[ CHAPTER 17 ]
towels

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"PLEASE not the sofa!" jeongguk exclaims, his pleads dismissed by the trio before him, all giggling and yipping as they tumble into his million dollar abode.

"to the sofa!" taehyung laughs, thrusting a finger in the direction of an ebony leather looping from the front of the winding staircase, a great black screen pinned at the walls before it.

with yeontan at his heels, he flings his thin frame against the strangely stiff pillows adorning the couch, reaching down to pull the dog up with him.

misun, however, has different plans, far less interested with the ears of the firm pillow than her friend were, prancing upon the carpeted fluff of a rug beneath a delicate glass coffee table.

"they do wash the dogs at the rescue right?" jeongguk asks, nose crinkling as he walks slowly to the couch, watching his newly adopted pet with curious eyes.

taehyung shrugs, lips quirked in a mischievous grin, "doubt it, they can barely spread the news of its friggin existence."

snorting, he nods, nibbling at his bottom lips as he watches misun now slathering herself on the rug, fur stricken in shards or raised gold, "so i have to wash her?"

"well duh."

"ugh, can't we just take her to a dog-cleaning shop?" he groans.

scoffing, taehyung leaps to his feet, a beam splitting across his face as he slips a finger under yeontan's collar, slinging the dog into his arms, "nope, that's just boring. got a tub?"

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"you could've fucking told me to wear something more waterproof and less goddamn expensive."

rolling his eyes, taehyung dismisses the younger's whines, slipping a rubbery finger behind misun's ears, "oh hush, you could but another ten of those hoodies if you wanted."

yes, jeongguk had finally donned on a shirt after his insistent groans of disgust for his state of nudeness, swapping it for a cream champion reverse sweatshirt.

"still." he insists, rubbing the tuft of white at his cheeks.

"no you don't, come back here!" taehyung giggles, reaching forward, shirt riding up in the process as he lifts an indignant misun back into the great white tub.

swallowing thickly, jeongguk diverts his gaze from the slab of honey gold hindered now by a flimsy white oversized shirt that slips dangerously from his clavicle. it was ridiculous really, he had seen completely nude women before so why when he happened to see someone he supposed he could call an acquaintance partially exposed to his eyes that his cheeks light with a bright blush, feeling a great deal more awkward and nervous.

"misun seems to enjoy it." taehyung chirps suddenly.

"huh?" he says, swivelling his gaze down to the grinning dog in his cupped palms, golden coat slathered in soap, "yeah, yeah she does."

"you good?"

his cheeks, darkening even further with the elder's concerned gaze upon him, jeongguk shakes his head, threading his finger's into misun's coat.

"yeah, tan looks like he hates it." he stammers, diverting the topic.

snorting, taehyung thankfully takes the bait and pokes his tongue out teasingly at his own dog, "he always does, he's a drama queen when it comes to getting wet."

laughing softly at the disgruntled bark yeontan's elicits, shuffling away from his owner's reach when taehyung dares to scrub at his hind legs.

"you did put the cotton i gave you inside her ears right?" he says absently, successfully tackling yeontan so he could reach his hind.

"uh-" jeongguk stammers, eyes flickering to the tufts of white propped at the other side of the bathroom, "not yet, m'gunna."

"oh my God." taehyung groans, eyes pinching close before they flutter closed, narrowed, "please tell me you at least got out the towels and put them on the stand."

both their gazed flicker to the marble counter and sure enough the towels are from sight, jeongguk's eyes widening as he leaps to his feet, sprinting to the laundry.

"how could you forget the towels?" he hears taehyung bellow from the bathroom, "no, how does your million dollar bathroom not have a darn towel?"

"i put them in the laundry last night." jeongguk pants, bursting back into the room, a stack of pale white towels perched in his arms.

but what both men had failed to notice was that a certain fluff of mocha had managed to work himself out of the bath, scrambling up his owner's arm, promptly ignoring the man's shocked yelps. yeontan scrambles across the tiles, paws slipping as he furiously whips his fur from side to side, successfully drenching the man a few steps behind him.

"what the fu-!" jeongguk yelps, face screwed as his eyes clench shot at the spray of abuse hurled at him.

but taehyung's takes no interest in the younger male's whines of repulse, slipping to his feet as he hazardously makes his way across the tiles in chase of his pomeranian. unfortunately, he stumbles across a great puddle - kudos to jeongguk's idiocy in forgetting towels - and finds his body collapsing against the tiles in a cliché manner, limbs splayed as he groans.

"oh shit, you good?" he hears jeongguk mutter behind him as he whines at the aching pain at his thighs.

"no." taehyung huffs, permitting his frame to be propped against the younger's legs, "fuck, my elbows ache."

jeongguk bites at his bottom lip anxiously, gaze flickering from taehyung's pained expression to the flung door, "um- do you want ice?"

snorting, taehyung waves a dismissive hand, before throwing him a pointed look, "i'll be fine, although a couple of towels might've stopped the entire thing."

"i said sorry." he scowls.

taehyung shrugs, lips quirked in a slight smile, "just sayin'."

"whatever. what now?"

"go get the lunatic duh. he's probably near the pillows, infatuated with the darn thing," he says, rolling his eyes.

frowning down at the elder, jeongguk jerks a hand forward, "c'mon then, get up, i'm not doing all the work."

"all the work?!" taehyung splutters incredulously, "idiot, you made me fall!"

"you should've watched where you were going." jeongguk snaps.

"oh? like you should learn to listen to instructions?" he shoots snarking, slipping his fingers into the other's outstretched palms and permitting himself to be harshly lobbed from the tiles into an upright stance, "ow! do you want to rip my arm?"

grumbling, jeongguk drops his hands from the man's elbows and presses them gently at his hips, propping him against his chest before snaking a loose arm around taehyung's waist to keep him still.

"that good?" jeongguk drawls.

"y-yeah."

so, yes taehyung felt a tad flustered being pressed so close against another man's frame. he was sure his face had ripened a great crimson once his fingers splay across the other's torso to clutch at his substitute for balance only to take note of the hard ridges of well-worked core strength.

"he's damn fast," jeongguk comments, brows pulled tight as his gaze sweeps across the dip of floorboards, "for a small dog."

taehyung grins, almost proudly as he nods smugly, "tan and i used to go to the park every evening to build up both our stamina's. everything he's learnt? from yours truly."

"used to?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"work sucks." taehyung shrugs.

jeongguk nods, lip's parting in a soft 'ah' as he aids a wobbling taehyung down the stairs and towards the lounge where sure enough his dog lays contented, jaws clamped around the ear of a velvet cushion.

"wait." taehyung suddenly exclaims, eyes wide as he turns to face the younger male, "we left misun by herself."

and as if the golden retriever had been listening onto their conversation and awaiting her cue, there comes an unmistakable squeal of taps and a gleeful bark. the tiles seem to rumble beneath their feet as taehyung scoops a mildly interested yeontan into his arms and joins a frantic jeongguk who double steps up the stairs.

let's just say, the plumbers weren't too pleased and nor was a drenched ceo, shards of golden fur clinging to his hoodie as a laughing ashen-haired male rolls across his carpet, cheeks tight with the grin at his lips.

~

[a/n]

paddington anyone? bit of a filler this one sets a mood for the spice next chapter. ;))

my bad by khalid is so beautiful, the man is incapable of making a bad song. 🤧💞