Soulmate

Epilogue: Jungkook

August 5, 2021
Seoul, South Korea

The bell above the door jingles lightly as Hope and I walk in hesitantly. Through my mask, I am bombarded with the musky smell of animals. I scrunch my nose and adjust my mask, a habit that helps me cope with smells that are not so enjoyable. Hope giggles and elbows me gently.

"This is your surprise?" I ask quietly. "A pet shop?"

"Just wait," she reprimands. "They have new puppies!"

My eyes widen. "Puppies?"

Hope greets the store owner who hurries to lock the door.

"Mr. Jungkook," she says softly, respectfully. "Your assistant let me know that you would be here to look at our puppies today. Would you like me to lead you to them?"

Hope bows and hums a thank you beside me. I give her a side eye glance before I respond. "Thank you, auntie. I'd love to." I elbow Hope playfully. "Come on assistant."

She rolls her eyes and we follow the owner into a hallway to a private meeting room. The room is already full of dogs: eight little floppy doberman puppies with their ears and tails still intact. I melt.

"Dobermans?" I ask Hope, sitting down and picking up the one that bites my shoelaces.

"I'll be up at the front while you visit with them, just send your assistant up if you're thinking of adopting." The woman smiles before she bows out of the room and leaves us alone. Once the door closes, Hope seats herself beside me and leans against my shoulder. She scratches the dog's ears and he snaps at her hand. She laughs softly.

"Why puppies?" I ask.

Hope shrugs. "I think it's time for us to get one," she says simply. "Practice for the future. Just in case."

My heart thumps when she says this. She means children. I reach for her left hand and kiss the ring I gave her.

"Wedding next year?" I rub the modest stone lovingly.

Hope laughs and nods. "Next year. Puppy this year."

One catches both of our eyes at the same time. He sleeps with a big, swollen belly underneath the bench along the opposite wall. His brothers and sisters flop around and play, but he barely lifts his head—or even opens his eyes to look at us.

"Look at that one," I gush to my fiancée. I crawl onto the floor to reach him. His siblings attack me, but I have my heart set on picking up this floppy little monster. I grab him by his feet and gently slide him out from under the bench. He finally pops his head up and stares at me. I laugh. "He's got such a chubby belly," I say, patting said belly. I pick him up and he's so tolerant he just molds into my hands like putty. He doesn't fight or resist.

"What a cutie," Hope says in a squeaky voice, reaching for the puppy's soft ears. "I love puppy ears. They're like little blankets; so soft." She pokes his belly and we both laugh at how round it is.

"He looks like he just ate," I say. I set the puppy in my lap and he snuggles up immediately, almost falling asleep as soon as he does.

Hope gushes. "He's sleeping..." She sits next to me on the floor, leaning against me and petting him gently. He doesn't even stir. "So cute." She takes out her phone and takes a picture before she rests her head on my shoulder. We simply watch as the little guy sleeps in peace. His siblings are already bored with us. They play with the toys around the room and bite each others' toes and ears. The three of us sit together, away from the chaos of the rest of the bunch.

"This is the one," I tell her after a few minutes of silence. "He's perfect. He practically chose us."

She nods, shaking my shoulder as she does. "Should I go tell her? That we want one?"

"Yeah," I say. Hope moves to stand up and leave the room but I reach to take her hand before she can leave. She turns to face me again and I pull her in to kiss her lips softly. Her eyes flutter open softly and she smiles at me. "Thank you," I whisper. "I love you."

She kisses me again and taps the tip of her nose to mine. "I love you, too. I'll be right back."

The puppy stirs awake at the sound of the door closing. His brown eyes look up at me.

"Hi, little puppy," I say softly. He yawns in response and I poke my finger into his mouth. If he was able to glare, I'm pretty sure he would be right now. I laugh at him, picking him up and holding him eye level with me. "Your mom and I are gonna love you so so much. She's better than me. She'll give you so many treats. And I'll train you on so many skills." I can't hold myself back anymore from kissing the bump on the top of his head. "We're gonna love you to pieces. You are too cute."

Hope returns, the auntie close behind her with the adoption paperwork.

"Ah, that one," the woman says with a soft chuckle. "He's a lazy boy. He doesn't do much."

"I'll fix that quickly," I say. "He'll be running around in no time."

She smiles in understanding and hands me the clipboard. "I'll prepare his things and once the paperwork is finished, you'll be ready to take your new baby home with you."

I smile brightly at Hope before I look at the woman again. "Thank you, auntie."

When Hope and I are finally in the car with the puppy sleeping peacefully in a carrier, she holds my hand across the center console. I kiss the back of her hand as we drive through the streets of the city.

"What should we name him?" She asks. "It's hard to tell his personality. He's been asleep almost the whole time." She laughs softly. "It's like he thinks it's always night."

I laugh along with her. "I know. He needs to learn about what day is or something." I sigh, but the breath gets caught in my throat. "What if we name him Bam?" I suggest. "Since he only knows about the night."

A/n: "bam" means "night" in Korean

Hope snorts. "That's funny. I like it. It's still cute." She turns around to look into the carrier in the backseat. "Jeon Bam," she calls in a baby voice.

"Yeah, that's cute." I smile and squeeze her hand. "I like it."

She squeezes my hand in return. "We're like parents now."

"I know. Crazy right?"

"This is my first dog ever," she confesses. "I did a ton of research before, but I can't believe I have a dog now."

"I'm here too," I say. "We'll raise him together. I always trained my dogs growing up. I was the one who trained Gureum. He was a good listener."

"Bam might be hard to train," she jokes, "since all he wants to do is sleep."

I huff in agreement and we fall back into a comfortable silence.

After a moment, Hope clears her throat. "Can we buy him puppy clothes? Like pajamas?"

I look at her, barely containing my laughter. "Seriously?"

"I just think it'll be cute! I've been looking online for days."

My laugh escapes boisterously and I shake my head. "Yes, of course we'll get him dog pajamas, Hope. Who do you think I am?" 

—

sorry not sorry, these two are my favorite pairing. I love them so much

also, I started writing this with both of them using simpler English to be more realistic. to hell with realism. somehow they're communicating perfectly, idk how. we need bam, not realism. 

cay 
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