Jin stares at me with the most dumbfounded of looks, a clear expression of confusion with a tinge of exasperation written on his face.

"So Y/N, let me get this straight...your solution to this hellhole of a mess you got yourself in was to buy a dog??"

My best friend stares at the wriggling ball of fur in my arms who is oh-so desperate to be put back down and smell his new best friend standing in the entrance of my apartment.

"Dude," I say as I attempt to spit out my puppy's fur from my mouth after having been slapped in the face by his tail. "This is my support animal. My emotional support animal. And if you want to get really technical, my emotional service animal. I have the paper and everything to prove it. You of all people should know that, after all I've been through, that I need a little devil like this guy here for some unconditional love and support."

My new four-legged friend whips his head around and starts chewing on my forearm,

"And maybe I'll make him a guard dog too...if I can get him to discern who to protect."

Jin drops his bag on the kitchen counter, eyeing the bottle of Zinfandel siting on the island as he helps himself to a bottle of water from the fridge.

"It looks like wine is also part of your solution," he comments as he tilts the emptier of the two bottles towards the fading light coming through the windows.

I roll my eyes and huff in exasperation, finally relinquishing control of the fuzzy ball of chaos and place him down on the floor to go and investigate the new man standing in my kitchen.

"So what Jin. Yeah, I got a dog. And I happened to get some wine at the same time. What's your point?"

He sighs as he crouches down to scratch behind the pup's ears then slowly stands up to lean against the counter.

"Y/N, you do know it's just after 6pm, and we both know that the finished bottle here," Jin gestures across the counter, "was finished within the last hour."

Still kneeling, I whip my head around to face the man leaning against my island counter, only off-handedly regretting the speed of which I performed that action as I nearly get whiplash from the motion.

"And your point is...?"

Jin pushes himself off the counter and raises his arms as if to surrender.

"Hey Y/N, I'm sorry if that came across as kinda harsh, but I'm just stating a pretty obvious fact..."

I narrow my eyes at him, knowing he isn't finished with his comment.

"...and I want you to know that I can relate and that I'm also...maybe kinda but also a-little-more-than-a-little concerned about...you?"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I lower my head in the process, my entire body suddenly feeling so weary from shame and heartbreak that I fall into a seated position. I knew he was gonna say this. I knew that if I let him come over that he'd say this. I knew that, regardless of the circumstance, he'd still find a way to say this. Hell, knowing Jin even Armageddon wouldn't stop him.

"Jin, please, I'm fine. People deal with heartbreak in different ways, right? This just happens to be how I cope."

Jin eyes my new pup, who is now playing tug-of-war against the throw blanket on the couch. He then sighs and returns his concerned gaze to me. I can't bear to make eye contact and admit he's right, so I just bite my lip and shrug.

"Who knows, maybe this little guy will be good for me," I pause, "better than that son-of-a-, piece-of- cheater who broke my heart, ran over it, then backed up and ran over it again." I muttered that last part under my breath, though it was admittedly only a half-assed attempt as Jin coughed in a poor attempt to hide a snicker.

The little tyrant, now satisfied with his self-proclaimed victory against the blanket, happily trots back to me and looks at me with the warmest of puppy of eyes I'd ever seen. I rub his head and scratch his too-big-for-his-head ears, and even Jin can't help but chuckle at the idiot pup now falling asleep next to me. He kneels down beside me and pets the little guy as well, a small smile spreading across his face.

"You know Y/N, I hate to admit it, but you might have been onto something when you adopted this little guy."

I smile softly, doing nothing but stare fondly at my little boy.

"Does he have a name yet?"

I look up, the sudden realisation that he doesn't yet have a name hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"No...no Jin he doesn't have a name, oh my god I can't realise I never gave him a name! I'm a horrible dog mom!"

I bury my face in my hands and let out fake sobs. Jin throws his head back and laughs, knowing that I'm on my way back to my normal self when I start spilling my poor sarcasm again.

"Ok Y/N, well how's this. Let's name him after...me!"

I roll my eyes and purse my lips as I smack him on the shoulder. He just erupts in another bought of laughter, oh-so humoured by his horrible joke.

"You wish, Jin."

His laughter slows down and I can tell he's falling into deeper thought.

