Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

He hated his hair. 

He always hated the way they did his hair. No one could ever do it right. It always either sat too high or too low, was too fluffy or not fluffy enough, or stuck to the sides of his face to the point where he looked like an egg, especially given his snow white colouring.

Wasting a few hundred dollars every couple of weeks at the salon seemed to be his new routine. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it, Seonghwa’s budding modelling career was extremely successful and fulfilling even in its early stages. Objectively, whatever haircut he got would still be flattering for him, even if he went bald. His high yet round cheekbones cushioned together his naturally plush peachy lips in an eternal pout, red almond eyes staring back at him dejectedly in the mirror.

For all intents and purposes, he should be happy. The young bunny was gorgeous, had a bright future ahead of him, and even though he was still single, he didn’t feel the need to find someone to fill that gap just yet. There was too much else to live for at the moment. 

But his hair. 

Everything would be right in his life if he could just fix his damn hair. 

Defeated, he thanked the apologetic hairdresser for trying, despite the numerous example images he’d brought them, and went to nurse his sorrows the only way he knew how. His favourite cafe was only a few blocks away, but if it were any further he would have burst into tears. The weather that day had been good for it too, cloudy and overcast, begging for rain. He tied his long black trench coat closer to his body.

Once his vanilla iced coffee was in his hands, the world began to feel a bit better. He slumped into his chair and pulled out his phone, checking his messages before calling the one number he knew would understand. 

“Wooyoouunngg,” he whined, his straw still in his mouth.

“Oh no, is it that bad? It can’t be, everything looks good on you.”

Seonghwa whimpered. “Thank you, but I can’t keep doing this. I don’t understand how no one can get it right…” 

“Alright, show me.” 

Reluctantly, Seonghwa took his phone off his downturned bunny ears and switched the call to video mode. In a second, Wooyoung’ chocolate eyes and long, black hair fluttering in purposefully shaggy cuts on his deliciously tan skin took up his entire screen. He sighed again. Wooyoung’ hair always looked right. Even in the morning after their sleepovers, it was as if he’d wake up like that, no effort needed. 

Unlike him, Wooyoung wasn’t a hybrid with an undercoat. He was a shorthaired cat. Most cats never had these problems.

“Seonghwa, you look stunning!” 

“Yeah, thanks…” he replied as he chewed on his straw. “I still hate it though.” 

Wooyoung gave him a reassuring look, ever understanding. “Well, what about it don’t you like?” 

“I don’t know, it’s just… not right. The texture is uneven, and I feel like as soon as I wash it, my undercoat hair is going to make it puff out like crazy. Remember the last time that happened?

His friend stifled a laugh. “Yeah, you looked like a dandelion.” 

Seonghwa groaned. It was going to happen again, he was sure of it. His frustration was already making him hot under the collar, and could feel his hair lift in ways he didn’t want because of it. 

“What am I going to do? I have to look good for my castings next week, and I don’t have the time to do my hair for two hours every morning just for the style to be gone by the afternoon. These stupid salons, they all advertise that they’re hybrid friendly, yet none of them seem like they’ve ever cut one to begin with. Isn’t this why they go to beauty school in the first place?”

Wooyoung just sat and listened. He knew that Seonghwa needed to get it off his chest so that he could move forward with his day, or he would be stuck in that cafe forever.

“You’re right, love, you’re so right. I’m sure you’ll eventually find the right one-” his friend comforted, yet cut off at the end of his sentence as the sound of a door came through. “Oh, hi honey. I’m on the phone with Seonghwa.”

“I could tell, could hear you two from the hallway,” San joked as his face popped into frame. “Hey Hwa, nice hair. A lil poofy though.” 

If looks could kill, even through a phone, Seonghwa’s was it. The only correct thing San, his childhood best friend, had ever done in his life, was marry the man who would eventually be his actual best friend. He adored them both dearly though, regardless of how much either or the two combined could get on his case.

“You suck, get out of my face. I’m speaking to your better half.” he joked, deadpan.

San’s goofy smile curled over sharp teeth, his own cat blood prevalent in his defined features, but like the good, pathetic, beefy boy he was, he popped out of view after giving his husband a kiss.

“Listen, I gotta go, but I’ll keep my eye out on Pingram if I spot any good independent hairdressers, okay? Might be a bit more expensive, but it’d be worth it to get what you want, right?” 

“Right…” Seonghwa agreed solemnly, the prospect of having to sift through social media for anothis eventual letdown already grating on his mind. 

“Okay well, I love you! Make the most of what you’ve got! I’ll talk to you soon!” Wooyoung’ finger hovered over the disconnect button. 

“Love you too,” he replied, then his screen went dark. 

Make the most he said, yet he still hated everything that he saw in his reflection. 

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Two weeks. Two weeks had come and gone, and he’d tried to be positive, like Wooyoung suggested. He supposed he had to be thankful that his hair grew out quickly, meaning that he would get another chance to maybe, finally, have someone get it right. 

Right then was not that time though. It was 3:00 AM, and he’d been doom scrolling on Pingram for hours in the dark, rolled up into a ball. He had a 7:00 AM shoot the same day, and could already hear his makeup artists complaining about having to cover his puffy purple eyebags on his lightly tanned skin. He didn’t give most posts a chance, flipping to the next one before a second of the sound could start playing. Nothing caught his eye, nothing looked good enough. He’d exhausted the #hybridhairdresser tag to the point where he would have to refresh the feed regularly to get new posts. 

Then, a notification banner came up at the top of his screen. It was from Wooyoung, sending him a profile via DM on Pingram. 

wooyonyang

don’t ever tell me i never do things for you 😘

[link to a profile named captain.cuts] 

ddeongbyeoli

what’s this?? it looks alternative…

are you sure you sent me the right thing?

Confusion furrowed his white brows as he clicked on the profile, the picture already throwing him for a loop. It was a white outline of a weird circle and cross logo with neo-gothic lettering. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like some sort of underground bar or nu-metal band. 

wooyonyang

yes hwa! they at least look like they know what he’s doing. you can only see hands in the videos though…

i already booked you an appointment, the deposit’s on me. if you don’t like them at all, let me know and i’ll pay for the whole thing. 

hope you don’t have anything planned for tomorrow at 6~ 😉

ddeongbyeoli

omg no woo this is too much!

how much was it, i’ll cover it

ur lucky my schedule is in the morning today…

wooyonyang

nope!!! you’ve been going thru it with these hairdressers, let me treat you! 

if anything, you can get me dinner once you love your new hair ♥

ddeongbyeoli

san doesn’t deserve you

…why are you awake right now anyway?

wooyonyang

don’t worry about it. send me pictures!!!

Seonghwa giggled at his phone. Soon, the anxiety that had kept him awake finally subsided, oddly excited to try out the new stylist later that day.

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Now he definitely knew he was at the wrong place. 

He stared at a door that wasn’t even on the main road, but tucked into a side street only accessible on foot. The part of the city Seonghwa was in wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the greatest. Clearly this person either lived here or couldn’t afford anything better. The address on Smoogle maps was correct though, the number 1998 staring back at him on the door matching the one on his phone. The door itself had seen better days. Beaten in, graffiti washed and redone multiple times over, stickers and ad flyers stuck and ripped off without bothering to completely finish the job. 

“This is where I die,” the bunny muttered under his breath, then pressed the doorbell.

Despite there being an intercom, there was no reply to his buzz. The seconds felt like an eternity as he gripped his phone tighter, considering to press the button again. He was fifteen minutes early, after all. 

Before his dainty, manicured finger could touch the bell, his ears perked up to the sound of heavy boots stomping down stairs and the jingling of keys. 

Seonghwa didn’t know what to expect when the door swung open. Sure, he’d watched some of the videos, but just as Wooyoung had said, only the stylist’s hands covered in chunky silver rings were shown expertly and gently cutting the hair of many hybrids with his same problem. It was the consideration of his work that made Seonghwa show up, as well as not wanting to waste Wooyoung’s money, but he could see why his friend would make the appointment sight-unseen. 

He was… short. Shorter than him. Shorter than a lot of the male or male-presenting models that he was used to working with. The first thing he noticed were his eyes. A dark brown so close to black he thought maybe they were no irises there at all. Next, he thought he must be hybrid if he knew his way around hybrid hair, but there were no signs of non-human ears or a tail that he could see. Even his fingernails were short and cut clean, but had scraped off black polish on most of them. 

No, he was human, and he just… looked like that. Pale-ish skin, lip ring, a million ear piercings, and sharp, defined features framed by jet black, short wavy hair.

“You Seonghwa?” His voice was friendly and slightly higher pitched, yet his face was utterly expressionless.

“Y-yes. Uhm, I’m sorry, is this uhh… Captain Cuts?” He turned his phone to him and pointed to the Pingram profile.

 The side of his lip decorated with the ring crooked up. 

So, he could show emotion… 

“Hongjoong. Come on up.” 

He held the door open for him to come inside like a perfect gentleman. The staircase that led up the one apartment in the building was just as scary as the outside, the ceiling lamps flickering and the walls painted a dusty green that reminded him of zombie skin. Seonghwa held onto the railing, not knowing if he should even touch it, but would rather that than slipping on the surefire deathtrap. When he finally got to the top of the stairs, the door was slightly ajar. 

“Go on inside, make yourself at home,” Hongjoong’s voice echoed behind him. 

Yet again, he didn’t know what to expect when he pushed the door open but it wasn’t what he saw. Hongjoong’s apartment was… clean, organized. Clearly a fan of the industrial style. Exposed brick walls, a black metal loft above his head in factory grating, and oddly enough, plants. Lots of plants. They littered the space depending on how much light they needed, and since the bottom floor was an open concept, he could spot some home-grown herbs in the kitchen and through the open sliding door to the balcony. Areas were sectioned off by more black factory grates, but the living room space was shared with a hairdresser’s chair in front of a large mirror with a table jutting out below it, cupboards and shelves beside it full of the tools usually found at salons.

But by far the best part of the place was the smell. Seonghwa could have sworn he had stepped into the finest bakery in the city with the way the buttery sweet aroma of fresh baked goods filled the apartment. Early winter was already being cruel, so the coziness of his home and the mouth-watering air warmed him up instantly. He shivered as he shook off the last little bit of the cold they left behind, taking his coat with it. 

“Let me get that,” Hongjoong motioned to receive the jacket, his other hand directing him to the chair and living room area. “Set your stuff down wherever you’d like. Sorry about the baking, thought you’d be here a little later.” 

“Don’t be,” Seonghwa took in another deep breath as his heels clacked on the dark, cement floors. “It smells amazing. What are you making?”

Hongjoong hung up his jacket on a coat rack by the door before tending to the oven. “Had a craving for red velvet cookies. Would you like one when they’re cooled down?” 

The bunny nodded excitedly, his hair bouncing off his shoulders. With care, he placed himself in his chair, and waited for him to be ready, taking in his surroundings further. The man obviously lived there, as he could see the bottom of his bed through the floor of the half-loft that also served as the ceiling for the back half of the apartment. The upstairs looked a bit more lived in from what he could tell, but was glad that meticulous cleanliness extended to the bedroom as well. Not that he had any need to see it, though.

“You’ve got a nice place, definitely not what I was thinking when I arrived.” 

The comment earned him an amused chuckle from the kitchen. “What, did you expect a dump?” 

“I mean… from the outside, yes…” He blushed, not wanting to come off as judgemental. “Or at least for the place to smell like cigarettes and dirt.” 

He couldn’t see him fully from where he was sitting, but could see a bit through the diamonds of the metal grate dividers. He seemed unfazed by his assertions, going about his business as usual. 

“I don’t smoke in the house, don’t let clients or friends do it either. That’s one of my rules,” he informed as he closed the oven and turned it off. 

Seonghwa showed his hands in surrender. “Not a problem with me. I’d prefer it, actually. Makes my throat close up.” 

Hongjoong washed his hands in the sink before drying them with a black kitchen towel then sauntered over to him. Seonghwa quickly spun the chair to face the mirror. He did take a second to notice the hairdresser’s styling as well, though. The man definitely fit his environment in dark colours, but he mixed textures and cuts, modern and clean, yet grungy. A crisp black button up shirt undone at the top, paired with charcoal dark-wash jeans with fraying down the legs, tucked into the high-top black military boots that were scuffed a bit only on the soles. The rest of the leather was pristine. 

So, the man could dress himself, cook, and kept his house clean. If his body matched his handsome face, which it looked like it did, then he probably had no problem getting anyone’s attention. 

Suddenly, Seonghwa started understanding why he chose to keep a low profile. Even before he was a model, he’d gone through it too. People like to think they own your space because they like your looks. He’d learned the hard way to keep his private life close, and who he let in closer.

Hongjoong’s foot pumped up the chair to a comfortable level for him, then he leaned in a bit, chains and necklaces that had been hidden in his shirt now dangling by his client’s head. 

“You alright with me touching your hair now?” 

No one had asked him that before. All of his previous hairdressers had automatically stuck their fingers in his hair without asking, almost violently so, especially if he were at a shoot or a fashion show. They didn’t have the time, nor did they care. 

Seonghwa nodded, afraid that maybe he would be too much of a challenge. 

Hongjoong took off his rings and dropped them into a dish, then carded his fingers gently through his hair, the pads of them pressing into his scalp just enough to relax the locks through his hands. It felt… wonderful. Calming. It was either that or the suddenly apparent deep aroma of coconut and musk that followed him. Probably both.

The man hadn’t done anything to him yet, and he was already melting in his hands.

“So, what are we doing today?” 

“Oh,” Seonghwa opened his eyes, not having realised that he closed them in the first place, and pulled out his phone. “This is what I’m looking for. Sorry, I do have to tell you that I have horrible luck with all of my stylists. As you can probably tell, they just cut my hair however they like yet after a wash it all just puffs out and looks horrible and uneven. I’m- I just hope you can fix it.” 

His dark chocolate eyes were on his screen as he swiped through the pictures, sometimes asking him to zoom in on specific ones and explain why he liked them. He listened attentively, hummed with understanding, asked his more clarifying questions. 

Again, no one had ever done that for him before. Not to that extent. 

“I think I’ve got it. Given your bunny hair, I can tell that your undercoat is what usually causes the frizz and the uncontrolled fluffiness you want to taper in. We can’t do much to stop it from fluffing out, as it’s the nature of that type of hair to do so, but what we can do is to cut in inner and outer layers, respecting the different textures so that when you do go to wash it at home, you still have your style intact. How does that sound?” 

Seonghwa smiled wide, cheeks pink with relief and excitement. “Sounds like a dream.” 

After that, they didn’t speak much, if at all, aside from Hongjoong confirming lengths and shaping. Seonghwa opted to cut it just past his jawline, so that his mix of sharp and soft features could be highlighted and the cut could last longer. 

He started with leading him to the bathroom where somehow he had managed to install a washing chair, a standing shower, a toilet, and a sink in the relatively compact space. ‘Had to give up the small office under the stairs to the loft’ he explained, given his astonishment with his tetrising.

If his earlier touch was a trailer for the movie that was the rest of the process, he would have come to the cinema much, much sooner. The water was perfectly tepid on his scalp, then when Hongjoong applied the shampoo, frothed in his hands before rubbing it into his hair, the width of his hands comfortably encompassed his head into a gentle, yet present massage that extended down his neck as well. With each stroke, he could feel the weight of his body drop into his hands involuntarily, but without doubts that Hongjoong would be there to catch him. 

It was bliss. Pure, unending bliss. 

The stylist double-shampooed his hair, then continued the massage to his temples and the sides of his face when he broke out the conditioner. Like everything else in his home, it smelled heavenly, this time of jasmine and the same coconut aroma that stuck to him. Seonghwa had to fight himself to stay awake, the compounding of his massaging with his few hours of sleep and the grueling day schedule he had catching up to him with a quickness. He dreaded the end of it as Hongjoong washed the conditioner out of his hair, and gently pushed him up to sit straight and wrap his head in a towel.

“You good?” he chuckled, catching his dreamy gaze at nothing.

“Yeah… Did anyone ever tell you that you should be a masseuse, too?” He responded as he stood, wobbling as if he’d forgotten how to use his legs. 

Another chuckle, a little louder this time. “You wouldn’t be the first, and probably won’t be the last.” 

In a haze, he directed him back to his chair where the massage thankfully continued, this time with the towel between his hands as he dried the excess water from his hair. One hand would cradle one side of his head while the other rubbed the cloth to him with the utmost care, like he was a newborn baby with the most sensitive skin. With each passing second, relaxation and an unexplainable sense of safety were beating his will to keep himself lucid. Hongjoong noticed, his touch becoming careful caresses that only exponentiated their effect.

“Shh, it’s okay, if you want to sleep…” 

To be honest, everything after that was a blur. Seonghwa knew he’d taken a bunch of clips out to be able to get to his undercoat, felt him separate his hair, but then darkness overtook his mind. The bunny wanted to stay there forever, pliant under his touch, even if Hongjoong was a complete stranger. Somehow, he knew he could trust him, despite his edgy, unapproachable exterior that said otherwise.

So safe, so warm, so comforting. Nothing like what he’d expected.

Like floating on a cloud in the golden hour of the afternoon.

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

When he woke, it was slow, unknowing to how much time had passed. 

Seonghwa felt small, contained. Strange, he was laying on something. Maybe, on a plush pillow, again permeated with that musky coconut smell that enveloped him from the moment the man opened his door. 

Man. Pillow. Sleep. Smell. Small.

Panic set in, eyes flying wide open. 

When had he turned into his bunny form? 

He was still in Hongjoong’s apartment, in the living room. At some point, the stylist had moved Seonghwa’s tiny bunny body onto the couch, and built a small, roofless pillow fort around him with the cushions so he could sleep comfortably and not fall over.

Oh.

Hongjoong was back in the kitchen, this time working on what looked like cream cheese icing to go with the red velvet cookies. He spied him through the diamonds again, testing the taste of the icing on his fingers before washing his hands and applying the drizzle to the cookies. Seonghwa’s mind told him to let the hairdresser know he was awake, but his body wouldn’t move, still drunk on the feeling of unabashed serenity from Hongjoong’s treatment. In that moment, he could have cared less what his hair looked like, but something told him it was nothing to worry about.

Hongjoong brought the plate over with a glass of milk and set them on the coffee table before the bunny. 

“Ah, you’re awake. You should’ve said something,” he said, taking a seat beside the pillow fort. 

“Mmh, sorry, I was just really tired. When did I fall asleep?” he mustered as he propped himself up a bit, his little front paw rubbing his muzzle. 

“Pretty much as soon as I started cutting,” Hongjoong took one of the cookies and broke it up, offering him a small piece while the other had fed himself the rest of it. “Rough night?”

He took the piece into his paws and nibbled on it, once again melting into the pillow. Sweet, buttery vanilla, with the tang of the cream cheese icing. The best cookies he’d ever had in his life. Was there anything the man was bad at?

“You could say that. I was nervous to come here, or find someone in general. Also, these cookies are stupid good. I take back my prior statement that you should be a masseuse, be a pastry chef instead.” 

Hongjoong flashed his crooked smile again, taking another cookie. “Then who's gonna cut your hair?”

Right. His hair. The whole reason he was here. 

But he was in his bunny form. Had he been able to cut his in that form too? How did he do that? Did he know how? 

All of these questions flowed out of his the more his brain turned back on to reality. The stylist humoured each one without restraint, explaining that aside from going to beauty school, he’d also gone into pet grooming, specifically so that he could tackle the various complicated textures that came with each type of hybrid hair. 

“All of this because my friend Mingi was in a similar predicament as you. He hated how human-based stylists would cut his hair, and hybrid stylists are few and far between. The good ones anyway. That, and he also wanted crazy hairdos for when we go out or perform with the band.” 

“You’re in a band?!” Honestly, the man was every emo’s wet dream, he should have just assumed he was in a band.

He laughed, high and a bit croaky, the signs of his smoking habit showing through. “I can’t sing worth a shit, but I can play a guitar well enough.”

