Archive of Our Own

When Stray Kids discovered Felix’s secret by accident everyone was very accommodating, no, it was more fitting to say that they had been ecstatic to have a cat hybrid - their very own Stray Cat! - in their group.

Hence, for Felix it finally became possible for him to shift as much as he liked when they were back in the dorm or sometimes even in hotels. Something he had previously been holding back to do as a trainee and in the initial days of the group or tried to use small windows of alone time for.

Regular shifting was healthy for every hybrid and Felix was more than glad that he had found an environment where this was possible and even encouraged - the members loved to coo at him when he turned and happily played with him even when they were exhausted after a schedule. Even cuddles were happily handed out.
Felix was a happy hybrid who loved his group dearly.

His favourite time to shift, you might wonder? At night, of course!
First of all it was the safest time to shift because no one but the members could see him. They usually knew their schedule in advance, hence it was unlikely for one of the managers to suddenly burst into the dorm and get wind of his little fluffy secret.

Secondly and more importantly however was another reason. Felix loved to cuddle and once he turned into his cat-self, the feeling only intensified. And since their beds were rather small, it was the perfect method to get the maximum of cuddles - at least so he thought.

After growing fully comfortable with shifting around the members and also them growing comfortable about his hybrid status and habits, Felix grew bolder around them, letting out his cat instincts more. Kneading their muscles, climbing into piles of laundry or taking a nap as his cat-self became common occurrences in the dorm.

However, soon Felix started to crave something new: closeness to the members during nighttime.

The first and obvious choice for midnight cuddles was naturally no other one than Minho. Their second oldest had a soft spot for Felix from the very start and it only grew softer when he discovered that his group member was a cat hybrid. Minho was a cat person - he even used the term cat butler - through and through as he had three stunning boys back at home.

In his cat form Felix could do pretty much everything and Minho never said no to him.
Felix wanted to play with his shoe laces? Minho went jogging only after Felix grew bored.
Felix wanted to play hide and seek? Minho was always ready to entertain him (even when his tail was totally not hidden by the curtain).
Thus, it made completely sense to Felix that Minho would welcome him in his bunk bed.

“Hyung, can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Felix was a polite and well raised hybrid - he asked for consent first.
However, instead of the immediate approval that Felix had expected, Minho blinked a few times. “Why?”
“I want to cuddle with you.”
“The bed is too small, Yongbok-ah.”
“As a cat of course.”

“No.” Not only the rejection itself was a shock for Felix, how vigorously the older rejected him, was shocking. It was obviously not Minho playing tsundere like he sometimes did with the other members, his tone and expression made that clear - and it hurt.
Without saying anything further he left the room and went back to his own bed - as his cat-self. Not in the mood for talking to anyone anymore he curled up and closed his eyes for a while.

Later in the evening as if he tried to apologise, Minho brought over Felix’s favourite food - something he was technically not allowed due to the company’s diet plans but apparently Minho felt sorry enough to help him have a cheat day.
The gesture was sweet, making the hybrid somewhat accept this apology yet it was not enough.

Typical of a cat hybrid Felix was stubborn.
Sneaking into his hyung’s bed was the perfect idea, he probably should not even have asked and just showed Minho how awesome it is to cuddle together at night.

So later that night when he was sure that Minho was asleep already, he sneaked into his room and into his bed.

Which had more than enough room for both of them!

Felix flopped down next to his hyung and made himself comfortable, very comfortable.
However, the moment his fluffy tail brushed Minho’s nose - which Felix might or not might have done on purpose - the older one opened his eyes. “Oh hell no, Yongbok!”

Before Felix had even the chance to protest Minho grabbed him along with the pillow because Felix had foolishly believed that clawing on the pillow for support would stop the older one. Minho, however, did not care and carried him with the pillow out of the room. “We talked about that.”
“Meow.” ‘I don’t care.’
“The bed is too small.”
“Me-meow.” ‘No, it’s not.’
“Yongbok, if you talk back to me, do it as a human.”

Because Felix was a good kitty-hybrid he shifted into his human-self on his hyung’s insistence. “But hyung! I fit perfectly on your pillow.” Which he gave Minho back at that moment, again because he was a good kitty hybrid who just wanted some cuddles.
“No Yongbok, this isn’t up to discussion. If I tell you no, it means no. Period.” Taking his pillow Minho went back to his door. “Don’t make me lock it. Got it?”

