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Chapter Text

It has been about two weeks since he turned into a dog and Jeongwoo would like to go back to being human by now, thank you so much.

He has no idea how or why it happened. He just knows that one night he was still studying, poring over books late into the night, and then the next time he woke up everything had changed.

The world took up a really weird and scary appearance when one was as big (or as tiny) as a puppy. Which Jeongwoo realized he was, when he looked into the first available reflective surface he could find. It was a puddle, and nothing much was clear from that picture, but there were a few certainties.

Jeongwoo was 100% definitely a dog.

He couldn't tell the breed, it's not like he spent his time studying dog breeds, and he certainly wasn't one of the more known ones, like a German shepherd or a golden retriever. He had black fur, spotted with white on his front paws (not on the back ones, he checked) and across his snout and chest area. He was tiny, or at least he felt tiny after spending most of his life as an above average height human. His ears were floppy, in a triangle shape, and his tail was long and not yet bushy, but judging from the fact that he had long fur everywhere else he guessed this wasn't going to be a permanent state.

He didn't want to stay as a dog until he found out if he was right or not.

He wanted to go back to his home, but he didn't even know where he was in the first few days. Seoul looked especially intimidating for someone as small and fragile as a freaking puppy. Jeongwoo has barely moved there, and he should be concentrating on his studies, not being out here and trying to find his way back to his rented apartment. The distances felt endless with his tiny puppy feet, and he had to eat, drink, and sleep a lot because he became very tired very soon.

He didn't have time to think about how he would be able to turn back, or how did this whole thing happen, he just wanted to be back. No matter what. He tried to send a prayer to every deity he knew - there weren't a lot of them - but he must have pissed someone off really badly because nobody seemed to listen. He swore up and down that he's going to donate to shelters, no, he will adopt a dog, or two, just please someone turn him back to his normal form; but it had no effect.

It took two weeks and Jeongwoo was utterly lost, and very hungry, and if he was a human he'd be crying constantly by now, but again. He's a puppy. And he's stuck. As a puppy.

And if that wasn't enough, if turning into something so helpless and vulnerable wasn't already bad enough, then the weather made it all worse. It's the middle of October, and that means it's always cold, and it's raining a lot.

So Jeongwoo isn't just hungry and tired all the time, no, he's also wet and cold, wondering when he will come down with pneumonia and die from it too.

He doesn't want to die. Especially not as a puppy.

He guesses that his parents must be looking for him by now, but they wouldn't know to look for a puppy, and it's not like Jeongwoo has a way to reach them either. So, he's completely alone out in the cold with nobody who would or could help him. Even if some kind soul would take pity on a lost puppy, Jeongwoo still wouldn't be able to communicate, or turn back into a human.

And there is a shortage of kind souls in this city, Jeongwoo comes to find. The humans he had met during the last two weeks weren't particularly kind towards him. The best outcome he can expect from them is that he will be left alone and unhurt. So it's for the best to avoid them, as well as other stray dogs, if Jeongwoo wants to stay alive.

Which is why he's now shivering in the cold, curled into a doughnut, hiding between a dumpster and the wall of a building. He's not very much protected from the rain, but he couldn't fit under the dumpster, and this was the safest place he could find as the downpour started.

Involuntarily, some whining slips past his teeth, because when one is a hungry and lost puppy that just happens sometimes. Unfortunately, right after the noise leaves him, he hears footsteps near the dumpster.

Jeongwoo pricks one ear up, listening, not daring to move more because he doesn't want to call attention to himself. The footsteps stop in front of the dumpster, then there's a pause where only the patter of the rain can be heard.

"Did I hear it wrong?" a voice asks, closer than Jeongwoo thought it would be.

Then there's a thud, like someone throwing a bag into the dumpster, but the footsteps don't start receding.

"Ah, there you are. You're so black I didn't see you before."

Knowing that he can't hide anymore, Jeongwoo sits up on his haunches, scooting backwards from the man crouching at the entrance of the narrow space between the dumpster and the wall. Jeongwoo can smell alcohol on him, but otherwise he doesn't look too dangerous. But Jeongwoo has been fooled before, so he stays wary of this stranger.

The man reaches out his arms a bit, beckoning Jeongwoo closer.

"Hey, come here, puppy. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

Jeongwoo barks, just to let him know how much he doesn't believe that and stands up, drawing back even more. The problem is that he really doesn't have much more space behind his back. He made a mistake, sleeping in such a closed space, but he was tired and this tiny nook was the most sheltered from the elements, it even felt a bit warmer than the outside air.

Except now he has no escape route, only through the strange man.

Who laughs at Jeongwoo's bark, pulling his hands back and scratching the back of his head.

"Alright, you have trust issues, I see. Not that I blame you, just…" he looks around himself, then up, and something catches his eyes, so he stands up for a second, then crouches down again.

He now has a strip of bacon in his hand, the same bacon Jeongwoo ineffectively tried to jump up and catch out of the dumpster about an hour ago. It still smells heavenly to his starved stomach, but Jeongwoo's more rational than how a real puppy would be, so he can hold himself back from the temptation even if he's actively salivating.

"Look, here, you can have this," the man says, swinging the bacon around.

When he sees that Jeongwoo is not moving, he drops his hand with a sigh.

"Dammit…"

He looks up, frowning at the rain, and this is how Jeongwoo notices that he isn't wearing a raincoat or holding an umbrella. In fact, he's being drenched by the rain, and that tank top he's wearing won't do much to protect him from the cold. Neither will the slippers on his feet.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

The man swings the bacon once again, this time throwing it roughly halfway up the distance between the two of them.

Jeongwoo knows he still shouldn't move towards it, the man's arms are long and he's not in a state to evade him in this narrow space, but his stomach growls at the sight and he takes a step forward before his rational brain can stop him.

"Ah, good, good puppy, come on," the man says, beckoning with his hands once again. "Let me get you out of there, okay? Please."

It's that last word that gets Jeongwoo to raise his head, ears perked. The way the man said please sounded a bit too desperate, and it throws Jeongwoo for a loop.

Why is this strange man out here in the rain trying to catch a puppy in such flimsy clothing? He must be living close by, probably in the apartment complex right opposite, so he could just leave and stop getting rained on, but he looks like he's determined to take Jeongwoo with him too.

Can Jeongwoo trust that the man harbors no ill intentions? No, probably not. It's too risky.

"Please, puppy, come on. You can't stay here. Some people hate dogs around here."

Against his better judgment, Jeongwoo takes another step forward at hearing that. For all he knows those "some people" could include this man right here too, but Jeongwoo has a feeling that's not what's going on. And either way, he's already close to the bacon, and even if Jeongwoo is not actually a dog, he's very very hungry and the bacon smells so nice, and he can't resist the temptation anymore.

He can barely touch the bacon with his nose before he's snatched up and lifted into the air, away from the mouthwatering meat strip. He yips, partially in surprise, partially in frustration, and tries to wiggle out of the arms holding onto him, but the man bundles him up with his - soaking wet - tank top and takes off towards the apartment complex in a jog. With his limbs all incapacitated and the man holding onto him tightly, Jeongwoo can't make an escape attempt.

The man's body heat starts seeping into him, but it makes Jeongwoo shiver uncontrollably. He's not the only one. The stranger's teeth also chatter as they make their way inside a building and then up to the sixth floor in the elevator. He keeps patting Jeongwoo's back, talking to him all the way, in an attempt to calm him down.

"It's okay, puppy, don't be scared, you're going to be fine."

Jeongwoo is of the opinion that puppy-snatcher strange men shouldn't tell him how to feel about being kidnapped, but he stays silent. And motionless too, until he's deposited into the shower cabin. Then, he sits on his haunches and lets out a series of frustrated barks.

The man strips quickly out of his tank top and pants, leaving the soaked garments on the bathroom floor. He's shivering, goosebumps raising on his skin, and he rubs his arm, standing from one leg to another, flexing his toes like he's trying to get warmth back into them.

Jeongwoo notices his scars, the one on the side of his ribs, and those on his forearms, and he wonders what could have caused them.

As the man turns away to close the bathroom door, Jeongwoo decides that he's going to approach this situation with careful optimism. He wasn't hurt yet, and he fervently hopes that the man didn't just risk pneumonia to then do something terrible to Jeongwoo.

The man crouches in front of the shower, bringing himself almost eye-level with Jeongwoo. Even like this he's still quite a bit taller, making Jeongwoo tip his head back to be able to look at him. He wonders absently if he would still be smaller at his original size or not.

"You're upset, I get it. But you have to admit that being in here is much more pleasant than out there, no?"

Jeongwoo tilts his head to the side, contemplating an adequate answer that will convey in the limited vocal signs available to him how much he doesn't care for being handled like a football, but indeed appreciates the warmth, when he feels a hand on his head.

Shocked about getting petted for the first time since he turned into a dog, Jeongwoo forgets to resist as the man's fingers scratch lightly behind his ear. It doesn't feel too bad, Jeongwoo has to admit, closing his eyes.

The man chuckles softly, taking such liberties as to scratch along Jeongwoo's neck too, then under his chin.

That is the limit of what Jeongwoo can take, he shakes his head and lets out a short bark as a warning, but it just gets the man chuckling again. At least the petting stops. For the time being. Jeongwoo has a suspicion that this was not the last time he will be petted if he stays with this man.

Humans tend to be overly fond of petting their- Wait a second, why is Jeongwoo thinking of himself as someone's animal? He's a human trapped in this body, not a pet.

"Okay, bear with me here," the man says, rising from his crouch and turning on the tap.

He takes the shower head off its hook, aiming the spray away from Jeongwoo, checking the temperature of the water with his hand.

"You smell like a dumpster, so I will have to wash you, please behave."

Little does he know that ever since he first got drenched in the rain, Jeongwoo's top priority was to get a hot bath. A hot shower will suffice too, he reasons, so he doesn't make it difficult for the man to wash him.

It's a weird feeling, though, trusting a complete stranger with his body like this.

