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“you could get a cat, you know,” namjoon had suggested. “or a dog, or something. it’s not like there aren’t people who could take care of it while you’re gone.”
“i don’t want to be gone, is the thing.” jimin sighed, leaning back in his chair. “i don’t want to have companionship half the time, max. and i wouldn’t even be their most familiar person when i was home.”
namjoon sighed and nodded, holding jungkook a little closer.
the bunny hybrid had been snoozing off jetlag on his lap on and off for the past few hours, waking only to ask for kisses with pouty lips before nuzzling into namjoon’s neck once more.
jungkook wasn’t namjoon’s pet, even if he was labeled as such. he was his baby, his bunny, his little love. his companion.
namjoon saw right through him.
“it’s a bigger commitment than a pet,” he said quietly. it was a fact, not a warning.
“but worth it.” it wasn’t a question.
namjoon pressed a kiss to jungkook’s lax bunny ear. “so worth it.”
-
jungkook had been an unusual case: namjoon had found the sad little thing at an event, the bunny dressed in pretty silks and fancy jewels and looking elegant and alone. namjoon had abandoned industry small-talk and web-building, regardless of how important it was at that stage in his career, all in favor of keeping the hybrid company, feeding him finger foods he’d been told to not touch, learning about his life with his master and mistress, and falling head over heels in an incredibly short amount of time.
it took a few months of negotiating with jungkook’s owners and saving every penny he got from royalty checks, but eventually, jungkook was delivered to him, and they hadn’t let go of each other since.
so jimin felt a little out of his element as he walked around the hybrid shelter with only the advice of the internet to go on.
the shelter was high-end and expensive, the hybrids he saw in glass-walled viewing rooms were all well-kept and dressed to attract, either cutely or scantly. they were all domestic hybrids, though many were speciality breeds - persians rather than tabbies, papillons rather than labs. there were a few exotic breeds, as well, he saw: chinchillas and foxes and even a chameleon with rough scales in pretty patches.
most would smile when they saw that they were being watched, doing their best to look proper and sweet and adoptable.
jimin smiled politely and gave those who looked his way a little wave, but - he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. he wasn’t quite so naive as to think fireworks would be set off the moment he met his meant-to-be hybrid’s eyes, but he was a romantic. he thought there must be a spark at the very least.
but none of the beautiful hybrids sent lightning down his spine, didn’t even static-shock his brain. he sighed, turning to continue down the line.
“jimin-ssi,” the guide accompanying touched his arm, stopping him before he could wander farther down the hall. “those are predators, i’m afraid—not fit for companionship.”
jimin raised his brows, glancing at the doors at the far end of the hallway. the plain doors only had small square windows, certainly not the showy display cases all the rest were kept in.
“not fit for companionship?” he asked. “what are hybrids if not companions?”
“personal and professional security more often than not, though i have heard some are recruited for fighting rings—consensually,” she added appeasingly. “the televised sort, not—not anything improper. we ensure our hybrids are offered the best care possible, even after adoption.”
jimin hummed, ignoring her oh! as he continued down the hall. he peered curiously into the first door, and when the tiger hybrid met his eyes -
“zap,” he muttered.
the guide cleared her throat. “this one is being trained in hand-to-hand combat to increase the likelihood of adoption. he has some experience under his belt already—he’s a brute of a thing, i’m sure a company will be glad to buy him upon completion.”
that seemed lonely, jimin thought, to be bought for nothing but usefulness.
the tiger hybrid was huddled on his bed, arms wrapped around his legs. though he wasn’t in chains or anything of the sort, the heavy locks on the door meant he might as well be. and the muzzle.
jimin stared at him and he stared back at jimin, cautious and curious.
“are all of your predator hybrids so—protected?” jimin asked.
the guide didn’t seem to notice the distaste in his tone. “most, yes.”
“muzzling them seems quite excessive.”
“ah, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
jimin furrowed his brows. the hybrid furrowed his to match. “has he done anything to warrant it?”
“yes,” the guide hurried to say, clearly relieved to have an answer that might satisfy him - and one that might lead him back to the dainty things down the hall wanting his attention. “he’s shown signs of aggression in the weeks that he’s been here. he’s growled at his handlers, and bared his teeth—his claws have come out on occasion, too.”
“has he used them, though?”
“well,” the guard hesitated. “no. not yet.”
jimin looked at the hybrid for only a moment more before clearing his throat. “i’d like to talk to him.”
