paw at your heart

[smallorbits]

Title: Paw at your heart
Rating: G
Pairing: Lu Han/Chanyeol
Length: 3,860 words
Summary: College bros Chanlu find an abandoned puppy boy named Jongin. Jongin is needy and clingy and wants lots of group hugs. Lu Han does not want to hug Chanyeol. Well then.



Lu Han has always known that Chanyeol had a soft spot for cute, cuddly things. When they pass by pet stores, Chanyeol always lingers much too long and it only takes a pair of baby booties in the window of the department stores to send Chanyeol into a gooey mess who has to be coaxed back to reality by a firm Lu Han and twenty pushups.

Back when they were in college, Lu Han would often come back to their shared dorm to find Chanyeol hunched over a scared looking freshman, trying his best to tutor the kid in whatever subject they needed tutoring in. Chanyeol’s brand of enthusiasm and kindness was a bit hard to swallow but Lu Han has never seen anyone not come around to embrace Chanyeol’s loudness. Once, Joonmyun the dorm manager had pulled one of the particularly scrawny tutees aside to ask if Chanyeol was blackmailing him into doing Scary Unmentionable Things. This resulted in a long night of movie marathons and pizza party with all 6 of Chanyeol’s tutees as they gathered around to comfort a weepy Chanyeol and assure him that they all enjoyed being tutored by him.

So yeah, given Chanyeol’s track record of adopting poor, hapless things under his wing, Lu Han should not be as surprised as he is right now.

Lu Han stares at Chanyeol’s back as Chanyeol very decidedly ignores him. He waits a few more seconds to no response and says warily, "hey."

"Hey," is what Chanyeol offers quickly before turning back to the wriggling... thing on the couch.

“Chanyeol,” Lu Han says and Chanyeol instinctively flinches. They’ve lived together for 5 years now, from freshman year until after graduation and Lu Han is proud to think that he has finally broken Chanyeol in. Lu Han has long stopped finding dirty socks in the dishwasher and has trained Chanyeol well enough that Chanyeol understands what he means with minimal words.

Chanyeol wraps his arms around the lump of boy on the couch defensively and they both turn their watery eyes with full force on Lu Han. "I found this puppy shivering outside in the rain." As if on cue -Chanyeol must’ve briefed the puppy boy what to do, that traitor- the puppy boy curls in on himself, his floppy ears drooping even more and looking like a sorry sight.

Lu Han can feel a tic forming in his right eye. Breathe. Count to ten! Recite the colours of the rainbow backwards. Lu Han’s patience has been severely tested ever since he started living with Chanyeol and he’s been getting better but every day is still a struggle. "And you let him wet our couch?"

The still damp puppy boy cowers under Lu Han’s glare and Chanyeol’s protective hug tightens, not caring about the wetness that is seeping through his shirt. The clothes that the puppy boy is wearing is in tatters, could almost be called a rag really, with how worn down it is. Even from where Lu Han stands by the door, he can see the sunken collarbones and the way the clothes hang too loose on the puppy boy. The puppy is covered in enough mud that Lu Han can’t make out his features other than his deep, mournful eyes. The puppy has been on the street for a while.

“What’s his name?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “I don’t-

“Jongin,” the puppy boy pipes up and oh, his voice is really much deeper than they expected. He must be older than what he looks like.

Chanyeol claps in delight, startling the puppy- Jongin until he winces and melts further into the pillows. (They’re going to have hell washing the mud stains off those velvet covers) “He likes you!”

“R-really?” He’s not melting. Lu Han is a manly man and he is immune to Jongin’s little pouts and droopy ears and- damn it.

“Yeah, he hasn’t said a word until you came in.” Chanyeol pets Jongin on the head in approval and Jongin’s tail starts thumping, unfortunately sending more droplets of water spraying all over the living room.

Then Chanyeol turns to grin at Lu Han and Lu Han braces himself for the inevitable. “Can we keep him?”

“Keep?” Jongin visibly brightens at the word and his ears perk up.

No keep, no. “Chanyeol, our apartment is small and-”

Jongin’s tail stops wagging.

“- Uh, we’ll need to see if he has a previous owner-”

Jongin’s face crumples.

