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With his earphones in and the volume up to full, Chenle calmly walked home from school. He wore a wide smile since it had been a while since Renjun’s apartment was free of everyone but himself. Lately, Renjun had been unable to get his two boyfriends out of their shared apartment - leaving Chenle to suffer and complain to his family who were probably laughing at his situation back in China (he will always silently curse them for leaving him half way through the year). He kept walking, knowing the way by heart before he noticed a small box left in the corner of the street he was on. It was shabby and old, the open flaps seconds away from falling and hitting the dirty street. Curious, Chenle stepped closer, peering over to see a small tiny puppy who was silently pawing at the cardboard box, dirt patches all over what seemed to be its golden fur. It was a simple and tiny golden retriever, too small to be a proper adult but also too small to be the age that it seemed. When he crouched, he noticed the puppy stare at him with wide eyes. Shaking as it took a step back which resulted to it bumping the wall of the box and somehow causing it to topple and somewhat capsize, trapping the puppy between the box and the street pole behind it. The words on the front of the box cause Chenle’s heart to drop, the neat cursive reading ‘please adopt’ and ‘I am friendly’. Taking a deep breath, Chenle did the first thing that he had the guts to do. “Chenle? Are you okay? Baby, what’s wrong?”
You can do this, Chenle.
“Jisung…” He started, staring at the small golden puppy who had somehow managed to cause the box to land in its original position. “I am about to do something very stupid.”“What?! He-“ After hanging up, Chenle pocketed his phone and carefully picked up the puppy, carrying it delicately in his arms as he walked to the pet store to buy shampoo, food and a few toys for his new friend.“Jisung’s boyfriend? Chenle?” Looking up, he saw the one exchange student from Japan who he had met once before. “What are you doing here?”“Um…shopping for this guy,” he mumbled, vaguely wondering what the older was doing at the pet store as well. “Can I just get some shampoo and food? Maybe a toy or two?”“You have to get that stray looked at,” Yuta stated, grabbing the shampoo and food off different shelves before he rejoined Chenle at the front desk. “What toys did you want?”“Any?” He asked and Yuta gave him a pointed look, settling for a tennis ball and a frisbee. “Hyung, what are you doing here?”“It’s work so I won’t be lazy for the next three years,” Yuta answered, scanning the items and tapping away on the register before turning to him. “And that’s just thirty one thousand and eight hundred won.”“Card, thanks, hyung,” he said, smiling softly before presenting his card to the machine, waiting for the small ding before packing it away as best as he could with a barking golden puppy.“What’s its name?” Yuta asked, holding out a bag that had his items in it and Chenle shrugged in response to the older’s question. “Just take it to the vets…please,” Yuta stated after sighing. Chenle made sure to flash him one bright smile before exiting the store and heading over to the vet - the same one that was in the opposite direction of his shared apartment with Renjun. ~ ~ ~ “Chenle!” He shouted once more, banging on the door before a sleepy Renjun answered his needs. “Renjun-hyung?”“Hey, Jisung,” Renjun greeted, rubbing his left eye and resembling a baby. “What brings you here?”“Is Chenle home?” he asked, the worry from earlier settling in again as he wondered where exactly Chenle went. “Hasn’t he come home from school yet?”“No…I’ve been here for an hour and a half and he hasn’t come,” Renjun replied, stepping aside. “Come in and wait for him.”“Uh…thanks, hyung,” He mumbled, letting Renjun close and lock the door before the older threw him a thumbs up and walked back to his shared bedroom with Chenle.
What exactly has he done now?
~ ~ ~ “Yep, all healthy,” the young woman said in delight before she handed the golden retriever to him. “She’s all yours.”“She?” he croaked out, afraid that he had been misgendering the puppy for the past hour. “It’s a ‘she’?!”“Uh…yeah…” the young woman said in amusement as he looked down at the puppy in amazement as she yawned. “Does she have a name yet?” He shook his head, wanting to wait until Jisung met the little puppy to name her.“Thank you!” he shouted before bolting out the door of the store and running all the way home with the golden retriever in his arms. ~ ~ ~ “He’s still not back?” He heard Renjun ask after ten minutes and nodded, taking in the bed hair that Renjun had combed and the new sweatpants and oversized shirt that he had put on. “Damn.”“Yeah, I’m actually pretty worried,” Jisung replied and chuckled before the older nodded and sat down next to him - something that Jisung couldn’t name swirling in his eyes.“Jisung,” Renjun started, the mood suddenly turning serious and Jisung nodded, hands turning clammy and fear spiking. “I think you should talk to Jaemin.”
