“You’re calling late.”

“Not my fault that someone was on the phone all night when I had wanted to call.”

“You should’ve called before work.”

“Because you would have obviously been totally delighted to hear from me at eight in the morning.”

“Touché.”

Ryeowook laughed and briefly glanced outside when the subway came to a halt, but he knew even without looking that he still had two more stops to go before he’d have to get off again. “Anyway, Happy New Year, hyung.”

“Happy New Year, my baby.”

“Happy New Year, Ryeowook,” Sungmin’s voice could also be heard.

“Did you put me on speaker?”

“Nope.” Aka Heechul was hugging a certain probably by then annoyed bunny hybrid, Ryeowook translated for himself.

“Hyung, about that, I was wondering if you’d like me to come over later. Until Hangeng-hyung comes back or so…”

“You don’t need to.”

“But you’d like me to.”

“Wookie-baby, you have your own family to be with.”

“And you’ve never been good when you had to be on your own. Plus,” he hurried to add before Heechul could argue further, “I don’t even know any of the hybrids who joined the shelter in October.”

“You actually don’t know any of the hybrids here except for Sungmin and me.”

“So Hyuna and Sohyun also found a home?”

“Yes,” Heechul revealed. “Hyuna found a home early in January, Sohyun found a place shortly before New Year’s. Our New Year’s, not the international one. Oh, and Gikwang also left, but he already found a home before Christmas. He just wasn't able to attend the party because he and his family had already made different plans. I’m really glad that all three of them are able to spend these days with a family and not here at the shelter. ”

“Me too, that’s really great! When you and Hangeng-hyung talk to them again, will you tell them that I’m happy for them?”

“Of course we will.”

“So I can come over, can’t I?”

“Ryeowook, there’s no need to come over, really. I’m fine and—“

“But I’m not!” Sungmin protested. “Ryeowook, please come over! You’re used to all this hugging, I—“ His next words only came out muffled, making the young cat hybrid smile.

“I said there is no reason to come over. I promise, everything’s alright.”

“I’ll be there in one or two hours then, alright hyung? Maybe Kyuhyun will also come along,” Ryeowook replied and hurried to end the call before his best friend could argue against it any further. He smiled to himself while he put the phone back into the pocket of his coat. He could imagine way too clearly how annoyed Sungmin had to be. While the bunny hybrid was usually fine with skinship, Ryeowook knew that Heechul could easily get too much for the people around him when Hangeng wasn’t around for a while.

Two hours later, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook arrived at the shelter. Kyuhyun had also been curious about the new hybrids and Ryeowook assumed the other also simply wanted to see Heechul’s desperation for himself, probably still doubting that things were really as bad as Ryeowook described them.

Once they were at the front door, the cat hybrid automatically reached for his key while Kyuhyun rang the doorbell. Their eyes met for a moment, Ryeowook’s hand still lingering on the pocket of his pants, ready to take out his key chain—then they burst out laughing. After a couple of seconds, the cat hybrid leaned against the wall next to the door to keep himself up while Kyuhyun bent over, both of them still trying to calm down when the door was opened.

“Heechul-hyung, it’s—“ Sungmin started but was interrupted almost immediately.

“Wookie-baby!!!”

Ryeowook stepped forward in time to keep Heechul from running outside in his house slippers. He instantly hugged his best friend, holding on to him to make sure he wouldn’t lose his balance with how much he was still laughing.

“What on earth happened here?” Sungmin asked eventually and Heechul stepped back a bit, prying himself out of the hug.

“Come on guys, let’s get inside. It’s freezing out here.”

“Ryeowook just… tried to unlock the door,” Kyuhyun explained briefly as he followed the older cat hybrid’s demand, still trying to catch his breath.

Ryeowook, having thought he was able to finally calm down, burst out laughing all over again. “I’m sorry! I am so used to it.”

“Yah, have you not lived with Kyuhyun for long enough now to know this here isn’t your home anymore?” Heechul huffed.

“I’m sorry,” Ryeowook gasped out, slowly calming down.

The older cat hybrid scoffed. “Whatever,” he replied and turned to Sungmin. “Since Ryeowookie will stay for a bit, would you please tell everyone to gather in the living room so we can make proper introductions?”

