People buy hybrids because they stay small. Small and cute. Chanyeol doesn’t want an hybrid, he wants a real dog. A big, huge dog that he can brag about when he goes to school, preferably a dog that is half wolf, yes. And kind of intimidating because Chanyeol has just gotten out of that embarrassing chubby phase in his life and his limbs have started growing out of proportion, making him look like one of those inflatable dolls you can find outside supermarkets, not cool. So if at least the dog looks like he could bite someone’s face off, then maybe he’d got a chance to hang out with the cool kids. Like Jaehwan or Hongbin.

Instead he’s stuck with Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and their D&D session every friday. Kyungsoo is obviously the dungeon master and, of course, Chanyeol has the strongest character ever, because he’s a Chaotic Neutral Barbarian. Jongdae’s Chaotic Evil Thief Wizard doesn’t count, Jongdae’s a power player.

All of his friends, cool kids included, have hybrids. Kyungsoo got two for his 10th birthday: a puppy and a kitten hybrid that go by the names of Jongin and Sehun. Chanyeol has seen them shifted into their human forms a couple of times, Sehun more than Jongin because, as Kyungsoo says, Nini is shy.

Jongdae has got a baby panther, her name is Seulgi. He got her when he went to China with his family, and he insists she’s the coolest of them all, but she’s a girl and girls are still an unknown territory to Chanyeol, so Seulgi doesn’t really count.

Hongbin and Jaehwan, instead, respectively have a doberman pup and a baby iguana, which are going to be huge and super scary when they grow up. He’s never seen their human forms, but the pictures were enough to confirm Hongbin and Jaehwan’s title as the coolest kids of their middle school.

So, to sum up, again all of his friends have hybrids except for Chanyeol, and he doesn’t want one. Chanyeol wants a real dog because they grow fast and they’re huge after one year or so, he’s done his research. Hybrids, instead, are basically humans who can transform into animals, so they take longer to become full adults, and Chanyeol doesn’t have much time. He needs to be popular in school now otherwise his all life as a teenager will be ruined, thank you very much.

And he tries really hard, swear to god he does.

He nags and nags his mom to go to the dog shelter to get a real german shepard or whatever dog they can find that is or will grow to be Chanyeol’s height, be she refuses every single time because getting a pet is expensive, it can become a burden and Chanyeol has never been the most responsible teenager ever and a whole series of reasons that are just excuses. Chanyeol is quite sure that she just doesn’t want to be cool.

Then his parents divorce and he ends up living with his mom and his sister in a house with a back garden, which is a lot smaller than the apartment where they used to live. He forgets about the dog and he doesn’t really pay attention to his friends’ hybrids anymore, unless it’s Sehun curling up on his lap, demanding his daily dose of scratching his back where he can’t reach.

It’s a tough year, but they get through, and although Chanyeol doesn’t get the dog, he still manages not to have a completely ty reputation at school. He’s bound to remember about the dog, though, when his mom interrupts Kyungsoo’s Dungeons and Dragons Friday session in their house basement to tell him that she’s got a marvellous idea, that they need to leave for a while and then he can be back and play that evil game they always blabber about.

He doesn’t have the chance to react nor complain, despite the fact that he’s practically wasted the 20 he's rolled and a possible critical hit, just to follow her. Jongdae snickers, Kyungsoo assures that they’re saving that last roll for when he comes back, if they’re allowed to stay.

His mom provides them with cookies and drags Chanyeol outside first, then into the car. Yoora is not even there, and his mom gives him zero explanation. Chanyeol wonders if she’s finally taking him to the dog shelter to get him the damn dog, since he kind of recognizes the road, but he can’t be sure.

He hasn’t thought about it for months, but his heart beats in trepidation at the idea of finally getting his dog, he’s so ready to show pictures of a massive dog to Jaehwan and Hongbin.

When they finally stop, he realizes they’re not that far from the hair salon where his mom works, and that she’s pointing towards a shady little shop between an empty coffee shop and a stationary store. Chanyeol’s reaction is a bit subdued, just a raised eyebrow, because that’s not what the pet shelter looks like.

“We’re getting you a hybrid. Aren’t you happy?” she chimes, unlocking the car.

