When Kyungsoo’s colleagues and friends were asked to describe him with only one word, they would probably choose the word ’predictable’. He had been a quiet kid who loved reading and stuck to himself. He would probably never have known what it meant to have friends if Jongdae and Baekhyun hadn’t cast their ecstatic gazes on the small boy with glasses and decided he was the cutest thing in existence. Seven year old Kyungsoo had been utterly terrified of the two older boys who were known to be loud troublemakers, but when he had told his mom about how he had sat with them during lunch that day at school, she promptly started crying, relieved that her son had finally found not just one, but two friends. That made Kyungsoo rethink his plan of telling the two older boys that he didn’t want to play with them anymore, and he soon realised that it wasn’t all that bad to be friends with the two. Sure, they were very noisy and he barely had time to read during school after that day, but... it was fun. The three unlikely friends (Kyungsoo was the unlikely part in that equation and all three knew it and didn’t give a damn) stuck with each other through middle school, high school and college, though they ended up in widely different fields after their education. Jongdae, who had always loved singing, had ended up teaching at a prestigious vocal institute, Baekhyun had become a clinical psychologist, to everyone’s surprise, and Kyungsoo had followed his childhood hobby and ventured into teaching at their old college as the literature professor. They still met up frequently, if for nothing else than for Kyungsoo to be able to glare at his two friends while they (loudly) about how boring he was becoming (and then adding the worn out ‘oh wait, you always were!’). Kyungsoo loved them dearly; they were always at the very top when Kyungsoo made a mental list of people he wanted to throttle to death. 

*

“See, that is the thing about literature. It changes. It does not stay the same because you do not stay the same. It’s impossible to read the same book twice,” Kyungsoo argued, hand making a little flail to empathise his point. “It is the same words you read, yes, but the emotions they invoke in you will be different based on your experiences, on your life stories. That’s the reason why you can read the same text, whether it be a short poem or a long novel, and if I ask you what it means, each and every one of you will have a different opinion. They might be close, but there will always be differences in nuance, which is why I and all other literature professors in the world have a job. A text, even a short text, can never be emptied or analysed to completion. In a Station of the Metro has only fourteen words and you just saw how many different opinions you had on what that poem was about,” he concluded, looking over his glasses at his students. “Next time we will be discussing This is just to Say by William Carlos Williams and whichever of the other poems you would like to discuss. Be sure to read them all. I’ll put the pages up online. Thank you, have a nice day,” he finished with a bow of his head as chairs scraped against the floor and bags were packed, chatter erupting between the students as they were finally free for the day. He carefully stacked his papers so they were properly aligned before packing them in his bag, nodding to a couple of the students as he made his way out of the auditorium. His head was buzzing and he was grateful that his class tomorrow would be the same as today, just with another group; it allowed him the evening to relax and just read a bit rather than going over his notes for the lecture next day and make sure he was properly prepared. He stopped by his office to drop off a couple of books; there was no need to bring them home tonight when he didn’t need them. When he exited his office and locked the door he ran into Joonmyeon, the main professor of history.

“Kyungsoo, hi! How are you today?” he asked jovially, smiling like he always did. Even though he wasn’t much older than Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo himself was no party animal, he had always found the older man a bit... odd. He sent him a polite smile and bowed to show him respect. 

“I am good, thank you. Just finished my last class for today and was about to head home. What about you?” he asked politely. It wasn’t that Joonmyeon was crazy or anything; in fact he was a very friendly and easygoing man, however he was stupidly enthusiastic when it came to interactions with the other professors, and there was one small thing...

“I’m great! I’m just done as well, so I’m headed to the store to pick up some special food for my Sehunnie,” he said with a wide grin, what little that could be seen of his eyes sparkling brightly. Kyungsoo had made the mistake of assuming Sehun was Joonmyeon’s son the first time the older professor had mentioned him, only to have him laugh in his face. Sehun was cat hybrid Joonmyeon had adopted and even though Kyungsoo understood he had had him for a couple of years now, Joonmyeon still seemed completely unable to create a few sentences in a row that did not somehow refer to the (in Kyungsoo’s opinion, extremely spoiled) cat hybrid. 

