---

Sehun awakens at seven the next morning, thirty seconds before his alarm is set to go off, and he sits up and stretches his limbs. It doesn't take him long until he spots the large lump underneath the blanket, and Sehun seriously wonders how Jongin managed to crawl underneath the blankets without him noticing. Well, it also doesn't take Sehun long to notice that Jongin has hogged pretty much the entire blanket, which explains why he woke up shivering just now. Sehun sits up for a few seconds, wondering if he'll end up scaring the soul out of Jongin by reaching over and poking the latter. He watches as the Jongin's form rises and falls with the latter's steady breaths as he snoozes.

However, Sehun doesn't have to wonder anymore, because his alarm goes off subsequently, blasting an ear-piercing siren-like sound, and Sehun is pretty sure Jongin does end up getting the soul scared out of him as he emits a loud shriek and jumps five feet in the air. In the commotion, Jongin also manages to tumble off the bed, the latter tearing down the blankets as he scrambles to grab onto the mattress. Sehun crawls over and peeks over the edge, and he doesn't know if he should feel guilty or coo when Jongin looks up at him from his spot on the floor, where he's lying on his back and staring up at Sehun with wide eyes. His tail is puffed up beyond belief between his legs and Jongin nearly smashes Sehun's nose into the latter's skull when he, without a warning, gets up and pounces back on the bed. 

"Good morning," Sehun chuckles, patting Jongin's head. He looks around, surprised to see the house still standing. Checking the clock, he cracks his knuckles before climbing off the bed and sliding his shirt over his head. He can feel Jongin's gaze burning holes in his back as he grabs his dress pants, entering the bathroom without as much as a word before leaving the door ajar. As he fixes his hair in the mirror, he washes his face quickly before proceeding to put his pants on. Outside, he hears the pitter-patter of Jongin scurrying across the floor and he sighs internally. "Don't come in, I'm putting on my pants--" He stumbles backwards and nearly trips when Jongin throws the door wide open and skips inside. "Hey--!"

"Milk!" Jongin exclaims with a wide grin on his face, his ears as he eyes the detatched shower curtain still lying in the bathtub. He's lucky, because since Sehun lives alone, Jongin won't have to deal with tens of thousands of family members rushing in and out of the bathroom in the mornings since it always drove him crazy. He walks up to the mirror and his ears twitch curiously as he eyes his reflection. Behind him, he watches Sehun button his pants before moving so he's standing smack in the middle and effectively blocking Sehun's view. It's not until his curiosity gets the best of him and he attempts to climb onto the sink to get a better look that Sehun grabs the back of his shirt.

"Don't, the entire sink might collapse," Sehun says, tugging on Jongin's shirt until the latter gets the gist. "Could you please get out of the way? I gotta get ready for wo--" A loud squawk soon leaves his lips when he notices Jongin fiddling with his after shave. "Wait, be careful, don't touch--" He can only watch in dismay as Jongin somehow pops the lid off the bottle, the latter hissing when he inhales the strong scent, which causes him to toss it away and Sehun internally screams when the bottle hits the bottom of the sink and shatters on impact. Jongin immediately scurries away and Sehun nearly gags when the strong scent of his after shave fills the bathroom. So much for shaving today.

"I'm hungry," Jongin hums, fiddling with the hem of his shirt as he watches Sehun carefully pick up the shards in the sink and placing them aside. "Can I have some milk? It's been a long time now," he says with a grin whilst poking Sehun's leg with his tail. The smell is starting to make his head spin and he has to skitter out of the bathroom before he suffers a coughing fit. He chases a few feathers from the torn up pillow for a minute before walking over and perching himself on Sehun's desk. It doesn't collapse under his weight, thankfully, and he hums to himself whilst picking apart an eraser. He shivers when he recalls getting his stomach pumped when he was just a kitten after eating half an eraser. 

Sehun emerges from the bathroom with a trash bag in his hands five minutes later, and he places it in his closet to throw away later before turning around and looking at Jongin. "You're sitting on my work papers," he sighs, Jongin thankfully hopping down onto the chair as he walks over to shove him off. "I gotta--"

"Food?" Jongin's eyes glitter as he looks up at Sehun. His unbrushed hair sits messily atop his head, partially shielding his ears as they twitch in anticipation. He's bouncing up and down in excitement as he watches Sehun collect his papers before placing them in a black briefcase. "What are those?" he asks, cocking his head as he attempts to swat at the bag, which Sehun hides behind his back.

"Work stuff," Sehun chuckles, and he sighs when he checks his phone, seeing he's supposed to be out the door in ten minutes and he hasn't even put on his socks yet. He places the bag on the bed and quickly puts on a white blouse, closely followed by a pair of non-matching socks. As he's halfway through getting out his suit jacket, something catches his eye, and he sighs loudly when he sees Jongin sitting cross legged right on top of his bag. "Can you not--"

"I'm hungry," Jongin mumbles, scratching the back of his ear. The briefcase smells like strong plastic and he sort of hates it, but it also smells like Sehun, so he decides not to move. "When are we gonna eat?" He looks up just as Sehun finishes clicking his belt into place. He eyes Sehun's suit for a second. "Handsome," he giggles whilst running a hand through his hair. "Seriously, I wanna eat--"

"I gotta get to work, sorry," Sehun says, Jongin flopping down on the mattress when he reaches across and grabs his briefcase. "You can feed yourself, right?" He runs a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. It doesn't work. "You know where I keep the food, right? Just don't make a mess," he adds, walking towards the door and picking up Jongin's sneakers in the process, the latter hopping off the bed and following eagerly. "Wait, what did you sa--"

"I wanna come!" Jongin exclaims, wagging his tail as they make their way down the stairs, with him being ten steps ahead of Sehun as always. He's never been invited to any of his old family member's workplace before and the idea makes him absolutely ecstatic. However, his face (and ears) soon falls when Sehun shakes his head. "Why not--?"

Sehun adjusts his tie before shrugging. "I have a really important meeting today, I think you'll be fine on your own for a few hours," he says apologetically. Something tugs at his heart when Jongin sends him a crestfallen look, and there's something about the way his ears and tail both sink in sadness that makes Sehun swallow. "Look, I--" He racks his brain for something to say. "I'll turn on the TV for you, okay?" He pats Jongin's head when the latter's eyes light up and before Sehun knows it, Jongin has sped off and is sitting cross legged on the couch less than five seconds later.

Kneading one of the couch cushions, Jongin watches as Sehun hastily grabs the remote and proceeds to turn on the television. Jongin remembers being a vivid fan of an animal program he doesn't recall the name of, but he finds himself bouncing up and down when Sehun skips to a National Geographic episode. It seems to be some sort of underwater documentary and Jongin feels his mouth water when hoards of colorful fish show up on the screen. Sehun can tell that the episode is ending soon, and he sort of worries Jongin might scurry about when it's over, but one look at Jongin's perplexed expression is enough for Sehun to put the remote down and pat Jongin's head.

"I'll be back soon, okay? Don't hurt yourself," Sehun says only half jokingly before turning on his heel and walking out of the living room. He enters the kitchen and is about to grab his car keys when he notices something in his peripheral, and to say that he nearly cries in frustration when he sees the fridge door standing open and the milk carton, now empty, lying on the floor. Some of it has soaked into the carpet completely at this point, and Sehun is overly thankful that nothing inside the fridge seems to be ruined as he hurriedly shuts the door and picks the carton up off the floor. He's about to toss the carton away and scold Jongin when a loud hiss, followed by a crashing noise, makes him jump.

Sehun practically flies into the living room, and his eyes immediately land on Jongin, who is doing a not so good job at hiding behind the couch, as well as the television lying face down on the carpet. Sehun has to stifle a noise of irritatation as he walks over and carefully picks it up. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be broken and seems to be functioning properly (for once, Sehun is glad he decided to keep the carpet by the coffee table), and it's not until Sehun places it back on the stand that he sees a documentary about squirrels playing on the screen. Oh. Of course.

"I'm already late for work," Sehun sighs, dusting the corners of the television off before turning to face Jongin, who seems to have soundlessly moved from behind the couch to the spot right next to him. So to say that Sehun may or may not have jumped five feet clear in the air when he finds Jongin's face two inches from his own subsequently would be a vast understatement. "Christ, what the hell are you doing--"

"Can we eat soon?" Jongin whines, rubbing his head against Sehun's neck, once again tickling Sehun's neck with the tip of his ears. "Pleasepleaseplease--" He rushes back to the couch and proceeds to knead yet another pillow when Sehun bats him away. Sighing, his eyes roam around the room and soon land on a half eaten bar of chocolate on the coffee table. Ears perking up at the bright and colorful wrapper, he grabs it, only for Sehun to fly over and practically chop his hand right off when he's about to bite down on it. 

"Don't," Sehun breathes, worry coating his voice as he grabs the bar from Jongin's hand and shoves it in his back pocket. When Jongin tries swiping it, he swats his arm away. "Are you-- That stuff will kill you, Jesus, have some common sense--" He runs a hand through his hair in exasperation before rubbing his face. "Okay. Look, I think it's best if you...if I...uh, if I...take you with me," he says after a minute's worth of contemplation. He figures he's better off letting Jongin sleep on the couch in his office than staying in the house. The house probably won't be standing for much longer in that case, Sehun figures with a sigh whilst checking his watch. He's fifteen minutes late. Great.

