Prompt #119: Nothing Beats Carrots (2/2)

[100-timesover.livejournal.com]

[Part 1]

***

The next morning, Yifan paces outside the door, unsure if he should knock or let Joonmyeon sleep in. Chef Jung made a comment that Joonmyeon skipped dinner and Yifan starts to worry when the rabbit is also skipping breakfast. It's almost noon and he hasn't heard a sound from the rabbit.


“Joonmyeon? Are you awake?” he tries calling out instead.


No replies are heard when he presses his ear against the door.


“I'm not mad about last night,” Yifan explains. “I know you don't believe me, but I wouldn't be angry about that. So, please come out?”


The elder bits his lip nervously at the lack of sound.


“I’ll stay in my room so you don't have to worry about seeing me. Just, please come out and eat something,” he begs before walking away.


Meanwhile, Joonmyeon isn't necessarily ignoring Yifan. He's still in bed, blanket wrapped around his body, but his stomach hurts, a lot. He doesn't understand why, it's the first time that it has hurt this much. He groans and wiggles his stomach deeper into the warmth of his bed. Unfortunately, it's not easing the pain. There are tears in the corner of his eyes, and now he's clenching the sheets in his bed.


He gives up on ignoring the pain and decides to get help. Even if the tall wizard ends up creating rabbit stew out of him, at least his death will be painless. Right now he'll take anything over this pain.


He rolls off the bed, with his favorite blanket on his back and crawls to the door. He barely has the door open when his stomach pain acts up again, and he lays down on the floor, whimpering for help.


He thinks death may be near and he didn't even get to try the moist carrot cake that Jung has made. Life is too cruel on him.


There's an angel hovering in his vision. He looks eerily similar to Yifan, but the glowing outline and the wide wings indicate that it must be an angel. He lets the angel pick him up and lull him into a deep sleep.

***

Yifan doesn't know which person he should be mad at. Himself for ignoring Joonmyeon’s well-being last night, the jerks that he thought were his friends until they told him they made a bet on how long before Joonmyeon ends up in hospital, or Yixing, who kicked him out of Joonmyeon’s room the moment he arrived.


Still, he's mostly mad at himself for being a crappy owner, and most of all stupid enough not to unlock Joonmyeon's door with the spare key.


The doctor says it's merely a case of wrong consumption of foods. Joonmyeon is known to have a sensitive stomach and it can't process meat as well as humans. Yifan assumes that it happened last night when he saw Joonmyeon near the food tables. He should have warned Joonmyeon ahead, or at least given him the ones that he could have eaten.


Kyungsoo tries to tell him that it's a beginner mistake. Even Jongin had stomach ache when he was a puppy, but Yifan refuses to listen. He already feels like a complete failure.


Joonmyeon wakes up hours later, feeling a lot better, and he smiles at Yixing’s presence. He nods at Yixing's endless worried questions before he remembers about the angelic figure that hovers on top before he fainted. He grabs Yixing's wrist as if to interrupt his rambling.


“Who found me?” he whispers.


“Oh, I thought you remembered. Yifan did,” his friend replies, although scrunching his nose in annoyance. “I still can't believe he got you sick.”


Joonmyeon blushes at the thought of the tall wizard seeing him in a vulnerable position, but he also feels the need to clarify that it wasn't the wizard's fault.


“Don't blame him,” Joonmyeon mutters. “I just wanted to try the food. They taste really good.”


“Oh,” Yixing comments. “Is it better than carrot stew?”


“Yes!” Joonmyeon says excitedly. “But now, I can't even try it anymore.”


“Don't worry about it. Jung can make the same thing, but without meat!”


“Will it tastes as good?”


“Of course!”


Joonmyeon nods his head in excitement. Neither notices how Yifan subtly enters the room.


“Um, hi,” Yifan greets them.


Yixing gives him a glare in return, but Joonmyeon shyly looks away, still embarrassed that he was being overly dramatic.


“I'm glad you're okay now. I was worried that it was something worse.”


“Why?” Joonmyeon whispers, still gazing at his blanket.


“Why what?” The elder is confused.