About what?
“Don’t look at me like that,” Renjun chastised, glaring at him before sighing. “Everyone knows that you liked him before you had the epiphany about your feelings for Chenle.”“I-I did not have an epiphany,” he protested weakly, remembering the day where his older brother came to him during break and helped him sort out his feelings.“Either way, please talk to Jaemin about it. He’s the only one who doesn’t know,” Renjun explained and Jisung swallowed thickly, turning his head away since he hadn’t planned on ever telling Jaemin about his past crush on him.“It’s irrelevant now,” he shot back quietly, hearing Renjun sigh before the older shuffled closer to him and started combing his hair in comfort.“If it was so irrelevant, why have you been avoiding my boyfriend recently, then?” He heard Renjun ask, his tone soft and not accusing him of anything - it was calm. “And if it’s so irrelevant, why is Chenle telling me that you always look like you have something you need to say?”“I…It’s still irrelevant,” he mumbled, knowing full well that this was inevitable since he couldn’t stand to look at Jaemin anymore - he felt guilty every time he did. Every time he had looked at Jaemin like he had all the answers, someone else had been looking at him the same way.“Jisung…” Renjun started, his eyebrows furrowed but his sentence being cut off with the door opening to reveal a pretty dressed up Na Jaemin and a casually dressed Lee Jeno. “Oh, hey Jisung!” Jeno greeted, shooting him and eye smile and ruffling his hair after kissing Renjun on the cheek.“Jisungie!” Jaemin shouted, skipping greeting Renjun and grabbing Jisung’s head to cradle to his chest. “It’s been so long!”“You saw me today, hyung,” he stated, his mind supplying him with the embarrassing flying kiss that Jaemin had sent his way in the middle of the halls - Donghyuck being the only other known witness in their friendship group and also being the reason why the incident had been so embarrassing for he laughed loudly after.“Shhhh, details,” Jaemin mumbled, hugging his head tighter before Renjun coughed and seemed to be having a silent conversation with Jaemin while Jeno locked the door. ~ ~ ~ “I can’t wait until you meet Jisung,” he told his puppy, the small dog barking loudly as if responding to his sentence. “He’s my boyfriend and he’s super dense at times but he’s the sweetest.” He chuckled when the puppy let out a little whine as if she were complaining. “Okay, maybe not as sweet as you.” Chenle couldn’t help a smile when the puppy barked really loudly at his comment. ~ ~ ~ “You two are going to talk this out and then we’re all going to have cookies,” Renjun said through the closed door of the bedroom, words causing fear to course through his veins once more. “Understood?”“But Junnie-“ Jaemin started, hand already on the doorknob before Renjun shouted out a clear ‘no, Jaemin!’.“Guess we’re stuck here, hyung,” he stated, sitting on Chenle’s bed since he didn’t want to know what the older three did on Renjun’s bed. “Might as well get comfy.”“I guess…” Jaemin mumbled, sitting next to him and offering Jisung a hug that he complied to. “You okay?”“Yeah…you know I liked you, right?” he asked, tone cautious and he felt Jaemin freeze up slightly before the older relaxed again.“You have said it in passing,” Jaemin replied calmly, hugging Jisung tighter when he had buried his head even more in Jaemin’s chest.“You’re so mean,” he complained quietly, trying to will himself to not cry. “I liked you so much and you had no idea.”“I’m sorry.” He heard Jaemin say softly, causing Jisung to shake his head and bury himself even further into Jaemin even when he knew that the older wasn’t warm enough.“And I…I even went out of my way to make you smile…” he mumbled, not even registering the words that were tumbling out of his mouth. “And I couldn’t even tell you because you were head over heels for Jeno and Renjun.”“They’re your hyungs,” Jaemin lectured him softly with a smile, a light chuckle coming out from his chest. “But I really am sorry, Jisung. If I had known-““Would things have ended differently?” he asked harshly, sitting up straight and looking at Jaemin straight in the eyes. “If I had confessed, would we be dating?” He saw Jaemin look away guilty since both of them knew that he liked Jeno and Renjun too much to let them go that early. “That’s what I thought.”