EXO Fanfics

Stray Heart (Kyungsoo/Kris)

Rated: G

Warning: Age reversal /// Younger!Kris Older!Kyungsoo

-

Kyungsoo makes it a point not to leave work late. He always exits promptly at four, having finished his assignments and locked up his station beforehand. Leaving this early in the day means he beats most of the rush-hour traffic and the metro ride home is reasonably empty for that awkward time in between when schools let out and the working class heads home.

Leaving at four also means that Kyungsoo can stop at his favorite cafe, a block down from his apartment, and enjoy a cup of well-made coffee before heading home. On this particular day, a Friday, Kyungsoo gets caught in the rush of people leaving early for the weekend and doesn’t reach his cafe until later, when there’s a sizable line of suit-clad men and women looking for something satisfying after hours trapped behind a desk.

Kyungsoo is halfway through the line when his phone buzzes from a text. He makes the mistake of taking it out and opening the text to see a cheerful picture sent from his brother of Kyungsoo’s sister in law smiling while holding Kyungsoo’s nephew as his niece totters around in front of them. His brother had been so kind as to caption the picture with, the best thing to come home to after a long week at work.

He's still staring at the text as the line moves and suddenly it's his turn. He puts his phone away and orders his coffee to go.

He takes the steaming cup with his into a nearby park and doesn't stop until he finds an empty bench across from a busy playground. He sits and takes gentle sips from his coffee, deep in thought. He sits there until all the children have left, the sun has set, and there was really no point in leaving work at four of he's going to get home around eight. He takes another gulp from his cup and frowns when he finds that it's gone cold even though he hasn't even had half, yet. Staring at the deserted playground, he contemplates going home.

He's just decides that he will head home when something moves in the playground. Kyungsoo pulls his bag close and narrows his eyes as he watches a head peeking out of the covered slide, followed by a body, two legs, and then a tail.

A tail, Kyungsoo thinks. He should really get going, be on his way until the person doesn't know he was even here. But, Kyungsoo spares a second of doubt and the shadowy figure surges forward. Away from Kyungsoo. Towards a trashcan.

It's none of his business. It really isn't. But when Kyungsoo sees that the figure can barely reach inside the trashcan and he hears pitiful chokes, he can't help but pick up his things and wander closer.

The figure doesn't notice Kyungsoo until he's right behind him. Then, the scrounging individual jumps and hisses angrily, tail raised apprehensively and it's as Kyungsoo thought. This is a catboy. He really should leave, he's heard horror stories about encountering wild hybrid and getting bitten, scratched, infected. But he's never seen one so small. "What are you doing?" Kyungsoo asks.

"I'm looking for food," the figure snaps with the high-pitched voice of a child. He seems to realize he's just answered a stranger, because he hisses again and lowers himself into a crouch. "Why do you care?"

Kyungsoo shrugs and lowers himself into a crouch so that he's no longer looking down on the catboy. He waits until the child seems to think he's not a threat and has returned to his search through garbage before he speaks again. "Have you found anything?"

"I–" the catboy starts, looking over his shoulder and pausing to gauge Kyungsoo, as if he's trying to figure out whether he's worth telling the truth to. "No. It's all junk."

"Do you do this a lot?"

The catboy's tail wilts, curling around his own calf. "Only when there's no one to see me. I hide under that until everyone leaves," he explains, pointing to the slide.

Kyungsoo's not one to be known for making brash decisions. He thinks things out, considers his option, and weighs the good and bad before coming to a decision. That's why he's valued at work and the reason why he's been promoted so many times. Because he always, always thinks things out.

"Do you want to come home with me?"

The catboy freezes, turning to face Kyungsoo. "You're one of those people," he says in a voice just above a whisper, "you own one of those places and you want to add a hybrid to your list. I've heard of you people. There's no way I'm going anywhere with you."

