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Dowoon doesn't know how he got here, but he isn't happy about it.
One moment he's stepping out to get food from the convenience store, and the next, he's suddenly seeing everything from just a few inches above the ground. The universe has to be playing some cruel joke on him, or he's having the most unnervingly realistic dream he's ever had in his life.
He's turned into a dog. A tiny one, at that.
He has no keys, no clothes, no phone, absolutely no idea what's going on - so he ends up at the only place he can think to go.
It takes a while before they let him into the apartment, but Wonpil eventually promises that he'll make sure the dog stays out of Sungjin's bedroom and wardrobe. Pfft. As if I want to go in there anyway, Park Sungjin.
Once he's in, Dowoon immediately dashes into the living room. He has a plan. He climbs onto the couch – which is a challenge, in itself – and settles himself on top of a specific cushion.
It’s old merchandise they've kept lying around, a square pillow with Don’s face on it.
“Ahhh, don’t get that dirty, Dowoon will get mad,” Wonpil chides, gently yanking the cushion from below him. He holds it up, then smiles. “You kinda look like Don. Heh.”
Dowoon wants to tear his hair out.
It’s ME, I’M DON– DOWOON... HYUNG…
“Why are you whininggg,” Wonpil coos, sitting down next to him, lightly petting his fur.
Sungjin emerges from his room. “What are you going to do with it? We can’t keep it forever.”
Wonpil lifts Dowoon into his lap. At this point, Dowoon’s just grateful that Wonpil seems to be the only one watching out for his interests here, so he doesn’t fight it. “I don’t know. It’s too clean to be a stray… But there’s no collar,” he thinks out loud. “I’ll text Dowoon, he’ll know what to do.”
Dowoon starts whining again. That would probably be the best course of action on a typical day, a day where Dowoon wasn’t literally already sitting right there in his lap. Wonpil ignores him, snapping a quick photo of puppy-Dowoon and turning away to type on his phone.
Sungjin roams into the kitchen, and not long after, Dowoon sniffs out the familiar smell of ramen in the air. His stomach lets out a soft growl. He's starving. But he doesn’t think he’ll survive eating ramen as a dog.
They hear the beeping of the digital lock, and the door clicks open.
“I’m home,” Younghyun announces, tossing his bag onto the floor. “We have a dog?”
Wonpil gets up and holds Dowoon out with two hands. Younghyun takes him, and starts bouncing him up and down like you would an infant. Dowoon is horrified. He wants so badly to escape, but Younghyun is considerably tall, and the drop from his arms isn’t something he wants to risk. This might as well happen.
Younghyun, still holding Dowoon, walks into the kitchen.
“Smells good,” he says, heading over to the stove where Sungjin’s watching over a boiling pot, seven Samyang ramen packets stacked neatly on top of each other on the counter next to him.
“Go wash up. I'm making your portion too.”
“Thanks, hyung,” Younghyun replies, voice higher than usual and sickeningly sweet. Dowoon's head tilts to the side in confusion. Younghyun must be in a really good mood today.
And as if Dowoon wasn’t already confused enough, Younghyun shifts to hold Dowoon with one hand, leaving him lying in an awkward, scrunched up position. Before Dowoon can do anything in protest, Younghyun leans forward to wrap his free arm around Sungjin's waist, and gives him a peck on the temple.
Dowoon freezes, sandwiched between the both of them.
WHAT?
Sungjin squirms out of Younghyun's hold. “You still have your outside clothes on.”
THAT’S YOUR ONLY PROBLEM WITH THAT?
Dowoon makes the executive decision to wriggle out and leap down from Younghyun’s arms. Height be damned. What the hell is happening? He lands on the floor, slightly winded, but recovers quickly and immediately bounds back into the living room.
In retrospect, he had noticed that the hyungs had been more open to skinship with each other ever since they all came out of the military. Dowoon had just chalked it up to sentimentality that came with old age, to be honest. He’d never been one to deny skinship anyway, so it didn’t seem quite so out of the ordinary.
But this is new. And being caught in the middle of that - Dowoon shudders just thinking about it again.
He has so many questions. He wants so badly to rat them out, but all he can do is run up to Wonpil, scrabble at his calves, and bark.
“Aish. Small dogs really are feisty,” Wonpil says, picking him up and setting him on the couch.
Dowoon curses, and to his dismay, it only comes out as a whimper.