“Of course. Can I get you two anything to drink?”

“I can also get it on my own,” Ryeowook argued right away, but Heechul clicked his tongue.

“Not gonna happen, you’re the guest right now.”

“Hyung, I’ll probably be cooking dinner anyway and I’ll get my own drinks afterwards, no matter what you say,” Ryeowook reasoned.

“Then allow me to act like you’re my guests for now. Now is now, later is later.”

“Fine,” Ryeowook agreed and finally put down his bag and started to take off his boots and coat, realizing Kyuhyun had already taken off all of those. “Sungmin-hyung, could you get me some water, please?”

“Of course.”

“Do you also have coke?”

Sungmin nodded. “Would you like a glass?”

“Yes, please.”

The moment Ryeowook had hung away his coat, Heechul took his hand. “Let’s go,” he said and pulled the younger cat hybrid along. Ryeowook laughed softly and glanced over his shoulder at Kyuhyun in a nonverbal ‘I told you’-manner, then he looked ahead again.

A few other hybrids were already sitting in the living room and even though they were currently cleaning the table, Ryeowook assumed they had been somewhere in the middle of the game of cards that he spotted one of them carry away. When they entered, they all stood up briefly to bow towards them and give a formal greeting.

“Hello. Please relax,” Ryeowook replied and flashed them a warm smile while he let Heechul pull him to sit on the sofa with him. As soon as they had sat down, Heechul wrapped an arm around the younger’s shoulders and his cat tail around Ryeowook’s waist, so the other cat hybrid automatically responded to it by wrapping his cat tail around his best friend as well and inching a bit closer to comfortably cuddle with Heechul. Kyuhyun sat down on his other side and Ryeowook watched curiously as more and more hybrids filed in, watching him with just as much curiosity, all of them greeting them politely. Eventually, Sungmin returned and put down two glasses in front of Ryeowook and Kyuhyun. Both of them thanked the bunny hybrid and took a small sip before they put the glasses down again almost in sync.

“Alright, guys,” Heechul spoke up, “I want you all to meet two very dear friends of mine. Ryeowook here has lived with me for years already and he helped Hannie and me a lot with this shelter. Kyuhyun has taken my little baby in last year.”

Ryeowook rolled his eyes at the nickname, but he was way too used to it to still protest. Instead, he bowed his head lightly towards the hybrids around. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you all,” he started and then turned to Heechul in slight amazement. “I think this is the first time that I really don’t know any of the hybrids living here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I think so, too…”

“This is so weird…” Ryeowook faced all the hybrids in front of him again and briefly counted them, frowning a little. “The shelter is almost completely full, isn’t it?”

“Yes. When most of these guys arrived in October, we actually had reached our maximum capacity.”

“Woah…” Maximum capacity still meant that everyone got their own room and that one room was left empty in case of an emergency, but during all the years Ryeowook had spent at Hangeng’s shelter, it hadn’t happened often that nearly all the rooms had been taken.

“Which reminds me,” Heechul added and turned to look at the others, “Ryeowook is off-limits for you all. He’s not comfortable with skinship, so I expect all of you to behave accordingly.”

“Hyung, let’s be honest: while I’m here no one else will get the chance to touch me anyway because you’ll be all over me,” Ryeowook commented in amusement.

“But that’s what you’re here for, isn’t it?” Heechul asked back with an expression of fake surprise, making clear that he had absolutely no doubt about Ryeowook’s reason to have come back to the shelter.

“Of course that’s what I’m here for, hyung—someone’s got to save Sungmin-hyung from time to time, after all.”

“Yah!”

Ryeowook giggled and cuddled a little closer to his best friend. “Why don’t we start proper introductions? Everyone already knows who Kyuhyun and I are now, but we still don’t know any names.”

Heechul nodded and turned to look at the young fox hybrid sitting next to him who then leaned forward a bit and spoke up, “I’m Shin Jimin, I’ve joined this shelter about a month after the other shelter collapsed.”

