Today was the day. You were determined that today would be the day you found and took home a hybrid companion. You refused to leave until you found the one that was compatible with you.
The problem was that no one really jumped out at you.
No one seemed interested in you, either, and they said that the best connections came from relationships that started with the hybrid as interested as the adopter. Most sniffed the air, looked at you curiously, then went back to ignoring your existence. Same as the last four shelters.
You weren’t even being breed specific anymore. You stayed toward those that were adults because you didn’t want the responsibility of a child at this exact point in time. You wanted someone you could actually converse with and who wasn’t completely dependent on you. You still had work, after all, and while there were certain days of the week a hybrid was allowed to accompany their owner (you hated that word) to work (Tuesdays and Thursdays at your office), they would have to be on their own the other days of the week. You weren’t about to pay for hybrid day-care, it was more expensive than both regular daycare and puppy-daycare.
The worker seemed nervous the longer it took for you two to find any potential hybrids. They had been boasting about having three or four hybrids per person that came in, and you had been skeptical given your other experiences. It was looking like they were going to be proven wrong.
Three rooms later and your determination wasn’t faring as well as it had been. What if you just weren’t what a hybrid wanted? You wanted to think that you were nice, balanced, loving…
“Let’s try the yard,” The worker finally said.
You nodded, following them outside.
There were more hybrids out here than inside, which was expected on a such a nice day.
Some of the hybrids seemed to get nervous, skittering off.
You looked around, waiting in place since it was important that they be able to smell you and approach you.
A dog hybrid started tentatively coming over and relief started to wash over you.
Then it jumped, glancing behind it and racing off.
Your heart sank again. Wow. You actually were unlovable.
The bushes rustled and the worker seemed to brace themselves.
You frowned.
Something leapt out of the bushes, past the worker and stopping in front of you. He grinned down at you, orange-striped ears flicking playfully to match the mirth in his eyes. His grin broadened and eyes became crescents. “Hi.”
“Hello,” You responded, still surprised.
“I’m Taehyung.”
“Y/n.”
He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go home.” He took your hand.
“Um, what?”
“Oh, sorry, I’m a tiger hybrid, and I’m your hybrid. No one else can have you, you’re my owner. Now can we go home?” His head tilted.
You glanced at the worker.
He looked surprised, but shrugged. “I can get the paperwork.”
You nodded slowly. “Um, okay. Let’s go fill out the paperwork then. You’re okay with me being social, right? I like having friend over for games, dinner, movies…”
Taehyung nodded. “Sure. I like games and movies and food. Guys?”
“My closest friends are guys, mostly because they’re my neighbors. I went to highschool with some of them, and I was there when they adopted their hybrids. Oh, they have hybrids too.”
“That’s okay,” He nodded. “I get along with just about all species. Mice seem a little wary of me.”
You nodded.
The paperwork went quickly, while Taehyung seemed to be saying goodbye to every single person in the building.
But he was waiting cheerfully by the door once you were done with his suitcase, pillow, and backpack. “Ready?”
You held up the papers. “Done.”
“Collar?”
You scrunched your nose.
He sniffed and went to your jacket pocket, pulling it out and fastening it on himself after setting the pillow on the suitcase. “It’s required.” Then he grinned, his eyes disappearing. “This is a nice one, though. Thank you.”
“It’s big enough?” You asked, finally looking at it.
He nodded, sticking a couple fingers between it and his neck. “I like the velvet. Nice touch, very nice on the neck.”
You relaxed a bit. “What do you want for dinner?”
His eyes lit up. “I can choose?”
“Sure.”
“Anything?”
“Within reason, but yeah, we can splurge tonight since it’s a special day.”
He shifted. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to try.”
“Okay, what?”
“Venison,” He replied.
You froze. “Deer?”
He nodded.
You slowly nodded as well. “I’ll have to look up somewhere we can buy venison. And I’ve never cooked it before, so it’ll be an adventure for both of us.”
“Yay! Let’s go!” He turned toward his stuff.
You held out your hand. “I can take something.”
He contemplated, then handed you the pillow that seemed to have other things stuffed in it as well. “This is lightest.”
You smiled and led the way out to your beater. “Not the best car, I know, but it runs and I’m saving up for a new used car.”
He just shrugged. “Does the job.”
You nodded, popping the trunk for him. “I figure you want this with you?”
