Chapter 10: Brunch

The next morning arrived and Jeongin was the first one to wake up. Felix still hugged him close and if Jeongin was honest to himself it felt nice being wrapped up in someone's arms but the kitsune wouldn't admit that to anyone, so despite being comfortable he wiggled out of Felix's embrace and sat up to look around. He noticed that he was the only one awake. The Kim brothers still slept soundly on the couch, Chan was curled up on one of the bean bags with his eyes still closed and a blanket draped over him and Hyunjin, Jisung and Minho slept on the big mattress next to the one, that was occupied by Felix and Jeongin. It was funny to see how Hyunjin had an arm put over Jisung while the warlock was cuddled into Minho's side.

If Jeongin knew where his phone was he would have made a picture of them but the living room still looked like a battlefield from the pillow fight so he just hoped it was in his bag and not buried under pillows and bean bags or accidentally crushed by someone.

The young fox spirit looked around to find a clock or something else, that would tell him the time since he wanted to know how late it was. He found a digital clock just above the TV. It read '10:46 am' in bold red letters. The blond sighed and let himself fall back onto the mattress. He thought about cuddling up to Felix again and pretending that he never woke up but in the moment he considered doing it the ginger cat hybrid stirred because the warm body he had been cuddling all night was gone.

"Jeongin? Are you awake already?", Felix asked in a deep, raspy voice. The kitsune slightly flinched because he was ripped out of his thoughts and he wasn't used to Felix's morning voice. He knew that the cat hybrid had a voice that was deeper than average, which didn't match his cute freckled face but right now he sounded like he had crawled out of the depths of hell.

"Woke up around ten minutes ago", the blond answered calmly after his initial shock was over and looked at the young cat hybrid, who was laying beside him. The orange-haired male smiled sleepily at the youngest of the group and it was somehow confusing for the kitsune, who felt like he heard a demon talk but then saw an angel smiling at him. After all Felix looked and acted like the personification of a sunshine and his smile was just as bright as the sun itself.

Felix cleared his throat and sat up glancing at the clock above the Tv for a brief moment before focusing back on the kitsune. "Wanna make brunch for everybody? Since it's a bit late for breakfast", the cat hybrid asked in a now less raspy voice but it was still deeper than usual. Jeongin nodded, not really knowing what to say if he was honest and carefully stood up, so he wouldn't accidentally step on someone. Felix did the same just more gracefully than Jeongin and the two made their way to the kitchen. The orange-haired cat hybrid closed the door of the dining room that lead to the living room and also the door that lead from the kitchen to the little entrance hall.

"Now we can burn down the kitchen without the others noticing", Felix joked and Jeongin chuckled at the older's comment. The two started to make brunch for everyone. They settled on pancakes and some fresh, warm breads with marmalade and talked a bit while preparing all that. After a while of just talking over the gods know what, they started to discuss the pocky game from yesterday.

"I was super surprised when I saw how calm you were literally every time it was your turn", Felix commented when he finished preparing the dough for the pancakes. "If I'm honest I just pretended to be calm and collected but I really wasn't on the inside", Jeongin chuckled and looked at the breads they put into the oven so they would be warm when the rest woke up. When Jeongin was good at something then it was tricking people into thinking he was a calm and collected person, that alway kept a cool head in every situation while in reality he was often nervous and a little scared.

Felix looked like he had been fooled by that too, since surprise was written all over his freckled face, making the kitsune laugh a little bit at him. "I am a kitsune. I am good at pretending and I can trick anyone into believing my lies", the blond explained with a mischievous grin on his lips. Felix scrunched up his nose in thought and turned his attention back on making the dough to actual pancakes.

Jeongin became a little bit insecure because of that reaction. Did he do something wrong? Did he upset the other with something he said? Would Felix start disliking him for having a facade up most of the time? He didn't want to be disliked by the other. They were friends weren't they?

