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There was paint all over their little outfits; that wasn’t Jiniret's worry, it was the paint on their furry faces that he was worried about. Leebit was laughing in delight, no doubt in Jiniret’s mind his mischievous bunny brother was the culprit while PuppyM was looking up at his tall ferret brother with wide, tearful boba eyes.
Oh what a mess. Jiniret sighed, scratching his round ear in thought. How do they even end up like this? They were fine 30 minutes ago.
****One hour ago***
ARE THESE REALLY FOR US?!
Hyunjin made a small wince as his SKZoo’s voice filled his mind like a sharp jab. Their Skzoo’s could only communicate in human speech telepathically and make their normal animal noises out loud with only each other being able to understand. It had taken some getting used to the first time he had heard Jiniret’s voice in his mind. At first it had been loud to the point of giving him a migraine for an hour but thanks to Chan’s help and Wolf-Chan’s guidance, Jiniret had been able to lower his “mental waves” -as Wolf-Chan had dubbed it- to a soft wispy whisper. It only got very loud when he was scared or excited like he was now. Jiniret took notice of Hyunjin’s wince and his tail stopped swishing, lowering and slightly curling in embarrassment.
Sorry Apa.
“All’s forgiven Jiniret, you just got excited.” Hyunjin comforted him, reaching and giving a gentle scratch behind the ears with his forefinger. Jiniret chirped and his tail swished happily again.
“We’re gonna be gone for a while to practice the choreo and it’ll be busier and louder than normal so it would be best for you all to stay here in the Studio.” Hyunjin explained. Changbin was filling a plate with some fruit and filling small sauce size cups with water. Han was placing medium strips of paper on the table along with small brushes and Lino was placing cute little kinder like outfits on the other Skzoo’s so they wouldn’t get dirty with the paint Hyunjin had bought for them. It was in little packs; colors sectioned off into squares so they could rub the brush on the color and paint on the paper.
“You guys can paint whatever you want. We’re only going to be there for about an hour and check up on you guys ok?”
Jiniret chirped and nodded while he glanced to the side to see Wolf-Chan being told the same thing by his Dad who seemed to sigh and rub Wolf-Chan’s head in apology. Hyunjin noticed Jiniret’s glance and also sighed. Motioning for him to climb in his hands so he could lift Jiniret closer so the others wouldn’t hear.
“Keep an eye on Wolf-Chan ok? No getting near the computers to help. We don’t need Noona giving us a scolding again.”
Jiniret gave a small whimper and shuddered at the memory. Wolf-Chan had gotten sick a few days ago. A bad fever that had really scared them all, thinking he wouldn’t survive the night. It was rare that any of their Skzoo’s would get sick. Out of their 7 years together they’ve only gotten sick a total of 5 times each. Usually when their parents were going through a hard time emotionally or mentally. On the rare occasion their human was sick the Skzoo’s themselves would feel weaker & go into a sort of hibernation mode as if to preserve energy for both of them. It seemed to help in the recovery for their human and within 42 hours both would be back to normal.
For Wolf-Chan and his dad it had been a culmination of stress, sleep deprivation and heartache. Stress and sleep deprivation from their upcoming comeback and heartbreak from the fight Chan and Noona had gotten into. No one knows why they fought but after finding out Wolf-Chan was in danger she had shown up at his and I.N's apartment and within 24 hours Wolf-Chan’s fever had broken and was on the road to recovery. He was still recovering and per Noona’s instructions he was to rest and not overwork himself. Chan was still feeling guilty about what happened so he was taking all the instructions to keep him safe seriously along with taking frequent breaks himself. Hence why the idea for painting while they had rehearsal for dance.
I’ll keep an eye on him Apa.
Hyunjin smiled and gave him a gentle eskimo kiss, making Jiniret purr and swish his tail in joy.
“Ok, everyone’s set.” Han replied. He used his knuckle to give Quokka a small cheek rub which made his child giggle. “You guys be good.”
