Work Text:
Humans are strange creatures, ever yearning to be the best, the strongest, the fastest, the prettiest or the most skilled. Yet, there is something that pulls at our heartstrings when we come across those that are vulnerable and adorable. Muscled, beefy men coo at the sight of kittens gambolling across the street. Surly people grumpy from a terrible day smile when a baby waves at them from afar. Women melt before the innocent blinking of tiny puppies. The fiercest of predators grow soft-hearted and tender towards the young.
There is something about them that demands for love. We’re always too happy to oblige.
♥
Jimin stands alone one dark Saturday night, surrounded by caged frisky puppies in one of the rooms of the shelter. Behind him, little newspaper clippings, yellow with age, litter the wall. Some detail the times the shelter has helped rescue animals, some documenting the hard work the staff put in, some highlighting animal abuse cases that has been hidden underneath a fancy cover. Circuses, pet zoos, so many more.
He can’t remember what led him to the doorsteps of this animal shelter, it’s the last place where society would expect him to be, but here he is, six months later. Perhaps it was the loneliness of being alone at home, perhaps it was that insatiable drive that drove him to help those in need, maybe it was the whines of the puppies without a friend.
“Goodnight, little one,” hums Jimin, kissing a little Doberman goodnight as he finishes up his rounds at the animal shelter. The stumpy tail wags furiously and the puppy whines, wanting Jimin to continue playing fetch with him- as if Jimin hadn’t just earned a complete workout from playing with him- his arms will be as ripped as The Rock in a month. It frets, whines growing louder as Jimin locks the cage firmly. “Hey, don’t worry, buddy! I’ll be back tomorrow, okay? We’ll play again!”
The puppy is obstinate, wagging its sorry excuse of a tail furiously, eyes wide and imploring- and does Jimin hate it when it turns those puppy eyes on him.
“Goodnight,” he says weakly before he gives in to those sorrowful brown eyes. Needless to say, he feels like the most wicked being in the universe when the puppy wails loudly behind his retreating figure.
“It’s been three months, Jiminie,” groans Seokjin when he sees Jimin’s regretful face the moment he steps out of the shelter. “Bidding goodnight to a puppy doesn’t kill it!”
“But those eyes!” protests Jimin, his own turning towards the locked door, where the whines of the Doberman still seep through. “How have you become so heartless, Jin-hyung?”
“Aish!” grumbles Seokjin, smacking the back of Jimin’s head. The blow is lost with the way he still laughs, thoroughly used to Jimin’s ragging. “This kid! I am not heartless! It’s simply unnecessary!”
“Your heart is unnecessary,” chuckles Jimin, quickly dodging his way out of another smack. “Noted, Jinnie.”
Seokjin’s indignant yells are ignored as Jimin scampers off, laughing his heart out. The past three months at the shelter have always been like this, the two of them bickering to the extent even the dogs would bark at them the moment they started talking.
Puppies, cats, the occasional stray runaway pet, Jimin sees them every day. For an animal lover like him, this is the best thing he could ever ask for. He’s doing what he loves the most: making sure that someone cared for these adorable creatures. Even now, walking home (dammit, is that a drizzle?), his lips still curl upwards at the thought of playing with them all again come Monday evening.
He gets to play with all kinds of animals without having to pay for anything: how cool is that?
Thunder rumbles in the distance and his footsteps quicken, not wanting to be caught out in the rain. He really should have listened to Namjoon’s advice to bring out an umbrella but being the person he was, he didn’t bother to. He can already hear Namjoon nagging at him now.
The moon winks from behind the heavy clouds, and the fat drops of rain begin to fall. A few heartbeats pass and Jimin’s caught in a heavy downpour, the sky raining its bitterness upon him. He’s wet anyway, he doesn’t figure the need to seek shelter. Instead, he continues his walk home.
The air is chilly and the onslaught of drizzles do not help. A little bitterly, Jimin thinks that his home is just as cold as it is outside. It is always empty, dark and cold. Sometimes, he wishes he had what Namjoon and Seokjin has, the way they know they can always come back home, both literally and figuratively. Don’t get Jimin wrong, he loves his friends, but sometimes, the ugly tendrils of jealousy trap him in their embrace whenever he sees them as they are: two people loving each other wholeheartedly.
As usual, he passes the construction site on the way. The shadows are dark and eerie, but over the pitter patter of the rain, there is a heart stopping, high-pitched shriek: it’s basically a horror movie in reality. Jimin hesitates, his heart beating in his throat as another shriek tears through the night.
The shriek is terrified, a scream of pure fear torn from the throat. Wailing resumes, heart breaking and absolutely petrified. It’s not human, but the terror is still recognisable. The blood curdling screams grow louder before they cut off abruptly, the silence jarring; almost like a life has been snuffed out.
That’s when Jimin’s feet move, plunging him into the darkness of the hooded scaffolding and flimsy woodwork. The screams start again, but they are muffled. He follows the sound, heart beating in his throat. The rational side of him urges him to run; what if it is a murder or robbery? What if he got hurt too? But no, Jimin is Jimin, and he helps those around him.
The trail of terror leads him to the darkest section of the site, his torch barely shining a foot into the gloom. There, in the middle of drying concrete pillars, is a tiny being. It struggles with all its might against the quicksand-like embrace of tar. It’s impossible to tell what colour it was, it’s practically dyed black. Only its head is visible now, the rest of its body engulfed by the suffocating squelch. Its eyes flicker over to Jimin’s torch and it opens its mouth to scream for help again as it sinks slowly, but surely into the tar.
Jimin runs faster than his feet have ever run before. There are industrial gloves next to the drying tar and he slips them on immediately. Reaching into muck, his hands find a tiny body and he pulls.
Thank god for his trips to the gym.
His arms feel like they’re being torn apart as he tries to pull the little animal free and when he finally does, he plops onto the ground with a thump so hard he KNOWS that his tailbone will be bruised for weeks.
The animal, however, is unable to move. The tar is almost dry, leaving it forced into an uncomfortable position and when Jimin sets it on the ground, it falls onto its side like a toppled statue.
It cries again, miserable and afraid, almost like a sobbing child. That’s when Jimin decides that he will care for it and nurse it until its back to full health.
Gingerly, he picks it up. He can’t tell what animal it is from the darkness and the tar caking its fur, but it’s definitely tinier than a cat or dog. Turning around, he heads back to where he came from. The little thing cries in his hands, still terrified and confused of why it can’t move. Jimin can feel it struggle to move, to run, but it simply can’t and it terrifies it.
Under the streetlight, a pair of terrified eyes greet him. Dark as the tar matting its fur, they blink up at him, a thousand confused questions swimming in them. It squeaks again.
“It’s okay, buddy,” says Jimin, holding it up so that they’re face to face, terrified eyes gazing into his chocolate ones. The poor thing. “I’m going to free you from this tar, okay? Let’s get going now.”
Even coated in tar, the animal is tiny enough to sit in his hands, and Jimin has VERY SMALL hands. It wriggles and twitches, still unsure about everything that is going on. It lets out a small scream now and then, little body trembling and quivering.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” murmurs Jimin over and over again as he rushes back to the shelter. By then, the tar has completely solidified, leaving it as solid as a rock by the time he gets there.
Jimin has done this before. Together, he, Seokjin and a few other volunteers had helped a puppy to free itself from tar after a group of school boys thought that it would be an amazing idea to drown it in the liquid. The poor thing was scalded and left there to die. Jimin cried when it died in their arms from exhaustion and dehydration- it’d been left there for a day or two until they’d found it.
No way is he letting another animal die in his arms.
The clock ticks ominously overhead, hands creeping towards midnight. Sleep is for the weak anyway. He carries the animal towards the steel table that he and Seokjin always use to care for the injured animals. Laying it gently down, he grabs the vegetable oil, fills a bowl to the brim and begins to work. Some of the tar is still damp, thank goodness, and he begins to soften the tar with the oil, gently massaging the tar off its fur. Slowly, hints of grey begin to peek out as his hands get stained black.
Two long ears begin to reveal themselves under his gentle care- It’s a little rabbit. The ears flick about, trying to get rid of the stubborn tar that sticks to it, but to no avail. It only makes Jimin’s job harder.
“Easy there, girl,” says Jimin patiently when it tosses its head again. He jumps when the rabbit shrieks at him, buck teeth bared. “Boy?”
