"If you want to leave, then leave. If you're going, just go."

"Let me out! Rang, let me out of this apartment!"

"...insignificant human…"

"...let go of me…"

...

"...insignificant human…"

"...let go of me..."

"...insignificant human…"

"Rang, let go of me, please."

Rang's bedroom spun, and the picture of Ga Eul on Rang's phone screen blurred beyond recognition. His head pounded. His face felt wet. He shut his eyes, squeezed them tight, opened them again. His stomach roiled. The picture of Ga Eul kissing his cheek came into focus, then blurred again. His head pounded. His face felt wet. He was a bad fox. A bad, bad fox.

He rubbed his thumb over the picture of Ga Eul smiling and kissing his cheek, but he only saw her mascara-streaked face as she stood in his doorway, her arms gathered warily about her. His own face felt wet. He was a bad fox.

The bottle in his lap was empty. He didn't know if he had more. He'd drunk the bottle of wine, followed by any other alcohol he could find. He didn't know if this was the last bottle or if he had more. Maybe there was more.

Rang stumbled up, still dressed in his clothes from the previous evening.

He should call Ga Eul. He should tell her...Bad fox. Bad, bad fox.

Her red scarf was there, on the couch. He should call her and say he was sorry. He was so, so sorry. God, he was sorry.

He could say...He could be her pet. That was it. He could be her pet fox, and then...he couldn't hurt her anymore. She could...She could tell him what to do. She could say 'bad fox,' and he would stop.

Rang snatched up her scarf and held it to his face, sniffing it. He collapsed on the floor with it, his back to the couch, and fingered the soft, knitted fabric. That was it. He could be her pet. He could make another contract.

Rang opened his text messages. A contract, that was it. A contract. Then...no more bad fox.

No more bad fox, he typed.

No, that wasn't what he'd meant to say. He'd meant…

Rang erased the message.

Let me be your pet, he typed. I'll be good, I promise.

There. A contract. He just...He needed to write a contract, and then...he could send it to her.

Where the fuck was the paper?

Rang stood. He felt dizzy. His head pounded. His face felt wet.

Paper. In her bedroom. Desk drawer. He put it...He put some there. For her.

Rang shuffled around the couch, leaning on it for support. He dragged himself down the hallway to her room. The stuffed fox on the bed was laughing at him. He threw it at the window. It hit the blinds, and the light...The light hurt. Rang's head hurt. Everything hurt. And those damn butterflies were laughing at him too. Laughing, laughing...Bad, bad fox.

Rang collapsed on the bed. He curled himself into a ball.

Everything hurt. The light hurt. The light was going black. He couldn't...The desk was blurry. He still held her scarf in his hand. Brought it to his nose. It smelled like her. Everything was going black.

He just needed to sign another contract.

Let me be your pet. I'll be good, I promise.


"Mister Lee Rang, can you hear me? You have to wake up now. Mister Lee Rang?"

Rang opened his eyes to slits, but that wasn't Ga Eul's voice. She called him Rang. Rang-ah. Rang-aaah. Just like that. Kind of sing-songy, with the second syllable drawn out.

And god, the light hurt.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Mister Lee Rang."

Someone was shaking him, tugging on his shoulders.

"Mister Lee Rang, you can't stay drunk forever. I ordered you some soup. Come on, open your eyes. I know you're awake."

Yu Ri's voice. What the hell was she doing in his apartment? Rang's head pounded. He buried his face in the white sheets he'd bought for Ga Eul.

"Ga Eul," he groaned into the bed.

"You have three seconds to open your eyes before I pour this bucket of water on you," Yu Ri said.

Rang snapped his eyes open. He popped his head up, but instead of seeing Yu Ri holding a bucket of water, he saw her standing over him, empty-handed, next to Shin-joo, neither of them looking too pleased to be there.

Well, they were trespassing, and Rang felt like he'd been hit by a freight train. They needed to go away.

