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Where do all the lonely hearts go?

Summary:

Kim Taehyung isn’t the kind of guy who would normally have found himself in a hybrid adoption center. And even if he were, no one expected him to go home with the grumpiest cat in the whole place.

Notes:

I didn't mean to be into this Au but I am.

Do I have time in my uni schedule to regularly write and update fic? No. Am I gonna try? Yep.

I've never written anything like this before so please be kind.

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: Curiosity killed the cat

Chapter Text

“I’m telling you, Tae, they really do wonders for you,” Jungkook said before taking a sip of his coffee. He, Taehyung, and their friend Jimin were sitting in a hybrid-friendly cafe in the middle of Seoul. Jungkook and Jimin had brought their hybrids, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Seokjin--who had all gone to the bathroom together, presumably to gossip about the humans they had left behind.

“I know the only reason you two brought me here was to convince me to get a hybrid, but I don’t need one,” Taehyung shrugged. And he truly felt he didn’t. Hybrids were for people who couldn’t make friends, or for people who could but were usually too busy to bother with them. Such was the case for the two pop music sensations sitting in front of him. With all the touring the two of them did, Tae figured it was a wonder they managed to keep up their friendship with him at all.

But the budding photographer had friends. And he wasn’t too busy to keep them. He was starting to make a name for himself in his field, but he wasn’t popular enough yet to keep work coming nonstop (no matter how much Jungkook and Jimin offered to keep him employed--he wanted to build his name on his own, not just because he was friends with celebrities).

“Please,” Jimin scoffed. “If anyone needs a hybrid, it’s you. When was the last time you had a meal that wasn’t from a package or takeout?”

Taehyung opened his mouth in protest, but closed it quickly when he realized...he had to really think about that. Not in the last week, that was for certain. And sure, maybe having a hybrid around would encourage him to actually learn to cook for a change. Or he could buy himself a cookbook of his own volition. He didn’t need a hybrid for that.

“Face it, Tae,” Jimin said, leaning forward onto his elbows. “The fact that you haven’t gone into cardiac arrest yet is a miracle. Taking care of someone else might actually teach you how to take care of yourself for a change.”

“I can’t even keep a houseplant alive,” Taehyung pointed out. “And you expect me to be able to take care of a hybrid?”

“It’s not like a normal cat or dog,” Jungkook countered. “They can take care of themselves when they need to, that’s the beauty of it. But it’s so nice...to be able to just...come home to people that love you and just want to see you happy.”

“What, like a friend?” Taehyung teased. “That’s what I have you two for.”

“But we’re on separate tours all the time,” Jungkook said. “If I see you once every three months, it’s a miracle. I know we can’t force you, but we’re worried, Tae. You get thinner every time we see you. If you won’t let us make sure you always have a job just...promise us you’ll think about it?”

The hybrids seemed to be returning, hence the conversation needing to come to an abrupt close. But while chewing on the inside of his cheek, Taehyung nodded. “That’s all I’ll promise,” he said. But he watched as Namjoon, Jimin’s tabby cat hybrid immediately curl up by his side. He watched as Jin and Hoseok--black lab and brittany spaniel hybrids--seemed to tease each other in competition for Jungkook’s attention. And it might be nice, he thought, if there was someone by his side too. Taehyung already had a loud personality, he wouldn’t need much. Not one like Hoseok, who always seemed to be jumping and smiling and laughing. That was what Jungkook needed. It tired him out, having two dogs jumping around all the time. It bounced off of his over-excited energy.

He looked at Namjoon again, whose head was resting contently on Jimin’s shoulders as he teased him over what had taken them so long in the bathroom. And Joon just smiled up at him, a playfully innocent expression on his face.

Maybe Taehyung needed a cat.

 

~*~*~

 

Jimin had given Tae the name of the shelter he had gotten Namjoon from. He knew Jungkook had used the same one, so he trusted its credibility. His friends wouldn’t go anywhere they hadn’t researched fully beforehand. He was only visiting, he told himself as he walked through the front door. He was only going to learn a little bit more about hybrids, and what taking care of them was like. He was not going to sign any papers today. But Taehyung had always been a bit too impulsive. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself if he found one he liked.

A girl with red hair in her mid-twenties greeted him with a large grin as he walked in. “Welcome! My name’s Caroline, how can I help you today?”

Taehyung immediately almost leaves. Instead, he tries to keep his feet planted firmly in the ground and to make his voice sound certain as he speaks. “I was just...looking into learning more about hybrids. I was thinking of adopting, but--”

He doesn’t finish his sentence, and he doesn’t need to. Caroline is beaming and opening the door into the back. “Come with me, I’ll walk you through the facility and explain everything. And don’t look so nervous, you’re not obligated to sign any paperwork today.”

He did relax a little bit when she said that. But he felt nervous as they walked through the door and started towards what seemed to be a playroom. There were benches and tables where teenage and adult hybrids seemed to be sitting around--some playing cards, some reading, some just talking.

“We carry mostly cats and dogs here, though we do have a few rabbits,” Caroline explained. “This is where our mature hybrids play, but if you’re looking for something younger, I can show you to the children and infants area,” she suggested.

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head quickly. “I was looking for someone around my age. I--I just want...” he felt embarrassed as he spoke. He couldn’t believe how pathetic he sounded right now. Like a loser who had to buy someone to like him. “I was looking for a companion, really. My friends travel a lot, I thought...”

“It’d be nice to have someone to come home to?” Caroline suggested with a smile. “Breathe, you’d be surprised how many come in here with that exact request.” She opened the door to the mature area and lead Taehyung in. Dozens of heads turned to look at them as they walked in, making Tae feel embarrassed, but they quickly went back to their own activities. “Tell me a bit about yourself, and I’ll try and see who might fit your lifestyle,” Caroline requested.

Taehyung thought about that for a moment. Where would he begin? What could he say that wouldn’t make him sound like a loser that wasn’t fit to take care of himself, let alone a hybrid. “I’m a photographer,” he settled on. “I’m pretty active and extroverted. I like to go out a lot, I have some late nights. So if I brought anyone home, they’d have to be pretty independent.”

Caroline nodded, almost seeming to be running through a rolodex in her mind. “I’d suggest a cat hybrid then. It’s a stereotype, that they’re less needy than the dogs, but it proves true in most cases. I have a couple in mind--oh, would you prefer a male or female, if you have any preference? I don’t mean to assume, but many people like to--”

She leaves the sentence hanging in the air, but Taehyung knows what she’s trying to say. He knows all too well how his friends sleep with their hybrids. Jungkook spares no details, much to Jimin and Taehyung’s horror. Jungkook had explained to him once how their heats worked. It was why for about a week every month Jungkook looked especially exhausted while Jin and Hobi looked elated. It was better not to ask any questions, he’d learned that early on.

“Oh, i--it’s not like that,” Taehyung explained, though he had entertained the thought before. How long had it been since he’d last gotten laid? Too long, he thought before he finished his thought. “I’m really just looking for a friend. But uh, I’d prefer a male, if that’s alright.”

Caroline nodded and looked out into the gathering of hybrids, humming as she pondered over the choices. “Well there’s Soonjung over there,” she said, pointing over to a whitehaired cat hybrid playing cards with a couple of dog hybrids. “He’s very sunshiney, always willing to go hang out in the sun. But he doesn’t mind being left alone. Or Haneul,” she said, pointing in the direction of a ginger cat hybrid sitting and reading. “He’s more quiet, but a complete sweetheart. And then there’s--”

Caroline continued to point at different cat hybrids around the room, but none of them particularly struck Taehyung, which was somewhat disappointing. He’d hold himself he wasn’t going home with anyone, but he’d kind of hoped someone would at least catch his attention. And then there was--

“What about him?” Taehyung asked, nodding subtly in the direction of a cat hybrid sitting in the corner. His ears and tail were black, but his hair was a mint green shade. He was sitting and listening to music through headphones, showing no clear interest in any of the other hybrids, nor the humans that had walked in the room. He was beautiful, to put it lightly. To put it in more words, he was drop-dead gorgeous. Dewy, silky looking skin, and a relaxed--if bored expression on his face. He recognized this one as the only one who hadn’t paid them any mind when they walked into the room.

“That’s Yoongi,” Caroline said with a little frown. “You don’t want him.”

It wasn’t her intention, of course. But saying that just made him even more curious about the hybrid. “Why? Is there something wrong with him?”

“Oh, goodness, no,” Caroline said, looking back to him. “It’s just that he’s...well...he went through a lot before he came to us. I’m not at liberty to say. But it’s made him...grumpy, to say the least. And antisocial. He’s a good guy, really, once he lets you in. But that takes a lot of work and with the lifestyle you described--”

But Taehyung had already made up his mind. “Can I meet with him?”

Caroline seemed to hesitate, but nodded. “Go right ahead. I’ll be over here if you need anything or have any questions.”

Now that Taehyung had to actually go over and talk to the hybrid, he was having second thoughts. He looked like he might eat Taehyung alive if he went over there. And Taehyung might just let him. But he took a deep breath and sat down across from him.

Yoongi didn’t seem like he was planning on acknowledging him at all. There was a minute of silence before the extrovert decided he was going to speak. “Hi there.”

Yoongi finally took the earbuds out of his ears and looked over to him. “Hi,” he said simply, looking Taehyung over as if he was sizing him up.

“I’m Kim Taehyung,” he said, smiling at the cat hybrid. “What’s your name?”

“Yoongi,” he said. “But I bet Caroline told you that,” he replied, nodding over to her.

So he had recognized them walking in. He just chose to ignore them.

“I bet Caroline told you to keep away from me,” Yoongi said. “And you came here anyway. Why?”

His bluntness froze the usual rambler in his tracks. He hadn’t expected it. Taehyung didn’t have much experience with hybrids outside of the ones his friends kept, but Yoongi didn’t act like any of them. Namjoon was much softer than Yoongi seemed to be. But if he had been through a lot, like Caroline explained, then maybe he couldn’t blame him.

“You were the only one who didn’t seem to care when Caroline and I came in. That made me curious.”

Yoongi seemed surprised--maybe even impressed by that answer. “Huh,” he said simply, looking him over again as if he was re-considering. Most people who came looking after Yoongi expected him to be some submissive kitten, and he wasn’t going to comply with that. “Why do you want a hybrid anyway? I’m no one’s sex kitten,” he said, the latter words dripping with disgust.

“No, no!” Taehyung insisted, shaking his head. “It’s just--my friends are always travelling. It might be nice to have someone to keep me company while they’re away. I wouldn’t-- that’s not what I had in mind.”

Taehyung confused Yoongi more the more he talked to him. And the two sat there for over an hour, just talking. It was mostly Yoongi asking questions and Taehyung answering them with that stupid boxy smile on his face. Yoongi learned what Taehyung’s life was like, what his friends and their hybrids were like. And Taehyung learned that Yoongi really liked rap music and wasn’t great at video games. Taehyung offered to teach him how to get better, and that was when Yoongi sat back a little bit.

“Listen. If I were, in theory to go home with you...I’m not your little...plaything to boss around. I talk back. I’m rude. I don’t know how to clean, and I can cook like, two things.”

“Kitty has claws, I get it,” Taehyung nodded, secretly glad that Yoongi was thinking about the idea of coming with him, Taehyung hadn’t even suggested it yet. “Like I said, I’m just looking for the place to be a little less quiet while my friends are away. I have no expectations.”

That was the right answer. Yoongi nodded. “Okay. I’ll go with you,” he said, making it clear that it was his decision, not Taehyung’s.

“Great,” Taehyung beamed. “We’ll have fun, I promise. And you’ll really like Namjoon, I think. You two have the same taste in music and stuff. I’ll go tell Caroline!”

Yoongi nodded like it didn’t concern him and went back to listening to his music as he walked over to Caroline, who was looking at Taehyung like he had just performed a miracle.

“Can I adopt him? Please? I mean, how does that work?”

“He agreed?” Caroline all but gasped. “Sorry, it’s just...you’re not the first to try and he’s always flatly refused. I-- wow, okay. I’ll go get his file, you’ll sign the paperwork, and you can bring him home tomorrow.”

“Great,” Taehyung smiled, following Caroline out of the playroom and gave Yoongi one last look before he left. Yoongi looked up at him and saluted a farewell. And if Taehyung didn’t know any better, he might have sworn there was a little smile on his face.

Chapter 2: The Welcoming Committee

Summary:

Yoongi's first day at Taehyung's is eventful as hell, but Taehyung is worried that the kitty doesn't like him.

Namjoon isn't worried in the slightest.

Notes:

I hope people are liking this! The comments are very encouraging so keep them coming!

We're gonna start s l o w l y poking into Yoongi's backstory in the coming chapters, I promise.

Chapter Text

The first day home with Yoongi was an...interesting one, to say the least. Jungkook and Jimin were thrilled to hear that he had gone through with an adoption, and promised to come over with their own hybrids when he brought Yoongi home in the hopes that it might help him adjust. Taehyung was more thankful for that than he’d admit. Just the two of them alone in Taehyung’s apartment for the first time...it would have felt awkward. The car ride there was quiet and weird enough.

