There's More Than Dogs at a Dog Café
"Want to go on a date with me?"
"…Huh?"
At my words, Seolhwa's face went completely blank, and the book she'd been reading slipped from her hands and hit the floor.
I couldn't really blame her for looking that stunned. Sure, we'd gone out together plenty of times—but I'd never come right out and called it a date. The closest we'd ever gotten was that whole thing at my family's house.
"Was that too sudden? If you don't want to…"
I'd meant it as a way of taking a little more initiative in our relationship, but maybe it had still come out of nowhere. I was about to apologize for being inconsiderate when Seolhwa blurted out, at full volume,
"Th-there's no way I wouldn't!"
She must have tried to stand up too fast—her foot slipped on the carpet, and I barely managed to catch her before she went down.
"…You okay?"
Normally I would have scolded her to be more careful, but since I was partly to blame for rattling her in the first place, I couldn't bring myself to be too harsh. Instead of an answer, a tiny voice rose from against my chest.
"…I'll go."
We got ourselves ready and headed out into the streets together.
I was still turning over what we should actually do when Seolhwa suddenly tugged on my sleeve.
"What is it?"
"I… I wanted you to hold my hand."
"Look at you, getting assertive all of a sudden."
"…Is that not okay?"
"Of course it is. If anything, you still don't do it enough."
Seolhwa was the type who overthought everything. Would this make the other person uncomfortable? Am I even allowed to ask for this? She tangled herself up in worries that never needed to exist.
"You can lean on me more, you know."
I wanted to give her everything she had never been given—starting now. With that, I took her small hand in mine and smiled, trying to put her at ease.
Seolhwa hesitated for a moment, then murmured, "Then… just a little," and rested her weight against my arm.
"You did a lot more than this at the pool."
Back then I'd genuinely wondered if my heart was about to burst clean out of my chest.
The second I brought it up, Seolhwa's face went scarlet. She stammered something about "Th-that was because of Eunha—" before clamping both hands over her own mouth.
"Why bother hiding it? I already know everything."
"Y-you do…?"
Whenever she showed that rare bold streak—or that endearing weirdness—the source was almost always either Eunha or my mother.
"I've given up trying to stop them at this point."
It wasn't as if they'd listen even if I said something. I'd resigned myself to letting things run their course a long time ago.
"Anyway—is there anywhere you want to go?"
Walking and talking like this wasn't bad, but it was pretty cold out. Seolhwa sank into thought with a soft "Hmm…"
"Just pick something from here."
I held out a notebook. Seolhwa took it, tilting her head.
"What's this?"
"You'll see."
I'd lived in this neighborhood for a while, but before Seolhwa came along I'd barely left the house—school included. A shut-in like me had no idea where people actually went to have fun.
When I'd been stuck for ideas, Eunha had handed me something she said would come in handy: a notebook with Date Spot Collection written across the cover.
"Apparently she made it for hanging out with Taeyang. She said the two of them already hit every place in here, so they're passing it down to us."
"That's incredible…"
I couldn't blame Seolhwa for being impressed. This wasn't some store-bought guidebook—Eunha had put the whole thing together herself, entry by entry. Simple maps, little sketches, notes scribbled in the margins. Looking through it, you almost had to admire how unnecessarily thorough the whole thing was.
"Flip through it and pick anywhere that looks good. We'll go."
While Seolhwa browsed the notebook, I grabbed a canned coffee from a nearby vending machine. By the time I came back, she still hadn't decided.
"Can't choose?"
"…What about you, Yuseong? What do you like?"
"…Me?"
The question caught me off guard, but Seolhwa just tugged me over to a nearby bench and said we should look through it together.
"We're going on a… a date, so it shouldn't just be about what I want. You should—w-wait, why are you suddenly petting my head?"
"No reason. Just thinking my girlfriend is ridiculously considerate."
I'd figured I'd just tag along wherever she wanted and that would be fine—but apparently that wasn't going to fly.
She cared about me just as much as I cared about her. Eunha's words floated back to me all of a sudden. At the time, my head had been too full of other things to really understand what she'd meant. Now I got it.
Knowing that someone is thinking of you—that is an incredibly happy feeling.
We spent a long time debating where to go. Seolhwa wasn't exactly built for endurance, so anything too physical was off the table. Eventually the conversation landed on a dog café right nearby, and we decided to give it a try.
I'd caught her watching pet-related shows now and then, and more than anything, it was close.
Honestly, I wasn't much of an animal person. They were loud, high-maintenance, a hassle to look after… But just watching them shouldn't be a problem.
