Chapter Text
Seonghwa woke up with a soft groan. His head was pounding. Did it have to be so bright already?
He forced himself to sit up and get out of bed. If he wasn't fast enough, he'd be reprimanded. Again. Who was he kidding, they'd reprimand him anyway, they always found a way.
The pink-haired man put on his carefully ironed white collared shirt. On top of it, he wore a dark blue dress coat embroidered with his family's emblem. On the sleeves, blooming silver and red vines climbed up the arms and trailed down the back of the jacket where a split elongated tail reached down to the middle of his thighs. His pants were simple in comparison, the same shade of blue, but only embroidered near the bottom. After also pulling on his shiny, black and pointed dress shoes he moved to his necktie, black like his shoes and embroidered in red with his emblem again.
He debated putting up his hair in a ponytail, but ultimately decided to just brush it and use some gel to style it so it wouldn't be in his face. It reached just past his shoulders, he'd definitely need to cut it soon.
They'd start their travel today, so he needed to look presentable.
As he arrived at breakfast, he bowed to his parents and brothers.
“I apologize for making you wait,” he said. It only earned him a scoff.
“You really think we'd wait for you? We're almost done, if you had opened your eyes you would have seen that,” his oldest brother, Jinyoung, spat.
“He's right. No wonder not even the troops wanted you. If you're so useless you can't even see we've almost finished eating…,” the second oldest, Leo, added. His parents simply stayed quiet. They gave up reprimanding him a long time ago and Seonghwa wasn't sure what was worse: the times when he had been punished or the indifference they now treated him with. Biting his lip he sat down. They had barely left any food for him, so he settled on some bland rice and a simple broth. He wasn't feeling very hungry anyway.
As he expected, he had been left alone when the others finished. When he was done eating his own breakfast he made sure to thank the cook for the meal and briefly helped the maids clean up the table. They were grateful for it. The staff were probably the only people who actually seemed to like Seonghwa.
His bag had been packed and loaded into the carriage the day before. They'd be traveling for a couple days, stopping in different towns to spend the night, but he also knew they would likely have to sleep in tents once or twice, so he had made sure to pack a blanket. He knew nobody else would bother, not for him.
When he walked to the carriages he was suddenly grabbed and pulled backwards by his hair. He suppressed a groan.
“When will you finally get rid of this ridiculous haircolor?!” Jinyoung spat.
“But you were the one who-”
“I don't want to hear it! What do you think the other nobles will think about you when they see you like this?! You should have dyed it black again, but now it's too late.”
He pushed Seonghwa, causing him to stumble and hit the wall. It briefly knocked the air out of him. Still, he bowed.
“I'm sorry, it was my mistake. I realize it will make the family look bad.”
Seonghwa gritted his teeth. The only reason his hair was pink was because Jinyoung had physically forced him to dye it as a punishment.
“You should be sorry. We'll figure out what to do with you and your disobedience soon enough. Mother and father have already left a couple hours ago. Get in the carriage.”
Seonghwa didn't have to be told twice. He knew that if he hesitated, he'd be dragged in by his hair. He got seated on the bench across his brothers, back turned towards the horses. As the carriage began moving, the gentle rocking lulled him back to sleep.
A rough shove to his chest woke him.
“Wake up, we're at our first stop,” Leo informed him. Seonghwa quickly stumbled out of the carriage. God, his headache was worse. And could the world please stop spinning?
Jinyoung walked past Seonghwa, bumping into him hard enough it caused Seonghwa to fall. His brother simply laughed, the noise grating Seonghwa's nerves. He really needed to just get back to bed. Luckily for him his brothers seemed to be too preoccupied terrorizing the barkeepers on the ground floor of the inn to bother Seonghwa, so he simply went to bed, hoping he'd wake up feeling better.
That hope had completely vanished by the next morning. He felt even worse. A cough had taken root in his lungs, a low grade fever burning inside his body. That was just great. Now he was sick, traveling and stuck with two people who hated his guts. The fact they made him sit in the seat outside in the back of the carriage, usually meant for the second coachman, was proof of that.
“Ugh, we don't want to catch whatever plague you caught this time,” Jinyoung had grumbled as he instructed Seonghwa to sit there.