“- I guess he could stay for a night.”

Fuck, what happened to his resolve??

Chanyeol cheers, “Bath time!”

Bath time is apparently a group activity because Lu Han has to tag along to make sure that the Unflappable Duo, as he has quickly dubbed them in his mind, does not ruin his pristine clean bathroom.

“How long since you’ve had a bath, little guy?” Chanyeol asks Jongin as they pad to the bathroom, Jongin holding Chanyeol’s shirt and trailing along like a chain of cute. Lu Han is surprise to find that Jongin is almost as tall as he is, making it even clearer that this is more a puppy teenager than a puppy boy.

Jongin scrunches his nose and Chanyeol changes tracks, “have you ever had a bath?”

“Wet,” Jongin replies plainly. “I don’t like wet.”

This proves to be a problem when Lu Han has the bath running and Jongin’s eyes widen to the size of balloons at all that water. Jongin yelps and falls a few steps back but Chanyeol had enough foresight to lock the door and in two seconds, Chanyeol has Jongin clamped in a headlock.

“Woah, don’t scare the poor guy-” Lu Han begins, alarmed, but Chanyeol yells at him to “rip off his clothes!” And Lu Han ignores every alarm bell in his head and starts tearing at Jongin’s pathetic clothes.

With their combined effort, they dunk Jongin into the bath and by then, Jongin is a weepy mess but he quickly calms down when Chanyeol pets his tangled hair again. Puppy boys are apparently easy to please.

“Hey, Jongin look, bubbles.” Lu Han says in a last ditch effort to distract Jongin and scoops up some of the bubbles in the tub and flicks them at Jongin.

Bingo. Jongin’s expression turns to one of obvious fascination and he tries to catch one of the bubbles but it pops before he can. He blinks at Chanyeol and Lu Han in confusion and Lu Han does not melt. He does not.

Jongin is a good boy and sits quietly as they scrub at his skin and untangle his hair. He occupies himself with making shapes out of the bubbles and giggles when he blows them into Lu Han’s face. Lu Han forces himself to smile even through the pain in his eyes and he can feel Chanyeol’s satisfied grin at him. What has his life come to? He’s never imagined that in all the years of friendship with Chanyeol, he would find himself kneeling beside a tub scrubbing down a puppy but here they are. Lu Han demands a refund.

“So like-” Chanyeol stops when they’ve covered every inch they can without violating the puppy’s modesty. “Can you wash yourself, uh, there?”

Lu Han’s hands fly away from where he was massaging Jongin’s scalp and Jongin opens his eyes, blinking slowly at them.

“Yeah we’re just going to… Let you wash yourself?” Lu Han stutters and gestures at the towel hanging by the tub. “You just dry yourself up and we’ll meet you outside.” He grabs Chanyeol’s arm and tugs him outside, leaving a confused Jongin in the tub.

“What’s up with you?” Chanyeol laughs, following Lu Han out. “He’s just a puppy.”

Famous last words.

They dress Jongin in Chanyeol’s old sweats because Lu Han refuses to lend his expensive brand name clothes and Jongin swims in all the excess fabric. Jongin is happy enough to plop around in the too-long pants even if he almost trips over them once or twice and settles on the couch with the other two watching him carefully.

Now that he’s clean, they finally can get a good look at Jongin and there’s a beautiful boy under all that dirt, all carved lines and defined features, a fact that Lu Han knows all too well when Chanyeol quips, “hey, he’s your type.”

“No type,” Lu Han insists, watching Jongin gnaw on his own sleeve. “I have no type.”

“No, but yo,” Chanyeol cocks his head. “I swear, he looks like that dancer kid you had a crush on. Taemyun- Taemin?”

Oh my God, he does, Lu Han thinks, but pushes away those thoughts quickly. He’s just about to inform Chanyeol about the 101 ways that Jongin is not his type when a loud rumble interrupts them.

“Hungry,” Jongin stops chewing his sleeve and says miserably.

Chanyeol looks at Lu Han expectantly.

“... Anyone up for ramyun?”

“Ramyun is the best!” Jongin cheers, slurping up one single noodle so fast it hits him on the nose. He sits there for a moment, stunned, and Lu Han finds himself discreetly giving his own portion to Jongin just to see him smile.

