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Lessons in Chemistry

Summary:

Hyunjin blinked slowly up at Minho as he sucked the rest of his drink up through the straw until it made an annoying slurping sound. The fluffy ears on his head perking up in interest. “Hmm. What’s your occupation?”

“A government bodyguard.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“I guess if you were a government agent, you really wouldn’t tell me.”

“Or would I?”

Hyunjin groaned and scrubbed at his eyes, probably screwing up the eyeshadow and light liner. “Stop mind fucking me. Age?”

“Twenty eight.”

“Status?”

“Alpha.”

“Single, mated, divorced?”

“You would copulate with a mated man?”

“Not really, no.”

“I’m single.”

“Has your curiosity been piqued yet? You’re a curious little leopard, aren’t you?” Minho’s knee scooted closer until it was nestled into Hyunjin’s inner thigh, and Hyunjin could already feel his own scent spike. “What about you, Hyunjin. Answer my questions?”

 

Or

 

Kindergarten teacher Hyunjin’s life is changed when he accidentally sleeps with one of his students (VERY hot) dad.

Notes:

Let me know your thoughts in the comments<3
This is a very interesting AU that I cooked up lol
The hybrid identities of Hyunjin and Minho are heavily inspired by Firsty and their fics!

Chapter Text

“To the start of a new school year,” Seungmin toasted, and Hyunjin clinked his own glass- sweating with moisture- before he knocked back the shot and swallowed it down even quicker than those around him. The burn all the way down his throat tasted just the right amount of sour and vulgar to have him scrunching his nose at the perfect amalgamation.

 

He didn’t come here to sip on his drink and play with his lithe fingers around the salted rim like some of the teachers did. No- he came here to get fucked up.

 

Don’t get Hyunjin wrong- he loved his job and he loved taking care of the pups: it appeased his omega and he wouldn’t have it any other way- but the summer was coming to an end and he was about to lose his freedom to spend his weekdays as he wished. (AKA; he could only get hammered on Saturdays and use sunday to recuperate.)

 

He was still excited to get back to work, though. Even if he could mourn his social life and kiss it goodbye. At least he could still see Jeongin and Seungmin at work- even if Seungmin was the vice principal and Jeongin taught the older sixth graders while Hyunjin himself taught the preschoolers. They were too cute and he didn’t know that he could handle the older pups quite as well as his Innie- he was always more laid back than the young alpha.

 

Of course, the other teachers swirled and chatted around the bar, but Hyunjin was just focused on Seungmin and Jeongin as they knocked back their own drinks because they took their shots in two sips rather than one. This was for them.

 

“Did you get your room ready, Hyunjin?” Seungmin asked once he settled down his shot on the table. The bartender was quick to scoop it up and replace it onto the square napkin. “I know it takes you a while to prepare the environment while Jeongin just slaps a few posters on the wall and calls it a day.”

 

Hyunjin hummed as he twisted the straw between his fingers to stir his mixed drink (a double with more vodka than sprite- just the right amount to have his head spinning.) there were bite marks on the straw from where he gnawed at it. “Yeah- I have to get the environment perfect for the pups: it’s their first year of school away from their packs and I want to make it special for them. They should be happy to learn and if I have to buy a few extra blankets and pillows to make the room comfortable, then I’ll do it.”

 

“Give him a raise, Seungmin,” Jeongin coughed into his fist subtly.

 

“That’s right, sir,” Hyunjin nodded solemnly as he leaned into the alphas side teasingly to get a good look at vice principal Seungmin. “The decorations come out of my own pocket. You should reimburse me with your higher salary.”

 

“Then just don’t decorate your room, then.”

 

“You’re so cold!” Hyunjin whined as he returned to nursing his drink, the beads of condensation trickling all the way down to make a circular indentation into the napkin below. “I don’t even know why I go out drinking with you when you won’t even give me a raise.”

 

“Or me,” Jeongin added. “Give me a raise.”