"Ok ok. How about...Zin? Not just because it happens to rhyme with my name, though that's definitely an important reason, but more because it happens to be related your favourite type of wine that happens to coincidentally sitting on your counter."

I look down at the pup nestled against me and smile.

"Zin huh...yeah I think I can roll with that."

I look up at Jin with a smile only to see he's already looking at me with an unreadable expression. I my head in my own confusion and concern.

"Jin, you know I always try to read minds, but this time I just...is everything ok?"

He swallows hard and wets his lips. I can't help but stare at them now that they're shiny and looking oh-so kissable and I can't help but imagine them —

"Look, Y/N...ugh I know this is the most god-awful time and so stupidly cliche to be saying all of this but..."

He trails off, looking like he's debating whether to continue or not. I reach out to cup his cheek to bring his gaze back to me and try to search his eyes for the emotions he's struggling to express. I watch his eyes flit down to my lips then back up, this time searching my eyes for a kind of permission. I know exactly what he's asking, and I'm both sober enough and more than willing to give it to him.

Leaning forward, we close the gap in between us. It's a small meeting of our lips, just like a butterfly's gentle but fleeting landing on a flower. The kiss is near feather light, but even in that delicate touch I could still feel all of his emotion, and I could only hope that he could feel mine too.

Pulling away slowly, his hand meets mine that's still resting on his cheek, leaning into it before pulling it forward to kiss my knuckles. I smile at his small romantic gesture and notice how his cheeks immediately turn a rosy hue after seeing my own blushing smile.

"I...I know I hinted earlier that the drinking might not be the best solution right now, but..."

I raise my eyebrows at him as he absentmindedly plays with my fingers. He's usually so confident, so his seemingly insecure demeanour is at once so adorable and endearing but is also throwing me for a loop.

"...and Y/N I don't want to intrude or impose at all — "

I chuckle.

"Jin, since when have you ever been a burden or imposition?"

I smile as he breathes a sigh of relief.

"W-well...I mean..."

God, this boy. I hold up a fnger to his lips, deciding to put his poor soul out of its misery.

"How about we share the rest of that Zinfandel, cuddle under the blanket that 'Zin' just won his tug-of-war battle against, and just...just..."

My breath hitches in the back of my throat as now it seems to be my turn to get shy, but Jin knows me so well that he's able to pick up right where I left off.

"Let's just be. Just the two of us, together under the blanket, you laying in my arms. Just let me hold you Y/N. I want to let you feel safe and protected and cared for and loved, because I feel all of that for you."

He swallows hard, seemingly caught off guard by the words that left his lips as if his mouth suddenly had a mind of its own. Not that I care as I throw myself into his arms.

"Idiot," I mumbled into his chest.

"YAH, I heard that!"

I just smiled and pulled him up over to the couch, pausing quickly to grab the bottle of wine. I take a seat next to his already sprawled out body but apparently that's not good enough for him. He quickly sits up and pulls me to lay down with him, positioning me in such a way so that I'm laying on top of him with my head on his chest. I feel his strong arm wrap around me and pull me close. My head leaning against his chest, I can hear his racing heartbeat and pray that he can't hear mine. He reaches down and pulls the blanket over us while Zin jumps up and settles by our feet. I sigh with a kind of peace and contentment I don't know if I've ever really felt, finally feeling a safety that I never thought I'd ever feel again. Jin's hands run softly through my hair as he places a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Bet you didn't think that this could be an alternate solution to everything that happened, did you?"

I giggle quietly and just bury myself deeper into his embrace.

"Of course I didn't silly. And I bet you didn't either."

I look up to meet his smiling eyes which are mirroring the smile on his lips.

"No, I didn't really plan on this happening either. At least not in this way, since I had some other ideas for how to..."

He trails off again as if he's unsure if or how to proceed. I reach up to cup his cheek and he brings his attention back to me.

"You know what Jin," I pause as we hold each other tightly, our eyes also held in a deep embrace. "Tonight might not have had the ideal circumstances for this to come about, but as long as I'm with you..."

I pause again, feeling my cheeks flush and heartrate pick up as he pulls me impossibly tighter.

"As long as I'm with you, I'd never have any of it any other way."