“That sounds, uh, nice. How is he these days?” he asked, knowing that if he didn’t ask Joonmyeon would still start telling him anyway. There was no stopping him when it came to the hybrid. Now, Kyungsoo wasn’t necessarily against hybrids, but he found the entire concept odd. It didn’t seem right to him to take embryos and fuse the genes together with animals’ just to create ‘household companions’ and then let the hybrids live in shelters until they were adopted. The hybrids were half human, and it didn’t sit well with Kyungsoo to mass produce hybrids and then raise them without the love and care any being needed, leaving them in sterile environments unless they were lucky to be adopted at a young age. Now, of course something positive came out of that too; people who, for one reason or the other, could not get kids the biological way and could not adopt a human child either now had the chance to adopt a half human child. Obviously cats and dogs were the most normal types of hybrids, but his neighbours, Yifan and Yixing, had adopted a small boy, Tao, who was a panda hybrid. It seemed to Kyungsoo that the scientists grew more and more adventurous when it came to their experiments. Last night it had been all over the news how an eleven year old tiger hybrid had gone berserk in the place he had been kept, had killed one of the keepers and then run away. Kyungsoo wondered why anyone would even want to create a tiger hybrid in the first place. 

“-and it was really boring, but of course I listened to him ramble on about that weird series cause if I didn’t, I know he wouldn’t talk to me for days!” Joonmyeon finished, still with a wide, silly smile on his face, and Kyungsoo realised he had been too wrapped up in his thoughts to actually listen. He nodded and smiled, pretending he had heard everything and sympathised deeply. 

“That sounds... uhm... yeah. Well... I should leave, let you get back to Sehun, you know,” he said awkwardly. Socialising would never be his strong suit. He bowed and hurried off before Joonmyeon had a chance to start a new narration about the Wonders of Sehun. Once he was safely in the car he let out a little sigh, happy to be alone finally. Despite being a professor and dealing with a large number of students on a daily basis he was still mainly an introvert. He the engine and then began driving home, humming along to the radio until the news began. 

“And lastly, the tiger hybrid who killed a caretaker and maimed several others yesterday has still not been caught. There have been a number of reported sightings and the police have been checking up on all of them with no luck. The hybrid has dark brown hair and was wearing a mint green pyjamas when he escaped. If you have any information or believe you have seen the hybrid, please don’t hesitate to contact the police.” Kyungsoo frowned at the last announcement, wondering how hard it could be to catch an eleven year old. He shook his head lightly, rolling the car into his driveway and getting out. His frown deepened when he saw a police car a few houses down; it was very noticeable since it was already getting darker and it had its lights on. Perhaps they had had a break in? He was just happy it hadn’t been his house, or Yifan and Yixing’s house for that matter. He made his way to the front door, huffing when he saw the shovel that used to stand against his shed on the ground. He went over and picked it up, setting it back so it was resting against the shed once again. Then he went inside, stretching out his back when he was rid of his jacket and book bag. His head felt a little better, but he still felt very drowsy for some reason. He decided to call for takeout rather than cook on his own and then plopped down on the couch with the book he was currently reading to pass time until the food would be there. Only fifteen minutes later his doorbell rang and he looked up in surprise. His takeout had never arrived that fast before. He got up and went to open the door, surprised to find a man in a suit standing there. What surprised him more was that he knew the man. 

“Jongin?” he asked in surprise, pretty certain this man was someone he had gone to college with. He hadn’t had classes with him, the other being in the year under him, but he had lived in the same dorm as him and talked with him sporadically. The man looked surprised to be recognised, frowning at Kyungsoo before recognition lit up his face and he smiled.

“Kyungsoo! What a surprise,” he greeted, bowing deeply and leaving Kyungsoo even more confused. If Jongin didn’t know he was the inhabitant of the house then why was he here? For a brief second Kyungsoo worried that the other had joined a cult or something     and was now going door to door to convert people (yes, his imagination was quite lively; he blamed the thousands of books he had read). “I didn’t know you live in this part of town. I wish I could say I was here on a social call, but that’s not the case. You’ve heard about the tiger hybrid on the loose?” Kyungsoo nodded, confusion clear on his face. “I... can I come inside? It’s bloody freezing out here and I’ve already been outside for over an hour, going door to door.”

Kyungsoo considered for a second, biting his lip in worry, but in the end he stepped back to let Jongin inside. The man uttered a ‘thanks’ and got inside, shaking a little as he let Kyungsoo close the door behind him while he looked around. “So... what about the tiger hybrid?” Kyungsoo asked, still confused but also a little curious now. Jongin stopped blowing air into his folded hands and looked up. 

