Chapter Text
"Jae?" Wonpil called from the door, taking his shoes off, heading straight for Jae's room. He heard no reply. "Jae?" He called again and knocked on the door just to act polite, any other time he would straight away open the door and jump on his friend's bed.
"What?" Weak and muffled, that's how Jae’s voice sounded from the other side.
Wonpil pushed at the door, revealing Jae, all long limbs and blonde hair sprawled on his bed, unmoving.
"Are you alright?" Wonpil sat down next to his friend, gently patting his back. They were actually very close, it scared Wonpil to some extent how much they have in common. Their Tom & Jerry personas are for school only. Usually when they are without any witnesses, they lead deep talks, share secrets, watch cheesy movies and play games together.
"I embarrassed myself twice today." He mumbled into the pillow. "Twice, Pirrie."
Wonpil tugged at Jae's sleeve to make the other face him. Jae turned around, but not without groaning and protesting about how comfortable he was and he just had to move.
Wonpil’s eyes widened a little at the state of Jae’s face. He felt sorry for his friend, but at the same time, he couldn’t help that little tug of smile on his lips. "You totally embarrassed yourself out there… but hey, you're allergic. Nothing you can do about it when you suddenly have to face something you didn't expect." He provided, as a good friend should.
Jae nodded, sniffed. His nose was all red, eyes puffy and no better color. Wonpil reached to Jae's bedside table for Jae’s glasses. “Here. I bet you can’t even see me properly.”
“I actually can, just can’t tell what part of the face I’m looking at.”
Jae put them on and Wonpil swam into focus. Only now Jae witnessed in high quality the serious undertone in Wonpil's expression.
"What is it?" He asked, because they tell each other everything.
"You know the new guy?"
Jae sighed, but nodded. He knew exactly which one - he nearly sneezed into his his face if he wouldn’t act fast enough.
"He looked kinda hurt today when you pushed him away and left the class. He’s new, he had no idea you are the allergy king, Jae."
"I don't know if you realise, but I'm allergic to fur and I had only little to no time to explain." Jae protested.
"I know… but you could have somehow…" He trails off, not knowing himself what Jae could have done differently. "He's really nice, you know. He just has a bit more fur than us."
Jae cracked a smile, first one and Wonpil knew that he finally got to him. Sure, that fox seemed like a nice guy, but Jae really didn't want to die too young. "And maybe have a pair of ears more than us."
Wonpil giggled. "Yes, that too.... just promise you'll be nice."
Jae rolled his eyes. "I'm always nice…" Wonpil pursed his lips at the statement and despite being of a way smaller build than Jae, he stared him down. "Okay!" Jae raised his hands in surrender. "I'll have my meds instead of breakfast, enough to survive the whole day and I'll apologize to the guy… happy? I’ll be civil but don’t expect me to act close with him, all of a sudden, okay?"
Wonpil nodded like a little child and hugged Jae, patting his back. "Good boy."
Jae just groaned at being called a boy by someone like Wonpil, but hugged his friend back nevertheless.
That night, Jae dreamed about eyes. Chocolate brown ones staring straight into his, locking gazes. Beautiful feline eyes...
Brian was already in his seat, when the rest of his classmates started to pour in. He curled into himself a little, he wasn’t in the mood to take in the pitiful glances from the people who noticed his his previous exchange with Jae. After his experience from the day before, he was not sure what other reactions awaited him. Brian looked at his watch, secretly hoping Wonpil would arrive soon. He wanted to have at least someone by his side. Although they didn’t talk much the day before, Brian felt that they simply clicked, or at least, he hoped it wasn’t just Wonpil acting apologetic because of his friend.
Brian’s sensitive nose twitched suddenly at the scent - familiar and really strong, as if that person was really close. Brian turned around from his curled position to check his surroundings and almost bumped his face into the other’s stomach. He inhaled a little more - it was intoxicating.
“Howdy!” Tall, allergic guy exclaimed awkwardly and took a step back when he realised how close he actually stood to Brian.
“H-hi.” Brian stuttered and cursed himself for that second after. He curses his ears that perk up as well, left one twitching again, and Brian knew deep down, that it was a dangerous sign. He knew what that meant - he felt the urge for someone to pet behind his ear real bad. Preferably the tall, lanky someone still standing awkwardly right next to him.
“I’m Jae.” He extended his hand, Brian was left staring at it for a while until finally standing up. He squinted his eyes a little, locking his eyes on Jae’s that blinked back at him. He hoped all of this from Jae’s side was sincere, so he took the offered hand and instantly felt heat creeping up his cheeks and human ears. “Not pushing me away today?” He couldn’t help it, he had to distract the human, in case he would notice his red face.