Ryeowook nodded, repeating her name in his head to make sure that he wouldn’t forget it, then he looked at the next hybrid, a dog hybrid who had one hand rested on the younger dog hybrid’s hand next to him as far as Ryeowook could tell. “I’m Jeonghan and this,” with his free hand he gestured to the hybrid sitting next to him, “is Dino.”

“About that,” Heechul interrupted the introductions and turned to face Ryeowook and Kyuhyun again. “Yes, that is a nickname,” he explained even though that had obviously not been what he had actually wanted to say. “But Kyuhyun, I have a favor to ask of you: if you can, please don’t get too close to Dino. He hasn’t exactly had a lot of good experiences with humans until he came here.”

Kyuhyun nodded, but Ryeowook could tell the other was still confused. “About the nicknames, is that normal?”

“Do you really think that ‘Eunhyuk’ is the real name of your sister’s hybrid?” Ryeowook asked back with a soft smile. “If you ask me, he wouldn’t really have been given such a name at a shelter and that someone would give him that name and then send him off to the shelters without raising him seems unlikely to me, too.”

“Are you sure?” Kyuhyun asked hesitantly and the cat hybrid nodded.

“I’ve lived in shelters for nineteen years, don’t forget that.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier to just stick to one name?”

“Easier, yes, but there are other factors. Maybe we have a bad connection to our real name or even a former nickname so we decide to switch names when we get to a new shelter; as long as they don’t have a file that states our real name, changing names is always possible. Or maybe the opposite is the case and we know for whatever reason who gave us that name and we don’t want to connect any bad memories with it so we lie about our name. And before you ask: I’ve been called Ryeowook for as long as I can remember.”

Kyuhyun seemed to be relieved at that extra information and he nodded his head lightly. “How do I still know nothing about shelters when you’ve lived with me for nearly seven months already?”

Ryeowook simply flashed the younger man a soft smile, unwilling to answer that question and risk having to eventually explain all of it. Instead, he turned to face the other hybrids again who had been watching and listening to their conversation curiously. "Eunhyuk—as in Eunhyuk and Donghae?" a female fox hybrid asked shyly and Ryeowook nodded, only realizing a moment later that this was something they probably shouldn't know about as much as they all did.

"Hang on a second," Kyuhyun next to him interrupted again and when Ryeowook glanced over at him, the younger's confusion was written on his face. "How do you know about Eunhyuk and Donghae?"

This time, the cat hybrid turned to look at Sungmin who instantly got his cue. He had been the first one Ryeowook knew who had mentioned the somehow famous hybrid couple. "They're kind of like a legend among hybrids," Sungmin started. "They drew attention by getting adopted together by a young woman who was barely a year older than they are, if I got it right. Hybrids getting adopted together is already a pretty big thing and then even to someone who had only just turned eighteen... That pretty much never happens. After that, we kind of lost sight of them until the rumor started to spread that they are in a relationship and absolutely no one had any troubles believing that because it worked so well with the bits of information we had anyway. Since as far as everyone is concerned—which by the way is an impression that they have also left when I met them—they have a loving home, they're kind of the ideal for us. They found love, they were able to stay together with someone they trusted even when they were adopted, and they found a family."

"But how did you find out that they're together? Eunhyuk only confessed to Donghae long after they had moved out of the shelter."

Sungmin laughed softly. "I think you're underestimating hybrids. Someone probably saw the confession and then told it a friend who passed that information on because it's a sweet story worth sharing with all of us. I heard it for the first time when a few hybrids came back from grocery shopping, so they probably overheard that in a store."

Kyuhyun shook his head and Ryeowook could identify disbelief and admiration as well as pride on his face. "Wow, that's just..." He searched for a word but then gave up, shaking his head lightly.

"That, Kyuhyun, is hybrid culture. When we see something beautiful, we'll share it and then others will hear it and they will also share it," Heechul replied quietly and turned to the other hybrids sitting in front of them. "So, where were we?" he asked before Kyuhyun got the chance to press for any details about the first part.

During the following minutes, Ryeowook learned that most of the hybrids around had indeed only joined this house after the other shelter had collapsed in October even though there were also two who had still joined the shelter before then and three who had joined afterwards while three others had found a home in the meantime, two of whom he had already met at the Christmas party.

