■

"bye jinnie hyung, i'll miss you." taehyung pouted, hugging his brother tightly.

"bye taehyungie, it'll only be a few days, don't worry! but i'll miss you too." he said, rubbing his back and kissing his cheek.

they continued hugging for a minute or two before taehyung let go, finding yeontan and bidding him a kiss goodbye, before waving and grabbing his suitcase. he left the house, seeing jeongguk in the driveway and leaning against his car.

"good morning baby." he said, helping him put his suitcase in the trunk.

"good morning ggukie! are we riding separately from your parents?" he asked, getting into the passenger seat and buckling up.

"yeah, there wouldn't have been room anyways. my mom brought the whole house with her." he chuckled.

"oh my, women always need so many things." taehyung giggled.

"i know. i don't understand it." he sighed.

jeongguk drove off from his house and got onto the highway after picking up drinks and snacks at the gas station. they had soft christmas tunes playing from the radio, taehyung smiling and sipping on his iced coffee as he looked out the window at the snowy land.

"gguk it's so pretty! it's like a winter wonderland!" he said, pressing his face against the cold window.

jeongguk smiled, glancing at taehyung from time to time.

"just wait until we get to the cabin, it's even prettier there."

❦

jeongguk was right.

as soon as they pulled up the snowy hill and into the driveway of the cabins, taehyung was in awe. the whole ride up was gorgeous, snow packed trees glistened in the early morning sun, on the side of the mountain was a beautiful partially frozen river with waterfalls, the water mostly frozen and shiny icicles hanging from the cliffs and frozen water.

deer and elk ran through the trees on the sides of the mountain, and beautiful blood red cardinals flew from tree to tree, singing their song.

"oh ggukie, it's beautiful!" taehyung said as he got out of the car, admiring the brown log cabins in front of them and the dark green pine trees surrounding the place.

jeongguk smiled, getting out and walking over to taehyung. "i know right? it never gets old." he sighed, kissing taehyung's warm cheek before going back to the car. he opened the trunk, grabbing their suitcases and carrying them up to the right cabin.

their cabin was a bit smaller than the other, but it was just as charming.

"wow, it's so nice in here." taehyung said, entering the cabin and looking around.

it was cozy and quaint. there was a fireplace in the living room, a couch and two chairs surrounding it with a soft rug on the floor. behind the living room was a small kitchen and then parallel to the front door was the bedroom and bathroom.

taehyung walked into the bedroom, instantly smiling. there was a cute soft blue quilt comforter on top of a queen sized bed, more soft blankets off to the side. there was a door that led out to a small deck in the back, as well as a fireplace opposite from the bed.

taehyung set his suitcase down, opening it and beginning to unpack his things into the nearest closet.

jeongguk came in, going up to taehyung and wrapping his arms around him from behind, causing him to squeak in surprise.

"do you like it?" he asked softly.

taehyung nodded happily, turning around and wrapping his arms around jeongguk's neck.

"good." he murmured, leaning in and pressing their lips together.

when they pulled away, they left their cabin and went over to the other cabin, knocking on the door before going inside.

"oh you made it!" jeongguk's mother said, approaching them both and giving them a big hug.

a man taehyung had never seen before came walking in from their bedroom, he had strikingly similar features to jeongguk. taehyung guessed it was his dad.

"hello there, you must be taehyung." he said, sticking out his hand.

he nodded, shyly shaking his hand.

"i'm jeongguk's dad." he said.

"nice to meet you sir." taehyung squeaked, feeling jeongguk's arm around his waist. he leaned closer into his touch, feeling extra shy.

"why don't you show taehyung the town?" jeongguk's mom suggested.

"oh! okay, i will. we will be back later. do you need anything?" he asked her.

"um, no. i'll run errands later tonight." she said.

jeongguk nodded and took taehyung's hand, leading him out to the car.

"you're gonna love the town." he said, getting in and starting the car.

"i can't wait." he said giddily, his knees bouncing from excitement.

jeongguk smiled, reaching over and grabbing his hand. their fingers intertwined as he drove down the mountain, into a snowy valley.

the valley was lined with buildings and houses, pretty lights strung up across each side in a zig zag motion as cars and people made their way down the wide street.

"oh wow!" he said, pressing against the glass again as they continued their descent.

jeongguk parked next to a gift shop, turning off the car and getting out. taehyung got out as well, going over to jeongguk and hooking his arms around his.

jeongguk put his hands in his pockets, letting taehyung cling to him as they started walking down the snowy sidewalk.

"ooh, we have to stop in here." he said, pulling taehyung along into a restaurant, the whole inside was white and cute checkered tables were scattered everywhere.

"oh my gosh, jeongguk?!?" a feminine voice shouted.

suddenly a pretty, slightly pudgy girl came from behind the counter, running up to jeongguk and hugging him tightly.

taehyung stood, confused, as he watched the interaction.

"hey, carrie!" he said, hugging her back before letting go. taehyung resumed clinging onto him, feeling shy as the pretty woman's eyes landed on him.

"who's this? oh my gosh, jeongguk did you finally get a boyfriend???" she asked excitedly, jumping in place.

he laughed softly, wrapping his arm around taehyung's waist as he pulled him closer. "yes i did. this is kim taehyung. babe, this is my good friend carrie green." he said.

