Key couldn't sleep that night. There was some weird energy around the ZOO. Well, many people would say that there's always weird energy when the gates are closed and the night falls upon the groungds.

And they were right. Even Kibum felt it but he didn't mind it. It didn't bother him.

Today, however, it felt stronger and the boy couldn't close his eyes. It was like something was luring him out. As if a voice was whispering into his ear, urging him to go out and check on the animals.

And so, with a sigh, he stood up from his bed and headed out.

He slowly walked through the path he always did but this was the first time that he felt uncertain. It was weirdly quiet. Don't get him wrong – the ZOO was always quiet. But you could always hear some sounds. An owl on the branch of the tree, the crickets' sounds which sounded like a music, or even some noises coming from nocturnal animals.

But not today. There was no sound. As if the animals around knew that a new king among the carnivores has arrived. Were they afraid? Or was it simply a respect?

Shivering over the thought the boy hugged his arms and walked toward the cage where his best friend was.

Or at least should have been.

As much and as long as Kibum looked around the cage he couldn't spot his favorite animal.

“Where IS this guy?” he mumbled and for a moment he thought of going inside to search for him but decided not to interrupt him if he was asleep.

Sighing slightly he shook his head and walked back to his apartment.

Maybe If he really did go into the cage he would notice that it wasn't locked as it should have been and that no animal was inside.

The sleep didn't come to him even after his walk and when Kibum came to work in the morning, he looked terrible.

“Man, you look like .” Jay said instead of the greeting and Kibum glared at him in return.

“You don't say. And here I was, thinking that I'm in the best shape.”

“Were you out having fun? You're in that very rare mood of yours.” Jay said and it sounded like teasing which Kibum really didn't appreciate.

“I wish. But regardless, it's none of your business so just let me do my work.” the boy said and headed toward his clinic.

“Aww, Key. Come on, you know I'm just teasing you. You've been in a bad mood ever since yesterday and we just wanna cheer you up.”

“Yeah? By throwing in my face how terrible I look?” Kibum snorted but it lacked the malicious tone because he knew that the man was right.

His colleagues were not at fault that he felt so tense ever since they brought the new wolf.

“Well, look at it from the bright side.” Jay said and when Kibum glared at him again he grinned. “This is actually the first time you look worse than perfect.” And then he winked and left while chuckling.

Kibum rolled his eyes but he couldn't deny that it made him smile. When he looked at the time he saw that he had around 2 hours before the gates to the ZOO would open.

“Time for usual check up and feeding, I guess.” he sid to himself and took the cart where he put all of the tools he would need for a check up.

In the morning, Kibum was only responsible for checking up on all the more dangerous animals. The ZOO had only him for checking wilder animals because as they said, those animals liked Key and he could always check their condition much faster than other employee. It was weird but it was also true. Key has been with those animals for much much longer than any of the ZOO employees, after all. The other 'doctors' were in charge of small and less dangerous animals like monkeys, turtles, camels, peacocks or pandas. His other co-workers were feeding all the animals. It was only in the evening after the closing hours that he got to help with feeding the animals.

His morning went fine, as usually. He checked on the animals, talked to them and then stopped for a moment to talk more with his friend. The lynx.

“Hey, buddy.” he grinned as he entered the cage.

He was welcomed by the animal who jumped on him, sending him to the ground with low 'unf'. “You are heavier and heavier each day! Wow, I feel like a mother who watches her kid growing up.” Kibum chuckled and petted the lynx. “You know, I was here at night..” he started while he slowly checked up on all the animal's limbs.

His sentence, however, seemed to surprise the carnivore because he suddenly looked up at Kibum with his special golden tinted eyes. “What? Did that surprise you that much?” the boy chuckled but once he looked at the lynx's tail he could see that the animal was actually nervous.

“Heyy.. what's wrong? Does something hurt?” he asked worriedly but the animal only stared at him intently as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction.

But Kibum had no idea what could he want from him. “Something hurts?” he tried again and this time the lynx shook his head adorably, just like Kibum taught him to answer his question.

The boy sighed in relief. “Thank god. You had me worried for a moment.” he said and then slowly stood up. “I would love to stay with you but I have some other animals I have to check on so.. We'll see each other in the evening, okay? Be good and eat vegetables as well. There are many herbs around here.” he grinned because he knew that the animal hated eating green things.

“You know.. I thought about naming you..” Kibum said suddenly as he collected his tools. “But I can't get myself to do it because I have no idea if you would like it. But sometimes.. it feels so wrong not to call you by some name. You're my friend, after all.” the boy said and then smiled slightly. “I hope you're not sad for that.” he said and that left the cage with cart trailing behind him.

Fortunately, he didn't notice the expression the lynx was making. Because if he has he would be distracted whole day, just thinking about why would the animal look so guilty about something he had no power over. Or didn't he?

GROWWWWL

“Jesus, just feed it and go away from the cage!”

Kibum shivered when he heard the growl again. Just like the first time, it was a growl like no other and Kibum knew right a way which wolf it was. And he could almost feel a headache building up. What the hell is wrong again, he groaned internally before he headed toward the cage hurriedly. Yes, he was walking in hurry but that didn't mean that he was less nervous than he was yesterday.

Being with the wolf was hard. Being constantly watched by those green eyes made Key's hands tremble and his heart beat faster. He had no idea why though. He didn't feel any fear but he couldn't keep calm. But the weirdest was that despite these feelings, the boy wanted to be there with the wolf. Which was so wrong, wasn't it?

“Well, you're talking but this thing is so damn scary that I can't even throw the meat there!”

Kibum heard one of his co-workers speak and when he finally arrived to his destination he couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. “What even are you two doing?” he asked, genuinely confused.

Both men stood quite far away from the cage. One of them had meat in his hands but he couldn't throw a meat over the fence from such a distance. It was.. comical.

The men got startled and turned to look at Kibum. “Key! Thank god you're here. We were trying to feed this wolf but.. whenever I take a step closer to the cage it jumps on the fence and starts growling. I'm afraid it will break it if I go closer.” one of them said and it was obvious he was ashamed but his self preservance was more important.

“The fence is strong, you idiot. It wouldn't be able to break it.” the other man snorted but the first one only glared at him.

“Well, if you're such a hero why don't you go closer yourself?” he challenged him.

Well, that shut him up.

Kibum sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked at those men. He was seriously thinking about what to do. Seems like I have to do everything myself today, he thought to himself before he cleared his throat.

“Okay. Okay, I will do it.” he sighed and the men looked at him as if he was an angel.

Key took the bucket with the meat before he started walking closer to the cage. The wolf's interest was immediately picked and he looked at Kibum with the same intensity as the day before.

And just like the day before, Kibum could feel his hands tremble slightly. It wasn't obvious but he could feel it in his grip on the bucket. The wolf was close to the fence and once Kibum was just a few feet from him he tilted his head slightly.

The boy took a shaky breath before he smiled at the animal in front of him. “Heyy. Me again. You know, you should really stop growling at people. I mean, those before were hurting you so I understand but.. these just wanted to feed you.” he said softly, knowing well that the wolf would hear him anyway.

And he actually didn't want his co-workers to hear him. He didn't mind if they listened to him talking to any other animal but this just didn't feel right.

Putting down the bucket he took out one piece of meat and threw it over the fence. He didn't feel happy with this way of feeding. So degrading, he thought sadly. And obviously, the wolf felt the same because he made a sound akin sneezing and stepped backwards while looking at Kibum challengingly.

It was funny how he guessed what the wolf actually wanted. As if he understood him without words.

“You want me to come in?” he asked with tilted head and noticed how the wolf's eyes brightened up a bit. Literally. Their color became lighter than their usual deep green.

“I-.. “ Kibum bit his lip and then looked at the cart with his medical stuff. “Okay, I guess. I have to do your check-up anyway..” he mumbled before he turned around.