“It’s a bit of a long story but the gist of it is that the media is full of crap and controlled by the guys experimenting on Chanyeol – that’s the tiger hybrid’s name, by the way,” Jongin began, fire in his eyes. “I’ve been working on getting that organisation closed down for months now. They create exotic hybrids and then proceed to experiment on them. And we are not talking saline injections, we are talking downright cruelty. Yes, Chanyeol killed a man and maimed the rest, but he had been pushed far beyond his limits. The organisation refuses to let anyone see their reports on their experiments, but it’s not pretty. I managed to get a cat hybrid out of there a couple of years ago, he was made before they started on the exotic animals, and he was so traumatised that he couldn’t be near anyone for the first couple of months. The things he experienced there are far from legal, but it wasn’t enough to shut the organisation down since they argued they had changed their ways. It makes me so furious!” Jongin seethed, grinding his teeth together. 

Kyungsoo looked at his old acquaintance with wide eyes. It sounded horrible, yes, and he would love to help Jongin if he could, but he had no idea how. He didn’t like the sound of the things that organisation seemed to be working on, but... “I’m sorry, but I’m still not sure why you are telling me this?” he asked, polite as ever but still confused. 

“Oh, right,” Jongin said, blinking when he realised he had gotten a bit carried away. “Well, the last place Chanyeol was spotted was on your street. And I have been going door to door to ask people to call me if they spot him, not the police. He needs to be in the hands of the social services right now, not the police who would most likely hand him over to the organisation again. It’s extremely cold outside too and I would like to find him before anything happens to him. He’s just a scared eleven year old kid and he hasn’t been outside the organisation’s compound before now. It’s a wonder he even made it this far. That is, if the reports are true,” Jongin trailed off, biting his lip in worry. Kyungsoo got the clear impression that the younger man was very worried about the tiger hybrid, Chanyeol. He was about to say something when the doorbell rung again. He looked over at Jongin who gave a brief nod and then opened the door, sighing in relief to find the delivery man on the doorstep. He had been worried for a second that some crazy scientist was suddenly going to show up. He accepted the food, shivering lightly at the cold. “I should get going too. This is my card. If you see anything that might be helpful, don’t hesitate to call me,” Jongin said, handing Kyungsoo a business card with the words Kim Jongin – Social Worker printed on it along with an address and a number, presumably to his office and work phone. 

"Uhm, yes, I will. I... hope you find him soon. Thanks for stopping by,” he said, slipping the card into his pocket, shifting his food to his left hand so he could shake Jongin’s hand with his right. 

“I hope so too. No child deserves to be treated like a monster. Or be out in this weather,” Jongin said, making a head gesture outside. “It was good seeing you again, even if it wasn’t exactly a social call,” he then added before bowing lightly, and then he was gone and Kyungsoo was alone in his house again. 

Once Kyungsoo sat down with his food, he turned the TV on to the news, not at all surprised to see that they were still talking about the tiger hybrid. He listened with only half an ear, concentrating on his food while contemplating the situation. He didn’t understand why the government didn’t make laws that prevented hybrid breeding for the sake of experiments. After all, they were half humans; they should have some sort of legal protection too. He hoped Jongin found Chanyeol first, or that whoever found him called the social worker instead of the police. 

After eating he turned off the television and cleaned up the containers before sitting down with his book again. He read for a couple of hours before deciding it was time to get ready for bed. The house was quiet as he waited for sleep to claim him, thoughts twisting around the evening’s events. His dreams where plagued by images of a small tiger hybrid boy shivering in the cold.  

*

Kyungsoo was not a big fan of morning classes. His students were still half asleep and he didn’t feel much more awake himself. The only positive thing was that he would be home by lunch. Once the students were actually awake, approximately an hour into the class, Kyungsoo could sit back and just listen to their arguments and interpretations of the poem he had picked for them. It was always interesting to hear the many different theories they had; Kyungsoo had gotten some of his best literary epiphanies in class after a student raised their hand and told him what they believed a text was really about. Once class was dismissed, he considered just going straight to his car, but he had to go get a book he would need in the preparation of tomorrow’s class. Of course he ran into Joonmyeon again, this time flanked by Ryeowook, one of the maths professors and, to Kyungsoo’s surprise, Sehun.

“Kyungsoo, hi!” Joonmyeon greeted, smile as bright as ever. He was holding a cup of coffee in one hand, while the other was wrapped around Sehun’s waist. The cat hybrid looked a little pale and didn’t acknowledge Kyungsoo in other ways than a blink. 

