“Hey, hyung. When did you get a dog? It’s kind of cute,” Jiyong asked the older boy as Seunghyun approached a small cafe lit up with Christmas lights. The two had agreed to meet up there, and relax with some hot cocoa to take some time off from work.

“Dog? What dog?” Seunghyun questioned the younger boy, tilting his head to the right. Jiyong chuckled as he watched the little husky puppy mimic his friend by leaning its head to the right.

“Tilt your head the other way,” Jiyong commanded.

Seunghyun furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, making the puppy shake her head too.

Jiyong started laughing as he watched the pair. “I think she likes you.”

Seunghyun stood up confusedly and looked around for a moment. “Who? And what dog?” he asked once again.

Jiyong smiled and pointed at the dog behind his friend. “That one. Whenever you do something, she mimics you. I think she likes you.”

Seunghyun looked at the younger boy and then slowly turned around. His eyes widened when he found a small gray husky puppy sitting behind him, wagging its tail.

“Where did it come from?!” he exclaimed, startling the small dog. The puppy backed up a little and hid behind the chair.

“Aww look. You scared it, hyung!”

Seunghyun quickly apologized to the little dog as Jiyong kneeled down and started whistling. The puppy peeked out from behind the chair and slowly made its way toward the younger boy. After a few minutes of playing with the small dog, Jiyong picked her up and wrapped her into his jacket with him.

“What are you doing?” Seunghyun asked.

Jiyong grinned. “I’m taking her home with me. It’s too cold out here for a small puppy to be all alone. Plus tomorrow is Christmas. Wouldn’t it be sad if this cute little thing were all alone for Christmas?”

Seunghyun laughed at him and Jiyong started to pout. Looking down at the small dog, Seunghyun found her with the same expression as his friend. Grinning he nodded.

“At least now Gaho will have a new playmate,” Seunghyun pointed out. Jiyong’s face lit up at the thought.

“You’re right! I wonder if she has a name,” he mumbled. Jiyong searched the dog, but was met without success. No tags could be found.

“I wonder who would be so cruel to let a sweet little thing like you run around town by herself on Christmas Eve,” Jiyong mumbled.

Seunghyun shook his head as the puppy the younger boy’s face, making them both chuckle.

 

~*~

 

“Excuse me, sir. Have you seen my puppy? She ran away a few days ago and I can’t find her,” a young girl questioned an older man as she handed him a piece of paper with a picture on it.

He was wearing a tux and stood by a fancy limousine, which made her a bit suspicious.The man shook his head as he looked at the picture. “No, I’m sorry. But I promise if I see her I will call this number.”

The girl gave him a small smile and walked away.

“Where could you be, Sophie…?” she mumbled to herself, looking up into the sky as if waiting for a sign. She put a smile on her face and hugged the stack of papers tight to her chest.

“I will find you. I have to,” she promised as she rubbed her hands together for warmth. She could see her breath every time she exhaled. The girl looked at all of the beautifully decorated stores as she continued to walk down the sidewalk.  

“It’s so cold out here. I hope you’re not freezing as much as I am.” Smiling, the girl pulled herself back together and continued on with her search.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Have you seen my puppy?”

 

~*~

 

“Gaho! I found a little friend for you today. Take good care of her, araso?” Jiyong said as he unpacked the little puppy and put her down in front of Gaho.

Gaho immediately started sniffing the other dog and before Jiyong knew it, the two took off after each other, tails wagging faster than the wind. Jiyong smiled as he sat down on the floor and played fetch with the two dogs. Not long after he arrived at home, a man in a tuxedo came through the front door. Jiyong spun around and grinned up at the man.

“Annyeong, appa. How was the Christmas party?”

The man took off his jacket and laid a piece of paper on the kitchen table. “It was okay. Nothing too special. What about your day? How is Seunghyun?”

Jiyong turned his attention back to the two small dogs and nodded at his father. “He’s doing good. I found Gaho a friend today. She was following hyung around in the cold, so I decided to take her home. It’s too cold outside for her.”

