Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hybrids used to be a delicacy, only the most important people would have them. It wasn’t uncommon for royalty to own hybrids or gift them to princes as a gift. Eventually, people with a large amount of money would buy lesser hybrids, ones that were considered less attractive or valuable, and they got so popular that stores became a common thing in big cities. Schools where hybrids were trained popped up in certain locations, homing several young hybrids and breeding more. The hybrids were trained and taught about what their lifestyle would be like, and as horrendous as it was- if they were not considered attractive enough they would be kept for work. Those who proved to have strong fertilization abilities would be kept for breeding. The process was simple and it wasn’t changed for years. After ten years of this treatment, the rules a hybrid had to follow were still the same; once trained, they were sent to stores. Once bought they were to do as their owner told. It wasn’t exactly hidden that hybrids were trained for sex, it was even advertised in the stores. As hybrids became more common, their prices went down. Lower class households would have them as maids or servants, or some would simply buy one so they weren’t alone. So, why the newly wedded couple of Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin were looking at a hybrid? They didn’t even know themselves.

Perhaps it was pure interest, perhaps it was their mothers telling them that it’d be great to have them around the house to clean up while the two were out at work. And somehow the couple found themselves in the store only a week after their wedding. Shouldn’t they be on their honeymoon? Yes, that was the time they were supposed to head out for it- but the two had mutually (with motherly assistance) decided to spend the money on buying a hybrid. The store was full of people as it always was, each person or couple being helped by someone who worked there and seemed as though they knew the hybrids quite well.

“Can I interest you in a certain type of hybrid?” a voice sounded from behind them, scaring the both of them. They turned around, facing the girl who was smiling up at them.

“We didn’t know there were different types…” Seokjin spoke quietly; as if he was embarrassed to admit it.

“There are! I can show you some- are you two interested in a male or female?” she asked again, only smiling a bit brighter. They genuinely couldn’t tell if it was because she had to or if she really enjoyed her job.

“Either sex is fine,” Namjoon spoke this time, nodding and offering a gentle smile.

“Alright! Follow me~ I’m Dawon, by the way!” she confirmed her name, waving for the males to follow her.

She showed them first to a few pictures of several young female hybrids that she seemed to think were quite interesting. Most of them were quite cute and there was even one both Seokjin and Namjoon seemed to be interested in. She was small, with long brown hair that passed her shoulder and went down to just under her breast bone. Her eyes were rather rounded and her lips were full and a bright shade of natural pink. She was pretty.

“This is Eunbin, she’s been in training since she was of age in the school. She was bred there, so there’s no need to worry about potential aggression,” the girl spoke in a very bubbly tone, matching the now closed mouth smile.

“She’s cute,” Seokjin smiled at the photo he was handed. He looked to Namjoon, who had seemingly been distracted by a couple looking at one of the male hybrids that were on display. Most of the time, the hybrids were not actually in the store, they were back at the school and would be brought in a week after payment from the customers. “You okay Joon?”

“Do you have any of them in person?” Namjoon turned to Dawon who parted her lips to speak but stopped herself.

“We have him right now, his name is Sanghyuk- but he looks a bit busy. Uhm…” she looked towards a back room as if she was considering something. “I wonder if he’s still here. Come with me!”

She waved for them to follow her yet again and she walked towards a back room that, of course, read ‘employees only’. She opened the door and let them in, only for them to be immediately greeted by a blonde hybrid and a brown haired male who looked almost identical to Dawon. He seemed panicked when they first came in, but Dawon was quick to shush him. The blonde hybrid sitting on the table looked fairly confused but flashed a bright smile at the two of them anyways. He then looked down at the brown haired male expectantly. He looked back to the hybrid, smiling, before going back to tying his shoe up carefully.

“You aren’t supposed to be back here,” the brown-haired boy spoke up while carefully lacing the hybrid’s sneakers up.

“I wanted them to meet him, Hoseok,” Dawon gestured to Seokjin and Namjoon and giving the similar looking boy an urging smile. “Just introduce him. For your big sister?”

“No. Unless they want four hybrids, there’s no point in introducing him to potential buyers,” ‘Hoseok’ argued, finishing the hybrid’s shoe off with a bow. “I’m not separating them and nobody can pay me enough money to.”

“We’re interested- who is he?” Seokjin spoke up, earning a noise of protest from Namjoon.

“You’d want four hybrids, just so I could introduce you to one?” Hoseok seemed skeptical, giving Seokjin and Namjoon a rather annoyed look. “Please don’t waste my time, I need to take him back.”

