Chapter Text
Yoongi is running for his dear life. his paws barely touch the ground as he’s propelling himself towards the nearest tree, eyes fixed onto the bushy tail right in front of him. the squirrel, slightly faster than him through the high grass takes a leap, clutching himself into the bark and scurries upwards, disappearing behind branches and leaves.
Feeling the breath of the damn dog already on his haunches, yoongi leaps as well, clawing himself up the tree, significantly slower than the squirrel. Which is completely understandable. He has a cats’ body right now which is not what he always has, and a squirrel is much better equipped to climb trees. Not that his human body would be any better. he’d probably be stuck to the ground, it’s not like he ever climbs up anywhere and would know how to do it quickly. Or like he’s very athletic. Bendy and light on his feet, yes, he does have very good balance, but climbing? Not yoongis forte. He hasn’t even climbed a fence in years.
But as understandable as it is, it’s also his doom. The dog, his loud barks echoing in yoongis panicking mind, jumps after his tail and manages to hit his left leg with a paw. Searing pain shoots through yoongi, he yowls and pulls himself up into safety. The dog can’t climb fortunately, leaving yoongi and the squirrel above him in safety. He continues barking at them and jumping up and down though, the fur matted with mud, eyes small and evil. It’s not even that big or scary looking but given the current events it’s basically a hell hound to yoongi.
He really doesn’t hate dogs, but right now he wishes they wouldn’t exist. His leg is throbbing as he crouches on a thick branch right beside the trunk. And he’s trembling, his thoughts running, he’s panicking even more, his vision scrambly. if the dog would have gotten to him, he could have seriously hurt yoongi. maybe in even more panic, he would have changed forms accidently. In the middle of the park he often frequents to sunbath as a cat. Which would be the ultimate disaster.
The dog takes a few steps back suddenly before he jumps up once again, reaching the branch right beneath yoongi and with a loud crack it breaks under the dogs’ weight, he tumbles to the ground with it. Well, shit. Yoongi was planning to get down this tree without having to jump or going headfirst towards the ground from this height. Now he’ll have to do just that. stupid dog. Yoongi hisses at it, clawing deep into the bark under his paws to not fall down.
Then, finally, the dogs’ owner appears. She was trying to play frisbee with the dog when he saw yoongi, and after that every attempt she made at calling him back had been futile. Especially when yoongi booked it for the nearest assembly of trees and surprised a squirrel there. He feels almost bad for the small rodent, after all it’s not his fault yoongi came to the park and then almost ran him over on his flight from the dog. Then they both ran together, the gnarling dog behind them. A horrible end to a day that started nicely.
Yoongi came to the park today to relax. Sunbathing, lying in the grass, breathing some fresh air. hiding away under some bushes maybe, taking a nap. This is his favorite park for that, because it’s fairly small, does not have a lake (he’s a total cliché in that department), it’s never really full and relatively close to his current apartment. He’s on the ground floor, leaves the window open and walks here as a cat. It’s just so much nicer curling up in the sun with this small body and warm fur. Although it’s summer right now. as a cat, yoongi easily finds the perfect positions to sleep the time away without having to bring three pillows and a mattress. It’s also easier to stay undetected. As a cat, it doesn’t feel like every person looking at him is silently judging him like his anxiety tells him sometimes, because for them, he’s a simple cat. And napping in the sun is what cats do. It’s why yoongi is looking for an apartment right beside this or another park right now so he can come here more often.
But maybe he’ll have to look for a park that forbids dogs from entering. Although he might have to make his own park for that. yoongi is just tired of stepping around dogshit or being woken up by loud barks. And now this. He’s never been chased like that by a dog. Of course, they bark at him when he walks along the streets, but in the park it’s fairly easy to avoid their proximity. Until now.
The owner calls the dog a few more times, but it doesn’t help much. Also, its name is ‘stinkerbell. To be fair, yoongi wouldn’t listen to that either. in the end the woman puts the leash back on his collar as she scolds him and has to tug the dog away from the tree yoongi is perched on. He’s still breathing heavily, his tiny heart pumping too fast, blood coating his fur. The cut doesn’t seem to be serious, but it’s a nuisance anyway. It will be there in his human form after all too. Which is just annoying. He’s a rather cautious person and hasn’t really hurt himself in forever.
Yoongi looks around, but while running he left the more popular parts of the park, and there’s no one in sight. Sniffling, yoongi stands up and tries to look at his hind leg. The blood is only trickling a little, it feels way worse than it looks. He should get it checked at some hospital anyway later. Maybe. He’s slowly calming down from the fright, when suddenly there’s a chirp right next to his ear, and only yoongis faint cat instincts safe him from falling down the tree right away.
He turns and comes face to face with the squirrel from earlier, now sitting on a branch above yoongis head. it’s holding on with his claws and looking yoongi up and down with its big, dark eyes, curiously tilting its head. yoongi isn’t quite sure what to do. theoretically he’s a cat right now, and cats and squirrels aren’t friends. as far as he knows. Maybe the squirrel is young and doesn’t know better. or yoongi missed that part in biology lessons where they learned about weird, interspecies friendships. He’s seen memes of course, but he never fully believes shit he sees on the internet.
Either way, the squirrel is surely not a threat to him so yoongi tries to relax. Besides the pain of the gash wound, he’s only exhausted luckily, no other damage brough on by the sudden hunt. Where he was, against all odds, not the predator. Only then does yoongi realize, that he is in fact a predator. And that the squirrel is surely not normal for first coming closer to him, and then staring like that. it’s weirdly intelligent, as if understanding that yoongi won’t attack it.
He looks up again. it’s still there, sitting up with his tiny hands together in front of his chest. the fur is light brown, almost amber, looks very fluffy. And it’s tail peeks over the head, thick and bushy. It’s kinda cute. yoongi, with his human mind, doesn’t want to hunt and eat the squirrel at all. But is the squirrel supposed to know that? are they both still too shocked from the dog chase? What is happening?
They stare at each other for a while. And then, to yoongis demise, the squirrel kind of lifts its right hand. And waves. At yoongi. like it’s saying hello.
Yoongi, now totally going into shock, steps back, away from the unnatural squirrel. His mind isn’t quite quick enough to catch up, to draw the connection. Unfortunately, as he steps back, he puts weight on his injured leg, it slips away from the bark and yoongi loses his balance. He slips off the branch, until only his front paws hang onto it. the squirrel leaps down and sits over him, eyes wide, paws in front of him as if he wants to reach out for the cat under it. And yoongi falls.
☼
Yoongi is once again lazing around in the park. It’s the first time he dared to come back here after the dog debacle, which is now two weeks over. he’s been busy with his part time job and a few online courses he chose to prepare for university in autumn. And he’s still embarrassed just thinking about it.
After falling from the tree, he first yowled cause his leg hurt, threw one look up at the squirrel who was staring at him. and then he flew the crime scene. He took every shortcut he knew before crawling back into his flat through the window and collapsing onto his bed, where he changed to a human.
Then it was taking care of his wound, cleaning and bandaging, before he sat down to eat dinner. Trying not to think of how he embarrassed himself in front of an animal. Luckily, he won’t see that squirrel again. nor would a squirrel remember him anyway.
By the time he’s done eating though, his mind finally made the connection. The squirrel must have been a shifter like him. it was too trusting with a cat, and it waved at him. there’s no other sensible explanation.
But it’s also a stretch, cause how likely was it for yoongi to run into the one squirrel in that park that’s also a shifter? Unless squirrel shifters usually live as a colony in city parks? He doesn’t know anything about them.
Shifters stay within their species. And they are still a secret. Kind of. there’s a huge amount of conspiracy theorists who actually believe in shifters. They have video evidence of security cameras, a few have seen someone shift accidently. But society puts them off as crazy people and any evidence as edited. But even those conspiracists don’t actually have any means to find out who’s a shifter or not. And shifter don’t usually know who other shifters are. It’s safer that way.
Yoongi knows plenty other cat shifters; his whole family is after all. the shifter gene is the dominant one, so a baby of a shifter and a human always is a shifter. They’ve been numbering up for years now, telling their human partners and maybe best friends, people they trust. Not more though. It’s why yoongi met literally one other shifter species, a dog shifter family his parents know because their families have been friends for generations. And now, maybe, he met a squirrel shifter.
