"Are you stressed? You sound stressed."

"I'm not stressed, Sooae. I just have a lot of work."

"Lots of work means lots of stress! Take a break and visit me, Kyungie," she whined through the phone.

Kyungsoo groaned, "I can't just 'take a break'. It's college." He held the cellphone between his cheek and the crook of his neck, absentmindedly stirring the pot of noodles on the stove. 

"Oh, college, smollege. Isn't winter break coming up anyways? You can visit me then~" He 'tsk'ed and rolled his eyes before replying, taking the instant noodles off the burner and draining the water from the pot, nearly burning himself in the process.

"Ugh, you're so overbearing; how're you even my sister?" Her laughter rang in Kyungsoo's ear and he held the phone away from him, putting her on speaker. "Can we hurry this up, I need to get to work." 

"Will you come visit?" She asked impatiently. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'll come."

"Yes! Does this mean you'll help me at the shop? I have this pesky music box that refuses to play," she sighed and he only laughed; this always happened. Sooae owned a small antique shop back in Wonju, their hometown, buying and selling old items to old people. It was her passion; she'd never gone to college and she was perfectly happy. With Kyungsoo's affinity for fixing things, his older sister would give him the broken antiques to repair and then she could sell them.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so."

"Yay! Dear lord, the shop and I have missed you. I swear, Chanyeol breaks more things here than he fixes!" Kyungsoo could hear a muffled, "hey!" in the background, and he laughed. He really missed Chanyeol, now that he thought about it. Their parent's had been friends since they were kids, and so, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were, too. After highschool, Chanyeol decided not to go to college just like Sooae, much to his parent's chagrin; he'd rather focus on his love for music. And until he made it big with his guitar and inhumanly deep voice, Chanyeol was stuck in Wonju, working for his best friend's big sister. He didn't mind it though.

"Okay, okay, I need to get off now, I'm gonna be late." They hung up and Kyungsoo quickly ate his noodles, managing to throw on a coat while balancing the bowl between hands. He left it on the kitchen counter before running out the door, texting his coworker and best friend, Baekhyun, that he'd be a little late.

Kyungsoo exited his car, shoes crunching in the gravel of the parking lot. He worked at the animal shelter with Baekhyun, Minseok, and Sehun; they'd all been friends in highschool and were now in college together, as well. Sehun's cousin, Joonmyun, owned the shelter, and so they were able to easily get jobs there.

The bell above the door dinged as Kyungsoo entered the shelter, and he was instantly greeted with an orchestra of barking dogs and the squeals of puppies. The cats and kittens were usually calm, much to his relief. Except for the many times the kittens had managed to run out the doors when someone wasn't paying attention (cough, Sehun).

Baekhyun emerged from a back room--his clothes absolutely covered in animal hair--grinning, a puppy nestled in the crook of his arm. 

"You're late~" he taunted, a sparkling grin on his lips. His shoes squeaked against the tiles and Kyungsoo knew he was doing it on purpose--he hated the sound.

"Didn't you get my text? I told you I was gonna be late." At this, Baekhyun bristled, glaring fiercely, "that damn cat broke my phone!" 

Kyungsoo laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Suzie?" Suzie was the troublemaker of the shelter. They'd had her since she was a kitten, and she's always had a knack for destroying everything. Especially Baekhyun's things. Minseok said she was like a cat version of Sehun, and they all agreed.

"Yes, Suzie! Stupid cat. Anyways, I need you to help me with the newborns," he gestured back to the room he came from with a nod of his head, "there're so many of 'em; they're being fed now. Sehun's throwing a damn fit because one of them peed on him." He laughed and nodded, moving to the front desk to grab some hand sanitizer, as it was required.

Baekhyun led him to the back room, where Sehun and Minseok were struggling with a small horde of puppies on the blanket-covered floor, all whining and trying to crawl around with shaky paws. There were two other men whom he didn't recognize, both of which looked too huge and too awkward to be there. They all had small bottles which them and were feeding the ones they could, but some were left out.

"Hyung," Sehun whined, looking up as Kyungsoo entered the room. He held up his free arm, the sleeve wet, "it peed on me." 

"Get over it," he sneered playfully, grabbing a spare bottle from the table and scooping up a puppy.

Hours later, their shifts ended and all the pups had been fed, most of them asleep in their little beds. Kyungsoo found out the two newbies were exchange students from China: Zitao and Yifan; Minseok and Sehun happened to already be good friends with them. Yifan nearly crushed a puppy or two with his massive hands, and Zitao had barely managed to even hold the pups. Since the work day was over, they had all decided to go out to a casual restaurant to eat.

