Chapter Text
The snoring in his ear was a normal thing that happened every morning when Junmyeon woke up. It had been like that for the last three years since he got Chanyeol, his dog hybrid. While it had been annoying in the beginning, he found that on some nights when Chanyeol actually slept in his room, he missed the snoring and found it hard to fall asleep without that noise in his ear.
The curly brown haired hybrid had wrapped his arms and legs around Junmyeon, like always, when he slept. Junmyeon slept on his side and that left Chanyeol on his side, pressed up against Junmyeon’s backside, with his arms and legs holding onto the man, like he was a giant body pillow for the dog. The floppy ears twitched every so often as that mouth stayed wide open with each snore, a slight dribble of drool escaping the corner of the dog’s mouth.
Junmyeon glanced over at his clock with sleep-filled eyes, groaning softly when he saw that it was almost ten o’clock that morning. It was Saturday. The first day of the weekend, and he was free. Today was the day that he got to sleep in, despite it being only two hours of sleeping in, and it was the day that he got caught up on the things around the house.
Chanyeol helped out where he could, the dog hybrid could cook, thankfully, but the other small things, Junmyeon took care of those. Like laundry, dishes that needed to be washed, vacuuming, and grocery shopping. Junmyeon always left enough money throughout the week for Chanyeol to use for delivery when he was hungry, but due to the laws, a hybrid wasn’t allowed outside of a residence without a leash or their master with them.
The laws had been passed years before Junmyeon was born, his parents even had their own hybrids, they were treated just like any other animal, the only difference was the hybrids could talk back, if permitted to by owners. Junmyeon never cared for traditional methods of training a hybrid, he just saw another individual. But in order to not get into trouble or get Chanyeol into trouble, there were some laws that Junmyeon had to obey.
Truth be told, Chanyeol didn’t belong to Junmyeon in the first place. His neighbor in the apartment beside him had Chanyeol. But the owner was so mean and horrible to Chanyeol that it hurt Junmyeon’s heart every time to see the poor hybrid left out on the porch on cold nights, tied to the porch, and sometimes even left without food. And then sometimes the noises and cries that he heard of Chanyeol’s through the walls of the apartment made him worry for the poor soul.
Then one night, after his neighbor came home drunk, kicked out Chanyeol onto the porch before going inside, Junmyeon decided that enough was enough. He slipped out of his apartment door, walked over to Chanyeol’s whimpering form, untied his leash, and led the dog hybrid into his apartment. There, he treated the wounds that Chanyeol had sustained, tended to his tears, gave him a warm meal, and offered him a warm bed to sleep in that night.
The next morning, Junmyeon was out the door before Chanyeol woke up, off to his job that had him at work by seven that morning and didn’t return home until three that evening. He taught kindergarten students at the local school. He didn’t expect to still see Chanyeol when he got home, but the dog hybrid was there, in his living room, curled up on the couch, munching on a pop-tart and watching cartoons on the TV.
On the way into his apartment, his neighbor stopped him, asked about Chanyeol, and in so many words, told Junmyeon to take care of the good-for-nothing mutt. Supposedly Chanyeol was the man’s ex-girlfriend’s hybrid and she left him when she left his neighbor.
And that’s how they ended up where they were today, so many years later.
“Chanyeol? Time to get up,” Junmyeon mumbled, turning over in the cage of limbs to shake at the dog. “We have to go grocery shopping today after I get the laundry started.” He shook the dog again when the snoring didn’t stop, “Come on, lazy bones.”
Chanyeol groaned, releasing Junmyeon from his hold and turning over on his side with a yawn, “I don’t wanna go out today.”
Junmyeon laughed softly, shaking Chanyeol’s shoulder, “Don’t you want to by the marketplace again? You wanted some more hotteok from the street vendor.” He grinned when Chanyeol shot up, eyes wide and excited now. Fully awake. “I thought so. I’ll get you some of that if you go ahead and get started on breakfast. I have to sort through the colors and whites for the wash today.”
Chanyeol nodded happily, throwing the blanket off, and reaching down to the floor for his hoodie that he discarded last night.
