Jinki laid back on his cramped dorm bed, arms folded behind his head, the picture of ease and nonchalance.  Inside however, he was freaking the out.  His stupid RA was in his stupid room trying to bust him AGAIN.  Underclassman on a power trip, that’s all this tall was.  Under any other circumstances, Jinki wouldn’t have cared, but this frog-eyed bastard was after his babies.  This was personal, this was war.  

“I know you’re keeping a pet, Jinki.  There have been reports.  Just tell me the truth,” Minho pressed as his fumbled around with the dresser drawers, opening each one and rifling through them.  What did he think Jinki was going to do?  Lock a live animal inside his sock drawer?  

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jinki responded, eyes hard and his mouth set in a thin line.  

Minho sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, “I don’t have time for this.”

“Aren’t you taking this whole RA thing a little too seriously, freshie?” Jinki prodded.

“I’m not a freshman, stop calling me that!  I’m a sophomore,” Minho snapped, a fact Jinki was well aware of but he was kind of enjoying taking little jabs at the younger.  Especially when he was not even close to finding Jinki’s babies.  Jinki was well practiced in this charade so he knew how to hide them when it was time for a room check.  “And I’m trying to do my job.”

“Your job of stealing innocent, defenceless creatures away from their home and family?”  He quipped.

Minho sighed again, straightening up but Jinki could see the defeat in his eyes, “It’s not that I want to take your pet away, Jinki.  We just aren’t allowed to have animals in the dorm.  You know this.  We have to think about everyone, allergies, cleanliness issues…”

“If you’re worried about cleanliness might i suggest a visit to room 207?  I’m pretty sure Taemin hasn’t washed his clothes all semester,” Jinki suggested, suppressing a smile.

“Jinki,” Minho growled, his face tinged pink with frustration.

“What?”

“Stop changing the subject,” Minho snapped.  

“I’m not.  I maintain there are no animals on the premise and you are on a vindictive and misguided witch hunt.  I am starting to feel like i’m being targeted.  Is this some personal vendetta, Minho?  I know I pantsed you that one time in the lobby but using your authority to get back at me?  That’s low.  I should take this up with the Dean.” Jinki started to ramble, enjoying the deepening shade of red in Minho’s cheeks.  The younger boy was so easily riled up.  

“Go ahead and schedule a meeting with the Dean, Jinki.  I know you have an animal in here and I’m going to find it,” Minho promised, stalking out of the room with a huff.  

Jinki smiled as the door slammed, safe for another day.  He waited a few minutes, making sure Minho wasn’t planning on coming back before he got up and locked the door.  He immediately went to rearrange his aquarium, filled with various plants and shells.  For aesthetic purposes only, he assured Minho many times already.  When it was fixed to his satisfaction, he went and pulled out his pair of dress shoes, rarely worn so they probably didn’t smell, carefully pulling out his two babies, Phineas and Queen Nefertiti, his pet hermit crabs.  

“How are my little ones?” He cooed, carefully putting them back into their cage to get settled.  Hiding from the RA was always a bit stressful for them.  He made sure to fill their water and drop a bit of fruit in their bowl.  He would have to swipe some meat from the cafeteria for them.  The little ones were quite fond of shrimp.  

In no time the two of them were happily digging in their sand and gobbling up the bits of fruit he left for them, neither seeming too traumatized by the ongoing game of hide and seek.  He really wished they didn’t have to go through all this though.  He’d lived in the dorms with his darlings for two years now without any problems.  Hell, his last RA had grown attached to Phineas and came over to play with him all the time!  Now he had stupid Minho as his RA and life was hell.  

Queen Nefertiti had been acting a bit off the past few days, he was really worried she was going to molt soon.  He absolutely could not move or hide her during that time, it could kill her.  So he would just have to keep his fingers crossed that stupid Minho would keep his stupid nose out of it.  

~~

Jinki’s hunch had been correct.  Queen Nefertiti started molting a few days later, burying herself deep in the sand and staying there.  Molting usually lasted a few days so Jinki just had to be patient.    

If he was lucky, they would get through this before Minho came back.  

