< Oh! TaekWoon-hyung, haven’t heard from you in a while! What’s up? >

He glared back at his phone screen. How dare this kid reply so easily to his totally out-of-the-blue text? Shouldn’t he be doing something else on this responsibility-free weekend besides promptly responding to text messages? TaekWoon already regretted deciding to contact that brat.

But he responded, anyway. < I need to talk to you. Are you free? >

< Uwah scary ㅇㄴㅇ Ya I’m just at home. You wanna meet somewhere? >

“A hybrid?! You met one?!”

“Shut your mouth, SangHyuk, geez. I only found it. It’s not mine.”

The child dutifully finished whatever was in the middle of being chewed. The two met at a small ramyun shop close to where SangHyuk lived, and of course TaekWoon felt obligated to buy the kid food even if SangHyuk claimed he had money – he didn’t have a job, so TaekWoon didn’t believe him. TaekWoon had already dished out the gist of what happened which left SangHyuk to ponder over his bowl of food.

“Wait, so…” SangHyuk paused, ramyun-laden chopsticks halfway to his mouth. “Wait. Why did you call me out here? What are you planning to do?”

“I don’t… know…” Why was TaekWoon so mindless recently?

“Are you planning to take him in?”

“What? No. No way.”

“Why not? You wouldn’t be here talking to me about it if you were planning to just shrug it off.”

“What, I can’t just talk about something that happened to me?”

“You never talk about anything to anyone. Ever.” A swift punch to SangHyuk’s kidney had the kid recoiling, half-laughing but half-wincing.

TaekWoon sulked, leaning on the counter in front of them. “Well, so what if I briefly entertained the thought? I was just curious since I don’t know half of anything regarding these things.”

Suddenly, the bowl in front of SangHyuk was empty. “It’s easy, hyung! It’s just like having a roommate.”

“A roommate.”

“Yup.”

“A roommate that has ears and a tail and a temperament like a dog.”

“Pretty much.”

“Why did I even ask you?”

“Because you thought since I live with a hybrid, surely I must have an infinite amount of wisdom regarding how to deal with a person that has a tail. The only big difference between a hybrid and a human is getting them to get used to you.”

TaekWoon sighed. “I already have a hard enough time with humans.”

“Most important thing you gotta keep in mind: they’re sentient beings. Treat them properly.”

TaekWoon was not expecting to walk into the vet clinic later on that day to find MinWoo in the middle of the front room, spinning in circles in a rolling chair. He froze at the absurd sight. It took a few spins before the vet noticed him and slowed his spinning.

“Wow!” MinWoo exclaimed, tipping a bit because he’s a mature adult who was just spinning in a chair for who even knows how long before TaekWoon walked in. “You’re back earlier than I thought!”

“I’m… here for my jacket.”

“Right. Sure. I just got it back from the cleaners.” MinWoo slowly stood up, holding on to the armrest because he was still leaning. “Follow me.”

TaekWoon stayed a few steps behind as MinWoo stumbled his way toward the back, through the same door to the side. On the other side was a long hallway lined with closed doors, most with brass numbers nailed to the center and a plastic document caddy posted next to them. It may as well have been a doctor’s office.

MinWoo’s office was at the end of the hall. It was comfy, a bit of a mess, with random doo-dads littering each space that wasn’t a mess of stacked papers. There were random jackets and shirts thrown here and there, adding to the mess. MinWoo had finally regained his bearings and maneuvered his way behind a desk, grabbing TaekWoon’s blood-stain-free jacket from a coat stand. He turned back around and offered it.

“Thanks.” TaekWoon was still taking in the rather small space. “Do you live here or…?”

MinWoo let out a laugh. “There’s no space for me to live here. But I’m always here over the weekend in case an emergency comes up. Only emergencies, though. No routine visits. I do sleep here sometimes, though, when I’m too lazy to go home. But currently, someone else is taking up my bed here.”

“Eh? Other people sleep here?”

“You’re silly. I was talking about the one you brought in last week. He can’t exactly fit in the cages where other pets would usually recuperate.”

“Oh…”

Neither man made a move to leave. That should’ve been the end of it. TaekWoon should’ve turned to leave. He got what he came for and already thanked MinWoo for his jacket, anyway.

MinWoo grinned. “Do you want to see him?”

Shrugging, TaekWoon tried to throw his attention to the mess that lined the wall beside him. “It… doesn’t matter.”

Of course MinWoo didn’t buy it. “Sure. Since it doesn’t matter, follow me.”