“I’m Jimin,” the hybrid spoke up, kicking his legs softly to make sure not to kick Hoseok. “It’s nice to meet you,” his lips spread into that bright smile again as he leaned back against his hands on the table. He ignored the noises of protests from the male in front of him and kept going. “I’m a cat hybrid, but I haven’t been in training for as long as everyone else has.”

“Jimin- enough,” Hoseok spoke up finally, wrapping an arm around Jimin’s waist and urging him off the table. “He’s not for sale. I need to take him back now.”

“He’s here because they wanted to put him up for sale. They were examining him. Let them see him,” she came behind the couple and pushed them towards the two. Hoseok only pulled Jimin closer, tightening his grasp around his waist.

“No.”

“Please, Hobi?” Jimin looked at the elder, a bright expression on his face. “He’s really pretty.”

“You like us because we’re pretty?” Namjoon couldn’t help but chuckle just a bit at the boy. The Hybrid’s dusted blonde tail was swaying behind him, signifying his interest and his ears were turned towards him to listen closely.

“I like pretty things- whether it’s a bracelet, clothing, a hybrid, or a human,” Jimin said, turning to Hoseok and running his hands through his hair. “And you’re really pretty.”

“Thank you,” Seokjin looked warmly at the hand that had extended to point at him. “If you want it, we’d love to take you home with us.”

“I said he’s not for sale- especially without the other boys,” Hoseok said again before Jimin could respond and say something he’s technically not supposed to.

“I’d like to meet them too,” Seokjin spoke up, making Hoseok gap slightly and give him an unsure expression. “If you needed payment up front now, I did come prepared to buy a hybrid.”

Seokjin seemed enthusiastic and surprisingly enough, so did Jimin. The hybrid was bouncing excitedly in Hoseok’s grasp, looking back and forth between the two men. Hoseok didn’t seem too pleased and Namjoon seemed utterly confused, but Dawon looked quite proud of herself. The couple was escorted out and told to wait by Dawon before she returned to speak with her brother.

“Are you insane?” he kept his voice down, but it was angry nonetheless. “they aren’t going to do well away from me. You don’t know their habits, they weren’t bred in school. They- they-”

“Relax, we’ll give them some time to think it through and look over the four of them,” she walked towards them, giving him a smile and patted Jimin’s head contently. “They’ll see what they’re like. The one in the pink sweater really seemed to be enthusiastic about buying them though- Jimin likes him, doesn’t he?”

Jimin nodded, obviously knowing that the question was directed at him. The hybrid fumbled with the collar of Hoseok’s shirt before the elder told him that they should leave, not forgetting to shoot a look at his sister. There was nothing he could do- he had no choice but to let them be sold. He was only their trainer.

Seokjin and Namjoon had quietly argued for a few seconds before Seokjin closed it with a kiss and told Namjoon that it would be worth it. Seokjin knew his older brother had two hybrids himself, and they were the only thing he would talk about when they were with family. It annoyed him, but maybe he’d have a chance to one-up him. Namjoon seemed unsure, but with a little bit of sweet talk and maybe something else he was willing to go see the other three hybrids the week after.

And that’s how Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin ended up in the car with a crying cat hybrid, a puppy hybrid trying to comfort said hybrid, another cat hybrid who was too mad to say anything, and a confused bunny hybrid squished in between the puppy and the grumpy cat. Jimin was situated on Taehyung’s lap, sobbing into his chest and gripping at the puppy hybrid’s shirt. Somehow, the young hybrid had not understood that being bought by the couple meant that he would have to leave Hoseok, therefore when it came time for them to leave and Hoseok didn’t come with them, Jimin burst into tears.

They got home soon enough and the grumpy cat refused to get out of the car. Seokjin ushered the dog and cat out of the car and Taehyung kept Jimin tight in his arms, cooing at the weeping boy. Taehyung wasn’t happy about the move either, he was just as upset as Jimin at being sold but he wasn’t going to cry about it- yet. Jeongguk followed Taehyung closely but was tempted to stay back to make sure Yoongi was okay, but he was given a reassuring smile by Namjoon, who stayed back while Seokjin led the others inside.

“Yoongi? Are you coming?” Namjoon opened the door so the cat could get out on his side. “You should come inside with us, see the house.”