Ryeowook stayed at the shelter until Monday. He spent the mornings at work and then the afternoons either at the shelter or at the apartment with Kyuhyun, depending on what the younger man wanted to do, but he always returned to the shelter for the nights to help a bit with dinner and to be by Heechul’s side and help manage everything that Sungmin didn’t get done even though he had to admit that Sungmin did a pretty good job. Especially Jeonghan and Solar, the fox hybrid who had asked about Eunhyuk and Donghae, also helped a lot with taking care of everyone. Saeun also came over one evening to help with dinner. Ryeowook enjoyed cooking a broader variety of food again and making variations of meals he had learned in the meantime, making sure to always include at least one vegetarian meal and to vary the spiciness of the food he was making to ensure that no one would complain about too spicy or too mild food.

On Monday, he went straight to the shelter after work. He and Sungmin had made the plan to more or less make another big New Year’s dinner to welcome Hangeng back home, just like they did every year. Plus, they had gotten a surprise call the day before that Hangeng would bring another hybrid with him to Korea and in consequence Heechul had explained to them just how poor the hybrid system was in China and that many hybrids weren’t even able to get into shelters at all and thus had to live on the streets, having to deal with harassment and abuse on a daily basis. Apparently, one of those hybrids had attracted Hangeng’s attention among other reasons because of a stunning physical similarity between him and Heechul, leaving the cat hybrid sulking all day and hugging Ryeowook the entire time, completely ignoring that the younger hybrid tried to prepare dinner.

Kyuhyun also joined them a while later, but this time he arrived with his car, reasoning that they were more flexible with their leaving time like this.

It was already shortly past eight and they had finished preparing dinner and simply chatted in the kitchen when Ryeowook could hear another car turn onto the shelter’s driveway. A mere heartbeat later, Heechul jumped up. “Hannie’s back!” he exclaimed excitedly and rushed towards the entrance.

“It’s always like that,” Ryeowook explained with a knowing smile towards Kyuhyun who simply nodded in response. Sungmin and the other two hybrids who had been with them were the first ones to get up, then Ryeowook and Kyuhyun followed after them more slowly, though unlike usually Ryeowook went past the other hybrids who were slowly gathering in the hallway and he instead waited by the door. Heechul himself had already put on his shoes and hurried outside, greeting Hangeng just as the other closed the trunk to his car. Ryeowook looked further to the side curiously where he spotted a dog hybrid who looked rather lost and a moment later he knew why Hangeng had arrived so late: he had taken the other hybrid to a hair dresser first and judging by the plastic bags the hybrid and Hangeng were holding, they had also gone to the second-hand store where they usually got clothes while they lived in this shelter. Ryeowook knew Hangeng also wouldn’t mind getting clothes from a proper store, but he also knew that the other’s financial resources were nevertheless finite and mostly spent on their well-being at the shelter. Taking the new hybrid’s appearance in for a moment, he quickly realized that Hangeng had said the truth; despite the , the new hybrid did look quite a lot like a younger version of Heechul.

“Heechul, won’t you at least give me the chance to enter?” Hangeng protested eventually and Ryeowook looked over at his best friend to see him shake his head.

“Nope~ When you miss me so much that you even get another hybrid who looks like me, how can you expect me to let go of you now?”

Hangeng laughed in response. “This was a coincidence. You don’t even like the cold, so let’s get inside, alright?”

Heechul huffed and eventually let go of his boyfriend, only taking his hand. “Alright. But only because you’re right about me not liking the cold!”

“Of course.” They went into the shelter again, Heechul leading the way happily. They hadn’t quite entered yet when Hangeng’s eyes landed on Ryeowook. “Oh, hey. Heechul told me you two came to visit, but I wouldn’t have expected to see you today.”

The young cat hybrid shrugged lightly. “Well, I’m only just getting to know everyone in this shelter, you didn’t really expect me to leave ahead of time when I knew you’re bringing another hybrid, did you?”

Hangeng laughed once again and closed the door behind the new hybrid once they were all inside, then they put down the bags and Hangeng began to take off his outdoor clothes. “Feeling left out, huh?”

