up the store and are about leave. You walk home. You always do, your apartment building is only three blocks away from the Tradition, anyway and your neighborhood, albeit modest, had always been safe.

That night, however, the strange feeling that someone is following you assaults your mind halfway home. Even though the streets are empty and the sky was clear. No clouds, no weird shadows creeping through the alleyways. A round yellow moon bathed the city streets with its warm light.

It takes a moment to convince yourself you are just imagining things, that it is all good, that you are fine. That’s until an old man cuts through your path, forcing you to stop in a halt. His eyes are red and sore, and he smells like stale liquor and cigarettes. He asks you for money, and you try to dismiss him by politely “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t have any change in me at the moment”, you say and resume your walk. The sting on your scalp as he yanks you down by the hair takes you by surprise. You immediately cry out in pain, and drop your bag to the ground.

“You fancy bitches are all the same!”, he yells at you, tightening his grip on your hair. “You think you are above me! Huh?! Too good to spare me a glance, sweetheart?!”

Tears are prickling in your eyes. Your heart racing fast in fear, and your knees become weak. “No, please! I don’t- I just…!”. You try to free yourself. However, another pull at your hair has you falling down, your knees scraping on the ground though the fabric of your jeans. You cry for help, and he replies with another tug to your hair.

“Shut the fuck up!”, he barks. “I hate whiny bitches so much”.

That’s when you hear it. A growl, loud and deep like a thunder, coming from somewhere behind your assailant. The man curses and turns around, giving you a chance to slip from his grip just in time to watch as second figure pulls him into the shadows of the nearest alley.

You heard a scream, the tearing of fabric and then just silence. For a moment you can’t move a muscle. The quietness of the night mixed with what just happened overwhelms your senses. You covered your face with one hand as tears are still falling down your cheeks.

“Are you hurt?”, you are startled by a deep voice and your first impulse is to run away. But your legs don’t respond the way you like, and you are stumbling back to the ground.

You curse out loud when a hand reaches out for your shoulder to help you stabilize. You don’t realize this, of course, until he is right in front of you: A young man with amber eyes and dark tousled hair.

He crouches next to you, and you are quickly to recognize the oversized hoodie you gave away to a certain hybrid about two weeks ago. That’s when you raise your head to look at him. The hood covers his ears but you can still tell there was something more than hair behind the gray fabric. To your surprise he doesn’t look dirty, as you would expect from someone who’s been living on the streets. He does smell a little like wet dirt, though but nothing offensive. You glance down at his hands. His nails are pointy and sharp, like claws and his knuckles are purple and bruised.

“Can’t you talk?”, he speaks again, and you are remainded you’ve been staring for too long now.

“S-sorry…”, you mumble and shake your head. “Thank you, I’m okay”. He eyes you suspiciously and you are about to assure him you are perfectly fine again, when he leans closer and sniffs the air around you. “What…?”

“You’re good”, he simply says after that, as if that is enough explanation.He offers you a hand to help you up, and you gladly take it. Your legs are still wobbly and the shock hasn’t completely left you body just yet. “Now go home, human”, he gestures you to leave and hides his hands inside the hoodie’s pocket. You nod, and pick your bag up from the floor. When you turn around to thank him once more, you find an empty sidewalk.

He is gone.

A sense of security immediately washes over you as you reach your building, and step inside the tall brick structure. You greet the door man and take the elevator to the 7th floor where you live. You are still shaken about what just happened, the assailant, the hybrid that came to your rescue. Why would he help you? You wonder. How did he know where to find you? The feeling of being watched…? Was that him? Your restless thoughts invade your sleep that night. You dream about an hybrid boy slipping through your window and watching over your sleep. You dream about a low purr lulling you deep into the dreamland, and the smell of rain and wet dirt.

The next morning, you wake up past six with a sense of not having sleep like this in ages. You feel so light and rested, it actually feels you’re still sleeping. You notice the window to your room still open, didn’t you close it last night before going to bed? 

“I must had left it open…”, you mumble to yourself before getting ready for your day as usual.

Normally, you wouldn’t mind having a free day all to yourself to stay home and watch Netflix in you pajamas. But being sick kind of makes it hard for you to enjoy yourself at home alone. You’ve lived alone for years now, since your grandmother passed. After you graduated from high school, you moved to the city to live with your nana and study culinary arts to be the best pastry chef in town for when the time came for you to take over the Tradition… Speaking of which, you should really phone the shop to see if everything is running smoothly as you friend promised.

Seokjin had sent Rose to cover for you today, and made you promise you’d call him if you needed anything. You and him had been friends since your first day in town. His family owned a few shops by the river a few blocks away from your pastry shop. Seokjin would always stop by to get his mother something and being the social butterfly he still is, he befriended your grandma and you soon after. He was there for you when she passed, stood by your side and helped you will all the funeral arrangements and to reopen the Tradition again once you felt ready.

Seokjin loved to cook, the way his eyes gleamed with excitement whenever he was in the kitchen was something you’d always admired. Whilst his family kind of hoped he would get an office job, stable, ordinary, he decide to pursue his dream of becoming a professional chef. He had his own traditional restaurant downtown, to which Jiwoo served as sommelier after seven; it was quite the fashionable place nowadays, frequented by important businessmen and socialités. The food was amazing truth be told, but there was something else that made Epiphany’s popularity rose like foam on a freshly poured beer, something about Jin and the way he charmed people so easily. His handsome face, his impeccable self-groom, his smile, his jokes. It was his otherworldly skills as a host that drew people back to Epiphany all the time after their first meal.

You kind of envied that sometimes. Nevertheless, you had other type of clients of course. People from around the block, familiar faces you’ve gotten to know for half your life now. Like Mrs. Park, a nice old lady who was the number one fan of your pineapple tarts, or Mr. Caruso who was an art teacher and had gifted one of his beautiful paintings to your grandma once. It hung from your dining room wall, depicting a white rose bouquet on table next to a basket of fresh, red and juicy strawberries. Sometimes they looked so real you had this urge to extend your hand and pick one from the painting. Just like now, you think to yourself as you stare at the painting right across the table.

You are finishing the cup of chamomile tea you brewed yourself after a late breakfast and now you are craving some strawberries. There’s Mrs. Khan’s grocery store is just around the corner. You flounder for a moment if it is worth the risk going out with this weather and your sore throat to only get a box of strawberries. You walk past your living room, to the sliding glass door that heads to a tiny balcony. You don’t open it, though, you just slide the curtains a little to take a peek outside. There are rain clouds coming from the west side of town, opaquing the feeble sunlight that managed to slip pass the cloudy sky. Maybe if you run to the story very quickly you might make it before the it starts pouring. But just as you are about to slip your coat on, you hear the little droplets smashing against the glass panels and the metal railing of the balcony. It’s a soft pitter-patter nothing your umbrella can’t handle. However, much to your dismay as soon as a thunder echoes through the sky, a downpour breaks out, covering the skyline in a gray veil of rain and subsequently trashing completely any plans you have of going out.

With a resigned sigh you plop down onto your couch and search for the tv remote somewhere between the beige cushions to binge watch a whatever Netflix comes up with in your recommendations. After a short selection, you settle down for a baking reality and another cup of tea for the afternoon. The rain continues to pour down as you quickly feel yourself dozing off as the main chef on the tv explains the detailed layered interior of an ovoide cake.

A lighting streaks down, parting the clouds in two. Your dimmed illuminated living room is covered for a second in a blue light. But is enough to reveal the tall shadow of a person stretching across the carpeted floor.

Your stomach does a somersault and your heart starts pounding furiously against your chest the moment your turn around and meet the dark figure standing on the balcony. If you hadn’t been so frightened by the sight, you would have stop to wonder how the hell did it manage to get there, seven stories up, under the heavy rain. But you first impulse today is to scream, to run and lock yourself inside your room before this creep attacks you. And you are readying your feet to run, when he does something that leaves you completely disconcerted… to say the least. The shadowy figure uncovers his head, pointy ears coming to light and gently… he knocks on the glass.

An hybrid.

The hybrid.

Wait what?

You blink once. 

A moment passes and he knocks again with the same caution as before, as if he’s actually waiting for you to let him in. You can’t think for an appropriate response. Ignore him? Resume your intention to hide away in your room? Sure if he climbed all the way up here he can find his own way down too. Or should you call the police? Well, considering he helped you before, it would be quite rude to report him or let him freeze outside in the cold rain any longer. You hurry to the wall to turn the lights on and have a better look at whatever is happening and to make sure he’s the same hybrid from before.

The rainy gloom is replaced by the warm light of the led chandelier that hangs from the ceiling as it illuminates the living room and casts enough light towards the balcony for you to recognize the young man standing outside. It’s definitely him. His hair is wet, fringe plastered against his forehead and his little ears keep flicking back and forwards on his head. When you meet his eyes, he wriggles the fingers on his lifted hand in some kind of awkward greeting gesture. This is situation is completely absurd. So obviously, you decide to go with it.

You walk over the glass door a slide it open.

A familiar smell of wet dirt kind of sends you into a deja-vu as you glance at his form. He doesn’t look that big or menacing anymore as you stand in front of him. Seokjin is way tallerㅡand broaderㅡyou note to yourself as you notice he’s still wearing the other one’s hoodie, which is completely soaked in rain. All of him is. 

You notice his amber eyes scanning your face as you do the same to his.

“Human…”, he mutters in a low but soft voice. You note his button nose, and the way his lips seem to form a natural pout when he speaks. “You didn’t go to work today. Are you sick?”.

His question is so out of the blue, and his tone worried like you knew each other as good friends, that you remain silent for a moment. Taking it all in. Did he…? Did he just climbed to a balcony 70 feet high to ask youㅡa completely strangerㅡif you skipped work because you were sick?

You stare at him, dumbfounded. He blinks, calmly despite the rain drops that keeps falling on his head and shoulders as he waits for you to answer. His ears flick again. You notice a black tail waving behind his legs. And you finally snap.

“Are you serious right now?!”, the exclamation leaves your mouth before you can stop yourself and you yank him inside, to shield him from the rain. Does he want to get sick too? What the hell is wrong with this manㅡhybrid or whatever he is?

He stumbles inside, and drips into your carpet but you pay no attention to it as you head to your room to fetch him a clean towel. He hasn’t moved by the time you return, not even an inch and he remains still as you throw the towel over his shoulders to attempt to dry him up a little.

“First of all, what the hell? Second, who are you and what on earth are you doing here?”, you ask him, pressing the towel down on his chest, shoulders, moving up softly to his cheeks and hair.

“You know who I am”

“You’re a cat hybrid and a stray. That’s all I know”

“Jaguar...”, he huffs. You catch an offended tint in his tone this time. His tail flicks uneasy behind him.

“What?”

“I’m a black jaguar hybrid, not a cat...“

“Well, sorry. I don’t know anything about hybrids!” you retort, looking at him again. You’re about half an inch shorter than him, so you don’t have bend your neck too much “But seriously? Are you following me? I told you I didn’t want any trouble! The last thing I need BioTech knocking at my door”.

He doesn’t reply. Maybe he’s not much of a talker, you think to yourself. Still, you need him to understand how inconvenient this situation is for both of you, but specially for you.

“Look… I can’t afford nor want a license, so if you were looking for a new owner I’m sorry to disappoint you”.

He frowns a little, but his face remains rather neutral. He reaches for the towel with his own hands now and you step back to let him dry himself now.

“I’m not interested in a new collar, don’t worry”, he says. His tone is stern and you come to wander if you’ve made him upset. “Like I said…”, he clears his throat and pressed his lips together “I came to make sure you were okay, that is all”.

