Allowing his shoulders to slump, Chanyeol was faced with two sets of pleading eyes; Baekhyun, with his hands clasped tightly together, begging, and the Golden Retriever, who lay, wrapped in a towel, whining softly. The injured dog had survived all odds, and now needed to recover – only, it lacked a home and an animal shelter would not be able to look after it.

“Please?” Baekhyun asked, on the verge of tears – his voice quavered his eyes glassy. “Mister Wolf doesn’t have anywhere else to go!”

Chewing on his bottom lip, Chanyeol dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry, Baek. We don’t have the room.”

“Please?” Baekhyun begged. When Chanyeol did not respond, he looked down at his shoes, his body shaking as he fought back his tears. “Mister Wolf – He’ll … He’ll die.”

“I’m sorry.”

With a quiet sigh, Chanyeol turned, watching the Golden Retriever carefully. Laying its head on its paws, the dog looked up at him, its brown eyes sad; pleading. A low hum escaped its mouth and slowly, it wagged its tail.

“I don’t want Mister Wolf to die,” Baekhyun sniffed, wrapping his arms around the dogs neck; it rested its head atop Baekhyun’s shoulder. “He can’t …” Baekhyun whispered. “He can’t … “

Chanyeol could feel his heart breaking as he watched Baekhyun bury his face in the dog’s matted fur. Exhaling quietly, Chanyeol crossed the small operation room in a single stride, putting a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder he forced a smile. It would be a miracle if the dog survived the night, but for Baekhyun’s sake, Chanyeol was willing to give it a shot.

“Alright,” he said softly. “He can stay with us.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened and he whirled around, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol’s waist tightly. “Thank you!” he cried, nuzzling into Chanyeol’s chest. “Thank you, Mister Giant.”

Running his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair soothingly, Chanyeol held the crying Baekhyun close.

“Just until he gets better,” Chanyeol said firmly and Baekhyun nodded. “Just until he recovers. Then we can find him a good home. Alright?”

 Lifting his head, Baekhyun flashed Chanyeol a watery smile; his eyes were bloodshot, his face puffy from crying. Wrapping his fingers around the fabric of Chanyeol’s thick woolen jumper, Baekhyun took a step backwards.

“Can we name him?”

“I thought his name was Mister Wolf?” Chanyeol chuckled, his brows arched in semi amusement. Baekhyun shook his head as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Mister Wolf is his Cape Crew code name,” he responded, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Can we call him Pinkie Pie?”

Chanyeol almost choked on air, his eyes wide with disbelief. “No,” he said, trying not to laugh. “How about something else? You already have a plush called Pinkie Pie.”

Furrowing his brows, Baekhyun turned back to the Golden Retriever. What name could possibly be better than Pinkie Pie? Baekhyun loved a lot of things, and Pinkie Pie was one of those at the very top of his list. He couldn’t fathom naming the dog something that he didn’t like, so why not pick something that he did?

“Bear,” Baekhyun said after a while. “Can we call him Bear?”

“Why would you like to call him that?” Chanyeol asked, intrigued. Raising his hands, Baekhyun pointed to the top of his head.

“That teddy bear hoodie that you made me,” he said simply. “Teddy bears are my favourite animals – aside from wolves – so I thought Bear would be a good name.”

A small smile crept onto Chanyeol’s face as he stepped around Baekhyun, placing a hand gently atop the dog’s head. Instinctively, it closed its eyes, its tongue lolling to one side.

“Hello Bear,” Chanyeol said quietly. “Welcome to the family.”

It had been a good three hours since Chanyeol had gone to bed; Baekhyun had insisted he would keep Bear company – just in case.

With his legs drawn up to his chest, Baekhyun kept his gaze locked firmly onto Bear, who lay in the corner of the lounge room on a makeshift pillow bed. Blankets were draped over him, a large dish of water to one side. Baekhyun watched for any signs that Bear might be in pain, any slight movement that might show that the dog needed water or comfort.

With his hands hanging loosely in front of his knees, Baekhyun let out a quiet sigh. Sensing something was upsetting him, Bear stretched out, his pink tongue Baekhyun’s hands reassuringly.

“Don’t move,” Baekhyun whispered. “You need to recover quickly so that you can help me fight the bad guys. Don’t worry, we will get you a cape of your very own. Is blue okay?”

Bear barked happily, offering Baekhyun a toothy smile. Baekhyun remained silent for a long time deep in thought, his lips pressed together into a thin line.

“Puppy,” he said quietly. “You’re the same, aren’t you? The same as Puppy? But you didn’t attack me – you didn’t hurt me.”

Bear didn’t respond, instead, it watched Baekhyun, its big, brown eyes curious.

“Is it because you yourself were hurt?” Baekhyun asked. “But if it was a big person who hurt you, wouldn’t you be scared of people, too?”

It all didn’t make sense. Stretching out once more, Bear placed a heavily bandaged paw on Baekhyun’s knee.

“Is it because we helped you when you were hurt? Not every person is like that, I promise.” Baekhyun’s face creased, his vision blurred with tears. “Thank you for trusting me, even if you were scared. And thank you for showing me that not all dogs are like Puppy – not all dogs want to hurt me.”

