“Taekwoon! You made it!” Minhyuk greeted Taekwoon as he stepped into his office.

“I did. It’s been eighty-four years, but I finally managed to stop by.” Taekwoon joked, letting Minhyuk hug him briefly.

“Eunkwang roped you into composing for the rookies again, huh?”

Taekwoon groaned.

“Don’t remind me. I don’t even know how he managed to do that! What was I thinking!”

“He’s got the worst kind of puppy eyes; and he’s not even a pup. It’s quite unfair, really.”

“He’s worse than Sungjae, when he tries! I should leave the company while I’m still ahead to save myself…”

Minhyuk laughed, and both of them sat down in the comfortable reclining armchairs by the windows of Minhyuk’s office.

“I’m afraid you’re no longer ahead, though… You’re wrapped around his finger, like we all are. But I’m glad you still found the time to come up for a chat with me, with all the work you no-doubt have.”

Taekwoon hummed.

“I’ve been meaning to come talk to you for a while, actually. I followed your advice to introduce Hongbin to my friends, slowly.”

Minhyuk almost jumped in his seat, clearly excited.

“Oh, you have? How is Hongbin? How did it go?”

Taekwoon couldn’t help the small, fond smile that softened his features as he thought about Hongbin.

“He’s doing… well, I think I can say. And meeting Hakyeon… He wasn’t very excited about the idea at first. He threw a bit of a tantrum. But he agreed eventually; of his own accord, actually, without me prompting. And then, the first meeting didn’t go too well, there was a misunderstanding between him and Hakyeon, but after I explained it to him, Hongbin insisted I invite Hakyeon for a second time, to clear up the misunderstanding.”

Minhyuk’s eyes went wide.

“That’s amazing! Now I want all the details!”

Taekwoon didn’t mind recounting in detail how Hongbin had come around to agreeing to meet Hakyeon, and how the meeting had gone; both times.

“He’s like a new person now, ever since the second time Hakyeon has been over, actually…” he ended his recounting of the events, and Minhyuk tilted his head curiously.

“How so?”

“He’s almost… hyper, now. As if he has a ton of pent-up energy. He runs around the house, doesn’t take care to not make any noise anymore, gets distracted by everything and nothing, makes a game out of the littlest things… I’m pretty sure he’s bored, but he doesn’t really want to do any of the things I have been able to offer him. The only thing he’s always here for is going out to the park. He even ignores other people in the park now, and his new favourite thing seems to be coming to the groceries store with me. He keeps bugging me about it.”

“Whoa! What? He goes shopping with you?!” Minhyuk exclaimed, startling Taekwoon.

“Uh… yeah. There’s that tiny convenience store near the park we always go to… It’s almost always empty, so I took him there once when we were already out in the park. He didn’t want to go home, so he came with me. Since then, I’ve been there four times with Hongbin. He has this thing going on where he seems to have a really hard time making choices, but we’ve been working on it in the store.”

Minhyuk leaned back in his seat, shaking his head incredulously.

“I’ve been suspecting that he has a lot of troubles to work through… But you seem to be making good progress. Amazing progress, actually!”

Taekwoon hummed pensively, not agreeing completely.

“In some things, maybe… But whenever I think we’re done dealing with one issue, a new one pops up, and sometimes an old one comes back…”

“How so?”

“Well… for instance, there is this thing about water. Rain, specifically. We’ve been out almost every day if it’s not raining since Hakyeon was last over and Hongbin has developed that need to run and move around so much, but… Sometimes, the weather is against us, and there has been two- no, three, counting our first shopping trip- instances already where it started raining while we were out. And Hongbin… He really hates rain. If it was up to him, he’d dart off into the distance, never to be seen again, as soon as a single droplet of rain falls close to him. I suppose he’s been staying by my side while it rained because of the collar, or he’d definitely run away. Aside from really hating the rain, though, I’ve been noticing his washing habits change…”

“In what way?”

Taekwoon sighed.

