ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗦𝗜𝗫
─◌✰್ 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌

ryerye lookin' handsome seungmo 👀
> minniemouse- stay away from me
> matchatess @minniemouse- aww you don't like us??
> ryerye @minniemouse- gimme a hug 🤗
> changaroo97 @minniemouse- save one for me too!
> dingdonghong @ryerye @matchatess @changaroo97 you guys sound like creepy relatives
> matchatess @minniemouse- c'mon, just a little smooch 😚

ramenoodlaska omg i'm your biggest fan! 😍😍
> minniemouse- you better be talking about your boyfriend
> ramenoodlaska @minniemouse- why not both of you? you're acting like you're so cool!
> the.official.hwang @ramenoodlaska stop flirting with all my friends, isn't one enough?
> ramenoodlaska @the.official.hwang ewe i'm not flirting with him i have my handsome man @sunshine.lix 😒😒
> minniemouse- @ramenoodlaska okay i feel really offended now wtf
> sunshine.lix @ramenoodlaska omg i'm a handsome man! 🤭

cheesecakehannie who are you pointing at? 😃
> mymymy it feels sort of menacing... should i run?
> nomnominnie @mymymy i've been trying to get you to go run with me forever! are you telling me i just have to scare you?
> ryerye @nomnominnie it works for me 🤷‍♀️
> ramenoodlaska @nomnominnie or tickle her that works too
> nomnominnie @ramenoodlaska hehe ooh good to know
> mymymy @ryerye @ramenoodlaska why would you tell him that??? 😩😩

It was 6am, and you hadn't slept all night. Not only had you not slept, you hadn't even touched your bed.

You'd been out all night, searching for Miso. Right when you'd realized he'd disappeared, you and all your friends had begun searching for him in your immediate area. He couldn't have gotten far, right?

Wrong.

After an entire hour of the fifteen of you searching high and low for the little dog, you'd called the animal shelter. Namjoon, who was working the morning shift, had picked up, and upon hearing your choked sobs over the phone, he, along with half a dozen other employees, had joined you on your search, with the help of cars, too.

Then, you'd had to make the nerve-wracking call to Se Ri at Park and Paws. When you'd told her exactly what had happened, in as steady a voice as you could muster, she'd gone eerily quiet.

Then, "I will tell management. Continue to look for the dog, and I will get back to you tomorrow. Please keep me updated, and call right when you find him." And then she'd hung up, leaving you a heaving, shaking mess.

For the rest of the day, and into the night, you had continued to search. Your whole group had gone back to the camp and split off into your assigned cars, driving around the hiking trail, in case you could find him with your headlights. Everyone was taking separate shifts to sleep, except you.

And Changbin, of course. The entire night, he had been there in the passengers seat, attempting to comfort you. Everything from quiet words, to light touches. But you hardly registered them, mind in a fog, body numb. You blocked everything he, along with everyone else, had to say. You dodged his touches, froze when he tried to grab your hand. Because you didn't deserve it. Not anymore.

No one seemed to blame you for what happened. But you did. You wanted to yell at them, "why aren't you saying anything???". This was all your fault. If you had paid closer attention to Miso, if you had done a better job at training him, at taking care of him, if you had just been better, none of this would have happened.

If Miso was seriously hurt, you would never forgive yourself. You loved all the animals in your care like they were your own. If you hadn't been so distracted kissing Changbin, you would have noticed that Miso was pulling too hard on his leash, and tightened the slack accordingly.

"We found him!!!"

You whipped your head around, and you winced at the ache. You'd been staring at the ground, straining your eyes mercilessly, for nearly twelve hours straight. You hadn't eaten dinner, even when everyone else had taken breaks. You hadn't drank water, or even sat down, outside of driving your car. But all of that was forgotten, as you turned to face Namjoon, who was holding Miso in his arms.

"Oh my gosh!" you cried, throat rough as sand, mouth dry. You stumbled over to his side, running your hands over the little dog, who was covered with dirt, eyes looking as tired as you felt. "Where did you find him?? Is he okay??"