Chanyeol is not happy. But his mom has been so down lately, because of his dad leaving and everything, so he doesn’t pout and resorts to smile instead, to assure her that he is indeed happy. Maybe it’s not that bad, maybe he can find something as cool as Hongbin’s dobermann or Jaehwan’s iguana.

Chanyeol can clearly remember Kyungsoo describing the shelter where he got Sehun and Jongin as elegant and quite expensive, especially because both of them are apparently pure bred. The shelter where his mom his taking him now, though, is where they sell hybrids who’ve been sent back by the families who adopted them. Chanyeol knows because he can read, and he’d stared at the sign outside of this shop long enough when he’d visited his mom at work a few months earlier, wondering if he should get an hybrid like the others, after all.

These hybrid must be cheaper, and money has been an issue in their house recently, so he doesn’t dare to complain about that either.

The shop is really small, but cozy, looking more like an old secondhand shop than a place where they sell hybrids. A waiting area for the customers and a second room for the hybrids are all Chanyeol can see. Everything is made out of dark wood and there’s carpets and comfy sofas, a lot of cacti and bead curtains creating pretty light reflections on the floor. There’s just a couple of people waiting for their turn, but Chanyeol’s interest is caught by the only door that connects the waiting room with the hybrids playground.

He’s a bit disappointed, because they don’t seem to have that many dogs, or that’s what he sees when he takes a peep inside. His eyes light up, though, when he notices one of the assistants walking out of the second room holding a great dane puppy.

That would be perfect, a great dane is going to be even bigger than Hongbin’s dobermann. That’s all Chanyeol cares about, the damn size of his dog. He wants the biggest they have and, after all, his mom hasn’t given him a limit.

A great dane is perfect.

He can’t even start to be happy, though. His squeal of joy dies in his throat the second he stands up. Someone walks up from behind him, a guy that is around Chanyeol’s age, maybe a couple of years older. The guy’s just a couple of inches taller than him, but Chanyeol finds himself staring at his face, not because he’s handsome, of course not. He’s really ugly indeed, he’s stealing the dog he wanted.

Apparently the great dane’s name is Kris, or Yifan and his previous owners got him when they went to china, but he’s also lived in Canada with another family. Ugly guy likes to blabber a lot, so Chanyeol learns everything he needs to know about Kris before he can realize that he can’t have him.  He can speak chinese AND english, how cool is that? Chanyeol deeply despises this Kim Junmyeon for snatching the hybrid from him.

When it’s finally his turn to go into the playground, they’re only left with really young or really small types of dog hybrids. Chanyeol is way beyond disappointed now.

The playground is just another room like the previous one, two sofas one facing the other with a small table in between, next to the window with more beaded curtains -these look a bit more battered than the ones outside. There’s a couple of rabbit hybrids, one hopping towards a corner of the room where a tortoise hybrid is napping, next to a plant. The other already on the sofa, between two pillows. The kitten hybrids seem to be the majority, all really small and really young except for a couple that are definitely adults already.

There’ a few more animals, a pomeranian pup and a hedgehog hybrid. All of them in their animal form, which Chanyeol assume it’s what they’re most comfortable in.

The assistant is standing next to Chanyeol, and he doesn’t look older than twenty. He’s got only one hybrid at home, he explains, and he’s a wolf hybrid, so he can’t really take him to work.

Chanyeol grows even more restless, because he wants a wolf hybrid too now.

“Your mother suggested you get a Hybrid who’s around your age, so he can hang out with you and your friends. So unfortunately I think Baekhyun and Jihoo are the only options we have here, unless you want to come back next week and check.”

The two Hybrids raise their heads simultaneously, and Chanyeol evaluates them, attentively. “I said I wanted a dog though. One of them is a cat..?” The cat hybrid’s ears twitch, as if he’s overhearing their conversation. He’s a red cat, a bit bigger than the other kittens and he must be a street cat, considering how Chanyeol has gotten used to Sehun’s being the cat version of the adjective ‘pretty’  -he’s a russian blue, what do you expect.

“Jihoo is a cat, but your mother wasn’t specific on the type of Hybrid you wanted. But if you wanted a dog Baekhyun is a corgi, he’s cute.” The assistant smiles and points at the grumpy corgi puppy in the corner, isolated from the rest of the small dogs.

If that wasn’t impossible, since it’s the first time Chanyeol even sees this hybrid, he would be pretty sure that the corgi is glaring at him. Death glare.

