I made sure that the gates are closed and locked before checking that the interlinked fence around the playground has no holes. They can get really aggressive when it’s playtime. Luther almost forcefully pushed the gate open when he thought the disk was out of the playground. Little did he know that it got stuck in the playhouse. The toys are also already spread all over one corner in the playground.

I cupped my lips before I shouted, “Fany-unnie! You can bring them out now”

Even when I’m standing outside, I can hear how loud they are. And that excites me so much.

“Alright! Here they come…”

I grinned in anticipation. Play day will always be stressful but it will always be fun. I always look forward to play day. Wash day is also equally fun but more exhausting than play day. So when I get assigned during play day, I can’t wait for it.

Even with just a very short opening of the door, the dogs already spilled out into the playground and ran straight to me. Ave, an eight-month old doberman, is looking so cute with her blue ribbon on her collar. She’s the first one out and heads the pack. She was followed by the pitbulls, Joey, Cali, and Charlie with ages eighteen, twenty-three months, and four months old.

I had to sit on the grass so Ave wouldn’t knock me down with how aggressive she was. The rest of the dogs swarmed me but I still made sure that I had an eye on everyone else.

Boki, a tosa inu, moved past the pitbulls and was running second to Ave. Luther, the labrador retriever, wants his zoomies first before anything else. Bridget, a three-years old jindo, was just staying idly, waiting for her turn, Francois, Tiffany-unnie is to be blamed with the difficult names, is our energetic Korean mastiff that went straight to the toys to grab his favorite ball. Marguerite, still Fanny-unni’s fault, is a very cute nureongi who had managed to climb on my back to my ear. Tonyo, a nine-month old Sapsali, and Baram, a nine-month old Pungsan, are best buddies who prefer to chase each other when it’s playtime.

Taro, Haru, and Hiro, all domestic shorthair cats, always go out on play day but never want to join the chaos. They always stay in the playhouse and love to judge all the dogs. I think I’m included in it.

Still no Amethyst.

“Alright… alright…” I giggled from the tickles, , and attention I received. I shrieked when Marguerite playfully bit my cheek. “Margie!” I screamed, using her nickname because the name Fanny-unnie gave her is very difficult to pronounce with my Korean tongue. “Stop it! Ah no! Ave! Luther!”

And… Luther joined in the swarm.

I was now lying on my back on the grass with my eyes closed and my glasses already slipping down on the bridge of my nose. I felt a weight somewhere on my stomach, arms, and legs. The dogs have completely pinned me down. It was overwhelming but they enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too. I love them all.

There was a loud clap and a whistle from Fanny-unnie.

“Stop! That’s enough! Let Wheein breathe!”

They all scrambled away from me except for Joey who thought that my stomach was a pillow. He laid down beside me.

I placed my hand on his head and patted him. “There, there… Good boy, Joey”

“You okay?”

I opened my eyes and saw Fanny-unnie smiling down at me. I returned her smile and nodded at her before I decided to sit up, shifting Joey’s head from my belly to my lap.

“No Amethyst?”

She sighed and shook her head. “I left her cage open and called her to come out but she still didn’t want to”

I sighed a heavy one and nodded. “She’ll come out” I whispered as I stared at Joey's wagging tail.

“I hope so…”

There’s not much hope in her voice but it didn’t affect my hope.

Amethyst is a senior German shepherd dog. Unlike the other dogs in the shelter who were found on the streets, rescued and delivered to the shelter, and surrendered by their previous owners, Amethyst is a retired war dog. She’s trained to sniff mines and bombs. She has saved many soldiers in battle. Unfortunately, when she retired, she lost her energy and got depressed when we received her in the shelter.

I know there’s still a dog left in her soul even in her senior year. And my goal everyday is to bring that out.

“Your beanie fell.” Fanny-unnie picked up my hat and placed it back on my head. “Wash your face afterwards. You’re full of , Whee” she reminded, patting my head before taking care of the other dogs.