Finally, something he was bad at.

“I should have known. At least for that, you look the part.” 

“Yeah? And what are you, some sort of model?”

Seonghwa shrunk himself once more. Usually he didn’t, he was proud of his profession, but he’d made many snap judgements about the other man already, and didn’t want to fall into the known stereotypes of people in his vocation. A bad habit of his own, since the spaces he moved in were all about looks.

“Yes…” 

The man watched him carefully. “I meant it as a compliment, Seonghwa.”

“Ah…” he relaxed again. “Thank you.” 

Silence stretched between them for a bit, before Hongjoong sucked in some air and lifted himself off the couch. In a firm grip, he gently picked up the pillow he was on and took his back into the bathroom, placing him on the closed toilet seat.

“Feel free to change back whenever you’re ready, and let me know what you think. I can make any edits you’d like.” 

With that, he shut the door behind him. Seonghwa was about to chirp back how could he transform, if his clothes were still out there, until he noticed his black turtleneck and jeans hanging on the towel hook of the door, embarrassingly his socks and underwear in a travel bag on top of them.

He’d thought of everything and said nothing. Didn’t rub it in his face or shame him for transforming when he felt tired and safe. Sweet, very sweet.

His human feet touched down on the warm tiles, pushing him forward to get dressed, until he caught himself in the bathroom mirror.

It was perfect. He hadn’t even noticed his hair since it felt so light, so airy and fluffy in all the right ways. Small, soft curls framed his face, and when he ran his hand through it, careful to not undo all of Hongjoong’s hard work, he could tell that the way he had cut it would make it manageable. With the right products and routine at home, he could even keep the curly style, if he wanted. 

Hongjoong had even added a cute narrow pink bow in the back to tie the whole romantic look together.

His hand covered his mouth, not wanting to cry, pathetic and naked in his stylist’s bathroom. With a few tear escapees and calming breaths, he pulled himself together enough to get dressed and emerge from the bathroom, hoping and praying that Hongjoong wouldn’t notice his puffy eyes.

Not that he would say anything about it, anyway. He’d been discreet about everything else.

“...Yeah, still got a client here. Nah, he’s the last one. Sure, come over, I made cookies…” 

Seonghwa slinked back into the living room, wringing his hands. It felt wrong to be able to hear his conversation, but the man was wholly unbothered with his presence, giving him a reassuring smile when he came into his view.

“I gotta go, swing by in like, 20. See ya,” he hung up, turning all of his attention on him. “So?”

“I… I love it. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” Fuck, he was tearing up again. 

Hongjoong hummed with satisfaction, then reached for some tissues out of a box on the table to give to him. 

“I’m glad. Not one to toot my own horn, but I did good work.” 

Seonghwa couldn’t help but giggle even though tears were watering his eyes, dabbing the folded tissue into his tear ducts so as to not ruin his makeup. “That you did.” 

“Mind if I take a few pictures for Pingram? Don’t worry, I can cover or blur your face if you’d like.”

“No no, it’s fine, you can leave me uncovered. I’ve got a sizable following too, you deserve a shout out after everything I’ve put you through today…”

Hongjoong shook his head. “Don’t sweat it. I work by appointment only, and I’m pretty picky about my clients. Pretty much everyone I do are direct referrals, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Ah, that low profile again. He could respect it, understood protecting one’s own peace like that. 

“Your friend however, he’s very persuasive. Wouldn’t let me take no for an answer. Dunno what I did to convince him I could help you, but I’m happy he didn’t give up.”

“Ah yeah, that’s Wooyoung for you,” Seonghwa scratched his temple shyly and made a mental note to grill his friend later to see what he said in their DMs. “Speaking of which, how much do I owe you?”

Hongjoong wouldn’t tell him that Wooyoung had paid double his deposit price to take an emergency client on his regular day off. It wouldn’t cover how much he usually asked for the service, but he was willing to cut Seonghwa some slack, lest he face the wrath of the overly-animated black haired cat man. A lifted hand stopped Seonghwa from reaching for his phone or his wallet. 

“This one’s on the house, you looked like you needed it. Just promise you’ll come back when you’re ready to freshen up.” 

So much kindness. 

That’s what it was, kindness. The one feeling that gripped him ever since Hongjoong held the door open for him. 

“I can’t leave without paying you, please.” 

“I insist. Actually, better yet,” he turned to rummage through his things, pulling out a small flyer and handing it to him. “You mentioned a shout out. Come out to our next show, and if you like what you hear, take a few videos and give us a shout out then. Jongho, the bar owner and uh, sort of our manager, would kill me if he found out one of my clients is a famous model and I didn’t utilize the connection. The man’s a monster of capitalism.” 

Seonghwa took the flyer from him, for what was obviously some sort of underground alt rock party. He’d never been to one before, but he knew he could probably convince Wooyoung and San to come with him. 

It helped to know one of the headlining band members, anyway.

“World Z? The Guerrilla? Quite the names,” he mused as he tucked the folded flyer into his pocket. 

“Yeah, a little cliche if you ask me, but it fits the vibe.” 

The bunny hummed. “Alright, I’ll see if I can make it. Let's take those pictures now.”

Hongjoong had him sit back in the chair for a few angles until he was happy with the results, again meticulous with the process as he adjusted the placement of a curl here or there. Once he was satisfied and Seonghwa gathered his things, alongside a resealable bag of cookies to take home, he led him back down the stairs. Going through the narrow hallway felt like transporting back into reality, the air cooling with each step until the full blast of winter hit him in the face when Hongjoong fully held the door open for him again. 

Night had darkened the side street, so much so that Hongjoong also insisted on walking him to the main road where there was more light, and he could make sure he caught a cab. 

Again, so much kindness. 

Slowly but surely, Seonghwa felt himself growing attached. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t want a shout out for his hairdressing services. He might start having a problem with sharing him with too many other people.

Lost in his thoughts and light conversation as they rounded the corner, he almost bumped into a very tall man, who was also coming around without anticipating someone on the other side.

“Ah, I’m so- rry…” Seonghwa apologized, looking up at the person he almost collided with, the top of his dirty blonde hair crowned by a pair of matching floppy dog ears. 

His words died in his mouth.

“Oh, hey Yunho,” Hongjoong greeted. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Chapter Text

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Kids screaming and chasing after each other in the playground filled his vision. Winter had them all bundled up, but it didn’t stop them from playing, cheeks red and nose runny from the cold’s efforts to remind them of the season. Despite it all, the sun shone brightly.

The little bunny lifted a hand hidden in a mitten to shield his sensitive pink-red eyes from the light. His other gloved hand held onto the chilled metal chain of the swing he sat on.

Every bit of the park was crawling with kids. No part of it was unused or unoccupied.

Except for the swing seat beside him.

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Wooyoung whistled as Seonghwa rounded the corner of his walk-in closet, adjusting a stack of silver bracelets on his wrist. 

“Damn, you should try out this sort of look more often, Hwa! It really suits you.” 

Black and silver were no strangers to Seonghwa’s wardrobe, as it was what he wore on a regular basis, but he’d never really dabbled into the whole grungy look. Most of his pieces were clean cut and patternless, in soft fabrics gentle against his skin. He was hard-pressed to find anything ripped or sufficiently casual to match the looks Wooyoung and him had picked out as inspiration on Pingram, but settled on comfortable, sleek black leather heeled boots, skin-tight and low-cut yet breathable charcoal jeans courtesy of Wooyoung, and a strappy, backless black halter top to mitigate the heat of the underground club. His friend had also lent him a grey flannel to tie it all together, and keep him warm just in case, aside from his usual black leather coat. To top it all off, he matched his makeup to the vibe, underlining and smoking out his lower lash line and going for a more vampy coloured lip tint. Yet another thing he hadn’t really done on himself outside of photoshoots that called for it.

Seonghwa slipped a silver chain belt through the belt loops, letting the excess hang down his supple thigh. “Yeah? It’s definitely a look, but a good change of pace.” 

Wooyoung smiled wide, hands holding him up on Seonghwa’s bed. Thankfully, he was free to accompany him to a party full of strangers, the bunny debating if he would even go if Woo couldn’t go with him. He looked much more suited for where they were going, more smoked out black makeup, a silver chain with a clothespin clasp hanging from his neck, black sleeveless turtleneck tucked into his jeans ripped from thigh to hem and tipped by black buckled platform boots. With them on, they were the same height, which the younger wouldn’t stop mentioning at every chance he got.

“Ready, or do you need another hour?” San joked through the slightly ajar door.

“Ah, quit your griping, we’re ready,” Wooyoung bounced off the bed to let the other in. 

San's eyes widened as he saw the pair, and whistled in the same tone as his partner, no doubt a shared habit. “Wow. You both look amazing. Absolutely delicious.”

“Thanks love,” the black cat hooked his arm into the tuxedo’s elbow with a kiss on the cheek. “Let's get going before Hwa gets cold feet.”

Seonghwa wouldn’t back out now that he’d roped his friends into joining him, and left Hongjoong a quick text message to let him know they were on their way. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

“Name,” the bouncer stated plainly, colder than the winter night around them. 

Once again Seonghwa found himself somewhere that looked like it had no business being what it was on the inside. The building itself was a large cement block with a side door entrance, nothing delineating its purpose aside from the giant man glowering and the long line of people behind them. The place was certainly popular, the cliche flyers Hongjoong had shown him must have worked a charm.

Hongjoong had told him to cut the line, that this was okay and to just give his name, but it didn’t make his stomach churn any less, especially with the annoyed faces now giving him all of their attention. He shivered, not knowing if it was from the sub zero chill or the eyes on him.

“He’s probably some socialite who thinks they can cut the line…”

“Who do they think they are anyway?” 

“I think I recognize the bunny from Pingram…”

“S-Seonghwa. We’ve been invited by one of the band members? Hongjoong?” 

The bouncer eyed them under bushy eyebrows before radioing the information in. Soon enough, a younger, unfamiliar voice replied back confirming they were on the list of VIPs for the night.

“You got it, boss,” he said as he stepped aside and slid open the metal factory door.

The wave of heat that hit them from the inside almost knocked the bunny on his feet. Blaring guitars and drums reverberated on the walls of the establishment, only lit by the light on the wide stage at the back and dim ambient lamps at the bar and some of the peripheral seating areas. Otherwise, a festival of lasers and lights matched the beat of the song being performed, precarious steps leading down into the pit of darkness where humans and hybrids alike danced and moshed to the music. A mixture of alcohol, smoke, and body sweat assaulted his senses in its sickly sweet and salty aroma, thickening the air as he inhaled it in. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, but Seonghwa realised he needed some time to accommodate himself to his loud, unknown surroundings. San and Wooyoung on the other hand, looked right at home, with the tuxedo’s thick arm over his partner’s shoulders. 

As they stepped into the place, unsure of where to go, a man stepped in front of them. 

Not hybrid, although he definitely could be. Human.

Were all of Hongjoong’s acquaintances gorgeous? 

“Hello,” a voice much deeper than the one he expected by how angelic his face looked said before checking the clipboard in his hands, “you must be Seonghwa, and… San and Wooyoung, correct?”

The bunny could only nod, stunned into a stupor by how the man’s cherry red waves flowed around his adonic face, no doubt in his mind that Hongjoong was the architect behind his crowning glory. It was as if he were made of wine and strawberries, Seonghwa sure that’s what he smelled like too, a welcome breath amongst the smoke and sweat. 

“Great, right this way. You’ve got the VIP box for tonight. Here’s your wristbands, don’t take these off,” he instructed as he handed them the black straps, “This means you’ve got open bar access as well, on the house since it’s your first time ever here. You’ve got some good friends in high places!” 

The man’s smile was soft and blinding like the early morning sun.

“Oh! Where are my manners? I’m Yeosang. Please, follow me.” 

Seonghwa muttered a thank you and looked back at his friends to confirm that they were seeing the same thing too. Both men were flushed, unable to speak as they did as they were told, not letting the red hair get out of their sight. Yeosang guided them dutifully to a metal staircase that winded up to a second half-floor, decked out with its own comfortable seating and private bar. There were some people sitting there already, also dressed up in garments to match the occasion, some of which Seonghwa recognized from their popularity on Pingram or other endeavours, mainly music-related. Yeosang hadn’t been kidding about the high places.

Honestly, how had he not stumbled on this place earlier, especially with that sort of patronage? He’d never seen it before, not even tagged or mentioned anywhere on social media.

Maybe that’s where he and the other people came in.

“Please make yourselves comfortable, I’ll be back shortly. The Guerilla should be on in like…” the coordinator checked his elegant digital watch with a flick of his wrist, “....mm about an hour. I highly recommend making your way down to the Pit closer to start time. If you need anything, please let the bartender know, and they’ll ring me up.”

Yeosang turned on his heel before they could say anything, not that they could anyway. The bunny and his friends settled into one of the couches perpendicular to the stage to get the best view of the crowd and show below. 

“Holy shit Hwa, I thought we were just going to a rock concert!” Woo slid onto the couch in front of him, San quick to follow beside him. 

“Yeah, me too…” Seonghwa replied breathlessly. 

“I haven’t heard of this place, or of Hongjoong’s band, but I won’t complain about the accommodations,” the tuxedo added, flashing his dimples and toothy grin.

What had they gotten themselves into?

They collected their first round of drinks and were sipping on them for some time when they saw the gate to the VIP sector open up again. Yeosang had returned, this time with another unfamiliar man in tow. 

Now he definitely looked out of place. 

His suit was tailored to perfection to his stocky body, buttons done all the way up to his neck despite the heat. It was black on black on black, adding to the man’s elegance and imposition. Every employee that came into his orbit immediately straightened their backs and worked faster, sweetened their voices, widened their smiles. The bunny at first thought he must be some sort of rich heir, but he walked with a purpose not of someone there to hang around.

He must be the owner, Seonghwa deduced, especially with how Yeosang was fluttering around him like a fairy, rattling off updates scrawled on his clipboard.

Oh gosh, he’s coming this way. What do I say?

Seonghwa squinted in the dark.

He’s… a hybrid?

When the man approached them, he bowed his head, a pair of cute little bear ears popping into view atop his chocolate brown hair. Them, and his round, baby cheeks completely contradicted his intimidating aura, leaving the group confused as to how to act around him. He looked a bit younger than them as well, no thanks to the plumpness and youthful handsomeness of his face. Yet another looker for the books, Seonghwa noted.

Was he really the owner of the club?

“Good evening, my name is Jongho. I’m the owner of World Z,” he confirmed with a polite curl of his lips, “Whatever you need, Yeosang and I are here to attend to you.”

“That’s awfully kind,” Seonghwa replied, shy, “Honestly, we weren’t expecting… all of this. It’s a pleasant surprise.” 

Jongho’s smile widened, gummy and adorable. “Of course. Friends of Hongjoong are friends of mine, too. Now, if you’ll excuse me-”

“Jongho!” 

All of the heads whipped around, the voice finally familiar. Hongjoong jogged up to them, out of breath. The bunny almost choked on his drink when he was near enough for the light to reveal his outfit. His dark curls spilled out of a bandana tied around his head, his broad chest adorned in stacked silver chains over a tight white tank top and a loose sleeveless vest on top, a black half skirt over baggy pants held together by wide belts that hugged and defined his hips. 

He looked positively delectable, not at all as conservative as he was when they first met. Seonghwa couldn’t stop looking at him, mainly at his exposed, muscular arms, and the tattoo that decorated his right upper underarm. 

No one like him, indeed.

“Ah, you made it! I’m so glad. Gimme a sec,” Hongjoong grinned, but it was short lived, swiftly replaced by a scowl. “Jong, he bailed, again .” 

“What?! You go on in thirty, what’re we going to do? We can’t cancel the show,” Jongho’s rage was palpable, everyone around them reminded of his ursine blood.

Hongjoong gave him a look, eyes pleading and a slight pout on full display. The man that had looked so intimidating and rough around the edges at their first meeting melted into a puddle of male manipulation that immediately pulled at the bunny’s chest.  

Oh, he’s good.

“Absolutely not,” Jongho refused, tightening his tie.

“But you’re the only one who knows the songs, you hear us perform them every time! C’mon, we can rough you up a bit so that you fit the bill,” the man begged. 

“I said no.”

“...I think you should…” came a timid voice hidden behind a clipboard, hazel eyes sparkling even in the dimness of the club. “Why else would you go to all their practices and sound checks?”

“Because I’m making sure I’m getting a return on my investment,” Jongho grimaced. “And you’re not helping, Sangie. Don’t think I don’t know why you’re doing this.”

The cherub’s eyes smiled more before he completely hid his face behind the clipboard, but the red tips of his ears bled into his hair and gave him away.

The owner sighed deeply, closing his eyes. After a moment, he unbuttoned his blazer and ripped it off, throwing it onto an empty couch and began rolling up his sleeves, the burly shape of his arms and chest immediately apparent with less layers. 

“Fine, just this once. You owe me big time, Joong.” 

Hongjoong smirked devilishly at his success, then winked at his guests. “See you all in the Pit.” 

Yeosang stayed behind a beat as the men walked out, already discussing what ‘roughing up’ entailed. He managed to reveal his face again from behind the clipboard once he was safe, not able to contain his excitement. 

“Now you’re all in for a real show.”

With that, he scampered off again, surely to aid in whatever chaos was coming their way. 

The three on the couch stared at each other silently for a moment before Wooyoung broke the spell.

“Holy fuck, that’s your stylist?!”

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Not wanting to miss the hype, the trio managed to squeeze themselves through the crowd to the barricade after downing a couple more rounds of drinks. Seonghwa needed the liquid courage in his system if he was going to brave the ocean of people anyway, already not too keen on how many hands and bodies were pressed against his, both voluntarily and involuntarily, but it didn’t stop them from trying to get the best spots in the Pit.

The lights dimmed as the opening act ended and packed away their things, and the shadows of the headliners ran back and forth before settling themselves in their places. Murmurs of anticipation and the odd cheer echoed through the club, everyone on the edge of their seats for the main attraction.

Seonghwa felt himself holding his breath, his eyes never leaving the dark stage. 

A riff of a guitar ushered in an explosion of white light, and an eruption of screams from the fans. In an instant, the four members of The Guerrilla were standing on the stage, a dangerous aura emanating from their already steaming bodies. They gave the crowd a minute to drink in the visual, the bunny sucked into the electric energy sparking around them while his eyes drifted from member to member. 

Hongjoong had been the one to play the starting note, wagging the tremolo arm on the guitar to wobble the sound lingering from his instrument with the same devil smirk from earlier curling his lips. Notably, he’d darkened his makeup for the show to look even more menacing, matching the three predator hybrids that shared the stage with him. Hongjoong’s presence there made him a couple feet taller than he actually was, commanding the group with his stance alone, the obvious leader despite not being in the center. The gentleness Seonghwa had seen at Hongjoong’s apartment was completely gone, and for some reason, the duality made him all the more attractive. 

Quiet confidence with an underlying, dangerous glint in his eyes, just the bunny’s type. The stage was his, that much was clear.

To his right, Jongho stood tall in the middle, gripping onto the mic with hastily painted nails. His hair had been tousled into an intentional mess, milk coffee skin glistening beneath his black button up shirt, top three buttons undone to show off his clavicles, and a leather jacket with long tassels along the arms vibrating with his breaths. His dark eyes skipped over the crowd, a testament to his nervousness, but he focused on a spot in the back of the club and steadied himself with a roll of his shoulders and a crack of his neck. He was ready.

Beside Jongho, Seonghwa recognized Yunho’s tall frame, clad in a black tank top and fishnet long sleeve shirt over baggy pants, his bass guitar hanging low against his crotch. His long, lithe fingers positioned themselves on the strings and the neck, hand tattoos in the form of amorphous waves snaking up from his fingertips to his arms, a detail the bunny had missed from their first meeting since he’d been covered from the neck down in winter clothes. Another new detail was his vertical labret piercing, plush lower lip resting against a silver straight bar from the bottom of the piercing itself, pushing against it with a lusciousness he was suddenly reminded of from when he first laid eyes on him. 

