𝓖𝓮𝓽 𝓘𝓽 𝓡𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽

Yoongi comes home one evening to his apartment to find no sign of his flatmate and one very cosy looking squirrel

Yoongi has very little experience with animals, to be honest. He has a dog, who he loves very much, but before Holly changed his mind on dogs, he never understood people’s obsession with fluffy animals. That was more Hoseok’s place, falling for every dog he saw on the street,

forwarding every cat meme he came across, despite Yoongi’s protests. So of course Yoongi’s first reaction is to call for Hoseok. All that achieves is waking up the tiny sleeping lump on the sofa.

The animal’s eyes open, it stretches it’s limbs out, looks up at Yoongi, and then freezes. As if an animal could do a sitcom double take, that’s what Yoongi just saw. They stare at each other for a moment, both in shock, until Yoongi tries calling for his best friend again.

The squirrel is suddenly on the back of the sofa and it’s front feet paddle excitedly at him.
“Fuck, you move fast.” Yoongi responds and the squirrel stops again. “Okay, look don’t move. Just stay there.” He says, and the creature stays.

He tries calling Hoseok, and hears his phone vibrate from the side table.
“Shit. Okay, umm, do I call 112?” The squirrel responds with an alarmed chirrup. Yoongi pauses a moment to look at it. Still in the same position. That’s normal, right? “Animal control?”
Two fast chirrups.

“What the fuck.”
Then the animal launches itself at him, and Yoongi can’t even take a step back to defend himself when it scuttles up his arm and onto his shoulder. Hanging on tight in case Yoongi makes some sudden movement to dislodge him.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Okay, no animal control. Hoseok’s a dumbass and left his phone, so-.” He’s sure he didn’t make any strange movement, but still the animal on his shoulder gives a sudden jerk and what must be it’s tail collides with the back of his head.

He chooses to ignore it’s strange behaviour.
“So, someone smart then.”
He lifts his phone up again and the squirrel leans forwards, as if looking at the screen.
“There’s something very strange about you.” He says, as he pulls up Namjoon’s contact and sends him a hurried text

Y: what do you do with a wild squirrel
Y: seriously
Y: i need an answer NOW
While he waits for a response, he refuses to keep monologuing to an animal and cautiously takes a step forwards. The squirrel sits happily.

He walks over and picks up Hoseok’s phone, he programmed his own fingerprint into it months ago, looks to see a few notifications but nothing disastrous that suggests why he ran off without it. Instead the squirrel makes a chuffing noise, directly in his ear which makes him jump

Not that anyone needs to know that. He drops the phone on the sofa when his own finally goes off.
N: Hyung, what? Are you okay?
Y: do i sound okay? there’s a squirrel and it won’t leave me alone. what do i do?
N: Where’s Hoseok?
Y: i tried that. nowhere to be found

N: Lmao, okay I’m coming over
Thankfully Namjoon only lives 10 minutes away, so he quickly cycles over and hurries up the stairs. He doesn’t know what he expects to see, but he knows he doesn’t want to miss it for anything.

He knocks on Hoseok and Yoongi’s apartment door once he reaches it and immediately hears an unmuffled exclamation of “Thank god!” from the other side.
Rapid shuffling ensues and then the door flies open.
There stands Yoongi, staring straight at Joon

with a slightly manic look on his face. Halfway down his chest, hanging from around his collarbone there’s a small striped animal. It’s head is turned to look at him, just like Yoongi. Halfway down his chest, hanging from around his collarbone sits a small striped animal.

It’s head is turned to look at him, just like Yoongi's.
The first thing out of his mouth, with two pairs of eyes on him, is “That’s not a squirrel, hyung. That’s a chipmunk.”
Yoongi gapes for only a second before he bursts out, “Is that REALLY what’s important right now?!”

Leaving it here for tonight, where the whole idea for this storyline came from
Honestly, there's been more reaction to this than I ever expected, so hi! There are more soft shenanigans to come

“I’m just clearing up facts. Besides, it looks like this little guy agrees with me.” He says, as the chipmunk gives a sweet little chirp and turns back upright, scuttling back to Yoongi’s shoulder.
He’s taken aback by the dark look he gets in return.

“Don’t encourage it.”
“Umm, okay. Can I come in.” Yoongi steps aside with an air of resignation, the chipmunk now sitting facing forwards again. “How long has he been here?”
“I have no idea, it was sleeping when I came in from work.”

