This is part 1 because that’s how i dodge my deadlines
Title: Puppy Love (im a sucker for puns leave me alone lol)
Pairing: Mark x GOT7
Word count: around 8k???
Genre: Fluff, almost no angst but just a little
Summary: Mark signed up for a puppy play date group since Milo is a bit lonely. Every time he goes, though, there's someone new who catches his eye. Plus, each of their puppies are cute. And Milo seems to like them too.
Warning(s): Stealing because puppies like shiny things apparently, Cursing
Prompt: (1) Moving to a new place is hard. To help you find friends, you decide to join a local puppy playdate group online.
(2) Person A is walking their dog with only socks and no shoes. Person B is mildly confused.
(3) "I found this crying child by themselves in the park, will you help me find their parents?"
(4) Person A's stuff keeps going missing. Person B's pet is the thief.
(5) Person A and Person B bump into each other and accidentally switch bags. They use what's in the bag to try and find the other person to switch back.
When Mark signed up for a five-week-long weekly puppy playdate group for Milo, he did not sign up to meeting a random assortment of people with whom he'd fall in love.
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The first one was Jaebeom. All Mark was doing was minding his own business and walking with Milo. The group he was with that week was fun but a little too chatty after the initial introductions. Mark ended up in the back, just spending time with Milo and making sure the puppy didn't eat anything weird. Then he saw Jaebeom. Walking a dog. With no shoes on. What.
Mark, understandably confused, goes quietly up to the causation of his confusion. "Where are your shoes?" He taps the man on his shoulder while asking the question, hoping for an answer.
Jaebeom startles, staring at Mark for a long second before he starts laughing. "Oh. This little brat chewed them all up." He gestures to the dog. "I'm walking him for my friend, as I mentioned during the introductions." Mark remembers and hums in acknowledgment.
"Yeah, this cutie puppy isn't yours then." Jaebeom nods.
"I prefer cats." Noticing Mark's face, Jaebeom backtracks. "Not that I hate dogs, of course. I just love cats more. I have five of them. Nora, Odd, Kunta, Cake, and Bereu."
Mark laughs at the look on Jaebeom's face. "I can tell you really love them." Jaebeom nods animatedly and launches into a whole TED talk about his five cats. Mark half-listens, genuinely interested, but the other half is him trying to stop Milo from eating someone's shoes.
At the end of the playdate, Jaebeom and Mark exchange numbers and agree to meet up at a café in two days. Mark, when he gets home and lets Milo off his leash, immediately flops down on the couch and stares at Jaebeom's contact for a good minute before calling his best friend, Jackson. "Guess what, Gaga!"
"Eh? What? Did you win the lottery?" Jackson sounds tired, and Mark feels a pinch of guilt for waking his med student friend up, as Jackson rarely gets a wink of sleep. However, his unbridled joy is too contagious.
"No, but I did meet someone cute at this puppy playdate group I'm in!" Mark laughs excitedly into the phone. "We're meeting up for coffee on Wednesday."
"That's awesome, Marks. What's his name?" Jackson sounds considerably more awake. "How cute is he on a scale of one to ten?"
"His name's Im Jaebeom, and he's a few months younger than me. He's a full ten. Jacks, he's so pretty." Mark can't contain his excitement, and his best friend laughs giddily.
"Mark, I'm happy for you, Gege. Go knock him off his socks. Out of his socks? Is that a phrase?"
"Knock him off his feet, or knock off his socks, Jacks." Jackson just laughs again.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm going back to sleep though so good luck! Call me after your date!" Jackson hangs up, and Mark, while still feeling guilty, just laughs again. He's too eager for his date, and Milo knows, jumping up to lick his owner's face.
Mark stays excited until the day of the date. Or, to be more precise, the twenty minutes before the date. He is currently panicking inside his wardrobe while Jackson laughs at his misery. "Stop worrying, Gege. Whatever you wear, Jaebeom will love."
"Yeah, but what if he doesn't?" Mark himself doesn't know why he's so worried. He's never cared about clothes before. One eventful Halloween, he just wore a paper bag. (Jackson was still unhappy about that.)
"Then I'll beat him up for you," Jackson offers in a monotone voice. Mark huffs at his best friend's uninterest but just throws on an oversized sweater and a pair of jeans and calls it a day. It's not like his date with Jaebeom will be fruitful, right? He's just being careful.
"Right. Well, I'm heading out now. Eat whatever. Take care of Milo." Jackson nods, now watching a video on his phone, and Mark rolls his eyes fondly before sliding his sneakers on and heading out the door.