He was out of the room as he put it on. Junmyeon got up from his side and started making the bed, afterwards, he went to the bathroom and the corners of the room to collect the dirty clothes that he and Chanyeol had discarded here and there throughout the week. Once he’d got them all, he headed to the washroom to throw in the colored clothes first, adding the right amount of soap, and started the washing machine.
By the time he’d finished and made his way into the kitchen, Chanyeol was already plating a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Junmyeon walked over to the coffee pot and made himself a cup of coffee, then went to the fridge to pull out of Chanyeol’s juices. The hybrid didn’t care for the bitterness of coffee after all.
He dropped a kiss to the top of Chanyeol’s head before seating himself across the table from the hybrid, handing the juice to him, and began eating the breakfast.
“Can I get a bunch of hotteok, hyung?” Chanyeol asked, taking a sip of his juice before shoveling more eggs into his mouth. “I want some for tomorrow too.”
Junmyeon nodded, “I don’t see why not. It’s supposed to be really cold tomorrow anyway, I heard there was a blizzard on the way later this week. Work will probably be canceled if it’s too bad.”
Chanyeol grinned, “So we can stay in bed when that happens?” Then he paused, eyes widening, “Do you think the power will go out again if it does freeze over?”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t. I don’t want to go to the bathroom and come back with icicles hanging off of me, but if it does, yeah, we can stay in bed all day then.”
After they finished breakfast and Junmyeon threw the colored clothes in the dryer and started a load of the whites, the two set out with their small cart to the marketplace. Junmyeon needed to get some groceries for that week and some small lunches for work and Chanyeol was just enjoying the nice walk outside. The two were familiar faces throughout the marketplace, having shopped there countless weekends since Junmyeon moved into the apartment. And the elderly ladies always loved pampering or spoiling Chanyeol anytime they saw him.
He wanted the hotteok, but ended up with different samples and free candies from the elderly ladies of almost every stand they stopped at. Each one giving him an ear-rub that he ate up before they moved onto another shop.
“You’re so greedy when it comes to an ear-rub,” Junmyeon chuckled as they left one of the stands. It was the last stop, the cart nearly full, and they were about to head back to the apartment. The cold breeze had both of them clutching tighter to their coats.
Chanyeol grinned, munching happily at the hotteok, basking in the warmth from it with his hands, “They’re my favorites, and the adjummas know just where to scratch me at.”
Junmyeon teased, “Is that really it or is it because you enjoy getting so much candy by kissing up to them? They treat you like their own child.”
The hybrid shrugged, “They seem more like my grandmas, honestly.”
“They do,” Junmyeon smiled.
As they turned down one of the streets on the way to their apartment, the wind started picking up. A colder breeze that had Junmyeon and Chanyeol walking a little faster to get back and inside the comfort and warmth of their home. The clouds overhead weren’t dark enough that it would start raining yet, but Junmyeon knew by nightfall, it would be raining, and possibly even snowing. He shivered at the thought of it, glad that he’d be back in bed, under blankets by then.
Although as they passed by one of the alleyways, Chanyeol’s ears twitched and his nose picked a scent. Junmyeon stopped, the cart’s wheels weren’t making any noise now, the only thing that he heard was the sound of the wind… and a small whimpering sound? He looked towards the alleyway, the same direction that Chanyeol had turned towards, the other half of the hotteok halfway up to his lips stopped in its tracks.
It sounded like a soft whimpering, something that might belong to a child. Inside the alleyway, there was a large garbage bin, and several pieces of trash here and there and some cardboard boxes, all of different sizes. Chanyeol’s nose sniffed at the air, his steps moving closer to the entrance of the alleyway. His ears twitched again where they usually lay floppily against his curly hair.
“Chanyeol, what is it?” Junmyeon questioned, following after Chanyeol, leaving the cart on the sidewalk as they walked slowly further into the alleyway.
“It’s a child… a young hybrid,” Chanyeol muttered, sniffing the air again, “A cat or rabbit… I can’t tell, it’s a mixture of both.”
