Bear with each other - huang renjun
pairing: huang renjun x fem reader
genre: fluff, romance, enemies to lovers, colleagues to lovers; zookeeper au
synopsis: being a zookeeper comes with many perks, such as being able to get up close and personal with the wild animals you've ogled at from behind zoo enclosures as a child. This is especially true for you, a new zookeeper starting her career. However, something happens on the first day of work, causing you to take an immediate dislike to another zookeeper, Renjun. That's fine, the feeling's mutual - he doesn't like you either. But soon, you're forced to work together every single day. Will you guys be able to bear with each other, or will something more happen?
warnings: mentions of food, y/n and Renjun are immature idiots - I mean REALLY immature, swearing and cursing
word count: 17.2k (overshot again oops)
a/n: i'm sorry that this was pretty bad! i really have no idea how a zoo works, and this is also my first time writing e2l. However, that aside, I wanna say a huge thank you to all my moots who gave feedback on the banner!
tagging: @moonsclover @hyukaseggtarts @renjuns-grillfreind @bangchan-fairy @softforqiankun
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Sailing in through the entrance of the zoo, you make your way to the staffroom, stifling a yawn. Checking your watch, you realise that it's currently 6 in the morning. Way too early for your brain to be functioning.
"Hello, are you the new zookeeper, y/n?" Looking up, you see a tall young male with blond bangs coming just past his brows. He looks at you with his doe eyes, which hold a kind glow to match his equally kind, yet shy tone.
"Yes, I am!" you reply, smiling.
"Okay, you can put your bag down here, and then you can get changed before I show you around the area!" Jisung continues, gesturing to a cupboard. Opening up the door, you see only a few other bags inside. "Most of the zookeepers aren't here yet," he explains. "They mostly come around 6: 30 am, but we're here earlier so that we can tour around the area before work. Oh and, your uniform should be inside too".
You nod, tossing your bag inside and getting a sip of water before seeing your uniform hanging from the rack above you, a name tag pinned on it. Locating the staff restrooms, you quickly make your way into the ladies' and change.
When you get back out, Jisung is in the staff area waiting for you. "Alright, let's go!" He leads you on a tour around the zoo, showing you the different sections of the staff area, secret passages meant only for staff and other areas that were meant only for authorised personnel that you'd need to know existed. Some of the animals are already up and about, while others stay in their dreamland.
When you guys get back to the staff area, you're just in time for the daily team meeting, held by the head zookeeper, Sicheng. "Alright, good morning team, thank you all for being on time this morning," he begins as everyone gathers around him. "First of all, I'd like to begin today by introducing a new zookeeper, who will be joining us starting today. Please welcome y/n! She will be shadowing Jisung, our koala keeper".
Around you, the zookeepers burst into applause, and you even hear a few cheers. You can't help but feel your cheeks heat up in slight embarrassment.
Sicheng continues after the applause dies down. "Next, our veterinarians have some updates for us," he says, gesturing to a few people standing at the side of the circle, dressed in white lab coats. One of them, whom you presume is the head veterinarian, steps up.
"Good morning team. Alright, first up, this is for the parrots. After conducting a check-up on Ringo last week, we have decided to increase the dosage of his medicine to 2 mg. Kun, please take note of this".
"Got it, thanks Taeil," a man wearing round-rimmed glasses speaks up from across you and Jisung.
"And for the snow leopards, how's Snowstar doing?" Taeil continues asking and typing on his phone.
"She's doing a lot better now. She's regained her appetite and energy, and isn't vomiting anymore," a male speaks, giving updates on said animal.
"Alright, that's good. We’ll come and check on her, and if all is well, you can take her off medication and resume feeding as per normal," Taeil recites, typing more notes into his phone. "Thanks Jeno. That's all the updates for today, any of you have any concerns about your animals?" Taeil continues to ask, sweeping a quick glance around the circle of zookeepers. "Then that's all I have, thank you Sicheng," he concludes, and his team steps to the side to make room for Sicheng.
The head zookeeper takes his place in the middle of the circle again. "Alright, then that's about all. Any new information will be disseminated through the group chat we have. All zookeepers, please come get your walkie-talkies. Thank you team, meeting dismissed," he concludes.
After picking up your walkie-talkie, you follow Jisung and another dark-haired male to a communal kitchen. "Hi y/n! I'm Jaemin," the latter introduces himself to you, offering you a handshake while grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"So the first thing we usually do in the morning is prepare breakfast for the animals," Jisung says as you make your way to the area set aside for the koala keepers. "We pick out fresh eucalyptus branches for four of our koalas. The fifth one's still a baby, so he'll just nurse from his mom. After that, if we still have time, we go help other zookeepers in preparing their animals' food".
That being said, three of you proceed to scour the stored pile of eucalyptus branches and pick out the freshest ones. When you're done with that, you each pluck a few leaves out and put them into feeder toys. "Same routine for their lunch and dinner, yeah?" Jaemin prompts, and you and Jisung nod.
You're done preparing the koalas' food fairly quickly, so you and Jisung go help the manatee keepers, Jaehyun, stash fresh vegetables and water plants into special floats, while Jaemin opts to help the birds-of-prey keepers gut the prey their birds will feed on. "Thanks for your help," he says as he gives you and Jisung a grateful smile.
"Now we go ahead and feed these to the koalas,” Jisung instructs. "After they've eaten, check on them and ensure none of them are sick, injured or exhibiting strange behaviour. If any of them seem unwell, do flag it up, I’ll get the vets”. You make your way out to the koala enclosures with the two other zookeepers. He shows you specialised platforms where you can put the branches, and you set the branches down into the holes. Jaemin then leaves the feeder toys around the enclosure.
Looking up, you spot the koalas making their way down from the eucalyptus trees to feed, and three of you go about checking on the animals. Jisung and Jaemin are so familiar with the koalas, they can tell each koala apart just by looking at them. It helped that each koala was able to respond when called by name, or else you’d have a hell of a time trying to tell them all apart. You notice a tiny koala head peering out of one koala's pouch, inquisitive eyes looking left and right. “Oh my gosh, so cute!” you can’t help but exclaim.
“Oh, that’s Kendra and her joey Max! She gave birth a while back,” Jaemin informs.
Meanwhile, Kendra crawls along the length of the tree branch and sidles up next to Jisung, who giggles and lets her clamber onto him. “Go on, pat her! She’s very friendly,” Jisung encourages, and you do so, relishing the feeling of the koala’s fuzzy head leaning against your hand, and the texture of the fluffy koala fur. Another koala, Kyle, clings on to Jaemin, refusing to let go.
After feeding the koalas and ensuring their well-being, it’s cleaning time. You follow Jisung and Jaemin back to the staffroom to get the cleaning supplies, and enter the enclosure with them. Shovelling koala poop into buckets soon gets monotonous though, so you guys engage in conversation again.
“If you guys want, you can go help other keepers out with their cleaning,” Jaemin says when you finish cleaning the area. “But I’ll stay behind to train the koalas. Keep your walkie-talkies with you, yeah".
“Let’s go help the monkey keepers,” Jisung suggests, and you follow him to find the monkey keepers. "Shotaro, do you need any help?" he asks as you pass by a male with small eyes and dark brown hair.
"I'm fine, thanks!" Shotaro answers. "But I think Renjun needs help with the spider monkey exhibit. Oh and, welcome to the team y/n!" he adds, showing you a bright eye smile.
"Thank you!" you reply, and you're soon on your way with Jisung to the spider monkey exhibit.
"Renjun, do you need some help cleaning up here?" Jisung asks the black-haired man, currently using a shovel to dig in the ground, a metal bucket beside him.
"Yes, please!" says Renjun, not looking up.
"Hmm, maybe you can clean out the moat? I'll help clean other areas," Jisung suggests, and you agree. You return to the staff area to get a net, another shovel and two more buckets. Using the net, you fish out pollutants like trash and dead leaves from the moat, and then put it into the bucket, careful not to accidentally scoop up the fish inside. You continue doing your job, scrutinising each area you pass by thoroughly to make sure it is absolutely clean before moving on.
However, what happens next makes you realise - it's probably wise to keep your eyes ahead of you as well.
You move a bit too quickly, colliding with someone else. Next thing you register is a startled yell, someone grabbing your arm, and your head going under water. Fortunately, the moat isn't very deep, and you find your way back up to the surface, spitting out mouthfuls of water that you'd accidentally gulped. Turning to your right, you see Renjun in the moat, coughing and spluttering up water as well.
"What happened?" Jisung splutters, running up to you and Renjun and pulling both of you out. You both looked a very sorry sight at the moment, dripping with moat water.
"Y/n pushed me into the moat!" Renjun huffs, indignance clear in his voice.
"HEY! You pulled me in!" you retort.
"I panicked, ok? You knocked into me, I lost my balance, and I just tried grabbing something to steady myself! It's not my fault that I ended up grabbing your arm!" He argues, not willing to back down.
"Hey, hey, what's happening here?" another voice cuts your ensuing argument with Renjun off. From behind you comes another zookeeper, sporting chin-length brown hair, and following behind him is Shotaro.
"They fell into the moat, Yuta," Jisung hurriedly tries to explain the situation before him – two grumpy-looking zookeepers, completely drenched from head to toe.
"I see. It's alright, go get changed, you'll be fine," Yuta says as Shotaro passes you and Renjun a towel and a spare set of clothes each. "Don't worry about it! Accidents happen," Yuta reassures.
Thanking them, you hurry off in the direction of the female washroom, barely registering Jisung's instructions to look for him at the koala exhibit after you’re done. That idiot, pulling me into the moat and then blaming everything on me! You think as you dry yourself and change quickly.
You hurry to find Jisung back at the koala enclosure. "What happened?" Jaemin asks, seeing you come back with soggy hair and the biggest scowl engraved in your features.
"Long story," you mutter, throwing your damp hair into a bun. No time to tell them now, the zoo was nearing opening time, meaning visitors would soon start streaming in. Plastering a smile onto your face, you turn towards the entrance of the koala exhibit, preparing to receive the first visitors of the day.
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"Thank you for coming! Enjoy the rest of your visit!" you repeat the same words to yet another batch of guests leaving the koala exhibit.
"Good afternoon everyone. The zoo exhibits will be closing in fifteen minutes for the staff lunch break. In the meantime, you may stop by the nearby eateries for lunch, and come back again at 1 pm. Thank you very much". An announcement comes over the PA system.