“I don’t know, I wanted something..bigger? Like the one you just gave away.”

The death glare intensifies and the corgi puppy lowers his head -his ears drooping a bit- until he’s lying down, his eyes closed in complete disinterest.

“Oh, you mean Kris. Junmyeon has been coming to see him everyday for a month before he could afford him, I wouldn’t have given Kris to anyone else, they clicked pretty well.”

Chanyeol sighs, eyeing the corgi puppy once more. “I guess I’m stuck with him then?”

“Well, I’m not giving him to you if you don’t want him. Baekhyun is stubborn, he wouldn’t want to come with you if he knew you wanted a different Hybrid.” He pauses, and he seems to take a better look at the corgi. “Well, nobody would want to.”

“Can I think about it?” The guy is right, it’s not fair for the hybrid he gets if he doesn’t really want him. Maybe he can ask his mom to try another pet shop.

He really does want a bigger dog.

“You can come see him whenever you want, but I don’t know how longer he’ll be here. He’s a corgi, they sell pretty fast. He got here two days ago, he still doesn’t like that they’ve sent him back.”

Chanyeol is young, but he can clearly detect the hint of pity in the assistant’s tone. He’s not sure he likes it and the corgi for sure doesn’t, he turns around giving his back, well, his fluffy to them.

When Chanyeol goes home Kyungsoo and Jongdae are playing videogames and they haven’t saved that 20 for him. They just stopped their weekly session to do something else, announcement to which Chanyeol get even more disappointed.

“Oh, you didn’t get the pup then?” Kyungsoo is sitting on the floor, his back against the mattress. “I thought you liked dog hybrids, you love Nini.”

“Nini is growing to be quite big. To be honest I didn’t even want a Hybrid, I wanted a dog. But if I have to choose a hybrid a wouldn’t get a stupid corgi.” He argues back, as Kyungsoo’s Nina beats the out of his Eddy. Chanyeol reminds himself once more he shouldn’t play Tekken against Kyungsoo.

“Corgis are cute.”

“You have him then, ‘Dae.” Chanyeol’s character dies, and he throws the controller towards Jongdae who’s lying on his bed, on his belly.

“I can’t, Seulgi would kill him. Then kill me while I’m sleeping with her ninja panther moves or something.” He chuckles.

“I think you should give him a try, you know. Maybe you’re just obsessed with big dogs. And corgis are not that small to be precise, they’re just short.” Kyungsoo says, and Chanyeol frowns. He doesn’t like when Jongdae and Kyungsoo team up to make him realize he’s been wrong the whole time.

“I don’t know what’s worse.” He mumbles, as he refuses to lose, but he does think about the corgi even while Jongdae beats Kyungsoo for three consecutive rounds. Chanyeol decides that it’s Jongdae the one he should fear the most.

Chanyeol can’t sleep that night, and he’s back at the pet shop early in the morning although it’s a weekend and his mom doesn’t want to take him there. The assistant is the same as the previous day, and he doesn’t go in with Chanyeol when he’s let into the playground.

He doesn’t look at the other hybrids, although there’s one giant parrot hybrid that’s really interesting, he or she must have arrived the day before after Chanyeol had left. He ignores it, as he beelines til he’s crouching in front of a sleeping corgi, all wrapped into a green blanket. It looks old, maybe it’s not even from this shelter, maybe is from the place where the hybrid grew up, Chanyeol is not sure.

The corgi gives no signs of waking up, eyes closed and one of his ears down. The absence of the death glare makes the middle schooler just a bit more brave than usual, and Chanyeol finds himself reaching out for the hybrid’s back and there, gently, a couple of times.

He’s warm, soft, and his heart beats faster than Chanyeol had expected to. He down all the way down to his tail until and he can feel the puppy shiver and curl up some more with a low whine.

Chanyeol wants the be the coolest kid in the neighborhood, in the world if he can manage, but he definitely can’t resist that whine. It doesn’t really matter how big the hybrid is, does it? He tries to think about how much he likes petting Sehun and how his ears twitch when he touches them even in human form. Sehun is quite tall for his age, but his kitten form is tiny, and he’ll never grow to be as big as a Maine Coon hybrid. And Kyungsoo doesn’t care.

