A quick stop into MinWoo’s office for basic information and instructions, a follow-up scheduled in a week, and the two were out the door to trail away to TaekWoon’s apartment. TaekWoon strolled slowly, noticing the hybrid’s steps with his left leg still faltered. The pace didn’t occur to it; the hybrid was too busy darting its eyes everywhere, its nose and ears twitching in all directions. It lagged a few steps behind TaekWoon, purposely keeping its distance any time TaekWoon thought to let it catch up.

I have no idea what I’m doing. TaekWoon sighed and made a note to probably contact SangHyuk again. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the hybrid was still following him but stopped instantly. The distance between the two had suddenly grown. The hybrid had stopped walking, staring blankly at TaekWoon. He couldn’t fathom why it would have just stopped until he noticed its posture, leaning its weight on the right leg with its left foot just barely touching the ground.

Of course. How idiotic of TaekWoon. As he walked back to where it stood, the hybrid seemed to tense up, watching TaekWoon warily. It obviously wasn’t prepared for when TaekWoon suddenly spun around and bumped its hip over so he could heft the creature up onto his back, only holding onto its right leg under the knee. It yelped in surprise but changed to a growl, immediately trying to squirm itself free.

“So what?” TaekWoon snapped. “You want to walk the rest of the way? It’s still a long way home.”

Just like before, the hybrid stopped fussing instantly, but it still sat awkwardly, keeping as much distance away from TaekWoon’s back as possible. TaekWoon didn’t wait for it to loosen up and continued along the sidewalk, resolutely ignoring the stares he got as he walked.

It had never taken so long to get home. The hybrid, still sitting awkwardly on TaekWoon’s back with only one leg being held up, kept almost sliding off, so TaekWoon would repeatedly have to pause to heft it back up. It took a particularly heavy and frustrated sigh from TaekWoon for the hybrid to finally lean forward, circling its arms around TaekWoon’s shoulders. The action made TaekWoon jump in surprise, freezing when a dog ear tickled against his cheek. But looking down, the hybrids arms were tense and shaking, only barely touching TaekWoon’s body where it was absolutely necessary.

TaekWoon steeled himself and continued on, struggling considerably less than before.

He finally set the hybrid down on its feet right outside his door to his apartment. He made a mental note regarding his lack of stamina as he punched in the code for the door. The lock released, and TaekWoon swung the door open, stepping in like normal, ready to toe off his shoes and shut the door behind him that he had to make himself stop. Looking back, the hybrid was still frozen in its place where TaekWoon had released it, blankly staring at him again. A bit embarrassed, TaekWoon cleared his throat and stepped back.

“You can go in,” he said.

Again, the hybrid hesitated, but it took halting steps past the threshold, cautiously looking around as if something could possibly jump out at it. It jumped a bit at the sound of TaekWoon shutting the door, but it continued on before it stood awkwardly in the living room as TaekWoon slipped out of his shoes.

“Are you hungry?” The hybrid quickly shook its head. Stretching, TaekWoon started to slump his way to his bedroom. “You can sit down or something. I don’t want that vet to yell at me if your leg gets worse.”

He didn’t expect it to promptly plop down on the floor, crossing its legs. It merely stared up at him, as if waiting for what TaekWoon had to say next. Speechless, TaekWoon just turned to take a shower. When he emerged into the living room again a while later, he spotted the hybrid curled up where it had sat down, asleep. It only let out a slight grunt when TaekWoon scooped it up to deposit it onto the sofa, and it didn’t shirk away from the throw TaekWoon tossed over it. It just sleepily opened one eye to look up at him before it burrowed deeper under the covers, heaving out a sigh as it dozed off again.

How could it not be hungry? TaekWoon was rudely awoken the next morning by his stomach angrily rumbling. He groaned, rolled over to see what time it was, and groaned again when he realized it was still a good hour before his alarm normally went off. He’d fallen asleep early the previous night, considering the noise he might make while making dinner and settling for cold leftovers.

