"taetae, wha's that?" lily points at the store across the street, making taehyung's head turn to the side, frowning when he doesn't locate anything special at once. he glances at the sister, following her finger pointing at the glowing label with paws beside it's name.

he smiles at that and answers, "it's a pet store,"

"pet store?"

"mm-hmm," taehyung nods, holding her hand and walks in the direction of the store when the signal for the pedestrians turns green, believing that lily has to see a place like this with cute animals all around. "they have animals here, like dogs, cats, birds. people can come here and take one home with them if they want,"

"wow," lily gasps, staring at the bird cages by the glass window and taehyung chuckles, opening the door for her to get in. he follows right after, never letting go of her hand as they walk inside and meet  a girl behind the front desk.

"welcome, what kind of pet are you looking for, sir?"

"uh none actually. my sister just wanted to look around," taehyung says, "can we?"

"sure," the girl smiles, "you can see the animals. maybe you guys end up liking one,"

"maybe," taehyung grins, taking lily towards the side of cats and dogs. lily looks surprised with all the animals around, each having their own separate compartment. she stands near a corgi, touching the glass and giggles when the dog tries to lick it through the glass. then she looks around, finding two puppies in one kennel unlike the rest dogs. the animals, small and big, leave her fascinated for it was still just her first time in a pet store with a bunch of dogs and cats.

"oppa, look, they' so cute!" lily chirps, grinning at the puppies. taehyung crouches down beside her, smiling at the pups and whistles softly to get their attention. lily sits down without a hesitation and opens the door of the kennel before taehyung could stop her. the puppies come out, looking around, sniffing and licking lily's feet and hands as she tries to hold them.

"what are you doing? put them back inside," taehyung sighs.

"puppy," lily giggles, touching the little german shepherd while the golden retriever is already climbing on her lap. "oppa, we should take puppy home,"

"no," taehyung says, making her stand up and dusts off her pants, "we're gonna put them back in the kennel and go home alone,"

"no, we should take them with us," lily pouts, dragging the two pups by their tails and looks at taehyung, "i wan' this— two puppy,"

"don't hurt them," the brother takes the two poor pups out of his sister's curious hands and guides them back inside the kennel before locking the door. he stands up then, carrying lily in his arms and starts walking away only to have the five-year-old whining loudly and squirming. "hush! quiet!"

"puppyyyy!"

"no,"

"why? i like puppy, and taetae like puppy and koo like puppy and chiminie oppa like puppy! we should take puppy home,"

"no, lily. we can't take it home. do you even know how much work a dog is?"

"puppy," lily corrects him, getting a low groan of annoyance from taehyung.

"what do you think it'll grow into? a bird? no, definitely a dog, lily,"

"you' silly taetae oppa. we should puppy with us. koo and chiminie oppa will be so happy,"

"jimin will scold you and probably kick me out. he's gonna be a lot of things other than happy," lily stares at him with a comfused face, making him sigh, "we can't take puppies home,"

"p'ease tae oppa? you' so pwetty and you— lily love you so much,"

"still no,"

"p'eeeeaasseeeee!"

"who will take care of them?"

"lily and koo, and taetae an—and chiminie oppa,"

taehyung glances back at the kennel where surprisingly the two pups are still watching them, hitting the door of the kennel with their little paws, trying to get out and play with lily again. taehyung has always loved animals, dogs especially, even the other two brothers are big animal lovers, so if he actually thinks  for a moment, it shouldn't be that big of a problem.

he looks at his sister who is still staring at him with her round eyes, shining with pleadings, which finally make him give in. he places her down on her feet, smiling softly as he nods for her to go to the puppies. lily cheers in victory, clapping her hands and hugs taehyung's legs tightly, pulling him down to kiss him and tell how much she loves him.

"love you more, princess," he chuckles, "i'll go talk to that girl. you stay here with the puppies okay?" with that he leaves to front desk, rubbing the back of his neck, realising that the girl's words turned out to be true. "uhm excuse me, we would like to take those pups,"

the girl smiles widely, nodding as she says, "told you," she grins, "most people who say they're just to here to 'look around' end up taking pets home,"

"well, yeah. they're cute," taehyung says, "so like, how much will it be?" he points at the two puppies playing with his five-year-old sister and the girl behind the desk, shakes her head.

"nothing for them," she says, "actually a friend of mine has a niece who brought these puppies without her parents' permission. and they couldn't keep them, so she brought them here today. i'm actually happy they found a new home already. you can take them for free— more like, adopt them,"

"really? are you sure?"

