Trouvaille - Chapter One

Trouvaille - Chapter One

Pairing(s); BTS OT7 x Reader

Genre/Themes; Hybrid!AU, themes of the supernatural and the occult, religious themes, violence, hurt/comfort, horror, romance

Rated; 18+ for swearing, violence/gore, future sexual themes. Reader discretion is advised.

Word Count; 20.4k

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Hello everyone, this is Dana! This is the first complete chapter of Trouvaille, an introduction to the story and several characters. I have been working on this story for a long time, so I am overjoyed to share it with others. If you'd like to be added to the taglist for the next few chapters, don't hesitate to ask, I'll gladly add you. Any comments, questions, and feedback is lovingly received, and thank you for reading, and please enjoy!

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Although it was Friday, the hands of Y/N’s watch moved as if stuck in honey, hours ticking by painfully, and her patience was wearing thin. Today was her last day at her job. That morning, while sipping a cup of tea wrapped up in her quilt in bed, she had stared out the window absently as she frequently caught herself doing, fog rolling through the tall grasses of the back yard and filling the sky with stormy colors. The morning of her last day of work was like any other, planned to the minute, methodical, and solitary. Routine, she found, drove her crazy, but she wondered what exactly she would do after it’s upheaval – was it back to school, helping her mother out at the library, applying for a job at the smoothie bar, starting a ghost hunting crew? Endless possibilities boggled her even more than repetitive routine, she didn’t have a plan, and it was somewhat freeing. 

The veterinarian hospital she worked at was located in the heart of Boston, and saw near-constant foot traffic. When she arrived in the morning there were nothing but appointments to attend to, animals to check in, bags of kibble to sell, and of course, the odd surgery or two. Her position, specifically, was the on-staff exotics veterinarian, and often trained her colleagues to treat animals that weren’t cats and dogs. 

She was in the midst of her last examination, one that would likely end in surgery for a broken wing. It was getting late, there were only a handful of her colleagues left in the building, and she still had to talk to her supervisor about her leave. Y/N had chosen to word it as “taking a leave” rather than formally turning in resignation papers, as much as she was leaning towards a complete change of career. There was a chance after a few months of indulging herself in new directions that she’d come running back to the hospital.

Squinting, Y/N skimmed the clipboard containing information about the parrot she was currently treating, taking care not to touch his injured wing when she wrapped the bird in a towel for better handling.

“Lex, I need the radiograph up on the screen, please. Watch out for his beak!” Nimbly, Y/N turned the agitated bird away from the young lab tech before he nipped at her elbow. “He’s a biter, not that I can blame him, after what’s happened to his wing,” adjusting the towel around the Macaw, Y/N glanced at the large screen above the observation table. Eyes scanning the radiograph with practiced precision, she realized that the fracture was not something that could be mended with tape and time. A door closing and the sound of metal rolling in a tin alerted her of the presence of the tech she was most proud of training, a young man named John.

“John? Oh, John, thank God you’re back, did room 103 have the IM pins? I want this parrot to be stabilized as quickly as possible. I don’t think he is used to being handled,” Y/N explained, struggling to keep the bird's large beak away from her ears. Vaguely, Y/N heard Lex slip from the room, likely running to the next room for another emergency radiograph. John, his blue eyes drooping in concern, slid the tray of IM pins across the observation table while clicking his tongue. 

“Poor guy. What happened?” John asked, chest heaving with the effort of running down the veterinarian hospital halls. His creamsicle colored scrubs, an undoubtedly sunny wardrobe choice, was littered with sunset orange sweat stains and spots of animal drool as he reached across the table for the patient file. He let out a low whistle at the accident report as Y/N decided one IM pin would be plenty to get the fractured bone to realign once more.

“Wing caught in cage door? That can’t be right, especially with the size of the fracture,” John exclaimed, smooth features pulling into an incredulous expression. Eyes flicking up to the parrot, Y/N’s eyebrows knit together in frustration, John hurriedly washed his hands in the sink and pulled two pairs of latex gloves from the box next to the sink. It was the unsaid in the report that raised suspicion; how, exactly, did the bird get its wing stuck in the cage door himself? It was more common, in fact, for Y/N to treat animals that were abused; things were rarely accidents, when it came to exotics. 

“Are you ready for surgery? For the size of the bird and the fracture, I estimate we’ll be working for about three hours before he can be brought to recovery,” Y/N slipped a clean mask over her face, adjusting the frameless plastic goggles so they don’t fog, before carefully ensuring John had a hold on the parrot. John grunted in assent, likely just as bone-tired as she was. 

Rider, she faintly remembered, was the parrot’s name, as she watched white suds circle and filter down the drain. Once her hands were dry and the gloves snapped over her wrists, she felt the numbing sensation of dropping into total concentration. In a way, that was the best part of her job; the quieting of her brain for the length of a surgery, distracted by the methodical procedures, the pressure to work against the clock, and above all – the importance of helping the animal. 

Perhaps it was selfish, in a way, to crave the escape from her inner monologue considering her line of work, but some people had meditation and some people were joggers. Certainly, every sane person needed an outlet for serenity to make sense of the rest of the chaos infecting their lives. Sometimes, Y/N even believed she had combined her serenity with vocation, her work and her respite intimately entwined. Other times, at the bottom of a nondescript bottle with her friends, she grew nauseous at the rigidity of it all. 

“Prepare the K-wires, let’s get started,” Y/N declared, pulling the operating light over the table. John grunted in response, Y/N smoothing a hand over the parrot’s crown in a practiced soothing manner. 

“We’ll get you all fixed up, Rider,” Y/N whispered to the Macaw, the eyes of the parrot boring into her in a way that made her feel exposed. 

“So, does this mean we can finally call it a day?” John asked raggedly, wiping a bead of sweat from his temple. The air outside of the operating room felt significantly fresher, the bright lights by the employee lockers snapping Y/N out of her surgical reverie. Peeling the sticky gloves from her hands and tiredly tossing them into a nearby trash can, she nodded. 

“All done, John! You can go ahead and get out of here. It’s Friday night, after all – I just have to talk to Dr. Davies before I can go myself,” Y/N smiled warmly at John. While he was one of the newest vet techs, over the past seven months at the office he had managed to surpass all of the other techs in surgical skill. 

Frowning slightly, John paused before reaching for his book bag. “Are you going to discuss your leave?” He inquired softly. 

Y/N sighed heavily. While she had enjoyed training John, and found significant fulfillment in her profession, the past few months had felt more and more draining. Being an exotics veterinarian was one of the hundreds of things she had dreamed of as a child. She had excelled in school, graduating close to the top of her class, and had even landed an amazing position at her current animal hospital fresh out of university. For the first year, Y/N saw herself at Harbor Animal Hospital long-term, aspiring to be like the incredible Dr. Tia Davies, her boss and mentor. 

As time went on, Y/N felt a sadness well up inside of her as she treated animal after animal. The world had become a cruel place full of neglect for animals, especially for the exotics she cared for. When she was a little girl, her grandparents took her to a traveling circus every summer when it came through Boston. It was there, where she watched beautiful parrots soar, elegant leopards slink through elaborate obstacles, and giraffes stand tall in all of their glory that Y/N first dreamed of working with such beautiful animals. To help them, specifically, as she grew up and realized the types of trials and tribulations the circus animals went through in order to perform, was one of her biggest desires. 

Fresh from college equipped with rosy lenses, she believed she could make a difference – but all she found was the revolving door of the hospital, each animal’s case more soul crushing than the next. Abuse, neglect, abandonment; these were the things that kept Y/N staring at her ceiling at night, waiting for sleep that would never come. She couldn’t help but notice the uptick in her anxiety and the dark circles rimming her lower lash line as time wore on, desperate to love her job again. At twenty-four years old, she ultimately came to the conclusion that in order for her to help animals in a way that mattered, she needed some time to sort out her personal feelings. 

“Yeah,” Y/N replied, raking her hand through her hair, “I just don’t know if I can keep this up, John. I’m running on empty and I just can’t shake this feeling – oh, I don’t know – of heartbreak? I just feel like I need time to regroup. I can’t afford to have my personal feelings negatively impact the animals,” she explained, corners of her mouth turning downwards. 

John nodded thoughtfully, slinging his book bag over his shoulder. He was yet to feel this way, and was generally more optimistic than Y/N, but he saw how depleted she had become over the months. She prayed that he would not end up like her; the hospital desperately needed him. 

“Well, Y/N, I’m really going to miss you around here. Hopefully the new exotics vet is just as patient as you are,” he said gently, placing his hand on her shoulder. Y/N appreciated the fact that he didn’t plead her to stay, or press the subject too hard. “Call me when you decide to come back. I’ll be waiting for you with your favorite Starbucks order!” 

With that, Y/N gave John a hearty wave as he pushed his way through the doors to the employee parking lot. She would miss him, certainly, but she had wrestled with taking a leave for months before she decided John was ready to take her place until Dr. Davies could find a full-time replacement. 

She opened up her locker, pulling down the picture of her posing at a cocktail party with her friends Ben, Laura, and Alice, the magazine clipping of Keanu Reeves as John Wick, and her bag of toiletries for when she worked late, shoving all of the items into her canvas tote bag. Simply clearing out the locker made her feel lighter in a way, albeit a tad guilty. She thought about some of the patients she saw regularly, such as the sweet elephant seal she treated at the Boston Aquarium, and felt the guilt rise up in her stomach even more. But she had already decided; she was no help to any creature in her current state. 

Setting off down the hall towards the office where the doctors kept patient files and keys to the pharmacy and lab, Y/N took one last look at the polished linoleum floors, the pastel walls, and unflattering fluorescent lights guiding her way. She knocked twice on the closed door, all of the other staff and techs gone for the day as the rapping sound echoed about the empty clinic. 

“Y/N, I’m assuming that is you? Come on in,” Dr. Davies’ sweet voice called, muffled by the sound of a medical mask. Pushing the door open, Y/N hiked her tote bag up further on her shoulder in determination.

Dr. Davies, or Tia, as she insisted everyone call her, was a kind woman in her mid-forties. She wore purple rectangular glasses and had frizzy graying hair, and looked something akin to an art school aunt. Tia always wore chunky, funky jewelry and colorful scrubs, which she had mentioned “brightened up the place”. 

“So, have you made your final decision?” Tia looked up over her glasses, setting the folder she was holding down on the desk. She stood, smiling fondly at Y/N. Swallowing down even more guilt, Y/N nodded. 

“I’m sorry, Tia. I just feel like I’ve…” Y/N trailed off while looking at the floor, at a loss for words that accurately described her feelings. 

“Hit a wall? Been emotionally drained?” Tia suggested helpfully. Eyes shooting up to meet Tia’s, Y/N’s confidence returned after she registered the understanding look on the doctor’s face. 

“In a way. I still want to help animals, and that will never change. Lately, I feel like I haven’t been able to help enough. In a way that matters. The world is… the world is so awful. To these animals, to humans–”

“–to hybrids?” Tia added encouragingly. 

Hybrids!

“Oh my God. Hybrids! I knew I was forgetting something about my schedule today!” Y/N exclaimed, blood draining from her face. 

“Oh Y/N, I remember you telling me about your plans to go with Ben and Roy to a hybrid shelter this week. Is that today?” Tia rounded the corner of the desk, grasping one of Y/N’ wrists tenderly.

“Uh, yes– it is– Ben is going to kill me. I’m supposed to meet him at Government Center in half an hour. I’m so sorry, this couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Y/N gasped out, furious at herself for forgetting such an important meeting. Her timing never seemed to be perfect. 

“Listen, Y/N, relax. It’s alright, I just wanted to let you know that my old colleague from Chicago has agreed to take your position until you return,” Tia reassuringly squeezed her wrist. “Or, if you return,” she added, a twinkle of some kind of knowing in her eye. 

“Oh, that’s such good news,” Y/N exhaled, thrilled Tia could find a replacement so quickly, a weight lifted off of her shoulders.

“I have no doubt that you will continue to help animals, you’re like me in that way. You’re young, and like me, you may have to take time to truly figure out where you fit in to make the best difference,” Tia continued, a warm feeling of kinship spreading through Y/N. 

“Tia,” Y/N mumbled in a watery manner, eyes filling up a little.

“I want you to call me, at least once a month, or whenever you need me. I’m here for you. Besides, knowing you, you’ll come up with some new venture that I absolutely need to be a part of. I’ll lend any knowledge I can,” Tia released Y/N’s wrist, opening her arms for an embrace. Now, Y/N truly had tears running down her face, burying it in Tia’s shoulder. 

“Now, get going! If you want to make it to Government Center in thirty minutes, I suggest you run the yellow lights,” Tia released her, winking. Y/N wiped a stray tear from her cheek, squaring her shoulders. 

“Thank you, Tia, for everything. I’ll call you,” Y/N affirmed, taking one more look at the kind doctor. She hurried from the office, the newfound source of anxiety of being late quickening her step to her car. 

As she launched out of the clinic, she took a deep breath in, the air free from the scent of rubbing alcohol and pet fur. While Boston city air was certainly tainted with cigarette smoke and exhaust, the light perfume of black-eyed susans studded along sidewalks filtered through pleasantly. Invigorating her, she squashed down the dread of her evening plans. 

While Y/N was well-versed in the subject of the animal kingdom, hybrids were always a source of puzzlement to her. Hybrids, a part of modern life long before her birth, were created specifically for human enjoyment in large labs, factories, and even dilapidated basement operations. When her parents were in their twenties, the price to own your own hybrid was an astronomical fee, and only the elite were photographed with hybrid companions at fundraisers and derbies. 

As the “wheel of progress” turned, hybrids spliced with large animal DNA became workhorses in many parts of the industrial USA. Hybrids working on logging plants, mining, and even construction, was faster and cheaper labor than hiring humans – an abysmal fact. In more recent times, almost anybody could adopt a hybrid, for better or for worse. Of course, the nasty sort of animal abuser found even more enjoyment tormenting a hybrid, one who could potentially fight back and feel human fear. God-wealthy “hunters for sport” lined up at fancy hybrid shelters to pick out bear and prey hybrids for their sick hobby, according to recent news headlines. 

For the most part, Y/N avoided the topic of hybrids. Although her family had money, there was never a hybrid within their home. This, she did consider odd, simply due to the fact that a large part of her family’s wealth came from her father’s revolutionary studies and practices on hybrid heart surgeries as a cardiologist. He had treated thousands of hybrids and truly cared for them, in a similar way that Y/N cared for her exotics. Her mother, on the other hand, loved hybrids, and even ran a bookclub out of the library she worked at specifically for adopted hybrids. 

Y/N chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated her relationship with the beings, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited out a red light. The radio murmured about the weather comfortingly, however, she could still feel the nervousness eating away at her stomach. It’s not like she had never talked to a hybrid, plenty of her parent’s friends had one or two. However, she couldn’t ever shake the feeling that like actual animals, hybrids could sense things about her that humans could not. In an all-knowing, exposing way. 

She blasted through the last yellow light, spotting the bright gold kettle that served as a giant Starbucks sign next to Government Center, and miraculously found a street parking spot nearby. Y/N was only ten minutes late, but in Ben’s mind, she might as well have been an hour late. Taking a quick peak in her rearview mirror, she pinched her cheeks to bring some life back into her complexion, ruffled her hair, and hastily shoved her wallet and keys into the pocket of her lavender scrubs. 

The sun was starting to set as she scuttled towards the entrance of Government Center, dreading the humidity and musty smell of the MBTA station. Ben and Roy told her to meet them inside of the station, where the couple met after Roy’s office hours. Stumbling over a cobblestone in her clunky clogs she wore to work, she cursed loudly as a pack of college students giggled at her outside of the Starbucks. Giving them a passionate Boston-style middle finger, she straightened up when she heard her name. 

“Y/N! Jesus Christ, over here!” Ben’s sharp voice cut through the Friday night rush hour traffic. Whirling around, she noticed Ben’s perfectly coiffed head of red hair, one of his Gucci loafers tapping the sidewalk impatiently. Behind him, sitting sheepishly on a fountain ledge, was his fiance, Roy. Y/N all but ran over to the two of them. 

“Shit– I’m so sorry I’m late– I got caught up in surgery and had to talk to my boss about the leave, plus the traffic, I swear, these Emerson students walk into the street on purpose,” Y/N heaved, right hand clutching her pounding heart. Roy chuckled lightly as he stood from his perch, hand smoothing over the back of Ben’s tweed suit. 

“I texted you this morning to remind you about tonight! Scatterbrain,” Ben scolded, his annoyance tempered by Roy’s gentle hand. Y/N always thought Roy was the best thing to ever happen to Ben. 

Ben Alpin was Y/N’s childhood neighbor, and although he was four years older, they were attached at the hip all throughout their youth. Ben was an amazing friend to have growing up; he was outgoing and sharp of tongue, always protective like an older brother. Considering Y/N had no siblings, Ben was the closest to one she ever had. They had gone to separate high schools, where Ben had flourished in leadership programs and dominated student council. He had always jokingly said that “money was his dream”, but Y/N knew that what he really wanted was to be a leader of some kind. He had eventually gone to Harvard Law, and was now a successful business lawyer. So successful, he was able to afford a brownstone on Beacon Hill – in the end, Y/N supposed he did indeed achieve his dream of money. 

Ben had met Roy Heath at Harvard post-grad, Roy being a new professor of architecture attending a leadership seminar Ben was hosting at the university. As far as personality, the two balanced each other out so well it was almost cosmic. Incredibly patient, calm, and easy-mannered, Roy could de-escalate a classic Ben meltdown in seconds. Y/N adored Roy, he had become a dear friend to her almost as quickly as he entered her life. He often helped her work on her house on the weekends, which offered her not only someone to reach high areas of the ceilings with a paintbrush, but a grounding presence to bask in. The two planned on getting married in less than a year, after Roy published his current thesis. 

“I know, I know… I even replied to your message! Just goes to show how absolutely fried I am these days,” Y/N complained, smacking her face against Ben’s chest and squeezing his midsection until he wheezed. Patting her back, she felt his chest rumble in amusement, surprisingly not as angry as she thought he’d be for her tardiness. 

“It’s okay, Y/N, you were barely even ten minutes late. I doubt ten minutes will determine whether or not there’s a hybrid for us,” Roy reassured her, stooping low to give her a brief hug after she let go of Ben. The latter scoffed, intertwining his fingers with Roy’s, before rolling his blue eyes. “I found three shelters online the past few months, so we’ll see which one is lucky.”

“Don’t forget that seedy one over in Downtown Crossing. That’s our last resort,” Ben added. Ben, ever the realist, had been forwarding articles about hybrid scarcity to Y/N for the last six months. For some reason, the supply of hybrids could not keep up with the growing demand of those who wish to adopt. Y/N suspected the worst – sport hunting was growing in popularity. She did not vocalize her opinion to the couple. 

“Let’s get going. The first one is right up the street by that sucky Irish pub,” Ben declared, pushing a graying-brown curl behind Roy’s ear affectionately. They were nauseatingly adorable, Y/N thought. 

Setting off, Y/N told the two all about how she asked for her leave, what she planned on doing while she had time off, and of course, her house. Stopping at a crosswalk, Ben looked at her inquisitively. 

“So, any luck finding roommates for that big old creepy house of yours?” He asked, an eyebrow arching up into his hairline at the absurdity. Y/N pouted, yet another situation she found kept her awake at night. 

Her maternal grandparents, the very same ones that took her yearly to the circus as a kid, lived in a gorgeous Stick Style Victorian manor outside of Boston when she was growing up. It had been in her family for generations, built in the 1860’s for some wealthy judge and his wife. Y/N loved the house more than anything, its hundreds of nooks, crannies, passageways, and secrets made her giddy like a child every time she went home. She had moved into the home after college, when her grandparents became too old to live on their own. They lived with her mother and father down the street, but Y/N couldn’t bear to leave the beautiful Victorian empty. The house itself would have been part of her inheritance, so she figured why not move in immediately after college?

