Hyuk came out a moment after and rushed to the living room, still buttoning his shirt. "Aww come on! I missed it. You guys couldn't even pause for me?" 

The birds chittered in laughter and the maknae sighed, "No point in doing that now, I already know what's going to happen." He focused on you and smiled, "Hello! I'm Hyuk, the manliest of VIXX!"

Ravi spoke up, "Liar!"

You grinned, "It's nice to officially meet you!"

Hyuk's ears turned red, "Oh yeah. Sorry about uh..startling you in the bathroom on the first day." He looked off to one side and admitted sheepishly, "It was so comfortable I fell asleep and forgot about the time."

You waved it off before your own blush could start, "It's fine, you looked like you haven't sleep for days."

He nodded and scratched his head, "Eh. That is kind of what happened."

Knowing that he wouldn't say anything else, you didn't press him. "Do you guys all know your jacket sizes? I'm planning to get those for you today."

"Well, I can try them on and sort of guess whether it would fit them or not." Hyuk suggested.

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A few minutes later, you were at the mall with Hyuk. The both of you were heading toward the clothing store which sold many styles of jackets which you hoped VIXX would like. You were about to lead Hyuk in when he stopped in front of a tag printing machine. He stared at it for a few seconds. "Can we...?"

Frowning at it, you remembered the conversation with the old lady this morning. "It's okay. Not a lot of people mind if pets aren't leashed or collared here."

"But I think it would be better, just in case we get lost. Or if we're out by ourselves and someone mistakes us for strays. At least just for me and Taekwoon hyung?"

You hesitated, "Won't it be uncomfortable and choke you? Especially when you..."

"It'll be fine, we can take it off before that, or wear it loosely. There is a pet store near here right?"

"Well, not in this mall. On the way home there is though. The usual one." You mentally smacked your head when confusion crossed his face, "Oh that's right, I never took you there before."

"Cool, that'll be fun!"

You inserted the amount for two tags and moved aside for Hyuk. He grinned, a mischievious glint in his eyes. "I'll make Taekwoon hyung's tag too!"

He pressed a few buttons on the machine, looking at the different styles and shapes of tags. Deciding on a star shaped tag, he proceeded to type in your address and phone number.

"Wow, you have that memorized already? It took me weeks to memorize my own number."

Hyuk laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, Hakyeon hyung drilled it into our heads while you were at work. He was nagging everyone to remember it as if our lives depended on it. Hey, what would you call me if I were a puppy?" He gave you an innocent look, putting two fists in front of himself to mimick paws.

"Umm...Hyuk..?"

"Besides Hyuk!"

You racked your brain for a name as he interrupted your thoughts, "Sasuke?"

"Well that's a bit..." You trailed off, not wanting to tell him that it didn't suit his puppy self.

"Rex?" 

You paused. "It's an improvement from Sasuke, that's for sure. I just can't really imagine calling you--"

"Oh no, don't call me that. It's just a name to put on the tag."

A beep came from the machine as a warning popped up on screen: Timeout in 0:59 seconds.

Hyuk hurriedly typed in 'Rex' and hit the green button. Within moments, the new tag clattered into the pickup slot. He picked it up and examined it, eyes gleaming. "It's perfect!" He handed it to you and turned back to the machine, most likely to create Taekwoon's tag.

You turned the tag over in your hands, noting the rounded corners of the star shape to keep it from being sharp and pointy. 'Rex' was on the first line, followed by your address and phone number on the following lines. A hole and attached jump ring at the top of the tag allowed you to attach it to a collar. 

"And here's Taekwoon hyung's tag! Doesn't it suit him well?" He handed you a circle shaped tag.

You noticed the twinkle of mischief in his eyes again. There didn't seem to be anything odd about the tag. It was a perfectly cut circle. Turning the tag around you read the engraved text as Hyuk burst out laughing.

"Mimi."

Everything about the text was the same as Hyuk's own tag. The only difference was the name on the tag. Hyuk had given the name 'Mimi' to the cat.

"But Mimi is more of a female--"

"It's okay! If people ask, you can claim that you named him Mimi before realizing he was male. Just remember to tell Leo not to kill me when we get home, please."

You nodded and placed the tags in your purse. "Next up, jackets!"

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Hyuk stepped into the store and wrinkled his nose at the smell of faux leather. "It really does kind of smell like actual leather."

"That's why we're going to look at the parkas! Some of the faux leather jackets smell like plastic at times."

The parkas and trenchcoats were groups next to each other. You watched in amusement as Hyuk ran between the racks, pulling out every other jacket and holding them to himself, "Does this look good?"

"If you're like this, then what will Hakyeon be like?"

"Hm, a whole lot worse? I happen to like looking at jackets, though. Ooh look at those blazers!" With that, he dug into yet another pile of clothing.

For the next two hours, you and Hyuk looked at different styles of jackets, leather, faux fur, down and of course, blazers. The search for jackets ended with Hyuk picking out a navy colored parka for Ravi, an olive green coat for Ken and a few blazers for himself. He wasn't sure whether Hakyeon or Taekwoon would wear the jackets he picked for them, so you decided to take them here on another day instead.

"Thank you so much! I really wish we could help earn our keep someway."

