Work Text:
Righteous. Fair. Noble
Most places he went, this is how Yeosang used to hear himself described.
Swindler. Unreasonable. Maniac.
These were the words currently being used to describe Yeosang— except it wasn’t him.
Yet, his name was plated over the newspaper headline. A blond wearing his signature black dog mask and tasseled trench coach, stood over a low level Minotaur. Yeosang always liked the anonymity his outfit allowed him. He never imagined it would come back to bite him in the ass like this. The only people who knew his real face were the other members of his guild.
He considered himself unique, and unmistakable for anyone else up until this point in his life.
Yeosang had spent years crafting a cool persona while he worked. Which usually served him well. Except now, he had a copycat, and no way to prove it. Their magical signatures were almost identical if you didn’t know better.
Which baffled Yeosang even further because only a handful of people possessed his unique brand of nuclear fire magic.
Each word of the article parsing the imposter enraged him more—how could anyone believe this was him?
Slumping further into the guild house chair, he stared at previous articles about his copycat. Each one more bold and ridiculous than the last.
Someone was making a name for themselves, using his name. He’d just returned from an exceptionally long extermination in a distant swamp land, only to find he’d apparently never left.
Chugging a huge pint of ale, Yeosang continued to scan the words, molten hot rage blazing under his skin.
“Bounty Hunter’s Ruthless new style wows the community?” His fox companion read, taking a seat with his lunch. His sandy blond ears twitched in amusement.”He’s quite the bold little thing.”
“Reckless.” Yeosang spat, glaring at the image of a figure not unlike his own. “Clumsy, and arrogant.” He pointed to the wreckage in the background. “I’ve never once destroyed so many buildings during an extermination.” Furious he burned the paper in his grasp, letting the ashes scatter on the table. His companion snickered and Yeosang frowned. “They’re impersonating you too, Jeongin.”
“People have been more friendly since we came back,” the fox shrugged. “They like the new outgoing and approachable you.”
“I dress this way precisely so people will not bother us,” he sighed, motioning to the dark leather outfit. “This job is tiring enough already, no need to tack on social interactions.”
If there was one thing Yeosang did not need, it was a noisier life. He had to deal with this imposter swiftly.
“So how do you intend to catch him then? We’ve been on their trail for the past week with no success.” Jeongin mused, stuffing a sandwich into his mouth.
“He’s close, I can feel it. We just need to-”
“You the bounty hunter, Yeosang?” A muscular man asked through a black bandana covering most of his face. Chiseled abs stood directly in Yeosang’s line of view, slightly obstructed by the fringe on the stranger's leather vest.
“Look I don’t do autographs, despite the recent rumors. So you should find yourself a shirt and -,”
“The real Yeosang.” The man cut in, quirking an eyebrow.
Yeosang eyed the man again, noticing the subtle assassins guild emblem weaved into his belt. Smirking, the man took a seat, leaning in close. He slid a reward poster across the table, tapping on the price. “They go for the highest paying mission in each town. I’m positive they’re headed here next.”
“And you’re telling me this for free.” Yeosang sassed, not even bothering to look at the paper. The man shifted awkwardly in his seat, chewing on his lip.
“You can’t catch him alone, can you?” Yeosang summarized, watching the assassin fiddle with a piece of fringe. “I don’t deal with killers, so you can forget it.” He announced, pushing out the chair. Jeongin stood as well, grabbing the paper.
“Where is this next biggest bounty?” Yeosang whispered over his shoulder to the fox.
“The town of Vesper. They’re offering a huge extermination fee.” Jeongin paused, eyes narrowing at the poster.
“It’s for a basilisk,” the assassin replied from behind them. “There’s no one more skilled at finding them than me. My employer wants them alive.” He explained, holding out a hand to Yeosang. “I only need your help to catch them.”
Staring at the gloved hand, Yeosang hesitated. He just wanted to give the copycats a stern talking to, not subject them to cruel and unusual punishment.
“They may be dead by the time we get there if we can't find them fast enough.” Jeongin announced, tugging on Yeosang’s sleeve.
“Fine,” Yeosang sighed, taking the assassin's hand, noticing an image embroidered on his hat. “You have yourself a deal Mountain Shadow.”
“It’s San,” the man blushed. “I was never fond of that nickname.”
