Luhan is a lot of things: a talented singer, self-certified love guru, real life anime character; the list goes on, but being knowledgeable on hybrids is not one of them. Hybrids, to Luhan, are just humans with animal ears and a tail. He doesn’t think they’re any different aside from that, just cuter. Which is why he's currently being subjected to a scolding by Junmyeon, his best friend slash babysitter, for filing an adoption for a hamster hybrid earlier in the morning.

"Do you even know how to take care of a hamster?" Junmyeon asks exasperatedly while he paces in Luhan's living room, taking care not to step on the candy wrappers and bags of chips strewn on the floor.

"Now that, I don't. But BunBun is not a hamster, he's a hamster hybrid!"

“Exactly!" Junmyeon stops pacing and turns to face him, his thick eyebrows furrowed. "He's a hamster hybrid, which, in case you didn't know, is half hamster, half human. And what did you say his name was?"

"I didn't. I gave him that name. BunBun. He looks awfully like one. Are you sure he's not half human half dumpling?"

"Luhan!"

Luhan holds up his hands in defeat, protecting himself from Junmyeon's glare. "Kidding, I'm just kidding! His name is Minseok. And he looks human to me, he doesn't even look half hamster," he explains, trying to defend himself.

Junmyeon runs his fingers through his hair, making the strands fall into his face. He looks very distressed, which is both amusing and confusing for Luhan. He's just adopting a human who just happens to have cute ears and a fluffball for a tail. He doesn't even get why it's being called 'adopting', since people adopt pets and children, and his BunBun, who he will pick up tomorrow from the centre, is most definitely not a pet nor a child.

"Luhan," Junmyeon begins slowly. Luhan slouches in his seat; he knows that tone. He's being his boring, 'responsible' self again, trying to make Luhan see that he’s doing the wrong thing. Sure there was one time in preschool when he tried to melt a crayon using a magnifying glass and ended up burning himself because the crayon was in his palm; and also that one time in high school when he thought dyeing his hair pink would make him instantly cool; or that time in college when he thought he had a talent in mixology and ended up passing out himself,but not this time. He didn't even do anything wrong. In fact, he did something right, for once!

Apparently Junmyeon can't see how noble Luhan is, saving Minseok from that dull centre undeserving of such cuteness, since he continues, "Taking care of a hybrid is different from me taking care of you-" 

"Hey!" 

"Do not interrupt me, young man-" 

"I'm older than you.” 

“As I was saying, it's different, taking care of a hybrid. They're more complicated than people, they have these animal characteristics."

"So you're basically saying BunBun will like, run in those hamster wheels?"

Junmyeon glares pointedly at him. "Like how dog hybrids like to sniff around and play catch, and how cat hybrids like to scratch, your BunBun will probably have like, I don't know, intense liking for sunflower seeds or something, I wouldn't know. Which is why I don't adopt hybrids!"

Luhan sits up straighter and looks at Junmyeon, determination shining in his eyes. "Junmyeon, I won't take back what I said about adopting Minseok. You haven't seen the centre, Junmyeon, it's so… lifeless,” he says, shuddering at the memory of the cold, grey building. What even possessed him to step inside, he has no idea, but he doesn’t regret it. Not one bit. "I can't give him false hope. I'll- I'll do what I have to. I'll learn. Just, don't make me send him back when I haven't even tried yet."

"That's the problem, Luhan, you can't try adopting a hybrid. Once you adopt him, you can't send him back. You take him in, you take care of him forever, no matter what."

Luhan nibbles on his bottom lip, like how he does whenever he's deep in thought. A few moments later, he looks up at Junmyeon, who's now sitting in the sofa opposite him.

"I'll stick with my decision. I'll learn. And I'll take care of him. I won't give up on him."

"It will not be friendly to you in the beginning," Luhan mutters as he writes down the sentence on a green sticky note, his eyebrows knotted in concentration.