"Oh finally!" you sigh in relief. You’d spent about three hours ushering guests in, answering their questions, and stopping children from disturbing the koalas - and you were starving.
"All good?" you hear Sicheng’s kind voice from beside you. As the head zookeeper, Sicheng wasn't in charge of one particular exhibit. Some days, he would station himself at one exhibit and assist the zookeepers there. Other days, like today, he would just supervise all the zookeepers, going from one exhibit to another to check on them.
"We're good!" Jaemin replies.
"That's great! There shouldn't be any more visitors for now, so you can go ahead and close up for lunch," Sicheng informs, and walks off again.
Three of you head back to the staff area. There wouldn't be time to eat out, so you'd buy takeout and return to the staff area to eat.
"I'm gonna get macs, does anyone want anything?" one of the zookeepers asks.
"Yes please!" Jaemin pipes up and gives the other zookeeper his order, Jisung doing the same.
"You want anything, y/n?" the zookeeper directs his question to you.
“Yes, I’d like a cheeseburger meal! Thank you so much, I’ll pay you back later,” you reply, shooting the zookeeper a grateful look as he nods.
"Let's go prepare lunch for our koalas," Jaemin says, and you go back to the kitchen, repeating the same routine you followed in the morning to prepare the koalas' meal.
Not long after you're finished, lunch arrives. “Join us, y/n!” Jisung extends a friendly invitation to you as his usual group of friends sits down around a table.
You accept their invitation, and join them at the table, ready to tuck in. “Let’s do a self-introduction, since y/n probably doesn’t know us yet,” one of them suggests. “I’m Mark, and I’m a pudu keeper,” he adds.
The introductions go on round the circle. Jeno the snow leopard keeper, Haechan the hippo keeper, Sungchan the tapir keeper, Shotaro the tamarin keeper who helped you after you fell into the moat, Chenle the meerkat keeper who so kindly bought lunch for all the zookeepers, but uh oh…who was that at the end of the circle?
“I’m Renjun. I’m usually at the monkey exhibits as well, but I’m mainly in charge of the spider monkey exhibit,” the last zookeeper says, and you don’t miss the unmistakable glare he shoots you.
“Of course Sicheng made you work with monkeys. You’re as troublesome as a monkey, so you'd definitely do well there. I mean, it takes one to know one, right?” You can’t resist the opportunity, and shoot him a sarcastic comment.
"At least monkeys are smart, unlike you!” Renjun retorts, making no attempt to hide his irritation.
“Woah, you guys just met, be nice!” Mark gently chides, although he’s laughing. Embarrassment heats up your cheeks as you feel like a kindergartener being scolded by her teacher.
“Not really. We met this morning. How memorable,” Renjun says, tone dripping with sarcasm.
“What happened?” Jeno asks, and the others lean forward to listen, all curious about what happened.
“I so nicely volunteered to help him clean the spider monkey exhibit, and in return for that, he pulled me into the moat and got me drenched,” you snort, summing up the events of the morning. Well, not the full truth, because it was kind of your fault too - but you weren’t gonna embarrass yourself by saying that in front of your new friends.
“Well what about the part where you pushed me in?” Renjun cuts in.
“It was an accident!”
“I pulled you in by accident too!”
“Enough bickering, y’all. Let’s forgive each other and move on, shall we? Accidents do happen, just be careful next time,” Shotaro’s soft voice cuts the argument off.
You shoot one last dirty look at Renjun, and then focus your attention on the conversation, listening with amusement as Haechan launches into a story of how one of the pudus chewed a hole in his hat that morning.
About forty minutes later, Sicheng interrupts the zookeepers' chatter by announcing that zookeepers should begin preparing for visitors to arrive again.
Following his instructions, three of you do a quick cleanup of the koala exhibit, just to make sure it's presentable for when guests arrive.
"Round two, let's go," Jaemin mutters as his watch strikes one, and you prepare for the next influx of visitors.
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"Good evening everyone. The zoo will be closing in fifteen minutes, please vacate our premises by 8 pm. Thank you very much". The announcement finally comes over the PA system. Last batch of visitors, and you could go get dinner and then head home!
"Thank you for visiting! Do come again," you repeat again and again like a broken radio, waving all the guests out.
When all the guests have left, three of you bring down fresh eucalyptus leaves for the koalas' dinner, and the fluffy grey creatures approach you three to claim their treasures.
"Guys, smile!" Jaemin says, and you turn around just as he raises his handphone and takes a wefie with you and Jisung. "Nice! I'm uploading this". You guess that he's uploading the pictures onto the zoo's social media platforms.
It's only fifteen more minutes, but it feels like eternity after you finish cleaning up the exhibits and ensuring the animals are safe for the night. Bidding goodbye to your fluffy grey friends, three of you head back to the staff area to claim your bags. "Wanna come with us for dinner?" Jaemin asks you, and you agree, assuming that he was referring to the same group of colleagues you'd met at lunch. "You might have to wait a bit, though".
"That's alright," you reply, turning on your phone.
The group comes back one by one, until only Shotaro is left. He finally arrives twenty minutes later, rushing into the staff area. "I'm sorry! Tamarins make such a mess," he says, panting. It's clear that he's been running, from the sweat on his forehead and his heavy breathing.
"Dude, chill. We understand, we're not gonna leave without you," Mark laughs, giving the other time to catch his breath. "Anyway, where do you guys wanna eat?"
"Wanna eat at Subway? I'm craving that," Haechan suggests.
"Fine by me," Chenle says, shrugging.
"No violent objections? Subway it is then," Mark decides, leading the rest of you out of the zoo. It's then that you catch sight of Renjun in the group, chatting with Chenle, and you roll your eyes in disdain as you recall the events of the morning. God, why’s he everywhere?
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"So, y/n, how was your first day of work?" Mark inquires once the whole group is settled down with their food.
You take a moment, quickly running over the events of the day in your head. "It was really eventful! I think I'll love it here," you reply, smiling from ear to ear. You weren't lying, you'd enjoyed your first day of work as a zookeeper thoroughly.
"What's your favourite part of the job?" Jaemin asks as he takes a bite of his sandwich.
"Definitely the animals! They're so lovable!" your answer comes naturally, without you needing to think much of it. They were the reason you'd chosen this job, despite being offered others that most would perceive as more attractive.
"Glad to hear you're settling in well," Jeno remarks, his smile radiating a kind glow.
"Any interesting working experiences you guys have had that you'd like to share with our dear y/n?" Haechan poses the question to the guys sitting around the table.
"Oh- yes actually. You know the free-roaming peacocks you see around the zoo?" Jisung says, turning to you, and you nod. You'd chanced upon some of them while getting around the zoo. "They have a knack for bothering visitors. I've lost count of all the times I've had to help visitors reclaim items that were snatched by peacocks, shoo them away when they blocked visitors' paths, or even stop them from randomly attacking visitors". That didn't surprise you. Earlier in the day, you'd watched as Sicheng struggled to pry a peacock's beak open to help a family get their entrance tickets back.
"They might look pretty, but they can be such troublemakers," Sungchan adds, earning emphatic nods and mutters of agreement from the other guys. "Also, they’re terribly dumb. Some wander into the big cat enclosures and get torn up," he finishes.
Okay, that one got you. You're left gawking at Sungchan.
"For real! I witnessed it happen a long time ago," Jeno pipes up from across the table. "I was talking to this huge group of visitors, when one of the peacocks somehow got in - I dunno how either, maybe it got in when one of us opened the gate, and stayed there unnoticed. And then you know Baymax, our adolescent male? He stalked it, and then went in for the kill".
This time, it's Shotaro's jaw that drops. "In front of all the visitors?"
Jeno nods. "Tore it apart in front of the shocked adults and screaming children. Kinda feel bad that so many people saw it happen, but circle of life, y'know".
You feel yourself shudder after hearing Jeno's story. "Gosh, unlucky you. I hope I never witness that in my life".
"Oh! I've got another one. When you clean the parrots' perches, don't look up," Chenle says, bringing in his own story. "They wait for you to look up before taking a dump. That's how you get poop in your mouth. I speak from experience, since I used to be a parrot keeper before the meerkat exhibit opened”.
While you almost choke on your drink, the others guffaw at him. "Seriously? Wasn't that one of the first things Kun warned you about when you came?" Jaemin laughs.
"It was! But I never believed him, until I learnt the hard way. Regrets much," Chenle sighs.
"That's your problem," Renjun says with a smirk.
"Shut up!" Chenle exclaims, punching him on the shoulder. Somehow, you find yourself laughing at the interaction between him and Renjun, despite your dislike for the latter.
"Oh, I've got one too!" Sungchan exclaims. "Don't ever let tapirs turn their backs on you because-"
Before he can finish, he's cut off by exclamations of "that’s disgusting!" and "ew not now!" from the guys.
“It’s not that bad, I swear!” Sungchan protests, trying to get everyone to calm down, while you’re left confused as to what was the story they were so desperately trying to get him to keep quiet about, and whether it was really that bad.
“No, I don’t believe you. I’ve heard it before,” Shotaro disagrees, making a face.
“If you really want to tell y/n, can you not do so while we’re all eating?” Jisung adds, making the same disgusted face as Shotaro. “Plus, it’s her first day working here! Don’t gross her out now!”
“Okay, fine, fine!” Sungchan laughs, raising his hands in surrender.
The rest of dinner goes on well, with the boys telling you all sorts of hilarious stories of the animals they worked with, and lots of laughter. As you engage in conversation with them, you realise that it’s not only the animals that would make this job memorable, it was also the company you meet.
With the exception of one guy, who’d been glaring daggers at you since dinner began. But if hanging out with your newfound friends meant putting up with him, you would gladly do so.
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It's been about two months since you first stepped foot into the zoo as a new zookeeper. You'd grown from a clumsy, bumbling zookeeper who would ask for clarifications or google for every piece of information, you'd grown into a confident, assured zookeeper who knows her animals inside and out.
You'd also come to grow close to all of your koalas - Kendra, Max, Kyle, Jackie and Jo, and also the vets and other zookeepers outside of your usual friend group.
Your relationship with Renjun though? Still sour as ever - if not worse. Almost every day over the past two months, if you both weren't avoiding each other, you'd both get into spats over trivial matters - even down to where to eat dinner.
Which brings us to this moment. The two of you stand across each other, boring holes into the other’s soul with piercing glares. Arms akimbo and scowls on your faces, you both looked like roosters gearing up for a fight.