“Yes, hyung…”
Being strongly rejected by Minho hurt. He had thought they all had a good relationship with each other nowadays, their initial awkwardness had melted away and been replaced by mutual adoration.
Felix even believed that there was a little bit more, that they were currently tiptoeing on a line between friendship and something more - maybe he was wrong. Maybe he had interpreted too much into everything causing him to cross some border he had overlooked in the process.

With a sigh he went back to his own room. There he shifted back to his cat-self. His head tended to be quieter as a cat, with sleep finding him eventually.

As the days progressed Felix kept his distance from Minho. Each time Felix, especially his cat-self chose another member over him, Minho somewhat seemed to be hurt. It was confusing but in the end Felix decided not to pay too much attention to him. The others were much nicer to him.

Especially Hyunjin was a good cuddle companion. He was in no way a replacement for Minho, rather without Minho constantly hogging his attention he learnt to appreciate Hyunjin more.

Hence, Felix spent the next movie night cuddling with Hyunjin but as his human-self. Movies were more enjoyable in this state. Hyunjin did not seem to mind the close physical contact at all, he even seemed delighted that Felix had chosen him that night. For the first time since his kind of fallout with Minho Felix felt completely relaxed in the company of everyone again thanks to the other dancer.

It only felt right to sneak into Hyunjin’s room at night to get some cuddles afterwards. Minho’s bed might be off limits but Hyunjin had never told him no.

While it was a little difficult to sneak into Hyunjin’s bed as the older one had the top bed of the bunk bed Felix somehow managed to reach it without waking up Hyunjin.
Not wanting to repeat his mistake from last time, he decided to lie down next to Hyunjin’s legs. As it was summer, the dancer was only wearing shorts while sleeping, thus Felix’s long fur brushed against his skin. He assumed it would be no problem as Hyunjin was one of the deeper sleepers of the group, but apparently this was not the case today.

“Lix?”, he heard the other one mumbling.
“Meow.”
“Sorry Lix, but no. You have to go to your bed.” Careful not to hit his head on the ceiling, Hyunjin got up and picked up the hybrid.
“Meow?” ‘Why?’
“It’s not a good idea.” While Hyunjin was nicer about kicking him out, it still saddened Felix. He could not see why it was a bad idea. In his head, the idea was perfect, they just had cuddled on the sofa and Hyunjin also loved his cat-self.

“Hyunjin, did a naughty kitty sneak into the room again?” And to make matters worse, despite them being as quiet as possible, they had woken up Minho.
“Yep. I will bring him to his bed.”
“Good. And Felix, don’t even think about sneaking into Seungmin’s bed next.” If Felix hissed a little at Minho at that moment, then it would be utterly Minho’s fault. Sure, he could forbid Felix from sleeping in his bed, but if Seungmin let him sleep in his bed, it would be Seungmin’s decision alone.

“I’m sorry, Lix, but sneaking into our beds isn’t good for you.” Hyunjin seemed to be much more apologetic than his roommate. Still, Felix‘s brain could not understand why. They never had any problems with Felix‘s cat-self sneaking up to them for some cuddles. They even sometimes napped together if their schedules allowed it, one human and one cat hybrid as his cat-self. To be fair it had been a while since that happened.

With a kiss on Felix's little forehead, Hyunjin put Felix down on his own bed. “Please don’t sneak back.”

After that night the ice age between Felix and Minho continued. There had been some looks from the other members but no one was - yet - commenting on it.
Minho tried once to talk to Felix yet the hybrid declined. He felt he needed distance from his hyung - while he was busy planning his revenge.

All clues pointed in the direction that Minho had some kind of problem with his cat-self.
Felix did not know why exactly but he had his suspicions, mainly that one of SoonDongDori or even all three were also hybrids and they were jealous of him or Minho did not want to make them jealous by smelling like another hybrid. Which would have been fine if it had not been for Minho extending the rule to his roommates, too.

Since the older one had dared to call him a naughty kitty, Felix wanted to show Minho how much of a naughty kitty he really was. He should not have given him ideas.

A few days after Hyunjin had kicked him out, Felix shifted into his cat-self while no one was paying attention to him and hid under Seungmin’s bed. The singer was his next target for a cuddle sneak attack, no matter what Minho said.

It took a while for Seungmin to go to bed but when Felix was sure his friend was asleep, he made his way out from his hiding spot. He was about to jump on the bed when two hands grabbed him and put him right into an air jail.
“Nice try, Yongbok.” Of course - Minho had caught him. “But I saw you hiding under Seungmin’s bed.” And without any further ado Felix was kicked out of the room again.

Discouraged and with a brushed ego Felix knew he had to give up on the room and its inhabitants. Sure, Hyunjin and Seungmin as well as the others still liked to play and cuddle with his cat-self, yet Felix started to feel slightly bad about shifting and looking for affection - both as a human and a cat.

Furthermore, he still had no idea what Minho’s problem was so far and why no one was saying anything about it. Usually if there was some conflict in the group Chan or Changbin would try to mediate but they stayed quiet for some reason.

The day after his recent attempt Seungmin had also approached him to tell him that he was forbidden to sneak into his bed. The singer looked somewhat apologetic about it and there was something else in his eyes that Felix could not interpret, but the rule was in place - the Minho-Hyunjin-Seungmin-room was forbidden territory at night.

Nonetheless, all the members remained kind to him and entertained his cat instincts. Changbin even asked him to knead his muscles as his cat-self because he claimed it was much better than the massage from the PT.
Felix gladly indulged him - Changbin’s muscles felt even better under his paws than under his hands, often making Felix purr loudly during his kneading sessions.

In addition, Changbin’s cat allergy thankfully did not extend to Felix’s cat-self. Whatever caused his allergy was not present in hybrids to the delight of both of them.

Hence, it was no surprise when Changbin became the next one who was grazed by the honour of a cat hybrid sneaking into his bed.

The older one had arrived late one evening. Felix - as his human-self - had been already sleeping but the arrival had woken him up. In the faint light Felix saw him carrying his gym bag - jackpot.

He stayed quiet until the other one was in his bed. Then he shifted into his cat-self and moved over to the other side of the room. Changbin tended to fall asleep pretty fast, thus it was no surprise when Felix did not get any reaction from the older one when he started kneading.

Was it bold? Yes
Did it feel heavenly? Absolutely

Especially because at this moment Felix could satisfy his cat cravings freely without anyone interrupting him and kicking him out. His purring kicked in motion and didn’t stop when he rolled up next to the rapper’s face, ready for a night of good and blissful sleep.

Yet luck was not on Felix’s side. His fur tickled Changbin’s nose the wrong way causing the older one to sneeze and in turn to wake up. “Ugh…” The older one needed a moment to register his fluffy companion before his expression changed.
Still Felix had hope. It was Changbin. Changbin loved him. Changbin would not kick him out - right?

Wrong.

With a sigh Changbin picked him up and moved Felix to his own bed. “Sorry Felix.”
“Meowrw.” ‘You’re not.’ Fancying not to wake Chan - who for once seemed to sleep, Felix kept his complaints to a minimum.
“I don’t want to risk things. Also my allergy… Yes, I don’t react when we play for an hour or two or during your massages but maybe after a full night with you next to me? You never know… It’s dangerous.”
Okay, Changbin had a point, Felix had to admit that. Also, he was the first one to give Felix a valid reason not to sneak into his bed anymore unlike Minho and his sudden dislike for his cat-self.

Signaling Changbin with a headbud that it was okay, Felix let go of his disappointment. He knew that eventually he would find a cuddle buddy who let him sneak into his bed. Felix was the cutest and most irresistible kitty ever - at least the members had told him so when they saw his cat-self for the first time.

However, it was hard to fall asleep that night. Even his usually more sleepy cat-self could not sleep. Something was missing, his instincts were not fully satisfied.

So when Felix heard noises from the top bed, it was like the answer to his sleep problems was waiting for him only a short hop away.

Everybody and their grandma knew about Chan’s sleep troubles. By chance only they recently had found something that helped Chan - Felix purring on top of him.
It was a surprise to all of them until Jisung pulled out his research skills - aka his favourite nature documentary youtube channel - and put up a video about the positive effects of cat purring. Cat purring can help chronic discomfort, reduce anxiety and high blood pressure - three things Chan suffered from as everybody was sure off.
Sadly the leader was often too bashful to ask and Felix did not want to overstep - yes he had also realised that this was somewhat ironic in the current circumstances.

But his time had come!

As Felix noticed that Chan’s sleep seemed to become restless again, he felt his moment had come. Everyone in the group would be surely delighted if he helped their leader to sleep better and then they would stop kicking him out from their beds. A genius plan!

To Felix’s joy he found Chan sleeping on his back, meaning he could flop down on the leader’s very comfortable chest. His purring would also have the best reach and effect there.
Source? Trust your cat-instincts, they know what is the best.

Chan was his favourite anyway so he started his inner purr motor - a name bought to you by Minho - immediately.

And it seemed to work. Chan became calmer, his arms and legs twitching less and his breathing also became evened out.
Pride filled Felix. Finally he had done something right and no one would be upset with him the next morning.

“Lix-ah.” Chan’s voice suddenly broke through the stillness of the night. For now, Felix had still hoped that at least the leader would grant him some late night cuddles. “Please go to our own bed.”
Despite his instincts telling him otherwise, Felix increased his purring, trying to show Chan that a purring cat on top of him was a good idea. But unfortunately, Chan never knew when something was good for him.

For a moment it seemed like Felix was finally successful in his mission. The leader gave him some pets. “Felix, it's not the time…” No, it was the time for his best kitten-eyes. No one could resist them.

Well, no one but Chan could. The leader took the cat hybrid in his arms and leaned over the railing to drop him off on his own bed. If it did not mean that Felix had been kicked out from yet another bed, he would have thought that the move was cool.
“No more sneaking into beds, okay? You get enough cuddles during the day.”

“Mweor” ‘Meanie.’ Of course, Felix knew that the leader’s words were final yet it did not mean that Felix liked them. He was annoyed and a little heartbroken that he was over and over rejected by his members all of sudden.
He simply did not understand why it was suddenly so bad that he sneaked into their beds. There was nothing wrong about it, like he did not even throw up fur in the beds. Maybe he should - as a revenge. No, he was a good kitty.

There was only one room in the dorm left that has not banned him - so far. Jisung’s and Jeongin's room. The reason why Felix had decided on them last was simple - the room was utter chaos. which was good during awake hours cause the chaos gave him plenty of spots to hide and plenty of clothes to play with, but if you wanted to sneak into someone’s bed the chaos also beared a high chance of accidentally causing some noise that could wake up the two. And so far, an awake member meant that Felix would get kicked out - something he did not want to risk.

“Yongbok, can we talk?” However, before he could even start his mission of sneaking into their beds, the root of all evil aka Minho approached him.
Felix still did not want to talk with the older one, he was still upset. But he also knew that if he did not talk to him, Chan would make the two talk to each other, so it was better to deal with it now.
“Sure hyung. What's up?”

“I might have come across a bit harsh and I want to apologize for it.”
"Oh?" This was good, hopefully it meant he was finally allowed to be in everyone’s beds again.
“But I also want to ask to stop sneaking into everyone’s beds.” And yes he had cheered too soon.
“Why?”
“Please just understand that you shouldn’t do that.”

“But why?” Was that some kind of Korean cultural thing? No, Chan would have explained that to him by now.
“Please just respect what your hyungs tell you.” Okay, this sounded like some Korean culture thing. Still, Felix did not like the whole ‘it’s like that and period’ approach to it. “But I got you something.”

Curious what the other had gotten him, Felix followed Minho to his room. There Minho pulled out a huge box. Felix’s cat-self loved boxes, hence each time his human-self got a delivery, Felix tended to keep the boxes until Chan made him part from them because their dorm was certainly too small to look like a warehouse. “Oh a new box. Thanks.”
“Yes you can keep it. I talked with Hyung already, but it’s not all. Open it.”

Inside of the box was a cat bed, a very soft one and it was quite big, much bigger than needed for Felix’s cat-self.
“Instead of sneaking into our beds, you can use this one and drag some clothes from us there, if you want our smells to be close. I talked with the others and they said it would be fine to part with some pieces for a short period of time.”

The idea did not sound bad and after just being told no, it was nice to be finally offered another option, one that Felix was willing to try. So he shifted into his cat-self and tried the bed. It was good, definitely something he would use in the future, but something was missing.
Getting up again, he went over to Seungmin’s bed to grab his pyjama shirt and drag it back to the cat bed. It was no easy task since Felix’s cat-self was rather small but he had long figured out the right walking technique for this.

With Seungmin’s shirt in the bed, it was somewhat better, it smelled more like home but something was still missing. Felix could not help but feel that it would be still better to sneak into Seungmim’s bed and cuddle with the human.
“I will leave you for a nap. The box will go into the living room for you to play with.”

Even though he did take a nap and it was a good nap, the bed could not fully satisfy Felix’s needs in the end. His instincts still wanted him to sneak into the other’s beds.

Sure, Felix knew he should not cause more troubles, yet he was still a cat-hybrid. As much as he loved his group mates - minus Minho currently but he got a few points back for the gift - he sometimes liked to stick to his own rules and instincts. And the latter especially kept telling him to seek the others out at night.

Also, two of the members still had not told him not to do it: Jisung and Jeongin. Plus Minho said he should listen to his hyungs, but Jisung was his sunshine twin and Jeongin the maknae, so technically they should be fine.