“i don’t advise that, sir—”
“i didn’t ask,” jimin snapped, putting on a charming, icy smile. “please open the door.”
the guide audibly sighed as she unlocked the door, holding it open for him and following him in afterwards, staying close to the door she left ajar. a quick escape, jimin supposed.
he was quiet for a moment as he stood in front of the tiger’s bed, suddenly unsure of what to say - he knew, just knew, it was a pivotal conversation.
“hello,” he decided. “i’m jimin.”
the hybrid stared at jimin’s feet; though he’d been confident meeting his eyes through the window, that confidence had disappeared, replaced with trained propriety.
“what’s your name, kitten?”
the name slipped from his tongue thoughtlessly, but the way the tiger’s ears perked up, bright, sharp eyes darting to meet his for a split second, ensured him that he didn’t need to apologize.
“taehyung,” he said, voice deeper than jimin expected.
“taehyung,” he cooed quietly. “that’s a lovely name for a lovely thing.”
taehyung blinked. “oh.”
jimin could just barely see his lips move behind the leather muzzle. he glanced back at the guide. “take that off.”
she was standing with her hand on the door handle, clearly itching to get out. she stared at him until he pointedly raised his brows. “i don’t think that’s—wise.”
“you said he hadn’t bitten anyone.”
“but he has shown signs of—”
jimin huffed. “he’s growled and gotten upset, sure. take off the muzzle. please.”
she stared at him for another moment before pursing her lips, getting a set of keys from her pocket. she didn’t unlock it, though; she handed jimin the thin stick-like key.
jimin didn’t snort at her fear. instead, he unlocked the muzzle himself, gently lifting it from taehyung’s face. there were red marks lining his face where the leather had pressed against his skin and jimin rubbed at them soothingly.
“there we are,” he whispered. “not so scary, are you?”
taehyung, precious, shook his head.
jimin’s heart warmed; decision made.
“would you like to come home with me?”
-
jimin did his best to keep his fury at bay when they delivered him in another muzzle the next day, a metal one this time, in cuffs and chains like he was a criminal and not a sweet hybrid.
“unlock him,” he snapped at the handler. they hastened to do so without further aggravation, thankfully, so jimin sent them off without ire.
he looked taehyung over. his clothes were rather scrub-like and he could use some proper grooming to get his tail to look nice and healthy, but he was in good shape, despite his handling.
taehyung looked - nervous, jimin realized with a start.
of course he was, how couldn’t he be? jimin chided himself, clicking his tongue; taehyung was starting a new life in a new hour with a new owner and couldn’t know what to expect. the poor thing was just standing in the middle of the living room with shaking hands just waiting.
“oh, taehyung-ah,” jimin breathed out, taking his hand (so big, even when not compared to his own, with subtle smoky stripes in some places). he gently led him to sit on the sofa, smiling encouragingly when he sat stiffly on the edge.
he was sure that taehyung, like jungkook, had been told to stay off human furniture. jimin could have scoffed. he’d have his kitten lounging over every piece he owned in no time.
“i’m so glad you’re here, sweetheart,” he told him, hoping taehyung could hear the honesty in his words. perhaps he could smell it - he knew hybrids were often sensitive, though he wasn’t sure how much so taehyung was yet. “i’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”
taehyung blinked, hands twitching in his lap. jimin took them in his own, squeezing reassuringly. “y-you have, jimin-ssi?”
“ah, there’s no need for formality, taehyung-ah,” jimin smiled, eyes turning crescent-mooned in his excitement. “we’re the same age, did you know? i’m only a few months older.”
taehyung tilted his head a little; jimin nearly gasped at how precious he looked. “i-i call you jimin?”
“that’s right,” jimin praised, squeezing his hands again.
“i’m allowed?”
“absolutely, darling. this is your home, too.”
taehyung frowned in thought as he glanced around. “my home,” he whispered.
he squeezed jimin’s hands this time, and jimin just knew everything was falling into place. he hadn’t realized something so huge as taehyung had been missing from his life, but now that he had him here, his heart would never be whole without him again.
-
“when you called him your kitten,” namjoon said slowly, staring at jungkook and taehyung with wide, wary eyes, “i thought you meant a kitten.”
