Four
Animal PlanetDongwoo followed Sungyeol obediently to the garage, cawing appreciately at the sleek design of the row of expensive sports cars.
“They are all so pretty and wooow! Do I get to drive one?!” He asked, his fingers running over the smooth exterior of the nearest vehicle.
Sungyeol shook his head. “You’d get in trouble if you got behind the wheel, but you can ride right in the front next to me!”
Dongwoo spotted a bright green one and immediately ran over to it, jumping up and down to signify his desire for the vehicle. “Oh! I love this one!”
“That is a Nissan GT-R, it can go almost 200 miles per hour! I’m sure that is no where near how fast your spaceship could go, but for Earth it’s pretty fast!”
“Can we take this one to your job, pleaseeee?” Dongwoo begged, clasping his hands in front of his chest.
Sungyeol looked a little skeptical. “That particular car is one of Hoya’s favorites... but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind letting me use it for today!” He skipped back over near the garage door, plucking off a set of keys from the wall that corresponded with the car in question. He unlocked the doors with the remote as he walked back over to the green vehicle.
“Will Okami-san get mad at us?” Dongwoo worried his lip, his hand hesitating over the handle.
“Of course not, I don’t think Okami-san could ever get mad at you.” Sungyeol teased, but Dongwoo simply smiled, not getting the insinuation. “But lets just pretend this whole car thing was your idea, just in case.”
“Yay! Okay! Can we go? This is my first time in an Earth car and I’m so excited! On Mato, we have hovercrafts, so I bet it’s so different to ride in an automobile where the wheels meet the ground.”
“Trust me, it’s nothing impressive.” Sungyeol muttered, urging Dongwoo to follow his lead and climb inside the car.
But Dongwoo begged to differ. He spent the whole ride to work squealing happily over the bounciness of the car, clapping his hands excitedly when they went over speed bumps and shouting “whee” as they did turns and Sungyeol couldn’t help but spend the whole journey feeling like some pro driver because of the reaction he was getting.
When they did finally arrive at Sungyeol’s workplace, Dongwoo was disappointed that the journey was over, but he climbed out of the car when Sungyeol opened the door for him - struggling with the seatbelt as he tried to get out - and looked up at the building in front of him. It was small, painted white with a large sign saying “Companion Care” over the door.
“Is this where Kirin-chan works?” Dongwoo asked, looking at the place in wonder.
Sungyeol nodded proudly. “This is my very own clinic.” He announced, strolling over to the door and unlocking it quickly. “This is the reception.” He introduced. “And those are the treatment rooms.” He pointed to two doors leading out from the reception. “Out back are the kennels, where we keep recovering animals until they are ready to go home. I’ll show you them when I have time, but right now I need to open up. My first appointment is at 9:00am and that gives us fifteen minutes to set up to be ready to open for business!”
Dongwoo looked around the room in awe. “You mean that in fifteen minutes I get to meet all the cute animals?”
“Yes!” Sungyeol nodded, “But I need you to promise that you’ll just watch and you won’t try to get involved.”
“Can I talk to the animals?” Dongwoo asked innocently and Sungyeol nodded.
“Of course.” Sungyeol smiled, deciding to humor him. “But the treatment is my job, so just leave that up to me, okay? I’m fully trained.”
Dongwoo smiled. “I’ll just sit here and be good and make all of the kawaii animals happy!”
Sungyeol just grinned, heading over to the computer to switch it on and looking through his list of appointments. “I have a few regulars in today, I think it’s going to be an easy day.”
Dongwoo bit his lip. “So what should I do?”
“Just be careful, don’t pick up anything without asking me first, and keep me company! It’s not going to be too busy, so we can just hang out and talk while I wait for patients!”
