He stared down at it.
It stared back, its dark, almost black eyes focusing on him until its attention was brought to something else. It bit down on his finger, he could barely feel the points of its teeth poking through its gums. The bite was more gum than teeth, and the occasional growl or bark was more annoying than anything.
They watched the squirt and the young puppy from the corner of the infirmary, watching the way the young teenager interacted with the month-old puppy," I thought you said this was gonna help him." Dae-Hyun didn't even word it as a question, he said it as a statement that just annoyed him.
The kid looked down at the puppy with a passive look as he picked her up, easily cradling the unweaned animals in his hands.
He grabbed her by the scruff and put her on the floor.
Kang sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, admitting," I dunno. Doesn't animal therapy help in children hospitals? I figured it would help the kid."
For a few seconds, the only thing he could do was stare at the man in disbelief.
Because to be fair, animal therapy was proven to help patients of all ages, especially when they were stuck in the hospital for the long term.
But that was only with trained grown dogs.
How the fuck was a month-old puppy supposed to help?!
" Sir…" If it wasn't for their ranking, he most definitely would have called the man an idiot and then proceeded to let the major know how exactly he felt about his intelligence.
The puppy plopped down on the floor, struggling to get its limbs under her so she could sit up. She then promptly started to cry, those high-pitched cry's that would have been more than enough for its mother to rush over and dote on them.
Quickly, almost flustered even, the kid grabbed her by the scruff again and put her back onto his lap. It was clear that he was relieved that holding the puppy had quieted her down. The kid was surprisingly gentle as he cradled the puppy against his chest, allowing the little animal to chew on his finger this time around.
Day-Hyun could have sworn that the kid's lips upturned just the slightest before his face was emotionless again.
"You know," Day-Hyun said casually as they watched the kid interact with the puppy he was sure he would have ignored," It really pisses me off how you're technically right."
Major Kang just laughed, thoroughly amused that his roundabout method had gotten the same results," Its going to take a while to confirm his identity and get him back to Korea," He shrugged a shoulder casually as he added on," I figured having something to take care of would help him keep busy."
Hmm. That was a fair point.
The puppy somehow found the energy and strength to nip at the ball of the kid's chin, and the strangled noise that came out, as a result, had the both of them choking down their laughter.
Okay.
Maybe getting the kid a puppy wasn't a bad idea after all.
He didn't understand entirely why Major Kang had given him the animals.
Sunny was biting down on his finger, she had grown in the past month and now she had proper teeth that could hurt at times, but as long as he stuck his finger into the space behind her canines, then it wouldn't be teeth but her gum that was biting into him. He let her bite, and she growled enthusiastically as he tried to pull his hand away, much to her joy.
But it was nice to have her. It had been a pain when the others started pestering him to properly name the puppy ( "For gods sake, It or Dog isn't a name kid, give her a name."), but once he had named her Sunny, they left him alone.
Though for reasons he didn't understand, when he tried to name Sunny, the word 'Day' stuck out in his mind, but Day was a dumb name so he named her Sunny instead. Either way, he found it weird that 'Day' was something that stuck out, but it's not like he could do anything about it.
Sunny whined, whipping her head left and right as she tried to win the tug of war that they were having with his hand. He felt a spark of amusement as he pulled her hard enough for her to stumble over her front legs, only for her to recover within seconds and start pulling again.
Sometimes it was a pain to take care of her, especially when she would use the bathroom right there on the bed with him, or when he would wake up to her suckling on his earlobe in her sleep, but she was a nice distraction.
Deciding that it was a good time to take her outside, he put her onto the ground and started to lead her outside. It was slightly annoying with the way she would continue to nip at his ankles as he walked, but she always stopped after he accidentally kicked her once or twice while walking.
Sunny seemed to be stupid at times, but considering that she was quickly learning the tricks from the book the Major had given him, maybe she wasn't that dumb after all.
She yelped as she ran straight into the wall. To her credit, after stumbling back a few steps and shaking her head, she quickly recovered. But in the end, she still ran face-first into the wall.
Ok, maybe not.
There was a chuckle behind him, and he instantly recognized the voice," She's a little bit dumb isn't she?"
He nodded his head, repositioning himself so he could keep the major in his line of sight," She is pretty dumb."
The major nodded, a small smile on his face," Don't forget to go to Dae-Hyun for your shots." He nodded his head in response.
Sometimes he had a hard time talking to the men, but for some reason, there was something about the Major that made him seem like a trustworthy person.
"Anyways, I heard from Sung-Ho that you want to spar with us?" he nodded again.
He had been antsy since the very beginning of his stay, and he felt like he was going to go insane if he didn't get some type of stimulation. A spar was exactly what he wanted, and he needed to practice if he wanted to maintain his current skill level anyway.
Major Kang looked uncomfortable at the thought of sparring," Have you received any training?"
He most definitely did.
"I was a soldier for Iron," The man stiffened up, and he knew without a doubt that the soldier recognized one of the most influential and powerful private militaries in the region. But he continued," I led their top squadron."
His ending statement had put some uncertainty into the major's eyes as if he was doubting his words.
But no matter.
He would show them why he was 001.