He led the way to a closed door that bore a brass number 4, quietly opening it and peeking in before opening the door wide. TaekWoon edged his way forward, an odd replay from the time in the alleyway. This time, the hybrid was curled up, fast asleep on a worn couch. It was significantly freshened up, donned in new clothes and looking like it had actually eaten something. A blanket that was probably draped over it had crumpled to the floor.

MinWoo leaned over to replace the blanket. “Aigoo, why does this kid keep kicking this off?” He lightly brushed his hand on the hybrid’s forehead, probably checking its temperature, and it grumbled in its sleep, kicking at the blanket again.

“Is its leg okay?” TaekWoon asked tentatively.

“He has eight stitches, and I had to cut out some muscle tissue, but otherwise, it’s the leg that keeps kicking off this blanket. It seems to be doing well.”

“How did it even get an injury like that?”

MinWoo straightened, looking upward in thought. “Various things. Best case scenario: had a random run-in with something or other while he was travelling. Worst case scenario: maybe hybrid fights? He had other exterior injuries when you brought him in.”

“Hybrid fights?”

“Like dog fighting or fighting. Pitting animals against each other for gambling and recreational purposes.” He nodded at TaekWoon’s frown. “It’s still a thing, sadly. I don’t know why they’d have this one in a hybrid fight, though. He’s too skinny.”

TaekWoon didn’t reply, still watching then freezing as the hybrid slowly opened its eyes. It sleepily regarded TaekWoon still standing in the doorway, but it didn’t budge from its position, slowly closing its eyes to drift off again.

MinWoo missed the interaction, looking up at TaekWoon. “So? Have you come to an answer yet?”

He looked at the vet, looked down at the hybrid, then back at MinWoo. “That’s…”

Grinning, MinWoo ushered TaekWoon from the room. “I’ll give you until Tuesday afternoon. Until then, we’ll let this one sleep.”

Two days. Two days wasn’t enough for TaekWoon to sort out his thoughts. Even though he spent much of his time at his mind-numbing, data-entry job thinking of every possibility, by the time he was walking home from work on Tuesday, he still hadn’t come to a decision. Not even when he walked through the door of the clinic was his mind made up.

The girl named SoYeon was working at the front counter this time. She spotted TaekWoon and immediately brightened. She jumped up from her chair. “Just a moment! I’ll call Mr. Lee!”

TaekWoon didn’t ask her to. She was already opening the door to the side before he could stop her. He was already walking through before he’d decided to. SoYeon led him to room four before he was ready.

The door was open, and MinWoo was already there. The hybrid had moved from the sofa to sitting on a large table on the other side of the room, its legs swinging in midair and nose twitching. At the moment, MinWoo was shining a small light into its eyes when he heard SoYeon and TaekWoon’s entrance. Both MinWoo’s head and a dog ear swung in the direction of the door.

“Aha,” MinWoo hummed. “Fancy seeing you here again.”

The hybrid’s eyes darted to the door, and it spotted TaekWoon and tensed. Its legs stilled, but its nose was still twitching, catching the scent of TaekWoon easily. SoYeon skipped ahead to stand next to MinWoo, and she turned to eagerly look at TaekWoon.

“I still don’t…” TaekWoon started.

“You’re here, though, aren’t you?” MinWoo asked brightly.

Sighing, TaekWoon shoved his hands in his pockets. “Doesn’t mean anything.”

He caught the gaze of the hybrid again. It was staring at him intently, but TaekWoon couldn’t decipher what sort of emotion it could be feeling. He was half a step from leaving.

The agonizing playlist ran through his head again. He gave up.

TaekWoon took a deep breath, coughed, cleared his throat, and regarded the creature on the table. “Do you… want to go with me?”

The only reply he got was one dog ear twitching in his direction. For a while, no one said anything, all attention on the hybrid on the table. It stared for so long that TaekWoon almost questioned whether it understood him or not, but it finally shot a nervous glance at MinWoo. The vet simply grinned back and gave him a nod. As if that was enough of an answer, the hybrid looked at TaekWoon again. Slowly, it pushed itself off the table and took two shy steps towards TaekWoon. Its tail, which TaekWoon had never noticed until now, dipped low and almost hidden between its legs.

TaekWoon thought maybe he made the right choice.

A/N: Heh why did it take forever for the next chapter to come out because work and so does being an adult

Hyogie appears! And TaekWoon adopts a dog. What's next? Y'all I'm so depressed that I can't stalk VIXX to DC this weekend I'm cry so much like for real I've followed them all over the country ever since they came to Dallas and now I can't because I FREAKIN HAVE TO WORK plus no money cuz I'm going to Korea in like two weeks omg actually no stop me I can't be a stalker