in with the tide
title: in with the tide
rating: g
wordcount: 2,665
merpuppy!au based on keuroket's merpuppy jongin.
a/n: a continuation of the merpuppy drabble i wrote exactly one month ago for valentines day, fish are friends, not food. jongin is a puppy who turns into a merpuppy when he touches water.
forjumpix ♡
happy white day!
joonmyun is the person chanyeol looks up to the most in the world.
not only is joonmyun sweet and kind and the best owner ever, joonmyun works at the local shelter, rescuing animals in need and placing them in good homes. that, in chanyeol's eyes, makes him sort of a superhero.
sometimes joonmyun brings back furry quivering balls of fur wrapped up in his arms and chanyeol can smell the fear bouncing off the hybrids.
chanyeol makes sure to take care of those hybrids more, trying to forge friendships with an eager determination that is difficult to resist. joonmyun often says he's lucky to have a puppy with so much love in his heart, but chanyeol just thinks he's lucky to have so many people to love in his life.
there was jongdae, the first cat hybrid that joined them after his previous owner went missing. chanyeol had a lot of trial and error learning how to interact with cats then. jongdae was good natured and patient enough, but wouldn't hesitate to give chanyeol a strong nip if chanyeol got too rowdy.
then there was yixing the bunny, with his soft voice and softer eyes. they liked to curl up together on the couch, sleeping the afternoon away. sometimes yixing would hum songs and tell stories from his motherland, this mystical place where everyone spoke a language chanyeol doesn't know. yixing promised to show chanyeol around in china one day and chanyeol is still eagerly waiting for that day to arrive.
most recently came kyungsoo, a prickly kitten who disliked chanyeol almost as much as chanyeol liked him, but by the time kyungsoo ended up being adopted by someone else, chanyeol thinks the kitten had warmed up to him. somewhat. the scratch marks kyungsoo left have long healed anyway.
many hybrids come and go, but in the end, it's always chanyeol looking at a closing door with a drooping tail and a drooping heart, with joonmyun reassuring him they'll see them again on a play date one day.
in the end, it's always chanyeol trying to fill up the gaps of loneliness with ways to amuse himself while he waits alone for joonmyun to come back from work.
the day jongin arrives, chanyeol is alone at home waiting for joonmyun to return as usual. he's become very good at distracting himself as he counts down the hours but the day is fast fading and joonmyun is still nowhere in sight.
joonmyun doesn't come back until much letter, when the moon is bright in the sky and chanyeol has been lulled into sleep, head more comfortably rested against a cushion.
it's not the sound of the door opening nor joonmyun's muttered curse as he trips over a shoe that finally wakes chanyeol up. chanyeol is pulled suddenly out of his dream where he was floating in a chocolate river by a strange new smell, one that has his nose leading him to the door before his mind even fully wakes up.
he smells something tangy first, like the seaweed soup joonmyun makes him for the birthday, and then a sweet sticky scent, like the bubblegum jongdae likes to chew. then he smells an earthy taste from the mud joonmyun's boots are tracking in, before he gets distracted by a whiff of something he can't place, a mixture of salt and flowers and damp fur.
all these new smells at once is making chanyeol's head spin but he's so excited, unable to stop his tail from whipping up a storm behind him.
"calm down, chanyeol," joonmyun warns when chanyeol starts jumping up and down, trying to see what joonmyun is holding. he lifts the blanket in his arms up and smiles down at an emerging tuff of fur. "shh, jongin, it's okay. chanyeol just wants to know you better."
ooh boy, it's a new puppy! a new puppy who is peering curiously over joonmyun's arms, a smattering of pink cotton candy dusting his cheeks.
heeey, joonmyun bought the new puppy cotton candy. why doesn't chanyeol get cand- but the new puppy doesn't smell like a puppy?
he must investigate! chanyeol leaps too enthusiastically and slams into joonmyun's legs, throwing him off balance and almost making him drop the puppy.
the puppy in joonmyun's arms yelps and starts frantically climbing up joonmyun's neck, clawing at his hair and ears in an effort to get further away from chanyeol.
joonmyun holds the puppy close to his chest, the pup's sobs muffled into the fabric. "chanyeol!"
chanyeol falls onto his bum and looks up, crestfallen and properly chastised. he didn't mean to make the puppy cry. he knows all the rules joonmyun has set and he usually remembers them, but all these smells.
luckily joonmyun doesn't seem to angry, just tired. "jongin is," joonmyun looks down at the bundle clinging to his chest. "jongin is special. be nice."
