Just saying, this is a friendship fic. That means no romance. Maybe some bromance. Slight angst ahead.

Kibum had opened his eyes to the world of the forest, growing up with flora and fauna surrounding him. It was peaceful in his home, which was a small den in a thick, dense forest, and he was an only child. As a cub, he would charge at the deer in an attempt to scare them away, but they would just graze the grass and stare at him as if he was nothing but a little mite - which he was, really, given his tiny size. 

From a young age, Kibum learned he was different from the other foxes. His fur was a very shiny, sleek rich black in color, a large contrast to the reddish-brown coats most fox cubs had. He had always wondered if he was meant to be born this way, looking as if he had rolled right into an oil spill and not taken a bath for weeks, thus letting the black oil hardening and setting in his fur. He envied the mahogany coats of his friends, and hated it whenever they would about his fur color. His eyes, too, were different - they were an odd, glowing amber, yellow, instead of the normal oak-brown with green speckles that his friends had. 

"Momma, why am I so different from the rest of my friends?" He would whine at his mother, nudging her neck and it to get her attention when she tried to nap, exhausted from hunting for food to eat. "Momma, am I not a fox?"

"Baby, you're every bit of a fox as a fox is supposed to be," His mother yawns widely, showing off her canines and rolling her eyes at her child's unneeded questions. Trust him to ruin her nap. "You're different because we're the same. We share the same genes. You have the same fur as I do, do you not?"

Kibum glances up into his mother's eyes, and watched as they glowed iridescently in the dark of the forest, and he nods quietly, knowing better than to continue whining about the difference of his fur to her when she wanted to sleep.

"Now, go to sleep, Kibum," She murmurs as she gives his muzzle a soft with her dry, scratchy pink tongue, and lays her head down on the ground.

"Okay, momma," He whispers into the dark, where their fur color couldn't be distinguished except by the accents the moon shone on them. "Goodnight. I love you."

His mother doesn't reply as her breath evens out quickly, meaning she had fallen asleep, and he curls up tightly into a ball beside her, trying to keep as warm as he possibly could when every single living thing seemed so far away from him. Rolling onto his back and waving his tiny paws in the air, he stares up at the moon and smiles to himself.

'Ah... The moon is so pretty.'

Jonghyun had opened his eyes to the world of a home, one that smelled of cattle and cats, of chickens and of the hunt. It was an eventful every day at his home, and it was one of the noisiest, such that he could barely sleep at night the moment he was born. As a pup, he learned how to clamber around on his four paws, jumping on everything and cheeks and nipping ankles. He would often be the laughing stock of the cattle every time he chased a chicken into the barn and ended up falling over onto his face, and sometimes he would randomly throw himself inside of the pig's bathing mud.

From a young age, he was admired despite his silliness for his silky, white fur - a stark contrast to the dull blend of blacks and browns his whole family seemed to be, with the exception of his father, who had the same snow-white pelt. He had bright diamond eyes, as if he was smart enough, human enough to understand whatever his owner was saying to him. Sometimes he'd ask his mother why he looked different, but he'd always guessed that he took after his father, and that was her answer every single time, so he eventually stopped bothering her. As he grew from a young, toddling pup to an energetic adolescent, he learned about the hardships of life, and work.

Work for Jonghyun was a tedious, yet extremely fulfilling task - he both enjoyed to work, yet hated to be exhausted at the end of the day, and dare he say, dog-tired, even. He'd gone out with his owner and his father to hunt when he was about seven months old, big enough to take down the 'small game', as his father and owner would call it. Jonghyun thought he had worked really hard to catch one or two little rabbits, but all thoughts of his zealous efforts went down the drain when he saw his father take down bigger game - like badgers, and occasionally, foxes.

Foxes were the bane of his owner's existence, he learned one day when he was out hunting. His master had shot at the captivating creatures, with their fur so red and their eyes so sly, only to miss them by the inches of their fluffy tails as they scrambled back into the depths of the forest. That time was the day that Jonghyun learned a foul word, and his father made him promise to never speak that word in front of his mother, in case she lost it and blamed him.