“No,” Yoongi lowered his head, arms crossed over his chest. He looked upset, mad, not happy to even be being spoken to by the man. Namjoon sighed, opened his mouth to say something but paused when he heard what he thought was a sniffle. “Yoongi?”

“I want him back.”

“Who?”

“Hoseok!” he yelled now, snapping his head to go look at the man. “You selfish people took us away from him! I want to go back! I want Hoseok back!”

It was obvious to Namjoon now that Jimin’s sobs were not the only ones being heard on the car ride home. Yoongi’s face was streaked red with tears, with more following old ones as he tried to shy away from Namjoon after his mini outburst.

“Let’s go inside okay?” Namjoon tried to coax the cat out of the car. “Listen, the two of us have Hoseok’s phone number saved in our phones, you can call him whenever you need. And, honestly, we’re going to need plenty of help to get you guys settled in- so he’ll be here. You’ll see him all the time.”

Yoongi inched closer as if he was a young child warming up to someone. “Really?” His eyes were wide, hopeful, and quite possibly trusting. Had Namjoon just won over Yoongi? The taller male nodded, ushering Yoongi out of the car and taking his hand to carefully lead him into the house. He locked the car, opened the front door and told the hybrid to take off his shoes and go sit in the living room. When he realized Yoongi wouldn’t know where anything was, he just told him to wait.

When the two got to the living room, they were met with three hybrids and Seokjin trying to calm them down. The bunny was sitting on his knees, repeating the same “I want to go home” line over and over (which of course only made Jimin sob harder), and not listening to Seokjin when he tried to explain that he was home. Namjoon came in, let Yoongi sit on the couch and moved back to stand next to Seokjin.

“Okay, guys,” Namjoon spoke up, tone raised slightly to catch their attention. That silenced them for a moment, all four pairs of eyes locking on him. Namjoon hadn’t expected that and he was openly taken aback at how they all shut up and started staring at them. Had they been trained to do that? Even though they didn’t do it to Seokjin? “Well- as Seokjin,” he pointed to his husband. “was telling you, this is your new home. All four of you.”

He seemed hesitant still when saying that, pursing his lips for just a moment. “We’ve set up two rooms for you guys, you can decide amongst yourselves who will share. You guys don’t have to share a bed or anything, there are two beds in each room. But we figured you’d be more comfortable sticking together since you guys weren’t even separately for sale and cost a lot of money-”

Seokjin smacked his arm, giving him a glare. “We just want the four of you to be comfortable and happy. Don’t worry about anything for today, just get used to the house and come to us if you have any questions okay? Settle in,” he was smiling sweetly at them, eyes locked on Jimin who looked at him with watery but wide eyes. “Are you okay Jimin?”

“Will Hoseok come to see us?”

“He’ll come to visit for the first few months you guys are here- I think the standard is once a week for the first month, then once every two weeks for the next two. So you’ll see lots of him, he didn’t leave you guys alone,” Seokjin tried to reassure the cat, walking a bit closer to the couch and crouching down in front of Jimin. “Do you want me to show you to your room?”

“No,” Taehyung spoke for him, holding him a little tighter. “We were told why people buy hybrids by Eunbin when she came back from the store. I don’t want to be alone with you humans.”

It was Seokjin’s turn to be taken aback. He hadn’t expected that out of the puppy. “Tae… Taehyung that’s not why we bought you. People don’t just buy hybrids because they’re dissatisfied in their own sex life, some of them really enjoy the company or need a little extra help around the house. We planned to buy a hybrid because we were genuinely interested in them and hell when we first saw Jimin in the store with Hoseok I didn’t want to look away from him,” Seokjin took a chance, lifting Jimin’s chin with his fingertips.

“If you really need something to believe my words, Namjoon and I just got married. We’ve known each other for years, since we were little kids, and ever since we started dating we talked about having kids. But obviously, we’re both men so we can’t biologically have children-”

“So you got us instead?” Jeongguk seemed hopeful, eyes wide and floppy ears as perked as they could be.

“Surprisingly enough, buying a hybrid is less money than adopting a kid. And we hate it, but it’s an easier process as well. So yes, we bought you guys. And we hope that you guys will let us take care of you, as your owners and people you can trust. I’m aware it’ll take a little while for you guys to trust us, but we’re going to do everything we can to help that process along, right Namjoon?” Seokjin looked over his shoulder at his husband, who nodded.

“Right.”

“Taehyungie and I are going to share a room,” Jimin said, taking his chin away from Seokjin’s hand but giving him a small smile. “Could you bring us there?”

