─── august 18, 2020
⤷ in which jieun and
piper come to be.

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  "OKAY JIEUN, OUR SESSION ENDS in ten minutes." Jieun's therapist, Minyoung, balances her notebook on her lap, crossing her legs, "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we wrap things up? Or something for our next session?"

Jieun shuffles around on the plush, leather couch she was sitting on before clearing her throat, pulling down the sleeves of her sweater to cover more of her hands, "Um, there is one more thing, actually," She lets out a small sigh before meeting Minyoung's eyes, "Recently I've been feeling more anxious. Well, more anxious than normal, that is." She tugs on a strand of her hair.

Minyoung nods, studying the blonde girl closely, "Do you have any ideas as to why?"

"I think it might be because we're preparing for our next comeback?" Jieun shrugs, "But we've already had two comebacks now, so I don't really know if it's because of that."

"Well, just because you've had comebacks before doesn't mean you can't get nervous when another one is approaching. Plus, your group is still considered as a rookie group, so the anxiety caused by that is understandable." The woman leans back in her seat, "I know this suggestion might not be so helpful considering that there are rules to follow in your company, but have you tried maybe getting a pet to help ease that anxiety?"

Jieun furrows her brows, nose scrunching up in confusion, "A pet?" She points to herself, "For my anxiety?"

Minyoung lets out a soft chuckle at her reaction, "Yes, pets are well known to help reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and even ease loneliness. I know you're not lonely, what with how well you and your members get along, but a pet could possibly help you with the anxiety you're feeling or could feel in the future."

Jieun blinks, still thrown off by the suggestion, "So, like an emotional support animal, basically?"

Her therapist nods, "Pretty much, yes. Like we've talked about before, anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion, and we've already established ways for you to heal and be in control of your emotions, but what I'm seeing and hearing from you right now is more so nerves before your comeback."

"Wouldn't I need to have a license of some sort, though?" Jieun rests her elbows on her knees, suddenly curious, "To have it properly recognized as an emotional support pet?"

"Well, if this anxiety heightens to a more concerning and health-threatening sort of level, then you'd go see a psychiatrist and then have it professionally registered as an emotional support animal. But this sort of anxiousness that you're feeling at the moment could most likely be solved with having a regular pet around, no license or notes required."

Jieun stays silent for a long second, looking down at the floor as her mind races. She always thought about getting a pet, but didn't know if it would do well in the dorms or if she'd get in trouble for having one and have management make her take it back.

"Jieun? Everything okay?" Minyoung asks, tilting her head to get a better look at the girl, "If you think it's not possible because of your company rules then we can come up with different suggestions for our next—"

"No, it's not that. Everything's okay." She cuts Minyoung off, standing up from the couch and letting out a sigh with a mix of relief and accomplishment, "I think I just might look into that. Am I good to go?"

Minyoung gives her a bright smile, "I'll see you for our next session. Let me know whatever you decide on!"

Jieun lets out a soft, but enthusiastic 'I will' before collecting her things and walking out of Minyoung's office.

As she makes her way out the hallway, she pulls out her phone and quickly searches up animal shelters on her maps app. Once she finds the closest one to her, she pulls up her face mask and slips on her baseball cap, exiting the building and making her way towards the shelter.

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  JIEUN OPENS THE DOOR TO the shelter, giving the person at the register a small bow as she steps inside.

"Hello," The girl smiles, bowing in return, "Can I help you with anything today?"

Hesitantly, Jieun steps up to the register, "I'd just like to look around, if that's okay."

"Sure!" The girl beams and lifts a hand to point things out, "Our dogs will be over there in that section, and some our cats were just let out into a little play pen for some play time if you're interested in just walking in and taking a look at them."

Jieun gives her a quick thanks before heading off to the play pen, carefully opening the door so they wouldn't get out and stepping inside. She bows silently to the other employee inside and takes a seat on one of the small chairs, eyes flickering to every cat that came in sight.

The girl notices a bucket of toys near her, picking up a frisco teaser with a plush bird attached to it. She wiggles it around in front of her to gain the attention of the cats roaming around the pen, but slowly stops when they pay no attention to her, too busy playing with each other or the other toys scattered around.

She doesn't notice as a fairly small tabby cat approaches from besides her, attracted to the teaser as it creeps up on it.

Jieun lets out a small jump when the tabby cat jumps on the plush bird, securing it in between its paws. She laughs softly, waving the teaser around, "Why aren't you playing with everyone else, hm?" She asks, her chin resting on her palm as she fondly watches the cat follow the toy's every moments.

"She's a very introverted cat," The employee speaks up, making Jieun's head swivel around to look at her, "She doesn't like playing with the other kittens and doesn't really approach anybody when they come in to look or play around with the animals, so it's pretty cute how he came up to you first."

Jieun blinks in surprise, looking down at the tabby cat just as she secures the bird into her paws once again, nibbling on it. She chuckles, reaching down to pet the cat's head. The tabby immediately stops paying attention to the bird, purring and leaning into her touch as Jieun continues to scratch her head.

"Is she up for adoption?" Jieun asks.

The employee nods, "She doesn't get picked as much as the other kittens since she's not so active as them, but she's a really sweet girl."

Jieun's mind runs at a million miles as she looks down at the cat who's begun to nibble at her fingers. She stays silent for a moment before looking back at the girl,

"How long would the adoption process take?"

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"WHAT DID YOU DECIDE FOR her name?" Beomgyu asks, sticking his hand out to pet Jieun's newly adopted cat.

"I was thinking of Piper." Jieun replies, watching with a fond smile as the kitten nibbles on Beomgyu's fingers.

"Piper?" Yeonjun repeats, hesitantly reaching out to pet her, "That's a nice name."

The girl hums.

"She's really cute." Soobin says, wiggling around a teaser that Jieun had also bought.

Piper's head swivels around with wide eyes as Jieun's members all try to get her attention or pet her, but pays no attention to either one of them as she turns around and rushes into Jieun's lap, making herself comfortable in between the girl's crossed legs.

Jieun giggles as the boys let out noises of disappointment, scratching the top of Piper's head.

"I think we're going to get along well, Piper."

notes
i started working on this chapter before finals
and i worked on it throughout the little time i
had and now finals are over and i finally got to to finish it but i don't know how to to feel abt it anymore lmao. it turned out to be much longer than i expected but i wanted to give some insight on how jieun adopted piper as she'll really only make some brief appearances but i hope u all enjoyed ?