"do you need water?" joonmyun asks later when they've all settled down in the kitchen. jongin is nestled in joonmyun's lap, one hand clinging to joonmyun's sleeve and warily watching chanyeol who is trying his best to sit quietly in the chair and not bound up to sniff jongin. "for your... legs."
jongin shakes his head.
"would you like water?"
jongin hesitates for a moment, eyes darting to the tap on the sink. he nods.
"sit tight on this chair okay?" jongin's grip on joonmyun's sleeve tightens and joonmyun gently smooths his knuckles open. "chanyeol is a nice puppy and he likes puppies that are brave the most. can you show chanyeol how brave you are?"
jongin's face pinches up like he's about to cry, but he nods determinedly and lets joonmyun seat him on the chair next to chanyeol.
joonmyun sets a plastic wash basin on the floor and fills it up with warm water. jongin's tail starts wagging immediately and chanyeol beams happily at him, his own tail thumping in unison.
"i like water too," chanyeol informs him and jongin spares him the briefest of smiles. it's enough to make chanyeol's grin widen.
joonmyun picks both puppies up and cradles one in each arm. "chanyeol, i need you to stay put and no matter what happens, please behave."
chanyeol thinks he always behaves, and he's just overjoyed to be so close to jongin that he doesn't pay attention to joonmyun, choosing instead to try to reach out to touch jongin's soft looking ears.
already familiar with chanyeol's thought processes, joonmyun places jongin in the makeshift tub before chanyeol can manage to tug on jongin's ears and make him cry again.
what happens next is magical. jongin is magical. because the minute jongin touches the water, his wriggling legs disappear and turn into a sleek tail, waving around and catching the light in the glimmering scales and chanyeol instantly has his breath stolen from him.
jongin the puppy turns into a fish.
chanyeol almost nose dives into the wash basin in his joy.
it takes a lot of yelling and reassurance for everyone to calm down again. jongin cries himself to sleep and nuzzles his way half into the pouch in the hoodie joonmyun threw on, leaving only his lower half, now legs and tail again peeking out.
joonmyun explains that jongin is a sensitive puppy and needs a lot of love and care. can chanyeol be gentle with jongin?
chanyeol nods eagerly. he's prepared to do all it takes to be jongin's friend.
later, he hears snippets of joonmyun talking to minseok, yixing's master, on the phone - jongin is a new breed, undiscovered origins. it's something complicated and they can't figure out how jongin can transform from his legs to his tail at the touch of water, or if there are there other merpuppies in the world.
but chanyeol doesn't understand any of that.
all he knows is that there's no one in the world like jongin, no one as special as jongin. chanyeol doesn't need the tail to see to see that jongin deserves to be treated like the most precious puppy in the world.
chanyeol wants to be jongin's bestest friend ever but he quickly understands that it's a slow process. jongin is shy and startles at loud noises, and chanyeol is always being told off for being too loud.
he learns to adjust the way he plays with jongin, no longer trying to rough house him the way he might with jongdae. jongin too grows to become accustomed to chanyeol's unique brand of friendliness, allowing the older pup into his life bit by bit.
jongin likes it when chanyeol carries all the pillows and blankets in the house to the living room to build a blanket fort so they can huddle under the fluffy down and pretend to be polar bears in an igloo.
and when chanyeol dragged out the huge chalkboard with joonmyun's help and they spent the day drawing dragons and princesses, jongin liked that too.
jongin doesn't mind it either if chanyeol shows him all the books he collected and tries to teach him how to read, even if chanyeol trips over his pronunciation sometimes and joonmyun has to patiently correct him.
day by day, chanyeol stops waiting forlornly at the door for joonmyun to return from work, because now he has someone to play with and take care of.
one day he even forgets that joonmyun is coming back until joonmyun goes to search for them and finds them sleeping in the laundry basket.
