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jaehyun thought his parents were stupid. he was twenty-seven years old — couldn’t they trust him enough to watch the dogs while they went away for the weekend? and instead of hiring a dog sitter, they were making him stay with the neighbour.
your family was going away as well — he’d heard that much, but not from you. jaehyun had spoken to you maybe once, when your family had invited his over for dinner. that had been two years ago. you’d seemed nice enough in his dim memory, where you sat by the coffee table dressed in a yellow flannel reminiscent of sunshine, but jaehyun was really looking forward to a weekend alone.
his mother had told him that you’d agreed — which apparently settled the matter — so here he was on a friday night, knocking at your door. his dogs, bongji and bonggu, stood patiently by his side.
you opened the door, already in your pyjamas, an enthusiastic smile on your face. your dog came bounding from behind you, slipping past your legs to introduce itself.
jaehyun turned his attention from the dogs to you. he would have liked to think he was more confident this time than when you’d first met, but as soon as your eyes met, he looked away.
“hey,” you said. “you guys can come in.”
jaehyun nodded, shooing the three dogs in ahead of him. “sorry that our parents forced this upon us,” he laughed nervously, running a hand through his hair.
“i really don’t mind! this house makes weird noises at night; it stresses me out.”
jaehyun hummed in response and snuck a look at you. you were around the same age as him, if he recalled correctly. your pyjamas hung loosely off your frame, and there were polka-dot slippers on your feet.
and in a dreadful rush of realization, jaehyun remembered why he didn’t talk to you.
when he had visited for dinner two years prior, your parents had expected you two to talk, maybe even become friends. jaehyun hadn’t exactly opposed this idea, despite how things stood between the two of you now. the issue was that he had thought you were so cute, he couldn’t say a word to you.
now i have to spend a whole weekend with them?
he dropped his gaze to the floor, sliding out of his shoes. you had walked out to the living room, and he followed, taking in the knick-knacks that you had lying around. family photos dotted the living room walls, dog toys were scattered haphazardly across the floor, and a guitar stood in the corner by the window.
you sat on your couch, inviting your dog to join you. jaehyun awkwardly hovered behind you, watching bonggu and bongji explore the space. the two bichon frises sniffed every object, taking a strong interest in the squeaky toys. jaehyun cringed at the amount of noise now coming from the room. “sorry about them,” he mumbled.
you shrugged. “used to it. you can take a seat, make yourself at home.”
he nodded, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from you.
there was no getting around it: this was awkward, and even you had started playing with the ends of your pyjama shirt.
“would you like anything to drink?”
jaehyun shook his head, hair falling into his eyes. he frowned and pushed it off his forehead.
“oh, i know! let me show you your room!” you beamed, jumping to your feet.
“my room?” jaehyun tilted his head quizzically but stood to follow you anyway. he had thought that he was at least going back home to sleep.
you led him up a set of wooden stairs and down a hallway, stopping in front of a white door.
“this one’s yours.” you pushed it open. inside was an average guest room: queen-sized bed, two nightstands, a lamp — it looked like a hotel room. the only difference was the two dog beds in the corner.
“i-” jaehyun paused, debating telling you that he was going home each night. but you looked… excited to have him over. and for some reason, you looking disappointed was something jaehyun didn’t want to have to stomach. so instead, he muttered a “thanks.”
you gave him a brief tour of the rest of the house, pointing out essentials like the bathroom and kitchen, before the two of you settled back onto the couch.
you hopped on your phone, probably scrolling through some form of social media. jaehyun could have sworn that you were stealing glances at him from time to time, but he shook the suspicion away. he instead turned his attention to your dog as it jumped onto the couch to rest its head on his lap.
he was mid-ear-scratches when a flash went off. his eyes shot up to meet yours; you were suppressing a laugh.
“what was that for?” he asked. and then, with a sinking feeling, “do i look weird?”
“no! no, of course not. you just look surprised. my parents were asking for proof that we’re actually together.”
jaehyun nodded, doing his best not to dwell too much on it.
which was going quite well up until he received a screenshot of your instagram from one of his friends. dog sitting with the cute neighbour! it said.
cute? jaehyun tried to sneak a glance at you, but you were already looking at him. “what?” he sputtered.
“nothing,” you smiled, and it reminded jaehyun of the way the summer sunshine danced through his window panes, casting rainbows onto the palm of his hand.
jaehyun smiled back, aware that his face had turned a light shade of pink. he liked the way your eyes crinkled when you smiled, how your lips curved up more on one side.
he caught himself staring and dropped his gaze to his hands, which were still resting on your dog’s head. the pup had fallen asleep.
you grabbed a remote and flicked the tv on, choosing a random show. jaehyun wasn’t paying attention. he still had his phone out, eyes trained on the image his friend had sent him.
do they actually think i’m cute? did they mean to say the dog was cute? should i ask them about it?
he sent a keyboard smash back to his friend.
your phone buzzed in your hands. you giggled at whatever you received and glanced at jaehyun.
he buried his face further in his phone.
not long after, he received another screenshot: a photo of him, yet again, with the caption, wish he would just talk to me about it.
jaehyun tore his eyes from his phone, daring to meet your eyes. “are you messing with me?”
“what are you talking about?” you smiled innocently.
“your instagram, i mean, do you…” he trailed off. “never mind.” he wasn’t good at confrontation, no matter how minor.
“do i what?” you pressed.
“do you mean it? am i cute?” he flushed as the words left his mouth.
you giggled. jaehyun tensed, prepared for you to tell him you were joking.
“of course i mean it.”
jaehyun looked at you, eyes wide. he stuttered, “i think you’re cute too.”