Seokjin smiled back at the cat, nodded, and stood up. He kissed Namjoon on the cheek before leading Taehyung and Jimin out of the living room and to the staircase. He let them go first, offering to stay in the back in case Taehyung lost balance carrying Jimin up the stairs. The now quite happy hybrid appreciated that, made it up the stairs safely, and waited for Seokjin to take the lead again. He brought them down the hallway and opened up one of the doors to let them in.

“We didn’t know what you guys would want so they aren’t decorated too much, but I tried to make them as comfortable as I could. I really don’t know what living conditions you guys had at the school but I can’t imagine they were all too good-”

He was cut off by Taehyung literally throwing Jimin onto one of the beds, only to jump and flop out on one himself. Seokjin giggled, watching both boys squirm around happily and wrap themselves in the blankets that had been provided. He didn’t know their habits, so he really couldn’t tell that the hybrids were rolling around in them not only because they were soft but to get their scent all over them, but it looked cute to him.

“We’ll go shopping for some things tomorrow if you guys want, I noticed none of you came with more than two whole outfits,” Seokjin had an almost sympathetic smile on his face. It was true, the people at the school had given them one singular suitcase and said that was all their clothes. Taehyung was the only one to have brought something with him- a small stuffed puppy that Hoseok had gotten him and told him it was the same breed he was a hybrid of. “Hey, Taehyung. What’s that stuffed puppy of?”

“An Australian shepard,” Taehyung stopped worming around in the bed for a moment as if he was looking around for the stuffed toy now. “That’s what I am. Where is it?”

“It’s in your bag, along with the little clothes you guys have,” Seokjin’s expression faltered slightly, but he still kept a small smile. “Jimin, do you know what breed of cat you are?”

“They do a test when someone gets admitted to the school. Didn’t they tell you when you bought us?” Jimin tilted his head, lips forming a small ‘o’ when Seokjin shook his head. “They don’t tell us what we are, but Tae found out from Hoseok. I was never told, I wasn’t really curious. But now I am.”

“Well, I’ll look on your file,” Seokjin chuckled softly, walking over to the boy’s bed. He sat on the edge and let out a small sigh, scooting over just a little bit when Taehyung threw himself onto that bed. “So, why don’t you guys have a lot of clothes? We were told you guys are treated well there.”

“We wore Hoseok’s clothes, they were more comfortable. Made us feel a lot safer,” Taehyung answered. “That’s why some things don’t fit me well or somethings are huge on Jiminie…”

Seokjin nodded, making a sound of acknowledgement. He was mildly confused now, seeing as how Taehyung was almost immediately trusting of him after his little speech on what they bought them for. Was that a dog quality? Yes, it was now that he was thinking about it. These hybrids must take more qualities from their animal counterparts than he realized.

“Do you want me to leave you guys so you can settle in?” Seokjin naturally lifted his hand to run it through Taehyung’s hair. He was happy when Taehyung leaned into the touch with a happy noise.

“Call us when you need us, we’ll just be here,” Jimin was already curling himself up underneath the blankets. Seokjin only smiled, standing up, and detaching his hand from where it had migrated to scratching Taehyung’s ear.

“Alright you two, you’re welcome to go to sleep. You’ve had a long day,” Seokjin smiled down at them as Taehyung laid himself on top of Jimin. They both hummed at him, already closing their eyes and snuggling together. He walked over to the door, grabbing the handle and cooing at the pair of hybrids. “Sleep well.”

Chapter Text

“Come on kitten, we have to go buy you guys some suitable clothes,” Seokjin said yet again as he tried to drag the smaller hybrid into the store. He wanted to at least be able to keep an eye out for the other three hybrids, who had run into the store with pure excitement. Well, Jimin and Taehyung had- Jeongguk was pulled along by the other hybrids. But as soon as they had reached the store entry, the eldest hybrid stopped dead in his tracks. He refused to go inside.

“I’m happy with what clothes I have,” Yoongi complained, trying his very best to pull back against Seokjin’s arm with all the strength he could muster up. But Seokjin was much bigger than him, so sadly, it appeared that Yoongi was losing the battle.

This was only their fourth day of owning the hybrids, yet they had already become accustomed to the bad behaviour and retaliation from the four of them. Well, not Jeongguk. The couple has yet to see an issue with the bunny’s behaviour, but he was quiet and maybe that was much too suspicious for the wedded couple.