Luck was not on Jinki’s side.  

~~

“Minho go away!” Jinki yelled through his closed door.

“Jinki, I’ll call the residency director if you don’t open this door right now!” Minho responded, the triumph already ringing in his tone.  

“You’ll have to call the fire department to get through this door, .  I’m not opening it!” Jinki snapped through the emotions clogging his throat, but he simply sounded weak and defeated.

“Jinki what is going on?”  

“I can’t–” Jinki practically pleaded, his heart sinking as he heard a key enter the lock.  Tears pooled in his eyes as Minho pushed open the door, using the brunt of his weight to open it far enough to slip inside - Jinki still bracing against it with all his might.  As soon as Minho stepped inside, every ounce of fight left Jinki.  He had lost.  After three years, after countless room searches… he had finally lost.  

“Couldn’t hide em fast enough today, huh Lee?  I knew I would catch you eventually!” Minho boasted, striding over to the aquarium like a man on a mission.  

“Don’t,” Jinki said weakly, making Minho turn with a frown.

“Jinki, I know they are your pets but please don’t cry.  You knew from the beginning they couldn’t be here–” Minho started to explain but he looked uncertain and uncomfortable with such a display of emotions.  

“No she’s– she’s molting.  You can’t move her, she will die,” Jinki explained, looking up at Minho with sheer desperation.  

“That’s why you didn’t hide her this time?” Minho asked, his arms falling limply to his sides.   

“I couldn’t,” Jinki said again.  It was all over.  Three years he had kept his babies at college with him.  Three years he had cared for them.  Now it was all over, they were going to be taken away.  His back thudded softly against the door, sliding down until he was crouched on the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees with a pitiful sniffle.  As soon as the first tear escaped, the rest followed without his consent.  

“– Jinki, I’m sorry.  Please don’t cry,” Minho scrambling for a box of tissues.  He sat down beside Jinki, placing a hand on the elder’s shoulder in an awkward attempt at comfort.  The light in his eyes from ‘winning’ had dwindling and was replaced with genuine concern.

“Don’t take them, please,’ Jinki whimpered.  He knew he probably looked pathetic right now but they were his babies.  He couldn’t bear the thought of them being taken away.  They weren’t exactly a well-respected pet.  They would probably be thrown out without a single care.  The thought only made him cry harder.    

“I won’t,” Minho promised.

“Really?” Jinki mumbled, his wet eyes trained on Minho.  Minho, the vindictive RA who had been hounding him since the second week of class was just going to give up?  Just like that?  

Minho sighed, “Really.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Jinki exclaimed, throwing his arms around Minho’s neck.  “I promise, they aren’t any trouble, they aren’t messy or smelly and they don’t make any noise!  And no one is allergic to crustaceans, at least not live ones, so there is nothing to worry about!  They’ve lived with me at the dorms for three years now and I haven’t had any issues so no worries,” Jinki started to babble.

“Okay, okay,” Minho relented, a small, relieved smile pulling at his lips.  

“Thank you, Minho!” Jinki exclaimed once again before finally releasing Minho from the chokehold of a hug.

“It’s okay, maybe I was taking my RA duties a little too seriously.  They’re just hermit crabs after all,” Minh relented softly.  

“Ya think?” Jinki quipped with his megawatt smile was still on full display.  

“Does this mean you no longer hate me?” Minho asked.

“Yes, you are officially in the ‘do not hate’ category,” Jinki assured him.

“Good.  I didn’t really like you hating me,” Minho admitted, his features softening into happiness.

“You know there are a lot more effective ways of making friends than threatening to confiscate people’s pets, right?” Jinki nudged Minho’s shoulder with his own.

“I was doing my job!” Minho argued but the smile didn’t leave his lips.  “Wait… does this mean we are friends now?”

Jinki chuckled, “As long as you’re nice to Phineas and Queen Nefertiti then yeah, we are friends.”   

“Wait… their names are what?” Minho asked, bemused.

“Phineas and Queen Nefertiti,” Jinki repeated without missing a beat.  “Come on, I’ll let you feed them!