They had just wanted to go on a small walk to the dog park that was only a few blocks away from their house. It had been so sunny and bright out. Families had come to have picnics in the park. Kids were out on the sidewalks skateboarding. Jinki, their dog, had been running around with the other canines in the dog park just moments before dark clouds rushed in and the next major flood of the century began.
Before Taemin could even call his dog over to him and hook the leash onto Jinki's collar, his clothes were already soaked. Unfortunately for the couple, they had been fooled by the nice weather into thinking that they didn't need an umbrella or a coat. So now, they were left to get drenched in shorts, a t shirt for Taemin, and a large tank top for Jonghyun.
As they walked home, the older male put his arm around Taemin's shoulder in a sweet but failed attempt to cover him from the rain. Taemin held onto the leash, as Jinki walked his humans home, and shivered into Jonghyun's side as the cold rain soaked his body through his clothes.
"Where did this even come from? It's insane!"
Everyone had gone running home. The streets had been abandoned and the once sunny skies were now gray and dark. It was crazy how fast the scenery had changed.
"I don't know! I just don't want to catch a cold. I just got over being sick."
Taemin looked over at his partner concerned. Jonghyun had a tendency to think he got better faster than he really did. He knew when they arrived home he would insist Jonghyun change immediately so he could cover him in blankets and make him eat a whole bucket of warm soup. They hadn't sat by the warm fire place in a while. Maybe today would be a good day to just stay in, drink hot cocoa from the biggest mugs they owned and cuddle with their dog. Maybe they could even teach him some more tricks so-
Taemin's was snapped out of his thoughts when the leash got yanked out of his hand and his dog ran ahead to jump around in the rain and roll over in the sopping grass. His tongue rolled out of his mouth and he looked fully pleased with how wet he had gotten himself.
Meanwhile, clouds had grown darker on the grayscale and Taemin could hear the soft rumbles of thunder beginning and the sight of lightning in the sky. He knew within a few seconds thunder would be shaking the ground they stood on and lighting would spark and crackle above them. Thankfully they didn't live too far away from the dog park, but it would inevitably take longer if  their dog decided now was the best time to play outside.
"Jinki!" Taemin yelled over the loud rain while running up to the big dog laying on the ground. Jonghyun followed close behind to make sure Jinki didn't try to run again.
"You silly dog! We're in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?"
Jonghyun took the leash from Taemin's hands.
"Here, I'll hold onto Jinki. You get the keys ready." The older male said while reaching into his pocket and handing the house keys to his boyfriend.
Taemin thought this was the fastest he had ever walked in his life. It was as if the closer they got to their house, the louder the storm became that was chasing them home.
Taemin had the key ready so he had opened the door, Jonghyun slipped in with the dog, and Taemin had closed the door before all the rain could come in all in a matter of seconds.
All three of them stood there for a second and both Taemin and Jonghyun looked over at each other. Once they saw how soaked the other had become, their clothes drenched and hair sticking to their foreheads, they really didn't know who had gotten the worst of it. It was a pretty comical sight.
They both smiled and laughed at how silly they must have looked and that was the time Jinki decided to shake the million of water droplets off of his thick coat that he had yet to shed for spring.
"Jinki!" The younger boy scolded but soon laughed again.
Taemin and Jonghyun lifted their arms to shield themselves from the attack but it was too late and honestly, what was the harm in a few more drops of water on their clothes?
"I'll grab him a towel." Jonghyun said walking to the small closet right outside the bathroom where all their towels were stored.
"Hey, grab me one too." Taemin called, dropping the keys on the small table near the door where they kept all their bills and other junk mail. He began pulling his shirt off over his head while making his way to the laundry room. The cement floor felt really cold on his feet and he rushed to stand on the small rug they kept in their. He threw his drenched shirt into the washer and that's when Jinki poked his head into the room wondering what Taemin was doing in here. He didn't have a laundry basket with him like he normally did when he was in this room.
"Hey, Jinx. What's up?"