TaekWoon rolled out of bed and thumped to the bathroom. He was not refreshed in the slightest when he emerged, and he continued his tromp to the kitchen. His steps stilled when he spotted a lump plus ears laying on the sofa. Its breaths were slow and easy, still asleep. The blanket was crumpled in a sad heap on the floor right next to the sofa. With a short glance, TaekWoon deduced the blanket was on the floor for a reason and decided to center his focus on satisfying his stomach.

What do I do when I go to work? What will it do when I go to work? It’s half-human, and it’s grown… however old it is, so surely it knows how to function like a proper half-human, right? I should’ve asked SangHyuk…

Properly satisfied with his breakfast, TaekWoon tromped back to his room, almost stumbling over himself when his alarm suddenly went off and he had to jump to shut off the piercing noise. He took his time getting ready for work, one step of his normal routine already out of the way.

He hesitated on his way out, flip-flopping decisions in his head and pacing while the decisions contradicted each other. In the end, he set a plate of food left over from breakfast on the coffee table next to the sofa and reached over to replace the blanket. He thought he was home free until he saw one dog ear flick in his direction, a sleepy eye opening soon after. It quickly scanned the visual of TaekWoon dropping the blanket over its shoulders, redirected to the food on the table, then looked back up at TaekWoon. He slowly backed up, his hands raised, hoping possibly the hybrid was a morning… thing. But it just watched him, occasionally glancing at the food.

TaekWoon didn’t miss it. “You can eat. I’m sure you’re hungry by now. There’s more for lunch in the fridge.” He paused to reconsider. “But don’t eat everything.”

No reply. Just more staring. Do these things talk, even? Deciding probably not, TaekWoon turned to depart, hoping he’d still have an apartment by the time he got home.

He stressed about it at work. The mind-numbing data did nothing to distract his anxiety about returning home to shambles. He kept glancing at the microscopic clock in the corner of his computer screen, wondering why time seemed to be going backwards. When it was finally time to clock out, TaekWoon was sure he had aged probably 60 years.

By the time he rounded the corner to where his apartment building was, he was out of breath. He already made a note about his lack of stamina, but that didn’t stop him from power-walking his way home. He looked up, expecting broken glass and flames bursting from where his window should be.

The window was still intact. In fact, it was slightly open, and a nose was just peeking out from the small space. TaekWoon stopped in his tracks and watched as the nose twitched about. It twitched, twitched, but suddenly, it stopped. The nose quickly retracted, and the window flew shut.

When TaekWoon finally opened his front door (cautiously, because he was still expecting the inside to be utter destruction), he was met with the sight of the hybrid perched on the sofa, awkwardly sitting up straight, watching as TaekWoon slowly toed off his shoes at the door. It sat stiffly, only its eyes following TaekWoon as he moved about.

“I don’t… care if you open the window,” TaekWoon said. He spotted the heap of blanket on the floor. “I mean, if it gets stuffy in here or something. Do you get hot easily, or…?”

The hybrid looked down and swiftly yanked the offensive blanket up from the floor. It threw the blanket over itself, over its head and almost covering its ears, and sat up again, back straight.

“I just said… Never mind.”

TaekWoon made his way to the kitchen area – the creature’s eyes tracking him every step of the way – reaching to the drying rack for a glass only to find it vacated of any genre of glassware, silverware, or dishes. Did he put those away this morning? Opening his cupboards, everything had been neatly put away. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the fridge for the pitcher and found the food he had wrapped up for lunch was gone.

“You didn’t have to do the dishes, too,” TaekWoon mused. The hybrid showed no reaction, still staring at him with one ear hidden by the blanket over its head. “Are you hungry? I’ll make dinner.”

He was finally answered with a muffled thump. TaekWoon stopped mid-sip of his water and stared. The hybrid didn’t make any other noise and simply leaned over so that it lay while resting its head on the armrest of the sofa.

A/N: Hmmm something something development??

Well, I'm currently updating from Bucheon, South Korea! That being said, I probably won't update (or write, 헉) while I'm out here for another roughly 20 days. So uh... I pre-emptively apologize for any long delay m(_ _)m I'll see if I can update or write something when I get back. In any case, enjoy!