I’ve never handled a pup in my life. But somehow Samniont’s Eunseok always had ways to dare me doing something new. My hands are shaking inside these rubber gloves I’m terrified I’ll drop a bowl or break a rib just by touching one wrong. The caretakers was giggling non-stop seeing myself standing there like a wooden fence post while two maltese scramble over my laps, sniffling at my scent. He stands next to me by the wash station, knee-deep in suds, laughing at the way I’m hovering over a trembling baby like it’s unexploded ordnance. He tells me that they won’t break as his own arms splashed up to the elbows in water, rubbing behind a pair of velvet ears until the pup goes limp and quiet in his hands. I mumble something like it must’ve been easier for a dog dad like him, right? But luckily this baby, Famille, is nothing but a pure patience. Unlike the green-collared menace, Iko, who won’t stop springing off like ricocheting bullet and awfully similar to our Mas Sungchan it made the back of my skull throb.