chapter 2

The next morning you woke up and finished all your chores like a rabid tornado with legs. You were looking forward to seeing your friends today and made your way over to Taehyung’s house with your brother for once trying to keep up with you instead. Growing impatient waiting for him to catch up you took his arm in yours and dragged him next to you,” for once keep up slow poke.” He gave you a “oh, please” look, but you just winked knowing it would rile him up. You stuck out your tongue out towards him and he chased after you, both laughing at your stupid antics, and you came up to Tae’s front door slightly out of breath. You knocked on the door in a pattern the four of you created to let eachother know it was you at the door, but there was no response. You repeated the knock again, but when nothing stirred you looked into the living room window and saw no one and heard nothing. Not even Froggy’s ribbit.

You and your brother went around the house rustling through the bushes to the sliding glass door and looked inside. There was a crack between the curtain, but the inside was dark and hollow of any sign of life. He looked over to you with somber eyes, “nothing, it’s empty.” Panic set in your heart, Tae was the loudest being you’ve become acquainted with. His mom was always doing something in the house be it cleaning or cooking. She always played the portable radio and was dancing as she cooked. It was never quiet in the Kim’s house. You stared at eachother with worried expressions and ran to Hoseok’s incase they were over there for the day. “Please be over there, please be there.” You knocked rapidly on the door and Hoseok’s mom opened the door surprising to you two. “Good morning, Kiddos. Hoseok’s in the living room come in.” You both thanked his mom and ran into the living room to find Hoseok sitting on the couch not even paying attention to the cartoons on TV looking sad. They ran up to him and questioned him where Tae was. He looked up with saddened eyes and said, “Mom said he’s gone on a trip. I don’t know when he’s coming back.” Shocked at the news your brother questioned first, “…for how long?” Hoseok shrugged his shoulders in uncertainty. You fell to your knees in disbelief that your best friend wouldn’t even tell you he’s leaving and not knowing when he’s going to return. Tae wouldn’t do that to you guys, he even told you the size of his feces when he was impressed. You knew everything about eachother, or so you thought. You all three sat in silence. You were the Guardians, but you lost the fox.

You didn’t feel like hanging out anymore today; you were too disheartened by the news and started walking back home. Your brother decided to stay back and play video games with Hoseok, he trusted you enough to make it back home alone. He knew a way to cheer up Hoseok was to keep routine. Even if Tae wasn’t there they were still going to try to beat his top score, so when he came back they could show him their sweet victory.

You walked down the dirt road but stopped when unfamiliar black and white cars and a van pulled up to Tae’s house. Why were the police at Tae’s house? With quick thinking you ditched the dirt road and ran down the hill that lead to the river bank, but back up the other side leading to the back of Tae’s house. You hid close enough in the trees behind Tae’s house, specifically behind a thick oak tree observing from above. You climbed up the tree and sat on a hanging branch that concealed you enough but still had a good view of the people at his door. The police approached the front door and knocked. Hound hybrids were on leashes lead by pound officers to the front of the houses. When they got no response one specific officer, who was tall but had over gelled back hair, commanded the pound officer to lead the hounds around the corner of the house around to the back. They were sniffing the perimeter and the left-out toys in the yard. You tried leaning in closer to hear what they were saying, but you only caught snippets of their conversation. “The bitch and the pup…no one’s here? The mongrel must’ve told his family somehow…” You were confused what did they mean who told his family about what? Why was the police here and with pound officers looking for Tae’s family? They continued, “that fucker is going to pay, five years of searching….no one escapes me.” Escape? Tae’s family is in danger? You start tearing up and hiccup from holding back your voice and breath. A hound looked in your direction and you held your hand over your mouth to mute the noise. He goes back to his sniffing the perimeter and ignores the noise, he must’ve mistaken you to for a bird. Once the officers and hounds made their way back into the vehicles coming up empty handed and not tracking a scent, you slipped down the tree but one of the many hole in your shoe gets stuck in a protruding bark and you fall to the ground. Your so upset that you don’t bother getting up and cry on the dirt floor. Why? Why your best friend! You were so confused and afraid. Those men looked terrifying, but they were supposed to protect people. You made your way back home but you kept what you saw to yourself, not sure who to tell or what you saw meant.