Sometimes it seemed as though his mother didn't approve of his lifestyle of hunting; frowning whenever he came home with a mud-covered coat and paws sullied with the dirt of the leaves scattered on the forest floor. She'd his ears and shoot dirty looks to his father, muttering things about hunting not being good for her only son. It was bad enough that her whole litter had passed before they managed to make it through puppy hood, leaving her with one son and one daughter - and her daughter had been taken away to be bred with a stud at once when she came of age. She didn't like that her only son was taken away to be a hunter - one that killed other of the same species (as she liked to call it, because they were all animals, and they were all alike in that sense).

"Mom, I think that our master has a grudge against foxes," He tells her one night when they're snuggled together to sleep. His father was, as always, right beside his master's bed up the oak stairs, and that was where he slept every day, while Jonghyun stayed with his mother in the kitchen, barely tucked into the old, wooden basket that they called a bed.

"Yes, well, foxes come here and take away his chickens," His mother replies, his ear absentmindedly. "They take away the chickens and never return them. That's why they're not liked on the farm."

"But they're so beautiful, mom," He whines softly, nudging his brown nose into his front paws as he heaves a sigh. "They're too beautiful to be hunted down, but master thinks they're better off dead. He calls them vermin."

His mother laughs, placing her head over his as a sign of comfort. "I think they're beautiful too, baby. Maybe one day you'll save one, and he or she will be grateful to you, and be your friend for life. That'd be a sight to see."

Jonghyun knew his mother was half-joking, but he took her words and placed them in his heart, a place where he wouldn't forget that maybe one day, by saving a life, he could have a friend.

Kibum was scared. It was dark out, it was raining, and he was shivering as he hid beneath the fallen trunk of an old oak tree that had been hit by a flash of thunder. He wanted to run, to go and find his parents who had told him to stay beneath the tree, and he wanted to make sure that they were safe, but he found himself immobilized and unable to move from fear.

Another flash of lightning appeared in the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder, and Kibum almost jumps out of his skin. This was by far the worst storm he'd ever had to endure, and it made it all the more frightening for the adolescent fox as he cowered beneath the branch. Soft whimpers escape his throat unwillingly, and he shuts his eyes, trying to tune out the loudness of the storm by thinking of the song his mother would sing to him every night to lull him to sleep. Suddenly, a sharp bark reaches his ears, and he peers out from his hiding spot. He barely makes out the silhouette of his mother in the darkness of the forest, and he trips over himself to get to her hurriedly.

Her eyes are wild with worry, and relief instantly washes over them when she sees that he's safe and unharmed. She nudges his muzzle in comfort before nipping his nape, tugging on it.

"Let's go, we have to move now. The storm is too dangerous for us to stay in our den any longer, and we have to get some safe shelter."

He follows her timidly, her bushy tail a sign for him to keep track of as they scurry through the wet, damp woods, the moist leaves wetting their soft paws. Kibum hates the feeling of squishiness under his paw pads, but he keeps quiet as he senses the tense atmosphere. Something terrible had happened, and he was pretty sure of it, although he wasn't sure what had taken place. Where was his father? What happened to his friends? The forest had never seemed so empty in his whole life, so drained of its bright colors and lively creatures, and while Kibum was sure that they had all fled into shelter from the storm, he was also sure that they were all safe. Or so, he prayed fervently.

When they had finally sought the safest shelter - a barn in a farm that was extremely quiet - Kibum watched as his mother asked the cattle for a place to stay overnight, just a long enough period of time to tide over the wild storm outside. The cows and horses had agreed, so she had to half drag an exhausted, wet Kibum to a pile of hay and dump him there, where he literally collapsed into a shivering, dripping heap of black fur. A pony hopped over with an old, battered towel in its teeth, and Kibum barely finds the energy to thank him as he starts to rub against it, hoping for some warmth through the friction.

He curled up beside his mother, who wasn't in a much better state than he was, and together, they drifted into a dreamless sleep.

There was definitely something wrong, Jonghyun decided when he woke up at the crack of dawn with the morning call of the farm's rooster. It was way too quiet on the farm, and he notices that his mother is also up and about, nose twitching in both curiosity and worry. When she notices that Jonghyun was awake, she padded over to him and nuzzles his neck.

"Mom, is something the matter?" He whispers to her as his right ear twitches, catching the loud snores of his master in the bedroom. "It's too quiet in here. Normally mistress would be awake and cooking breakfast, and, and... it's just too quiet!"