Still, Felix could not wrap his head around why everything had become this way.
His relationship with Minho had been different, more intimate, until the night Minho started to enforce the ‘no sneaking into the bed rule’. Sure the gesture with the fluffy cat bed and the box had been nice, but it was not the substitute they hoped it would be.

Later that week Felix made a show off going to bed early. Changbin had been in the room, lifting some weights, thus Felix shifted right in front of him into his cat-self and crawled under his own blanket.
Changbin cooed at this sight - as he should.

But when the rapper left, Felix shifted back into his human-self, placed a pillow at the spot where he had hidden previously before shifting back into his cat-self.
Taking a quick look into the living room, he found all other members distracted, giving him the opportunity to run into Jisung’s and Jeongin’s room as fast and as quietly as possible.

The room was in its usual chaotic state which thankfully offered some hiding spots. Jeongin, who had classes in the morning, was already in his bed and Felix was tempted to go to him. However, cuddling with his sunshine twin sounded much more tempting because of how close Jisung was with Minho. It would be the ultimate revenge.

Time for revenge came once Jisung had finally arrived and his breathing had evened out.
He had hidden behind a pile of clothes that badly needed to see a washing machine from the inside as they assaulted his poor cat-senses a little too much. Instead of rules against Felix sneaking into their beds this dorm needed rules against smelly clothes for sure.

Thankfully Jisung himself smelled much better, so Felix was delighted when he laid down between the arms of his sunshine twin. Jisung did not wake up, he even snuggled closer and Felix finally found peace. He knew he could trust his twin. And he really hoped Minho would see them like this the next morning.

At least so Felix hoped when he fell asleep.

“Oh shit, oh shit.” Slowly waking up, Felix felt how he was picked up. “Minho-hyung is going to kill me.” Hearing the name of his enemy #1 awoke Felix in no time. Jisung was holding him, looking slightly panicked.
“Meo!” ‘No!’ Using his best kitten eyes, because he knew Jisung was weak for them, he tried to make him change his mind.

Usually it worked. But not today. So he had to doubledown on his efforts.

“Lix, Hyung is going to kill me… or you are killed by —”
Jisung cut himself off. It was suspicious but Felix’s mind was more focused on other stuff. Well, if Minho wanted to play dirty by scarring the others, so could Felix, just in a sweeter way: He started to purr and rubbed himself against Jisung’s face. He would win the war.

Stunned by this sudden affection, Jisung stopped his movements - a first win.
Felix still was not put back on the bed but he was not kicked out either. Hence, he started to purr more and licked Jisung’s nose. No one could say no to an affectionate little kitty.
“Lix, you know what hyung said…” Yes, Felix knew and he did not care. “I won’t tell him but you have to leave.”

For a second Felix hoped to have won the other one over when he was lowered down again. “Lix, you have to go back, it’s safer this way.” Gesturing towards the door, Jisung sighed. “And if you go now, hyung won’t know.” Despite not being directly rejected by Jisung, despite it being again because of Minho, the rejection hit Felix hard. Just yesterday, Jisung had cuddled with Felix’s cat-self on the sofa. So what was different now? Why was he so scared?

Felix knew he should go, but he did not want to. Being rejected again hurt and there was still one person who had not rejected his affections: Jeongin.
He needed to prove to himself that not all of them hated him. Hence, instead of leaving the room he dashed towards Jeongin’s bed and hid himself under the blanket.

What seemed to be a safe spot actually caused the youngest to freak out.
After needing a moment to register what was going on, Jeongin threw the blanket away as if something hideous had hidden under it. “No, Felix, no, you absolutely can’t!”
Looking up Felix saw no sleepiness in the youngest eyes, only pure shock was visible. Yet before he could make any attempts to sway Jeongin in another direction, he was pushed off the bed. “You have to leave.”

No sighs, no moments of weakness and no other signs that there was a hint of wanting Felix near himself - Jeongin’s message was clear.
Without looking back, Felix left the room. While being pushed from the bed had not hurt physically, he was aching nonetheless.
Rather than going to his bed, he went to the bathroom, shifted back to his human-self and turned on the shower. No one could hear him cry over the sounds of the water.

To say Felix was feeling unwell in the morning was an understatement. The final rejection from Jeongin had deepened the wound in his heart and Felix had no idea why everyone suddenly kept their distance from him. Everything had been going so well, everyone had seemed to love his hybrid status initially and entertained his cat-self behaviours but now? Now they seemed to hate it, to hate him.
And it all started when Felix sneaked into everyone’s beds at night.

