Sorry, dears. I was really sick over the weekend, and I didn't have the energy to update. This one is almost entirely Jongin-centered, which I try not to do for the most part. But for this one, well...Enjoy!

During history, Jongin found himself picking at a scab on his arm and letting his thoughts drift instead of listening to the teacher. Something hadn't quite lined up in his head since the morning, and everything was hazy. He managed to get through class without being picked on, but in the hallway after class, he walked straight into Tao. Their foreheads collided hard, and the Doberman hybrid started to spit out a swear.

"I'm s-sorry," he sputtered, trying to edge around the angry-looking boy.

Tao met his eyes for a moment, then cracked a small smile. "No problem." He walked away without another word, leaving Jongin quite confused. 

However, he didn't have much time to be confused, because Luhan appeared at that moment.

"Yo, Kai," he said, grabbing Jongin's shoulder. "Soo wants you."

Kyungsoo was huddled beside a bush in Areum, quaking and crying quietly. "Help, help, help," he chanted, voice high and shrill. "Mom? Mom, Kai, Jongin, Kai, Kai, Mom--"

The cloudiness in Jongin's head vaporized at that second, and he threw himself onto the ground next to Kyungsoo. "Soo? Soo, talk to me."

Luhan leaned down to whisper in Jongin's ear. "He was like this during music class, and then he came here." Louder, he said: "Kyungsoo, please tell us what's wrong."

Kyungsoo stopped crying but shivering hard enough for his teeth to start clacking. "M-my mom c-called," he managed. "And sh-she t-t-told me that she d-doesn't w-want me anym-more, and that I was j-just a worthless p-piece of sh- , and a bunch of other stuff, and she didn't want to c-call me her s-son anymore, and I'm really sc-scared and I do-don't want to b-be here anym-more--" He wailed, an inhuman and heartwrenching sound that made every nerve in Jongin's body buzz. "I wanna die, I wanna d-die, please! J-just let me--"

"No, Kyungsoo, don't talk like that, please," Jongin pleaded, gripping Kyungsoo's shoulders. 

Luhan turned away, dialing someone on his phone and speaking softly. 

Kyungsoo rocked back and forth on his heels. "I d-don't deserve t-to be here," he stammered. "I'm j-j-just a bur-burden and I sh-shouldn't be here. I'm s-sorry, Kai, f-forgive me for b-being here--"

Jongin hugged the cat hybrid as tightly to himself as he could. "No, no, no," he murmured. "No. Please, Kyungsoo, listen. I've never been happier, okay? I've never been happier than when I'm with you. I mean it. But stop talking like that, okay? It hurts me, it really does." His heart slammed against his ribs, longing to reach for Kyungsoo itself.

Luhan bent over to speak in Jongin's ear again. "Yonghwa's on his way."

"Okay." Jongin leaned back, pulling Kyungsoo onto his lap and landing butterfly kisses all over the smaller boy's face. "Just...just relax, Soo, help is coming. Okay?"

Kyungsoo sobbed into Jongin's shirt, small hands gripping the soft fabric hard enough to leave trenches in the stony grey.

About two hours later, Yonghwa opened the door to his office to let out a solemn, puffy-eyed Kyungsoo. Jongin felt something unravel in his stomach, and he stood up from his chair.

"Soo!" he cried, throwing his arms around his boyfriend. He felt thin arms creep around his waist.

"We talked it out," Yonghwa said, smiling kindly. "Take him out for one of the berry smoothies from Feathers and Fur. He said he wants one." 

Kyungsoo laced his fingers Jongin's, and Jongin squeezed.

The chilly wind outside roughhoused with the snow dusted on the ground, throwing it up into curls and stalagmites. Cat and wolf hybrid picked their way through the minefield of breeze and ice silently, their words hidden in the looks they gave each other and the blood pulsing behind thin tissue.

Feathers and Fur Café was the same as always, warm and bright with animals creeping, birds fluttering, the resident reptile sunbathing under its light in the corner. Being a weekday, there were very few people, just two girls sitting at the counter by the window with some homework and tea. A cat that had taken a liking to Kyungsoo in past visits wound its way around Kyungsoo's ankles and purred.

"Kai! Soo!" The barista, a fashionable young human woman named Hye-mi, slipped around the counter to greet the regular pair, wiping her hands off on her blue apron. As if she could sense that something was wrong, she paused. "Hey, what's up?"

Jongin opened his mouth to speak, then got cut off by Kyungsoo. "I had a bad day," he said, tone flat.

Hye-mi tsked, shaking her head and jangling the earrings hanging from her ears. "Oh, no. You guys want your usual?"

