Homosaurus

33

"They can carry diseases-- and it's just not normal to eat them..." Jaebeom mumbled as he walked into their motel room, Youngjae following behind.

"A squirrel? that tiny thing? I could swallow it."

"You almost did if I hadn't stopped you!"

"I was hungry..."

Jaebeom sighed,  setting down their bag of food onto the small coffee table. "You always are, but that doesn't mean you eat just anything, especially not living."

"Isn't it the life cycle or whatever that's called?"

"Oh, so you can understand the concept of the circle of life, but can't understand that licking random surfaces is bad?"

"I just want to know how things feel with my tongue, can't be that bad."

"You have fingers for that purpose--" Jaebeom glanced up at the hybrid, his face completely blank as if he retained nothing Jaebeom was saying. He couldn't help but laugh; Youngjae was always fun to be with despite always scaring Jaebeom with some of the things he did. It felt like keeping watch of a puppy who's always ready to put something strange in his mouth. "Youngjae, you really are interesting..."

"I find you interesting too."

"Oh-- well thanks... or-- was that a compliment?"

"Did you mean it as a compliment?"

"I did."

"Then yeah, I did too."

The exchange made Jaebeom's smile widen; he truly enjoyed Youngjae's presence, even just talking to him. Jaebeom realized he was staring at the hybrid for too long, quickly averting his eyes as he turned and headed for his laptop on the sofa. "You should eat. Two burger meals and extra fries for you, the rest is mine. And you're gonna shower tonight, don't complain about it since you knew rolling in the dirt was gonna make you dirty. "

"You're gonna eat too, right?"

Jaebeom sat down, opening up his laptop to finish up what was interrupted earlier. "I will later."

"Why?"

"I've gotta get back to work. I need to make sure we'll be safe for a while..."

"But-" Youngjae frowned, taking a seat on the bed after grabbing his food. "But... you should eat."

Jaebeom tried to ignore the glittering gold eyes that he felt boring into him, bowing his head closer to the glowing screen on his lap. "I told you I will, don't worry."

The hybrid whined in disapproval. "No... eat with me."

The noise caught Jaebeom's attention; he looked up at the deadly puppy eyes he was faced with, his heart instantly beginning to melt. Youngjae's power on Jaebeom was like Medusa's, except he could turn him into a sappy warm glop of putty with just one look. "I-Is it that important that we eat together?"

The hybrid nodded vigorously. He stood and retrieved Jaebeom's food, handing it to him. "...and I get to have your leftovers too..."

The latter couldn't help but chuckle. Youngjae always waited for Jaebeom's leftovers, he was almost a literal bottomless pit. "Fine. I'll eat and then get back to work."

Youngjae grinned, nodding in satisfaction. Jaebeom joined him in eating, the two silently enjoying one another's company aside from the hungry smacking of food in their mouths. While Youngjae could be quite excitable, it was very nice to wind down and just chill out with him, mindlessly watching whatever was on TV while relaxing in the same space as one another. In the end, Jaebeom didn't regret eating with him, he was sure Youngjae was happy he did, and the food tasted better anyway with his company.