Seokjin was going to take them out on the weekend, but after realizing he had already promised Jimin and Taehyung to go out and had already forgotten about it, he figured it was best to just go now. He did have enough money to blow on clothes; the only issue was that one shirt cost almost twenty dollars, so he couldn’t let the hybrids get more than necessary right now… His budget he had set around $1000, not including the lunch he had treated them to.

That was at least $200 dollars in clothes per hybrid… they had already spent $4,500 per hybrid (that’s $18,000- still less than adopting a child) and that was $3000 over their honeymoon budget… too much money. Too much money being spent, but it was going towards a good cause. The hybrids could not just wear old t-shirts and shorts that were too big or too small for them.

“Yoongi please,” Seokjin sighed, letting go of the hybrid and crossing his arms, only to watch the boy take one step backwards from his owner. Where was Namjoon when he needed him? Buying Jeongguk that pink bunny stuffy he seemed too interested in, Taehyung the cute little heart with a face, Jimin the yellow and black hooded puppy, and Yoongi the little cookie he had tried to bite. “We really need to go make sure the three of them haven’t torn apart the store yet.”

“Leave me out here,” Yoongi argued back, taking in a breath and crossing his arms over his chest. He knew very well it was not safe to leave a hybrid out on their own, but he had survived on the streets for a long time, he could manage just fine.

Seokjin let out a very long, annoyed sigh, before walking right over to the hybrid, grabbing him by the waist and hoisting him up onto his shoulder. Yoongi was leaning over Seokjin’s shoulder so he was facing the male’s back, but struggled and squirmed around to try and get him to let go. “Come on, Yoongi. We have to go find the others.”

Yoongi stopped squirming, but a string of obscenities came from the cat. Seokjin only groaned, walking into the store. It didn’t take him long to find the three hybrids, Jeongguk was holding an armful of the exact same white shirt and one pair of jeans. Taehyung had a pretty flowered, flowy shirt in his arms, as well as an oversized white button-down shirt. Both were looking at what the cat hybrid in between them had been staring at: a pretty pink dress.
Seokjin set Yoongi down, making sure he wouldn’t run away, before walking up to Jimin. He could see the kitten’s tail wiggling in excitement before he was met by the smiling face of the pretty cat (exotic shorthair, they had found out a few days ago).

"Dawon let me wear one of these, I really like them. Can you buy me one of my own- please hyungie?" Jimin turned to Seokjin, smiling a bright and happy smile. He bounced slightly and his ears were perked up. How could someone say no to that face?

“How much is it?” Seokjin walked to the dress, looking at the tag and checking the price. Holy shit. “Jiminie… it costs eighty dollars…” he bit his lip, looking over his shoulder to the saddening hybrid. He sighed. “Oh fine, but you better take really good care of it.”

Jimin literally jumped out of happiness, letting out a squeal and bouncing himself over to the male. His arms found their way around Seokjin’s neck, making the human smile with a sort of warmth he had only ever experienced with Namjoon. He smiled back at the smaller boy when he pulled away, before turning to focus on the other three hybrids. He nodded at what Taehyung had, but he furrowed his brows at the pile of white t-shirts in Jeongguk’s arms.

“Jeongguk why do you have,” he paused, counting quickly. “six of the same shirt?”

“I like it,” the bunny answered simply.

“Okay… well, put five back, you can get one and we’ll look for another shirt you like and buy that one too,” Seokjin patted the bunny’s head as he nodded, turning to scamper off. “Oh! Take Yoongi with you, he needs to pick something out as well.”

“Okay!” Jeongguk leaned over, grabbing at Yoongi’s wrist and yanking him along into the many displays of clothing.

Seokjin was left with Jimin and Taehyung, who both looked at him curiously. “What?”

“What now?” they asked simultaneously, each holding their clothes a bit closer to their chests.

“Well, you two need more than two shirts and a dress,” Seokjin said, gesturing to their clothes. “Let’s go get some pants for you guys and we’ll go get Jimin some shirts. So the three of them made their way over to where the pants could be found, Taehyung going for the looser jeans and a pair of loose black gym shorts whereas Jimin’s eyes had caught on the display of leggings. Some were colourful, others grey and black. He went to town, grabbing four pairs (each a different colour) and holding them up to Seokjin one by one.

“Want me to hold those for you Jimin?” came Namjoon’s voice, an amused tone evident. He was holding a bag, but Jimin was unsure of what was in it. The cat hybrid nodded and handed the pants to his other owner, with a small “thank you.” “How much are these Jin?”