“No… no. Sorry about that…” Jae trailed off and squeezed Brian’s soft hand to somehow reassure him that his statement was true.
“No, I shouldn’t have judged-” Brian tried, suddenly feeling ashamed to blame Jae right away, seconds after he took the initiative to properly introduce himself.
“I see you’re getting close.” Brian heard Wonpil from somewhere behind Jae. Heard, because Wonpil was too short to be seen through that giant frame of Jae’s.
He jerked his hand back, letting go of Jae’s hand, yet, still feeling the sensation. Brian was beet red all over, except for his fur, of course. “We were not-” He was embarrassed on a whole new level. One thing is getting submissive in front of a human, other is getting caught.
Wonpil waved his hand, in his I don’t really care about your explanations manner and pushed Jae aside as he takes his seat right next to the hybrid. Jae was about to sit down next to Wonpil from his other side, but his friend was quick to put his bag on the chair. “This one is taken, go somewhere else.” Jae widened his small eyes at Wonpil, feeling betrayed.
“And where would I possibly sit?” Jae groaned and tried to put Wonpil’s bag away just in time for Sungjin to slip into the seat.
“Thanks Jae.” He muttered and turned to greet Wonpil and right away extending his hand to Brian, introducing himself. Jae scowled some more, standing there like a beanpole, looking lost.
“You can sit on this side, if you want.” Small voice got his attention.
Jae pushed past Sunjin’s and Wonpil’s seat kicking their chairs, not even trying to act like he didn’t mean it. He walked past Brian as well, without doing anything, of course and finally ploped down in his new seat, smiling awkwardly at Brian who turned to look at him. “Will you be okay?” Brian asked quietly, his cheeks turning a little pink. Jae couldn’t help but coo at the sight.
“What- Ah, yeah I took my medicine… lot of it.” He laughed and it sounded nervous even to his own ears. This was the first time in a while that he felt shy around someone. Maybe, just maybe, trying to impress but failing since day one.
He was too busy with his allergies the day before to acknowledge that Brian was good-looking. Extremely good-looking to the point that if things didn’t turn out the way they did, he would probably be the one approaching the fox hybrid first.
He must have spaced out for a bit, because he suddenly felt a gentle sweep of something soft on the back of his right hand. When he looked down, he could see Brian bent face down on the desk, his left fox ear rubbing at the back of Jae’s hand with how close they were.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Jae asked more bemused than angry.
Brian sat up straight right away and only then he realised that both Wonpil and Sungjin have been watching them. Wonpil smiling knowingly, Sungjin next to him with his brows somewhere in his hairline.
“I- I…” Brian panicked, didn’t know what to say. Truth, truth is the best way, his animal instinct told him. “Can you pet behind my ears?” He mentally slapped himself when he realised what he blurted out. His face was beet red while he started beating himself up for even coming to school that day. He should have known he wouldn’t be able to behave around this human.
“You want what..?” Jae asks dumbfounded.
“Nothing. I should go…” Brian stood up and started packing his stuff from the desk, stuffing it into his bag. He was about to walk away, until he felt softest of touches behind his ear. Without even realising, he stopped his actions and sat back down, leaning into the touch.
“It’s so soft.” Jae smiled as he played with the ear, scratching softly. He didn’t even realise how weird it must seem to others if they watched them.
Brian’s ear twitched in Jae’s hand, then it folded to the back and Jae got the message. He petted Brian’s hair as well then pulled back. Fox hybrid looked up, eyes vulnerable. “It’s the fox, not the human side, I swear. I would never ask you.”
Jae blinked at the other. He’d probably still do the same even if it wasn’t only Brian’s fox side asking. “Sure, sure Bri… no worries.” Jae was a little startled when he realised that his hand itched to reach out and pet behind Brian’s ears again, his fingers itched to thread through the soft strands of his hair as well.
After their awkward moment, they focused on their lesson and right after it ended, Brian excused himself and stormed out. Jae didn’t judge, he must have felt embarrassed for showing this side to someone he met only recently.
Sungjin whistled once Brian is out of earshot. “ That was something.”
Wonpil squinted. “Don’t judge.” He turns to Jae. “You alright?”
Jae nodded, still processing what happened and how weird it was, except it didn’t feel weird at all. His hand found Brian's ear like a second nature and it somehow pained Jae to see that Brian was distressed about it. It was just an innocent touch, wasn’t it?
"I'm okay… I just don't get what has gotten into me." Jae bit his lip, his hands fidgeting nervously.
“That much to don’t expect me to act too close, right?” Wonpil teased a little, but still patted his distressed friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much, if he didn't want it he wouldn’t tempt you to do it, right?" He smiled and made Jae feel at least a bit more at ease. "Now, I have my sources, and it seems like you'd find him in library… If you wanted to talk again this soon, that is."
