The sound of a microwave beeping pierced through the silent room, waking up a small boy who had been fast asleep on the couch.

"God..." Felix groaned as his consciousness came to him, still groggy from sleep. He struggled to turn over and open his eyes, wondering what the noise was that had woken him up.

He took in the blurry view of a tall figure standing near the microwave of the kitchenette, opening it and taking out something in a small bowl.

Right.

Felix had been staying at this motel room for about three days now, as its owner, Hyunjin, was kind enough to offer the other boy his couch to sleep on.
Naturally Felix was incredibly grateful for the roof over his head, and although the taller boy was somewhat reserved, he certainly wasn't bad company at all.

"Hyunjin..." Felix mumbled as he sat up, yawning. "What is that...?"

"Instant rice," the boy in the kitchen called back, his dark hair pinned back and out of his face with bobby-pins.

He padded across the room with the bowl and a spoon, taking a seat on the couch next to the sleepy younger boy. Felix, barely sitting upright with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders, didn't have the energy in him yet to ask for any food.

Hyunjin silently ate his microwaved rice— which Felix doubted could be very good in the first place— and reached for the television remote, turning the old motel TV on with the press of a button.

"What time is it?" Felix asked, closing his eyes again as he leaned back against the couch.

"It's like 9:00 AM," Hyunjin answered as he flicked through the different television channels. "You can go back to sleep if you want. It's still early."

"You're sitting on my couch," Felix responded in a tired monotone.

Hyunjin completely ignored this comment, continuing to enjoy his food without a word.
He finally settled on some animal themed channel, which was playing some program akin to a dog show.

"The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is the largest of the toy dog breeds..." some announcer spoke from the television, an older sounding man with a strong British accent.

Felix opened his eyes to peek at the screen, suddenly interested. A cute little brown and white dog pranced around on camera, its owner praising it.

He subconsciously smiled. The little creature looked exactly like his best friend Chan's dog, a tiny spaniel named Berry.

Hyunjin took notice of the little grin on Felix's face.
"You like dogs?" he inquired, chewing on a spoonful of rice as he watched the younger.

Felix kept his eyes on the screen as he responded.
"Yeah, who doesn't like them?"

"True," Hyunjin nodded, watching the show as well. Another breed walked on screen, with information on the pup being displayed.

"I miss mine a lot," Hyunjin admitted rather quietly, poking at his food with the spoon.

This grabbed Felix's attention, and he looked over at Hyunjin questioningly.
"You have a dog?"

Hyunjin nodded enthusiastically, setting his bowl of rice on the coffee table in front of him and standing up.
"I have pictures, wait," he said, prancing over to grab his wallet and sift through it.

Felix watched, amused, as Hyunjin pulled out a few small photographs before dashing back over to the couch.

"This is my baby," he said as he handed the pictures one by one to Felix, who took them gingerly. Felix only smiled as he flipped through the images of a long haired chihuahua, a puppy looking one that couldn't have weighed over ten pounds.
"His name's Kkami," Hyunjin informed happily.

"Cuteee," Felix cooed at the images. One caught his eye, in which a boy with short black hair held the dog in his arms, giving it a small kiss on the nose.
"Is this you?" he questioned, turning to towards Hyunjin.

Hyunjin nodded.
"Yeah. That picture's from a couple years ago."

Felix pursed his lips, that strange feeling that something was familiar about the photo popping up again. Hyunjin did look incredibly different without his current chin length hair, not to mention he had been younger then. Perhaps Felix was just too used to his regular appearance?

He handed the photos back to Hyunjin once he had looked over them enough.
"Why didn't you bring him with you?" Felix questioned, referring to the dog.

Hyunjin only rolled his eyes as he put the photos down on the table.
"You think I could afford to feed and take care of a whole dog while on the run?"

"He's the size of a rat, Hyunjin. How hard could it be?"

Hyunjin faked a gasp.
"You did not just compare him to a rat," he spoke in a mock offense, holding a hand up to his chest.

"You're right, that was uncalled for," Felix apologized despite the smile on his face.
"But my point is still true. He's tiny."

"You're tiny too, and you managed to waste $200 within seven days," Hyunjin shot back with a tone that sounded like it should have been accompanied by a sassy sip from a teacup.

"I—" Felix gaped at him, unable to come up with a snappy comeback as he watched a smug smile wash over the other boy's face.

Hyunjin only shook his head, standing up and wandering back over to the kitchen in search of more food.

Felix stood up as well, struggling with the heavy blanket still wrapped around him.
"I'm not tiny," he argued, waddling over to the kitchen with as much of a threatening look as an angry duckling.

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows as if to say "yeah, right," and poured himself a glass of water.

"Do this real quick," the elder said after taking a sip from the glass. He held up his right hand, palm facing outward.

Felix, confused, went along with it anyway, and held up his hand, palm facing towards the other.
Hyunjin placed his hand flat against Felix's much smaller one, and as to prove his point, curled his fingertips over the top of the boy's hands.

"'Not tiny' my ass," Hyunjin mocked before he pulled his hand back, leaving Felix frozen in surprise next to him.

"By the way, I've gotta go out today and get some gas for my car," the taller kept talking, tapping his fingers against the counter.

Felix struggled to come up with a response to this.
"Um, okay. Good luck?"

The long haired boy only gave a sweet laugh at this.
"Do you wanna come with? You haven't left the place since you got here," Hyunjin offered as he grabbed his car keys from the counter.

"Sure..." Felix answered.
As usual, Hyunjin's advice seemed right: it wouldn't hurt to get out every once and awhile.

"Right then, come on, we might as well go now," Hyunjin gestured as he downed the last of his water, before striding over towards the door.
Felix quickly came to his senses and threw the blanket back on his couch, adjusting his messy hair slightly on the way to the door.

He had a creeping feeling that this was becoming the new normal for him.