Ghost of You - Hyunlix

Little Star

"Hyunjin-ah, hurry up or we're gonna get soaked in the rain!" A woman in her late thirties gestured to her sixteen-year old son to get inside the cab; she held onto her umbrella while holding the door open, while fighting the unforgiving draft that tried to steal her umbrella.

"Mama, just a second!" The brunette focused on tying his shoelace and answered without sparing a single glance to his calling mom; determined to subdue the dangling string. His golden brown locks were doused in the rain and, poking at the corners of his already aggravated eyes. He pushed his hair upwards as he finished a double knot on his laces. His palms were on the ground, his back arched upwards as he got ready to run like those track and field champions that he saw on TV.

"I'm going there now!" A smile graced his face, knowing that the danger of tripping over his shoe was gone. He dashed to his mom, zigzagging, and avoiding the muddy puddles. He was almost inches away from his mother. When suddenly...

Arf arf arf! Measly barks were heard from a distance, barks that stopped Hyunjin from going any further; calling him, shaking him to come find it.

"What was that barking? A dog?" He voiced an invisible hand that started to squeeze his lungs every time that meek barking entered his ears. He wanted to find it, to save it, but what could he do? He is just a kid. What can't he do?

"A dog? I didn't hear anything barking sweetie." She said after she crouched until she met his son's eyes.

"I know what I heard, Mom! Please help me!" So, instead of getting inside the taxi, he grabbed his mother's hand, and they searched for the source of that heart-tugging sound.

Every bark of a tree on the ground wasn't left unturned; they were determined to find the dog before it would get washed over the raging river downstream. It was making Hyunjin more distressed, knowing about the impending danger that would occur.

Arf arf arf! They heard more hoarse barking, as if it was almost out of breath. The barks sounded more desperate from before, almost as if it was begging for somebody to be its salvation.

The young boy started to look left and right, but it was of no use. He felt like they were searching for something, that he wasn't even sure if it was real. The blinding darkness of the night, and the wrath of mother nature were his number one enemy right now. The rain kept on obstructing his vision, and kept on taking whatever remains of his resolve. The barking stopped and it wasn't heard anymore.

"P-please God help me find him! His knees suffered the impact of dropping to the ground, but he didn't yield any more pain to that than to lose a life that could have been saved.

A-arf! God answered his prayers as he found the small puppy sheltering himself under a leaf, next to pieces of torn cardboard; protecting himself from the pouring rain.

"I found you, little guy..."

✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*✧˖*

"All better?" Hyunjin hummed while drying the pup's little body using a brand new towel. His mother protested that he should find an old towel to clean the puppy, but Hyunjin didn't care if it was a matter of life or death. To compensate for his disobedience, he promised his mom that he would eat his vegetables for a week. Which made his mom smile at the thought of Hyunjin eating eggplants, and carrots.

Arf! His voice was still weak, yet the puppy eagerly answered, like it was welcoming his new owner. He kept on wagging that tiny tail of his, while giving his owner's hand a couple of licks, and shaking off the droplets from his dark fur. Hyunjin wanted nothing more than to take care of the little bundle of hair