“he is a kitten!” jimin pouted, smacking his arm.
taehyung looked over at him for a second - just like he’d been doing since they stepped out the apartment door, making sure jimin was still there. reassured, he looked back to jungkook. jungkook’s nose was still twitching as he took in the very new smell of his very new friend, his little cottontail shaking every time taehyung said something in that deep voice of his. they were clearly nervous about each other, though tae seemed to be more so. jungkook had been inching closer since the moment he came out of instinctual hiding from a predator walking into the room.
namjoon watched them carefully for another moment before sighing, taking a sip of his beer. “he’s a cute one. i didn’t think they had predator hybrids at normal shelters.”
“they’re separated from the general population,” jimin scowled. “they had him alone in a cold room with nothing but a little bed and a muzzle—he’s never hurt a fly and they treated him like he’s vicious.”
they both snapped to attention when taehyung let out a loud, rumbly purr; jungkook had crawled into his lap to show him something on his phone, leaning on his chest. taehyung was clearly delighted, nosing between jungkook’s bunny ears contentedly.
jimin’s heart fluttered at the sight. namjoon and jungkook were two of his best friends, hybrid or not. to see his newest, most precious baby happy with one of them was beyond heart-warming.
“i didn’t think to warn you, joon-hyung, i’m sorry. i didn’t think jungkookie would get so frightened.”
“well—” namjoon sighed. “he’s clearly over it. warning him in advance might have made him more scared. i trust that you wouldn’t do anything to harm kook, i know you wouldn’t have even brought him here if there was a chance of it.”
jimin reached over and squeezed his arm. “you’ll love him.”
“you already seem to,” namjoon said, giving him a fond smile. “my jiminie with his big heart—”
jimin laughed, looking at taehyung. he smiled warmly when the tiger looked his way, smiling even warmer when taehyung returned his smile with a boxy one of his own before going back to sniffing jungkook’s hair.
“i do love him. tae—i think we’re soulmates.”
“do you now?”
jimin squinted at him for his teasing tone. “i do! we were meant to find each other, namjoon-hyung, i really believe that. i’ve never felt so happy. and it’s not like i wasn’t happy before! i just—i feel complete now. half of my heart was missing and i didn’t even know, but now that i have him—he’s everything. he became everything the second i saw him.”
namjoon nodded. “kook’s my everything, too. i can understand that.”
jungkook’s ear twitched at the distant sound of his name; he got off of taehyung’s lap and bounced right over to namjoon’s, straddling him. “hyung, you have a video of fireworks at disney, right? tae-hyung’s never seen any—”
jimin smiled encouragingly at tae as he hovered nearby, patting his lap.
taehyung came closer, tail wrapped nervously around his leg. “m’big,” he whispered. “you’re small.”
jimin opened his arms for him. “you’re the perfect size for me, tae baby. do you want to sit on my lap?”
tae hesitated before nodding shyly, coming close enough for jimin to guide him down, peppering rewarding kisses to his cheek. taehyung giggled, curling up as small as he could and nuzzling into his neck. he loved scenting jimin, and jimin might love it more - knowing taehyung wanted him enough to lay claim on him, to want him to smell familiar, to smell like him, was such a delightful feeling.
namjoon scrolled through his own phone until he found what jungkook was looking for. “here, taehyung-ah. this was last year, wasn’t it, kook? we’ll have to fly to japan again soon—”
“hybrids can fly?” taehyung blurted with wide eyes, though he didn’t look away from the fireworks on the screen.
jimin was struck with how much taehyung didn’t know, what he hadn’t had the opportunity to know. he hadn’t seen fireworks, hadn’t traveled, hadn’t put his feet in a pool before that day - it was sad, sure, knowing so much had been kept from his baby, but now he could experience so much with taehyung. he could show him all of his favorite things, and would see taehyung discover favorite things of his own.
“maybe we can plan a trip together sometime, hm?” he suggested. “our hyungs are all there for another few months, i bet they wouldn’t mind a visit.”
namjoon snorted. “they’d act like they would.”
“not if it means they get to meet their new baby,” jimin grinned, giving taehyung’s tummy a tickle, feeling nothing but joy hearing his laugh.
“me?” he asked.
“you,” jimin confirmed, wrapping his arms around his waist.
“you’ll have to share being the baby, though, okay?” jungkook asked, bunny eyes wide, pout prepared to come out in full force if he said no.
taehyung nodded easily. “okay. i’ve never been the baby before.”
