It’s Saturday morning, 5:30 AM precisely. The neighborhood is usually quiet and most people are still sleeping. Save for a few who goes out for morning runs. One of those people is Jimin. He’s currently putting on his shoes, ready to face the cold morning again.

It’s his daily routine to exercise since he needs to be strong and fit for his job as a dance instructor. He finished his college degree the year before, so the only thing he’s worrying about is his monthly dues. At least the studio is paying him well that he always has extra money stashed somewhere for future purposes. It’s not like he can’t spend that money, but who knows? He might get into a relationship someday and, being the sweet guy he is, wants to spoil his girlfriend or something. He’s not gonna lie, he is quite the popular guy in his high school back in Busan, even in his college in Seoul. He had a few relationships, but it never worked out for him. It was too early in his opinion. So now, when he finally has income, he’s looking forward to finding that perfect one, at least, that’s what he tells himself.

Jimin opens the door and is greeted by the cold morning air. After warming up, he starts jogging. As usual, he always runs a kilometer or two a day, depending on his mood. Once, when he was too stressed, he ran five. He swore, through his aching muscles, that he’ll never do it again. He enjoys morning runs because at this time of the day, he can witness the sunrise. The sky is painted with pastel colors and he is always left in awe at the beauty of the morning. It’s so beautiful that he wanted to paint it, but Jimin is a frustrated painter. Besides, he already has a career so he’s content with just seeing the beauty of it with his own eyes.

When he finally finishes his two kilometer run, he drops by on the park as usual. He bought some water and drinks a little when he feels a buzz on his pocket. He takes out his phone and sees his best friend calling him. He accepts the call, “Hello?”

“JIMINNIE!!!!” came Hoseok’s voice, booming from the speakers.

Jimin has to distance his poor ear from his phone to avoid some injuries, but he chuckles, “Hey, Hobi. How’s it going, man?”

“Where are your honorifics? Show some respect to your elders,” the older guy reprimands jokingly. They disregard the honorifics a long time ago, but Hoseok always jokingly brings it up whenever he can. “Anyway, I’m good. What about you?”

“I’m great. Just finished my morning run,” Jimin responds, drinking up some more water.

“That’s good because I was wondering...can you drop by the pet shop?”

Jimin stops his tracks. “Now?”

“No, tomorrow,” Hoseok answers sarcastically. “Of course now! Why would I be calling if it isn’t urgent business, you idiot!”

Jimin snickers at that. “Alright, I’ll just go home and get changed.”

“Sure thing. Just be sure to come as early as possible,” Hoseok says. “I’ll be going now, and TaeTae says ‘hi’ by the way.”

“Awww, tell him I miss my ‘soulmate’,” Jimin teases, earning a grumble from the other end.

“One, okay I’ll tell him you miss him, two, he is not your soulmate. Get your own, Taehyung is taken,” Hoseok returns. “I really gotta go now, Taehyungie is begging for my attention.”

“Yeah, whatever, you two are so in love I’m gonna puke rainbows.”

Hoseok laughs, “Jealous much? THEN GET LAID OR SOMETHING! But moreover, GET YOUR LAZY HERE!”

“Alright, alright, geez... I’ll see you later.” And with that, he hangs up.

Jimin goes back to his apartment for a quick shower. When he’s finished, he puts on a black tank top, a blue jacket, jeans, and sneakers. He pushes back his blonde hair as he looks at himself in the mirror. He doesn’t look that bad. He grabs all the things he needs: cellphone, wallet and keys, then exits the apartment building. Thankfully, the pet shop is just a few blocks away so he doesn’t have to rush. When he reaches the shop, he knocks on the glass door. A few moments later, it opens. “Oh, Jiminnie~!!!”

“Hey, Tae,” Jimin flashes him his infamous eye-smile.

His fellow 95-liner hugs him tightly. Jimin just chuckles, ruffling Tae’s hair endearingly. “C’mon, let’s hurry before the shop’s opening time! Hobi’s inside,” Tae grabs his hand and pulls him in the shop.

They go to further until they reach the fenced space where Hoseok is. He seems to be deep in thought when they stand next to him. “Hoseokkie, Jiminnie’s here~” Tae says enthusiastically.

That snaps Hoseok out of his trance. Slowly, he smiles, holding out his fist. Jimin smirks, fist bumping with his best friend. “So, what’s the urgent business that my presence is required?” the blonde asks.

Hoseok points out inside the fenced area. “He is the urgent business.”

