Hello, lovely children. I'm exhausted beyond belief right now, but I wanted to take some time out and write this because I didn't want to fall too behind on the ideas I had. It's not the best I could do, but I hope you enjoy anyways.

Kyungsoo was having a bad day.

Not only was his throat sore, but he was late to his first morning class trying to find some Advil, prompting a stern lecture from Mr. Snow. Then Chase and Leo decided it would be funny to push Chen, another common target, into Kyungsoo and send both of them flying into a trash can ("Have fun f---ing!" one of their cronies had shouted). Gym class was a mile run, and Kyungsoo gave up after the first quarter, panting and gasping. Afterwards, he found his locker wide open and his clothes inside missing, displaced to the top of the locker bay where he couldn't reach. He left before one of the taller (non-douchebag) guys could get it for him. Not like they would. They were all afraid of the gay dude. After classes finished, he learned that his adopted parents wouldn't be able to take him for Thanksgiving break, so he was going to be left at school, followed immediately by his monthly phone call from his biological mom.

And now he was stuck in the doorway of the arts building after a terrible voice lesson, watching rain hit the pavement in bucketloads and wishing that he had listened to Sehun to take his umbrella.

The self-important lion and idiot hybrid wasn't picking up his phone, and Kyungsoo gave up after the ninth try. 

"S---," he mumbled, sticking a hand out from underneath the cement doorframe and yanking it back at the feeling of ice cold liquid. There was no way he was going out there in just his gym shorts and sweatshirt.

Well, at least he had a little time to play Pokémon.

He slipped his DS out from inside his bag and flipped it open to where he left off in Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. The only time Kyungsoo ever felt good about himself was when he was playing Pokémon; he knew all anyone had to know about the games, and he practically had every Pokémon and their movesets memorized. People (or, in the case of MD, the creatures) in Pokémon games were nice. They cared.

In the real world, Kyungsoo was a gay loser.

In the other, he was a Champion.

He was battling Dialga, king of time, with his player character Charmander and partner Totodile. It was intense, more involving than anything Kyungsoo had ever done in the real world. In fact, it was so intense that when he finally won, Kyungsoo threw up a fist and cheered, not expecting to see someone standing behind him. When he felt something hard and warm collide with his hand, Kyungsoo yelped and jumped back into the rain, DS stuffed underneath his hoodie, head down and waiting for someone to yell.

"Ow," Jongin whined, rubbing his nose.

Kyungsoo looked up, ears flattened against his now dripping wet hair. "Kai?"

"Hi, Kyungsoo."

There was a moment of silence, a breath filled by the hiss of rain.

"Kyungsoo, you're getting wet."

"I know." Kyungsoo stepped back under the doorway, next to a very amused Jongin in a (very well-fitting) button-down and black slacks. A black tie hung loose around his neck. "You're dressed up nice."

The tanned boy's tail perked up. "Thanks. I had dance."

It took everything Kyungsoo had not to kiss the smile right off of Jongin's beautiful face.

Kyungsoo pulled his DS out from under his sweatshirt and opened it again. His Pokémon were trudging down the path leading away from Temporal Tower; Charmander was fading, erased by the nonexistent future it came from.

"Oh, it's Mystery Dungeon!" Jongin exclaimed, leaning into Kyungsoo and looking down at the little screen. "I played that in eighth grade."

Kyungsoo was hyperaware of every increasingly shallow breath that Jongin took as Totodile wept, Charmander vanished, and the screen cut to the former travelling home by himself through the lands that the partners had conquered together. When the end credits started to roll, Kyungsoo glanced over at the wolf hybrid.

He was surprised--and a little concerned--to see tears on Jongin's cheeks.

"Kai?" he said, closing the DS. 

The wolf laughed and swiped at his eyes. "Don't worry. I always get a little, uh, emotional before my...episodes..." He trailed off.

Half of a sigh of relief escaped Kyungsoo. "So it's normal?"

"Yeah."

"When's your episode?"

"Tomorrow."

"...I see." So starting tomorrow, sweet Jongin would be a monster.

As if he could read the cat hybrid's thoughts, Jongin's face fell and his eyes dropped to look at his feet. "I should...go." He turned to step out into the rain.

A warm hand reached out to grab his arm. 

"Do you have an umbrella?" Kyungsoo asked.

"I--I do have one."

"Then can I walk back to the dorms with you?"

It took a few minutes of rummaging through Jongin's overstuffed dance bag, but eventually they were on their way, skirting around puddles and huddling close close together underneath a ridiculously bright neon green and orange umbrella.

The dorm lobby was warm and empty, most students already having gone home or out for Thanksgiving break. That meant that Jongin and Kyungsoo could take the coveted seats right by the fireplace without having to fight.

Jongin was on edge even as he sunk into the plush velvet loveseat. He kept his eyes on the fire, which danced and at the metal grating, like it was trying to escape.

"Kai?" Kyungsoo asked.

The wolf hybrid's ears flicked, signalling that he was listening.

