It was seven o'clock when Sehun heard the thuds of socked feet come down the stairs.

 

“Morning Lu Han.” Sehun smiled when he saw the sleepy face turn the corner, “How was your night?"

 

The pet rubbed his eyes a little before responding, "It was very nice Master, the bed was very soft."

 

"Good, would you like something to eat?”

 

Lu Han nodded.

 

“Is there anything you’d like in particular?” Sehun asked, “I’ve got eggs, cereal, toast…"

 

The pet perked up a little at the suggestions, “Master, I would like some scrambled eggs please."

 

Sehun smiled and went to prepare the dish, “Of course, and Lu Han, if you’d like, just call me Sehun."

 

Lu Han shook his head, “No, Master is Master."

 

 

An awkward silence, and out of the corner of his eyes, Sehun saw Lu Han standing there, looking incredibly lost.

 

“Don’t just stand there…” Sehun said, and immediately saw Lu Han plop to a sitting position on the ground.

 

“Oh no Lu Han, I’m sorry, what I meant is you don’t have to stand there uncomfortably. Feel free to sit down or do whatever you’d like.”

 

Lu Han stood up and nodded again. Sehun relaxed and turned back to whisking. Once he was done, he the stove and began to cook the eggs.

 

A moment later, a small voice, “Master..."

 

“Yes?” Sehun said, turning his attention to the pet for a brief moment.

 

The pet was looking down, feet slightly turned in, “Master looks very nice today."

 

Sehun felt a slight heat in his cheeks and quickly focused his attention on the eggs, “Thanks Lu Han, what brought this along?"

 

The pet frowned a little and responded, “Could I have a hug?"

 

Furrowing his brow at the request, Sehun replied, “I can’t turn around now since I’m cooking, but if you’d wait a moment…"

 

Lu Han shook his head, “Master doesn’t have to turn around."

 

“In that case Lu Han, you really don’t have to ask—"

 

Suddenly, Sehun felt a weight against his back, and thin arms went across his torso to grasp gently at his shirt.

 

Sehun chuckled and asked again, “What brought this along?"

 

The arms squeezed a little more, “I just wanted a hug.” His face nuzzled into Sehun’s back and his voice became smaller as he went on.

 

Still focusing on the eggs, Sehun smiled. Mr. Zhou had told him that Lu Han liked a lot of contact, but he hadn’t been expecting it like this. He put the now-finished eggs on a plate and gently broke himself out of the pet’s embrace.

 

“Breakfast is served, Lu Han."

 

...

 

Lu Han was a very careful eater, Sehun noted.

 

Every motion he made was very purposeful, although a little irritating to watch. He would pick up a small piece of food with his fork, put the food in his mouth and chew throughly, and only when he was fully finished, would pick up the fork then repeat the process all over again. The pet was no fast eater by any stretch of the imagination.

 

“Lu Han, do you know how to cook?"

 

Lu Han, mid-chew, looked up and nodded.

 

“So suppose I didn’t get back from work until late at night, would you be okay by yourself?"

 

Lu Han’s eyes widened a little, and after a short pause, he nodded slowly.

 

Sehun felt a little guilty about causing that reaction. Lu Han was accustomed to being around a lot of other people, so suddenly moving into a house with only two people—one of which needed to be gone for long periods of time—was going to be difficult to adapt to.

 

The pet nodded and he returned to his task of picking up pieces of egg. The mood suddenly became a bit awkward and Sehun moved to put his dishes into the sink.

 

Sehun sat back down and tapped his thigh, “Lu Han, sit?"

 

Lu Han looked over and nodded. However, before he could get up, Sehun lifted him off his chair and placed him on his lap. After the pet was settled, he slid over the plate and wrapped his arms around Lu Han’s middle.

 

The pet also relaxed and focused on eating again. 

 

It wasn’t so annoying from this angle, Sehun observed, he could see how it was an endearing trait to have, this style of eating. Plus Lu Han was meticulous about making sure nothing dropped on the table or was left around his mouth, so Sehun couldn’t really argue with it.

 

Just when Sehun was wondering if it would be offensive to ask Lu Han if he could feed him, the pet finally finished his plate and moved out of Sehun’s lap to put it away.

