There weren’t any more rude awakenings after that. Their days continued on as normal.

For a while.

TaekWoon stirred awake from his sleep. It was uncomfortably warm, verging on too hot. It took him a bit to get his senses together to figure out where he was. First of all, it was a weekday, and he was waking up before his alarm again. Second, it wasn’t exactly time for the weather to be warm enough to heat up his apartment if, for instance, the electricity went out.

The heat was emanating from beside him. TaekWoon blearily looked over, spotting the bump of HakYeon sleeping atop the blanket as usual.

Something was wrong.

TaekWoon sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he reached his hand out to press against the hybrid’s forehead. HakYeon jerked awake but didn’t pull away, opening one eye to glance up at TaekWoon. The tail thumped a few times against the bed, but it flopped down again as the one eye squeezed shut. HakYeon was clenching its jaw tight, its brow pushed together.

“HakYeon?” Fever. HakYeon definitely had a fever. “HakYeon, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

No answer, but the tail did lift to thump against the bed a few more times. HakYeon scooted across the bed until it pressed itself against TaekWoon’s body. A small sigh that ended as a whine came out. TaekWoon was panicking. He didn’t even know what he did when he got sick, himself – it rarely ever happened, and when it did, he would sleep it off – so how could he possibly know what to do if a hybrid got sick?

For half a second, he thought of shooting a message to SangHyuk. No, it was barely past six in the morning. The kid was probably only just falling asleep.

Call the vet? Where did the business card from however long ago disappear to?

What about work? Call in? No, out of the question.

HakYeon shivered next to him. Decisively, TaekWoon threw the blanket over HakYeon as he detached himself to stand. Whining louder, HakYeon made to follow TaekWoon.

“No, you stay there,” TaekWoon commanded. “And don’t kick off the blanket.”

Another whine, the hybrid’s eyes opening then to stare morosely as TaekWoon swiftly left the room to get ready for work.

When TaekWoon returned a bit later, fully dressed and with a warm bowl of juk in hand, only HakYeon’s tail had emerged from beneath the blanket. It swished a few times as TaekWoon approached, HakYeon’s nose twitching in the direction of the bowl.

TaekWoon set the bowl on the nightstand right next to HakYeon. “Eat this, and stay in bed, alright? I’ll be back right after work. Don’t kick off the blanket.”

Even through the fevered haze, HakYeon still beamed up at TaekWoon, tail swishing more energetically. That made TaekWoon feel a bit more at ease, but it still didn’t keep him from vaguely worrying about it at while he was at work.

The elevator back up to his apartment at the end of the day had never gone slower. The metal doors hadn’t even finished opening before TaekWoon was charging through to get to his unit at the end of the hall. His fingers quickly tapped out the password, and as soon as he swung the door open, he already knew.

“HakYeon?”

He didn’t even bother kicking off his shoes at the door. TaekWoon was already at the bedroom door.

HakYeon was still a lump in his bed, dutifully wrapped in the blanket, the bowl from the morning empty and perched on the nightstand. But HakYeon didn’t move in response to TaekWoon’s call. TaekWoon swept to the side of the bed, kneeling and pressing his hand to HakYeon’s forehead. The fever had gone even higher, beads of sweat mussing HakYeon’s bangs wildly. Its brow was furrowed even more intensely, and this time, HakYeon was taking shaky, labored breaths.

“HakYeon?”

Still no response. TaekWoon immediately reached out to sling HakYeon over his back, blanket and all. Even though HakYeon hadn’t answered, the hybrid instantly wrapped its arms tightly around TaekWoon’s shoulders and pressed its face into TaekWoon’s neck.

“You’re okay, puppy,” TaekWoon assured him as he thumped out of the apartment. “We’re going to the vet, alright? You’ll be okay.”

HakYeon whined weakly, and TaekWoon hurried his steps.

TaekWoon was half-relieved, half-concerned when, upon nearing the vet’s clinic, he saw the back of MinWoo jauntily walking away, no white coat, bag in hand.

“MinWoo!” TaekWoon shouted.

That got the vet to stop. The man turned, spotted the two, had the intention to greet, but processed TaekWoon’s anxiety-ridden face, rushing forward to meet the two halfway.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” MinWoo launched into full vet mode, checking HakYeon in different spots. TaekWoon forgot he had to crouch a bit so the hybrid would be in reach of the shorter male.

“I don’t know,” TaekWoon replied. “I woke up this morning, and it had a fever, and when I got back from work earlier, the fever had gotten worse.”

MinWoo continued his assessment, pulling the blanket back a few times. When he lightly pressed at the base of one of the dog ears, HakYeon whined louder and burrowed deeper into TaekWoon’s neck.

“Aha~” MinWoo nodded. “I see. Follow me.”

They swiftly made their way into the clinic. It was after hours, so there was no one in the waiting room, and a girl TaekWoon didn’t recognize sat behind the receptionist’s desk. She calmly regarded the three as they made their way through the side door, TaekWoon closely following MinWoo to room four. There was another person in there – male, this time – wiping down the counters. He looked up when the three entered.

MinWoo called to the person as he helped TaekWoon set HakYeon onto the table. “KiHyun-ah, get me 3 of APAP IM from the fridge in room eight.”