 

Seungmin once again rolled his eyes as he knocked back his third shot of the night. The dog ears on his head were floppy in just the cute way, like a golden retriever, but Hyunjin didn’t reach out to touch them even if he was intoxicated because Seungmin didn’t like the touch. Hyunjin didn’t blame him- because it someone tried to grab ahold of his spotted tail then he wouldn’t like it either.

 

Jeongin’s own fox ears swiveled on his head with each person that came too close to their little group huddled at the bar. Cute. Hyunjin would probably have better luck touching those…

 

“Don’t even think about it,” Jeongin tisked as he ducked away from Hyunjin’s grabby hands. Hyunjin pouted and placed them back on the wooden countertop.

 

“How did you even know what I was going to do?”

 

“You always try to grab my ears when you’re drunk.”

 

“M not drunk. Just a little tipsy…” to prove a point, Hyunjin wrapped his fluffy tail around Seungmin’s shoulders to tickle his face with the tip of it. A move that took a considerable amount of concentration.

 

Seungmin did not look impressed.

 

He grabbed onto Hyunjin’s tail and held it down- and Hyunjin just went limp and let him. His drink was slowly circling the drain and he would need some more because his head was buzzing in just the perfect way-

 

“Here you go,” the bartender- a lady with floppy rabbit ears- slid a new full drink over to him to replace his empty one.

 

Hyunjun blinked in surprise. “But I didn’t order anything…”

 

“The man sitting at the booth across the way ordered it for you,” she tilted her ears to the left, and Hyunjin’s vision followed the direction all the way to the singular figure sitting at the booth. It was hard to get a good look at his angle while being subtle, but from what Hyunjin could see, he was wearing all black and was sharp in a handsome way. Black ears and a tail… a panther or cat, maybe.

 

Small, dark, and handsome sent him a short wave, and Hyunjin turned away. “Thank you,” Hyunjin told the woman as she left. It wasn’t exactly a new situation- someone ordering him a drink at a bar. Sometimes it sucked ass to be unmated and unmarked.

 

“What’s the prognosis?” Seungmin asked curiously, his puppy eyes gleaming under the low light of the bar as Hyunjin swirled the drink before giving it an experimental sip.

 

“Mmm. Rum and coke.”

 

“So?”

 

“He passes.”

 

“But you’re not going to go over there?” Jeongin asked, and Hyunjin could feel the agitated way that his tail thumped up against the back of his stool. “Way to leave a guy hanging. Don’t look now, but He’s still staring this way.”

 

Like Hyunjin couldn’t feel the staring at the back of his head already. He just shrugged and continued to nurse his rum and coke- another double. Just the way he liked it. “I dunno…”

 

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin sounded exasperated. “It’s been a while since you got yourself back out there after the last dating incident. I think that you should give this one a chance.”

 

“It wouldn’t be a date, Minnie. It would be a hit and a run. A tap and run, if you will.”

 

“You think you’re funny, but you’re not.”

 

Hyunjin slid his drink back and stood from the stool, letting his tail unfurl from its cramped position- mindful of those passing the narrow walkway behind him. “You’re being a stick in the mud, maybe I will go over there and tap that.”

 

He was feeling extra frisky with the chilling weather outside. It wasn’t like Hyunjin frequented the bar for one night stands very often. It had been a while. He was a little rusty. All the more reason to get back out there. “Alright guys. It’s been fun, but I’m going to make myself some new company.”

 

“Do you have your wallet?” Seungmin asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Your phone?”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“You took your birth control this morning?”

 

“Yes, mother.”

 

“Good,” Seungmin brought his phone out to tap on the clear case because he was a rather boring person without any fun charms on it. “I have your location in case he turns out to be an axe murderer.”

 

“But if he’s an axe murder then I probably won’t be able to text you back. The first thing he’ll chop will probably be my fingers.” Hyunjin, personally, thought that he was funny. Even if his dear friends hated his humor and called him a modern day marble half of the time.

 

“Remember the code word,” Jeongin helpfully called after him even when Hyunjin was already ducking between a couple at the bar to get to the booth section of the club. “Text us ‘the eagle has landed’ and we’ll be on our way!”

