Chapter Text
Woojin decided that getting hit by a bus would be exponentially better than having to go back to work in the morning. He had just gotten off, and he had a glorious, wonderful, nine hours before he had to be back in. It was technically illegal to have him close then open, but his manager didn’t care. He used to work good hours, then management changed and now everything has gone to hell. In the last month, Woojin has lost seven coworkers when there were only ten to begin with when he started working at the diner.
It wasn’t worth it, but he couldn’t quit. Not with how his landlord just increased his rent.
His chest felt tight. He needed to go grocery shopping, but his rent was due in a few days and he barely had enough for that. If he budgeted, and snuck leftovers from the diner, he would be able to get at least one meal a day - and that was a major if, depending on if his stupid, ugly, bad breath manager stopped breathing down his throat for one fucking minute and let him do his damn job-
Woojin froze. He glanced over at the alley he was passing, not sure if he really heard what he thought he heard. It wasn’t unusual to have strays in the area, but nothing would have been… big enough to have made the sound he thought he heard.
He took a breath. He must have imagined it. He was exhausted after all - they made him work a double even though he had worked a double the day before. He shook his head a little to clear his mind before leaving.
Woojin froze again. That wasn’t his imagination. That absolutely wasn’t his imagination. That was a real life whimper, and whatever made it sounded big. Big and in pain.
He knew he should just walk away. He knew he needed to get home, but whatever made that sound…
Woojin closed his eyes, counted to three and turned, walking straight into the alleyway.
“Damnit me, why can’t I mind my own fuckin business?” He whispered, looking around. Thankfully, the streetlight had been fixed so he wasn’t completely blind. “Hello?”
“Go away.” A voice growled, and Woojin thought he was actually going to throw up in fear.
“Jesus fuckin- a person?”
“Get out of here.” The voice growled again.
“Did you make that sound? Are you hurt?”
“I’ll fuckin kill you-” The figure stepped into the light and Woojin was instantly less intimidated. He was shorter than Woojin, with his hood pulled up. He was pale, with large eyes and a wide nose that Woojin wasn’t used to seeing on people where he grew up. His lips were plush but pale, and Woojin could see blood seeping into the side of his grey hoodie. The boy tried to look scary by snarling, but Woojin could see how his lips were trembling.
“You’re hurt,” Woojin took a step forward. The boy growled, something sweeping behind him. Woojin glanced down, and everything made sense. “You’re- you’re a hybrid, aren’t you?”
“Don’t come any closer-” He said, cutting himself off with a wince, his hand went over his side, and Woojin could tell he was using all his energy to stay upright. Woojin noticed how his fingers were filthy, dirt caked under his nails. The scary part was that it looked like there was red mixed in with the mud.
“Judging by the tail, I’d say a canine,” Woojin muttered, taking another step closer. He was aware of hybrids - how could he not be? - but he never owned one. They were always seen as a luxury pet, and that pissed Woojin off more than anything. How could someone own another person like that? They weren’t like cats or dogs. They could speak and write and work. They were humans, with extra features, and yet they were treated like pets, and the idea of owning another person sounded too much like slavery for Woojin’s taste. Not that he could do much. Not many people thought the way he did, apparently. “Where… where do you live? I can take you back, and your family could patch you up?” He hesitated using the word owner.
“If you take me back I’ll kill you,” The boy growled, his eyes flashing in the streetlight. “I’d rather die than see those bastards again.”
“Oh…” It took Woojin a second to realize what he meant, and when he did he wanted to scream. Whatever happened to this boy… his owners were the ones that did it. “Alright, you don’t have to go back. I live nearby. Why don’t you come home and I can clean up your wounds and make some food-”
“L-leave me alone.” He stumbled back, somehow paling more.
“I don’t want to hurt you, I just want to help.”
“I don’t need your fucking help,” He growled. “Humans never want to just help us. They always want something from us.”
