Much to the caramel cat’s surprise, the vet did not put him down. Instead, Yixing was given a few needles and checked to see if he had a microchip. Yixing tried to be as co-operative as he could, but that did not stop him from hissing and scratching when he was forced into a flea bath.

After he was clean, and reasonably dry, the vet wrote down what seemed to be a excruciating amount of details onto a clip board. When it was set down on the bench next to him, Yixing tried to read what he could, given that the vet had said nothing aloud. Nothing was out of the ordinary, except his breed. The vet thought he was a short haired house cat; he couldn’t help but be slightly offended at that. Just an ordinary house cat, how rude. Yixing wouldn’t have said any better about himself, given the confusing history of his family, but still, no one wants to be called a mixed breed.

Yixing was soon moved back into the carrier and taken back into the animal shelter.

“He can go up for sale if this Zhang Yixing person doesn’t show up.” The vet said.

Yixing felt like hissing again, but if he did that he knew that he would more than likely cause trouble that wasn’t necessary. There was no way that anyone would come get him, no one in this country anyway. The only people in Korea that even knew about his condition were his bosses, but even they didn’t know the full extent of details.

“We called the phone number that was attached to the wallet and we ended up getting his boss. He said as far as he knew Yixing didn’t have a cat, and that there was no way to know until he got back into town. Apparently, he doesn’t have his own phone…”

The vet sighs, “Well, we will put him up for adoption unless we find his owner… Let’s hope that this guy is lucky enough to find an owner before it is too late.”

With that the vet left and Yixing was let out into a room that could easily hold five people standing; if they were happy to be cramped in there together. The room, although looking like a prison cell with its three walls, small bared window and bared sliding doors, allowed nothing to escape. Chicken wire was tied to the bares stopping cats from sliding through and out into the animal shelter. The door was locked from the outside with a padlock, so not even human Yixing could escape.

His cat form slumped down in the middle of the floor, curling in and around itself. He decided to ignore the rooms other occupants, four kittens, barely half their adult size.  As he drifted off to sleep, he prayed silently to himself that he could find a way out before being adopted. Or at least come up with a back-up plan for if that happened.

Junmyeon didn’t exactly know how he decided that he wanted a pet. Maybe it was when his Canadian co-worker had started talking about his pet fish that Junmyeon had thought that it was a good idea. Or maybe it was just his way of admitting he would be forever single. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be lonely anymore.

“Maybe I should get a dog…” Junmyeon muses on his lunch break; YiFan is sitting across from him picking at his food.

“A dog?” YiFan asks, it is the first time that he has ever heard Junmyeon mentioning an animal of any sort.

“Yeah, I am lonely at home.” Junmyeon doesn’t look up from his rice as he says this, prodding at it with his chopsticks, the gelatinous mass barely moving.

YiFan knows the reason why Junmyeon is lonely. He has been lonely since his last break up – almost two years ago – YiFan had helped him cope to the best of his abilities. It wasn’t that Junmyeon didn’t put himself out there… It’s just… he did it in the wrong places. Like… At work.

“Jun… You know how much attention a dog requires right?”

The younger of the two shakes his head and YiFan sighs, remembering his mother’s lecture when he asked for a puppy many years ago.

“Dogs need to be walked at least twice a day, and then they still need to run around more. Like play ball and stuff. You can’t have a dog and this job. Besides, have you seen your apartment? It would be way too small for a dog to actually entertain itself while you’re here. You work from nine to five, five or six days a week depending. You would be too tired to play with a dog in your apartment let alone walk it every day…” Looking up he sighs, Junmyeon’s dejected face does not make this easier for YiFan to say. “I am not saying that you shouldn’t get a pet. I am just saying get one that is low maintenance. Like a fish… Or a cat if you want more physical attention…”

Junmyeon sighs, a cat… he hadn’t thought of a cat. No one he knows has ever had a cat before, they have only ever had dogs, so of course it would be the first animal that he thinks of when wanting a pet. But… YiFan was right. Dogs were hard to look after. From what he knew of cats, they were low maintenance. They looked after themselves most of the time and liked to be pet when it was up to them. They weren’t as full on as dogs. But none the less they would still show affection.

Sighing, YiFan looks at his watch and swears. “We have about five minutes left to eat this crumby food. Let’s get going.”

Nodding, Junmyeon starts eating his rice again.

Maybe a cat wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

After a week in the shelter and eating nothing but gross home brand cat food, Yixing was on his last nerve. On his first weekend he had been looked at several times by potential buyers. But no one wanted a mature looking cat, especially one that looked as though it would run away any second. But that didn’t stop those people from picking out his roommates.

