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Seokjin has never had nor wanted a dog. Or a pet for that matter. Growing up he saw all of his friends get pets and then have their hearts broken when the pets died or were given away by their parents. After comforting almost everyone he knew because of a pet leaving them he swore he would never get one. The closest he’d ever gotten to having a pet was when he was a child he used to take care of the bunnies that lived in his uncle’s strawberry farm, but he never really wanted to take one home. He knew his mom would say no and also having to take care of the bunny was too much for him.
When he and Yoongi decided to adopt the children they discussed getting a dog, Yoongi had a dog when he was younger, this big husky with large eyes that he used to utterly love. Seokjin was already his boyfriend when the younger called him up in tears, saying that Princess had collapsed and that his parents had had to put her down.
Even so Yoongi still wanted to have one for the children, because he knew that sometimes Princess had brought the comfort no one had been able to. They agreed that maybe yes, it could be a good idea, but they kept pushing it back, saying that they would have it when the children grew up a little more. At the end they had five children and no puppies. And that was the way Seokjin intended to keep the family after finally adopting Jungkook. He loved his children but they were a handful on their own and just the thought having to add an animal to take care of on top of it drove him crazy. Also he knew that despite all of his promises Yoongi wouldn’t be able to take care of the dog because of his work.
So the second Taehyung and Jimin got into the car and began asking for a puppy he felt dread course his veins, because he knew. Those two were relentless on their own, and if they got the rest of the children to join their quest for a pet there was no way he and Yoongi would be able to refuse them. His promises of talking about it later or bribing them with candy were to no avail and the two of them roped Hoseok and Namjoon into the idea. Telling the oldest siblings that they would let them name the potential addition to the family.
And just like he thought they would, they did. The moment Seokjin sat down for dinner, trying to help Jungkook eat his meal, the kids decided to collectively pounce on him and Yoongi, who had been listening to Taehyung recount the story of how one of his friends had gotten a chihuahua. The combination of Namjoon’s logic, Hoseok’s and Taehyung’s screams as well as Jimin’s puppy eyes were too much, and the second Jungkook began making cooing noises and asking ‘pwetty pleashe’ Jin and Yoongi were decimated.
So that same Saturday, as soon as they woke up and had breakfast they headed over to the pet store. The ride there was full of little squeals, Namjoon and Hoseok discussing possible names (which, in Seokjin’s opinion, were all pretty bad he hoped their future partners had good name choices because if they didn’t his grandchildren would be doomed). The parents unloaded the children from the car, Seokjin taking care of Jungkook and Taehyung while Yoongi took care of the other three. There was a girl with red hair sitting in the counter and staring into space, she immediately perked up when she saw them and gave them a sweet smile.
“Hello! Welcome to Pet Coquette, can I help you with anything?” she asked, smile still on her face as she watched the four children run around the store with their pent-up excitement. Seokjin really hoped this was common and for a second he thought about buying four leashes for the kids, but he was pretty sure it was illegal.
“Excuse our children, they’re feral,” explained Seokjin, petting Jungkook’s head. He was wearing those slings for babies so he wouldn’t have to exhaust his arms carrying him around. Despite the baby being lighter than his brothers it was still tiring to be holding onto him all the time. The child was sucking on a red pacifier as he looked at his brothers run around pointing at the little animals. The baby began to jump his body up and down, pointing at Taehyung and Jimin while making whining noises so his papa would let him join them, although he was still bad at walking. It was actually pretty cute.
“That’s okay, the other day some twins broke one of the fish tanks, I’ve seen worst that these guys,” the girl waved her hand before stepping outside of the counter to join the couple. The name tag pinned to her chest read ‘Hyejin’ and she stared at the boys with amusement glinting in her eyes. Hoseok walked up to her, staring at Hyejin with big eyes before waving and hiding behind Yoongi, who sighed, Hoseok was always like this around strangers, all sweet and charming but also kind of shy… for at least seven seconds until he went crazy and acted like they were his relatives.
“So are you all looking for something in special? We just got some bunnies yesterday,” Hyejin said, pointing at a black cage with five large bunnies on it. Seokjin thought about it for a second, but then shook his head. Those bunnies would last about 0.5 seconds in Taehyung and Namjoon’s hands.
“Nope! We’re looking for puppies,” yelled Hoseok excitedly, peeking his face from behind Yoongi’s legs “noona can you show us?”
“Hoseok,” Seokjin warned, watching as Yoongi covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.
“That’s okay,” she said, waving her hand before placing them on her legs as she crouched down to look at the boy seriously, Seokjin already liked her “what type of puppies do you like?”
