Chapter 1

Whimper.whimper.whimper

At three o’clock in the morning a couple of ear piercing whining thuds woke Yoona up.

She groaned as she weakly opened her eyes, close to having blood shot eyes, she still forced herself to get up from her bed.

Swinging her legs to the carpet of her room, she was greeted by the whimpering sounds once again.

She shook her head as she stood up and turned to where it came from;

Laying her tired sights at a golden furred four – legged mammal, Yoona sighed in defeat as it beamed at her with its pair of round shiny awe taking weapons of mass cuteness.

“ aeesh – “ as she wiped her face sloppily from forehead to chin.

“ midnight snack eh? Just like you’re umma? “

The 4 month old golden retriever panted cutely at Yoona as she ruffled it’s chin and then patted it’s forehead.

Yoona then walked towards the kitchen and poured the adorable creature its share of midnight snacks; kibbles.

Noisily pouring the dry munchies on the dog food bowl, Yoona felt her tummy grumble and harmonize along with her furry buddy.

“ ehe “ Yoona muttered and opened the refrigerator.

Yoona and her furry bud spent another night emptying the cupboards from all its munchies.

Yoona was never fond of dogs, she had always preferred birds, or the less – maintenance type of companions, but when a lost one month old puppy loitered around her front yard, she had a hard time shooing it – at first.

But as days go by, it became weirdly attached with her, and she just gave up and took care of the dog.

= = = =

“ ………………… “

“ ……………………. “

“ ………………………. “.

The house was dead silent, to which woke Yoona up ironically, she became immediately nervous as she sprung from her cradle, not even fixing any of her bed scrambled features.

But she still looked exceptional, walking and scanning every room of her house with her short shorts and tank top, lastly her webbed hair.

“ Mario … “ called out Yoona in a sing song manner.

“ Mario – “

“ – Mario “  

Stretching her neck and peeking through the possible places her pet could be, it didn’t take a minute for her worries to be washed away by;

“ - aeeesshhh! Mariooooo!! “

“ shame on you! “

The dog quickly sat up straight from his position, with all the cotton and pillow cloth scattered around his spot, it was obvious why he wasn’t nagging his master to feed him, or give him attention.

“ – bad dog! – bad! “

Mario was about to use his ultimate weapon of mass adoration; puppy eyes, but upsetting a groggy Yoona wasn’t in the mood for anything; all she wanted was to get back to sleep and have a clean atmosphere when she wakes up – every morning.

She scolded Mario once more, making him pay for what he’s done, and shooing him out of the house.

It was one of Yoona’s ways of teaching her companion a lesson; stay outside but just at the front yard and think of what you’ve done. 

It always works for their duo, with the other loyal to the other, neither does Mario shoo too much away from his master’s yard, and in only short periods of him being absent from Yoona’s side, Yoona finally gives up and takes him back to the house and giving him sugar hugs and kisses – and don’t forget the treats.

As Mario was shooed away, his groggy owner started to clean his energy forwarded mess, doing.

Yoona kept growling while cleaning; sweeping every tiny bits that couldn’t be taken – in by the vacuum cleaner.

Moments later, she was done, and before moving back to her room to sleep, she peeked at her living room window to check on the culprit;

And there she immediately saw the fur ball, sitting still, and staring at her window, like he would know where she will peek at him.

Yoona snarled in annoyance, she shook her head stopping herself from being carried away by the culprit’s eyes.

As she made her way to her bedroom, she couldn’t help but notice something different in her neighbor’s front yard, she remembers pretty well that her neighbor had almost identical patios as her, having well – trimmed lawn and a generous amount of flowers.

But certainly not today,  

Zooming her sights at the peculiarity of her neighbor’s patio, it was a woman about her age, sitting on the porch; her back slouched from apparent boredom and fatigue, while she was staring lifelessly at a bouquet of roses.

Yoona was confused, because she never saw her neighbor come out of their house, not once – well, considering seeing their face, but once where she only saw her back, yes, it was another ‘she’ that lived on the opposite side of the street.