The rabbit shakes his head, reminding himself that he shouldn't question his master. He still doesn't know if the tall wizard will punish him later on for the trouble he caused.


“No, tell me,” the wizard insists. “I know I'm still a wizard to both of you, but I swear I'm just trying my best to be a good owner.” The tall wizard sighs in frustration as he combs his hair backward.


Neither of the hybrids reply to him, so Yifan’s shoulders slum down and he pouts as he takes out the package he brought from home.


“Anyway, while you were asleep, you kept mumbling carrot cake... so I brought you some,” Yifan says half dejectedly. “I’ve tried it. It's really good, and it’s not poisonous like last night’s food.”


This time Yixing looks up, his eyes wide at Yifan's words.


“I mean -- “ Yifan stutters and stumbles on the next word, but can't seem to say it. In the end, he growls in frustration before shouting “I give up!”


Needless to say, both rabbits watch him storm off and Joonmyeon is just confused on what happened.


Jongdae ends up tasting the carrot cake before Yixing allows Joonmyeon to have some. After giving them the okay, both rabbits are immediately in love with the cake.


“Jung made this,” Joonmyeon tells them pridefully. He seems to love the chef more than his new owner.


“So lucky,” Yixing whines. “I want carrot cake every day.”


“But then you'd get sick,” Jongdae tells him, as he ruffles Yixing’s furry hair.


“But you'd be there to take care of me,” Yixing flutters his eyes and Jongdae laughs at the silliness before kissing his nose.


Despite not wanting a new owner, Joonmyeon still feels bouts of jealousy whenever he watches Yixing interact with his owners. There is always an abundance of love between them, and Joonmyeon wishes that he wasn't afraid to open his heart again. For now, it seems only pain reside in his mind, and he can't move on from it. He only hopes that one day he can let go of the past.

***

Joonmyeon is discharged the day after and Hyuk is the one that picks him up because Yifan has to go back to work. He soon finds out that Yifan took the day off yesterday and now he has to catch up with the workload. Joonmyeon, despite still labeling the tall man as wizard, feels guilty for causing more issues.


Jung greets him when he enters the house and he's begging for Joonmyeon’s forgiveness when he realized that he caused Joonmyeon's illness. Of course, Joonmyeon feels that it should be his fault, not others, but Jung insists that he should accept the apology.


But the biggest surprise is the gift that sits waiting in the living room. Jung said that it came yesterday and even Yifan didn't know who it was from.


Joonmyeon tears off the piece of label attached to it, and gasping once he sees the words of a joke. It's exactly formatted like the previous labels. The joke is also as funny as the ones he has gotten.


This paper feels thicker than the usual ones he has gotten. He follows the edges and sees that it has been folded, purposely hiding another message inside. He's able to open the layer and reads it.


I heard you got a new owner, but that's okay… you already own my heart.


The statement got his long ears red and his cheeks blushing. Jung asks if he's okay, and he wrinkles the paper into his fist, shaking his head in embarrassment. Despite the sudden confession, he's been wondering who the admirer could be.


As the weeks pass by, Joonmyeon feels more at home as he gets into a daily routine. There's the 10 AM sun bathing time in the foyer, and then play time in the afternoon with Yixing or Jongin. Most of all, he loves dinner time because he gets to help Jung prepare food, and he gets to decide which carrot dish he wants to try next.


Not to mention that the gifts keep coming, even during weekends when the post office is supposedly closed. He looks forward to opening them, even if some gifts are repetitive.


Furthermore, there's a new routine that develops between him and Yifan. It started off with one sided conversations where Yifan asked and Joonmyeon answered with a nod, but now the rabbit is starting to use his voice, even if he stands ten feet away, and Yifan is surprisingly okay with that. Joonmyeon is still cautious on why Yifan is never angry, but he allows his defense to go down as he gets used to his life in this big manor.


He barely notices how he's getting comfortable around Yifan’s presence despite the lack of conversations they have.


Their relationship starts to evolve a few weeks later. Joonmyeon recently wakes up from his afternoon nap, and he’s becoming bored with his regular toys. So he likes to explore the manor, and find a new thing to play with. As he passes by some room, he notices a familiar figure sitting by the large window, along with a large canvas in front of him.