“Yeah, well I’m not like them,” Woojin took another step forward. “I’m not gonna-”
“Please leave me a-alone-” He took another step away, but backed into the wall. Woojin saw fear fash through his reflective eyes when he realized he was trapped.
Woojin didn’t know what to do. He was faced with a runaway canine hybrid who was quickly losing blood and was too afraid to let Woojin help him. He flipped through his metal rolodex of useless trivia in hopes of finding something that might actually be useful in this situation.
“I’m real sorry for this.” He said, seeing the fear melt to confusion. He shot his hand out, pinning the boy against the wall by the throat. The boy instantly started thrashing, but Woojin pressed a little tighter - not tight enough to hurt him, but tight enough to prove his dominance. He recalled when his uncle was trying to train his new puppy, and how he would have to pin the dog down when he acted up. According to his uncle, wolves would use their mouths to pin each other by the throat to prove who was in charge. If he was right, hopefully the boy would consider him the alpha and let him help.
True to what his uncle said, the boy instantly stilled, staring up at Woojin with wide eyes. Woojin hesitated, too caught up in how pretty the boy’s eyes were, before quickly pulling his hand away. The boy pulled back again, his hood falling down to show his ears. They were silvery, blending into his blond hair, and pressed tightly against his skull.
Even his tail was tucked between his legs, the tip of it wrapping gently around his ankle.
“What’s your name?” Woojin asked gently. The boy tensed before taking a half step towards Woojin.
“Bangchan.”
“No, not the name your owners gave you.”
“Oh… I’m- Chris. It’s Chris.”
“I’m Woojin,” He smiled softly, holding his hand out. Chris looked down at it as if he was waiting for it to hit him. When it didn’t, he reached out and took it. “Would you like to come back with me Chris?”
Chris didn’t verbally respond, but he nodded. Woojin saw water running down Chris’ cheeks, but he didn’t say anything. He just laced his fingers through the blond’s and tugged him towards the small apartment he called home.
“Shit, sorry.” Woojin winced, even though it wasn’t his side that was sliced open. He cuts weren’t deep, but there were a lot of them and they were bleeding pretty badly.
“It’s alright, I’ve had worse.” Chris said, but Woojin could tell he was just pretending to be brave. Ever since the alleyway, where he had to pin Chris to the wall, the blond had been by his side. There wasn’t a single moment where he wasn’t close enough to touch the brunette.
“What happened?”
“I got into a fight with my owner,” Chan growled deep in his throat as Woojin passed over a particularly deep cut. “He kept… kept calling me ‘it’ and I got sick and tired of it… I knew he would do this but I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“How did he…?”
“Broken bottle. Normally he just hit me, but this time he was extra angry for some reason. He threw me out in the backyard by my doghouse and left me to lick my wounds. He probably expected me to bleed out or something. Guess he didn’t expect me to be able to dig my way out from under the electric fence.”
“Electric fence?” Woojin was furious. “Fuck that shit. Tilt your head.” He said, grabbing the pair of scissors from the top of the cabinet that he usually used to trim his own hair.
Chris did as he was told and exposed his neck to show the thick black collar. Woojin could see where there was red chafing and even some pale scars, most likely from where Chris fought against the collar and cut into his skin. Woojin hacked at the fabric part of the collar, desperate to get it off the boy.
The second it fell to the floor, Chris started sobbing. Woojin didn’t know what to do, so he just held him as he cried. He was still bleeding, and his hands were filthy. When Woojin was doing a preliminary check of his wounds, he saw Chris’ fingers had been ripped up from the digging, the tips sliced and bleeding.
“You okay now?” Woojin whispered as soon as Chris’ sobbing calmed.
“For the first time in years I feel like I can actually breathe again…” He sniffled, his eyes swollen and red.
“Look Chris,” Woojin didn’t look at the blond, focusing more on bandaging his side. “I’m not going to force you to do anything. You’re free to leave as soon as I patch you up if you want, but you’re also free to stay here. My apartment is kinda crappy, and small, but it’s a safe place. I won’t send you back to your old owners or back to some pound. You can stay here and you’ll be safe.”
“Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?” Chris asked, his voice wavering. Woojin didn’t respond at first. Instead, he gently took one of Chris’ hands and dipped it in a bowl of warm water. He placed the bowl on Chris’ lap and carefully began to rub the dirt away, making sure to hurt Chris the least amount possible. After his first hand was cleaned, he replaced the water and started cleaning his other hand.
“Why am I doing this?” Woojin asked, his voice soft. “Because no one deserves to be treated like a lesser being because of the way they look. As for what do I want from you? I just want you to be okay.”
“Okay?”
“I want you to be safe and happy.”
“But why? You don’t know who I am. You don’t know who I am.”
“You’re right. I don’t know who you are, but I still took the time to save you because I could tell you were hurt and no one should be alone when they’re hurt.” Woojin gently wrapped each of Chris’ fingers with bandages, making sure each one was secure.
“Can I really stay here?” Chris sounded so scared, and it broke Woojin’s heart.
“For as long as I can keep paying the rent,” Woojin chuckled, and Chris smiled the smallest bit. Woojin noticed Chris had dimples, and had the sudden urge to make the hybrid smile more. “I don’t know this complex’s policies on hybrids, but the landlord doesn’t give a shit what we do as long as we pay rent on time. If we get kicked out… well I guess I’ll just have to look for a place that’ll take us both.”
“Us…”
“Yeah, us,” Woojin looked up at Chris, who looked away. “Look man, we don’t know each other yet, but no one deserves to be alone and… honestly I’m tired of being alone too. I’ve been living alone… I don’t have any friends… I don’t do well on my own.”
“So you want me as a pet?” Chris asked, not sounding bitter but resigned.
“No, as a friend.” Woojin laid a hand over Chris’, causing him to look up quickly.
“A friend, huh?” He sounded choked up.
“Yeah, friends.”
“That sounds… nice.” He smiled, showing his dimples again.
“Well, you’re all set,” Woojin stood, his knees cracking loudly. “You hungry? I don’t have much, but I can throw something together.”
“Sure.”
“Cool,” Woojin helped Chris stand. He watched with a small smile as the hybrid adjusted his tail, brushing the fur so it was all going in the same direction. “Here, I’ll get you a change of clothes. We look about the same size.”
“Thank you Woojin,” Chris caught the human’s sleeve. Woojin could feel him shaking gently, his fingers barely holding on because of the bandages. “For everything.”
“That’s what friends do.” Woojin smiled warmly, reaching up and running a hand through the blond’s bangs. Chris leaned into the touch, his tail waving gently between his legs. Woojin smiled wider, scratching the base of his ear a little. Chris closed his eyes, his tail moving a little more.
“Ah, sorry,” Woojin pulled his hand away, his cheeks warming. “I should have asked-”
“Um, it’s alright,” Chris was blushing too, the red on his cheeks more obvious than Woojin’s. “I haven’t been pet like that in a long time… it felt nice.”
“I can… pet you, if you’d want me to?” Woojin offered, and Chris instantly perked up.
“Really?” His ears shot up, swiveling to face Woojin.
“Of course,” He chuckled a little. “Humans like being pet too, so it makes sense that you’d like it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chris pouted a little, his cheeks still red.
“You seem like the kind of guy that like skinship is all.” Woojin smiled wider.
“Oh…” Chis said quietly, his eyes widening.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… this is the first time I’ve been treated like… like a person in years. It just… catches me off guard a little.”
“Let’s get you changed and get us fed,” Woojin pulled Chris out of the bathroom. “We can talk more later.”
“Okay.” Chris smiled, letting Woojin tug him around. For the first time in years, he felt safe.
