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The house was quiet, suspiciously so when Hongjoong got home.
Seonghwa was supposed to be there, he didn't have classes today and said he would stay home cleaning all day. He hadn't even texted to tell him he would go out, they always let the other know when going out!
So, he assumed he just went out quickly for god knows what and would be returning in a moment, no need to panic, his boyfriend was okay and would get here soon.
Might as well rest his eyes for a bit.
⚞^. .^⚟
'For a bit' his ass.
He was woken up with Seonghwa's keys jiggling in the distance, his orange ears perking up at the sound and tail flicking in surprise.
One quick look at his phone and he sees it had been almost 2 hours since he had gotten home, and not a single text, 2 fucking hours and no text!
"Babe! I'm home."
Yeah, no shit.
With that, he stretched –like the cat he was– with a loud lazy groan and got up to welcome Seonghwa. No matter if he was kinda annoyed that he didn't left a miserable text about his whereabouts, he was not angry enough to not kiss his boyfriend hello.
He didn't even get to the living room before sensing something was off, a strange familiar smell he couldn't place right now mingling with Seonghwa's own scent. Huh?
"Hwa, something is sme-"
He was suddenly cut off by the scene he found in the living room. Seonghwa smiling stiffly in the middle of the room, looking like a kid trying to hide something. And look at that! He was in fact hiding something behind him, his arms coming to hold said something behind his back, looking a lot like a dark box peeking from his sides.
"Hi…" Said the older one, not suspicious at all, with a light blush adorning his cheeks.
"…What are you hiding, Seonghwa?"
"Me? Nothing!"
The way he was so clearly lying but still trying anyways was quite endearing, he even smelled nervous, but it was not time to act infatuated by him no matter how cute his boyfriend was!
Wait, he actually recognizes the 'box' behind the other's back.
"Is that my carrier?"
Seonghwa didn't respond, but with the way he started nervously avoiding his eyes and the furious red color on his cheeks and ears, he didn't need to.
It was in fact his carrier, but Hongjoong didn't have any doctor appointment, why he was hiding it behind his back was still a mystery he needed to solve.
Oh no, what if Seonghwa didn't tell him about another fucking vaccine at that old ass vet? Maybe if he shifted now he could hide behind-
Meow.
…Needless to say, that was not Hongjoong.
Just great.
"Seonghwa, did you bring a cat home?"
With a deep sigh, he finally revealed what he was hiding. "Actually, they're two cats…"
Hongjoong had turn his back to the human, closing his eyes and pinching his nose bridge to compose himself before he went to bite his leg hard.
Okay, so that was the scent, two cats.
Wait.
Two cats?
His neck almost cracked with the speed he turned around to look at the carrier.
Okay, they indeed looked like 2 cats. A black scrunkly one with heterocromia and a fluffy calico with orange eyes. Huh, a male calico? Cool.
But he was like 99% sure those were not cats.
"Hwa, honey, can you put the carrier down on the coffee table and sit down, please?"
And before Seonghwa could respond, he retreated to their room. He knew they would need two sets of clothes in a moment.
When he got back to the living room with the clothes in hand, the first thing he saw was Seonghwa, seated on the couch and looking at his lap, hands fidgeting nervously with the t-shirt's hem, smelling sad and definitely looking like he was about to cry.
"Are you mad?"
He put down the clothes on the table and sat down beside his boyfriend, one hand coming to circle his waist and planting a kiss on top of his head.
"I'm annoyed you didn't tell me you were going out, but I could never get mad at you, babe." He rubbed his head against the other for good measurement before continuing. "But, um… could you tell me how you got these two?"
He shifted his position to lean his head onto the hybrid's shoulder, sniffling softly. "You know how Yunho is currently volunteering at a shelter? I went to help for a couple hours and saw them. They're bonded, what if someone tried to separate them? I needed to take them both!"
How could he get mad at his boyfriend when he was this cute? He just wanted to help! Actually he deserves another kiss to-
No!
"Hwa, you're aware they're not cats, right?"
At those words, the human separated from the hybrid, looking at him with clear sparkly eyes before scrunching his whole face in confusion. "The hell you mean?"
Another sigh. "They're hybrids, I can smell their scents clearly, and they're literally hearing us so they probably know they fucked up," he said, eyes moving between the carrier currently in front of them, two pairs of glowy eyes looking back in the dark, and his teary confused boyfriend.
"T-they're hybrids?"
"Yes honey, hybrids."
"But… but the shelter…"
Hongjoong ruffled his hair lovingly before returning his attention to the pair sitting inside the carrier, currently looking at them with a frightened expression, and oh he knew it was not because of the new environment.
He moved slowly to open the carrier. The black hybrid even dared to hiss at him, this fucking dude?
"Guys, get out and shift, we need to talk."
The hybrids didn't move a single muscle, the black one still daring to growl, clearly a feisty scrunkly guy.
They looked so young, Hongjoong almost felt bad.
But not bad enough.
"I said, get out and shift," said Hongjoong slowly, enunciating each word with fire laced on them.
The calico hybrid got out first, and then the black one followed with flat ears and tail flicking restlessly, clearly pissed but not daring to separate from his friend.
