1

“Sugar. Spice. And everything nice. Those were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little –”

“Dongwoo, are you watching Powerpuff Girls again?”

Dongwoo looks away from the television, beaming. “Yup! Want to join?”

There’s a raised brow followed by a small amused smile, but Sungjong does eventually sit down next to Dongwoo.

“Sure, why not?”

 

 

 

2

A loud rumble sounds. Howon looks up; Sunggyu already has his hands up in a defensive position.

“It’s not me –”

Howon gives him a dry look.

“I’m lying on your stomach, do you think I won’t realise you’re lying?”

Sunggyu grins sheepishly. “Okay, fine, yeah, I’m hungry. But it’s late and it’ll take too long to order takeout and I’m too lazy to move and –”

“Is that your way of telling me to cook for you?” Howon asks, amused. He doesn’t actually move from his position though, and Sunggyu pouts a little.

“Come on, are you going to let your boyfriend stay hungry? Cook me some ramyeon at least? Please?”

Howon snuggles further up against Sunggyu’s belly, contemplating for a moment, but Sunggyu lets out a soft pleading whine, and he relents.

“Fine, fine. I’ll cook it for you. But honestly, you can do it yourself perfectly fine, why do you need me to do it?”

Sunggyu shoots him a charming smile from where he’s still lying on their sofa.

“Because you make tastier ramyeon?”

Howon rolls his eyes.

 

 

 

3

Sungyeol’s holding a packet in hand, wondering when he should try this. Maybe later tonight, if he’s not feeling too sleepy, he thinks, but a sound comes from behind him, and he quickly shoves the packet into the nearest drawer.

“What are you doing, Sungyeol?”

Sungyeol tries to put on a neutral face, hoping his brother won’t notice that he was startled.

“Um, nothing? Just looking for something to eat?”

Sunggyu idly rubs his head, blinking. “Oh.” Sungyeol thinks he’s going to just walk out (and let him reexamine his packet in peace) but then Sunggyu says, “Well, I’m hungry too, why don’t you make some food and I can see if we still have rice?”

Sungyeol eyes the drawer from the corner of his eye, but figures he won’t be able to get to it without Sunggyu getting curious about the contents of the packet. He should just go along with Sunggyu, and hope his brother would leave him alone once dinner is settled.

“R-right. Let’s hurry up and make dinner, eh? I’m really famished.”

Sunggyu laughs.

“You and me both, you and me both.”

 

 

 

4

Howon doesn’t even bother to switch on the lights, Sunggyu thinks, but he’s not going to dictate how his boyfriend cooks, especially not when he thinks any comment on his part would mean said boyfriend would just complain that he’s being fussy and bossy and that he should just “cook the damn ramyeon himself”. So Sunggyu keeps his mouth shut, watching Howon move around the kitchen, setting a pot of water to boil and opening the drawer to get ramyeon. He tries not to comment on how Howon only dumps the seasoning powder into the pot, not bothering with any extra ingredients like onions or even an egg, instead focusing on how he’s actually getting fed without having to move.

It’s one of the benefits of having Howon move in with him, Sunggyu thinks, amongst other things. Though some of these other things are kind of hindered by the fact that Sungyeol still stays in a room in his apartment although at least their maknae, Sungjong, has already moved out. Sunggyu’s wondering if he can find a way for Sungyeol to stay elsewhere (maybe he can move in with Sungjong?) when Howon suddenly yells from the kitchen –

“What the hell!”

Howon’s standing really far from the stove, his body language tense even from the back. Sunggyu quickly gets up. When he gets to the kitchen, he sees why Howon reacted as loudly as he did.

There’s a puppy in the pot.

 

 

 

5

Sungjong likes the freedom that comes from in his own apartment, but sometimes, he kind of feels lonely. It’s on one of these lonely nights that he decides to dig out his old textbooks, and halfway through laughing at his old notes, he comes across something interesting.

 

 

 

6

“I swear to god I only opened the ramyeon packet, dumped in the seasoning and noodles like I was supposed to. I have no idea why or how the puppy appeared in the pot,” Howon explains frantically while he tries to switch off the stove without getting too near to the pot (or the puppy). Sunggyu stands frozen with wide eyes by the side, mouth agape.

“H-how… Why… Is that a real puppy?”

Howon peers at the pot where previously there was only water, seasoning and ramyeon noodles.

“I have no clue. It made a whimper which was why I opened the lid, and it was just… there. But it made a sound, so I guess it must be real?”

As if on cue, the puppy blinks, making a soft yip and Howon takes an unconscious step back.

“Hyung… maybe we should… take it out of the pot?”

Sunggyu looks between the pot and Howon.

“You do it.”

Howon frowns at him.

“I’m… still kind of scared of dogs,” Sunggyu starts, and Howon sighs. For once, Sunggyu isn’t really lying (not like the way he had about his stomach), so Howon ends up walking towards the pot. He’s not sure how the puppy is still alright when the pot had been boiling ramyeon earlier, but the puppy seems fine when he gingerly scoops it out.

“It’s so small,” he mumbles. He can almost hold the puppy with just one hand, though he cradles it between both because he’s kind of scared he’ll drop it. Sunggyu stays an arm’s length away, eyeing the puppy suspiciously.

“It seems real.”

“The pup?” Howon hesitantly runs a finger along the fur on the puppy’s back, the little thing wriggling slightly under his touch.

“Yeah…” Sunggyu replies. “What are we going to do with it?”

The puppy’s pawing Howon’s shirt now, and he adjusts his hold so he’s cradling the puppy in his arms instead of just holding it in his hands. It’s a nice warm weight, surprisingly obedient.

“I don’t know. Do you think we should bring it to the police or a shelter or something?”

Sunggyu frowns, thinking. “I guess so. We can’t have a puppy here.”

Howon pulls the puppy’s paw off his chest where its nails are digging in, humming thoughtfully.

“Well, unfortunately both places are closed right now. What should we do with it in the mean time?”

It takes a while, but eventually Sunggyu sighs.

“I guess we can leave it in the living room and you can put something around it for barriers while I hide in the bedroom until morning.”

Howon raises his eyebrows, amused.

“Well, that’s one way.”

 

 

 

7

The first time Sungjong tries the set of instructions he had copied years ago, nothing happens. The second time he decides to add a little more sugar and his pot almost exploded. The third time is a half-hearted last-ditch attempt, a pinch of cinnamon added instead of sugar and Sungjong doesn’t expect anything to happen, but for some reason, something went right.

A weird sound comes from the pot, halfway between a chirp and a squeak. Sungjong blinks in surprise. Then, his apartment door beeps, the code entered correctly, and Sungyeol walks in.

“Jongie!” And then, a second later, “Wait, what is that in your pot? Are you cooking a –”

“Hyung, wait, I can explain.”

 

 

 

8

Howon’s only just finished the cushion fort around the living room, stripping his shirt off before he gets into bed when he hears scratching on the door.

“Is it the puppy?” Sunggyu asks, mostly hidden under the blanket, only his eyes peeking out. He looks kind of scared, and Howon doesn’t know whether he should laugh or not. Here was a grown man, many times bigger than the tiny pup outside and he’s hiding from the little thing. Pulling the covers over, Howon snuggles up next to Sunggyu, head resting on Sunggyu’s chest.

“Well, I already put all the cushions from the sofa around it and –”

Howon’s barely halfway through his sentence when their bedroom door parts slightly, a small yip announcing the arrival of an unwelcomed guest.

“You didn’t close the door properly,” Sunggyu complains, scooting to the far end of the bed, but it doesn’t work because the puppy somehow manages to climb its way onto the bed, and on Sunggyu’s side. “Oh my god, why’s it here?”

Howon laughs. “Maybe it likes you.”

Sunggyu frowns at him, trying to coax the puppy over to Howon’s side of the bed, or maybe back to the floor, but the puppy just lies down by Sunggyu’s feet. Howon watches Sunggyu eyes the sleeping puppy, clearly contemplating what to do.

“Hyung, just let it sleep. It’s only at your feet. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Sunggyu throws him a side eye, but Howon merely puts an arm around Sunggyu’s waist, already cuddling up to sleep.

“Come on, it’s a poor little thing, just let it sleep. We’ll bring it to the shelter or something tomorrow.”

Howon feels Sunggyu thinking it over, but eventually he relents.

“Fine, but this is all on you if it attacks me in my sleep.”

Howon would roll his eyes if they weren’t already closed.

“Mm, sure…”

 

 

 

9

Sunggyu drops by Sungjong’s apartment one day while Sungjong’s not in. He wonders when his baby brother bought a pet lizard. Well, at least it’s not a dog. He’s scared of dogs. He leaves the groceries he bought for Sungjong in his fridge, and goes home afterwards. He’ll have to remember to ask Sungjong about his new pet.

 

 

 

10

There’s a weird feeling against his arm. Howon blurrily opens one eye, expecting it to just be Sunggyu’s hair or something brushing his skin, but the puppy’s right in front of him.

Against Sunggyu’s chest.

And Sunggyu’s arms are around it, instead of over Howon’s waist like it usually is.

“What the hell, puppy,” Howon mumbles, moving back a little so he doesn’t get a mouthful of fur. His sleep-addled brain vaguely registers that it’s pointless to talk to a puppy (and a sleeping one at that), but Howon’s feeling annoyed that he lost his usual spot. He kind of regrets letting the puppy onto the bed now.

“Talk about ungrateful.”

He rolls onto his back, a little cold now that he’s not spooned against Sunggyu but he tries to go back to sleep nonetheless.

“Damn pup. You’re going to the shelter the first thing tomorrow.”

 

 

 

11

Sungyeol is, despite how he usually behaves, sharp, and his gaze is surprisingly scary. Sungjong can’t think of a good reason to explain why he has a bearded dragon in his pot (at least, that’s what he thinks it is), and he ends up blurting out the truth. Instead of surprise, or any other similar sort of reaction that Sungjong was expecting, Sungyeol ended up saying –

“Huh.”

He had thought that was the end of that, but then Sungyeol suddenly has a glint in his eye.

“Jongie.”

That tone doesn’t sound good.

“…yes?”

“Can you make one for me too?”

 

 

 

12

It’s been a while since Howon’s awaken by being kicked off the bed. He sits on the floor for a moment, disoriented, before getting up, ready to rip Sunggyu a new one for kicking him but he’s surprised by what he sees on the bed.

There’s a man tangled in the sheets with Sunggyu.

A  stranger.

 

 

 

13

There’s an arm, too warm on his waist when Sunggyu stirs awake. He blurrily opens his eyes, expecting to see Howon, but instead what he gets is a face full of hair, and a weird gasping sound that comes from a little further.

A little further. Where Howon is standing. Where he is not on the bed.

Sunggyu is suddenly wide awake, scooting up too fast from whoever had been cuddled against him.

“What the .”

He’s holding the blanket against his chest, aware on some level that it’s useless against the stranger on his bed, but Sunggyu’s mind is on other things. Other things like –

“Who are you?”

Howon’s voice is loud enough that the guy with messy hair stirs, and now that he’s awake, Sunggyu notices something he hadn’t earlier.

“Why – Are those …dog ears on your head?”

 

 

 

14

Sungyeol ends up drinking with Sunggyu after they made dinner together, getting buzzed enough to forget about the packet he had stashed in Sunggyu’s kitchen. He intends to get it the next morning, but then he gets an urgent call fro