“Yeah… I can’t come in today,” Woojin lied into the phone, his voice cracking naturally. He just woke up, so his words were gravely and rough. His manager started screaming, but he couldn’t understand what the man was saying. “I’m sick sir, if I come in I could infect the customers-” More screaming, some cursing. “Wh-what? You can’t- yes sir, I understand… I’ll turn my uniform in as soon as I get healthy again…”
“Woojin…” Chris watched as Woojin hung up the phone. He just wanted a single day off to help the hybrid settle in, and ended up getting fired.
“It’s… it’s alright Chris,” He tried to smile but he couldn’t help his eyes from watering. That job was his only source of income. Sure, he had been meaning to get a new job for a while now, but he was so scared that nowhere else would hire him. Sure, the diner treated him like shit, but at least he was sure to get some sort of check at the end of each week.
Now he had no income, rent was due in a few days and now he had another mouth to feed. His breathing started picking up, and he knew he was started to lose control of himself. His vision started to blur as he cried, dropping his phone on his bed. The bed he and Chris had shared the night before because the blond was too afraid to be left alone.
He suddenly felt a weight on his chest. Not the kind of weight he normally felt when he had a panic attack - a literal weight on his chest, knocking the breath out of him. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and realized that Chris had knocked him down and was laying across him, his face hidden in Woojin’s neck.
“Chris? What are you doing?” He asked. It was a little hard to speak, seeing how there was a fully grown hybrid laying directly on his chest, but it wasn’t like it hurt.
“You were having a panic attack,” He said softly. “I was trained to help stop panic attacks.”
“Wait, were you trained to be a service companion?” Woojin asked, sitting up. Chris slid from his chest into his lap but didn’t try to move. Hybrids were mainly kept as pets, but like normal cats and dogs, they were starting to be trained to detect things like regular service animals can - panic attacks, allergies, seizures.
“Y-yeah, that was my original purpose…” Chris’ ears pressed flat against his skull, his tail tickling Woojin’s bare legs.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Woojin could hear the hesitation in his voice and wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist. It was a knee-jerk reaction - he just wanted Chris to be comfortable. He didn’t think twice about how intimate the position could seem. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind,” Chris sniffled, his ears still flat. “It’s not like I’ve told anyone else about any of this… I was trained to be a service dog for a girl that was about my age. I finished my training when I was twelve and went to live with her. She had really bad anxiety and depression, and I was supposed to comfort her through therapy until she was better. She was my best friend for seven years… but I wasn’t good enough. She killed herself when we were nineteen. Her father was… furious. He blamed me for not doing my job well enough. He lost his job, we had to move. His wife had died before I was brought in, which was one of the main reasons she needed me in the first place. He took me with him because he said he spent too much money me to just throw me in a shelter. Said I could make myself useful by doing work around the house, but it was never good enough for him. He would hit me, and curse at me. Starve me if I didn’t do my chores perfectly. Last night… last night was the three year anniversary of her death and he was extra mad and… took it out on me.”
“Oh god Chris… I’m so sorry,” Woojin held him carefully. He didn’t know how the hybrid was able to throw himself over the human with the wounds covering his body. “But you don’t have to worry about any of that ever again. You’re safe here.”
“If I had my papers, I could help you get a job but everything is back at his house…” Chris scowled, resting his head on Woojin’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, you don’t have to do anything. Just focus on healing right now, okay? I’ll figure something out for us.” He smiled down at Chris, who looked up at him with wide, yellow eyes.
“But-”
“No buts,” Woojin gently slid Chris off his lap and onto the bed. “I’m going to change your bandages, make us some lunch then I’m going to see if there’s any jobs open downtown. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something by the end of the day.”
“But what if-”
“You have to promise me you won’t put yourself in danger though,” Woojin knelt between Chris’ legs, placing a large hand on the hybrid’s knee. “We have to take care of each other now, right?”
“Right.” He nodded hesitantly.
“Good, now go into the bathroom,” He said, standing back up again. “I’m going to make you some food.”