It settles back into a ball of tar covered fluff.
Jimin’s hands are stained black as he takes a break to wash his hands. There’s no knowing how long the rabbit has been stuck in the tar and he’s terrified of another animal dying on him again. The brown and grey rivulets disappear down the sink and he pulls out a banana from the fridge- it’s Seokjin’s, actually, but he doesn’t think that he’ll mind.
The poor thing’s stomach gurgles as it begins to snack, Jimin wonders how long has it been crying in that pool of tar. Before he can even blink, half the banana is gone and he feeds it a little more.
It’s unbearably cute, the way its little nose twitches up and down as it snacks, cheeks puffing in and out albeit a little weakly. Jimin’s heart warms as he watches it eat happily: he’d never thought that he’d feel proud over watching someone eat. His heart fills with love and fondness as it eats happily.
The rabbit purrs at him when the last of the banana have disappeared down its throat. It swallows, then sits up. The rabbit’s eyes soften with thanks and tentatively, it sticks out its tongue to lick Jimin’s fingers. It’s an unspoken thank you for everything Jimin is doing for it.
The clock strikes one and the bunny is still covered from head to toe in tar.
Jimin smiles as he strokes its head. Rolling up his sleeves, he goes back to work.
Seokjin finds him in half-dead from exhaustion when he clocks in come Monday morning, littered with diner takeout and a tar-stained rabbit sipping from a half-finished cup of fruit juice.
♥
“When I said to take care of the animals,” scolds Seokjin whilst he gives the rabbit its sixth bath, “I didn’t mean for you to work yourself to death! You could’ve called me!”
“It’s one of your rare days off,” yawns Jimin, an empty mug of much needed coffee lying next to him. Seokjin wrinkles his nose in disgust as he gestures to a packet of fresh mints in his bag. Jimin pouts as he pops one into his mouth. “Was being considerate.”
“Finding you half-dead this morning was not being considerate for my heart,” huffs Seokjin, “You gave me a heart attack when I walked in to see you black from head to toe, sprawled over the table with a rabbit licking your nose trying to wake you up.”
Said rabbit sneezes, ears flopping about wildly as it dispels several flecks of tar lodged in its nose.
Seokjin studies it worriedly. “I’m afraid that it may have swallowed or breathed in some. It could poison it, you know. I’m going to have to keep him here on close watch until I can say for sure that he’s safe and healthy. Luckily though, his stump is closed. Nothing to worry about that.”
“Stump?”
Jimin raises his head exhaustedly. He’d bathed it countless times for nearly 36 hours, to the extent his hands worked on autopilot, removing clogs of tar whilst his eyes slept. “What do you mean stump?”
Seokjin’s eyes are sad as he turns the little creature around.
“It’s missing a front leg,” he says, gesturing to the innocently sniffing rabbit. It lies on its side, too weak to move or disallow them to examine it. “You never noticed while you were cleaning it?”
“Oh my god,” breathes Jimin, waking up from the haze of sleep. He rubs his eyes and indeed, there before him, is a three-legged rabbit. It twitches its nose, seemingly unconcerned by its disability. Jimin’s heart fills with sadness as it lops over to sniff at his fingers. “This is an old wound? Or was it born that way?”
“Bitten off,” says Seokjin frankly, guiding Jimin’s fingers to feel the uneven bone beneath the fur. “It’s broken off underneath. Feel that? The jaggy pieces? It didn’t heal properly with proper care… but at least it’s not giving him any problems, so we won’t need to worry about it. Look at it,” he says as the bunny crawls across the table for a drink of water, most of the tar gone from its fur, revealing a dusty grey-brown bunny. “And you have the worst observation skills I have ever seen.”
“I was half asleep!” protests Jimin.
“Couldn’t you have even noticed a missing limb? It’s an entire leg right there! It’s not like missing fur!”
“Look,” says Jimin hotly, “I worked on its head at first because it couldn’t eat properly with all that tar stopping its jaw movements! And then I figured it really needed to pee because tar was covering its entire backside and I worked to get it off and it pooped the moment I was done! Give me some credit here!”
Seokjin rolls his eyes in amusement as he gives the rabbit one last scrub. “Clean!” he exclaims finally, eyes going to the clock, “After 19 hours of non-stop cleaning. For such a tiny thing, you’re a lot of work.”
The poor thing flinches.
“You’re scaring it!” scolds Jimin and Seokjin looks like a kicked puppy. “Come here, stay away from that bad man!”
“The bad man who apparently spent more than six hours cleaning you,” huffs Seokjin, washing his hands. The bunny inches its way towards Jimin, sitting up on its hind legs as it studies Jimin carefully. It’s head tilts as it sniffs Jimin again, as if it hasn’t been doing so for the past hours.
Honestly, it’s love at first sight.
Jimin’s tired lips curl upwards involuntarily as the rabbit inches closer and closer, nose wiggling in the most adorable way possible. From the fluffy ears to the now clean fur, it is the cutest thing in the planet. Its wide eyes blink up against his and it looks up, craning its head to meet his eyes. Jimin bends down until they’re levelled.
The bunny inches forward again. Then, a tentative nose lick.
“It’s saying I love you, you know,” says Seokjin, grinning as he leans against a table. “A rabbit’s way of saying thank you. He trusts you.”
Jimin’s eyes widen as he stares back at the inquisitive eyes of the rabbit.
“Love you too,” he chuckles, kissing it gently on the nose.
The poor rabbit tumbles backwards.
“Now look who’s scaring it,” teases Seokjin, pulling the rabbit closer to give it a proper examination now that it’s finally clean. “Well, the good news is there are no fleas, ticks or mites. Probably all suffocated to death by the tar, good riddance that.”
The rabbit nibbles on a carrot, never breaking eye contact with Jimin. Its ears are laid back, nose twitching furiously.
“I examined the poop just now,” says Seokjin nonchalantly, ignoring Jimin’s disgusted expression. “Worm free, thank goodness. My guess? He’s been recently abandoned, hence he’s still in relatively good shape. He’s not sick either, just a little malnourished, but lots of care will do the trick.”
“You could start predicting people’s lives by examining their poop,” teases Jimin, ignoring Seokjin’s indignant protest as he turns to the inquisitive animal that’s currently interested in sniffing his shirt. “Well, at least you’re a healthy little boy.”
“But we do have a problem,” says Seokjin slowly. “This shelter. We can’t keep him forever. This is a place for cats and dogs, we don’t exactly have the things needed to keep him happy and safe.”
Jimin’s mouth runs dry. He knows what happens to animals who don’t find a home. As much as it saddens him, he can’t save every animal. His parents are already annoyed enough with him for the amount of money he pumps into animal shelters. (“You should’ve used that money to invest in land, property or stocks!”, but no, the way the animals’ lives are transformed are worth more than all the jewels of the earth.)
The bunny blinks up at him. Slowly, it inches backwards, moving towards the corner of the table. The hunch of its little back is sad and its ears droop downwards, sagging down the way a human mouth would.
Something in Jimin’s heart dies.
“I’m keeping him,” he says at once. This bunny is a literal ball of fluff and must be protected at all costs: Jimin swears it on his life. Something electric tingles its way down his spine as he reaches out his fingers to pat the rabbit, and from the way his chest warms, he knows that he’s fallen in love with the little animal. “I’ll give him a home.”
“Brilliant,” says Seokjin, and Jimin narrows his eyes. Seokjin wanted him to take the bunny home. “Now, since I know you have a bank account taller than your height- DON’T HIT ME! Here’s what you’ll need to care for it…”
Jimin returns to his lonely home with a cage full of hay, rabbit pellets, brushes, shampoo and a million other things. His home isn’t that empty anymore, it just needs another living being to liven it up.
♥
In three days, Seokjin has deemed the rabbit healthy enough to go with Jimin to its new home. Jimin cradles it gingerly in his hands as they step into his penthouse, the scent of fresh hay hitting them the moment they open the door. The rabbit wriggles, nose bobbing furiously as new scents flood it.
“Hello, and welcome to your new home,” laughs Jimin as he sets it on the ground. Still weak from malnourishment and dehydration, it kind of crawls around before plopping on the middle of his carpet, promptly falling asleep there and then, furry ears falling down to cover its eyes.