A week before Summer ended and school was due to start, Hoseok announced to you and your brother that he’s moving to the city. His parents found better jobs in the city and they wanted to move closer to his Aunt. His grandparents passed away three years ago and left the house to them. His parents originally lived in the city before he was born, but moved back to take care of his grandparents. They sold the house and spent the money on a new life in the city. He promised to write you both and call when the house phone gets set up to keep in contact. You shared tearful goodbye watching him get in the moving truck and leave with his parents.

You waited patiently. Months passed, then a year passed, then three, and after ten you stopped keeping track. Tae wasn’t coming back and Hoseok never called or sent the letters he promised. You and your brother had eachother, but as time went by he graduated high school first and left for the military. Your personality changed from bright and carefree to studious and cold. At least that’s how classmates described you, truthfully you were still the same old person, but you didn’t want to open up to anyone; you’d rather be on your own. You took your education and studying very serious. You wanted to get out of this town too, just like Taehyung, Hoseok and your brother. Your family didn’t have the money to send you to college, so you worked hard to get scholarships. It was either go to school or marry a farm boy. You weren’t going to settle in life for a mediocre plotline.

Walking in the door barely slipping your shoe off and removing your high school’s uniform blazer, your grandmother stopped you from getting any more comfortable. She asked you if you would go back out and pick up some apples up for her at the farm. Not having the heart to deny her because she was more your own mom than your own mom, you agreed. Despite how tired you were, you were now looking forward to her apple pie you slipped your shoes back on. You went to visit the old man at the farm because your grandmother wanted some fresh apples from only his orchard. She insisted he had the sweetest apple’s and the ones from the grocery store didn’t taste as good. Her apple pie was only perfect with local apples. Your brother was still away in the military having joined a few years ago, so you went alone. He wasn’t good at school, but knew to get a stable job you need college. He wanted the government to pay for his education if he couldn’t get a scholarship or financial aid.

You trekked on your own and came up on the produce sorting building and walked in through the dock entrance. The old man always let you come and pick apples for a discounted price. You greeted all the familiar aunties and uncles and went to knock on the old man’s office. You stopped before you knocked because you heard a name you haven’t heard in a long time. You heard him on the phone discussing heatedly with someone. “Taehyung…look, what happened all those years ago should be left there. The poachers won’t stop until they get the whole family. Yes, I know what kind of risk this is, but I can’t. Yeah, u-huh. I don’t know, I really don’t know what happened afterwards. Look, I’ll talk to you later okay?”

At that point you stopped listening, not wanting to believe what you just heard. It confirmed what you saw and heard all those years ago. You took steps back and further back until your back hit some boxes. Tears were flowing down your cheeks in streams. Taehyung’s dad was taken and him and his mom were in danger this whole time. You ran away as fast as you could. You ended up in one of the many rows of orange trees and fell to your knees sobbing. You had so much anger built up against him for leaving you. It all just flooded out of you as you yelled out, yelling at the world for taking away someone so important to you and taking someone away important to him. His family treated you like their own. They knew your parents were gone all the time and subtly took over the roll. It was more than just losing a best friend, but your makeshift family. You ended up stopping by the market on your way home when it was already dark outside and the crickets chirped and got some apples from there. You couldn’t go back. The pie truly didn’t taste the same.

You spent the night trying to study but your mind wouldn’t let you think of anything else besides Taehyung. You sat at your makeshift desk on your bed and thought and thought. These moments inspired you and you decided right then and there that you were going to become a lawyer. You were going to become a lawyer that protected hybrids and their rights. You weren’t going to let hybrids go through what Tae went through. The firefly was glowing again.