"There are intruders in the barn, Jonghyun," His mother replies so softly he barely catches it. Realization struck him quickly as he puts two and two together, and he slips out of the house with her quietly. "Your father doesn't know yet. By the scent, I believe they're foxes... You've got to get them out of here, Jonghyun. You know what will happen to them if they get found by your father or worse, master."

As he silently creeps to the barn, his mother stays on the porch, whispering to him. "Hurry, before your father wakes up!"

He hears the soft breathing of the animals in the barn as he silently pads over, pushing the heavy oak door open a crack with his muzzle. Sniffing the air, he's more than certain that there were foxes in the barn - now why the farm animals would let in forest ones was a mystery, but Jonghyun's determined to solve it as he slides in through the small crack easily with thanks to his scrawny, adolescent body.

Scouring the room with bright eyes, he catches sight of black fur on top of a wet pile of hay. Slowly, he pads over silently and gives the dozing bodies a light sniff, catching the scent of fox, and he draws back in confusion - foxes had red coats, didn't they? However, there was no doubt that they were foxes with their slender builds and narrow muzzles; it was certainly no mistake there. They were foxes, the beautiful creatures that Jonghyun had hoped to protect from his master, and they were in his home, where they could get hurt, or worse, killed.

"Wake up," He calls out softly to the dozing pair, aware that the farm animals were beginning to stir awake - only one pony was awake, and watching him with curious eyes. "Please wake up. You have to get out of here."

The bundle of fur stirs - the smaller one squirming, moving, and then as if it had been shaken awake, it jumps to its feet and looks around with wild eyes. Jonghyun notices that its eyes were different, like its fur - they were an iridescent amber, and he found them extremely pretty. When the fox cub notices Jonghyun, he almost falls over himself in shock and begins to nuzzle the other fox, what seemed to be his mother, from the sound of his scared cries.

"Momma, wake up, wake up, there's a beast staring at us!" He whimpers, cowering behind his mother's sleeping body as he peers over her fur to steal a glance at the white creature that he had never seen before. "Momma, I'm scared!"

Jonghyun lets out a quiet huff, clearly offended at being called a 'beast' when he clearly wasn't - a beast would've already attacked them the moment he barged into the barn. The older fox quickly wakes up at the distressed whimpers of her cub, and she jolts up, snarling at Jonghyun as she backs them up against the barn wall. Sensing that she wasn't in a friendly mood, Jonghyun quickly bows his head and lowers his tail - a sign of submission and meaning no harm - whimpering softly at the pair.

"Please, listen to me," He tries to ignore how the cub flinches when he hears Jonghyun's voice. "You have to get out of here before my dad wakes up. He's a hunter, my master's a hunter, so please, you've got to get out while you still can!"

His distress and worry seemed to work, as she turns around and all but shoves her cub forward, towards the barn doors. The cub protests, squeaking indignantly as Jonghyun flicks his ears, clearly worried about their safety. As the mother pushes her cub along, she turns to Jonghyun and leans forward, his ear in gratitude.

"Please, if anything happens," She whispers to him in a soft, hoarse voice. "Please make sure my baby's safe."

Jonghyun didn't know what it meant for her to tell him such a matter, but everything suddenly happened in an instant, as if everybody was in fast-motion and he himself was stuck on pause. His father bursts through the barn doors with a loud howl - the howl that Jonghyun knows as the call to his master, telling him the location of the game - and Jonghyun had never been so scared in his entire life. With a loud, vicious snarl, his father lunges forward, taking the female by her leg as she tries to jump out of the way. He watches as, with a loud, heart-wrenching yelp of pain, she sinks to the floor with her slender limb in his father's teeth; watches as the cub cries out in horror and shock, and he couldn't do anything about it.

As quickly as his father grabs the fox's leg, he lets go for a millisecond, and Jonghyun shuts his eyes - squeezing them tight to block out the view of his father sinking his canines into her neck. His ears catch the strangled yelp, a sound that he wouldn't forget for the rest of his life, as his body freezes up even more, his muscles locking in place as he hears the thundering footsteps of his master rushing towards the barn. Suddenly, as if one auto-pilot, he turns and knocks the cub into a pile of hay that covers its body, before he turns back around and, by mistake, catches sight of the dead animal in his father's merciless jaws.