They edged closer to the large garbage bin and when they reached around, there was a large cardboard box in the corner, leaned up against the garbage bin and the brick wall, a thin raggedy blanket was covered the front where it looked like a makeshift entrance. That’s where Chanyeol heard the whimpering coming from, a lot louder the closer they got.
Chanyeol handed his hotteok to Junmyeon, “Let me check it out, I don’t want anything hurting you, if the cat or rabbit try attacking. It’s a young hybrid… might not be trained.” To which, Junmyeon nodded, watching cautiously as Chanyeol stepped up, and moved to pull back the raggedy blanket. The touch of the blanket alone making Chanyeol want to recoil because it felt old, dirty, and disgusting, but when he pushed it out of the way, his eyes widened.
Junmyeon’s gasp was lost to him as they took in the sight of the crying children inside. There were two hybrids, one was a rabbit with large, light brown ears that matched his hair color, and the other was a cat with large eyes and black ears. Their whimpering quietened in fear at the sight of the two finding them, unsure if Chanyeol or Junmyeon were going to harm them.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Chanyeol held up his hands, hoping they knew that he was harmless. By the looks of the two, they were freezing, clutching to one another for warmth and right now, out of fear. But the clothes they had on looked old and dirty, neither one had shoes on.
“Do you think someone just abandoned them?” Junmyeon questioned, eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Why couldn’t they just take them to the hybrid shelter? Anything would be better than just leaving them outside in the-” he stopped at the deep growl that filled the alleyway.
Turning to the other entrance of the alleyway was a tall figure, ears raised on its head, and a snarling that made Junmyeon back up, clutching to Chanyeol. But Chanyeol never took lightly to anything or anyone that wanted to harm Junmyeon, a growl of his own rumbling through his chest. It didn’t sound as threatening as this hybrid’s, but Chanyeol could hold his own.
The figure moved closer, the two younger hybrids in the cardboard box moved to the opening, and upon the sight of the other hybrid, they quickly ran to his side. Junmyeon wondered if the hybrid was one of the younger hybrid’s father… or both. But when he got a clearer sight of the hybrid, he realized that this was a wolf hybrid. Not a cat or rabbit. Maybe the wolf had found the two? Maybe they were all three abandoned? Or maybe-
The growling stopped for a moment, a snarled question left the hybrid, deep, much like Chanyeol’s voice, “What were you trying to do to them?”
Chanyeol’s teeth bared, eyes still zeroed in on the wolf, “We weren’t going to harm them. It’s freezing out here, they shouldn’t be out in this cold.”
“Yeah? Well this is all we got so beat it,” the wolf growled, his hands clutching onto the two younger as they both held onto either side of his legs. They didn’t even come up to his waist, still very young.
Junmyeon’s heart lurched at that, motioning towards the cardboard box, “This is all you have? There’s going to be a blizzard soon, you can’t stay out here in the cold like this. You three will end up freezing to death!”
The wolf scoffed, “I can’t do any better thanks to you stupid humans and your damn laws. We made it last winter, we’ll make it this winter.”
Junmyeon clutched at Chanyeol’s arm, “We can’t let them stay out here… I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I knew those two babies were out here in this cold.” He turned back to the wolf, knowing that with the hybrid’s hearing, he heard what Junmyeon said, “You can’t stay out here like this, at least come to my apartment for tonight. It’s two bedrooms, you three can sleep in Chanyeol’s room, lock the door the whole time, I don’t care, at least you’ll be warm then. We had plenty of food too.”
As if on cue to the mention of food, Chanyeol heard two little bellies growl. The two younger hybrids looked up at the older one, a plea in their eyes as they shivered against the cold. Junmyeon was already shedding off his coat to offer up to one of them, Chanyeol following suit. With careful and cautious steps, the two younger hybrids made their way over to the two, quickly accepting the warmed coats. The coats basically swallowed both of them up but it would help with how many holes that Junmyeon lost track of with their shirts and pants.
The taller hybrid’s eyes were still harsh and narrowed at Junmyeon, his gaze flickering between him and Chanyeol before settling on the two younger hybrids, “You better not try anything stupid. Those two are my life and if you try to take them from me, I’ll kill both of you.”
