It was all in fun, every year that they'd been together. Over the course of the day on the first of April each member of vixx would take a crack at pulling the ultimate prank on the other boys. One year Sanghyuk released live spiders on them to wake them up in the morning. Another Jaehwan had written his name on a sketched on permanate marker tattoo he'd given each of them as they slept. The jokes were never directly harmful so much as there were either humiliating or frightening. 
Hakyeon was never much for a big show of a prank, he thought too much could go wrong if he only planned one. He tended to sprinkle little jokes throughout the day. Salt in the sugar bowl, mayonnaise in the yogurt container and so forth. 
This was one of those smaller scale practical jokes. Hakyeon had poured them all a glass of water with a couple drops of a prank mixture he'd picked up at a party supply store. The idea behind it was that, though the substance was not harmful, it did have a bitter taste and the poison labeled bottle would sit on the counter would provide an answer to those who questioned why the water tasted like feet. It wasn't one of Hakyeon's greatest pranks, but it was something. At the very least he'd get to see the boys cringe at the taste of their fouled water. 
"It looks normal enough," Hongbin held his glass up to the light, then sniffed it. "Yeah, I think this is fine."
Being parched after a long practice, that was all they needed to each take a long sip of much needed water. Hakyeon laughed as the all coughed it back up with varying looks of disgust on their faces. 
"Watch out guys," Jaehwan said sarcastically as he picked up the bottle of obviously fake looking poison and wiggled it in the air. "We've been poisoned."
"Maybe it's real. Maybe I'm just using an April Fools day prank gone wrong to kill you all off and begin my solo career," Hakyeok joked, taking a whiff of the bottles contents and cringing. The boys laughed, younger members nervously so. 
"I actually do feel kind of weird, though," Sanghyuk spoke up with a frown, hand on his stomach. 
"It's probably just a placebo. You think it'll hurt you so your mind is playing tricks on you," Taekwoon reassured and patted the youngest member's shoulder. Sanghyuk sighed, unconvinced, but dropped the subject nonetheless. 
Wonsik stood up suddenly and flicked the kitchen lights off. All of the boys' skin glowed a green-yellow in the dark, looking extremely odd and slightly terrifying. Wonsik smirked. "I put it in the body wash."
"We perform tomorrow!" Hakyeon shrieked. 
Wonsik shrugged. "You'll figure it out."
Sanghyuk and Hongbin were laughing and poking at each other's cheeks while Jaehwan fanned Hakyeon's face to help sooth his anger. Taekwoon was a lost cause, already rolling up his sleeve to reveal a glow-in-the-dark fist as he chased Wonsik into the next room. The fake poison was forgotten, as was the bitter water and Hakyeon's seemingly stupid prank. 
The boys took turns in the shower again after that when Jaehwan discovered that dish soap took the substance off. They were all getting tired, both by the day they had and the day that they knew would follow it. Phones were out, television on, and headphones in as the sun set in the sky. A rather unusually typical night considering the date, but none complained. At least not until Sanghyuk spoke up again. 
"Guys, I seriously think there's something wrong with me," Sanghyuk got up from his place on the couch and walked over to grab his bottle of water off the ground. He walked hunched over clutching his abdomen. 
"Do you want me to lie down with you?" Hongbin asked, concern written all over his face. 
"No, I'm just-I-I'm just..." Sanghyuk's eyes flew open and his hand went to clutch his chest. Then he squeaked. Not a surprised human sound, but a full blown squeak like a mouse being ran over by a toy car. He tried to speak again and made a louder version of the obscene noise he had before. 
"What the ?" Wonsik looked up from his computer and anyone with headphones pulled them out. 
The last thing they saw was Sanghyuk's look of pure terror before he disappeared out of thin air, only leaving a pile of clothing in his wake. 
"That's not funny, Sanghyuk," Taekwoon said through the shocked silence in the room. 
From the clothes emerged a small white mouse, beady eyes showing the fear that had been in Sanghyuk's. As though the mouse knew who to run to for safety as an animal, it took off towards Taekwoon. Taekwoon let the mouse scurry into his hands before holding it up to eye level. 
Hongbin coughed. "That's not-"
"That's impossible," Hakyeon interrupted. 
"Sanghyuk, bite my middle finger if it's you," Taekwoon said softly, his cupped hands quivering as he waited. Sure enough the tiny creature sat up on it's back legs to examine Taekwoon's row of fingers before climbing up and nipping his middle finger. Taekwoon looked like he was about to cry, and not because of the bite. "H-holy ."
