#this started as me drawing sad clown med as a joke but it has quickly spiralled into insanity there is a whole au now

[ramagerslatteart]

in honour of clown week: silly guys

[part 2] - [part 3] - [part 4]

[kingyeoms]

dolphin keeper!seokmin

pairing: dolphin keeper!lee seokmin x vet!reader (n) genre: fluff word count: 1,840 a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts for forever, i’m sorry it took me so long to finally finish it!! anyways, this was such a cute concept and i’m so glad i was able to write it :’) thank you for the request!! ♡ best read on desktop, use mobile browser if you can’t read under the cut ♡

lee seokmin is the cutest funniest dolphin keeper in the universe

first fell in love with the ocean when his family went on a trip to jeju when he was eight

they were walking around the coast and seok absolutely?? was just mesmerized with the way the waves crashed against the ocean,, the beautiful tones of blue in the waves,, his big eyes peering into the water to look at the little fish swimming around ugh so precious

literally begged his parents to let him take swimming lessons as soon as he got home

and that was the start of a beautiful perfect pair: seokmin and the ocean

at first he wanted to be a marine biologist, but after a seventh grade field trip to the aquarium and seeing one of the scuba divers in the tanks with the fish, he changed his mind -- he wanted to do that!!

luckily one of his friends seungkwan, who was a sloth cuddler at the zoo, mentioned that there was an opening for a dolphin keeper position!

seokmin at the interview: “wanna see my seal impression?”

at first he was a little nervous since he had no experience whatsoever,, accidentally tripped on the fish bucket when first meeting the dolphins

but once he met gyul and podo? literal heart eyes

as soon as he saw them,, immediately wanted to get into the pool and swim with them

“seokmin wait you don’t have proper gear on” “it’s fine!! i’m willing to take the risk!!”

can you imagine him in a blue wetsuit, yellow fishing type overalls with a cute lil dolphin patch in the middle!! i’m sad

turns out, seokmin is really good with dolphins the same way he’s great with people!!

podo is absolutely enthralled with seok.. she thinks he’s soooo handsome!! always squeaks when he comes into the pool~

gyul gets a little jealous,, but he doesn’t mind since seok always sneaks him extra squid snacks

they’re his actual children, literally seokmin walking into the pool room: “where are my babies~~”

does demonstrations for elementary school kids!! he teaches them how to “speak gyul and podo’s language” and also gives a presentation on how to reduce plastic waste

honestly really cute, super endearing seeing seok and a bunch of eight year olds squeaking with the dolphins

has a bunch of drawings of him and the dolphins hung up on his fridge back home,, he always gets them in his work mailbox as thank you notes!!

okay but listen,, as great as he is with children and dolphins alike,, seokmin wasn’t necessarily the.. most careful keeper at the zoo..

to be honest, everyone was a little worried at how clumsy seok was,, but they realized how much the dolphins loved him and so they just kinda deal with it

accidentally slipped and fell into the pool while trying to get one of podo’s toys,,,, it’s fine

you, on the other hand, just recently graduated from vet school, and having interned at the zoo for years now, they offered you a job right away

you watched a ton of animal documentaries growing up!! and honestly, going to the zoo was one of your favorite things to do as a kid,,

so it was no surprise that your dream was to work with animals!! but you’ve always had a soft spot for marine life :(

your first encounter with seokmin was super brief, when you had stopped by the break room to buy some coffee,, he was soaked.. bunches of paper towels in his hands,,

poor kid was trying to dry himself with paper towels and so naturally you just offered some help

seok didn’t even notice you come in!! but when he looked over to see whose voice it was,, perhaps his heart skipped a beat or two,,

“i’m okay, don’t worry! it’s just.. i fell into the pool again and i also forgot to do the laundry so we don’t have any towels..” he rambled, his ears burning a shade of tomato red

“i’m sure we have extra towels at the clinic? and i think the others would like it if there wasn’t a huge puddle of water in the break room,,” you giggled, seok shooting you a confused look

“you work at the clinic?” “yeah, i’m the new vet”

and literally seokmin drops his paper towels and palms his forehead bc,, how tf he gonna look so STUPID in front of the new vet

also since when has the new vet been so cute?