The bunny snores. Who would’ve thought it possible? Even mid-nap, it tries to wriggle its way into the furry carpet, tossing and turning amidst little grunts.
“You sleepy little thing,” chuckles Jimin, scooping it up again as he places it in its cage. He’s thrown in several layers of warm, fluffy towels to make it easier for its paws (Seokjin had warned him that rabbits couldn’t be kept in cages for long periods of time: it hurt their paws). It snuggles immediately, little nose twitching up and down. Jimin wonders if it does that subconsciously, trying to wriggle his own nose as well (he fails miserably) as he covers it with a blanket.
The bunny snores, content. Jimin hopes that it’s dreaming of carrots or anything that makes it happy.
Instead, the bunny dreams of a soft smile, brighter than the sun.
♥
It’s night time when it finally wakes up again. It’s little stomach grumbles and Jimin opens the cage. He’s chopped up several carrots and slices of apple for it, and it snacks happily out of his hand. Jimin himself eats several cookies as he watches it, giggling now and then when the bunny’s whiskers tickle his skin.
“I haven’t given you a name yet, boy,” he says, tickling the base of its ears. The bunny arches its back in delight when Jimin hits a particularly ticklish spot, purring so loudly it fills his normally empty and silent penthouse. Jimin hasn’t realised how empty it was until a little bunny brought a little life to it, and he is grateful. The penthouse doesn’t feel so cold any more, especially when it nudges his hand wanting more food.
It nibbles at the cookie Jimin was eating halfway.
“Your name is Kookie,” decides Jimin there and then.
Kookie does a happy little wriggle and promptly buries its nose in Jimin’s palm. It’s tiny body quivers as it purrs loudly, a ball of warm fluff.
Jimin dies on the spot, smiling like a madman as he lets it cuddle all it wants. His heart fills with love as he strokes its ears, loving the velvety feel of its fur and skin.
It might be nothing to the world, but Jimin knows that giving Kookie a home means the world to him.
They end up cuddling on the sofa, Kookie curled up in Jimin’s lap as he watches the evening news, occasionally handing Kookie a leaf from the salad he’s eating. The little pressure of Kookie’s velvety paws sink into his flesh, the warmth inviting and comfortable. Now and then, the tiny animal lets out a little grunt, wanting Jimin to tickle it and Jimin is only too pleased to oblige.
He’d catch a grenade for the little creature, his life be damned. It’s only been three days, and Kookie has already wrapped Jimin around its little paw: what a great achievement.
The penthouse is no longer lonely and Jimin is grateful. He hopes that Kookie knows this when he gives Kookie a goodnight kiss.
Kookie doesn’t sleep in its cage tonight, curling up on Jimin’s pillow next to his head, little snores more soothing than any lullaby. Jimin never thought it possible when he watches Kookie scratch its ears in the dark, but the little bunny has just made snores the cutest thing in the entire world.
Jimin wakes up with Kookie curled up in underneath his chin, a pulsing ball of warm fluff and sunshine.
♥
Jimin takes Kookie back to Seokjin next week, just to make sure that there aren’t any more complications that they missed.
“Since he’s a male… you might want to get him neutered, just to avoid… you know. Him wanting to mate or mark your penthouse about,” says Seokjin after he has declared Kookie a healthy rabbit.
From the way Kookie screams and bites when they try to pick him up, they both decide not to.
♥
It becomes a routine for them. Jimin will have breakfast together with Kookie. Him eating cereal out of a bowl while Kookie nibbles happily on snacks so healthy Jimin thinks he would go insane after just one day of Kookie’s diet. Don’t get him wrong, he likes being healthy, but apples, celery, hay, lettuce and cabbage for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
No fucking way.
He lets Kookie roam his entire penthouse whilst he’s away. Kookie, by this time, has learnt not to chew on the furniture or poop on the floor. The rabbit, of course, is delighted by this freedom. Jimin constantly comes home to find it napping in front of the door, right where it last sees Jimin. That’s just for the first two days. It gets a hang of the time Jimin returns home and by then, he’s greeted by a frisky bunny that demands for cuddles (and food).
It feels nice to be welcomed home. Of course, Kookie can’t do the household chores or cook a nice, hot meal for him, but love is more than enough. From the way Kookie circles round his legs until he’s picked up or the way he nibbles teasingly at Jimin’s fingers, it’s evident that the rabbit loves him too.
The penthouse is less empty and definitely a lot less tidy (Kookie makes it a point to rearrange EVERYTHING. Jimin’s beginning to think that he should have hired Kookie as an interior designer instead), rabbit hair strewn around and all, but it’s warmer.
For the first time in a long time, Jimin begins to look forward to coming home. He has a reason to smile in his home other than stupid internet memes.
Their evenings are spent with fun and games. Sometimes, it’s Kookie running and leaping about the living room as Jimin dances to whatever idol group that comes up on TV, other times it’s Jimin laughing his heart out when Kookie glares at the laser dot on the wall and chases it down.
Kookie makes it a point to play with Jimin every opportunity he gets. For a three-legged rabbit, he runs awfully fast when Jimin throws the chewy toy for him to run and fetch. He always lops back to Jimin, ears flopping wildly and eyes brighter than stars as he waits for Jimin’s smile and approving pat on the head.
And so, the cycle repeats itself tonight.
Jimin sits on the ground, tie loosened and smile splitting his face apart. Kookie finishes lapping up his water and runs towards him, binkie-ing midway. He lands in front of Jimin with an excited ‘plop’ and sits up on his hind legs eagerly, nose twitching.
“Wanna play fetch?” asks Jimin, just to tease him. He knows full well that Kookie’s dying for a game after being unaccompanied the whole day. The bunny just blinks its eyes, they never leave the chewy toy that dangles languidly in Jimin’s hand.
“FETCH!” cries Jimin all of a sudden, jerking his arm and Kookie falls backwards, trying to see where Jimin has thrown his toy: except Jimin has never thrown it. He dies of laughter as Kookie runs around the penthouse in confusion, sniffing at every corner for the missing toy. Jimin can see the tiny gears in his furry head turning before he whips around, completely unamused.
Kookie nibbles his bare toe in revenge, but his annoyance is soon forgotten when Jimin throws the toy for real this time. Kookie scampers happily after it, ears flopping wildly. They repeat this several more times before he tires out, throwing himself into Jimin’s laps, grunting happily when Jimin tickles his ears. He flops down and curls up, contented, eyes slipping close when Jimin begins to run his fingers through his grey-brown fur.
“You’re a such a beauty,” croons Jimin. The bunny grunts, almost as if to say ‘I know, right?’ and Jimin simply laughs. Kookie wriggles, trying to find the warmest spot possible and he stops when Jimin places his hand over his tiny little body, paws kneading Jimin’s flesh.
It’s ticklish, and it makes Jimin laugh even more. Jimin doesn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but the bunny’s eyes seem to glow even brighter when he laughs.
Underneath the fur is warmth and Jimin is reluctant to say goodnight to it when he returns Kookie to his little hutch and him to his cold bed.
♥
Their routine is interrupted one fine Saturday night, one of the few nights Kookie has Jimin all to himself. Kookie’s eyes are wide and upset when Jimin places him in his cage, whipping around at once to let out a high-pitched squeak of protest. Jimin feels bad when Kookie’s ears flop down, a visible sign of his unhappiness.
“Look, I have friends over for dinner,” Jimin tries to reason. He’s developed this habit of talking to Kookie, even though it’s just a little rabbit (and a good friend of his). “I’ll make it up to you afterwards.”
Kookie’s ears do not perk up. Instead, he shuffles to a corner of his cage, actually IGNORING his food and turns his back against Jimin.
“Kookie,” sighs Jimin, opening the cage door to rub him between the ears. Kookie lets slip a soft purr before he remembers that he’s supposed to be mad and flicks his ears back out of Jimin’s reach. Still, he watches Jimin out of the corner of his eyes, hoping that Jimin would change his mind. He’s disappointed when Jimin sighs a quiet “I’m sorry, Kookie,” before he closes and locks the cage door, striding away into his bedroom to change.
It’s been a while since he had company and he can’t wait to see Yoongi again. Well, Yoongi and his new boyfriend. The Yoongi who rarely bothered to text him back simply doesn’t match up with the new Yoongi who blew up his phone demanding on tips of what to wear for a date. Jimin is anxious to meet the new person who tipped Yoongi’s life upside down and actually had him out before 9 am just to go out for breakfast.