“never?” jungkook asked, eyes growing wider. “we don’t have to share all the time, then. you can be the baby the most.”
“that’s very kind of you,” namjoon grinned.
“thank you,” jungkook said, blatantly ignoring the tease in his voice. “i’m this hyung’s baby always, so i think it’s okay.”
jimin cooed. “cutie. this baby’s my baby always.”
taehyung giggled, blushing. “me?”
“you.” jimin hugged him tight for a moment before rubbing his back. “if you want to swim more you should do it now. we have to leave in half an hour.”
taehyung and jungkook leapt up at the same time, nearly stumbling back to the pool.
namjoon grinned, nudging jimin’s shoulder. “he is a kitten, isn’t he?”
jimin hummed, watching his perfect tiger sit in the shallow end, clapping at jungkook’s showy flips at the other.
“i’m glad you found him, jimin-ah.”
“yeah,” jimin said quietly. “me too.”
-
“what was your life like before this, tae-baby?” jimin asked, scritching the base of one of taehyung’s tiger ears just the way he liked.
taehyung had been with him for two weeks and every single moment felt joyful - even when taehyung accidentally shredded a throw pillow during a scary movie. perhaps that moment was especially joyful, because it gave jimin a chance to show taehyung that he was okay, that he was safe, that he wasn’t in danger of being punished just for having the traits he was born with.
jimin had just smiled gently, kissed taehyung’s palms, claws still out, and asked for help picking up the feathers. taehyung curled around him like a shell that night, lulling jimin to sleep with happy, relieved purrs.
they slept like that most nights, curled up in jimin’s bed, even though taehyung had his own. they often laid like they did now, face to face, cuddled together like they’d been doing it their entire lives. the intimacy of it ran through jimin like a warm ocean wave - he’d never experienced such a vibrant connection, not with friends, not with ex-partners, not with anyone on earth, but here he was with his perfect taehyungie, souls intertwined.
taehyung’s ear twitched. he found jimin’s free hand to play with his rings, a little habit jimin found absolutely charming. “i was a guard at a company. before that i was a laborer at one of the company’s yards. before that i was a display hybrid.”
“a display hybrid?”
taehyung nodded, pushing his head up a little to remind jimin to keep petting him. “uh-huh. in a breeding center. so humans could see the types of hybrids they could commission.”
jimin frowned, cupping taehyung’s cheek. “that sounds awfully lonely, taehyung-ah.”
taehyung’s tail thwapped under the covers once before it wrapped around jimin’s thighs. taehyung closed his eyes, nodding once.
“never again, okay, kitten? your jiminie will take care of you, i swear it.”
taehyung sniffled, eyes still closed. “okay.”
“a guard—” he muttered to himself before clicking his tongue, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to taehyung’s nose. “how do you feel about being a house cat?”
taehyung’s eyes flew open at that; he let out a silly peel of giggles and jimin couldn’t help but grin, pinching his cheek.
“i’m a tiger!” he laughed.
“my pretty baby tiger who deserves to be spoiled within an inch of his life—”
taehyung laughed again, wrapping an arm around his waist while his tail swished and tickled his legs. “there are prettier kittens, jimin-ah.”
“there aren’t, tae,” jimin said, tucking tae’s hair behind his human ear. “i promise you that.”
“a house cat,” taehyung giggled. “what does that even mean?”
“it means i get to put you in pretty collars and ask you to cuddle in my lap and bring you as many treats as i can. and it means you get to do whatever you want.”
taehyung raised his brows. “whatever i want?”
“within reason,” jimin added before taehyung could decide he wanted to fly to europe for a year. “i’d rather you didn’t go far from home without someone with you. but you can visit friends, or take up painting or music or crochet or—anything you’d like.”
tae blinked. “that’s a lot of options.”
it wasn’t, really, but jimin still smiled, pecking his nose again. “the world is yours, kitten.”
-
“anything i want?” taehyung asked, looking at jimin with wide, hopeful eyes.
he could have asked jimin to shoot down the moon and he would have said yes. “anything.”
he watched taehyung make the painstaking decision of which ears he should get, unwilling to rush him, even to appease jungkook’s wriggling excitement to go on more rides. seokjin had him under control, anyways; the only thing he had to worry about was the possibility that they’d get kicked out of the park when the two of them became a little too rambunctious.