“I will!”

Joey scampered to follow Tiffany-unnie.

I fixed my glasses and wiped the with the sleeves of my shirt. I pushed myself up and dusted off grass clinging to my pants. These dogs really… All of them will either give me their attention or no one will give me any of their attention.

I went over to the faucet and removed my glasses first. I washed my face and used my sleeves again to dry off.

“We have towels! Stop using your sleeves” Fanny-unnie reprimanded while glaring at me.

Ah… Thought it wouldn’t come.

Even though she’s scolding me, she still grabbed a towel and handed it to me.

I grinned at her while she only returned it with a playful roll of her eyes. “Thanks, unnie”

I put my glasses back on and went to play with the dogs. The cats still continued to judge all of us in their position in the playhouse. Despite the massive space left in there, the dogs never bothered to flush them out of the playhouse, which is funny because they are thrice larger than these cats.

After a couple minutes of running around with the dogs, I asked permission from Fanny-unnie to leave her in the playground so I could check on Amethyst.

When I went back inside the shelter, sadly, she’s still in the same position as when I arrived here. After many years of volunteering in the shelter, I learned that forcing the dogs to do something they don’t want to do will never bear positive results. I just spend time with her and patiently wait for a reaction, and indication.

In this shelter, the volunteers have given up on bringing Amethyst’s mood up. Only I, again, remained hopeful. Amethyst has also stayed in this shelter longer than any of the dogs and cats. Because of how uncooperative she was, she was not yet up for adoption and no one likes to foster her. So she stays in her cage everyday. And I stay with her as much as I can.

I grabbed my sketchbook and pencil in my bag and brought them with me. I smiled as I approached Amethyst’s cage. She only glanced at me before staring at nothing again.

“Hello, Amethyst. I hope you don’t mind if I join you again here. You’re not sick of my drawings of you, aren’t you?” I asked, laughing softly when she stubbornly refused to acknowledge me.

I ducked as I entered the cage before sitting down on the floor. The cage is not enough for a human to stand inside but it has a lot of legroom, which is still comfortable. I sat beside Amethyst with my back on the wall and my sketchpad on my lap.

I took off my glasses and let it hang on the collar of my shirt. Everything’s blurry but I don’t like the weight of it on my nose when I’m bending my head down.

“You know… I’m starting work tomorrow, Amethyst. You should wish me luck”

I opened my sketchbook to a blank page and grabbed my pencil, still thinking of how I’m going to draw her.

“I can’t visit everyday but I’ll always make time…”

My voice dropped into a whisper as I started drawing.

“Aren’t you going to miss me? I hope you do. I’m going to miss you, for sure. The rest of you here in the shelter”

Got her ears too pointy so I erased it, glancing at Amethyst who remained in her position.

“My boss scares me”

I went to her eyes next. Brown eyes.

“You know… You have the same color as Miss Kim’s eyes. But she’s scary and you’re not”

I grinned at her, leaning over to give her a kiss on her head.

“You’re a sweet girl who let me in your cage”

I redid her eyes because I drew Miss Kim’s eyes instead of Amethyst. I couldn’t get rid of the mental image of her eyes. That I had them memorized even in the short span of my interview.

“I’m nervous, did you know that? I’ll be working in the same company as Byulyi-unnie and I don’t want to disappoint her”

I started pouting at my drawing, making more mistakes than earlier.

When I didn’t feel like drawing anymore, I placed my sketchbook and pencil down. I caressed Amethyst’s head, loving her still soft fur.

“How should I be brave like you, Amethyst? Teach me” I said, smiling when her tail started to wag lazily.

I stopped petting Amethyst to clasp my hands on my lap. That grabbed her attention, making her glance at me.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay? I may not be here everyday but I will still come and visit. Be a good girl always”

Instead of resting her head on her front paws, she moved closer to me and pawed my hand. I softly chuckled at her and went back to petting her again. She leaned her head down on my lap as her tail resumed wagging.