You graduated high school valedictorian, but you couldn’t attend the national University you wanted to go to. Your scholarship and financial aid wouldn’t cover tuition, living expenses, books and eating. You decided to enroll into the just as good state university where you could pay for everything, well at least school expenses. You still had to take up part time jobs while you were taking classes. You made it out of the small town, just like the rest and that’s all that matters. You ended up finding a cheap rooftop apartment that was half an hour away from the school by bus. It didn’t have any insulation, but it did have a rickety door and leaky roof; it was home. You shared it with your brother, he was rarely there anyways always out on his military missions, but when he was it was nice. Majority of time you weren’t home much either, you were either in one of your four class, in the library or at work.

During your second-year things took an unexpected turn, your grandparents were getting worse with their ailments and your dad got injured at work. You made a trip back home with your brother and found out your dad wouldn’t be able to return to work for three months. Your mom now stayed home to take care of your grandparents, so they wouldn’t have any income. With no choice you decided to drop your classes this semester, so you could pick up more shifts and jobs. You were able to manage a full-time schedule working at a diner during the day and working a part time job waitressing at a bar at night. You only slept four hours a day maximum and never could take a day off. Even when others dropped shifts, or couldn’t make it in you were the first to raise your hand. You sent as much money you could every month. Your brother helped this whole time as well, but he wasn’t getting much being a lower ranking private. Your dad got better and was able to return to work when December came around.

Your grandfather passed away the following Spring and your grandmother followed behind shortly after not able to handle her broken heart. You couldn’t attend the actual funeral, but you made it to the spreading of their ashes along the river. You ended up having to take the spring semester off as well to help your parents pay for the funeral expenses.

You eventually made it through college and it took you six years, but you made it! You graduated with honors and a degree in political science. Your brother was able to make it into the special forces. He made his dream come true. Immediately after your bachelors you applied to your school’s law program and made it in the following semester and that took another three years. You passed the bar exam your first year in the program on your first try. You studied in between your jobs when the lull was slow, and it helped your classes covered things on the exam as well. The studying part was finally over.

You still lived at the rooftop apartment and worked your endless part times jobs. As a twenty-seven-year-old now with a bachelors and lawyers license you were so close to your dream you could taste it. When you weren’t working, you were applying to all law firms and doing interviews. But here six months later you still were applying for jobs after graduation not landing a job yet.

You were walking home at two in the morning having the closing shift at the bar for the night. Your black v neck t-shirt and skinny jeans were covered in dust. Your hair was pulled back up in a pony tail and face with full makeup. Your one friend, also coworker, offered to take you home, but you lived to far you didn’t want to bother her. Your coworker, who you’ve been working with since you first started there, was like an older sister to you. She taught you how to do your makeup to get more tips and made working there overall easier. She showed you how to fill in your brows, contour your cheeks, wing your liner and then line your plush lips with a ruby red and setting it with matte lipstick. Normally you preferred to go more natural with your makeup any other time, but you were glad she taught you the basics to even do that now. Your mother never knew how to apply makeup or even wore it. You’ve grown out your crazy bowl cut when your grandma had her scissors taken from her after the last lopsided bowl cut. For convenience sake, you just let your hair do its own thing and only got it trimmed by your neighbor, who was a hairstylist, once every six months. Since you helped her out every now and then she did it for you for at a discounted price. It was pretty long now tickling your waist, but it spent the majority of time wrapped up in a bun, braided, or in a ponytail so it wouldn’t get in the way of productivity. To say the least, you weren’t the same tomboy who had shoes with holes but a pretty, young woman. Okay, you still had shoes with holes; you didn’t have the budget to buy new shoes. Also “pretty, young woman” was your brother’s words not yours, it made you gag with his softness towards you still.

