[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

The Family Dog

Jungwoo was happy. Really happy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy, but he assumed it was probably when he first started school. Yeah, he liked that day, but this one had been better. 

Not only did he get to go to the park and see his friend, but he was gained a lot of new friends. And these weren't friends who tried to make him talk. They were really nice. Plus, he got to walk home with two of them, and that was a lot nicer than coming home in the dark alone.

There were a couple of rules Jungwoo had to follow, the very spoken kind of rules, and that was the only thing he had running through his head when he broke off from Haechan and Jeno to go home. 

Rule 1: If you're coming or leaving, go early in the morning or late at night. Never in between.

Rule 2: Only come and go through the doggie door.

Rule 3: Don't make any noise. (that one was very important)

Everything else were unspoken rules like eat from the dog bowls on the floor and stay under the bed in his parent's room when the land lord comes. All of this stemming from the one rule enforced by the apartment complex. No kids.

So Jungwoo had played the role of the family dog for nine years. He learned to do a very convincing dog bark before he could walk, and anything other than how to use the bathroom and take care of himself was learned at school.

Under the cover of the darkness he squeezed through the doggie door, kicked off his shoes, and crawled over to the kitchen were a bowl of water and food were always sitting out. It was only filled with actual dog food when the land lord came to visit, so now it was jokingly filled with the graham crackers shaped like Scooby snacks.

He sat on the floor and ate them just so he wouldn't get yelled at for letting them get stale or something along those lines, picking up the bowl of water to drink from it. He then crawled to the couch where he slept, curling up on his side. It was a strange way to live, but if that's what kept his parents from being kicked out from the only apartment they could afford, he was willing to do it.

...

Jungwoo wanted to cry when he discovered he woke up late. It wasn't even technically that late and it wasn't like he was going to be late to school by a long shot, but he was running really close to when the land lord who lived below them woke up. That was always his deadline of when to be out of the apartment.

His parents said nothing as he threw on his uniform, grabbed his backpack from it's hiding place, ate breakfast as quickly as he could, and disappeared out of the apartment through his personal door. He was lucky it was still early enough where no one else was on the street to watch him put as much distance between himself and the apartment, but he squeezed his eyes shut when he met eyes with someone.

He was trying out the "I can't see you, you can't see me."

"Um? Jungwoo?" Haechan approached him from the corner of the street, having planned on waiting for him there so they could walk to school together but not expecting to actually run into him.

Jungwoo slowly opened his eyes, giving Haechan a small wave. The younger just softly shook his head with a sigh, motioning for Jungwoo to crouch down a bit so he could fix his hair. Haechan then took his hand and started walking in the direction of their school, and for a second Jungwoo thought he hadn't seen him crawl out of a doggie door.

"So does the actual door not work? What kind of dog do you have?" 

Haechan sounded so excited at the thought of a cute little dog that Jungwoo almost lied and told him they had a Pomeranian or something. But then they passed the sign that said it was an adult complex, and the "no kids in residence" rule was right there for everyone to see.

"Oh. That's actually kind of smart. I mean, it's really stupid and awful of your parents, but it's still smart. Sorry, I'll stop now." Haechan bit his lip, feeling like he intruded on something he shouldn't have learned. "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

"Thank you." And for once no one made a big deal about how he finally said something even if it was just a whisper. Haechan just smiled.