“I know, right?” Ryeowook agreed as he left the restaurant with Taecyeon. “What’s the reason in ordering the fried rice if you leave out almost every vegetable?”

“What does that even taste like? It’s really just rice and chicken, then, isn’t it?”

The cat hybrid shook his head and looked around as if his surroundings would be able to tell him the answer. “I have no—“ His eyes landed on a way too familiar figure that he knew should not be there. What was he doing here? Ryeowook wasn’t sure whether to be happy or rather a little angry, somehow he was feeling both.

Still leaning against the street light near the main entrance of the restaurant, Kyuhyun waved towards him, his smile slowly fading into an expression of slight insecurity.

“Hyung?”

Ryeowook snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Taecyeon. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you on Sunday, alright?”

“Sunday?” Taecyeon replied with a frown but then nodded. “Ah, right, you took tomorrow off, didn’t you?”

Ryeowook nodded. “Exactly.”

“Then have fun with whatever you’re doing. I’ll see you on Sunday,” the younger one replied and waved shortly with a warm smile, then he turned away to leave.

Ryeowook turned back towards Kyuhyun and went over to him with an unhappy expression on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“Is that the way to greet me when I come to pick you up?” the other protested right away and pushed off the street light.

“Since you have exams next week and it’s way too early for you to be off, yes, this is the right way to greet you,” the cat hybrid remarked and held Kyuhyun’s gaze that turned into a sheepish and apologetic one.

“I’m sorry. But noona asked if we could already meet them for dinner to celebrate Donghae being out of the system and no one being able to take him away from noona and Eunhyuk anymore.”

Ryeowook shook his head lightly. At least Kyuhyun’s sister should have known better than to ask her brother right before midterm exams if they could join them for dinner, he thought, but didn’t dare to say that out loud. No, it was enough that he was actually getting to a point where he was starting to mildly criticize Kyuhyun, he should not go past that! There were certain lines that should not be crossed.

The younger man sighed eventually. “Hey, both of us know I’m studying a lot, don’t we? I’ll keep on studying the rest of the weekend and during the entirety of next week when I’m in university. I just really need the chance to shut off for a couple of hours or I think I’ll go insane. Just allow me to enjoy Donghae’s birthday today, alright? I already missed out on the lawyer appointment earlier today so I wouldn’t miss out on too many classes. I literally just got off, dropped my books off at home and came here to pick you up.”

Ryeowook sighed, still not exactly happy, but at the same time he knew whatever he could say wouldn’t be a proper argument. “Alright then, let’s enjoy today and go back to studying and work tomorrow,” he agreed, coaxing a relieved smile from Kyuhyun.

“Thank you.” The slightly older man raised an eyebrow, so Kyuhyun added, “Really, I mean it. I’m glad you’re fine with going out now. I would have felt bad if you had insisted on me studying instead.”

“There’s no need to feel bad.”

“Well, no, you agreed after all.”

The cat hybrid shook his head, feeling once again reminded of his talk about equality with Heechul. “Let’s go now. At what time and where are we supposed to meet them?”

“At six and at a restaurant near their apartment where they’ll hold the party tonight.”

“Do I have time to go back to the apartment first and drop off my bag?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “We’ll need to hurry a little and might run a little late, but it’ll be fine, I already told Ara-noona that we might get there a bit late because you have to work until half past three.”

“Thank you,” Ryeowook replied, feeling a little bad that they might end up being late because of what he was doing. “I hope none of them minds it?”

Kyuhyun quickly shook his head. “No, they can totally understand it, actually. Remember they also arrived later when we met at Hangeng-sshi’s shelter.”

Ryeowook nodded lightly. Of course he remembered that! “Alright then,” he replied and they eventually started walking back to the subway station. “Did you get the tickets?”

“Yes, I did. I also more or less wrapped them up to make it look a little more fancy.” Kyuhyun laughed. “I’m not sure if I succeeded!”

“I’m sure you did.”

“You haven’t seen the result yet,” the younger pointed out, making Ryeowook laugh softly in return.

“That’s true. But I’m still sure it looks good.”

“Well, thanks for believing in me.” They exchanged an amused glance and then looked towards the front again while Kyuhyun stepped onto the escalator, Ryeowook following right behind him. The younger one turned around and grinned up at Ryeowook. “Look at that, you’re taller than me!”