After spending the last two hours doing his research on hamsters, both the real ones and hybrids, he notices two things. Firstly, they have the same characteristics, which confuses him because the last (and first, and only) time he saw Minseok before falling in love with the hybrid, Minseok is perfectly human, sans the ears and tail. He was sitting on a sofa reading a book, not spitting out sunflower seeds.

The second thing was most guides on hybrids refer to them as 'it' instead of proper gender pronouns, which confuses Luhan even more. It's like these people think of hybrids as animals, he thinks while wrinkling his nose in distaste. BunBun is too masculine to be just an /it/, his shoulders were so broad and defined. Not that Luhan adopted him just because of that, definitely not.

He reaches a conclusion with his not so bright brain: adopting a hybrid is very confusing.

Luhan sets his pen down and closes his laptop before setting it aside so he can sleep without accidentally squishing it in his sleep, like he did to his previous one. He rereads the notes he's made on hybrids, hoping that he won't forget any of these when he welcomes Minseok to his apartment tomorrow afternoon.

1. Give treats to gain trust. (stock up Lu)
2. Hamsters are greedy and like to store food. T.T
3. He will lie flat on his back when in fear.
4. He will mark his territory ^///^
5. He will take some time to adjust to the new smell (nose wiggles!!!)
6. Much sunflower, very seeds.
7. SQUEAKS!!!!!!!
8. He will associate your smell with comfort and security. ^/////////////^
9. It will NOT be friendly to you in the beginning.

Luhan wonders how can a person be so manly and so cute at the same time, but then he remembers that Minseok is a hybrid, so maybe that's why he's such a cute hunk. He also makes a mental note not to stick the paper somewhere Minseok can see.

"Welcome to our crib!", Luhan announces with a flourish as he opens the door, revealing a spotless living room. He painstakingly spent the entire morning clearing up the clutter and sweeping away the dust all by himself, because his best friend Junmyeon is not a morning person. That lazy bastard.

Luhan's eyes are trained on his new companion as Minseok gingerly walks through the door. He sees Minseok's eyes form crescents as he smiles and Luhan feels like melting because he can see that Minseok is genuinely happy, just from his smile. Adopting him already feels like the best life choice he's ever made.

"Our crib?" Minseok repeats in an inquiring tone. Ah, so that’s why.

"Our crib," Luhan repeats, nodding. He's already feeling very domestic at the thought of living together with his beloved Minseok. "Sorry it's not much, I don't really like big houses."

Minseok shakes his head and steps onto the threshold after toeing off his shoes, his nose twitching cutely as he takes in his surroundings, Luhan following behind him with a smile on his face. The nose wiggles! "This is more than enough!"

"Do you like it? Do you want to see your room??" Luhan asks excitedly, forgetting one of the things he read up last night: don't go into your hamster's personal space, they will come to you. He only remembers it a split second after he rested his head on Minseok's shoulder, his loud voice probably damaging the poor hamster's ears, but Minseok doesn't even do so much as flinch. If anything, he seems... perfectly fine about it.

Taken aback, Luhan's eyes widen from the discovery. Maybe Junmyeon was wrong after all. Maybe Minseok doesn't have that many hamster attributes as he's read.

He feels a nudge on his forearm, pulling him back from his thoughts. Luhan looks up to see Minseok's brown eyes staring back at him and he thinks those eyes are the most beautiful eyes he's ever laid on, and that's a big thing, since he considers his eyes to be the prettiest. I think I'm in love.

"What?” he asks dumbly, only now realising that Minseok was speaking to him.

Minseok raises an eyebrow at the change in behaviour. "I like it a lot, and yes, I'd like to see my room," he says before quickly adding, "if that's fine with you."

Luhan brightens up because this is the most he's heard Minseok speak today. "Of course!" he says and tugs on his new housemate's wrist, noticing that he didn't flinch this time as well.

Maybe taking care of a hybrid won't be as hard as Junmyeon thought it would. He'd have to tell him about this. Finally he's improved his decision-making skills. The internet "experts" can go screw themselves with their tips on caring for hybrids. This hybrid ain't got time to be mainstream.

