*-Leeteuk's POV-*

“I'm home!” I called out as I stepped into my apartment. My two other housemates, Eunhyuk and Donghae were playing games on the Xbox. Staring at the blue and white pet carrier which I had set on the coffee table, they exchanged looks.

“Another one of your client?” Eunhyuk asked, setting the game console he was holding down on the coffee table. As a trainee vet in “Kim Animal Hospital”, I often bring home some of the patients I was in charge of. Although there is a stay-in nurse on duty when the hospital is closed, I just don't feel safe leaving my charges there without a vet.

“Nah,” I shook my head as I knelt down in front of the carrier. “She's a keeper,” Teardrop's emerald eyes were gleaming as she meowed once softly.

“A cat?” Donghae knelt down beside me, “Oh, her eyes are beautiful!”

“She's our pet?”

I nodded as I opened the door of the carrier. Teardrop edged deeper into her box, afraid of her new environment. Clicking my tongue, I tried to coax her out of the box. However, no matter how hard I tried, she simply refused to budge. With a helpless smile, I picked up her carrier and placed it on the ground, leaving the door open so Teardrop could exit when she felt comfortable with her new environment.

Just as I stepped into storeroom to bring out the pet dishes, Eunhyuk came in. “Teukie hyung! Who's An Yonni?” He asked, with a mischievous smile.

“Is she your new girlfriend?” Donghae added, leaning against the doorframe.

“How would I know who An Yonni is?” I shook my head as I searched the shelves for the pet dishes, “And, what girlfriend?”

“Still faking it? Then what’s about the pink umbrella at the balcony?” Eunhyuk jabbed his thumb in the direction of the balcony.

“Yup! Hyung, out with it! Did you get a girlfriend?”

“Umbrella?” I thought hard for a moment before I finally recalled what they were talking about, “Oh! That umbrella! It belongs to someone else. How did you get a name from it?”

“There is a name-keychain attached to it,” Donghae replied, exchanging looks with Eunhyuk. They both had unbelieving looks on their faces that suggested that they did not believe what I said.

“Yah! I'm speaking the truth!” I chided them as I finally found what I was searching for. Exiting the room, I gave each of them a whack on the head with the metal dishes I was holding.

“We didn't say you were lying!” Donghae complained as he rubbed his head softly. Trying to hide my smile at his cute hurt expression, I entered the kitchen to fill up the dishes with food and water. It was only then when I realised that I had ran out of cat food at home.

“I'll have to go get some later...” I reminded myself as I walked to the balcony to keep the umbrella that I had left out there to dry. Picking it up, I found the keychain that they were talking about hooked onto the handle. It was one of those personalised name charms that you can get over the gift counters.

“An...Yon...Ni...” I read aloud as I ran my fingers over each of the letter beads. This umbrella was lent to me as an unexpected act of kindness from a stranger. A charitable girl whom I met at a bus stop on a rainy day, when I was in a rush to save a life. The face was already unfamiliar, although it had only been a few days. Probably because I didn’t really get a good look at her. However, I could still remember some of her words.

“Thank me by saving that poor doggie,” I mumbled as I recalled her last sentence, “Though it was kind of weird why she can’t just share an umbrella with me across instead of leaving in the rain…” When I went back to the bus shelter to return her the umbrella, the girl was already gone. All of a sudden, the girl I met today popped into my mind. “You’ve already thanked me by saving that poor kitty… That was what she said… By saving that poor doggie… By saving that poor kitty… An Yonni?” I repeated the two sentences a few times, with the feeling of déjà vu returning to me just like earlier on in the clinic. I really felt that I had seen that girl that saved the kitty with me before, just like she felt like she had seen me before somewhere.

Then, it hit me.

