“Come on Bada…Baby… it is time for you walk.”

Siwon was about to take his dog for a walk and was running around the house trying to find his exercise apparels, and was now in search of a clean pair of jogging suit. His house was very messy, not dirty; but had a lot of unwanted things strewn along the floor, the sofa, chairs and the other pieces of furniture. The house was not any different from the millions of bachelor pads around the world. The only time the house sees some clean-up is when he has his mother over or when he has company staying the night. Now due to his busy schedule as a branch manager to one of the biggest banks in the country, the only visitor now siwon had was his mother and sometimes his father.

“Damn, we have to hurry or it will get dark soon”, siwon said to himself. He was taking bada for a walk after managing to come home early from work; the said pet had been very excited by her master’s early appearance and was following him around the house, wagging her tail showing enthusiasm for the outing. When finally he had managed to locate a pair of tracks and t-shirts that smelled clean, his phone rang.

“Go for choi siwon,” he answered

“I know it is you. There is no need for you to introduce yourself. Who else will be there anyway?”

“Mom, why do you have to begin a conversation like this?”

“Why shouldn’t I? There is no one other than you to pick up the phone, then why bother introducing yourself. It is quite ridiculous if you ask me.”

“Mom, what is it that you want now?”

“What I want is something that I have been asking for quite some time now. But you refuse to act on it.”

“If you are trying to turn this conversation into another one of yours ‘get married you are getting old’ nag session, then I am not interested in taking this conversation further.”

“Choi Siwon, if you dare to cut this call, I swear to god that I will come there, kidnap you and force you to marry the first person I meet on the street. If you value your wellbeing then you will listen to what I have to say.”

Siwon sighed. He knew that this conversation will drag on for quite some time, so he made himself comfortable on the sofa. His mother had been pestering him for his marriage ever since he entered his first serious relationship. The serious relationship turned out to be even more serious when his girlfriend sat him down one evening and said those clichéd words very seriously, ‘siwon we need to talk.’ This statement was enough for him to know that there won’t be any happy endings for him, at least not with her. Ever since he had dated sporadically, both guys and girls, not really interested in anything more than a few dates.

His dating life gave his mom enough ammo to attack him, and attack she did, every chance she got. In every family occasion or gathering, he was introduced as her ‘only forever single son’. It did not matter that he was her only child.

“Son, are you even interested in other people or are you aual?”

Siwon face palmed at his mother’s statement. He had always thought that his mother was a little strange growing up. But his father had done a good job on maintaining a balance so that siwon had a normal childhood, well as normal as possible.

“Mom, I am a perfectly fit individual with no deformity whatsoever”

“Then why do you refuse to marry. You are getting older by the day; heck, I am getting older by the day, and I do not want to look like some old hag in my son’s wedding picture. “

“You know it is not true”

“You are right, me looking like a hag is out of the question. After all I am more beautiful than all the beauty queens put together…” he had started to tune out what his mother was saying. It was quite normal for his mother to get side tracked while indulging in vanity.

“Son?? son??Are you still there?” he was bought back to earth when he heard his father’s voice on the phone. Finally a sane person to talk too, he silently thought.

“Yes dad, I am here. Where did mom go?”

“Oh its nothing, I just scared heechul by saying I saw a strand of white hair,” Siwon smiled. His father did have a great sense of humor, but he knew that this joke would have serious consequences for him later, his mother was not the type to take this kind of pranks lying down.

“Park Jungsoo!!! “ Siwon pulled the receiver away from his ear to protect his ear drums.

 “Just you wait, there would be no dinner for you for the whole week” siwon could hear his mom screaming on the other side of the line. He knew his father would be in deep trouble as he had called him by his real name instead of his taken name leeteuk.

“Oh, baby you say it as if you do the cooking.” Leeteuk snickered while talking to his son. 

“Dad, if you keep going like this you are going to get it.”

“Oh, son, you do not know that small arguments like this are what keeps our relationship so strong and fresh even after all these years. This adds spice to life. You will truly understand this when you get to share your bickering, your excited monologues with someone, who loves to sit and hear you keep on talking for hours together even if the topic is only interesting to you. This is love.”