The man is diligent, scrubbing mud and dirt off Jeongwoo's fur with his hand, even taking Jeongwoo's tiny paws in his hands to clean between the toes. By the time they finish, the shower looks like it's been turned into a mud-bath, but at least Jeongwoo is clean. And dripping water everywhere.

He has the urge to shake himself off but holds back, instead waiting patiently until the man grabs a towel to dry him off with. He is gentle in this too, rubbing the towel cautiously under Jeongwoo's eyes and across his forehead, carefully drying off his ears too.

If Jeongwoo has to be honest, this feels quite nice. His earlier cautious optimism is turning into real optimism. Maybe Jeongwoo can trust this stranger. He might even be allowed to sleep here, in the warmth, with a roof over his head. He might even get some food.

If he was human, he might just start crying right now, thinking about all his hardships so far and how much better it would be if he could stay here, finally feeling safe somewhere. Even the preemptive relief of such an imaginary future makes him overly emotional. As he is now, the crying only manifests in small, high whines.

The man stops toweling him dry and takes Jeongwoo's snout in his hand, turning his face up.

"Did I hurt you, puppy?" A hand pats him down gently. "Does it hurt somewhere?"

Jeongwoo lets his head rest in the man's hand, blinking up at him without giving another sound. He's not injured anywhere, and apart from the hunger, he doesn't feel bad either. He's just tired and small and so very lost.

In his honest opinion, it was about time that someone rescued him. He has finally found the kind soul who would help him in this man, it seems. It would be nice knowing his name, Jeongwoo thinks.

The man smiles at him and pets his head again, apparently satisfied with the result of his checkup. Looking at the sorry state of his shower, he sighs, reaching under Jeongwoo's front legs and lifting him out of the cabin, putting him onto a towel laid in the middle of the bathroom.

"Stay here for a minute, okay," the man says, then shakes his head, drawing a palm down his face. "What am I saying, you probably have no idea what stay even means."

Whoever turned him should have given Jeongwoo the ability to communicate telepathically, so that he could let the man know just how wrong he is. And of course, to tell him what trouble Jeongwoo is in right now. But if he could do that, he probably would have been able to solve his problem by now.

Sighing heavily, the man straightens up to go and hose down the dirty water remaining in the shower.

Jeongwoo lays down on the towel, enjoying the warmth seeping up from the tiles under him. This is the warmest he has felt in two weeks, and it quickly manages to make him very sleepy. He probably falls asleep too, because he gets a bit spooked when the man touches him again, an indeterminable time later.

"Sorry to wake you, but we have to move."

Jeongwoo is being lifted again, cradled gently in the man's arms. Now, this would make him offended in any other circumstance, Jeongwoo can walk on his own legs too, but he doesn't feel like he needs to complain about it now.

The smells a lot better now, Jeongwoo notes sleepily, allowing his head to rest against his chest. He put on fresh clothes, and his hair is dripping lukewarm water, so he must have taken a shower while Jeongwoo was dozing off.

They go out of the bathroom, and Jeongwoo is set down on the couch, on top of another, dry towel. He's still somewhat wet, but it doesn't bother him now that he's clean and it's warm around him. He plops down on the towel, propping his head up on his front paws, watching the man walk to the kitchen to rummage around in the cupboards and the fridge.

This spectacle is interspersed by frequent sighs and cursing, and the man scratching his head a lot - apparently, he doesn't have much in the way of food for a puppy. At least that's what Jeongwoo thinks his distress is about.

Jeongwoo takes a glance across the living room, and… Well, he really doesn't want to hurt his kind savior's feelings, but this place looks very much like a dumpster. There are empty beer cans and food boxes scattered everywhere that look and smell like they've been there for a while. Now that Jeongwoo is paying more attention, he notices the pillow in the corner of the couch and the blanket thrown carelessly on the ground too.

It looks like the man is sleeping out here, instead of the bedroom Jeongwoo assumes he does have, because there is a door that leads to another room beside the TV stand on the opposite wall. As his eyes scan the place, he notices a picture hanging above the TV, but before he can get a good look at it, the man comes back to him with a plate of… something.

The coffee table is cleaned up - if pushing the various empty paper plates away can count as cleaning - and the man puts the plate down on top of it. Then he realizes that he's trying to feed a dog, and puts the plate on the ground instead, patting the floor beside it.

"Come down and eat, puppy."

Jeongwoo gives him a narrow-eyed look before hopping down to sniff at the plate. It looks like something edible. To humans. He doesn't know if his puppy stomach will be able to take whatever it is, but there is meat in the food, that much he can tell.

"I'm sorry, I don't really have food suitable for dogs here," the man says, sitting down on the couch. Then he lets out a short laugh. "Not that I have much human food either."

Jeongwoo looks up at him and catches the tail end of a wry smile. Something must have happened to him to make him like this, Jeongwoo thinks. He looks so sad at that moment that it's difficult to look at him for long, so Jeongwoo turns his attention back to the food.

He eats it slowly, carefully examining every bite, but there's nothing really wrong with it other than it being human food with too much grease and noodles. Jeongwoo can't tell what dish it is supposed to be, though, which is slightly alarming. He hopes it didn't have anything in it that could be fatal for dogs. He has no idea what would happen to him if he were to die in this body and he doesn't want to find out.

Seeing him eat, the man starts petting his head gently, then goes back to the kitchen to fill a bowl with water. He places it on the floor by the other end of the couch and sits back down, watching as Jeongwoo cleans up the whole plate.

"Good boy," he says, scratching behind Jeongwoo's ear again, "you must have been hungry, little one."

Jeongwoo sits back on his haunches, trying and failing not to tilt his head more into the pleasantly scratching fingers. The man chuckles quietly above him, while Jeongwoo feels something that he hadn't ever, so far - his tail starts moving on its own. Wagging.

He's being petted and he's wagging his tail.

He's mortified, this is so undignified, he's a grown human man, he can't be doing this! But try as he might, he can't stop the motion at all, and there's a pleasant, warm feeling bubbling up in his chest too, which comforts and calms him down. He doesn't even mind being picked up again, this time not put on the couch but drawn into the man's arms instead.

The man tilts backwards, lying down, holding Jeongwoo to his chest. It's weird lying on something that's constantly moving, but Jeongwoo gets used to it soon. It's warm there too, and it feels pleasant to have the man's fingers trace patterns into his fur, so Jeongwoo abandons the idea that he should get down from there, and instead rests his head on the man's sternum, closing his eyes.

He can't deny that he feels good right now. Without the constantly nagging fear in the back of his mind, Jeongwoo can finally let himself relax, and he's very grateful that the man had saved him. He might still be a puppy, but at least he now has a chance to stay alive long enough to figure out what's going on with him and turn back.

Until then, he hopes that the man will be kind enough to take care of him.

"Good puppy," the man murmurs, caressing Jeongwoo's ears, his hand brushing down Jeongwoo's back. "You have white socks on your paws," he says with a giggle, tapping Jeongwoo's front paws.

"Say, puppy, would you mind staying here with me?"

Something in the man's voice makes Jeongwoo open his eyes to look at him.

The man isn't looking at him, though, but at the picture hanging on the opposite wall. Jeongwoo turns his head to look too, finally figuring out that it's a wedding picture of the man and a woman in white. So, he has a wife? But Jeongwoo couldn’t smell any other person living in this place.

Where is she, then?

"She loved-" the man averts his eyes from the picture to look back at Jeongwoo, taking a deep breath. "She always wanted a dog, but her parents wouldn't let her, so… I promised her-"

At this point, the man's voice breaks, and he puts a hand in front of his eyes, uselessly trying to hide his tears. His pain and grief are obvious through the quiet sobs rocking his body. Jeongwoo's heart hurts for him, he must have lost his wife recently, and that's why he's been living like this.

Not being able to bear watching the man cry for much longer, Jeongwoo scoots a bit forward to lick at his hand with a soft yip.

"Ah, it's okay, puppy," the man whispers in a hoarse voice, sniffling as he emerges from behind his hand.

Just for good measure, Jeongwoo licks across his face too. It makes the man laugh and push Jeongwoo back a bit, wiping at his face.

"Alright, stop that. So, what do you think? Would you like to live with me? Arghh, what am I saying again, it's not like you can-"

Jeongwoo barks, just once, tilting his head to the side with his ears perked. Yes, he would very much like to stay here - even if it looks like a dumpster. But it's warm and safe and Jeongwoo really doesn't want to go back to the street, or anywhere else, to be honest. He has a feeling that it would be difficult to find another person as kind as his savior.

The man raises his eyebrows at him.

"Was that a yes?"

Jeongwoo barks again, making the man laugh then lean down to press a kiss to Jeongwoo's forehead.

This makes Jeongwoo feel a bit weird, his human propriety telling him that he should feel embarrassed about being kissed so casually, but then again, he's a dog now. Displays of affection towards a puppy is nothing to be embarrassed about, he reasons. And he has just licked the man in the face too, so they're now even.

"Alright, I got it, so it's a yes." He pauses for a second, then whispers, "I am going crazy right now. Or..." he cups Jeongwoo's head with both hands, lifting it a bit, catching Jeongwoo's gaze, "you are the most clever dog in the world."

Jeongwoo barks in agreement, and that makes the man laugh and kiss his nose.

"Of course you are."

After a few moments of pleasant ear-scratching, the world tilts with Jeongwoo as the man sits up and puts him down on the floor. Jeongwoo tries to hide his disappointment. While it's not as comfortable as the man's chest was, Jeongwoo is used to much worse than this, he can sleep on the floor if he needs to, it's fine.

The man walks away then comes back with another pillow, which he puts in front of Jeongwoo, patting it.

Oh, okay, so not on the floor, then. Good. Jeongwoo climbs onto the pillow, curling himself into a ball on top of it. The man pets him some more before he too lies down on the couch, pulling his blanket around his shoulders, keeping his eyes on Jeongwoo.

"I should give you a name. How about Socks?"

In response, Jeongwoo gives a menacing growl. He might be a dog right now, but he does have a name and he's not giving that up. Especially not for something as silly and demeaning as Socks.

"You don't like it? You don't like Socks?"