But still, it was confusing in many ways; one of it was who this person is? What business does she have with the current resident of the patio she turned into a waiting shed, what business does Yoona have to pry on their business by the way -

And so she turned her gaze elsewhere, feeling her tired eyes flushing the daylight out of her, she groggily collapsed on her bed.

= = = = =

Yawn

Yawn

A few more yawns and Yoona decided to get up from her bed and sloppiness, stretching her arms upwards and then the real yawn came out of her.

Normally when she wakes up, she would look at her cell phone for notifs and the time, but ever since she adopted Mario, his notifs became first on Yoona’s morning routine.

If ever he was hungry, needs a bath or attention, Yoona would always put him first, not minding her needs which were quite similar.

She quickly ran towards the window where she kept her tabs on her furry companion.

Although she was annoyed by the mess Mario made earlier, she was still very much attached to the chew rampaging fur ball.

“ Shroooommm – Mariooo “ called out Yoona as she opened the door to apology and all other things sweet and fluffly;

The dog was right there, where Yoona had left him and told to sit, but not after hearing her sweet sing song voice, when he rushed happily towards Yoona’s open arms and gave her a fluffy and drool full greeting.

“ – ehehey “

Fur, hair, drool, ticks? Maybe ticks as well, ( who knows who has the ticks in their relationship already ) hugs and kisses filled the air at Im’s front lawn, and a couple of long – standing undecipherable ‘ canine to owner ‘ talks came not long after.

“ youuu missheed mee? – I mmissheddd you toooooo! “

Pant – arf! – pant – arf!

Not a minute after their hundredth reunion, the in – house phone ringed for their break, since Yoona left the main door open, she heard it from the front yard.

Yoona ruffled Mario’s fur for the last time before standing up and attending to the phone call, and as her gaze naturally passed her neighbor’s lawn, her curiosity paved through at scene;

it was the same worrying scene, with the  same young woman sitting like a kicked puppy on the front plot.

Her face hasn’t changed, but obvious sweat from nature’s heat dripped down her hair and sweet nose tip.

Yoona’s brow furrowed at the sight, as her feet was walking inside her house, her head was still turned towards the stranger.

A short moment of reaching the phone, she was startled at her mother’s voice,

“ – he – helloo mom, I can hear you “

“ I’m good – “

Holding the cordless phone to her ear, she micro managed towards her windows, stealing peeks at her new found subject of worry and confusion.

“ yes, I’m fine “

Shifting her head away from the window, trying not to be seen by the stranger, she was getting more anxious, which was throwing her attention away from her phone call.

A little moment of pre – occupation and her mother quickly become anxious about her too.

“ – ack! Yes I can hear you mom! “

“ how could you think of that! – I’m not living with anyone, I’m done with them – “

“ – psshh don’t need one, when they’re not even loyal, call me old fashioned but that’s what I tick for “

“ I’m not I swear, besides who needs a companion or a life partner when I have a Mario “

Yoona was obviously still pre – occupied, talking out of her subconscious mind, which earned her another skeptic motherly reply;

“ – ack! The DOG – mom! You’ve known him since puppyhood! “

A couple of usual petty arguments later, and her mother finally calmed down and ended their phone call.

A the click of the end button, Yoona sighed and shook her head, tired by her mother’s anxiousness.

But that didn’t remove her worry from the odder next door; she ranger walked towards her window again and peeked.

 She gasped silently at the scene, which was ironically still the same.

“ ..what is she…? “

?    ?  ….. ? ….? – a statue? A gargoyle??

“ if she’s waiting for someone or something? – then, she should have long gone already, given how many hours she has been sitting there…. “

She gasped loudly at her thought this time, “ maybe she’s already dead!, like those creepy investigation dramas where a person had been long dead and left unnoticed cause of how…ermmm unnoticeable their state was…. “

“ aeesh – Yoong pull your reality together….. “

She pinched her cheeks for a literal rain check, and then decided to go back to her own business, eating late breakfast, or brunch along with her companion, Mario, then gave her whole abode a general cleaning.