He did not understand why everyone was refusing him so suddenly. His human-self had shared a bed with everyone plenty of times and his cat-self had done so occasionally, too, and everything had been fine, even days or sometimes hours before each rejection they had cuddled with him.
No matter how much he thought about it, there had been no moment, no sign why everything changed in a blink of an eye.

There was Minho, the one who had started everything, and still the biggest mystery to Felix. They had been so close previously and Felix had believed that the older one had once truly cared about him, even more after his hybrid-status was discovered. All of the members were open minded to have a hybrid in their group, they even seemed to like it, but Minho’s reaction and care had been exceptional. He had seemed to be deeply delighted to have another cat to take care of.

So what happened?
Did Minho and the others not like him as a hybrid anymore?
If yes, why?

Maybe something had happened, maybe some news about a hybrid fucking up badly had come out without Felix’s knowledge and that had changed the member’s perception of him.
Or maybe Minho’s other cats had some problem with him, maybe one of them was a jealous hybrid.

Or worse maybe it was even the first step and they wanted to remove him from the group eventually.
Starting by distancing themselves in private and gradually pushing him away further and further until the news dropped. It sounded logical in a way, in particular after Jeongin’s reaction the night before - and absolutely devastating.

The whole day Felix could not stop thinking about it.
He had a solo schedule that day and while work distracted him for a time, he could not stop thinking about the possibility of being kicked out from the group. The staff seemed to be as friendly as always, yet Felix kept looking for signs that the end was near, that this could be his last solo schedule ever.

Normally when a schedule ended earlier than expected it was a good thing, something to be excited about, yet this time Felix had no idea what he was supposed to do.
On the one hand, he did not want to return to the dorm, to the cold members.
But on the other hand, he really wanted to shift to quiet his head a little bit and maybe take a nap - but not in the bed that Minho had given him.

The dorm was quiet when Felix returned which was unpredicted in a way as everyone’s shoes were at the entrance. But no one was in the living room and no sounds from one of the bathrooms either. Only when Felix went closer to the room that belonged to Minho, Hyunjin and Seungmin, sound or rather voices reached him. The door was closed but not fully, allowing the hybrid to catch the conversation that was going on.

“Guys, we need to tell Yongbok the truth….” Minho aka the problem sounded worried.

Hearing his name immediately sparked Felix’s interest. His gut feeling told him that he was not supposed to hear this conversation and yet with everything going on right now, he craved some kind of explanation. This forbidden conversation seemed to hold the key for all.

“Hyung seems so depressed this morning.” Jeongin was there, too.
“But we are doing everything for his safety.” And Chan.
“I know… but when he looks at you with his big pleading kitten eyes? Do you know how hard it is to say no to him?”
“Hyung, we all struggle.” Jisung and Seungmin, too. The whole group had a meeting without him?
“My allergies are a good excuse but still… I hate lying to Yongbok.” Changbin mentioning his allergies confirmed Felix’s suspicion that the troubles had to do with his hybrid status. Felix still had no idea what it was exactly, still he was worried and started to spiral.

What if they indeed became distant because they start to hate having a hybrid in their group?
Changbin was allergic to cats, so what if his hybrid status made him a danger to his fellow members?
Or what if they became distant because the company had found out, told them so and soon he was removed from the group?

“Same here. We really need to tell him the truth, Channie-hyung. Felix is already in a cold war with Minho-hyung because of this all.” Hyunjin’s voice joining confirmed that the whole group was having a meeting without him. A bunch of warning bells start to ring in Felix’s mind. They were discussing something serious - about him, but without him.
“I know I know… but I fear he will not accept our reasoning.” Their leader sighed. “He loves being a hybrid and especially shifting. I hate that I could make him feel awful about it.”
And with that something broke in Felix. This statement seemed to confirm Felix’s worst fears: They wanted to remove him from the group because he was a hybrid.

Tears started to spill over along with a flight instinct kicking in. Felix would have loved to run away, to hide somewhere and never to see them again at that moment. They had made him feel so welcome at first but now they had turned behind his back and seemed to resent his hybrid status. It hurt so much.

Still, he also did not want to go down without a fight.
Despite all the rejections lately, he still loved the members. This group was his home. He had worked so hard for everything. He did not want to give up everything easily. There had to be some sort of compromise they could reach even if he had to beg for it.

“Please don’t kick me from the group! Please! I will do what you want but please don’t kick me out.”
As he barged into the room crying seven shocked pairs of eyes stared at him. For a moment everything was silent save for the sobs coming from the hybrid.
“Please, don’t kick me out… pl-please…” The hybrid continued to beg. Only when Felix’s voice was barely a whimmer the members woke up from their shock.