Baekhyun paused, swallowing a lump in his throat. Curling up next to the dog, Baekhyun lay his head against Bear’s chest, listening to its rhythmic, slow heartbeat. “Bear?”

Closing his eyes, Baekhyun yawned, snuggling closer to Bear for warmth. “Thank you for being my friend. I hope that we can be friends forever.”

A soft whine reached Baekhyun’s ears and he smiled. Bear knew how long forever was, but he still promised.

Baekhyun stirred in his sleep, his fingers wrapping around Bear’s golden fur. With a yawn, his eyes opened slowly. The lounge room was still pitch black and Baekhyun, exhausted, was certain he had only managed an hour of sleep. But he had to check on his new friend; to make sure he had fresh water in his dish – to make sure everything was okay.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Baekhyun looked at his friend, sound asleep, tongue lolled to one side; some of the blankets had fallen to one side so Baekhyun made quick work of fixing them up, tucking them under the dog to make him comfortable.

The water dish remained untouched. Nodding to himself, Baekhyun decided he would fetch fresh water in the morning but for now, Bear slept and Baekhyun knew that if he was going to keep watch over his friend in the morning, he would need all the sleep he could get.

Curling back up on the cold tiles, Baekhyun closed his eyes once more.

“When you’re better,” he murmured drowsily, “we can go to the park and … You can wear your cape. You’re going to be my best friend, Bear.” Stifling a yawn, Baekhyun’s lips tugged upwards into a content smile. “Goodnight, friend.”

Despite only having managed a few hours of sleep, Baekhyun hurried around the house with a spring to his step. He had readied a fresh water dish, tidied the lounge room and organised Bear’s medicine for the morning. Now, all he had to do was wake Chanyeol and, of course, Bear.

Humming quietly to himself, Baekhyun paused next to the linen cupboard, eyeing its contents. All the blankets were much too big for a dog, so perhaps he could ask Chanyeol to make one for him? Yes, he would have to do that.

“Bear,” Baekhyun called, making his way to where the dog slept. “It’s time to wake up now. Bear?”

He paused, placing a hand on the dog’s cold shoulder. “Wake up, sleepy. Wake up … Please,” he added in a hoarse whisper, shaking the dogs cold body. A quiet keening escaped Baekhyun’s lips as he collapsed at the dogs side, his cries growing more and more frantic.

“Wake up, Bear! Please wake up! Mister Giant, help! Bear won’t wake up!”

It took only moments for Chanyeol to wake up, his heart felt as though it had been ripped from his chest. Hurrying into the lounge, he found Baekhyun hunched over Bear’s body, sobbing; his fingers wrapped tightly around tufts of golden fur.

“Please help him,” Baekhyun whispered, his body shaking. “Please! Save my friend!”

Wordlessly, Chanyeol crossed the lounge, crouching by Baekhyun’s side and immediately, Baekhyun turned, burying his face into Chanyeol’s chest.

“Save him!” he begged. “Please Mister Giant! Please!”

Wrapping his arms tightly around Baekhyun, Chanyeol rocked him gently. “I’m sorry, Bunny. I can’t. There’s nothing I can do.”

“He can’t go,” Baekhyun choked, his voice hoarse.  “He promised me that he will be my friend forever.”

Chanyeol bit his lip to stop himself from crying. “That was forever,” he said quietly. “You were his friend, right until the very end, Baek. You were the last person he saw. Bear passed away, happily – with you, his friend, at his side.”

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Baekhyun reached for the red texta; Chanyeol had promised him that they would bury Bear in the park, so that he would have plenty of space to run around and play, wherever he is now.

A large, empty box lay in the middle of the kitchen table, decorated with clippings from various cards and highly detailed crayon drawings of all the fun things that Baekhyun and Bear could have done together; a reminder, more to Baekhyun than to anyone else, of what happiness truly was.

On the lid, Baekhyun had written a farewell message, his heart and soul now etched into the cardboard in red.

My friend, Mister Wolf, it read.

Bear. Thank you for everything. I may have only known you for a short while, but you have taught me so much. You taught me what it was like to forgive – that not everybody is the same. You taught me to trust, even those who have once hurt you. You taught me how to be strong, how to care, how to love.

Mister Giant says that wherever you are now, you won’t be in pain – that you are happy. I hope that’s the case. Even though I hurt now that you are gone, I know that you won’t be suffering anymore. Wherever you are, I wish you every happiness.

Thank you for being my friend, even if forever was only one day.

Goodbye Bear, I will miss you.

Your friend forever,
Baekhyun

Sometimes, best friends can teach you the most powerful of lessons.

I wrote this in just over an hour.
It's rushed and riddled with mistakes.
But I wanna go to sleep and didn't want to leave
this hanging and move onto something else.
(Just a heads up, this will be updated - again - with 
fluff tomorrow for a lovely readers birthday.
Three updates in three days. Yay!~) 

Goodbye Bear, my friend.
Love always,
Baekhyun