Chapter Text
"Get inside."
Seungmin stumbled as he was shoved roughly into his kennel. He barely made it inside before the door was slammed closed behind him and padlocked shut. He shoved himself against the back of the kennel and growled lowly at the man as he started to walk away.
The man turned and used the metal stick he was carrying to hit against his kennel, and the fight left Seungmin immediately as he cowered from the loud noise and curled in on himself.
"That's what I thought," the man muttered, walking away again.
Seungmin tried to get as comfortable as he could against the hard concrete beneath him. His kennel was barely big enough for him to do a full circle in it and he had to duck his head when he stood up so he didn't hit his head against the top of it.
But at least he was alone in here. Sure, there were other dogs on either side of him and they were always barking and growling and making his fur stand up in fear but at least they couldn't touch him. At least they couldn't hurt him.
Because that's all they did in this place: hurt each other. That was their job.
Seungmin had been here for several years and he could barely remember a life before coming here. He'd been so young back then, and he hadn't known how much his life was about to change when he'd first been captured and thrown into the very same kennel he still lived in.
He'd had only a couple hours to wonder what on earth the men who'd brought him here planned on doing with him when they'd come back for him and dragged him roughly through the building until he was shoved out into a circular room with bright lights and stands of people above him.
They'd been so loud. Banging things against the railings and yelling at him—so much yelling that he couldn't make anything out. But before he could think of what he was supposed to do another dog was being let into the room (the arena, as he'd come to call it) and that dog had apparently done this a few more times than he had because he knew just what to do.
Seungmin had lost that fight badly. He'd spent the whole time trying to run from the other dog instead of fighting back and it was only when the other dog had him pinned down with his teeth moments away from ripping Seungmin's throat out that they were pulled apart, the crowd still screaming.
Seungmin had paid for that loss. Just like he'd paid for every other loss after it, even though they became fewer and fewer. His punishments became motivation to win because all he could think about in the arena was how much it hurt to be hit with those fucking metal sticks that the men carried around with them everywhere.
They couldn't hurt him too badly of course, because they needed him to fight. He knew they made money off of it and so they could never permanently damage him but they could still make him hurt.
He got better at fighting over the years. As a doberman hybrid he was quite big in his shifted form and his bite force was no joke when he put it to use. Things only got a tiny amount better when he started winning more fights. He got a little more food when he won and he didn't get hit after the fight, only shoved back into his kennel to spend another night shivering and cramped.
Sometimes in the beginning, he was human again in his dreams. He shifted back and made his escape and returned to whatever life he'd lived before coming here. As a hybrid he was supposed to be human most of the time, but he'd been in his dog form now for so long that the human part of his brain had been shoved so far to the back of his brain that most days he forgot he'd ever known how to speak or walk on two legs.
It was just easier to survive as a dog, and surviving had been his only goal for as long as he could remember.
He'd won his fight tonight, but it had been very close. He wasn't sure what breed the other dog had been but he'd been just as big as him. They'd fought for a long time, longer than usual until Seungmin had been so exhausted he'd considered giving in and letting himself loose just so it could be over, but his fear of punishment had kept his body going even as he took bite after bite. He'd nearly collapsed when he'd finally been pulled off the other dog after getting him pinned down and biting into his stomach to keep him down, but the man had grabbed him by his scruff and dragged him out of the arena, probably eager to get the next fight started.
His body throbbed from the bites and scratches he'd taken tonight. He knew someone would come along soon to look at him and make sure he wasn't injured too badly but until then he laid there panting, trying to catch his breath and ignore the sounds of the other dogs around him.
He got thirsty enough at one point that he forced himself to crawl forward to his water bowl. It was only filled up once a day in the morning and so he had to ration what he was given. He always tried to make sure he had a little to drink after a fight but he'd been so thirsty today that he only had a couple sips left.
He kept licking the water bowl even after he'd completely emptied it, trying to take in any extra water clinging to the side of it before he crawled back to his corner and laid his head down.
