The guy who had spoken is staring at me in horror with his shocking blue eyes. He cannot seem to look away and neither can I. His eyes seem to have locked in my spot. Even when the guy behind me steps forward so close that I can feel his heat, I don’t move a muscle. A quiet sigh comes from behind me.

“We need to talk.”

At that, I blink and snap out of it. I whip my head around to glare at him. “Talk about what? Who are you?” I turn back to the guy with blue eyes. “Who are you? Why are you in my house? What—”

“Calm down,” he says slowly.

“I’m going to scream—”

“Please, just—”

I take a deep breath and start to scream at the top of my lungs.

“Baekhyun!”

“Jesus, I know!”

The guy from behind me snaps at the blue-eyed male. My eyes widen when he wraps his arm around my stomach and covers my mouth with his palm. I try to scream even louder. He puts more pressure on his hand and muffles my scream. I start to flail and thrash my limbs when he picks me up easily and steps into my apartment, letting the door fall shut behind us.

“Make her stop!” the blue-eyed man frantically pleads the guy holding me.

“If only I knew how, Sehun,” comes a sarcastic snap from behind me. My scream falters when he dips his head so that his lips are by my ear, his nose brushing my cheek. “Hey, hey, shh…” he shushes in a gentle and low voice. My scream dies down slowly, unknowingly, my subconscious just wanting to hear more of his soothing voice. “I think you should hear us explain before you start screaming your head off,” he murmurs, slightly teasing.

“Espain wot,” I grumble, turning my head slightly so I could look at him.

Holding me for a second longer to make sure I have stopped thrashing, he takes his hand away from my mouth and lets go of me. I turn around to glare at him, my deadly eyes following him as he walks over to join the other guy. I dart my gaze to the taller male. Something catches my eye though. I narrow my eyes on his choker, noticing the familiar thick black and red strings around his neck. Light reflects off the blue crystal on the circle pendant swinging from the middle of one of the black strings. I swallow, feeling my heart pound. Dreadfully, I slide my eyes back to the guy shorter guy, hoping that I had seen wrongly.

My heart stops when I see the thick black choker around his neck. The short straight barbell in the middle of the choker has a similar round pendant as the man next to him. Except his crystal is clear instead of blue. My entire body has frozen. All I can do is dart my eyes up to look at them, hoping I don’t see any resemblance. But I do.

I see Mongryong in the sparkling brown eyes of the shorter male. I see the dog’s quietly affectionate personality in his soft grin. And I see Vivi in the strikingly blue eyes of the taller guy, though somehow darker than the usual light blue shade but still Vivi. And I see Vivi’s touchiness in the way this guy is playing with the fingers of the shorter male, trying to look for comfort and reassurance.

“I think talking over dinner would be a good start,” the mocha brown-haired male says slowly, carefully.

I swallow. My voice trembles when I answer, “Yes. And lots of soju.”

I am still staring at the two guys in a daze. The waiter must think that I am crazy as he takes our order. I don’t even hear the amount of food Mong— Baekhyun orders. When the waiter leaves with our menus after turning on the grill, the both of them turn to face me. The guy with the brown hair and eyes, Baekhyun, is smiling warmly at me while the other male with the silver grey hair and blue eyes, Sehun, is staring at me, looking quite nervous.

Baekhyun interlocks his fingers. I open my mouth, only to close it again, unsure of what I want to say. What should I say? The things running through my head now can’t be real. There has to be a scientific explanation as to why they’re both wearing my pets’ collars. Or why they both resemble so much to Vivi and Mongryong. Or—

“Soju?”

I blink out of my daze and look at Baekhyun, who is watching me amiably with his warm brown eyes, already picking up the soju bottle. Still unable to speak, I swallow and lift my shot glass, nodding. His smile widens. Just as he glances down to pour the alcohol into my glass, a warm hand covers mine, firmly gripping onto my trembling hand. I shoot my eyes to Sehun, who is staring at me, concerned. Baekhyun’s smile only stretches more. He pours the soju into my glass.

Sehun lets go of my hand and my cup starts to shake quite violently. I have to grip it with two hands. I bring it to my lips and throw the liquid down my throat. Then I stretch my arm out to Baekhyun again. He seems amused. He lifts his lowering hand and pours me another cup. I down that too. He is already on standby when I present my empty glass to him again. He fills the glass again but this time, I set it down, already feeling the two shots warm my body. Baekhyun chuckles under his breath and sets the green bottle down.