“He used to wash himself pretty much daily before -except his hair, which I still help him with- but now… It’s like he avoids having to wash himself. I have to actively remind him he must not forget to wash himself, and I’m sure he’s not been the most thorough with it lately…”

Minhyuk’s expression had darkened at that new piece of information, and he nodded glumly.

“You have to remember that cats -and cat hybrids, too- are sensitive to everything regarding water… And many who’ve been in shelters are downright traumatized by the way the washing procedure goes down there. Most shelters don’t allow hybrids to leave their cells or cages to wash or shower. Some just turn on the sprinklers to allow them to wash somewhat. Others hose them down, right where they are, no matter if standing or sitting, sleeping or awake… It leaves some lasting impressions, especially on the more sensitive ones.”

Taekwoon sighed deeply.

“Jaehwan mentioned something like that to me before… But I’m at a bit of a loss about what I can do to help Hongbin with that?”

Minhyuk hummed, pondering.

“There’s no universal answer to that, or a way that works for everyone. You’ll have to work with what Hongbin gives you… At least with the washing, since he’s done it fine before, just try to get him back on track with it through positive reinforcement. The rain… keep him out of it and try to find out what the reason behind him reacting to it the way he does is. Then… we can try to figure out a way to work from there.”

Taekwoon nodded slowly, considering Minhyuk’s advice, but his thoughts were soon interrupted again by Minhyuk wondering.

“Actually… Does Hongbin use the shower when he washes?”

Taekwoon gave him a puzzled look for a second, then shook his head.

“No. He washes over the bathroom sink…”

Minhyuk hummed pensively.

“Not surprising… Have you ever talked about it?”

Taekwoon shrugged.

“In passing? I might have mentioned it. We never really discussed it, though. Why?”

“I was wondering if you knew the exact reason why he doesn’t use the shower. And if he’d only been iffy with rain but had been ok with the shower, that would debunk the rough-showers-in-the-shelter theory. Like this, we don’t have any specific lead, though.”

Taekwoon hummed in understanding.

“I’m going to try finding out more… I’m a bit afraid he might knock my entire apartment to pieces until spring decides to roll around, if we can’t go out to the park regularly anymore because of the weather…”

“He’s that restless, huh?”

“Yeah… I dread the day the park becomes not enough anymore, too. It’s not a big park, and there isn’t much to do there, frankly. I’m sure he’ll get bored of it eventually.”

Minhyuk tapped his chin as he mulled over Taekwoon’s words.

“There aren’t any bigger parks close to where you live… You could take him to the river-side, or the Hill-park, there he’d have plenty to explore and discover in relative peace at this time of the year, but… You’d have to drive him there.”

Taekwoon stilled in his place, staring unmoving at Minhyuk as he could sense that that wasn’t all Minhyuk had to say.

“Actually, you should get him used to your car, if he isn’t already. You never know when you need to get him somewhere in an emergency situation.”

Taekwoon nodded slowly.

“There’s something I’m missing here about cars and… how they could affect Hongbin, am I right?”

Minhyuk sighed softly.

“Unfortunately. Most of us hybrids aren’t used to cars, since we aren’t allowed to get a driver’s license or drive. For the majority of us, especially those growing up not surrounded by caring humans, the only experience we have with cars are the transporters of the enforcers.”

*#*#*#*

Taekwoon had a lot to think about on his way home after talking to Minhyuk. Minhyuk hadn’t just pointed out more problems he would have to work on with Hongbin, though. He’d also given him his two cents about what he thought of Hongbin’s development in general, from what Taekwoon told him. What stuck out most to Taekwoon was how excited Minhyuk had been about the fact that Hongbin asked Taekwoon to do things now.

He had made extra sure to reiterate how big of a progress it was that Hongbin had wanted to invite Hakyeon again, which Taekwoon had concluded was a pretty big deal himself, but also smaller things he hadn’t thought that significant at first; like Hongbin offering to get the ice cream from the kitchen, or him eating in the same room with the two humans, even if a little to the side.

According to Minhyuk, it was a humongous step that Hongbin had talked not just in front, but also to Hakyeon, too, considering how long he’d gone without talking to Taekwoon in the beginning.

