Chapter Text
When Chan got the call, it was already late.
He was, of course, still awake, but it was still late enough to make him concerned. Who would call him at this hour? None of his friends or colleagues should be up. Whoever it was would get a stern talking to about their bedtime, he decided.
His inner monologue came to an abrupt stop when he heard the slightly panicked voice of Seungmin. Maybe the scolding could wait, something was wrong. The call only lasted a few minutes. After hanging up, Chan was throwing on clothing and shoes appropriate for the weather this late at night.
He gathered his keys and his wallet and was on his way out the door when he heard a displeased hiss behind him.
“Where are you running of to, so late at night?”
In the doorway of his bedroom stood Hyunjin, tail swishing in agitation, ice cold stare directed at Chan. He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. He had hoped to avoid this.
“A hybrid needs help. Seungmin called, said something about him not speaking Korean. I gotta go help.”
Hyunjin rolled his eyes.
“So, you are getting yourself a new plaything? Bored of me already? Have you finally figured out that I can’t be tamed and lost interest? Too bad…” The hybrid mimicked a sob and grinned at the human.
Chan had no time for Hyunjins performance today.
“I’ll be back, go to sleep, you know you need it”, he mumbled and made his way out of the apartment with an angry hiss following him into the night air. Hyunjin had been difficult since Chan had taken him in. That was the whole reason Chan had taken him in the first place. No one had wanted to adopt him.
Chan sighed again while walking to his car. He had never regretted taking Hyunjin in and he wouldn’t start now, but the cat hybrid did not make it easy for him at times.
He let autopilot take over and guide him down to Seungmins doctor’s office. Normally it would be closed at this hour, only a red button gleaming to alert Seungmin if he was needed. But as he parked the car, he could already see the lights on in one of the examination rooms.
He made his way inside, walking past the abandoned front desk and right up to the door where the light was coming from. He gave a short knock.
“Its me Seungmin. Can I come in?”
“Yes please”, came a voice from the other side.
He opened the door and saw Seungmin, looking sleepy and disheveled. He must have already been asleep when the new patient arrived. Speaking of which, the new patient did indeed look absolutely terrified. He was a male cat hybrid as far as Chan could see and looked really young. He was pressed as far into the corner of the room as he would go, and his ear were laying flat on his head.
Chan felt a pang of sympathy in his chest. Poor thing must be scared too dead. He made eye contact for a second and gave his best comforting smile. Then he turned back to Seungmin.
“You said something about him not speaking Korean? What languages does he speak? Do you know?” He asked the doctor. Seungmin shook his head.
“I have no clue what he speaks, only that it is not Korean or Japanese. But you know how I am with languages. That’s why I asked you to come. Maybe he knows English.”
Chan nodded in understanding and knelt down in front of the hybrid, who whimpered and tried to shuffle even further into the corner, even though there was no more room.
“Hey, its ok, I promise I mean no harm. Can you understand me?”
Chan was careful to keep his voice light and soothing. The hybrid stared at him with big brown eyes, shining with tears. Chan sighed and got ready to dust of any other language skills he might have in the back of his brain somewhere when the hybrid spoke in a surprisingly deep voice.
“You speak English? I am sorry, I only know English, I don’t mean to disobey any orders, I just don’t understand anything… I’m sorry for being bad, please have mercy on me. I’ll do better, I…”
Chan stopped the hybrids rambling with a finger to his own lips. He made sure to send the hybrid a reassuring smile.
“No one is mad at you, I promise. My name is Chan, do you know yours?”
The hybrid looked at him again, tears still glimmering in his eyes.
“Felix, sir. But you can call me whatever pleases you.”
“Nice to meet you, Felix. Can you tell me how you ended up here and if you need medical help? Seungmin here is a doctor.”
Chan asked carefully. Felix looked at Seungmin and then quickly back at Chan. He was trembling slightly, Chan noticed.
“My old master was part of the mafia, friends of his that he had betrayed wanted to teach him a lesson. They came to his house and found me. They took me with them, but I fell and hit my head pretty badly. I couldn’t stop throwing up, so they left me here and ran. I am sorry for the inconveniences I have caused Sir.”
“Just Chan is fine, no need to call me sir. How do you feel now? It sounds like you had a bad concussion, let me ask Seungmin.”
He described to Seungmin in Korean what Felix had said, and the doctor agreed that it was probably a concussion.
“He has to be monitored then”, decided Seungmin. “But I can’t do that here. All of our patient rooms are full, and even if something was happening, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him about it.”
Chan thought for a second. He could take Felix home; he had the space. And Hyunjin spoke English too, so they could communicate. But Hyunjin would probably have a fit. It might destroy any progress he had made with the hybrid so far. But there was no other option right now.
“I could take him home with me?” he said, looking at the hybrid, who was visibly nervous, now that he didn’t understand what they were saying.
“That might be the best solution for now.” Seungmin nodded. “But are you sure Hyunjin will behave? I don’t need Felix even more scared than he is now.”
“It will be fine; I’ll deal with him. I will call you tomorrow. Go back to bed and tell Inni that I love him. I can handle it from here. I know what to do when someone has a concussion.”
Seungmin nodded and made his way out of the room, waving goodnight to the two of them.
Chan sat back down to Felixs level.
“I am sorry. We talked about how it is best that you come home with me. You have a concussion and shouldn’t be left alone yet.” Chan smiled at Felix a little awkwardly. “I do have another hybrid at home who will probably not be happy. But I will deal with him, you just worry about recovering, ok? Are you ok to come home with me? Me and Hyunjin, the hybrid, both speak English so we can understand if you need help.”
The cat hybrid nodded slowly and got up. He swayed in place for a second and Chan reached out on instinct. The hybrid flinched back at first, but then took the offered hand and the two of them together made their way to Chan’s car.
The drive was mostly silent, both of them tired and feeling a little awkward. Once they arrived at Chans door, he softly stopped the hybrid before going inside.
“Don’t take anything Hyunjin says or does personal, ok? He hates me and tries to make my life extra hard. He is not dangerous though, so you don’t have to be scared of him.”
Felix nodded and tried taking a few deep breaths, but his fear was still clearly noticeable.
Chan opened the door and stepped inside, motioning for Felix to follow. Both of them were taking of their shoes when they heard a door open and Hyunjin walked into the hallway. At first, he looked at Felix, his eyes trailing up and down his thin frame, then his gaze turned to Chan with burning hate, as always.
Felix gave a short, tumbling bow in greeting but before Chan could react on any way, Hyunjin had surged forward and brought the other cat hybrid securely behind himself. He was baring his teeth a Chan and hissing loudly.
“Hyunjin, Felix is injured and only speaks English, you have to be careful with him”, Chan warned.
Hyunjin paid him no mind. He was looking back at the trembling cat behind himself. In his softest voice he murmured.
“Don’t be afraid. I will keep you safe. He will never touch you; I promise.”
Then he turned back to Chan, eyes burning with hatred and hissed at him.
“If you ever touch him again, I will kill you then and there.”
Chan was speechless.