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The first thing the company checked was their teeth. Not their voices. Not their dancing. Not whether they could hold a note after running three flights of stairs. Their teeth.
It was the sort of thing that made their debut feel less like the beginning of a dream and more like an inspection.
Eight trainees sat in a bright examination room while various post-graduate interns moved around them with clipboards and scanners. One by one, they were asked to shift into their animal forms so the company could record measurements, check their claws, inspect their fur, test their hearing, and document every trait that might affect their future schedules.
Chan went first.
The enormous gray wolf that appeared before them made two of the younger interns visibly nervous. "Perfectly healthy," one of them murmured.
Changbin's wolf form was smaller than Chan’s, but more muscular, built like he could knock over a door just by leaning against it.
Jisung was the smallest and fluffiest of the three wolves, though his nervousness made his ears flatten so dramatically that one intern had to stop herself from laughing.
Minho shifted into a tiger. He hated examinations. He hated people touching his paws even more.
Hyunjin's panther form was almost unnervingly elegant, black fur swallowing the harsh fluorescent light.
Seungmin's Doberman form stood rigidly at attention, looking as though he were personally offended by the entire process.
Jeongin's fox form stood smallest of the group, however his intense gaze made the interns inspecting him feel as though he were bigger.
Then there was Felix. He was last to be inspected. He always seemed to be last.
"Shift."
Felix smiled nervously. The change came easily. Blonde hair disappeared beneath pale golden fur, his body shrinking until a tiny kitten sat in the examination chair.
He was almost absurdly cute. The intern examining him smiled despite herself, "Domestic-type feline hybrid?"
Felix tilted his head and nodded.
"Claws?"
He extended one paw. Tiny claws emerged. The intern checked them carefully, "Normal growth. Good."
Felix's tail curled around his paws.
"Everything healthy," she said.
Felix shifted back, "Thank you."
And that should have been the end of it.
Except the company had other plans.
They didn't tell Felix about the second examination until months later. By then, the eight of them had become practically inseparable. They trained together. Ate together. Fell asleep in practice rooms together. Argued about who had stolen whose food.
The others knew Felix was smaller than most of them. They knew he tired easily during certain exercises. They knew his fingers sometimes hurt. What they didn't know was why.
At first, nobody thought much of it.
Felix would shake his hands after practice. Sometimes he'd curl his fingers against his palms. Sometimes he'd stare at his hands with a strange, distant expression.
"Cramp?" Chan asked once.
"Yeah."
"You need to see someone?"
Felix smiled, "I'm fine."
That became his answer for everything. I'm fine. He wasn't.
The debut evaluation period was brutal. The company had hundreds of trainees, and only a handful would make the final lineup. Rumors spread constantly. Someone's cousin had been cut. Someone's older brother had failed his final evaluation. Someone's friend had been promised a position that suddenly disappeared. Felix had no idea how many people had begun resenting him. He only knew that sometimes people looked at him strangely. He didn't understand why. He'd worked just as hard as everyone else. Maybe harder. Still, when the final lineup was announced, the eight of them stood together in stunned silence.
They had made it. They were debuting.
Felix cried. Chan hugged him. Changbin nearly crushed his ribs. Jisung was crying too. Minho pretended he wasn't. Hyunjin absolutely was. Seungmin claimed his eyes were watering because the room was dusty. Jeongin laughed until he started crying himself.
For a few minutes, everything was perfect.
Then the company called Felix aside.
"You understand that maintaining the dorms is important."
Felix blinked, "Yes."
"Your animal form has claws."
Felix felt a sense of dread as he looked into the manager’s deadpan eyes, "Yes."
"You'll be sharing furniture with seven other members."
"I know."
The manager folded his hands, "We've had problems with feline hybrids damaging company property."
Felix's ears twitched, "I won't scratch anything."
"That's not the point."
There was a pause.
Then came the words that would stay with Felix for years.
"There are certain procedures we require before debut."
Felix looked down at his hands, that feeling of dread magnifying, “What kind?"
The answer was delivered like it was nothing. Like it wasn't permanent. Like Felix wasn't sitting there with his whole future balanced on one terrible decision.
"If you want to debut, you need to have your claws removed."
Felix stared at him with big confused eyes, "My... claws?"
"Yes."
"But the examination already said they're healthy."
"This isn't medical."
"Then why—"
“You will be living in shared accommodations. We cannot guarantee that your instincts won't cause property damage”
Felix's stomach twisted, "But I can wear covers."
"No."
"I can keep my nails trimmed."
"No."
"I won't shift."
"You won't always be able to control that."
Felix swallowed, "And if I say no?"
The manager didn't answer immediately. He didn't have to. Felix understood. His debut disappeared. His dream disappeared. Everything he'd worked toward disappeared.