The conclusion Minhyuk had come to was that it must mean Hongbin finally felt comfortable around Taekwoon, and not just that, but he also trusted him. Having Minhyuk put it like that had almost succeeded in reducing Taekwoon to a sobbing mess, but he’d managed to keep it down to a few sniffles.  Still, he was close to tears again as he thought about it while unlocking his front door.

He couldn’t walk into his home crying, though, or he was pretty sure he would freak Hongbin out, so he resolutely fought the tears back down.

As soon as he pushed the door open, a blur shot down the hallway, coming to a halt right in front of him, effectively distracting him from his thoughts.

“Can we go out?!” Hongbin asked, expression hopeful as he fought to not look up at Taekwoon.

“I only just arrived…” Taekwoon chuckled, and Hongbin nodded.

“I know. But we need to go shopping!”

Taekwoon rose an eyebrow.

“Again?”

Hongbin nodded, more vigorous this time.

“We’re out of milk. And juice. And tangerines. And onions. And fish… almost.”

Taekwoon hummed, trying to hide his exhaustion by taking his time getting out of his outerwear and putting his shoes away.

“Ok… Looks like you’re right, we need to go shopping… How about you go to the kitchen and write us a shopping list, so we don’t forget anything?”

Hongbin froze, gaping at Taekwoon.

“Me? W-write…”

Taekwoon hummed, giving Hongbin a gentle smile.

“Yeah… Your writing has gotten really good lately, but you need to keep practicing. And I need to sit down and relax and warm up for just a few minutes before we can go out, ok?”

Hongbin snapped his mouth shut, a worried frown creasing his forehead.

“Ok… Of course… I…”

Taekwoon placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll go out, it’s ok, I promise. I just have really cold feet right now and need to put on some dry socks and warm my feet. But once you’re done with the list, we’ll go to the store.”

Hongbin exhaled slowly, then nodded and his heels to walk into the living room. By the time Taekwoon had followed him, Hongbin had taken one of his sheets of paper and a pen from the shelf under the coffee table and was on his way to the kitchen.

Taekwoon smiled softly after him as he sunk into the cushions of the couch. He really didn’t want to get up from there any time soon, but he should have expected Hongbin’s request, and since there was no rain forecast for this afternoon, he had no valid reason to deny him. So, all he had was a few minutes to rest and warm up, as he’d said, until he would have to get up again. He was glad he’d managed to at least get a few minutes, and mentally congratulated himself for the fact he’d managed to get Hongbin to practice his writing in the process, too. Writing was one thing Hongbin was becoming an expert in avoiding, even though he was becoming quite proficient with the letters; at least recognizing them and deciphering words. To get him to write, he was starting to have to resort to using tricks, though.

It didn’t take all that long before Hongbin returned to the living room, extending the sheet of paper with the list to him, and Taekwoon scanned it quickly. The letters were a little lopsided, the syllables uneven, as were the lines, but Taekwoon wouldn’t criticize that. It was legible, and it was obvious Hongbin had made an effort to write the list.

“Thank you… You wrote this really well! Your grammar is getting really good, too. There’s just, here, this letter goes into the next syllable. It’s still right, though. Oh, and… didn’t you say we were out of onions?”

Hongbin’s eyes widened, and Taekwoon handed him the list back for him to add onions onto it.

“Perfect. Let’s get dressed and ready to head out, then!” Taekwoon praised as he got the list back and stored it safely in his pocket. Hongbin almost left a vapor trail as he hurried out of the room, rushing to get dressed.

The trip to the store was uneventful. Hongbin remembered to wait by the roadsides they had to cross and check if there were any cars coming before crossing, and only got minimally distracted in the park, rigidly watching a squirrel that was retrieving some of the nuts it must have hidden earlier during the year. Taekwoon was unbothered by the fixed attention Hongbin gave the small animal, having learned by now that there was no risk of Hongbin darting off to chase it for fun without the animal being in on the game. As soon as Taekwoon caught up, Hongbin reverted his attention back to Taekwoon anyway, staying by his side for a few steps before running ahead again.

