Chapter Text
Park Seonghwa is hunched over his dining room table, working on a newly acquired lego set when his phone's shrill ringtone breaks him out of his flow state with a flinch.
''Gosh, darn it'' Seonghwa mutters as the tiny pieces clatter onto the table before making a final break for it and tumbling to the floor.
He reaches for his phone and swipes to answer automatically, recognizing Yunho's picture, as he gets on his knees underneath the table to search for the fallen pieces. He will not leave Darth Vader without his right arm. It just wouldn't be right, no matter how evil he is.
''Seonghwa? Are you there?'' Yunho's voice rings out, causing Seonghwa to bang his head on the edge of the table as he scrambles to get back up with his loot clutched in one hand and the phone in the other one. Anakin will not be left one-handed if Seonghwa has anything to say about it.
''Yes! Yes, I'm here'' Seonghwa rushes out, placing the dark gray lego pieces delicately back onto the instruction booklet, ''sorry, I was trying to perform emergency limb surgery on my lego Anakin'' Seonghwa says, a satisfied smile on his face as he closes the booklet and tidily moves the remaining pieces to the middle of the table, safe from any dangerous ledges.
''…Okay'' Yunho's voice says, sounding equal amounts of concerned and confused. If he's concerned for Seonghwa's mental state or Anakin's arm is anyone's guess, ''I just wanted to check to see if you're still available to foster?'' his molasses sweet voice climbing higher at the end of his sentence, letting the question hang in the air like the fate of Anakin's arm.
''Oh!'' Seonghwa exclaims, immediately straightening up in his seat, as if worried Yunho has installed secret spy cameras in his apartment, ''of course!'' he replies brightly, ''I would love to foster again'', his eyes immediately start darting around his apartment to catalogue what he'll have to fix before he brings a hybrid home.
He'll definitely have to make sure he got all the small lego pieces off the floor, even though hybrids aren't fully animal, they have a lot of the same instincts when they're in their animal form. Namely, putting anything that can fit in their mouths, into their mouths.
''Great!'' Yunho says, immediately launching into what Seonghwa endearingly refers to as his 'Professional Puppy Mode'. ''We got a squirrel hybrid in today, his name is Kim Hongjoong, 28 years old, apparently he shifted after finishing producing an album for a newly debuted K-pop group a couple days ago and still hasn't turned back'', his voice edges into a more worried tone at the end and Seonghwa feels a burst of warmth in his chest at how much his friend cares.
''Oh my'' he responds, his mind churning, ''that's not good, I would love to take him in, is it okay if I pop by in an hour?'' Seonghwa asks, ''I just need to get a couple things ready before I come get him.''
He's already moving around the living room, trying to fluff his couch pillows with one hand while simultaneously scanning his floor for any stray pieces of Anakin.
''Of course,'' Yunho replies, ''I'm guessing you're planning on lint rolling your floors just in case, hm?''
Seonghwa freezes mid-motion. He has a couch pillow tucked underneath his arm, his phone perched between his neck and shoulder while reaching for his drawer of lint rollers. Yes he has a drawer solely dedicated to lint rollers. Yes they are sorted by size and level of stickiness.
''No…'' Seonghwa says while slowly moving away from the drawer and turning around. He looks over his shoulder just to double-check that there really are no cameras in his apartment. Or that Yunho isn't lurking in the corner.
''You don't know me,'' Seonghwa continues, voice miffed ''Maybe I was planning on smoking a bunch of drugs and having a nap''.
Yunho's answering laugh is so loud and bright that Seonghwa automatically feels his face light up in a smile, he's pretty sure it's scientifically impossible not to smile when hearing Yunho's laugh, there should definitely be some peer-reviewed studies done on the subject, he thinks.
''Sure,'' Yunho says, doing an incredibly bad job of hiding his laugh ''you go ahead and smoke your drugs, hyung, see you soon!'' Yunho hangs up before Seonghwa can answer, and Seonghwa will make sure to lecture him later on not saying I love you before hanging up. He raised him better than that.
He takes a deep breath as as he slides the phone into his jean pocket, it's time to make his apartment and himself presentable to foster a new hybrid.
With a decisive nod he steels his shoulders and marches back to his drawer of lint rollers, quietly humming the Star Wars theme song as his fingers dance between the different lint rollers. Who will be the chosen one to battle his floors today?
Seonghwa pushes open the doors to Yunho's hybrid care center with a bright smile and a pink carrier in his left hand, some of the hybrids he has fostered before have been too deep in their animal instincts for Seonghwa to be able to communicate with them, so he started to bring a carrier just in case they don't let him carry them in his arms.
''Hello Seonghwa-hyung!'' Yunho exclaims happily, bounding over to wrap Seonghwa in a quick hug as his tail wags behind him. Seonghwa immediately melts into the embrace, he loves his friends, and Yunho was the first friend he made in the city, his sweet personality and friendly nature immediately endearing him to Seonghwa.