“I’m sorry,” Jaemin apologised again, keeping his stare away from his eyes and fiddling with the bedsheets beneath them. “I’m sorry that you didn’t have a chance.”“It’s okay, hyung,” he whispered in response, suddenly feeling lighter than he had in days. “I just…needed to let you know even if it doesn’t apply now.”“I’m glad you told me, Sungie,” Jaemin replied, a small smile gracing his lips as he took his phone out to text Renjun that they had talked things out. “I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.” ~ ~ ~ “And he’ll probably forget to feed you but don’t worry!” he reassured the small puppy when he saw fear in her eyes. “Renjun-ge is there so he’ll take care of you well!” Chenle giggled when the puppy seemed to sigh in relief in his arms, the warmth spreading through his clothes as he crossed the street. ~ ~ ~ “It’s not undercooked is it?” Jeno asked him as he hesitantly took a bite, the gooey inside of the cookie being welcomed in his starved mouth and prompted him to nod. “Oh thank god. They were half baked when we found them since Jun stopped to take a nap. But it’s alright, yeah?”“Yeah it is, hyung,” he said with a little bit of cookie still in his mouth. “Thank you.”“You should thank Renjun, brat,” Jeno said playfully, taking a tissue out of the tissue box and tossing it to him. “And wipe your mouth. He’s in the kitchen.”“Thanks,” he mumbled, smiling slightly before heading to the kitchen and bumping into Jaemin who was on his way to Jeno. The older simply ruffled his hair and gave him a wide smile before sitting and joining Jeno on the couch. When he entered the kitchen, he was met with Renjun’s sweet singing of a Chinese folk song - all intonations beautiful but not beautiful enough. He had planned to surprise Renjun and scare him but he also accidentally hit his toes on the edge of the fridge. “Jisung?” Renjun asked, turning away from the sink where he was washing the baking tray. “How are the cookies? Are they bad?”“No, no, they’re great, hyung,” he reassured the other, bending over slightly as if it would help relief the pain from his toes. “I…uh…came to thank you. For the cookies, I mean.”“Oh, it’s okay, Jisung,” Renjun replied, an odd smile making its way onto his face as he turned back to the sink. “They were already half baked before my nap.”“And for uh…making me talk to Jaemin-hyung,” he mumbled, slumping against the fridge and watching Renjun’s movements halt comically.“Jisung, you did all the talking on your own,” Renjun replied in an factual tone - the same one he had used when he declared that they would have cookies through the bedroom door. “I just gave you an opportunity.”“Locking us in a room doesn’t seem like you giving an opportunity,” he pointed out, placing the last bit of the cookie in his mouth as Renjun shot him a scandalised look.“It is,” Renjun insisted, holding up the baking tray in both hands before filling some of it with soapy water. “Say Jisung, how much do you think this tray weighs?”“More than you,” he answered before he could stop himself, earning a harsh kick to his shin from the older. “Ow! I don’t know!”“It doesn’t matter,” Renjun continued, ignoring his complaints and simply moving on. “If I held it for only ten seconds, it would be light, right?”“I guess…” He replied, confused and not knowing where the conversation was going.“But if I held it for ten minutes, it might start getting heavy,” Renjun said, finally putting the baking tray down and rinsing the soapy water out. “And if I held it all day, I’d probably drop it because my hands would cramp.”“What does that have to do with-““Your feelings are the same, Jisung,” Renjun interrupted him, putting the clean baking tray in the drying rack and started to get rid of all the soapy water in the sink. “The longer you hold onto them, the heavier they feel,” Renjun continued, the kitchen smelling of detergent and cookies. “That’s why you need to let them out before you drop them all over the place.”