It was very late, and you were walking towards the bus stop, ready to go home and shower off the grime and sleep it all off. You made your way down a main street where all the night bars were and some popular clubs, your bus stop was at the other end of the street. There were food stands that had all the drunk people from the surrounding establishments flocking around them. They were loud, but the majority kept to themselves. As you pulled your phone out of your purse to check if anyone messaged you during your shift, you heard a yelp then growl. You looked up and saw a short, stoutly drunken man shoving around a young dog hybrid. The hybrid was no older than fifteen. Your protective nature kicked in, but more importantly your lawyer half awoke. You switched your purse behind you tightening the strap and walked over confidently. Although the hybrid was obviously taller than him he still raised his hand to land another hit, but you grabbed the man’s wrist midair. You looked over to the hybrid who had his head hung low, but you could make out the bruises all over him. The thin shirt and skinny jeans with no shoes was enough to give away his poor domestic condition. This brought a boiling anger within you. The man struggled against your hold, stumbling around slightly. He turned to you and spat, “Let go of me you bitch! Can’t you see I’m teaching him a lesson. This little shit deserves to know his place! I am his owner!” He yelled the last part getting in your face directly catching wind of his strong alcoholic breath. You pulled your head to the side to avoid any more unwanted breathing on you. You sighed and said, “Sir, you can’t hit this hybrid. It’s against the law under the Freeman’s act paragraph 7 section A. It is illegal to abuse hybrids mentally or physically that leads to emotional or physical damage, especially a child.” Obviously, he didn’t care you knew your laws. He went to raise his hand again out of your lock, but you’ve had enough. You twisted his arm locking it behind him and using the momentum of his stumbling you kicked behind his knees. He lost his balance and fell into a kneeling position. You learned this from your brother on how to retrain someone in a way that put you in the dominant position. “Sir, if you do not stop and calm down I’m going to have to call the police.” The man was very drunk, but he was more than upset already and wasn’t taking being restrained by a woman. He began shouting degrading slurs at you and the hybrid, but you weren’t listening. You moved both his arms into one of yours and reached for your phone and called the police. Waiting for officers and an ambulance you called over to the hybrid to calm him down. He was shaking violently from more than one reason. “Hey sweetie, look at me. My name’s Y/N, what’s yours?” He looked at his owner and then back at you to shakily answer back. “Good, good. It’s nice to meet you sweetheart. I can assure you that nothing will happen to you from now on. Can you tell me is this the first time he’s hit you?” He hung his head and then shook it as no. It was obvious, but you needed verbal confirmation. Your grip tightened on the pathetic male you’ve now maneuvered to lying flat on his stomach and arms still locked. He wouldn’t stop squirming. “Look, I know a friend of mine his name is Jin, who’s also a hybrid. He owns a shelter and finds loving home for hybrids and with a 100% guarantee no abuse and no returning to the shelter.” The boy seemed to light up at your words as if what you said was only a legend.

You met Jin in college. He and you volunteered at a hybrid shelter that helped hybrids find homes. You volunteered to see how the system worked hands on. Jin didn’t like the way it was run saying he didn’t understand the aggression of some of the employees. He’s a male grizzly bear hybrid, but he acts like a mother bear over his cubs the way he talks about his shelter. He only opened it up in the past few years, but it’s become one of the best and well-known shelters there are. He prides himself screening and meeting the hybrids to be families first and not just adopting them out at will. Family was everything to Jin.