It's an understatement to say Luhan is happy with his new, week-old living arrangements. He's delighted about it. Aside from the fact that Minseok behaves like any other human would, he also seems to be very comfortable in his new home, even to the point that he cleans after Luhan's mess and bickers with him about mediocre stuffs like what movies they should watch and from where should they order takeout.

Luhan is glad he adopted Minseok. Every day he comes back home to see Minseok napping on the sofa is another good day, according to him.

And today is another good day, he decides when he steps inside the dimly lit house, seeing a familiar silhouette on the sofa. He sets down the takeout food he grabbed on the way back from the studio and tiptoes his way over to Minseok, careful not to wake him up just yet. It's a newly found hobby of his, looking at Minseok when he sleeps.

Luhan sits on the carpeted floor in front of the sofa, taking in the sight of his, no, the sleeping hybrid. Minseok belongs to no one. 

He smells like coffee again today; Minseok has recently discovered the wonderful aroma of coffee from when Luhan took out his rarely used coffee maker. Since then, Minseok has been frequenting the café two blocks away every day.

After five minutes of burning the image of a sleeping Minseok at the back of his mind, Luhan pokes his cheek softly. Minseok stirs in his sleep and blinks his eyes open, a soft smile on his face when he sees Luhan.

"Hey," Luhan whispers.

"Hey, you," Minseok replies, his voice thick with sleep as he sits up. Luhan's eyes catch on the exposed strip of skin when Minseok stretches his arms over his head. It's not the first time but he still feels the lump dislodged in his throat.

"What have you been up to today?" Luhan asks, getting on the sofa and taking off his socks. Minseok glares pointedly when the socks get flung behind the sofa, but Luhan ignores it as always. "I cleaned up your man cave," he says, pointing to Luhan's wardrobe, which looks neat and spotless now, "and I bought coffee with the money from your piggy bank as payment."

Luhan laughs. He likes it when Minseok gets snarky with him, a contrast from the timid Minseok who stepped into his house last week; he's warmed up to me, Luhan thinks smugly.

He recalls the green sticky note he stuffed in his wallet last week and decides that he should probably discard it; the tips don't apply to Minseok anyway. The most hamster-like attributes he's seen is probably the occasional cute nose twitches. If Junmyeon isn’t halfway around the world on a business trip, Luhan would’ve been gloating in his face by now. 

"You'll get sick of coffee at this rate," Luhan says, laughing at the look of disbelief on Minseok's face. "It's true! That's what happened to me."

"You're just saying that to scare me," Minseok responds, getting off the sofa to switch the lights on and grab the takeout boxes of jjajangmyeon.

"Am not! That's why I don't drink coffee anymore!"

"Wait til you taste my coffee," Minseok says in a tone that implies the debate is over. He gingerly kicks off Luhan's socks to a corner of the room and sets down the boxes on the coffee table.

Luhan pauses in setting up the DVD player. "Your coffee?"

"My coffee. What are we going to watch tonight?"

Luhan holds up the DVD case. Naruto: The Last Movie. "Since when do you make coffee? I only have an instant coffee maker."

"Luhan," Minseok says, and Luhan feels a shiver run down his spine at the way his name rolled off Minseok's tongue, "I haven't watched any of the movies and you want me to watch the last movie? And, there’s a new barista in this district today: me. Chen says I'm an absolute natural."

"Who's Chen?" Luhan asks with a hint of jealousy, ignoring everything else Minseok's said, earning an eye roll from Minseok. Luhan might be obvious with his crush, but he hasn't actually attempted anything yet, so Minseok is still y, free and single and ready to bingo, much to Luhan's dismay.

Minseok grabs the DVD case from Luhan and reads the description from the back of it. "The barista at the café. Are you sure you don't want to start with the first movie?" he asks when he's done reading, looking up at Luhan who's already sitting cross-legged on the sofa, a cushion on his lap.

Luhan squints at Minseok's nonchalance in this Chen's description. Maybe he should work from home more often, he doesn't have any upcoming performances or deadlines anyway as of this moment. He should keep an eye on Minseok, protect him from dangerous wandering Chen eyes. "Very sure, you'll pick up on it easily," he says, shifting closer to Minseok. He smiles when he feels Minseok shift towards him, their shoulders and arms pressed together. Take that, Chen.