But the city is big, and likely yoongi won’t see him again. After calming his worries about going back to the park last week, he’s back here. in another corner of the park, for safety reasons. The sun is roasting earth right now, no cloud obscuring anything. yoongis paws hurt on the dark asphalt when walking here. but he found a nice place under some bushes quickly. The shadow is nice for his warm fur, and he’s warm and comfortable and sleepy and happy-
“kitty cat!”, a voice pulls him out of his half-nap. Lazily, yoongi blinks his eyes open. They sounded far away enough so he still got time. now he has to determine if he has to run away or not, which he really doesn’t want to do in this heat.
Looking to his right onto the open meadow, he finds luckily not a child. Which is a huge plus for the stranger, because they have sticky fingers, scream around, try to pick him up even if he swipes at them and have overall no regard for what kind of grip is too tight. But it’s an adult man. those are usually much better than children, given they actually like pets.
With the sun high in the sky yoongi can’t see much of his features aside from that he’s smiling. Probably. His hair is a light brown, fluffy and unruly. Next, yoongis eyes stop on his clothes. Light blue jeans and a yellow shirt, a little too bright almost. But not that obnoxious, so yoongi stays put. Living alone here, far from his family, he isn’t above getting some nice pets from strangers. As long as they keep it gentle and don’t try to take him away, he’s fine. Last month he met an old lady that gave premium belly scratches while complaining about her ungrateful grandkids. One of yoongis better days at the park. Despite the rather dull conversation topic he couldn’t change.
The man comes closer, walking slow. When he’s a man’s length away, he even crouches down, shuffling forward. It’s nice. As he thinks that yoongi is a wild cat, he’s probably trying to not shock him and make him run. Yoongi meows once and rubs his head lazily against the gras, showing he’s comfortable. Now he can also finally see the mans’ face.
Which is just. wow. Smooth skin tanned darker than yoongis. (Which isn’t difficult but anyway.) His almond eyes twinkle happily, his lips curved upwards friendly. He looks like some real-life anime character that is a total heartthrob. Yoongi stares. But he’s a cat, so it’s not like he’s gonna be called out for it. the guy, happy about his trusting nature, comes closer until he lets himself fall on his butt right next to yoongi in the sun. now, his thighs are directly in front of yoongi. and they are… shaped. Nicely. (just a little less self-restraint and yoongi would have drooled.)
The guy reaches out carefully, and when yoongi only blinks lazily he finally touches his fur. Yoongi smiles internally. The guy is using just the right pressure as he strokes his back. softly down from his shoulders to his tail, sometimes scratching a little with his nails, then he smoothes the fur down with his full palm. Yoongi closes his eyes and relaxes. This is the biggest advantage of the cat-form: free massages.
It also doesn’t seem like the man will stop and leave soon. Some people just get a quick pet in before they go on their way to work or home. but this one just relaxes with yoongi, grinning down at him happily. he seems to enjoy the moment quiet a lot, joyfully rubbing behind yoongis ears. Minutes later, yoongi starts purring softly. It’s just so good. Those strong fingers working over his lower back, the warm air smelling fresh and clean, he can’t help it.
“aww, kitty cat!”, the man coos when he notices, obviously pleased with yoongis approval. His whiskers twitch at the nickname but it doesn’t matter much. yoongi decides to risk it with this guy and moves, wiggles a little closer until he almost leaves the shadow of the bushes. Then he rolls over onto his back, nudging the hand off for a second. but when the guy understands he practically lights up even more and starts scratching yoongis soft belly, careful with the pressure. It’s perfect. Yoongi risks a longer glance at his face. his smile is somewhat heart-shaped, teeth white and straight. Really handsome. The kind of guy yoongi wouldn’t flirt with just because he’s that tiny bit too handsome.
They remain in silence for minutes, yoongi changing between his back and front to get a full body massage. He’ll have to clean his fur thoroughly before stepping into his apartment, but it’s worth it. the man has magic hands. and it’s cute how much he enjoys petting a random cat he found in the park. His smile doesn’t shrink even a second. the sun alights his skin in golden hues, his tan arms are right up in yoongis vision. He’s just a hopeless gay (cat)man, what can he do. he purrs louder when the man hits the right spots and less when he tries to retreat his hand, even if he just tries to change his own position.
But then the man tilts his head suddenly. “ah, I remember where I’ve seen you before!”, he exclaims. yoongi squints his eyes. He only really frequents the park and his work currently, but maybe the guy lives near him and saw him walking on the street. Yoongi would remember seeing someone that handsome though. The man grins and leans closer until yoongi can see the tiny mole above his lip, the tiny pimple on his cheek.
The man whispers when he continues, obviously sharing a secret. “you’re the cat that got chased up a tree with me, right? when you fell down, I worried because you just ran away. But your leg seems fine now, thank god.”
Yoongi is, to say the least, shocked. This man is the squirrel he met? Really? and he’s just telling this to a random cat? He must look pretty flabbergasted even as a cat, because the man chuckles and boops his nose. yoongi realizes he stopped purring and begins again with a stutter.
“sorry, I’m a squirrel sometimes. But nobody is supposed to know, so don’t meow it to anyone else!”, the guy giggles at his own, frankly terrible, joke. “Thank you for not attacking me though!”
Yoongi gets the strong urge to facepalm. Instead he doesn’t move at all. thinks what to do. should he let him know that he understood every word? That he’s a shifter too? But there’s no way. Yoongi is not gonna change in the park and hide naked under some bushes, someone will arrest him. the man is still smiling joyfully, as if he didn’t just expose his identity to another shifter. Yoongi blinks. Decides there’s nothing to do now, and meows demandingly at the guy.
“oh, sorry,” he apologizes and starts petting yoongis back again. it’s still nice, but now yoongi is thinking. Overthinking, to be precise. he can imagine the man as a squirrel. Chipper, diligent, running around and being cuddly. He can’t see it in his face much. but that’s normal. Not many shifters look at all like their animal counterpart. Yoongi does, a lot, but neither his parents nor siblings do.
And now yoongi is intrigued. He never met a shifter by accident, by himself, in the city. Not a squirrel shifter either. He wants to get to know him, ask him how it is for him. does he have a shifter family? Or did one shifter-parents have a child with a human? Did he grow up here? how does he live, having to change to his animal form frequently? Yoongi does want to know more, wants to talk with him. if he even knows other shifters maybe, or a secret city community? Despite the dangers he wants to be connected, meet people like him, talk about everything with someone besides his family.
Before he can come to a conclusion, the guy stops though. Yoongi stares, stops purring. Is he gonna leave?
“sorry kitty, I’m really hungry,” the man explains as if he read yoongis thoughts. “maybe we’ll meet again, you seem to be here often too!”
And with that he pulls his hands fully away. Yoongi, displeased about his massage being cut off, swats after his hands. his claws are retreated of course, but the guy yelps anyway and scrambles up. “hey, I said I’m sorry!”
Yoongi meows, deadpan. Throws the guy a last look and stands up to disappear between the bushes, knowing he looks like a sulky idiot. He’s gonna go home too. Maybe think about how he can find this man again. he walks away, ignoring the called out goodbye. His fur is ruffled and there are dirt crumbs everywhere and his body feels a little lax after lazing around that long. He stretches, lowers his head to the ground and feels his legs tense up. all in all, it was a nice afternoon. And yoongi has a new goal: talk with the squirrel shifter as a human. He’ll just come back to the park next week and try his luck, as a human for once.
☼
Hoseok wouldn’t say he’s going to the park because of the cat. After all, he likes this park and often takes walks here, petting various cats and dogs. Unless he’s a squirrel, then he mostly climbs around in the trees. So nope, he isn’t here because of that particular grey cat he met. But he’d be lying to say he isn’t hoping to meet it again or that there’s another reason for looking under every second bush he passes. But all of them are empty.
