BO-YOUNG
"Bo-young," I hear someone's voice say. I shut my eyes tighter, hoping that the person would go away and let me sleep.
It's silent for a couple of seconds before I hear it again.
"Go away. Leave me here," I mumble into my pillow.
"Bo-young, I'm back from work," the person shakes me lightly. My dream begins to fade the more the voice speaks. I can feel myself waking up as the realization hits me. My ears perk up as I raise my head, a wide grin spreading across my face.
"Jungkook!" I cheer. "Wait, you're back from work?" I ask.
Jungkook nods.
"I slept through the day?" I ash him, my grin now gone as my eyes widen.
"It seems so. You slept through the alarm too. You were sleeping restlessly when I checked on you this morning, so I was sure you were going to wake up, but alas-" he trails off, gesturing at me.
His eyes abruptly widen as they trail a bit above my eye-line before returning to mine. "Your ears are cute," he comments with a chuckle
"That's nonsense!" I respond without thinking about it. My face flushes. I'm still not fully awake, so everything seems surreal. "You nonsense spouting dolt."
"The more flustered you get, the more 19th century you speak," Jungkook comments, laughing. I scoff, placing my hand over my heart.
"Poppycock! Balderdash!" I play along, laughing with him.
After the senseless laughter calms, he speaks: "So, what made you so tired?"
"I don't know. It took me a long time to fall asleep, so I took a walk outside, the collar on, of course. I ran into a woman who was very keen on meeting me for coffee," I recount to him. "It was creepy since the streetlamp above us was flickering ominously."
"A woman? Thank god," he sighs quietly.
"Women can be as bad as men," I chide him, raising my eyebrow at him. "She seemed harmless, but something told me otherwise. I could take her in a fight, though," I punch the air, earning a laugh from Jungkook.
"I doubt we'll run into her though, seeing as we're leaving for my childhood home in a couple of days," Jungkook says, seeming like he's trying to comfort me.
"I'm going to get up now. I hope I can fall asleep again tonight," I stand up from bed, flattening my hair. Jungkook steps out of my room after giving me a nod.
After taking a shower and dressing, I make my way to the kitchen, preparing myself a slice of toast as my belated breakfast. Jungkook sits on the couch, his laptop in his lap as he scrolls through, looking rather concentrated.
"You took quite a long time getting ready for the day." Jungkook promptly closes his laptop, setting it to the side as he invites me to sit on the couch.
"I enjoy long showers. Deal with it," I say, biting into my toast afterward as if I were offended. I can see Jungkook smile, turning to sit more comfortably.
"If you're done, then we should go. We're a bit late, but it's fine," Jungkook says, standing from his seat.
"Go where?" I ask, still chewing on my toast.
"To hand in the adoption papers," he smiles, pulling me up. I wolf down the rest of the toast as I pull on my shoes. Jungkook calmy readies himself.
"Let's go," I rush him, eagerly waiting by the door.
"Are you sure you're not a dog hybrid?" he laughs. To that, I simply reply by pointing at my long bunny ears.
Jungkook slides the stack of papers into his bag with care before following me out of the door.
"You'll get cold," I tell him, looking at his thin windbreaker jacket. "It's autumn, it's not warm anymore."
"I know that. It's the spooky season, and what's spookier than hypothermia?" Jungkook reasons with his flawed logic. I laugh at his daft sounding reason. "Hey, we could get some spooky decorations while we're out."
"It's not Halloween yet." I squint my eyes at him judgingly, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Eyebrows of judgment," Jungkook snorts, looking at my brows. "And that's ridiculous. Who doesn't want an early Halloween that lasts through most of the month?" he says accusingly.
"I don't. A week early is still acceptable, but any more than that, and it's getting out of hand," I determine. Jungkook gawks at me.
"I don't think we'll get along," he says, jokingly turning away.
"What day is it?" I ask Jungkook, suddenly confused.
"Wednesday," he replies quickly, looking at me as if I were losing my mind.
So the woman last night was talking about tomorrow. She took into account that it was past midnight. People who do that are strange, but I shouldn't be getting ahead of myself. She could be a normal person who just likes stating things factually.
"Why?" Jungkook asks, cutting my thoughts off. "Did you forget what day of the week it was, or something?"
"I may or may not have," I say, glaring at him. Jungkook just chuckles.
Sooner than I expected, we arrive at the large imposing building. A shudder runs down my spine as Jungkook places his hand on my back, leading me into the building.
At the front desk sits a man who is in his twenties. As he hears the door open, he looks up at us. His light brown hair covers most of his forehead, the only visible part is where it is parted. He pushes up his round glasses before standing from his seat, giving us a polite bow.
"Welcome. I'm Jae-hyung. How can I help you today?" he asks with a smile. Jungkook walks up to the desk, and I follow behind him meekly.
The scent of many different hybrids lingers in the area, and I can clearly smell an abundance of them behind the large double doors near the front desk.
I can hear Jae-hyung and Jungkook talk to each other for a moment, going over the papers, but I don't pay them much mind.
As I'm lost in the mix of scents and quiet chatter coming from the hybrid room, I feel a small tap on my shoulder. I look at Jungkook to find him looking at me, a mildly worried look on his face.
"Are you alright? Do you feel sick?" he asks, to which I shake my head. "He needs to make sure everything matches. Come closer?" he requests, looking into my eyes as if he were searching for something.
I step towards the desk, where Jae-hyung gives me a friendly smile before taking out a small DNA kit.
"I need this to confirm your breed," he tells me before beginning to explain the complete process.
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