What she didn’t realize was that her grandmother was a bit of an antiques hoarder, and her grandfather didn’t like to “fix what ain’t broke”. Meaning, the last time the place had any kind of repairs or facelifting was in the sixties. Y/N had her work cut out for her between scraping linoleum off of the kitchen floor and managing the several acres of trails and gardens on the property. Additionally, the place was gigantic – with 10 bedrooms, she could have a convent of nuns move in with her. It was this reason, (certainly not the fact that she could really use someone who could operate a ride-on lawnmower) that she had been asking around her pool of friends if they were looking for a place to live. She hadn’t found any luck. 

“Don’t remind me of that. Seriously, my head’s going to explode. I’ve been asking around for months, I’ve even told people they could pay me three walnuts to live there,” Y/N groaned, following the couple across the street. Roy was practically pissing his pants, face red with glee. 

“You know, Y/N, Roy spends enough time there hauling out your grandma’s chair collection, he should move in.”

“Hey! Working on that house is hands-on experience for me. It’s not very often architects get to work freely on a Victorian,” Roy nudged Ben with his shoulder, having to lean down six inches. The sight made Y/N snort. 

“I’m just going to throw in the towel. Maybe I’ll get five cats and they can have the run of the place,” Y/N said thoughtfully. At least with cats, she wouldn’t have to worry about a roommate filling her old home with modern Ikea decor. 

“Oh, yeah, really solidify your granny status with that. Sexy,” Ben teased, head craning backwards to give her a cheeky grin. She stuck her tongue out at him, pointing beyond his nose to the sign in front of him reading Hattie’s Hybrids. 

“Okay! This is the first one, let’s all say a quick prayer to whoever’s listening… Oh, I’m so excited, Ben,” Roy was practically bouncing, the perfect picture of an excited father. Or, potentially soon-to-be father. 

Roy’s excitement was short-lived. Pulling on the door handle, Ben realized the shop was locked up. Cupping his hands and pressing his face into the window, he frowned. 

“The lights are on, but the place looks deserted! I swear, I checked the hours online and they’re supposed to be open,” Ben exclaimed, puzzled. 

“Right here, honey,” Roy sighed, tapping a taped-up sign on the window.

We do not have any hybrids at this time. Please check back in the upcoming weeks.

“What?” Ben’s voice pitched upwards, scanning the paper. “Great. The next shelter is three blocks away. I’m going to need a drink.”

“After we check out the next two shelters,” Y/N warned, knowing how rowdy Ben could get on a Friday night bar crawl. Ben shook his hand twice, yeah, yeah, before following Roy down the sidewalk to the next location. Feeling a touch of exasperation that Hattie’s Hybrids couldn’t save her from a whole night of traipsing around the city, she closely tailed her friends in search of the next place. 

“Fuck! I needed that,” Ben slammed his shot glass down on the crumbling wooden bar, holding up his finger to the bartender to leave the bottle of tequila behind. 

The next two shelters Roy had found were similarly locked up and deserted, which caused Ben to fly into pissed-lawyer mode. 

“How do these people even make money? I can’t understand why there doesn’t seem to be a single shelter in the city of Boston with hybrids. Where are they all?” He continued, pouring himself another shot. Roy looked discouraged, nursing a Budweiser and rubbing slow circles along Ben’s lower back. 

Y/N was similarly distressed. It was getting late, she had been in surgery most of the day, and all she wanted was to crawl into her bed. Instead, she found herself slumping around the humid city, already buzzed off of a stiff gin martini, like she was in grad school again. Mostly, she felt bad for her friends – all they wanted was to have a family together. Swirling an olive around in her glass, she hummed. 

“So I take it, we're off to the ‘seedy’ place,” Y/N encouraged, taking the last sip of her martini. They had ended up in a bar in Downtown Crossing anyways, so at least she wouldn’t have to walk up the hill towards the State House again. Ben grunted.

“Please. If those three places were shut down, I doubt the last resort is harboring a miracle. We’ll go for shits and giggles, the hot dog cart is by there anyways. I’ll have to do more research before we find our little one, Roy…” Ben trailed off sadly, downing his third shot with a shake of the head. 

“It’s alright, honey, we’ll do it together,” Roy affirmed, a sweet smile spreading across his face. Y/N felt her martini rise in her throat at the purity of it all. 

Slapping down a fistfull of cash, Ben rose from his stool, rolling his shoulders back. 

“Come on, granny, last stop before you can race back to the Haunted Mansion,” Ben helped Y/N up from her seat, leading her to the exit. 

The last shelter was less than a block away from the bar. Ben swore when the hot dog cart seemed to have shut down for the day. Roy was busy gaping at the flickering lightbulb outside of the last shelter, which had a chipping sign that simply read HYBRIDS. The door was propped open with a wooden block, the lights were on, and there was a man hunched over a cellphone at the front of a store. 

“Holy–” Roy clamped a hand over Ben’s mouth, probably trying to save him from a bad first impression. Y/N was just as floored as her friend, staring dumbly at the shabby storefront, barely registering Roy pushing Ben into the shelter. Scrambling after them, Y/N entered the building. 

The place was entirely gray. The walls, the tin desk with an ancient register, the old guidebooks lining dusty shelves, all radiated a depressing emotion. Even the man behind the desk, still watching a noisy pre-season Patriots game, had dull gray hair and a sagging complexion. Stifling a smirk at how out of place ritzy Ben looked, Y/N pressed a hand over her mouth as she sifted through a rack of hybrid-specific clothes that were about as old as she was. Roy cleared his throat, standing before the desk, Ben uncharacteristically silent as the man grumbled with annoyance, peering up at the three of them. 

Setting his phone down, the man stood arthritically before painting on a customer-service smile. 

“And how can I help youse today?” Y/N nearly snickered at the man’s Quincey accent, alcohol making her a little giddy, until she realized this man just might be the saving grace of her Friday night. “We’re havin’ a sale on them jeans over there,” the man pointed to the rack Y/N had steadied herself on.

“Uh, okay, good to know. Actually, we’re here to potentially adopt, if you have any hybrids available, that is,” Roy took the lead, Ben’s eyes glazed over as he stared at a cobweb on the ceiling. The man made a noise of understanding in the back of his throat, grabbing a key ring from the desk drawer. 

“Got just one, follow me,” the man motioned to them with a finger, unlocking the door at the back of the shop behind a shelf of books. Roy looked a bit disheartened, the chances of the lone hybrid at the shelter being a child slim to none. The trio stepped through the threshold anyways, the back room filled with what could only be compared to empty jail cells sans doors, the scent of cleaning products heavy in the air. Y/N was shocked by Ben’s continued silence, analyzing his stony expression as they reached the back of the room. There was a slim hallway to Y/N’s right, dimly lit, but they did not go down that way.

“Got this one in about two hours ago. She’s the smallest of her siblings, apparently… too hyper for them fancy shelter’s customers, or so’s I’ve been told by the person who dropped her ‘ere. Name’s Daisy, up-to-date on her doctor’s visits, guaranteed,” the shopkeeper rattled off, scratching the back of his head. He stepped to the side, allowing Ben and Roy to peer into the chamber Daisy was in. 

Sat on the little bed in the corner, engrossed in a colorful picture book, was a little girl about four years old. She had beautiful white blonde hair, long white lop ears sprouting from her crown, and was wearing a sundress with strawberries on it. She looked very well taken care of, a teddy bear clamped under her arm and hair neatly brushed. One of her ears twitched at the sound of the man’s voice, large chocolate eyes darting upwards. A tiny, toothy grin stretched across her precious face as she jumped up from the bed, book clattering to the floor. 

“Oh my gosh!” Ben gasped delightedly, the little bunny hybrid gathering a fistfull of his pant leg. Y/N was flabbergasted at the sight of such an angelic little girl in such a drab, depressing place. How in the hell did nobody adopt her?

“Hi! Hi, you’re here! They’re loud…” Daisy practically vibrated with energy, shaking the material of Ben’s pant leg excitedly. Her eyes darted down the narrow hallway Y/N had spotted moments before, one of Daisy’s ears lifting in that direction. 

“She’s beautiful! I can’t believe it – we were looking for a child just like her! Ben, what do you think?” Roy was so happy, his face was entirely pink as he bent down to say hello. The hybrid seemed to not have an ounce of shyness in her body, thrusting her teddy bear into Roy’s hand and telling him the bear’s name. 

“I think that this place was harboring a miracle after all,” Ben said in a disbelieving tone, simply glowing at Roy and Daisy’s interactions. She was chattering on about her morning, what she wanted to eat for dinner, and her new book. 

“I don’ think she’ll be here for very long,” the shopkeeper called from next to Y/N. He looked like he was aching to get back to his Patriots game. “If you wanna adopt, I suggest you do it tonight.”

“What breed is she? How old, and how much, and where do we sign?” Ben asked rapidly, blushing furiously as Roy picked Daisy up when she stretched her arms out to be held. Y/N could hardly believe the events unfolding in front of her; she knew that the couple was prepared to adopt that very night, but she was sure they wouldn’t be able to find what they were looking for right away. Suddenly, she felt like she was intruding on a private moment, no matter how close she was to Ben and Roy. 

“Uh…” the man pulled his eyebrows together, checking a clipboard velcroed to the wall. “She just turned four. Lionhead rabbit, the fancy Latin name ‘ere too if you want it. Adoption fee for her…” looking thoughtfully at Ben’s Gucci loafers, the man smirked. Y/N turned away, feeling ill from her martini, stalking off slightly down the mysterious hallway. “... $2,500. I’ll print up them papers in the office.”

Slinking down the short hallway, Y/N took a deep breath. Daisy was like a gift from some cosmic entity, and it almost seemed too good to be true. She felt warmth spread through her chest as she thought about the spare room in Ben’s townhouse, already decked to the nines with children’s toys and furniture. Daisy would want for nothing, and it was as if Ben and Roy had already fallen in love with her. Dragging her fingertips along the cinder block walls, she made a surprised sound at the heavy metal door a few feet away from her. Further down the hall, there was a normal wooden door left ajar, an office, from the looks of it. Humming, she turned her attention to the safe-like door, a big red sign nailed to the left of it. The sign read: Exotics and Aggressives - Do Not Enter. 

Now that sign certainly caught her attention – all she had to read was Exotics before a happy sensation flooded through her. Giddy, she began to rise on her tiptoes to peek through the small square window of the door, when she heard a throat clear behind her. Startled, she whipped around, guilt painting her features as the shopkeeper eyed her suspiciously. 

“I wouldn’ get too close to them, if I were you, young lady,” the man said, hands on his hips. “They’ll take off your arm in a second.”

Arching an eyebrow, Y/N’s curiosity was piqued even more with this statement. The man sighed, pointing at the window. 

“Go ahead, take a look. They’re all vicious, the jaguar bastard bit me yesterday,” he muttered, tenderly rubbing a bandage on his left forearm. Staring at the man, as if to decipher if he was egging her on or not, Y/N turned back to the window, finally peering in. 

The room was large, but all divided by iron bars, like giant cages they would keep big animals in at the clinic. At first, she had to squint to see anything other than iron, but then she let out a startled gasp as her eyes focused. 

She counted four hybrids, fully shifted into their animal forms. First, her sight landed on a gorgeous, albeit underweight, leopard, laying on its side, asleep. In the cell next to it was what appeared to be a coyote, turned away from the door and shaking like a leaf in the corner. 

“My God,” Y/N whispered, taking in the third animal, a black jaguar, most likely the one that had bitten the shopkeeper. It was asleep, breathing labored, as blood oozed from a jagged cut on his side. 

Anger welled up inside of her, beginning to turn to the shopkeeper in wrath, before her breath was cut off by the sight of the final animal she could see: the biggest Northwestern wolf she had ever seen, and it was staring right back at her. Undoubtedly a male, the wolf’s amber eyes bored into hers, ears swiveling forward in alert and teeth baring immediately. The creature’s expression sent shivers down her spine, even as he was laying down in his cell separated by the heavy door Y/N was pressed against. Unable to tear her gaze away from the wolf, she forgot all about her bed calling her name, about Ben and Roy, and about Daisy. 

“Who are they?” Y/N asked, eventually breaking eye contact with the wolf. Looking at the shopkeeper, who had pulled out his phone to check on the Patriots, didn’t even spare the door a glance. 

“Bunch o’ bastards. We get the unadopted hybrids that are found wandering the streets, the ones that are rejected by other shelters, sometimes from circuses or zoos if they stop doin’ what they’re supposed to,” he replied, sounding bored. He began to walk away, heading towards the office, when Y/N pulled herself away from the door to urgently grab his wrist. 

“Wait! I– oh,” she let go of his wrist, blushing in embarrassment. “What’s going to happen to them?” Y/N asked, fearing the worst. The man scoffed, beginning to get annoyed with her questions. 

“Listen, lady, I’ve got a guy from Manhattan coming in tomorrow morning to pick up them animals. He’s offering seven G’s for all seven of em’... for hunting or something, I don’ really care what for. It’s payday tomorrow. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to send that rabbit on her way with your buddies so I can finish the game in peace,” with that, the man stalked to the office, muttering something about “women”, the sound of a stuttering printer filling the hallway. 

Affronted, Y/N felt her heart begin to race, thinking about the beautiful leopard being hunted down, and the chances of the injured jaguar living past tomorrow evening. Feeling more ill than ever, the disgust for the world she lived in infiltrated every cell of her body. She peeked back into the room once more, immediately searching for the other three animals, but could not strain her eyesight into the far hidden corners of the room. A pained wheeze came from the jaguar, tail limply beating the floor. She looked at the wolf again, but to her surprise, he had turned around from her view and curled himself into a ball. Her heart sank, palms sliding down the door. If she didn’t feel powerless to help animals before, she certainly did at that moment. 

“Y/N? Where did you go?” Roy inquired, voice raised. She blinked rapidly, ears picking up Daisy’s childish giggle, and huffed sadly for the seven hybrids behind the locked door. While her heart was breaking for them, she wouldn’t allow herself to dampen her friend’s spirits on such a wonderful night for the two of them. 

She stiffened as the shopkeeper brushed past her, a packet in hand, grumbling in her direction. Curling her lip up in a snarl of disgust, she begrudgingly followed him, glancing at the metal door once more. 

“The papers. Let’s sign em’ up front, come on, now,” the shopkeeper grunted, stepping into the light of the main hybrid holding room. Roy still had Daisy on his hip, his face confused as it landed on Y/N. She brightened up in the best way that she could, smiling sweetly at Daisy, who had begun to sleepily nod her head against Roy’s shoulder. Ben held her teddy bear and picture book, pacing around the space she was in as if to check for any other of her belongings. 

“Sorry, guys! I had to run to the bathroom in the back,” Y/N lied, watching the shopkeeper carefully to see if he would rat her out. He rolled his eyes disinterestedly, already making his way to the storefront. Roy easily bought the lie, trusting and easygoing, face dissolving into understanding. She felt rotten about the deception, but she would feel even worse if she robbed her friends of the happy glow around them with the news of the exotic hybrids only feet away. 

Ben straightened up from where he was crouched over by the bed Daisy had been sitting on, face a touch melancholy. 

“Honey, is this all that you brought with you?” Ben asked Daisy, brushing a strand of hair away from her cherubic face. She cracked an eye open, peering at Ben’s outstretched hands holding her teddy bear and book. Nodding twice, she buried her face into Roy’s neck, sleep threatening to pull her under. Ben tutted, a look of adoration on his face. 

“I think she likes you, Roy,” Ben whispered with glee. “Let’s go sign the papers and get her home,” Ben took Roy’s free hand, flashing a brilliant smile towards Y/N, face clear of all stress from earlier. She trailed after the new family, no longer filled with exhaustion from her eventful day, but instead was consumed with cyclical thoughts. 

She felt dazed as she watched Ben smoothly sign his name on the papers, eagerly pushing them towards Roy once he finished, nearly tossing the packet off of the tin desk. The shopkeeper went back to his game on his phone, yawning, as Ben excitedly joined Y/N at the front of the store. 

“Can you believe it? Y/N, what are the chances?” Ben gushed, fingers fumbling along the bookshelf stocked with the hybrid guidebooks. Digits dancing along the spines, he carefully selected one while scratching his close-cut beard thoughtfully. The book was specific to hybrid children. 

“I can’t believe it. I also can’t believe it’s this easy to adopt – I mean, there’s no interview? Or background check?” With this statement, Ben turned to look at her curiously.

“Well, I know that the other shelters have at least one quick interview, but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth,” Ben said slowly, sensing something off about Y/N’s countenance. “Besides, look at this place. Sadly, I don’t think Belichick over there is very concerned with who walks out of here with a hybrid. What’s up? Why do you look so upset?” 

Y/N shook her head, spotting a rabbit hybrid booklet and pulling it off the shelf for Ben. Her fingers paused, noticing a thicker book for wolf hybrids a couple of spines over. She snapped out of it, sensing Ben’s probing gaze, and handed him the booklet with a grin. 

“I’m not upset, that martini just made me feel a little sick. I think today has just been a little crazy,” Y/N explained. Ben softened at her response and her offering of the booklet, pulling her into his side tightly. 

“I haven’t thanked you yet for coming along with us today. It means more than you know, having you be here for this,” Ben confessed, squeezing her once. 

“Always,” Y/N replied, tears threatening to fall for the second time that day. He let her go, lifting the books in the air, heading to the register to pay the final fee before they could leave with Daisy. 

“That’ll be $3,000 even – with the tax an’ the books,” The shopkeeper punched numbers into the noisy cash register, cursing as the sport’s broadcaster announced a foul from his phone. Ben handed him his thick black credit card easily, and with the flimsy bag for the books in hand and credit card securely back in his wallet, the four left the dreary shelter without any complications. 

Unlike when Y/N left the clinic earlier in the evening, exiting the shelter and breathing in the nighttime air offered no relief to her current anxiety. Roy was busy ordering a cab for their ride back to their townhouse, carefully shifting the sleeping bunny hybrid on his hip. Ben was busy blathering on about what he should whip up for Daisy’s dinner, or if he should call in some takeout. Y/N tried to steady her breathing, checking her slim wristwatch for the time. It was only 9 PM, but it felt like midnight. She considered leaving her car in the spot seven blocks away in favor of jumping on the Red Line, but wasn’t thrilled about a ticket likely being tucked under her windshield wiper come morning. 

“Guys, I’m gonna get going. My car’s a little ways away, so I should start walking now,” Y/N piped up through Ben’s cooing at sleeping Daisy, both men turning to face her. 

“Do you want me to walk you to your car? I can order another cab for myself after,” Ben offered, ever protective and concerned for her walking alone at night. She shook her head lightly, reaching out to stroke the back of Daisy’s head. She was irresistible and her hair was impossibly soft, and Daisy leaned into the touch even in her sleep. 

“No, no, don’t worry about me. I have a taser and a knife. And my clogs are heavier than they look, for kicking some nuts. You guys should get home as soon as you can, settle her in,” Y/N said slowly, trying her best not to wake the child. Ben looked like he wanted to protest, but was cut off by the pulling up of the cab Roy ordered. Y/N pushed him towards the passenger side door, eager to spend some time thinking on the walk to her car. 

“I’ll call you in the morning to check in, and I’ll even come and stop by tomorrow if you want, and ask my dad to schedule a check-up for Daisy,” Y/N offered, opening the doors for both of them. Roy gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, mouthing a thank you sincerely, carefully maneuvering his way into the backseat. 

“Thank you, Y/N. Text me when you get home,” Ben hugged her once more, folding himself into the passenger seat and closing the door softly. Y/N waved as the cab drove away, waiting until it turned the corner before sparing another glance at the shelter behind her. Brushing a sticky piece of hair from her forehead, humidity pressing down on her, she set off down the street to her car. 