“At least you’re the only one using it.” Yeosang joked and they made their way towards the exit.
“Who is your employer anyway?” Jeongin asked as they mounted their horses.
“Someone you don’t want knowing your name.” San said grimly, kicking his horse into motion.
⋆˖°.𖤓𓄀🂾𐚁𓃗.°˖⋆
Two months ago— Adriatic underground
For the third time this month, Felix found himself standing before a very angry henchman. Standing in the back alley of a casino, his dear friend was tied up, and in way over his head. If it were anyone else, Felix might’ve left them to their fate. But Wooyoung had given Felix a home when nobody else would. It was something he would always be grateful for, even if it meant constantly rescuing him from his bad decisions. Wooyoung was the closest thing he had to a family.
“Surely this can’t be the right number.” Felix squinted at the paper, turning it in his grasp like the number would decrease if he tried hard enough. “How did you gamble this much in 4 hours?” Felix eyed his friend, stunned.
“It's correct.” A gigantic burly man spat down at Felix. “Your fox friend owes us 80,000$ rubbles”
“75,000, you can’t add interest in less than 24 hours,” The fox muttered, shifting against his restraints.
The burly man struck him hard, adding another bruise to the fox’s already damaged face.
“Is that your best?” Wooyoung smirked, blood oozing from his nose. “I didn’t even lose a tooth.”
A thick palm wound up again but froze in the air. Staring up with a triumphant smirk, Wooyoung winked at the man. “Bye bye,” he chirped, as the man was blasted back.
Rushing over Wooyoung, Felix began to hastily untie him. The henchman groaned from the trash pile behind them.
“You’re getting quite strong,” Wooyoung smiled, rubbing his rope burned wrists.
“And you're getting reckless,” Felix sighed, helping him up. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking you should go to the magic academy,” Wooyoung beamed, slinging an arm over Felix’s shoulder. “A talent like yours deserved praise.”
“Since when-” Felix began before a door flung open behind them, and several more men burst through the door.
Exchanging a quick look, the pair bolted as fast as their legs could carry them. Darting into a side alley they hid inside a large dumpster, watching the alley through a tiny slot.
“Split up, and find them,” a man with a giant scar on his face shouted. “The boss wants to deal with them personally.”
The alley cleared and threw the lid open, sucking in lungfuls of fresh air. “Wooyoung, who exactly do you owe a debt to?” Felix asked, crossing his arms.
“The Dandy Boys.” Wooyoung whispered, avoiding eye contact.
Taking a deep breath he rubbed his temples. Felix opened his mouth to scream and realized they were currently wanted by a very dangerous gang, and closed his mouth. Glaring he turned to the fox, “are you out of your mind? Even if this was for me, what were you thinking?” He whispered sharply, smacking Wooyoung’s shoulder. “No, I’m serious! Did you get slapped too many times? Because I really want to know what would possess you to-”
They heard footsteps and dove back into the dumpster. Felix still glared, Wooyoung smiled guiltily.
“I’ll handle it.” Wooyoung pouted, looking like a chastised toddler.
“How?”
Lifting his hands to make up some bullshit excuse, Wooyoung noticed a paper stuck to his hand.
His eyes bugged and he grinned deviously, turning the flyer towards Felix.
“With this! If we do enough of these we’ll have the money in no time.”
“That’s great, but I’m not a registered bounty hunter.” Felix frowned, “And we’ll be dead before I can become one.”
“Then we just have to pretend you are. At the end of the day, most people want a problem solved, they don’t really care by who.”
Felix's face twisted in confusion and disbelief. Wooyoung always had some crazy scheme, but this was by far his worst.
“There’s a famous one, Yeo- something who never shows his face who has a fox companion.” Wooyoung continued, gripping Felix’s shoulders. “I saw them in town last spring. He had the same magic as you, it’s perfect! I’ll have to dye my hair though.” Wooyoung fiddled with his long black locks.
“I don’t know.” Felix frowned, “What if-”
“You can do this,” Wooyoung beamed. “With my brain and your brawn, we’ve never failed.”
There was a long silence as Felix felt his resolve caving. The most amazing thing about Wooyoung was that he could be very persuasive about even the craziest of ideas.
Felix had several concerns with this plan, but they were very low on money making options.
“I mean what have we got to lose?” Felix shrugged, and Wooyoung pulled him in for a hug.