“Fifteen each, they’re not expensive. Jeongguk tried to buy six of the same shirt,” Seokjin chuckled. “But Taehyung, you can get more than that. Try to buy some less fancy shirts, maybe a pair of comfy pants.”

The puppy furrowed his brows before nodded and parting from the group, Jimin looking between his owners and the hybrid before running to catch up with Taehyung. Seokjin hoped Jimin would pick something out of a similar sort to what he had told Taaehyung to grab, so the cat didn’t only have a somewhat fancy dress and a bunch of leggings to wear until they could afford to get more for the boys.

“Six of the same shirt?”

“Six white shirts,” Seokjin nodded, moving to look through what Namjoon was holding. “We’re spending so much money today.”

“But it’s for things they need, we’re their owners and as much as it’s like they’re pets, we still need to take care of them as if they were our children,” Namjoon sighed, looking around Seokjin to see if he could see the hybrids looking at clothes. “Buy them clothes, our bills are going to go up, we’ll spend so much more money on food- just remember that it was you begging me to take them all.”

“And I love all four of them very very much. They seem sweet and it’s only been a week and Taehyung and Jimin seem quite fond of me,” Seokjin gave a somewhat smug and teasing look at his husband. “How have you gotten along with them?”

“I’m pretty sure all four of them hate me,” Namjoon sighed, looking at Seokjin with a tired expression. Seokjin’s own expression changed to one more so of a sympathetic look.

“They don’t hate you Namjoon. They’ve only been with us for what? Four days?” Seokjin rubbed his shoulders lightly. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss against Namjoon’s cheek, making the younger smile. “You’ve got Yoongi under your wing, he listens to you even if he doesn’t talk to you much. He barely gives me the time of day.”

“But as you said, Taehyung and Jimin like you, and Jeongguk seems to follow both of them around,” Namjoon sighed again, giving Seokjin a small smile. “But we’ll get there. Hoseok is supposed to be here around noon tomorrow, so hopefully, he can give us some good tips.”

“Hopefully,” Seokjin nodded. “As much as they’re easing in, we know next to nothing about them. He said that he’d been with them for how long?”

“I don’t remember, but he said he’s known them since Yoongi was fifteen.”

“Something about being their trainer while he was in school to be a trainer- I don’t know,” Seokjin sighed. “Is Yoongi the oldest?” Seokjin’s face dropped, momentarily not remembering.

“Yeah, he’s two years older than Jimin and Tae, and a year younger than you,” Namjoon had to think for a moment about how old the eldest hybrid. “Hold on a second that means he’s a year older than Hoseok.”

“Apparently they’ll let fourteen-year-olds handle hybrids,” Seokjin shook his head and sighed. “I mean, they all seem really close to him. I’m surprised I haven’t been asked to call him yet.”

“Well, they do know that he’s coming soon,” Namjoon looked over to where the hybrids had previously been within view of him and his husband, only to notice they weren’t there anymore. “Where’d they go?”

Seokjin turned around, looking to where the hybrids should be picking out more clothes and noticing they had all disappeared. A small wave of panic ran over him, not knowing where they would’ve gone before he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Namjoon could see the panic all over his husband- it was kind of obvious.

“Jinnie, it’s okay- we just have to go get them;” he’s right. It’s a big store anyways, they most likely went to a different section.

Seokjin nodded at Namjoon before grabbing his wrist and proceeding to pull him through the displays of clothes. Taehyung was told to get comfy clothes… maybe they’d find him there? They made their way over to where a display table was set up with several t-shirts and had jogging pants and yoga pants folded up on the other side. Nope. Namjoon had suggested splitting up to Seokjin, so they did and set off to try and find their hybrids. Namjoon made his way to the side of the store neither had been to (around the more expensive graphic tees and all those clothes that were hung up to prevent wrinkling) to look for the boys.

“Namjoon,” the voice behind him surprised the man, making him turn around and practically meet noses with a bunny hybrid. Namjoon took a step back out of instinct of being so close to someone else, only to then focus in and realize that the bunny hybrid in front of him was his bunny hybrid.

“Jeongguk- where are the others?” Namjoon questioned, noticing he was alone.

Jeongguk looked around him, to both of his sides, then spun around once making his ears flop in his face when he stopped back in front of Namjoon. He chuckled and brushed them out of his face. “They were with me a few minutes ago, I was looking at these pants-” he holds up a pair of tighter fitting sweatpants. “so they probably ditched me.”

