To Wonsik, this was dumb.

Really dumb.

He grumbled to himself as his eyes browsed through the various cages and glass containers, the inhabitants varying from fluffy, adorable, puffball hamsters to slimy, slim, vicious snakes. Cursing Jaehwan and his meddlesome, big nose for talking him into getting a pet as he eyed a rather hairy looking tarantula, he decided to just ask the clerk for some advice.

"Having a pet will make the transition of moving into your own place easier, because you won't be living all by yourself!"

Even though Jaehwan could be a pain in the , he was pretty damn smart for being an idiot. Wonsik knew that not living with his parents anymore would be freeing, but since he enjoyed company a lot, he thought that having a small roommate wouldn't be too bad. As long as it didn't need too much care and the feeding process wasn't too hard, of course. Wonsik, as a college student, didn't have time for that.

He just learned how to cook ramen noodles to feed himself, after all.

Casting a final glance at the humongous spider he had been staring at while deep in thought, the male wandered off into the direction of the cash register, where he had seen a silhouette of a guy not too long ago. Being in luck, there was indeed a rather young looking, yet freakishly tall boy, standing there. Ah yes, finally another human being.

"How can I help you?" The voice that met Wonsik's ears matched the face incredibly well, and the friendliness of his smile relaxed the soon-to-be pet owner.

"Something easy to take care of..." Sanghyuk, according to his name-tag, raised his eyebrows a little in thought, before a grin spread into his face.

"Well, the tarantula you were having a rather heated staring contest with only needs to be fed every now and then." Wonsik sputtered, but quickly pulled himself together before giving the salesman a look of mild disgust. "What? You just have to breed some beetles, no biggie."

"No."

"What about a piranha? They like other fish."

"No."

"Oh, you should get a snake! Their diet consists of bugs, mice..."

"No."

Sanghyuk had the time of his life on Wonsik's expense, but his potential customer's face made the funniest, grossed-out expressions when the simple ways of the food chain was explained to him, so the clerk couldn't help it. Sometimes he had to make himself some entertainment while on his rather boring job. Sanghyuk motioned the other male to follow him a little further back into the shop to where the fish tanks were, and pointed to a small aquarium the older had missed when he was searching for a pet earlier.

"I think this guy might be something for you." Inside was a turtle, a little smaller than the size of Wonsik's hand, basking in the beams of the tank's lamp. "I would recommend a bird, but considering you look like the type who doesn't want to listen to the squawking of the parrot over there, I think a turtle will work well."

As if on cue, the said bird started singing. It sounded like it tried to scream while someone choked it, though. Wonsik quickly whipped out his phone and shot and uploaded a snapchat video of the parrot for all his contacts to see, captioning it 'hanging out with Jaehwan'. Snickering to himself while pocketing his phone, he turned his attention back to an amused looking seller.

"So, what do you think?" Somehow Sanghyuk had gotten the animal out of its habitat in the short minute Wonsik's attention had been diverted. In his other hand, he held a small plastic container with turtle feed. "You basically only feed it once a day with this, and clean its tank every now and then."

"Yeah, I'll take it." A smiling Sanghyuk started gathering up utilities the small shell creature needed, as well as ringing up a decent sized tank with some various decorations and a UV lamp. The turtle had been placed in a mini travel cage so Wonsik could easily bring it home, and as he was paying for everything, a thought hit him. "Does it have a name?"

"Ah, no." The clerk sighed to himself, eyeing the cage in the other male’s possession. "It's a he, and we just call him 'fella', since we thought someone would buy him at some point, but he's been here for a year. I'm happy someone finally came around and decided they wanted him; he needs some change of air. Do you want your receipt in the bag?"

"Yeah, sure."

—

Setting up the turtle tank didn't take too much work, and the decorations gave the glass house some character, which Wonsik was sure his turtle would like. There was floating, artificial land in one of the corners under the lamp where the tiny guy could relax and get some heat, and the water had a small treasure chest that blew bubbles, a skeleton, various stones, and some plants. There was also a hollow pineapple functioning as an underwater cave, and Wonsik kind of wanted to name his pet SpongeBob. Lame humor aside, he really needed to find a name for the turtle.

Looking at the small creature he had temporarily put in an empty ice cream tub, he pondered at the many opportunities he had. He could name it name it Koopa, (“Bowser would be such a bad name, man” Wonsik recalled Jaehwan’s suggestion from earlier, and Wonsik never listened to Jaehwan’s suggestions, ignoring the fact that it was his friend who talked him into getting a pet in the first place), but God forbid he named it after some renaissance figure. Wonsik sent a silent prayer to all the pet turtles named after one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which the pet shop worker, Sanghyuk, had shamelessly suggested he should name the turtle after. Wonsik was still judging the kid.

“I can write poetry easy, but I can’t name a ing turtle…” Sighing to himself, he figured he should just place the animal in his new home, and went to pick up the little guy. When Wonsik was about to set the one-who-have-yet-to-be-named into his tank, the thing literally engulfed the tip of Wonsik’s ring finger, making it dangle from his hand instead of landing on the island floating on the water surface. What the hell..? Wonsik shook his hand gently, but the turtle was stuck to his finger, it seemed. Trying to pry off the animal didn’t work either, so the college student made his way over to his kitchen, turtle still in hand.

“What a nuisance…” The male filled one of his pots, a pink one which was Jaehwan’s wonderful moving-in present, with water, and placed it on the stove. He turned it on and waited a couple of minutes, turtle still on his finger, until the water started to bubble slightly.

