Lonely Kitten

59

Minho and Jisung had spent a few more nights talking and had agreed that they wanted to introduce their friends to Jeongin and Seungmin. Minho and Jeongin had become close friends, Chan and Changbin already knowing Jeongin from the things Minho had told them about the younger. Felix had already met the couple and it seemed they would all click well together, plus, it wasn't all that common to find so many hybrids in one place, so it'd be only natural for them to bond through those similarities. What they didn't want though, was a stiff introductory meeting, so Jisung asked his 3racha hyungs if they wanted to hang out at the park and if they'd be okay if the other two would join them. They hadn't gotten to go outside much, too busy with their work, so spending some time in the sun sounded amazing. Chan and Changbin were curious to meet Seungmin and Jeongin too, knowing they were the ones, who took care of Felix after their prank had backfired and they wanted to thank the younger couple for being there for Felix.

Minho invited Hyunjin and Felix to their hangout first, before approaching Jeongin about it during one of their shifts. Jeongin was thrilled about meeting new people as he hadn't many friends and he already knew Minho, Jisung and Felix, so it'd hopefully not end up too awkward. Seungmin was a bit hesitant when Jeongin begged him to meet up with Minho's friend group. Sure, he had met Minho, Jisung and Felix before but he didn't know them well, so he was naturally cautious. On the other hand, Seungmin didn't really have friends. He studied hard and barely had the time to make friends, plus, he was a hybrid, who knew what could happen when other people found out about it, so he tended to isolate himself from everyone other than his family and his mate. Maybe socializing with people who were either hybrids or mates of hybrids wouldn't be so bad.

Since half of them had to attend classes, they had agreed to meet up in the afternoon after lunch. Minho had arranged to work an early shift that day, so he could meet up with his mate and friends when he was done working and bought quite a bunch of treats from the café to feed the others. He knew Jisung loved the cheesecake, so he got one of those and brownies because he figured he couldn't go wrong with chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate, right? Carrying a paper bag in one hand and a coffee in the other, Minho strolled towards the park. This all still felt like a dream. He had a mate, who accepted him the way he was, and friends, who supported him. With the sun warming his skin, the hybrid finished his coffee and disposed of the to go cup, a smile spreading as he licked the last bit of foam from his lips. How long had he waited for this day to come. He could only hope his friends would warm up easily to one another.

Walking down one of the cobblestone paths, Minho's eyes scanned the park as he sniffed the air. He could smell his mate and Jisung had texted him earlier today to let him know 3racha would be waiting at the park for him. That clown could've told him where at the park they were waiting, Minho thought, shaking his head. He caught a movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head to find Jisung waving at him from underneath a tree. The hybrid's heart sped up. It had been an entire shift since he had last seen Jisung. That was way too long. Breaking into a light jog, Minho closed the distance between them and came to a halt with a wide smile on his face. "Hey", Jisung giggled, patting the grass next to him.

Plopping down next to Jisung, Minho pecked the rapper's cheek before hugging him and complaining: "I missed you, Sungie." - "Aww, I missed you too", the younger beamed, ruffling his mate's hair when the other shyly greeted Chan and Changbin. While Chan seemed in a pretty good mood, Changbin looked annoyed at the couple's display of affection. It threw Minho off a little as he didn't know if he had done anything wrong but neither Chan, nor Jisung seemed bothered in the slightest. "Cheer up, mate", Chan laughed, nudging the rapper's shoulder, "Felix will be here soon and it's not his fault that he had to finish that school project yesterday." - "I know it's not and I'm not upset at him", Changbin insisted defensively, "It's just been too long and I miss him. How long was it? Like... two entire days I think." He whined in frustration, which made Minho giggle. He could relate. It sucked to be separated from one's mate. At least he wasn't the reason for Changbin's sour mood.

Minho settled in comfortably against Jisung's side when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he quickly responded to a text from Jeongin and tried his best to describe their location to the younger. He apparently did a decent job or Seungmin had detected them by scent, either way, it didn't take the other couple long to find them. Jeongin was more confident in approaching them than Seungmin, pulling the hybrid along and bowing to them with a shy smile. They sat down close to Minho and Jisung as Minho introduced them. Changbin had put on a smile by now. He was still convinced he'd die of vitamin lix deficiency but those two had found and taken care of Felix when his own stupidity had sent his mate running out into the night and he would never not be grateful towards them. Knowing he could be intimidating, Changbin did his best to pull himself together as to not make the younger two uncomfortable but really hoped Felix would be joining them soon.

He did. Him and Hyunjin strolled through the grass, having no issue finding them at all. "Hey, library boy", Hyunjin smiled, while Felix threw himself at Changbin knocking the rapper backwards into the grass. When everyone else looked at Hyunjin questioningly, the dancer quickly backtracked, nervously muttering: "Sorry, I thougth you were someone I knew. You looked like the guy who saved my history grade." - "I merely showed you where the right books were", Seungmin chuckled, "Hi, I'm Seungmin by the way." After Hyunjin introduced himself properly, he sat down next to Chan and Minho handed out brownies, Jisung's smiled widening as he realized his mate had gotten him cheesecake.

The atmosphere was relaxed with all of them having something sweet to eat. They soon learned that Seungmin occasionally worked at the local library during the holidays or on weekends and that he had met Hyunjin there, who was despairing over a paper. The two hadn't talked all that much back then but Seungmin had picked quite a few books that he deemed helpful for the topic and it seemed like the older made good use of those books. Changbin was in a much better mood ever since Felix had joined them and claimed his lap, feeding the rapper his brownie though the older insisted they tasted way better when Felix made them. Though he had been reluctant, Seungmin was glad he had come to hang out. Jeongin had been right, he couldn't isolate himself forever and having people who were like him, was nice. He felt safe.

The group continued to talk for a while, getting to know each other. Everybody loosened up after a bit and they found it easier to talk, Minho happily rambling, which only Jisung had ever witnessed happening before. Hyunjin and Felix only knew that behavior if their hyung was talking about Jisung but it turns out, he only has to feel passionate about something and comfortable around the people he's talking to. The rapper was surprised but happy to see his mate so comfortable around their friends but Minho wasn't the only one who had obviously changed over the past hour. Seungmin had too, though only Jeongin noticed and was quick to figure out why. His mate had had quite a bit of sugar and he'd most likely be stuck with a tireless puppy for the rest of the day. Not like he minded. Felix was a giggling mess in Changbin's lap after the rapper had fed him his brownie too, which wouldn't surprise anyone if they had known that him and Hyunjin had already had ice cream on the way there.

Knowing exactly what would happen if he pushed the limits, Jeongin kept teasing Seungmin who in return poked his side and gave him a warning glare. Eventually, Seungmin even interrupted his sentence to announce: "Innie, last warning...." The others grew a bit tense at that, having no clue what was going on between the two of them, when it was really just the puppy hybrid struggling to sit still. When he knew he had pushed it enough, Jeongin sprung to his feet and slapped his mate's shoulder. "Catch me if you can!", he yelled as he ran off, Seungmin hot on his heels. It didn't take long for the hybrid to catch up to him and tickle him, making the rest of the group laugh and Felix quick to join their game of tag, as he too had a sugar rush to blow off. Soon the entire group played tag together and though neither Chan nor Changbin had felt that silly in a while, they truly enjoyed it.