in which the bear and puppy bond (and hilarity ensues)

[junkyardpoint]

It was always nice to have those little moments post-mission when things felt like they were actually somewhat normal. Moments that reminded them that they were human and that they didn't need to be the scary gangsters that they had to play themselves up as in order to keep their reputation among those in the underworld. Granted, all of them knew the value of knowing when to put their "game faces" on, as it were.

But right now, after cleaning up, Hyuntae had vaulted over and flopped dramatically onto the couch, stretching - and probably with his limbs dangling off the sides, knowing him - and grinned up at Ji-woong.

"Sorry boss, this seat's taken."

Comments

[bearskinthug]

If Ji-woong could keep watching over his kids and ensuring they didn't have such a shaky start to their gangster lifestyles as he had he'd be happy. Keep their kill-counts lower, not enlighten them to his own. Type of information you'd think he'd want to spread around in order to impress people, but. Killing was only satisfying when it was done to protect Ji-woong or one of his own. To know he'd kept them safe.

Seeing a safe, happy smile on one of their faces makes his chest all warm and light.

Which is obviously why he has to mess around.

"S'fine," Ji-woong shrugs, turning around ready to back up to the couch. "Age before beauty, or whatever." And unceremoniously sits down on Hyuntae's stomach.

[junkyardpoint]

It's nice, being able to actually be himself around the others. for way too long, he had to try and put on a face that quite frankly scared him. At the very least now he could say that this was a life that he had chosen rather than shoved into, even if the means and methods weren't exactly clean. or legal.

There's a loud "oof" as Ji-woong sits on him, causing Hyuntae's grin to falter as he nearly doubles over. Still, it's a testament to his strength that he doesn't immediately try throwing the older man off of him, instead pouting at him, cheeks puffed out. "The age card again?"

[bearskinthug]

Legal and clean don't matter. Honest and wholehearted do. Ji-woong lives that way and he hopes that everyone else can see that, know exactly what he values and have decided it's worth valuing too. They don't have to, it just helps for his gang to all be on the same page when it comes to jobs and rubbing along together. Ji-woong thinks they do alright. Better than alright.

Ji-woong squirms around on Hyuntae a bit, glancing round to grin at him. The kid is so strong for being so tall and skinny. "I'll always be older than you," he points out mildly. It'll never stop being relevant. "Show some respect to your elders."

[junkyardpoint]

Considering where most of them came from, clean and legal probably wouldn't' work out that well for them anyway. Though it is slightly ironic considering what they got themselves into half the time that they valued honesty and straightforwardness as much as they did. It's something Hyuntae had come to respect as well, being practically half-raised by the others.

And he'd better be strong, if he's supposed to be the point man and/or enforcer. Gotta try and look intimidating for all his lankiness. Or something like that.

"But you were the one who told me to make sure they earn that respect first," he replies. Okay that might not totally be something that they should admit to, but fuck it. They did what they felt was right, not what others had expected them to.

[bearskinthug]

Honour among thieves, they call it. Same thing even if you aren't exactly thieves. Or are only thieves sometimes when it suits you and helps you get what you need.

Very strong and very skinny. Growth spurts, they always get ya.

"Yeah," Ji-woong agrees. He didn't grow up in a household, he had nobody to instill in him the cultural expectation of respecting your elders. He did only learn to live by the code, 'respect those who've earned your respect'. "But I guess what I meant was: respect me, pup."

He bounces on Hyuntae just because, letting out a deep, throaty chuckle.

[junkyardpoint]

They did what they could to survive, there wasn't much to really go with beyond that. And beyond that, he at least looks much more the part that he's supposed to be playing now than before - even if he did wish he could bulk up a bit more. It's a work in progress.

And Hyuntae was too sickened by what they had done to him to really let it sink in, even if he had done his best to hold to that when he was still there. Granted, that was more or less just to avoid more punishment than anything else - and being around Ji-woong and the others had shifted him to what he was like today.

Hyuntae sputters as his boss bounces on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him before he can reply and he flails his arms a little bit, trying to push Ji-woong off of him.

[bearskinthug]

Hyuntae will just have to get Kitae to feed him more, or ransack the fridge more often. Eat more, work out more, bulk up. Take after papa's fine example.

The fine example that is being bumped onto the floor, landing a little heavily on his butt and making an 'oof!' noise in response.

"Yah!" Ji-woong lunges, reaching to throw his arm around Hyuntae's neck and introduce him to the noogie of a lifetime. "You'll pay for that!"

...Annnnd he's dragging Hyuntae onto the floor for a wrestling match, yep. This is happening now.

[junkyardpoint]

To be fair, he's probably half the reason why they need to go out for food as often as they do outside of Sungwoo. It's more working out that he needs to work on - and maybe finish growing. Maybe.

