Chapter Text
When Chan wakes up, it is slow and leaves a twinge of fear on his spine. The forced gradual process, waking up slowly instead of all at once, leaves him more overwhelmed the more awareness he gains.
The space he’s in is dim, he’s lying on soft hay that cradles his body. When he wakes enough to move, he scrambles out towards the only light he can see, half dragging his limbs. He takes in the late evening lighting, shadows long and light tinted orange. A cool breeze runs through his fur, and he startles when he feels it on his skin.
He looks down at his paws and they are clean . There's no mud caked deep between his toes and stuck to his nails. The rest of his body is the same, dirt and oils stripped, his undercoat brushed out, and he is soft and clean .
Chan doesn't remember the last time he was clean.
He licks his chops and yawns, startled when he doesn't meet the resistance of his muzzle. He assumed the new men would have put it back on, but with a shake of his head, he notices his collar is gone too.
Chan ignores the curl of unfamiliar feelings in his chest and moves forward, moving to the food bowls. The water was refilled so he is free to drink until the scratch in the back of his throat is soothed.
Leaning down and not hearing the metallic sound of the muzzle hitting the bowl is dizzying, being able to lap up the water until there is none left was even worse (better?).
He looks to the food bowl next, stopping mid-head turn as he tries to process what he is seeing.
Cooked rice and meat.
Cooked meat.
Chan's breath shutters as he moves closer, sniffing the food.
There were vegetables and fruit too.
“Plain white rice with boiled chicken, steamed broccoli, and peaches,” a voice suddenly says.
Chan startles hard , skittering away from the bowls and fence and dropping low to the ground in fear.
“Oh, there's some multivitamins too. And some pretty strong antipsychotics with smaller dosage of antidepressants.”
As Chan’s brain struggles to recover from his fear, he registers what is in front of him.
A dog hybrid.
He has wavy black hair with long floppy ears of the same color, curly fur covering them, when he turns his body to inspect the bowls Chan catches sight of his short, clearly docked, tail.
He looks back up to Chan and smiles slightly, “Hi, I see that you are seeing me . My name is Seungmin and I’m a cocker spaniel hybrid, I’m going to get you more water while you recover from your startle.”
As the other dog walks away, Chan begins to wonder why he hadn't attacked. He doesn't have his muzzle on, he knows what that means, but for some reason, his fear overpowered the mindless instinct to attack.
Chan wonders why he is thinking about this at all.
His pondering is cut off when the dog walks back over holding a dripping hose.
Chan flinches further backward at the sight of the hose, flinging himself to the box in the back of the kennel.
He does not want to be sprayed with water. They gave him a place to hide, so he is going to hide.
“I’m not going to spray you,” the dog's voice rings out as the sound of water hitting metal meets Chan's ears.
He lies breathing heavily until the sounds of water stop, muscles tense and ready to snap at any moment.
“Your water is full again, I'm sorry for scaring you twice, I will be careful so it doesn't happen again. Someone else will be out tonight to check on you.”
Chan peeks through the opening of the box, watching as the dog walks away.
He creeps forward, diving his head into the food bowl once he reaches it. He scarfs the food down, reviling in the taste of cooked food and sweet peaches. A bubbly, warm feeling spreads through him as he licks the remaining grains of rice from his bowl.
His bowl.
Chan latches onto the thought, he no longer had his pole, his muzzle, or his yard. But he has new bowls, a large kennel with a box, and it was his .
Chan is a possessive dog after all.
Two sets of footsteps lurch him out of his thoughts.
Two men approach, and Chan instantly knows them as the tall and short men.
He retreats to his box, watching through the opening as the short one opens the gate and steps inside.
Chan growls deep in his throat as the man grabs his food bowl, pulling it out from its slot in the stand.
“Uhhh, Changbin you might want to hurry up.”
The tall man speaking is all Chan needs to spring from his place and charge at the short man.
Chan sees the fear on the short man's face as he lunges, knocking him over. The gate rattles loudly as the tall man scrambles inside.