“He looks totally relaxed, he must be someone’s pet.”
The chipmunk seems to ‘respond’ to him, a strange little nervous huff and Yoongi gives Namjoon a meaningful look which he has no idea how to interpret.
“I’m telling you, this thing is not normal, Namjoon.”

“Don’t call it a thing Hyung, that’s mean.” He lifts his hand up to the creature, meaning to let it sniff his hand but he blinks in surprise when it leaps to his arm without hesitation and effortlessly runs across to his shoulder. “Oh? Aww! He’s adorable.”

“Don’t make it even more full of itself.”
Namjoon gives him another look like he’s gone mad. “It’s not even been an hour and I think you’ve lost it.”
“Just watch it for a while and you’ll see what I mean.” Yoongi mutters.

Namjoon dutifully looks, as the chipmunk sits on his wide shoulder, carefully cleaning behind it’s ears.
“Yeah, okay hyung. So what are you going to do?”
“That’s literally why I texted you. You’re meant to think of something while I babysit someone else’s pet.”

“Okay, well do you know anyone in this building with a chipmunk.”
“We’re not allowed pets here, so i can’t exactly go putting up a sign.”
Namjoon sighs at his tone.
“Have you tried calling anim-”
“I wouldn’t suggest that if I were you.”
“...animal control?”

At that, the not-so-distracted chipmunk takes a sudden flying leap from his shoulder to the sofa. In a few seconds flat, it has crossed the room, scaled the curtains and is chittering from atop it’s new vantage point.
"Do you have a cage to put it in or something?"

“Why would I have a cage? Besides, how do you think we’d get it in one?”
“Can’t be that hard, it’s so tame. You go find something, I’ll get a hold of it.” He wasn’t going to point out that Yoongi couldn’t even reach the top of the curtain rail.
“Sure, you do that, Joon-ah.”

Yoongi doesn’t move at all as he sits back to watch Namjoon approach the curtain, and the waiting chipmunk. Namjoon feels the chipmunk giving him the same look Yoongi is giving him and it seems strange. Animals, at least small ones, don’t often have that intense a gaze.

Yet as soon as he reaches the corner of the room and lifts up a hand with a word of reassurance, the animal darts to the other end of the rail. He gives a strained chuckle and follows, only the exact same thing to happen.
This repeats a few times, Namjoon gradually

letting his frustration show and Yoongi trying not to double over with laughter. Namjoon doesn’t notice that Yoongi has already pulled out his phone and was making sure to get a video of this. For reasons. That is until he turns to see Yoongi with the offending item in his hand.

“Are you kidding me?”
“Now you see what I m- WHOA Joon-ah! We have to do something about this asshole and you’re just filming my suffering?” He points and Namjoon turns to see a brown flash going the other way.
With a yell, they both see the striped bandit scuttle across the

room and through the gap of the door into the rest of the apartment.
“Fuck.” “Shit.”
They both hurry after it, knowing it could have gone into any of 4 rooms and the question racing through Yoongi's mind whether he left his window open. It was an 8 storey drop out that way!

Namjoon tears the door open and races forwards, only to see all doors off the hallway are at least partly open and no fluffy tail in sight.
Yoongi is already heading to his own door just to check the window situation when suddenly he hears his flatmate’s voice behind him.

“Guys, don’t freak out.”
Hoseok’s bedroom door opposite creaks open to reveal the other man wearing only a pair of sweatpants and a strangely pained look on his face.

And that's it for today! What do you think Yoongi's reaction will be?

"Seok-ah, were you fucking asleep? Through all that? I swear to god…" he starts, as Namjoon is chuckling at his half furious and half exasperated expression.
"Wait, hyung don't get distracted." Namjoon pulls himself back to his senses and gives him a meaningful look.

"Oh right, the squirrel." Yoongi says, and quickly ducks a head into his room where, to his relief, he finds the window closed. "Hoseok, there's a squirrel in one of these rooms, did you see it?"
"A chipmunk, hyung." Hoseok says, a hint of exasperation in his voice that makes

Yoongi and Namjoon stare at him in unison.
"It's yours?" Namjoon asks, the amusement still hasn't left his tone.
It almost looks like Hoseok seriously contemplates his answer for a moment before giving a confusing, "Yes! No. Umm, you could say that."