 

Hyunjin snorted.

 

Because even if his life was on the line, he would never stoop so low.

 

Hyunjin took his rum and coke with him as he agiley slid into the unoccupied booth across from small, dark, and handsome. The man had followed him with those obsidian dark eyes of him throughout his entire journey.

 

Up close, he really wasn’t as small as he looked. He had rippling muscles even under that suit jacket and the popped buttons of his shirt underneath made him seem less put together than he originally appeared. (Even if that golden Gucci watch that shone under the low light of the bar suggested otherwise.)

 

They took a moment to ‘circle each other’ metaphorically speaking. Size each other up. Hyunjin could already claim that he was properly charmed by the intensity of the man’s dark cat-like eyes. Hyunjin hadn’t really come to the bar with the intentions to fuck someone- but if that was how the night played out, then he wouldn’t be distraught.

 

“Hello,” Hyunjin finally spoke, after a good long moment. His voice was naturally sweet, a little harder to pick up over the club's bass. “I’m Hyunjin. Thanks for the drink.”

 

The man outstretched an arm and Hyunjin blinked in surprise before he shook the offered hand. “Minho,” he said pleasantly. Voice not too high or low. “I’m glad you liked it. It was between rum and coke and red Bull vodka.”

 

Hyunjin shrugged one shoulder, a lock of his dark hair falling from behind his ear to frame his face. “I wouldn’t have been opposed to either. I’m not picky.” Ever so slowly, he crossed his legs and leaned forward against the table, not missing the way that Minho’s eyes followed as his sleeve fell down his shoulder. Down to the clavicle. “So. How did you decide on which drink to get me? Was it a vibe thing?”

 

“I flipped a coin,” Minho said, very seriously, and Hyunjin couldn’t help but toss his head back and laugh because this whole situation was absurd. His brain was buzzy and jumbled in just the right way and the man who was no doubt an alpha sitting in front of him was probably some CIA agent. Because really- who in the fuck wore a suit jacket to a club?

 

“So,” Hyunjin practically purred, playing with his straw of the almost empty drink. “Do you just have really dark cat ears- or are you something else?”

 

It wasn’t too taboo to talk about hybrid traits like I used to be, and if anything, Minho just looked amused by Hyunjin’s direct question. “Black panther. Not a domestic house cat.”

 

Hyunjin’s tail swished behind him in a languid way and he rested his chin on his fist. “Hmm. Did the question hurt your ego?”

 

“No. Not really. I’m the one speaking to an endangered species.” The man quirked a perfectly arched eyebrow; and really, he must be a celebrity or something. Minho probably wasn’t even his real name.

 

“Snow leopards aren’t endangered. Clouded leopards are. Get your facts straight, Mr. Minho.”

 

“That kind of sounds like the butt of a joke,” Minho’s dark eyes twinkled with dark humor, almost as black as his crisp expensive suit. “A panther and a snow leopard walk into a bar.”

 

“Hmm. Not really, no.”

 

The corner of Minho’s lip twitched upward momentarily and he outstretched his leg to press lightly between Hyunjin’s own. “You don’t have to be so honest. What do you want to know before we take this conversation elsewhere? Any questions?”

 

Hyunjin blinked slowly up at Minho as he sucked the rest of his drink up through the straw until it made an annoying slurping sound. The fluffy ears on his head peeking up in interest. (Sometimes he wore bows on them when he taught the pups because they liked them, but there was no place for cute ribbons at the club.) “Hmm. What’s your occupation?”

 

“A government bodyguard. I'm off from tour at the moment while the president gets his shit together.”

 

“Really?”

 

“No.”

 

“I guess if you were a government agent, you really wouldn’t tell me.”

 

“Or would I?”

 

Hyunjin groaned and scrubbed at his eyes, probably screwing up the eyeshadow and light liner. “Stop mind fucking me. Age?”

 

“Twenty eight.”

 

“Status?”

 

“Alpha.”

 

“Single, mated, divorced?”

 

“You would copulate with a mated man?”

 

“Not really, no.”

 

“I’m single.”