You frown at his words and glance at him with a questioning look.

“Why? You don’t know me and I don’t even know your name. I only gave you leftovers and a used sweater. What do you want from me?”.

“You are one of the good ones, human.”, He clutches the towel against his chest with both hands. “You showed me kindness, I wanted to… repay the favor, I guess”.

His ears fold down against his skull. It’s such a soft gesture, and his eyes look genuine. It makes him look so small and vulnerable that you have to resist the urge to pet him. You remind yourself he is not only a grown man but his genes are also mixed with those of a wild animal. A panther, a predator, not a house cat you can pet.

You take a breath and fold your arms over your chest.

“You already helped me, remember?”, you remind him of that night when the drunk man assaulted you. He nods so you shrug. “Then we’re even. You don’t need to watch over me. I don’t want you to...”. He says nothing, his eyes drop to the floor as you let out a sight. “Honestly? It actually freaks me out... I don’t know you. Do you think is normal for a person to follow another one around like a shadow? It’s not! It’s creepy!”.

He blinks in confusion, like he’s having a hard time following your rant. But then, his shoulders drop, he lowers his eyes to the carpet again and lets out a heavy sigh.

“I- I understand”.

“Good.” You nod, not entirely satisfied with that answer or his lack of visual contact to help you figure out what he’s thinking. But still, you let him be as you round the couch to pause the TV with the remote.

An awkward silence follows after, neither of you move for a moment. Then, when you can’t take it anymore, you raise your eyes to look at him and are suddenly taken aback by the way he’s staring back at you, intensely. His eyes seem to glow inhumanly and he wears a stern frown that’s unsettling enough to make you flinch.

"W-what now?!”, you snap, feeling uneasy by his gaze alone.

“Am I a person to you?” he then asks. 

“Of course you are... Aren’t you?”. His reply shines for its absence again, and you can’t stand anymore of that piercing look. You quickly maneuver yourself towards the kitchen without locking eyes with him again. “Look, you are a completely stranger that just climbed through my window. But you saved me once and I think I can trust you no to do something weird, so... You can stay until the storm is over…”.

You swear you hear him mutter something that sounds like a ‘thank you’, as you scoot away to the kitchen. 

You come to a stop two steps away from the door frame, when you realize something important. You haven’t even introduce yourselves to one another. You turn around in your heels and pop you head out of the door. You roll your eyes when you see that he’s still standing next to the glass door. Is he not planning to move from that spot at all?

“My name is y/n, by the way”, you tell him.

He turns his head to you and nods.

“Yoongi…”

“Nice to meet you, Yoongi”. You offer him a half-smile and point to the couch “Sit down… I mean- if you want to”.

“I don’t want to ruin your furniture”. It takes you a moment, then you remember. Your lips forms and quiet ‘o’ as you glance down his body. Though his face is dry, his clothes are still damp and would probably leave wet patches all over where he decided to sit.

You step out of the kitchen scratching your chin with an amused smirk.

“Well, I suppose we have to get rid of those clothes then”.

His face is priceless. He doesn’t know how to react and you note the way his tail curves around his leg, coyly. Innocent confusion to your flirty lame joke that has you wondering if he’s never been in this kind of situation before. He’s handsome, his features are sharp and manly, his skin clear and that button nose makes him look rather cute. He might be a panther, but his reactions are still very kitty-like. So before he gets a bad impression and darts out of the window, you open your mouth again to clarify yourself.

“I have other clothes that could fit you. Dry clothes so you don’t get a pneumonia”.

He still looks a little confused.

“I can’t get sick”, he replies.

You nod.

“Yeah, that’s my point”

“No, I mean… biologically I- that’s how they… um, made us…”, he scowls down at his own feet.

You can tell he’s struggling with his words, to try and explain it to you but you are quickly to get an idea of what he means. Of course, if they go all the way to modify their DNA to mix it with animal genes, why not throw a reinforced immunity system in the mix as well. That, however, ignites a new question in your mind. When he says they “made us” he means from the womb or at some point in their life… were hybrids once fully human too? The implication of the former being true sends shivers down your spine. BioTech experimenting with humans, possibly children… it can’t be, right? Those kinds of things just happen in Orwellian novels and science fiction in real life there are limits, human rights are to be considered… right?

“Human…”. Thank God his voice drags you out of that train of thought. The dark road where it was leading is some business you don’t want to meddle with. 

You clear your throat and look up at the hybrid.

“But still, you’ll need dry clothes if you are staying”. You insist, and since are feeling a little braver after he scared the hell out of you, you reach for his wrist and pull him alongside you. Anything to block the horrors your mind can come up with if you let it wander back to the possibilities of hybrid genesis “Come on, let’s go”.

You walk him to your room.

Surprisingly, he lets you drag him along to your closet. You are thankful that he’s not big, so a pair of your baggy gym sweats might fit him just fine. You also pull out the only large t-shirt you own, black and plain. You usually only use it as pajamas. He is probably going to appreciate the color considering all he’s wearing right now apart from Seokjin’s hoodie. You smile to yourself. You also grab a beige sweater from your closet, winter is just around the corner and even with the heater on it can get quite chilly especially when it’s raining like this. You turn around and hand him all the clothes you selected with a satisfied smile.

“it’s almost lunch time. You can change here while I go and make us something to eat”.

“You are ill and plan to cook?”.

“Yes…?”

He raises his eyebrows and eyes at the pile of clothes in his hands, disapprovingly.

“What?”

“Sounds unwise”.

You take a deep breath. He’s got a point, though, and your body still feels a little sore.

“Fine, I’ll order food then... Whatever”, you roll your eyes. 

It really doesn’t matter if you cook or not and he’s probably right. If you really want to wear off that cold you should probably step away from extreme changes of temperature. 

“You can use my Bathroom if you want to freshen up, is behind that door”. He nods. “I’ll leave you to it”, you give him a smile, pressing your lips together and pat the room’s door before closing it behind you.

By the time Yoongi leaves the room, you are at the door, paying the delivery boy for the food. After browsing some yelp recommendations, you’d settled down for a barbecue restaurant nearby that had a four star review. And by the smell of it, you know you won’t be disappointed. After closing the door, you turn to your hybrid guest and catch him sniffing the air, enthusiastically. His ears stand tall and straight, as his attention falls to the takeout bag in your hands.

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips and you gesture him to the dining table in front of you. He obeys without hesitation. Your heart shrinks with concern, he probably doesn’t get to eat properly out there on the street. If he’s been hanging around the neighborhood he most likely has to rely on people throwing away leftovers. Maybe that’s why he was rummaging through the trash containers outside your shop that night.

You sigh, a sudden urge to protect him washes over you, like an instinct you can’t quite explain. The poor thing, he must be hungry.

You are quickly to set the table and invite him to sit down. Before you start eating, you make sure to take his wet clothes and put them inside the dryer. You make your way back to the living room and set the plates for the two of you. A part of you thought he might dive right in, tossing the cutlery away to tear the meat apart with his fangs instead. But Yoongi shows impeccable table manners as you both start to eat, not even placing his elbows down on the table. 

A pang of guilt crosses your chest, why were you expecting so little of him? Did you regard him as nothing more than a desperate animal?

You are quickly to chastise yourself, brushing those thoughts away. He is a person, a man, and just because he’s got a fluffy tail and cute little ears doesn’t mean you should expect him to act like an uneducated beast. You know nothing about him, his story, where he came from, if he had past owners, or if he lived all his life out there on the streets. No, scratch that last part. He had to be an indoors hybrid considering the way he so expertly manipulates the fork and knife. He said he was a panther, and you once heard in the radio panthers and timber wolfs hybrids were a trend among the rich families. Something to do with the territorial nature of their animal half that tied them to their owners, thus minimizing the chances of runaways. But Yoongi has no owner. He’d said so himself earlier that evening…

“Are you a stray?”, the question just drops from your lips as if they had a mind of their own. He pauses for a moment to regard you in silence. You bite into the fork at his unamused glance. Maybe he’s trying to find some hidden meaning in your question, as if to understand where the question comes from.

He breaks eye contact and glances down at his place.

“I thought you said you were not interested in being an owner”

“And I’m not. I’m just curious about… “ how can you phrase it that it doesn’t sound invasive? You want to ask it subtly, but when you open your mouth again what comes out is:, “How you ended up outside my pastry shop hiding between the trash containers?”

Not subtle at all.

But it seems to amuse him. You note a half smirk forming in the corner of his lips.

“Ah, that…”

“I won’t tell,” you promise. “I’m just curious..”

He seems to think about it for a moment. Lips pressed together and his fingers fidgeting with the fork in his hand.

“I-“ he clears his throat. “I got into a fight”

“What?! Why?”, You blurt our, not expecting that exactly. Worry washed over your face, he can see it, but he simply shrugs. It’s better not to get you too involved, for your own safety.

“I pissed people off”

“But, you are okay. Aren’t you?” You question him and he simply nods. “Don’t you have someone you can contact?”, you ask him, concerned for his well-being. He must have someone, Jaguars are a rare breed, even the actual animal jaguars are in danger of extinctions. “I just imagine… panther hybrids to be rare and therefore… valuable? Shit- I don’t… It sounds awful that way- I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry”

He smirks and shakes his head.

“You don’t need to apologize, though. You are not wrong… “, a sigh leaves his lips and he raises an eyebrow. “The rarer the commodity higher is the price”.

“People are not commodities, Yoongi…”. His ears flick at the mention of his name. He nods slightly and presses his lips together.

“They don’t consider us people”. You note the bitterness of his tone.

“Who?”

“You know…” he shifts uncomfortably in the chair. His tail flicks behind him. “Owners in general”.

A moment of silence settles between you two as you finish your meal. You have so many questions, so intrigued by this new world you just found out about, that you can’t help but break the silence.

“Can I- can I ask you another question, Yoongi?”.

An annoyed sigh leaves his lips and you swallow nervously.

“You will, regardless of my answer”, he takes another bite and when you remain silent he glances at you frowning sightly. He sighs “yes, you can ask me whatever you want, human”

You bite your nether lip. You have many questions indeed, but he might find you more annoying if you decide to bomb him with all of them at once. You don’t want him to feel obligated to answer you, so you keep it simple. The question that’s been haunting you since he step foot in your apartment.

“Did you really just came here to see if I was okay?”, you ask. He pauses for a minute, setting down his fork. His eyes scan your face. His head lolls to the side, ears flick back and forth. Great, you just make him uncomfortable. “It’s just… not usual. To receive that kind of attention I mean. People… unless you are family or very good friends, going over to their home instead of texting them just to check on them is… well, it is weird”.

“I don’t own a phone”.

“… I figured”, you chuckle.

Another beat of silence and he finally speaks.

“It’s the instincts”.

“What?”

“It’s hard to be that rational when your DNA commands you to rely on your instincts”. He explains with a serious face that is rather hard to read. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable”.

“Don’t worry”, you shake your head. “…Maybe we all should trust our instincts more often than to comply to society standards of behaviour… So many rules kind of break people apart, you know? Like… Wait until he calls you, no you shouldn’t let him in after the first date, make sure to hung up first, if you text him right after the date you will look desperate… It’s ridiculous. If I want to do something, meet someone you should just go for it, period. ”, you let out an embarrassed chuckle and rest your chin on your palm. “I’m sorry, I’m just rambling now”

His lips stretch in a soft smile.

“I can see”.