"Could say what, Seok? That's a pretty simple yes or no question." Yoongi sighs then shakes his head. "Anyway, yours or not, it's no good if it escapes. Is your window closed?" He presses.
"No. I mean, yes it is. It doesn't matter."

This time Yoongi had stepped forwards, as if to check for himself and flustered, Hoseok puts his hands up on his chest to physically stop him in his tracks.
"You're really having a problem with yes or no questions, Hoseok." Namjoon says quietly, watching him. "Are you okay?"

"I will be, I hope." He says, as cryptically as possible. He pats Yoongi's chest once more to push him back a little and relax his sense of urgency and says, "You don't need to look for the chipmunk, because-"
"So he did go into your room."

"Because it's my room!" He says, voice louder than intended in his frustration at being cut off. 'Its his room! I- we- I'm the squirrel- chipmunk dammit!"
There's a short pause like everyone's frozen.
Then Namjoon slowly lifts his hand to Hoseok's forehead, who slaps it away.

"I'm not sick. Look, okay." He takes a breath and calms himself first. “I’m not joking and I’m not crazy. The chipmunk was me, the whole time.”
“Hoseok…” Yoongi starts but stops before anything else comes out.

“I’m a shapeshifter. I know you’ve heard the stories and probably think they’re false, but...well they’re not.” And he shrugs, indicating towards himself as proof. When Yoongi continues to stare at him wordlessly, he chances a look at Namjoon, hoping for some support.

“A shifter? Like kid’s bedtime stories, legends of animal spirits tied to humans?” Namjoon says, after he also takes note of the unresponsive Yoongi.
“Yeah, that’s the ones.” Hoseok says, fingers twisting nervously in front of himself.

“Seok, I'm not saying I don’t believe you… it’s just-”
“You told Yoongi-hyung not to call me ‘it’ because it’s mean. Which I appreciate. Then you called me an asshole.”
Namjoon blinks, then quickly raises a hand to lightly thwack Hoseok across the arm.

“That’s because you were being an asshole, well deserved.” He says, but the hit had no strength behind it and the smile on his lips is enough to help Hoseok relax from fear of his friend’s reaction. At least for a moment.
He turns to Yoongi.
“Hyung? You believe me, right?”

“You…” Yoongi looks over Hoseok from head to toe. “You…” Hoseok unconsciously wraps his arms around his body. “You sat on me.”
“To stop you calling the police!”
“For half an hour?”
“I really wasn’t sure what you were going to do.”

“I think your words might have helped a lot there. Why didn’t you ever tell me before?” Now it’s Yoongi’s turn to look nervous. Namjoon almost feels like he’s intruding when Yoongi continues in a very quiet voice, “Didn’t you trust me?”

A shorter update because I was busy all day, this was meant to be all fluff, no plot. But there needs to be some kind of basic explanation right?
Yoongi's turned it round on Hobi, do you want feels or fun tomorrow?

“Hyung! Of course I did. I do! But you have to know we’re very rare. There aren’t many people who know Shifters are real at all. Telling people is always a dangerous, tricky thing. Which is why I… I haven’t.” He wants to reach out to Yoongi, to take that look of hurt

and uncertainty off his face but he doesn’t know whether his flatmate, his best friend of 4 years, even wants him to.
“So instead of telling us, you waited until I stumbled in on you like… that.” And Yoongi doesn’t miss how Hoseok almost flinches at the way he says it.

He didn’t want to be so defensive, part of himself is warning him to stop but he is still balancing somewhere between dumbstruck and confused. Namjoon had been right, he hasn’t even thought about the stories of Shifters since he was about 8 years old.

However Namjoon was giving both he and Hoseok a strange look.
“Wait, what do you mean you didn’t tell anyone, Hoseok?” The man in question tears his eyes away from Yoongi and gives Namjoon a somewhat guilty look. Slowly, he nods, confirming what Namjoon has already figured out.

“I haven’t told anyone before this.” And he looks small, miserable at the way it’s going. “I never let anyone get close enough to me in case they found out.” Without meeting Namjoon’s eye again, he disappears into his room with a quietly muttered “Sorry.”

He reappears hastily pulling a hoody over his head.
“You don’t need to apologise, Hoseok.” Namjoon says as soon as he reappears, and when he does, he steps forwards and pulls him into a hug. “Really, I’m touched you told us.”

