The Last Summer.

It was a sunny day when Chanyeol first saw Kyungsoo. It was not one of the most romantic moments in the history of romantic moments, but it was enough to take Chanyeol’s breath away. At that time, he had no idea who Kyungsoo was. All he knew that there was a beautiful black cat hybrid standing under the oak tree and if Chanyeol didn’t run faster, that cat hybrid’s handsome face would get bruised up within a second or so.

“Hey!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, trying his best to catch the attention of the smaller hybrid. “Watch out!” he had screamed.

But before the sound of his voice could alert the cat hybrid, the deed was already done. The ball, which was speeding with an excellent force, given it was kicked by none other than soccer team captain aka the badass Persian cat hybrid Kim Minseok, had already hit the smaller hybrid. Its impact was so strong, that the smaller hybrid tumbled to the ground and howled in pain.

Chanyeol had let out a loud groan in response. Not only did it pain him to see the cat hybrid’s beautiful face bruised up, but he was also going to get scolded for not saving the ball (since he was the goalkeeper and all). He had run-up to the boy as he hurriedly removed his gloves and extended a hand to help him up. 

It was all well and good until the smaller hybrid looked up and Chanyeol at that instant knew he was ed. Because holy mother of god, how could a hybrid look so effortlessly beautiful even when they had a bruised face? How was that even possible?

From his big bug eyes to his cute little button nose to his red plump lips (which was kinda bleeding now?), how could anyone look his adorable and beautiful? 

Chanyeol had gulped hard at that time. In his 18 years of life, he had never encountered a situation where he was completely speechless like this. He tried to normalize himself, took deep breaths in and did an internal pep talk to compose inner self. 

With his heart thundering in his chest, he cleared his throat and tried to grab the smaller hybrid to help him up. But to his dismay, the smaller hybrid shook him off and shot the deadliest glare he had ever seen in his direction. 

It was so deadly; it melted his heart in a puddle of goo and sunshine.

He straightened up as he saw the smaller hybrid scramble to his feet and dash towards the school building in one of the most adorable half - run – half – walk way. His black fluffy tail was fluffed up more to seem bigger and Chanyeol found himself wanting to touch it badly. Just as the smaller hybrid was about to enter the main building, he turned back and shot another deadly glare at him.

In that instant, Chanyeol’s gut twisted weirdly and he knew that from this day onwards, he was going to have a severe crush on this beautiful cat hybrid.

It was later that day, after pestering his homeroom teacher straight for two hours; he came to know the name of the cat hybrid he saw on the field earlier that day. 

His name was Do Kyungsoo. He was a ragdoll cat hybrid and he had transferred from Changsa along with his cousin Yixing who was a Himalayan cat hybrid. They were going to spend the next few years here because of some business deals going on in their dad’s company.

After receiving the information and being shooed away, Chanyeol had decided to return to his class. It was during that time he first saw Kyungsoo’s smile. It felt as if the whole school was shinning because of his radiant smile.

It was then Chanyeol realized that the last summer before his high school ends had already begun.

^^^

“What’s up losers?” Jongdae greeted as soon as he entered the classroom. It was comparatively empty considering it was almost lunch period and most of the third-year students had already gone home or were arriving like the Shiba Inu hybrid himself.

Chanyeol let out a groan as he spotted the smaller hybrid and decided to peek out the window in favor of ignoring the next scene which was about to happen in a few seconds or so.

“So,” he drawled as he dropped on the seat in front of him. “How did he reject you today?”

Chanyeol let out a soft whine as he hid his face in his palms. He could hear his seatmate Oh Sehun, a Chow Chow hybrid, snicker before he took it upon himself to recite the story which happened earlier today.

“Our lover boy went give his darling ice cream today but he got hissed at. Loverboy got so scared that he spilled the ice cream upon himself.” Sehun retold, barely holding a giggle.

“Aww…Poor baby,” Jongdae cooed as he ruffled Chanyeol’s hair to soothe him. Chanyeol felt relaxed and let himself smile at the feeling of Jongdae’s fingers. 