“Any ques—”

“Are you…” I cut Baekhyun off with my own question. He stops and smiles at me, waiting patiently for my question to be asked. I swallow. “Are you really… my…” I groan in frustration. I point to my throat instead and raise my eyebrows at them. “What do the chokers read?”

Baekhyun looks down instinctively while his fingers hold the pendant. He rubs the pad of his finger over the surface fondly. He lifts his head to smile at me.

“Mongryong.”

My airway has constricted. I am not sure if I am trying to kill myself when I turn to Sehun.

“Mine says Vivi,” mutters his low voice.

I let out a sound similar to a whimper and a groan. Dropping my eyes, I pick up my shot glass again and down the alcohol. Feeling the liquid confidence working now, I ask more questions while Baekhyun pours me another shot of soju.

“How long have you been staying in my apartment?” I interrogate.

Baekhyun sets the soju bottle down. Sehun glances at him before turning to me. “Since you brought us back from the shelter.”

I swallow. “How long have you been… you know… like this?” I gesture to their appearances.

Baekhyun hums. “When we started to trust you and as we got more comfortable with you,” he answers thoughtfully. He glances at Sehun, the both of them staring at each other. Then he turns back to me, “Might have been the third month?”

Sehun frowns. “I think the middle of the third month. Possibly even fourth.”

Baekhyun smiles at him, his eyes crinkled with affection. But he nods and turns back to me, locking in their answer. I nip on my bottom lip.

“And the notes…?” I breathe.

He grins. I see his hand moving under the table to rest on Sehun’s thigh. “Sehun’s idea,” he credits, tipping his head in his direction. “I thought of doing chores for you but he mentioned that it would be too obvious.”

Sehun is staring at me but his voice is soft and embarrassed when he murmurs, “You were so stressed and we couldn’t help…”

“They helped me a lot,” I mumble, looking down, just as embarrassed.

They don’t say anything, so I quickly drink the soju. I look up at Baekhyun but this time, he has a chastising look on his face.

“No more for now,” he clucks his tongue in an admonishing manner.

Immediately, I pull a pout. He merely shakes his head. I huff and set my empty glass down. At this time, the waiter returns with our raw meat and that is when I notice just how much food Baekhyun ordered. I am gaping at the cart they have to leave next to our table.

“We eat a lot of meat,” Baekhyun explains, sounding a bit sheepish.

I shoot him a look. “I can understand why. But who’s going to pay for it? I don’t—”

“Of course we’ll pay,” Sehun cuts me off, giving me a look too. “We can’t let you pay.”

I cross my arms. “What does that mean?”

Baekhyun stops Sehun from answering me. “He just means to say that we can’t let anyone pay for the amount we’re eating,” he says slowly and gently like he is speaking to a placate a child.

I glare at Sehun, who is rolling his eyes. I scoff. “I like Vivi better,” I tell him, the soju making me too honest. He opens his mouth to talk back but I quickly turn to Baekhyun. “Where do you guys get the money anyway?”

The waiter comes back this time with tongs and scissors. Baekhyun withholds his answer while the server sets the meat on the grill. It is only when it is just the three of us again, that he answers.

“Hybrids are from a superior line. We’re basically royalty. In another planet of course,” he smiles. “So we came here with enough gold to last us several lifetimes.”

“Why are you royalty?” I ask, interested.

“Because we’re not entirely human, which means — no offense to you, sweetheart — we’re not all vulnerable and weak. But we’re also not entirely animals, which means we’re not stupid.”

“What planet are you from?”

“Elyxion. Or what you guys call Mars.”

Sehun snorts as he pokes the raw meat on the grill. “That’s why you see scientists saying there could be life on Mars. Because there is life.”

I frown. “So why did you guys come here?”

“We didn’t like having to overpower the population with our royalty status,” Baekhyun frowns.

“Why were you guys in your animal forms, then?” I ask, now more interested in them. I distractedly pick up the tongs and help to flip the meat.

“We weren’t sure if we would blend in in our human form,” Baekhyun murmurs. “There’s always a difference in the reigning species of every planet, no matter how similar they look.”

I nod thoughtfully, now cutting up the semi-cooked meat. “So how long have you been here?”

“A few years,” he admits.

“You could have adapted to the ways of the people here.” I look at the both of them incredulously. “Why were you in animal form at the shelter?”

“We haven’t changed in awhile and it was making us lose touch with nature.”