As Sungyeol had predicted, the morning wasn’t that busy. Dongwoo just sat behind the reception desk, greeting the animals as they came in and making Sungyeol and the owners laugh. The pets seemed to speak back to Dongwoo, which had Sungyeol in fits of giggles and the alien beaming with happiness. At 9:00 there was the puppy with the toothache, at 10:00 there was the hamster who wouldn’t stop running on his exercise wheel, at 11:00 there was the turtle who wouldn’t come out of his shell, and by noon a lizard who wasn’t quite content with her owner’s choice in the location of her cage (all she wanted was to be placed by the window!). Dongwoo did his best to help out, offering suggestions without getting in Sungyeol’s way when he was examining the pets.
“You really have a way with animals.” Sungyeol commended on his lunch break and Dongwoo simply grinned. “No seriously, you seem to make animals happy. It’s like you can speak to them or something.”
“I can.” Dongwoo simply replied.
Sungyeol’s mouth opened wide, “You can speak to animals?!”
“I told you that when we got here! I’ve already explained that we Matoki are gifted with languages.” Dongwoo shrugged as if they were simply discussing the weather.
“That includes animals?!”
“Well of course. Why wouldn’t it?” Dongwoo was surprised that Sungyeol was shocked.
Sungyeol simply shook his head, abandoning the conversation and concentrating on his lunch once again. Even after spending a week with the alien, Dongwoo was still managing to surprise him in the most bizarre of ways.
Dongwoo’s powers in languages didn’t simply extend to animals and spoken languages either, it turned out that the alien had an uncanny ability to read body language as well, as exhibited in Sungyeol’s first customer after lunch.
It all started with a dark haired man stepping through the clinic doors. Sungyeol was cleaning the treatment room, and he had left Dongwoo to tend the reception. He hadn’t expected any patients to turn up so he had left Dongwoo out front so he could get a head start on the cleaning - and maybe he wanted to keep the alien away from the cleaning chemicals - he didn’t think his brother would be too happy if there were any accidents.
Dongwoo didn’t mind being left alone, he got to play in a rather amusing spinning chair behind the reception. He urged Sungyeol to move along with his day as normal, promising to keep a faithful eye on the front of the shop. Dongwoo was turning in circles gleefully when the bell jingled, signalling that a new customer had walked in.
“I’m sorry, the clinic is closed until after 1pm.” Dongwoo sang out, repeating the words that Sungyeol had drilled into him when he had left the alien alone to tend the front desk.
The man just blinked in surprise at Dongwoo’s presence, before speaking hesitantly. “H… Hi? I’m here to… er... see Sungyeol… about my cat, I mean…”
“Oh! I thought we didn’t have any appointments until later!”
This seemed to make the man more distressed, his arms holding his cat tighter to his body. “I don’t… exactly have an appointment. I just thought that maybe Sungyeol could take a look for me, but he isn’t here so-”
“Kirin-chan is just cleaning the treatment rooms! I can get him, if you’d like…” Dongwoo replied. The man shook his head vehemently.
“No, no. I can wait. I’m sure he’s very busy and I should have called.”
Dongwoo’s momentum was winding down, and he finally stopped his spinning to give his full attention the customer. He blinked away the dizziness, focusing on the man in front of him. Dongwoo couldn’t help but notice the customer’s nerves, the man’s hands a rather gorgeous kitten that he was holding in his arms. He dragged his eyes away from the adorable feline, all the way up to the man’s face.
“Oh! I know you! You work for Okami-san!” He immediately jumped up from his seat, coming around the desk to smile widely at the newcomer.
“I think you might be mistaken-”
“No, I remember! You always brought Okami-san lots of that boring paperwork last week since he couldn’t leave for the office!” Dongwoo corrected him, but the man didn’t look any less confused. Dongwoo’s eyes went back to the pretty black cat, and his fingers were just itching to play with it. “I’m sorry but- can I touch it? It looks so… fluffy.”
The man followed Dongwoo’s line of sight to his pet. “Sure.” Dongwoo practically squealed, reaching out to rub between the precious being’s ears. The fur was so soft under his fingertips, a beautiful midnight black, and this kitten was the definition of kawaii.
His owner could sense Dongwoo’s enthusiasm, moving a bit closer so Dongwoo could continue to pet the cat. “Her name is Luna.”
