Chapter Text
Hybrids are a creation of the city, of the scientists and the rich investors. The current society deems them unequal. Humans claim to be the superior species here, but Jung Hoseok has to disagree. To him hybrids are far more fascinating than humans and that is why Hoseok considers himself lucky that the study path for becoming a hybrid doctor was available when he was in the age of starting university. It was both a way to learn more about the intriguing species and a way to help improve the quality of their life. Hoseok wasn't naive enough to think that every student taking the same courses as him had as pure intentions. All the more reason for him to provide hybrids with the best possible help.
After finishing his studies, Hoseok was quickly employed. The demand for doctors specializing in hybrids was rapidly growing, alongside the growing hybrid population. He got to work with another young doctor, Kim Namjoon, who had gone to university with him but had graduated one year early. Namjoon helped him a lot with his new job and they made a great team. They shared not only the same education and age, but also same values and work ethic.
On a certain Thursday afternoon, Hoseok's small team consisting of both nurses and a few scientists has a meeting regarding some future plans. The hybrid doctors after all don't only wait inside hospital walls for patients to come to them. They also make home visits and as is the topic of the meeting, surprise inspections to any establishments having to do with hybrids.
It's Hoseok's second year working as a doctor and his team has been formed quite recently. He is still as ambitious as when he had just started, and he proudly presents his idea in the meeting. He has already debated it with Namjoon and gotten his blessing. Him mentioning the HBCC raises some eyebrows but he is determined to drive through. The reason why the idea seems so presumptuous to them is simple. The establishment in question is not an independent enterprise but a government based facility. They could get in serious trouble for sticking their noses in a wrong place.
"Think about it from another perspective. If everything is well, the facility proves itself to be very professional and there won't be any problems for anyone. If there is something disg- something to improve, then we'll be doing everyone a favor. Especially the hybrids."
Hoseok's team members ponder the prospect for some time, but eventually everyone except one scientist agree. The said man decides to stay out of the operation and leaves the others to discuss the plan in more detail.
After a whole month since the first meeting, Hoseok stands in front of the intimidating building. 'Hybrid Behavior Correcting Center' is spelled with big letters above the door, off-putting in a way he too often feels when he has to witness how hybrids are treated in this society. He cannot get used to it, nor does he ever plan to.
Hoseok came by himself as a scout to see what the situation looks like and how they could proceed. He walks in confidently and finds his way to the info desk in the lounge. A sharp looking woman with red-dyed hair greets him behind the desk.
"How can I help you?"
Now, Hoseok is not a good liar, but he did not want anyone else from his team to do this part either. He wishes he could state his actual business but he really doubts that he would be allowed to see much.
"I'm thinking of leaving my hybrid in your care but first I would like to see for myself what this place can offer. I have tried another place before but they could not handle my hybrid well."
Hoseok knows he's being very vague, not mentioning what kind of hybrid he allegedly has or the name of the place where the imaginary hybrid has been before. Still the woman just nods, eyes glued into his expensive suit and the watch on his left hand.
Rich people always get their way here.
"I understand. Let me call a guide for you."
The woman presses a button on her desk and not long after, a man in his early thirties appears from the elevator across the hall.
"Good morning, sir," he greets Hoseok. "I am Lee Seongho and I will be your guide today."
"Jung Hoseok," Hoseok gives his real name and shakes the other's hand firmly. They won't care to find out who he is as long as he has money.
"Please follow me then, Jung Hoseok-ssi."
Lee Seongho leads him to the elevator first. The building has four floors plus one floor underground. Seongho says the fourth floor is for offices where all the paperwork is done. The tour then begins from floor three where the elevator door opens up to a waiting room of sorts.
"This floor is for our easiest cases. Most of the hybrids treated in this floor only have to stay for a very short time. Some even bring their hybrid for a one time visit with our trained therapist."
Seongho talks while they walk through a long hallway that seems to go around the whole floor. There is nothing special that sticks out; everything is clean and the colours used are mellow, pleasant. There are dozens of rooms, some with a name tag and some with only a room number.
"The doors with a name are for the therapists. The numbered doors are for the...residents."
"I see..."
The room doors end and the hallway joins what seems to be a common room. There are a few hybrids conversing with each other. They don't stop talking even when Hoseok and Seongho come closer.
"As you see, the hybrids are free to spend time with each other too. There is surveillance of course, safety is one of our top priorities. The hybrids on this floor are not any threat though."
It is only when Seongho mentions the word 'threat' when it strikes Hoseok. All the hybrids he can see in the common room are herbivores. He gulps, the action hopefully going unnoticed. He tries not to think about it too much.