"Being good at lying and tricking people is a bit mean, I think. But it's your nature ....", the cat hybrid trailed off. He seemed to be still in thought. Jeongin just hoped onto the counter and began playing with the silver ring on his middle finger. It was one of Jeongin's ticks that showed themselves when he was nervous, insecure or anxious. It was sometimes hard for him to hide this tick, even though he was a kitsune, a master of a trickster.

The kitchen became silent. The only sound you could hear was the hissing of melted butter when Felix put pancake dough into the frying pan along with the quiet sound the oven made while producing hot air.

"Man, this is complicated to think about. Just don't trick us too often, Jeongin, even though we probably wouldn't even notice most of the time", the orange-haired male finished voicing his train of thoughts while still being focused on making pancakes. "I am sorry, Felix", the kitsune mumbled without noticing himself while he stared at the ring on his finger.

In the corner of his eyes Jeongin saw how Felix cat ears perked up but the kitsune just lightly shook his head and continued to play with the ring on his middle finger while his eyes were fixed on his lap. He should have known that even people, who he considered friends would have an issue with his natural ability to deceive them or talk them into things. Nobody liked a trickster after all, which was one of the reason why kitsunes weren't common within the supernatural community. They were known to be natural trouble makers.

Suddenly Felix left his previous spot, went over to Jeongin and hugged the younger, surprising the kitsune quite a bit. "I should say sorry, not you. I said some stupid things, didn't I? I got no clue about fox spirits and shouldn't try to lecture you on that. Just forget I said anything. I am so sorry that I hurt you, Jeongin. I didn't mean to", Felix ranted, hugging the blond a little closer. Jeongin couldn't help but let out a little chuckle after hearing Felix rant, despite his teary eyes. He wrapped his arms around the older's shoulders and just let the anxiety and fear he had felt fall off him. Felix was just precious, he realized that now. 

The two boys stayed like that for a while. Jeongin didn't want this little moment to end for some reason, so he sneakily turned off the stove and oven with his magic so nothing would begin to burn while they stayed like this. He didn't want the kitchen to burn down after all.

"Uhhh. What is this about?", the two boys heard someone ask. They both turned their heads towards the voice. It was Hyunjin, who had just entered the kitchen through the dining room. He was tiredly rubbing his eyes, looking like he was seeing something he couldn't believe. Maybe it was because Felix stood between Jeongin's legs and had his arms wrapped around the kitsune's lower abdomen while the fox spirit was sitting on the kitchen counter and had his arms draped around the cat hybrid's shoulders. You couldn't consider that a normal sight, especially not if you knew Jeongin like Hyunjin did.

"We are making brunch for everyone", Felix answered without moving away from Jeongin but still smiling brightly while his cat tail swayed back and forth in an even rhythm. Jeongin nodded in agreement, internally hoping that Hyunjin wouldn't comment on their current position. And he luckily didn't. The siren just squinted his eyes at them.

"Of course", he said slowly while nodding. He sounded like he didn't really believe them but he couldn't miss the smell of pancakes, so he strolled into the kitchen and looked at the pan with a half finished pancake in it.

"And why is the stove turned off?", the siren questioned and looked at the two younger males. "Oh, is it?", Felix asked with eyes widened in surprise. Jeongin let go of the cat hybrid, so he could walk over to Hyunjin even though he wanted to keep the cat hybrid close for a little while longer. Felix went over to Hyunjin and turned the stove back on, continuing to make pancakes.

Felix and Jeongin finished preparing the brunch with a little of Hyunjin's help. They began to set up everything in the dining room when Chan joined them. The wolf hybrid was quite surprised to see Felix, Jeongin and Hyunjin doing something like preparing a meal, which offended the three self proclaimed cooks a little bit. The four of them talked and joked around while they finished setting everything up. After that they heard Jisung and Minho enter the dining room snickering. The two seemingly had to show the four of them something and waved everybody into the living room.

"Byungho-hyung is having a crisis", Jisung explained in a quiet tone, barely being able to contain his laughter. "Of course I am having a crisis. Whoever wakes him will be murdered", they heard Byungho whisper yell back, which earned him a couple of muffled laughters from everyone.