Pulling out my wallet, I pulled out the slip of paper on which she had left her name and contact number. Just as I expected, I saw the name, “An Yonni” written on it. They were the same person! “What a coincidence!” I thought as I turned the slip of paper in my hands a few times, “No wonder I found her so familiar… I must remember to return the umbrella the next time we meet… I think she will be surprised to know I was that guy that she lent her umbrella too…”

That night, after sending the dog to the surgery room, I went back out to the bus stop to return it. However, she was already gone by the time I got there. That probably meant she actually went home in the rain. “I hope she didn’t fall sick because of that… But she seemed quite healthy just now… So I guess she’s probably fine… How rare it is to have such a kind person nowadays…” Deep in my thoughts, I leaned against the wall and stared at the pink umbrella in my hands.

“Hyung!” Donghae's voice broke me from my reverie, “Your sister's here!”

“Coming!” I called back while I closed the pink umbrella with a snap. Then, folding it carefully, I binded the Velcro strap around the loose leaves.

“Oppa?” My sister's voice echoed in the apartment as she walked in through the door, “Oppa! Where are you?”

“He's at the balcony,” I heard Donghae replying her, as I walked back into the living room. The two boys, sitting on the floor in front of the TV, had gone back to their Xbox game. My sister's eyes moved down to the pink umbrella in my hands before returning to me.

“It's not mine,” I said simply as I placed the umbrella on top of the shoe cabinet by the front door. She heaved an audible sigh of relief, as she held up a hand to her chest.

“I thought staying with guys had had its effect on you,” she said as she looked around the house, “Why is your apartment always so messy when I come every week?!”

“Jinnie, we're three guys staying together. Three college guys. Besides, I had been busy with work,”

“Aish! Oppa! How many times have I asked you not to call me 'Jinnie'!” Leejin chided as she started picking dirty clothing off the couch, “I'm already grown up!”

“You'll never be grown up enough to me,” I smiled as I gave her a loving pat on the head, “By the way, I got a pet,”

“I know. I felt that. I haven't lost my sense of touch,” she shot back as she smoothed out her hair.

“No! I meant a real animal pet!”

“Besides from the two fishes already living with you?”

I laughed, knowing that she was referring to my two housemates, “I need a pet that actually acts pet-like for a change...”

“Hmm...” Her eyes fell onto Teardrop's carrier, “Is that it?”

I nodded and walked over to its side, Leejin following close behind me. Teardrop was still huddled in the farthest corner of the carrier, and no amount of cajoling could get her to move. I was rather worried, but decided that she would probably come out later when she was feeling hungry.

“Oppa, what do you want for dinner?” Leejin asked as she stepped into the bathroom with a handful of dirty clothes. Living in the school dorm, she always came over to my apartment for her weekly visit every Sunday. We moved here from our hometown at the start of the year, after Leejin got the scholarship from her current high school. I enrolled into the city’s university, choosing to pursue a veterinarian course because of my passion for animals.

“Anything, but I have to go out first,” I answered as I set the pet dishes down near Teardrop’s carrier, “I need to get some pet food and other supplies,”

“Okay, dinner will be ready when you come back!” she replied from inside the bathroom. I heard a familiar beep as the washing machine whirled to life. Walking around the house, I made a ental checklist of the items that I needed to get for my cat. The list added up to cat food, litter, litter box, pet bed, as well as some toys.

Deciding to bring Teardrop along with me so she could choose her own bed and toys, I left the house with her in the carrier. As soon as I stepped into the elevator, my phone began ringing. Sliding the answer key, I picked up the call, “Yeobosaeyo?”

“Annyeonghasaeyo! Is this Leeteuk-sshi?”

“Ne~” I was surprised to hear a cheerful girl voice on the other side of the line, “This is Leeteuk! You are?”

“Ah! I’m Yonni! An Yonni!” The voice on the other side seemed uncertain, “Do you remember me?”

“Ah~ Yonni-sshi?” I exclaimed as I recognised the name, “Yes, yes! I remember you!”

“Good! Haha,” She laughed before continuing, “Is this a bad time to call?”

“Aniyo! I’m on my way out, so I can talk. What’s up?”

“Oh! You’re going out? Ah… I’m at the supermarket now, and I just passed by the pet section. So I was wondering if you have any cat food and cat litter at home!”

“Haha! I’m actually on my way to get some now haha!”