“Big, fluffy ones!” Taehyung screeched, capturing Hyejin’s attention, the boy was looking at some labrador retrievers that were playing with each other. Seokjin’s eyes widened before he furiously shook his head. There was no way, no way he would be cleaning dog hair out of his furniture, floors and clothes, Jimin and Yoongi already shed enough hair for the whole family.
“No, we want a small one, preferably with short hair and minimal shedding,” he instructed, making the kids (and Yoongi) go ‘aww’ with disappointment. Jungkook sucked harder on his pacifier and kicked his legs as if to show that he was displeased as well.
“Well, we just got two Boston Terriers yesterday, they’re purebreds, one of them is six months old and the other is a year old,” Hyejin said, leading the family to one of the big cages where several dogs were sleeping. Seokjin pondered about it, the dogs were cute even with their smushed-faces, but he didn’t know whether they would be as energetic as needed.
“They’re fairly calm, gentle and affectionate” Hyejin instructed, letting Hoseok drag a stool from behind the counter to peek at the puppies better “they’re really kid friendly too-“
“They’re ugly!” Taehyung interrupted her with an excited yell. Yoongi pressed his hands against his face.
“No! I like them!” Jimin argued, shaking the stool where Hoseok stood. Immediately Yoongi took Jimin in his arms so Hoseok wouldn’t break his head on the floor. The last time that had happened it hadn’t been any fun.
“Well, we have other puppies,” Hyejin laughed, patting Hoseok’s shoulders “do you kids have any breeds in mind?”
“Beagles!” Namjoon said, having stayed quiet for the past minutes, he gave a shy smile at the woman, fluttering his eyelashes before looking down. Hyejin cooed at his face and the kid blushed. He was such a flirt, always.
“Sorry kiddo, we don’t have any beagles,” Hyejin said, smiling apologetically. Namjoon pouted with disappointment and shrugged.
“That’s okay, I can find other one,” Namjoon answered, nodding his head like a grownup. Seokjin and Yoongi snorted at Hyejin’s shocked face.
“He’s a really smart child,” Seokjin instructed, laughing behind his hand, Jungkook began wiggling his feet in the sling and pointing to the floor in order to be put down but Seokjin merely hugged him tighter against his body, not wanting the baby to join his excited brothers and jump around as well. Jungkook was the most controlled one after Namjoon, but when paired with Taehyung and Jimin the little boy could be a terror. Sometimes it drove Seokjin crazy.
“I like this one!” Taehyung said, pressing his face against a glass cage. It was in the corner of the store and didn’t have a ceiling so people could pick the puppies. Hyejin walked over and patted Taehyung’s head.
“Those are toy poodles, they’re all about five to ten months old,” Hyejin said “they’re energetic, quick learners and serve as good watchdogs, which can be beneficial for the children.”
Seokjin looked down, holding onto Jungkook’s head so he wouldn’t arch his back and fall into the cage, that had happened once. There, in the center was a white puppy, hair curly and cute as it played with a carrot squeaky toy. His heart melted at the sight, it was the only light-colored dog in the cage so it made him stand out even more. He immediately knew that this was the one, he imagined bringing it home and taking care of it, letting Jungkook snuggle up to the pup. He looked towards Yoongi, who was looking down at the cage with adoration as well.
“Have you decided?” Hyejin asked, staring at the parents. Both of them nodded at the same time and Seokjin felt really good, his telepathy with Yoongi still worked after all his years, couple goals.
“Yeah” the say in a chorus, the children were pointing at which of the puppies they thought was the cutest.
“The white one,” Seokjin said.
“The brown one,” Yoongi answered simultaneously, and the two of them whipped their heads to glare at each other, immediately quieting down the children. Fuck telepathy, he hated Yoongi.
“Well, you could take both and I could give you a discount,” Hyejin offered, smiling at the parents. Yoongi nodded, opening his mouth to say yes but was interrupted when Seokjin shook his head no.
“No no, that’s not even an option, we’re only coming out of this place with one dog, we can come to an agreement, right honey?” Yoongi nodded, hoping that his husband would say they could take both, after all, the kids would help them take care of the puppies and both of them would be happy with the decision “great! The white one then.”
“No! Why the white one? If we’re going to take only one it should be the brown one! It’s way cuter!” Yoongi argued back. Seokjin frowned and looked at the brown puppy, it looked adorable, yes, but it was curled up on itself and snoozing away.
“It’s just sleeping!” Seokjin said, loud, his high-pitched voice startling Jungkook, who took off his pacifier and whined. He disliked it when his parents fought, especially when his papa yelled right next to his ear.
“Exactly! That little monster over there is just pouncing on his toy! He could be dangerous to the children,” Yoongi said, letting Jimin down to put his hands on his hips.