He was trying not to fall asleep until someone came to look at his injuries because he hated being woken up by someone opening his kennel and reaching in for him. It always made him growl in fear and that always got him hit in return.
But no one came, not for a while. He was beginning to think that they'd forgotten and would check him over in the morning instead but his ears pricked up at the sound of yelling.
Well, not that yelling was unusual. From his kennel he could usually make out some sounds coming from the arena but these yells sounded closer. He'd also gotten good at distinguishing between the voices of the different men who worked here and these yells didn't sound like they were coming from any of them.
Still, he kept his head down. He didn't care enough to listen very well and he was so exhausted from his fight that he was about to surrender himself to sleep, resigned to the fact that he might be woken up abruptly later.
And he was woken up abruptly. He jerked as the door to the kennel area flew open with more force than it usually did and suddenly the yelling was very, very close.
"There's a lot of them in here!" Someone called, and there was a bright light moving around the room which was usually very dim. The men didn't care enough to waste money on good lighting when it was just the dogs that lived in here.
Several other people came in the door, all of them carrying a bright light that they shone around the place. Seungmin squeezed his eyes shut as one light passed directly over him and he cowered back into the corner of his kennel.
"How many?" Someone else yelled.
"Looks like about twenty in here, twenty in the other one. I think there's a third room down the hall, too."
"I've sent some guys to go check for more, keep your eyes out for more workers, these guys might get violent with us."
"Have gotten violent with us, you mean. One of them almost broke my fucking nose."
Someone walked right in front of Seungmin's kennel and there was another bright light that shone down on him.
"Some of these dogs have injuries," the person in front of him said. "I'm seeing a lot of scarring on most of them, too. They'll have to get checked over for old injuries even if they look alright."
The man kept walking, taking the bright light with him and leaving Seungmin in darkness again. The fur along his back and neck was standing up and he was tense. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't know who these people were and he didn't like their bright lights. His body was still throbbing and it scared him how weak he was feeling at the moment because he didn't know if he'd be able to defend himself if he got put in another fight. Usually it was just one per night but what if these new people didn't know or didn't care? What were they even doing back here?
"We've got backup coming," he heard. "More of our guys and some police as well."
"And the shelter?"
"Already notified, I let them know earlier they could probably expect some dogs from us but this is more than I'd thought, we'll have to split them up and send them to multiple places."
"We might need those sedatives, a lot of these guys look pretty nasty."
"Can't blame them. I'd be pretty nasty if I'd been kept here, too. Lots of them have probably been here a while, poor things."
Then, to Seungmin's surprise, they left the room, though the door didn't close behind him. Dogs were agitated on both sides of him, and several of them had started barking. It made his ears hurt and he put his head down on his paws even as his eyes stayed trained on the open door. He was too tense to go back to sleep and he had a feeling he'd be seeing those men again.
He was right. Maybe twenty minutes later they came back, more of them this time. Seungmin's kennel was one of the ones closest to the door so he could see them well as they came in. Many of them were carrying things other than the bright light. Bags and phones and other items.
"Let's just go down the line," one of them said. "We'll see what their temperament is and sedate the ones that need it. Make sure they're all separated during transport, these guys are conditioned to fight each other. And remember that they're scared, no sudden moves or noises."
A couple of them approached the dog in the kennel closest to the door, and they used some kind of tool to break open the padlock keeping it closed. The dog inside was growling and snarling, his lips pulled back to bare his teeth.
"—Don't think he'll cooperate," someone muttered and the humans didn't even try to open the kennel door. Instead one of them moved quickly and stuck something through the bars. The dog yelped and scampered away and Seungmin wasn't sure what had happened.
Seungmin's kennel was next, and he shied away as the padlock to his was broken as well. He growled, hoping he could intimidate them enough to back off and move onto the next dog.
"This one will need a check up quickly," someone said. "Those bit marks look recent."
"Sedative for him as well?"
"Yeah, let's do it. He looks terrified and I bet he's in pain, too. Not a good combination for us."
Two of them approached the side of his kennel. They were on either side so no matter which way he turned his body was pressed against the side closest to one of them. He growled and snapped his teeth, his hackles raised as far as they went and he stood up a little bit.
