“Eff this!”

The rain kept falling heavier and heavier weighing down my coat more and more. I could do little to prevent the drops from hitting my face, but with as soaked as I was, it didn't even matter anymore. All I wanted was a nice evening run at the park on the riverfront after a long day and this is what I get for my troubles. Juli was right. I should have just stayed at the hotel and not run away.

I sat down on the front step of some random building, hoping the awning would keep off some of the rain, but still shivering with the cold. I had done a good job of hiding my bag and cell phone in the park before my run, if anything, I did too good of a job since I was not even able to find it again.

So lost in my thoughts trying to remember where I left my bag, I missed the black van pull up to the building. Even when the raindrops stopped hitting me as an umbrella covered me, I didn’t notice. What did snap me out of my thoughts was the warm hand placed on the top of my head before I was swooped up into someone’s arms. I tried to look up into the face of the man that held me, but my drooping eyes didn’t help.

“Jongin, what do you think you are doing?” came a voice from behind the man holding me up. He was so warm, I instinctively snuggled into his chest.

“Hyung, the poor thing is so cold and wet. She is probably lost. Can I at least take her upstairs and make sure she doesn’t get sick?”

“Fine, but only for tonight. Okay?”

“Sure, Joonmyun hyung.”

As I was carried into the building, I mustered all my remaining energy to open my eyes once more to look at who was carrying me, only to be greeted by a face I had seen on so many advertisements since I arrived in Seoul. From up close, I could see his tanned features under a light coating of makeup and could smell the scent of hair products holding his hair into some almost permanent, but unnatural shape. Noticing my stare as we all stepped into the elevator, he leaned down to press a kiss on the top of my nose. “Don’t worry girl. I will take good care of you until we find your real home.”

My eyes started to fall back shut as the exhaustion from sitting out in the cold and rain took over again, leaving me time for one last though. “Crap. Juli is going to be so mad. Not only do I get lost, but I end up getting saved by Exo and all while I am still a dog!”

-----

It had been a long day of work. Not because of the intensity of the schedule, in fact they only had two events today making it one of the lighter days during the promotion cycle. Instead it was long because the second event was a nighttime radio show program and so Jongin and Joonmyun did not make it back to the dorm until the early hours of the morning.

Jongin was planning on going straight upstairs and into bed when he opened his umbrella and stepped out of the van upon arriving at the dorm, but instead his attention was drawn to the small form huddled on the side of the steps. There, soaking wet and shaking so hard it was barely staying upright, was a small-ish light brown dog. It stared at nothing blinking its large puppy-ish eyes slowly. Being the animal lover he is, Jongin couldn’t not do something and quickly picked up the dog. Almost as quickly, he convinced the group’s leader to let him take it in for the night. Joonmyun was a bit reluctant, but eventually gave in.

Now Jongin was bravely facing the task of bathing and drying a sleeping dog. She had fallen asleep on the way into the building and didn’t even wake up at the noise the other members made when they saw an animal in the dorm, distracting them from their video game tournament.

He wasn’t the best at identifying dog breeds, but once she was clean, dry, and tucked under a blanket on his bed, Naver told him (and Google confirmed) that the dog he had taken in was a small golden doodle. The cross between a golden retriever and a poodle yielded the soft but curly coated puppy-ish face before him. Based on the size of the dog, he wasn’t sure if it was a full grown runt, or a still growing pup, but it didn’t matter to Jongin as he settled into the bed next to the dog. His hand the dog’s head and ears gently as he fell asleep with a soft smile thinking of the good deed he had done to save this dog.

-----

I awoke to loud noises, muffled slightly by the walls around me. Half awake and never very good at facing the morning anyway, I rolled over, settling back into the warmth surrounding me, only to be greeted by a puff of air on my face. Eyes popping open as I scrambled backwards, I briefly saw the face of the K-pop idol that saved me before promptly falling off the edge of the bed. The thud of me hitting the ground didn’t do anything to stir Jongin from his sleep, but it was loud enough for someone passing in the hall to hear. The door swung open to reveal a smiling face I recognized as Baekhyun, another one of the Exo members.

I sat staring blankly at him cocking my head to the side in confusion as he just stared back. This silence only lasted so long though before the grown man uttered a surprisingly high pitched squeal. “Oh my gosh! You are so adorable!” He approached where I was sitting before I was again swept up into the arms of an Exo member. “Did mean Jongin push you out of bed? Why don’t you come with me and we will keep you safe from that bad guy?”

He bounced along the hall with me bouncing in his arms continuing to babble on in that annoying tone people use when they talk to babies, and unfortunately for me, dogs too. Since I was still struggling to form coherent thoughts in my half awake state, I just tuned him out and went along for the ride. I was brought into the kitchen, but not before stopping by the living room so Jongdae and Chanyeol could pet my ears. Kyungsoo and Minseok were busy in the kitchen preparing what smelled like breakfast for the guys. Baekhyun plopped down on the floor just by the doorway settling me between his legs as he continued to pet my fur. Though I have to avoid spending much time in animal form and very few people are able to know about my shifting ability, being pet as a dog is probably unsurprisingly instinctually relaxing, and so I found myself unknowingly pressing my back against Baekhyun’s leg and more importantly the hand that was petting me.