He confirms as he pulls back again, keeping one hand reassuringly on Hoseok’s shoulder, who had folded into the hug a little too gratefully for his liking.
“Thanks, Joon.” He says, now the full puppy eyes have activated.

“And I really look forward to hearing more about it, but some other time. I think I need to leave you two alone to talk.” He says, and Yoongi looks up at him from where he had been hiding beneath his bangs and his hands in his pockets. To Hoseok’s surprise, he gives Namjoon

a small smile and a nod.
“Thanks, that would be good.” He finally says and Namjoon crinkles a smile at both of them, one last hug to Hoseok for reassurance and then lets himself out with a parting shot of “No really, I have a lot of questions for later.”

Hoseok chuckles lightly before turning back to look at Yoongi, only to suddenly feel fingers close around his wrist and he’s being pulled into the living room again.
Soon enough they’re sat facing each other on half the sofa, a familiar position from their countless meaningful

and meaningless talks over their 3 and a half years of living together. Hoseok notes that while he sat at one end of the sofa, Yoongi was the one who had closed the gap.
“So I’m really not dreaming? You were actually a squirrel half an hour ago?”

Hoseok frowns slightly, giving Yoongi a slightly uncertain look, unsure whether to speak up or not. “A chipmunk, yes. No, it’s not a dream. Is that...okay?”
“Okay? What does it matter if I’m okay, you’re the one who does it.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know.”
“Not going to lie, Seok.

I’m amazed you kept something like this from me for this long.”
“I’m sorry, I-”
“You’re a really horrible liar. Like, awful. You couldn’t even keep quiet for a day when you broke my mug. You spoiled my /mum’s/ birthday present that one time. You told-”

“Okay! Okay, you made your point.” Hoseok says, and against his will, cracks a small smile.
“So tell me honestly, did you mean to tell me about this?”
“I wanted to.” He says, and looks up at Yoongi with wide eyes but twists his mouth in that telltale way Yoongi has just proved

he’s very familiar with.
“Today?”
“...No. Sorry hyung. It just happens sometimes, when I’m tired, or stressed.” He says, and doesn’t quite meet Yoongi’s eyes, which he is determined to fix.
“So what you’re saying is you have a kind of squirrel diabetes?”

The laugh startles so suddenly out of Hoseok, he meets Yoongi’s gaze with wide, shocked eyes.
“What? No! I can control it, most of the time. I think I just overdid it at work this week and didn’t take care of myself. It's just accidental when I get tired, sometimes ill.”

“So, to get this straight, you can turn, at will, into a small, fluffy squirrel?”
“Chipmunk, hyung. But yes.”
“And you’ve never told me this, why?”
“Because,” And Hoseok’s voice gets very small “I thought you’d think it was weird.”

“It is weird.” And Yoongi regrets it when he sees Hoseok’s face crumple in a second. “But it’s awesome weird. Do you know what I’d give to be able to do that? Imagine, I bet I’d turn into something awesome. Like an eagle. Or a tiger!”

As Yoongi goes on, he’s pleased to see how Hoseok brightens up. Obviously he was genuinely afraid Yoongi would reject him or something, try and kick him out of the house. However, when he starts listing animals, Hoseok bursts into giggles.

“No hyung. You’d be a cat.” He says it so simply that Yoongi stumbles to a halt and replies in what those who didn’t value their own self preservation would call a pouty whine. Hoseok would call it that.
“What do you mean I’d be a cat? Let me be something cool.”

“Trust me. I can just tell. Definitely a cat.”
Yoongi continues to grumble but Hoseok reaches out and lightly touches his knee to get his attention properly for a moment.
“So, are we okay?”
"Yeah, Seok. We're okay."

So maybe Yoongi just took a little bit of buffering time to get his head around it. But best friends are there to pick you up when you're down
What are your favourite types of scenes to see?

Updates postponed today because i have deadlines and only half a scene written, I will definitely be back Tuesday, if not tomorrow

The next couple of days were not at all awkward. In fact, Hoseok and Yoongi fall together just as easily as they ever had. As easily as they’d become friends the moment they had fatefully been paired on a group project and quickly realised they were either going to

kill each other or make things work. Which is why, after a few more questions that first night, and Yoongi thoroughly scolding Hoseok for working himself to the point he had literally transformed, they haven't really talked much about the chipmunk issue.