“We already had that last week! I’m not eating there again,” Renjun insists, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Then? What else do you want?” You fire back, equally riled up.
“I already told you, Chinese takeout is the most practical option! Then we could head over to Chenle’s house and eat there or something! Everything else is closed at this hour, and as I’ve stated many times, I’m not gonna be eating fast food again!” Renjun argues, trying to make you see things from his point of view.
However, you weren’t so willing to budge. “First of all-” you begin, but you’re cut off by a voice.
“With both of you arguing like crazed aunties at a market, there is no way I’m letting you into my house,” Chenle interjects, holding up his hand.
“Wise choice,” Mark quips, watching the argument from his place on one of the armchairs. "What's up with you both? You keep stirring arguments up between yourselves for no reason-"
"It's okay, Mark. You know what they say – couples fight," Haechan interrupts with a mischievous grin, which you so wished to wipe off his face.
"We are NOT a couple," you hiss, giving Haechan the best death stare you could. "And never will be".
"I meant a work couple! Like work husband and wife, you know," Haechan whines, feeling like your fierce response was uncalled for.
"You-"
Mark sighs, rubbing his temples in frustration. “Okay but seriously, can you guys just be civil with each other for once? You don’t have to like each other, but you’ve gotta stop exchanging blows in every conversation you guys have,” he adds, an imploring look on his face.
“Yeah, it’d be nice to all hang out together peacefully,” Jisung says, voice mousy-quiet.
This causes you and Renjun to stop dead in your tracks. It was evident that your whole friend group was getting tired of all the back-and-forth squabbling between the both of you within work and outside of work. However, part of you still stood resolute, not wishing to apologise.
“Alright, I’m sorry you guys,” Renjun finally says, after what seems like an eternity of silence.
Well, you have to give credit where credit is due – your sworn nemesis was able to be the bigger person and apologise to the whole friend group, which meant that there was no reason you shouldn’t do so too. “Yeah, I’m sorry too,” you half-heartedly manage an apology.
“All’s good. Now, if that’s all, can we go settle dinner now? I’m starving!” Jaemin whines.
“I was gonna say the same,” Mark laughs. “Let’s go! We can eat at my house after we order food”.
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“Hey y/n, could you come to the staff area for a bit? Over".
It’s just another day at the zoo when Sicheng calls for you out of nowhere through the walkie-talkie. “Yeah, what is it? Over,” you call back into your own walkie-talkie and excuse yourself from Jaemin and Jisung, racing towards the staff area as fast as your legs could carry you, being careful not to bump into any visitors.
“Great! You’re here, thanks for coming so quickly,” Sicheng greets you with his trademark sweet smile, before gesturing for you to take a seat so he could explain. “So another overseas zoo has a rescue giant panda family, and a few red pandas as well. We need a couple of zookeepers to take care of them and help them to settle in. We see that you've grown a lot in your time as a zookeeper, and we think you’d be a good fit for the job. Are you alright with that?” He confirms with you.
Your heart jumps at the thought of being able to work with new animals. What’s more, pandas were your favourite animals! When you were a child, your family would take frequent trips to the zoo, and you’d never fail to ooh and ahh at the giant pandas in the enclosure. There was just something about them that made you take an instant liking to them. You’d never seen red pandas in real life before, but you’d seen images and videos of them online, and you found them absolutely adorable. “Yes, of course!” you squeal, unable to contain your excitement.
Sicheng chuckles at the sight of how thrilled you are, and hands you a form. “Okay. It’ll take a while for them to arrive, but do fill out this form first,” he says, passing you a pen. You oblige, and begin penning your details onto the form.
“Sicheng, you called me?” A shiver runs down your spine as a dreadingly familiar voice sounds from the doorway. Hesitantly, you turn around, and you’re instantly met with a head of black hair and piercing black eyes, which sharpened their gaze as soon as they landed on you. Lo and behold, it was Renjun.
“Ah yes, I was looking for you!” Sicheng answers, jogging over to Renjun, oblivious to the tension between the both of you. A sense of foreboding rises up in you. Please, please, let the other zookeeper not be him, you silently pray.
However, to your dismay, you listen as Sicheng repeats the information he told you earlier to Renjun, and hands him a form as well. Meanwhile, you hear sounds of “okay,” “I see,” “that’s alright,” and “I understand” from Renjun. Gosh, I never thought this day would come. Having to work so closely with my worst enemy.
“Thank you both for your time! More details will be given in the future. I’ll be helping both of you through the process, so don’t worry,” Sicheng reassures, giving both of you a smile and turning to exit the area. "Also! Don't tell anyone else yet, I'll make an announcement when the time is right," he adds quickly with a wink, before walking off. Both you and Renjun turn to him, giving him a pleasant smile and saying goodbye.
Once Sicheng leaves, the friendly vibe in the room dissipates, and is replaced with an atmosphere so icy-cold that even the penguins in Doyoung’s care would have frozen to death. “So, we’re gonna be seeing a lot more of each other from now on, huh,” you say, icicles in your tone as you glower at him.
“I guess. Not that I’m celebrating that fact, though,” Renjun replies equally coldly, returning your hostile gaze.
“Neither am I. I only accepted the job because I love pandas. Never thought I’d have to work with you of all people,” you hiss, making your disgruntlement clear.
“Same here. If I’d known, maybe I’d have thought twice, but I wouldn’t throw away the chance to work with one of my favourite animals, so you better not mess this up for me,” Renjun warns, a haughty glint in his eye.
“Bold of you to assume I’d screw things up. It’d be my own career I’m ruining. I should be the one giving you that warning,” you shoot. Turning on your heel, you flick your hair and walk out of the room, going back to the koala exhibit to find Jisung and Jaemin. Although there was some time before you’d actually have to take over the new exhibit with him, the mere thought of working with your sworn enemy filled you with so much dread. At least I get to work with some of my favourite animals, you think to yourself, trying to comfort yourself with that thought.
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A few weeks later, you're preparing the koalas' breakfast again. Because you'd become more well-versed with the process of preparing their food, the three of you finish fairly quickly, so you guys decide to assist other zookeepers with breakfast preparations.
"y/n! thanks for coming to help," Hendery exclaims as soon as you reach the section of the kitchen intended for the nyalas.
"No problem," you answer, giving him the most reassuring smile you could muster. "How can I help?"
Hendery proceeds to explain the process of preparing food for nyalas to you, since you'd never done so before. It was quite a simple process, so you caught on quickly.
You've just finished setting aside yet another giant metal bowl of fruits, grass and flowers when Sicheng comes over to your side of the kitchen. "Sicheng! What's up!" Hendery greets with his usual exuberance.
"Hey," Sicheng greets back, giving Hendery a side hug. "I need to steal y/n, hope that's fine with you".
Your ears prick up at the mention of your name, and you instinctively swivel your head in the direction of where the duo are standing. Hendery clutches his chest, letting out a dramatic gasp and pretending to pass out. "So you only came for y/n? What about me?" he whines.
Sicheng rolls his eyes, and flicks Hendery's forehead. "Don't be dramatic. I need to talk to her and Renjun," he explains.
"I'm joking," Hendery chuckles. "Of course you can''. He waves you off, and you follow Sicheng as he heads to the spider monkey exhibit to look for Renjun.
"Hey! I've been looking for you. Let Yuta and Shotaro know that you're with me," Sicheng shouts to Renjun, but you barely take notice. That is, until said boy emerges from the enclosure, and you both exchange glares as a very friendly form of greeting.
"The animals just arrived. They're here!" Sicheng breaks the unfriendly eye contact between you and Renjun with a snap of his fingers, and gestures for both of you to follow behind him. He leads you both behind the staff area, and opens up a door. You'd taken notice of that door before, but never entered. You wouldn't have been allowed to normally, anyway. That door is the veterinary clinic.
"Before we take another step in, we've gotta put these on," Sicheng stops you and Renjun from walking further into the vet clinic as he slathers hand sanitiser over his hands, and passes a surgical cap, a mask, a special gown and a pair of surgical gloves to you. He hands a similar set to Renjun. "Don't forget to sanitise your hands too," he reminds before any of you put the gloves on.
Having been used to donning your usual work uniform, consisting of just a polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, you felt quite strange in the unfamiliar veterinary garb. However, you don’t complain, and make your way into the clinic, curiosity already gnawing at you like a hardworking beaver building a lodge.
The sight you're met with is enough to melt your heart on the spot - two giant pandas in their crates, sporting their characteristic black eye patches. One chews languidly on a stick of bamboo as Taeyong and Xiaojun examine its eyes with an otoscope, while the other lays down with its eyes closed. Beside them are four more sizable crates, each of them containing a red panda. They turn to you, regarding you with bright eyes that remind you of black marbles, curiosity reflecting in their gazes. "Oh my gosh! They're so cute!" before you can control yourself, a squeal escapes your lips as you set eyes on the animals before you.
It seems like Renjun shares your sentiments, because his quiet whisper of "aww" sounds just beside your ear. Whipping your head around, you're surprised to see that his eyes reflect pure adoration and love as he gazes at the animals. Who knew that all that was needed to melt his icy exterior was two panda bears and four red pandas, you think as you chuckle to yourself.
Taeil spots all of you at the door, and he scrambles to lead you all in. "Hi! You're here to meet the pandas, right?" he confirms as he shuts the door, and is met with grunts of confirmation and head nods. "Okay! Right this way!"
You scurry to the crates as Taeil begins introducing the pandas one by one. "The sleeping giant panda is Liang Liang, and the one being examined by Xiaojun and Taeyong is Jing Jing. You can tell them apart by looking at their heads - Liang Liang has a tuft of fur on his head, so he kinda looks like an onion". At that moment, Liang Liang stirs and lifts his head, and that's when all three of you burst into laughter as you see his uncanny resemblance to the pungent vegetable.
"Now the red pandas! This is Tao Tao, Mei Mei, Jun Jun, and Li Li. It might take a while to tell them apart, but don't worry, take your time to learn their personalities. Plus, they're able to respond to their names," Taeil continues, gesturing to each red panda's crate as he speaks.
"So adorable," Sicheng croons, lowering his head to get a good look at the animals, and you notice with amusement that Tao Tao pricks his ears forward and studies Sicheng as well. "How are they? All good and healthy?" Sicheng asks, directing his attention to Taeil as he whips out his phone to take notes.