Chan doesn't go after the man, he grabs his bowl and retreats quickly to his box, stuffing it into the hay and snarling at the men, his teeth exposed.
The tall one helps the short one up, “Well, something to add to his file, he's possessive of his bowls,” the short man grunts.
The tall one hums, “His file just keeps getting bigger huh?”
Chan’s eyes catch the movement of the short man’s hand rubbing over his bandaged arm. The wrapping went from his elbow to his hand, and Chan wonders how much damage he really did in those fleeting moments of consciousness.
“Let’s go Hyunjin, we’ll just get him a new bowl,” the short one says to the taller one, dusting himself off.
Chan watches as the two men leave, laying in the hay and huffing a breath so deep it sends the fibers into the air around his face.
As the sun further sets, Chan slips in and out of consciousness, never relaxing enough to reach deep sleep. He’s used to it, he doesn't dream, does not wake up well rested, his sleep is more of a doze than anything.
When the sun rises, he hears multiple sets of footsteps approaching.
He peeks out of the box, blinking as his eyes meet with the tall man, the cocker spaniel, and two new hybrids.
One of them is taller, with large ears that twitch and a long tan tail. Chan meets his sharp eyes, and realizes it is a fox, just different from what he has seen before.
The other Chan does know, in fact he is very familiar with this kind of hybrid.
It is a squirrel , small round ears with a huge bushy tail, his face is round and he looks fearful.
Good .
Chan rises from his place, standing just outside of the box as the tall man enters the cage, holding a new dog bowl and a mixing bowl of sorts.
“Hey there, good morning. I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Hyunjin. I've got your breakfast here, I'm going to give you a new bowl and put your food in it, okay?”
The man doesn't move until he finishes speaking, and he moves slowly with clear movements as he sets the bowl down and scoops food inside.
When he is finished he moves back to the gate and trades out the mixing bowl for a rake and scoop, “I’m going to clean up your space now.”
Chan tilts his head in confusion, that was new. No one had ever cleaned up after him like that before.
Chan chose to ignore that thought process (it was weird enough that he was thinking ) and focuses back in on the three hybrids still standing outside the kennel.
The foxes' ears twitch, and he steps slightly in front of the squirrel when Chan focuses on him.
“Innie it’s fine-” the squirrel starts.
“No,” the fox cuts off, “you saw what he did to Minho hyung.”
The cocker spaniel speaks up next, voice sharp, “Ayen, do not blame the dog for that, it's not his fault and you know that.”
They speak quietly, bickering for a second, filling Chan's nose with bitter emotions. His muscles tense as the tall man sighs loudly as he walks back to the gate.
“Could you not? You two are here to introduce yourselves, and you're here to help. Not stress him out more,” He says as he exits the kennel, pointing to them as he speaks.
“Sorry hyung,” the fox huffs, while the squirrel pins his ears and looks away. The other dog simply sighed and took the items from the tall ones hands.
After a moment or two, the fox sighs, looking back at Chan.
“Hello, my name is Jeongin, I am a fennec fox hybrid.”
Chan tilts his head and blinks, that is a species he hasn't heard of in a long time. He snaps out of his thoughts when the fox moves out of the way, bringing the squirrel back into his focus.
“Um, hello, I’m Jisung, I’m a squirrel. Though I think you already realized that.”
Chan lets a deep growl rumble in his chest, both his natural prey instinct and his trained drive edging him on. He wants to know what sinking his teeth in those soft cheeks would feel like.
“Okay time to go-” the cocker spaniel yelps right as the squirrel chirps in fear.
Chan feels his short tail start to wag as he runs up to the fence, jumping up onto it and barking loudly. Standing up like this, his huge body stretched out, he is taller than the three hybrids, and most likely equal with the tall man.
He reveles in seeing fear on the faces of the men.
“Yeah, let's go before this escalates any further.”
The smell of a prey hybrid's fear makes Chan go nuts, and even as the four men leave he continues to pace the front of the kennel, trying to find a way out so he can track down the squirrel like wants.
