"Wow," Sungjin starts, and adds

"You guys really did it," as he looks at his friends who surprisingly don't look burnt out from the week.

"Of course we did. Thanks to you, too," 

"What do you mean?" Wonpil asks,

"Nothing," Sungjin says and Jae shakes his head,

"Sungjin gave us some of his hours,"

"Ha, so you listened to me," Wonpil says, nudging Sungjin with his elbow,

"It was your idea?" 

"No, Sungjin thought of it but refused to go through with it so I threatened to go to Nakjoon myself,"

"So you do love us," Brian says and Sungjin just eats his lunch in silence before he admits,

"Just a bit."  and the boys freeze,

"D-Did Sungjin just..."

"The simulation has glitched," Dowoon comments,

"So you guys aren't gonna volunteer today?" Sungjin prompts moving on,

"We are, but not as long,"

"You have 9 hours to make up," Jae points out,

"I got 8 from Mr. Kim,"

"Really?" Dowoon asks,

"Yeah, remember that thing I did last sem?" and Wonpil thinks for a moment before laughing,

"Where he stuck you out in the hall to perform in the morning?"

"Yeah... So embarrassing." Brian says, shaking his head,

"Oh yeah!" Jae says, recalling hearing music one morning and following the sound to see his best friend performing in a corner, close to the attendance office.

"He gave you 8 for that?"

"Not just for that. We went through everything I've done since I got into the program,"

"Damn, he had that patience for you?" Sungjin asks and Brian chuckles,

"No. I said I wouldn't leave him alone until he helped me out." and Sungjin nods with a smile,

"Yeah so, we're just gonna do a quick thing today and chill, I guess,"

"Nice. How did you guys manage to gain 40 hours?"

"Connections. Also, telling our sob story after diligently working seemed to do the trick,"

"Sob story? Most teachers would tell you guys it's your fault for being irresponsible," Sungjin says,

"Yeah, most, but!" Brian swings an arm around Jae,

"When you have this soft boy with you, teachers tend to be lenient," Brian doesn't remove his hand and Jae doesn't prompt him to, saying,

"The only person we worked with that we didn't have a connection to was Ms. Kwon, so nice try. I'm not even pitiful looking!" 

"Not pity, just soft and cute, you know?" and Dowoon nods,

"I get what you mean."

"See?" and the group of friends shift topics, talking about hanging out over the weekend since Jae and Brian are done their quest for hours. Brian doesn't move his arm from around Jae till they have to leave, and he doesn't mind.

As the bell rings for the end of the day, Jae collects his things and exits his class, about to start walking to Brian's car,

"JJ!" Jae's head tilts slightly, and Brian finds that adorable - just like many other things about Jae.

"I think you're gonna enjoy today the most." he says, 

"Wait, now I'm scared,"

"That's what you said on Monday, and look at us now. Graduating," Brian replies with a proud smile,

"Gotta end this mission with a good experience, but first,"

"Hm?"

"Food." and Jae smiles, 

"Yeah, I'm done for some,"

"It wasn't a question, JJ," Brian says and they walk to his car.

They get some drive-thru, Jae feeding Brian fries as they drive to wherever because Brian won't say where. Just like last night, Jae feels like car rides after today may not feel the same. Granted, racing against time is always exciting, let alone with your crush, but Jae can't shake that feeling. It's annoying, and he starts contemplating if he should confess.

"Bri," 

"Hm?"

"How're we gonna submit these hours when the school's closed?"

"We can do it online, just scan the forms,"

"Oh okay,"

"You already reached your 40 anyway,"

"I'm talking about you~" Jae reminds,

"You know, you're always focused on me that you never include yourself." he thinks out loud and wonders if he should've said that and Brian just shows a small smile,

"Well, excuse my selflessness," he jokes and Jae ignores the nagging thought of how Brian's not always like this with the rest of their friends.

As if yesterday wasn't cute enough, Jae doesn't know if he can get through today. 

"Oh my God," he says when they get out of the car and Brian has a proud smile,

"No friggin' way... Are we really?"

"Called them earlier to ask if it was okay to volunteer a bit. Took a bit of convincing, so I skipped last period to visit in person so by the time I got permission and got back, I decided I'd just wait for you," Jae turns to look at Brian with a cutest smile on his face and Brian's excited for the rest of this.

"I didn't even know this place existed!"

"Yeah, neither did I but it was on the bulletin board so," and they enter the building.

"Hi, welcome back Brian," he gets greeted by the girl at the front desk. She's simply pretty and has a nice smile, her light brown hair tied into a near ponytail. 