Whimpering to himself, he flattens his body against the ground and covers his eyes with his paws, praying fervently for it all to be just a dream, to let it all just be a dream so that he wouldn't be seeing such heartless acts of hunting. He hears the yells of his master, feels the vibrations of heavy footsteps rush past him, and he tries to ignore the praising, cooing voice that his master takes on as he removes the fox from his father's teeth, tries to ignore the words of praise and encouragement his father gets for killing an innocent creature that had never taken their chickens or their crops. He tries to block it all out as his father leaves with his master, the dead fox probably in the man's hands. He was sure the beautiful, black pelt they would skin off the fox would sell for a large sum, or if they sold it whole, who knew how much people would pay for such a beautiful creature. Suddenly, he feels a moist to his muzzle, and he opens his eyes to see the blurred vision of his mother. There were definitely tears in his eyes, and he was sure if dogs could cry, he would cry right that instant. His mother nuzzles him with worry etched on her face, and he closes his eyes, burying his pained whimpers into his mother's brown coat. 

It was dusk by the time Kibum decided to come out of hiding after he'd been shoved by the white creature into the haystack. While he was thankful to the creature for it, he had heard the process of his mother's death, and now he felt hollow, empty inside as he knew his family was gone. He had survived, but he was now all alone in the vast world, and being the still-young adolescent, he wasn't sure how he could carry on without the help and aid of his beloved parents. The soft sounds of cautious paws catches his attention and he's about to dive into the haystack, afraid that the beast that had killed his mother was back, when white fur greeted his vision. He visibly calmed down, watching as the creature from before entered the barn again, and watched as the tail attached to the creature wagged back and forth in an uncertain, but happy manner. The creature creeps closer and drops something - what seemed to be the remnants of a turkey leg - at Kibum's paws. 

"Are you... are you feeling alright?" He hears the creature ask, and he almost huffs at the ignorance of said creature. Whoever would be alright in a situation where his parents were both gone from his life forever, and was trapped in a stinky old barn? 

When Kibum doesn't answer as he slowly lowers his head to eat the food placed in front of him, the creature shifts closer slowly, as if afraid to startle him. Step by step, the creature gets closer, and soon they were sitting side by side on the pile of hay. There was a spot of blood where his mother was brutally murdered, and Kibum almost shivers from the memory. 

"I'm Jonghyun," The creature continues after a moment of silence. "I'm a german shepherd puppy, and you're a fox. What's your name?"

"Kibum," He whispers softly, but he's sure that the creature - the 'puppy', as he calls himself - heard him, because he nods. "Why did you hide me...?"

"Because I like your kind," Jonghyun answers, voice equally soft as he attempts to give a small, warm smile, only to end up grimacing, given his naturally-fierce and stoic face. "I didn't like to hunt foxes with my dad and my master. You're too beautiful to be killed."

"Your master doesn't seem to think so," Kibum whispers, huffing a little to show his annoyance. 

"He thinks your kind is vile," Jonghyun shrugs, giving a carefree attitude. "We're different. I want to save you."

"Why would you do that?" Kibum was getting irritated by the pup's words. Why would he want to save foxes when he was made to hunt them? It made no sense to the young fox, and he was annoyed because he didn't understand the pup. 

"I don't know," The puppy all but whines at him, and Kibum can't help but smile at the distress of the pup. "I just want to."

They lapse into a comfortable silence then, hearing the songs of the crickets as they chirped happily, serenading the silent, peaceful night. Kibum shifts closer an inch to Jonghyun so that he could get some warmth, and he swears he hears Jonghyun inhale sharply at his side. Somehow, the fox feels comfortable around the pup, and so he just stays in that position, ignoring the cramp in his joints and neck from staying too still for too long. It was about dawn before Jonghyun speaks up again.

"You should leave, before my father realizes that you're here too," He tells the fox seriously. "Your mother entrusted your safety to me, and I'm going to ascertain that I live up to the task that she left me."

Weakly, Kibum clambers to his feet, following Jonghyun as the pup leads him out of the barn doors, away from the house - where the lights were out, and soft snoring could be heard - and into the trails that were worn by feet and paws into the dirt, deeper and deeper and deeper into the forest until the fox could no longer recognize where he was anymore. It was as if the forest that had been his home for his many years had become a strange, new place, and he didn't like it one bit.