Jimin has made huraideu-chikin, seaweed soup and rice for tonight’s dinner: it’s a special occasion, really. Okay, fine, he didn’t make the fried chicken, he asked Seokjin to make some for him since he really can’t prepare something that complex and delicious. But what they don’t know won’t kill them, Jimin would rather leave an impression that he’s someone who can whip up a mean meal, what could go wrong?
Besides, with them both being predatory hybrids, he doesn’t want to insult them with poorly prepared meat.
After a quick shower and a change into something more presentable, he sets the kimchi and pickled radishes down on the table. It’s mouth-watering and he can’t wait to dig in, but a quick look at Kookie stops him mid thought.
He’s whining miserably, ears flopped down and touching the floor and his food still untouched. Apples brown from oxidation, his round eyes don’t tear themselves away from Jimin, still wanting Jimin to let him out of his hutch to play. He looks as if Jimin has just told him that he’d be abandoned or given away.
“Kookie,” sighs Jimin, but before he can cross the room to comfort his upset pet, the doorbell rings. Kookie grunts at this, turning around until his face is buried in the corner of the cage and he remains there, sulking.
Yoongi is the first to greet him in the doorway, wrapped up from the cold weather, wolf ears quivering atop his head. He nods the way he usually does in his gruff manner, but Jimin knows that it is his equivalent of a hug.
“Hyung!” he says happily, momentarily forgetting about his miserable rabbit, pulling them both in to get them out of the cold. “How are you?”
“Doing just fine until I met you,” chuckles Yoongi, ruffling Jimin’s hair (he spent so much time styling it, dammit!) and he gestures to the bundled-up figure next to him. The figure rips off his beanie, revealing two tiger ears perched on the top of his head and a mask…
And oh god.
Jimin has never seen a hybrid quite like him and he can feel his friendly expression slowly go lax into one of wonderment and curiosity. While usually, their animal characteristics are simply an extra set of ears, several feathers, or a long tail, he is…
Orange lines criss-cross every inch of his skin, streaking across his face, his neck and his limbs; everywhere that is visible. He looks nothing like a human, despite his humanoid form, truly the definition of ‘otherworldly’. His eyes gleam a fearsome gold, and they bore into Jimin.
Then he smiles.
“Hey!” he greets, ignoring Jimin’s stare. “I’m Taehyung! And in case it isn’t obvious enough, I’m a tiger hybrid- a Siberian, to be exact! So I’ve been dating Yoongi for a while now and he’s been telling me so much about you and I’ve been so excited to finally meet you-“
“Brat,” scolds Yoongi fondly, smacking the back of his head. “You’re rambling again.”
“I’m sorry!” protests Taehyung, rubbing his head in mock pain. “You told me that I just needed to be myself!“
“You talk too much,” retorts Yoongi, turning his attention back to Jimin.
Ahh, dear old Yoongi. Blunt as ever, still the same old grumpy hyung he remembers. Taehyung grins, undeterred by Yoongi as he grabs him by the hand, seemingly ready to head to the dinner table. His own nose twitches as he checks out Jimin’s penthouse-
All hell breaks loose.
Kookie, who has been sulking quietly in his cage FREAKS. Capital, exclamation mark, throw that all in. He throws himself against the bars of his cage as he squeaks for all he’s worth and Taehyung-
There’s the sound of clothes tearing themselves to pieces and suddenly, a HUGE, ferocious, meat-eating Siberian tiger stands in his place. Long canines appear when the tiger growls and charges straight for the cage.
Kookie.
No. No, no, no, no, no!
“STAY AWAY!” screams Jimin, seemingly ignoring the fact that he’s trying to stop a three-meter long tiger. All he can think about is that his pet is a defenceless little ball of fur and he throws himself in front of Taehyung. He will protect Kookie, no matter what. The tiger turns this way and that, growling in frustration when Jimin absolutely refuses to get out of its way. He is terrified, to put it lightly.
He is absolutely sure that he is about to die.
It has only been seconds, but cold sweat runs down Jimin’s back as he glares at the tiger, pleading for Taehyung to just come to his senses and leave. His arms are tensed at his sides: he knows they will be useless against a tiger, but he will do anything.
“I PREPARED DINNER FOR YOU! YOU DON’T GET TO EAT KOOKIE! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY! STA-“
“Jiminie, wait.”
Yoongi is suddenly right by him, eyebrows creased. His arms rest themselves on Jimin, trying to placate him.
“Taehyung isn’t aiming to eat him,” whispers Yoongi, rubbing his hands up and down Jimin’s tensed arms, and Jimin is startled to find tears in his eyes. “Listen.”
Jimin is about to protest when Taehyung sidesteps him and lunges straight for the cage.
He cries out and pulls himself out of Yoongi’s grasp to try and stop him. Not Kookie, not Kookie.
Instead, he’s met with the sight of them both sniffing each other frantically, Taehyung growling with frustration when his maw is too large to undo the latch to the cage. It’s Yoongi who steps forward to release Kookie despite Jimin’s (almost desperate) pleas to stop.
Kookie bounds out of the cage and leaps straight for Taehyung, squeaking excitedly. Taehyung sinks to the ground immediately and Kookie burrows straight into the fur below the tiger’s great head, nuzzling and squeaking while Taehyung nearly breaks his neck trying to lick the rabbit.
Yoongi watches for a while, still rubbing a dumb-struck Jimin’s back before he finally asks: “Jiminie, why are you keeping a hybrid as a pet?”
“KOOKIE IS A HYBRID?”
Jimin’s head whips around to stare at them both. Kookie rolls excitedly on his back as Taehyung practically smothers him with his frantic licking. Loud whines and squeaks fill the penthouse as they both play together, a predator and the prey: best of friends.
Kookie… a hybrid? Jimin can’t understand why. Kookie has never transformed before him, never protested to being a pet. The world as he knows it is completely overturned when Taehyung opens his mouth for Kookie to run in happily, nose quivering in delight. Jimin’s heart nearly gives out when Taehyung closes his mouth with only Kookie’s (extremely squeaky and damp) head poking out, Taehyung himself grunting happily. He lets out a high-pitched squeak when Taehyung tosses his head and sends him flying through the air to land safely on Taehyung’s massive head.
They love each other. It’s evident, even if Jimin doesn’t speak rabbit or tiger.
“Kookie?” asks Jimin softly. Is that even his real name? Has Jimin treated him wrongly? Watching the way Kookie plays so happily with Taehyung, he can’t help but feel his heart sink in his chest.
Has he given Kookie that happiness? Earlier on, when he disappointed him, has he done wrong?
“I nearly had him neutered,” groans Jimin, shame flooding him as everything goes black.
♥
When Jimin wakes up, it’s to the sensation of a very worried Kookie licking his nose the way he always does so. It’s instinct that has Jimin reaching up to stroke him by the ears, reality that has him accidentally smacking Kookie away. He flies across the room until he’s caught easily in Taehyung’s huge maw. The movement looks practiced and Jimin wonders hazily how many times they’ve played this way together.
“You okay there?” asks Yoongi worriedly, and Jimin goes crossed eyed from staring at the glass of water before him. “You passed out like a light.”
“Kookie is a hybrid?” is all Jimin can ask as he sips the water, eyeing the rabbit that rides contentedly on Taehyung’s head. “He’s half human?”
“He is, apparently,” says Yoongi, helping him up as Taehyung pads up to him. “I don’t know why he doesn’t switch forms, though. Taetae here would be able to explain everything to you.”
“This was not how I imagined dinner to go,” groans Jimin at the thought of worrying everyone and… Kookie. Has Jimin been feeling him up and down every time he gave him a bath? His cheeks grow pink at the thought and he doesn’t even notice Taehyung disappearing into a room and reappearing again as a clothed human, Kookie snuggling in his hands.
“That,” he says sheepishly, “was not how I meant to give a first impression.” His long, striped tail flicks uncertainly as his golden eyes flick constantly towards Kookie- if that’s even anywhere near his name. “I’m so sorry for making you think that I would harm Jeongguk, I- I- would never.”
“Jeongguk,” says Jimin softly, tasting the name on his tongue. His eyes stray towards the little rabbit held so tenderly in the tiger’s hands. “Your name is Jeongguk?”
