BEFORE DEBUT
OUTSIDE R.O.A.R'S DORM, SEOUL;
17:36PM KST

"here i am, the dorm room." yochanan smiled to himself. after all those years of hell, after all of those years stuck in that tiny room, after all those years of testings, he's finally free. well, not exactly. but, either way, it felt good to have actual air brush against his skin. he had opened the main door, rushed up the stairs, and now he was here. to say he was nervous was definitely an understatement. would the other members even like him? would they beat him up because of his personality? hell, was anyone else actually a hybrid like that doctor even said? honestly, it baffled him to the core.

the door handle was slippery from the sweat that dripped from his palms. he didn't intend to be this scared, but it was just a part of his nature. "damn it, chan. man up." he mumbled to himself, kicking his shin in annoyance with the opposite leg. adjusting his hat that covered his bear ears with his free hand, he fiddled with the metal key until the ominous click alerted him that it was open. when the door was gently pushed open, it was as if yochanan was invisible. a boy with two ginger cat ears and a matching tail was chasing around a jumpy, long-tailed boy with a pillow. a boy nibbled on a lettuce leaf as he watched some episode of a survival show yochanan didn't care about. one boy with greyscale gradients ears came out the kitchen with a bowl of ramen for him and a orange-eared boy. then, another boy quickly ran to the door, quicker than the normal human speed, a spotted tail curling around his legs. he had a black t-shirt that covered his torso and toned abs, and a pair of knee length denim shorts on his lower half. this clothing choice showed off a load of dots that covered his skin, dots that resembled that of a cheetah's.

"yah! i think this is the final member!" he called out to the others, who turned their attention to yochanan. he quivered in slight fear, despite being half-predator. the cheetah boy stared at the bear for about five solid seconds, causing yochanan to back away extremely slowly, until the other opened his mouth. "do you like disney channel?"

"great introduction, cauliflower." the cat walked over, pushing the cheetah out of the way and quickly digging his claws into the other's arm. the cheetah boy jumped and shrieked in pain, rushing away and towards the bathroom. "don't worry about oli, he may be random, but he's a great leader." retracting his claws, the short boy gave yochanan his hand. "i'm woojin."

he accepted the handshake, his smile appearing slowly. he felt his fear slightly disappearing with woojin, wondering if the other boys were as nice as the cat. "yochanan." he announced, soon releasing his grip on the other's hand and reaching back out into the hallway to grab his luggage.

"got your hat!" the rambunctious monkey cackled, "running towards the balcony doors and waving about the wide-ripped hat.

"gosh seongjin, will you ever sit still for one minute?" the wolf hybrid grabbed the hat back from seongjin, and wandered over to yochanan to return it, his grey tail swaying behind him. "here you go."

"thank you, urrrr..."

"minseo, and any time. we're teammates, remember."

the 'cauliflower' boy from earlier came out of the bathroom with a gauze over the scratch, glaring at woojin as he whistled the 'that's so raven' theme. he brought yochanan a small piece of paper, about the size of a credit card. looking closely, yochanan released it was a photocard of selena gomez' character in wizards of waverley place. he raised an eyebrow at it, and looked back up at the content boy.

"it's my favourite photo of her, luckily i had a double. keep it in memory of me." he slapped yochanan's back and slung his arm around his shoulder. "i'm the leader, oliver. but please, call me mickey mouse."

"don't call him that, it'll only fuel him even more." the fox hybrid called from the sofa, after slurping up a mouthful of noodles. "call him oli, and call me daeyoung."

"don't forget me!" the bunny rolled over on the couch and rested his head on the backboard of the piece of furniture. "i am jinwoo, the maknae!"

"aka dopey." woojin chuckled heartlessly from the door to the kitchen.

"what is this? bully the maknae day?" jinwoo pouted, nibbling on yet another piece of lettuce. "i'm not dopey." the others giggled to themselves, all except yochanan.

"i think you're not dopey, jinnie." he announced, watching jinwoo's face light up and his grin as wide as an elephant.

"he gets a nickname and the rest of us don't?" seongjin spoke, "i call discrimination."

"we can sort all of that later on, but for now, i'm star-"

"sorry i'm late everyone!" someone curated through the door, and - if they were being honest - the boys thought it was a burglar. he had a black mask covering his face, and chocolately brown hair that brushed against his shoulders like curtains to a floor. his cheekbones lit up the room, the sunlight bouncing off of them as if they were trampolines. his eyes sparkled in the sunshine as well, first meeting yochanan's own. was there an eighth member he didn't know about?