"Hyukkie?" Hongbin said tentatively. The mouse made another noise that sounded an awful lot like a whimper. 
"Oh god," Wonsik groaned. "Oh my ing god."
"This...this is awesome," Jaehwan said and tried unsuccessfully to take Sanghyuk away from Taekwoon. 
Hongbin opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He tried again. Still nothing. Everyone was watching him, either in fear, curiousity, or in Jaehwan's case, amusement. Hakyeon was frozen in his seat on the couch, tears running down his cheeks even though he wasn't upset. He was confused and frustrated with how completely outrageous this was. His mind told him that he'd wakeup soon, but the twist in his gut said that this was just wishful thinking. 
In the blink of an eye Hongbin wasn't Hongbin anymore, but rather a fairly large bird with beautifully coloured feathers fanning out behind him. A peacock. Hakyeon began sobbing. 
Wonsik followed him directly, shrinking in his clothes and trotting across the room as a tiny pig, oinking at Hongbin who ruffled his feathers in response. Jaehwan's devilish grin fell just as he did, body shifting into a large golden retriever. He barked instantly and his tail
began wagging. 
"No, no, no." Taekwoon shook his head quickly and dove over to where Hakyeon was sitting. The touch made Hakyeon freeze and come back to his senses a bit because Taekwoon never touched him like this. His arms hugged Hakyeon tight around his neck, the side of his face pressed to Hakyeon's neck. He even straddled Hakyeon's lap and sat down heavily. It was as though Taekwoon was trying to remove any space between them, clinging to Hakyeon with everything he had. "Please don't let me go. Hakyeon, I'm scared."
Hakyeon couldn't speak, only reach up to pat Taekwoon's back. He could see Sanghyuk taking cover from Jaehwan under a chair over Tarkwoon's shoulder and decided it would be best just to close his eyes. Hakyeon could enjoy Taekwoon's clinginess for all of three seconds. He groaned when he found himself hugging thin air, opening his eyes slowly to find a sleek black cat perched on his lap. Hakyeon purposely smacked his head hard against the wall behind him. 
"What the is my life?" Hakyeon cried. He threw his head back again and the animal in his lap hissed. Hakyeon chuckled. "Do you not want me to get hurt?"
The cat, Taekwoon, dipped his head down and back up again. Hakyeon the top of his head, down his spine a few times. Taekwoon started purring when Hakyeon scratched behind his ear before straightening up, seemingly trying to collect his pride, and trotting to the other side of the couch. Hakyeon shook his head with a smile. "You're still Taekwoon."
Taekwoon meowed. 
"You have to stay with me if I'm going to stay sane," Hakyeon said, patting his lap again. Taekwoon marched back over slowly and chose to sit up beside Hakyeon instead. Hakyeon pushed his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. He dried his tears and, with Taekwoon nudging against his hand, had a bit clearer of a mind. 
Hongbin was still trying to learn how to walk, talons scraping on the hardwood as he dragged himself and his obnoxious feathers around the living area. Hakyeon had to admit that he was pretty, not unlike usual. Wonsik and Jaehwan were tormenting each other. Wonsik would ram his snout into Jaehwan's side and made him yelp and Jaehwan wagged his tail around Wonsik's off-pink body to tickle him. This was typical and brought a bit of a smile to Hakyeon's face. Sanghyuk had found a place on the back of a chair where he sat unmoving and petrified of the animals below him. 
"Why am I not changed?" Hakyeon asked out loud. It was kind of directed to Taekwoon, he being the only other in the room acting slightly human. 
Taekwoon leaped off the couch with impressive agility considering he'd been in this feline body for less than five minutes. He looked back at Hakyeon expectantly, so Hakyeon got up to follow him. He walked into the kitchen and pounced up onto the counter, nudging the bottle of fake poison with his nose. 
"Oh ," Hakyeon picked up the bottle and stared down at it. "This is my fault."
Taekwoon stuck his chin up and Hakyeon couldn't believe that even as a cat Taekwoon managed to make him feel inferior. Hakyeon watched as he leapt to the ground and meowed in circles around Sanghyuk's pathetic, shaking form. 
"Aw, you didn't want me to step on him. You're so cute," Hakyeon cooed. Taekwoon hissed at him. 
"Do you want up Hyukkie?" Hakyeon put his hand down on the ground. The pads of Sanghyuk's paws tickled his hand as the little mouse climbed onto his palm. Hakyeon almost wanted to giggle at how cute he was when Sanghyuk latched onto his hoodie and hid in his pocket with only his nose and whiskers sticking out. Hakyeon raised an eyebrow at Taekwoon. "See? Sanghyuk's smart being nice to the only one here with usable thumbs and the ability to fix this."
