Huffing out a sigh you looked at the small index card with Jongdae’s email scrawled out on it. It’d only been a few days since you’d met Zitao and promised Jongdae you’d think about the adoption. The index card had been dropped on the desk among your other papers and textbooks only to be glanced at before shaking your head. Now that you couldn’t look at your Mandarin study guide without going cross eyed you’d picked up the card again, chin resting on the desk. It wouldn’t hurt to at least send him an email, he deserved that much.

Rousing your laptop from slumber you opened another tab in the browser and signed onto your email. Typing in his personal email you quirked a brow at it but shrugged as it was his personal email.

----

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Title: Hi Jongdae, this is ___.
Sorry I took so long to shoot you an email. Studies are taking over currently. You told me to ask you questions so I guess that’s what this is? I don’t know. What are the basics I guess? I only know so much from Luhan and his kitty and even that isn’t a lot. The rest are just rumors that I tend to ignore.
Thanks.

----

Hitting send you grimaced. In person you were usually well spoken but emails and phone calls had you reeling. You stared at the screen for a few moments before realize how dumb it was to expect an answer immediately. He was probably working. Shaking your head you stretched before heading into your kitchenette for some food. It wasn’t much, your apartment, but it was yours. Even though you practically ran yourself ragged to keep it you couldn’t be happier with yourself. High school had been rocky for you and home life wasn’t always the greatest thing. When it turned out you had to pursue a different avenue to get your education you were told to get out. Several couches, short part time jobs, and nights of crying yourself to sleep later and you’d hit a of luck.

Your grandparents had found out what had happened and immediately reached out. They got you on your feet, helped you land a better job, and even housed you for a time so you could get your diploma. Once you’d achieved that you were stable enough to leave on your own. You applied to the local community college in the city for some basics to get you started. Not too long after that you’d been accepted and as a gift your grandparents bought you an apartment. You’d tried protesting that it was too much but when your grandmother pulled you to the side one evening you accepted the gift.

“Our house is too far of a commute and I know you don’t do well with sharing a bedroom ___. Let us give you this one gift to help you get started.” She’d patted your hand lovingly but a stern gleam was in her eyes. “Plus those dorms are expensive and have too many restrictions. This way you can have things your own way.” Her head shook with her light laugh as she’d patted your hand again.

It had been a year since then. You now took on full courses at the college, had earned a raise at your part time job, and you even managed to earn some extra cash by helping out some of your neighbors with their market stalls sometimes. It was a simple apartment. One bedroom, one bathroom, hall closet, living room and entry way in one and the small kitchenette you were standing in now. At first it was barren since you didn’t own many things but as time went on you’d acquired gifts and trinkets from friends and random shopping. It was homey now.

Pulling out some fresh cucumbers you washed them in the sink before cutting them up to snack on while you studied. It hit you how quiet your apartment was as the chopping of the knife echoed around you. Pausing, you looked over to your sleeping laptop and thoughts of a particular hybrid rose again. What would it be like to have an upbeat kitty in your home?

Chaos, you decided, going back to your food. You had a job and school to worry about. A pet would only distract you. Plus it wouldn’t be fair to Zitao. Tall, friendly, adorable Zitao. Before you could stop yourself you imagined him curled up on your loveseat as you read a book, hand carding through his blond hair, stopping to scratch behind his black tipped ears. You remembered his smile and his warmth instantly. That alone was tempting enough for you. Despite what you told others and even yourself it wasn’t always fine being alone.

Whenever Luhan or Minseok offered to hang out you jumped for the chance. They made you feel important and they really cared about you. The whole kitty ordeal only made it even more obvious.

“Ahhh. What the hell should I do?” You groaned, head tossing backwards towards the ceiling. Not finding an answer there you put your cucumber slices in a small bowl and went back to your desk. Rubbing the trackpad of the laptop while you popped a couple slices into your mouth you realized you had a new email. Your heart jumped when you read that it was a reply from Jongdae.

