Moon Sunhee, an economics and social science major returns back to her hometown after failing miserably to find a decent job in Seoul.
The thing that she regrets the most is wasting all of her teenage years chasing her crush, Kim Sunoo but unfortun...
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I stole a brief glance at Sunoo, who was smiling warmly beside me. The puppies were curled up in his lap, wiggling their tiny tails against him as he played with them. His eyes shone with a slow light under the golden glow of the setting sun as he stared at the puppies in pure admiration, cooing at them as if they were his own babies.
Two days had passed since the last incident and through these days, Sunoo had gotten better. He abandoned his daily visits to the piano room. Instead, most of the time I saw him engrossed in the worn pages of an old book. When dusk fell, he devoted his evenings and nights to sitting at the doorstep and playing with the puppies. Hearing his laughter mingling with the puppies' joyful squeaks had become a daily routine for me.
If I were to put things into clearer words, I'd say he was healing. Seeing his smile revive on his lips made my heart overflow with warmth. What made witnessing his healing more special was that it reminded me of myself - it reminded me of the way I had healed in the past.
Within these days, Sunoo and I grew close - close enough to share little jokes, soft laughter, and quiet moments of empathy.
However, he hadn't spoken a word about what's hurting him to me yet. It seemed as if he wasn't prepared for it, so I didn't force him either.
"Hee, look here!" Sunoo exclaimed, his voice bursting with enthusiasm. His sudden outburst hit my ears, interrupting my thoughts as I instinctively turned to him. But he didn't look my way, he continued to play with the black puppy he had named 'Hee', making my cheeks flush in embarassment as I realized he hadn't called for me.
Ah, whenever I think he's talking about me, it always ends up being something extremely random about those cute-little-stupid puppies.
The nickname 'Hee' that Sunoo had given to that puppy was once my own... given by a certain someone. It stirred the memories of that someone, who used to walk all the way from his university to my school just to accompany me on my way to the orphanage. Someone, who was the only one to show up with flowers on the day of my graduation and, stood by my side as both a friend and family.
Shaking away the distant yet vivid pictures of the past, I redirected my gaze back to Sunoo while the wide smile and warmth that embraced my heart still lingered within me.
As I lifted the smallest puppy 'Sun' from the floor, my fading smile returned more gently. When I held him closer, his downy fur slid through my fingers like silk. Unable to resist his charm, I began showering his small face with soft kisses. "Aww chu chu pu pu," I cooed foolishly, brushing his delicate pink paws against my own cheeks.
Sun's ears perked up in response to my affection. The sight of his tiny tongue flicking out and his sparkling round eyes melted my heart, recieving giggles from me.
"Cute..." Sunoo whispered, his soft voice broke through the lovely moment of I and the pup, subtly shifting my attention to him.
I smiled and nuzzled again in the little thing I was holding in my arms. "I know, right? thish boy sho adowrable!"
"Yes, but I wasn't talking about him..." Sunoo's words trailed off, his voice lower than usual. I turned to him, confusion etched on my face as he scooted closer beside me.
Night had fallen by now, shrouding us in darkness and a crisp, chilled breeze. "You... you're cuter here," his spoke softly, his eyes staring into mine.
His words hung heavily in the air, thickening the tension. My lips parted, breath caught in my throat, as his words slowly settled within me, stirring uncontrollable flutterings in my chest.
"A-ah," I cleared my throat, breaking the eye contact abruptly. My trembling fingers hastily set Sun down as I stood up on my feet quickly. "I h-had dishes left to do, I'll get going-" I stuttered, my voice breathy as I avoided his intense gaze and quickly fled inside.
As I found myself in the kitchen, I leaned against the fridge, my face shivering slightly at it's cool surface. "What the hell, Sunhee? It's nothing. You misheard him." I shook my head. "Yeah, nothing happened - no, nothing at all." But my words rang hollow, my attempts to shake off the emotions that swirling in my heart failed miserably, weighting me down.
"You don't care," I whispered, the words trembling upon my lips. "I don't like him anymore, I don't..." my voice faltered as my heart seemed to recoil against the lie. Minutes passed, and I stayed like that, fighting with my own thoughts.
I inhaled deeply, letting the sharp air clean my mind. Standing upright, I took a secret glance out the door, where Sunoo and the puppies were. Playful squeaks still filled the air as the puppies were chasing each other with abandon, their paws pounding the wooden floor.
I sighed again before reluctantly walking towards them.
When I stood close to Sunoo, I crouched down. He didn't seem to notice my presence as he looked lost in gazing ahead him.
Am I falling for him again?
"Kim Sunoo?" my quiet voice broke the silence. He turned to look at me. "You should sleep now. It's too late," I continued, looking down, his former words still echoing in my head.
He simply hummed at me. "Sunhee, do you know what the names I gave them mean?" As I looked up, I saw him pointing at the little puppies. "Pa means Appa, Ma means Eomma, Sun means Sunoo, and... Hee-you already know," he locked his my eyes with mine again, making me avert my gaze quickly.
Then all of sudden, he fell in deep silence, the emptiness in his eyes creeping back.
"Yah, let's not think anything, alright?" I patted his back gently, "let's just go to sleep now." He nodded and we both stood up slowly.
However, instead of walking towards his room, he faced me. "Thank you for caring for me," his eyes locked into mine with sincerity. "You feel like family to me, something I've been missing for so long..." I could feel the deep longing in his faint and wistful smile which struggled to tuck at his lips.
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Had it in drafts for a long time, so chose to update. Unedited (bear with me pls writing feels illegal during exams)