A full Jongin is a sleepy Jongin, they find out. Jongin sits quietly and watches Chanyeol and Lu Han busy themselves with washing the dishes but they both notice how Jongin’s eyelids are drooping.

Chanyeol scoops Jongin up easily, the puppy boy holding his hands out and allowing himself to be carried to the couch that unfolds into a sofa bed. “We’ll get you some pillows and a blanket and you can sleep warm tonight alright?”

Lu Han comes in with the pillows and gently slots them under Jongin’s head, smiling at the way Jongin tries to hold in a yawn.

They’re just about to turn off the lights and return back to their own rooms when they hear a tiny voice, “You’re- leaving me?” Jongin sits up, somehow tangled in his blankets.

“No, no, no, of course not?” Chanyeol immediately hurries over and climbs in beside Jongin. Jongin whimpers and buries his head in Chanyeol’s chest, seemingly attached even though they just met barely a few hours ago.

Lu Han is so busy marveling at how cute Jongin looks that he almost misses the expectant look Chanyeol is sending him. “what?”

Chanyeol lifts up one edge of the blanket. “Come on, there’s space.”

“Lu- Lu Han is joining us?” Jongin asks, hopefulness written all over his face.

“Lu Han is not joining you,” Lu Han tells Jongin firmly but Jongin is starting to pout again and Lu Han’s legs move of his own accord. Bad legs, Lu Han mumbles to himself as he slides under the covers on the other side of Jongin, tucking the puppy between them.

Jongin makes these little happy noises and snuggles against Lu Han, his breath tickling Lu Han’s shoulder.

“Are we going to talk about this?” Lu Han asks but Chanyeol shushes him, throwing an arm over Jongin that lands on Lu Han’s stomach.

I haven’t even brushed my teeth, is the last thing Lu Han thinks before sleep welcomes him easily.

They never end up talking about it. Lu Han wakes up feeling content and with this warmness in this chest and remembers that they somehow took in a puppy last night. Jongin is still asleep between them, his tail twitching against Lu Han’s toes and Lu Han curls his toes to feel the soft fur. Chanyeol is already awake and Lu Han catches his eyes and sees his own emotions reflected in them.

They’re not letting Jongin go now.

They visit the police the next day hand-in-hand and checks Jongin’s ID. All hybrids come with a data chip embedded in their wrists and the police inform them that there are no missing pet ids corresponding with Jongin’s. If no one claims Jongin in three months, then they are free to adopt him as his own.

Jongin is so excited to hear that, he trips over himself and plunges face first into the policeman’s desk.

They must have had the stupidest smiles on their faces because the policeman grins at them and hands them some brochures on pet care.

One night turns to two nights turns to two weeks.

They find out that Jongin has never had a family. He was abandoned as a pup and had lived his whole life in shelters and on the streets. It was only after a week that Jongin trusted them enough to quietly tell his life story while hidden under the sheets and they had resolved to work harder to become the family Jongin never had.

Maybe though, Jongin had taken this family thing too seriously.

They were watching Mulan and Lu Han was having the time of his life shrieking along to the songs until Chanyeol had stuffed a pillow in his face and ignited a pillow fight.

Lu Han is winning, naturally, because he is often described as the devil with a baby face. “And take that, Chanyeol,“ he crows, turning around to attack Jongin. The unreadable expression on Jongin’s face makes him stop.

Jongin bites his lip. “D- daddy?”

Lu Han drops the pillow. “What?”

“That’s what families do right?” Jongin says softly. “Call … Each other? Daddy?”

Lu Han looks at Chanyeol. “That’s weird.”

“He’s a baby.” Our baby goes unspoken.

“He’s 18,” Lu Han hisses. They were surprised to find out his age, the real reason why shelters no longer accepted Jongin and he had to live on the streets.

“Ohana means family,” Jongin starts to recite and Lu Han pushes the pillow into his face.

Lu Han groans. “We should never have introduced him to Disney movies.”

“Daddy Lu Han?” Jongin says brightly, hands reaching out to hold Lu Han and Chanyeol’s. “Daddy Chanyeol?”

“Are we going to let him do this?” Lu Han asks, bewildered. Jongin’s grip around his hand tightens.