So he said yes. Because he couldn't be the reason the eight of them were torn apart before they'd even had the chance to begin. He didn't tell the others. Not when his hands hurt. Not when his fingers became stiff. Not when he woke up at night because his nails throbbed. Not when shifting became difficult. Not when he discovered that kneading biscuits—the instinctive motion kittens used to soothe themselves—hurt so badly that he stopped doing it altogether.
He learned how to hide his hands. He learned how to smile through it all. He learned how to say, "I'm fine."
And the others believed him. For a while.
Time passed, and their group became successful. The dorm became a disaster. Not because of Felix, but because seven other hybrids apparently had no concept of personal space.
Changbin's wolf claws scratched the couch. Jisung's claws shredded a blanket. Hyunjin accidentally tore a curtain. Seungmin destroyed an entire pillow during an argument with Jeongin. Minho's tiger form was responsible for a table developing a permanent crack. Chan once apologized to the landlord for a door that had been mysteriously dented.
Nobody ever blamed Felix because he had never damaged anything. In fact, Felix was absurdly careful. Too careful.
Minho noticed first. He noticed Felix avoiding certain textures. Chan noticed that Felix stopped using his hands during certain stretches. Jisung noticed that Felix sometimes stared at other people's paws. But none of them understood. Not yet.
The discovery happened on an ordinary evening.
They were all exhausted. The television was on, but nobody was really watching it.
Chan was half asleep against the arm of the couch. Changbin was eating snacks, sitting in front of the couch Chan was on. Jisung was lying upside down. Hyunjin was painting his nails. Seungmin was reading. Jeongin was scrolling through his phone. Minho was sprawled across the largest section of the couch. Felix sat on the floor nearby Minho.
Minho glanced down, "Bbok-ah."
Felix looked up.
"Come here." His voice was casual. But Felix's ears perked, "Really?" Minho smiled, "Come on." Felix's entire expression brightened before he shifted. One second there was a human sitting on the floor. The next, a tiny golden kitten stood there. His tail shot straight up before swishing back and forth.
Jisung gasped, "He's so small!"
"We've seen him before," Seungmin said.
"I know, but he's still so small."
Seungmin rolled his eyes.
Felix trotted towards Minho as the latter patted his thigh. The kitten immediately hopped up. He curled against Minho's stomach for a moment. Then, instinctively, Felix began kneading.
His tiny paws pressed rhythmically against Minho's legs.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Minho smiled, but then his expression changed. Because Felix's paws weren't right. There were no little claws extending from them. No sharp tips. Nothing. Minho gently caught one paw. Felix stopped. Minho stared, "Yongbok." The kitten froze. Minho's voice had gone very soft. Almost as though he were afraid of scaring the hybrid on his lap, "Where are your claws?" Felix pulled his paw away, curlings both paws under his body. His ears flattened.
Nobody spoke. Minho sat upright, "Yongbok." The kitten shifted back. He immediately tucked his hands against his chest, "I had to."
Minho's face went pale, "What happened?"
"I'm okay."
"Don't say that."
Felix looked at the floor, his ears pressing flat against his head as his tail slowly curled around his waist, "It's nothing."
Chan was fully awake now.
Everyone was watching.
Minho's voice shook, "Who did this?"
“I…”
“Why, Yongbok?”
Felix's eyes filled with tears, "I had to so I could be with you guys.”
Silence.
"What?"
"They said I couldn't debut if I kept them."
Nobody moved.
Felix swallowed, "They said I would destroy the furniture."
Chan was the first to move. Not because he was the least upset. But because he was the most. His anger was immediate, but he knew that if he let it take over, Felix would only become more frightened. So he swallowed it.
He sat in front of Felix instead, keeping his voice gentle as he asks, "When did they tell you this was a requirement?" Chan’s brain is already working. When was the procedure performed? Who authorized it? Was it written into Felix's contract? Did anyone else know? Was there documentation? Did anyone sign anything? But beneath every question is the same thought, they made one of his packmates believe that losing part of himself was the price of staying with them. And Chan can't stop thinking that he should have known.
He was supposed to protect them. He was supposed to notice. And somehow Felix had been hurting right in front of him.
Minho barely hears the others at first. He's still staring at Felix's hands. The same hands that had been kneading against his thigh only moments ago. The same paws Felix had trusted him enough to put in his lap.
Minho thinks about every time Felix had curled against him in his animal form. Every time he'd encouraged him to knead. Every time Felix had suddenly stopped and pulled his paws close. And suddenly, all those little moments mean something different.
His chest aches. Because Felix trusted him enough to seek him out when he wanted comfort, but apparently, he hadn't trusted him enough to tell him that he was hurting. And Minho doesn't know which part hurts more. He reaches for Felix's hand carefully. Not grabbing. Just offering. When Felix finally lets him hold it, Minho rubs his thumb over his knuckles, "You should've told me." Felix's eyes fill with tears. Minho's voice softens, “I'm not angry at you. Never at you, Bbok-ah,”
A pause.
