My Last Name

➖ 4➖

Jeongguk frowned at the last one; Milo was a 14 year-old lab that he'd known since he was a teen. That dog had been a gift to Mrs. Kang from her husband. They were unable to have children, so Mr. Kang gifted her Milo. He was all she had left when her husband died. Jeongguk nodded slowly and went to his office to start the day. He had multiple shots to do and a few walk-in clients; every time Jeongguk went up to the front, Taehyung was doing something, like cleaning, filing, or filling out paperwork.

He caught Jimin when he came to tell him there was a client in Room One. "What is Taehyung doing here?"

Jimin shrugged. "He came in early this morning and sat and waited for you, but he finally got tired of sitting and asked if he could help me out at all. I had him do some quick filing for me, and then he just sat and started to watch me work with the computer. He catches on really quickly; I bet he could easily put me out of my job."

"No chance of that hyung, don't worry."

Later on in the day, when Milo came in to be euthanized, Taehyung offered to help Jeongguk because he could see that the young vet was close to tears. Milo was one of the pets Jeongguk was closest to, so it was almost like putting down one of his own pets. He had Tae help him lift Milo to the table and hold the dog down while he injected him. Mrs. Kang stayed with them, petting and talking to the old guy until he was gone, and then she just sat and cried for a while.

Jeongguk nodded Taehyung out of the room and, from the doorway, he could see Jimin crying, but thankfully Yoongi was taking care of him. Jeongguk leaned against the wall that hid the surgery room and forced his tears back. It was hard, but he still had other clients to deal with and he didn't need them to worry about why he had red eyes.

Taehyung stood in front of him resolutely and placed his warm hand on his shoulder. Jeongguk just swallowed and pulled away with the excuse of, "I need to tell Jin hyung."

When Mrs. Kang finally collected herself, Jeongguk went to the front to help her fill out the cremation form because Jimin had disappeared into the back with Yoongi for a second. Probably to play with Minnie, one of the two clinic cats, petting cats always made him feel better. Taehyung didn't say anymore on the matter, for which Jeongguk was eternally grateful. He mainly stayed out of the way but jumped up to help whenever needed. 

At the end of the day, Taehyung walked Jeongguk to his car.

"Sorry that you got put to work."

"I didn't mind," he replied and then proceeded to stare at him. Jeongguk kinda felt like he needed to say something, but he didn't have anything else to say, "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

Jeongguk really hadn't expected that. "Um..." He replied intelligently, but he quickly covered over his tracks.

"Not right now; I'm sure you're not in the mood for going out now... but sometime."

Jeongguk watched his almost anxious expression and remembered what Jin had said.

"Sure, sometime."

His relieved smile sent a shiver down Jeongguk's spine, and he took that as a cue to get out of there. He quickly gave Taehyung a good-bye wave and drove off.

▪▪▪▪▪▪

The next day was just as hectic as the day before, but Taehyung, once again showed up with banana milk and a Danish in hand, and jumped in to help right away. Around lunch, Jeongguk noticed that Jimin looked a little pale, so he sent him home and had Yoongi man the front desk. Once again that night, Taehyung walked Jeongguk to his car.

On Friday morning, Jimin did the unspeakable. He got sick.

"I'm so sorry Jeongguk, but I just can't get out of bed. Every time I move, the room decides to spin around my head."

Jeongguk assured him that it was okay and went into work early to open the clinic.

Taehyung was sitting in his car when Jeongguk drove up. "What time do you wake up in the morning?" he asked exasperatedly. He had to drag himself out of bed just to get to work at eight; Taehyung didn't even work there and he was sitting outside, probably before even Jimin or Yoongi got there.

"At six in the morning," he answered simply, "Is Jimin off today?" Taehyung asked as he handed Jeongguk his banana milk.

"No... he's sick. Listen, I really hate to ask this... but could you help me today? Yoongi hyung has a lot of kennels to clean today, and I need someone to take care of the computer and phones when I'm with a client."

"That's fine," Taehyung answered, moving to boot up the computer.

The second they were officially opened, Murphy's Law went into action. The phones rang off the hook; Jeongguk had five emergencies and three euthanasia's. The first time he was really able to sit down was when Yoongi had left at six, flipping around the "Open" sign. Jeongguk groaned and hit his head against the counter tiredly, eliciting a slight chuckle from Taehyung.

"Sorry about the crazy day. I'm willing to pay you if you want me to—"

Taehyung shook his head and said, "I don't want money... but I am very hungry."

Jeongguk just stared at him, then laughed. "You're stubborn." Taehyung just shrugged. "Okay, fine. Help me with the end of the day closeout and we'll go to dinner."

Taehyung grinned slightly and turned to the cash drawer, but he suddenly stopped as he found himself face to face with a puffy white cat.

"Hi, Winnie" Jeongguk said lightly as she stretched her neck out and sniffed at him, causing him to lean away.

"It's missing a leg," Taehyung stammered as she stretched out her long body to put her one front paw on his shoulder and kept her back legs on the counter.

"Yeah, that's Winnie; she's been a clinic cat for close to seven years. She was born with a mangled leg and was one of my first surgeries. She's pretty grouchy usually, but when she wants attention, she lets us know." By now Winnie had claimed her place on Taehyung's lap and was staring at him intently, waiting to be petted.

"What do you mean by clinic cats?" he asked, trying to avoid her while taking the cash out of the drawer.

"We have two cats that have run of the clinic during the day. They usually keep the little kids occupied while their parents are busy. Minnie's a brat and Winnie's a grouch, so they fit well together." Jeongguk chuckled as he watched Winnie pat at Taehyung's face with her paw.

They worked silently for a while after that, finishing about twenty minutes later. Jeongguk then dragged Taehyung to his favorite restaurant. If he was going to have to eat dinner with him, he was going to choose the place... however, Taehyung didn't seem to mind.

▪▪▪▪▪▪

Their first date had been wonderful.

"I'm glad you agreed to have dinner with me. I like you more than I thought I would."

Jeongguk gave him a bunny smile, "You know, I think you almost sincerely complimented me. Keep this up, Kim, and you might just be able to win me over."

Taehyung knew he had to be joking, but Jeongguk's words gave him a very childish glimmer of hope."I'll see you on Monday then?" Jeongguk asked after unlocking his car.

Taehyung stalled for a moment then nodded and smiled. "Yes, of course. Banana milk in hand."

For a few very radical moments as Jeongguk slowly leaned foward, Taehyung thought he was going to kiss him, like in the movies, but then he just ducked his head and said, "Try smiling once in a while. You actually look human when you do." After that, he gave Taehyung a little half-wave, slipped into his car, and was gone. Taehyung just stood there for a while, thinking. Maybe really having him around wouldn't be that bad.