Chapter Text
Part One
Jeon Jungkook. The campus heartthrob. Captain of the football team. High School Prom King. Teacher’s favourite. Student boy favourite. Anyone, and everyone’s favourite.
Also your best friend. A shocker to many.
To an outsider, who hasn’t seen you two together, it would probably be hard to believe that you were his best friend. You–the resident nerd, the geek, the shy white hybrid. But you were. You were the best of friends.
You were both panther hybrids, but that didn’t mean that you both had the same personalities. Far from it really, while you were painfully shy and non-confrontational, Jungkook was fierce and loud, the one who always stood up for what was right. The golden maknae–as he was affectionately referred to as, in his circle of friends. While your fur was white and spotless, your voice soft and mellow, his was a soft gold with bold black stripes running along the course of it, his voice loud and clear–unafraid of being heard. Wanting to be heard–demanding to be heard.
The dichotomy between the two of you was as obvious to you as it was to everyone else.
You remember the first time you noticed Jeon Jungkook. You really noticed him. Of course, you knew who he was before, he wasn’t exactly subtle with him and his group of friends being the most popular guys in your college. But that was the first time you really saw him for who he actually was.
You were working at the small cafe on your campus. It was a cosy little thing with students spending hours pouring all their energy into last-minute assignment submissions and consuming ridiculous amounts of caffeine. So, you were certainly surprised when the door to the cafe opened–the chime above it ringing softly and letting you know about the arrival of new customers, and you looked up only to lock eyes with Jeon freaking Jungkook.
Your breath got caught as he gave you a soft polite smile before one of his friends–Taehyung you think–pushed him forward and they moved further to the back of the cafe.
You were soon away from the counter, walking towards his table to get his order. You knew any other girl in your shoes would have been jumping for joy–ecstatic to be talking to him and his friends. But you weren’t any other girl because despite being a predator hybrid, your persona was mostly soft. Shy. You didn’t want to come under anyone’s radar just because you took his order. But your bills weren’t going to pay themselves and you had student loans too, so you sucked it up and marched forward.
Let’s get this over and done with already. You thought and blew a raspberry, your overgrown bangs fluttering away before settling back on your cheek and tickling your skin softly.
There weren’t many things that could surprise you anymore–the hands that fate had dealt you with already having taken their toll on you. But today you were surprised. You don’t know why, but for some reason, you hadn’t been expecting Jungkook and his posse of friends to be nice. But they were nice–beyond nice. They were friendly and polite–unflinchingly courteous. Hell, they even bowed to you, simply for serving them coffee. A mundane job on your part that you weren’t doing out of any goodness of your heart, but solely because you were getting paid for doing it.
—CRASH—
You turn, as the sound of glass shattering reached your ears and almost as if on autopilot you moved towards it, praying that nobody had been hurt.
You get there and see a fox hybrid from one of your classes cursing and furiously trying to get the water off of his shirt with a tissue in his hand.
You look him over to see if he has any injuries and release a relieved sigh when you don’t see any. You then rush back and grab one of your coworkers, asking them to look after the cash register as you go to the back to get a broom.
You come back with your cleaning supplies and scoop the shattered glass away, mopping the floor dry after. Just as you were about to head back you hear someone holler, “WAITRESS!"
You turn with furrowed brows and see the fox hybrid from earlier snapping his fingers in the air.
Yes, you were a hybrid and part animal but you were also part human, and that sort of behaviour was demeaning to you. However, being the peace-keeper that you are, you say nothing and just silently walk towards him, voicing out a polite ‘Yes?’ once you reach beside his table.
”I don’t know what kind of shit you are trying to pull here but I am not falling for it. Why the fuck was I charged for the glass? That shit shattered and it could have hurt me!? And YOU are trying to make me pay for that shit?! Fuck you! I ain’t paying for this shit.“ He yells as he stands up and takes a threatening step towards you, his hybrid instincts taking hold of him.
You stumble back, at once terrified of the man in front of you. You wish your hybrid instincts would come through, hoping that the predator in you would somehow protect you. But your meekness wins and you stumble back even further, apologies pouring out of your mouth as you try to distance yourself from the fox hybrid. You were ready to pay the money out of–your own pocket if it meant not having to face his wrath.
"Dude, Back OFF” you hear someone threaten, and suddenly your vision is filled with black—the black of Jeon Jungkooks back to be precise. His leather jacket shone softly under the warm lights of the cafe and you fix your eyes on it.
You try to distract yourself from the fact that the air around you was growing heavier by the second. Killing intent pouring out of their bodies, making it harder for you to breathe.
You are the lamest panther hybrid ever, You tell yourself. You couldn’t even stand up for your own damn self!
You are a disgrace to predators. Always the fucking damsel in distress, The mean voice inside your head continues, and you feel yourself shrink further into your shell. Tears pool into your eyes, as your cheeks colour with shame and embarrassment.
“Y/N!” your eyes snap ahead, the tears slip down your cheeks and leave warm, wet trails behind. You hiccup and try to step away, to get away, to run.
It’s not like you are good for much else anyway, whispers the voice again. Watering the overgrown tree that has fertilised itself on your insecurities and fears— and you shudder. Your breaths start coming faster—shorter, and you start to feel light-headed.
You feel a panic attack coming, but before you can think about it too much, you feel as someone wraps their arms around you. The arms thick, strong and warm, pull you closer to a chest. The chest is even warmer and firmer under your cheek as you lay your head on it and try to get your breathing under control. You know who the chest belonged to, you know your tears were ruining the white tee under Jeon Jungkooks leather jacket.
You can’t even afford to dry clean it for him, your brain rationalises and you pull away because even amid an almost breakdown, you can’t forget, just how tight on cash you were. But before you can pull back completely, the arms that were around you tighten and cage you in. Pulling you closer, and your nose hits his neck, before one of the arms snakes around to your head and starts patting your hair—softly, as if you were a child.
It’s only then that you realise that you were still trembling like a leaf in a storm. Your breaths were still coming out more as shudders and the ache in your heart only worsens, as you realise how nice it feels to have someone hug you.
He was still holding you, softly rocking you from side to side. Whispering reassurances softly, but ones that you could clearly hear with your hybrid hearing. You think you should, want to pull back, run away from him after all, he was a predator—a strong and extremely dangerous one at that. If he wanted to, he could snap your spine in half like a twig.
But even with the warnings ringing inside your head, you don’t make a move to leave his embrace and just silently accept the affection—even if he was doing it only because he pitied you. You don’t care, you couldn’t remember the last time someone had held you so tenderly, with so much care, as if you were a porcelain doll that could shatter with one wrong move.
So you stop thinking, stop moving and just feel. Silently let Jeon Jungkook embrace you in his iron-clad strong arms. You close your eyes and pull yourself closer to him, barely a hair’s breadth closer, too afraid to shatter the moment and assure yourself that he won’t notice.
However Jungkook does, he holds his breath as he feels you move closer before a small smile slips onto his lips and he softly nuzzles your hair. Breathing your scent in, he tightens his arms and pulls you even closer.