You smile back. What would Seokjin think if he saw you right now? Trusting this stranger without a second thought, you, the girl who double checked the plates and driver’s profile when riding an Uber. But Yoongi doesn’t make you uneasy, on the contrary. His presence is weirdly soothing for you, maybe it’s his honest words, or what he did for you that night. Maybe is the innocent look he gives you when he seems confused. You don’t feel in danger, even though your mind already acknowledged the fact that he is part a predator.

“Human…”, his voices makes you realize you went back to staring, again. With flushed cheeks you stand up and gesture to his now empty plate.

“Let me take that, I’ll go load the dishwasher”

“Ah… looks like the sun is going to be out in time for the sunset”, you sigh as you look through the balcony’s window. It stopped raining a few moment ago, and the sky is covered in warm pink and orange clouds. After lunch, you both went back to he living room and you resumed watching your TV show. Yoongi made himself comfortable in the armchair next to the TV and neither of you felt the need to fill the silence with pointless conversation.

You turn you head towards him. He’s curled in a ball, his bare feet up and knees pressed to his chest. His black tail is wrapped around his left leg and his ears flick every now and then with the sounds that come from the TV. It is a cute sight, and part of you wishes he would sit next to you so you can pet his ears. They look so soft…

When his amber eyes find yours, you feel your cheeks heating up, embarrassed. He caught you staring so earnestly that you fear he might get the wrong impression about you. You stand up so fast you almost trip over the carpet and laugh it out when he looks at you with a raised eyebrow.

“I- I’m going to check your stuff, the drying cycle is probably done”, you disappear into the back of the kitchen for a minute. You manage to calm down and collect his stuff before heading back to the living room. Yoongi is now standing next to the balcony, his eyes admiring the sky across the glass door. He senses you approaching and turns around.“Here, dry, warm and fresh”, you hand him the pile of clothes. “you can keep the ones you are wearing too, if you’re comfortable”. He thanks you with a faint smile, securing the clothes below his arm. That can’t be comfortable, you snap your fingers and point back at the kitchen with your thumb. ”… let me get you a bag”

“You are nothing like them”, you hear his voice from the living room as you rummage through the kitchen’s cabinets.

“Like who?”

“My former owners”, he replies. You find an old tote bag you forgot you owned, folded in squares at the back of one of the cabinets and you grab it. “It’s difficult to find humans like you, that’s why I wish to protect you. You should be protected”.

You frown at his choice of words and exit the kitchen with the tote bag in hand.

“Protected from what?”, there’s no one in the living room. The veil curtains from the sliding glass door flow swiftly with the breeze that slips through the open panel. 

“Yoongi?” You call for him.

But he is gone.

It’s been a few days since that odd encounter with Yoongi in your apartment. You haven’t seen him since then, and you can’t help but wonder what’s been of him. Is he still around? He did say he wanted to protect you, but you live a fairly ordinary life and you tend to avoid trouble in generalㅡapart from that drunk man who attacked youㅡ; the only dangers to worry about in life of a pastry chef is to mix up salted and unsalted butter, or that the meringues don’t rise in time in the oven.

You are back at your shop. It’s early in the morning and you are finishing with the last batch of lemon curd pies before the customers start to arrive. You are checking the oven’s temperature when your cellphone rings inside your apron’s pocket.

You clean your hands with a kitchen rag and fish your phone out. It’s Jin, you smile but can’t help to feel a little confused. You can’t remember the last time you received a call from your best friend at this hour in the morning, it’s not even seven yet.

“Hey, beautiful” he greets you when you answer. “Just checking on you, are you at the shop?”

“Yeah, I’m about to open. Why?”

“Have you seen the news today?”

“Not really. I woke up and came straight here” you reply, supporting yourself on your elbows on the counter. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Well, I’m not sure… It’s just- I was on my way to the restaurant and there’s this thing going on in the radio about about a search party in your neighborhood. I’m just calling to make sure everything was okay”.

You blink confused. “A search party for what?”

“Apparently there was an underground hybrid shelter taken town around the river sector, the said something about dangerous stray hybrids on the loose…”

Your can’t help but think of Yoongi, is he going to be okay? Are they looking for him? but you don’t want your friend to senses your uneasiness. You don’t want to worry Jin.

“Sounds dramatic. But so far…”, you sigh, as if nothing is happening and step out of the counter to glance out of the windows. “Everything looks normal here- Oh! There’s Mrs. Park, I gotta go, Jinnie…”.

“Kay. Please take care!”

“You too, bye~”. You hang up and greet at the cute little old lady that just walked through the doors. “Good morning Mrs. Park! How’s the hip going?”

She smiles at you, her eyes disappearing for a moment to form half crescent moons.

“Better child, I injected myself last night something for muscular pain and I feel like a can dance all night”

“You injected yourself”, you blink in disbelief. She laughs and waves a hand as to tell you it’s okay.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m retired from the Military Hospital, used to he the head nurse back in the day”, she winks. You smile. “every rump in the division knew my needle”.

You chuckle, and take your place behind the register to get her order.

The day continues normally, except for the few police sirens you can hear patrolling around the block. More than usual and you figured it must be because of the search party. You decide to ignore them, and focus on finishing your day at the shop before heading home.

It’s night time when you step into your apartment. You take off your coat and shoes at the entrance hall before turning the lights in and walking to the living room. You heart skips a beat at the scene in from of you.

Yoongi is standing in the middle of the living room. His face and clothes are dirty, and his hands are covered in crimson bloods. He looks agitated, sweating and his pupils dilated. He glances at you helplessly.

“We didn’t know where else to go…” Yoongi utters, his voice trembling sightly, ears folded against his skull. He clutches at his sweater. “Please, y/n… help him”.

Help him? Help who?

Your heart feels like it’s going to explode out of your chest, you can even hear buzzing sound in your ears as you try to understand what is happening. You look at Yoongi, and scan his frame to look for a possible wound that explains the blood in his hands. However, you note he is disheveled but not hurt. It’s not his blood. For a moment you feel relieved, but then it hits you. Help him… He’s asking you to help someone else, someone else that is hurt.

You hear a low grunt coming from behind the couch. You knees feel wobbly, and your heart beats hard against your chest. That’s when you see him, a young man with his back against the couch and an open wound that’s oozing blood right on his left side.

“Oh, my God!”, you drop your bags to the floor and hurry to his side. But the hybrid hisses, baring his canines out at you and quickly tries to move back away from your touch. He’s too weak for that, though, and ends up falling to the side. He curses in pain, and blood starts to ooze from another wound in his right thigh.

Yoongi rushes to his side and helps him up again. You notice his handsome face contorting in a worried look, almost anxious, afraid. You heart sinks. You don’t want Yoongi to be afraid. You want to help him, to help this friend of his that he seems to care a lot for.

“Joon, it’s okay. She can be trusted”, Yoongi says. But the hybrid still seems too reluctant to let you come close as he eyes you warily.

“Humans can’t be trusted, hyung”, he says that, with his golden eyes piercing through you. His face is drained of color, lips almost purple and sweat making his silver hair stick to his forehead.

There’s a pair of triangle-shaped ears crowning his messy curls, very similar to husky ears. What breed could he be, you wonder as your eyes scan his wounds again. Yoongi had wrapped some kind of rag around the wounded leg to cut the blood flow, but the sudden jerk must have reopened it.

Yoongi’s eyes find your own, his ears are now folded against his skull. He looks at you almost pleadingly.

“She’s one of the good ones, I trust her”.

His words move something inside your chest and fill you with determination. Maybe is the way he looks at you. Whatever is is, you get up and run to the kitchen to gather some rags and towels to help stop the bleeding and your small first aid kit you keep inside the drawers.

The new hybrid takes a few more reassurance word from Yoongi to let you touch him, and with your combined efforts you help him to your room, he’s too tall for lying comfortably on the couch. Besides, a few bloods stains in your duvet are going to be the least of your problems if this hybrid dies under your roof. However, soon you come to realize there’s nothing you can do for him but clean his wounds and pray to God he hasn’t lost too much blood. He need stitches, antibiotics, painkillers and you have nothing but acetaminophen and some band-aids at home.

“Yoongi…”, you call his name and he can sense your anxiety in your quivering tone. Your hands are stained, and the new hybrid is about to lose consciousness. “I’m not a doctor but the amount of blood coming out of that wound is alarming. You need proper medical care, we gotta get you to an hospital”

“NO!” Joon growls and the effort to raise his tone like that, has him wincing in pain.

Yoongi sighs. “No hospitals, y/n… It’s not safe”

You glance and the hybrid lying on the bed. He’s got his eyes closed now and his breathing is irregular. “If he doesn’t get that wound treated up you are going to bleed out or worse if it gets infected and-”

“Can’t you treat him?”, he looks at you so full of hope that makes you hate yourself for not even knowing the basics of first aid.

“Yoongi, I’m a pastry chef not a nurse”, your eyes water when that hopeful look vanishes from his amber eyes. Joon growls under his breath, he’s getting paler as the time goes. If only you could be of more help, if only there was something else you could do, someone you could trust to help- “Wait…!”

Yoongi’s ears flick as he looks back at you. “What is it?”

“I know someone in this building that can help us!”, you say. Yoongi frowns a little. “Mrs Park, lives on the second floor and she’s a retired nurse”, you explain, and stride to the door to grab your coat first. You don’t want to alarm Mrs Park with all the blood staining your sweater.

Yoongi stops you right when you close a hand around the door’s handle.

He is reluctant to let you go, but you can feel it in your heart that Mrs Park can be trusted. She can keep the secret and help.

“We have to take the chance, Yoongi. Your friend might not make it through the night if he doesn’t receive treatment”.

He bites his lip and glances at the bed. When he looks back to you he simple releases you and nods. You give him a half smile before leaving the room.

You are not in the right mindset to mind taking the elevator so you run downstairs to the second floor and almost trip over at the last step. When you get to her front door, you need a moment to calm yourself down before knocking. When she opens the door, you are a nervous wreck, fidgeting with your hands behind your back.

“G-goodnight, Mrs. Park… I- I hope I’m not… not intruding” the old woman eyes you confused, she’s wearing reading glasses and holds a hardcover romance novel in her hands.

“Oh, not at all, dear. I was just doing some reading”, she gestures vaguely at her book. “What do you need?”

“Nana, I’m hungry!” A soft, sweet voice speaks from inside the apartment before you get a chance to explain yourself. 

“Gimme a minute, Jiminie I’m at the door”, Mrs Park replies and her attention goes back to you. “You were saying, dear?”

You take a deep breath. You have to do this, now or never. “Mrs Park, you said you were a nurse in the army, right?” She nods. “Have you ever... like... treated bullet wounds?”

Worry washes over her fine features.

“Did something happen, y/n?”

“I… Uh- How do you feel about hybrids?”

“I don’t understand…”.

You are running out of time. You need to make her understand without revealing too much in case she refuses.

“Do you think they are human too?”

“Hey, what’s gotten you to ignore me?” A young man pops up from behind the old lady and places his chin on her shoulder. Your attention is immediately dragged to his bright orange hair and the two triangle-shaped ears with dark tips on top of his head.

“Sorry, y/n”, Mrs Park sighs and gently pets the boy’s hair. “this is my grandson Jimin”

“Grandson?”

“Hi~”, he smiles, his eyes disappearing in the same crescent shapes you’ve grown accustomed to see in Mrs Park’s. But his face shifts to a cringed expression after he sniffs. He eyes you with a mix of wariness and concern.  “Why do you smell like blood?”

You can’t give him a coherent reply, and you look at Mrs. Park like a deer caught in the headlights. She eyes you curiously now and you swallow.

