to say donghyuck was bored was an understatement.

this morning, mark had explained to him he couldn't bring him in his backpack because he had to do an orientation race with hina, and she didn't know that haechan was here. so, here was donghyuck, laying on the bed, after having slept, walked around the room, slept, walked around the room, slept again, walked in the bathroom, slept, walked around the room, slept for the nth time, walked around the room and slept.

yeah, he had nothing better to do. mark hadn't brought his plushie, there was no tv in the room, he couldn't go out... he was meant to be bored.

as if god had heard his prayers, the door of the room opened, revealing a tired mark.

"mark!" donghyuck jumped up in excitement, his ears perking up.

"hey." mark replied nonchalantly, taking his shoes off.

"how was your day?" donghyuck asked, his tail brushing against mark's arm.

"i wanted to spent a good day with the girl i like, but a miracle made that she learned that you were harmed and she spent the whole day asking about you." mark spat. "can't i have a second of my life thinking about something else than you?!"

donghyuck smiled, ignoring the pang in his chest when mark told him about the girl he liked. was he jealous? yes. but that was surely because he didn't want anybody close to his owner, even though mark isn't his owner.

"at least she's interested in you!" donghyuck beamed.

mark shrugged before heading to the bathroom to wash his hands. he came back, drying his hands with the hem of his shirt and plopped on the bed.

"what are you doing?" donghyuck asked, tilting his head.

"sleeping." mark replied, closing his eyes. "and you're too loud, so, shut up."

"what?!" donghyuck widened his eyes. "no sleeping! i've waited for you all day! now you need to play with me."

"no." mark replied, turning his back to donghyuck.

"yes." donghyuck whined, shaking mark. as the human wasn't moving, donghyuck bit his arm, sinking his two pointy fangs inside his flesh, making the human let out a pained scream.

"ouch! asshole!" mark sat up, raising his hand to hit the cat's head. however, he stopped himself from moving when he saw the hybrid with the most frightened look on, eyes glued on mark's hand, and eyes glossy with tears threatening to fall. but what shocked mark the most was the fact that the cat was already meters away from him, in a corner of the room, in a fetal position, trembling, as if it was something happening often to him.

mark immediately put his hand down and rose to his feet, looking at the creature with eyes full of compassion. "i'm sorry donghyuck, i scared you. i don't want to harm you." mark said calmly, approaching the boy that was now sniffling. "c-can i approach?" he asked unsure.

donghyuck nodded, looking at mark taking baby steps towards him.

once mark was close enough, he crouched down to match the cat person's height.

"what scared you like that?" he asked, holding out his hand to caress donghyuck's head, but the boy flinched, scared of his hand once again. "sorry." mark said, pulling his hand back.

donghyuck grabbed mark's hand before he could pull it back completely and put it on his head slowly, allowing mark to caress his head.

after a minute, mark stopped caressing his head and wiped donghyuck's tears away with his thumb. "i'm going to carry you to the bed, is it okay?" he asked in a soft tone.

donghyuck nodded, so mark carefully grabbed donghyuck's body, being careful not to hurt him because of his wounds, and lifted him with ease, bridal style, before putting him on his lap on the bed.

"so, tell me..." he said, an arm around the boy's back and the other under his knees. "what got you in such a state?"

donghyuck sniffled, rubbing his face in the crook of mark's neck, making his ear tickle mark's chin. "i don't know..." he mumbled.

"you don't know?" mark repeated.

"it was a reflex. when i saw you raising you hand, my body moved on its own." donghyuck explained. "i knew you weren't going to hit me. you would never hurt me."

mark tightened his embrace around the hybrid, not quite understanding why he had reacted this way.

perhaps it was something proper to hybrids? he really needed to find more information about them.

"donghyuck?" mark asked, breaking the silence.

donghyuck raised his head, looking into mark's eyes.

"what do you know about hybrids?" he asked.

"nothing." donghyuck answered.

"nothing? but you are one." mark said.

"i've never met another one. i just remember waking up one day in this cardboard box. and then renjun finding me. and here i am. the only things i knew, and i still don't know how, were my two names and the fact that i could switch forms." donghyuck explained.

"so... you're telling me that even you don't know anything about hybrids?" mark raised a brow.

mark sighed. "how am i supposed to know what to do with you then...?"

"do you intend to... throw me out?" donghyuck asked with glossy eyes.

"what? no!" mark said quickly. "not at all! i just need to know more about you. where you come from? why you are here? how? i have tons of questions." mark explained.

donghyuck nodded. "so, you are going to keep me?"

"yes, i am. don't worry." mark hugged the cat-person, letting him snuggle against mark's chest.

"mark!" jaemin's voice echoed through the corridor before mark and donghyuck heard banging noises on the bedroom's door. "open the door!"

"eat some cat food." mark said, opening the drawer of the nightstand where was located the cat food.

he gave some to donghyuck who transformed on mark's lap just after eating it.

mark then carried the cat in his arm and opened the door.

"you're not with your boyfriend?"

"he'll be there in a minute." jaemin said, entering the room as if it was his own. "so... tell me about your day with hina." he added, plopping on the bed, but letting out a pained noise when he fell on a hard object. "why is there a bottle of milk on your bed?" jaemin asked.

"can't i- "

"oh! haechan loves milk, isn't it?" jaemin smiled. "come here haechan, i'll give you some."

"no." mark said sternly, protectively hiding the cat in his arms. "no milk for haechan. he doesn't like milk." he said quickly.

"oh..." jaemin glanced at mark. "then i guess it is yours. what's with you and jeno not being able to live without milk seriously..." jaemin added before throwing the bottle of milk towards the nightstand, making it land in a perfect bottle flip.

"woah." jeno, who had just entered the room, let out.

"this is what i call talent..." jaemin smiled. "enough talking." he said quickly.

"how was your day with hina?" jeno asked.

mark laid on his back in between his two friends, the cat on his stomach.

"so good... we held hands. they fit perfectly..."

and they spoke, for long, not even noticing that the cat that was once on mark's tummy had isolated himself in the bathroom not to hear how much of a good day his owner had spent with the girl of his dreams...

was donghyuck catching feelings? probably.

you couldn't blame him. whenever mark wasn't trying to kill him, he was actually caring and gentle, and something told haechan that in the past, nobody had been like that with him...