"hello mark." jisung said once mark had opened the door of his house.

"hello jisung, woah, you brought heavy artillery..." he said referring to the big files jisung had in his arms.

"hybrids are a big part of the mythologies." jisung explained.

"come in." mark let the younger come in. "haechan, come and say hello!"

"is your cat some kind of dog?" jisung laughed, looking at the white cat trotting towards him and rubbing against his leg.

"you can say it like that." mark laughed, earning a hiss from haechan.

"yeah, sorry. you're not a dog..." mark rolled his eyes. "come here jisung, have a sit on the sofa, make yourself comfortable. what would you like to drink?"

"water will do, thanks."

mark nodded before heading to the kitchen and coming back with two glasses of water and a pack of biscuits.

"if we're hungry..." he added.

"so, hybrids..." jisung started, petting the cat that had settled on his lap.

"yeah, what can you tell me on them?"

"hybrid beings are basically beings that are created by mixing two different spices. we use them a lot nowadays in botanic because it creates more resistant plants. but it sometimes happens with animals. it's the case with some dog breeds or other animals in the wild. and you may also know the cars that we call hybrid because they work both with electricity and with oil. so basically, a hybrid is a two in one being. do you understand this idea?" jisung asked mark.

the human nodded.

"but i know the plants and cars aren't what interests you. you want to know about their origin and their history." jisung smiled. "mind taking haechan?" he asked, putting haechan on mark's lap and then pulling one of the big files on his own. "i did some researches. honestly, i had never taken interest in these creatures. but actually, the mythologies are full of them."

"really?"

"yeah. i'm sorry, i don't have an answer to all of your questions, but i'm sure i'll be able to enlighten some things in your mind."

mark nodded. "yeah, that's all i need." he told truthfully.

"well..." jisung opened the file. "the first hybrid to be described was the chimera." he said pointing to the picture of a statue representing the creature. "it was a mythical creature described for the first time by homer. he described it as a lion, with a goat's head on its back and a snake as its tail. since then, the term 'chimera' has been used to describe other kind of monsters or at least, non-human beings that were a mix of various animals." jisung explained.

"and, how was she born?" mark asked, caressing the cat's head.

"it depends of the author. her parents can be either typhon and echidna or larne's hydra." jisung added, showing drawings of the three repulsive creatures.

"yeah. and... do you have something else?" mark aked.

"of course." jisung turned the page. "so basically, since the chimera, every hybrid has been seen as a monster. i guess that's why they have all been acting like monsters. people only act like what the other treat them." jisung shrugged, putting the file next to him and grabbing the other. "let me show you the different kinds of hybrids of the mythology. you may know some of them, so don't be surprised."

"okay." mark took a sip of water before sitting back comfortably.

"first, the half-humans. you know the minotaur, a human with the face of a bull. he's the son of pasiphae and a white bull that had been sent by poseidon... well, it's a long and complicated story. what i want to say is that a fully human and a fully animal created a half-human and half-animal. of course, this hybrid was used as a weapon, treated as a monster, sent in the middle of a labyrinth and sent dozens of innocents to eat each month. what a beautiful culture..."

"yeah." mark said, his hand paralyzed on donghyuck's back at how casual jisung was while saying such horrible things.

"then the sphinx. face of a woman and body of a lion with eagle's wings. once again seen as a monster in both egyptian and greek mythologies. she has the same mother as the chimera which is half-human half-snake, and her father is orthos, some strange dog, well, it's another complicated story. once again, two monsters created a monster. at least the sphinx is intelligent because she's the person who asks for the enigmas, you know in the myth?"

mark nodded.

"well, but as soon as oedipus finds the answer, she kills herself because she estimates someone is more intelligent than her... anyway." jisung rolled his eyes.  "you know the sirens? half-human and half-birds?" ha aksed, showing a picture.

mark nodded.

"the satyrs and the centaurs?"

mark approved.

"good. the mermaids? half-human, half-fish?" he said, pointing to another picture.

"yes." mark replied shyly.

"and the griffon?"

this time mark shook his head as no.

"well, this one is not half human anymore. it's an eagle with the back paws of a lion."

"only the back paws?" mark raised a brow looking at the picture jisung was showing.

"yeah. oh! and it also had horse ears."

mark furrowed his brows.

"don't ask me why. i didn't write mythology..." jisung rolled his eyes. "but i agree some things would need some changes."

"yeah."

they continued talking about mythology for a bit more than an hour. not that the subject was interesting in mark's opinion, but he really needed to know what to do with donghyuck. the cat was still on his lap, listening closely to every work spoken, and watching each image shown.

and, yeah, there was one question both boys were dying to ask, completely oblivious the other wanted to as well.

but, haechan was a cat.

and mark was a coward.

when jisung rose to his feet to leave and mark accompanied him to his front door, haechan left them, probably heading to mark's room to sleep. this meant mark could ask jisung peacefully.

"i had fun talking about mythology with you mark." jisung smiled.

"yeah, me too." mark rubbed his nape. "it was a bit scary though."

"it is, i know."

"can i ask you a question?" mark asked.

"of course."

"what if... a human and a hybrid were to fall in love? what would happen?" mark asked, voice barely audible.

"why would a human fall in love with a monster?" jisung furrowed his brows.

"i don't know, i'm just asking."

"well... humans did procreate with animals. and since hybrids are partly human, their progeniture would be a quarter animal i guess, or something like that? but, i don't think this is possible. remember mark. hybrids have always been mistreated by the society. and it's not now that it's going to change." jisung said, leaving.

"yeah..." mark stated before closing the door weakly and turning around, to be met with donghyuck's saddened eyes.

"d-dong- "

"do you see me as a monster?"