"The Volunteers Club or TVC, very creative name, was established only 2 years ago by the good boy, philanthropist and Club President, Lincoln Moore. He says he got the idea from an anime... The anime is about a club with the sole purpose of helping others. Then he gathered his loyal lackeys and registered. Because of their incredible charms and devilish good looks they were even able to procure a club room right after being established! It's a club with hot errand boys, so what're you waiting for? Join us!", Justine gloats as she finishes reading a script in front of the club.
Lincoln, intently listening applauded after Justine's speech. "Wonderful. That was wonderful Jiji!-" wiping away his tears "-That was such an honest speech- I'm moved."
"Is this guy serious? ", Jenkin mutters to himself.
"Are you serious?", Jae Kim announces aloud. "So your only selling point is 'hot boys' and you think that's enough for people to join and ignore that we're just an errand club?", he adds.
Everyone except Garren and Jae Kim answers, "YES."
Jae Kim was taken aback by the unanimous replies.
"I don't like it." The stern Garren adds to this, and everyone in the room all of a sudden goes quiet. The atmosphere in the room would always change once Garren speaks.
"It's okay Garren!" Lincoln optimistically says with a broad smile "That's why I asked everyone to make a speech so we could pick the better one!"
Upon hearing, Garren immediately becomes calm and quiet, and they continue the agenda of picking a speech for club recruitment.
Fallon in the corner of the room is staring at the wall, not paying attention at all, while her mind left their reality pane.
With incoherent thoughts, she murmurs "..and I have a corgi, I'll name the corgi.. Mr. Clean and I will live in an island with Mr. Clean just the 2 of us.. but we have internet.. and food.. and.. Netlfix and.. also an Eskimo-" she flinches "-no, yes, yeah, I have 2 dogs", laughs quietly.
Jenkin, sitting near her made out some of the words she mumbled in his boredom. He leans over and whispers, "What's the name of the Eskimo?"
She almost jumps from her seat, startled, realizing she may have thought aloud her face glows in bright red.
Slowly turning her head to the playful lad at the brink of laughter, palm covering his mouth and looking her way.
The girl hides her face in her hand hiding her face red from shame and starts paying attention to the meeting, trying to pretend nothing happened.
In the End, they all agreed on using Lincoln's speech and wrapped up.
While tidying up, Jenkin, still amused by the scene he witnessed, approaches Fallon, who's eyes would not meet his for obvious reasons.
"So you like corgis and eskimos?", he asks with a half-sarcastic half-teasing tone.
"W- What dogs do you like Jenkin?.." she stammers, trying to keep her face from showing cringe.
"Oh. I used to have a Labrador retriever, so I'm still into that breed." He says pondering. "They're pretty common but I'd love to pet one again-"
Fallon celebrates her small victory of successfully changing the subject by clenching her fists and sighs in relief under her breath.
She picks up on an idea. "I know a friendly Lab! Wanna meet him?"
"Yes." He answers without a hint of hesitance.
"Finally got his mind off that embarrassment of a situation." Fallon thinks.
"Great", she smiles. "Meet me under College Drive bridge at 7-"
"8." he objects "We work for Garren's parents' restaurant now and we'll be done around 7:40."
"We?", tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, us three. Linc, Garren and me."
"Today is our first day!" Lincoln adds.
Garren, quiet in a corner, merely listening to every chatter in the room, nods.
"Alright. I'll wait for you there." Fallon says this, as she, Justine and Jae exit the room.
Jenkin turns his back against the door and hides his face wreathed in smiles.
Meanwhile, the three were heading home,
"Hey Ji, wanna walk?", Fallon said.
"Nah fam, my boyfriend is picking me up.", her lips forming a thin smile "I'll wait for him. You guys go."
"Alright, it's you and me again Jae.", she winces.
Jae Kim rolls his eyes.
"Why you gotta insist on walking home anyway." he grunts "It takes 30 fucking minutes-", Jae Kim exclaims with a hint of annoyance.
They turn the corner at the gate leaving Justine behind. She waves at them and they wave back as they slowly disappear from her peripheral.
"Boy, your brain can't be the only part you're exercising, come on!" Fallon jokes "It's good for your stamina."
"This guy is unbelievably slender." Fallon thinks "I see other Koreans on tv but not as under fed-looking as our hybrid alien, Jae Kim." sighs "When he stands, he looks like he's bouta be swept off his feet by the wind-"
"Are you thinking about how weak-looking I am again, Fallon?" Jae stares her down with squinting eyes.
"Haha holy shit." she says under her breath.