The following day, Luhan takes a day off- because he really doesn't trust this Chen- and tags along with Minseok to the café. It turns out he actually has nothing to worry about because Chen already has a boyfriend: one of the waiters, an overexcited, hyperactive puppy hybrid.

Minseok has already left him in favour of bugging Chen for new techniques, which leaves Luhan to sip on his chocolate milkshake alone in the corner. He sniffles and resorts to just watching Minseok from afar-- or at least five metres away--  because he's been clearly told to not 'disturb me and my friends'.

Luhan watches how Minseok easily falls into conversation with Chen and his boyfriend, Chanyeol. He feels jealous because he wants to be able to make Minseok laugh out loud too, but maybe it's because he's human and Minseok's friends aren't; Chen is a cat hybrid. Well, he thinks, trying to be optimistic, at least he's making progress as well, even though it’s in the form of chuckles and witty comebacks. Slow progress is still progress!

He later discovers that Chen and Chanyeol, or ChanChen, as he calls them in his mind, tend to behave more animal-like than Minseok, making Luhan wonder why he isn't like that. Chanyeol always buries his nose in Chen's hair whenever he looks over his shoulder and Chen would always, always nuzzles into Chanyeol's cheek. Although he thinks it's disgusting that they're so keen on showing public displays of affection, he also feels a bit jealous. He wants Minseok to do those things with him too. He’s slightly disappointed that Minseok isn’t more hamster-like.

"ChanChen are gross," Luhan says as soon as he sets foot inside the apartment, eliciting a chuckle from Minseok, much to his delight.

"Very, they can't keep their noses off each other for more than a few minutes."

"But it's kind of sweet too. Still gross, though," Luhan says with a shrug, toeing off his socks. "Do all hybrids act like that? Or is it just a couple thing? I don't see Sehun sniffing anyone," he asks, recalling the tall cat hybrid who mans the cashier. He seems to know the meaning of personal space, unlike some people. Hybrids. Whatever.

"I think it's a bit of both? I mean, you should’ve seen how Sehun stuck to Yixing yesterday," Minseok explains, laughing slightly at the end. "It's because they're used to the other's smell."

That catches Luhan's attention. He sits on the sofa and motions for Minseok to join him. "Are you used to my smell? How is it like? Do I smell manly?" He's very curious. Maybe Minseok would be more attracted to him if he smells nice, maybe he’d finally have Minseok bury his face in his hair like how Chanyeol did to Chen.

He waits with bated breath as Minseok hums in deep thought, his nose doing the cute wiggles again. "You smell like warm blankets, like the one I always use," he ends up saying after a few seconds and Luhan is disappointed with the answer. He'd have thought that hamsters, or at least half-hamsters, would have a better sense of smell.

"That's because that's my blanket you stole!", he says exasperatedly, pulling up his legs so he can sit cross-legged on the sofa-- without socks, of course.

Minseok cackles. "It's thicker and more comfortable! I don't like the new blanket, it doesn't smell nice," he says offhandedly, but Luhan's eyes widen. His smell is comforting, he thinks gleefully, a wide grin on his face as he remembers one of the lines he’s written down and memorised so many times.

Minseok's smile slips off his face and is replaced with a scrutinising stare. "What."

"Nothing," Luhan singsongs and leaps off the sofa to pick out a DVD. Maybe he shouldn't throw away the notes just yet. There’s a possibility that Minseok’s hamster side, or his inner BunBun is not yet discovered. As much as he wants to gloat to Junmyeon about how Minseok does not behave like a hamster, the image of Minseok squeaking happily while clutching a bag of sunflower seeds is too good to pass on.

'Operation Bring Out the Inner BunBun' will commence tomorrow, he decides, sneaking a glance at a suspicious looking Minseok, whose tiny ears are twitching.