“Actually, yes! I have to come visit you guys more often, it’s so strange to know things are happening here that I don’t know about,” Ryeowook replied and looked down, causing the two shelter leaders and Kyuhyun to laugh.

“Oh Ryeowook, you’ve gotten way too invested in this place,” Hangeng commented and a moment later, the cat hybrid could feel the other ruffle his hair, expertly avoiding to come in touch with his cat ears just like he usually did.

When the older pulled his hand back, Ryeowook looked up with a softly smile. “But can you blame me? This is the first place where I’ve ever felt at home,” he replied honestly.

“Then I guess I’ll rather feel honored that I was your first in that sense,” Hangeng answered and bowed his head lightly with an amused smile.

“Since dinner is ready, why don’t we all continue talking in the dining room?” Ryeowook suggested, figuring it would be more comfortable to get to know each other while they had dinner.

“So dinner’s ready?” Hangeng asked in surprise and the cat hybrid nodded.

“Of course it is! You haven’t had your Korean New Year’s dinner yet, after all,” Ryeowook reasoned. It had somehow become almost something like a custom that they made their traditional New Year’s dinner not on New Year’s itself but once Hangeng returned from his trip to China so that he could also participate in it.

“Alright. I’ll just show Jun here everything first, alright?”

“Do you want me to come along? I prepared the room next to mine because that one’s been empty since Hyuna moved out,” Sungmin offered, but Hangeng shook his head.

“Please don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I’ll just take care of it real quick before we’ll join you. You guys can go ahead and sit down if you’d like.”

Heechul nodded and automatically resumed his position by Hangeng’s side even though Ryeowook could tell the older didn’t understand anything as Hangeng turned to the hybrid introduced to them as Jun and continued to speak Chinese. But the pride in Heechul’s eyes made the sneak peek Ryeowook had taken worth it. Just like Heechul, he himself also found it amazing when people could speak more than just one language and hearing Hangeng switch from Korean to Chinese seamlessly did seem quite amazing to both of them.

“I could actually understand him,” Kyuhyun whispered when they entered the dining room and Ryeowook looked up to find the younger’s eyes sparkle with happiness over this success.

“Really? You know Chinese?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve had Chinese classes since high school, but somehow I’m nevertheless surprised that I was able to understand him.” Kyuhyun laughed softly in embarrassment. “Then again, he only said something really simple, so I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.”

“But still, that’s really great,” Ryeowook replied with a bright smile towards Kyuhyun.

“You think so?”

“Of course!” The cat hybrid nodded enthusiastically. “We don’t really learn other languages than Korean so at least to me and Heechul-hyung it’s always amazing to hear people speak in a different language or to know that they understand that other language.”

“Somehow I’m actually surprised that even at this shelter you don’t learn any other languages… I guess I somehow thought that Hangeng-sshi would teach you guys some Chinese since, well, he’s obviously fluent at it.”

Ryeowook shrugged lightly. “Usually it’s not mandatory for us to know other languages than Korean and maybe a tad bit of English… You see, Hangeng-hyung is usually busy throughout the days anyway.”

“What else does he do?”

“Well, he sometimes helps out as a chef and has meetings and stuff and business that I have no idea of… And I think Heechul-hyung once mentioned that Hangeng either gives or takes some kind of martial arts lessons.”

“That’s cool!”

Arriving in the dining room behind all of the other hybrids, Ryeowook motioned for Kyuhyun to sit in the middle of the table. On the other side, three more spots were free for Heechul, Hangeng, and Jun, and Ryeowook was certain that Sungmin would sit down beside either him or Kyuhyun.

A moment later, said bunny hybrid entered the room, carrying a big bowl. Ryeowook automatically got up again but waited until the bunny hybrid had put down the bowl before he asked, “Hyung, is there anything I can help you with?”

The older man looked at him in amusement. “No, don’t worry about it. Just sit down and relax, alright?”

“But—”

“Ryeowook. I know it’s difficult for you, but you’re our guest. I have enough helpers here, believe me, okay?”

The cat hybrid hesitated but then he sat down slowly nevertheless. “Okay...”

