The sound of your phone ringing in your pocket brought you out of your thoughts. Shifting the grocery bags in your right hand over to your left, you reached into your pocket and checked to see who was calling you - your annoying neighbor, of course. Rolling your eyes, you pressed the decline button (and you had to press it multiple times, because it was December and your supposed "touchscreen friendly" gloves were NOT working), knowing full well that he was calling you because he knew you were out in town, probably hoping you'd run some obscure errand for him again. Just as you were about to put your phone back into the pocket of your overcoat, he called again, ruining your plans of ignoring him.
"Yoonhyun! Hey! How's my favorite neighbor?"
"What do you want?" You grumbled, irritated.
"You're gonna be passing by the adoption center on your way home, right?"
"The hybrid adoption center?"
"Yeah."
"Hmmmm..." You pretended to think about it. Of course, the answer was yes, yes you were going to be passing by the hybrid adoption center on your way home. But did you want to run your neighbor's stupid errand? "No, I don't believe I will. Why?"
He laughed. "Silly Hyunnie, of course you will! Can you pick up some of the collars I ordered for Minho? I got an email saying that they were ready for me to pick up. You just have to go in and ask for it at the front desk. Thanks!" With that, he hung up, not giving you the chance to argue.
You sighed. You really, really couldn't stand your spunky neighbor. He was extremely irresponsible, and lazy, and his little "favors" annoyed you to no end. You'd probably be ok with it if he were willing to do some things for you in return, or if he didn't ask so often, but he didn't and he did and that was something that irritated you.
If nothing else, you found his hybrid rather cute. Minho, a long-haired cat hybrid with brown furry ears and a fluffy tail, and chocolate brown hair to match. Since your neighbor was at work from 5 am to 6 pm, the cat hybrid would often come from across the hall to bother you instead. Hell, you were the one feeding him half the time, since he usually ate both breakfast and lunch with you and raided your pantry for snacks throughout the day. You enjoyed his company, as you worked from home and his play sessions provided you with a distraction while you took a break, but it still annoyed you that your neighbor couldn't take care of his own hybrid. Seriously, why did he even get Minho if he wasn't going to take care of him?
That was another thing about your neighbor that annoyed you. He was one of those stereotypical owners who bought his hybrid for the sake of hopping on a bandwagon. Because "everyone had one", that meant that people felt like they somehow needed a hybrid in their homes, as if hybrids were some sort of trendy product, only to ignore them and mistreat them. The mere idea of "owning" another living being made you shudder. Hybrids may have been half animal, but they had a human side, too, and they were just as capable of thinking for themselves as humans were. So why exactly did they have to be pets?
The thought made you extremely uncomfortable. Yeah, there was no way in hell you'd ever take in a hybrid.
Walking up to the hybrid adoption center, you stopped in front of the door and shifted uncomfortably. You really hated that stupid place. Hybrids may have been mere pets without rights in the eyes of the law and the general public, but to you the whole thing felt like you were living in the midst of some extreme form of human trafficking. Walking into a building and seeing a humanoid figure - hybrid or not - behind a glass wall for people to buy and sell like product almost felt apocalyptic to you.
God, why in the hell had you agreed to this?
Pushing through the doors, the one relief that you felt was the warmth that hit you after having been outside in the snow. You took off your gloves and shoved them into your coat pockets, rubbing your hands together in an attempt to warm them up. You turned to your left and made a beeline for the receptionist's desk, doing your best to ignore the rest of the building. The young woman sitting at the desk stopped typing to look up from her computer and smile at you. "Hi, how can I help you?"
