chapter ii.

                "Halmoni! We're home!"Kibum greeted his halmoni with a warm hug.
 

                The old woman responded to the hug and kissed her grandson's forehead.
 

                "Oh my Kibum! You're finally back. What took you so long, dear? I was worried you won't come back to halmoni's arms."Kibum's halmoni had a worried expression all over her face.
 

                "Sorry, halmoni. But we had a hard time looking for the perfect pet."Kibum kissed his halmoni's cheek to make it up to her as an apology.
 

                "Oh, so you've bought another pet, huh? Halmoni wants to see it."A gentle smile spread over her face, her eyes looking expectant.
 

                "Wait, I'll bring him here."Kibum rushed out of the room, excitedly.

                After some minutes, he returned, tugging a boy beside him. 

             "He's here, halmoni!"With a happy smile playing across his face, he excitedly introduced the boy to his halmoni.
 

                The old woman's smile slowly faded into a frown.
 

                She scrunched her eyebrows, "But Kibum. This here's a boy. He's not a pet. He's just like you, a kid." She said in a soft calm voice.
 

                "But halmoni, a kid or an animal, he's still my pet. And he even agrees to it."Kibum tried to protest, his excited smile had already gone.
 

                "But, Kibum..."His grandmother tried to coo him.
 

                "No! You can't take him away from me,"Kibum sobbed. "I thought you would understand, halmoni."
 

                Kibum ran away, dragging the confused boy behind him.

--

                Kibum was hugging his knees on his bed, sobbing under the covers; while the other boy was sitting at the edge of the bunk, watching intently as Kibum cried his eyes out.

                "W-why are you crying?"The little boy asked, confused and worried about Kibum.

                "Because they want to take you away from me,"Kibum managed to mumble between his sobs. "They don't want you to be my pet."

                The little boy puffed his cheeks. Then he made his way to Kibum and laid beside the curled up boy, his face directly in front the other's.

                He smiled at Kibum, who was looking at him with a pair of melancholic eyes. Then he cutely said,

                "Even if they want to take me away, I would never leave you. I'll always be your pet."The little boy smiled warmly, "So, stop crying, okay?"

                Kibum blushed from the boy's comforting words.

                The other kid tried to wipe Kibum's tears from his cheeks, but his hand was quickly shoved by the latter.

                "Ya! Don't touch me!"Kibum pushed the other out of the bed, still trying to hide his flushing cheeks.

                The other boy looked at him with puppy eyes.

                "Y-You haven't washed up yet... Y-you're still dirty!"Kibum shouted at the boy, acting as if he's really mad; but deep inside, his heart couldn't stop banging in his chest from the way the boy stared at him cutely.

                "Come here."Kibum got off from the bed and dragged the boy to the bathroom to clean him up.

                "Now, t-take off your clothes,"Kibum was embarrassed. "Since I'm your master, it's my responsibility to clean you up."

                "Oh, okay."With that, the other boy slowly removed the tattered clothes off his body and slid in the bathtub.

--

                Kibum’s grandmother sighed in frustration, after Kibum’s walk out tactic.

                “Jang-sshi.” Kibum’s halmoni called out for Kibum’s personal driver.

                “Yes, madam?” He obediently attended to her.

                She sighed, “You might have witnessed what happened earlier, so I won’t bring it up anymore. I called for you, because I wanted to ask you about that boy my Kibum claimed to be his pet. Care to explain, Mr. Jang?”

                Kibum’s personal driver didn’t hesitate to explain what happened that afternoon, when Kibum saw the little boy sleeping in the streets. Slowly, the old woman’s frown softened into a smile, after knowing what her grandson’s real intentions were. She also believed that her grandson just wanted to help the poor boy; and with that, she understood and finally went along with Kibum’s decision.

--

                “Ya, poor kid,”Kibum said while helping the boy shampoo his hair and wash his body.

                “Hmm?”The kid answered, while busily playing with the rubber ducky he found floating in the tub.

                “Since you’re my pet now, I’ll give you a new name.”

                “Mmm.”

                “Since you’re cheeks are chubby and fluffy, I’ll call you ‘DUBU’, okay?”

                “Err, okay.”He gave a small nod.

                “From now on, you’ll be DUBU and no one else. You are MYDubu.” Kibum grinned confidently, but slightly blushed at the mention of the word “my”.

                “Pff—owkaay… Mmmph—awster…”Dubu garbled under the water filled with bubbles.

                “Pabo, call me Kibum.”

