The weekend finally came.

Mr. Kim is fortunately still here with us, but I wouldn’t say that it made everything less hard for me because I hardly survived the whole week living with his sons—and they are even also in my school. It was like everywhere I go and look at I could see them standing just a few feet away from me. It was difficult and, in many ways, aggravating because I only want to be alone. The only reason I managed to survive the past days was that I only chose to interact with the nice enough brothers.

It’s all the same.

Kyungsoo and I are still seatmates on the bus. The only change is that every time I climb up the bus after rushing out of my first shift from the coffee shop, I would find him waiting for me to come to sit beside him. Unlike his cold attitude and blank face to me before, he now dons his heart-shaped smile every time he sees me. That big change didn’t go unnoticed by the people we ride with every day on the bus, and every time they couldn’t control their curiosity, they would often ask us what brought upon the change considering that we were indifferent to each other before, and if not that question, then they would ask what’s going on between Kyungsoo and I. Thankfully, it has never been awkward. Whenever we are asked, we just say that we have already been friends for a long time and that we just don’t like talking much… and I don’t believe that they bought it, anyway, but Kyungsoo and I stick to which we are comfortable enough to answer.

We would talk throughout the ride and he would tell me with no fail each day that at the breakfast Xiumin and Luhan were looking for me and waiting for me to eat with them. When lunch would come, by my locker, Kyungsoo and Chen would persuade me to have lunch with them. They sure are a persistent pair, never seeming to get tired of offering me, so every day I need an excuse that seems convincing enough for them to leave me. I don’t think I could last any longer if they keep it up, and I have this gut feeling that the two of them know that I’m just lying but they are only pretending to not show that they know it. The karma comes with the guilt that eats me every time, but I have no choice—who am I kidding? It was just the choice that I chose. Well, if Kyungsoo and Chen are the good guys, the annoying is there as well. These two almost seem inseparable despite their personalities being opposites. Sehun and Jongin are like flies I just couldn’t swat away. Every day I dreaded fifth period because that’s the most infuriating time of the day for me—a suffocating one hour seated between two brothers whose intentions about me I couldn’t really tell. Jongin plays with me by using his ways to garner attention to us—specifically to me—and feeding his amusement whenever he sees the scowl slowly start creeping in my face. He certainly knows now that I hate being in the center of the attention and yet he remains despicable about it. He particularly enjoys how I do my best to keep my face stoic albeit all I wanted to do then was to grab my bag and flee the room consisting of them. Why them? Because although it’s only Jongin who advances his antics on me, Sehun’s aura of aloofness and hostility makes it all worse than it already is. They are a paradox, yet they feel so alike.

The last time I had dined with everyone was on my first night, and there was none after that. I would leave in the morning at the peak of sunrise and get back to the mansion just after they had dinner. It was intentional; I always stay back in the café, watching the hands of the clock hit past seven o’clock because it’s the start of the time of dinner for the Kim family. I leave by then, and upon arriving at the mansion, the dining hall is already empty and clean like no food had been set on the long lavish table and no one had occupied the more than a dozen of seats.

I easily adapted to that routine, and I did my best to not get in the way of the others. I really want to stay out of trouble.

However, the world seemed to always contradict me.

Apparently, I’m at the pet shop where I work during weekends, arranging the cages of the puppies and kittens. It is hard to make people adopt senior pets, but fortunately, here at our shop we rarely have senior pets on the waiting list. It’s difficult for me as well whenever I encounter them because I easily get attached to old pets, especially dogs, who have wrinkles and sagging skin and eyes that looked too humane, aging not with love but with fading hope each day as people hardly stop by their cages to even give them a glimpse of chance. I guess it’s because I relate too much to them.

The store is empty with any human except me and had it not been for the frequent barks of the puppies and mewl of the kittens, the tiny place would have been completely noiseless. As a person who is used to living in silence, I would have probably been irked if I haven’t been working here for almost a year already. The smell of animals’ urine and excrement on my clothes and oftentimes even on my skin doesn’t make me scrunch my nose in distaste anymore. I only think about how I had grown to love these pets and of course, the good enough salary that helped me provide myself food to eat and a roof above my head.