Chanyeol doesn’t care either. Maybe Kyungsoo is right, and he’s just obsessed with big dogs. He grazes Baekhyun’s muzzle with the back of his finger and the corgi nibs at it in his sleep and he comes to a decision.

“I’m getting the cor-Baekhyun.”

“That was fast.” The assistant raises an eyebrow at him while he’s petting a black rabbit hybrid, behind the counter at the entrance. “Are you sure? You can still come back and see if we have something else.”

Chanyeol grips at the counter, tiptoeing because he hasn’t completely gone past his short phase yet. “No, it’s ok. Can I have him please?”

“He heard you say you wanted a bigger dog, he’ll probably be upset though.” The middle schooler bites his tongue and throws a look towards the playground’s glass door, spotting Baekhyun in a corner, still fast asleep in his green blanket.

“Can’t we try anyway?” He begs. “Can’t you ask him? My friends have hybrids as well, I’m sure he can be friends with them and play.”

The assistant stares at Chanyeol like aliens have kidnapped and replaced him with a copy of himself. Chanyeol stares back, and like the thirteen years old teenager he is, he tries one more time. “Please?”

When the assistant comes out again, he’s not followed by a sleepy corgi pup but a sleepy human pup wearing an oversized white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Baekhyun, like Sehun, has still got corgi ears in human form. They’re cute, one is folded down, the other perked up. Chanyeol doesn’t see his tail, but he’s pretty sure it’s hiding somewhere under that t-shirt.

He must be around Chanyeol’s age, black hair, black eyes and a fringe that prickles his droopy eyes because he keeps brushing it away. “Hi.”

His voice hasn’t changed yet, and he’s quite short. Definitely shorter than Chanyeol, closer to Kyungsoo and Jongdae.

“Chanyeol, this is Baekhyun. He turned thirteen last may. Baekhyun, this is Chanyeol, he’s the same age as you. He likes dogs.” The assistant is smiling, but Chanyeol can see the small crease between the hybrid’s eyes.

“Why does he want to buy me then? I’m a hybrid. And he said he wanted something bigger. I don’t want to be sent back again.”

“I won’t send you back! I mean it’s true that I wanted a bigger dog, but I changed my mind, I promise.”

Baekhyun doesn’t reply, he glances to the assistant, suspicious.

“My friends said I was an idiot because I told them I wanted a dog, and not a hybrid. And then I said I wanted a bigger hybrid and I was rude. I’m sorry.” He looks at the floor, his hands in his jeans pockets. “I won’t send you back. My mom is not the best cook but my ramen is ok. And my sister would like you a lot.”

“What do you say, ‘Hyun?” The assistant looks at the hybrid expectantly, then Baekhyun shrugs, apparently unfazed.

“Whatever.” He says. “Do you want me to change back then?”

Chanyeol is a bit taken aback by Baekhyun’s behaviour. He thought puppy hybrids were supposed to be really loving and playful, but Baekhyun looks.. bored. And kind of not happy to go with Chanyeol at all.

“Uhm, what do you prefer?”

“I’ll be right back then.” He disappears behind a smaller door that Chanyeol hadn’t noticed, and if he’s at least one tiny bit excited about getting a new owner he doesn’t show it.

Or maybe Chanyeol is too busy thinking about how he can fix this to notice.

“He’s still upset about being sent back, I think. He’s usually a lot brighter than he was just now.” The assistant explains, and it looks like he’s apologizing for Baekhyun. Chanyeol thinks he’s brought it on himself after all.

They leave after a while.

Chanyeol is still surprised because all of Baekhyun belongings fit into a normal school backpack, his school uniform included. He doesn’t have much, and Chanyeol is not sure how much they’re allowed to own where they live before being adopted.

Also, Baekhyun could walk beside him just fine, to be honest, but Chanyeol had decided that he wanted to pick up and carry him all the way back him from the second he’d come out of the other room, trying, puppy size and all, to drag -biting on it- the same backpack that the middle schooler is carrying now.

Despite the expectations, considering his behaviour as a human, Baekhyun keeps wagging his tail, although he doesn’t Chanyeol’s fingers like Sehun does when he scratches behind his ears. It’s going to be a long road for Baekhyun to trust him, and Chanyeol wants to make sure he does.