Namjoon nodded gravely, gazing down at you with a mix of kindness and pity. "He was stuck underneath a boulder over there." He pointed. "It looks like he'd been climbing around, exploring, before he fell and got caught. His leg is broken, and he's a bit scared, but he's going to be okay." He smiled at you. "Please don't worry."

You nodded, eyes glistening with unshed tears. You pulled your lip between your teeth, trying to keep from crying. You didn't respond, not trusting your voice. If Namjoon, and everyone else for that matter, saw you crying, that might be your last straw.

"It's going to be okay," Namjoon reiterated, placing a hand on your shoulder in what was supposed to be a caring gesture.

But it only served to steel your determination further. Miso had spent all night scared and alone, in the middle of the forest. He'd broken his leg, all because of your negligence. This would never happen again. You could never let this happen again.

"Hey Hua, Miso is okay, we're all going to be okay." Renee was the first to approach you, kind eyes gazing up at you. "We're going to go back to the campsite, and forget about all this, okay?"

Tessa and JJ arrived at your side next, grabbing your hands.

"We're gonna make the most of the rest of our trip, okay?" Tessa, uncharacteristically kind, squeezed your hand tight. "Minho made breakfast. I think you need to eat."

"She didn't have anything for dinner!" Alaska called, brows creased with worry.

"I'm fine," you mumbled, not meeting your friends' gazes. "I'm not hungry."

"We're going to head out," Namjoon called, pointing to the rest of the animal shelter staff. "Miso is coming with us for a little while, so we can give him a checkup, get him a cast, and a bath. We've already called Se Ri to let her know that he has been found. I hope that was okay, Lanhua." He leveled a look at you.

You nodded, still in shock. You supposed it was a good thing Se Ri already knew. One less thing for you to do. You could hardly think about yourself right now, let alone someone else.

"I want to come with you." You stepped towards Namjoon. "I want to make sure Miso is okay."

"Hua, you should stay here, don't you think?" Changbin, who had been hovering nearby for the entirety of your conversation, stepped forward. You had tried to keep him at bay for as long as possible. You couldn't handle just one more pitying stare. And if Changbin started telling you that this wasn't your fault, you would break.

"No, I want to be there," you insisted, voice wavering. "I need to."

For once, Namjoon and Changbin didn't argue with one another. Their eyes met, both clearly debating what would be best.

Namjoon shrugged, opening his mouth to respond.

Suddenly, your phone rang. Another call from Se Ri. Your heart leapt into your throat, and you almost threw up on the spot. Swallowing hard, you stepped back, silently allowing Namjoon to leave without you, before picking up the phone.

"Hi Se Ri," you answered, voice stilted, as you tried to calm yourself. You had a sneaking suspicion you knew what was coming.

"Hello, Lanhua." Your boss's voice was heavy with regret, and you almost burst into tears. Part of you hoped she would just start yelling, chew you out for what had happened. But this was so much worse.

"We just got the call from Namjoon, informing us that Miso has been found, and he's safe. We're incredibly glad to hear that." A long pause, as Se Ri must have been gathering her thoughts. "You know we take our dogs' lives, and livelihood, very seriously. I know you know that, better than anyone. And I've just talked to the CEO, as he's already heard about what's happened. And we've come to the decision to terminate your employment with us here at Park and Paws, effectively immediately. You will have two month's severance, so you can find somewhere new to work, but when you arrive back here, you will have to clean out your desk as soon as possible. I'm incredibly sorry about this, Lanhua, but two mistakes is too many, when we are dealing with animals' lives. I know you understand. I wish you the best in finding somewhere else, and we thank you for your time at Park and Paws." Then, she hung up.

You stood frozen for a few moments, phone still pressed to your ear. Strangely, your breathing had slowed, mind blank, as you let Se Ri's words sink in.