"I'm angry that you thought you couldn't tell me."
Across from them, Changbin went completely still. He'd been holding a snack when Felix confessed. He doesn't put it down immediately. He simply stops eating as his jaw tightens.
His eyes stay on Felix. Changbin isn't usually the quietest person in the room when he's angry. But this time, there isn't anything he can say that won't make Felix feel worse. So he says nothing.
Instead, he thinks about Felix sitting in that examination room. Alone. Being told that if he wanted to debut with them, he had to give up part of himself.
Changbin looks down at his own hands. His claws. The ones that have scratched furniture. The ones that have caught on blankets. The ones nobody ever asked him to surrender. Then he looks back at Felix, “Mine have ruined more things than yours ever did." Felix doesn't answer. Changbin's expression hardens, "And nobody ever made me choose between keeping them and keeping you guys." That is when his anger becomes something colder. Because Changbin finally understands. This was never about the furniture.
Hyunjin looks devastated. Not loudly. Not dramatically. He simply stares at Felix as though he's trying to understand how someone could have looked at something so inherently a part of him and decided it was inconvenient.
His eyes drift toward Felix's hands, "Did they even let you decide?" Felix hesitates. Hyunjin already knows the answer. His expression crumples slightly. Because Felix had been told that he had a choice. But the choice had been to either give up part of himself, or lose his dream. That's not a choice.
Hyunjin reaches over and gently fixes Felix's sleeve where it has ridden up his wrist. It's such a small gesture, but his hands are trembling.
Jisung's reaction was the messiest. Because the moment he heard his twin say that he had to, Jisung's mind immediately starts replaying everything. Every “I'm fine.”, every “It's nothing.”, every “My hands just hurt.”, every “I'm just tired.”, every “I don't want to shift today.” Again and again and again.
Every single time Felix had smiled, Jisung had believed him. He’d believed him every time he'd laughed and moved on. Jisung suddenly feels sick. "Wait." His voice cracks, "That's why you stopped kneading?" Felix looks at him. Jisung's eyes immediately fill, "You used to do it all the time." Felix looks down, not knowing how to answer him. Jisung covers his mouth.
Because he remembers. He remembers Felix kneading blankets during trainee days. Felix kneading pillows. Felix kneading someone's shirt when he was sleepy. And then one day, he just stopped.
Jisung had thought he'd grown out of it. Kittens changed as they got older, didn't they? Maybe Felix simply didn't need the comfort anymore. But that wasn't what happened. It had started hurting. And Felix had simply learned to live without something that used to make him happy.
"I'm sorry," Jisung whispers.
Felix immediately shakes his head, “You don't have to—"
"I know." Jisung wipes his eyes, "But I still am."
Seungmin was frighteningly calm as he closed his book carefully, "When did they tell you?" Felix hesitated, "Before debut."
"And they told you refusing meant you couldn't debut?"
Felix nodded.
Seungmin's expression barely changed, save for a brief glint in his eyes that Felix didn't understand, "I see." And somehow, those two words are more unsettling than if he'd started yelling. Unbeknownst to Felix, Seungmin was already building the timeline in his head. Already identifying contradictions. Already remembering every time the company told them something was "necessary." And when he finally looks at Felix, his voice is very soft, "You didn't consent to it."
Felix blinks.
"You agreed because they threatened something you couldn't afford to lose." Another pause as Seungmin's jaw tightens, "That's different."
Jeongin is the one who looks the most openly heartbroken. Maybe because he's still the youngest. Maybe because part of him can't understand how Felix could have been carrying something so enormous without telling them. He moves closer almost immediately, "Why didn't you tell us?" Felix's voice is barely audible, "I didn't want you guys to worry."
Jeongin's eyes fill, "You're our hyung." Felix looks at him.
Jeongin gulped before adding, "You were hurting." His voice cracks, "You were hurting and you thought we'd rather have you debut than know."
Felix's face crumples.
Jeongin shakes his head, "We would've chosen you." Because that's the thing Felix never understood. He thought his choices were between his body or the group. But the group would have chosen him.
At this point, nobody knew what to do. Felix is crying, with Minho still holding onto one of his hands. Jisung is wiping his own tears. Changbin has gone unnervingly quiet. Hyunjin keeps looking at Felix like he's afraid to look away. Jeongin is sitting so close their shoulders are touching. Seungmin is thinking of all the documents he’d need to compile. And Chan— Chan finally exhales. He looks at all of them. Then at Felix, "We're going to deal with this." Felix immediately shakes his head, "You don't have to—"
"We do." His voice is gentle but firm, "Because you're not doing this alone anymore."
