2nd

Chapter 5: Voices

It's eight in the morning. The sun has long risen, lighting up the whole city in this beautiful day. The clock is about to hit a quarter past eight, to be specific, and Jaebum should be on his way to work by now since his shift for the day starts at 9. He shouldn't be sitting on the floor in front of their bedroom. He should be getting ready for work, at the very least, and not pouting at the door in his sweats and straight-from-bed hair. But here he is, being exactly that mess with his back hurting. Sleeping in the couch has never been comfortable for him.

He stands up, stretching his legs, once again aiming to knock at the door. But as he's just a step away from the door, he takes a step back and hesitates—for the third time this morning since he woke up. He walks back and forth, from side to side, mustering up the courage to open the door. He tried reaching for the door again before ultimately slumping himself back on the floor in defeat.

He sighs heavily, stretching his legs out, as their pets start walking up to him.

"What do I do, Kunta? Huh?" he mumbles taking the cat and lifting him up to his face. "Should I just go in?"

"Will she hate me? Will she send me away again? But I need to go take a bath and change! I'm late for my shift!"

Kunta just stares at him for a long second before moving its head on the side then purring its way to nuzzle its whole body on Jaebum's neck, tickling him.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jaebum mumbles, ticklish. "You're not helping!"

Jaebum was slowly losing his balance with Kunta squeezing itself to him when Gimbap, their biggest dog—a golden retriever, came running to him and tackling him. In less than a second, all of their pets came running to him, tackling and before he knew it, he's already lying on his back on the floor with a group of cats and dogs attacking him.

"Why did I ever bother thinking I'll make it in time for work today?" he groans with two cats on his chest, a dog on his tummy and the rest of their pets on his arms and legs.

He takes a deep breath then stands, with much effort to bribe the little ones into letting him go, then proceeds to making breakfast in defeat.

He started preparing the pets' breakfast, eager to calm them down in an instant. He lined up their bowls on their usual spots, across their bedroom, and none of them even hesitated once they smelt their food.

Once they're busy eating, Jaebum washed his hands then proceeded to make their own breakfast. Breakfast was never too complicated; he finished in no time. He then made himself coffee then went to watch their pets eat.

He leans on the armrest of the couch, where he's about a yard from their backs, not wanting to disturb them from their meal. He watched them quietly, taking sips of his coffee in between, his mind blank.

Jennie woke up exhausted. She didn't dream of anything, fortunately, but she felt so exhausted waking up; like all her energy was drained from running or something. She sits up on the bed as she stretches her arms up. She glances at the bedside clock, which tells her it's a quarter past nine in the morning already, no wonder why she's feeling uneasy. Waking up later than usual always make her feel tired.

She felt a sudden pang of discomfort inside her, making her wrap her arms around her; feeling a familiar feeling in the midst of forgetting almost everything gives off a different kind of sensation.

She had a few more minutes just staring at nothing before kicking herself off the bed. She is somehow feeling a bit chilly so she walks to the closet in hopes of finding some sweatshirt to put on. She opens the closet that is just too foreign to her. Without thinking, she just takes the one that caught her eyes the first—a powder blue hoodie with a text that reads unicorns are real in black font on the chest area. She puts it on only to find out that it's way too big for her but she didn't feel like trying another so she just lets it be.