Minho woke to three things: blinding levels of sunlight, a sharp pain in his wrist, and the worst hangover of his life. “I’m going to kill Taemin! How much did I drink last night?” he moaned, only to wince as the pounding in his skull intensified. He rolled over, intending to go back to sleep until he realized several more things: he really had to pee, he could smell bacon for some reason, and his hand had just touched warm fur. That made Minho open his eyes to the sight of what could only be a smirking fox sitting on his haunches staring down at him, a cheerful little bird perched between his front paws.

  It took Minho a moment before the reason he had a fox and bird in bed with him clicked. He’d moved yesterday, picking up the pair he thought were injured but were just filthy and covered in blood. He’d met some of the friendly, oddball villagers, only to have the weirdest dream of his life last night. Remembering that dream had him automatically checking his sore wrist, only to see a perfect imprint of teeth somewhat differently shaped to a human’s but not too much, on it and blossoming into a deep purple surrounded by angry red.

  “Did you really do this Kibum? But how? We were in a dream. But, you and Jinki were human, or at least human-seeming. But how?”

  Puzzled, Minho stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom before he wet himself, afterward brushing his teeth, splashing water on his face, and taking some aspirin with a very long drink of water out of the faucet (which was sweet and ice cold and meant bottled water would not be necessary when he went grocery shopping) before he went to feed Jinki and Kibum and figure out why it smelled like bacon.

  Kibum probably figured out how to use the stove. He certainly seemed smart enough in my dream Minho joked to himself, only to nearly faint. Instead of a sassy fox on his hind legs and wearing an apron (he’d watched Xxxholic with Taemin more times than he cared to admit, and it wasn’t like he could just forget what the Oden Master and his son looked like), his kitchen area had apparently been taken over by what appeared to be an angel in blue jeans. Well, until the intruder turned around and smiled, popping a dimple. It was Leeteuk in real life, and he still apparently didn’t understand shirts.

  “Good morning Minho. How’s your head? I suspect it feels like a nasty hangover. Wookie, the Little One and I woke up the same way, though I doubt we were affected as much as you since we’re not human. Kibum and Jinki don’t seem to be bothered at all.” Leeteuk pointed to the table, where Jinki was perched on the edge of a bowl and pecking away at one of his cakes they’d gotten at D&E’s and a couple of blueberries that were in the fridge, while Kibum was sitting on a chair and delicately at a bowl of finely diced something.

  “I gave him some of the high protein food you got from Hae yesterday. He’ll probably want people-style meat for the other meals since he’s not actually a pet, but that stuff, which by the way is human grade since Wookie refuses to skimp does have extra vitamins and minerals and will help him finish recovering. Wookie definitely knows what he’s doing with that.”

  “Recovering from what? He and Jinki weren’t hurt, just somehow got bloody. How did you get in here anyway? I know I locked the door and there’s no way you climbed through the window with those wings. And why are you here?”

  “Sit down and eat your breakfast and I’ll explain” Leeteuk said as he set a plate of bacon and eggs, bread and cheese, and hard sausage and apple down, along with a cup of coffee and a very large glass of water.

  “I know you don’t generally eat most of this stuff or so much at one time, but trust me. The grease will help with the hangover feeling and after last night you need the extra calories.”

  “How do you know what I eat?” Minho asked suspiciously as he reluctantly sat. It wasn’t that Leeteuk was wrong, but they’d only met last night, if being in a bizarre dream counted. He was beginning he’d popped some kind of pills or been shot up with something without knowing it and he was in some drug-induced alternate reality.

  “Nope, no drugs either I promise. As for knowing nearly everything about you, we had a minor god telling us all about you needing help and we knew a certain fox and bird also needing help and working out the three of you just might possibly be the ones to help each other. We won’t really interfere, and in most cases can’t except for minor things like asking House nicely if it would let me in to make you breakfast since you can’t cook much and it doesn’t have that capability. Kibum does, and he’s an amazing cook, but there’s not much he can do with paws.”

  “Minor god, really? What is he the minor god of, wildlife?”

  “Kibum’s already rubbing off on you I see. No, modern dance and losing things. Sound like anyone you know?”

  “Yeah, wait. No, that’s impossible! He’s human!”

  “I am not! I have never been so insulted in my life!” Taemin strode in the front door like he owned the place, clad in his black unitard, loose unfastened shirt, and dance shoes, and glowing softly.