Another growl, just to make it clear. Who the hell would like such a name, is what Jeongwoo would like to know. Probably not even real dogs would be happy with having the name of a clothing item.

Thankfully the man seems to be quick on the uptake. It looks like he will have no problem interpreting Jeongwoo's signs.

"Hm…"

There's a soft tap on Jeongwoo's nose. "So picky. Alright, I'll come up with something else, then."

Oh, great, what could come next? Shirt? Pants? While falling asleep Jeongwoo makes a vow to himself to not accept any other name but his own.

If the man won't be able to figure out Jeongwoo's name, that will be his problem, not Jeongwoo's.

Jeongwoo doesn't know what exactly wakes him up. For a few seconds he's disoriented, not knowing where he is, but then the smells rush him and with it the memories come too. The dumpster, the man who took him home and fed him, and that he's now officially someone's dog, not a stray anymore.

That's all great, but what the heck-

"I'm sorry… Yewon-ah, please… Please…"

Jeongwoo stands up when he hears the man on the couch talk in his sleep, his words dripping with so much despair and sadness that Jeongwoo himself has the urge to cry just from hearing it. Just as the man is crying in his sleep. He's lying on his back, chest heaving, the blanket all but thrown off him, clearly having a nightmare.

What should Jeongwoo do now? He can't just let the man stay asleep in the state he's in right now.

One of the man's hands is hanging off the couch, so Jeongwoo bumps it with his forehead, but that doesn't accomplish anything. He licks it too, and while that gets the man to pull it up, he still doesn't wake up. As a last measure, Jeongwoo carefully calculates the distance and jumps up, right on top of the man's torso.

That manages to wake him up, and he sits upright so fast that the movement sends Jeongwoo tumbling down to his legs. What he wouldn't give for actual hands right now, Jeongwoo thinks sourly, unfolding his legs from under himself.

For a few moments the man just stares at him, his tear-streaked face glistening in the dim light. Then he reaches out, scooping Jeongwoo up and hugging him to his chest, burying his face into the fur on Jeongwoo's side.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you, little one?"

The man's voice is still thick with sleep and sadness, and his hands are shaking where he's holding Jeongwoo.

Being held so close to him feels... Jeongwoo can hear the man's heartbeat and smell his tears and the sweat he worked up during his nightmare, but it's also very soothing to be so tiny and be held with such care, so he finds himself relaxing into it. He huffs, licking the side of the man's face, then resting his chin on the man's shoulder.

They stay like this for a while, and when Jeongwoo starts dozing off once again the man moves, lowering Jeongwoo down into his lap. There's a wet patch left behind on Jeongwoo's fur.

Jeongwoo curls into a ball on top of the man's thighs, small enough to fit comfortably into his lap, trying to go back to sleep. A hand starts brushing across his back in long, soothing strokes, and it just makes Jeongwoo all the more sleepy.

"She would have adored you, little one," the man whispers, his voice heavy with emotion. "Me? I was never much of a fan, and look at me now… Talking to a dog."

There's a brief pause, then a laugh and some muffled sobs. Jeongwoo doesn't move, or give a sound, he feels like it's enough if he just stays where he is.

"You know, it was my fault that she- I should have listened to her. But then- on our wedding day, she- In my arms- I can't stop seeing it, I just can't."

The man starts sobbing again, his hands trembling in Jeongwoo's fur.

What Jeongwoo could interpret from the man's words makes his heart ache in his chest. Unfortunately, Jeongwoo knows how this kind of tragedy can affect people, how it feels to blame yourself for it, the guilt eating away at you until-

But no, this is not about Jeongwoo right now. He should do something about the man sobbing above him, he can't just leave someone alone when they're in pain. How could he not care? That is not in his nature, either as a human or as a dog. He knows that the man's grief won't just magically disappear, but it's important that he doesn't feel so alone. That much Jeongwoo can do for him, show him that he's here - even if he's just a puppy.

He rises, putting his front paws on the man's chest, licking into his neck. He gets hugged tighter for his trouble, then the man lies back down, so Jeongwoo ends up lying on top of him again. The man's trembling fingers keep tracing patterns into his fur until he gradually calms down, and his crying stops too.

Jeongwoo is all but asleep by then, thinking that he really wouldn't appreciate if he was removed from his comfortable resting place right now. He might be selfish for it, but for some reason it's very relaxing to be able to feel the man's chest rising and falling under him, and he doesn't want to trade this for the pillow.

Turns out, he doesn't have to. The man's hand never leaves his back, and Jeongwoo is allowed to stay where he is, while the blanket is pulled over the both of them.

He sighs, reassured that all is well now, and falls right back to sleep.

Jeongwoo's dream of chasing rabbits through a meadow is rudely interrupted when the pillow he's sleeping on suddenly tilts up and he ends up in a heap on some logs.

Which turn out to be his savior's legs, and then Jeongwoo remembers that his pillow was the man's chest and realizes that it's morning now so it's probably time to wake up. He already knows from his two-week experience as a puppy that waking up in the morning is not any easier when one's dog and not a student anymore.

Which is why he whines in the back of his throat, greatly offended to be woken in a such a manner and even more so to be deposited onto the floor as the man gets up.

"Sorry puppy, but I have to go to work."

Oh, so he works. Jeongwoo looks around the apartment again in the light of day, and… Yes, this is exactly like it was last night too, dirty and messy. Maybe the man doesn't have time to clean because he has to work so much? But then, will Jeongwoo be left alone for days in an empty apartment? He wouldn't like that very much.

He follows the man around during his morning routine, watching him choose clothes and brush his teeth, trying to figure out what his job could be. The apartment is nice and not in a bad neighborhood, so it's a job that earns him enough but not too much. He could be an office worker, but definitely not a manager - Jeongwoo can't imagine him managing anything, let alone a team -, or maybe he works a more physical job, like at a construction or factory?

There's very little clue for him until the man goes through his coat pockets and produces an ID card hanging off a blue lanyard. A public servant? This man?

Jeongwoo looks up at him as he goes back to the bedroom to dress. Just what kind of... Never mind, Jeongwoo doesn't need to guess anymore, he just has to get that ID and look at it. While the man dresses - and even if he's a dog right now Jeongwoo won't just watch him do that, it would be inappropriate - he manages to get the ID down to the floor with some jumping and poking with his nose.

Noh Sangcheol, detective, Seoul Major Crimes Division Team One.

A detective. And not just any kind, but a major crimes detective at that. This man, who can't even throw out his empty beer cans, is finding killers and whatnot.

Stunned, Jeongwoo sits back on his haunches and stares at the wall until the man comes out of the bedroom and notices that his ID is now on the floor. He snatches it up, admonishing Jeongwoo about it not being a toy, then pats Jeongwoo's head.

"I'll be back during lunch break, behave yourself until then."

He pauses for a second, then, "Kkami?"

Breaking out of his stupor, Jeongwoo shakes his head with a low growl.

The man, Sangcheol - who is a detective -, looks disappointed.

"Dammit, I thought it was good."

Well, Jeongwoo didn't think it was good, so he growls again. He has a perfectly good name, thank you very much, and he will not be using anything else. Sangcheol is a detective, he should be able to figure out Jeongwoo's name, right? Isn't that what detectives are good at? Finding out stuff? Or are they all like the ones Jeongwoo had the misfortune to know?

Out in the foyer, shoes already on his feet, Sangcheol crouches down in front of Jeongwoo and gives him a nice ear-scratch with both hands, smiling softly when Jeongwoo can't resist wagging his tail about it. Even if Sangcheol might not be the type of person Jeongwoo likes, he gives very good ear-scratches, Jeongwoo has to give him that.

"Be a good boy, I'll be back soon."

With that, Major Crimes detective Noh Sangcheol steps out of the apartment, the front door clicking shut softly behind him.

Jeongwoo lies down, resting his head on his paws, sighing as he stares at the closed door.

Just what did his life turn into?

Reality doesn't quite set in for Sangcheol until he has arrived at the station.

What in the goddamn hell did he think he was doing, adopting a puppy out from the street? It was undoubtedly a reckless decision, but then, what else was he supposed to do? Leave that poor baby out in the downpour at night?

That little dog would have a hard time surviving in the harsh weather, not to mention other dangers. Sangcheol remembered a poster put up around the apartments about someone putting out food with nails in it, or rat poison, specifically to kill strays. Just thinking about that poor little pup eating something like that and getting hurt gets Sangcheol's blood pressure to rise.

No, no, he did the right thing, he had to take the puppy out of the street, and well… While he was at it, he could also adopt it, couldn't he? He can't imagine giving the little guy up by now, that's for sure.

He never expected that the presence of a little animal would be so beneficial to his general well-being. Sangcheol didn't know the last time he slept as much as he did this night with the puppy snoring softly atop his chest.

Maybe, just maybe, this was a sign that Sangcheol has been separating himself too much from others lately. He wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but he felt lonely. It has been hard to be in company since Yewon... Sangcheol closed himself off from everyone, and that was definitely taking a toll on him. It still is. Rationally, he knows that, but it's so very difficult to do something about it.

But he felt better than he had in a year when he had that puppy in his arms last night, crying his eyes out. He hadn't cried so much since the funeral, he didn't feel like he needed to, but last night it just flowed out of him. Of course, a dog wouldn't understand him, but it felt liberating to talk to him. Just those few words were more than he ever told anyone about his feelings.

Sangcheol has to stop thinking about it, because he's getting misty-eyed behind his monitor and if he starts crying, he'll never live it down. He doesn't tell anyone about the puppy, and since it's a slow day, he slinks away unnoticed during lunchtime with some excuse to buy dog food and rush home to feed the puppy and take him down so he can do his business. If he didn't already, oh fuck, Sangcheol is so stupid! He shouldn't be surprised to find dog poop and pee everywhere in his apartment. Dammit.

But, surprisingly, the puppy behaved himself, he has been sleeping on the couch, judging from the dog hair now attached to Sangcheol's pillow. He can't help smiling about it, something warm wrapping around his heart. The puppy could have chosen to sleep on the other pillow on the ground, but apparently Sangcheol's was better.