If I was being completely honest, the thought of Seolhwa playing with puppies sounded almost unbearably cute—but there was no way I was saying that out loud.
"Wow. This place is more serious than I expected."
I'd only ever heard about dog cafés. Seeing one in person really was different.
There had been photos in the notebook, but nothing beat standing there yourself. Eunha's info seemed a little dated—maybe they'd added a few things since then.
We checked in, sanitized our hands, and pushed open the café door. Inside, dozens of dogs were tearing around the floor or playing with the other customers.
"It's huge…"
"Yeah."
You'd need the space if you wanted that many dogs running free, but to Seolhwa everything about the place seemed brand-new and wonderful, so I just hummed along without spoiling the mood.
I'd expected the usual heavy dog smell, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd imagined. There was even a rest area in the corner with a window looking out onto the street. It really was a proper café and a dog playground rolled into one—impressive enough that even I had to tip my hat to it.
"Wow, look at all the puppies… They're all so cute I can't even think straight…"
You're cuter.
Saying that out loud would have opened a whole can of worms, so I kept it to myself.
There were other customers around, so I figured we'd grab a seat and ease into things—but a fluffy little white puppy trotted straight up to Seolhwa's feet and started nuzzling her cheek.
"Bold one, isn't it?"
"Yeah… Oh, there's a name tag. Cloud. That suits it."
"It does. All white and puffy like that."
Cloud seemed used to people. The moment Seolhwa crouched down and held out her hand, it offered up a paw without hesitation.
"Whoa, did you see that? The second I put my hand out, it shook!"
Well trained, I thought—and the fact that that assessment came before "cute" made me realize, a little belatedly, how dry I could be.
Seolhwa gave Cloud a few good pets. Satisfied—or maybe just off to work the rest of the room—Cloud gave her one last sniff, spun around, and trotted off.
"Ah…"
Seolhwa watched it go with such a dejected look that I patted her on the back.
"Don't take it personally. It's not that it doesn't like you—it's just busy."
Small, fluffy, and clearly popular. Sure enough, Cloud was already licking some other guy's palm across the room.
I gave Seolhwa—who was being pretty puppy-like herself, in a different way—another pat on the back, and we found seats nearby.
I took in the whole place slowly. Maybe it was just because I'd never been somewhere like this before, but it really did feel fresh.
According to a sign on the wall, Cloud was a Maltese. There were Shibas and Retrievers too—breeds I actually recognized—along with Bichons and Samoyeds and others I'd never heard of. Maybe ten dogs in total, each with a personality all its own.
Some, like Cloud, were all over people. Others had curled up against the far wall like they were enjoying their solitude. That particular look must have had a certain charisma to it, because a handful of customers were watching from a respectful distance.
"So cute…"
Even after sitting down, Seolhwa couldn't tear her eyes off the dogs. Watching her light up like that, I was quietly glad we'd come.
"Want something to drink? Or should I just order for both of us?"
"Huh? Oh… yeah. You pick."
Seolhwa didn't seem to like bitter things, so something sweet—a latte, probably—would be safe.
According to the notebook, the food and drinks here were supposed to be just as good as the dogs. The latte art was apparently famous, popular on social media. I asked them to draw something when I ordered, and when I saw the extra charge for it I thought, well—business is business.
"Oh. That's actually really good."
A few minutes later, a steaming café latte arrived with a surprisingly solid little dog drawn in the milk foam. I didn't do social media, but at this quality, of course people would go crazy for it.
I glanced over at Seolhwa. She was staring at her coffee like she'd just discovered buried treasure, eyes sparkling.
"Aren't you going to drink it?"
"I-it's too pretty to drink…"
She said it with such a serious face that a laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.
"D-don't laugh!" Seolhwa puffed out her cheeks.
"If you really can't bear to ruin it, just take a picture. You brought your camera, right?"
"Oh—right. I completely forgot. I got so distracted by the puppies."
I doubted she'd planned for this exact situation, but I'd brought along the camera I'd given her before, just in case. As long as you didn't use the flash, photos were apparently fine.
Seolhwa dug the camera out of her bag and immediately started snapping away—the latte art, the dogs, everything.
"Still… it feels like such a waste to drink it."
"If you don't drink it, that's just wasting it for real."
That hit the mark. Seolhwa made a little "uuugh" sound and started agonizing in earnest. Left with no choice, I took the first sip of my own coffee—and Seolhwa, muttering something like "Sorry, little doggy…," finally started drinking hers too.
I barely managed to keep from laughing into my cup.