“I…” For once, Jisung found himself speechless as he stared at Renjun who wiped his hands on the towel near the sink’s drawers. “That’s…wow…”“Come on, let’s have some more cookies before you go and tell someone else something that you need to. Someone who you think of as family but has never really heard you say it,” Renjun stated, patting his shoulder before he exited the kitchen and immediately sat in Jeno’s lap while making grabbing motions at Jaemin’s cookie. From a distance, Jisung watched as Jaemin fed Renjun part of his cookie and finally felt so much lighter. Suddenly, the door opened and the first thing he heard was a bark from a dog and saw a streak of gold before a tongue was in his face and his back was against the floor. ~ ~ ~ “CHENLE!” He flinched when he heard Renjun’s angry voice and stared helplessly at the small puppy who was now licking his younger yet taller boyfriend’s face. “YOU BROUGHT A WHOLE FUCKING DOG?! IT’S NOT EVEN CLEAN!”“LOOK, GE, I CAN EXPLAIN!” he shouted back, moving to pick up the small puppy and laughed at Jisung’s shocked expression as he sat up from where he had fallen on the ground. “SHE IS ADORABLE AND ABANDONED SO I TOOK HER!” Chenle watched as Renjun ran a hand over his face and got up from Jeno’s lap before he stopped several steps away. “I swear, she’s clean. I got her checked.”“So, you don’t go straight home like you’re meant to,” Renjun started, staring at the puppy in his arms who had begun to stare right back at him. “And instead pick up a dog on the side of the street, buy a bunch of shit for it-““Yuta-hyung works at the pet store!” he interrupted, only to receive an incredulous look from Renjun. “Sorry,” He mumbled, the small puppy in his arms whining.“And then, you get the dog checked because it was a stray,” Renjun continued, taking a deep breath in and releasing it after approximately three seconds. “When I said that I trusted you last night because you feel like my brother, I didn’t mean for you to do some crazy stunt like this, Le.”“But, ge!” he shouted, bounding up to Renjun and shoving the small puppy in his grumpy face. “She’s adorable!”“She?” Renjun questioned, staring at the puppy who barked in affirmation and subsequently licked a stripe across the tip of his nose. “And she fucking licked me. It’s okay, Renjun. It’s just a dog that your little brother brought home…just a dog…fucking hell, Chenle, it’s a dog!”“Uh yeah?” he replied, confused beyond belief at the urgency in Renjun’s voice.“Chenle, remember when you tried to keep a fish?! It died!” Renjun shouted, causing the small puppy to lick his nose again and shrieking. “You forgot to feed it! What if you forget to feed that?!”“That’s why you’re here, ge,” he answered calmly and chuckled at Renjun’s painful groan. “I’m sure you wouldn’t let her starve.”“I hate how you’re right,” Renjun replied, sighing after before hesitantly reaching out to pat the puppy that was still in Chenle’s arms. “C-Can I…?”“Of course, ge,” he whispered, watching with a wide smile as Renjun carefully patted the puppy like it was seconds away from disappearing. His smile simply widened when he noticed the little giggles that came from Renjun during the ordeal.“She’s cute,” Renjun whispered in Chinese like it were a secret. “Like really cute.”“So we can keep her?” He asked in the same language, squealing when Renjun nodded and immediately took the small puppy to the bathroom for a shower. “I’m giving her a shower! Jisung, help me!” he shouted in Korean, hearing his younger boyfriend sigh and smiling to himself as he set the small puppy in the bathtub. “Is this the stupid thing that you were going to do?” He heard Jisung ask him from behind and hummed, turning around and rolling up his sleeves as Jisung did the same. He watched as Jisung sat on the edge of the bathtub and stared down at the dog who was now looking curiously at the walls of the bathtub.“Yep,” he answered sitting on the edge of the bathtub as well and angling his body to face the younger. “Isn’t she cute?”“She’s also really dirty, Le,” Jisung replied, grabbing the handheld shower head and turning the water on, spraying the puppy as she whined in protest. “What’s her name anyway?”“I wanted to choose with you,” he answered honestly, opening the shampoo and pushing the shower head that Jisung was holding away. “Thought we could come up with a name together.”“She should have a Chinese name,” Jisung stated as Chenle began to rub the shampoo into the puppy’s fur.