It was close to four in the morning, and Y/N was putting away gin seltzers like it was her new job. Sweat rolled down the back of her neck, the air conditioning units she ordered not to be installed until Monday morning, as she bent on all fours scraping a hideous high-gloss varnish off of the landing on the grand staircase. Sleep evaded her after she arrived home from the shelter, even after a cooling shower and a bite to eat. Instead of tossing and turning in her bed, she decided to get thoroughly drunk, get a chunk of housework done, and pass out watching Ghost Adventures reruns on the couch in the parlor room. 

Wiping sweat from her brow, Y/N leaned back on her knees and let the grip and pull scraper clatter to the floor. She had a metal playlist on, numbing her thoughts, pulsing through her little wireless speaker as she worked. The Tiffany lighting fixtures in the foyer were dim and flickering– they’d have to be replaced soon— making her eyes strain in effort as she fumbled for her drink. Greedily, she gulped down the last few swigs of the botanical liquor from the condensation-coated glass, bobbing her head at the sound of Corey Taylor’s passionate vocals. Metal was one of her favorite genres, the heaviness and noise of it clearing out all intrusive thoughts; and it just sounded so damn good. Feeling too tipsy to continue scraping varnish, she assessed her work. She had gotten half of the staircase stripped, muttering curses about her grandfather’s foolish decision to defile beautiful oak planks with period-inappropriate glossy varnish the whole time she worked. 

Y/N, with the help of her mother and Roy, had made significant progress restoring the mansion for the past two years, but there was still much work to be done. The kitchen and the bedrooms were her first priority, especially when she thought she’d have roommates moving in. Roy had painstakingly gutted and designed a new kitchen for the home, one that would flow well with the old-world charm of the place but with modern comforts. Y/N had fond memories of tossing Budweisers back and forth to him last spring as they peeled lemon yellow wallpaper down from the crumbling 50’s style kitchen. 

The bedrooms weren’t too difficult to restore; some had water damaged ceilings, others had horrifying The Conjuring-esque wallpaper, and a couple were stuffed to the windows with old junk her grandmother collected at antique shops around New England. Grandmother’s antique collection was good for one thing— free furnishings for the home. Her mother even helped her crack open the basement door, leading to a pretty grim, unfinished and wasted space, totally transforming it into another whole bedroom and rec room for art projects or exercising. 

Y/N’s paycheck pretty much went entirely into the home, an amount set aside for food and essentials, but every penny she put into making the home beautiful again was worth it. The bedrooms were stately and comfortable, the kitchen spacious with marble floors and sleek appliances, and most of the unused items her grandmother had held onto that were broken or just plain ugly had been donated. She still had her work cut out for her with the rest of the home and the grounds, but all of the work she had accomplished had turned out beautifully. 

Wobbly, she stood, grasping the railing of the staircase gingerly (considering if she applied pressure, the whole thing might clatter to the floor), empty glass in her free hand and speaker tucked under an armpit. A Deftones song began to play, making her giggle in delight, descending the steps slowly to avoid scuffing her hours of work. It was a challenge, considering the low lighting. 

Traipsing through the hallway past the parlor and dining room, she reached the kitchen, lit up beautifully with brand-new stained glass fixtures. Roy’s work took her breath away every time she enjoyed a cup of coffee in the refurbished breakfast nook, and even tipsy she had to pause and admire the space. Setting the speaker down on the island, Y/N yanked the fridge open for more seltzer and gin, swaying her body to the gnashing guitar. She swore that this would be her last drink, collapsing heavily on a barstool at the island, mixing her drink sloppily and taking a hearty gulp. Cutting through the music, the grandfather clock in the hallway clanged noisily, scaring the wits out of her. Suddenly, she was aware how alone she was on a Friday night, drinking at four in the morning and tip-toeing around the house like there was a ghost about to pop out of the dining room.

Glancing around, she began to feel unease, noticing all of the space around her and how empty it truly was. It was a shame, really, that a large family wasn’t taking up the ample space, but she had always planned on either having one herself or substituting family for roommates. At times, when she was by herself in the home, she felt lonelier and more on edge than ever. It’s not that she was exactly afraid of ghosts, but it was an old home and she had watched many horror movies that involved a single woman in a creepy house.

Staring deeply into her glass, her mind went to the place she prayed it wouldn’t – to the seven hybrids left at the shelter. A sharp pang of sadness shot through her like a bolt of lightning, the glass loosening in her grip as she straightened up in her seat, music suddenly making her head pound uncomfortably. Slapping the off button on the speaker aggressively, she groaned loudly, the sound echoing throughout the hollow halls of the house. Fisting her hands through her hair, Y/N squeezed her eyes shut. 

Come morning, when she would peel herself out of bed and cradle an AlkaSeltzer to her chest in the bathtub, those seven hybrids would likely be loaded into some kind of horse trailer to their imminent doom. Chased, hunted, humiliated and killed, all for sick enjoyment. She felt booze crawl up her throat, foolishly washing it down with another sip of the same poison. Perhaps a few of them would get away, but perhaps not. And the ones who didn’t, maybe the injured jaguar or the malnourished leopard, what would become of them after their deaths? Would they be left in the woods, would they be stripped of their coats? Blood rushed to her face, heating up her entire body with the beginnings of a panic attack. 

“Fuck! What the hell is wrong with me?” Y/N exclaimed, standing suddenly. She began to pace around the kitchen, calming herself in the best way she could for her panic. The thought of the hybrids dying became unbearable, even if she hadn’t even seen the other three that were tucked in the corners of that dark back room. Practically tearing her hair out, she stared out the glass door to the backyard patio, full moon illuminating the foliage. Without thinking, she tossed on her light denim jacket she’d left hanging on an old hatstand, and hurried out into the backyard. 

Crickets chirped as she sucked a deep breath in of cool nighttime air, collapsing on one of the lounge chairs near the door. Counting her breaths as she focused on the hazy stars in the sky, gentle wind rustled the willows beyond the pavingstones of the patio. Familiarly, her fingers dove into the pocket of her jacket, finding the lighter and carton of menthols her cousin had smuggled to her from Rhode Island. It wasn’t a healthy habit, but Y/N had carried on the drunk distress cigarette tradition she had picked up with her friends in college whenever she felt the urge. It was a small rebellion. 

Flicking the lighter, cigarette balanced between her lips, she took a cathartic drag, closing her eyes as she exhaled. She felt a calming, minty sensation blanket her immediately, the sounds of nature refocusing her thoughts. Smoke curled and danced in the air, and she tried to make out shapes in the forms. Humming, she craned her neck backwards, taking in the imposing height of her house, and froze with the cigarette dangerously hanging from her mouth.

The mansion had 10 bedrooms. It had a small guesthouse that needed some work, a library room, numerous nooks and plenty of bathrooms. Vast grounds with trails, gardens, and water. A kitchen for a family on TLC reality show, multiple lounge rooms, two towers, even. Y/N had plenty of space, plenty of loneliness, and money.

An idea so crazy enough for her to flinch to a stand, knocking the cushion off of the lounge chair, struck her like a freight train. She could adopt all seven of the hybrids. Laughing, a sound that was akin to Gollum from the absurdity of the thought, she stuck the cigarette into the ancient outdoor ashtray. If she was a touch more sober and sane, she’d take a couple Benadryl and sleep her fantastical thoughts away. 

Marching out to the yard, she took a better look at the house in the moonlight. Only her bedroom, the kitchen, and the foyer she was working in less than a half hour ago was illuminated. Y/N imagined the whole house lit merrily, string lights on the patio twinkling with use and the picnic tables set for a beautiful summer cookout. The image in her mind almost tore a sob through her chest, because that was what the house was always for; for family and celebration of life. 

Ben had always teased Y/N for lacking the logical mind of someone who was a medical professional. Y/N had always chalked it up to her hippie mother and her fantastical side of the family, straight out of Practical Magic. If Ben was there at that moment, he probably would have forced her into the shower with her clothes on to sober up. 

Sober or not, Y/N figured that she would have dreamed up this solution in a cold-sweat that night in bed. As soon as she had the thought of having people to come home to, the house warm with life, her mind was made up. Besides, she couldn’t let them suffer so terribly at the hands of some hedge fund manager’s trigger happy son, it went against her very oath she swore to help creatures of any kind. Hurriedly, she made her way back into the house, switching on her coffee maker, and made a beeline for her bathroom to freshen up.

Y/N was still chuckling to herself, bumbling down the hallway to the master bedroom in a gleeful manner. She’d already come up with a plan to undermine the Manhattan man’s plans to take the hybrids away, and it was so delicious, she could hardly believe she came up with it four gin seltzers in. 

Her bathroom was still outfitted with fixtures from her grandparent’s heyday, the bathtub, toilet, and sink all an off-putting swamp green, but even that couldn’t dampen her spirits. Scrubbing her teeth violently, she used her other hand to shimmy out of her “restoration sweatpants”, nearly toppling over in the effort. After splashing cold water on her face and spritzing some body spray from her head to toe, Y/N raced into her bedroom, rummaging through her dresser for a pair of linen pants and a clean tee shirt, throwing everything on and checking the time on her illuminated alarm clock. It was now almost five, and she would need to leave as quickly as possible to get to the shelter as soon as it opened. 

She guessed that dealing in cash would be more tempting to the greedy shopkeeper, and she was prepared to hand over a significant sum. Her grandfather kept a three-foot tall safe in the master closet for his coin collection, and it was there that Y/N kept cash for everything from buying period appropriate curtains at some Jamaica Plain estate sale to unlikely hostage situations. Turning the lock combo with urgency, she cracked the safe open, grabbing a stack of bills from the top shelf, and slammed it shut. She tucked the band of bills into her tote bag, dangling from the post of her bed, and left the bedroom swiftly. 

Returning to the kitchen, Y/N filled the largest to-go coffee cup she had with the piping hot coffee she had brewed, burning her throat by finishing what was left in the carafe. Thankfully, the drinks she had consumed were spaced out enough so she wasn’t drunk, just tipsy, something she could get rid of quickly with the coffee and adrenaline she had running through her veins. Besides, she had about two hours to completely sober up and find her way to the shelter. She pulled up the app to order a cab to the shelter, not irresponsible enough to drive in her condition, and turned off all the lights in the kitchen on her way out. 

Stepping out the front door, Y/N locked the heavy deadbolt and ran down the steps of the porch, latching the gate at the front of the property when she reached it. The sky was still dark, but a little greyer with the slowly rising sun, and the mansion looked dreary and deserted. Smiling wistfully, she supposed this would be the last time she would see it look so sad. 

Y/N waited on the curb for her cab, sucking down scalding coffee with her tote bag on her lap. She felt like she was carrying a Fabergé egg, the stack of $100’s laying heavily in her lap through the canvas bag. A little voice in her head told her she was absolutely nuts for what she was about to go through with, but she ignored it entirely. 

What she had wanted all along was to have some kinship; especially with her friend’s lives going off in different directions. She knew that Ben and Roy would always be with her, but with the adoption of Daisy, they would have their hands full settling her in and raising her as a family. Laura was busy with her own young family, and Alice had her cat and full-time job at the newspaper. Everyone seemed to have something they could go home to, and Y/N wanted that, too. Additionally, without her job, she had ample time to care for the hybrids, to fill the hours with friendship rather than longing. She was not oblivious to the challenges that would come with the adoptions, considering the shopkeeper had mentioned the hybrids weren’t exactly friendly, but Y/N was prepared to handle all of the hiccups in order to give them a safe home. 

The cab she ordered rolled down her sleepy street, headlights cutting through the oppressive humidity. Jumping up from her perch on the curb, she jogged to the passenger’s side and crawled into the car. Buckling in as the young man pulled away from the end of her driveway, she took another swig of her coffee and felt the remaining alcohol haze slip from her body like a spirit. Y/N’s heart was racing, the whirlwind of events and lack of sleep making her feel like a floating head. Even so, she knew that her mind was made up, despite the fact that she hadn’t even met the hybrids yet. Thankfully, the young man driving her to the shelter only exchanged a “good morning” with her before following his navigation into the city, leaving her to eagerly go over her “plan”.

The cab dropped Y/N off right in front of the shelter, which was to open any moment. She bounced on her heels, scanning the sidewalks for anyone dressed in a suit or hunting gear waiting nearby. The shopkeeper hadn’t mentioned what time exactly the Manhattan man was to pick up the hybrids, however, Y/N wanted to beat him to the punch as soon as the shop opened. Sneaking a peek into the window, she noticed the same man from the night before counting the register serenely. Before she could stop herself, she began to knock on the glass, making the man jump a foot into the air in surprise. Registering Y/N’s face with great surprise (and annoyance), he ambled to the door and turned the lock. 

“Now, why’re you here? Tell your buddies I don’t do refunds,” he threatened, looking Y/N up and down. She imagined her appearance, purplish dark circles from her all-nighter, holey Black Sabbath tee, and hair wild with frizz. Likely, she looked like an undergrad student the night before a final exam. Y/N pulled the door open determinedly. 

“I want to adopt those hybrids in that back room,” Y/N blurted out, the shopkeeper’s mouth hanging open in shock. 

“What? Lady, are you insane?” The man sputtered, hobbling after Y/N as she marched to the door leading to the back. 

“All seven of them. I’m prepared to adopt them all, now,” Y/N confirmed, arms crossed as she waited for him to unlock the back door. The man looked angered, hands on hips. 

“So, you are nuts. Didn’ I tell you I got that guy from Manhattan picking them up today? He’ll be here in an hour or so,” The man made no motion to open the door, leaning against the register and wiping limp gray hair from his eyes. 

Frustrated that she was not being taken seriously, Y/N reached into her bag, slamming the band of bills on the counter. The shopkeeper swore colorfully, flinching away from the large stack before grasping for it. 

“That’s $70,000, count it. I’d like to adopt those hybrids. All of them,” Y/N enunciated. Her plan had unfolded; making a counter offer to the Manhattan man, way too tempting to refuse. 

“Holy shit. I don’t care if you’re crazy, lady, you’ve got ‘em,” the man wheezed, already leafing through the stack of money greedily. “Never liked pricks from New York anyways,” he mumbled, a greasy smile spreading across his face. 

Tucking the bills in his back pocket, Y/N stepped aside impatiently as he unlocked the back door and led her to the slim hallway. The room was unchanged from just a few hours ago, the scent of Clorox even stronger. She was relieved that the shopkeeper had taken the money – there was no backing out now, and there was no chance of the hybrids being shipped away to their doom. 

“So, how do you wanna do this?” The shopkeeper asked, the two of them standing before the metal door to the hybrids. Freezing, Y/N stood still like a statue; she hadn’t thought that far. How would she get the hybrids home without a bus of some kind? What if they didn’t want to come with her, or didn’t like her? She didn’t even know their names, ages, or gender. Feeling a little silly, she hoped that her generous payment for the hybrids would butter up the shopkeeper enough to help her out with logistics.

Normally, people prepare for an adoption of a hybrid; including reading up on their habits and behaviors, buying a suitable wardrobe, and making sure the pantry is filled with foods for them to enjoy. Y/N had gone off half-cocked, and all she could offer the hybrids was shelter and their pick of a bedroom, for now. Their personalities might clash, they might reject her completely, and it would be hard for the hybrids to trust her right off the cuff. Not to mention, the hybrids were completely shifted to their animal form, and it was unlikely they even had a single set of clothes with them. Unlike Daisy, Y/N didn’t think they’d have books or pretty sandals that they’d be ready to walk out the door with. The thought formed a pit in her stomach, but she couldn’t be too upset with herself. The opportunity came as quickly as a summer storm, and she would not have been able to prepare for seven whole individuals in seven days — let alone in 12 hours.

“I suppose I should meet them first,” Y/N offered, wringing her hands. The light was off in the room, so she wasn’t able to see through the window on the door. “As for transportation, I’m not quite sure…” she trailed off, trying her best to look in need of assistance.

“You’ll probably have to make a couple of trips. Some of ‘em don’t get along, so start with the ones that don’t gnash their teeth at you. I got a buddy with a van I can give a call,” perfectly pleasant now, the man even gave her a toothy smile, using his comically large key ring to unlatch the deadbolt of the door. “My name’s Gerry, by the way.”

Putting a hand up to stop Gerry for a moment, she looked at him sternly. 

“Why is the jaguar injured?” She demanded, giving his bandaged wound a pointed look. Gerry followed her gaze, scoffing. 

“That wasn’t me, swear. Damaged goods aren’t good for business. He was dumped ‘ere that way,” Gerry replied, pushing on the door. Y/N was appalled, about to ask for more information, but Gerry had already begun to push the door open.

 The door gave a deafening groan, which was followed by a series of feline hisses and deep grunts of an animal Y/N couldn’t place. Squaring her shoulders, Y/N followed Gerry into the room, his fingers fumbling for the lightswitch and flooding the room with fluorescence. Her eyes adjusted for a split second, blinking rapidly as they darted around the room.

The hybrids were still shifted. She caught sight of the jaguar, first, side still injured and lying in the same position he was when Y/N spotted him the night before. The coyote was curled up on its cot, blearily eyeing her and the shopkeeper, and the underweight leopard in the cell next to it was sitting closely to the bars separating them all, staring right at Y/N. 

Standing a bit taller, she turned to get a look at the left hand corner cell she couldn’t see, trying not to look intimidated by the sight of a very large elk. The elk grunted loudly with the eye contact they made, the sound she could not place moments ago identified. Nodding thoughtfully, Y/N swallowed, stepping closer to the right side of the room, where she curiously sought out the remaining three hybrids – the two unidentified, and the wolf.

Her eyes registered the vibrant orange coat of a red fox, head inquisitively cocked at the sudden intrusion of the room. It jumped down from its cot, sticking its twitching nose through the metal bars. She had always loved foxes, and practically squealed upon seeing the perceived friendly action. Gerry backed up slightly, once blocking the furthermost cell on the right, pale in the face. 

“That one… you might need a bus, if he doesn’t shift,” he said weakly, inching towards the hallway. Y/N tore her eyes away from the fox to see what he was referring to, and gasped softly. 

“Oh!” She exclaimed, coming face-to-face with the largest bear she had ever seen in person. He must have been at least 10 feet tall if he was standing on his hind legs, and would make even the most experienced animal caretaker wary. Recovering quickly, she wondered what kind of bear he was, far too big to be a grizzly, and was embarrassed that she didn’t know right away. 

“So, they’re all yours. I’ll get them papers ready and call Murphy about the van. We’ll work out who’s going with you and when I come back with the goods. Clipboard with information is on the wall next to the bear,” the Gerry called, already inching out to the hallway. He looked anxious to get the hell out of dodge, to the recesses of the office. Stunned, she watched him leave, various sounds of confused animals making her feel overwhelmed all at once. Y/N closed her eyes briefly, composing herself as best she could, before turning to the center of the room. Feeling eyes boring into her skull, she looked for the source, but somehow knew who it was already. 

The wolf, standing in a defensive position, eyed Y/N with an intensity that made her feel like her skin would melt off. It made her want to shiver, but she knew that she had to maintain a cool head in order to establish a trusting relationship with the hybrids. Not exactly sure what to do, especially because all of the hybrids were shifted, she cleared her throat, wincing at the sound cutting through the room. 

“Uh, hello. I’m Y/N,” she began, her voice a tad scratchy from her hot coffee earlier. “This is probably pretty strange to you all, considering we haven’t met before. I was here last night? My friends adopted a child here, and I happened to take a peek through the window.”

Scanning the room, most of the animals were watching her carefully. The jaguar was still on his side, but his ear was flickering, so she knew that he was listening. She continued, slowly reaching for the clipboard as if not to startle the bear that was crammed into his tiny cell. 

Not noticing before, Y/N realized there was a little bathroom by the elk’s cell; she thought that the hybrids could shift and change before they left together. It would be much easier to get back to the house if they were in their human forms, as well as more comfortable, considering the size of each hybrid. They weren’t house cat hybrids– most of them were apex predators. 

