Chapter Text
“Chopa!,” Tae screamed, barreling out of the front door of the apartment, “CHOPA! Chopa stay ”
The corgi turned at the top of the stairwell for a moment. He opened his mouth, then closed it, looking from Tae to the door he’d just escaped behind him.
“Chopa, come ba- oh my LORD,” he groaned in frustration as he watched the dog proceed to bound down the stairs.
“Chopa, sit,” he called, stepping in something sticky as he took off after him barefoot, wearing nothing but a pair of Avengers boxers, and a tattered old gym shirt.
For a dog with the stumpiest legs imaginable, the damn thing could run.
So well, in fact, he outran a very exhausted Taehyung all the way down a solid seven flights, and out onto the street after managing to slip through the legs of one of Tae’s unsuspecting neighbours.
He looked left once he got outside, then right, before spotting him prancing along the sidewalk as if he wasn’t the least well behaved dog ever born. Seeing as no one was out, and there weren’t any cars in the road, Tae allowed himself to catch his breath for no more than a moment before breaking into a jog again, and scooping him up from behind.
“Bad dog,” he attempted to scold, “Bad”
Chopa just licked his nose.
It was only when he made it back to the door, his feet numb as a result of the cold November weather, that he realised that he hadn’t brought his keys. Of course he hadn’t. He did have his phone though.
“Bogum,” he panted into the receiver, still recovering.
“Babe?,” he cleared his throat, “What’s up?”
“I just,” he coughed,”Chopa-”
“Tae, not again,” he could imagine his boyfriend shaking his head, “What’d he do this time? Why do you sound like you just ran a marathon”
“I just did,” he grumbled, tightening his hold around him, “He split, like out of the apartment when I opened it to get a package”
“Jesus, how far?,” Bogum did not sound amused.
“All the way to the Kang’s place”
“How the fuck-”
“Yeah, and I didn’t expect the little shit to make it out of the building, so I don’t have the keys”
“Of course. Tae, I’m really sorry, but my boss has me working overtime tonight, I’m not gonna be out until, like, 10ish”
Tae closed his eyes. Last he checked it was only around 8:30, “You’re the only one I gave my spares to, though”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Tae,” he sighed.
“I’m gonna get sick, babe, we’re both shivering out here. I’m in boxers and a t shirt, that’s it. No shoes, nothing”
“That fucking dog, Tae”
He tried not to get defensive. Chopa was still a puppy afterall, a poorly behaved one, but Bogum treated him like some sort of demonic force that was ruining Tae’s life. He pressed a kiss between his little ears.
“Bogum, we’re really cold, please”
“I’d have to go get them from mine-”
“Please,” Tae knew he sounded spoiled, but the wind was beginning to pick up.
“Can you just wait for someone else? Like to let you into the building? Or like the landlord?”
“Fine,” Tae snapped, having had given up on his unreliable partner.
“Sorry,” but he didn’t sound all that apologetic, “I’ll drop ‘em off when I’m done, yeah?”
“Whatever”
Once he hung up the phone, he realised that Chopa was shivering, too. So he lifted up his shirt, his muscles contracting at the sharp gust of cold air, and shoved him under it, letting him peek his head out of the collar as they sat in silence, and waited.
It helped, Tae’s little trick, and the shuddering stopped from both ends. They were still cold, though, without a doubt, but Tae was more annoyed at Bogum than Chopa.
He’d only adopted him a couple months ago from a shelter downtown where Jimin had been volunteering, and had fallen in love with the pup when he came to pick his best friend up one day. He got him on the spot. Bogum wasn’t happy.
He didn’t really think his boyfriend hated the dog, but he certainly was not a fan, and Tae couldn’t understand why. I mean, why hate such an adorable, loving creature that had no problems other than a bad habit of running away, and pissing on the floor every now and then? Tae could tell Chopa really did like Bogum, judging by the way he greeted him, but Bogum never returned the affection for reasons unknown.
Thankfully, Chopa didn’t notice, either that, or he just didn’t care.
“Hey,” he heard a flat voice from above him, and looked up, taking a second for his eyes to focus on the figure speaking to him, “You live here?”
“I, uh. Yeah, actually”
“Little cold to be sitting out here dressed like it’s mid July, no?”
“We-,” Tae pointed at Chopa, “Well, he, actually made a run for it, and I forgot the keys inside”
“What apartment?,” the stranger asked, seemingly no more than curious.
“604”
He nodded, “I’m 504. Is that Chopa?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Being as I’m, um, right below you, I can hear a fair amount”
Tae thought about how noisy he could be in the sack, “O-oh”
“I can let you in, like, if you want”
“What do you say, baby?,” he cooed down at his little friend, “Are you cold?”
Chopa yipped.
“I’ll take that as a yes?,” he chuckled, “Want me to hold him so he doesn’t run away?”
