it's just puppy love | vmin

step 1: concoct a plan

"Jungkook."

"What?" Jungkook didn't take his eyes off of his phone.

" Jungkooook ," Taehyung whined, leaning in to rest his chin on the boy's shoulder, blowing a tuft of blonde hair off his eyes. "Please, Jungkookie, you need to talk to me."

With a sigh, Jungkook lowered his phone and diverted his gaze to his best friend, who lay slumped against his side, lower lip jutting into a pout. His face softened as he saw Taehyung's mouth droop at the corners. "Okay, okay, I'm listening, Tae. What's wrong?"

Taehyung played with his spoon distractedly, scooping up bits of soggy cereal out of his yellow poporo bowl and tipping the contents back in again, until it was a cyclical movement of dip, lift up, tilt. He chased a raisin around the perimeter of his dish. With a groan, his free hand flew to the open newspaper that lay spread out in front of him like a makeshift tablecloth, pointer finger landing on an ad. An ad, written in small, black font, saying nothing but:

LOST GERMAN SHEPHERD PUPPY

LAST SEEN FRIDAY

20 LB, BLACK MARKINGS AROUND EYES

Jungkook narrowed his eyes as he skimmed over the paper, not quite understanding (because Kookie could be an idiot, Taehyung thought with a huff.) "Yes... and?"

He rolled his eyes, as he ran circles around the ad in smooth, mesmerising movements. "You can be so slow sometimes, Jeon. Why am I even friends with you?"

"I pay the rent and I can cook without burning the house down," the other replied without hesitation.

"Those are small things," Taehyung shot back, but looped his arm around Jungkook's neck, still eyeing the newspaper with a forlorn sigh escaping from between his lips. "You know how I've always wanted to have a puppy?"

Jungkook's eyes widen. "You want to steal a puppy?"

"No!" Taehyung yelped, hurt that Jungkook would even suggest such a thing. He slapped the back of his head calculatedly, which sent the younger boy lurch forward with a gasp, face just inches from smashing into his waffles. Taehyung, lover of All Things Nature ®, a kind soul who first asks permission before petting any animal (not permission from the owner, but from the pet itself (Jungkook always got embarrassed whenever Taehyung would lean down and ask the victim a quick, "Can I pet you?" in a sweet voice)), would never, ever think of kidnapping a puppy. Unheard of, and frankly, completely preposterous.

"I'm not going to steal a puppy for my own personal gain, because that's against the law and a horrible thing to do in general. That wasn't my point. My point is, that I've been hoarding newspapers in the tiny closet underneath the stairs, you know, the one that reminds me of Harry Potter? But the only reason is to buy myself a puppy. But you always say I can't, we can't afford one, blah blah, all that nonsense. The photos are still cute, so I keep them." Taehyung stopped here to take a jarring breath, before continuing once again.

"But for the past week or something, I've been seeing these ads all over the newspapers." He notions to the paper. "And not just dogs, either. Cats, too. Specifically, three cats and five dogs have gone missing since last Saturday." He sat up straighter, a look of determination on his face, as he turned to overlook Jungkook (who now had an eyebrow raised, looking back at him peculiarly). "And I've decided to put a stop to it."

Jungkook stays silent, stabbing his fork through his waffle.

Taehyung slumps back into his chair, a smile on his face. "So? What do you think? Am I going to save puppies or am I definitely going to save puppies?"