"there was a thunderstorm so i tried to make jongin feel safe," chanyeol whispers, putting his finger over his lips to avoid waking jongin up.
joonmyun watches them with fond eyes and almost has to blink away sudden tears. "you're a big boy now. when did my chanyeollie grow up?"
"i'm going to protect jongin," chanyeol promises, keeping a hand over jongin's back. "i'll keep him safe forever."
chanyeol never stops being fascinated by jongin's merpuppy tail, not even months after jongin has come to live with them. it's a good thing because jongin hates being left alone and joonmyun isn't around all day to watch after them.
still, joonmyun trusts chanyeol with the task of taking care of jongin and chanyeol puffs with pride at the new responsibility.
one of the things he needs do every day is fill up the tub for jongin's bath. at 1pm, he makes sure the bubbles are all frothy enough and sits cross legged by the tub, propping his chin with his arms on the porcelain sides to watch over jongin.
jongin splashes around quietly in his tub, making the tugboats and rubber duckies crash into each other. his tail lifts out of the water enough to catch chanyeol's attention and once again, chanyeol marvels at how beautiful jongin can be.
"do you miss the sea?" chanyeol asks, a sudden thought that comes to him.
jongin scrunches his nose. "maybe." he doesn't remember much, but sometimes he catches a faint whiff of salt water in the air and can feel his scales itching to burst out.
"are you happier in the sea?"
"no," jongin says carefully. he stops pushing the foam around and stares down at his hands, refusing to meet chanyeol's eyes. "i'm just happier- i'm just glad you're here."
"okay," chanyeol says, feeling pleased. "i'm glad you're here too."
the first time they go to the beach together, jongin is more excited than chanyeol has ever seen him be. instead of sleeping until late noon, he's tugging at joonmyun's arm and nosing his way into chanyeol's neck just past dawn, urging them all to get up.
joonmyun sits up and catches jongin, lifting him up as he kicks his short legs in the air and shrieks in delight. "are you that excited, jongin?"
jongin nods and his hair flies into his eyes, which are already scrunched shut in a burst of giddy laughter. chanyeol wants to sleep in a little more but allows jongin to pull him out of bed and into the bathroom to freshen up.
jongin beelines for the ocean once they walk close enough to feel the sand between their bare toes. joonmyun lays out a picnic mat and an umbrella and reads a book while keeping an eye on the two restless pups.
"don't wade too far, jongin!" chanyeol calls out, testing the water with his toe and snatching his tail up in surprise when he forgets to lift it up high enough to avoid the waves.
it takes a while for him to get used to the waves crashing at his feet and one particularly strong wave almost topples him over. the wave subsides to reveal a starfish at his toes and he snatches it up to show jongin. "jongin!"
there is no answer.
"jongin?"
he spots a scaly tail far away, way further away from where jongin should be. it disappears into the water before chanyeol can yell again, and panic seizes up chanyeol's throat.
tripping over his feet, chanyeol runs to joonmyun, bulldozing straight into joonmyun's book. "joonmyun, joonmyun! jongin!" he babbles, pulling at joonmyun, who jumps to his feet.
but when joonmyun rushes over, pulled by a frantic chanyeol, jongin pops out of the ocean unharmed, wading over to sniff at chanyeol. "why does chanyeol look so scared?"
chanyeol's face crumples, half from relief and because the exhilaration has caught up to him. "oh, chanyeol," joonmyun crouches down to cup chanyeol's cheek. "jongin is a sea monkey at heart," he says gently, "he can swim a bit further than you can and still be safe."