 

But his friends and their hybrids were already there when the two of them arrived. Hoseok immediately bounded over to him, over excited as ever with his heart-shaped grin. “Hello! You must be Yoongi! It’s nice to meet you!”

 

“Settle down, Hobi,” Jungkook laughed from the couch. “Give the poor guy some space, this is all new to him.”

 

Hobi seemed to remember himself and went back over to Jungkook, practically draping himself in the young man’s lap. Jin was nuzzled with his face in Jungkook’s neck, and the three of them were taking up practically the whole couch, leaving Jimin and Namjoon to both be sitting in one of Taehyung’s chairs, which didn’t seem to bother either of them a bit.

 

“Ah, so that’s Hoseok,” Taehyung explained with a little laugh, looking to Yoongi apologetically. “He ran to Jungkook and Seokjin, and in the chair are Jimin and Namjoon, I told you all about them, right?” He knew that he had, it was more to let his friends know that he had said good things about them to the hybrid rather than asking Yoongi for verification on the matter.

 

Yoongi nodded a bit. He looked somewhat overwhelmed, and Taehyung couldn’t blame him. Maybe it had been a bad idea to have so many people over when he was just bringing Yoongi home. Taehyung was an extrovert, he loved being around people. But that didn’t mean Yoongi did. “Namjoon’s the one with decent taste in music,” Yoongi mused like it was the only thing about him that mattered.

 

That made Namjoon smile and sit up. “You like rap? Oh, dude, finally. Hoseok’s been the only one I could share it with before, it’s nice to have someone else. I’ll lend you some CDs sometime!” Namjoon seemed genuinely pleased to hear that, which made Tae grateful. He wanted his hybrid to get along with his friends rather desperately.

 

Yoongi nodded a thanks and looked to Taehyung. “Can I look around?” He sounded vaguely disinterested in a way that made Taehyung’s heart sink. Was he doing something wrong? Had this been a terrible idea after all?

 

Taehyung nodded. “Yeah, of course. Your room is upstairs, second door on the left. Feel free to like, get settled and stuff. You like coffee? I’m making a bunch for all of us.”

 

Again, Yoongi only nodded and wordlessly went up the stairs.

 

Taehyung flopped into the only available seat left and let out a long sigh. “Oh god he hates me,” he said softly, looking up to his friends with a worried expression on his face. “He only came with me because he wanted to get out of the center, he doesn’t actually like me at all.”

 

“No, he likes you,” Namjoon said simply, a smile on his face. “I can tell. When Hobi got close to you, he tensed up like he wanted to protect you, it was really cute. He’s just shy. Give him time, he’ll warm up.”

 

That made Taehyung relax a little bit. He really hoped that was the case. He’d already grown attached to the grumpy kitty, and it would have broken his heart if it turned out Yoongi didn’t want anything to do with him.

 

“I’m just shocked you picked him,” Jimin admitted from under his hybrid. “Yoongi was there when I picked up Namjoon. I think he hissed at me.”

 

Namjoon laughed at the memory. “He did! I remember. It was kinda funny. I don’t think he remembers me, I was only there for a week before Jimin brought me home. And he didn’t talk to anyone--I mean anyone unless he had to. So the fact that he’s talking to you at all tells me a lot.”

 

“Really?” he asked, sitting up. “Do you remember anything else?” He wanted to know as much about Yoongi’s past as he could, hoping that it might help him take care of the hybrid better. The file they had given him on the hybrid told very little, only explaining his personality and preferences without sharing a word about what had brought him to the shelter in the first place. It made him wonder why that was the case.

 

Namjoon thought about that. “There were rumors going around. About why he was there. I don’t believe any of them, they were all ridiculous. But the overall theme was...dark. I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

 

Taehyung did remember Caroline saying something like that. He hoped Yoongi would tell him , but he wasn’t going to push him to either. Namjoon was right. He would do it when he was ready, and no sooner.

 

Taehyung went into the kitchen to make coffee for the group of boys and was quickly accompanied by Jin, who always took an excuse to raid his extensive snack cabinets. It occurred to Tae that he was actually going to have to go grocery shopping soon so that he wouldn’t be feeding his hybrid nothing but chips and instant ramen.

 

Taehyung always enjoyed Jin’s company. He was always cracking stupid jokes, and he was good for keeping people’s spirits up. Jin was hanging on Tae, trying to feed him bites of whatever it was he had dug out of his cabinets when he heard someone padding into the kitchen. Taehyung turned and smiled when he saw Yoongi standing in the doorway, though it seemed he was staring daggers into Jin.

 

“Yoongi! Hey, just in time. How do you like your coffee?” Taehyung was smiling at the hybrid, but something seemed off about him. He was stiff as he stood there in the doorway, and the human chalked it up to him being new to the environment and needing some time to adjust to it.

 

“Milk and two sugars,” he said, his low voice smooth but almost warning as his eyes never left Jin, who still had his arms wrapped around Tae’s waist.

 

Jin seemed to take the hint and let go of Taehyung, and Yoongi immediately seemed to relax a little. The three of them carried coffees out to the waiting people in the living room, and Tae was pleasantly surprised, as he sat down in the last chair, that Yoongi sat on the arm of it. Not quite close enough to him to be touching. But close enough that he could feel the hybrid’s body heat radiating onto his skin.

 

What surprised Taehyung more was that Yoongi wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started tracing circles into the skin around the nape of his neck with his fingers, sometimes moving to play with his hair. It was such a soft, affectionate gesture. And Taehyung hadn’t realized how starved he was for it until he was melting into Yoongi’s touch.

 

The seven boys sat around for a while, talking and swapping stories as they sipped at their coffees. Over the hours, Yoongi relaxed more and more into the atmosphere, starting to talk more. Even laughing once. Taehyung’s heart skipped a beat as he heard that peeling laugh, got his first glimpse of the gummy smile that crossed his features. Oh, Tae was doomed. He knew it immediately. He was as doomed for Yoongi as Jungkook was for Hoseok and Seokjin. As Jimin was for Namjoon.

 

~*~*~

 

When the other men left and Yoongi and Taehyung were alone for the first time, a quietness settled over them. It was silent for the first time since they had been together. And Tae knew he shouldn’t feel insecure about that. They would be living together now. Surely not every second of their time together would be spent with noise. There’d be quiet sometimes. But Taehyung still felt the need to close the gap.

 

“Are you all settled in? Is there anything you need?” he asked.

 

Yoongi shook his head. “No you...actually prepared everything...perfectly.”

 

Taehyung was glad. He had read up on Yoongi’s files, which listed his preferences, and had spent the rest of the previous day setting his room up to what he thought his likings would be. He was pleased to know he had gotten it right. “Oh good! Don’t be afraid to ask for anything, though. I mean, if you need anything, ever. Or have any questions. I’m an open book, you know, and if we’re gonna be living together--”

 

“Is that Jin guy always so touchy?” Yoongi asked, looking over to him.

 

Taehyung was startled by the question. “Uh, yeah a bit. They all are, even the humans. We’re all pretty physically affectionate people. If you’d rather they don’t touch you, I can tell them to like, not, you know? It’s no big deal, they won’t be offended.”

 

Yoongi hummed as if he was trying to figure out what he was going to say. “You reeked of him,” Yoongi settled on finally. “I didn’t like that. I don’t like it when you smell like dog.”

 

And it clicked for Taehyung. That was why Yoongi had spent the rest of the time touching him. He wanted to get his scent on him. He was staking his claim. It was starting to sound more and more like he had been the one adopted, not Yoongi. And as much as he knew he should let it go, he couldn’t. A grin crossed his face. “You were jealous!” he said, giggling.

 

“I was not,” he spat back, looking down at the ground as if to avoid Taehyung’s gaze. “I just hate the smell of dog. I’ll deal with your friends, they don’t suck. But I don’t like the way they smell.”

 

Yoongi could say it all he wanted. But Tae knew the truth. He knew he had wiggled his way into the kitty’s heart just as much as the kitty was in his own. Grinning, Taehyung reached out to pet behind his ears, but Yoongi flinched away from his touch.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said, frowning. “I should have asked first. I won’t do that again.” He had taken for granted that Yoongi would want to be pet, but maybe they hadn’t reached that point in their relationship yet. Maybe that was something else that was going to take some time before it could happen.

 

Yoongi nodded, seeming to appreciate the apology and the adjustment of behavior. It wasn’t that he couldn’t be physically affectionate. He just wanted it to be on his terms. He wanted some warning. Being touched without asking made him nervous. It reminded him of times before the shelter when his body hadn’t entirely been his own. Now that he was out of there, he wanted agency over it.

 

And Taehyung wanted to ask what happened to you before? What made you like this? What made you so afraid to be touched? But he didn’t. Namjoon was right. It was best not to push him. He wanted to gain Yoongi’s trust, and that would take some time.

 

Well, he was willing to wait for it.

Chapter 3: Briskly into an intimacy

Summary:

"They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered." Or, Taehyung and Yoongi fall into a routine and pay Jimin and Namjoon a visit. While there, Taehyung learns something about his friends that shows he is not alone.

Notes:

I'm so glad people are liking this AU as much as I'm having fun writing it! Comments of love are always welcome, as are suggestions of what you'd like to see next! (2seokkook commenter, I promise you're getting some in the next chapter!)

Chapter Text

 

After a week of living together, Yoongi and Taehyung had fallen into a nice routine. They ate breakfast together in the morning over light chit-chat before Taehyung left to go to whatever shoot he was doing that day. And he could trust that Yoongi would take care of himself just fine. He knew well that when he got home--whatever time that might be--he would find Yoongi on the couch watching television. If Tae was home in time for dinner, they’d eat together. If he was late, Taehyung had noticed that Yoongi would set aside a portion of whatever he had for Tae and left it in the microwave. The first time he did that, Taehyung thought he might cry.

 

And he wanted to curse Jungkook and Jimin for being right. This was exactly what he had needed. Jungkook had just left to go on a short press tour, and Jimin was going to be in the studios nonstop for a few weeks. So having someone he could come home to and just ramble about what had happened on his shoot that day with, someone who would roll his eyes at all the right moments and comment on the stupidity of others...it was nice. It was better than nice. It was everything Taehyung could have asked for and more.

 

And Yoongi was becoming...different. Slowly, as time went on. He was smiling more, laughing a bit more freely. Taehyung found himself going to ridiculous lengths to draw smiles and laughs from him and he knew Yoongi had him wrapped around his tail. It was pathetic, completely pathetic. But Taehyung hadn’t been so happy in a long time. So he was going to drink in every second of it.

 

The cat hybrid was even becoming more physically affectionate. Taehyung found that he would sit close to him when they were watching tv, sometimes going as far as to rest his head on Tae’s shoulder. It wasn’t much, but he knew it was a lot for Yoongi. And Taehyung had gotten better about asking to touch him after that first day. He knew better now. They played by Yoongi’s rules, and he was fine with that. So long as he asked first, Yoongi was mostly okay with being pet, much to Taehyung’s delight.

 

This night, Taehyung was home late from a particularly exhausting shoot and was complaining to Yoongi, absentmindedly petting behind his ears as he went off about the annoying model who’d had no respect for him or his art when he heard an unfamiliar humming in the air. Thinking one of his appliances might be on the fritz, he stopped speaking and lost his focus petting his hybrid to listen in with furrowed eyebrows. But the humming had stopped. “Huh, weird,” he murmured before going back in, talking at a hundred miles a minute and not noticing until later that the noise had started again.

 

It was only when he looked at Yoongi and noticed he was artfully avoiding his gaze and there was a pink tinge to his dewy skin that he made the connection. Oh. Taehyung grinned his boxy smile, unable to contain the joy he was feeling.

 

“You’re purring!” Taehyung beamed, so excited, just happy that he could elicit that kind of response from him. It made him feel like he was doing something right, it made him feel validated in all of the actions he had been taking for the hybrid.

 

“Shut up,” Yoongi spat, immediately drawing away from him, embarrassment coating his features. “I can’t help it. I don’t mean to. It’s just...it feels nice, okay? No one’s ever really pet me before.”

 

It’s a small admission, but it’s the first hint into Yoongi’s past that Taehyung has gotten since he moved in. He was going to take this very seriously. “Why not?” he asked, deciding to test the waters.

 

Yoongi simply shook his head. Whenever he tried to explain what had happened, it felt like his jaw was closed shut like a vice. It wouldn’t open no matter how hard he tried to pry.

 

“Well, now you have me, and I’ll pet you whenever you want,” Tae said, grinning and hoping to change the subject to brighten his hybrid’s mood. “I like petting you. It makes you feel good, and it calms me down. So it’s a win-win for both of us!”

 

That seemed to make Yoongi smile a bit. “Yeah. Guess it is.”

~*~*~

 

Taehyung didn’t have any shoots lined up for the next few days, so he had plenty of real alone time with Yoongi and it taught him more than he thought it would. The two went for some time out on the town, and Taehyung learned what Yoongi liked to eat and didn’t, and was treated to many more gummy smiles and a stupid amount of sarcastic remarks.