"Yes.", she answers straightforwardly.
Later that day, at Lincoln's family's restaurant, the three boys were working their arses off.
Garren and Lincoln helps at the kitchen while Jenkin waits tables, Jenkin delivers an order to Garren and Lincoln at the kitchen who were standing-in as chef and sous.
"Why won't your parents open this place up for longer, Linc?", asked Garren as he cooks.
"This isn't really a proper restaurant." Lincoln explains, with a hint of bashfulness in his voice. "They built this cause dad likes to cook for other people.. but they only open it when he feels like it."
"Then why do we work here when they're not around?" Garren raising his brows "Plus, we open for only three hours and only on weekdays. It's like this place relies on us-" the confused Garren with his eyebrows crunched waves a spatula around and points at Lincoln, who was chopping up herbs.
"That's the point!", he stops and looks at Garren. "They said we may need the money, so he's making us run this place." continues to mince vegetables.
Jenkin comes in the kitchen door, "Did I hear that right?"
"We technically own the place?", Garren adds.
"Yeah-" Lincoln's face brimming with confidence "-we're responsible for EVERYTHING!", he gloats.
"Stocking up the pantry, keeping the place clean, taxes and bills-"
"Well wow," Garren interrupts "that's a kind of life-training we'll never learn in school.", Garren face glowing, impressed by the information.
"This is great, Linc. Gotta thank your parents when they come back" Jenkin adds.
A voice from outside the kitchen, calls.
"Waiter! We're ready to order!"
They flinch, putting their eyes back on their tasks.
"Back to work fellas." Jenkin says, before leaving the kitchen.
Just a few hours later and they boys were already closing up the restaurant, and making sure it's spic and span, the tables and chairs put away, the kitchen cleaned and organized, the floors shiny.
As they were finishing, Garren, holding a paper bag, walks up to Jenkin who was changing out of his waiter uniform.
"Take it.", he says holding the bag forward.
Jenkin takes the bag, "What's this, man?" looks inside and sees a box of doggy treats.
"Heard you and Fallon were gonna visit a dog. Picked it up on the way here."
"Thanks man.", he says as he lightly bumps his fist on Garren's shoulder. "You should talk to Fallon sometimes, she's nice and-"
Without letting him finish, Garren shakes his head, waves his hand and walks out the changing room as Lincoln enters.
"What did you do lol, he looks uncomfortable."
"Just told him to talk to Fallon."
"Yikes, don't force him." he pats Jenkin's shoulder "He'll get used to it eventually."
Jenkin looks beyond the door with a midly worried look on his face, his eyes furrowed and lips pursed.
Locking up, Lincoln bades them goodbye as he heads to the upstairs of the same building, a suite right above the restaurant.
He stops and looks back at the two.
"Garren, are you okay with riding with Ji? You'll look like a princess on that bigass bike of his!", he teased.
Jenkin starts up the motor as it roars through the exhausts and chases away the quiet.
"Get on. I'll get you home in no time, Princess." Jenkin said with a smug on his face.
Garren scoffs, used to his friends teasing antics. Jenkin and Lincoln both laugh at the terribly awkward Garren who was smiling with them.
"Idiots." Garren sniggers under his breath.
At the meanwhile, Fallon was already under the bridge as she had to feed the dog earlier than 8.
She sat there in the dark with a golden labrador eating from a doggy bowl, as she listens to the vehicles above the bridge, and the river under it rippling through the otherwise peaceful night.
"Do you wanna play fetch, boy?", she spoke softly.
The dog wags his tail excitedly for a moment, stops, and continues to finish his dinner.
"That's okay." She smiles and watches him. "Feeding you is my favorite part of the day." She extends her arms and softly scratches the dog's forehead.
The rumbling of a motorcycle exhaust could be heard coming near and above the dike to park, as it's engine slowly quiets and is turned off.
A tall silhouette slides down the slippery grass of the dike with a paper bag on the hand. He scopes and area and sees the girl sitting on pavement.
"There you are" his face bright with a smile "Good thing I chose the right side of the bridge.", laughed Jenkin.
"I got doggy treats-" he paused, seeing the the dog finishing up his bowl of dog food. "Or not." He chuckled.
"Come." Says Fallon, however her face wasn't visible in the dark.
The dog didn't react to the unfamiliar person approaching.
"He's very chill.", he says, while he takes a seat on the cold cement.
The dog finishes his bowl clean and walks over to the two and lies down between them.
"His name is Conan", says Fallon.
"Where'd he get that name from?", he chuckles.