They made it to the store in no time, and Taekwoon welcomed the warmth inside, while Hongbin didn’t show he noticed a difference at all. He ignored the bored cashier, going straight past him and to the area with the fresh produce, without waiting for Taekwoon to pick up a shopping cart.

Before Taekwoon could even reach his side, Hongbin was already coming back.

“They have grapes!” He exclaimed, even though he tried to keep his voice down.

“Oh? They do? Let’s get some, then.”

Hongbin darted off again, returning with a bag of grapes in no time.

“Those are nice grapes! Do they have tangerines again, too?” Taekwoon commented, and Hongbin went off to look.

“They do!”

“Let’s get a bag, then. Anything else you like?”

There it was, prompting Hongbin to choose. Hongbin hesitated, stalling with the bag of tangerines he’d just picked up in his hands. Taekwoon pretended he didn’t notice Hongbin’s hesitation, browsing the isle of produce.

“We still have some apples at home… Hmm… Can you pick up some onions on your way over? They are just on the other side of the display, to your left.”

And like that, Hongbin’s mind was taken off the choice again, as he was busy looking for a bag of onions that had the right size and looked good enough.

“Are these good?” He held the bag out to Taekwoon as he came back, not putting them into the cart just yet.

“They’re perfect. Thank you.” Taekwoon gave him a warm smile, and Hongbin internally jumped in excitement. Taekwoon was still smiling as he turned away from Hongbin; as long as he didn’t realize that was what he was doing immediately, Hongbin was getting better at making choices.

“Have you ever had cherry tomatoes?” He asked, wondering as he passed them, and Hongbin came over to look at them.

“No… Do they taste like cherries?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“No, they taste like tomatoes. Very much like tomatoes, but also a bit sweet. People eat them for a mostly savory snack, most of the time. Should we get some?”

Hongbin shifted from one foot to the other as he contemplated the tomatoes.

“What… what if I don’t like them…?”

“Then I’ll eat them. I’m only getting them if you want to try them, though.”

Hongbin exhaled deeply, slowly, but after a while with no answer, Taekwoon started pushing their cart further down the aisle, slowly. He was only a few steps away when he left the cart standing and wandered off without it.

Hongbin remained by the tomatoes in the meantime, debating, but ended up grabbing one of the cups and hurrying over to where Taekwoon was checking out soup vegetable bundles.

“Can we get one…?” He asked quietly, and Taekwoon nodded.

“Of course. Put it in the cart. And bring the cart over, while you’re there.”

Hongbin skipped back to the cart, but then hesitated once the tomatoes had joined the other produce.

“T-taekwoon?” He called out, unsure. He’d never pushed the cart himself, it was always Taekwoon who did that before.

“Yes?”

“How…?” He didn’t know how to word it, gesturing at the cart in front of him when Taekwoon turned around to see what the problem was. Taekwoon understood immediately.

“Just hold the handle tight and push gently. It doesn’t take a lot of strength to move it, but you have to hold onto it so it doesn’t crash into a display.”

Hongbin swallowed thickly, but since Taekwoon didn’t show signs that he might be coming over to get the cart himself any time soon, he supposed he had to master this task by himself. It always looked effortless when Taekwoon did it, so it couldn’t be that hard, right? He did as Taekwoon had instructed him, holding the handle tight, and pushed. The cart moved, but steered sideways a little, and Hongbin yelped, stopping it immediately.

“You have to put the same amount of strength into both hands.” Taekwoon instructed again, and Hongbin nodded. He technically knew that, but with something as big as the cart, it wasn’t that easy.

Slowly, steadily, he got the cart to move again, and made it all the way until almost where Taekwoon was before it steered sideways again. Before he could stop it from crashing into a shelf with cans of broth, Taekwoon’s hand shot out and grabbed the cart, stopping it just in time.

“I’m sorry!” Hongbin apologized hastily, but Taekwoon shook his head.

“It’s ok, you did well. I’ll make sure to get a cart without a jammed wheel next time for you to practice. Now, here, should we make fish soup or beef soup tonight? Hongbin?”