“Well, Gerry told me last night that there was a man coming in from Manhattan to adopt you all,” pausing when she heard a loud rumble coming from the bear. She figured the hybrids were clued in with their fate, acute hearing most likely picking up most happenings at the shelter. “And I guess I just… Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. All night. One thing led to another and I found myself coming back here, so I want to apologize for lack of preparation on my part,” Y/N scratched the back of her head sheepishly, realizing she was rambling. Deciding to cut to the chase, she bit the bullet.

“I… I’m adopting you, all of you. Instead of the Manhattan man,” she announced, clutching the clipboard to her chest. A symphony of growls and noises of surprise filled the room, however, Y/N was not to be discouraged. The deed was done. 

“I just left my job last night. I was an exotics veterinarian, I worked on the other side of Boston. My home has plenty of space, so I have been looking for others to live with anyway. And, I know you don’t have any reason to trust me yet, but I promise I just want to give you all a home to be comfortable in,” Y/N summed up her best elevator pitch of herself and her plans.

The coyote had jumped down from its cot, getting closer to Y/N as it could behind the bars, its yellow eyes assessing her very closely. She heard low growls coming from the wolf. Perhaps it would take a few days of convincing to get him in particular to the manor. Her first priority was hopefully bringing the jaguar with her at the very least, so she could treat his injuries and prevent further harm and infection.

It came as no surprise that the hybrids were wary of her, considering the place they had landed in. There was no way for her to tell what kinds of tribulations they had all gone through. Every day, there were articles about some of the disgusting things that happened to stray hybrids; they were forced into unpaid labor, adopted by sexually abusive owners, bought to be hunted. Just as she had no knowledge of them, they had little to go off of her own character by the state of the world.

There was a folding chair against the wall near the door, so Y/N dragged it to the center of the room slowly, the sensation of being inspected from all angles making heat rise to her cheeks. Lowering herself onto the chair, she smoothed down the first page of the clipboard. 

“Okay…” she mumbled to herself, scanning the page. The sheet had pertinent data relating to species, heights, measurements and weights of both animal and human forms, as well as age, gender, and name. The first sheet was the leopard’s. 

“I want to get you all out of this place as quickly as I can, but I’ll keep coming back until you’re comfortable enough to leave with me… so, you’re Yoongi? 28, male,” Y/N tilted her head towards him, what sounded like a rumble of acknowledgement came from the hybrid. She flipped through the other 6 pages slowly. So they’re all male, Y/N thought, understanding why some of them didn’t get along. Finding the page she was looking for, the jaguar named Seokjin, she studied his stats. Y/N wasn’t leaving the shelter that morning without him. 

“Seokjin,” Y/N murmured, memorizing his measurements so she could buy at least one set of the decrepit clothes up front for him to change into when he shifted. Eyes flickering upwards, she noticed Seokjin had turned his head at the sound of his name, still laying on his side but finally looking at her. He was beautiful, but had an expression of sadness about him. 

“So, I was thinking, since you’re injured, it’s probably best if you come with me today. I can treat your injury, I have all of the supplies at home to mend that wound in a flash,” Y/N speculated, maintaining eye contact with Seokjin. The hybrid wheezed, which was better than growling at her, so she took it as either resignation or feeble consent. Maybe it was resignation, or the hybrid was in so much pain he couldn’t bear it any longer. 

“Hmm… so, I get the feeling that a few of you will need some time before you come with me, but I’d love to take a couple more of you with me today, yeah? Don’t worry – I’m signing the adoption papers for everyone today, so nobody else will come and take you God knows where. Anyone willing to take the leap and get out of here?” 

Y/N was met with silence, which made her want to crawl into a hole. Not ready to give up yet, she stood, making a slow circle around the room. She avoided the wolf, who was still regarding her with hostility, as well as the bear and elk that backed away from her as soon as she approached. She would not try to engage with the hybrids that wanted nothing to do with her yet, it would be counterproductive in earning their trust. Yoongi had slunk back to his cot as she passed by his space, disinterested. Y/N bit back a chuckle, sensing he would be a bit of a character when she got to know him. Not today, then. 

Circling back to the fox, who was still poking his face through the bars, Y/N grinned. 

“You don’t seem to hate me, huh?” Y/N wondered aloud, consulting the clipboard for his name. “Hoseok! How ‘bout it?” 

The fox blinked, pawing the ground. She registered the reaction as a green light to consider him one of the ones leaving with her today, making her feel utterly elated. 

“Alright! Any other takers for today?” Y/N inquired, starting to feel mirthful. A pitiful whine came from across the room from the coyote. She remembered his name from the sheet already, he was Jimin. 

“Jimin, right?” Y/N crossed the room at a glacial pace, smiling at the quivering hybrid so as not to frighten him further. He looked like he’d rather travel to Mordor than spend one more second in that shelter, so she made a mental note to bring him along that day as well. “Well, three out of seven for today is more than I was expecting, so that makes me happy,” Y/N breathed, a smile stretching across her face. Jimin’s ear fluttered, sitting shakily on his haunches in expectation. 

“Alrighty, I’ve got all of the certificates, ‘ere. Just need your signatures. Murphy’s on his way,” Gerry bustled into the room, holding a stack of paper and a fountain pen. Again, he made sure he stayed far from the cells, not sparing a single glance to the hybrids. Y/N felt acute dislike for the man, but needed to remain cordial so he would allow her to return for a couple days for the others. 

Walking away from Jimin, Y/N reached for the papers, adding them to the clipboard. Gerry watched her with mild interest as she sorted through the certificates, uncapping the pen. Aware of the hybrid’s stares more than ever, she signed her name carefully seven times, officially sealing the deal. The hybrids were safe, and she could breathe a little easier.

“I’d like to get some clothes from up front for them, for the ride back,” Y/N handed the pen back to Gerry, tucking the clipboard close to her side. Gerry nodded, scuttling out of the room, beckoning to follow. 

“I’ll be right back!” Y/N assured the seven pairs of eyes on her. 

Back at the front of the shop, she studied the measurements of the men, deciding to just pick up a set for all of them. She would take them all shopping for things of their own style when they settled in later that week, the thought of enjoying a day at the outdoor mall with seven new companions filling her with anticipation. 

The clothes were just as plain and dated as they were the previous night, and there was not much to pick from, but thankfully all of the sizes she needed were available. She selected various tee shirts in colors of cream, gray, and olive, as well as seven pairs of thin black sweatpants. Adding a pack of socks and underwear to her armful of apparel, she hummed, lamenting the quality. In little cubbies, there were even shoes that she could buy, so she had Gerry haul seven pairs to the front of the store. 

“Murphy’ll be here in ten minutes. He’s over in Chinatown. How many you takin’ today?” Gerry asked her, hanging up the phone he had been shouting on while Y/N was choosing clothes. 

“Three. I’ll be back tomorrow for the others. I might have to impose on Monday, as well,” Y/N explained, heading back to the hybrids. Gerry waved in acknowledgement, whistling and loading the boxes of shoes on a dolly to cart behind her.

Reentering the room with the stack of clothes, Y/N grunted as she piled everything on the folding chair. Seokjin had managed to roll over, head weakly lifted as he watched Y/N rip the pack of socks and underwear open. She squealed as the socks burst out of the plastic bag, catching her off guard, quickly apologizing as a startled growl came from the wolf on her right. He was definitely going to be a tough nut to crack. 

Divvying up the clothes according to who they were for, she neatly folded them into piles as quickly as she could, depositing each pile in front of the hybrid they were intended for, easily accessible through the wide iron bars. Gerry had wheeled the shoes to the mouth of the room, his key to the cell doors on the top box as per her request, but went no further inside the room himself. Y/N could still hear him whistling at the front of the store, to the tune of Money, Money, Money by ABBA. Muttering about his inconsideracy, Y/N placed the shoeboxes in front of their new owners as well. 

“So! I’m sorry you weren’t able to pick these yourselves, but we can go out next week or whenever you’d like to pick out clothes that are your taste. We could even order some clothes online if you’d prefer,” Y/N apologized, arms coming out to hug her midsection. She was starting to feel the fatigue of staying up for longer than 24 hours, and was running purely off of fumes at this point. 

“Seokjin, Hoseok, and Jimin, the ride home should be here any minute. I’ll wait for you up front, and let you change,” Y/N urged gently, sensing the eagerness to leave in both Jimin and Hoseok. She felt the need to say more to the other hybrids, a bit crushed that she’d have to leave them for some time.

“The rest of you guys, I’ll be back first thing in the morning like today. I’d love it if you’d all come with me tomorrow, but we’ll talk about it then,” she turned to the elk, Jeongguk, the clipboard informed her, and admired his beautiful antlers with a wistful smile. Keys in hand, she slowly approached Jimin’s cell, unlocking the door but keeping it closed, before doing the same to Hoseok’s and Seokjin’s. A large part of her wanted to unlock all of the doors, but she didn’t want to risk an altercation between the remaining hybrids when she left for home.

With that, she gave a little wave, and retreated back to the storefront. Her heart began to race, wondering what the hybrids looked like when they shifted, how their voices sounded, and what their personalities were like. She couldn’t wait to actually hold a two-sided conversation with them, feeling like she was talking to herself for the past half hour, and paced back and forth in front of the window as she waited for Murphy’s van to pull up. 

Tempted to add some guidebooks to her list of purchases, Y/N thought the better of it as she noticed the outdated materials. Her mother would be able to find what she was looking for at the library, that is, when Y/N told her about the hybrids. Blood draining from her face, she realized that nobody in her life even knew what she had just done. Grinding her teeth, a part of her basked in the feeling of having a secret just to herself, for now, even if it wouldn’t be for long. She wouldn’t even be able to put Ben off come evening. 

Deciding to cross that bridge when she got to it, she jumped a foot in the air as a car noisily honked outside. Checking the window, a rusted mint green VW Microbus was double parked in front of the shelter. A sandy haired older gentleman was waving at her, mouthing her name and pointing to the backseat. Frantically, she ran out the door, approaching the vehicle. 

“You’re Y/N?” The man confirmed, scanning her face expectantly.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for coming out like this,” Y/N leaned into the passenger window. “I’ve written my address down for the GPS, I’ll come back out with the others,” handing him a scrap of paper that came from the sock package, she tripped her way back into the building, bewildered. She almost fell over as she collided with another body, hands reaching out to steady her by her biceps. 

“Whoa, there,” an unfamiliar voice exclaimed, immediately releasing her upon her recovery of footing. Looking up, Y/N felt her cheeks flame as she registered the man’s face. 

The first thing she noticed were a pair of clever mocha colored eyes, widened in surprise. Second, of course, where the red fox ears were crowning glossy strands of mahogany hair, ears turned back flat against his head. His golden skin contrasted unfairly well with the olive tee shirt he had donned, and all at once Y/N felt overwhelmed and embarrassed. 

“Hoseok?” She breathed, face on fire. Of course he had to be good looking. Backing up a foot, resisting the urge to fan herself, she watched as a cheeky grin appeared on Hoseok’s face. Starting to say something, he was swiftly cut off by the sound of a dragging foot behind him, stepping to the side in alarm. Trying to shake off her astoundment, she pulled her eyebrows together, peering around Hoseok’s frame for the source of the sound. 

The two other hybrids inched towards the front door, the taller’s arm slung around the other’s shoulders for support. Gasping, Y/N moved forward to help, noticing blood seeping through the cream colored shirt Seokjin had put on. 

“Oh, Jesus, can I please help you out?” Y/N hesitated reaching out, not wanting to touch someone without permission. Seokjin’s head of wavy raven hair was bobbing, skin an ashen color, and she forgot all about her previous state of fluster. It must have taken a lot of effort for him to shift and change, his energy waned to nothing.

“I don’t think he can hear you, entirely, Miss,” a rugged voice piped up: Jimin. Balking at the title, Y/N glanced at him with concern. Overgrown blonde hair covered his eyes, a concentrated grimace across his lips. “Don’t worry, I’ve got him,” Jimin assured her, his hand firmly gripping Seokjin’s wrist over his shoulder. 

“O-Okay–” 

“I’ll help you get him in the back, let’s go,” Hoseok cut her off urgently. Leaping out of the way, Y/N suddenly felt out of place as she watched Jimin drag Seokjin out of the shelter, Hoseok jogging out first and pulling the van door open. She didn’t miss the way Jimin tipped his head back, filling his lungs with fresh morning air, and Hoseok’s stiffened posture loosening up the moment his feet touched the sidewalk outside of the shelter.

“Gerry, I’ll be back in the morning. First thing!” Y/N yelled into the recesses of the shop, not caring if he replied or not. 

Out on the sidewalk, she bit at her nails nervously as she watched Jimin shift to get a good hold on Seokjin’s shoulders, Hoseok grasping his ankles and hoisting him up. Seokjin groaned loudly, head rolling back, his sweaty face screwed up in pain. Y/N felt her heart break, the same way it did whenever she saw agony written all over someone’s face, and vowed to find whoever did this to him and slap them with Ben’s most aggressive lawsuit, or maybe claw their eyes out. 

Hoseok bared his teeth as he hauled Seokjin’s lower body into the van gingerly. Waiting for Jimin to lift the rest of him into the van, Hoseok sat in the back seat with Seokjin’s legs dangling over his lap. Jimin had to maneuver Seokjin’s chest and head so it was propped up on his thighs, all three of them cramped in the back, breathing laboriously. 

“Aw, hell, is that blood?” Murphy exclaimed, twisting his body to eye Seokjin’s bloodied shirt. 

“I’ll pay for any damages, can you just take the fastest route?” Y/N shot back as she slammed the passenger door, buckling up. Murphy sputtered, looking at her like she had two heads, but obeyed by throwing the van in drive and shoving AirPods in his ears. Adjusting herself so she could face the backseat, she scanned Seokjin’s face, his eyes closed and breathing shallow. His face was positively angelic, however, marred by the shadow of pain, and he was definitely feverish judging by the sweat dripping from his hairline.   

“So… where do you live?” Hoseok asked, his cadence a bit awkward as he tried to sit as close to the edge of the seat as possible. Y/N cleared her throat, tearing her attention from Seokjin’s face, returning Hoseok’s gaze. 

“Outside of the city, in a wooded area by a lake. I live in my grandparent’s old house,” Y/N answered, squeezing her fists as she prayed Murphy’s driving was as fast as her’s. Hoseok half-smiled thoughtfully, looking out the window curiously as buildings rolled by. Sunlight caught gold flecks in his irises and the rich red of his hair. 

As conversation halted there, Y/N started to plan out the mid-morning: she would have to roll out her grandfather’s old wheelchair for Seokjin, find the best place to treat him, show the other two around the house, and hopefully sneak in a nap somewhere along the way. Later that night, she wanted to order a few more sets of basic clothing for the hybrids until they could make it to the stores – after all, she didn’t know when the wolf hybrid would want to even be in the same room as her. She’d probably have to order some groceries, as well, there weren’t enough items in her fridge and pantry to feed everybody. Pulling out her phone, she kept track of all of the loose ends to tie up that night, ignoring missed texts from Ben crowding her lockscreen. She’d have to call him later, as well, and she wasn’t looking forward to it, luckily he was probably preoccupied with Daisy. 

“Miss? You said you’re a veterinarian?” Jimin piped up after a stretch of time, brushing his hair off of his face. His eyes were a shocking shade of yellow, round and clear as a spring morning. Swallowing hard, Y/N nodded.

“I am. I worked with exotic animals, like parrots, lizards… I even treated a giraffe at one point. Though, hybrids, I have not treated before…” Y/N trailed off, unnerved by Jimin’s intense eye contact. He seemed significantly less jittery now that he was shifted into his human form, which was relieving. “But, I know that I’ll be able to help Seokjin, for sure– and my father can come by, as well. He specializes in hybrid cardiology.”

Jimin’s sandy colored ears pricked up in interest, with this, his shoulders relaxing an inch. Interestingly, the three hybrids had no animosity between them, seemingly, as Seokjin was passed out, and Y/N wondered which ones didn’t like each other. She wondered if Laura, the master of conflict resolution in her friend group, could swing by in the future and give her some tips. 

“Hybrid cardiology?” Hoseok repeated, an eyebrow raised. Nodding enthusiastically, Y/N cringed as Murphy took a sharp turn off of the highway towards her town. 

“He went to school for cardiology, because my grandfather on his side passed away from congestive heart failure quite young. He eventually became part of a group study that practiced surgical procedures for hybrids when my mother was pregnant with me, for some additional experience. My mother told me that he enjoyed working with hybrids so much, and that the field had so much improvement to make, my father focused his studies on hybrid cardiology from then on. Up until a year ago he had a practice in Boston, now he’s semi-retired— he can still access his office and do examinations,” Y/N explained. Her father had helped trailblaze heart surgical procedures for hybrids, and would love the news of Y/N’s spur-of-the-moment adoptions. Another phone call to add to the list.  

Hoseok and Jimin listened to her carefully, and while she was grateful they seemed to express at least a little interest in her life, she was absolutely dying to know more about them. Sadly, she knew that it would take a lot of time to get close enough to ask personal questions, and knew better than to pry right off the bat. While they didn’t say more than a few words compared to her ramblings, it felt nice to have someone listen.  

“I’ll have to go back to the shelter tomorrow to pick up the others, as I’m sure you heard, but you’re welcome to come with me into the city again then! Maybe we can stop at a drugstore on the way back so we can pick up toiletries and snacks,” Y/N offered hopefully. Jimin opened his mouth and closed it, eyes flicking downward as if he was conflicted. She began to backtrack when she remembered how anxious he seemed at the shelter, internally scolding herself.

“Sure, I’ll come with you,” Hoseok replied quickly, flashing a lovely smile. Overjoyed, Y/N returned the grin, admiring just how pretty his smile was – after all, it was the first time she saw it in its entirety. 

“Jimin,” Y/N continued, not wanting to put him in a tight spot, “If you’d like, you can write me a list and I can pick up whatever you need. It’s a good idea to have someone stay with Seokjin while he comes down from his fever, and you can settle in.”

Biting down on his thick lower lip, Jimin looked both alleviated and a touch guilty, a peach blush dusting his cheeks. 

“If that’s alright, Miss, I’ll watch over Seokjin for you,” Jimin answered, hand reaching up to tug at something on his head that wasn’t there, as if he had an imaginary hat on. The action was odd, Jimin slightly frowning as he realized his fingers grasped air. Pretending not to notice, Y/N turned the right way in her seat as the familiar library building passed by, her mother’s car parked out front; they were almost home. 

“Oh! We’ll be there soon!” Y/N exclaimed, bouncing in her seat. She stole a glance at Seokjin, who was fast asleep, oblivious to the chatter between the rest of them. Hoseok was locked in on the scenery of the town, small shops she grew up around zooming by, beautiful August flowers studding the storefronts. The fall festivals would be coming up in less than a month, and bringing the hybrids to the events would be a blast. Thinking of the hayrides, harvest stands, and apple picking filled her mind, now that she finally had time to attend the festivals. 

Murphy pulled out an earbud, snapping gum between his teeth. 

“Next street over?” He yelled, earning a gravelly moan from Seokjin. Y/N had the feeling Murphy was a bit hard of hearing. 

“Yes, yes,” Y/N waved, directing him where to park. She’d have to unlatch the gate and blast into the house for the wheelchair.

Murphy crawled to the end of the street, Y/N tapped her foot, watching her neighbor’s old Victorians pass by. The hybrids in the back seat were quiet, the only sound in the van coming from the GPS. Finally pulling up in front of Y/N’s house, the last one on the dead end street, she breathed a sigh of relief, unfastening her seatbelt. 