While Sungjin and Younghyun devour their ramen, the hyungs all have a conference on what to do about the dog.
“Dowoonie still hasn’t responded. I think he’s sleeping,” Wonpil pouts.
Younghyun floats the idea of having a house pet. Sungjin scoffs and responds that he’ll end up having to do everything to take care of it himself anyway. They laugh and they joke and they bicker, and Dowoon almost finds himself missing living together like this.
“Well, it’d be nice to take care of something together,” Younghyun says, but he’s only looking at Sungjin. Sungjin gives him a soft smile.
Dowoon watches all this happen, incredulous. There’s definitely something going on here. And why wasn’t Wonpil reacting at all?
His attention shifts when Sungjin reaches under the table, and holds out a plain, peeled, hard-boiled egg. Dowoon didn’t even notice that Sungjin had bothered making anything for him to eat, but he finally has food and he’s not complaining.
“It’s late. Just let it sleep here and we’ll figure out what to do tomorrow,” Sungjin says, immediately getting up to wash his hands when Dowoon is done.
Wonpil hums and heads into his bedroom.
Younghyun stays to help Sungjin wash the dishes. They chat among themselves in low tones, and Dowoon’s surprised to notice that he can hear them from where he is. If you forced him to look for a silver lining, he finds it pretty cool that his hearing seems to be better as a dog. They talk about the tour, they talk about getting new studio equipment, and they talk about potential concepts for their next album.
Sungjin remarks that he wants to watch a movie.
“I’ll put something on. Howl's maybe?” Younghyun says.
Dowoon isn’t sure what his plan is. He still doesn't know how he got into this mess to begin with, and he can’t tell how long more he’s going to stay like this. But Sungjin’s right – it's late, he’s tired, and they’ll figure it out tomorrow. For now, he’ll at least have a good movie to watch to take his mind off things.
The hyungs plop themselves down on the sofa, and Dowoon makes himself comfortable on the floor.
He’s about to drift off to the soothing Ghibli music when he suddenly becomes aware of rustling and murmuring coming from behind him. He peels his eyes open and turns around.
The hyungs are snuggled together underneath a shared blanket, which wouldn’t be the most surprising thing he's seen today, except for the fact that Younghyun’s face hides itself in the crook of Sungjin’s neck, and Sungjin’s arm is moving in a way that lets Dowoon know exactly what is happening.
“Ah- hyung,” he hears Younghyun whisper, shakily.
Sungjin whispers back, words that Dowoon never thought he’d hear coming from Park Sungjin’s mouth. Younghyun lets out a low, guttural groan in response. Dowoon has never been and will never be less grateful for the ability to hear.
Dowoon gets up and bolts.
He runs down the short hallway, almost crashing into Wonpil’s bedroom door. He starts pawing at it frantically, his distress translating into high-pitched whines.
I was literally right there! They have NO decency and NO respect for my innocent eyes and ears –
Wonpil opens his door. “What is it,” he asks, sleepily. He picks Dowoon up and shuffles into the living room, still rubbing his eyes.
On hearing his footsteps, the two on the sofa break apart, trying to act as normal as possible. The blanket is ruffled between them, and Younghyun is hugging his knees to his chest. Wonpil’s been in this exact situation before, and he’s not stupid.
“Again? Keep your hanky-panky to the bedrooms,” Wonpil complains. “This is a shared space! And you’re traumatising the dog.”
AGAIN?
Dowoon’s starting to think that he’s missed a few chapters since he moved out. He’s surprised (and mildly offended) that Wonpil has managed to keep his mouth shut about this at all.
“What? We’re watching a movie,” Sungjin says nonchalantly, gesturing at the screen. “Go back to sleep.”
Younghyun keeps his eyes trained on the television, but the tips of his ears are red and his lips are tightly pursed, like he's trying his hardest not to laugh.
Wonpil scrunches his nose and sticks his tongue out at them. “Come on, you can stay in my room where you’re safe,” he says, petting Dowoon between the ears. He carries Dowoon back to his bedroom.
He’s not as much of a stickler for cleanliness as Sungjin, so he gladly lets Dowoon stay on his bed with him. It almost feels like old times, except Dowoon is much smaller. And, well, a dog. It’s much-needed comfort after everything he’s just seen – he’s still reeling – and he inches as close to Wonpil’s arm as he can, curling into a comfortable position to sleep.
It's been a weird, long day.