“Yes, sir!” The guy was out in a flash.

Grinning, MinWoo pulled out a small flashlight. “Lucky day for him. He also lives with a hybrid. This will be a learning experience.”

TaekWoon was only slightly paying attention. “He does?”

“Yup. Rabbit girl. Now, let’s see…”

MinWoo nosed around, more focused on HakYeon’s left ear. He shined the light inside, gently prodded at the base again, checked the other ear, prodded at that one, too.

“Ear infection,” he finally said. “Only in the left ear, though. It didn’t spread to the right. He’ll be fine. I don’t have any antibiotics on hand at the moment, but I can rush order them for tomorrow. For now, we’re just gonna give him a shot for the fever and inflammation.”

Uh oh. TaekWoon was indifferent about shots, but… He looked over at HakYeon, but the hybrid was too dazed to process what the vet was saying. The other guy, KiHyun, reappeared, the dreaded syringe in gloved hand. He passed it ceremoniously to MinWoo who had donned latex gloves of his own.

“Now then, hold him for me.”

No one moved for a second. TaekWoon stared. “Who, me?”

“Yup. Bear hug him. He’ll probably jump.”

HakYeon perked at the sound of “hug” and instantly held out its arms like a little kid. TaekWoon still didn’t move. “What do you mean, bear hug? Where are you giving him the shot?”

MinWoo cocked his head in innocent confusion. “It’s a muscle injection. You’ve had those before, right?”

“Wait, what?! They get… those, too?!”

“Sure do. Now, hold him for me.”

TaekWoon hesitated just a bit before he held out his arms, as well. HakYeon slid off the table and collapsed against TaekWoon in relief, eyes still dazed. MinWoo was giving instructions to the eager assistant, but TaekWoon paid no attention to what they were talking about.

True to the vet’s words, HakYeon jumped violently and accompanied it with a sharp yelp. It was quickly followed by a loud snarl, HakYeon twisting in TaekWoon’s arms to get at the vet and assistant.

“Hey, stop that!” TaekWoon commanded, tightening his grip around HakYeon’s midsection to keep it from eating wide-eyed KiHyun.

MinWoo, of course, was unfazed. “Nice! Very good. Now then, like I said, I’ll order the meds for you for tomorrow, so you can swing by after work. Just make sure he stays in bed and drinks plenty of water.”

“Is it… wrong of me… to think of them as human?” TaekWoon asked the next day, just as MinWoo handed him a plastic bag. “Hybrids, I mean…”

MinWoo raised his eyebrows, but then an elfish grin graced his face. “Why do you ask?”

Instantly surly, TaekWoon just shook his head. “No, I was just… It’s something I thought of at one point.”

“Hmmm.” MinWoo crossed his arms and pondered for a bit. “Well, in reverse, do you think it’s wrong to think of them as animals? We can argue they sometimes act more like animals than humans, but at the same time, they also act more like humans than animals. They are biped, after all.” Seeing how TaekWoon wasn’t satisfied, MinWoo continued. “If you want to speak physiologically, in a sense, their bodies and functions, make up and whatnot, would be closer to their animal counterparts. Of course, at the same time, there are some aspects that are closer to human physiology. In regards to medicine, there are infinitely more restrictions on what they can and can’t do. In regards to social development… well, I know you already know about that.

“In the end, hybrids are a fancy mystery that the human race has yet to understand. Should you have taken him to a human hospital rather than here when you first discovered him? In my opinion, certainly not. He would have become a case study rather than a friend. But does it make you a lesser being for considering HakYeon an animal before a human? Absolutely not.”

TaekWoon still didn’t answer. MinWoo just smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “The directions are in the bag. Make sure he finishes it. Fight him, if you have to.”

Rounding the corner to his apartment, later than he normally would be on his way home, TaekWoon glanced up out of habit and saw that the window was open, and HakYeon was leaning over the window sill, swaddled in a blanket and glaring disdainfully down at TaekWoon. The hybrid slid back inside as TaekWoon entered the apartment, crossing over and plopping itself on the floor, still glaring.

“What? You can’t be mad at me for going to the vet. Drugs to make you feel better.”

The fever had gone down significantly, but HakYeon was still flushed and rather slow. It still pouted up at TaekWoon as he read through the instructions. So that’s what MinWoo meant when he mentioned fighting.

Seven days of ear drops was going to be a nuisance. HakYeon was instantly trying to wriggle away to shake the liquid out. TaekWoon clamped his hand down on the ear, forgetting that it was obviously still painful when HakYeon yelped.

“Sorry! Sorry! Be good. You just have to hold it for thirty seconds, alright?”

Glare. But HakYeon remained still as TaekWoon silently counted to himself. When TaekWoon removed his hand, HakYeon indignantly shook its head, flicking beads of the ear drops on TaekWoon’s face. But it let up the fussy act and leaned over to lay in TaekWoon’s lap.

TaekWoon froze at first, but then he slowly lifted his hand and settled it between HakYeon’s ears, conceding to scratch at the base of one ear. HakYeon hummed, the tail thumping on the ground.

TaekWoon let HakYeon stay like that until it… until he drifted off to sleep.