"It's okay, buddy," one of them said. "We're here to help, promise."
The human part of his brain could understand the words but he wasn't really registering them. All he could do was growl as they came closer and one of them stuck something between the bars of his kennel just like they'd done to the other dog.
He felt a prick at his shoulder and he jumped, turning to face the human that had done it and he snapped his jaws right up against the side of his kennel in warning. The human backed off and the group moved down to the next kennel.
Seungmin collapsed on the ground. His body ached and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for the night. He was still so confused, too. What were these people doing here? Where were the men that he usually saw?
The dog next to him didn't growl as the humans cut the padlock off. It was squished as far back into its kennel as it could get with its ears pinned to its head, and Seungmin watched with a racing heart and the humans opened its door.
"Come here, buddy," one of them crooned, crouching down on the floor to be at eye level. "Will you come out of there?"
He reached inside slowly for the dog who shied away from the touch, but the human managed to get a hand on the dog's collar and started slowly bringing the dog out when it still didn't growl.
But Seungmin could see how scared it was. Its body was tense and shaking as the human pulled it out and slipped a leash over its head.
"Let's go this way," the human said, passing the leash over to someone else. "You want a treat, buddy?"
The dog was offered something which it sniffed at cautiously before eating and Seungmin's stomach grumbled at the sight. They were only fed once a day and it wasn't very good food, and just enough of it to keep them in fighting shape.
The human holding the leash slowly walked out of the room with the dog following cautiously behind, tail tucked and ears still pinned.
Seungmin watched the rest of the humans move down the line to the next kennel, but he was starting to feel weird. The fatigue he'd been feeling was coming on stronger and he slumped to the ground again, his eyes starting to droop.
A glance at the kennel to his left showed him that the dog they'd first started on was in a similar position. He was no longer growling and instead looked out of it, almost like he was about to fall asleep.
He thought about the poke he'd felt on his shoulder and wondered if that was related to how weird he suddenly felt. Had the humans done something to him? Was this their way of making sure he couldn't fight back while they hurt him?
"Let's get these two out," someone said, and some of the humans walked back towards him. "They look out of it, but still be careful. Let's get some muzzles on them to be sure."
Seungmin's kennel was opened and his instincts were yelling at him to get up and growl and put up a fight as someone kneeled down and reached a hand out to him but he couldn't get his body to move like he wanted it to.
Something was put over his mouth and he strained his head back to get away from it but he was only met with the back of his kennel so he had nowhere to go.
He found that he couldn't open his mouth and that made him panic but his body was still sluggish and he couldn't do anything to fight against it when he started to get pulled forward.
"Come on, bud. You're gonna thank us later, I promise."
When they got Seungmin out of his kennel someone lifted him up under his belly until he got his legs underneath him and could stand shakily. A leash was slipped around his neck and he stumbled forward when he was pulled.
"Careful with him, he might have more injuries we can't see. At least he seems to be walking okay."
They walked slowly with him and Seungmin was barely aware of his surroundings as they went through the facility. He kept trying to open his mouth but the muzzle wouldn't allow it and his body just felt weird, still. He couldn't walk straight and his eyes were having a hard time focusing on anything as he moved.
Eventually they went through a door and Seungmin was startled to find himself outside for the first time in years. It was a testament to how much his mind felt muddled that he didn't take in his surroundings very much as he was led up to a large truck.
"Help me lift him?"
Then there were arms around him again and he flailed a little bit as he was lifted up into the back of the truck where he could see several cages filling the inside. One of them had its door open and Seungmin was gently pushed open until he crawled inside. It was smaller than his usual kennel but he curled up immediately in the corner so the size didn't matter too much.
"There we go, bud. Hang in there, okay? You're going to a better place, I promise."
The leash was taken off his neck and his collar was taken off too before the door to the cage closed and the humans disappeared. The dog that they'd taken out earlier was next to him in another cage, still cowering in fear.
Seungmin put his head down and waited to see what would happen next. A few minutes later the humans came back with the other dog in the kennel next to him, who looked just as out of it as Seungmin felt. They lifted the dog up into another cage and then repeated the process a couple more times with other dogs.
Some of them looked like they'd cooperated with the humans and some of them looked like Seungmin, but after all the cages in the back of the truck were full Seungmin felt the truck start up and start moving.
The movement only made him feel more tired. He wasn't sure if it was whatever they'd poked him with or just his regular tiredness from his fight earlier, but he couldn't help himself from closing his eyes, his head tucked into his body to make himself as small as possible.
He didn't quite fall asleep—he was still much too tense for that—but he lost track of time and zoned out with his eyes closed and only opened them when he noticed the truck had stopped. The door to the back was opened and the humans appeared again. They started opening the doors of the cages and taking the dogs out one by one, taking them out of sight and coming back a few minutes later for another one.
Seungmin was one of the last dogs left when they opened his door and put a leash back on him. He was pulled out of the kennel and lifted up before being set on the ground. He wobbled a little but managed to stay on his feet and he was pulled forward.
He still wasn't very aware of his surroundings, his eyes stuck on the floor as he focused on putting one paw in front of the other until the human holding his leash stopped.
"This is you, bud."
Seungmin heard a door open and then he was walking forward again. Then the human stopped, took away the leash, and there was the sound of a door moving again before he heard footsteps retreating.
His body was close to giving up on him, and Seungmin only managed two steps forward before he had no choice but to lay down. His ears were perked to listen for any more sounds but after several minutes of silence he figured he might as well try to get some sleep before another human came back for him.
So he closed his eyes and curled his body up again and it took no time at all for him to fall asleep.
🐾🐾🐾
Seungmin wasn't sure how much time had passed when his eyes opened again but he jumped up immediately when he realized he wasn't in his usual kennel.
His head whipped around to take in his surroundings. He was in a small room with a concrete floor and four walls on either side of him. Three of the walls were concrete but one of them was half concrete on the bottom and half glass at the top with a glass door on one side. He looked cautiously out the door but all he could see on the other side of it was another wall a couple feet away. On the inside of his room there was a dog bed with a blanket on top of it as well as a dog bone and a chew toy.
Another look around the room showed him that there was a little square cut-out on the wall opposite the fence one. There was a rubber flap hanging down from it and he wondered what was on the other side.
There were two bowls in the room, too. One of them was empty but the other was full of water. He looked around cautiously. His memories of last night were a little fuzzy, and the last thing he could remember clearly was hearing yelling and humans outside his kennel with bright lights, but he thought he could also remember being on a truck at some point.
Had he been taken somewhere? But where? Where was this place?
Who were the people that had taken him? Was it the same men that ran the fighting arena? Or maybe they'd given him away to some other people? But if so, what did they want with him?
He eyed the water bowl for a few seconds before he gave in and crept forward towards it. The bowl was a lot cleaner and nicer looking than he was used to and the water looked cleaner too, but he practiced restraint and only drank a little bit because he wasn't sure when it would be filled again.
He assumed the bowl next to it was for food but it was empty for now so after standing still and listening for a little bit he retreated back into the corner. He avoided the dog bed, though he wasn't sure why. It had been so long since he'd used one that it felt strange, so he tried to make himself comfortable on the concrete while his eyes stayed trained on the door but no one passed it.
He could hear dogs on either side of him but the sounds were much quieter than he was used to. The concrete walls made it so he couldn't see the other dogs and all he could hear was the muffled sounds of them moving around in their own rooms.
He wasn't sure how long he laid in the corner, tense and waiting for something to happen. He wanted to know what was on the other side of that rubber flap but he couldn't get himself to move out of the corner, scared that something would happen.
And something did happen after a little bit. He heard the sound of a door opening and that caused all the dogs around him to start barking, he even thought he could hear some of them jumping up on their doors. But Seungmin stayed tense and his hackles raised as footsteps got closer to his room.
"Hi, babies, good morning," someone said. "I'm gonna feed you guys in just a minute, be patient!"
