Samantha was never the type of girl to let herself be fooled by a nice face. Never. Going through her teenage years in the busy and blinding LA, she learned that a pretty face didn’t always mean a pretty heart, or a nice personality.

Having that in mind, she tried not to gape as the man in front of her rubbed his nose against Haru’s small head, sighing in relief. He was acting as if the most precious thing in the world was back into his arms after a long time.

And maybe so it was.

However, beside the fact that his love for Haru was more than obvious, the way he looked was eye cathing aswell. He had a dark skin tone, something that reminded Samantha of honey and warm sunsets at the beach. His hair was also dark, his a bit too long bangs covering his forehead, giving him a more aproachable and casual look, but still looking really handsome.

„God, I genuinely thank you. I really think I might have gone insane without my Haru.” He said, looking Samantha in the eyes for the first time, since he was way to excited to see his cat again for him to look at Samantha from the start. 

„It’s okay, I actually really enjoyed her company.” She admitted, trying to sound happy.

She went to bed pretty positive last night, thinking about how happy she will be when Hyoyeon came back, not about how sad it would be to give Haru back. Her plans seemed to have worked until she woke up, because as soon as she peeked behind the curtains, she saw the gloomy sky and humid atmosphere, and she immediately felt more down that she thought she would. Damn the bad weather.

Her tone was neutral, which seemed to have clicked something inside the guy because he suddenly looked at her more carefully.

„Are you okay?”he asked as he absent-mindedly petted his cat, the little furry animal emitting soft sounds in delight.

She opened to speak, but no words seemed to come out. They looked good together, as weird as that sounded. There it was, again, a painful reminder that she didn’t have someone to care about her like that, and she nedeed it almost as much as she needed air.

„No, I’m fine.”

He raised his eyebrows.

„You don’t look like it. You look pale.”he said, as he shifted on the bench so that the cat could stretch better. It almost seemed as if he was doing all those things out of  pure habit, every move of his perfectly synchronized with and for his cat.

Lovely.

„Anyway, as I said on that advertisement, I can pay you for returning her to me, so how much do you-„

„I don’t want anything.”

„You don’t?” He sounded surprised.

„Of course not.”she smiled softly at the two. „I told you that I enjoyed her company, so it’s no –

Her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She excused herself as she looked at the screen, only to smile as she read the caller ID. She immediately forgot about the man behind her, and answered her phone.

„Samanthaaaa.”a whiny voice boomed through. It was always like this, her best friend calling her whenever something was bothering her. She couldn’t help but giggle softly.

„What’s now? Do you have to go with your parents to another fancy SPA?” she asked amused, with a hint of irony.

She and Hyoyeon had a strong connection, but not everything about the girl was easy to understand. Unlike Samantha, Hyoyeon was part of a really rich family, like the ones you see on TV. Hyoyeon often told her that she is lucky to have such a down-to-earth kind of family, that do not see money as the only thing that matters.

And it was true. Samantha was always told that money aren’t the only important thing in life, but happiness and self-discovery. Her mother always told her that her dad should be a role model for anyone, because no matter what, he followed his dream of living and working in the US.

Samantha would always roll her eyes at that, but deep down she knew she wanted to be just like her father: always ready to do whatever was nedeed to fulfilll her dreams.

Hyoyeon, for that matter, wasn’t raised like that at all. Her parents didn’t tell her how important friendship or love is, but always showed her the benefits of going to a SPA every month, or how important was for a woman to always have manicured nails.

Thus, Samantha always told Hyoyeon how much she admired her for her strong, independent and true self. Her best friend was someone she truly admired and trusted, because she didn’t let herself become a spoiled littler rich girl, but became someone with true and kind intentions. She had, above all, a pure heart.

On moments like this, though, Hyoyeon didn’t seem a strong and independent woman, but more of a little child that didn’t know what to do but whine all day.

„ No, but they want to arrange some sort of party here, I don’t even know how they called it, but it is bull, I’m telling you. I mean for god sake, we are at moms parents, I really hoped they wouldn’t transform it into another fancy dinner. But that is just what they want to do! „ she said, whining and whisperind fervently.

„But aren’t your grandparents like, I don’t know, really old?”she asked, amused.

„They are both 60, but I must admit they don’t look or act like it.”

The rest of the conversation went on on the same subject, but then Hyoyeon started asking Samantha if she was OK  with the idea of spending her birthday alone and such. Truth be told, Samantha wasn’t excited to spend her birthday in her apartment, as much as she wasn’t excited to spend her birthday in her apartment as the rain poured outside. The weather today seemed as if it was going to last for a while.

However, she didn’t voice these thoughts out, since it would be useless. Hyoyeont couldn’t do anything about it anyway, so why bother making her feel bad for not being able to be there for her?

They bid each other goodbye, with Hyoyeon promising she would call her at exactly 1 AM, to be the first one to tell her Happy Birthday. It was the same every year, it was yet another thing that Samantha loved about her best friend: she was always there to make her feel imporant.

