Sehun wasn’t a crier.

 

He had only cried a handful of times in his adult life. Sad movies never really got to him, and the few times he did cry, it was during funerals. So it was a big deal for him to get emotional about something like this.

 

After he'd said goodbye to Lu Han on Sunday, he got into the car and drove home. Everything had been fine then.

 

He had come home pretty late, but he didn’t want to go to sleep just yet. So he sat down on the couch.

 

Everything was still fine then. Until it wasn’t.

 

As soon as he the TV, Sehun habitually moved his arm to wrap around the warm body that would normally be by his side.

 

He wasn’t there.

 

A wetness appeared in his eyes.

 

At first he tried to focus on whatever program was playing on the television, but Sehun could never stop the tears once they started flowing. So eventually he pulled a pillow to his chest, lay down on the couch, and let go. Gave into the sadness.

 

Sehun didn’t know when he fell asleep that night, but he must have, because when he opened his eyes, it was morning and he had to go to work.

 

He dragged himself off the couch and went to the bathroom. His eyes were completely swollen, the aftermath of the tears. He tried his best to reduce the redness by slapping a cold towel over them for a few minutes, but his efforts were futile. Instead he just chugged down a few glasses of water, got dressed, and went to work.

 

Kyungsoo was sitting in his office when he arrived. The investigator took one look at his coworker’s face and held his arms open. Sehun stepped into them.

 

“It’ll get better Sehun,” Kyungsoo said when they parted, “but let yourself be sad in the meantime.”

 

Sehun cracked a pathetic smile and nodded. Then he told Kyungsoo to not bring it up any more because he was worried it might make him cry again.

 

Kyungsoo nodded solemnly and must have spread the word because no one else asked Sehun about his swollen eyes and he was eternally grateful for that.

 

His state was probably disturbing to anyone who noticed, anyway. Sehun was known as the calm Oh brother at the bureau, his emotions never extending out of a small, set range. People who had been working with Sehun for years had never seen him so upset, and a lot of his coworkers kept their distance.

 

Yixing stopped by Sehun’s office during lunch to help ease Sehun’s pain and it worked, a little. Yixing always knew the right thing to say.

 

“I think you made a good choice, Sehun.” Yixing said during their meal, “You’re very selfless, you know.”

 

Sehun shrugged and sighed, “I suppose.”

 

“No you really are,” Yixing emphasized, “there aren’t many people would give up something for the greater good. Especially something so precious.”

 

“I just didn’t think it would be so hard.”

 

“What is done is done,” Yixing replied, “there’s no sense in feeling bad about something when it’s in the past. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll feel better with time.”

 

Sehun nodded and decided to divert the topic, “How is Jongin?”

 

“Sehun, you don’t want to hear about Jongin. I guarantee it.”

 

“But—” 

 

Yixing cut off Sehun’s opposition, “No you don’t. But what I can do is tell you about what your brother has been up to nowadays.”

 

With that, Sehun let out a weak laugh, but it was genuine, “Alright, hit me.”

 

Yixing then proceeded to catch Sehun up on all of the things Daehyun had been involved in recently, most notably getting into a messy fight with a girl who had charged into his office asking if he had cheated on her, to which Daehyun responded that they were never dating to start with. It caused such a big commotion that their father had to get involved.

 

The situation was more unfortunate than funny, but Yixing made it humorous when he recalled the events, taking on the personas of each character but then completely missing the punchlines as he was prone to do.

 

Sehun appreciated Yixing’s help in taking his mind off the entire thing.

 

Luckily, the afternoon was very busy, filled with interviews, meetings, and presentations. Kyungsoo was also accompanying him on all the events, and took up any spare time Sehun would have to feel sorry for himself.

 

After their day was finished, Kyungsoo lingered in Sehun’s office even after they finished debriefing with each other.

 

When Sehun told Kyungsoo that it was okay to leave, the other investigator responded, “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone.”

 

“Kyungsoo, I’m sad, not suicidal. I’ll be fine.”

 

“Still,” Kyungsoo insisted, “shouldn’t we hang out some? Go to the bar or something?”

 

Sehun cocked an eyebrow, “Really, you’re the last person I’d expect to offer to alcohol as a solution to my sorrows.”

 

“No, no, not a solution. It’s just been a while, hasn’t it?”

 

Sehun decided not to point out that they practically went out to coffee every day on work-related business, and accepted.

 

Kyungsoo appointed himself as the designated driver—to which Sehun responded with a snarky comment about how it really seemed like Kyungsoo was trying to get him drunk—and they headed out.