“And who knows, if we make enough, you could join the academy as early as the spring.”
“Let’s focus on getting home.” Felix chuckled, always feeling safe in Wooyoung’s arms.
They were able to sneak home and quickly packed what little things they owned, then left in search of their first bounty.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
Vesper- present day
Three strangers stood on the outskirts of a small town,
“They’re here,” San announced, examining a footprint in the snow. He was now dressed in a parka that still left his midriff exposed.
Dismounting his horse, Yeosang surveyed the area through the slits in his black mask. The one story buildings were still intact, so the copycats hadn’t tried anything yet. His gaze moved to the long mountain range beyond the town. Eye’s glowing red, his vision magnified the snowy mountain face.
“Uninhabitable for a basilisk.” He muttered, squatting to examine the white pellets that covered everything.
“It’s graupel,” Jeongin said, crushing the ice crystal with clawed hands. He and Yeosang shared a knowing look.
“Last time I checked Vesper had an arid climate.” San added, crossing his arms.
“It seems there is yet another imposter for us to deal with.” Yeosang sighed, climbing back onto his horse.
“So there’s no basilisk?” San asked, relief coating his tone.
“Just a mischievous shifter.” Jeongin replied, patting the assassin’s shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow, still looking a little lost.
“Fake bounties happen on occasion,”Yeosang explained. “Mostly when people are desperate. I am curious now as to what else this shifter can do.” He smirked, eyeing the crystaled pellets.
As if on cue, a large explosion of thunderous fire shook the earth. All three of their heads whipped to the town. A few streets over, there was shrieking. Bursts of flame coated with lightning crackled through the air.
“Jeongin!” Yeosang shouted hastily, and the air around the fox began to glitter. Transforming into a tiny fennec fox, Jeongin was placed in a long leather bag Yeosang slung over his shoulder.
“You really do look alike in this form,” San leaned over to marvel at the fox, who chirped in annoyance.
Another bang refocused their attention. Leaving their horses nearby, the trio rushed towards the disturbance.
When they arrived at the town square, Yeosang expected to find more panicked and stressed people. Instead there was a small excited crowd gathered on the edge of the skirmish.
They couldn’t see over the crowd, but they could hear two very loud voices shouting. Yeosang was pushed aside as more and more people joined, eyeing him and giggling.
A group of young girls called him a super fan and he felt his eye twitch below the mask.
Yet, he could not bring himself to just shove his way through the horde of bodies before them.
Yeosang began to sweat slightly. He did not like talking to people and was not interested in touching a swarm of them.
Seeing him hesitate at the edge of the crowd, San used his large shoulders to muscle a path for them.
Once they finally stood before their impostors, Yeosang was speechless.
He was staring at a bizarro version of himself. Clad in the same black dog mask with tall pointed ears, and long leather trench coach. The fox with him had a pig bunny shifter pinned beneath its paw.
“This is a basilisk.” The double said, squatting before the creature that defiantly squirmed under the fox’s paw.
“It is not.” Yeosang huffed, stepping into the center of the town square, feet away from his imposter. “Which you would know if you were in fact a real bounty hunter.”
The crowd went silent, and even the captive creature stopped moving. While they were distracted, it scurried away. Almost completely forgotten, because everyone was now enraptured by the new drama unfolding.
The fox and the blond slowly turned to him, frozen in terror.
“Au naur,” he squeaked, retreating behind the fox.
Yeosang snorted at the response, adding a phoney accent to the list of things he did not have—were people assuming his lisp and this fake’s accent were one and the same?
“You’re coming with us,” San growled, coming to stand beside Yeosang.
In a whirlwind of smoke, the fox shifted into a blonde man with pointed ears like Jeongin’s. His sharp eyes locked on the muscular man next to Yeosang, a feral joy sparkling in them.
“Sannie!” The fox yelled at a decibel Yeosang could only dream of reaching, waving at the assassin. “You look delicious today as well.”
A hush fell over the crowd, and they mummered to each other, unsure what to believe.
“What’s going on here?” A tall dark haired man with an obnoxiously large sheriff badge asked. Coming to stand between all of them.
Yeosang confidently strutted before him, “these people have been-” he felt a hand on his shoulder, and before he could react, the fox shoved him to the side.
“This is quite embarrassing, sheriff um-” The fox began, batting his eyes at the man.