Taekwoon paused, head cocked o the side and ears back like they were rejecting Hakyeon's words, then turned to walk back to the living area, tail waving with his walk. Hakyeon followed him, not knowing what else to do at that point besides question his sanity. At the very least this dream would be amusing and finding a solution could be fun too. Like a mystery, Hakyeon thought, knowing well that it was not a dream. 
Hakyeon groaned when he reentered the living room. One of the cushions was torn up, Jaehwan sitting in the couch filling fast asleep in his mop of golden fur. Hakyeon kind of wanted to turn him back just because it wouldn't feel right to punch him in dog form. Wonsik had made a pile of chewed up apple cores from a plastic bag that used to have enough apples for them for week in it. He sprayed apple pieces and juice when he snorted at Hakyeon. Hongbin was just trotting around, seeming to be very pleased that he'd learnt to be mobile. There was a puddle in the corner and Hakyeon wasn't entirely in the mood to question it's origins. 
Hakyeon smirked at them all. "We are real, V-I-wait, aren't you guys going to join me?"
A series of angry sounding animal noises said all of the " you"s that the other members weren't able to say. 
"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands," Hakyeon chimed. Sanghyuk bit his hand and Hongbin began pecking at his socked feet. 
"Alright, I'm done," Hakyeon said tugged his hand from his pocket while hopping away from his band member turned extravagant bird. Taekwoon had a superior look on his face from where he sat beside their home phone. He pawed at the cord when Hakyeon looked over to him. Hakyeon was beginning to get a hang of picking up Taekwoon's silent messages. He turned the bottle over in his hand that he brought from the kitchen and squinted his eyes at the fine print. A number was so small it was nearly illegible at the bottom with no context as to where it would reach. 
"Jaehwan, leave the goddamn couch alone. Hongbin, stay the still for like two minutes. Wonsik, you've had enough apples and you chew louder than I can think. I need quiet," Hakyeon ordered, finger in the air. Silence fell in the room and Hakyeon sighed in relief that though they were even more rowdy and destructive than usual, they were at least controllable. Hakyeon double checked the number on the phone before he called, heart pounding in anticipation as to who would answer. He was shaking his leg which earned him an angry squeak from his pocket, freezing entirely when the ringing stopped. 
"Hello?" A raspy, old sounding, woman answered the phone. 
"Um, hello," Hakyeon said, already sounding accusatory. "I have a problem. See, I gave your little potion to my friends and now they're all ING ANIMALS."
The woman cackled. "I see you failed to read the fine print."
"WHO READS THE ING FINE PRINT ON A TWO DOLLAR BOTTLE OF PRANK POISON?!" Hakyeon screamed so loud that Jaehwan whined. He took a deep breath. "Just tell me how to fix it."
"I find it amusing. Sneaking into stores and swapping out some of the bottles. It's fun to not know who exactly you'll be shocking," the woman went on, her smile clear in her tone. 
Hakyeon's patience was gone. "I JUST WATCHED THE BOY I LIKE COUGH UP A HAIRBALL YOU SON OF A !"
"My, my, aren't we a tad upset," the woman said. "I will help you."
"Good," Hakyeon said through his teeth. 
"There is a barrier between you and each person that has shifted. Break it down, and they will return," she explained. 
"Break it- No, I need more than that."
"Goodbye, Hakyeon." And the line went dead. 
"," Hakyeon swore to the ceiling, making sure Sanghyuk was safely out of his pocket before flopping down on the couch. "Barrier...barrier...what does that mean?"
The only thing that Hakyeon could think of was the many times they were asked to confess to one another for variety shows and interviews. He sighed and picked Sanghyuk up, holding him in his tiny white furriness in front of his face. "Sanghyuk-"
Sanghyuk wiggled his whiskers and Hakyeon smiled. "Hyukkie, you've improved so much and I-"
Taekwoon meowed and when Hakyeon looked over he was attempting to shake his head. The dig of his chin said "deeper."
Hakyeon took a long breath to clear his head before trying again. "I know that I gave you a lot of at first because I was holding a grudge that you trained for such a short amount of time. I've never apologized for it, but I am so ing sorry because you didn't deserve that and I love you, okay?"