It was far from comfortable. There was a small railing that prevented him from falling off, but he had no protection from the sun burning down on him. He was sure the heat made his internal temperature rise even higher. His only relief was the forest they soon entered, but it didn't last long. Now the sun was gone, but it only made him feel cold. He tugged his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his torso in an attempt to get warmer. That's how he fell asleep.
He once again woke up to being shoved. Hard. He fell off the carriage, landing on his shoulder with a groan. Just great, that hurt like hell. A kick to his hip forced him onto his back.
“If you're still alive when we come back we might take you home with us. Mother and father won't miss you anyway and I refuse to spend more time this close to you. I'll be generous, I'll leave you your bag.”
Jinyoung dropped Seonghwa's bag onto his chest. It was heavy, so Seonghwa couldn't help but shove it off and break into a coughing fit. Jinyoung stepped over him. A couple seconds later he heard the carriage moving. So they really just left him to die on the forest floor.
He should have felt hurt, shouldn't he? Maybe angry even? But Seonghwa simply felt numb. Sitting up, slowly, he looked around. The carriage had not left him on a marked trail, which meant Jinyoung had made the coachman enter the forest just to dump him.
Typical. Jinyoung had made it his life mission to torture Seonghwa after all.
Seonghwa rummaged through his bag. He wouldn't need everything, it was way too much to carry. He simply took out the blanket, a couple of clothes, as well as his squirrel plushie he always slept with. The rest of his bag was pretty much only clothes. He emptied everything onto the forest floor and only filled the bag with the items he'd take with him. There had to be a way out of this.
Despite the dizziness and exhaustion clinging to his body he began to walk, trying to find any hints of civilization.
He wandered for what felt like hours. The forest only seemed to get thicker, but at this point he was too out of it to try to come up with a better plan other than to walk straight. Every little noise made him jump. He'd need to find shelter soon, that much he knew. The sun was beginning to set.
He managed to find a hole in the wall of a small cliff. He wouldn't call it a cave, it was barely deep enough to allow him to lay down.
With a heavy sigh he laid down, covering himself in the thin blanket, and falling asleep.
The next morning his condition hadn't gotten any better. He woke up drenched in sweat, despite the stone underneath him seeping cold into his overheated body. He allowed himself a few more moments before he got up and packed his blanket. He was thirsty. So thirsty…
With a little bit of luck he'd maybe find a river.
Unfortunately luck wasn't on his side. His cough had gotten worse, as well as his fever, so each step felt like trying to move his body through molasses.
It wasn't long before his body gave out on him. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
What was a human doing in his territory?
The other forest animals had brought it to his attention that a human was walking through his forest.
He was sure the wards he had placed around the perimeter of his territory were still active. How had this human passed through them?
Hongjoong jumped from the tree he had been sitting on, transforming into his human form mid jump. He had been trailing this human since this morning.
He was clearly sick. The animals had told him what had happened, that this one had been left to die by his family.
But why?
He knelt down next to the now unconscious boy.
Even while obviously sick, disheveled and dirty, he was stunning. But… was it normal that humans had pink hair?
Hongjoong pitied him. Humans were quite fragile… maybe they could figure out how to help him.
He threw Seonghwa over his shoulder, frowning heavily. The human was taller than him, was he supposed to weigh this little? He grabbed his bag as well and took him to their house.
“Is that a human???”
The screech that greeted him could only be one person. Wooyoung. The boy ran over, curious about the new arrival.
“Yes, he's a human. He's very sick. The animals told me he was left to die by his family…”
Wooyoung raised an eyebrow.
“You took pity on a human? You??”
He reached over, placing a hand on Hongjoong's forehead, who slapped it away with the hand he’d previously held the bag with.
“Yah! You know we can't get sick!”
“I just wanted to make sure that didn't just magically change overnight,” Wooyoung said with a shrug, “But why…”
He walked around them to get a better look at him.
“Oh that's why,” he said with a huge, teasing grin,
“He's pretty~”
“Oh shut the fuck up.”
Hongjoong gently deposited the unconscious human on the bed in his own room.