 

So he clearly knew how to clean up after himself, which was opposite most of the pets that were popular in the market nowadays. Some people enjoyed having pets who needed a lot of taking care of and Sehun was glad that Lu Han was not one of those. 

 

Lu Han looked puzzled about what to do after putting his things away so he stood near the sink, giving glances to Sehun on occasion.

 

“Want to go sit down on the couch?” Sehun asked.

 

 

“How are you liking things so far?”

 

Lu Han blinked a few times, as if trying to come up with what Sehun wanted to hear, “I like them.”

 

Sehun tried his best to stop himself from laughing as to not embarrass Lu Han but it was the most hilarious answer the pet could have come up with. How could there be an answer that was simultaneously thoughtful yet so brainless?

 

As best as Sehun tried to hide his laughter, Lu Han still felt Sehun shaking and looked a bit confused and then upset. 

 

“Sorry Lu Han, that’s a great answer.” He continued chuckling, unable to stop now.

 

The pet tried to fix his facial features but failed as his lower lip visibly stuck out a little. He looked straight forward, unmoving.

 

Sehun, feeling a little bit like he just kicked a puppy, wrapped his arms around Lu Han to comfort him, “I’m really sorry, I’m not trying to tease you. Your answer was just so… endearing."

 

Lu Han smiled, a little smile, but one of the sweetest expressions on his face that Sehun had seen since meeting him. It made everything just a little bit more okay.

 

...

 

The rest of the week was spent trying to break the ice, but some things were a little difficult to get used to.

 

There were the constant reminders from Sehun to Lu Han to stop acting so formal to him. The pet was clearly trained to act according to typical pet behavior, but Sehun didn’t enjoy typical pet behavior. But he couldn’t blame Lu Han for it too much; after all, he didn’t know any other way to act.

 

There were also constant reminders—the nonverbal kind—from Lu Han to Sehun that he wasn’t just any common pet. It showed in the way Lu Han would take care to stay half a pace behind Sehun at all times on their shopping trips out together, never once stepping out of line like normal pets were prone to do; it showed in the way Lu Han would intelligently answer the questions Sehun spoke aloud to himself when he forgot he was living with another person; it showed in the way Lu Han was attentive to Sehun’s moods, keeping his distance when needed and making sure that he himself was never being bothersome.

 

Anyway, these reminders eventually sank in. Lu Han had become much more talkative around Sehun and managed to call him by his name a few times. Albeit it was “Oh Sehun” instead of plain-old “Sehun,” but Sehun knew that this would be a slow process, so he didn’t push the issue very often.

 

One of the biggest factors to helping Lu Han open up was the new collar sitting on his neck. While shopping one evening, Lu Han had been eyeing a shop with collars displayed, but so discreetly that Sehun would not have noticed if he was not an investigator. He’d taken Lu Han over because even if he didn’t like the practices of pet-ownership, it was clear that they were important for Lu Han. 

 

Sehun did want the collar to be unobtrusive as possible, so he chose a thin band of leather so it seemed more like a casual piece than those hefty golden rings that were so in fashion nowadays. When Sehun asked him what charm he’d like, Lu Han pointed to a small silver bell. The store clerk commented on how good his taste was as she strung up the bell to the collar and gave it to Lu Han to try on. Sehun had no qualms about purchasing it after seeing how pretty it looked on Lu Han’s neck.

 

After getting home, Sehun sat Lu Han down in front of him on the couch and unlocked the collar from Mr. Zhou and attached the new one. The pet had asked to see it, and after Sehun’s approval, rushed to the mirror. Lu Han's eyes welled up with happy tears when he finally saw it on. Sehun had avoided chuckling and instead gave the bell a little flick.

 

“What’s your favorite color?” Lu Han asked.

 

“I don’t really have one in particular,” Sehun responded, “what about yours?"

 

“White.” He said immediately, “What about your favorite food?"

 

Sehun sighed, a little tired by this rush of “what’s your favorite” questions, “Lu Han, I don’t really have strong emotions toward a lot of these kinds of things, so I’m afraid that I won’t give you very interesting responses.”

 

“But you’ve got to have favorite things, right?” Lu Han asked, chin lightly perched on Sehun’s shoulder. Once Lu Han got throughly comfortable with his new master, the pet was always physically attached to Sehun whenever he had the chance.