"Oh good. You are awake," Yu Ri said, and before Rang could get more than a single slurred syllable out, she'd smacked him on the side of his head. His ears rang.

"What the hell was that for?!" he protested, rubbing his right ear and glaring up at them.

"That was for scaring my friend." She smacked him again. "And that was for hurting her feelings."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rang shielded his head with his arms. Ordinarily, he would fight back, but the throbbing in his head wouldn't stand for much movement. Plus, he felt sick in his stomach. He curled further into the fetal position instead.

"A certain Chu Ga Eul showed up at our apartment last night. She was quite upset," Shin-joo explained in an utterly unamused tone. He didn't bother speaking quietly, as Yu Ri had. "She was so upset, in fact, that she spent the night with us because she didn't feel safe going back to her own residence."

Ga Eul? They'd seen Ga Eul?

"Why didn't she go home?" Rang said, half to himself.

"Maybe because she thought someone would try to break in disguised as a cat," Shin-joo answered.

Rang frowned when he realized that Shin-joo was holding a familiar stuffed fox.

"That's Ga Eul's," Rang scolded, pointing at the fox. "Put it down."

Shin-joo raised his eyebrows but set the stuffed animal next to Rang on the bed.

"It was on the floor," he replied.

Rang snatched the fox and held it to his chest protectively, along with Ga Eul's scarf.

"Why didn't she go home?" Rang repeated, to the stuffed fox instead of Shin-joo.

"Because she was scared," Shin-joo replied exasperatedly.

"Why was she scared?" Rang furrowed his brow. He glanced up.

"Because you scared her."

"I didn't...I wasn't…trying to..." Rang tried to corral his thoughts, but his brain was fuzzy. Light hurt. Sound hurt. Everything hurt. He wanted Yu Ri and Shin-joo to go away.

What had they said? He'd scared Ga Eul?

Bad fox. Bad, bad fox.

"Come on, sit up," Yu Ri urged him. She was back in the room. When had she left the room?

"Eat this," she said, bringing over a tray of hangover soup. "You'll feel better, and then we can scold you properly."

The rich beefy scent of the soup hit him, and Rang meant to sit up. He meant to get off of the clean white sheets he'd prepared for Ga Eul. Instead he flung the scarf and the stuffed animal off the side of the bed and rolled over to a crawling position; suddenly the dinner he hadn't eaten was expelling itself from his stomach, staining those white, white sheets.

Rang groaned. He felt someone rubbing his back. His mouth tasted horrible. He gagged, then dry heaved. His head pounded.

Everything hurt.


A few hours later, Rang felt marginally better, having thrown up twice, taken a shower, put on a comfortable pair of beige sweatpants, and dutifully eaten the soup Yu Ri had reheated for him. Shin-joo had taken it upon himself to clean the sheets, complaining not-so-subtly about having to clean up after Rang even in his Rang's apartment.

At present, Rang had no more soup left and no more reason not to talk. He didn't want to talk. He felt better but not good. Now that he was sober and not disoriented, he could remember clearly the events of the previous evening, and the weight of everything that had been said began to settle on his shoulders. He still had a headache, and the way that Yu Ri and Shin-joo were staring at him, waiting for him to start explaining himself, wasn't helping his uncomfortable state.

Yu Ri and Shin-joo sat on one end of the couch, and Rang sat on the other, swirling water around in his glass to avoid looking at them. The couch pillows were on the floor where he had flung them the night before while he was sulking. The food had been sitting out too, but he assumed Shin-joo had thrown it out because now the kitchen area was spotless.

Rang had found his phone on the floor by the couch. The battery had run down, but when he'd recharged it, he'd seen a message he'd almost sent to Ga Eul, asking to be her pet. He could believe he'd thought that—most of his inappropriate dreams about her ended with her petting his head and saying 'good fox' in that sugary, sentimental manner people praised their dogs with—but he couldn't believe how close he'd been to actually asking that of her.