"You have clothes on the table, go on," he commanded, leaning his back onto the couch and averting his gaze to the roof with a silent curse at the tip of his tongue, while Seonghwa covered his eyes shyly with his hands, both wanting to give them some privacy to shift forms and get changed.
In the silence of the room, you could hear the rustle of clothes being put on, before a velvety voice raised softly.
"Done…"
When the couple looked towards the table again, it now had two men –they looked 18 or 20 at the most– seated on the edge. One visibly smaller, with black ears laying flat on top of his head, sharp eyes and dark shiny hair touching his shoulders, his arms crossed on his chest defiantly. The other, taller and more muscular, had short multicolored hair, fluffy orangish ears and curious honey colored eyes, playing with his hands nervously. Both of their tails immediately intertwined behind them, cute.
"Okay, my name is Hongjoong, and this is my boyfriend Seonghwa," he said gesturing to the human, who bowed his head silently.
"I-I'm San," said the taller one, the calico hybrid.
The three of them stared at the black hybrid, waiting for him to finally introduce himself to no avail.
"His name is Wo- ouch!" The feisty hybrid threw a punch at San, who was now clutching his shoulder and pouting sadly.
"You don't need to tell us your name if you don't want to, but can you at least listen and respond when we ask something?" And they nodded hesitantly.
Seonghwa's hand went to Hongjoong's knee in silent support, rubbing it slowly, not knowing what to do in this situation –that he himself put them in, oops.
"Could you explain why the hell would you end up in an animal shelter?"
San side eyed the other hybrid before responding carefully. "We lost our previous home and were running out of options, we… we thought it would be easier to pretend being cats and get adopted…"
"No it's not!" Hissed Hongjoong. "What if you two got separated? Hm? What if you got adopted by someone abusive? What if you ended up in one of those shelters that put down animals if they're not adopted? What then? Just wait and die?!" He barely had time to breathe, voice getting louder with each sentence, almost screaming in frustration at the end of his rant.
He needed to pause for a moment, trying to compose himself as much as he could before continuing. "There are multiple trustworthy associations dedicated to help hybrids in need in the area, hell, I even volunteer for one of those! And you decided a fucking animal shelter was the best option?!" It did not work.
Oh, he was pissed.
"What you two have done is too fucking dangerous and irresponsible, you hear me? You could've ended dead!"
The hybrid pair had their ears down and a sad pout, looking down at their feet, defeated. The black cat hybrid moved to hold San's hand in his tightly, a single tear escaping him in silence.
They hadn't thought about all the possibilities at all and it was evident.
"And you, Seonghwa," now he shifted his attention onto the human, who startled at his words and looked at him with his mouth slightly parted. "We've been dating for two years, we literally live together! You can't just go and adopt two cats out of nowhere without asking me first. We're a team and this is an important decision, you can't make those decisions alone. I'm really disappointed."
Seonghwa expression became the same as the hybrids, looking down with shivering lips, nodding at Hongjoong's words.
"I would've said yes, you know? But I'm angry about the fact you thought it was better to hide this till you got home instead of just talk to me and be honest, you know better than that."
Seonghwa sniffled softly. His boyfriend was right, he knows better.
He ran his hands on his orange hair and ears, a frustrated groan escaping his mouth, before reaching over to take one of Seonghwa's hands in both of his, his eyes visibly softening with the gentle touch. "But now, could you help me prepare the other room?"
Seonghwa only managed to get a confused noise out.
"We're staying?" The black hybrid chimed in, finally daring to speak.
A nod. "You said you didn't have a home, right? You're free to stay if you want, but just so you know, you two will be paying rent once you're able to, Hwa is still studying, we're not exactly rich."
"M-my name."
"Hm?"
"My name… I'm Wooyoung," said the black hybrid –Wooyoung.
"Well, nice to meet you Wooyoung," he said, finally smiling fondly at them and squeezing Seonghwa's hand.
Seonghwa moved way too quickly for a human, embracing his boyfriend in a bone crushing hug and kissing his cheeks multiple times. "Thank you Joongie, you're the best boyfriend I could've asked for, I love you so so much."
Hongjoong could only giggle lightly before returning the hug equally as tight and ruffling his hair once again. "I love you too, bunny," he answered, and being the weak cat he was, he couldn't stop the purring that bubbled inside his chest at his boyfriend's show of affection.
The couple could feel the hybrids staring, but they could wait, they were having a moment, they would survive without constant attention anyways.
Once they separated with a final sweet kiss, they turned to the cats, who were looking at anything but them, clearly not knowing what to do.
"Come on you two, you're changing the sheets," he said, getting up and holding hands with his boyfriend. "We haven't cleaned the other room in ages."
⚞^. .^⚟
A week later, Seonghwa got home from a long study session at the library.
It was too silent.
Peeking inside his room, he was met with the cutest sight he had ever seen: the three hybrids shifted in cat form, sleeping together in a perfect kitten cuddle pile on top of his bed. Hongjoong sat in the middle, scrunching his little nose like he was dreaming, or maybe annoyed at San's fluffy tail flicking his face every now and then and Wooyoung's paws pressing on his stomach.
Of course he took a photo.
And of course it became his new lock-screen.
Oh he loved his boyfriend and kitten friends so much.