The problem was at hand. Byungho has been awake for a good half an hour now but didn't dare to move because Seungmin still slept safe and soundly on top of him. And there laid the problem: Seungmin, who looked criminally cute while sleeping, will murder the person, who dared to wake him without hesitation. At this point though Byungho's body was kind of numb despite the young redhead not being really heavy and it was uncomfortable as hell.

Byungho exhaled deeply and was back at having an internal crisis while the rest tried hard not to laugh loudly but everyone was immediately quiet when Seungmin stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Like all good friends they left Byungho alone with the sleepy redhead, who could become the cause of his death if he was unlucky enough.

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Seungmin grumbled a little bit and slowly opened his eyes, looking up to his older brother. His sleepy expression looked cute in every imaginable way. He looked like a damn puppy, it was almost devastating.

"Morning, hyung", he mumbled while rubbing his eyes cutely. "Morning, Seungmin", Byungho responded and tousled trough Seungmin's red hair, thanking every deity that the young demon didn't plan somebody's murder. 

When Seungmin put his hand away from his face, looking at Byungho with his cute morning face, was all it took to let the oldest of the group forget that he felt uncomfortable a minute prior because his whole body was going numb. The redhead seemingly didn't really like getting off his older brother but had to after some minutes because Jisung carefully walked into the living room again to tell the two that they had to hurry up if they wanted something to eat. Seungmin groaned before getting up, making Byungho lightly chuckle.

After grumbling a while about how comfortable he was Seungmin was seated at the dining table with Byungho beside him. Did he escape the other's teasing about him being a sleepy head? Of course not but one glare of the redhead was enough to shut up most of them.

All eight friends happily ate their surprisingly delicious food and conversed without a care in the world but the fun had to end at some point. They all had to return home, so everybody helped tiding everything up.

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The harsh reality of going back to his uncle slowly began to make Jisung more and more afraid. He didn't tell Minho anything about his uncle and therefore the older cat hybrid didn't know that Jisung was down right terrified to go back to his uncle's place.

Hyunjin and Jeongin were the first ones that had to go since they had a time limit set by Hyunjin's mother. They bid their goodbyes and went on their way, hurrying quite a bit while mumbling something about Hyunjin's mother killing them if they were late. Jisung kept up his happy and hyperactive facade, so nobody would worry about him while his anxiety was eating away every real positive emotion he possessed.

"Hey Jisung. Today's plan can't be changed by the way", Seungmin suddenly spoke up while he threw some pillows onto the couch. Jisung looked in confusion at the redhead but then he remembered that Seungmin wanted to talk to him yesterday about something. Something he had the right know but the redhead also mentioned that he couldn't talk about it at that moment. No matter what it was if it meant not going to his uncle he would take that opportunity no matter what.

"No problem for me", the blue-haired male answered with a bright smile while helping Minho bring some folded blankets upstairs. He really hoped that Seungmin would save him a while longer from going back to his uncle.

Chan had to go next. His mother wanted him home because he needed to watch his younger brother. Before he left he pulled Jisung aside and told the younger that if he ever needed anything he could talk to him, he would help him. Jisung just nodded, being kind of overwhelmed by this sudden statement but thanked the wolf hybrid nonetheless.

Byungho and Seungmin wanted to leave not long after Chan. Jisung was just pulled along by Seungmin, so the warlock had quickly told Minho that he would bring back his cloths on Monday. The older cat hybrid had just replied with "I will make you wear another one of my shirts the next time you come here". Seungmin then had dragged a blushing Jisung out of the house while glaring daggers at Minho.

Jisung walked between Byungho and Seungmin, not questioning why Seungmin had dragged him along but he assumed it was about whatever the redhead wanted to talk about. The warlock put his hands into the pockets of his coat and tried his best to stay warm. "Oh", Seungmin suddenly said, which startled Jisung a little bit. The redhead pulled his bag forward and rummaged in it until he pulled Jisung's scarf out.