The walk to the café isn't a long one, but Mark doesn't want to be late. Apparently, Jaebeom had the same idea, as he is waiting at the entrance to the café. He catches sight of Mark and waves, and Mark smiles at him, hurrying up his pace a little. "Hey."
"Hi."
A moment of silence. Then Jaebeom breaks out into the brightest smile Mark has ever seen, and Mark falls once more. "I like your sweater," Jaebeom offers a compliment, and Mark chuckles, looking down to see which sweater he had picked haphazardly out of his closet. It appears to be the usual tourist-y "I Heart NY" sweater. How ironic, considering Mark is from California.
"Thanks. Shall we head in now?" Jaebeom nods, another smile breaking out on his face. The two of them head in, heading towards the counter to place their order.
"Hi, what can I get you two?" The server smiles, and Mark looks at the menu briefly before ordering an iced tea to play it save. Jaebeom got a lime soda, and Mark took a mental note of that. Once they receive their drinks, they find a booth near the window and sit to chat.
"So, what do you do for work?" Mark asks after a moment of silence.
"I'm a photographer, but I also dabble in music on the side." Mark's interest is peaked.
"That's so cool! Can I see some of your stuff?" Jaebeom flushes, and his eyes crinkle.
"Yeah." The rest of the date is spent with Mark coo-ing over the pictures Jaebeom takes (80% of which are his cats). Before saying their goodbyes, Jaebeom leans over and gives Mark a quick hug, and Mark's heart and face blooms with both affection and a blush.
Later on, in the evening, Mark and Jackson are having dinner when Mark's phone chimes. It's a text from Jaebeom, a link to his Soundcloud, Definite. Jackson and Mark spend the rest of dinner listening to the songs and dancing along.
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The next time Mark went on a puppy playdate, he saw someone towering over everyone else, including himself. Now, Mark wasn't short, by any means. This person was just really tall. But with tallness, he also came with a baby-face, and Mark was ready to squish his cheeks. The puppy he came along with was cute as well. A little black Pomeranian, who was a little smaller than Milo, was yapping at the other puppies who even dared to enter its personal space.
When Milo started to sniff curiously closer to the Pomeranian, the tall owner quickly scooped his dog up. "No, Kyummie," he coos, petting the over-eager puppy, "We don't bite other dogs."
Mark laughs. "How old is your puppy?" The man shrugs.
"I don't know exactly, but Dalkyum's a little less than a year. You?"
"Milo is almost two years old now," Mark smiles fondly at his puppy. "He still likes to chew on all my pillows, though. What's your name?"
"Puppies will be puppies, no matter how destructive they are. I'm Yugyeom." Yugyeom laughs, high pitched and adorable. He offers his hand, and Mark shakes it.
"I'm Mark."
"It's nice to meet you, Mark, Milo," Yugyeom squats down to pet Milo, and Dalkyum wriggles, trying to get out of Yugyeom's arms to greet the new dog. "Kyum, no!"
The puppy is too excited and manages to wrench its way out of Yugyeom's arms. Milo barks, but Dalkyum barks right back, and they end up play-wrestling. Mark watches in amusement, and Yugyeom squawks. "Don't worry, it's just play-fighting," Mark assures Yugyeom. "If they really were fighting, the other dogs would be bothered as well, and we can break them up."
Yugyeom looks unsure but doesn't budge. When the group starts walking, though, Yugyeom scoops up Dalkyum to try to calm him down lest he goes play with the other dogs. Milo calms down more quickly, used to walking with Mark quietly, and Mark urged him forward. There are five minutes of calm before Mark feels a tug on his jacket. He turns around, and Yugyeom is standing there with Dalkyum and a random kid.
"Mark, I found this crying child by themselves in the park, will you help me find their parents?" Mark blanches, then takes a good look at the child. He looks young, maybe around four, with a blotchy face and red eyes.
"All right. What's your name, kid?"
"Dohyun." Mark squats down, Milo jumping into his lap and trying to lick his face.
"Milo no-" As Mark tries to wrangle the puppy, Dohyun cracks a smile alongside Yugyeom. After the oldest finally gets his dog under control, he finally asks a question. "So, where did you see your parents last?"
"I don't know, mister. They were walking for fun, and I stayed to play. But it's been a long time." Dohyun's face crumples up again, and Milo, sensing tears, quickly tries to soothe him by jumping up on the boy's thighs. He giggles wetly, petting the dog.