“This is it!” Y/N announced nervously. She hoped that they would like the house, that it wouldn’t be too old and scary looking to them. If the hybrids held any opinions on the exterior, they kept them to themselves, ears alert as they both leaned towards the window to take a look. Admittedly, the view of the house was pretty obstructed by the large willows planted in the front yard, but the shapes of the roof peaked over enough to get a glimpse. Debriefing Hoseok and Jimin on her plan to retrieve the wheelchair, she had them wait in the van while she ran into the house.

Jimin and Hoseok maneuvered Seokjin as gently as they could into the leather wheelchair. Murphy honked his way down the street as he left, and thankfully none of Seokjin’s blood seeped into the seats of the van. Y/N insisted on pushing the wheelchair despite Jimin’s protests, Seokjin still fever dreaming and mumbling incoherently. She had to take the hybrids in the side door where the wooden ramp fashioned for her grandfather’s wheelchair led into the kitchen. 

“This place is huge,” Hoseok observed, getting a better look at the building once in the backyard. Looking back at the two hybrids trailing behind her, Y/N noticed Hoseok’s mouth hanging ajar, eyes roaming over the windows and steep eaves of the roof. The house was pretty imposing, painted dark shades of maroon and gray, but it was light and airy inside, something she knew the hybrids would love. 

“Yeah, it is. I used to get lost in some of the nooks and back staircases when I was really little, my dad got me Barbie walkie talkies for Christmas one year when it became a frequent problem,” Y/N chuckled at the memory. “Back when it was new, a wealthy local judge had it built for his wife. They had six children, so it has more bedrooms and living spaces than the average Victorian.” 

She eased the wheelchair over a bump in the pavingstones, finally back to the patio where she had only been hours ago. It was almost impossible to believe where she was now compared to just a short time ago.

“Looks like you’ve got some real nice grounds in the back here, Miss,” Jimin added, bright eyes sparkling as he took in the fauna in the backyard. Y/N froze as she attempted to unlock the kitchen door, casting Jimin an embarrassed look. 

“Thank you, Jimin, we can walk around the trails tonight if you’d like – and I can show you my poor landscaping skills! And please, you can just call me Y/N,” she insisted, smoothly yanking the sliding door open. She heard him sputtering, along with a snort from Hoseok. 

“We made it! Okay, so I’ll give you guys a proper tour after I treat Seokjin, but this is the kitchen,” Y/N gestured about the room, the mid-morning light warming the room pleasantly. Thankfully, she had cleared away her gin glass from last night before she left that morning, so the kitchen was absolutely spotless and ready for dinner. Hoseok whistled lowly, skimming a palm along the granite island. With the restaurant-sized refrigerator, multiple ovens, beautiful cooktop and walk-in pantry, Y/N was more excited than ever to reignite her passion for cooking and baking now that she had others to share food with. 

Pressing on, Y/N wheeled Seokjin towards the hallway, opting to put him in the nearest bedroom to her’s until he was well enough to pick one for himself.

“Either of you like to cook?” Y/N wondered aloud, slow footsteps behind her flooding out into the hallway. Cringing as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized that the possibility of them having access to a kitchen could be slim. Stupid! 

“The only thing I can make is a hamburger,” Hoseok said mournfully. So far, he had taken her completely by surprise, and her anxieties were quelled. Y/N laughed heartily at this response, looking forward to teaching him and the others how to make a few other staples in the future instead of lamenting over their pasts she didn’t even know about yet. Jimin even allowed a small chuckle to escape, with this, the mood light despite the circumstances. 

Passing through the foyer, by the dining room and parlor, they arrived at the bedroom, which was once where Y/N stayed before her grandparents moved out. It still had her large bookcase filled with all of her favorite books and encyclopedias, a small geode collection lining the desk, and her old wardrobe filled with clothes from her teenage years. When Seokjin got better, she’d have to clear out space on the bookshelf and the wardrobe. Acting with urgency once more, she pushed the wheelchair into the sunny sage green room.

“Let’s get him onto the bed,” Y/N switched into vet-mode, pulling the comforter on the bed back and easing Seokjin’s sneakers off. Hoseok and Jimin pulled Seokjin up by his armpits, heaving him onto the queen-sized mattress, moans of protest coming from the jaguar hybrid. The two stepped back as Y/N rounded the bed frame, getting a good look at Seokjin’s face. 

His fever had spiked, hairline completely soaked, skin pale and blotchy pink. Breathing shallowly, Seokjin’s eyebrows were scrunched together in pain. Bending over to grasp for the medical kit Y/N placed there earlier, she placed it on the bed, sorting through the items she’d need right away. She pushed damp hair off of his forehead, using the back of her hand to check his temperature, cursing at the ovenlike body heat coming off of him. 

“Jimin, do you mind wetting a cloth or two with cool water for me in the bathroom just there please? There should be some face cloths in a basket on the sink,” Y/N asked, pointing to the ajar door to the un suite. 

“O-of course,” Jimin stuttered, hastily crossing the room and disappearing into the bathroom. Y/N took Seokjin’s pulse at the base of his throat, which was thankfully thrumming strong against her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she carefully lifted the hem of his soiled shirt to reveal the wound on his right side. 

A series of healed scars littered the hybrid’s body, standing out against his damp skin. He was bruised in several places along his torso, shades of purple and green mottling around the site of the open wound. It looked like he had taken a few years of beatings or had fallen off of a ladder judging from the damage. Gritting her teeth, she examined the cut, which was miraculously uninfected, but still dribbling blood. The wound was not a puncture, but wide enough to not be able to mesh together without treatment, likely the reason it was still bleeding. Her fingers gently grazed the bruise by the site, Seokjin flinching even in his stupor. The wound was not deep enough to require stitches, but it was gnarly enough for butterfly bandages and gauze. She would have to periodically change his dressings, making sure an infection wouldn’t set in, but there was a lot less she had to do than she originally thought. 

“Here you go, Y/N,” Jimin returned, making the effort to drop the earlier “Miss” title, three cloths wrung out and rolled up in his outstretched hand. In the other, he had even filled the glass for the toothbrushes with more water. Looking up to him with a grateful smile, she set the glass on the nightstand and placed a cloth over Seokjin’s forehead gingerly. Feeling him still looming over her, if she should need anything else from him, she set the cup of water on the nightstand carefully. 

“Thank you, sweetheart, why don’t you and Hoseok sit tight on the couch until I finish up and I’ll show you around. I’m sure you’d love to settle in and relax,” Y/N said, using another cloth to begin swabbing away dried blood from Seokjin’s chest. Jimin had gone pink, mouth opening and closing again, before hurrying over to Hoseok already sitting on the green couch when the latter cleared his throat in amusement. Y/N fell into silence, searching her kit for some bruise cream. 

“Where’re you from, Jimin? That accent of yours certainly isn’t Bostonian,” Hoseok questioned, crossing an ankle over his knee. Loading up a piece of gauze with disinfectant, Y/N pretended she wasn’t listening to their conversation as she worked, hand pressed lightly on Seokjin’s chest so he wouldn’t flinch off of the bed due to the stinging sensation.

“I’m from southern Montana, my family is still there. I worked on the Yellowstone Park ranch,” Jimin answered easily, Hoseok making a hum of acknowledgement. “You?”

“Ah… I’ve been to so many places over the years, I can’t say that I remember where I was originally. Could have been London, might have been Paris. Around the time I was 17 I was brought to the States,” Hoseok said vaguely. Y/N had the feeling he was leaving out certain pieces of information purposefully, the tone of his voice genuinely surprised someone had asked him a personal question. Arching a brow, she applied the bruise cream on all of the spots she could see on Seokjin, hoping the cooling properties of the formula would ease some discomfort brought on by the fever. Hybrids healed faster than humans, so Seokjin would probably be able to get out and about by tomorrow afternoon, but she wanted to make sure he felt better as soon as possible.

The site of the wound cleaned, Y/N began to carefully place butterfly bandages on it. Her eyes felt like they were beginning to cross with fatigue as she fastened the last one by a rib, balling up the paper wrappings and stuffing them in her pocket. All she had left to do was cover the bandages in gauze and tape, and monitor his fever periodically – the thermometer she had pointed at Seokjin’s forehead told her his fever wasn’t something that required medications.

“So, a ranch? What, were you a cowboy?” Hoseok continued, preventing Jimin from asking a question first. Jimin sucked his teeth in annoyance, crossing his arms and leaning away from the fox hybrid. The sandy fur of Jimin’s tail stood on end, a defensive though uncontrollable action.

“You could call it that if you want, but we were ranchers. Mainly, we managed the cattle, trained horses, and maintained the park’s wildlife. I wasn’t Clint Eastwood,” Jimin grit his teeth, the words coming between them. Jimin must have gotten a remark like that hundreds of times to warrant that reaction, which made Y/N hide an involuntary snort as she taped down the gauze rectangle on Seokjin. 

Hoseok was laughing freely, his eyes squinting in humor while Jimin fumed on the furthest spot of the couch away from him, ears flat against his hair. Frowning, Y/N felt too bad to leave Seokjin in a shirt soiled with sweat and blood, so she straightened up and walked across the room to the wardrobe stuffed with her teenage garb. She was very into baggy band shirts in high school, so she knew that there would be at least one in the drawer that could accommodate Seokjin’s wide shoulders. 

“Good lord, I’m sorry, Jimin. I wasn’t expecting you to react like that,” Hoseok wiped a tear from his eye, sighing happily. Contrary to his unwillingness to reveal much about himself, Hoseok seemed completely at ease between the two other hybrids and Y/N herself, his body language relaxed as he slouched on the couch. Jimin mumbled back, Y/N not quite catching what he uttered. She grasped her largest shirt, an ancient Good Charlotte graphic tee from Warped Tour, cringing hard from the memories that came flooding back. 

Back at Seokjin’s side, she used the tiny pair of scissors in her kit to cut away the soiled shirt, pulling it off of him like a paper doll. 

“Hoseok, can you please help me sit him up for a second?” Y/N removed the cloth on Seokjin’s forehead, sliding a hand under his shoulder blade to lift one side. Hoseok jumped from the couch lightly, watching as Y/N held the back of Seokjin’s head so it wouldn’t roll backwards. Moving awkwardly, Y/N eased the well-worn shirt over his head, his rounded black ears popping up cutely as they passed through the neck opening, thanking Hoseok as he pulled Seokjin’s left arm through the hole. Straightening out the shirt, embarrassed of the print, Y/N and Hoseok gently laid him back down. She pulled the covers up over Seokjin when he began to tremble, the fever chills setting in. Lastly, Y/N replaced the cloth on his forehead with a new one, and supplied a bottle of water from her tote bag to leave on the nightstand.

“That wasn’t too bad, luckily. Another day or so in that shelter, he would have gotten an infection,” Y/N used a finger to swipe a lock of hair from Seokjin’s eye, smiling in satisfaction with her work. He looked far more comfortable, cozy, even, now that his fever was being managed, even humming in his sleep with the comforter pulled up to his chin. 

“Ready for the tour?” Y/N tore herself away from Seokjin, rubbing her eyes as she approached the other two hybrids. 

“Are you tired, Mi– Y/N?” Jimin asked, quickly covering up his habit for titles. Grimacing, Y/N drew the curtains partially closed in the room to keep it from heating up in the afternoon sun. She definitely looked tired, her eyes swollen, watering, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror by the wardrobe.

“Just a little bit! I’ll probably take a short nap after I show you around. Staying up all night isn’t as easy as it was when I was nineteen,” Y/N admitted, almost fainting at the thought of sinking into her bed for an hour or two. “Let’s let Seokjin get some rest, I’ll check on him before I nap myself.”

Leaving the door halfway open, she motioned the two hybrids out into the hallway. 

“Straight ahead here, that’s my bedroom. These two doors here on the right are coat closets,” Y/N pointed out their immediate surroundings, moving forward into the foyer. “This is the front entrance! It still needs quite a bit of work, as does most of the house, as you can see with the half-stripped staircase…”

Hoseok made a circle around the foyer room, looking closely at the cloudy stained glass windows, pausing by the staircase. 

“What’s that door, there?” He questioned, pointing to the door down to the basement. 

“That’s the basement! My mother and I just finished renovating it, want to check it out? I suppose you took a peek into the dining room and the living room we passed by earlier, so all that’s left on this floor is the old office, the yellow and blue bedrooms, and the sunroom. You can take a look as you please, later,” Y/N opened up the basement door for Hoseok, switching on the lovely new lights her mother hung up. 

In an effort to make the basement less horrifyingly haunted looking, Y/N’s mother painstakingly helped her paint it in bright creams and soft green, making sure there were plenty of light fixtures and lamps. Y/N took the lead as Hoseok and Jimin followed her down the carpeted staircase, the scent of paint still vaguely lingering in the air. 

“Over there, my mother put in a little gym area.”

The right side of the basement had a mirrored wall, an exercise bike, and a rack of dumbbells. The full bathroom was over there, as well, complete with a little sauna room, something her mother had splurged on for Y/N’s last birthday. It hadn’t gotten much use, with Y/N’s extended hours in the past months, but she had a feeling that was about to change with her newfound free time. Hoseok whistled, an apparent quirk of his, smiling widely at the stereo system mounted on the wall. 

“On that side is a nice new bedroom, what was once a storage room for my grandmother’s junk collection. There’s even a little window in there by the ceiling that was hidden behind some old, crumbly drywall,” Y/N slid the pocket door open, which offered privacy from the gym, letting Jimin and Hoseok get a good look. 

The bedroom had a nice set of rosewood furniture, keeping it on theme with the rest of the home. A large dresser, a desk, queen sized bed, even a space heater tucked away for wintertime. It was one of her favorite bedrooms, artistic painted wallpaper stenciled in by her mother’s hand. 

“This is beautiful,” Hoseok breathed, fingers skimming the cream quilt. She watched him admire the painted ivy on the wall, tail swishing as he walked the width of the room.

“I’ll relay the message to my mother,” Y/N crossed her arms in amusement, leaning against the doorframe. Jimin had gone to examine the sauna, excitedly, his shoes making hollow thuds as he walked around in it behind her. “You want this room?” 

Hoseok’s head snapped up, catching Y/N’s bemused expression, before tilting his head in contemplation. 

“Can I think about it?”

“You absolutely may, there’s a lot more to see,” Y/N affirmed, bringing him back out to the stairwell. Jimin was already waiting for them, flicking his overgrown hair out of his eyes again. She’d have to make appointments for everyone to get a haircut next week, her list of to-do’s becoming longer by the second. 

“Onwards!” Y/N marched up the stairs and wincing, legs screaming in distress. Jimin made a choked sound as he hurried after her, Hoseok lingering for a moment longer before he followed. 

The three ended up on the second floor after taking a blast through the remainder of the first floor. Jimin took a liking to the blue bedroom by the sunroom, overlooking the backyard. Y/N could tell he wanted to claim it when he sunk into the royal blue velvet chair by the window, but refrained from pushing it on him until he saw the rest of the place.

The hybrids followed her through the library, the dusty billiard’s room and family room, and the two tower rooms. They didn’t seem to jump on the opportunity to be on the higher floor, even the pink, lavender, and sunset orange rooms with smaller windows than the tower rooms didn’t get them as excited as they were previously. Y/N was wilting with exhaustion, patiently answering questions about art on the walls or books on shelves, but with the tour of the house done, she knew that she’d be crawling into bed any moment. 

“Any decisions?” Y/N pondered, trudging down the stairs. Met with nervous silence, Y/N sighed lightly, giving the two an encouraging look when they arrived back in the foyer. 

“I’m partial to that blue room, over in the back…” Jimin stared at the black and white tiled floor, voice soft. Y/N wanted to grab the both of them and insist that this was their home now too, and deserved to pick the room they wanted the most, but getting them to believe that would take time and even more patience. 

“It’s yours,” Y/N confirmed, hoping Hoseok hadn’t wanted the same room suddenly. Jimin perked up, shuffling his feet, and giving her a nod in thanks. They both gave Hoseok an expectant look, while he stared at the basement door. 

“Hoseok?” Y/N giggled, his ears swiveling back in embarrassment when he caught their looks. “Did you think about it?” 

“I think the basement is calling his name or something,” Jimin teased, surprising everyone else in the room. Perhaps it was payback from Hoseok’s earlier jabs. 

“Am I that obvious?” Hoseok exclaimed, nudging Jimin with his shoulder. Jimin blushed, eyes squinting in mirth. He had a gorgeous smile, and it was so nice to see the two of them get along amicably with their teasing. 

“So, Jimin will take the blue room and Hoseok the basement room? Is that right?”

The two nodded, still smiling from their little moment. A chorus of angels sang hallelujah in her head, finally able to get some rest now that the room choices were squared away. 

“Do you need anything from me before I get some sleep? I’ll be up to make some late lunch, but please feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you want a snack,” Y/N insisted. 

“I’m alright, thank you… but you should really get some sleep. We’ll be fine,” Jimin reassured her, Hoseok agreeing with a hum. Grinning gratefully, Y/N began to head towards the hallway. 

“Well then, I’ll leave you two to settle in for now. I’m just going to check on Seokjin, first,” she gave them a little wave, watching as Jimin set off towards his room with a skip in his step and Hoseok waved back animatedly. 

Shaking her head with a chuckle, she slid into Seokjin’s room quietly, eyes adjusting in the low light. She could hear his steady breathing, and upon closer examination Y/N saw that he was still fast asleep. Gently, she rinsed another cloth in the cool cup of water, swapping it from the warm one on his forehead. Seokjin mumbled in his sleep as it draped over him, his ears fluttering against the pillow. 

Leaving him, Y/N set an alarm on her phone to wake her in time to make the food mid-afternoon, stumbling down the hallway. The list on her phone grew lengthy, bullet points reading: open up seven hybrid-specific credit cards, call friends and family to break the news, order cell phones, schedule haircuts… all of which she would tackle later that night. 

She strained her ears for any sounds of the other two hybrids, but all she heard was the wind blowing willow branches against the windows of her bedroom. Deciding to take a nice, cool shower after her nap, she closed her door, stripped to her underwear, and collapsed into her bed. Her lights were out almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, but she already felt like she was floating through a dream.

Taglist; @blancflms @grazysf @sbromp @jaxavance @sunderlight @ot7nem @mageprincess7 @wittyreader @drenix004 @mayla548 @skyys-universe

Please do not repost or translate my work. Thank you!

𓂃 alhaitham + congrats being the first/last person to know!

you finally confess to kaveh that you have feelings for his flatmate, only you forget to tell him one key information.

when you realized you like al haitham, the experience was ironically similar to waking up on any day.

there were no fireworks that erupted, no scoffs of unbelief from yourself, no “kiss me” by sixpence none the richer playing in the background. there was only kaveh— al haitham’s flatmate ridiculing you in the background.

it was a saturday morning and you chose to spend it on a little quaint coffee shop in downtown brooklyn with your best friend, kaveh. he was your common link to the brooding man, the one who had introduced the both of you to each other.

and as kaveh rambled on and on about his co-worker that has been driving him nuts, you suddenly blurt out something you haven’t thought of much.

“i like al haitham,”

you see your best friend drop everything he was doing— literally. his knife clangs on the porcelain plate as he stops his rant midway.

really, it was more of his moment than yours.

“congrats dearest, you were the last one to know!” he chirps happily, before picking up the bread knife he dropped a moment ago and resumes spreading butter to his bread.

your jaw drops dramatically as if your best friend had just insulted your entire family clan.

“what’s that supposed to mean?”

“exactly what it means.” the blond deadpans as if anything he uttered under the twenty minutes you’re together has been helpful with your situation.

“fuck you.”

“i thought you liked al haitham?”

“fuck you, fuck you.”

“sorry, i’m unavailable.”

“do i really look like i have a crush on him?” you say under your breath, looking around like you were relaying top secret information.

“even the most socially inept would notice.”

the café doors open as signalled by the bell ringing. you would have pay no attention to it if it were any other of the regulars that kept this place running, but as you catch a glimpse of an ashy grey hair, you immediately duck your head under the table in hopes of making yourself unnoticeable.

