a few years later

"hello mark, what are you calling me for?"

"elizabeth. we have a problem." mark said, his eyes glued on his three years old son that was squirming in donghyuck's arms.

"well, i'm not the social worker..."

"it's about minhyuck." mark said quickly. "i don't know why, but some animal ears magically appeared on his head this morning. and he's been asking all excited about them!"

"oh..." there was a silence. "that's surely because i broke a tiny rule. that's not a big problem, we can make them disappear easily. what animal is he?"

mark looked at his son again, smiling when he saw his husband was carrying him and gently scratching his two furry ears.

"some kind of hybrid animal."

elizabeth snorted. "no shit sherlock. do you know who you are talking to?"

"no, but i mean... he has one cat ear, just like donghyuck's. but then, he has one lion ear i think."

"oh..." another silence.

"elizabeth?" mark asked after a while.

"well, i just searched in my base, everything is justified. your inner animal, mark, is the lion. dongyuck's is the cat obviously. and as minhyuck was born of a 'forbidden union'- "

"forbidden?!" mark exclaimed.

"well, technically, i should have made donghyuck's third life start from the beginning again. but then he would be 20 years younger than you and minhyuck wouldn't exist if you know what i mean. so, yeah, minhyuck is a particular child. he was born from a human and a hybridish human?" she tried explaining but didn't seem convinced.

"yeah, well all these sounds like german in my ears so just tell me how to get rid of those ears." mark rolled his eyes.

"you just have to take a piece of beefsteak and pour a good amount of milk on it." she explained. "the milk is what makes donghyuck change, and the beefsteak would have been what made you change."

"and what do i do with that?" mark asked.

"you rub it on his ears twice a day."

"really?" mark raised a brow.

"no, you stupid lion!" elizabeth exclaimed. "of course, he has to eat it. they'll probably reappear once or twice after one week, and you'll have to do the same. and after you'll be done with them."

"i hate you. you know that?"

"yeah, i know. but remember that without me, there wouldn't be any mark and donghyuck."

"true."

elizabeth chuckled. "go help your son now."

"yeah, see you." he said before hanging up.

donghyuck approached mark, their baby in his arms.

"what did she say?"

"it's because she broke a rule. so, it's normal." mark replied, caressing his son's head.

"and are we going to get rid of them?"

"yeah, by making him eat beefsteak on which we have poured milk."

donghyuck laughed at what his husband told him.

"what a way to waste precious milk..." mark groaned, but he was greeted by a kiss on his lips.

"i'll buy you plenty of milk if you want."

"daddy! daddy! look!" minhyuck tapped mark's shoulder to grab his attention and show him how he could control the way his ears were moving on his head.

"why a lion though?" donghyuck asked.

mark raised his hand to caress the yellowish ear, making his son giggle.

"apparently that's my inner animal."

"oh... so that's why you're the wild type..." donghyuck smirked.

^.^

"mark!" donghyuck exclaimed as the older boy was pinning him to the bedroom's door before attacking his lips wildly.

they had managed to make minhyuck's ears disappear with success – well, they had had a bit of trouble making him eat beefsteak that had soaked in milk, but he had finally eaten it.

after that, chenle and jisung had come and they had taken minhyuck to jaemin, jeno and renjun's house to spend some quality time with his uncles.

and this allowed mark and donghyuck to have a lovely afternoon, all alone, in their house.

"can't i have a taste of my own husband anymore?" mark asked, leaving donghyuck's mouth to leave wet kisses along his jaw and collarbones.

"that's not what i- "

mark hushed him by putting a finger on his lips. "you talk too much kitten. stay calm or i'll eat you."

donghyuck stayed silent for a while as mark continued marking his body with love bites, but that sentence was meant to go out of his mouth.

"are you impersonating your inner animal?" he asked with a smirk.

mark stopped what he was doing to look at him with eyes full of lust.

"well... don't tempt me, because i could eat you alive. you're just a small and innocent kitty next to the immensity of the king of the animals."

donghyuck snorted. "come back on earth simba."

and it's like a switch was activated in mark's brain.

"you asked for it." he growled, pushing donghyuck on the bed and jumping over him, making the younger yelp. "i'm literally going to devour you. good thing min isn't there."

^.^

mark and donghyuck were lying on their bed.

both sweaty, breathing heavily, messily entangled, under the covers, inhaling the other's scent, and feeling the other's presence.

they felt good. they felt loved.

"mark?" donghyuck asked, breaking the silence.

"yes baby?"

"do you remember that renjun always said that we looked like the cats in the 'cat fights'?"

mark tuned his head to look at him. "were you thinking about that while we- "

"no!" donghyuck interrupted him. "i wanted to ask you before. but you didn't let me."

"oh. well, i remember. what about it?"

"well, don't you think we really did? because our primitive animals are both felines." donhyuck explains.

"what does that mean?"

donghyuck smiled sincerely. "it means that we were meant to have cat fights, mark. we were meant to hate each other and then grow fond of each other. just like we did. and let me be honest, i'm the happiest person on earth now that i have you."