----

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Title: Re: Hi Jongdae, this is ___.
you’ve been sending out formal emails haven’t you ;)
relax a little, ___. school isn’t everything.
i was wondering when i would get a response from you though i didn’t expect your question to be so vague. anyway these are the bare bones of what owning a kitty entails.
they eat the same foods you do and have preferences all their own. alcohol is not recommended but with moderation it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. exercise if important so frequent walks and playing with your kitty are an absolute! health care for our kitty’s is simple as we set up a plan for you upon adoption that works with your own medical insurance. some kitty’s like to be super social while others don’t. it’s up to you to figure out your pets personality and how to interact with them. grooming is pretty simple as you just have to keep their nails trimmed and make sure to bathe them regularly. they may not like the water but no matter what they say a tongue bath doesn’t count as proper washing!!! >:/
that’s about all i can really tell you right now but if you have any further questions you know how to reach me.
take a break<3
jongdae

----

Reading through you found yourself laughing at his last fact. You imagined Jongdae giving a kitten a firm talking to about the importance of bathing and giggled more. Flipping to a fresh page in one of your notebooks you began to jot down pros and cons, a possible list of expenses, and finally questions. Looking it over you immediately conveyed this all in a reply to him and sent it out after reading it a few times again. Sitting back as you nibbled on a cucumber slice you thought hard about everything. Once you knew the actual cost of Zitao and the specifics of what he needed you could weigh that against your own expenses.

Opening up another tab you checked on your bank account and flipped to another blank page. You had quite a bit in savings thanks to constantly forcing yourself to always fork over as much as possible of your pay checks into it. Also your grandparents would slip in money whenever they could even though you wished they didn’t. Your rent wasn’t too bad as the location wasn’t ideal, according to marketing, so that was a plus. Loans were chipped away at when you could afford to put some money towards them. As for bills you managed to have a great phone plan, used your heating sparingly, and only paid a bit more for solid internet. How you’d managed to be so good at managing all these things in your young age you didn’t know but it felt great.

Your phone beeped signaling a soft alarm. Looking at the time on your laptop you closed everything up and packed it into your backpack. You had a little time before your evening Lit class started. Kitty adoption planning would have to wait for another time. Grabbing the bowl you put plastic wrap over it and tucked it into the fridge before going to your room. From your closet you threw some worn dark grey jeans onto your permanently unmade bed before hunting for one of your snapbacks. Changing quickly you rushed to the small bathroom down the hall to brush your teeth. Looking up into the mirror you shrugged and threw your hat on.

Making sure to lock the door behind you before heading down the stairs to the lobby you popped in your ear buds. It wasn’t a long walk but music always helped.

 

You’d made it to you class a little early thanks to some big celebrity event going on somewhere on the other side of the city so the sidewalk to the school had been barren. Finding a desk near the front you settled in, removing your ear buds and setting your bag down next to your feet. This class wasn’t too bad, just a basic Literature class that was required for just about everybody. The professor was nice enough and no one really bothered you. Except for Chanyeol. He always sat next to you and drummed on his desk throughout the lectures, clearly bored.

At first when you’d met him you’d both bonded over music and food. Then his habits started to annoy you as you caught onto them. Not to mention he made horrible jokes, you refused to admit they were ever funny even if you did laugh a little that one time where he had the professor speechless. Once again here he came, big headphones perched around his neck and black backpack slung over a shoulder carelessly. He searched the rows of desks before spotting you and gave his typical grin.

“Hey ___!” He waved as he maneuvered his long limbs through the chairs to plop down next to you. “I can’t believe the semester is almost over, it just flew by.” He stated, eye blown wide in amazement. If anything you did enjoy how expressive he was about anything. You guessed that was why you still didn’t put up a fuss about him sitting next to you. Despite how annoying his habits were he always listened when you spoke to him and made you feel like what you said was important.