Seonghwa would’ve definitely remembered a piercing like that, and silently wondered what it would feel like against his lips.

 As his eyes crawled up Yunho’s body, he froze when he saw that the golden retriever was looking straight at him. In an instant, everyone around him disappeared, and he felt a non-existent, cold wall against his bare back.

“Woah, who’s that? He’s eating you up with his eyes,” Wooyoung unhelpfully added, the bunny’s cheeks flushing red to his observation.

“Yunho, Hongjoong’s friend…” Seonghwa informed as goosebumps bubbled on his skin.  

They couldn’t say anything further as the band moved to start the first song, but not before the bunny caught glowing eyes from the back, a hulking wolf whose name he couldn’t remember crouched over the drums, grey mullet coiffed up and around his prominent ears, spinning his drumsticks. 

The wolf also stared at him, but unlike Yunho, instead of eating him up, his gaze was ripping him apart.

All Seonghwa could hear was his heartbeat in his sensitive bunny ears, tucking them behind his back instinctually in the face of imminent danger.

Soon after, the crowd began to scream, and his friends pulled him back into reality to dance. He figured he could relax as long as they were around, losing themselves in the musky haze of the bodies and the music crashing against each other. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

“Cheers for another successful show!” 

The eight men raised their respective drinks and cheered, settling back into the VIP area of the club. Down in the Pit, the night had progressed to a DJ mixing rave and rock songs together to keep the party going into the early hours of the morning once The Guerilla’s set was over. 

“So, what did you think?” Hongjoong eyed his guests as he sipped on his soju mix. “Any good?”

“That was… amazing,” Seonghwa replied breathlessly, still reeling from the intensity of the music and how drunk he felt mostly from the adrenaline, with some help from the alcohol in his system. “How are you guys not more popular? You should be playing in sold-out stadiums.” 

San and Wooyoung sat in their original spots, and shared the last space on their couch with Yeosang. The band and the hosts brought in extra chairs to accommodate everyone, Jongho taking a stool beside his club manager, the wolf eventually introduced as Mingi’s endless legs tucked in under his stool beside him, then Seonghwa sitting between Hongjoong and Yunho on the opposite couch. He would have rather sat on one of the ends, specifically not the one closest to Mingi as for some reason the wolf gave off the impression of not liking Seonghwa too much from his prickly demeanour, but Wooyoung had engaged Hongjoong in conversation, distracting him, and the bunny didn’t want to make a fuss about seating. So, found himself in the awkward predicament of being sandwiched between two very attractive men, hot and sweaty from their time on the stage. 

Seonghwa shot the cat an almost imperceptible, meaningful glare, which was returned with an equally swift and subtle upturn of his eyes and a cheeky grin.

Ah, so it’s on purpose .

“Honestly, I was blown away by the amount of power and presence you guys have on stage, and Jongho, that voice!” San gushed. “What are you doing owning a bar when you could be doing that?!” 

“Thank you, but singing’s just a hobby,” the bear responded, clearly one he had given before by how unimpressed he looked as he drank a swig of his beer. “Do you think these guys haven’t asked me to join a billion times already?” 

Hongjoong nodded, his smugness never leaving his face. “Trust and believe I’ve tried, and one day, I’ll succeed.” 

“Fat chance,” Jongho countered flatly. “If I ever do, the first thing we’re doing is changing the band name.”

“Oh-hoh, and what would you suggest?” the captain mused, catching onto his in.

Amid the conversation, Seonghwa’s attention drifted to the redhead clinging off Jongho’s arm, smiling from ear to ear. From what he could put together, whatever relationship they had went way beyond boss and employee. The human was way too excited to do his job, way too considerate of how his boss acted and reacted around him, a fondness reciprocated by Jongho’s heavy hand on his knee, and lowering his shoulder to better hold up Yeosang’s head. It was… very sweet. Even though Seonghwa hadn’t known them long, he could see that they fit together like a puzzle, with a comfort and knowing of the other that he’d only witnessed with his own close friends.

Hybrid-human partnerships weren’t anything weird or frowned upon, yet they definitely weren’t the norm. The separate species usually stuck to each other, but in the modern day and age, the line became more and more blurred. Add to the mix that they were gay on top of that… Seonghwa could only imagine what the early days of their relationship looked like. He himself realised his orientation and preferences a long time ago, when he thought he’d dip his toes into the dating pool, but quickly took them out when the same old story would repeat itself over and over again: human or hybrid, people saw him and only saw or cared for his looks, whether that were a good or bad thing. In the face of that, he preferred to focus on himself and his own peace rather than try to make someone fit into his already hectic life, or heavens forbid, take away from the safe haven he’d carefully made for himself in his own little bubble. As supportive as San and Wooyoung were of his choices, they both urged him to get out more, hence the black cat’s insistence at meeting his new stylist, and subsequently, his friends.

“What do you think, Seonghwa?” Yunho asked, snapping him back to the conversation.

The bassist had turned his body slightly towards him, and rested his long arm along the back of the couch behind him. Seonghwa could feel the heat emanating from it against his exposed back, making him sit up a little straighter.

“O-oh, I don’t know, sorry. I was disassociating a bit,” the bunny blushed. “What was the question again?” 

Hongjoong leaned forward concerned, their thighs pressed together. “Are you tired? You all don’t have to stick around on our accounts if you are.” 

Seonghwa’s blush deepened, praying to whatever gods above that it wasn’t too obvious. “No no, I’m fine. I just don’t get out much aside from work, is all. Please, I’d love to answer.”

At that, he felt Yunho lean into him, lips only a few centimeters away from his downy ears. His voice was low and gravelly, drawing out his words a little longer than normal. 

“Hongjoong asked, what would you like to name the band?”  

The bunny wished the earth could swallow him whole in that moment, entirely overwhelmed by everyone around him. On instinct, he pulled away slightly, hands clasped to his drink against his thundering heart to cool down its pace. 

“Uhm, ah… I- How about… The Black Pirates?” Seonghwa answered tentatively, ready to be ridiculed for his response with pulled up shoulders.

But it never came.

“See, that’s already way cooler than The Guerrilla,” Jongho agreed. 

The others except for the wolf nodded.

“Well if you join, I’ll change the band name in a heartbeat, and give Seonghwa credit of course,” Hongjoong winked at the man sitting next to him. 

“Shouldn’t you ask the others if they’re okay with the name change?” the bunny interjected, not wanting the weight of the suggestion to be put on him alone, especially as a stranger.

For the first time since they had sat down, Mingi spoke. “If it means Jongho joins as our vocalist, we don’t give a fuck what the band is called.”

His lack of participation in the conversation immediately commanded everyone’s attention when he did speak, the table quiet until Yunho laughed, contagious enough for the others to do the same.

“Mings is right, although I do think that Seonghwa’s suggestion is pretty good.” 

Seonghwa giggled a bit more, hot fingers leaving condensation prints on his glass. “Thanks, Yunho.”

After that, the conversation eased into natural banter as the group wound down for the night. The newcomers fit in like a glove, as if they’d always been there, resulting in phone numbers and social media profiles being exchanged, and a massive group chat including all of them being made. It was overwhelming to say the least, but deep down, Seonghwa saw the widening of his social circle as a net positive. He’d gained new friends, new connections, and a chance to explore new environments that he otherwise wouldn’t have delved into. 

As they stood outside, the cold sobering them up for their rides home, the couples split off into their own little worlds, leaving the bunny with the rest of the band. He stuck a bit closer to Hongjoong, as he was the person he knew best, their previous interaction as evidence to the safety he felt around the only human in their divided group. Not that he had an issue with Yunho, and Mingi… Well, he still didn’t know what Mingi’s deal was, but chalked it up to him just being that way, since none of the others had called him out for his behaviour, and hoped that he would warm up eventually, if he wanted. 

Seonghwa crossed his arms to press his buttoned up jacket closer to himself and shivered. Snow gently fell, only visible in the yellow lights of the streetlamps, the bunny inwardly glad that there was no wind to blow it into their exposed faces. He snuggled his red nose into his scarf, then perked up with a start when he felt a hand on his upper back, rubbing warmth into him.

“Sorry, I should have asked,” Hongjoong apologised, a sheepish curve to his expression, “You looked cold, and I thought it was okay to touch you, since you didn’t have an issue before.”

Blushing, he relaxed into Hongjoong’s hand and nodded, flashing him a smile before retreating the bottom half of his face back into his scarf. “Yeah, you’re alright. I appreciate it.” 

His positive response softened the shorter man beside him and he shifted slightly closer. 

“Any plans for the rest of the weekend?” Yunho asked to fill the time. 

“Oh, not really. If I don’t have any weekend shoots I stay home, maybe go out for a coffee or a walk if the weather is nice. Do you guys have anything planned?” Seonghwa replied, making an effort to include Mingi in his question even though the other seemed to not want anything to do with him. 

As anticipated, Yunho answered for them. “We’re all in the same rec league for football, practices are usually Saturday mornings. After that, sometimes we get together to jam, if not I also hole myself up to play video games.” 

Seonghwa’s eyes swapped to the wolf to see if there was going to be any addition to the answer, but Mingi had lit up a cigarette and moved away from them, a heavy cloud floating into the chilled air as he exhaled.

“That’s nice, I’ve always wanted to join a club, but I can’t really decide on what sport to do. They all look like a lot of fun.” 

“You’re always welcome to come try out at ours, even if you just want to watch. We get pretty competitive though, especially if we’re on opposite teams,” Hongjoong added, his hand still on Seonghwa’s back.

“Yeah, I’d be down. Not tomorrow though, I can already feel my body begging for rest and to nurse my imminent hangover,” the bunny joked. 

Yunho chuckled. “Aww, bit of a lightweight, are we?”

Seonghwa shot him a well-intentioned glare, causing the retriever to raise his hands in surrender. “Woah, easy there. Didn’t mean to offend.” 

“Feel offended when I crush you at football,” he countered, “I may not win, but I don’t like to lose.” 

Their laughter echoed through the sparsely populated side road that the club sat on, ushering in the headlights slowing to their location. Seonghwa checked his phone to confirm the license plate. 

“That’s me. Thank you guys for the wonderful evening.” 

“Always a pleasure,” Hongjoong grinned wide. “I’m sure we’ll post in the group if there’s any more upcoming shows. Oh, and let us know when you got home safe.” 

“I will,” Seonghwa returned a soft smile, “and I’ll be looking forward to it.”

After shouting after the others and waving goodbye, the bunny approached the car with careful steps, the ground wet and slippery with fresh powder and black ice hidden underneath. He cursed choosing heels for these conditions, but it was a small price of embarrassment to pay for beauty. Besides, all of the runway classes he took had to work for something. 

Sensing his unsteadiness, a strong arm wrapped itself around his waist and helped him forward. Seonghwa gasped, half-assuming it was Hongjoong who had touched him again, but when he had to lift his head further up into the air than expected, he was met with Yunho’s deep brown eyes and sunny smile. 

“Careful, wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” he cautioned, quiet enough for only Seonghwa to hear. 

The bunny could feel his cheeks and ears betray his dignity again, but didn’t move away from the other’s grip. Once they were at the door of the car, Yunho opened it for him and helped him inside. 

“Have a good night,” he said with a wink, which Seonghwa could only respond to with a strained ‘you too.’

As the car pulled away, he pushed himself into the backseat with an exhale that felt like the weight of the world was coming off his chest. Nevertheless, he hoped and prayed that no one could hear how fast his heart was beating. 

It was too much for him to handle. Despite how much fun he had, he was grateful to not be between the two men anymore, his anxiety subsiding the further their figures were in the driver’s rear view mirror. 

But… It wasn't a bad feeling. Closing his eyes, he left coming to terms with his excitement to future Seonghwa, and the inevitable debrief call from Wooyoung that would be coming later that day after much needed sleep. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

“You sure know how to pick ‘em,” the retriever finally said as the cab drove down the street, away from them.

“Pick them for what?” Hongjoong asked, his brows curving with confusion, yet his sly grin said something else entirely. “You know I don’t mess around with clients, as adorable as this one is. He’s sweet, I honestly want to get to know him better.”

The taller only looked down at him with a knowing smile, but his witty quip was swiftly interrupted. 

“Y’all done?” the wolf complained as he reapproached, throwing out the butt of his spent cigarette and stuffing his hands into his worn-out leather jacket. 

Hongjoong frowned. “You could’ve been a bit nicer, Mingi. Seonghwa and his friends were just trying to enjoy themselves.” 

A deep harrumph came from the wolf. “Sure, Dad. Like I care about getting to know some piece of ass y’all are gonna lust over then forget about in a few months’ time, whether or not you actually get into his pants. Ugh, you practically reek of it.”

Mingi’s comments were met with a scowl from the eldest and a smirk from his best friend. 

“If I didn’t know you any better, Mings,” Yunho challenged, “I’d say that you’re jealous.” 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Chapter Text

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

tw: mentions of bullying

Seonghwa’s finger hovered over the list of contacts in the group chat.

He shouldn’t feel this anxious, really. Everyone, except for maybe the wolf drummer who wanted nothing to do with him, had been so nice, so welcoming, and had even unofficially invited him to hang out in other environments when they offered their football club.

It would be normal, right? To just… text one of them and invite them out? It’d only been a few days since they’d all met, after all.

With a heavy sigh, Seonghwa sunk back into his nest of comfy pillows and weighted blanket. Instinctively, he swapped chats to his DMs with Wooyoung, hoping that at least some of his extrovertedness could rub off on him through the screen. Soft clicks of his phone keyboard started forming a message to the cat, whining about how scared he was to reach out to their new acquaintances to get to know them better, not wanting to come off as too eager or weird. He could hear his friend egg him on in his head in his usual tough love, sarcastic manner already, telling him to quit messaging him and to grow a spine, with as much affection as possible. Hell, maybe it was better to not even message Woo, since he might have gone as far as to insinuate to sleep with one of the single ones, or even third-wheel for the couple, if they were into that. Not the kind of conversation Seonghwa wanted to entertain at that moment. 

Anything, really , he could hear him say, something to get you out of your shell more. Angel, you’re hot, you’re cute, and a gem to have around. How could they not want to spend more time with you?

Seonghwa groaned. He wanted to believe Wooyoung’s words, and to a degree he did, but the little voice at the back of his head always fought back.

What if they’re only doing it to be polite? To not hurt my feelings?   

Of course, they’d all been talking in the group chat, but Seonghwa relegated himself to throwing out stickers or reactions to everyone else’s messages. Every so often, usually his friends, would drag him into the conversation with a direct joke or comment, or mention him so his name was bolded in the text. Seonghwa would respond, and the others seemed keen to interact with him when he did speak. Again, everyone but Mingi, who only wrote when Yunho mentioned him or someone said something stupid enough that he couldn’t ignore biting back.

And so, he returned to staring at the list of contacts, begging the universe for a sign. 

His ruby eyes zeroed in on two names in particular, chest torn in opposite directions. The tip of his thumb flicked back and forth between both, his heart thundering in his chest as if he were about to ask them to marry him or something.

Infuriated with his own indecision and shyness, he squeezed his eyelids shut and left it up to chance, his phone screen hot under his touch.

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Sunny weather gave a respite from the biting cold of winter. Seonghwa sat on a green park bench with chipped paint, facing a man-made trench dug out to make the river that curved around the city circle the park and turn it into an island accessible only by rustic wooden foot bridges. Aside from the safety of his home, it was his favourite place in the whole world. It was a sanctuary, not just from the greyness of the city itself, but for the animals that called it home. In the winter, it served as a refuge for ducks or geese that didn’t mind the cold or hadn’t flown south, and any small critters that refused to hibernate, scuttling among the snow-piled evergreens and slumbering bushes. 

He inhaled deeply, allowing the chilled air to fill his lungs as he tilted his head upwards, his honeyed skin drinking in as much of the sunlight it could. Days like these were a rare blessing, so he wouldn’t miss the chance to make the most of it. Even though autumn was his favourite season, there was something about the sharpness of the cold that froze his brain for a bit, his usual overthinking shutting down in favour of being present in the moment. His brown woolen trench coat hugged his body, only the neck of his blue and white nautical knit sweater peeking out from the grey fuzzy scarf wrapped securely around his neck.

He loved it. If only he could feel this safe all the time.

Well, he had. He did. Although, the only other place he’d ever been able to fully give in and revert to his bunny form aside from his own home had been… Hongjoong’s apartment.

“Seonghwa?” 

At the mention of his name, his head snapped in the direction of the sound. Prey instinct kicked in as he gasped quietly and stared wide eyed, only for his shoulders to fall shortly after.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Yunho’s sheepish smile tinted his already pink cheeks a deeper shade. “Have you been waiting long?”

“N-no, not at all,” the bunny replied breathlessly, getting to his feet. “I was just enjoying the warmth, that's all.” 

At this, Yunho’s smile widened into a grin, and the tip of his long golden tail swished at his sides. Unlike Seonghwa, he seemed to take the cold better than he did, as he visibly only had a brown hoodie over a light tan pea coat, loose dark pants covering most of his brown boots except for their rounded tips. Notably, he’d also come bare faced, or at least imperceptible makeup that drew Seonghwa’s attention to his natural features even more.

“Want to grab a drink for our walk?”

Another perfect detail of Seonghwa’s island sanctuary was that a quaint little cafe sat in the middle of the park. In the spring and summer, the beautiful, luscious garden that surrounded it would be in full bloom with seasonal flowers. The historical building was well maintained, cream walls clean and icicles dangling from the resplendent brown shingles were a much needed contrast against all of the white snow around it. As they approached the antique wooden door, Yunho’s arm shot out from beside him to grab the intricate brass handle and held it open, hot air blasting both of them in the face. 

“Please, you first.” 

Seonghwa could only hope he could blame the colour of his cheeks on the sudden change of temperature from the outside to the inside. “Thank you.” 

After giving him a probably way too in-depth explanation as to why he preferred tea to coffee, it really upset his stomach you see, and he hadn’t had lunch yet, so if they do have some it would be after that, and- 

The taller man only listened attentively to his rambling, a permanent, gentle smile rounding his cheeks. His eyes were the same warm, deep chocolate brown of the wooden beams and tables, and cups of coffee around them, his puppy ears resting comfortably on the sides of his head. They looked so soft and velvety, if not a bit shaggy in the best of senses, and every cell in his fingers wanted to touch them to confirm if they felt as good as they looked.

Seonghwa’s words caught in his mouth at the reminder of his objective handsomeness, the undividedness of the man’s attention making the hairs at the back of his neck prickle.

“Hah, sorry,” he blushed and buried his face into his scarf, “I’m talking too much.” 

“No, please,” Yunho grinned again, “keep going.”

Ruby eyes peered up at him apprehensively from the top of his scarf, but nothing in the other man’s demeanor said that he was being untruthful.

Once they’d collected their respective drinks and warmed up a bit inside the cafe, they braved the outdoors again to walk along the cobbled pathway that went around the perimeter of the park. With Yunho’s reassurance and constant follow-up questions, Seonghwa felt much more comfortable opening up in between sips of his earl grey latte. The man just had an air of… friendliness about him that was hard to ignore, almost like being in his orbit made him want to tell the other his life story totally unprompted, or spill his every thought about everything that crossed his mind and get his opinion on it. Yunho did so without complaint or reservation, every time.

It was nice, so nice. Almost like when he had met Wooyoung for the first time. San had changed his life that night, as they talked until the sun rose the next day and then some more after that. The tuxedo was surprised to see them still awake and huddled under the same blanket in his living room, softened to the sight of them becoming such fast friends, knowing how hard it was for Seonghwa to get to know new people. San never doubted Wooyoung’s superpowers for making a friend out of anybody for a second.

“I feel like I’ve been talking forever,” Seonghwa stated bashfully, ears tucking behind his nape, “I appreciate you being such a good sport.” 