The police and ambulance showed up and you let the man go from under you switching him over to a tall, bunny hybrid officer. Honestly a bit surprised that a bunny was a police officer, but you had other priorities. You went up to young hybrid immediately, “Sweetie, I promise these people will take care of you! They are going to take you to my friend.” The three officers came up to you and the hybrid who was now latched onto you, “miss, were you the one who called?” You cooed at the young hybrid and stroked his hair to calm him down, “Yes, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I called in the abuse” You’ve dealt with so many hybrids that you know exactly how to calm them down, you even earned the nickname whisper at the volunteer shelter. You looked at the officers and showed them your lawyer’s license. They acknowledged it and listen to you list the man’s offenses. The paramedics came after asking the hybrid to follow them into the ambulance. He looked at you with terrified eyes and gripped onto you tighter. He had no intention to let go. The paramedics said that you can come with them to the hospital. You were about to say he would be fine, but the look he gave you broke your heart. You nodded, “I’ll come with you to the hospital and make sure my friend meets you. Will that make you feel better?” He nodded as fast as he could, smiling ear to ear causing his slit lip to open up again. You let the paramedics take him on a gurney and followed protocol. While you waited to board the bunny officer came up to you, “wow, what you did just there was awesome Ms. Y/L/N! It’s always so impressive to see someone know their stuff and wield their sword with pride.” You laughed at his metaphor, a bit too dramatic for the situation. “I just did what’s right officer…I’m sorry your name is?” He pointed to his badge, “Officer Jeon Jungkook” and then shook your hand. The paramedics called to you ready to depart, so you waved Officer Jeon goodbye, “Good night officer Jeon.” He wanted to stop you and offer you a ride home after all you’ve done for the kid, but you were already running down the street. He mumbles under his breath in imagination, “I’m glad I could get you home. I know this may be a bit forward but would you like go get coffee sometime.” He scuffs his boot on the floor but walks back to the struggling drunk in the vehicle. That night you were able to introduce they hybrid to Jin, but by the time you left the hospital it was already seven thirty am. You only had thirty minutes to get to work; lucky you were in experienced in pulling all-nighters before, but you were going to need all the coffee you could get.

The next few weeks were spent going to interviews and working shifts endlessly. One office finally responded back to you, but it turned out to be a scam. You had to run out of the business when some gangster started chasing you after when you threatened to report their business. You ran as far as you could, not paying attention to where you were going. You hid behind a dumpster in an alleyway and you watched them run past the entrance. You finally took a breath sighing. This was the 10th interview this month and no one has called you back yet. This was so disheartening that no was calling you back. At this point you felt your license was as good as toilet paper. You knew it was hard getting into the hybrid legal industry, much less even to practice as a lawyer. You weren’t going to let this throw your schedule off today, you had to make it to your night shift in an hour. You waited a few more minutes to create enough distance with the men. You were in the heart of downtown, tall buildings and angry business men pushed you out of the way down the street.

You looked around taking in your surroundings, identifying the area you were in. You walked to the nearest bus station and looked at the route map, but you couldn’t focus on the map. Your eyes looked pass the map to the building across the streets directory. It read on the fifth floor of the twenty-floor building there was a law practice, “Hybrid Welfare Legal Law Group, LLC” Your manila folder still had one resume left in it and you had enough time to run over and drop it off before the next bus came by. You were taking the chance. You ran across the street entering the glass door to the main lobby full of elevators. You entered the elevator and fixed up your appearance in the mirror. You breathed in deeply when the doors opened and you were greeted by a receptionist sitting at a rounded desk. The room was quiet and minimal in decoration. There was a leather couch and some office plants. The older woman looked up over her glasses perched at the end of her nose and sweetly called to you, “can I help you dear?” You were relieved someone was being nice to you today. You nodded and put on your professional voice, “Yes, I’m looking to submit my resume for the job application at this legal firm.” Before the receptionist could respond a woman’s, heels clicked down the hall and interrupted. “Hello Miss.” The receptionist turned to her and said that you wanted to turn in a resume. She lifted her brow in question and then back to you, “Oh, perfect! We’ve been looking for more legal help! Hello I’m Mrs. Lee. I’m the secretary for Mr.Kim.” She was a beautiful woman who had black hair, but strands of grey threaded through every now and then. You would’ve never guessed she was over the age of 35. You shook her hand and introduced yourself. She asked for your resume pulling it out of the folder to look it over once and then back in. She told you she would call you in a few days to schedule an interview. You thanked her about a thousand times and bid both women goodbye. You passed a mother and child bunny hybrids walking into the office and heard the secretary greet them. You stepped inside the elevator and leaned on the wall. You were hoping this wasn’t another failed endeavor.