“Mhm, I’ve got so many finals next week. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep before my Mandarin final.” You were dreading it already. Luhan was spot on when he’d said you would’ve failed it without him. The tones were hard for you compared to other languages but you were determined to learn. Chanyeol’s face shared your dread.

“Ah don’t remind me about finals. Calc is going to end me.” He griped, scrubbing his large hand over his face and into his curly black hair before adjusting his hat back over it. He’d wanted to continue but your professor had arrived and everyone began to settle down. Today was when you’d receive a final lecture and then be given your last rubric for the essay. This had to be evil. A week to write the final essay. You were already grinding your teeth.

Pulling out your notebook and your high lighters you got ready to take notes. Lastly you pulled out your phone and set up the recording app just in case you missed anything while you wrote. In the beginning the recordings were solely for you but as you learned more about your desk mate they turned into his study material too. At least it kept him quiet when he asked to study with you.

Not even half an hour in your screen lit up with a message from Luhan. You pointedly ignored it and kept writing until two more appeared rapid fire. His impatient could wait until the lecture was over at least. You swear the phone screen didn’t go back to black for a solid five minutes. Finally the lecture ended with an “Any questions?” from the professor. You flicked Chanyeol’s nose from where it peaked out of the crook of his arm to wake him up and turned off the recording.

“Huh what I’m up I swear!” He jerked back, his chair knocking the desk behind him and causing some girls to snort. Once again he scrubbed at his face and blinked several times before turning to you. “How long did I last?”

“Not even ten minutes. New record. Did you sleep at all last night?” You mused, scrolling through the novel Luhan had left you in texts. There were several threats for not answering, a few begging for forgiveness for the threats, and then questions about the status of Zitao. You groaned and planted your forehead on your notebook in frustration.

“Whoa.” Chanyeol muttered. “What’s got you looking so defeated?” You slowly turned your head towards him and looked up.

“Luhan has this crazy notion in his head that I should get a kitty.” Lifting your head with an annoyed expression you continued. “Like, he was going to get one for me behind my back but I kinda ruined that by sort of falling for this other one when he dragged me to the Exodus kennel. Now one of the workers and Luhan are trying to get me to buy him. It’s ridiculous.” Rolling your eyes you looked to him for agreement. He appraised you for a moment before one of his cheesy ‘I’m about to be a little ’ grins appeared.

“A kitty, huh? Didn’t think you were that type ___ but I guess you just never know” He shrugged with a dumb chuckle. Seconds later you planted your fist on his shoulder and pulled his hat over his face.

“Park Chanyeol shut your face!” You seethed, only half serious. He laughed loudly as he held his shoulder gingerly. Like usual though his personality was infectious and you couldn’t help but smile back at him and shake your head. “They think I’m lonely is all. Nothing weird.” Shooting him another glare you accepted the rubric being passed around from the row in front of you.

“I was kidding, damn you pack a punch.” He grouched, taking a rubric for himself before passing it on. You smiled wider and began to put your things away as did he. “So why is it ridiculous if you fell for the furball?” You deadpanned, hands freezing on your pack.

“Chanyeol, I’m in college and have a job. I have no time for him and probably not enough money for him either. That would be selfish and cruel.” The automatic response came out. This wasn’t an entire lie, well the cost part, you’d confirmed a good portion of that earlier today. Thankfully he left it alone and just shrugged his backpack on. He walked with you through the quad until his dorms came up and he waved goodbye.

“Send me the lecture audio, would ya?” He gave you a goofy grin but you were already waving your hand in his face.

“Yeah yeah, I was going to anyway you don’t have to keep asking. What you’ll do without me in your class next year though, I’ve no Idea.” Your pseudo annoyed expression either didn’t bother him or didn’t fool him as he swept you up in a big hug.

“Thanks ___! You’re the best!” His deep voiced cheered in your ear before he set you down. You chuckled and shoved him away. Already turning away you only made it a few feet down the sidewalk before he called out to you again. “Hey!” Rolling your eyes you turned your head and motioned for him to continue. “You should get him! We won’t have class together anymore so somebody else has to make sure you smile!” He hollered before disappearing behind the dorm wall. Cheesy Chanyeol as always. That made a total of four people now trying to get you to adopt Zitao.