And then a man appeared in front of his door. He had dark, slightly curly hair and was wearing loose clothing. His face…looked different than he was used to seeing humans. He was smiling, for one. He didn't look angry or stressed but Seungmin still backed himself further against his corner and growled.
"Hi, buddy," the man said just as someone else—a woman—came up behind him. "I know you're so scared right now, I'm sorry. Will you let us come inside?"
The man slowly opened the glass door, watching Seungmin closely as he stepped inside. Seungmin kept growling, almost cold with fear, and he tried to push himself even further into the corner.
"Shh," the man said. "I'm not gonna hurt you, bud. You're name's Seungmin, right? Seungmin? That's what your collar said, anyway. Sort of a weird name for a dog, but whatever."
Seungmin kept growling. He hadn't really heard his name spoken for a while and it just put him even more on edge. He wanted this man to stop coming towards him because he had no idea what his intentions were, though he was a human so he could only assume he wanted to hurt him or use him in some way. Even the humans last night had seemed like they wanted him to trust them but then they'd gone and drugged him.
"I won't touch you, bud. I just wanna get a look at you. I know you don't remember but we came in here last night and put you to sleep for a bit so we could look at those bites you've got. We put some stitches in some of them and I just wanna make sure they look okay."
Seungmin's brain still didn't really register the words, his dog-brain was way too much in control to make any sense of human words. All he knew was there was a human he'd never seen before standing close in front of him and his body still hurt. He didn't know where he was, what he was doing here, and the unknown scared him. He didn't like new things because it was usually bad for him.
"The bites look good," the man said. "Hopefully they'll heal up nicely."
He backed up away from Seungmin until he was almost out of the room, and then he reached for something outside. When he brought his hand back he was holding a little cup that he tipped into the empty bowl beside his water. It smelled like food and Seungmin fought hard against the urge to spring forward and start eating immediately but he kept his eyes on the man still, not trusting that he wouldn't hurt him as soon as he let his guard down.
"I don't want anyone else interacting with him," the man said as he stepped out of the room and closed the door. "I'll handle all his care, I don't want any of you getting hurt if he decides to do more than growl."
The two of them moved out of sight and Seungmin waited a couple more seconds before he surged forward to the food bowl and emptied its contents in only a few bites. The food was good. So much better than the slop he'd been fed the past couple years and he was disappointed when it was all gone.
He grabbed the bowl between his teeth and dragged it back to his corner to tuck it between his legs and begin licking at the metal to pick up some more taste of the food.
He could hear the sound of doors opening around him and more dogs barking as they got fed. He tried to listen for any yelling from the humans but he didn't hear any. Seungmin had learned, though, that oftentimes the humans that weren't outwardly mean could be the worst kinds.
He'd come across several men during his time at the fighting place who seemed nice at first. They seemed like maybe they wouldn't hurt him, like maybe he could feel a little safe around them, but he was always proven wrong and they often hurt him worse than the other men.
So he kept watching the glass door anxiously, worrying that the man would come back.
But when the footsteps came closer to his room again the man simply walked by with only a quick glance at him and he didn't try coming inside again. Seungmin set his head down on his paws after a couple more minutes of watching the door and his eyes shifted around his new kennel again.
He was curious about the dog bone sitting on the bed, but something in him warned against using it. He felt so…unsettled in here. The bed looked too comfortable for anything he'd experienced in the past couple years and he almost wondered if he was being tested in some way.
Maybe the humans had given him a bigger room and a nice bed and toy to see if he made the mistake of using them. Maybe they'd come running in here the moment he dared take the dog bone and beat him with their metal sticks and remind him that he didn't deserve those luxuries. Maybe tomorrow he'd be back to eating his usual slop food and they'd only fed him the good stuff today so he knew what he could have.
So he stayed away from the bed and the bone and the chew toy. He stayed in his corner with the food bowl between his legs.
Some time passed, but Seungmin was used to doing absolutely nothing during the day. It was nice just being in a bigger space where he didn't feel so cramped, and he loved that he couldn't see the other dogs around him even if he could occasionally hear them. It meant he didn't have to worry about one of them trying to bite him through their kennels so he could at least let his guard down for that even as he kept a careful watch on the door.
