The café was bustling with students on break. Chanyeol and Jongin sat by the window as they too had theirs; ordering some caffe latte for Chanyeol and just a cup of coffee for Jongin, just to boost their energy for the remainder of the day. It was quiet between them for the most part, both pre-occupied with the respective books they brought in hand. But if Jongin was focused on reading, Chanyeol’s mind was elsewhere.

Two hybrid friends had entered the café; one had gray upright dog ears while the other had flopping brown ones. Their tails were wagging, their laughter boisterous, their chatting lively. They obviously seem to be enjoying themselves, a bright happy aura radiating out of them. They were apparently students too, of the university for hybrids just across theirs, based on the jackets they wore that proudly sported the school’s logo.

It distracted Chanyeol, black text long forgotten as he absentmindedly watched the two friends. A little smile then tugs on the corners of his lips as he is reminded of a lovely hybrid back home.

He sips on his drink and remembers the time he bought the very same one for Baekhyun. The hybrid had loved it, finishing it faster than Chanyeol would have liked. And it was no surprise how a while later Baekhyun ended up like a hyperactive five year old as he bounced all over the place, following Kyungsoo with an aggressively wagging tail enough to shaken his whole body along while the half-cat did chores. Jongin and Chanyeol simply watched as both laughed to their hearts content, too entertained by the little show.

Moments later, Jongin notices him and looks to the same direction Chanyeol was smiling at.

“Hey Chanyeol,” he says; finally dropping the book he was concentrated on and gets just as distracted. “Don’t you think we should start exposing Baekhyun to the outside?”

All too immediately, Chanyeol’s smile falters.

“It’s been what.. about four months since you brought him in? He has never stepped out of the apartment.”

“We visit the shelter every two weeks.” Chanyeol tried to reason.

“To your car and to the shelter. He has never actually stepped outside the apartment. He is going to stop improving at this rate.”

“But he is improving everyday…”

“Yes, but he needs to take the next big step or things will stop just there.”

Chanyeol would have argued more, spouting things Jongin knew he knew were just excuses.

“Chanyeol, please.”

Jongin just sighs in his seat after, for he received no reply and Chanyeol just looked away. He knew the thoughts running in his mind, for he too guiltily thought the same.

Months have passed since Baekhyun came into their care. He improved everyday – his language clearer, his writing more stable – long gone are the days that the hybrid spoke in broken stuttered phrases and wrote incomplete scrawny alphabets. He grew more playful: now pestering Kyungsoo while he did some chores or even as he sat silent to read a book; winning in tickle fights as he tackled Jongin without hesitation, leaving him breathless laying on the floor as Baekhyun’s grin could match the brightness of the sun; bouncing towards the door as soon as he catches Chanyeol’s faint scent, then jumping on the man the moment he enters, tail wagging aggressively as he embraced the living daylights out of him. It never failed to put a smile on their faces or elicit loud laughter; to be greeted with a melodious ‘Welcome home’ or even a giddy ‘Thank you’. It always bubbled their hearts in happiness – every single day, every single night – uttering a sleepy good morning as he rubbed his eyes like a child, or saying a sweet good night with each of their names always attached afterwards. And even if he may not speak as much, simply uttering simple phrases and sentences only when necessary, even if he is not yet able to compose proper long paragraphs, just short simple writing in plain printed letters – they were proud.

But as the months grew longer and longer, as Baekhyun slowly began opening up to them, showing big progress for every visit to the shelter – they also grew more and more attached to the hybrid every passing day.

After a brief moment of silence, Jongin began to speak once more. It was his turn to watch the two hybrids that sat two tables across theirs; their laughter still loud enough to ring in their ears. Although this time, it seemed he was speaking more to himself than to Chanyeol. Perhaps trying to reassure himself of the inevitable, trying to see the positive of what lay in the future.

“Wouldn’t you want to be able to bring him anywhere? Show him pretty sights and bring him to places? Wouldn’t it be nice.. to send Baekhyun to school one day? Then maybe have him enrolled in the hybrid’s university beside ours? To see both Kyungsoo and him off to attend their own classes. Wouldn’t you want to see Baekhyun make new friends, laugh with them, and interact with other hybrids.. other people?”

