At First Sight

“What do you think, mister Sniffles? Shall we go and get you some milk?” Yixing whispered softly to his stuffed bunny.

It looked rather worn, the once velvety nose and ears now feeling rough against the skin. Only hidden spots behind the ear and under its head indicated the pearly white colour the fur used to be. All of this, however, didn't hinder the little boy from holding the plushy close to his chest as he opened the door of his room.

It was quite dark outside due to the late hour and both of his parents had decided to turn off the lights already.

Yixing could hear the noise of the television as well as his parents arguing quietly but he payed it no mind.

The floor felt cold under his little bare feet and he once again asked himself why things had to be cold when they could be warm. Everything could be warm but instead some things chose to not be and Yixing couldn't really comprehend the reason for it.

“Do you know the reason for it, mister Sniffles?” He asked his bunny quietly once again while walking into the kitchen.

The five-year-old opened the fridge and shivered lightly due to the coldness against his skin but grabbed the milk carton nonetheless. “Should we take a glass or just drink from the carton...?” He mumbled and his lips. Deciding that it would be a lot easier as well as more unobtrusive to just drink straight out of the carton, Yixing tried unscrewing the cap but stopped midway as the voices from the living room grew so loud that he could no longer ignore them.

“Are you trying to tell me that my child is mental?!” - “What? No, of course not! Yixing is just as much my child as he is yours, but can't you see that things can't keep going the way they do now? He's five already!” - “Exactly, he is five! He's still only a little child, how do you expect taking all of his stuffed animals away from him is going to help him socialize?!”

He could hear his mother screaming louder and louder at whatever his father said and Yixing closed his eyes slowly.

He hated screaming.

He hated the loudness, the screeching, his mother's unbearable pitch and the rage his father tried to hide behind his supposedly calm voice. But most of all, Yixing hated the fact that his parents were arguing about him - again.

He sighed quietly and removed his little hand from the cap of the carton before he simply placed it on the ground. The fridge was still open and he should probably put the milk back inside but Yixing didn't feel like doing so anymore. All he did was holding mister Sniffles tighter against his chest and hiding his nose in its used fur, inhaling the familiar scent to calm himself down while his parents were still screaming at each other. Yixing suddenly started feeling chilly in his thin nightshirt and going out to drink some milk with mister Sniffles didn't seem like a good idea anymore.

“It's all your fault!” - “Oh, so now parenting is only the job of the mother? Excuse me, you yourself said that he is also your son just a moment ago!” - “If only you wouldn't always reject my methods!”

Yixing slowly turned around and quietly moved out of the kitchen, mister Sniffles in a tight hold. He hurried back into his room without turning back to look at the milk carton standing on the ground in the middle of the room or the open fridge and quickly hid under the thick blanket on his bed. It was still warm and the soft fabric felt nice against his as well as cold legs.

Mister Sniffles was lying right next to him on the pillow and he gently pulled his blanket over it before whispering, “Let's just get some milk in the morning, okay? They won't stop screaming for a while.”

Yixing was a quiet kid. In fact, he was awfully quiet. He was so quiet, that both of his parents worried about his well-being every day and ever night. Mister Sniffles was Yixing's constant companion and neither of his parents could remember having seen their son without the little bunny tugged under his arm or against his chest.

He looked quite frail for a five-year-old and most shirts ended up looking rather baggy on his tiny stature. All of this didn't change the fact that he looked terribly adorable with his pouty lips and gentle eyes. If only he would give the other children in kindergarten or even the neighbour's child the same smile he gave his stuffed animals.

But instead Yixing spent his time in his little imaginary castle, sitting at his table with his friends surrounding him – stuffed elephants, bears, giraffes, but most importantly and always close was mister Sniffles. He drew, he sang, he laughed and Yixing was overall a really happy and cheerful kid.

The problem was that he was only happy when being in his own world.

“Come on, Yixing. We need to go inside this store now, you can take mister Sniffles with you – but only if it really has to be!”

Yixing held mister Sniffles tightly with his eyes shut close. His father had threatened to throw away his mister Sniffles again and that was certainly the last thing Yixing wanted to ever happen. So he had clutched his bunny close to his chest while ignoring the annoyed sighs and stares he was getting from the male.