Yoongi is of course dying to ask questions, but he doesn't want to make Hoseok uncomfortable. Hoseok on the other hand, knows they are okay as friends, but still isn't sure where Yoongi stands on the Shifter thing,

so he doesn't want to make him uncomfortable if he would rather just forget all about it.
Hoseok had been living with this for years, Yoongi just a few days. So of course he is the one that breaks first. But he can't possibly show that he is giving in.

So his solution is to slide it into the conversation as if it is the most normal thing in the world.
He chooses the moment when they've made dinner together and have laid it out on the table in front of the television. As Hoseok selects something to put on,

one of their favourite youtubers, he decides to try to satisfy his active imagination.
"So, are you descended from a long line of squirrels or what?"
It looks, after a moment, a short count to three, as if Hoseok has frozen, remote pointed at the tv.

“Umm, Seok? Blink twice if you’re still with me.”
“What?” Coincidentally as he finally turns to look at Yoongi, Hoseok blinks. “I mean, this is fine?”
“Fine? Why wouldn’t it be fine? I’m just asking?”
“Fine.”
“Okay.”
Another pause.
“So...long line of squirrels?”

“Chipmunks, hyung. And I know you’re doing this on purpose now.”
“If it looks like a squirrel, chirps like a squirrel, I’m calling it a squirrel”
Hoseok throws him a look and Yoongi bursts out laughing. Hoseok only looks more scandalised.

“You’re the worst, hyung.” He pouts with no bite to it.
“Uh huh. Maybe I’m just trying to find out if you go bright eyed and bushy tailed when you’re mad too.”
“The actual worst. And no, shapeshifting magic is passed down but everyone has their own...affinity.

So we’re not all chipmunks.”
“Your parents are too? Jeez Seok, how many times have I met them. I never knew.”
“You met me before too, dumbass.” Hoseok retorts and it clicks in Yoongi’s head just how comfortable this actually is.

Even broaching The Topic, it’s like nothing’s changed, not really. Yoongi feels himself breathe a sigh of relief. He thinks, by the strangely fond smile that crosses Hoseok’s face, that maybe the same thought has occurred to him.
“I get it from my mum’s side. She’s a deer.”

Yoongi barely holds back a snort as he turns back from his dinner to look at Hoseok, searching for signs of joking until he realises he’s being serious.
“Wow, that explains so much.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. It just makes a lot of sense, all of a sudden.”

“The worst.”
“I have another question.” He says and is gratified by the lazy shrug Hoseok gives him through a mouthful of food. Again, the conversation is simultaneously the most normal and the weirdest one he’s ever been in.

“Why didn’t you just transform when I first saw you and explain to me then. I mean, surely that would have been easier. Namjoon came over, you could have kept it just between us.”
Hoseok gives him a look over his shoulder.
“Are you jealous that Joonie knows too?”

“No. Answer the question.” He says vehemently.
“Well, I panicked. And you were there, and it was kind of a nightmare I’ve been trying to avoid for 4 years now.” He looks away from Yoongi as he speaks and in a quiet voice says, “Sorry.”

“What, no. You explained, I’m not mad at you.” Hoseok gives him a look and he hates that his best friend knows him so well. “Okay, I was a little mad at you, but I don’t blame you either.”
“Yeah, well that’s why. I panicked and my mind shut down.”

Hoseok says, and focuses intently on the tv screen, that they haven’t pressed play for yet. He seems to notice this and fumbles for the remote on the table between them but Yoongi acts too fast and reaches it before him.
“Hoseok-ah, what is it?”

He watches carefully as Hoseok still doesn’t look at him.
At moments like these, he’s glad that he knows his best friend so well, and he spots the telltale red creeping on Hoseok’s ears.
Hoseok chances a glance and immediately turns away again.
“It’s nothing.”

“Tell me, Seok-ah?”
“No, I just… It’s selfish but-” He takes a long breath. “Iwantedtoknowwhatyouwereliketomychipmunkself.” He says in a small voice. It takes Yoongi a moment to decipher.
“Wanted to know what I was like? What does that even mean?”

When Hoseok is still reluctant he encourages, “You can tell me, I’m not judging. I’m just curious.”
This time Hoseok turns to give him a slightly longer look, and then his shoulders drop in defeat.