 

Jimin happened to have a rare day off from the studio to rest his voice, so Yoongi agreed to go pay him and Namjoon a visit. It was going to take a while for the cat hybrid to warm up to the dogs Jungkook kept--especially after watching them hang on Taehyung that first day. But Namjoon was a bit softer, more reserved and Yoongi’s pace.

 

Taehyung had always kind of suspected that he was the only one completely whipped by their hybrid. After all, Jungkook kept two of them. Surely he had to be dominant and in control of them or they would take over the house. And with Jimin’s bubbly personality compared to Namjoon’s happy, but softer one...Taehyung had thought his almost submission to his kitten wasn’t the norm.

 

But when the two of them arrived at Jimin’s house that day, Taehyung was relieved to find he was wrong. The friends had been long past knocking--opting instead to simply waltz into each other’s places of residence. And in Tae’s defense, they were arriving exactly when they said they were going to be there.

 

So the sight of Namjoon practically babying Jimin in the living room was a surprise to Tae. He thought the group of friends told each other everything. Jungkook certainly spared no details on his bedroom life. But this was something he didn’t know about his friend. He looked so submissive under Namjoon’s gaze. It wasn’t even inherently sexual, though it seemed it could turn in that direction at the drop of a pin. It was simply that Jimin wanted to be taken care of. And Namjoon was taking care of him.

 

Jimin flushed a bright shade of pink as he realized he’d been found out, but Namjoon, calm and collected as ever, turned the attention away from his human to grin at them. “Hey, right on time,” he smiled after looking down at his watch. “Yoongi-hyung, you hungry? Why don’t you come in the kitchen with me?”

 

Yoongi took the hint that the two humans needed to talk out of the earshot of their hybrids and nodded, wordlessly following him into the kitchen. Taehyung walked into the living room and sat down across from his friend and tried to keep the smug smirk off of his face. But he couldn’t help himself. He had to tease his friend. “You’re so whipped,” he laughed.

 

“Don’t you dare tell Jungkook,” Jimin frowned. “He’ll never let me hear the end of it and you know it. I just...” Jimin looked down at his hands. “I’m always working, and it’s nice...to sometimes just let go and...be the one looked after.”

 

Taehyung nodded. He understood what Jimin meant. It wasn’t the kind of relationship he was looking for with Yoongi, per se, but he could understand why it was exactly what Jimin needed. “I’m not judging you,” he assured. “Hell, I--” he looked back towards the kitchen and dropped his voice so it might be a bit more difficult for the hybrid’s enhanced hearing to pick up on his voice. “I’d do anything Yoongi asked me in a heartbeat. I just thought I was the only one.”

 

“They really get ya, hook, line, and sinker,” Jimin said with a small smile. “I don’t think Jungkook is as dominant over his hybrids as he pretends to be either. Have you seen the way Seokjin looks at Kookie sometimes?”

 

“Like he’s going to devour him? Yeah.” Taehyung was all too familiar with it, the way he would look over at them during a conversation and it seemed as though Jin was using all of his self control to not completely attack his human.

 

“I think we’ve both just been a little too proud to admit it,” Jimin replied. “Like somehow admitting it might have...I dunno, screwed up our reputations? I mean, here are two guys being dominated by their--”

 

Pets , Taehyung finishes in his mind. But he doesn’t think of the hybrids as pets. They’re friends, companions, even family. Just with some extra appendages that the humans didn’t have. But he knew what Jimin meant. He knew that there could be something of a stigma about it. He understood why Jimin hadn’t said anything before.

 

Namjoon and Yoongi came back then with some snacks for the four of them to share. Now that Jimin knew he had nothing to hide from his friends, he continued to let himself be taken care of by Namjoon, rather than the other way around. He was completely curled up in the hybrid’s lap, and Taehyung swore that if Jimin could purr, he would be. It was endearing to see, and it showed just how much trust the human and the hybrid had in each other.

 

It was good for Yoongi to be socializing with another hybrid, and making friends with one. Yoongi needed to talk to people that weren’t Tae from time to time. Taehyung didn’t think Yoongi  would say it out loud ever, but he could tell that his hybrid had taken quite the liking to Namjoon. He cracked jokes with him, and teased him mercilessly. A well-placed insult from the tongue of Yoongi meant, as Taehyung had learned, something vaguely along the lines of “I like you”.

 

There was only one problem with Yoongi that Taehyung could forsee, one that became more apparent that afternoon in Jimin’s house that afternoon. It was that Yoongi was a contemplative person. He liked to put a lot of thought into the things that he said before he spoke them. It was admirable, in a way. Taehyung so often spat out his words before he could consider them, but Yoongi wasn’t like that. He was a man of few words, but those words were carefully crafted. The problem was not, however, that Yoongi was thoughtful.

 

It was that Yoongi couldn’t keep his goddamn tongue in his mouth while he was thinking. And Taehyung figured he was halfway to losing his mind at this point. Every time he was deep in thought, his tongue would poke out of the side of his mouth and worry into the side of his lips as he thought through what he was going to say.

 

Yoongi had to know, Taehyung figured, that this action was driving him up the walls. He simply didn’t care. It wasn’t as if Tae was subtle. He practically gawked at Yoongi every time it happened. And it took all of his self-restraint to keep from going over to him and kissing him. This boy was going to be the death of him and he knew it.

 

And he couldn’t be happier.

Chapter 4: Deep breath, dreamer

Summary:

Yoongi has a nightmare, and Jungkook skypes his friends.

Notes:

Sorry updates are a bit slower, last week and this week are rough for me with uni, but I have the week after this off so I'll hopefully be able to get a lot more writing done!

Chapter Text

Taehyung was normally a deep sleeper, but even he could be woken in the middle of the night to the sound of a scream coming from Yoongi’s room. Panic rose in his chest as he sat up in bed. He rushed out of his room as fast as he could go, not worrying about the fact that he was only half-dressed. When he arrived, he found Yoongi sitting up in bed with his knees hugged to his chest and shaking with sobs. The sight broke Taehyung’s heart.

 

Yoongi,” Taehyung breathed, rushing to the hybrid’s side and wrapping his arms around him. Normally he would ask, but his instincts told him that Yoongi just needed to be held in that moment. “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked, worry coating his voice as he did so.

 

Go away,” he all bit hissed, jerking away from his touch. He couldn’t get out of his arms--Tae wouldn’t let him. But when his face moved away, Taehyung could see that his Yoongi was wet with tears and that just solidified that he was not going anywhere.

 

“Yoongi, please,” he said softly, trying to get him to relax into his touch. “Talk to me, what’s wrong? I’m here, I’m right here.” It broke Taehyung’s heart to see his hybrid like this and to not be able to do anything about it when there was nothing more he wanted to do than to take this pain away, whatever it was.

 

“It’s not your business,” he spat. He wiped his tears angrily on the sleeve of his shirt, as if frustrated with the fact that they were present. In truth, he was embarrassed. He hated that he was showing this weakness to Taehyung.

 

“I adopted you,” Taehyung said, cupping Yoongi’s face in his hand. “I am your caretaker. Let me take care of you.” It was something Taehyung hadn’t really needed to do much of since bringing him home. Yoongi was majorly self-sufficient, he didn’t need to be looked after most of the time. But when he did, Tae would gladly give his all.

 

That seemed to make something in the cat hybrid break, and he melted into Taehyung’s touch, wrapping himself around his human’s body as he sobbed into his shoulder. Tae’s heart shattered as he rubbed circles into Yoongi’s back, humming softly in an attempt to soothe him. Hardly a week and a half ago this hybrid had looked at him in the shelter like Taehyung was nothing more than an interruption in his routine. And now...now he just looked broken.

 

It took Yoongi a few minutes to come down from whatever panic he had been having. Sobs subsided to sniffles subsided to slow breathing. Taehyung almost expected Yoongi to pull away right once he was relaxed, but to his pleasant surprise, he didn’t. Taehyung let them sit in silence for a time, still rubbing circles into Yoongi’s back and petting his ears to keep him relaxed. When he thought that it might be alright to do, he asked softly. “Yoongi, what happened?”

 

“I had a nightmare,” he said softly. “About...before.” Yoongi chewed on the inside of his cheek as he contemplated telling Taehyung the full story of who he had been before the two of them had met. He ultimately decided against it, figuring it wasn’t time yet. Taehyung could still decide that was too much for him and take him back to the shelter. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was attached to Tae now, and it would have killed him.

 

“Talk to me,” Taehyung said softly, petting his hair. “Tell me about it.”

 

Yoongi knew Taehyung could be soft. He could be loud, and hyperactive, and sometimes a bit irritating. But he’d seen the way he could be with his friends. He’d heard this soft, comforting, low voice before. But having it directed at him was something new. Someone asking to hear his story not because they wanted gossip, but because they genuinely cared about him and wanted him to be okay was new. And it scared him. He stayed silent, nuzzling his face into Taehyung’s neck and breathing in the scent of him, finding a secret comfort in knowing that the only sent on the human was him.

 

“God, Yoongi, what happened to you out there?” he asked, holding the hybrid a little closer.

 

“It’s not what happened to me,” he said softly. “It’s what I had to do.”

 

Taehyung didn’t like that answer. It only made him more worried about the hybrid in his arms. “Please talk to me,” he begged.

 

And Yoongi almost does. The pleading in his voice makes him want to open his mouth and spill the whole story. Tell someone all of the details for the first time. He had never said any of it out loud before. He wondered briefly if doing so might make the nightmares go away. But he could not risk Taehyung deciding he didn’t want a broken, violent hybrid in his apartment and bringing him back.

 

“Not yet,” he said softly.

 

Taehyung didn’t push. He wanted to know, wanted to make it all go away. But he knew better than to try and force the hybrid to speak. He could just be here for him. For now, that would be enough. And it meant more to Yoongi than Taehyung would ever know.

 

“What can I do for you right now?” Tae asked. He wasn’t going to force him to speak, but he hadn’t given up on taking care of him yet. He still wanted to look after him, to show him that he was here and would do anything for him. He needed Yoongi to know that he was someone that he could rely on. That they were in this together.

 

Yoongi got the message. He took a long, shuddery breath as he considered his request. “It’s going to sound dumb,” he said cautiously.

 

“No it won’t,” Taehyung countered. “Please. I want to help you. Nothing you ask of me is going to sound ridiculous, or too much. I’d do anything,” he admitted.

 

Anything. No one had ever promised him anything before. Anything seemed like a promise too large for him, something he wasn’t worthy of. And yet, as Yoongi sat back so that he could look Taehyung in the eyes, there didn’t appear to be even the slightest hint of falseness in them. He could tell that Taehyung meant every word of what he was saying.

 

“I can’t sleep alone tonight,” Yoongi whispered like he thought he might be signing his death certificate. But Taehyung didn’t need any more than that. He simply took the hybrid by the hand and lead him to his bedroom. His bed was plenty large enough for the both of them and, in truth, he was happy for the company.

 

Yoongi had never been held before--really held the way Taehyung wrapped his arms around him in that bed and held him close. He could feel the human’s chest rising and falling against his back. And if he didn’t know any better, he might have thought that Taehyung had pressed a kiss to his shoulder. But he must have been imagining it, surely. Wishful thinking. But he feels calmer now, Taehyung’s breathing helping to regulate his own. It was the most secure the hybrid had felt in his entire life.

 

Taehyung didn’t go to sleep until he was sure that Yoongi had. He watched for some time as the hybrid settled into sleep, holding him close and petting his hair as he did so. He’d never seen Yoongi so at peace before. He was thankful, at least, that whatever nightmares seemed to have plagued him before weren’t troubling him now. He had done something right. He could take care of Yoongi.

 

~*~*~

 

Jungkook being on tour would not stop him from skyping his friends when it was possible for him. The young pop star didn’t like feeling like he wasn’t involved in Taehyung’s life, even if it was hard sometimes for the two of them to keep up with their miss-matched schedules. So Tae was pleasantly surprised when Jungkook suggested they skype over dinner one night so as to play catch up.

 

It was always comical to watch Jungkook, Hoseok, and Seokjin all try to fit into the screen at the same time. It never really worked, one of them was always half out of frame. But the gesture was nice, and it was always good to see his friends. Taehyung even convinced Yoongi to join in on the call, even though the human was sure the hybrid hadn’t really forgiven Jin for that first day yet.

 

“I told you so,” was the first thing Jungkook said on the call, as he watched Yoongi sit close to Taehyung--to keep himself in frame, he would claim. But in reality, after the night Taehyung had comforted him through nightmares...the hybrid was hardly ever not touching his human in some way, shape, or form.

 

“What are you talking about?” Taehyung said, though he knew perfectly well what his friend meant. He had just hoped that Jungkook would let it slide--especially in front of Yoongi. Yoongi didn’t need to know that he’d gone to the shelter that day because his friends had told him he needed someone.

 

But the sly smile on Jungkook’s face told Taehyung that he was sadly mistaken. “That a hybrid was just what you needed. I mean look at the two of you,” Jungkook teased. His head was resting against Seokjin’s shoulder, and it looked as if he might be draped across Hoseok’s lap. “You look like you’ve been at this for months, not a week. It’s almost adorably domestic.”

 

Yoongi rolled his eyes, and Taehyung almost laughed at that. Yoongi did the thing again, the same thing that had driven Taehyung up the wall at Jimin’s place--he poked his tongue out of his mouth as he contemplated a retort. It felt rude at this point, because he had to know he was driving him crazy.

 

“I dunno,” Yoongi finally retorted, his tongue finding its way back into his mouth and allowing Taehyung to breathe again. “You three look married as fuck, and Tae told me you guys came together less than six months ago. Pot calling the kettle black, yeah?”

 

Taehyung was beaming and he swore he got a little bit more attached to Yoongi in that moment. Not only had he called Jungkook out, but he had called him out in an honest way. As Yoongi spoke, Hoseok had been pressing soft kisses to Jungkook’s skin before leaning behind him to try and give Seokjin equal treatment. They did look pretty married. Or at least, the three of them looked like they had been together for years. They seemed to slot together perfectly.

 

“Not our fault we love each other so much!” Hoseok countered, sticking his tongue out at Yoongi. Jungkook responded with a soft chuckle and a kiss to each of their lips as if to say I love you too without saying the words out loud.

 

Love. That word made Taehyung freeze a bit. It was clear that the three of them loved each other immensely. And he knew that Jimin and Namjoon loved each other just as much as the three of them did. Did he love Yoongi? In the brief time that they had been together, had he completely given his heart to the hybrid?

 

Yoongi scoffed in reply to Hoseok. And as stupid as it was, in that moment, Taehyung knew he had his answer. Yoongi had him entirely. And Taehyung was perfectly alright with that.

 

“How are you settling in, Yoongi-hyung?” Seokjin asked from the other end of the skype call. “Taehyung hasn’t been so annoying that you’ve thought about running away yet?” he teased to poke at Tae.

 

“Nah, he’s been alright,” Yoongi said, nudging him gently. “He’s only moderately loud and annoying,” he teased. “I think I’ll keep him.”

 

Taehyung laughed at that. “Oh, you’re keeping me? As if I’m not the one that adopted you?”

 

“Did you though?” Yoongi teased with a little laugh.

 

The three men on the other side of the Skype call raised their eyebrows in perfect synchronization. But Yoongi was right. Thinking back to that first day in the adoption center...Taehyung had picked Yoongi out. But Yoongi chose Tae. Taehyung filled out the adoption forms and opened his home, but Yoongi allowed it to happen.

 

“Shut up,” Taehyung laughed. It was a resignation, a way of saying I know you’re right, but I’m going to pretend, just for a moment, that you aren’t for the sake of my own pride.

 

But Jungkook, Jin, and Hobi all knew the truth. And they weren't going to be letting it go any time soon. They spent the rest of the Skype call teasing Taehyung about the fact that he had been adopted by his kitten, all while being disgustingly romantic with each other. And Tae pretended like it bothered him, but really, he was certain he was as happy as he’d ever been.

 

When the call ended, Yoongi let out a long breath and relaxed against Taehyung, laying down onto the couch and allowing his head to rest in the human’s lap. “Your friends are exhausting,” he chuckled.

 

“They kinda are,” Taehyung agreed with a smile. He loved his friends with everything he had, but he knew that they had a lot of energy and that they could be a lot to handle. “Can I pet you?”

 

Yoongi nodded, and Tae’s hands immediately went to work in playing with the hybrid’s hair and petting behind his soft black ears. “Can I ask why your hair is green but your tail and ears are black? Do you dye it?” He felt like it would have faded if that were the case, but it looked mostly the same since Taehyung had brought Yoongi home.

 

Yoongi stiffened a bit, and Taehyung learned that the answer to that question was more complicated than he thought it was. “It has to do with...before.”

 

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” his tone was not demanding, or annoyed, simply concerned. He wanted to know what had happened only so that he might be able to help Yoongi recover from it.

 

“Eventually,” Yoongi said, his tone earnest with promise. He wanted to tell Taehyung, he realized. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it yet. It was like the words themselves didn’t want to be spoken. He hoped he would get over that eventually.

 

“Okay,” Taehyung said, because that was enough. Hell, Yoongi could decide he never wanted Tae to know, and he would have been okay with that. What mattered was who he was now. What mattered was that he was okay. After that? Everything else was secondary.

Chapter 5: With only mild complaining

Summary:

"I'd follow you to the ends of the earth with only mild complaining."

Yoongi learns of a preoccupation Taehyung has, Taehyung has a mild freakout, and Yoongi decides to help his human.

Notes:

Soooo I'm officially on spring break now, which means I will have all the time in the world to continue writing and possibly upload more. It's still Yoongi day where I am, so I figured this was a good day to update!

The positive comments are what keep me going. So please keep them coming, and tell me what you want to see!

Tune in next time, where Yoongi finally tells Taehyung about his past. (It's about damn time, boy.)

Chapter Text

Taehyung figured that Yoongi knew that he had something of an incredible fascination with the way his tongue poked out of his mouth when he was in thought. What he had never counted on was that Yoongi might actually call him out on it one day. The two boys were lounging on the couch, enjoying a lazy Saturday evening of movies and snacks. Taehyung had asked Yoongi what is favorite movie was, and it turned out to be a more difficult question to answer than he had anticipated. As usually happened, Yoongi’s tongue poked out of his mouth as he hummed in contemplation.

 

Instead of getting an answer, Taehyung was greeted with furrowed eyebrows and a confused expression. “Why do you always do that?” he asked.

 

Taehyung froze. “Do what?”

 

“Stare at me like that while I’m thinking,” Yoongi replied.

 

So he genuinely had no idea. That made Tae turn a little red. How could he answer that question without sounding...weird? Terrible? Like a creep? He didn’t think that he could, and the rambler began to fumble on his words as he tried to sort out what he was going to say. “I don’t stare! It’s just I--I mean that you--it’s that your tongue is--”

 

“My tongue?” Yoongi said, an amused lilt in his tone. “What’s on your mind?” he asked, and something about his tone demanded an honest answer from Taehyung. And so, despite his better judgement, he gave it.

 

“It makes me want to kiss you,” he said softly, preparing himself for a negative answer. Preparing for Yoongi to draw away from him, tell him that it was an inappropriate thing to think about. Instead, a soft blush rose to the kitten’s cheeks.

 

Instead, the usual sarcasm drained from his tone and he replied. “You could. If you wanted.”

 

And without a word of reply, Taehyung cupped Yoongi’s face in his hand, his heart racing as he closed the space between them for a kiss. It was soft, chaste, lingering. Taehyung had thought long and hard about what it would be like to kiss Yoongi. He’d always half imagined something needy and starving. It was never this. Yoongi kissed like he was whispering a thank you. And maybe he was.

 

Yoongi figured this was probably the first time he had been kissed by someone who actually gave two shits about him. And his instinct was to run, say that this was a mistake. But Taehyung touched him like he was something he was afraid to break, rather than something that needed to be broken. So instead, he listened to the louder part of him, the part that scared him. The part of him that wanted to melt at Tae’s feet and make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep.

 

They were silent for a while when the kiss broke. Their foreheads were pressed together, and Taehyung was rubbing gentle circles into Yoongi’s cheek with his thumb. Neither of them knew what to say. What did this change, if anything, about their relationship? Did it matter? Taehyung felt the sudden urge to all Jimin or Jungkook. They’d been at this longer than he had, they might know better what to do. Instead, the hybrid and the human sat there close to each other for a while longer, pressed together, occasionally placing cautious kisses to their lips.

 

Taehyung figured he could have stayed like that for hours, forgetting all about the movie that was still playing in the background as he learned more about how Yoongi liked to be kissed. It seemed to him that Yoongi might still be trying to figure that out himself. Tae was more than happy to help him learn. The kisses they shared that evening never moved towards something more heated. They were always gentle, exploratory, but sweet. Yoongi found himself in Taehyung’s lap, leaning over him as they kissed.

 

When he looked down at his human, Yoongi thought he might explode. Taehyung was looking up at him like he was something to be worshipped. Eyes wide, lips slightly parted, conveying pure want and amazement. Yoongi didn’t think he deserved it, but he was so grateful to have it. Seeing the way Taehyung looked at him, Yoongi knew that he would follow this human to the end of the earth without hesitation.

 

~*~*~

Yoongi fell asleep before Taehyung did that night, and he figured he should sleep as well. But his stomach was still churning from the events of that evening. He couldn’t get his mind off the question--what did this mean for the two of them? He pulled out his phone and texted the groupchat he shared with Jimin and Jungkook in the hopes that he might get some advice.

 

Meme Team // Dream Team

 

TaeBae: Guys I need your actual legitimate help and you caNNOT TEASE ME

 

Kookie: ?? Okay?? What’s up??

 

Minni Mouse: Everything okay?

 

TaeBae: So I maybe. A little bit. Kissed Yoongi today.

 

Minni Mouse: THAT’S what you’re freaking out about?

 

Kookie: FUCKING FINALLY

Kookie: Hobi and Jin say congrats

 

TaeBae: stop letting them read these conversations! And this is serious guys! What the hell do I do now!

 

Minni Mouse: You keep kissing him loads? I am not seeing a problem here, Tae.

 

Kookie: Ditto that sounds rad.

Kookie: Just wait until he goes into heat ;) ;)

 

Taebae: Stop being gross Kookie this is serious! I don’t know what this means for us. And I don’t know how to ask without being weird.

 

Minni Mouse: jfc just go to bed Tae. And then wake up tomorrow and kiss your mans. Not that deep my dude.

 

Kookie: You’re thinking too much. He likes you. You like him. Have fun with it.

 

Taehyung sighed and put his phone down. He didn’t think his friends were going to be much more help on this matter, but he couldn’t help but feel incredibly lost in this whole scenario. But as he watched Yoongi sleep, watched his chest rise and fall steadily...something in Taehyung’s heart leapt. It made him feel good to know that he was bringing the older hybrid some peace. That meant he was doing his job right, and it meant the world to him.

 

He curled up into bed next to Yoongi, wrapping an arm around him and holding him close as they had come to do most nights these days. Taehyung smiled as he nuzzled his face into Yoongi’s neck. This felt good. It felt natural. Like something he should have always been doing. How had he lived when he hadn’t had Yoongi here to cuddle after a long day? It felt like the most perfect cure-all in the world. Taehyung could feel completely miserable, but one of Yoongi’s gummy smiles would send his heart racing, and suddenly whatever had been bothering him no longer seemed to be a problem. It was a strange sort of magic that the hybrid had over his human. And Taehyung wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

~*~*~

 

Taehyung had a shitty day at work the next day. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong did. His camera had malfunctioned, and the people he had been working with blamed every minor inconvenience on him. In short, he was feeling miserable when he got back to the apartment that he shared with his hybrid.

 

Yoongi knew immediately that something was wrong. Taehyung loved his job. When he returned from photoshoots, he was usually all smiles and excited to tell Yoongi about the events of the day while they prepared dinner. Today, the young man simply offered him a halfhearted smile and asked him what he had been up to while he had been gone. Yoongi pursed his lips. This wasn’t like him. And Yoongi felt like he had to do something about it. After all the time Taehyung had spent looking after him, cuddling him through the nights, soothing him out of nightmares...sitting around and ignoring this was not an option.

 

So when Taehyung flopped onto the couch, Yoongi settled himself in the human’s lap and pressed a kiss to his lips. Taehyung didn’t think he’d ever come out of a rotten mood faster. He started up at his hybrid wide-eyed and was about to ask him what it had been for, but Yoongi pressed a finger to his lips to keep him quiet.

 

“You look like shit. You needed that. Let me take care of you for once. What can I do?”

 

Taehyung opened his mouth to protest, but Yoongi shook his head.

“Nope, I know you’re gonna say ‘but I’m the caretaker’. Well, right now, think of me as your emotional support kitty,” he teased. He smiled when he got an idea. He got up off of Taehyung and stood to the side. “Lie on your stomach. I’m gonna give you a back rub because I know you carried too much equipment today. And you’re gonna bitch and moan about the bullshit that happened at work. Got it?”

 

Taehyung didn’t think ‘no’ was really an option, but he wasn’t really complaining either. Instead, he just nodded and did as he was told. Yoongi settled himself on top ot Taehyung’s legs, and Tae could not help but think about the current proximity of Yoongi’s crotch to Taehyung’s ass. He tried not to think too deeply on it. Instead, he started to complain about the work day as instructed.

 

“Well, you’re right, they had me carrying everything which was ridiculous,” he mumbled, resting his head on his arm and turning it to the side so that he could breathe properly and speak.

 

“Bullshit,” Yoongi sympatized as he started to work his hands into the knots in Taehyung’s back.

 

Yoongi knew what he was doing. And it felt good. Taehyung could have melted into the couch and he didn’t register that what came out of his mouth was not always words, but sometimes just mere noises and swears.

 

“And one of the models-- a-aah-- messed with my camera, so it was-- shit-- on the fritz the whole time and--”

 

Yoongi’s movements stuttered a bit as Taehyung spoke less and made more horrifically suggestive noises. This was bad. Yoongi was not supposed to be finding a particular joy in the sounds that were coming out of his mouth. He wasn’t supposed to like them. He certainly wasn’t supposed to find them almost delicious. And he should not have been doing everything in his power to get more of those noises to leave his human’s lips.