“Pleasure’s all mine,” Yunho replied with a swig of his coffee- the bunny couldn’t help but notice the bob of his prominent Adam’s apple. “To be honest, you beat me to asking you out.”

That was enough to stop the bunny in his tracks. “O-oh? Really?” 

“Yeah really,” he chuckled, “Can’t get to know someone properly in a loud, dark place like World Z now, can you?”

“Yeah…” Seonghwa replied, pensive, “...You want to get to know me?” 

Yunho gave him a look that twisted his stomach, and reminded him of their biology. It was just a flash, blanketed by enough warmth and softness to not be completely predatory, but it was still there.

He was ashamed of how excited it made him feel.

With a cock of the retriever’s head, Yunho’s look shifted into a mischievous smile. “Of course, we’re trying to be friends, right?”

Seonghwa could only respond to the question with a flirty side eye of his own, occupying his mouth with the last sip of his latte, and walked ahead of the other man. It seemed like an answer enough for him, as he was on his heels as fast as his long legs could carry him.

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

The universe hated him, it really did. 

But what other choice did he have? 

It was so early in the morning, too. There was no way he’d answer.

Ugh, fuck it , he thought as he pressed on the call button, not knowing if he wanted the other line to pick up. He could feel saliva pooling in his mouth as his mind rehearsed his first words over and over, yet he wouldn’t have to wait long, as the call barely rang once before he heard his voice. Seonghwa fought every bone in his body to not chew on his freshly manicured nails. 

“Hey, everything alright?” Hongjoong asked, concern and sleep deepening his tone. “It’s like, six a.m… You’re not due for a cut for a few more days…”

“Hey, I know, but it’s an emergency,” he replied, already hating what he was about to propose. “So I’m at a shoot, and the hair stylist they booked got into an accident, don’tworrythey’refinebutneedtogotothehospitaltomakesure, and so we’re all scrambling to find a replacement, and I don’t want-” 

“Give me the address.”

A split second of silent disbelief.

“Huh?” 

“Give me the address, please.”

Seonghwa’s brain started up again. “Y-yeah, hold on.” 

He took his phone off his ear to navigate to their DMs and send him a pin of his location before setting it against his ear again.

“Great, I’ll be there in ten.”

“Wait, how-” 

The line clicked off. Seonghwa stared at the screen, still trying to comprehend when Hongjoong developed teleportation. The location of the shoot was at least fifteen minutes away from his place, and by the sound of his voice, Hongjoong was asleep when he called, and nowhere near ready to leave his house at that exact moment. 

But true to his word, ten minutes later, he rocked up to the studio the brand had rented out, studded leather jacket unzipped over a loose, ribbed grey turtleneck, simple chains hanging from his neck, and a motorcycle helmet on the crook of his elbow. Black, tight motorbike pants quilted at the thighs and calves for extra padding were tucked into his tried and true leather combat boots, still as well-kept as he remembered them.

Of course Hongjoong had a motorcycle. He should have known.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” Seonghwa exclaimed quietly as he opened the glass door of the studio to greet him. “Thank you so so much, I really owe you. Dinner's on me after this, promise.” 

Sleep still hadn’t completely left Hongjoong’s face, as the crease of his pillowcase was on his cheek, but upon seeing the bunny, his heavy-lidded eyes widened slightly. 

Seonghwa was decked out in a head to toe white look that danced between masculine and feminine effortlessly. Sheer long sleeves covered his slender yet toned arms, layered with a knitted vest that had pearls sewn into ice blue diamond shapes, the silhouette flowing into expertly fitted wide leg pants and lacquer boots. More pearls cascaded down his neck in loosely wrapped strands, covering his barely exposed chest in their bubbles, and clinking against each other as the man walked. His makeup was equally as frosty to match the ice prince vibe the shoot was going for- ice prince theme for winter, groundbreaking- even the abhorrent fluorescent white lights of the lobby caught the subtle sparkle of the highlighter on his rosy cheeks.

To top it all off, a minty fresh aroma floated around him, as if he’d bottled the winter air from the outside and sprayed it all over himself.

Hongjoong gulped slightly, and returned Seonghwa’s smile with a bit of strain. “Yeah, no problem. What do you need me to do?”

Excitedly, the bunny filled him in on all the details the hair stylist had managed to text him, and showed him the shoot brief as they walked. As a model, Seonghwa usually had no real say in what he wore, but he’d worked with the brand before, and they trusted him to embody the vision and present the clothes to the best of his ability, which meant he had a mild input with the styling. 

“I kind of want to put some of the pearls in my hair, too. They’re white as well, but I think they’ll still be visible, and would draw the eye to take a closer look at the details of the photos. What do you think?” 

The stylist hummed in agreement, glad that the materials had been prepared beforehand, and that all he needed were his own tools. “I think that’s a great idea.” 

Seonghwa couldn’t contain his excitement as he slid into the makeup chair, practically bouncing in it until he felt Hongjoong’s hands card through his fluffy, washed hair. When the pads of his fingers brushed against his scalp, the bunny instantly relaxed, and the room seemed to fill with the smell of fresh baked cookies, although none were in sight. As he closed his eyes, he felt transported back to Hongjoong’s apartment, and leaned the weight of his head into his capable hands.

A soft chuckle rumbled from behind him, then warm breath caressed his sensitive ears as he spoke in a tone meant for only him to hear. “Can’t fall asleep here, love. What am I going to tell the photographer when all they see is a puddle of beautiful clothes and a cute bunny in my arms?”

Love? Cute?

His ruby eyes shot open as he turned his body to look at the human, incredulous. He hadn’t expected Hongjoong to be so forward, let alone use a pet name with him. They’d only met twice before then, so he couldn’t really gauge how much of his question was a playful jab or outright flirting…

Or if Seonghwa himself minded which of the two it was.

“Just kidding,” Hongjoong said cheerily after clearing his throat. “Sorry, did I overstep?”

Seonghwa settled back into the chair, glad that his arms were covered to hide the goosebumps erupting all over his skin. “N-no…”

Through the mirror, he could feel the man behind him study his expression. The bunny shrunk under his gaze, not able to hold his eye contact for more than a second or so. Relief coursed through his veins like ice water when he felt hands in his hair again, followed by a comb separating out the layers of his hair so that Hongjoong could clip them in every direction he needed to get the cut they agreed upon. He continued his work in silence, but out of the corner of his eye, Seonghwa could see Hongjoong’s brows furrow with mild regret.

“If I did, you’d let me know, right?” 

“I would…” was all Seonghwa could muster.

Another quick, intentional glance at him in the mirror, then back to cutting his hair.

“Good.” 

The rest of the shoot continued without a hitch, the hair stylist hanging back to network and watch Seonghwa work, upon his invitation. Everyone who didn’t have a job to do once he hit the set was entranced as the man morphed into a different creature behind the lens. Whatever shyness or apprehension Seonghwa was known for with the staff melted away despite his icy appearance, moving his slender limbs in shapes and angles that oozed regality without coming off as stuffy or tense. Conversations died out into silence as only the clicks of the camera and the odd direction from the photographer cut through the room.

In the end, Hongjoong, couldn’t help but agree that an ice prince concept was perfect for him, and although he couldn’t join Seonghwa for dinner, he still offered to give the bunny a ride home on his motorcycle, which he timidly accepted.  

He didn’t really have anything else to do that day, but had decided the second Seonghwa had blushed so deeply at his earlier question, dinner would have been too dangerous of an endeavour for either of them. Especially as he felt the same heat bleed through his leather jacket and sweater when the bunny pressed his cheek against him and wrapped his arms around his waist for dear life. 

Seonghwa was a client after all, and he had to keep things professional.

But a guy could dream, couldn’t he?

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

“Seonghwa, you made it!”

Cherry curls bounced happily in his direction to meet him at the gate. A warm fuzziness spread through the bunny’s chest- it was hard not to be immediately affectionate towards the younger man, even though this was only their second time meeting. He smiled, pearly teeth resplendent behind his plush lips, matching Yeosang’s welcoming greeting.

“I hope you haven’t been waiting long. Had a bit of a crisis figuring out what to wear.”  

Seonghwa’s shapely torso was clad in a white, long sleeve compression shirt, with black racing stripes curving from below his chest to the hem of the shirt, which was tucked into loose matching shorts. Protecting them from the cold, his lithe legs were covered by black leggings, and feet in regular running shoes. The rest of the men had their cleats on already, with Jongho being gracious enough to lend him an extra pair since they were close in shoe size. 

“You look great, don’t worry,” Hongjoong reassured, “although depending on how hard you play, that white shirt might be seeing the last of its good days.” 

The bunny blushed, knowing it was a risky choice, but at the same time, erred on the side of having a nice outfit rather than full practicality, like the others had. 

If this was the first, or maybe even the last time he’d come here, he wanted to make a good impression.

“How was the rest of your week, Seonghwa? I hope it was as enjoyable as the walk we went on last weekend,” Yunho remarked with a sunny grin, puppy ears perked up, “We should go to that cafe again, I want to try some of the other drinks and pastries on the menu.” 

Seonghwa giggled, remembering the day with fondness as he brushed a lock of his snowy hair off his cheek. “Of course, as long as I don’t have a weekend schedule and the weather’s agreeable.”

“Oh, you guys hung out? That’s nice,” Hongjoong remarked.

"Yeah, I had a last-minute rescheduling, so I texted Yunho to see if he was free to go out.” 

The human only hummed with interest, attention shifting from the bunny to the retriever beside him. Yunho already had his eyes on Hongjoong, quiet confidence curling his lips.

“Oh! Speaking of last minute reschedulings,” Seonghwa added, “thanks so much again for coming over to my shoot on such short notice and so early in the morning. Honestly, I can’t stop expressing how grateful I am. My offer for dinner still stands.” 

Hongjoong smirked. “Not a problem whatsoever. I’ll be there whenever you need.”

Checkmate, dog.  

Even though the bunny was in between the two friends as they walked out onto the field, neither of them were completely looking at him although he was involved in the conversation, eyes flitting from one to the other like indecisive hummingbirds. Something tickled the back of his neck, unsure of how to manage the crackle of stifled energy, so he turned to the other three that made it out that day.

Mingi, as always, didn’t answer him. He walked a few paces behind them, and stared off to the side where Yunho was.

Jongho and Yeosang had been busy with the club and whatever other ventures the younger had. Seemingly, Yeosang played more of a role of a personal assistant to Jongho and even had a heavy hand in the management of his assets, aside from their romantic relationship. The level of commitment to each other both endeared Seonghwa and scared him at the same time. 

Of course, he never wanted or predicted anything bad to happen to his new acquaintances. He simply admired their mutual trust and affection, as terrifying as it was. Jongho and Yeosang’s relationship was endlessly fascinating, a total juxtaposition to his own personal dating history, that had never shown him that sort of love.

To the point where Seonghwa was almost convinced it was never going to happen for him. To be seen and cared for, but to also be free. No jealousy, no limitations, or judgements. A true partner, through and through. 

The bunny pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind, of names and memories he’d rather forget. He was there to unwind and have a good time, after all, not to overthink and compare, as always. 

“Sad that San and Wooyoung couldn’t make it,” Jongho chimed in. “It would’ve been fun to have all of us here.” 

Seonghwa grimaced, but with a slight amused curl to his lips. “Trust me, you don’t want to be around them today. They’ve been celebrating every monthiversary ever since they got together years ago. Think how corny couples get on Valentine’s day and times it by a hundred… I had to learn the hard way.”

Yeosang blushed, red curls falling into his face. “Cute.”

A whistle trilled, and the boys gathered around the coach. They’d been lucky to have another clear, sunny day to practice outside, although everyone was covered from the neck down in long sleeve shirts and leggings layered under their shorts. Two piles of jerseys sat on the ground behind the coach, red and blue, ready to be assigned to their respective teams. No one seemed to mind that they were on wet, dewy grass, so Seonghwa made a mental note to try and grab one off the top of his pile, if possible.

“Alright, let's get this started,” the coach began, going over their clipboard with a drag of his pen. “Last week, Choi and Kang were the captains, so this week let's have… Kim and Jeong.”

He handed them their respective arm bands, Hongjoong in the red, and Yunho in the blue. Slipping a wide headband around his ears to keep them from flopping around when running, his eyes drifted to the men taking their places in the center of the huddle.

His stomach dropped.

Both threw on their sleeveless jerseys over their marked bodies, outlined by the tight fabric of their tops, and glanced at him. In his snap discomfort, Seonghwa instinctively pulled the sleeves of his compression shirt over his knuckles. Thankfully, the moment was over as soon as he noticed them, the men shooting meaningful looks at each other instead, a conversation without words between them.

He wouldn’t know why, until the coach started talking again.

“You know the drill, sort out who’s going first, then pick your teams.” 

“Don’t pick Seonghwa,” some kid whispered to his team captain, intentionally loud enough for him to hear. “Have you seen him run? He trips over his own feet.” 

The other snot-nosed brat smirked and wiped his nose on his sleeve, flashing a gappy smile, new canines poking in. “You’re right. Imagine being a bunny and not be good at running.”

He stood there with one other child, waiting to be selected. The person beside him didn’t even wait for the captain to point to him, pushing past Seonghwa to join their team.

“F-fine, I didn’t want to be a part of your stupid team anyway,” the young bunny muttered under shaky breaths, his nose and throat prickling with the inevitable fall of tears.

“What’d you say, huh? Oh look, there he goes, about to cry again.”

Everything in his little body tried to will the tears away, but his body betrayed him yet again. “I’m not crying!”

Finally, their PE teacher spoke up. “Alright kids, that’s enough. Be nice. Seonghwa, go join the other team, please.”

Through watery eyes, he looked at his assigned group, who sneered at him in disgust and disapproval. 

All but one. A tuxedo cat who looked on with compassion, and held his hand tightly behind their backs once he sided up to his group. 

Yunho took the coin from the coach and presented it to Hongjoong.

“Heads,” the human stated decidedly, intense eyes never leaving the retriever’s, a vehement refusal to tilt his head up in acknowledgement of the other’s taller stature.

His opponent huffed a scoff out his nose, accompanied by a confident smirk. “Tails, it is.”

With the coin on the back of his thumb, Yunho flicked it up, everyone watching it twirl in the air as it fell back into his palm. Then, he slapped it onto the back of his hand, and lifted the opposite to reveal the result.

“Heads,” he stated simply, the cocky smile never leaving his lips. “Your pick, Joong.” 

Dark eyes stayed on him for a moment before they changed targets and softened significantly. “Seonghwa.”  

Rubies fluttered open and widened. He’d been picked first for a sports team, for the first time ever in his life. His whole body froze over with the sudden, heartwarming realisation.

But then, it also felt like he was being thrown into a pit of… almost literal wolves. 

Seonghwa took shy steps to grab a red jersey, which thankfully Hongjoong had picked off the top of the pile, and stood beside him.

When it came for Yunho’s turn to pick, no words were said. Mingi silently made his way over and did the same for his own captain. The other players had no reaction, leading Seonghwa to infer that Yunho always picked Mingi first for his team and vice-versa, for whatever unspoken reason. From behind the relative safety of Hongjoong’s body, the bunny dared to study the man who had made no show that he was happy to be there. 

In all honesty, he never really showed many emotions, other than annoyance. Especially when Seonghwa was around.

Feeling eyes on him, Mingi’s golden ones slid down the sharp angles of his face to return the attention. Seonghwa swallowed an eep, and turned away, hoping he hadn’t accidentally offended the taller man.

From there, Hongjoong picked Jongho and Yunho picked Yeosang, and then split up the rest of the players. The couple had no issues being on opposite teams. If anything, they seemed excited to play against each other, and bet on buying the other an expensive meal for the victor.

Wouldn’t it all technically be Jongho’s money anyway, since Yeosang works… for…? 

Before he could think on it further, the coach had them running warm up drills on opposite sides of the medium-sized field. It had been years since Seognhwa had played football, but was determined to try. When his turn came up to dribble the ball through spaced out cones, he awkwardly shifted the ball back and forth through them, his tongue curled over his upper lip with concentration.

“That’s it, Seonghwa! You’re doing great,” Hongjoong cheered between encouraging claps. 

“You think so?” Seonghwa huffed, already feeling a bit short of breath. “It’s been forever.”

“We’ll whip you up into shape,” Jongho added, “Don’t you work out for your job?” 

Seonghwa’s head shrunk into his shoulders. “I do, but it’s mostly to maintain my current figure. I’m not doing any intense cardio or weights…” 

“Ah, no worries then,” he replied with a warm, wide hand on his shoulder. “A few weeks coming here, and you’ll be able to keep up. Just a rec league, after all.”

Again, the bunny inwardly relished in how nice the other men were. Jongho had also insinuated that he was welcome to come to more practices if he’d like to, a faint glimmer of hope pulsing in his chest. 

It was early, and delicate to handle, but he could feel himself really liking the others. The ones that spoke to him, at least.

Next, they practiced shootouts. He watched as Hongjoong and Jongho demonstrated a few kicks, both going in depth with their explanations as to how to place his foot against the ball to get it into the net, if needed. Quickly, he learned that he was on the same team as the star shooters of the league, all of the other players on their team relaxed with that knowledge. 

“Still, we can’t take the others for granted. Both Yunho and Mingi are… scary,” Jongho grimaced. “They’re real beasts on the field, and they both hate to lose. Yeosang does too, but he’s a little easier to roll over.”

“You’d know all about that,” Hongjoong teased, earning a deep blush and a punch in the shoulder from the bear.

Seonghwa laughed, but saved that important information in the back of his mind. He hadn’t paid any attention to the other side of the field the whole time they ran drills, so he appreciated the heads up to keep an eye out for those who might take advantage of him as a weaker link on the team as a newbie. He spared a glance over at the opposite team as they were brought back together for the match, the people he knew talking amongst themselves animatedly. 

For once, he swore he saw Mingi crack a smile. He couldn’t help but notice how goofy and adorable it was, his usually intimidating features curving and crinkling with happiness. A pang of guilt twinged in his stomach, his inner demons telling him he was the reason why Mingi wouldn’t be like that the rest of their time there.

He couldn’t look at them further when they reunited, and instead bowed his head to study the grass. 

“Let's have a clean match, boys,” the coach instructed. “It’s cold and all I want to worry about is where to get a good beer after this.” 

“Loser’s treat,” Yunho challenged, looking down at the shorter human before him with his tongue pressed into his cheek.

Hongjoong searched his eyes for a second before speaking. “Deal."

Yunho had lost the coin toss, he thought, why was he still so cocky?   

When the ball was dropped between the captains with another shrill of the whistle, the game began.

Seonghwa paced in the midfield, mild terror brewing in his core. Upon his insistence, he’d taken that position to be involved in a bit more of the action and see it up close. He enjoyed the idea of being a good support to Hongjoong and Jongho as forwards, but in practice, it was a whole different ordeal altogether. From his own midfield position, Yeosang twinkled his fingers at him, then pointed at the aggressive mess of legs at the center of the field. 

His teammates hadn’t been kidding. Alongside two other allied forwards, the ball bounced back and forth between them and the opposing forwards, Yunho and Mingi at the helm of the attack. Both the bear and the wolf were equally as imposing, either in size or stockiness, and equally as fearless in facing off each other. They didn’t care about any dangers pertaining to sticking each other’s legs under the others’, voracious in their need to get a hold of the ball and pass it over to their respective strikers. On that note, Hongjoong and Yunho stuck close to them and tried to keep themselves open while also angling themselves in a way to block the other from receiving. What Hongjoong lacked in height, he more than made up for in speed, even against the hybrids as a human. Yunho however, was proactive and light on his feet, him and Mingi moving as a unit with seemingly telepathic communication between them. 

All the bunny could do was stare in awe. Was this really just a rec league? With how combative the interactions were, people on the outside looking in would think they were playing for the World Cup.

