When Youngjae agreed to dog sit for his next-door neighbor, he thought it would be a great opportunity to do a trial run to see what owning a dog actually entailed before he fully committed to adopting one in the future.  He had already started his research (the different breeds, potential health risks for certain dogs, best brand of dog food) when Julie asked him for the favor.

So far, everything has gone perfectly well.  

It’s been nice to come home to a no-longer empty house and be met at the door by a very excited golden retriever who greets (well, slobbers) him with kisses to let him know how greatly he had been missed.  They watch TV together — he likes having someone to talk to, even if they don’t talk back — and at night, Youngjae takes one look at the sad puppy dog eyes and gives in and gives the ‘okay’ to jump onto his bed. 

He doesn’t mind walking the dog either; it’s good exercise after all.  Of course, it’s summertime which means it’s miserably hot but sometimes there will be a nice breeze to help make it a little more bearable.

All in all by day four of his dog-sitting adventure Youngjae’s feeling much more comfortable with the idea of owning his own dog in the (hopefully near) future.  He has a fenced in backyard already so that’s a plus and his workplace is close enough that he can go home on lunch breaks if he needed to.  He’s started considering getting a Golden, even though he never thought he would be one for big dogs.  

—

The day’s bright and sunny.  The sky a crystal blue with a few wispy clouds resembling pulled cotton candy strands, while the smell of freshly cut grass and sweet flowers hang in the air.

There are songs written about days like this.

He’s quite certain there are dozens of people, jealous, wishing they could be outside enjoying the fresh air versus being stuck inside doing monotonous office or retail work.  And normally he would be one of those people, except right now he’s dealing with a hundred pound dog that refuses to move.

He’d gotten home a little after four (an early day for him since it’s Friday), changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed the leash and the dog and headed out to start their routine of a walk before meal time.

Everything is good, until it’s not.

When the dog gets tired, the dog refuses to move.  No amount of cajoling or begging makes any difference.  He’d gotten lax in taking treats along — his neighbor warned him about this exact situation happening, but he figured she had to be exaggerating.  

So now he’s sitting on the lawn of someone else’s yard, since the concrete is much too hot to sit on for any length of time especially when you’re wearing shorts.  Beads of sweat drip down his front and back, and he grimaces at the uncomfortable combination of being hot and sticky.

Just as he hopes for the dozenth time that the owner of the yard he’s currently squatting in won’t show up any time soon, a white jeep comes into view.  Keep going, he silently begs but the universe (much like the dog) ignores him.  The jeep turns into the driveway, coming to a complete stop outside the garage.

Trying to act like it’s totally not strange for a guy and his dog to be sitting in your yard, Youngjae waves hello when the guy comes into view.  He’s wearing a nice pair of slacks and the sleeves to his white button down shirt are rolled up to his elbows.  The guy nods to acknowledge his wave before opening the backseat to grab a couple of bags.  Youngjae notices they’re those reusable grocery tote bags that he’s always meaning to buy and use except he forgets every single time.  Of course he doesn’t actually cook much.  He survives mainly on take-out (completely unhealthy he knows, but it tastes amazing) and his mother’s kindness (he does his best to always make it to Sunday’s family dinner despite living an hour away).  

It takes two trips of back and forth for the guy to carry everything into his house, and all the while Youngjae tries to encourage the retriever to get up and get moving.

“Stop being lazy, I’ll feed you when we get back home, I’ll even give you extra—”  It’s mid-plea that he senses movement and looks up from his sitting position.  The homeowner.  Of course, who else would it be?  He stands immediately and starts to ramble.  He has a very very bad habit of talking too much and sometimes too fast when he feels awkward.  (So, basically, every day of his life.)  

“Hi, uh sorry.  I swear I’m not some weird person who camps at random people’s houses when they’re not home.  I do actually live around here, just farther down that way,” Youngjae says and points in the opposite direction.  “It’s just— the dog won’t move and I’ve tried… God I have tried, trust me… I mean, you don’t know me to trust me but…”  He stops himself, mid-ramble, realizing that once again, he’s failing — quite spectacularly, he might add — to make a good first impression.  For once, he’s thankful for the heat and sun, hoping it’ll hide the flush of his cheeks or provide a good excuse for it.  “Sorry.”