“Alright.” Chris stood and went in the direction of the bathroom. It upset Woojin a little how easily he followed orders. That was something else he was going to have to work on with the other boy. He quickly got changed before going to the kitchen and looked in the fridge, his stomach sinking.
He pulled out the last of the fried rice in the tupperware container, he dumped it into a bowl and placed it in the microwave. Putting the container in the sink, Woojin took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. He still had some packets of ramen and some cans of veggies in the pantry. He had some milk and a block of cheese that was starting to mold, so he could probably make some sort of bastardized version of mac n cheese for dinner.
As long as there was enough for Chris, it was okay. Woojin had gone a few days without food before. This wasn’t anything new to him.
He took the bowl and grabbed some chopsticks, going to meet Chris in the bathroom. The blond had already taken his shirt off - the shirt he borrowed from Woojin. He was going to have to get used to wearing slightly baggy clothing because Woojin didn’t have the funds to get him his own wardrobe. The bandage was slightly stained, but wasn’t soaking which was a good sign.
“Sit on the edge of the tub, okay? It should be easier this time, I swear.” He smiled softly as he handed Chris the bowl. The hybrid nodded, taking the bowl and moving to sit straddled on the edge of the tub. Woojin carefully unravelled the bandage around the boy’s torso. The deeper wounds started bleeding again as the gauze was peeled from them, but it was slow and easily cleaned. Chris didn’t blink as the wounds reopened - didn’t make a sound at all - and Woojin would have though he was fine if it weren’t for his ears pressing down and his tail twitching in time with Woojin’s movements.
Woojin replaced the bandages on Chris’ side as the blond boy ate, then the bandages on his fingers once he was done. By the time all the bandages had been changed, Chris’ eyes were drifting shut.
“Why don’t you go take a nap?” Woojin suggested. “I’m going to run out to talk to a few places but I won’t be out too long. I’ll leave my phone number if you need to get a hold of me, alright? Don’t worry about bothering me. Call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Alright.” Chris sat on the bed. Woojin could tell he was hesitating, despite how sleepy he was.
“Go to sleep,” He gently pressed on the hybrid’s shoulder so he’d fall back onto the mattress. “If you wake up before I get home, your free to look around or get something to eat. This is your home now too, so you should be familiar with everything. Not that there’s much here, but I have nothing to hide so you can go wild.”
Chris nodded and smiled, his tail wagging slowly as his eyes slipped shut. Woojin reached forward and ran a hand through the blond’s hair gently before taking a deep breath and grabbing his jacket.
He made sure to lock the door behind him and made his way downtown. Thankfully he could just walk. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best part of town so he had to walk quickly with his head down. The first place he came across was a cafe. After working at the diner, he felt he’d have a good shot there. He slipped in and gave his information to the barista, who said she’d call if they got an opening.
He moved shop by shop, from the hardware store to the shore store to the small candy shop on the corner. A few told him outright that they weren’t hiring, while the others took his contact information. Woojin left his information with almost twelve businesses, and he felt even less confident about getting a job than before.
If he had a tail, it would have been hanging between his legs as he trekked back to his shitty little apartment. Just as he passed a wide alley, he noticed a sign for a music store.
He peered down the alley, seeing another sign halfway down. Taking his chances, he went to check it out.
The bell overhead dinged as he pushed open the door. He was instantly hit by the smell of records, soft music playing overhead. There was no one in the store at all, not even behind the counter. There were valuable records behind a glass case, as well as rows and rows of alphabetized ones. There were racks of CDs and movies and even some cassette tapes next to the counter. The walls were covered in vintage posters, covering the peeling paint.
Woojin walked up to the counter, looking around at everything there was to see - and there was a lot to see. As he looked, he noticed there really wasn’t anyone there.
He glanced down and saw a bell on the counter. He rung it, the ding echoing through the store loudly. There was a moment of silence before the sound of scurrying. A head poked up from behind a curtain on the far wall, a boy looking at Woojin with wide eyes.