"So far, we've examined all of them and given them a clean bill of health, except Jing Jing, who is being examined by Taeyong and Xiaojun now," Taeil responds. He casts a glance at the corner, where said vets are hard at work, before lowering his voice and adding, "There is something concerning, though. Her previous vet told me that she's been eating less, sleeping more, and becoming more sensitive to light and sound – all signs that she might be pregnant".
The head zookeeper's expression morphs into one of shock. "Pregnant? No zoo should be sending pregnant animals out on flights!" he whisper-yells, eyes darting to cast a worried glance at Jing Jing.
"Nothing's confirmed yet. It could be a pseudo pregnancy," Taeil answers, putting a hand on Sicheng’s shoulder to calm him down since he’s visibly worried for the panda. "We'll perform an ultrasound scan on her, just to make sure, but other than that she seems healthy. In the meantime, since the others are healthy, you can go and settle them into their new enclosures first. We'll get back to you about Jing Jing as soon as possible," he promises.
Sicheng rests his head on his hand, clearly still concerned, as he lets out a quiet sigh. "Alright then. Thank you so much Taeil," he says, and motions to us. "Come, let's show them their new home," he says, and you and Renjun follow him again.
You'd already seen the panda enclosure once - it was absolutely stunning, with stalks of bamboo growing out from the ground, overhanging branches of bamboo leaves. A few other bushes growing with flowers of every colour a child's mind could conceive sat snugly in corners of the enclosure. Wooden platforms provided spaces for the pandas to lounge on, and a pond at the side proved useful for cooling off on a hot day. To top it all off, the air conditioner made the environment a cool, comfortable place, and you were sure all the animals would love their new living space.
"What we're gonna do now is load one crate onto a trolley, which I'll go get for you guys in a moment, push it to the new enclosure, and then try to get the panda to move in, okay?" Sicheng gives you and Renjun a run-down of the process of moving the animals into the enclosure, and you both nod. "We'll repeat this process for every single one of the pandas, so this might take a while. Wait right here while I fetch the trolley".
Just as Sicheng turns to go to the staff area, a crackling noise emits from his walkie-talkie. He freezes, listening to whatever the other zookeeper is saying on the other end of the device. "Oh no! I'm on my way. Get Kun and ask him to bring the first aid kit. Over," Sicheng hurriedly finishes the conversation, worry evident in his tone. "There's been an emergency at the snow leopard enclosure, I've got to go. Do you both think you can handle the pandas yourself?" He explains the situation and asks, gazing at you both imploringly.
You and Renjun exchange glances, before shrugging and turning back to Sicheng. "We can try," Renjun answers, and Sicheng nods.
"Okay, good. If you need anything, call for one of your other friends, because I'll likely be away for a while. But I'll be as quick as I can," he hurriedly explains, and then rushes off.
Renjun pushes past you, running in the direction of the staff area, before turning abruptly and stopping to look at you. "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up!" he bosses, before running off again.
"Be more patient!" you shout in annoyance, before rolling your eyes and hurrying off after him.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
“Push harder, will you? Ugh, damn it!”
It’s been about fifteen minutes since you and Renjun began. You’d successfully moved the red pandas into the enclosure, and they’d immediately begun exploring their new habitat, curiously sniffing here and there. Li Li even jumped into the small pond of water the moment she noticed.
However, the same could not be said about Liang Liang. You and Renjun had huffed and puffed, and tried to move the trolley, but it still wouldn’t budge, and both of you were growing more and more impatient by the minute.
“I’m trying, okay? Just shut up and push!” you snap at Renjun, unable to keep all the pent-up frustration in you any longer. The both of you make another attempt to push the trolley, but to no avail.
“You’re not even putting in any effort!” Renjun scolds, slumping against the trolley after giving one last heave.
“Who’s the one leaning on the trolley huh?” you spit, shooting laser beams at him with your eyes.
“What’s going on?” a familiar voice interrupts, and you turn to see Chenle running up to you, with Johnny, Haechan and Jungwoo in tow. “Sicheng isn’t free now, so he sent us to help you guys out, and we arrive to find you guys bickering like Kun’s noisy parrots”.
"The couple is fighting again, I see," Haechan says with a smirk, which you ignore.
“We can’t move the panda ourselves,” you admit, heat blooming in your cheeks as the embarrassment of being caught in another argument sinks in.
“You know you could have asked us for help earlier, right?” Johnny chuckles, eyes sparkling with amusement. “It’s alright, we’re here to help now. Let’s get to it!”
With four other people helping to move the giant panda, it gets a lot easier and you're finally able to heave the trolley along. Finally, Liang Liang's crate arrives safely in the enclosure.
"There's one more panda right?" Jungwoo inquires, and Renjun nods.
"She's still in the vet clinic though," he adds.
"Alright, call us again if you guys need more help," Jungwoo says, walking away with the other three zookeepers. "See you guys later!"
Bidding them goodbye, you both turn your attention back to the panda, still chewing on a bamboo stalk lazily. "Liang Liang, hello," you croon gently, squatting down in front of the cage. "Time to explore your new home".
To your chagrin, the panda lifts his head and regards you briefly, only to return to chewing the bamboo stalk, stretching out nonchalantly. "Hey, don't you want to come out? Your friends are here, you know". You try again to get the panda to come out of the crate, but this time he blatantly ignores you, attention still fixated on the stalk of bamboo.
"You've got to move, you know. You can't live in this plastic crate forever," you try once more to convince the panda to come out, but to no avail. At this point, your patience was already worn thin from previous multiple failed attempts to push the crate, and also from trading verbal blows with Renjun.
You're so wrapped up in your cloud of thoughts that you fail to see Renjun approach you slowly. He comes up from behind you, stepping up to where the panda was. Slowly, he crouches down in front of it, speaking to it in what sounds like Mandarin. As you listened, you secretly marvelled at how fluent his Mandarin was. Though you learnt the language too, you'd never come close to even scoring a B in all your school life, and even now when you spoke it, it came out in broken bits and pieces, and you'd stutter and stammer like a broken engine.
To your amazement, the panda lifts its head and looks at Renjun, seemingly paying attention to what he was saying. Slowly, it rises from the ground, and lumbers out of the crate, sniffing the air.
You have to admit, Renjun had used a smart move – speaking Chinese, the panda's "native language", to get it to cooperate.
Renjun turns to you, only to see you with your mouth open so wide you could catch flies. His lips curve into a smug smirk, sending your blood boiling. "Watch and learn," he sniggers.
"I…I-" you attempt to garble out an intelligent insult to fire back at him, but your mind draws a blank. Luckily, the crackling of your walkie-talkie saves you.
"Y/n, can you come to the vet clinic now, please? Bring Renjun with you. Over," Sicheng's voice emits from the earpiece sitting snugly in your ear.
"On our way. Over," you reply, putting the walkie-talkie back into your pocket. "Sicheng's waiting for us at the vet clinic. Hurry up!" you snap at Renjun, before quickening your steps and heading in the direction of the vet clinic.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
"We've just run an ultrasound on Jing Jing, and…she's pregnant". Taeil drops a bombshell the moment you guys arrive at the clinic.
At this statement, you gasp in shock, unable to believe your ears. The zoo sent a pregnant panda on a long flight?
Renjun's mouth hangs agape, while Sicheng's eyes glaze over with worry. "How's the baby? And how is Jing Jing? A pregnant panda might not be able to withstand the stress of a long flight all the way from China!" he rambles, words tumbling over each other.
"She's alright," Xiaojun steps in, trying to reassure all of you (mainly Sicheng, though).
"The foetus looks fine too, so don't worry too much," Taeyong adds with a soft smile.
Hearing this, Sicheng's shoulders relax as he breathes a sigh of relief. You let out one too, after realising that you'd unconsciously held your breath as you nervously waited for the three vets to deliver news, whether good or bad.
Taeil sits down at his computer, makes a few clicks with a mouse, and then turns the screen to you. "These are pictures from the ultrasound scan," he says, drawing up the first picture. "See? This is the foetus," he says and points out a tiny, jelly bean shaped lump on the screen. He continues to show you the pictures one by one, and you look on, awed by what you see. You'd only ever seen pictures of human ultrasound scans, but never ones of a panda's. "Both mama panda and the baby are healthy right now, but keep a close eye on them in the meantime. I'd also like to prescribe her some supplements," Taeil informs three of you, gesturing for you to follow him to a shelf stocked with medicines. He scans the rows of medicines, before picking out two bottles of tablets. After he explains the procedure for administering the medicine, three of you say your thanks and leave.
"I'm kind of concerned for Jing Jing," Sicheng admits as he heads back to the enclosure with both of you. "No – that's an understatement, I'm really concerned".
Sensing that Sicheng was quite tense and anxious, you look up at him and reassure him, "don't worry. The vets have given both of them a clean bill of health, and I'll definitely do my best to look after her well".
Renjun pats Sicheng on the shoulder, trying to comfort him. "I'll do my best too. We all want Jing Jing and her baby to be strong and healthy," he says gently.
For once, you actually agreed with him.
Sicheng smiles back at both of you. "Thanks guys," he says, before a slight frown appears on his face again. "I still want to have a word with the zoo that sent them over, though. It's very dangerous to send a pregnant animal on a flight!" he exclaims.
Renjun nods, humming in agreement. "Wise choice. I'd do the same if I were you," he muses.
Sicheng nods. "Anyway, we'll just let them settle into their new environment for today. They've surely been through a lot," he laughs. "I mean, imagine a trip all the way from China in a plastic crate".
That statement draws giggles from you and Renjun. "So today, both of you just stay here and take care of the pandas, okay? You guys can always call me if you need any help," he instructs, and both of you agree. "Alright, I'll be off now then. See you guys around!"
You and Renjun wave goodbye to him, before sitting down outside the enclosure, maintaining a gap as wide as the Pacific Ocean between both of you. Letting out a huff, you turn away from him and rivet your eyes on the animals in the enclosure. You observe Li Li and Mei Mei frolicking in a tree, Liang Liang attempting to climb a tree, Jun Jun making himself comfy on a wooden platform…
You register a sharp pain as your head hits the glass panel in front of you with a loud thump, and wake with a start. "Ow!" Rubbing your forehead, you whip your head from left to right, trying to figure out where you are. Oh right, you were in the panda enclosure.
To your chagrin, Renjun is looking right at you, biting back a laugh. "Shhh," he hisses, holding a finger to his lips. "Don't knock on the glass," he sneers, still smirking at you as he points at the sign on the glass. His tone was so patronising, it made your blood boil. You were not a child, and would not stand to be treated as such.