“Baby, you'll enjoy being inside, I promise you. We're going inside to find you a friend.” His mother commented cheerfully and ruffled his hair. Her try to lighten the mood clearly failed but Yixing was thankful nevertheless. At least she didn't screech around like she did most evenings during her arguments with his father.

His father sighed once again before turning around and going into the store first and Yixing's mother soon took her son's hand to drag him inside – mister Sniffles still held tightly in his tiny hand.

Yixing didn't know what kind of store it was, in fact he hadn't been told where they were going at all. 'Find him a new friend' was something that didn't make Yixing feel comfortable but maybe he would get a new stuffed toy for his collection. Stuffed animals were friends and Yixing hoped it to be rhino. A rhino was still missing in his cycle of exotic friends.

But as soon as he stepped inside the store with his mother, he smelt hay and heard noises from every corner of the shop. Some meowing, some grunting, some barking. It was loud and strange and the light was a cold white.

His parents went to a counter which had been painted in an awful green colour and Yixing immediately detested the look of it.

“Hello, we're the couple that called earlier today.” His mother started softly as she let go of Yixing's hand to take her husband's instead. If it weren't for mister Sniffles Yixing would have felt terribly offended but it was okay – mister Sniffles' paws were a lot softer anyway.

“Oh, I remember! You were looking for a companion for your child, right? You're lucky, I've got exactly what you're looking for!” The man behind the counter stated excitedly.

He looked young, maybe in his mid-twenties with blond hair and lots of piercings in his ears. He himself looked more like a cat than a human, judging by his eyes. He came out from behind the counter and shook his parents' hands, his words full of joy. “I think a dog-hybrid would be good for your timid child – I actually have one in mind! Jongin is a young pup we got not long ago. He is so playful and lovely, I'm sure your son is going to bloom like a flower once he meets him!”

Yixing tuned out the words spoken by his parents and the strange man as he got intrigued by the sounds he heard. So they were at a pet shop? He wasn't going to get a rhino?

His lips formed a displeased pout as he tucked mister Sniffles against his chest and walked away from his parents. The shop was rather big for a tiny child like him, or at least it seemed like it. He could see normal little pets like ferrets, guinea pigs or snakes in rather spacious caves and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. But the further he went, the less normal pets he could detect.

He was in the department for hybrids now, it seemed. Yixing thought they were called this way but he couldn't tell for sure. He remembered the strange man saying something about hybrids. What he knew, though, was that the animals he saw in the caves weren't normal animals. They looked like normal people but with fluffy ears, tails and sometimes even a funny nose and mouth.

One dog hybrid barked happily at him and wiggled it's tail excitedly. It pressed its hands against the glass and looked directly into his eyes, its lips forming a big smile. “Let's play together!”

Yixing flinched at the sudden noise and took a step back before looking at the hybrid in a shocked manner. The puppy looked cute now that he took a closer look, but who knew whether it would bite him or not? The dog seemed awfully playful and Yixing knew for a fact that puppies liked to play-fight and be rowdy.

He quickly hurried to the next cave.

Mister Sniffles was held closer this time around and Yixing prayed that the animal in this cave wasn't going to scare him as much as the dog did. He walked slowly and stole a glance inside the cave. It was just as big as the one the dog was in, with a soft-looking bed couch inside, some hay in the left corner and wood right next to it. He could also see a little table with water and food on it, but it seemed as if it had been left untouched.

The child took a step closer and looked around the cave to find the animal which resided in it.

There, in the far back, in the right corner, he could see a hunched figure. It had big, fluffy and white ears which were set back and laid close to the hybrid's head. He couldn't tell what kind of hybrid it was, but Yixing knew exactly one thing.

It looked sad and lost and Yixing felt the need to hug the animal on the other side of the glass.

The white ears looked exactly like the pair mister Sniffles had, but the hybrid's ears were probably softer. No matter how often the hybrid would take a bath, his ears would remain soft like the best and warmest blanket in the world, and it made Yixing feel fascinated. He wanted to touch the ears.