"You might want this back", the redhead stated and gave Jisung his scarf. "Why did you even take it?", the blue-haired male wondered and put the light blue scarf around his neck, burying his nose in the fabric. "You will see", Seungmin breathed out and looked straight ahead. The warlock became a little anxious because of that. What was the redhead planing?

"Where are we even going?", he asked after a slightly longer silence. "To our place", Byungho answered this time and looked at Seungmin with a look Jisung deemed to be neutral. The warlock was a little bit surprised though since he didn't recall to ever have been at the Kim's house but well Seungmin has never been at his place either for obvious reasons. Sometimes Jisung really asked himself how Seungmin and he became such good friends while obliviously hiding things from the other. Maybe it was because they didn't make the other talk about it.

A silence fell over the three again. The walk from the Lee's house to the Kim's house was quite long, making it hard for Jisung to not overthink his whole friendship with Seungmin, so he tried to focus on his surroundings.

It was a nice day, the cold winter sun was shining, letting the snow that had fallen over the week shimmer a little bit in the weak rays of sunshine. The birds, that haven't left for the south, were chirping and singing their songs and occasionally they walked past some other creatures, who were taking out their pet or just taking a walk with their family.

Jisung noted how the houses got less and bigger the more they walked until he realized that they had left the normal living area of Yellow Wood with the one family houses and entered the part where the luxurious mansions were located. It was super far away from where he lived since it was the other end of Yellow Wood.

In the end the three stood in front of the iron gate of a gigantic mansion. Seungmin rang the bell beside the gate without a word. Jisung had a hard time getting into his head that Seungmin was freaking rich. Neither Byungho nor Seungmin ever made the expression that their parents were that wealthy.

"Our family is complicated so just stay quiet until we are in my room then I will explain everything", Seungmin mumbled to Jisung, ripping the warlock out of his shocked state. He needed a minute to understand what the redhead had said and then just nodded, not knowing what to say to this. Did Seungmin and Byungho have problems within their family? Or a Patchwork family that didn't work out? That would explain the sudden appearance of Samuel.

The gate was opened shortly after Seungmin had rung the bell and the three entered the front yard. They went up the path with the black stones to the big wooden door, which was opened by a woman with long black hair. "Welcome", she greeted and smiled kindly. She let the three inside and all three thanked her politely.

Jisung just mirrored Seungmin's behavior if he was honest with himself but when he looked at the hall he just entered he was stunned by the fairy tale like architecture of the place. The ceiling was high and the light fell through the window that were located at the end of the beautiful stairs, which lead to the next floor.

"Mum, who is it?", you could hear some call out, letting Jisung snap out of his trance. "Byungho and Seungmin as well as a friend of them", the woman answered. Shortly after that Samuel came in sight, running to them from another room of the house.

"Jisung-hyung. I didn't know you would visit", the young siren said as he walked up to the three male in a slower pace. He wore a smile on his face like usual. "It was a little bit spontaneous", Seungmin answered quickly on Jisung's behalf and took the warlock's hand to drag him up the stairs. Byungho excused all of them and followed the two younger males while Samuel and his mother looked after them in confusion.

Seungmin apparently was in a hurry, so Jisung let himself be dragged by the younger without complaining. He didn't know how to navigate in his gigantic mansion anyway. There were too many doors to count.

Suddenly Seungmin stopped in his tracks, which made Jisung bump into him. "Seungmin, what's wrong?", the blue-haired warlock asked, wondering why his friend suddenly stopped. Jisung looked over his shoulder, searching for something that could have triggered this behavior of his friend.

"Byungho-hyung, take Jisung to my room and stay there", Seungmin ordered and let go of Jisung's hand instantly. "But Seungmin you-", Jisung tried to say but the redhead just ran away. The young warlock wanted to run after him but was held back by Byungho.

"Let's just go to Seungmin's room and wait for him", Byungho reasoned with a look of sympathy in his eyes. Jisung just let his shoulders slump in defeat. Why was Seungmin so unpredictable? They wanted to talk, didn't they? What reasons did the redhead have to suddenly run away?

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