"No, no," Kyungsoo has no idea what the child is talking about. "My name is Kyungsoo. I work at a business firm, and the only thing I own is an apartment." He can’t explain for the life of him why it's so important that this catboy believes him. "I just want to give you food, clean you up a bit, then you can decide whether or not you want to stay or leave."

The catboy seems to be considering his offer. "What kind of food do you have?"

Kyungsoo chuckles and he's relieved he went shopping just a few days ago. "I can made some soup, if you'd like that."

"Will it be hot?"

Kyungsoo nods. "Steaming."

"I'll go," the catboy decides, stepping away from the trashcan.

Kyungsoo smiles and leads the way home, stopping only when he feels a small hand grab his. He smiles and squeezes the small hand slightly.

His apartment isn't much, just one bedroom with a terrace, kitchen with an island, and bathroom with a claw-footed bathtub, Kyungsoo's necessities. But when he brings the catboy inside, the child looks around like Kyungsoo lives inside a mansion.

He jokes about it as he prepares dinner and sets the table. The child squawks and insists that Kyungsoo's modest apartment is basically a mansion.

He devours the soup like he hasn't eaten in days and Kyungsoo wonders if that statement is true. He gives the boy seconds but draws the line at a third helping. He draws a bath and hounds the guest into the bathroom, demanding for the catboy to get all the grime off his skin.

Kyungsoo bites his tongue when he sees just how skinny the kid is. Ribs poke out almost dangerously and the bags beneath the child's eyes Kyungsoo has only seen when he didn't sleep for forty-two hours. The child is skin and bones, and his dark brown tail is missing patches of fur.

He doesn't like the bathtub at first, but then he relaxes, sighing happily as he buries his head beneath the water and then resurfaces. Kyungsoo smiles and moves only to shampoo the child's hair, fingers kneading into a bony skull, through all the knots and tangles in the child's black hair, but easing up when he gets to the anxiously lowered ears.

Kyungsoo fetches sleepwear for the child after he decides to throw out all of the catboy's pre-existing clothes. Though Kyungsoo is constantly made fun of for his petite height and body, the child still swims in his clothes. It's adorable and Kyungsoo can't help but to offer him the bed, taking the couch for himself. He stays up late, staring at the ceiling and wondering what he's just committed himself to.


On weekends, he heads into work for a couple hours just to clear his queue. But he figures that he can go without for this weekend. His back hurts from sleeping on the couch and he rubs it idly while he scrambles eggs in a pan.

“Mr. Kyungsoo?”

He looks over his shoulder and sees a curious head poking out from the hallway. Kyungsoo laughs. “You can take a seat at the table, if you want. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Just like the previous night, when Kyungsoo sets the plate of food down, the boy wastes no time in wolfing it down, munching loudly in between swallowing his eggs down. Kyungsoo smiles and briefly considers chastising the kid before deciding against it. Instead, he settles himself across from the catboy and sips at his coffee until the boy finishes. He washes the dishes as the boy explores the apartment and they gravitate towards the living room, where Kyungsoo turns the television to the first cartoon show he finds. As the boy settles himself on the floor, he takes out his phone and checks his messages and calendar.

He has a back and forth with a superior who will be leaving town for business, until the man curtly ends the exchange to finish packing. Kyungsoo wishes him well and looks up to see that the cartoon with the flying dog has ended and is now a sitcom with too-loud mechanical laughter. Kyungsoo makes a face and looks down to see that the catboy has fallen asleep, curled into a ball with his ears twitching every few seconds. Kyungsoo chuckles quietly and flips through channels with the volume muted, trying to find something to keep the boy occupied when he wakes up.

He pauses on a movie network, only to see that instead of an action flick, commercials are playing. The movie is good though, so he sets the remote beside him and is just about to bring his attention back to his phone when the ad ends and another begins.

A sick catboy coughs into his fist and a worried owner frets above him. She fetches the phone and dials a number, and then the scene cuts to a hospital room where a doctor smiles and says something. Words appear on the screen,protect your pet. It’s a vaccination advert.

