"what's with the long face?"

the chinese male lifted his head, meeting eyes with his childhood friend.

"it's nothing, chenle." renjun replied, shaking his head and going back to focus on his work.

"doesn't look like nothing." chenle raised a brow. "you've been sulking since the beginning of the week."

renjun hummed, not wanting to give too much detail. was the fact that jeno and him had gotten the rabbit one week ago and the fact his mood had been awful this past week correlated? of course, it was, but what kind of boyfriend would he appear to be if he told chenle that he had a problem with jeno's rabbit?

"i have this headache since the beginning of the week, and i can't seem to make it disappear." renjun lied, knowing better than to say the truth in this situation.

"oh, sad..." chenle pouted. "do you want a medicine? i think have some stuff for that in my bag!"

renjun blinked a few times. "huh... well... thank you but..." renjun hesitated. "i've already taken one a while ago, so it won't be nece- "

"hey! watch where the hell you're going!!"

both chenle and renjun lifted their heads at the sudden yell and breaking noise that disturbed the peaceful atmosphere of the convenience store they were working part-time in.

the two chinese males immediately identified the problem when they saw a short girl standing a few meters away from them, a bottle of alcohol shattered on the floor at her feet which had been splashed with the transparent liquid. in front of her stood a giant boy, his head hanging lower and lower as he was getting yelled at by the girl.

"i'll deal with it." chenle informed renjun, walking away from the counter to approach the accident zone.

"i-i'm sorry..." the tall male stuttered, fidgeting with his fingers. "i-i tripped..."

"well maybe if you looked in front of you while walking you wouldn't have tripped!" the short girl continued yelling at him. "now you broke my bottle, and you caused me to soak my boots!"

"i-i... i'm r-really sorry..."

"be aware that you'll have to pay the damages!" the girl exclaimed. "and also- "

"hello!" chenle interrupted their fight. "can i help you with something?" he asked with a smile, looking successively at the woman and then at the tall male.

"yes." the girl corssed her arms over her chest. "this young man right here didn't look at where he was going and hit into me and broke the bottle of alcohol i just bought. and because of him, my new boots are full of alcohol and damaged."

"i am very sorry to hear that." chenle nodded. "please grab another bottle of alcohol, this one will be on us for the incident that happened."

"he should be the one to pay. it's his fault after all!" the woman said pettily.

"the bottle is on us." chenle replied on a firmer tone. "he is responsible of nothing; it was an accident."he added. "now, please, grab another bottle and go see my colleague at the counter."

the woman tsked. "and for the damages on my boots?" she raised a brow, surely intending to receive some sort of compensation.

chenle glanced down at the black leathery boots that had an extra shine thanks to the alcohol that had splashed on them. "well, you've got them waxed for free." chenle shrugged. "see the good side of it, you won't need to have them shined so soon."

following these words, the woman scoffed loudly and turned on her heels, leaving chenle alone with the tall and shy male.

the chinese male coughed to catch the attention of the male who was looking at his feet.

"everything alright?" he asked. "did you hurt yourself when falling?"

"n-no..." the man answer. "i'm f-fine."

"good. i'm sorry for this woman's rudeness." chenle apologised on behalf of the lady. "people these days consider that because they are tiny, they can tell anything to tall and muscular people. they're abusing their power on people they know are powerless..."

"i-it's fine... it's the way things are..." the boy shrugged, avoiding eye-contact with chenle as much as he could without making it seem rude.

"but it shouldn't be that way..." chenle smiled sadly. "anyway, i'm chenle!" he added after a while to break the silence that the taller male didn't intend breaking.

"i-i'm j-jisung." the boy answered, shyly shaking the chinese male's hand.

"that's a pretty name! nice to meet you, jisung." chenle replid with a warm smile, looking up at the giant male.

"chenle, less flirting, more cleaning!" renjun's voice made chenle's eyes roll to the back of his head.

"i-i'm sorry, i'm preventing you to work." jisung flushed red when he heard renjun's words.

"no, not at all!" chenle shook his head. "he's just missing his boyfriend so he's jealous."

"o-oh..."

"so, what were you here to buy?" chenle continued talking to jisung, ignoring renjun's orders.

"h-huh..." jisung blinked. "j-just something to eat for dinner..."

"alright." chenle nodded. "i'm sorry, i need to clean this, but get anything you'd like and tell renjun that it's on me." the boy added with a smile. "he's the grumpy boy at the counter."

"w-what? n-no, i-i can p-pay my stuff..."

"no, i insist." chenle shook his head before turning around. "heard that, renjun? everything he's getting is on me!"

"whatever, just clean the mess!" renjun replied.

chenle faced jisung again, winking at the boy.

"i have to go." he declared. "have a nice dinner. and think of me when eating!" he added before rushing towards the backroom where he was supposed to get the cleaning necessities, thus leaving a blushing jisung in the middle of the messy aisle.

⊗

"catch the ball, nana!" jeno exclaimed before throwing the small ball across the living room and watching the white rabbit running after it and bringing it back to him. "wow, you're the best, nana!"

jeno chuckled as the white animal leaned against his palm, as if asking for pats and caresses, which jeno gave him immediately. sitting on the floor, jeno placed the rabbit on his back on his lap and scratched his tummy, making the animal squirm and let out cute noises.

giggling like a litte kid, jeno lifted the rabbit again from under his front legs until he was face to face with the rabbit.

