It had been about one month since Daniel had permanently moved into Seongwoo’s apartment. Seongwoo was still working at his dead-end job at the time and he was at home often. Daniel was only working part-time back then. Although they had been living together off and on for months, it was a whole different story once it was official somehow.

For one, Daniel came with a lot of baggage he hadn’t considered, mostly physical. The mess thatthe human had once upon a time long ago seen in his room was transferred to his entire place, especially in his bedroom. Seongwoo was a person that disliked clutter as it made his mind chaotic which brought him unnecessary stress. He held it in for a month, cleaning up silently while inwardly muttering complaints and curses because he didn’t want to nag Daniel and disturb their harmony. Besides the mess popping up like a ribbon pulled out of a hat in a magic show that just never ended and that Seongwoo was doing 90% of the housework, they were extremely happy.

“One more day, you can hold your temper just one more day, Ong. Remember, he is just a literal puppy who has always lived like this. You agreed to be more flexible so that he can be comfortable. A bit of a mess is no big deal. Lots of people live like this. It’s better if you do the chores too, remember? He might get hurt or break something…”

This was his mantra every morning as he got ready for work and looked at the clutter or tripped over something Daniel left laying around, nearly falling on his face. He did the laundry and dishes, took the garbage and recycling out, cooked breakfast and left a plate in the fridge. Then he would get himself impeccably washed, styled, and dressed in a crisp suit and neck-tie, his hair neatly combed and gelled.

The entire time, Daniel would be passed out in their bed. He could put a giant speaker next to his head and blare rock music and the shifter was unlikely to wake up. It was an astounding talent, if you thought of it positively. Seongwoo these days was thinking of it more as an annoyance that made his eyebrow twitch continuously.

“Just once, how nice it would be if he were to wake up and volunteer to help me out with the chores. It’s like he doesn’t realize I’m the one doing this. He just thinks some fairy comes in and magics it all done, I guess.”

Seongwoo considered it the fault of his mother and housemates. They hadn’t been harsh or strict on him. They had either pitied him or pampered him, taking most of the chores on themselves and figuring he was okay as long as he was eating properly and not getting into trouble. He had not been properly nagged.

Seongwoo was considering the idea of possibly making a weekly duties chart like he had had when he was younger with his sister and parents. The house had been kept clean, it was an organized system they changed every month so that no-one got stuck with some chore they truly hated permanently, and they had also gotten rewards. He could give Daniel rewards for doing his share, whatever the shifter wanted at any expense.

He might finally let Daniel go skydiving with proper professional guidance. He might let him have two packs of jellies per week. He might take him to the beach though he disliked the sand and salty wind. He might buy him a proper video camera and star in his home-made videos on occasion. He might play on the play station every here and there.

“Ouch! Dammit! What’s that?”

Seongwoo was walking towards the kitchen in the dark around 6 am when he stubbed his toe on something hard and plastic. He grabbed his aching foot, cursing and grumbling as he hopped to where the light switch was. He glared down the hallway. The culprit was a plastic nerf gun, the neon orange foam bullets discarded on the floor. On the wall was a piece of paper on which Daniel had drawn a circular target with various points.

“So he was playing soldier again last night. That’s what the thumping noise was. Ah, Niel, what to do with this choding…” he sighed as he picked them up, keeping the weight off his injured foot.

He collected the bullets and put them back in the gun. He was taking them into the room when he got a strong urge to shoot it at the man laying unblanketed, sprawled like a starfish over his bed, eyes covered with a dog mask, silvery hair in disarray, pajama shirt rolled up to his chin revealing his tummy.

“Aigoo, I could just…” Seongwoo growled, clutching the gun and pointing at the shifter’s foot, one finger twitching over the trigger.

He just barely stopped himself from shooting his childish, irresponsible boyfriend who was the cause for many scratches and bruises on his once perfect, flawless, milky skin over the weeks. Seongwoo figured he would regret sinking down to the other’s level. He prided himself on being mature, understanding, forgiving and above most mischief. He hadn’t ever even liked playing games, making bets, or partying.

“You lose if you’re the one that loses your temper and follows the same behavior, Seongwoo. Don’t even go there. You’re better than that,” he told himself in a calming tone.

He put the toy in Daniel’s ‘toy box’. He had taken a slightly broken green laundry bin that he had no intentions of using anymore after he had once cut his finger on a piece of plastic sticking out and drew a puppy face on it. Inside were all kinds of things for the shifter to play with on his own accord when he grew bored, puppy form or human form. There were squeaky toys, a rope, various balls, a nerf gun, a water gun, model kits, puzzles, board games, Legos, a game boy with a case of games, virtual reality glasses you could connect your phone to, and a basketball hoop you could hang on the door. Looking at it, you would think he was raising a grade school boy rather than it being his adult boyfriend’s stuff.

Seongwoo kicked the laundry bin in offense while snarling at it, his temper rising past the previous line he had managed to stop it at.

“How did my life come to this? I know other shifters aren’t like this. Is it a dog shifter thing? Do they age ten or fifteen years slower than others? I should have met a stray cat shifter then. I bet they mature faster than humans and are loads more mature and reliable. I would be the one getting pampered and being lazy then, I suppose…”

He looked over at Daniel who had rolled onto his side, hugging a pillow that he apparently thought was Seongwoo. The shifter liked to cuddle with him often in his sleep. His super human amount of body heat had caused the human to wake up, feeling like he was in a sauna over an hour and suffocating.

“Don’t you dare be cute right now, stupid pup.”

His eyes drifted to Daniel’s feet and he thought about how the shifter was running out of clean socks. One week, he had repeatedly noticed that Daniel had many socks with holes in them that were clearly worn out and ancient. After throwing them out, there weren’t many pairs left and Seongwoo had completely forgot to go shopping for them. He looked in their top dresser drawer, seeing only two clean pairs were left.

“Better do socks and underwear. The trick is finding them all. It’s like a trainer searching for wild pokemon in the high grasses. He just tosses them on a whim anywhere and everywhere,” the human grumbled with irritation.

Seongwoo limped around the apartment, collecting miscellaneous boxers and socks and putting them in the white laundry bin where he usually put his that was marked ‘socks/undies’ for the shifter who just ignored them. There were some in the most random of places, such as behind the fridge and under the sofa and on the kitchen table.

“How did he even manage…?”

Seongwoo had spotted a sock on the ceiling fan and let out an exasperated sigh and chuckle. He could almost clap at the impressive feat if he wasn’t irritated to the max with the summer heat, his lack of sleep, and how his patience with the shifter’s antics was barely balancing warily on a tight-rope just then. He used a chair to climb up and grab it and tossed it onto the pile, judging the amount. It seemed suspiciously like less than normal.

“What did he do with the rest of these little ers?” he pondered, chewing on his lip as he felt like the heat in his body was coming out of his ears like a tea kettle.

He combed through the entire place and couldn’t find anymore.

“No, he couldn’t possibly…After all the times I’ve reminded him that it’s the WHITE one, for crying out loud…”

Sure enough, the rest of the underwear and socks he found in the blue bin marked shirts and the red bin marked jeans/pants. When he saw that, he threw down the bin on top of the dresser, seeing everything in crimson. His thinning patience had finally snapped. Daniel had never seen Seongwoo this angry. In fact, no one ever had.

He stomped to the door and the lights. Then he stomped towards the bed with the shifting blonde, hands on his waist and glaring at him murderously. He took a pillow and hit the shifter with it repeatedly until he jumped up, fully awake.

“Kang Daniel! Wake up! Right Now!”

“I’m up, I’m up! Why, why, why? What’s up?” Daniel asked, pulling down the mask to his neck and rubbing his eyes with a look of confusion and then concern when he saw Seongwoo’s red, furious face.

“You look upset…”

Seongwoo scoffed and threw the pillow into his face. Daniel caught it, putting it down on the bed, watching him with surprise. This version of Seongwoo was a first and since he couldn’t predict how he was going to act next, he couldn’t respond right away.

“I look UPSET? UPSET, you say and think. No, Daniel, I’m not just upset. Don’t you know this expression? This is what FURIOUS looks like!”

The shifter cocked his head as Seongwoo pointed to his face. He then mimicked holding a steering wheel. “You mean like Fast and Furious?”

“Yes, like that! I mean, no not really. Ugh! It means I am angry beyond belief at you!”

Seongwoo jabbed a finger into his chest. Daniel reached for it, gently taking his shaking hand in his two warm, smooth ones. He attempted an innocent smile.

“Why? What did I do? Whatever it is, I’m sorry and I didn’t mean it. You know how much I love you, hyung…”

Seongwoo melted inside and was just about to give in to his cute, sweet tricks. Daniel had a face that he could just never stay angry at for long. That had managed to keep the shifter safe from his building