“It’s just everything’s different, like that. My sense of smell, touch, perspective. I used to curl up with my family all the time and I mean, I mentioned that I haven’t really had anyone close to me except my family before.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that…”

“Well, you’re my closest friend and I’ve wanted to tell you for ages. I’ve wondered, thought about telling you before and this time I was caught out and I panicked and thought you were going to kick me out the moment you found out and this was going to be my last chance.”

“Hey, hey Seok. There’s no kicking out. No last chance.” He says and lays a hand on Hoseok’s back, which he can see is moving quickly with rapid breaths. “So it’s like a family thing?”
Hoseok takes a moment, and that’s fine, but when his breathing is back to normal

he turns back to Yoongi and is able to face him properly. “No, not a family thing. Just a close thing. I only associate being a chipmunk with people I feel safe with so it’s just nice to relax like that.”
“Oh, well. That’s fine. That’s great.”

Hoseok makes a small noise and Yoongi nudges his knee.
“Look. I don’t mind. Do you want to squirrel up and watch something after dinner.”
Hoseok lifts his eyes again sharply and a self deprecating smile spreads across his lips.
“No hyung, that’s fine. You don’t need to-”

“I’m not doing anything out of need, I’m asking because I want to. Hoseok, do you want to squirrel up on me after dinner and watch something dumb and mindless.”
“Yes, please hyung.” A very small voice comes out of Hoseok, but Yoongi can hear the smile in it.

“Good, maybe I’ll finally have space on the sofa again.”
This time it’s Hoseok who hits Yoongi with his knee. “You’re the worst.” He says, but the smile on his face tells a different story.

Back to fluff and a smidgeon of feels. But of course Sope have no hard feelings.
How did my taking a couple of days off affect you guys?
Hands up if you're still reading

I will hopefully be back tomorrow, I just have a stressful exam first
In the meantime have a Hoseok indulging Yoon with a picture in a giftshop before sighing for the thousandth time 'Hyung, it's chipmunk' before their friends ask what they're doing

Yoongi starts to get used to seeing a chipmunk. It becomes familiar, sometimes Hoseok just wants to relax because he can now and in his own words, he wants to ‘stretch his paws’. Also, Yoongi notices a definite difference in his friend whenever he does get the chance to shift.

He’s usually much more relaxed afterwards, like it’s some sort of meditation.
Hoseok admits, after Yoongi comments on this, that it’s just like he said before. He only shifts in front of someone when he feels totally relaxed, and so when he gets to shift, it makes him relax.

Yoongi is quick to point out that logic is entirely backwards and it doesn’t work.
Hoseok begs to differ.
One evening, Yoongi is cooking dinner alone, knowing that Hoseok is on his way home from work. Based on the text messages he received earlier, it had been a long day.

Yoongi stands, humming to himself as he fills a pan with water from the kettle when he suddenly feels a light pressure on his ankle.
It had taken the best part of a week, but he has now got over the urge to immediately kick out at something unexpected touching his leg.

This instinct Hoseok had first learned the hard way, rapidly finding himself shaken from his flatmate’s leg and ending up halfway across the living room. Yoongi had been incredibly apologetic and had allowed him to curl up in his hoody.

Which is exactly where Hoseok heads this time as Yoongi feels the small weight settle in the back of his hood.
Turning his head as best as he can, he looks at the small animal, and asks, “Wow, your day was really that bad?”

Hoseok responds by pulling his tail into himself and hugging it close. Yoongi gives a sympathetic hum and leaves him to it, conversation not really an option right now when Hoseok obviously just wants some together time.

Eventually, as Yoongi is nearly done with the food, he senses movement and then he feels fur brush his ear as Hoseok ventures onto his shoulder to watch what he’s doing.
“It’s not bulgogi, I would've made that if I knew you needed cheering up.” He says to the observant chipmunk.

In return he gets a soft grumble, which he chooses to understand means he’s happy with the food.
Soon enough he starts plating up, places the first pan that had held the noodles on the side and turns back to the meat pan, when he hears a sharp chirp, directly in his ear.

He almost leaps away. Hoseok chirps again, a quick rhythm that does nothing but get Yoongi shouting back at him, “What? What?!” And then he hears a loud crash as the pan he had placed precariously had decided to make a leap for freedom from the benchtop.

“Oh. Well fat lot of good you shrieking in my ear did.” He grumbles. "Great help, thanks." Only for Hoseok to repeat the noise once more before going quiet, settling his paws beneath him warmly, with a sense of somehow winning the argument.