“Yeah,” Tae nodded appreciatively, dragging him out from under his clothes and handing him to his neighbour before standing up.
“Here,” he handed him back, and dug around in his pocket for his keys, unlocking the door, and holding it open, “Go ahead”
“Thanks,” Tae said, slipping in.
They only really looked at one another once they got in the elevator, but as soon as they did, Tae came to the sudden realisation that the kind stranger was hot. Like, really hot. Like, Tae was surprised he’d never noticed him hot. He had a toned, athletic body, which was clear under his tracksuit, but his face was cute, his bottom lip forming a perfect pout, and his eyes soft. He was almost doe-like, save for his thick brows and sharp jawline. Tae reminded himself he was in a committed relationship.
He was staring at him, too, but more at the obnoxious underwear he had on than his face, “Iron man. Nice”
He flushed, his cheeks already red from the cold, “Hey, listen, I wasn’t expecting anyone to see them”
He shrugged, “Nah, I like Iron Man. Good choice”
The elevator dinged, opening the door to his neighbour’s floor, “Can you get into your apartment?”
Chopa, seeing another opportunity to split, started struggling in his arms.
“No, actually,” he bit the inside of his cheek. Would it really be too bad to hope he’d invite him in?
“I have a feeling he’s gonna make a run for it the second you put him down,” the elevator began to shut, but he shoved his foot in the door to stop it.
“You’re probably right”
“Why don’t you come to mine for a minute? Just until you get yourself sorted, you know?”
“Yeah,” Tae nodded a little too quickly, “Sure, if you don’t mind”
“Not at all,” he smiled nice and big, his nose scrunching as he did.
Tae took a deep breath, and followed him out of the elevator. Surely enough, he was right below him. Tae could faintly hear the TV still running in the living room upstairs.
He head a high pitched bark coming from another room, and jumped, wondering if he’d somehow lost Chopa again already.
But no, “Miri,” the man called, “Annyong, Miri, come say hi”
An impeccably groomed miniature poodle pranced out of a cracked door right into his arms, giving his face a couple licks before sniffing the air, and finding his way to Tae’s feet.
“How’s Chopa with other dogs?”
“He’s fine… can I put him down?,” Tae asked.
He turned to him, and nodded, “Sure. And, uh, do you want, like, sweats?”
“Why would I-,” right, he was half naked, “Oh. Yeah, sure, if you don’t mind”
He tossed him a pair after retrieving them from the bathroom, and turned around (useless, but sweet) as Tae put them on.
“I’m Jungkook, by the way,” he said as they sat down on the couch a couple minutes later.
“Tae”
“Nice to finally meet you, Tae”
“Yeah,” he rubbed at the back of his head somewhat sheepishly, “I didn’t know how thin the walls were. You should have, like, came up and knocked if it was bothering you”
“Didn’t wanna be rude,” Jungkook shrugged, “Plus, hearing you scream in an attempt to train your dog is pretty funny”
“Not to me,” Tae rolled his eyes.
“Well, he seems to be doing alright now, no?”
Tae turned his eyes over to the two dogs sat side by side on the carpet playing with each other, “Damn, wish I could make friends that quick,” he grinned.
Jungkook just shrugged, “Miri has that effect on people, don’t ya, girl?”
The poodle just blinked at him.
“She’s well behaved,” Tae noted, impressed.
Jungkook give him a prideful smile, “I try”
“Can she do any tricks?”
“Yeah, actually, I pride myself in being pretty good with animals”
“Wish I could say the same. I mean, I have this friend, Jin, who’s like, basically human animal repellent, and I’m glad I’m not as bad as he is, but I don’t know, I could be better”
“Where’d you get him?,” Jungkook asked in reference to Chopa.
“This shelter in the city where another one of my friends works, he’s still a baby, pretty much, I think that’s why he wasn’t trained already when I got him”
“He sure is cute”
“It was love at first sight,” Tae half-joked.
“You look like him,” Jungkook said after a moment.
Had he just called him cute? No, Chopa was a dog, and he was a human, “Yeah, I mean, look at his little butt”
“My boyfriend isn’t gonna be here until, like, 11,” Tae said an hour later. The conversation had been pretty steady, but Jungkook was beginning to look sleepy, and the last thing Tae wanted to do was overstay his welcome. “I can just wait in my hallway, if you’re tired”
“No, no,” Jungkook suppressed a yawn, “Stay, I don’t go to bed until later, anyways”
“You look like you need rest, Jungkook, it’s fine ”
“I’ll just make tea,” he shook his head, “You want a cup?”
“Thanks,” Tae said, “And yeah, if you don’t mind”
Bogum was late, of course. By an entire forty minutes. However, Jungkook and Tae really didn’t notice. No, they’d turned on the TV to some old gangster movie while they chatted, talked shit about the building, their landlords, talked about dogs, and their families. Who was Tae to complain when a nice, hot stranger was showering him with attention and being nothing but hospitable?