“Why don’t you tell me what you really need, y/n?”

You guide the woman back to your apartment after you’d explained the situation to her. She was more than willing to help. Mrs Park grabbed her medical supplies and her and Jimin accompanied you to your floor.

Yoongi walks out of your room as soon as you enter the apartment.

“Yoongi…”, you call his name and he turns to you. His ears stand tall and sniff a couple times. He eyes fall on your visitors and tenses at the presence of the fox hybrid. His tail waves nervously behind him as he stands. “This is Mrs Park, and this is her grandson, Jimin”

“Hello there, young man. We meet again”, Mrs Park smiles warmly at him, catching you by surprise. “Are you still climbing buildings?”

Yoongi’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink you’ve never seen before.

“Uh…” he swallows and drifts his attention to you, as if asking for help. You, however, are more astonished at fact that she seems to know him… and his peculiar habit of climbing the exteriors of buildings. 

All kinds of questions flood your mind, and that’s when you realize you actually know nothing of him. Well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, you met him twice and that’s all. But for some reason it feels unsettling, like a part of you is disappointed. You want to know him, you desperately want to know more about this person but you can’t bring yourself to understand why.

“Where’s the boy?”, Mrs Park asks, dragging you out of your thoughts.

“This way” you guide the woman to where the hybrid lies, Yoongi and Jimin closely trailing behind you.

Joon has passed out, and when Mrs Park reaches down to check his temperature, a deep frown forms in her face. She asks the two of you to leave the room and gestures Jimin to bring in her medical supplies.

Yoongi doesn’t want to leave, so you end up having to drag him out with you. “She will treat him, don’t worry”, you try to reassure him everything is going to be fine. You trust Mrs Park, if there’s anything to be done for his hybrid friend, she will do it. “I’m sure he’s going to be okay”

“I know, that wolf is too stubborn to die”, he half-jokes and you note to yourself his friend’s species.

“Let’s get you cleaned up” Yoongi nods and lets you pull him towards the living room.

You have him sit down and go fetch the box of baby wipes you keep in the guests’ restroom.

You diligently clean the dried blood from his hands and claws, and then reach up to do the same with his face. He lets you, eyes closed.

“There…”, you smile and truck a strand of raven hair behind his ear.

He opens his eyes. Warm, enticing, amber pools looking straight at you. He has such beautiful eyes, so full of mysteries you can’t help but stare back. It’s the closest you two have been since you met him, if you were to move a couple inches closer your noses would meet. Behind the metallic stench of blood, you can still make out his own scent, a mix of wet dirt and rain.

“Thank you…” he mutters, breaking the spell you found yourself into.

Realization hits you. How long did you stare? You swallow and look down at your own hands. You can feel your cheeks starting to heat up.

“You- You don’t have to thank me, I just did what anyone would”, you try to brush your embarrassment off by focusing on cleaning your own hands.

Yoongi scoffs.

“You know that’s not true”

You shrug. Your hands are clean already but you keep scrubbing them with the wipe. Suddenly too embarrassed to look at him in the eyes. 

“I want to believe it is…”, you mutter, more to yourself than to him.

“Still doesn’t make it true”, Yoongi retorts and leans back on the couch. You raise your head slowly and find him with his eyes closed again, arms folded against his chest. “…I knew I was right about you”

Your heart does a flip. If he trust you this much, would he trust you with the details of what happened too? You are too curious and too worried not to ask, you want- no, you need to know. 

“What happened, Yoongi?”, you ask him. He opens his eyes and presses his lips together, giving you an apologetic frown. “I’m no expert, but I’m positive those were bullet wounds, weren’t they? And… and there was a searching patrol around the neighborhood”

He sighs.

“We were being chased”

“Why?” You lean closer, eager to hear the truth. But Yoongi remains silent and shrugs. You take a deep breath. “Yoongi, please…”, you nudge him in the arm. “I’m risking a lot too to have you here right now, the least you could do is be honest with me. Please…” You too maintain eye contact for what it feels like an eternity. Finally Yoongi seems to give in.

He turns his body to you and sighs.

“There’s a group out there that fights for hybrids rights, for us to be considered equals to humans…”, he explains, still reluctant. “I can’t tell you their name, but... if you must know... Namjoon and I- we’re with them. Last night…”

He pauses, his eyes drift to the side as if he’s replaying the events that led to his friend’s injuries last night. You reach for his arm, and give him a comforting squeeze you hope will make him feel at least a little better. He takes you by surprise when he places his hand on top of yours. The size difference is so evident. He feels incredibly warm and you are left to wonder if it was you that needed the comforting instead. Your stomach ties in a nervous knot when he brushes his thumb over the back of your palm.

“There was a meeting inside an old warehouse we’d adapted as a shelter for hybrids in need…” he continues. “Somehow… Someone had to betrayed us and word got out… and we were ambushed by Hybrid Control. They started shooting before we could defend ourselves…”

“But…” you blink in confusion. “I thought Hybrid Control just brought hybrid to the Pound, they shouldn’t be armed…”. 

A dark chuckle leaves Yoongi’s mouth at your words.

The knot in your stomach tightens at his new stern look.

He shakes his head. “That’s what BioTech advertises… But it has never been true” he sighs and removes his hand from yours. You take it as a cue to do the same, even though you don’t feel like it. You still want to comfort him in any way you can. “Many were killed… the few of us who make it out were hunted down. Namjoon was hit trying to help the younger ones escape. We don’t even know if they make it…”

You bring a hand to your mouth. That’s just horrible, you can only imagine the fear, the chaos. You want to say something, you want to comfort Yoongi, to make him feel safe here even though you can barely defend yourself from a drunk man.

You hear him sigh, heavy and tired. 

“I said I wanted to protect you and now I’m putting you on the line of fire…” he shakes his head and brings a hand to his forehead. He probably feels disappointed with himself too. ”I’m sorry, y/n”

“No, don’t be” you are quickly to respond. “I want to help, let me protect you this time”.

His beautiful eyes find yours and you feel short of breath. The way he looks at you has your stomach doing flips, a strange feeling washes over you, it’s warm but also electric. Yoongi reaches for your hand again, you can’t take your eyes off him, or the way he seems to be leaning closer to you. Your heart beat picks up and you glance at his lips, moisturizing your own as a reflex.

“All done”, Mrs Park walks into the living room wiping her hands with a stained rag. Yoongi stiffens and draws back in a heartbeat, putting some distance  between the two of you as you turn around to look at the old woman. “I took the bullets out and stitched him up. I’ll come to check on him tomorrow to change the bandages. He has a few broken ribs too, they need time and rest to heal. I can’t do anything about the sour attitude though”

She chuckles.

“Thank you so much, Mrs Park”, she smiles warmly at you both and nods.

“Call me if you need anything, child”. You promise you will and she leaves with Jimin, not before advising you to be careful and not to drag any unnecessary attention to yourself.

“He’s asleep now”, Yoongi announces, walking back to the kitchen after checking up on his friend. He needed to eat something to regain his strength so you fixed him a quick meal, mostly meat, and Yoongi made sure he ate. He leaves the empty plates on the counter and you offer him a bite of the leftovers stew you made before serving him a bowl. You two eat in silence and after all is done and the dishes are placed inside the dishwasher, you go back to the living room.

It’s past three am. Your apartment is made for a single person so you don’t have a spare bed to offer Yoongi. Instead, you fetch a cozy blanket and a pillow from the linens closet and offer him your couch.

“You should probably get some sleep, it’s almost dawn”, you tell him as you tuck him in. But when he sees you about to walk away, Yoongi frowns and sits straight on the couch.

“Wait. What about you?”

You shake your head. “I need to go back to the shop at seven, anyway”

“You haven’t sleep, you need to rest”, he scolds you with a worried look that makes you giggle. God, you really must be tired. “You shouldn’t work today…”

“It would look strange if I don’t open the shop today and Mrs Park said not to drag unnecessary-“ you yawn mid-sentence “…attention”

“It’s not unnecessary attention”, Yoongi grabs your wrist and pulls you down with him. You fall into his arms, and somehow he manages to fit both of you in the small couch before throwing the blanket over your form. “Yoongi-“, you try to protest but he shushes you.

“You are tired, you need to rest”. His warmth is so inviting you don’t want to pull away, and you can hear the calm beating of his heart against your palm. He has one arm below your head to serve you as a pillow, and the other one wraps gently around your waist.

You can’t remember the last time a man held you like this, with so much care, and you want to nuzzle against the crook of his neck.

“Is this okay?”

You nod, resting your cheek against his chest. “Y-yes…”

“Good. Now sleep”.

“Okay... but one last question”, you whisper, he doesn’t reply and you take it as cue to go ahead and ask, “How did you get up here?”.

You hear a soft chuckle leave his lips, but he doesn’t reply. A moment passes and you realize he’s not going to talk again soon, he must have fallen asleep by the rhythm of his breathing.

You yourself start to doze off as well to the smell of warm cotton and wet dirt.

Just as she promised, Mrs Park came the very next day to replace the wolf’s bandages. That’s what Yoongi tells youㅡsince you were still sleeping until late morningㅡ when you find him in the kitchen, struggling with the coffee machine. His tail waving angrily behind his back as he stares at a bunch of little coffee pods in his hands. 

“Do you need help?”, you ask him.

“It’s a coffee machine, not rocket science”, he replies, but you can still see confusion in his eyes. “what’s the difference between mountain fresh and highland fresh?”

You chuckle, “One is cheaper. They all taste the same. Here…”, you grab a pod and place it inside the machine, then close the lid, mark the amount of water and place a coffee mug below for the brew to start. You notice Yoongi’s ears twitching as he follows your moves. 

“Oh- okay…”, he clears his throat. “Thank you”.

“No prob…”, you smile and busy yourself with looking for some cereal bars at the top cabinet. “So how’s Wolfie? What did Mrs Park said?”

A amused smile find its way to his lips. 

“He’s angry at me I won’t let him set BioTech on fire yet until he’s healed… She gave him quite the scolding for tearing his stitches, you totally missed that.”

You chuckle at his enthusiasm.

“You are good friend, Yoongi”, having him speak to you in such casual, care-free manner is refreshing, and fills you with a rare sense of familiarity you can’t quite understand yet. 

The only thing in your mind right now is how endearing you find his gummy smile, and those bright amber eyes looking back at you. How can he smile so beautifully after all he’s been through? The painful realization hits you, and your own smile falters. That‘s probably just one of the many awful things he had had to endure after becoming a stray. Persecution, rejection, other people treating him like an animal, seeing his own friends being killed, and who knows what other kind of abuse. And still, here he is, smiling at you like it’s nothing. Like he is fine.

Yoongi senses your change of mood immediately and eyes you worried.

“Everything okay?”

“Just…” You shake your head, try to recompose your face. “I’m- I’m sorry for what happened to you and… the shelter…”

Yoongi steps closer, and places a finger under your chin to make you rise your head and look at him. 

“It’s not your fault”

“I know, but... I feel guilty enough knowing that other humans did it”, something heavily presses against your chest and you take a deep breath to steady your heartbeats. “Knowing that… We are capable of so much violence and our goverment simply doesn’t care-”

“We don’t need your pity, human”, a deep growl coming from the kitchen door has you almost jumping into Yoongi’s arms.

You turn around and find the wolf hybrid standing against the frame, his eyes blazing with anger, shooting daggers at you. Yoongi sighs, a hint of annoyance in the way his features harden at his friends. But he still holds you close to him, a protective arm wraps around your shoulders.

