"i don't know what to do anymore..." sicheng sighed, his head leaning on the back rest of his armchair.

seeing his owner stressing himself this much, kun walked to him in his dog form and jumped on his lap before snuggling his muzzle in the crook of sicheng's neck.

sicheng circled his arms around kun, resting his chin on the dog's head.

"their relationship is stressing me more than it should..." he spoke, thinking about the many conversations he had had with ten and taeyong. "i had a talk with taeyong a week ago, and since then, his relationship with ten seemed to get even worst. ten told me yesterday that he came back to their apartment late at night, and that he tried to avoid ten as much as he could. they're going to fail their talent show because of that shit..."

kun growled, signalling he was listeningto the human's speaking.

he completely agreed with his owner.

he could see their relationship affecting yuta.

yuta was a fragile person.

sure, kun had known ten for years, and he knew that ten was someone fragile, but compared to him, yuta would be the thinnest layer of ice covering a lake because of a cold autumn day... so peaceful and beautiful when complete, so easy to break, and sadly cold when broken...

and since ten and taeyong's fight, yuta had been more than left out.

first, he didn't receive attention from taeyong who seemed to be more often out of the house than inside, to ten who was too depressed – or stressed – to have any kind of contact with the outside world.

"i had another talk with ten yesterday. i told him that they needed to make up. they can't live like this. they are completely killing yuta, they are completely killing themselves, and they are completely killing their performance for the show! they have their performance in a week for god's sake! it's not the time to hold a grudge about someone because of something he said!"

sicheng ended up yelling louder than he expected, but kun couldn't blame him. the current situation was very stressing for him as well. sicheng and kun were acting like the only reasonable humans – or hybrids – out there, willing to help them overcome their problems.

"he said that he would apologize today." sicheng started again, much calmer this time. "i don't think he'll do it."

kun lifted his head from sicheng's chest, as if to ask why sicheng was thinking that way.

"think about it... he has always been a coward. lovely guy, but coward... and sassy... and bitchy... and prideful... and..." sicheng paused, looking at his ceiling for a few seconds. "he's ten. he's taeyong's best friend. that's just how he is defined. i tried my best to have them making up, but i can't be sure they'll do it, sadly..."

🦁

ten was sitting at the dinner table, his empty plate still waiting to be carried to the dishwasher.

he had been sitting in the same position for about an hour now.

yuta had gone to sleep long ago, lying on his large cushion in ten's room, in his hybrid form.

ten felt bad for not treating him right.

he had so much on his mind at the moment.

taeyong... the talent show... sicheng's words... taeyong... himself... it was way too much.

saying yuta was running on his mind all day long was far from being a lie.

ten did think about yuta.

he did chuckle when he remembered that when he would get home, their lion hybrid would be happy to see him, wiggling his tail and embracing him in the tightest hug ever.

he did grin whenever he thought about his cute yet hot face, on which to fluffy lion ears were wiggling.

he did smile when he imagined yuta sleeping on his chest, or holding him in his sleep as if he was afraid ten would go away anytime soon.

but sadly, he didn't smile when he remembered yuta was not his. of course not... yuta was theirs.

theirs...

his and taeyong's...

and he didn't smile anymore when he thought about taeyong.

he didn't smile when he remembered taeyong's soft touch whenever they would cross paths in the house.

he didn't grin whenever taeyong would apologise for doing a slim mistake in the choreography.

he didn't chuckle when he saw taeyong interacting with yuta.

of course, he didn't. taeyong was never here anymore.

and it wasn't the only problem...

not only was he never here.

he didn't show ten signs of adoration either.

he didn't apologise for anything either.

he didn't interact with yuta either.

he wasn't taeyong anymore. or at least, he wasn't the taeyong he used to be.

by now, ten's empty plate was getting filled with hot salted tears.

ten was a horrible being.

he had had an argument with taeyong.

he had started to despise everything that could remind him of taeyong.

but yuta reminded him of taeyong.

yuta and his innocent eyes, asking him whenever taeyong would be home. yuta and his hot body asking him if taeyong could join their cuddling session. yuta and his trembling voice asking him if taeyong still loved them...

ten had been the worst person ever.

yuta was his hybrid, his baby, his treasure...

he couldn't stop loving him for something stupid his best friend said.

yuta hadn't done anything except asking for love.

and ten had managed to mess everything up.

before another tear could escape his eye, he heard the sound of a key being pushed in the lock of the front door. ten seconds later, taeyong was standing in the doorframe, surprised to see ten still seated around the dinner table.

the thai male swallowed the lump in his throat, standing up without caring about the screeching noise his chair made when he rose to his feet.

he took a few steps towards the front door, standing just in front of taeyong, allowing the korean to see the rivers of tears that were coming out of his best friend's – if they could still be considered like that – eyes.

before taeyong could think about opening his mouth to speak, a loud slap echoed in the silent entrance of their shared apartment.

ten kept a long eye contact with taeyong, his hand trembling, and his bottom lip quivering.

"fuck you, taeyong."

and taeyong was left, in the middle of their doorframe, wearing a shocked expression, and caressing his newly bruised cheek.

ten rushed to his room, allowing a new flow of tears to cascade out of his eyes as he leaned against the door.

while trying to calm down, he saw the peaceful face of his lion hybrid being lightened by the clear moonlight outside of his window. yuta was snoring cutely, his head resting on one of his paws, and his tail circled around his body.

ten tiptoed to him, kneeling in front of his giant cushion before sliding between the two strong paws of his hybrid.

yuta slightly moved in his sleep, readjusting his position to embrace ten correctly.

ten smiled at his baby, absolutely loving how warm his body felt snuggled against his.

"i'm sorry for everything, yuta." he whispered, dropping a kiss on the lion's paw before closing his eyes and falling into a deep slumber.