As arranged, Gary went to pick Jihyo up, early next morning.

"Oppa!" She called out excitedly, as she took the front seat. Daeyang barked happily from the back seat.

Gary cringed. It had been long since she called him so affectionately. So long that her couldn't remember how it sounded like. So long that it made tears well up in his eyes.

He blinked his tears away and nodded briefly to acknowledge her.

"I can call you, 'oppa' right?" She asked, slightly taken aback when he didn't give a warm welcome.

"Yeah..." He mumbled, with some hesitation in his voice. "Yeah, why not? You used to call me that last time," he tried to smile as naturally as possible in case she sensed the hesitation.

There was some awkward silence.

Gary tried to start a topic. "You don't mind me bringing Daeyang right?"

"No," she shook her head. "Actually, I'm not afraid of dogs. It was just ticklish when he me yesterday," she explained.

You aren't afraid of anything, he thought.

Gary nodded. "That's a relief."

"You really love him a lot... do you always bring him out with you?"

Gary smiled sadly. "Of course... He has helped me through my darkest days," he sighed. "But I would have to give him away soon."

Daeyang barked in protest. He didn't really understand Gary's words, but he could tell from the sadness in Gary's voice.

"Why! You two seem to love each other a lot!" Jihyo asked, surprised.

He glanced over at Jihyo, staring straight into her eyes. "Sometimes, you have to give up the things you love most." His eyes were getting red, not only because he will miss Daeyang, but because of Jihyo. 

He turned back to concentrate on driving and continued explaining. "I"m a puppy raiser - that's someone who helps to raise assistance dogs. It isn't really common in Korea, but it's quite common here. The pups need to be looked after when they are young and not ready be trained as assistance dogs yet, but the centre does not have the resources to care for young pups. So volunteers like us take care of them until they are ready for the training. And in a few days..." He trailed off.

"That's very meaningful..." she said softly. "And, I think even after you give him back, you will still be together in your hearts," she smiled.

You will still be together in your hearts. Right after the words left , it replayed in her mind. Where did I hear it before...

Gary just nodded solemnly.

"Anyway, what are we doing today?” Jihyo asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Mm. I was thinking of canoeing, are you interested? There’s this Esker Lake in Ontario. I’ve been there once to hike, but not canoe. But it was quite picturesque in my opinion… I think canoeing there would be quite fun…” he answered. “But it’s quite far, though,” he hastily added.

“I don’t mind! It sounds fun! Let’s go!” she exclaimed excitedly.

I knew you would be, he thought, smiling to himself, and he started driving off in a much better mood.

It was about a 4 hour journey. Near the lake, there was a simple café where they had their lunch. It didn’t serve very fancy food, but they still enjoyed their meal because of the each other’s company.

By the time the reach the lake, it was around 1pm, but it wasn’t too hot because of the shade the trees provided.

The lake was surrounded by majestic looking trees, all at least 30m tall. Their thick trunks signify a history of over 70 years. Their branches spread out far and wide, forming a continuous and thick canopy. The lake was so clear that she could see the fishes swimming in it and from afar, it seemed blue from the reflection of the sky.

“Whoa…. Daebak,” she murmured, clasping her hands together, mesmerised by the scene put before her. “It’s beautiful,” she sighed, her eyes shining at the beauty of nature.

“You are more beautiful,” Gary let it slip out of his mouth as he watched her so captivated by the lake.

Jihyo blushed shyly and Gary looked away, biting his lips in embarrassment and mentally scolding himself for being so careless.

“Ja, let’s get started,” he said, trying to change a topic.

“Eung,” Jihyo nodded, face still slightly red.

They went to rent a canoe and put on their life vests. There was even a dog-sized life vest for Daeyang, who was so excited that he kept jumping about.

Gary carefully guided Daeyang into the canoe, before helping Jihyo in and then finally getting in herself. They sat facing opposite each other, with Daeyang in the middle.

“Do you want to paddle forwards or backwards?” Gary asked.

“Forward!” she smiled.

“Arrrasso, then I shall paddle backwards.”

Gary paddled the canoe away from the bridge first, before Jihyo joined in the paddling.