Mrs. Lee walked back down the hall after directing the family to their legal help. She passed the open desk’s office space to an office at the end the second hallway. She knocked a few times and only got a grunt as a response. She’s worked for him long enough to know it was “come in.” He didn’t even bother looking up from the case file he was going over. He was a workaholic and stayed up endlessly working on all the cases. She spoke up, “sir, I have another resume. Please review it and let me know if you want me to schedule an appointment.” He grunted again and took the file from her without even looking and placed it on the bottom of his large stack of paper work to finish. This was the thirtieth applicant this month, and he’s rejected every single one of them.

It was three am by the time he was able to transfer all the “to-do” paperwork into the “done” section. He felt like Mrs. Lee only just said good night ten minutes ago, not six hours ago. He set his glasses down on his desk and ran his hands over his face and then up to his hair running them pass his ears. His tail flicked behind him still from the seven coffee cups littering his desk. He was exhausted, but he only had one last document left. He put his glasses back on and opened the manila folder. There was a resume with a picture attached the corner. He looked it over and squinted at the information. You went to a great school, graduated with honors and were a model student. He kept looking at the picture, he felt a weird familiarity with the person looking back at him. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but it was almost a visceral reaction that this person was familiar. Maybe one of the girls he slept with in college? He sat the file down back on the desk and pulled out a stick note pad and clicked one of his fountain pens and wrote a note down for his secretary. He packed up his bag and slipped his grey blazer back on. He clicked off the table lamp off and closed the door to his office.

You were sleeping on your stomach in star fish position, you came home and plopped down on top of your bed and fell asleep just like that. The phone ringtone kept going and you reached for your phone and answered groggily, “Hello?” The woman on the other end giggled, “Hello Y/N. It’s Mrs. Lee from Hybrid Welfare Legal Law Group, LLC. I’m calling you to let you know that you were approved for an interview. Would you be able to schedule with me?” You shot up immediately and the tiredness left your body. “Yes, Mrs. Lee. Is there a time that would work best for you this week?” She looked at her schedule book and said, “Thursday at 2pm there is an opening for half an hour. Would you be able to make it then?” Without thinking you said “Yes! Thank you, Mrs. Lee!” She laughed at your enthusiasm especially at 7am. You finished the details and hung up. You only handed in your resume yesterday you weren’t expecting a call back so soon.

You jumped up out of bed and rushed in to your brother’s bedroom and dog piled on top of him. He grunted from the impact of your weight. You hugged him tightly and said, “Hey, hey I got another call back! They want an interview!” He was mumbling into the pillow. You were so excited, even though you’ve been through many before you wanted to stay humble. Each call back was another chance! Your brother tossed you off him onto the other side of the bed. He smiled at you and ruffled your hair but buried himself back under the blanket. You went back to your room and circled your calendar. You had three days to prepare for your next interview. You got dressed and made breakfast and left a note for your brother to eat the leftovers. You locked the door and made your usual way to the diner, but with a smile on your face.

