Shivering and drawing himself closer, he shied away from the rapidly forming puddles and splashes of rain falling overhead. The boy’s dark hair was saturated with water, droplets trailing from his bangs and off his pale cheeks. He snuffled into the crook of his arm, willing warmness back into his face as the rain continued to beat down.

Jimin hated the rain. It made his ears twitch and his tail hang limp from the heavy water building up in his fur. Gently curling his tail in between his bent knees, he carefully wrung out the water from his tail with both hands.

Lights moved past, curving over the abandoned objects in the side of the street and illuminating off of metallic street signs. The sound of an engine turning off had Jimin’s ears flicking in interest even as he continued to wring out his tail. Many cars had been driving by hour’s prior, but at this time of the night it was unusual for someone to drive by let alone to stop.

Wiggling his nose slightly as he felt a tickling sensation, he blearily looked out in hopes of finding a better place to camp out from the rain. The tickling sensation overcame him no matter how much he tried to ignore it, a strong sneeze tearing through him and filling the silent night with a loud ah-choo.

“Hello?” a rough voice called out, “Is anyone there?”

Jumping from the sudden voice, Jimin perked his head up and felt his ears curve to the source of the sound. “Hello…?” he called back in interest; maybe this stranger could get him out of the rain.

Footsteps came closer until a bright light suddenly flared. “Ow!” Jimin quickly covered his stinging eyes, “Whatcha do that for?!”

“Oh, sorry.” The stranger lowered his light. “My phone’s flashlight can be pretty bright…”

Jimin slowly uncovered his face when he realized his eyes were safe, his face tilting upwards to take in the stranger’s figure. The other wasn’t very tall, with a pale face and even paler legs. Blinking a few times until the spots faded from the corners of his eyes, his nose wiggled again as he breathed in an intoxicating scent coming from a bag in the stranger’s hand.

“Is that food?!” he suddenly yelped, moving onto his knees to get closer to the source of the yummy smell.

“Hey! It’s not for you,” the stranger possessively held the bag closer to himself. Tightening his grip on his umbrella, he ignored the pleading looks coming from Jimin. “Why are you out in the rain anyways?”

Whining softly, Jimin scooted forward on his knees until he was underneath the over hang of the umbrella, blinking longingly up at the food and then over to the stranger’s face.

“I don’t have any where to go…please give me food,” Jimin stuck out his lower lip and wrapped cold fingers around the stranger’s bare calf. The other jumped slightly at the cold digits before a long drawn out sigh was heard over the noise of pattering rain.

“If you let go of me in the count of three, I’ll let you inside and give you some of this food.” The stranger opened his mouth to start counting but Jimin lunged back, his hands in the air and his planted firmly on the back of his own ankles. His lower lip was still jutting out, his tail wagging behind him despite the rain.

The stranger groaned in frustration and relented, “Fine.”

✧✧✧

Walking through the door with a bright-eyed boy trailing behind him, Yoongi felt his temple throb. He wasn’t planning on housing any guests, let alone an abandoned hybrid. Grumbling under his breath, Yoongi led the boy to his small living room and set down the bag of take out he picked up on his way back from the studio.

The hybrid shot out his hands and began ripping into the plastic bag before Yoongi could get a word in. “Hey!” he shouted, hand clamping around the boy’s wrist, “Slow down and at least let me get plates out.”

The boy pouted and firmly nodded his head, eagerly waiting for Yoongi to set up the table and get the food served. “Hurry up then mister~” he called after him.

Practically stomping into the kitchen, Yoongi rumbled back, “It’s Yoongi hyung to you, punk!”

Reaching into a cupboard and pulling out two plates, he wondered how fate could be so cruel. He hadn’t asked for a manner-less punk to land on his front door step. Yoongi sighed and grabbed a few utensils, the metal clacking loudly against one another as he set them on the plates. He closed the drawer with his hip and turned towards the door of the kitchen, nearly throwing the dishes in the air when the hybrid suddenly appeared at the mouth of the room.

“What the hell?!” he cried out, clenching his fingers around the plates, “Ask permission before shocking me like that, good lord.”

The boy tilted his head and grinned, tail wagging behind him gently, “But hyung, I came in here to help.” Reaching his hands out he cutely opened and closed his fists in a grabbing motion until Yoongi relented and handed the dishes over.

Watching the boy leave, he shook his head and grabbed a clean towel from the bathroom adjoining the living room. No way was he letting the punk get his couch all wet. Throwing the towel at the boy’s face, he smirked when he caught him off guard. The hybrid yelped at the impact to his face, grabbing at the soft material of the towel and squinting at Yoongi.

“Dry your hair already, punk.” Yoongi turned to his bedroom and dug around for some clothes. Walking back into the room, he spotted the other gloomily rubbing at his hair, ears down and a pout on his face.

“Hyung you said we could eat when we got the plates…but we still aren’t eating.”

“We’ll eat in a bit. Be patient,” Yoongi held out the clothes, “Change first, food after.”

Perking up, the hybrid let the towel drop to the floor before grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it up over his head. His taut stomach muscles flexed from the motion, making Yoongi tighten his fist around the clothes in his hand.

“I didn’t say strip!” he finally shouted out, stopping the other in the process of tugging down his pants.

“Oh,” the boy calmly replied, tilting his head in confusion before asking, “Where should I change?”

Shoving the boy into the nearby bathroom, he tossed the clothes in his general direction before roughly shutting the door. Rubbing at his mouth, Yoongi wondered why god had to do this to him.