“Mingi,” The tall man babbled, blushing a bit.
“Well it appears we’ve been caught in quite the conundrum. Our good friend Yeosang here has been overworked and completely forgot he’d taken my lovely Felix as an apprentice.” He pulled the blonde to his side, who nodded vigorously. “Our poor lix is an orphan, and his only dream in life is to be just like Yeosang.” The fox sighed, talking fast and animatedly.
The crowd awed in unison, some began wiping their tears as the fox continued to talk.
Mouth agape, Yeosang was blinking in awe at the lie the fox pulled out of his ass on the spot. One he could not refute without looking like a total douchebag. A few people were already giving him disapproving looks for ‘forgetting’ he’d had an apprentice.
“So you see, we’re all just here to help.” Wooyoung finished with a satisfied nod.
“You’re lying,” San shouted, walking over and shoving a finger into the fox’s chest.
“I like it rougher than that, Sannie,” he purred, stepping closer to the assassin who immediately pulled his hand back. “You- stop that.” San pouted, face flushed.
“Whatever, your arrangement is,” Mingi interpreted, clearing his throat, “I trust you’ll be able to help us.”
“Most definitely," Wooyoung grinned, hooking arms with the sheriff, leading him away. As if they had no choice, the crowd was pulled like magnets after the fox.
San angrily stomped after them, fruitlessly shouting his frustrations.
After a few minutes just his duplicate remained. The man awkwardly hovered, finally approaching Yeosang. Removing the mask, a beautiful face dusted with freckles stared at him.
“I’m Felix, and my friend is Wooyoung” He tried to smile, voice much deeper than his features would allude to.
“What are you doing impersonating us?” Yeosang asked, crossing his arms, “and don’t give me that fake orphan story I want the truth.”
“That part is actually true,” Felix admitted, expression darkening.
“Oh, well I never knew my parents either.” Yeosang found himself admitting, suddenly seeing more of himself in Felix. “But that’s no excuse to impersonate someone.” He chided, pointing a finger at the boy.
Hopping out the bag, Jeongin turned back into a man, and walking around Felix. Sharp eyes inspecting his disguise. "He's just as pretty as you.” The fox said, smiling to himself.
“We’re just trying to pay back a debt,” Felix spat quickly, warily eyeing the fox. “This was the last job.”
“What were you going to do after? Continue your life of mischief and debauchery?” Yeosang asked, finding himself suddenly very invested in Felix’s story. A very parental and protective feeling was beginning to overtake him.
Felix only shrugged in response, and that upset Yeosang further. If Felix was as powerful as him, his talents were being wasted on whatever shady life he had planned.
“It was fun,” Felix blurted out, fiddling with the mask in his hand. “Being more than just my face. I see why you wear it.”
Taking off his own mask, Yeosang leveled the boy with a knowing gaze. “We have always been more than our faces, it’s funny we need masks for people to see that.”
Felix was looking at Yeosang with shining eyes, and he found himself smiling back.
“An apprentice wouldn’t be so bad,” Jeongin mused, returning to Yeosang’s side. Eyes still roaming over Felix with curiosity.
Felix’s eyes shot to Yeosang, a new light glowing in them. He watched a dream burn to life in Felix’s expression. Finger rapping against his bicep, Yeosang doubted his skills as a mentor, especially to someone as green as Felix. He understood perfectly how magic worked, but he wasn’t the most skilled orator. Moreover, if this was just a passing whim for Felix, he didn’t want to waste his time.
The silence stretched on as they both waited for his response. Felix’s frame tensed, hope draining from his features with every passing minute.
Just as Yeosang was about to open his mouth, Wooyoung stumbled before them, hands bound in front of him with rope. Before he crashed into the ground, the fox managed to catch himself, swiveling to face the approaching mountain of muscle.
Hand clamping around the ropes, San yanked Wooyoung forward. “You will not escape me again. I’m aware of all your tricks!” He spat, frowning.
“I have a few you haven’t seen.” Wooyoung purred, blinking at San through thick lashes, letting his eyes trail low.
San opened his mouth to speak but instead was mumbling incoherent words as Wooyoung pressed closer.
“I don’t like this energy,” Yeosang deadpanned, frowning at them with a look of abject disgust.
