The tshirt had been a perfect fit. The pants were as well once Junhui took to them with a sharp pair of scissors and made a hole for the brush of Wonwoo's tail to escape. His hair was drying into a mess of tangled black waves and Junhui wanted to brush it. But, as always, first he had to ask.

"C-can I dry and brush your hair?" He asked nervously as Wonwoo stood in the middle of the spare bedroom. "Why are you asking me?" The fox furrowed his brow but he nodded agreement as he turned to stare at the man. He didn't understand. Even though the man was kind and gentle he was still a man and the fox was a hybrid. The social order and status had assigned them the roles of master and slave, owner and pet, man and animal. He didn't have the right to refuse. He knew that. It had been instilled in him along with the stripes of pain from the leather belt to his back, the scars around his neck, the starvation that racked his body.

Suddenly worried at asking the question the fox cowered towards the man. He shrank and whined a little and tried to make himself seem smaller and weaker. Submission was a survival tactic he'd learned far too late. But Junhui just took his hand and led him out and into his own bedroom.

Wonwoo felt whole body tremble as he entered the man's most private sanctuary. Everything in here smelled like Junhui, he could smell his sweat and skin on the sheets of the bed, his exhaled breath in the air. Every dream of lust and homesickness and happiness and longing lingered in the atmosphere making the hybrid overwhelmed. Junhui radiated grace and strength and fertility and beauty and Wonwoo couldn't help but react to it.

Junhui sat on the bed and pulled the fox close to sit on the floor between his legs. "This will be noisy but it won't hurt. Okay?" Again with the asking. It was so foreign to Wonwoo but it gave him a sense of security he'd never had before. If Junhui said it wouldn't hurt then it wouldn't hurt.

Was this how the concept of trust was formed? An unspoken agreement that no matter what happened the truth would be told and the actions would match the words? A natural inclination drawing souls together, comforted in unison, instincts driving them to be gentle and careful with each other?

Wonwoo didn't know. But he didn't know how else to explain the warm feeling fluttering in his achingly empty stomach.

He settled comfortably and leaned back as Junhui began to carefully brush his hair. He tackled a section at a time, gently pulling the brush through the matts and tangles, diligently avoiding his sensitive ears. As he relaxed into the feeling he began to enjoy it so much. No one had ever groomed him before and he began to understand why some hybrids liked to be owned. To be petted and coddled and fussed. But he didn't know how long it would last. It wouldn't be forever. Wonwoo wanted to be free.

When Junhui turned the hairdryer on Wonwoo jumped a little. His nerves were skittish but Junhui had assured him it wouldn't hurt and it didn't. The warm air caressed his scalp as Junhui's fingers carded through the long strands, pulling gently, rubbing the base and tips of his ears. It felt wonderful and Wonwoo felt a stirring inside him he'd never felt before.

He'd not yet experienced his heat. He was still young but he should have matured by now. It was probably delayed by his lack of nutrition combined with his low body fat, and the constant stress of captivity, and in his eyes it had been nothing but a blessing. He didn't want to mature and feel the urges pulling him towards things his mind didn't want. He wasn't ready for his brain and body to be in conflict.

But as he sat between Junhui's thighs, the scent of the man all around him, and pleasure rippling though his scalp he felt a warmth pool below his bellybutton that he'd never felt before.  A soft whine escaped his lips and Junhui stopped. "Am I hurting you?" he asked and Wonwoo shook his head. "No, it feels really nice, I've never been groomed before."

Finally clean and dressed and dry it was time to look around. "This is your home, you can do whatever you want." Junhui showed Wonwoo the couch where he could sit or lie down. He showed him the kitchen and how to get water from the tap. "You can have this cup," he smiled and pulled a tall acrylic cup from the cupboard with pink roses printed on the sides. Wonwoo watched Junhui get a gold marker out of a drawer and write 'Wonwoo's' around the side in beautifully cursive script between the pink petals and verdant winding stems.

"My own?" Wonwoo couldn't believe it. He'd never owned anything before besides the smock and the shock collar. He grabbed it and turned it between his long fingers, examining and admiring every inch of it, before turning the tap and filling it up. He sipped at the cool liquid and then smiled at Junhui who felt his heart flutter inside his chest.

The water threatened to come back up and he gagged a little. "Are you okay?" Junhui looked panicked but Wonwoo just shrugged. "Always happens. When I'm hungry and I have no food I drink too much water." Junhui immediately began to shake. "I'm so sorry," he said as huge slow tears began to drip down his smooth cheeks. He turned away from the fox in shame as he began to search the fridge for food. He knew he was starving and he'd put him through the bath and brushing before feeding the poor creature.

"I'm so sorry," tears rolled down his cheeks as he grabbed chicken from the fridge. "I'm so bad at this, I'm a horrible person, I just wasn't thinking...." His sudden outburst of shame and sadness hung thick in the air making the fox afraid. In just a few days the man had become his rock and he relied on him so much already. He had made him upset and he crouched low as he approached him to try and make it right. "I'm sorry," the fox whispered as he nosed at the man's neck before he bit gently at his jawline.

"Don't be..." Junhui said but he stood still and let the hybrid bite gently at his jaw. He overreacted but the strangely animalistic apology from the fox was too wonderful to pass up on. He let him nose at his neck and taste the tears from his jaw before clutching at his shoulders with a smile. "Enough," he said with a wry smile. "It's not your fault. I was just mad at myself."

As midnight eyes drew him in deep in their gratitude and sincerity Junhui suddenly felt afraid. Not of the fox, despite his raw animal nature, but of himself. He was falling deeper into feelings he knew he shouldn't have. He'd promised him his freedom and he was going to have to let him go.