Through a fumble of his feet, Jongho was able to take control of the ball from Mingi. He rushed forward, Hongjoong swiftly gaining into enemy territory to take the ball from him. Without thinking of it, Seonghwa started walking forwards as well, steeling himself to the prospect of having to return it to them if somehow Yunho’s team got it back. His captain bobbed and weaved, him and Jongho swapping the ball back and forth in range of the goal area. 

Vicious and undeterred, Yunho and Mingi threw a wrench into their pathing at every turn, with the help of Yeosang and the other midfielders. The other human giggled as he danced between the players, clearly unfazed by how intense they were being, or relishing in it. In the end, it was a quick fake out kick from him that redirected the ball back Seonghwa’s way. As the ball bounced, he ran forward, and caught it on his chest to stabilise it beneath his feet. 

When he lifted his eyes, his blood ran cold. All four men and the other forward players were sprinting straight at him, and all he could do was stare like a deer in the headlights. 

“Seonghwa, here!” someone shouted. 

The bunny turned his body to kick the ball in the direction of the noise, until he felt a wide hand clasping his waist, and long legs sliding out in front of him. It all happened so fast, unable to register anything aside from the suddenness of Yunho’s height overcoming him. He didn’t know when the retriever had stood up straight again, moving in a flash of golden hair and blue jersey fabric. 

Hongjoong witnessed the answer to his previous question, and grit his teeth.

The bastard had time to throw Seonghwa a wink before dribbling the ball away from him and into his goal area. He’d caught him completely off guard with the unexpected touch.

That was enough to boil the bunny’s insides, rushing after him to regain control of the ball. Catching up to the retriever was a feat in and of itself, but he was forced to slow down as there was less and less field to play in. Like clockwork, Mingi was on the opposite side with Jongho and the defenders hot on his trail, doing everything possible to lessen the chances of Yunho getting a clean shot. Seonghwa huffed, the sight of the back of his opponent’s head firing up his competitive spirit and eagerness to get back at him in any way possible. He pushed himself, siding up to the retriever. 

“Dirty,” was all he could say as he attempted to take the ball away from him with his feet.

“You liked it,” Yunho teased, spinning around the bunny to evade his interception.

Their own defenders jogged up, nervous. The enemy captain scared them, knowing that the man would lay everything on the line to score. The blue forwards managed to pass the ball a few times until it came back to Yunho, lining himself up to shoot. Everything moved in slow motion as his large foot connected with the ball, sending it flying towards the goal.

Then, a flash of red impeded the ball, the object spinning off in the opposite direction. 

How Hongjoong had managed to get so much air was beyond him. The man had practically flown to catch the ball with the side of his head and butt it away from the goal. 

It also looked like it hurt a lot, but it instilled the same amount of fear in the blue team as their captain had in their opponents. Both didn’t care what it took to win. 

“Hongjoong! Are you-” 

Seonghwa couldn’t finish his question, his answer coming in the form of his captain speeding off after the ball back into the blue side.

“Shit,” Yunho muttered under his breath, and left Seonghwa to go after him.

The rest of the match fell into figurative bloodbath. No team would let up, giving it their all to stop every goal attempt. With each passing minute, Seonghwa got more and more exhausted, every hot muscle in his body wanting him to not rip off his compression shirt in the dead of winter, while his brain begged him to keep it on. When the halftime break whistle came, he collapsed at Yeosang’s feet in the middle of the field, his previous apprehensions about the wet, muddy grass ignored in favour of catching his breath.

“Is- Is it always this freaking crazy?” The bunny strained through deep, quick exhales.

“To be completely honest,” Yeosang bent over and rested his body weight on his knees with extended arms, also struggling to breathe, “no. I thought they’d go easy since it’s your first time, but it looks like quite the opposite. Joong and Yunho especially. Mings and Jongho are only matching their energy.”

Seonghwa had feared that was the case. The longer the game went without any scores, the more desperate and savage the forwards became. It was a complete show of raw, unadulterated power, for reasons the newbie couldn’t fathom. 

Had they wanted to go hard from the start, to show him how intense it could become, in a ‘throw him in the deep end’ sort of way? Or was there something else going on? 

He flung his arm over his eyes, not wanting to think about it more. 

I’m probably looking into it too much again. They were already hyped up before I arrived today…

His brooding thoughts were interrupted by footsteps approaching them. Blinking up at the figure coming into view, Hongjoong’s form materialised, a fresh water bottle in one hand, and an extended, open palm for the other. Seonghwa tentatively took his hand and allowed the man to lift him off the ground with ease, deceptively strong for how lean he looked. His captain offered him the water, which he took, relieved.

“How are you liking it? Having fun?” Hongjoong asked breathlessly, hands on his hips as soon as Seonghwa was upright and had collected his drink.

“Yeah, yeah. I was just telling Yeosang that you all seem…” he pondered for the correct word between sips, “...pretty competitive today.” 

The human laughed. “Ah yeah, sorry about that. Must be something in the air.” 

Ruby eyes studied him, mouth still preoccupied with the water bottle. He didn’t seem to be lying, or maybe was blissfully unaware or accustomed of the extent of their competitiveness. In the end, Seonghwa just mentally wrote it off as them needing to burn off extra pent-up energy that day.

“It’s alright. It’s definitely letting me know that I have a long way to go before I’m able to match you guys,” the bunny joked, finally releasing the water from his clutches.

“I’ll try to go easier in the second half, but a lot of that depends on the others too. I’m assuming after that maneuver Yunho pulled on you, you’re not keen on letting him win.”

Seonghwa pouted cutely, brows crossing with disappointment. “Yeah, he caught me totally by surprise. Didn’t think he’d rush me.” 

Hongjoong scoffed. “Jackass. Lovingly, of course. He shouldn’t be taking advantage of you like that. I’ll do better to keep him off you and protect you and our side of the field.” 

He wouldn’t say it, but Seonghwa was more than painfully aware how the feeling of Yunho’s hand wrapping around his waist felt, like it had been burned there ever since. The water bottle found itself in his mouth again. 

He chewed on the straw and hoped that his cheeks came off as only warming from their physical exertion. “Th-thanks. I’ll also do better to not let it happen again.”

“Don’t sweat it too much. Just enjoy yourself, that’s all that matters to me.”

The other human said nothing, only swapped his attention between both men intently.

Another whistle let them know halftime was over, and they were thrust back into the throes of football war yet again. True to his word, Hongjoong did everything to manage the pacing of the game much better, despite Yunho’s best efforts to keep up the previous level of attack. Seonghwa’s breath hitched when he saw a foul go down amid the chaos, prompting the shorter man to grasp the other captain by the scruff of his shirt and jersey with a strong jerk.

Again, Hongjoong had been able to put someone much taller than him in his place without much effort. 

Angry words were hurled at Yunho, but Seonghwa was too far to hear them, even with how sensitive his ears were. Raised arms of truce followed, alongside a sheepish smile. From across the field, the bunny saw the retriever wave at him as an immediate apology of some sort. 

Seonghwa didn’t know how to feel, watching Hongjoong go as far as to yell at his close friend for his sake. Endearment bloomed in his chest, although he wasn’t too happy with the circumstances of its origin. Clearly, both men were on some sort of adrenaline high and got carried away. With the penalty shot out of the way, they mellowed out significantly in the last quarter, much to the relief of everyone involved. 

The game ended in a 1 to 1 tie, and both Yunho and Hongjoong transferred beer money over to the coach for having to deal with them.

“I swear to everything good and holy, if you all make me run that much ever again, I’m breaking all of your legs,” Jongho declared as he dropped himself onto the metal bleachers.

Yeosang giggled. “Aw honey bear, did they go a little too hard for you?” 

Jongho shot him a look, cheeks pink, but he was on a mission. “What part of rec league did you not understand? You’re going to scare Seonghwa away.”

Yunho shrugged off the chastising, turning his attention to Seonghwa. “Did you not have fun, Hwa?” 

Hwa.

Wide eyes stayed on the retriever. 

“Ah, my bad. Is it okay to call you Hwa?” Yunho scratched at his cheek apologetically.

“Y-yeah, totally fine,” Seonghwa confirmed, giddiness lacing his voice. “I-I thought it was a little early for nicknames, but after going through all that, I think they’re more than earned.”

The group laughed, minus one as always. They exchanged their preferred nicknames, except Mingi’s silence served as a lack of consent for the bunny to speak to him so casually, still.

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll warm up eventually,” Hongjoong assured. “Mings is a big softie deep down.” 

No rebuttal was found, but the wolf looked away and exhaled deeply.

After grabbing a much needed bite to eat together, everyone split up to their respective homes. Seeing the bunny fiddle on his phone, Hongjoong hung back and offered Seonghwa another ride home on his bike to beat the cold and save on the cab fare.

“Ah, thank you, but I already confirmed with the driver. Didn’t want to put you out more than I already have.” 

“Hwa, you’re never putting me out,” the man shook his head, tips of his chocolate curls still damp with sweat. “Remember what we agreed on earlier? If something were wrong, we’d tell each other. I intend to keep that promise.”

Hongjoong’s words warmed him more than the spicy noodle soup he’d just eaten. Oce again, he’d been endlessly kind and understanding in ways that Seonghwa definitely didn’t expect, especially for something that started as a simple hairdressing appointment. 

“I-I intend to keep it, too,” he agreed, a hand on his chest. “I get how this can get weird, since technically I am your client and all, but I’d… I’d love to be your friend. To be everyone’s friend.” 

The man smiled a toothy grin. “Even Mingi’s?”

“Especially Mingi’s. I don’t know why he doesn’t like me, but I also don’t want to pry. He seems pretty private.” 

Hongjoong sighed, closing his eyes and drooping his shoulders in defeat. “He’s actually quite caring, and opinionated. I also don’t know why he’s being so tough on you, but if I had to wager a guess, it’s because he’s pretty possessive of Yunho, and of our friend group in general.”  

Of course, Hongjoong wouldn’t say what Mingi actually thought verbatim. Even with their limited interactions, he knew that Seonghwa’s sensitivities and overthinking would spin it out of proportion, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

Also, Mingi is dead wrong. I’m not trying to get into Hwa’s pants .

Seonghwa’s arms wrapped around himself in a self-soothing hug, pressing his chest together beneath his compression shirt and inadvertently bringing attention to how svelte his waist was. His elegant, beautiful features saddened as he pulled the corner of his plush bottom lip into his mouth to chew on it subconsciously.

I… definitely am not.

“Does he think that I’m trying to replace him or something? That’s totally not the case,” Seonghwa replied with a slight whine, wracking his brain as to how he could best communicate that to the wolf the next time they saw each other.

“I know, and so does he,” the human confirmed. “Like I said, he’s just being stubborn.”

The bunny stared off into the snowy street pensively. “Should I talk to him or something? Maybe try to find some common ground?”  

Hongjoong smiled, charmed by how much the adorable bunny cared. “Really, don’t worry about it, he’ll come around. Mingi’s definitely one of those ‘lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink’ types.”

Seonghwa’s eyes tore from the approaching car to focus back onto his friend, saying nothing. 

“You can’t make everyone like you, Hwa. Either they do, or they don’t, and they all take their own time to come around if they do. In the meantime, all we can do is be ourselves.”

Be myself, huh?  

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Chapter Text

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

cw: mentions of eating disorders, abusive business practices   

“Do you have everything we need?”

Heavy rain poured onto the streets.

“Yeah,” Wooyoung’s voice came in through the phone, cheery as always, “Actually, could you pick up another bag of chips and a sweet treat? I don’t know what everyone likes, so I’d rather stock up on the classics.”

“Got it,” Seonghwa replied, looking around for a nearby convenience store, “Good on drinks too?” 

“Oh yeah, we’ve got that covered for sure,” his best friend laughed, “You know how long alcohol lasts in this house.” 

The bunny smiled at the many memories of San all red and giggly after just one drink, singing his heart out and throwing himself onto whatever person or surface he could. 

“Definitely, see you in a bit.” 

When he arrived at their apartment, they had rearranged the furniture to more comfortably accommodate all of their guests- Seonghwa didn’t consider himself one by this point, and vice-versa at his place- bowls and drinks set out on the coffee table alongside multiple controllers for their Nintenbox. Cold, stormy weather had them finding indoor activities that weekend, not wanting to miss the chance to continue fostering their budding friendships. 

Being in the same room as Yunho and Hongjoong at the same time again was still nerve-wracking. He’d texted back and forth with both of them individually, mostly talking about their days or sharing pictures of what they had going on or of themselves. Seonghwa felt weird saving them, but he kept them close as his little treasures, glad that they both cared enough to include him in their daily lives. His conversations with Hongjoong were always so adorable, his heart skipping a beat at every kind word and honest compliment towards whatever was in the pictures he sent him, and Seonghwa was keen on returning the same energy with the updates on new music or recipes he tried out. Yunho on the other hand… Entertainment within their DMs stemmed from endless banter, and flirtatious assertions that also made his heart flutter uncontrollably, especially after a selfie was sent either way.

He took out his phone and snapped a picture of himself posing cutely, fingers in a V-sign against his inflated cheeks and pouty lips, the stocked up living room and hosts running around in the background, and sent it to the group chat.

ddeongbyeoli

ready when you guys are! anyone having trouble finding the address?

Responses pinged in one by one, and a few minutes later, the doorbell began to ring. As the other humans and hybrids began to settle, each bringing an item of their own as a thank you for the invitation, the apartment warmed up with cheerful chatter and laughter. Jongho and Yeosang brought some sort of wine that no one wanted to even guess the price of given the fancy label, and the bunny stood in sudden surprise as he realised that, at least with the human, he’d upgraded to a warm, chest-to-chest hug as a greeting, although Jongho still maintained his heavy-handed shoulder pats out of personal preference. Soon after, Yunho and Mingi arrived, with more booze and some sort of spicy shrimp snack that was Mingi’s favourite, and yet again, Seonghwa found himself enveloped in another hug, this time Yunho’s long arms around his shoulders and pulling him close. 

“You smell good,” he mentioned casually as he let him go, “New perfume?” 

The bunny blushed, pulling one of his ears over his shoulder and petting it out of nervous habit. “Y-yeah, do you like it?” 

“It’s nice. Oranges? Vanilla? With a bit of spice…”

“You got it,” Seonghwa laughed shyly, “Glad to know that nose works.”

Mingi groaned and walked past them, finding solace on the couch next to the guests who had arrived earlier. 

The last doorbell rang, Wooyoung bounding over to open it. 

“Hongjoong! Glad you made it. Damn, you’re soaked!” 

Embarrassed laughter came from beyond the door. “Yeah, one of the cons of having a bike. These seemed to have survived though.” 

A gasp came from the host, then shrill, happy laughter. “Oh my gosh, they’re gorgeous! Let me put them in water right away! Sannie, come look!”

Wooyoung spun around with a small bouquet of yellow roses and greenery, gushing over how pretty they were as he set to finding them a vase. Hongjoong peeled his jacket off and shook it in the hallway before entering, waving at everyone who had already arrived, then setting down a container of homemade cookies on the counter. Seonghwa excused himself from his conversation with Yunho, telling him to get comfortable before grabbing a towel from the bathroom and going over to the new guest. 

“Hey, you ok? Should’ve gotten a car in this weather… Need some dry clothes?”

The human took the towel with a smile, quickly drying his face and ruffling his helmet-matted waves. “Thanks, and nah, I’ll just take these overpants off and hang them to dry, I’ve got jeans on underneath. Is that ok?” 

“Of course, you can hang them in the bathroom. Make yourself at home!”  

With that, they all settled in, drinks and snacks poured and passed around as they fell into comfortable exchanges of their week, caught up on any notable events or TV shows they’d been watching. It felt… commonplace at this point, as if their group had always been the eight of them, even though in hindsight, they’d only known each other for a little over a couple months. Seonghwa smiled to himself as he watched them from the kitchen, then quickly grabbed the last offerings to set on the table, including Hongjoong’s glass tupperware. 

“Anyway, let's get the main event started,” Wooyoung instructed as he stood up to turn on the gaming console, taking the player 1 controller to flip through the games and landed on a large-scale party game. 

“Oh man, I suck at these,” Hongjoong grimaced. 

Seonghwa laughed nervously, “I also suck at these, I was kind of hoping…”

“We can do teams, if you’d like,” Yunho suggested. 

From the silent corner of the couch, another groan came. “I also would like to team up…”

“Not a big gamer, Mingi?” the bunny asked, mildly surprised.

The wolf’s amber eyes stayed on him for a moment, cheek pressed into his hand as he propped his head up on the armrest of the couch, legs spread a bit but tilted slightly away from the group. 

“No,” he said, finally, the first direct word Mingi ever said to him.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Mings. He can defend himself well enough,” Yunho interjected quickly, with a heavy pat on his shoulder.  “How do you want to pair off? I wanna make sure the newbies have an emotional support gamer for each of them.” 

“Nah, roll the dice,” San added, white-tipped tail swishing, eager to pull out a set of fancy dice they had in the TV console that housed all of their video and board games. “Same numbers pair off.” 

Each of them took a die and shook it in their clasped hands. Eyes flitted between each other, reading faces and bodies as some played up their rolling and others casually rattled the pieces. Before letting go, Hongjoong blew a bit on his dice and presented it to Seonghwa.

“For luck,” he joked, innocently.

Seonghwa rolled his eyes with a smile. He’d heard the lucky rabbit references a million times before, but obliged to his request, and gently blew on his die, ruby eyes staying on him. 

When they all tossed their pieces onto the table, scoffs of disbelief and quiet giggles erupted from the group.

“Ballerina,” Yunho breathed as he stared at the matching set of two’s, ears perked up. “Seonghwa and Mingi are a team.”

“Snake eyes over here!” Yeosang announced as he pointed to his and San’s dice.

The remaining dice were rolled until the last pairs were made, Wooyoung winking at Jongho who looked a little apprehensive as to what he was getting himself into, and finally Hongjoong and Yunho on the same team. 

“Guess you weren’t that lucky after all,” Mingi murmured when Seonghwa seated himself on the floor, closer to him. 

He froze for a second, not knowing the intention behind the statement, but decided not to take it personally, and answered in an equally soft voice. “Actually, I’m excited to get to know you better.” 

Mingi huffed, ears pinning back a bit, and left it at that.

Soon, the room devolved into absolute chaos after they selected their representative characters. Seonghwa and Mingi opted for a pretty princess in an aqua dress and star buddy, Hongjoong and Yunho argued with Wooyoung and Jongho over who got to play the green dinosaur, eventually ending in a rock paper scissors that declared the cat and bear duo as the victors, leaving the losers to pick the titular plumber character with a red shirt and blue overalls. Quietly, the last team selected a shy-looking guy with a mask. Between the alcohol, and competitive energy that had been more than evidenced from their time at the football field, it wasn’t long before shouts and claims of cheating or the game being bugged or poorly made were hurled at each other in good fun. 

All bets were off, the group sufficiently shaken up to set aside any sort of moral loyalty to anyone else as they played game after game, betrayed and avenged each other time and time again as their characters moved on the board. Ruthlessly, they collected the money and prizes they would need to win the overall game, taking turns over who would hold the controller and when as they strategized their next moves. For the most part, Mingi gave Seonghwa the controller when they were just moving their character on the board, leaning forward just enough to speak to him in low tones, both of their gazes glued to the screen as they scoped out the map. For every versus game, the rest of the group let the newbies try out the practice round and decide if they wanted to play it themselves or hand it off to their partner. Seonghwa in particular got bolder as he caught the hang of it, a fiery glint in his eyes as he absentmindedly licked his lips in concentration. 

It wasn’t lost on anyone that if either Hongjoong, or especially Seonghwa, were at the helm of their controllers, the others would go a bit easier. 

“You really gonna let him win?” Yunho whispered to his teammate, as he watched their character fall off the edge of the icy platform they were on. 

Hongjoong side-eyed him with a slight smirk. “Dunno what you mean, I just suck.”

The bunny was too concentrated on pushing his giant snowball body into the other players to notice, having picked up this particular game easily.

“You’ve got this,” came the quiet encouragement from the other side, the wolf locked in despite not being the one playing. “Careful with the bounce.” 