"yes, sir," she steps out of her place, heading towards the little girl playing with the puppies and smiles, "i'll get a bigger kennel for them. please wait here,"

"alright," taehyung says, crouching next to lily and pets the small golden retriever who's trying to lick his hand. "do you know what to tell jimin when we go home?"

"su'prise!"

taehyung laughs at the sister, ruffling her hair and shakes his head. lily leans onto taehyung, resting her arm casually around taehyung's shoulder and giggles, "i have name for puppy,"

"you do? tell me," taehyung says.

"candy and kitty,"

the brother chuckles, nodding gradually, "i think we can come up with their names later,"

the girl from the desk returns with a bigger kennel, blue and grey in color and two matching collars, one having a paw shape hanging and the other with a tiny bone shape. lily takes the collars quickly, putting the paw one on the golden retriever and the bone one on the german shepherd with taehyung's help.

"yayy! my puppy! lily has puppy!" she jumps on her place, clapping her hands happily and hugs taehyung too, "thank you taetae oppa. i love you sooo muchhhh!"

"yeah," he chuckles and looks at the girl who's smiling at his sister as well.

"she's so cute," she says.

taehyung nods knowingly, then glances at the pups, both of them playing with each other inside the kennel now, "how old are they?"

"the gsd is seven weeks old, and the retriever is six weeks old. they're both healthy and very playful. you'll have fun with them, especially your sister. she seems to love them already,"

"she loves animals," taehyung smiles, taking the kennel from her, "oh how about the collars? i gotta pay for that at least— and the kennel,"

"sir, please. there's no need," she blushes and taehyung gradually understands where it's going.

so he nods and hides his amused smile, "are you in college?"

"yes," she beams, "seoul university of arts!" she must be embarrassed of how fast she let that out because the next moment she shuts her mouth, looking away with her cheeks colored in red. "i'm sorry..."

"no, it's fine. i'm from the same university in fact. i never saw you, though. are you new here?"

"no," she sighs softly, "i don't blame you for not noticing me. i'm not that popular,"

"you should be," he mumbles, getting a look from her, "i mean, you're prettier than lara and her chicks,"

lara is the queen bee of the university, known to be a fashion influencer on instagram, for her undeniably awesome sense of make up, dresses and accessories, which sometimes covers her slightly bitchy attitude in taehyung's eyes, giving her the benefit of doubt. taehyung wasn't the one to go after looks over personality in all sense (inside and out), but the girl, lara, has some power over him that he might be cursing under his breath, yet find himself glancing at her when she passed by.

she never hid her genuine interest in taehyung either. jimin too. although the latter being their senior never really paid any attention to the girl, except that one time and when lara and her girls were the cheer leaders for the soccer team, fortunately lead by jimin. after practice they all sat together for lunch, the girls with the boys because two of them were dating. jimin's friend and lara's friend, the always-kissing couple of the university.

taehyung knew that lara isn't a good news, always trying to be the hot topic and she knew that dating one of the hot guys in the university will get her moving places. even taehyung and all of his potentially 'hot' friends knew that if any of them dated lara that would be the biggest news in the campus and spread fast than wildfire. honestly, taehyung doesn't mind being a part of the gossip or the spotlight on him, infact he feeds the fire, smirking every once in a while whenever he heard a new rumour of his name circulating around, letting the girls and the guys know that they're free to talk all they want as long as it wasn't bothering him.

this was one reason the rumours never lasted and kept changing— because he never tried to confirm or deny anything, neither was he ever an active part of the whispers. he just liked listening different stories about himself. so yes, he's popular, but so is jimin and their friends who are always seen around them.

"i am?" of course, lara isn't ugly. she's beautiful and drop dead gorgeous even without her make up, but one thing that makes taehyung feel bad for the girl is that she's never her confident self without the layers of foundation, concealer and blushes and whatnot.

"yes," taehyung shrugs his shoulders, "uh sorry, what's your name?"

"millie,"

"millie, okay," he nods, "i'm taehyung by the way,"

"i know," she says softly, "who doesn't know you in the campus?"

"some people don't," he chuckles, taking his sister's hand and looks at her, "let's go, say bye to unnie,"

"bye-bye!" lily waves at millie, getting a surprised look from her for she was honestly waiting for something more from taehyung. maybe he would tell her why she's prettier than lara. or maybe he would give her his number? take hers if possible? anytime literally! but not just a simple bye. she sighs deeply, banging her head internally for crushing so hard on this guy.

