|Weak Hero| Dawn Na

Chapter 21

At school, Jake constantly tried to befriend Dawn. Dawn just resigned herself to her fate while Gray just continued to ignore Jake and focus on studying. The good thing was that Jake always bought them snacks from the store so they saved their money. From time to time, Jake dragged them along to play soccer.

On the way home, Dawn would always place a can of dog food and a bowl of water in the alley. The can was always empty when she came back the next day. She didn't know if it was actually the pitbull that ate it or if it was another stray or some rats and birds, but she still continued to leave food.

One afternoon, Dawn saw someone already in the alley. She approached them and saw that it was a boy with messy purple hair, grey eyes, and glasses. He was crouched down and setting down a can of dog food. He turned to the direction of Dawn's approaching footsteps with a glare, but since he didn't seem to consider Dawn as a threat, the hostility disappeared  from his face.

"What do you want?" Wolf demanded.

Dawn flinched at the coldness of the voice but motioned to the canned dog food she had just bought. 

"I just gave some to the dog," Wolf told her.

Dawn took out her notebook and quickly scribbled some words down. "Maybe he'll want to eat more?"

"Do what you want," Wolf simply looked over to the pitbull which had slowly approached them and began to eat.

Dawn quietly set her can down next to Wolf's and watched the dog eat. 'The dog's wounds are getting worse. They're probably infected or going to get infected. I need to bring him to the vet soon,'

The dog scarfed down both cans of dog food and was much happier with a full belly. He curiously but also cautiously approached the two teenagers. Dawn gently reached out to pet him and at first, the dog backed away but when he realized Dawn wasn't going to hurt him, he leaned into her warm touch.

Without warning, Wolf picked the dog up, earning a startled yelp. "I'm bringing him to the vet,"

"I'm coming too," Dawn held up her notebook for him to read. "I plan on adopting him,"

"Suit yourself," Wolf shrugged.

At the clinic, the vet recognized the pitbull to have belonged to an elderly man who had recently passed away. The pitbull, named Alexander the Great, wasn't wanted by any of the old man's relatives and based on the wounds, the dog was abused and then abandoned. The vet said that Xander would have to stay at the clinic overnight. 

"Hey," Dawn asked as they left the clinic. "Why did you refer to me as your sister when the vet asked about our relationship? You could've just told them that we were just strangers that found Xander together,"

"And then they'll immediately start assuming we're in a romantic relationship or about to be in one," Wolf claimed. "I don't need those rumors about me spreading. It'd be a pain in the ass," He then lit a cigarette and headed in the direction of his home.

The next day, Dawn brought Xander home. He was confused, cautious, curious, excited, and terrified of the new location, but from the kindness that Dawn had showed him, he knew that he'd be safe, happy, and loved here. Gray, Donald, Kingsley, and Jawbreaker met the pitbull and the bunny immediately took a liking to her new friend.

XXX

Dawn met Kenny Ji while taking Xander out for a walk. Kenny, who had been hanging out with some Manwol members, greeted her. When Dawn raised a brow in confusiong, Kenny introduced himself. "I'm Kenny Ji, Jake's older brother. Jake mentioned being friends with you,"

'More like adopted by him against my will,' Dawn thought. 

"Jake can be a handful at times but he has good intentions," Kenny told her. "Sorry if he gets a bit overwhelming,"

'I learned to just tolerate him,' Dawn shrugged. She held Xander's leash in one hand so it'd be a bit tough for her to write out her words and she thought that Kenny probably didn't know sign language just like Jake.

Xander let out a whine. He didn't like being around strangers for too long and the buffer Manwol members were intimidating. 

Dawn patted Xander's head and then decided to leave with a small wave of goodbye towards Kenny.

XXX

Dawn loved attending Slam's concerts. Of course she wouldn't be able to attend every single one of their concerts, but she tried to attend at least once a week, usually if the concert was on a Friday or Saturday. 

One night, Dawn was with Slam after a concert had ended, but she could tell that Hyunjin was upset about something. 

"What's the point of people liking us when there's no difference in what we make compared to back when we used to busk?" Hyunjin asked his bandmates. "And another thing, I tried to call Sinma to ask something, but I couldn't reach anyone. Apparently they don't work on weekends to protect their 'work-life balance.' That means no one cares about our weekend gig,"

'That's weird,' Dawn thought. 'I mean, I understand that some place's business days exclude the weekends, but the agency is having them perform on the weekends. I should ask Orion if he knows anything. I don't know much about running a business,'

"Hey Gerard," Hyunjin addressed the green haired teen. "What do you think? Is it worth working our butts off like this just to pay for our practice room?"

A harsh silence fell over the band. That silence was broken by one guy from another band congratulating Slam. It evolved into a fight when the other member who was drunk tried to start a fight. 

'Hyunjin looks annoyed,' Dawn noted. 'I know he doesn't really like violence,'

The drunk guy shouted about Slam not accepting extra pay from ticket sales, not taking any transportation fees, and driving down the price. That made Dawn even more suspicious of Slam's agency. 

"Hyunjin, what's the name of your agency?"

"Sinma Entertainment,"

Gerard, Jinwoo, and Sangman all treat Dawn like a younger sister too.