Seonghwa nodded, and bit the tip of his tongue as he rammed his character into the last remaining ball, their green opponent losing their balance and falling into the abyss. 

“Yes! We won!” The bunny cheered with a little dance, then turned to high five his teammate, who lifted his hand more out of habit than the desire to complete the action, eyes widened.

Adorable, was the word that came to mind, to more than one.

Eventually the arrival of pizza gave them a short break from the game, digging into the food without much of a care, aside from debating as to whether or not pineapple or anchovies belonged on pizza, threats of disownment being thrown around amidst laughter and more shots of soju. Incapacitated, the last few rounds of the game were severely skewed towards those who could hold their liquor, quickly taking out San and Seonghwa mainly from any sort of fine motor functionality. 

The bunny, from his seat on the floor, leaned against Mingi’s strong leg for support, and the other seemingly didn’t mind him doing so. From the rest of the living room, the others watched in silent awe as they seemingly warmed up to each other, Seonghwa happily egging the wolf on. He didn’t say a word in response, locked in to try to beat the other teams, Yeosang, Jongho, Wooyoung, Hongjoong, and Yunho, still sober enough to pay attention. They filled up on more pizza and chips to stave off the probably inevitable morning effects of the alcohol they’d consumed, everything happening on screen garnering more cheers and taunts to the players from those who had given up the controllers.

“This game is absolutely rigged,” Jongho complained when at the final stage, the game master was awarding extra trophies for completing additional conditions in the match. “We definitely won the most games, why are San and Yeosang getting that star?”

His partner stuck his tongue out at him cheekily. “Sucks to suck, my love.” 

The bear immediately began to tickle him, almost kicking the coffee table over. 

“Guess all those traps we ate were good for something,” Hongjoong mentioned with a wince, as his team was awarded a star for the most happenings.

“Shouldn’t have had Seonghwa blow on your dice,” Mingi replied, deadpan, watching as they got a star for the most money. “Or played shittily on purpose. Worked out for us though.”

Seonghwa giggled, the comment going over his head, half-hiding his mouth behind a clasped hand, cheeks pink with tipsiness and good spirits. “You did well, I can hardly take any of the credit.” 

Mingi stared at him for a moment, then gently patted his head between his fluffy bunny ears. 

Finally, the spotlight drifted over all the characters, a drumroll hyping up who would be the eventual winner. When the green little dinosaur was highlighted, Wooyoung let out a shout, jumping and pulling his teammate up with him, who also laughed and easily lifted the lithe black cat into his arms. The rest of the group groaned, defeated but content, and allowed them to have their time in the sun.

The rest of the night devolved into more nonsense conversations and absent-minded snacking, energy quickly dwindling as the night dragged into the early hours of the morning. At some point, Seonghwa couldn’t feel his ass anymore even though he was sitting on a plush pillow, standing up to stretch and gently rub his buns in pain when he’d had enough, and grabbed some of the bottles from the table to put away. Yeosang yawned, cozying up to his partner with sleepy eyes as they listened to Wooyoung go off on some other sleep-deprived rant or theoretical debate that everyone else was barely hanging onto, yet attempted to pay enough attention to respond. 

“Woop, that’s my cue,” Jongho stated, studying how the redhead on his arm could barely keep his eyes open. “Where do you need us to put things?”

“Don’t worry about it,” San replied with a sharp grin, “We’ve got it. You guys head on out before it gets too late. At least the storm sounds like it’s lightened a little.” 

Seonghwa had barely noticed that the rain had dissipated amidst all the fun they were having, ruby eyes trailing to the window where a misty haze diffused the lights of the city beyond. He always liked the view of the city at night- it felt vaguely nostalgic, like a memory he couldn’t quite remember, yet yearned for the feeling of peace and quiet during a nighttime walk. 

“Need a ride home?” 

The bunny spun, almost bumping into Yunho’s wide chest, and clutched the half-empty bottles of pop to his body.

“U-uhm…” he stammered, suddenly realising how much of the retriever was in his personal space, hairs prickling on the back of his neck. “I-” 

“He’s got one,” Hongjoong interjected, holding out a hand to take some of the bottles from him.

“I do?” Seonghwa only hugged the bottles closer, turning slightly to not give them away. “I’ve got it. I know where everything goes here.” 

Yunho hummed, a quietly confident smile stretching over his lips. “You brought an extra helmet? It’s still raining, and I brought my car.”

“Of course,” the human assured, giving his friend a look that spoke more words than the ones said. “If I’m hanging out with my friends, I always bring my extra helmet, just in case.” 

Seonghwa’s eyes switched back and forth between them as they spoke, not knowing how to exit the conversation without it being awkward. “Guys, it’s fine, really…”

Silently, another mass approached the standing group, placing himself squarely between the dog and the rabbit. Mingi’s height, almost matching Yunho’s, and menacing aura quieted the conversation, the man straightening out his leather jacket against his waist. Yunho took a slight step back, eyes now on the wolf that acted as a wall. 

Whatever expression Mingi had on his face, it made the other man stick his tongue into his cheek and fire glint in his gaze defiantly. Seonghwa couldn’t see it, as the wolf was turned away from him, but panic filled him at Yunho’s reaction, and only got worse with the mild scowl that followed from Hongjoong behind him. 

“I-I think… I’m way too tipsy to be going back home,” Seonghwa quickly came up with an excuse, laughing nervously in-between statements. “Besides, I promised San and Woo that we’d have a sleepover! I can’t go back on my word.”

Mingi turned and looked down his long, defined nose at him. Beneath golden eyes, the bunny felt so small, and the man’s unreadable expression only furthered his anxiety. They’d been doing so well, he thought, but maybe as the alcohol subsided, whatever reason he had to dislike him returned. The wolf growled a bit, low and irritated. 

“Let's get out of here, I’m tired,” he demanded, bumping into Yunho’s shoulder as he walked past him. 

Yunho sighed, his smile turning apologetic. “Sorry about that.” 

“I-it’s fine, I just thought, you know, we were getting along…” 

“You are,” Hongjoong reassured, his tone unamused by the antics, “Like I said the other day, he’ll come around.” 

Seonghwa’s ears pressed behind him dejectedly, his expression following suit. “Okay…” 

“Anyways, I guess I better tend to him before he makes it everyone’s problem,” the retriever half-joked, then extended his hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of the bunny’s eyes. “Have a good night, Hwa.”

Deep red blush overtook his cheeks as his brain short-circuited, but he didn’t flinch. “Yeah, you too…” 

Yunho turned and gave Hongjoong a quick hug, after they clasped hands and pulled each other close. “Watch the roads, and text me when you get home.”

“Will do,” the human replied shortly, then turned his attention to Seonghwa. “Sleep well, ok? Let me know if you need anything.” 

He nodded quickly. “Please, text the group when you get home. I’d also like to know that you all got there safely.”

Hongjoong smiled, wide and endearing, the bunny drawn to his comforting demeanour as it erased any feeling of panic that had settled in his chest moments before. Seonghwa drank it in, and returned it, his shoulders dropping as he relaxed.

“Hongjoong,” he murmured, suddenly shy and giggly again. 

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget your pants.” 

 ૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

Seonghwa was beginning to believe that his feelings controlled the weather. 

It was Wednesday. The warm, revitalizing sentiment of the weekend activities had gradually chilled with each passing day, the storms turning into flurries of wet snow that didn’t quite stick to the ground just yet, although it wanted to. Everything was damp, grey, and dreary in the worst of ways. 

He was on assignment in the heart of the city once more, this time with a different brand whose creative director was a nightmare to work with. The model hated doing jobs with them, but the work was consistent and the pay was good, and much to his dismay, he fit the bill of what they wanted, although with the way the director spoke, he could barely believe it. 

They were a mens underwear brand, and generally selected Seonghwa to pose next to their other favourite model, an extraordinarily buff bull hybrid from a different agency. The bunny was meant to market to male-presenting people that more closely matched his lean body type, whereas the other hyped up the male fantasy of a body that barely seemed naturally real. Deep down, it made Seonghwa feel uneasy, especially when the director would instruct them to press up against each other in a lustful way.

Not that he had anything against that specifically, but it was borderline softcore porn, and he could only imagine how the images would be twisted online. 

“No, Seonghwa,” the director exclaimed, exasperated. “Look up at him like you want him. And for fuck’s sake, lift your fucking leg up more.” 

“Sorry,” the bull hybrid whispered to his shoot partner, his tone knowing of the usual torture. “Here, let me help.” 

He grabbed the bunny’s thigh from below, lifting it up higher on his waist. Seonghwa was flexible, for sure, but having to arch his back to present his ass better while still holding onto the bull while standing was an awkward pose he’d only seen on the covers of overly sexualized comic book heroines. 

The director stomped over to the set, a plain white background as they only wanted to show off the new- and frankly, boring- underwear styles. There were only so many ways that briefs could be redesigned. Seonghwa was just thankful they hadn’t discovered sheer lace yet, but didn’t put it past that company to eventually get there. As they teetered awkwardly, the human male grabbed the bull’s other hand and placed it just under Seonghwa’s respective butt cheek, cupping the bottom of it.

“There. Now, can we sell some underwear today, please?” he asked condescendingly, only making the bunny’s gut twist with disgust even more.

After a few more grueling hours of more berating and forced chemistry as they cycled through the collection, Seonghwa was glad to finally pull his bathrobe over his body, feeling utterly violated.

Without knocking, his client barged into his dressing room, slapping down some papers haphazardly on the vanity without regard for the makeup they now rested upon. 

“What’s this?” he asked, pulling his robe closer over his body. 

“Your contract,” the director stated simply, lighting up a cigarette even though they were indoors. “Says there that you need to maintain a ‘lean and nimble body’, but when you put on the briefs, you had a bit of a muffin top.” 

Seonghwa had monitored some of the pictures. He knew that wasn’t the case, and if there was, the awkward posing was causing his body to roll and fold in ways unnatural to any other activity, but he bit his tongue, knowing that his retorts would fall on deaf ears.

“What would you like me to do?” the bunny asked quietly, slowly beginning to pack his makeup despite the disregard of the director of his things.

“I’d like you to take your fucking job seriously,” he complained, then hacked up a cough Seonghwa hoped would kill him right then and there. “Lose some weight and stay that way. Throw up if you have to, I don’t care. We get you and that other guy every season, but I can easily replace you with some other skinny hybrid who will actually fit the underwear.” 

The model prayed that would be the case, but the small agency he was signed to couldn’t afford to lose that brand’s patronage. He didn’t want to imagine what that would mean for his monthly check either, so he swallowed his pride. 

“I-I’ll work on it,” he replied, barely audible. 

“You better, or I’m pulling the campaign. I’m sure other brands will notice if you’re suddenly not in our storefronts anymore.” 

Thinly veiled threats. The belly of the industry was like this, he knew that much throughout his years of work, but it didn’t soften the blow any more. Seonghwa was about to give the disgusting director exactly what he wanted as his stomach churned, but wouldn’t give him the pleasure.

Nothing more needed to be said. The man breathed more cheap nicotine into the air of his dressing room, then picked himself out of his chair and left. 

Seonghwa was only left to inhale the smoke.

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

The familiar metal door stared back at him, covered with more stickers and graffiti than before. Not that he could notice, as his eyes were puffy from crying so much, and the cold wind turned his tears into ice and salt against his skin.

Usually, after a bad day at work, he’d just go home. Down a pint of ice cream with some sappy rom com movies to pretend like love and kindness still existed in the world, or after a really bad day, hole himself up with his two cat friends for a night while they reminded him that he was so much more than what his body offered.

So, this was new, but at the same time, it felt… right. It was the middle of the day, probably sometime after lunch but his body brought him there right after he was done work without thinking, and therefore, no regard for the time it took to get there. It was a longshot that anyone was even home, since he hadn’t texted his arrival beforehand, but he’d sit in front of the dingy door in the cold for hours if he had to. The wait was worth it.

He lifted his phone to his ear after pressing ‘call’ on the contact’s name, then heard a ringtone of a song he remembered from the concert go off behind him.

“Seonghwa?” 

The bunny turned, quickly rubbing his sleeves over his eyes and cheeks, clearing his throat in the hopes his voice didn’t break or his eyes weren’t too swollen. 

“Hey, Hongjoong.” 

The human approached carefully, dark chocolate brows furrowed with concern, half concealed by black, hard-rimmed glasses over equally dark eyes. He was holding some plastic bags, filled with groceries. Seonghwa’s eyes couldn’t stay on him any longer to notice anything else, finding the floor. 

“Are you okay?”

Seonghwa couldn’t help but sniffle and laugh pitifully at the question. “Sorry, I should’ve asked if I could come by first. T-this is all really stupid, I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll get going.” 

His words only worried the man more, his lips pursing tightly as he transferred the bags from one hand to the other to fish out his keys from his well-worn grey jeans. “You’ll do no such thing. Come on up.”

In a haze, he followed the human up the staircase he could only describe as purgatory, before they reached the heaven of Hongjoong’s welcoming apartment. His body moved on its own again, as it did after multiple visits to the space every time he needed a haircut or a touch-up prior to a shoot. Regardless, the human was already taking his jacket from him, and setting his kettle on to heat some water. It was ironic, now that the taller man had autonomy, he found it hard to move. The only thing he could do was stand there, and caress his ear as if it were long hair over his shoulder, although his nails dug harshly into the sensitive, pink skin. 

“Do you need me to call an ambulance or something?” Hongjoong’s voice came from behind him, seeing that he hadn’t made himself comfortable at all.

“N-no, sorry. I’m just really in my head…” he replied, biting his lower lip with determination to not cry again.

Soft, socked footsteps neared him, as the human came into view. Hongjoong’s eyes drifted from Seonghwa’s face to the red tracts of reddened skin on his ears, and the continual movement of his hands on them, then back to his face.

“Seonghwa,” he said with the utmost care, as if any increase in volume would blow him away. “May I touch you?”

That question. That question that broke him into a million pieces every time he asked, but he never let it show. Tears welled in his ruby eyes again, lips quivering as he nodded. 

Hongjoong’s hands, although a bit rough and calloused from his guitar-playing, were gentle as they took the bunny’s fingers into them, his thumbs caressing their backs and keeping them steady. 

All he did was hold them, stop them from breaking the delicate skin of his ears any further. And he stayed. Stayed while Seonghwa shivered in quiet sobs, feeling a repulsion to the contact after the earlier events of his day, but also desperately needing it as his only tether to the ground. Hongjoong let Seonghwa cry, as much as he wanted to, not telling him how to feel or what to think, just simply letting him be in his feelings for however long he needed to let them out.

He still felt stupid, pathetic, and grossly undesirable even though he knew the man didn’t care about how he looked, despite being someone who enhanced his beauty as a profession. Seonghwa hung his head shamefully, turned it away slightly to obscure the view of hot globs flowing down his face, seemingly endless until he could feel himself run dry. As he calmed, which felt like it was taking an eternity, his exhales deepened and evened out, and fell into rhythm with the marked breaths of the human, rising of his own chest, guiding him though it. When they matched, and Seonghwa steadied, their eyes caught each other and held on for a moment, before Hongjoong broke their gaze then brought the bunny’s knuckles to his lips, and kissed them affectionately.

Seonghwa froze, not knowing how to react to the gesture. The human was always friendly and respectful, but this, although new, didn’t feel out of place with his usual actions. Sure, maybe a bit more bold than normal, but the intention behind it- that’s what mattered. Hongjoong held Seonghwa’s hands as if they were made of glass, and kissed them so. A reminder of the existence of warmth, kindness, and care.

“Feeling better?” he asked as he lowered their hands, only letting go when Seonghwa was ready to. 

“Yeah, much…” the bunny replied, voice a bit hoarse. “Thank you.” 

Hongjoong smiled, with a succor belonging to that of the late afternoon sun. “Don’t thank me, I ain’t done with you just yet.” 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

“Y’know,” Seonghwa started, between bites of deliciously buttery peanut butter cookies, still warm from the oven, “this is the exact opposite of what I should be doing right now.” 

“Oh?” Hongjoong replied with a chuckle, “How so?”

Once the bunny had regained control of his legs, they had bounced the idea of either crashing on the couch in the living room area of the apartment, but Seonghwa’s dizziness after crying so heavily convinced them that they needed a much more comfortable horizontal space. He’d never been to the half-loft that designated Hongjoong’s “bedroom,” up some floating metal grate steps anchored to the wall. It wasn’t tidy, but it also wasn’t overly messy either, just lived-in, and clearly not with any expectation of housing visitors. The ceiling triangulated above them, a skylight installed on one of the angled rooftops to allow the moonlight in, coating the area in a silver light where the golden glow of Hongjoong’s bedside lamp didn’t reach, comfortably dim and cozy. Additional to the cushy bed, a plush grey tartan bedspread stretched over it, were black closets and bookcases, most of which housed haphazardly folded clothes or unsorted vinyls, CDs, and books. Other cubbies served as storage for Hongjoong’s boots, or cables upon cables of musical equipment. 

The human should thank his lucky stars that he didn’t live there, as he’d surely tackle those mismatched collections until they were in a neat, yet unrecognizable order to their owner. 

They’d stripped down to their most comfortable inner layers, Seonghwa borrowing a pair of Hongjoong’s pale grey sweat-shorts in lieu of his regular black dress pants, his loose, black long sleeve top hanging precariously from his light honey-coloured collarbones. His host had also gotten rid of his jeans for baggy red tartan pajama pants, his charcoal t-shirt topped by the double stack of thin, silver chains he didn’t take off. 

His bare arms reminded Seonghwa that he had tattoos. Mainly the one under his toned, right upper arm.

A bit of guilt soured the sweet bite of cookie in his mouth as he swallowed, observing the rest of it in his hand with a disdain neither it nor he deserved. “I got told off about my weight at work today.”

Hongjoong looked at him as if he’d grown three heads, half his cookie still in his mouth, which he covered with his free hand to speak.

“You!?” 

Seonghwa nodded, leaning back onto the nest of pillows his host had arranged for him, for maximum comfort. In disgust or defiance, he took another bite.

“Yeah, the unglamorous part of my job,” he said with deadpan contempt. “It’s normal that contracts have a clause for the models to maintain a certain aesthetic in order to fit the look of the brand. I was doing an underwear shoot today, and I guess the director thought I had a bit of a muffin top over the band.” 

The man choked at the word ‘underwear,’ beating his chest with his fist to get things moving again. 

“You ok?” the bunny asked as he handed him his mug of still-warm tea. 

Fervent nods complicated Hongjoong taking a sip from the mug, but he did so nonetheless and returned it to its rightful owner. “Yeah, thanks, sorry. I just couldn’t believe that the director thinks you’re fat. You’re literally perfect. I mean-”

Gentle laughter erupted from the bunny as he watched the man get overly flustered. “I get you, Joong, and I appreciate the compliment.” 

Hongjoong coughed until he had control of his throat again, croaking. “Good, I’m glad. That client is an idiot.”

Seonghwa grinned wider, happy with his words despite his struggle to get them out. 

“It is what it is. Not much I can do since those are the types of jobs my agency can provide at the moment.” 

“Can’t you sign elsewhere?” 

The bunny shook his head, his lop ears flopping slightly as he did so. “Still under contract until late spring next year. After that… I'll have to see what I can do. I want to keep modelling, but it’s pretty cutthroat, and these smaller jobs are good portfolio builders but not the kind of exposure I need to be taken seriously for higher quality jobs in editorial, or even runway.” 

“Don’t you have a big Pingram following? Doesn’t that help?” Hongjoong continued to ask, sensing that they were done munching on the cookies so he moved the tray they were on to the floor. 

“It does, but even Pingram models have a bit of a bad rep for being all looks but no talent,” the bunny explained, a soft exhale escaping him as he played with the hem of his top. “I post what I can to counteract that, but again, there’s a lot of competition.” 