“Dad, not you too, I already said that it is not that I am avoiding marriage willfully. I just haven’t found anyone worth spending my life with.”

“I know son, it’s because you stay cooped up in your office and apartment all the time, I and your mother worry that you will get lonely soon.”

“Dad, I have bada with me and she is a delightful company.”

“Oh is that it. Then why don’t you ask bada to find an equally delightful company for you, or better still, why don’t you marry her.” Heechul said hijacking the phone.

“Mom, if you keep speaking like this than I will disconnect the line.” Siwon was about to disconnect the line when he was held back by his father’s voice.

 “Son… son listen to me. Your mom will not bother us, but you listen to what I have to say.”

“Dad, what is up with mom? He has always driven me mad for staying single, but today he was especially mean.”

“Today your uncle Kangin and aunt Gain had come to invite us to Donghae’s wedding.  He had made snide remarks about you being single and how this was probably due to heechul’s influence on you. He even went as far to say that growing up in a two men household had made you averse to intimate relationships.”

“What!! Kangin uncle said that. Was he drunk to speak so disrespectfully to mom?”

“Don’t worry heechuliee gave as good as he got, but the thought somewhere stuck in his conscious; hence this call to you.”

“I am so sorry dad. It is because of me that you and mom have to face all the music. If only I had been a better son.”

“Son, don’t you dare say that. You have been a wonderful son and have given us happiness much more than we could have wished for. Your mom and I just wish to see you happy. It has been long since you last relationship ended, we just wanted you to move on and find someone new.”

“How am to find someone new. It is not that there is someone walking around with a banner saying ‘Hi!!! I am your soul mate.’ How will I know if that someone is the one for me?”

“All it takes is one look, and your heart instantly finds the connection and bonds with the other.”

“But…” before siwon could go any further with the conversation, bada came up to him and started pulling the edge of his track pants towards the door. It was a clear sign that she had enough of the chit chat and was eager to go for her walk.

“Dad I will call you later, bada is getting impatient. I was about to take her for a walk when mom called.”

“It is okay son will speak to you later. But be careful, if you miss out on love, you may probably have to live with bada for the rest of your life, or even better  you can recruit her as your matchmaker.” leeteuk joked to lighten his son’s mood.

“Not you too dad, this is hardly funny” siwon said with laughter in his voice showing he appreciated his father’s attempt to make him smile, “bye.”

He sat down facing bada who was curiously watching her master’s antics.

“Bada, will I be alone for the rest of my life” he spoke to her while picking and cradling the little dog in his arms. He knew he was being irrational speaking to his dog but somewhere this conversation had made him aware of the gaping hole in the heart that he had thought was filled by his work-o-holic nature.

Seeing that the dog was just looking at him without a hint of comprehension in those adorable puppy dog eyes, siwon sighed and reached for the leash. “I must be raving mad to talk to my dog like this.” Whilst busy attaching the leash bada turned and looked at her master, and as if somehow understanding that he is in need of consolation she playfully his face, eliciting amused laughs from him.

While walking bada siwon was lost in thoughts and was replaying the conversation he had with is parents. The thought of being alone never bothered him much before. He always felt that when the time was right he will find that special someone he will spend his life with. He was not a romantic per say but did believe in the concept of soul mate, someone who is there to support you and provide company in making this journey of life a little pleasant. But seeing that his dating life resembled the dessert counter at overweight anonymous, which was non-existent, he felt that the wait for his special someone had gotten longer. 

Seeing that her master was not paying attention to the surroundings and the sky had turned from a light blue to inky black, bada knew that a storm was approaching and it was her duty to shelter him from it. Siwon was walking in a daze when he was awoken from his reverie after she pulled him towards a shop and that was when he noticed the small drops of rain falling. He allowed her to guide him so that they both could escape from the rain. After racing the rain drops that had started falling determined to get the pair wet, siwon and bada reached a coffee shop.

