mark pulled the frozen jisung inside his house and sat him on his sofa.

"well..." mark rubbed his nape. "i didn't have a sudden interest in hybrids." mark admitted. "if i asked you all those questions it's because i have a hybrid and i don't know where he comes from or why he is here." mark explained, earning a confused look from the boy on the sofa.

"donghyuck, come here." mark gestured to the cat-person to approach him. donghyuck did as he was told, making sure to walk the furthest away from jisung. he was scared as hell. he didn't know how jisung was going to react.

"this is donghyuck." mark said, passing an arm around donghyuck's waist. "but you may know him as haechan, the white cat."

jisung blinked multiple times, eyes going back and forth between mark and donghyuck.

"so... you're telling me this..." he pointed at donghyuck. "is the white cat?"

donghyuck nodded and picked the pack of cat food that was on the table beside him, eating some before tuning into the cat under jisung's eyes.

"but how?!" jisung exclaimed, his eyes stuck on the white cat that was sitting next to mark's

leg.

"i don't know. my best friend found this cat one day, and he brought him home. and another day, he drank milk and turned into a human. he doesn't know anything about hybrids either. that's why we're looking about them." mark explained. "you're the first person to know about his existence. and you have to be the last. as you told us, people see them as monsters, we can't let them kill donghyuck."mark said sternly. "even if he's not fully human, he is partly, and i won't let anyone harm him." he added, picking the cat up in his arms.

jisung blinked, looking intensely at the cat who was trying to disappear in mark's arms.

"you need to tell me more about that woman who helped you, jisung." mark approached jisung and sat next to him on the sofa.

"can i...? see the cat?" jisung asked ignoring what mark had said.

donghyuck started trambling in mark's arms.

"huh... promise you won't harm him." mark held the cat protectively.

"i won't. i want to help you. this discovery is fascinating. this cat could be a descendant of bastet." jisung told, his hand reaching out to caress the cat's head.

"bastet?" mark raised a brow.

"in the egyptian religion, bastet was the goddess of protection, fertility, pregnancy, warfare, music, arts and children. she had two forms. either a cat form or a cat-headed human form. and haechan could be her progeniture." jisung explained.

mark stared at him with wide eyes. "how do you know all that?"

"i'm just interested." jisung shrugged.

they stayed silent for a bit, the only sound in the room being the purring of haechan caressed by jisung.

"oh, the woman at the library!" jisung said suddenly. "she gave me this." he continued rising to his feet and looking inside his pockets for something. he soon took out a black card that he gave to mark. "i don't really know what it is."

mark inspected it closely, finding it oddly familiar. it was a simple black card, like a visit card you find at your doctor's, but there was no phone number, nothing. only the word 'ELIZABETH' written in glittery letters.

and then it hit mark like a truck.

"a few weeks ago, when haechan was injured, i brought him to the vet, and the woman who healed him gave me the exact same card." mark told jisung. "she was strange, and i'm sure she has something to do with hybrids. she even indirectly told me that i had to treat haechan's wounds in his human form so that it could be easier."

"so, we need to find her. she surely knows something about haechan." jisung said.

"let's go to the clinic then. we'll take my car."

^.^ 

the two boys entered the veterinarian clinic with haechan in their arms and rushed to the counter.

"hello, how may i help you?" the woman asked.

"good evening, we need to see the nurse who goes by the name elizabeth, please." mark explained.

the woman looked at him confused. "elizabeth? we don't have anybody named like this in this clinic." she said.

"are you sure? she healed my cat last time." mark showed haechan to the woman.

"yes, i'm sure. i'm sorry, you're perhaps mixing up with another clinic."

mark lowered his head. "yeah, surely. thank you, goodbye."

jisung and him got out of the clinic.

"i'm sure it's this one though." mark mumbled looking around. "oh wait!" he exclaimed when he saw the backdoor where elizabeth had brought him to heal haechan.

"what?"

"that's where she had healed haechan, she's probably here!" he yelled before dashing to the door, jisung on his heels.

once the two boys were in front of the door, mark opened it, expecting to see the same big room he had seen the other time, but instead, he was greeted by a small broom closet.

"huh... are you sure that's where she healed your hybrid?" jisung asked.

mark closed and opened the door multiple times to see if something happened, but nothing did.

"yes, i'm sure of it!" mark groaned.

"meow!" haechan wiggled in mark's arms.

mark looked at the cat and put it on the floor, letting him walk behind some of the brooms and come back with a neatly rolled black piece of paper.

"what is that?" jisung raised a brow.

mark unrolled the paper to reveal a letter written in the same glittery ink as the 'ELIZABETH' card. 

mark, i know you're looking for me. let's have a talk.

come at midnight in front of your school. bring donghyuck with you.

you can also bring jisung since we'll be talking about hybrids and i heard that he's interested about this topic.

for the moment, try to keep haechan's identity a secret.

elizabeth

"how the hell does she know all that?" jisung furrowed his brows.

"i don't know, but she has answers, and i want them."