Sehun sounds bitter when he recounts, “And the day we decide to turn was also the day the animal protection services were patrolling.”

I make a face. “So how old are you guys?” I wonder, holding up a piece of meat to check if it's cooked.

Sehun picks up a piece and sees the little blood in it. I am stunned when he simply puts it into his mouth. Baekhyun, taking that as a sign that food is ready, takes his chopsticks to start eating as well. I guess they’re still half animal with a taste for blood.

“Sehun’s 25 and I’m 27.” As if aware of the next question, he says, “Our animal forms grow slower because they follow our human age. That’s also why people think a human year equates to seven dog years.”

“So your animal form dies only when you die? And not the other way around?”

“Definitely the other way around,” Baekhyun nods, chewing noisily on his meat. “For example, if we get shot in our animal forms, we die. So our human forms die too. But by natural death, our animal form dies with our human form and not the other way around.”

I nod slowly. All the information is making my head spin. It seems so surreal that this is happening to me, that this is even real. But somehow, deep inside me, I know that they’re not pulling my leg. Not just because I couldn’t find Vivi or Mongryong in my place apart from Sehun and Baekhyun, but also because I can just feel the essence of Vivi and Mongryong with me now.

“There’s no blood in this,” Sehun mutters. I snap out of my stupor just in time to see him stretch his arm to put his meat on my plate.

I blink at him. I had thought he didn’t like me, especially since I said I preferred Vivi over him. “Thanks,” I mumble in confusion.

“Any other question?” Baekhyun asks, making me turn to him.

I nod my head. “Where did you get your clothes from? And money?”

He grins mysteriously. “Our house.”

It is probably a stupid idea to follow two strangers claiming to be my pets to their big penthouse they call a house.

Everything is white or grey and the place smells very much like a mix of Vivi and Mongryong. There is even a second level where I am sure their rooms are. I am still gaping at the interior when Sehun throws a pair of pink bedroom slippers in front of me before slipping on his grey ones and shuffling towards the kitchen. I turn to Baekhyun, who has white slippers, and see him smiling at me.

“We’ve been making changes to the place,” he informs me, leading me into the house. “Your apartment is a little bit small for all three of us so—”

“It’s fine if you’re in your animal form,” I blurt.

“But you certainly don’t wish to torture us by making us stay in only our animal form,” Baekhyun makes a face. “We’re going to lose touch with our human side and end up acting like cavemen when we do turn.”

I cannot help but smile at that imagery. He grins upon seeing the first smile on my face that evening. I drop the smile quickly. I think over his words again, a frown slowly etching on my features.

“So you mean you’ve been rearranging this place to…”

Baekhyun hums, sliding his hands into his pants pocket. “We thought about it. It’s still early since today was a total accident. But we were hoping to move you in here with us in a few more months’ time.” He looks around the place thoughtfully. “There isn’t much else we need to do except for the walk-in wardrobe. But we’ll get that fixed within the next few weeks.” He turns to grin at me. “I’m sure you’ll like this place.”

I blink at him, realising belatedly that he is expecting me to stay with the both of them. Sure, I love Vivi and Mongryong. But these two men, even if they are the counterparts to the cat and dog, are still strangers to me. I can’t live with them.

“No,” I gasp, taking a step back. Baekhyun looks surprised by my look of trepidation. I dart my eyes to the kitchen where Sehun is staring at me, probably smelling my confusion and fear. “No, I can’t,” I breathe, shaking my head. “You’re not— This is—”

“Hey—”

“Baekhyun,” Sehun calls, stopping the brown-haired male from taking a step towards me. He walks to Baekhyun’s side, eyeing me carefully. “Give her some time to think about it,” he murmurs.

I gape at him before blinking at Baekhyun. I take in a deep breath and slide my feet out of the slippers. Anxiety is starting to catch up on me now, scaring the hell out of me. What if they had been lying and I was being kidnapped without my knowing? And I had drank so much soju too. I slip on my shoes and rush to the door, fumbling with it with shaky hands.

A warm hand covers my cold one, his touch steady and anchoring. I look up and see Sehun staring down at me, his face unreadable. I gulp and look away quickly. He pulls down the door handle and opens the door, his other hand holding it ajar so that my body seems to be within his broad frame. He lets go of my hand and I scramble outside. I hear Baekhyun rushing over to the door, calling out my name.

“Don’t come over,” I warn them, not turning around even as I wait impatiently for the lift. When it finally arrives, I say softly, knowing they can hear me, “Don’t look for me. I-I don’t want to see you again.”