 

But he noticed that when he dug into a spot by the junction of his neck and shoulder--right where his camera bag would have dug in the most--that noise, a particularly high whine, sent Yoongi’s mind going places he couldn’t let it. Especially not given how close he was getting to his heat. That was going to be a whole problem in itself that he wasn’t quite ready to think about yet. But he was now dealing with something of an issue and rather than risk Taehyung learning of it, he got off of his human, trying to make the crossing of his legs on the couch look as natural as possible.

 

“Better?” he asked, coughing gently.

 

“Much. You’re goddamn magic, Yoongi,” Taehyung breathed with a smile as he sat back up on the couch. When he grinned at Yoongi, it cemented in the hybrid’s mind that he was going to have to go through that heat on his own, miserable as it might be. He couldn’t risk upsetting Taehyung and watching that boxy grin turn into a frown. Maybe he’d reach out to Namjoon, who he was closest with thus far out of the hybrids that he hung around. Maybe he would have some advice.

 

Because disappointing Taehyung was not an option.


Chapter 6: These broken hands of mine

Summary:

"One way at a time I will try to mend these broken hands of mine"

Yoongi asks Namjoon for advice and tells Taehyung about what happened in Daegu. (Read notes for possible trigger warnings)

Notes:

POSSIBLE TRIGGERS: discussion of violence, discussion of abuse, possible ptsd, please tell me if you think there's anything else!

Does Yoongi's backstory make any sense? Probably...not but I'm Doing My Best. This chapter is slightly shorter but I'm anticipating the next one will be like...twice as long to make up for it!

Thank you as always for the positive feedback, they've been making me so happy when I've been in a bad place lately.

Yoongi goes into heat in the next chapter, and the warnings, rating, and tags will be updated as such.

Chapter Text

Yoongi was home alone the next day after the massage incident, screwing around on the laptop Taehyung had given him so that he might keep himself entertained and out of trouble while he was at work. It was a nice gesture, Yoongi decided. It certainly wasn’t something Taehyung had to do, but rather, it was something he had done purely because he thought that it was something that would be good for Yoongi.

 

But the hybrid could not get it out of his head that he needed to talk to Namjoon about what had happened the day before. And since they both happened to be home alone while their humans worked, Namjoon said he’d be glad to skype Yoongi and talk him through whatever was bothering him.

 

Every time Yoongi saw Namjoon, he couldn’t help but think the other hybrid looked soft. He couldn’t even entirely tell what that meant, but it was the first word that popped into his head. His hair was a muted gray and looked like it hadn't been brushed yet that day. He was wearing a powder blue shirt that, coupled with the round glasses and the dimples that graced his cheeks, made him look like one of the sweetest things Yoongi had ever seen. He could see why he and Jimin were a good pair. Together, they seemed like something of a soft power couple. 

 

“Hey Yoongi,” Namjoon smiled. “You seemed stressed, what’s up?”

 

“I just...” Yoongi muttered, suddenly feeling embarrassed about the whole ordeal. Why did he feel to go to Namjoon, who was one in the small handful of people he'd felt good calling a friend in years, about this? Wouldn't Google do just as fine? Maybe he should just tell Namjoon it was nothing and get off the call before he embarrassed himself. Instead, he sighed and finished the question. “How do you deal with heats? With Jimin around, I mean.”

 

Namjoon seemed startled by the question. “Oh! Uh. Well, he... helps me,” he said, and the suggestion in his tone lead Yoongi to know exactly how the human helped him out. “Yours is coming up, isn’t it? Your first one since moving in with Tae?”

 

Yoongi nodded. “It’s only a few days away. I haven’t told Tae yet. I--I don’t think I can ask him to help me like that, Joon,” he frowned.

 

Namjoon just offered Yoongi a small smile. “He would if you asked him to, you know. Whatever you needed. He’s head over heels for you.”

 

That made Yoongi freeze a little bit. He shook his head. “No...he’s just nice. That...that’s a lot to ask of him. And I can’t...I haven’t told him everything. About my past, I mean. I feel like...I can’t let him get himself into that without knowing...a big part of who I am.”

 

“Then you should tell him,” Namjoon said with a shrug. “Whatever it is...and listen, I remember the rumors in the shelter. None of them were pretty. But even if it’s anything like the worst rumor I heard there, Taehyung won’t care. He adores you. And he would do anything for you. I wouldn’t stress out so much. You’re going to tell him about your past and your heats, and he’ll offer to care for you through both. And you’ll be happy. You’re allowed to be happy, Yoongi.”

You’re allowed to be happy. That was something he hadn’t considered. Not deeply, anyway. Not in any way that mattered. He understood the vague concept of it since he had started living with Taehyung, but to be happy meant that he couldn’t keep any secrets, and that was a frightening concept. Still, he nodded slowly.

 

“Thanks, Namjoon. I’ll think about it.”

 


 

Taehyung could tell that Yoongi seemed nervous about something when he got home from work that day. He furrowed his eyebrows as he set down his bag by the front door and eyed the hybrid chewing his nails on the couch. “What’s up, Yoongi?” he asked.

 

“Can I...tell you something?” he asked, knowing he needed to just say everything he needed to before he lost his nerve.

 

It wasn't what the younger male had been expecting. But his hybrid seemed nervous, and that prompted him to take him seriously. This wouldn't be happening if Yoongi didn't mean it and need something. Taehyung immediately nodded and sat down on the couch, taking the older man’s hands in his. “Yeah, what’s up, what’s going on?”

 

“I want to tell you about before,” he all but spat out. It was out in the open now. His heart was racing and it was now or never.

 

“Are you sure?” Taehyung asked, feeling more confused than anything. Yoongi had always been so adamant on the fact that it was something he was going to keep to himself. And now he was suddenly going to open up? He wondered what had brought this on, but he didn’t want to bombard the hybrid with questions when he didn’t feel that it was his place to do so.

 

“I’m sure...I just...don’t know where to start,” he admitted. He felt stupid now, telling Taehyung that he wanted to tell his story but not even knowing how to do it.

 

“Where were you born?” Taehyung asked, figuring it was as good a place as any to begin.

 

“Daegu,” he said, looking down at his hands. “I was one in a litter of six. I was the smallest, but raised to be a champion. I...” this was the hard part. The part that he didn’t want to talk about because opening his mouth meant admitting he had done terrible things.

 

“I was born into an underground hybrid fighting ring,” he said before he could stop himself. “Every kitten from my litter was genetically modified to have this mint hair--it was a marker. We didn’t really have names to them, it was just a signifier of what class of fighter we were. From the time I was five, I was taught how to fight so that by the time I was sixteen, I could fight other hybrids for the entertainment of Korea’s elite. I got pretty good at it, too. Not the top fighter by any means but...” he shook his head. “I didn’t want to. I hated every second of it. I had to hurt people, Taehyung. Good people who didn’t deserve it. Bad people too. I tried to throw fights at first--make it look like I was fighting without actually hurting anybody. But the people in charge figured it out. And if I didn’t do as well as they thought I could, I got punished. I would be in solitary confinement, or they wouldn’t let me sleep, or they wouldn’t feed me, whatever form of torture they thought was fit for whatever I did. So I learned that the only way to make sure I survived...was to fight.” He shuddered at the memories.

 

As he spoke, Taehyung took Yoongi into his arms and started to rub his back, hoping that the small gestures would be enough to ease him through the hard memories. Taehyung had heard about these fighting rings before. Places where Korea's rich and famous would go to drink and gamble at the expense of the pain of others. They had become illegal in the past five years, which made Taehyung surprised that he hadn't been put up for adoption sooner. It broke the human's heart to hear that someone like him was forced into something so terrible. Taehyung's touches helped the hybrid somewhat, and he appreciated that Taehyung was waiting until he finished  what he had to say in order to speak. He took a deep, shuddery breath before he continued.

 

“I could take whatever beatings they had for me--the people who owned the place, or the fighters. That’s not what bothered me. What got to me--what I have nightmares about--is hurting the other people. The fear they’d get in their eyes when I put up my fists. The blood...always a lot of blood. I broke someone’s arm, they were just a kid--” Yoongi was crying now as the memories got more intense. That night had been a hard one. He had won that fight, and therefore didn’t face the wrath of the people that owned him. But at what cost? His nightmares were constantly haunted by the younger cat hybrid’s shriek of pain as Yoongi had snapped his arm.

 

“The ring got busted a year ago. And they brought me to the shelter. I had been there ever since. The other hybrids I had been with before either ran away or got adopted long before you came to see me. Even most of them were gone by the time Namjoon came to the shelter--that’s why all he had were rumors to go by. Some of what he heard...was true. I did what I needed to, and I’m still ashamed of it,” he said, sniffling through his tears. “Taehyung...I have the blood of innocent people on my hands. And I...I understand if that changes anything. If you don’t want me now that you know I hurt people.”

 

Taehyung pulled them apart for a second, and Yoongi was terrified that this meant the end for the two of them. But he could see that Taehyung was crying too. “Yoongi, this changes nothing,” he assured with a whisper. “I just-- god I hate that this happened to you. I hate that you spent so much of your life in pain. I hate that you thought I wouldn’t like you for telling me about what you had gone through. You can tell me anything, even the ugly parts. Especially the ugly parts. I--” Taehyung felt at a loss for words. He wanted to help Yoongi, but he didn’t know how. “Did they have you in therapy? In the shelter, I mean? For the trauma?”

 

Yoongi nodded. “Basic stuff, yeah. Only enough to make me slightly less irritable and therefore more adoptable.”

 

“Well, that’s the first thing we’re changing,” Taehyung said, pressing a kiss to Yoongi’s forehead. “We’re going to get you into regular therapy. With a professional who cares more about just making you adoptable. That’s a whole life of...bad stuff to work through. You deserve better than that. Is that okay?”

Yoongi nodded slowly, trying to process everything that he was hearing. How had he gotten so lucky? To end up with a human that cared for him so much. He didn’t feel like he deserved it, not after all the pain he had caused other people for his own self-preservation. Part of him wanted to tell Taehyung that he was making a mistake.

 

“Thank you for telling me that,” the human said softly, wiping his own eyes before attending to Yoongi’s. “I know that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

 

Yoongi sniffled. Taehyung was right. It hadn’t been easy. In fact, it was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. But being there with Tae, knowing that everything was forgiven and that he was alright...it made everything worth it in the end. He felt safer now knowing that nothing was off-limits with his human. He could be completely honest about everything he was thinking from now on. He didn’t have to keep any secrets.

 

“Can I ask why you felt the need to tell me now?” Taehyung asked.

 

Well. Maybe Yoongi did need to keep some secrets. Why was it that he could tell Taehyung about the thing that woke him up with shattering nightmares, but his heat was off-limits? Maybe because he didn’t want to bombard him with too many difficult things all at once. He couldn’t really make up his mind as to why. But now he needed to make up a reason. He shrugged in an attempt to stall for a moment.

 

“It was just...starting to weigh on me is all. I needed to say something before I got caught in it, you know? I--I didn’t want to get to a point where we’d been doing this for a long time and you still didn’t know. You’ve been so good to me,” he said softly, looking back up to him. “You deserved to know.”

 

Taehyung smiled softly and leaned forward to press a kiss on Yoongi’s lips. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad you felt like you could. I just want you to feel happy and safe here. This is your home. You don’t have to hide anything.”

 

Yoongi offered Taehyung a smile, unfortunately aware that he would be keeping something secret, at least for a little while. He’d gotten through plenty of heats on his own, he could manage this one. Then again, he had never had to go through a heat with such a particularly sweet-smelling human in such close proximity.

 

But that was going to be a problem for later.

 

Chapter 7: Possibly, maybe

Summary:

"I think that possibly, maybe, I've fallen for you. Yes there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you."

Yoongi isolates and Taehyung is determined to find out why. (PEEP THE NOTES FOR WARNINGS)

Notes:

Warning: degradation, unprotected sex

This took longer than I hoped, and the next chapter will too because smut takes me ages to write because I'm! Self conscious about it!

This will be winding down in the next chapter or two, but fear not, I have a twitter where sometimes I do text aus (@goldennmakbae) if you guys are interested! Feel free to find me there! And if any of you guys are got7 fans, I have a Cinderella AU idea in my head I might bring here.

Chapter Text

 

Taehyung knew something was different when he arrived home from work a few days after Yoongi told him about his past. They had been at this for almost a month now, they had a routine. Taehyung could always rely on Yoongi to be sitting on the couch entertaining himself when he got home from work. That wasn’t the case today. His hybrid was nowhere to be seen, and it sent a wave of panic through Taehyung’s chest.

 

“Yoongi?” he called out into the apartment. But there was no response. This was bad. He searched through the apartment, calling after him and trying to find him when he heard a strangled noise coming from Yoongi’s room.

 

That worried Taehyung for a number of reasons. 1) It sounded like Yoongi was in pain, 2) Yoongi was trying to hide that pain from Taehyung, 3) Yoongi was hiding that pain alone in the bedroom he hadn’t used since the first night the two of them had shared a bed.

 

Taehyung tried to open the door, but it was jammed shut, like something was blocking it on the other side. “Yoongi, what’s going on?” Taehyung asked, his tone coated in fear and worry.