He got up and drank some more water after a while but he was still careful not to take too much. He was fully expecting that he'd be thrown into an arena later—even if it was a different arena—and he was scared he wouldn't be able to win the fight.
The dog from last night had really done a number on him and while his bites didn't hurt as much as they had yesterday he knew that if he had to fight again his opponent would aim for those bites and break them open again to weaken him.
He tensed when he heard a door open just like it had that morning and footsteps echoed through the hallway.
"Hello hello! Hi babies!"
It sounded like the man from earlier, and Seungmin saw that he was right when he saw him walk past his door. He heard the sound of water running and then more footsteps followed by the sound of doors opening and dogs barking.
The man was talking to each dog as he opened their door. It was a high pitched, exaggerated voice that Seungmin wasn't used to hearing from humans. He was more used to deeper, louder voices that growled at him and scared him, so it was unnerving to hear the man talk that way.
He started growling again when the man appeared in front of his door, holding some kind of plastic container.
"Hi, Seungminnie," he said to him. His voice was different now, less high pitched and more calm. "I'm here to refill your water, though it doesn't look like you've had much of it."
The man opened his door slowly just like he had before, his eyes watching Seungmin. He stepped inside and Seungmin kept growling at him as he watched the man lower the plastic container towards his water bowl and water poured out of it, filling his bowl back up to the top.
Seungmin's growling paused just briefly in confusion before he was back to watching the man suspiciously. He stepped back outside the door and closed it, but instead of walking away he sat down on the floor.
"Is it okay if I sit here for a few minutes and keep you company? I know you don't understand me, but I still like talking to you guys."
Seungmin's growl tapered off again now the man was out of his space but he still had his eyes trained on him and his hackles were raised. His ears were pointed straight up, listening for any sounds that might alert him to danger and his tail was still behind him.
Well, what was left of his tail. That had been one of his very first injuries when he first started fighting, and he was almost glad it had been taken off because the pain of having it bitten nearly completely off was something he would never forget.
"Maybe I should introduce myself," the man continued. "So you can get to know me a little. My name is Chan, and I own this rescue. We take in dogs from several different backgrounds, whether its owner surrenders, strays, or—like in our case—illegal practices like dog fighting. Then we try to find you guys new homes.
"Right now you're in one of our non-adoption sections, so the public won't be coming in here. I don't think you're quite ready to home with anyone, we've gotta get you to trust people again before that can happen and also let you recover from your injuries. But I'm here to help you with that. You'll be seeing a lot of me, Seungminnie, so I hope we can become friends. You're very cute, you know."
Seungmin just stared at him. The man looked innocent enough sitting right outside his door but Seungmin wished he would leave. He kept waiting for Chan's expression to change, to twist into something mean or violent. He wondered when Chan was going to make him fight and what he would do to him if he lost.
"Have you gone outside yet?" Chan asked. "You've got some grass outside if you need the bathroom or just want to sniff around. Maybe later you can check it out?"
Again, Seungmin just stared. His human brain was too far away to make sense of the words and he just wanted Chan to go. Why was he still here? What did he want from him?
He started growling again when Chan just sat there a little longer.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're scared of me, hm? That's okay, buddy, I understand. I'd be scared of people too if I'd gone through what you have. You want me to leave you alone?"
Chan stood up and Seungmin tensed, growling a little louder until Chan took a couple steps back and raised his hands.
"I'm leaving, Seungmin, don't worry. I'll be back to give you dinner, alright?"
Chan walked away out of his sight and Seungmin stopped growling and put his head down next to his food bowl. He wasn't sure why the human had sat and talked to him but he was glad to be alone again because it meant he could relax a little.
He huffed and glanced over at his full water bowl. Was this some sort of trick, too? Were they gonna give him plenty of water today and then none tomorrow? He decided to keep rationing it just in case it needed to last him two days.