 

They went to a bar that was a popular place for the employees at the bureau. The bartender recognized them when they walked in and immediately attended to them when they sat down.

 

“What may I get you guys today?” He asked.

 

“A cranberry juice, please,” Kyungsoo responded.

 

“Jack and coke.” Sehun followed.

 

Kyungsoo cocked an eyebrow at the choice in drink, “And you say it’s because I’m the bad influence.”

 

Sehun shrugged, “I just think that your suggestion isn’t a horrible one after all.”

 

The evening started out fine. Kyungsoo was doing a very good job of keeping Sehun’s mind off of Lu Han. The bartender was very friendly as well, cracking jokes and keeping Sehun’s glass full.

 

Halfway through this third drink, Sehun felt someone sit down next to him.

 

“Hey, how are you?” She asked.

 

“Good.” Sehun responded tersely. He knew what this was, and he wasn’t going to entertain this.

 

“Could I buy you a drink?”

 

Sehun turned to face the intruder and shook his head, “No thank you, I’m not interested.”

 

This didn’t deter her, “Come on, let me get you something.”

 

“I’m not interested.” Sehun repeated.

 

At this point Kyungsoo also chimed in, “Hun, he’s not interested.”

 

With that extra emphasis, the girl realized what Kyungsoo was alluding to she began to apologize profusely.

 

“Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize!” She placed her hand on his shoulder, “Let me buy you a drink to apologize, no hidden motives.” 

 

“No thank you,” Sehun refused once again, “I appreciate the offer, but today is not the day.”

 

She nodded politely and bowed out.

 

“It’s been a while since we’ve had to use that excuse.” Kyungsoo commented.

 

That caught the bartender’s attention, who had been quietly observing the scene, “So you were interested?”

 

Sehun shook his head, “Not interested in her. I am interested in girls, but I don’t really date.”

“It has been a long time.” Kyungsoo added.

 

The reason behind Sehun’s restraint from dating was kind of a long story, but the basic idea of it was that Sehun’s dating life was pretty average up until after college. He had been dating the same girl throughout his last year, and they decided to move in together after graduating. And of course, with Sehun having the connections he did, he also was able to get a job straight out of college with the bureau. Initially, everything was great.

 

But of course, seeing as they weren’t together anymore, everything didn’t stay great.

 

There was a slow but steady build up to their breakup, and anyone else would’ve seen it coming from a mile away. Sehun had always pushed himself very hard, and being a rookie investigator, he was eager to rise in the ranks. So he put his all into his work, and as a result, spent less time with his girlfriend. He had to cancel quite a few date nights and he often came home so tired from work that he'd fall asleep right away. Eventually she got fed up with him—and Sehun couldn’t really blame her either, because at this point he was putting in over 70 hour weeks—and they broke up.

 

Afterwards Sehun tried a few times to date, but he found that he didn’t have the time—or desire to make the time—to devote to a significant other. So he had given up on serious relationships for the time being. And it paid off, because he was 25 and leader of an entire division.

 

And if anyone asked him if he regretted that decision, the answer was no. He’d willingly sacrificed a lot of things for his work, and a relationship was just another one of those things.

 

“Maybe I should.” Sehun agreed, taking another swig of his drink. The alcohol was really working now.

 

“Do you want to start now?” The bartender asked, “What’s your type?”

 

“A little bit more on the short side,” Sehun responded without missing a beat, “younger looking, sweet…”

 

Kyungsoo patted Sehun’s back and told the bartender, “Probably not now.”

 

The bartender nodded, understanding, and refilled Sehun’s drink, “This one’s on the house.”

 

...

 

Lu Han was a bit of an over thinker.

 

Papa used to bring that up, because Lu Han would sometimes spend his rest days entirely curled up in a cozy location, mumbling to himself, alone in a world with nothing but his own thoughts.

 

Sehun had noticed this behavior too, although he would bring it up much less often than Papa. This wasn’t a coincidence though, because Lu Han tried to get all his thinking out of the way before Sehun would come home. That was part of the reason why he never minded being left by himself for so long while Sehun went to work.

 

And there his mind went again, back to Sehun.

 

Sehun was the first person that he’d been so enamored with. Despite Papa’s overprotectiveness, Lu Han often associated with potential new owners—all the pets did. So he knew quite a bit about how different humans acted, and what he himself rather enjoyed in a potential owner. Lu Han had the freedom to be a little more choosier because of how Papa favored him, so he allowed himself to take the time to make these observations. Not that Papa didn’t give the other pets a say in who they went with, but that was besides the point.