“Dweakki you keep an eye on Wolf-Chan okay?” Changbin called from the door and Dweakki gave a little snort of acknowledgement and saluting. Wolf-Chan gave an annoyed yip but Chan gave a chuckle.
“It’s ok Wolf-Chan, it’s only a few more days.” Chan promised at his pup’s little pout. FoxI.Ny gave a little yip in protest but I.N gave him a little pat.
I wanna go apa.
“I know kit but not today. It’ll be too loud for your ears. I’ll show it to you later.” he promised. After making them promise to behave they left. Jiniret and Wolf-Chan guided the others to their spots before they started painting. It started simple enough, they started with flowers then moved to cartoony versions of their parents.
Jiniret looked up from his drawing of cherry blossoms at the sound of rustling and gave a yip of warning. The others looked up and saw Wolf-Chan freeze in place. He had been on his way to the computer when Jiniret caught him.
“Noona said no computer!” Jiniret chittered at him. Wolf-Chan winced, tail flicking up nervously. He slowly turned back to look at Jiniret who was standing with his arms crossed, tail swishing in annoyance.
“You’re supposed to be resting.” He scolded, walking up to him and tapping his paw against Wolf-Chan’s forehead.
“I was just gonna put music on.” Wolf-Chan mumbled and Jiniret sighed.
“Let's do it then, I’m supervising.” he replied, making Wolf-Chan grumble. As they walked away Leebit was sitting next to Quokka and he noticed his friend starting to nod off. With a giggle he dipped the tip of his brush in paint and slowly raised it towards his friend’s cheek.
Quokka let out a squeak of surprise at the cold paint tapping his furry cheek. Leebit gave a little giggle, covering his snout with his paw. Quokka gave him a flat stare but Leebit wasn’t deterred and simply smirked back. Quokka retaliated by giving a slight flick of his brush and the little paint that had been left on the brush splattered on Leebit’s face and some on his shirt. Unsurprisingly Leebit merely giggled in delight, satiated that his friend played along, then as if nothing had happened he nuzzled part of Quokka’s cheek that didn’t have paint and they went back to painting.
A soft melody flowed from the speakers as Wolf-Chan and Jiniret finally got the music on the computer flowing out of the speakers. No lyrics, just a low bpm and a melody that made them think of the time they spent in Orlando helping their dads with the Stay music video. Quokka once again began to nod off but this time Leebit didn’t try to tease his friend…until Quokka started snoring softly, signaling that he was in a deep sleep. Leebit began to hum softly with the music as he got a bit of paint again and gently started painting on Quokka’s face. He didn’t go too wild though, and didn't want to make his friend too upset at him once he woke up. Little squiggles of paint here and there, a few swirls. Little Quokka only jerked once, gave a little squeak and then fell back asleep.
Once he was done he decided to let him sleep and paint with someone else. A little yip caught his attention as PuppyM almost dropped his little water cup. With a little snicker he headed over to him. PuppyM had just taken another new paper out to paint when Leebit sat down on his right. PuppyM’s little tail gave a happy wag as he passed Leebit some paint. Leebit’s ears twitched as the music changed into a more happy upbeat that almost seemed to match the mischievous energy he was on.
They painted a few flowers and even some cartoon versions of themselves and Lino’s jureumi before Leebit decided to start his chaos. It started with a small splatter, pretending he flicked his brush too much when he dipped the tip in a color. Then it was more intentional with random swipes on PuppyM’s cover shirt. At first PuppyM hadn’t minded when Leebit aimed at his shirt, he knew that’s the whole reason their dad’s had put them on. However, once he aimed at his face he gave a warning growl, dabbing some paint on Leebits paws and once accidentally swiped at Leebit’s fur at the edge of the shirt cover when Leebit had tried moving out of the way. Leebit giggled and tried it again but this time did a little heart on PuppyM’s ear. PuppyM growled again and did a swirl on Leebit’s head to which he playfully retaliated. They went back and forth a few more times with PuppyM becoming frustrated each time.