"It was an accident!" you return, defensiveness creeping into your tone.
"But you're still not supposed to knock on the glass," Renjun reasons, with the same snobbish tone you detested with all your life.
"I already said it was an accident! For fuck's sake!" you're unable to contain your frustration any longer, and snap at him.
"You can't keep getting into accidents if you want our pandas to grow strong and healthy," he argues. You find your eyes rolling back so far, you swear you can see your brain.
"Accidents happen, and you need to learn to accept that, Huang Renjun. Next time you get into an accident I'm gonna laugh at you too," you huff, exasperation increasing by the second.
"I'm only trying to help! Take a damn comment, y/n!" his voice increases in volume as he says. Arrows seem to shoot from his eyes as he shoots you a vexed glare.
A growl emits from the enclosure, seeming to express displeasure. Jing Jing is now wide awake, looking in Renjun's direction, and you swore that her round, ebony-black eyes held the slightest tinge of vexation as she gazed straight at him.
A snicker emits from your throat, and you seize the opportunity to have a go at him as revenge. "Shhh". Turning to him, you imitate his earlier actions, putting your finger over your lips and sending him the same condescending look he'd eyed you with just minutes ago. "Don't wanna wake Jing Jing up from her beauty sleep, do you?" Your heart swells with glee as his features twist into a disgruntled scowl. “See, you’ve made her upset”.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Renjun mutters, turning away in a huff and crossing his arms. “At least I’m not the one who failed miserably at getting Liang Liang to come out of his crate!”
You don’t say anything, but merely stick your tongue out at him. For once, you had the last laugh in your face-off with Renjun.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
Even though you were an argumentative person by nature, you had to admit that all the bickering was taking its toll on your sanity. You were beginning to go nuts – to the point that you'd begun conversing with your own charges.
Especially Jing Jing, the one you'd grown the closest to.
"Oh, Jing Jing, I'm so frustrated," you complain to the panda in front of you as you caress her head, while she munches on a bamboo shoot, making contented noises from time to time.
Jing Jing looks at you and tilts her head to the side, seemingly confused about what you were saying.
"Your other caretaker gives me so much trouble. So nice to you, yet so nasty to me," you continue to lament as Jing Jing looks on, as if she were listening to your every word. "What do I do? Working with him is awful. Yet, I love you all so much, I don't wanna stop working here".
Jing Jing gives a low rumble, and nudges you slightly with her nose. Peeking in the direction of where she was pointing, you spy Renjun sitting on one of the wooden platforms cross-legged with Tao Tao in his lap. Xiaojun was there to check on the red panda, who'd taken a tumble off a low branch.
"You want me to get along with him–? No, Jing Jing, I can't – he's so difficult," you shake your head in immediate protest, only earning another encouraging rumble from the panda.
Another sigh leaves you. "He's terrible, I swear. There's no way we'll ever be able to get along," you whine, picking at a shoot of bamboo. Then a thought hits you, and you perk up a bit. "But if working with you means I have to bear with him, I'll gladly do so. Get it? Bear with him? Because you're a bear," you giggle quietly at the joke you cracked
Jing Jing takes no heed to your lame joke, returning her attention to the pile of bamboo in front of her. Meanwhile, out of concern for the poor animal, you look back in Renjun's direction.
"He's not hurt, except for that cut. I'll come by to disinfect it every day, so that there's a lower chance of it getting infected," Xiaojun states, preparing his veterinary kit as Renjun nods.
Tao Tao's squeals and whimpers of pain as Xiaojun applies antiseptic to the wound shoot right to your heart, making you want to give him a warm hug and assure him that it'd be over soon. Xiaojun winces at every one of Tao Tao's pitiful cries, and his repeated whispers of "sorry, sorry" drift into your ears.
"Hey, relax, okay?" you catch Renjun saying to Tao Tao in a soothing, pleasant voice, a stark contrast to the jarring, harsh tone you heard so often during your all too frequent squabbles. "I know it hurts, but it's to help you become strong and healthy again so you can go play with your didis and jiejies, okay? It's gonna be over soon. Hang in there". He continues to whisper comforting words to the red panda, all while stroking his head gently. It seems to help, because Tao Tao begins to calm down, only letting out occasional whines from time to time.
Witnessing this tender side of Renjun made your heart melt, and – though you didn't want to admit it, dissolve at least a tiny bit of the hatred you felt towards him. Seeing him treat Tao Tao so lovingly somehow gave you this warm, fuzzy feeling inside, like a cup of peppermint tea on a stormy day.
Xiaojun finishes cleaning the wound as quickly as he started, and is now bandaging it carefully. "He's good to go," Xiaojun confirms, gently placing one more piece of tape over the plaster to hold it in place.
Renjun shoots Xiaojun a look of gratitude, and then returns his attention to Tao Tao. "There. All done. See, no more pain!" he says to Tao Tao, using the same tone one would use to cheer up a young child.
Unknowingly, while watching the whole scene before you, a sliver of a smile had formed on your lips, gradually growing as the sweet scene unfolded before you. Just then, he looks in your direction, and you hastily swivel your head back to Jing Jing, avoiding eye contact with him. Maybe, just maybe, you'd be able to get along with him.
Or would you?
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
The next few weeks spent preparing the panda enclosure for official opening were well…chaotic. Renjun and you got along just as well as a bear and wolf in the same enclosure, and every interaction both of you had seemed to drive a bigger wedge between both of you. Working with him wasn't getting any more pleasurable. The only thing keeping you going was, well, the pandas. Today, things are unusually heated, even for the both of you.
"Y/n! Pass me another shoot of bamboo!" Renjun bellows from one end of the kitchen.
"Get it yourself! Can't you see I'm busy?" you scream in response, busily washing the bamboo leaves in a big basin.
"You're closer to it than I am. Go get it for me!"
"Is it that hard for you to take a few steps and come get it yourself?"
"Is it that hard for you to take one and pass it to me?"
"Ugh! Whatever, here". You finally relent, albeit grudgingly. Picking up a few more bamboo shoots from the nearby pile, you storm over to Renjun's side of the kitchen and unceremoniously plonk them onto his table, earning you a glare of fury.
"Renjun! What are you even doing! There's still a smudge here!" you holler, blood pressure rising at the sight of a smudge of grime on the glass panel of the enclosure while cleaning up the place.
"I know, I know! I'm coming! So fucking impatient," the irked response comes from the other end of the enclosure, the last part purposely being said softer.
"I heard that!" you snap, burning a hole into him with your infuriated glare, which he simply returns.
The rest of the morning goes by with more scuffles between both of you. You'd both cool down in the presence of guests, only to return to fighting like elephant seals as soon as they left. As usual, Sicheng was an unfortunate witness to most of them, but he simply raised an eyebrow at the both of you and didn't scold any of you at any point.
"Oi Renjun! We're having a class of kindergarten children over later, better not fuck up!" you bark, in a sullen mood from earlier events.
"I know what I'm doing! Mind your own business and make sure you don't fuck up," Renjun says brusquely. "Now you better shape up, because they're coming!"
Your eyes slowly make a 180° flip upwards, but you still manage to hastily turn the corners of your mouth upwards as you turn towards the entrance, preparing to receive the class of students. It was your last batch of guests for the day, and you wanted to quickly get it over and done with so you could go get dinner.
"Hi everyone! Welcome to the panda exhibit!" you begin, waving your hands in exuberance and greeting them cheerfully. From the corner of your eye, Sicheng gives you a thumbs up, a smile of approval on his face.
Assurance settles in your chest, and you continue. "I'm y/n, and beside me is Renjun. We're the zookeepers in charge of this exhibit, and we'll be showing you around today. Follow us!"
You lead them around to the other side of the exhibit, where two fluffy, black and white heads soon come into view.
"Aww, so cute!"
"Panda!"
"Which is Liang Liang and which is Jing Jing?"
A hoard of squeals of adoration, along with some questions arises from the crowd of kindergarteners before the both of you, and both of you hurry to calm them down. "Alright, questions one by one!" Renjun yells over the noise. "Raise your hand to ask".
A boy with dark hair puts his hand up. "Who is who?" he asks, head tilted to the side with a quizzical expression.
Renjun looks out into the enclosure, squinting his eyes slightly to make out the pandas. "Oh! The one munching on bamboo is Liang Liang, while the one sleeping next to him is Jing Jing. Liang Liang's head looks a bit like an onion. See? There's a tuft of fur sticking out from the top of his head," Renjun explains to the children. A chorus of "oohs" and "ahhs" come from the children as they continue staring at the pandas, agog with curiosity.
"Did you know that pandas used to be all white?" Renjun quips, distracting the children momentarily.
"Really?" They chorus, and Renjun just gives them a nod.
"This is a legend, from a long, long time ago". From there, he tells them the story of how pandas got their black colouration from – a legend of a shepherdess who'd given her life to save a panda cub from a leopard. The heartbroken pandas attended her funeral, and wore black armbands as a sign of respect. Unable to contain their grief, they hugged each other and sobbed piteously. The cries got so loud that they covered their ears to block out the noise. The black colouration rubbed off onto wherever they touched themselves, and from then on, all pandas carried the black marks.
Your curiosity was piqued, as you'd never heard of such a legend in your entire life. As Renjun continued telling the tale, your heart seemed to shatter into pieces slowly. He told the story as if he had lived to witness the whole thing, and told the story in such a poignant manner that he made you feel as if you were at the shepherdess's funeral yourself.
"And that's how the panda got its black-coloured markings," Renjun concludes with a small smile.
Most of the kindergarteners seem to be fascinated by the story, some even showing mild sadness on their faces. However, a piercing cry comes from one child, startling everyone present.
"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry, don't cry! It's just a legend, it's all pretend," Renjun exclaims, flying into a panic. "It didn't actually happen. It's just a story," he adds, attempting to calm the child down.
The awe you felt over Renjun's storytelling skills quickly becomes converted to rage, and the child's piteous cries only serve to fan the flames of fury in your heart, and you have to hold yourself back from giving Renjun a tight slap. "What the hell, you dumbass! You made a child cry!" you burst.
"How would I have known?" Renjun lashes out at you in defence. "It's literally a story told to kids!"
"You should have thought twice before telling them!" you argue back, not wishing to back down.
"I already apologised, for fuck's sake!"