Saying that Yura likes Baekhyun would be an understatement. She loves him the second Chanyeol puts him down at the entrance and he moves his first steps into his new home. She pets him, his ears and scratches on that spot behind his tail that he wouldn’t normally reach with his paws. Baekhyun beams, then rolls on his back so Yura can give him a full belly rub.

Chanyeol almost regrets showing him to his sister in the first place.

“He’s my hybrid, could you please not? Get your own.” Chanyeol is thirteen and he’s a possessive little , especially because he’s grown up with his sister bullying him constantly.

“But he’s cute! Right fluffball?”

“The name’s Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun doesn’t give a . He keeps wagging his tail happily, he even reaches out to nib at Yura’s hands when she catches his snout between her fingers and pulls, playfully.

Chanyeol is jealous of a dog and despises his sister. And his hybrid. Kind of. It’s been a couple of hours since he’s has gotten his corgi and he’s already learned how much of a cuddle he is.

Chanyeol’s house is small, there’s barely enough space for him and Yura to have one room each, and Chanyeol’s is obviously the smaller one. He insists that Baekhyun gets a room for himself as well, for those moments when he feels like being alone in human form. Chanyeol is thirteen, a possessive little but he’s also kind of caring.

Baekhyun shifts, so he can introduce himself to Chanyeol’s mom and sister with his own voice, dressed with the same clothes he’d brought from the hybrid shop. (Chanyeol will later learn that he’s only got three outfits, and one of them is for school, so it doesn’t really count.)

He also helps Chanyeol push bed in the warmest corner of the basement, and set a couple of curtains around it so that he can have some privacy. Chanyeol gives up one of his drawers, the wooden table that was sitting in the backyard will be now used as a desk and Yura comes back from a trip to the nearest op shop with a clothes rack.

Baekhyun is still a bit wary, especially around Chanyeol. He avoids his gaze and gives him curt responses, however he’s extremely friendly with Yura and her mom. Chanyeol ends up being convinced that he’s not the one that despises Baekhyun, it’s probably the other way around.

He also learns that Baekhyun has had pizza a total of two times in his whole life, and they want to make up for that. They end up eating it with Jongdae and Kyungsoo who run to Chanyeol’s house the second he tells them about the corgi pup, although they don’t bring their hybrids along this time, and Baekhyun doesn’t shift into his animal form for the evening.

“I think I’ll meet your hybrids at school probably.” Baekhyun is a pizza eating champion, or he’s really hungry because ends up eating half of Yura’s portion too. “Since my last family was from another province I have to change school now.” He adds, informing Chanyeol’s mom about any bureaucracy she might have to deal with.

“I had to do the same for Seulgi. She’s half panther, I’ve had her for three years now.” Jongdae says proudly, biting into his pizza. “She’s from Korea, originally, but for some reason she ended up in China, hybrid things.”

“It can happen. Panthers are quite rare as an hybrid. Where I was born there were only two. Dogs, cats or bunnies are a lot more common. I was the only corgi though.” He sounds just as proud as Jongdae and he smiles brightly.

Mrs Park smiles, as if she’s just remembered she’s surrounded by teenagers, and shakes her head as she asks Baekhyun a few more questions. His mom’s smile warms his heart, however Chanyeol doesn’t speak much, still butthurt by the fact that his hybrid seems to be nice to everyone except him.

“Seulgi is really cool. But no one is cooler than Nini. He’s a korean jindo hybrid, he’s got white ears when he shifts and we’ve allowed him to keep doing ballet, he’s really good at it.” Kyungsoo is the next to show off, and Chanyeol was just sure he would mention Jongin first.

“What about Sehun then?” If Chanyeol had paid a tiny bit more a attention, he would’ve noticed Baekhyun’s eyes stopping on him for a second, in a mix of confusion and disappointment.

“Sehun is not cool. He’s elegant and the best cat hybrid on the planet.”

“Sehun is cool. He can beat both of us when we play Spyro on the playstation though.” Chanyeol insists, and Kyungsoo laughs.

“True, true.”

“And he’s also played D&D with us a couple of times! He’s got a Wizard character, similar to mine, but mine’s a thief as well. Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons ‘Hyun?” Jongdae asks, and he props his elbows on the table, as he always does when he’s overly excited about something.