“Maybe I shouldn’t let you come over too much...” Kyuhyun mused and Ryeowook looked at him, raising an eyebrow. The younger turned his head and grinned. “You seem to start forgetting that you have a different life outside this place now.”

“No, that’s not it… It’s just… I’ve been here so long, it’s easy to fall back into old habits. And you know I like being able to help and cook anyway.”

“Just another reason to keep you all to myself.”

“Why~?”

“Because if I don’t, the others might get too used to your great cooking~” Kyuhyun comment and Ryeowook only realized a moment later that the other was actually teasing him.

“Admit it, you’re just jealous that you’re not the only one whom I cook for,” the young hybrid dared to tease back and the momentary dumbfounded expression of Kyuhyun’s face was absolutely worth it.

Finally, Hangeng, Heechul, and Jun entered the dining room as well and Kyuhyun turned around to face them. “Heechul-sshi, Ryeowook spent too much time with you lately! He’s starting to tease me back!”

“Yah!” Heechul began to defend himself immediately. “There’d be no need for him to do so if you didn’t all the time! Do you have any idea what I’ve had to listen to ever since he’s moved in with you? What kinds of words do you even teach him?”

“It’s not my fault that he’s never been comfortable enough to speak that way around you before.”

Heechul came to a stand and just stared at Kyuhyun for a couple of seconds until Hangeng realized the oldest hybrid in the room wasn’t following him anymore and took Heechul’s hand to guide the other to his seat. The cat hybrid was obviously stunned speechless for a moment while trying to come up with a comeback, Ryeowook could almost see the wheels in his head turning until he gave up with a huff. “You obviously don’t know my little baby well. You’ve just corrupted him more than I ever allowed anyone to corrupt him before.”

Hangeng gently pushed Heechul to sit down across from Ryeowook while he himself sat down across from Kyuhyun, motioning towards the chair on his other side for Jun to sit down as well. The dog hybrid bowed lightly and did as he had been told non-verbally, looking around. He obviously didn’t understand what was going on, but Ryeowook could also tell that the newcomer simply hoped that it wasn’t about him.

“Kids,” Hangeng interrupted them in a gentle voice and waited until he had everyone's attention, then he added, "How about we all settle down and enjoy the meal instead?" He expertly checked if really everything they'd need was on the table, eventually nodding when he seemed to find everything he had looked for. “Let’s all eat well.” The others muttered their agreement and everyone started to eat.

Ryeowook picked up his chopsticks as well and first took one of the ribs he had made. While he ate it, he listened to Kyuhyun who engaged in a conversation with Jun and Hangeng and he couldn’t help but be just as amazed as Heechul was. He could tell that Kyuhyun needed to search for words and didn’t seem to understand everything the other two said, but Ryeowook was nevertheless incredibly proud of the younger man.

“Ryeowookie,” Heechul spoke up after a while and the younger hybrid looked over at his best friend. “Didn’t I just hear your name in their conversation?” he asked and nodded over to the three men speaking Chinese.

“I think so, too,” Ryeowook replied but shrugged lightly since he wasn’t entirely sure.

“You did,” Kyuhyun jumped in, though. “Hangeng-sshi and I just mentioned how much of a great cook you are, Ryeowook. And Hangeng-sshi said that Jun is lucky to be able to taste some of your food as well.”

“Thank you,” Ryeowook replied towards both Kyuhyun and Hangeng. “But please don’t forget that I wasn’t the only cook.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Hangeng replied with a soft smile. “Nevertheless, you are the best cook here regarding Korean dishes and you’re the one who doesn’t even live here anymore.”

“That’s true,” Ryeowook agreed and felt heat rise into his cheeks. He looked down, knowing very well that this was a useless attempt to cover his blush, and instead focused on what he was eating.

Once everyone was mostly done eating and only a few people still picked out a piece or two but everyone’s hunger was satisfied, they started to introduce themselves. They all spoke clearly and slowly and only continued once Jun either nodded or sought help with translations from Hangeng. Ryeowook noted that this time Dino introduced himself instead of letting Jeonghan take care of that, confirming again that he was indeed not comfortable at all with humans. Ryeowook couldn’t help but wonder how much the young dog hybrid had gone through and he hoped that Dino would find a loving home someday.

