Good Boy

V

"You mean to tell me you EXPECT someone to just appear out of no where and marry you? At the drop of a hat?" Namjoon asked the woman beside him.

"Not exactly! I mean.....it's like....love at first sight. Like, the moment you meet you automatically have that connection. You know?" Sojung had explained as best she could. The two young adults were walking back home from their little nook in the woods.

"Yes, but love is complicated. Plus people will cheat, break, and hurt you. That's why I don't bother with it," Namjoon said while shoving his hands into his pockets.

Sojung looked up at him expectantly with her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just not that.....optimistic when it comes to love," he explained while motioning with his hand.

"Why? Did someone break your heart?" Sojung asked him.

"No no. I don't really have faith. I don't believe in God, I don't believe in love, but I do believe in hard work. So if one day I were to fall in love, I would work hard to keep the relationship stable," he said while looking down at his feet.

"Well you should be more hopeful. You never know when your chance will be under your nose," she told him. Sojung gave him a warm smile and patted his shoulder. "Come on Charlie Brown, lets get this pooch a perm," she said, her smile never wavering.

Namjoon watched her walk ahead of him with one question in his head. 'How the hell is she so happy?' He cocked his head to the side and proceeded to follow her home.

A few minutes later the two of them made it home. Once entering the cottage-like house, Sojung placed her shoes by the door and carried Rapmon up to the second floor.

"Someone's in a hurry," Namjoon said, still taking off his coat.

"I don't want him making a mess in the house. You can make some tea while I take care of the bath!" she yelled from the bathroom.

Sojung has to close the door behind her so the dog wouldn't try to run off once the water turned on.

"All right Monie, are you gonna be a good boy and stay in the tub this time?" she asked the furry companion. She slowly turned on the faucet and warm water started to fill the tub. Rapmonie's ears perked towards the direction of the noise and started to bark at the tub.

"Come on Monie, I'll give you a treat if you behave!" Sojung tried to sound excited while petting him. She checked to make sure the plug was in the drain and the water was stopped at about four inches as to not have a big mess.

The dog kept barking and barking while backing towards the door. Suddenly, it opened and in a white flash he was gone. Namjoon looked in the direction in which he went in then back to girl on the ground.

"Ah crap," she grumbled and got up.

"Oh sorry, I came up to see if I could help," the taller of the two said.

"It's fine. Just follow me," said Sojung, waving for him to follow her.

The two walked downstairs to see where the pooch ran off to, quietly trying not to scare him off. "Rapmonie! Where are you buddy?" Namjoon called out.

They heard a bark from bellow them. Sojung stopped and peered over the rail. Under the stairs was the dog, fighting with his chew toy. "There you are," she said while tying her hair back. "You had me worried......" her voice trailed off when she saw small traces of dirt around the floors.

"Oh my God," Namjoon mumbled while looking where the paw prints trailed around the house.

"You little mutt," Sojung grumbled angrily and grabbed the dog, although it tried to scramble out of her embrace. "You are not getting any treats after your bath."

Namjoon watched as the female made her way back up the stairs while avoiding bites at her face and ignoring the growls the dog made.

"Someone's mad," he mumbled to himself. He hadn't seen the girl frown the whole day he's been with her. He went after the two and remembered to knock this time.

Inside the bathroom, a water war was going on while Sojung gently tried to place Rapmon in the water as to soak his paws first. "See, the water is warm. It's not a big deal. It isn't going to kill you," she said to the dog, who kept splashing the water around.

Namjoon knocked on the door, "Is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"Yeah come here," she called out behind her.

The door opened and Namjoon walked through the crack as to not have a large gap for the dog to go through.

"I need you to grab a bowl....." she paused as to avoid mass amounts of splashing and pointed over to the sink, "It's down there," she said while dipping the dog down into the tub. He kept thrashing in her hands and bark loudly in protest.

Namjoon did as he was told and grabbed the bowl. "Then?" he asked, kneeling beside her.

"Dip the bowl into the water and pour it over his back," Sojung said while holding down the pooch.

Namjoon did as he was told and looked at her from time to time. He noticed how focused she was while mumbling incoherent words, mainly aimed at his dog. He wondered how many times she had to do this on her own.

"I usually just wash him outside with the hose or take him to the groomers, but I don't have money and it's a bit chilly outside," she spoke aloud. She looked up at him and smiled, seemingly reading his mind.

"At least you have me to help out. Where's the shampoo?" he asked while looking around.

"Under the sink. Grab the brush as well," she told him. Monie had started to relax once completely wet, as if he just gave up. "See, nothing to be scared of. Would you rather freeze outside with the hose?" Sojung asked the dog, trying to capture his attention.

"I always thought he was calm...." Namjoon trailed off while kneeling beside the tub, soap and brush in hand.

"He is. But when it comes to baths, he can be bipolar," Sojung giggled. She dipped some more water over Monie's fur while smiling. "This part is tricky, he pulls his paws away whenever I clean them so I need you to hold him while I wash off the dirt," she told Namjoon.

He nodded and handed her the items in his hand before switching positions. Once in front of his dog, he held him from the back and lifted his legs up in front of him.

Sojung squeezed some soap on the brush and grab Monie's paw. After a few minutes of scrubbing mud and dirt, as well as constant whimpers and barks coming from the fretting pooch, she was finished. All that was left was the rest of his body.

"Alright! We're almost done Monie. Can you be patient a bit more? Okay?" she asked the dog. Namjoon couldn't wrap his head around this girl. How could she be so patient with his dog. The times he's tried to even train his dog were too stressful.

Once they applied all the shampoo needed and returned his fur back to its pearl color, the two acquaintances dried Rapmonie off.

"There we go! Good as new!" Sojung said in English while drying her hands on a towel. "Sadly, I still need to dry off the bathroom and clean up downstairs," she groaned while looking around the floor. Her jeans were soaked, her shirt was blotched, and her hair was unkempt.

"I can clean this up, you need to get going," Namjoon said while wrapping a towel around his dog.

"No no. I'll do it," Sojung said and looked at her watch. "I still have an hour," she said and reached under sink to take out paper towels.

"Nonsense. You've done enough for me today. I'm thankful for your company. You should go," he said with a smile.

Sojung looked at him closely with bright eyes and a small smile formed on her face. "Really? T-thank you. Uhm, I guess I'll get going. It was a pleasure meeting you Namjoon, hopefully this isn't the last time we meet," she said and stretched out her hand.

Namjoon gladly shook it, giving her a warm smile in return. After a few seconds, Sojung let go and ruffled Rapmonie's head. "Goodbye," she said and left to go home.

Namjoon watched her leave and then looked down at his dog, "No wonder you like her so much," he said.