"and what about a guinea pig?" renjun stated, lifting his head from his computer to look at jeno who was lying on his back on their bed, too busy throwing a rubber ball in the air and catching it to help his boyfriend with his searches.
"a guinea pig?" jeno frowned. "why would i even want such a thing?"
"yeah, okay... not a guinea pig, then..." renjun sighed, focusing back on his screen.
a few seconds passed during which jeno got back to throwing his ball up and down while renjun surfed across different websties.
"okay, so..." renjun coughed, catching jeno's attention again. "they say the cheapest pets to own are frogs..."
"ew, no." jeno shook his head immediately.
"...geckos...?" renjun continued, scrolling down on the website.
"that's even worse."
"...canaries...?"
"they shit everywhere."
"...ants..."
"what the hell?!" jeno sat up on the bed, letting the ball he had been playing with fall to the floor and roll to renjun's foot. "renjun... why can't i get a cat or a dog?"
"first of all, because we can't afford it." the chinese male answered with a sigh, still scrolling down the website. "and second, because cats and dogs are too much work for a first pet. and you need a pet that is not too demanding."
jeno let out a groan, letting himself fall back down on the bed. "is even any pet not too demanding...?"
"yes, we just need to find the right one, i promise you." the chinese male replied, his eyes still focused on the screen.
renjun had found a solution for jeno's matter. if the boy felt like he was too powerless and that he couldn't take care of himself on his own, renjun believed that it was because he never really faced that matter, which was why he believed that buying him a pet to take care of would make him more responsible and protective.
he didn't know to which extent this solution would work, but renjun had always wanted them to adopt a pet as a couple, and this could be the perfect opportunity for this.
"renjun, i know you want to help, and i really appreciate it, but i am a lost cause and i- "
"i know what we can get." renjun cut his boyfriend, standing up from his desk and walking to the bed with his computer.
jeno rolled his eyes. "renjun... i told you this would lead to nothing..."
"a rabbit." renjun continued, ignoring jeno's words.
"a rabbit?" jeno sighed.
"they're small, cute, fluffy, very cuddly, and normally they're not too expensive." renjun listed, his eyes travelling the tab he had opened on the internet.
"yeah... okay, a rabbit is better than a frog or a guinea pig i guess..." jeno nodded. "but where will you even find a rabbit?"
"there are like dozens of animal shelters we could go at." renjun explained, closing his laptop and looking at his younger boyfriend.
jeno blinked, looking into his smiling boyfriend's eyes in silence.
"so... a rabbit it is?" renjun asked, raising a brow.
the other male sighed, his lips curving up at the sight of his happy boyfriend. "a rabbit it is..." he replied.
"yes!!! you're the best!" renjun exclaimed, jumping on top of jeno and pinning him to the bed as he kissed his lips. "are we buying it tomorrow?"
"if that makes you happy." jeno nodded, his lips immediately forming a pout as if to silently ask renjun to kiss him again.
"tomorrow it is, then." the chinese male wiggled his brows, approaching his and jeno's faces again and locking their lips in a hot kiss that he led, as usual.
⊗
"lot 497!" the auctioneer spoke out loud before a lady walked on stage with a small golden box. "small engraved toiletry box covered in real golden sheets. this used to be one of mr na's belongings. the auction starts at 1,000,000 won."
standing on the side of the room, mrs cho bit her nails as she watched the bidders raising their hands in the crowd, making the price of her deceased husband's goods increase considerably. as one of the people working under her passed by, she stopped them in their tracks by pulling on their shirt, almost making them drop the valuable they had in hand – which seemed to be one of the lots that had been sold at millions of won.
"tell him to make a new announcement for lot 123." she spat with a head motion towards the auctioneer.
"a-again?" the worker asked, slightly taken aback by the question.
"yes, again."
"b-but no one has been wanting it for the past four times we've presented it." the worker replied, trying to keep his distances with the crazy rich woman who looked like she could kill someone.
"then lower the starting price!" she growled, holding herself from throwing a huge tantrum in front of a crowd of rich invertors.
"w-we've already lowered it to 100 won, which is nothing... and no one wanted it..." the worker replied shyly.
"if i don't see you on stage with that bunny in ten seconds, i swear you won't be able to find a job ever again!" mrs cho threatened, looking up at the tall worker who became livid white and nodded immediately.
just as a round of applause disturbed the previous silence, signalling that the golden toiletry boy had found a lucky buyer, the worker mrs cho had been scolding appeared on stage, the white bunny in his arms.
"h-hum... i'm here again with lot 123..." the worker stated. "w-would someone be interested in this rabbit? t-the auction starts at... at 10 won." he finished, making the whle crowd of rich businessmen laugh loudly.
mrs cho was still on the side, nervously watching the auction.
long seconds passed, but unfortunately, no one raised their hand. no one was interested in the rabbit.
"o-okay... so... i guess we can move on to then next- "
"no!" mrs cho cracked, walking out from her shady corner onto the stage. all eyes turned to her, even the frightened rabbit's ones. "we're selling the rabbit. no entry price. auction starts at zero won. would one of you want it?"
the businessmen and women seated in the central part of the room exchanged looks and started chatting together, a few chuckles escaping here and there, makring mrs cho's blood boil even more.