Jongin continues to knead the pillow in his lap before he whips his head up. "I can come?" he squeals, apparently forgetting all about being hungry as he springs off the couch and nearly tackles Sehun in a hug. Ignoring the latter's cries of 'Don't wrinkle my tie!', he scampers off to the front door. He doesn't really know what a typical workplace looks like, but he figures if it looks anything like the ones he's seen in the movies his third foster family showed him 24/7, he's got a lot to look forward to. "Hurry, hurry, hurry--!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Sehun calls as he fixes his tie and his hair. He watches and hears Jongin unlock the front door, only to squawk when he realizes Jongin hasn't even put his shoes or jacket on. "Hang on, wait, get back here, you can't go outside looking like that--" He sighs when Jongin simply proceeds to chase a butterfly by the front step, so Sehun quickly toes his shoes on before picking up Jongin's sneakers and grabbing the latter's jacket. Something jingles in one of the pockets and Sehun blinks when he pulls out a purple collar with 'K. JONGIN' written on the metal tag. He stares at it for a minute before putting it back and heading out the door. "Here, quick, put these on." He waits until Jongin sits on the ground and begins to half-assedly puts his shoes on. "I'm gonna get my car, can you wait here for just a minute?"

Tying his laces, the way his recent foster mother taught him, Jongin finds himself nodding away even though he's too busy listening for the sounds of the mosquito he just attempted and failed to catch. He doesn't hear anything, though, and he pouts before he finally manages to tie both his sneakers. The hard concrete is seriously making his back and tail go numb with pain and it's not until Jongin stands up that he realizes that Sehun is nowhere in sight. Jongin immediately attempts to pick up Sehun's scent, but all he picks up is the smell of burnt rubber, wet leaves and, to his horror, dogs. Jongin stands in the empty alley, ears twitching desperately. Suddenly, three of the neighbor's dogs, which seem to have picked up Jongin's scent, start barking frantically, and Jongin automatically hisses before rushing off.

As he pulls up to the driveway, Sehun exits his car and rounds the corner to the house. He immediately notices the lack of Jongin's presence from where it was less than two minutes ago, and Sehun sighs before scratching the back of his head. For the sake of his boss hopefully not yelling at him later, Sehun seriously hopes Jongin isn't choosing to play hide and seek with him (perhaps it would've been a fun idea in another situation, where he's not at risk of arriving forty minutes late to a meeting). Even so, he calls Jongin's name and gets no response. Car keys in hand, it suddenly hits Sehun that perhaps Jongin grew bored of him and ran away, and, ignoring the feeling in his gut, Sehun is about to walk back to his car when he spots a black tail peeking out from behind one of the trash cans in the neighbor's lawn. Sehun is seconds away from calling Jongin's name when, all of a sudden, said neighbor emerges from his house and Sehun can only watch as he proceeds to chase Jongin off the property with a newspaper in hand. Sehun vaguely hears him yell something along the lines of 'not wanting filthy rodents on his property' before Jongin rushes towards him.

Jongin's eyes immediately light up, his tail and ears perking up when he sees Sehun standing by the fence a few feet away. Jongin nearly tackles Sehun to the ground as he embraces the taller. The neighbor is still yelling obscenities his way but Jongin promptly ignores him before proceeding to knead Sehun's chest as he purrs low in his throat. Sehun gently swats his hands away, though, in fear of his clothes becoming wrinkled. "Don't leave me," he whines, poking Sehun's cheek with his thumb.

"I asked if you wanted to wait and you said yes," Sehun sighs, checking his watch. He's definitely going to be running an hour late, and he honestly doesn't know what to say to his boss. One of the neighbor's dogs howls and he finds himself patting the small of Jongin's back when the latter cowers at the noise. "They're friendly, don't worry, I've met them before," he adds for reassurance, but he doesn't even try to mask the stress in his voice when he checks his watch again. "Okay, in the car, now." He unlocks the car, forgetting it was already unlocked when he left it a minute ago.

Jongin skips towards the car. Cars have always reminded him of giant, shiny bugs on wheels, and Sehun has to pull him away by the arm when he spends perhaps a little too long staring at his reflection in the newly polished black paint. "What does your work look like?" he asks, climbing into the passenger seat and batting the air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. Sehun thinks he looks absolutely adorable.

"Uh...it's your typical office, I guess," Sehun replies, jamming the key in the ignition and backing onto the road. He soon steps on the brake when he looks over at Jongin, who is staring intently at a bee sitting on the window. Locking the doors for good measure, he gestures at Jongin. "Put your seatbelt on," he chuckles and pats Jongin's head. "I don't want you flying through the windshield," he adds and decides to keep his comment about cats having nine lives to himself.