“Joon, you shouldn’t be up”, he says with a warning in his tone. The wolf hybrid completely ignores him, and continues to glare at you.

“He says you are one of the good ones, and I want to believe hyung… But I’ve met humans like you, so willing to help, to care for us… in the end they just want to put us on a pretty leash”. He bares his canines as he speaks, nose scrunching, disgust and anger mixed up in his sharp features. “We are not property of anyone, we are as much as a person as you are, and we are tired of getting showcased like commodities to sell to the highest bidder”.

You hold on to Yoongi’s shirt, the soft fabric crumpling in your fist. He’s really hurt, and angry. It’s painfully clear to you, and you try not to take it personally. After all he’s been through, it’s only logical he would be distrustful of you, just another human being.

“Were here because Yoongi-hyung chose to trust you, but if I sniff something funny going on on your side I won’t hesitate to rip your throat out with my bare hands, human”

You try to steady your shaky breaths, but he even got your legs trembling. He’s way taller, broader, bigger than Yoongi. The thickness of his muscles can be seen through his clothes, and the vein popping along his exposed neck. You have no doubt he is capable of ripping you to pieces and more. Is this how a prey feels in the presence of its predator? You wonder whilst his bright feral eyes bore into yours. This immobilizing fear, the cold sweaty hands, the trembling limbs, the impulse of running away as far as you can go. It’s not the same fear as when that drunk man tried to attack you, this is something else, something… primal. 

Your body knows you are in the presence of a hunter.

A predator.

And you are the prey.

“That’s enough, Namjoon!”, Yoongi lets go of you to stand right between you and his hybrid comrade. When he’s hidden you from his sight, is like oxygen finally returns to your lungs. “Go back to bed”.

You hear the wolf grumbling under his breath, reluctant to let you off his hook just yet. But thankfully, soon he’s gone.

“I will never let him hurt you, you don’t have to be afraid of him”, Yoongi tries to reassure you.

“I’m not afraid”

“Don’t lie. I can smell your fear, y/n”, you sigh and cover your face with your hands.

“Yes, I am terrified of him! And he’s also right!”, you take a step back, and uncover your face to glance at the floor. “The only difference between you and me is the ears and the tail, we are all persons and you shouldn’t have to fight for freedom when it is your natural right! Why are people so selfish? Why do the have the need to own another human being to feel superior?”, your voice cracks, and hot tears run down your cheeks before you can do anything about it. All the fright from Namjoon’s earlier speech is finally melting away. “It’s not fair… it’s not right…”

“I know”

“I’m selfish too”

“No, you’re not”

“Yes, I am…”you sniff, and let him comfort you when he places a hand on your back. “because the only reason I helped you that night was because I wanted you to leave, I didn’t want to have any trouble… I was thinking only about myself… I’m sorry…”

You hear a quiet chuckle leaving his lips. “You’re so cute”

“What-?“

“Well, to be honest… You could have scared me away with a bat or something, I was too hurt too tired to fight back then…” he shrugs and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. His hand gently caressing your cheek, and his soft, caring gaze has your stomach doing somersaults. “But you gave me food and dry clothes instead and asked me not to stay out because of the rain”

You are a lot loss of words.

“You shouldn’t think so lowly of yourself, y/n”, his warm hand trails down your neck, thumb still stroking your cheek in circular moves. “You have a good heart, I can see it… and Joon does too that’s why he tried to scare you like that. But don’t worry, as soon as he’s in better shape we’ll leave”

You can feel something shattering inside you after he speaks the thing you’ve been trying to ignore so far. He would have to leave, eventually. You can’t keep him here, it’s dangerous for him and, well… illegal too since he’s technically still a stray and you have no hybrid license.

“Where will you go?”.

He sighs, his other hand comes to rest on your neck as well, encasing you face in the warmth of his skin. “We have to make contact with the rest of the pack… to see who else made it out and reassemble”.

“You are welcome here to stay as long as you need it”, he raises an eyebrow. The faint hint of a smile tugs at his lips, but it’s so subtle you are not sure if you saw it or just imagined it. “I’m not trying to keep you here against your will, or put a leash on you… But I don’t want you getting your clothes all wet out there in the rain either”.

“I’ve put you in enough danger by staying the night, we are used to the streets. Don’t worry” He doesn’t say anything else, and turns to the coffee machine. The brew is ready, the smell of warm dark coffee filling the kitchen. 

He hands the mug to you and places a new pod inside the brewer for himself.

The wolf hybrid recovers at a quicker pace that you’d hoped. It only takes him a couple days to get back on his feet, and another two for the wounds to completely disappear from his body leaving just a few scratches and some greenish patches around the scars. Yoongi and you keep sharing the sofa those two nights and you don’t mind at all. Having someone to hold onto until you fall sleep is better than to hug your pillow. Specially when that someone smells as good as Yoongi does, and his body against yours works better than a thermal sheet to keep you warm and comfy.

The wolf hybrid also seemed to lower his guard a little in the following days. You’d leave Yoongi in charge of your place for the day, and the three of you would have dinner together when you arrived. And even watch some tv before going to bed. Namjoon didn’t really addressed you regarding that first incident in the kitchen, but you would occasionally exchange a few words with him when you saw him checking your book collection. He was a fan of Orwell and Kafka, and it pleased him you had good reading material in your home. Also, he seemed more open to vent his frustrations with the current hybrid laws than Yoongi, and the ways he thought they could improve. 

You learned a lot of this new world you found yourself immersed in just by listening to him. Apparently BioTech had been pulling some strings in the government to create a monopoly out of hybrid license distribution. That way only people approved by the company could get a license.

“It’s all about the profit”, Namjoon explained. “They don’t care about the conditions under which hybrids are kept by their owners. As of right now, you have to pay that absurd amount for the license but the government’s Hybrid Protection Agency demands the owner to take an exam on hybrid careㅡdepending on which breed they choseㅡand go through a personal evaluation to see if their are fit to actually care for an hybrid. BioTech wants to dissolve the HPA completely, so that they can sell the licenses at whatever price they see fit. So many hybrids are mistreated and abused by their owners, even with the few protection laws we have to our benefit. If the HPA is gone then we will have nothing… BioTech can get away with anything, they can do whatever they like to our kind and nobody will have he power to go against them”.

You can’t help but feel terrified for them. You get it now, all the fear, the distrust glares. Humans had done nothing but hurt hybrids for years, and now they want to strip them off any rights they have so they can use them as they please. It has your blood boiling in your veins, you wish you could do something. You want to help… Yet there’s not much you can actually do, but offer to support them, give them a safe place to be while they decide what to do.

One morning, as you are getting ready to leave for work, Yoongi approaches you with a thoughtful frown. He helps you into your jacket in silence, and you thank him with a content smile.

“I was thinking to stop by that Brazilian restaurant again and get something for tonight”, you comment. “Maybe we could watch a movie and-“

“We’re leaving tonight”, he cuts you, and it’s like a tons of bricks just fall over your head.

“What?”

“It’s just... We’ve been here more than what its prudent. Our pack is looking for us”

“Oh…”, is all you can say as you feel your heart sinking in your chest. “I-I see… It’s fine. Uh- Please, be careful. And… if you need something- Anything, food, clothes, a place to crash… I’m always here”.

“Thank you, y/n”, he gifts you a cute smile, and you fight the urge to stroke his ears or wrap your arms around his shoulders and hug him against your chest. “I’ll still be guarding you, though”.

“Yoongi…”

“Hm?”

Standing on the tips of your toes, you gather all your courage and press a kiss to his cheek. You let your lips linger there a little longer than necessary just to elicit a reaction from him. But when you pull back, you are rather disappointed to see a poker face looking back at you. 

He doesn’t say anything else and you rush out of the apartment with your cheeks burning in embarrassment. Why on earth did you did that?

When you return home that night after closing up the shop, you find it empty. Just as promised, they are gone. Your room looks like it was cleaned before they left, they even went to the trouble of changing your sheets as well. You sigh and let yourself fall back into the mattress. Looks like you’ll have to hug your pillow and pretend it’s Yoongi if you’re hoping to get any sleep tonight.

The first day you wake up alone in your apartment feels odd. Your double bed feels way too big for you, and your back kinda hurts from the soft mattress. When you are fixing breakfast your mind slips for a second and you end up with three portions of the same scrambled eggs. What a waste of food, you mentally scold yourself. They were here not even a full week and now you are feeling lost without those two presences in your home. It takes a few days to get back to your routine, but finally you are able to push the hybrids to the back of your mind and concentrate in your own work. It’s been a long week, but seeing familiar faces helps. Jin just stopped by earlier, to order some strawberry mousse cakes for this big party he’s hosting at his restaurant tomorrow. He was so excited but couldn’t tell you much because of some confidential agreement. And now, your smile broadens again when the little bells on the shop’s front door jingle and you see another familiar face smiling back at you.

“Oh! Hey, Jimin…”, you are too excited to have him here that it takes you a moment to realize it’s the first time you’d seen him going out. He’s hiding his ears under a brown beanie, and probably has his tail tucked inside that long grey cardigan. “It’s so good to see you. What can I get for you?”

He approaches the counter and rests one forearm on the surface. “Nana wants pineapple tarts”, he explains. “She would have come herself but she’s not feeling good enough to come out. I figured it be okay if I came instead, your store is hybrid-friendly right?” He gives you a cheeky smile.

“You are welcome here, everyone is. But, what’s wrong with Mrs Park? Is she sick?”

“Well I caught her sneaking a bag of ice to her room for her sore joints, and then she tried to shrug it off as if it was nothing but she could barely take a step without wincing”

“Wait- Is she going to be okay? Shouldn’t you take her to the hospital?”

“I’ve tried. Trust me, she’s too stubborn for that. Last time I took her to see an orthopedist and she basically told him he was a disgrace for the medical field and didn’t allow the nurses to inject her”, he shakes his head. The way he pretends to be annoyed is actually endearing, as it is the little pout that forms in his plump lips. “Though I already gave her some medicine for the pain, she’s going to be fine. She’s just getting old, y’know?”

“She’s lucky to have such a devoted grandson to watch over her”, you smile at him and he giggles. His cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink as he runs his fingers through his hair “let me get you those tarts. On the house”

You pack the order in a pretty box and make sure to put an extra of cream for Mrs park’s sweet tooth in the bag before handing it to Jimin. “Thank you, y/n”

“Anytime”, he waves a hand as a goodbye and head for he door. Just then you get a peek of his fluffy tail behind the cardigan and that’s when the questions pops into your mind. “hey, Jimin?”

“Yeah?” He turns on his heels to look at you.

“I’ve been wondering… You don’t have to answer if you don’t want but I was curious about…”, you clear your throat, not wanting to sound like you are prying in somebody else’s business. Jimin returns to the counter with short steps. “Well, you’re a fox hybrid, right? And Mrs Park is human… how come..?”

“How come she’s my grandma?”

“Well, yes…”, you admit. “I thought maybe she adopted you?”

The way he chuckles and shrugs washes over any worries you might have about feeling like prying. Still, you’re a little embarrassed. “She’s my biological grandmother, actually. It’s just how it is, my dad, her son, is human… my mom, she was like me”.

“Was?”

“Yeah.. Uh-“ he ruffles his own fringe with the hand that is not holding he bag, setting the beanie straight “She died… When I was a kid”

Your eyes open wide, and you start apologizing for being so rude.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He tells you, a soothing smile on his lips. “You’re my friend, no need to apologize for being curious”.

“I just thought- I didn’t know hybrids could actually have offspring with humans”.