  “I thought you were going to stay away Lee Taemin” Leeteuk commented mildly.

  “S.O.S. from Eunhyuk. He thought he might have been overreacting, but he was afraid Minho was going to be even harder to crack than everyone thought since his disbelief was so firm. It wasn’t like I was doing anything or that it takes me any time to pop in here so I thought it might be best if I had a look myself. After all, I wouldn’t want my favorite fox and bird to be stuck like that any longer.”

  That earned Taemin a low growl from Kibum, and even happy little Jinki looked as pissed as he could with a beak and fluffy feathers.

  “I said I was sorry, and I also said I’d fix your current situation. This will work, but give it time you two. You all only met yesterday, and even if Minho wasn’t so stubborn that kind of thing doesn’t happen in a day for humans. Look how long it took Donghae to come to terms.”

  “You make it sound like they expect me to propose to them.” Minho was more sure than ever he was crazy, but he’d roll with it for now.

  “You made your point Taemin, now go before you it up. Shoo, or Kibum will bite your again and I’ll have to take him to the Little One to have his teeth disinfected.”

  “But…”

  “Goodbye Taemin. Someone will text you when we have an update. Now shoo.”

  Leeteuk quite literally shoved Taemin out the door and bolted it, when Minho didn’t remember a bolt.

  “Sorry about that Minho. Now you should be able to eat in peace, and I promised to explain about Jinki and Kibum.”

  Minho sat down, but eyed the food suspiciously. He might have made up his mind to play along, but much like Alice’s Wonderland he wasn’t sure if he should eat or drink anything. Granted, that never stopped Alice, but he wasn’t a seven-year-old girl, or boy for that matter.

  Leeteuk, who had been getting himself a cup of coffee leaned over and grabbed one of the pieces of bacon, popping it into his mouth. Kibum just grimaced, but Jinki hopped over and pecked at a piece of apple like he did it all the time.

  “It’s good bacon, Jinki says the apples are amazing, and Kibum thought about stealing the hard sausage, but he’s regretting all the sausage he ate yesterday. Before you ask, we’re communicating via mind-reading since Kibum and Jinki can’t speak in their current forms. One of the benefits of having the Little One around. He boosts everyone’s natural abilities and even helps them develop new ones. I was never really a mind reader before Donghae and Chullie rescued him and Hyukjae. I could get a vague sense of other incubi in the area but I had to rely on Wookie for anything more. Not that we usually just barge into minds uninvited. It’s considered very rude to do so, no matter who it is.

  But that’s not what you wanted to know is it? You said Kibum and Jinki weren’t hurt, just bloody and dirty. Well, that was true by the time you got to Hae and the Hyuks’. When you found them in that field however, they were nearly dead. If you hadn’t carried them inside the barrier so their natural healing abilities could kick in, they would be. You know where the lawn ends and the long grass begins at that rest area? That is the easiest to see mark of the divide between the normal world and this little pocket inside it. You first ran into it when you had to stop and pee right then. It tends to affect humans that way, not that many of them can even find that road. The border is kind of flexible as well. Anyway, they used up all their energy to try and for lack of a better word teleport into the barrier after they were attacked, but just missed. They also had to time it so you’d be the one to find them and get this whole thing kickstarted, and we demons can’t really help beyond providing exposition and emotional support. Well, and make you a few meals until you guys really get started on your journey.”

  “Journey? What journey? And what attacked Kibum and Jinki?”

  “One of Kibum’s unwanted suitors I suspect. He’s always presented as a female fox, not male. Which means he goes into heat like a female and from what I’m told smells like one as well. Well, male foxes aren’t exactly the forgiving type when they think they’ve found a mate. Before, it was easier for him to chase them off, maybe get into a little scuffle but nothing too serious. Plus, he could always change into his real or human forms. And he tried to always find some place to lock himself away if it was something bigger or that he couldn’t outrun chasing him and wouldn’t give up when he changed forms.