Jongin grabs the belt and tugs on it before fastening it with a click. Putting on his seatbelt and remaining safe was one of the first things he was taught as a kitten, but even so, it's easy to forget when it's been over nineteen years since you last rode in a car (as a result of ''accidentally'' throwing the door open whilst cruising down the highway whilst attempting to catch a bee, but Jongin would much rather keep that part to himself). "I've never sat in the front before," he hums absentmindedly as he presses a random button before Sehun can react. A rather awful pop song blares through the speakers and he hisses at the noise. 

"You haven't?" Sehun asks as he speeds down the road, making sure to watch Jongin in the corner of his eye every now and then. He just hopes Jongin doesn't end up triggering the emergency lights, so he makes sure not to point it out. On the other hand, he's not exactly surprised that Jongin's previous family might not have allowed him to sit up front, and his point is soon proven when Jongin tugs on the air freshener a little too harshly, which results in it snapping off its string. "Be careful--"

"This is cute," Jongin hums, eyeing the squishy object in his hands. It's shaped like an avocado and smells just like it too, and Sehun doesn't even protest when Jongin places his feet on the seat before proceeding to knead it in his hands. "You look handsome," he says casually, stars in his eyes as he looks at Sehun's profile and continues to knead the avocado scented object in his lap. 

Sehun finds himself gripping the wheel tighter as he narrowly avoids a pothole. He mumbles a low 'Thanks' as he stops at a red light, stretching out his long limbs as he watches Jongin kneading the air freshener beyond recognition. The words 'Same to you' sit on top of his tongue but quickly dissolve for reasons he can't explain, and he clears his throat. "Do you...ever wear your collar?" he asks, accelerating when the light turns green.

"Sometimes, but it tickles so much that I usually just leave it somewhere," Jongin hums. He can still smell Sehun's after shave and he figures it's still on Sehun's hands. "You still smell," he giggles, twitching his ears in contentment as he hums to himself. 

Sehun blinks. "Yeah, thanks for that," he sighs, making a mental note to discard the trash bag in his closet later when he gets home. "By the way, there's a couch in my office, so I thought you could rest on it while I do my stuff," he says absentmindedly as he pulls into the parking lot. He briefly prays for the safety of his beloved sofa before turning the key and unfastening his seatbelt. He exits the car and practically has to drag Jongin out of the car, only to apologize profusely when he accidentally closes the car door on Jongin's tail as the latter gets out. He's thankful Jongin doesn't scratch his eyes out, though, and he gestures towards the office building subsequently.

Doing his best to conceal his (hopefully not broken) tail underneath his jacket, Jongin ruffles his hair in his usual attempt at concealing his ears (it usually never works, but it's become a habit at this point). He shoves his hands in his pockets, making sure to stay close to Sehun when a ton of new scents hit his nose as soon as they approach the building. Whilst his heart is racing with excitement, it's mostly also doing so in nervousness, and Jongin attempts to hide behind Sehun when the latter scans his ID card. A few people exit the building wearing similar name tags as Sehun and Jongin instinctively cower when they send him unreadable looks. 

Jongin's nervousness soon disappears, however, as soon as he skips in the door, and a blast of heat accompanied by hundreds of new scents hits him right in the face. He picks up everything from the cleaning spray on the wooden tables to the shampoo in the security guard's hair as he and Sehun wordlessly make their way up a huge staircase. Even so, Jongin still finds himself gripping Sehun's sleeve whenever somebody walks past. 

They soon stop outside a large chestnut colored door and Jongin immediately feels his ears perk up when the door swings open and he's met with the sight of Sehun's office. It's quite a large room, as Jongin soon notices after skipping inside, with a bookshelf, a table with a fruit bowl on top, desk, a large pair of windows and, surely enough, a bright red couch sitting next to the table. Jongin notices the papers strewn all over the desk, and it instantly reminds him of Sehun's desk back at the latter's house. Before Sehun can stop him, Jongin happily trots over to the desk before proceeding to perch himself on the chair. It's soft, but not as soft as Sehun's chair back at home, and Jongin turns to face the window when a bird flies by. However, he doesn't even get a chance to react when Sehun walks over and gestures at him to get down.

"I missed my meeting thanks to you, so I gotta get straight to work," Sehun sighs, rummaging through his briefcase before pulling out a portfolio and placing it on the desk. As Jongin skips off, he sits down in his chair and proceeds to check over his papers, until a sudden cold breeze enters the room and causes a handful of papers to blow off the desk. "What the--" He spins around in his chair, only to squawk and scramble towards the window before grabbing the back of Jongin's shirt as the latter is literally bent over with half his body hanging out the window, as he stares at a flock of pigeons sitting on the roof. "Jesus, what the are you doing," he breathes, locking the window and running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I thought I told you to stay on the couch--"

Jongin fixes his hair, seemingly unfazed by almost falling out of the window, as his eyes roam around the room. He's sort of surprised, in a sense, because he's come dangerously close to falling out of windows and off of roofs before in his life, and come to think of it, none of his previous foster families even bothered scolding him for it. Either way, he skips over to Sehun's desk and inspects the latter's papers. "What'cha doin'?" he sing-songs, picking up a pen.