“Luna! What a wonderful name! Have you borrowed her from Usagi-chan? But why are her eyes green? And what happened to her moon tattoo?” Dongwoo asked the questions rapid fire, confusing the customer more with each second.
“I’m not sure-”
“Dongwoo, who are you talking to out there?” A voice called out from the back, and Dongwoo reluctantly let go of the feline to return to his post behind the desk.
“It’s the man that brings Okami-san all of the paperwork. He brought his super cute kitty Luna-chan!” He announced to Sungyeol as the veterinarian stepped out of the treatment room.
Sungyeol appeared flustered as he stepped forward to the desk, his hands smoothing down his white coat. “Myungsoo-sshi. What brings you here today?”
“Oh. Erm… Sungyeol-sshi. Hi…” He started, before falling silent again. When he noticed that Sungyeol was waiting for him to continue he opened his mouth again. “It… It’s Luna…” The brunette started, “I got home at lunch time today to find that she hadn’t eaten any of the food that I left her… I was hoping… maybe you could take a look at her, but if you’re busy-”
“Of course I will!” Sungyeol interrupted. “I mean, Luna is one of my favorite kittens and I can always make time for her.” Dongwoo thought it was rather curious that Sungyeol was staring at the owner instead of the cat while he was talking. “I’m not busy at all, so I’ll check her in straight away…”
Dongwoo’s eyes darted between the two men, taking note of the way that they both tensed up at each other’s voices. Luna’s owner had been skittish from the second he stepped through the clinic’s doors and Sungyeol had turned a rather adorable shade of pink as soon as he saw the customer. A secret smile crept onto Dongwoo’s face as he watched the two of them interact, he couldn’t wait to get Sungyeol alone to talk with him about the cute boy and his even cuter kitty.
The bubbly alien watched as Sungyeol reached out for Luna - blushing even brighter when his hands accidentally brushed against Myungsoo’s in the process - he laid her down right there on the counter. He pulled a stethoscope out of his pockets and laid it against Luna’s chest, listening carefully. He moved it around the kitten’s body, listening at different spots, his bright eyes closed in concentration.
Dongwoo couldn’t help but notice the way that Myungsoo watched his best friend intensely. “Well, she’s breathing fine and her heart rate is normal.” Sungyeol said, pulling the stethoscope away with a confused expression. “Was it just her eating that was an issue? You haven’t changed her diet or anything lately?”
“No...” Myungsoo replied cautiously, “She honestly wasn’t eating well, and I’ve been giving Luna her favorite Fancy Feast.”
Sungyeol’s lip twisted as he stared at the black cat. She seemed perfectly happy, but it was his job to ensure that nothing was wrong, especially if Myungsoo was asking for his help. ”Let me check her out properly. I just need to grab a few extra things.”
Before he could move away Myungsoo reached out, holding his wrist with a delicate touch. “Thank you Sungyeol-sshi. Really.” He looked deeply into the Sungyeol’s eyes, smiling at the concern he found inside of them.
Sungyeol grinned back at him, one of his fingers twirling around a lock of his hair as he told the other it was no problem. Myungsoo let go of his arm, repeating his thank you’s that only seemed to make Sungyeol more unsettled.
Dongwoo watched as Sungyeol headed to the back room, hiding behind his brown bangs to conceal his blush as much as possible. He noticed Myungsoo’s gaze trained on Sungyeol until they door had closed behind the vet, the look of longing clear in his eyes.
“They so like each other.” Even the purrs sounded exasperated, and Dongwoo glanced over to see the cat’s mouth moving. Luna noticed his attention on her, and gave him a nonchalant look in response. “What? It’s like sooo obvious. Sparkly Eyes keeps bringing me here and complaining about me being unwell. I mean, look at me; with my luxurious fur and graceful aura, I’m practically the picture of health. Any human with eyes could see that I’m a perfectly happy cat.” She her front paw lazily. “Could he be any more transparent?”
“What do you mean?” Dongwoo replied, his own purrs coming out naturally as he leaned down to get closer to the feline’s level.