  Things changed when he met Jinki, who has an awful sense of direction. His first solo trip from the faerie realm as befitted a member of the royal family, though not one that had a likely chance to ascend the throne so was pretty much left to his own devices other than the usual rites of passage, and he gets lost. Not to the extent Eunhyuk did since his entire batch and their carers were destroyed by demon hunters, but lost enough he wasn’t sure what to do. He was in the middle of a forest as well, so it wasn’t like he could just ask a random passerby, and in time honored tradition he’d snuck away so no one in his home realm would know where to look for him. Then here comes a fox, but not just any fox. The Almighty Kim Kibum himself came across this lost little being with wings, and transformed to his human self. Jinki has a human self as well, and after that meeting just, never went home. After a while of knowing each other they traded mating marks as Kibum is half incubus though neither gumihos nor faeries do such a thing, and he had less to worry about during heats. Well, until they met someone or something that tried to ruin their lives.

  Now mind you, I don’t know the entire story, only the select bits they’re feeding me. I also suspect what I am getting is highly edited, but it’ll be enough for you to get at least a general idea of what happened, both then and when you found them. That being said, they met a being. They have no idea what kind, or what he looked like, only what he wanted and what he did afterward when he didn’t get it. You’ve noticed how beautiful Kibum is even in his fox form, let alone his human one right? Well, this being thought so too and wanted him, apparently not realizing his mate in bird form was riding on his shoulder. They were in the woods, he was between heats, they were usually more comfortable as animals in such a situation. Anyway, Kibum tried to explain he had a mate. Most supernatural beings will respect a mating bond and leave, but not this one. Whatever he was, he was determined to have Kibum, and Jinki as well. He couldn’t take them physically apparently, so tried to persuade them while making it impossible for them to just leave. They could transform, but not walk away. They stayed true to each other, so finally the being gave up, but not without cursing them to stay in their animal forms forever. To Kibum, he also gave a secondary, more terrible curse. Before when he was in heat, he was mildly interesting to any foxes or supernatural beings that would be interested in something like what he is. Now it’s practically overpowering and almost every being of any size is affected, except full humans and most normal animals. Even us incubi aren’t immune, and we’re not generally affected by that type of thing.

  For a long time, all they could do is run, trying to keep ahead of whatever was chasing them and snatching the odd sleep here and there when they could manage a little peace. It was safer where humans were since they still weren’t affected, but small towns and villages certainly don’t want a fox where there are chickens and the cats roam freely. Kibum might have refined tastes and would never consider eating pets or chicken that wasn’t properly prepared, but he looks like an ordinary fox. So they’d set out poisoned meat or milk. He wouldn’t touch it, but any loose dogs would, and they never did learn not to do that. Cities and large towns are worse, with cars to dodge, nothing to hunt except garbage cans that are generally already claimed by aggressive tree rats and trash pandas. Then there’s animal control, people who just like to kick animals even if they are doing no harm, city dogs which I’m told are generally more high strung and vicious because they’re under exercised physically and under stimulated mentally, and well-meaning animal rescues that like to trap him and Jinki and release them into the wild because they’re wild animals that just got lost.

  Eventually they gave up, and came to see us at the club Jungsoo and I own, Feed Your Demons. None of us onsite had the faintest clue how to help, so we made some calls. We didn’t get much, but the Little One suggested we try asking his Grandfather Yunho, even though nobody likes him. He’s still carrying a grudge because Eunhyuk refused to sever his bond with Hyukjae, and also chose to remain with Wookie and me for his neglected incubus education instead of going back to the demon realm and being put into a batch, that is a group of younglings of roughly the same age that have similar demon characteristics. They stay with their parents or in rare cases guardians until their dominant demon type surfaces, then they go so they can be trained properly. It wasn’t like Yunho had any real say so though. He didn’t meet Eunhyuk until after he’d attained his adult form, and he’s a high demon while the Little One is an incubus. It wasn’t like we would neglect anything our grandson/great-great grandson needed to know. Wookie practically has all of recorded demon history memorized and knows how to care for the sick and injured. I was a carer for years til I was promoted to Elder against my will. I never wanted to rule, just take care of the younglings. Yesung is weird, but has so much knowledge about the different types of demons, especially the kinds Wookie doesn’t have a chance to treat. Plus, he was in love and Donghae loved him back although took a while to admit it. It was the best scenario an incubus could ask for.

  But I’m getting off track. Yunho had no clue either, but offered to scour the books in his and everyone else’s libraries. Then Baekhyun, who’s half-demon by the way if you didn’t catch it already, contacted Taemin, who was living a quiet life being your best friend and business partner.”