Kyungsoo stares at the slumbering catboy. It’s doubtful the boy’s ever been vaccinated. It’s much more probable that the boy is carrying a disease than being protected from one. He grabs his phone and dials a somewhat familiar number with the knowledge that he doesn’t have anything going on tomorrow.

–

Right after breakfast the next day, Kyungsoo dresses the catboy in some of his older clothes from college that still hang off the boy’s slim frame, but at least they fit a little more snuggly were made to look larger.

“Where are we going?” The boy asks, a little nervously, as Kyungsoo locks the apartment door behind them.

“We are going to a clinic,” Kyungsoo answers, sliding the key into his pocket and bidding the boy to follow him, “it’s something I should have done as soon as I found you.” Maybe, if Kyungsoo’s lucky, the place will be able to track down the kid’s previous home or shelter and he can bring the kid back guilt-free.

They begin walking down the street–the clinic isn’t that far away, so walking is a far better option–and it’s only after they turn the corner that they hit the weekend crowd of shoppers and families running around with errands and busy schedules. Kyungsoo’s hand is tugged and he looks down to spot the catboy, holding Kyungsoo’s hand in both of his own.

“I don’t want to lose you,” the boy says, clutching Kyungsoo’s hand close. Kyungsoo’s chest feels warm and he smiles fondly down at the boy, squeezing the small hands.

They enter the clinic and Kyungsoo approaches the counter.

“Do you have an appointment, sir?” The receptionist asks with a cocked brow, halting his sorting of files to fix Kyungsoo with a stare.

“Um, no. I’m here to see Dr. Kim?”

The man’s eyes widen. “Oh. Oh yes. He told me about you. Just have a seat, sir and I’ll go tell him that you’re here.”

Kyungsoo nods and thanks the man, dragging the boy with him over to the waiting area. The catboy only lets go of his hands once they’ve sat down, and it’s to lean forward and snatch one of the magazines off the table, legs kicking in the air as he flips through the pages. Kyungsoo smiles and trains his eyes on the kid as they wait.

It would be a lie to say that Kyungsoo knew about this clinic because of his history with hybrids. Kyungsoo knows nearly nothing about hybrids, apart from their existence and the plethora of diseases they can carry, if feral. The only reason he had known about this clinic is because of a friend he had in University, a quirky man who had worked alongside him in the library, who had majored in Veterinary Sciences and then gone on to grad school to major in Hybrid Physiology. They had kept in touch, and Kyungsoo had even gone out to celebrate with the man after he had opened his own practice.

The sound of rubber-soled shoes slapping against linoleum is the only warning Kyungsoo gets until a man in a flowing white coat is running into the waiting room, full grin on his face.

“Never thought I’d see you in my waiting room, Kyungsoo.” He catches sight of the boy next to him and his grin widens. “Finally jumped on the bandwagon, huh?”

“Not quite,” Kyungsoo says with a grimace, lowering his head apologetically to the only other pair in the waiting room, a middle-aged man and his impeccably groomed hybrid, dressed in a lacy dress. “Jongdae, can we…?”

“Oh yeah, sure. Follow me.” He turns and leads the way down the hallways and Kyungsoo follows with the boy fisting a hand into the back of his shirt. Jongdae turns and starts to do something in the far corner of the room while Kyungsoo directs the catboy to sit on the examination table. The boy nods, understanding what’s expected of him. He walks over to the table, which is taller that he is, and attempts to pull himself up. He struggles until Kyungsoo gives in and hoists him onto the table, pulling back to see Jongdae smirking at him.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, this?” Jongdae points to his stethoscope. “This is for me to listen to your heart to make sure it sounds happy and healthy. Do you want to see how it works?” After he assists the catboy in putting on the instrument and laying the diaphragm on his own clothed chest, he turns to Kyungsoo. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave for a bit. At least until I know what’s going on.” When Kyungsoo looks like he’s going to argue, Jongdae continues, “I know you’re a friend and all, but this is my place so you need to play by my rules. Sorry, man. It won’t take too long.”