"i thought you were going-" chanyeol wails and now that he's started, big fat tears pool up in his eyes and roll down his rapidly reddening cheeks. "i thought-"
he's worried that jongin will leave like all his other friends, and chanyeol likes jongin so much, he never wants jongin to leave ever. because jongin is family to him, an important part of his life and he never wants to imagine being alone again.
"chanyeol, i want to go home," jongin says, slipping his hand into chanyeol's and squeezing it lightly.
chanyeol yips, feeling alarmed. "don't leave me, jongin, please. i'll be better to you, i promise. i'll give all the green skittles to you and share my blueberries. just-"
jongin shuffles closer to him, wrapping his tail around chanyeol's ankle. it's a move that always calms chanyeol down. "i'm going home with you. our home. home is where you are."
chanyeol turns to jongin with his wide eyes and jongin reaches for joonmyun, knowing that he's one breath away from being hugged by chanyeol.
"joonmyun," jongin whines and tries to climb onto joonmyun's lap. "stop chanyeol."
joonmyun only laughs and lets chanyeol tackle jongin over to give him messy kisses on his cheeks.
(jongin doesn't remember anything from before.
he woke up in the arms of a worried looking man who kept asking questions he couldn't answer, like are you lost? do you remember what happened? where are your parents? are you hurt anywhere?
he can taste the sand in his mouth and his head hurts a little so he whimpers and squeezes his eyes close, hoping the man would leave him alone.
but not alone. because jongin doesn't think he likes being alone, so his fingers curl around the man's collar.
"hey, you're alright," the man says soothingly, gentle in the way he cradles jongin. "we'll bring you somewhere safe now."
jongin desperately wants to believe him.
when the smiling man who smelled nice asked him if he wanted to follow him home instead, jongin nodded.
jongin doesn't remember anything before joonmyun found him, so chanyeol is in every part of his memories. the clumsy pup was there from the start, always sticking his nose into jongin's business, upturning every rock jongin has put up as defense and burrowing his way into jongin's heart.
chanyeol is a sticky barnacle, unable to be shaken off and so, so stubborn.
maybe jongin wants to keep it that way forever.)
end.
rating: g
wordcount: 2,665
merpuppy!au based on keuroket's merpuppy jongin.
a/n: a continuation of the merpuppy drabble i wrote exactly one month ago for valentines day, fish are friends, not food. jongin is a puppy who turns into a merpuppy when he touches water.
forjumpix ♡
happy white day!
joonmyun is the person chanyeol looks up to the most in the world.
not only is joonmyun sweet and kind and the best owner ever, joonmyun works at the local shelter, rescuing animals in need and placing them in good homes. that, in chanyeol's eyes, makes him sort of a superhero.
sometimes joonmyun brings back furry quivering balls of fur wrapped up in his arms and chanyeol can smell the fear bouncing off the hybrids.
chanyeol makes sure to take care of those hybrids more, trying to forge friendships with an eager determination that is difficult to resist. joonmyun often says he's lucky to have a puppy with so much love in his heart, but chanyeol just thinks he's lucky to have so many people to love in his life.
there was jongdae, the first cat hybrid that joined them after his previous owner went missing. chanyeol had a lot of trial and error learning how to interact with cats then. jongdae was good natured and patient enough, but wouldn't hesitate to give chanyeol a strong nip if chanyeol got too rowdy.
then there was yixing the bunny, with his soft voice and softer eyes. they liked to curl up together on the couch, sleeping the afternoon away. sometimes yixing would hum songs and tell stories from his motherland, this mystical place where everyone spoke a language chanyeol doesn't know. yixing promised to show chanyeol around in china one day and chanyeol is still eagerly waiting for that day to arrive.
most recently came kyungsoo, a prickly kitten who disliked chanyeol almost as much as chanyeol liked him, but by the time kyungsoo ended up being adopted by someone else, chanyeol thinks the kitten had warmed up to him. somewhat. the scratch marks kyungsoo left have long healed anyway.
many hybrids come and go, but in the end, it's always chanyeol looking at a closing door with a drooping tail and a drooping heart, with joonmyun reassuring him they'll see them again on a play date one day.
