Ishihara // ATEEZ ✔

47 |2| Lies

He stares at the flyer in his hands, eyebrows knitting as he reads every detail on the paper. As he hears his boss calling him to go out and do the deliveries for today, he folds and dumps it in his pocket, making a mental note to look at it again later. After receiving the orders from his boss and taking the metal delivery box from the counter, he bursts through the door and sees the puppy running to his horse, its tail thumping on the ground, excited. He smiles when he sees the puppy and after he ties the metal delivery box securely, he picks it up and gets onto his horse. Making sure that the puppy is sitting stably in front of him, he holds on tight to the reins and maneuvers his horse to continue his job.

The puppy receives a few pats and treats from his customers as they receive their deliveries, and he has finished delivering everything within an hour. As he bids goodbye to the last customer, he then picks up the puppy, holds it in front of him and looks at it straight in the eyes.

"Maybe I should give you a name... what would sound good for you?" he sticks out his lower lip, pondering. "I should ask Akira to give you a name, shall we go and visit her?" Then he sighs, "I wonder if she had seen the flyer too; I hope she's feeling okay." The puppy only hangs out its tongue, showing its teeth as if it's smiling. "You're one cute little thing aren't you?" He puts down the puppy cautiously and turns his horse around, now heading to the library.

Akira is sitting on the steps in front of the library, alone, when he arrives. She smiles slightly at the sight of him and the puppy, before standing up to greet them. She shields her eyes from the sun as Yunho alights his horse and goes over to her, the puppy settling snugly in his arms.

"Is this the puppy you've been talking about?" She scratches the puppy behind its ears before he offers her to hold it, to which the puppy seem eager to leap into Akira's arms. "Finished your deliveries for lunchhour?"

He nods, but only slightly. He looks at her silently, trying to study her expression.

"What's wrong?" The puppy licks her face and she laughs, delighted by how the puppy seems to be very comfortable with her. When she sees that Yunho's expression doesn't show contentment, as if he's angry at her, she says, "Don't tell me you're jealous because the puppy likes me better than you." She tries to joke around, but he doesn't pick it up.

"Did you receive any news today?"

"What news?"

"You know... like..."

"The flyer?"

He nods sullenly.

"Stop looking like someone stole your breakfast. Yes, I did receive the flyer. Why is it difficult for you to say it out loud?" she asks nonchalantly.

"It's just... I know it's... hard for... you."

She hugs the puppy tighter before looking at him with an expression so calm he thought that he had made a mistake for ever mentioning about it. "It's not. It's what they do every year and although it's open to everyone, we're not going. That's it."

The flyers for the annual public ball have been passed around today and the restaurant Yunho is working at was no exception; they even received a few to be put at their counter. He had snatched one out of curiousity but he regretted the moment his eyes laid upon it, and as he read the announcement at the bottom of the paper, he couldn't understand what the Nyla's palace occupants were planning to do.

"You read the whole thing, didn't you?"

She dips her head low. "Well, yes. Then I threw it away because the book I'm currently reading is more interesting. It's about a girl who lost her memories-"