Jimin follows his gaze and soon enough, his eyes catch the sight of a sleeping retriever. He looks around and realizes that the dog is all alone. It seems that all his companions have a new owner, and he’s the only one left. Then it’s like the gears in his brain clicked and he understood what was happening. “Are you trying to have me adopt him?” he asks, although he’s quite sure what the answer will be.

“Yes,” Hoseok answers quietly. “Actually there were two of them at first. The other one is a poodle. Yesterday, the little guy found his new owner, who is by the way as cute as he is, thanks to Tae who convinced him to adopt cute little Miri. So we thought that maybe...you could give this a shot as well.”

At that moment, Jimin can’t take his eyes off the poor dog. It’s like he’s drawn to him for some reason. Jimin had a dog once, but it died when he was back in high school. Since then, Jimin didn’t adopt one because he said he couldn’t take care of it due to busy schedules. But now, he has this sudden urge to take care of this lone wolf. “But does the dog even like me?” he asks.

“Why don’t you get in there and see for yourself?” Hoseok says, pushing the blonde male towards the fence.

“Watch it,” Jimin glared at him. The couple freezes for a second before relaxing when Jimin smiles. “Don’t push me, okay?”

Angry Jimin is never nice.

The blonde enters the fenced space and slowly walks towards the dog. Probably noticing the presence, the retriever opens its eyes and immediately looks at Jimin. They make eye contact, but neither of them move. The retriever then stands up, stretches, and drinks some water from the bowl near it. Afterwards, it proceeds to go in front of Jimin with wary steps, eye contact never breaking. Jimin takes a hesitant step forward, invading the dog’s space, but the dog lets him. Then he gently pats the head of the dog, and the retriever responds by his hand. At this, the couple sighs in relief. “ing finally,” Hoseok smiles triumphantly. “We don’t have to worry about getting him an owner anymore, and we got more room for the new arrivals.”

Jimin just smiles contentedly as the dog leans in to his touch. “Say, hi, Jimin,” Tae suddenly says, doing the typical bow to make the blonde understand what he meant.

“Oh...uh...okay?” Jimin faced the dog and hesitantly bows. “Hello.”

The dog quickly dips its upper body down as if bowing as well. Jimin laughs, “He’s so cute. I think I’ll call him Poly.”

“Poly?”

“Yeah, Poly,” Jimin grins, kneeling and ruffling the dog’s fur. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Poly? Such a good boy.”

“He’s pretty good at handling dogs,” Taehyung whispers to his boyfriend who just chuckles.

“He is...but not just dogs, Tae,” Hoseok implies with a mischievous smirk.

The two end up giggling at their erted thoughts, failing to notice that Jimin already left the fence with Poly following him. “Can I take him home now?” Jimin asks.

“Yeah, we just need a few things that needs to be done.”

After everything’s in order, Jimin brought Poly home. He insists on setting up Poly’s things alone because his apartment is chaotic as . After his installation, Jimin sits on the couch and glances at his watch. “Hmm, it’s still eight in the morning. What should I do?”

Just then, Poly snuggles up to his side. He pets the dog’s head and smiles fondly. Poly’s a good dog and well trained, which he is grateful for. Otherwise, the dog would be trashing the whole place just like what his previous dog did. “Maybe, I should get some breakfast,” Jimin says. “Would you like some breakfast too, Poly?”

Poly wags his tail, barking in excitement as if answering a “Yes, of course!” to his question. Jimin chuckles, going to the kitchen and heating up some leftover pizza he had the night before. He knows his mom will scold him if she ever found out about his not so healthy breakfast, but she isn’t here now, is she? When the microwave beeps, he immediately gets the pizza out and places it on the counter. Then, he puts Poly’s food on his blue bowl with his vitamins. “Eat well,” he says, smiling as Poly chows on his food.

Jimin eats too, glancing occasionally at his new companion. His heart warms at the sight of Poly. The thought of him all alone in the pet shop just won’t sit well with him. It’s a good thing Hoseok and Tae convinced him to do this, otherwise, Poly might never find the owner that he can connect with easily. When Poly finishes his breakfast, he nudges Jimin’s leg and sits by his feet, awaiting orders. Jimin can’t help but chuckle. “You look cute there, buddy,” Jimin says. “Just wait a little bit, okay?”

Poly lies down, patiently waiting for his master to finish. Once Jimin’s done, he takes the leash and collar, crouching down. “What do you say we take a walk?”