Sehun quickly moves the paper in his hands away before Jongin has a chance to ruin it with ink. "The same old," he chuckles and hands Jongin a handful of papers and a pencil. "Go draw something nice for an hour and we'll have something to eat, okay?" He sends Jongin a smile, the latter nodding before accepting the pencil. Seconds later, the door opens and Jongin nearly shoves Sehun's chair aside whilst scrambling to hide underneath the desk. "What the-"

"Boss asked me to hand these to you," Chanyeol mumbles, a pile of papers in his hand as he enters Sehun's room. "Man, it smells like wet dog in here," he laughs, although he soon halts in his step when he notices a black, fuzzy tail peeking out from beneath the desk next to Sehun's shoe. "Man. Dude. What the is--" He squats slightly and nearly drops the papers in surprise when Jongin pokes his head out. "What the bloody hell--"

Sehun only shrugs. "Don't ask," he laughs, scooching aside to give Jongin space to crawl out. Chanyeol wordlessly hands him the papers and he places them on his desk. "You've already met, but you should probably introduce yourselves," he chuckles.

"You nearly drowned me," Jongin says, pointing to Chanyeol with his tail. Chanyeol only stares at it like it's a creature from outer space. 

Chanyeol huffs before scratching the back of his ear. "Wouldn't exactly say drowned," he mumbles. "But yeah, I-- Sorry about...that." He rolls his eyes at Sehun. "Anyway, yeah, hi, I'm Chanyeol, nice to meet you, how's it going," he says all in one breath, not even bothering to shake Jongin's hand as he walks past the latter and pats Sehun's shoulder. "After all these years of saying you never wanted to be a pet owner," he laughs.

Sehun swats Chanyeol's hand away. He doesn't know how he feels about the word 'pet', but he shoves the thought away. "Yeah, whatever, shut up," he mutters, adjusting his tie. After turning on his computer, he stretches his legs. "It's been pretty...nice so far." 

"Sure," Chanyeol snickers before shaking his head in disbelief. "Y'know what they say," he sing-songs. "It's a good thing he's a cute little fellow, I guess." He blinks before turning around. "Or...was?"

Sehun raises an eyebrow and looks behind Chanyeol, only to realize that Jongin is nowhere in sight. He immediately eyes the wide open door and sighs heavily. The thought of Jongin entering every one of his coworker's rooms and bothering them pops into his head and he sighs again. "Be right back," he says lowly before getting out of his chair and jogging towards the door.

---

Skipping down the hallway as soundlessly as ever, Jongin cranes his neck as he eyes the patterns carved into the ceiling. He can't stop thinking about how good Sehun looked in his suit earlier; it's a much more favored look than the sweatpants he wore last night, and Jongin figures he might find Sehun a present for letting him finish the rest of the milk. Jongin walks with a curious bounce in his step, although he's highly cautious as he approaches a door marked 'BREAK ROOM'. Jongin can already make out the scent of coffee, so he pushes the door open without a second thought.

Only for his tail to puff up and ears to fold back.

A group of people sit and converse around a large table in the middle of the room, although they soon stop talking and glance at him when the door opens. Jongin desperately wishes he had Sehun to hide behind as he stands in the doorway, a million different scents hitting him all at once as he swallows. However, all is soon forgotten when Jongin spots a fridge a few feet away, and he happily skips towards it before opening it and rummaging through it. The smell of sour fish tingles his senses and he gags loudly before locating a carton of milk at the back. It's got a label marked 'BBH' on it and Jongin wastes no time in stabbing the plastic straw through the opening and taking a sip with the fridge door still hanging open. It's not as tasty as Sehun's milk but it'll do, and Jongin is about to walk out the door and back to Sehun's office when a young man with bright red hair stands up.

"Uh, excuse me, but that's mine," the man, whose nametag reads B. Baekhyun, says as he walks up to Jongin, who cowers slightly. He sends Jongin an unreadable look and Jongin finds himself pressing his tail flat against his back when the man; Baekhyun, doesn't stop staring.

Jongin briefly stops sipping and looks at the milk carton in his hands. "S-Sorry," he says quietly, awkwardly attempting to hand it back to Baekhyun, who shakes his head with a grimace. He hopes his hair is doing a good job at covering up his ears, which are pretty much folded flat against his head. 

"It's...fine, I guess," Baekhyun responds, scratching his head as he continues to stare Jongin down. "...Who are you, anyways?" he asks, blinking as he seemingly scans Jongin for a nametag, only to find nothing. 

"You don't look like you belong here," another man says from his position at the table, and Jongin thinks his smile is so feline looking he might as well have a pair of ears and a tail. 