"ahh mincheol-hyung!" minseo spoke up, smiling as he brought the older man a coffee, and bowing as it was handed over.

"thank you min," the man supposedly called mincheol responded, his eyes grinning back. taking a sip of the hot liquid, he looked back at the bear. "you must be the last member i assume?" yochanan nodded, "i'm not a criminal, kiddo. no need to look so afraid. bae mincheol, your manager. or as some of the other members like to call me, the mumager." he took another sip, looking like one of the hipster guys off of tumblr. "you're a bit late, yochan."

"sorry mr bae, i was visiting my grandparents back in jerusalem before i was transferred. i didn't think i'd be able to see them again."

"it's alright, at least you're here." mincheol pulled out his phone, and scrolled through his notes, picking out what to do next. "okay, you guys have about an hour of free time before we're taking you to the photoshoot for the album, so is there anything you want?"

"some peace and quiet would be nice," woojin groaned.

"a trip to the zoo!" jinwoo hoped, but recieved a thumbs down from the manager.

"how about some takoyaki?" yochanan suggested, the manager nodding in agreement as he opened up his contacts.

"there's a takeout down the road that sells amazing takoyaki, i'll order some from there."

"get us some vegetable kimchi while you're at it please!" the local vegan, jinwoo, begged.

"that's basically no scallions, right?" jinwoo responded with a yes to the manager's question, and then he began to leave. "i'll be back soon guys."

once the door was shut, the room went back to what it was like before mincheol entered. chaos. woojin waddled up to yochanan, rubbing the back of his head in the place where seongjin had unsuspectedly hit him with the long tail he owned. "i have a spare bed in my room, and seeing at daeyoung probably won't share with anyone, would you like to take it?"

"are you being...nice?" yochanan laughed, it was odd how woojin was only being kind to him, despite there being five other members needing friendly love as well.

"you gave me a good first impression, i guess."

the bear followed the cat down the hallway towards the door, which was covered by a large painting. it was of a young girl, peeling her face off to reveal a lady in a medieval ballgown, trapped behind a set of metal bars. yochanan was stunned at the artwork, and how it's beauty and meaning was shown through a few pencil lines. the signature at the bottom, although, didn't match anything to do with woojin, but it seemed familiar. it was a simple k.jin, and it rung a church bell inside the bear's brain. "who drew that?"

"jinwoo did." woojin unlocked the dorm door, "i know, shocking. he's so young and has skills like this. he gave us all a drawing when he met us, he probably has one for you as well."

the room itself was as greyscale as min's tail - black and white paint smothering the walls, and a thick, grey carpet drowning their feet. the checked duvet sat on one bed, the other bed plain. the occupied bed was accompanied by a modern-looking bookshelf, filled with different genres. an empty ramen pot - maybe three, yochanan couldn't tell from that distance - rested on the beside table, alongside a lamp and photograph of his hometown, bird's eye view by the looks of it.

"so the plain one is your bed, i'll leave you to set up and stuff, and you'll probably here mr overconfident shouting for your takoyaki when it's time to eat." woojin closed the door behind him as he walked out, and left the bear alone for once. yochanan let out a sigh so loud that could possibly be heard from jerusalem, glad he was in some sort of peace and quiet. lying down on the yet-to-be-made bed, he stared at his arm, in which the sleeves had been just rolled down. bruises lined it like a post tic-a-tate timer sheet, but only the ones nearest to his elbow stung. he didn't want to be reminded of how they arrived, nor the one on his hip, so he sighed once again, and pulled out his phone. the unanswered text from his friend incheon flashed upon his screen for the tenth time today.

incheon🌚
how's the dorms yochan?

yochanan🌝:
couldn't be better. miss you tho.

incheon🌚:
i'm just down the road m8. i don't live in austraila

yochanan🌝:
true

he took a breath, and then exhaled, a smile slowly taking over his lips. hopefully the members will be as nice as incheon. he'll just have to wait and see.

•
first chapter done!
sorry that it focused a lot of yochanan, but i felt like first impression jitters would fit him kind of well
i promise that i'll focus on the others next time as well!
this is the drawing that jinwoo gave woojin btw

also i was bouncing about the thought of posting this chapter this morning or tonight but i ended up doing it now because why the hell not 👌