Jae smiled, knowing that the sunshine in front of him deserved the whole world and even more. "So I guess I'm going to the library…?" He needed to talk the hybrid, and apologise. Brian asking for it was no excuse for him to actually act on it. He should have known better. He didn’t want them to end up like this, one day Jae running out of the room, other days Brian.
Sungjin laughed. "Don't be too loud in the library."
Jae cocked his brow at him. "Whatever that means… Bob?"
"We all know what you do when you desperately want to make friends. It's mostly something awkward and loud." Sungjin shrugged without even feeling sorry.
Jae scowled. "Loud, yes. I admit, but I don't know about awkward-"
"Nope. You didn't just pet his ear like… five minutes after introducing yourself." Wonpil chirped into the exchange.
"HE WANTED ME TO!!" Jae protested.
Sungjin tilted his head to the side. "So basically if anyone asked you to scratch their balls in class you'd do that?"
Pouting, Jae packed his things. "This was no scratching balls, Bob." With that he stomped over to the door, trying to leave as soon as his long legs would allow him to.
Jae's gone sooner that Wonpil manages to even laugh at the exchange.
When Jae walks into the library, he spots Brian right away. It's not even hard. You just have to look for a pair of foxy ears, that were far from common in this area of the world.
He was seated at the table full of young women, some of them cat hybrids. It seems like Brian was not feeling the most comfortable over there. Some of them were sitting by his side and kept on leaning way too close, for Jae’s liking. Nobody should be leaning this close. Unless they want something… unless.
Jae stomped over to the table.
"Brian?" The name was out sooner than he realised. He didn't like the way that one cat was about to put her hand on Brian's arm. At the moment she sat frozen, arm midway in air.
Brian swished his tail unconsciously. "J-Jae? What are you...doing here?" All the females at the table eagerly watch the exchange - some glaring because Jae interrupted their study session, some simply glared because Jae now had Brian’s full attention. Cat hybrid right besides Brian took quick glance at Brian’s his tail that kept on swishing behind him and then at his ears, left one kept twitching. She wrinkled her nose when she finally looked at Jae and folded her arms on her chest.
"Can I…" Jae scanned the table. He was sure some of the females would hiss at him if they weren't in library, especially the one by Brian’s side. "Oh, there's no seat left-" Jae deflated.
"WE CAN GO OVER TO THE EMPTY ONE!!" Brian exclaimed in one breath, already gathering his stuff. Girls at the table visibly stiffened, they most certainly didn’t expect the fox hybrid to leave their table full of beautiful hybrids just to sit with a guy. That's not what a gentleman should do…
Brian sat down first, then pointed to the seat next to him at the loosely occupied table
Jae takes his seat by his left side, looking once more behind his back. They still had the attention of all the females on them.
"Thanks for saving me." He gets distracted by Brian’s voice.
"Oh… so you didn't enjoy ladies company?" Jae teased, although a little nervous about the conversation he was about to start.
Brian shook his head no, and grinned at Jae. “I was alone at first, but then the table started filling up, and you already saw how it ended.” His ear twitched again. "I prefer your company." There was no reason to lie.
"Why did you leave the class that abruptly then?" Jae questioned, and Brian noticed uncertainty in his eyes.
He took a deep breath. "I was embarrassed. I still am… I let you see that vulnerable side of me on our first meeting. That means a lot considering I never let anyone touch my ears. I guess I just freaked out."
Jae smilesd softly at the hybrid and Brian mirrored it unconsciously. Jae didn’t realise until his hand was already in Brian's hair, fingers raking through the soft strands. Brian closed his eyes breafly, leaning into the touch. He knew this wasn’t the right place to show his vulnerable side, but he couldn’t help but melt into the touch.
Jae is lost in his own world as well, he played with Brian’s left ear as well - he noticed it kept twitching so he gave it the attention. The orange fur was soft under his fingertips. He noticed something tighten around his waist - Brian’s tail. His other hand, now quite willingly pulled at it a little, earning a whimper from the hybrid. Jae was lost in the sensations until the voices from the other table brought him back to reality. “ What the hell is he doing? You don't play with it unless you want to-” He tuned out the rest of the sentence.
He pulled both his hands back as if he got burned. When he looked over at Brian, his eyes were hazy, fixated on Jae's eyes. "Why would you stop?"
"T-they said that it means I-" Jae feels too hot at the moment. Not that he didn’t feel hot in other circumstances, but this was different hot. He felt like he was melting under Brian’s intense stare.