Chan was the first to reach him, wrapping his arms around the hybrid and pulling him into a hug. The rest of the members followed, all engulfing Felix in a big group hug. For the first time in weeks Felix felt the warmth from all of them deeply - and this was exactly what did not make sense. They wanted to kick him out, they did not want to have a hybrid in the group, yet they were hugging him tightly.

“Lix-ah, why do you think we would kick you out of the group?” In a way Chan sounded guilty, confusing Felix even more. Did Chan want him to confess his apparent sins? Felix did not even know what he did wrong. All he had concluded was that it was related to his hybrid status.
“Y-you pushed me away all the time and I’m having a fight with Minho-hyung and now you… you talked about lying to me, how I would not accept your reasoning because it would make me feel bad about being a hybrid.” Felix tried his best to contain his sobs, yet it was hard. “I dunno what I did wrong, b-but whatever it is, please gi-give me a chance to fix it. I want to stay in the group.”

Various variations of the word ‘shit’ echoed through the room. Not knowing how to interpret the reaction, the idea of flight instead of fight flooded through Felix’s mind. But he was still trapped in the group hug, his only way out would be turning into a cat - which was not a good idea in his current state. There was a chance something could go wrong when you shift while being highly emotional. Still, it was a tempting option.

Again it was Chan who talked first. “First of all, we are sorry for pushing you away. We thought we did the right thing, but maybe we should have talked to you instead.” The hug got a little tighter as the leader spoke. “We won’t kick you out of the group. We would never do it. You are our previous Felix and nothing will change that.”
“Re-really?” As reassuring as it was to hear, Chan's words only increased Felix’s sobs for the moment relief opened the floodgates of his tears once more.
“I dunno how much you’ve heard but we did that to protect you. We protected you from ourselves.”

“B-but I don’t need protection from you? I love you.” In any other moment, Felix would have blushed or acted more shyly when confessing his love to the other members, yet right now he wanted them to know it. There was no scenario in which he would need protection from them, it sounded impossible.
“And we love you.”, replied Minho while the rest nodded in agreement.
“The thing is… well…“ for some reason the leader was blushing, confusing Felix even further. All the puzzle pieces did not fit together.

“We were scared to smush you while sleeping.”
“W-wait… what?”

This was… not what Felix had expected. Over the past hours, no, over the past weeks, his mind had made up a ton of reasons for the members' behaviour, each one worse than the previous one, that they hated him, that they hated him being a hybrid and so on, but this was absolutely unexpected.
“We were mortified that we would smush you in our sleep”, repeated Chan in English, making sure that Felix understood.

The thing was the hybrid had understood him just fine the first time, or rather he had understood the words, their meaning, but what he absolutely did not understand was why they were scared to do so. “But why? You would never do that.”
“You are so tiny as a cat and you are a deep sleeper… you would not even notice it until it’s too late...”, explained the leader. His concern was clear, as Chan seemed to believe it to be a real possibility and the other members mirrored his concern.

Which Felix still did not understand why it even existed. He had slept next to them as his cat-self before and nothing ever happened?

“I’m pretty sure I would notice that. I’m a cat hybrid. We notice more in our sleep than you think.” Also, Felix could not help but feel slightly offended. He was not that delicate. He could fight - if he wanted to. “Minho-hyung, you said that SoonDongDori sleep in your bed, too, but you never smushed them, right?”
“It’s different. Soonie is too fat to be smushed, Dongie would punch me before it happened and Dori would meow at me to wake me up.”
“And? I could punch you or meow at you, too.” His hyungs made no sense. At least they were talking finally, a win is a win.

“So…ah… I wouldn’t be so sure about it, hyung.” Jeongin’s voice was quiet, his expression even guiltier than Chan's one earlier. “Do you remember when we shared a room in Japan a few weeks ago?”
“Yep, I slept there as my cat-self, too, because I fell asleep after you played with me. But everything was fine back then?”
“No it wasn't.” The youngest shook his head. “I woke up that night for some reason and discovered that I was about to smush you and… and you didn’t notice anything and if-if I didn’t wake up in time…” Suddenly Jeongin was the one crying. “I-I was so scared to fall asleep again and smush you for real.”

Now that Jeongin mentioned it, Felix remembered something. The next morning Jeongin had seemed shaken and looked like he had barely slept. Back then he had not thought much about it - they all had bad nights from time to time. “But you said you had a nightmare that night?”
“Each time I closed my eyes, I saw myself accidentally smushing you.”
“Oh Innie…” Thankfully the group hug dissolved on its own earlier and gave Felix room to hug the maknae instead.

