Chapter Text
Sejin wasn't born the monster that he had become.
Once upon a time, he had been as helpless and weak as any other kidnapped hybrid.
But eventually, he had had enough. He was done being the pathetic little weakling, and years upon years of captivity and abuse had morphed him into a monster he could no longer recognize.
He began scheming, planning. He got in contact with the right people. And soon enough, he was on the other side of the cages rather than inside of them.
The first time Sejin had hurt another hybrid, it hadn't even bothered him. He had become so numb, so desensitized to pain that it didn't even resister as something wrong. Something horrible.
It became like second nature after that. At one point, Sejin supposes he became worse than the humans around him. Worse in the fact that he could easily get other hybrids to trust him, to let their guard down. Worse in the way he could control them with powerful alpha wolf commands, and worse in the way that more times than not, he got off on the pain he could so easily inflict on others.
Until they were brought down by the Hybrid Rescue Association. Until Sejin had been forced to start pretending again. Before he had snapped on a collar and locked himself in a cage to avoid arrest.
The stupid humans hadn't even questioned him. All he had to do was whip up some fake tears and act like he was scared.
Sejin hated the Rescue Center. He was miserable. Being forced through therapy and doctors visits and tests after tests. But the worst part was the pretending.
Pretending to be scared when he was just angry and wanted to escape.
Apparently his behavior had drawn some attention. Two men in uniforms and their fucking cat had started to visit him.
He could answer their questions easily enough. But it was when they started touching him that he became angrier.
Then they told Sejin they were taking him home with them.
The moment he had walked through the door his nose had crinkled at the smell of other hybrids. Predatory eyes roamed the room to find two dogs and two cats.
Internally, Sejin snickered.
This should be fun.
---
Two weeks had past since Sejin and Kihyun's first confrontation.
Since then, no one had spoken of it. Kihyun had avoided Sejin like the plague, opting to sleep on the couch rather than in the shared bedroom or his old room. He had pulled away from everyone in the house, keeping to himself and keeping his mouth shut.
Sejin, on the other hand, had been busy.
He'd been building up rapport with the other hybrids - Changkyun seemed to be the only one buying into it. Sejin would offer to play video games with Changkyun, but Jooheon would always decline to join them. Instead, he would hover in the hallway outside of Sejin's bedroom and prepare himself to step in if necessary.
None of the hybrids had relaxed since Sejin had been brought home, and it was kind of becoming a problem. Hoseok and Hyunwoo had no idea what to do. Any other hybrid they had brought home had went so well, and they had never seen their hybrids take so long to warm up to someone new.
Hyunwoo was the first to begin second-guessing himself. There were certain things that just felt off about Sejin.
It wasn't until yet another confrontation that the humans of the house were forced to re-evaluate.
---
Changkyun was curled up on the beanbag chair in Sejin's room, hands grasping a Nintendo controller. He and Sejin had been playing video games together for an hour or so now.
Sejin moved to change the game, and Changkyun got lost in his thoughts for a moment. He absentmindedly began twirling his fingers around his collar, tugging on it gently. That always helped him to feel grounded and safe.
"Why the hell do you wear that, anyway?" Sejin asked, just as he had been dying to from the moment he laid eyes on the younger dog hybrid.
"Hm?" Changkyun asked, stepping out of his daze.
"Your collar. I would think you would despise wearing one." Sejin repeated.
Changkyun was hit with a wave of insecurity. Sure, it wasn't common for hybrids to wear collars because of the message it tended to send, but it certainly wasn't unheard of. It had taken Changkyun months to be comfortable enough to ask Hyunwoo and Hoseok to collar him, and even though his humans had been so hesitant, so scared to purchase a collar for Changkyun, they had done it.
"I, um, it's different here. Different than it was, um, there." Changkyun uttered. No one had ever blatantly asked Changkyun about his collar before.
"Is it though?" Sejin shifted, heaving his body off of his own beanbag and onto the floor in front of Changkyun's. "Isn't it still the same?"
Changkyun shrugged, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Can we talk about something else, please?"
Sejin, however, wasn't having it. "Or, maybe you like being collared, hmm? How helpless it makes you feel?"
Changkyun shifted, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. Was that really what everyone thought when they saw him wearing a collar?
"N-no, it's not like that. It makes me feel safe." Changkyun argued petulantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"So," Sejin started, moving even closer to Changkyun. "It has nothing to do with the fact that your humans could easily get you under control by doing something like this?"
Sejin looped his fingers underneath the soft fabric of Changkyun's collar and yanked, making Changkyun whine out an involuntary sound of submission.