“Can you believe that I was in the middle of my regularly scheduled afternoon cat nap, and Sparkly Eyes shows up just to rudely wake me up from my lovely slumber?” The cat meowed, her tail twitching in annoyance. “I am so tired of being dragged here for stupid made up reasons just so Sparkly Eyes can see Pretty Vet. They should just sort their stuff out and confess already.” The cat complained, her front legs stretching out as she yawned, her behind in the air. “All this acting is soooo exhausting, and this is cutting into my beauty sleep.”
Dongwoo’s eyes moved up to land on Myungsoo, who was Luna absentmindedly as he stared at the door, still waiting for Sungyeol to reappear again. “Wah, they are so cuuuuute! I need to make them a couple!” The alien was practically bouncing in excitement.
Luna wrinkled her nose in discontent. “My pink friend.” Dongwoo’s smile grew. “Trust me, they are going to need more than a push. They both turn into blithering messes around each other. It’s embarrassing the ways humans court each other, really.”
Dongwoo just grinned, scratching underneath her chin. “I think it’s adorable.”
Before Luna could reply with another sarcastic feline comment, their conversation was interrupted by a cough. Dongwoo looked up to see Sungyeol and Myungsoo looking down at him curiously.
“What are you doing?” Sungyeol asked, glancing between Dongwoo and Luna bemusedly.
Dongwoo beamed. “Me and Luna-chan were talking, but I’m not telling you what we were talking about.” He tapped his nose cheekily with a giggle.
Myungsoo’s eyes raised in surprise at Dongwoo’s answer and Sungyeol hurriedly responded, turning to Myungsoo. “Oh, just ignore him! He’s a little childish but….”
“It’s funny, it’s like they were having a conversation…” Myungsoo mused.
Sungyeol’s eyes widened. “No! That would be preposterous!” He protested. “How could he possibly be talking to your cat.”
“But Kirin-chan…” Dongwoo started. “I was talking to her-” Sungyeol cut him off with a not so subtle glare and Myungsoo chuckled.
“I wasn’t actually suggesting that your receptionist was speaking to my Luna. ” Sungyeol colored at Myungsoo’s light teasing. “Though it is curious, she did seem to perk up when he started purring at her. It’s odd, because she isn’t usually good with people, except for me I guess… and you…”
Sungyeol fumbled for words. “I guess he’s just good with animals… And I’m her vet so she has to like me, right?” He attempted, smiling weakly to try and solidify his point. He had noticed that it looked like Dongwoo was speaking to the cat, and whilst he found it extremely exciting that Dongwoo might be able to talk to animals, he didn’t want to scare Myungsoo away if he found that out. “Anyway, I’ll get started on checking her out...” He quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, yay.” Luna purred lowly and Dongwoo chuckled. “He had better give me more treats after this. And none of those cheap bargain price biscuits. I am demanding fresh tuna and cream tonight. Not that Sparkly Eyes can even understand a word I say. He does pamper me for my supreme acting skills though, which is the only reason I allow him to bring me here on such a regular basis.”
Myungsoo and Dongwoo watched as the vet got to work, explaining quietly what he was doing as he did it. His hands gently probed areas of Luna’s body to see if the cat showed any signs of pain or discomfort and then checking the cat’s mouth for any signs of any problems there. He rubbed the underbelly of the cat, checking for any signs of internal injury or swelling. Luna just lay there, a bored expression on her face as she allowed herself to be subjected to such an unnecessary routine.
Dongwoo’s eyes moved up to Luna’s owner, whose eyes were following Sungyeol’s every moment, moving from the look of concentration on Sungyeol’s face to his hands, which were skillfully running over Luna’s fur. Dongwoo stifled a giggle behind his hand, his intuition was telling him that Myungsoo and Sungyeol were in love with each other, and he found the whole situation very interesting. On Mato, when two people liked each other it was only natural for them to admit it, since that was the honest thing to do. This concept of liking someone secretly, finding excuses to visit them but not confessing, rather intrigued Dongwoo.