Junmyeon raised his hands in surrender, but Chanyeol growled back at the threat, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to his master. The two stared at each other hard for another moment until another breeze came through and the wolf hybrid shivered involuntarily. Junmyeon finally noticed the wolf’s attire. It was a thin long-sleeve shirt with a few holes here and there, and the pants didn’t look like they held much warmth to them. He was freezing too.
“Come on, let’s get to the apartment and get you three some warm food,” he started to lead the way, Chanyeol staying between him and the wolf hybrid, the two younger ones staying in step with the wolf.
On the way back to the apartment, Chanyeol took back his hotteok from Junmyeon, taking the last half and breaking it into two to hand to the two younger hybrids. They quickly devoured it as Chanyeol tried to find any other warm snacks on the cart to give them before reaching the apartment.
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As soon as Junmyeon got the front door unlocked and open, he pulled in the cart, Chanyeol following suit, and then the three new hybrids hesitantly stepped inside. The wolf quickly closed the front door as the cold air tried to enter, unable to stop himself from sighing as the heat that was inside the house had him already thanking whatever gods were listening for the owner of this residence. His hands might have a chance to thaw out now.
“Chanyeol, don’t you have some spare clothes you can let him borrow? Something warmer?” Junmyeon asked as he started setting the groceries that they bought out on the table to sort them into their respectable places.
Chanyeol hesitated at the idea of leaving Junmyeon in the room with the wolf, even for a moment, “I do…” he turned to the wolf, “Follow me, I can show you where you three can stay tonight too.”
“Good idea,” Junmyeon put the last bit of groceries on the table then moved to the stove, “I’ll make some tea for us, and would you two like some hot cocoa?” He looked at the two younger hybrids, both were cuddled up together on the couch still basking in the warmth of Junmyeon and Chanyeol’s coat, “I’ve got marshmallows.” The two perked up at the mention of hot cocoa.
The wolf didn’t want to leave the room, and he could tell that the dog hybrid didn’t trust him with his master, that’s why he offered for the wolf to follow him. He could see the bond between the two, plain as day, but he silently followed after the dog into the second bedroom.
The room looked like a child’s bedroom, basketball posters everywhere, lots of plushies on the full sized bed, and the oddest thing was the Zootopia bedset.
Chanyeol moved over to the one of the chest of drawers and started rummaging through the drawers to find something for him to wear, Chanyeol noticed that the wolf didn’t seem as hostile now. He wondered if it had anything to do with Junmyeon, which he couldn’t understand why, because Junmyeon was the softest human he’d ever encountered.
“I know you are probably sketchy about us, but I promise you that we won’t do you or the two little ones any harm,” Chanyeol finally stated, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of pants. He fished out one of his older hoodies that he didn’t wear anymore and gave to the wolf. “I’m Chanyeol, and my owner’s name is Junmyeon.”
That answer made the wolf’s lip curl back in a snarl, but no sound came from him, “So you’re an owned hybrid, how long until he throws you to the side? Do you warm his bed at night too?”
That question confused Chanyeol, he wasn’t sure of what to make of it. He did sleep with Junmyeon at night, it was normal for them… and Chanyeol did put off a lot of heat naturally. One of the things about being a dog hybrid. He was a very warm individual.
The wolf stared at him, looking for any of the signs that the dog might’ve been abused by his master, but found none, he questioned again, rephrasing his question, “He doesn’t use you like a slave? Something he fucks?”
Chanyeol’s eyes grew wide and the wolf thought they meant what he had been implying with the first question, but the answer surprised him, “Oh, no. Junmyeon doesn’t do that. I love him and he loves me, but he doesn’t… touch me like that.” He coughed into one hand while he handed over the clothes, muttering, “If anything, I do that… to him. When I go through a rut, and other times.”
The wolf stayed silent at that, thinking it over before taking the clothes and started to shed off his old for the new. It wasn’t anything that hybrids felt ashamed of, each other’s nakedness. The only time that they did feel embarrassment was in front of humans, although Chanyeol didn’t when it came to Junmyeon.
As he slipped on the shirt, the wolf mumbled, “I’m Sehun, I don’t have an owner anymore. The two little ones are Taehyung, the cat, and Baekhyun, the rabbit. I found them in that alleyway about two years ago, they were just small toddlers then.