Strangely enough, Hongbin wasn’t listening to him anymore, though, staring past him at something on the other side of the store.

“Hakyeon!” Hongbin exclaimed quietly, and Taekwoon thought he didn’t hear right. As he turned around, following Hongbin’s line of sight, he found Hongbin was right, though. Hakyeon was indeed in this store. And not just him, but Jaehwan as well. They hadn’t noticed Taekwoon and Hongbin yet, bickering with each other in the freezer section over who knew what.

“Oh… That is Hakyeon, yes. And Jaehwan. Do you want to go say hi?”

Hongbin’s eyes widened, and his grip on the handle of the shopping cart tightened.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. We can just stay out of their way.” He already held his phone in his hands, ready to shoot the pair a message that they were in the same store, but for them to not come over and greet them for Hongbin’s sake if Hongbin didn’t want to interact with them.

Hongbin chewed on his lip harshly as he seemed to debate, and this time, Taekwoon waited patiently in his spot.

“Will you… will you come with me?” Hongbin eventually whispered, pleasantly surprising Taekwoon.

“Of course.”

“And… They won’t mind? It won’t bother them?”

“No. They’ll be happy to see us, I’m sure of it.” Taekwoon reassured him, and Hongbin exhaled slowly, nodding more to himself than to Taekwoon as he released the handle of the shopping cart from his grip.

Taekwoon came over to take the cart instead, but as soon as he started pushing it in the direction where Hakyeon and Jaehwan were, Hongbin’s hands shot out to grab the side of Taekwoon’s coat.

“You ok?” Taekwoon asked gently, stopping momentarily, but Hongbin nodded and he started walking again. It had sort of become a thing; whenever Hongbin felt unsure about something while they were out, he would hold onto Taekwoon’s coat. It didn’t mean he wanted Taekwoon to stop, it seemed to be more of an action of self-reassurance and grounding.

As they got closer, they started hearing what Jaehwan and Hakyeon were bickering over.

“It might as well be an ice cream cake, you know, since that’s what we wanted originally…”

“Ice cream cake is neither ice cream nor cake. We should get either or, not something that is neither.”

“Viennetta counts as just ice cream, though! And it’s close enough to a cake!”

“There isn’t any with strawberry, though, and I want strawberry.”

“You should have just said that from the start, that you don’t care about what we get, you just want strawberry ice cream. As always.”

Taekwoon could only roll his eyes at them as he stopped their cart behind them and cleared his throat. The two jumped slightly, turning around with apologies on their lips.

“Oh, I’m so- oh, Taekwoon!” Jaehwan exclaimed, quickly followed by Hakyeon.

“And Hongbin! Hi!”

“Hey.” Taekwoon greeted with a smile but didn’t say more, to give Hongbin the floor to say something if he chose to.

Hongbin’s grip on Taekwoon’s coat tightened, but he peered out from behind him just so. He still made sure to keep Taekwoon’s body between him and Taekwoon’s friends, but managed a small, stuttered “Hi”, just above a whisper. Taekwoon’s chest swelled with pride, Minhyuk’s words about what monumental progresses Hongbin was making still fresh in his mind, and he had no doubt that that one small “Hi” deserved to be chalked up on that list of progresses, too.

“Hi, Hongbin. We haven’t met yet, but I’m Jaehwan!” Jaehwan introduced himself, pulling Taekwoon out of his thoughts. He was immediately ready to intercept Jaehwan if he decided to close the distance between them to shake Hongbin’s hand or something like that, wary of what Jaehwan might do since they hadn’t talked at all yet about what Jaehwan should keep in mind when meeting Hongbin, but there was no danger whatsoever. Jaehwan just waved happily from where he stood, not moving any closer.

Hongbin took a deep, shaky breath, and Taekwoon could tell he was struggling debating what he should answer. In the end, all he managed was another small “Hi”, but Taekwoon was still proud.

“So, what are you guys out to buy? Anything fancy for dinner tonight?” Hakyeon asked, saving Hongbin from the spotlight as he peered into Taekwoon’s cart.