The little squeak affirms his question.
“I’ll tell you about Jeonggukie over dinner,” says Taehyung, eager to make up for the episode earlier. “Let us eat?”
Jimin glances worriedly at Kook- Jeongguk. He hadn’t wanted to eat earlier because Jimin upset him. Would he want to now?
His ears twitch.
“He’s hungry,” answers Yoongi, a small smile forming on his face as he rubs Jimin’s arms reassuringly. “And you too, need to eat. I think you need more than your usual tonight to get over this shock.”
“I borrowed some of your clothes,” says Taehyung sheepishly, and it’s only now Jimin realises that the pants are way too short and the shirt is a little too tight on Taehyung. “I- uh- can’t exactly walk around naked.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” mutters Yoongi, much to Taehyung’s indignation and embarrassment. He smacks Yoongi hard as Jeongguk squeaks away in his arms.
The air around the table is awkward at first, no one daring to say anything until Jeongguk begins to nibble at the kimchi curiously. He squeaks in protest and hurries straight to Taehyung’s soup bowl to gulp down the much-welcomed liquid.
Normally, Jimin would have brushed him off the table and set him on the floor to eat his dinner, but now, he has no idea what to do.
“Jeongguk is a rabbit hybrid,” begins Taehyung at last when Jeongguk nudges his hand, searching for affection. “But the kind that has been stuck in the wild for so long, he barely knows his human counterpart. Some of us are that way too, stuck as a human for so long we forget that our animal sides exist.”
Jimin just stares.
“Gukkie and I met at a circus,” says Taehyung, long fingers running up and down Jeongguk’s spine. “At that time, us hybrids weren’t given any rights, so eomma decided that the best way for her to survive would be in human captivity. I was born and raised there, taught to walk on balls and leap through hoops of fire. It was quite a fun life, I had fun with all the other cubs.”
“Then one day, the trainers had caught several animals when we were passing through a forest. They decided that they could save on some money, so… that’s how I met Gukkie. He was going to be my meal.”
Jimin’s heart stops as he stares at the innocently sniffing rabbit. Jeongguk remains undisturbed, still snacking on his preferred apples.
“Gukkie was… maybe five? In human age. I was starving, since they hadn’t fed me for days and in my hunger, I couldn’t tell that he was a hybrid, so…” Taehyung’s happy expression turns sad as he studies Jeongguk’s stump, fingers running guiltily over the missing limb. “If eomma hadn’t bitten me by the scruff and flung me away, the rest of Jeonggukie would be in me.”
Taehyung remains silent for a bit, golden eyes dim as he studies the Jeongguk. The rabbit sits up and places a paw on Taehyung’s hand, squeaking quietly until Taehyung finally smiles.
“He says that a limb missing is worth having a friend in me,” he translates, lips curling up as Jeongguk continues to rub his chin on his hand. “He forgave me pretty quickly after he got over his shock and terror. Eomma took care of him as she did for me and we soon became close friends. The circus people noticed and thought… well, we soon became the highlight of the show, The Prey and The Predator: Best of Friends.”
“They taught me how to flip Gukkie with my tail to my head and they taught him how to scare the audience by running straight into my mouth,” he chuckles, “It scared them; although I’m sorry for scaring you that way earlier on. Gukkie isn’t afraid of me, he knows that I would never hurt him, even if everyone else thinks that I will.”
Jimin blushes. So much history behind the innocent little rabbit that has been his joy and delight for the past few months. At the same time, he cannot help but wonder if he is adequate to care for Jeongguk. Has he been doing the right thing? And the way Yoongi asked him quietly for his reasons of keeping him in a cage- Jimin hasn’t been giving him the correct care.
What after this? Jimin won’t be surprised if Jeongguk chooses to leave with Taehyung.
Taehyung does not notice his distress as he tears happily into a piece of fried chicken, feeding Jeongguk several crumbs (the rabbit can really eat). “We toured around together until the authorities led a crackdown on the circus. Eomma and I and the other tigers were all taken to a nature reserve- I’ve never seen Jeonggukie ever since.”
That’s when the tiger leans down to let Jeongguk lick his nose, eyes crinkling affectionately.
“Tell me how you’ve been, Gukkie,” he hums quietly, chuckling when the sandpapery tongue licks his nose again. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Jeongguk grunts.
“He says that he was taken to an adoption center. He stayed there for a year or two, since nobody wanted to adopt a crippled rabbit, you know. A family finally took him in for the next year, where…” Taehyung’s eyes grow cold as he pulls Jeongguk closer towards him possessively, “They abandoned him after they realised that taking care of a rabbit was harder than they thought it would be.”
That’s when Taehyung’s eyes flash as he lifts Jeongguk up, cradling him tenderly in both his hands. “Jimin takes good care of you, right? He treats you well? Does he love you? You’re okay here, right? You happy, Guk?”
Jeongguk was mad at him before this. Shit. He’s going to die and Jimin really does not want to make a tiger angry. But is Jeongguk going to leave? He’s already left a rabbit sized hole in Jimin’s heart and he wouldn’t bear it if he were to leave. But he would totally understand if Jeongguk wanted to leave since Taehyung would know how to care for him. He can’t even understand Jeongguk, for goodness sake!
Jimin doesn’t have any appetite left, the chicken that he would normally guzzle down sitting untouched on his plate.
He looks down when he feels fur rubbing against his skin. It’s Jeongguk, eyes closed as he rubs his furry little head on his hand. Jeongguk purrs when Jimin hesitantly tickles his ears, flopping down into a ball of fur on the table.
“He’s happy,” Taehyung reassures him, smile bright as the sun. He reaches across the table to take Jimin’s hand, the one that isn’t tickling Jeongguk. “I didn’t expect tonight to go this way, but thank you, thank you SO much for taking care of Jeonggukie. He means the world to me- Yes Yoongi, I love you more, but I also love Gukkie- and knowing that he feels happy and safe together with you makes me happy too.”
“I- I haven’t done much,” says Jimin, ducking his head as he studies the loudly purring rabbit. His heart warms just looking at him.
“You’ve given him a home,” says Taehyung, gold eyes gleaming, “That alone means everything to him.”
♥
The first time Jimin sees Jeongguk in his human form is when Taehyung is over. He had no idea how to do it and desperately needed guidance too. Jeongguk has never switched forms before, the experience as harrowing as being expected to speak a foreign language fluently despite never having heard of it before.
Jeongguk cannot get used to his elongated limbs or the way humans walk upright. He’s like a baby fawn, crashing into this and that, falling down every three steps before he lies down on the carpet in exasperation, whimpering until Jimin comes to rub his ears.
Jeongguk is beautiful.
His round eyes are even rounder in his humanoid form and he has soft cheeks that Jimin yearns to pinch. He does do so, tentatively, and he notices Jeongguk grind his teeth, he himself surprised when the purring sound does not come forth.
He does stand up afterwards, but only with the help of Jimin and Taehyung. His legs are weak and he stoops down the moment he is upright. The rabbit ears upon his ears flop down with disappointment when he still doesn’t manage to stand up properly by the end of Taehyung’s visit, but he does perk up when Jimin tickles them.
Bunny form or human form, Jeongguk loves affection.
His missing left arm does prove to be a bit of an annoyance when Taehyung and Jimin teach him over the next few weeks to dress himself and do things around the house. He still walks awkwardly with the clumsiness of a toddler, but he’s getting there.
And boy does he smile when he gets something right, even if it is as simple as getting a shirt on.
Jimin has never seen a smile as pure and as happy as Jeongguk’s. The way his lips lift upwards and his eyes simply gleam with pleasure and joy. He was right about one thing: Jeongguk is simply as pure as the sun.
It warms his soul. With every little smile and giggle, he finds himself being more and more endeared with him, wishing to understand every little thing about him.
Jeongguk never speaks, though. He can understand what they say, but Jimin has never heard his voice. Taehyung says that Jeongguk doesn’t dare to, having never spoken before in his life. Getting Jeongguk to talk is something even Taehyung cannot achieve; it always ends with Jeongguk burying his face in Jimin’s shoulder blades, face warmer than a summer’s day.
Even so, it doesn’t hinder the growing warmth in Jimin’s chest everytime he watches Jeongguk’s face light up. Screw falling in love; Jimin is in love.