The puppy continues to lead him all the way into the forest, until they reach the roots of a huge, old oak tree. There, Jonghyun barks up at the tree too happily, in Kibum's honest opinion, and with a loud, swishing sound, a giant owl comes descending down on the both of them. Yelping loudly in fright, Kibum scrambles behind Jonghyun to hide, thankful for the puppy's larger build as he cowers behind the white pelt.

"What's up, pup?" The owl asks, chortling softly at the fox hiding behind the puppy he'd grown familiar with many nights after said pup wandered too deep into the woods and found the tree the owl lived in. "What brings you here again?"

"Onew, this is Kibum," Jonghyun introduces as he reaches behind him and nudges the fox forward to the view of the owl. "Kibum, this is Onew. Don't worry, he doesn't eat foxes."

With a shaky frame, Kibum resists against Jonghyun's pushes and plops his behind down on the grass, refusing to budge an inch to get closer to the giant owl who was almost as big as he was. A hearty laugh rings through the air, and Kibum glances up at the owl, who was literally hooting with laughter as it flapped its large wings, rolling on the floor. Jonghyun looked amused as well, and the fox feels irritated as he huffs and puffs out his chest, as if he hadn't been so afraid moments before.

"As I said earlier," Jonghyun continues, amusement alight in his eyes. "This is Kibum. My father killed his mother, and I think you should take him under your wing. Though, not literally, even if you can do that."

Onew hoots with more laughter at the unintended - or rather, intended - pun, while Kibum shoots a dirty look at Jonghyun for it. After a few more pleasantries, Jonghyun then leaves the fox alone with Onew, and hurries back home before the rooster started to wake everybody up. Onew turns to Kibum, and tries to offer him a smile.

"So, little fox, you're free to sleep here. There's a large hole in the middle of the oak tree, feel free to sleep there if you can climb up. I'm going to go get some breakfast now."

He flaps his wings and flies off before Kibum can even thank him for offering a sheltered placed to stay, and the fox barely manages to claw his way up the thick bark into the large hole that Onew had mentioned earlier. Sighing as he curled up tightly into a ball, he lets the day's exhaustion and emotions overcome him, soft, agonized whimpers escaping as he slowly falls asleep.

Since the incident, many years had gone by for Kibum without a hitch. Living under Onew's wing was easier than he thought it'd be - the owl had patiently thought him how to hunt, given their different sleeping patterns - and how to climb up the tree more efficiently for emergencies. They'd lived together from start till present quite peacefully, despite a few minor hiccups due to Kibum's passive-aggressive teenage nature, but now that the fox was 'fully-grown', as they put it, there were no more tantrum-tempers, no more childish whining and certainly no more bratty attitudes, although Onew joked that the bratty side had upgraded into a diva-ish kind of side.

Throughout the years, Jonghyun's visits become less and less frequent, to the point that Kibum no longer saw his furry white friend. He hated to admit it, but he sort of missed the clumsy, smaller than average-sized fun-packed ball of energy, and while Jonghyun was back at the farm doing god knows what fun things like chasing the chickens and cattle around, here he was, lazing in the sun and only moving to turn around so that his fur wouldn't catch fire (though nothing like that would ever happen).

Kibum heaves another sigh as he places his head over his paw gently, waiting under the stars for Onew to get back from his nightly romp in the skies. He had taken an early dinner, and a late supper after, and now, he was awake at the crack of dawn due to the still-digesting food in his system that should've lulled him to sleep. Slowly, he rolls over onto his back, waving his paws in the air as he stares at the twinkling stars that seemed to be laughing at him for being so lonely on a lovely night like this. Just as he was about to get up and climb into the hole he called a home, the sound of paws padding through the leaf-littered floor caught his attention.

"Hey there, little fox," A strange, baritone voice greeted him, and Kibum rolls over so fast he almost falls over himself in order to stand up and look at the intruder- wait was that Jonghyun?!

"Jonghyun?" Kibum asks, eyes wide in surprise as he drinks in the grown form of his scrawny - or used to be scrawny - friend. Man, had Jonghyun grown up - he stood taller now, at least, taller than Kibum, and his fur had grown longer, still that perfect shade of white, as if he had bleached himself. His eyes were still as bright, if not brighter, and Kibum swore he could see the reflection of the moon in them. "Wow, look at you. You've grown."