“Nah, just soup. And restocking some of the produce and essentials we’ve run out of. What about you two? It’s not like you to come shopping on this side of town!”

It was Jaehwan who answered, complete with dramatic gestures and expressions.

“We came to get cake, actually. At that store you always get those god-like cakes from. But it was closed, so we came to see if this store had anything, and decided on celebratory ice cream. I wanted to get an ice cream cake, or at least a viennetta, but Mr Hakyeon here wants strawberry ice cream, and even though it’s my celebration, I guess I have to give in since it’s him buying.”

Taekwoon’s eyebrows shot up as he remembered Jaehwan had an audition a few days back.

“Oh, so you got the big role?”

Jaehwan beamed.

“Yeah! I mean, it’s not my first lead, but this one… I always feel like the auditions for plays with directors under our company are kind of biased, you know? But this one, with all those international super stars on the board, and it being independent, with a possible world tour planned… It feels special.”

“It is special! I always knew you were an amazing actor, but I’m glad you got the confirmation from the true experts in the field, now, too. Say, why is it Hakyeon buying, though? You broke again already?”

Jaehwan flinched.

“Yeah. I miscalculated and spent more than I should on-”

Before he could continue, Hakyeon had jumped forward and covered Jaehwan’s mouth with his hand, eyes wide.

“On typical stupid Jaehwan-stuff, as always. Stuff that should probably not be mentioned in public, unless you want your reputation as stellar international musical actor to go hand in hand with news about your weird irresponsible obsessions if it reaches the wrong ears. Seriously, Jaehwan, you have to be more careful about what private info you give out in public now!”

Jaehwan groaned quietly, pushing Hakyeon’s hand off of his face.

“Are you sure it isn’t your reputation you are trying to save since you’ll be associated with me? Anyway, bottom line: yeah, I’m broke already.” Jaehwan admitted, rather sheepishly.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon shared a meaningful look, one that let Taekwoon know exactly what it was Jaehwan had spent his money on, and no, it wasn’t questionable Italian fashion items lined with fur in the wrong places this time around.

“Have you at least paid all your bills yet? And have enough food at home to make it until the end of the month?” Taekwoon asked with a sigh.

“I did pay the bills, but… I can just eat at the canteen at work. Or at mom’s, some days…”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“That won’t do, don’t be ridiculous. You know you can always come to me or Hakyeon for food and necessities, right? You might be an irresponsible idiot at times, but you are our irresponsible idiot, and we’re not going to watch you starve yourself or eat utter crap until the end of the month.”

Jaehwan gave him a hopeful look that turned somewhat doubtful as his eyes flitted to where Hongbin was half hiding behind Taekwoon’s frame.

“Swing by my office sometime before I have to leave, I’ll be bringing you leftovers for dinner. But, seriously, Jaehwan, you need to be more careful with how you spend your money. Basic math is your friend, you know…”

“That’s what I’ve been telling him since college, but when does he ever listen?! Anyway, we gotta get going, we have a bus to catch. See you tomorrow, Woon! Sometime, Hongbin!” Hakyeon started pulling on Jaehwan’s sleeve, waving at Taekwoon and Hongbin.

“Yeah, we do… Thank you, hyung! And, nice to meet you, Hongbin!” Jaehwan waved, back to his cheery self as he looked at Hongbin, before following Hakyeon, who only stopped to pick a tub of ice cream (strawberry, of course) out of the freezer.

“Bye, see you tomorrow…” Taekwoon shook his head fondly at the two, then turned to go back to the produce section to finish picking out things for dinner and wrap up their own shopping trip.

Hongbin stayed remarkably quiet during the rest of the time they spent in the store, even if he released Taekwoon’s coat rather quickly once Jaehwan and Hakyeon had bid them goodbye. They were already on their way back home when Hongbin spoke up eventually.

“Jaehwan is nice.” He remarked quietly.

“Oh?”

Hongbin nodded, mostly to himself.

“Yes. Loud, and weird. But nice.”

Taekwoon chuckled softly.

“That is a very accurate description of our Jaehwanie, yes.”