They were in the middle of a debate about whether Batman was a better superhero than Iron Man when Bogum finally showed up.
“Hey,” he said into the phone, “I’m outside yours, where are you?”
“Oh,” Tae said, standing up, and meeting Jungkook’s questioning eyes, “Yeah, um, I’m just with one of the neighbours, got let in”
“Has Chopa shat on their rug yet? Or does he only like doing that at yours?”
“Was that really necessary, Bogum?”
“I was just joking,” he snorted, “Come upstairs, babe”
“Yeah,” Tae nodded, “See you in a minute”
“Boyfriend here?”
“Yeah,” Tae’s eyes flickered to the time on his watch, “Only almost an hour late”
“At least he’s here now, right?”
In all honesty, Tae would have much rather continued his conversation with Jungkook, “Sure, yeah”
“It was nice meeting you,” Jungkook said again.
“Yeah, it was, Jungkook,” he agreed, “We should, like… what’s your number?”
Jungkook rattled it off to him, “I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah,” Tae nodded, “Yeah, you will”
“Hope so,” he smiled, “Kinda need my pants back”
He looked down, “Yeah. Right. Um, thanks for everything”
Jungkook waved his hand, “Don’t mention it”
“Chopa,” Tae called, “Chopa come!”
“He doesn’t wanna leave his new friend”
Tae didn’t either, “Chopa,” he called again.
Jungkook stood up, and circled around the couch to stand by Tae, “Chopa”
The dog looked up.
“Come, Chopa”
And the damnedest thing happened, the dog actually did.
“That has… that’s never happened before,” Tae shook his head, “Fuck”
Jungkook chuckled and shrugged.
“No really, you should be like, a dog trainer, or something”
Tae didn’t understand why Jungkook had laughed so hard at that as he shut the door behind him, his hands full of corgi.
Tae and Bogum exchanged kisses when they met in the hallway, squishing Chopa between them.
“Fucking finally,” Tae said as they broke apart, and Bogum unlocked the door.
“Yeah, no, sorry, you know how my boss is”
Actually, Tae didn’t, “...Yeah”
He put Chopa down, leaving him to run in circles around his boyfriend’s feet.
Bogum didn’t give the dog a second look, “So who’s the neighbour?”
“Uh, his name is Jungkook, he lives right below me, so like 504”
Bogum nodded, “Those his pants?”
“What? Oh, yeah. I told you I was in PJs when Chopa ran”
“So he saw your embarrassing superhero boxers?,” Bogum ruffled his hair.
Tae ran a hand down his face, “Yeah, and it was fucking humiliating, babe, honestly. Also, did you know that he can hear literally everything? Like the TV, on this volume”
Bogum raised his brows, “Oh, for real? I mean, it’s loud, but you’re louder when you-”
“Yeah, exactly. I was kinda mortified”
“Well, what’s done is done, I guess,” he snickered, earning a smack on the arm from Tae.
“We’ll just have to be quiet in the future”
“Wanna do a sound check?,” he winked at him, “See if you can keep it down for me? So Jungwhatever doesn’t hear?”
Tae had half a mind to correct him, but on the other hand, getting dick seemed a little more appealing, so he said, “Yeah, why not”
After they were done, and Bogum rolled off him, Chopa barked at the door, trying to get in. Tae sat up to let him, but he stopped him.
“Aw, come on, he’s not gonna sleep on the bed tonight, right?”
“Are you even staying?,” Tae asked, suddenly annoyed.
He looked over at the digital clock on Tae’s bedside, and seeing it was around one in the morning, he paused, “I feel like I probably shouldn’t. Got work at 9”
Tae nodded, Bogum barely ever stayed, usually only when they were drunk or they had particularly rigourous sex.
Tae liked to cuddle, but they usually did beforehand, excluding tonight, so he always brushed it off.
They shared a long kiss goodbye at the door, and when he opened it to leave, Chopa made a mad dash yet again.
Luckily, Bogum quickly shut it, “Tae, seriously, get a trainer. Hire one. Like ASAP,” he said before opening it a crack and slipping back out again.
“What do you think, Chopa? How’s puppy school sound?”
Chopa just cocked his head.
Taking that as a yes, Tae settled into his couch, mildly achy from Bogum’s visit, and opened his laptop.
The closest dog training centre wasn’t too far, and the opening times matched up perfectly with his hours at work, so Tae filled out the registry form as quickly as he could, and sent it in.
Thankfully, an email was awaiting him when he returned the next evening, confirming that, yes, they could take on Chopa, and gave a time, and place, as well as the tuition.
He smiled to himself in relief, but that was quickly replaced with exasperation as the smell of dog pee filled his nostrils. He whipped his head around to face Chopa, who, surely enough was doing his business right in the kitchen. At least it wasn’t carpeted.