•••

"we're home," taehyung voices out, watching lily already giggling as she makes him put the kennel down and opens the door, getting the pups out.

"le's go s'uprise oppa," she chirps, running inside with the puppies following her like they already knew her for a long time. taehyung chuckles, pulling out his phone to record the reactions of his brothers and follows the little sister to the living space.

"oppa! jiminie oppa! koo! lily's back, come here!" she calls loudly, sitting on the carpet, laughing as the puppies get on her lap. the german shepherd licking her face and the golden retriever tugging the fabric of her top with his sharp little teeth.

"hey, lily whe— woah!" jungkook is the first one to come and see the puppies. his eyes widen in surprise but he soon breaks into a smile, crouching down to touch the animals, "wow, please tell me they're our pets," he turns to taehyung, who nods once, smiling at them and jungkook gasps. "yes! i was just asking for a pet last week! you're the best!" he gushes, but doesn't bother leaving the puppies to hug taehyung.

the elder grins at him, turning around when they hear jimin coming. jungkook and lily leave the pups, guiding them towards jimin whose eyes expand in shock, "why do we have puppies in the house?" he asks, staring at the little pups already near his feet, "god, where did you guys even find them? and who brought them here? kook?" he gives jungkook a look, making the boy shake his head confidently, pointing at taehyung.

"i got it," lily jumps forward, giggling at the sight of her new, cute friends, "i like puppies, so i said taetae le's take puppy home. and then— then taetae and me b'ing them home. s'uprise!"

"surprise indeed," taehyung smirks, having the camera on jimin's face which makes him annoyed after a moment. jimin turns to taehyung, taking away the phone and shoots a glare of disbelief.

"are you serious? she asks for anything and you'll get it? dogs? and two on top of that?"

"we all like dogs, come on. who are you even kidding?" taehyung's more chill as he picks up the pups in either of his hands, holding them in front of the elder brother, "don't you think they're cute?"

"yeah, but—"

"i think we should keep them," jungkook beams, "please hyung, dogs are always a yes!"

"oppa p'ease? we wan' puppy," lily pouts at jimin, "puppy is cute. and he' be sad if- if we don't keep them here with me. they' my friends,"

"did you name them?" jungkook asks, taking the german shepherd from taehyung and sits on the couch, keeping the puppy on his lap.

"no," lily shakes her head, sitting beside him.

"great, so his name can be charley," he says.

"that's nice," taehyung says, leaving the other puppy near lily and throws his arm around the contemplating jimin's neck, "oh come on! you don't have to think that much, jim. they want the dogs and they're happy, what's the problem then?"

"dogs are a lot of work," jimin says, "lily's still young and we already have to look after her all day. pets will be hard to manage right now. if it were a few years later then i'd agree too, but right now... i don't know,"

"it'll be fine. she'll grow up with the pups. it'll be fun for her,"

"you'll clean up after them," jimin shrugs off taehyung's arm, not waiting for a response and joins the younger siblings on the couch, petting the puppies as he lets the kids know that they can keep both the dogs. lily cheers excitedly, climbing on jimin's lap and hugs him tightly, pecking his lips out of gratitude. "my little puppy has two puppies now," jimin cooes, nuzzling his nose into lily's cheek, making the girl laugh.

"okay now what's his name?" taehyung points at the gold retriever puppy.

"uhm cooper?" jimin suggests.

"cooper!" lily nods, pulling the pup by his tail towards herself and gives it a hug, "your name is cooper. you' so cute cooper," she says and slips down from jimin's lap, taking cooper with her down on the carpet to play. although she winces in disappointment when the puppy pees there, then continues walking around like nothing ever happened. "uh-uh, tha's bad habit, cooper. you' bad girl. you should not pee on the carpet,"

"cooper is a boy, lily," jungkook sniggers, "and charley too,"

lily frowns at him, "no, he's a girl,"

"he is for boys," the brother says, "and yes, they're both boys,"

"how do you know?"

"because... well..." jungkook gulps, looking over at his hyungs, who are trying not to laugh as lily anticipates an answer. jungkook sighs and says, "well, boys just know someone else is a boy or not. we're boys, so we just know,"

jimin and taehyung burst out laughing, both clutching their stomachs while lily looks astonished with the reason. she faces jungkook entirely, asking him if she would be able to tell girls like that. jungkook hesitates a little, massaging his temples but nods subtly to get lily to stop asking him more. fortunately her attention diverts from the topic, going to charley, who's barking at one of her cars.