“Now we know why he needed our help,” Jeongin whispered, equally terrified by the strange sexual display happening before his eyes.
“This is nothing,” Felix explained, retreating between them. “One time Wooyoung was trapped from the waist up and-”
“I’m not interested in any of those words,” Yeosang cut him off, raising a gloved hand.
Grabbing Felix by the scruff, San placed magic blocking cuffs over Felix’s wrists. The boy looked at Yeosang in confusion, and was ripped away before he could explain.
“Thank you for your help, my employer will be very pleased.”
Expression twisting into betrayal, Felix glared at Yeosang, “were you just making fun of me?”
“Wait, I-” Yeosang began, guilt twisting in his gut.
A loud roar boomed through the town, shattering every window nearby. They collectively remembered what had brought them to this town in the first place.
Large wings almost blocked out the sun as a giant pink dragon rose over the buildings, large black eyes finding them.
" I am the great and fearsome dragon, Lewis!” A voice boomed, its dark eyes bounced between Felix and Yeosang. “I don’t know which one of you is the famed bounty hunter, so I’m just gonna kill you all. Sound fair?”
Elbowing San in the side while he was distracted, Wooyoung sprinted forward, shaking his hands free from the ropes.
“C’mon Lix, that bounty is ours!” The fox shouted over his shoulder. Felix followed after him, glancing at Yeosang, who didn’t move to stop them.
“We have volunteers!” The dragon chirped, swooping down clumsily, like it was his first time in this body.
Yeosang watched the duo with interest, he’d never seen them in action before.
Wooyoung’s tactic seemed to be insulting their target, whilst skillfully dodging attacks. Meanwhile Felix shot strong but uncontrolled blasts at the creature.
This probably worked for them on regular bounties, but shifters were— well shifters. The dragon thinned into a serpent, he watched Felix’s blast miss, damaging another building.
Transforming into a fox, Wooyoung tried to weave a trap, but the shifter was too fast. A clawed hand grew into a thick paw that knocked him through a nearby store.
“Wooyoung!” San shouted, rushing to the rubble to help him up.
Sighing, Yeosang looked at Jeongin, who shrugged, awaiting a command.
“Let’s see if they’re trainable.” Yeosang said, and the fox nodded. Dashing over to Wooyoung, Jeongin chirped at him, explaining how a companion should actually act.
Strapping his mask on, Yeosang strutted forward. Allowing his magic to slip through his palms, and drag on the ground behind like whips.
Two lashes of fire twined with lighting burned the ground with every step he took. Noticing his approach, the shifter turned his attention to Yeosang.
Changing into a bear, he charged forward, snapping his teeth.
Letting one whip snap out, the bear dodged by morphing its shape, just like he expected. Flinging the other whip forward, the fiery tendrils wrapped around the shifter, trapping him in mid air.
With a violent tug, Yeosang yanked it forward. Smashing the creature to the floor. Groaning, the shifter was stunned but not out. As he approached, an almost identical but shakier looking whip of magic smacked the ground, stopping Yeosang in his tracks.
Felix stood on the side, eyes glowing red. “I don’t need your help.” He spat, another whip cracked near his head.
Yeosang was stunned for a moment, the whips were his signature move. A trade secret, only Jeongin knew the mechanics. Although unrefined, Felix had managed to copy it after watching Yeosang once.
For the first time in his life, Yeosang was impressed. There weren’t many people apart from himself that could be labeled a prodigy.
Jeongin chirped, and Woooyoung yipped at them. A glowing formation lies between, almost perfect on both sides. He understood how Felix and Wooyoung had managed to impersonate for so long, they learned fast.
The shifter rose again, growing into a dragon once more. Dashing forward, Felix tried to wield the lashes, but he was lacking in control. Overexerting himself, Felix stumbled.
Concentrating his magic, Yeosang sent two laser-like blasts into the creature's eyes. Monetarily blinded, it stumbled forward with a loud bellow. He walked over to Felix, pulling him into a side alley.
“Let me train you,” Yeosang offered, positive he would not be refused. He was famous after all.
“No,” Felix frowned. “You’re not a good person. You sold us out.”
“You shouldn’t refuse without seeing what you can do. What we can do.” Yeosang emphasized the word, holding out a hand.
Regaining his sight, the shifter began wildly destroying buildings, in search of them. Felix chewed his lip, and still eyed Yeosang with suspicion
“So what’s the plan?”