Kyungsoo sighs and gives the catboy an encouraging smile before leaving the room, heavy door closing behind him. He opts to wait in the hallway, because it’s not worth it to go back to the waiting room. And, he might be a little worried.

Jongdae leaves the room ten minutes later with a red vial in hand. “I need to check to see if he’s in the system. Kris is cute, by the way.”

Kyungsoo stops him, taking care not to disturb the vial. “Kris?”

“Your catboy.” Jongdae’s eyes widen marginally in realization. “You didn’t even ask the kid what his name was? Ugh, you’re such a loser, Kyungsoo,” he complains, walking away. A few minutes later, he reappears with a not quite as sincere smile.

Kyungsoo straightens. “Was he in the system?”

Jongdae swerves in the other direction. “I have to give him up to date vaccinations. I’ll talk to you about it after that.” He heads into a room and returns a moment later with a basket full of needles that he quickly brings into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Time passes and Kyungsoo sinks to the floor. He doesn’t even stand when the door finally opens and Jongdae crouches down beside him.

“Kid’s a real trooper. Took the flu, distemper, leukemia and the core virus vaccinations without flinching,” Jongdae says a little reverently, and then turns to Kyungsoo. “How much do you know about the hybrid business?”

“I make it a point not to know.”

Jongdae sighs. “Things have been getting a little rough lately. Great for breeders and hybrid physicians, but awful for the hybrids themselves. Overpopulation is getting out of hand. Initial species can be controlled easily, but hybrids in captivity are breeding much too frequently. They can’t be spayed–it’s a human rights issue. Do breeders have the right to control the body of a half human-half animal hybrid?–but no one’s brought the practice of euthanasia to court yet. When breeders do euthanize, they target the youngest, before they can mature and breed. There’s a high escape probability, but the payoff is worth it. I don’t have an opinion about all of this, but I’m tired of seeing catboys on the side of the road without a home.” Jongdae frowns and clasps his hands together. “What I’m saying is that the last time Kris’ information was put into the system, it was at a breeders’.”

Kyungsoo turns to his friend. “How old is he?”

Jongdae seems baffled by the change of topic for a moment, but recovers. “Well, he looks nine, but he’s definitely younger.”

“Younger?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae affirms. “It’s a weird genetics thing. Babies mature quickly, but the lifespan of a hybrid is shorter than that of a human. People are working on it so that they can slap guaranteed lifetime companion onto the face of a new genetically modified hybrid, but no leads so far. You found a baby hybrid, Kyungsoo. Some people pay hundreds for one of those.”

Kyungsoo’s heard enough. He stands and lays a hand on the doorknob, but a hand on his shoulder stops him. Jongdae isn’t much taller than Kyungsoo, but he’s looming over him right now, looking older than Kyungsoo remembers.

“It’s illegal for me to treat patients without owners, but I don’t want to force you to make a decision.” He removes his hand. “Just call me and I’ll send you the registration papers. Kris is a cute kid and he really likes you.” He nods once and walks off, back towards the waiting room.

“We’re going home,” Kyungsoo says as soon as he opens the door. The boy inside only too happily jumps off the table and attaches himself to Kyungsoo’s arm, telling Kyungsoo once they get outside about how he thought that he’d die from how many needles the doctor poked him with. Kyungsoo merely laughs.

On the way home, Kyungsoo stops and buys clothes that actually fit Kris–the catboy practically vibrates with joy the first time Kyungsoo says his name–and then they head home, Kris watching cartoons while Kyungsoo makes dinner.

After they eat, Kris yawns and nods when Kyungsoo suggests he go to bed, tottering off down the hall. Kyungsoo sighs and thinks about the possibility of officially owning a catboy, but doesn’t come to a conclusion before he falls asleep.

