Hybrid

Harmony

3rd April 2017

Junhwe was mindlessly playing with the hem of his white hoodie, keeping his gaze cast downwards as he felt the awkwardness of the air. The three of them were sitting in the main yard under a tree, basking in the sun rays that managed to get through the hurdles of leaves. No one was speaking and remained utterly silent as minutes ticked by, choosing instead to stare at one another nervously.

As always, it ended up being Jinhwan who spoke up first, being the oldest and definitely the most mature out of the three of them.

"So you're a Hybrid too." Jinhwan stated, trying to break the ice.

Donghyuk nodded. "Lycos mother and human father."

Jinhwan hummed in thoughts. The elder then glanced at Junhwe with a small smile and back at Donghyuk.

"No need to be so tense, boys." He said with a small laugh.

Junhwe felt his own lips stretch out in a smile. After all, it wasn't that big of a deal if Donghyuk was a Hybrid too, Junhwe should even be happy. He could be completely at ease with him now that Junhwe knew he was aware of the Lycos world too.

Donghyuk let out a small mellow laugh as well before he stretched his arms above his head and slowly lying down on the grass, looking up dreamily at the blue sky.

"I'm just a bit confused." He then said. "You're the first Hybrid I've ever met, Junhwe, and I wasn't even sure you really were one since you weren't saying anything."

Junhwe hummed in thoughts as he remembered all of their interactions. He would have never guessed that Donghyuk wasn't human either. He wouldn't have guessed that Donghyuk was just like himself.

"What confuses me is your nose." Jinhwan stated as he glanced up at the sky as well.

Junhwe looked up to Donghyuk's face, seeing the way his friend seemed to tense up, before bringing his eyes downwards to meet Jinhwan's, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Ever heard of Achroma before?" Donghyuk said, his voice enigmatic.

Jinhwan seemed to tense up as well but nodded stiffly nonetheless. Junhwe was thankful for his training sessions with Taehyung since he remembered pretty well their talk on Achroma. Many Lycoi regarded the Colorless as wolves with no morals that had given up on their own kind.

"I grew up with them, my mother is part of it." Donghyuk explained, his face closed and shoulders tensed.

"Did they somehow teach you how to use your nose like a Lycos?" Jinhwan asked, genuine curiosity obvious in his voice.

Donghyuk seemed to relax a bit more from the lack of animosity in Jinhwan's attitude. Junhwe could understand his friend's reluctance. From what he had heard, Achroma was definitely not something regular Lycoi liked or enjoyed conversing about. But Junhwe knew that Jinhwan wasn't the type of person to mind such details.

"They simply saw me as another Pup so I just attended the regular training lessons." Donghyuk explained, cheeks reddening from the awestruck stare Jinhwan was giving him.

Junhwe wouldn't admit it, but he wished Jinhwan would look at him that way instead. Junhwe knew he was being childish.

"That's amazing." Jinhwan whispered, eyes shining. "Junhwe is so human-like, I had no idea other Hybrids could be so similar to regular Lycoi."

Junhwe tried really hard not to take it the wrong way, but with how Jinhwan was staring at Donghyuk as if he was some Greek God made him feel even more aware of his lack of ability. Jinhwan was right, he and Donghyuk were exactly the same, but his friend was no disgrace to the Lycos kind. Just like Jinhwan, he could smell the different emotions, feel attraction based on smell, recognize people from mere scents... Junhwe's last hope was that Donghyuk was too far to be able to smell Jinhwan's sweet honey scent, he wanted to keep that for himself only.