Joonmyeon approaches Yifan cautiously, since he can't be sure if the elder will like his snooping. He tries to peek on what he's doing, but he can't tell from far away. So he walks sideway against the wall, hoping Yifan won't notice him if he blends against the walls.


As he comes closer, he finally sees that Yifan is drawing something, but he can't tell if it's an object or a person. He's too preoccupied with his thoughts that he doesn't notice Yifan staring back at him.


“Would you like to come closer?”


Joonmyeon jumps backward and clutches a random table.


“Sorry,” Yifan says sheepishly. “I just thought you wanted to see me draw.”


Joonmyeon stares back momentarily, unsure if he should or not, but then he decides he's too curious to not know. So he nods and takes a step forward to him.


“What is that?” Joonmyeon whispers.


“Oh, I thought it's obvious,” Yifan tells him with a frown. “It's a horse.”


“It doesn't look like a horse.”


“What? But it even has the tail,” he points to the scribbly mess. “And the big nose.”


“Oh,” Joonmyeon replies. “It looks like an ugly dog.”


Yifan makes a weird noise from his throat and his face pinches as he feels disappointed that Joonmyeon couldn't figure it out. The rabbit seems to notice as he immediately apologizes, and practically flinches when Yifan moves his hand to scratch his hair.


“Don't be,” Yifan insists. “I love to draw, but people have said that I can't draw well. I wish I could though. Anyway, would you like to try drawing?”


Joonmyeon takes his time to answer before mumbling a response.


“Will it hurt?” the rabbit’s eyes zooms into the pointy end of the pencil.


“Of course not,” Yifan says reassuringly.


It takes a while to set up Joonmyeon’s canvas, but once it's ready, Joonmyeon takes a pencil and warily presses it against the canvas. He looks at Yifan for guidance and the elder moves his pencil, showing how to use it.


Yifan suggests to the rabbit to make something easy, like a circle, but Joonmyeon wants to try a horse instead. Not wanting to upset his rabbit, and ruin their first real interaction, Yifan shows the horse image that he was drawing from.


Yifan thinks Joonmyeon will be struggling and crying by the end of the day. He was unfortunately wrong in so many ways. Not only is Joonmyeon better in drawing, he's also beating Yifan at his own ' Who can draw the fastest? ’ game. Needless to say, Yifan gives up and Joonmyeon giggles at the sight of a beaten Yifan.


From then on, Joonmyeon starts to take up art as a hobby, and Yifan allows a hybrid teacher to come by and teach the rabbit a few things. Yifan doesn't expect Joonmyeon to immediately like him, but he does appreciate the times when Joonmyeon forgets about his fear, and leans closer to Yifan for his warmth.


Joonmyeon is too preoccupied with his new hobby these days. He doesn't even wonder on how his admirer knew about his new hobby. Instead, he immediately falls in love with the brand new paint and brushes that was given. Even Yifan’s pout at seeing the gift doesn't ruin his happiness.

***

Yixing visits him a few days later with his own surprise. He brings the different kind of stencils that he owns, including the carrot one since they plan on coloring the walls. Of course, Yifan never agreed on making his living room’s walls look like a toddler’s play room, but he allowed it for the sake of keeping Joonmyeon happy. Jongdae tells the elder that is so whipped, that he's becoming more like doormat. Yifan shrugs it off, keeping his shoulders straight as if it's the last dignity he has.


No one thought it’d happen, but it's on this same day that Joonmyeon is forced to learn about heats. Not necessarily his heat, but how rabbits will go into heat.


Yixing was acting normal at one point, before he starts to scratch his body and takes off his shirt due to his fever. Joonmyeon doesn't understand what's happening to his friend, especially when Yixing starts to whimper in pain and lies down on the cold floor. Luckily, Jongdae and Baekhyun are still around and they immediately drag the rabbit to their car. Needless to say, Jongdae apologizes to Yifan, and promises to call once Yixing is no longer in heat.


It leaves Yifan in an awkward situation when Joonmyeon immediately asks if his friend is okay, and if he should go to Yixing’s house to take care of him.


Yifan ends up calling Kyungsoo and Jongin for their help.