“Daddy Chanyeol,” Chanyeol agrees for the both of them. “We’re a family now.”

Having a family is weird.

See, Lu Han never really had this whole family thing himself. He grew up as a poster child for a dysfunctional family and hightailed out of China the minute he could, calling home only out of necessity.

But Jongin seems to relish calling them “daddy”, saying it as often as possible like it can convince himself that this isn’t a dream. At first, he says it hesitantly and his entire face will brighten when either of them respond. After that, he just follows them around the house and mumbles it until one of them tackles him onto the couch in a tickle fight. It takes only a day for Lu Han to grow used to the name with how often Jongin utters it.

“... And Jongin calls us daddies, I guess,” Lu Han concludes his story to an increasingly incredulous Jongdae and Sehun over their catch up session at the usual bubble tea place.

“So you’re like, married now?” Jongdae asks, chewing obnoxiously on the bubbles in his bubble tea.

“No? We just sleep together? Platonically?” It sounds off to Lu Han’s ears but he dismisses it. “And snuggle. Jongin likes it when we snuggle, especially when I hold his hand while he sleeps and when Chanyeol blows raspberries into his tummy and-” he catches himself rambling and just finishes lamely, embarrassed, “yeah.”

“That’s so cute,” sehun coos teasingly. “Do you do the other stuff that married couples do?”

“What other stuff?” Lu Han asks innocently, genuinely confused. It dawns on him a split second too late. ‘Oh, gross.”

“Poor Chanyeol,” Sehun sighs.

“What?” Lu Han says.

“Poor Chanyeol,” Jongdae agrees and he glances at Sehun with a look that Lu Han can’t decipher.

“What?” Lu Han repeats.

“Hopeless,” Sehun mutters.

They must really be annoyed with Lu Han because they let him off with limited teasing for the rest of the day.

Jongin takes turns sleeping in their beds but on weekend nights, they have movie nights on the couch and end up on the sofa bed. Lu Han doesn’t want to admit it, but those nights are his favourite because his bed is kind of cold but the living room is always warm and cozy, especially with two other bodies next to him.

Tonight, they change to game night and the loser has to do whatever the winner wants. They’re playing charades because Jongin hasn’t played any games before and charades is easy enough for Jongin to learn and understand. So far, Jongin is winning by an avalanche because Lu Han and Chanyeol are softies and lose on purpose to Jongin just to see the puppy boy wag his tail in delight.

“Hmm, I don’t know, could it be a whale?” Chanyeol guesses to Lu Han’s mime of what obviously is a house.

“You’re so bad at this game,” Jongin giggles, hugging a pillow to his chest. “It’s a house!”

“Wow! I made it extra hard this time so no one would guess!” Lu Han says, exchanging a grin with Chanyeol.

Jongin responds by bouncing on the couch happily. “Can I get my prize now? Do I win? Yes? Win? Win!”

Lu Han ruffles Jongin’s hair affectionately and Jongin leans into his touch. “Of course you can, sweetheart.”

Jongin settles down on the couch cross-legged and thinks hard. “I want…” He trails off in suspense, “I want daddies to hug!”

Lu Han grimances. “Ew, no. Why?”

Chanyeol expression is more contained. “Yeah, why, Jongin?”

“Cause, cause,” Jongin pouts, “cause daddies always hug Jongin and Jongin wants everyone to love everyone but daddies don’t hug? Don’t daddies love each other and I want daddy to love each other and daddy?” Jongin ends with a hiccup, shrinking into the couch.

Lu Han rubs his temple and sits in front of Jongin to explain, “See, sometimes, daddies can be daddies without loving each other and uh- Chanyeol what are you doing?”

Chanyeol is holding out his arms with the brightest grin on his face. “Comere’ Lu Han. Come on.”

“No.”

Jongin’s forehead starts to knit.

Oh, screw it. Lu Han launches himself into Chanyeol’s arms so hard, he knocks them both over. Chanyeol gives really good hugs and he’s pinned under Lu Han but his hands rub comforting circles over Lu Han’s back and makes him feel really warm and safe.