He just can’t find the cat anywhere! Why is it not here this time? hoseok wants to pet it again, hang out in silence. It was so adorable and trusting for a stray. At least hoseok thinks it’s a stray, it had no collar. And the fur was so shiny and soft and fluffy! With the slow pace he’s setting, his walk takes longer than usual. After an hour he gives up and makes his way back to the subway and from there back to seokjins apartment. He’s staying with his friend right now while trying to find his own place before his first year in college starts. He still has a month left, but every location he likes only offers apartments with two rooms, not one. Hoseok would totally get such an apartment, use one room as a studio. but he simply can’t afford it.
He opens the door with jins spare key and calls out, “seokjin-hyung! I’m home!”
“kitchen!”, comes the distant answer. Hoseok sniffs the air and is immediately motivated to hurry to jin. His temporary roommate is standing at the stove in his ridiculous apron (his own face is on there!!), stirring a pot. Hoseok plasters himself to his back and looks in.
“hyung, you’re a saint!”, he exclaims. kimchi jjigae. Perfect today. Jin huffs and tries to shove hoseok off with his shoulders, but he’s smiling already.
“never said you’re getting some of this,” he mumbles, then puts the lid onto the pot. Hoseok lets him step back, grinning widely. Jin would never let him go hungry and they both know it. “where were you that long even, I thought you only wanted to take a short walk?”
Hoseok remembers his fruitless search and pouts, falling onto a chair. “I was looking for a cat”, he explains. Seokjin raises his eyebrows but doesn’t ask. He is curious more often than not, but sometimes he just lets things be. Which is hoseoks only way of surviving here.
If seokjin started seriously questioning the way hoseok sometimes acts, or how he disappears, or the nuts hidden in his room, or the fur tufts lying around, or…. There’s just a lot. and if seokjin would start thinking about all of that and add a spat of imagination, he’d totally find out about hoseoks secret. It’s already been a narrow escape a few times.
Just last week, hoseok had a weird dream about someone forcing him to play the squirrel from Ice Age in a live performance and woke up as a squirrel under the covers, on the couch in the living room. He hid there while jin looked for him, luckily not lifting the blanket because it was obvious no human male would fit under there. Hoseok would have been so screwed if he did. His mother already worries too much about him being here alone already. She doesn’t know he’s living with someone else who is constantly on the brink of finding out about his identity. Fortunately.
Sometimes hoseok is just a little unlucky. Shifters can control their two forms usually, but there are always things that trigger accidental shifts. Or you get stuck for a while in one form. It happens. And hoseok is sadly triggered by a number of things. Too many nuts and trees around him, someone startling him, getting too excited, feeling very cozy and sleepy in winter. he changes frequently in his sleep. overall, he’s kind of a mess and his mother worries.
But seokjin is great. Even if he’s interested in knowing things, should he notice that hoseok doesn’t want to answer, he won’t even ask. He’s nice like that.
“I’ll set the table,” hoseok chirps and gets bowls and spoons from their cupboards. Jin doesn’t protest again and cares for the food. They eat together, talking about this and that. jin has already been studying for two years at the same university hoseok wants to go to. They’ve been friends for years now and hoseok is infinitely thankful that he can stay here. but he’s still hunting for his own apartment, mainly so he can shift there in peace.
Which is turning out to be rather difficult. At the moment hoseok is still hoping to find the perfect one that fulfills all his wishes: an extra room to dance in, a big, clean bathroom, close to the university and a park, maybe a window next to a tree so he can leave as a squirrel. He has seen a few like that, but all too expensive for him.
After eating with jin he looks through the internet once again but his search is fruitless. Frustrated he gives up and showers quickly before going to sleep. He’s grateful to seokjin letting him live here just like that, but the couch and the danger of getting discovered are slowly getting on his nerves. He’ll get the heebie-jeebies soon. the next day he cleans the apartment which is basically his rent-payment in disguise. But in the afternoon, he finds he’s already done and left with much free time.
once again, hoseok decides to walk through the park. He was determined to find the cat when starting, but in the end he’s just enjoying the warm sun and his iced americano. It’s the weekend and lots of kids run around, so maybe it was too loud for the cat anyway. Hoseok steadily gets closer to the tree where he first met the cat. That dog chase had been one of the more horrifying moments of his life, followed by the cat falling out of the tree. For a moment hoseok feared the cat would die, honestly.
Hoseok rounds a few trees and can now look straight towards the location. No cat- but a man. he’s in a black shirt and jeans, squatting in the shadow of the tree’s trunk, leaning against the bark. Hoseok walks closer slowly, curiously tilting his head.
Is the man napping? His eyes are closed, his face relaxed. Hoseok blinks against the sun, treads lightly the closer he gets. The man is really handsome. His skin is relatively fair and smooth, his nose small. Totally messy hair fluffs around his head, his lips pout a little. Distracted by looking at him, hoseok steps right onto a branch. It snaps in two loudly, the man startles, stares wide-eyed at hoseok as he falls over backwards almost in slow motion. He lands on his back with a huff.
“oh god, sorry!”, hoseok exclaims, but can’t hold back a few chuckles. The guy clicks his tongue while standing up, brushing off grass and mud from his ass with a light frown. When he finally looks up hoseok already stopped giggling. The stranger stills completely, wide eyes staring at hoseok. He seems surprised to see his face, for whatever reason. It’s not like they know each other.
His eyes are a weird light brown, almost yellow, and slanted like of a cat. Hoseok stares back. the others’ mouth hangs open, his lips are pink. It takes a few seconds for him to calm down, he blinks and closes his mouth, starts acting like a normal human again.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he says. Hoseok raises his eyebrows. If he trying to flirt? Then the stranger realizes too, fidgets with his hands as he scrambles for words, “I mean, I was waiting! We met before! I’m sorry, this is horrible, I’m just gonna go.”
With that, his cheeks burning bright red in embarrassment, he turns around. Hoseok stands frozen for a few more seconds in shock before he springs into action and runs after the man who already took a few steps away. “wait!”
He grabs his arm and stops him. his bare skin is warm under his palm. Hoseok lets go quickly as the stranger turns around hesitantly, smiling sheepishly. It was kind of obvious that he was in fact not trying to flirt weirdly, and now hoseok is invested.
“what do you mean we met before?”, hoseok asks.
The stranger licks his lips and looks around the park. No one is anywhere near them. it seems to satisfy him, as he turns to look at hoseok. Despite the awkwardness and his blush, he seems determined to talk this time. confidently powering through his embarrassment. “you’re a squirrel shifter.”
For a moment hoseok can only nod. Of course he is. It’s how he was born. Then he realizes that it’s a secret and a random stranger is certainly not supposed to know that. hoseok steps back, no words coming out in panic. His mother was right. he’s not careful enough. Someone found out. Fuck, what is he supposed to do, this will be his end, he’ll have to change his name and get a horrible haircut and leave the country, maybe go to Europe where they don’t have the real good Korean food he needs-
“sorry! Don’t panic! I’m not here to expose you! fuck.” The stranger holds up his hands like hoseok is holding him at gun point. Although it’s the other way around. His voice is a little higher when he’s panicking. Not quite the low gravel of the first sentence. Hoseok stops in his tracks once again, regarding the stranger.
“what do you want then?”
“I just wanted to talk,” comes a quick answer. “you told me about the shifter thing.”
“what?” hoseok can’t remember telling anyone. He also didn’t get that drunk, ever. what does the stranger mean?
“you told me last week. I was…,” he stops talking. Looks around again, then leans forward to hoseok. The secretiveness looks cute on him, his eyes alert and flitting around, mouth pursed. Hoseok leans in as well, waiting for the answer with bated breath. When did he fuck up?
“I was a cat.”
The world stops for a second. a cat. The stranger… was a cat. He’s a shifter too. Hoseok flinches back and automatically checks out the man again even though he knows there won’t be any signs. Although he does look like a cat. However that works, hoseok surely doesn’t look like a squirrel. wait- the cat! Hoseok only talked with the grey cat he met through the dog chase!
“you!”, he exclaims and points at the stranger, mouth open now too. They stare at each other for a few seconds, then the stranger holds out his hand politely and lowers his head in a hint of a bow.
“Well, I’m min yoongi. born 93, Chartreux cat.”