Another month had passed, and he was regularly sparring with the Major's men. If it wasn't for the thorough training that Iron had given, he wouldn't have been such a challenge for the major's men. If he had been allowed to hit vital areas (Such as their knees and throats) he would have been able to overcome the size difference between himself and the grown men, but that didn't mean that he didn't go down without a fight. It was a good way to practice his skills, as well as learn a few more.
Sunny was now three months old and more than one of his socks had become her chew toy, but considering that Sunny would bite down hard enough for him to be able to spin her around, it wasn't that bad of a loss.
And the major wasn't any closer to finding out who he was.
"Sorry Squirt," Major Kang sighed heavily as he sat down at the table across from him, a sad look on his face," I'm having a hard time tracking down your family, they went into hiding after the accident because of the press. I won't be able to prove who you are until we can get a DNA test."
He shrugged his shoulder, patting Sunny's head when he saw that she was sitting down at his feet, patiently waiting for an award that she was hoping to be a treat," Okay." There wasn't much to say at that.
Besides.
He didn't mind the thought of staying on base for longer.
Major Kang looked faintly annoyed at his response (Odd that both giving and not giving a simple response could annoy someone.) but sighed in defeat," Alright," He ran his hand through his hair before giving him a stern look," Don't think we forgot about your appointment with Dae-Hyun."
…
Dammit.
Sunny was five months and was now big enough to easily jump onto his bed and lick him awake. She was going to be a big dog, one of the men said that she seemed to be a mix of pitbull and boxer, which apparently explained her protective qualities.
The few times one of the other men on base had been aggressive towards him, Sunny had been right there to stick her body in between the two of them while growling.
He found it a bit unnecessary, as he could handle himself.
Granted, it was amusing more than anything as a five-month-old puppy whose legs and ears were still too big for them wasn't that intimidating.
But he would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate Sunny's loyalty towards him.
He could relax around her. She was almost always alert to their surroundings, and more than once, she would react to someone's presence before they had even entered the room. To him, that was a very helpful skill the dog had picked up, even if she had known it instinctually.
Like always, Sunny perked up, picking her head off her paws to look at the doorway. He noticed within seconds, but upon seeing her wagging tail, he knew that it had to be the major or one of his men.
Sunny didn't like the other men on base.
And he loved her for it.
Major Kang walked in with a bright smile and a box in his hands," Alright kid!" Major Kang set the box onto the bottom of his bed, and after giving Sunny a few customary pats, he got to the point," My parents sent some of my old clothes for you." Oh?
He kept on talking as he opened the box," Along with some new underwear and socks. And. Best of all," He motioned for him to hold out his hand, and once he did so, the older man plopped three items into his hand.
A leather collar, a small metal tag, and what looked to be a two-foot-long braided nylon rope.
Using his context clues and the fact that he had no use for any of them, nor was he the Sunny that was engraved on the tag.
It wasn't hard to figure out that it was for Sunny.
The fact that he was getting new clothes from the major was enough to make him thankful for the man's generosity.
But the fact that Sunny had gotten something as well truly touched him.
He slightly smiled," Thank you." His voice was as soft as ever, but with the way the major reacted, it was like he had the biggest smile on his face.
The man's smile was beaming, his eyes shining bright," No problem kid."
He watched with a small smile on his face as Gwangsik, Ji-Hoon, and Sung-Ho played with Sunny. She was just six months old, so she stood virtually no chance against the grown men in the tug of war with the rope, but they were all having fun nonetheless.
After spending a little bit too much time in the sun, he was sitting in the shade to cool down a little bit, just close enough to hear the men curse and laugh as they played with Sunny.
There was the sound of footsteps behind him, not close per se but close enough that he had noticed. He glanced over his shoulder out of habit more than anything, but when he caught the eye of another Major and Corporal, he stared back until they looked away.
There was a reason he didn't like the other men on base, and that was because more often than not, they wanted to haze him purely because he was the youngest member on base, on average, he was at least a decade younger than everyone else.
But that didn't mean that he would back down, and there had already been a few fights where a few of the older men were upset that he didn't fall into line with their orders simply because he was younger.
It had already caused more than a few close calls, more often than not, it was Major Kang and/or Dae-Hyun breaking up the potential fight. Though thankfully, after he started sparring with the man, that more or less stopped.
They thought they were being slick, but of course, he had noticed that they only started shit with him when he was by himself.
He turned back around, planning to move past their presence.
"That's the kid Major Kang brought on base right?"
"Obviously."
"Huh…guess he likes 'em young."
He bristled, anger quickly flaring up in him because how dare they talk about the major like that. he had interacted with all sorts of people and he knew that Major Kang was not that sort of person.
There was a snarl on his face as he turned around, and he fully intended on dealing with the source of the problem himself and-
Sunny crashed into the back of his legs.
He ate shit.
While he didn't forget about what they had said, the anger towards the men had been replaced with frustration towards Sunny because out of all times to do that to him for the first time, why did she pick that very moment?!
It was even worse when Sunny just laid down on his back, and he felt his anger flare further.
Sunny yipped, and started to lick the back of his head as if he was a pup that needed tending to.
He didn't forget what the men had said.
But for now, he was just going to try and get Sunny off his back, mentally cursing the others as they gave him no helping hand. Instead, they just laughed their asses off as Sunny continued to lick him.