"Thank you,"

"Ah, is this Jaehyung?" and Jae shakes her hand, introducing himself and he has an excited smile,

"Jinah," she says and adds,

"You seem particularly excited," with a smile, and Jae just nods and Brian laughs.

"Glad to

"Well, welcome to our daycare, today we have about 7 pups in, another one is about to come in soon," she says after giving them aprons and starts walking around the daycare. 

They go around, Jinah showing them the playroom, where the dogs were and Jae almost loses it. Grabbing Brian's arm and saying he wants to scream at how cute they are, and Brian laughs. He's glad he chose this place for Friday, he gets to see Jae smile a lot, just like this whole week. She shows them where they sleep, where they eat as well as the outdoor play pen. 

"Brian told me you guys won't be here for that long, but while you guys are here, I will ask you to help with the grooming!" and Jae almost panics,

"Don't worry, we're not asking you to cut their fur or style it or anything, just simple wash. They're all well trained dogs so you don't have to worry about them freaking out and biting you," 

"Oh okay," 

"But for now, I think you guys should get to know the pups!" she says and Jae almost jumps in excitement. 

"This is the best day ever," Jae says before practically skipping to follow Jinah, Brian stays a few steps behind, watching him with a fond smile.

They enter the playroom and immediately get surrounded by the dogs, one of them is a big samoyed named Milk that Jae wants to cuddle. There's one more big dog, a german shepherd named Sebby that takes a liking to Brian, and Jae thinks they suit each other. The rest are small dogs, a 2 pomeranian siblings named Teddy and Bear and Jae thinks that's cute, a tiny dog named bear. There's a maltese mix named Apollo,  a corgi named Coco that Brian loves running with to see her little legs at work. A bijon frise Duke, Milo who's a shih tzu, and lastly a terrier named Ace. When Jinah's done introducing the dogs, she says she'll be back because one of her coworkers just clocked in.

They're sitting down in the playroom, playing with the dogs and Jae watches as Brian plays fetch with Sebby while rubbing Coco's belly. Jae's holding Teddy and Bear close to him as he coos over how adorable they are Brian wants to tell him he's just as cute, but he just watches with a smile. Brian somehow gets involved in a game of tag with the dogs, and they start chasing him around as Jae watches, laughing, as Sebby and Milk seem to use their size to team up and trap Brian.

"Bri Bri," Jae says with a laugh when Brian's on the ground, getting by all the dogs and Sebby's even standing on his back. He looks so defeated yet so happy,

"Yeah?"

"Yesterday was great, but," and Brian smiles because he already agrees,

"Dogs over children. Any day."

"Oh, hands down," and they laugh,

"You probably only remember Hyejin, meanwhile you haven't mixed up any of their names,"

"In my defense, these are all different breeds,"

"Not Teddy and Bear," Brian counters, pointing them without bothering to distinguish which one is which,

"Teddy has a pink bow tie, Bear's is blue!" Jae points out, as if offended Brian can even confuse the 2. 

"I should get you a dog for your birthday," he says and Jae's jaw drops,

"If you did, I would love you forever."

"Sounds like a marriage proposal," Brian jokes and Jae almost blushes, calling imself lame for even feeling anything at that joke that has no substance behind it. Brian doesn't even know why he commented like that,

"Boys," Jinah says and they look, and she laughs lightly at the sight of them two just being surrounded by the pups.

"We're gonna start grooming soon, so could I ask you guys to follow me?"

"Yeah, 'course!" Brian says, getting up and Jae smiles as Brian tells Sebby he'll be right back with a weird voice that just makes the whole thing cuter. 

Jinah shows them where they bathe the dogs and Jae enjoys the sight of Brian rolling up his sleeves in preparation. There's multiple washing stations

"We usually start with the big dogs,"

"Yes! Sebby!" Brian whispers, mainly to himself and Jae laughs. 

"Since there's multiple washing stations, you guys can each do a dog or if you'd prefer, just do the same one. I'll be washing one too, and so will Minri," who they assume is the coworker who clocked in.

"Do you wanna wash together?" Brian asks and Jinah snorts, and Brian immediately tries to rephrase,

"Like, wash the-the dog, together. Wash one dog together-"

"Yeah, we'll just take one together," Jae says to Jinah and they laugh. 

They end up washing Sebby, as per Brian's request, and it's actually fun. Until they start getting childish after a few suds end up on Jae's face when Sebby shakes. Brian snorts,

"You look like Santa,"

"Funny," 

"It is," and Jae narrows his eyes, looking to make sure Jinah and Minri are busy, before he throws suds at the boy, landing on his shirt.

"Really?"

"It's funny," Jae mocks, and Brian shakes his head, saying,

"It's time to rinse Sebby," and he purposely makes the water spray on Jae who jumps at the sudden shower.