Thursday at 1:45pm you were in the lobby of the building of Hybrid Welfare Legal Law Group, LLC staring at the elevators. You wore your only pair of black slacks and black blazer that were now a dark grey. The white button up you wore was actually a part of your high school uniform with its logo still embroidered on the left chest pocket. The brown flats you wore were the only thing closest to professional you had in your closet. You pulled your hair up into a pony tail habitually now whenever you were going to work or things were serious. You got the guts to step into the elevator at 1:50pm, you checked yourself in the mirror one last time and made your way towards the receptionist. You took a deep breath and then introduced yourself to the sweet woman at the counter again. She looked up from her screen and adjusted her glasses, “Oh, Ms. Y/L/N. I’m glad you made it. Please take a seat, I’ll call you when we’re ready.” You thanked her and moved to the leather couch. It was still stiff and had that that new smell. You twiddled with the latch of your purse and the peeling edge of the faux leather. This office was quiet intimidating. It carried a very posh vibe that showed you that the people here were serious about what you did. This is the best place you’ve applied to so far. You didn’t get a chance to do any research of the lawyers here and that worried you because they usually always asked about the lawyers in the office of your opinion of them. Before you could sweat any more Mrs. Lee came in the room. “Ms. Y/L/N Mr. Kim is able to see you now.” You stood up and followed her down the hall into a large open room. There were four sections conglomerated into four desks at each division. There were people working and running around. You looked at them in awe, you wanted to be doing that. Down another hallway there were four isolated offices, one of which belonging to Mr.Kim.

Mrs. Lee knocked on the door with you in tow. She got a grunt in response and apparently, she understood exactly what his non-lingual sounds mean, she opened the door. The nerves finally kicked in when the door opened and you walked in behind her. You were greeted by a man sitting in his chair, he held a case file in front of his face studying it with his face propped in his hand. You could only make out red-orange, fluffy ears above the file. Your heart was beating out of your chest when she closed the door behind you leaving you alone.

You bowed to him in greeting and he said, “take a seat.” You steadily made your way over to the leather seat across from his oak desk. He reclined in his seat and let the case file down on his desk, he pushed up his glasses and finally looked up to you. Your heart stopped, you couldn’t breathe, you didn’t want to blink in case you missed it. It’s been so long but you recognized him immediately, you whispered shakily “Taehyung.” Tears were brimming in your eyes, but it stopped when he cut you off. “Mr.Kim please Mrs. ….”he looked at your resume once more, “Y/L/N.” Your heart sunk to your stomach, he didn’t even recognize you. You were frozen on the spot, but clicked back into your professional mode. Even if he didn’t recognize you, you were going to do your best to impress him in this interview. You had a dream to reach after all. He was silent and reviewed your resume. He asked you questions and you responded the best to your ability.

It was so odd that his voice was so deep now. He was so handsome too like a model out of a catalog, but you kept a stoic face, you weren’t going to comprise anything. He asked you an curve ball question, “Why do you want to be a hybrid lawyer?” He took a sip of his coffee and waited for your response. You sat for a second but gave the honest response, “All I’ve ever wanted in life was to make the world a better place as cliché as it is. I don’t mean in a monumental way, but in a way that can prevent peoples life from suffering and knowing useless pain that doesn’t help them grow. I want to reach out confidently holding the hand of a stranger and give them a promise I won’t break. I want to go home at the end of the day saying I worked hard and know someone else will sleep better at night because of my efforts.” He laughs a bit and said, “that sounds selfish.” Your shocked by his comment, but not disagreeing with his point. “Yes, in a way it is. I knew someone very close to me who lost everything, even his father to pound officers. If I can stop families from being torn apart then I will keep going,” you side eyed him seeing if he would catch on but he doesn’t. “Ah there it is, so it is personal, not a moral duty to the world.” You counter, “no, I want to satisfy both. Volunteering is a selfish act anyways. You do it to make yourself feel better that you’re making a big difference. It’s a rewarding feeling that makes you feel better. Humans are selfish being, rather, any living being are driven by greed to some extent. It’s just how you use that greed to motivate you defines you.” Fully taking in your words he agrees finishing his coffee, “I’ll get back to you and have Mrs. Lee call you with feedback. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Y/L/N.” He said as he stood from his seat holding out his hand. You took it in yours and it felt soft compared to your calloused hand. Embarrassed you pulled your hand back and bowed thanking him for his time. You stepped out of the room and walked back to the elevator. The doors couldn’t close fast enough before your knees gave out. You didn’t cry, you didn’t have it in you, but you stared in front of you with glazed over eyes. Taehyung was alive and well. He was alive, the fox was alive.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***