Sejin snickered, climbing on top of Changkyun, eyeing his prey menacingly.
This couldn't be happening, Changkyun couldn't breathe, and it wasn't until Sejin leaned down, biting into Changkyun's neck and ground his hips down onto the younger hybrid that he snapped out of it, letting out out a horrendous mix between a whine and a scream.
The door burst open, and Changkyun nearly cried in relief as Jooheon's scent flew into the room, the boy colliding with Sejin and sending him tumbling off of Changkyun. Changkyun scrambled backwards, back on his feet, pressed into the corner of the room.
Jooheon stood in the center of the room, ears flat, entire body seemingly widened by the menacing, angry stance he held.
Changkyun had never seen Jooheon angry.
Changkyun vaguely registered Kihyun darting into the room as well. Immediately, the older cat hybrid placed himself in front of Changkyun, protecting him.
Across the room, Jooheon and Sejin seemed to be squaring off. Even though Sejin was easily two times Jooheon's size, Jooheon was still holding his own. Horrible, angry growls were being emitted by both hybrids.
The sound of fast footsteps were heard rushing down the hallway towards them. Changkyun relaxed only slightly as Hyunwoo entered the room. Kihyun, however, let out a menacing, almost threatening growl at the sight of the human, widening his posture to cover Changkyun, who was still huddled in the corner.
"What the hell is going on?!" Hyunwoo looked stunned. He had never encountered a situation like this in his own home.
For a while, no one moved. Jooheon refused to break eye contact with Sejin, knowing that so much as a blink would be seen by the older wolf hybrid as a sign of weakness, of submission.
It wasn't until Hyungwon entered the room, and seemed to just know. Hyungwon strutted over to the two aggressive hybrids, placing himself right between them. Abruptly, Hyungwon slammed both of his hands into Sejin's chest, catching him completely off guard. The wolf stumbled back several feet, eyes blown wide. "You think you just get to walk in here and hurt my fucking family?"
Hyungwon wasn't talking. He was yelling. The cat was furious. "You're going to leave. You're going to leave right fucking now or I'm going to kill you."
"Hyungwon, what the fuck-" Hyunwoo started to interject, but Hyungwon wasn't having it.
"No, you don't get to talk. You don't know what he's been doing. He's been playing you the whole time. He's been playing all of us. There's no way in hell he was a victim."
Hyunwoo looked shocked, but slowly, a trickle of dread began to grow in his gut. The operation they had rescued Sejin from had been sketchy, one of the oddest they had ever encountered. And Sejin hadn't exactly been acting normally, but the Rescue Center thought that was just because of the trauma he had endured.
It was all starting to make sense.
Brushing past Hyunwoo, Hoseok silently made his way towards Sejin. Hyunwoo watched through a haze as Hoseok spun Sejin around, locking him in cuffs and dragging him out of the room.
---
Time seemed to come to a halt after that. Changkyun sunk to the floor, arms wrapping around himself. Suddenly he was all too aware of his collar. Shaking, Changkyun snaked his hands behind his neck to unfasten it. It felt scalding hot against his skin, and memories of shame, embarrassment and humiliation rolled over him in waves. He must have thrown it somewhere, because he heard a noise as it hit the wall opposite him.
Changkyun didn't realize he wasn't breathing until he felt someone shake him, telling him to breathe. He felt arms wrap around him, slowly bringing him back to the present.
After what felt like a long while, his eyes finally blinked back open, bringing the world back into focus. He felt whoever had been talking him down - Kihyun, - let out a sigh of relief.
Changkyun slowly brought his surroundings into focus. Jooheon was curled against the wall opposite Changkyun, knees drawn into his chest, head buried. Hyungwon was arguing softly with Hyunwoo in the doorway. Changkyun could have sworn it was about who was taking Sejin away if the aggravated "just go!" Hyunwgon had hissed out had been any indication.
Changkyun noticed, through his clouded mind, that after Hyunwoo and Hoseok had left, Kihyun had calmed down tremendously.
Changkyun could kind of understand why. He knew that Hyunwoo and Hoseok would never do anything to intentionally hurt them. But they had allowed a stranger, a hybrid with an incredibly dark past, into their home without asking enough questions. If Changkyun hadn't been living with them for over a year, he might be feeling the exact way Kihyun was right now.
But for now, Changkyun could simply grab Kihyun's hand an offer a small, weak smile of encouragement.
Things were going to be okay, but they would certainly have to have some hard conversations first.