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The first week she goes to the shelter, she's met with dozens of barks and meows coming from different directions. Various toys and treats lay around the shelter and a few families come and go, some bringing a dog or cat in but most leaving with a new member to their family.
Lisa just sits in front of the cages and watches the animals in awe and pure adoration. Then the nice employee asks her if she wants to hold the cat she's been eyeing. Lisa refuses because she's not sure she can handle being attached to a cat without bringing her home just because her apartment doesn't allow pets. That doesn't stop the employee from handing her the cat and that ultimately turns Lisa into a pile of mush.
The following week she comes back, the cute employee, yes there's an upgrade on her title, approaches her and asks if she'd like to pet some dogs. Lisa hesitates but gives in when one of the dogs bark directly at her. Who was she to refuse? She totally ignores the triumphant smile of the cute employee though.
The week after that she finally has a cat in her arms again. His name is Leo and he looks almost traumatized all the time because of how comically wide his eyes are. The cute employee tells her that he's available for foster care. Lisa almost cries while she's trying to figure out how to sneak in a cat to her apartment without her next door neighbor judging her every time she'll throw out the litter box.
The next week the cute employee just hands her a cat they just rescued. Lisa sobs when she hears the broken meow and almost moves to hug the cute girl in front of her. Almost.
The week after that she's still nervous to ask the cute employee's name. So she opts to admire her from afar and waits until she's being handed a leash attached to a Rottweiler who happily wags his tail at her. She walks the dog outside and is extremely happy the employee trusts her enough to let her walk the dog.
The week after that the cute employee waits for her by the door and greets her with a ragdoll cat in her arms and Lisa wonders if it would be too early to propose marriage right then and there. It probably is.
The cold floor of the local animal shelter, Barkley, has been a familiar touch now that Lisa's been coming here once a week for the past three months. She just looks at the adorable cats and dogs all safely tucked in their own cell just waiting for the perfect family to come and take them in. The weeks always seem to pass by quickly seeing as there are always new animals and less familiar boopable noses. Lisa basks in the cuteness and counts it as free therapy, though her therapist might have a lot more to say to her about that but these guys just know how to make her smile. Just look at them! Oh look the little kitten's clawing at the air and yawning oh my god I---
"Hi there!"
Lisa almost stumbles forward before bracing herself with her hands against the floor. She looks up to see a woman about her age looking at her with concern, a hand already stretched out ready to assist her. Lisa shyly takes the hand and nervously stands back up because oh my God this is that cute employee who allows her to cuddle and pet with the puppies and kittens. Today she's in her familiar blue work shirt that has Barkley Rescue High imprinted on it and her jet black hair is in a loose ponytail that makes her look so soft and---oh golly she just smiled that gummy smile again.
"Oh hello again" Lisa blushes
"Would you like to pet them again? We have a few of them running around outside for some last minute sunshine"
"R-Really?" Lisa gasps, it makes the employee chuckle and nod happily at her
"I'm Jennie Kim by the way. I'm sorry if keep coming up to you to ask if you'd like to pet them but you always seem hesitant and I just wanted to loosen up the atmosphere a bit. You've been hanging around here for quite a long time so I think I've ruled out dognapper/catnapper from the list"
Jennie's rambling tugs on Lisa's heartstring, guess she's a sucker for cute rambling animal shelter employees named Jennie Kim.
"So..." Jennie raises both her eyebrows at her
"Lisa. Lisa Manoban"
"Lisa, shall I show you the way to the play area?"
"You shall" Lisa winces at her words
Jennie giggles and gestures dramatically to the door at the back, but then she yelps out a wait and opens a door to a golden retriever puppy, she holds the pup up and gives it to Lisa and wait hold on oh my god Lisa's gonna cry.
The little pupper wiggles around Lisa's arms and happily licks her hands and face.
"His name is Groover because he loves to do the shimmy whenever we play music"
Jennie attempts to shimmy whilst leading them out and Lisa has to hold her heart back from wanting to leap into this cute employee's waiting arms.
"He's adorable" Lisa murmurs, a bit misty eyed as she looks down at Groover
"A family surrendered him a few days ago because they couldn't take care of another pet. He's gonna be a famous one come Monday morning" Jennie nuzzles her nose against the top of Groover's head, Lisa almost wants to do the same to her---oh golly please stop, you useless lesbian.
The play area is a generous size where a few dogs are running around while the cats actively avoid any sort of interaction with the dogs. An employee approaches them and opens up the door for them to enter, Lisa takes a tentative step forward and lets Groover hop off to play with the older dogs. She misses the way the employee wiggles her eyebrows teasingly at Jennie who flips her off.