“Hi Joonmyeon, Ryeowook, Sehun,” he greeted, bowing to all three. He didn’t know what Sehun was doing here, but he knew he didn’t have to ask to get an explanation. 

“I’m sure you are wondering what Sehun is doing here... I’m sorry, I normally wouldn’t bring him in, but he wasn’t feeling well this morning and my friend who usually looks after him then is super busy at the moment because of the tiger hybrid on the loose, so I had to bring him here,” Joonmyeon explained, leaning down to press his lips to Sehun’s forehead. The cat hybrid just blinked again and nuzzled a little closer. 

“Is your friend one of the policemen? Please don’t tell me he is working in the lab that created the hybrid,” he said with a frown. He was surprised to see Sehun’s eyes narrow at the mention of the lab and he noticed his tail poof up slightly, but he simply figured the hybrid hated the idea of labs in general. 

Joonmyeon looked scandalised for a second, holding Sehun a little tighter. “Heavens, no!” he exclaimed, scrunching his nose in distaste. “No, he’s been working on closing down the lab forever. He was the one who rescued Sehun from there years ago,” he said, to which Sehun hissed, obviously hating any mentions of the place he had come from. 

“Wait...” Kyungsoo began slowly, gears spinning in his mind to connect the dots. The social worker had mentioned saving a cat hybrid from the lab years ago. Could it be Sehun? “Your friend is Jongin?” he asked, a little surprised that he would share any acquaintances with the other professor. 

“You know Jongin?” Sehun asked, perking up at the mention of his friend. The human had helped him get out of the lab and let him stay at his place until Sehun didn’t jump at any little sound. He had introduced him to Joonmyeon who had been more than willing to take in the skittish hybrid and spoil him rotten. No matter how much Sehun loved Joonmyeon, he would never forget the first human who actually treated him like a fellow human, and he was fiercely protective of Jongin. 

“Yeah, he, uhm.. he was at my house last night. I guess there were reports of the tiger hybrid being spotted near where I live, so he was going door to door to give people his card,” Kyungsoo explained, still a little baffled by the unexpected connection he had just made. 

“Did you look for the kid?” Sehun asked, eyes serious though still a little cold. 

Kyungsoo bit his lip, kind of afraid to answer. “Uhm, no, I.. I can’t say that I did,” he replied, looking over at Ryeowook who had stayed silent through the entire conversation. 

Sehun gave a little hiss and looked at Kyungsoo angrily. “You should go look for him. He’s probably scared less out there. And he can’t go back to that place, you have no idea what they do to us,” he said, growling under his breath until Joonmyeon gently patted his side and whispered something in his ear. 

Kyungsoo had a feeling that Sehun would hold him personally responsible if Chanyeol was found and handed over to the lab people again. He shuddered lightly. “I, uhm, I’ll try to look around when I get home, okay? I doubt he’s there anymore, if he ever was in my neighbourhood, but I’ll look and then uh... let Joonmyeon know if I find something?” he offered feebly. Ryeowook gave him a nod and an encouraging smile. 

Sehun’s brows knitted together. “Okay,” he huffed, scrunching his nose up before he sneezed, making him a lot less scary all of a sudden. 

“Okay, let’s get you back into the office again. I told you, you should have brought the blanket,” Joonmyeon chided softly, carefully leading Sehun down the hall and into his office, leaving Kyungsoo and Ryeowook alone. 

“Well... you can’t say he doesn’t love him,” Ryeowook chuckled, nodding his head to where the two had disappeared into Joonmyeon’s office. Kyungsoo wasn’t sure who loved who, but it didn’t really matter; he was pretty sure they loved each other, which in his opinion meant it was a good match. He loathed when humans treated their hybrids like lesser beings. 

“No, that’s true,” he replied with a nod before shaking his head to get back on task. “Sorry, Ryeowook, I just came to grab some books from my office that I’ll need to prepare for tomorrow. I should get home. I... guess I have to check my backyard for runaway tiger hybrids when I get home,” he chuckled awkwardly, bowing his head at Ryeowook. 