He tries to get out of the headlock and noogie, but he overcompensates and ends up tipping over as Ji-woong intended, flopping off of the couch and getting dragged to the floor. There's a fairly undignified yelp as he does. "Come on, I'm just defending myself!" He's squirming against the headlock, trying to shift his body to slide under it and lock Ji-woong's arm in place.

[bearskinthug]

That's fine! Ji-woong wants his family to be big and strong and healthy! To be able to take care of themselves against all the other gangs and shit out there. If he knew how to cook by any stretch of the imagination he'd be the one in the kitchen making food to lovingly overstuff his children, and his baby.

"Defend better then!" Ji-woong laughs. He has experience on his side, as well as comfort in his own body because his growth spurt and gangliness were a long time ago now! He places both arms into the headlock now to give Hyuntae a proper tugging at.

[junkyardpoint]

They'd never get anything done at that rate - they'd all be too busy eating. Then again with Kitae and Jichan around, they probably would be working twice as hard as they would be now to work it off (and therefore have twice the complaining from Sungwoo to deal with as well, more than likely).

"I'm trying!" Generally he doesn't have to worry about his own boss trying to put him in a headlock, though he really shouldn't be that surprised, especially since he'll probably have to deal with opponents around the same size. Though in this case, Hyuntae has no reason to shift into "attack dog" mode. This was more just goofing around and being dumb.

He gives an exaggerated gagging noise as Ji-woong's arms tighten around his neck, and he flails around slightly with his feet to try and get some sort of leverage to either get up or push his boss off.

[bearskinthug]

Then it's fatethat Ji-woong can't really good, and everyone should be grateful he isn't feeding them with love and then causing them to work it all off in the gym.

Ji-woong laughs when Hyuntae makes the ridiculous gagging noise - kids knows how to play alright! He's not going to truly fight back though, not with Ji-woong, not like this when it's only fun, so Ji-woong decides to let up a little.

Which means tugging Hyuntae down until his head is resting on Ji-woong's thigh and letting go where he can rest his head on papa bear's lap. And Ji-woong is already sneaking a hand up to pet Hyuntae's hair.

"You're a good kid," Ji-woong says idly. "I never had siblings to mess around with like this, growing up."

[junkyardpoint]

Yup, they've got a good thing going currently.

There's another yelp as his head is pulled down, but once he recognizes what Ji-woong is doing, Hyuntae relaxes significantly, shifting so that he's more comfortable sprawled out on the ground. He's not sure how to take the praise, though. He knows that Ji-woong means it, they all do when it comes down to it, and that's what counts - but even now after a few years, he still isn't always sure how to take compliments and praise.

"... Kitten and I used to do shit like this all the time. M'used to it," he mumbles. Not with his blood siblings, never them - his brother would've turned it into a means of survival and his sister wasn't a fan of roughhousing even in the moments she actually got to be a kid -

Nope. Happy thoughts now. Don't drift back to that.

[bearskinthug]

Kid finds it easier to take a headlock than a compliment. Not that that's entirely surprising considering the way they all live.

Ji-woong notices the way Hyuntae falls kind of quiet and introspective. He brushes at Hyuntae's hair a little more, watching it fall back into place. It's pretty fluffy for a puppy's hair.

"Don't let him hear you call him 'kitten' or he'll do worse than this," Ji-woong grins. Even 'kitty' is pushing it, most of the time. "I still appreciate you indulging your old pa like this."

[junkyardpoint]

It takes Hyuntae a moment to pull himself back into the present, but when he does, he lets out a puff of air, some of his hair fluffing up before falling back into place. There's still some things he doesn't feel comfortable coming forward about yet, but it was fine, really.

He grins once he's back to himself. "I'm probably one of the only people who can get away from calling him that on a regular basis without him trying to shank me. Besides, I'll sit on him if he tries it." While he threatened to do this fairly frequently to Kitae, just as he threatened to start stabbing Hyuntae should he start getting cheeky - it was just part of their banter at this point.

"S'fine, really."

[bearskinthug]

"Oi," Ji-woong says, giving Hyuntae a sudden playful shove, "you're not supposed to agree that I'm old! Not that much older than you, you cheeky little shit."

That hair fluffing is getting decidedly more like a noogie now.

[junkyardpoint]

There's a bit of a whine that escapes, but he merely settles for huffing and puffing rather than actually doing much, reaching to yank Ji-woong's arm down when he tries to noogie him.

"Still older!" He says with another huff.

[bearskinthug]

"And your hair's a mess!" Oh, so mature, this retort. "Sort yourself out, kid!"

[junkyardpoint]

"And whose fault is that?!" Not like he's much better in the maturity department here. Though it's really moments like this that hammer it home for Hyuntae that he's lucky, and how much everyone here in the gang cared for each other. It's a feeling he doesn't want to let go of.

[bearskinthug]

Hyuntae does have the excuse of being a handful of years younger than Ji-woong though. And the maknae of their gang. He's allowed to play around and play loose with maturity sometimes.

Hell, so is Ji-woong. They don't live by rules or expectations; that's the point. He's allowed to have fun!