Jiyong’s father nodded at him and looked at the two dogs. Putting his finger to his chin, the older man started to think as he walked out of the room. ‘Why does that dog look so familiar?’

Jiyong stood up from his spot on the floor and walked into the kitchen. Rummaging through the refrigerator, he pulled the things to make a sandwich when he heard a small bark. Smiling, Jiyong looked up to find the puppy and Gaho sitting in front of the kitchen, wagging their tails.

“Hungry?” he questioned and the puppy barked again. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

Walking toward the back, Jiyong fixed two bowls of dog food and placed them on the floor. The dogs happily raced toward the bowls and ate every last bit of the food. Laughing, Jiyong went back into the kitchen and started on his sandwich. Blasting the music loud from his iPod, Jiyong could see the dogs running around as if they were dancing. He shook his head at them.

“So you dance too?”

After he finished his dinner, Jiyong took a seat at the table and found the piece of paper his father had placed there earlier. Picking it up, his mouth gaped open. Jiyong looked from the paper to the new dog, and eventually back at the paper.

“Your name is Sophie?!” he exclaimed. The puppy happily sat down in front of the boy and barked once.

“Sophie,” Jiyong called once again, and, as expected, the dog barked. “And this is your owner?” he asked the puppy, as if she were going to answer.

“There’s a reward for finding you, too. I guess she’s really out looking for you…” Jiyong mumbled as he continued to look at the paper. “Mina, huh? I guess I should give her a call and let her know you’re safe, little Sophie.”

 

~*~

 

“Hello?”  Mina answered her phone as quickly as she could.

“Hello. Is this Mina?”

“Ne. Who is this?”  She could hear the boy chuckle on the other side of the phone.

“That’s not important right now. The important thing is that I found Sophie. I didn’t know she belonged to someone since she didn’t have any tags, so I took her home. Sorry about that, but I didn’t want her to freeze out in the cold on Christmas Eve.”

Mina smiled from ear to ear when she heard those words. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll text you my address, and you can come pick her up, araso?”

“Araso! Thank you again!”  Grinning, she hung up the phone, waiting patiently for the text message.

“She’s safe,” Mina let out a sigh of relief. Not even five minutes later, her phone rang. “The address….Sophie.” Mina smiled as she called for a cab and hopped in.

“Where to, ma’am?”

 

~*~

 

After a few knocks on the door, Mina could hear barking from inside. Her eyes lit up when a boy answered the door and a husky puppy came bolting out. Mina kneeled down and, surprisingly, was greeted by two dogs instead of one.  Mina giggled as the two overjoyed dogs started her face. Jiyong grinned at the smiling girl.

“I think he likes me,” she laughed as she started to play with both puppies.

“Yeah, and I don’t think he’s the only one,” Jiyong said, making the girl look up at him. She froze and started to blush.

“Uhm...Thank you again for taking care of Sophie. Here,” Mina whispered as she started to fumble through her bag.

Jiyong smiled and shook his head. He grabbed the girl’s hand, making her look up at him. “Don’t worry about the reward.”

“But how else could I pay you back for what you did?”

Jiyong put his finger to his chin as he pretended to think. “How about you go out with me tomorrow. Gaho really seems to really like Sophie, so why not make it a double date? How about being my Christmas present?”

Mina could feel her cheeks turning red. She looked down for a moment and thought about Jiyong’s offer.

“Please? I think we’ve been good boys this year,” Jiyong joked, making the girl smile at him.

Sophie and Gaho sat down in front of Mina. They wagged their tails and gave a small bark. She grinned at them and looked back up at the boy. She hesitated for a moment but nodded. Jiyong’s face lit up with joy. Sophie and Gaho jumped up and ran back into the house. Jiyong smiled at the blushing girl and held out his hand. Grinning, Mina took it and followed him in.

 

‘I lost my dog and ended up finding something way bigger. Merry Christmas!’