Somewhere Else [Damien Haas]

4. Chemistry

-/-/-

A few days later, only a few things had improved. First, both Damien and Mr. Kim were out of the hospital. Second, my boss sort of understood the gravity of the situation, but she still gave me a month to fix things. Lastly, I never understood the intense love for the shiba inu until now.

"This one is named Kiki," Mrs. Kim explains to me as she lifts up a shiba inu puppy in her arms and cuddles it, much to the dog's pleasure. "He's a sweetheart, but maybe too sweet. The dog's barely active."

"He's adorable, Mrs. Kim," Damien remarks as she hands Kiki to him. "Oh, look at this cute little baby. I want to take him home."

"Well, you could if the embassy approves of your leave," Mr. Kim says as he puts down two cups of tea for us, his guests. "Jade, if you see a pet you'd like, you can have it. It's our thanks for saving my life."

"Oh, I'm not really a pet person, so I don't know if I can handle having a pet," I reply, glancing at the puppies. "But thank you for the offer."

"You wanna look around?" Damien asks me, smiling as he holds the dog in his arms. "There may be a tame pupster in here that you'd like. Like this little fella over here... aaaaand he's asleep."

"Anyway, we should get down to business," Mr. Kim tells us. "That tea, by the way, best in town. Drink up while you can."

Since Mr. Kim had connections to the embassy, we were all now seated in his small home attached to Mrs. Kim's pet store. He had contacted multiple people over there, and we were now waiting for a response. When Mr. Kim toured Damien around the pet store at Damien's obvious delight, Mrs. Kim was left with me.

"So, you've been here for quite a while?" she asks me, and I nod quietly. "Oh, America. It's been a while since I've last been there. Our three children work there, and they haven't really come home since the virus. I'm glad it's over, but I barely remember what America looks like."

"How long has it been since you and Mr. Kim were in America?" I reply, curious.

"Probably ten years since we left," she answers, cradling two dogs by her side. "When I was younger, I lived in Korea, but I never had the chance to stay in here even though half of my family lived here. We moved to the States when I applied for college. And then, when we were done working after a solid 30 years, we decided to stay here in Japan instead, because we've never been here as I said."

"That explains why Mr. Kim is immersed in the transportation industry," I remark, and she nods approvingly. "What was your job back then, Mrs. Kim?"

"I was, and still am, a veterinarian," she says. "My love for the animals is unmatched, I would say. I presume that your love for creativity got you to your journalism career?"

"Well...," I mumble, awkwardly looking up at the ceiling, "yeah, I guess. When I was in high school, I was a totally different person though. I always thought I'd end up in a STEM career. I wanted to major in Chemistry after all."

"So what happened?"

"Um... I dunno," I say, scratching the back of my head. "Interests changed over time, I guess. But it's alright, because the job pays well, I've made friends, we serve the public and all that..."

"But does it make you happier than when you were enjoying science?"

I think about it for a moment. If anyone had asked me what my favorite subject was in high school, it would definitely be Science, specifically Chemistry. But what happened in high school that made me steer my interest from chemistry to something else?

"Alright, no arguing today, please," Kendra said to both me and Damien when we were seated for the competition. "And Mrs. Hemmings said we were assigned to subjects now. I take Biology, Jade takes Chemistry, and Damien takes Physics. We all take Earth Science. You sure you two are okay with that?"