Murry New Year, children! I'm not a skilled enough writer to make a holiday special, so here we have a regular chapter. Anyways, happy reading! Stay safe~

Of all people who decided to show up at Kyungsoo's room's door--he had been chased out of the health office after the first seven hours because of Jongin's whining for him--this particular visitor was the least expected.

Tao shifted from foot to foot with a giant pink cardboard box in his hands, a grey-brown beanie pulled low over his forehead. Kyungsoo stared at him through the peephole, confused and more than just a little suspicious.

Eventually, though, the door didn't stay closed to the Doberman wereanimal.

"Hi, Kyungsoo," Tao said, his usual expressionless facade as unreadable as the concrete sidewalks outside. 

"Hey, Tao." Kyungsoo gave the taller boy a once-over. "What are you here for?"

Tao scratched the back of his neck. "I got kicked out. Kai kept trying to attack me."

"...oh." Kyungsoo paused, then stepped to the side. "Want to come in?"

"I just have a present for you," Tao said, waving a hand and passing the pink box over to the cat hybrid's hands. It was much lighter than it looked, and a glossy red ribbon was tied in some complex floral knot on top. "It's a cake from a...my friend's bakery."

"For me?" Kyungsoo sniffed the box. It smelled faintly of strawberry. 

"You and Kai."

"Thanks...but why?"

Tao's bloodred eyes moved to focus on something off to the side. "It's...no reason."

In that moment, the boy who could have torn out Kyungsoo's still-beating heart without blinking became a shy third-grader, and what Baekhyun called Kyungsoo's "maternal instincts" kicked in.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure it's not 'no reason'." Kyungsoo set the cake down on Sehun's desk and gestured for Tao to come in, which he did very tentatively.

"Well, it's stupid," Tao said, taking his beanie off and smoothing down his mussed hair. 

"I specialize in stupid." Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow and sat down on his bed. "For instance, I'm dating Kai."

The Doberman cracked the slightest of smiles. "That's kinda...the reason I gave you the cake."

Kai? 

Kyungsoo's hackles rose. "You like Kai?"

Tao raised his hands in defense. "I th-think you misunderstood that. I mean...I'm here because you guys are dating, and you're matched, right? And everything is going well."

"...well, I like to thi--"

"How do you do it?" Tao interrupted.

Kyungsoo froze mid-word, mouth still open to the i of the think. 

The Doberman swallowed and looked away, color rising to his cheeks. "I know we don't really know each other, but could you hear me out?"

"Of--of course."

"I'm not Kris' match."

That was surprising. Kyungsoo leaned forward. "Really? You guys get along so...well."

"We're not matches," Tao said quietly. "His match is a girl named Jessica."

"A girl named Jessica," Kyungsoo repeated.

"Yeah. This--that cake, it's from her bakery. I went to go see her, because Kris kept talking about how he doesn't love her, just cares about her a little bit, and how he loves me...I don't know. I'm really confused. I want to know what she has that I don't that makes her the one for Kris and, and not...not me." Tao sunk down onto Sehun's bed. "I'm not his match, but I feel like when I meet mine it's not actually going to be as...good, as good as what Kris and I have now."

Kyungsoo studied the boy opposite him, surprised and humbled by his confessions. "Well, I'd be confused too."

Tao nodded.

"A match is a predator hybrid thing, so to be honest, I'm not familiar with it...but I'm sure that you don't have to be someone's match to love them, right? That's just what I think," Kyungsoo said slowly. "If you love somebody, you shouldn't be tied up by the red string of fate that determines the end result of everything. You should just, you know, go with it. If it's meant to be, then that's great, and if it's not, you should at least enjoy the ride, right?"

There was a thick silence in the air between the two hybrids for a long minute. 

"Yeah," Tao finally said. "You're right."

Kyungsoo patted the Doberman's shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said, smiling. 

Tao smiled back.

December 28th

Tao's surprisingly nice. He brought me a cake. It was pretty good.

He told me about how he and Kris weren't actually matched. Kris' match is a girl--a horse hybrid--named Jessica, and he got the cake from her. Tao was really upset about it, and he came to talk to me about how to work it out. I think I helped. I hope I did.

He's not as bad as Kai makes him out to be.

Jongin lay flat on his back in Yonghwa's office, a fuzzy blanket thrown over him and pulled up under his chin.

He imagined he was back at home, the first time he ever had an episode. His mother had taken the brunt of it, covered in scratches and bruises that would eventually bloom into ugly purple carnations. 

Still, when he finally came to, the first thing he saw was his mother crying and nursing the wounds Jongin himself had gotten.

"My baby boy," she sobbed into his hand. "Why did it have to be you?"

Seven-year-old Jongin learned then the reason he didn't have a father. He had been held in a care center in Europe since Jongin was two, because his Werewolf Syndrome had degenerated so far that it didn't take just a certain time of the month to lash out. Despite her injuries and her fear, Jongin's mother had protested.

Unfortunately for her, her husband didn't.

Though no one else on either side of the family had Werewolf Syndrome, doctors warned that one of the Kim's children would most likely have something similar to the father's, most likely one of the girls, since they seemed to have more of an inclination to a wolf's natural traits. Jongin's mother had kept a careful eye on his sisters, becoming complacent with Jongin.