Hoseok, still stunned by everything that’s happening, reaches out slowly and takes his hand. His grip isn’t really strong but still self-assured. “I’m Jung hoseok. 94. Fox squirrel.”
They slowly let go to continue staring at each other. It’s not that awkward anymore now that they are both looking. Two shifters. Different species. Hoseok doesn’t know any other shifter out of his family. And he didn’t even think one second the cat he met is one. Not when it didn’t attack him on the tree or reacted to his words while petting it. petting him. then he remembers what yoongi said before trying to flee earlier.
“why did you want to talk to me?”
“oh,” yoongi makes. He shuffles on his feet and his eyes flit around. “just- I never thought I’d meet another shifter, on accident in the city park.”
Hoseok nods. He kind of wants to know about yoongi too he realizes. If it’s the same for him, being a shifter. Always keeping this huge secret from his friends, always being mindful of it to not shift, always having a backup plan if it does happen. If his mother also constantly asks if he’s being careful. And it is a wondrous coincidence. Thinking about it, hoseok understands yoongi completely. He smiles happily, relief flooding him now that he knows there’s no need to worry.
“you want to go grab a coffee?”, he offers without much thought.
Yoongi opens his mouth, nods, and halts. “you already have one.”
Hoseok looks down at the americano, ice now melted, in his hands. oh. Embarrassed, he grins. “oh. yeah. we could just still go? If you want one.”
Yoongi nods. They awkwardly turn and start walking to the edge of the park. Silence spreads at first, hoseok unsure with what to start. He has so many questions. But yoongi is still a stranger. Even if the shifter-part connects them, they don’t actually know each other. This is worse than a first date even, cause hoseok at least knows the goal for that. now it’s just... talking? Luckily for him, yoongi breaks the silence first.
“you really surprised me when you said that. I was just relaxing in the park, and suddenly someone tells me they’re a shifter and I have no way to answer.”
Hoseok imagines yoongis situation, stuck as a cat confronted with his presence. He chuckles awkwardly. “sorry, I really didn’t think you’d understand me. oh, is your leg okay? I asked last time…”
Yoongi smiles at him and reaches down to pat his leg. “everything’s fine, thank you. it was just a scratch in the end.”
“looked kinda bad, honestly. And then you fell from the-“, he stops himself. maybe yoongi doesn’t want to talk about that incident. Isn’t it embarrassing, falling out of a tree as a cat? And hoseok witnessed it. Maybe he’s one of those men who can’t laugh about themselves. Hoseok would hate that though. the one time he meets another shifter and then he’ll have to teach him to be a decent human being first? just no.
But yoongi giggles only. It’s really fucking cute and hoseok stares, luckily going unnoticed cause yoongi is looking straight ahead. “yeah, it felt bad too! Definitely not my proudest moment.”
“well I’m glad nothing serious happened to you,” hoseok answers. they reach the end of the park and cross the street. Sometimes, when yoongi moves his head to look for cars or bikers, he looks like a cat even more. Hoseok follows inside the small café he got his americano from earlier. They decide to get a table in the corner where nobody can listen in and yoongi orders an iced americano for himself as well.
“are you studying here by the way?”
“not yet”, yoongi answers. “I came here last year, been working and saving money. But I want to start next semester. What about you?”
“I want to start too! The University for Music and Arts.”
“oh god, me too! what major?”, yoongi quickly asks and leans forward.
Excited, hoseok leans towards him as well. The table is small, and he can see every detail of yoongis face. long lashes, delicate lips. perfect bone structure. “Dance. You?”
“music production. Was always my dream.”
“wow, that’s so cool”, hoseok muses. “we were totally supposed to meet! It’s destiny!”
Yoongi chuckles and straight, tiny teeth show between his lips. like those of a kitten. “you believe in destiny?”
Hoseok leans back and puffs his chest out. “I do now”, he speaks, putting too much dramatics on his words. They both giggle again. the waiter comes with yoongis americano and smiles at their laughter.
It feels nice, talking with yoongi. hoseok is a little giddy. He’s really talking to another shifter right now, even befriending him apparently. And yoongi seems nice. Maybe hoseok is getting ahead of himself here, but he wants yoongi as his friend. Finally talking with someone besides his family about shifter things would be great. He can tell yoongi funny stories without having to explain why he witnessed them from up in a tree in the park. Maybe they can hang out as animals again.
“can I have your number?”, he breaks the short silence. Yoongi, having sipped at his drink, splutters around the liquid and coughs. Hoseok apologizes and tries to give him a serviette.
“sorry. I mean, yeah. you can have it.”
They awkwardly exchange numbers. He allows hoseok to call him hyung and then hoseok has a new contact in his phone: cat-yoongi-hyung. he stares at it, inwardly giddy, before locking his phone.
They start talking comfortably then while sipping their drinks. At first careful, skirting around the obvious topic choice. Where they live, where yoongi works (convenience store), what hoseok likes to dance, what music they like. They agree on lots of things even, and both relax slowly. Hoseok has the feeling he’s still talking a little much, but yoongi doesn’t seem to mind. He’s smiling and nodding his head when hoseok rambles about seokjins heavenly cooking skills and describes every single meal they had the last week, quietly asking questions in appropriate breaks.
But it’s not like yoongi isn’t talking. He’s just… keeping himself short. Mostly. Just saying what he wants to, straight to the point. He jokes around as well, giggling to himself with a squeaky laugh that’s highly infectious. They review their first meeting again, both agreeing that the dog should get stung by a bee for his crimes. Or better two. right in his paw.
“what where you even doing in the park?”, hoseok inquires. His americano is gone already and he’s been eyeing the tiny puddle in yoongis mug, afraid they’ll part ways when both their drinks are empty.
“sun-bathing. And collecting some massages.”
“so you hang out at the park to let strangers pet you?”, hoseok tilts his head. then he remembers that he was one of those strangers when they met the second time. and it had been quite nice, hanging out with a cat.
“don’t say it like that, it sounds weird,” yoongi pouts. He does that a lot. “I live alone, what else am I supposed to do? most adults at the park are nice, they even give me food sometimes.”
“we’re all just poor almost students, huh,” hoseok chuckles. “sorry. I go there cause I like climbing around the trees.”
Yoongi snorts. “do you also collect nuts?”
It’s obviously meant as a joke, but honestly hoseok does collect nuts if it’s autumn because his instincts tell him to and when he just stares back deadpan, yoongi bites his lips trying to stop giggling. They subtly advanced into talking about their shifter parts but keep talking around it. they can’t be found out.
Hoseok interrupts yoongis giggles. “do you like eating fish?”
In a split second yoongi stills. Then he bares his teeth at hoseok, which is an answer in itself. Now hoseok joins the laughter, although mainly about the teeth-baring. Cause it couldn’t have looked any more like a kitten trying to hiss for the first time and hilariously failing. Yoongi obviously tries not to, but in the end he grins too, happy despite being teased.
After calming down, hoseok picks the conversation back off. “I’m looking for an apartment close to a park and the university, but it’s tedious.”
He sighs unhappily. Yoongi reaches out like he wants to put his hand on hoseoks as a gesture of sympathy, but in the last moment he doesn’t. awkwardly he scratches his neck with the same hand, gaze straying to somewhere behind hoseok. “I’m sure you’ll find something, just keep looking.”
“thanks.” Hoseok lifts his americano, forgetting it’s empty. He sets it back down. “do you... do it often?”
Yoongi leans closer again and nods, his face dark and serious. Hoseok stares back, trying to find a way to ask more without actually saying it. until yoongi suddenly whispers, “you sound like a teenager talking about masturbating.”
He can’t keep his face serious anymore and breaks out in giggles. Now it’s hoseoks turn to click his tongue and act offended. “you knew what I meant!”, he protests, but has to join yoongis laughter eventually.
“yeah yeah,” yoongi relents, “every second day at least. if I don’t for more than three days it happens if I want to or not anyway.”
Hoseok nods, it’s the same for him. “now you sound like you’re talking about boners.”