Right after the long tiresome day of cleaning, it was now her turn for a general scrubbing, forwarding to that part’s details, it was a few stretches till sun down, when she and Mario ate their early dinner.

Ordered food, since she barely knows how to cook a decent meal, which was one of her mother’s worries, she had graduated and passed as a certified accountant, but she still doesn’t know how to cook, which was one of the basic necessities of man.

Although she manages to live by herself through the help of her families’ generous amount of finance, she is working as a part time accounting instructor at a nearby college and at the same time attends a review class for her upcoming law entrance exam.

Moments of filling their shikshin tummy’s later, Yoona plotted her lesson plan for her subjects, while she was busy scribbling on her study and office table, Mario was right at her feet chewing on huge canine toys.

The odd piece of a grandfather clock kept ticking and with its every tick, it was the only sound resonating in the study room, as both Yoona and Mario were absorbed into each other’s businesses.

Crunch

Crunch

Crunch

Scribble

Erase

Scribble

Scribble

A few more scribbles and crunches later, and a huge sigh came from Yoona, right after stretching her arms upwards she yawned.

Fixing her work stuff on her table, she glanced at the grandfather clock, it was about 9 in the evening already, and she badly needs to sleep.

“ boo – get up time to sleep “

She stood up and gestured her canine to follow her to her bedroom, arriving at her bedroom she went straight to her bathroom and refreshed herself to sleep.

Stepping out of the bathroom, her 4 month old retriever had already stationed himself on the bed, it wasn’t the right training for a dog owner to do, letting their canine sleep on the same bed as theirs, but for Yoona he was more than a pet.

“ eey “

Before lying on the bed, Yoona ruffled Mario’s fur then cuddled him to sleep, his snout upwards to his forehead, massaging the stress out of him.

= = = =

Birds chirping echoed on Yoona’s subconscious thoughts, as soon as she opened her eyes to the sunlight out of her bedroom window, she smiled, nothing was more rejuvenating than a couple of tweets, nothing like the old cliché alarm clock, which is nature.

Slowly standing up from her bed, Yoona already knew that Mario was roaming about in the house, worse though chewing not legible to be chewed stuff.

He’s probably hungry Yoona thought as she went straight to the kitchen and filled the dog food bowl with milk and kibbles.

She whistled for Mario to eat, a couple of happy pants and paw steps reverberated around the open kitchen and living room.

“ ey – boo boo, morninnnnggg “

She greeted Mario with a couple of undecipherable puppy talks again and then walked towards her bathroom, getting ready to prepare for another start of a work week.

Almost half an hour had passed and she had finished prepping, she double checked her residence for possible hazards then bid Mario good bye, apparently though, he still wasn’t used to being left behind, he still weeps loudly for Yoona, giving Yoona a hard time bidding him goodbye every morning.

“ aaeessh, I’ll be back in a bit alright, same hour, 3 pm – guard our castle for me, ayt “

Mario only whimpered again, Yoona sighed pouting at him; she couldn’t help but feel sad every time, she gets easily manipulated by him, a few puppy eye casts and she gives up.

“ – I’ll be back – I’ll be back, stay put and fluffy for me okay? “

After settling a long - which was actually, usual long farewells with her furry companion, she went straight to her garage, as soon as she opened her car door, she looked around her neighborhood, it was normal for her to check the place naturally, keeping herself aware of her surroundings specially her neighborhood,

Something or someone caught her surprise once again, a bit of initial shock and this time she was overflowing with worry, it was the same stranger sitting on the patio of her neighbor.

Her whole face was plastered with uneasiness, as it was definitely getting serious.

It was very apparent that, she had sat there for a day and a night already, worse maybe haven’t even rested and eaten.

Good heavens……

Why is SHE still there???

She was about to keep her car key in her pocket, wanting to investigate personally what was going on with the seemingly lost and restless odder, when her phone rang for work, she paused halfway, when she annoyingly picked up her phone and answered the call.

