♡ Playground

@◬ Seungyoon Maybe it was just luck. Or maybe it was just perfect timing. Either way, somehow someway, that other hybrid would end up showing up whenever Jackson did. He'd always shoo the prick away and snarl a little at Jaebum when he tried to thank him, but still, the fox hybrid defended him. It's not often that he'd hear people talking about some 'weasel' hybrid that keeps sleeping in the lounge instead of his own room. Jaebum was snap at them, defending the nameless hybrid that kept saving him, with facts and differences between stoats and weasels. They'd be startled but they'd eventually learn not to ignite a fire when they don't know how to blow it out.

It's pretty much a routine by now. Jaebum would be heading down the elevator to head to his class, Jackson would appear and harass him, then the hybrid would appear out of nowhere and would refuse to leave until Jackson had left. Jaebum really wanted to know the guy's name. He had came to his rescue multiple times - Jackson was known for getting physical and he even gave him a black-eye once - and he still has had no way to try to thank him. Well, today seemed to give him the chance to.

Jaebum had just finished his class and headed out of the building to buy some groceries for his dorm when he heard scuffling nearby. He was passing by the park in the right moment when he spotted a group of men and that same hybrid. His legs were running over to the scene before he could even think about what he was doing and - maybe he'd get his kicked, who knows, but he's not about to walk on by as if he didn't see what's going on here.

"Hey, hey!!" Jaebum shouted as he ran over to them, immediately getting in front of the other hybrid. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The other men seemed startled by his presence but didn't show any signs of backing off as they looked at each other in amusement.

"What kind of hybrid are you, huh?" One sneered, smirk on his face as he leaned in to get a better look at Jaebum's fur. "You look.. to be an arctic fox! That's pretty uncommon around here." Right. /Hunters/. Jaebum figured that - it's not like this was his first time running into them. Apparently, white fur is either rare or uncommon so hunters tend to be more... /demanding/ in that sense.

"Piss off." Jaebum snarled, gripping his bag tighter in his hand. "You have no place here." He knew he was in trouble when they started laughing. So the fox hybrid turned his head and looked back at the nameless one behind him with a light frown before he reached into his pocket and tossed him a cellphone with the silent hint of having him call the cops. When Jaebum turned back around, he had a split second to react before he had a fist flying into his cheek. The impact sent him to the side where someone had grabbed him by the throat and pulled him back up. Jaebum grit his teeth and kneed him in the nuts, making him double over in pain, then pushed him to the ground. He knew absolutely nothing about fighting but he was able to dodge blows and land a few of his own.

"Wanna play hero, huh?" One of them grunted as he got up to his feet. Jaebum panted heavily from his spot, still managing to stand his own ground in front of the hybrid, but his entire body seemed to be weighing a ton; his lip was split open and he's sure he'd been choked enough that there's bruises on his throat. Add to the kicks and blows to his ribs and due to his lungs screech when he breathes, he's sure a rib here and there are broken. But right now, his adrenaline is a little high for him to feel the pain of his injuries.
"Alright. Alright, we admit defeat this time." The hunter added. Jaebum pauses briefly in slight confusion but then he caught sight of movement in his peripheral vision. He turns his head and sees someone charging at him full speed with a heavy looking baseball bat in his hand. Jaebum had two seconds to do something so he blocked the hit with his forearm before grabbing his tuffle bag and throwing it into the guy's face. The bat had shattered upon impact to his arm and he let out a cry of pain. The sound of the bat breaking was loud but he could feel his own wrist and arm breaking with it. He went down a second later, holding his injured arm to his chest as his other arm held him up.

@☪ Jaebum The rest of the week had kind of just... continued like that. The Jackson guy seemed to enjoy getting a kick of out teasing Jaebum so much that it seemed almost every time the stoat and the fox bumped into one another it was always the three of them. Of course the stoat hybrid had warded off the troublemaker time and time again, getting irritated that the guy seemed to just not get the idea that bullying was and no one had an excuse to do it. But Seungyoon figured idiots would be idiots and all he could do was offer the support up he already had been, though to do more than that? He wasn't sure he could.

However there had been something that had caught Seungyoon off his guard. It was when he heard the other man telling someone the difference between weasels and stoats. No one had asked him to, and the stoat hybrid doubted that people even cared let alone knew about the differences, but it was... nice to hear someone defending him at least. But before he could be seen he'd rushed away of course, Jaebum still not even knowing his name despite how strangely close and still distant they felt with one another.

It was a Wednesday night when Seungyoon was having a particularly hard time. He was still trying to come to terms with the death of his family, something which really hadn't happened that long ago and on nights like these, it seemed to fill him with an insatiable feeling of coldness, desperation and general misery. So he'd naturally taken himself away from the sanctuary, tired of hearing the other hybrids happily laughing amongst themselves when all he could feel was misery.

But he was a fool going on his own. Tugging his hoody around him a little more, the stoat almost wished he'd kept those clothes Jaebum had given him for some kind of comfort, but he told himself not to. Instead his stubborn pride got in the way and as he had slunk to the playground at the late hour, with the stars in the sky, he found it was empty except for the sound of the wind making the swings creak as they swung back and forth just a bit. Seungyoon sat down on one of those swings and had become distracted in his own thoughts, realising perhaps a moment too soon that he had been cornered and when he had snapped back into reality, it was far too late for that.

"Lookie here. The one that got away." One of the men sneered, Seungyoon jolting up from his spot on the swing before he tried moving around it to back away. The only thing he got in return was to be shoved down onto the ground and a kick to the gut when he tried getting back up.
"Oh don't harm him too much, boys. We can't that pelt looking absolutely pristine by the time we're done." The sound of the men laughing brought tears to the stoat's eyes. It was the same laughter he'd heard when his parents had been killed, hunted down like they were just a simple commodity.
"You're sick." The hybrid spat back, one of the men tipping his chin up now and smirking before they grabbed at his snowy white hair, scrunching it up and yanking his head back so hard he toppled onto his back.

Scrambling back, Seungyoon's breathing had turned erratic as he tried backing away from the man, only to receive another kick to his ribs, sending him rolling onto his stomach where he wheezed and whimpered. Stars in his eyes, the stoat shook whilst dragging himself pitifully along the ground, torn as he missed his family but knowing he didn't want to join them just yet either.

Not yet.

The raven haired male let out a small breath in the winter air, frost like breath escaping past his tiers as he tilts his head up slightly to glance to the dark starry sky that over hanged above him. A small smile slipping past his stoic features before he turns into the park, it was the quiet time of the night where nothing would bother you. He needed time alone, it was cold tonight. He knew but he only came out with a tank, jeans and a loose fitting jacket placed over his shoulders as he wandered around. "Childhood huh.." He let's out quietly as he stared at the structure in front of him. He never knew what childhood was, with a soft sigh he moves to sit on the swings thinking back to what happened these last few days.

/strolls around the cold, empty playground, hands shoved deeply into my coat pockets as my nose down is muffled by the scarf, winter never bothered me that much, the wind was harsh but bearable, and I didn't feel inclined to stay in and sleep as many other animals do, instead I enjoy my time outside, where there's peace and recluse, left to my thoughts and myself.