  “Quiet life? I’m surprised his bedpost hasn’t collapsed he has so many notches on it!” Minho had come to the conclusion early in the monologue that Leeteuk was extremely long-winded. Kibum and/or Jinki had probably given him a much briefer explanation, but now Minho had to wade through all the demon history (why did he need to know this when he asked about his Jinki and Kibum) and irrelevant details to find out what actually happened.

  “Like I said, quiet life. I’m an incubus Minho. As long as everyone’s legal and consents, pretty much anything goes as far as is concerned. Anyway, after a couple weeks he turned up at the club which is where Kibum and Jinki were staying since at least they’d be protected. Patrons aren’t allowed upstairs. Anyone who tries gets shot-putted by our bouncers. We thought he’d just dropped in to say hi, but I found out sometime later Bae had called him. He couldn’t offer much comfort or help since he’s only a minor god and it was well outside his realms of control, but he was able to ease their suffering a little at least. For a few hours a month they can regain their human forms. They usually use them to help Kibum through his heats, but they’re so strong it doesn’t help much. He also told them if they could find a third to join them willingly, meaning Kibum could give as well as receive during heats, he might be able to spark up his dormant male pheromones which could be enough to get all the critters who want him to leave him alone.

  They had one for a while. He was a young satyr they met and befriended who acted at their bodyguard in exchange for tips on how to blend in and access to knowledge about the human world. When they finally told him about the curse and what they were told could possibly ease it, he offered to help out, to be their Mister Right Now. It even worked for a while. They tried to keep it as just a business arrangement, but he caught feelings. They liked him a lot and thought he was a great friend, and were happy with how things were working out, but they only have eyes for each other. He wanted more, but after a long discussion where they kindly but firmly turned him down he left. What they didn’t know but he did was that satyrs don’t last long if they’re rejected by the one or ones they love. They come off as so strong and randy, but they are quite fragile on the inside and can’t survive heartbreak. They heard about his death a few months later, and felt so guilty even though they didn’t know they vowed not to have it happen again. Either they would fall in love with a third, they’d find another way to break the curse, or they’d flee to some inhospitable realm and just accept how they were.”

  Minho was more invested now that he’d heard they’d gone through so much. He still thought Leeteuk was too in love with his own voice, but somehow his disbelief that this was real and not the result of drugs or some crazy dream was starting to crack, just a little. He glanced over at Jinki and Kibum, who had shrunk into themselves and seemed to be trembling. So he gently picked up the shivering fox to set him in his lap and tucked the little bird into his neck and hoped his body heat would at least bring a little comfort. He absently started Kibum’s head and was rewarded with the fox laying it against his chest, while he could feel Jinki cuddling as close as possible.

  “Okay, but how do I fit into this? I just happened to find them. And I still don’t understand why they were covered in blood.”

  “Weren’t you listening? You didn’t just happen to find anyone. They timed it so they would appear just as you were stopping to pee. Anyway, they went back to how they were before, always on the run and getting attacked, showing up at Feed Your Demons when they were too hurt or couldn’t take not having real rest anymore. They could’ve just stayed with us, but they still hoped they could run into somebody who could help them more.

  It pains me to say it, but Yunho finally found something buried deep in a mostly forgotten library in one of the few abandoned manors in a mostly uninhabited area in the demon realm. The book was old and fragile, the ink faded and writing nearly illegible. But, it made mention of it being just possible to break the curse of, well he couldn’t make out who or what cast the curse but it seemed similar to Kibum and Jinki’s. Some words were too faded to read, but the gist seemed to be that the cursed ones if they were supernatural in origin needed to take an impossible journey with a pure-hearted human companion and the blessing of a god. No explanation of what kind of impossible journey or what exactly the companion had to do with anything, but at least it was a sliver of hope. So, there was a meeting so he could share what he found. He was even decent for once and brought the book with him so he could have Wookie double-check and see if he missed anything.

  Baekhyun, that little half-demon was the first one to finally come up with a theory on how to make it happen. He’d recently acquired this place, the House of Dreams from his grandfather, and what better way to try an impossible journey than through dreams? He’d used it a few times as a therapy tool for his clients, and it’s quite an accommodating House, if not a bit quirky when it feels like it.”

  “Clients? He’s a realtor! What kind of housing do you find through another house?”