♥
“Watch out!” cries Jimin one evening when Jeongguk trips over his own feet trying to get from the living room to the dining room. He’s not fast enough, and poor Jeongguk gets a face full of polished marble. Expensive tiles or not, it hurts and his eyes well up with tears.
(It doesn’t matter if he is an adult: Jeongguk is a giant baby.)
Jimin is across the room in seconds to crouch next to an upset Jeongguk. In times like this, he wonders if his father felt this way every time he tripped over himself learning to walk. His heart is so full with fondness and amusement and worry and love as he wipes the rapidly gathering tears in Jeongguk’s eyes.
“Don’t cry, Gukkie,” he murmurs as he strokes the feathery hair, feeling Jeongguk lean into his touch. “It’s okay, you’ll get the hang of it one day.”
He can feel Jeongguk’s right hand paw tentatively at his waist before he finally loops it around. His red eyes are swimming with questions as he slowly draws Jimin closer and closer, wondering if this is okay. He sniffs and proceeds to rub his nose on Jimin’s clothes (a habit Jimin hasn’t managed to stop yet) before he closes his eyes and leans against his chest, leaving them to cuddle on a cold kitchen floor.
Jimin tries not to think of how warm Jeongguk is or how comfortable he is with together with him. Instead, he forces himself to concentrate on making sure that Jeongguk feels better. Jimin usually tickles him, he likes it and it’s the easiest way to make him laugh. Sure enough, he bursts into a bout of hiccupy giggling when Jimin scratches the base of his ears, lithe body squirming under his touch.
Jimin thinks that he deserves a nobel award for not kissing Jeongguk there and then.
♥
“Hey, Jeonggukie,” says Jimin one day, looking up from his laptop of documents and agreements that he wishes he doesn’t have to read through. The rabbit looks up from the carrots he’s nibbling and stares questioningly at him, ears twitching.
“Do I make you happy? Are you happy, living here with me?”
The question has tortured Jimin for many a night. Especially when he wakes up sweaty and shame-faced from his less than innocent dreams of a certain doe-eyed boy. Many times, he wakes up to an empty bed and he wishes that someone could fill the space next to him.
Not one of those rich, wealthy girls his parents would dearly love him to marry. Not one of those snooty, arrogant snobs that run million-dollar companies. The one he wishes to be by his side is an underdog, or under-rabbit, if you want to be fussy. One society does not respect or particularly admire; but Jimin’s heart is all his.
Jeongguk sits on his haunches, eyes wide and haunting. Loftily, he lops across the bedroom and hops right onto Jimin’s bed, straight into his arms. The next thing Jimin knows, he’s being buried with affection, Jeongguk frisking about and little tongue licking every inch of his face.
“It’s called a rabbit’s kiss,” chuckled Taehyung once when he had to fetch Jimin the fourth piece of tissue to clean his face, much to Jeongguk’s annoyance. Sure, Jimin does love him, but he would also prefer his face to be clean of slobber. “Jeonggukie really, really likes you.”
In rabbit form, Jeongguk is so much more expressive, louder and active. He’d squeak until Jimin finally cuddled him or he’d nudge Jimin’s hand repeatedly for caressing.
He doesn’t dare to do so in human form: there has been several awkward times when Taehyung had to stop him from licking Jimin’s face. It’d taken him a while to understand that humans don’t do that and the poor boy had blushed a violent scarlet for the entire afternoon, hiding his face under both his ears and hands. It hadn’t helped that Jimin practically keeled over from cooing over him.
He also isn’t used to cleaning himself the human way after doing his business either. (It was a mess and involved lots of screaming) He knows how to do so now (thank goodness), but the poor thing still turns into a shy pile of goo every time Jimin and Taehyung tease him about it.
Mortified Jeongguk sometimes changes back into a rabbit when he’s too embarrassed and it’s cute. Suddenly, the human is missing and there goes the outline a furry grey rabbit wriggling its way within the ocean of clothes until it settles in the middle and sulks by himself.
But the human Jeongguk is so beautiful. Jimin catches himself staring at his closed eyelids mid-nap whilst he’s supposed to be at work, watching his nose scrunch and sniff. It doesn’t bob up and down the way it does in Jeongguk’s rabbit form, but it is no less adorable. It always makes Jimin smile, especially when Jeongguk’s long ears flop down and cover his eyes, fur fluttering whenever he breathes out.
Jeongguk can’t cook or do chores, but he still manages to make Jimin feel cared for and adored every way possible. It’s the way Jimin finds his slippers waiting for him at the doorway or how his bed is suddenly (albeit a little clumsily) made. It’s definitely how he finds Jeongguk sitting cross-legged on his sofa snacking on oranges, shirt inside-out and pants the wrong way, but still smiling happily when he returns home.
Jeongguk may be grateful to Jimin for giving him a home, but Jimin is eternally grateful to him for making his house a home.
♥
If it means that Jeongguk’s eyes sparkle like stars, it makes Jimin’s weekend excursion to the mall completely worth it. He forgoes the usual retail shops he frequents and instead takes him to one of those normal malls teenagers love. Jeongguk lights up like a Christmas tree the moment he walks in, practically hanging off Jimin’s arm as his head whips back and forth, smile brighter than the noonday sun.
Of course, it’s food that Jeongguk pulls them to, his sensitive nose easily finding a donut shop. Jimin laughs as he stops Jeongguk from practically pressing his nose against the window and pulls him into the little shop where the server is already eyeing his furry rabbit ears with great interest.
“How can I help you?”
They leave with three boxes of doughnuts, Jeongguk has wanted everything and EVERYTHING. He eats a chocolate doughnut filled with cream and he gets it everywhere, a little white moustache suddenly found its way to his clear skin. It makes Jimin laugh and of course, Jeongguk smiles when Jimin laughs.
It’s here Jeongguk learns how to pay for things, and he takes incredible delight paying (because it isn’t his money). Jimin doesn’t know how to describe the warmth his heart feels every time Jeongguk takes his wallet and counts the bills (veeeeeeery slowly; pardon him, he’s bad at math) and brightens up when Jimin tells him that it’s the right amount of cash.
It’s also here Jeongguk learns how to hug the human way. They’re both snacking on doughnuts by the fountain when Jeongguk sees a couple hugging each other. Mouth covered with pink cream, he points to them, eyes bright with questions until Jimin makes him put his finger down hastily.
“It’s called hugging, Jeonggukie,” he explains, the pitter patter of the fountain and the chattering of people surrounding them. “It’s what people do to show affection.”
Jeongguk hugs him there and then, little giggles as soft as his fur.
Some call him an idiot, some claim that it’s bestiality, but Jimin himself knows that this is love.
♥
It begins with little escapades to the city, wide eyes at skyscrapers and surprising scents flooding the curious rabbit’s nose. Jeongguk begins to wander out of the penthouse more and more often, guided home only by his nose. Taehyung comes along most of the time, eager to show his childhood buddy around, but sometimes, Jeongguk goes alone.
He wanders around a newfound alley of streetfood. The scent of oil, batter, people and FOOD hit Jeongguk like a truck and he’s entranced. Like a puppet on strings, he finds himself walking down the street, every new smell whipping his head around.
He wishes Jimin were here with him. Big crowds are terrifying for him, but as long as he hides underneath those oversized hoodies of his, he’s fine.
His fingers play with the 50 000 won bill that Jimin has tucked into his back pocket. He’s been doing that ever since he realised that Jeongguk was beginning to enjoy the city. He doesn’t really understand what is it with these pieces of paper with old men’s faces, but apparently, all he needs to do is to give them out in order to get the things he likes: as long as they are within the numbers on the bill.
Whatever works.
He goes from vendor to vendor, no one pays him much attention, just the way he likes it. Frankly, he likes it only when Jimin pays him attention (well, Taehyung at times too) and when the vendor’s eyes hook onto him as he nears a stall, he feels himself wilt inward.
Jimin says that he’s shy whenever Jeongguk hides behind him. Jeongguk thinks that he just doesn’t like interacting.
There’s a stall selling kimchi bokkeumbap and Jeongguk’s nose perks up at once. Jimin likes this! Jeongguk knows, he’s seen Jimin order this and enjoy it so many times. Jimin has tried to feed it to him several times, but his delicate tongue is still unable to handle the spicy and sour sensation that Jimin loves so much.
