Feral - Hybrid!Taehyung x Reader

Chapter Forty-Four - The Park

You stood up, shoes having been tied tightly onto your feet and joined Taehyung at the door. He grabbed your hand, racing down the sidewalk and practically dragging you behind him as he tried to catch up with the others. He was careful to look for cars and you praised him on his good safety skills. You had tucked a ball into your pocket as you left, knowing that he was going to want to run around and play once inside the confines of the park.

You two finally caught up to the others, slightly out of breath from your run and you explained that Taehyung had decided that he wanted to play too. They were more than happy to include you two in their group at the park, begging Taehyung to push them on the swings. His ears flicked, sinking lower onto his head at their request. He just wanted to play, to run around, to get all of his energy out. You noticed his conflicting expression, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards you.

"Actually guys, Taehyung wanted to run around and play for a little while. Maybe he can push you on the swings later."

Jin came to the rescue, offering to entertain the younger kids by pushing them on the swings while Jimin joined you and Taehyung. It seemed that he also felt like running around and playing.

You led them to the open part of the park, adjacent to the playground was a large grassy field, bordered by gates just in case any kids wanted to make their escape. The playgrounds were hybrid adaptive, feathered toys hanging from some of the monkey bars for little cat hybrids, and a ball throwing machine in the corner for the puppies. You chose to throw it yourself though, tossing the red rubber ball as far as you possibly could.

Both dog hybrids scrambled on their feet, racing at top speed towards the airborne ball. It was Taehyung that caught it first, but Jimin that tackled him, giggles coming from the both of them as they rolled around on the grass, wrestling with each other. Jimin finally let up, brushing his clothes off and itching his arm from laying in the grass. Taehyung brought you back the ball, dropping it in your hand and you resisted the urge to react in disgust at the saliva that coated part of it. You supposed you'd have gotten used to it, being with a dog hybrid, but it was still a sensory shock each time.

Every time you threw the ball, one would catch it and the other would tackle the first, trying to wrestle the ball out of his grasp. While Taehyung was trying to tear the ball away from Jimin, you turned, smiling as you saw Joy sitting and kicking her legs back and forth, hands in the air batting at one of the cat toys. Her pupils were slightly dilated, resembling those of a real cat's as they focused intently on the feathered ball. Jungkook wasn't too far away, wiggling around in a little pit that was full of straw, coating his outfit and head in the slightly scratchy sticks. 

Jin was finally allowed a moment alone as he was sitting on a bench not too far away, scrolling through his phone while glancing up at the kids every so often. A small smile graced his features each time he caught sight of one of the hybrids playing and having fun at playgrounds that were specifically designed for them. You did it too, smiled at the fact that the sweet, innocent beings, hybrids, who were so discriminated against, so judged for something that they couldn't help, were finally relaxed and genuinely happy. You knew that Taehyung and Joy had had hard lives in the past, but as you watched the smiles on their faces as they talked with their fellow friends, or played with the toys marketed towards their breeds, you saw that they were becoming whole again, if not already so.

You turned your head back when you felt a nose against your cheek, and you locked eyes with Taehyung who had apparently nudged your face for your attention. You gave him your warmest smile, scratching behind one of his ears and taking the toy from him. Your heart swelled at the boxy smile he shot back at you as he backed away, rejoining Jimin's side and watching the ball in your hand with severe concentration.

You raised your hand, reaching back and flinging the ball forwards with as much momentum as you could gather. Unfortunately, the ball was going so fast that it flew right up and over the gate that surrounded the park and rolled into the bushes behind it. You shushed the whines that came from the two hybrids, jogging over to the side gate and telling them that you'd run and go get the toy. You stuck your hands in the bushes, rustling around for the red sphere. You were near giving up on finding the ball when you heard little footsteps behind you, and a small hand was placed on your shoulder lightly.

"Miss? Is this your ball?" What looked to be a dog hybrid was looking up at you with big, round eyes as he held out your red rubber ball in his pudgy hand. He was extremely young to be out all alone, looking to be the same age as Jungkook. His clothes were tattered, rips placed here and there all over the dirty fabric. Whoever he was, he seemed to be a stray in need of help.

"Well, it was, but would you like to keep it instead?" Your question seemed to confuse the young hybrid and he cocked his head to the side. His resemblance to a real dog was almost uncanny.

"But don't you want it back?"

"We can get a new one. What's your name honey?" You kept your voice soothing so that you wouldn't scare the child off.

"Jackson. I'm a pitbull hybrid! I can tell you're a human, but I can smell more hybrids! What kid of hybrids do you have? Are they old like you or little like me? What are their names?" You tried not to snort at his unintentional disrespect and to answer each individual question that was asked of you. This hybrid was not shy, that was for sure.

"Well I have two hybrids, one is probably your age and then one is my age. There's Taehyung, the older one, he's a golden retriever, and Jungkook, the younger one, and he's a bunny."

"But I smell two dogs on you!"

"Well, my friend has a corgi hybrid, his name is Jimin. He's around my age too."

Jackson nodded, gasping slightly and grasping your hand in his little fingers.

"Miss? Would you help my baby brother? He's so little, and I worry about him getting hurt sometimes because we don't have a home or a mommy or a daddy to take care of us. Our old owner left us here a few weeks ago, she didn't like us at all."

"Oh, I'm sorry your owner abandoned you sweetheart. But of course, why don't you show me where your baby brother is and then we can go back to my house."

Jackson's little tail wiggled around behind him as he stood, still grasping onto your hand. He pulled you over to a little clearing in the bushes where a blanketed lump laid, two little cat ears poking out of the top. The puppy bent down, taking one edge of the blanket and lifting it to reveal a sleeping baby. He was not kidding when he said that his brother was 'so little', you guessed he was only a few months old, not even a year.

The kitten whimpered at the loss of warmth, reaching out blindly before opening his eyes, sniffling and beginning to cry.

"Can I pick him up? I won't hurt him, don't worry." Jackson gave you a nod and you took the kitten into your arms, hushing his cries and bouncing him slowly up and down and side to side. He gradually stopped crying, soon becoming interested in the new person that was holding him as he pressed his little hands on your face. He pulled at your hair slightly, giggling when you took the hand that was tangled in your hair and pressed a kiss to it.

You were glad that he seemed to like you, looking back down at Jackson.

"What's his name, and do you know when he was born?"

"His name is Jinyoung! And no, I don't know when he was born, our old owner adopted him a few months ago but he was really little then, he couldn't even hold his head up!"

You nodded, taking one hand away from supporting the baby on your hip and using it to grab Jackson's hand in yours. 

"Let's go back to the park, okay? After we get everyone ready, we can all go back to my house and we can get you two fed and in nice cozy beds, does that sound good?"

Jackson nodded enthusiastically, skipping alone beside you. You made your way back to the park, pushing the gate open and gulping slightly before stepping inside the boundary.