Chapter Text
"Don't you find it strange how he keeps sticking to him?"
"I heard he's some kind of hybrid, expensive, because Seo has money..."
"The pig needs to find other friends hehehe"
Changbin frowned. Freedom of speech was one thing, but what the hell did Dwaekki ever do to anyone?! They could write whatever they wanted about him, Changbin didn't care. But if any of those people thought they were going to say a bad word about Dwaekki, Changbin would like to-
And then there was a soft grunt from his side, accompanied by a soft cooing. Changbin put his phone in his pocket to find Dwaekki and Jiniret. They were both holding their paws, and Jiniret pointed to Changbin's backpack, where he usually hid Dwaekki's snacks.
"Are you hungry? Hyunjin doesn't have anything to eat with him again?"
Jiniret shook his head, making my little ears flap adorably, and pointed at the backpack again, with the vigor of someone who was less than a meter tall and couldn't speak.
Having his own living companion was the best thing Changbin agreed to. He himself had no idea what he would do without Dwaekki. The fact that he could keep him with him, and now he had become his personal mascot, made it even better.
"Don't worry, here you go," Changbin nodded, offering the two of them a box of sliced apples. "Go offer them to the others, okay?"
Dwaekki nodded dutifully, with some difficulty taking the box in his paws, and running over to Quokka and Leebit, who were sitting together on the mat, playing with their toys.
"You're spoiling him."
Changbin flinched when Hyunjin appeared from nowhere at his side, arms folded across his chest, a reproachful look on his face.
"What?"
"Jiniret. You spoil him. You give him everything he point at. Then he's naughty at home, and whines when I tell him no."
Changbin pouted and looked at Jiniret, who was trying to feed Dwaekki an apple in the corner with the others. They were always so nice to each other. Everyone always took good care of Dwaekki, Changbin was glad that he got along well with them. Dwaekki was a little shy, and when they all first met, he was a little afraid of the other companions. Especially Wolfie and Leebit. But then Jiniret seemed to have made it his mission to protect Dwaekki from everything he could. And since then, they've been inseparable. After all, that was one of the reasons Hyunjin and Changbin live together now. Changbin wouldn't have the heart to tear those two apart.
“It was just an apple…”
“You’re still giving him something, hyung,” Hyunjin objected, frowning. “I don’t want him to be spoiled like Dwaekki.”
Changbin frowned as he watched Hyunjin leave. What did he do wrong? All the companions liked to get good snacks. And Changbin always made sure it was fruit or something healthy. He would never give them anything bad!
“Hey… what’s going on?”
Changbin looked up at Minho hyung, who had sat down next to him on the couch.
“I… Do you think I’m spoiling Dwaekki?” he asked hesitantly, a little unsure if he even wanted to hear the truth.
Minho hyung raised an eyebrow, clearly thinking about how to answer.
“Well… Look, we all know Dwaekki is having the best life. He’s happy, and that’s the main thing,” the hyung added, nodding to the small group in the corner. It seemed that the companions had taken out their markers and were drawing something on the papers. As best they could, since most of them had paws and not hands. But even that didn’t stop them from having a good time. Dwaekki was sitting in the middle of the group, holding a bright pink marker, grunting happily.
“But,” hyung continued cautiously, “it’s… it’s been known that you go a bit too far sometimes,” he added with a laugh.
Changbin pouted even more at that.
“Hyung! What do you mean!”
Minho hyung laughed and patted him on the shoulder.
“Come on – you’re carrying Dwaekki in a baby carrier on your chest!”
“So what! Dwaekki has little legs, it hurts him when he walks for a long time!"
Minho hyung only laughed harder at Changbin's defense.
"You can carry him in your arms, like the rest of us."
"Dwaekki likes that carrier. It's pink. And it has toys attached to it."
"Spoiled," hyung mumbled, poking Changbin in the cheek with his finger. "But hey - it's nice. Dwaekki is a well-behaved companion. He plays with everyone and shares toys. He's not badly spoiled. He's just a princess, like you."
Changbin only shook his hips in protest, but a soft smile appeared on his lips. Hyung's words calmed him down a bit. He didn't want anyone to think that Dwaekki was a bad companion. If Changbin cared about anything, it was raising Dwaekki to be polite and good and live with his jutdae, just like his father.
"Where did that come from, huh? Usually, you don't care how much we tell you that you're overreacting, you just scream and then go buy Dwaekki more stuff."
Changbin's gaze involuntarily slipped to Hyunjin, who was standing in the corner of the room, staring at his phone, barely aware of his surroundings.
"Just... I just thought of it," Changbin waved his hand.
"See? He's getting out of the car now," Changbin pointed at the giant TV in the living room, while Jiniret sat on his lap and Dwaekki sat next to them.
Jiniret leaned closer, his little eyes fixed on the screen. When Hyunjin appeared on the live stream, as a guest at the latest fashion event somewhere in France, the little companion clapped his paws. Changbin smiled and patted his head while looking at Dwaekki, who was also staring at the screen.
Hyunjin had never taken Jiniret on trips like this, and Changbin understood. There were a lot of strangers, a unknown environment. Jiniret could get hurt or get lost. For the past few years, Changbin had been babysitting, and whenever possible, they watched Hyunjin on TV so Jiniret wouldn't miss him as much.
Dwaekki grunted excitedly as a close-up of Hyunjin appeared, posing for the photographers, and he and Jiniret were smiling broadly. It was nice to see them so happy.