Minor crisis aside, the coffee itself was surprisingly good. I drank the stuff often enough that I considered myself a little picky, but I couldn't find a single thing to complain about. The richness of the coffee, the sweetness of the cream, the fragrance of the milk—all balanced into something gently sweet. Sweet enough that even Seolhwa should enjoy it.
Once we'd finished, we got up to mingle with the dogs again.
There was just one problem.
"…Do I just not have any chemistry with dogs?"
They flocked to Seolhwa in droves. Me? They wouldn't even come near—and if I tried approaching them, they backed away.
I was just starting to feel relatively deprived when a gray poodle came trotting over in my direction.
"Alright…"
I'd already failed three times just trying to pet one. Would this time be any different?
I told myself that if it didn't work, I'd give up entirely and just watch Seolhwa play—but luckily, the little dog with the name tag reading Marron did not run away.
"Oh…"
Was all that effort finally paying off?
I was still savoring the feel of that soft, fluffy fur when Seolhwa—who'd been petting a brown Chihuahua—came over with a bright "Wow, you made a friend?"
"I don't know about 'friend,' but not getting ditched is already huge progress."
I carefully held out my hand and said, "Shake." Marron offered up a paw. Feeling those little pads wasn't half bad.
"Okay, yeah. This is pretty cute."
The fur was smooth—well-groomed—and there was barely any smell. Someone was taking good care of this one.
"It really does look that way. I'm jealous."
"Try asking it. See if it'll let you hold it."
If it was willing to warm up to me, of all people, I figured it'd do even more for Seolhwa—who basically had every other dog in the place wrapped around her finger.
And sure enough, the moment Seolhwa said, "Come here…?" Marron sniffed at her carefully, then climbed gently into her arms.
"W-wow… It let me hold it!"
"Give it some pets as a reward. Looks like it likes that."
Maybe soft, cute girls really were preferable to stiff guys. I felt that relative deprivation again, but I kept it off my face.
Watching Seolhwa melt into a blissful, goofy smile with the dog in her arms, I said, "Hold still a second," and lifted the camera hanging around her neck to snap a picture.
"Huh…?"
"You've taken a million photos of the dogs. Figured you should be in a few of them too."
"I-is that so…?"
Leaving Seolhwa to enjoy the dogs to her heart's content, I was about to wander over to the bookshelf and flip through a comic or two—when a jet-black poodle appeared at my feet and started rubbing against my legs.
"Well, well…"
I'd figured one miracle was my limit for the day. Apparently not.
This one had zero shame about being affectionate. When I asked for a paw, it lifted one—then launched itself into my arms with a bright "Woof!"
Okay. This is actually pretty nice…
Having a dog take to you this readily really did feel good—warm, almost. No wonder dog cafés were having a moment.
The second I set it back down, its ears drooped and it looked so conspicuously dejected that I couldn't shake the feeling I'd seen this somewhere before.
Not somewhere. This is just Seolhwa.
Cute, clingy, and visibly crushed the moment you tried to put any distance between you. A perfect carbon copy.
From now on, your name is Woof-Seolhwa.
I was muttering that nonsense under my breath when a shutter clicked behind me.
"Okay, you two are definitely friends now."
"Yeah, well. Can't really deny it."
I'd taken a picture of her without asking a minute ago, so this made us even.
"You seemed pretty reluctant at first, Yuseong. Guess that wasn't the whole story."
"It wasn't that I was reluctant… They all just kept avoiding me."
Getting rejected three times in a row was enough to break anyone's spirit, I argued—but Seolhwa just kept smiling that soft little smile of hers.
"…Besides. This one looks like you."
"Huh… like me?"
"Black, cute, clingy—and the second you try to set it down, it gets all droopy?"
"…I'm not a dog, you know."
She didn't deny the rest of it, though. I snorted a laugh at that, and Seolhwa's lower lip pushed out in a pout.
"You treat me like a kid sometimes, Yuseong…"
"I do not. Probably. Right?"
I said it in a teasing tone while scratching Woof-Seolhwa under the chin, and the dog—apparently reading the room—let out a cheerful "Woof~!"
"What do you mean, probably? What is probably supposed to mean?!"
"Okay, okay, calm down. They sell dog treats at the counter. Want to get some?"
"Th-that's not going to distract me, you know…?"
"No? Then I'll just buy them myself and bribe the ones that kept dodging me. Even the standoffish ones will fold for food."
I gave Woof-Seolhwa—pretty much the only dog that had given me the time of day—one last pet and started toward the counter. Seolhwa latched onto my arm with a cry of "Th-that's cheating!"
I couldn't help the little snort of laughter that escaped me. Seolhwa puffed out her cheeks.
"…You're mean."