“We’re here?” I asked, looking around to find Mrs. Yun’s library café. But I only saw clothing stores, food stalls, and restaurants. There’s a café but there are no shelves like Miss Kim mentioned.

“I only parked here. We’ll have to walk to reach the café”

“Oh right. You mentioned it’s in a hidden alleyway, right?”

“Yes”

She gave my hand a light squeeze before letting go to park the car. We both headed out, hand-in-hand together as she directed to where we’re supposed to go. We walked along with the crowd at first until Miss Kim turned into a small alleyway.

“How’d you get here again, unnie?”

“Ah…” she answered hesitantly, which made me look at her. “Well…” She started nervously scratching her neck, which piqued my interest. “It really wasn’t one of my proudest moments, Whee”

This got me even more curious while she only sighs in defeat.

“I used to go to clubs, right?”

“Hmm…” I hummed, nodding while smiling at how she couldn’t look at me.

“And uh… well, one of the girls I’ve ah… hmm… she was relentless even when I firmly said no. She found me near where we parked the car. And I… I went on hiding, away from her. That’s where I reached this place”

We turned in a narrower alley. It’s so narrow that Miss Kim has to walk ahead of me when someone’s walking towards us. Though it’s not as suffocating as what I initially thought seeing the walkway. It’s still scary to walk here if you’re unfamiliar with the place.

“And you hid at Mrs. Yun’s café?” I asked, giggling at how red her face was.

She smiled at my teasing. “No. I just happen to find it and it looks interesting so I went inside and has been coming here since”

The narrow alley opened to a wider one and this time, the people looked a lot calmer here. People seemed to know everyone as they greeted each other. Even Miss Kim gave a small bow and waved at some of the owners.

“Do you know them, unnie?”

She nodded, smile getting brighter. “I do but I’m not close with them unlike Mrs. Yun. It’s probably because she introduced me to everyone before” she said with a chuckle.

We stopped in front of a small store. At first, I didn’t realize we were already here but upon looking beyond the glass windows, I could see shelves, tables, and chairs inside the store. It doesn’t look like a café from the outside based on what I usually know what a café looks like. But it does look cozy inside.

Miss Kim never bothered to knock or ring any bell. She just pushed the door open with excitement.

“Grandma! We’re here”

We were greeted immediately by a familiar bark, which made both of us smile. Then we heard Amethyst’s pitter patter on the wooden floors before she emerged behind the bar.

“Amethyst!” Miss Kim and I called together.

“Yah! Be careful, Amethyst! No breaking glasses!”

Amethyst jumped on us to give us some warm greetings. I crouched down in front of her to welcome her kisses while Miss Kim gave her an affectionate pat on her head.

She looked happier, calmer, and even more energetic even on her first day with Mrs. Yun.

“Were you a bad girl, Amethyst? Are you giving your Mommy a hard time?” I asked, giggling when she filled us with kisses.

“Oh, you have no idea how silly that dog is”

“Mrs. Yun!”

“Grandma.” Miss Kim gave her a bow before going in for a hug. “Thank you for having us”

She received Miss Kim’s hug with a happy smile. “Oh… You know you’re always welcome even without a heads up”

I hurriedly stood up and gave Mrs. Yun a bow too.

Mrs. Yun opened her arms, beckoning me over. “Come here!”

I went ahead and accepted her hug. Her hug is just like my grandmother. Warm, soft, and comforting.

“Thank you for having Amethyst again”

I was surprised at the sudden light smack on my arm.

“How many times are you supposed to thank me? And Amethyst is a good girl. She just loves to zoomies”

We glanced at Amethyst who’s been running around us, bumping on a few chairs and tables. Good thing nothing was on top of the tables or else she’d knock them off the table.

“She never had zoomies before” I whispered in awe, smiling while feeling my tears tearing up.

“It was a mess here yesterday. I think she got way too excited that she had a bigger zoomie than this one. Knocked every single chair and table. She even broke one of my vases”

I pouted at Amethyst while Miss Kim only giggled.

“Did you scold her?”

“Yes, I did,” Mrs. Yun answered. “At least she looked apologetic but I think she’s excited to see you two now. So better visit as much as you can because she’ll surely miss you”

“Yes, Mrs. Yun. We’ll come here all the time!” I answered, causing her to laugh while Miss Kim smiled softly at my response.

Mrs. Yun petted my cheek. “Starting today, you better call me Grandma, okay? Now, what do you two want?” She headed towards the bar while Amethyst followed to check where she’s going. “Yongsun, do you still want that hot chocolate?”

“Yes, please.” Miss Kim then whispered to me, “Her hot chocolate is really good. I learned making it from her”

“It’s just that you mixed your salt and sugar?” I teased.

She pinched my cheek and laughed. “I did”

“What about you, Wheein?”

“I’ll have whatever unnie has. Can I play with Amethyst, Grandma?”

“Of course!” She waved Amethyst away from the bar. “Go play with Wheein.” She also placed her leash on the bar. “You can also take her out if you want to”

“Really!?”

I think I got way too excited because I could hear both of them laughing at me.

“Of course! Just bring her back”

I hurriedly grabbed the leash and patted my lap to call Amethyst. “I will! Come here, Amethyst. You’re going on a walk with me”

“Don’t get too lost, baby. I’ll just accompany Mrs. Yun here”

“Yup! Don’t worry about us!”

I dropped a kiss on her cheek before Amethyst and I headed out, waving goodbye at them.

The walk was tiring but it was most definitely fun. Most of the time, I have to hold back Amethyst because she was rather too eager to walk ahead of me. She almost dragged me the moment we left the café. It was unexpectedly an arms and legs workout day for me.

Most of the time during our walk, she has a really good temperament. The only time she growled was when we encountered another dog. But at one command, she stayed beside me and never acted against the dog. She only stopped growling when I started petting her.

I never wanted her to be in a fight so we walked back to the café after that. It’s as if nothing happened because she was wagging her tail so excitedly. As Miss Kim said before, she’s just extremely loyal and protective.

When we got back, Miss Kim and Mrs. Yun were sitting at one table. I released Amethyst from her leash and she ran off to Mrs. Yun’s side.

“Where can I get water, Grandma? And her treats too”

“Was she a good girl?”

“Yes, she was!”

Mrs. Yun smiled down at Amethyst and affectionately brushed her hand on her fur.

“There’s water behind the bar and her treats are on the far left side in the overhead cabinets”

“Okay!”

While working on Amethyst’s needs, Miss Kim and Mrs. Yun continued their chat, which got interrupted at our arrival.

“Were you still being followed?” Mrs. Yun asked Miss Kim.

“No. There are still others who I occasionally encounter but not like the other one. That was the worst, so far. Most of them are just leaving flirtatious remarks to convince me but I would always say no”

I walked towards their table with Amethyst’s bowl of water and some treats as a reward for being a good girl. I placed the bowl down in front of her and fed her the treats, before sitting beside Miss Kim.

“Wheein, did you know this stupid girl’s charades before she met you?”

“Yah…” Miss Kim groaned while I giggled at her. “She knows everything. I told her everything”

“She did,” I confirmed, taking a sip of Mrs. Yun’s hot chocolate. “This is yummy, Mrs. Yun!” I drank some more, earning laughs from the two.

“Thank you! And thank you for coming into this child’s life. You changed her out of her disgusting