“I thought the four of you liked to stay together,” Namjoon furrowed his brows, offering his hand to take the pants from the bunny.

“I just like to follow them around, I’m fine on my own,” Jeongguk answered, handing over his sweatpants and another big t-shirt (this time grey not white) to Namjoon. “But Jimin and Taehyung follow Yoongi around like they don’t know what to do with their lives. If I don’t follow them, I’m alone. So I do. I don’t mind being alone, but when Hoseok wasn't around there was nothing for me to do if I was alone so there wasn’t a point to it.”
“I see…” Namjoon nodded slowly, adjusting so he was holding the clothes properly. “Do you have everything now?”

“I think I’m good,” Jeongguk nodded, ears perking slightly at a sound coming from Namjoon’s pocket.

“Can you grab my phone for me? It’s in this pocket,” of course, Namjoon shook the leg with his phone. The bunny nodded, leaning forward to take ahold of the phone and look at the screen. “Can you read?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, before reading out the text. “Seokjin says ‘found them, changing area.’ Does he mean the others?”

“Yep,” Namjoon nodded, beginning to walk to that general area. “Come on Gguk.”

Jeongguk followed him without protest, both of them weaving their way through the seemingly endless displays of clothing. They passed by a few things that Jeongguk had shown a bit of interest in, but not enough to actually buy it or take it with them. The pair spotted Seokjin and stood by him, now able to see a very bubbly duo of Taehyung and Jimin bouncing and whispering to each other.

“Uhm, Seokjin?” Seokjin turned to look at the two that had joined him.

“Oh good, you found Jeongguk,” Seokjin nodded, reaching a hand to pet the bunny’s ears quickly.

“He found me, really,” Namjoon mumbled, taking more clothes from Jimin, who had waddled over to him with the final pieces of his and Taehyung’s wardrobe. Namjoon opened his mouth to say something but didn’t when the changing door opened just a crack and revealed the side of a pouting Yoongi’s face and one of his ears.

“Jimin,” was the only thing he said and the other cat went scampering into the room with him. “Help me get out of this.”

Jimin smiled at the elder standing redfaced in front of him. He was wearing two things Jimin had picked out for him and was standing with his back to a mirror and head to the ground. Jimin cooed at him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up at him. The younger of the two grinned brightly, while Yoongi scowled. Jimin took a step back to actually look at the cat in his outfit, smile not fading as he did so. Yoongi was dressed in a light pink, ruffled skater skirt and an oversized knitted sweater that fell off one of his shoulders and was tucked snugly into the waist of the skirt.

“Jimin!” Yoongi called to the kitten, who was seemingly lost in his own little world of admiring the way Yoongi looked in that outfit.

“Oh! Sorry,” he chuckled a little bit before leaning forwards and unzipping the skirt for Yoongi. He helped him take off the sweater and set it back nicely with everything else. “Did everything else fit fine? Tae and I tried our best to get stuff you’d like- we though dark colours and too big was the way to go.”

“Yeah, you were right to think that,” Yoongi sighed, nodding. He collected most of the items and handed them to Jimin with the same pout lacing his lips. “Give these to Namjoon and go buy them. I’m ready to go home- but tell Seokjin that I want to talk to him,” Jimin nodded at him, scurrying out with the things and leaving with the others. Seokjin remained, confused.

After maybe five minutes, Yoongi came out holding a light pink skirt and a beige knitted sweater in his arms. “Seokjin?”

“Mhm?” Seokjin looked to the cat hybrid who had appeared beside him.

He was handed the two articles of clothing, noticing that Yoongi refused to meet his eye and was looking down with an obviously red face. It made the human smile and hold back a chuckle.

“Please don’t say anything to the others,” was all that left Yoongi’s mouth. His eyes flew up to Seokjin’s for only a moment to see him nod, before muttering a thank you.

The two of them met up with the others who were just at the cash, probably overloading the poor clerk that was working there. Everything was done and paid for in maybe five minutes, Seokjin and Namjoon looking at each other with a frown that said; “we just spend $900.” The owners brought the hybrids out to the hallways with all the stores, looking around quietly for a moment before looking back to the four boys.

“Okay listen here, we’re just going to go to one more store, and then we’ll go home okay?” Seokjin looked over at the four heads nodding in response to his statement. “Please behave for this, stick with us and let the people fit you guys properly, okay?”