in the end, it's always chanyeol trying to fill up the gaps of loneliness with ways to amuse himself while he waits alone for joonmyun to come back from work.
the day jongin arrives, chanyeol is alone at home waiting for joonmyun to return as usual. he's become very good at distracting himself as he counts down the hours but the day is fast fading and joonmyun is still nowhere in sight.
joonmyun doesn't come back until much letter, when the moon is bright in the sky and chanyeol has been lulled into sleep, head more comfortably rested against a cushion.
it's not the sound of the door opening nor joonmyun's muttered curse as he trips over a shoe that finally wakes chanyeol up. chanyeol is pulled suddenly out of his dream where he was floating in a chocolate river by a strange new smell, one that has his nose leading him to the door before his mind even fully wakes up.
he smells something tangy first, like the seaweed soup joonmyun makes him for the birthday, and then a sweet sticky scent, like the bubblegum jongdae likes to chew. then he smells an earthy taste from the mud joonmyun's boots are tracking in, before he gets distracted by a whiff of something he can't place, a mixture of salt and flowers and damp fur.
all these new smells at once is making chanyeol's head spin but he's so excited, unable to stop his tail from whipping up a storm behind him.
"calm down, chanyeol," joonmyun warns when chanyeol starts jumping up and down, trying to see what joonmyun is holding. he lifts the blanket in his arms up and smiles down at an emerging tuff of fur. "shh, jongin, it's okay. chanyeol just wants to know you better."
ooh boy, it's a new puppy! a new puppy who is peering curiously over joonmyun's arms, a smattering of pink cotton candy dusting his cheeks.
heeey, joonmyun bought the new puppy cotton candy. why doesn't chanyeol get cand- but the new puppy doesn't smell like a puppy?
he must investigate! chanyeol leaps too enthusiastically and slams into joonmyun's legs, throwing him off balance and almost making him drop the puppy.
the puppy in joonmyun's arms yelps and starts frantically climbing up joonmyun's neck, clawing at his hair and ears in an effort to get further away from chanyeol.
joonmyun holds the puppy close to his chest, the pup's sobs muffled into the fabric. "chanyeol!"
chanyeol falls onto his bum and looks up, crestfallen and properly chastised. he didn't mean to make the puppy cry. he knows all the rules joonmyun has set and he usually remembers them, but all these smells.
luckily joonmyun doesn't seem to angry, just tired. "jongin is," joonmyun looks down at the bundle clinging to his chest. "jongin is special. be nice."
"do you need water?" joonmyun asks later when they've all settled down in the kitchen. jongin is nestled in joonmyun's lap, one hand clinging to joonmyun's sleeve and warily watching chanyeol who is trying his best to sit quietly in the chair and not bound up to sniff jongin. "for your... legs."
jongin shakes his head.
"would you like water?"
jongin hesitates for a moment, eyes darting to the tap on the sink. he nods.
"sit tight on this chair okay?" jongin's grip on joonmyun's sleeve tightens and joonmyun gently smooths his knuckles open. "chanyeol is a nice puppy and he likes puppies that are brave the most. can you show chanyeol how brave you are?"
jongin's face pinches up like he's about to cry, but he nods determinedly and lets joonmyun seat him on the chair next to chanyeol.
joonmyun sets a plastic wash basin on the floor and fills it up with warm water. jongin's tail starts wagging immediately and chanyeol beams happily at him, his own tail thumping in unison.