“Okay… he's here. What do we do now?”
Wooyoung rolled his eyes at his hyung’s question.
“We need to bring the fever down, obviously.”
“And how do we do that?”
That made Wooyoung shut up. How would they?
“Uh… I'm gonna go ask Jongho. Maybe he has a book on humans or something,” Wooyoung said, rushing away and leaving Hongjoong alone again.
He looked through the human’s bag, maybe there was something that could help?
He didn't find anything of use, but he did find a squirrel plushie. He stared at it for a second. Huh. Why was he carrying that around? It must be important if he did. So Hongjoong placed it near Seonghwa's head, hoping it would bring him comfort.
Jongho walked in, followed by Wooyoung.
“Hyung, you really brought a human into our home?” He asked immediately. He didn't need an answer, the sight on the bed was enough. Jongho let out a heavy sigh.
“Alright… I found a book, but it's old. Some of these procedures sound straight up like torture… like what good would draining him of some of his blood do?? Anyway, it also says a fever can be brought down by a bath with room temperature water. And he's filthy, so a bath wouldn't be bad.”
Hongjoong blushed a little at that. A bath meant he'd need to undress the human.
“S-sure…”
Wooyoung cackled at that.
“It's not like you've never seen a naked man before. I told you, Jongho. He saved that guy cause he's thinking with his dick.”
That made Hongjoong blush even harder.
“I'm not thinking with my dick!” He protested. To prove it, he grabbed his human-
Pause.
When did he become his human?
He shook his head and carried him to the bathroom. Jongho and Wooyoung followed. On the way they bumped into Yunho, but Hongjoong pushed right past him, not wanting to get teased by him as well.
“What the- why is Joong carrying a sick human?”
“Cause he's got a crush, but shhhh, he's not ready to accept that yet,” Wooying answered his tall friend with a giggle.
“Hey, I heard that!” Hongjoong yelled from the bathroom.
“...ohhhhhhh… alright, have fun, I'm going for a run,” Yunho simply said as he left them alone again.
Hongjoong took a deep breath and began to take off Seonghwa's clothes.
“These are expensive looking clothes… he must be rich,” the shifter mumbled to himself. He decided to leave Seonghwa's underwear on, trying to preserve at least some dignity. It didn't occur to him that he'd have to take it off after the bath anyway, because it would be wet.
The bruises littering Seonghwa's body made him frown. I guess he should have expected that Seonghwa had been abused, given how he landed in the forest. It didn't make seeing the evidence any easier though.
Just after Hongjoong had lowered him into the bath, Wooyoung came in.
“They're probably too big, but I got him some of Yunho's clothes,” he informed Hongjoong. The older noticed how Wooyoung's eyes scanned the man with a concerned frown, but neither made a comment about it.
“Thank you, Woo. Go cuddle up with Sannie or something, I got this. Or wait, can you inform the others of the human?”
“Will do!”
He left the two alone again.
Hongjoong had hoped, really hoped, that the human would remain unconscious during the bath. However, that wish was not granted. He watched as Seonghwa opened his eyes, immediately shivering hard.
“S-so cold…,” he whined, weakly struggling against the arms that held him in place. Had his brothers come back?
“Hey, shh… I know it feels bad, but it'll help…”
No, that was a voice he didn't know.
“What… who… where…”
Seonghwa had so many questions. What was happening? Who was the man? Where was he? He turned his head, blurry eyes focusing on the figure. All he could make out was the brown hair.
“I'll explain when you're better. But you're safe. I promise…”
And against all logic, Seonghwa trusted those words. And even if he didn't, he was way too weak to fight it, dark spots were already dancing in his vision again.
“S-Seonghwa…”
“Huh?”
The man sounded very confused.
“Name… Seonghwa…”
It was all he managed to say before he was out cold again. Hongjoong sighed softly.
“Seonghwa… a beautiful name,” he mumbled to himself with a soft smile. He began to gently wash Seonghwa, getting rid of all the grime and dirt he had accumulated on his trip through the forest. Once he was done, and Seonghwa felt less like he was going to burn alive, Hongjoong got him out of the tub. He dried him off and dressed him again, muttering a soft apology when he had to take off the human’s underwear. He made a point not to look. Once dressed he got Seonghwa back into bed.
