when you talk to me (my whole world lights up)

chapter one

"taehyung!"

hoseok's loud voice rang through the apartment mercilessly, waking anything that dared to still be asleep. of course, that ended up being yoongi, who was now sitting up with a grumpy look on his face. he glared over at the closed door, silently cursing his friend for how loud he was. deciding that he wasn't going to get any more sleep, yoongi kicked his covers off, trudging out to the main room. the softer voices became clearer as he rounded the corner of the hallway.

"how many times have i told you, you can't bite your brother!"

yoongi rubbed his eyes, taking in the situation before him. jeongguk was currently hiding behind hoseok, eyes wide with subtle fear. taehyung was crouched on the other side of the room, tail whipping violently behind him as he stared straight at the bunny hybrid. raising an eyebrow at the trio, he slipped past them and headed into the kitchen for some food.

namjoon and seokjin were perched at the table, having some sort of conversation to drown out the activity in the other room. jimin was sitting across from them, watching their conversation like a ping-pong match. his ears twitched as yoongi entered the room, turning his attention to the older boy for a brief moment before flicking his tail in greeting. yoongi only nodded in response, making a beeline straight for the coffee machine.

"good morning, yoongi-hyung." namjoon broke away from his topic to greet him, giving him a small, sympathetic smile. everybody knew how he liked his sleep, but he couldn't really blame them for situations like these.

"morning." he mumbled back, voice still heavy with sleep. he set to making his first cup of coffee, turning to lean against the counter when he was done, tilting his head towards the main room. "what's going on in there?"

"taehyung tried to bite jeongguk." jimin piped up almost automatically, ears flicking at the voices from the other room. "he's in one of those moods this morning."

"no surprise there." yoongi responded over the lip of his mug. the tiger hybrid had moments where his hybrid side would take over, causing him to be more animal-like and in less control of his actions. he normally went after jeongguk, for reasons unknown to them, but he must've caught the poor bunny off-guard today. "sounds like hoseok has it under control."

"i don't know if you'd call that under control ." seokjin murmured, earning a nudge in the side from namjoon. the older shot him a look of annoyance. "i'm telling the truth! he can barely handle that hybrid. taehyung's the wildest out of the three."

yoongi raised an eyebrow at him, watching the small scuffle with slight interest. the two fought for a brief moment before jimin let out a sort of growl, pinning his ears against his head. he didn't like when his owner and friends fought, even if it was play-fighting. the trio turned to look at the cat hybrid, eyes wide at his sudden sound.

"stop fighting. i don't like it." jimin hissed quietly, tail thrashing about angrily. the two boys apologized quietly, returning to their previous conversation as yoongi only laughed. a loud crash echoed throughout the house, causing the group of boys to jump. they all turned their heads to the doorway, yoongi being the first to move.

"is everyone okay?" yoongi asked as he entered the room. jeongguk went scrambling at his voice, almost tackling the older to the ground as he slid against the floor. taehyung chased after him, eyes wide and ears flat as he bumped into the wall when trying to turn.

"yoongi-hyung, he's trying to bite me!" jeongguk spun the two of them around so yoongi was between him and the tiger hybrid. yoongi clutched his half-empty mug tightly, trying not to spill any coffee. "get him to stop!"

yoongi only turned to look at hoseok, who's hair was sticking up in places from stressing over the situation. he had a pleading look in his eyes, silently asking him the same favor. yoongi was known in the group as the hybrid-tamer; his knack for communicating and calming them unlike any other. he was the only one who wasn't an official caregiver, but he brushed it off as not having found the right hybrid.

yoongi focused back on the current situation, looking right at taehyung. the hybrid was staring off over his shoulder at jeongguk, whose ears were twitching in worry. yoongi rested a hand over jeongguk's, silently calming the bunny hybrid down. he could feel jeongguk relax against his back, so he took the moment to get taehyung's attention.

"taehyung."

the tiger's ears twitched in response to his name, but he made no other movements. yoongi raised an eyebrow, handing his mug to jeongguk. he took it with hesitation, sending a questioning look that went unseen by yoongi. the older took a step towards taehyung, who finally tore his gaze away long enough to look at him.

"taehyung, are you listening to me?"

his ears perked up once more at his name, turning towards yoongi as he talked. his stance shifted to a more attentive one, tail flicking lazily against the floor now. he waited patiently for what yoongi was going to say, staring up at him with a tilt to his head.

"you know better than to bite jeongguk." yoongi started off softly, folding his arms across his chest. taehyung raised his head, ears flattening slightly at his comment. everyone knew he didn't like getting scolded, and he always responded the worst to them, no matter who it came from. the annoyed look was obvious to anyone who saw him, but that didn't stop yoongi from finishing what he started.

"don't you give me that look." his voice was level and calm, his tone just low enough to show the hybrid he meant business. taehyung glared right back at him, tail thrashing about angrily as he tensed up, almost like he was going to pounce. yoongi narrowed his eyes slightly, challenging him to do whatever he was planning.

the air in the room hung tense, suffocating as the two stared down each other. jeongguk clutched yoongi's cup tightly, ears twitching worriedly as everyone seemed to watch the showdown. no one made a move, and the two had some sort of silent battle.

a short time after, taehyung visibly deflated, collapsing to the floor in defeat. everyone immediately did the same, finally able to relax now that the scolding was over. yoongi ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding. he then turned to jeongguk, who looked amazed that the tiger hybrid had given in so quickly.

"are you okay?" yoongi asked, immediately starting to look the boy over. jeongguk seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, flushing as yoongi fussed over him.

"i'm fine, hyung." he muttered, shoving the mug in his hands at the other, effectively stopping him in his tracks. "take this back, i'm tired of holding it."

yoongi fumbled a bit trying to grasp onto the mug, only taking it when he knew he wasn't going to drop it. finally looking back at the bunny, he gave him a small smile. "as long as you aren't hurt." he did, however, turn back to taehyung, who was watching the exchange with interest. "you need to apologize to jeongguk, taetae."

taehyung sat up, any trace of his hybrid-mood long gone. he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, averting his eyes to the floor. "i'm sorry i tried to bite you... again."

jeongguk tilted his head at his friend before bounding towards him. he practically collapsed on the poor boy, sending taehyung falling backwards as jeongguk settled himself on top of him. "it's okay."

yoongi stared at the pair fondly as jimin decided he felt left out and jumped on both of them. the other three boys came to stand beside yoongi, watching the trio now roll around on the floor.

hoseok grasped yoongi's shoulder, giving it an appreciative squeeze. "i still don't get how you do that so well." yoongi only shrugged in response. he didn't really know how either.

"i still don't understand why you don't have a hybrid of your own yet." seokjin muttered from his other side, earning yet another jab in the side from namjoon. yoongi brushed it off, turning back to look at the hybrids.

"i just haven't found the right one yet."