"How difficult would you estimate your hybrid's case to be?" Seongho asks as they head back to the elevator.
"He's a difficult one for sure", Hoseok chuckles forcibly. Seongho nods and presses the button for floor two.
The second floor looks about the same as the floor above. This floor has a common room too, but there is only one hybrid present. A cat hybrid, sitting on a couch next to a radio that plays music on a low volume. The hybrid looks startled when Seongho suddenly addresses him.
"Good morning Yoongi-ya. Say hello to our visitor here."
The hybrid -Yoongi- turns around, eyes cold and empty as they settle on the new face.
"Hello."
One simple word, nothing more, nothing less. Exactly as instructed. Something about it bothers Hoseok enough that he forgets the character he was playing.
"Hi there. What are you listening to?"
Yoongi's face remains stoic, but his eyes shine with a different spark.
"Mozart. They only play classical music here."
There is no bite in his voice, but Hoseok still grimaces in sympathy. Not that there is anything wrong with classical music itself; it's more about the fact that the facility is limiting the hybrids' choices.
"Classical music is cleansing for the soul," Seongho states, face fierce as he looks at Yoongi for one last time before turning around to leave. Hoseok also sends a last glance towards the cat hybrid but the said hybrid is already looking away.
"He's been here for the longest time, very stubborn", Seongho mutters without Hoseok even asking.
Hoseok feels like something is wrong, but he can't really say what it is. He was relieved to see a carnivore, a cat hybrid, but the one-sided exchange between Seongho and Yoongi felt eerie.
The first floor is where the entrance and the info desk is. It also has a kitchen and a canteen where both staff and hybrids eat. The meals for both are served at different times.
"We still have one floor underground, although it is rather unpleasant to visit," Seongho sighs as they step inside the elevator once more.
Now that raises his curiosity. It raises even more when Seongho has to swipe a card to get access to the lowest floor.
"Why is that?"
"It is reserved for the dangerous cases. Hybrids that were brought here because of their violent tendencies. You know how hybrids with predator instincts can be."
Hoseok almost bursts right then and there. Hybrid psychology hasn't been studied as much as their biology but Hoseok knows that the animal instincts always work together with human emotions. Always. Even the base animals act aggressively only when they are hunting for food or when they or their offspring is being threatened. Hybrids don't see humans or other hybrids as food, because in that sense they are very much human, so them being violent would mean they are protecting themselves or someone precious to them from danger.
Hoseok can't help but grit his teeth, heart beating faster as the door opens to the final floor. He has a hunch that he is not going to like what he will find.
The underground floor isn't decorated like the other floors. The walls are dark grey instead of white and there are no plants. There is no waiting room and only one of the doors has a name, 'Doctor Choi'. The most striking part is however the numbered doors. They all have electronic locks attached to them. Hoseok already knows there is not going to be a common room at the end of the hallway.
"It feels like a prison," Hoseok can't help but say aloud.
"Like I said, safety is one of our top priorities. These hybrids are too dangerous to be allowed to wander around by themselves," Seongho states.
They are about mid-way down the corridor when they hear a growl that's soon followed by a scream that sends cold shivers down Hoseok's spine. The sounds were of a completely different nature, yet something tells him they belong to the same person.
"Not again," Seongho complains. He and Hoseok have stopped walking as soon as they heard it, but they don't need to move to find out the source of the sounds. Two men appear, walking towards them quickly while holding onto the wolf hybrid between them. Wolf hybrid that seems to be in immense pain. The men nod to them as they head past, towards doctor Choi's room.
Hoseok wants to stop them, demand to know the reason behind the hybrid's pain. He feels incredibly helpless, staring after the three as Seongho just sighs tiredly.
"That wolf's not even that new here yet he still continues to refuse following orders."
Hoseok isn't sure if he wants an answer to his next question. Still, he braces himself and asks as steadily as he can.
"What happens when you can't get a hybrid to behave no matter what you try? And how long do you try?"
"We try our best here, but a long term treatment is rather expensive and most owners aren't willing to pay for more than four months. After that we can continue trying in case someone else is interested in taking in the hybrid after the treatment is over. But hybrids that don't ever learn how to behave are a lost cause. No one wants to keep a hybrid like that and we can't keep them here forever either so...there is really only one solution and I know you know what it is."
How much he wishes he had no idea what that meant. Wishes that his bad inkling wasn't proven to be true. Hoseok feels sick when Seongho continues the tour with no sign of empathy on his face.