MinWoo hummed approvingly. “Good. Good. His leg is doing much better.”

The two had resumed their daily schedule. Hybrid occupying the couch, staring at TaekWoon as he went about his day. Breakfast. Leave lunch in the fridge. Work. Come home. Window open. Dinner. Sleep. Repeat.

The hybrid was due for that follow-up with the vet, though, so Tuesday evening found TaekWoon sitting on the old couch in Room 4 of the veterinary clinic, arms crossed and spacing out. Perched atop the table, the hybrid cheerily swished its tail back and forth as it sipped through a straw at something in a bottle. MinWoo straightened up, fixing the leg of the shorts the hybrid had nicked from TaekWoon’s closet at one point.

“You’ve been taking good care of the wound,” MinWoo commented. “I’m surprised.”

When no one replied, TaekWoon broke from his trip through space. “What? You were talking to me?”

“Obviously.”

“I didn’t do anything. What are you talking about?”

“Cleaning the area and changing the dressing? That wasn’t you?”

“No.”

Both TaekWoon and the vet looked over to the only other being in the room. The hybrid seemed startled about the sudden attention, but when it realized what they were talking about, its posture sagged as a guilty expression spread on its face, ears drooping a bit.

“Well,” TaekWoon quickly cleared his throat, “it doesn’t really matter. I wasn’t using that first-aid stuff, anyway, so I don’t care if it was, either.”

A sly grin quirked up MinWoo’s lips. “I see. Good thing we got that figured out. Well, his leg is in good shape. You haven’t done much, have you? As far as stressing it in any manner.”

TaekWoon glanced upward in thought. “It’s mainly just been sitting on my couch. Sometimes it sits at the window, but then it lays down again. Wait. I took it outside the other day, and it ran away.”

“It… He ran?”

“Yeah. I thought it was actually running away, but then it sat down. It still doesn’t talk, so I have no clue why.”

“I see…” the vet mumbled to himself. “Well, since he seems to be in good shape, that’s all we’ll do for today. If he’s ever sick, don’t hesitate to come by.”

“Do you ever get sick?” TaekWoon wondered aloud as the two slowly ambled their way back to the apartment.

The hybrid shrugged, slightly more occupied with looking across the street at a small group of people staring back at it.

TaekWoon continued, not expecting a vocal reply, “You’d better not. I’m sure that vet is gonna start charging me more than I can afford. Can you get a job, even?”

This time, it glanced at TaekWoon briefly before it shrugged again, still rather nonchalant.

“You need to pay for all of the food you’re eating off of me. Probably even the utilities if you’re using the bathroom. You don’t stink, so I’m assuming you’re using my shampoo, too.” The tail wagged. “I never said you could use my shampoo.” The tail stopped, and both ears and tail drooped with guilt. “Do you think I’m being serious right now? Quit taking everything I say so seriously.”

“What about clothes?” TaekWoon asked. The hybrid had bumped TaekWoon away from the kitchen after dinner, briskly shooing him away when TaekWoon started to roll up his sleeves to wash the dishes. He didn’t make another attempt and dropped to the sofa, reaching down to pick up the blanket that was, once again, shoved to the floor. “Do people make clothes for your types?”

Again, the hybrid shrugged.

“Yah, how long am I gonna be talking to myself? If you’re not gonna talk, I’m not talking, either.”

The days continued on as such. TaekWoon kept his word and only spoke when absolutely necessary. The hybrid still kept on with its antics, stepping it up by following TaekWoon through the apartment since he was no longer sofa-ridden. Once, TaekWoon found half of the creature’s body leaning out the window when he turned the corner coming home from work. It was jubilant when the front door opened.

“Why don’t you go outside sometimes?” TaekWoon suggested. “I’ll give you the code to my door, so you can go in and out whenever. Just don’t get in trouble.”

He left the code on a Post-It note next to the hybrid’s plate of breakfast the next day. When he came home from work, however, the window was shut. When he reached his floor, he found the hybrid sitting in a tight ball right outside of his door, its arms wrapped around its knees, and the hood of TaekWoon’s shirt pulled up to conceal its ears. The ears beneath the hood twitched, though, as TaekWoon approached, and the hybrid’s face quickly swiveled around, gloomy expression instantly beaming before it was clouded with guilt.

“What are you doing out here?” No reply, but the tail – which also had been slightly concealed what with the hybrid sitting on it – feebly thumped against the ground. “Did you forget the code?” It shrank into an even tighter ball. Sighing, TaekWoon easily punched in the password and held open the door. “Come on, then.”

Who knows how long it had been sitting outside; the plate for lunch was still in the refrigerator.

TaekWoon switches his alarm off for the weekends. Weekends are meant for sleeping in. So why did it seem way too early that Saturday morning when he slowly woke up. Yes, the sun was only casting a dim light through his bedroom window. Why did this happen? He glanced over his shoulder and found out why.

The hybrid had perched itself on the side of his bed, sitting cross-legged and staring down at him, curiously. TaekWoon stared back.

“What makes you think you can get on my bed?”

Maybe it was his not-very-comforting morning voice, but the hybrid wilted instantly and slowly slid backwards off the bed until it thumped to the floor, looking like it had just been lashed on the face.

Serves TaekWoon right. He better feel guilty. “Yah… What did I tell you about taking what I say to heart? I was just kidding.” He sat up with the groan of an old man, the hybrid’s glittering eyes following his movements. “What are you doing waking me up so early on the weekend? Tell me your name, so I can properly scold you.”

TaekWoon didn’t even have time to comprehend the grin that spread on the hybrid’s face – the first time TaekWoon had ever seen it actually smile.

“HakYeon.”

Stare.

TaekWoon stared even more. “What… did you just…?”

The hybrid tilted its head. “You asked for my name. My name is HakYeon.”

He was struck speechless. Why did its voice sound so much warmer than TaekWoon expected? Rather, why did it turn TaekWoon into a word-fumbling dingo? “Well… then… HakYeon, you said? Why are you waking me up so early on a weekend?”

Its head tilted in the other direction. “Don’t you have to go to work?”

“It’s the weekend. I’m going back to sleep.” TaekWoon promptly flopped back over and yanked the sheets up.

“Ehhhh?!” Okay, its voice wasn’t warm anymore. It was loud and annoying. “But I’m hungry!!”

A/N: Short chapter, but I wanted to update just to let y'all know I'm still alive @.@ I moved one hour north from my previous location for university. Woo~ I think I'll have more time to write, but I'm full-time working with full-time school. Heh. Let's see how that goes.

HakYeon the dogboy finally spoke!