“That’s okay, I was just going to grab my lunch anyway, before I got cornered by Joonmyeon,” Ryeowook replied with a chuckle, adjusting the glasses on his nose. “Have a good day, Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo nodded and waved before going the short distance to his office. It didn’t take long for him to find the books he needed. By then he was starting to feel hungry, so when he reached the car he took a second to open the takeout order app on his phone and place a double order on chicken tikka masala from his favourite Indian place, figuring he would then have enough for tonight as well. He wasn’t all that good at handling spicy food, but this place made a wonderfully mild tikka masala that tasted heavenly with fries. Jongdae and Baekhyun had stared at him in horror when he began dipping his fries in the light red sauce the first time they had ordered from that place together. He had laughed so hard he ended up choking on the fry and Jongdae had to hit his back really hard a couple of times to make sure he didn’t die. Good times. 

He stopped by the store on his way home to get a soda, being too cheap to buy it with his food since restaurants and takeout places always seemed to charge three times the regular price on drinks. He picked up a historical magazine as well, the front page promising to uncover everything there was to know about one of the European kings from the 1800th century. Kyungsoo had always had a secondary interest in the history of royalty in the world, so he figured he could indulge himself on this one. When he finally made it home he had only just gotten out of the car when the delivery guy stopped in front of his house. He thanked the guy and managed to stack everything on top of each other so he could open his door, dropping the magazine outside. He cursed softly but decided to bring the rest of the stuff inside first, since attempting to pick it up now would most likely end in disaster and a tikka masala shower. He put the food on the counter in the kitchen along with the soda, put his book bag in the office, and then went to pick up the magazine. As he bent down to pick it up, he lazily looked around only to find that the shovel he had picked up yesterday was on the ground again. He frowned and wondered whether the wind was really that strong or if someone had just decided that knocking Kyungsoo’s shovel over was a great way to pass their time. He put the magazine on the little table just inside his door where he usually kept his keys and then went to pick up the shovel again.

Conveniently, as he was doing that, he remembered his promise to Sehun and groaned in annoyance; he was hungry, he just wanted to go inside and eat his food. He knew he wouldn’t be able to relax if he didn’t honour the promise though, so he set the shovel down with a clank, determined to just do a quick sweep of his garden and shed and then get inside again. It was really getting cold. Unsurprisingly, his garden seemed as empty as ever, a lonely little gnome smiling creepily into the open book on his lap (courtesy of Baekhyun). He checked behind the large rhododendron bush (courtesy of Jongdae) and huffed when there was nothing but a pile of brown leaves there. He shook his head, but thought that at least now he could tell Sehun that there was no tiger hybrid hiding in his garden in good conscience. He walked to his shed and opened the door to peek inside, blinking a little to get used to the darkness of the shed. He was about to close the door again when he suddenly spotted what looked like a thin, orange rope with dark stripes on it. He looked at it in confusion for a second, trying to make sense of it, and then jumped when it gave a little flick. He froze, staring at the rope intensely. Surely it hadn’t moved. It had to be his imagination playing some sort of trick on him. His eyes got wider and wider as he stared at the rope, making a startled noise when it moved again. He felt a shiver run down his spine and slowly stepped into the shed, halfway expecting whoever was on the end of the rope to jump him any second now. His brain wasn’t prepared to process the image of a young, lanky boy, curled up behind the winter wheels for Kyungsoo’s car. The boy looked skinny and most of all cold, his wide eyes staring up at Kyungsoo in fright as he shivered under the old blanket Kyungsoo had put between the wheels as a buffer. Kyungsoo was utterly speechless for a second before he quickly shrugged off his jacket and held it out to the boy who flinched and tried to press further back into the corner. 

“No, no, it’s.. it’s okay. Chanyeol, right? Uhm, hi,” he greeted dumbly, trying hard to figure out how to approach the terrified kid; Jongin had been right, he was just a child. “I won’t hurt you, I promise. Here, you must be freezing,” he said, kneeling down so he wasn’t so imposing, and then, with slow movements, he placed the jacket on top of the little boy. “Have you been here all night?” he asked, suddenly feeling horrible for not checking his shed last night after Jongin had been there. The tiger hybrid was still looking at him with wide, frightened eyes, though his hands had come to clutch the jacket now, pulling it as close around his skinny body as he could. Kyungsoo bit his lip, trying to think of something he could do or say to win the boy’s trust. “You came from a, a compound, right?” he asked, silently wincing when Chanyeol let out a whimper and turned his face away. “It’s okay, Chanyeol, I won’t take you back there. I won’t call the police and let them take you there either,” he promised, a little surprised by himself; he had had no plans of playing babysitter for the kid in the very unlikely event that he actually found him, but seeing him made a weird sense of protectiveness well in his chest. “Do you know Kim Jongin?” he asked. Chanyeol turned his head slightly so he could peak at Kyungsoo, though his eyes held nothing but confusion. “Okay, uhm... How about a cat hybrid named Sehun? He used to live at the compound too and he said you might know him?” he tried, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw a sparkle of recognition in Chanyeol’s eyes. “If you want me to, I can call him, ask him to stop by if that’ll make you feel better?” he suggested, hoping he could somehow talk the kid into going inside with him; it was cold and he doubted Chanyeol had eaten anything since he ran away. Good thing he had ordered a double portion of food.