“Sure, Jisung, whatever you want,” he mumbled, scratching the dog’s stomach and laughing when she barked.“Should we name her ‘Baozi’? She looks like a dumpling,” Jisung suggested and Chenle had to blink three times while staring at the younger’s face to realise that he was being fully serious. “What?”“You want to name her ‘Dumpling’?” He asked incredulously. Watching Jisung nod, Chenle sighed. “You know what, why not?”“What’s wrong with it?” Jisung asked, obviously confused and leaving Chenle to chuckle and put his hands in the stream of water to get rid of the excess shampoo on his hands.“Nothing, it’s just so you,” he replied, smile gracing his lips as he dried his hands on the towel that Renjun hung up for use after washing their hands. “Damn, I love you,” he admitted, standing on his toes to reach the overhead cabinet that had spare towels for the dog.“You better.” He heard Jisung retort, the steady stream of water doing nothing to muffle his words. “I love you too.”“Cheesy,” he teased just as Jisung turned the water off and put the shower head back in place, leaning down to dry the poor dog.“You love it.” He heard Jisung whisper in his ear before the younger’s hands were joining his own to dry the wet dog. It wasn’t long until their puppy was barking happily in Jisung’s arms - clean and dry.“Please tell me you bought a brush for her.” He heard Renjun say from the other side of the closed door and Chenle felt his blood freeze since he hadn’t bought a brush…he didn’t even consider buying one for their pet. “You fucking idiot,” Renjun commented before he whipped out his phone and was texting someone - probably to buy them a brush. ~ ~ ~ “You texted my brother?” he let out, feeling betrayed as he placed Baozi on the floor of the living room, reuniting with Jaemin and Jeno who immediately started playing with her.“You named your dog ‘dumpling’ in Chinese,” Renjun shot back, glare being aimed his way as Renjun sat next to Jeno on the floor, the other rubbing underneath the dog’s chin. “Jeno, she’s not a cat.”“Shush,” Jeno whispered weakly, immediately giving Baozi tummy rubs when she laid on her back. It seemed like an eternity before the doorbell to the apartment rang and Chenle had opened the door to reveal a very exasperated Mark Lee. “I leave you guys for around two days with no contact because I’m trying to organise a whole wedding that’ll happen in five years and you all adopt a dog?” Jisung looked away, picking up Baozi and showing her to his brother from his spot on the floor. “Baozi says ‘hi’,” he greeted, the small puppy barking afterwards and panting at Mark who sighed and held up the brush.“I have your brush.” Jisung smiled when it seemed that Mark wasn’t too mad - probably from experience. “Here.”“Thanks, hyung,” he said softly, taking the brush from Mark when he came to sit next to him and began to brush the puppy’s fur. “Just to clarify, it was Chenle who did this.”“Baozi is part of the family now!” He heard Chenle shout from the hallway since the other wanted to take a shower. Jisung noticed that Renjun had stood up and dragged both of his boyfriends away to the bedroom to do whatever they wanted.“Hey, hyung,” he started, remembering Renjun’s words about how he needed to let Mark know that he was family for the first time since his adoption. “Hyung.”“I’m listening,” Mark insisted, patting Baozi’s back but humming and glancing at him to show that he was, in fact, listening.“You know that you’re my hyung, right?” he asked, trying his best to make the question seem nonchalant but his voice ended up cracking near the end and Mark looked at him with shocked eyes.“Jisung, of course I am. Your family adopted me so-““No!” he protested, groaning and brushing Baozi a little too hard - he knew when he heard the puppy whine - that he took a deep breath to calm down. “Like, I don’t care if you’re adopted or not. You’re my hyung.”“Thanks Jisung.” He heard Mark reply, glanced at the older and saw a very relieved smile on the older’s face. “Ah, this reminds me of the day I was adopted.”“You remember that day?” He asked, trying to collect his own memories but only remembering the image of Mark holding his hand and saying ‘hyung loves you very much too, Jisungie’ in slightly accented Korean. “I don’t even remember that day.”