Feral - Hybrid!Taehyung x Reader

Chapter Seven - Anxiety

Your heart stopped at the gruff, raspy voice that emanated from the boy in your lap, hands freezing in his hair. He whined at the loss of contact, looking into your eyes that were wide open. He curled in on himself slightly, thinking that maybe he had done something wrong. But when a smile bright enough to rival the sun itself erupted onto your face, he couldn't help but wag his tail.

You leaned your head down, kissing Taehyung on the nose before nuzzling your nose against his. His heart swelled at the warmth that your face brought him, pressing his face into yours as much as possible. You pulled away, tears glistening in your eyes and he scrambled upright, clumsily tugging you closer to him by your hips. You yelped slightly, feeling him pick you up and plop you in his own lap. You internally squealed at the realization that you fit perfectly inside his lap, his arms coming up to wrap around your back. 

You were so close to Taehyung that you could see a few freckles dotting his cheeks and nose, a sort of constellation on his skin. You peeked over his shoulder, seeing his tail beating against the couch cushions as he held you. You giggled slightly at that, resting your cheek on his shoulder and burying your face into his neck. 

Your sense of smell was in no way as strong as Taehyung's, but you could definitely make out his scent. It reminded you of a rainy day, not the rain but the warmth of a blanket and a roaring fire, a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a book in the other. You reluctantly pulled away, instead leaning forwards to plant little kisses all over his face. His nose scrunched up, the ticklish feeling of your lips on his cheeks, nose, forehead, chin, everywhere, making him smile. Once you were done with your onslaught of affection, he leaned in, miming your gesture. He began licking your face, cherishing the light giggles that came from your mouth. When he was done, you looked him in the eyes, tears no longer clinging to your lashes.

"Do you want me to teach you how to kiss?" You blushed at the connotation of the words, pushing embarrassment aside as you knew that your intentions were pure.

Taehyung nodded, watching intently as you puckered your lips a few times. He tried as well, eventually getting the hang of the somewhat strange motion. You took his finger, bringing it to your overly puckered lips and pressing a single kiss to it.

You held his finger up to his mouth, waiting for him to practice the gesture but he took your hand that was on his and brought it to his lips instead. He planted a sloppy kiss on your pointer finger, taking each finger after that and kissing it as well. You smiled, waiting for him to finish before reaching a hand up and scratching him behind his cute little floppy ears. He leaned into your touch, pushing you back gently to lay on the couch. He ended up on top of you, wrapping his arms and legs around you.

"Are you sure you're a dog hybrid and not a koala hybrid?" You teased, wrapping your arms around him in return. The little laugh that came from him brightened your spirits even more, loving how comfortable he was becoming around you. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The days that followed only brought more human traits out of Taehyung. You worked on sitting on a chair with his legs down, eating with a knife and fork, getting himself dressed. You also had to teach him simple things about the human body, he was reduced to tears when he accidentally cracked one of your knuckles, fear flooding through him at the thought of harming you.

He had also taken to kissing your nose, always expecting one in return when he gave you one. And without fail, if you did it first, he was taking your face in his hands and planting a kiss onto your nose. It was one of the things that grounded him, he knew that he was the only one you kissed on the nose, and he knew that it was your guys' special thing. 

The first time he had said your name, you had cried. He was worried once more, the thought that he would slip up haunting him each time he closed his eyes. You had hugged him, whispering praises in his ear while a few tears dripped onto his shoulder. He had hugged you, carefully wiping away your tears and not letting go until your soft sobs died down to little sniffles here and there.

You had recruited one of your friends, Namjoon, to help teach Taehyung to speak. While it had taken a few days for Taehyung to even be open to the idea of letting someone else get near him, you assured him that you'd be there the entire time, helping him through his lessons.

Namjoon had asked you to pick up a few books on grammar and sentence structure, so at about nine in the morning, you got your shoes on. It was by some miracle that you hadn't had to leave the house in the first week that you had Taehyung over, but the eighth day presented the need to go to the library and also the supermarket. Taehyung didn't have a collar yet, and he wasn't technically yours, so you couldn't take him with you.

You were nervous about breaking the idea of leaving to Taehyung, not knowing whether he suffered from separation anxiety. You had taken your keys in your hand, sitting him down on the couch across from you. 

"I need to run to the store for some groceries, and I need to pick up some books on language. You don't have any form of ID yet, so you can't come with me in case someone takes you. You're going to have to stay here. I don't know what you think is gonna happen but I promise you that I'll come back as fast as I- no please don't cry!" His lip was quivering and his face crumpled, tears spilling from his long black lashes. You brought him into your arms, holding his face against your chest as you reassured him of your return.

"It won't be long, I promise. I'd only be gone for an hour, maybe an hour and a half depending on how long the market takes. But I promise you that I'll come back, I could never leave you, I love you too much. I can give you my cell phone number, and you can call me if you get too scared. I know you can't say much yet, but you don't have to say anything, I can just talk and keep you on the phone while I shop. Do you want me to do that?"

He nodded vigorously, sniffling into your neck and trying to keep himself together, trying to contain the panic that was brewing inside of him as you wrote your number down. His mother had told him once that she was going out, and that was the last time he ever heard from her. She had been kidnapped by hybrid traffickers and sold into the underground hybrid fighting ring. But all that Taehyung knew was that when someone left, they never came back.