Chapter 24
True to Yuri’s word, the dogs led the way to the sign for Liberia Street.
“So smart, you guys.”
The dogs were graceful as they stuck their heads up higher as if they knew it was a compliment, except for Sarin, who was being dragged.
Jam, a small tart shop, was just as Yuri said it would be.
It was early in the morning and there were 20 people waiting in line for the shop to open. The sign hung at a slight angle and the place already smelled sweet from inside.
She assumed that the dogs would pass by, and she would see exactly what Irin had written in her diary, but all three dogs stopped at the end of the line.
“You want me to eat here?”
Instead of answering, they sat quietly on the ground and waited.
“No. I’m fine, let’s go for a walk.”
She tugged on the lead, but they didn’t budge. They couldn’t go yet.
Not yet….
People looked at the dogs with curiosity as they walked by.
Sarin smiled sheepishly as she listened to them praise the dogs. It was as if they knew she had only come here for a glass of milk. She tried tugging on the leash a few times to get them to eat, but they wouldn’t budge, so she gave up.
When dogs are stubborn, no one can stop them.
Before she knew it, the shop was open and people were packing up the tarts on the shelves, one by one, two by two.
It was strangely heartwarming to watch the dogs get up off their asses and move just enough to get back in place as each person left.
They use fresh peaches in the summer and canned when peaches aren’t in season. Sarin gestured to the long line of people behind her, and moved forward to see the tarts displayed in the warm brown tinted windows.
Her sister’s diary, where she had written with two stars in front of it that she and Sarin would definitely try the tarts here in the summer.
When their turn came, they tied up the lead in front of the shop and went inside. Everywhere in the city, especially in front of famous shops, there was a space like this for customers with dogs.
“Welcome, ‘Jam’.”
Early in the morning, the staff welcomed Sarin with a big smile.
Many of the seasonal tarts were already out the front, while a few canned ones were in the back. The peach tart, which no one had bought yet, was lined up and waiting for its first customer.
“Do you have peach tarts?”
“Yes. I’ll get it wrapped up for you on the left. It’s $6.”
While Sarin was paying, her order was already taken, wrapped, and she walked out, taking it from the left. The next couple in line passed her with happy looks on their faces.
As she exited the store, Sarin was surprised to see that her reflection in the store’s glass doors looked like she was about to burst into tears.
As she approached the three waiting dogs, they each rubbed their faces against her legs as if to comfort her.
They weren’t barking in a crowded place, and they were incredibly responsive to my emotions.
Animals are comforting, Sarin realized. A sad thought struck her. The dogs now stare up at her, nudging the packet in her hand with their noses.
“You want me to eat here?”
She leaned against the wall a few feet away from the shop, out of the way of traffic. Most of the people who had bought tarts from the store were standing and eating them. She gave the dogs some of the treats she brought with her, and then opened the bag.
There it was, a peach tart, a little out of shape from being flicked with her nose.
“I haven’t had a peach since my sister died.”
It wasn’t just peaches.
After Irin’s disappearance from the space where they grew up and breathed together, Sarin knows she would have given up on life if it wasn’t Hayan. She takes the tart and pops it into her mouth. She wondered what Irin was thinking when she ate it, and replayed the diary entries in her mind.
It was sweet, with a chewy, canned texture. The vanilla bean flavor, embedded in the custard cream beneath the peaches, was surprisingly good.
“It’s okay, I’m not crying.”
The dogs whimpered weakly. Moisture dripped down their chins.
Her sister must have eaten this here every week, thinking of herself back in Korea as she ate it.
Irin and Sarin loved peaches, and so did Hayan.
“I’m going to come here and eat this with Hayan one day. I’m not like you. I’m going to keep my promise.”
She told herself. She didn’t know how to live without it, and her pride was crushed and bruised without realizing it. After her mother’s death, followed by Irin’s, nothing mattered.
Knowing that nothing mattered in the face of death, Sarin let it all go.
“Delicious. Thank you. I ate here because of you.”
What a way to end a homework assignment she’d promised herself she’d try someday.