“Do what I tell you,” Yeosang replied, giving Felix precise instructions.
Stepping out from the alley, Yeosang was twirling disks of magic in both hands.
Swift and light, he appeared before the shifter. Sending saucer after saucer whizzing through the air.
Easily dodging them, the dragon chuckled at him like a cartoon villain. “A single bounty hunter is no match for great Lewis!”
“What about two?” Felix yelled from the ground, pulling his whips of magic tighter. Throwing a few more disks the shifter was forced to back peddle and trip on the ropes of magic, and into the trap the two foxes made.
Magic glowed from the ground in golden beams, and the shifter angrily banged against the golden barricade. Rushing over to his new pupil, Yeosang ruffled his hair. “Well done Felix!” He smiled, taking off his mask.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had fun working. Staring at his hands, Felix threw his arms around Yeosang.
“That was amazing,” he chirped, reenacting the scene. “You were like ugh, try to dodge this, and I was like, what if it’s two of us!” He continued vibrating with joy and warmth. Yeosang smiled fondly at the blond, he used to get excited defeating such low level monsters but time had snuffed that spark out of him long ago. However, something about Felix made him remember what it was like to enjoy every moment of life.
Changing shape, Wooyoung and Jeongin returned to their side. Eyes disappearing as they grinned ear to ear with matching smiles.
The shifter, Lewis, kicked the trap. Before plopping down on his behind and pouting.
“What now?” Felix asked, eyeing the pink dragon.
“Now we investigate,” Yeosang announced, walking over to the trap.
Electric fire coated his palm as he loomed outside the barrier. “What serves as the impetus for the superfluous amount of terror you’ve wrought up on this town?”
“And why are you attacking this town?” Felix spat, standing beside Yeosang trying to mimic the bounty hunter.
“That’s what I just said,” Yeosang whispered sweetly to Felix, patting his shoulder.
“I’ll never tell.” Lewis sassed, “torture me how you like, I’m a stone wall.”
Yeosang shot a blast of magic at the shifter's feet and he jumped back with a yelp.
“They told me to!” He shouted, glaring at Yeosang, “I’m just a pawn.”
“For who?” Wooyoung asked, pressing against the trap, eyes frantic.
“That would be me.” A voice to the left chimed. “Seungmin of the Dany boys.”
Flanked on both sides by a crew of dog hybrids, a man in a clean black suit stepped forward, white silk cravat swaying in the wind. “You're quite the slippery duo, but very predictable.” He smirked in a way that made Yeosang’s skin crawl.
Fishing a sack of coins from his pocket, Seungmin eyed the group, gaze finding his target. “You don’t want your reward?”
Not making eye contact, the assassin stepped forward, snatching the coins from Seuingmin.
“Sannie?” Wooyoung said softly, emotion choking the name from his throat.
“Sorry Wooyoung, our game is at an end.” He replied, white knuckled grip on the coin bag.
With a snap of his fingers, two burly men were pinning Felix and Wooyoung into the ground. “Now come quietly, this town is already in ruin thanks to your antics.”
Roughly pulling them forward, Felix and Wooyoung struggled against their captors. A black figure blocked their path.
“I’ll ask you to take your hands off my apprentice,” Yeosang spat, fingers sparking.
“And me!” Wooyoung added, ears twitching in upset.
“They owe me.” Seungimin announced, cool tone showing no fear of Yeosang. One of his henchmen stepped forward with a paper scroll. Once unrolled, he tapped on Wooyoung’s signature at the bottom.
“So it’s just money you want?” Yesoang asked, examining the contract.
“It’s all anyone wants, how do you think we got here?” Seungmin chuckled in a carefree way only rich people could. “How much do you have, bounty hunter?” he spat the last word like a curse.
“I’m back,” Jeongin shouted, arms full with a hefty brown sac. Wide ears bouncing as he ran. Jeongin rushed to Yeosang's side, throwing the bag at Seungmin’s feet. Gold coins clacked across the floor, scattering at Seungmin’s feet. The man didn’t so much as flinch, but his eyebrow did twitch in annoyance. “There is the matter of interest-" Seungmin began, but two more bags of gold were tossed onto the pile.
“That should cover it.” San cut him off, moving to stand next to Yeosang, smiling back at Wooyoung.