The cat hybrid couldn’t help but laugh. “As if!”

“Right now you are,” Kyuhyun reasoned with an amused smile.

“May I remind you that I’m standing a step above you?”

“Nope.” The younger quickly shook his head and then laughed.

Ryeowook huffed. “You’re silly.”

“I know~”

Once they were downstairs, they went to the right platform but had to wait for a couple of minutes. They stopped at the apartment long enough for them to get ready quickly and double check that they didn’t forget anything, then they left again, taking the subway to go into another direction.

They arrived a little past six.

“Oh,” Kyuhyun made a moment after they arrived while Ryeowook still tried to figure out where they had to go.

“What?”

“Noona didn’t mention our parents would be here today as well. I should’ve been able to figure it out, though.”

Ryeowook instantly stiffened a little at the mention of Kyuhyun’s parents. He hadn’t seen them since they had come with Kyuhyun to sign the contract at Hangeng’s shelter, but a jolt of panic ran through him at the plain thought of seeing them again. Finally, he too spotted the table where Kyuhyun’s parents, his sister, and her two hybrids as well as one hybrid he’d never seen before were already sitting. After a couple of seconds of just staring into that direction and wondering if it was really too late to excuse himself, Eunhyuk looked up and apparently told the others they had arrived because one by one they looked up, Kyuhyun’s parents turning around to look towards them. Upon seeing them, Ara waved with a warm smile and Donghae instantly got up.

“Ryeowook?” The cat hybrid looked back at Kyuhyun who was watching him with slight worry in his eye. “Can you hold the tickets for a moment while I greet the others? And don’t worry too much, this is Donghae’s birthday, no one will do anything to ruin it, alright?” he whispered. Ryeowook nodded softly and took the tickets from Kyuhyun, holding them a little awkwardly while Kyuhyun turned around in time to be able to hug Donghae back as the other arrived.

“Kyuhyun, Ryeowook! You made it!”

“Happy birthday, Donghae~!” Kyuhyun replied enthusiastically.

Ryeowook flashed the dog hybrid a shy and nervous smile. “Happy birthday.”

Donghae laughed. “Come on, you two, let’s sit down and order something good to eat! You worked all day, didn’t you, Ryeowook? You must be hungry.”

“What about me? I’ve been studying all day!” Kyuhyun protested.

“Yah, you’ve probably been eating all day while studying anyway, you can’t possibly be hungry!”

“That’s not true!”

Donghae simply laughed it off. “Have you been in a restaurant before, Ryeowook?” he asked and started walking, one arm casually wrapped around Kyuhyun’s shoulders.

“Yes, once,” the cat hybrid replied quietly without going into detail, but Kyuhyun immediately took over.

“I took him out to eat for our one-month anniversary and for being accepted at the restaurant.”

“Really? Woah, that must have been so nice! That means this is your second time eating in a restaurant, isn’t it?” Donghae glanced over his shoulder, so Ryeowook simply nodded in response. “I hope it will be just as nice as only going out with this kiddo here.”

“Yah! I’m just one and a half years younger than you!” Kyuhyun instantly argued, but Donghae once again laughed it off. He let go of Kyuhyun when they arrived at the table and Kyuhyun greeted his family while Ryeowook simply stood to the side awkwardly, unsure what to do or how to behave, so in the end he just bowed towards everyone. Kyuhyun sat down on one of the two free chairs next to his mother and patted the other one for Ryeowook to sit down as well, so the latter did. “By the way, before I forget it: Ryeowook, this is Mihye-noona,” Kyuhyun added and the female fox hybrid sitting on the other side of the table bowed her head politely in a greeting.

“Hello, Ryeowook-sshi. It’s a pleasure to finally be able to meet you.”

Ryeowook bowed his head back respectfully and mumbled a greeting as well before he looked at Kyuhyun again, a little helpless since he still knew nothing else about Mihye aside from her name. “She belongs to my parents. Ara-noona and I have grown up with Mihye-noona. She took care of us when we were younger and has watched us grow ever since. For the longest time she’s been the only hybrid I really knew.” The cat hybrid nodded in understanding and glanced back at Mihye, flashing her a shy smile.