Chanyeol looked at him, biting his lip while contemplating the offer. Then he gave a slow nod. “Okay, that’s a deal then. Do you want to come inside with me? It’s a lot warmer in there and I have food.” Chanyeol was clearly considering his offer and Kyungsoo didn’t want to pressure him, so he just waited, shivering a little now that he didn’t have his jacket. He once again felt horrible knowing Chanyeol had spent the night outside. After a minute the tiger hybrid gave another nod, though he didn’t move to get up. “That’s good. Can you walk?” he asked, figuring the kid was cold to the bone and might not feel completely in control of his limbs. Chanyeol made a motion to get up but slumped down again with a wince of pain. “Okay, I’m going to pick you up and carry you, okay? I promise I won’t hurt you,” he promised, waiting for Chanyeol to either accept it or protest; when he did neither Kyungsoo picked up his jacket, put it on the wheels beside Chanyeol and then carefully picked up the boy. The tiger hybrid wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo’s neck and hid his face against his shoulder while Kyungsoo tried not to wince at how light he was. He picked the jacket back up and wrapped it around the boy, partly to keep him warm and partly to shield him from any prying neighbour eyes, and then exited the shed, closing the door with his foot. Opening the door to his house was easier than he expected with a kid clinging to his front and he quickly closed the door once they were inside, praying that no one had seen him and decided to call the police. The change in temperature made Chanyeol shiver and Kyungsoo held him a little closer as he walked into his living room. When he tried to put the hybrid down Chanyeol let out a distressed sound and clung onto his neck tighter. “Okay, it’s okay,” Kyungsoo said, a little surprised by the clinginess. Then he realised that Chanyeol’s primary experience with skinship probably consisted of less than caring touches and his heart broke a little. “Are you hungry? I have some food and soda if you want?” he said, moving Chanyeol a little up so he could hold him better. The tiger hybrid peeked up at him. 

“What’s soda?” he asked, voice light and a little gritty. Kyungsoo blinked in surprise, not quite sure how to explain. 

“It’s a drink with bubbles in it and, uh... it tastes sweet? You can get different kind of flavours, this one is called cola. You can also have some water if you want, that’s fine too,” he said, walking to the kitchen to get the food.

“Can I try it?” Chanyeol asked shyly, holding on to Kyungsoo as he walked. He was still shivering a little, his thin body trying hard to get used to the warmth of being indoors.

“Of course,” Kyungsoo nodded, a soft smile making its way to his lips. Luckily the takeout boxes were still in the bag they came in, which would make it a lot easier to hold. He got two sets of cutlery and two cups and put them in the bag before looking at the soda bottle. He managed to get the handles of the bag around his wrist so he could hold the bottle, walking as quickly as he dared back to the living room; even though Chanyeol was light for an eleven year old, he was still heavy for Kyungsoo’s one arm. He sat the things down on the coffee table and then carefully moved Chanyeol around so he could sit on his lap without Kyungsoo sitting on his feet, all the while feeling like a Very Accomplished Person for having juggled all the things and not dropped anything. With Chanyeol sitting sideways, it was a lot easier to reach over and start unpacking the food. Chanyeol scooted around a bit until he was comfortable, his arms no longer around Kyungsoo’s neck as he looked at the food the adult was unpacking with wide eyes. 

“What is it?” he asked, not sure he had ever seen this kind of food. It smelled good though, and he felt his stomach rumble and his mouth salivating at the thought of getting something to eat finally. 

Kyungsoo looked over at the boy after taking the lid off of one of the containers. “It’s called tikka masala. It has chicken in it. It’s not very spicy, cause I don’t really like that, so I hope that’s okay with you. You can try it and if you don’t like it I’ll make something else for you,” he promised, wanting to make sure Chanyeol got something to eat. “Oh, I forgot to call Sehun! Let me