–

The week is painful. Monday begins with Kyungsoo trying to explain why he must leave and the catboy cannot come with him as he showers, dresses, and prepares food before running out to his car, only to find out when he gets to work that he forgot his tie.

Each night, Kris attaches himself to a part of Kyungsoo until he falls asleep, voicing his worries that Kyungsoo would never return. The man merely bears them all, tucking the boy in at night to soothe his worries.

This continues until Friday, when Kris leads Kyungsoo to the master bedroom and sits on the mattress, pulling until Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and lies down atop the sheets, limbs splayed out as Kris tries to completely cover him with his body.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo wonders aloud, voice muffled by the head of hair in his face.

Kris huffs, pushing his hands on Kyungsoo’s chest to push his upper half up. “I’m stopping you from going to worktomorrow,” he states, making a face as if the word truly offends him.

“I don’t have work tomorrow.”

Kris flops down on his chest and cheers. “It worked,” he murmurs before going quiet.

Kyungsoo has never thought himself particularly lonely, but it’s true that he hasn’t had a meaningful relationship since college, and hasn’t given himself time to even consider one. But, it’s also true that his brother’s texts haven’t been annoying him as much as of late and he actually looks forward to coming home every day because of a certain someone waiting for him. As he buries his fingers in Kris’ hair, playing with velvet ears, almost silent rumblings begin from above him and Kyungsoo frowns until he realizes that Kris is purring. The sound dies down as the catboy falls asleep, still on top of Kyungsoo, and the man realizes that he was stupid waiting this long to decide that yes, he most definitely wants to officially call Kris his own. He quickly fires off a text to Jongdae–to which the man replies almost immediately with a, knew it >:3, and Kyungsoo almost throws his phone across the room–and pulls up the covers on top of himself and the slumbering hybrid.

–

The shrill sound of an alarm is a rude awakening, reducing Kyungsoo’s blissful dream to mere ashes. He struggles in the mess of blankets until he slams his hand down on the snooze button. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the cruel world beyond his bed, when he’s harshly yanked back and emits a surprised yelp.

“Not yet,” a deep voice grumbles, “I won’t allow it.”

Kyungsoo huffs. Childish. He tries to free himself, but only succeeds in further entangling himself in sheets and limbs, knees knocking against his shins. Arms wrap all the way around his waist and pull him even closer, until Kyungsoo’s face is smashed into a bare chest. He glares up at the perpetrator and wonders when his adorable little catboy grew into such an irritable catman. Kris is now even taller than him, which is extremely unacceptable.

“Get up,” Kyungsoo demands, punching the hybrid in the gut and earning a displeased grunt, “I have work and you have to babysit.”

Kris groans, nosing his way into the crown of Kyungsoo’s head. He speaks directly into Kyungsoo’s awful bedhead. “Your nieces and nephews are terrible. You know Sooyin is going to pull my tail again. I’m going to be a tail-less catboy by the time you return and you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

“So dramatic,” Kyungsoo complains, rolling his eyes. “You love Sooyin and you know it.”

Kris doesn’t speak for a moment. When he does, his words are laced with sleep and he nuzzles Kyungsoo’s hair. “She’s okay. Jiyung is cuter. But Sooyin’s okay. I guess.” He chuckles and his fingers trace over the nobs of Kyungsoo’s spine. “You’re cuter, though.”

Kyungsoo groans. “I’m leaving.”

“No, wait,” Kris says, but allows Kyungsoo to twist in his grip until his front is against Kyungsoo’s back. He pulls the man closer, lacing his fingers over Kyungsoo’s tummy. “Just a couple more minutes.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but gives in. He always does. Kyungsoo giggles as Kris places a chaste kiss right in the juncture where his shoulder meets his neck before nuzzling the spot, promptly falling back asleep. Kyungsoo wriggles in the bigger man’s hold until he’s comfortable, ears tickling his cheek and tail curled around his ankle.

Kyungsoo doesn’t think he will ever need anything else in life other than this particular mattress and his insufferable catboy

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