 

“Go away!” Yoongi barked on the other side. Something in his voice seemed straining, and all it did was make Taehyung even more panicked.

 

“I’m not going anywhere, Yoongi, open the damn door,” he said as he continued to try and force his way in. If he was having another panic attack from memories of his past, Taehyung needed to be in there to help him. If he was in physical pain, he needed to be able to make sure he got whatever bandages he needed or to take him to the hospital. Why on earth was he hiding?

 

“No!” Yoongi all but shouted. But he let out another choked noise, like he was trying to hold back sobs, and that was too much for Taehyung. He jammed his shoulder against the door and was able to push away what Yoongi had put in front of the door--the dresser, Taehyung would learn later when he could be bothered to pay attention--and made his way inside.

 

He didn’t know what he had expected. He was expecting Yoongi to be shaking with sobs from a nightmare. Or to be holding a broken ankle, or badly bandaging a big cut. He had not expected the sight that was put in front of him.

 

Firstly, Yoongi was completely undressed. Taehyung’s jaw dropped as he took in the sight of him. The hybrid had never looked so small as he did practically curled into himself in the bed that day. His hand was wrapped around his cock, which was purple at the head, clearly aching and in deep need. And Yoongi had something black pressed up against his nose. It took him a minute to register that it was Taehyung’s underwear. Taehyung swallowed slowly as he looked him over and it took him some time to find his voice.

 

“You’re in heat,” Taehyung observed as he walked slowly up to his kitten.

 

“Get out of here!” Yoongi said, his face flushed red with embarrassment as he tried to hide from his human.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Taehyung asked as he finally got to the side of the bed. He ran his fingers up Yoongi’s thigh, which made the older hybrid shiver.

 

“Are you kidding? I couldn’t--” he whimpered as he tried to keep himself under control. But Taehyung was so close, and he smelled so good that his whole brain was going foggy with desire. If Taehyung stayed in the room much longer, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control himself. “I couldn’t ask you to help with this.”

 

Yoongi,” Taehyung said, moving the hybrid’s hands away from his face so he could kiss him deeply. “I’m your caretaker. Let me take care of you.” Because in truth, Taehyung had wanted this longer than he hadn’t. He had thought about what it might be like to make love to Yoongi, or have the hybrid take him. He wasn’t picky, and the fantasies changed every night. He figured he could adapt to whatever Yoongi needed. But he had never actually thought that he would be here.

 

“Tae,” Yoongi all but choked out of the kiss. He looked Taehyung up and down for a moment, and it made the human feel like he was the prey in this situation. When Yoongi spoke again, his voice was low and full of need. “If you’re sure... I’m going to fucking eat you alive.”

 

“Promises, promises,” Taehyung teased with a smirk as he brought his hand to Yoongi’s cock and stroked slowly.

 

Truth be told, Taehyung hadn’t really known what to expect from Yoongi once he let go of the control he was showing over himself. Taehyung had supposed he thought that he was going to be in charge through this--especially after watching the hybrid whimpering in the bed like he was aching for any touch. And it wasn’t that Taehyung would have minded taking the lead--but watching Yoongi’s eyes shift when Taehyung started stroking him...that was a surprise.

 

Whatever control Yoongi had over himself was out the window now, and the hybrid was practically tearing away Taehyung’s clothes, tossing them to the floor fast, like they were nothing. And Taehyung felt oddly exposed, standing by Yoongi’s bedside completely naked, his half-hard cock on full display. For a fraction of a moment, Taehyung felt embarrassed, like he needed to cover himself up. Yoongi was eyeing him like he was going to be his next meal, and that made excitement bubble in the human’s chest.

 

The nerves didn’t last long as Yoongi pulled him down onto the bed. Taehyung gasped as his head knocked gently against the headboard, watching with slightly parted lips as Yoongi straddled him. Taehyung must have looked as surprised as he felt, because Yoongi chuckled. He leaned forward to bite and kiss at his human’s neck as he rocked his hips down onto Taehyung, causing a lewd moan to leave his lips.

“What?” Yoongi mused against his neck. “You thought just because I’m in heat I was gonna be the submissive? Tae...” he all but purred, moving a hand to tease Taehyung’s nipple. “I told you when we met that I’m no one’s sex kitten.”

 

Taehyung hardly had any words. Yoongi was tearing him apart in the best way, and the two had hardly touched. He could practically hear Jungkook laughing at him for being like a horny teenager pumped full of hormones. All that could come out of Tae’s mouth were whines and moans as Yoongi continued to rock his hips and tease at his skin. Tae could feel his cock leaking precum and his mind was already in a fog.

 

“But look at you,” Yoongi mused, sitting back up to look at Tae, his hands resting on his chest. “So fucking blissed and I’ve barely done anything. You’d let me do anything I wanted to you,” he said as he moved his fingers into Taehyung’s mouth and slipped two inside. Taehyung obediently took them in, sucking gently as he looked up into his hybrid’s eyes. “Maybe you’re my little sex kitten, hm?” he hummed.

 

Taehyung tried to say something around Yoongi’s fingers, and it must have been something he felt embarrassed about saying, because immediately afterwards, his cheeks tinged pink. Yoongi smirked and took the fingers from Taehyung’s mouth. He moved off of his human and wrapped Tae’s legs around his waist, using the free space to tease a wet finger around Taehyung’s hole. “What was that, baby? Come on, say it for me.”

 

I could be,” Taehyung all but whimpered, rocking his hips against Yoongi’s finger, wanting desperately to feel it push inside of him.

 

Yoongi could have lost it then and there, his cock and tail twitching in the anticipation of what was to come, of the pure, unadulterated submission from his human. The moment of surprise passed as he pressed his index finger slowly into Taehyung, watching carefully as his mouth fell open in a silent moan. “God, you’re so fucking dirty, huh? So ready to get fucked by your cat, wanting to be my little kitten? You like that, don’t you?”

 

Taehyung could only nod as he rocked his hips back, trying to get more of Yoongi’s finger inside of him, aching for anything the other male could give him. “ Please,” he begged. “More, harder, I can take it, Yoongi.”

 

“I bet you can, kitten,” he mused as he pushed his middle finger in to meet the other, curling them as he thrust them hard into his lover. “I was trying to go easy on you, holding myself back...” Because it was no secret that Yoongi was painfully hard at this point. But even in the fog of his heat, he was aware enough to know he didn’t want to hurt Taehyung. He hadn’t considered that maybe being a little hurt was exactly what he wanted. “But my kitten’s a sweet little slut, huh? You want my cock so bad...you want to be hurting tomorrow. And we’re going out for lunch with all of your friends, too,” he teased, pressing kisses and nips to Taehyung’s hips as he scissored him open with his fingers. “And my poor kitten’s going to be all marked up and limping. And they’ll know.” Yoongi’s lips ghosted across Taehyung’s cock, causing it to twitch from excitement, aching for any sort of touch.

 

Taehyung had forgotten about the promised lunch with his friends. Jimin had a day off from the studio, and Jungkook was allowed a week back home before going out to do more promotional material for his next album. So they had all agreed to go out for lunch--hybrids included, of course. And Taehyung should have felt panicked, or at least embarrassed that he was going to be out with his friends and very obviously fucked into oblivion. Instead, the idea that his friends would know on sight made him excited.

 

Taehyung felt Yoongi’s fingers press against his prostate, and the younger almost choked out a sob. “ Fuck, Yoongi, please,” he begged.

 

“Please what, kitten?” Yoongi teased, and Taehyung thought the other was supposed to be the one in heat, desperate for touch and getting fucked, not the other way around. But there was something about the fire in Yoongi’s eyes that left Taehyung weak in the knees. “Use your words,” the hybrid demanded.

 

“Please fuck me,” Taehyung begged, his face reddening with embarrassment. This felt dirty-- not in a bad way, but dirty nonetheless.

 

That had been what Yoongi wanted to hear. He pressed slowly into him, clearly still showing some restraint. Taehyung could practically feel the tension in Yoongi’s movements--even though he needed, he didn’t want to hurt his human, and that meant a lot to Taehyung.

 

The obscene noises leaving Taehyung’s lips were making it hard on Yoongi to hold himself once he bottomed out, but he did, allowing Taehyung to take a few deep breaths as he adjusted to the feeling of his hybrid inside of him. The human hadn’t felt this full in a long time, and he couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off of his face. Yoongi was stretching him wide, the slow drag of Yoongi’s cock against his walls making him moan lowly and bite his lip to keep from getting to loud. Once he felt adjusted, he looked up to Yoongi with wide, hungry eyes.

 

“Stop holding back,” he said, reaching for Yoongi’s hand.

 

Yoongi smirked. He didn’t need to be told twice. He snapped his hips hard into Taehyung, causing a loud yelp of pleasure to leave his lips. The sound was delicious and only pushed the hybrid father as he pounded hard into Taehyung, keeping himself angled so he might hit the human’s prostate with every trust in. Yoongi could tell he had found the right spot when Taehyung started to hiccup through his pleasure.

 

Yoongi learned that day that Taehyung babbled nonsense when he was hazy from pleasure. Dirty, filthy, nonsense, that he thought might just be the end of him.

 

“God you feel so good,” Taehyung managed between moans, rocking his hips back to meet Yoongi’s thrusts as best as he could. “So fucking good, making me feel so full, I’ll feel you for days, baby, fuck.” It was all whimpered moans and it was driving Yoongi insane in the most incredible way.

 

Taehyung could feel Yoongi’s grip on his hips bruising and he loved it, loved knowing he was going to be covered in marks the next day. His own cock was leaking precum onto his stomach, twitching and aching to be touched. Without thinking, one of Taehyung’s hands reached to wrap around his cock and start stroking in time with the thrusts. But his hand was quickly swatted away, making Taehyung whine.

 

“Did I tell you that you could touch yourself?” Yoongi groaned as he continued to thrust hard into his human. “So fucking eager, so fucking needy, you’re acting like the bitch in heat--just need to fucking cum.”

 

It was demeaning and degrading, and Taehyung loved every word. His cock twitched as he listened to Yoongi speak, but all Tae could do was whine and nod, no longer able to form coherent thoughts.

 

“Here’s what’s going to happen, kitten,” Yoongi all but purred as he slowed his movements, rolling his hips so that they slowly brushed against his sweet spot. “I’m going to fuck you nice and hard, and you’re going to be a good little slut for me and cum without being touched. Understand?”

 

Taehyung gulped, a bit nervous. He had never been able to do that before, but if there was going to be anyone who could, it was Yoongi. So he nodded slowly, gripping the bedsheets tightly so that he wouldn’t be tempted to touch himself again. He was certainly going to try.

 

Yoongi smiled--the gummy grin starkly contrasting the way he was behaving towards his human. “That’s a good kitten,” he hummed against his lips before kissing him hard and snapping his hips back into him.

 

Taehyung was close to sobbing at this point, the pleasure of his prostate being hit with every hard thrust into him coupled with Yoongi’s lips kissing and biting at any of his free skin was starting to become a nightmare. His cock was straining, needing friction he wasn’t allowed to have.

 

Yoongi was trying to make this last as long as he could. He could have watched Taehyung wrecked like this for hours, and maybe would have teased him more if he wasn’t feeling as desperate as he was. “ Fuck,” he groaned into his human’s ear. “You’ve got me so fucking close baby.”

 

Please,” Taehyung begged, his arms reaching for his lover, trying to keep as close to him as he could. “ Please, God, I need your fucking cum inside me. I need you to fill me up, I need to feel you, Yoongi.”

 

He was too beautiful, Yoongi decided, all blissed-out and begging, a light sweat covering his forehead as his face scrunched up from the pleasure. One more hard snap of his hips and he was moaning out his lover’s name, coming hard into him as he practically saw stars from his orgasm.

 

Taehyung let out a low moan as he felt Yoongi fill him up. The hybrid continued to thrust hard into him as he rode out his high, swears and commands falling from his lips as he did so.

 

“Come on, kitten, cum for me, you did so fucking well,” he groaned.

 

When Taehyung was starting to think he wouldn’t be able to do what Yoongi wanted and cum untouched, he felt his orgasm building inside of him and he knew he was close. His breathing got shorter and static as he felt himself toe the edge as Yoongi rocked his hips hard.

 

Yoongi!” Taehyung moaned as he came untouched, his cock twitching as he shot ribbons of cum onto his stomach and chest. His breathing was labored as he came down from his high, but all the dominance had drained out of Yoongi as he was now nothing but sweet and attentive--looking his human in the eye as he licked up the mess his human had made. He made a little show of making sure Taehyung knew he was swallowing every drop. Once Yoongi deemed him clean, he snuggled up next to his human, pulling him into his arms and kissing the back of his shoulder.

 

They were quiet for a little while as they caught their breaths and fully came to terms with what had just happened between the two of them. It had been good--more than good, really. But it was a lit to take in when everything still felt so new between them. It was Yoongi who broke the silence first.

 

“I promise I’m not usually like that when I have sex, even in heat,” Yoongi chuckled softly. “Normally I wouldn’t be so dominant but...your shoot today had hybrids, didn’t it?”

ss

It hadn’t even crossed Taehyung’s mind, but Yoongi was right. So he nodded slowly.