“what the fuck are you doing—“

“hello.”

kaveh finds himself interrupted by the very man he finds insufferable and with how his luck is, the same guy whom his best friend is currently crushing on.

the man standing eyes your form— at least what’s visible of it above the table, before raising his eyebrows on the blond. your friend shrugs, opting to stay out of this because even he didn’t have any explanation for how you’re behaving.

“what are you doing?” you hear the scholar’s voice from above.

the blond snorts, “finding their leftover dignity, probably.”

in an attempt to retort something— anything, you raise your head up quickly to look at kaveh’s eyes and cuss him out, but you should have known better than to carelessly throw your head in any direction as you feel your head slam against the table.

ouch.

al haitham hears you whimper although it sounded more of a strangled attempt at breathing as you immediately cut it short. out of concern, he kneels down beside you and oh god— he’s caressing the top of your head in an attempt to sooth it. he asks you a simple question, a really simple one that can be answered with a simple yes or no, and yet your heart quivers.

“are you okay?”

you finally look up from the floor and see that al haitham is still charming.

and kaveh, kaveh was still a dick.

“you know, with how hard headed they are, it would be more appropriate to ask how the table is faring instead.”

you feel the turquoise eyed man glare at your best friend.

suddenly, you feel a sudden shift in your weight. looking around, you notice how al haitham is leading you to get on your feet only he was doing all the heavy work— he’s literally bringing you up.

“what were you doing down there?”

the still concerned scholar asks, to which you wince at as you take your seat once more. you try to rack up your mind for a totally false reason, but the task proves itself to be difficult when a small bump is starting to form on your head. you feel like your encounter with the table has made your brain shake inside your skull and ended up in a very wrong position.

thankfully, your best friend answers the question himself.

“y/n, my dearest friend over here, has realized that they like you. and although that sounds like an incredible disaster, i’m still glad to say that the pining is over.”

or not.

for someone having a small mouth, kaveh pretty sure talks a lot. but then again, with kaveh, he had absolutely no filter for his lips, always airing out private business to anyone and everyone.

kaveh, strangely enough, receives a look of nonchalance from the taller man. this wasn’t the reaction he was trying to get— he was expecting for his roommate to suddenly malfunction. like completely speechless, or stammering at least, red as a tomato and stiff as a plywood kind of malfunction. instead, he receives the usual unamused look from the other that he usually dons.

“of course y/n would; it’d be troublesome otherwise. we are seeing each other romantically, of course.”

your newly revealed boyfriend responds curtly, keeping his reply clear and concise. it was kaveh who eventually malfunctioned.

“you two are what?!”

“dating, yes.”

“how— when— why—“

“i confessed, they felt the same way so i asked them out. it happened before winter break, and why not? we like each other.” the taller man responds for you.

“no! i mean, what was your deal earlier?” the blond explains, pointing at you accusingly as if you had eaten the last remaining cupcake on the plate.

“why’d you make it seem like you were only realising now that you like al haitham?!”

you grin shyly, “it was me trying to see if you’d notice… we meant to keep it under the wraps for a while and you were kind of a test subject?”

kaveh feels his jaw detach. yeah sure you were a stem student and all, but weren’t you taking your research too far?

“i hate the both of you.”

your boyfriend shrugs while you laugh sheepishly.

“if it makes you feel better, you’re the first one to know… congrats?”

“it doesn’t at all! forget it!”

♥︎ please do not repost or translate without my permission . reblogs are heavily appreciated!

VAMPIRE

// park sunghoon //

pairing: vampire!sunghoon x human!femreader

word count- 13.1k

genre/cw- angst, fluff, mentions of death, sunghoon is head over heels, slowburn, usage of “love”, violence(?), crying(sobbing), profanity, party setting, fangs, protective sunghoon, confessions, fated love, lucid (past) dreams, someone follows reader (just for a scene)

summary- Sunghoon lingered around until he was ready to sink his teeth into his desire

________________________________________________________

You didn’t believe in vampires or any mystical creatures for that matter. You believed they were just merely apart of the fictitious world. But if they were to ever exist, you believe they would take the form of Park Sunghoon.

Park Sunghoon was the notorious popular boy around your campus, he had everything anyone could ever want. Everyone knew him and the power he held and they all wanted a chance with him, to take a look inside the hidden shadows of a world that Sunghoon lives in.

Yet, he never gave the time of day to anyone, he kept his distance with anyone that were practically attached to the idea on him. He only continued on with his life, not letting the desires of others distract him.

However, there were the few selected that Sunghoon had spared a glance towards and they were never the same after meeting him. They seemed to have had a new side to them that no one could decipher.

You had your fair number of interactions with him, whether it was mere glances around campus or discussion about assigned projects, you thought it was nothing major but to others it seemed to unravel something you weren’t aware of.

The interactions you’ve had with him was more than enough to have people crowd you. You hated having random people show up next to you, only to ask what it was like to be so close in the presence of Park Sunghoon.

You didn’t get why everyone was practically at his mercy. He was just a human being like the rest of you.

You yawned as you could feel the all-nighter catching up to you, you had an exam this upcoming week and you decided to go over the material in the library.

You tried to stay awake but you knew better there was no way you would make it without falling asleep. You gathered your belongings and decided to call it night and hope for the possible best.

You had walked at night plenty of times and thankfully you never encountered anyone during these times. Yet, you guess that might change when you feel the presence of someone behind you. You were pushing past it a few blocks back thinking it must be someone else heading home after an exhausting day.

But you realized that the person was always behind you, taking every turn and stride as you. That’s when you realized you were being followed, you tried to remain calm and rational.

You would look at passing windows and see the reflection of the shadow figure of the person, head hanging low not wanting to get caught. You gulped nervously, you were just about to reach your place in a few minutes so you hope the person would just leave you alone.

As you were walking, your eyes landed onto a person walking in the opposite direction from you but widened to see that it was Sunghoon.

You wondered what he was doing out so late at night, but in that moment you were grateful to see a familiar face. You and Sunghoon made eye contact with each other, his gaze was hard and you could notice him slowing down his pace and changing directions to walk over to you.

You stopped walking, waiting for him. You could see the glance he took behind you and you assumed he must’ve noticed the person behind you. He kept his harsh gaze behind you until he reached you and changed his gaze onto you.

“I’ll walk you home” You didn’t protest his offer, you simply nodded your head and the two of walked by each other’s side

You could feel the presence behind you finally disappear and you released a sigh of relief. You could feel Sunghoon’s gaze never leaving you but you didn’t look at him, you were already beyond exhaustion.

“Are you okay?” He never asked you about your well being so this was definitely a shock for you

“Yeah I’m fine thank you” You gratefully smiled at him and he only hummed, you wanted to ask what he was doing out so late at night but you decided not to pry, it’s none of your business

After a few minutes of walking, you finally arrived at your place. You told him it was fine that he didn’t have to walk you all the way to your front door but he insisted. Just as you were going to go inside, Sunghoon stopped you.

“Can I use your phone to call my friend? I’m supposed to meet up with him but my phone died” You stared at him for a moment, but nonetheless you took out your phone and gave it to him, you were turning the favor of him walking you home

Sunghoon smiled quickly before typing in your phone. When he gave back your phone, you noticed that he never called anyone. You looked at your phone to see the new contact created in your phone.

Park Sunghoon. You looked to see Sunghoon already going down the stairs, he could feel your gaze on him and he turned around when he reach the bottom.

“Call me whenever you have to walk alone, I’ll walk with you” And with that he was gone, you looked to try and find him but you could his faint figure walking and turning the corner, before disappearing into the night

As you looked back down to your phone, you found yourself dwelling on his words, you scoffed to yourself as you shook your head.

Sunghoon didn’t mean what he said.

After Sunghoon dropped you off at your house, he got rid of the smugly smile he had as the thought about the moment between you two faded from his mind and was replaced with the thought of the person following you.

He had a scowl on his face as he grumbled. Now he definitely was going to be late meeting his friend.

Sunghoon yawned as the low vampire struggled from beneath his foot. He would be damn if the low vampire thought he would go easy. The low vampire was thinking of hurting you and if he hadn’t arrived, Sunghoon knew he would have to get his hands dirty.

Everyone in the area knew, you were the only one to never be messed with.

You were under his sworn protection until eternity.

“Are you going to apologize for trying to go after her?” Sunghoon was instigating an apology but when the low vampire stayed silent, Sunghoon pressed his foot harder causing the low vampire to groan

“I’m hungry” That was all the low vampire was able to mutter and he laughed hearing the reasoning

Sunghoon crouched down to level with the low vampire, never removing his foot.

“Then you find an alternative. You don’t go for someone you know you can never touch” His tone was cold, his words getting harsher and harsher than the previous one

“I’m sorry” He hummed happily as he took off his foot from the low vampire, who gasped for air

“Good, now go somewhere else to hunt” The low vampire only coughed and ran away from Sunghoon who stayed in the dark alley

He sighed heavily feeling exhausted, he dusted off his clothes and straighten them out before walking out the dark alley.

It was as if a flip switched inside of him as he replaced the scowl with a stoic face. His strides were prideful, he was an aware of the power he held.

After all, he was the most powerful vampire in the area.

Today was another all nighter, you were stressing over exams you know you should’ve studied before hand. But you were a procrastinator and decided to push for things last minute in hopes to get them done.

You yawned as you finally finished the last piece of study material. The achievement of finally completing this almost felt rewarding, but the time frame in which it was done seemed like a punishment.

You saw the time and your heart nearly dropped seeing it was almost four am, you seemed to have lost track of time in general. You were quick to collect your belongings before walking out of the library to head back home.

Yet, before you continued walking, you stopped for a moment. You pondered on a thought or rather a conversation and Sunghoon’s name seemed to be lingering in your head.

You took out your phone and went to his contact (which you never deleted), you pondered whether calling him or not. But you shook your head and put your phone away, you just assumed he was being nice. He didn’t mean his words for you to call him whenever you have to walk alone.

You were going to venture on back to your home and you could feel the drowsiness slowly take over, your eyelids felt heavy and you found yourself yawning every now and then. This was the last time you ever procrastinated studying for your exams.

You didn’t even make it ten feet away from the library until you felt your life flash before your eyes.

“Boo” Your scream could’ve awaken the whole world up with how loud it was, you could hear the groaning from behind you causing you to whip your head

When you see Sunghoon holding his ear from your scream, you felt a sense of relief seeing it was only him before it being replaced with anger.

“Sunghoon what the hell are you doing?” He made it seem like he was trying to regain his hearing and after a few moments of silence he finally looked at you

“You aren’t the only one cramming in studies for exams” He muttered as he straightened out his posture, he should’ve expected this reaction but thinking about it he didn’t mind

Today Sunghoon was longing for you deeply today and he didn’t know what caused this emotion to erupt in him. Maybe it was talking to you that caused him to miss the So he decided to drown himself in studies for the upcoming exams, which he knew he would ace with no problem.

He didn’t want to indulge in the desire for you, he wanted to keep his distance from you but he also wanted to keep an eye on you from afar.

When he decided to leave the library that’s when he saw you walking and yawning with each step you take. He wasn’t one to smile in public, but he couldn’t help himself when he saw you.

“But so late at night?” You tilted your head but soon you realized you were one to talk, so you quickly raised your hand for him not to say anything

“Let’s go” Sunghoon moved his head forwards as he took steps ahead of you, you looked at him with confusion and he could practically feel it oozing out of you

“I told you, you’ll never have to walk alone as long as I’m here” His words were smooth but rough like ice, you could feel the shiver in your body as he turned around to look at you

Under the moonlit sidewalk, your heart felt a churn and you were quite sure if it was a warning or a sign. You gulped down nervously before taking steps to pass Sunghoon. He smirked at your actions and followed to catch up to you.

The walk was quiet, it was awkward but rather you were too tired to maintain any conversation with him. He respected that and kept his mouth shut, as long as he was able to be by your side that more than enough.

Distant howls could be heard and you looked to left where there was a forest, Sunghoon stopped walking when he noticed your gaze.

“Dogs” He muttered and when you turned to face him, he puckered his lips ushering you to keep walking, you tiredly rolled your eyes and continued walking

Sunghoon took the chance to look towards the forest himself, before clenching his jaw lightly and walking back towards you.

The moment you crashed onto your bed, your eyes were quick to shut as you fell into the abyss of sleep.

You groaned when feeling the sunlight hit your face. You groggily opened your eyes as they tried to adjust to the surrounding and once it sunk into where you were, your eyes were wide open.

You looked around to see a grass meadow, you laid up against a tree with the leaves and branches covering you. Your breathing became heavy with no recognition of where you were.

“Oh you’re awake” The voice you knew all too well, you’d just heard it a few hours ago

When you turned to face Sunghoon, you were ready to start questioning him but you stopped when actually seeing him.

His gaze looked softer, the warm smile on his face contrasted when you last saw him. When he noticed your expression, you see the worry take over. He slowly walked over to you and just when he was close enough, you saw the necklace he wore.

You could see the first letter of your name dangling in the middle as he got closer to you.

“Are you okay?” The tone made your heart melt and you didn’t understand why but you weren’t able to respond, you could only simply look at him

No matter how hard you tried to speak with up, it was like your mouth was shut and you couldn’t say a word. When he cupped your cheek, you flinched lightly at the warmth of him. He retracted his hands for a moment before hesitantly resting it back onto your cheek.

He examined your face and when he noticed there seemed to be no sign of injury, he sighed before looking into your eyes.

The way he looked into your eyes felt different, it didn’t feel like the usual times he looked at you. He smiled softly before taking a seat next to you.

He intertwined your hands together and it made you shocked at how perfectly your hands fitted with one another. He rested his head onto your shoulder while rubbing his thumb on your hand.

“Let’s rest a little more mhm?” His tired voice seemed to have put you under a trance because before you knew it your eyes became droopy and soon you drifted off to sleep once again

Your eyes fluttered opened and you expected to be in the same location but when you noticed you were back in your room, that was enough to make you sit up.

Your breathing became uneven as you looked around your surroundings, the throbbing of your head didn’t help ease your nerves.

You wondered why you dreamt about Sunghoon and why the hell it felt so real.

As Sunghoon walked around campus, there was a slight bounce to his steps. His face still stoic but the steps he took seemed happier than usual, well he was happier.

Walking home with you last night felt like a fever dream. Even though, you two didn’t talk much, it was still enough for him to remind him.

He shouldn’t interfere, he knew that better than anyone else. But he’s waited months, years, decades to see you again. Upon meeting you again, he couldn’t help but inch closer and closer to you.

He wondered if you were to remember him, would you come back to him or would you run away in fear of what he’s become.

He shook his head, clearing it of those thoughts. He has an exam to ace, he couldn’t think of those things.

The vacation you anticipated was finally here. You walked out, stretching of your limbs freely. You felt exhausted but were more glad that the exams you dreaded were finally over. Now you were able to rest comfortably and not stress.

You were going to head home when you saw someone walking up to you. You looked and you could feel the racing of your heart, when Sunghoon came into your vision.

His gaze was cold but that’s how his gaze was. But the flash of the warmth gaze from the Sunghoon of your dreams, made you cough awkwardly.

As he stood in front of you, you could see the noticing gazes of people passing by. The short whispers wondering if the two of you were getting closer with each other.

“What?” You asked and you could see the faint scoff of a smile on his face before going back to his stoic face

“Heading home?”

“After a long day of exams, I think I will be” Your remarked would have made him chuckle if it was just the two of you, but in public he nodded his head

“Let’s go then” He tilted his head and you knew it meant he was walking you home again

“You know, you don’t have to. You can head home” You offered as Sunghoon was already walking ahead of you, he shook his head and continued walking

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. There’s a difference” The glance he takes over his shoulder to look at you made your heart stop

You gnawed at your lips before sighing and walking behind Sunghoon, when he noticed he slowed down his pace to have you ahead of him.

You didn’t even seem to realize his actions, the two of simply slipped into a comfort of silence. Sunghoon wanted to savor this moment, he knew he shouldn’t be doing this but last time he checked he didn’t care.

It was you. For you, he will be willing to do anything if it meant being in your presence. He did it once, he wouldn’t be afraid to do it again.

When Sunghoon reached his house, it was already dark. He placed his belongings down and landed onto his couch, he wasn’t tired not exhausted, he just needed a breather.

That was until you filled his mind. He found himself finally releasing the smile he’s yet to show you, when the time is right. The moments may be small but to him, they mean the absolute world.

He rested an arm behind his head, the thoughts and memories that filled him were nothing but bittersweet. The smiles and laughter he once created for you rested in his dull non-beating heart. He remembered as if it were yesterday when he once had you in his arms without a care in the world.

He remembers when the two of you were once madly in love with each other.

That was until you were stripped away from him. He lost all sense of reality, the night he lost you. It was nothing but bitter and rage, when you were found. He never forgave himself till this day, he thought, if he had just stayed with you, the two of you could’ve lived happily ever after together.

Yet, he was given an opportunity. Where he can meet you once again and watch over you to protect you for eternity. But the cost? His mortality.

But he didn’t care, as long as he was able to see you again. He would everything in his power.

During, the pouring down rain, him and the person who’d given the opportunity stood in the moonlight. This was the night where Sunghoon would meet his new profound fate.

The hallucinations given to him made tears well up in his eyes. He saw you in front of him, the same smile he adored. You simply walked over to him and rested a hand against his cheek, he melted into your touch as he moved his head to expose his neck even more.

“Bite me”

The words were faint and when the striking of the bite struck him, the illusion of you disappeared as well as his conscious. The next time he woke up, he could feel the agonizing sensation in his mouth, the sudden coldness of his skin and the unbearable pain in his neck with the creeping sensation of hunger.

He looked around the person was no where to be found, he was all alone in this world until he found you again. Then, it would be you and him in this world once again.

Sunghoon brought himself back and got up from his couch, he didn’t need to think about this anymore. He didn’t need to dwell on the past, he has you and he wouldn’t let harm go your way.

You broke night as you laid awake in your bed. You couldn’t seem to get the dream out of your head and you were fearful of what it could mean. There couldn’t be a possibility that you were falling for him, you’ve barely interacted with him.

You racked your brain, thinking it must be the gestures of walking you home. You settled on that thought but the more it sunk, the more it gnawed at your gut and it didn’t feel right.

You groaned and stared at your ceiling, you mumbled reassurance words to yourself and it was working until you heard the ringtone of your phone.

You grabbed your phone wondering who could be calling you at this hour but when you saw the contact, you nearly dropped your phone. You sat up straight against your headboard and looked at the call ringing.

What the hell was Sunghoon calling you at this hour? But before you could decided which course of action to take, the call disappeared and your lock screen showed one missed call from Sunghoon.

You decided to wait and see if he would try to call again but when you waited a few minutes, you didn’t receive anything. You thought it might have been a mistake, he didn’t mean to call you.

But as you rested your head against the pillow, you phone still at hand, you felt the urge to call him back. You weren’t going to give in and force yourself to sleep, but an eye always peeked open to check in case you get another other notification from Sunghoon.

When he realized what you doing, you gave up. You clicked onto his contact and called him, the line rang maybe once or twice but after the third ring, you heard his voice through your phone.

“What happened?” His voice was undeniably soft, you could practically feel the worry from the phone and the same thump against your chest happen

“Are you okay?” His asked again and you almost found your eyes closing shut from the comfort that took over

You hummed in the call as you made yourself comfortable in the bed.

“Sorry, it’s just that you called and I wondered what happened” You mumbled out and on the other line, Sunghoon almost felt his heart jump in glee

“I’m sorry, did it wake you?” You shook your head as if he could see you as you muttered no, he hummed at your answer and you almost said goodnight if he didn’t stop you

“You sound tired” You were, practically exhausted yet you couldn’t seem to sleep fall asleep but now on call with him you could feel the drowsiness take over

“Suddenly I am now” You yawned and you knew you were going to be out soon it’ll be best to end the call now

“Stay on the line” Your eyebrows furrowed hearing his suggestion, you scoffed and he heard that

He let out a soft chuckle but you managed to pick it up. You never heard him chuckle before and it sent a sensation to your chest.