Daeyang kept jumping in the canoe, excited and nervous to be in one for the first time in his life. The canoe kept rocking.

“”Hajima, hajima,” Jihyo said while laughing at the dog.

Being a well-trained dog that he was, he stopped jumping so wildly.

They canoed right into the middle of the lake. They canoed in silence, letting themselves immerse in the peace and tranquillity of the lake.

Jihyo suddenly asked, “Oppa, last time, we canoed together before in running man, didn’t we?”

“You remembered?!” he asked, shocked. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to remember, but if she regained her memories, then they must separate again.

Jihyo shook her head. “Ani… but I watched the episodes before…”

Gary nodded, smiling wistfully at the memories. “Yes, we did.”

“We’re always paired together.”

“Mm…”

“We should be quite close, right?” she asked again, even though he avoided answering the previous day. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she had to know.

Gary felt an ache in his heart. He didn’t know how to answer that question.

“We were all pretty close.” He finally said.

Jihyo frowned. Another vague answer. “If we were so close, then why did you leave?” she persisted.

Gary’s eyes were getting misty. He stopped paddling. Because of you.

Jihyo didn’t probe, but she stared into Gary’s eyes, expecting an answer.

Gary, are you free now? Dylan thought to him. It felt urgent, he could feel it in his thoughts.

Yes, but I’m not alone. He looked at Jihyo as he sent the thoughts over. He must be careful not to let her know that he was telepathic at this moment.

Ok, I’ll call you.

Seconds later, his phone rang.

“Collie is sick. It seems quite serious, he keeps vomitting. We must have overlooked him because of Joey.”

“Ah… that’s bad…” Gary was worried for him. Jihyo looked at him, confused.

“I need to bring him to the vet now, but I don’t know how long it will take…”

“Ah, so you want me to go over and help you look after Joey and Andrea?”

“Yes… I don’t want to leave them alone at home for too long.”

“Ok, I’ll come now.”  He looked at Jihyo apologetically. “But I’ll take a while, maybe an hour or two.”

“Sure, ok, thanks buddy.”

“No problem.”

“Jihyo-ah,” he began. “I’m sorry, I have to go back now… My friend’s dog’s sick, so he has to bring it to the vet. But his wife just gave birth and he doesn’t want to leave the mother and child alone at home for too long... so…”

“Ah… arrasso, let’s go back then.”

They quickly paddled back and changed out of their life vests. Gary seemed worried so Jihyo didn’t ask anything more.

“Jihyo-ah, can I just alight you at the taxi stand and you make your way back to your hotel yourself? I don’t have time to send you home,” he said, passing her some money. “I’m sorry…”

Jihyo looked at the notes blankly. She was 4 hours away from her hotel and she didn’t even know where she was. But, she couldn’t trouble Gary now.

Gary glanced over at Jihyo whilst driving. He saw that she was worried. He, too, was worried about her making her way home herself.

“Or, if you don’t mind, I’ll bring you to my friend’s house first. Then when he gets back then I’ll drive you home. Is it better?”

“Ah… isn’t it very troublesome for you?”

“Nah, it’s ok. It’s safer that way.”

“Arrasso, thank you, oppa.”

An hour later around 4.30pm, they reached Dylan’s house. Andrea greeted them at the door, carrying her newborn baby, Joey.

Jihyo was shocked; she felt like she entered a zoo.

First, two dogs ran towards the door, who barked at Daeyang happily. One was a Labrador retriever, like Daeyang, and the other one was a larger German shepherd.

There were two kittens on the sofa, just lazing about.

At the window still, there was a bird cage with a canary.

By the dining table, there was a fish tank, with a few species of fish.

Gary introduced Andrea and Jihyo to each other, who greeted each other warmly.

“Dylan asked me to come and look after you,” Gary laughed.

“I know,” Andrea laughed back. “I told him not to, but he won’t listen.”

“Is Collie very sick?”

Andrea sighed, looking guilty. “Yeah, I think he had been sick for a few days already, but recently we’ve been too occupied with Joey. I feel so sorry towards them,” she gestured at the animals.