With everyone in the same room, they begin to painfully explain what happens during heat and how to end one.


“Does that mean Jongdae and Baekhyun will take care of my heat?”


“No!” Yifan says loudly, causing everyone to stare at him weirdly. “I mean... they're Yixing’s owners, so Yixing wouldn't like that.”


“Oh,” Joonmyeon says before he concentrates really hard again. “Kyungsoo then?”


“Nope,” Kyungsoo immediately denies. “Jongin and I take care of each other’s heat, but no one else.”


“Oh,” there's confusion laced in Joonmyeon’s tone.


“You can go through a heat alone. You don't have to ask someone to help you,” Jongin tries to help.


“But I want somebody too,” Joonmyeon pouts.


“You can always ask Yifan,” Kyungsoo unhelpfully comments.


Yifan would have killed his friend if Joonmyeon actually understood what that meant. Luckily, Joonmyeon is too confused to understand the situation


“It doesn't matter anyway,” Yifan tells him in the end. “Your heat won't come until you turn 2. Isn't that still a long time?”


“But I turn 2 this year!” Joonmyeon tells them excitedly and Yifan swears that the gods are testing him.


“Oh, I know! How about you ask your secret admirer?!” Jongin tells him. “I bet he wouldn't mind being your somebody .”


Yifan wonders if he can kill both of his friends. But then again, he thought, who else would hear his drunk ramblings at 3 in the morning?


“You think he would?” Joonmyeon asks curiously. “But then, how do I reach him?”


Jongin hums as he thinks and finally he finds the perfect solution.


“Leave a message in the center! Your admirer probably had to ask permission from the administration to mail the items, so they should know who it is.”


Joonmyeon nods excitedly at Jongin, and it's only Kyungsoo that notices the frown on Yifan's lips.

***

Luckily, Joonmyeon's birthday is still another month, so Yifan has time to start precautions. One of those precautions is making sure that the admirer never shows his ugly face in this house. He's also thinking of creating a panic room, where he can live there for a week and not worry about hearing Joonmyeon's moans echoing in the hallways. Unfortunately, Kyungsoo burned that plan and told him to man up already.


“It was cute at first, like when Jongin used to chase his own tail. But now you sound very pathetic and whiny. So either tell him your feelings or get over it,” Kyungsoo rants angrily at him.


Yifan wanted to deny any claims of pathetic behaviours, but then he realizes that the main issue wasn't about that. So he sighs and wonders on how he should explain to Joonmyeon that he doesn't want other beings to touch his rabbit.


He's too preoccupied with his troubles that he doesn't notice when Joonmyeon starts to slowly crowd into his personal space.


It starts small when they're both eating dinner, and Joonmyeon is curious on the types of food that Jung serves for Yifan. Yifan carefully makes sure that Joonmyeon won't eat any meat, and allows the rabbit to finish his vegetables portion.


“I like this one the most,” Joonmyeon admits to Yifan. He shows a piece of fruit pepper to him.


“Ah, I like that too.”


“Oh,” Joonmyeon says disappointedly before giving back his vegetables.


“No~ You should finish it. I prefer my meat.”


Joonmyeon wrinkles his nose in disgust and Yifan can't help but laugh at that.


From then on, Joonmyeon sits beside him, stealing a random vegetable or commenting on how Yifan is basically a cannibal. Yifan doesn't know how to react to the latter comment, but he gets distracted with Joonmyeon's happy expression.


There was also that time when Yifan dropped off Joonmyeon at Yixing’s place, and he ended up staying throughout playtime.


“You're leaving?” Joonmyeon asks with a sad expression, the one Yifan memorized whenever Yixing left after their playdate.


“No?” Yifan says unsurely. His fingers twitch as he feels awkward standing in the doorway.


“Don't you want to play with Yixing?” Baekhyun asks amusedly to Joonmyeon.


Joonmyeon looks torn between saying 'Yes’ and 'No’ until he finally decides that he doesn't want to stay in Yixing’s place alone.


“But you have me and Yixing here,” Baekhyun says confusedly.


Joonmyeon immediately shakes his head and reaches for Yifan’s arm. He latches on the coat’s sleeve and refuses to leave the taller’s side. Yixing gasps at him from the side.