Jongin presses his lips together before taking another sip. He doesn't remember exactly what his foster mothers told him about talking to strangers, but he does remember her telling him to remain silent and not give them any personal information. So he does just that, and they all soon fall into an awkward silence, which is occasionally interrupted by Jongin loudly slurping his milk. After a minute or so, the stares become a little too much and Jongin is about to slip out the door when a figure appears by the threshold. Jongin squees Sehun's name in glee and immediately rushes over, nearly tackling Sehun to the floor and nearly spilling milk all over him in the process.

Sehun blinks before he sighs, mainly in relief. At least he's not messing around with the elevator, he thinks before patting Jongin's head. "Don't just run off like that," he chuckles, and goes silent when he sees the carton in Jongin's hands. "Did you--"

"It's fine, it's okay," Baekhyun laughs, eyes softening when he sees Jongin nuzzling his face in Sehun's neck in joy. He walks over to the fridge and closes the door before the food gets spoiled. He walks back to the table and sits down before resuming his conversation with the cat-looking man.

Sehun mumbles a low apology, watching Jongin shamelessly slurp from the straw before running a hand through his hair. "Let's go," he whispers, quietly shutting the door before ushering Jongin down the empty hallway. "You can't just steal other people's food like that, you know," he huffs, especially since he's had his own fair share of getting his lunch stolen at work from time to time. Jongin's loud slurping echoes in the hallway and he tries shushing him to no avail.

"Baekhyun said it was okay," Jongin says, poking at the straw.

"Yeah, but--" Sehun shuts his mouth when they return to his office and he immediately points to the couch. "Sit." He chuckles before walking back to his desk and typing away at his computer. He hears Jongin spreading himself out on the couch and seriously hopes the latter remembered to take his shoes off. After a quick glance, he realizes that he hasn't, inevitably. 

Bringing Jongin to work was not a good idea. Whether it be Jongin sitting on the edge of his desk, constantly asking what he's doing, stealing and picking apart erasers until he's got none left, attempting to unlock the window every five minutes, opening and forgetting to close drawers, running around the room trying to catch bugs, attempting to sneak out into the hallway and explore, or simply curling up at Sehun's feet, Sehun quickly finds himself unable to do any work for longer than ten minutes and he gives up after Jongin wraps his arms around his neck before proceeding to nuzzle his face in Sehun's neck (although Sehun figures it's a million times better than leaving Jongin at home). Sehun hears Jongin mutter something about being bored whilst the latter plays with his tie, and it's not until Jongin starts humming to himself that Sehun sighs before turning off the computer.

"Can I go talk to Baekhyun?" Jongin asks, sitting cross legged on the floor as he kneads the squishy avocado. He's humming an unknown tune and Sehun fights the urge to walk over and scratch him behind the ear. 

Sehun collects his papers, quickly shoving them into his briefcase before slinging it over his shoulder. "Why?" he asks absentmindedly as he gestures at Jongin to get up, which the latter does. They make their way to the door and he makes sure to turn off the light before ushering Jongin into the hallway. He makes sure to keep an eye on Jongin as he locks the door, which is awfully difficult to do whilst looking over your shoulder. 

Jongin stuffs the broken air freshener, which is making the entire hallway smell like avocados, in his pocket. "He was nice," he simply says before his eyes light up. "What're we gonna do now?" he asks, pulling on Sehun's sleeve repeatedly. 

Sehun runs a hand through his hair. He remembers hearing something about 99% of cat hybrids being given up by their families after less than a week, and he's beginning to understand why. But the thought quickly disappears when he sees the look of excitement on Jongin's face. "I was thinking we could--" He looks back and immediately stops walking when he realizes that Jongin has disappeared again. He soon spots Baekhyun's office door standing ajar and Sehun doesn't even hesitate before walking towards it.

---

"Can I touch your hair?" Jongin asks, eyes glittering as he swipes at Baekhyun's locks. "Please--" When Baekhyun shakes his head for the nth time, he pouts and resumes chewing on the piece of candy the latter gave him. It tastes like processed strawberry and he doesn't know if he loves it or hates it. As he sits on the edge of Baekhyun's desk, he swings his legs back and forth as he grabs the candy jar and places it in his lap. Baekhyun's office is smaller than Sehun's and doesn't have a couch, and Jongin knows for a fact that he prefers Sehun's office more.

Baekhyun types at his computer, not even bothering to scold Jongin a third time when the latter proceeds to help himself to the candy. "Don't stuff your face," he hums, quickly grabbing an eraser off the desk before Jongin has a chance to swipe it. "Does Sehun even know you're here? I don't want him to kill me," he laughs, only to blink when he sees the silhouette of a person by the door. "Guess not--"

Jongin immediately springs off the desk, Baekhyun barely managing to catch the jar as it falls from his lap, and he embraces Sehun in yet another bone crushing hug. Before Sehun has a chance to react, Jongin skips back to Baekhyun's desk and sits on the edge, humming to himself as he resumes stuffing his face with sugary candies, all whilst Baekhyun and Sehun exchange blank looks. A noise of protest leaves Jongin's lips when Sehun flies over and promptly takes the jar from him.