“Ok fella, here’s the deal.” Wonsik stared into the animal’s eyes viciously, the slight flaring of nostrils being the only reply from the animal. “You either let my finger go, or I’m making turtle stew for dinner tonight.” Either it was his imagination, or the shelled Godzilla actually gave a nervous gulp. Humming the Jaws theme song when the shark is coming, Wonsik slowly moved his hand above the boiling water.

“Five… four… three…” Seemingly freaking out, the turtle wobbled slightly, swinging from side to side while hanging directly above the magma in water form. “Two… one!?” Just as the countdown ended, Wonsik actually considered naming his pet after a ninja turtle, because damn the turtle got moves. It let go of his finger, using the momentum to fly over the edge of the pot and not land into it. Wonsik just gaped, staring at where his pet had landed on its back on his kitchen counter. Did I just consider naming my pet after a ninja turtle? Shame on yourself, Wonsik!

“Dude, I gotta give you credit for that. 7/10 style points, have to practice that landing a little more.” Picking up the turtle, he walked over to the tank and tried to set him down a second time. To Wonsik’s relief, it actually let itself be placed into its new habitat, without any of his owner’s fingers being used as a pacifier.

With the moving of his pet finally being done, he walked over to his kitchen again and thought that instead of letting the water go to waste, he made himself some noodles. While eating, Wonsik thought about the fact that he wanted a pet that would be easy to take care of, and how Sanghyuk (the liar) told him the turtle would be perfect, yet it turned out to be quite the nuisance. Grumbling to himself as he swallowed a mouthful of carbs, suddenly lights from the heavens shone over Wonsik, and down with angel wings came an idea of what he should name his turtle.

It described the guy perfectly.

—

Sometimes Wonsik would think to himself, how glad he was that his parents raised him to be a gentleman. He was the kind of person that would offer to help an elderly person carry their bags home, play a 10 minute soccer game with kids in the park even if he was headed somewhere else, and he would lend a helping hand if someone asked for it, and even if they didn't but just looked like they needed it. He liked when people appreciated his help, and when they thanked him for the time where he could've studied or watched his favorite show that he spent on them. Right now though, he wished he had less of a conscience.

How cliché was it that on his way home from the grocery store he would stumble upon a cardboard box with a lonely, weak cat in it. Instead of leaving it at a rescue center, like most people would do, he decided to take it home. Stuffing all his purchases into the box, he placed the cat in there as well, where it laid still the entire walk home. He have no idea how he did it, but he managed to survive the trek to his apartment, which luckily were only a few blocks away, without dropping the rather heavy box that kept straining his muscles.

After setting one of the bowls that he usually ate cereal from with, filled to the brim with water, in front of the cat, Wonsik headed back to the pet shop only a few days after his last visit. He was greeted by a confused Sanghyuk (“You’re getting rid of the turtle already?”), and made the younger male help him get some food and appliances for his new guest. Paying and leaving as quickly as possible, Wonsik almost ran all the way home so the already shabby looking kitty wouldn’t end up turning into a pile of dust due to the lack of care and food.

Upon arriving home, his turtle had somehow gotten out of the tank and was currently swimming leisurely in the cereal bowl, the cat just glaring at it. Wonsik understood the furry guy’s feelings about the creature, because he had the same ones. Once the cat was well fed and its thirst was quenched, Wonsik thought he should do something about the dirty fur all over the feline’s body. Getting the cat into the bathroom was easy; getting him into the bathtub was the main boss in the entire game of taking care of a cat.

Many hisses, scratches, some shampoo in the eye, and an almost flooded bathroom later, the cat was clean. Still wet, but clean. Wonsik had to take a small breather before he even dared to try and dry the animal, still nursing a fresh wound on his hand. The male was pretty sure he was dealing with Grumpy Cat 2.0.

When the storm had calmed slightly, Wonsik just went for it, and wrapped a towel around the cat who could only helplessly try and paw its way out of the cloth while his new owner (not approved by the cat) rubbed the towel all over his slim body in an attempt to get rid of the moisture. Wonsik deemed the job to be good enough, so he removed the towel, and the sight that met him was rather laughable. The cat’s fur, which once had been stuck to his body due to a decent amount of dirt, now stuck out everywhere, and it kind of looked like a miniature, angry lion. Wonsik didn’t even have to think of a name for the kitty.

—

“So what did you name them?” Jaehwan asked after he stopped cackling like a mad man, still giggling a little, but he had calmed down enough to continue the conversation. He couldn’t believe that his best friend, who had been so against getting a pet in the first place, had ended up with two.

“Well, I named the cat Leo.” Sighing, slightly annoyed at his friend’s earlier outburst, Wonsik placed his phone between his shoulder and ear since he had to pick up some clothes after his cat. The feline seemed to enjoy dragging Wonsik’s most precious articles of clothing out of his closet and use them as a bed, because the cat did not sleep anywhere without anything between his fur and the surface of his designated napping spot.

“Unoriginal, yet cute, you have my approval.” Wonsik snorted.

“Like I needed it…” He folded up some more clothes, swallowing back his tears as he spotted his favorite sweater buried in kitty fur. Just breathe Wonsik, breathe… “I named the turtle after you, by the way.” Jaehwan squealed.

“Oh my God, really?!”

“Yeah, it’s N.”

“Aww, you didn’t have to- wait, my name isn’t N?”

“It’s short for Nuisance.”

“I HATE YOU SO MUCH-“

Wonsik hung up, and cried over his sweater in peace.