“Ah! Then I called at the right time!” She answered excitedly, “Is there any particular brand you prefer?”

“It’s okay, I’ll get it myself! You don’t have to go to the expense!”

“Ani! I’ll get them since it’s on the way!” She insisted, “Let me play my part as an owner!”

“But…” It didn’t seem right to let a girl pay for stuff, especially since Teardrop was going to be staying with me.

“But what? Please don’t tell me it’s not right for a girl to pay for stuff!”

“M-Mwo?” I was shocked that she had read my mind, “How did you know that?”

“Haha! I just do! So, Leeteuk-sshi, do you want to get them from me, or do you want me to deliver it to your house?

“Aish! Of course I’ll go get it from you! Since you paid for the stuff, you’ll be the boss, and I shall be the servant!” I teased as the elevator reached the ground floor, “Where are you?”

“Haha! I’ll text you the address! Just give me a call when you reached!”

“Arasso! See you!” I waited till she disconnected the line before hanging up, because I thought it would be rude of me to hang up first. Within the next minute, a text message which contained the supermarket address came through. Coincidentally, it was very near to my apartment.

“Teardrop! We’re going to get you some food! Then after that we’ll go get your bed and some toys okay?” I gushed as I raised the carrier to my eye-level, “Then maybe you won’t be so shy anymore!” A few passer-bys turned their heads around to look at me as though I had gone crazy. Apprehensive of how others think, I faked a cough and lowered her carrier, accelerating my steps to walk away.

When I reached the supermarket, I immediately spotted Yonni near the entrance. She was still dressed in the same attire that I saw her in just now. Waving enthusiastically as I caught her eyes, I began walking in her direction.

“Leeteuk-sshi!” Yonni called out excitedly as I got closer, “Did you have a hard time finding this place?”

“Aniyo! It’s rather close to where I stay!” I smiled as I eyed the guy that was standing beside her, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long!”

“I just checked out too!” Yonni returned the smile as she held up two plastic bags, “This is the food and cat litter!” Then, noticing my line of sight, she looked between the guy and me before pulling the guy forward slightly.

“I’m so sorry, I forgot to introduce you guys. Leeteuk-sshi, this is Sungmin,”

“Annyeonghasaeyo Sungmin-sshi, I’m Leeteuk,” I greeted him with a slight bow, which he returned hurriedly. After that, he simply looked away awkwardly. I turned my attention back to Yonni, who was pointing to the pet carrier that I held with my left hand.

“Is Teardrop inside?”

“Ne! I was planning to bring her to the pet shop to pick out a bed and some toys,”

“Really? Can I come along? It sounds like fun!”

“Of course! But…” I hesitated as I stared at the plastic bags that she was holding, “Do you want to go back and put your things down first?”

“I…” She looked down at the plastic bags she was holding briefly before turning around to look at Sungmin, “Sungmin-ah, are you able to bring these back on your own?”

“N-Ne, I’ll take them. You… You just go ahead with Leeteuk-sshi…” Sungmin flashed a gentle smile towards her. However, the warmness that he exhibited was not extended to me for he didn’t even look at me when we turned and left.

“Is it just me… Or does Sungmin-sshi hates me for some reason?” I wondered as I looked at my feet while walking, “But… We just met today… Did I do something wrong?”

“Leeteuk-sshi?” Yonni’s voice brought me back to earth, “Leeteuk-sshi, are you okay?”

“Ne!” I exclaimed flusteredly, “Ne, I’m fine,”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“I’m sorry, Yonni-sshi. I was thinking about something,” I smiled apologetically at her before continuing, “What did you say?”

“I asked if I can carry Teardrop,” She laughed before making a mock angry expression, “And I also asked you to just call me Yonni!”

“Okay, then you’ll call me Leeteuk. How old are you?”

“Hey! Don’t you know a girl’s age is her secret?” She leaned in and whispered softly before breaking out in a hearty laughter, “But I can’t keep secrets! I’m a teenager! Does it give you a clue as to how old I am?”

“Ooh, I’m a twenager! Haha! That makes me your oppa!”