"So what? You still upset the kid, you dou-"
"Alright, everyone!" Your altercation is broken up by Sicheng, who gently pushes both of you aside, and makes his way in between the both of you while clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. The child has already stopped crying, thanks to the teacher who soothed her, and everyone's attention is now riveted on Sicheng. "Let's do something happier – hopefully this will cheer you all up! Who wants to see the red pandas?" He asks, eyes sparkling as he addresses the children. "Me! Me!" Exhilarated cries resound in the exhibit, and soon they're all jumping up and down in delight.
"Okay, come, This way!" Sicheng says, beaming as he gestures for the kindergarteners to follow him. They follow behind him, still whispering and giggling as they're unable to contain their excitement. Meanwhile, you trail behind, amazed by his expertise with the children.
Fortunately, the remaining segment of their tour goes well, and the whole class leaves the panda exhibit all smiles. You usher them out, uttering the standard phrases.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
As soon as the last child is out of the enclosure, Sicheng turns to you and your colleague, arms folded across his chest. The once pleasant expression he wore morphs into a livid one, and you could literally feel the anger radiating off him. If looks could kill, both you and Renjun would have died a thousand deaths on the spot. For the first time in your life, you feared your boss – who was usually so mild-tempered and sweet. "We apparently need to talk about how to behave at work," he snarls, voice an octave deeper than usual which drives fear deeper into the crevices of your heart. You watch apprehensively as he draws in a deep breath, before slowly breathing out again. "Arguing on the job? Pushing blame instead of helping one another out? Swearing in front of visitors? Was any of that professional?" He fires question after question like bullets at the two of you, eyeing both of you expectantly. "Well?"
"...no, it wasn't," you reply with a quivering voice, hesitation creeping into your voice. Your heart judders like a jackhammer in your heart as he nods curtly, acknowledging your reply.
"I thought so," he responds. "Then what should you guys have done?"
"...stayed calm, helped each other". This time, the soft, shaky reply comes from Renjun. It drilled the realisation of how terrifying Sicheng could be when angry – so scary that he could even zap the confidence of your arrogant colleague and reduce him to a stuttering bundle of nerves – further into your mind.
Sicheng responds with a grunt of acknowledgement, and then takes a deep breath before saying his piece. "Y/n, it's good that you were concerned about the child, but what wasn't good was your response. You could've helped Renjun to calm the child down as well, instead of lashing out at him".
You nod, unable to speak due to how cowed you felt in his presence. Directing his attention to Renjun, Sicheng begins another admonishment. "Renjun, it's not your fault that the child cried. I didn't expect that reaction from her either. But you should have stayed calm and continued comforting her, instead of blowing up at y/n's comments there and then. In doing so, you upset the child more".
"Yes sir, I understand," Renjun replies meekly, head bowed.
Sicheng sighs heavily again, bringing up his fingers to rub his temple as he speaks. "It's not just today. I've lost count of the number of times you've both started fights between yourselves at work, and it needs to stop. I've said it once, and I'll say it again; quarrelling at work is awfully unprofessional. You're expected to settle your differences amicably, not lash out at each other like that. You guys constantly being at each other's throats is gonna stress the animals out too – and it's not gonna be good for any of them, especially Jing Jing".
Your heart does a nosedive as soon as he mentions Jing Jing. You'd never considered the negative impact the constant arguing would have on her! Your mind flashes back to that "conversation" you'd had with her, and you realised why she wanted so badly for you and Renjun to work peacefully together.
"I'm not saying that both of you have to like each other, but that both of you need to work on getting along better at work, because good communication is key. Is that clear?" Sicheng concludes, shooting both of you with an expectant glare.
"Yes, sir," you echo after Renjun, mind still in a blur.
Sicheng nods, satisfied with the response. "Good. Go on and pack up, after this you can go off for dinner".
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
The clean-up session is muted, a stark contrast to the usual intense squabbling between both of you as you sorted out things in the enclosure. As you wipe down the glass walls, you reflect on your earlier actions, shame and guilt finally settling in like ink on white cloth. You honestly had no idea what drove your unprofessional behaviour back at the guided tour.
And in the first place, you couldn't put your finger on why you hated Renjun so much to begin with.
Caught up in your thoughts, you fail to notice the presence of your colleague beside you. "Hey, I'm sorry," a soft voice comes from beside you, making you jump in shock. It's Renjun who's beside you, averting his gaze from you as he mumbles his apology. "I shouldn't have reacted so aggressively earlier".
His words hit you like a bolt from the blue, leaving you stunned. In that moment, your hatred for Renjun gives way to admiration for him, as you realise how humble he really is at heart. Sure, he was in the wrong too, but you should have been the one to step up and say sorry first, considering that it was you who'd initiated the whole incident.
"No worries," you whisper, giving him a small smile. "I should be apologising. I lashed out at you first and started the whole thing".
"We both were in the wrong," Renjun concedes as he picks up another mop and begins to help with cleaning the glass walls as well, and you hum in agreement.
Another period of silence between both of you follows, only this time, it carries an air of comfort and peace about it and not the usual thick tension. You don't know what drove you to do such a thing, but in the moment that follows, you say something you never dreamed that you'd ever say. "Hey Renjun, I realise that it's not gonna benefit anyone if we stay stuck in this endless volley of arguments. It wouldn't allow us to get things done efficiently, and it'd also stress the pandas out. From now on, can we put our bad blood behind us and get along? At least just at work," you suggest, sticking your hand out to offer him a truce.
Renjun's eyes glaze over thoughtfully as he looks at your outstretched hand, contemplating your offer. It doesn't take him long though, because before you know it, he's taking your hand and shaking it firmly. "Truce. I'm honestly tired of arguing with you all the time, and I hope we can get along better from now on," he replies, beaming wider than you'd ever seen from him before.
Wow. His smile is kinda adorable.
You dismiss the fleeting thought from your head, praying that you weren't blushing as you turn away from him, smiling from ear to ear. "Shall we go look for the rest to have dinner?" he suggests as you pick up your tote bag.
As if on cue, your stomach lets out an embarrassingly loud growl. You had forgotten to bring your wallet, ao you didn't eat lunch, only telling your friends that you weren't hungry. However, the painful hunger pangs seemed to be growing minute by minute, and you found yourself in desperate need of some sustenance. "I didn't bring my wallet," you admit, still in disbelief at your absentmindedness. "I'll tag along, but I won't get any food," you decide, choosing to use the time to socialise with your friends.
"You need to eat something. I'll pay for your meal," Renjun offers kindly. "I have more than enough money for myself, so don't worry".
Hearing this, your heart swells with gratitude. "Thank you so much! I'll pay you back tomorrow," you promise, folding your hands together in gratitude.
Renjun waves his hand, dismissing you. "It's alright. My treat," he insists, making his stubbornness clear through his tone.
"I can't accept that, Renjun – just allow me to pay you back," you attempt to reject his offer again, but to no avail.
"It's fine! Take this as my way of making up for being such an asshole to you for so long," he laughs, once again showing his pearly whites.
"Fine then. Thanks so much, Renjun," you stutter, cheeks lighting up red again. "I'll repay your kindness next time".
"It's no problem," Renjun says quietly, the soft, sweet smile still on his face.
You had to admit, it felt nice – refreshing even, to hang around your enemy without the usual atmosphere of animosity, and in your heart of hearts you hoped that your interactions would be more like this from now on.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
"Y/n, don't forget to add Jing Jing's supplements into her breakfast," Renjun reminds you as you both go about the bustling kitchen, rushing to prepare food for the pandas.
"I'm on it!" you answer, swiping the jar from a shelf in the corner. "Two tablets, right?"
"Yep!" Renjun's distant reply sounds out as he rummages through a cupboard on the far end of the room.
"Alright, thanks!" You proceed to dish out the amount that you had to give her, then crush up the pills and mix them into her food.
It's been about a month since you and Renjun decided to call a truce with each other, and things were going much better than before. Initially, there were some minor scuffles, but you'd both managed to talk things out instead of yelling at each other again. Now, you were both able to have a peaceful working relationship with almost no disagreements. Occasionally, your heart would choose to beat a tad bit faster, or your face would heat up just by the slightest bit as you talked to him, even if it was something just as simple as asking if he would be joining you guys for dinner, or how Tao Tao was doing. Yet, you could never quite pin the reason why down. However, slowly but steadily, you found your friendship with him growing stronger, like a newly-budded flower in the springtime. But as the friendship blossomed…so did those other feelings, which you just brushed aside the best you could.
"The vets are coming later, right?" you fact check with Renjun, who bobs his head in reply.
"Yep, they are. Gonna do another ultrasound on Jing Jing and update us on how she's doing," Renjun says, summarising what you'd heard.
"I'm excited for the arrival of her baby," you comment as you bring the food out.
"Me too!" Renjun agrees. "New animal births are always exciting! I remember when Sarah was pregnant with Cedrick – all of the zookeepers couldn't stop talking about it for weeks," he gushes as he recalls the time a new baby tapir was born. "When Sarah was due, Sungchan stayed overnight with Sicheng and the vets to ensure their well-being".
"Wow, he’s so dedicated," you gasp, feeling a sense of admiration towards your friend, while making a mental note to treat his behaviour as something you should model.
Renjun nods emphatically. "He really is. That's what I admire about him, and I hope to have the same level of commitment towards our pandas," he comments, smiling as he thought of his colleague and friend who'd shown such high levels of dedication to their work.
At that moment, Taeil arrives. After a quick chat, he sets up his equipment and gets to work on Jing Jing. "Her progesterone levels have peaked and are now on a downward trend. This is a sign that she's likely within weeks of giving birth," Taeil informs both you and Renjun, who are waiting anxiously at the side.
Upon hearing the news, you both let out a unanimous gasp, following with a flurry of questions coming from both of you. "How's the baby?" "When's the due date?" "Is Jing Jing healthy too?" "Is it a boy or a girl?"
Taeil chortles and then gets you and Renjun to calm down. "Both Jing Jing and her baby are okay. She seems to be about 3 months pregnant, so the projected due date would be between 28 May to 6 June. As for its gender, we won't be able to tell until about six weeks after it's born". Taeil slowly addresses all the questions you and Renjun bombard him with, patiently explaining everything that you wanted to know.
"Right now, continue to ensure that she eats healthy and gets sufficient sleep. I'll also prescribe her another supplement – she'll have to continue taking this one until a few weeks after her pregnancy, but after she's given birth she can stop the other one".
Taeil leaves after handing you the bottle, and both you and Renjun fly into a frenzy, jumping around the enclosure like excited toddlers who'd just gotten new toys. "She's gonna give birth soon! I can't wait for the cub to arrive!" you squeal, excitement already overflowing out of you.