Hongjoong’s eyes scanned him from his feet to his face, going over the long legs that were exposed and folded beneath the bunny to keep him sitting up against the pillows. “So what, you just gotta wait for a big break?” 

“Yeah, or keep pushing to find one. I go to all the auditions I can, even if I think I’m underqualified for the job. All it takes is for one client to think I can do it, even if I don’t really have the credentials.” 

Apprehensively, the human scooted closer to his guest, until his thigh was against Seonghwa’s shin, then placed his hand over it. The other didn’t mind the touch, having already agreed to it earlier. 

“I know I’ve said this before, but really, whatever you need, if you think I can help, let me know.”

Seonghwa’s smile softened affectionately as his ruby eyes met the determined dark chocolate ones that covered him in their gaze. “Thank you, Joong. You really don’t have to.” 

“But I want to,” he replied resolutely, leaning in a bit.

The model lifted himself off his nest of pillows to bring himself forward as well, his hand going to Hongjoong’s on his leg, drawing circles on the back of it.

“Why?”

The question left his lips before he could even think to filter his words, but it was out in the open now. Hongjoong sat up a bit straighter, eyes flitting about nervously as he sucked in his lower lip. Seonghwa couldn’t lie, he’d been dying to know the reason why the hairdresser always treated him with such consideration, a level that he realised, even in their short time as friends, was a cut above his normal efforts towards others. 

“Uhh…” Hongjoong started, clearing his throat again, “To be honest…” 

“I would hope so,” Seonghwa giggled, joking to ease his nerves. 

The man laughed anxiously in response, but did settle a bit as he gathered his thoughts. Thoughts that were interrupted when Seonghwa began to play with the chains hanging from his neck, as they caught the glow off the lamp and sparkled prettily against the dark colour of Hongjoong’s shirt. 

“Seonghwa…” His hand carefully grabbed the fingers toying with his jewellery, “Ever since you sat in my chair, I could tell that you were someone who’s been through struggle. It’s a way certain people move that’s hard to miss, but… don’t think for a moment that this is about pity. I do what I do because I love seeing people I care about feel confident in themselves, to help them flourish in their authenticity as much as I try to do so in my own. Even though we were strangers not too long ago, I saw a quiet beauty within you that I couldn’t help but admire, friends or not. Like a flower that only grows in the harshest of grounds.”

Rubies glittered and widened at every word that left the man's mouth, not expecting the depth of his answer at all. The back of his throat began to itch, but he was determined to not cry again, instead his breaths shaking as he exhaled. 

“Do… Do you really think all that? Of me?”

Hongjoong closed his eyes as he recognized the absolute dismissal of any professional relationship and subsequent boundaries they had, but in that moment, Seonghwa was his friend, and he needed honest encouragement.

“Of course, Hwa,” he assured, gathering some courage to meet the other’s gaze again. “You’re beautiful, inside and out, and I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it.”

Seonghwa leaned forward more as he spoke, an indescribable, gravitational pull moving him towards Hongjoong as if he were coming into his orbit. One he’d felt ever since they’d met, ever since somewhere, somehow, his mind and his heart recognized him as a safe place for him to land. Hongjoong froze, the slow proximity feeling sudden, like watching a car crash in slow motion. The bunny’s eyes lidded, their attention diverted to glossy, nervous, peachy lips for a moment before going back to the wide saucers that couldn’t believe what was happening. 

“Say it again,” Seonghwa whispered, their faces so close they were exchanging hot breaths. “I need it.”

The cogs were tuning behind Hongjoong’s eyes, the struggle between relenting and standing by whatever superfluous ethical code in his head evident in their darkness, but as his expression relaxed, it was clear which side was winning. 

“Beautiful,” he muttered just as their lips touched, the enunciation of each syllable massaged into them before fully capturing Seonghwa’s plush mouth on his own. “So, so beautiful.”

The bunny giggled a bit into their kiss, his free hand tracing Hongjoong’s jawline and up his cheekbone until it met the frame of his glasses, only pulling away enough to slide them off his face and toss them carefully onto the carpeted floor before his fingers tangled into the man’s chocolate locks. Their mouths searched for each other endlessly, a surge of energy that had the man freeing their intertwined fingers to caress up Seonghwa’s arm, firmly digging his pads into his toned bicep over the fabric of the bunny’s top. In return, Seonghwa tugged his face impossibly closer by a handful of his hair, beckoning him to lay more of his weight onto him. 

It didn’t take much convincing, especially after the tip of the bunny’s tongue tentatively outlined the crease of his lips, already addicted to the peanut buttery sweetness they shared without having tasted it fully yet. Hongjoong positioned himself between Seonghwa’s long legs, abdomens pressing against each other as the bunny leaned back into the pillows more and more, Tongues danced and slided around each other, saliva mixing into a unified flavour both treated as the nectar of life, and the other as the only source of its provenance. Soon, even that wasn’t enough, as shy moans floated in the empty spaces of their mouths not occupied by their lips, teeth, or tongues, Seonghwa arching his back to chase more friction, more weight, more contact that this time, he did want, and desperately. 

Hongjoong obliged to Seonghwa’s every demand, fully taken by the moment, until noticeable heats built between them that begged for more dedicated attention.

The bunny whined as the man on top of him pulled back, confusion filling where once was bliss and the promise of something more. “Wha- what happened?” 

The human chewed on his lips as he pulled back, sitting on his folded legs and giving Seonghwa’s inner knee a longing kiss that looked like it physically pained him to do so. 

“Like you said before,” he huffed, lips still against honey skin he couldn’t fathom he was stopping himself from tasting, “this is the exact opposite of what we should be doing right now.” 

Seonghwa felt on the verge of tears. “What do you mean?” 

“If you and I sleep together right now, it’s only going to make things unnecessarily complicated,” he explained, finally tearing himself away from the other. “We’re friends, you’re my client, and I don’t want to lose that because we both haven’t gotten laid in a hot minute. Trust me, it’s happened to me before, and it’s not a good look.” 

A pout followed his negation, but the bunny could only understand, and even agree just a little, as he hid his lessening arousal by going under the covers. “I mean… even with that, I- I wouldn’t have said no.” 

Hongjoong took it as a compliment, patting the mounds Seonghwa’s legs made under the covers. “I know, Hwa. In every other universe, believe me when I say that I would have never denied you.” 

Seonghwa’s lower lip jutted out further, before hiding half his face below the fabric.

The man laughed at the adorable sight in his bed. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. How about we just cuddle and watch a movie on my laptop?”

“...Fine, but I get to choose the movie.” 

“You got it, beautiful,” he replied as he fished out the computer from under his bed, and settled himself comfortably behind him as a big spoon. “What do you want to watch?”

Whether it was the emotional rollercoaster of the day, or the homely warmth under the comforter that began to heal any emotional cracks his heart had endured, both fell asleep within the first twenty minutes of the tropey rom com musical the bunny had selected. When they finally awoke, hours later, by empty stomachs, they would find a puddle of Seonghwa’s clothes, his rabbit body tightly yet comfortably pressed against the protection of Hongjoong’s neck, and the man’s arms cradling him to his chest as if he were the most precious being in the world. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

A few days later, the storms subsided, although the sky remained a bit overcast with a few patches of clear, afternoon pinks and oranges peeking through. 

His visit to Hongjoong’s had revitalised him, set out with a renewed sense of confidence and contentment with himself he was grateful the other was so keen on providing. 

Yet, in his core, unfinished business ate away at him. They were just friends , he’d said, their professional relationship alongside whatever bad past experience Hongjoong had putting a stop to scratching an itch he’d long ignored, or repressed. Of course Seonghwa got aroused, as most people did, but in those cases he’d just deal with it on his own in an almost clinical fashion, like getting rid of a congestion or a cough. A quick solo session was all that he had energy or motivation for, and although satisfying, was never like the real thing.

His life didn’t really lend itself to maintaining a romantic relationship. Matching up busy schedules, having to deal with jealousy and possessiveness when every week he was taking pictures with other models, or just generally surrounded by objectively beautiful people often sent potential partners into a spiral, needing to check his phone, his location, and his every move on the regular. 

Not that Seonghwa would ever cheat, he didn’t have that bone in his body, but people saw a rabbit, a gorgeous one at that, and erroneously assumed he was ready to go all the time, for better or for worse. It didn’t matter how many times he explained that his biology didn’t work that way, the stereotype was too ingrained into general society.

Thrown into the mix was his sexuality, which in and of itself wasn’t generally condemned by others. On the contrary, homosexuality was widely accepted and visible- if anything, it was the purists that were more bigoted or annoying when it came to socio-political discussions about interspecies pairings- however it did limit the pool to those who shared his preferences. He didn’t care what species his partner was, but it wasn’t as common for someone to feel the same.

He had to admit though, that in the modern age the line seemed to blur more and more. As he popped his earbuds in, especially designed for rabbit ears in form and function, that train of thought flooded his mind. In the dim lighting of the entrance of his apartment, he slipped on his running shoes, making sure his leggings were tucked into his socks to avoid any cold air hitting his legs. Over those, black running shorts with reflective silver designs hugged his hips, and kept his black long sleeve compression shirt from lifting. The arms had a matching reflective, wavy design to the shorts, but he threw on a light, waterproof jacket in baby pink over top, in case the weather decided it needed to flurry again during his run. Finally, he pulled on a toque that hugged his ears to his head, and kept them from flopping around when he ran.

Seonghwa steeled himself for the elements, trying not to have the gross director’s voice echo in his head, ordering him to work out more, instead replacing it with the other voice that haunted him. 

The voice that called him beautiful as if it were a loving, devoted prayer to an all-powerful goddess. One that he couldn’t shake since he heard it, and make his skin crawl with goosebumps despite still being inside where it was warm. 

A short exhale of frustration left his lips as he pulled the zipper of his jacket up over his mouth, after securing his running mask over his nose. He would never disrespect Hongjoong’s boundaries, obviously, especially as their relationship was built on a soft bed of mutual understanding and consideration of the other, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t ready to satiate his curiosity as to how the human really tasted like, as to how he would act if he were to put down his seemingly eternal gentleness for a while, if it meant leaving the bunny without the ability feel his body- or feel it too much- the next day. An equal act of kindness, he would argue, akin to making sure he felt as full and satisfied as when he downed a plate of his delicious homemade cookies.

How dare he really, leave him wanting so. Of course, he meant this as a joke to himself, and threw away the thought as he began moving his legs faster. 

Running was always a way to empty his mind. Sometimes, his childhood memories would chase after him, the ones that started his deep insecurities of not feeling good or worthy enough, but he would outrun them. Every time. He needed to outrun them to prove them all wrong, that he could do it. 

With the music bopping in his earbuds, Seonghwa focused on the road. Thankfully, it was warm enough for the snow not to stick, but just cold enough at night that ice could still cast a sheer, almost imperceptible coat over the concrete. The bunny was light on his feet, so this usually wasn’t an issue, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. The path led him to a park that lined the river that cut through the city, the same one where his precious island would be nestled into. It was great for runners, as the scenery was diverse and serene enough to aid in calming the strain of their bodies and giving them even ground to jog on. 

As the songs cycled through his playlist, he hummed along breathily. Each passing tune accompanied the quick shift of the late afternoon into the early evening, and he didn’t want to be out alone at night if he could help it. He sped up, in part blaming pent-up frustration to his underlying restlessness and need to get the energy out. Bounding steps crashed onto the pavement, and his ragged pants replaced even the blaring of the music. Nothing else mattered.

That was, until a figure darted past him.

Absolutely not, not today.    

He chased after the stranger, even if they had no idea they were now in a race, until they were almost on pace with each other. The closer he got, the more they towered higher and higher, and a golden tail swaying in the wind told him everything he needed to know. Playfully, he shoulder checked him.

“Hey! What- Oh, Seonghwa!” 

The bunny giggled, slowing down in front of him. “Hey Yunho! Didn’t think I’d see you here.” 

The man panted, catching his breath with a bright smile. He wasn’t wearing a mask, so his lips were a deep plum red, as was the tip of his nose and cheeks, cutely contrasted against his pale skin. He also had a beanie on to protect his ears, and had opted for a similar outfit to Seonghwa’s, in the form of generic athletic wear, all black covering every lengthy centimeter of his extremities. 

“What, don’t think I’m the running kind of guy?” he joked, as it was obvious he was from the obscene amounts of it they did during football practice. 

Seonghwa snorted through his mask, which he didn’t take off. “Nah, thought you ran off making Hongjoong and Mingi’s lives difficult.” 

“Oh, so you noticed,” Yunho followed along with the tease as they walked side by side. “You’re right, it’s the blood in my veins.” 

Laughter brought them closer together, shoulders rubbing, and the bunny placed his hand on the other man’s bicep for stability. 

“With the reactions you get, I can see why. Although I haven’t cracked Mingi just yet.” 

Yunho hummed. “You’re getting close. I’m sure the soju helped a lot last weekend, but he doesn’t… ah, how to put it…” 

Seonghwa watched him expectantly, eager to hear the new piece of information. It was clear from the way the retriever winced and palmed the back of his neck he was choosing his words carefully. 

“Let's just say he doesn’t bring you up as much, or at least, not in the way he used to.”

“Oh?” 

The bunny’s curiosity was a shovel he didn’t want in his hands to dig his own grave, but he could only blame himself for being vague. Regardless, he chose to not say anything further, and prayed that he’d be off the hook with a pleading gaze. Seonghwa’s ruby eyes kept sparkling, but the sudden awkwardness backed him off a bit. 

“If you don’t mind me asking… What’s your relationship with Mingi? I have a feeling whatever reason he’s got against me, it goes beyond just me. Sorry to put you on the spot, but I really don’t want to be the reason why he can’t be himself when we’re all together. That’s not fair to him.”

Yunho’s smile softened into endearment. “You’re sweet, Hwa. Too sweet for your own good. It’s fine, probably something we should have talked about a while ago.”

Their steps slowed to a stroll, following the paved banks of the river as they walked. 

“Mingi and I have known each other since high school, so a long time ago. It was like we were attached at the hip from the moment we set eyes on each other. I don’t know if you feel it, but he’s got this… aura about him. Not the scary wolf one people like to assign to him, something much more… protective, and comforting. He’s fierce about it.” 

As Yunho spoke, he stared straight ahead. The gentle inflections in his tone let Seonghwa know that he held a lot of love for the silent member of their group. He also chalked it up to them being canines, to have some sort of innate pack feeling, especially with each other. Still, even though Yunho’s flirting with him in the past had been assertive, a burning question he’d had since their first meeting finally bubbled to the surface.

“So are you guys like… together?” 

The taller man couldn’t help but scoff at the question in disbelief. “No, no. Absolutely not. I’ve never really seen him that way. I know we love each other, but he’s my best friend, aside from Hongjoong of course. We met him later, but I consider them more family than anything else.” 

Seonghwa studied him. “Hmm, I guess. I thought maybe at the very least he had some sort of romantic feelings for you, and didn’t like you siding up to me, hence the hostility.”

His statement stopped the dog in his tracks, his eyes following him with a mischievous crinkle as Seonghwa went a couple steps ahead.

“Mingi? Nah, if he did like me like that, I’d be able to tell by now, or he would have said something.”

The bunny tilted his head to the side. “You sure?”    

“Why, you some sort of expert?” 

He didn’t like his tone. The one he used when he felt like he had some sort of upper hand. Well, he couldn’t say he didn’t like it, when it actually drove him wild, but it came coupled with a sense of unspoken danger. That quiet confidence Yunho exuded at almost all times, it was a contagious energy to be around. Seonghwa could never completely guess what his next move was, or how far his next comment would go, and it was that mystery that kept him opening up their messages in a rush every time a ding went off on his phone.

“No, but I’m just saying…” 

Yunho took a step closer, enough for them to be side by side again with how tall he was. His hands stayed in the pockets of his winbreaker jacket. 

“Just saying what? What does it mean to you if we are, or aren’t?” 

Puffs of diffused hot air pushed through his mask, still securely over his nose. “N-nothing, just trying to make sense of it all.” 

It was Yunho’s turn to eye him curiously, clearly not completely believing his clarification. “Uh huh.” 

Seonghwa gulped and kept walking. The other man easily kept up with him. 

“Mmm, suddenly so quiet for someone fishing for answers. Scared of what you’ll hear?” he taunted mercilessly.  

“Not at all. I only care to know as your friend, so that I don’t mess up and assume something that isn’t actually happening.” 

“I appreciate your thoroughness,” Yunho replied, playful and sarcastic. “In any case, I’m not one to hide where my intentions lie, not unless it’s for the sake of the game. If I like someone like that, they’ll know.”

A chill of doubt shot down his body. “How?” 

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d probably text them every day, find any reason to get close to them, like suggesting to pair off for party games, or drive them home. I’m a cuddly guy with big hands, I like to see where they fit.”

The bunny sputtered, taking a precautionary, subtle step away from him. “I-is that so?” 

The space was immediately eliminated, shoulders pressed to each other again. “I’m pretty sure.” 

Seonghwa’s body screamed at him. Every siren was going off in his head to let him know of danger, but he didn’t reinstate the distance. 

The chase. The chase was so addictive, and Yunho’s instincts were on point, as to be expected. A kind, sunny smile that hid an underlying, predatory hunger underneath, one that he shouldn’t desire, but made him feel… tangible. He hated that his brain compared the two friends, as he adored them both for different reasons, but Yunho… Yunho didn’t tiptoe around him. Yunho didn’t navigate his space as if he were about to break, although he could. He respected Seonghwa’s autonomy in an opposite sense, where instead of wading in the shallows with him, he felt like the other man took him to the edge of the deep end of the pool, and waited for him to jump, without doubting his ability to do so. 

All of their individual conversations were like that. Borderline salacious comments that teetered on the edge of indecency, every one a door that led down the same path, if only he wanted to open it. Generally, he hated this sort of approach from other men, but Yunho had a smoothness about him that made it seem effortless and tailored, not at all like he searched for cheesy one liners on Smoogle before copy pasting them into their DMs. 

It also helped that the man was stupidly attractive. Stupidly attractive and obviously into him. 

“Well, since you like games so much, let's make a wager.”

The man perked up, leaning away from Seonghwa with a bit of surprise. “Hit me.” 

“A race, until the end of the next block.” 

Yunho cocked an eyebrow that disappeared into the hem of his beanie. “What’s on the line?” 

“If I win… Hmm… There’s this strawberry cream cake I love, but it’s really popular, so people get in line hours before the doors open to buy it.”

“And you want me to stand in the freezing cold to get it for you?” 

Seonghwa giggled. “Fair punishment for losing, no?” 

“Alright,” he accepted with a chuckle, after swaying his head side to side a bit. “I know what I want if I win.” 

“And that would be…?” 

The retriever paused again, and turned his head. Then his gloved hand came up to his cheek and tapped on it a couple times. 

His eyes widened. A kiss. A kiss on the cheek, but a kiss nonetheless.  

A kiss that wasn’t held back by any pesky professional relationships. 

“Deal,” he agreed.

“Wow, that was easy,” he mused. “Get ready to pucker up, Park Seonghwa.” 

“Don’t think so. I’m going to savour that cake while you warm up those big hands of yours from hours out in the cold.”

Yunho only laughed, but his eyes darkened as he locked into the challenge. Every time, it was like a switch was flipped within him, and Seonghwa couldn’t help but find it so infinitely attractive. A sheer display of raw power without any of the overcompensating frills. 

“We’ll start here,” he instructed as he pointed to a line in the concrete below their feet. “On three.”

They positioned themselves, both leaning forward on one leg while another stretched behind them for the push-off. 

“One…” 

Only breaths could be heard, even though the world moved around them as if they weren’t there. 

“Two…”

Seonghwa tilted his head and winked, then jerked his body forward quickly as if he were going to speed off. Yunho reacted to the movement right away, mirroring him perfectly until in the split second the bunny returned back to the more advantageous position, where Seonghwa said “Three!” and the other was left to trip over his long legs for the first few steps of the race. 