“You. I just gave you food not even half an hour ago,” I approached the whining Chow Chow puppy and kneeled in front of his cage. I gently shushed the Chihuahua puppy that is barking wildly when he saw me approach, locked in the cage just above. A bubble of laughter escaped past my lips when he slumped his body down in disappointment when I only passed by him. The tail of the Chow Chow puppy waggled back and forth in excitement when she finally realized that I’m giving her attention. “So why are you crying now?” I reached out a finger and tapped her small moist noise, smiling with my mouth closed. Getting more excited, the puppy jumped on her chubby paws up and down. Her barks got louder and in between her snorts and gurgles, I even thought that I heard the door of the shop open. I tapped her nose again, snickering at her wide smile that literally reached her ears. “You just want my attention, don’t you?” I asked her in a delicate whisper, liking her reaction. It is nice to be liked.

“Me too. I want it too.” My hand that’s reaching for the puppy’s head halted midway as I felt my whole body get frozen by the voice that has been following me for the whole week. I can now almost recognize it anywhere. Mentally cursing my luck, I thinned my lips in exasperation—I thought I could escape him even for just a single day, but the world doesn’t seem so keen on giving me what I want—and just stared at the silenced Chow Chow puppy as if she sensed the waves of dissatisfaction coming from me. I hoped that he is sensing it too until I heard an amused snort.

Of course, he isn’t.

Bracing myself, still crouching, I swiveled my body to the direction where the voice came from. I squint at the daylight passing through the sliding glass doors, seeing the tall silhouette first before the figure slowly became clearer and vivid in my sight. A lopsided grin and crinkly eyes shining with mischief greeted me. As if he noticed that the sunlight is preventing me from seeing him, he stepped sideways until his broad shoulders covered half of the light—the other half still passing through his head and making his mop of wavy brown locks appear iridescent, turning red, and creating a halo above it. My lips parted, somehow getting choked in the snide that I wanted to throw him.

Slowly, I watched as the mischievous curl of his lips slipped off his face, and what replaced it was a soft smile that could have fooled anyone. His crinkly eyes smoothened and looked as if they could have penetrated through the deepest souls, and throughout this, I found myself unable to speak even a single word. The Chihuahua puppy’s hoarse bark broke the silence, and he soon followed with his voice, “Your attention,” he clarified and then pointed at my face. “And that smile.”

Snapping out of my trance as I got self-conscious, the corners of my lips automatically sagged—annoyed, perplexed, and just because my will acts on its own to contradict everything of him. I’m looking up to him since I’m still crouched down to the floor in front of the lowest cage, uncaring about how I currently look to him.

“No, no. Not that smile. I do not like that,” he disagreed, shaking his head. My brows furrowed. “I want the smile on your face a while ago.”

I blinked multiple times with my head raised to meet his eyes, watching as he deliberately widened his eyes to me, expectant. What is he expecting now? I shook my head. “What are you doing here?” I helped myself up and backed away from him to create more distance between the two of us.

The usual amusement I often see in his face appeared—a carbon copy of what I had seen on him yesterday at school before I had turned my back on him. He shrugged his shoulders, muttering but I still heard, “Worth a shot,” I crossed my arms and lifted a brow his way, rebutting him in a non-verbal way. His face changed to show a dry expression as he opened his palms beside his sides, dismayed. I won’t give him what he wants; I’m not one of his playthings. “Or not.” With that expression staying on his face, he peered at me from below his lashes, and I knew then that he’s still trying to evoke a reaction out of me. All that I have learned from him since we became someone to each other is that he is pertinacious. He is a tough nut to crack—or Sehun may just be the toughest. Although that one isn’t here, I have unconsciously come to associate him with Jongin every time.

I didn’t give him a response. The dogs and cats did, however. His gaze finally left me to rest on the rows of animals locked in cages beside me. A smile drew in his face—a gentle one this time. It was the most genuine smile I had ever seen on him.