"my little nana." he spoke with a bright smile, looking into the rabbit's glistening eyes. "so cute and perfect."he continued, studying the animal from the tip of his ears to the end of his claws. "i love you so much, nana."

jeno approached the rabbit from his face, placing a long kiss on top of the rabbit's head, right between its ears.

he had had nana for more than a week now, and he somehow couldn't feel happier. inevitably, he had grown attached to the cute fluff ball that followed him in everything he did, and he was always looking forward to going back home to pet and hug the animal.

it seemed like there was some type of synergy between him and the rabbit, because everything jeno said, the rabbit seemed to understand. it was as if they were meant to be.

also, the rabbit helped jeno cope with the fact that renjun had gotten weird these past days. he wasn't cuddly with jeno anymore, and he always seemed pissed when he used to be always willing to lift jeno's mood up. the korean male didn't understand what was happening in his boyfriend's mind, and each time he dared asking him what was wrong, renjun got defensive and told him that nothing was wrong.

anyway, because renjun didn't seem to want to talk to him about that, jeno consoled himself by showing more attention to his rabbit who was always willing to cuddle or play with him.

"want to keep playing?" jeno asked the animal that he was holding against his chest, knowing that he wouldn't receive an answer, even if he swears that he saw the rabbit slightly nodding his head – or maybe had he imagined it?

jeno delicately placed the animal on the floor, giving him a few pats before sitting crossed-legs in front of him.

"okay, we're going to play obedience and see if you would be able to win a championship." jeno informed before coughing. "nana, sit!"

immediately, the rabbit sat down, looking into jeno's eyes for the next order.

"okay, now... lie down!"

and just like before, the animal obliged, lying down on the floor and waiting for jeno's next words impatiently.

during their little obedience competition, the front door opened and allowed renjun to get inside the warm apartment and let out a "i'm back, babe."

jeno didn't answer as he and nana were still busy with their obedience championships.

not receiving a response from his boyfriend, renjun put his stuff on the kitchen table before heading to the living room and understanding what was going on.

"jeno, jeno, jeno..." renjun sighed. "let me remind you that it's not a dog that you have, it's a rabbit and- ouch! fuck!" the boy stopped in the middle of his sentence as he – just like twice a day – had hit his toe against the metallic cage that belonged to the rabbit and that was placed in a corner of their living room. a few days ago, they had been sent the rabbit's stuff form the company that had organised the auction. this consisted mostly of blankets and toys, but included also a huge cage with a lock. it was this same cage against which renjun kept stubbing his toes.

"renjun? everything alright?" jeno asked, stopping his obedience session to look at his boyfriend who had laid down on the sofa while holding on his foot.

"fuck, no!" renjun said through gritted teeth. "why the hell is this fucking cage still there?! it's taking all of the space in the living room, and the rabbit never even goes inside!"

"w-well... it doesn't fit anywhere else, so..." jeno started.

"and why would such a tiny rabbit need such a giant cage?! a human can fit in there for fuck's sake!"renjun stated angrily.

"i-i don't know..." jeno replied honestly, looking at the rabbit who seemed to be staring at renjun. "do you need a magic kiss to feel better?" he then asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"yeah..." renjun nodded, a smile making its way on his face while looking at his boyfriend. renjun then closed his eyes and pouted his lips, waiting for jeno to place a kiss there.

however, after a few seconds, all he felt was a surprisingly small and hairy pair of lips touching his own for less than a second. the chinese male opened his eyes, letting out a shriek at the sight of the white rabbit being held by jeno so close from his face.

"jeno, what the hell?!" renjun exclaimed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and looking at the rabbit who seemed to be rubbing its paws against his mouth as well.

"magic kiss from nana." jeno chuckled, his eyes turning into crescents at his own joke.

"i don't want to kiss your rabbit." renjun tsked. "why did you even do that?"

"come on, it was just a light touch. you won't die from kissing him..." jeno rolled his eyes, patting the rabbit's head.

"he could have rabies." renjun replied immediately. "don't keep it too close to your face, i already told you."

jeno ignored his boyfriend lifting the rabbit up and placing a kiss on his head. "my nana doesn't have rabies."

"my nana..." renjun rolled his eyes, wanting to pry the rabbit off jeno's arms.

"yes, because he's mine." jeno nodded. "hmm? have you heard that? you're mine!" he asked the rabbit, rubbing his and nana's noses under renjun's angry eyes.

the chinese male glared at their interaction, willing nothing more than the disappearance of this fucking rabbit that we depriving him of his boyfriend.

"jeno, it's just a rabbit, it doesn't even understand what you're saying." renjun spoke through gritted teeth.

"yes, he does." jeno nodded. "my nana is the most intelligent."

"why are you treating him more like your boyfriend than me?" renjun asked the question that had been itching him for the past days.

"sorry?" jeno frowned, giving his attention to renjun.

"you're always like 'i love nana' or 'nana is mine' or even 'nana is the most intelligent and beautiful and perfect'. let me remind you that i, huang renjun, am your boyfriend. not this animal!" the chinese male exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the rabbit.

"renjun, why are you getting so mad over this...?" jeno asked confusedly. "it's you who said that i should be getting something to help me being less powerless. nana is here to help me being protective and learn how to defend myself and others."

"oh, don't worry about that, you've acquired the protective skill." renjun snorted. "all you do is defend the rabbit and make it pass before me."

"what are you saying, this is completely false!" jeno frowned. "renjun, you're my boyfriend. nana is my pet, it's different."

"is it?" renjun raised a brow. "because it doesn't seem like it!"

renjun abruptly stood up walking towards the kitchen. jeno placed the rabbit on the sofa before following his boyfriend.

"what are you doing, renjun?" jeno asked.

"i'm going out." renjun replied, wearing his jacket again and walking to the front door.

"what?!" jeno let out. "why? renjun, don't go!"

"i'll leave you alone with your rabbit. have fun." the chinese male finished, walking out of their shared apartment and shutting the door close, not even letting jeno finish pleading him to stay.

he needed fresh air, far from his problems, and mostly far from this rabbit.

getting a rabbit for jeno had to be the worst decision of his life.