"Some of them are rescues while others were left abandoned. Thrice every week a team of us drives to some neighborhoods and slumps to see if there are any of them left there, we usually come back with at least two or three cats or dogs a day" Jennie explains
Lisa goes to sit down on a black mat in the middle of the play area, her gray pantsuit has definitely seen better days but she doesn't really care about sophisticated clothes right now. There are puppies and kittens and a very cute Jennie, Lisa, please know your priorities.
Jennie then joins her immediately and points to each animal telling her their names and stories.
"That cat over there is called Lego. He was left in a crater in the middle of the woods last month. Luckily a few campers took notice of his constant meowing and called us to ask if we can come pick him up. He had a few toys and a comfy bed inside his crater but he looked so sad and defeated." Jennie heaves a heavy sigh but lights up straight away when Lego is seen sprinting towards her.
Jennie happily picks him up and allows the feline to rub his head against her jaw. Lisa hears the kitten purr happily at the attention and if Lisa's heart isn't in a puddle of mush already then it would've been melting right now.
"Here. He's a little rascal and loves attention so you better give him exactly that" Jennie hands Lisa the kitten who happily observes the new human
Lisa gasps quietly when Lego paws her face, and as pure natural Lisa instinct, she leans forward for a kiss to which Lego refuses with another paw to her face. Lisa's left to question her life decisions after that.
Jennie laughs at the defeated face.
"Don't worry, he'll warm up to you" Jennie assures her
"Do the animals refuse your kisses too?" Lisa asks
"Not really. They love me. I'm a very loveable person." Jennie states with a mischievous expression on her face
"Is that your bio on Twitter or something?" Lisa questions teasingly
"Or something! She has Tinder" the other employee responds as she passes by them
"Jisoo, murder is by far still pretty illegal, please refrain from making me want to strangle you with a nylon string and chuck you out the window" Jennie deadpans
"See? She's a keeper, I tell ya" Jisoo winks at Lisa as she scoops up a kitten to bottle feed it
Lisa laughs when Jennie flips Jisoo off. She then lets Lego go while a Labrador is currently asking for some ear scratches. She happily gives it.
"That's Jisoo. We rescued her after her family begged us to take her in, she's chipped and rarely aggressive. She responds to Rosie most of the time and she loves milk."
"I'll kick a soccer ball to your face." Jisoo exclaims
"I wasn't asking for your opinion" she yells at Jisoo
"Like I said, rarely aggressive. This is one of those rare times." Jennie whispers loudly to Lisa and nods as she looks at Jisoo with fake concern.
Lisa laughs at the banter between the two employees.
"How about you?" Jennie asks
"I'm definitely not a stray but my Mom keeps saying I'm a golden retriever, I grab the newspaper for her every morning and all that." Lisa says
Jennie playfully nudges her shoulder and laughs at her, and it's only then that Lisa realizes they're so close to one another, their shoulders touching as they both sit cross legged on the mat. Lisa can see the small mole on Jennie's eyelid and a smaller one on her neck. Okay, Lisa maybe you shouldn't be looking at her neck?
"What do you do?" Jennie asks, grins at her widely and there's this glint in her eyes that makes Lisa swallow to clear her throat because wow she's pretty.
"I'm 26 and I just moved here a few months ago. I work as a journalist for a magazine company and I come here every Friday to relieve some stress."
"That sounds awesome! What magazine company? Maybe I can convince Jisoo to buy us some for the apartment." Jennie wonders
"Oh, you and Jisoo?" Lisa starts and waits for Jennie to understand
Jennie's eyes widen comically and Jisoo, who has been eavesdropping, is now suddenly gagging which makes the animals sprint away from her. Groover assumes it's music because he's suddenly up on his back feet and pawing at the air. So that's the shimmy, and Lisa thinks it's hella impressive.
"I think I just had a stroke. I'm not sure though. But it feels like I did" Jennie says shakily
"I think I just died and forcefully came back to life, but I wanna make sure I'm really alive so if you'll excuse me I'm gonna head back in to ask Rosie to perform mouth to mouth on me. Just to be sure. It's basically protocol and not an excuse to make out with my girlfriend" Jisoo says as she stands up and heads back into the shelter
"You'd make a cute couple" Lisa teases
Lisa giggles at Jennie's mortified expression.
"Okay so you're not romantically involved." Lisa states
"Oh God no. I love her because she's my best friend and she's dating my other best friend, Rosie. The three of us live together in an apartment." Jennie explains, her finger pointed directly at Lisa's face.
"Got it." Lisa winks "And I work for Whistle Magazine by the way. We write articles on anything that calls our attention that we think the world should know."