They laugh again but then hoseoks phone chimes. He picks it up quickly and learns it’s seokjin, asking if he’ll be home for dinner. He texts him a quick affirmation before turning back to yoongi. agreeing on meeting up again sometime, they part ways outside the café. Yoongi waves at him from two feet away awkwardly, then disappears around the next corner. Hoseok walks into the other direction, a little jump in his steps. He totally found a new best friend today. And when they’ll meet up in a non-public setting they can talk about being shifters more openly. All in all, he’s almost glad the dog chased them up the tree.
☼
Hoseok sits down on his bed with his phone. excitedly he clicks onto the newly posted advert of an apartment. It was uploaded minutes ago, and even on first glance it’s perfect. Right behind the university at the edge of the Riverbank park. Two big rooms, one with large windows that face said park. A spacy kitchen and bathroom, second floor and there’s a fucking walnut tree right in front of it. the apartment is like right out of his dreams.
The only catch- the prize. Of course. It’s meant as an apartment for two. not an almost broke college student. With a side job, he’d maybe manage to pay two thirds of the rent while also eating regularly. Too bad hoseok can’t really have a roommate, as nobody knows about-
Yoongi. yoongi knows. Yoongi goes to the park, and to the same university. Even if he’d have to give up his dream of having his own room to dance in, he’s not gonna find a better apartment soon, hoseok knows that. in trance he goes to his contacts and hits the call button on yoongis. They haven’t spoken since last week, apparently both too anxious to text the other.
Hoseok really wished yoongi would have texted, but as hoseok didn’t either he can’t really be that disappointed. He hears the call connecting only after the second ring, then yoongis sleepy voice droning into his ear. “huh?”
“It’s me, hoseok!”
“oh, hi,” yoongi sounds surprised. Of course he is, when hoseok is calling him after a week of radio silence. But nothing can dampen hoseoks excitement right now and he starts rambling down the phone.
“yoongi-hyung, I found an apartment! And it’s so perfect, at the Riverbank park and the uni and I love it! but I can’t pay for it, so I thought I have to get a roommate but it’s difficult hiding me being a shifter, when living with someone, right?”
Yoongi takes a breath at the other end as if to speak, but hoseok already continues. “I know I don’t live alone now either, but I constantly think seokjin’s gonna catch me any day now! but! I had THE most perfect idea!”
“which is?”, yoongi settles on, now slight curiosity taking over the sleepiness of his voice.
Hoseok lets another second pass by silently for dramatics.
“do you want to be my roommate?”
Silence.
“just imagine! You could change whenever you wanted and wouldn’t have to hide! And you can get to the park and to university really fast, and there’s a big kitchen! we could help each other out, if one is stuck in animal form. and you’d get a very nice roommate if I dare say so.”
Further silence.
“I’ll give you free massages?”, hoseok tries. He doesn’t know quite why it’s suddenly so important to move in together with yoongi, but it is. He can feel it, this is a turning point of his life, and the better option is convincing yoongi.
And it seems he reaches his goal, because yoongi clears his throat, and says: “okay.”
Just like that. one simple word, and it changes hoseoks world. He squeals happily into the phone, yoongi complains that he just wanted to take a nap and hangs up after instructing hoseok to get them an appointment to view the apartment. It doesn’t dampen hoseoks mood and he immediately fills out the online form. He texts yoongi the date and address without receiving an answer. The whole time he floats on happiness, imagining his new future of shifting freedom. He can nap as a squirrel sometimes. Buy too many nuts for the winter because yoongi already laughed at him about it and won’t ask weird questions. He can openly talk to his mother on the phone about it without looking over his shoulder constantly checking if seokjin is still holed up in his room. he can escape through the window, use the tree to get to the park. This would be his dream life, and he wouldn’t even be alone. Perfect.
☼
Yoongi and hoseok stand alone in their possibly new apartment. The estate agent got a call and left the room for a moment. They are in the bigger bedroom, with a big window front. it’s perfect. The whole apartment is, really. the windowsills are pretty big. Yoongi could take naps there in the sun. it’s only the second floor, just enough to use the stairs and get some exercise in without arriving at the eighth floor or something sweating like a pig. Not even mentioning the park literally 20 meters away. Or the tree he could use to go to said park as a cat. It’s just… perfect.
Secretly, yoongi thanks whatever god made hoseok find this apartment and call him about it. he honestly can’t explain how he agreed that fast. yoongi is, normally, a person who ponders over important decisions. At least a few hours. Before he decided to move here alone he laid awake at night for weeks. But hoseok called, and he sounded so giddy and hopeful and everything he said made so much sense, yoongi couldn’t not agree.
And so far, he can’t bring himself to regret it. of course it will be different, sharing his space with someone else again after getting used to leaving the bathroom door open while showering. But the location and layout and overall look of this apartment is much better than his own. And he kind of wants a roommate. Get the real college experience of living together with a half-stranger. At least he knows hoseok a little.
Until now, nothing about the other screamed red flag or threw yoongi off in any way. He is funny, talks a lot, is definitely a sight for sore eyes, kind and chipper. Maybe it would do him some good, living with this ball of energy. To be honest there had been days he felt quite lonely holed up inside his apartment. It was how the whole going-to-the-park-letting-strangers-pet-me thing had originated.
Besides, hoseoks is a shifter too. Definitely a huge bonus. Changing whenever he felt like it and maybe even getting some belly rubs inside the apartment. Last winter he hadn’t left the house often if not for work and grocery shopping, least of all as a cat. He spent the cold time totally deprived of human contact, massages, the affection he secretly enjoyed having so much. all that could change with hoseok if their friendship evolved.
The second the agent left the room, hoseok jumped forward and closed his eyes, only to suddenly break out into a few elegant dance moves. He moves across the room once, jumps and turns back to yoongi, delight on his face. “I actually wanted to use this as a dance studio room,” he muses. “the light sets a perfect mood and it’s spacey enough.”
Yoongi oh’s softly, watching his potential new roommate. He looks a little wistful. But yoongi can’t do anything about that, they need two bedrooms. There’s no way they can put two full beds in the other one, even if yoongi would be ready to sleep in the same room with hoseok suddenly.
But hoseok is right. his piano would look nice in the corner as well, light coming from the side. He could open the window a little and play. maybe take a nap on it. (he likes the aesthetic, sue him.) It would be possible if the other room were bigger. But getting cupboards with clothes for two in there, two beds, a desk and other stuff they might have? impossible. Yoongi also has various pillows to nap on he wanted to litter around the apartment. He loves napping as a cat-
Cat. And squirrel. They don’t need beds. They could-
Yoongi turns to hoseok, mouth already open to share his idea. That’s when the agent pops back into the room with a loud cheerful ‘sorry’.
“I see you two seem to like the apartment so far,” she thrills. “is there anything else that would concern you about the apartment?”
Hoseok just shakes his head slowly, still staring at the windowfront. Yoongi turns to the agent. “me neither. Thank you for your time, it was a pleasure.”
She bows courtly with a smile, thanks them as well. They leave the apartment. Hoseok and yoongi walk towards the park to check that out. Yoongi is moving a little quick, excited to share his earlier idea. The moment they are out of earshot from the street he grabs hoseoks arm.
“hey, you really want to have a studio there?”
“well yeah,” hoseok sadly agrees. “but it-“
“would it be okay if I put my piano in a corner there?”, yoongi interrupts.
“uh- yeah? but as I wanted to say, there’s no way the other room is big en-“
“let’s do it,” yoongi says. Hoseok raises his eyebrows. Yoongi drops his arm and points back at the apartment behind them. “we take it and make the big room into a studio. put only my piano in it, and a wall unit.”
Hoseok smiles tentatively. Like he wants to go along, get his studio. but can’t quite agree. “but the rest isn’t gonna fit in the other room.”
Yoongi smirks. “not if we get beds.”
Hoseok stops to look at him, confusion painting his face. “I don’t know about you, but I do sleep in a bed so…”
“no you don’t”, yoongi argues, enjoying the confusion. He’s a genius. He deserves a medal. He’s the best roommate to ever exist, making hoseoks dream come true even before they moved in together. “we both don’t need a bed, to be honest.”