“Can you guys make something to feed the dog too?” Baekhyun’s voice resonated above me.

Kyungsoo looked down at me stretched out on the floor, head resting on Baekhyun’s left thigh and my back was stretched along his other. He stared for just a minute before uttering something that I can only describe as a coo. “How cute! Of course. We have some leftover chicken stew from lunch yesterday that should be okay for the doggie since we don’t have any proper dog food.”

At that, I did lift my head up and meet eyes with Kyungsoo letting out a happy little bark. When I was little, this happened to me before, the whole getting rescued by humans while shifted into my dog form. In that case though, the family that helped me had other dogs and gave me the same dry dog kibble they fed their own pets with. That stuff is nasty!

“Sounds like someone is hungry.” Minseok said in response to my little bark as he and Kyungsoo poured some of the leftovers into a bowl and placed it on the ground for me. Now, eating off the floor is not terribly dignified, but since I hadn’t eaten anything since dinner the night before and I am a dog after all, I had no qualms with scarfing down the food they put out. A few minutes later, a little whine and a set of puppy eyes even got me a second bowl from Minseok.

Now happily full and awake, I settled into a corner to watch the awake boys of Exo sit around the kitchen to eat their own breakfast. I started to think of how I was going to get out of this. When it happened as a kid, it was easy enough. I just waited until the kids had gone to school, and the parents to work. Once the house was empty in the middle of the day, I shifted back into my human form and called my mom. That evening she came knocking on the family’s door saying that her puppy had run off in the area. We acted out a happy reunion scene for the family and went on our way. I got a crazy, long scolding for it and was grounded for a week, but learned to be more careful, well until this happened. Regardless, I figured I could do something similar again. Of course, this time, I am in Korea and so I will have to email Juli since I don’t actually have her local phone number memorized. But I only need access to a computer which will be easier since I am sure that Exo will leave those behind when they go out for events whereas their cell phones are probably attached to their bodies at all times, like any other millennials’.

While I contemplated how made Juli will be at me if I miss any of my appointments while I am stuck here, I hear Jongin calling from down the hall, his words punctuated by his running footsteps. “Guys! Where is the dog I took in last night? She isn’t in my room and she might have…” He trailed off as he saw me sitting in the corner of the kitchen. “Nevermind,” he sighed as he walked over and patted my head. “Morning, girl.”  

“You know, you should be more careful. You pushed her out of bed this morning but she seems fine. She is a real sweetheart. Ate her breakfast like a champ too.” Baekhyun piped up from his seat at the breakfast table.

“You are not allowed to run away until I know you will be safe, okay? No more sitting in rainstorms for you.” Jongin held onto the sides of of head, massaging my ears, and looking into my eyes as he made me nod my head “promising” I wouldn’t run away. Another pat on my head with a comment of, “Good girl. You are such a doll.”

As he went to sit and eat breakfast with the other guys at the table, I knew I was in trouble. Now, it felt even more impossible to escape. The back up plan for if I couldn’t get Juli to show up as a distraught lost dog owner was to just shift while all the boys are out, steal some clothes, and get out. This is the backup plan because of the higher risk of exposing shifters since it would raise more impossible questions, but with as busy as the boys were, I was sure that they would be distracted and eventually forget anyway. However, curse my soft heart, I don’t think I could make that backup plan a reality anymore, even if it was needed, because of how sincere Jongin looked as he made me promise not to run away.

I hope that I can get online as soon as possible then to get out of this mess.

-----

It was a Monday- really early- morning when Jongin brought home his newest rescue dog and now it was Thursday. Exo was in the weird cycle of mid-week promotions in Seoul where few, if any, events required all members to be in attendance. Instead, the variety and talk shows wanted two or three boys at a time on their panels and there were few half day period where all the boys were required for a performance. Normal group practices were squeezed in at odd hours around the members individual schedules so that they could get as many of them as possible together, but there always seemed to be someone leaving early or coming in late. The weekend run of music show performances was about to start which would be full days of work, and that had Joonmyun and Jongin sitting on the living room couch having a serious conversation about the dog that was sprawled on Chanyeol’s lap on the floor as they watched TV.

“You should have taken her to the vet already to see if she is chipped so her owners can be found.” Joonmyun sighed, trying to remain the responsible leader in the face of his younger friend pulling puppy eyes and an actual puppy.

“I was going to, but we are so busy and then by the time we are free, all the offices are closed for the night.”

“If that was the issue, I can ask one of the managers to take her.”

“No!” Jongin interjected, “She is my responsibility since I brought her in, so I will take care of it.”

“Jongin, be serious. We are busy and your other dogs have to live with your parents since you don’t have tim