“Why?”

“Just because” His reasoning almost made you laugh out but you simply rolled your eyes

“I don’t want to pay for a high phone bill” You told as you finger hovered over the ‘end call’ button but his next words made you stop

“I’ll pay for the expenses, so stay on the line” It was silent on your side, he waited for your response but when nothing he assumed you must have fallen asleep

And he was correct, you were fast asleep in your, phone in hand with Sunghoon on the other line. He chuckled to himself before resting his phone next to him.

“Goodnight…Love”

When you wake up, you notice you are in a bedroom just not yours. You got up from your bed and looked to your surroundings, it was another place you had no idea of. But the extricating pain in your head made you hold it and loudly groan, you heard rapid footsteps and in walked Sunghoon once again.

His gaze was filled with worry and he made his way over to you and laid you back in the bed.

“What are you doing up? Your fever hasn’t gone away” This Sunghoon was completely different from the one you know in reality

“Do you need anything?” His question had you melting in mere seconds and you had no clue why, you shook your head and looked around to your surrounding

“Where am I?” He looked at you confused and placed a hang on your cheek to check your temperature

You flinched once again and retracted his hands from you and sighed.

“You’re in your room and your fever still hasn’t passed so continue to rest okay? I’ll be outside if you need me” Sunghoon warmly smiled and was going to leave but you grabbed his wrist before he could leave

You didn’t know why you did that but you knew that you didn’t want to be alone in this moment. Regardless of not knowing him that well, Sunghoon was still a familiar face that you oddly felt comfortable around.

He smiled at your gestures and nodded his head. He took a seat on the floor next to your bed and intertwined your hands together. He rested his head against the bed in order to face you with a smile, you could feel the beating of your heart.

“What if you get sick too?” You mumbled and he practically scoffed at your words

“Then, we’ll just be sick together right love?”

You woke instantly back in your room and you could still practically feel the thumping of your heart against your chest. Your uneven breathing made you lightheaded, you don’t know what jolted you awake. Whether it was the sunlight shinning into your room or the mere mention of ‘love’ falling from Sunghoon’s lips.

All you know is this cannot go on any longer. You needed to figure out why you were startling to have these dreams about Sunghoon.

When you went to go pick up your phone from where you usually put it, you noticed it wasn’t there. You freeze before searching everywhere for it.

“Crap where the hell is my phone?” You muttered and then you hear the call out of your name, now you think you’re going crazy

You looked around still hearing the calls of your name and you tried your best to hear where it’s coming from. When you realized it was coming from your bed, you went over and moved your sheets around until you found your phone.

Your eyes were wide when you see the ongoing call of nine hours with Sunghoon who was still calling out to your name.

“Why didn’t you hang up once I fell asleep?” You asked Sunghoon and you heard the sigh of relief he let out

“Well good morning to you too” You scoffed before ushering him to answer the question

“Just because” Your eye nearly twitched in annoyance hearing the same answer he gave you last night

“You better pay for the expenses Sunghoon” You told and the chuckle that filled your ears made you look at your phone to make sure you were still talking to Sunghoon

“I already told you, I will so don’t worry” The prideful smirk was livid in your mind and that was enough for you to hang up the call with a final goodbye

Sunghoon: Let’s do it again tonight

You rolled your eyes at his message, to hell you would do it again.

You: Whatever

As Sunghoon was relaxing on his couch, the excitement of tonight keeping him up and energized. He knew the chances were slim that you would actually call or even answer his call, but he can have false hope couldn’t he?

He was going to watch a movie to kill time but when a letter was slipped under his front door, he froze. He knew of only one person that would do such a thing. He clenched his jaw and picked up the letter before ripping it open, he knew it was bound to happen but he still wanted more time.

‘I’ve seen you’ve gotten comfortable’

It was a simple sentence and it was more than enough to have him rip it up into pieces and throw it in the garbage. He landed onto the couch again, hand in hair, frustrated.

The person who turned him now mocks him in pity. There was a secret price to pay other than having his morality taken, in order for you and Sunghoon to live happily ever after.

You would need to willingly let yourself get bitten by Sunghoon. If you don’t, your unknowingly continuous fate will keep happening until you finally let him bite you. Sunghoon didn’t experience fear, but this was his biggest fear.

He didn’t want you to experience what previously happened to you, he would never be able to move on if he had to witness losing you all over again. But he didn’t want to strip you from your mortality just for a selfish desire of his.

You were his main priority and he will fulfill his destiny in protecting you for eternity.

The realization you had late at night is that for some reason, you cannot get a good night of sleep regardless of how exhausted you are unless you’ve talked to Sunghoon.

Now, you didn’t like this observation. You were able to rest before but now that he was starting to squeeze and meddle into your life, you can’t seem to keep your eyes shut.

It was already three in the morning and you weren’t going to call Sunghoon. You won’t give in, you’ll force yourself to fall asleep if you have to.

You brought the sheets closer and shuffled in your bed and closed your eyes. You were beyond comfortable and it should be enough to have you falling asleep.

Yet, when you woke up at five in the morning. The drowsiness was taking over you, you grew frustrated and you almost gave in. You had your phone in hand and all you needed to do was simply call him and you could get the sleep you’ve been longing for.

But you were stubborn. You threw your phone onto the nightstand, forcing yourself to go back to sleep. And with the success you were able to drift off into a proper sleep.

You finally thought you were getting rest but when you opened your eyes again, you were under the stars and moonlight. Your eyes looked around and you could see Sunghoon sleeping beside you, when you sat up, you noticed your hands that always seemed to be intertwined with each other.

Sunghoon shuffled around in his sleep before waking up. He saw you looking at him and he gave the smile you only see here, he sat up along with you.

“We must’ve fallen asleep, I hope we didn’t miss the meteor showers” And right when you were going to respond, in the corner of your eyes, you could see the falling stars passing you by

You were mesmerized, you had never experienced a meteor shower before. You were so emerged that you forgot about Sunghoon next to you, who didn’t even dare looking at the sky.

His gaze remained on you, seeing the glistening stars passing by through your eyes. He was mesmerized by you. His heart was pounding out of his chest, he had something important to tell you.

When he called out your name, you looked away from the sky and turned to face him. The loving smile he showcased made your heart thump into your chest.

“I love you”

You gasped as you woke up in the familiarity of your room. Your breathing being even more uneven than ever before, you felt like a weight was crushed onto you.

The simple three words were the now going to become the downfall of you. These dreams you’ve been experiencing had to have a meaning behind it, these weren’t dreams that come and go. They were constant and felt almost real, like you’ve experienced this before.

The solution? Going onto the internet and searching trying to figure out what these dreams could possibly mean. And after searching the web for a while, it always gave you same answer.

The reason why you were dreaming about Sunghoon constantly was because it was your subconscious mind telling you that he is important to you.

You felt confused, how could he be so important to you when you weren’t even important to him? You hummed trying to make sense of all of this, but hidden under all the confusion, was the warmth in your heart at the thought of him.

“You’re inviting me to your party?” You questioned through the phone, Sunghoon had called you just like how he always did

The progression of you answering his calls were slow but surely. The letter he received should’ve been the warning sign to not to close but he couldn’t help it anymore. You were here and he was going to protect you with the entirety of his life. He will make sure history never repeats itself.

“It’s not just a party, it’s my birthday party” You mentally rolled your eyes and he could feel it through the phone, he called you out but you denied

“It’s a personal invite, I would like for you to attend but you don’t have to if you don’t want to”

“I thought you didn’t interact with people” You questioned and you couldn’t hear the chuckle you were slowly getting used to when talking with him

“I don’t but every once in a while, it’s not so bad” You hummed and told him you’d ponder on the thought and to leave the information of the party

He hoped to see you at the birthday party, because if you were to show up. It would truly be the best birthday he’s had in such a long time.

You decided to go to the party, it wouldn’t hurt to just simply celebrate his birthday. When you arrived at the party, you didn’t expect it to be like this. Red color lights flashed through the house, the blaring song through the speakers, the crowds of people partying.

You expected it to be a rather small party considering Sunghoon doesn’t interact with many people, but seeing all the people in the house begged to differ.

You looked around in confusion as you pushed through the sea of people, you seemed lost until you found yourself in what seemed to be the living room. There were a few people sitting in the couch while others stood to converse with each other.

That’s when you found Sunghoon. He was talking with a group of people but the moment his eyes landed onto you, he brushed them off and went over to you.

You kindly smiled at him and you beyond surprise to see him give a light smile in return, normally he would wave or nod his head.

“You came” You were surprised you were able to hear his voice but you nodded your head and seemed to forget the gift bag you held

“You didn’t have to bring a gift” He motioned to the gift and you handed it to him before shrugging your shoulders

“It’s your birthday” He eagerly opened the bag and you found yourself trying to stop him but he managed to grab out the small box

“Oh come on, open it later” You muttered and the light smirk plastered on his was quick to leave before nodding his head and placing the box back in the bag

“Whatever you say” You rolled your eyes at him and just as the night started, Sunghoon stuck to your side like glue

Where you went, he was right next to you even though the party was hosted for him. Whenever people came up to him, he would greet them with a wave and thank them before turning his attention back onto you.

"Sunghoon this is your party, you have to enjoy it" You tried to usher him to talk to others who seemed to be waiting for him and his attention

“I am enjoying it, I’m with you” The same thumping in his chest made you blink rapidly for a moment, you still weren’t used to hearing those words leaving his mouth

Whenever he would say it on call, you could easily brush him off but in person, it was much harder to do so. When you looked to him, he still had his gaze on you.

“Sunghoon, we need to talk” You both looked to see a person grabbing him by the elbow and before he could even protest he was taken away

You could hear the faint ‘stay there’ and ‘I’ll be back’ from Sunghoon until he was out of your sight. You chuckled lightly and decided to focus on the party that still going on.

“What the hell are you doing? Why would you even invite her here?” He rolled his eyes at his friends words and shook the grasp off of him

“It’s my birthday, I can invite whoever the hell I want” His friend groaned seeing the control you had over him, he knew why Sunghoon was acting like this, he understood but he was also aware of the circumstances and consequences

“You better know what you’re doing, because already having her here is dangerous enough. Especially with the vampires and werewolves roaming around” His friend seethed through his teeth and Sunghoon was quick to shoot a glare

“No one will dare to go near her. Everyone knows better than to even try. But even so that’s why I need to get back to her”

“Keep the party active or shut it down, I don’t really care. I’m just going to be with her”

As you waited for his return, you could feel a gaze on you, you assumed it to be Sunghoon but when you turned to see a new face you raised an eyebrow.

When the person saw your face, you could see the color fade from his face. He tripped back on his feet as he stared at you with wide eyes, when he called out your name, you titled your head in confusion.

“I’m sorry do we know each other?” You could see the person gulped down before taking a step closer to you to examine your face

You stepped back to create some distant and you don’t know but it almost seemed like Sunghoon sensed your distress because he was quick to come to your side. Once he saw who it was, he was quick to grab your wrist and put you protectively behind him.

You were too caught up in the moment to feel the sensation of his ice cold hands around your wrist.

“Sunghoon” The wide-eyed person muttered, his eyes never leaving you

“I don’t think she knows you, so I suggest you leave” The tone was dangerously low, you could feel shivers run up your spine as the glare Sunghoon had in his eyes shocked you to the core

The person brought their hands up in defense and walked away. You could see the clench of Sunghoon’s jaw relax when the person was gone, he quickly faced you and it was the worry gaze that made you feel deja vu of the Sunghoon in your dreams.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you right?” The change in his tone when it came to made your heart feel something you weren’t sure what it was

You shook your head and the shaky sigh of relief that came from him made your heart ache for some reason.

“Do you want to head upstairs? It’s much quieter over there and I can tell you don’t like this party” Sunghoon suggested and he wasn’t wrong, even though you were with him most of the night, your social battery was already gone

You nodded your head and offered his elbow for you to hold as he guided you upstairs but, you swatted it away before ushering him to take the lead. There was the same light smile on his face as he walked and you following behind him.

He still carried your gift in his hand and he was constantly checking to make sure you were still near him. When you were passing through the crowd of dancing people, you could feel the grip that wrapped around your wrist once again.

That was when you finally felt the cold sensation on your wrist again, when you pulled for a second Sunghoon immediately turned and looked around. You looked between him and his cold hands but you didn’t think much of it, you assumed he might have just been very cold.

You and Sunghoon were oblivious to the moment that happened as he was too caught up thinking you had pulled him because something had happened.

When he looked at you, you felt your heart drop before picking up in a face pace. You shook your head and he continued to guide you through and once you both had made it upstairs, a sense of relief washing over.

Sunghoon had brought you to what you assumed to his room, it was definitely spacious and there was few to nothing in his room. It was rather minimalistic that contradicted the size of his place.

You could practically hear the sigh of relief come from Sunghoon as he went over to rest on a chair in his room. You almost let out your giggle at his reaction, you knew parties weren’t his thing.

“Knew that you didn’t handle parties well” You told and for the first time in your reality, you saw the Park Sunghoon smile and chuckle at your words

Your eyes widen and you didn’t notice the stare you had on him until he awkwardly chuckled and shuffled in the chair and pointed you out on it.

“What is it something on my face?” He touched around his face, trying to dust off anything on it but you simply shook your head

“Oh no, it’s nothing don’t worry about it” You muttered and finally looked away from him and looked out the window that could perfectly show the moon and stars light up the dark night

You were suddenly brought back to the meteor shower you experienced in your dream. The loving gaze Sunghoon had for you, the intertwined hands, the mention of the three words.

Sunghoon seemed to notice the change in you as you looked at the moon and stars and for moment the flash in his memory made him looked at you. The longing in eyes pouring out of them, the gift that he once held now dropped onto the floor with a thud.

The thud was enough to knock you out of your daze and when you slowly turned to face him, you saw longing gaze on you.

He nervously gulped and you saw his eyes scanning your expression as you looked at him. You didn’t realize the teary eyes you had but Sunghoon did and he quickly got up from his chair and made his way over to you.

“What happened?” His voice was almost killingly soft, in that moment you couldn’t tell the difference between this Sunghoon and the one from your dream

They practically felt the same and you could feel the lump in your throat and the uneven breathing start to come back. The single tear drop that fell from your eyes was quickly wiped away by Sunghoon.

You blinked your eyes repeatedly feeling the cold sensation against your cheek from Sunghoon’s hand. You made a mental note to get him gloves to make sure his hands don’t freeze anymore.

His tense smile as he retracted his hand after wiping your tear. You could hear the shake in his breath and neither of you still realized just how closer you were.

Sunghoon’s mind ran wild. He remembered every memory he had with you, that would include seeing the meteor shower with you and it being the first time he told you, he loved you.

So seeing you stare outside and feel the shift in emotions made a slip of hope linger in his non-beating heart. Did you possibly remember? When you awkwardly coughed and wiped your eyes to get rid of the teariness look, he knew you didn’t.

It was just the spur of the moment that shook your heart. He took a few steps back before wandering his eyes around the room, the awkwardness that filled the both you was becoming unbearable.

So when he remembered about your gift, he quickly went back to where he dropped it and went to pick it up. When your gaze followed him and saw him picking it up, you felt the pounding of your heart.

“No don’t open it now” You felt embarrassed having him open the gift you got him in front of you, but the warm smile he had made you forget everything

As he softly opened the present, his eyes landed on what was inside of it, his heart dropped which he didn’t even know was possible considering his situation. He gently picked up the necklace and could the ‘S’ that dangled from it.

It was the same exact one you once gave him back then but instead of having your letter, it had his. His eyes trailed to you and you could see the teary look he had in his eyes.

You were so confused but when he suddenly got up and hugged you, you felt your body freeze. The soft sniffling that came from him, ached your heart terribly. He held you tightly as if he was afraid if he let go, he would lose you forever. You hesitantly wrapped your arms around and him to help ease his nerves that seemed to be going haywire.

After a while, he seemed to realize the situation and immediately peeled himself off of you, he quickly looked away and wiped the tears and then cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me”

Lies. He knew exactly what came over him, it was the love he had for that rose from the hidden corner of his still heart.

“Are you okay?” Your worried voice soft on his ears that he felt like no time had passed between the two of you, his smile was bright and it did something to your heart making it flip over and over again

He nodded his head before taking a seat back into the chair, he looked at you and unhooked the necklace trying to put it on. But as he kept failing miserably, you chuckled before making your way over to him.

“May I?” When he looked at you, he got deja vu

He couldn’t put on the necklace back then and he still couldn’t put it on till this day. And you had to come to his rescue and help him. He smiled and handed you the necklace, when you gently picked it up and placed it around his neck, making sure the ‘S’ dangled properly.

When you clipped the necklace, his hand unconsciously went to touch it and looked down onto it. His warm smile never leaving his face as he simply admired the necklace.

“For some reason, I thought of you when I saw it and I realized it’d be a perfect gift” You muttered and when his gaze shifted to you, still holding the necklace in his grasp he smiled

“I love it. I’ll cherish it for an eternity” His words felt like it held truth to it, your heart fluttered in your chest as you openly smiled at him and simply nodded your head

“I’ll hold you to your words, make sure to keep it” You could see his fingers crossing over his heart and you rolled your eyes

“Cross my heart”

You groggily opened your eyes and took a deep breath. When you saw the surrounding, you sat up with haste. You were in a bed but you recognized to still be in Sunghoon’s room yet there was no trace of him.

Your recollection of what happened finally came to you and you let out a sigh of relief. You remember mentioning to Sunghoon that you were feeling somewhat tired and he offered to take you back to your place.

But you rejected as this was his birthday party after all, you wouldn’t possible let him walk you home and take him away from the party. The amount of times he reassured you, he didn’t care if left the party was uncountable.

Yet, you still told him you would be fine but when he suggested an alternative which was that you rest in here until the party was over and he would take you home.

You didn’t reject the offer and you had to admit that sleep must’ve been the best sleep you’ve gotten in ages. You felt energized and relaxed as if you could take on anything that was thrown your way.

Your theory that you slept better whenever you talked with him seemed to be true. You noticed the blaring music that once played was now long gone, you could hear a few voices talking through the silence.

You got up from the bed and slowly grabbed your shoes that were neatly set next to the bed. When you put them on, you went out of the room and tried to look for Sunghoon.

When the voice of Sunghoon filled your ears, you made your way downstairs but your footsteps seemed to have been picked up. When you reached halfway through the staircase, you looked and there stood Sunghoon and a few other people you’ve seen around campus.

Your beating heart soon stopped and dropped to the pit of your stomach. Your uneven breathing was the only thing heard throughout the silence of the house, you could see Sunghoon’s wide eyed expression as he saw you.

His fangs were openly exposed as he and another person held a tight grasp on each other. You recognized the person to be the one who approached you when Sunghoon was away. The person’s hand or you would saw claw was raised ready to attack Sunghoon.

“Y-you’re awake?” Sunghoon’s voice was fearful as he soon let go of the person’s collar, his eyes that were once brown are now blood red looked at you, his fangs popping through with the two words he spoke

He hesitantly walked over to the staircase but you stumbled backwards as you tried to step back and get distant between the two of you. Sunghoon froze and felt his the cracking and shatter of his heart, he swore if it was still beating, it would have stopped in this moment.

Your eyes tried to analyze the situation, the claw of the person who stood still looking at you, the fangs and red eyes of Sunghoon. It was enough for the tension to rise even higher. The fear that set the atmosphere was suffocating, you felt you were losing your mind.

You quickly got up from the staircase and rushed down as fast as you could. The calls of your name coming from Sunghoon would have normally made your heart beat faster but it only made your stomach churn.