"i like water too," chanyeol informs him and jongin spares him the briefest of smiles. it's enough to make chanyeol's grin widen.
joonmyun picks both puppies up and cradles one in each arm. "chanyeol, i need you to stay put and no matter what happens, please behave."
chanyeol thinks he always behaves, and he's just overjoyed to be so close to jongin that he doesn't pay attention to joonmyun, choosing instead to try to reach out to touch jongin's soft looking ears.
already familiar with chanyeol's thought processes, joonmyun places jongin in the makeshift tub before chanyeol can manage to tug on jongin's ears and make him cry again.
what happens next is magical. jongin is magical. because the minute jongin touches the water, his wriggling legs disappear and turn into a sleek tail, waving around and catching the light in the glimmering scales and chanyeol instantly has his breath stolen from him.
jongin the puppy turns into a fish.
chanyeol almost nose dives into the wash basin in his joy.
it takes a lot of yelling and reassurance for everyone to calm down again. jongin cries himself to sleep and nuzzles his way half into the pouch in the hoodie joonmyun threw on, leaving only his lower half, now legs and tail again peeking out.
joonmyun explains that jongin is a sensitive puppy and needs a lot of love and care. can chanyeol be gentle with jongin?
chanyeol nods eagerly. he's prepared to do all it takes to be jongin's friend.
later, he hears snippets of joonmyun talking to minseok, yixing's master, on the phone - jongin is a new breed, undiscovered origins. it's something complicated and they can't figure out how jongin can transform from his legs to his tail at the touch of water, or if there are there other merpuppies in the world.
but chanyeol doesn't understand any of that.
all he knows is that there's no one in the world like jongin, no one as special as jongin. chanyeol doesn't need the tail to see to see that jongin deserves to be treated like the most precious puppy in the world.
chanyeol wants to be jongin's bestest friend ever but he quickly understands that it's a slow process. jongin is shy and startles at loud noises, and chanyeol is always being told off for being too loud.
he learns to adjust the way he plays with jongin, no longer trying to rough house him the way he might with jongdae. jongin too grows to become accustomed to chanyeol's unique brand of friendliness, allowing the older pup into his life bit by bit.
jongin likes it when chanyeol carries all the pillows and blankets in the house to the living room to build a blanket fort so they can huddle under the fluffy down and pretend to be polar bears in an igloo.
and when chanyeol dragged out the huge chalkboard with joonmyun's help and they spent the day drawing dragons and princesses, jongin liked that too.
jongin doesn't mind it either if chanyeol shows him all the books he collected and tries to teach him how to read, even if chanyeol trips over his pronunciation sometimes and joonmyun has to patiently correct him.
day by day, chanyeol stops waiting forlornly at the door for joonmyun to return from work, because now he has someone to play with and take care of.
one day he even forgets that joonmyun is coming back until joonmyun goes to search for them and finds them sleeping in the laundry basket.
"there was a thunderstorm so i tried to make jongin feel safe," chanyeol whispers, putting his finger over his lips to avoid waking jongin up.
joonmyun watches them with fond eyes and almost has to blink away sudden tears. "you're a big boy now. when did my chanyeollie grow up?"
"i'm going to protect jongin," chanyeol promises, keeping a hand over jongin's back. "i'll keep him safe forever."
chanyeol never stops being fascinated by jongin's merpuppy tail, not even months after jongin has come to live with them. it's a good thing because jongin hates being left alone and joonmyun isn't around all day to watch after them.
still, joonmyun trusts chanyeol with the task of taking care of jongin and chanyeol puffs with pride at the new responsibility.
one of the things he needs do every day is fill up the tub for jongin's bath. at 1pm, he makes sure the bubbles are all frothy enough and sits cross legged by the tub, propping his chin with his arms on the porcelain sides to watch over jongin.
jongin splashes around quietly in his tub, making the tugboats and rubber duckies crash into each other. his tail lifts out of the water enough to catch chanyeol's attention and once again, chanyeol marvels at how beautiful jongin can be.
"do you miss the sea?" chanyeol asks, a sudden thought that comes to him.
jongin scrunches his nose. "maybe." he doesn't remember much, but sometimes he catches a faint whiff of salt water in the air and can feel his scales itching to burst out.
"are you happier in the sea?"
"no," jongin says carefully. he stops pushing the foam around and stares down at his hands, refusing to meet chanyeol's eyes. "i'm just happier- i'm just glad you're here."