Now Seungmin was glaring, but he quickly composed himself, eyeing the pile of cash.
“I am not an unfair business man,” he began, “but I also do not do returns and it’s seems you’ve over paid for no reason.”
“What the hell are you-” San stepped forward, hand wrapping around his knife.
“So,” Seungmin continued, like San had not spoken at all, “I shall give your money’s worth, and you can keep Changbin as well.” He sped through the last sentence like they wouldn’t hear it.
“Who?” Yeosang looked around in confusion.
“That’s me!” The pink dragon shouted, shrinking into a short burly man with a bright smile.
“I didn’t ask for-,” Yesang began, but Segumin held up a hand, silencing him.
“No returns,” he repeated, snapping his fingers again. The dog hybrids scooped up all the money with impressive speed, praising Seungmin for his charitable nature in the process.
With an unnecessary amount of flourishing hand gestures he turned to board an expensive looking carriage alone. “Feel free to enlist my services if you're ever in need of a loan.” Seungmin smiled at their group coyly before the door shut. The brigade of dog hybrids jogged in sync behind the carriage as it disappeared beyond the horizon.
As soon as he turned around, A body collided with Yeosang’s, then another, and another, until everyone was hugging him. He went stiff as he was squished in their embraces.
“So we’re keeping them?”Jeongin squealed, eyes pleading with Yeosang.
Felix reached out to pet the fox’s fluffy ears and Yeosang was stunned to see him allow it.
Sighing, Yeosang nodded, “But I expect you to work and to pay me back.”
“Of course!” Felix smiled, squeezing tighter.
“Cheapskate.” Wooyoung muttered, but leaned into Yeosang with the ghost of a smile.
A sixth muscular body joined the group hug, laughing almost as loudly as Wooyoung.
“This is gonna be great, I can see we’re all gonna get along.”
They broke apart to stare at Changbin, who looked around confused.
“You're not gonna leave me in this hick town are you?”
“What can you bring to the group?” Wooyoung quirked an eyebrow at the shifter.”Other than the obvious.”
“I can rap.” Changbin replied, rattling off a quick chain of rhymes.
“I don’t see how that’s-” Yeosang began, and once again, Wooyoung pushed him aside to speak instead.
“You’re in!” He hugged the shifter and they gleefully began yapping together like they’d know each other for years. Helpless to stop any of this, Yeosang could only be dragged along by all the people he’d somehow purchased.
He was used to Jeongin’s quiet company, but seeing the fox with other loud people he wondered if maybe he was just being considerate of Yeosang. The collective volume of their group had now doubled. Yeosang felt a headache from it already, but for some odd reason, he really didn’t mind.
✶⋆.˚
Trading their horses for a wagon that could accommodate their new group. Yeosang sat in the driver's seat, Felix sat by his side. A place he has been glued to since Yeosang paid off his debt. San, Changbin, Jeongin, and Wooyoung crawled in the back.
Wooyoung popped his head through a window.
“So where to now, Boss?” He beamed, grating Yeosang’s nerves with his tone.
“Don’t call me that, " Yeosang huffed, tugging the reins and spurring the horses into motion. “And we’re not going anywhere in particular. I want to train you some more before registering you as my apprentices.”
After asking several more questions, he finally stopped when Felix shooed him back.
With a loud huff, he plopped back onto the wooden bench, tapping his foot rhymically.
“Stop that.” Yeosang chided, but the fox continued even louder.
To his dismay, San began to drum his fingers against the wood. Then, Changbin and Jeongin made different percussion noses with their mouths.
Swaying with the rhythm, Felix began to sing words to a song Yeosang had never heard.
We’re on a road to nowhere. Takin' that ride to nowhere.
“Hey, hey!” The other passengers shouted, unprompted.
Yeosang’s head swivelled between them all as the song grew in volume. “Did you all rehearse this? You just met.”
And would you like to come along?
You could help me sing this song.
They all belted in unison, almost scaring Yeosang out of his seat.
His protests were lost under their collective noise.
Giving up on a silent ride, Yeosang's foot began to tap involuntarily as the sun dropped below the horizon before them.
He normally liked the quiet peace the evening brought, but tonight he preferred a bit of noise.
There were, after all, a few good things about having a copycat
⋆ 𖤓 ⋆˚࿔