Luhan exhales loudly after he sets down the bags of groceries on the floor and he toes off his shoes and socks, leaving the socks to litter at the doorway. Minseok would probably kill him for that, but Luhan has a plan this time. 

Grinning to himself, he lifts up the plastic bags of groceries and sunflower seeds, which he hasn't bought since Minseok moved in two weeks ago. The first time Luhan saw Minseok nibble on the sunflower seeds from a tiny packet he bought, he'd been so disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. This time, Luhan hopes it'll be different. This time, he's bought at least half a dozen large packets of those hamster treats. 

Minseok won't be able to resist. 

Unfortunately for Luhan, his plan is a failure. When Minseok steps into the house in the evening, he barely bats an eye and immediately starts scolding Luhan, ignoring the plate of sunflower seeds that Luhan had placed so strategically in the doorway.

"Luhan, can you please put that thing back where it came from or so help me?" he asks, pointing to the suspicious looking plate before picking it up and popping one seed into his mouth. Luhan had expected a more enthusiastic reaction. Maybe some 'Luhan, this is the best food!' or 'Luhan, you're the best!', but no, Minseok had to nag about his object placement and 'what if someone stepped on it?'

Luhan huffs and hops off the armrest to take the plate from Minseok, trying to look as sullen as possible, but it only comes out looking childish to the hybrid. He can't help but hope Minseok will eat more of the seeds when they're watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Alas, Minseok seems to be content with the bagels he bought from the café and doesn't even reach out for the seeds, leaving Luhan to finish the whole plate by himself. 

So much for Phase Sunflower Seeds. 

Luhan yawns as the credits roll, already falling sideways to lie down on the sofa, hugging his curled up legs. He's been awake since the crack of dawn to record a song and he had to sit through a very long meeting regarding contracts and licenses until evening, leaving him exhausted. 

At least Minseok pities him and chooses Princess Mononoke tonight. He's very sure that he won't be able to stay awake through Avengers: Age of Ultron.

His eyes are drooping shut when he feels a finger on his cheek and a sweet, familiar smell wafting into his nose. Luhan immediately sits up. "Coffee?" he asks, blinking away the sleep. Doesn't Minseok remember what he said about coffee?

He wants to ask, but he swallows the words. It might offend Minseok. Luckily, Minseok understands. 

"I know you don't like it, but Chen taught me a new method. Just-- take a sip? I practiced it today and Chanyeol said it's good. If you don't li--" His words are cut short when Luhan takes the mug from his hands and immediately takes a small sip. 

It's sweet, not too sweet like the overrated coffees in most cafés, but just enough to take away the bitter edge. The milk, although a bit too creamy for him, adds flavour to the otherwise bland coffee-- he doesn’t have any special coffee beans in the house, those wouldn’t need milk. 

Minseok's hands drop to his thighs, his fingertips tapping on his khakis, obviously nervous for Luhan's reaction. 

“It’s…” Luhan begins, his lips pursed in thought as he takes another sip. Minseok’s eyes snap up, and although his face is more indifferent than hopeful, his ears give away everything when they twitch a few times. “It’s nice.”

“Nice?” Minseok asks, a grin already forming on his face. Luhan’s heart skips a beat-- that’s the grin he loves to see on Minseok, the toothy one. It makes him look very hamster-like and cute. 

“Very nice,” Luhan says, lowering the mug to Minseok’s lips so he can taste as well. Although the word ‘nice’ seems too average to be seen as a compliment, Luhan knows that to Minseok, it means a lot because Luhan sees how the hybrid’s eyes light up at the words. He feels his heart melt into a puddle of goo at the thought of being able to make the hybrid happy.

Minseok supports the base of the mug with a hand and takes a small sip, his lips afterwards in a way that makes Luhan’s melted heart jolt back to life, thundering against his ribcage. In his sleep-addled mind, Luhan doesn’t notice that he’s lifting his hand to touch Minseok’s lips, only realising a split second before what he’s about to do. He immediately places his hand on Minseok’s head, patting the hair between the orange ears softly. 