  “He’s not a realtor Minho. He’s a non-ual dom who helps s who truly want to change for the better to do so. Chullie ran into him after running from Jungsoo and me and regretted it when he found himself in a situation he didn’t think he could escape, thanks to his ex. Baek happened to pass by and sense something was wrong, and helped not only Chullie, but his ex’ pregnant wife would would’ve suffered the same fate. He’s in prison for kidnapping and a laundry list of other charges, while his wife went back to China and had her family’s lawyers slap him with divorce papers so hard and fast even the prison guards winced. Last Chullie heard from the Chinese news site he reads she was running one of her family’s bigger businesses, and her daughter was turning into the sweetest, most genuinely popular girl at her private boarding school, top scores on her tests and quite talented in, I think it was some kind of flute. I’m glad the girl isn’t anything like her father and her mother doesn’t seem to resent her existence at all, visiting whenever she can and attending all award ceremonies and music performances. She did an interview where she was asked why her daughter attended that school instead of one that focused on business, or why she wasn’t learning business from her and her parents. Her response was that she wanted her daughter to live normally, not just be some business drone. If she wanted to learn it someday it could be arranged, but for now she was more concerned with her daughter’s happiness and wanted her to do well in school, but also just be a child.

  But, back to what Yunho found and Wookie confirmed. They had a possible way for an impossible journey, and Taemin was more than willing to bless his old friend and his mate. They also had the love and support of our little group, which couldn’t hurt even if our hopes and well-wishes couldn’t help. Now they needed a pure-hearted companion. Nobody had any ideas, til your ex pulled what she did. Taemin contacted Baekhyun, and the two evil geniuses manipulated it so you would be much more receptive to the idea of moving out here at least, even as Tae moaned and groaned about how much he wanted you to stay in the city with him.”

  He was tricked? Minho was about to stand up and storm out, only to look down and find himself looking into Kibum’s eyes, a mix of fear, hope, and a fragile trust in the deep brown orbs. Then Jinki cheeped questioningly, and he found himself gently hugging them close instead. How could he abandon two beings made mostly helpless by a curse only brought because they loved each other? He’d given up on love for himself after such betrayal, but he could at least try and protect theirs.

  “So, any idea how we start this or what the end goal is?”

  “Not a clue.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that. So, I’m guessing they got hurt by one of Kibum’s suitors, and I think you said they had healing abilities so that’s why Hyukjae wasn’t able to find any wounds. Maybe our journey will start like that dream last night, though I hope the scenery is a bit, well there.”

  “See, you’re already starting to get it. Well, I need to go before the princess throws a fit I’m not home. Good luck you three, with everything.”

  Leeteuk left finally, and Minho made sure his ears were still on before turning to what he was expecting to be a cold, congealing mess of a breakfast. However, his eggs and bacon and coffee were still perfectly hot, everything else was cold, and he found his appetite and tucked in, Kibum still in his lap though Jinki had hopped down his arm and was now eyeing the bacon hopefully from a spot on the table.

  “What? You want a piece, or maybe just the fat?” With Jinki’s chirp of agreement at the second suggestion, Minho nodded and carefully removed a small section. “It’s not nearly as salty as most bacon, so I guess a little won’t hurt. You don’t want too much, or you’ll gain so much weight Kibum and I will be having you on Christmas instead of turkey.”

  Jinki looked as indignant as a small round ball of feathers could, while Kibum let out a short bark that took Minho a minute to realize was the fox’ equivalent of a laugh. He then finished his food before gently setting Kibum on the floor so he could take care of the dishes and make his, well their bed, only to find the ball of string from their dream.

  “Look at this you two! I wonder if this means Ball here is suppose to join us on this journey as well.”

  The fox and bird seemed to have no opinion, until after Minho finished his few chores and wondered what to do since he assumed any traveling would be done asleep. Then they plainly wanted him to go outside, showing him by Kibum grabbing his pantleg and pulling him toward the door while Jinki hopped ahead, trilling insistently the entire time.

  The three then spent a pleasant day puttering around in the yard. Minho found garden tools and a charcoal grill complete with a bag of unopened charcoal in one of the outbuildings, so tended the vegetable patch to his companions’ evident approval. Jinki helped by eating any bugs that turned up though left the helpful earthworms alone, while Kibum used his teeth to pull away weeds after they were loosened from the dirt.

