"DONGHYUCK!" mark yelled picking the cat up from the road.

tears were already falling from his eyes and he kept mumbling dozens of curse words. the cat in his arms was still conscious, but barely alive. he had difficulty breathing.

next to mark, renjun was crying hard.

"mark, what do we do?" jisung asked. "we need to call elizabeth."

mark nodded and gave the cat to jisung before running to his house to pick his car keys.

"let's get in the car." he declared.

soon, renjun, jisung and mark were in mark's car, donghyuck still suffering on jisung's lap.

mark drove faster than ever to school and got out of the car as soon as he stopped it.

"ELIZABETH!!!" he screamed multiple times.

the girl appeared the fifth time.

"mark?" she raised a brow, opening the gates to let mark, jisung and renjun – that she didn't know – enter.

"who is that girl?" renjun whispered to jisung.

"someone that can help donghyuck." jisung replied with the same voice, confusing even more renjun? why did mark and jisung keep using donghyuck's name?

"donghyuck has been hit by a car." mark picked the cat from jisung's arms and gave it to elizabeth.

the girl gasped, seeing the bad state the cat was in.

he almost couldn't breathe, as if he was about to die.

"we got to be quick, otherwise, he's going to die."

renjun almost fainted hearing that.

even though haechan was only a cat, renjun has grown attached to him, and seeing him dying under his eyes wasn't something pleasant.

renjun followed the girl and his two friends that were running in the school's corridors until they entered a janitor's closet.

that's when he discovered the huge place full of vegetation and animals.

the two other boys that were with him seemed to find the place normal, so he didn't question it, but he kept in mind that he would have to ask some questions about it sooner or later.

the girl brought them to what looked like a mini-infirmary where there were small beds, cages and cupboards with all sorts of ointments and bandages.

elizabeth put the cat on a bed and took out of a cupboard a big machine that she put above him.

seeing the perplexed looks of the boys, elizabeth explained what she was doing. "x-ray machine. it's not the most performant one, but it gives you a quick view of what's the problem."

jisung nodded.

"most of his ribs have been crushed. i guess that was because of the shock. some of them might have perforated one of his lungs, which explicates his difficulties to breathe. for the rest, i can't really know because i don't have the material here..."

mark and jisung exchanged a look.

"what if he's human? can't you analyse the situation better?"

"we can't turn him now." elizabeth told quickly.

"why not? he's going to die! i love him! do you understand?! i don't want him to die!" mark screamed, rising to his feet.

"i don't understand." a small voice interrupted them.

the three persons turned their heads towards renjun who had his hand raised shyly.

"well..." jisung rubbed his nape. "let's say that your cat... haechan... isn't actually a cat."

"what?" renjun raised a brow, looking at the white cat laying on the bed.

"well, he his, but he is not entirely a cat." elizabeth added.

"if he's not 'entirely' a cat..." renjun rolled his eyes. "he is partly what?"

"donghyuck." mark told. "your cat is donghyuck."

"i-i'm sorry?"

mark sighed. "i discovered it one day after you went to china. i hated him as a cat, and i hated him even more as a human. he basically ruined all my plans with hina. and i don't know how it happened, but donghyuck and i fell for each other. we fell in love. it didn't matter if we weren't of the same kind. we just loved each other." mark told.

renjun looked at him with wide eyes.

"i'm sorry i didn't tell you, but we couldn't let anyone know." mark told truthfully.

"how come those two know then?" renjun asked pointing at jisung and elizabeth.

"jisung came to my house one day when donghyuck was in his human form with his cat ears and his cat tail. and elizabeth is the one to choose which animal becomes a hybrid. so she knew before i knew."

renjun nodded. "it's okay, you're forgiven..."

mark smiled to his best friend.

"so... that's why you're against me calling him 'my baby'?"

mark nodded. "yes, because he's mine, and mine only."

"mark." elizabeth said with a dramatic look.

"what?"

"we have a problem."

mark looked at the whimpering cat whose nose had started bleeding.

"internal bleeding." elizabeth said simply.

and that's all it took for renjun to tear up once again.

he used mark's shoulder to cry.

mark tried to stay strong, but it was difficult, seeing his baby in such a state.

"he's going to die mark. his breathing is more and more uneven. his respiratory canals are getting bloated by blood." elizabeth has her eyes switching from mark to the cat.

"can't you do something?" jisung asked, hiding his eyes. the sight was horrible. him too was crying. "anything?"

"it's the end of his second life... time for his third one to begin."