When he didn’t follow up with another of his frisky remarks, I asked again, “How did you know I’m here?”

His attention returned to me. “Sweetheart,” He drawled as he took two steps forward. I remained in my place since the distance isn’t that close between us, and the place is just tiny. I will bump into one of the cages if I as much take the risk of stepping one more step back. I frowned at his sweet talk. A corner of his lips lifted, liking the reaction. “Not everything is about you.” He then proceeded to disenchant, his pleased face falling into a deadpanned one. As much coy he is, he is also very blunt in letting someone down. The infamous playboy Kim Jongin has thorns that wouldn’t ever let you come close to who he really is.

I’m not the slightest bit interested, anyway. Anything too close is bad. Being distant and remaining as strangers is what’s better for us.

I let out a sigh, glancing at the black Maltese puppy staring at me with wide eyes and a smiling face. She seemed to be the only one not entranced on our specific newcomer unlike the rest of the pets here in the place who couldn’t be silenced anymore since he appeared. “If you are here to play, then I need to tell you right away that this isn’t the right place.” I turned to him who is watching me with a veil covering his eyes. After a whole week of living with the Kim family, specifically the brothers, I discovered that he’s actually one of the most readable ones, but he can’t also be when he wants to. He seems to like turning the switch on and off as he is ever the impish one.

I’m not the right one. I added through my eyes.

A smirk painted on his face. “How will I get to see that smile on your face again?” He’s back to trying.

I refrained from closing my eyes in exasperation. “By telling me why you are here.” I answered without a beat, not realizing that it was a careless move.

“Okay, then.” I blinked in surprise. His face was earnest with no sign of joking anymore. “I have my dogs here. I couldn’t take care of them at home because I was busy in school,” he explained, and while I’m slowly starting to understand, he fished out his phone from the front pocket of his fitted light blue jeans and checked something on the screen. Now that I had the moment to notice, he’s only wearing a plain white shirt over a slightly graphic black bomber jacket, and his long and lean legs are covered in equally plain light blue jeans that rest comfortably to his thighs, and in his feet are also plain Nike black rubber shoes. To be honest, I had never bumped into him again in the mansion since the first dinner, or outside either, so I never really knew how he dresses or how the infamous playboy Kim Jongin dresses outside of the school. He didn’t reach nor limit what I had thought… because annoying as he may be, or plain as he casually dresses, Kim Jongin oozes overflowing charisma. He is a big presence wherever he goes and whatever he wears—like a typical idol on screen. “And as my schedule says, today is the day that I return them home.” I snapped out of it when he spoke, lifting his eyes back to me and this time opening the right flap of his jacket and slipping his phone somewhere inside.

Looking away because I admit that I had the thought a while ago that he was only here because he followed me and would just like to play with me again, I nodded my head, swallowing the slight embarrassment.

An amused smirk etched on his face, and he took steps forward. Now that I know his real intentions of being here, I lowered my fences and stopped backing away from him, though the back of my mind is still very much reminding me that he’s still a predator. “And you work here?” he pushed, genuinely looking curious so I answered.

“Yes, I do.” I pinched a small part of my collared shirt above my area where the logo of the shop rests, showing it to him. His gaze was instantly drawn to it. I immediately let go of the fabric and cleared my throat until it’s my face he’s staring at. “During weekends.” I blurted, turning my head away and mentally scolding myself.

A chuckle escaped past his thick pink lips. He should step away from the daylight because it’s making him look… less wild than I know he is. “Thanks for the info, sis.”