 

“Has your curiosity been piqued yet? You’re a curious little leopard, aren’t you?” Minho’s knee scooted closer until it was nestled into Hyunjin’s inner thigh, and Hyunjin could already feel his own scent spike up with mild interest at the placement and situation. “What about you, Hyunjin. Answer my questions?”

 

“Okay. Well. I’m a lowly teacher. Twenty five. Omega. Single. I think that covers just about all of the bases, doesn't it?”

 

In the background, the bass shifted to a less obnoxious sound and more smooth. A few hoots and hollers came from the dance floor, and Hyunjin was glad that he taught pups instead of teenagers because it would be embarrassing if he ran into them and their fake ID’s at the club. Minho leaned his head back to take the last swig from his bottle, and Hyunjin was utterly allured by the way his Adam’s apple bobbed under the ever changing light.

 

He set his drink down and when he stood from the booth, he was a little taller than Hyunjin expected. So much for Small, dark, and handsome. “Would you want to go to my place? Or we could get a hotel room at the place across the way.”

 

“No. That hotel has bed bugs- and I don’t trust you not to try and stab me mid orgasm. We can go to my flat, it’s only a few minutes by cab.”

 

Minho shrugged, nonplussed by Hyunjin’s murder speculation. “That’s fair.” He held out a hand, and Hyunjin took it to slide out from the booth and link their arms together. They were nose to nose, and for the first time that evening Minho looked a little frazzled as the lights reflected his eyes and his shiny lips.

 

“You’re beautiful.”

 

Hyunjin’s plump lips tilted upwards, fondly, and his eyes crinkled into crescents. For some reason, the blunt compliment sounded… genuine. “Thank you. Shall we?”

 

“We shall.”

 

When Minho stopped by the bar to close his tab, he gave Seungmin and Jeongin a little wink and the dog hybrid shook his phone. Jeongin mouthed something about an ‘eagle’ and Hyunjin turned his back to them, purposefully sending a wave down his tail in the cat version of a middle finger to them.

 

It only took a quick drive by a grumpy cab driver who kept on staring at Hyunjin through the rear view before Hyunjin was using a key to open up his busted apartment door and Minho was pressing his back to the door once they were inside, Lips colliding like they needed to kiss to breathe. Like it was a primal need.

 

And maybe Hyunjin was a little rusty, because he let out a whimper from the back of his throat as he snaked his hands up to clasp at the lapels of Minho’s suit. The little breathy pant also came out against his will when Minho’s hot hands encompassed his waist, and then moved down to squeeze a handful of his ass.

 

Hyunjin’s scent spiked dramatically. It really had been a while.

 

And when Hyunjin managed to lead them to his room, mouths still locked together with saliva on each other's lips, backs hitting the walls, Hyunjin pushed Minho back onto his bed and clambered on top of him in a straddle. Minho chuckled, a deep sound from his chest, and grabbed onto Hyunjin’s thighs to support him when he shrugged the cropped sweater off of his torso.

 

And when all of their clothes were out of the way and Hyunjin shoved his nose into Minho’s neck, he got a whiff of the intoxicatingly strong scent of Minho’s. A mixture of fresh coffee grounds and vanilla- hot and heady. Minho’s hands snuck back his waistband and Hyunjin felt the beginnings of slick between his legs as he grinded down on Minho. Hyunjin’s tail thumped against the mattress excitedly behind him.

 

“Do you do this often?” Hyunjin asked between breaths that they stole before he dove back in to devour Minho. Minho cupped Hyunjin’s ass again in just the right way, pressing at the base of his tail at the sensitive skin. “Mmm. You- you find an omega at a bar and order them a round? Seduce them?-“

 

Minho cut him off with a growl right into his mouth when Hyunjin’s ass ground right down on his still clothed erection. “Gotta blow off steam somehow.”

 

Hyunjin laughed into Minho’s neck after leaving a trail of kisses down his sharp jawline. “So my name is Steam now- huh?”