"Your hair's always a mess, to be honest," Ji-woong says, trying to stifle a snort and mostly failing. "I keep meaning to ask what the fuck is going on with it lately."

Ji-woong can talk, he changes his hair almost every week!

[junkyardpoint]

That's true, and Hyuntae does relish in being the youngest a lot of the time - it's more fun that way. Even with all the times that he gets pulled aside due to the age card or something else that was just as ridiculous to him.

"Hey-!" He shoots up, trying to give Ji-woong a stankeye and ... kind of accomplishing it? "It's fine the way it is! You guys are the ones who keep dying yours all sorts of dumb colors."

[bearskinthug]

The age card is a valid card! Hyuntae doesn't have the same amount of life experience as the others yet in regards to timespan, even if he's seen some things in his life.

Oh the puppy is cute with his little stankeye look. Ji-woong is just relieved the kid can look more intimidating to their enemies than he can within their gang.

"There is nothing dumb about blue, it is a very dignified colour." It didn't last five minutes though. It did look silly. It had been a drunken idea.

[junkyardpoint]

It's a work in progress, like how he's working on getting more muscle. Just wait.

The look is halfhearted, mostly because they both know that if Hyuntae wanted to look intimidating on purpose, he would. But he's too fond of his little family here to really mean a lot of it unless something else came up. it's definitely different from before.

"Yeah, if you want everyone to know it's you from a mile off," he replies, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "What's the longest you've held a hair color, anyway?

[bearskinthug]

Kid, when I first started my gang I did want everyone to know who I was a mile off," Ji-woong explains, not harshly. Hyuntae wouldn't know. He can't remember something he wasn't there for. "I had to build my reputation, as well as the gang's. These days you gotta be more mindful of being caught on camera, or by a witness. Back then I used to flip off the CCTV and smirk at it."

Being caught for minor theft and shit is nothing. Having a rap sheet is just a part of the life. Ji-woong would've been thrown in juvie if he hadn't been smart enough to escape to places small enough that only kids knew about them.

Enough of being depressing about the past anyway. Ji-woong grins. "I'll have you know I kept my natural hair colour for a good ten years before I tried something different!"

You know, from birth.

[junkyardpoint]

"Guess so." He puffs out a cheek again in thought before letting it deflate. Yeah, no point getting into the past anyway. Much better for them in the long run.

"Yeah, and when was that, when you were a kid? I don't even think I remember you with your natural hair color for longer than a couple months, if that!"

[bearskinthug]

...Probably for the best Hyuntae doesn't take too much from that. He's young, but he's not stupid. Not young enough to think running around flipping off cameras would be a funny thing to do now. Maybe Ji-woong is more childish than their baby, because he probably still would find it funny... If he were drunk. Which isn't exactly a rare happening.

"I'll have you know I first dyed my hair when I was like... fourteen!" He's guessing, but hey, he's old, he has trouble remembering. You kids have driven him nuts and probably given him grey hairs under the dye! )The truth of why he colours it so constantly comes out!)

[junkyardpoint]

Hyuntae unfortunately probably had to grow up quickly considering what he was born into - even if he does have his childish moments from time to time. Though at least he doesn't when it counts, right?

"... oh wow, because that's a long time." Pops, why.

[bearskinthug]

Hyuntae's got a great balance of sensible and fun in his nature; he's a mature young man and papa is so proud.

"I could swear I said something about respect for your elders just a little while ago..."

[junkyardpoint]

"And didn't we mention something about it not mattering because it was a matter of proving you deserved respect?" Turnabout is fair play, after all.

[bearskinthug]

"Haven't I?" Ji-woong's half-joking, half genuinely curious at this point. He knows, otherwise Hyuntae wouldn't be here. But hey if the brat will admit it then he has to show the respect he claims he has!

[junkyardpoint]

"It's a process," he replies with a cheeky grin, shrugging. They both knew that if Hyuntae didn't actually respect him that he would've left a long time ago, but considering what they pulled him out of, he's definitely grateful and at least cares a little bit.

[bearskinthug]

Yeah, that's more than enough said to have Ji-woong satisfied! He decides to leave it at that for now.

"Come on," he says, giving Hyuntae a gentle nudge. "Let's go find some food; I'm starving after that."

And-

"After that miserable loss to me we need to bulk you out and fatten you up, kid!" Ji-woong grins. "So come on! Eat."

[junkyardpoint]

"Hey!" Hyuntae lets out a long sigh, shaking his head. "If I eat it all, you're explaining to Kitae why we have to go out for groceries again."

[bearskinthug]

"No problem," Ji-woong agrees easily. "I can handle that, no worries at all."

[junkyardpoint]

Okay, maybe he shouldn't underestimate the boss since he is one of the few people that Kitae would listen to without question, but it still needed to be said.

"Alright, fine," Hyuntae finally concedes, finally attempting to get up after all this and brush himself off. "Let's eat."