“Arasso, Leeteuk oppa!” Yonni continued laughing as she squatted down to look into Teardrop’s carrier, “Teardrop! How are you? Do you remember me?”

“She has been hiding in the carrier ever since she came out from the hospital,” I said worriedly as I set down the plastic bags onto the floor as I approached a nearby bench, “She simply refuses to come out no matter what I did…”

“But she was all right in the hospital!”

Yonni was right. When we entered the recovery room after Teardrop had been treated, she leapt into Yonni’s arms after a while. Maybe she wasn’t used to the new environment in my apartment. Settling down onto the bench, I placed the carrier onto my lap gently. I caught a faint whiff of peaches as Yonni sat down beside me. Dismissing the random scent, I gingerly opened the latch to the door. As expected, Teardrop inched deeper into her safe spot.

However, when Yonni stuck her hand into the carrier, something unexpected happened. Through the small openings at the top of the carrier, I watched as Teardrop extends her neck forward to sniff at Yonni’s hand before inching forward carefully. A few moments later, she was much closer to Yonni’s hand, and was beginning to softly rub against it.

Then, as Yonni slowly withdraw her hand from the carrier, Teardrop followed her hand carefully. When she reached the opening of her carrier, she poked her head out tentatively to examine at the surroundings before fixing her eyes upon Yonni. Yonni had a gentle smile on her face as she held out both her hands invitingly, like how one would do to encourage a child to approach.

I was about to say something about it when Teardrop suddenly pounced out from her carrier, straight into Yonni’s open arms. Surprised, I watched as Yonni lovingly cuddled Teardrop, avoiding her injured limb while Teardrop rubbed the top of her small, little head against Yonni’s chin affectionately.

Did she recognise Yonni as the person who had saved her?

“She recognises me! I’m sure of it!” Yonni beamed as she the purring feline in her arms gently, “She must have recognised me!” I nodded in agreement as I too, reached out to fondle her soft fur. As my hand came into contact with her body, Teardrop turned around and looked at me briefly before manoeuvring her body to jump onto me.

We spent about fifteen minutes just sitting there on the bench, allowing Teardrop to jump around between the two of us. As a vet, I was worried that she might injure herself further. However, as an owner, it was comforting to see her so active. Finally, she settled in a comfortable position in Yonni arms as we decided to leave for the pet shop as it was getting late.

*~Sungmin's POV~*

When I came home from my morning jog, Yonni had already gone out. Ever since I had confessed to her, I had been getting a feeling that she was avoiding me. Things got better after I promised Kyuhyun that I would not be pressurizing her.

Actually, I wasn't exactly dejected when Yonni did not give me a straight answer. It meant that she must at least have some feelings for me, and I still have some hope. Although I wished she liked me as much as I liked her.

Anyway, Yonni got back home just as I was about to start preparing lunch. Heechul was typing away furiously on his laptop in the living room, trying to finish his assignment that was due in 3 days. "I'm home!" Yonni chirped as she skipped into the kitchen, yanking the refrigerator door open after giving me a bright smile.

"Welcome home!" I said as I shook off the water droplets on the frying pan that I was washing, "What's with the good mood?"

"Oh! I'm happy because I helped save a life today!" She answered,  bending over to look into the fridge, "Hmm... We must be keeping pigs in the house... I just stocked the fridge on Wednesday, and it's already empty today?"

"What do you mean you helped save a life?"

"Never mind," Yonni beamed at me as she straightened up, closing the fridge door with a soft thud, "I'm going to the supermarket to restock on pig swill! You coming?"

My heart leapt at the thought of spending some quality time with her, so it went without saying that I jumped at the opportunity. However, not wishing for Yonni to misunderstand that I have ulterior motives, I answered as though I had thought long and hard about it, "All right! I have nothing to cook now anyway!"

Hence, we did a short stock count of all the items in the house that required restocking and left the house happily, with instructions from Heechul to get him lots of white chocolate. She was really in a jubilant mood for she was chattering non-stop throughout our whole walk towards the nearby supermarket.