He nodded, taking it after he closed the trunk and hugging it to his chest even as he climbed into the car.
You got in and buckled up, checking to make sure he was wearing his seatbelt as well before pulling out of the parking spot. “Okay, we’ll get groceries after dropping off your stuff at my apartment, that’ll give me a chance to see if I have a recipe in my cookbooks for venison so that we at least know what cut of meat we need.”
“Ok. Are we sharing a room?”
You blinked rapidly. “Um…well, I have the second bedroom—”
“I’m a cuddler. Can’t sleep alone.” He seemed to be smiling a little.
“You’re trouble, aren’t you?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
You laughed a little.
“Where do you work?”
“I’m an office manager. You can come in with me every Tuesday and Thursday.”
“Really?”
“Company policy. And I have my own office so if you don’t like other coworkers’ hybrids you can still be with me without them bugging you.”
He bounced a bit in his seat. “Yay! Do you work on weekends?”
“Every second Saturday, usually half days. Just to keep on top of everything.”
He fiddled with the radio, checking out your settings, then the CD you had in the player, smiling the whole time. “Cool.” He watched the scenery go by for a while.
You both listened to the CD for a couple songs before you pulled into your parking spot. “Here we are. I live on the fourth floor. The apartments there are bigger than the other floors, so while other floors have four apartments per floor, the fourth only has two. I have the smaller of the two, and the four of the guys share the other. The other two guys live below them. The three hybrids tend to congregate in the big apartment, play games and enjoy each other’s company. We can ease into it, though—”
“No! That sounds perfect!” He hopped out and hurried to the trunk, handing you his pillow again as he got his suitcases. “Can we meet them today?”
“Um, sure? I can text the guys and we can meet them after dinner.”
He bounced a little. “Cool! Thanks.”
You smiled, feeling lighthearted and happy since he seemed so happy.
He slid into your apartment ahead of you and eagerly started looking around, leaving his suitcases in the entry.
You chuckled and moved the suitcases out of your way so you could drop your shoes and get into the apartment. You set his pillow on one of the chairs, watching him carefully.
He was currently checking out the view from your windows, and smelling the curtains. He looked carefully at your living, dining, and kitchen areas, then wandered down the halls after grabbing his pillow.
He came back out a moment later and grabbed his suitcases. “I’ll keep my clothes in the guest bedroom.”
You nodded. “That’s fine.”
He went back to the rooms again.
You went to the bookshelf and pulled all four cookbooks from the shelf, heading to the reference section to see if there were venison recipes. Looked like it was a good thing you had gone first thing in the morning to pick a hybrid. All of the recipes were calling for long cooking times.
Tae was suddenly beside you, startling you momentarily, but he flashed you a smile. “Sorry. Find anything?”
“They all call for long cooking times or marination, so we should hoof it. So, stew or tenderloin?”
“Mmm, can we try tenderloin and turn the leftovers into stew?”
You nodded. “Sure, or we can do both.”
“Really?”
“I mean, hopefully we like the taste of venison. If not, I’ll try to disguise the taste. Make them into tacos or mix it with beef or something.” You jotted down a list of groceries to get. You had held off getting them in case you needed to get specific foods for your hybrid, tailoring for herbivore mixes or carnivore mixes. “What veggies do you like?”
He thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I’ll eat cooked carrots. And broccoli. Spinach. I like kimchi.”
“Kimchi isn’t technically a vegetable, it’s just made with vegetables. What kind of kimchi?”
He shrugged.
You sighed. “Okay, well, I don’t know much about making kimchi, but jimin’s mom always sends him more than can eat on his own. I’ll just ask him if we can take some when he offers next time we see him.”
He nodded, snuffling at your hair.
You smiled. “You really aren’t shy.”
He shrugged. “I like you. You smell…perfect.”
“Thank you.” You sidestepped, but he seemed to anticipate it, moving with you. You peered up at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Grocery store? Food?”
He nodded, then tucked his nose into your neck, nuzzling a little before chuffing softly.
You were a little surprised by the sudden move, but you were also aware that hybrids needed physical touch and affection. Especially when they’re first adopted. So you reached up and threaded your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
He melted into your touch, arms wrapping around your waist. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
You nodded. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy being in there. I hope you’ll be happy here.”
He pulled back, meeting your eyes and looking at you softly. “I will.”
“Is that so?”
