Chapter Text
Now, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun have been friends for a very long time. Twelve-year-old Baekhyun had been the new kid, family just having moved over from Bucheon. Surprisingly fearless and ridiculously hyper, he somehow managed to befriend the scary-looking loner sitting at front of the class because he couldn’t see. Even though they have been close for over a decade now, there are still things Kyungsoo can’t stand about his best friend. His tendency to overreact for example.
So, when Kyungsoo’s phone rings at three in the morning, he seriously questions his friendship choices. He picks the phone up though, because knowing Baekhyun, the idiot could quite possibly be bleeding out in a field somewhere.
“No,” he answers.
“Mongryong is really sick. He’s restless and whining and I think he’s bleeding,” says the man on the other end, genuinely panicked.
“And why can’t Chanyeol take you to the vet?” Kyungsoo asks slowly, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.
“He’s at his parents and he’s working tomorrow.”
“So am I.”
“You start at ten. He starts at seven.”
Kyungsoo hits his face against the pillow a few times. He is silent for a good minute before “fine. I’ll be there in ten,” and hangs up.
Muttering angrily under his breath, he drags himself out of bed, swearing when he stubs his toe on the doorframe. To make things even better, the heater in his car is broken. And it’s cold. Breath-visible-in-the-air cold. Even wrapped in a massive jacket, he is still shivering when he pulls up to Baekhyun’s house.
Kyungsoo glares at Baekhyun through the window. The dog whines, pitifully, and he glares at that too. It seems perfectly fine. More cold air seeps into the car when Baekhyun opens the door. Kyungsoo kind of wants him to trip. No such luck, he slides in easily despite having his hands full of dog.
Baekhyun buries his nose into Mongryong’s fur. “Thank you Soo.”
Kyungsoo appraises him for a moment, silent, before telling him “fix your hair.”
Baekhyun’s hands fly to his head.
They don’t speak much after that, apart from Baekhyun giving him directions, slender fingers brushing through Mongryong’s fur. It’s not like him to be so still, or so quiet. Baekhyun is watching the corgi, face unchanging, no sign of his usual smile. Kyungsoo worries, stealing glances at him every so often in the mirror.
The ‘CLOSED’ sign is the first thing they see when they pull into the parking lot and Kyungsoo turns his head, very slowly, towards his friend, hands clenched around the steering wheel.
"How was I meant to know it wasn't open all night?" Baekhyun says, voice getting higher in panic.
"I am so close to punching you right now," he says, voice still croaky from sleep, but sighs ill-sufferingly and brings up the map on his phone. Kyungsoo would never admit to this, but he’s not really angry. Not when Baekhyun looks like he’s about to cry.
Luckily for him, the only twenty-four-hour vet in the area is only ten minutes away. He doesn't give a damn if it's not the dog’s usual clinic because he'd like to go back to sleep thank you very much. He bats Baekhyun’s hand away from his coffee.
The massive building they pull up at looks far too modern to be a vet; done in black stone and strong lines. Instead of a sign:
Exoluxion
24/7 Veterinary, Kennel and Pound Service
is printed in bold white writing along the left wall. Something about it niggles at his brain but he’s too tired to acknowledge it.
“You are coming in?” Baekhyun asks, surprised, when he notices Kyungsoo following him.
“My heater is broken,” He replies grumpily, hand curled around his coffee.
Now that he isn’t driving, it is an enormous effort to keep his eyes open, so he takes to staring at Baekhyun’s feet as he walks. He comes to a stop a second later than Baekhyun does, doing a little shuffle to avoiding running into him. The quiet is broken by Baekhyun’s voice speaking to the receptionist, Kyungsoo letting the noise wash over him. It takes him a solid minute to realise that he's staring at bags of pet food and it'd be polite to look up.
The receptionist is hands down, one of the most attractive people he has ever seen. The man looks about Kyungsoo’s age, and is tall, with flawless bronze skin, plump lips and a jawline that would make an angel cry. His brown hair is rumpled, lying flat against his head, and his brown eyes are bright despite the time.
The receptionist says something else to Baekhyun that he misses.
Baekhyun nods, thanking the man, and pulls Kyungsoo over to a row of blue chairs by his sleeve. The receptionist walks over to the vet’s office and knocks, before poking his head in, Kyungsoo powerless to stop his half-shut eyes from following the man’s back. He's so out of it that he doesn't realise that the annoying whine is Baekhyun trying to ask him if he’s okay.
“I’m tired. Because someone thought it would be a good idea to call me at three in the morning.”
Baekhyun apologizes in earnest then, eyes big and wide. It’s quite sweet. Kyungsoo tells him not to worry. As much as he likes to complain, he would always help.
But his best friend’s attention span never lasts very long, “the receptionist is hot, isn’t he?”
“You’re engaged,” Kyungsoo reminds him.
Baekhyun waves his hand dismissively. “Chanyeol’s way hotter, but I’m just saying. Anyway, you seemed to agree with the way you were staring.”
Kyungsoo takes all his nice thoughts back. He's good at letting nothing show on his face, but Baekhyun has an irritating way of being able to guess what he's thinking.
“You do think he’s hot don’t you. Don’t you?” His best friend nags, leaning forward, looking far too awake.
Luckily, before he’s forced to reply, Baekhyun’s name gets called and he disappears with Mongryong into one of the rooms.
He doesn’t dare look at the receptionist again, and lets his eyes close. It could be an hour or five minutes, but when Kyungsoo is shaken awake with a tongue licking his ankle, he has no idea where he is for a few seconds. His eyes focus onto a close-up of Baekhyun’s face, which he pushes away.
“We’re finished!” Baekhyun trills, sounding a lot happier now that Mongryong’s been seen to.
Kyungsoo’s silence doesn’t affect Baekhyun, who keeps nattering on about his dog. The corgi does look a lot less restless now, despite wearing one of those cone things. Baekhyun’s still talking by the time they’re in the car and Kyungsoo would be happier for him if he didn’t have a looming headache. He didn’t think it possible, but somehow he feels worse now than before.
Baekhyun tells him he’ll see him tomorrow when he gets out of the car, holding one of Mongryong’s paws to wave him goodbye. Kyungsoo in reply, leans over and closes the passenger door in his face.
As soon Kyungsoo gets home, despite a growling stomach, he collapses on top of his bed, falling asleep in his clothes.