Escapee.

Jinyoung woke with a start. Another nightmare, another day. It was about Jaebum’s family burning him at the stake for capturing their son. It was nothing new. He had dreams like this on a weekly basis, but they still shook him up.

He awoke trembling. He was just about to comfort himself when he saw it.

Jaebum was gone.

Jinyoung hissed. He knew he shouldn't had trusted him, but how else was he supposed to sleep. Pushing himself up on his feet, he growled. Now he had to look for him. In this forest.

Or he could just let him run away.

But without a captured human what could he do?

His head throbbed. The animal instinct in him told him to chase the bastard. And when the animal instinct spoke up, he didn't have much choice other than to obey it.

Switching to all fours, the neko ran out of the cave in search of his human. He tore through the forest, not caring if he was startling prey even though his stomach was growling. How long ago did he escape?

Deep down, he knew it was a thankless task. He wasn't going to find him. He wasn't even sure he went this way.

A terrible pain shot throw his leg and he stumbled, yowling loudly. A trap at got him. A metal trap around his leg. Ears flattened against his head, he turned to look. It was gorged deep into his hind leg.

Like he was some kind of animal.

He whimpered a little and tried to pry it apart with his hands. He wasn't an animal. He was half human. Everyone seemed to forget that. Didn't it mean anything to them?

The metal tore at his fingers and he whimpered again. His leg was still caught and now he had new injuries to thank for his attempt.

Curling down into a ball, he waited. Ears still flat against his head, he heard footsteps.

It was a tall boy, slender and lanky, bit with a bit of muscle. Jinyoung bared his teeth and hissed.

He was also half feral. And he was going to be using that side of himself to save his skin.

“A feral neko. How ironic,” he said.

“I'm human, you bastard.”

“Yet you're still feral. Funny. Jaebum mentioned something like you was after him.”

Jaebum..

Jinyoung lunged at the boy, but the metal clasp held him in place. It dug deeper with his movement and he regretted it. His longer nails dug into the dirt with frustration.

“Oh, so you are that neko. How interesting.”

Jinyoung continued to growl as the boy tightened a rope around his neck. He squirmed, trying to break free, but the rope held taut.

“I think he will love to see this.”

Jaebum eased himself out of bed. Youngjae came back, carrying a tray and some porridge.

“You can stay in bed and eat,” Youngjae told him.

“I want to help. I should at least do something.”

“Eat, that's what you can do.” He pushed the tray into Jaebum’s hands. “Please.”

“About last night…”

Youngjae shook his head. “Don't mention it, okay? It happens to all of us.”

Jaebum smiled and dipped his spoon into the porridge. It was still warm and melted like chocolate in his mouth. “Did you make this?”

“It's my mother’s recipe.”

“Well, it's delicious. Thank you.”

Youngjae turned to leave, but Jaebum spoke up again.

“Stay with me?”

Youngjae nodded and said across from Jaebum on his own bed. Jaebum continued to eat quietly and Youngjae watched protectively.

That was when Yugyeom came back.

“Hey Jaebum! I got a surprise for you!”

Jaebum exchanged a look with Youngjae and headed out of the cottage to see. But what he saw startled him. On instinct, he backed away from the restrained neko and into Youngjae.

Youngjae wrapped his arms around Jaebum, holding him protectively. “Is that him?”

“It's him alright.”

Jinyoung was restrained well. A rope tightened around his neck, and handcuffs around his wrists. He was also gagged to keep from talking. He also was walking with a slight limp; blood pooled around his pants’ leg, turning the pants a darker shade.

“What are you gonna do with him?” Youngjae asked.

“Chain him. Cage him. Maybe sell him. We’ll see.”

“Make sure he's restrained good,” Jaebum told them, leaning back into Youngjae. “For all I know he isn't done with me.”

“He's not going to hurt you, I promise you that,” Youngjae reassured him, tightening his grip around Jaebum.

“Any chance you know how to take care of this thing?” Yugyeom questioned.

“My family did it. I can do it.”

“Good. Let's cage him up really good.”