So on that quiet spring day, everyone's worlds were shattered.

Present-day Jongin finally moved, rolling off the couch and onto the floor, where he curled up into a little ball.

Yonghwa and Amber were by his side in seconds. 

"Are you okay?" Yonghwa asked, laying a hand on Jongin's shoulder.

The wolf hybrid swatted at the arm. "No," he mumbled.

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Racing thoughts again."

Amber stood up. "I'll grab a Vistaril or something." 

"Get the other one. The Vistaril doesn't...work anymore."

"He's been like this for a long time, huh?"

She padded away, leaving Jongin on the carpet in fetal position and Yonghwa sitting cross-legged beside him.

Without any warning, even to himself, Jongin started to cry. Violently. 

"It w-won't st-stop," he stuttered out, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. "I c-can't s-stop thinking ab-ab-about--"

"You don't need to talk," Yonghwa said, his hand returning to its place on Jongin's shoulder. "Deep breaths."

Jongin ignored the suggestion. "I w-want chocolate," he cried. "And ramen, and my m-mom's ch-chicken and Jungah's t-tea and my d-d-dogs and I w-want my p-pillow and I w-want..." He in a breath. "I w-want Kyungs-soo, I really really really want K-Kyungsoo, I want to h-hug him, because h-he always makes me f-feel better. I-I want s-s-somebody to br-bring Kyungsoo t-to me. I'm s-scared and I'm lonely, Y-Yonghwa, I'm r-really scared." 

Yonghwa's thumb rubbed light circles on Jongin's arm.

Jongin didn't stop crying until he felt sick, at which point he remained rolled up and instead hiccuped without talking.

To neither party's knowledge, Amber had been standing at the doorway, silent and solemn, with the medicine in hand. She left the pill and cup of water on a napkin at the edge of the carpet and headed out into the lobby, where she asked the nurse for DO Kyungsoo's student information.

Within thirty seconds of receiving the phone call, Kyungsoo threw on his coat and half-tumbled down the stairs, keys and phone threatening to fall out of his pockets. Two of Chase's lackeys were going up, and one of them stuck out a foot.

Kyungsoo leaped over it, landing neatly on the bottom step with a grace he never knew he had. As he rounded the corner, he stopped for just a second.

"ALL OF YOU ARE PIECES OF  ING !" he roared, then forged on.

A heavy, piercing wind threw up pieces of leaf and dust, but Kyungsoo was numb.

"Get here as fast as you can," Amber had said. "He's in pretty bad shape, and this is coming from...well, me."

The nurse was waiting at the side door.

"Go on," she said, eyes flickering down at Kyungsoo's feet.

Kyungsoo raced down the polished halls, the bright lights suddenly too bright and the cheery paintings suddenly too fake.

He skidded to a stop in front of the caretaker's office, heart thudding.

Jongin lay on his side at the base of the couch, and Yonghwa held his hand loosely. At the sound of Kyungsoo's heavy breathing, the ox hybrid caretaker looked up.

"He's not responding to anything," Yonghwa said without introduction. "I have seen him murderous, I have seen him crying until he passed out, and I have seen him ready to tear down this whole building brick by brick, but this?" 

Kyungsoo knelt down next to Yonghwa and took the wolf's hand in his. Jongin didn't move, though his eyes were open and his chest rose and fell unevenly with every breath. Occasionally, a hiccup ran through his body like an earthquake.

"Kai," Kyungsoo said quietly, struggling to maintain his composure. "Kai, can you hear me?"

Meanwhile, Jongin was daydreaming of some place far away where he didn't feel so heavy, so chained. Soft grass cushioned him, as green as anything he had ever seen. There was a faint blue glow around him that merged with that of the angels that stood around him, everything so vivid that he could almost reach out and touch it.

A white feather drifted down and landed in his open palm. He closed his fingers around it, feeling its soft tufts brush against his skin.

One of the angels leaned down and extended a hand, enshrouded in a strong gold aura. "Kai," it said, voice achingly familiar. "Please say something."

Something cold slammed into him, and the reverie was broken, shattered into countless pieces and falling away to reveal a sunlight-dappled ruby carpet and three glow-less faces.

Jongin gasped for air, the chill having stolen all of it from his lungs. "Nng," he whimpered.

Amber stood above him with an upside-down glass. "There we go," she said.

Yonghwa started yelling, though Jongin couldn't make out the words. All he could focus on was the only angel that had remained.

Kyungsoo was his cheek, brow furrowed and golden eyes the exact shade of the glow in Jongin's dream. "You're awake," he said, hoarse.

"I was awake the whole time," Jongin replied, taking Kyungsoo's hand in his. "Just dreaming."

The smaller boy helped Jongin sit up, leaning against the couch. 

"I'm so tired," Jongin said, head lolling back onto the leather. "They took down the amount of tranqs, and I think I'm having withdrawal. That's probably it."

"Are you...vicious?"

"I don't think so."

Kyungsoo nestled under Jongin's right arm and rested his head on the wolf's shoulder. "I guess we'll see."

Jongin kissed the cat hybrid's head and closed his eyes.