“Actually he’s a really sweet puppy, he just likes to play a lot,” Hyejin said, earning a harsh glare from Yoongi. Seokjin rolled his eyes at his husband’s behavior, obviously disapproving.
“I don’t understand why we can’t take both of them,” Yoongi muttered, and Seokjin looked straight at the other man.
“Because it would be too much work!” he argued. Hyejin cleared her throat and smiled.
“Um, toy poodles are really good at adapting to new environments, they’re also extremely obedient” she began “that’s why they’re so good at contests.”
It was Seokjin’s turn to glare at her now. There was a 0 percent possibility of him leaving this store with five children, two puppies and one husband. No way, this was not going to become a 101 Dalmatians movie featuring five devils and the Grinch. It just wasn’t happening.
“Can we hold them?” Hoseok and Namjoon asked, eyes sparkling. The girl nodded and picked the brown one, placing it on Namjoon’s hold before giving Hoseok the white one.
“Okay! Let’s allow the kids to decide,” Seokjin said, smiling expectantly at the children. Namjoon was letting Taehyung and Jimin pet the little brown puppy, who had woken up and was licking their hands. The little giggles that came out of them warmed his heart.
“Papa look!” Hoseok said, calling in for Seokjin’s attention from the stool. He hugged the white puppy to his chest, squeezing it tight and looking extremely adorable with his face smushed against the fur. He unclasped Jungkook from the sling, turning him around so he could pet it too. The children looked adorable with their elated faces as they cooed over the dog. His happy moment was interrupted by Yoongi’s shrill voice cutting through the store. God, he hoped Hyejin wasn’t absolutely weirded out by his family.
“Taehyung and Jimin like this one better!” Yoongi declared, he was holding onto the puppy now, hugging it tight to his chest and looking like a little child instead of a grown ass man. For a second Seokjin considered just taking the two of them, not wanting to take away the happy look Yoongi had on his face, but then he remembered how he would have to take care of the dogs, bathe them and house-break them as well as caring for his children, who were already five.
“Well, Jungkook and Hoseok like this one more,” Seokjin said, both parents turned to Namjoon, who had let go of the puppy and was looking at his family. Namjoon’s little face was contorted with confusion, not knowing what to do. On one hand Taehyung and Jimin would be very sad if their puppy didn’t get picked, but on the other one Jungkook and Hoseok had the ugliest crying faces. It was a tough decision.
“Why can’t we just take both?” Namjoon asked, making puppy eyes at his father. He really disliked having to choose between his siblings’ happiness.
“Because! It would be too much work Joonie,” Seokjin said with a gentle voice. Yoongi began shifting closer to Hoseok, both of them holding the puppies in a similar manner. It was so adorable that they looked so alike and Seokjin could just feel his will crumbling down. God damn it, why was he so weak for his family?
“Papa please!” Taehyung asked, him and Jimin were holding onto Hoseok’s stool, Jungkook made a sad whining noise, as if he was agreeing to his brothers’ words.
Seokjin felt something and his leg and he looked down to see Namjoon clinging onto it like a baby koala. His heart broke in no time, he just had to say yes at them, not able to imagine how sad they would all be if he actually said no. He took a deep breath, releasing a loud groan and nodded at Yoongi.
—
And so they got two dogs.
They settled their little beds in the parents’ room, not wanting the children to fight each other for who would get to sleep with them. They had bought fun toys too, Yoongi choosing a Kumamon squishy toy for the brown doggy (who they were told was a female) and Seokjin opting for a Mario one for the white one (a male dog). On the ride back Seokjin watched as the babies held onto the stuff and the puppies, talking about how happy they were and thanking their parents for allowing them to buy them.
Before dinner Seokjin let everyone play in the kitchen, settling down next to them while the food finished cooking. Yoongi had Jungkook sitting on his lap as he and Hoseok barked at the brown dog. Meanwhile, Taehyung, Jimin and Namjoon cooed over the white puppy as it pounced on the Mario doll, making it squeak loudly every time it pressed it with the front paws. They kids quieted down though, when Seokjin asked them for names.
“You can name them!” Namjoon said, which made the rest of the kids nod enthusiastically “we’re happy for the puppies.”
“Okay!” Seokjin grinned from where he and Taehyung were watching as the white dog barked happily and turned on his back so Taehyung could scratch its tummy “how about we name him Jjanggu?”
“And this one can be named Holly,” Yoongi said, having been scrolling through lists and lists of female dog names. Seokjin smiled at his husband, despite the fact that they had argued over which dog to buy and that at the end of the day he didn’t get what he really wanted, he was extremely happy. Their newest additions to the family were perfect and really, he thought he should’ve know about this outcome from the start, with Yoongi nothing could be predicted.