"And then she assigned Leejin and I the duty of closing all the windows all by ourselves!" Yonni complained as she made a disgusted face, "Can you believe it? All by ourselves!"

"Can't you speak to the teachers regarding this?" I was feeling pained for my sweetheart for she looked so tired lately. Yonni was telling me about her week in school for we hadn’t had much chance to chat lately due to her packed schedule.

"What am I going to tell them? Inhyeon had legitimate reasons to pull the other groups away to perform other duties..." She shook her head helplessly, "This is all Kyuhyun's fault!"

"Would asking Kyuhyun to clarify that he's not your boyfriend help?" I offered, eager to help Yonni solve her problems.

"Leejin says that it will only make things worse...” She pursed her lips as she chewed on my words. We walked on in silence for a few more moments before she suddenly shook her head rapidly and exclaimed, "Aish! I don't want to think about it anymore! Let's enjoy ourselves first then I'll worry tomorrow!"

For the remaining part of the journey, I tried to help Yonni get rid of her pent up emotions by describing all the funny revenges she could exact on Inhyeon. The best one I could think of was to give a fake confession letter to Inhyeon.  "Imagine how silly she will look if she went up to Kyuhyun," Yonni burst out laughing as I continued, "She will wish that there was a hole in the ground that she can hide in,"

"Just like how I felt when she humiliated me in front of the whole council,"

Between laughter, we reached the supermarket. The cool air-conditioning was very welcoming, compared to the warm weather outside. I grabbed a trolley as Yonni pulled out the shopping list that she had prepared beforehand.

We first stopped by the confectionery section to get Heechul's white chocolates, lest we forget about them afterwards. And when we got to the vegetables section, I was very happy when Yonni picked up my favourite greens.

"Broccoli, lettuces," Yonni placed the produce carefully into our trolley, "And of course, how can we forget our Sungminnie's favourite?" She winked at me as she picked up a danhobak. I gave her a shy smile as I took the danhobak from her and placed it beside the other vegetables.

As we were strolling along the meat section, something in the distance caught my attention. Sneaking a look at Yonni, who was fully focused in examining the meats in front of her and did not seem to notice what I saw, I quietly sneaked away, leaving the trolley with her.

I threw my head back at her a couple of times to make sure she didn't see me sneaking away. Finally, I reached the place where my object of interest was. It was a cute peach plushie holding a stalk of daisy in its hands with a bright smile. There were three of them attached to the top of a booth where promotion for organic peaches was going on. An older woman was manning the booth.

“Do you want to get some peaches, young man?” She asked me, holding out a tray of samples, “They are really sweet, and are rich in vitamin A.” I nodded and took one piece of the pinkish orange fruit, all the time eyeing the plushies that were bounded to the top of the booth.

“Noona!” I said, trying to put my aegyo charms to work so she would let me have the plushie, “If I buy peaches from you, can I have one of the plushie please?”

“The plushie?” She looked up at the three plushies before turning back to me, “You want the plushie?”

“Ne, noona,” I nodded as I looked at her with puppy eyes, “I want to give it to my girlfriend. She is a peach lover…”

“But…” She looked a little unwilling, “It is part of the decoration…”

“Please noona? She would be so happy to see this…” I rubbed my palms together in a plead, “I can buy it from you too!”

“Aigoo…” She looked around subtly before nodding at me, “Okay, okay… I don’t think they will miss it anyway… Just be quick!”

“Thank you so much!” I answered excitedly, happy that my aegyo had worked to my advantage, “Thank you noona!” Tiptoeing a little, I took off the plushies in the middle, and left after grabbing two packet of the peaches she was promoting. Hurrying back to Yonni, I found her looking around for me.

Sneaking up behind her, I tapped her on her shoulders and greeted her with a big smile. “Sungmin! There you are! Where did you go? I couldn’t find you anywhere!”

“I went to…” I held the peach plushie in front of my face in a quick action, “To get this for you!”

“OOH!!! THIS IS SO CUTE!!!” Yonni shrieked in excitement as she grabbed the plushie from me, “Is it really for me? Where did you get it from?”

