Final.
A Boy's Best Friend
Trudging through the knee deep snow, a shivering eight year old Sehun wraps a scarf around his face to keep warm. He missed his bus again. Sehun sighed as he continued to walk home, his dark brown hair covered in little specks of white snowflakes. A small pout forms on Sehun’s face after he slips on a patch of ice on the sidewalk, falling painfully onto his bum.
“Owwiee.”
Struggling, Sehun toddles back and forth before he finally gets up to his feet again; His tongue sticking out from working so hard. Sehun stops momentarily from patting the snow off of his pants when he hears whimpers coming from the alleyway up ahead. His parents have always reminded him to avoid shortcuts and the alleyway but curiosity got the better of him. Walking towards the alleyway, a small box catches Sehun’s attention. The whimpers are coming from inside. Although afraid, Sehun’s little mitten covered hands reach over and pulls the lid off of the box. A baby Labrador Retriever is situated inside of the box. Sehun’s light brown eyes lit up while staring at the puppy, a small smile gradually forming on his pale face. It was the most adorable animal he has ever laid his eight year old eyes on.
“Poor guy, you must so cold!” Sehun takes his scarf off wraps it around the pup before closing the lid. He picks up the box and heads home, his tiny feet gliding on ice every now and then but never did he let the box fall from his hands.
“Haneul!!!” Sehun hands are resting on his hips as he waits for his dog to get here, Sehun is not amused. His dog seems to realize this and slows down as he gets closer to Sehun. The ten year old points at the mess on his floor angrily.
“What did I say about bringing grass into the house?! Omma is allergic!” Sehun pulls his dog lightly by the collar and places him at the corner of their shared room. “Don’t even think about moving from this spot until I say so! You have to think about what you did wrong!”
Sehun blows his bangs away from his face angrily before grabbing a plastic bag to put all the grass and dirt in. He hears Haneul whimpering slightly and he flashes him a quick glare.
“Be quiet! Hyung is not happy with you right now!” Haneul stops whimpering almost immediately. Sehun is rarely ever angry but when it comes to disciplining Haneul on things involving his parents, Sehun becomes extremely strict.
“Sehun! Take Haneul out for a walk or something, you’ve been cramped up in your room on the computer all day!” Sehun groans and grabs the blue leash sitting on his desk. It’s not that he doesn’t like walking Haneul; he’s just got a lot of other things to do lately. For a thirteen year old, the internet can become quite a distraction.
“Okay!” Sehun snaps his fingers twice and heads to the front door with Haneul trailing behind him. He puts his shoes on quickly then clips the leash onto Haneul’s collar. He almost forgot to bring a plastic bag when Haneul nudges the cupboards.
“Oh right! I almost forgot, imagine the mess I’d be in if you took a number two on someone’s lawn!” Sehun laughed and took a black plastic bag before going outside. He looks around the neighborhood while talking to Haneul.
“Hey, let’s go visit the alleyway where I found you, it’s been a while.” The sun is shining brightly onto the two friends as they made their way to the place where they first met. Sehun remembers the exact spot and place his hand onto the concrete. He then proceeds to from a small box with his hands.
“I can’t believe you fit in a box that small before, look at you, you’re huge now!” Sehun continued to talk to Haneul while petting him and ruffling the hair on his tummy, his own eyes turning into two small slits from how much he smiled. He’s glad to have found Haneul on that snow day even if it did mean begging his parents to let him keep the freezing puppy.
Sehun plopped onto his bed and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. They just don’t get it. Sehun remains lying down when he feels the weight on his bed shift, he looks over and sees a concerned look on Haneul’s face. Sehun’s expression softens and pets Haneul’s head lightly, even at fifteen Sehun never fails to show his affection for his dog.
“Here to cheer hyung up?” Haneul Sehun cheeks lightly, causing Sehun to smile. “I knew I could always depend on you. You think hyung should pursue his dreams too right?”
Soaked. Sehun’s shirt is completely drenched in sweat as he looks at the mirror, watching his movements closely to spot mistakes. Yixing and Jongin are the only other people left dancing in the practice room now. The music stops and Sehun falls onto the floor, panting for air.
“Woah, take it easy Sehun. You’ve been here since the morning, go home and get some sleep. Yixing hyung and I will help you out with the last two steps another time okay?” Sehun nods weakly and gets up, grabbing his bag and water bottle.
“Bye, I’ll see you guys tomorrow then.” Sehun waves at his hyung’s lightly before turning his back on them, walking out of the SM building.
By the time Sehun gets home it’s midnight, his mother is standing by the staircase looking at him with worry.
“Sehun hun, don’t overwork yourself.”