His parents and the man walked to him and came to a halt in front of the cave of the dog hybrid who yipped happily once again.

“This is the pup I've been talking about. His name is Jongin and he is only a few weeks old.” Both his mother and his father looked thrilled at the thought of taking the dog home with them, but Yixing couldn't understand their excitement. He didn't want the dog.

The five-year-old turned to look back inside the cave with the hunched figure but noticed that the hybrid was hunched over no more. Its shoulders were still hanging low but one ear was perked as if the hybrid was listening closely to what the adults were saying.

It's a bunny, Yixing noticed in astonishment. It had a plush, white, little tail and a really cute nose with whiskers. But the more the young child looked at it, the more he noticed that the bunny didn't seem to be okay at all. His left eye was tearing terribly and looked incredibly red, its nose was runny and it had scratches all over its skin.

The bunny was now looking at Yixing with soft and sad eyes, still sitting in the corner. He could see unshed tears in both the swollen eye and the other one. Maybe he needs a friend, Yixing thought and pressed mister Sniffles against the glass separating him from the animal.

Yixing watched closely as the hybrid walked closer to the glass with a slight limp. It looked as if it had hurt its ankle as well and the boy suddenly felt even more sorry.

With the bunny now sitting in front of him, he pressed his little left hand against the glass while looking at the animal. His own eyes were starting to tear the more he looked at the bunny and he could see that it felt equally as emotional. The bunny slowly raised its hand and pressed it against the glass right where Yixing's little one was and the child could feel the warmth through the glass.

He didn't care about getting a rhino anymore, he didn't need one. What Yixing really wanted was to get this bunny instead of some random puppy.

“We'd like to adopt the do-,” he could hear his father speak to the employee and decided to voice his wish before it was too late.

“I want him!” Yixing exclaimed loudly with tears in his eyes, his hand still pressed against the glass as well as mister Sniffles. “Please mommy, I want him!”

Both parents looked at their child in a surprised manner. They hadn't expected him to actually want a hybrid to begin with and the sudden announcement startled them both.

“Uh...” His mother stuttered and looked at her husband in search for an answer. He didn't seem to mind though and simply nodded his head while sighing, both of his hands raised to massage his temples.

“S-sure, honey. We'll get whatever you want.” The woman kept stuttering and turned to look at the young man for details about the hybrid inside the cave.

“Oh, but Junmyeon isn't to be sold!” He moved his hands around while talking. “You see, he still needs his medication and isn't fully healed yet. As you can see, he's got quite some scratches and some of his fur is still missing. I can't sell him to you like that.” The young man tried to explain.

Yixing started to sniffle softly as he heard the words said by the man and looked at him with big and sad eyes. “B-but...”

“No, no, no, please don't cry!” The man said quickly and went over to the child. “Uhm... you see, Junmyeon is pretty old already, don't you want a hybrid who's younger? Around your age? Jongin maybe?” He tried to persuade the child but Yixing wouldn't budge. He shook his head quickly, denying the proposal.

“Look, Junmyeon has had a rough time, okay? They took all of his babies away from him and now he's mourning. He won't be a good friend to play with.” The employee tried again after a short while of looking around nervously.

“But I don't care about that. I want him. Mommy...” Yixing looked over the man's shoulder at his mother who was standing behind the employee together with his father. She sighed exaggeratedly before asking the employee softly. “Is there a possibility for us to still adopt the hybrid? We'd take care of his medical condition on our own then, you wouldn't have to pay a single thing.” She tried to sway the man. Yixing's father simply stood next to her without uttering a word.

“Well,...” The man sighed. “I have to ask my boss first.” He mumbled and quickly went to the counter to call said owner of the store.

Yixing looked back at the bunny hybrid with his big teary eyes and the bunny slowly raised its other hand to wipe away the child's tears through the glass. It even gave him a little encouraging smile which Yixing returned with one of his own.

The employee soon came back and stood still in front of his parents. “My boss said it'd be okay for you to adopt the hybrid, but you'll have to sign additional papers about being aware of his medical condition.” He explained softly before guiding them to the counter.

Yixing had never felt so happy.