"Please? Can we keep it, hyung?" Taemin tugged on the sleeve of Minho. 

Aish, usually it's Key that makes these decisions, he thought, scatching his head thoughtfully. Taemin cradled a young, yellow puppy, cooing at it. Oh my god. He shielded his eyes discreetly so he wouldn't give in. It's even cuter than Taeminnie. Impossible.

Ah. I have to stall until Key comes. 

"Where did you get that?" Minho averted his eyes. 

"It was on the streets. What was I supposed to do?" Taemin rocked back and forth with it on the couch. "Who's my little boo-boo?" he said in a high voice, as if his voice could get any higher.

"Well, he's certainly very nice, but-"

Taemin shot him a very terrifying death glare. "It's a girl, hyung." Minho swallowed nervously at his tone.

"Um, she's certainly very, uh," he searched for a safe word. "...cute, but you know we're always out. We're having a comeback next week, and we're all going to be out of the dorms."

The door opened before Taemin could reply.

Finally. Minho turned around, expecting Key.

"Hey guys, what's up. OHMIGODDD, IS THAT A PUPPY!?" someone squealed.

The dinosaur Jjong has arrived.

Minho facepalmed himself. As Jonghyun practically wrapped his entire body around our little golden friend, Minho sank into a chair, tired from arguing with Taemin. It was no use asking Jjong to make Taemin give the puppy up -- there were times that he was as immature and unreasonable as Taeminnie. The deep voiced rapper closed his eyes, praying for Kibum to return from the hair salon.

"Let's name it Jjong Jr.!"

"No, no, no, I found it first! It should be named after me! Right, Minnie?"

"Minnie's a girl's name!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Respect your hyung!"

"Respect your dongsaeng!"

The bickering continued, giving our poor SHINee member a very severe headache.

The door opened again, to reveal a very cheerful leader, bounding inside with a chicken bone. "Hey -- What's all the fuss about?" Minho looked up expectantly, silently begging SHINee's awkward leader to talk some sense into the maknae. I practically peeled his eyes open to catch the other's, but Onew didn't seem to notice.

"Onew-hyuuuuuuung! Look at this!" Taemin called, holding up the golden retriever proudly like Simba from Lion King.

"Wo-ow!" Onew whistled.

Minho slowly rested his head on the nearest desk .

"Aigoo! This place is a mess!" someone exclaimed. Every head in the room snapped up.

The Almighty Key.

"Nice haircut, Key." Jonghyun purred and gave him a thumbs-up.

"B-Bwoh? You like it? It's a little flashy, but..." Key twiddled his thumbs in embarassment, but nonetheless began picking up the debri that littered the living room. Then he noticed Taemin clutching a blanket guiltily, Minho pointing with his eyes toward the little bundle, Onew whistling suspiciously, and Jonghyun trying very hard to distract him. Finally, he asked a question that made everyone in the room jump about ten feet in the air.

"What is that?"

"I-It's nothing, Key, j-just go back to your cleaning," Jonghyun stuttered. Taemin held the blankets closer to his chest protectively. 

As much as Minho disapproved, he didn't rat Taemin out. After all, it really was up to Key. 

Key's eyes narrowed in a very e-like way as he approached the maknae. "Minnie."

"No, Key!"

"I just want to know what it is! Whatever you have there, it could have a disease!"

Taemin hesitated a moment, then begrudgingly handed his little friend to Key. "Be careful," he whispered. 

Key unfolded layer after layer after layer of blankets, but found nothing. "Is this a joke?"

"What?" Taemin felt panic begin to rise.

"There's nothing here..."

"Uh-oh."

"Taemin...what was in the blanket?"

"A puppy."

"WHAT!?" Key shrieked.

There was a very awkward silence.

A whimpering began to sound from underneath the couch. All five pairs of eyes were at eye level with the couch within five seconds. 

"Oh, crap. It's hiding. How do we get it out?"

"Taemin, you reach in there. You and your noodley arms."

"My arms aren't skinny enough."

"Where'd it go now?"

Everyone searched frantically for the lost canine. Minho and Taemin searched the bedrooms, Jonghyun and Key looked in bathroom and living room, and Onew claimed that he would go and search in the kitchen, because the dog was probably hungry. When no one was looking, he snatched  a few chicken wings from the table and started devouring it. It slightly bothered him, because he could've sworn there were more pieces of chicken on the counter.

Then he heard some snuffling coming from underneath sink. Curious, he set down his snack and opened the kitchen sink. 

"Guys...I found it!"

"WHERE?"

"WHERE?"

"WHERE?"

"WHERE?"

"He's...eating my chicken!" Onew exclaimed, horrified. Everyone chuckled. Taemin picked him up and his fur, which was matted with dirt.

"Key-hyung...can we keep it? Please?" As much as Taemin hated aegyo because it made him look younger, he turned his pout on full blast. "I'll feed him, and take him on walks, give him water, play with his, clean up his poo..."

Key paused. Normally he would say no, but he figured that Taemin would be a lot happier about having a companion in the house. But, they were going to debut soon. A dog means another family member.

SHINee + Dog = A HELLUVA MESS.

But if they did keep this adorable dog, they could protect themselves against the rabid fangirls. That sounds nice, Key admitted. What would the manager say, though?

And so he made his decision.

Key exhaled. "Maybe for a little while."

"That's a yes?" Taemin asked carefully.

Before Key could even nod, Taemin was locked around his hyung, squeezing tightly. "I LOVE YOU, HYUNG!"

The diva sighed, patting his dongsaeng's head. "Neh, neh, neh. Run along now." Taemin scurried away.

"Well, as long as he stays away from my chicken, we can keep him," Onew grinned and left the room.

"Key, I don't know how you can do this everyday." Minho, too, left the kitchen and sank into a chair, tired from arguing with Taemin for five hours straight.

Something was still bothering Key, though. "Jjong?"

"Yes?"

"Did you really like my haircut, or did you just say that for Taemin's sake?" he muttered, almost shyly.

The older of the two rolled his eyes. "Please." He grinned a boyish grin. "You wanna go and get dinner tonight?"

Key nodded enthusiastically. 

"NO, MINNIE, DON'T PEE ON THE-"

Crash.