Sangcheol quickly gets a bowl to pour some food in it and give it to the pup - he really should find a name for him, he can't keep calling him the puppy all the time - then readies the collar and leash he bought.

He hopes the puppy will not feel awkward with it. He read a few things about how puppies can react the first time they wear collars, and he doesn't have enough time to deal with a tantrum right now.

When the puppy stops eating and looks up at him, big brown eyes all focused on Sangcheol, he lifts the collar.

"I'm going to put this on you, okay?"

The puppy tilts his head to the side, sniffing the collar as Sangcheol puts it closer to him. Sangcheol yet again feels like an idiot for talking to the puppy as if he understood anything, but so far it worked out, so maybe it's not that terrible an idea. Maybe it's his voice, it may be calming for the little guy. That's the most rational explanation Sangcheol can find to why it feels like this dog can understand what he's saying.

The collar goes around the puppy's neck without a hitch, and the little guy doesn't look too miffed about it either. Maybe a bit offended? Okay, Sangcheol is definitely reading way too much into a dog's "facial expressions".

"We need this so you won't run around and get yourself hurt," Sangcheol tells him, hooking the leash into the metal ring on the collar.

If possible, the puppy looks even more offended at that, letting out a few short, low barks.

Call him delusional, but who wouldn't think that their dog is talking back to them, when faced with so many coincidences? Last night too, when he asked if the puppy wanted to stay and he gave one short bark just at that time.

And Sangcheol is surely not delusional about it being very easy to get the puppy to come down with him to the street. The puppy doesn't even try to run around, just goes to the nearest bushes to do his business at once.

The only problem with this is that now Sangcheol has to search for the goddamn poop to collect it, and he really hopes the puppy doesn't make a habit of hiding in the bushes every time, or this is going to get very troublesome.

They go through the necessities without a hitch, though, so this is a win in Sangcheol's eyes. He makes sure to praise the puppy for being good, giving him plenty of pets and scratching behind his floppy ears, which seems to be his favorite.

Sangcheol can't help but smile at the puppy melting into the petting, his tail wagging behind him. It's a far cry from how he was last night when Sangcheol found him beside the dumpster. He's glad that he was stubborn enough to stay in the rain and coax the puppy out from that nook.

Maybe the both of them will benefit from this. Sangcheol certainly needs something to keep him from slipping deeper into the endless abyss that is his life. Maybe this little guy will be that something.

Time is running out for Sangcheol, though, so he quickly gets his things and says goodbye to the little pup, reassuring him that he'll be home soon. While the puppy doesn't look too forlorn about being left alone, Sangcheol thinks he can see some sadness in those big brown eyes.

Surely, it's just his imagination.

Not everything goes smoothly now that Jeongwoo has some sort of a home.

First of all, the place needs to be tidier, or Jeongwoo is going to break out in hives very soon. Sleeping one night in this dirty apartment was one thing, but now that Jeongwoo actually has a roof over his head, he would like to feel like he's not still living on the street, if possible.

He decides that a direct approach will be the best to make Sangcheol clean up.

So every time Sangcheol is within eyesight, Jeongwoo starts munching casually on a discarded paper plate or plastic box. It is disgusting, but everything for the goal, and Jeongwoo tries to make it look like this is an activity he enjoys doing, in order to get Sangcheol there to snatch the garbage from him and throw it away.

This part of the plan is working splendidly. A few days pass and all the garbage disappears from the apartment, and new ones don't get made because now Sangcheol remembers to keep them out of puppy reach.

Next, there's the problem of the beer cans. Unfortunately, their numbers aren't dwindling, no matter how much Sangcheol throws away, because there are always new ones. Sangcheol keeps buying and drinking the beer, usually in one sitting during the evening, before he goes to pass out drunk on the couch.

Needless to say that Jeongwoo doesn't approve of this behavior very much. For starters, this is very bad for the detective's health. And on the other side, it's really sad seeing Sangcheol like this, drinking himself almost senseless from night to night.

So, Jeongwoo needs a new strategy.

The first time he does it, Sangcheol looks genuinely angry at him. This makes Jeongwoo a bit more cautious, not wanting to push him too much. At the second time Sangcheol is still angry, but now it's outweighed by the frustration about having to clean up the beer that sprayed out of the can punctured by Jeongwoo's tiny but sharp puppy teeth. He snatched the can right out of Sangcheol's hand and treated it like a toy, shaking it and snarling at it until the can was well and truly destroyed.

The third time Jeongwoo nicks his gums on the sharp edge of the can and the wound bleeds pretty heavily, and it hurts like hell too. It scares Sangcheol enough, though, that he all but stops keeping beer around, having come to the conclusion that Jeongwoo must have a grudge against the things. Which... he's not entirely wrong about that.

It also results in Jeongwoo's first visit to the vet. He, unlike many of the other dogs and various animals in the waiting room, knows that he has nothing to fear from the vet, so he behaves perfectly, garnering the praises of all the staff and the vet herself too. She's a nice older lady who smells like pancakes for some reason, and gives the mandated shot to Jeongwoo really gently, he barely feels the needle.

He decides that he's going to like this lady, but not so much the tech, who looks like she's barely out of uni and is already making eyes at Sangcheol. Jeongwoo doesn't really care to examine the kind of feeling that bubbles up in him at seeing that look from the woman, but it's nothing pleasant. He makes sure to growl at her and to stand between her and Sangcheol at all times, and it's only when they get home that it occurs to him that this behavior was hella weird.

Why did he do that? Dammit, is he starting to lose it? Is that why he's acting like a jealous dog?

Anyway, now that the beer and home drinking is not a problem anymore, Sangcheol has taken to sleeping in the bedroom once again. He also buys a quite comfy dog bed for Jeongwoo too, sized too big for him now, but the vet said he's going to grow up to be a properly sized dog.

He already feels himself growing a bit, and it comes with a ravenous appetite and boundless energy that he lets out by running around the apartment when Sangcheol is not there.

The downstairs neighbors even come up to complain about it, but once they see Jeongwoo poking his head out between Sangcheol's leg and the doorframe and blinking up at them like the perfect picture of an innocent puppy, they instantly become amiable.

Actually, Jeongwoo likes being a puppy. He can get away with sooo much, especially when it comes to Sangcheol.

He takes care not to annoy the detective too much, though. He likes living with Sangcheol and he doesn't want to get thrown out because he's a bad dog or something. So far they got along pretty well, apart from a few things causing friction, but Jeongwoo is working on that.

There's just this drinking habit that Jeongwoo is not a fan of. Now that he's not drinking at home, Sangcheol has taken to turning up late and drunk, many times a week. Jeongwoo can only hope he is not driving like that, because sometimes Sangcheol can't even pour the food into Jeongwoo's bowl without half of it ending up on the floor.

Jeongwoo makes sure to show his disapproval, but Sangcheol either doesn't remember any of it the next day or simply chooses to ignore it altogether. Jeongwoo suspects that it's the latter.

Quickly running out of options, Jeongwoo is inclined to give up trying to change the detective's habits - he's just a dog, for god's sake, what could he do about it in this state? - until one night it gets worse.

That night Sangcheol comes home so late that Jeongwoo is starting to seriously worry about him. He lies in the foyer, listening to the detective's familiar footsteps, occasionally glancing at the clock. The minutes and then the hours pass, and Jeongwoo becomes restless.

What could have happened? It's possible that Sangcheol had to stay at work, but in that case he always made sure to have someone come and feed Jeongwoo and fill his water bowl too. Both of those bowls are sitting empty now in the living room, and Jeongwoo's stomach growls angrily at him in hunger. But that's the least of his problems.

What if something bad happened to Sangcheol? What if he got into an accident, or... He could have been stabbed by someone, he's a detective, his work is dangerous, he could die and Jeongwoo might be waiting in vain. Panic slowly edges into him as more and more time passes and Sangcheol's footsteps never turn up.

It's almost midnight by the time Jeongwoo hears those familiar steps coming up to the door. Sangcheol must be very drunk, because even through the door Jeongwoo can smell the alcohol on him, and it takes him two tries to punch in his passcode.

Jeongwoo barks at him as greeting, evading Sangcheol's hand when he tries to pet him. He's too upset at the detective for leaving him alone for so long, he's not in the mood for pets, and Sangcheol stinks, the smell of alcohol turning Jeongwoo's stomach.

"Why are you still up," Sangcheol asks, his words slurring together as he shuffles out of his coat, dropping it on the floor, then staggering into the living room to collapse on the couch.

He never even looks at Jeongwoo's bowls as he passes them, and it looks like he'll be out like a light in a few seconds.

Angry now, Jeongwoo goes to the couch to bark at Sangcheol from a few inches away. It gets the detective to try and wave him away, groaning painfully.

"Ah, be quiet, my head hurts."

And Jeongwoo stomach hurts! He's hungry! And thirsty! He really doesn't think it's too much to ask to be given some water and food.

He barks again, then goes to his - very empty - food bowl, stepping on the rim of it, making it wobble and clang loudly. He does it again and again, until Sangcheol sits up with a frustrated yell.

"Hey, stop that!"

Jeongwoo looks at him and does it again, this time getting the two bowls to clang together, making even more of a racket.

Sangcheol puts a hand over his ear, but he still doesn't get up, or show any sign that he understood what Jeongwoo is trying to tell him.

"You're making my ears hurt, stop it!"

Of course, Jeongwoo doesn't stop. He keeps making noise, peppering in a few barks, trying to get Sangcheol to finally understand-

"SHUT UP!"

Sangcheol shouts, and throws something at Jeongwoo. It barely misses his head by a few inches, hitting the wall behind him with a loud crash, that sounds exactly like glass breaking into a million pieces.

Jeongwoo freezes, his instincts taking over for him, panic gripping him tight. Without thinking about it, he sprints into the bedroom, shoving himself under the bed, going up as far as he can, hopefully far away that nobody can pull him out of there, or reach him with a stick to poke him with it.