"Relax, they can handle 'em," Baekhyun chuckles, watching as Jongin hisses and attempts to grab the jar back with no success. "It's about training 'em, not just caring for 'em, y'know," he hums as his fingers scurry across the keyboard. Leaning back in his chair, he places his hands behind his head when Jongin slumps in defeat and swipes his mouse mat before proceeding to knead it. "He's actually a lot more tame than the one Jongdae had last year."

Sehun blinks. He suddenly remembers that Jongdae did, in fact, own a cat hybrid of his own that he can't recall the name of. All he remembers is Jongdae coming to work one day and telling everybody how he got rid of it due to his busy schedule, but even Sehun figured that Jongdae's hatred for having his furniture ruined and constantly arriving to work with scratch marks probably had a bit more to do with the equation. "I guess, yeah," he chuckles, patting Jongin's head, nearly screaming in adoration when Jongin nuzzles his face against his palm. He hands Baekhyun's place mat back to the latter whilst mouthing an apology.

"I mean really, could you imagine Jongdae bringing it to work? You're lucky the building is still standing," Baekhyun laughs, looking up just in time to see Jongin fiddling with Sehun's tie. "He just isn't a pet person, don't worry about it, you'll definitely be a better pet owner than him, just saying." He shakes his head. "We know so much more about them, like, it's pretty well established already that aren't like regular frickin' human beings, yet people still have the nerve to blame 'em when things go south," he mumbles, clearly irritated, before Jongin attempts to tug on his hair again. "You see? Cut it out--!"

Placing a hand on Jongin's shoulder, Sehun mutters a low apology as he attempts to get Jongin to get off the desk. It doesn't work, obviously, and Sehun has to lure Jongin out of the room with a piece of candy after saying goodbye to Baekhyun. They end up in the hallway a minute later, with Jongin happily chewing away whilst clinging to Sehun like glue. Sehun momentarily wonders if cats can get cavities as he watches (and rather, hears) Jongin smacking his lips next to him, but he quickly shoves the thought away when they approach the main entrance. When he opens the doors, Sehun notices the heavy traffic outside and he finds himself gripping the back of Jongin's shirt.

They make their way down the street and pass a few stores on their way to the parking lot. Jongin eyes a particular costume on a mannequin; a cat costume with a brown tail and a headband with two big, fluffy ears of the same color. He's never really thought about it before, but he wonders what it must be like to be able to remove your ears and tail whenever you feel like it. Not that Jongin wants to, though, since getting his ear tugged two days ago was enough for him, but still. He presses his face against the glass, fascination coursing through every vein in his body as he eyes the colorful, mostly weird looking, costumes before him. Jongin is suddenly reminded of how often he gets accused of 'Being addicted to Halloween', despite never having celebrated it once (courtesy of all his previous families refusing to buy him a costume, seeing as he already looked dressed up enough, according to them). Suddenly, Sehun places a hand on his shoulder and he flinches.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Sehun chuckles, an animatronic jack-in-the-box popping out and scaring them both half to death subsequently. "It must've been easy for you on Halloween, right? I always struggled with decision anxiety whenever I had to dress up when I was little," he adds and rubs the back of his neck. He watches Jongin's tail as it sways back and forth in fascination. It's nearly hypnotizing, in a sense.

Jongin pouts. His bangs fall in his face as he looks away from the glass and at Sehun. "I was never allowed to dress up," he says, looking back at the animatronic crows sitting on a branch above. "I mean, I was, but they always said I was basically a walking costume, anyway, so I shouldn't." A child enters the shop and stares at him with stars in his eyes and he meekly smiles back. "A lot of children actually came up to me and asked me where they could buy it since it looked so realistic," he adds with a loud laugh. The jack-in-the-box springs up again and he jumps with a squeal.

Sehun blinks. Has he said this much since we met??? he thinks before clearing his throat. "Man, that sounds harsh," he says sincerely, frowning slightly. He doesn't want to know how much of a scene he would cause when he was younger and denied a costume. "Dressing up on Halloween was basically tradition when I was younger," he adds. "I mean, only if you like it, that is-- Y'know, harsh--"

"I love Halloween!" Jongin exclaims, his change in tone making Sehun blink. His eyes glitter as he turns to face the costumes again. "My very first family had this really nice daughter who was like nine, and she came home from trick or treating and gave me some of her candy," he recalls, shivering when he remembers how sick he'd felt that night. "But I've never dressed up or actually celebrated it." His ears turn to face the glass when one of the animatronic crows flaps its wings and Sehun lowkey hopes he doesn't burst through the glass and try to eat it.

