The Hybrid Whisperer KTH+JJK

Thirty Eight

A/N OMG 10,000 VIEWS!!!!! I'M SCREAMING!!! What a thing to wake up to. Thank you guys so much! I mean it. This is so fucking cool, I can't even tell you.

Jeongguk stood beside the Labrador hybrid he'd been paired with at the beginning of his cooking course. His mutated hands gripped a whisk in one hand and steadied the metal bowl that rested in the damp nest he'd made with a tea towel with the other, preventing it from slipping and sliding as he mixed the tempura batter they would be using to coat the zucchini flowers his cooking partner was preparing.

His partner, Mimi, as she liked to be called, was at least a head shorter than him and had floppy golden ears that complimented her silky golden hair that was currently pulled into a high pony tail adorned with a ribboned bow. Her whole aesthetic was kawaii, pretty pastel tee with featuring tiny gacha pokemon; flirty white skater skirt; pastel rainbow knee high socks; custom painted pokemon high top converse; a myriad of cutesy costume jewellery (that she had removed and placed in the box provided at the beginning of class) and, of course, the pink and white, satin, lace and leather collar she always wore, no matter her ensemble for the day, complete with the attached heart shaped padlock. Even Jeongguk had to admit she was exceptionally cute, even if her long boisterous tail tended to whip him incessantly at the slightest provocation. Dogs, oy.

Right now her tongue was tucked cutely at the corner of her mouth as she frowned down at the chopping board, taking care to prepare the blossoms exactly as Chef Yi had shown them. It was a little harder for her to manipulate the knife than it was for him. Her hands being more heavily mutated and lightly furred under the blue, latex gloves.

"Excelled work, Mimi." Chef Yi praised in her deep, scratchy voice. Even the stern older woman wasn't immune to the puppy's charm.

"Thank you, Chef!" She grinned. "I'm going to try and make it for my master next week."

This wasn't the first time he'd heard the term master when the other hybrids spoke of their care takers. It seemed common place to refer to their humans in such a manner. At first Jeongguk's lips had always curled into a sneer. He loathed the idea of someone owning him, making him some silly little pet. He hadn't been able to understand why the other hybrids had seemed so unbothered by it.

After a few weeks, his lofty attitude had given way to curiosity. After all, his classmates weren't the snivelling, pathetic creatures he'd always imagined 'pets' to be. He'd always imagined pet hybrids to be meek and dully obedient, but Mimi was a cheeky, lively, outgoing and opinionated girl. And she was the rule, not the exception.

So after they were finished washing up their dishes and disinfecting their benches, Jeongguk had sidled up to Mimi and quietly asked. "Why do you call your human 'master'? Isn't it weird?"

Mimi had looked confused. "What do you call your human?" She'd asked instead of answering.

"Taehyung hyung or just hyung." He'd answered as though it was obvious. "I'm not a dog." He's taken one look at her pursed lips and narrowed eyes and quickly corrected himself. "Not that there's anything wrong with being a dog. I love dogs. Dogs are great!"

Her sour expression had melted into delightful giggles and her tail whipped his jean clad legs. "Silly, Kookie oppa." She'd insisted on calling him that, despite his pleas for her to stop. He was only two months older than her, for goodness sakes. Hardly an 'oppa'. And Kookie was so sweet, it was nauseating. 

"So? Why do you?" He prompted, because Mimi could get a little distracted sometimes.

She shrugged. "I don't know. He's just my master."

"Well, what does a master even do?" He pressed.

Her chocolate brown eyes lit up at the question and she grinned widely. "He takes care of me, of course! He cooks me breakfast and dinner and packs my lunch." She listed on her fingers. "He picks out my clothes and my shoes and my ribbons because he says I'm the prettiest puppy in the whole wide world! He calls me his good girl and pets my ears and gives the warmest hugs and the best kisses!" Then she pouted prettily, her puppy eyes a little sad. "Great. Now I miss him. Thanks a lot."

"Sorry." He muttered the apology distractedly. Because her master sounded a lot like Taehyung, minus the pretty puppy thing.

Pretty bun. Taehyung's warm, honeyed voice echoing in his mind contradicted and he blushed faintly. He didn't want to think about how much he liked when Taehyung murmured the small affections, how much he craved the stroke of his long fingers down his sensitive ears, how giddy he felt when the man smiled his soft smile and murmured what a good boy he was.

Oh no! Was he a pet?

He plucked the hair on his cheek, eyes downcast.

"Kookie oppa, what's wrong?" Mimi touched his arm in concern.

"Nothing." He shook his head, faking a smile that didn't seem to convince her.

She frowned, her hand raising to play with the pink, heart shaped padlock of her collar. He noticed her doing that several times throughout the day, especially when she was sad or anxious, as though touching it gave her comfort.

"Did he give that to you?" He pointed at the collar. "Your master, I mean."

"Hmm?" It took her a second to comprehend his meaning, but then she nodded, her floppy ears bouncing a little with the gesture. "Mmhmm. Almost a year ago. That's why I want to make the dinner. To celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" He asked in bewilderment.

"Being collared, of course." She gave him a patronising look.

"Why on earth would you celebrate that?" He asked incredulously.

She bit her lip a little, still playing with the tag. "You know for a hybrid, you really don't know a lot about hybrids, oppa." She said at last.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He cried defensively. "And don't call me oppa." Why did people insist on calling him names he didn't even like?

"Being collared means you're owned." She explained.

"I don't want to be owned." He refuted. "Taehyung's my -" He was about to say friend, much like he did whenever anyone asked about the relationship between himself and Namjoon hyung, but he realised that wasn't completely true. There was something more than that between them, although it had yet to be labelled or defined.

"Yes?" She arched a brow knowingly and he scowled.

"He's not my owner." He muttered stubbornly.

"He could be, if you let him." She said softly, touching his shoulder companionably again and he paused the plucking at his face to look sharply at her. "Being owned isn't a bad thing, oppa. It means you're taken care of and safe. And this?" She touched her collar. "It's a promise."

"A promise?" He echoed uncertainly.

"Uh huh." She nodded, with a dreamy smile.

A/N A little food for thought for our baby bun.

What about you? Would you mind being Taehyung's pet?

Remember to vote, cuties!

And I purple you, so frickin' hard!