"Seriously, Brian?"

"Is it too cold for him?" Brian says and Jae says,

"Hm, I don't know, why don't you check?" and grabs the nozzle from the other side, spraying Brian. Poor Sebby is still covered in suds as the quicky childish water fight ensues. 

When Jinah checks up on them, Sebby is being rinsed and the boys' upper bodies are practically soaked

"Did Sebby shake a lot?" she asks, referring to their clothes that have stuck to their body and have gone darker in shade.

"Oh yeah," Brian says and Jae nods in agreement as he's still rinsing the german shepherd,

"Oh... Sorry about that, guys," she says,

"While you're drying off Sebby, I'll get you guys some sweaters. We have spare uniforms," 

"Oh, that's okay-"

"No, no, it's fine! Only fair. Plus, wouldn't want you guys to make a trail of water when we're done," she points out.

They move Sebby to start drying him, having an air fight then with the blow dryers because their maturity isn't at its peak yet. Brian laughs when he shoves the blow dryer in Jae's face and his bangs fly upward and he scrunches his nose, it's adorable.

"Here!" Jinah says, handing them the Doggy Daycare pullovers that are a light pink, and Brian thinks that suits Jae.

They put them on before they resume cleaning the other dogs, calling a truce of no more water fights as to not inconvenience Jinah.

After all the dogs are clean and they've been there for 2 hours already, Jinah says they should be good and Brian and Jae agree they should leave. Jae says bye to each of the dogs individually, carrying Teddy and Bear one more time as Brian and Jinah work out the forms.

"I'll put 4 for each of you,"

"Oh, really? What happened to the 'probably can't sign off more than you do'?" Brian asks, and Jinah smiles,

"As a recent graduate, I get volunteer hours... Plus, you guys really loved the dogs, so that was cute,"

"Sebby has an owner right?" Brian asks, already knowing the answer and Jinah laughs,

"Yes. He's mine,"

"Oh, what? Really?!" 

"Mhm, mine and Minri's." she says and Brian says,

"He's a cutie. I'm surprised you let us handle him,"

"I know. He's got good judgement so if he liked you guys, I could trust you too.. Oh, and I know he shakes a lot, so that's why I offered the uniforms,"

"Oh, right!" Brian says, looking down at the pink sweatshirt, 

"Do you mind if we wash these and bring them back?"

"I'd prefer you washed them before returning," she replies and Brian laughs,

"Fair."

"If you don't come back, I know what school you go to and your full names, so," she says,

"Is that a threat?"

"It will become one if those uniforms don't return," she jokes and Brian smiles, accepting the forms. 

"Thank you, Jinah! Will see you soon," 

"Thank you!" Jae adds, catching up to Brian's side as they exit.

"We made a lot of promises this week," Jae says as they're walking to the car,

"Yeah, got a lot of places to go back to. Nakjoon, the kids-"

"The dogs." Jae says, as if that's the most important and Brian nods,

"Yes, the dogs." 

Jae stretches,

"I can't believe we actually did it." 

"Of course, told you we would. Now, let's go submit these hours, hm?" 

They go to Jae's house because Brian doesn't know how to scan documents on his printer. They log into their school website using their student numbers and passwords,

"These are actually really comfortable," Jae comments, referring to the Doggy Daycare uniforms,

"I think you're biased,"

"You don't think they're comfy?"

"They are." Brian looks at Jae before returning his eyes to the screen,

"Pink suits you." and Jae just mumbles a,

"Thanks." 

When Brian submits their hours and it's confirmed they've been received by the school, they chill for a bit. 

"This week was fun,"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Each day was like a different trial," Brian says,

"I know you said this already, but I'm gonna say it back 'cause I mean it. I'm glad I was able to gain these experiences with you," Jae says, looking at him to let him know he means it. 

Brian likes Jae so much.

"Let's keep our promises from this week, yeah?"

"Yeah. Including you coming with me to the library!"

"And you sitting in on a band practice," Brian reminds and they laugh. 

Jae likes Brian so much.

Brian checks his phone,

"I should get going, leave you alone for a bit because I admit I was a bit clingy this week," he says and Jae wants to tell him he loved it, that he should just sleep over.

"Okay," is what he says instead,

"I'll text you later?"

"Yeah. Let's try and chill with the guys tomorrow," Brian says as he's slipping on his shoes and Jae nods.

Brian's gone and Jae's back up in his room, and he realizes Brian left his school account logged on because they got distracted and started arguing about which dog was the cutest from today. 

He's about to exit the tab when he notices the total amount of volunteer hours Brian has.

93.