He nodded.
You reached up and smoothed his hair. “Come on. Let’s go get groceries.”
He smiled, eyes closed. “Okay.” He held onto your hand and let you lead him back out of your apartment and to the car.
The grocery store had his attention right away as he zeroed in on the meat department and looked over every cut of meat while you talked to the butcher about venison. While he was distracted you also got some roasts, a turkey, and some different cuts of pork since it was on sale.
You practically had to drag him away from the meat isle and over into produce, but he did seem to take an interest in fruits. Strawberries especially, but also blackberries and melons.
He pouted when you grabbed different vegetables, and wrestled peppers out of your grasp to put back on the pile.
“I can’t do spicy food.” He growled softly, then his eyes lit up. “Watermelon!”
You watched in amusement as he fawned over the large melons, sniffing and knocking on them until he found one that he deemed perfect and looked to you for permission.
You nodded.
He grinned and brought it over, setting it in the cart like it was a baby.
The snack isle was interesting. You were good with things like peanuts and popcorn, but he was examining every single snack to carefully pick one.
You sighed, going over the list you had to figure out what else you still had to grab. He would need his own shampoo and conditioner since hybrid hair/fur was different from human hair, but that was something he should pick out. You weren’t sure what he had for clothing, but you partially hoped he would be okay with maybe some basic t-shirts until you could build up your savings again. Sock and underwear.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking of what you may need,” You answered, looking to see what snack he got. “Ready?”
He nodded. “What else might I need?”
“Well, shampoo and conditioner, soap, and I don’t know if you need any clothing. Like socks or underwear?”
He nodded a little. “I need some of those.”
You nodded as well. “We’ll head over and you can pick them out, then we’ll go to health and beauty and get the rest.”
“Okay. Can I hold your hand?”
“Well, I need both to push this cart. It seems to have a mind of its own,” You told him, a little worried since you knew it was important for him.
He nodded, though, and grabbed the sleeve of your shirt at the elbow instead. “This works too.”
You relaxed a bit and led the way through the store, pausing by the outdoor supplies. “Do you want any sort of…toys?”
His eyes lit up and he nodded. “Is there a place to play outside?”
“The roof, the other hybrids like to go up there on nice days while we’re at work, and sometimes we have picnics out there.”
He grinned, but then seemed to focus. “Well, I don’t know what is already there. So let’s wait on that, and then if there’s something that I really want to play with, can we come get it?”
You nodded.
“Cool. Thanks, y/n.” He briefly, gently, nuzzled your cheek, then bounced on his toes a couple times before practically skipping ahead to the mens section while you trailed after, watching the aisles to see if there was anything you might want to get him eventually. And you totally didn’t stop by the pet supplies and get a huge container of catnip. Never.
He came back with socks, underwear, and two packages of basic shirts, one white and one black, with a questioning look.
You gestured for him to put them in the cart, then headed toward the beauty section, ducking into the hybrid specific isle and looking through the products.
He was smelling each and every one, gravitating toward the colorful ones first, pacing up and down the isle.
You were looking at the ingredients. “Tae, this line is all-natural.”
His ears swiveled toward you and he set the bottle he was smelling back on the shelf before pouncing to the spot next to you. He looked over the containers first, then smelled the four different ones from that brand before deciding on hair products that smelled like “milk & honey” and plain-smelling bodywash, with a citrus-y facewash that he seemed really excited about.
You also got him a brush, a new toothbrush (because he wasn’t sure when he last replaced it and seemed surprised when you told him that they needed to be replaced every 3-4 months), toothpaste (you were almost out and he was pickier than you were), and a bottle of lotion.
“Alright, anything else you want? Candy bar? Cookies?”
He grabbed a chocolate bar then pointed to a bottle of juice with huge eyes.
You nodded, smiling. “Grab me one, too.”
He grinned and darted toward the cooler while you started unloading groceries onto the conveyor.
He came back, going to the end to load the loaded bags into the cart. He looked happy, though you hadn’t actually seen him sad or upset the whole time you had known him, which was about two and a half hours now.
You seriously hoped that this would work out, you liked Taehyung so far. You just weren’t sure you could handle any surprises after seeing him like this. Which would be terrible. You’d be like all those people you criticized.
But when he smiled at you, it reached his eyes, and he seemed truly content even though he barely knew you. But then again, according to your hybrid friends, hybrids could tell how they would get along with a person on smell alone.
And his smile made you want to smile, and you found you already were smiling back.
You took the receipt and let Taehyung push the cart out to the car.
He paused, waiting for you to catch up when he noticed another hybrid.
You gave him a curious look.
“I still smell like the shelter, it can make other hybrids nervous if they don’t clearly see an owner,” He said softly. “Especially with my breed.”
You hooked your arm in his at the elbow, bumping his arm with your head.
He looked down at you and smiled, blinking slowly.
The two of you passed the other hybrid and its owner without incidence.
At home, Taehyung spent most of his time exploring almost every nook and cranny, drawer and cabinet in the house.
Lunch consisted of sandwiches, which he seemed happy about, then you sat down with your coloring pages and pencils and started working on those while he took a shower.
He came out in a t-shirt and sweats and sprawled across the couch and you, effectively stopping your coloring.
You laughed a little. “Hi.”
He grinned back. “Hi. Pet me.”
You rolled your eyes, but obliged, sliding your fingers through his thick hair, curling behind his ears and rubbing gently.
He seemed to get even heavier, eyes squinting with how big he was smiling, making soft chuffing sounds.
You could get used to this.
———
Sleeping with him was probably the most noticeable change to you. You weren’t used to sleeping with someone else, much less being held by someone else.
But there were other things you noticed as well.
Like how he was fine with your friends and neighbors, got along great with them and had no issue with them being around you (to a certain extent, he definitely got jealous if you pet Yoongi, Hoseok, or Jungkook too much) but other men were not welcome. When he was at your work he would socialize and such, but if you were talking with a male coworker, you could be certain that Taehyung would choose that time to hug onto you. And he always sniffed you carefully on the days he didn’t go to work with you.
And he seemed absolutely sullen today, refusing to even talk to you after smelling a stranger on you.
He had even growled at you before telling you to take a shower and wash the smell, almost like you had cheated on him or something.
Which was ridiculous since you had just had dinner with your cousin that you hadn’t seen in a while.
But he didn’t let you explain, locking himself into the guest bedroom with music blaring until you finally gave up and went to bed.
He didn’t come out in the morning, though you knocked and told him breakfast was ready, told him it was Tuesday and that if he wanted to come to work with you he had to get up.
Told him you were leaving.
And of course it was a miserable day when you wished you had had Taehyung there, especially since you ended up having to deal with HR.
You chucked your purse at the chair the moment you entered the apartment, then noticed the three hybrids chilling on the couch with alarmed expressions.
“Sorry,” You muttered, stalking to your bedroom to get out of the uncomfortable clothes.
He slipped in, closing the door again as you glanced back. “What happened?”
“Jeff from accounting.”
He growled lowly. “What did he do?”
“Got fired,” You answered shortly, not wanting to go through all of that again. “And now I have to change and get dinner ready because we have a guest coming over tonight.”
“What?! Wait, y/n, what happened at work? Who’s coming to dinner?”
You ignored him like he had ignored you for most of the day, heading to the kitchen and getting everything you needed for dinner out.
“How did he get fired? What did he do to you? Who’s coming to dinner? Why are you ignoring me?”
“So you know how it feels,” You muttered, aggressively swinging the blade at the watermelon to pierce the skin. “Look, I have a lot to do before our guest arrives. Why don’t you and the others go to Hobi’s place and finish your movie?”
He was quiet for a minute or two, then went over to the others and whispered something.
They left, but he came back in, gently taking the knife from you and continuing to cut up the watermelon so that you could work on dinner. He didn’t say another word, and neither did you.
When the buzzer went off, you let your cousin in without a word, noticing a growl of uneasiness from Taehyung.
You took a deep breath and composed yourself, then when there was a knock on your door, you opened it with a tired smile. “Hey, Jay.”
He hugged you, then pulled away quickly when you both heard a snarl.
You whipped around pushing Taehyung away from your cousin. “Taehyung, stop it!”
“You invited him here?!” He glared past you.
“Taehyung!” You jerked him until he looked at you. “That’s my cousin, Jay. And yes, I invited him here yesterday, which I would have told you earlier if you hadn’t been ignoring me.”
All the fight drained from him. “Your…cousin?”
“Yeah,” Jay confirmed, folding his arms. “My boss sent me here on business and my wife always worries about me not eating well so she asked y/n to make sure I at least had dinner yesterday and today. Yesterday was a bit last minute. Hope it didn’t mess your eating schedule up too much.”
“So…you’re not dating him?”
“That’s called incest, and no! Living with you is enough for me, thank you very much.” You gestured for Jay to take a seat at the table. “Water, Jay?”
“Yeah.”
You set a glass of water down in front of him and a glass of milk at Tae’s spot. “Sit, Tae.”
Taehyung did as he was told, sitting down sullenly and was somewhat quiet all of dinner, though he really did seem excited about the stories of your childhood that Jay told.
By the end of the evening the tiger had relaxed and kept turning apologetic eyes toward you.
After Jay left, Taehyung attached himself to you.
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you dating someone else. Not when you’re—” He cut himself off, eyes going wide.
You pursed your lips. Nancy had been right. Damn you, Nancy. You and your subpar brownies and your real housewives obsession. “When I’m what?”
“Um, nothing, never mind—”
“Taehyung, is it true that hybrids can smell their true mate?”
His tail started flicking agitatedly and he was looking everywhere but you. As if he thought that you hadn’t noticed him pressing little kisses into your skin when he thought you were asleep, or the way he looked at your body, or felt your body in an ‘innocent’ way as he tried to get comfortable at night.
As if you could think about another man, when there was one there every night to listen to you and talk to you and hold you safely in his arms.
“Um…yeah…yeah, some can.”
You folded your arms, waiting for him to look at you.
He did for less than a second, then again when he realized you were waiting for him, finally holding your gaze with trepidition.
You walked over to him, looking up into his eyes. “You know, you owe me an apology.”
“I know, I’m so sorry, y/n.”
You nodded. “I forgive you. Just, listen before you leap, okay?”
“Okay,” He answered, shoulders relaxing fractionally.
You went on tiptoe and pecked his lips before heading to your room. “I’m putting on pajamas. Can you turn on that show we’ve been binging?”
“Yeah,” He replied, sounding winded.
You smiled to yourself, not bothering to close the door as you changed. You went back out and he was sitting rigidly on the couch.
You grabbed a blanket and went over, curling up next to him and covering both of you with a blanket.
He gulped audibly. “Um, y/n…”
“Yes?” You asked, leaning forward to set your phone on the table.
“You…you’re okay with…being my perfect mate?”
You nodded, keeping your gaze on the screen. “Yup.”
“You don’t have any questions?”
“Nope.”
“You’re not at all weirded out by this?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sick?”
“No, now shush. It’s starting.” You wiggled a little, getting more comfortable.
He paused it, sliding out from under you (which earned a protesting squeak from you) and sitting on the coffee table in front of you. “Just like that?”
“Just like what?”
“You accept it like it’s nothing?”
“Of course not. It’s everything. It’s everything we’ve been doing since you came home with me and more that we haven’t worked up to.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since Nancy from marketing opened her big mouth a couple weeks ago. I just assumed you’d talk to me about it eventually but when you threw that big jealousy fit I decided to end this little Irish Jig and make it abundantly clear that I know exactly what I am to you and that I’m not taking it lightly. You’re the only man in my life. The guys don’t count. They’re…the guys. You’re Tae, the tiger hybrid that pounced on my heart the moment we met and never let go.”
His eyes were huge.
“Was that the dramatic response you were looking for?” You asked, sitting up and forward and touching your nose to his.
He slid the tip of his nose along the side of yours as he tilted his head and leaned in, kissing you properly for a moment before pulling away. His whole demeanor was more relaxed, softer and happier. “Yeah. It was.”
You smiled, laughing a little. “Such a drama-king. Come cuddle now. We have so many episodes to get you through so that you’re caught up to me and we can watch the newest season.”
He picked you up, chuckling as you squeaked in surprise, and sat down. He set you on his lap, kissing your cheeks and neck before settling again and hitting play. “Mine. My mate.”
“Yes, yes. Your mate. Now shush, this is important information.”
He settled in, tail wrapping around both of you, with a kiss to your cheek and a squinty-eyed smile. “But you’re my mate.”
“And you need this information to understand—! Argh! Now we have to rewind!”
“Or we could watch it tomorrow,” He said, turning the TV off.
You shifted to face him better. “And what would we do now?”
He pulled you closer and pressed a kiss to your lips. “Explore.”