  After a stop for lunch and to help Kibum get the plant and dirt remains out of his mouth, Minho then turned to whacking through the waist high grass and weeds to get to the berry bushes. He didn’t want the others to risk getting hurt while he was using the scythe since he hadn’t handled one in a while, so the fox and bird settled for a nap in the sun on a soft patch of grass while he sweated and swore and fought to make a path at least so he could at least see what was back there. It turned out to be an amazing miniture jungle of types. He recognized rasp and blackberries, and he was pretty sure he saw blueberries as well, but the others he had no idea. There were strawberry plants in the garden as well, plus the fruit trees he’d seen yesterday, so he didn’t think it would be much trouble to keep Jinki in fruit in season. He could probably freeze or sun dry a lot as well.

  Minho knew he was mostly working to try and keep his mind off on not having the faintest idea how he was supposed to help the pair who had finally woken and come over to see what he was doing now he was no longer swinging a blade around.

  “It’s going to be a lot of work to get this yard looking civilized, well other than the garden, but yardwork is so relaxing. Once things start ripening, Jinki could probably eat twice his weight in fruit every day and we’d still have plenty to stock up for winter. Well, it’s getting late. What do you two think about test-trying that grill tonight and eating outside since it’s so beautiful out? There’s chicken and corn in the fridge and potatoes in one of the cupboards. I even saw some beer, for me not you two since I doubt it’s very good for you.”

  Jinki flapped his wings furiously and trilled his approval, while Kibum nudged his hand with his icy cold nose, then grabbed him by his pantleg and started pulling him again.

  “Okay, okay” Minho said laughing. “I get the point. You guys approve of grilled chicken.”

  Being more of a “man cook with fire” type than Gordon Ramsey, Minho had been rather relieved to find the grill since it meant his and Kibum’s meals would be more varied than he thought, and was humming as he made sure it was spotlessly clean before filling it and lighting the charcoal so it could start burning down to cooking levels while he went inside to prepare the large package of chicken legs, a couple of ears of corn, and a large potato, wrapping the latter two in tinfoil after splitting the potato in half and rubbing both it and the corn with butter. They would steam while the chicken was grilling, and he figured any leftovers would be for tomorrow’s lunch. He was rather hungry however and had no idea how much chicken Kibum would eat, so he wasn’t going to count on leftovers. Jinki ate all the time, but in such relatively small quantities he probably wouldn’t affect leftovers that much.

  Apparently Minho had severely underestimated Jinki’s capacity for near-cannibalism however. As soon as he set the platter of chicken legs on the front porch so he could start pulling them apart for Kibum, he left his bowl of crushed nuts and berries and nearly got stabbed with a fork as he swooped in and started gobbling as fast as he could with a beak and the capacity to only peck at his food.

  “Okay Hannibal, I get the point. I’ll put some in your bowl so I don’t accidently skewer you, okay? But you need to leave some for Kibum and me, got it?”

  Jinki gave him an “if I must” look, but hopped off the platter and perched on his bowl again, only to practically fall in as Minho gave him some of the smaller shreds.

  “And don’t give me that ‘please Sir, I want some more’ face. You have plenty of food. I’ll just keep in mind next time that you’re going to try and eat more than Kibum and me combined.”

  Minho set aside three chicken legs for himself and shredded the rest before giving them to the thankfully patient fox. He sniffed a moment before giving a delicate , only to dive in much the same way as his mate had.

  “Good to know you approve.”

  Minho thoroughly enjoyed his own dinner, although he had to admit it tasted much better due to the combination of the work he’d done, being outside, and the antics of his companions, who after doing their best vacuum impressions on their respective bowls were now busy grooming themselves in their different ways. Jinki was tidying each of his feathers individually, pulling out a couple of loose ones to toss aside, while Kibum his muzzle, then proceeded to do the same for the rest of himself, barring the somewhat nasty habit of cleaning his nether regions in front of everyone the human associated with dogs and cats, but never his fox. He cleaned up the dishes, then let the charcoal burn out naturally as he sat on the porch with a beer, watching the sun set and the stars come out, Jinki on his shoulder and Kibum’s head in his lap as he gently the fox.

  Eventually, Minho realized how tired he was. Kibum and Jinki had fallen asleep, so he quietly crushed his empty beer can to put in his pocket before picking up the fox and carrying both inside to tuck them into bed. He found an odd-looking ball of string Kibum must have been playing with at some point, and wondered where the fox had found it. Well, the cottage had had multiple residents before them so no doubt he’d be finding things tucked into odd corners for a while. He set it aside and lightly covered Kibum and Jinki with a throw blanket before going to shower and lock up for the night. He then crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep.