They just barely make it back to the elder’s apartment in time to gather a protesting puppy up for its appointment with the vet, Namjoon’s jacket askew over Seokjin’s shoulders- Seokjin had gotten distracted when they passed a videogame merchandise store and they were sidetracked, for a very long time. Seokjin’s phone pinging with a reminder about the vet ten minutes before three had sent them scrambling back to the apartment, which thankfully wasn’t that far from the shop they were in. Locking the door behind them and rushing down to the vet opposite Seokjin’s building, they barely made it before the clock hit three.

Namjoon, holding the squirming puppy in his arms, and Seokjin, holding the jacket by its sleeves to keep it in place, stumbled up to the receptionist. “Sorry we were almost late but we’re here for the-”

 “-check-up!”

 “-registration!”

They both looked at each other, confused. Seokjin frowned as he put together the bits and pieces. “...You had him registered already?”

Namjoon was just as confused, and a little offended. “Of course! I had the puppy de-wormed, de-flead and microchipped the week I found him. I thought we were here for a check up?”

Seokjin blinked; he was just starting to feel ashamed at realising that the dog had been with him for almost two weeks and the thought of registration hadn’t occurred to him, which was heightened by his assumption that Namjoon hadn’t gotten it all done in the week that he had the pupper, and he turned to Namjoon to apologise before realising the girl behind the desk was watching them, an ever-more gleeful expression growing on her face. She spoke. “Communication problems, huh? You two need to work that out because it would be a crying shame if you broke up over the cute golden retriever.”

That definitely blew Seokjin’s shame out of his mind, while Namjoon sputtered and turned red under the receptionist’s curious scrutiny. They took a seat at the receptionist’s insistence under the chattering television, the puppy constantly whining for playtime and providing a distraction for Namjoon whose brain had broken into two, because someone. Had. Mistaken. Them. For. A. Couple?

“Are we really that fitting?”

Seokjin’s voice scared him into reality, and he jerked towards the other man by instinct. “U-Uh, I guess? I-I mean she mistook us for a couple… um… so. Yeah?” Namjoon nearly throttled the poor puppy when he heard his old stutter slip back into his words. He saw the girl at the desk visibly deflate out of the corner of his eye.

Seokjin didn’t seem to notice both the stutter and the deflation, still seeming to mull something over. Namjoon soothed his post-freakout self by petting the puppy over and over.

They were called into the vet’s office (ten minutes late, Seokjin had noted) and asked to sit down. The veterinarian cooed over the puppy. “How old is this little fella?”

“Eight weeks.” Seokjin and Namjoon piped up at the same time, then looked at each other. They spoke in sync again. “How could you tell?”

There was a pause before they both yelled, “Jinx!”

The veterinarian almost couldn’t take their adorableness and bent over, wheezing slightly. The puppy was just plain confused.

Seokjin and Namjoon continued talking after ruling that both jinxes cancelled each other, not noticing the poor veterinarian’s plight. “I have a dog called Rapmon back at home.”

Seokjin was delighted. “Really!? My dog’s called Jjangu. Your name- I mean, your dog’s name is weird.”

Namjoon blushed, and it had nothing to do with Seokjin’s sparkly expression, thank you very much. “Don’t judge, I was twelve.”

“Well, I was twelve when I named my dog.”

Namjoon sat in pouty silence.

The veterinarian thought that that was cute and all, but now's the time to intervene. They piped up, gesturing to the puppy curoiusly nosing about on the metal benchtop. “So what’s his name?”

Seokjin sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck. “Um, we actually haven’t decided yet.”

“What about Goldilocks?” Namjoon turned to Seokjin, his eyes bright. “Ooh, or maybe Charlie or Mr Egghead.”

“Really? Those are your best names?” Seokjin gave Namjoon a flat look. “Gosh, you could still be twelve… I say we name him after… hmm, food.”

“What!? Your ideas are just as bad as mine!” Namjoon aimed a smack at Seokjin’s arm. “How about Tablo?”

Seokjin came alive at that. “Tablo? Are you an Epik High fan? Because I am too!”

“Wait, really? Can we call him Tablo?”

“No.”

Namjoon deflated even more than the receptionist.

“Let’s call him… Pancake.”

Namjoon popped back to life. “YES- wait no, let's call him Donut because he sleeps all curled up like one.”

Seokjin turned fully to face Namjoon. “Oh my god, you are a genius.”

Namjoon found himself sputtering again. No-one could blame him, what with Seokjin’s warm, sparkly, affectionate eyes trained on his own.

(The veterinarian had the sense to keep quiet, but as they watched the two men serving cute names back and forth and being even cuter together, they couldn’t muffle a squeal in the back of their throat. Only the puppy heard. It looked up, cocking its head in confusion, and only then did the veterinarian realise that they were in the middle of a check-up.)

Author’s Notes:

TOOTH-ROTTING FLUFF ALERT I ADMIT IT IM A HO FOR HAPPY SAPPY DOMESTICITY

and yeah i just used a triple adjective bomb to describe seokjin's bomb- eyes watchu gonna do about it punk

*awkward out <3*