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The dog was whining at the door again. Ye Qiu shoved his head under his pillow in an attempt to escape the noise, try and fall asleep but then there was a truly pathetic whimper from the corridor and he rolled out of bed in a huff, tearing his covers off to yank his door open and glare at the fluffball that was currently clawing at Ye Xiu’s door. The tiny puppy perked up at the sight of him and began yipping excitedly, dancing around his legs, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she sat down, looking up at him expectantly and what was there to do but crouch down and pet her.
“I’m not Ye Xiu, I’m his brother. You’re waiting for someone who isn’t coming back.” Saying the words out loud hurt more than he’d expected, realising that it was true, his brother probably wouldn’t be coming home again, at least not for good. The puppy didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t Ye Xiu, melting into a tiny puddle of golden fur as he continued to scratch at her ears. “Did he even give you a name?” The puppy cocked her head to the side before licking at his fingers, nipping experimentally, the light catching on her name tag.
“Little Dot.” Ye Qiu looked down at the tiny bundle of fur, looked at how she whined softly when he stood to leave, eyes wide and desperate and he huffed out a soft breath and leant down to scoop her up.
The moment his arms were around her, she went absolutely wild, licking at every inch of his face that she could reach, wriggling in excitement as he placed her at the foot of the bed, tucking himself in, settling down to get some rest now that Little Dot wasn’t whimpering outside his door. To his surprise, the puppy stayed at the foot of the bed for less than two minutes before she padded up to his head and nosed at his cheek gently, nudging at him until he tilted his head back.
The moment that happened, Little Dot yipped happily and wriggled her way into curling up underneath his chin, settling down for the night with a final lick to Ye Qiu’s nose. He froze for a long time, unsure of what to do but while he was caught up in his thoughts, he began to stroke through the puppy’s fur, movement rhythmic and soothing and he fell asleep before he realised that he was already whipped for her.
The next day he was called into his father’s office and Little Dot trotted in behind him, sitting herself down with a little huff beside his feet, but his eyes were fixed on his father, attentive. His father glanced down at where the puppy sat, tail wagging excitedly as she stared up at Ye Qiu as if to say, “look at how well-behaved I am!!” One eyebrow arched up and his next words sent a chill down Ye Qiu’s spine.
“He didn’t take the animal with him then did he. No matter, it can be returned tomorrow.”
“NO!” His father’s eyes snapped towards him and Ye Qiu’s face was fixed in a comically shocked expression, having never raised his voice at his father before but he composed himself quickly. “I mean, I can take care of her father! I’ll make sure she’s fed and walked and healthy, please!” His father waved his hand dismissively, not caring enough to argue.
“Very well, I wanted to remind you that your English tutor will be here later to assess your progress, do not disappoint him.” Ye Qiu nodded quickly, keeping his eyes on the ground before he left, scooping up Little Dot as he went, clutching her close to his chest for comfort, worried his father would call him back having changed his mind but Little Dot simply yawned in his face as she rested her head on his shoulder for a nap.
While it was little distracting to study with the occasional soft woofs from his lap and the little kicks that she made, as if she were running in her dreams, the warmth in his lap made up for the distractions. Especially when Little Dot rolled over onto her back, exposing her belly while her head hung off his lap, tongue lolling out in her sleep. Ye Qiu didn’t even mind when it turned out she’d drooled down the leg of his trousers, he decided she was the only good thing that’d come out of his brother leaving.
His workload was increasing, without his oldest son, even if it was only by a few minutes, the mantle of his father’s company had suddenly, abruptly and disappointingly, been thrust upon Ye Qiu’s shoulders and due to the years of not having to prepare for the responsibility, the workload seemed even heavier than Ye Xiu’s had been. Ye Qiu let his head rest against the cool wood of his desk for a long moment, hoping to stave off the headache he could feel building up behind his eyes, he was too busy to stop, he had essays to complete, language tests to prep for, a chemistry quiz and-
“Woof!” He was brought out of his ever-growing list of responsibilities to see his Little Dot sitting beside his desk, her favourite frisbee in her mouth while her tail thumped steadily against the floor as she looked up at him expectantly.
“Can’t play right now, I’m sorry but I’m too busy.” He ruffled his hand through her fur, hoping to placate her as he turned back to his work, already feeling the pain in the back of his head building up again.
“WOOF!” This time, the noise was more insistent and Little Dot dropped the frisbee to the floor in order to tug at the hem of his trousers, trying to goad him into standing him. When he brushed her off, carefully pulling his clothes out of her mouth, she settled beside his desk and began to whimper, gazing up at him pathetically, ears folded back, eyes wide as she pleaded.
Ye Qiu wasn’t made of stone. After less then a minute of the begging he caved, scooping up the frisbee and racing his dog down the stairs into the garden, throwing the frisbee the moment he was outside in the sunshine. Little Dot bolted after it, tail wagging fast enough that it was nearly a blur as she launched herself into the air, her fur looking golden in the sunlight.