“Hey, that’s cheating!” he shouted as he shot out after him, the rabbit already many paces ahead. 

Seonghwa’s laughter trailed behind him as he enjoyed his head start, already tasting the sweet cream of the cake on his tongue. He didn’t let the vision slow him though, but with every thunderous stomp that gained on him from behind, it slowly began to crack. 

Yunho was picking up massive amounts of speed, close enough that the vibrations of his gaits trembled through the pavement. 

Soon enough, they were neck and neck, and the end of the block was fast-approaching. Neither spoke, dropping every pretense for the sake of winning, the stakes finally real enough to give it their all. So much so, that when they did get to their designated finish line, both crossed it then flopped to the ground, without a care for the scene they were causing around them. Heavy pants pushed out of their lungs as their bodies begged for air, laying side by side, half on wet grass, half on chilled concrete.

“I… I think I won…” the dog finally puffed. 

“No way,” Seonghwa countered, equally as breathy. “I totally won.” 

The taller man laughed, in between groans of overexertion. “There’s… there’s no way to find out.” 

They laid there for a moment longer, until Seonghwa had enough strength to sit up and roll to his side, facing Yunho. “Wha- What do you suggest then?” 

A mischievous glint in his eyes again. “Tie?” 

Seonghwa laughed through his running mask, then stared down at him, drinking in the sight of sweat that glistened off his sideburns as it bounced off the light of the street lamps, of his parted lips that only got redder from his laborious exhales, of eyes that stayed on him as if he were the only thing that existed in the world.

The bunny leaned forward, the blonde moving his head to the side in response to receive the kiss on the cheek. Seonghwa’s gloved fingers curled under the bottom of his chin and brought his face upright again, then pressed his still-masked lips over Yunho’s. 

No, it wasn’t enough. 

With his free hand, he pulled the mask down, and kissed the man for real. 

૮ ᴖﻌᴖა ♥ ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♥ ₍ᐢ◌•ㅅ•◌ᐢ₎

cw: smut —---(starts here, and goes until the end of the chapter. If you don’t want to read it, see you in the next one!)

Seonghwa didn’t know when or how they got to Yunho’s apartment. Apparently, wherever they were in the park was close enough that even through incessant kisses peppered between giggles and desperate tugs at one another, they’d managed to find their way. As soon as they were in the elevator, the bunny was pressed up against the mirror on the back wall, those big hands he’d promised to use cupping his face, no permission asked for Yunho’s tongue to fill his mouth. It wasn’t needed. He let him in without question, and with the same fervor. Neither cared for the security cameras that were surely installed in there either. 

By the time they’d reached his front door, smaller, easier articles of clothing like hats, gloves, and earbuds had been ripped off unceremoniously and stuffed into whatever free pockets they had. Seonghwa was once again caged against the flat surface of the front door by one of the retriever’s arms, his lips keeping him firmly in place while the other hand fumbled on the keypad to punch in the numbers needed to grant them entry. Awkward back steps followed the opening movement of the door as Yunho slammed both him and it wide open, mouth wetly trailing down to the start of his jawline and teeth eager to rip off offending fabric. 

In his haze, the only details that Seonghwa could pick out about his apartment was that it was dark aside from a white kitchen light staying on, and that it at least smelled relatively well-kept.  

Not that it mattered, as his attention was entirely drawn to the man that easily lifted him up by the crooks of his legs, and pinned him to the opposite wall of the entryway to finally shut the door. Instinctively, Seonghwa wrapped his legs around his narrow hips, and arms around his broad shoulders, capturing his tongue again and again, logical thinking escaping him with every kiss. 

“Fuck,” his host finally groaned, rocking his hips up into his crotch, the size and intensity of his desire rubbing against him noticeably despite the now damp layers of clothing that still separated them. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I first laid eyes on you.”

Seonghwa giggled coyly, accompanying the pressure with a push of his own even though he was up in the air, still fluttering sloppy kisses on Yunho’s lips as he spoke. “Oh really?”

The answer to the rhetorical question came when he was suddenly dropped back onto his feet, then spun around only to be pressed up against the wall again. Yunho’s force was calculated but not careful- he wanted Seonghwa to feel how his chest pushed into the wall and forced his head to the side for comfort, driven forward by the weight and rhythmic intention of the retriever’s groin into his backside. The dry-humping was dizzying, the anticipation of what he felt between his cheeks making him lose the little breath he had, with his upper body already being constricted against the wall. He craved more, craved for there to not be any more layers that separated them, countering his weight to give Yunho resistance where they grinded together, screamed a little when a rough grip on his cottony tail squeezed. 

“Really,” he replied in a low, yet playful growl. “That slutty little strappy top with your whole back out… How dare you. Almost made me miss a few notes when I saw you dancing.”

Seonghwa’s curls bounced as he laughed and was plowed into, although his danger alarms from before should have been blaring in his head again, as him being on the ground meant that Yunho’s hands were free, but he wasn’t allowed to give it any thought. Slender fingers tore off his pink jacket and slithered under and up his abdomen with precision, rolling up his compression top to his armpits, cold hands that made his warm skin tremble with excitement at their mere touch. Seonghwa’s soft moans and airy, shallow breaths began to fill the dark hallway, only potentiated when now lukewarm fingers rolled his nipples between their pads, and the retriever’s hungry mouth sucked on the small window of exposed neck right behind the corner of his jaw. 

“You liked that one? Ah… Can’t say I wore it just for you, but mm… I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

Yunho’s hands switched to caress his bare waist, catching onto the rolled top and finally relieving Seonghwa of it. In the same swift movement, he spun him around to face him, one set of fingers coiled around his neck to keep him against the wall. 

Even in the dimly lit hallway, the white glint from the kitchen light caught the predatory darkness of his gaze, ears forward with attention, pupils fully dilated for more reasons than just the lack of illumination. 

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying, but one of the hottest ways Seonghwa had ever been eaten up by someone else’s eyes. Like the first time they met, only much more charged, to the point of his breath hitching in his throat, and keeping himself still in fear. 

“Did you wear it for Hongjoong, then?” 

Trapped against a wall, a hand coiled around his neck, the other man close but not close enough, the bunny’s expression of unexpected surprise melted into one of smug understanding. This was their game, after all, playing with fire. Poking and prodding where they shouldn’t, trying to get a rise out of the other and testing the limits over and over until they broke, or shifted ever so slightly. 

He may be a soft little bunny, naturally innocent by nature, but he was no fool. 

Seonghwa’s fingers curled into the waistband of Yunho’s leggings and pulled him in until their bodies crashed together, the dog not expecting the sudden show of strength from the usually proper man. He tilted his head, meeting the burn of Yunho’s eyes with equal heat, the temptation of more kisses only a centimeter away. 

“So what if I did? What would you do about it, hmm?” 

In all honesty, he wore it because he just liked that top and knew he looked hot in it, but Yunho didn’t need to know that. 

Clearly, the man wasn’t used to being manhandled himself, but in a split second decided he liked it. He, too, was addicted to the chase, and loved that his prey played the game. A smirk curled his upper lips before he stuck his tongue into his cheek, drinking up Seonghwa’s defiance.

“I’m gonna make it so that when you wear that top, you can’t think of anyone else.” 

With that, he suddenly knelt and threw the bunny over his shoulder, again effortlessly, long legs stepping over disorganized, thrown about shoes and down another dark hallway that no doubt led to his bedroom. The whole way through, Seonghwa laughed, called out his name, half-heartedly beat on his back to put him down although he knew he’d be back on his back soon. Teeth sunk into his outer thigh, over leggings and all, eliciting more surprised yelps from his capture. 

Once again, the lack of light aside from the diffused moonlight that came in through the window didn’t give him much information about the room they were in, but yet nothing really stood out. It was all very typical Yunho, or what he would imagine the man’s bedroom to look like; band posters on the walls, a closet with a sliding door that showed a messy array of shirts and shoes, then a gaming computer setup, his bass guitar backed up in one of the corners on a stand, and lastly, the twin sized bed. Unmade, of course, blue and grey striped comforter he’d probably had since university- did Yunho even go to university?- in a bunched up pile at the foot of the bed. 

Yet, like before, he didn’t let Seonghwa dwell on the details. 

The bunny’s body flopped onto the bed, bouncing a little, but it wasn’t long before his bottom half was being lifted up, slightly rough hands, much like Hongjoong’s in texture, from bass guitar playing scratching down his thighs as all of his layers were removed in one swift motion. Seonghwa whimpered at the chill that hit him, bare naked while the other still had everything but his jacket on. 

For the first time since they’d arrived, Yunho paused. Admiration, that’s the look he had, eyes trailing down every bit of Seonghwa’s exposed skin as if he’d discovered a hidden treasure of myth. Shyness suddenly gripped the naked man’s chest, feeling it ironic that he worked in the market of being ogled and yet, with the way Yunho was doing it, it was like he was committing every curve to memory, especially as his hands were on him again, exploring them without restraint. Fingertips painfully ghosted past his cock, pretty and pink, a bit on the smaller side given his rabbit genes, laying flush to his body as it twitched in anticipation, pre-cum shyly oozing out the tip.

Or maybe it was just the cold. 

Seonghwa complained again, a little louder, but more strained. “You know, I get paid to be stared at.” 

Yunho chuckled, amused by his impatience. “Just admiring how beautiful you are.” 

That word again. He couldn’t help but hear it said with the voice of another, but now, Yunho’s husky voice mixed and layered into it. A voice that in that moment was dripping with desire and without restriction. He felt another shiver go down his back, and decided he’d had enough. 

“Thank you,” his tone laced with playful sweetness, mentally fighting back any outside thoughts, “Can you fuck me now, please?” 

Just like that, the switch was flipped again, always in the eyes. Seonghwa knew of how ‘predator’ types operated, first-hand and otherwise, and knew that each had distinct characteristics to them, but mentally, a lot of them were generally the same. Of course, personality played into it as well, so no encounter was ever the same. 

“Getting there,” he smirked, “Ever been with uh… one of us before?” 

The retriever kept rubbing up his sides and legs to keep him warm, but Seonghwa wanted more. He sat up on the bed, taking matters into his own hands, pulling his shirt out from the tightness of his leggings and licking the exposed, milky skin right in front of his nose. With his lips on Yunho’s lower abdomen, he looked up, red eyes glittering in the dark. 

He knew what he meant by his question. “No, first time.” 

His eyes widened with surprise and wild excitement. “Not like, in general, right? Do you… need the rundown?”

Seonghwa took the moment of reprieve to undress Yunho’s torso, eager to not let the momentum die down. It was his turn to have his hands go wherever they wanted, pulling him in closer as he knelt on the bed before him. 

“We’ve talked about this,” the bunny dragged out his words as he spoke, “I’m not a virgin, so stop treating me like one.” 

“Pardon me for making sure you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Yunho smiled, fully pressing himself onto Seonghwa, hungry lips finally able to eat up his bare, light caramel neck. “Don’t want you to be unpleasantly surprised.”

Melting into wet nibbles, his head lolled to the side, giving the other as much surface as he wanted to savour him.

“I swear to everything good and holy Yunho, if you don’t knot me right now…”

A surprised laugh escaped him, the weight of his forehead laid into his shoulder. The bunny had been subverting his expectations again and again, from their first kiss until that statement, each new wall broken down chipping away at the internal dam he’d built up in the name of propriety. 

But Seonghwa himself was the one delivering the blows to the integrity of its structure, and he didn’t mind it coming down one bit.

“Please don’t tell me you believe in that alpha and omega shit as well, I swear, humans-”

“Not unless you want me to. Are you into that?”

Hands full of the bunny’s ass squeezed, and lips connected to each other as they spoke. “Don’t care for it, but if it’s you…”

Seonghwa moaned, frotting his erection between their compressed bodies, annoying fabric still in the way, which he tugged at with restless insistence.

“All I want is you, I don’t care what you call me.”

Rekindled vigour from his words had him thrown onto his back again, white ears and curls flopped around him, Yunho finally freeing the monster he’d only caught the outline of through his tight pants. He assumed the man was well endowed, those big handed, lean gamer types always were, but for a second, Seonghwa’s mind thought to heed his warning.  

His attention diverted from what he was about to take, to what he needed to be able to take it. Yunho adjusted Seonghwa’s legs to his hips again, guiding them to lock in place on his lower back, then lifted one of his hands to his mouth. 

“Aren’t- D-don’t you have lube?” the bunny asked nervously. 

“I do,” he replied, his tongue dragging up the lengths of his index and middle fingers, wave tattoos flowing down them to his forearm like an oil spill on a sandy beach, “but someone’s being impatient, and I aim to please.”

The wet digits pressed against his rim before he could say any further, the words in his throat transformed into quiet moans as they circled the muscle tentatively. Seonghwa squirmed, hips bucking slightly once one, then two fingers slipped in, the moist friction causing him to tighten instead of loosen. Every knuckle rubbed themselves on the walls of his insides, pulling and constricting around them. Moans deepened in his chest when more wet fingers were on him, spreading his precum down his length and pumping him gently, slowly. Too slow.

“Sh…shit,” Seonghwa twitched, sensitive and restless as he bucked more, but the other man leaned his weight into his hands to stop him. “Wh-why-”

“Because, I’m enjoying watching you fall apart,” the dog taunted, his voice low. “Where is all that fire now, huh? Two little fingers and you’re a goner?” 

A whine filled the room. “L-little? I feel… Ah, I feel like your fingers are in my throat…”

“That can be arranged,” Yunho joked, scissoring his digits to start prying him open, his thumb applying rolling pressure into his taint. 

Hands that had been previously occupied gripping the sheets around him flew to his forearm, shoving them in deeper. Seonghwa yelped at the sudden movement caused by his own actions, but his pride was more important than the shockwave that shot up his abdomen. 

“Greedy greedy,” Yunho taunted again, “So eager for more, but I don’t think you’re ready.” 

“I am ready,” the bunny cried, playing up the sweet desperation in his voice. “I’ve been ready. Don’t you want me?”

Breath fully returned to his lungs when all the pressure was out and off of him, but he missed it instantly. No answer to his question came, instead Yunho tore his legs off him, pushing them forward enough to then flip him over onto his stomach. His chest pressed into the mattress, but kept his ass elevated, back arched. Cool air made him shiver, totally untouched as he heard rustling around him, and the familiar sounds of a cap being popped and a wrapper being opened. 

Warmth returned to his body when Yunho laid his weight onto him, chest to back, his lips on his neck again. 

“You’re not ready, but you’ll get there.”

Seonghwa gasped when a lubricated hand was pumping him again, with more intention, dragging long, languid moans muffled into the sheets. Kisses trailed down his back as the taller man lifted himself off him again, the last a cheeky bite on his cottony tail. Another scream was interrupted by a sharp inhale that hitched in his throat when he felt wet muscle on his rim again, alternating between playing with his entrance and lapping up the mixture of juices that came from both his mouth’s and his fingers’ efforts, three this time, fully stretching him out past where he thought possible.

“Y-Yunho…” 

That combination was dangerous, teetering too close to the edge and he wasn’t even in him yet, but the other man didn’t seem to care. He kept pulling him apart, kept stroking him with consistent, measured speed, kept drawing out every sound Seonghwa had in his repertoire as if he were determined to hear them all in one night. 

“Yunho, I’m-” 

“Do it, you’ll get another one.” 

Such unabashed confidence. The reason why the dog had caught his eye in the first place, the way he carried himself without a doubt that he would accomplish his goal. It felt inevitable that he would find his bed, ever since they locked eyes.

Seonghwa wondered if he ever stood a chance.

With another deep moan absorbed by the foam of the mattress, his body shook as he came, dripping brazenly all over the dark sheets. Yunho’s hands slowed, and his tongue licked up the mess around his chin, chuckling at the sight,

“Now you’re ready.” 

Breathless, the bunny begged. “W-wait…”

But it was no use. Yunho’s length already rubbed between his lubed up cheeks, his hands gripping Seonghwa’s hips until his nails dug into his skin, keeping him steady.

“Say it again, if you mean it.”

He didn’t. Instead, he shook his head into the fabric, balling it up in his hands. 

Yunho laughed again. “Good bunny.” 

Seonghwa couldn’t decide if Yunho pushing himself in and out, inch by slowly added inch, was pure bliss or torture. Every time he thought he was going to bottom out, more filled him, a noticeable bulge in his lower abdomen building. On the final thrust, fingers intertwined into his snowy hair, pulling it back at the same time he pulled his hips to his crotch. No sounds came from him, only air from his opened mouth, brain ringing with the sole thought of how much there was in him. Out of mercy or patience, Yunho didn’t move once he was fully in, panting heavy as his hand massaged one of Seonghwa’s glutes, revelling in the sight of sun kissed skin and mop of white hair trembling at his every move.

“So tight…” he breathed, “So good, taking it all for me.”

Coherent thought still wasn’t something the bunny was capable of, but by the work of a miracle, his body started on its own, pushing his ass back onto Yunho’s groin in response. 

The dog smirked again. Always fighting back. He began slow, finding his rhythm and gauging Seonghwa’s reaction with every thrust. The more power and speed he picked up, the other would reply in kind, seeking fullness as if his life depended on it. Their combined groans and breaths became the only sound that mattered, aside from the raunchy slaps of skin on skin. It didn’t take long for the swelling at the base of his cock to become apparent, hums of pleasure melting into loud pleads from the bottom. Yunho would stop just as it would hit his rim, confirming if Seonghwa truly could take it, but he gathered spit into his mouth nonetheless and let it drop onto the knot, slowing his thrusts into rolls of his hips as he watched it disappear bit by bit into the bunny’s ass.

Fuck, he was right.

Yunho had every reason to ask him if he knew what he was getting into, to take his time spreading him out until he was sure he was going to rip him open. Nothing on Seonghwa’s track record, although short for an attractive man his age, could have prepared him for this. 

And he loved it. 

“Y-Yunho!” he wailed, tears wetting the sheets below his face. “Fuck… please!”

The taller man shuddered, also needing a second to catch his breath. Below him, Seonghwa’s ruby eyes over his shoulder supplicated, glittering with the wetness that was now all over his sheets. 

How could he say no to that pretty face? 

Leaning forward, he pulled on the bunny’s hair to get at more of his neck, licking up the sweet sweat that cast a moist sheen on Seonghwa’s body.

“I’m moving now,” he whispered with a growl, which granted him a strained nod. 

His teeth sunk into Seonghwa’s trap, pushing him down as his thrusts became more and more violent, more desperate in their search for his release and that of his captive. The poor, overly confident little bunny wanted a knot, and he was going to get it, animalistic instincts to claim and be claimed taking over, even if just for that night. Seonghwa’s cries knew no restriction other than how far off the bed his face was, arching his back as curved as it could go and allowing the man to ram himself into him for as long as it took. Seeing his hands busy, he reached down to his ignored dick and rubbed out until more cum dribbled from his tip, the clench from his second orgasm enough to send Yunho into a downward spiral. 

“Seong-Seonghwa…” he moaned his name into his skin, open-mouthed and exhausted, as hot liquid filled up the hole that had served him so well.

The bunny barely had a voice left as he panted, wheezing through a dry throat, eyes disoriented as he forgot where he was for a moment. The world didn’t exist around him as he lay, all fucked out, every cell in his body on fire or frozen, given that all of his blood seemed to rush to his core and crotch in the process. Yunho’s tongue caressed the bitemark sheepishly, thankful that no taste of iron was sensed in his mouth.

They both stayed there, breathing each other's air, gathering their bearings as reality began to settle back in their minds again. As his erection died down, the taller man pressed his forehead into the bunny’s neck, apologising over and over for the slow, dragged out whimpers he caused by pulling out. Finally free from being pinned down, Seonghwa allowed himself to stretch out completely on Yunho’s bed, not caring about the large wet spot his abdomen laid on. 

“Are you… okay?” The retriever asked tentatively, hovering on all fours above him.

“Gimme a snack and a fifteen minute nap,” he joked, voice cracking, "then we can go again.”   

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