“ – uh “

“ yes – yes, I’ll be there “

“ tsk “

It was her department Dean, calling her for an emergency, giving her no choice but to leave her curiosity and worry aside.

= = = =

While she is at work for the past 8 hours, she was restless as heck, she couldn’t concentrate, all her thoughts were flooded with anxiousness, obviously with the young lady odder at her neighbor’s doorstep, and as she was waiting for the clock to strike three at the faculty room, she couldn’t help her subconscious mind from clenching her teeth.

One of her co – workers slowly glanced at her, questioning her odd behavior.

“ sorry – my …..the stranger - puppy! Yup, is a …kinda …I mean has – still has bad separation anxiety “

She stopped clenching her teeth, as her co – worker nodded in defeat, obviously it wasn’t a puppy.

Is she constipated again? thought her tall and lanky bodied co – worker.

Her co – worker was about to give her a piece of her mind when, Yoona suddenly bolted up from her chair carrying her things with her and quickly stormed out of the office.

“ – uh…..”

“ – see yah tomorrow ……..that wasn’t a puppy, who are you fooling Im Yoona “

= = = =

On her way back and finally parking on her driveway, she couldn’t help but glance back and forth, looking for the person who had been making her teeth clench all day at work, after parking safely, at least, she paused as she was about to open her car door, she was puzzled, she didn’t know what to say or do, she was very anxious and oddly worried for the person she didn’t even know, and here she is, jumping between thoughts on how or what was she supposed to do;

Observe through her window a lot more and see if her anxious thoughts will go away whatever the outcome of her observation was, as she didn’t know how to approach the stranger –

Or try calling the police – but then for what case? – and that’s where she gulped up all her fear for whatever and decided to walk straight right up to the odder and ask them herself.

Yoona slowly opened her car door and closed them behind her, as she turned her glance towards her neighbor’s patio –

She almost automatically smiled, thanking the fates for keeping them still there, sitting and staring at their feet, but then, as she was walking closer to the patio, she was losing her half – smile, it was worrying that, this person had sat there almost lifelessly for a day and almost a half.

Finally a meter away from the odder, Yoona gulped, and looked around quickly, the house seemed occupied, but why was this person not entertained, or was she just taking refuge right here on someone’s patio, no one would be that stupid to do such, unless the person was a criminal, which earned herself a thought gasp, - could she be??

But then, what kind of criminal would show themselves on broad daylight and even to her, obviously this person knows already that Yoona had seen her, or was she already oblivious, or wasn’t just caring of her surroundings.

Yoona gulped as she stopped only a knee apart from the person in front of her.

“ – uhm…., you’ve been sitting here for quite a while “

“ I don’t know if there’s anyone there, but uhm…..how do I put this…. “

Yoona fiddled with her hands, nervous of what the person would say, as they haven’t even reacted – not even physically.

“ – well, you’re starting to worry me, you clearly haven’t eaten nor rested yet “

Yoona fiddled stronger and was starting to clench her teeth, not receiving a reply from the latter.

She gulped again looking for the words to say.

“ – uhm….My name’s Im Yoona by the way, I live across the street “

This time Yoona offered her arm for a hand shake, to which earned her a couple of steps backwards, as the stranger finally looked up at her –

Her heart skipped a beat from the person’s stare, she was undeniably pretty, even with her seemingly tired bulging eyes and pinkish nose, Yoona couldn’t help but stare in awe, rather than the supposed sympathy, as the person had obviously wept.

Yoona stuttered, she sounded like she was talking to her furry companion, but no –

Nothing was done on purpose with how Yoona was trying to communicate with this puppy, the entity she used as an excuse to get out of her co – workers’ interrogation.

A few more stutters and the beautiful stranger slowly stood up, Yoona had finally stopped stuttering but this time around she was about to explode in her thoughts, in shock, as the latter stood up and slowly collapsed from her knee then to Yoona’s neck and chest.

Oh good god!

I uuhhh …!

911!

TBC