So there he was, standing in a tiger costume with orange and black face paint. Infi giggling cheerfully as the paintbrush tickled her little nose.

"How did this happen..?" He recalled the sequence of events. First Gyu excused himself to the restroom, then Yeol and Myungsoo snuck off somewhere. 

Finally, he realized that he hadn't seen Jong ever since that duck took a on his Louis Vuitton shoe... He never came back... 

Only Dongwoo and Woohyun were left, and they'd dragged him here... But, now... Didn't Dongwoo say something about needing to call their manager? And, Woohyun... Woohyun...was here a second ago. *Only leaving his blinking dotted-outline behind.*

*blink blink*

"Are you ready?" the zookeeper asked.

"Ah yeah," Hoya snapped out of his daze, "We're ready!"

"Great!" she picked Infi up and handed her over, "Follow me." They walked into a nursery with two small tiger cubs.

Infi squirmed in Hoya's arms as he sat down where the lady told him to, "Let me go! Let me go!" She attempted to get up close and personal with the baby animals.

"Now now," the zookeeper laughed as she picked up a cub and sat across from them, "Shall we start?"

"Ye--Infi sit still..." Hoya pleaded, "I'm sorry she's always wiggling around.."

"It's ok. It's ok, " She leaned over, "Infi baby, you're just so excited to make new friends aren't you?" 

Infi squealed so loud the cub startled, "Oh! Uh oh, we shouldn't do that. It's scary," the zookeeper soothed the cub by rubbing circles behind her ears.

"...Infi..."

"Neh," she continued, "Infi, this is Ari. She's a three-month-old Bengal Tiger. She loves playing games with her bother, rolling around in the grass and hunting small creatures like grasshoppers and lizards. She's as small as you are now, but one day she'll be over 300 lbs! Wow! That's bigger than daddy!"

Hoya gasped, "She'll be huge!" looking up just in time to notice a flash of light in the corner of his eye, "What the?" He turned his head to the right - seeing a glass wall for on-lookers. Guess, who's standing right in front...

The other's waved to him, shouting words of encouragement - though inaudible from the other end. 

" you guys," Hoya mouthed back.

It took him a second, but Hoya also noticed something else. Myungsoo was sending him a different message. He was pointing towards his jacket pocket - where Myungsoo's camera had mysteriously ended up at some point, "Take pictures, you idiot!!"

"Ok, I see it now. You all planned this!" he growled.

"Is something wrong? Growling says that Daddy Tiger is mad about something. Isn't that right, Infi?" the zookeeper piped up.

"Oh! Oh, no I'm not..." He sighed, "Those idiots over there ditched me," he nudged his head towards them.

"Oooh," she snickered, "Then shall we get revenge?"

"Revenge?" Hoya's eyes popped open.

"Yeah, we're the ones with the baby tiger~."

"Deal, let's get revenge!" Hoya re-situated Infi on his lap, "How?"

"Well, for starters Ari's in a great mood, so let's see if she wants to play with Infi over there," she pointed to the play area to the back. Where the other's couldn't see watch, easily. There was a play area up front, too, but that was no fun now.

"Yeah!" Hoya carried Infi over and sat down on the floor, "Remember Infi, no hitting."

"You too Ari, no biting," She let the cub go and let her pounce towards Hoya - getting right up close to Infi.

She sniffed and Infi's face, then lightly whacked at her with her right paw. Infi responded by playfully squealing and lightly patting Ari back.

"See, they're playing nicely. It's ok, to let Infi crawl around if you feel safe enough," the zookeeper offered.

"Ah..yeah. That's ok," he let her go, and soon Infi was hugging Ari and drooling on her. 

"Whoop!" Hoya exclaimed as the two toppled over and begun play fighting - as he filmed the entire encounter. 

Infi loved Ari. Her fur, her big paws, fluffy ears and stripes, everything, as they rolled around together.

"Hey, are you sure this is safe?"

"It's safe. As long as she doesn't get too excited. Ari is really gentle."

"Ah..but," Hoya remembered an old article about exotic pet abuse, "What about domestication?" He guessed that was the right word.

