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Seungcheol’s not a heavy sleeper, but his slumber is especially light tonight. He jerks awake, but it's not because of the lightning and thunder.
It’s the sound of his door unlatching. Seungcheol’s eyes fly open, but he stays still – waits for the unknown party to make their move. There's some shuffling and rustling of clothing. He tenses as he feels a weight on top of him, relaxing only when he feels a tail wrap around his wrist.
“Jihoon,” Seungcheol sighs. “Can't sleep?”
The hybrid shakes his head, squirming under the covers. Seungcheol smothers an undignified yelp as Jihoon presses his freezing feet to his owner’s calves, the cat curling himself around Seungcheol.
“Don't talk,” Jihoon mutters, tucking his head under Seungcheol’s chin. “Just hold me.”
The elder chuckles, but acquiesces with nothing more than a kiss to Jihoon’s forehead.
He glances out the window, his curtains not quite closed. The rain is lashing against the glass, the pitter patter of rain loud in the near-silent room. Jihoon will hate him if he mentions it, but he can feel the tremors quaking through the younger’s body.
Seungcheol smooths his hybrid’s hair down, brushing his ears that are laid flat against his head. YangYang is cradled carefully between owner and hybrid, the stuffed animal nestled safely in the crook of Jihoon’s elbow.
Poor Jihoon, Seungcheol thinks idly as the cat twitches with every rumble of thunder. Jihoon doesn't like loud noises, but he hates thunder – especially on rainy days like these.
“Hyung?” Jihoon whispers and Seungcheol hates how small the sharp-tongued Jihoon sounds.
Seungcheol hums, pressing his cheek to the top of Jihoon’s head so he can smell his hybrid’s shampoo. It tickles his nose, a light, fruity scent that’s probably chosen by Jeonghan.
“You won't leave me, right…?”
“I'll never leave you.” The answer is immediate and practiced, but not a lie. He’d scream it until he was hoarse if he thought Jihoon would let him get away with it.
Rainy days are awful, Seungcheol sighs to himself as he glares down at the water soaking into his shoes. It’s pouring, his small umbrella barely enough to cover him as he walks home. The sixteen-year-old would usually take the bus, but he'd been waiting at the bus stop for a full hour.
“Stupid rain, making the stupid bus stupid late,” Seungcheol mutters, kicking at a puddle of water; he's already soaked anyway.
It’s only five, but the dark clouds have it looking like it's already seven.
A pitiful yowl has him stopping in his tracks. He glances into the dark alley, heart beating faster all of a sudden. He's suddenly reminded of all the stories he used to hear about little boys being lured into alleys and eaten by monsters – especially maknaes!
A curse sounds from the darkness of the alley and Seungcheol lets out a loud breath. Right, monsters don't exist. Like his dad says, “the scariest monsters in the world are human”. His dad has never steered him wrong – was that a sob?
Ignoring common sense and the warning bells in his head, he rushes in, umbrella falling to the ground. The rain is cold, but the anger is quick to warm him – he can make out a large figure kicking at a smaller one.
Seungcheol’s feet leaves the ground as he kicks at the asshole, his momentum and weight giving him a lot more power. The assailant goes flying, falling to the ground.
“Fuck off,” he snarls, standing in front of the poor victim. He hears a whimper from behind and rage is what fuels him when he throws his umbrella at the fleeing bastard.
He turns to the victim, but the small figure immediately hides behind a huge refrigerator box. Drenched ears flatten against a head of dark, unruly hair. There’s an equally bedraggled tail swinging behind the small figure, unable to fluff up from how waterlogged the fur is.
Oh, a hybrid.
Seungcheol doesn't know what to feel about this. On one hand, hybrids are… unnatural. They look like humans, but they have animalistic characteristics as well. They walk and talk, but they also purr or bark.
He doesn't hate hybrids, but he's not particularly fond of them either.
Still, he finds himself reaching out for the scared hybrid, only to snatch his hand away when the smaller male hisses.
“Don't touch me,” the hybrid snarls, eyes wide and feral. “I’ll hurt you!”