“Ah shit! I’ll be right there!” He said, quickly running over. He was shorter than Woojin, with large round eyes and even rounder cheeks. He was wearing a black beanie and a large black hoodie that was easily four sizes too big for him. He looked up at Woojin, bouncing from foot to foot as if standing still wasn’t something he agreed with. “What can I help you with?”
“Ah, I was wondering if there was a job opening?” Woojin said with as friendly of a smile he could muster up. The boy blinked at him, tilting his head before quickly spinning around and shouting.
“BINNIE HYUNG! COME HERE!” He screamed back to the curtain. As he moved, Woojin noticed something moving under his hoodie. Something that seemed almost… tail like.
“Hey, are you… a hybrid?” He asked innocently, wondering what sort of hybrid the boy could be. Hybrids weren’t allowed to work by law, and if any hybrid tried to work would be detained. He didn’t mean for the boy to tense and spin around, and he most certainly didn’t mean for the boy to look at him with absolute horror in his large eyes.
“H-hyung! HYUNG!” He screamed again, his voice shaking. A figure shot out from behind the curtain, moving to stand between the boy and Woojin.
“Who are you? What do you want?” he growled, his inky black bangs hanging in his eyes.
“He knows what I am-” The boy whimpered, hiding behind the new boy. His eyes widened before hardening again.
“You’re gonna walk out of here, and you’re never going to breathe a word of this to anyone. Or else.” He said, his voice low. Woojin felt goosebumps on his arms at the smaller boy’s tone, but there was something that peaked his curiosity.
“My name is Kim Woojin,” He said carefully. “I just came in to see if you were hiring.”
“We don’t need help. Get out.”
“Alright, but just for the record I don’t have anything against hybrids,” Woojin held his hands up in surrender. Both boys tensed but stared at him with guarded eyes. “I actually just got a roommate who's a hybrid.”
“Your roommate?” The boy with the black hair relaxed a little, his shoulder loosening but his face still cold.
“Yeah, his name is Chris. He was hurt but I patched him up. I’m actually looking for a new job because I need to be able to get food and clothing and stuff.”
“He’s your roommate?” He asked again, and Woojin didn’t know why.
“Quite literally, since my apartment only has one bedroom.” He chuckled lightly. The boys exchanged a look before turning back to Woojin.
“Not your pet?”
“Absolutely not,” Woojin said firmly, frowning hard. “God, I could never own a person like that are you kidding me?”
The boys relaxed a little more, glancing at each other again. It was as if they were having a silent conversation, Woojin completely excluded from the entire thing.
“I’m Seo Changbin,” The boy with the black hair said, his face still blank. “This is Han Jisung. If you’re looking for a job, this is probably your best chance. You and Chris both, if you’re interested.”
“What? Really?”
“He’d have to hide his ears like Sunggie does, but there’s no reason hybrids shouldn’t be able to work like we do, right?”
“You’re right,” He felt a little light headed. “I- thank you… you have no idea how much you just saved my ass oh my god-”
“We open at nine in the morning and close around seven most nights. Right now it’s just me and Sunggie, but with two more people the hours will be less obnoxious. Come in for opening tomorrow and we can work through a schedule for the two of you.”
“Thank you so much,” Woojin bowed deeply, unable to keep the grin from his face. “Thank you!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Changbin waved off the thanks, his ears burning red. “Don’t thank me yet. It’s going to be tortue working with this one.”
“Hey! I’m a fuckin gem!” Jisung squeaked.
“Language!” Changbin scolded, but Jisung was already bouncing to a shelf to check on something.
“Thank you again, Changbin-ssi.”
“I said no more thank yous,” Changbin frowned, but Woojin was starting to realize his frowns weren’t something to be intimidated by. “Just be here by nine tomorrow.”
Woojin nodded and bowed again before rushing home. He couldn’t wait for Chris to hear the good news.