When the conversations around the table eventually drifted off into various directions again, Kyuhyun straightened a little and looked over at Ryeowook who met his gaze expectantly. “I guess we should get going now, shouldn’t we? I think they announced heavy snowfall for tonight and I’d hate to be out driving when things get really bad on the streets.”

Ryeowook nodded in understanding. “Of course. I hope it hasn’t snowed too much already.”

“Me too.”

“You two are leaving us?” Hangeng asked from across the table and Ryeowook nodded. “I see. Just let me get something real quick, you can already say your goodbyes and start putting on your coats and all that, if you’d like.”

“Alright, hyung,” Ryeowook replied and watched as Hangeng left the room.

Once he was out of sight, Heechul raised his voice above the chattering. “Hey guys, quiet down for a moment, please.” A few seconds passed until everyone was able to finish or halt their conversations and instead turned to face Heechul, then Ryeowook stood up.

“It was great meeting all of you, I hope I'll get the time to come over again soon. Until then, thank you for having Kyuhyun and me for the past few days,” he said and bowed towards the other hybrids. “Please have a nice evening.”

The others responded by wishing him a nice evening as well and by saying goodbye, then Kyuhyun stood up as well. “Yes, thank you for having me. I hope we’ll get the chance to meet again soon.” He turned towards Jun afterwards and added something in Chinese to with the dog hybrid nodded and responded, then Kyuhyun turned towards Ryeowook again. “Are you ready?”

The cat hybrid nodded and waved towards the hybrids once more, then he left the room with Kyuhyun right behind him. Heechul trailed after them and leaned against a wall while the other two put on their boots and coats. Ryeowook was about to start bidding Heechul goodbye when Hangeng emerged from the room he shared with his boyfriend, carrying a few objects in his hands.

“Heechul and I decided to get you two a small thank you for taking care of the shelter and, in my case, also for taking care of Heechul. Thank you for spending the past few days and nights here.”

“But hyung, that wouldn’t have been necessary,” Ryeowook fought off weakly, but he accepted the souvenirs anyway. When he received a pastel-colored hand fan, though, he spread it out curiously and looked at it for a couple of seconds questioningly. Its background was a light blue and in the front, he could see an orchid, bamboo, plum blossoms, and a chrysanthemum.

“Heechul mentioned that your room still looks kind of empty. The colors probably don’t fit, but I thought this would be nice for you to hang it up on the wall or so…” Hangeng explained and Ryeowook nodded lightly, realizing that was indeed a really good idea! He’d just have to figure out the details about that later.

“What does it say up there?”

“It’s a poem about the Four Gentlemen or the Four Noble Ones, depending on what you’d like to call them.” Ryeowook looked up questioningly, so Hangeng went on with his explanation, “They’re the four plants you can see on the fan. They’re a common and popular motive of Chinese and Korean art.”

“That’s so cool, thank you!” The young cat hybrid replied and carefully closed the fan again. “I’ll see where I can put it tomorrow.”

“I also got you guys some candy to share. I figured that since candy makes everyone happy, I couldn’t be mistaken with this.”

“Candy is always great,” Kyuhyun replied and Ryeowook also took the other two small boxes and one plastic bag, looking at them curiously. He couldn’t read the names, but the images promised cookies, cake-rolls with a strawberry-cream filling, as it seemed, and lychee flavored bonbons. “Let’s try the cake rolls when we get home.”

Ryeowook looked up at Kyuhyun and simply raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Yes. So?”

“We will definitely not have any candy when we get home,” the cat hybrid replied and turned to Hangeng, who looked clearly amused about this discussion. “Thank you very much for all of this. But you know that I would have also saved Sungmin if you hadn’t brought anything back home, don’t you?”

Hangeng chuckled at Ryeowook’s choice of words. “Of course I do. Now get home quickly you two, alright? And text me or Heechul when you arrive.”

“We will. Thank you, hyung.” The cat hybrid adjusted everything until he was able to hold it with just one arm, then he hugged his two friends goodbye.

