The soup was left to simmer when TaekWoon finally joined HakYeon at the table. The hybrid had been cheerily snacking on leftovers as TaekWoon prepared dinner. The last bite was finished off with an impolite “nyam nyam”, and HakYeon looked expectantly at TaekWoon who had just settled into his chair.

“Should I start now…?” HakYeon asked, a bit timid.

“If you want to,” TaekWoon offered.

“Hmmm.” The hybrid’s eyes rolled upward in thought. “I guess the beginning is after I left home. Out of all of my siblings, I was the last one to leave. Well, I travelled for a while. I saw a lot of different people, but there was one person who stuck out to me the most.” At that, HakYeon grinned widely. “That’s because he scolded me.

“‘Don’t trust people so easily!’ he said. ‘Humans can be really bad!’ Another human had tricked me and stole half of my things. He tried to chase after the thief, but I guess he lost him.

“Kang SungHo was his name. I met him just a few days after I left home. He lived by himself in a…” HakYeon paused, blinked, looked upward to search for the name, and then looked at TaekWoon for help. “It was a…”

TaekWoon cocked an eyebrow. “A…?”

“… house. But a really small house. On wheels.”

“A small house on wheels…?”

Scrunching up its face, HakYeon sighed in frustration. “I can’t remember what he called it. But it’s like a big… bean. But it’s a house. Also, a car.”

“So… a mobile bean house.” The image popped into TaekWoon’s mind. “Ahhh, I think I know what you’re talking about. Was it an RV?”

Again, HakYeon’s eyes darted upwards. “Yeah… Yeah, that sounds like it.”

“So you obviously weren’t in the city. There’s no way he could’ve navigated that thing through a bunch of people on these streets. Why did he have that kind of thing, anyway?”

“Yeah, it definitely wasn’t like here. The roads there were longer, and there weren’t buildings and buildings on top of each other. Easier to walk, but much less interesting things to smell. Anyway, he was nice. He talked a lot and always cooked his own food. I travelled with him for a while.”

The mirth slowly disappeared from HakYeon’s expression until its face was blank, void of emotion. “One day, we had stopped to refuel. SungHo was outside, and I stayed inside. My bed was in a really small space right above the front car part, and there’s a curtain so no one could see me. I was waking up when I heard him yelling at someone. The door to the front opened, there was a loud bang, and I didn’t hear SungHo anymore.

“The car started and drove immediately. I stayed where I was since I was hidden, but I could hear people shouting outside. I didn’t recognize the smell of the person who was driving, and he just kept driving really fast. He drove for a long time, but at some point, he stopped. It was quiet outside, but I was only listening to his footsteps. He walked into the house part to look around, but then he walked up to where my bed was.”

TaekWoon was completely absorbed in HakYeon’s story. “He saw you?”

HakYeon nodded. “But I was scared, so as soon as he pulled the curtain back, I kicked him in the face.”

“Is that what was in your nightmare? That’s when you kicked me?” He must have been right because HakYeon sagged with guilt. TaekWoon reached out to wobble one of HakYeon’s ears. “I’m not angry. Go on with your story.”

“Right. So… I kicked him in the face and ran away. But I ran away too fast. I left all of my things behind, and I had no idea where I was. And especially after that happened, I didn’t trust humans very much, so the days after that were really hard. I stole food and slept anyplace where the rain couldn’t reach me. I’m not sure how long I did that, but then, someone approached me.

“I thought they finally caught me stealing. I thought I was in trouble, but they said they were offering me a job. ‘You just have to train for a little bit, and then you’ll be perfect.’ I had no clue what they were talking about, but I think at that point, I was tired of being a homeless thief, so I followed them. Turns out, it was hybrid fighting.”

“So the vet was right?”

HakYeon started to shake its head but stopped to consider. “Well, maybe. I mean, I did do that for a while. I was good at it, even though I was small compared to the hybrids they set me up against. Because I’m small, I’m faster, and it’s easy to wear out the opponent quickly. I never got hurt too badly in my fights, and even when I did, the humans who… ‘employed’ me would keep me from fighting until I was better. They said there’s no point in wasting money that way. Living like that wasn’t too hard, either. I didn’t need the money I won from the games because the humans gave me a place to stay, food, and clothes; that was all I needed.

“Well, after some time, a different group of humans came to watch a match, and they kept talking with the humans who employed me. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but my humans kept saying no, no deal. They didn’t explain anything to me, either. A few days after that, I was kidnapped in the middle of the night.”

HakYeon’s face shifted back to the blank, emotionless mask. “They wrapped a bag around my head so tight that I almost suffocated, probably so it would be hard for me to smell the things around me in case I escaped and tried to go back to where I was. When we finally arrived to wherever they had taken me, they locked me in a dark room with no windows. There was always someone guarding the door, and if I tried to escape, he would beat me. If I tried to fight back, more would appear and beat me until I wouldn’t fight anymore.

“I couldn’t really tell how long I was there, but it felt like a really long time. I tried to listen to what the humans were talking about, but all I heard was they were waiting for something. Then, one day, they opened the door and dragged me to another room. Apparently, what they were waiting for was another hybrid.”

“Were they going to make you fight?” TaekWoon interrupted.