"Who takes care of you when you have an episode?"

"There's a caretaker in the health department who's trained in tranquilizers and calming crazies down. I sleep in his office with a guard."

"Where do the Dragons get involved?"

Jongin seemed to think deeply on that one. "I think they're...registered with the school as sort of junior guards? I don't know. But I know I'm not the only one they take care of."

Kyungsoo had just one more question.

"Are you really that scary?" 

Jongin shrugged. "I don't remember much."

"Just tell me what you remember from last time."

The silence between the question and the answer was so long that Kyungsoo thought the other boy hadn't heard him. Finally, when he did speak, Jongin's voice was flat.

"Lay was keeping an eye on me in class because the guard needed to use the bathroom. I was under the effects of the tranq, so I was kind of hazy. It was okay. Everyone thought I would be alright enough to go to class. 

"Someone decided it would be funny to throw an eraser at me, and it hit me in the eye. I flipped out, but not at the person who threw the eraser. I Lay. He's a good fighter and he's really good at talking people down--I think he'd be a good caretaker--but he wasn't expecting me to act under the tranq.

"I tackled him and pinned him against a wall. He pushed me off and twisted my arm up behind my back. I don't really know what happened after that. The next thing I remember, Tao is slamming me across the face, my caretaker and Kris are trying to put me under tranq, and Luhan's trying to stop the bleeding from a bunch of cuts on Lay. His face was messed up. Everyone else in the class was evacuated, but I know--I know that someone was saying that I was a monster."

Kyungsoo didn't miss the waver in Jongin's voice. "They got you back under a tranqulizer, right?"

"Yeah. It feels like...every time, they have to use more."

Jongin was completely motionless, cheek pressed against the back of the couch and hands gripping the handles so hard his knuckles were white, bright orange in the flames.

Kyungsoo wanted to touch him, pat his shoulder, comfort him. Do something. But what can you say to something like that?

"You're going to be okay," he said.

November 23rd:

They gave me the tranq early today. I'm trying to write something before I lose my mind.

Mr. Caretaker had to call in a guard I usually don't have today, since the regulars are all on break. She's one of the plain-clothes ones. Her name is Amber. She's got a boy's haircut and clothes but she's pretty, blonde hair and a nice smile and a little makeup on. I heard that she's super tough, though, and I don't doubt it; angry bear hybrids are probably the most dangerous.

Amber says she used to attend this school and so she knows every nook and cranny. She was laughing when she told me that she could easily find a place to put me where my screams wouldn't be heard. I couldn't laugh with her.

Kyungsoo isn't going home for Thanksgiving break either, so it looks like we'll be on campus with some others that I don't know well.

Oh G-d. What if I do something to Kyungsoo?

Kyungsoo yawned, rubbing his eyes. He'd been up until two the night before, doing all the homework he was supposed to do over break in one night. Sure, it was stupid, and unnecessary, but that didn't mean that he would ever stop doing it.

The dining hall was refreshingly empty, with just a few kids scattered among the motley collection of tables and chairs. He waved at the Mamamoo girls, dressed appropriately in sweatpants and pajama shirts and messy buns (or in Moonbyul's case, loose hair so unnaturally silky that Kyungsoo thought of witchcraft) and nodded at the Troublemaker pair, Hyuna and Hyunseung, as they practiced some dnace routine that involved a lot of whistling and hip-swaying on Hyuna's part. Kyungsoo recalled Jongin telling him that those two were the best duet in the school. 

That's not easy to do here, he thought to himself.

Bora wasn't empty when he got there.

Jongin and some lady with short hair and round brown ears already occupied the dim booth, with the woman leaning against the wall and Jongin sitting on his usual tiny fold-up stool, chin propped on the purple plastic table. They seemed to be in deep conversation.

"...about it, but I mean, that's normal," the woman was saying. "Fair to say that you're overreacting, though."

"You nearly ripped that guy's d--- off last night," Jongin mumbled.

"Okay, he was making moves on me. Shouldn't you be the one defending me? I'm the maiden in distress, aren't I?" The woman laughed, and Kyungsoo frowned, somehow believing that she would have no trouble handling harassment. 

Jongin made a rumbling noise and tilted his head, spotting Kyungsoo. "Satansoo," he said, his voice suddenly a little too high.

Kyungsoo sighed at the name. "Hey, Jongin."

The woman blinked. "Satan...soo?"

Kyungsoo wanted to turn tail and run when she trained her icy blue eyes on him.

"Amber, that's Kyungsoo," Jongin said, singsong. "He's a sweetheart."

Kyungsoo flushed. "I--yeah, that's--sure, that's me."

Amber smirked. "The poor boy's on tranqs right now. He doesn't know what he's saying. Won't remember a single thing when his episode ends."

"I know," Kyungsoo said, nodding.

There was a little snatch of disappointment, though. 

So Jongin only thinks I'm a sweetheart when he's high on tranquilizers.