Sadness emanated in Jongin’s words and the softness of his smile. Chanyeol understood.

“Kyungsoo would always tell me every time we go somewhere how he wants to ‘bring Baekhyun here, bring Baekhyun there’. How he wishes ‘Baekhyun could see this, Baekhyun could see that’.

Don’t you want the same, Chanyeol?”

Jongin then turns back to him, and the next words he says stab him like a knife. It wasn’t chiding, it was gently said even; but it was a truth he cannot deny. Chanyeol feels a prickling pain hit his chest.

“Letting him grow doesn’t mean you’re letting him go.

Let's not be selfish.”

Months have passed since Baekhyun began living with them, since Chanyeol met him that first heartbreaking time. His therapy progress had improved remarkably since. But for every proud smile sent to him by the shelter staffs, for every good news relayed to him as the doctor checked the hybrid’s records – they, Chanyeol especially – felt more and more.. anxious.

It was a selfish thought. They have now grown far too attached to the apparently bubbly hybrid, have gotten used to the fact that Baekhyun depended on them greatly, that the thought of him standing on his own two feet without their help, to finally be able to leave the house on his own, to no longer need their guidance – unfortunately did not sit well with them.

If they could only keep Baekhyun by their side always, if only they could keep him from leaving or the possibility of being taken away back to the shelter because of temporary papers, if they could only hold his hand for a much longer time – they would. If Chanyeol could keep him in his arms and his alone – he would.

Chanyeol looks back to the hybrids that were now joined by a few more friends. They were now a big group of different species of half-dog hybrids laughing and joking around and simply enjoying themselves; their ears twitching and their tails wagging lively. Independent, unchained, a few of them un-collard. And even though they received a few judgmental stares from people who obviously looked down on them, it was all ignored. Free, they were.

A lot of thoughts ran through his mind: One day, Baekhyun will be one of them. One day, Baekhyun will no longer ask for Kyungsoo’s help, for Jongin’s guidance, or for Chanyeol’s guard. He should be proud, he would be proud. But he can’t help but want Baekhyun all to himself. He does not understand yet what this feeling is. Maybe this was just some possessive emotion of a master to his ‘pet’. Nonetheless…

It was a greedy desire.

♠♠♠

Normally, when Chanyeol arrives home from school, even before he opens the front door, he would hear muffled puppy whines behind it. It always brightened his day no matter how ty it was, putting a smile on his face as he felt ecstatic to be greeted by an excited hybrid. But for this afternoon, there was only silence, and instead of the usual smile, a frown is made.

Then he opens the front door and enters, and there, by the middle of the living room, lying peacefully on the carpeted floor with crayons strewn all around, was Baekhyun’s sleeping figure. For this late afternoon, it is Kyungsoo who greets him first.

“You’re back.” He says, coming out of the kitchen. “Welcome home.”

The only reply he receives is a small smile before Chanyeol looks back to the sleeping hybrid. It nonetheless made Kyungsoo chuckle, for he knew that Chanyeol was already so used to being greeted with a violent tackle for every time he arrives home; even more so when Chanyeol looks back at him with a questioning stare.

“He found one of Jongin’s magazines. He fell asleep drawing the pictures.” Kyungsoo explained. “He seems to love it a lot.”

Chanyeol goes on to crouch by Baekhyun’s figure, and he saw the magazine and the messy pile of papers with drawings on them that Kyungsoo had said. It was a nature photography magazine, to be specific; just a collection of pages upon pages of beautifully photographed sceneries. The page it was currently open on was that of a forest, with a curvy path that disappears to a spot of bright light – enchanting, a perfect mix of greens and browns. Just beside it was a piece of paper, with Baekhyun’s hand loosely holding a green crayon atop it, of a drawing of what intends to be the same photograph in the magazine – messy streaks of green grass, scrawny brown lines of branches, and even with a touch of yellows.

He could not help but smile, the feeling of joy tingling inside him as he looked through the other drawings Baekhyun had done. There was a drawing of a white daffodil, with almost invisible white crayon marks yet blemished with sky blue streaks to make it standout (Baekhyun perhaps got frustrated when the white did not appear). There was a d