The hurt look on Yixing’s face reminded Yifan of the thousand times Joonmyeon has rejected him. He has been on the other side before, so he knows that this must hurt a lot for Yixing.


“It's okay, I'll stay for a while,” Yifan ends up telling them.


“Are you going to leave me when I'm distracted?” Joonmyeon asks in a quiet voice.


“No,” Yifan reassures him. “I'll stay the whole time.”


Yifan smiles awkwardly at Joonmyeon and the hybrid seems to like this answer.


“Okay,” Joonmyeon smiles happily before running towards Yixing and the two hybrids run off to Yixing’s room.


“I feel like I dreamt that scene,” Yifan mutters to himself.


Baekhyun laughs at him and pats his shoulder.


“It's a precursor to his heat. Yixing was clingy, too, when he was going to his first heat. How many more weeks again? Two, right?”


Yifan doesn't answer, he's too busy panicking that it's two more weeks.


Of course, nothing compares to when Joonmyeon stole all of the house's pillows, including the ones Yifan used, and made a pillow fort in the living room. He was also using Yifan's pillow to sleep with in that fort. So when Yifan requested to take a pillow back to his room, Joonmyeon gave him a dirty glare, as if the question was a betrayal, and hid inside the fort for the rest of the day. Yifan ended up buying a blow up pillow, and chanted, ‘One more week,’ inside his head.


Presently, they're down to three more days and Yifan is itching to have his living room go back to normal again.


Today, he's trying to learn how to create the head of a bear with this step-by-step instruction. However, Joonmyeon insists on sitting next to him, or rather, half on him, because he thinks this position is more comfortable than sitting alone.


Joonmyeon has been judging his drawing for a while, and Yifan seems to shrug off every negative comment. The elder is too preoccupied on enjoying the warmth that radiates between them. It helps that the weather has been fluctuating lately, so there's always an excuse for Yifan to ask the hybrid to sit close.


There's also a good chance of sniffing the vanilla scent on Joonmyeon’s hair, without his friends giving him the judgment stare from afar. It's not his fault that vanilla has such an enticing smell. Luckily, Kyungsoo wasn't there to ridicule him when the former admitted this to Baekhyun and Jongdae.


Nevertheless, Yifan’s sensory is attuned to Joonmyeon's behaviours and scent, so he notices rather quickly when Joonmyeon is behaving differently. So when Joonmyeon starts to nuzzle against his neck and paws at his shirt, Yifan knows that this is merely heat behavior. It doesn't help that Yifan finds himself aroused when it happens and the half attempt to shield his hard on from Joonmyeon.


The elder chuckles at the ticklish sensation from the hybrid’s fur and almost pushes Joonmyeon off when the younger squirms too much.


It isn't until Joonmyeon pushes the drawing and Yifan away that the elder starts to worry. He catches sight of Joonmyeon running into the living room, probably to hide inside the intricate pillow fort.


“Are you feeling okay?” Yifan asks cautiously when he hears nothing from inside the fort.


That question begins the catalyst of Joonmyeon's heat. Yifan’s ears perk up as he hears rustles and a distinctive moan. He doesn't need to see Joonmyeon to know that his clothes are being taken off.


He's frozen in his spot, until he hears his hybrid calling out his name, and the whimpering that follows.


He panics and leaves the room, walking fast towards the front door. From there, he can see Jung in the doorway, putting his shoes on. Yifan is immediately annoyed that his chef is trying to leave so soon.


“What are you doing?! You're supposed to stay here until his heat is done,” Yifan demands in a cracked tone.


“So you want me to watch you two?” Jung takes the opportunity to smirk.


“No! I mean, go help him!”


“With my hands? Or is it my -- “


“Fuck no,” this time the elder growls. “I just mean -- “


Jung raises an eyebrow as if he finds this more amusing than confusing.


“Why can't you stay so I know what not to do,” the elder ends up mumbling.


“Don't you have hybrid friends or that weird couple that can show you?”


“But they don't understand my predicament. They think it's okay to touch him as if Joonmyeon needs that,” Yifan rants unhappily.