The dog came up to him and panted while looking up at him wondering what kind of fun they were going to have now. Was Taemin going to play tug of war with him? Or maybe if he was a good dog and placed his paw in Taemin's hand like the human always tried to get him to do, he would get one of those delicious doggy treats!
Taemin had gotten his belt undone when Jonghyun popped in with a towel ready to drop it on Jinki.
"Here." He said while handing Taemin one as well.
"Thanks."
Taemin rubbed down his torso with the towel and at his hair until it was semi dry while Jonghyun worked at rubbing down Jinki's thick coat. Jinki took it as just a very intense petting session and happily sat down and at his owner's face.
Taemin pulled his shorts off and rubbed down his legs. It felt so much better to be dry and not soaked to the bone.
Taemin looked up to see Jonghyun had peeked his way and smiled at him when Taemin noticed him looking.
"Tell me there are clothes in the dryer."
Jonghyun nodded.
"I put them in last night since somebody wanted to pass out early."
"Hey" Taemin half heartedly bit back while opening the dryer and searching for something to throw on.
"I can last through a season of my favorite show, maybe even two, but after that it's hard to stay focused. I can't binge watch something as long as you can." He tried to defend himself and eventually found a shirt and some fuzzy night pants to throw on. He didn't really care that they were Jonghyun's. It's not like they didn't share clothes anyway.
"So you don't want to sit through the fourth season with me tonight?" He joked but was kind of seriously asking. It was one of his favorite shows.
"Not really. The power might go out anyway."
The thunder had gotten louder and maybe it was a bad idea to have the tv on during a storm. Jonghyun would rather watch the season when Taemin was interested again anyway.
"I thought maybe we could sit by the fireplace and just chill until the storm cools down. Uhg, Jjong, you need to get out of those clothes. You'll get sick again, and you know you're not completely better to begin with."
Taemin grabbed the towel he had used to start drying off the other boy's hair. He let his boyfriend pull off his shirt and began wiping down his chest when he stood up and turned around. Jonghyun slipped off his shorts and searched in the dryer as well while Taemin rubbed down his back for him. By the time he found something and was ready to throw it on, Taemin had dried him off pretty good. Taemin turned to face Jinki and dropped to his knees to hold the dog's cheeks with the towel to dry them. He then pulled his face forward to kiss between his eyes.
"You silly boy, you got us all wet today. Don't worry, we will take you back to the park to see all your doggy friends soon. Ok, baby Jinx?"
Jinki loved Taemin's baby talk. It was very noticeable by the way he wagged his tail and couldn't stand still when Taemin paid attention to him.
"You're such a cute boy." Taemin cooed, kissing the top of Jinki's head over and over. Jinki yipped happily, far too excited and tried to get in Taemin's lap, thinking he was as tiny as when he was a puppy. Jinki didn't know his size at all. It was very clear he thought he was still a puppy even as he grew and grew. His owners didn't know when he would stop.
When Jinki walked passed his humans, two fully grown adult males, it was very easy to bump them over a few feet unintentionally. Jinki was also very capable of knocking his owners over when they finally came home from work. They just accepted the fact that they would be knocked to the floor when Jinki wanted to greet them with all the love in his heart. Jinki also took up most of the bed when they went to sleep, he was like a giant bear that they couldn't just push off the bed or wake up so easily. They just had to work around him, but it wasn't too bad, especially in the winter months when Jinki was the perfect fuzzy pillow to wrap themselves around.
The two had thrown a pile of blankets and a few pillows in front of the fireplace so Jinki stomped around on top of them excited and wanted full heartedly to be apart of whatever was happening.
Jonghyun sat down with Jinki on the blankets and rubbed at his belly and the dog was more than pleased and looked like he could lay there for hours just enjoying the belly rubs.
Taemin came out with two mugs of hot cocoa, topped with an exaggerated amount of whipped cream and Jinki's favorite bag of doggy treats under his arm. He handed his boyfriend his mug and sat down.
Jinki head the crinkle of the treat bag and his attention went straight to Taemin. The poor boy had to move swiftly and reach to place his mug on the coffee table next to them before Jinki could clobber him and hold him hostage until he handed over the treats.