"oh you're so cute! if jeongguk wasn't dating you i'd steal you for myself!" she cooed, wrapping him up in a bone crushing hug.

he blushed, awkwardly hugging her back.

"sorry, i'm a hugger. how'd you two meet??" she asked, pulling away.

"we met in school, and partially through mutual friends." jeongguk explained.

"ah, i see. well jeongguk and i met waaaay back when we were little, he came here one christmas and we met at the sledding hill, we've hung out every year since!" she said, smiling brightly.

taehyung smiled as well. he liked this girl.

she was shorter than taehyung, surprisingly. she had long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, as well as a chubby face and body. she was the epitome of squish.

"it's about time you showed up with a boyfriend, i thought you were going to be single for life!" she said, exasperated.

jeongguk blushed, rolling his eyes. "sometimes it takes awhile to find the right person." he said, which then caused taehyung to blush.

he bit his lip and rested his head on jeongguk's arm, looking around the restaurant. platters of pancakes and eggs were being served to hungry customers, cute paintings and trinkets hung up on the wall.

"well it's so good to see you, is it okay if i stop by later when i'm off my shift?" she asked.

"of course, you're always welcome." jeongguk said, waving as he left with taehyung.

"she was very hyper." taehyung giggled.

jeongguk laughed, nodding softly. "yeah, that's carrie. she's always so bright and happy." he said.

they continued walking through the town, stopping in a small café to buy some hot chocolates and sipping on them as they walked to keep their bodies warm.

taehyung gasped, seeing something in a shop window. "look, it's a puppy store!! can we go look at the puppies?? please??" taehyung asked, tugging on jeongguk's sleeve.

"of course, baby. let's go." he said, leading him along to the puppy shop.

when they entered, happy yips and barks greeted them. cute play pens and decorated kennels were everywhere, pretty puppies in each of them.

taehyung gasped, tears coming to his eyes as he looked at the galore of puppies.

"aw!! they're so cute!!" he said, running to the nearest pen.

"feel free to step inside the pens and feed them treats, they love visitors!" the worker said.

taehyung grinned and climbed into a pen with a ton of baby scotch collies inside, all of their tails wagging as they climbed onto taehyung and licked him all over.

jeongguk smiled widely at the sight, leaving taehyung to play as he wandered around. he then saw a pen with only one puppy left, a small pitbull with an eye missing.

"aw hey there bud, where's all your puppy friends?" he asked, slowly climbing into the pen. the puppy looked shy and sad as it snuggled into a small blanket and stuffed toy.

"it's okay, i'll be your friend little guy." he said, holding out his arms and patting his lap. the pup slowly limped over to him, his back right leg missing as well.

his fur was a pretty grey and he had one gorgeous blue eye.

the pup climbed into his lap, looking up at jeongguk with a sad eye.

"you're too precious, i think i might have to take you with me." he murmured, scratching behind his ear. the pup leaned into his touch, his eye closing and mouth opening a bit as he panted out of happiness.

he continued playing with the pitbull, rubbing his tummy and giving him lots of scratches and kisses. by the time he stood up, the puppy was whining and using his paw to scratch at the side as he looked up at him.

"excuse me, miss?" jeongguk said. the worker walked over, smiling.

"what is it that you need?" she asked.

"can i have this puppy?" he asked.

"oh of course! i could see the bond you two made. his previous owner was very abusive and neglecting, so he's been here ever since. no one wanted to take him because they thought he was a lost cause." she sighed, lifting him out of the pen.

"poor thing." he frowned.

"he's up for adoption so the only expenses you'll have to pay is for necessities and accessories." she explained.

"that's fine." he said, watching as she set him on the counter and took the identifying collar off of him.

"i'm going to get him prepped with some food and his health information, feel free to choose a collar and some toys if you'd like." she said, disappearing with the pup in the back room.

jeongguk went over to the wall, grabbing a sky blue collar for him to match his eyes. he then got a black leash and some poop bags as well as a bunch of toys and a small dog bed. he also grabbed some treats and bones for the little guy.

"ggukie what are you doing?" taehyung asked, approaching him. his face was all blemished from smiling and receiving puppy kisses.

"i'm adopting a dog." jeongguk said, helplessly shrugging his shoulders.

"what??" taehyung asked, surprised.

"he looked so lonely! and he's only got one eye and three legs. he's so cute though. i had to. i couldn't leave him there any longer." he pouted.

"awe, my handsome boyfriend is so kind! look at you rescuing puppies." taehyung cooed, going on his tippy toes and pecking jeongguk's cheek.

"shush." he mumbled, blushing.

the girl appeared again with some documents and the pup in her arm, as well as an empty name tag.

taehyung squealed quietly as he saw the cute pitbull, bouncing in place from impatience and excitement. he also fluffed up his hair, giddily clapping his hands as jeongguk laid everything out on the counter.

"what would you like his name to be? if you can't choose now we can engrave the tag another time." she said.

jeongguk took another glance at the one eyed pup, smiling widely.

"captain."

■

i had to do it, i can't resist the pups!

- nat <3

■