Tomorrow│YM

[07] Feral

Jimin fluffed the pillow of his makeshift bed and sighed. If only the couch was just a few inches longer. He was going to have to come up with a more permanent solution if the hybrid stayed with him for awhile... If. Maybe that wasn't what he wanted. Jimin wouldn't blame Yoongi, his shlubby apartment was barely fit for one.

"Take the bed."

Jimin jumped at the gruff voice and spun around. "N-no, it's ok," he sputtered, caught off-guard by the drastic transformation before him. Yoongi stood a few feet away, drying his long raven locks with the towel. He was wearing Jimin's old grey college sweats, swimming in excess fabric. God, he was so skinny. "I already changed the sheets for you," Jimin insisted, "I promise it's a pretty comfy bed, maybe we could take turns or something-"

"I don't want it."

There was no arguing with that, so Jimin shut his mouth. Instead, he reached out to take back the damp towel. Yoongi stared at his outstretched hand and blinked.

"Towel," Jimin clarified. Obediently, the hybrid stopped ruffling his hair and dropped the towel into the human's hand.

Jimin walked to the bathroom and threw the towel over the curtain rod, spreading it out to dry. "I have work tomorrow night," Jimin explained as he picked up the bathroom rug to hang up to dry as well, "but we will have most of the day to get you settled... or come up with a game plan. Steve was right when he implied I knew nothing about hybrids. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing." Jimin switched on the exhaust fan and returned to the living room, closing the door behind him. By now, Yoongi had climbed onto the couch, tucking himself into a ball in the corner, appearing very small. His knees were drawn to his chest with his arms and tail wrapped around them. Quietly, he peered up at Jimin. "He was right about the money too," Jimin sighed. "My lack of it, anyway. I wish I had more to give than a dingy couch and second hand clothes."

To Jimin's chagrin, Yoongi did not respond. The tip of his tail swished slowly and his ears twitched, but the human parts of him remained inscrutable as ever.

"It's, uh... it's been a long night," Jimin muttered, holding the back of his neck self-consciously. "I'm gunna call it. I'll see you in the morning." He quickly retreated into the safety of his bedroom.

Jimin frowned as he unbuttoned his shirt. The cat seemed to oscillate between tepid and cold and not much else. He needed to find someone with more knowledge and resources to step in. Someone like Seokjin, who came from old money and had probably interacted with a hybrid before.

It was after he peeled off his jeans that he realized he had forgotten to wash his face or brush his teeth. Damn. After a minute of fraught consideration, Jimin couldn't bring himself to leave his room, deciding that he could live with a pimple and halitosis if it meant he didn't have to face those piercing eyes for the rest of the night.

He removed his contacts, thankful he kept a spare case in his room, then pulled on a pair of gym shorts and crawled into his bed. He stared at the ceiling and sighed heavily, wondering if he had bit off more than he could chew.

It took awhile for him to fall asleep, the events of the evening ricocheting in his head - and when he finally drifted off, they stubbornly bled into his dreams.

Jimin woke with a start to the sound of something - no, somethings - falling inside the apartment. He jumped out of bed and threw open his door.

"Yoongi?" he called, rubbing his puffy eyes so they would open enough for him to see properly, finding the couch bare of both the hybrid and the bedding. The room was dark, lit by the moon and nearby streetlights. A nearby leafy potted plant was tipped over, spilling soil on to the carpet. "Yoongi?! he cried out again, immediately sick with worry.

CRASH!

Rustling sounds were coming from a small storage room off of the kitchen. Confused, Jimin padded over, clueless as to what he would find. "Yoongi?" he asked softly a third time as he rounded the corner.

The fuck?

Jimin gawked. The tiny room was torn apart; his old college textbooks and notes were strewn about, and rubber bins filled with old Halloween costumes emptied on the floor. Even his bicycle was overturned, wheels spinning.

In the middle of the chaos was a crouching hybrid, totally unaware of Jimin's presence. His hair was wild from being slept on while damp. His tail was rigid and his movements were frantic. From what Jimin could make out with limited vision, he looked like he was fussing over what could only be described as a nest; the bedding from the couch along with towels and bath rugs were now piled into the dark back corner of the storage room.

Jimin looked at the neon green digital clock on the stove; 12:37am. He rubbed his eyes again, thinking that maybe it was all a vivid dream, and then pinched himself for good measure. It resulted in no discernible change.

"Yoongi?"

The cat stopped his ministrations, finally hearing the other. His ears pushed back and his tail puffed up. If the hybrid had had hackles, Jimin was sure those would have risen too.

Yoongi sharply turned his head and Jimin swallowed. With glowing eyes that reflected moonlight, the hybrid looked absolutely feral. In an instant, the cat's expression shifted; his eyes widened and his jaw went slack.

Jimin became acutely aware of what he was wearing, which was nothing from the waist up. He felt his face flush and his stomach clench when he realized Yoongi appeared to be staring at his abdomen.

As quickly as the first shift came another. The hybrid shook his head and scowled. He rose to his feet and stalked towards the human, stopping just before the threshold.

Without a word, he slammed the door on Jimin's face.