pasdepluie:
An insult.
Of course, that has to be the first thing the Chinese man hears from the younger man. And the so-called caterpillars right above his eyes move into a frown after he hears what the hybrid said, for a moment Zihao questioned his own hearing, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stares, his facial expression slowly softens and he lets out a soft chuckle escape from his lips when he looks at the lady from the shelter again.
She looks at him with wide eyes still, as if she wants to warn him about something but he’s already made his mind. That hybrid, that little boy is going home with him. And he’s not even sure why he wants that one hybrid so much, in particular, there’s just something inside of him that keeps saying, “Yes, that’s the one you’ve been looking for.” And obviously, he wouldn’t go against his own instincts. Even though he has no idea of what that boy in question has gone through, even though Zihao has no idea of how he’s gonna behave or how he’s gonna act towards himself, he still isn’t willing to give up just because he heard some dumb insults towards his thick and very well designed eyebrows.
He’s always been a stubborn, insistent man so this is not what’s going to stop Zihao.
The Chinese man dares to smile again, looking directly at the hybrid one more time when he speaks — his strong voice sounding smooth and soft, as usual. “That’s not enough to insult me,” and he laughs quietly, his eyes almost disappear into crescent shapes when his smile gets a bit wider. “You’ll be in better conditions with me, I promise.”
For his surprise, the lady still hasn’t said anything to him or to the hybrid himself, and that bothers Zihao a little bit. He’s in a hurry, his loneliness is becoming stronger every minute that passes by and he can’t wait to have someone with him, someone to take care of, someone to come home to. Someone to just… spend time with. Someone other than work.
He just wants a better option, better than his father. And Raphaël, of course.
“I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
Black triangular ears twitch up, alert and in a panic. He doesn’t want to come out of the cage. Doesn’t want to go to another strange house, full of strange people with strange furniture. He especially doesn’t want to go with this stranger. There was something about him that just unsettled the cat hybrid. He couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but he didn’t want to stick around him long enough to find out. The promises the man spoke of – better conditions, safety, Jaehyun knew those to be untrue. They were just lies. Sweet lies. Spoken to lure him into a false sense of comfort.
The teenager kept himself stiff and frowning within the confines of the cage. His cage. The place he’d rather call home than anywhere else. He had a plan to execute, dammit! This giant bozo was just getting in the way of - hey, hey, hEY!! Get your hands off of me!! Let me go!
“Put me down!! I don’t wanna go! I said, put me dOWN!!”
His shrill voice echoed within the confines of the shelter, but his efforts to escape the grasp of the woman from the front desk. She had an iron grip and the support of the stranger in question. Jaehyun shoots her a furious glare, still fighting to return to his cage, although he knew his efforts were in vain, and begrudgingly spares a glance to the man with caterpillar eyebrows. He does not know this man, and does not wish to know this man. He wants to go back in his cage. Where he knows he’s safe. Yet, he does not get what he wants. Instead, he’s being led into another room, where the walls are white and the floor is clean and the wafting smell of lavender fills the air.
The Adoption Room.
A hard churning in his stomach commences, he feels the hair on his tail fray and stand on its end. Not here. Not again. He’s been here far too many times, and it was stupid. Pointless. A waste of time. It never mattered because at the end of the day, he always returned to his cage. Albeit, with a new scar in his heart. He knows at this point there’s no effort in putting up a fight..
“Just have to fucking sit here...,” he drops to the floor, his bottom cushioning a hard blow. He huffs and blows a puff of air at his frayed bangs. He was good at pretending that he wasn’t bothered. An act he had perfected over the years. In reality, his stomach was flipping and flopping, like a fish on dry land. All he could do was wait for the obnoxiously large man to come in and take him away.
“.....”
Wait a second... why was he even nervous about this?
If every time he came to this room he just returned to his cage.... surely, this time would be no different!! The man would get annoyed of him, or just find a cheap excuse to get rid of him – just like everyone else did!
He had nothing to worry about! All he had to do was be himself. His awful, terrible, wretched self. That’s all he had to do, yeah.... then he’ll be back in his cage in no time. Once that happens, his plan will go back into action!
“Yeah...,” he smirked at his legs. Covered in a pair of torn jeans. Hand-me-down’s from the bigger hybrids. “Honey, you’ve got a big storm coming..”