The guy waves his apology away like it’s nothing.  “So your dog won’t move?” he sufficiently summarizes Youngjae’s dilemma.  

“Yes, well it’s not my dog.  I’m doing a favor for my neighbor.  Dog-sitting while she’s out of town.”

The guy (very good-looking Youngjae thinks) nods in understanding.  “What’s the dog’s name?”

“Tinker Bell.”

Taking in the size of the golden retriever, the guy grins and crouches down to pet the dog.  “Ah, pretty girl.  Tinker Bell, too tired in this heat to move, aren’t you?  I don’t blame you.”

“It’s a boy.”  Youngjae flops back down to the ground, much too drained from the heat to worry about being graceful, and reaches out to pat Tinker’s head.  He’d taken the leash off already because it isn’t like Tinker is in any hurry to go anywhere.

The other man bursts out laughing, and Youngjae likes the sound of it.  He likes how his whole face lights up and his eyes crinkle at the corners.  He thinks it would be nice if he could hear it more often, and if he could be the one responsible for making it happen.  But that’s not possible, not when he looks like that.  There’s no way he is single or would be interested in someone like him.  It’s not that he has terribly low self-esteem, he doesn’t; it’s just him being a realist.

“That was my same reaction,” Youngjae admits.  “I think my neighbor liked the irony of it or something.  I’m Youngjae by the way.”  He figures it’s only polite to introduce himself.

“Jaebum.  Now we’re not strangers anymore,” he says and smiles at Youngjae.  “Now for Tinker Bell here, I don’t blame the dog for not answering when you tell him to move.”

“Normally I would agree and find it amusing… if I hadn’t been stuck out here for the last uh—” he pauses to check his watch, “well, almost an hour.”  He tries not to think about how badly he must smell, from being outside in the heat and playing with Tinker (and trying to get Tinker to move).  Jaebum looks clean and cool, while he feels completely unattractive.  

“Did you forget to bring your cell?”  Jaebum takes a seat on the nearby concrete, like he doesn’t care if his work clothes get dirty in the process.

“Oh, I brought it.”  Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his cell phone to show it.  “Called a friend who didn’t answer, then the battery died.  I should have brought the dog treats.”  At Jaebum’s questioning look, he explains.  “Julie — that’s my neighbor — she warned me about this happening and that treats would motivate Tinker Bell to move again.  I considered carrying him but it’s uphill to get home.  I figured with it being so hot outside and carrying the furry fluff-monster, I’d most likely end up suffocating and passing out before I got very far.”

“Well it wouldn’t be very neighborly of me if I let you suffocate and die, so give me a couple minutes to put the cold stuff I bought in the fridge and I’ll take you and the fluff-monster home.  Sound okay?”

“I would say that’s an offer I can’t refuse.  Thank you.”

It only takes a few minutes for Jaebum to return.  “You look hot.”

“You’re hotter.”  He’s busy petting Tinker, not thinking anything of it until the words are already out of his mouth and it’s much too late to stop himself.  Looking up, the sun blinds him for a moment and then he sees Jaebum holding out a bottle of water and he realizes what he had meant.  Oh, God can I embarrass myself more?  “Um, would it be too much trouble for you to pretend that being out in the sun has made me a bit delirious?”

“So you’re saying you don’t think I’m hot?” Jaebum does a poor job hiding that he’s amused by Youngjae’s accidental confession.

“No, no you are hot.  I mean who wouldn’t want to date you?”  Oh, God.  Oh, my God.  Apparently he can embarrass himself further.  Good to know for future reference.  “The sun…”  He points weakly to the sky and lets his voice trail off.

Jaebum just laughs and holds out a hand to help him to his feet again.  “Come on, we better get you out of the sun before you start doing something really crazy.”  He heads to his jeep to open the passenger side back door, planning to help Youngjae lift the dog if needed.

“Come on, Tink—” Youngjae stops in amazement and watches Tinker Bell saunter straight past him and hop (rather gracefully for his weight) into the jeep like that’s what he’s been waiting for the whole time.  A chauffeured lift home.  “Seriously now, you couldn’t have done that earlier?” Youngjae chastises the dog that he can’t help but love.