"His owner Emily-"
The dog suddenly jumped up erect, almost like he was alerted by something. Fallon brushed the dog's back.
"What's wrong, boy?", asked the concerned Fallon.
The dog then runs to the riverbank, barking and hopping on the riverside, splashing water all over himself.
"Is that normal for him?"
"Yeah. He'll get out later. The water is pretty deep but he only stays in the shallow area."
"Reminds me of my old Lab." Jenkin laughs. "He loves water, too." He says, watching the dog that kept barking and running across the stream.
"Loves water huh-" she ponders "Oh, I didn't know you had a dog, Ji."
"Yeah I-" Jenkin raises his head and faces Fallon's direction, his expression surprised "I haven't heard you call me that in a long time Fal"
The girl laughs in the darkness.
"It's hard to call you that when Justine is around."
"Oh, righto. Haha." He mumbles, scratching the back of his head.
The dog, who was stomping on the water kept barking, he cries and calls but no one came to him.
Here! Here!
the dog yelps, he squeels, but the people could not understand.
My Emily. My Emily is here!
Conan was a pup from the shelter when he and his owner Emily, first met. He was named Conan after Emily's fondness of detectives and because he has a patch of white fur on his neck that looked like a bow. She was given Conan to accompany her new life as a University Student living away from her family.
Conan had always been friendly but protective when necessary. He was loved by all of Emily's friends, and kept Emily from being lonely while she was away from her family.
He'd patiently wait for Emily to come back from her classes and hop excitedly when he hears her at the door.
Sometimes, when Emily would go on morning jogs, Conan never misses it. He'd always be the first to storm out the door.
Also when she takes a walk at night, or a trip to the store, Conan would be there making sure she was safe. He had scared away countless suspicious people from getting remotely near from his Emily.
After Emily graduated, they moved out of their old place and settled down at an apartment in Belleville. Conan fit in almost immediately since the neighborhood was peaceful and friendly towards him and Emily.
However, once Emily got busy they would hardly go out for jogs or walks. Conan started to wonder why Emily started coming home exhausted and cranky, or late and reeking of booze. Conan could feel when Emily was not at her best self, but could only comfort her when she seemed low spirited.
In the morning, Conan would play with his neighbors and dogs.
In the evening when Emily is home, he would stay by her side.
In his mind, he wanted to cheer her up and make her happy again, he wanted to know how to do that.
My Emily, how can I help you?
But Emily would give him the usual warm smile when he tries to whine.
He continued to do what he was able to for her no matter how many months passed.
One morning, Emily woke up very early. Earlier than the neighbors and dogs, but Conan immediately jumped when he sensed Emily was awake.
Emily used to wake up this early when she would go for jogs. Realizng this, Conan became really excited and could not stop wagging his tail.
A walk? A walk?
It had been a very long time since since they went out on a jog. Conan tries to hold his excitement and not bark. It had been a rule not to make noise when they were up that early, Conan remembered it.
Emily put on her shoes and grabbed a backpack. Upon opening the door to go out, Conan sprints pass and runs around in circles, he was too excited.
Emily closes the door behind her and stars running, Conan happily followed.
They got out of the village and was approaching the bridge, almost skipping with joy, Conan ran ahead to the bridge and barked to call Emily.
But Emily didn't run towards him, she went under the bridge instead.
Confused, Conan followed.
There was a big river under the bridge so Conan stayed away from it, because more than squirrels, Conan hated water. He hated sprinklers, the sea and especially hated baths.
It seemed like Emily was idling under the bridge so Conan decided to play on the cold humid grass. And while he was brushing himself on the dirt, Emily walked around, picking up things all around to put in her empty backpack.
Emily happened to pick up a decent stick, Conan immediately thought the were going to play "the fetch". He leaped and danced around anticipating when Emily would throw the stick.
She threw it, and he'd zoom past the grass and crickets to pick up the small log. He'd bring it back and Emily would throw it again while she kept filling up her bag. Conan was very happy.
When Emily's bad looked too heavy that she could hardly lift it up, Conan bit her backpack and pulled it down so she would put it down.
Emily patted his head. Grabbed the stick, waved it around, Conan let go of her backpack, and with momentum, she threw the stick far, far away.
Conan couldn't be happier chasing after the stick, but before he could even scoop it in his mouth. He was alerted by a loud noise coming from Emily's direction.
SPLASH
She was gone.
The water rippled in a circle as Conan ran his fastest to the bubbles in the water.
My Emily!
Conan barked and barked at the river while the bubbles became less and less violent.
But he would not go near it, because more than anything.
Conan hated water.