Written until 4am and not proofread sorry.

When Hyukjae opens his front door one fine spring morning, he isn’t expecting the pleasant surprise waiting for him. He is just about to step out, his entire Saturday planned out in his mind, when the big blue and white box sitting in front of his feet stops him in his tracks.

He blinks in surprise before going down on one knee to inspect the box closely. Surely, it isn’t what he thinks, right?

Wrong.

He gasps inaudibly as he lifts the box’s lid, the sight that greets him not totally unexpected but still rather surprising.

Inside the box is a tiny baby sleeping on a thick wool blanket, curled up and completely aside from the diaper wrapped around his little groin. His hair is a fine shade of light blond, and amidst the smooth strands is a small pair of brown puppy ears. On his bottom, poking out of a hole on the diaper is a tiny fluffy tail.

Hyukjae feels a heart attack coming.

With shaky hands, he reaches out and scoops the little bundle into his arms, jumping a little when eyes flutter open and shiny brown orbs meet his gaze. The baby blinks at him before happily gurgling, all toothless and adorable and tiny feet and arms flailing, and Hyukjae is pretty sure he is going to die.

Refraining himself from getting a seizure, Hyukjae stands up, carefully securing the baby on his hip with one arm before lifting up the box and going back inside his apartment.

Saturday plans be damned.

-

Hybrids are not uncommon.

Hyukjae has quite a number of friends who has their own, although he must say he doesn’t know anyone who’s gotten a puppy hybrid. Their origins are unknown, despite the fact that humans have been co-existing with them for as long as they can remember. It’s basic tradition for humans to take care of hybrids until they grow up, and then decide whether to keep them or let them do as they wish. It isn’t unusual for both humans and hybrids to still choose to be together when their time comes.

Hyukjae never expected to get his own.

For some reason, humans do not actually get to choose if they can keep a hybrid or not. The babies just come to them out of the blue, in a box on their doorstep, and that’s it. The hybrid is theirs. It is unheard of for a human to say no to taking care of a hybrid baby, and people assume that those who are chosen to do so are the ones who really want them and are capable of caring for them.

Which is why Hyukjae is surprised.

It isn’t that he didn’t want any hybrids. Truthfully, he never thought he could actually get one. Simply because he thought of himself to be quite irresponsible and immature, that he couldn’t even fathom the idea of caring for someone else other than himself.

Not that he’s selfish.

Not at all. It’s just that he doesn’t think he does a good job of being an adult sometimes and the idea of having something or someone else to take care of is too much of a big responsibility for a guy like him.

But then, the moment his eyes laid on his puppy baby, Hyukjae knew there was no turning back.

If being a responsible adult is what it takes to keep the hybrid, then so be it.

He smiles at the little baby staring curiously up at him, suppressing the urge to coo and squish the fat cheeks. As he sits on the sofa, he lays the baby down next to him before taking the piece of paper that came within the box.

The note contains the baby’s name and birth date, as well as simple instructions on how to care for the hybrid. It isn’t very much different from caring for a pet or an actual human baby, but Hyukjae still feels a little nervous. After all, he can’t even clean after himself – what more for a puppy baby?

But as the sound of happy babbling reaches his ears, he couldn’t help but feel a smile tugging on his lips. He turns and faces the baby, holding out his index finger for the little one to cling to as he chuckles.

“Nice to meet you, Donghae.”

-

Hyukjae stares at his fridge, brows furrowing as he eyes the endless stacks of strawberry milk filling up the shelves. He glances back at Donghae who is sitting on the kitchen countertop, tiny ears perked up and tail wagging slightly as he observes his surroundings in eager curiosity.

Hyukjae feels his fingers and toes curl.

Closing the fridge, he walks towards the phone attached to the wall and quickly dials a number. Three rings later, a deep voice greets him.

“Hey Hyukjae, what’s up?”

“Hi, Siwon,” Hyukjae says. “I need to ask you a few things. I got a hybrid today.”

“Oh wow!” Siwon exclaims in disbelief before laughing out loud. “Seriously? Whoa, man, I didn’t think you had it in you to be chosen.”

“I know, me neither,” Hyukjae snorts as he, once again, takes a look at Donghae, who has started crawling towards the bowl of plastic apples (for decoration purposes). “He’s a puppy. Incredibly cute, I tell you. Cuter than your grumpy cat. But anyway I wanted to ask about…” he trails off when he sees Donghae taking one of the apples into his little hands and brings it to his mouth. Panicking, Hyukjae allows a string of garbled profanities escape his lips in a shout, unknowingly dropping the phone as he rushes towards Donghae and pulls the fake apple away before tossing it somewhere. He immediately takes the crestfallen baby into his arms.

“No baby, that was dirty,” he coos, feeling his heart break a little when the glassy orbs stare up at him, the pair of thin lips quivering in a pout. “Don’t cry baby, please. Shh…”

His pleads go unheard as Donghae begins to wail, mouth downturned into a great frown as his face scrunches up and big fat tears come rolling down his smooth cheeks.

Hyukjae cries.

-

“You’re hopeless.”

Siwon clucks his tongue as he slowly rocks the puppy baby in his arms, smiling when the sobs die down and the baby is reduced to only small sniffles. On his back, secured on a carrier strapped around his body, is his own hybrid baby, the kitten Kyuhyun who is snoring peacefully.