Yoongi continues to grumble as he takes the plates through to the living room table. As he sits down, Hoseok jumps neatly to the back of the sofa and then around onto Yoongi’s knee.
“You’re going to have to change back to eat. Not sure what pork belly does to a squirrel stomach."

In return he gets a look from the chipmunk which is somehow so Hoseok, it’s as if he can hear his reprimand in his head. Only in tiny format.
“Look, I’ll turn around if that’ll help?”
Hoseok turns and jumps instead to the table.

Yoongi tries and fails to disguise a laugh when his little feet slide on the slippery plastic surface and he gets another look of pure betrayal when Hoseok regains his feet, which only makes Yoongi laugh harder.

“Don't give me that look. It’s not my fault you’re not quite so graceful on four legs as you are on two.”
Hoseok walks over to his plate and sniffs around it carefully, shuffling close enough before carefully reaching over the plate to fish one of the beansprouts from the plate.

He then sits back on his haunches and starts nibbling on it, lost in a daydream. That is until Yoongi’s voice breaks into his train of thought. “You know, sometimes I wonder if you’re acting too human in these to post them.”

Hoseok looks up at that to see Yoongi with his phone out and focused on him. He lets out a small squeak of alarm and then a sharp huff in Yoongi’s direction. Yoongi who has not put the camera away yet.

Hoseok is quite confident that Yoongi is still not fully aware just how agile chipmunks can be. Or at least this chipmunk, while he’s over there mocking his grace. So he walks over to the edge of the table and looks at his flatmate, who is silently chuckling behind the phone.

He gives a couple of preparatory flicks of his tail, just to make sure his balance is absolutely perfect.
Then, from the standing start, he makes a leap and flies directly at the camera. He’s quite satisfied with the shriek he manages to pull from Yoongi,

who falls back into the sofa, phone pulled to his chest.
Hoseok continues onwards, jumping over the back of the sofa and scurrying back to his room where he can shift back, feeling much better now than he had in hours.

Yoongi is adjusting, but they still have some communication issues. Next time will Yoongi

Hoseok walks casually back into the living room and as he arrives says with a smug smile, “So you think i’m graceful, huh?”
“You’re a dancer Hoseok. Everything you do is graceful.” Yoongi replies, refusing to look at his friend as he says it and focusing on his food.

Hoseok just lets out a soft ‘aww’ and nudges him on the shoulder as he sits down. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asks and Hoseok gives a shake of his head.
“Nah, just a really long day. I’m better now though.”

Yoongi gives him a slightly longer look out the corner of his eye, as if making sure for himself and then goes back to eating.
“Yeah, I bet, who knew something so tiny could be so loud?”
“I could say the same about you.” Hoseok answers back,

only looking up in time to laugh raucously at Yoongi’s unamused ‘Yah!’ in response.
“The disrespect I get from someone I could sit on.”
“Uhh, please don’t.” Hoseok laughs back, gently giving Yoongi a push before they go back to their dinners, chatting comfortably about nothing

in particular and avoiding the topic of work.
Once they’re done, Hoseok gets up, waving off help as he claims it’s his job to clean up since Yoongi cooked. So Yoongi goes to entertain himself with youtube until they can decide on something to watch together.

Not two minutes later, a shrill chirp rings through the apartment and Yoongi looks over his shoulder to see a very confused Hoseok’s head appear around the door of the kitchen.
“Hyung, what…?” His eyes are drawn to the tv screen,

where a video of a chipmunk is on the screen, sitting on a fence and shouting at something off camera.
“What’s it saying?” Yoongi looks at him expectantly. Hoseok pauses only a moment to take in the scene and then bursts out laughing,

turning and going back into the kitchen as he does. Yoongi still hears him laughing and muttering as he finishes the washing up and finally comes back out to the sofa. Yoongi is at least 3 funny squirrel videos further down the queue.
“Ahh, really hyung. Why are you like this?”

Hoseok laughs as another video autoplays.
“I figured I could do some research.”
“You realise I don’t speak...chipmunk right? Like I don’t just innately know the language?” Hoseok says, still giggling under his breath.

“Well yeah, I knew that.” Yoongi says, going back to the youtube menu and not meeting Hoseok’s eyes. He scrolls a little more and puts on another video, this time one that shows chipmunk’s calling out and labels them with what the calls mean. With some small amount of laughter,