How much alcohol had he consumed?

"We have to talk now," Yu Ri announced, swiping the glass of water from Rang's hand and setting it down on the coffee table. "What are you planning to do about Ga Eul?"

"She doesn't want to see me. You said she was...scared of me," Rang finished uncomfortably.

"True. She doesn't trust you anymore, so you have to help her trust you again," Yu Ri stated. "You should start by apologizing."

An apology? When Rang thought of everything he would need to apologize for, it was like staring into a black hole that would sooner swallow him up than absolve him. An apology wouldn't erase anything he'd done, and he was awful at apologies to start with—clearly awful, from the way Ga Eul had reacted when he'd turned into a cat. Of course, that idea had led to another complication. He'd been forced to confess the rest of his secrets. Or most of them, anyway. She still didn't know he'd been at the bus stop, and he would take that secret to his grave.

Yes, Rang was awful at apologies, and he hadn't the slightest idea how to earn back Ga Eul's trust. He didn't even know why she'd trusted him in the first place. The two of them together...It had never made sense. Rang had always thought their relationship was a thing that shouldn't exist, and now he'd proven himself right.

"You can forget it," he said, picking up his water and taking a sip. He wished it was alcohol, even though he'd barely recovered from his last drinking binge.

"Forget what?" Yu Ri asked.

"I'm not apologizing to her. I'm not going to see her again." Rang's glass clacked against the table, punctuating his sentence. He didn't look at Yu Ri or Shin-joo.

"Why?" Yu Ri demanded.

"You don't think you've done anything wrong?" Shin-joo added, loudly.

Rang winced at the pain in his head.

"Of course, I've done something wrong," he replied irritatedly. "I've done plenty of things wrong. I'm not a good person, but I know when I've done something shitty. But I can't go back in time, and Ga Eul's already gone."

Don't you think it's better if I leave her alone from now on, since it's clearly not good for me to be around her?

"She left your apartment. She didn't break up with you," Yu Ri persisted.

"Well, she didn't exactly kiss me goodbye," Rang snapped. "And why would she want to be in the same room as someone she thinks would break into her apartment while she's sleeping?"

"He's just making excuses," Shin-joo said. "He doesn't want to have to see her again."

Well, Shin-joo wasn't wrong. Rang didn't want to see Ga Eul, not when he knew she would flinch away from him like she had after he'd turned into a cat. He'd finally found a human he didn't want to be afraid of him, and he'd ruined it. He hated seeing fear in her eyes. Having to look at the hurt and mistrust in her face would only confirm his worst fears of himself. He didn't want to look.

"She wants you to apologize," Yu Ri said softly. "She doesn't want to break up with you. She told me so."

Rang glanced up at Yu Ri.

"If you want to break up with her because you did something stupid, that's your decision," she continued, "but it's another stupid one, and she deserves better than that. In any case, you should at least have the balls to say something to her face. If you don't say anything to her, even I won't respect you anymore."

Yu Ri's hard gaze seared him, and Rang dropped his eyes to the floor. He'd never cared to be chastised by anyone, and he wanted to keep feeling sorry for himself, to crawl back into his familiar shell of self-loathing and self-pity and stay there, alone, but he found it hard to because Yu Ri was right. Ga Eul did deserve better than him, but at the very least she deserved an apology from him. His adorable human was willing to give him a second chance, and he wouldn't have given himself one. Ga Eul was truly the warmest and kindest of all humans. What the hell had he done?

"You really think she would...forgive me?" Rang asked, trying to keep his voice even, but he couldn't help the note of hope that crept into it.

"She might if you stop feeling sorry for yourself and try to make it up to her," Shin-joo said. "Look, whether you like it or not, you have a responsibility to her now, like you had when you took in Yu Ri and Soo-oh. You can't care about someone only when it's convenient for you…and you can't quit a family whenever you feel like it."

"Shin-joo—" Yu Ri started.