Changbin reached for a nearby bowl of snacks and offered it to both of them, determined to spoil Jiniret to the max when Hyunjin wasn’t there to stop him. Jiniret was generally always cheerful, a bit dramatic, just like Hyunjin. But when Hyunjin left, Jiniret was always sad. He didn’t want to play much, and he ate less. And he spent most of his time with Dwaekki, hiding with him. Changbin’s heart was breaking. These little boys deserved to be happy all day!
Changbin turned to the screen, where Hyunjin was waving to fans again and posing. He looked beautiful, of course. But there was something in his gaze that Changbin didn’t like to see. Maybe fatigue? Thanks to living together, Changbin knew very well how many sleepless nights Hyunjin had. When the lights were on in his room, he would paint and paint. Something was bothering him. But whenever Changbin asked, Hyunjin would brush him off. As if some barrier had appeared between them that Changbin couldn't understand.
At that moment, something tugged at his sleeve. While Jiniret continued to watch Hyunjin on the TV, Dwaekki stood up and walked unsteadily across the soft cushions of the sofa to Changbin. He nuzzled his cheek and tilted his head, ears drooping slightly in worry.
"It's nothing," Changbin smiled with a sigh and stroked his companion's head. "I was just thinking... What do you think, eh? We still have a day until Hyunjin comes back... How about a picnic today?"
Jiniret tore himself away from the TV and quickly turned to Changbin, his interest and enthusiasm clear. He and Dwaekki started to grunt and whistle happily before jumping off the couch together and running to the bedroom. They were just too adorable...
"You look awkward, hyung."
Changbin frowned and looked at Seungmin, who was walking beside him while PuppyM hopped around trying to catch some butterflies in the meadow. Why did he bring these two puppies to the picnic anyway?
"I look sexy," Changbin objected, rushing his hair. Which would have usually worked if he hadn't been carrying Dwaekki on his chest and Jiniret on his arm next to him. Unfortunately, he didn't have a carrier for two companions, but with how often he was babysitting Jiniret, he was really starting to consider buying one. They could go on so many walks!
"You look like a divorced mother."
Changbin snorted as Dwaekki surveyed his surroundings and pointed at something for Jiniret with his paw.
"Well, my wife is away and left me with our kids, so..."
"When is hyung coming back?"
"Maybe tomorrow... I don't know exactly, he didn't text me," Changbin admitted.
When they found a nice spot in the park under the shade of a large tree, Changbin carefully placed Dwaekki and Jiniret on the ground, then took off his backpack and started taking out a picnic blanket and the food he had found, while Seungmin also unpacked his supplies. PuppyM joined the rest, and they played together in the grass. When everything was ready, Changbin sat down with a sigh and got some water. It was getting hotter and hotter; summer was slowly approaching.
"So what's up?" Seungmin asked, taking over unpacking the food from the plastic containers.
Changbin leaned back on his knees, staring blankly at his companions playing nearby for a moment. PuppyM and Jiniret seemed to be playing catch with Dwaekki, who was running away from them. Changbin smiled involuntarily as he noticed that they were both giving Dwaekki a head start because he had the shortest legs and couldn’t run as fast.
“I… I don’t know,” Changbin admitted cautiously, turning back to Seungmin. “He’s been nervous lately, barking at me for little things…”
“He always does that,” Seungmin said with a shrug. “He pushes and pushes, and you laugh and let him do it.”
Changbin noticed Seungmin himself turn away as he spoke, looking off into the distance.
“What’s going on with you, huh?”
Seungmin sighed softly, shrugging. They were both silent for a moment before Seungmin turned back to Changbin.
"I know that... That you two dynamic, wife and wife, you chase him, and he pretends not to and then you're both cute and disgusting in love to each other and the fans love it... But sometimes... I don't know. I don't want to talk badly about hyung," Seungmin sighed.
Changbin nodded in understanding. There was never any bad gossiping in their group. That was one of the reasons why it worked so well for them, even after all these years.
Seungmin sighed again, distressed. It seemed like he had something to say, but he couldn't find the words.
"Sometimes I feel like... That it hurts you. I know hyung doesn't mean anything. Hyunjin never wants to hurt anyone. But I just don't get your dynamic. He always runs away from you, and acts like it's disgusting when you want to hug him..."
Changbin gave a forced laugh.
"But we do the same thing, teasing each other all the time!"
"I know, I know," Seungmin admitted reluctantly. "It's just... I read those comments sometimes, you know? When people say why are you following him when Hyunjin doesn't like you, you disgust him. Those are such cruel words! But Hyunjin reads them too. So why does he keep doing it?"
Changbin had nothing to say back, and the two fell into an uncomfortable silence. It was unfortunately right. Changbin knew the truth of course, Hyunjin was his very close friend. And he knew that it was all just a game that Hyunjin liked to play. But seeing the consequences, even if they were just mean comments, still stung a little.
"He doesn't mean it in bad way," Changbin muttered quietly.
Seungmin turned to him, his gaze fixed on him.
"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"
"I..."
Changbin sighed to himself and rubbed his face. What was he supposed to say to that, huh? No one knew what was going through Hyungin's mind. He was too complex, complicated, too passionate and dramatic. His moods changed literally in a matter of minutes. Changbin always found it endearing. But there were times when it did harm.
"I just... I think you deserve better," Seungmin finally muttered, getting up from the blanket and heading towards the group of companions playing nearby.