Marianne takes Yeolie to work. Luhan's pack comes in for a surprise visit.

Puppy Love

Hope:

"Tell me, Sandra. Do you think she'll pull through?"

"I don't know. I wish I could say yes." The intern nurse, Sandra, replied. "You have to realize though, that even if she does come out of her coma...I mean...You saw the scans. The long term memory damage would be so severe and we don't know what else could be wrong if she wakes up-"

"Don't say if. There can't be ifs." Luhan looked at her. "Whatever ends up happening, we can fix it. I know we can."

"Then what will we do?"

"When she wakes up, she'll be in danger." Luhan thought of Jinwoo. He couldn't ever let Jinwoo find her. "She'll have to live out in the world like everyone else. It's what's best for her."

"How will you do that?"

"By cutting off any trace that leads back to Jinwoo, or our pack, her wolf side, even me. If it's erased from her memory then it must stay erased from her memory. Her mom in America gave her an English name. She can start going by that instead."

"If it helps, you can transfer her to my university so I can help too."

"You'd be willing to do that? You've done more than enough already."

"I'm in too deep to just walk away now, aren't I?" Sandra giggled awkwardly. Luhan placed his hand briefly on her shoulder.

"Thank you for everything you've done. I don't think she'd be here right now if it weren't for you." Luhan looked back at Miyoung. "Our pack will have to keep their distance from now on."

"Where does that leave you?"

"Me? I will do my best keeping an eye on her just in case all of this isn't enough. She could remember everything one day, she also might not. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if she never remembers, I'll still be there to befriend her all over again. Never again will I leave her side. Ever..."

__
 

Marianne had already went back to her apartment to change into clothes more appropriate for work. Deciding on her dark blue blouse that she tucked into her black jeans with matching dark blue heels, she made her way down the street with Chanyeol of course right by her side.

"So where's that Luhan?" Chanyeol's deep voice broke the silence between them as they walked together.

"I'm not sure. Last I saw, he was with your family. He's talking with them somewhere now I guess."

Chanyeol nodded, "Okay. He better not keep them too long though. I don't want to get bored sitting in your coffee place all day."

"Hey, you're the one who wouldn't stop whining about being left alone at the apartment."

"I'm sorry I can't help it. Every time you leave I get sad. I would always think you would be gone forever."

"That's just your two dimensional dog way of thinking." Marianne nudged his side to wipe the frown off his face. "I'll never be gone forever."

"You promise?" He looked at her with hope and joy in his lit up eyes.

"Of course." She smiled up at his tall figure.

He smiled his thousand watt smile in content at her words. Passing by them, he noticed a boy and girl walking together like he and Marianne were. They were smiling like he and Marianne were, too. The only difference was that the boy and girl who passed them had their hands together with their fingers entwined. Chanyeol turned his head to follow his gaze at the two in his curiosity at what they were doing and why. His gaze shifted from the couple down to Marianne's hand that was ever so close to his own. He cocked his head to the side as the idea came to his mind, thinking about whether or not he should do it.

"What are you doing?" Marianne looked down at the feeling of Chanyeol taking her hand in his, entwining their fingers like the couple he saw. Looking up at him, she saw him make a small half smile at her, his eyes holding so much affection behind them.

"Seemed like the thing to do." He shrugged, his simple words making her heart flutter.

Luhan wasn't there when Marianne and Chanyeol arrived at the coffee shop. She hoped he wouldn't be too late coming in because she knew how big a fit Kyungsoo would have if he did.

"Hey, Kyungsoo?" Marianne called out to her boss who was just finishing handing coffee to a customer. "I have a friend here who is going to be here while I'm on my shift. He'll just be sitting in the corner over there, is that okay?"

"This is a coffee shop, what the hell do I care?" Kyungsoo grumpily replied, as he usually would, before retreating back into the kitchen.

"Okay then," Marianne took Chanyeol to the table in the corner by the window and sat him down, "You're going to sit here for today. The bathroom is right over there just in case, and snacks are on me. And just to make sure you don't get bored, you can have this."

Marianne handed Chanyeol a tablet with headphones already plugged in.

"What's this?" He looked at the device in confusion.

"It's my iPad. You can watch whatever you want on it. Youtube videos, movies, dramas, anything. And you wear these so only you can hear it." Marianne grabbed the headphones and put them on his ears.

"I don't think this will keep me occupied all day, Marianne." Chanyeol said in disbelief while looking at the list of drama shows in disinterest.

___

"How you doing there, Yeolie?" Marianne asked, a few hours into her shift.

"Shh." Chanyeol shushed her, not taking his bloodshot eyes off the drama playing on the tablet.

"And K-Dramas have claimed yet another soul." Marianne giggled to herself while going back to work. "Maybe they'll teach him to behave like an actual human."

"I'm here!" Luhan burst through the cafe door.

"Damn it, Luhan! What kept you all this time?" Kyungsoo made sure to raise his voice at his friend.

"I'm sorry. I got held up." Luhan gave Kyungsoo a certain look, letting him know it wasn't something he could just say aloud. It was about talking to Suho and Yixing more about Jinwoo after all.

"Don't let it happen again," Kyungsoo grumbled. His expression suddenly changed when he looked out the window and saw a few familiar faces, "Look out. Visitors."

"What visitors?" Luhan scoffed before turning around to see just who the visitors were.

"Hey, Luhan!" Kai waved happily.

"What's up?" Sehun waved with him.

Luhan's jaw dropped in shock at seeing them. Why were they here? They knew they had to keep their distance from Marianne. Why would they come when Marianne was clearly here?

"What-What are you guys doing here?" Luhan asked, attempting to keep his tone nonchalant.

"We're here for coffee, of course." Minseok grinned mischievously, letting Luhan know they definitely came with different intentions. They came to see Marianne.

"Oh no, you have to leave." Luhan attempted to usher them to the door, "You know you can't be here."

"What's the problem, Lu?" Marianne approached with a happy expression, "It's okay, you guys. You don't have to leave."

"See? The lady said we can stay." Sehun smirked at Luhan, making Luhan want to growl at him.

"You guys can sit right here!" Marianne gestured to the booth table and they gladly sat. "What would you like?"

Minseok raised his hand, "I would like a large hot coffee, light and sweet please."

"Just an iced Americano for me." Kai raised his hand next.

"Okay, and for you?" Marianne looked at Sehun who was sitting at the end of the booth.

"A medium iced French vanilla swirl latte with whole milk and exactly four