“so,, do you still want a towel?” “please... that’d be nice”

and so that’s how seok ends up in your office for the first time, cracking stingray jokes and drying out his hair while you’re sitting on top of your desk, laughing at the very cute but clumsy dolphin keeper

you don’t really see seokmin all that much for a while, since there was a pretty bad infection going around the seals, you dedicated your time to them

but to be honest seokmin can’t get you out of his head,, he keeps thinking about the cute vet that laughs at his jokes

one day seok asks you to come to the dolphin exhibit because gyul isn’t acting like his normal self and he was absolutely worried,, ran straight to your office

turns out poor baby has indigestion :(

the reason? seok tripped when he was feeding them and the whole bucket of herrings fell straight into the pool

you, jaw dropped to the floor: “are you being serious”

seokmin: “yes listen i’m really sorry okay i tried to stop him from eating all of them but he’s just.. too fast”

you can’t help but laugh at how,, silly seokmin is!! literally the kid has a heart of gold but also legs made out of jello

the two of you are just in the pool, gyul is nuzzling you as you rub his belly,, podo is circling seokmin nervously,, he has to calm her down poor baby girl :(

but you figure out the problem, gyul just has to take some meds and go on a strict diet for the next two weeks!!

you offer to stop by everyday to check up on gyul,, in case seok needs help taking care of him or anything

you may or may not… use this.. as an excuse to see seokmin

gyul starts to grow super fond of you,, squeaking and swimming to the edge of the pool every time you walk into the room!!

but podo doesn’t like you bc she thinks you’re too close to her favorite keeper

even if you give her squid snacks,, she won’t eat them unless seok gives them to her

you’re a little bummed by it, but you know not every animal is going to fall in love with you,, it is a little hard though, especially if you’re the one responsible for their health

two weeks pass and gyul is all better, but podo is still a bit aggressive towards you,,

seokmin’s new mission: getting podo to like you!!

him: “have you thought about dressing as a clown? she’d find it funny”

you: “what”

him: “ok i guess we’ll move onto plan b?”

honestly it’s really cute it’s kind of like he’s trying to convince his little sister that his significant other isn’t a bad person

you and seokmin spend the next couple of days,, coming up with a plan in the break room during lunch

the two of you finding out more about each other along the way, sharing your love for the ocean and marine life!!

seokmin finally gets the courage to ask for your number,, the first text you get from him is a photo of him and gyul in the pool :(

honestly?? you squealed into your pillow that night LMAO

you make it routine to send him cute photos of seals and otters,, he sends you penguin memes probably

your coworkers would start to notice,, teasing you while you’re doing paperwork in your office,, nurses “i see you spending time with that cute dolphin keeper,, when’s the wedding?”

they’d tease you even more once they saw how red your cheeks would get,, because honestly, the more time you spent with seokmin, the more you realized that not only is he handsome, but he has the purest heart in the world

even if he is.. a little clumsy.. and forgetful.. he puts the animals before himself and you love that about him!!

but this was work,, there was no place for any sort of relationship here

seokmin on the other hand?? has three heart emojis next to your name on his phone

absolutely smitten with you,, knew you were the one for him when you first got into the pool, the smile on your face when gyul swam up to you,, he thought you shined brighter than the sun (as cheesy as that sounds it’s true)

he really wanted to take you to his favorite beach,, in jeju,, where he first fell in love with the ocean

but he had to ask you on a date first and honestly,, he wasn’t even sure if you felt the same way

feelings aside, the two of you come to the conclusion that you should try,, spending time with podo by yourselves, without seokmin

so for the next few days,, while seokmin was on his lunch break, you’d hop into the pool and hang out with the dolphins for a little bit!!

gyul was so happy to see you again,, but podo distanced herself a bit from you,, staying in the corner of the pool until seokmin came back

until one day,, gyul was in a different pool for training, and it was just you and podo,,

and you figured,, might as well try one more time,, holding out her favorite squid snack

slowly but surely,, podo came to you, taking the squid snack,, even letting you pat her head!!

you were absolutely over the moon, because after months of hostility,, this was the first time podo had ever let you pet her,,

as soon as seok came back from his break,, you threw your arms around his neck,, telling him that the plan worked!! and even though she wasn’t in love with you yet,, this was a start and progress should be celebrated regardless of how big or small

seok’s face is literally tomato red at this point but thank god you can’t see it,,

“we should celebrate after work then”

and you look at him,, his eyes trying to avoid yours in case you reject him,,, and you do it

you peck him quickly on the cheek,, and you’re just like, “yeah, i think we should”

before he can say anything,, you realize what you did and your face turns into a tomato,, your hands flying up to your lips,, like i can’t believe i just kissed him 

but he grins, taking your hands into his, intertwining his fingers with yours,, pressing his lips against your knuckles

“so it’s a date?”