But Jimin loves it, so Jeongguk makes sure to buy one big box for him. He’s all light and giggly already at the thought of Jimin smiling. The one who saved him in his worst nightmare and took care of him and loved him, Jeongguk would do anything for him.
Jeongguk runs home, bobtail wriggling as he thinks of Jimin’s smile and the sensation of his fingers tickling his ears.
Jimin’s smile does indeed make Jeongguk’s day a million times better, and all he can think of is wanting to make Jimin smile that way again.
That night, wrapped up in blankets watching Jimin dance to the same girl group again, he knows what to do.
♥
Bad idea. Bad idea bad idea bad idea bad idea-
When has he not been full of bad ideas?
It was his naivety that led him into the clearing with food that seemed too easy to be found. It was his on curiosity that sunk him into that pool of tar. It’s his own love-struck feelings that dress him in a waiter’s suit in an upper-class diner. Jeongguk fiddles with the cuffs around his wrists, he’s never had to wear something like this before.
He’s seen Jimin wear this a million times (God, Jimin looked SO good), but he feels like he’s being suffocated here: it’s not fair. Jeongguk wants nothing more than to burrow back into the safe and nice smelling folds of Jimin’s clothes, but he wants to see Jimin smile at him more than anything.
“You doing good there, Jeonggukie?”
Jeongguk can feel some of his nerves ease away as he nods, turning to face the head waiter Taehyung has introduced him to.
‘You want a job?’ Taehyung had asked in surprise, pausing mid-lick as Jeongguk settled beneath his head. “What for?”
Taehyung had grunted (a tiger’s laugh) and head butted him when Jeongguk finally told him why, hiding behind his paws.
‘You smitten kit,’ he’d laughed, despite Jeongguk’s protests that he was no longer a kit and had in fact grown, thank you very much, ‘Let me introduce you to Jung Hoseok!’
“You’ll be fine, Gukkie,” chuckles Hoseok, throwing an arm around him once they’re out of the diner and into ‘Staff Only’ room, reassuring smile radiating like the sun. “Just follow my lead and let me know if anyone bothers you, okay?”
Hoseok squeezes his shoulders and just like that, the tension that Jeongguk has been unknowingly hiding in him disappears. He manages a small smile as Hoseok squeezes his shoulders again.
“Back to work, kiddo!”
Jeongguk doesn’t like it. He’s only learned how to walk properly six months ago and he’s terrified of dropping the food and drinks on the people he’s supposed to serve. But then, Taehyung had told him that this was one of the few preferable jobs he could get without an education. So Jeongguk knuckles through it, smiling as much as he can and scurrying the hell out of there the moment the table he’s supposed to serve is done.
He’s single-handedly serving a table for two now, a posh couple with really nice smiles. Hoseok always makes sure to assign to him the smallest tables with the nicest people possible who leave the biggest tips (he thinks that Taehyung may have told him his reasons for getting a job). He smiles widely as he places the steak and pasta down, bowing slightly when they thank him for serving them.
Nice as they are, they aren’t Jimin and he misses him already.
Four more hours, then it’s home.
Jeongguk grins to himself when he thinks of his rapidly filling jar of money, none of which has been given by Jimin.
Soon.
♥
Humans are rigid creatures that live perpetually in fear. We abhor change and disagree when the set motions of our lives are disturbed. It’s what turns us against each other, whips our tongues into stinging and cruel words, sets a fire behind our eyes to burn those we dislike.
Fear of the unknown is why we are hesitant to taste the traditional food of a foreign country because it’s a little too green and smells like a thousand years. It’s why uncharted territory is always marked off limits and forbidding tales are told even to the experts. It’s why the strange kids are alienated from our comfort zones. We don’t understand them: we hate them.
It could be morals. It could be too many examples that have led us into a prejudiced judgement. Maybe religion, perhaps the rigorous rules of culture, maybe the mind-set that has been driven into our very core by our parents.
The weird boy that likes dressing up as a girl and finds himself pretty with sparkly powder over his cheeks. Those two lesbians making out in the street, bathed in moonlight and drunk on love. That emo looking guy with tattoos all over his face. The woman who sees ghosts and turns pale at the strangest of times.
Many of us don’t understand them, think them to be wrong or the mistakes of humankind, and the fear of the unknown sometimes turns to disgust, hatred and misunderstandings.
Rejection is a slammed door to the face, a one-sided handshake and unreturned goodwill. It’s the fall of a hopeful face and the droop of a smile. It’s the wilting of a beating heart into a dark, cold organ that pumps self-loath and worthlessness into the very being of a person.
That shouldn’t be the way. No one, not God, not the little kids on the playgrounds or entrepreneurs, millionaires or beggars, have been given the right to bully and hurt someone. No one should be bullied or hurt, be made to feel less than the dust trampled underneath our ever-rushing feet.
Love, let love and be loved. That’s what we were created to be for.
♥
“What,” shrills the lady, her voice muffled by a handkerchief and disgust, “is an animal like YOU doing here?”
Jeongguk stops short in his tracks, friendly smile wavering as he sets the soup down uncertainly. He glances around him, there’s no stray animal insight. It’s until he turns back, he realises that her contempt is directed at him. More specifically, the furry ears perched upon his head. Startled, they lay flat against the curve of his hair, trying to make themselves smaller.
Of course it doesn’t work.
Her glare pins him down like hapless prey before a predator. Then, the words come, sharper than fangs, more painful than poison.
“You are unnatural, you’re not even human!” she spits in disgust, contempt marring her lovely features. “Things like you spend our taxes, yet all you do is raise the crime rate, create filth in our streets, and you have the audacity to come here? Do you know how much I PAID to be here? What worth are you to even step foot in here? Go back to those government facilities you were bred in! Get out of here! GET OUT!”
Jeongguk stares blindly, unable to latch onto her words. He swims in confusion, slowly but surely beginning to drown as more and more eyes turn in their direction. The terrible, hostile glare roots him to the spot, and as much as he would wish for his feet to move, they don’t.
The confusion clouds his brain. What is she talking about? Everyone he has met has never had a problem with him, why is she making him out to be filth and something to be detested? The pure hatred she has for him makes him flinch and he cannot for the life imagine what he has done wrong to make her this angry.
He wasn’t raised in government facilities, and he has no idea what crime is.
Hoseok-hyung, come help me, please!
Hoseok isn’t here, he’s standing far away, tending to other customers. Everywhere Jeongguk looks, are judgemental and prodding eyes, none of them holding warmth that Jimin shines so easily. He wilts before all the unwanted attention. Suddenly, he’s crippled by loneliness, the icy cold feeling leaving him trembling in an ember coloured room. An island, surrounded by a hostile sea.
It terrifies him. A clattering sound irritates his laid-back ears and it’s then he realises that his teeth are chattering, and he can’t get them to stop.
Jimin. Jimin will make him feel better. He’ll go straight to Jimin.
Apologize, he thinks, his instincts screaming for him to get the hell out of there before he creates more people stare at him. Stiffly, he bows. He hates this movement, because it always makes him vulnerable and off-balance, and as he does so, his overly sensitive ears pick up muttering about his bobtail, the fluffy tail that he has always been so proud of. Self-consciously, he tries to pull his jacket backwards to hide it.
Is it possible to be smaller? He wants to disappear now. Hopefully, if he appeases her with a clear sign of respect-
Sharp, stinging pain rampages like a furious river down his ears. A scream flies out of his mouth before he can even see what the new onslaught is. The woman’s inquisitive son has grabbed his soft ears with a fist, yanking on them. Jeongguk is pulled to his knees, his hand flying up to try and pull them back, and ease the pain, but thrown off guard and terrified from all the attention, it’s to no avail.
“Let go of that mutt!” he can hear her shrill, and her hand joins her son’s, trying her best to pull his obstinate hand away, but all she accomplishes is making him lose his balance, sending him crashing to the ground with a loud cry of pain. Without his hand to support him, gravity and their unforgiving pull on their delicate ears send his nerves into a disarray of sensory overload; his entire body held up by trembling legs and his ears. They feel as if they’re going to be ripped from his scalp any moment now, and every sharp yank and scream feels like a brand.