They ate breakfast in relative silence, interrupted only by Jongin doing some unprecedented Whitney Houston.

"AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIII," he howled. "WILL ALWAYS, LOVE YOOOOOOOOOUUUU!"

Amber threw her hands over her ears, and Kyungsoo slammed his face into the table. Bad singing was one of his pet peeves, to put it nicely.

Jongin abruptly grabbed Kyungsoo's hand, and his tone softened to something smooth and sorrowful (and in tune, Kyungsoo noted). "And I wish for you, joy," he crooned, staring deeply into the cat hybrid's eyes. "And happiness. But above all this--I wish you love." He brought Kyungsoo's hand to his lips and placed the most tender kiss in human (or hybrid) history on his palm.

Something died in Kyungsoo, and he had to ignore his internal screaming as he pulled his hand away.

"I appreciate the...gesture," he managed.

Amber was smothering a laugh, and Jongin shot her a dirty look. 

"Don't laugh at my husband like that," he slurred, patting Kyungsoo's cheek.

Kyungsoo had never been redder. "Kai, please...don't say stuff like that..."

Especially if you don't mean it.

Amber eventually decided that Kyungsoo had had enough harassment (far too late) and dragged Jongin singing back off to wherever he was supposed to be.

"AND I DARE YOU TO LET ME BEEEEEEEE," he was wailing as Amber hauled him towards the health office. "YOUR ONE AND ONLYYYYYYYYYYY!"

I wish, Kyungsoo thought, and turned towards the path that lead to Areum.

As much as he tried, Kyungsoo couldn't get Jongin out of his head. The wolf lived there now, rattling around with off-key tunes and infusing every thought with him. It hadn't even been a month, and Kyungsoo was convinced that he was in love.

One step at a time, he reminded himself. Let's start with like.

It was six at night, and he was tinkering with the fountain in Areum (that he had installed, and no one gave him credit for it) when Amber showed up.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Jongin's been going crazy. Doesn't want to do anything until he sees you."

Kyungsoo stood frozen. "He wants to see me?"

Amber nodded. 

She was a few inches shorter than Kyungsoo, but in that moment, Kyungsoo felt very small. 

"But he's having a wereanimal episode," he said, regretting immediately how childish he sounded. "He might hurt me."

"I won't let him do that," Amber replied confidently. 

Kyungsoo had no doubt that she would, but he was reluctant regardless. "Do I have to?"

"You don't, but his tranqs are wearing off, and he said he won't take the other round until he gets to talk to you."

A wereanimal on tranqs was dangerous. A wereanimal not on tranqs, and during an episode, was even more dangerous.

"I'm coming," Kyungsoo said.

The caretaker's office was warm and cozy. Two couches faced each other on opposite sides of the room, a coffee table between them and fluffy pillows propped up against the black leather backs. 

Jongin was curled up in one corner of the left couch, tail twitching and his eyes glued to some arbitrary spot on the ceiling. As soon as the door opened and Kyungsoo stepped in, he sat up.

"Kyungsoo," he said, opening his arms and smiling so brightly Kyungsoo thought he might go blind. "I missed you!"

"I saw you this mo--"

"He doesn't remember," Amber whispered. "Just go with it."

"Oh. Okay. Uh, I missed you too, Jongin."

Jongin kept his arms open. "Can I have a hug?"

"Uh. Sure."

Kyungsoo settled onto the couch next to Jongin and put his arms around the other boy. To his surprise, Jongin ducked down and nestled his head under Kyungsoo's chin instead of resting it on his shoulder. He took a deep breath and pressed his nose into the soft skin on the cat hybrid's neck. 

Then he bit him.

J-s-s Chr-st--

Kyungsoo yelped and pulled away, hand flying to the spot where Jongin had nipped him. There was no bruise, but it stung.

"Soo?" Jongin asked, crawling towards him. His red eyes were strangely wide, ears turning this way and that. "What's wrong?"

"Am-Amber--" Kyungsoo stuttered.

She was there in an instant, one hand in front of Jongin and another on Kyungsoo's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "Wereanimals act like this sometimes when they're with someone they like."

Someone they like...?

"Basically, he was marking his territory. It's primal, but...well, I guess it happens."

Marking. His. Territory.

"I--"

"Be flattered," Amber said, smiling. "You can go now, though."

Kyungsoo took the offer immediately. "Thank you, Amber."

He stood up and staggered out the door, closing it a little too loudly behind him. A breath whooshed out of him, and he leaned against the wall. 

"G-d," he murmured. 

Kyungsoo was about to leave when he heard Amber's low voice through the door.

"Kai, you went a little far. You scared him. Now look; you scared away your sweetheart."

"But he's miiiiiiine."

There was a quiet crying sound.

"J-s-s. I hate tranqs. You're either asleep or an emotional explosion. Alright, let's get you to sleep."

Kyungsoo stepped away from the door, then broke into a run.

He may be unathletic, but that didn't stop his feet from pounding the concrete faster than he thought they could all the way back to the dorm.