Luhan spends the day studying, and then later accompanies Yixing to the pet store to purchase the rodent that his roommate has been asking for for over a year. Crouching in front of the large glass enclosure the two watch the hamsters amble back and forth, run on wheels, and nibble from the tiny bowls of feed that sit in the corner. “Look, it’s you” Lay points at a silky gold animal preening its self next to the water bottle “And Tao,” a small black one running on one of the wheels “Me.” A medium brown one with a calm expression.

“You should get that one. The one you said was you,” Luhan points “He’s cute.”

“I can’t buy myself, Lulu, that’s weird…” Yixing turns away from the hamster area “Anyway, I think I might be more interested in a mouse or something.”

“Sure. Are they cheaper?” They head down the aisle to the large mouse cage at the end, full of blurs that are white and brown mice “They’re so tiny, wow…”

“Oh. My. God.” A mouse has caught Yixing’s attention and he is enraptured. It’s a little one, only about as long as a thumb, all white except for a light brown splotch covering its lower back “This is the one, Luhan…”

“Your soul mate.”

“My soul mouse.”

“Okay, then…keep an eye on him while I go get the store keeper.”

“Kk…”

Five minutes later the two exit the store, Yixing clutching a tiny cardboard box poked full of holes and Luhan balancing a large wire cage “Don’t tell me you’re going to keep this guy in our room…”

“You betcha.”

“The whole thing is going to smell like mouse pee!”

“You smell like mouse pee.”

“I do not. I smell like ‘ocean breeze’, which is the scent of my shampoo and my conditioner.”

“What does that even smell like?”

“An ocean breeze, Yixing.”

“Allllllright. Either way, I’m keeping my baby in our room.”

“So this mouse is your baby now?”

“More of a baby than you and Minseok will ever be able to create together.”

Luhan laughs “Ha ha. What are your going to name it?”

“I dunno…I’ll think on it.”

“Well when you know, please do tell.”

“I’ll write a song.”

“Great. Knock yourself out.”

“Literally or figuratively?”

“Uh, figuratively but literally is okay too.”

“Shhh, you’re affecting my baby with your negative energy.” Yixing holds the box up to eye level and attempts to peer through the holes at the mouse inside, stopping walking for a moment and almost causing Luhan to slam into him from behind “Yeek! Don’t stop now, let’s get home…”

“Okay, okay…”

They slowly walk the rest of the blocks back to the apartment, up the stairs, all the while carrying their cargo precariously and trying not to make any wrong steps. All the lights are off when they arrive and Luhan sets the cage down on the low coffee table before turning them on so Yixing can more easily transfer his new pet.

               Opening the box carefully, Yixing attempts to comfort the traumatized, shivering mouse before gently coaxing it into the large blue cage with a piece of sesame cracker. Luhan watches, a bit mystified, and wonders how he never had been aware of how good his roommate was with animals. The mouse sniffs around and then tries to get out the door of the cage, but it met by Lay’s hand and delicately nudged back inside. Something about watching the two interact makes Luhan extremely happy inside and he sits back and watches the little animal explore its new home.

               “Do we have any newspaper?”

               “Maybe…why…?”

               “I need it for bedding.”

               “Oh. Well, check the bathroom, or you can phone Kris or something to go pick some up.”

               “’Kay…” Yixing stands to go search for newsprint and Luhan leans closer to the cage to get a better look at the mouse. The light shines off its glossy fur in a pretty way and he silently agrees with Yixing that the mouse was a good choice of pet. Not too much upkeep, small, and pretty. It looks at him with shiny black eyes and sits back on its haunches as if to say do you have any food for me? Mentally, Luhan apologizes for his lack of food and gets up to go get some for himself, as it is almost dinner time anyway.