I have been burying myself in my studies the past few days. But the more I do that, the more I seem to notice the absence of my furry companions. I see their food bowls, my battered shirt that Vivi likes to drag around, Mongryong’s walking leash. In the day when I am at uni, I don’t think much about them. But when I get home to an empty apartment, I just feel so, so lonely. It amazes me how I could have lived with this silence before I rescued Vivi and Mongryong from the shelter.

But I think the nights are the worst. Going to sleep alone without any warmth close to me makes my nights sleepless. I miss the cuddles I would get, the weight of Mongryong’s head on my stomach, the tickle of Vivi’s whisker on my cheek. I miss them.

After a week, I must have gotten so little sleep that I actually look like a zombie. It doesn’t even help that I have fallen sick too. Yet though I yearn for Vivi and Mongryong, I am also mad at them. How could they listen to me when I told them not to find me? Are they that heartless? Or maybe Sehun and Baekhyun really weren’t the human forms of Vivi and Mongryong?

But then on the second day of the second week, I find a note in my letterbox, accompanied by a paper bag of medicine.

I know you said not to look for you. But it hurts to see you not taking good care of yourself. Please be healthy.
- Vivi & Mongryong

I whimper and look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of either of them. But they must have dropped it off in the afternoon when I had been in campus. I turn back to the note, staring at their signatures.

Vivi and Mongryong.

My heart clenches. I make a split second decision. Slipping the note into my pocket, I turn on my heels and stride out of the building lobby. I flag for a taxi and ask the taxi driver to bring me to the condominium complex I had left so rashly a week ago.

My heart is thumping and my leg is bouncing with anxiety. I get there in 20 minutes. I pay the driver and go to the building where Sehun’s and Baekhyun’s penthouse is located. I can’t go up without an access card, so I resort to calling them on the intercom. They answer after a while of ringing. They must have seen me through the webcam because I am given access to go up right away. I enter the elevator quickly and press for the penthouse. My heart is now in my throat. The doors slide open to reveal a short hallway to the white door. I stare at it for so long that the doors threaten to close again. Quickly, I slip out of the elevator.

I take small, tentative steps towards the door but midway, it is pulled open and a tall, handsome silver-haired man is watching me, his blue eyes twinkling with affection and deep yearning. He is still wearing the choker that has Vivi’s name on it.

I break out into a run and throw myself onto him, making him catch on a breath. His strong arm circles around my waist to steady me. I press my face into his chest, feeling my cheeks getting wet with tears. He lets go of the door and the back of my head, letting the door hit his back, using his body to hold it open.

“Shh… Shh, baby…”

Sehun is my back while I sit on his lap, still not letting go of him, my head resting on his shoulder. I watch Baekhyun walking back from the kitchen, holding a glass of milky pink liquid. He smiles gently at me. He stands behind the couch and holds out the cup. I can smell my favourite drink in it. Separating from Sehun slightly, I accept the glass and take small sips of the peach yoghurt drink. He my hair.

For some reason, even though they’re obviously not in their animal form, I still feel the comfort I normally get from my pets. Vivi always snuggled up with me, keeping me warm and comforted. So being in Sehun’s arms like this feels just the same, but nicer and warmer. Mongryong liked giving me occasional and with Baekhyun my hair like this, I can see him as Mongryong my face to soothe my anxiety.

I let out a soft contented sigh and rest my cheek on Sehun’s broad shoulder again, resting my hand holding the cup on the backrest of the couch. Baekhyun takes the glass from me though. Sehun shifts me closer to him so that there is no space between our bodies.

“Do you want to talk now, sweetheart?” Baekhyun asks softly, caressing my other cheek that isn’t on Sehun’s shoulder.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I mumble quietly, keeping my gaze on a spot in the living room. “I miss Vivi and Mongryong. So much.”

They don’t say anything for a few moments. Baekhyun suggests, “Do you want us to change? We’ll go home with you.”

I shake my head. “Human Vivi gives better cuddles than cat Vivi,” I mumble.

Sehun snorts. “So, what?”

The tips of my ears are red and I can feel my face heating up. I look up at Baekhyun through my lashes. His lips tilt at the sight of my bashful look, as if already aware of what I am thinking. And I am in no doubt that he does understand my thoughts. After all, even as Mongryong, he already seems to know me so well.

“I want to stay here with you,” I tell them shyly.