As she said that to the gifted dogs, Sarin cleanly popped every last crumb into her mouth. Finally, she wiped her cheeks wildly with the back of her hand and grabbed the lead again with a nonchalant face.
“Shall we?”
The dogs led the way, as they always did.
Somewhere in the middle of caring and not caring about Sarin. In that gray area, she was pulled forward. Her upper body leaned forward a little.
The walk, which started early in the morning, didn’t end until close to afternoon.
The dogs were tired and Sarin was completely exhausted. Usually it only takes an hour or two, but today she was out for almost four hours, her hands and feet were like ice, and afterwards she couldn’t tell if she was walking or being dragged. When she came back, the dogs had a hard time too, and even though she was walking gracefully her legs were shaking.
She laughed despite the pain at the sight of her black butt, which she had to walk around the streets for the first time to make herself feel better.
It was a good thing she didn’t have to wander around like this to keep her mind occupied.
“Better than your master. Very good.”
Their owner was good at making her head spin, but these dogs were good at making her think of nothing. She grinned at their different specialties.
As soon as they got on the elevator to their suite, she took the dogs off their leashes. There was no point in keeping them on a leash since they were going straight to the suite anyway.
Ding.
Arriving at the top floor, slightly dizzy, Sarin walked after the dogs, who ran first as soon as the door opened.
“I’ll wash up in the bathroom first.”
Normally, they would have gone into the bathroom attached to the living room first and waited for her to wash her feet, but it felt strange to rush straight in.
“Ah….”
She followed the dogs and bumped into a man coming out of the living room with a whiskey from the bar. The dogs were happy to see him, rolling over in front of him. They’d only been separated for a few hours, and as if they hadn’t been tired, they jumped at the sight of their owner and showed affection with their whole bodies.
Owen’s gaze flicked to Sarin.
Instead of petting the dogs, he goes straight to the couch and sits down.
He’s dressed differently than when he left. She had seen Yuri go up to the suite to get her clothes, so she didn’t think much of it. Usually, he doesn’t come in until late at night or early in the morning, but tonight he’s been drinking since noon.
“You home?”
“…Yep. I’m back.”
”I’m not comfortable being alone right now.”
He jerked his chin at Sarin and pointed to the stool. She tried to avert her gaze to the glass in his hand.
She doesn’t have good memories of stools. But to ask her to sit here, it seemed like a continuation of last night.
A similar situation to yesterday.
“I’d rather we not bump into each other.”
Sarin said, straightening up without sitting down. Now he’s invading her dreams and ruining her entire reality. Owen was more of a nuisance.
“Sit down.”
His voice was low with displeasure.
Sarin’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. High-pressure is nothing new to her, but it feels strangely out of place.
“Passport, please.”
At the word passport, Owen’s golden eyes bore into hers. Obviously, she can’t do this. She replaces the word with passport. She doesn’t know how she’s going to get away from a man who’s trying to touch her in contradiction to what she said last night about not laying a finger on her.
“I carry the most important things on my person. Come and find it for yourself.”
Setting down his drink, he spread his arms wide and draped them over the backrest of the couch. He taunts Sarin with the idea of digging through his suit to find it. If she goes there, she’ll end up in the same situation as yesterday. As she touches it, she visualizes herself falling on top of this man’s couch.
“I’m not that stupid.”
He held Sarin’s eyes for a long moment as she avoided his gaze, the gaze strangely familiar and burdensome, her nervous reaction to things not going well outside making the atmosphere harsh.
It was familiar and uncomfortable at the same time.
“You’re not in a very good mood right now, so why don’t you just do as you’re told?”
Owen said with a low sigh, lifting his chin. He tilted his head, angling it to meet Sarin’s piercing gaze, which refused to withdraw easily. He paused for a moment, lost in thought, as if trying to recall a memory.
“Ah.”
A low sigh escapes his lips.
“Ah.”
A groan-like sound escaped Sarin’s lips as well.
The glasses on the table, the dogs that had been fondling him and then sat still and motionless as he walked away. The attitude of the strangely unfamiliar man.
Owen had never put ice in his drink before, and the moment she realized that, she turned on her heel and ran to her room.
