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The whole park is filled with so many green sceneries and little ponds with koi fishes, it's really a place where you breathe with free without any stress and tension.
"yah Tan-a it's really nice right. I can understand why you wants to come here daily without missing a day" Tae said to his dog Yeontan.
Yeontan wiggled his tail at Tae's words.
Tae and Yeontan daily comes to this park which located 2 blocks away from their apartment for 2 hours a day. He usually take Yeontan to walk around the park for few minutes then they play ball together after they find a bench under shade and settle there while Yeontan takes a water break Tae will read the book he brings with him or sometimes he will just rest his head on the bench and enjoy the green sceneries.
Today was little different, both me and yeontan were walking in the same route we always walks but suddenly my shoe lace got untangled. I crouched down to re-tie it, while I'm tieing my lace yeontan suddenly rann off in opposite direction.
"Yeontan, tan-a stop" Tae shouted at yeontan while running in the same direction yeontan went after tied his lace back.
"Tan-a where are you, yeontan.." Tae shouted.
'woof' 'woof'
Tae looked at the direction where the barking was coming and it's yeontan's bark. There yeontan with a girl and her dog wagging his tail happily while the girl was crouched in front of yeotan and patting his head with a smiling face.
"where di you come from little guy? are come on your own or do you have a owner, here let me check you collar" the said while checking yeontan's collar.
"you do have a owner, Kim Taehyung, oh it is your owner name. ok let wait for you owner ok" she said while sitting on the near bench then both her dog and yeontan started to play with each other.
Tae was watching them for the whole time without saying anything. Maybe he wants yeontan to have new friend or maybe he is pulled towards yeontan's new friend owner.
"ahem, ahem"
The girl who was watching her dog playing the new dog [yeontan] suddenly heat someone clear their throat and turned around look who it is and saw a handsome man standing there with a dog leash in his.
She was mesmerized by his beauty that she failed to answer his question.
Tae snapped his finger in front of her and she came of her daze.
She awkwardly smiled at him and asked "how can I help sir?"
"the dog is mine" he said while pointing at yeontan.
But she looked at suspiciously and asked "and how I can confirm confirm that you're really the owner"
Tae signed "tan-a come here"
Hearing Tae's voice yeontan come to him happily wagging his tail.
Tae looked her and gave her look 'now you trust me'.
From that day Tae and yeontan had a walking buddy.
Daily the two owners took their dogs to walk around the park sharing their dog's funny and embarrassing stories, sharing tea in rainy days.
Days gone like this, days turns into week, weeks truns into months.
Now it's been 3 months since they both met, today Tae was eagerly waiting for her to reach with a small gift in his hand as today her birthday.
Usually she will be here around this time but she is late today. Slowly minutes turned hour and he was waiting for her for 3 hours now.
"Maybe she was celebrating ger day with her others tan-a, maybe that's why she is not here today" Tae signed slowly.
"common tan-a let's go" Tae called yeontan. yeontan gave a little bark 'woof' back.
The next day also they did not saw the girl and her dog in the park and the following day too.
Slowly days turns week and week turned months.
After 6 months in a rainy day Tae gone to the park with yeontan he don't want to walk in the rain but he felt suffocated inside his apartment so he came to the park for little break.
There he saw her after 6 months of disappearance without even a little goodbye he saw her sitting on bench under a shade with her dog curled beside her.
Tae gone towards not to ask why she gone without saying anything but to say a little 'Hi'. that's when he noticed all the changes on her clearly the close got he got the more he saw.
Her skin paler than before and she also lost a lot of weight, importantly she is wearing a beanie and there is not sight of her hair.
Her flowy wavy hair, once he gone near her "H..hey" he called her.
She slowly lifted head and looked at him, when she notice who it is a small little smile bloomed on her pale thin lips.
"hey guys, how are you and tan going. Sorry that day I didn't say anything that day" she slowly replied.
He folded his umbrella and joined her and her dog on the bench with yeontan.
He take her look slowly and noticed how weak she got in this 6 month period.
"what happened, are you ill? did you go to hospital? did you take medicine?" he asked her so many questions at once.
she laughed lightly at him and said "yeah, i did go hospital and I got to know what is happening with me " she said.
Tae looked her with a little fear mixed with concerns asked "what happened?'
She looked him and gave a little smile "I have a stage 4 cancer and I recently went under chemo. that's why all my hair is gone now".
Tae felt like someone squeeze his heart, he can feel his eyes watering but he have to stay strong.
"what did the doctor said, this is treatable right. i mean science grown so much today, they can save you right" he asked with a desperateness.
She looked at him, taking his look deep inside her memory, like she wants to imprint his face in her memory forever.
"they said I need to have a surgery but the chances are still 50/50 and I need to go America for this surgery" she said to him.
"when do you have to go and once you got cured you will be back right" Tae asked her.
"I have brain cancer and the doctor said there is a chance that I can loose my memory but I don't want to loose my memory" she said.
but the words she wants to say is 'i don't want to forget you' but she don't want to give empty promises.
Tae took a deep breathe, he doesn't want her to forget him but he ready to start over with her once she come back healthy. then he will confess to her and they will start over from the start.
Tae looked at her said "you should do the surgery we don't want to keep wasting the time"
"every second is precious, you should do this for you, for your family, for your pet" He wants to add 'for me' too but didn't.
Tae looked down at Yeontan, who had somehow wandered over and quietly rested his head on her knee.
She smiled and scratched behind his ears.
"He's always liked me." "He has good taste," Tae replied automatically.
A tiny laugh escaped her, so soft it almost disappeared into the sound of the rain.
The silence returned.
Finally he looked at her and spoke with unusual firmness.
"Do the surgery." She didn't answer.
"Even if you forget everything." Her fingers paused in Yeontan's fur.
"Even if you forget this park." She lowered her eyes.
He smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.
The next day he received a text message from her stating she is boarding flight today for the surgery. He wished her luck.
And that's the last he heard from her.
He still went to the park for a walk but now with a different purpose too. A hope, hope to see her once again.
2 years later
"yah tan-a stopping around and bam you too, if you get dirt then kookie going to kill me for sure" Tae said while trying to stop both dogs from running around and getting dirty.
That's when he hear the same bark of a dog which he heard 2 years before. He quickly turned around.
there a dog comes running .....