"Domestic--Ah? Yes, You don't need to worry about that. Ari and her family won't be released back into the wild. Her mother was badly injured when she first arrived. She wouldn't survive on her own, and we couldn't bear to take her babies away. She's already been through so much, so they're permanent residents now. We do need to be careful with our other friends, though. Too much interaction can be deadly and we'll risk human dependence," She explained. Adding, "Oh, and when the cubs are older we certainly won't hold any more personal greetings. It'll be too dangerous, and we'd hate to support the exotic pet photo industry. Those backward zoos that keep their animals chained up and drugged for tourist photo-ops are despicable! What we're doing here is domestication, but only in our special circumstances. Ari and her brother are our family, and, if raised correctly, they'll provide guests with a special educational experience. No circus tricks, of course. But, by creating a bond with us now, she'll remember how to play nicely and not hurt anyone when she's older. Hopefully."

"Besides," she concluded, "we're all dressed up as tigers right now, so she probably hasn't even realized that we're all humans."

"Ah..I see," Hoya nodded. Checking his camera view to make sure that it's still recording. Just as he caught Infi Ari's head. "..She everyone--thing.." he corrected. People, glass, stuffed animals, a trashcan..tiger cubs...

"Waa~ Ari loves getting !" she smiled.

After a while longer, Ari got up and ran off, leaving Infi behind. 

"Come back!" Infi babbled, crawling after her.

"Ah, is Ari finished playing?" Hoya asked.

"Hmm," the zookeeper hummed, "Oh, nope! She went to get her toys! She wants to share." 

Ari brought back a thickly knotted rope (like the ones dogs chew on) and placed it in front of Infi. Who, grabbed and inspected it - choosing to pick it up and drop it back down, repeatedly. It wasn't soft and fluffy like Ari, but it'd do.

"Ooook?" Hoya cocked his head to the side. Regardless, he took the opportunity to play a bit with Ari, himself. Scratching Ari's ears and letting her nip at him.

The three continued to play for another 10 minutes, until the zookeeper noticed the time, "Oh, it's getting late. Looks like it's time to call it a night."

"Aww," Hoya pouted, "We have to go now, Infi."

"Yes, sadly," the zookeeper whined as she picked Ari up and squatted in front of Infi, "Bye bye, it's time for this little girl to go back to her mommy~," she waved. Then she covered her own mouth and pretended that Ari spoke, "I miss my mommy. Don't you miss your mommy too. I'm gonna give her such a big hug when I see her!"

Infi frowned, reaching back up to touch Ari, "Give my puppy back..." she babbled.

"Awww ok. One last hug," She let Infi grab Ari one last time, as she peered up and noticed the sad look on Hoya's face.

"Are you alright?" she tried to soothe him.

"No, no it's just.. " he nervously swallowed, "Actually, Infi's adopted...She got separated from her mother..."

"Oh, i'm sorry..." the zookeeper apologized.

Like that, Hoya took a reluctant, and whinny, Infi back outside, "Oohh you're ok.." he flipped her over and effortlessly imitated the Dr.'s crying baby trick, "..And now we're all better." For extra measure, he pulled Hammy out of her diaper bag and let her on him. 

Dongwoo and Gyu stared dumbfounded outside. Not that Hoya realized it, but he'd adapted quite well. He wasn't a hopeless mess all of the sudden. He didn't treat her like she was made of glass and/or about to explode anymore. And, even a couple of the mothers nearby instantly crowded around him, begging to learn how he calmed her so easily.

"Ah..w--why?" Hoya stuttered, "Th--that was just a trick I learned," he reasoned, "Really! I have no idea how to be a parent!"

*****

"You bastard! We couldn't see anything!!" Yeol scolded him. The others' barrage of complaints in tow. 

"Relax, I got it all on video," Hoya assured them - as he tossed Myungsoo's camera back to him.

"You did!? Let me see! Let me see!" Dongwoo ran up behind Myungsoo, followed by Woohyun.

"No!" Myungsoo demanded, "Let's watch it at home! On the big screen. It's too small for us all to watch here."

++++++++++

END! Finally!

Onto the next subject! Dongwoo and Hoya still have to give Infi a bath at home. Especially since the zookeeper painted all over her face. She let them keep the tiger costumes btw. But, we can move forward.