“Don’t call me that.” I reprimanded him and turned my back on him. I shushed the still loud puppies and cats. I can’t help but wonder just how this is the first time I had an encounter with him here in the pet shop when he claimed just now that he leaves his dogs here, but then again, I only work here on weekends. I’m certain that I had never seen him walk through the doors here. I slipped my hands inside a cage upon noticing it looking a little crooked. One more movement from the Shih Tzu puppy inside would have the cage falling already, and I really wouldn’t want that for the puppy and me. I adjusted it back to its proper and safe place as I questioned him, “Is that all you are going to do here, sir? Maybe you are interested in adopting one of our puppies here as well.” Well, he is a customer, so I’m treating him like one. I didn’t receive an answer, but I didn’t bother glancing his way to check what he’s up to now. Instead, I chided the hyperactive puppy who wouldn’t sit still, “Don’t move. You are going to fall.”

Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me—close. My nerves were all put in an abrupt halt when I started to feel hot breaths blowing into my neck, penetrating even to the inside of my collared shirt and pebbling goosebumps on the expanse of my skin. A masculine rugged hand with long and thick digits appeared beside my arm, trailing, trailing, and trailing until it brushed my pale skin dotted with tiny scars that I got from working at my part-time jobs. My breath hitched, uncertain if the grazes of skin to skin were intentional or not. I could never know. I don’t want to know.

The trailing of the long arm stopped at last, and with bated breath that I hated, I watched as the digits prodded and caressed the fur of the excited puppy inside the cage I’m holding. “That’s right, little one,” Now, I could even smell the minty breath fanning the side of my face and my skin. My shoulders stiffened. “Don’t move,” It’s gotten nearer. My grip on the cage tightened. “Or you’ll fall.” He whispered in my ear, and I could hear the mischievous smirk dancing in his lips, the noxious mirth glimmering in his chocolate orbs.

I swallowed the lump on my throat, pushed back the cage to its right place, and then moved away. I proceeded to align the next ones quickly but surely, not wanting to be in any close distance with him anymore. The pet shop has always been just a tiny place that’s only enough for about five people to fit in considering that the inside is already stuffed with the items, pets in cages, and the counter, but right now, it feels more cramped and higher in temperature.

A breathless chuckle followed my rejection of his advances. For some reason, the barks and mewls ceased for a beat—as if giving him the exact chance to continue playing. His voice bounced off the four walls, resonating and echoing and echoing. “But there’s nothing to worry about. I’m here to catch.” I thinned my lips tightly, my patience running dangerously low albeit he just arrived not even ten minutes yet, and I took the courage to narrow my eyes his way, but when I looked, I found out that it was the puppy he was talking to. He was pulling expressive faces to the puppy who barked at him happily. As if feeling my gaze on him, he turned his head to me and feigned a nonchalant expression. “What?” I only stared at him. He arched a brow, smiling lazily but I could see it in his eyes—the horseplay he’s riding and wants me to ride too. “I’m a customer who is only checking if I may be interested in one of these adorable puppies.” he made clear. “Young lady, how will you get these pets their owners when you treat interested customers like that? They will run away.”

A scowl drew in my face while he, on the other hand, held his expression well. He was waiting for me to crack. As if. “Let’s get your dogs, sir.” I told him firmly, turning on my heels while he snickered amusedly from behind. To my great relief, I hear his footsteps following mine. Together, we both sauntered into the narrowed hallway leading to the door where the daycare of animals resides at. The shop has a veterinarian even, and the thing is, I only manage the front while someone else ministers the small daycare. Since that coworker is not present today, I’m left responsible to handle it.

“You know, I like it when you—”

I ceased myself, fingers already wrapped around the door lever handle. “Please don’t continue that.” I told him in a firm voice, affronted.

A burst of full-blown laughter was his reply to me, despite my seriousness. I just rolled my eyes and opened the door, promptly being attacked by the smell of pets and strawberry-scented hand sanitizer that my boss—the owner of the shop—likes to put around in every part here. Upon our presence, the pets started to bark and thrash around wildly. I couldn’t tell which dogs are the loudest in Jongin’s presence in a way I would be able to know which are his, so I glanced at him with knitted brows and found him serious for once as he wanders his eyes around the room as he is also searching for them.

I stepped closer to the dogs’ area and asked without looking at him, “What dogs?”