Sehun nods in understanding. He seriously doesn't understand how anybody could deny a young person the opportunity to have fun on Halloween, but he keeps the thought to himself as he moves a little closer to Jongin. The latter is practically leaning with his entire body weight on the glass and again, Sehun hopes it doesn't shatter and send him falling face first into the miniature train tracks down below. A thought suddenly hits him and he briefly contemplates it, although it spills out of his mouth before he can stop himself. "Maybe we can celebrate it? Like, in a couple of weeks?"

Jongin's ears immediately perk up and he looks at Sehun. "Really?" His expression resembles that of a child being handed a lollipop and Sehun fights the urge to pinch his cheeks. A loud squee leaves his lips as he nearly crushes Sehun to death in a hug, and he's grabbing the latter's wrist before he can react. "Come on, hurry!" He drags Sehun towards the door and nearly bumps into a little girl in the process, squealing something along the lines of 'I think I wanna be a bunny or an angel' as he quite literally shoves Sehun inside the store.

Once they step inside, Jongin's ears go erect when a hundred scents hit him all at once, including that of plastic, strange smelling rubber and overall excitement, and Sehun has to grab the hem of his jacket to prevent him from scampering off (probably never to be seen again, at least not in a long while). Little children scurry about everywhere and Jongin remembers his first foster mother's advice; to keep his tail as close to his legs as possible as to not trip anybody (or even worse, to have it stepped on, which has happened a dozen times and sent him to the ER). Cackling animatronics fly in circles in the ceiling and Jongin turns to look at Sehun, who ducks to avoid getting hit in the head with a witch on a drone.

"What are you gonna get?" Jongin asks, bouncing up and down as he pokes Sehun's face. The latter carefully bats his hands away. "You're pretty handsome, so maybe you should be a king," he adds before ruffling Sehun's blond hair. "You'd look good with a crown, I think! You should ask if they have any!" He skips off to the costume aisle, with Sehun hot in his heels.

Picking out costumes, at least according to Sehun, turned out to be a much more time consuming task than he initially thought, and they end up scavenging through half the store's costumes in just under two hours. Sehun soon finds himself standing outside the fitting rooms, yelping when Jongin tosses a pile of clothing over the door and right in his face. Sehun's legs are starting to ache from running back and forth and grabbing new costumes for Jongin for an hour straight. He'd found his own costume, a king's crown and cape, fifteen minutes into the search, and Jongin apparently abandoned his initial costume idea halfway through. Sehun honestly thinks he's seen every possible look on a cat hybrid, save for a hula dancer, which Jongin promptly refused. Out of all the hundreds of costumes he's seen so far, Sehun thinks, but won't admit, that the regular tuxedo look made Jongin look his absolute best.

Jongin finally settles for a white bunny costume (Sehun seriously wonders how somebody can look good with a pair of rabbit ears on their head whilst simultaneously sporting a pair of cat ears), along with a separate set of vampire fangs. Getting out of the store ended up taking slightly longer, however, after an employee marched up to Jongin and accused the latter of theft. Inevitably, Jongin had no clue what she was talking about, which resulted in her attempting to yank the so called 'headband' off his head, to no avail. Sehun could only watch in awe as Jongin emitted a loud hiss of pain, and Sehun quickly ushered him away and outside before he could strike her square in the face.

Thankfully, the new costume seems to cheer Jongin up almost immediately, because the latter finds himself squeeing in excitement as they make their way towards Sehun's car. His ear still hurts like crazy, though, and Jongin rubs it whilst he climbs into the passenger seat and waits for Sehun to take a seat. "You'd make a handsome king!" he chuckles, poking Sehun's arm. "One of my foster sisters showed me a movie once, and I think princes are more handsome than kings, though, so maybe you should be a prince instead?" He his head to the side and it's the adorably innocent look in his eyes that makes Sehun miss the ignition with the key twice.

"Yeah, maybe," Sehun hums, nearly forgetting to ask Jongin to put his seatbelt on as he feels something warm coil in his gut. He checks his watch, only to blink when he sees that it's quarter past six. They've been in the store for three hours, much to his surprise, and his stomach growls loudly subsequently. "Perhaps we should pick something up to eat," he says, checking his phone for nearby take-out places. "What would you--"

"Pizza," Jongin exclaims, still rubbing his ear as it throbs painfully. A pizza commercial he watched as a kitten pops into his head, although the closest he's ever gotten to eating pizza was asking for it two years ago, only for his family back then to say no. He sort of lowkey expects Sehun to say no, as well, which is why his ears perk up in surprise when the latter says okay. "Really--?" He leans across and fiddles with Sehun's tie whilst the latter gets on the phone, listening to the muffled sounds of whom he assumes is the pizza man as he inhales the after shave still on Sehun's hands. 

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