“See, that wasn’t so hard?” Chanyeol’s voice is deep and he’s close enough to Lu Han’s ear that his breath tickles him and Lu Han knows that Chanyeol can feel the shiver running through him by the way Chanyeol tightens the hug.

Jongin beams happily and sits on top of Lu Han’s back, effectively squashing both his daddies. While Lu Han tries not to die under the combined pressure of being sandwiched between two people, Jongin babbles on about their new little family and how much he loves his daddies and Lu Han just wants to stab himself.

See, the Chinese have a habit, a custom almost.

It’s impolite to call your partner by name, so some of the more cutesy couples call each other by pet names. If they have kids, then the wife calls her husband “dad” and the husband calls his wife “mom”.

The Koreans do it too, referring to each other as Seungho's mom instead of Mrs Yoo.

So it just slips out one day when they're grocery shopping.

Jongin wandered off to the candy section as usual and will no doubt come back with an armful of sugar that Lu Han will say no to and Chanyeol will convince them to have.

Lu Han holds up two boxes of cereal in his hands and turns to Chanyeol, “Daddy, do you think we should get Fruit Loops or corn flakes?”

“Fruit Loops are more colourful- did you just call me daddy?”

“What?” Lu Han stares at Chanyeol.

“What?” Chanyeol stares back.

Awkward.

There’s a little hint of a smile tugging at Chanyeol’s lips and this is not what Lu Han wants to happen. "You're acknowledging us as parents?”

“Well, we take care of Jongin,” Lu Han immediately backpedals, trying to look interested in the nutrition labels of Fruit Loops. 12 grams of sugar per serving? Wow, they’re never buying this again.

“Isn’t that what couples call each other?” Chanyeol continues. There’s this stupid smirk on Chanyeol’s face that Lu Han just wants to wipe off by maybe smashing that squash into Chanyeol’s stupid face.

“Daddies!” Jongin yells too loudly, coming back with three bags of Mars Bars. They’ll need to talk to him about his inside voice again.

“Let’s not talk about this now,” Lu Han says quietly, replacing the Fruit Loops in the cart with corn flakes.

Jongin is usually a pretty oblivious kid and can happily whirlwind his way through the house without picking up on Lu Han or Chanyeol’s bad moods but of course, he picks now to be perceptive.

He goes strangely quiet and starts nibbling his bottom lip. “Are daddies fighting?”

Couples, huh. They are kind of raising a kid together but Lu Han doesn’t think of Chanyeol that way at all. And it’s like yeah? Chanyeol makes him feel safe and when Lu Han looks at him, he feels full and fuzzy like when he looks at Jongin and Chanyeol has been so incredibly supportive through everything and he was there when Lu Han cried after a bad phone call to his parents and bought him ice cream when that bastard Taemin broke his heart and he is still here, holding his hand in an attempt to make Jongin see that they’re not fighting and hey, Lu Han really likes how Chanyeol’s palm feels against his own and maybe he likes how their shoulders brush now and he can hear Chanyeol’s low soothing tone talking Jongin through a potential tantrum.

“I don’t like it when daddies fight because fights are scary and i don’t like it,” Jongin whines, his tail tucked between his legs and his eyes suspiciously wet.

“We aren’t fighting, Jongin.” Chanyeol looks over and smiles at Lu Han, squeezing his hand. “Right, Lu Han?”

Yeah, Lu Han really likes how their hands fit together and Jongin is still fretting at the thought of his daddies not getting along so Lu Han leans over and kisses Chanyeol right there to quiet him.

Jongin’s half-sobs die down immediately.

Lu Han stops breathing, brain finally caught up, but he can’t bring himself to pull away. Their lips are still pressed together chastely, but he can feel Chanyeol smile against his lips and then Chanyeol is gently nudging his lips open and this is nice but wow, Jongin is still here. He pushes Chanyeol away, wide eyed.

Jongin looks torn between absolutely amazed and traumatized.

“So, Jongin! We’re not fighting.” Lu Han clears his throat and rubs his arm sheepishly. “Daddy loves Chanyeol.”

The way Chanyeol returns his smile is so soft and it makes Lu Han’s toes curl. “Chanyeol loves daddy too.”

Having a family is really, really nice.

end.

i really love puppy nini. hurls.