Wolf-Chan felt a twitch on his nose before giving a small sneeze. Jiniret looked at him in concern and Wolf-Chan waved his paw to wave away the concern. He got up and walked over to Han Quokka, he noticed from behind that he was swaying and realized that he was probably asleep. He walked over to wake him before he noticed a few blotches of paint on his face. He sighed, already guessing how he got like this.
“We’re gonna have to talk to call dad aren’t we?”
He looked to the right and sighed again with a small shake of his head. Jiniret was standing in front of PuppyM, the puppy’s paw fisted at the front of a cackling Leebit’s blue shirt. Both of their faces and shirts were covered in paint and for Leebit even a little bit on his fur at the bottom of his shirt.
PuppyM was looking up at Jiniret with tearful eyes, nose twitching as he tried not to sniff.
“I hate him.” He whined. Jiniret sighed in disbelief and looked to Wolf-Chan as he got to them.
“Let go of him PuppyM, let's get you cleaned up.” said Wolf-Chan. Jiniret was able to gently guide PuppyM away from Leebit and once they had distance Wolf Chan gave him a flat stare. Leebit had now settled his giggles to small chuckles and gave Wolf-Chan a little smirk.
“Leebit you know PuppyM hates getting dirty.” He gently scolded.
“I was only playing, Hannie Quokka let me.” Leebit argued back.
“He lets you get away with anything you know that.” Wolf-Chan grumbled before looking at Leebit’s pout. “You do know this means a bath and Noona.”
A squeak comes out of Leebit, eyes horrified and his ears twitch backwards.
“NO NOT NOONA!” he squealed. Wolf-Chan was saved from answering as the door opened and to Leebit’s bad luck it was Noona. She was holding two big take out bags and they smelled delicious. On her shoulder was her own SKZoo, a snowy white owl who hooted in greeting.
“Hi babies,” she said sweetly. “I brought food for all of you and your dads.”
Leebit caused mischief again. Her owl hooted as she had taken notice of two of her friends covered in paint and Leebit's guilty look.
Tattle tale!!! Leebit snapped at her with a pout as Noona looked up from putting the bags on the couch and noticed Leebit covered in paint. A whine from her right caught her attention and saw PuppyM also covered in paint but with tears in his eyes being comforted by Dweakki and Jiniret. Han Quokka to her surprise was also covered in paint and FoxI.Ny was looking exasperated at them.
“Leebit,” she sighed. “You do know I need to clean off all three of you right? You hate baths and you still let yourself get covered in paint.”
Leebit grumbled as she came up to them and smiled at Wolf-Chan softly, lifting a hand to gently rub his cheek. Wolf-Chan gave a soft bark, tail wagging happily.
“You’re looking better pup.” she cooed. “Is papa taking good care of you both?”
He nodded but he looked at her with a forlorn look and gave her a little sad whine.
Appa misses you, we both do. He whined and Noona looked away, biting her lip and closing her eyes for a second before opening them again and sighing.
“Your appa and I need time, love,” she replied gently. “It’s not time yet. But that doesn’t mean we’ll put you both in danger again.”
She looked over to her own SKZoo who was petting FoxI.Ny and the little kit was wagging his tail in joy. Her own SKZoo hadn’t gotten as sick as Wolf-Chan had despite their fight and a small part of her felt guilty. Lino had quickly put a stop to that though, knowing how she really felt. Sighing again she straightened up and looked at her watch. The boys would be done in fifteen minutes and she needed to clean up the kids. Wolf-Chan watched her conflicted expression for a bit before he spoke.
You can text Appa Lino to get them from the bathroom when you’re done cleaning them up. Wolf-Chan suggested. I’ll let Appa know they’re getting cleaned up when they come back.
Noona’s lips twitched in relief and she nodded in thanks. She picked up the paint splattered kids and took them to the bathroom with her SKZoo Dalbit on her shoulder.
“I hope they can make up soon.” Jiniret groaned, paws scratching the back of his ears. “Hyun Appa already wrote a song.”