You rushed out the house and ran as fast as you could. The burning of your lungs made you want to stop but you couldn’t seem to. You ran until you made it to the safety of your home before locking your door shut.

Your breathing was heavy as you rested against your front door. You tried your best to make sense of the situation but whatever logical sense you tried to piece with it didn’t make any sense.

Sunghoon’s red blood eyes, his fangs that were so prominent, the ice cold feeling of his skin.

You slid down against the door as you looked into oblivion. This whole time you didn’t believe in mystical creatures, yet, they existed and you even brefriend one.

To hell, you ended up falling for a damn vampire. You didn’t want to believe the realization that settled in your heart.

You should’ve know that it was strange how Sunghoon started to wiggle into your life like nothing after finding you that night. You thought you were smart but he made you look so damn naive.

“Sunghoon…” His friend tried to come up to him but he was quick to shove him away as he fretted with too many emotions in him

“Fuck” He mumbled under his breath and when he could see the person who approached you come near him, his anger took over

“Sunghoon no!” He was losing rationality in his mind, your fearful expression as you looked at him clouded his mind

“What is stopping me from sucking my damn teeth into you? Huh?” He asked the person in his grasp and he looked at Sunghoon with pity in his eyes

“Don’t look at me with those damn eyes, you tried to justify your actions years ago and I never forgave you. What made you think it was okay to show up to my party? To even think about approaching her” Sunghoon seethed through his fangs

“I told you I live with regret every single day for decades for what I did to her!”

“Seeing her again, erupted the emotions in me again and I couldn’t just believe she was right there before my eyes” The person yelled and tried to get out of Sunghoon’s grasp but he didn’t let go, his grasp only grew tighter

“She didn’t deserve it, you took her away” Sunghoon spoke the truth, the person in his grasp was the reason why you were taken so soon

He was the person who made him take the decision in giving his mortality in order to wait and protect you for eternity. Sunghoon wanted to protect you from ever experiencing history again.

“I didn’t mean to do it” The person’s voice softened and Sunghoon shook his head, he was losing it

“But you did it. You can’t and you won’t take her away again, I will never allow you. For eternity, she is under my protection”

When you opened your eyes, you realized you were in the darkness of a living room. Even though the room had a feel a familiarity to it, you had no idea where you were. The setting was rather eerie and the make matters worse, you seemed to be by yourself.

You could the nerves settling in your heart and you could feel the uncomfortable pounding of your heart against your chest. Something wasn’t right.

When you heard a phone, you looked to your side and once you saw the contact and your heart dropped. The contact that displayed as the call continued made your senses become overwhelmed.

‘Sunghoon <3’

He was calling you and as your hand hesitantly picked it up your phone and answer the call, you were suddenly met with darkness. The grasp you once had on your phone fell in the process.

Sunghoon called out to you multiple times and when he got no response he could feel his gut twist with unease. When the call hung up on its own, that was more than enough for him to know something wasn’t right.

Sunghoon kept calling and texting your phone for you to respond. He was frantic as he rushed over to your house and just when he was a block away, you could see and hear the sirens.

His heart dropped as his mind raced with thoughts, he prayed for you to be okay. As he rushed over, he was stopped by people and he tried to push them away trying to get to you once he realized the sirens were directly at your place.

The people around started crying and wailed to him when they realized he had arrived. He tried to decipher the words leaving their mouth. But when he did, his world came hurling down to crash.

His eyes went over to your place with wide eyes as they soon begin to fill with tears. He felt the life drain out of him. You were found in your house after a neighbor complained about the noise from your place. His once happy beating heart now shattered at the realization that you were gone.

Park Sunghoon lost you and soon enough he lost himself.

You woke up on your couch with a harsh gasp, your eyelids puffy and heavy from all the crying you did earlier that day. You tried to recollect the dream (if you could even call it that) you experienced.

Soon, a raging headache came crashing down and you held your head in agony. You were breathing heavily trying to calm your nerves but the headache only became worse.

You were witnessing memories flashing before your eyes. Memories you had never experienced before and seen ever your life. Emotions you didn’t even know that could rest in your heart, now rose to the surface.

You were oblivious to the soft knocking on your front door. As you now groaned in pain of the headache and heartache you were experiencing.

Flashes of you and Sunghoon together caught your attention. It was the Sunghoon that you saw from your “dreams” and now it was supposed to be reality.

The dreams you experienced were memories from who knows where. Your eyes looked around trying to make sense of what was happening, the ringing in your eyes didn’t help in the slightest.

You were feeling numb to everything around that you the soft knocks on your door were now becoming banging against it.

The ringing of your doorbell was drowned out by the last memory to flash in your mind. The breath you let out was short and came out as a shutter, the tears spilling from your eyes.

Your door was suddenly burst opened and in walked a worried and heaving Sunghoon. Your eyes shot to him and you could feel the breath get knocked out of you. You stared agape at him.

Sunghoon knew he shouldn’t have done that but when you weren’t responding to your phone and now weren’t answer your door, fear settled into his heart.

The fear that he failed his sole purpose in life again.

But as he scanned around your place and saw you on the coach staring at him, your tears staining your face and the heaviness of your breathing. His heart broke at the scene.

You were quick to stumble over your feet and made your way over to him. Sunghoon expected for you to push him, punch him, yell at him, practically let out all of your emotions onto him.

But when you tightly hugged him, he was shocked. He didn’t expect this. But when you cried against him and hearing your cries made his heart drop, he was quick to hug you back to soothe you.

He whispered sweet nothings into your ears in order to help you but it only seemed to make it worse. Your hold on him only got tighter with each word told to you.

The mumbles of his name coming from your mouth made it seem like you were calling out to him even though he was right in front of you.

“What did you do to yourself?” When you ripped yourself away from Sunghoon to look at his eyes with your teary ones he looked at you in pure confusion

“My hoonie” The nickname that left your mouth made his knees weak and give out on him, he tumbled to the ground as he felt like he couldn’t breathe

“What did you say?” He muttered not believing his ears, he believed none of this was real, that his mind was simply playing tricks on him

The shaky smile that formed on your face made Sunghoon realize everything. His shaky hands hovered over your cheek as his own tears filled his eyes.

He shook his head not believing it but when his cold hands touched the warmth of your cheek, he knew this was all real. It came crashing down onto him and the smile he showed was enough to have you crying again.

Sunghoon brought you into his embrace as the two of cried in each other’s arms.

“You’re such an idiot. I would’ve found you. You didn’t have to turn into a vampire” Sunghoon’s chuckle vibrated throughout your bedroom as he had an arm around you

He finally told you everything from the day you left him till now. It was a lot to catch up but you were more than happy to hear him and to simply be in his presence. But you were upset to know he gave his mortality in the process.

“I wanted to wait for you, and I’m glad I did. It was the best decision I ever made” Your scoff was enough for the smile on Sunghoon’s face to get brighter, you remember rarely seeing his smile but now it seems like an automatic with you

As he shuffled around your bed, you didn’t fail to notice the bracelet on his wrist. You softly held his wrist, the coldness that once made you question him no longer phased you.

Sunghoon was surprised but when he saw looking at his wrist, he let you admire it.

“You kept it after all this time” Your voice was soft as you examined the necklace now turned bracelet with the first letter of your name in the middle

“Of course. It’s one of the three most prized possession of mine”

“What’s your other two?” Sunghoon grabbed onto the necklace you gave for his birthday

“This and you” His last word made your heart flutter against your chest and you proudly to accept it

You were bound to accept Sunghoon into your heart, so there was nothing other than to allow him into your life just like how he once was in.

While for Sunghoon, he was beyond over the moon. He swore his still heart fluttered against his chest as he looked at you and had you in his presences again.

“You know, what I noticed” This perked his interest and raised an eyebrow towards you

“You still have the habit of holding my hand” You lifted the intertwined hands and you could find Sunghoon coughing awkwardly

He tried to let go of your head and gave him a confused look as you still held tightly onto his head.

“I just pointed it out, doesn’t mean I don’t like it” You giggled and Sunghoon was quick to lay beside you once again

“I’ve missed you so much” He muttered and you contently sighed, you were pleased, happy that this was how your life is

“I’m sorry it took me so long” You apologized and Sunghoon was quick to shake his head, he rubbed his thumbs against your hand in comfort

“Doesn’t matter how long it is, I will always wait for you”

It was inevitable that you and Sunghoon naturally became closer. Everyday he was at your home from early in the morning to late at night, there were times where you had to kick him out but he didn’t want to leave.

So he ended up sleeping on your coach and you would wake up to hear your fire alarm going on. You would quickly rush to see what’s going on, only to find Sunghoon with burnt food on a plate.

He would cheekily smile and tell you breakfast is served. The efforts made your heart warm but the execution still needed a little more work.

As you and Sunghoon watched a movie, you excused yourself for a moment. While you were away, he paused the movie and waited for your return.

But when a letter slipped under your front door, his eyes widen. He quickly got up from your couch and hastily grabbed the letter and ripped it open.

‘Tic Toc’

Sunghoon crumbled the paper before shoving it into his pocket. When he sat back down onto the couch, his leg bounced, his eyes scanning the area.

He was too caught up in the moment that he seemed to have forgotten the hidden truth of reality. He was beginning to grow anxious and frustrated, his flipped his hair backwards in order to help himself calm down but it wasn’t working.

When he checked the date on his phone, he could the lump in his throat. That’s why the letter was sent, it was one week from now where Sunghoon would have to make his decision.

Whether to allow you to face your unwritten fate or for you to allow him to bite you. Neither of which he wanted to do but there didn’t seem to be an inbetween.

But there had to be a way in order for you to beat your fate, for you to live. And he was going to try everything in his power in order to make sure you did. Regardless of what needed to be done, if it meant having you stay.

Sunghoon will be prepared to give up everything just for you.

“No Sunghoon, are you crazy?” Indeed he was, it was t-minus three days until the choice had to be made and he’s been working in search of another ultimatum

And in which he did find one, but it involved a route he wasn’t sure how it would unfold. Yet, he was willing to do it however his friends beg to differ.

“You need to think this thoroughly. How do you know there won’t be another variable involved once it’s too late” His friend tried to reason with him but he simply shook his head

“There can’t be. It’s a soul giving up its entirety. It’s either fair or fair”

“Sunghoon in case you forgot, you’re already non-living. You truly believe you will be chosen over her?” His friend’s word held truth but at the same time his reasoning was the only way

“I’ll make sure I am” Sunghoon was determined, he’s always had been and he will always be

He did tell himself, for eternity you will be under his sworn protection. If he had to give up everything in order for you stay, he will do it in a heartbeat.

The wager involved instead of you having to face either of the consequences in which you weren’t even aware of. Sunghoon would replace you, he would replace his fate for yours.

But in doing so, he and you will seize to forget about each other. Only time could tell whether your paths would ever cross again.

It was a painful reality for him but this was the love a vampire had for a human being.

Today was the day. Sunghoon had wanted to spend his last day with you in happiness. He wanted for you to remember the remaining moments of him in your memories to be happy rather than sad.

So he had decided to create a special day, which he called ‘the anniversary’. It was corny but you didn’t mind at all, rather you found it endearing. Under all the facade he tried to put up, he was still the same Sunghoon you once fell in love with decades ago.

The day the two of you went to an open field. It would only be the two of you, just like how it used to be. It made you happy to know that after all this time separated from each other, you both were still the same.

With the fresh pile of snow that rested on the ground made the day seem nearly close to perfect. Even though, the cold didn’t bother him in the slightest, he still pretend to be affected by when you threw snow at him.

It was just the way you smiled brightly in success of ‘getting him’ that made him keep up the act, just to hear your laughter.

But when the snow softly grazed your skin, you were quick to shutter from the coldness and you always glared at Sunghoon when he dared to laugh and mock your reaction.

As you and Sunghoon walked the area, you didn’t realize the pictures he was taking of the scenery with you in it. It was only when you turned around at the call of your name is when you noticed the picture he took.

You groaned and motioned for him to delete but once it was on his phone, it will forever stay there. Your attempts in trying to get the photo deleted were in vain. You given up knowing Sunghoon was just as stubborn as you were.

So to make it fair, you secretly took a photo of him admiring the scenery. Yet, the photo was perfect. He was looking at the sunsets, his back faced towards you but you were still able to get a slight angle of his side profile.

“The sunset is beautiful, isn’t it?” You finally looked up from the picture you took to admire it and he wasn’t wrong

The sky was casted with a pink and orange tone that melted into each other. When you were beside him, Sunghoon was quick to intertwine your hands together. The coldness you felt against your warmth reminded you of the reality. He was a vampire and you were a human, but you didn’t care.

He was Park Sunghoon at the end of the day. He was the one you will forever love, regardless of what’s to come. You would put up with anything in order for him to always be with you.

The comfortable silence that rested between the two of made Sunghoon forget the day. That was until he felt a striking pain in his abdomen, causing him to lose his balance.

His hand still held yours as his free one rested above where the pain was settling.

“Sunghoon what’s going? Are you okay?” Your worried tone made him feel upset, but he tried to remain as positive as he could, he needed to for you

“I’m fine. I just need to rest” He muttered before letting his body fully collapse to the ground, you were quick to catch him into your arms

“No you’re not fine!” You stated the obvious and you were quick to wrap his arm around your shoulder, you needed to get back as soon as possible

“I’m doing this for you” His statement made you freeze and you faced him with hesitating eyes

“What did you do..?” You muttered as the same uneasy feeling settled into your gut

“Made sure you got to live” Sunghoon’s weak smile was all you needed before tears welled up in your eyes

“God damn it Park Sunghoon, what the hell did you do?!” Sunghoon’s hands cupped your cheek before brushing away the unknowing falling tears from your eyes

“It’s better me than you, I wouldn’t be able to bear knowing that I lost you all over again”

“But I have to bear losing you? How is this fair?”

“Because you won’t remember” When you heard his justifying answer, your heart stopped as you stared at him

“What do you mean I won’t remember?” Sunghoon smiled warmly before creasing your cheek with his ice cold hands, everytime he felt your warmth he could feel his own body on fire

“In order for us to have this dreading “happily ever after” you’ve needed to allow me to bite you and if not, you would have to face your fate of being taken away again”

“But luckily I found an alternative, in where you get to live with no worries”

“I promised to always protect you no matter where I am, so I was always be by your side” His weak chuckle made your grow frustrated at him

“That’s not the same, I need to have you here with me. I’ll have to live without you and I know I can’t experience that again”

“Bite me Sunghoon” His eyes widen and weakly shook his head no, over his dead body would he ever bite you and strip you away from your very mortality

“I’m allowing you to bite me, so do it!” Your tears stained your face as you showed your neck to Sunghoon, you rather be a vampire with him and spend eternity with him than having to experience losing him

“I love you”

The three words made you feel like sobbing. It didn’t feel like how ‘I love you’ should feel like, rather it felt like a goodbye. It felt like you and Sunghoon were saying goodbye to your eternal love.

“Don’t say that to me now Sunghoon. Tell me that later okay?” You mumbled through a sad chuckle and you could see the little efforts he tried to sit up

You helped him sit up and with the little strength he had left, he brought you into his arms. You could feel your sobs slowly let out as you wrapped your arms tightly around him.

“I love you. I’ll always love you”

“For the rest of eternity, I will always love you. I promise to find you again” You sobbed against him as you nodded your head at his words

“I love you too, so please don’t go” You mumbled, you knew it was too late but you still had a shiver of hope that your wishes would be answered

“Bye bye… My love” Sunghoon faint voice filled your ears and before you knew it, his arm that once wrapped around you fell, and be was gone right before your eyes

As you looked to where Sunghoon once was, you could see the necklace and bracelet he wore laid in front of you. You chocked out a sob as you shakily picked up the jewelry. You brought it to your heart as the tears fell from your eyes never seemed to stop.

You cried were loud, you looked around hoping for Sunghoon to appear in front of you just like he always does.

But when there was no sign of him other than the jewelry in your hands, you completely utterly broke. You started sobbing loudly, no longer caring if anyone could even hear you. The hiccups that rippled out of you filled the open land, you covered your mouth trying to muffle your sobs but it only made them louder.

You shook your head rigidly, you couldn’t admit it.

“Bring him back to me” You mumbled into your hands as you hoped the universe would possibly hear your desires and bring him back to you

Why couldn’t he simply bite you? If you were able to spend eternity with him, you would be the happiest person alive. So why didn’t he just bite you?

Your body shook from all the crying but soon it stopped. You pulled your hands away from your face and saw the tears that covered them. You were confused and looked at your surrounding trying to piece where you were.

You touched your face to feel the wetness from your tears. You began to wipe your face rid of the tears and that’s when you noticed the jewelry that dangled from your hands. You saw the necklace that had a ‘S’ dangling from it while the bracelet had your letter on it.

You tried to think as hard as you could but you didn’t know anyone with the letter ‘S’ in their name. You were even more confused on why you were crying and where you were.

You don’t remember coming out all this way and that worried you, you pulled out your phone and that’s was when you saw a photo you don’t even remember taking.

It was of the sunset that still painted the sky but there was a person in the frame. You couldn’t see their face but only see the side of it, who was this? You looked around trying to find anyone near by but there didn’t seem to be any

You looked back at the picture and seemed drawn to it. The scenery is just stunning and you couldn’t seem to get your mind off of it.

“The sunset is beautiful, isn’t it?” You muttered not knowing who you were speaking for

This was the happily ever after that resides in you and Sunghoon’s fate. The fate of a fated love between a vampire and human.

Unknown when the paths would cross again or if they even will cross again. It seems to be a play of chance in whether you and Sunghoon could meet again.

And possibly fulfill the happily ever after you both will always long for eternity.

As you rushed to your class, you could only hope to make it on time. You parents were going to beyond furious if you were late to class again. You could feel the burn in your lungs as you ran but that didn’t stop you, until you rushed into class.

Your friends immediately dragged you to the desk and just as you sat down the bell rang. You heaved in relief before laying your head down onto your desk.

You could hear the classroom door open but you didn’t dare to lift your head, already too exhausted in trying to make it to class on time. You could hear the murmurs from your classmate but it didn’t peak your interest.

That was until you heard the mention of your name to which you shot up from your desk and acted like you were paying attention. You were trying to register what was going on but once you realized there was already a person taking a seat next to you.

All eyes were on the two of you and when you looked to your side, you saw a face you have never seen before. You examined the face and the person seemed to have noticed because he turned his gaze onto you.

“Do I have something on my face?” He asked as he touched his face but you merely shook your head and focused your attention to the teacher

You could hear the light chuckle beside you until you heard a light tapping on your desk. When you look down, you saw a note being slid onto your desk, you look to see the person next to you smile briefly at you before looking to the front of the class.

‘Hi, I’m Park Sunghoon.

P.S- I like your bracelet with the letter in the middle, it’s nice’

wish that was me

Could be us

Firsts & Lasts

Boss! Al Haitham x Employee! F!Reader (Modern Au) 

- random fic that i concocted cause i couldn’t get the concept out of my head 

Al-Haitham breaks all workplace rules for his favorite employee

Warnings: NSFW, slight jealousy/possessiveness, mentions of clubs + threats (not at reader)

As much as Al Haitham wishes to deny it, your presence always seems to draw his attention no matter the situation. 

The click clacks of your heels descending the stairs immediately disrupts his usually unwavering focus as he forces himself to read the first line of his email for the second time. Unfortunately, his brain is once again distracted by how he knows that you are approaching from behind. Knows that if he turns around, he’ll see you in your green bartender uniform with the logo of his bar printed right above your right breast. 

And for some absurd reason, the uniform, despite being intended to make you look professional, instead makes you look like you just stepped out the page of a 1950 pin up girl magazine. Smart and professional is the last thing that anyone would use to describe your current attire. A spark of annoyance oozes down his spine when he catches himself thinking of you, and he hasn’t even actually seen you yet. 

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