“By the way, Ryeowook, what are you holding there?” Donghae, who sat across from Kyuhyun, asked into the slowly forming silence and leaned forwards a little.

Ryeowook glanced up and then at Kyuhyun, so the slightly younger man spoke up for him, “He’s holding your birthday present, obviously! But before you get it, I want to know about your day.”

Ara clicked her tongue. “Before you two do that, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, why don’t you decide what you’d like to eat? We’re already ready to order but haven’t done so yet because we wanted to wait for you.”

“Thank you, noona,” Kyuhyun replied with a smile and opened the menu lying in front of him. Ryeowook, too, turned to his menu and opened it, reading through the first page until his head felt like it was spinning. What kind of restaurant was this? He aimlessly read over the names of the other dishes but none of it looked familiar to him. The others started to talk again while he felt another wave of fear rush through him. What was he supposed to do? He had absolutely no idea what any of the things this restaurant offered would taste like! Why wasn’t there anything he knew?

“Ryeowook?” Kyuhyun mumbled and when the cat hybrid looked up, the younger one offered him a reassuring smile. “Do you want me to order something for you that I think you’ll like? Then you could try your dish and mine and see which one you like better, if you want to, we can also switch plates then.”

Ryeowook nodded softly. “Would you?”

“Of course I would. Just go to the last page and pick something you’d like to drink, alright?”

“So they at least offer normal drinks?”

Kyuhyun bit his lip, obviously trying not to burst out laughing, then he nodded softly. “Yes, they do offer beverages you’ll know, too.”

“Okay.” Ryeowook flashed the other a shy but thankful smile. He skipped to the last page of the menu and read through the drinks while Kyuhyun next to him continued to flip through the pages.

When the waitress arrived, Kyuhyun was still looking through the menu, but when he was asked about it, he said he was ready to order nevertheless. All eight of them placed their orders, then the waitress left again.

“Is it normal that you order for Ryeowook?” Donghae asked curiously over the table.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “He’s never tasted the French cuisine before, so I offered to order for him and he agreed that it would be a good idea,” he explained casually.

“You’ve never had a French dish before?” his mother asked, instantly making Ryeowook straighten in his seat.

“No, ma’am. Until I moved in with Kyuhyun, I’ve only ever cooked Korean and Chinese dishes and I eventually learned how to cook every meal I’ve ever tried,” Ryeowook explained quietly while looking vaguely into the direction of Kyuhyun’s mother without really looking at her.

“Right, Kyuhyun-ah already mentioned that he introduced you to Italian food during your first week together and that you usually cook fresh Korean food for him, sometimes also Chinese dishes.” Her voice didn’t sound as cold as it had the first two of times they had met, but when Ryeowook looked up, he nevertheless only looked at Kyuhyun who flashed him a warm, encouraging smile before turning back to Donghae.

“Anyway, what about your day now? I’m dying to hear about it.”

Donghae grinned at him. “Ara-noona, Eunhyuk, and I had the appointment this afternoon because noona had to work, obviously. And I was so, so nervous! I mean, Hyukkie already told me everything would be alright and I knew he was right because it had been alright for him, but I was still really nervous, you know? So we went back to the shelter I last stayed at and the lawyer was already there and I was so afraid he’d tell me something had come up and… I don’t even know, when I think about it now, it doesn’t even make sense that I was afraid of any of that because I’m twenty now, right? Even if he had said I couldn’t stay, what should he have done? If noona doesn’t want me to leave and if I don’t want to leave, they can’t do anything anymore.

“But the lawyer still asked all of those questions. Do I feel comfortable staying with noona and having another hybrid around me? As if me turning twenty would suddenly make me unhappy with my boyfriend!” Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun’s parents at those words and even though he could tell neither one of them was too happy about the reference to Donghae’s relationship with Eunhyuk they didn’t seem to mind it as much as Ryeowook would have expected them to. “And then I had to sign a statement that I too know I’m free now and not bound to follow the rules from before anymore unless I want to, so I guess I am an official part of this family now.”

Kyuhyun laughed. “As if you hadn’t been a part of this family before you signed the statement,” he argued.