It makes absolutely no sense until it does. Why Brian knew where to get hours, why he knew the guidance secretary was the mean one, why he knew about the forms, where to submit it outside of school hours, why he didn't care about having that 10 hour deficit. Because he didn't have a deficit. He completed his hours before Jae even had the crisis, and that causes Jae to pause and just stare. Even his initial reaction, him looking to the rest of the guys before responding "what hours" even though he was comfortable this whole week. Why he would do this this whole week, drive Jae places, skip band, find places Jae would enjoy, volunteer with him, are answers he needs to know in person.

Jae slips on his shoes, yelling at his parents that he'll be back. He's in front of Brian's door in a couple of minute, out of breath from running.

Brian opens the door, and he looks confused,

"Jae, did you run? Are you okay?"

"You already had your hours." Jae says, looking at him, and Brian pauses.

"You had your 40, you had 50, actually," 

"How'd you find out?"

"You didn't log out."

"Crap," he says under his breath.

"Why'd you do it?"

"What?"

"Do everything this week. Helped me, drove me, fed me, volunteered with me... You could've had a chill week, or could've just told me where to go, but you were by my side this whole week."

"Because I like you, Jae." Brian confesses, and Jae freezes. Brian's leaning on the doorframe,

"I like you. A lot. So on Monday when you were freaking out about everyone else knowing, I wasn't gonna add to that. Why did I stay by your side? 'Cause I like you, I like being with you, spending time with you." Jae listens, trying to process everything,

"Maybe I could've had a chill week, but that's boring compared to doing all that fun stuff with your crush." Jae's heart flutters at that word. Because he's Brian's crush.

"So yeah, I had my 50 from other things, I knew about hours, I didn't get that pink slip last week. But, as selfish as this sounds, I wanted to spend time with you this week."

"Shut up," 

"Pardon?"

"You like me."

"Yes. A lot. Not exactly how I planned on confessing, but hey, end off the week with a bang, am I right?" and things go quiet between them.

"If it makes you uncomfortable-"

"I like you too." and now it's Brian turn to listen.

"I've like you for a while so I'm happy you decided to be selfish even though it wasn't selfish at all. You helped me and were there for me during a really stressful time, and you managed to make it fun, made it feel like just an adventure everyday," 

"Glad you had fun... It was hard avoiding places I already volunteered at," Brian says and Jae smiles.

"You really like me..." Jae thinks out loud and Brian laughs,

"Yes. No offense to the guys but I definitely would not have done this for them," and Jae giggles,

"Can I admit something?" Brian says,

"Please don't let this be a cruel April Fools joke,"

"April was months ago." he replies and laughs before saying,

"Honestly, this week I fell for you harder than I knew was possible. Seeing you talk about literature, then perform music, then host bingo and talk to people about their stories, and then with kids, and today with the pups," Jae smiles at that,

"I don't know, it was like... I knew you were an amazing person, I was proud to be your best friend because of that and I like you 'cause of that, but this week really highlighted that kind of person you are. The person that I really like and would like to call my boyfriend if possible," and Jae smiles wide.

"No way this is real. I succeeded in getting 40 volunteer hours within this week and getting my crush as my boyfriend?"

"So, is that a yes?"

"Yes. Of course! Why'd you even ask, don't ask!"

"Fine, I won't ask for this then," and Jae doesn't ask what before Brian gently grabs his face and leans in, connecting their lips. They kiss for a bit, something that took too long to happen, before Jae smiles into the kiss.

"We should've done that earlier," Jae comments and Brian laughs,

"Had to make sure you were graduating first." he replies. 

"And I am, thanks to you."

"What's a best friend who's hopelessly crushing on you for if not to spend his whole week with you while making sure you get your diploma?" and they laugh. They're talking on Brian's porch as the sun sets,

"Wait so, if you hadn't left yourself logged in and I didn't find out about the hours, were you just not gonna confess?"

"No, I was going to. Ask you to prom though, not like this after just confirming your diploma and on my porch," and Jae nods,

"I feel like this is very us though."

"So, do you not want me to ask you to prom?" and Jae smacks his arm as they laugh it off.

"Hey JJ," 

"Hm?" 

"I really like you." and Jae smiles,

"I like you too."

"Let me take you on a date after the library on Sunday," and Jae blushes with a smile as he nods,

"Yeah? You'd like that?" Brian asks,

"Yes."

"Okay, good, if not I would've asked the group chat," he jokes and Jae laughs, 

"What were you gonna ask,"

"Need a date for Sunday, any takers?" he plays along and Jae raises his hand,

"I volunteer!" and Brian throws his head back in laughter, before he pushes Jae's arm down and grabs his hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Nah, we did enough of that this week. Let's focus on us." Jae looks at their fingers and smiles to himself,

"Sounds good."

THE END