“I know omma, don’t worry. I’m sixteen; I know how to take care of myself. It’s not like anyone is forcing me to do this either, I really do like training.”
“Alright, just make sure you don’t get hurt or anything. And go take a shower, you smell worse than a wet Haneul.” Sehun chuckled at his mom’s terrible attempt to crack a joke.
“Got it! You should stop waiting for me to come home as well omma, you have work in the morning, get some sleep.”
“I know, I know, goodnight Sehun.”
“Night mom.”
Sehun makes his way to his room and laughs at the sight in front of him, Haneul is sprawled across the floor with a bone in his mouth. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for him as well. Sehun kneels down and pets Haneul lightly before grabbing his pajamas and a towel to the washroom.
“Night bud.”
“Joonmyun, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, Jongin and-” Sehun held in his breath as he waited for the last name, come on! Please!!!
“Sehun!” Sehun releases a loud gasp after hearing his name, he made the cut!
“Congratulations, the six of you have been chosen to be part of EXO-K! You’ll start living in the dorms together starting next week!” The six members of K along with the six members who were chosen for M previously huddled together and got into a group hug. They were cheering and high fiving each other but stopped the moment they looked over at their fellow trainees who didn’t make the cut.
Words of encouragement were passed around the room to those who didn’t pass while congratulations were shared with those who did.
Sehun went home with a giant smile plastered on his face that day, his parents were both at work so Haneul would be the first one to know. He threw his bag down and sprinted into his room the moment he got home.
“Haneul! Hyung made the cut!” Haneul began to bark loudly from Sehun’s enthusiasm. Sehun spread his arms out and waited for Haneul to jump. Although he’s gotten quite big now, Sehun still manages to catch the big guy. “You’re happy for me too hey?” Sehun laughed as he ruffled the hair on Haneul’s back.
Burying his hands into his face, Sehun lets his tears fall. It’s been a terrible day, he can’t seem to get the dance right.
“Sehun, it’s okay, you’ll get it down soon! We still have time!” Sehun shook his head and continued to cry, ignoring Suho’s words of reassurance. He’s been trying to perfect this dance for two weeks now, there’s only another week left before he has to film the teaser.
“I can’t get it right! The fact that I can’t do the dance cause of this chair is infuriating!” Sehun then proceeds to kick the chair, causing himself pain in the process.
“Argh!” Sehun falls to the floor and stairs at himself in the mirror.
“Go home for the day.” Sehun looked up at Suho, eyes wide.
“Home?”
“Yeah, go home. Taking the day off with your parents might do you some good; I’ll cover for you when I go back to the dorms.”
“Really? You’d do that for me hyung?”
“Yes, I’m not your leader and guardian for no reason! Now shoo before I change my mind!” Sehun jumped up from his spot and threw his arms around Suho before sprinting out of the room.
“Thank you hyung!!!!” Suho chuckled at the sight of his maknae running out of the practice room.
Taking out his keys for the first time in eight months, Sehun opens the door to his house.
“Omma. Appa, Haneul! I’m home!” Loud barking could be heard in the distance along with the patting of soft feet. Before Sehun could even take of his shoes, Haneul tackled Sehun and showered his faces with light .
“Haha, Haneul you’re tickling me! You missed hyung hey? I missed you too.” Sehun got up to his feet and motioned for Haneul to follow him back to his room. “I guess omma and appa are still at work hey? How about I take you out for a walk?” Sehun grabbed the leash sitting on his desk and clipped it onto Haneul’s collar. Sehun then proceeds to tell Haneul about the problems he's been experiencing as a trainee and a member of EXO.
"I feel like I'm letting the rest of the team down whenever I mess up. Do you think I'll end up doing alright for the filiming?" Sehun kneeled down and pet Haneul lightly.
“Nervous?” Sehun was breathing heavily in the waiting room; their showcase is going to start in an hour.
“Yeah, how about you hyung?” Luhan grabbed a seat next to Sehun and nodded.
“Absolutely terrified.” The two friends talked while the other members got their makeup done, Sehun and Luhan were the first to finish.
Once the showcase was over Sehun and the rest of the EXO members waited for the stadium to clear out before heading out back. Out of the corner of his eye’s Sehun saw his parents unleash Haneul from the pet waiting zone outside. Due to the fact that the members of EXO-M couldn’t have their parents there to watch them everyone in EXO-K decided they’d not see their parents backstage either. As brother’s they’ll share each other’s pain with one another but of course their parents were still in the audience. Sehun stopped in his tracks and waved at his parents and Haneul. His parents gave him a thumbs up while Haneul barked in response causing Sehun to smile.
“Hyung will see you soon bud.”
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