For the next three days Hongjoong almost never left Seonghwa's side. After the bath, during the night, the fever had spiked again, even worse than before. They had no medicine, shifters didn't need it, so they simply had to wait and hope that the man would be strong enough to fight this off himself. In the afternoon of the second day his fever had broken, but Seonghwa remained unconscious.
The whole time Hongjoong made sure to carefully make the unconscious Seonghwa drink some water, frequently changed the wet rags they had placed all over his body and simply stayed by his side in case he woke up.
In the evening of the third day Seonghwa finally began to stir.
He slowly opened his eyes, his head clearer than last time.
“You're awake! Thank goodness, I thought you were gonna die…”
Seonghwa looked at the man. It was the same brown hair he had seen before… where had he seen that hair again?
“Where am I…?” Seonghwa tried. His voice felt rough, his throat dry.
“You're at the house of me and my friends. I found you outside,” Hongjoong briefly explained. Carefully, he helped Seonghwa sit and drink some water.
“Thank you… I'm sorry for causing trouble.”
Seonghwa bowed his head deeply to Hongjoong.
“Nonsense! You didn't cause trouble, please don't bow like that…”
Confused by the slight panic in Hongjoong’s voice he looked up, but groaned a bit at the dizziness that followed.
“Careful, lay back down…”
Hongjoong helped him to get comfortable again.
“I'm Hongjoong by the way. Get more rest, your body needs it.”
Even if Seonghwa wanted to know more, figure out where he was and how to pay him back for his kindness, his body didn't give him a choice. He fell asleep almost immediately.
By the next morning Seonghwa was more lucid again. He was currently sitting up and drinking a glass of water.
“I don't know how I can repay you for your kindness…,” he mumbled. Hongjoong waved him off immediately.
“There's no reason to repay me for anything. I couldn't just let you die out there. Even if it's been decades since I last saw a human… so I had no clue what I was doing.”
Wait… decades since he's seen a human? Seonghwa looked at the man. He looked to be in his late 20s. And why had he said that so weirdly?
“Decades since… you've seen a human?”
Hongjoong stiffened a bit, seemingly having realized his mistake.
“Oh, uh… well… ANYWAY. The animals told me that you were left to die by your family. Feel free to stay for as long as you wish!”
His attempt to distract Seonghwa from the previous information failed spectacularly.
“I'm very grateful, Hongjoong-ssi, but what do you mean by ‘the animals told me’? You can talk to animals?”
Hongjoong had definitely not thought that through.
“Please, just Hongjoong. Or Joong, or whatever,” he tried. Seonghwa nodded, but still stared him down, expecting an answer.
“I'll go tell the others you're awake! They've been dying to meet you!”
Hongjoong abruptly stood up and left the room. He was certainly an odd one, Seonghwa concluded.
The next time the door swung open it revealed a very excited looking young man. He beamed at Seonghwa.
“You're awake! Finally!”
As he approached the bed all Seonghwa could do was stare. The boy… he had raccoon ears? And a tail? What was happening??
“I'm Wooyoung!” He cheerfully said.
“H…hi…” Seonghwa answered.
“Are you shy?”
They were interrupted by a loud yell.
“Jung Wooyoung!!! I told you to shift fully before coming inside!!”
Hongjoong stormed over, lightly smacking the back of Wooyoungs head. The other’s eyes widened in realization, the ears and tails vanishing instantly.
“Well, now it's too late!!”
“Uhm… Wooyoung-ssi… are you a shifter?”
Both men flinched and turned around as they heard Seonghwa. They expected to find him terrified, maybe even angry. They did not expect him staring at them with eyes so big and sparkling it could only be described as absolute, child-like fascination and curiosity. Yunho, who had just entered, groaned softly.
“Oh god he's adorable, why did nobody warn me?”
Mingi, following after Yunho, laughed and patted his back.
“You find a lot of things adorable.”
“The two who just entered are Yunho and Mingi,” Hongjoong introduced.
“I agree though, he's super adorable!”