“Poodles. Two males and one female.” I snapped my head to him just in time to catch the ghost of smile he showed before it faded. It was very fleeting, but it was the first-ever real smile I had seen from him. Once gone, it was replaced by a thoughtful frown and furrow between his brows, focused on searching.

A glint of recognition flashed across my eyes for a second. I walked to where the cages of his dogs are and kneeled before them. They were aggressively whining and crying loudly, their tails wagging back and forth in their eagerness to be held by their owner. I softened. “Here they are,” I announced. I didn’t make them wait any longer and let the dogs out. I read their names on their cages as they came out running to their owner.

Jjangah. Jjanggu. Monggu. One is white and the other two are brown. They are adorable.

I stood up and brushed the fur that stuck to my pants, turning around. Laughter—and I completely froze, almost caught off guard. What made it different? It’s a genuine one; not an artificial one I had somehow gotten used to hearing from him while he entertains other people in school. A pleasant sound drifted into my ears coming from him and it was the first time I found myself entranced by someone’s joy. With gleeful laughter spilling out of Jongin’s lips, his eyes disappearing into pretty crescents, and him kneeling to the dirty floor without a care if it would taint his clean clothes as he wholeheartedly embraced his dogs to himself, it’s just… he is just suddenly so different. I’m seeing him in a different light.

“How are you all, huh? Did you all miss me?” He patted each on their head and brushed back the curly fur covering their eyes, gritting his teeth as he couldn’t control his emotions and grinning in his mirth, still tittering like he just returned to being a kid. His dogs howled and jumped on his chest, and Jongin’s laughter increased in volume. “You missed me, you all missed me! I know you all did, and I miss you all too.” he cooed sweetly in a small voice and picked up one of his brown dogs, bopping the dog’s nose and then carrying him close to his face, giving him an Eskimo kiss.

A different Jongin, indeed. I bit my lips to erase my small appreciative smile. I looked away, giving him privacy with the dogs he had obviously missed. It was also endearing to see that his dogs clearly missed him just as much.

“Jjanggu!” The alarm in Jongin’s voice made me turn my attention back to them but before I could even process what’s happening, I felt my breath being taken away from me as a huge brown and heavy weight crashed on my chest, making me stagger and fall on my in the floor. Gasping, my arms automatically shielded the head of the poodle for protection only to wince when I felt the pain in my head when it collided with the cold and strong floor. My head bounced once before I entirely let myself just lie down on the floor, staring up to the white ceiling as I start to see stars swimming in my vision. Something wet my cheek, the heavy thing still sitting on my stomach, but I was out of it.

At least the dog is safe. I had experienced this before, anyway. Countless dogs had done this to me before, huger ones even. I only need a few more seconds to recover.

“Yah, look what you did!” My ‘a few more seconds’ was cut, however, when a good-looking face popped in my vision—thick lips on the line of my eyes and I realized that the person is hovering over me and standing behind me that’s why it’s upside down.

Is he seriously blaming me now? My head still spinning, my face scrunched in indignation. I glared up at him, my sight still a bit blurry and I couldn’t really see where he’s looking at. My hand remained holding the dog and I tried to sit up to confront him. The dog continued to all of my exposed skin. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I become. Really? Am I the one to blame?

“Look—” I hissed through gnashed teeth, my head still throbbing, as I managed to lift my head a few inches from the floor—but then a hand appeared to cup the back of my head, strong and long fingers unnecessarily slipping through the strands of my hair until four fingers supported the middle of my head and a thumb pressed on my nape. My ponytail had come undone, and my long brown and wavy locks flowed like a curtain to his arm and down to the floor.

I was left staring wide-eyed at the chocolate orbs that worriedly pierced to mine. The words ultimately got stuck in my throat.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” he asked in a low voice, and while his face appeared impassive, his eyes tell otherwise. I’m seeing a lot of firsts from him today.

I frowned up to him, ignoring the goosebumps pebbling my skin and how his hand is so large to support my head alone. “Didn’t it cross your mind to call my name first before your dog’s? That would have turned all of these around.” I mumbled to him before wincing in pain.