“But he kind of does? Isn't the whole point of heat is to mate with another hybrid or someone? Are you going to let him suffer then?”


“ No , but he's barely an adult. I mean, what kind of person would I be if I mated with a hybrid that's two years old?!”


“Well, technically a pure rabbit at 2 years old is about 28 years old for human age. So I'd imagine for hybrid, Joonmyeon is probably around 20’s, but if the age difference freaks you out, I know someone who owns a young hybrid but the owner is like 40.”


Yifan stares at his chef speechless, his brain is still processing that Joonmyeon may actually be 'near’ his age.


“Oh, um, are you sure?” He finally asks hesitantly.


“Yep,” Jung nods. “Anyway, I have to meet my girl, who may be extremely pissed because I'm late. So, good luck, and don't stain the cushions,” he pats his boss in the shoulder before slamming the door closed.


Yifan stands rooted in the entrance, too much thoughts in his mind. After a while, he hears something loud falling in the living room, and he shakes his head out of the trance. With his decision set, he goes to the living room, more prepared than before.

***

Handling a rabbit in heat seems more complicated than convincing people that hybrids are friends for life. He doesn't know how Joonmyeon manages to get him into the pillow fort, without making things tumble, but they're inside now. It's cozy and surprisingly wider than he imagined. The best part is seeing Joonmyeon’s body in the dimmed light, as if the setting gives off a romantic vibe.


Joonmyeon doesn't quite understand on what his body wants, always whimpering when a sudden wave of heat overcomes his nerves. Yifan ends up reassuring him by cautiously touching him in certain parts, but of course, Joonmyeon is the one that demands to touch more.


It was much harder to get Joonmyeon to feel his first orgasm. Every time he feels close, he begins to whimper in fear, as if the sensation will traumatized him. It takes some convincing from Yifan’s side before Joonmyeon finally climaxed. Despite the loud huffs and red cheeks, Yifan thinks his hybrid look so beautiful and he only wishes that he took a photo of that expression.


The heat lasts less than five days, but with the amount of times Yifan has gone down on Joonmyeon or even jacked him off, he's feeling way too exhausted. He wonders if he'll be more or the same exhausted if he had allowed penetration. It was his decision to not go further, knowing that it should be Joonmyeon’s decision when he's completely sane.


Despite avoiding that one act, Joonmyeon doesn't stop from wanting to cuddle with Yifan after his heat, and the occasional kisses to his cheeks. And sometimes, when the day is tiring, there are lazy kisses in the couch or as they cuddle in bed.

***
6 Months Later

After the recent announcement of WuBrid’s new CEO and the hectic schedule that followed, Joonmyeon finds himself missing his owner’s presence as he stares out of the small window from Yifan’s door office. Despite Yifan’s efforts of keeping Joonmyeon happy, there are days when he can't avoid it and he's forced to neglect his hybrid until his schedule gets better. Joonmyeon is starting to recognize the stalling methods that they'd use when the rabbit asks for Yifan, so he's unhappy when they won't give him a straight answer.


Which is why Joonmyeon is currently in Yifan’s office instead of their house. He insisted to Hyuk to drive him here, and now, he's waiting for Yifan to return to his office. Though the creepy glare he's sending through the office door isn't helping the workers’ lives. It seems the employees are more scared of Joonmyeon's glare than their supervisor’s anger.


“I am so proud of you,” Kyungsoo commented a few hours ago. “I can't believe you have what it takes to send fear into their weak souls.”


Of course, Joonmyeon doesn't understand what Kyungsoo means, but if it meant that his glare would make Yifan work less, then he shall glare at everyone .


Unfortunately, he didn't expect Yifan to react strongly to his glare. The surprised expression and the dropped coffee cup is a testament of how scared Yifan was.


“I'm sorry,” Joonmyeon shouts from the office before struggling to open the door. He's still not very good at doors that require turning the knob, rather than pushing a handle down.


Yifan is kind enough to open it for him, and makes a mental note that the doorknob needs to be changed.


The warm hug he receives almost makes up for the rough morning he had. He leans in to smell the scent of vanilla and feel the ticklish sensation on his chin, as Joonmyeon's fur rubs against him.