More raised eyebrows, even a questioning hand gesture. Yoongi chuckles and pulls on hoseoks sleeve, directing him along, further into the park. It’s quite nice, almost empty of humans because it’s not that big. There are lots of trees and clearings, sunny spots for him to nap. He also thinks he sees quite a few nut trees, although he’s no expert in tree species.
“hoseok. We’re shifters,” yoongi finally reveals his master plan. “We don’t need huge beds to sleep in. let’s just get a fancy cat-tree.”
Stunned silence. Then, a smile spreads on hoseoks face, delighted and amazed at once. “oh my god! We can totally do that! okay okay, we’re so getting that apartment!”
Yoongi grins back. hoseok giggles are infectious. they round a corner, both with a certain spring in their steps, following a random path. The view before them parts and reveals the river that named the park. It’s not too big, a human could swim around there easily without fearing any danger from waves or currents. Not like anyone would swim in a public park in a river, but it wouldn’t be dangerous to fall in. But yoongi stops anyway and distastefully frowns.
Next to him, hoseok looks between him and the water until he understands and breaks out in laughter. He even bends over and almost falls, stumbles away from yoongi clutching his belly. “fuck, I have to ask: can you swim? Or did you never learn because you-“
He interrupts himself, laugh turning louder and hackier as he rings for air. yoongi scoffs and starts walking again. he can swim- in theory. His whole family doesn’t like water. None of them ever went to the beach or a swimming pool. They are cats, in their hearts. After a few seconds hoseok runs after him, although he giggles the whole time they stay in sight of the river. Yoongi would be offended if his laugh wouldn’t be so sunny and nice. But it is, and he can’t bring himself to stay annoyed at him for very long at all.
☼
Yoongis arms feel like pudding, his legs aren’t faring much better either. Surely he’s also looking horrible, can feel the shirt sticking to his back with sweat, his hair in the same condition. The height of summer may be over, but it’s still too warm for a move.
The good thing is that they just finished. Moved in together. hoseok-yoongi-roommate era can begin! They are alone right now, waiting for the ordered pizza to arrive. The soju is ready, they plan to celebrate a little. They got their dream apartment and all their stuff is here (still in boxes though). Hoseok comes from the kitchen right then and joins yoongi at the entrance.
He's looking too good for just working his ass off carrying boxes. The elevator is working in slow-motion and they used it only for big things like yoongis piano and furniture. They’ve been at it since yesterday, but hoseok remained his cheery self throughout, while yoongi woke up grumpy with sore muscles and hasn’t spoken much today. He’s been busy carrying stuff. And staring at hoseoks muscles when he lifted things, and at his ass when he bend down to lift said things. Honestly he’s been ogling hoseok since yesterday and maybe he should stop.
“admiring the apartment?”, hoseok jokes.
“it’s perfect,” yoongi only mumbles. “let’s take another look.”
Hoseok nods. Behind them is only the entrance door. in the tiny hallway is a small wardrobe and a shoe rack. The first door to their right is the kitchen, now full with a table, chairs, kitchen appliances and the rests of food yoongi had in his apartment. One corner also hosts a pillow to curl up on. They look around and nod and grin and leave the room again. it’s a little awkward, looking again at the space they’ll share together now. at least for the two years they signed the lease for.
The second room to the right is the smaller bedroom. They bought a big cat tree, plushy and dark grey with two tiny beds to sleep in. there’s also the TV from yoongis apartment, a desk and a huge cupboard. And a huge pull-out couch for movie nights or if one of them does want to nap as a human for once. It’s almost more comfortable than a bed, they tried it out at the store. Their furniture buying had been surprisingly cheap. The cat tree, the couch and one shelf. Yoongi sold his old bed and mattress and brought most of the furniture with him. the window shows the street.
Hoseok grins at the cat tree. “this is genius, not gonna lie. We saved so much space.”
Yoongi nods and mockingly pats his own shoulder. The second door in the room leads to the bathroom. They both pile in and it’s suddenly a little cramped. A shower, toilet and sink, neatly packed in the corners, a window showing the park. Two boxes are on the floor, both having been too tired to get out everything. The bathroom has doors to the hallway and the two bedrooms, so they use the third one and finally enter the last room, on the left of the apartment.
There’s so much space. The left wall is almost covered with the wall unit, still empty and a few boxes in front of it. mostly their books and some bits and bobs. At the far corner yoongis small black piano, lit up by the sun coming in through the windows. A part of them reaches the bottom, one half has big windowsills where yoongi put two more of his nap-pillows. The rest of the room is free, for hoseok to dance in.
Yoongi turns to hoseok, he knows with how hard he’s smiling his gums are poking out. Hoseok grins back, heart-shaped lips stretching and his eyes twinkle in happiness. “this is so cool! I don’t have to first move away all the furniture to have space to dance!”
“and I can nap everywhere!”, yoongi replies, equally enthusiastic. Their following giggles are interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Yoongi quickly leaves and pays the delivery man, meeting back with hoseok in the kitchen. they sit down and dig in, both just wolfing their first two pieces down without talking. Moving apartments makes hungry.
As it’s already late they don’t do much more that evening. Yoongi sits down in the studio room and unpacks a few boxes, just putting the books in neat piles so he can put them in the shelves tomorrow. hoseok takes a shower first, then yoongi. Even the water pressure is nice. If yoongi loses this apartment somehow, he will definitely cry.
They meet again in the bedroom, standing around a little awkwardly. Yoongi decides to take the first step and turns to hoseok. “goodnight then”, he says. And changes forms. He only did it in front of his family and only saw his family do it, so he know what it looks like. His body getting weirdly un-shapey, like hoseoks vision is suddenly obscured by mist, then he quickly shrinks and suddenly he’s a cat sitting inside his discarded clothes.
Hoseok blinks once. He smiles softly. “good night hyung.”
Seconds later he’s gone too. It looks the same like with his family members, but instead of a grey cat there’s a reddish squirrel pooling its way out of the trousers hoseok was wearing. They don’t go towards each other but stare a little. Hoseok doesn’t look any different from that day in the tree, of course. It’s very weird, standing around with him.
When they’re in human form, it’s normal. Like hanging out with actual humans. It felt like any other day, being around someone. But like this, they can’t deny their true nature, what differentiates them from the rest of the world. A squirrel and a cat. Yoongi meows softly and walks towards the cat tree.
Hoseok slowly follows behind him. they hadn’t talked about what bed they’d want, so yoongi just jumps upwards and pulls himself into the right one. It’s perfectly soft under him. when he looks back up, hoseok is already in the other bed, still wiggling around a little but obviously already half asleep. Yoongi licks over his fur, although he just showered he can’t quite suppress the cat genes. But with how tired he is, it’s a short affair and soon he drifts off into a deep sleep.
☼
Hoseok is the first to wake up. he’s confused, not quite used to taking more than naps in squirrel form. But he’s nicely warm and comfortable so he doesn’t really panic either. he only looks around, soon understands where he is and calms down. he has no idea what time it is, they pulled the curtains shut yesterday. With his paws he rubs over his eyes and fur until he’s feeling more awake, then he sits up.
A look to his left shows that yoongi is still curled up there. He’s a fluffy gray ball, looking quite cozy and cute with the tip of his tail neatly over his nose. if they’d be closer hoseok would totally cuddle him like this. Maybe later, in a few months.
He decides to get up anyway and leaves the cat tree quietly. As yoongi doesn’t move he just changes in the room and puts some clothes on, shorts and a tank top. then he picks up his phone from the couch. Already 10 am? hoseok startles a little, he hasn’t slept in that long in a while. He walks over to the door but staring at his phone and trying to answer seokjins message about the apartment was not a good idea because he promptly stumbles over the boxes still lying around.
The noise startles yoongi awake and he looks around before finding hoseok. Then he yawns, mouth so wide open hoseok thinks he’s gonna dislodge his jaw any moment. “morning.”
The cat nods. But doesn’t move. Just like in the park, hoseok wants to pet yoongi. he looks so warm and cozy and soft. Carefully, he takes a step closer to the cat tree, this time looking at the floor. Yoongi watches him come closer without reacting.