In her excitement to return the toy, she bowled into Ye Qiu at max speed, knocking him over into the grass and the moment she had him on the ground she began to lick at his face enthusiastically, covering every inch she could reach as Ye Qiu laughed under the assault, pushing at her head, delight ringing through the air as he wrestled with her, eventually giving up and allowing her to continue covering him in her saliva. The sun was bright in the sky and for a moment, Ye Qiu’s burdens had vanished, cleaned away by the rough strokes of his Little Dot’s tongue.
It was late, the entire house was silent, lights off, everyone asleep.
Except in Ye Qiu’s room. Since his parents signed him up for as many extracurriculars as they could, his grades were about to take a hit and he couldn’t afford to let his grades slip but he also wasn’t allowed to drop any of the extracurriculars, meaning he was stuck with doing his homework late at night, while his parents were asleep to avoid falling behind academically. He yawned, feeling his jaw crack as he stretched, feeling his spine protest at the angle he’d been sitting at for the past two hours. His usually impeccable posture had slowly devolved into slumping as it got later and later, and his eyes began to feel heavier than ever.
He startled when there was a very soft bark from beside him and his Little Dot was sat beside his desk, but her tail wasn’t wagging, in fact she seemed to be glaring at him. He suspected, if she were human, her arms would be folded, much in the way his teachers favoured when they were particularly disappointed in someone. He looked away for a moment, trying to focus on the numbers on the page, cursing under his breath as he watched them blur and swim in and out of focus as he tried to keep his eyes open.
Little Dot rested her head on his knee, employing her guilt-trip eyes where she looked up at him so sadly, as if he was personally responsible for shattering her heart in her chest but over the years Ye Qiu was pleased to say that he’d built up a resistance to it. A tenuous resistance, but he managed to keep his eyes on the paper- even if he couldn’t actually read what it was saying.
Little Dot was not to be deterred however, the bed was cold and lonely and Ye Qiu was not going to sit at his desk until he passed out. He was going to pass out in his bed, and she was confident in her abilities to achieve this. When Ye Qiu didn’t shift, she jumped up onto the desk, rolling onto her back on top of the papers, tongue lolling out as Ye Qiu immediately began petting her stomach before huffing out a sigh.
“Okay, you win.” Little Dot went berserk when he left his desk, tail wagging fast enough that it became a blur and Ye Qiu collapsed into his bed, Little Dot shoving herself into the crook of his arm, settling down after a lick to his cheek.
You’re whipped for her. A voice shockingly similar to his brother’s sounded in his head and Ye Qiu couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes despite the fact his brother wasn’t even there.
“Like you don’t beg for pictures of her.” He muttered out loud to the darkness of the room but a soft wuffle from Little Dot had him going quiet and drifting off in moments, the steady rise and fall of his dog’s chest lulling him into a peaceful sleep.
Ye Qiu was a successful and well-respected businessman. He couldn’t hold his drinks, but he was polite, courteous and working with him was never an ordeal unlike with some other CEOs. However, he was never seen without his dog at his side and would often ask for her opinion on the business at hand. She would respond with a soft wuffle, he’d feed her a treat, praise her intelligence before returning his full attention to the meeting.
His staff spent a lot of time trying to get a photo of him with his dog as his face softened when he looked down at her, making him look even more handsome they thought. They succeeded in snapping a blurry picture of him carrying Little Dot like a child, the tabloids ran a fluff piece entitled: “IS THE ONLY WOMAN IN YE QIU’S LIFE HIS DOG?” If nothing else, it prompted his brother to send him a barrage of messages, mostly centred around laughing at his perpetual singleness, as if his brother was doing much better in that sense.
He swivelled in his chair to watch his Little Dot trot out of the office confidently, sitting beside his receptionist’s desk expectantly, eyes wide and pleading until the woman sighed out a laugh, and dug in her drawer for the dog treats she kept on hand. Little Dot offered a little bark of happiness, tail smacking against her desk as she trotted back to Ye Qiu’s side, butting her head against his hand until he capitulated and abandoned his keyboard with one hand to situate the other in his dog’s fur, scratching at her ears to placate her. He’d become exceptional at typing one handed out of necessity.
“You spoil her.” His head of PR was leaning against the door frame of his office, smile on her lips as she watched her boss dote over his dog. Ye Qiu coughed slightly, embarrassed at being caught being so whipped for his Little Dot.
“She always takes care of me; I have to return the favour.” He responded, not knowing that she’d often seen Little Dot leading her half-coherent boss out of his office when he’d stayed up working too late. She, and everyone else in the office, were well-aware of how well Little Dot looked after Ye Qiu and she slipped the good girl a treat when Ye Qiu was distracted.
Little Dot whuffled happily as she curled up on Ye Qiu’s feet. Her charge had grown up well and successful, she was munching on a treat, the room was sunshine warm and Ye Qiu was content. And if Ye Qiu was content, so was his Little Dot. She snuggled closer to Ye Qiu before dropping off to sleep, she’d wake up when it was time to drag him home. All was well.