"Like Keeping Up With The Kardashians?" Jennie asks, her head titled to the side but with a teasing smile
"You're cute, but think more on the world changing kind of things. Like How to reduce your carbon footprint, Saving the dolphins from captivity, and the importance of saving red pandas. Have you seen a red panda, Jennie?! They're adorable." Lisa speaks with so much passion, again missing out on the light blush coming across Jennie's cheeks
"I have seen a red panda on the internet. Me and Jisoo actually buy these products from a company that donates its profit to endangered species like red pandas." Jennie says casually as she scoops Groover up and hands him over to Lisa once again
"Wait---hold on, I'm really going to cry." Lisa looks at her with tears almost building up in her eyes.
Jennie giggles and shifts her body closer to Lisa.
"How about you by the way?" Lisa asks after she convinces her tear ducts to calm down
Jennie smiles shyly and looks at Lisa.
"I'm 27 and I work here at Barkley, but I do teach English Literature for freshmen college at CNU on the weekends"
"I bet you rock the really cool English teacher look" Lisa accidentally says it out loud, she internally cringes but remains still
"Totes. I wear a silk shirt and fold the sleeves up to my forearm and inspire my students by making a grand entrance all the time. Last week I did Quirrel's most iconic line: Troll! In the Dungeon!" Jennie grins and imitates the Harry Potter character, complete with the fainting part
Lisa laughs at that, very impressed with Jennie's impersonation skills.
"And did you always want to work at an animal shelter? Why not go full time teaching?" Lisa asks, hugging Groover closer to her chest as Jennie sits back up
"Yeah. My parents never allowed me a pet when I was little and my heart always ached seeing a stranded animal on the streets. I asked them if I could volunteer during the Summers and they agreed as long as I get my diploma on time" Jennie softly scratched Groover's ear, it makes Lisa want to stomp her feet on the ground at the sudden attention
"After I got my degree and taught for two years, I decided to go full time at Barkley and work part time at CNU. Luckily, my parents didn't throw a fit"
Lisa nods.
"Guess their hearts changed when they saw how happy you are with these cuties, huh?" Lisa nudged her playfully
Jennie snorts and shakes her head "God, no. They agreed to it because I was still being offered a great price even though I only teach on the weekends"
"Oh? You must be a great teacher then"
Jennie shrugs.
"You must be a great journalist too"
It's Lisa's turn to shrug.
"I don't know" She murmurs, her attention on Groover
"Well you decided to work for a company that focuses on showing society some world changing stories, and that for me already makes you a great journalist" Jennie says, her eyes shining with pride as she looks fondly at Lisa
Lisa blushes furiously and hides her face behind Groover who basks in the affection. Jennie can't help but coo at the two.
"I've actually been meaning to ask you something" Jennie starts fidgeting with the hem of her shirt
"Yeah?" Lisa boops Groover's nose
"Do you plan on taking home a pet?" Jennie asks
"I'd love to but my apartment doesn't allow pets. I'm actually looking for a small home nearby so I can take at least 5 cats, 2 dogs and maybe a turtle home." Lisa says dreamily
Jennie chuckles and nods.
"I have a plan of taking someone out" Jennie says slowly
Lisa perks up and she smiles widely at Jennie.
"Who?" She asks as she beams at Groover
"You" Jennie says, her eyes nervously glancing up
Lisa's eyes widen and stare directly into those brown orbs. Jennie's biting her bottom lip as she awaits for Lisa's answer.
Lisa wonders about that marriage proposal again.
"Only if you want to! It's fine if you don't---I'm all about consent here. It'll be fine, I promise." Jennie rambles out and laughs nervously at the taller one
Lisa just stares at Jennie, then Groover licks her face and barks once, grabbing her attention before she starts writing a prose on how adorable Jennie looks while rambling.
Would it be too late (or too early?) to buy a ring?
"Okay, was this too soon? I'm sorry---Just forget about this. It never happened. I was never here. Jennie who? Pfff, ridiculous. This was just some kind of butterfly effect. Who are you again?"
Doves. There'll be doves.
Jennie starts to stand up but Lisa holds her wrist and brings her down but miscalculating a bit so Jennie ends up half way sitting on her lap with Groover in between them looking back and forth at the two, his tail wagging happily. Jennie's cheeks are red while Lisa's eyes are beaming at her.
"I would love to go out with you." Lisa whispers
"Yeah? Cool" Jennie whispers back
"Cool" Lisa agrees
"Like on a date, right?" Jennie asks again just to make sure they're on the same page
"Definitely on a date" Lisa nods
"Romantic date" Jennie huffs
"A very romantic date" Lisa assures her
"Where I take you out and feed you and perhaps kiss you good night on your front door?" Jennie bites her bottom lip
"Yes, Jennie" Lisa smiles
Jennie blushes scarlet after hearing Lisa say her name.
Uh huh. A beach wedding it is.
Groover barks again and licks both of their faces. They end up in a fit of giggles as they both fully drop to the ground as the other dogs run up to them and tackle them down playfully.
Dogs. And cats. They'd have to reserve some benches for the cats and dogs.
Yeah, it's a good life.