“I know, but it feels so good now to officially be free and to know no one will be able to take me away anymore! It’s such a relief to be out of the system now for real!” Donghae replied and his eyes were twinkling with joy. Ryeowook felt reminded of the day when Heechul had called him to tell him he was out of the system and how happy both of them had been back then. That had been about the point at which Hangeng had first mentioned towards Heechul that he was thinking about opening a shelter.

“It really is a relief, isn’t it?” Eunhyuk agreed and he and his boyfriend looked at each other with affection, making Ryeowook look down uncomfortably until Eunhyuk spoke up again. “Ryeowook, you’ll also turn twenty next year, won’t you?”

The cat hybrid nodded softly. “Yes, I will.”

The monkey hybrid grinned. “You’ll understand then what we’re talking about. I know Hae only understood what I’ve been talking about recently when he was suddenly in the same position.”

Donghae nodded. “I think I was the most afraid right before the lawyer’s appointment.”

“That doesn’t even really make sense, does it?” Eunhyuk replied and the two of them looked at each other again and then burst out laughing. “Really, it’s just formalities then! Why were we so afraid right before the appointment? We should have been afraid a day before our birthday!”

Ara clicked her tongue. “Boys, calm down. If you keep on being like this, you’ll only end up making Ryeowook anxious.”

“But there is no need to be anxious,” Donghae argued.

“Though it probably is normal to be nervous before the appointment,” Eunhyuk reasoned and then shrugged. “Anyway, Ryeowook, don’t get yourself too worked up next year, alright? It’ll be fine, you’ll see. And yes, I know this is easier said than done.”

Ryeowook nodded softly. “Thank you, Eunhyuk-sshi.”

“Oh please, Ryeowook, just call us ‘hyung’. You’re part of our family, Hae is only half a year older than you from what Kyu said and I’m just a little over a year older than you are, so please don’t use honorifics with us. It’ll just make me feel old if you do!”

The cat hybrid blushed a little and looked down, playing a little with his hands in his lap nervously. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re still not comfortable enough with us to use informal language, are you?”

This time, it was Kyuhyun who clicked his tongue. “He’s only started using informal language with me not too long ago.”

“You’re also not a hybrid,” Eunhyuk reasoned.

“And you don’t live with him,” Kyuhyun instantly deadpanned, successfully shutting the monkey hybrid up.

“Touché,” Ara commented with a soft chuckle and then turned back to the young cat hybrid again. “Ryeowook, whenever you feel comfortable enough with us, please feel free to use informal language, okay? Let’s meet up more often from now on so you get the chance to get to know us better, alright?”

Ryeowook looked up hesitantly and found Kyuhyun’s sister watching him, flashing him a warm smile when they made eye contact, so he nodded shyly. “Okay.”

Ara’s smile turned even brighter. “Great!”

“Donghae, what exactly are the plans for tonight?” Kyuhyun spoke up again and Ryeowook was grateful that the conversation was shifting away from him.

“The others are invited to come to the apartment starting at nine, everything else has pretty much been arranged already. We’ll have music, we already informed the neighbors that we’ll be hosting a party tonight… Oh, Kyuhyun, since you’ll have to stay sober anyway, could you keep an eye on the door from time to time?” Donghae asked.

Said man huffed. “I’m not only a fulltime student who’s right about to face midterms but now I’ll also have to play doorman for you guys.”

“Please?” The dog hybrid made puppy eyes that even Ryeowook had to admit looked really cute in combination with his dog ears.

“Of course I will, Hae. You should already know that.”

“Yay, thanks!”

“Who’s coming? And how many are they?”

“They’re twenty. Ish?”

Kyuhyun sighed. “So you’re saying you invited fifteen to twenty people but they’ll probably bring some friends?”

“Pretty much, yes.” Donghae’s smile turned sheepish.

“Do you have enough drinks at the apartment?”

“We should,” Eunhyuk jumped in and Ara nodded as well.

When a young woman arrived at the table, everyone went quiet and instead started to focus on the ordered meals instead.

Ryeowook got to try his and Kyuhyun’s meal, realizing quickly that Kyuhyun had been right with the meal he had picked, though he also decided that so far he preferred the Chinese and the Korean cuisine and the small bits of Italian food he had been introduced to.