During the week there were less people visiting the shelter, be it looking for missing pets or for one to adopt, and so Yixing just lazed around, finding nothing better to do with his time. Barely acknowledging when his roommates changed.

There were two new, younger kittens in his room liked to pounce on him, and he made no move to stop them. Nor did he move to play with them. Instead he would just move around the room to find best sun light. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to play – because, at times, his inner kitten really wanted to pounce right back at the younger cats – it was more that he hadn’t had this much time to be a cat. So he was enjoying the sun while he could. The other two cats, maybe around his age, were happy to play when the kittens wanted.

“You want a cat?” One of the female staff says rather loudly from out at the counter.

Yixing assumes that the costumer replies because not even a minute later the door is being unlocked and the dogs that are across from it start barking like mad. Yixing closes his eyes, and ignores them; he knows his chances of getting adopted are slim so he doesn’t bother. He never did.

At the other end of the centre Junmyeon is following the assistant around and looking into all the rooms.

“These ones were dropped off by previous owners; a lot of them are older. But if you wanted something like a kitten we have some towards the end here.”

Junmyeon looks in to room after room examining the kittens and cats that are playing or hissing at something. There are exotic looking tabbies; gentle ginger cats; temperamental Russian blues; and calm ragdoll cats. But none of them attract his attention for long. He sighs.

“In this last pen we have all the newer cats. They were found, left or born here. We have several kittens that are quite popular.” The woman gestures to the last room.

There are about five cats in the pen, two of which are kittens who are too small for Junmyeon’s liking, they could get stuck behind his sofa while he was at work and he wouldn’t know about until they had passed away. Junmyeon shuddered at the thought, he decided that he wouldn’t get a small cat.

The other cats were bigger, more to the size that Junmyeon liked. There was a grey and white cat that looked quite fluffy, and a tabby cat that’s tail had been docked. Junmyeon couldn’t look at that cat for very long, feeling guilty. The third cat was bathing in the sunlight that seeped through the small window towards the top of the room. Just spread out with its eyes closed. Caramel fur glowing gold in the light.

“That one.” Junmyeon whispers, pointing toward the caramel cat, the cat’s ears barely twitched. “I would like that caramel one in the back please.”

The girl seems shocked at first, but smiles none the less. “Sure, come with me and we will get the paper work filled out before you can take him home.”

On the way back out to the front she turns to a co-worker pointing out the cat Junmyeon had decided on. He nods before moving out the back to get a carry case. They fill out the appropriate paper work before Junmyeon even thinks to ask for the cat’s name.

“He doesn’t have a name, or a microchip” She replies shaking her head, “He was found on a pile of clothes and wallet in a backstreet, so we thought that might give us some information about him. We tried to contact the owner of the wallet but it turns out it was a dead end.”

“He was asleep on someone’s wallet?”

She hums, finalising the paper work with a stamp. “Yup, apparently that person loses things all the time.”

Junmyeon to nods slowly, even though he doesn’t completely understand. What sort of person can lose a wallet?

“Do you have a name in mind for him?” she asks, pen hovering over the unfilled part of the release form.

“Not really... I wasn’t expecting to have to name him myself.”

The girl nods and laughs, “If it helps, we have been calling him Lazy because he seems to only follow the sun. But I don’t think you would find that appropriate right? You should think of one. Either now, or later, just as long as you register it with us.”

Sighing, Junmyeon shrugs, “I don’t know… Lay? It shouldn’t offend him right?”

The attendant smiles, filling in the blank paper. “Okay. Lay will be all yours in just a bit… I have to let you know, he isn’t de-ed, which could be a problem in the future. And he will need to be microchipped just in case he runs away or gets lost. The vet who had a look at him thinks that he is about two or three years old, but there is no determining that really. Also because he is a rescue cat, this vet can give you a discount for the de-ing and microchipping procedures.” She picks up a card and slides it across the bench. “This is the vet’s number. Lay has had all of his shots so he should be fine… Um… other than that there is the registration fee...”

Junmyeon nods, taking out his credit card and handing it to the attendant. While she deals with payment, he places the vets card into his wallet. After returning his card, the attendant moves to the back room and picks up a carry case bringing it to the bench.

“And here he is. All yours.”

Junmyeon bows, “Thank you.” Taking the case and turns to leave, the assistant once again makes sure he knows that getting his cat de-ed is better done sooner rather than later. Junmyeon simply nods and takes his cat to the car.

A/N:: ENJOY~!<3