"If you're not going to say it, I will. Do you know how much Yu Ri cried when you left? Do you know that Soo-oh asks about you every night? We told him you were out of the country so he didn't think you don't care about him anymore, but I'm tired of lying to him. So either come by to see him, or tell him you're never coming back to play with him. He really looks up to you, but he can't look up to you if you're not there."

Rang opened his mouth to reply, but Shin-joo ranted on.

"You know what really ticks me off about you? You are not a bad person all the time. Sometimes you do a really good thing, like saving Yu Ri or saving Soo-oh or saving the dog...but then, because you're too stubborn to face your own problems, eventually you drop them like you were never there to begin with, and it's almost worse than if you were never there. The sad thing is, you should know that. You should know that when someone you trust hurts you, it's far worse than an enemy stabbing you in the back."

"I get it. You're mad because I haven't been to see Soo-oh. Why am I getting a lecture?"

"Because you should have heard all the genuinely nice things Ga Eul said about you. You were so good to her that she actually believes you care enough about her to get over yourself and do the right thing." Shin-joo scoffed. "She doesn't know you." He stood. "Come on, Yu Ri. Let's leave him to his misery."

"Oh, but—"

"Let's go," Shin-joo said firmly, but calmly, holding out his hand to Yu Ri.

Yu Ri glanced between them, worrying her lip, and Rang could only assume she was having a terrible internal crisis. Which to choose? Her savior or her soulmate?

Rang turned his head away. Yu Ri should go. She should go with Shin-joo. If Rang was hurting everyone so much, then they should just…

He felt Yu Ri's weight lift off the couch; he physically felt himself being left alone. He heard her and Shin-joo walk quietly over to the door, but even though he'd wanted her to go—he'd wanted both of them to go, just go—a sudden panic seized his chest.

Even Yu Ri, who had always stood by him, was leaving.

When was the last time he'd had a pleasant moment with Shin-joo and Yu Ri? Would he ever feel like part of their family again? Would they even let him see Soo-oh in the future?

He'd made Yu Ri cry. He'd made Soo-oh cry. Now he'd made Ga Eul cry too.

Rang clicked on his phone. The screen lit up to reveal a photo from his first date with Ga Eul—the two of them standing in front of that garishly massive Christmas tree at Lotte World. He remembered her giving him directions like he was a small child: Stand here. Look there. Smile.

Rang smiled automatically. Ga Eul's eyes were so bright and happy. He wished they would look like that again. He wished there was something he could do.

There used to be another picture on his lock screen—one of him, Yu Ri, Shin-joo, and Soo-oh in the park. He'd replaced it with Ga Eul's photo on the day after their first date, but the photo was still in his camera roll. He scrolled down to it from time to time and wished he could go back to that moment. He wished there was something he could do.

You can't care about someone only when it's convenient for you.

Rang rubbed his thumb over Ga Eul's smiling face.

"I'm sorry," Rang rasped, and the movement at his front door—the shuffle of coats and shoes being put on—ceased.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. Turning his head, he looked right at Yu Ri. "I didn't know you missed me that much."

There were tears in Yu Ri's eyes; if they had been there before, he hadn't noticed. She dropped the shoe she'd been holding and took a step towards him, barefoot.

"Of course, I missed you, you jerk," she pouted. "You saved my life. We're supposed to stick together. Partners, remember?"

Rang smiled, then narrowed his eyes teasingly.

"Partners? I seem to remember you falling in love with the enemy. Lucky for you, his cooking's not bad...Speaking of that, do you think I could come over for dinner sometime? I could see Soo-oh. Tell him I'm sorry too."

"Does that mean you want to be part of our family again?" Yu Ri asked.

Rang nodded.

"If you forgive me for staying away for so long, I guess I'll forgive you for setting me up with a human teacher."

Yu Ri broke into a radiant smile. She ran to Rang and crashed into him with a fierce hug.