You shook your head, "It's completely fine, don't mention it."

He flashed a smile at you and it suddenly occurred to you that people in the mall didn't seem to recognize him at all, even when he wasn't wearing anything to cover his face. That was a pro to you because that meant you wouldn't be the object of every fangirl's hate on the internet.

"Let's get dinner here! Do you mind foodcourt dinner?"

"Not at all, I haven't had that in years." You felt a pang in your heart upon hearing that.

"What happened to you?"

Hyuk laughed, "Oh no, I was actually talking about being unable to eat at a foodcourt because everyone would be following us. It's not that I don't like it, I think Starlights are super sweet and nice. It's just that it gets really crowded."

After you and Hyuk ordered your meals, you seated yourself at a table. He followed suit, placinig his pager atop the surface. "What's the plan after this?"

"I've got nothing planned. We can go to the pet store and pick a collar." You suggested, shrugging. "We can also shop around the mall if you like."

Both your pagers buzzed. You grabbed yours and proceeded to the booth, exchanging the pager for a bento meal. Hyuk brought over his own dinner, steak on sizzling platters. "Honestly, I feel a little spoiled right now. I don't even have to do anything and I'm getting fed, clothed and all."

"Really, it's fine." You started on your dinner. Hyuk looked hesitant at first, but dug into his steak shortly afterward.

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After dinner, you treated Hyuk to ice cream, noting his adorable childlike reaction to it. His eyes were wide and a huge grin crossed his lips. "I've forgotten how much I missed ice cream!" You laughed as he quickly finished the cone, wincing when the brainfreeze hit him. "Agh. I don't miss these at all!"

You moved on, going through the mall with Hyuk and noting how people were beginning to stare at him. You wondered if they could recognize him.

"Let's go to the pet store now!"

"Sure, you seem very eager to go today."

Hyuk grinned, "I am Taekwoon kitty's self-hired stylist. He's going to love what I get for him and he's going to look great!"

You were beginning to feel worried for your own life now, "Umm...isn't he going to kill us then?"

"Like I said, just tell him not to!"

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The doors of the now-familiar pet store slid open. Chen grinned, "Hey!" He looked from you to Hyuk, "Hello sir."

He turned back to help the next customer in line. Hyuk peered around the aisle labels. You followed him to the cat and dog aisle near the back of the store.

"These look cute! I wonder if they're comfortable."

You shrugged, "We should have brought Taekwoon."

Hyuk shook his head, "Nah, he'd oppose to what his stylist thinks is good for him." Picking up a red collar, he surprised you when he brought it up and clasped it around his own neck. He frowned and put it back down. "This is itchy."

He chose an army patterned collar and tried it on, "This is also uncomfortable! Why do they use this material?!" Scowling, he reached for a thin black collar.

"Does this match my hair?"

"Umm.." You were confused, what did the collar have to do with his hair? As if hearing your thoughts Hyuk added, "My coat is about the same color as my hair."

"Oh! I guess it does. Black kind of goes with everything. What about this one?" You pointed to another red collar on the shelf, more of a scarf than a simple collar. 

"Hey, that's different!" Hyuk tried it on. "It's definitely a lot more comfortable. I'll pick this then. Thanks!"

He eyed a pink collar and grinned, "This would look perfect on Taekitty!"

You laughed, "Taekitty? Have you called him that before?"

"Not recently, I never had enough energy to withstand his attack that follows. But I can do it now!" He smirked and clasped the pink collar on, twisting it around his neck, "It's quite comfortable as well. This'll do."

A middle-aged man passed by and frowned, the distaste clear in his voice. "I believe this is the pet store, not the adult novelty store." He turned and pushed his cart down the aisle, muttering, "es these days."

Your cheeks flushed a dark red when his words sank in. As soon as Hyuk took the collar off, you quickly dragged him with you, making a beeline for the checkout counter. It was a relief that the collars were located at the back of the store, where fewer people looked. "What's the rush?"

Trying to make your cheeks return to their normal color, you fanned yourself. "No reason, I just thought we should go home before someone recognizes you."

"Oh." There was a pause. "They won't."

"Okay, before they recognize me then."

Hyuk chuckled, "What, do you have antifans?"

"No, I just don't want to run into that man again."

He shrugged, "Fair enough." You noticed his own cheeks were slightly pink.

Chen was at the counter, sending his customers off with friendly smiles. "Hello! Find everything you need?" His gaze seemed to linger on your still-red cheeks.

You smiled, "I did, thanks!"

"Oh, these are for the cat and dog you're adopting right? Nice color choice for a female cat, by the way."

Grinning, you gestured at Hyuk, "My friend here helped me choose that." 

Chen looked between you and Hyuk again, "I like your sense of style."

He smiled, "Thank you."

The man from earlier pushed his cart over and joined the line behind you. Quickly, you grabbed the collars and put them in your purse. "Thanks and see you next time Chen!"

You hustled Hyuk out of the store, both of you avoiding the stare from the man.

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This was supposed to be a short chapter, but it ended up pretty average. Yay! I just had to keep writing because the comments were making me happy. ^^ You're okay with a mix of short and long chapters right? This results in abnormal updates though. However, I shall promise that I'll never go a week without updating! (Unless some emergency comes up.)