It’s an uneventful (and over-too-soon in Youngjae’s opinion) drive with mostly the sound of Tinker panting in the back — Youngjae thinks maybe he should offer to clean Jaebum’s car for him — and Youngjae telling Jaebum where to turn and which house to stop at.

With no begging necessary, as soon as Youngjae opens the jeep’s backdoor, Tinker Bell jumps out and starts sniffing around the front yard.

Keeping his vehicle running, Jaebum exits as well, surprising Youngjae, and walks over to his side.

“Thanks for the ride, and you know, not calling the cops on me or anything,” Youngjae jokes and makes Jaebum laugh.

“Don’t mention it.  How long will you be Tinker-sitting?”

Youngjae looks over at his charge, who is still busy doing his dog-thing of making sure his territory is still his.  “Probably a couple more weeks I’d guess.  Julie’s mom just had surgery and she wants to stay and help her recover.”

“Just a second.”  Jaebum turns and opens his jeep, reaching inside for his wallet before shutting the door again.  He pulls out a business card and hands it to Youngjae.  “In case Tinker decides to take a rest again and you get stuck.  I’m usually home by five thirty or six at the latest.  Just remember to have your phone charged next time.”

Youngjae holds the card in hand, careful not to crease it.  Jaebum Im.  “That’s so nice of you, really, but I wouldn’t want to bother you.  I’ll remember to bring dog treats next time.”

“You wouldn’t, bother me I mean.  And maybe I wanted you to have my number.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, and this was my way of trying, and apparently failing, to be cool about it.”

Youngjae isn’t sure what to say to that, because he still can’t wrap his mind around Jaebum wanting him to have his contact information.

“I meant it earlier,” Jaebum continues, filling in the silence with ease.

“What?”  Now he’s really confused, with the sudden topic change.

“When I said ‘you look hot’, I meant it both ways.”

“Oh.”

Jaebum grins at Youngjae’s one-word replies, pleased by his flustered response.  Seeing Youngjae’s blushing face — the second time it’s happened and the second time he found it to be endearingly cute — just makes him grin wider. (And he can’t help but be curious how Youngjae would react if he were to kiss him.)  “See you later, Tinker Bell,” he calls out to the golden retriever, then turns his attention back to Youngjae.  “Thanks for showing up on my lawn, it was a nice way to start my weekend.  Call me, for a Tinker emergency or just because.”  

Then Jaebum’s climbing into his jeep and backing out of the driveway with a short wave of goodbye.

Youngjae returns the wave and stands there rooted in the same spot until the jeep disappears over the hill and Tinker Bell barks.  “Okay, okay now you’re the impatient one… I see how it is, Tink.”  Taking his key out, he opens the front door with a sigh, the cool air a welcome relief compared to the outside temperature.

—

It’s later that night after they both finished their dinner — his consisted of a couple slices of cold pizza, leftovers from the night before — that he is on the floor beside Tinker with the TV on low.  (He’s totally not paying attention to the marathon of NCIS or anything like that, it’s just background noise.)

Hugging the retriever to his chest, he murmurs softly into Tinker’s fur, “I think your name is rather fitting after all.  You are kind of magical.”

Tinker just barks in response and turns his head trying to Youngjae’s face.  Youngjae lets go with a laugh, letting his back rest against his sofa again.

“Now question,” he starts, tone serious.  “How soon is too soon to call?”

FIN

_____________

It’s been a year which is insane.  INSANITY.  I was so incredibly nervous the first time I posted, and not going to lie, I still am every. single. time. 

I want to say: thank you to everyone for giving me (any of my stories) a chance.  Thank you for the support, encouragement, the kindness you’ve shown me, comments, upvotes, follows etc etc.  All of it has cheered me and meant a lot.

Writing is very much a solitary thing.  But then you find courage (somewhere, somehow) and you say okay, let me show the world this little piece of me… these words I’ve written, and it’s absolutely terrifying because at the end of the day it’s a very innate, human thing to want to be liked, to want someone else to get you, to want to know that maybe just maybe you made someone else feel something with the words, the story, you created.

So again, thank you; for everything.