"Don't you ever go away like that again. You can't just leave us."

While Yu Ri hugged Rang, Shin-joo studied him, as if looking for a sign of true contrition. He finally sighed and approached the two of them. Sitting back down on the couch, he said, "I suppose I'll forgive you too, since that seems to be the theme of the day. Also...the place hasn't been as...lively...without you there."

"Then I apologize to you too," Rang informed Shin-joo. "I've missed having a personal chef," he added cheekily.

"Don't push it. If you want to eat, you have to move back in, but you have a girlfriend now, so I assume you really won't want to live with us anymore."

"Don't tempt me," Rang said. "I might move back in just to annoy you."

Yu Ri pulled away from Rang but stayed glued to his side.

"You two, don't start bickering already," she scolded Rang and Shin-joo. Then she turned to Rang and suggested, "Why don't you contact Ga Eul and ask to meet with her? I can help you write the message."

"I can write a text," Rang answered defensively.

"An apology text? You can barely give an apology in person. Here. Let me see your phone." Yu Ri held out her hand.

Rang bristled but reluctantly handed the phone over.

"Okay, let's see. Chu Ga Eul." Yu Ri began a new message to Ga Eul. Unfortunately, when she pulled up Rang and Ga Eul's message history, the last messages they'd sent to each other before Ga Eul had come over to his apartment appeared at the top of the screen.

Oops. Rang had forgotten about that.

Lee Rang: If you like, I can cut off the straps with my claws.

Chu Ga Eul: Maybe I'm not wearing a bra. (winking face)

"I'm going to pretend I don't see that," Yu Ri mumbled.

"See what?" Shin-joo asked, attempting to peer over her shoulder, but Yu Ri jerked the phone away and cleared her throat.

"Okay, so…let's start with this."

Ga Eul, I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted last night, Yu Ri typed. It was selfish and immature, and I—

Rang reached for the phone.

"Must you remind her that I'm selfish and immature?"

"Yes," Yu Ri replied, holding the phone out of Rang's reach. "The point is to own up to your actions. You have to say what you did in order to do that."

Rang sighed heavily but stopped grabbing for the phone.

"Fine. Proceed." He gave a reluctant hand gesture.

I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable and afraid, Yu Ri continued. I would really like the chance to make it up to you and to apologize, if you will let me. Is it possible for us to meet?

"Is that okay?" She held up the message for Rang to read it clearly.

Rang nodded.

Yu Ri sent the message.

"So...what do I do when she replies?" Rang asked.

"Well, if she agrees to meet with you—"

"What if she doesn't?"

"I told you she would. As long as you don't screw up even asking her."

Rang's phone dinged in Yu Ri's lap.

"Oh, look! She already replied," Yu Ri exclaimed.

I can meet you on Saturday, Ga Eul had typed.

Saturday? Rang frowned. That was six days away.

"What about tomorrow?" he asked.

"She wants Saturday. Let her pick," Yu Ri scolded. "You can survive without seeing her for six days, and while you have nothing else to do, you can come visit Soo-oh. Just make sure to bring him a souvenir from Australia 'cause that's where we told him you went."

Saturday is fine, Yu Ri typed. Where would you like to meet?

Can we meet at Yu Ri and Shin-joo's? Ga Eul responded almost immediately. Around noon? I already asked them if it was okay.

That will be fine, Yu Ri typed and sent before Rang could get a word in. I'll see you then. Have a good week, she finished.

"Wait," Rang said. "You knew she was going to ask for Saturday, didn't you? You knew she'd want to meet at your apartment."

"Well, she didn't want to see you at her place." Yu Ri tossed Rang's phone at him. "She definitely didn't want to see you here. But she also didn't want to have some type of...display...in public, so...yeah, she asked if you guys could talk at our place before she left this morning. I got the feeling she didn't want to be left alone with you either."

"But how can I be her boyfriend if she doesn't trust me to be alone with her?" Rang asked frustratedly.