“Ehhh, don’t say that, you know you are good owners,” Gary comforted her.

Andrea just shrugged sadly. Joey whimpered in her mother’s arms, wanting to be rocked.

“Aigoo, Joey’s grown a lot huh?” Gary cooed at the baby, who smiled at him. “I still remember how tiny you were when you were just born.”

“How old is she?” Jihyo peered over, curious. She had been silent the whole time because she didn’t understand anything at all. (They spoke in English)

“28 days old,” Andrea replied. “Do you want to try carrying her?” she offered.

Jihyo looked blankly at Gary, who kindly translated for her.

“Ah… no, no,” she waved her hands frantically. “I don’t know how.”

“Oh, it’s easy,” Andrea encouraged. “One day you’d have to learn how too,” she laughed, passing the baby to her.

Jihyo supported the baby’s head with her left arm, and formed a cradle by putting her right arm over her left arm.

The baby stayed calm.

It amazed her how anyone can be so tiny and look so fragile. She looked at the baby lovingly, wondering how would it be to have one growing inside of her.

After a few seconds, the baby started crying. Jihyo got a shock and hurriedly passed her back to Andrea and apologized repeatedly. Andrea just laughed. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s about feeding time,” she explained, gesturing slightly so she would understand.

“Ah…” Jihyo nodded.

“While you feed, how about I help you give your dogs a wash?” Gary offered.

“Ah, thank you! It has been more than a month since they got a wash.” Andrea was grateful for the offer.

Jihyo stood there blankly again, unsure of what’s going on. Gary explained to her again.

“Do I help?” she asked.

Gary laughed at her look so lost. “You can if you want to.”

“But I don’t know how.”

“It’s easy, don’t worry.”

They brought the three dogs (including Daeyang) down to the park for the wash. First they brushed the dogs to get rid of shedding fur. Daeyang didn’t need to be brushed, since Gary routinely brushes him, so he gets to have some free time. Spot, the German shepherd, was brushed by Gary while the other lab was brushed by Jihyo. Then it was time for the wash. Gary made the dogs stand in the line and splashed them with a hose, which they enjoyed. Then he scrubbed them carefully and gently under the ears, their backs, their front and their limbs and washed them again. The dogs shook the body to dry themselves, sprinkling water all over Gary and Jihyo, who laughed at them. Then they used the towel to dry each dog.

By the time they were done, it was almost 6 already. They went back to find that the mother and child fell asleep.

Dylan called and told Gary that he would be back after 7, so Gary decided to help her clean the house, change the tank water, clean up the bird cage, while Jihyo ironed the clothes. They then cooked dinner for the family.

Andrea wasn’t awake and Dylan wasn’t home yet, so Gary suggested that they ate first so later they can help to watch over the baby.

“Do you know how?” Jihyo laughed teasingly. “You’re just hungry!”

“Yah! That’s not true,” Gary protested.

Jihyo just kept laughing but agreed anyway, because she was hungry too.

“Is it very bad to eat without waiting for the owners?” she asked in between chews.

“Ah, it doesn’t matter… We’re so close that they don’t even care about me when I’m visiting,” he laughed.

Dylan came back soon after and joined his wife for dinner.

Gary and Jihyo sat on the carpet and played with the baby who was lying on the sofa, their faces only inches apart.

She kept laughing and Gary who made funny faces at her.  She reached out to grab Gary’s thumb and giggled.

“Omo, her hands are so tiny that it fits right round your thumb,” Jihyo gasped, amazed.

Gary just laughed and reach out to carry her. She didn’t cry.

“I was the third person to carry her,” Gary told Jihyo proudly.

“I want to try,” Jihyo said, moving closer to Gary. Gently and carefully, he passed Joey over to her and taught her how to carry. This time, not only did she not cry, but she kept giggling.

The three of them were like a family having a fun time playing together.

Gary sighed. I wish I can start a family with you too.

*in actual fact, the drive from Saint John to Ontario takes approx. 17 hours, but let’s just assume it isn’t that long for the sake of the story.

(THIS CHAPTER IS FREAKING 6 PAGES long in word doc LOLOL but it looks so short hereeeee)