His memory takes him back to such an occasion, before Sangcheol has found him, when Jeongwoo was trying to get some food from a trash can by the playground, and some teenagers started throwing rocks at him, laughing when he yelped in pain, then poking through the bushes with sticks to find his hiding place. Jeongwoo was terrified and hurt, crying himself to sleep that day, sure that he's going to die if he leaves the bush behind.

The same feeling starts to overwhelm him now. Sangcheol threw something at him, he could throw anything else too, or hurt him in various ways, and Jeongwoo can't even get away because he's closed up in this apartment. Who would help him now, if Sangcheol wanted to beat him for being loud? Who would give him food if Sangcheol decided not to feed him anymore?

He's so scared that he barely notices someone coming into the room. When he sees Sangcheol getting on the floor and looking under the bed, Jeongwoo's whole body freezes in fright, his breathing going erratic, high whines spilling out through his teeth.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Sangcheol says, his voice trembling. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear, I would never- Please come out of there. Please."

Sangcheol's breathing doesn't seem any steadier than Jeongwoo's own. It doesn't matter, right now Jeongwoo is too frightened to move, and he certainly doesn't want to go to Sangcheol. Anywhere else but to Sangcheol. He remembers the sound of that glass shattering behind him, imagines it hitting him instead of the wall, and the thought fills him with terror.

"Fuck, I'm- I'm such a terrible- I'm so sorry, puppy. I'm really fucking sorry, I-" Sangcheol's voice hitches, and he wipes at his eyes with his hands, turning away. "I didn't want to hurt you, I'm sorry. Please, I just... Goddammit, I'm- A terrible person. The worst. Just the worst."

For a few moments Sangcheol just lies there, silent sobs rocking his body.

"I'm so sorry," Sangcheol mumbles between heaving breaths, "I'm so sorry, so sorry."

He keeps repeating it like a mantra, his hands shaking, and Jeongwoo remembers how he talks in his nightmares, saying these exact same words in this exact same voice.

That memory unfurls something in his chest. For a moment he sees himself in Sangcheol's position, lying by the foot of his own bed, crying and asking for forgiveness repeatedly. Nobody came to him then. There was nobody who could forgive Jeongwoo then, but Sangcheol still has a chance.

Jeongwoo takes a few deep breaths to ease the panic in his chest, crawling out from under the bed, close to where Sangcheol is lying. He doesn't dare go too close, only touching Sangcheol's hand with his nose.

Sangcheol's eyes fly open and for a few seconds, he doesn't do anything. Then he lifts a trembling hand, putting it on Jeongwoo's head slowly, gently. Jeongwoo follows the limb with his eyes, still tense about what will happen, freezing when it touches him.

"I'm sorry, little one. I'm sorry I scared you."

As Sangcheol's fingers start scratching behind his ear, Jeongwoo tilts his head into it, allowing the detective to scoop him up into his arms. Jeongwoo is still shaking and panting, his puppy body struggling with the effects of his fright, but now that he's being gently cradled in Sangcheol's arms and petted with the utmost care, he's starting to relax somewhat.

Sangcheol continues apologizing, crying even harder than before, if that's possible.

Jeongwoo doesn't know how he could help Sangcheol now. What else could he do to convey forgiveness to him? He scared Jeongwoo badly, that's for sure, but Jeongwoo knows it wasn't on purpose. Jeongwoo knows he can trust Sangcheol. He presses his face into Sangcheol's chest, the heartbeats reverberating through his ear, the rhythmic sound calming him down gradually.

"I will never do anything like that again," Sangcheol swears, his voice a bit more stable after a few minutes pass.

"You're just a puppy, you didn't deserve it, I am such an asshole. Please forgive me, little one. Can you forgive me?"

Jeongwoo lifts his head to be able to look up and lick Sangcheol in the face as his answer.

Instead of making Sangcheol laugh, like the previous times, it makes him cry more for some reason. Jeongwoo gets alarmed and starts licking at Sangcheol's face more, but none of it stops the detective's tears. When Jeongwoo gives a frustrated huff, Sangcheol finally cracks a small smile.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, little one."

Wiping fresh tears from his eyes, Sangcheol sits up, placing Jeongwoo in his lap.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Let me look at you."

He starts patting down Jeongwoo, looking for injuries, or glass shards, probably, making sure to check all four of his paws and even his tail for it. He keeps peppering kisses on Jeongwoo's forehead and nose, and Jeongwoo really doesn't mind it this time. Being cared for feels good after being so scared, and it seems to calm Sangcheol down too, so it's a win for everyone.

"Thank god," Sangcheol exclaims when he's finished, scratching behind both of Jeongwoo's ears.

"I'm going to clean up the glass, and you'll stay here so you won't get hurt, okay?"

Jeongwoo's lifted again and put on the bed this time. He lies down, blinking sleepily up at Sangcheol. This was too much excitement for one night, even for an energetic puppy like him. Suddenly he feels very tired.

"I'm going to get you your food in the meanwhile. And water. I'm such a stupid- I'm sorry, I'll be better, puppy. I promise. I'll take better care of you."

After he comes back with Jeongwoo's food and water, Jeongwoo can finally fill his stomach and as a result he gets even more sleepy. Sangcheol closed the door to prevent him from going out and possibly walking over the glass shards, so Jeongwoo is now alone in the bedroom.

And he's getting anxious about it. He doesn't like it that he's been closed off and that Sangcheol is not there with him.

To settle his nerves, he jumps up to the bed - he was too small to do that two weeks earlier - and goes to the place that has the most of Sangcheol's scent, his pillow.

The puppy side of Jeongwoo relaxes as he curls into a doughnut beside the pillow, resting his head on it. It's an imitation, but it's very much akin to having Sangcheol beside him, and if he concentrates enough, he can even feel gentle hands petting him.

He knows when Sangcheol returns, because at one point the imagination turns real and the comforting scent surrounding him gets stronger.

Jeongwoo sighs and falls deeper asleep.

It wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that Sangcheol had one of the worst nights in his life yesterday.

The shame he felt then is still present in him the next morning while he's sipping his coffee behind his desk, a little bit dazed, since he didn't sleep very well. Unlike the puppy, who had been out like a light all night, snoring softly beside Sangcheol's pillow.

Sangcheol smiles fondly, remembering how the little guy looked so miffed when he left for work. The puppy was still half asleep, yawning every five seconds, and Sangcheol was sure that he immediately went back to the bedroom to continue snoozing as soon as Sangcheol had left.

"In a good mood, sunbae?"

Jiyeon comes up to his desk, her eyebrows elevated, as if she is seeing something unusual. Sangcheol is forced to admit to himself that seeing him smile in the morning must really be unusual. He hadn't been too sociable lately, and his mood could have been described in any other way but good.

"Not really," Sangcheol replies, finishing off his coffee. "I had a shitty night and I'm hungover."

"What are you smiling about, then?"

Sangcheol looks around the office.

Team two is holding a meeting a room over, so they're out of earshot, and Daeyong and Jihoon are typing away at their keyboards two seats away, so they won't overhear their conversation either. Sangcheol doesn't have a reason to keep the puppy a secret from his colleagues, he just doesn't feel like sharing the information with anyone, except for Jiyeon.

"I have a dog."

Jiyeon's eyes go wide. "A what?"

"A dog. You know, like a puppy. I found him by the dumpster about a month ago. He's been living with me since then."

As her eyebrows threaten to disappear into her hairline, Jiyeon nods slowly.

Sangcheol tries not to feel offended about her facial expression, it's as if she's saying that he can't take care of a puppy, which is patently untrue- Or... Well, last night shouldn't count, it was only a one-time occurrence. He's been taking care of the puppy just fine every other day.

"Okay... So, a puppy. I never took you to be a dog lover."

And she would be right about that. Sangcheol really isn't a dog lover. He likes dogs, of course, but he never really thought about getting one himself, until this puppy came around. He tries to avoid thinking of Yewon, and her wish to have a dog one day.

"Well, I couldn't just leave the poor guy out there. It was raining heavily, and you know how cold it gets at night."

Jiyeon tilts her head to the side, smiling. "You could have given him to a shelter."

The mere thought raises Sangcheol's hackles.

"I'm not giving him to one of those places."

There's a muffled giggle coming from Jiyeon, and Sangcheol gives her a piercing look to make her stop. It's not funny, why would it be funny that he wants to keep the puppy? Can't he get attached to the little guy? Why is Jiyeon laughing about this serious matter?

"So you had a shit night because of the dog?"

Sangcheol tenses, remembering last night again. It wasn't one of his finest moments, that's for sure. He broke down in tears multiple times while cleaning up the shattered glass, thinking how narrowly it avoided the puppy's head. He almost done something unforgivable to that innocent little animal, and he would never have been able to forgive himself for it.

Thankfully the worst didn't happen, but Sangcheol has to make some changes so they could avoid such incidents in the future. First, he needs to stop drinking so much.

"No, it wasn't his fault. I... was drunk."

He doesn't say anything more, but he knows that Jiyeon understands. She had seen him at his lowest and knows how irritable and aggressive he can become when drunk.

She places a hand on his shoulder, patting it reassuringly. It will get better, her touch says. She had been saying this for years now, but until today, Sangcheol couldn't believe it.

"Do you have pictures? And what's his name?"

With Jiyeon diverting the topic back to the puppy, Sangcheol lets out a relieved sigh.

Of course he has pictures. He has a ton of pictures, actually, which he eagerly shows to Jiyeon. The most recent one he took last night. It shows the puppy sleeping soundly in the bed, his head on Sangcheol's pillow.

That earns him an eyebrow-raise again. "You let him sleep in the bed?"

"Not usually, but would you have been able to move him?"

"Right..."

"Isn't he cute? Look," Sangcheol brings up a photo which shows the puppy sitting in front of his bowl, eyeing the food put in there. "He has little white socks."

Why does it feel like that Jiyeon is not as enthusiastic about this as Sangcheol is? She looks at the pictures and smiles, but she's not aww-ing and ooh-ing as much as Sangcheol expected her to. He hopes this doesn't mean that he has become that type of dog owner who is overestimating how cute their dog is and still won't shut up about it.

