After discovering that Kai was not home, Kyungsoo had been sulking at the back seat, ears drooping and eyes downcast. As much as he was afraid of confronting Kai, he really missed him so so much.

When Kyungsoo looked out of the window, he saw many pet notices littering the light posts and walls of shops.

As he looked closer, he realised that his picture was on the notices.

“Xiumin!” Kyungsoo excitedly reached over to the front seat, pulling at the hamster hybrid’s tiny ears. “Xiumin! Look! Look!”

Managing to pry Kyungsoo’s hands off his ears - because driving with someone pulling at your ears was a no-no -, Xiumin pulled over at the side of the road. 

Kyungsoo literally flung himself out of the car and ran to one of the nearby notices, Xiumin trailing after him, confused on why Kyungsoo suddenly transformed from sulky to enthusiastic.

“I don’t know how to read this.” Kyungsoo whined, staring at the foreign letters on the notice and tugging on the elder’s sleeve.

“It doesn’t say how to find him.” Xiumin frowned. “It doesn’t have his phone number or anything."

Typical Kai, not thinking things through.

“Oh.” Kyungsoo’s shoulders sagged, ears finding their way back to their droopy position.

He dragged his feet back to the car, plopping himself at the backseat and curled up into a ball.

Helplessly, Xiumin followed him into the car and started driving. Eyes travelling to the rearview mirror, Xiumin saw an unmoving lump of cat hybrid.

“Hey Kyungsoo, how about going to a nearby cafe for a drink.” Xiumin called over his shoulders. 

Being cooped up at home for days was not doing any good for Kyungsoo, Xiumin decided. A change of scenery might cheer him up a little.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo mumbled, sounding rather uninterested.

However, once he got there, it was a different story.

“Woah, what’s all these drinks?” Eyes sparkling, Kyungsoo seemed to have forgotten all about his disappointment earlier.

“Choose only one, you don’t want to have a stomachache later, don’t you.” 

Pouting, Kyungsoo flipped through the pages of the menu. How could he only choose one?

That is, until his eyes landed on a picture of one particular drink. The caramel hot chocolate.

Kyungsoo could feel tears start to build up. The drink reminded him so much of Kai.

“Xiumin! I want this.” Kyungsoo pointed at the picture, eyes never leaving it.

“Okay.” Xiumin turned to the waitress and ordered the drink for him. “One caramel hot chocolate please.” 

“A-and for you, sir?” The waitress stuttered. First, she serves the three handsome guys and now these two? Her life was now complete.

“None for me.” Xiumin shook his head. Bowing to them, the waitress went off.

 “Why didn’t you order for yourself?” Kyungsoo cocked his head cutely in confusion. 

“I’m not a fan.” Xiumin’s mouth tilted upwards, raising a hand to ruffle Kyungsoo’s hair, fingers smoothing over the fur on his ears.

Kyungsoo let out a sound between a purr and a giggle at the motion, eyes folding into crescent moons.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how was your past like?” 

Kyungsoo’s eyes immediately turned downcast.

“I’m sorry, if you don’t want to an-“

“No!” 

Xiumin flinched, shrinking back in his seat.

“I mean it’s ok. I-I’ll tell you.” Kyungsoo muttered, pinks turning a pinkish hue at his outburst.

"My mother died giving birth to me at the pet shop. The conditions there aren't that nice and there aren't that many equipment to aid in delivery." Kyungsoo bit his lower lip. "I never got to meet my father either."

"What happened to him?" Xiumin whispered, rubbing circles in Kyungsoo's wrist.

"He was sold to someone before I was born." Ears flicking, Kyungsoo rubbed his eyes with the back of his wrist, wiping away the tears welling up. "Heard from the neighbors he was shot down after trying to escape."

"I don't remember much about when I was a child, but I remember trying to escape from the cell many times."

"I saw all these children my age come visit, in hopes of getting a new pet. T-they seem so happy. I just wanted to know what's outside that made them smile." Peeping through his lashes, Kyungsoo glanced at Xiumin, who nodded his head as to tell him that he was still listening.

"But every time I escaped, I was brought back." Kyungsoo's hands scrunched up into tiny balls at his sides. "I never even got to the front door."

"And every time I was caught, he brought this... this long black thing and he h-hit me with it. Over and over again." With this, all his bottled up emotions spilled over. Bursting into tears, Kyungsoo's hands searched for purchase on Xiumin's shirt and buried his face into it. "He locked me deep inside the shop so I could not even catch a glimpse of the outside world."

"I-I was so scared." He muttered into the now damp cloth.

