"Here comes the treat"  Baekhyun/Jongin

Based on this and this video of this weird gadget thingy that immediately made me think of Jongin.

There was definitely something wrong with the guy who worked in the cubicle next door. For one, his hair was rarely combed, his tie never on straight. Most days he had mismatching sock, and it wasn't even like the days where Baekhyun didn't turn on the lights and grabbed two varying shades of black socks. No, Kim Jongin of the crooked tie and tacky suit which smelled like dog drool frequently wore one brown sock and one tan, with his black slacks. 

Baekhyun wasn't a snob, not really. He dressed neatly and his hair was always presentable. He had a cat in his apartment which he shared with his roommate, and every now and then he pulled off long white, static-clinging hairs from his clothes, but hey—that's what the lint roller was for. He kept one always at the back of his desk drawer for emergencies like today. An emergency staff meeting and everyone on the floor except Jongin—to handle the phone calls—went scrambling towards the conference room at breakneck speed. 

Two hours and one massive migraine later, Baekhyun shuffled back to his desk with a mountain of paperwork and what remained of his soul. He was the first man back. The rest of the cubicles were deserted. Only Jongin sat at his desk, which was weird because Baekhyun swore the man was talking to somebody. Or something, or some things. In a sicky sweet baby cute tone of voice that made Baekhyun want to gag.

"Hi! Hi, babies! What are you doing there? What are you doing there? Do you miss me? Huh?? Huh?? Did you miss daddy!? Daddy will give you a treat if you're good. Yeah? You want a treat?? Okay, here it comes! Catch!"

Baekhyun stopped in his tracks and held onto the divider of his cubicle to keep himself from slagging onto the floor. His chin dropped, almost dislocating his jaw. 

Jongin sat hunched over his desk staring at his phone screen, face-timing or something with... what? His girlfriend? Two girlfriends? Who called him daddy and were rewarded with treats?

"Uhm..." Baekhyun uttered, thoroughly confused and halfway disgusted. Not that he was judging. Jongin could live any lifestyle he wanted to live, that was his prerogative and Baekhyun had no reason to interfere but... he checked the clock. It was yet 4:45 pm and Jongin was supposed to be working. Not flirting. He shouldn't even be on his phone at all. It was against company policies. Baekhyun only checked his during the lunch hour. And maybe once or twice to verify that no hot guys were calling him during the day to ask for a date because, Baekhyun's gotta dream somewhere.

Jongin apparently didn't have this problem. He cooed and crinkled his face into the phone screen, and Baekhyun had to admit that —gross displays of phone-public affection aside—Jongin was kind of good looking. Lucky girlfriends, or...

The phone barked. 

Actually barked.

Actually it was more like a yip, several yips, and Jongin immediately grinned and beat the side of his head against the desk in a meltdown of cute adorative proportions. He talked back to the... dogs? in the kind of voice Baekhyun sometimes used to persuade his stomach that this last slice of chocolate cake was an imperatively good idea. With love and gross tolerance and coos of pleasure. 

More yipping, and Jongin had yet to realize there was an audience.

Baekhyun cleared his throat. Their co-workers were starting to trickle out of the conference room, and Baekhyun was a professional on the job floor, but ratting on a cubicle mate was a big no no.

"Jongin," he said softly. He touched the man on the shoulder. Jongin immediately froze and sat up in his chair, his eyes blown large, a combination of abject fear and embarrassment coloring his cheeks. 

Baekhyun didn't have to explain. As more and more voices were added to theirs from the other side of the room, Jongin immediately looked at his phone, punched a button and slipped it under a stack of papers. 

"Thanks," Baekhyun heard whispered a few minutes later. 

"No problem," he replied. It was their only form of communication that day.

Three weeks later.

"So let me get this straight. You have constant live-streaming capabilities through a camera app, you get notifications on your phone if and when your dogs bark, you can talk to them, and push a little button that makes the camera gadget in your house pump out tiny little dog treats? Jongin! You're spoiling your pets rotten!" Baekhyun exclaimed.

They were sitting together on a bench overlooking half the city. Lunch break was almost over, but Baekhyun had seen him there talking to his little girlfriends (and yes Jongin did sometimes refer to his poodles this way) and he had absolutely cracked. He had to know what that was and how it worked, and now they were fast becoming friends, although Baekhyun still thought the guy was weird as hell. Adorably tacky suit, cheerfully crooked tie, cute ruffled hair and all.

"Isn't it cool though?" Jongin beamed. 

Their shoulders brushed against each other, sending little skittering pulse marks through Baekhyun's heart. He leaned away a safe distance. Not too far away of course.

"It is kind of. I guess your dogs love you."

"Well, before they had to sit inside all day and nobody was there to talk to them or play with them. Can you imagine that? Being stuck inside with nothing to do except stare at the door and just wait?" Jongin looked about to cry. But then he glanced sideways and their eyes met, and Baekhyun swore the man had the beginnings of a blush. 

"Sounds like a pretty sad existence," Baekhyun agreed.

He had Jongin teach him how to use the app and pretty soon he had met Jongin's "children" and spoken to them and even fed them a little treat because, you never know when it'll come in handy. Bribery always works, especially when you suddenly develop the inclination to woo the poodles' owner.

"I don't feed them a treat all the time, or every time they bark," Jongin expained. "Don't want them getting too spoiled or thinking that's how they can beg for treats but, I do feel better that they're not sitting at home all day, pining."

"And what about you?" Baekhyun asked.

"What about me?" said Jongin, confused.

"You don't get sad sitting in your cubicle day after day without being able to see your pets?"

Jongin's eyes darted in another direction, neither on Baekhyun nor on his phone. "Well," his voice stuttered and he paused for a few seconds, "I mean, I miss my dogs, but now I can see them whenever I want and... I guess, the work day isn't too bad. I mean, there are... people to talk to. And eat lunch with. Sometimes."

Baekhyun found himself staring at the man's reddening neck, Jongin's blush now spreading from cheek to collar. 

"Y-Yeah..." He almost faltered too. "It's nice."

Two minutes later.

"Hey do you want to come over sometime....? And... you know, meet my poodles in person?"

"I'd love to."