Of Dogs, Kennels, Summer and Love

Bloom — The Paper Kites

Hyukjae feels giddy as he swings open the stable door, humming a cheery tone as he walks inside. No one is in the room, other than himself and the dogs. Kangin did greet him but then he has to settle an urgent matter over the phone, so he gestured for Hyukjae to go inside first. Immediately, the animals start barking at the intruder, baring their sharp fangs whilst sending nasty glares towards the poor male who has done no crime. Hyukjae only tries his best to ignore the sensation of his ears turning deaf from all of the noises, and places his rucksack on the counter, where several black flies are whirling above.

The cloggy smell of dogs and poo invades his nostrils, and Hyukjae could barely sense the faint sharp tanginess of lemon disinfectant. Feeling out of place, since everyone is busy doing their own thing and then there’s him; walking around awkwardly whilst rubbing his sweaty palms together, observing the different breeds of dogs behind the bars, he decides to might as well know the dogs a bit better.

He ambles past a dog named Paddie, a two years old boy cross between a pug and corgi, and his fur is a lovely shade of light golden syrup, coating his entire body excluding his paws, which were snowy white. His cute features makes Hyukjae want to coo and take Paddie home, if not for the fact that on the same sheet of information it mentions that Paddie is extremely dog aggressive, meaning that he will probably want to bite all of the dogs he sees.

Maybe not, then.

Hyukjae treads past the next set of dogs, reading their information sheet carefully before moving onto the next dog. Just as the male gets to a dog named Chocolate, he hears the stable door squeak open and he turns around, seeing someone he had never met before barge in, aiming for the counter. The tall guy strides to the counter in a matter of seconds, his long legs stretching over half of the floor in one step. He is slim, but muscular and has flaming orange to reddish hair. However, the male’s handsome looks contradicted his sweatpants and torn trainers, the Dog Kennel shirt tight on his torso, revealing the delicious hint of abs.

The male seem to only just realise Hyukjae's existence and turns sideways, casting a glance at the raven head, scanning him up and down for faults or something.

As if sensing the newcomer’s presence, Hyukjae sees Donghae heading back inside, a small French bulldog attached to the blue paw prints lead held firmly in his hand.  Donghae whips his head up, smiling when he sees Hyukjae but mouth wide open when he sees the other guy. Hurriedly, Hyukjae watches in amusement as the latter ushers the small dog into his slot, before closing the bars and twisting the metal chunks to hook the lock in front of the cage. Then, he swiftly grabs both ends of the leash, and pulling it straight Donghae raises it above his head and places it around his neck, letting it dangle comfortably. Then, he marches to the other male with a small pout on his lips.

“Zhoumi hyung! You're back from China!”

Hyukjae sees the other male (whose name is Zhoumi, he just learnt) hug the younger affectionately, not willing to let go of Donghae until the latter is squirming for liberty and to have a catch of breath. Nevertheless, Donghae is still smiling radiantly, eyes never leaving the other’s face. It is as if Donghae is afraid of Zhoumi disappearing the moment the tall male is gone from his vision. Hyukjae could only wish that one day Donghae would look at him like that.

Wait, what? I…he…Donghae is only a colleague to me. What am I thinking? Must be the lack of sleep, yeah, that’s it.

“Hyukjae?” Donghae suddenly turns to look at him intensely, his dark orbs piercing through the layers of Hyukjae's mind, infiltrating his thoughts like an arrow; quick, precise and sharp.

“Hmm?”

Donghae shyly brings Zhoumi to the front, a small smile gracing his lips as he says, “This is Zhoumi. He’s an old volunteer here and had just come back from a vacation. Although, he’s only visiting today.” Then, the boy gestures Zhoumi to Hyukjae and continues, “And Zhoumi, this is our new volunteer, Hyukjae.”

The model-like elegant figure opposite Hyukjae nods a little, acknowledging his presence before widening his pupils, exclaiming out loud.

“Oh my god Hae! Is he the new volunteer that you’ve been gushing to me about over the phone and—” Donghae flushes crimson as he slaps a hand over Zhoumi’s mouth, muffling the rest of the sentence. The brunette looks like he is anticipating the ground opening up and swallowing him whole, to save him from the embarrassment because Hyukjae had heard. Dry laughter follows the silence, and Hyukjae can't help but feel slightly befuddled by the situation.

So Donghae was talking about him?

Oddly enough, it brings a warm rush of fluttering inside his chest (for some weird reason). But, Hyukjae decides, he likes it.

*

“There’s really nothing to worry about, Hyukjae. The dogs here will be all bark and no bite because of the way their previous owners have treated them, but once they get used to seeing your face around they’ll come to love you.” The brunette sends Hyukjae another one of his boyish smiles, and Hyukjae mildly wonders how someone can look that good with only the wind softly rustling their hair. He knows that his own auburn hair won’t look like that, because after having dyed it so many times and so many colours he can successfully say that he destroyed his own hair.

A sharp loud bang interrupts Hyukjae's train of thoughts, and the male watches with fascination Donghae leading out a small jack Russell terrier, white all over the body except for its brown furry ears and eye patches. The dog struts past Hyukjae like the boy doesn’t exist, eagerly pulling on his red leash to his walk.