"She's just shaken up. You did physically force her to stay in this apartment last night. You remember that, don't you? Who's to say you won't do that again?"

"I won't."

"Well, that's good, but she doesn't know that, so...just be patient with her. No matter how good your apology is, things aren't going to go back to how they were overnight. She has to gradually learn to trust you again. You know, like how I had to learn to trust you after you saved me. Remember when I bit your hand because you gave me food?"

"Since when did you get so in touch with human emotions?" Rang asked Yu Ri.

Yu Ri shrugged.

"Since Soo-oh started going to counseling. He was pretty traumatized, you know, by his mother leaving and his stepfather abusing him. I've been taking him to therapy every week. I actually started a journal myself. It's helping with the...nightmares," Yu Ri confessed, and Rang realized she was talking about the nightmares she'd had of the zoo when she'd first come to live with him. He hadn't been aware that they still bothered her.

"I'm sorry," Rang said, feeling suddenly ashamed for not knowing that about Yu Ri.

"It's fine." She reached up and touched her shoulder, tapping her scar the way she did when she got nervous.

"Don't worry, I can be patient," Rang stated, grinning. "If I was patient with you learning to be human, I can be patient with anyone."

His teasing remark was rewarded with a smile and a light punch on the shoulder.


On Monday, Rang showed up at Yu Ri and Shin-joo's early in the morning. Too early, really, but he'd meant what he'd said about annoying Shin-joo. He'd forgotten how amusing it was to rile the veterinarian up.

"I came to see Soo-oh," he informed Yu Ri when she opened the door, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Oh!" Her eyes widened. "Stay right there. One second. I'll let you surprise him," Yu Ri said, then called behind her, "Soo-oh, look who's here to see you!"

Rang waited in the doorway, unsure of what to expect. Maybe Soo-oh would be angry at him for leaving without really saying goodbye. Maybe he'd resent him for being away for so long. Now Rang felt guilty, remembering how heartbroken he'd been when Yeon had left him, but the moment Soo-oh padded around the corner in a new pair of dinosaur pajamas and saw Rang standing there, an electric grin lit up the young boy's face. He was as happy to see Rang as he'd always been—even happier, perhaps, because it had been so long—and Rang was surprised to realize in that moment how much he had missed Soo-oh. The boy crashed into Rang's legs and clung to him, shouting 'ahjussi, ahjussi' with unabashed glee.

Rang couldn't help the grin that spread over his face as he mussed up the boy's hair. Children—and puppies—were so quick to forgive.

"Stop growing taller," he admonished. "You'll be as tall as me soon, and when you get that tall, you'll have to get a job. I don't know if anyone will take you."

Soo-oh released Rang's legs from his death grip and bounced on his toes.

"Come see my room, Ahjussi!" Soo-oh urged. "I got all new toys since you left!"

"You're not still kicking them under people's beds, are you?" Rang asked, letting the boy drag him by the hand to his bedroom.

"I got a real Mario Kart," the boy said. "The one you can drive in the house. I'll show you. It's really fun. You can play with me. Omma, can we set it up? Please, please, please," he begged Yu Ri.

"Only if Mister Lee Rang agrees to help take it down when you're done." Yu Ri elbowed Rang.

"Very funny," Rang answered coolly.

"I'm serious. You two should put away your toys when you're through with them. You're getting to be big boys now."

"And you're getting to be as bad as Shin-joo."

"No. I'm a mother now. I'm supposed to say things like that." Yu Ri laughed, then nodded to Soo-oh. "Go ahead and play. Make sure to beat Mister Lee Rang since he stayed away for so long."

'Not a chance,' Rang mouthed to Yu Ri as he was led away.

Rang set up the racing circuit in the main living area, and soon he and Soo-oh had played a few games, with Rang winning all of them. It didn't help that, aside from never having beaten Rang at Mario Kart before, Soo-oh kept getting distracted by the physical car zooming around them and didn't pay attention to the race on the screen in front of them.