You'd just been fired. You no longer worked for Park and Paws. Everything you'd worked so hard for, your dreams, were gone. In one fell swoop, you had been left with nothing.

"Hua?" Changbin stood next to you, eyes full of concern. When had he gotten so close?

You pulled away from him, heartbeat suddenly erratic, breaths coming in stuttered gasps. "I-I don't have a job," you announced. Yet your eyes didn't fill with tears. They had narrowed into slits, as anger, boiling hot, coursed through your veins. "I-I've been fired!"

"Baby, I'm so sorry!" Changbin exclaimed, reaching out to grab your hand. "They don't deserve-"

"No!" You yanked your hand away, glaring at him. "No, it's not them that don't deserve me. I don't deserve them. They were right for firing me. I fucking lost a dog not once, but twice. I've been completely irresponsible, and so distracted during this trip. I can't believe I let this happen to me! And it's all because we-"

"We?" Changbin demanded, face transforming from concerned to outraged in an instant. "What the hell did we do? Fall in love? Have an incredible time with our friends? Teach these dogs things in three weeks that they wouldn't have learned in a year anywhere else? Tell me what we did wrong, Hua."

"I let myself get distracted by a relationship!" you burst out. "All my life, I've told myself that a relationship can't be more important than my work. And it's served me really fucking well. And now that I decided to break those rules, look where it's gotten me. I'm unemployed, all the accomplishments I busted my ass off for are gone. I think I did a lot wrong, Changbin. And all the friendship and good relationships in the world can't change that."

You turned around to walk away. You were tired. You didn't want to have this conversation. You just couldn't do it anymore.

But apparently, Changbin wasn't done. He grabbed your wrist, yanking you back towards him, eyes blazing. "You just don't get it, do you?" he growled, teeth grinding so hard, his jaw pulsed. "There are so many more important things than your fucking career! Look around you. You have friends who would stay up all night just to help you, you've made professional connections with people who want to support you, and you have me. I love you Hua! And I want to be there for you, but I can't- I can't deal with you when you're constantly putting your career over us!"

You reeled back, ripping your wrist out of his grip. "Deal with me? Is that what you've been doing all this time? You think I'm some kind of self-centered bitch, who can't pull her nose out of her work for two seconds? Well, maybe that is me, Changbin. But you knew that from the beginning. So don't act like you didn't sign up for this when you met me. I didn't lie about who I was. I told you work was my number one priority. You said you wanted a goal-oriented girlfriend. So if you're trying to make me pick one of the other, you're going to end up very disappointed."

"I wasn't trying to make you pick," Changbin ground out, face red. "You know what I meant! I care about you so much, but when you put something like that before us, it makes me feel like shit. Am I not good enough for you?? How can work be more important to you than-"

"I don't know, it just is!" you interrupted. Your heart was thudding out of your chest as you spoke, blood boiling in your veins. You knew you should stop talking, that you were going to say something that you would regret. Something that wasn't true. And yet, you couldn't. You kept going. "And since you can't deal with that, then I can't do this anymore. I'm done."

"Just like that, you're out?" Changbin snarled, spitting poison at you. "You're just gonna fucking quit when things get tough, is that how it is?"

"Yes, it is," you snapped, lump forming in your throat. And before you could change your mind, before you could see that hurt look in Changbin's eyes, you spun around and walked off, knowing you had just made a huge mistake, but too proud to admit it.

laska's note —
omg poor babies... just like that, i guess that amazing relationship is over. neither of them handled that fight very well, did they? but i can tell that they have unfinished business. will lanhua realize that she made a mistake, and go talk to him? will changbin apologize for the way he spoke to lanhua, or will they both stay brokenhearted? now that we know miso is safe and sound, can the rest of the group put this behind them and enjoy the last couple days of their vacation? what do you think???

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟯𝟳 - 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗯𝘆𝗲, 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗯𝗶𝗻
┊ ⇄ ◁◁ II ▷▷ ↻ ┊