Standing Next To You

~ The with the shelter and Tetris

                   *Don't forget to vote*

"Morning," you chirp to Hobi as he joins you in the bathroom to brush his teeth. You, having just finished your skincare routine, are ready to start the day.

"How are you so excited at 9 am?" Hobi asks, his voice still groggy with sleep.

Both of you have developed a biological clock that wakes you up around 9 am these days.

"I'm going over to Miss Choi's," you announce cheerfully.

Miss Choi is the owner of an animal shelter you visit whenever you can. Initially, you went there looking for a dog for yourself but ended up not getting one. It felt unfair to adopt a dog and not be able to spend good quality time with it since you had a lot going on in your life then. The restaurant consumed all your time, and any spare time you had, you spent with Jin. When you first visited the shelter, you fell in love with all the animals and grew fond of them. Miss Choi loved how you gave affection to the animals and invited you to visit again. Now, you visit once a month to see if some of the animals have been adopted. Sometimes you see other people looking for dogs and try to persuade them to adopt one of the older dogs or cats. Thanks to your efforts, three dogs and two cats have found new homes.

"Still looking for a dog?" Hobi teases, biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.

"Why would I need a dog? I already have you," you retort, patting his head playfully.

Hobi swats your hand away, and you decide to let it slide.

"Breakfast?" you offer.

"I have to go." I promised Jimin to be his wingman for a girl he likes," Hobi replies.

Jimin and Hobi have always gotten along, but they parted ways because of what happened between you and Jimin. No matter how many times you told Hobi that you weren't bothered by it, he insisted that he was and didn't need to see Jimin.

"Third wheeling?" you ask with a smirk.

"No, he wanted to take the girl out for dinner before he got busy with work again. The only day he was available, she had plans with her friend for breakfast, so he made it a double date."

You're torn between being surprised that Jimin pulled such a stunt and that Hobi agreed to go along with it.

"Breakfast alone it is," you sigh.

You settle for a smoothie, putting it in a bottle to drink on the go.

Dressed in a pair of black yoga jeans and a sweater, you walk out with your smoothie and keys in hand.

You and Jungkook haven't really talked since yesterday. He still hasn't forgiven you, and you're unsure if he will after Hobi found out yesterday.

The shelter is an hour-long trip, so you put on a true crime video and listen to it while your mind keeps going back and forth about the encounter with Jungkook in your house.

It's always nice to come back to the animals; they give you a sense of relief. All the anger inside you vanishes the moment you see the shelter coming into view.

It's almost 11 am when you open the door of the shop. Met with dogs barking, you walk straight into Miss Choi's office.

After knocking twice, you wait for her to reply.

"Come in."

Walking in, you usually see her doing paperwork, but this time she is drinking tea with a man you haven't seen in a while.