“Let's go home!” Joonmyeon tells him. There's a small pout on his lip, and the unmistakable thumping of his foot, a sign that the rabbit is restless.


“I can't, I still have meetings.”


“Skip them,” Joonmyeon insists.


“Baby, remember when we talked about how I'll be busy during the day, but I'm yours every night.”


“That's not fair,” Joonmyeon whines. “These wizards get to have you longer.”


“They’re not wizards,” Yifan tells him exasperatedly.


“One of them said I have a cute tail,” his rabbit says with a sad tone. “And he was holding a large scissor. I think if Kyungsoo wasn't around, he would’ve snip my tail and my blood would be all over your carpet.”


Yifan looks amusedly at him before bending down and hooking his arms around Joonmyeon's legs. He lifts up the small rabbit and carries him to the next destination.


“Are we going home?” Joonmyeon asks excitedly.


“No, you can come with me to my next meeting.”


“But meetings are boring ,” the younger whines again.


“Don't you want to meet the person who saved you?”


Joonmyeon's ears perk up at that mention.


“Jongdae is here ?”


“Well, yes and others,” Yifan reminds him.


Joonmyeon seems excited at the news as he wiggles in Yifan’s hold.


When they arrive in the conference room, Joonmyeon immediately asked to be let down. He runs and enters the room once he immediately notices Jongdae amongst them.


“Jongdae!”


The rabbit immediately jumps into his lap and Jongdae laughs excitedly as he manages to hold him.


Yifan tells himself that old Yifan would have been jealous, but new Yifan is happy to share Joonmyeon with everyone. Somewhere in the background, Kyungsoo scoffs at that notion.


Oh pfft, yeah, who was Yifan fooling? He immediately pulls Joonmyeon off Jongdae’s lap and carries him to his chair. He nuzzles to the rabbit’s hair, as if he can mark his scent on Joonmyeon, too.


“Anyway,” Yifan says once he notices everyone's judgmental stares, “you already know Jongdae, but the others were also there when they saved you from the wizard.”


“But one of them looks like he's a wizard,” Joonmyeon whispers loudly.


“I'm sure he's innocent,” Yifan insists.


“But I remember him asking me if I wanted to go to his house, and if Jongdae wasn't there, he'd have locked me up in another basement.”


“What! I wouldn't have!” protests the man, who turns out to be Minseok. He looks nervous at Joonmyeon's words.


Only his teammates are laughing at his expressions.


“I swear I'm a good owner. I even have my own hybrid now. He's a dog hybrid. You'd like him.”


Joonmyeon gasps scandalously before latching on tighter to Yifan’s chest.


“He wants to feed me to his hybrid,” the rabbit wails and panics.


“No! That's not what I meant!”


“Geez, it hasn’t even been five minutes since you’ve met him again and you’ve managed to traumatize him for a second time,” Jongdae scolds.


“Yeah, whatever happened to saying the right words?” another teammate snickers to him.


Minseok groans in defeat before slumping his head over the table.


“Anyway,” Yifan says amusedly as he rubs Joonmyeon's back. “They're here to check if you're doing well and if you're happier than before.”


It's also closure for the team’s side. They need reminders that the work they do is awesome.


“So, are you happier?” Jongdae asks teasingly.


Joonmyeon nods with a big smile, finally sitting normally again once he understands the situation better.


“Are you sure ? Because if this man is a wizard too, we'd save you right now.”


“No~ He's really good to me, and he never punishes me. He lets me do anything and he never gets mad when I destroy things,” Joonmyeon confirms.


“Sounds like he's completely whipped,” someone comments and Yifan doesn't even care that it's 100% true.


“And he also helped me with my heat last time, and it was so good. We didn't have sex, but that's okay. He promised me next time,” the rabbit informs in a happy tone.


It's only Yifan that blushes red from the recent fact, while the rest of the people in the room laughed or awkwardly looked away.


“Oh, really? How did he help you during heat then?”


“Well, he put his mouth -- “


“They don't need to know that!” Yifan practically shouts and covers Joonmyeon's mouth.


His rabbit looks upset, but Yifan knows how to distract him well.


“Why don't we eat now? Jung made carrot dishes for us.”