No, that can't be. His puppy is really the cutest, no matter how lukewarm Jiyeon's reaction is.

"What is his name?"

Sangcheol was deliberately avoiding answering that question, but he can't anymore.

"I don't know yet."

As expected, this makes Jiyeon instantly offer her help to find a suitable name. She doesn't know and Sangcheol is very reluctant to tell her, that the problem is not that Sangcheol can't come up with a name. He came up with lots of names, in fact, it's just that none of them had worked.

Jiyeon rattles off a few generic dog names, all of which Sangcheol has already tried. He shakes his head slowly at each one of them, until Jiyeon trails off and frowns at him.

"Aren't you a bit too picky? Just choose one."

Him, picky? Sangcheol wants to cry. He would just choose one, if he could. He would have chosen something the first night.

"You don't get it, I tried," he says, sighing heavily. "But he doesn't like them."

"What the hell do you mean he doesn't like them? As in, the dog doesn't like them?"

Since Jiyeon is looking at him like he has gone completely mad, Sangcheol takes out his phone again, this time to show her a video.

It shows the puppy lying on the couch, eyes closed, while Sangcheol is trying multiple names on him. Every time he calls something out, the puppy growls - as menacingly as a tiny puppy can - and at the end of the video he lifts his head and turns to Sangcheol, his expression decidedly mad as he barks.

After watching the video, Jiyeon looks at Sangcheol with pity on her face.

"Sunbae, you have the strangest fucking dog in the world."

"He's not strange." Sangcheol feels like he should defend the puppy.

He's a very good puppy otherwise, Sangcheol really doesn't have any problem with him. This name debacle is just a minor inconvenience, that's all. "He's just a bit... eccentric."

At that Jiyeon bursts out laughing, and she pats Sangcheol's shoulder, ignoring Sangcheol's indignant look.

"Yeah. Good luck with that."

She's still giggling when she sits back to her own desk.

Shaking his head, Sangcheol turns to his monitor, bringing up the last website he was looking at.

200+ dog names for your unique pup

Sangcheol would be happy with just the one.

Jeongwoo gets bigger with every passing week.

It's been more than a month since he was taken in by Sangcheol, and he's been steadily growing. Now he's double the size that he was in the beginning, which is not saying much, but the differences are huge to him.

First of all, he has much easier access to high surfaces, like the couch or the bed, and Sangcheol doesn't have to bend down that much to pet his head. Second, he has to lean down more to eat or drink from his bowl. Third, he can cover way more distance when he's running, either in the apartment or out in a park.

Speaking of that, Sangcheol has taken to going out with him on a walk to the nearest park, where every other person also brings their dogs to. Jeongwoo guesses that he should socialize with the others, except he really doesn't want to. He just can't get used to the ritual of sniffing each other's butts. He won't do it, period, and no dog should come close to him with this intention either.

So he's mostly just hiding behind Sangcheol's legs the whole time or runs after a ball if Sangcheol wants to play fetch, and that is. He's not aggressive with the other dogs, he just doesn't feel like he should be a part of this community, on account of him being a human.

It was already hard enough to give up his dignity for playing fetch, nobody should be asking anything more of him, for real. He only did that because he saw how excited Sangcheol was about teaching him to play fetch, and Jeongwoo didn't want to let him down.

So when Sangcheol throws a ball, he either runs after it - if he sees that it would go very far and possibly another dog can snatch it up and then Jeongwoo would have to take it into his mouth while there's slobber all over it - or just walks after it, picking it up and bringing it back to Sangcheol at an unhurried pace.

In the latter case Sangcheol waits for him patiently in a crouch, pressing his lips together and silent laughter shaking him until Jeongwoo gets back to deposit the wretched ball into his hands. At those times Jeongwoo gives him a withering side-eye, because this is no laughing matter, and Sangcheol should be happy that Jeongwoo is doing this much at all.

And to encourage better behavior from Sangcheol, he refuses to bring back the ball again. If Sangcheol wants it so much he can go and get it himself.

Otherwise, the park is really nice and Jeongwoo has a lot of space to run around, sometimes getting playfully chased by Sangcheol. It's a nice game, and Jeongwoo always gets happily excited about it, bounding up to Sangcheol and jumping in his arms when the detective runs out of energy.

To his relief, Sangcheol is starting to get better now. He has more color in his skin, and he's sleeping more, his nightmares less frequent. He also stopped drinking too much. Jeongwoo can still smell alcohol on him sometimes, but Sangcheol is never drunk when he comes home, and he always makes sure that Jeongwoo is properly cared for, even if he can't come home for the night.

Jeongwoo misses him a lot on those nights, sleeping in Sangcheol's bed to soothe the ache in his chest. He guesses that the reason he gets so comforted by Sangcheol's scent has to do with him being in a dog's body. It just feels like a natural reaction, so Jeongwoo doesn't worry about it too much.

Or about his state as a dog. In the first two weeks he spent in this new body, he was desperate to go back to his human form and his normal life, but now... It's not that he doesn't want to, and he guesses that at some point this curse or whatever this is will wear off (probably), but he's not in a hurry now. He has a home, he has someone who cares for him, and Jeongwoo could even say that he's happy with how things are going.

His old life, his normal life... Is it so bad that he doesn't really miss it? Sometimes he thinks about it, going back and losing all that he has now, this comfort, this feeling of safety and care, and those times he's not sure he ever wants to go back. If he could just stay with Sangcheol, being taken care of by him, wouldn't that be nice?

Even if Sangcheol is sometimes very embarrassing to live with.

Just to name a few of Sangcheol's embarrassing habits, well, first of all he sings in the shower. And if that wasn't bad enough, he also sings to Jeongwoo. He made up a silly song about Jeongwoo's socked paws, and he hums or straight-up sings it to Jeongwoo on slower evenings, when he's not yet watching the TV and Jeongwoo is lounging on his chest as they lie on the couch.

The rhythm is drummed with Sangcheol's fingers tapping Jeongwoo's front paws, and Jeongwoo would like to perish on the spot every time it happens. At first, he tried covering his ears, but dog anatomy doesn't allow him such luxuries, so he has no escape from that song.

But the worst thing about this is that he's getting used to it, because the melody is too catchy, and sometimes Jeongwoo finds himself repeating the few lines in his head when he's not doing anything particular.

Then there is the debacle with the tricks.

Sangcheol, as any dog owner would do, wanted to teach Jeongwoo tricks. This wouldn't have been a problem if Jeongwoo was a normal dog, he supposes. But he's not a normal dog, he's a human turned into a dog, and fetch was already pushing his limits.

Jeongwoo doesn't want to learn tricks. Not the handshake one, nor the sit pretty one, never the bow, and he is also not going to do the spin or that wholly ridiculous one, where Sangcheol pretends to shoot him with a finger gun and he's supposed to play dead. He doesn't even know how Sangcheol came to the conclusion, after failing to teach Jeongwoo the handshake, that this is something that Jeongwoo could and would do.

While Sangcheol tried to teach him the motions, narrating the whole thing - and, yes, Jeongwoo can understand him, but Sangcheol doesn't know this, so what did he think he was accomplishing by that, Jeongwoo wonders - Jeongwoo stared at him, steadfastly refusing to move. After like ten minutes of Sangcheol showing some moves, spinning in place, and shooting at Jeongwoo multiple times with his fingers, while Jeongwoo sat there like a statue, Sangcheol finally gave up and broke out in laughter.

You're so stubborn, Sangcheol said before picking Jeongwoo up and spinning them both around the room.

It got Jeongwoo dizzy and he barked, trying to get Sangcheol to stop laughing and spinning too before Jeongwoo's whole dinner makes a re-appearance. In the end Sangcheol sat down on the couch with Jeongwoo still in his arms. Jeongwoo rested his dizzy head on Sangcheol's shoulder, panting and growling in mild frustration.

Of course, he instantly forgave Sangcheol for making him nauseous on account of getting a very pleasant ear-scratch. And thankfully Sangcheol hadn't tried teaching him any tricks since then.

Their only permanent problem is that Sangcheol still hadn't been able to find out Jeongwoo's name.

Jeongwoo is starting to lose hope in his detective abilities. They went through the whole bunch of extremely trite but very popular dog names used in Korea before it occurred to Sangcheol that he should try human names too. Since then, he's been going in alphabetical order, trying a few names per day to see if anything sticks.

Unfortunately, Jeong comes pretty late in the order, so Jeongwoo needs to be very patient. Sangcheol will probably get there, at some point.

Sangcheol keeps a little notebook with all the names he has tried or wants to try, and Jeongwoo has the urge to laugh about it every time he sees it. As much as this process is frustrating, it's just as hilarious, Jeongwoo knows that too, but since he has made the decision to keep his own name, he will not back down from it.

Then, it happens one day, Sangcheol comes home and the first thing he says after shucking off his shoes, is, "I'm home, Jeongnam."

Jeongwoo perks his ears up, taking a step forward, hope blooming in his chest. Is this it? Will Sangcheol finally be able to figure it out?

Sangcheol notices his look, and he gets excited too. "Am I getting close? Is it something with Jeong?"

He's stepping inside the kitchen, and Jeongwoo gives him a short bark as affirmation, because yes, his name indeed starts with Jeong. Sangcheol is so damn close already, and it's really painful to wait until he gets himself a glass of water and fills Jeongwoo's bowls too. The last thing on Jeongwoo's mind right now is the food.

He follows Sangcheol closely as he sits on the couch, sitting on his haunches and staring at him, giving him another short bark just so he knows how important this is to Jeongwoo. Sangcheol gets his notebook out and flips to the page where he has presumably written down a few more names with Jeong.

Jeongwoo bumps his knee with his nose impatiently.

"Alright, I'm getting to it," Sangcheol says with a laugh. "Jeongmo."

Jeongwoo growls. That's not yet right.

"Jeongmin?"

Still not correct.

"Jeongsik, then."

Jeongwoo shakes his head with a growl, starting to lose hope.

The possibility occurs to him that Jeongwoo might not even be on Sangcheol's list, and it fills him with dread. What will he do if that's the case? No, that can't be, it's not like he has a very rare name, it's impossible that Sangcheol missed it, right? Right?!