Seungcheol holds his hands up to show he's unarmed. “I’m not gonna hurt you,” he says gently, squatting down so they're at eye level. “See? And I chased the bad man away.”
“How do I know you're not going to kick me too?” The poor thing is shaking – probably from the cold and from fear.
“I won’t. I promise.”
Seungcheol doesn’t expect that to do anything, but the hybrid cautiously makes its way out into the open. It’s kinda dark, but he can make out a myriad of bruises on the smaller male’s face. Some of them look old (he tucks away the anger for another time), but it’s the red ones that he’s worried about.
“Thank you,” the hybrid whispers, one furry ear flicking in his direction. “You didn’t have to…”
“N-no problem,” Seungcheol stutters. He doesn’t know what to do now. This is an unexpected situation. All his video games and manhwa couldn’t prepare him for this.
The hybrid nods sharply, already turning away. “Goodbye.”
“W-w-wait!”
The hybrid half-turns to him. Seungcheol has no idea why he did that. How do, how do!
“Come home with me,” Seungcheol blurts out, reddening when the words leave his mouth.
The corner of the hybrid’s lip curls into a warning snarl. “Why?” he demands. “I don't do sexual services.”
(Seungcheol doesn't notice, but a terrified tremor runs through Jihoon’s body; he's heard the stories and he's decided he doesn't want to be that hybrid, no matter how desperate he gets. That kind… they usually end up worse than prostitutes.)
“I don't – that's not what I meant,” Seungcheol says loudly, practically yelling. “You – you look hurt and I just want to make sure you're okay!”
“Why?”
The high school student has no clue. He has no fucking clue. It's just that the sight of the hybrid’s bony body and tattered clothes resonate in his soul and the scared look in the other’s eyes is heart-wrenching.
The words “can I keep you?” leave Seungcheol’s mouth before his brain can catch up. The hybrid blinks; Seungcheol prefers to think he's blinking away raindrops (although the rain is already letting up).
“I don't even know your name,” the hybrid says. It's not a no.
“Choi Seungcheol. I'm Choi Seungcheol.” God, his heart is pounding in his chest. His mom is going to kill him from bringing home a stray. It's bad enough when Noona does it – and those are animals, not hybrids.
“You won't hurt me?” the cat hybrid asks cautiously.
“I won't hurt you,” Seungcheol answers eagerly. “I'll even treat you! Your – your wounds, that is…”
The hybrid’s ears give a hopeful little flick. “And – and food?”
“‘Til you can't eat anymore.”
The smaller male narrows his eyes, but takes a step closer. “I won't stay,” he warns.
Something in Seungcheol’s chest collapses, but he stays strong. “Maybe one day you'll change your mind.” He can hope. He’s allowed to hope.
“Feed me first.”
“... What’s your name, pretty kitty?”
The hybrid flushes the prettiest shade of pink, sharp canines showing as he scowls.
Woozi. Just call me Woozi.
The comic artist encases the words in a speech bubble before letting the pen roll from his fingertips. He lets out a sigh, rolling his stiff shoulders. He's been sitting for close to four hours now, but at least his work for this week’s magazine is done.
“What’s that?” Jihoon inquires, chin resting on Seungcheol’s shoulder as he peruses the comic displayed on the screen. “Huh. That’s different.”
For once, The Adventures of Grumpy Woozi isn't a splash of colour. All bright colours are muted. The entire comic is almost monochromatic, with one single colour standing out.
“Why orange?” Jihoon wonders out loud.
Seungcheol shrugs, grinning slightly as Jihoon’s head bobs with the motion. “It’s a nice contrast,” he says evenly, resting his head against his hybrid’s. Jihoon grumbles under his breath, but doesn’t move away.
“I like the last panel,” Jihoon sniffs before meandering away – probably to watch some trashy reality TV show like The Amazing Race.
Seungcheol smiles at his computer screen, saving his work before shutting down his laptop. He quite likes the sight of S.Coups cradling Woozi to his chest too.