Chanyeol carefully looks at the hybrid, one cheek resting on his hand and to his surprise Baekhyun seems embarrassed as he shakes his head. “I don’t think they have D&D where he comes from, ‘Dae. I’m not even sure if they have TV.”

“We do.” Baekhyun spits out, and he’s glaring, just like he was doing in the pet shop the day before, when Chanyeol had first met him. “We have TV and Playstation as well.”

He looks away and Chanyeol frowns. He stops taking Baekhyun’s side and just gives a few sparse comment to the conversation, even when Jongdae is asking Baekhyun how excatly  puppy-like he looks in his animal form, and Kyungsoo says it would be fun to see him and Jongin one next to the other.

Baekhyun laughs a bit bitterly, evidently offended as he replies that he could bite Jongin’s ears off if he really wanted. Chanyeol doubts it, but, again, he doesn’t say anything.

His mother and sister must sense some discomfort on his part, but Chanyeol is one of those kids going through their rebel grumpy I hate everyone phase, so nobody really questions  his behaviour.

He’s possessive, butthurt and he can also be an when he decides he wants to get revenge. He stops trying to talk to Baekhyun for the rest of the evening, hiding his depression behind a cold façade as he closes the door to his room and flops on his bed.

He didn’t expect Baekhyun to like him after the episode at the pet shop, but at the same time he thought the corgi would at least warm up to him. Considering the hybrid’s actions, though, Chanyeol almost reconsiders his goal to make the other trust him.

He should have just gotten a dog, dogs don’t shift into humans, don’t talk to his friends and they’re always there to let Chanyeol pet them. Or so he thinks, he’s never had a dog, he’s got no idea. Chanyeol’s only adventure with pets is a fat hamster when he was eight. He’s not sure how it happened -Yura must have some part into it- but it disappeared one day.

So, basically Chanyeol is a newbie with pets, as much as he’s a newbie with Hybrids and a complete idiot for what concerns Baekhyun. And although it’s only been a few hours since he got him, he can tell already that he’s doing something wrong. It makes him depressed and angry at the same time.

He can hear the shower running, and wonders what would be like to give puppy Baekhyun a bath. Or if Baekhyun can run down the stairs, being so small.

Chanyeol almost falls asleep, the lights from outside creating patterns of shadow on his bed.  Then a pit-a-pat of paws on the linoleum floor jolts him awake. He doesn’t move a muscle, until he can feel weight on his feet, and something settling on top of them.

He tries to wiggle them a little bit, but he stops the moment he hears a small whine in response. Thanks god it’s dark, because he’s smiling like an idiot.

Chanyeol is thirteen, he’s a teenager and he’s also a bit bipolar, because he’s already forgotten about his epic revenge plan towards the corgi hybrid. Or maybe he just doesn’t like human Baekhyun, he hasn’t decided yet. For now, he sits up and reaches out with his fingers towards the ball of fur curled up at his feet.

Baekhyun raises his head when Chanyeol finally touches him, hesitant at first, and then more confident in his actions when he his back and then reaches out for his ears to tug at one of them gently.

“And we even made you a bed ” He says, keeping his voice down. He’s not expecting a reply, really, but Baekhyun makes a noise that almost sounds annoyed.

He thinks about it, as Baekhyun stares at him with the same eyes he’s got as a human, head slightly tilted to the side, just one ear up, then he comes to a decision.

“Hyun come here, it’s gonna be cold if you sleep there.”

And he lifts the blanket enough for the hybrid to crawl inside. Baekhyun is still cautious. Chanyeol can see that he doesn’t trust him yet, but doesn’t waver. “Come on? I know you don’t like me.”

He takes his sweet time, but Chanyeol almost squeals when the corgi finally leaves his spot at Chanyeol’s feet, stumbles a couple of times and finally slumps right next to his pillow. Baekhyun doesn’t retaliate when the other tries to scoot him a bit closer. He doesn’t squirm nor slip out of Chanyeol’s reach when the human starts his head with his thumb and caressing his back.

If Chanyeol could light up, like, literally, he would.

“I’m tired. You must be tired as well.”Chanyeol start rubbing his ears -they’re a tiny bit too big, but cute, and Baekhyun snuggles closer and finally relaxes. “Goodnight puppy.”  He whispers and he smiles, because Baekhyun’s tail is moving on its own again.