As a dog hybrid himself, with a more than colorful past, Yunho has dedicated his life to helping other hybrids, and the opening of his care center for hybrids is his and his husband Mingi's pride and joy.
Paws and Reflect have been in business for almost 4 years, and is run mostly on donations and volunteers, they offer long and short-term care for all kinds of hybrids, whether they struggle with their identity and instincts or they literally get stuck in their hybrid form.
Seonghwa is one of their regular foster carers, and has a great track record of providing a caring and safe environment to let hybrids de-stress and turn back into their human forms in their own time.
Seonghwa loves it, he has a caring streak a mile wide and would spoon feed the feral raccoons behind his apartment if he could. Not that he has ever tried that of course, that would be bad. He definitely did not have to get an emergency rabies shot at 3am.
''Hongjoong is just through here'' Yunho says brightly, leading Seonghwa through a staff door at the far end of the room, he leans in closer to Seonghwa as if sharing a secret, ''I think he's been stressed for a long time, he has mostly been sleeping since he got here, he was dropped off by a coworker'' Yunho explains.
''Aw, poor baby'' Seonghwa replies quietly, he can't help the pet name, while he knows logically the the hybrids he cares for are adult humans, something about the their animal form makes him want to baby them a little.
They walk quietly into a sparsely furnished room, it looks like a mix between a teacher's lounge, a vet's clinic, and a spoiled toddler's play room. Smells a bit like it too, Seonghwa notes, while the scent of burnt coffee, various animal fur and an undercurrent of antiseptic dances around him. Not entirely unpleasant, though Seonghwa feels an immediate itch to start picking up all the toys scattered about.
The pale blue walls are nicely complimented by the light wooden flooring, and there is an examination table further into the room for quick exams of the hybrids upon entry, while the wall closest to them houses a small fridge and counter, a fresh pot of coffee explaining where the burnt smell is coming from. Seonghwa hazards a guess that Mingi made it. That man could drink coffee the consistency of concrete and insist it tasted fine.
''Hongjoong is the only one in here now'' Yunho explains, ''it's been a slow week'', his tail wags softly behind him as he gestures for Seonghwa to sit down at the small table.
Along the wall are several cages where the smaller hybrids are kept short-term before they are examined for any underlying issues and get sent along to various fosters. Most hybrids turn back by themselves after a couple of days, Seonghwa only takes in the more extreme cases.
''Hongjoong?'' Yunho's voice lowers sweetly as he slowly leans closer to the small box placed on the table. The box is full of what seems to be pale blue hamster bedding and a couple of soft-looking tiny blankets, a water dish and some food is placed to the side, but Seonghwa's whole attention is almost immediately swallowed by the small red lump that is curled up in the corner.
He can't stop the squeak that escapes him at the sight of the squirrel, it's all curled up in a tiny little ball, his full, fluffy tail curled around its body for comfort, or warmth, Seonghwa can't tell. His ears look almost too big for his face, which is buried in its paws and tail. Cuteness. Overload.
At the sound of Seonghwa's squeak one of the squirrel's red ears twitch, before he slowly uncurls his body and stretches, ''oh. My. God'' Seonghwa mumbles, mesmerized by the creature in front of him.
While his fully developed frontal lobe is aware that this is a grown man, his hind brain is just repeatedly screaming PET FUZZY LITTLE CREATURE PET IT PUT IN POCKET AND RUN FAR AWAY PROTECT LITTLE ADORABLE BABY.
The squirrel, Seonghwa should probably start calling him by his name at some point, stands on his hind legs, peering at Yunho with still-sleepy eyes, before they slowly, almost lazily, drift over to Seonghwa.
His eyes widen in squirrel surprise, or well normal surprise Seonghwa would guess, it's the same emotion.
He watches as Hongjoong looks back at Yunho who nods encouragingly and goes ''this is Seonghwa, remember I told you about him?'' his voice gentle, ''he's my friend and he has a lot of experience taking care of hybrids who are stuck in their shifter form'' Yunho continues, ''he'll take good care of you''.
Seonghwa watches as Hongjoong's eyes snap back to his, and he smiles gently at him, trying to not accidentally scare the little sweetheart. Hongjoong immediately licks at his paws and begins frantically dragging them over his face and ears, grooming himself with a frantic energy more fitting a man on his wedding day than a hybrid going to a temporary foster home.
''Oh my god you're so cute'' Seonghwa blurts out before he can stop himself, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth and squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment. He hears Yunho choke back a laugh as Seonghwa's cheeks turn a bright pink. He usually has better self -control than this.
''Sorry!'' Seonghwa yells out, still covering his eyes and hoping maybe this is all a dream and he'll wake up again and get to redo this entire day.
''I know hybrids are more then just their animal forms, I promise'' Seonghwa word-vomits, praying that maybe a benevolent god will send a car crashing into his chair specifically and release him from this cursed hell of his own embarrassment. God is not benevolent though, it seems. God can suck it, Seonghwa decides.