Siwon sighed seeing that the rains were not showing any chance of stopping, he decided it would be better to go in and get something to warm his increasing cold body. While he was about to enter the café, bada started barking and releasing herself from the leash she ran towards the rain onto the road with him fast behind her. It was comical to see a tall muscular soaking wet man running about in the rain behind a small puppy, trying to catch her.

Though bada was small in size it in no way affected her speed, he soon lost sight of her and was running blind when suddenly distinct playful barks reached his ears. He followed the sound and came across a lane flanked by trees from both sides with a single figure holding a yellow umbrella crouching on the road. Seeing no sign of her, he was lost as to where to search for her. The person crouching on the road slowly moved the position of the umbrella and the sight of bada playing with the stranger’s umbrella handle came into full view. He heaved a sigh of relief and started walking towards his dog.

The stranger had yet to notice the approaching person from behind. “Hey cutie, where are you from? Looking at the leash I think you out ran your owner. The owner of yours must have been some very unfit slob to let you runaway like this in the rain.” He laughed mentally imagining the dog’s owner. It was safe to say that he was beyond surprised when he turned and found a handsome well build man soaked from head to toe standing in front of him scrutinizing him and the dog that now he held in his arms.

“Hello, I am that unfit slob who let the cutie runway in the rain,” the handsome said with a smile on his face. It was when the dog started fidgeting in trying to cross over to the other’s hand did he realized that he was staring at him.

Quickly averting his eyes, he handed the dog over, “I apologize, I merely made a statement to humor myself.” He uttered all the while staring at the wet asphalt beneath him.

Taking bada in his hands, siwon stood there just staring at the stranger with yellow umbrella. He was mesmerized with the beauty he possessed. He had delicate features and the most melodious laugh that went well with his silky smooth voice. He smiled at the increasing red color that was tainting the cheeks of the beautiful stranger.

 “Hi, I am siwon and this hear is bada,” he said ing his hand forward. The other looked at it for few seconds and then engulfed it in his own.

“I am kyuhyun, nice to meet you siwon.” He looked up to meet his own eyes with the other and locked gazes.

“Siwon’ he repeated once again, liking how the name rolled in him mouth.

Siwon too stood there drowning himself into the warm amber pools of kyuhyun. He loved how the other pronounced his name. A bit huskily, it made him want to hear it over and over again. 

It was a sneeze from bada that stopped both from getting lost into each other. They had been standing for some time staring into each other as if trying to make sense of the pull that they felt towards each other.

Kyuhyun was the one who first came to his senses and realized that all this time they were standing in middle of a road, albeit deserted one, with rain still pouring down. Looking at the others built he was sure that he was alright but the poor little thing in his arms was shivering.

“Looks like bada could use a hot bath. If you don’t mind, I stay just across the block, I could fix you and her” he said pointing at the cold and wet ball of fur, “with something to beat the cold.” He reasoned that it was because he was feeling guilty for keeping them standing in the middle of the rain and felt it was the least he could do. But in his heart he knew that this was just an excuse, he was genuinely worried for bada but he just couldn’t leave siwon, not just yet. He was interested to know more about the man and what was it that made him so damn irresistible to him.

“Hmmm, I guess bada could use a hot bath,” he said walking along side kyuhyun under the umbrella. He s his hand on the others waist and brought him closer, “the umbrella is big enough for both of us, there is no need for you to get wet.”

 The other could just blush at the skinship and walk with his eyes fixed on the road. Siwon smiled, his cold hands fitted perfectly in kyuhyun’s waist as his body molded to his side, and it felt to him as if two jig saw pieces finally coming together. They both walked down the boulevard with their yellow umbrella sheltering them from the rain that had slowly mellowed down.

Anyone witnessing the scene would coo how this was the picture perfect cute-meet; two guys accidently meeting each other, eyes connecting, the spark igniting and realizing that the other was the soul mate he was waiting his whole life. The one that would bring meaning to their existence. But if looked at closer, the almost knowing smile that bada had while enjoying her master speaking to his companion would have been enough to bring the cat out of the bag.

Sorry for the late update, was a little tied up.