Work Text:
As much as Kai appreciated the alone time and silence that the small house offered when Soobin was away, he couldn't help but feel just a tad lonely. Kai understood all too well that with Soobin's busy schedule of classes and work sessions in the University that he would have to become accustomed to the evenings of being home alone; despite the effort of playing the radio and having the television on for noise he couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness. All throughout Kai's life he was accustomed to having other's either around or near him; having shared a bedroom with his boyfriend he found he was almost never alone, and on the rare occasions Soobin was gone, Kai always had his best friend Taehyun singing in the kitchen, and Soobin’s cousins Beomgyu or Yeonjun grumbling in the living room to keep the silence and loneliness at bay.
It was finally on Kai's fifth night that he finally admitted defeat on trying to stay awake long enough to welcome his boyfriend home; lonely, and a bit broken-hearted Kai made his way up the stairs to their shared bedroom, turning off the lights as he went. Though it was a small two-story house it always felt larger to Kai when Soobin was away at school - the absolute silence from the house making his ears ring painfully whenever he tried to sleep alone - normally the lack of noise never bothered Kai when they were both home in bed, after all, it was never completely quiet when he had the soft rhythm of Soobin's heartbeat, and the gentle sigh of his couple' breathing to lull him to sleep.
Slipping in between the sheets and the comforter Kai found himself curling up around Soobin's pillow - the familiar scent of ginger and spices comforting him as he imagined that it was his boyfriend that he was holding onto rather than just his pillow. The room was eerily quiet save for the occasional ticking from the old alarm clock, the shutters drawn in order to keep the light from the street lamps out; for a moment Kai thought he could hear the front door opening, but after glancing to the clock to see it was just a quarter past eleven he sighed, knowing full well Soobin wouldn't be home till around three and that his imagination was once again playing tricks on him. Pressing a kiss to the pillow Kai sighed once more, closing his eyes as he willed himself to sleep, knowing that at least in the wee hours of the morning, right before work, he would be able to kiss his beloved before having to leave…
It was a busy day at the bakery when the idea for a 'companion' came to Kai's mind; he found himself up to his elbows in flour and pastry dough – baking Soobin’s favorite bread - when he heard the advertisement over the radio. Though Kai had never been much of a listener when it came to radio advertisements or reports, he did, however, find himself listening intently when he heard about how the animal shelter was quickly running out of housing and food for its various occupants; and Kai, being the kind-hearted man that he was, found himself slowly entertaining the idea of perhaps stopping by to at the very least see what the shelter had to offer. Amidst the rolling of the dough and the forming of the pastries Kai thought of just what type of pet would be a good fit for both him and Soobin; as much as Kai would love to adopt a dog he knew it wouldn't work out, he did, however, think about adopting a cat- after all, cats were both loving and independent.
Chuckling softly to himself Kai placed the raw pastry puffs onto a baking pan, placing the pan into the walk-in cooler before he headed to the sink to clean himself up; perhaps it was a bit sudden, but with the workday finally over and the animal shelter just a few blocks away he made up his mind and decided that he would go. After all, what would be the harm in simply looking?
"Soobin is going to kill me." Kai groaned as he made his way home, a medium-sized cardboard box cradled protectively in his arms. The scratching that came from inside the box stopped as Kai spoke, only to resume once more when Kai had finished. However much shame Kai felt at bringing home the new pet he felt just as much joy- hoping with all his heart that Soobin would fall in love with the new addition to their 'family' just as much as he did. Making his way up the driveway Kai sighed in relief at seeing the lights off in the windows, knowing that with it being a Thursday evening that he would have a good couple of hours before Soobin would come home.
"I guess it's the perfect time to do a bit of bonding." Kai chuckled softly to the critter inside the box as he carefully maneuvered the key into the lock, having to resort to using his knee to open the door as he refused to put down the box until he was inside and the door was shut. Flipping on the lights as he went Kai headed straight up the stairs to the shared bedroom, talking and cooing to the creature inside the box. Kai couldn't help but smile as he made his way up the stairs and into the bedroom, shutting the door tightly before turning on the bedside lamp. As Kai placed the box down onto the bed, he began to strip himself from his jacket and work clothes, remaining only in his white sleeveless shirt and briefs. Slipping onto the bed he slowly opened the box with nimble fingers, opening the top wide enough for the small pure white creature to peer out.
"Welcome home." Kai smiled, opening the box's top completely to allow the creature to stand up on its back legs, looking about the room with red-hued eyes before lunging out. For a moment the creature looked about in unease, its nose wiggling a mile a minute before tentatively hopping towards Kai, its long ears twitching. "It's okay Tobin, take your time." Kai cooed to the bunny, allowing the small creature to come to him by choice rather than force. "Looks like I'm your new Daddy."
The bunny slowly hopped towards him, moving to sit in between Kai's outstretched legs as Tobin sat up to peer closely at his new 'Daddy'. With a rather large yawn, Tobin sat back on his haunches, allowing Kai to stroke his ears as he climbed up to sit on Kai's thigh, curling up against Kai's pudgy belly; his nose twitching as Kai stroked him to sleep with his soft and pudgy hands…
"Hyuka, would you care to explain to me why all the lights are on downstairs if you are-" Soobin stopped mid-sentence as he stood in the doorway to the shared bedroom, an eyebrow arched as he took in the sight of Kai asleep on top of the covers with a box at the foot of the bed. Soobin grew even more perplexed however when he glanced at the box again, noticing holes that were neatly punched out on the sides and a few carrots inside half eaten- It was then that Soobin noticed the bundle of white fur that was tucked in the nook of Kai's folded arms, two red-hued eyes peering out at him. "Huening Kai, what on earth did you do?!"
Kai's eyes lazily flickered open, a yawn tearing through him as he slowly sat up from where he was once lying on his side. The bunny glared at the both of them at having been 'rudely' awoken. However, Kai knew an explanation was in order, and as if to prove his point he picked up the small white bunny and held him close, lips tugging in a pout when Soobin repeated his question.
"H-Hyung, you’re home.”
Soobin didn’t even flinch. “What. Is. That.”
“Now, I know I shouldn't have brought Tobin home-" he started to explain before being cut off rudely.
"You named it?!" Soobin demanded in anger, arms crossing over his chest as his eyes narrowed, only softening when he witnessed Kai flinch.
"You and I both know you work long hours at the university's lab, I get lonely- and tonight was this little guys last night at the shelter! They were going to put him down if I hadn't had adopted him. Please Binnie, Tobin will be a good little bunny, I promise! After all, bunnies don't make too much mess, and I'll take care of everything he needs, and look," Kai found himself near the brink of tears as he pleaded desperately with his older boyfriend, his free hand softly stroking Tobin's ears. “He looks just like you!”
Soobin fought back a sigh, a hand running through his hair as he moved to join Kai on the bed, glancing down at the bunny that seemed to almost glare up at him. "Hyuka…I'm not happy that you didn't ask first- but I suppose we could always talk more about this in the morning, it is late."
"You mean it?" Kai asked enthusiastically.
"Now don't get your hopes up, we'll talk about it, if we can't come to an agreement we'll-" Soobin paused when he saw the way Kai pouted, "All right, all right, he can stay!"
Nearly bursting with happiness Kai got into his tippy toes to give Soobin a quick kiss on the lips, allowing Tobin to hop back towards his box. They would have to go to the pet store in the morning for supplies, but for that moment in time, Kai was just absolutely thrilled to have Soobin in agreement that Tobin could stay. Even if it was out of a bit of reluctance, Kai knew that Soobin would grow to love Tobin, or at the very least co-exist with the bunny.