“Technically, we can’t…” he tilts his head to the side and runs another hand through his red locks. “But there are some cases where a human male can impregnate a female hybrid. That depends completely on the hybrid’s animal part, and her genetic material. It only happens with mammals as far as I’m concerned”.

“Can it happen the other way around?”

“Like a male hybrid impregnating a human?”, you nod. Jimin raises his eyebrows and shake his head. “Not that I’ve heard about… I mean, I can ask one of my professors though. Maybe they’ve done some research on that”

“Your professors?”

“Oh, yeah! I’m majoring in Hybrid Studies”, He beams with pride when he tells you this. His smile is the sweetest you’d ever seen. “It’s all online since pets can’t study and stuff” he rolls his eyes. “Anyway, Nana got me some fake ids and all. I kinda like it, feels like I’m an undercover agent or something”

“That’s amazing, Jimin!” You smile back.

That’s another piece of information that is new for you. Maybe you should’ve guessed since during your college years you never actually shared a classroom with a hybrid, but you never questioned that before… Not even once. You didn’t even considered the possibility of a hybrid wanting to study, to attend university and get a diploma.

But why would you?

Namjoon was right…

Even thought you never wanted to have a hybrid pet, it didn’t mean you actually saw them as more than that.

That’s until Yoongi appeared on your life.

You weren’t better than the people at BioTech, you weren’t better than the owners and that realization hit you like an ice cold water poured over your head. Your eyes prickled with tears, now you understood where all that guilty feeling came from. Because silence never helps the victims… only the perpetrators. “Y/n? Are you okay?”. You look up to see Jimin’s worried eyes scanning your face.

That’s when your attention shifts towards the door when you hear the bells. Thank god is only you and Jimin in the shop at this hour because Yoongi just walks inside, not bothering in hiding his tail and ears.

“Yoongi…!”, you circle the counter and run to his arms. However, the hybrid holds onto you instead, like he’s having trouble to walk and takes a deep breath. “What is wrong? Are you hurt?” Your paranoid heart beats hard against your chest as you Inspect him for blood or something that might justify his state. There’s nothing.

“I’m fine…”, he lets another shaky breath and stumbles over one of the wooden tables. You are quickly to help him stand.

“Like hell you are!” Jimin rushes to your side to help you, but Yoongi growls at him.

“What is this fox doing here?”, his voice is raspy and low, like he’s drunk. But you don’t smell any alcohol in him, only the familiar smell of his skin.

“That’s not relevant now! What happened to you?”, you try to brush the messy fringe from his eyes, and as your hand comes in contact with the skin on his forehead you notice he abnormal body temperature. He’s boiling hot. Yoongi insists that he’s okay, but you are not. “Jimin can you please help me get him home”

“Of course”

You bounce anxious from feet to feet outside your room as you wait for Jimin to come out. Yoongi was acting so strange, drowsy even, and Jimin offered to examine him to see if there here were any signs of the intoxicationㅡ or something similar that could explain his condition. He’s been inside the room with Yoongi for at least ten minutes now, you are getting worried and are about to burst in and check on Yoongi for yourself. Is in that moment when the door opens and you almost run him over a confused Jimin. “Are you okay, y/n?”

“Yoongi- is he...?”

“Oh? He’s fine”, he replies, closing the door behind him.

“But, the fever-“

“It’s not... well, it’s not exactly fever”. Jimin brushes the hair off his face and that’s when you notice a scratches right over his left cheek, three horizontal streaks of irritated skin that run all the way down to his hairline. It looks like some animal dug his claws in him...

“What? Wait-“you lean closer and hold his hair back with one hand to take a better look at the marks. “Did he attacked you?”,

“It’s nothing, just a superficial scratch. I should’ve seen it coming, but I’m not as territorial as he is” he just shrugs, and you don’t know what disturbs you most, that Yoongi had laid a hand on Jimin or that he doesn’t care he did.

“I don’t understand?”

“Well, it’s pretty simple actually... “, he pushes you  gently, away from his personal space. “Yoongi... he’s, um- reacting to your hormones”.

You frown.

“What?”

“That’s where the increasingly body temperature comes from”, he talks as if you are supposed to know what that means. So when you stare at him completely blank, he huffs in disbelief. “y/n, do you even know anything about hybrids at all?”

You can’t get yourself to answer. Much to your embarrassment, the truth is you are as clueless as one can be regarding hybrid biology. You remember Yoongi saying he could get sick, though. Something about his genes and modified DNA. However, you’re pretty sure that isn’t what Jimin means right now.

He sighs, sounding somehow defeated, and waves his hand in a dismissal gesture.

“Listen, grandma has a book on big cats hybrids, imma get it for you”. He strides to the door, but you are quickly to stop him. He hasn’t even answered your questions yet!

“Wait, but what is wrong with him?” He laughs to himself, shaking his head sightly like this is some personal joke he knows you won’t get.

“There’s nothing wrong with him. Its you, you are the problem”. 

You? What does he even mean? You make an offended face and he rolls his eyes again. 

“You’re ovulating, y/n”.

“How- how could you possibly know that?”, you give him a questioning look, trying to disguise your flustered mind, and step back a little.

He shrugs.

“I can smell you”. Your cheeks burn instantly at his words. And he has the nerve to just chuckle at your embarrassed face. 

“What?”, he laughs again and shakes his head. He proceeds to place a hand on your shoulder that is supposed to be a comforting gesture, but doesn’t really help when he opens his mouth again. 

“Take it easy. Look, I can even smell the blueberry and bacon muffin you had for lunch is no big deal”.

“But I brushed my teeth!”, You yelp in embarrassment.

“What can I say? Foxes have outstanding sense of smell”, he grins, inflating his chest, tail waving playfully behind him.

“Okay, but what does it have to do with him being sick? Am I making him sick?”, you ask him, desperate to get some answers. However, Jimin insist on being ambiguous.

“It’s a hybrid thing”, he states and you frown.

“Then shouldn’t I be making you sick too?”

“Foxes mate once a year, on winter season. Besides, as cute as you may be,  you are not my mate, y/n”, and again, his tone is suggest you should know what he’s talking about, but you are so confused and worried you can’t think of a good way to share your questions but to stare blankly at him again. He rolls his eyes with an amused smirk on his face. “Do you really not get it? Look, y/n... Your body is saying it’s ready for babies and he wants to give you his babies. Get it now?”

“What?!” You swallow hard, if your cheeks couldn’t get more flushed before, they are now. How can he imply that-? When you two had never even... “But I- but we don’t... Oh God...Uh- I...”. You are too embarrassed to talk properly, and Jimin seems to be having the time of his life looking at you squirm. He reaches to ruffle with your hair, but you glare at him and smack his hand away. “How can you know that’s what is happening?! For all I know you could just be messing up with me!”

He chuckles. 

“Why would I do that, y/n? Heats are a serious thing for hybrids”, he folds his arms over his chest, but he senses your uneasiness and drops the smug face. He offers you a gentle smile instead. “Hey, relax... He’s not going to coerce you into sex, don’t worry. He’s still the same person you know. Heats are caused by our animal DNA, but don’t make us irrational beings... just... Super horny, I guess.”

“Oh my God!”, your hands come up to hide your face. Jimin chuckles and you let a loud sigh before looking at him again.

So, Yoongi is in heat and it’s your cycle’s fault. But you still don’t understand why does it affect him when Jimin looks just fine, and when he two of them have been around you for around the same time.

“He’s just feeling sick because he’s been far away from you for too long. Give him a couple hours and he’s going to be fine. It might hurt him a little, but nothing a cold shower and some good old self-love can’t fix”, he does a jerking motion with his hand and winks at you with that foxy smile of his that has your cheeks flushing again.

“Oh, my God! Your such a pervert, Jimin”, you yell, completely outraged by his raunchy suggestion. ”Get out!”

He burst into a laugh, throwing his head back and clapping at your annoyed face. You’re about to take off your flip flop and smack him in the head when he runs to the door. “I will get you that book. You need to do some reading and maybe give the poor kitty a hand!” And he wiggles his eyebrow suggestively. 

You throw the flip flop at him but it misses its mark as he shuts the door closed. You can still hear his airy laughter as he walks away.

You huff and stand in the middle of the entrance hall for a few more minutes until all the indignation has vanished from your system. What’s left is the awkwardness of what you just learned.

You make a beeline back to your room. You take a deep breath as you twist the door handle. You pray to god there’s no visible traces of your embarrassment on your face still and push the door open. Yoongi is sitting at the edge of your bed, his broad back to the door. His tail waves rhythmically side to side and his ears twitch as they register your steps. You approach him cautiously, the last time you spoke was when you said goodbye with that awkward kiss. The memory of his emotionless face as he stared back at you then still makes you wish you didn’t do that.

“Hey, stranger...” you speak softly, the mattress dipping a little under your weight as you sit next to him, leaving a body’s width between the two of you. “How are you feeling?”

“Better...”, he sounds tired, hasn’t even looked at you yet. “Sorry if I... y’know... scared you with the way I walked in. I shouldn’t have...”.

A soft laugh leaves your lips as you try to lighten the mood. There’s some tension in the air, and you want it gone. “I thought you were dying or something. Don’t do that to me again”, it’s meant as a joke but he doesn’t laugh. 

He doesn’t react and the awkward feeling in your gut just grows more.

“Sorry...”, you whisper.

“Don’t apologize”, he speaks, voice still raspy, gaze focused somewhere at his own feet.

God, this is so awkward you can’t stand it anymore.

Taking a deep breath you stand and step right in front of him. That seems to wake him up and he raises his gaze to look at you from where he’s still sitting down.

“I have to go back to the shop, but please stay here for as long as you need. There’s food in the fridge, and you already know where the plates are. I can run you a bath too before I leave if you want”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay just...” he blinks and shakes his head.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing...”, he lowers his head, visible uncomfortable. You reach for him, but he grabs your wrist in the air with a mind-blowing agility. “Please don’t touch me right now”.

“Right...”, you swallow hard and step back. The brush of his fingertips around your wrist as he lets go fo you leave a warm trace that lingers. “I’m sorry. I’m going to go now...”, you are unsure how to say goodbye, so you simply wiggle your fingers in the air and walk out your room.

He doesn’t stop you this time.

Needless to say, the rest of the day you can’t help but feel miserable.

He didn’t want you to touch him, he was like that because of you. He probably resented you even. Jimin said being away from you so long made him sick, so he was very much stuck with you until you period came. How delightful...

That couldn’t be easy for someone used to roam freely when he wanted. You didn’t want him to be mad at you. Those days without him made you realize you grown more fond of him that you probably should considering he was not even... fully human. Well, he was a handsome man... and sweet too, so brave, and caring, and well-mannered... and probably the best cuddling-buddy you ever had. You smile to yourself as you replay the way he held you the first night you spent on that couch together, how he had insisted you should rest. Shit, you were totally into him. Even his little ears and tail where endearing to you. But... was he into you? By the way he reacted to your kiss you already knew the answer was a big fat no that laughed at you silly heart.

You let out a disappointed sigh and take a glance at the book Jimin left for you at your apartment mailbox before you returned to work. He even attached a blue post-it note to he cover, that said you should have a good look at chapter four. You brought it to the shop with you to provide some kind of distraction from this quiet day. There weren’t as many customers as usual, and you had a half mind to close up early today.

You’re already done with half of Seokjin‘s order anyway, stored in the freezer at the backroom kitchen. You want to finish the glaze tomorrow so it’s fresh and shiny for his especial event.

You flip the book to the chapter referred by your fox friend and when you read the tittle you understand why he sent you there.

