Dahyun couldn’t remember who exactly thought it was a good idea for her to walk nearly all of the dogs the animal shelter had at the same time, but there she was, being dragged down the sidewalk by ten different dogs in ten different directions in the midst of the suburbs. An elderly woman carrying an armful of groceries gave her an odd look as she passed by, causing a furious blush to bloom across the college girl’s fair cheeks.

The blush remained for the entirety of the walk, like an eternal flame that refused to sputter out. Yet regardless of the struggle it was to keep all the leashes from tangling together and keep them on a somewhat controlled pace, there was a smile stretching wide across Dahyun’s face. To the dark haired girl, volunteering at the animal shelter down the street from her apartment was one of the best parts about the weekend.

Dahyun loved playing with the kittens and the puppies, she enjoyed the fresh air while walking the dogs, and she loved the way all of the animals’ eyes seemed to light up when they saw her every weekend. Nothing made Dahyun feel better than knowing she was making them happy, giving them the hope that perhaps someday they’d be adopted into a loving home. Everybody and everything wanted to be loved, and Dahyun had plenty of that to go around.

Perhaps the only downfall of her job was the way she felt heartbroken once one of the animals finally got adopted and she had to part ways with them. Sometimes, her heart loved too much for its own good. As her thoughts wandered aimlessly, she and the pack of dogs circled around the end of the street and headed back towards the direction of the animal shelter.

While walking the dogs was usually Dahyun’s favorite activity to do while volunteering at the shelter, she had heard a rumor from one of the other volunteers, Jihyo, that there was a new arrival joining them. Before Dahyun got the chance to meet her, Jihyo had handed her a bag of filled with dog leashes and sent her on her way. A thrill of excitement coursed through Dahyun’s veins.

Not only did volunteering help Dahyun feel like she were making a difference in the world, but it also introduced her to people who were just like her - willing to help and give as much love as they could to those around them. Dahyun had met Jihyo on her first day as a volunteer. The older girl was the one who had trained her and showed her the ropes of the place, instructing her on how to clean a kennel properly or how to tell which animals were feeling down.

Jihyo had been volunteering at the shelter since she was nearly twelve years old. Having taken a field trip to the shelter with her Girl Guide troop to help take care of the animals for an afternoon, Jihyo had become smitten with all the animals there. Year after year, the resilient girl returned to offer what she could give to the organization, thoroughly enjoying her work.

Nayeon was the second volunteer Dahyun met. One afternoon, Dahyun had just finished signing her name on the sign-in sheet in the lobby when out of nowhere, she was bombarded by a swarm of dogs. All of the canines were leashed, and they happily jumped up and down beside her in hopes of gaining her attention.

“Hi!” A warm voice chirped. Dahyun blinked at a brunette with large brown eyes, her arms wound up with all the leashes. “You must Dahyun, right? I’d offer you a handshake...but, well, you know. Anyways, Jihyo’s told me all about you already.” Dahyun flashed Nayeon a smile, slightly embarrassed and overwhelmed at the amount of attention she was receiving from both the dogs and from the pretty girl standing confidently in front of her.

“That’s me, Kim Dahyun! Nice to meet you, Naeyeon. Maybe I could give you a hand with those leashes if you want? I’ve signed in just now,” Dahyun offered, glancing at the leashes straining in Nayeon’s hands. “Oh, that’s alright. I’m used to it by now! If anything, it’s more a miracle that they can handle me and not the other way around.” The other girl threw back her head in a bout of laughter that seemed to shake the shelter walls.

“I think we’re going to get along just fine, Dahyun. Call me if you ever need anything!” With that, Naeyeon had simply whistled once to gain the dogs’ attention. With a wink thrown Dahyun’s way, the girl whirled away down the hall towards the play area, all of the dogs in tow. Looking back on the memory, Dahyun’s certain she must’ve stood there for five minutes afterwards, trying to process what just happened.

Dahyun met Mina and Momo at the same time, both having walked in from walking the dogs, a jumble of leashes between the two of them. They’d entered the shelter speaking Japanese, conversing softly with each other as they did, just as Dahyun had finished signing in. Dahyun remembers turning around at the unfamiliar language, and thinking to herself that perhaps Momo’s love struck gaze spoke more for than anything she’d said the entire time she’d watched them.

Next came Tzuyu and Chaeyoung, two college freshman who we undoubtedly smitten with each other. Dahyun stumbled across them one day when she arrived early for her shift to play with the puppies and kittens in the play pen. The two younger girls were screeching with joy and holding hands as they rolled a ball of yarn out across the room’s floor and watched the kittens chase after it. As soon as Dahyun entered, the pair gave her a warm welcome, and invited her to sit with them and throw the yarn a few times.

A few weeks ago, Dahyun had finally met Jeongyeon, the volunteer Nayeon couldn’t seem to stop talking about. She was much more striking than Nayeon had let on in the beginning. In fact, her beauty nearly made Dahyun drop the dog food bag she’d been holding. The other girl had waltzed into the storage room and stood behind Dahyun without her realizing it.

Just as Dahyun hefted a bag of unopened dog food up from the stockpile, Jeongyeon leered forward and yelled, “Yah!” Into her ear. Had Dahyun’s grip been a tiny bit looser, the bag would’ve no doubt fallen to the concrete floor and split open. “Oh my god!” Dahyun exclaimed, struggling with the weight of the bag. “Wh-who are you?”

“Jeongyeon!” Nayeon rushed in, a sour look on her sweet face. “Sorry about her,” Nayeon grimaced. She grabbed Jeongyeon by the collar of her shirt and began dragging her out of the closet. “She has this bad habit of pranking people. I’m working on it, though,” she said over her shoulder. Jeongyeon giggled as they went, throwing Dahyun a casual wave before disappearing from view. Dahyun hadn’t caught a glimpse of Jeongyeon since, and felt somewhat convinced that Nayeon had secretly murdered the other girl.

 As Dahyun raced back towards the shelter, she felt a spark of hope within her chest. A new volunteer. A new friend. A new beginning. She hoped that the new girl wasn’t anything like Jeongyeon with her incessant pranking. Dahyun had heard more than enough gossip to know that the pesky prankster provided more than enough excitement to every shared shift. Some of her past tricks sent a shiver down Dahyun’s spine.

Stepping through the automatic sliding doors of the shelter, Dahyun smiled in Jihyo’s direction. The older girl flashed her a grin from her post manning the front desk. “You’re back earlier than usual,” Jihyo comments casually, twirling a pen in between her fingers. One of her eyebrows flicks up in suspicion, and Dahyun feels her cheeks beginning to burn. “Yeah, they were reall