But HakYeon simply shook its head. “No, the other hybrid was a catgirl. And it seems what they were waiting for was for her to go into heat.” When TaekWoon stared dumbly without a word, HakYeon continued, “They were trying to get me to mate with her.”

“… Wait, what? Is that even possible?”

HakYeon’s shoulders lifted and fell lightly, as if the whole topic was something as ordinary as a discussion of the day’s weather. “I don’t know. Maybe if the situation had been different. But I wasn’t attracted to her in that way. I don’t think she was attracted to me, either, but they shut us both in the room as if waiting around would make us finally do it. Instead, I planned how to escape out of there with her.

“Everything happened so quickly. Since we hadn’t made any noise for a long time, a human opened the door to check on us. We attacked him and ran. Somehow, it was nothing compared when I tried to escape before. Even though they came at us in mobs, we were still able to outrun them. Even when one of them used a knife on me- ah, that’s when I got that wound on my leg – we could still outrun them. As soon as we made it to open air, the catgirl disappeared down an alley, and I haven’t seen her since.

“It was easier to run aboveground since there were more people to hide behind. I lost the humans not long afterwards, but I kept running. I kept running until I couldn’t run because of my leg. That’s when I eventually collapsed in that alleyway. Apparently, no one ever went that way, not even to collect garbage, because I laid there for at least two nights.”

At that, a sunshine smile found its way back onto HakYeon’s face. “And that’s when you found me.”

TaekWoon’s heart was torn. “You really went through a lot. No wonder you kept growling at me that time.”

“Also, when SangHyuk came? I got suspicious of you. I thought you two were a part of those humans’ gang. That’s why I tried to run.”

“So why did you come back? Why did you decide to trust me in the first place, especially considering everything you’ve been through?”

HakYeon considered for a bit. “Humans have… what do you call it… a sixth sense? That feeling when you think something is wrong. It was like that. With the dirty humans, I always felt like they were evil. They smelled angry and greedy and scared. You smelled scared, too, but you were… sad? Very sad. Also, lonely.”

For the first time in a while, ever since HakYeon had first appeared, TaekWoon suddenly remembered the agonizing playlist. However, it didn’t leave a painful hole in his chest. Instead, it was a minor pulse, a vague reminder that something used to be there.

“Sad… would be correct,” TaekWoon mused. “At that time, I’d just been dumped out of a serious relationship. I didn’t think anything was wrong with us, but she did.”

“Why did she end it?” HakYeon asked curiously.

“She said I was too aloof, too cold.”

Without warning, HakYeon’s hand rose up to press against TaekWoon’s cheek. TaekWoon froze instantly. HakYeon’s fingertips were warm.

“Hmmm?” The hybrid’s head tilted in confusion. “You seem warm to me…”

TaekWoon swatted HakYeon’s hand away. “She didn’t mean literally, obviously.” The hybrid still stared at him questioningly, so TaekWoon stood. “Dinner should be ready by now.”

The distraction worked. HakYeon cheered brightly as TaekWoon brought the pot to the table, pinching its lips together when TaekWoon filled the bowl in front of it, its excitement apparent through the mad swishing of the dog tail.

“You know,” HakYeon started as TaekWoon sat down after serving himself a bowl, “it’s really too bad nothing happened between me and that catgirl.” TaekWoon was staring dumbly again. “She was really pretty, after all.”

A spoon was brandished threateningly and HakYeon flinched, laughing. “Quit acting like I’d be jealous, you mongrel. Eat your food.”

HakYeon didn’t hesitate to flop onto TaekWoon’s bed once the table was cleared and the dishes were put away, already starting to doze from its belly being filled to the brim. The hybrid was fast asleep by the time TaekWoon had finished washing up for the night.

His thoughts vaguely wandered through everything HakYeon had told him. He had only begun to drift off when he heard HakYeon grunt. Glancing over, he saw the hybrid was still asleep, its fingers only slightly twitching. It must have been in the midst of a dream.

TaekWoon reached over, hesitated, then lightly rested his hand on HakYeon’s head, right between the pointed dog ears. HakYeon almost flinched away but instead pushed his head up so that TaekWoon’s hand slipped down, sandwiched between the pillow and HakYeon’s cheek. Nuzzling into TaekWoon’s palm, one of HakYeon’s hands lifted to rest on TaekWoon’s forearm. Content, HakYeon returned to its previous deep sleep.

TaekWoon was trapped.

A/N: FINALLY AN UPDATE HEH. My dear Tae5 finally debuts in a fic (unless someone's been sneakily writing So Real fics that I don't know about?!?!?) only to be shot in the face a few paragraphs later ㅠㅠ

In any case, if there are errors in this update, it's because my cat jumped in my lap and wouldn't get off one of my arms, so I was typing left-handed for a while. Please note: I am right-handed @.@

Also, I imagined the catgirl to be Girl's Day's SoJin. Ever since I watched N and SoJin in 떴다!! 패밀리, I was like, this ship has sailed. So yeah. I think she makes a pretty catgirl |3

Please comment with love~ <3 <3 <3

Spoiler: Only one of my two currents fics will get a good ending. Which one will it beeee~~~??