Homosaurus

5

Jaebum heard the door to the lab slam shut and the distant jingle of keys. He hid in an empty office room down the hall, waiting there for almost an hour until Jinyoung finally left. He'd stayed longer than expected, probably finishing up some work he'd forgotten or something, but Jaebum was determined to wait until he was clear to see Youngjae freely without the scientist breathing down his back. He made his move when Jinyoung disappeared down the hall, exiting the building on his way to head home.

Jaebum snuck down the hallway to the large metal doors, entering the passcode that opened up the lab. He crept in carefully, making sure no one was staying after hours before heading back towards Youngjae. He made his way to the large cage, seeing the lump of Youngjae's body curled up in the back of the container where it had been since his tantrum earlier. Jaebum got a fluttery feeling in his chest, it was a weird excitement he got whenever he'd lay his eyes on Youngjae. Full of curiosity, wonderment, admiration, astonishment; he still couldn't fathom just how mind blowing of a creature Youngjae was.

"Youngjae. Psst, Youngjae." He whispered, unable to just stand quietly and stare when this was a perfect opportunity for him to interact with the creature.

Youngjae immediately sat up, those golden eyes trained on Jaebum. He squinted, blinking a few times before standing up to slowly approach the edge of the cage where Jaebum stood. "Why are you here? I'm usually alone at night."

"I'm here because I felt terrible leaving you." Jaebum replied, his eyes glued to Youngjae's body as he stepped closer.

"Does Jinyoung know you're here?" Youngjae questioned, probably due to the fact that Jinyoung hadn't checked up on them every 5 minutes yet.

"No... he doesn't. I had to go behind his back..." Jaebum confessed.

Youngjae sighed, sitting down. He pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the cage, eyes falling to his lap. "So, you're just gonna sit here and stare at me through these bars. Just like the rest of them..."

Jaebum felt his heart break; Youngjae's depressing tone nearly killed him. He must've been used to being examined, tired of being stared at and talked about as if he weren't a sentient being standing just feet away. It wasn't hard to tell that youngjae had early on formed a hatred for the scientists that helped create him and locked him away, forming a new life just to pointlessly keep it contained within those metal walls.

It made Jaebum sick. He was already the type to hate zoo's, but this felt inhumane on a totally different level. Maybe it was due to Youngjae's half human side, just seeing another human-like being locked up irked him. Or just his love for all animals and walks of life alike could be the thing tugging hard at his heart strings.

Either way, he couldn't stand the sad sight of Youngjae's locked away in there. For once, he'd like to see how such a magnificent creature would act if they were set free.

Jaebum stepped closer to the cage, wrapping his fingers around one of the bars. He took in a breath, hoping that the decision he was making wouldn't come back to bite him in the butt. "Hey um... would you like to come out?"

Youngjae's head tilted up, his eyes locking on Jaebum's. They were wide and bright, as if he couldn't believe the words that just left the other's mouth. He almost hit his head on the side of the cage as he jolted forward excitedly. "Yes!"

Jaebum put up his hand, halting the hybrid's excitement. "Youngjae... I'm gonna do something that I'm really not allowed to do, and I can get into a shit load of trouble... but in order for me to feel comfortable doing it, you have to promise me a few things."

"What is it?" Youngjae asked.

Jaebum briefly weighed the dozens of probable things that could go wrong, the thoughts scaring him, but not bad enough to leave Youngjae there to suffer in that cage. "If I let you out... promise me you won't touch anything, you won't make noise, and you won't leave my sight for even a second."