Mumbling under his breath, “Stupid dog…with his stupid abs…” Yoongi bent and scooped up the wet shirt littering his floor. Flipping the shirt right side out, he paused at the small tag sticking out of the back of the shirt’s collar.

“Park Jimin…” he muttered the text aloud.

“Wow hyung! You must be a mind reader, you guessed my name!” Happily the hybrid pressed his front against Yoongi’s back, peeking over his shoulder to glance at the shirt in his hands.

Shoulders jutting up in surprise, Yoongi turned his face and glared at Jimin over his shoulder. “I’m not a mind reader you idiot. It says your name in the tag of your shirt.”

Tilting his head, Jimin pressed closer against the older boy’s back, “It does? Must have been from my owner.”

“You have an owner?” Yoongi sighed, glancing away from the hybrid so he could study the material of his shirt. The cloth was rough, a bit threadbare in places with several stains on the front. “When did you get this? It looks old.”

Sniffling, Jimin dug his cold nose into the warmth of Yoongi’s back and mumbled, “I haven’t seen him in months.”

The sound of the clock hanging in the front entryway ticked, a minute seeming to pass in an almost dead silence as Yoongi took in the other boy’s situation. It was clear he had nowhere to go, that he’d been out on the streets for a while with an owner who had purposely abandoned him. Clenching his fingers around the cloth, Yoongi sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

“Guess you’ll be staying with me then.”

Hands slipped through the gap between his arms and ribs, sliding around his waist and tugging him into a tight embrace. “Really?” Jimin soft voice cried out, smothering a noise into Yoongi’s shirt and wetness absorbing into the fabric. His shoulders shook from a sob and his voice broke despite the hope welling up in him, “You’ll really keep me, hyung?”

Wrapping bony fingers around the arms tightly hugging him, Yoongi glanced down at the short fingers clasped with a knuckle whitening force. “Yeah, you mut. I’ll keep you.”

Jimin smothered a gleeful squeal, his tail wagging widely behind him, “Thank you thank you thank you thank you tha-“

“Okay, okay that’s enough,” Yoongi laughed, surprised at the sudden onslaught of thank you’s from the hybrid. Squeezing the boy’s forearms, he added, “You can thank me later by helping around the apartment.”

“Yes! Anything!” Jimin practically shouted, his happiness infectious and making Yoongi smile a bit.

“Well let go of me first, and lets eat. You were hungry, right?” Yoongi huffed, not used to being around someone so affectionate.

✧✧✧

Settling against the couch with a plate full of food, Jimin’s tail thumped against the cushions as he started digging in. around the mouthful, Jimin spoke with cheeks full, “Its so yummy, hyung.”

Bits of rice flew out his mouth and landed on the coffee table, Yoongi’s eyebrow twitching with annoyance, “Where’s your manners, don’t talk with your mouth so full.”

Nodding happily, Jimin continued to munch on the food on his plate, Yoongi’s gruff personality not deterring his good mood. It had been so long since he’d had a real meal, his stomach used to whatever he could find on the streets but his tongue missing the flavor of proper food. Turning towards Yoongi with his cheeks puffed out from food and his eyes curved into crescents, Jimin cutely beamed up at the older.

Blinking slowly at the display in front of him, Yoongi swallowed and shoveled in a bite of food to hold back any noises. He’s was going to need to get used to how cute the hybrid naturally was, his eye smile was really no joke.

After some time, their stomachs were pleasantly full and dirtied dishes littered the table in front of them. Their feet were propped up on the surface of the coffee table as Yoongi flicked through channels on his television, Jimin leaning against his side and rubbing his cheek against his shoulder.

Nothing of interest was playing at the time, Yoongi pausing on a music station to see if anything worth listening to was being aired. The catchy tune of a pop song played from the speakers, Jimin’s ears perking at the enticing sound before he started humming the very tune.

“You like this song?” Yoongi asked and glanced down at the boy cuddling against him.

Grinning meekly, Jimin nodded his head and commented, “I like all kinds of music.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Jimin nuzzled his head against Yoongi’s shoulder and smiled wider, “I like dancing.”

Yoongi snorted and reached up to ruffle the boy’s hair, making his ears twitch at the affectionate touch, “Well aren’t we a pair. I like making music, you like dancing to it.”

Jimin’s tail started wagging again, the repeated thumping noise blending into the sound of the pop music still playing on the television. “Maybe one day I can dance to your songs!”

“Yeah, maybe,” Yoongi smiled before leaning his head back against the couch and relaxing further into the cushions. His body slouched a bit, Jimin able to rest his head on his shoulder properly. The conversation between them died off as a yawn came over the older boy. Yoongi’s eyes drooped from a sleepy haze that overcame him, the heat coming from Jimin making past exhaustion finally catch up to him.

“Hyung, are you falling asleep?” Jimin quietly asked, grinning when he noticed how Yoongi’s eyes were almost closed. Holding his breath, he studied Yoongi’s peaceful expression as he finally drifted off to sleep. A few moments pass as he listened to even breathing softly coming from the sleeping boy’s mouth, his chest barely moving during each inhale and exhale.

Relaxing back against Yoongi’s shoulder, Jimin smiled down at his own fingers wrapped around the older boy’s wrist and wondered how he got so lucky to find someone like him. The sound of the rain outside continued, but the brightness of the music coming from the television lighting the room reminded him of how his future was going to be different. Good-bye were the days of him digging in the trash for scraps or the petty quarrels between other strays. Tomorrow, he’ll get to wake up to the smell of food and the sound of music.

Lazily grinning, Jimin nodded to himself and quietly mumbled, “Thanks for keeping me, Yoongi.”