“What do you mean fit us?” Jeongguk asked, confused slightly. Seokjin gave the bunny a soft smile, not answering but glancing to the others. They all seemed to know what he meant.

“We’re getting collars!” Taehyung cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. Both Namjoon and Seokjin smiled at each other. “Does this mean we get to go to the store?”

“Woah,” Jeongguk seemed more excited now. “Only Jimin has been to the store.”

“I didn’t really see much, Hoseok took me right to the back to meet with the scary people,” Jimin spoke as if he was arguing.

As much as watching the hybrids chatter was probably one of the highlights of the day, the couple really did want to get home soon. So they gathered the four of them and led them to the all too familiar store they had met Jimin in only a few weeks ago. Jimin seemed the most familiar with it, practically running into the store as soon as it was in sight- Namjoon had to run after him.

When they caught him, they brought him and the other three over to where a young man who looked everything less than interested in the hybrid standing next to him. They wore the same uniform, signalling the two worked together. The man gestured to the people and the hybrid jumped up and scurried over to them, promptly greeting them with a smile.

“Hi! My name is Jaehwan and I’m helping out here as a part of my training-”

“You don’t need to tell them everything about you, Jaehwan,” the human called, not even looking up at the hybrid. Still- his bubbly tone didn’t falter.

“Sorry, Binnie!” he called back, then focused back onto the group of six. “Are you looking for fitted collars or custom collars? I can help you.”

“We just want to get four fitted collars, we don’t have any for them yet.”

“Okay! We have this wall of selection for colours, and certain materials cost more- if you’ll allow me too, I’d recommend the ones that are soft to the touch. They’re much better on the neck and reduce the chance of leaving marks.”

The couple only nodded when the hybrid gestured to the wall of coloured collars. They were seemingly just as overwhelmed as the four hybrids standing in front of them. “Go ahead and pick some guys.”

He was given permission and just like that, Jimin ran towards a silk, light pink collar. Expected. Namjoon opened his mouth to suggest getting something tamer, but of course, Seokjin had smiled brightly at the young hybrid’s choice of collar. Maybe he shouldn’t object. Instead, Namjoon walked over to where Jeongguk and Taehyung had begun to look at other collars of different colours.

“Namjoon,” Jeongguk spoke up, reaching out to touch one of the collars made from nylon. “I’ve never had to wear one of these before- the others have. Is it normal for bunnies to wear collars?”

“Actually, I don’t think so- maybe pick one out just in case, I don’t really see us enforcing the actual use of them unless we’re going out somewhere.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk nodded, simply grabbing the black nylon collar from the wall. Both he and Namjoon jumped to the side when Jaehwan appeared beside them.

“I can fit that for you,” he held his hand out, waiting to take the collar from the bunny. “You guys are picking fast! I think I just have you and the puppy left- I’m doing well, right Binnie?”

Jaehwan seemed to be looking for praise from the ‘Binnie’ but all he got a was a ‘mhm’ while the human began to ring up the two already fitted collars. The puppy hybrids smile visibly faltered this time, but he said nothing. Instead, he fixed the collar around Jeongguk’s neck and smiled at him when he had fit it right practically right away.

“All done! I’ll mark off the hole to buckle it with my marker,” he pulled out a white marker among several others hooked around the loops of his pants. It was then that Namjoon noticed his tail was coming out of his actual pants, not from the top.

“Hey Jaehwan,” Namjoon started, continuing when the hybrid looked to him. “Your pants, they have a hole in them for your tail?” he looked to his hybrids, all of their loose-fitting pants being just low enough for their tails, and their shirts covering any exposed skin.

“A hybrid’s tail isn’t high enough on their body to poke out of the top comfortably, you can buy special pants here for us though-” he was cut off by a call from the human. “Coming Binnie! Anyways, your collar is marked off for you!”

“Thanks…” Jaehwan took the collar with him and gave it to the human (Namjooon could now clearly see ‘Hongbin’ on his name tag) who was just getting Seokjin to pay.

“Just cut a hole in the sewing on the pants we have- you’ll have to do that for any loose pants of theirs,” Jeongguk gestured to the three other hybrids by Seokjin. “Don’t worry about loose pants for me though, my tail is small enough.”

“You’re very chatty today Jeongguk,” Namjoon answered, looking with a raised brow at the bunny.

“I might as well start talking to you guys now rather than later.”

“I guess so,” Namjoon nodded, smiling at his husband as the group of four approached. “Home time?”

“Yeah, let’s get these guys home.”