I smiled as she jumped around me animatedly, cuddling the plushie lovingly in her arms. Looking back at the promotional booth, I found the ajumma staring in our direction. I waved to her and showed her a thumbs-up. I couldn’t help but smile at Yonni’s exhilaration from getting such a simple gift, feeling satisfied that I had managed to bring a smile onto her face.

Then as we were on our way to the checkout counter, we passed by the pets supplies section. It was then when Yonni suddenly stopped and pulled out her phone. “I need to call someone,’ She gave me an apologetic smile before she brought the phone up to her ears.

I hung out near the pet food aisle as Yonni walked up and down, speaking softly into the phone. She laughed periodically as the person on the other side of the line amused her, and the last thing I heard before she hung up was, “Arasso. See you,” She then began typing a text message on her phone and after she was done, she put her phone back into her pocket.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned, as she began searching up and down the shelves.

“Nothing,” She smiled at me before returning to her search, “I’m just meeting someone at the entrance later. I need to get some cat food and cat litter now…”

“Who are you meeting?”

As she finally found her stuff, I helped her put the stuff at the bottom of the trolley. Then, as we walked towards the checkout counters, she began telling me about this guy that she had met earlier on in the day, and how they had saved a cat together. As she continued on with her story, I can’t help but notice the big smile on her face as she recalled about this person.

“Who is this guy?” I wondered sourly as I watched her enthusiasm, “How come he can make Yonni-sshi so happy when she’s talking about him?”

“And so, he’s coming here to pick up the stuff,” Yonni concluded as we began placing the stuff onto the checkout belt, “You will be able to meet him in person later!”

I tried to smile as I swallowed down the jealousy that I was feeling in my heart. I did not want to appear petty in front of her. “Besides, he just met her today… He shouldn’t pose any threat to me,” I tried to comfort myself, “I get to see Yonni more often as well…”

However, my jealousy got the better of me when I finally saw the guy. Dressed in a white sleeveless hoodies with a black shirt inside, he was wearing white pants and white sneakers. Yonni began waving happily as soon as she saw him.

“Leeteuk-sshi!” Yonni called out excitedly as the guy approached us, “Did you have a hard time finding this place?”

“Aniyo! It’s rather close to where I stay!” He gave a big smile to Yonni before looking over at me, “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long!”

I did not pay attention to Yonni reply as I caught the guy’s eye. I noticed that he had a single dimple on his left cheek, which gave his well chiselled face a sunny feel. Instinctively, I took a step closer to Yonni, wishing to be nearer to her as my threat mechanism kicked in. I was taken aback when she suddenly pulled me forward, closer to the guy.

“I’m so sorry, I forgot to introduce you guys. Leeteuk-sshi, this is Sungmin,” She said apologetically as she smiled at him.

“She’s smiling too much at him,” I fought the urge to pout, “Why is she so friendly towards him?”

“Annyeonghasaeyo Sungmin-sshi, I’m Leeteuk,” The guy greeted me politely. I was so focused in trying to control my childish thoughts that I almost missed his greeting. Bowing hurriedly, I looked away immediately as I was afraid I might have signs of jealously in my eyes. Breathing in deeply, I tried to calm my jealous feelings down while the two of them were engaged deeply in conversation, completely unaware of the war I was fighting with myself.

“Sungmin-ah, are you able to bring these back on your own?” Yonni suddenly asked, pointing at the many plastic bags that I was holding. I was surprised by her as I wasn’t paying any attention to what they were saying.

“N-Ne, I’ll take them. You… You just go ahead with Leeteuk-sshi…” I smiled at her as I nodded. Yonni thanked me gratefully before walking off with that Leeteuk. I did not acknowledge his leaving because I was feeling rather sore about the fact that Yonni was not going back with me. Feeling like a kid whose favourite toy was taken away from him, I began heading home all alone, with the weight in my heart heavier than the weight upon my hands.

[A/N]

Wow! My readers are so smart! Many of them managed to guess that Leejin is Leeteuk's sister! Or am I too predictable? Please help me do the poll below!

SARANGAHEYO<33