Besides, he was also used to conserving his water so that he didn't need to use the bathroom very often. He only got let out once a day to do his business on a small patch of faux grass and if he couldn't hold it until then he was forced to make a mess in his kennel. Then he had to sit with that mess until someone bothered to clean it up and then hit him and yelled at him for being so disgusting.
This room was at least bigger, so if he had to use the bathroom in here he could do it in the opposite corner, but he still wanted to hold off as long as he could in case Chan eventually decided he deserved to go use the bathroom somewhere else.
Another hour or two passed, and his body was getting sore from being curled up in the corner all day but he was used to the feeling, and also used to being in a much tighter space.
However, he'd been holding his bladder for a lot longer than usual and he was getting desperate to relieve himself but he was losing hope that Chan would come take him somewhere.
So after a couple more minutes of waiting he stood up and walked ashamedly to the opposite corner of his room where he squatted and relieved himself, both pee and poo. Then he slinked back over to his corner and laid down, trying not to look at the mess.
When Chan came back for the third time that day Seungmin was trembling in anticipation of the pain he'd grown to expect when he did something bad.
"Oh, buddy. Why did you go in here and not outside?"
Chan walked past his door and when he came back he was holding a couple things that he brought into Seungmin's room.
Seungmin flinched when the door opened and crammed himself as far as he could into the corner, his body still trembling. But Chan didn't move towards him once he got into the room, and instead went straight for his mess. He kneeled down next to it and began to clean it up, though Seungmin noticed that some of his urine had leaked down to where the dog bed was.
Chan picked up the bed when he was done cleaning the floor and placed it outside of his room, though he pulled the chew toy and bone out of it and put those on the floor.
"Do you not know you can go outside, Seungmin? Or maybe you're just not potty trained yet, that would also make sense."
Chan took a cautious step forward towards the back of his room and Seungmin snarled in warning as he got too close for comfort but Chan just reached slowly for the rubber flap on the back wall and pulled it aside.
"Look out there. See the grass? You've got a little area out there that you can go to, then you can use the bathroom without getting it all dirty in there."
Seungmin stared. He could see grass out there, and not the fake grass he'd gotten used to. He couldn't see anything beyond a sliver of grass, though. Was there a fence out there or would he find freedom if he ventured out? Was Chan searching for a reason to punish him, wanting to see if he would run away if given the chance?
He almost wished the other men were around, the one from the fighting ring. At least he knew what to expect with them, and they didn't try to play tricks or games with him. If he behaved well—didn't soil his kennel and won fights—they ignored him. If he didn't, they hurt him. It was simple.
But everything was new here, and he didn't know what to do or how to behave to keep himself safe.
Chan let the flap fall down again and stepped back until he was out of the room. He shut the door and disappeared for a minute, and when he came back he had another dog bed.
"Here you go, Seungminnie. These are really comfy, you know. Maybe you'd like it more than the concrete."
Chan set the bed down where the last one had been, and left again to bring back a plastic cup of food.
"I don't think I dare get close enough to take your first bowl from you so I'll give you a second one."
Chan set down a second metal food bowl and placed his food inside before retreating, and this time when he closed the door and left he didn't come back. Just like last time he waited a moment to see if he would come back before he approached the food bowl and scarfed it down as quick as he could.
Then he got curious and sniffed cautiously at the new dog bed. It was soft against his nose but he didn't crawl into it. Instead he walked over to the rubber flap in the wall, and after a glance behind him to make sure Chan still hadn't come back he poked his head through just far enough so he could see.
There was a fence out there, though he wasn't sure if that made him happy or sad. He supposed it didn't really matter because even if there hadn't been one he wouldn't have been brave enough to make a run for it.
The space outside was about the same size as the space inside, and it was all grass. On either side there were more fenced in spaces and a couple of them down he could see another dog laying outside. It looked asleep.
Seungmin went back inside to his corner. It was a little scary seeing the outside, he'd been inside for the past several years and he was more comfortable tucked away in the corner where he could see the door.
He spent the rest of the night like that, curled into his body and watching the door until he fell asleep.