Hybrid Discovery [SKZ fanfiction]| Lee Felix and Bang Chan

Waiting to greet you

First, they try to talk to the neighbors. They send Felix over to knock on the door to make some small talk to ask if they can see the neighbors' cat. This plan fails when the neighbors don't seem to be home. They try again the next day, but to no avail. Nobody's home, or they won't open the door.
Their second plan is to keep their front door open in the hope the black cat will visit on its own willingness. Changbin takes the role to guard the open door so no other intruders would come in, but after day four they think the cat would be too scared to come in with him in the doorway. Thus they resorted to their third plan, wait and see what happens.
On the seventh day Felix wakes up early. It is his day off and while the others are still sleeping - a rare circumstance as it normally is the other way around with his job hours- he walks into the kitchen to make himself some tea.
'Morning, Chan,' he mumbles to the black cat on the kitchen counter, licking water out of a glass in the sink with grace.
Wait, wait, wait. Chan was sleeping in his room. Felix rubs his eyes and stares at the black feline who stares back with wide eyes. They both freeze for a moment. A single droplet falling down from the faucet breaks their silence, followed up by Felix who yells to the others the cat is here.
'Close the door!' he yells at Changbin who bolts himself into the hallway when the black cat makes a run for it. He succeeds in closing the door and the black cat has to switch plans. It goes for the balcony door which Felix blocks with his body. The cat knows it's trapped and tries to hide itself at the only place it knows in this home to be safe, under the couch. The others are awake with all the tumult and one for one they get out of their enclosures and transform into their human form, picking up the first pair of clothes they see. Changbin is the last to gather in the living room after making sure he locked their front door.
'Is it really the cat? Not some random stray?' Seungmin worrily asks.
'Should we grab it?' Han jumps up and down from excitement and Minho has to calm him down.
Hyunjin is the first to focus his words toward the cat under their couch.'We know you're no ordinary cat!' He spits at the creature hiding there.
Chan observes the bunch making commotion around the piece of furniture and is the first to get on his knees to look at the potential hybrid. He's met with two big, scared eyes who immediately avert his gaze. The cat is curled up and pressing itself against the back wall behind the couch, trembling in fear. Chan is all too familiar with the sight and decides to take the lead.
'Guys, we scare it. We're too loud,' he shushes his friends.
He makes them back up to the kitchen and keeps looking over his shoulder to make sure the cat doesn't escape while they are there.
'We don't even know why it showed up after a whole week. We need answers,' Hyunjin grunts. 'It concerns our safety.'
Chan knows he's right, but his gut tells him patience is the answer. 'What was it doing when you found it?' he asks Felix who points at the sink.
'Drinking water,' he says and Chan's mind flashes back to the murky water bowl in the apartment.
'Can someone give me a bowl and fill it with water? I'll try to lure it out,' he says while Felix does what he asks.
Chan turns around to the living room and orders the others to stay where they are. He approaches the couch and places the bowl in front. He places himself next to it and takes a moment before he starts talking.
'You're probably thirsty, right?' he says. 'I know we're a loud bunch, but all we wanna do is talk. For what it's worth, I can promise we will let you go if you're willing to talk.'
He waits. Minutes go by, but eventually a little, black head pops up from under the couch. It gives a quick glance to Chan before crawling towards the water bowl to start drinking. Chan chuckles as the cat licks up the liquid for dear life. It looks adorable even though he knows it's because it probably hasn't had decent water in days. He pities the creature. The cat manages to empty half the bowl before looking up to him and lowering its head.
'Oh no, poor soul. You don't need to subject yourself to me. I'm not here to hurt you, I promised, right? We simply wanna talk.' He glances at the others who are witnessing the whole thing from the kitchen. They nod with eagerness and seem just as scared as the black cat beside him.
'I'm Bang Chan,' Chan introduces himself to the cat who looks him up in the eye. It simply blinks to show it understands there's no hostility from their side.
'Is it okay for the others to join in?' he asks.
The cat looks behind itself and nods its head.
'Wow, it really is a hybrid!' Jisung huffs with a big smile. He's the first to scurry over to the couch and sits down on the ground with enough space between him and the cat to not scare it away.
'We don't know that for sure,' Minho says, who approaches behind Jisung. 'It could be a highly intelligent house cat.'
The cat looks at him and huffs. Not acknowledging nor denying his statement.
'Maybe it's not a shifter?' Jeongin asks, taking place on the other side of the coffee table. 'I've heard of hybrids who aren't capable of changing between forms.'
Chan looks at the cat and repeats the question. 'You can confirm by tapping your paw on the ground. Once if you're no shifter, twice if you are.'
The cat shyly taps twice with its paw on the ground.
'Are you willing to shift for us? Once for yes, twice for no.'
One paw. Okay, they can keep talking like this.
'Do you know what we are?'
One paw.
'So you know not all of us are... legally here?'
The cat looks at the people around her and slowly puts one paw down. Yes.
The tension rises in the room. Felix swallows and asks the next question. 'Did you tell your owners about them?'
The cat quickly taps twice on the ground and there's a verbal sigh of relief in the room.
'Are you planning to?' Hyunjin quickly asks and again the cat taps twice.
'Why?' Seungmin asks, puzzled.
The cat gives Chan a short glance before walking up to Felix's legs and rubbing its head against them.
'Seems to like you, Lix,' Chan answers for the cat.
It mewls softly and sits down between Felix's legs. They all stare at the black feline who softly purrs when Felix scratches it behind its ears.
'Does that mean we can trust it?' Hyunjin doubts.
Chan contemplates for a moment before he shrugs his shoulders. 'It doesn't seem like it has any need to rat us out. I think we can gamble on it.'
'I don't really like it,' Hyunjin mumbles. He's not the only one who seems to be cautious, but Felix, Chan and Han don't think there's a problem.
'So? What do we do now?' Seungmin asks.
'Breakfast, anyone?' Felix asks.
The cat mewls eagerly in response. It makes them laugh. 'Sure, you can join us.'