They walked a little further in silence, until Hongbin spoke up again.

“Is Jaehwan coming over for dinner sometime, too?”

Taekwoon almost tripped, surprised by Hongbin’s question.

“Only if you’re ok with it.”

Hongbin thought about it for a moment.

“Is he always loud?”

Taekwoon laughed.

“Most of the time, but not while he’s eating. We have been busy teaching him manners, after all. But, for real, though: he can be quiet if someone asks him to. He knows he can be overwhelming and knows how to tone it down. He wouldn’t be loud if we invited him over for dinner. At least not all the time.”

Hongbin nodded slowly as he processed that information.

“Then… maybe… yes. Ok.”

Taekwoon watched Hongbin curiously as the boy walked in silence, seemingly deep in his thoughts. It was… remarkable, how bold he was becoming in such a short time-span. It was as if Hakyeon’s visits had removed some sort of blockage within him. Of course, he was still careful, but he was becoming bold at the same time. So much so, Taekwoon had a feeling he would have to step in soon to slow him down, to make sure Hongbin didn’t throw himself into something he wasn’t ready for yet.

On the other hand, of course, his newfound boldness was a good thing, too, and Taekwoon figured he should try to make the best out of it. One could never know how long that boldness would last, and what would come next. So, in light of these thoughts, as well as the talk with Minhyuk still fresh on his mind, Taekwoon decided to be bold, too. They were standing at the side of the road, waiting for some cars to pass, when he decided to bring up the topic Minhyuk had brought up earlier.

“Have you ever been in a car? I mean, that you can remember?” Because of course Hongbin had been in a car at least once; Taekwoon’s car, when he’d first brought him home.

Hongbin hummed to himself, nodding slowly.

“Yes… But it’s been a while…”

‘Interesting’, Taekwoon thought as he watched Hongbin’s unfazed expression. He didn’t know exactly what sort of reaction he’d been expecting, but complete indifference had not been among his expectations.

“Do you like riding in cars?”

Hongbin shrugged, checking one last time if the road was clear before starting to cross it.

“I don’t mind… It’s weird, but as long as I can look out of a window… It’s ok. I just don’t like the belts.”

“The seatbelts are important, though, to keep you safe.”

Hongbin nodded again.

“I know. I still don’t like them. I don’t think I ever will.”

Taekwoon could imagine why Hongbin didn’t like them: they would be restricting his movement, tying him down, making him feel trapped… It was pretty obvious.

“Why do you ask?” Hongbin turned to ask him in turn, startling Taekwoon out of his thoughts.

“O-oh? I just… I was just thinking. If you were ok with riding a car, and wearing the seatbelt, we could go to other parks. Bigger ones, more interesting ones, where there is more to explore. Or we could even just take the car here, so we won’t have to run as far in case it starts raining.”

Hongbin’s eyes widened in interest, and his steps gained a bit of a bounce.

“I… I might not like the belts, but I don’t hate them. I can wear them! Can we go to the bigger parks now?”

To say Taekwoon was surprised by Hongbin’s eagerness would have been the understatement of the century.

“Now?!”

Hongbin shook his head, stopping his bouncing somewhat sheepishly.

“Not now, now. Not today. But… soon? Tomorrow?”

“Wow, uh…” Taekwoon wished he had a hand free to be able to do something, anything, to stall and avoid an actual answer. Hongbin was really making a sport out of catching him unaware today. Then again, it was practically his own fault, for prompting him like that. “Not tomorrow. I have to work tomorrow. But, sometime during the weekend? We’ll have more time then, to make it worth the trip.”

Hongbin’s whole face lit up, and he counted on his fingers.

“The weekend… That’s in two days, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can we come to this park tomorrow, still?”

“That depends on the weather.”

Hongbin nodded to himself.

“Is the weather going to be good during the weekend? We can’t go to the other parks if it’s raining, can we? What are those parks like?”

Taekwoon’s head spun a little at the torrent of questions.

“I’ll check the forecast as soon as we get home. And no, we won’t go if it’s raining.”

