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YOUR ROYAL FLOOFINESS.
It seemed an insane idea to Minho when he had first seen that Facebook post about a family who had adopted a dog every year for a whole decade. It wasn’t the prospect of adopting dogs per se, it was just… they were so many. Ten dogs? Crazy. Minho wondered how they could all fit inside the family’s average-sized house. But, time passed, and he came to entertain the idea. He and his husband, Chan, had the means to provide for a big family, anyway; their joint salaries cost about as much as a Lamborghini — which was, no exaggeration, a lot. That was what happened when you were heir to two of the biggest finance companies in South Korea. Well — Chan had actually been given full reign of his parents’ company sometime after their marriage, so CEO and heir of two of the biggest finance companies in South Korea.
Their marriage was an arranged one, as was normal in the world of business. But they were a rare pair, in the sense that their marriage wasn’t just out of convenience or out of alliance with each other’s families, they were actually in love. They had been dating before their marriage was even decided.
Which was why Minho had no problem being himself around his husband, because he knew he didn’t have to keep up an image when he was around him. He could just be Minho.
But back to adopting a shit ton of dogs, Minho ended up being the one to propose the idea for that exact reason. That didn’t mean he wasn’t surprised when Chan had agreed so easily, though. He even seemed enthusiastic.
That was seven years ago, but the enthusiasm didn’t die down even as they were approaching their eighth marriage anniversary, now with six dogs in their family. One dog for every year since their second.
“What are you thinking about, Min?” A voice asked, cutting off Minho’s train of thought. Minho jumped and turned to look at his husband next to him on the couch. “Nothing, just remembered something.” He replied, chuckling as he mindlessly carded his hand through Dior’s fur. Dior was the first dog they had adopted together, and Chan had so badly wanted a golden retriever, so that was how they ended up with her. And then she had become a mama dog when she gave birth to Pazel a few years later.
Chan groaned when he noticed something. “Mia, you peed again?” He sighed to the small white pomeranian walking around the living room looking proud of herself. A maid immediately came out of the kitchen with a towel, but Chan stopped her before she could walk over to where the puppy had relieved herself. “No, no, give it here, dear, I got it.” He said, and the maid handed over the towel before Chan went to wipe the spot. Minho laughed at this. “She still needs to be potty-trained, no?”
“Yep.”
Dior jumped off of the couch at that moment, walking towards the younger dog as if to chastise her for making a mess.
Shaking his head in fondness, Minho got up to make his way to the house’s patio. Several of their other dogs were here: Alexei, a Siberian husky, and Pazel were chasing each other around the playhouse Chan had built for them a few years ago, and their King Charles spaniel Berry was simply sitting in the corner sunbathing. Best not to bother them now, then, Minho thought.
For a long while, Minho simply sat in one of the lounge chairs, watching his kids play around and bark at each other.
“Min, love, dinner’s ready!” Chan’s voice sounded throughout the whole first floor, and Minho got up to go to the dining room. He made a whistling noise, catching the attention of all the dogs outside. “Dinner time!” He said excitedly, and all the dogs came running inside, awaiting their feast.
A week then passed, and suddenly it was their eighth anniversary. To be quite frank, Minho had actually forgotten about their whole tradition of adopting a dog for every year, but that was because there hadn’t been any preparations or adoption processes since they brought Mia home last year. Minho vaguely remembered Chan telling him that he’d take care of it, but he didn’t have any idea how that was coming along.
They had the day off, as they always did on the day of their anniversary, but Chan had gone out sometime in the morning because he said he had a work thing to attend to. A little weird that it happened to be on his day off, but Minho didn’t question it, figuring that it must’ve been an emergency.
Eight years of marriage had them not bothering to plan anything anymore, unlike their first few years together, but that didn’t mean they stopped caring. They did care. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t just have their own celebration at home and spend it peacefully instead of having something extravagant planned. Besides, they stopped going out as much as they used to after Alexei came home.
The whole day, Minho lounged around the house, most times bored out of his mind as he watched shows on the television that held no real entertainment value whatsoever. Other times he was playing with the dogs or trying to get Mia, or Princess Mia, as they nicknamed her, to go to the bathroom in the right places when she nearly peed on the carpet yet again.
Sitting on the couch, Minho decided to send Chan a text. But just the one text, he didn’t want to bother him if he was working. When are you coming home? He sent, and a reply came almost immediately. I’ll be there soon, love, wait for me.
And despite their twelve years together, Minho still found himself lightly kicking his feet and smiling like a highschooler in love at the way Chan so casually called him by the endearment. Minho supposed his immature crush on Chan never really faded as they grew older.
The thought seemed to prove itself right when the door clicked open, and Minho was already up and making a beeline towards his husband before he could realize it, throwing his arms around the man’s neck. “Woah,” the older chuckled. “Missed me, huh?” He teased, giving Minho’s cheek a soft kiss. The latter simply hummed and pulled away. Alexei came up to them just as excitedly, wagging his tail and happily barking. “Hello, baby,” Chan bent down to greet him. “Did you miss Papa? Aw, I missed you too.” He cooed.
“What’s that?” Minho asked, gesturing towards the box Chan had set down on the side table. “Oh, uh,” Chan giggled. “It’s your anniversary gift.” Minho raised his eyebrows at this, “Really now? Can I open it?”
His husband nodded, and Minho kissed his cheek as a thank you in advance before carefully bringing the box down onto the carpet. The box wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t light either. Gently, he shook the box, as if trying to figure out what was inside just by the sound it made.
And then he heard the unmistakable sound of a whimper. “Chan?” he looked up at his husband. “I didn’t know you already adopted one for this year.” he said.
Chan smiled sheepishly. “I wanted to surprise you, so,”
Minho then opened the box, gasping when he saw what was inside. It was a baby English bulldog. It looked like it was about a week old. He then stuck his hand out for the puppy to sniff before it started licking. “Is it a boy?” he asked, and Chan hummed in confirmation.
Carefully, Minho lifted the fur baby into his arms and cradled it like he would a human baby. He ran to his husband and immediately kissed him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” he repeated over and over. “you’re literally the best person ever, I love you!” he exclaimed.
Chan laughed. “I love you more, happy anniversary, darling.”
The couple’s moment was suddenly interrupted by excited barking, and Minho looked down to see a corgi jumping up and down eagerly, keen on getting a look at her new younger brother.
“Look, Olga!” Minho bent down a little so the pup could be seen. “He’s your new baby brother, see? Isn’t he cute?” Olga continued to jump up and down, sniffing the puppy in Minho’s arms and licking him. “What should we name him?” He turned to Chan.
“Well,” Chan started. “I remembered you mentioning that if you ever had an English bulldog — which you do now — you’d name it Nicholas, but I thought you might’ve changed your mind about the name, so I waited until I got home to name him together.”
Minho smiled. “I like Nicholas.” He said.
“His royal floofiness, Prince Nicholas.” He joked, raising the puppy up in the air like Simba in the Lion King. He then realized something and gasped. “He’s Princess Mia’s royal brother.” Chan laughed, making a show of bowing to the bulldog that only stared at him cluelessly, probably wondering where he was or what the hell was happening. “Your royal floofiness.”