"Yeah. Triple berry with banana. With yogurt. And a chai latte for Kai."

Hye-mi disappeared into the back, passing by another staff member, Beom-seok, a friendly giant of an cow hybrid.

"Heyo, Kai, Kyungsoo. Your favorite spot's open." Beom-seok smiled and pointed at the fluffy couch by the cat tree. 

Jongin watched Kyungsoo manage a smile from the corner of his eye. "Yeah."

Hye-mi poked her head out. "I'll throw in some croissants for you guys, okay? On the house."

"Soo had a bad day."

"Wasn't going to ask." Beom-seok gave a thumbs up. "Sit yourselves down, I'll make sure Hye-mi doesn't spill anything." 

Two cats leaped onto the couch beside Jongin as he sat down, gently pulling Kyungsoo down next to him. The cat hybrid reached a hand out for one of the (actual) cats, tickling under its chin and behind its ears before sighing and settling into Jongin's shoulder.

"People are just...cruel," he said.

Jongin nodded, resting his head on Kyungsoo's and blowing air onto his ear. It flicked. "Sorry."

"Not your fault."

The ginger tabby Kyungsoo was petting curled up on his lap, purring loudly.

Hye-mi reappeared with a glass, a coffee cup, and two croissants balanced precariously on a small tray. "Enjoy, okay? And take your time." She whirled away in a flurry of blue apron and white skirt.

"I brought your DS," Jongin said, digging around in his pocket for the silver gaming console. "I think it's got Pokémon X in."

"Oh, I caught Xerneas yesterday," Kyungsoo said, with the slightest bit of enthusiasm.

"Congrats! I still haven't caught Yveltal."

"It's been two months, Kai."

"I know. Isn't it sad?"

Jongin felt Kyungsoo smile into his shoulder, and he continued. "Oh, guess what? I beat Palkia accidentally on your game."

"No way. And how did you beat Palkia accidentally?"

Three hours passed like that, light banter and laughs and the occasional cat coming up to sniff at their feet (or in one case, bat at Jongin's ears). Finally, after the sun had gone down and the tree branches did ballroom dances in the darkness, Jongin and Kyungsoo decided to leave.

"Thanks, Hye-mi, Beom-seok. See you soon." Jongin threw a wave over his shoulder at the two baristas, who were now working to keep up with the demands of incoming customers.

"I don't want to do homework," Kyungsoo said, winding his arm through Jongin's. "Or at least, can you do it with me in my room?"

"Yeah, of course. Sehun's not--"

"He's with Suho tonight and tomorrow," Kyungsoo said with a tight laugh. "Lucky Suho, he's got a single."

"Then I'm using his stationery." 

"I won't tell him."

Rain drumming on the windows was what woke Jongin up.

As the black behind his eyes softened into hazy reds and tans, he shifted beneath familiar soft sheets. Something warm, and fluffy tickled under his chin, and he cracked one eye open to look at the cat hybrid curled up against his chest.

"Soo," Jongin murmured, pressing a kiss against the wild bedhead of Kyungsoo's hair.

Kyungsoo hummed and snuggled closer into Jongin's chest. "Mm?"

"Nothing." Jongin sighed contentedly. "Just making sure you were there."

"Where else would I go?"

The wolf hybrid swallowed thickly. "N-nowhere."

In reality, there were plenty of places for Kyungsoo to disappear to. Jongin knew that. But he didn't want to think about it, even if his dreams forced him to.

Jongin's mother often told the story about how, when Jongin was six--just before his first episodes started--he had gotten lost while on a shopping trip with his oldest sister and mother. The girls were trying on clothes, with Mrs. Kim pushing her daughter to put on a sweater. Jongin, being a pretty typical six year old, had gotten bored and snuck out of the store. No one paid him much attention as he darted from clothing rack to clothing rack, pretending to be a knight fighting a dragon and needing to hide as the dragon blew fire at him.

When he finally tired from the game, Jongin found himself completely lost, on the other side of the department store and with no idea how he got there. He didn't just get scared; he started screaming. It was by that shrill sound that Mrs. Kim and his sister finally found Jongin, sitting in the middle of the ladies' coats and outerwear and crying the Pacific Ocean.

Mrs. Kim usually regaled her friends and family with the tale at family gatherings when Jongin was present, leaving the wolf hybrid to hide his face and blush furiously. 

However, Jongin had a different story to tell, and it was one of screams and anger, bloody footprints that led to the mangled body of somebody that Jongin thought he knew.

No one believed him--" it was all in his head" --until blood was actually spilled, just a few months later.