 

“That mouth on you,” Minho rutted up against him and Hyunjin was blindly starting to work on getting the slacks off of his toned thighs. “I bet your plump pretty lips would look good wrapped around me.”

 

And yeah- the slick had already soaked through Hyunjin’s underwear completely. Hyunjin leaned down to lick a desperate stripe right down Minho’s scent gland, arching his back right against the panther's hands as they trailed up his spine to tug at his dark hair teasingly. Hyunjin whined, “condoms- Ngh. Mmm. Condoms in the bedside dresser.”

 

Hyunjin momentarily stopped the suction of his lips from Minho’s collar bone so that Minho could open the drawer and reach for the condoms inside. There was lube, too, but Hyunjin was so slick that he severely doubted that he needed it. Just a little foreplay should do.

 

And as Minho rolled the elastic over himself- because damn he was well endowed- not even the alcohol in his system could stop Hyunjin from wrapping his arms around himself, his fluffy tail instinctively curling along with it. He wished he was fully drunk. His skin buzzed.

 

Minho looked back up at him with lustful eyes- and then briefly paused all movement when he looked up at Hyunjin. “Are you… okay? Did you change your mind?”

 

“No!” Hyunjin blurted out, because he would go crazy if Minho’s cock wasn’t inside him in T-minus two minutes and thirty seconds. and then again he let out a much softer. “No… can you just… turn off the light?”

 

He nervously bit onto his bottom lip as Minho’s hands slowly left his hip bones and he nodded. “Yeah. Yes, I can do that.” He let go of Hyunjin completely and reached over to turn Hyunjin’s lamp off, plunging them into darkness. And wherever he went, his touch left a burning trail on Hyunjin’s body.

 


 

“You’re really good at that,” Hyunjin hummed as he nuzzled his face into Minho’s warm chest. Much to his delight, he didn’t put his shirt back on, nor did he immediately leave after his own orgasm to leave Hyunjin hanging all by himself like he half expected him to.

 

“Thanks. I get that a lot.”

 

Hyunjin huffed, slapping Minho’s chest that was illuminated by the faint moonlight between his curtains. “Too confident. Get out of my apartment.”

 

“Kicking me out already?” Minho asked, trailing his hands through Hyunjin’s hair in just the way he liked- in the way that had him purring and nuzzling even closer to those warm hands. Under the covers- his tail was wrapped around Minho’s own lithe one. Less fluffy but equally muscular.

 

“I won’t kick you out if you keep touching me like that.”

 

Minho’s chest immited an amused noise, not quite a purr and more of a growl. “Want to go for round two?”

 

Between his legs, Hyunjin’s cock twitched with interest. “Let’s do it.”

 

And Minho, for some reason, was pretty adamant about aftercare. Hyunjin had never been so cared for, not even when he had been in a relationship before. Minho massaged the aches in his muscles from where he bent him in half, he gently wiped down the cum from his stomach and even between his legs, he let Hyunjin use him as a pillow like some overgrown cat. A lot more than he expected from a one night stand.

 

Hyunjin woke up at promptly 2AM in the morning, according to the flashing digital clock tilted towards his bed on the nightstand. At first he figured that the annoying tree outside that brushed against his window woke him up, but instead it was just the man he slept with the previous night- somehow looking dignified in the darkness as he pulled his slacks up his well toned thighs. When he reached down for his button up, Hyunjin groaned as he rolled over and flipped his desk side lamp on to flood the room with warm light.

 

“Hey,” Minho greeted lowly, straightening out his tail before he tossed the wrinkled shirt over his head to begin buttoning the buttons. “Sorry if I woke you.”

 

Still disoriented from waking up at the ass crack of dawn, Hyunjin rolled over in bed and pulled the covers up to his chin even higher. He squinted up at Minho, “why are you leaving at two in the morning?”

 

“Well I assumed that you didn’t want to wake up with me in bed…”

 

“So you’re going to go on the walk of shame down my shady apartment complex at the witching hour? Be careful- you may leave with a face tattoo.”

 

Minho smiled full of mirth at Hyunjin’s unorthodox humor, on his last button before he reached for that expensive blazer of his that probably cost Hyunjin’s entire monthly rent. “Sorry, my son called. I should go.”