"anyone? this rabbit?" she tried again, looking at each and every investor.
there was still no positive answer.
"m-mrs cho... i think we should- "
"and in the public?" the lady asked, cutting her employee that was trying to prevent her from ridiculing herself.
mrs cho's eyes left the few investors that were sat in the middle of the room and ran across the public, sitting a few rows behind or standing around the room. but it didn't seem like any of them was interested in the white fluffy creature.
"i am giving this rabbit for free." mrs cho announced loud and clear. "i am giving it to anyone. now, who is interested?"
the room was caught in a long and awkward silence again, the people around the room started to feel weirded out by this sudden obstination.
however, after long and painful seconds, a saviour appeared, raising his hand up and catching the attention of all the assembly.
"i would be interested in the rabbit."
a bright smile appeared on mrs cho's face, her whole world lighting up at this. she turned around, snatching the creature from the employee's hands and walking straight to her saviour, her heart feeling lighter at each step she took.
"it is all yours."
⊗
"why can't we take the bus...?" jeno whined, dragging his feet as he got pulled by the hand by his boyfriend. "i'm tired..."
"oh my god, you big baby..." renjun rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's antics. "the shelter is like ten minutes away, you're not going to die, i assure you."
"hmph..." jeno huffed before tightening his grip on renjun's hand and walking by his side.
the two boyfriends walked around the streets of seoul at their own pace, enjoying the warm day together as they headed towards the shelter they had found online to get a rabbit.
they both had spent the night before looking at cute and funny videos of rabbits, and both of them were now convinced that they were the cutest animals to exist and that getting one was one of the best ideas they ever had.
"oh, look, there's an auction." jeno stopped walking, making renjun stop as well and look up at the banner that his boyfriend had seen.
"valuables of mr na." renjun read out loud. "isn't that the rich man that died a few days ago?"
"i think it is." jeno nodded, his eyes following the signs and looking at the big open doors of the building in which the auction was occurring. "can we go see?"
renjun frowned, looking up at his boyfriend. "go see what? the auction?" he asked.
"yeah. i've always wondered how an auction worked." jeno nodded, a smile appearing on his face.
"it's basically someone screaming the number of the lot, showing it and then rich people lifting their paddle with a number and the auctioneer being like 'one time... two times... three times... sold!' and then it's done." renjun explained in one breath, turning around to start walking in the shelter's direction again. however, he was stopped immediately by jeno who had twice more strength than he had.
"can we please go..."
renjun sighed. "jeno... we won't even be able to buy anything. that man was shit rich, and i believe his valuables must be super expensive."
"pretty please..." jeno insisted, looking at his boyfriend with his best puppy eyes. and of course, who was renjun to say no to such puppy eyes?
"alright..." he gave in, now allowing an over-excited jeno to drag him inside.
the two boys got inside, passing by the 'bidder' zone without sparing it a glance and walking into the auction room. the place was richly decorated, everything making it look like they were inside a palace.
"and in the public?"
both jeno and renjun turned around to look at the stage on which a very well-dressed lady was talking, looking at the crowd with desperation in her eyes. jeno looked at the scene very interested, and renjun frowned, seeing that the atmosphere wasn't the usual one in such an auction.
"i am giving this rabbit for free. i am giving it to anyone." the lady spoke, her eyes looking at the whole crowd, obviously expecting and answer. her body language conveyed nothing but stress and desperation, as if she wanted to get rid of this lot at all costs.
"wait, did she say a rabbit?" jeno frowned, looking down at his boyfriend – who could barely see the stage because of his height.
"no, they wouldn't sell a rabbit at an auction, this is not possible." renjun shook his head, trying as much as he could to see the stage to catch a glimpse of the lot.
"now, who is interested?" the lady asked again, turning around slightly and pointing at a white furry ball, which looked exactly like a rabbit.
"renjun, it's a rabbit, i swear." jeno stated, hitting his boyfriend's shoulder. "i can see it."
"are you sure?"
"i am! it's a white rabbit, look!"
in a swift motion, jeno wrapped his hands around renjun's slim frame and lifted him up, allowing him to see the stage, and to notice the worker holding the white animal.
"oh my god, it's a rabbit, for real." renjun gasped once he was back on his feet.
"what do we do?" jeno whispered.
"they said they were giving it for free, right?" renjun raised a brow. "and no one seems to want it."
"do we take it?" jeno asked, looking in the lady's direction and seeing her on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"i mean... we could." renjun nodded after a few seconds.
"please, raise your hand."
"why not you?" renjun raised a brow. "you need to face your fears sometimes to make yourself more confident and feel more powerful."
"sure, but i'm like the human representation of a powerless bottom, so no one will take me seriously."jeno answered immediately. "please, renjun... i love you..." jeno continued, pouting oh-so-cutely.
renjun sighed, his hand intertwining with jeno's fingers before he rose his hand in the air.
"i would be interested in the rabbit." he said in a loud voice, making all of the attention divert to him.
and that sole sentence was enough to make all traces of nervousness and desperation disappear from the lady's face as she grabbed the rabbit and rushed to renjun's side to give it to her.
"it's all yours."