 

“I figured,” he said with a small smile. “You smelled like them. I didn’t like that. So normally when I would have wanted nothing more than for you to be the one in charge...I felt like I needed to make sure people knew you were mine. Our friends will know tomorrow. They’ll smell me all over you. I love that.”

 

“You’re a possessive little thing, huh?” Taehyung teased, but he loved the fact that Yoongi had called them our friends and not his friends for the first time. It hadn’t gone unnoticed, but he wouldn’t make a fuss. “But I don’t mind that you were like that. I can top, but I really liked...all of what just happened,” he chuckled.

 

“My kitten,” Yoongi teased with a little smirk. “We should sleep for a little while though. I need to get as much of this energy out of me before we go out for lunch tomorrow so I don’t feel like I need to fuck you in the bathroom of whatever place we’re eating.”

 

“I wish you would,” Taehyung teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the hybrid.

 

Yoongi shoved him with a laugh. “You’re even kinkier than I thought, what the hell.”

 

“Sue me, you don’t even know how long I’ve been holding back,” Taehyung chuckled, shifting around in the bed so that he could nuzzle his face into Yoongi’s neck.

 

“Yeah well, still. Maybe tomorrow after lunch, I’ll let you take the reins? I’m anticipating being a bit needy after all that time out with everyone.”

 

“I’ll take good care of you, I promise,” Taehyung smiled against his skin. “Until then...we should probably take a shower and then make some dinner or something.”

 

“I’ll cook and bring it to you in bed,” Yoongi said, pressing a kiss to his human’s forehead. “You’re not gonna wanna move, and I’ll be needing more rounds soon.”

 

“I’m supposed to be the one looking after you!” Taehyung whined.

 

“Not after that, you’re not,” Yoongi chuckled. “Look at your hips.”

 

Hand-shaped marks in light purple sat where Yoongi had held him, and he couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to know that he could make Yoongi react to him like that. It made him feel powerful, in a way. He had wormed into his heart, and look where they were now. Taehyung didn’t think he could possibly be happier.

 

“Yeah...alright. But tomorrow’s all about you!” Taehyung protested.

 

And how could Yoongi deny him? He pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead before walking into the bathroom that was adjoined to Taehyung’s bedroom and turned on the shower, making sure it was almost scalding hot so that it might ease any aches. And his heart felt so full as he thought of the human laying in bed in the other room, thought of the bruises on his skin and knew that he made it happen...he felt a swell of pride in his chest. And in a moment of bravery, he called out into the other room.

 

“I love you.”

 

Taehyung grinned so wide he thought he would break as he replied, “I love you too.”

Chapter 8: Played out this scene

Summary:

"I've played out this scene oh so many nights. And for a moment we are timeless...and I am not scared."

Taehyung and Yoongi go out for lunch with their friends, and Yoongi is a little needy afterwards.

Notes:

I'm always so happy to see people have been enjoying this fic! The next chapter is unfortunately the epilogue, but I definitely see myself coming back to this world in the future.

Follow me on twitter (@goldennmakbae) and if you've enjoyed this, consider buying me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/andymar

Chapter Text

To Taehyung’s credit, he had tried to keep himself as covered as possible when he and Yoongi went out to lunch with their friends. His t-shirt had a crew-neck and the rips in his jeans didn’t get higher than the knee. But he didn’t have anything to cover the marks Yoongi had left higher on his neck. And he couldn’t hide how sore he felt when he sat down.

 

His friends had the decency to wait for the two to settle into their chairs before breaking out into a chorus of laughter. Yoongi, to his credit, also had the decency to blush instead of give the smug smirk Taehyung had expected from the hybrid.

 

Jin was the first to speak through his fit of giggles. “Sorry, sorry. We’d know anyway. You two reek of heat right now.”

 

“It’s just funny,” Hoseok continued through his laughter. “I thought for sure that Yoongi--”

 

“Leave them alone, guys,” Namjoon said, shooting Taehyung and Yoongi apologetic looks. “Or should we tell Yoongi about the stories you two told me about your first heats and ruts with Jungkook?”

 

That shut the hybrids up for a little while, much to Taehyung’s relief. Being hyper-aware of his own situation was somewhat embarrassing as it was. Knowing that the others would have known even if they had been more careful was a whole different layer.

 

The seven friends could then spend some time over lunch just catching up--Jungkook telling stories about the interviews he had done, and the silly but incredible gifts he had been given at fansigns. Jin and Hoseok talked about exploring the cities they had been in while Jungkook was out for the day and all of the incredible hybrid-specific shops they had gone to. Jimin talked about the woes of album recording--which Jungkook heavily empathized with. Namjoon, on the other hand, talked teasingly about how he had to take care of the person meant to be taking care of him--reminding the smaller human that he needed to eat and sleep between trips to the studio. Taehyung’s stories felt, at least to him, lackluster in comparison. He talked about the trivial things that bothered him about his job, the little things that seemed so small in comparison to what the superstars in front of him talked about. It wasn’t the first time in Taehyung’s friendship with Jungkook and Jimin that he felt like he didn’t belong in their circle. But it hit a bit harder this time.

 

And maybe part of it was because he knew he couldn’t provide for Yoongi the way Jungkook could buy his hybrids whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. Hoseok and Seokjin flashed their presents at their friends, and Taehyung looked worriedly over at Yoongi, hoping the kitten wasn’t jealous of them. He would do that if he could. But with his jobs not always being so high paying, it just wasn’t realistic for him. And it made him sad for a moment, like he was failing him somehow even though he was doing the best that he could.

 

Yoongi seemed to notice a change in his human’s emotions, because he placed a hand on his thigh and gave an encouraging squeeze as he looked over to him with a fond expression. And most of his worried melted away with that look. Though something nagged in is chest.

 

Once Jungkook’s hybrids stopped telling their stories, Yoongi did something Taehyung didn’t expect. He started telling his own stories. Instead of stories of lavish gifts or afternoons in studios, Yoongi talked about much smaller things. Details that might not mean much to some, but made Tae’s heart swell.

 

He told them about the time Taehyung tried to cook something nice for them, and it almost went well except for the fact that he had somehow burnt the rice. But the two of them laughed it off and ordered in instead. He told them about the nights in where they put music on and just stayed in bed listening to it, not needing to talk, just holding each other and feeling the music. He confessed to them that sometimes he’d stop what he was doing and listen to Taehyung sing in the shower, his sweet baritone filling the hybrid’s chest and making him smile. Taehyung hadn’t known that about Yoongi, and it made him blush. He was happy to think he had made such an impact on him even in the littlest ways.

 

The human leaned over to press a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek while Jungkook pretended to gag at how sweet they were being. Jin, however, was all smiled as he watched the two of them.

 

“It’s nice that you two get to spend so much time together. It must be really nice.”

 

And it hit Taehyung that even though he might not spend lavish amounts of money on Yoongi...he probably spent the most quality time with his hybrid out of the pairs. The two musicians hardly had time for themselves, and Taehyung could imagine that much of their down time was spent doing a whole lot of nothing. Which isn’t a bad thing. But it meant that they had less of the silly moments around the house than Yoongi and Taehyung did. That was something he was doing for his hybrid. And that made him feel good, like it was something he was doing right.

 

The lunch was nice. It wasn’t often that Taehyung got to see all of his friends at the same time due to their busy schedules, so any moment like this was a welcome one. And it was incredible for Taehyung to see Yoongi slot so well into everything that they were. He rolled his eyes at Jin’s dad jokes, laughed with Namjoon...it made Taehyung wonder what they had done so long without the hybrid in their lives. It seemed so natural to have him here now. Like they had been missing something fundamental without the kitty here. And now that he was here...Taehyung was never going to let him go.

 

“So what...are you?” Jungkook asked once they were wrapping up their meal.

“What do you mean?” Taehyung asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

 

“Lovers?” Jin interjected. “Friends with benefits? Is this just an in heat thing?”

 

“Boyfriends,” Yoongi said decidedly, which surprised Taehyung. He realized he had just made a decision for them without asking first, and looked over to the human apologetically. “I mean. If that’s okay with you.

 

Taehyung just chuckled and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was perfectly fine by him.

 


 

Taehyung was eager to get home with his hybrid. As much as he loved his friends--and he loved them with all of his heart--he could sense Yoongi getting a little restless by the end of their time together. He kept shifting in his seat and looking back to Taehyung with wide, needy eyes, his black ears pushed back in a way that makes Taehyung want to do whatever he’d ask. And judging by the faces of the other hybrids that had been in their company...he had an inkling as to why.

 

When they got inside, Yoongi immediately wrapped himself around Taehyung, burying his face in his neck. Where yesterday Yoongi had been on him like he was starving, today it was a softer need. It was something aching, but not desperate. “I told you I’d be needy,” the kitten whispered into Taehyung’s neck.

 

Taehyung smiled and lead him into their bedroom so that they could cuddle properly. Yoongi had his arms wrapped around the younger human, keeping the two of them as close as physically possible. As if afraid that if they were apart, he wouldn’t be able to get him back. “You smell like everyone,” Yoongi whined softly. And it was then that Taehyung made the connection.

 

“You are possessive,” he teased with a chuckle. But he could understand it. Normally Yoongi got all of Taehyung’s attention because most of the time, it was just the two of them. But they had just spent a large amount of time out with other people, and Taehyung could understand why the hybrid needed a little bit of extra attention that evening.

 

“Can’t help it,” Yoongi mumbled against his neck, pressing soft kisses to his skin. “Never had anything that’s mine before.”

 

And it’s that sentence that almost breaks Taehyung down completely. He used his fingers to tilt Yoongi’s chin so that the two of them were looking into each other’s eyes, and he waited there for a moment, just taking the hybrid in before he pressed a long kiss to his lips.

 

The first time the two of them did anything sexual, it was hungry, feverish, desperate. This time, Taehyung was going to take his time. Running his hands over the planes of Yoongi’s body as they undressed, mapping it out like he wanted to know the feeling of the skin under his hands by memory.

 

And watching Yoongi melt beneath him was something Taehyung wanted to be able to capture on film. He wanted to watch his expression go soft over and over again, it was something he would never get tired of.

 

Once they were undressed, Taehyung kissed slowly down his lover’s body, smiling as he watched Yoongi’s eyelids flutter shut from the pleasure. He was doing that. He was making Yoongi feel good, and that came with a sense of pride that Taehyung hadn’t expected.

 

He teased his lover slightly, pressing kisses to his hips before paying any mind to the cock that was demanding his attention. He loved the mewls and whines that left Yoongi’s lips as he did so, it made him want to keep going. But he knew things were intense while Yoongi was in heat, so he liked a stripe up the older man’s cock before taking the head into his mouth and hollowing his cheeks. He moved his head slowly, stroking what wasn’t in his mouth as he watched the hybrid slowly come undone beneath him.

 

Yoongi the night before had been loud moans and hard grunts. Tonight was the stark opposite. It was soft mewls and low whimpers. Even gentle begging, when he could be bothered to do so. But mostly it was the soft noises that made Tae shiver as he took more of the hybrid into his mouth. He removed his hand when he was confident he could take all of him with one downward movement of his head, which caused a sharp moan to leave the hybrid’s mouth. And Taehyung thought for certain that those noises would be the death of him. He could feel Yoongi’s body growing tense under him and he prepared himself to swallow Yoongi’s load when he was abruptly pulled up by the hair.

 

Yoongi offered an apologetic look as Taehyung hissed. “‘M sorry. I don’t wanna--not yet. Not until after you fuck me, please.”

 

He looked so soft, and it was a complete wonder that this was the same young man who had been pounding into him and calling him a slut twenty four hours ago. Taehyung loved it. He reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a bottle of lube, slicking his fingers up before pressing one slowly into Yoongi’s hole, watching as the hybrid arched his back off the bed a bit from the pleasure.

 

Taehyung was gentle, slow. He took his time stretching out his boyfriend, letting his fingers curl as he opened him up. His own aching cock didn’t matter. He could have sat there for hours just watching Yoongi’s chest heave as he tried to keep himself under control. He wanted to do good by his hybrid, wanted him to feel good and be happy. There was a lazy smile on the kitten’s face as Taehyung fucked him with his fingers, and it told him that he was doing a good job.

 

“Please, Taehyung,” Yoongi whispered. And Taehyung couldn’t deny him even if he wanted to. And lord knew that was the absolute last thing he wanted to do in that moment. He pushed into his boyfriend slowly, a low moan leaving his lips as he did so.

 

Taehyung figured Yoongi had never looked so beautiful as he did in that moment, soft sounds leaving his lips as Taehyung rocked his hips slowly into him. They weren’t in a rush. They could take their sweet time with this, and Taehyung would drag this out for as long as he could. He leaned down to press loving kisses to Yoongi’s lips, and it was only when Taehyung was that close that he could make out what Yoongi had actually been saying this whole time.

 

I love you, I love you, I love you.”

 

There were tears pricking in the corners of Yoongi’s eyes, and Taehyung tried to will them away as he kissed every inch of skin that he could reach, let his hands roam everywhere that his lips couldn’t get to before finally wrapping his fingers around Yoongi’s cock and stroking in time with his slow thrusts.

