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"More beef, Markie?"
"I can't say no to your beef, ge."
Sicheng huffed out an endeared laugh and refilled his plate.
Having Mark over was always a delight, especially if he was tired and hungry enough to let Sicheng fuss over him properly. On a good day he would even duck his head, demanding pats, and Sicheng would indulge him, scratching behind his ears and under his chin thoroughly. That had to be a really good day though - Mark didn't like to do typically hybrid things, and Sicheng respected that and was careful not to cross the line.
Mark was a very unusual hybrid. A fairly rare one too, a tiger, but that paled in comparison to everything else.
He didn't enjoy skinship, he never wanted to join a home, to have a master - instead, he wanted a place to call his own and a way to make a living.
It was unclear how his foster family reacted to these tendencies, but they probably weren't very thrilled, since Mark never actually talked about them. They had no power over him anyway - he had a legal owner now, totally legit in the eyes of the law, and considerably less than that in real life.
Sicheng had only started dating Yuta, when they had what they later affectionately labeled as The Mark talk .
"So, the thing is: I own him," Yuta told him, "But I also kind of don't? Like, legaly he belongs to me, right, we've got all the paperwork done and all, but de-facto we're just friends, and he's doing his own thing most of the time. I mean, he stays over sometimes, and we, like, eat out together. And he wears my collar if he needs to, like, in public places and stuff. But I, like... I don't tell him what to do, you know? And he doesn't tell me where he is and what he's doing. It's mostly just to shield him from legal stuff."
"I see. And what do you get in return?"
"It's not a business deal," Yuta said firmly, "I'm helping my friend out, that's more than enough."
That was such a Yuta thing to say, and that may have made Sicheng fall just a little bit more in love with him than he already was.
That was the arrangement, and things didn't change much with Yuta's marriage, or with Mark's eventual promotion to Taeyong's right hand man. Mark dropped by frequently, always with a polite text beforehand. They had dinner, they talked about work (a little) and about some new american show that he was watching now (a lot).
It was always hard to let him go after a good dinner and a long, giggly conversation about some fresh nonsense. Sicheng would rather take him to the couch in the living room, scratch the back of his head, make him purr, let him lay his smart head down and dose off, surrounded by warmth and affection.
But that was one of those hybrid-owner things that freaked Mark out, and were definitely off the list, so Sicheng had to just sigh that out and fuss over Yuta instead, aching to have his hands full of something cuddly.
"...leave place for ice cream," Yuta said, watching Mark clean his plate once again with barely concealed fondness, "There was a three-for-two on Berry Mix, so I have, like, nine packs in the freezer now. We have a lot of work today."
"You know I love work," Mark said, stuffing the last piece in his mouth and clearly holding back from licking the plate, "Gosh, ge, one of these days I just won't fit through the kitchen door. You'll have to move me like a piano - through the window. And use a crane."
"That day is still far off," Sicheng said, "You're only getting thinner, I'm afraid... I swear, your cheekbones have gotten even sharper since your last visit."
"Lots of running around lately," Mark sighed, "Taeyong's looking even worse, if that helps."
"It doesn't," Sicheng said firmly, "He should also come over. We haven’t seen him for like a month now, that’s just disrespectfull of him."
Mark was silent for a little while.
"I actually meant to tell you that," he said slowly, "Taeyong wanted to come over. Tomorrow evening, if possible. He has something to discuss. With both of you."
Sicheng raised his eyebrows.
"We'll be glad to see him," he said, "Is it something-... Should I be concerned?"
"No," Mark said quickly. Then, "Maybe. Just a little bit," and then, "It's not about you, I promise."
"I see," Yuta said, "Well, then, we definitely need to eat all the ice cream, 'cause for Taeyong I'll have to fill the freezer with frozen cherries. And something sparkly, that can be barely considered alckohol. You know him, his drink of choice is that Barbie-themed mock champagne they sell for kids parties."
Mark eagerly joined in shit-talking their boss behind his back, and the topic of Taeyong's visit was dropped for the time's being. Sicheng tried not to think about it too hard.