The dog was nearly towering over the boy smelling at the bag  with his tail wagging back and forth, almost whacking Jonghyun's face a few times. He whined at Taemin impatiently.
"Hold on, Jinx. Let me open the bag first."
There was no time to open the bag. Jinki needed his treats now. He had been such a good boy today. He protected his human every moment since the day had started. He had eaten all his dog food in his bowl and had patrolled their yard to keep away all those sneaky rodents.
When Taemin ripped open the bag, Jinki got excited and at Taemin's face and batted his paw against his arm.
"Jinki, sit...sit. Jinki I said sit."
Jonghyun watched amused as Taemin tried reaching around Jinki and pushing down on his lower back to get him to sit. They knew Jinki knew that trick, he just got too distracted when treats were out in sight and he knew he was inevitably going to get one somehow.
Taemin put the bag behind his back and grabbed at Jinki's face before the dog could walk around him.
"Jinki. Focus. Be a good boy and sit for me. Sit."
The dog's attention had gone back to Taemin and he finally recognized what his human was saying to him.
Sit? Oh, he knew that one.
The dog sat down and panted happily, fully content with himself. He was such a smart dog. Yes he was.
"Good boy, Jinki. Now shake. Shake, boy."
Taemin held out his hand and Jinki looked down at it.
Oh did this mean double the amount of treats?! Oh boy, oh boy!
Jinki patted his paw against Taemin's hand several times, and the human took ahold of his paw and shook it up and down. He smiled at his dog.
"What a smart doggy you are. Good boy! I'm so proud of you."
Jinki went from zero to one hundred really quick and his tail was thrashing at the speed of light and he was once again slobbering over Taemin's face. The boy laughed and pulled out the treats behind him to give the dog a few.
The trio sat by the fire and the humans drank all of their cocoa as the storm continued on. Jonghyun had checked his phone and told his boyfriend it was apparently going to last all night.
"Well, we better get comfy then." Taemin said while placing his empty mug on the table and laid his head back on a pillow. He handed Jonghyun his phone, after of course setting his alarm for work tomorrow, and told Jonghyun to go grab his charger from their room and come plug it in out here. Jonghyun did so and made sure the front door was locked, brushed his teeth, and grabbed the two flashlights he knew they kept in the kitchen drawer for nights like these.
He heard Jinki whimpering happily from the living room and when he walked back in, Taemin was cuddling him and holding him tight against his chest while kissing his head. Jinki was the biggest ragdoll with them. As long as he was getting attention, he didn't care if they pulled him around or squeezed him to death with hugs or held him captive to kiss him a billion times on the cheek. He just wanted their love.
He came back over to plug in their phones, turn off the fireplace and lie down next to his beloved partner and the best dog he could ever ask for. He yawned into his hand, already feeling so relaxed and ready to close his eyes..
"Wake me up in the morning ok? I want to make you breakfast while you get ready for work. Are waffles and sausage ok?"
Taemin smiled. "Mmhm."
"Ok. Goodnight, Tae. Love you." He said leaning over Jinki to kiss his boyfriend goodnight.
Immediately Jinki the bottom of their jaws. He just wanted love too.
The broke away and rubbed at their chins.
"Eww, dog breath. Gross. You can have him." Taemin said rolling over in the other direction.
Jonghyun smiled and pulled Jinki close.
"That's fine. Jinki enjoys my cuddles more anyways."
"No, he doesn't."
"Yeah huh. Isn't that right, Jinki?" He asked cooing at the dog who whimpered and at his human's neck. "Yes, I love you too. Goodnight you giant adult puppy."
Taemin rubbed his sleepy eyes. He felt himself about to fall asleep any moment now.
"Night, Jjong. Night, Dog-Breath."
They laid there curled up on the living room floor wrapped in warm blankets and fell asleep to the rain patting against the roof and the glass windows and the rumbling of the clouds above, and of course to Jinki's tail softly tapping against the blankets.​