Eventually his joints, tender with the strain of being shifted for so long, force him to stop his pacing. He flops into the dirt, mind buzzing with frustration. He chews at his paws until they are sore and he is calm enough to get up and eat.
It’s nearly the same as before, rice, meat, fruit and vegetables. But this time everything but the rice was of a different variety. He eats quickly, grumbling in satisfaction at his full stomach.
He lays in his box and simply exists. Waiting for something to happen.
From that point on a routine was established. He is fed large, calorie dense meals twice a day, and someone would visit his kennel anywhere from 2 to 6 times through the day and night.
Sometimes it was just one of the humans, sometimes it was a hybrid, sometimes both. They came in groups of three or more whenever someone entered the kennel, and for a while Chan hid during these visits, but slowly he stopped being so afraid.
He never sees the sharp man again.
Chan grows restless though, pacing the kennel's fence until his body can’t take the movement anymore. He’s never been kept in one area for this long before, and every day, every week, he becomes more aware something was wrong with his brain.
Something is wrong, period.
One day, the cat and dog hybrids, Felix and Seungmin, came to stand outside his kennel. Chan has gotten into the habit of going to the fence to get closer to whoever was there, a part of him getting bubbly and warm when he sees the faces of these new people.
Chan instantly zeros in on the items the hybrids were holding, bright colors of fabric and rubber catching his eyes.
“Hey there, we brought you some gifts,” Felix said, and Chan’s tail wags at the smile on the cat's face.
Chan still wants to rip the cat apart, but he learned quickly that lunging and barking will only make the cat leave faster, and Chan doesn't want him to leave too fast.
Chan’s tail stops wagging as he finally processes what Felix said. Gifts?
Felix chuckles, “That didn't take as long as I was expecting it to. Are you curious?”
Chan grumbles, pressing his nose through the gaps in the fence, sniffing the air rapidly. He doesn't remember the last time he was gifted something.
Seungmin wordlessly unlatches the gate, tossing the items in his arms into the kennel. Felix does the same after, slamming the gate closed when Chan rushes forward.
Toys , Chan realizes.
Dog toys, some rubber, some thick fabric. Chan snaps his head up to where the two men are standing –Seungmin is holding a clipboard and pen– and barks.
When neither of them react, he dips his head and picks up a rope tug, whipping his head around and growling. His brain goes fuzzy as he goes toy to toy, testing them out, sinking his teeth in, and letting out high-pitched, puppyish barks. He runs around with a tennis ball in his mouth before something catches his eye, making him stop dead in his tracks.
Chan drops the ball in his mouth, moving to the toy. He picks it up, drops it, and then picks it up again, repeating the action multiple times while pacing.
It is a duck . Made of thick canvas and heavily reinforced, clearly meant to be played with hard.
A flurry of emotions twist in his chest as he looks at the toy's small embroidered black eyes. He whines and picks it up again, gently, barely letting his teeth touch the fabric. He walks back to his box, dropping the duck in the hay before curling around it.
Chan loves his duck.
Chan loves every stuffed animal he is brought after that moment.
He still plays with his other toys, but never his stuffed animals. They sit in his box, and Chan feels warm every time he lays with them.
It doesn't take long for Chan to have many of these stuffies, each of his owners giving him at least two. He has cats, ducks, wolves, dogs, so many different kinds.
Chan wonders what kind of stuffed animal the sharp man would give him.
Chan is conflicted about the sharp man, he knows he didn't hurt him bad enough to kill him, but he hadn't seen him since. He smells him on the others, so he knows he is still somewhere. Every time he thinks about what he did to the man too hard, a thick, sour emotion crawls up his throat, making his paws tingle.
He feels bad .
So he doesn't try to think about it often.
As time passes, the weather gets warmer and warmer, Chan’s space heater is traded out for a fan. The heat revives Chan, joints becoming loser as he spends more time pacing and playing than before.
One morning, Changbin and Hyunjin stick around until after Chan has finished eating his food. Seungmin is there too, holding his clipboard as always. Seungmin speaks to him while he eats, explaining that something new was going to happen, something good.
Chan is worried of course, but he… he trusts the other dog.