 

They had fucked the day before. This wasn’t that. This was love making. This was a month of figuring each other out, of laughing in the kitchen, movie nights resting in each other’s laps, trying not to kiss each other when it was all they wanted to do, letting their hands linger when they brushed, pining, pining, pining.

 

And now here, Yoongi’s moans getting higher in pitch as Taehyung brushed his prostate with every slow thrust and he came closer to his orgasm. Taehyung wouldn’t cum first this time, he was determined to take care of the kitten below him.

 

“Tae, baby, I--” Yoongi choked out.

 

“I’ve got you,” Taehyung assured, keeping him close as he moved his hips just slightly harder, stroked him a little faster. “Let go, love.”

 

The sound that left Yoongi’s mouth when he came was something Taehyung wished he could play on loop for the rest of his life. It was beautiful, and blissed, and satisfied. He was smiling that gummy grin up at him as he slowly came down from his high, looking up to his boyfriend with nothing but pure affection.

 

“You too,” Yoongi said softly, rocking his hips back to meet Taehyung’s thrusts. And it didn’t take him long to finish, moaning Yoongi’s name lowly as he came inside his boyfriend. It wasn’t the mind-blowing, intense orgasm of the night before. Instead, it spread over him like a warm blanket, making him giggle as he pulled Yoongi in for a kiss and held him close.

 

“I love you,” the human said, scratching behind the hybrid’s black ears.

 

Yoongi started to purr involuntarily and Taehyung grinned. He did that. He made Yoongi glow with happiness and purr in comfort. Taehyung, who a month ago had not been convinced he could take care of himself, let alone a hybrid. And now look at where they were, happy as could be.

 

“I love you too,” Yoongi said through his purring, allowing Taehyung to be the big spoon.

 

“I think you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Taehyung admitted.

 

“I know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Yoongi countered with a smile. “I never thought...back then, when I was in Daegu...I never thought I would get to have something like this. I thought I would be fighting until I died. And I didn’t think I’d live to thirty I--” he was choking back tears now, but not unhappy ones. “The idea that I could have something loving, and domestic, and real... even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined this. I could never have dreamed you up.”

 

Taehyung kisses his shoulders, promising that he wasn’t going anywhere, could never dream of going anywhere, could not imagine a life for him now without Yoongi in it. Could not understand how he had ever gotten this far in life without him. How had he ever thought that he could live a whole life without someone like Yoongi by his side? It seemed impossible to him now, like the life he might have lived would have been a half-life at best.

 

“I never thought,” Taehyung said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t have made any of this up even if I wanted to. But I’m glad. God, Yoongi, I’m so glad,” he said, pulling Yoongi in for a kiss and keeping him held close.

 

They fell asleep like that for a while, curled up in each other. Happy, and in love, with the future bright and full of possibilities. And if this was the rest of their lives, if this was their forever?

 

Well, Taehyung was just fine with that.

Chapter 9: We Deserve a Soft Epilogue

Summary:

"We deserve a soft epilogue, my love. We are good people. And we have suffered enough."

It's been six months since Taehyung brought Yoongi home, and the hybrid has a surprise for him.

Notes:

It is, as we have said, a soft epilogue.

Thank you for coming with me on this fic journey! I'd never written anything like this before, so I'm very glad people seemed to like it! I definitely see myself coming back to this universe in the future because I had a lot of fun with it.

Feel free to follow me on twitter (@goldennmakbae) and if you've enjoyed this fic, consider buying me a coffee so I can keep writing them! https://ko-fi.com/andymar

Until next time!

Chapter Text

“Tae, come on,” Yoongi all but whined, pulling Taehyung along through the streets by the hand.

 

“I’m coming,” he laughed, following after him. “Where are we even going?”

 

“That defeats the purpose of a surprise, duh,” he said, looking back to him and rolling his eyes. But he couldn’t even complain. It had been six months since Taehyung had walked into the shelter, not intending to sign any papers, and instead signed over his heart to the cat hybrid dragging him along.

 

In truth, not much had changed over the months. They simply grew more familiar with each other as time went on. And that didn’t mean it was always beautiful, perfect, or easy. They fought on occasion, got angry with each other, shouted, gave each other the silent treatment. Sometimes they made each other cry. But they were quick to make up, talk over the things that had gone wrong, vowed to fix them. Even in the moments where they were fighting, they knew that the anger was only temporary.

 

Yoongi finally brought Taehyung to a park. And under a tree laid a blanket and a picnic basket. Taehyung smiled over at Yoongi. “You did this?” he asked.

 

“Well, Hobi and Jin helped,” Yoongi admitted. “I told them what you would want, and they set it up while we were running errands so it could be a surprise.” There was a proud grin on his face, and Taehyung could have melted into a puddle on the spot. “That’s so sweet, Yoongi,” he said, pulling his boyfriend in by the waist and kissing him gently.

 

“Six months,” Yoongi smiled. “Can you even believe that? Six months we’ve been doing this. It feels like years and yesterday at the same time.”

 

“Yeah,” Taehyung agreed with a smile as he brought Yoongi to sit down onto the blanket. He made a note to text Hobi and Jin later and thank them for this. Jungkook, too. Since he was sure the young man had a hand in it somehow. “It’s incredible. Thank you, Yoongi.” But he wasn’t just thanking him for the picnic. He was thanking him for every smile, every touch, every kiss, and glance, every moment of the past six months that had brought them closer together and made them two halves of one whole. And Yoongi knew, as he went into the basket and pulled out sandwiches and passed one to Taehyung.

 

“I should be thanking you,” Yoongi said, settling next to him and taking a bite of his sandwich. He had the respect, for a moment, to chew and swallow before speaking again. “For everything. I can’t even list things, it would take too long.”

 

“The therapy’s been helping?” Taehyung asked to confirm even though they had this question a hundred times once Yoongi had started his weekly sessions.

 

“Yeah, they are,” he nodded before taking another bite. “Now do what you’re always telling me to do and eat your goddamn food,” he teased, nudging Taehyung with a smile.

 

And who would Taehyung be to deny him?

 

Yoongi knew Taehyung even better than he anticipated. In the picnic basket were most of Taehyung’s favorite foods and drinks, accompanied with a thermos of hot chocolate. (“It’s fancy,” Yoongi had assured Taehyung. “Namjoon and Jimin bought it, and they said it was a really good one. I don’t know anything about it, but the rest is in our apartment, so you can tell me if they were lying.”)

And Taehyung had never felt so cared for in his life. This was proof that Yoongi had been paying attention to the little things in his life--the things he preferred to do with his time, the foods he always went back to, that he preferred hot chocolate over coffee because he didn’t like the bitter taste. He smiled at the hybrid, his black ears perked up as he grinned, his black tail flicking back and forth from excitement.

 

And all that can leave Taehyung’s mouth is, “I love you.”

 

That made Yoongi’s cheeks bloom with a blush, something that still made Taehyung’s chest swell. The Yoongi sitting in front of him was so different from the one that he had met sitting in the adoption center a month previously. The cold and distant young man who Taehyung had been warned against was not the soft and cuddly person snacking on chips next to him now and trying to hide his blush. It was beautiful, Taehyung thought. It was beautiful how well he was doing now. And he had helped. He was glad to know that.

 

“I love you too,” Yoongi hummed as he settled on the blanket, resting his head on Taehyung’s shoulder. “Thank you for loving me.”

 

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” Taehyung said, shaking his head. “You never have to thank me for that, Yoongi.”

 

Yoongi shook his head with a smile. He wouldn’t fight Taehyung on that. The two of them could have gone back and forth for hours about why Yoongi did or did not need to thank Tae for loving him. But Yoongi knew. He owed him all of the thanks in the world. He owed him everything. Because if Taehyung hadn’t walked into the shelter that day, what would have become of the hybrid?

 

He either would have stayed there for the rest of his life (hybrids have a shelf life. People like to adopt children they can raise, or young, pretty, mature ones they can fuck. Once a hybrid reaches too far into adulthood, they lose their appeal. Yoongi had known he didn’t have much time there left before people stopped asking about him) or would have been adopted likely by someone terrible, who would have used and abused him, who didn’t care about anything but him being a warm hole to fuck or a slave to boss around. Yoongi shuddered at the thought of that.

 

No, he owed everything to Taehyung and he knew it. And maybe another day he would explain that to him. But this wasn’t the time for that. Today they were enjoying a picnic and celebrating six months of being a unit.

 

Six months. It felt like too much time had passed, and yet none at all. It didn’t seem possible that it had been so long. But at the same time, it felt like they had always been doing this. Always feeding each other bits of whatever they happened to be eating, bodies resting against each other because god forbid they ever not be touching. Taehyung now regretted ever teasing his friends and their hybrids for acting so in love so quickly. He understood it now. He understood what that felt like, and he knew he was behaving the way that they had, if not worse, when they were in his shoes. He wanted to go back in time to the version of himself that sat in a cafe with his friends before all of this, the version of himself that told his friends that he didn’t need a hybrid, that they weren’t for him. He wanted to smack that version of himself upside the head and drag him to the shelter, point at Yoongi, and tell him that hybrid would change his life for the better.

 

He couldn’t, of course. But this was enough. Sitting with Yoongi and relaxing together under a tree as a warm breeze blew past them was enough for now.

 

“Do you ever think about how close we came to not meeting?” Yoongi asked after a few moment of silence.

 

“Not really,” Taehyung said honestly. “Because the fact that we almost didn’t meet doesn’t matter since we did end up meeting and now we have each other. Why? Do you?”

 

“Yeah,” Yoongi admitted. “Sometimes you fall asleep before me, and I can’t sleep, and I look at you and just get...amazed. Because you could have picked any other hybrid in that center. Or decided you didn’t want one. You could have listened when Caroline tried to tell you not to get me. Or I could have gotten adopted sooner. Or I could have died in the ring. There’s just a never-ending list of things that could have kept us apart, and I don’t think about it except for when you’re at work for a long time and I’m alone, or if I’m awake and you’re not. And it makes me sad,” he said, looking up into his human’s eyes. “Because the idea that I could have lived without you doesn’t even make sense to me anymore. But then I get happy again when you come home or make a little noise in your sleep because I don’t ever have to worry about what living without you would be like. You’re mine. And I’m yours. And us coming together was so unlikely, but it happened anyway.”

 

Taehyung’s chest swelled with love and affection as he leaned down to press a kiss to Yoongi’s lips. “We’re a miracle,” he said softly with a smile.

 

“You’re a sap,” Yoongi teased.

 

“You started it!” Taehyung countered.

 

Yoongi couldn’t argue with that, so he just shrugged and took a sip of the hot chocolate they had brought. He resented being so sappy some of the time, but he didn’t view it as being his fault. How could he be blamed for being a sap when Taehyung was so wonderful all the time? It was hardly fair, he felt like he was being sabotaged.

 

They sat there for a while, just eating and making jokes and occasionally kissing. And it was quiet, and it was calm, and it was perfect.

When the food was done, and the sun started to set along the horizon, painting the sky watercolor, the boys began to tidy up their picnic. All the while, they were teasing and poking fun at each other. They didn’t have any plans for the day, and that was perfectly alright by them. Taehyung had a long day of work the previous day, and he had a longer one lined up tomorrow. So a night of doing nothing sounded like pure heaven to him.

 

They walked home hand-in-hand. Taehyung swung their arms as they went, which made Yoongi laugh, which only made Taehyung want to do it more. He wished he’d brought his camera with him. He wanted to pause in this moment and take snapshots of Yoongi like this, laughing as they walked down the street. He wanted to take crisp, clean pictures with the camera he used for work. And he wanted shitty polaroids to paste into a notebook to show off to whoever they could convince to look.

 

They flopped onto their couch when they got home, a familiar action that now felt more like reflex than forethought. They curled into each other without thinking about it, falling into position like they had done for so long now.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Yoongi mused, nuzzling his face into Taehyung’s neck. The tips of his black ears tickled Taehyung. It was something he had grown used to, but made him laugh every time nonetheless.

 

“I love you,” Taehyung said simply with a smile.

 

“You’re being sappy again,” Yoongi whined, adjusting his position so that his head was resting in Taehyung’s lap. The human’s hand instinctively went into the hybrid’s hair to pet his hair and ears. A familiar purr resonated from the hybrid’s throat, making Taehyung smile.

 

“It’s your fault. With that face, and those eyes, and that smile,” Taehyung countered.

 

“Shut up,” Yoongi chuckled, but he didn’t mean a word of it. He could stand to be praised by his human. He didn’t think he’d love it as much as he did, but it made him feel warm from the inside out. “I love you too,” he added finally. “Can we nap?”

 

“Yeah,” Taehyung smiled, adjusting onto the couch so that they were both lying down. “Not much room here, though.”

 

“Oh no,” Yoongi said sarcastically. “Guess you’ll have to hold me.”

 

He could deal with that, he thought as he wrapped his arms around the hybrid and pressed a kiss to his temple. He watched Yoongi’s eyelids flutter shut and his breathing starting to slow with a fond smile on his own face.

 

He could be happy like this.