“Really?” Mark asked, his eyes widening comically. “You were like, eight!”“Which is why I don’t remember it!” he shot back, scowling and putting the brush away. “What happened that day, though?” he asked, watching Baozi run around in a circle as she tried to catch her tail.“You hugged me and wouldn’t let me go,” Mark answered and if Jisung were drinking something, he probably would have choked. “You were all ‘this is my hyung! Mama, Papa! My hyung!’ and your parents were pretty much forced to adopt me because you wouldn’t let me go,” Mark continued, changing the pitch to be annoyingly high to imitate Jisung in his younger years.“No way,” he said, accusing the other of lying shortly after since there was no way that his younger self would do something as embarrassing as that.“Yes way,” Mark replied, smiling the same relieved smile that he had on earlier. “I’m grateful though. If you guys didn’t adopt me, I wouldn’t have been adopted at all…I was already eleven and the kids that were adopted are usually only eight or seven.”“Then I’m glad too,” he stated, throwing a ball that Chenle had bought and given to him before he went off for a shower. “Regardless, you’re my hyung and there’s no changing that.” They fell into a comfortable silence between siblings, a silence that told a million stories in seconds. “Hey Jisung,” Mark piped up and he hummed to show the older that he was listening. “In five to six years time, when Taeyong-hyung and I get married after I graduate from university…you’ll be my best man, right?”“Me?” he croaked out, pointing to himself for good measure and being answered with Mark’s nod. “But I…I thought you were going to get Donghyuck-hyung to be your best man…”“I was but…it didn’t feel right,” Mark replied, sighing and running a hand through his hair, watching Baozi as she kept chewing on the ball between her paws. “He’s been by my side for a long time but you’ve been there for longer. Heck, if you weren’t stubborn, I wouldn’t even be here and talking to you. It seems fitting that you’ll be my best man.”“Hyung, I…I don’t know,” he answered honestly, swallowing and feeling uncertainty creep up his neck since he would have to say a speech, meet Taeyong as the best man and stand there watching his brother-“Jisung, it’ll be alright,” Mark reassured him, running a hand through his hair and calming his nerves down. “And it’s years from now.” He took a deep breath before he gave his definite answer.“Alright, hyung,” he stated, shaking his head and laughing slightly to himself. “I’ll be your best man at your wedding.”“Thank you, Jisung,” Mark replied, words weighted with so much relief and gratitude that Jisung couldn’t help but feel as if Mark was thanking him for something else. “Really, thank you.”“Don’t worry about it,” he said, smiling softly and staring at his puppy who had now pushed the ball away from herself and started barking at it. “You’re my hyung.” ~ ~ ~ “Renjun-ge told me that you told Mark-hyung he was family,” Chenle said the next morning when they met at school in front of Jisung’s locker. “And that you talked to Jaemin-hyung.”“Yes and yes,” he confirmed, opening his locker and grabbing the necessary textbooks for the day. “He told me you tipped him off.”“You looked really worried and stressed!” Chenle protested, pouting slightly as he stared up at Jisung. “I don’t like seeing you like that, Sung.”“You could’ve told me to do it yourself,” he mumbled, closing his locker door and hearing Chenle scoff.“And have to deal with your grumbling ass? No thanks,” Chenle replied, slipping his hand into the hand that Jisung wasn’t using to hold his books. “I’m your boyfriend, not your babysitter.”“So Renjun-hyung is?” He challenged, leading both of them to laugh loudly at the implications as they walked through the halls of the school.“Do you think Baozi will be okay?” Chenle asked as they turned the corner that led to Chenle’s own locker. “Like, we gave her enough food but…”“She’ll be okay,” he reassured his boyfriend, pressing a light kiss to Chenle’s temple. “She’s your puppy, after all.”“Ours,” Chenle piped up, glaring up at him and squeezing his hand a little too hard. “She’s our puppy.”“Okay, drama queen,” he said, chuckling softly and pressing another kiss to Chenle’s temple. “She’s our puppy so she’ll be okay.”