The silence that follows is deafening. Sure, he’s touched Minseok before, but never in such an affectionate way. It’s always been fleeting touches, like pokes to the cheeks, nudges on the arm, pinches on the waist, never something like this. 

Luhan awkwardly clears his throat and starts pulling his hand away, his fingers inconspicuously running through the soft hair so he can drag this moment longer, when he hears a soft squeak. His hand immediately stills and he notices how Minseok’s cheeks now have a hint of red. Summoning the little courage he has, he runs his fingers through Minseok’s hair again, this time making sure that his fingertips are pressed to his scalp. 

Squeak!

His eyes widen and Minseok’s free hand immediately fly up to cover his mouth, but it proves to be useless when Luhan is still massaging his scalp, his fingers getting closer to his fluffy, hamster ears. 

Luhan finally stops when his fingers briefly make contact with Minseok’s ears, and he sees how flustered Minseok looks: his face is now red, and he’s biting on his bottom lip to contain any squeaks that might escape. 

“Minseok, did you just…?” Luhan asks, trailing off at the end. Minseok, who’s calmed down considerably, gets up and takes the mug from Luhan, bringing it to the kitchen quickly. 

“Minseok!” Luhan calls out as he gets off the sofa to follow Minseok to the kitchen, now wide awake. Did he make a mistake? Did Minseok hate it? He doesn’t want Minseok to hate him, not when they’re already close, and especially not when Minseok is finally learning to trust him. 

“What?” Minseok asks, not turning around to face Luhan, his words betraying no emotions. Luhan’s heart sinks and he has no one to blame but himself. His mind is filled with ‘should have’s; he should have kept his hands to himself, he should have not tried to change their relationship, or whatever it is they have, he should have stopped himself in time. 

“I’m sorry,” Luhan finally says, feeling so pitiful that the only words he can offer are those two. It’s been used so many times by everyone, that the word ‘sorry’ holds no meaning anymore, even though he means it, he really does. “I really am. I shouldn’t have made you uncomfortable.”

Minseok is silent for a few seconds, although it feels too long for Luhan, who’s desperate to hear him say anything. “You didn’t,” he finally says, turning around to face Luhan, his eyes downcast, and his ears twitching. He’s nervous, Luhan notices. He’s read about this behaviour during his intense hybrid researching period. “I was just surprised.”

“Really?” Luhan blurts out before he can control himself, his voice filled with hope. 

“Yeah,” Minseok says, finally looking at Luhan, a small, almost unnoticeable smile on his face. Luhan is relieved, but before he can say anything, Minseok continues “But let’s not make this change anything,” and his hopes are immediately shot down, an obvious pout on his face, causing Minseok to chuckle. 

At least they’re back to normal, Luhan thinks begrudgingly, trying to be optimistic. 

When Luhan wakes up that night to drink a glass of water in the kitchen, he does not expect the sight of a hamster hybrid sitting on the floor surrounded by the half-dozen bags of sunflower seeds he bought. Apparently, neither did Minseok, whose cheeks are puffed out, undoubtedly filled with more sunflower seeds than humanly possible, because he immediately spits out the sunflower seeds in the general direction of Luhan, probably in shock. 

Surprised by the attack, Luhan steps back and stumbles, his landing on the cold, hard tiles.

“Luhan!” 

Minseok immediately crawls up to Luhan, brushing away the seeds from his pajamas, a concerned look on his face. “Are you okay?” he asks when Luhan finally cracks his eyes open to take in his surroundings. 

“Minseok, what were you doing?” he asks in an incredulous tone. He’s never seen Minseok behave so hamster-like, stuffing sunflower seeds into his mouth. Out of all things.

The hybrid’s ears twitch again, and Luhan knows he’s caught Minseok, once again. 

“I was… hungry.”

Luhan raises an eyebrow and glances at the fridge, where last night’s leftovers are stored away. Minseok notices the look on Luhan’s face. “I really like sunflower seeds.”

Both of Luhan’s eyebrows shoot up. Wasn’t Minseok acting so indifferent towards these tiny bullet-like objects, which, by the way, hurt a lot, before? 

