The animal shelter smelled like… well, everything. A mix of wet fur, disinfectant, and the faintest hint of old tennis balls. I crouched on the cold tile floor, sketchbook balanced precariously on my knees, trying to capture the chaotic energy of a particular beagle who seemed determined to chew every leash in sight.
"Steady… steady…" I muttered, pencil hovering over the page. The little dog barked at its own reflection in the water bowl, sending a ripple across the surface. My hand trembled slightly as I tried to get the curve of its floppy ears just right. One wrong line and the whole sketch would look like some kind of cartoon disaster.
Finally, I paused to compare my drawing to reality. My pencil lines weren't perfect, but the beagle's goofy grin stared back at me, tongue lolling and tail a blur of motion. I bit my lip, a small smile sneaking onto my face. Maybe, just maybe, I was getting the hang of this.
"Wow… that's… really good."
My head jerked up so fast I nearly smacked it against the table. There he was. Levi Chen. Standing casually in the doorway, one shoulder leaning against the frame, hair messy in that infuriatingly charming way, eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Levi!" I whispered, hoping no one else noticed me squeak.
He chuckled, clearly enjoying the fact that I'd been caught. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just… noticed you drawing, and well… wow."
"Uh… thanks," I mumbled, closing my sketchbook too quickly, the sound of the snapping cover echoing in the otherwise quiet shelter. My cheeks were on fire. My brain decided this was not a good time to function.
Levi crouched down beside me, peering at the page. "Look at this line right here," he said, pointing at a particularly wobbly stroke. "The way you captured him mid-bark? Genius. Seriously, it's like he's about to jump off the page."
I floundered for words. "I… uh… just… tried…" I mumbled, wishing I could disappear behind the nearest crate.
"'Just tried'? Are you kidding me? This looks amazing." He grinned, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe properly. Why did he have to smile like that? Why did it make my heart do this weird thing?
Then he leaned back slightly, smirk widening, and said the words that made my stomach do a full-on somersault:
"So… can you draw me too?"
I froze. My pencil slipped between my fingers, threatening to fall onto the tile. My brain short-circuited.
"Uh… I—I mean… maybe…" I managed, eyes darting away, because apparently looking at him directly made my face melt into a tomato.
Levi laughed—a warm, easy laugh that made my chest tighten. "Just kidding… unless you actually want to?"
I swallowed hard, my mind spinning faster than the beagle chasing its tail. Did he seriously just say that? And did he mean it? Was this some sort of joke?
"I… I mean… if you want?" I stammered, curling my fingers around the edge of my sketchbook as if it were a life raft.
He tilted his head, smirk softening into something more like genuine curiosity. "I'd love to see it."
The air around us seemed to shift. The shelter didn't smell like wet fur anymore; it smelled like… potential. Like the first page of something I hadn't even realized I was waiting to write.
The beagle barked again, yanking me back to reality. I laughed nervously, setting the pencil to the page, trying to focus—but my hand shook a little less now, because Levi was here.
And I couldn't stop thinking: maybe this was the start of something…