“Maybe,” You grumbled to yourself as you hustled towards the streets. If you rushed you could swing by a takeout stall for some dinner. You’d made it to a noodle stall in time and were placing your order when your phone began to vibrate. Looking down at the caller ID you quickly swiped to answer it, pinning the phone between your ear and shoulder.

“What’s up, Minseok?” You asked, smiling at the stall owner and pointing to things you wanted.

“Ah, ___ I’m outside your apartment actually. You moved the key again didn’t you?” He huffed a laugh of frustration and you could practically see him with a hand on his hip outside your door.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Lu likes to appear randomly and I’d rather not run out of snacks before my next paycheck you know?” Keeping your smile you pulled out your wallet. “It’s stuck behind the number plate. Hey, do you want any noodles? I’m at that stall outside the bank” You asked after noticing no one else was waiting for you to finish ordering.

“Oh, sure. Get me the usual?” He answered. You relayed the information and pulled out some more money. “Found it! Alright I’ll see you soon. Get home safe ___~” Minseok purred into the phone before hanging up. Grinning at how cute he was you put your phone away and paid for your orders.

“Thanks so much, have a nice night.” You offered as you shouldered your bag and adjusted the containers. At least you’d have an enjoyable dinner with Minseok. The two of you hadn’t seen each other in about a week or so. With a pep in your step you crossed the last street to your complex and managed to take the stairs two at a time. Breath puffing out of your mouth you tapped the door with your foot hoping your guest would hear it. Seconds later a cheerful ‘Coming!’ sounded and then your door creaked open. “Honey, I’m home~” You giggled.

“Welcome home,” He chuckled as he took the food from you and went further into the apartment. Kicking off your shoes you nudged the door shut with your foot before following him in. “I heated up some water for tea. Hope you don’t mind me using your kitchen.” His head popped out around the wall and you waved at him dismissively. He disappeared back behind it and you listened to him setting up your small table.

“Min. You and Luhan are practically family to me. So long as you let me know you’re always welcome to anything of mine.” Setting your bag down near your desk you rubbed at your shoulder before walking to where he was setting everything up. “Well for you at least. Luhan on the other hand” The two of you shared a pointed look before breaking out into laughter. “Alright let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Simple conversation flowed as the two of you ate. You talked about Chanyeol’s latest stupidity which caused the hybrid to roll his eyes exasperatedly.

“Honestly, what would he do if you weren’t so nice to him? I wonder if he’s like that in other classes. I hope he isn’t” Minseok pondered aloud before sipping his tea. “What an exhausting person.” The urge to mention his companion was at the tip of your tongue but you tucked it away and chose to smile instead.

“He is but at the same time he is a nice guy. Don’t ask me how but you can’t help but be happy when he’s around.” Not to mention he was forever a-okay by you for bringing you coffee when it was pouring rain outside during a late night study session in the commons of his dorms. “Keeps things interesting too, I guess.”

“That’s good,” Minseok the rim of his mug before looking at you with a determined expression. Oh . “So, about the kitty adoption.”

“What about it?” You asked coolly, eyeing him over your mug. To his credit he didn’t buckle under your scrutiny. Though he was your friend this subject was starting to bother you but mostly the constant meddling.

“Lu filled me in on everything and I even called Exodus kennels to confirm some things and get more info.” He admitted, ears pulling back a little as he continued to observe you for a reaction. You gave nothing away. “___, the kennel is practically giving him away considering he is from Exodus of all places.” His ears pulled forward and his tone was earnest. They fell when you sighed and set your own mug back onto the table.

“I appreciate your concern for me, Minseok. Both of you are great friends. I just don’t know though. No one seems to be listening to the fact that even if I did buy him it wouldn’t be fair to him. Jongdae said he needs constant attention and everything. You know how busy I am with work and school.” God you were so tired of reiterating this over and over.