"Well, Dohyun, we're walking around the park as well. Do you want to join us and look for your parents?" Yugyeom is the one to suggest the idea, and Mark gives him a little smile. Yugyeom quickly looks away, tips of his ears slightly red. Dohyun just nods, and the two set out.
After a while of walking, Dohyun suddenly tugs on Mark's jacket. "My parents," he explains while pointing out two adults walking in the opposite direction. "Mom!"
The two adults turn around, catch sight of their child, and then raise their eyebrows at the two men with him. The mom picks up Dohyun warily. "Hello, kiddo. Weren't you supposed to wait for us?" Dohyun shook his head.
"It's been so long, Mom. I thought you got lost. Mister Mark and Yugyeom helped me." Dohyun points out the two standing behind him, and Yugyeom offers a wide smile. The dad steps forward, holding a hand out.
"Thanks, you two, for watching our child. Turns out, he just lost track of how long he had been in one spot and thought we were gone for hours. Sorry for taking up your time." Mark shakes his hand, laughing.
"It's all good. I'm glad Dohyun found you guys at least. Have a nice day." The family starts walking in the opposite direction, and once far enough, Mark and Yugyeom can hear the tail end of the mother scolding Dohyun.
"The kid was cute, I'm glad we met him." Yugyeom speaks up, and Mark hums. The two just finish their walk, until Mark makes a last-minute decision right as Yugyeom is going to walk in a different direction to go home.
"Yugyeom," the taller turns around, smiling expectantly, and Mark feels warmth in his chest as he continues, "what's your number?"
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The third time, Mark went on a walk, it was peaceful. Up until he realized his bracelet was missing. He figured it just fell off, since the clasp was a little faulty, so he backtracked to try and find it. And find it he did, in the hands of some stranger with a sunny, but confused, smile. "Excuse me," Mark gets his attention, "that's my bracelet."
"Oh! I'm sorry, you must have been wondering where it went! That would be the work of my daughter, she really likes shiny stuff." The stranger gestures to a puppy with a cute bob-like haircut. "I'm really sorry." Mark offers a smile, taking the bracelet.
"It's all good. Thanks for returning it. What's your name?"
"Youngjae, and yours?" Youngjae has such pretty eyes.
"Mark. I'm Mark." Youngjae offers a nod, and the two go their separate ways. Youngjae doesn't seem part of the puppy brigade as Mark likes to call it, and Mark is slightly disappointed.
And if he returns the next four days hoping to find Youngjae again, Mark definitely doesn't tell Jackson about it because he just knows he will get teased.
Thankfully, his hopes were not crushed the fourth day, considering he found his bracelet yet again in Youngjae's hands as Youngjae offers it up with an awkward smile. "You know, you should get the clasp fixed," Youngjae jokes, and Mark grins.
"I would, but it seems to always find its way to you, so I don't mind." Youngjae blushes and guffaws.
"You could just ask me for my number. I'm sure that would be just as effective."
"It sure would." Mark takes his bracelet back and hands Youngjae his phone. "Just input your number." Youngjae agrees, and opens the contacts when-
"How do you know Jaebeom?" Mark looks over and sees the grinning face of Jaebeom in the contacts. He forgot the younger had stolen his phone to take dumb photos.
"Oh, I met him during this puppy playdate thing I'm signed up for. How do you know him?" Youngjae laughs again. Mark could listen to his laugh every day.
"He tutors me in piano every Thursday," Youngjae explains. "I didn't know he liked dogs."
"I mean, he has five cats, so he probably doesn't like them that much, but he was doing it for a friend or something." Mark chuckles. "Maybe us three should get together and have coffee or something."
Youngjae agrees strongly, and immediately takes out his phone to make a group chat. He titles it 'puppycat,' and Mark finds it absolutely adorable. (Jaebeom does too, but he's not telling.) The three of them plan to meet tomorrow, and Mark is very excited, immediately texting Jackson about it.
Mark will deal with all the teasings and kissing emojis from Jackson talking about soulmates because he honestly wouldn't mind Youngjae and Jaebeom as soulmates.
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The fourth time, Mark bumped into a random stranger. This was annoying because Mark had just moved to a new apartment and all his stuff was in a duffle bag. And when he got home, he realized he got the wrong duffle bag. Someone named...Park Jinyoung...took his bag. Mark ignores the thought that this dude shares a name with his boss, and tries to look a bit more to find out where this dude lives.
After a few minutes (read: twenty minutes) of searching, all Mark can find out is that this Jinyoung guy lives on the rich side of town and has really nice suits. Mark sure hopes the other dude isn't a total dick and will actually try to return the briefcase.