baby kkami | seungjin

shiba inu

Seungmin was late, for the first time since he had started working at the pound. But he wasn't just ten minutes late, or even an hour. No, Seungmin was five hours late for his seven-hour shift, and he knew no amount of pleading with his demanding boss would save him from punishment, even if it was his first time being late. Seungmin wouldn't consider himself punctual, as he was always the last to show up at birthdays or planned hangouts, but his anxiety would get the better of him when it came to his job, and before he knew it, he would be an hour early.

He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair and fixed the collar on his work shirt that was two sizes too big and had a habit of exposing him.

"Please don't murder me," he begged when he caught sight of his boss pacing outside the front door, flashing a smile at the customers that passed him.

"Kim Seungmin, do you know what time it is?" The man hissed.

Seungmin gulped, "Uh, yes."

"Good, that's good. You're working 5 to 11 now, close the shop." Keys were thrown and Seungmin caught them with shaky hands. He inwardly groaned, closing was the worst part of the job, and he was usually lucky enough to get day shift. Although he would never admit it, Seungmin was terrified of the dark, and sitting in the dark cleaning dog poop wasn't his idea of an ideal Saturday night, and his party going friends would agree.

"I hate everything," Seungmin mumbled, pocketing the keys and placing his book bag under the front desk.

"What was that, Mr. Kim?"

"Nothing!" Seungmin smiled sheepishly, focusing his attention on the woman in front of him.

"What can I help you with, miss?" He asked politely.

"I'm looking for a certain type of dog." Seungmin nodded for her to continue, opening the breed catalog on his work iPad. "A Shiba Inu, by any chance?" She chuckled awkwardly, and Seungmin could only imagine how many times she had asked this and been disappointed when the pound didn't have the dog she wanted. Shiba Inu's were not a common breed, despite being originally bred in Asia, as they were difficult to obtain. The probability of finding one in a pound was very low, so Seungmin was surprised when he found one. The dog was around three years old and had already been trained, the only downfall was his ridiculously stupid name, Cheeto.

"Yes, we actually do!" The woman smiled, her red painted lips exposing deep dimples.

"Follow me, please," Seungmin requested after memorizing the cage number and row.

"If you ignore the fact that his name is Cheeto, he's perfectly fine!" Seungmin told her when they finally reached the wire pen. Cheeto was housed with another dog, a small Chihuahua that didn't seem pleased by the human's presence.

"Can I meet him?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course, let me just get the keys, okay? Don't be afraid of him, you should be more scared of the little one." He shot the woman a playful wink and jogged back to the front desk. The keys hung in neat rows, courtesy of Seungmin's OCD, each labeled with cage numbers and customized with a small dog keychain. He grabbed the one labeled '9' and rushed back to his customer, the keys jingling as he ran.

"Excuse me," Seungmin respectfully said, reaching past the woman to unlock the padlock and remove the chain.

"Okay, so, I have to go in to contain feisty over there, please just make sure that you don't let Cheeto run away from you."

The woman nodded obediently and Seungmin slipped into the cage with practiced ease, practically lunging at the little chihuahua. The puppy wriggled in his arms, but Seungmin ignored him and cracked the cage, allowing Cheeto to run to his potential owner.