“Even carrot cake?!” Joonmyeon asks excitedly.


“Yes.”


Joonmyeon runs ahead to the food room without waiting for the others. The team can only laugh at his thrilled expression.


As they walk out one by one, Jongdae walks up to him with a sly smirk.


“You know, if you ever need pointers on how to satisfy -- “


“Fuck you.”


Yifan walks quickly ahead.


“I'm just saying, you need to be careful with the tail!!”


As much as Yifan knows it's a trick, he really doesn't know anything about treating Joonmyeon's tail. He figures he'll end up caving in to Jongdae's pieces of advice, but for now, he can just focus on Joonmyeon's happy smiles.

Off Screen Moment

There's a new gift from his admirer a few weeks after his heat, and Joonmyeon is curious to see what it is. Inside the box was a very cute bear with a 'Beary Happy’ label on his stomach. He thinks how a few months ago, he would’ve made this bear his new favorite toy, but now he just sees it as another cute toy.


Along with the bear comes another note, but this time it's not a joke. It simply says 'I’d be beary happy if you'd meet me at the HRC Summer Event’.


Joonmyeon doesn't know if he wants to meet his admirer. At one point, he's very curious, but he doesn't feel comfortable meeting his admirer anymore. In fact, he thinks he'd be okay with never meeting his admirer. After all, he already has Yifan, and his owner is better than anything combined... Except carrots — nothing beats those.


Even then, Yifan finds out about the gifts and he starts asking Joonmyeon about the hybrid’s feelings.


“Are you sure? It's okay if you want to meet him,” Yifan tells him as he combs the tangles out of Joonmyeon's fur. The rabbit had been spending the day rough housing with a few other hybrids.


“No, I want to spend the day painting,” Joonmyeon says as he sighs happily. He leans closer to Yifan’s touches.


“That's a better idea,” the elder agrees. “My bedroom's walls are still white. We should redecorate it.”


“Yeah!” the rabbit agrees immediately.


They fall into a comfortable silence before Yifan asks him another question.


“What if I asked you to not keep the present?” he says teasingly even though he just wants to see what Joonmyeon would do.


“I can't keep Beary? Why?”


“Because I don't want you accepting presents from other people anymore. It'd be like if I accepted presents from other hybrids.”


Joonmyeon freezes at his words.


“You have other hybrids?” he asks in a small tone.


“No, of course not, but that's how I feel when you accept his presents.”


“Oh,” Joonmyeon says sadly, before hugging his owner tightly to repent for his mistakes. “I'm sorry.”


“It's okay baby, I know you didn't mean to in the past.”


“But you shouldn't feel sad! I like you more than anything else.”


“Yeah? More than your admirer?”


“Mhm, I don't want him. I only want my FanFan,” Joonmyeon declares strongly.


Yifan blushes deeply at the words, and smiles shyly.


“Well, I only want my Joon bunny too.”


Joonmyeon hugs him tighter and Yifan barely hears the next words uttered by his hybrid.


“I love you,” he mumbles against Yifan's neck.


It's the first confession of deep feelings for either of them, so Yifan can feel the soaring in his heart, and a full warmth sensation in his stomach. He burrows his face into Joonmyeon's hair, enjoying this amazing moment.


“You don't love me?” Joonmyeon mumbles sadly, almost heartbroken by the silence.


“Of course I do,” Yifan argues. He's just not very good at saying it. He's better at showing his love, which is why he's kissing Joonmyeon's forehead softly. Then he trails soft kisses to his eyebrows, cheeks, nose and a gentle one on his lips.


“More than meat?” Joonmyeon asks randomly with a smile.


“Well, do you love me more than vegetables?”


“Yes!” The rabbit replies without hesitation.


“What about carrots?”


That question has him stumped, so Yifan stares at his rabbit amusedly as Joonmyeon’s expression turned serious.


By the end of night, Yifan happily smiles as Joonmyeon throws Beary over a tall balcony. They'll eventually throw out the other gifts, mostly jokes and random toys. Though, Yifan thinks he'll let Joonmyeon keep the brushes and stencils, after all, those were expensive. He would know, he was the one behind the gifts.