“No you don’t,” Luhan says. It’s not even a question. He’s so sure that Minseok is a hamster who doesn’t like hamster snacks. 

“I do, stop making me say it!” Minseok finally confesses, his voice raised by a pitch at the end. He then sits down on the floor and takes a sunflower seed into his mouth.

“Wow, all this while I thought you were an un-hamster hamster,” Luhan says, sitting down properly with his legs crossed. It’s not the most comfortable of places to sit on, but hey, at least there’s food. Even though it’s slightly gross. And wet. He makes sure to pick the ones far from him. 

Minseok turns silent, playing with the scattered seeds. Out of the corner of his eyes, Luhan notices that Minseok’s tail also twitches in rhythm with his ears. Although it’s very endearing and cute, he can’t help but worry because he knows what the body language means; he's seen this behaviour so many times. 

He takes Minseok’s hand in his and the hybrid shifts his gaze to him. “That’s… kind of what I was aiming for. An un-hamster hamster.”

“What?” Luhan is confused. Why would Minseok try to be something else? His question is answered when Minseok continues. “You’ve seen how other people treat hybrids. We’re treated like pets. I was treated like a pet, being called a human’s possession instead of companion, being referred to as ‘it’ instead of ‘him’, judged for only the colour of my ears instead of my abilities. It .”

Luhan is speechless, he has no idea this was what Minseok had gone through before he adopted him, which makes Luhan wonder: is he treating Minseok like a pet too?

“But then you came. You treated me like a friend, not like a fragile, scared hamster. Maybe it’s because you’re genuinely caring, or maybe it’s because you’re dumb-” 

“Hey!” 

“maybe it’s both. And I was scared if I show how much of a hamster I am, you’d treat me like a pet as well…” Minseok ends, his eyes now showing how unsure and scared he is. Luhan has never seen that look on Minseok before, so he’s terrified, and he does the only thing he can think of: he hugs his friend.

“I’d never treat you like a pet, Minseok. You’re more than what you think you are. You’re kind, you’re cute, you make great coffee,” he rambles, his hand coming up to the back of Minseok’s head. “Sure, you’re a hamster, but you’re not a pet, Minseok, you’re my friend.”
Luhan swallows audibly at the last word before choking it out, his fingers carding through Minseok’s hair, eliciting soft, content squeaks, “You’re someone I care about. You’re Minseok, and I wouldn’t want to change anything about you.”

“Really?” Minseok asks, his head resting on Luhan’s shoulder. He smiles when he feels Minseok’s arms come up to wrap around his waist. 

“Really. Don’t hide yourself, okay? I’ll buy you lots of sunflower seeds and be the most encouraging friend you’ll ever have!” There it is, the word ‘friend’. He’s not satisfied with their status, but he doesn’t want to rush things. It’ll happen when it happens, but for now, Minseok’s hamster side is in dire need of attention. 

“You can open your eyes now!”

Minseok takes off the blindfold and slowly opens his eyes. His expression is one of shock and bewilderment before it morphs into slight anger. 

“Seriously, Luhan?!” he asks the snickering man who’s patting the gigantic, pink object with a look of pride and adoration on his face.

“You seriously need this, Minseok. You’ve been eating nothing but bagels. You need to shake off that hamster fat somehow!”

Minseok rolls his eyes and pushes Luhan, causing him to stumble. 

“You’re the worst ‘encouraging friend’ ever,” he scoffs and stomps to the sofa, completely ignoring the large object. 

Luhan scrambles to follow Minseok, tugging at his t-shirt. “But Minseok, a hamster wheel is the perfect encouragement a friend can give to a hamster hybrid!”

Minseok pushes Luhan off again, although his eyes betray how amused he actually is. “A gigantic hamster wheel is not the kind of encouragement I need. Like I said, ‘worst encouraging friend’ ever. Let’s see how you feel when I make you run in it,” Minseok mutters, rolling his eyes at the end.

Luhan gulps at the thought. He might have to reconsider his final phase of Operation Bring Out the Inner BunBun.