"where are they gonna sleep?" jungkook asks.

"you tell us," taehyung smirks, "you're a boy, you click with them on a spiritual level don't you?"

"hyung!" jungkook whines, hitting taehyung's arm while he just laughs more and jimin shakes his head, standing up and heads closer to lily.

"let's go, who wants hot chocolate?" he asks, making lily gasp, raising up her arms quickly so he would carry her to the kitchen. jimin picks her up, chuckling along with the little sister, who leans down to look at charley and cooper, jumping to catch her feet and barking up at her and jimin.

"charley and cooper wan' go up here," she laughs, sticking her tongue out at the puppies and hugs jimin, peeking at them over his shoulder as he starts walking towards the kitchen. the two pups follow behind, often getting distracted by things around but finally makes it after jimin and look around the new place.

"let's give charley and cooper something to eat as well," jimin smiles at the two pups, getting two old bowls for now until they get different dishes to feed the dogs, and fills them with milk. the two start drinking the milk as soon as jimin places the bowls down, making him chuckle amusedly as charley tries to drink from cooper's bowl too. "hey, this one is yours," he brings him back, shifting the bowls a little away from the other and pets their heads.

"cha'ley and cooper are hungry," lily says, watching from top of the counter.

"yeah, see they're finishing their milk. you should drink it without making a fuss too,"

"i don' makin' a fuss, oppa. i like hot chocolate," she states.

"is that so?"

"mm-hm," she nods, "now chimin oppa gi'mme hot chocolate. lily tummy is hungry,"

"ah okay," he laughs a little, patting her tummy and kisses her forehead, "tell your tummy to wait for a minute. oppa's preparing a tasty hot chocolate for lily,"

"tummy, one minute," lily mumbles down to her stomach. jimin presses his lips into a thin line to hold in his laughter, which is when he hears jungkook's complaining voice and stomping footsteps nearing. "nobody shout!" he lets the boys know, and jungkook stops, "what is it?"

"nothing," taehyung muffles in his laughter, sitting near lily and gives her a high five, "he can't find his 'boy-ish' instincts, that's all,"

"he kept asking me if the ant is a boy or not!" jungkook exasperates, making jimin sigh, "what does he want? do i tell lily that charley and cooper have a penis because of which we know they're males? no right? she's a baby, i was thinking of her but taehyung is making fun of me!"

"okay, enough," jimin shakes his head, handing a cup of hot chocolate to lily and another to jungkook, "sit down," he says, before turning to taehyung with a done look, "seriously? can you really not stop messing with him?"

"nope, he's so cute," taehyung sniggers.

"i'm not cute," jungkook grumbles in anger.

"aw, poor little guy," taehyung mocks at him, clicking his tongue.

"hyung!"

"tae," jimin warns, "stop. don't bother him,"

taehyung shrugs his shoulders, crouching down near the puppies about to finish up their milk and smiles, "ah i'll arrange something for them to sleep on,"

"just get lily's old mattress, or maybe a some cloth inside the kennel," jimin says.

"mattress sounds good," taehyung nods, standing up, "i'll go look. we have the ones with her crib right? where are those?"

"i don't remember, but probably in the storage room?"

"alright, kook come on, help me,"

"no," the boy refuses, finishing up his hot chocolate and sticks his tongue out at the elder.

"such a monkey," taehyung hisses.

"you're a donkey,"

"jungkook," jimin warns, "that's disrespectful. apologize,"

"he called me a monkey first!" jungkook protests.

"he won't do it again. but you should not talk like that to your elders. so apologize to tae, right now,"

"i'm sorry," the fifteen-year-old mumbles, glancing at taehyung who sighs, shaking his head and heads upstairs. jungkook looks at jimin, getting a nod from him, a gesture to go and help taehyung. so he goes up after taehyung, casually pretending to help him until taehyung chuckles, ruffling his hair.

_________

a/n- 1K special!!!! yesss this book has achieved 1k views already ❤️❤️❤️ thank you so much for this. and also i apologise for not updating that often 😅 but anyway i'm always thankful to you guys for investing your precious time on my book. i hope my work keeps making you guys happy for a long time 💜💜💜

also jimin's new album is soooo littt!! like i have been obsessed with 'like crazy' 😭😭😭😭 it's so good, the man is an angel with a heavenly voice 😭❤️✨