San had pushed past them over to Wooyoung, cuddling the other as he kept himself from jumping Seonghwa in his animal form to give him lots of kisses.
“Sannie… don't jump him,” Yunho warned.
“I know, I know. I won't,” he responded with a pout.
The last to enter were Jongho and Yeosang.
“It's nice to meet you, Seonghwa-ssi. I'm Jongho, and this is Yeosang.”
He bowed his head slightly, which Seonghwa returned.
“It's nice to meet you.”
“Can't we just drop the formalities?” Wooyoung whined loudly. It earned him a chuckle from Seonghwa. The room immediately stilled.
“That's fine by me,” Seonghwa told them. Yunho let out a loud squeak.
“Oh my God even his laugh is adorable!”
The room laughed at Yunho, who grew bright red and hid his face in Mingi. In his embarrassment he didn't notice his ears and tail were now peaking out as well.
“Are you a wolf shifter?” Seonghwa asked. His eyes were, once again, filled with curiosity and astonishment.
“Actually, all of us are shifters,” Yeosang supplied, “I'm a red panda. Jongho right here is a giant river otter. You already guessed Yunho correctly, he's a red wolf. Mingi, his mate, is a Lynx. My mate, San, is a black marbled fox. Wooyoung is a raccoon. And Hongjoong…”
He couldn't help but giggle softly at the glare the other shifter shot him at the mention of his name.
“He's a squirrel.”
“You're a squirrel?” Seonghwa asked Hongjoong. The other groaned and dropped his human disguise, revealing his ears and big, fluffy tail.
“I'm a squirrel…”
He rubbed his face, blushing hard. It was embarrassing. He was leading this little ragtag group of shifters, but his animal form and a teeny, tiny squirrel. He was so in his own head he didn't realize that Seonghwa had reached out to touch his tail. When his hands gently grabbed it and smoothed over the soft fur, Hongjoong let out a high-pitched squeak in surprise and wrapped his tail around his body, pulling it close to his chest.
“You can't just touch a shifter's tail!” He squeaked, blushing even harder. Seonghwa's innocent look and Hongjoong's reaction had the others laughing on the floor.
“This is simply glorious!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“But it's so soft…”
Seonghwa pouted and tried to reach out again, but Hongjoong fled to hide behind the cackling Jongho.
Seonghwa pouted even harder.
“I've always loved to watch the squirrels around our house… I've always wanted to just touch and pet them, but they never let me…”
“Oh good lord he's like a pup. Mingi, he's a pup. Save me…!” Yunho groaned dramatically, shaking his mate while doing so. Mingi was laughing at Yunho. He knew his mate absolutely adored pups.
“I'm a… pup?”
Seonghwa tilted his head in confusion, making Yunho wail as he tried to contain his cuteness aggression. By now Wooyoung was laughing so hard he was gasping for air, San not really doing much better.
“Oh, that means we don't have to hide anymore! About time, I hate having to stay in human form,” Yeosang exclaimed. He changed into his partially shifted form, which felt way more natural to shifters. His cute red panda ears and tail were now visible. The others followed suit.
Seonghwa's stomach growling loudly interrupted them.
Hongjoong was by his side in an instant, panic in his eyes.
“What was that!? Is it still your sickness?? Don't tell me you're still dying!”
Seonghwa chuckled softly.
“It's just my stomach. I'm hungry.”
“... Oh. Oh, right, humans have to eat. Oh shit you have to eat and we have no food, Mingi! We're going hunting!” Hongjoong exclaimed, marching towards the lynx.
“What do you mean, ‘we’? I'll just have to end up saving you from becoming a meal for a snake again!”
“Yah! That was ONE TIME and it was hidden really well, OKAY??” Hongjoong defended himself, face bright red once again. It seemed like the squirrel’s face was never gonna catch a break. That made Seonghwa laugh. Again, the room stilled. Seonghwa looked at them.
“Is anything wrong?”
“Nothing, just… your laugh is just as pretty as you are…” Hongjoong said absentmindedly. The second he realized what he had just said he grabbed Mingi and fled the room, taking him to go hunting, face bright red again in embarrassment. Though, this time, Seonghwa was blushing too. That compliment had caught him off guard.