“Anyways,” he said after a while with a devilish smirk plastered on his face, “Y’all owe me 10 now.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was loud wail heard from the entrance of the class. They all turned around and saw Byun Baekhyun, a beagle hybrid, standing there looking like he had been betrayed. He stormed his way towards the trio and slammed his hand on top of the table as he glared at Jongdae.

“Why do I need to pay you 10? Don’t you already owe me 20?” he asked, trying to act menacing and all.

“Kyungsoo hissed at him today,” Sehun answered instead of Jongdae, pointing in Chanyeol’s direction as if the taller hybrid wasn’t there, to begin with.  

“Ow man.” Baekhyun sighed as he grabbed a 10 dollar note from his wallet and passed it to Jongdae who had a -eating grin plastered across his face.

Chanyeol quietly sulked as he watched the three of his friends talk about various things which mostly included how they were going to set their next bet and everything. It was not their usual way of passing time ever since Chanyeol confessed to them that he had a crush on the feline hybrid.

It wasn’t that serious at that time. They mostly whenever Kyungsoo was around. But after the cat hybrid started glaring or hissing at him whenever Chanyeol tried to approach him, they started setting bets on how he would be rejected on that particular day.

Chanyeol knew that his friends never meant to hurt him with these settings. They even encouraged and helped him to go up and talk to Kyungsoo. But during times like these, it somehow made his heart heavy. Not because his friends were making fun of him, but because he couldn’t understand why the cat hybrid hated him so damn much.

He knew for a fact that he wasn’t that unattractive. He was tall, taller than most of the students in their class and he was well built too. Of course, it was due to the fact he was a Saint Bernard hybrid. But even then he was confident about his face. I mean it's not every day you visit a fortune teller and they say that you’ve got a face like a king.

So why, why does Kyungsoo dislike him so much? Why does he hate him to the point where even seeing him makes the other hybrid hiss at him? He almost had tears in his eyes when he thought about the face Kyungsoo made today when he accidentally touched his tail to give him the ice cream.

“Hey loverboy,” Baekhyun called, waking him up from his thoughts, “Look! your boy’s down there!” he said pointing in the direction of the ground.

Chanyeol instantly perked up and leaped towards the nearest window to see his Kyungsoo. he was already so excited about seeing him that his tail started wagging by itself. He leaned forward and tried his best spot Kyungsoo but to his dismay, the feline hybrid was nowhere to be seen.

His ears flattened against his head when he heard the three of his friends snickered behind him. He let out a whine and pouted as he turned to face them. “You guys are so mean.” He grumbled, his pout still intact. “I’m going home.”

“Hey what about trigonometry class?” Sehun called behind him as he grabbed his bag and started walking towards the exit.

“Copy the notes as your punishment.” he articulated with a smirk. “All three of you or else Mr. Lim will know what you three did last Wednesday.”

He could hear the collective gasps of the three as he left the classroom with a grin on his face.

^^^

Chanyeol was almost at the entrance when he spotted the similar black tail rushing towards the gym storage room. He tried to ignore it, tried his best to remember the hissing face of Kyungsoo. But his body had always been a traitor in these kinds of situations. And just like that, he was already walking in the direction of the storage room.

Whoever said that curiosity killed the cat, was wrong. Because curiosity also killed the dog. especially Chanyeol.

He tried to move as quietly as possible and tiptoed around the small building to peek at whatever that was happening there. But as soon as his eyes landed on the scene in front of him, he straightened up and felt a growl slowly escaping from his throat.

His Kyungsoo was surrounded by three canine hybrids. 

They were almost a foot taller than him and  Chanyeol could smell how they were giving off their dominating smell. It was so obnoxious that it made Chanyeol’s jaw clench. He could see how scared Kyungsoo was given the way his tail was fluffed to the double of its original size. He couldn’t hear what they were saying to the smaller hybrid but he could feel that it was something suggestive because of the glare that Kyungsoo directed towards them. 

seeing the three taller hybrids crowding up his Kyungsoo’s personal space like this, Chanyeol couldn’t keep his calm. He walked up to them with his most menacing look and dominating aura as he growled at them in a warning. 

“Hey! Quit it!” he commanded sharply. He looked at the three of them with sharp glare and bared his fangs to give out a clear warning.