“It’s 10:12 already hyung,” hoseok informs him. It’s weird calling a cat ‘hyung’. yoongi flicks his tail, like saying: who cares. Hoseok is gonna have to learn how to interpret yoongis body language because this won’t be the last time surely. “I’m gonna have some breakfast soon, if you want to join.”
No reaction this time. then yoongi puts his head back down onto his paws, his eyes flutter shut again. slowly, hoseok reaches out. He can see yoongi barely opening one eye when he gets really close, so yoongi knows what he’s doing. But he makes no move to stop hoseok, not even when he puts his fingers on yoongis soft head.
Hoseok scratches behind his ears a little, careful and unsure. Yoongi said he likes free massages. But maybe it’s weird, now that hoseok knows he’s actually a human. Hoseok is petting yoongi, not a random cat. They stay like this for a moment, hoseok petting yoongis fur and the cat slumbering away peacefully. But then hoseoks stomach growls.
“sorry, gonna go eat now,” hoseok says and draws his hand back. like last time in the park, yoongi is obviously displeased with that and scowls at hoseok. But he can only giggle at the grumpy cat. “I’m not your masseur hyung!”
He leaves the room and closes the door behind him. maybe they should hang some rope from the door handles so they can open them as animals. He’ll ask yoongi about it later. inside the kitchen he gets some cereal and milk, sits down on his chair. He scrolls through twitter on his phone when there’s a loud meow from the bedroom. A scratching sound follows, then a loud thump.
Hoseok jumps up and skids to their room, opening the door. yoongi is on the floor in cat-form, sitting their neatly and licking his paw. His fur is disheveled, but he’s okay. Hoseok sighs in relief. “did you just try to open the door? and fail?”
Yoongi doesn’t answer, but he suddenly jumps up and runs out of the door, towards the studio. he sits in front of the door and looks back at hoseok, meows loudly. Hoseok, still confused, walks over. “should I open that?”
Another meow. “you know, I just thought about it. we should tie some rope to the handles so we can open them as animals, what do you think?”
A second of contemplation, then the cat nods. And meows again, pointing her tail towards the door. with a sigh, hoseok opens it. he does not quite know why yoongi didn’t change quickly and open the doors himself, but maybe he’s stuck. Or just doesn’t want to change. It happens, sometimes hoseok doesn’t feel like being human either. Or, the likely scenario, getting hoseok to do it is just less effort than changing. yoongi runs into the room towards the boxes and proceeds to open one of his. It’s funny how he uses his claws for the tape, precisely slicing it open.
He throws hoseok a glare when he giggles at him, but just continues with his project. He jumps onto the boy and manages to wiggle one paw under one side of the box flaps, then throws it open. Hoseok looks into the box. And finds black underwear. Yoongi just put the box into the wrong room. he laughs once again and turns away from yoongi to leave the room. so he didn’t want to be naked in the hallway. Understandable.
Back inside the kitchen he hears yoongi tapering around the apartment as a human obviously, no cat makes that kind of noise. Then his roommate joins him at the kitchen table, hair still messy but finally dressed in sweatpants and a shirt. He’s just a little puffy in the face, it’s kind of adorable how the sleep clings to his body, his expression.
“thank you,” he rasps, voice a little slurred. “and yes to the ropes. I’ll go to the hardware store after my work shift.”
“no problem!”, hoseok waves off his thanks. Yoongi prepares some cereal for himself as well. They eat slowly, both still having time. yoongi said his shift will only start in the afternoon and hoseok only planned to apply to some barista jobs close to the apartment. He can do that from here and will unpack some more too.
“slept well?”, yoongi suddenly breaks the silence.
Hoseok nods, swallows down his mouthful of cereal. “I’ll have to get used to it more but yeah! I might need a small blanket for winter though, I don’t know yet.”
Yoongi sends him a small smile and nods. They got barely a month left before university starts for both of them. funnily enough they even have a class together, Introduction to music theory. And hoseok is thinking about taking that English class yoongi already has too, as an additional course. It could be helpful if he’ll ever manage to go abroad. Travelling the world dancing, maybe on tour with some artist, would be hoseoks dream.
“do you want to go to the park with me?”
Yoongi looks up, a little milk spills down his chin. Hoseok holds back his laughter and teasing, he startled yoongi after all. embarrassed, the other wipes over his chin. “like, today?”
Shrugging his shoulders, hoseok leans back in his chair. “maybe? Or whenever you want, seeing you do have a job and I don’t.”
Yoongi takes another mouthful. He chews slowly, his eyes wandering around the kitchen.
“okay. I’m free on Wednesday.”
“nice!”, hoseok exclaims. together they pack away the dishes. It’s their first day here, they are still somewhat motivated to keep everything clean. After brushing their teeth, they start unpacking boxes again. they have a quick and late lunch of instant ramyun, then yoongi leaves for his job.
Hoseok keeps himself busy for a while, but ultimately he lies down on the couch and relaxes, watching TV. He’s seriously in love with the apartment and yoongi has been a pleasure so far too. He can feel it in his bones, everything is gonna be perfect.
Later yoongi comes back, a bundle of rope slung over his shoulder. He complains about the weird stares he got in the subway for five full minutes and glares when hoseok laughs at him and makes bondage jokes. Seconds later yoongi insists to make all the rope door handles by himself for them, sweet with blushing cheeks when hoseok thanks him and tells him he should become a hot craftsman instead of a producer. They watch a movie together before going to sleep, this time a little smoother and more comfortable. As Hoseok was standing closer to the cat tree and once again changed only after yoongi, the cat brushed his tail shortly against his leg on his way up. It’s a very yoongi-way of saying goodnight.
Tuesday passes in almost the same manner, sleeping in, having breakfast and lunch together, finally unpacking the last boxes. Hoseok knows if he’d be alone everything would be standing around much longer, but he doesn’t want to appear messy in front of yoongi right from the get-go. He has an inkling that yoongi is similarly motivated and only is that fast because of hoseok. But it’s not bad. They are kind of strangers still, and them being careful and considerate to each other ensures a clean flat for a while.
By that evening both of them are used to sleeping as animals. They change at the same time and hoseok dares to nudge against yoongi shortly on his way up the tree. He gets a low meow for that, but it somehow sounds more like a ‘good night’ than a complaint. Hoseok finds he likes sleeping as an animal. Somehow it’s easier to find a nice position to sleep in, and that night yoongi also starts purring. It had been a particularly hot day and they opened the window a little. Some street noises waft up to them, but yoongi seems undisturbed as he falls asleep in a minute. Hoseok lies awake a little longer, luckily able to hear it. He thinks someone far away is starting a moped before he understands and squeals inwardly. Yoongi seems to be really comfortable with him in the room.
Then Wednesday comes. After lunch they meet in the studio. the boxes are gone by now and the free space is lit up by the sun. tomorrow, after his short job interview for an on-campus café, he plans to dance for a while. Almost simultaneous they change forms and climb onto the windowsill, the opened window ready for them. hoseok jumps out first, landing easily on the tree. There’s a big branch literally 10 inches in front of their window.
He makes space for yoongi and carefully looks around. Nobody should see a squirrel and a cat leaving an apartment together. It couldn’t be more obvious what they are. Luckily they are at a quiet corner and the few people outside don’t look up in the sky, where the sun is blinding them anyway. Yoongi follows hoseok easily, one elegant jump and he’s there. Much better than when he fell from the tree.
Together they climb down and cross the street quickly. And have thus already reached the park. This is heaven. Hoseok automatically makes his way towards the trees, yoongi follows behind a little slower. Chirping at him to make him hurry, hoseok jumps up one tree and climbs around it. with the stress of moving he didn’t have time to go out.
Yoongi surely wasn’t outside as a cat either, but his enthusiasm is clearly contained. He lazily watches hoseok do his gymnastics and lays down in a sunny gras spot. Hoseok stops to look at him. and minutes later, yoongi is asleep. Just a cute, fluffy grey blob on the gras. Deciding that yoongi is safe and sound, hoseok lets him be to climb around a little, familiarize himself with the trees here and look if there are any animals here. real ones, maybe even other squirrels.
