Splash of Love | j.hs au

Chapter 5

Hae pressed something on the door and the door beeped at you. She turned the handle and stepped inside. You went in and your eyes took in the space. It was a bit narrow at first but it expanded into a large area with a huge window looking out towards the ocean. To the left were a small set of stairs leading up and to the right was another door.

"This is my apartment I used when I was human." Hae took off her shoes. You quickly did the same and followed her into the large space. "This is the kitchen," She gestured to the area with a large white machine and a bunch of... wood things? "The bathroom." She pointed to the door and then finally pointed upstairs to a small area. "The bed is up there and be careful when standing up. It has a lower ceiling."

You soaked in the information as your eyes scanned every inch of the apartment. Hae went towards some rectangular object and kneeled down to open up something. She took out books and placed them on the table. "I wrote these myself and they got every word with every sketch. I also have some recipes to cook simple stuff, how to pay for things and other things."

You picked one up and opened it. You landed on a page of some type of food with a bunch of writing.

"For today," Hae spoke. "I'll be your guide and then after today, you're on your own."

"Alright!"

The next morning, you yawned and slowly sat up. The bed was much more comfortable than a rock anytime! You slowly got out of bed, almost tumbling over due to not being familiar with your legs. For the rest of the morning, you continued studying the notes Hae left and even tried to make an egg! Thankfully, Hae started you off with reading (which you're getting a bit better at) and got you some food! It didn't go that well the first five times but on your sixth try it was okay! A little bit burned but it was still edible.

As the sun set, you glanced out the window. The ocean was pretty as ever but you wondered about something. How was your family doing? Were they even looking for you? Stretching, you decided to take a walk to refresh your mind. You left everything as it was and walked out. Hae had said to enter the apartment was a code (they were four numbers that you memorized proudly!) and it was honestly easier. Down the elevator and out the building, you continued walking to the beach.

The salty air blew and you inhaled deeply. This was nice. You continued to walk around, watching people play with a ball and a net or simply enjoying the beach like you. Your legs carried you over to the shore and then over to the rocks. And you were definitely not expecting a... dog! You remembered.

Barks and growls filled the air and you jumped. You stumbled a bit as a dog ran towards you. Before the dog could even lay a paw on you, someone intervened and grabbed the rope around its neck. "I'm so sorry about that!" The person apologized.

Momentarily, you looked away from the dog to see the human once more. He was still as handsome as the day you rescued him from the water. "O-Oh. It's okay." You had a feeling animals could sense you were not totally human.

"Sunny's usually friendly..." He said still trying to tug the dog away. "Ugh, let's get you back. Sorry again!" He smiled making a cute indent (what was that called again?) on his cheek.

You gave him a friendly smile and watched as he walked away and tugged the dog away who kept barking. "A dimple!" You smacked your hands together as the word popped into your brain. You hoped that you would meet him again.

And you did.

The next evening, you were walking along the sidewalk and familiar barking became apparent. Except this time, the dog was running straight towards you. With no leash. Fear struck you and you took off. Running like crazy, you hopped onto a bench and clung onto a tall concrete wall. The dog continued to run at you but paused at the bottom as you hung onto dear life. What does this dog have against you?!

Like your knight in shining armor, a voice and footsteps entered the scene. "Sunny! Stop that!" The voice scolded.

You took a risk and glanced behind you. It was the same guy from before! You were about to cry from that imaginary angel light you see behind him. He managed to get Sunny a bit away from you and at last you were able to drop towards the ground. It was a good thing too as you didn't know how long you were able to hold on for. "Oh!" He exclaimed. "It's you from the beach!"

You could feel yourself visibly light up. "Oh yeah! It's you!" You matched his excitement. Meanwhile, Sunny was still busy growling at you with a dangerous look. You could practically feel the glare of Sunny saying "You're not a human! What are you?!"

He released a sigh and tried to calm Sunny down. "I'm very sorry about her." He gestured to the dog. "I just don't know why she doesn't like you."

Smiling, you shrugged your shoulders. "I'm not sure either." You nervously laughed since you had a very good idea why Sunny didn't like you.

"Well, I hope we don't run into each other like this." He laughed and tugged away the barking dog.

It took a moment to process his words. Did he want to meet you again?! This was amazing! To celebrate, you're going to learn how to make a new dish! He waved good-bye and left with the still barking dog.

A few days have passed and you haven't seen the stranger at all. And you don't even know his name! It was a bit frustrating but you decided you were going to be patient. So, here you were wandering the streets to see the stranger once again. Not once did you spot him.

After another failed attempt of trying to meet the stranger, you decided to go home. This time, you had wandered a little farther than usual. This area was a little more quiet and there were less people around. It was quite charming as you could see most of the buildings having a cute aesthetic to them. And yes, you learned that new word!

You paused seeing these little trees but they were not trees. Ugh, what were they called again? It had a green bottom with various and colorful tops. You couldn't remember what they were called at the moment but they were pretty! You admired the pretty, little trees until a voice spoke up:

"Can I help you?"