He jumped down out of nowhere, it seemed: the man had scaled down the front of the building and hit the ground.

He pulled on the slide, loading the gun, pointing it straight at the head raider’s face. “Drop him. Drop him right now. Don’t even think about it.”

The man under the mask gave a snort.

It was a snort Jihoon often heard. A snort of you won’t really shoot me, a snort of disbelief.

So the young journalist cracked a bullet into the pavement not two inches away from the man’s foot, reloading the gun instantly and pressing it up against the man’s forehead, digging the cold metal in through the material. “I said drop him! Drop him this ing instant, you filthy piece of !”

He dropped Seungcheol to the ground.

“Cheollie, get into the car.” Jihoon handed the hybrid the keys, his whole body tense, not moving, still glaring at the man in black and his associates.

“Master-”

“Right now. No talking.”

Seungcheol took the keys, the poor hybrid’s entire body shaking, tail in between his legs. He opened up the car on the driver’s side and slid into the back of it, keeping the door open.

“I’ll get it,” one of the masked men said. “I’ll get it someday.”

“Over my dead body.” Jihoon backed up slowly, keeping the handgun pointed tensely. The gun was pointed at the man when he closed the door, it was pointed when he sped away: it was only until those black masks were no longer visible that he threw the handgun in the passenger’s seat and began to dial his phone furiously.

“Hello?”

“Jun. It’s Jihoon.”

“Oh, hey!” The friendly, warm tone of the man’s voice was an odd contrast to the concentrated, focused tense lull in Jihoon’s. “What’s up?”

“I need a safe house. Where can I go?”

“What happened?”

“…Seungcheol and I just escaped a raid.”

It took Jun a moment. “Go to my house. Jeonghan is home. I’m on my way.”

The phone was then discarded to the passenger’s seat as well: Jihoon put both hands on the steering wheel, arms stretched, knuckles going white as he passed the speed limit recklessly.

Seungcheol was whining and whimpering in the back seat, and Jihoon wasn’t sure how to change that.

Jeonghan was waiting by the door, obviously having been briefed by his owner. As soon as Jihoon cut the engine the cat hybrid was undoing many front door locks.

Jihoon didn’t spend any extra time doddling about: he gripped Seungcheol’s body and hefted him from the car, rushing him into Jun’s house as if another raid party could show up and snatch the hybrid away again.

“Into the kitchen. There’s a trap door to the bunker,” Jeonghan instructed quickly, shutting the door and doing up all the locks again.

Jihoon gently shifted his hybrid onto his shoulders as he found the kitchen and then took the ladder down: the whole bunker was dark, but pressure plates in the flooring sprang the lights to life. Jeonghan simply closed the hatch door on top of them, sealing them in.

Jihoon took a brief sweep glance of the bunker – it seemed to be the entire bungalow, more or less, underground. There was, however, one corner that seemed to just be a small blanket fort, filled with pillows and cordoned off with a small curtain. He gently placed his hybrid down on the thick blankets and pulled the curtain across.

Seungcheol was still shaking.

“Shhhh.” Adrenaline was still pumping through Jihoon’s veins, making his breathing hard and rugged: he worked hard to try and calm himself down. “Shhhhh.”

It took a moment, but then the waterworks began: Jihoon pulled his hybrid on top of his own body, curled up, and hugged him to his chest. “Shhhh, precious baby Cheollie.” He kissed Seungcheol’s forehead softly. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

For a very long time, all the hybrid could bring out were hurt, sad sobs and whimpers: sometimes he scrabbled to be closer to his owner, pressing his face into Jihoon’s chest or neck, at other times he simply shook and allowed himself to be calmed down.

“Pain,” he eventually whimpered.

“They hurt you?”

He nodded, face still in Jihoon’s neck. “Electric.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“No.”

Jihoon gripped his hybrid even harder then, pulling his chin over to tuck the man away. “…it’s alright now. I’m here. I won’t let them hurt you like that again.”

“Master,” the hybrid whimpered unhappily.

“Shhhhhh. I’m here, Cheollie. I’m here.”

“Master, master, you were gone, they had me and you were gone-”

“I did not leave you.”

“Master.” Seungcheol’s little sobs began to hiccup through his voice. “I – I … love! You!”

“I’m right here. I didn’t leave you. I won’t ever leave you.” Jihoon’s fingers gently began to Seungcheol’s hai