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Choi Beomgyu was a puppy hybrid, raised in a town filled mostly with cat hybrids, he didn't mind, he loved all of his kitty friends, but he'd been taught from a young age to behave carefully around kitties; not to invade their space, not to play tug with them or bite their ears like he would do when playing around with his puppy brother.
But as Beomgyu's brother grew up and left he became lonely, quiet, well-behaved around other kitties but barely allowed to behave freely like a dog.
Then Beomgyu became of age, it was finally his time to be taken to the city and meet other hybrids.
When he meets his new housemate he can't help but feel intimidated, Soobin was so big, almost too big to be a dog hybrid-but that's what their papers said, and it wasn't polite to ask or assume that someone was a different race.
Soobin crowds over him when they meet, showing his big fangs and Beomgyu shrinks on himself, whining quietly and flattening his ears to his head.
His housemate pulls away for a moment and Beomgyu fleets to his room, locking himself in for the rest of the day-totally embarrassed of his reaction, remembering that it was a totally normal dog thing to scent each other and that showing your teeth was not the same for dogs asit was for cats.
After their first interaction Beomgyu is sure that Soobin is straight up ignoring him-yet he has no one to blame but himself.
Beomgyu can't help but feel even more isolated now, having failed to connect with his canine housemate, and away from his kitty hybrid friends... thing were dire, until one night when Beomgyu came home and found himself whining right away as the smell of home cooked food hit him.
It had been so long since he ate anything similar to the stew his mother made, and so he trailed into the kitchen to find Soobin there.
"Welcome home, Beomgyu." Soobin greeted quietly, pouting and looking away, and Beomgyu hated himself for that, knowing Sooobin spoke quietly around him and hid his fangs even more than usual.
"T-thank you, I'm sorry, I couldn't help barge in, I smelled the food you're making..." Beomgyu trailed off, blushing when Soobin's ears perked up.
"Oh! Do you want some? It's my family's beef stew recipe." He nodded right away, moving around the kitchen quietly as Beomgyu helped set the table up. They had been housemates for a bit over a week now, and yet this was the first time they ate together. "Try it first and tell me if you want a small or a big portion."
Soobin lifts the spoon up to Beomgyu's mouth, before drawing it an inch away and blowing on it, the steam dissipating for a second and making Beomgyu's face feel even warmer, left there blinking at such cute act.
"Sorry, I didn't want you to burn your mouth... that was weird." But before Soobin can retract his hand Beomgyu reaches out, holding his wrist softly and moving closer to eat what's offered to him.
Beomgyu whines again, his tail thumping hard and then wagging. "It's so good, Soobin-hyung, is it really okay to have a big plate?" Soobin is already nodding, his face blushed crimson red too and his tail wagging so hard it's hitting one of the kitchen cabinets.
Dinner feels so easy after that, Beomgyu doesn't hold back on trying to eat quietly, whining and yipping happily as he eats, his tail loud and hitting one of the chair's legs, not having to worry at all if it was rude, because he was finally amongst his own kind.
His worry only ever returns as they wrap up dinner, after chatting about their interests for so long and finding they had lots in common, Beomgyu is slow to pick up their plates, but Soobin just smiles at him and motions for him to follow and he's just like a puppy-trailing after his hyung.
They end up in the living room, his heart skips a beat when Soobin just turns around and smiles again, sitting on their couch that's big enough for three, pondering if he should sit next to Soobin or on the other end. "Beomgyu, I want to ask something, and you can just ignore it if it's a weird question but… do you have a pack, here in the city?”
Beomgyu can’t help but frown, unable to understand what he meant. “My family doesn’t live in the city.”
Soobin blinked at him, something close to a laugh and a scoff escaping him and his ears flattening before they perked up before.
“No, I know that, my family is away too. But I meant, do you have any group of dog-hybrid friends here? Another pack that cares for you?” Beomgyu shook his head quickly.
“It’s the first time I've heard of something like that…” Beomgyu said, his voice going slightly higher, unable to hide his intrigue and excitement.
“It works, almost the same, it’s just to soothe you, help you feel grounded, scent you. I couldn’t smell any scents on you.” Soobin’s voice is soft, turning his way but looking down at his hands as he speaks.
“Ah… yes it’s been hard not having my family to scent me, to hug me, it feels lonely, hyung.” Beomgyu watches as Soobin opens his mouth and then closes it again, blushing and finally looking up at him.
“What if… um, Beomgyu?” Hearing his name spoken so softly tugs at something inside him, making him look up at Soobin, holding their stares. “Do you think it would help if I scent you?”
“Is it really okay? I know I was weird around you before, I feel bad forcing you to-” but Soobin is quick to shake his head, grabbing one of Beomgyu’s hands and making him lose his track of thought.
“I-I want to do it! Um… can I scent you, please?” Beomgyu finds himself nodding right away, letting himself melt against the back of their couch and watching as his housemate followed closely, his body warm, safe. The notion that Soobin ever appeared as intimidating to him makes him feel so silly now, having been fed and cared for by his housemate.
The moment that Soobin dips and presses against his neck, Beomgyu is whining, leaning further back and submitting, presenting his neck to Soobin.
“Hyung,” Beomgyu whines, following after when Soobin pulls away before he realizes what he’s done, half ready to jump on Soobin’s lap like a pup starved for attention. “I’m sorry… I just never been scented from someone that wasn’t family”
“Oh, I thought I’d done something wrong.” Soobin says, ears and face red. It’s then that Beomgyu realizes he is grabbing at Soobin’s sleeve like his life depended on it.
“No, nothing wrong. Promise.” Beomgyu pouts, he’s half sitting on his knees, trying to get Soobin to scent him again without begging for it. Thankfully the other takes the initiative, nodding slowly and moving closer again.
This time, Soobin places a hand on the back of Beomgyu’s neck, holding him in place as he begins to nuzzle against his skin, reaching his pulse point.
It sends shivers down the younger’s spine, making him feel like a taught wire that was unraveled and relaxing at last.
It goes on for so long, so long, that Beomgyu can’t really tell if it’s been just a few minutes or hours of it, letting Soobin plaster himself against him, pulled into a hug as he gets kisses all over his face and Beomgyu starts to do the same back to the older, hesitantly nosing against Soobin’s jawline and finding the other submitting just as easy as he’d done before.
“Soobin-hyung, I like your scent so much.” Beomgyu yips happily. Drawing back to look into his eyes to say that, unaware of when they’d drawn so close to each other, loving the way that Soobin’s hand was now resting in the small of his back, drawing circles absentmindedly.
“It’s our scents mixed.” Soobin says, a dopey smile on his face. His hair a mess, standing up in different spots, it seems both of them got too drawn into their scenting session.
“Smells like home.” Beomgyu says, cuddling closer to Soobin, content and warm. Inching closer as he started nuzzling back against his hyung, wanting their scents to melt into one, daring to kiss Soobin’s scent gland and hearing the other sighing happily.
“Welcome home, Beomgyu.” The words made him feel warm, it made something swell in his heart so loud that he was sure Soobin could hear it too.