«Chapter four: Felines heat and reproduction.

Female feline hybrids have shown to be extremely fertile, so owners should be careful when they allow them to go through their heat. Intercourse between humans and hybrids is not uncommon, and is more likely a female to get impregnated after sexual intercourse with a male during heats.

There is no specific season for heats to happen within the feline family, but it’s known that a safe environment is crucial for a female to be able to enter her heat. It can happen at any time of the year, and males nearby will react to the hormone increase, preparing themself for breeding. It has been noted when there is no female feline hybrid around, males sometimes will enter their heat during their female owner’s ovulating period. Some catnip based heat suppressant can work better with feline hybrids than chemical based ones if the owner prefers to not have their hybrids go through their usual rut once a month, since it could be a quite painful experiences of here is no relief for the hybrid. (...) On regarding male genitalia, depending on the hybrid’s breed, is posibleㅡthough not commonㅡto find the presence of penile spines around the gland. One purpose of the penile spines on a feline penis is to aid in a female's ovulation. Females hybrids, as it is known, do not ovulate before sexual intercourse. Instead, the barbs stimulate the female‘s vulva during intercourse, which causes her body to then release an egg. This is painful for the female, but part of the pro-.»

“What the hell...?!”, you have to close the book shut and take a deep breath.

What the actual hell? Was this thing real? Holy cow... did it mean Yoongi had actual piercing spines in his-

You glance at the book again in disbelief, the book even provides a graphic drawing depicting an odd looking penis, surrounded by little spines around the base of the head.

“Oh, my God!”

This has to be a joke of some sorts...

The author said some hybrids, not all of them right? He also mentioned it was not common, so you should worry if... Well, not that it’s going to happen anyway. Yoongi doesn’t like you. But... holy shit, could that the reason big cats aren’t as common as other hybrid species like rabbits and dogs? There’s one clear thing in your mind, though... The only way you can actually be sure is to see it for yourself, and you are not quite sure that it is even possible.

Your head is a complete mess right now, so you end up closing earlier anyway. Yoongi said you didn’t have to apologize to him, but you feel like you really have to. He must be so pissed right now, he knows you did this to him, it’s all your fault for suggesting they stayed with you those weeks back, your fault for insisting on sharing the couch with him. You head back home with the book tucked below your arm.

The moment you step inside your apartment, you ear catches the faint sound of a shower running. It gets louder as you get closer to the hallway so you figure it must be coming from the guest’s bathroom. Is Yoongi showering at this hour? You wonder as you head to your room, but can’t help to look back at the bathroom. The door is sightly ajar, and there’s a cloud of steam coming from the inside.

From this close you can hear a soft pant that sounds a lot like Yoongi’s voice mingling with the noise from the shower. It takes you a moment to figure what he must be doing and your cheeks heat up with the mental image. You think back to what Jimin said earlier today and what you just learned from the book in your hand. You know he’s probably trying to find some relief from the pain, it’s would be natural. Still your guilt hasn’t vanished completely, because you know there’s nothing you can actually do to help him.

Except well, grant him some privacy... But he’s naked in the shower, a voice inside your head pulls you closer to the door. This could be it, you could seize the opportunity to check if he had spines or not. Yeah, but why do you care?, Another voice chimes in, it’s not like he would want you, and if he does it would only be because of the heat.

Torn between pry or let things the way they are, you stand frozen between your bedroom door and the bathroom door. Yoongi’s pants intensify, the noises he’s making with his hand makes you realize he’s going faster now. You clench your tights together when a streak of arousal courses through your body. You can only imagine what he must look like, completely wet, heavy breathing with his hand around his shaft and- Fuck, he’s getting closer. You bite your lip, you really want to see him now, but you are already on questionable grounds just by standing there listening to his moans. You know you should leave, but your feet are glued to the floor.

You hear a soft groan, followed by a beat of silence and then heavy pants. The water stops running and you hear some shuffling inside the bathroom. It takes a moment for your lust drunken neurons to understand the situation: he’s coming out and he’s going to find you like a peeping Tom right outside the bathroom.

Your attempt to leave unnoticed goes to the gutter the moment you turn around and in your haste you forget to unlock your bedroom door before you attempt to cross it. A loud thud and you stumble back, cursing your stupidity, one hand clutching the book and the other one comes up to hold your forehead when it crashed against the wooden door.

But your whole body goes rigid the moment you hear someone clearing his throat behind you. “Fuck...”, you hiss and slowly turn around to face Yoongi. He’s only got a white towel wrapped around his hips, but you don’t have time to stare at his beautiful torso, when you catch his eyes glaring at your form.

Eyebrows furrowed and you swallow hard.

Heat comes rushing to your cheeks and you are left a blabbering mess. Fuck, he’s got you. 

“I... I didn’t... I mean-“, you look down at you feet, clutching the book against your chest.

“Are you-?”, he blinks and clear his throat. “How long have you been standing there for?”

Your stomach ties in knots, and you can’t answer him properly. You know you crossed the line here, you invaded his privacy and basically eavesdrop on him jerking off. Your cheeks burn with so much embarrassment you think you are going to pass out. What kind of sick person are you? Why did you have to stay, for Pete’s sake?!

“What is that?”, he steps out of the bathroom and his eyes scan the cover of your book.

“Nothing!”, you exclaim and rush to hide it behind your back. But he snatches it away from your hands before you’ve even got the chance with the same agile movements from earlier. And much to your dismay, he opens it right where you left Jimin’s post-it as a makeshift bookmark. His eyes go through the words in the page and then blinks once.

Twice.

And then he scoffs, obvious indignation washing over his features, before it quickly turns into anger and looks at you.

“Who gave you this?”, his tone borders a growl and you flinch a little.

“Jimin, but-“

“Of course, that asshole fox”, Yoongi spits and rolls his eyes, handing you the book back. “I don’t know what he told you, but I don’t have a cat penis, y/n!”

“Wait, It wasn’t like that I...”, you start apologizing again and again, until you realize what he just said. That he doesn’t have- you blink repeatedly, and stare at him in awe. “You... You don’t?”

“Of course I don’t!”, he frowns but a snicker manages to form on his lips anyway, “What the hell would you even think that?”

“Be-because...”, you lower your gaze. If people could die of embarrassment you are sure you’d be twice dead right now. You heart pounds hard against your chest, and you don’t even know what to say. “I didn’t... it’s just- the book... But the penile spines-“

“For goodness’s sake, y/n...!”, he takes a deep breath and brings a hand to his face. The other rests against his hip, right over the towel.

“Yoongi, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I was just worried it may hurt because- shit... I didn’t mean it like that, I wasn’t thinking-“, you want to disappear in thin air, to dig a hole in the ground, get in it and never get out again. You swallow and take a breath, a hand against your forehead, as if it’d do any good in hiding your shame. “Look, I’m really so, so sorry, Okay? I’ll give you privacy now, I should go and- Uh... fix us something to eat, yeah...”

With that you turn on your heels, wanting to run away and hide in the kitchen for the rest of the evening. Even if you have to sleep on the counter. You can’t face him right now, what horrible things must he be thinking about you now? You must disgust him, on top of the resentment he must feel because of what you did to him.

He’s going to hate you now more than what you hate yourself already.

“Y/n, wait a minute”, he calls for you and you freeze in the spot. Is he going to yell at you? Is he going to tell you how a disgusting human being you are and that he’s leaving and I’ll never come back again- “I can’t have you believing the lies in there”

“What?”, you blink confused and turn around again. And without any warning his towel falls down at his feet and now he stands in front of you in all his naked glory.

Your eyes dart downward to his crotch, following the happy trail that goes from below his belly button to the patch of hair over his pubic bone, and there’s nothing you can do to peel your eyes away from his dick.

Oh boy.

He is bigger than what you had anticipated and he’s only half-hard even though he just came in the showerㅡsomething you pin to the heat he’s going through. A decent length and girth, and you can only imagine what he’d look like fully hard, without the foreskin covering the tip. But you don’t have to wonder for long, because he grabs his shaft with one hand and strokes down to pull gently at the foreskin, revealing the silky head.

“See?”, the tip of his pink tongue protrudes from his lips as he licks them. A smirk in his face, one eyebrow arched. “No penile spines”

You swallow, mouth practically salivating at the sight of him. How can he do this so casually? Touching himself... Does he even know what he’s doing to you? Offering himself to your eager eyes like that.

Your cheeks are flushed. Your mouth hangs open for a moment before you can actually manage to find the words, and even though, you’re still a complete mess.

“That’s quite big- ¡a big relief...! to see you- you don’t have... spines...”, you mentally curse yourself, as you manage to finally tear your eyes from his member and turn your face around, to glance at the empty wall next to you.

“Good. Curiosity sated then”, you still can see him through the corner of your eye as he bends down to pick his towel up and wrap it around his waist again. A part of your can’t help but feel disappointed, but a nervous thrill shoots down your spine when you notice him drawing closer to you. Your body turns to him like a piece of metal to a magnet, and he’s god an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “You can ask me if you have any questions, just throw away that stupid old book. Okay?”.

You take a deep breath and nod. He smells so good after just having a shower, and you a dying to run your fingers through the modest curve of his pecs to collect the few water drops that still linger on his skin.

“Are you okay, y/n?”, he takes another step closer and you back away, your back hitting the hallway’s wall and the book falls from your hands. He only gets closer and rest a hand on the wall just over your shoulder. You manage to mutter a quiet “I’m fine” under your breath, it’s less than a whisper but he catches it anyway and hums in response.

He comes closer, and suddenly he’s pressing his chest against your own.

Your heart feels like is about to explode, and his closeness does nothing to alleviate the arousal that pulses in your lower belly. You bite your lip when he leans closer to whisper in your ear. His warm breath ghosting over your sensitive skin sends shivers down your spine.

You have to bite your lip to avoid the pathetic whimper that threatens to come out. 

“You smell delicious...”, his voice is deep, low, rumbling inside his chest like a purr. “Did you like spying on me that much, huh?”

He’s making you so wet and he hasn’t even touch you yet. You can feel your underwear dampening under your jeans, and you can tell he’s aroused too by the way the towel stretches in a tent around his groin. But you know this is only the heat speaking, this isn’t really him wanting you and when you manage to remember that, your lust-clouded mind clears enough to find your tongue again.

“Yoongi, I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me, I shouldn’t have...”. Your words get caught in your throat when you feel his lips brushing against the shell of your ear. “I’m sorry...”

“You already know what is happening, don’t you?”, his lips hover a few inches away from your ear and you take a deep breath.

“Jimin said... that I- That I might have triggered your heat. I’m really sorry, I didn’t know...”, You don’t know if you want to look him in the face, but you need him away from your neck or you are going to end up doing something you’ll regret.

You try your best to scurry to the side, but he stamps the other hand against the wall, trapping you in his arms. His lips connect to your neck and before you know it, he’s sucking at your sweet spot, eliciting a moan from your lips.

Your hands dart forward, looking for support against his arms. He presses his hips forward to your own in response and you can feel his erection pressing on your thigh behind the towel. His lips travel up your neck kissing your jaw, before the land on your lips. His kiss is hungry and desperate, but his lips are soft against your own. His tongue finds it way to the inside of your mouth with little resistance, fueling the fire that had begun to grown in your lower abdomen. It’s been a while since a man kissed you like this, passionate, like his tongue is made of liquid fire. 

He sucks and bites and all you can do is moan at the pleasure.

His is hands skim down your waist, to land over your ass and squeeze it.

That’s when you react, and push him away. 