Seeing his angry demeanor, three of the canine hybrids backed away. They were so scared of Chanyeol’s glare and his tall stature, that they didn’t even think about putting up a fight and scampered right away.

Only when Chanyeol was sure that those three canine hybrids were no longer in sight, he turned to see Kyungsoo.  

Chanyeol had never imagined that there would be a day where he will see Kyungsoo looking like the way he did right not. To say that the smaller hybrid was scared, was a complete understatement. His pupils were blown wide and sweat was streaming down the side of his face. He had his claws out and his tail was fluffed up double its original size. His ears were pointed straight and Chanyeol could see how bad he was trembling.

Kyungsoo was panicking and if Chanyeol didn’t want to get bitten or injured badly, he would have to approach the smaller hybrid very cautiously. He tried to release a calming scent in the air surrounding them as he stepped towards Kyungsoo slowly. Only he saw that Kyungsoo was calming down gradually, did he completely approach the smaller hybrid.

“Hey,” Chanyeol asked cautiously. “Are you alright?”

Kyungsoo looked up at him and instantly shot him his best glare. Chanyeol thought that he would hiss at him again but to the contrary, he didn’t do anything. He even seemed calm and relaxed if Chanyeol was being honest.

Seeing his calm and relaxed demeanor for the very first time, Chanyeol didn’t know what to do. He felt unable to move or speak as he watched the smaller hybrid trying to collect himself. He then took his bottle of water and handed it to Kyungsoo, hoping that it would help him to calm himself faster.

Kyungsoo looked up at him once and quietly accepted the bottled water. Once he finished gulping it down, he looked at Chanyeol with his eyes narrowed and face contorted in a frown.

“You didn’t need to save me,” he stated, returning the empty bottle. “I’m perfectly capable to protect myself.”

Chanyeol let out a soft sigh and looked down. “I know.”

“Then why did you do it?” Kyungsoo shot back.

‘ Because I like you ,’ Chanyeol wanted to answer that. Instead, he replied with a soft “I don’t know.”

Seeing the exasperated expression on Kyungsoo’s face, Chanyeol decided that it was time for him to leave. He turned around and was about to walk away from the smaller hybrid when he felt something tug at his shirt. he turned back and saw a scene which melted him right there in his spot. 

Kyungsoo had his head ducked down as he held on to Chanyeol’s shirt. Chanyeol could see how the tips of his ears had turned beet red and honestly, it made it so hard to not kiss him right then and there.

“Is everything okay?” Chanyeol asked, peering down at him only for the smaller hybrid to avert his eyes.

“Thank y-you.” He mumbled softly as he let go of Chanyeol.

If Chanyeol had a weak heart, he would have combusted right then and there. but Chanyeol was a strong beast (or at least he was trying to be in front of Kyungsoo to maintain his new earned dignity). Therefore, he stood straight and let himself have a wide grin before he bid adieu to his sweetheart for the day. 

That day Chanyeol had a hard time falling asleep as he kept thinking about the ragdoll cat hybrid and wondered how someone could be so damn adorable

^^^

“You look like ,” Sehun commented as soon as Chanyeol plopped down on his seat beside him. He would have glared at the other hybrid if it was any other day, but since he was still high from that small ‘Thank You’ from Kyungsoo, he gave him his signature toothy grin. Love surely does change your personality.

Sehun, on the other hand, looked like he just saw a ghost.

Before any of the two taller hybrids could say anything, Baekhyun casually strolled in, humming his favorite song from some artist called Exo. He gave them a suspicious look as he sat down on his seat and placed his bag beside him.

“What’s wrong with you two?” he asked, giving the stink eye. His pointy ears looked even pointer as he scrutinized the two taller hybrids.

“I called Chanyeol and he grinned at me,” Sehun said, his expression borderline scared.

“It’s Chanyeol hyung for you ,” Chanyeol responded with a smack on Sehun’s head.

“Who are you calling ?” Sehun howled in pain as he rubbed his head, glaring at Chanyeol. “You’re the !”

“You smiled when I called you !” Sehun pointed out, looking annoyed.

“Yeah! Because I’m happy!” Chanyeol announced. “Because I’m a happy ,” he said it in a much softer voice.