"So, what're you doing for break, Soo?" He glanced up as his name was called, making eye-contact with Minseok. Kyungsoo swallowed my bite and shrugged, stirring his food absentmindedly with his fork.

"I dunno. I'll probably head back home, help around Sooae's store, eat a lot."

"So, same as always?" Sehun mocked; Tao giggled helplessly, leaning on the table with his cheek in his hand and staring longingly at him. Kyungsoo stifled a laugh at the scene, rolling his eyes before finally replying.

"Yeah, same as always. At least I don't sit at home on the computer talking to noonas," he teased, going back to his food. Sehun flushed and looked away, while Baekhyun almost spit out his drink amidst his laughter.

"Can I come this year? Your house is fun, and Sooae pays me when I help her out~" Baekhyun asked, leaning against Kyungsoo affectionately. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo had known each other the longest; he moved to Kyungsoo's hometown in Wonju when they were in third grade, and they became friends after Baekhyun dumped his milk carton over Kyungsoo's head and claimed that he needed to start smiling more.

"Yeah, that's fine. The guest bedroom is all yours," he said, finishing his food and setting the plate aside. Baekhyun did a little happy dance--typical of himself--and they all made their way out the door, having previously split the bill. They lingered outside for a bit, the cold winter air biting at Kyungsoo's nose. 

"Alright, I should get going; I have a class early tomorrow," Minseok said, little puffs of air visible as they left his mouth. 

"I should probably get going, too," Kyungsoo replied, burrowing his chilled hands further in his coat pockets.

Baekhyun laughed and wrapped his arm around Sehun, causing Tao to scowl and wander closer to Yifan. "We're going to go shopping~" he exclaimed, nuzzling his cheek to Sehun's endearingly. Sehun whined, tossing his head back dramatically, "I don't wanna, Baekhyun!" 

Baekhyun pursed his lips, before taunting, "if you go shopping with me, I'll get you bubble tea~" Sehun sobered immediately, straightening up with a completely new demeanor; wrapping his arm around Baekhyun's and dragging him away with a -eating smile. "Bye, Kyungsoo!" He sang, already meters away.

Kyungsoo shook my head and smiled, zipping his jacket up and hailing a taxi home. 

He unlocked the door to his apartment and shuffled inside, sighing contently as the warm air touched his skin. He quickly made his way to the comfort of his room, already feeling the effects of sleepiness. He hurriedly collapsed onto his bed, cold and sleep-deprived, and not even bothering to remove his heavy jacket.

Snuggling into his pillows, Kyungsoo felt sleep already penetrating his mind, pushing him deeper and deeper into a subconscious state. He felt his mouth open only barely, and suddenly his jacket was stiflingly hot. But he didn't care. Sleep was so close..

Ring! Ring!

Kyungsoo jolted awake, immediately forgetting whatever he had been dreaming about. He rolled over to retrieve his phone from his front pocket. Unlocking it, Kyungsoo squinted as the bright light momentarily blinded him. It was Sooae. Groaning, he answered the call and slammed the phone to his ear a little too roughly, still half asleep.

"What?"

"OhmygodKyungsooyouarenotgoingtobelievethis!"

"...What? Sooae, I can't understand you."

"Someone just left this beautiful, exquisite, magnificent--"

"Get on with it, Sooae," he said, grunting as he threw my head back onto his pillow in exasperation.

"Okay. Someone just left this porcelain doll in front of the store! Kyungsoo, it's so pretty, oh my god. It's a lifesize porcelain doll," she paused. She must've been admiring it while she was talking to him. "Oh my goodness, it's so pretty. I would totally date it if it were real. Only.. it's got this terrible crack right smack on its face.."

"Let me guess. You want me to fix it."

"That would be amazing! According to this little tag it's from Sooman Galleries.. 'A Kai model', it says.." She droned on, infatuated with the doll. She always got like this whenever she got a good deal, making sure to call and rant to Kyungsoo about it.

"I'm not really great at fixing things like dolls; porcelain is really tricky, Sooae."  

"Oh, pleaaaase, Kyungsoo? You're coming to visit, anyways, can't you at least try?" 

He consented, rubbing his forehead. Kyungsoo could already feel a headache coming on from just the thought of having to repair the doll. "Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do when I get there."

"Yes! Kyungsoo, you're the best brother ever!"

"I'm your only brother, Sooae. Now go to sleep," he muttered, already drifting back to sleep as he hung up on her. Rolling over, he was already asleep before he could even begin to wonder how he was even going to begin the fix that doll.

woo, first chapter! i know it's not perfect, but i had to get the setting right. ;u; hope you enjoy!