Hyukjae pouts sadly, staring at Donghae, who has started to smile and giggle as Siwon makes funny faces at him.

After fifteen minutes of trying to placate the sobbing baby and failing miserably, Hyukjae had been left with no choice. He went back to the neglected phone, relieved to hear Siwon still on the other line, and shamefully asked for help from the more experienced hybrid owner. As a good friend, Siwon did not hesitate and arrived at his apartment in less than ten minutes (he lived pretty close).

“You see Hyukjae, one thing about hybrids is that they have very tough immunity against diseases,” Siwon explains as he transfers the now happy baby into Hyukjae’s awaiting arms. “So you don’t have to worry about them eating dirty things. Kyuhyunie here accidentally ate a coin one time and nothing happened.”

Hyukjae feels his eye twitch as he glances at the sleeping kitten strapped on Siwon’s back. “S-Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Siwon nods. “Of course you have to make sure they’re healthy so they can grow well, but you don’t have to panic when they eat something unusual every now and then. They have the tendencies of both animals and babies – they put almost everything into their mouths. Kyuhyun nearly ate a bug once.”

“Oh my god,” Hyukjae makes a face as he unknowingly scoots away from Siwon and his kitten in disgust, protectively cradling Donghae close to his chest.

“I know,” Siwon laughs. “Anyway, since I’m here now, why don’t I teach you the basics when it comes to caring for your hybrid? I bet you don’t even know how to change little Donghae’s diaper, do you?”

With a hopeless sigh, Hyukjae shakes his head.

-

It’s only been a few hours but there is one thing Hyukjae is sure of.

He’s in love.

He smiles and sighs fondly as he watches the little baby sleeping tummy down on his chest, thin lips slightly parted as his back rises and falls evenly. Donghae had just gotten his first meal – a carton of strawberry milk, and Hyukjae had successfully made him burp, following after Siwon’s instructions. It hadn’t been long until the baby started to feel sleepy and Hyukjae had zero hesitation in lying down and letting Donghae sleep on him.

Siwon had left a few hours ago, saying he has an appointment with Yesung – a mutual friend of theirs who also owned a hybrid, the bunny Ryeowook.

Before, Hyukjae would’ve gotten bored staying at home doing nothing, but with Donghae’s presence, he found himself strangely happy enough at the simple act of lying down. Chuckling silently, he wraps one arm around the tiny body and gently holds the baby’s head with his other hand, threading his fingers through soft locks of blond hair and brown fur before allowing his own eyes to close.

-

He wakes up to a cold, wet sensation on his chin and the sound of high-pitched giggles.

Blinking blearily, Hyukjae chuckles as Donghae eagerly his face, ears perked up, and tail wagging insistently.

Puppy habits, Hyukjae thinks fondly as he sits up, hugging the hyper baby who keeps on jumping to his face. “Donghae,” he says, laughing when the baby sticks out his tongue and pants like an overly energized dog. “Calm down. Are you hungry?”

He gets a on the cheek.

“Okay, I think you’re hungry and you’re seeing me as food,” Hyukjae grins, standing up and securing Donghae on his hip as he walks towards the kitchen.

He quickly prepares Donghae’s formula, given to him by Siwon, as well as his own dinner. He feeds the baby with tiny spoonfuls and makes him drink strawberry milk before making him burp. After eating his own dinner, he brings them to the living room and tunes in to a mundane cartoon, for once ignoring the variety shows and dramas he usually watches. Donghae gurgles and wags his tail excitedly at the sight of the colorful animation on the screen, and Hyukjae sighs hopelessly as he watches his baby.

Indeed, he is in love.

-

One thing that Hyukjae quickly learns is that hybrids grow quite fast. Or maybe it’s just Donghae. Because he’s seen his friends’ hybrids a number of times in the past and it seemed as if most of them hardly even changed in a span of months. Meanwhile, his puppy baby has already gained a few noticeable pounds overnight, evident in the way he feels heavier in Hyukjae’s arms compared to the previous day.

“So you’re a fat , eh?” Hyukjae grins teasingly at the confused baby who is staring up at him and blinking innocently. “That’s okay. I like you fat.” He nuzzles his face against the soft, flabby stomach, earning himself happy squeals and an enthusiastically wagging tail.

He then checks on Donghae’s diaper, relieved to see no need to change it, before bringing the both of them to the kitchen. He prepares breakfast, feeds Donghae, and makes him burp before he finishes his own food. It’s already becoming a routine – one that he didn’t expect himself to eagerly accept and get used to. Smiling, he brings Donghae to the sofa and leaves him a fish plushie to play with as he goes to shower.

Although he doesn’t want to, he needs to go out and buy Donghae clothes and other necessities. He worries a little at the idea that he might have to leave the puppy baby alone for a while, but he’s already texted his friends and none of them are available to come over to watch Donghae while he’s out. He couldn’t really take the baby with him, seeing as he doesn’t have clothes yet other than his diapers, and Hyukjae couldn’t risk getting the boy out in the cold, even though Siwon already reassured him of hybrids’ strong immunity.

He steps out of the shower and gets dressed, anxiety still gnawing at his heart. As he enters the living room, he is greeted by the sight of Donghae nibbling on the fish plushie’s tail. Giggling at the adorable sight, he strides to the sofa and surprises the baby by scooping him up from behind and making stupid roaring noises. Donghae shrieks and laughs as Hyukjae cradles him and nuzzles his cheek, tickling him in the process.