“You know I could also hold something, don’t you?” Kyuhyun commented from behind him.

“Yes, I know. But I was serious when I said that we won’t have any sweets tonight,” Ryeowook reasoned and stepped away from Heechul, waiting until Kyuhyun had also said goodbye, then he opened the front door. Snow was falling softly, lulling everything into a beautiful, sparkling, dangerous white paradise. “Let’s go home,” he said quietly, worried because of the layer of snow that already covered the ground.

“Yes, let’s get home,” Kyuhyun agreed and stepped past him.

“Drive carefully,” Hangeng called after them as Ryeowook carefully stepped out onto the driveway. He turned around once more to see the other two standing in the doorway, Heechul with one arm and his cat tail wrapped around his boyfriend’s middle while Hangeng’s arm was wrapped around the older’s shoulders. Ryeowook smiled and nodded, waving once more, then he made his way to the car.

They had to scratch off some ice first before they could comfortably enter the car and even then they had to wait a little longer for the air conditioning to take effect, so they used the time to inspect the sweets closer instead and Kyuhyun read the names aloud until Ryeowook was able to pronounce them as well. Kyuhyun had already started to try and read the label on the back of the first box, leading to a lot of laughter between them because Kyuhyun barely recognized half of the signs he came across and knew the pronunciation and meaning of even less of them by the time the windshield was clear enough for him to start driving.

They spent the ride mostly in silence. The snow never stopped and if anything it even got worse. Ryeowook could tell how tense Kyuhyun was, making him stay quiet and just stare outside. The road only got better when they had almost arrived and they reached a road where snow-clearers had pushed the snow off the street not too much earlier. Nevertheless, Kyuhyun only seemed to relax again when they had arrived, got out of the car, and went to the elevator together.

“That was a hell of a drive,” he commented with visible exhaustion while they walked.

“But you did really well, I think.”

“Thank you. I hope that I won’t have to drive in this much snow again anytime soon, though.”

“I hope so, too.” Ryeowook smiled at Kyuhyun and let the other press the button to call the elevator. “It was so cool to hear you speak Chinese earlier.”

“You think so?” The cat hybrid hummed. “I actually mostly used really simple Mandarin. And it was quite difficult for me to understand Jun at some points because he speaks in a dialect I’m not familiar with.”

“Oh really?” Kyuhyun nodded at the question. “Wow… But Hangeng-hyung didn’t seem to have any difficulties understanding him.”

“He’s probably also more familiar with the different dialects spoken in China,” Kyuhyun remarked and Ryeowook nodded.

“I guess that’s true. It has probably been difficult for him as well when he heard different dialects here in South Korea.”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“Speaking about him, I’ll go ahead and text him real quick so he’ll know we’ve arrived safely,” Ryeowook announced and pulled his phone out of his coat's pocket. He quickly texted his friend that they had gotten back to the apartment without any major problems, then he put his phone away again just as the elevator arrived and its doors opened with a soft ‘pling’. They entered the small cabin and Kyuhyun pressed the button to their floor while Ryeowook simply leaned against the wall. “Thank you, Kyuhyun. Thank you for letting me stay with Heechul these past few days. You might not have fully noticed it, but it really meant the world to him that I came back for him.”

“You’re welcome. I mean, it would have been kinda unfair of me to not let you visit him when he also came back for you and when he lets you call him anytime to ask him for help.”

“Still, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

Kyuhyun inclined his head lightly in response and Ryeowook knew that it meant that the younger man understood his thankfulness.

Once again, that warm happiness and the feeling of belonging spread through the cat hybrid and he couldn’t have expressed how much it meant to him to just be there, to know there were so many people who cared about him and who at the same time meant the world to him.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hey guys~

We've nearly reached the end of this story! Can you believe that?

I hope you liked dear clingy Heechul <3

One of my main reasons to write this chapter here was actually to introduce a few of the characters that will become important in the Seventeen sequel/extra story that I'm currently writing. Jun will be the main character there. I'll inform you in the subscriber feed when I'll upload the story, so those of you who are interested can check it out :)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish all of you a wonderful and relaxing weekend as well as another successful week :*