After dinner, conversations drifted off into all kinds of directions. As always, Ryeowook mainly listened, this time especially to the conversations that Kyuhyun and Ara’s parents engaged in, a task that turned out to be more difficult than he had thought at first because the two adults were talking to different people.

At some point, the cat hybrid went to use the restroom and when he returned, Kyuhyun’s father was sitting on the chair he had used before. Hesitantly, he went to the now vacant chair instead and sat down across from Mihye. He watched the others for a while, unsure if any of them would speak up about him not sitting in the same spot anymore. Eventually, it was the fox hybrid who spoke up. “Ryeowook-sshi?” The cat hybrid looked up to make eye contact and to see the woman across from him smile softly at him. “Welcome to our family.”

“Thank you.” Ryeowook bowed his head lightly to show his gratitude.

“Kyuhyun has been talking a lot about you whenever he called these past months.”

“He has?”

Mihye nodded. “Yes, of course. He said you’re talking to your best friend a lot, so shouldn’t it be obvious that he, too, needs someone to vent to from time to time? I’m sure he usually turned to his sister, Eunhyuk, and Donghae when he had questions, though. But you know, his parents and I were also curious about how things would develop.”

Ryeowook hesitated but then he nodded. “Yes, I understand. None of you knows me well, after all.”

“That’s true. But so far I’ve only heard good things about you.”

The cat hybrid couldn’t help but smile and glance into Kyuhyun’s direction, even though the latter didn’t notice it since he was currently in the middle of a conversation with his mother and Eunhyuk. “Of course he’d only say good things about me.” After the past nearly three months of living together, he had already learned that much.

“I heard you usually cook fresh meals for the two of you?”

Ryeowook looked back at Mihye and nodded at the question. “Yes, that’s true.”

“I’m glad. I have to admit I was a little worried about his eating habits, his financial situation, and his health. But knowing he usually gets a warm meal when he gets home and knowing he prefers it a lot over eating out is a relief for me.”

The cat hybrid looked down awkwardly. “Thank you. I’m sure he just missed your cooking and knew he wouldn’t be able to cook as well.”

“He also never made an effort to learn how to cook unlike his sister.”

“He didn’t?” Ryeowook looked at the fox hybrid in surprise. “When he’s around, too, he usually comes up to me to see if he can help me with anything.” The memory crossed his mind that Kyuhyun had even made breakfast for them when he himself had overslept, but the cat hybrid decided not to share that as well. In the end, it might just leave a bad impression because he wasn’t supposed to oversleep, after all!

“Really? Maybe he learned then that it would be helpful to know some basics.” Mihye laughed softly. “He’s grown up so much since he moved out. But I’m nevertheless glad he has you around now to watch over him.”

“Watch over him?” Ryeowook frowned. He had never thought of their living together in that kind of way, quite the opposite actually. How was he supposed to be watching over what Kyuhyun was doing? The other wasn’t a little child anymore, after all!

Mihye on the other hand nodded, though. “Yes, yes. Cooking for him and making sure he actually will eat at least two meals a day that include something healthy, making sure the household will be kept clean and that the laundry will be done, going grocery shopping, supporting him with what he is doing, worrying about him, keeping him company… All of that is watching over someone.”

“But that’s just what I was taught is normal for us to do. Is it not?”

“It is,” Mihye agreed, “at least for people like you and me who grew up with strongly enforced rules. I know Eunhyuk, too, grew up that way and only loosened up eventually because of Ara and Donghae. I am still part of that system unlike you three who live with the next generation, yet both of us have been in the system for long enough to know by heart what’s expected of us and to not see it as an extra thing to do. I know that especially after his time of living alone Kyuhyun highly appreciates you doing everything we’ve been taught without complaining about it or asking if it’s a necessary thing to do. You just see work that needs to be done and you’ll do it.”

Ryeowook looked back at Kyuhyun who was still talking to Eunhyuk and his mother. He had already known the other was grateful for Ryeowook’s help around the apartment, but hearing it from someone else now, someone who had seen Kyuhyun grow up all the way, somehow made it even more real for him. It also made him see the advantages again that he had by living with someone who was even younger than he was instead of living with someone who was the average age of shelter owners, so usually forty and above.