He follows them to the side of the kennel, where there is another gate leading to a fenced walkway. Chan has never seen this door opened, and when it creaks upwards suddenly, Chan startles. The men are standing on the other side of the walkway, and Chan realizes Changbin is holding a chain that runs across the sealing and to the gate, arms strong despite the scars that run across them.
“Hey, it’s okay, come on through the gate,” Seungmin beckons gently, snapping Chan out of his thoughts.
Chan steps through the gate, craning his neck to watch it lower to the floor again. The men start walking again, and Chan follows them down the walkway. The path leads to another gate, but Chan doesn't focus on it this time.
Chan instead looks out at what is beyond the gate.
It is a quite large enclosure. Bigger than his old yard by a fair amount just looking at it. When the gate opens and Chan walks through, he is greeted by trees, native grasses, and flowers.
It seemed like the space was a chunk of the forest beside the building cut out and fenced in. The fence is tall with curved barbed wire and netting stretching out a few feet inward, clearly designed to keep animals inside.
He just stands for a few moments, in awe of what he is being given access to.
“Hey,” Seungmin’s voice calls out, “ go , stretch your legs.”
Chan listens.
He takes off into the underbrush, feeling his muscles stretch as he runs. His paws dig into the dirt, toes spread to propel himself forward. His lungs burn as he takes in heaving breaths of the fresh air, and when he finally comes to a stop it is only because he reached the back fence.
He turns, sniffing the floor intently.
The smell of the earth soothed something in Chan deeply. The forest is much thicker this far back, only a few rays of golden light filtering through the canopy. Chan turns his face up into one of the rays, feeling the sun warm his face.
The wind is cool as it blows through, the tops of the tall conifers swaying with it.
He walks through the forest, the soft ground cushioning his joints and allowing him to keep going. He smells the air as he goes, pausing here and there to smell the bases of trees and plants he comes across.
He spends all day in the forest, taking a few naps in the sun before getting up to explore again. By the time the sun is setting his stomach is growling loudly, and he decides he wants to see his people again.
( his people )
And as nice as the forest is, it is quite lonely.
He makes his way back to the front of the enclosure, something like joy bubbling up in his chest when he sees Felix and Jisung alongside Changbin and Seungmin.
He barks a few times, whole body wiggling with the force his short tail is wagging. He follows them through the gates, running to his box once he is inside his kennel again. He grabs his duck and runs back out, bouncing on his paws as Changbin approaches with a mixing bowl.
When the short man enters the kennel Chan circles around him, body loose and wiggly with his excitement. Changbin leans down to pour his food into his bowl, and Chan presses his nose to his thigh repeatedly, wordlessly hurrying him.
Changbin laughs as he finishes, “Okay! Okay! Geez I go as fast as I can and you still get impatient.”
Chan ignores him, dropping his duck in favor of scarfing his food down.
While he eats, he hears and ignores the sound of another person approaching the kennel's fence. It isn't until he’s finished licking the bowl clean that he looks up.
Chan scrambles multiple feet back, ears pinning and his short tail tucking the best it could. He stares, trying to figure out what to do.
It’s the sharp man.
The man's face is different, still sharp, but scars litter it.
All along the left side of his face are scars, running over his eye, cheek and jaw, even over his nose. His ear has a large dart missing, and his bottom lip is misshapen from the scar that cuts through it.
Chan breathes heavily as his eyes trace over the man's neck, seeing how the rugged scars go down his neck and disappear into his shirt collar. His right hand and forearm are covered in scars, and Chan's stomach twist when he notices the tremors that run through the man's hands.
For a few moments, no one moves.
Just two scared animals looking in each other's eyes, fear an understanding between them.
In the end it wasn't either of them that moved first, it was Jisung slowly moving to take the sharp man's shaking hand into his.
“Minho hyung… maybe this should have waited?”
The sharp man's lips tremble as he speaks, “He looks so much better…”
Chan reaches his limit.
He jolts to grab his duck, whining when the sharp man flinches harshly, and scrambles to his box.