 

Hyunjin blinked. Huh. The man in front of him had a pup? He supposed he could see it- the panther with a pup of his own- even if the only thing that Hyunjin ever wanted to assosiate him with was fucking him so good that his tongue lolled out. “The front door has trouble closing- make sure you kick it in place before you leave.”

 

“Right. Your window was open, so I closed it and locked it.”

 

“But I like the breeze on my face in the middle of the night. It’s nice.”

 

“All the way up until someone climbs the tree outside and breaks in.”

 

“Please- I live on the sixth floor and there’s nothing worth stealing in this apartment.”

 

“Rapist can climb.”

 

Hyunjin snorted, shaking his head and letting Minho have the last word as the panther prowled over to reach in his pocket and place a card on his bedside table. “My phone contact is on there. Call me if you want to do this again.”

 

Hyunjin perked up in interest, his ears swiveling as he rolled a little on the bed to reach for the fancy golden looking business card. It was hard to make out the number or the card details under the low light, but Hyunjin could see the panthers full legal name written out over the top in bold letters. He traced the edge of the card with interest under his finger pads. “What. So you want to be my butt Buddy?”

 

“Sure. If that’s what you want to call it.”

 

“Hmm. Well,” Hyunjin watched Minho linger at his doorway, bidding him farewell with that sharp and handsome face of his. “Goodbye Lee Minho.” And Hyunjin never planned on calling the man again, so he dropped the card somewhere on his wooden floor and listened as his front door was wedged shut securely with a loud ‘thump.’

 

He promptly rolled back over, grabbed his phone to message Jeongin and Seungmin that he hadn’t been chopped up by an axe murder, pulled his comforter up, sank into the warm space that Minho left, and drifted back to sleep.

 


 

Hyunjin took the weekend to recuperate from his activities before he was forced to actually roll out of bed and get ready for his ‘first’ day of school. He had been teaching for a few years now, and he was ecstatic each time to meet the little pups who were excited and nervous on their first day of school away from their families.

 

Hyunjin, of course, tried his best to make his room as accommodating as possible. There was a big plushy sofa placed on the back of the room with many nicely scented blankets (that he did himself, because he had heard that his scent was rather soothing) he had a giant rug and cushioned seats for the pups because they always got wiggly when they sat on normal desks. Fairy lights and posters. Knick knacks and candies. Hyunjin loved his job, sometimes.

 

His weekend was the last thing on his mind as he got ready for the day- bright and early in the morning because the school start time for the little ones was much too early in his opinion. Most of them walked in half asleep, adorably rubbing their eyes as they hugged their parents goodbye.

 

He wore the light faded jeans that cinched at the waist and the soft purple sweater that the pups always liked so much. His black hair half up and half down with a lavender ribbon that matched the little bow on his fluffy ears and the end of his tail. Sometimes pups got a little scared of predator type hybrids- even if he was an omega- it was still in their instincts. He tried his best not to be opposing and most treated him like a fluffy kitty by the end of the school year.

 

He briefly mourned, though, that he didn’t have a fancy Gucci wristwatch nor designer Versace flats to wear to work because he did teach at a pretty high profile school. They got celebrity kids all the time.

 

But whatever- Hyunjin wasn’t here to impress his students- no, they were five years old and thought that everything he did was cool. He was trying to settle for parents nerves because leaving their children at school for the first time could be hard.

 

The school was too far of a walk- so he always took the bus and waved good morning to the normal crowd, staying on the back end of the bus reserved for omegas away from alphas, before he unboarded, adjusting the strap of his book bag over his shoulder. He would need to get a new one soon- the leather was wearing off in a not so attractive way.

 

“Goodbye, have a good day,” he bowed to the bus driver who was an older lady and always smiled back at him even if she could hardly hear him half of the time.

 

The little pups arrived later than the older kids, so Jeongin was already teaching by the time he arrived to order his classroom, but that didn’t stop Seungmin from stopping by his classroom. “Still recovering from your crazy weekend?” He asked with a quirked eyebrow, leaning against his doorway. A dangling curtain almost brushed his puppy ears.

