"I'll set you free..."

The fox went over and over the words in his mind. No one had ever suggested freedom. It might be a ruse, a carefully constructed lie to win his trust, but why? Man didn't need to win the trust of hybrid. They purchased them, owned them, used them as they wanted, discarded them if they didn't. The man smelled of food and comfort, virility and security, and most of all he smelled of warm kindness. Wonwoo somehow knew he wouldn't hurt him on purpose.

"You have to trust me though," the man said as he eyed the fox crouched low to the ground.   "I'm... kind of scared of you. If I take you home with me I can't bear to see you wear that collar. But you have to promise you won't hurt me."

Wonwoo began to shake as he realised what the man was saying. This human was afraid of the skinny little fox, frightened of the stories of what his past had made him, afraid of being attacked in his own home. The fox cleared his throat and hoped it didn't sound too much like a growl. "I've only ever hurt man in self defence," he said as he tried to make himself seem smaller, somehow more submissive, his instinct driving him to cower to the beautiful smiling man.

He seemed happy with that answer and it was as if it was all he needed. "I'll come back for you," he said and held his hand out towards the vent. Wonwoo yipped a little as he eagerly scented the skin even thought he couldn't nose at it. A part of him was skeptical and didn't think the man was coming back. A bigger part of him was hopeful that this was his way out of this nightmare he was trapped in.

He gathered the balls of peanut butter the man had poked in though the vent and scurried inside his makeshift den. As he curled up and shivered he hoped this would be his last day stuck in this cold damp hell.

"Two thousand," she said, her face uncrackable, her stance stoic. "No way," Minghao said as he scrolled his phone. "One at the most." "The creature is a very rare and sought after exotic," her lipsticked lips curled at the corners as she eyed the workers curiously. "And he's been here for a year," Minghao said gently. "Take it or leave it. You won't get another offer this good." Minghao was smart and thought with his head when Junhui only thought with his heart. Minghao knew that a fox hybrid was with up to ten thousand dollars but that was a top price for a top specimen. The fox hidden in the back of the pet store had a long record on his legally mandated disclosure report.

"Disobedient, aggressive, untrainable...." Minghao read over the report. "It's damaged. No one else wants it." Junhui shuddered at the way they were talking about the ethereal grey fox that haunted his every thought. But he stood silent and let Minghao negotiate for him and before he knew it papers were being put in front of him. "You can collect it first thing tomorrow. I'll have it ready for pickup by 10am. I'm only agreeing to this price on a strict no refund clause," she said as she ticked boxes on the forms. "If you can't handle him you'll have to contact Hybrid Management and have him euthanised. He's have it recorded on his microchip as well. If he escapes Hybrid Management will euthanise him on sight."

Junhui shuddered but signed the papers and handed over his bank card. He took the pamphlets on hybrid regulations and followed Minghao out the door before breaking into a smile. "Thanks," he threw an arm around Minghao and hugged the younger. "I want to say you're welcome but I'm still not sure," Minghao rolled his eyes. "Euthanise on sight? How are you going to free him?" "I'll take him somewhere Hybrid Management will never find him," Junhui smiled as he climbed into the van. It would be fine. He could manage this, he just knew it, and he felt lighter than air as they drove away.

The fox awakened to bright lights and loud noises. "It's your lucky day," the woman grinned at him from behind way too much red lipstick. "For some reason you're been bought, lucky too, I was going to hand you over to Hybrid Management. Anyway this is your last chance. He can't return you and if he can't handle you they'll put you in your grave."

Wonwoo cowered in the back of his enclosure. No matter what he wouldn't go willingly until he saw him. She said he'd been bought but he didn't know who by. Nothing was certain in his short and painful life but hunger and pain and loneliness. But she was one step ahead of him. When she opened the door a man stepped in from behind her and the last thing Wonwoo saw as his world went black was a dreamlike vision of the food man's kind and gentle eyes blinking at him. As he drifted away into a tranquilised abyss he hoped that when he woke this was all a nightmare he could finally be free from.

Junhui had barely slept. The transaction the day before had left him barely any savings and it was only on the way to pick up the fox that he realised he didn't have anything. What did the hybrid need? He hated all the dandy pastel collars and food bowls and beds in the pet store. "What are you thinking about?" Minghao asked as he drove the van towards the mall. "Not much," Junhui said as he stared out the window. "Just about how ill equipped I am to be a hybrid owner." Minghao began to giggle in his endearing way that made him seem younger than his true age. "You're only just realising this?" His eyes sparkled with mirth at his friends sudden and slow self awareness.

But Junhui just shrugged. "He doesn't need all that pet store stuff anyway. He's not a fucking animal even thought they treat him like one." He felt it deep down. Even though he couldn't predict the future, he didn't know for sure that the fox wouldn't hurt him, he was compelled to open his heart to him.

He would open his heart, feed him and clothe him, provide him with warmth and shelter and time to regain his strength. And when the time was right he would ask Minghao to drive them deep into the remote forest and watch the fox run wild and beautiful and free.

He could think of nothing more beautiful or perfect than the fox escaping his prison of domestication.