Nevertheless, after they'd played a few races, Soo-oh announced confidently, "Since I'm getting taller, that means I'm going to beat you soon."

Rang smiled. Only his puppy would say something so irrationally optimistic.

"While you're at it, you might want to practice too," Rang admonished him, "and keep your eyes on the screen. Let's play another one."

Soo-oh squirmed excitedly as Rang started another race, and then a peculiar thing happened.

Rang wanted to see how Soo-oh would react if he won instead of Rang. He actually wanted to see the exact smile that would light up the boy's face when he crossed the finish line before Rang, and he wanted to see that more than he wanted to win. He couldn't remember caring before.

Rang slowed down his car. He missed coins. He missed items. He let himself get frozen by ice blocks. All the while, he tried not to make it too obvious what he was doing, staying far enough ahead of Soo-oh that it looked like he was winning until the very last leg of the race.

Suddenly, Soo-oh's car pulled ahead in what appeared to be a renewed burst of speed.

Rang held his breath as his puppy crossed the finish line.

Wait for it, he thought.

He didn't have to wait long.

"I won!" Soo-oh burst out, standing up on the couch. He bounced as high as his little legs would take him, pumping his fists. "I won! I won! I won! I won!"

"Hey!" Rang jokingly covered his ears. "Cut it out. You're going to make me go deaf."

"I won! I won! I beat you!" Soo-oh pointed at Rang.

"Yeah, yeah, you won one game out of twenty. Big deal. I'm still taller than you," Rang said, "which means I can do this." He pulled Soo-oh's legs out from under him and pinned him on the couch, then started tickling him mercilessly.

"No! Stop! Ahjussi!" Soo-oh cried, giggling uncontrollably.

"Surrender. Say I won, and I'll stop tickling you."

"No, Ahjussiiiii!"

"Say I won the last game. Say it."

Soo-oh didn't say it though; he used his arms to push his body forward until he could kick Rang in the stomach with an emphatic 'no!'

Rang released him with an impressed smile.

"You fought back. You didn't surrender. Good job." Rang held up his hand for a high five.

Soo-oh leapt up and slapped his hand.

"Enjoy it, Blacky." Rang eyed him coolly. "That won't happen again."

"It will if you keep coming to play with me. Are you going back to Australia?" Soo-oh's face suddenly dropped; he looked worried.

"Why would I go there?" Rang said. "I have to stay around here so I can keep beating you at racing games." He mussed the boy's hair again. "No. I'm not going anywhere from now on."

"Yay!" Soo-oh tackled Rang in another hug, and the surge of affection Rang felt for his reincarnated puppy as he patted the boy on the back assured Rang that he had done the right thing by returning.

He found that even though he had spent so much of his life running to or from one thing or another, he didn't want to run anymore. He'd been looking for something interesting before—something to entertain himself with—when all along he'd had it in front of him. He'd missed his family, and in only a few months Soo-oh had grown so much. He would never get that time back, and who knew when Soo-oh would get too old to want to play with his 'ahjussi?'

As Soo-oh continued hugging him, Rang felt, for the first time since he'd left Shin-joo and Yu Ri's house, that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. He'd come home.

A/N: We end on a happy note this chapter! I wanted to get through the bulk of this angsty arc before the Christmas holidays, as I'm not sure how much time I will have to write in December, so I hope my writing has been decent quality the past few chapters hahaha

The next chapter will be Rang and Ga Eul's reunion :)

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year's! Happy Whatever You Are Celebrating!

To answer some guest reviews,

Will Lee Yeon appear in upcoming chapters? Yes. Yes, he will.

Will the F4 appear in upcoming chapters? Not that you will probably see this now since I posted this, like 17 hours ago, but I figured out how to work them into the story (in a small way), and it's gonna be good! :)

Thanks, as always, for your lovely reviews and support! :)