She put her phone back in her pocket,  widening her eyes. She almost forgot about Haru and her owner, and it felt pretty weird to realise she spent almost 10 minutes talking to her friend while a stranger was listening.

She found the two playing on the bench. He was poking Haru’s tummy with a huge grin on his face, as the cat tried to catch his finger, scratching him softly every one in a while. He didn’t seem to mind the scratches though, even though they were slightly red and swollen.

„So, uhm...”She started, feeling slightly uncomfortable, even though she had no reason.

He raised his eyes to look at her again, just like the last time he did. His eyes didn’t seem to be on her, though, but on her whole being. He seemed to be searching for something as he looked at her features, without uttering a single word. He wasn’t doing it in a creepy way, but it was still slightly weird since people didn’t do that in LA, nobody having time or interest  to inspect others, their lives way to busy for that. Maybe things were different here, in Korea, she thought.

Maybe people just did that to everyone they met, so she thought, why not do it aswell?

So looking at him, she realised she was face to face with someone around her age. He looked 20, maybe 21, but not older than that. He also seemed the athletic type, the one that would always be the popular guy in the american schools, though he didn’t seem to ooze arrogance,  he just seemed to have a natural, charming vibe.

„So it’s your birthday tomorrow.”he said, a faint smile playing on his lips. It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

She was so taken aback, she did something that she only did when she was extremely flustered: stutter and shift on her feet.

„W-what? Why do you think that?”

Do Korean people read minds? Maybe she was feeling a little foreign after all.  

„You said that while on your phone.”he giggled. „I can’t read minds or people, if that’s what you thought.”

„Oh, y-yeah. It is.” She said, her gaze shifting from the guy to Haru without her realising it. Her birthday would have been nicer with Haru sprawled on her couch or her lap, but it semeed it wouldn’t be the case. She would miss her. A lot.

He seemed to catch on that.

„Do you, perhaps, want to see Haru tomorrow?”

She abruptly shifted her gaze back to him.  Why would he ask that? Did he think of her as a weirdo that attached to his cat almost instantly? Because it was true, but she didn’t want to admitt that.

„Why would you ask that?”

„You seem to really like her. She also gained some weight, which means you really took interest in feeding her, which I don’t really mind.” he added, since she almost looked alarmed when he mentioned the weight gain. „I actually tried to force her to eat some more, she looked way to small, but she just  didn’t want to. You must have a different effect on her.”

He smiled, so Samantha followed her instinct and smiled back.

„Also, since tomorrow is your birthday, and you said you just moved in, I assume you’re going to spend it on your own. That .”he laughed.

„It does, actually.”she giggled aswell.

As soon as she said those words, something clicked inside her. She wasn’t able to say how much it actually hurt her to spend her birthday alone, when she was talking to Hyoyeon. She wasn’t even able to admitt that to her parents.

But why him? Why did it seem to be so easy to just open up about something that she couldn’t open up about when speaking to people she knew for a lifetime? He seemed familiar, natural, a person that behaved as if he already knew her. How he was able to read her so easy, to piece every information he had about her, she couldn’t say.  

She didn’t know if it bothered her, or if it felt nice. It was something in between, she guessed.

Seeing that she didn’t say anything else, he felt the need to just excuse himself for whatever thing he said, that might have bothered her.

„Well, anyway. I just thought it would be a good idea, for you not to spend your birthday on your own, but with someone you already know and are comfortable around”he said, pointing with his head to his little cat. „Also, this is me rewarding you. You know, for you finding and taking care of her.”

For no particular reason, she felt overwhelmed. Call her hypersensitive, but a stranger suddenly showering her with so much attention was weird, out of the ordinary. She never grew up with such attention, even though she yearned for it. She grew up in a country she truly hated, and truly didn’t understand, so creating strong connections with people, or making true friends there wasn’t part of her plan. She had a boyfriend, but he never really cared about her the way she felt a boyfriend or girlfriend should care about his or her lover.

Maybe this was karma. Life’s way of showing her that her patience will be rewarded, in the form of an adorable cat and her handsome owner who was kind enough to want to share her for the sake of her birthday.

For the sake of somebody else’s happiness.

She felt warm all of the sudden. Not uncomfortable, nor flustered. Just truly grateful.

She exhaled soflty, but loud enough for him to realise that she had a lot going through her mind, but came to a conclusion.He smiled again, this time a little different though.  

„I would really like that. Thanks.”she grinned, allowing herself to play with Haru’s paws for the first time since she was back in her owners arms.

„Great.”he said. „I’m Jongin, by they way.”

A/N

Ok soooo..

I must say I am really really excited guys. I didn't really think my story would be able to gain 3 subscribers from the first chapter.

Bu apparently it did! ♥

ok so call me a weirdo but I am truly grateful, it means a lot

i really really hope you like it

and please comment, whatever runs through you mind is ok, it will help me a lot

Oh, and I am sorry if there are any spelling or.. I don't know, just any kind of mistakes. I am not a native english speaker, so I am pretty nervous so I am hoping I don't make any really bad mistakes.

Thank you again

Take care ♥