THE KNOCK THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING [ HEEJAKE FF]

Five years later...

The bell above the café door chimed softly, letting in the scent of fresh pastries, roasted beans and trouble.

Small, fast-moving, golden-furred trouble.

“Heeseung!” Jake called out, dodging a flying napkin as a blur of yellow zipped past the counter.

Laughter followed, bubbly and high-pitched, as a five-year-old hybrid with golden ears and a cheeky grin darted through the café with a tail swinging like a mischievous metronome.

Jake leaned over the counter, wiping his hands on a towel. “Heeseung Sim! What did I say about scaring customers?”

The boy stopped mid-run, ears twitching. “Not to do it when you’re not looking?” he offered, grinning up at his father with innocence that was way too practiced.

Jake groaned. “Heeseung…”

But before Jake could finish his warning, the small lion hybrid turned on his heel and leapt toward the corner booth where a few neighborhood kids were giggling nervously over smoothies and muffins.

“RAWR!!” Heeseung roared well, more like squeaked bearing his tiny fangs and spreading his arms wide like a miniature jungle king.

The kids screamed in mock terror and scattered, some bumping into chairs, others diving under the table.

Heeseung stood tall in the chaos, arms raised in victory, tail swishing with pride.

Jake facepalmed from behind the espresso machine. “Heeseung, we talked about using your inside roar.”

“I was inside,” Heeseung said, giving his dad an innocent blink.

“You know what I mean.”

Heeseung shrugged, hopping up onto a stool and swinging his legs. His tiny claws tapped against the wood in rhythm.

“I’m not scaring them, Papa. I’m training them.”

Jake raised a brow. “Training them for what? A stampede?”

Heeseung giggled. “No, for when real lions come! I’m just practicing. They’ll thank me later.”

One of the kids poked her head out from under the table. “Heeseung, I’m never trusting you again! You said you’d show us your cool powers, not roar like a beast!”

“But roaring is one of my powers,” Heeseung insisted, puffing his chest out. “Papa said my voice has potential.”

Jake nearly choked on his laughter. “I said it’s loud, not magical.”

Heeseung rolled his eyes dramatically he had clearly inherited Jake’s sarcasm somehow. “Same thing, Papa.”

Jake finally stepped out from behind the counter and ruffled his son’s wild golden hair, soft with a bit of fluff sticking straight up like a tiny mane.

“Alright, jungle prince,” he said. “If you want to stay in the café, you have to help clean the tables you made messy. Deal?”

Heeseung gave it a long, dramatic pause, then slowly stuck out his pinky. “Only if I get extra banana milk later.”

Jake raised a brow. “You drive a hard bargain.”

Heeseung grinned, his golden eyes glowing softly as his little tail wagged in excitement. “I am half lion, after all.”

As Heeseung dashed off with a rag in hand probably to wipe the windows with more enthusiasm than actual cleaning Jake leaned back against the counter and smiled quietly.

The boy was a handful. Loud, wild, unpredictable.

But he was also the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Even if the entire neighborhood now feared 3-foot-tall lion roars with chocolate-stained lips.

End pov: