It was a beautiful day for a ride, sunny but not too hot, the smell of fresh green growing things on the breeze that rushed by Minho’s nose as he left the city behind. He could also feel himself getting lighter in body and mind as his stress eased. Oh, he still had his concerns. It wasn’t that he thought his ex or the media would be able to find him in the forest near the tiny village the locals apparently called Hideaway. He just wasn’t used to not being busy all the time, but he knew he hadn’t been doing himself any favors by overworking. He wanted and needed a slower pace. He just hoped actually relaxing wouldn’t drive him bananas. He’d also miss Taemin, who had always been there for him. Maybe some time apart would do their friendship some good and the younger man would quit with the one-night stands, though they never happened when he was around he’d noticed. He just heard all the stories about Taemin’s apparent quest to sleep with as much of the female population of the country as he could. Even being chased out by more than a few angry boyfriends or husbands he hadn’t known about never calmed him down for long.

  Minho was guesstimating he had about twenty minutes to half an hour left before he reached Hideaway when two things happened. As he to the faded, cracked asphalt of the bumpy two-lane highway that would take him to his new home the feel of the weather seemed to shift, though he’d have been hard-pressed to try and explain how it had shifted since it was still sunny and the breeze still smelled delightful, if not stronger since it was now after noon and he was “nowhere near civilization” as Taemin called it. That was one thing. The other was, he suddenly had to pee so badly he was afraid his bladder would explode. Conveniently, he spotted a small, faded sign that said a roadside park was coming up soon. He hoped it had a bathroom no matter how disgusting, since even though there was absolutely nobody on the road he didn’t fancy relieving himself out in the open. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of it or anything. He just didn’t want to risk [the extremely unlikely scenario of] a cop driving by and arresting him for public urination. 2min often worked with kids, and if he ever went back to work he couldn’t risk being put on the offender registry for something so stupid.

  The park, which was tiny with only a few weathered, splintery picnic tables and what Minho was guessing a dog run did indeed have a tiny building with a sign on it that needed a new coat of paint. He could however make out the symbol for a uni bathroom, and he gratefully pulled into one of the handful of parking places before practically falling off his motorcycle and bolting as well as his now thoroughly stiffened knee would let him toward the cinderblock structure.

  Of course it would be out of order Minho thought, greeted by a rusting chain and another sign that was almost as faded as the bathroom sign itself. It’s probably been out of order since the place was built and it’s been forgotten about ever since. After all, who on earth ever comes out here? Well, there was no help for it. If he didn’t pee soon, he’d at the very least wet his pants. At least there was tall grass beyond the dog run so hopefully he’d be hidden enough in case a miracle happened and someone did come by.

  Minho had just finished his business and was zipping back up when he heard a weird sound, almost like wings that had been stuck in syrup flapping. He didn’t think anything of it and started heading back toward his motorcycle when he heard something else he did recognize, a faint whimper. He began to search, hoping it wasn’t some type of creature with rabies. It took him a few minutes, but he finally found the source of the sounds, what looked like an underfed cat with a small wad of feathers between its paws. Both were so covered in blood he had no idea what species either of them were, let alone color or anything else. If he couldn’t see the bigger one panting and see the little one try and flap its wings again he’d have assumed they were dead. As it was, he couldn’t just leave them looking like used pit bull bait, so he took off the loose shirt he’d been wearing over his tank top and cautiously approached, wondering whether they would bolt or he was about to get bit.

  But, neither happened. As soon as Minho was spotted/sensed, the cat? thing gently scooped up the what the human assumed was some type of bird in its mouth, and with a great effort stood up and actually limped toward him with a whine, as though asking for help for it and its friend. He thought it odd the bigger one seemed to be looking after the smaller instead of eating it, but he just squatted down and held the shirt out for it to sniff.

  “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I do need to pick you both up though and I don’t know how I’m going to transport you, but you need help. Will you let me?” Minho coaxed, but he needed have bothered. The bigger creature limped right into the shirt, as though it knew it was meant to be wrapped in it.

  “You’re a smart one, aren’t you? Okay, well I’ll call you Puppy until I know otherwise. You looked like a cat at first, but now you look more like a dog. I’m going to pick you and your friend up now, okay?”