“When he told us what happened we decided that you shouldn’t sleep in our beds as a cat anymore. It’s too dangerous.”, Minho explained while also hugging Jeongin. “I’m sorry that I seemed like the big bad guy but I really wanted to protect you, Bokkie.”
“You should’ve told me.”
“I told them not to… I-I thought if you knew the truth you would hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Innie-ya.”

And this was nothing but the truth.

In no time all the negative thoughts and fears Felix had had disappeared. The confession from the others might have been somewhat ridiculous but more than that it had been reassuring. They did not hate him, they did not hate that he was a hybrid and they wanted to keep him in the group. This was all what he had hoped for.

However, his heart was hurting for Jeongin. The youngest had beaten himself up for something that did not even happen - and will never ever happen, Felix was completely sure about it.
“You woke up in time and I’m sure this would happen again. And if you were about to smush me I would wake up and let you know. No hybrid in history was ever smushed and I won’t be the first.” Now it was his moment to comfort the other one. “I trust you. I trust all of you.”

In some way it was a bizarre situation. Not even half an hour ago he was losing the trust in the others, thinking they wanted to get rid of him. Yet it was somewhat the opposite. They wanted to protect him - in a stupid manner, but Felix was easily able to forgive them. Their intention was good enough, the execution was just horrible.
“BUT.” However, his resolve not to go down without a fight was still strong. “You will not kick me out of your beds anymore. Do it and I will scratch you.” This was a bluff of course. Felix would never scratch them unless they truly deserved it. He was a good kitty!

Felix tried to put on an earnest face and looked at each member. “I’m not fragile and I want cuddles. Obviously not without your full consent, but Channie-hyung sleeps better when I’m with him, same for Sungie. My kneading helps with Binnie-hyungs sore muscles. I know Hyunjin is actually proud when I choose him over the rest of you. Seungminnie and Innie love to cuddle with me and Minho-hyung is whipped for my cat-self.”
“And human-self”, added Jisung just for Minho to elbow him.

“Next time you are worried about something please talk to me. I promise I won’t be upset, no matter what it is and I’ll accept your reasoning.” The rest nodded.
“Good. And Innie? You are the first one. I won’t tell you when I come, but I’ll come and cuddle with you and you will wake up without smushing me.” Felix hugged Jeongin once more, before he shifted into his cat-self and made his way towards the next bed - Minho’s one. He gave the group one last look as if to say ‘try me’ before he curled up on the pillow to take a nap. The day had been eventful and really stressful - he deserved one.

If the members cooed at him, petted him, took a bunch of pictures of him sleeping while whispering additional apologies?
He pretended not to hear them, even though his purring surely exposed him.
Finally, he was happy again. They were all happy again.

And at night?

After he gently pursued Chan to stop working by flopping down on his computer, Felix made his way towards Jisung’s and Jeongin's room. The two had expected him because for once the floor was clean - Felix was a little sad about it because it was fun to jump through their clothes to get some energy out. Thankfully, Jeongin was already asleep as he was snoring, something he only did when he deeply slept. Cat Felix jumped onto the youngest bed and crawled between Jeongin’s arms - his favourite place. It was warm and safe.

When Felix closed his eyes he knew that he was 100% not smushed that night - or ever.

EXTRA
Best Off “Felix smushing protection squad’ group chat
Minho aka the cat expert: Don’t worry guys I will handle it 💪 I know what to do
Jisung: are you sure about it? I couldn’t find any articles about smushed cats/hybrids
Chan: it’s better to be safe than sorry

[...]

Minho aka the cat owner: Soonie was easier to raise…

[...]

Minho: he hates me 😭
Chan: you have permission to buy the bed for him.
Minho: we have to keep the box, too
Chan: do we?
Jisung: yes
I.N.: (2)
Hyunjin: (3)
Seungmin: yes
Changbin:absolutely
Minho: YES
Chan: … okay

[...]

Minho: he still hates me 😭
I.N.: *us 😭
Seungmin: but mainly you, Minho-hyung
Minho: Emergency meeting TODAY

[...]

Minho aka Felix’s favourite: look how cute he looks on my bed 😻
Minho aka Felix’s favourite: - sends 20 pictures -
Hyunjin: we were literally next to you when you took those, hyung…
Minho aka Felix’s favourite: 20 min at 180 degrees and you will be the perfect dinner for Bokkie ♥️