The dog barks excitedly, Jimin’s face with joy. Back at the pet store, Hoseok hinted that Poly loves outdoor activities. That’s a good thing for them both since they need the exercise too. Jimin puts the collar on the retriever’s neck then attaches the leash. Once that’s done, he leads the dog out of the apartment. The sun is already high up, but it’s okay. The park isn’t that far from the apartment so Jimin walks with Poly there.

Once they reach it, they see someone familiar. “Oh, Jin hyung!” Jimin calls out to the older.

Jin hears him, a smile forming on his lips. “Hey, Jimin,” he greets back. “Looks like you have a dog now, too.”

“Yeah, his name is Poly. I only got him today,” Jimin says, petting Poly’s head proudly. “Poly, this is Jin hyung. Say hi.”

The dog quickly bows to Jin, surprising the older. “He knows some tricks already! Smart dog you got.”

Jimin agrees. “He’s been doing well for his first few hours with me.”

“Ahh, good for you,” Jin sighs. “Meanwhile, Adam is being as stubborn as ever.”

At the mention of the name, Jimin notices the stylish dog beside Jin. It seems to be bored out of its mind. “Seems like he’s having the time of his life,” Jimin chuckles.

“Yeah, Adam’s like this everyday,” Jin rolls his eyes. “It’s like he’s always saying, ‘Oh, look at me, I’m so handsome and gorgeous! I am kissed and hugged by a handsome guy who happens to be my owner and you can’t do anything about it. Losers.’”

Jimin snickers, trying not to laugh out loud because people are starting to pour in. Just then, Jin says, “Jimin, what is the name of ‘really’ when it becomes a person?”

The blonde raises an eyebrow before shrugging. “What?”

“JINjja,” then comes Jin’s windshield wiper laugh. Jimin’s eye twitches and he bites his lip, preventing a loud laugh from escaping. “Oh, I have one more,” Jin says when he calms down. “What happens if ‘hajima’ grows up?”

“What?”

“He will become ‘hajiMAN’!” Jin laughs so loud that some people are starting to look their way. “Okay, okay, last one. How can you tell a frog and a toad apart?”

Oh no, Jimin gets the feeling he cannot escape this joke anymore. “How?”

“The frog says, ‘Ribbit! Ribbit!’ but the toad says, ‘Rub it! Rub it!’”

That was it for Jimin. He laughs out loud, joining Jin’s funny one. But too much laughter caused Jin to accidentally let go of Adam’s leash. Adam immediately bolts away. Good thing Jimin noticed. “Oh, ! Jin hyung, it’s Adam!”

Jin looks to the side to see his handsome dog running away. “Adam-ah? Adam-ah! ADAM-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!” he shouts, running after the dog.

“Poly, come on!” Jimin and Poly runs after them. The chase continues for a minute until Jin is exhausted. He halts only to see Jimin and Poly pass by him. “We’ll bring him back, hyung!”

Even when they’re running, Jimin shouts instructions to his dog. “Poly, listen carefully! I want you to block Adam and chase him back here to me. Then we’ll catch him!”

He isn’t sure if Poly understood every word, but he unhooks the leash and watches Poly bolt after Adam. Surprisingly, Poly did exactly as he was told. He overtakes and blocks Adam before he can reach the end of the park. Seeing the larger dog causes Adam to panic so he turns back, heading towards Jimin. The latter gets ready. “Okay, three, two, one...!”

With all his strength, Jimin tackles Adam to the grass. The smaller dog tries to escape, but Poly immediately grabs Adam’s leash in his mouth. Jimin smiles, ruffling his dog’s fur as a thank you. “Jimin! Poly! Are you all okay?!” Jin asks worriedly as he finally catches up to them.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Jimin grins. “That was kinda fun! And Poly is a good boy! So smart!”

“Yeah, not fun for me though,” Jin says, picking up Adam. “You’re making so much trouble for me, you know that? I almost lost you!”

Adam whimpers, looking so dejected and sad. Jin softens his expression. “Tsk...be glad Jimin and Poly are here to save you,” he mumbles, hugging his dog. “I can’t afford to lose you, Adam, it’ll break my heart.”

Jimin smiles at the sight, pulling his own dog closer to him. “See that, Poly? They’re family. They love each other no matter what happens. Just like you and I, we’re family too.”

Poly seems to agree and Jimin’s face, giving him doggy kisses. The blonde just laughs, kissing the top of Poly’s head. “I love you too, buddy.”