Jongdae, who had just arrived at the scene, looked at the three of them like they had grown three extra heads. He quietly walked up to Baekhyun and nudged him on the side to get his attention. “What’s going on?” he inquired, looking at the two taller hybrids.

“Chanyeol just announced that he’s a happy .” Baekhyun clarified, his expression bemused.

Jongdae speared a glance at the three of them before he burst out in laughter. He doubled over in his laughter as clutched his desk hair to hold himself up. He didn’t know why he found it so funny, but he just couldn’t control his laughter at all.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, was baffled. he looked at Jongdae and saw how his blonde ears were twitching from his laughter and how his lips were curled up at the end as he tried to control himself. It would have looked cute if it was any other situation, but right now it irritated him.

“What’s so funny?” Chanyeol questioned, leaning back in his seat as he tried to calm himself down. Why was everyone trying to ruin his happy mood? He just wanted to let them know why he was happy for god sake!

“Okay, okay,” Jongdae panted as he sat down and took deep breaths to control his laughter. “Mr. Chanyeol the happy , care to let us know why you’re a happy ?”

“Finally!” Chanyeol let out a huff of breath as he relaxed in his seat and grinned at the other three. “You won’t believe what happened!”

“Trust me, we will,” Baekhyun snickered as he sat down, earning a glare from the taller man.

So Chanyeol did exactly that. He sat and scooted closer to the three of them as he started retelling his story from scratch. He recounted every detail, every expression, every word spoken at that moment. He thoroughly scanned everyone’s expression and watched with a hopeful face as he waited for their reaction.

“So,” Jongdae rubbed his chin as he looked thoughtfully at the taller hybrid, “You’re telling me that this thing happened and it’s not just a part of your imagination?”

“Yeah what’s the proof that this is real?” quipped Sehun to which Baekhyun also nodded in agreement.

“Why are you guys so mean?” whined Chanyeol as his ears flattened against his head. “I’m telling you this happened for real!”

Seeing his sad expression, the three of them softened. Jongdae ruffled his hair in adoration as Sehun patted his back soothingly. Baekhyun, on the other hand, pulled his ears to distract him from his sad thoughts though it only resulted in Chanyeol groaning out loud because of the pain.

“But if it happened for real, then it’s a good opportunity for you to get close Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said after a while. 

Chanyeol perked up at that and his tail started to wag immediately at the thought of hanging out with the ragdoll hybrid. “You think so?”

“Yeah,” Both Baekhyun and Jongdae nodded in unison as they tried to boost Chanyeol’s confidence and happy mood.

“Yeah! it will be a good opportunity!” Sehun agreed, nodding his head comically. “He may not glare and hiss at you anymore but I can't guarantee whether he will like you or not.”

“Sehun,” Chanyeol pouted, his face forming a slight frown.

Before the four of them could argue further, the bell rang signaling the start of another class.

^^^

Kyungsoo tapped his foot against the floor as he waited anxiously on the rooftop. Yixing was supposed to meet him here with their lunch but the older hybrid was nowhere in sight. he let out a loud sigh as he walked over to a bench which overlooked the field and sat down on it. He usually had his lunch alone but today he had a very important situation to discuss with the older hybrid.

Also, the said ‘very important situation’ just walked out into the field with his pals, looking effortlessly gorgeous with his floppy brown ears and fuzzy curved tail. It looked so fuzzy and soft that Kyungsoo had a weird urge to pet it (He also wanted to pet the canine hybrid secretly, maybe even him.) Kyungsoo’s eyes widened as he realized just what in the world he was thinking about. He shook his head vigorously to get rid of that particular thought. 

“Why are you shaking your head like that?” Yixing asked as he walked in with their lunches, his expression borderline amused.

“Uh...” Kyungsoo felt a loss for words as he realized that he was caught in a very weird situation. His cheeks reddened along with his ears. “nothing. I’m just doing exercise.”

Yixing raised his eyebrows at him in wonder. “Really? since when did you start exercising?”

“Um...” Kyungsoo stuttered. why in the world was he being interrogated again? “Since today?”

“Okay.” Yixing sing-songed with a smile as he sat down beside the ragdoll cat hybrid and handed him hi