“jimin-ah,” taehyung said. there were fluffy tan ears on his head, accented with a cute bow in the middle. precious, absolutely precious, which was incredibly expected - but what wasn’t expected was taehyung putting a headband on jimin, as well. “okay?”
“i said anything, didn’t i?” jimin laughed, cupping his cheek. “you’re so cute kitten.”
taehyung grinned, leaning into his touch.
it was only when jimin took the ears off to pay that he saw what taehyung had picked out for him. taehyung was staring at him as he realized, slightly tense but mostly eager. “taehyung, oh my god, this is so sweet—”
“jiminie likes?”
“jiminie loves.” he put the tiger-striped ears back on as soon as they turned from the register, grabbing taehyung’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “you’re so cute, baby, this is so cute—”
taehyung giggled, squeezing his hand. “i love when you smile.”
“well, i’m glad,” jimin laughed. “you make me smile all the time, i don’t want you to get sick of it—”
“i won’t ever,” taehyung promised. jimin believed him.
-
“anything i want?” taehyung asked a few days later, frowning at the case of collars jimin had laid on the counter.
“anything you want,” jimin promised, perching on one of the barstools. “and if what you want is to wait—”
“no, no, i wanna go,” taehyung frowned, squinting at his choices. “i just dunno how to look good for jiminie’s friends.”
“they’re colleagues,” jimin corrected, though he carefully did not say that colleagues were much worse. “and you picked out a beautiful suit already. plus, you’re already so gorgeous that you could wear a sack and still look better than anyone else in the room.”
taehyung bit his lip, denting it with his long, sharp canine without breaking the skin. “if i get scared—?”
“if you get scared or nervous or just want to get away, we can find jungkookie and he’ll keep you company, whether you just want to take a break or you want to go home. namjoonie-hyung and i will be there for you, too, and i’ll leave with you if i can—”
“no, s’important,” taehyung mumbled. he glanced up, hand hovering over one of the glitzier pieces jimin’s agency had sent over at his request. jimin smiled encouragingly as he picked it up. “i want this one, i think.”
“can i put it on you?” jimin did his best to not sound overeager, but the prospect of collaring his baby with something so obscenely glamorous was too thrilling to bear, even if he collared him with more practical collars of taehyung’s choosing every day.
taehyung handed it over, standing between his legs to give him easier access. the dripping diamonds and sapphires contrasted with taehyung’s sleep shorts and oversized t-shirt so pleasingly that it nearly made him tear up.
“pretty?” tae asked.
jimin nodded quickly. “pretty, tae-baby. so pretty.”
-
“anything i want?” taehyung asked, peering at the mountains of gelato behind the glass with an eager voraciousness that made jimin a little wary.
“anything,” jimin promised, “but i’d like to suggest you don’t eat the entire store.”
taehyung wrinkled his nose, glancing over to stick his tongue out at him. it was his first time joining jimin on a work trip, and taehyung had appropriately gawked at the history and culture and architecture, but jimin certainly didn’t expect taehyung’s biggest world-upturn to be a dessert.
“we’re here for five days,” jimin reminded him. “so you could try every flavor before we leave. not at all once.”
taehyung thought about it, tail flicking side to side. they both ignored the store owner’s semi-obvious unease. “three scoops.”
“three scoops,” jimin agreed, glad he didn’t ask for five, because he would have dimmed the sun before denying him. “what flavors?”
jimin wasn’t a patient person, but he loved taehyung enough to be anything - even when he saw taehyung’s intense focus start up all over again.
-
“anything i want?” taehyung asked, three months after he and jimin had found each other.
“anything,” jimin promised, as he always did.
he somehow didn’t expect taehyung to lean in and kiss him; a shy, chaste peck, testing the waters of what anything jimin truly meant.
jimin stared at him for just a moment, the entire universe stilling in his chest, before he kissed him again, sweet and gentle and filled with intention. taehyung gasped against his mouth and jimin felt his tail wrap around them both, holding them together as much as it could.
jimin held taehyung’s face between his hands when they parted, nuzzling their noses together. “i’ve been wanting to do that since i met you.”
taehyung shivered in his hold. “me too,” he admitted quietly. “when you took my muzzle off, i just wanted to—to kiss you.” he bit his lip, looking almost shy. “that was my first.”
“and second,” jimin grinned. he kissed him again, quick and sweet. “and third.”
“anything i want?” taehyung asked.
“anything,” jimin promised.
“i want to lose count.”