Sanghyuk's nose wrinkled and for a moment Hakyeon went hopeless. Just as his shoulders were starting to sag Hakyeon felt a weight on his lap. He blinked to find Sanghyuk sitting on him. Not a mouse, but rather a human Sanghyuk with his messy hair and full bottom lip and lanky body. Hakyeon couldn't help but hug him close. 
"Hyung," Sanghyuk mumbled and hugged back. "You're so stupid, hyung."
"I know," Hakyeon didn't know if he was talking about being cruel to him in their early years or turning him into a mouse. He was correct either way. 
"I'm ," Sanghyuk pointed out. 
"That you are," Hakyeon nodded and released the younger boy to go retrieve his clothing. Hakyeon continued through the rest of the boys, professing his most inner thoughts of each one to the point that it was humiliating. It was effective, though, and one man's embarrassment was surely better than having five animals running around in place of people. They all clothed themselves and expressed their gratitude to whatever Hakyeon said, mutually agreeing that Hakyeon's confessions made up for his mistake. 
"Nothing's working," Hakyeon wailed. Taekwoon had been standing on the floor in front of him for five minutes, listened to numerous confessions none of which had changed his state in the slightest. 
"I think you know what you need to say," Hongbin said as he pulled a hoodie over his head. 
"If I did, wouldn't I have said it at this point?" Hakyeon tried not to sound as frustrated as he was. 
"I just watched the boy I like cough up a hairball," Jaehwan quoted. 
"Who wants bacon?" Hakyeon said abruptly, attempting to change the subject. 
"No," Wonsik cringed. "Please. No bacon. Or pork. Ever."
They all joined in laughing at Wonsik, who scowled at them all and suppressed a smile of his own. Taekwoon's loud, angry sounding meow broke their laughter. 
"We'll leave," Sanghyuk said, flicking his eyes down to the black cat before looking back up to Hakyeon. "Just tell the poor thing you have a big dumb crush on him before he starts his own butthole."
Taekwoon hissed at Sanghyuk, low growl in his throat driving all of the boys out of the room. After the door was safely closed he relaxed immediately and walked a little before pouncing up onto Hakyeon's lap. His meow was pathetic and small and he blinked slowly at Hakyeon. Taekwoon pawed at Hakyeon's shirt, rubbed his face against it, and even began to purr shamelessly when Hakyeon started petting him. It was affection Hakyeon never expected to see from Taekwoon, even in a state like this. 
"Well, I guess I better get this over with so you can speak again and regret me," Hakyeon chuckled sadly. "I really like you, Taekwoon. I like your soft voice that becomes so powerful when you sing, your smile, how passionate you are. I'm pretty sure you already know that, though. What you don't know is how badly I want to kiss you and for you to not get irritated when I touch you. I might even love-"
Hakyeon was cut off when a broken mew came from Taekwoon's throat. Within seconds Taekwoon had gone from a wide eyed cat to a boy scrambling to get some clothes on. Hakyeon managed to muster up the self control to look away as he did so. He waited until the hustling quieted down before asking, "Are you decent?"
"I'm better than decent," Taekwoon said. 
Hakyeon looked beside him to find Taekwoon sitting on the couch, one leg tucked in and the other dangling over the side. He'd even put a cute pair of ankle socks on, which Hakyeon of course found completely adorable. Taekwoon pursed his lips stared down at his fingers in his lap. "I'm glad you finally grew a pair."
"Excuse me?" Hakyeon asked. 
Taekwoon reached across to take one of Hakyeon's hands, caressing the back of it with his thumb. "I love you too."
"Really?" Hakyeon lit up, holding Taekwoon's hand close to his chest as a grin spread across his face. 
"Really," Taekwoon reassured,
scooting a little closer to Hakyeon. "I've been waiting for you to say something. It took turning us all into animals to do it, but whatever."
Hakyeon wasn't able to hold back anymore. He launched himself forward, knocking Taekwoon onto his back, and climbed over him. Taekwoon's eyes were wide as Hakyeon dove down and kissed him, arms nearly giving out from their places beside Taekwoon's head when he did. Taekwoon's lips were everything he imagined they'd be, soft, patient, warm, and then some. Not wanting to seem too eager, even though he was, Hakyeon pushed himself up. 
"This is going to be fun," Taekwoon breathed. 
"Is this wrong since you were a cat two minutes ago?" Hakyeon giggled as he fixed Taekwoon's mess of hair. 
Taekwoon pulled him down into another kiss, this one deeper and slower. He worked over Hakyeon's mouth for a few seconds before speaking against his lips. "Does it feel wrong?"
"Forget I asked."