“Han Quokka said Hannie Appa already wrote three.” FoxI.Ny responded with a giggle. Wolf-Chan gave a little scoff and shook his head. Both of them were stubborn, his Appa more than Noona so he knows he’ll have to try something to make them talk again. While Noona was cleaning off the others they began to clean up. By the time they had placed the painted papers in order they could hear the loud shout of Changbin Appa along with the cackle of Hyunjin Appa. The door opened, led by Wolf-Chan’s dad who stopped at the sight of the bagged food. His smile from earlier slowly dropped to something smaller, bittersweet. Hyunjin popped out behind him and noticed the bag too, his expression brightening up.
“Woah! Channie-Hyung, you ordered us food?!” he went around Chan to start opening one of the bags, soon followed by Changbin and Han when they heard food.
“Um, it wasn’t me.” Chan replied and turned to Wolf-Chan who nodded.
It was Noona, she came by and she also had to clean up Leebit, PuppyM, and Han Quokka. Wolf-Chan confirmed. Leebit got paint on them and himself.
“If it’s not PuppyM it’s Leebit.” Felix chuckled and turned to tease Lino when he realized he wasn’t behind them. “Oh, Lino-hyung’s gone. I thought he was behind us.”
“He got a text from someone, I saw him head towards the bathroom.” Seungmin replied as he also headed towards the bags of food. Felix glanced at Chan who bit his lip as he glanced down at his phone. The others had already taken out all the food and were starting to disperse it amongst each other.
Appa, Wolf-Chan prodded and Chan glanced at his pup whose tail flicked nervously as he thought about what he was going to say. Appa she misses us too…maybe…can you…
Chan walked over and picked up Wolf-Chan, leaning against his desk and raising his pup to eye height.
I miss her too pup but I just…I messed up and I don’t know how to fix it.
“Chan-ah” both Chan and Wolf-Chan looked to the door to see Lino had returned. A grumpy but slightly dry Leebit was in his t-shirt breast pocket with Quokka while PuppyM was plopped on top of his beanie. All three of them were clean of paint and excited upon seeing food. Once Lino had plopped PuppyM on Seungmin’s head & given Han both Quokka & Leebit he went to Chan.
“She texted you to get them so she wouldn’t have to see me.” He said softly so the kids wouldn’t hear.
“She’s not ready.” Lino replied in the same tone as him. “Quite frankly neither are you, but you knew that.”
Chan sighed and Wolf-Chan jumped to his shoulder so he could nuzzle his cheek.
“You both chose to give each other space, give it time. Dalbit and Wolf-Chan are still recuperating, focus on that.”
“Chan-Hyung!” Hyunjin called, bringing a box of food with his name on it with a doodle of Wolf-Chan. Chan opened it and his throat felt tight, authentic Australian food. They had found a small restaurant a few months ago and whenever he had a hard day she’d bring him and Wolf-Chan a box.
Yummy!! Noona brought us a treat! Wolf-Chan yipped and Chan chuckled. He turned around to place the box on his desk when he saw the pictures. Wolf-Chan had drawn a picture of him, noona, himself and Dalbit. Flowers and hearts decorated the entire piece and Chan felt a tug on his chest that he was too scared to label.
“Looks like Wolf-Chan already knows what you need.” Lino teased and Chan gave a groan of exasperation.
“Lino-yah~”
“Hey! You two need to join us before the food gets cold!” Changbin called out. They traded looks with Lino giving him a teasing smirk before he headed to the couch. Chan looked at the picture one more time before he sat on his chair and rolled it to his kids. Wolf-Chan watched the thoughtful look on his dad’s face as they ate. He listened as his own kids told their dads what they drew, having Han grab the drawings from Chan’s desk to show them. He didn’t miss the concerned looks the others gave Chan but he knew that when his dad was ready, he and Noona would make up.
Laughter brought him back and he watched as Leebit recounted his mischief of the watercolor paints. Lino couldn’t stop the proud smirk on his face while the others laughed. He gave a small smile and noticed his dad doing the same. His family was important to him. Noona and Dalbit were now a part of it too and he was not about to let them go. Even if that meant giving his dad a smack with a paint brush to make him see it.