"Hm..." Sangcheol sighs, putting his notebook on the coffee table.

Jeongwoo follows the movement, his hope shattering into a thousand pieces. Sangcheol will never figure it out. Jeongwoo will forever be called "little one" or "puppy", he'll never hear Sangcheol say-

"Jeongwoo?"

Snapping his head back up, Jeongwoo sits up straighter, perking his ears at Sangcheol.

Did he hear that right?

"Oh?" Sangcheol leans forward, an excited smile spreading on his face. "Jeongwoo? Is that it? Did I finally get it right?"

Jeongwoo barks excitedly, tail wagging. He can barely contain his excitement, his feet tapping on the floor. Sangcheol laughs at him, patting the couch cushion as a signal for him to go up.

Jeongwoo jumps, then licks Sangcheol in the face happily. He will not die as a nameless dog, after all!

"You know," Sangcheol starts scratching behind his ears, "I don't think you look much like a Jeongwoo."

Jeongwoo stops wagging his tail, pulling his head away from the pleasantly scratching fingers. What does that even mean, that he doesn't look like it? How would a Jeongwoo look like, then?

Sangcheol puts both hands on his face and examines it with a very serious expression, like he's appraising an artifact.

"No, you're more like a... Jeongho, or a Jeongmin. Don't you want-"

Before he can run his mouth more, Jeongwoo tackles him into the couch, growling while perched on his chest. Sometimes Sangcheol's silly jokes can make him very frustrated.

Sangcheol laughs, his hands coming up to pet Jeongwoo's head.

"You insist on Jeongwoo, then, I got it."

Sighing, Jeongwoo rests his head on Sangcheol's sternum, closing his eyes, his tail wagging slightly as Sangcheol's hand brushes along his back.

"Jeongwoo... It's a good name, indeed," Sangcheol whispers.

Jeongwoo couldn't agree more. It's the best name in the world, because it is his.

"Jeongwoo-ya."

And because it sounds really nice when Sangcheol says it.

By the time the new year comes around, Sangcheol is starting to feel like he really got into his role as a dog owner.

Jeongwoo is as much a model dog as he can get, not counting his eccentricities. But even those don't really cause problems, and now that Sangcheol doesn't have to make a fool of himself when someone asks his dog's name, he doesn't mind the other stuff at all.

He could never teach Jeongwoo any tricks, but that's alright, he doesn't need tricks if Jeongwoo behaves. And that he does, splendidly too, even though Sangcheol never taught him how to. Apparently, fetch is the only remotely dog-like activity that Jeongwoo is willing to do.

It's an endless source of hilarity for Sangcheol to watch Jeongwoo walk at an even pace towards the ball and bring it back, as if it's too demeaning for him to run or something. And he refuses to touch the ball if another dog gets it first. No, if Jeongwoo needs to hold the ball it must be clean.

Sangcheol chalks this up to his dog's unusual relationship with hygiene. He noticed from the start of their shared life that Jeongwoo was never trying to get out of bath time, but over the weeks it became very obvious that one bath per two weeks was too few for him.

Jeongwoo demanded that he be showered and cleaned at least once per week if not more, and most definitely on the occasions when he was caught in the rain or got snow sludge on his paws. Sangcheol had to buy a lot of dog shampoo, of the very mild kind, so that Jeongwoo's skin wouldn't get too dry from washing so much.

When his scheduled bath time came, Jeongwoo patiently waited in the bathroom for Sangcheol to finish his own shower. He never looked at Sangcheol while he was dressing or taking a shower, politely turning towards the wall or the door, as if his dogly propriety wouldn't allow him to see another creature naked.

At those times Sangcheol always thought back to how Jiyeon said that he had the strangest dog in the world, and he was forced to agree.

Long story short, Jeongwoo always let Sangcheol bathe him without a fuss, not even shaking himself off afterwards, which Sangcheol greatly appreciated. Apparently, his dog enjoyed being clean very much, as well as getting blow-dried after a bath. Watching him turn this way and that to catch the airflow from different angles, looking like he's dancing, always made Sangcheol laugh.

If he didn't count these things, Sangcheol had the most normal dog in the world.

As the time passed, Jeongwoo started quickly growing into his adult size and appearance. His tail got more bushy, and his feather soft baby fur was gone, unfortunately, replaced by coarser strands. Only his ears stayed silky soft, and it was fortunate that Jeongwoo liked them scratched anyway, so Sangcheol could get away with playing with them.

And he did that a lot. He never thought that having a pet would be so soothing. When he got home after a hard day, or sometimes multiple hard days, he only needed to settle on the couch with Jeongwoo's head in his lap and stroke his fur to be able to relax. When he had Jeongwoo beside him it felt like nothing of the world's ugliness could reach him.

The change this caused in him was felt by his teammates too. Jiyeon knew the reason for it, and she frequently called Jeongwoo his "emotional support animal" affectionately, and she was perfectly right about that.

Nightmares all but stopped haunting him and living didn't seem like so much of a chore since he took Jeongwoo in. Of course it didn't make everything go away, but just the fact that Sangcheol felt like he wanted to continue his existence - if only for the sake of this life that's been entrusted to him - was a huge improvement on his earlier state.

It's barely been four months, but Sangcheol can't imagine his life without Jeongwoo anymore. With most of their problems solved, he thinks that it will be smooth sailing from now on, but then one night something unexpected happens.

Sangcheol wakes up in the middle of the night, and this time it's not because of a nightmare. Or at least not because of his own. He doesn't know what it was at first that woke him, but then he hears grunting from the floor where Jeongwoo's bed is.

He looks down and sees Jeongwoo's legs twitching and how he growls and grunts in his sleep. It doesn't look like he's dreaming of something pleasant, Sangcheol thinks. His guess is confirmed when Jeongwoo starts whining, the sort of whine dogs only do when they're in pain or distress.

Sangcheol calls his name softly, but there's no reaction, Jeongwoo doesn't wake up and his high-pitched whines continue.

Out of other options, Sangcheol sits up, slipping down to the floor to kneel beside Jeongwoo, putting a hand on the pup's head. As Jeongwoo startles awake he looks so scared for a moment, before he realizes that it's only Sangcheol who's beside him. Then he whines some more before all but throwing himself in Sangcheol's arms.

Sangcheol hugs him tightly, his hands brushing softly along Jeongwoo's trembling body.

"Did you have a bad dream, little one?"

Jeongwoo whines again, pressing his head into Sangcheol's chest. He can't stop shaking, and it's like he's trying to disappear into Sangcheol's embrace with how he presses himself ever closer. He's too big to fit completely into Sangcheol's lap by now, though, so he doesn't manage to hide there completely, one leg still sticking out.

Taking pity on him, Sangcheol lifts him up to put him on the bed. This manages to confuse Jeongwoo, who immediately tries to go back down, colliding with Sangcheol as he gets back into the bed.

"It's okay, Jeongwoo-ya. You'll stay with me here tonight. Come," Sangcheol pats the mattress beside himself, offering that place to Jeongwoo.

He doesn't need to say that to him twice, Jeongwoo curls himself into a ball beside him at once. Sangcheol pats his side with a smile.

"Good boy."

Keeping one hand in Jeongwoo's fur, Sangcheol lies down comfortably, pulling the blanket over them both.

"You helped me with my nightmares, so now I'm going to help you with yours."

When he says that, Jeongwoo lifts his head to look at him, then scoots a bit closer, until he's fully pressed into Sangcheol's side. It takes a while, but his whines gradually die down as Sangcheol keeps stroking his fur.

When he hears Jeongwoo's breathing even out, Sangcheol can finally go back to sleep too.

The next morning, he finds a very awake dog in his bed, who is poking him in the side with his nose.

"You're pretty chipper today, aren't you?" Sangcheol grumbles, chased out of his own bed to go take Jeongwoo on a walk.

He's relieved, though, because it means that Jeongwoo is alright, and the nightmare didn't leave much of a mark on him. Sangcheol wonders how dogs can have nightmares so suddenly and what could have brought it on with Jeongwoo, but of course there's no way he'll ever get to know that. He just hopes that the incident won't repeat itself.

Well, it doesn't, for three whole days, but then Sangcheol once again wakes up to Jeongwoo having a nightmare and crying in his sleep. He again lets Jeongwoo sleep in the bed, and that seems to calm the pup down quicker than last time.

On the third occasion Sangcheol decides to make his own life easier by just letting Jeongwoo sleep in the bed all the time. It’s big enough and changing the sheets more frequently won't be much of a hassle, so why couldn't he let his dog sleep with him?

It turns out to be a good decision, because from then on, neither of them has another nightmare for weeks.

And even after that, it's not Jeongwoo who starts sleeping badly again.

Something is going on with Sangcheol.

Jeongwoo notices his mood changing but doesn't know what could have happened to bring it on. There wasn't any sign that something could be wrong, and lately even his work didn't seem to be very hard. There is something, though, because Sangcheol gets quieter as February approaches, and his recurring nightmares start up again too.

Jeongwoo tries to help him with them, but he can't make them go away, even if he sleeps beside Sangcheol every night. Ever since Jeongwoo had trouble with his own nightmares, Sangcheol lets him sleep in the bed, and this was working out well for the both of them for a while.

Even now, Jeongwoo's nightmares thankfully don’t return, only Sangcheol's do.

Jeongwoo's only clues about what's going on are Sangcheol's phone calls about a meeting he doesn't sound like he's too enthusiastic about, and that he keeps staring more and more at the wedding picture above the TV. An idea solidifies in Jeongwoo's mind but he's still not entirely sure until one day Sangcheol leaves the apartment dressed in a black suit.

He's pale when he says goodbye to Jeongwoo, telling him that someone else will come take him on a walk today, and that Sangcheol himself will be late. Before he leaves, he takes one last glance at the photo, and if nothing else so far, that confirms Jeongwoo's suspicion that this day must be his wife's death anniversary.

