Chapter Text
All of the finest luxuries in the world went through the Sparkling Coast. Ships of mahogany brought in fine fruits and jewel encrusted shaws from foreign shores, always stopping in the seaside city to take in its marvels. There were plenty to be seen after all: soaring statues of marble and rainbow mosaics lined the streets, villas were nestled in the cliffsides surrounding the docks, but nothing could compare to the glittering Diamond of the Coast.
Yoon Jeonghan lived in one of the biggest mansions in the town, second only to the local lord of the land. Everyone knew the location of the Chateau because Yoon Jeonghan was the city’s biggest commodity. The Diamond of the Coast was a world-renowned dancer, entertainer, and escort-for-hire. And, likewise, everyone knew about his pack. There were whispers about exactly how many men Yoon Jeonghan had in the Chateau, some claimed two or three while others claimed upwards of thirty. But everyone knew one certainty—they were off limits.
Anyone lucky enough to be brought into the Chateau could look, but never touch the veritable zoo Jeonghan was sponsoring. Hybrids lounged on loveseats leading up to the master bedroom and supposedly each one was more gorgeous than the last. But you were immediately thrown out if Jeonghan even suspected you were interested in them, which is why no one ever got a good headcount. Once you were in the Chateau, you did not want to lose the opportunity. It would be like tossing gold into the ocean.
Through the wide archways of the Yoon Villa, settled in a comfortable hammock just on the edge of the forest, a pack member napped. The man had white, pointed cat ears on the top of his head and a fluffy white tail curling around his leg. Currently slipping off his face were a pair of round black glasses, which moved ever so slightly closer to the tip of his nose with every deep exhale. The glasses were far from the first thing someone would notice about him though, that honor went to the bejewelled collar around his neck. It was a choker encrusted with diamonds around the width of his neck, with a singular ruby dangling from the center and resting right above the man’s collarbone.
“Sneak attack!”
Woozi was awoken from his cat-nap by the force of another man landing square on his hammock, and thus Woozi too. If he couldn’t tell by the sheer audacity, the man’s straggly orange, white, and black hair gave their resident calico away. “Hoshi, you have three seconds to get off of me before I claw your eyes out.”
The hybrid immediately scrambled off of Woozi and the hammock, grinning excitedly over the smaller man instead. “Guess what?” His ears were perked up in the way they only got when he was very excited. Bouncing from foot to foot, Hoshi waited expectantly for Woozi’s answer.
“What?”
“The new puppy is here!”
Woozi’s ears immediately perked up as well. “When did he get here?”
“Like ten minutes ago, c’mon!” Hoshi grabbed Woozi’s hand and half-dragged, half-led him to the grand entrance hall of the Chateau, a rectangular room with a decadent staircase at the end of it and soft benches lining the walls throughout. Occasionally, it served as the villa’s ballroom, but more often than not it was dead space. Which meant no one’s scent was particularly strong there, so it was a great place for neutral introductions.
After rushing down the stairs, Woozi could make out his pack surrounding some object before the massive front doors, but they were too tightly huddled around it for him to make out what the object was.
There was a dejected voice: “I think he might actually be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Definitely Seungkwan, he tended to get jealous after every new addition to the pack.
“Look at how strong he is! Do you think he hunts, Cheol?” Minghao asked, tail wagging as Woozi and Hoshi finally made it to the end of the room. Woozi had to shove a couple of his packmates aside before he could see what they were all staring at: a young dog hybrid curled up asleep in a cage. He had black, sharp ears like some kind of terrier, cutely peeking out of the dense black hair on the top of head while he snoozed. Every once in a while, the man would twitch and his long, fluffy tail would wag slightly. And Minghao was right, there were muscles rippling up and down his body that made him look like an athlete.
“Why is he asleep, where’s Jeonghan?” Woozi asked as he knelt down to sniff at the newcomer. He smelled like dog. Great, more dog smell.
“He’s at the market,” he felt Joshua kneel beside him, “he’ll be back soon. But the delivery person just left him on the front porch and we felt so guilty, a couple of us carried him in.”
“Don’t try and make it sound like you did anything,” Seungcheol’s voice interrupted from behind, “Mingyu and I did all the heavy lifting.”
Woozi turned his head to see Joshua’s gray cat ears defensively pinned back on his head. “I tried to help but you pushed me away!”
“You would’ve dropped the poor guy. Surely.” Seungcheol scoffed. The oldest member of the pack, Cheol had been Jeonghan’s first addition. He was a dobermann hybrid, ears pointed to the sky and sleek black tail to match. Despite Joshua (the oldest cat hybrid) being added next, or perhaps because of it, he and Seungcheol often butted heads.
While the two argued on, Woozi further inspected the caged hybrid. Admittedly, the newcomer was attractive. But what drew his attention more was the small wound on his neck. It looked like a pinprick, something inserted then taken out quickly.
He felt someone suddenly cling to his back, and he could immediately identify the only one with enough gall to do that. Dokyeom set his chin on the crook of Woozi’s neck, and he could feel the husky hybrid’s tail vibrating behind him. That was one thing about his dog hybrid packmates, he never had to guess when they were excited. The sharp edges of Dokyeom’s own jewelled collar dug into the skin right below Woozi’s shoulder. “What do you think?” He whispered into the smaller man’s ear, “Does he pass your inspection?”
Woozi hissed and shook DK off, who only laughed as he landed on the ground behind them. “I think,” he snarled and made eye contact with Seungcheol, “you deserve a spot with him at his training sessions.”
There was a whine behind him that was obviously DK complaining, but before he could retort the body beneath them began to stir. Everyone quieted as the new puppy stretched its limbs and let out a freakishly adorable yawn.
