Jungkook wanted to ask more questions, it was obvious. I wanted to speak more, but I couldn't. We sat in silence for a few minutes, before the realtor finally broke the silence.

"So, dogs?" He said, "You train them to protect?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Our dogs go through intense training from as young as we can get them," I thought back to my old german shepherd, the one my father had allowed me to have. I cleared my throat, pushing the painful memory away, "But we can't just get any old breed. Mastiffs are a family favourite; my grandfather favoured Dogue de Bourdeaux, my father's favourite were Bull Mastiffs. My great-grandfather favoured Japanese Tosa, but they came with complications when his child was born, so he switched to English Mastiffs. Tae is a Boerboel - a South African Mastiff. It was one of my father's suggestions as they are bigger and more powerful than others," I laughed as I remembered, "He told me that I'm tiny, so I need a dog to make up for that,"

"So... Mastiffs,"

I cleared my throat, realising that I had just been talking about dog breeds for a while, "Yeah. The reasons being mainly because of their size. For example, Wolfhounds and Great Danes are taller, but they don't have the same muscle and bulk. We need a sturdy dog that cannot be dragged away,"

Again my thoughts drifted to my old shepherd. I didn't have him for very long, but I loved him. It was a harsh lesson that I didn't want to learn, but it helped me realise the why behind my father's reasoning.

"Mastiffs are also a breed that guards and are very loyal," I continued, "Some more so than others. We have to make sure we pick the right puppy. My father usually went for males due to that extra kick of aggression. But the main reason was their huge bulk and muscle,"

"And they need that so they aren't killed," Jungkook's voice was quiet, "By those things,"

I nodded and stood, moving to the window to stare out at the mist, "Dogs can see better than us," I said quietly, "They know when a Lurker is close and they warn us and chase it away. They are trained to protect us and they take the job very seriously,"

Jungkook looked at the massive dog on his lap, "He chased off something, didn't he?"

I nodded again, "Seokjin opened the gate. The Lurker could easily get in. Tae knocked you out of the way trying to save him, but he was too late. He did stop the Lurker from getting in and-"

I was cut off by a sudden change in Tae's body language. He leapt from Jungkook's lap and moved to stand by the window next to me. A low grown rumbled up from his chest as his body stiffened.

"They're outside," I whispered, "I can't see them, but Tae knows they're there,"

"What do we do?!" Jungkook jumped up, looking panicked, "We-"

"They can't get in," I said firmly, "The fence stops them from getting close and they've never got inside before,"

"There's a first time for everything," He muttered, nervously sitting down again.

Tae and I stood by the window for a while, silently looking for a sign of any Lurkers. After a while, Tae huffed and sat down on the mat by the window. I immediately relaxed.

"We should call someone," Jungkook said suddenly, "Why haven't you-"

"Because then more people will die!" I snapped, "Weren't you listening? It's dangerous here! If people come traipsing around in the mist the Lurkers will get them!" I took a deep breath, "Besides, you won't get any service here. Never have, never will,"

He scowled at me but pulled his phone out anyway. After checking for himself, he sighed and squashed it back into his pocket.

"Why do you even live here?" He muttered under his breath.

"Because there is no other way," I sighed, sitting down again, "We have to keep this land in our family,"

"Okay, not to be rude or anything," He said, "But how are you going to do that? You don't have any children,"

"I'm still young!" I snapped at him, my face reddening, "I can have children whenever I want!"

"Okay, okay, sorry," He said, before we fell into silence.

It was a little awkward between us and I could tell that Jungkook was still very nervous.

And so was I. I had never done this without my father before.

And Tae was still looking out the window. His body might have relaxed a little, but he was still alert.

That meant that the Lurkers were close.

—-

AN: Is this boring? Idk I feel like it could be boring 😅