Jeongwoo sits by the door, listening to Sangcheol's footsteps receding. The detective doesn't even walk with his usual gait, it's like he's weighed down by something invisible. Jeongwoo knows how that feels, to drag around a weight as large as a mountain and he wishes he could free Sangcheol of it, but he also knows that's not how this works, unfortunately.

Jeongwoo spends most of his time lying in the foyer, or on the couch, or on the bed, trying to calm his nerves.

When that officer from Sangcheol's station comes to walk him, he quickly runs through the motions and doesn't want to stay away from the apartment for longer than absolutely necessary. He doesn't even touch the food set out for him. He fights with his anxiety, reassuring himself that this is just a bad day, that's all. Sangcheol will come back to him.

It feels like years have passed until Jeongwoo can finally hear Sangcheol's footsteps approaching. The detective looks sad and weary as he enters, his smile thin when he goes past Jeongwoo, patting his head. He doesn't even take off his suit jacket before going to the living room and collapsing on the couch, like all his energy has left him in a rush.

Jeongwoo thinks about what he should do. If Sangcheol wants to sleep on the couch - he doesn't look like he wants to move anywhere - then he should have a blanket and a pillow with him, at least, so Jeongwoo goes into the bedroom to collect and drag both out to the living room.

He pulls the items up to Sangcheol, bumping his hand to let him know. Sangcheol sits up, his eyes red-rimmed and wide as he looks at Jeongwoo and the heap of blanket and pillow beside him.

"I..." his smile turns a bit more genuine, "thank you."

He bends down to get both items from the floor, wiping at his eyes as he straightens up.

"What would I do without you, Jeongwoo-ya?"

Sangcheol's voice is thick with emotion, his fingers trembling as he pets Jeongwoo's head gently.

Jeongwoo puts his snout on Sangcheol's knee, closing his eyes. Sangcheol is not the only one who's grateful. They would both be in a worse place now if they hadn't met, Jeongwoo is sure of that. He'd most probably be dead by now if Sangcheol didn't take him in.

If he thinks about it, these last six months were among the best and happiest in his life. Especially since... Let it just suffice to say that Jeongwoo wasn't at a very good place mentally before he got turned into a dog.

Sangcheol continues petting him for a long time, until he gets tired enough to fall asleep. He lies down on his side under Jeongwoo's watchful eyes, wrapping himself up tightly with the blanket.

Jeongwoo is not tired, so he only lies down, watching out for Sangcheol. He has a feeling that the night won't go smoothly, and his suspicion is unfortunately confirmed. Sangcheol hasn't even been asleep for an hour yet when he starts moving restlessly atop the couch, talking in his sleep.

He says the same things that he always does, apologizing to Yewon, and crying during it. Jeongwoo sits up, pushing at Sangcheol's shoulder with his nose. He's big enough to do this now, he doesn't have to jump up at him like he did on the first night he spent in this apartment.

But it's difficult to pull Sangcheol out of this nightmare. Jeongwoo has to push him a lot until he finally wakes up. When he sees Jeongwoo, he starts crying again.

"Come up," he says, voice hitching halfway through his words.

Jeongwoo obeys, climbing up to the couch at Sangcheol's legs, not wanting to jump up at him, mindful of his size and weight. He crawls forward to be able to rest his head on Sangcheol's chest, and Sangcheol accommodates him, moving so he can have both arms around Jeongwoo, and the both of them can lie as comfortably as possible in the narrow space.

"You have no idea-" Sangcheol's voice breaks off, he can only continue after taking a few deep breaths, "I'm so glad you're here with me, little one. I love you."

He presses a kiss into Jeongwoo's forehead.

Something from deep inside wells up in Jeongwoo's chest at hearing his words. He doesn't think anyone has ever... Apart from his parents nobody ever told him that they love him. Or that they're happy to have Jeongwoo with them.

The affection that Sangcheol showered him with was a constant source of joy for Jeongwoo in the last half year and it's just now that he realizes how much he needed that. How much he missed it, being important to someone. And to have someone who counted on him, who accepted Jeongwoo's help easily and didn't resent him for it later.

No, it's not Jeongwoo, it's Sangcheol who has no idea whatsoever how much he has helped Jeongwoo, or how fond Jeongwoo is of him. Jeongwoo wishes he could express it in words, because it's just impossible to contain all that he feels for Sangcheol inside this dog-sized body of his.

He feels too small, like his heart will burst if he tries to keep it all in for much longer. He can't imagine his life without Sangcheol, and he would gladly remain a dog his whole life if it means that he can stay by Sangcheol's side.

I love you too, he wants to say, but he can't form the words with a dog's mouth.

Something feels weird as Sangcheol's brain is coming back to wakefulness. He remembers that Jeongwoo climbed up to him during the night and that he fell asleep with the dog in his arms and half lying on his chest, but whatever is lying on him now is quite a bit heavier than Jeongwoo should be.

Even if Jeongwoo had gotten big by now, he's not a Great Dane, and it definitely shouldn't feel like Sangcheol has weight on his legs and his chest too.

Sangcheol blinks his eyes open, looking down his nose and...

That's definitely not his dog. What- Whoever is lying on him has an arm slung across Sangcheol's chest and a shoulder poking out from beneath the blanket, and their legs are a bit tangled into Sangcheol's own. A human, those are definitely human proportions.

Sangcheol's brain switches into panic mode instantly, because obviously someone has broken into his apartment during the night and did something with his dog, and that's absolutely not normal.

He bolts upright while pulling his legs back, and as a result the stranger tumbles down from the couch. A male stranger, at that, Sangcheol gets a glimpse of a naked chest as the intruder lands on his back, fallen between the coffee table and the couch, the blanket tangled around his hips and legs.

Sangcheol reaches and blindly grabs the first thing that gets in his hand, pointing it at the stranger who is now awake too, groaning painfully.

"Don't move or I'll hit you," Sangcheol warns, glancing at the object in his hand - the remote control.

The stranger looks up at him, eyes going wide, then he looks over himself too, scrambling to cover more of himself with the blanket, while raising a palm in Sangcheol's direction.

"Wait, no," he starts, then has to stop to clear his throat, his voice hoarse, "wait, I'm Jeongwoo."

In the meanwhile, Sangcheol notices the lamp sitting on the small nightstand beside the couch and throws the remote away to grab that instead, brandishing it at- Hold on. What was that just now?

Stunned, Sangcheol blinks at the man sitting by his couch, still only half covered by the blanket. The man blinks back at him, big brown eyes all filled with confusion and a bit of nervousness.

Yeah, no way. Hah, no. Sangcheol is not an idiot, this... This doesn't- This can't happen. Just can't.

"What did you do to my dog?"

The stranger sighs, putting his hand down, gripping the blanket nervously.

"I... I know how it sounds, but... Please, I am Jeongwoo. Really."

So, the thing is, Sangcheol is a pretty good detective. It's not his pride or anything, he just is, he wouldn't be leading the Major Crimes Team One if he wasn't. So, he has handled a lot of cases, solved a lot of them too, and he has interviewed or interrogated many people, from innocent witnesses to the hardest criminals. He can, with a small margin of error, tell when people are lying.

The problem is that this man who claims to be Sangcheol's dog is not lying, at least Sangcheol can't tell if he is. But he must be lying, because there's no way that he is actually Sangcheol's dog, because, well. He's not a dog, obviously.

The only solution remaining is that Sangcheol has been hallucinating the last half year, thinking that he had a dog, but instead he had a human- No, wait, that's even more insane than just accepting that his dog has somehow turned into a human.

"Are you saying that you turned into a human?" Sangcheol asks, laughing hysterically about it on the inside, because it's an insane question. That simply can't happen, period.

The man who calls himself Jeongwoo tilts his head to the side, with his brows furrowed. This recalls dog-Jeongwoo's image so strongly in Sangcheol's mind that he lets the lamp down, staring dumbly at the man.

"Kind of..." the stranger, the man who- Jeongwoo says slowly. "But I was always a human, I mean before I was a dog." He stops, looking up and shaking his head a little. "What I'm trying to say is that I've been turned into a dog from a human first, and now I just turned back to how I originally was. I wasn't a dog. At least, you know, before I was."

If Sangcheol wasn't confused enough before, now he certainly is. He puts the lamp back on the nightstand, rubbing his eyes. Maybe he's not yet fully awake. Maybe this is just a weird dream, his brain playing tricks on him, putting this pretty young man with his big brown eyes in front of him as a way to tell him that he needs to look for new relationships with humans?

"I... don't mean to be rude or anything, but can I borrow some clothes?"

Well, if this is a hallucination or a dream, it's pretty well constructed, that's for sure.

Sangcheol emerges from behind his hands, taking a few moments to take a good look at... Jeongwoo.

He can't be much more than twenty-five, with short black hair and those warm brown eyes that are so freakishly familiar to Sangcheol. He has a tiny amount of facial hair shadowing his chin and above his lips. Sangcheol averts his eyes, suddenly self-conscious about looking at another man's lips.

"Clothes, sure, I'll just..."

Scooting to the other end of the couch, Sangcheol avoids looking at Jeongwoo as he stands to go into the bedroom, absently getting a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from his closet. Then he remembers that Jeongwoo must be completely naked, so he puts a pair of boxer shorts on the top of the pile too.

When he goes back out to the living room, Jeongwoo is already standing by the bathroom door, the blanket wrapped fully around him, so only his calves and shoulders are showing. Sangcheol comes up to him, pushing the clothes into his hands, trying extra hard not to take it any kind of way how Jeongwoo flushes a deep red when he tips his head back slightly to look up at Sangcheol.

And the thought that he's cute most definitely doesn't cross Sangcheol's mind.

"T-thanks," Jeongwoo mumbles, dropping his gaze to the floor.

As he all but runs away into the bathroom he hits his shoulder on the doorframe, hissing, then closing the door behind himself.

Well. Sangcheol would be hard pressed to come up with an accurate description of this situation.

Unexpected is a good word. Sangcheol doesn't know yet how to feel about it.

Wait a minute, does this mean that Sangcheol doesn't have a dog anymore?

He will miss that, that's for sure.