renjun heaved out a sigh as he stopped in the middle of the street, leaning on a streetlight and seeking to be enlightened by the ray of light it brought him.

something felt wrong. this was all renjun could repeat himself since jeno and him had gotten that rabbit. something was undeniably wrong. but what?

the chinese male had an idea what was wrong... the fucking rabbit.

he hated how jeno had gotten close to the animal in so little time, and how he spent all of his free time with it instead of staying it with his boyfriend. well, at least that was how renjun felt it, because if you listened to jeno, it would seem like he was spending as much time with the rabbit as he was with his boyfriend.

but who was he kidding?

never in his life had renjun imagined that he would one day be jealous of an animal. and yet, here he was, at nearly midnight, dragging himself on the pavement to go back to his and jeno's apartment after a long walk.

life was full of surprises, just like when jeno and him met on grindr and when their relationship worked, or when jeno and him had been able to get a rabbit for free at a luxury auction...

nothing of this was planned, and yet it happened. sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. and renjun had a slight idea which of those two categories the rabbit belonged to.

another sigh slipped past his lips as renjun judged it was useless to keep thinking about the white furry animal. and so, trying his best to think about everything but it, the chinese male continued his way back home.

the journey wasn't too long; he reached the front door after ten minutes and slid inside the warm house. all lights were off and the house was plunged in the greatest silence, making renjun guess that jeno had fallen asleep already.

and effectively, as renjun reached his and jeno's bedroom, he was greeted with a sleeping jeno, taking all of the space in the bed, as usual, and looking as cute as ever. in this moment, renjun truly wondered how he could have felt mad at his one and only love, jeno, the man of his life. he had no reason to be mad at him, they loved each other and no one would ever be able to change that. renjun knew that, he couldn't be mat at his cutie...

however, his thoughts went from black to white as soon as he noticed the slightest movement of the duvet next to jeno's arm.

all renjun needed was to pull the covers a bit to reveal the animal that had gotten him so mad in the first place, sleeping peacefully in jeno's embrace as if nothing ever mattered.

and in a nick of time, the previous fluttery feeling inside renjun's chest that had appeared at the sight of his peaceful boyfriend transformed into raging hate.

⊗

"god, why do i keep seeing it everywhere?" renjun tsked, shaking his head to make the image of the white rabbit bouncing around the street he was walking on disappear.

"still bothered about your headache?"

"mmh?" renjun hummed, looking up at his chinese friend as he – once again – was too immersed in his thoughts to understand the question that had just been asked.

"you're still sulking. and you look extra pissed today." chenle noted. "i was asking if it was still the headache."

"oh..." renjun let out. "no, jeno and i had an argument."

"wait, really?!" chenle abruptly stopped, looking at renjun with wide eyes.

chenle's reaction could be considered legitimate.

during the past years of relationship renjun and jeno had lived, never had they needed to face something as big as 'an argument'. sure, the two of them teased or got mad at each other sometimes but these meaningless fights never lasted more than an hour. but now, renjun and jeno having an actual argument and renjun being out without solving the problem was something else.

"yeah..." renjun sighed, walking away and leaving chenle behind for a few seconds until he woke up from his daze and rushed by renjun's side again.

"what was the reason of the argument?" chenle asked curiously. he genuinely wondered what reason could have this powerful couple mad at each other for more than an hour.

"you know how we decided to get him a rabbit so that he could feel more powerful, right?" renjun questioned, being mad at himself for proposing such an idea in the first place.

"oh my god..." chenle's eyes closed on their own as he understood the problem. "please don't tell me you're jealous of the rabbit..."

"i'm not jealous of the rabbit!" renjun exclaimed immediately. "it's just clear as day that jeno shows more attention to it than to me!"

"so, you're jealous of the rabbit..." chenle nodded. "you know that you have no reason to be, right?"

"chenle, for god's sake, i'm not jealous of this animal!" renjun whined.

the younger chinese male scoffed loudly, stopping again and facing his friend while crossing his arms over his chest. "let me guess, you think jeno spends too much time with it?" he started, not needing a confirmation from renjun to know the answer.

"of course, he- "

"you think jeno is more eager to see the rabbit than you?" chenle continued.

"he is- "

"you think that jeno replaced you with the rabbit?"

"you should see him with it!" renjun protested. "you'll understand how he replaced me!"

another desperate sight slipped past chenle's lips. "renjun, do you realise the stupididty of your words?"

"i'm not saying stupid things! i'm stating the truth!"