Probably feeling his eyes on him, Kyuhyun looked up and they made eye contact for a moment. Kyuhyun smiled warmly at him, then he turned back to his conversation.

Ryeowook turned to the fox hybrid again. “Mihye-sshi?”

“Yes?”

“Do you work? I mean outside the house.”

Mihye shook her head. “No, I don’t. That’s mainly a trend that has developed during the past ten years when the next and thus younger generation of hybrid owners slowly took over, I think.”

“What about… presents?” Ryeowook was almost afraid to mention that topic since he himself wasn’t even sure yet how to really think about it.

Mihye shook her head again. “That too is a trend that has only developed during the past few years, though Ara and Kyuhyun usually do try to get something small for me as well. I remember the two of them sneaking into my room one night after bedtime and handing me their first present…” Her eyes went to the siblings for a moment and her smile was dreamy and as if she was far away.

“What was it?” Ryeowook asked quietly and Mihye turned her attention back to him again.

“A small collection of pictures they had drawn and a short story from Ara as well as a small letter from Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun had still been in elementary school back then, so his writing was poor and occasionally he used pictures to demonstrate what he wanted to express, but to this day I still have the collection in my bedside table.”

“Is that a normal thing for children to do?”

Mihye nodded. “Yes. When they start drawing, they’ll want to give their drawings to the people they love, assuming they will be just as amazed at their drawing and even happier to receive it. It’s about the same when they start learning how to write. They’ll write short stories, poems, letters… They are usually still poorly written and with many mistakes, but once you are able to watch them grow and develop, it’s actually quite amazing.”

Ryeowook smiled sadly, suddenly wondering what that must have been like. As hybrids they had never done any of that since everything had only ever been a mandatory thing they needed to know and never anything special.

“I’m curious, have you ever tried alcohol before, Ryeowook-sshi?”

The cat hybrid shook his head in response. “No, I haven’t. Heechul-hyung and Hangeng-hyung sometimes offered me to try some, but I always declined. I know a few others from hyung’s shelter accepted the offer.”

“I see. There will probably a lot of alcohol tonight. Please remind Kyuhyun not to drink too much, okay.”

“I will. He said he still has so much studying to do…”

“Do you think he’ll do good at his exams?”

Ryeowook shrugged lightly. “What do I know? I don’t know what exams are like except for stressful and scary.”

Mihye laughed. “Then I guess you share the same opinion on them as everyone else who’s ever had to take exams!”

“Really?” The fox hybrid simply nodded, so Ryeowook continued to speak, “Kyuhyun has been studying a lot, so I’m sure he’ll do really good. I wish I could help him more, though. I mean, he keeps on saying that what I’m doing is enough, but I still wish I could somehow help him remember all the things he needs to memorize.”

Mihye nodded softly. “I understand. I was lucky that when those two entered school I could still help them and Ara could also help Kyuhyun. But at some point it just gets too specialized for us… I learned that we can help sometimes, though. Especially Ara came to me and sometimes had me read her notes, sometimes she’d just go without: she told me all of the things she had to remember and then asked me if there was anything that seemed to be missing. Usually I couldn’t help her with the missing points, but she always said it helped her when I listened to it because by saying those things out loud and explaining them to me, she could check if she understood everything. She also always wanted me to ask questions when I didn’t understand something she was talking about.”

“You two are very close, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we are. But isn’t that natural? I’ve been the youngest other woman around the house, the only one who was there all day long. I think sometimes Kyuhyun would have preferred a male hybrid around the house, someone he can feel closer to and learn from.”

“What about…” Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun’s father who sat beside his son, unsure if he could say it out loud without attracting attention.

Mihye seemed to understand, though, because she shook her head. “While their mother was still home a lot, their father worked during most of the days. It’s probably almost the same as it is with Kyuhyun now, his father mainly came home to sleep and was around on the weekends, though even that wasn’t always an assurance that he would not be busy or have time for his children. He’s always been a very busy man and only started to be home a little more recently. It’s sad, but I think Kyuhyun will follow in his steps.”

Ryeowook’s eyes drifted to Kyuhyun again and suddenly he was sad. “Really?”

“He might. Or maybe he’ll stay true to himself and find yet another way to build a new way of living even in that part of life. He’s still part of a new generation.” When Ryeowook looked at Mihye again, she shrugged softly. “Whatever he does, I’m curious to see how he’ll make it work out.”