Brian frowned at the human. "Don't you want to?" His eyes widened comically when he realised what he just implied. “Touch my ears, I mean… of course I’m not serving myself on a silver platter, although I wouldn’t mind-”
Jae blushes and Brian had to refrain himself from jumping on the human. "Y-yes." Oh god what is he even… Did he say yes to touching Brian’s ears or to something else he implied? He wasn’t sure anymore, but he didn’t even care at this point.
Thankfully, Brian didn't need to hear more as he stuffed his books into his backpack and then he was already dragging Jae out of the library, attracting the attention of all the hybrids around who started whispering - scandalised.
"W-where are we going." Jae asked. He didn’t understand why he stuttered around Brian all the damn time.
Along the way Brian tried all possible door, but they were closed. Upon finally finding ones that opened he pushed Jae in and locked them from the inside. Jae gulped. Janitor’s room, wonderful.
"So…" Brian started, suddenly too close to Jae, the room seemed too hot. "Do it."
"Can you be less weird about it?" Jae groaned and Brian had the audacity to laugh at his misery.
"You said you wanted to…" Brian squeaked, suddenly too impatient. "So touch."
Jae gulped and looked down to where Brian's tail was swishing behind him,. He reached his hand and wrapped his lean fingers around it, stilling its movements.
"Holy molly." Brian wheezed. "You thought they were talking about tail?"
"Were they not?" Jae was honestly perplexed.
"You never realised how intimate it gets when you pat my ears? How submissive I get?" Brian asked, his soft breath fanning over Jae's ear.
"So…" Jae asked, probably the dumbest question possible at that moment.
"Yeah, the only tail I’ll let you pull at is this one." He pointed to his crotch. Jae blusheed, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the talk. Brian noticed, he himself is surprised how bold he was around Jae. His inner animal was interest in Jae and it seemed like his human side had no shame either. "Penis." Brian tried to fluster the human a bit more, it seemingly worked because Jae was redder than tomato. "Dick." Brian finally bursts out laughing when he noticed a bead of sweat rolling down Jae’s temple.
.
"Don't laugh at my misery." Jae whined, pushing Brian back a little, creating some distance between them. He didn’t really enjoy the way Brian pinned him to the wall of the room that was already too small.
"Sorry…" Brian stifled his laugh, his face serious, but the playful glint in his eyes never leaving. He sure was a fox. "Now… what do we do? I know this may be sudden, but something about you just-" Brian didn't feel the need to say no more as he closed the distance between them, pressed his lips against Jae's.
Taller one instinctively rested his hands on Brian's hips as he pulled him closer. Brian licked and pulled at Jae's full bottom lip. Jae groaned, because fuck, the feeling of Brian’s lips against his was intoxicating.
They jumped apart, when the lock started to rattle abruptly. It seemed like someone was trying to get inside. Brian bit back his laugh at Jae's expression. Jae's ears and cheeks were crismon, his lips swollen and parted, eyes blown wide almost popping out. "Oh wow, this is how we die…" He mouthed and the hybrid is throwing his head back in laughter again because hell, Jae was scared out of his wits… Is it that bad to get caught?
Brian shook his head no, to reassure Jae that they were not getting caught and no, nobody was about to kill them for making out… hopefully. Brian was in Korea for only a short period of time and their social norms were different from Canada. So he simply took Jae's hands into his own, squeezing them. Jae was watching him, his attention unwavering… and Brian was basking in the moment, he loved it when Jae's sparkly eyes were locked on him and only him.
Few moments later, when they heard the people on the other side of the door groan, mumbling something about the lock being broken again, about having to do it somewhere else , Brian smirked - it seemed like they were not the only ones who found this room useful.
When the sound of steps on the other side was getting further and further away, Jae finally released the breath he’d been holding, and leaned his head back against the wall with a thud. His heart was still racing, although the thread was gone now.
"That was…" He muttered, closed his eyes to find the right words because the hybrid in front of him has been too damn distracting the whole day for Jae's brain to function properly. "...close."
Brian smiled, buy Jae couldn’t see that since his eyes were still closed. Then Jae felt a ghost of soft lips on his cheek, his eyes snapping open to find Brian standing close, with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, but your cheeks looked inviting…" Brian admitted.
Jae turned red. "Look who's talking." He reached out, cupping Brian's face, his thumb moving to caress Brian's cheek. His other hand still joined with the other as he pulls him closer, closer until Brian is cross eyed when he tries to watch expressions playing on Jae's face.
Jae simply planted a kiss on the tip of Brian's nose, and he swears he felt Brian melt a little in his arms.
Just then, something strongly wrapped around Jae's waist and pulled his closer to Brian - his bushy tail. It felt weirdly intimate considering they met the day before and started talking only today. Brian's head was resting in the crook of Jae's neck, breathing in the scent of the human.
"Mine…" Brian muttered quietly, but Jae doesn't hear him because of the loud buzzing in his ears.