Paying no heed to the curious stares from other patrons of the cafe, Xiumun gently patted Kyungsoo's head.

Although Xiumin didn't know who "he" was, he could tell that Kyungsoo was terrified of that person.

"It's okay now." Xiumin soothed, "You have Kai now right?"

This only made Kyungsoo sob harder.

Catching onto his mistake, Xiumin spluttered.

"I-I mean he definitely still cares a lot about you. He even put up those notices to find you."

Wiping his tears away, Kyungsoo's mouth tilted upwards a little, nodding his head.

Both of them sat there unmovingly, waiting for Kyungsoo to compose himself.

After awhile, the waitress cautiously approached their table and delivered Kyungsoo's drink before ducking her head and moving away from the table.

Distracted momentarily, Kyungsoo glanced at the cup sitting innocently in front of him. He looked at Xiumin, as if gaining permission to try it.

Gaining a small nod of approval, Kyungsoo took a small sip.

Ears prickling up at the sweet taste, Kyungsoo went for more of the delicious drink. Only to finish it up in a matter of minutes.

Xiumin was glad that Kyungsoo was so easily satisfied, after all, no one wanted a sad and sniffling Kyungsoo right? He gave a low chuckle as Kyungsoo looked up at him with a foam mustache coating his lips.

Seeing that Kyungsoo was done with his drink, Xiumin plopped his wallet onto the table and paid the bill.

"Let's go home."

-
 

After putting up what seemed like the millionth of those lost pet notices, the trio were dragging their feet down the walkway.

"I'm so tired." Sehun groaned, leaning against the wall beside him.

He could hear a mumble of agreement from the other two before a squeal came from his right.

He turned towards the sound, only to see Luhan, ears up and alert and tail swaying excitedly, while looking at the shop right in front of them.

"Oh. My. God." Luhan gushed. "The clothes here are so cute!"

Oh no. Sehun did not have any energy left to go clothes shopping with Luhan now. Especially not at a shop filled with pink clothes and lingerie.

"Kai, go with him. I'll just sit here and wait."

Frowning at him, Kai scrunched up his face.

"What do you take me for? Your slave?"

"You owe me after me helping you put up those posters." Sehun stated matter-of-factly. Waving at Kai to just get on to it.

Opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, Kai just huffed dejectedly after not finding a good comeback and walked into the shop, led by a bouncing Luhan.

"You're the best, Kai!" Luhan shouted as he ran around the shop trying on any of the clothes he could get his hands on. "Sehun would never have come into a shop like this with me.

"Believe me, I tired." He pouted.

On the sidelines, Kai was busy trying to hide his face from the horde of teenaged girls giggling and trying to snap a picture of him.

"He's smart to not want to come in here." Kai grumbled to himself, kicking away dust with his feet.

After Luhan had his fill of shopping for clothes, Luhan skipped out, fully satisfied with his arms weighed down by various bags filled with clothes - paid by Kai, of course.

Exhausted, Kai shot a glare at Sehun who was snickering at his misery.

The three of them were making their way back to the carpark, tired from their hectic day.

Kai was busy joking around the two when something caught his eye. Around the bend, he thought he saw the familiar white tipped ears that his lost cat hybrid had. Shaking his head, Kai thought that he was hallucinating after missing Kyungsoo so much.
 

-
 

"Make your way back to the car first, okay. I left my wallet back at the cafe."

Therefore, Kyungsoo was stuck traveling back to the car all alone.

After around five minutes of wondering around, Kyungsoo realised that he was  hopelessly lost.

Glancing around with wide eyes, he hoped to spot the familiar car that he had arrived in. No such luck.

Ears swiveling, he picked up the sounds of shoes just behind the bend.

"Oh, I can ask them for directions!" Kyungsoo muttered to himself, tripping over his feet to get to the people there.

Once he popped his head out from behind the wall, he saw a familiar face along with a white car hybrid and a stone faced boy walking, oblivious to his presence.

The person he dreamed about everyday, just a few metres away from him. However, Kyungsoo could not bring himself to appear in front of him.

Kyungsoo immediately hid behind the bend, heart pounding in his ears. He stayed in the position for a few seconds, trying to calm himself down.

He let out a loud yelp when he suddenly felt a tug on his hand, dragging him into plain sight of the olive skinned boy he craved so much.

"Hey! Look who I found!" Luhan chirped, unaware of the tension around him. "He sure looks like your lost kitty."

-

Hey guys! Thanks for reading:) Btw the last few days I've been getting random handful of subscribers even after not updating so I'm wondering if there's a reason for it. If anyone knows, please tell me! Please tell me what you thought about this chapter below! :D