Don't Text Me | Taesan X Woonhak

16: Dog-sitter

9:32 PM

Donghyun:
You're overthinking this. The project isn't that bad.

Dongmin groaned, glaring at his phone. 

Dongmin:
It's not the project; it's him. He's intentionally testing my patience.

Donghyun:
Who? Jiseok?

Dongmin:
Of course it's Jiseok. The guy always acts like he's the king of the universe, and everyone else is just his servant.

Donghyun:
He's probably just stressed. It's not personal.

Dongmin huffed. 

Dongmin:
Yeah, sure. It's not personal that he makes me do all the tedious parts while he sits back and 'supervises.'

Donghyun:
That's how group projects work, bro. You either suffer silently or get into a pointless fight. Pick one.

Dongmin:
I'll pick throwing him into the nearest dumpster.

Donghyun:
Be my guest. Just make sure you don't get expelled, okay?

Dongmin tossed his phone aside, sinking deeper into the couch. His irritation hadn't faded, but now he felt drained. He glanced at his phone again, expecting another message from Woonhak. Nothing.

He frowned. "What's he doing now? Being suspiciously quiet for once?"

Before he could spiral into more pointless thoughts, Jihoon strolled into the living room, grinning at his phone while playing a game. His overly cheerful demeanor grated on Dongmin's nerves.

"Why are you so happy?" Dongmin asked, narrowing his eyes.

Jihoon didn't even glance up. "Because I'm winning, duh."

Dongmin smirked slyly. "Let me see."

He leaned over Jihoon's shoulder, purposely blocking his view of the screen. Jihoon yelped. "Hyung! Move!"

Dongmin snickered, tapping the edge of Jihoon's phone. "Oops, did I make you lose?"

"Stop! You're ruining it!" Jihoon whined, clutching his phone like it was his lifeline.

Dongmin stood and stretched lazily. "You're too attached to that thing. Learn to lose gracefully."

Jihoon whined dramatically, "Why are you always such a troublemaker?!"

Dongmin just shrugged with a smug smile and walked out of the room, knowing he had won this round. He lay on his bed, hoping his phone would light up with a message from Woonhak. The minutes dragged on.

"Come on, send something, already."

Bored and feeling more irritable than ever, Dongmin opened his music app. He let his favorite songs flood his ears, hoping it would calm him down. The guitar riffs and powerful vocals had always been his escape, but tonight, it wasn't working.

"Ugh, this is so pointless."

After a while, Dongmin glanced at the half-finished DIY shoes on the table. He'd been meaning to add a few more touches, so he sighed and grabbed the fabric markers. He carefully drew little cat faces on the sides, remembering Woonhak's earlier suggestion. "Add some cats, it'll make them cute," he had said.

He stared at his handiwork, grimacing. "What the heck am I even doing? This is so dumb." He sighed and tossed them aside, feeling like a fool.

Then, just as he was about to throw his phone down in frustration, a new message popped up. 

Woonhak:
Ugh, I'm so tired. I've been running around all evening.

Dongmin blinked, his fingers already moving to reply. 

Dongmin:
Why are you tired? What happened?

Woonhak:
My hyung next door has two dogs. He left me to take them for a walk, and one of them ran off. I've been chasing it all evening.

Dongmin chuckled to himself and typed back.

Dongmin:
You can't even take care of yourself, and you're trying to take care of dogs?

Woonhak:
Shut up, it wasn't my fault! That little menace just bolted when I wasn't looking. And the other one was just... chilling. Ugh.

Dongmin:
You're a mess. I bet the dogs had a better time than you.

Woonhak:
Whatever. Look, here's a picture of them.

Dongmin's phone pinged again, and he stared at the photo of the two pomeranian dogs, snuggled up together looking as cute as ever. 

Dongmin:
So now you're playing dog-sitter? Hilarious. You're not even reliable enough to take care of yourself.

Woonhak:
I'm doing my best, okay? You wouldn't understand. I'm exhausted.

Dongmin:
The dogs are cute. You, not so much.

Woonhak:
Wow, rude! I didn't see you out there chasing that tiny monster for hours!

Dongmin:
Probably because I have common sense and wouldn't lose a dog in the first place.

Woonhak:
Excuse me, it's not my fault that it's faster than me!

Dongmin:
What's next? You getting outrun by a turtle?

Woonhak:
Keep laughing. One day, karma's gonna get you.

Dongmin:
Already did. I got stuck texting you.

Woonhak sent a grumpy emoji, which only made Dongmin chuckle. 

Dongmin:
Next time, just stick to pets you can actually handle, like... a goldfish.

Woonhak:
If I had a goldfish, I'd bet it would be better at following directions than you.

Dongmin:
At least my goldfish wouldn't be running away every two minutes.

-๑๑-

Sorry for not updating this book for a month. I'm preparing for another entrance exam right now. The exam starts in the February and I have my first semester exam in the college I'm currently studying at- in January. So I'll be busy for next two months. But If I get time I'll update.

I actually forgot the very first idea I came up with for this book... Usually I keep notes but I forgot about it. I plant to write more than 30 chapters so I'm not finishing it here. Spoiler: I'll add a plot twist before their meeting. There's no fun in a story if there's no plot twist, but I'll keep it light.