He stumbles back a little, and looks at you with hooded eyes. For the first time since that started you get to see his face. The amber is almost gone form his eyes, his pupils are blown dark with lust and sight clouded in lust. A pink blush dusts across his cheeks and his chest, and his chest rises and falls with heavy breaths.

“I’m sorry- I... I don’t want you to hate me...”, you mumble, legs trembling as you struggle to maintain eye contact with the breathtakingly handsome half-naked hybrid in front of you. “I- I know it’s all because of the heat and... I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret when you are back to normal. I don’t want to take advantage of you like this, Yoongi... I can’t do it”.

He regards you for a moment, the cloud in his eyes disappears and a heavy sigh leaves his lips. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, with one hand he brushes his hair back and takes a deep breath. When his eyes find yours again, there’s no more black lust, but a warm amber looking back at you.

“Do you really think I would let it happen if I didn’t want you?”, he asks, and you can’t find a way to respond to that. What is he saying? That he’s not in heat? Or that he deliberately let his heat happen by being close to you?

He must see your confusion on your face, because he draws closer, cupping your face gently with both hands.

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, y/n...”

Your heart skips a beat, and you stare at him in at loss of words. You only react when you notice he’s leaning closer again, his eyes fixed in your lips.

“But earlier you-!”, You place your hands on his chest and push him just a little to force his eyes back on yours. His skin feels warm and cold at the same time.“You didn’t even want me to touch you this morning... I thought you resented me for triggering your heat”

Yoongi shakes his head, a defeated sigh leaves his lips when he looks at you again.

“I panicked because that fox’s scent was all over you...” he scrunches his nose with disgust. His hands leave your cheeks to wrap around your waist, pulling you closer to him. “You weren’t supposed to smell like him, I had scented you before I left that day”

Your cheeks heat with embarrassment again.

“You- you what?”

“I scented you”, he repeats as if it’s the most normal thing to say.

“What does that even mean, Yoongi?”, you whine and a smirk forms in his lips. He brings his lips closer to your ear again.

“It means that I want everyone else to know you are mine...”, he whispers. His hands sneaking up your blouse, caressing the skin of your lower back. “I want to claim you, y/n. And I think you want the same... I can smell your arousal dripping to your underwear”

“Fuck...”, your head falls to the side, leaving your neck exposed to his greedy tongue. He wastes no time in lavishing your skin with kisses, and you moan under his lips. “Yoongi...”

“Don’t you want me?”, he whispers again, lips trailing kisses down your collarbones now. 

You bite your lip, and your hand travel up his chest to dig into his raven locks.

“Of course, I do...”, you sound so breathless already. He reaches for your lips again with his own. His hands reach for the back of your knees to pull you up from the ground, so that you wrap your legs around his waist.

He holds you there, against the wall, his bulge pressing against your clothed core as he continues to kiss you just as fervently as before. He breaks from you just a moment. 

“Then I’m going to make you mine now if that’s okay with you”, he whispers against your swollen lips.

“God, yes...”, you whine and that’s all he needs to hear before he captures your lips one more time. After he’s done with you, he’s going to make sure there’s he no traces of that fox’s scent left on you.

[zorayda-art]

Building Terrix: Day 1

Worldbuilding June, Day 1: Introduction

Disclaimer: As DM, I tend to steal ideas from here and there for my personal game. Most of this is cherry-picked, combed over, changed, warped, and molded to fit Terrix. If you see an idea in here you recognize as not mine, that’s probably because it’s not. This isn’t for a book, or anything I’m making a profit from--only for a fun game and a world I can provide for my wonderful players. :)

How does this world differ physically from earth? Is it the same size (same density, same gravity), same ratio of land/water, same atmosphere, etc.? Does it have more than one sun or moon? Rings? Are there spectacular constellations/comets, etc. visible at night or by day?

Terrix is different from Earth in a few ways, but not many. The size is slightly smaller, but it is the same density, and the size isn’t enough to affect the gravity too much—though on Terrix, you would be slightly lighter than on Earth.

Terrix is further from Exxus than the Earth is from Sol; however, the variance in temperatures is relatively alike on both terrestrial planets, meaning that Exxus is an older star and therefore burns a little brighter to reach Terrix in the same way Sol reaches Earth.

There are three moons surrounding the planet: Alodel, Wyna, and Tela. The first two are significantly smaller than Earth’s moon, Tela being only slightly smaller but further away and not completely spherical and formed (through a telescope, one can see the somewhat “squashed” shape).

The stars are very visible from Terrix, save for light-polluted places (from magic or technology, as in Aerilon). Space travel has not yet been achieved through technological means, but planar travel happens often enough that scholars know a little bit about wormholes and that sort of travel. The constellations and stars hold importance to sailors and navigators on Terrix, as well as some who worship deities who put importance on the stars. There are two visible planets (within the Exxus system) with the naked eye in the sky, and a red giant that exists far away but is clearly seen and colored.

Random constellations generated:

These nine stars form the shape of a helmet. The constellation represents a tale of greed. It is most significant on the winter solstice, when it appears setting towards the Northeastern horizon. Its meaning is intertwined with the constellations representing a pair of boots, a throne and a horse. Those born under it are said to be pessimists. 

These seven stars form the shape of a shield. The constellation represents a figure from the creation myth. It is most significant on the spring equinox, when it appears rising from the Northern horizon. It is opposed by the constellations representing a rearing horse, a sword and a fox. Those born under it are known for their confidence. 

These fifteen dim stars form the shape of an ant. The constellation represents a tale about the power of good. It is most significant on the summmer solstice, when it appears high in the sky. Its meaning is intertwined with the constellations representing a bow and quiver, a queen and a wheel. Those born under it are often impulsive. 

These thirteen bright stars form the shape of a longbow. The constellation represents a great villain. It is most significant on the autumn equinox, when it appears halfway towards the Western horizon. It is usually interpreted together with the constellations representing a lyre and a spear. Those born under it often become teachers. 

These eight stars form the shape of a winged woman. The constellation represents a tale of treachery. It is most significant during summer, when it appears low on the Northeastern horizon. It is counterbalanced by the constellations representing three women, a torch and a mountain. Those born under it are usually ambitious.

Are there non-human inhabitants of this planet (elves, dwarves, aliens)? If so, how numerous? How openly present? What areas do they occupy?

Terrix is home to many different sentient beings. Humanoid creatures tend to be the most abundant and rapid-growing population, making up for most of the population. Humans and dwarves are responsible for half the humanoid population, with tieflings and dragonborn together only making up less than 6%. 

There are other races as well, including gnomes, elves, goblins, goliath, orcs, aarakocra, tabaxi, lizardfolk, kenku—and many, many more.

Each race has a preference as to where they live. 

Humans inhabit most larger cities near bodies of water, and generally are very involved in trade. They can be found all over Terrix, and are an involved race. 

Elves vary just as widely as humans, from the drow in the Underdark to the wood elves occupying the beautiful naturally wooded areas to high elves who prefer their secluded, temperate homes to the triton who live beneath the waves and by the shores of the ocean. Elves are less inclusive than humans, and depending on which subrace of elves we’re talking about, they can be somewhat suspicious of strangers, and have a too-haughty attitude due to their intelligence and long lifespans. 

Dragonborn vary in their preference depending on their draconic blood, having a natural affinity for certain environments. Dragonborn tend to prefer sticking with their own kind, but they value relations with other races, believing that having strong allies makes them a better, stronger community. They are regarded by others with respect, curiosity, and fear—dragons have always been somewhat sacred or fierce, so dragonborn are treated much in the same vein.

Tieflings usually follow human trends, though many hot-blooded tieflings have a preference for cool or temperate climates. Tieflings are much like halflings/Hin in that they tend to blend in with whatever race surrounds them, but tiefling-led communities are around, and they usually keep to themselves. 

Halflings/Hin are amazing farmers and shepherds. They love wide, open-area bits of land and are usually found in the plains. Hin are warm and friendly, and tend to get along with every race as trusted neighbors. 

Dwarves occupy mountains and underground cities, though not as deep as their Duergar cousins who prefer their halls even further into the Underdark. Dwarves are friendly enough, and sturdy, but they live long and hold grudges. While they make good trade partners, do not cross a dwarf, and don’t take their invitation to their underground kingdoms lightly. 

Aarakocra and Kenku tend to love mountains and high altitudes, though not overly freezing temperatures. Birdfolk like these are curious, and while friendly, they don’t really get the concept of things “belonging” to people—they tend to be thieves to outsiders, though they get confused by that concept since everything in their communities are shared. 

Tabaxi thrive in jungles and hot, humid climates, though there are some subraces who prefer the desert life. Tabaxi are somewhat aloof, and prefer relations with others when it benefits themselves. 

Orcs vary like humans do and are famous for being able to live and thrive in places that were once thought inhabitable. Orcs are stubborn and tough, and are seen as barbaric by others. In reality, orcs are very friendly to outsiders who show them respect, though they will start wars over grave insults. 

Lizardfolk, kobolds, and yuan-ti have preferences for warmer climates, often in jungles, forests, and some in the desert. A few subraces even live near volcanoes (often locally referred to as “lava lizards”). Lizardfolk tend to be suspicious of outsiders, because they themselves are seen as monsters right away and are often hunted and killed under this assumption. Getting to know a lizardfolk surprises them, and may endear you to them.

Then there are other races and people who live between the planes—not of Terrix, and not even of this system.

How are the continents laid out? If there is more than one moon/sun, how does this affect winds, tides, and weather generally?

(Refer to map for continents.) There are six main continents, all of which cover around 33% of the planet's surface. The largest continent is Usratia, followed by Makane, Orcran, Aezith, Pylith, and the freezing continent of the south pole, Edres.

There are three moons: Alodel, Wyna, and Tela. Alodel has a phase length of 18 days. Wyna has a phase length of 27 days. Tela has a phase length of 31 days. Each moon differs in size and all affect the tides, whether slightly or no. All of them are much weaker than the effect of the Moon on the Earth’s tides, however, so their effects aren’t really seen until two moon phases line up with each other. When it is predicted that all three moons line up, people on the shore prepare themselves and there is often a religious celebration with it. 

Weather and winds are much like Earth’s, save for some pattern changes due to differing currents. Terrix is a planet full of old magic, and it survives off of this like a life force. Without magic, many of its basic functions would change and would cause worldwide death and disaster. Magical energy weaves throughout all energy of Terrix. It is interwoven with climate shifts, weather, atmosphere, it’s in all the plants and rocks, it’s consumed and used and shifted by the fauna, it lives deep beneath the earth and it surrounds it. If it is tainted, it can cause major shifts in the populace and wipe out billions (this has happened once in the past).

How much land is there, and how much of it is habitable?

The land covers about 1/3 of Terrix’s surface (184,000,000 square miles of the planet’s surface with 60,720,000 square miles of land). The differing humanoid races have different ideas on “habitable” lands (namely the orcs), but if we subtract the freezing north and south poles, and the hottest/driest desert lands, we would have about 38,474,208 square miles of habitable land (approximately 63% of the total landmass).

Is the axial tilt and orbit the same — i.e., does the world have the same seasons and same length of year as Earth?

Terrix has 400 days per year with approximately 100 days per season, which can be more extreme in shifts according to the places closest/nearest the sun. The most widely accepted calendar consists of sixteen months, each with twenty-five days; however, it is more common to name the day, the season, and the year as the date (twenty-first of Winter, 4284). The weeks are the same as Earth (mostly for convenience and not confusing my players) as Sunday-Saturday weeks with 7 days.