"Me too! It's gonna be so adorable!" Renjun gushes, eyes sparkling with delight. But while you're both in your state of euphoria, a grumpy, guttural noise emits from the other end of the enclosure.
"Oops. We woke Liang Liang up," you realise, softening your voice.
"Oh yeah. Sorry boss," Renjun turns to face Liang Liang, doing a small bow while apologising. Amused by his actions, you burst into guffaws, and get the same reaction from Liang Liang again. "Shhh!" Renjun quickly quiets you down, while chortling softly to himself.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
The bunch of you were out at dinner together. Having grown bored of eating the same things over and over again, you all decided to find a different place to eat. A few google searches and a mini-poll had led you guys to a cafe in a nearby shopping mall that sold all sorts of Singaporean dishes.
Throughout the meal, you and Renjun periodically giggled and chatted quietly, just between both of you as you sat next to each other at lunch. You both hadn’t been talking about anything much, mostly about Jing Jing and her cub since the news about her cub had sent you both over the moon.
“Y/n and Renjun, you guys seem to be very thrilled about something today. Care to enlighten us?” Jeno questions, looking up from his chye tau kueh staring in you and Renjun’s direction when you nudge him for the umpteenth time.
Uh oh. Your friends' curiosity had been piqued. You exchange glances with Renjun, his panicked look matching your own. “Should we tell them?” you whisper to Renjun. He takes a moment to think, before responding with a soft smile and a nod.
“What, are both of you dating?” Haechan asks, a teasing smirk forming on his face.
“What the hell, no!” a unanimous exclamation comes from both you and Renjun. “There’s nothing between us!” you add, desperation in your voice. “Anyway…you remember the pandas me and Renjun got assigned to take care of? The female, Jing Jing, has been pregnant for a while, and she’s gonna have her baby soon,” you reveal.
A stunned hush falls over the table. Right after, the excited chatter starts up again, even more intense than earlier. "Wait what? No way! When's the baby due?" Mark asks, his jaw dropping to the floor.
"In about a few weeks," Renjun answers.
"We're gonna welcome a new baby panda soon!" Haechan exclaims, eyes shining with glee.
"I can't wait to see it," Jisung enthuses.
Amidst the mini celebration, Jeno's brow furrows with worry. "Wait, but doesn't that mean that the zoo flew her over while she was pregnant?" he questions.
"Yeah, pregnant animals shouldn't be on flights. Wouldn't they be stressed?" Shotaro adds, sharing his friend's concerns.
"Yeah, it was so irresponsible of them!" Renjun says, incensed.
"Sicheng called the other zoo to talk to them about the panda. I heard they're facing charges for their irresponsibility," you say, putting all their concerns to rest.
"Phew, that's good," Jisung responds. "Also, Jaemin, you good? You’ve been so quiet, I thought you’d be more excited over the baby panda," he asks, turning to his colleague.
“Yeah, it’s just…Haechan has a point,” Jaemin says, the sudden change of topic stunning everyone. Noticing the quizzical expressions on everyone’s face, he explains himself. “I mean c’mon, don’t Renjun and y/n act like work husband and wife to you?”
Hearing that makes you nearly spit out the sip of iced milo you had in your mouth. “Care to explain?” you ask, statement coming out harsher than intended.
That doesn’t faze Jaemin though, and he takes a bite of his chicken rice before continuing. “I mean, they’re so close now, close to the point where they’re having conversations without us? Even at work you guys keep teasing each other and laughing at everything the other says. Kinda sus, is it not?” he explains, glancing around the table. To your shock, a few heads nod, agreeing with the koala keeper.
“But they used to fight all the time!” Shotaro points out, and you nod and point at him in agreement.
“See? There’s no way we could be a couple ever, with the amount of fighting we did in the past," you say, attempting to justify yourself.
Sungchan rolls his eyes, sighing dramatically and taking a sip of his teh ping. “Come on, guys. It’s all in the past, is it not? Besides, don’t act like you guys don’t go looking for each other first thing after morning team meeting! ‘Renjun! You ready?’ ‘Give me a while, y/n!’ ‘Alright, take your time!’ ” Sungchan does his best to reenact what a conversation between both of you usually went like, using a sickly-sweet tone to mock both of you as uproarious laughter goes up around the table.
“Yeah and besides, hasn’t everyone heard the saying ‘couples fight’? Maybe all your fights in the past were just foreshadowing, you know,” Haechan looks up from his nasi lemak, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Renjun rolls his eyes at the hippo keeper, adding a long, exasperated sigh. “There’s really nothing, guys. Just ask y/n,” he replies coolly, glancing over at you as you nod emphatically.
“Renjun, you’re blushing,” Jisung pipes up. Though his tone was quiet as usual, it carried a teasing lilt to it.
“I’m not!” Renjun protests as his hands fly to his cheeks.
“Dude, it’s okay! You’re not alone. Y/n’s cheeks are pink too,” Mark says, doubled over in laughter.
Your own hands come up to your cheeks, and to your horror, there’s heat radiating from them. “It’s because the laksa is too spicy!” you fib, making up a lame excuse.
Chenle’s hand shoots up faster than a rocket. “I call bullshit!” he exclaims, finger pointing at you. “You haven’t taken a sip of iced milo from the moment we arrived here, and plus, it’s well known that you have the best spice tolerance among all the zookeepers!”
You sigh for the umpteenth time again. For once, you wished that you could have dinner alone just so you could enjoy your food in peace. “Really, guys. There’s nothing,” you reply calmly, reiterating your point from earlier.
“Denial is the first stage of acceptance,” Jaemin reminds you with a smirk, and you respond by punching him hard in the shoulder. “Renjun! Your girlfriend hit me!” He says, fake crying and clutching his shoulder.
Renjun shakes his head, totally unimpressed by Jaemin’s performance. “Not gonna help you there. Serves you right,” he replies coolly before going back to his roti prata.
Shotaro’s giggles sound from the other end of the table. “Renjun, you didn’t deny the ‘girlfriend’ part. Is this your way of admitting that you and y/n do have something there?” he teases, eyes turning into half-moons.
This time, Renjun throws his hands up with an even louder sigh. “Oh come on!” he yells, exasperation showing through more.
Just like that, the rest of dinner goes on, with the others teasing you and Renjun while both of you repeatedly denied the “allegations”. Despite your vehement denial of it, your heart fluttered and pounded in your chest like there was no tomorrow, and you somehow didn’t mind the teasing as much as you seemed to.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
The long-awaited day finally arrived – the day of the panda cub’s birth! Excitement coursed through your veins as you packed your things as fast as you could – including a sleeping bag, a set of pyjamas, and a towel. Yep, you and Renjun had agreed to stay overnight at the zoo to await the birth of the cub. A spring in your step, you make your way through the green metal gates of the zoo entrance.
“Y/n! Ready to welcome Jing Jing’s new child?” Renjun’s voice is the first sound to reach your ears as soon as you enter the staff area.
“YES!” you squeal, bouncing up and down as you toss your bag into the cupboard. “I can barely wait!”
“Me too!” Renjun exclaims, holding your hands and jumping up and down. You feel your heart pause as he takes your hands in his, only for it to resume pounding several times faster than previously as a wave of heat makes its way up your cheeks. However, you pay no heed to the feeling and continue to giggle with him like excited schoolgirls. “You brought your stuff?” he asks, and you nod in earnest. “Sweet! We’re all set!”
An unimpressed sigh resounds in the staff lounge. “Couple’s going on a date huh,” Haechan says, glancing at you and Renjun.
“Goodness sakes, Haechan, it’s not a date! We’re just here to ensure the well-being of Jing Jing and her baby,” you attempt to reason with the brown-haired boy. It’d been a few weeks since your friends began teasing you, and slowly other zookeepers and even vets had joined in, much to your frustration.
“It’s alright, Haechan. Let them deny for as long as they want to. They’ll accept it soon, I’m sure,” Sicheng’s voice sounds from the entrance as he reappears, grinning at the both of you. He makes his way to Haechan and whispers something to him, and the latter erupts into giggles as Sicheng quietly sniggers. “Y/n, Renjun, don’t worry! I’ll help the both of you make an announcement during our team meeting next time,” he says teasingly, earning groans from both of you.
Gosh damn, even your boss had joined in the teasing.
That aside, the rest of the day progresses smoothly, save for teasing from a few other zookeepers. You went about your usual activities – preparing food for the pandas, playing with them and training them, showing guests around, until the day was about to draw to a close and the vets came to check up on Jing Jing again.
“Okay! Looks like the baby’s due tonight as expected, hopefully all goes well tonight!” Taeil chirps, wrapping up his examination of Jing Jing. “You’re both staying behind tonight to check up on her, right?” he inquires, packing up his vet kit.
“Yes, we are! We’ll be around to assist you guys if we can,” Renjun replies, an adorable smile on his face. Wait, did you just call him adorable again-
“Sweet! See you both around later then, enjoy your date,” Taeil finishes off with a grin, then rushes off.
“Gosh, how many times have people joked about us dating already?” Renjun groans, rubbing his temple.
“I don’t know – I can’t even count anymore,” you admit, attempting to count in your head. “Whatever. Let’s go back to the staff room and get our stuff. Do you wanna go out with the others for dinner?” you ask, opening the door and leading him out.
You shake your head. “I’m feeling really lazy tonight, let’s order in. Since the vets are staying as well, we can order for them too,” Renjun suggests.
“Alright then,” you reply, getting out your phone to order. “Can we order from that Singaporean cafe we ate at the last time? It was so good, I swear. I can still taste that sumptuous laksa on my tongue,” you say, dreamily gazing into space and licking your lips as you think about the delicious bowl of noodles.
Renjun watches, laughing at you. “If that’s what the vets want too, sure thing,” he replies. “I thought the food there was really good too”.
You take orders from the vets, and soon the food arrives. Everyone gathers in a circle on the floor to have dinner together, and the bunch of you chat away happily. Surprisingly, there’s no teasing from anyone – just talk about Jing Jing and her panda cub.
“Hey y/n, how much was my ban mian? I’m the only person that hasn’t paid you back,” Renjun asks, opening the banking app on his phone after dinner to transfer you money.
“It’s alright. My treat,” you say, winking at him as you gently bring his phone down. “You treated me to dinner last time, let me do the same today”.
“But-”
You shush him. “No buts,” you declare, giving him a look that says “this conversation is over”.