She still has that soul of a dog in her.

“Good morning, Miss Jung. Welcome to Kim Yongsun-Ahn Hyejin Tech, also known as KYAH Tech. The name’s cute, isn’t it?”

Wendy welcomed me with so much energy early in the morning. It’s so infectious and I love it.

My body has this automatic reaction of matching her energy. I smiled way too wide, as wide as hers, and nodded with so much energy others might think I snapped my head.

“It is! Like when something’s too cute and you can’t contain this squishy feeling from its cuteness!” I cupped my own cheeks, my feet stomping out of habit. “Kyah!” I squealed, laughing along with Wendy.

“Exactly.” Wendy and I high-fived.

“And you can call me Wheein, by the way”

“Wheein, okay. Congratulations on officially being a part of our time. For this morning, the bosses told me to give you a tour and orient you on the things you have to do. For now, you have to meet the team first”

Wendy motioned for me to follow her and so I did.

She greeted me in the building’s reception area. There’s a huge logo of the company on the wall behind Wendy’s table. She’s the company’s HR and PR. In charge of the hiring process but both Miss Kim and Miss Ahn will still personally interview applicants.

We entered through a glass door to an open floor space. Wendy informed me that on our right is the cafeteria and to our left is the office where the rest of the employees stay. The cafeteria has glass walls while the office is covered with concrete. Across from us is the conference room. The open floor space is decorated with potted plants, several of them. Right at the center of the open floor space is an artificial pond and a miniature fountain.

“All the plants were brought by Miss Ahn and Miss Kim from California. Said that they personally took care of them. Miss Kim has devised a system that automatically sprinkles the plant and monitors their soil’s moisture. Right over there”—she pointed at the monitor screen above the cafeteria doors—“shows their status and if they need t”

Is that why Miss Kim asked if I garden? But she already created a system, why’d she have to ask that?

Wendy started walking towards the office while I stayed right behind her, absorbing every information I was given.

“Lunch is free. Snacks too so food is not a problem.” Wendy scanned her ID on the right of the glass door and it automatically opened before she allowed me to get in first. “Meet the team” she said, still maintaining a wide smile.

I entered the office and two rows of office cubicles lined up facing each other. At the end of the room are two doors leading to Miss Ahn and Miss Kim’s offices. On the other side of the room are lockers and filing cabinets right against the wall. Since the company is a consultancy firm, there aren’t a lot of employees. I only counted eight cubicles.

Wendy clapped so loudly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Everyone! Please welcome our new member of the team.” She placed her hand on my shoulder, gently patting. “This is Wheein and she’s going to be Miss Ahn and Miss Kim’s secretary”

I smiled at everyone before giving them all a bow. “Good morning. My name is Jung Wheein. You can call me Wheein. Pleasure to work with you all and please take care of me”

“Wheein!”

As I stood up straight, I saw Seulgi-unnie waving at me before moving out of her cubicle to walk to me.

“Seulgi-unnie!”

I met her halfway, jogging towards her, and engulfing her in a tight hug.

“You are working here?”

“You’ll be working here?”

We both asked at the same time, making us both chuckle.

“I didn’t know this is the IT company you're talking about” I said, feeling more delighted to be working with someone I know.

“You didn’t tell me you’re working here.” She stepped back and looked me over, eyes blinking from confusion. “And why are you dressed so formally?”

Now that she asked me that, I have finally noticed that she’s only wearing a hoodie and some jogger pants. Looking at the rest of the employees, some are still dressed a little formal but most of them are dressed so casually. In fact, only Wendy was dressed in a coat and suit pants.

“Byulyi-unnie told me what to wear.” I looked at myself, starting to feel a little conscious. “Aren’t we supposed to dress like this?”

Wendy stepped in to explain for me.

“Miss Ahn and Miss Kim said it doesn’t matter as long as we’re comfortable. Though it’s different if cl