Title: Care and Affection
Posted: Feb 18 2019
Hybrid AU
Ship: Leedo | Kim Gunhak x Xion | Son Dongju (Minor: Ravn x Hwanwoong)
"Xion, let go," Gunhak orders. Xion growls at him, gnawing at his finger. Gunhak sighs. He's lucky he's used to this by now, and that he's cute.
Xion has always hated him since the day Gunhak adopted him. The dog bites him, scratches him, barks at him everyday. It's weird because his twin, Dongmyeong, whom Gunhak's friend, Giwook, adopted, is a million times more affectionate than Xion and shows nothing but love to everyone, not just his owner. And the thing is, Xion is affectionate to everyone but Gunhak.
Xion has always been cold—again, only to Gunhak. He ignores him when he calls—except when it's for food—he sleeps all day, he walks away when Gunhak wants to play with him, and he gnaws on all of Gunhak's things (mainly his appendages), ignoring the bone Gunhak bought especially for him to gnaw on. Youngjo, another one of Gunhak's friends, said that Xion acts like his cat, except less affectionate—to the owner at least, Xion loves Youngjo and his cat.
And it's even worst when he's in his human form.
"I told you to stop calling me 'Xion'," Dongju spits out Gunhak's finger, sitting up in a more proper position than being on his hands and knees. His ears flop in front of his face so he has to brush them away.
"You were being bad," Gunhak wipes the saliva off on his pants.
"You woke me up!"
"You were ignoring me!"
"I was asleep!"
"Spoiled brat."
"I wonder why that's so."
The door opens.
"I come to pay a visit, open the door, and you two are bickering again?" Youngjo stands at the door with a sleeping cat in his arms.
"Youngjo hyung!" Dongju jumps up from his seat on the floor, going over to take the cat out of Youngjo's hands with his tail wagging excitedly behind him.
"Great to see you again. Uninvited. Again," Gunhak slowly gets up from the ground.
"My pleasure," Youngjo cheekily replies as he closes the door behind himself.
"What are you doing here, hyung?" Gunhak cuts to the chase.
"I need to go to a music festival for a friend. I don't want to leave Hwanwoong home alone because he's been exhausted ever since last night and...what?"
Gunhak has an eyebrow raised and he crosses his arms, judging the older. "Nothing, nothing, continue," he shakes his head, gesturing for Youngjo to continue. It takes the older a moment before he slaps Gunhak's arm.
"He was up all night making choreography for a showcase, not sure what you're thinking," Youngjo hisses.
"Never said anything," cuz you clearly have nothing going on with Hwanwoong, Gunhak mentally scoffs. Youngjo rolls his eyes before continuing.
"Anyways, he refuses to turn human and is too tired to take care of himself, so I need you to take care of him while I'm gone," Youngjo explains. Gunhak looks over the other's shoulder and at the two hybrids on the couch. Hwanwoong's curled into a ball and asleep while Dongju, now in his dog form, prods the cat with his pointed nose. Hwanwoong pushes the dog away with his paw.
"So you're saying you can't just cancel the event and take care of him yourself?" He raises another judging eyebrow at Youngjo.
"Why you gotta guilt trip me like that?" Gunhak only shrugs in response. "I can't, I promised my friend," Youngjo says. Gunhak stays quiet. It's not like he can say no since Dongju likes Hwanwoong so much, he's just mildly annoyed the other visted so unexpectedly. "Please, Gunhak. Just this once," he pouts. Gunhak narrows his eyes at him. He can't believe this guy is older than him.
"Fine," Gunhak gives in with a sigh.
"Thanks, Gunhak!" Youngjo pulls Gunhak into a hug, and Gunhak sees Hwanwoong's piercing eyes open, watching the entire interaction with a deathly glare. Gunhak quickly pushes Youngjo away.
"Yeah, whatever, just go," Gunhak says, a feeling of relief washing over him when Hwanwoong stops staring at him like he just stole his favorite toy (you do not mess with Hwanwoong's favorite toy, and Gunhak learned that lesson the hard way).
Youngjo walks over to the couch and crouches in front of his cat, petting Hwanwoong's head, fingers running through his soft fur. Hwanwoong purrs. "I'll come back as soon as possible, okay? Rest well and be good to Gunhakkie," he tells the cat. Hwanwoong paws at Youngjo's cheek, pushing him away, annoyed that he said Gunhak's name endearingly (Gunhak's annoyed too). "I love you," Youngjo says, as if to make up for it. Hwanwoong seems to forgive him a second later, reaching up to lick his owner's nose.
Hwanwoong's so affectionate to Youngjo, Gunhak observes the two. If only Dongju were like that.
"Take good care of him, okay, Dongju?" Youngjo pats Dongju's head before standing up. He walks towards the door, Gunhak following after to him. "Thanks again, Gunhak. Love you," the older jokingly calls.
"Yeah, whatever, have fun," Gunhak shoves Youngjo out the door and closes it on him. He sighs, turning around to find that someone is missing from the couch. Dongju sits alone, Hwanwoong isn't present.
"Where'd you—" before Gunhak can finish his rhetorical question, nails scratch at his leg. He jolts, not because it hurt but because it felt weird on the fabric. Hwanwoong sits by his feet, glaring up at him. Gunhak chuckles, lifting Hwanwoong up with both of his hands, keeping him away from his face in case the hybrid feels the need to claw at him.
"A little jealous much?" Gunhak raises an eyebrow, to which Hwanwoong hisses at him, scratching his hand. "Ow! Why do all of you hate me?" Gunhak puts Hwanwoong down first before looking at his hand. Blood begins to form in the scratches and he hisses in pain. He walks to the kitchen to wash it off.
Dongju sits up in alert when Gunhak hisses in pain from the kitchen. He looks toward Hwanwoong, who's literally strutting to the couch as if he was proud of hurting Gunhak. Jumping down from the couch, Dongju shoves the small cat and shoots him a glare before turning human to go check on Gunhak.
"Are you okay?" Dongju asks, sitting on top of the counter by the sink. He watches Gunhak thoroughly clean the scratch.
"Yeah, it's just a scratch," Gunhak dismisses, turning off the water to dry off his hand. He checks it again if it still bleeds, and it does. "Dongju, can you get me the bandaids? There should be some in the cabinet behind you," he requests.
Instead of listening to his owner's orders, Dongju takes the wounded hand and licks the blood off. Gunhak doesn't know how to respond, he just watches. Dongju's done this before when he got a paper cut, but that was when he was in his dog form. Right now, it's human Dongju licking his hand as if it were an everyday thing. Gunhak lets Dongju do as he pleases, though, smiling warmly to himself.
This is how Dongju shows his affection—by caring. It really helps Gunhak realize how much Dongju actually cares about him even when he doesn't show it that well. He remembers all the times Dongju cared for him when he was sick or when he'd curl into his side after a rough day. He has to remind himself that a year ago, the hybrid was too shy to even come near him, so he's grateful now that things changed and they got closer, even if it does mean that he does get bitten a lot or that Dongju acts like too much of a brat sometimes.
Dongju sure isn't great at being affectionate, but he sure does know how to love his owner.
Original work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17837294