 

“Do I look that bad?” Hyunjin asked, suddenly self conscious. “I put on some makeup this morning to hide the eyebags and the hickeys. He loved to use his mouth…”

 

“As your vice principal- I did not hear that. As your friend, I am asking you to tell me more at lunch.” Seungmin placed the clipboard he was holding on Hyunjin’s desk situated near the door, “here. Place your lesson plans in here and I’ll come pick them up by the end of the day. Have a first good day, Mr. Hwang.”

 

“Goodbye, Sir Kim.” Hyunjin giggled to himself as the Beta shook his head before exiting, only for the first parent to drop their pup off a few moments later. He instantly let himself go into teacher mode as he firstly greeted himself to the child, bending down to their level, and then the parent to assure them that their pup would be okay in his capable hands.

 

To a new school year, he guessed.

 

Hyunjin- his omega, especially- always wanted a pup of his own one day- but he had just never found himself in the right… situation for one. It didn’t stop him from treating his own students like they were his own pups because they were precious and he wouldn’t have any other job. He was always heartbroken and tearily proud when he had to bid them farewell at the end of every year at their little graduation ceremonies. (They always came back to his room when they were older, though, and that made something inside of Hyunjin’s chest break a little to see them grow.)

 

It was closing the time to start teaching the class, and as Hyunjin counted all of the little heads of the shy pups exploring the room and chatting excitedly with one another, Hyunjin realized that he was missing one. He frowned.

 

Just as he was about to recount heads, he felt little hands grab onto his pant leg, and Hyunjin looked down to see a pup with dark hair, big eyes, and the cutest little freckles. Ah. There was his missing little one. Hyunjin frowned when he noticed the tears gathering at the child’s big eyes, and he immediately crouched down to his level and reached out to pat between the little triangular ears on his head.

 

“Hello pup,” he offered a sweet smile, “are you feeling a little sad this morning, huh?”

 

The little one sniffled and rubbed at his tears, instinctively leaning into his touch. “I’m- I’m Felix,” he said tearily. Hyunjin’s ear twitched curiously when he heard the accent.

 

“What’s wrong, love?”

 

Little Felix looked down at his feet, freckled cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. “I’m- im nerv- nerv-“

 

Hyunjin waited patiently, before he hummed. “Nervous?”

 

“Yes. Yea.”

 

Hyunjin smiled again and instinctively offered his tail to Felix. He looked like a baby cat hybrid, and it was a common greeting. Felix’s eyes lit up and he brought his own calico tail to clumsily wrap around Hyunjin’s much longer one. Adorable. “It’s going to be okay, my love. You are safe here and I’m sure that you’ll make plenty of friends. If not- then I’ll be your friend.”

 

His eyes widened cutely, “you- you’ll be my friend?”

 

“Of course I will, little one. If you’re feeling nervous then you can stick by my side today and I can introduce you to the other pups. Does that sound okay?”

 

Suddenly, a small and shy smile broke across Felix’s face and he nodded so quickly that he looked like a cute little bobble head. He looked awestruck, and Hyunjin thought that he was just the cutest thing. “Little one… did you come with a mommy or a daddy today?-“

 

“Felix!” A voice shouted down the hallway, footsteps echoing all the way up until a man paused at the doorway, looking frazzled until his eyes landed on the little pup currently clinging to Hyunjin’s sweater as a hug, broken little purrs leaving his chest as he sniffed at his sweater. “There you are! Oh-“

 

Hyunjin’s blood ran cold when his eyes trailed from the man’s designer Prada shoes, to his pressed slacks, and then all the way up to his fancy suit and expertly gelled hair with that sinfully sharp jawline and those cat-like eyes.

 

Well, shit.

 

Lee Minho’s lips curled in surprise at the sight, and Hyunjin was sure that his jaw was on the floor.

 

“It’s- it’s you…”

 

Hyunjin nodded solemnly. “So it is.”