                “Ne, Kibum-ah.”Dubu smiled.

--

                It’s been 2 months since the day Kibum came across this certain boy sleeping in the streets, 2 months since he ‘adopted’ the said boy and 2 months since that boy became HIS pet, Dubu. Kibum’s halmoni had already approved of Kibum’s decision to take the boy in as his pet and even made arrangements, so that the boy could properly live with them, like buying him new set of clothes and even granting him his own room; though Kibum didn’t approve of the latter, because he wanted to share his room with the other.

                Time went by and the two grew closer to each other. They’d always be doing same stuffs together, and even dress perfectly the same, as if they were twins. They became inseparable, and that made it hard for them to leave each other, whenever Kibum had to go to school and leave Dubu alone in their shared bedroom.

                “Dubu-yah! I’m back!” Kibum would call out to his ‘pet’, even if he’s still just at the gates of his own mansion, and the other boy would come running to his arms, like a dog who’s excited to see his master after a long day without seeing him.

                “Kibum-aaaaaaah!” Dubu would run and throw himself to his master, hugging him tight.

                “Missed me too much?”

                “I did. Always.”

                Then they’d be heading towards their bedroom, walking, sometimes skipping, hand-in-hand. It was just like that every day; a routine, they wouldn’t ever want to break.

                Time came and their hunger for each other’s presence grew. It came to the point where Dubu would whine for 30 minutes, not wanting to let Kibum go to school for the day. He just wanted the boy to stay at home and play with him, and only him. He didn’t like it when Kibum was having fun with other kids, as if he didn’t have him. He grew selfish, when it came to his master’s attention. He knew it was wrong, because Kibum had a life of his own, but he didn’t care and kept being the stubborn pet he was. One day, he grew impatient of waiting for his master’s return, so he naughtily bolted out of the house and ran off to Kibum’s school, ready to surprise the latter. He was grinning excitedly, eager to see what Kibum’s reaction would be. And then finally, the bell rang. Students were leaving the building one by one and sometimes, in groups.

                “AH!” Dubu exclaimed as he saw his ‘target’ brushing his way out the door. But the smile he had slowly dissolved into a frown when he saw another boy, a tall one with big, deep eyes, walking together with his master. He creased his brows and pouted, then he slowly backed off and ran back to the Kim mansion.

                “Dubu-yaaaaah!” For the nth time, Kibum screamed his lungs out, but there was no response from the other. He became annoyed by this reaction, so he trudged his way to their room.

                “YAH! Didn’t you hear me? I said I’m back!” Kibum’s tone was clearly irritated and demanding.

                “I hate you.”

It was all he heard from the sulking boy in the corner of the room, with his head laid on top of his knees.

                “W-what!?” Kibum questioned, his anger overweighing his confusion.

                “Who was that boy you were with, when you were leaving the school today?”

                “Huh? Who?”

                “The boy who looked like an alien frog.” Dubu mumbled in between his knees.

                “Who? Minho? He’s my… H-hey, wait a minute! How come you knew I was with him?”

                “Because I was there. I was supposed to fetch you from school today. But then, I saw you with him. And I didn’t like it. So I gave up and went home instead.”

                Kibum’s eyes widened in surprise and the corner of his lips slightly curved up hearing those from his Dubu.

                Kibum made his way towards the moping boy, crouched in front of him and patted his head.

                “To my dearest Pabo Pet, Dubu. You’ve been a very bad pet lately. Number one, you didn’t come out when I called you, after I got back. Number two, you went out of the mansion and followed me to school, without my consent. Number three, you are too possessive and that’s a total no-no. And lastly, number four, how can you tell me you hate me, when all I can see is the other way around? Pabo, you know there can never be anyone else closer to me than you—well actually, halmoni is—but other than her, you’re the most precious and silliest person in my life, and I love you for that.” Kibum smiled at the boy in front of him. And the other responded with a pair of puppy eyes.

                “So stop sulking. OR ELSE, I’M GONNA LOCK YOU UP IN A CAGE FOR A WEEK, GOT IT?!”

                Dubu flinched a little, but sprung back to his usual lively self and embraced his beloved master.

                “Yes, of course, Master!”

--

Author's Note: One time there was a bonus question in our exam, asking "what kind of animal would you choose as your pet?" And guess what my answer was? - A PERSON! :)))) Hahahaha. Inspired by my own story, lmao. :DD Anyway, here's another update!!! :P I hope you like it! Feedbacks okay? :,)