Hushed whispers immediately began flying above the cage: “What should we do?” / “How am I supposed to know?” / “Aw look at the way his tail is wagging!” / “Without Jeonghan here should we–” / “Cheol should greet him, they’re both dogs!” / “Oh so all dog hybrids are suddenly the same to you.” / “Guys he’s waking up!” / “We’re going to overwhelm him if we all stay here.” / “So what, we just scatter?” / “Do we unlock the cage?” / “We can’t leave him alone!” / “What if we shake the cage right now so he wakes up faster” (that one was Hoshi) / “Are you crazy?” / “Seriously guys he’s waking up–”
The newcomer slowly opened one eye, and instinct took over. Woozi fled to hide beneath one of the benches lining the room. Upon seeing him hiding, Hoshi and DK panicked and followed what they considered to be their emotional support cat. Minghao, who like Woozi didn’t enjoy talking to new people, ran to hide behind one of the great marble columns framing the entrance door. Joshua, not wanting to be the last one left, scrambled to the other column and Seungkwan, who had recently lost a footrace to Joshua in the gardens, leapt after him but still couldn’t beat Josh to the column. Mingyu and Seungcheol were left, and feeling peer pressured, both scrambled away from the crate to hide behind some decorative statues. Leaving no one but the puppy in the crate.
From his view under the bench, squished between the much larger Hoshi and Dokyeom, Woozi could make out the puppy lifting its head cautiously, glancing around the room. He still looked rather dazed, his movements languid and eyes not entirely focused.
“Umm… hello?”
No one responded.
The young man lifted his nose and sniffed the air, and made a face of utter confusion. Their cocktail of scents must have smelled bewildering. He looked around, much more alert now that he knew there were other hybrids. Carefully, he studied his new environment, especially the metal cage he sat in. It was just a regular dog cage, he could very easily unlock it himself. Not that he would, because no hybrid with any training would release themselves from a cage–
Woozi’s heart skipped a beat as the black-earred hybrid moved to do exactly that. His heart was screaming at him to stop the new pup, and he could tell from Hoshi and DK’s rapid breath they were thinking the same thing. He must have been completely, totally untrained. If any of the pack tried something like that, well, the punishment wasn’t even worth thinking about.
The main door groaned and a slender shape slipped in. “Hello?” Jeonghan’s deep voice echoed off the entrance hall’s grand walls. The puppy in the cage froze as Jeonghan's eyes were drawn to the center of the room. “Oh! Hello there.”
The young man let his hands drift away from the lock as Jeonghan approached him, his eyes bulbous with attention. “Uh, hi?”
Jeonghan chuckled and set down the market bags he was carrying at his side. He knelt beside the cage and undid the lock by himself, beckoning the black-earred hybrid to come forward, which he cautiously did. “It’s Chan, right?” Jeonghan gently took the man’s hand and helped him get out of the cage.
“Uh yeah.”
“Welcome! We’re very excited to have you here. I know this must be a big change, and I’m sorry you had to wake up in a cage, you were dropped off very early and I was still at the bazaar.”
“Okay?”
“I understand you’ve never had formal training. I promised myself I wouldn’t get any more rescues but you, you’re something special.” From his hiding spot, Woozi watched the way his owner ran his thumb over the back of the new dog’s hand. It was impossible to deny that Chan was gorgeous, the way his dense black bangs almost obscured his eyes and gave him a very naive look.
“I don’t understand, where am I?”
“You’re in the Sparkling Coast, more specifically in the Yoon Villa, also known as the Chateau. Have you heard of us?”
“Um… no.”
“That’s alright, don’t worry pup. Think of this as your new home, okay?” He gently cupped Chan’s face in his free hand, and while the young man looked apprehensive at first he eventually relaxed into the soft way Jeonghan was rubbing his cheeks, eyes fluttering. “Good. Good boy. Does that feel nice?”
“Yeah. It does.”
“That's a good puppy, that’s great. Do you think you’re ready to meet the rest of my pack?”
Dreamily, Chan scrunched up his face. “Your pack?”
“Uh-huh. The other hybrids here. You must have smelled them by now?”
“Oh, yeah.” He tilted his head into Jeonghan’s hand. “There are a lot of them.”
Jeonghan chuckled. “Maybe, it’s all a matter of perspective. You guys can come out now.”
With Jeonghan’s permission, DK and Hoshi began to squeeze past Woozi. Chan very quickly switched from blissful to slightly terrified as pack members emerged from behind columns and under benches to apprehensively approach him. Everyone paused to let Seungcheol evaluate him first, the large dobermann imposingly stepped through the crowd and walked towards Chan.
A small whimper escaped the smaller hybrid but Jeonghan shushed him and reassuringly put a hand across his chest. “Relax baby, Cheol won’t bite.”
It didn’t seem like Chan was convinced, but he let the older hybrid lightly sniff his neck. Woozi held his breath, still watching from beneath the bench. Hybrids have incredible senses of smell, Woozi could tell who had been in a room before him by their scents alone. And it was even more important for dog hybrids, who relied on their sense of smell to socialize. The only sound filling the room was tense, waiting breaths as Seungcheol pulled away from the hybrid’s neck.
“He smells… kind.” Seungcheol smiled that leader's smile that meant ‘welcome’. “I really hope you love it here.”
And with that, every hybrid standing by (Mingyu, Joshua, Seungkwan, DK, Hoshi, and Minghao) descended on Chan in a flurry of sniffs and skin contact. Chan giggled under their excitement and fervor, and Woozi smiled to himself. Yeah, he was going to fit in just fine.