''You're just so-'' and before he can continue, not that he knows where his own sentence is even going, he feels two tiny points of contact on his hands that are still covering his face.
Slowly, he lowers his hands a fraction and sees that Hongjoong is now standing in front of him, little paws stretched out and resting on Seonghwa's hands, urging them down almost?
Hongjoong chirps softly, and Seonghwa decides then and there that he will protect this squirrel with his life. His paws push more insistently at Seonghwa's hands, two small pinpricks of warmth, and he lowers his hands from his face with an embarrassed smile.
He meets Hongjoong's brown eyes, and feels a little better at the soft look in them, Hongjoong doesn't seem angry or upset at all. He seems…. Almost intrigued, Seonghwa thinks, as he watches Hongjoong's full tail curl up against his back.
He rests the backs of his hands on the table as Hongjoong happily clambers into one of his open palms and sits there primly, as if he's a little prince waiting for his palanquin to move.
Seonghwa giggles softly, watching Hongjoong's ears twitch back towards him at the sound, ''arent' you a sweet little thing'' Seonghwa murmurs, watching Hongjoong's tail quiver as Seonghwa hesitantly strokes a featherlight finger down his back.
''Well you two seem to be getting along just fine'' Yunho says, gently clapping his hands together as he goes to fetch the standard paperwork for Seonghwa to sign.
It turns out to be more of a struggle than usual to sign them all, as Hongjoong has taken up residence in Seonghwa's right hand, and Seonghwa is already so wrapped around the little guy's finger that he can't bear to ask him to switch.
All the documents look a little bit like a drunk crow and dumb baby signed them together, but Yunho will probably be able to parse out the important bits. Seonghwa is pretty sure he spelled his name right anyhow.
At the back of the form there are a couple of pages with general information about Hongjoong, and Seonghwa carefully turns the page towards him and asks gently, ''is it okay if I look at this, or would you rather I didn't?''
While Yunho would let Seonghwa know if there was something medical he had to be concerned about regarding Hongjoong's health, Seonghwa does not want to invade his privacy anymore than he absolutely has to.
Hongjoong turns to look up at him, his eyes bright as he reaches his paws forward and grabs the paper from Seonghwa's hands.
He watches in quiet amusement as the little squirrel wrestles with the paper before finally getting a good enough grip on it to turn it to a specific page. He reaches his paws up in a clear sign for Seonghwa to look at the part of the page he wants him to.
What greets Seonghwa is a picture of Hongjoong in his human form in the top right corner, and oh.
Oh Seonghwa is screwed.
There is one thing for the squirrel to be the cutest little creature he has ever seen, but quite another for the man himself to be this stunning. Maybe god is benevolent, and maybe Seonghwa is his favorite, he thinks happily as he studies the picture in detail.
It's a photo of a man with short, almost choppy brown hair, the most perfect elfin nose Seonghwa has ever seen, and the prettiest pink lips that are set in an adorable pout. Seonghwa barely stops himself from licking the photo.
He's a professional dammit, he's here to help this poor man, not lust after him like some scoundrel who hasn't seen a naked ankle in weeks.
''You're a cute human too, huh?'' Seonghwa asks, watching as Hongjoong's tail puffs up in happiness as he pushes his little chest forwards, a smug look on his face. Seonghwa didn't even know squirrels could make that face.
''Alright,'' Seonghwa murmurs, ''you ready to go home with me? You can go in the carrier I brought or in my pocket, whatever is most comfortable for you.'' He leaves the choice up to Hongjoong, but the squirrel barely needs a second to think about it before he is bounding up Seonghwa's arm and down the front of his cardigan to curl up in his pocket.
Seonghwa laughs softly, cupping his hand gently around the shape in his pocket as he stands up slowly, as not to jostle his little passenger too much.
''Let's go home okay?''
Hongjoong is having one of the best days of his life so far. Yes he might be stuck in his hybrid form and yes he might be unable to communicate properly, but he is currently being carried in the pocket of the most beautiful man he has ever seen in his life.
When he woke up from his fourth nap of the day, he had not been expecting that his foster carer would be a literal angelic being smiling down at him with the softest, most endearing look on his face.
Hongjoong was, sadly, intimately familiar with what his fur looked like when he just woke up, and if he could have, he would have thrown some choice curse words at Yunho for not warning him at that a supermodel would be picking him up.
He frantically started to smooth out his fur, and ugh he could not believe that was the first impression Seonghwa, Seonghwa, Hongjoong sighs internally, even his name is beautiful, had of him.
He hoped the grooming had worked, Seonghwa had called him cute, both his human form and squirrel form, so he would take it as a win.
Hongjoong is happily thinking of Seonghwa's sweet compliments as he snuggles down deeper into Seonghwa's soft pocket that smells like vanilla and raspberries and everything nice in the world.
Seonghwa isn't going to know what hit him, Hongjoong thinks. He is going to make this man his, even if he has to woo him with his, frankly adorable, squirrel form to get him.