“So do it after finals.” Minseok threw back calmly.

“What?”

“They end next week right? Then you’re off until next term so you’ll have plenty of free time to get settled into the life of a pet owner.” His lip twitched into a smirk and you wanted to smack it off his face.

“I-“ You started but stopped. That could work. Maybe. Your eyes flickered up to his narrowed caramel ones. His smirk evolved into a cheery grin.

“Problem solved!” He sang. “Study hard, rock your finals, and then buy yourself that kitty as a reward for you hard work” Minseok rose from his seat and began to collect the dishes. Oh was he up. Minseok never did the dishes. You’d always ended up doing it yourself because they complained back and forth.

“Min, I’m not saying yes yet. I’ve still got a lot to think about.” You reminded him tersely. His tail barely drooped but his grin didn’t falter as he began washing everything.

“Of course.” Was all you got making you sigh and your sour expression break into a smile. Leaving him to it you went back to your desk and booted up your laptop. While you waited you pulled out your notes and made sure to send the lecture to Chanyeol. In about an hour you were sure to receive some silly emoji from him in response. “You’re already studying!? Come on ___ you’re gonna burn out.” The hybrid admonished as he walked up to you, drying his hands on one of your dish towels.

“I have a week to write this final. I have to use my time wisely otherwise I will never finish this. I hate essays so I’m not taking any chances since this is my final for Lit.” You explained with a grave seriousness. His brows rose into his fringe before furrowing.

“What the hell kind of devil teachers do you have?” He growled, looking over your shoulder at the lengthy rubric. Laughing you handed him the paper before signing into your email. Some spam, a school newsletter, and another reply from Jongdae. Resisting the urge to open it and refusing to admit the excitement you got from seeing it you opened the newsletter instead. Skimming through it revealed minor announcements about making sure to sign up for next terms courses and to stay healthy for finals. “This is bull, ___. I’m sorry you have to put up with this. Don’t they realize you have other finals too?” He slapped the paper down on the desk and made a pinched face.

“Honestly, for a Lit class I’m shocked too. Oh well.” Shrugging you pulled up some other websites you normally used for essays while Minseok gathered his things.

“Please take care of yourself; I’ll be stopping by next week to check up on you.” He leaned down to place a kiss on the crown of your head. “I mean it, ___” You waved him off as he squeezed you before heading for the door. “Good night!”

“Text me when you get home!” You hollered after him before the door clicked shut. Whipping back around to your laptop you closed the newsletter and opened up Jongdae’s response. It talked prices and damn was Minseok not kidding about giving Zitao away. You made a mental note to thank Jongdae profusely after all this.

If you went through with this. You were getting ahead of yourself already. Biting your lip you pulled out the notebook with your lists on it from earlier and checked it alongside what he sent you. You really could do this. With the pricing and finals about to be over you could really do this and still be fair to Zitao. You worried your bottom lip in contemplation. After finals, if he was still available, you would adopt him. Only after finals were over. Maybe after you got your results would be better though. To make it feel like an actual deserving reward. You wrestled with the ideas some more before tapping out a reply.

It was simple enough, just some random questions and a quick rundown on what you’d come up with. If he was patient enough and all went well this could work out for the both of you and everyone would get off your back about it. Checking it over you smiled before clicking send. Your phone vibrated twice and you unlocked a text from Chanyeol confirmed he’d received the lecture audio and it was an overexcited emoji as you’d predicted. Scrolling to your memo app you left reminders for next week to stop at the bank and pull out what you needed to purchase the hybrid and the needed supplies for him. It wouldn’t be too bad of a blow to your bank account now that you looked at the probable total. Sated that you’d plotted everything out you set all that aside with a smile which only soured upon looking at the rubric.

Cracking your knuckles you closed your internet window and pulled up a word doc. Time to settle in for the long haul.