never have i ever | (chaesoo)

7

JISOO

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Kim?"

"Speaking"

"Hello! My name is Amanda and I'm calling from the Pet Lovers Society!"

It was as if I didn't already know. Their hotline number, concierge number, and even their pet-grooming service number were all saved to my phone. Still, I decided to play along.

"Ah, yes. And you're calling because?"

"Well, I'm here to inform you that your adoption papers were approved!"

"REALLY?!", I couldn't help it. I basically squealed into the phone. I tried to mask my sudden burst of excitement by clearing my throat and forcing my voice to go back into a monotone.

"I mean... really? Okay. That's great."

I heard Amanda chuckle from the other end of the line, seemingly amused at how I was acting.

"Congratulations, Miss Kim. We'll send you an email detailing the final steps to the adoption process. After that, we'll set a date where you can come in to pick your new dog up. You also need to sign a bit more paperwork, maybe in a week or so? Is that alright?"

"Yes!" I squealed once again. I didn't even bother to hide my excitement this time.

Amanda gave me a quick rundown of what else I should be expecting out of this whole process, but it's things I already know from countless articles and Reddit threads I spent far too much time reading. Usually, I wouldn't let someone drone on for so long but the idea of finally being able to adopt my own puppy had me feeling over the moon that I felt that she could talk to me about how the universe came to be and I'd let her.

When we finally ended the call, I punched my fists in the air and was smiling so wide my cheeks started to hurt. But I didn't care. All that mattered at that moment was that I'm getting my dog.

I decided to calm myself down a little bit before walking back into the living room to film for Lisa's video, so I pumped my fists in the air a few more times and did an embarrassing happy dance in the corner of the room. Once I was satisfied, I decided to walk back to where Rosie and Lisa were.

My eyes first caught sight of Rosie, who looked like she was deep in thought, before I turned to look at Lisa who was scrolling through her social media accounts. Still on cloud nine, I decided to shrug off the slightly weird tension in the room, my face still plastered with a big grin.

Rosie saw me approaching and decided to smile back at me, but there was something in her eyes that told me she wasn't feeling as ecstatic as I was. I appreciated the gesture though, so I gave her a small laugh for her effort, immediately noticing the way her eyes suddenly shifted into a different mood altogether, as if the smile on her face now is more genuine than the last.

I wonder what she's thinking.

I took a moment to take this image of Rosie in. She had always been beautiful, there is no doubt about that. She had a smile on her face that made all her features light up, surpassing any make up job on her face to accentuate her features. She looks the most beautiful when she's like this: happy. And there had been nothing I ever wanted more for Rosie than for her happiness.

And maybe that's why I let her go, because she clearly wasn't happy with me.

At the thought of that, something pulled at my heart, something painful, something I don't even understand. I decided to think about what this painful thing I'm feeling is, until I came to the realization that it was the thought of Rosie being unhappy with me that made her choose to let me go. A lump suddenly formed in my throat and I found myself wanting to gasp for air, but in that moment, Lisa decided to interrupt, making me forget about the gnawing pain in my chest.