~이름은 다꺼따 그런데 보통 코다라고 해

   Taehyung had a decision to make. Should he stay with his friends for the rest of the day like he'd planned, or should he run off to see if he might pet Jeongguk's dog and score a little extra time with the boy himself?

Would it make me a jerk to ditch? Again? I don't know.. I wanna stay with them but.. Jeongguk is right there...

   He knew he wanted another taste of the boy's enchanting, warm air, and gentle touches. But, on the other hand, he didn't to be so fickle as to dump his friends to run off into the sunset with his crush, no matter how much his feet itched to run straight to him to satisfy his curiosity.

   Just then, the startling sound of glass breaking echoed throughout the house, and Sorah winced, turning her head to look upstairs. "I'll be right back," she sighed. "I'm gonna change out of my sleepers. Feel free to try your boards in the driveway while I'm gone."

   She shut the door. As soon as the seal of the door clicked, Taehyung tapped Jimin's shoulder, then turned his head towards Jeongguk and the dog.

    "Oh. Gotcha. So you wanna go talk to him and not skate?" Jimin inferred.

    "Yeah... Kinda... I don't wanna ditch you guys, but.. y'know..."

    "It's okay. I was looking forward to skating with all three of us but.. I totally understand. I think you should go for it."

   "Really? You sure you're not upset?"

    "Go for it, bestie. Get your mans. I'll tell Sorah something came up." 

   Taehyung wiped a fake tear. "You're the best, Jimin."

   Jimin did the same, swiping a small finger along the bottom of his lower eyelid. "I know."

    "Tell her I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

    "Sure." Jimin nodded. They waved to each other and Taehyung ran off, down the road, past three houses, slowing down when he approached the boy who appeared to be shaking a rock out of his shoe while the dog waited patiently.

   "Jeongguk?" Taehyung tilted his head as he tried to catch his attention. Balancing on one foot while holding both his shoe and his other socked foot in the air, Jeongguk looked up to see Taehyung right beside him.

    "Hi there," he chuckled nervously, trying to pull off some sort of maneuver that would get his white-socked foot to safety away from the dirty road.

   "D'you need help?"

   "No, I think I got it." He finally shoved his foot into his shoe and tied it, straightening up and brushing a few stray strands of hair from his eyes. "Thank you, though." Then, it seemed to hit him that Taehyung was randomly there. "What're you doing here?"

   "Dropping off a penny board as a thank you for Sorah, so I saw you and the dog, and I thought I'd say hi."

   "Ah.. Hi," he repeated, showing off a cute grin and a little wave that caused Taehyung to mirror him.

    "Hi." Taehyung paused, looking around. "Is this your house? And, is this your dog?" he crouched down and extended his hand to the dog, who forwent a cautionary sniff and went straight into jumping on Taehyung and licking his face.

    "Mhm," Jeongguk hummed, giggling softly. "Okay, Koda, off," he commanded, snapping his fingers to get the dog's attention. The dog obediently removed itself from Taehyung's front and sat beside him to try giving him puppy kisses.

    "His name's Koda?"

    "His name's Dakota, but I usually call him Koda."

    "Awh~ He is so cute," Taehyung cooed, scratching the dog's head. "What kind of dog is he?"

    "German Shepherd and Golden Retriever mix."

    "So that's where his pointy ears come from~" Taehyung couldn't contain his grin as he made the dog's ears flop around. Dakota didn't put up with it for too long, though. In a hurry, he stood and circled his owner's legs, effectively tying them up with the leash and catching his attention.

    "Okay, okay, calm down, I'm going." Jeongguk patted Dakota's head, then untangled himself from the leash. "He really wants a walk. I guess we'd better go... Unless.. You'd like to come with us?"

   "I'd love to." Taehyung stood and dusted off the knees of his pants. "Then I can ask more questions about your adorable dog!"

    Jeongguk chuckled and pulled the leash out in front of him to lead Dakota and get him walking. "I was planning on taking him to the pond with the catfish. Is that okay with you?"

    "Yeah, sounds good!" 

I need to quit smiling so much. I'll look like a creep. But I can't stopppp. Aah.

   Jeongguk nodded. The three began walking, side-by-side, out of the neighborhood and onto the road. "How old is he?" Taehyung asked.

    "He's about.. two and a half years old. Still acts like a puppy, though."

    "He looks like a big baby."

    "He does." The next few minutes were quiet, with the only sound being Dakota's nails clicking against the pavement, along with Jeongguk's shoes and Taehyung's bare feet padding along beside him. Only when they came to the open road did Jeongguk say anything. "

    "Won't your feet hurt on the road?" The pavement on the open road was much rougher, with deep ridges and cracks in the concrete that looked like they might be painful to step on with bare feet.

   "Mm-mm, I'm barefoot a lot, so my feet are calloused. It doesn't hurt," Taehyung reassured as they stepped out onto the road.

   "Don't like shoes?"

    "Sorta. I like how they look, but I like the feeling of being barefoot."

    "I used to be like that, too, but my mom looked really worried when she saw I'd cut my foot pretty bad walking on the road. So I stopped going barefoot."

    "That's really cute." Jeongguk looked down, a bit shy at the compliment. "Do you like your mom?"

    "Yeah. Lots. She's really nice and happy. She's the kinda person who makes everyone smile, just by being there." 

    "Now I wanna meet her!"