Hongbin’s face fell a little, but he was aware that the reason they wouldn’t be going if it was raining was for his own benefit. No matter how nice or interesting a park was, he wouldn’t be able to stand it if it was raining. He would just get upset, and he was actually grateful Taekwoon would be looking out for him so that didn’t happen.

“Ok… You didn’t say what the other parks are like, yet!” He reminded Taekwoon, now walking backwards to be able to keep an eye on Taekwoon as he talked, even if he avoided looking him in the eye.

“Hm… There are two parks I have in mind that we could go to… Wait, stop! Hedge!” Taekwoon exclaimed suddenly, and Hongbin stopped mid step, turning around to see he was indeed about to walk into the hedge. With a quiet groan, he spun around and skipped to Taekwoon’s side, deciding to walk sideways instead to be able to see Taekwoon as they walked.

Taekwoon shook his head fondly at the excitable boy.

“Ok… So, the first one is a park by the river. There are a few trees along the edge of the park, and one row of trees along a walkway, but mostly it’s open space, with a playground and a slope to the river.”

“Are there fish?”

“In the river? Yes. I don’t think they come as close to the shore like the ones in the pond in our park, though.”

“Can I still go and check?”

“Of course.”

Hongbin nodded, satisfied.

“And the other park?”

“The other park is a big hiking park on some hills. There are a lot of trees and trails winding up onto the hills. There is a viewing platform on top of the highest hill, and the view is great from there. But it’s really nice to just go for walks on the trails, too.”

Hongbin hummed.

“Are there many, many trees?”

“Yes. Most of the trails are through the forest.”

“And are there squirrels? And rabbits?”

“Yes.”

“And birds?”

“That, too. But there will probably be more in spring. All the animals are sleeping now or have gone south for the winter.”

“Can I play with the animals that are there?”

“If they want to. You can’t scare them or hurt them, though.”

“I don’t want to scare or hurt them.”

“I know. Just making sure you will be careful.”

Hongbin hummed and turned to walk normally again. They were almost home, already in view of the front door of their building. There was someone opening the door and stepping into the building, disappearing from view as the door fell shut behind them, and Hongbin slowed his steps a little, hoping to delay their own arrival home so that the person would be long gone into their own apartment by the time they arrived.

Of course, Taekwoon picked up on Hongbin’s tactic, slowing down himself to humor him.

“You do know that in the bigger parks there will be more people than in our small park, though, right?”

Hongbin grimaced slightly but hummed in affirmation.

“I know… But you will be there, too, right?”

“Of course, I will.”

“Then I don’t mind.”

Taekwoon rose a doubtful eyebrow at that, and even though Hongbin wasn’t looking at him directly, he saw it and cowered a little in on himself as they stopped at their door.

“I… I mean, we don’t have to get close to the other people, right? And you won’t let anyone… anyone come close and… and do anything. Right?”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“Of course, I wouldn’t let anyone do anything to you, Hongbin. As long as you don’t run off too far, I’ll always be right there with you.”

“I won’t run far! I promise!”

Taekwoon smiled comfortingly.

“Then you won’t have anything to worry about.”

----

A/N: Hiiii... It's been 84 years, ooops...

Sorry about that. A lot of happened in my life, like bad , and I was really not feeling like writing this. I did write in the meantime, but since through this episode of -life vixx wasn't enough to make me happy, but another group was able to make me happy instead, I wrote about them. That group is stray kids, in case you were wondering, and the fic(s) I wrote about them can be found on ao3 only. My username there is the same as here, in case you wanna check that out.

Anyway, Feral update... I know this is pretty short compared to other updates, and not much happens. It's quite boring, in my opinion. But this chapter, and the next, are the wind-down from the previous, completed story arc, and the build-up to the next arc, so they are basically the meh in the middle. That is another reason why it took me so long to write it; I wasn't excited enough to write this particular part. I won't promise regular or semi-regular, monthly or otherwise timed updates anymore, because I need to focus on my own health and happiness before I focus on updating anything. I hope you understand and bear with me. If you do, thank you. I appreciate you <3