Someone that abandoned them and I took them under my wing. They’re both five now.”
Sehun sat down on the bed to put the pants on, and Chanyeol sat down beside him, “What happened to your owner?”
Sehun didn’t say anything at first, fastening the button on the pants, “I ran away from him. I was bought at a hybrid auction when I was a teenager,” Chanyeol knew what those were. There were several different trafficking rings nowadays. Some sold humans and others sold hybrids. They were horrible places and did horrible things to individuals. “He’d bought me as a pretty face and something to leave tied to the bed and ready for whenever he wanted me.”
“Should we be worried that he’s looking for you? I can tell Junmyeon and he’ll keep you safe,” Chanyeol stated, noticing the sour look on Sehun’s face at the mention of Junmyeon. For all that Chanyeol knew, the only humans that Sehun could’ve met were bad humans. But that wasn’t what Junmyeon was. Neither was all the adjummas at the marketplace. Even Junmyeon’s friends weren’t bad humans. “He’s not the same as your owner or whatever kind of humans you’ve met. Junmyeon is kind.”
Sehun shook his head, muttering as he slipped on the hoodie, content in the warmth he was now able to sustain, “I thought we were just staying for the night.”
Chanyeol shrugged, “If you want to, or you could stay longer, Junmyeon wouldn’t care. He’d probably insist. He wouldn’t want you out in the cold like that, not when we have the room for you. You can stay in here, in my room, for as long as you like. We can even set up another bed for the two little ones, if you want the big one by yourself.”
“They’d want to sleep with me… we always sleep cuddled up. I’m their source of warmth.”
Chanyeol was about to reply but the soft knock on the door stopped him, Junmyeon cracked it open to peek in, “Chanyeol? I’ve fixed you both some warm tea, if you want it, Baekhyun and Taehyung are content with their cocoa. Will you get started on some soup for us? I’m going to run to my brother’s house right quick and see if he has any spare clothes that’ll fit the two little ones.” He looked over at Sehun, “If you want, you can give them a bath later on before bedtime and they’ll have clean clothes to change into.”
Chanyeol nodded, and was up and out of the room with Sehun behind him. Junmyeon slipped on his coat and bid a quick goodbye. He was out the door to his brother’s house that wasn’t far from the apartment.
“You have to cook for him too? You sure he doesn’t have you just to boss around?” Sehun questioned, glancing over at Baekhyun and Taehyung to see them content with their cocoa and cartoons on the television. They were under a throw now instead of the coats.
Chanyeol chuckled, collecting the vegetables that Junmyeon must’ve cut up for the soup, “You’d better be glad it’s me cooking instead of Junmyeon, he’s hopeless in the kitchen. The only thing he can make is ramen, and even that is too watery.” He reached up in the cabinet for the spices for the soup and started working at it. “You guys aren’t allergic to anything, are you?”
Sehun shook his head, looking down at the cup of tea in front of him, “We’ve been eating scraps and haven’t died yet.”
The dog hybrid tried not to grimace at the sound of that, he could remember getting nothing but scraps from his old master. It wasn’t even appetizing, but for empty and starving stomachs, he figured it was better than nothing.
“If you stay here with us, you won’t have to eat scraps anymore. You’ll have whole meals… made by me,” he grinned proudly.
Sehun stayed quiet at that, choosing to turn towards the television, glancing at the two little ones on the couch, they looked like they were dozing off. He didn’t mean to leave them that long earlier today, he was busy trying to find some more blankets or something to keep warm that night with. He knew the human was right earlier, it was going to get colder that night and he could feel the bad weather coming in the air. He was trying his best for the two so they wouldn’t end up freezing to death that night.
He supposed he was glad that the dog and human found them. He hadn’t had any luck with the extra blankets. Nor had he any luck with any food today either. And now as the dog hybrid started mixing up vegetables and meats into something that smelled like chicken broth, he was definitely thankful he didn’t let his stubbornness rule out. He didn’t know what tomorrow morning might bring, but at least tonight, they would have food and a warm bed.