"huang renjun!" chenle yelled before his friend could continue rambling. "this rabbit is an animal. a fucking animal, with fur, four paws and a tail. it doesn't talk nor understand humans, and it can certainly not become jeno's boyfriend."

"yes, but- "

"there is no but to add!" chenle went on. "jeno is acting like that because you gave him the mission to treat the rabbit like it was his, the same way jeno is yours. jeno is simply reproducing on the rabbit what he observed in the way you treated him."

there was a short silence. "you think so...?" renjun inquired, blinking in confusion.

"renjun, think for a second. why would jeno replace you with a rabbit?"

another silence took over them as renjun thought and realised that chenle was indeed right? why would jeno replace his boyfriend with a rabbit?

"so, he's just... repeating my actions...?" renjun repeated chenle's words.

"yes, he is. just look at him, all tall and muscular, made of perfect bottom material. it is expectable that he doesn't know how to act in such a situation. so, he chooses to inspire himself from the perfect top material he has as a boyfriend." chenle told, approving renjun's words.

the chinese male hummed, looking into the void as everything fell back into place in his mind. there was no reason to feel threatened by the small rabbit. in the end, jeno was renjun's boyfriend, and the rabbit wouldn't change anything.

chenle sighed as he stared at his friend whose lips were curving up in a smile more with each second passing. really, he couldn't believe renjun could be this dense.

"you should go back home and explain yourselves. i think it would help." chenle informed, making renjun nod.

"how about i offer you a drink for making me realise i was stupid, and then i'm going back home? this way i'll get jeno something too." renjun told, and who was chenle to refuse a free drink?

"alright. but let me warn you, next time you convince yourself on something this stupid, you pay for a whole meal." the younger chinese winked before laughing loudly.

"respect your elder, will you?" renjun hit the boy's arm playfully as both of them laughed together.

chenle was right, there was no reason to stress over a rabbit.

nana was just an animal. he could never be a threat to jeno and renjun's relationship anyway.

⊗

it is with a frown on his face and a heavy heart that jeno pushed open the door of his and renjun's apartment. after a long day of replaying his and renjun's argument in his head, jeno was relieved to realise that he had finally reached home and that he would be able to arrange things between them.

jeno had come back home earlier than usual, knowing very well he wouldn't be able to do anything else with his sadness. hence, he knew renjun would probably not be there for the next two hours, but at least, being home helped him feeling a slight bit better, and anyway, he would see nana, and that the animal's presence would immediately make him smile.

"nana, i'm home!" jeno exclaimed, kicking off his shoes and walking inside their home, expecting for the rabbit to come hopping towards him like he usually did when jeno came back. however, no rabbit came today. "nana?"

jeno's frown intensified as he looked around the living room and the kitchen, stopping by the gigantic cage, to see if he could find the rabbit.

"nana, where are you?" he called again, heading towards the bedroom and bathroom since the animal was nowhere to be seen.

"you're making me worried, nana!" he raised his voice a bit, entering his and renjun's shared room and looking around too. "nana, come out of your hiding..." jeno stopped his words as his eyes fell on the window of their room who was slightly opened and gave an access to the outside world. "...spot."

the korean male approached the window, frowning harder than ever. he was sure that he had closed this window earlier this morning. he always made sure to lock it, and he was twice more careful now that he had nana because he certainly didn't want to rabbit to escape.

"nana! please tell me you're somewhere in the house!" jeno's voice became trembling as he turned on his heels and ran across the house, searching everywhere and anywhere for the white furry animal.

"n-nana!" jeno stammered, tears welling up in his eyes as his heartbeat accelerated at the sole thought of failing the only mission renjun had given him: protecting his rabbit.

he hadn't been able to keep his nana safe.

he had lost his nana. lost in the wildness of the world.

his nana was now alone against the wild, probably ran over by a car or transformed in an oven-baked dish by now.

he would never see his nana again, and at the same time, renjun would be disappointed by him.

"w-what did i d-do...?" jeno fell to his knees in the corridor, fresh tears cascading down his cheeks, making him hide his teary eyes with his palms in his most miserable moment.

he was too busy moping that he didn't hear someone sliding through the window of his bedroom and locking it behind them. and he didn't hear them heading in his direction either. of course not.

however, he got very aware of their presence when they tripped on him and caused the both of them to fall to the floor, jeno lying on his back, and the stranger on his stomach, right top on him. and that's when jeno realised that the tall and heavy figure on top of him was certainly not renjun nor the rabbit.

his reaction was quick and efficient, flipping the two of them over, pinning the person's arm to the floor and using his other forearm to press again the stranger's neck.

"who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?!"