He finds a woodpeckers’ nest somewhere. Like always, time passes quickly. Hoseok never really understood just how it works, as he still has his human thoughts and everything, but a part of him is surely reduced to a tiny squirrel spending his time collecting some twigs and nuts, climbing up and down trees without worry. When he returns, yoongi moved slightly to the right. the sun is slowly going down and a trees’ shadow obscures the spot where he’d been minutes ago. But with the way he’s the exact same ball of fur, hoseok wouldn’t think he moved on first glance.
He jumps down to him and stops a few inches away. Yoongis whiskers twitch, but he doesn’t move. Hoseok triples forward. Another twitch. Hoseok carefully reaches out with one paw, until he touches yoongis fur. Now the cat does open one eye, slow and obviously unwilling to do more. Confirming that it’s in fact hoseok touching him seems enough because a second later he closes his eye and buries his nose deeper under his tail.
He's adorable. And hoseok just a little exhausted. He wiggles closer and closer, attentively watching yoongis face for any discomfort. But his roommate is deep into his nap. Finally, hoseok is close enough. He lies down and nudges into yoongis body so the cat is essentially spooning him. it’s very warm, the sun and yoongis body, but it doesn’t bother hoseok much. he scritches his nose and relaxes. In this size, a cat is better than any pillow he could use.
☼
It's as if that first cuddle in the park broke a dam. In the following month yoongi learns that hoseok is a very touchy person in general. They go to the park every week at least once, hang out together in silence. Yoongi does his usual nap-and-free massages combo, hoseok climbs around the trees or joins him on the gras. It’s weird at first, feeling him this close.
But for whatever reason, it’s easy to accept the squirrel in his personal space. He’s squishy and soft and warm, pretty tiny even. Yoongi learns that he is a little shorter than hoseok as humans, but his cat body is easily bigger. Hoseok takes a liking to napping on him, curling up on his fur or wiggling into the middle of yoongi curled up like a circle. He says he likes yoongis purring and his soft fur. It even happens at night sometimes, that hoseok sneaks into yoongis bed instead of his own and they sleep cuddled up there together.
Yoongi knows it would be different if they were just humans. He’d never cuddle with a man he met not even a month ago. But as animals, somehow, it works. Not to say that hoseok isn’t touchy as a human too. He throws his arm around yoongi if they stand next to each other, or if they pass in the hallway he doesn’t really try to not graze against him. normally, yoongi is one of those people who plaster themselves flat against the wall to let others pass by him without touching. Hoseok is certainly not, with how he just walks straight ahead, accepting a fleeting touch happily.
But all that is nothing yoongi can’t get used to. They hang out together often if they don’t have to work. For movie nights they curl up on the couch together and when the end credits roll in both lazily change forms and drag themselves into the beds. A few afternoons one of them starts listening to music in the bedroom and the other joins automatically, lured in by familiar and loved beats and lyrics.
It's how they end up on the pull-out couch, lying next to each other and enjoying new albums, recommending songs and artists to each other. Yoongi lets hoseok listen to his own SoundCloud after he gets pestered about it for a day. Not that he hides his musical career (that has not taken off yet). He’s proud of his music. But showing it to people he knows in real life is always a different matter. Everything goes well though and hoseok praises him to heaven until yoongi decides to change into a cat and flee the room.
They also explore the neighborhood together, as animals or humans. They have to be careful though, a woman already tried taking photos when she saw the cat and squirrel walking along the street together. Deciding to use their last study-free month, they splurge a little and go to a few restaurants, try out the ones who deliver into the area. Soon they decide for a few favorites. Yoongi is sure for other people they look like a couple, getting a table for two and giggling away through the night. But they’re just friends. the best friends. hoseok is growing closer to his heart by the day and yoongi knows that their friendship will go past university and their roommate days.
Both of them call their families finally one evening and confess about moving in with another shifter. Hoseoks mother scolds him for five full minutes because he was found out by yoongi. she ignores any objections that he merely talked to a literal cat about it. yoongis mother laughs at them and asks for the number of hoseoks mother. Of course she is curious as well, meeting another shifter species. And it’s always good to have new friends who are already in on the secret. After all, she had to go through the same trouble of having kids from a human man and then explaining why they just changed into animals in front of his innocent eyes.
All in all, it goes pretty well for them. Yoongi manages to get a promotion at work and needs less hours for the same amount of money, hoseoks job as a barista is actually fun for him. yoongi even visits him at work one time and orders an iced americano, making hoseok smile with nostalgia. Yoongi finds time to work on his music and plays the piano often. Their studio is always tinted in pretty sunlight and yoongi loves sitting there.
The combination of the music he plays, the light, the overall studio atmosphere. it’s a nice aesthetic. Hoseok seems to think so too and from time to time he wanders into the studio when yoongi plays, listens for a while. When yoongi breaks out into a weird piano rendition of hip hop songs he always starts dancing. It’s really funny and soon their laughter drowns out the sound of yoongis shaky fingers pressing the keys.
And just like hoseok likes his piano playing, yoongi really admires his dancing skills. He has honestly no idea how to spot a good dancer, or when hoseok makes mistakes. But the way he moves his body smoothly over the floor is truly impressive. It looks so easy, like his body was made to move around in weird shapes yoongi can’t even understand. He takes to watching hoseok dance sometimes, as a cat.
He just changes forms in their bedroom and walks over, opens the doors with the rope hanging down. then he nudges it almost shut with his body and makes his way onto the windowsill or the piano, depending by how much sun he wants that day. Hoseok mainly ignores him safe for a wink or a short greeting. He just continues dancing, and yoongi watches. A few times he falls asleep like that, wholly the cat he looks like. Hours later he learns hoseok took photos of him happily and send them to his mother, who send them to yoongis mother, who texts him he should take better care of his fur. He didn’t know their mothers became friends like that.
The windowsills with his pillows are perfect spots for sunbathing. One of the many perks of the apartment. He spends even more time as a cat that when he’d been living alone. Hoseok doesn’t seem to mind at all. after getting used to each other, they know their boundaries and what they prefer. In yoongis case, he prefers some good scratches and belly rubs, a clear boundary is to be picked up. it’s weird, and he never liked dangling in the grasp of a human at all. hoseok is a total gentleman about it and doesn’t even try to convince him although yoongi can guess he’d very much like to cuddle with cat yoongi as a human too.
But he indulges yoongis need for some careful affection easily, even likes to pet him and grins happily when yoongi inevitably starts purring. Soon he’s an expert in belly rubs, trained by yoongi personally.
Hoseok isn’t as often a squirrel though. While yoongi is content to laze around and take frequent naps in his time, hoseok is more of a doer. Always running around, either dancing, cleaning the apartment, reading a little, watching videos, talking walks through the park. As a squirrel he can’t do most of these things very well, so he changes mostly to sleep and to visit the park only.
But one time he gets a little stuck in the morning, not changing back after waking yoongi up with his insistent turning and tossing. After yoongi changed and dressed himself he goes back to the bedroom and tries communicating with hoseok. Through asking simple yes or no questions he finds out that hoseok can’t change back right now. it happens sometimes.
But it’s how yoongi finds himself sharing breakfast with a squirrel, offering him to make coffee or get some walnuts from hoseoks supposedly secret stash yoongi found days ago. Hoseok eats them happily. it’s kind of adorable, how he holds it with his tiny hands and nibbles away at it. yoongi takes a photo. (and sends it to his mother, revenge!)
After a row of more questions yoongi puts on a Ghibli movie for hoseok. He picked Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s only natural that he ends up on the couch too, sitting there with hoseok leaning against his thigh and watching the whole movie with him. apparently squirrels like head scratches too. Or it’s a hoseok thing.
Suffice to say, their first month together passes without any conflicts. And then it’s already time for university. They are both rather excited, happy to finally start their student life. They are perfectly content living together, best friends even. Yoongi trusts hoseok with absolutely everything. It’s a secret still, but if hoseok would ask him again with his puppy eyes he’d totally let hoseok pick him up. they cuddle every other night in the cat tree, hang out in every combination possible. Yoongi is getting good at reading squirrel hoseoks body language and hoseok understands cat-him better by the week. Everything is going smoothly, and they feel ready for university.