A small sigh leaves him. “Thank you so much,” he whispers.
Just then, Taeyong walks back into the room. “Hey, you guys can chill in here until we call you guys, alright?” he informs.
“Okay, thank you!” Renjun responds back, and Taeyong makes his exit.
Since there was quite a lot of time left, you and Renjun decide to bathe, then meet back in the staff lounge. He’s done before you are, so by the time you emerge, towelling your wet hair, he’s already in his sleeping bag, scrolling through his phone. However, he looks up the moment you walk in. “You look pretty in that,” he says, and you realise that he’s complimenting your pink and white pyjamas set.
“Thank you,” you respond, and you’re sure your cheeks are just as pink as the pyjama blouse you’re donning. “What are you looking at?” you ask, rolling out your own sleeping bag and settling down next to him.
Renjun shrugs. “Just photos of our friend group,” he answers. “You can come take a look too”.
He tilts his phone towards you, and continues swiping through photos on his phone. You’re surprised to see that you were in quite a number of the photos. Though two of you had been in the same friend group for all the time you’d been working at the zoo, you thought that Renjun would have zero photos of you as he’d delete them all. Knowing that he didn’t detest you to the point of erasing all of your photos from his photo album warmed your heart a little, as petty as that would sound.
“Wait, oh my gosh, this one’s hilarious!” Renjun laughs, finger stopping over a particular photo, and you sit up a little straighter to have a better view of the photo. It showed a person in a tiger onesie, curled up on the ground. A net was thrown over the figure, while the vets and several zookeepers – you recognised them to be Sicheng, Kun, Mark, and Jeno – poked and prodded at the figure on the ground with a stick.
Recognising the photo, you burst into laughter as well. The photo had been taken during the emergency response drill Sicheng had put all the staff through one day without warning, designed to prepare everyone for dangerous animal escapes. The drill consisted of a zookeeper – you remember that it was Yangyang – running around in a tiger costume, pretending to hurt other staff. Meanwhile, the staff on the emergency response team pretended to tranquilise the “tiger” and check that he was completely out before wrapping Yangyang in a net. The rest of you had been tasked with rounding up visitors and evacuating them to either the cafeteria, visitor information centre or one of the activity centres to hide while the emergency response team neutralised the threat. You’d been lucky enough to get a front seat view of the whole thing, having brought the visitors to the visitor information centre, where all of you watched the whole thing from behind the transparent glass doors, agog with curiosity.
“I remember this! Everyone thought it was so funny. Shotaro was in the visitor information centre with me, and he couldn’t stop giggling!” You recall, remembering the number of times you’d had to shush both him and yourself, since you were trying very hard not to burst into laughter yourself.
“Same. Chenle was in the cafeteria with me, and gosh, he wouldn’t stop laughing,” Renjun recounts, looking at you with an expression of disbelief on his face. “I was so done with him”.
As you both continue looking through the photos, you continue to talk about the various memories behind all of them – some happy, others wholesome, and others plain hilarious and nonsensical.
“Honestly, how did we end up hating each other so much in the first place?" Renjun suddenly asks, stopping you in your tracks as you turn to look at him with a stunned expression. “No, I’m serious. What drove us so far apart in the first place?”
The question he’d just asked was a loaded one – one that could possibly bring up many sour memories, and ruin the good relationship between both of you if not answered tactfully. You hesitated, not sure if you wanted to talk about it now.
However, you also knew that if you both didn’t sort out whatever had driven a wedge between both of you in the first place, you’d both never truly be able to be friends. Plus, this was pretty much the only time both of you would be alone together. Bracing yourself for the uncomfortable conversation that was to follow, you suck in a deep breath and answer him. "It was the moat incident, wasn't it? The one that happened the first day I arrived?"
"Oh yeah!" A look of realisation comes onto Renjun’s face at your answer. “That one where we both fell in. Now that I think about it, that was so terribly ridiculous,” he chuckles.
"Can't believe we ended up hating each other just because of one fall into the moat," you answer, giggling yourself. What Renjun had said was right – it truly was absurd and silly how you’d both allowed one small incident to ruin what could possibly have been many months of a positive, memorable relationship between you both.
A hush falls over Renjun, and he stops laughing. "Actually…there's more to it,” he whispers, so quiet that you almost don’t hear him.
"What do you mean?" you ask, genuinely curious now. What else could there be to it?
"It's just…oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing to admit. It's my fault that we hated each other,” Renjun groans, burying his face behind his hands.
"I'm sorry what?" You ask gently, totally bemused now. “Could you explain further? I really don’t get what you mean”.
“Alright, here goes,” Renjun groans, removing his palms from his face and taking a huge breath. “When you first joined, I saw you and thought you were really beautiful. Like, not just outside, inside too. I saw how sweet you were with every other zookeeper, being so willing to help all of them although you'd just joined, and it really amazed me. Honest! I began reflecting on myself when I saw how you gladly assisted all of the staff that needed help to the best of your abilities. Then when you came to help me clean the spider monkey exhibit, I was thinking of how to make conversation with you. I got terribly nervous, and didn't look ahead of me. Then we collided, and I fell in” he explains, recounting the events of that fateful day.
"Oh yeah, I remember! You pulled me in too,” you reply, patiently waiting for Renjun to continue.
"Yeah, I panicked! I was already feeling embarrassed after falling into the moat in front of you, and the realisation that I'd pulled you in by accident as well only served to increase it. I should have just recovered, apologised, helped you and then introduced myself properly, but I lashed out. I guess ever since then, we've just been horrible to each other. I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have lashed out at you like that," he concludes sheepishly, scratching his head.
The memories of that day came rushing back to you again, and you tried to put yourself in his shoes. Imagine tripping in front of your crush and taking a huge splash into a pool of water – yep, definitely mortifying. Your heart began to ache with sympathy for the boy beside you, realising how humiliated he must have felt then. "No, it's alright. That happened so long ago! I'm sorry for pushing you in and snapping at you too,” you reassure, adding in the apology that he deserved too.
"If only we didn't let something so trivial drive such a wedge in between us. Maybe we wouldn't have had such a sour relationship for so long,” Renjun sighs, staring at the ceiling with a wistful look in his eyes.
"Yeah…to be honest, I was really nervous to talk to you too. When preparing the koalas’ breakfast, Jaemin and Jisung couldn’t stop talking about you! They kept talking about how you were such a great friend to be around, and how they admired your sense of responsibility, and how funny the jokes you told were – Jaemin even thought we’d get along great!” You felt that Renjun deserved to know your side of the story as well, so you spilled the beans.
“That didn’t turn out too well, did it?” Renjun replies, chuckling in response. “We literally acted like bears with sore heads around each other after we met.
“Also…I thought you were striking too. My heart stopped when I walked into the spider monkey enclosure for the first time that day!" you exclaim. “It was quite a shock when you pulled me into the moat, and then proceeded to yell at me. To have such things happen on the first day of work was really embarrassing, and I took my frustration out on you too,” you practically rap out your explanation and look away, feeling your cheeks heat up again.
Renjun chortles in response to what you said, but the faraway look in his eyes told you that there was something more he had to say. You pause, looking at him, waiting for him to say his piece. A few moments later, he breathes in deeply, and opens his mouth to speak again. "...this is really awkward to admit, but I think even during the time we supposedly hated each other, I'd been harbouring a crush on you. I just thought that too much damage had been done to fix anything, so it would be pointless to try,” he sighs, and you hear the regret in his voice.
You pause, taking what Renjun had just told you in disbelief. It had definitely taken him lots of bravery to say that to you, and you decided that since he’d been brave, you should be too. You take a while to consider your next words carefully. “It’s not, Renjun. I do believe part of me has always liked you more than I wanted to admit,” you respond softly, smiling as said boy turns to face you, mouth agape. “It just became way more obvious to me after we began getting along much better, you know?"
A sliver of a smile forms on Renjun’s lips, and it gradually grows, until he’s smiling from ear to ear. "If that's the case, let's go on a date some time…?” he suggests, his tone slightly timid. “I mean, we shouldn’t rush things due to how we used to have so much bad blood between us, but if you want to give things a try, we could”.
You were now smiling so widely that your cheeks ached, but the euphoria that blossomed in your heart outweighed the mild ache in your cheeks. "Of course!" you exclaim, taking his hands in yours and looking at him, taking in the way his eyes sparkled with jubilance, and the adorable snaggletooth peeking out from between his lips as he smiled. “Gosh, they’re gonna tease us so much when they find out about this,” you chuckle.
Renjun shrugs, way too elated to think about it. “Who cares. We’ve got each other,” he says, drawing circles on the back of your hand with his thumb.
Just then, Taeil steps into the room. “Hey, Jing Jing’s going into labour,” he announces, excitement spreading over his features. “Come quick!”
Both you and Renjun let out a collective gasp, then hurriedly hop out of the sleeping bags and put on your shoes.
»»————----- ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ -----————-««
It takes about two more hours, but soon you’re looking adoringly at a newborn panda cub. The vets get busy monitoring Jing Jing’s vitals, and checking on the cub.
“So, any name suggestions?” Xiaojun asks, smiling at the both of you.
Renjun and you look at each other. “What’s the gender of it?” you ask. That was a key piece of information to know before choosing a name for any animal.
“We won’t be able to check until about six weeks later,” Xiaojun informs both of you, laughing at the way your faces fell. “It’s alright! You can think of potential names, and then name the panda when we find out its gender,” he says, consoling both of you.
As quick as your eyes held this downcast expression, they lit up again. “Renjun! Let’s go think of names for the cub!” you exclaim, tugging on his sleeve.
Renjun laughs, seeing the thrill on your face. “Maybe a bit later? I want to stay here a bit longer. The cub’s so cute,” he says, unable to take his eyes off the tiny cub. It’s now suckling from its mother, as Jing Jing licks it between the ears.
You couldn’t deny it – the cub was absolutely adorable, and you wouldn’t mind staying to observe it a little longer. “Sure thing!” you agree, plopping down beside him to observe the mother and child.
Renjun turns to you, an affectionate smile on his face. “I’m so glad we got to take care of this bunch of animals together. I couldn’t have done it without you,” he whispers.
Who knew that all it’d take to find true love was to bear with the one you’d once swore was your worst enemy – and a family of black and white bears and some red pandas. You return his loving smile, knowing that what he said was completely true. “Me too,” you whisper, holding on to his hand as you both sit beside each other hand in hand, watching the pandas fondly.