The pain. It’s exactly like- like-
The memories flood back. One moment, he was a happy kit, running through the meadows with his siblings, the next he was dangling from a wire, his poor mother losing her mind trying to free him. Then, those strange things on two legs coming to free him from a trap, only to ensnare him in a terribly dark sack filled with DEAD animals. The crippling fear he felt then all rushes back into his mind, leaving him hapless in terror.
Falling to a cold, unforgiving floor that smelled of blood. Those predatory eyes that waited to devour him. Then, being pounced on in a way that was certainly NOT play and his paw being bitten in an unforgiving bite and RIPPED OFF clean from his shoulder. The crunching sound of his bones breaking and snapping, his flesh being torn off and the mind-numbing terror of watching what used to be a living part of him disappear down a starving tiger’s throat.
The knowledge that he was going to be devoured alive.
Jeongguk screams, the blood-curdling cry of fear ripped from his vocal cords by the clawed grasp of Terror itself. The pain sends him curling up and trying to struggle helplessly against what he can’t see, too blinded by the flood in his eyes and the past he has tried so hard to forget.
He never sees it when a dimpled man rushes to his defence, his roaring startling both the mother and child into releasing him. He never feels it when Hoseok grabs him before he can hit the ground. He never hears Hoseok ordering for them in a very cold voice to leave the restaurant, refusing to even touch the woman’s money. He never knows the direction they propel him, his feet stumbling over the gilded flood.
“My name is Namjoon,” says the voice that isn’t Hoseok’s. “You’re Jeongguk, aren’t you?”
He manages to nod before he bursts into a fresh set of tears. A vision of his blood pooling on the floor and matting his fur leaves him unable to respond to anything they say or feel anything. He’s so cold and terrified and all he can long for is for Jimin to hold him.
Hoseok holds him instead until he stops screaming and crying, rocking him gently. The sniffling, hiccupping wreck he is is barely aware of the cup of water the dimpled man pushes to his mouth, most of it dribbling down his chin and onto the tissue held underneath.
“I know Jimin,” says Namjoon as Jeongguk’s terrified eyes peer at him from behind Hoseok’s shoulder. “Do you want me to take you to him?”
Jeongguk glances down on himself, startled when he does not find blood or his ears missing. He’s terrified of this stranger, but he’s desperate to get to where Jimin is, where his home is. Hesitantly, he points to his crumpled uniform and shakes his head.
“He doesn’t want Jimin to know that he works,” supplies Hoseok, crooning gently as Jeongguk sniffles into his shoulder. A hand comes up and rubs his head, careful to avoid his throbbing ears. “He’s working here to earn money and buy something for him.”
Namjoon nods, a frown marring his perfect forehead.
“Listen, Jeongguk-ssi,” he says gently, his voice soothing to Jeongguk’s abused ears. When Jeongguk searches his eyes, he can only find sincere warmth and concern. “I’m so sorry that happened earlier and that I didn’t step in quickly enough. No one deserves that. What she said to you is not valid, and she should never have said that. Being a hybrid doesn’t make you worthless, it makes you even more unique and special. Do not listen to her. Listen to those around you who love you, because their opinion is ultimately more important and precious than an arrogant, ignorant woman like her.”
“That’s right, Jeonggukie,” agrees Hoseok, stroking his hair. He tickles him a little, making Jeongguk laugh a watery laugh. “Know that you can’t please everyone, and there will always be negative people. But learn to understand that you are unique, beautiful. Not a mutt, not an animal. You’re Jeongguk, special and loved just the way you are.”
“You’re Jimin’s world,” says Namjoon, taking Jeongguk’s damp hands in his, never breaking eye contact. “Else he wouldn’t talk my ear deaf about you.”
♥
The relief Jeongguk feels the moment he could smell Jimin’s scent is akin to the relief a thirsty man in a desert would have towards an oasis. A safety haven. Newfound hope. He is still trembling from the terrible ordeal before and all he wants is to stop his teeth from chattering and the horrible pain in his chest to go away.
The desperation that had been growing within him to be near Jimin rises like a looming tsunami over the shore. It crashes, nearly suffocating him until he knows that Jimin is in the room.
Gritting his teeth slightly when his ears are jostled, Jeongguk wriggles his way out of his hoodie and runs straight to Jimin, his heart lightening with every leap he takes until one final leap sends him home. His senses tingle and his fear ebbs away little by little as a surprised Jimin lets him cuddle.
“Mind the ears,” he hears Namjoon say quietly as he sits down to relate the entire story, leaving out Jeongguk’s job. His voice, though quiet, is trembling with fury.
Jeongguk doesn’t listen to it, too relieved by the knowledge that he’s finally safe. Jimin is his guardian angel; he’d thought that he was, the night when he nearly died again, cold, hungry, alone and terrified. He’d appeared with a halo of light and rescued him, loved him. Jimin’s hands surround him protectively, clutching him tighter and tighter to himself.
It makes Jeongguk feel safe and warm. Secured, he finally allows his rapidly beating heart to calm down.
I’m here with Jimin, I’m here, I’m okay.
“Jeonggukie,” murmurs Jimin, lifting him up to set him on the table, eyes shiny with concern. The worry creases his face and Jeongguk licks his cheek, wanting him to stop. Jeongguk is here with him, everything is okay. No mean ladies, no boys pulling his ears.
Jimin’s face is so close to his, Jeongguk can see every little detail. It makes his little heart skip a beat and something within Jeongguk surges. Love overflows and spills, leaving Jeongguk to wonder how he managed to deserve Jimin in the first place.
“My baby, are you okay?”
Jeongguk nuzzles against him in answer. It’s a little cold without Jimin’s hands surrounding him, and Jimin obliges gladly.
♥
“You have never seen Jeongguk before,” says Jimin at last, when he’s finally satisfied with making sure that Jeongguk is okay. The rabbit is sleeping, exhausted from the ordeal. He snores gently, cheeks bunched up against Jimin’s stomach. Jimin holds one of his soft paws, rubbing the velvet pads gently. “How did you know to bring him to me?”
“He screamed your name,” says Namjoon, “Again and again, he screamed for you.”
“But Jeongguk… Jeongguk never talks!”
“It could be desperation, it could be fear,” shrugs Namjoon, drinking a glass of juice sitting on Jimin’s desk. The ticking of the clock is as loud as the sleeping rabbit’s thumping heart. “Or it could be that he trusts you the most.”
♥
It’s midnight, the din of Seoul louder than ever, the streets buzzing with nightlife. Above it all, Jimin watches Jeongguk shuffle across the room in a baggy jumpsuit. Jeongguk’s cheeks are red, but he’s grinning shyly. It makes Jimin smile all the same and he gestures for Jeongguk to sit next to him.
Jeongguk shakes his head.
“Jimin-hyung,” he whispers. His pronunciation is terrible and he has an accent that is the first of its kind. But, it is the most beautiful sound Jimin has ever heard. Something stirs within his heart; it beats faster and his cheeks begin to warm. Jeongguk is as flushed as the velvet sofa he sits on as he inches gingerly forward, clutching something behind his back.
He’s so close. Jimin can smell the scent of soap and clean hay already. He doesn’t know how it’s possible to listen to Jeongguk’s quiet voice over the thunderous roar of his heart in his chest. He’s longed to hear Jeongguk say his name for the longest time and here he is, Jeongguk in all his hybrid beauty, smiling at him.
“Thank you,” Jeongguk says. His head dips forward until it’s pressing against Jimin’s chest and he rises again, eyes soft and loving as they gaze at Jimin. The rabbit ears twitch. Jimin can feel his hands moving “For everything. You… “ he pauses, chasing after a word that teases him at a moment he wishes it wouldn’t. “Me. Happy without you, no.”
Shyly, Jeongguk produces two VIP tickets to a concert.
“Hyung like them,” whispers Jeongguk, peering out through his eyelashes. There’s hope in his voice, a booming wish hidden beneath quietness. “Gukkie want to say thank you.”
“Guk,” murmurs Jimin as he surges forward, encasing his home in an embrace. “You needn’t have.”
“I like hyung,” Jeongguk whispers back. “Want see hyung happy. Come?”
Jimin pulls back, eyes glittering.
“Of course!”
Gently, ever so gently, he eases in. Their lips meet and they become one, two beings merging in a penthouse high above Seoul city.
A pair of rabbit ears twitch happily and giggling carries through the night.