 

Lu Han told Sehun that he thought he was very handsome the first time they met, but that wasn’t the reason why he liked him so much. Looks didn’t matter that much to Lu Han, and he’d be lying if he said that Sehun was the most handsome man he’d ever met, as there was no shortage of attractive people showing up at the house. Anyway, Lu Han knew that attractiveness was not an indication of being a good person.

 

What really got Lu Han was how careful and tentative Sehun was with him. Sure, he was a little pushy with the questions when they first met, but the investigator had been under so much stress at that point that Lu Han thought it understandable that Sehun's tone would be a little harsh. Not to mention that his own behavior was less than acceptable. But back to the point. His mind was wondering again.

 

It was after that first tense moment, when Sehun seemed quite unsure of how to handle Lu Han, that it crossed the pet’s mind that Sehun was a really lovely person.

 

Someone in Sehun's position would be quite used to handling pets, Lu Han was sure. Kyungsoo was one of those people, because he knew exactly what to say to calm everyone down and exactly how to handle Lu Han in his teary-eyed, stammering state. Sure he was gentle, but he was reassured in his actions, like a true professional. And Lu Han had encountered many others at the house who acted as such.

 

Not to say there was anything wrong with that. It was always nice to be around someone who knew pets. It just wasn’t anything special, plenty of people who visited Papa were like that.

 

Sehun was a little different. He was not uneasy, like a lot of first-timers, but he seemed to act in a cautious way around Lu Han. There wasn’t anything concrete that Lu Han could point out, but he felt like Sehun would take the time to wait for his actions before formulating a reaction. Like he would make sure that what he would do was okay with Lu Han. Like he was looking out for him, even though they didn’t know each other at all.

 

When Papa asked him how the investigators had been treating him, Lu Han mentioned these details to him. Papa was equally as impressed, and had told him right then that if the investigator seemed normal when they met, that he’d convince him to take care of Lu Han. 

 

And then everything had worked out better than he could ever hope for.

 

What Lu Han really enjoyed about the time he had with Sehun was that his owner’s attitude toward him never really changed. Sure, they became more comfortable with one another, but Sehun still maintained that sort of respect for him. It was different, but not something Lu Han disliked at all.

 

But there was something unusual about the way Mom treated him. Of course Lu Han didn’t expect her to act the same way Sehun did—it was obvious that you'd treat a companion different than a son—but Mei would sometimes try to correct some of Lu Han’s habits he’d been praised for before.

 

One of those things Mei focused on was his posture when sitting, for some reason Lu Han could not comprehend. An aspect of general training for pets was to make oneself smaller if possible, specifically, to keep the legs pressed together, arms close to the body, and to generally take up the least amount of space while still maintaining a straight back. This behavior was considered to be a courtesy thing. If not needed, pets were to be as unobtrusive as possible.

 

Lu Han had this behavior so engrained in him that sitting as such didn’t require a conscious effort, it was natural. He’d never had anyone try to change it before, as this posture was basically expected of all pets, except for perhaps for a special few. However, his mom clearly had an issue with it.

 

Something about the way Lu Han moved also irritated Mei as well. This concern she never vocalized, but Lu Han sometimes caught her with strange look on her face, directed at him. 

 

He didn’t quite know what to do. He’d never dealt with someone who was disappointed in him before.

 

Mom was not all bad though, and to say that her irritations with him were the extent of their interaction would be grossly misrepresenting the situation. They'd had some lovely times with one another, making meals together and sitting at the table for hours talking about their lives. Lu Han’s mom had made every effort possible to bond with him, often taking him on excursions on the weekend, getting him little knickknacks and the like. He’d accumulated a lot of these objects recently.

 

Lu Han knew that he should be grateful and enjoy these moments with his mom, and he was, really. She was so nice to him and gave him everything he had ever expressed the slightest interest in. 

 

But the only thing he wanted nowadays was to spend time with Sehun again, but he couldn’t bring that up. Not after everything Mom had given him, and not after Sehun had made that decision for him.

 

Lu Han had never wanted to make his own decisions before, but right now, he really wanted some control.

 

---

 

Hey guys, its been a while, and I know, and I’m sorry!

 

I started school back in August and I haven’t had the time or motivation to properly write a chapter. But finally, I’m getting back into it. I’ll try to get the next chapter out soon. I don’t think I can do weekly chapters anymore, but it definitely won’t be three months (was it really that long?) again!

 

As always, thanks for your support ^_^