Sungyeol pulled the thermometer out of Luna’s mouth, looking at the temperature with a relieved expression. “Well, it looks like Luna is getting a clean bill of health today! I’m happy to say that everything looks normal with her. Cats are independent animals… Luna will eat when she is ready, so just be patient with her.” He ran a soothing hand down her spine, giving the feline an affectionate pat.
Myungsoo smiled as he pulled Luna back into his arms. “I’m glad to hear that.” He said. “Thank you, Sungyeol-sshi. You’re always so helpful…”
“It’s the least I can do, you work so hard for my brother even though he is a monster to work for.” Sungyeol grinned, before looking down at his feet and adding quietly. “Plus it’s always nice to see you… and Luna… You know I’m here for her anytime.”
Dongwoo could see Myungsoo’s smile tugging at the corner of his lips as his eyes sparkled. “You’re so nice, Sungyeol-sshi.”
Sungyeol appeared flustered at the compliment and he turned his attentions away from Myungsoo to Luna. “You were so good for me today, so let me give you a reward.” Pulling a pet treat out of his pocket. He held his hand out, allowing the cat to nibble from his palm. “I bought in some special treats just for you, I know you have exquisite taste.”
Luna swallowed the treat and then meowed contently. “At least Sparkly Eyes has good choice in men, I wouldn’t mind him taking my owner’s attention as long as he brings treats every time and pets me a lot. He’s really good with his hands.”
“I want to make them be together.” Dongwoo purred back.
“We can make this happen…” The cat replied, flicking her tail. Dongwoo chuckled and she meowed back, sharing a moment of secrecy.
“He’s doing that thing again…” Myungsoo whispered.
Sungyeol just shook his head. “Ignore him…” He glanced at Dongwoo, who was giggling at the cat, and then he glanced at Luna who almost looked to be smiling back at him.
Myungsoo nodded. “So, how much do I owe you for the check-up?”
“Nothing!” Sungyeol protested. “Honestly, I’ve already told you… it’s always a pleasure to see you- I mean Luna!”
“Well, I know that she likes visiting you as well.” Myungsoo replied, causing Luna to begin meowing again.
“What I really like is sleep. I wish he wouldn’t speak for me that way.”
“Oh, I think she’s getting a bit cranky!” Myungsoo laughed, “I should take her home now.”
“He’s doing it again! Though at least this time he is correct.”
“I’ll see you soon! I mean, maybe? I guess? Erm… I guess just… goodbye!” Myungsoo stuttered, before spinning around and hurrying out of the clinic.
“Bye Luna, bye Myungsoo-sshi!” Sungyeol called behind them.
Dongwoo waved goodbye, watching as Myungsoo paused outside the sliding doors to press his lips to Luna’s head. He beamed at the sight.
“Cuuuuuuuute!” He remarked. Sungyeol followed Dongwoo’s gaze and his eyes narrowed.
“Who are you calling cute?” He muttered.
Dongwoo just spun to face the vet. “Don’t you think that they are cute as well?“
Sungyeol’s face turned pink as he spluttered his denial. “I… No… What… Why would you say that?”
“Just that you seemed to like Luna-chan a lot, that’s all...” Dongwoo laughed as he skipped out of range. “Annnnnnd her owner!”
The blush deepened on Sungyeol’s face and Dongwoo laughed, avoiding a swat from Sungyeol’s gangly arms before the vet pulled back with a huff.
Dongwoo knew that he wasn’t really annoyed though, because Sungyeol still had a smile on his face as he watched Myungsoo walk away. A smile that remained on the vet’s face for the rest of the day.
A/N: We promised you Myungyeol and here is the start of it! Aren’t they soooo cute together?
Happy cat looks happy.
Jade’s favorite character in this chapter is Myungsoo’s cat Luna (did everyone get the Sailor Moon reference?)
Jade’s favorite character in this chapter is Myungsoo’s cat Luna (did everyone get the Sailor Moon reference?)
(basically what Soo looks like whenever Yeol talks to him)
Also, are you guys starting to see the meaning behind the title now? It’s allllll becoming clear.
Okay, enough of that. Let us know what you think in the comments and stay tuned for the next update!
Jade & Ray
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