The dog chuckles as he steps closer to his friend, pushing his muzzle into that magnificent black coat to take in the familiar and quaint scent of Kibum. "So have you, Kibum."

"Not that much," The fox jokes as he pushes his muzzle up to meet Jonghyun's. "Where did you go, you idiot?"

"Ah, you know... The usual. Hunting, stuff like that," Jonghyun lets out a huff as he plops down on his tummy beside his friend, secretly admiring the silkiness of the black coat, and the twinkle in Kibum's beautiful amber eyes. 

"Are you limping? Did I see wrongly?" Kibum huffs like Jonghyun did, settling himself down next to the friend he hadn't seen in years. "What happened? It's the break of dawn, and your master would be getting up and ready to go hunt."

"I busted my front paw," The dog lifts up his left paw to show the fox how it dangled at a weird angle. "I went to the doctor's two weeks ago, and apparently, I'm a lost cause. My owner decided to let me roam free, or rather, killed by other hunters than himself. He couldn't bear to put down one of his most prized hunters."

"A prized hunter that doesn't chase foxes," Kibum jokes, leaning forward to give the injured paw a . "So you're never recovering, huh?"

"Yeah, probably not," Jonghyun leans over and places his head over Kibum's, slowly putting his injured paw down. "Took me days to come back here, what with the pain and all. I guess I'll have to stay here from now on."

"You sound like you're a burden," The fox chuckles as the weight of his friend's head falls on him gently. "Don't worry, though. Onew and I will take care of you."

"That's right, you better take care of me," Jonghyun puffs his chest out pridefully. "I'm an invalid."

"I doubt an injured paw makes you an invalid," Kibum chortles as Jonghyun lifts his head up lazily and shoots him a dirty look. "In my opinion, an invalid wouldn't even be able to crawl back here to see his friend he hasn't seen in decades."

"Decades are too exaggerated, Kibum. But you said you'll take care of me, so you better."

"I will, you idiot. You're my best friend, and I care for you."

"Wow. I could hear you say that again all day."

"Shut up and sleep, you filthy mutt. You're taking a bath first thing in the morning because you stink."

"What if I refuse?" Jonghyun rebukes in a playful manner, nudging his larger muzzle against Kibum's ribcage. "What is the tiny little fox gonna do to me?"

"I'll shove you into the river, that's what!" Kibum leans up and nips the dog's ear, not hard enough to hurt him. "Now sleep. You're probably tired from all that walking."

"I am," The dog agrees, resting his head on top of Kibum's again. "Hey, what if we find mates, though? You know, a female."

Kibum snorts at the hound's clarification. "Then what, a male? I didn't know you swung that way."

"I do not," The mutt snorts right back, butting his head against Kibum's. "But really, what if we find our own mates?"

"We'll still be best friends," The fox smiles up at the dog. "We'll be best friends forever."

"Wow, so cheesy," Jonghyun grins right back at his friend, heaving a soft sigh in content. He starts to say something, only to be cut off by the fox.

"Well, not like we're likely to find mates in this deep part of the forest," Kibum sighs in melancholy. "Maybe we have to end up mating each other."

Seriousness settled into the atmosphere for the span of about five seconds, before the pair burst into loud, robust laughter and startled away the birds in the trees. 

"Well, I guess we have a happy ending no matter what then," Jonghyun jokes, nuzzling Kibum affectionately. "You know I love you."

Kibum shoves his paw in Jonghyun's face, pushing the mutt away with a chuckle. "And you know I love you."

They settle down again, Jonghyun's head on top of Kibum's as their bodies fit together, meshing black and white in the middle, soft breaths slowly spanning out, deeper and deeper as they drift off, and with one final sigh from the pair, they both fall asleep like they always had every time Jonghyun came to visit. 

Only this time, Jonghyun was here to stay. 

So hi. I hope you enjoyed that. It's 3:47AM here, so pardon any mistakes or typos because clearly my brain isn't functioning right at near 4AM in the morning. Honestly this came out better than I thought it would. And quicker, tbh, because i was planning on leaving this alone until I finished off my KrisHo, but no, JongKey feels had to attack me. Ugh. Leave a comment and stuff, you know, aha. c: Okay bye!