"okay," chanyeol says, feeling pleased. "i'm glad you're here too."
the first time they go to the beach together, jongin is more excited than chanyeol has ever seen him be. instead of sleeping until late noon, he's tugging at joonmyun's arm and nosing his way into chanyeol's neck just past dawn, urging them all to get up.
joonmyun sits up and catches jongin, lifting him up as he kicks his short legs in the air and shrieks in delight. "are you that excited, jongin?"
jongin nods and his hair flies into his eyes, which are already scrunched shut in a burst of giddy laughter. chanyeol wants to sleep in a little more but allows jongin to pull him out of bed and into the bathroom to freshen up.
jongin beelines for the ocean once they walk close enough to feel the sand between their bare toes. joonmyun lays out a picnic mat and an umbrella and reads a book while keeping an eye on the two restless pups.
"don't wade too far, jongin!" chanyeol calls out, testing the water with his toe and snatching his tail up in surprise when he forgets to lift it up high enough to avoid the waves.
it takes a while for him to get used to the waves crashing at his feet and one particularly strong wave almost topples him over. the wave subsides to reveal a starfish at his toes and he snatches it up to show jongin. "jongin!"
there is no answer.
"jongin?"
he spots a scaly tail far away, way further away from where jongin should be. it disappears into the water before chanyeol can yell again, and panic seizes up chanyeol's throat.
tripping over his feet, chanyeol runs to joonmyun, bulldozing straight into joonmyun's book. "joonmyun, joonmyun! jongin!" he babbles, pulling at joonmyun, who jumps to his feet.
but when joonmyun rushes over, pulled by a frantic chanyeol, jongin pops out of the ocean unharmed, wading over to sniff at chanyeol. "why does chanyeol look so scared?"
chanyeol's face crumples, half from relief and because the exhilaration has caught up to him. "oh, chanyeol," joonmyun crouches down to cup chanyeol's cheek. "jongin is a sea monkey at heart," he says gently, "he can swim a bit further than you can and still be safe."
"i thought you were going-" chanyeol wails and now that he's started, big fat tears pool up in his eyes and roll down his rapidly reddening cheeks. "i thought-"
he's worried that jongin will leave like all his other friends, and chanyeol likes jongin so much, he never wants jongin to leave ever. because jongin is family to him, an important part of his life and he never wants to imagine being alone again.
"chanyeol, i want to go home," jongin says, slipping his hand into chanyeol's and squeezing it lightly.
chanyeol yips, feeling alarmed. "don't leave me, jongin, please. i'll be better to you, i promise. i'll give all the green skittles to you and share my blueberries. just-"
jongin shuffles closer to him, wrapping his tail around chanyeol's ankle. it's a move that always calms chanyeol down. "i'm going home with you. our home. home is where you are."
chanyeol turns to jongin with his wide eyes and jongin reaches for joonmyun, knowing that he's one breath away from being hugged by chanyeol.
"joonmyun," jongin whines and tries to climb onto joonmyun's lap. "stop chanyeol."
joonmyun only laughs and lets chanyeol tackle jongin over to give him messy kisses on his cheeks.
(jongin doesn't remember anything from before.
he woke up in the arms of a worried looking man who kept asking questions he couldn't answer, like are you lost? do you remember what happened? where are your parents? are you hurt anywhere?
he can taste the sand in his mouth and his head hurts a little so he whimpers and squeezes his eyes close, hoping the man would leave him alone.
but not alone. because jongin doesn't think he likes being alone, so his fingers curl around the man's collar.
"hey, you're alright," the man says soothingly, gentle in the way he cradles jongin. "we'll bring you somewhere safe now."
jongin desperately wants to believe him.
when the smiling man who smelled nice asked him if he wanted to follow him home instead, jongin nodded.
jongin doesn't remember anything before joonmyun found him, so chanyeol is in every part of his memories. the clumsy pup was there from the start, always sticking his nose into jongin's business, upturning every rock jongin has put up as defense and burrowing his way into jongin's heart.
chanyeol is a sticky barnacle, unable to be shaken off and so, so stubborn.
maybe jongin wants to keep it that way forever.)
end.