“Me, too,” Ryeowook admitted with a soft smile that was immediately returned by the fox hybrid.

“Unnie, you two get along very well, don’t you?” Ara asked and turned towards them, also attracting her father’s attention while Donghae instead turned to engage in the conversation the others were having.

Mihye blushed softly but she smiled nevertheless. “I guess that’s true. I think it is because we’re alike in many ways,” she replied and Ara nodded in understanding.

“I can see that. It makes me happy to know you two can talk so easily to each other even when you’re not usually that talkative.”

The fox hybrid looked at Ryeowook again and the two of them smiled softly. Ryeowook too appreciated being able to talk to Mihye that easily, but he knew a major part of it was their common worry about Kyuhyun and only wanting the best for him. And Mihye had probably wanted to find out a little more about the hybrid who was now staying with the boy she had partly raised.

“Does anyone want desserts?” Donghae spoke up and looked around curiously.

“Don’t we have lots of snacks and some cake at home?” Ara asked back.

“We do, but—“

The young woman clicked her tongue. “No ‘but’, there’s no need to waste even more of dad’s money when we have dessert at home.”

“Talking about it, shouldn’t we go home soon?” Eunhyuk asked and leaned forward a little, probably to see the others better. “It’s already getting a little late and I don’t want to have any guests already waiting for us at the front door.”

“That’s true,” Ara agreed and looked around. “Are you all okay with going home now?” Everyone around the table nodded, so she added, “Then let’s go now. And thank you, dad, for treating us tonight.”

“Thank you,” the others repeated and her father nodded.

“You’re welcome, everyone. It was good to see you again.”

Ryeowook looked down, unsure whether he too was meant with those words or not, but then he stood up when everyone else did, too. He went to stand with Kyuhyun, taking Donghae’s present back once more so the other could bid his parents and Mihye goodbye. Holding the present, he suddenly wondered when they’d actually pass it on to Donghae, but he figured Kyuhyun would know when to do it.

As they left the restaurant, Donghae called out, “I’m riding shotgun!”

Ara laughed. “No, you’re not. Do you think I’ll have Ryeowook sitting squished between all of you guys?”

“What? But it’s my birthday!”

“I’m afraid Ryeowook has a better argument than you do,” Eunhyuk remarked with an amused grin.

“Aish…” Donghae muttered, sounding just as unamused about that fact as he looked, but then he shrugged it off, grinning back at the cat hybrid who was truly getting confused with his behavior. “I guess it’s more important that you are coming with us! Is this your first party ever?”

“The first party of this kind, yes,” Ryeowook agreed hesitantly.

“I’ll be your first!” Donghae cheered and then laughed. “It’s so cool that you’re with us now! You get to experience all these cool things that Ara-noona and Kyuhyun introduced us to as well.”

“Oh come on, Hae, life at shelters isn’t all that boring! And if you had listened properly, you would’ve noticed Ryeowook only said it’s the first party of this kind, not his first in general,” Eunhyuk replied.

“Ah right. What kinds of parties have you already been to?” Both hybrids looked at Ryeowook curiously and the younger one looked down uncomfortably.

“Nothing big. Hyung always organized a small party for us around Christmas and New Year’s, which mainly consisted of Sungmin-hyung and me cooking something fancy and the others decorating the house and cleaning it, and then we would sit together for some hours and eat and tell stories or share thoughts…” Ryeowook shrugged lightly. He knew that compared to most shelters those things were a huge upgrade, but he also realized it was absolutely nothing special in the everyday life outside the shelters.

“Wow, that’s so nice! Hangeng-sshi and Heechul-sshi really put up a lot of effort to create a nice atmosphere in the shelter for you all!” Donghae replied with a soft sigh.

“I wish every shelter owner would eventually adapt to that way of leading a shelter,” Eunhyuk agreed and Ryeowook nodded softly.

When they got to the car, he hesitantly got onto the passenger’s seat, but as he glanced to the back, the topic of who would sit where had already been forgotten. With a soft smile, he turned to the front again and simply enjoyed the ride.

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This was the comparably official part. How did you like it? Next week you'll get the second part ;P <3