Chapter 1

I suddenly discovered that I could understand what my dog said. No, I wasn't hearing its thoughts. I could literally understand the things that came out of its mouth. Upon learning this, I headed to a dog café. However, it turned out my dog was the only one I could understand. I didn't want to get into trouble for this, so I didn't tell anyone—not even my dog. One day, I heard it say that it wanted to be buried with me. … After breaking up with my boyfriend of three years, my best friend, Janet Court, took me to get a dog because she was worried I would be too depressed at home. A Golden Retriever puppy curled up in a corner immediately caught my eye. He seemed to be hurt, with the wounds seeming to have come from fights with other dogs. I didn't have any special reason for liking him. He just reminded me of myself after my parents abandoned me. I'd never had a dog before, but the puppy was exceptionally obedient. As soon as I brought him home, he curled up on the couch without budging. I figured I had to name him, but none of the names I came up with seemed to go well with his price tag—50 dollars. Ultimately, I decided to just name him Five-O. Fortunately, he didn't object to it. He even licked my palm. That night, I had a dream—a wet dream. In it, I saw a man whose hair was so long that it reached his waist. He wore a white robe with silver threads lining the sleeves. I couldn't see his face even as he approached me. He stroked my face with his slightly cool hands. Then, he pressed his lips against my forehead. It felt like he thought of me as a treasured possession. The next morning, I felt rather reluctant to wake up from the dream. I saw Five-O curled up by my feet, looking rather glum. He only nuzzled against my calves when he saw that I was awake. On my way to work, I told Janet about my dream. She laughed and said God had taken pity on me after dumping my scumbag of an ex-boyfriend. That was why he had given me a handsome guy in my dreams. I rolled my eyes while driving. "How are you so sure he's handsome? I didn't even see his face. He could have freckles or boils all over or something." And so, Janet nicknamed the guy from my dreams Mr. Freckles. She and I had met in high school, and we'd been lucky enough to get into the same college after that. Our relationship had grown better after four years together, and she was the only witness to my cursed relationship with Cameron Lane. After graduating, Janet and I had started a business together. We'd gained some success after three years of doing so. I'd originally thought I'd won in both love and my career, but Cameron had destroyed that. "Hey, here's a serious idea. Do you want to go out for drinks with me tonight? I'll bring some handsome young men along—they'll be much better than Mr. Freckles," Janet said. She leaned against my office door, looking like a devil luring me to join her in Hell. Her curls looked exceptionally soft under the warm lighting. I nodded after a few seconds of consideration. "Wait, really? You're up for it? I thought you were determined to be a proper wife by now!" she exclaimed. "A proper wife?" I sneered. Janet held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll stop poking fun at you. Let's go to a new bar tonight after work." I gave her an OK signal and turned on my computer. A photo of me and Cameron was still on my desk. It had been taken the year we'd graduated from college when he'd confessed his feelings to me and I'd accepted. He had a bright grin on his face and one arm around my shoulder, looking youthful and vivacious. Who would've known he would abandon me in a car crash and save someone else just three years later? What a buzzkill. I threw the photo into the trash.