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“well, you see, i just don’t know what’s wrong with her. the poor thing just hasn’t been eating.”
byul rolls over on the table, arms sticking up in the air as she pants loudly, all too pleased to be playing dead. she thinks she’s going to get a treat after this but if she can’t even keep her damn tongue in her mouth then neither of them are going to get treats after this. seungkwan’s taken her to the vet’s office so often in the last year she’s completely forgotten she’s not supposed to like this place.
“uh huh.” the vet’s assistant, kwon soonyoung, doesn’t look very convinced, but seungkwan pouts, shamelessly dragging his eyes up soonyoung’s figure. he’s just in lab coat and jeans, but seungkwan has watched enough medical dramas to know there’s probably a six pack under that shirt.
soonyoung picks up byul and places her on the scale. obediently, she remains upside down, but she does let out a tiny yip.
under normal circumstances seungkwan would be taking out his phone to get a video, because any progress (or lack of) in byul’s journey to learning one (1) trick is worth documenting, but as soonyoung goes through the routine of a check up, seungkwan has more important things to consider. like the fact that soonyoung has been a redhead for two months now but he’s not over the color or how his hair falls over his brows. he also wonders if soonyoung’s hitting the gym again, because when he turns his head the cut of his jaw is that much more detrimental to seungkwan’s health.
“right, everything seems fine, but if uh,” soonyoung raises his brows, staring at the dog, as if somehow a pomeranian is going to teach him what to say, “if her symptoms persist bring her in again.”
“uh huh,” seungkwan belatedly realizes he’s biting his lower lip, leaning over the table a little too desperately, so he straightens himself up, petting byul’s back. “okay, sit up baby. it’s time to go home.”
he slips off his backpack, pulling out a bag of treats, and byul jumps up and down on the table excitedly until seungkwan lets her eat a couple out of his hand. soonyoung lets out a small laugh, scratching the dog’s head affectionately. “i know a lot of pets that will pretend to be sick just to get attention. hell, my chicken does it too.”
seungkwan looks up, shocked. “you have a pet chicken?”
soonyoung grins (oh, oh god), and takes his phone out of his pocket to show his lockscreen to seungkwan. it’s a picture of him crouching on the ground, hugging an obscenely large chicken to his chest. “her name is coco. chickens are very affectionate if you treat them right.”
seungkwan isn’t sure what’s sadder: soonyoung using a picture of himself hugging a goddamn chicken as his lockscreen, or the fact that seungkwan definitely will never be fucking soonyoung. he won’t even touch a raw chicken. the idea of touching a live one scares the hell out of him, and now he’s not sure if he can win soonyoung over otherwise.
“well,” he needs to save face while he can, “i guess any animal will be nice if you’re nice to them, right?”
his brain is malfunctioning, but soonyoung nods solemnly, as if what seungkwan had said was very wise and not something pulled out of his ass in a desperate attempt to maintain a dying conversation. “absolutely. you know, i have an instagram for coco - my chicken - if you want to see more of her.”
“oh, yeah of course, here, lemme-” byul sniffs at seungkwan’s hand as he opens up instagram and types in coco’s instagram. he’d tried to find soonyoung’s instagram ages ago but to no luck. he must not be big on social media, which is both nice ( maybe ) and awful, because it means seungkwan has no way to find out more about him. he just has to fish for details about his life on trips to the vet and suffer because he’s too prideful to simply ask will you go out with me?
coco has 45,000 instagram followers, and all of her posts are videos. seungkwan’s heart drops in his chest. “wow.”
soonyoung really isn’t a social media person. imagine how many more followers she’d have if soonyoung knew how to take a decent photo? “your chicken has more followers than me.”
soonyoung laughs, following back seungkwan’s account. immediately, seungkwan’s phone buzzes with notifications, no doubt the legion of followers shifting from soonyoung’s account to check out seungkwan’s. progress, at least.
“yeah, she has a lot i guess. she’s a really cute bird.”
“yup. really cute.” seungkwan stares at how soonyoung’s cheeks plump up with every smile, eyes narrowing into crescents. how is one man so cute? his knees feel weak, and he leans against the table to balance his weight. “say, how is she with dogs? she must be scared of them.”
he pets byul absently, and the dog tries to lap at his hand, but he taps her nose no.
soonyoung scratches byul’s spine, shrugging. he’s not pouting but he pushes his lips out just so as he thinks, and god, seungkwan wants to kiss him. “i’d say most dogs are scared of her, actually. she’s fierce.”
“right, right.” seungkwan doesn’t know how long he’s supposed to pretend to care about this chicken.
a tiny light flickers on by the door, and soonyoung sighs, patting byul’s head one last time. “if that’s all, then i’d suggest just making sure byul is eating well and pooping. if she’s not better soon, then just call and we can make an appointment for her right away.”
seungkwan nods, at a loss for how to drag this on for any longer.
“right. i’ll just. bring her in next time.” pouting, he attaches byul’s leash and helps her to the floor. as he’s kneeling, he catches a glimpse of soonyoung’s scruffy shoes and has an idea. he stands up too quickly, hitting his head on the edge of the table “ ow!” and falling on his ass.
soonyoung rushes around to help him, kneeling as he helps seungkwan up. “are you alright?” he leans over seungkwan’s head, gingerly touching the crown of seungkwan’s head to inspect for a bump. up close and without the smell of dog clouding his senses, soonyoung’s cologne is quite nice actually, and seungkwan struggles not to lean in. he can’t be too much of a creep in one go. soonyoung is too close and so seungkwan just nods, stepping away to put some distance between them. he can feel his cheeks warm up, and he hopes soonyoung thinks its just embarrassment.
“yeah, yeah, i’m fine. i - i was wondering actually if-”
there’s a knock at the door, before the receptionist sticks her head in, glancing between the both of them before looking at soonyoung. “how long should i tell the next client to wait?”
soonyoung hums. “just a minute or two. i’m almost done here.”
ouch. the door closes promptly, and seungkwan schools his face into something pretty and unoffended.
“right, i’m so sorry, what were you saying? i think i interrupted you.”
so polite. seungkwan’s heart aches. “it’s fine. i’ll make another appointment if byul doesn’t get better.” his perfectly healthy dog barks cheerfully.
soonyoung smiles. “of course. let me walk you out.”
his hand on seungkwan’s back is gentle, not so much as leading him out as it is resting between his shoulder blades and making his heart race.
“thank you, kwon-sshi,-”
“please, just soonyoung is fine. you follow coco on instagram now.”
right.