     "Mhm. You'd probably like her, especially 'cause she's an artist, too."

    "Really? Sign me up, I've gotta meet this lady!" Taehyung exclaimed. Jeongguk chuckled.

    "I'll ask her if I can have you over sometime." 

Did I just ask to meet his parents? Ahah.

    At last, the pond was in sight. It was tucked away in a pocket of trees by an old wooden cabin that used to be used for fishing. Jeongguk unclipped the leash from Dakota's collar and let him run free around the pond.

   "He loves it here," Jeongguk stated, proudly watching his dog run happy laps around the water.

    "How often do you bring him?"

    "Most Saturdays when the weather's nice. He whines and begs to go for a walk all day if I don't. He makes the neighbors mad." The boy snickered. 

    The two stepped close to the edge of the murky water, watching it distort and wave their reflections comically. Looking a bit closer they could see a few of the catfish the pond was known for. Taehyung took two fistfuls of the fabric of his pants, pulling the elastic around his ankles to rest at his calves, then inched off the soft, green grass, into the cool water that laid on a bed of uneven rocks, the tops poking out above the surface as if trying to get a lick of sunlight to bask in.

   "How's the water?" Jeongguk tilted his head questioningly.

  "Come see for yourself."

    "'kay." He removed his sneakers, then his socks, and stepped in next to Taehyung. "Shoot, ah, that's cold!" Taehyung splashed a little water at him with a smirk.

    Jeongguk's soft feet clearly couldn't handle the rocks and cold water, because he quickly stepped out. Dakota had finished running his laps and brought Jeongguk a large branch to throw for him, turning his head abruptly with the branch still in his mouth and knocking Jeongguk over with it, the boy falling onto his behind in the grass.

    "Thanks, Koda." He grabbed the branch and gave it a powerful throw, sending the dog off into a quick chase. Taehyung grinned and stepped back onto the grass, sitting down next to Jeongguk.

   "Jeongguk?"

   "Mhm?"

    "Are we... On a date?"

    The boy was silent for a moment, eyes wide as he pondered the question. "If you want it to be, then yeah."

    "Then, I guess... We're on a date." It felt strange to say. Strange, but nice. He was on a date with Jeongguk. The boy stared at him, almost in disbelief. "'Cause.. I like you."

    Poor Jeongguk didn't know what to do with himself after hearing that. He tried stuttering out a reply, but his shocked mind couldn't muster up coherent words. The first word he come come up with was, "Woah."

   "Yeah. Woah."

    "So, just making sure, you're not joking, right?"

    "Yes, Jeongguk. I have a crush on you."

    "Woah." Seeing the boy's flaming red cheeks and sensing his fluster, Taehyung thought it might be good to change the subject. Thankfully, Dakota did that for him when he bounded back to Jeongguk and pushed him onto his back on the grass, cozying up to his side.

    Taehyung watched Jeongguk smile and comb his through the dog's fur for quite a while, wordlessly. Once the dog had fallen asleep with his head on Jeongguk's stomach, Taehyung asked, "You really love him, huh?"

    "Yeah," Jeongguk replied. "I got him when I was 15, right after I lost someone important to me, so since then, he's always been there for me when I needed somebody."

    "That's adorable! But sad, too. No one else was there for you? No friends or siblings?"

    "No... The person I lost was my friend; my best and only friend, and my brother- well, he definitely wasn't there for me."

    "Not even your parents?"

    "My parents didn't really know about it. But if I'd told them, I think they would've been."

   "Why didn't you? If you're okay with answering that.."

    "Well... It didn't seem right to make them worry about something I could handle myself." He paused, and again looked down at Dakota, still sleeping on his stomach. Taehyung's mind was quickly filled with mood-dampening, miserable images of Jeongguk curled up in bed with Dakota licking his face in an attempt to get him to cheer up.

 "What about you? Do you have any pets?"

  "No, but I've always wanted a frog." Jeongguk smiled at that. Dakota stirred, rolling over onto his back.

   "Oh! Good morning, Koda," Jeongguk cooed, rubbing his belly. The dog stretched, then got to his feet, ready to run again. Jeongguk got up, too, slowly chasing after him. Dakota did a few more laps, then laid at Jeongguk's feet, panting and rolling in the grass away from the sunlight. "Are you hot, buddy?" The boy scooped up some water from the pond and slowly poured some refreshing, cool water over the dog's head.

    Evidently, Dakota liked it, because he promptly got up, and jumped straight into the pond, splashing water all over Jeongguk in the process. "Ack- Koda- why-"

   Taehyung couldn't contain his laughter. He clutched his sides and he burst into a fit of giggles that made Jeongguk smile sheepishly. Jeongguk whistled to call the dog out of the water, and ever obedient, the dog listened and returned to his side, though not without shaking quite a bit more water onto his owner.

    "Thanks, bud," Jeongguk deadpanned.

    "Maybe we should get back so you can change your clothes before you get cold," Taehyung suggested, having recovered from his laughing fit.

    "That'd be nice."

   A soaked dog, a half-soaked Jeongguk, and a dry Taehyung walked back to Jeongguk's house, and two out of three of the group held hands while they did.

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. ˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩

alright im pretty okay with this one :D

btw, gukkie's super cute dog looks like this

my heart :')

i had planned to name him dakota since i planned the plot before starting this book but i totally doubted myself after i found the name chex. thankfully i was able to take a poll with my homies and settled on dakota after all :P