Felix's lips tremble.
Chan reaches out and rests a hand against the back of Felix's head, "You shouldn't have had to choose between yourself and us."
And that's when Felix finally breaks. Not because they're angry. Not because they're demanding answers. But because none of them are blaming him. Not one.
Changbin is the first to pull Felix in. Jisung immediately follows. Hyunjin wraps an arm around both of them. Jeongin squeezes in. Seungmin sighs like he's annoyed by the entire situation but joins anyway. Chan puts an arm around the whole group. And Minho stays closest to Felix's side, still holding his hand.
Felix disappears somewhere in the middle of them. For a few seconds, nobody says anything. Then Jisung sniffles, “You're so stupid." Felix laughs weakly through his tears, "I know."
"I mean it lovingly."
"I know."
Changbin's voice comes from somewhere near him, "We're still going to kill whoever made you do that."
"Hyung."
"What?"
"Don't."
"I'm just saying."
Seungmin speaks calmly from the other side, "He's not entirely wrong."
Chan sighs, "Guys."
Jeongin sniffles, "I think we should focus on Felix first."
Minho looks down at the tiny kitten ears poking out between everyone's shoulders, "Agreed." And Felix laughs. It was a wet laugh. But it was a real one. A real laugh. For the first time since the confession.
Nobody said anything for a while. They didn't need to.
The next morning, Chan called a meeting. Not a group meeting. A company meeting.
He brought documents. Old contracts. Medical records. The original debut requirements. Felix's examination report. The others brought evidence too. Photographs of company property damaged by their perfectly intact claws. Records showing that no other member had ever been subjected to the same requirement.
The company tried to dismiss it. They said it had been necessary. "Felix consented to the procedure." Chan felt a headache building behind his eyes, "He was seventeen years old. You told him refusal meant he couldn't debut."
Jisung stared at them, "You considered that consent?"
Seungmin's voice was quiet, "Or was it coercion?"
Nobody answered.
Chan placed the original evaluation report on the table, "This says he was perfectly healthy." He placed another document beside it, “So tell me. Under what medical justification was this procedure performed?"
Silence.
"There wasn't one," Chan said.
Another document.
The executive in front of them clenched his jaw as he stared at the documents spread before him, "The procedure was intended to protect the other members and company property."
Changbin laughs once. Not because it's funny. But because he can't believe they're still saying it, “Then why didn't you do it to us?"
Silence.
"Our claws have damaged more property than his ever did. Than his ever would’ve.”
Silence.
"Why was a debut condition presented as a choice when refusal meant losing his position?"
Still silence.
Had this occurred before, the company could’ve easily dismissed them. But the group standing before them changed. Because this wasn't a group of frightened trainees anymore.
They were professionals.
They had lawyers.
They had fans.
They had evidence.
And they had each other.
The people responsible were removed from their positions. The company issued an apology. Felix received compensation and access to specialists who could help manage the chronic pain.
It didn't undo what happened. Nothing could. But it meant someone had finally admitted that it was wrong.
Months later, Felix sat on the dorm balcony. His hands rested in his lap. Minho sat beside him, "How are they today?"
Felix flexed his fingers, "A little sore."
"Want to shift?"
Felix hesitated, before smiling, "Yeah."
A tiny kitten appeared beside Minho. Minho smiled as Felix carefully climbed into his lap.
This time, when he kneaded Minho's thigh, there was no pain. Minho's hand moved gently over his head. "You know," he said, "you don't have to hide when you're hurting anymore." Felix's ears twitched. He purred while rubbing his head against Minho’s hand.
Minho smiled and continued petting him, "Promise?" The kitten looked up. Then he curled into a ball against Minho's stomach. Minho laughed softly, "I'll take that as a yes."
From inside the dorm came a loud crash.
"JISUNG!"
"IT WASN'T ME!"
"I’M PRETTY IT WAS A WOLF I JUST SAW!"
"THAT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING!"
Another crash.
Minho sighed.
Felix's ears perked.
Then the kitten made a tiny, delighted chirp. Minho looked down, "What's funny?" Felix shifted back just to speak, "Nothing."
"You laughed."
"No."
"You absolutely did."
Felix grinned, "I just think it's funny that everyone was worried about me scratching the furniture."
Another crash came from inside.
Minho stared toward the living room, then back at Felix. "Yeah,” He smiled, "Turns out they had bigger problems." Felix laughed.
And for the first time in years, he didn't hide his hands. He didn't need to hide his pain. He didn't hide himself.
He simply sat there, safe among people who had finally learned the truth—and who had no intention of ever letting anyone make him choose between being himself and being loved again.
He didn't need to know that Changbin, Seungmin, and Jeongin had quietly made certain that none of the people responsible would ever get close enough to hurt him, or anyone for that matter, ever again.