 

And while Sehun would normally discourage kind of behavior, Lu Han was different.

 

Sehun smiled and played with the baby hairs at the nape of Lu Han’s neck, eliciting a purr. “Of course, my favorite sound in the world is this lovely one."

“I don’t want you to go back to work tomorrow.”

 

The suddenness of Lu Han’s statement startled Sehun a little. Not knowing what to do, he sighed and ruffled Lu Han’s hair again.

 

“I don’t want to go back either,” Sehun agreed, “but I’ve got a job that I need to do. Do you want me to drop you off at Mr. Zhou’s tomorrow morning?”

 

Lu Han shook his head, “I want to spend more time with Oh Sehun."

 

 

Lu Han shook his head again, this time showing an expression akin to a kicked puppy.

 

“Oh don’t do that Lu,” Sehun said, nickname slipping out naturally.

 

Lu Han flushed a little at the shorter version of his name, causing him to drop the topic. Instead, he laid down on Sehun’s lap and pushed his head under the investigator’s hand, demanding in his own way to be pet. Sehun was happy to oblige, and gently ran his fingers through Lu Han’s hair.

 

...

 

The two fell into a comfortable rhythm after Sehun returned to his work.

 

Sehun’s hours were from 8am to 6pm. Lu Han always made it a point to wake up early enough to eat breakfast together and send Sehun off to work. He would spend the time Sehun was at work up-keeping the house (even though Sehun told him he didn’t need to) or busying himself with whatever he could. Once Sehun came home, they would eat dinner together and then move to the couch to cuddle and watch movies until they fell asleep. They more often than not spent the night on the couch than in their respective beds.

 

The rhythm was so comfortable, in fact, that Sehun almost forgot that Lu Han was something that had to be kept secret. 

 

At 10am, Kyungsoo knocked on the door and walked into Sehun’s office.

 

“Of course.” Sehun responded before rummaging in his bag for the documents and flash drive that he had everything stored on. They weren’t there. He frowned and dumped the contents of the bag on the desk.

 

Kyungsoo, noticing his distress, offered, “Did you forget them at home? I could go fetch them for you if you’d like. I don’t have much work today."

 

“Oh would you?” Sehun said, grateful, “Everything should be on the dining table. Thanks a ton.” He handed him the house keys. This wasn’t a completely unusual occurrence, so Sehun was confident that Kyungsoo knew where to find everything.

 

“Got it. See you soon.” Kyungsoo took the keys and left the office.

 

He turned the key in the lock and walked into the house. The TV was on. Sehun must have forgotten to turn it off in the morning. Ignoring it for the time being, Kyungsoo found the things he needed first. It wasn’t hard. Sehun kept things very organized so they were exactly where he had detailed.

 

Kyungsoo then walked over to the living room to turn off the TV before he was stopped in his tracks.

 

There was someone on the couch. Asleep.

 

This was Lu Han!

 

Not only that, but the collar on his neck was distinctly Sehun’s style, not the kind that Mr. Zhou gave his pets. This made Kyungsoo very puzzled—Sehun was the last person on Earth he would expect to buy a pet, much less one like Lu Han. What was he doing here?

 

Not wanting to disturb the boy, Kyungsoo turned off the TV and quickly left, locking the door behind him.

 

 

Sehun smiled when he saw the other investigator, “Oh Kyungsoo, thanks again for—"

 

“Why was Lu Han in your house?” Kyungsoo wasn’t one for beating around the bush.

 

Sehun looked bewildered as if he’d forgotten all about Lu Han and then the realization slowly crept on to his face, “Oh. I haven’t told you."

 

“No you haven’t. Oh Sehun, you have some explaining to do."

 

Sehun peered over Kyungsoo’s shoulder. The door was open.

 

Sehun didn’t know what reaction to expect but he definitely didn’t expect Kyungsoo to laugh.

 

“Good. You needed a companion.” Kyungsoo said, patting Sehun on the back.

 

“You’ll keep at a secret, won’t you?” Sehun asked, “I can’t have everyone in the department know about this. And if it were to ever spread to my brother—I’d never hear the end of it."