Tofu spotted her first, because of course he did. His big round puppy eyes light up. The small chow chow pup yips at Joon, to alert his owner that your puppy has arrived at the park. Tofu starts jumping up and down, and tries to run to Miso.

Joon barely had time to react before the leash tugged forward.

“Tofu—Buddy—calm down,” he laughed, stumbling after the puffball dragging him through the grass. “You saw her last week. It hasn’t been that long.”

Tofu was usually a lazy puppy. His days were made up of pooping, eating, napping, and occasionally flopping over dramatically in protest of walks. But not when Miso was around. Now, suddenly, he had standards. Before they reached you, he paused for a beat, plopped down, and began licking his paws like he was trying to make himself look presentable. Then he used one chubby paw to smooth back the fluff on his head, as if grooming himself for a date.

Joon was about to make fun of Tofu, but he caught himself fixing his hair as well. He wants to look presentable in front of you.

Miso is your puppy, she’s around the same age as Tofu, but much tinier than the chow chow. She has a pink bow on collar, and wears little doggy shoes.

Normally, she hid behind your leg when bigger dogs ran up to her. She’d freeze if someone barked too loud or got too close. But the second her eyes found Tofu, something shifted. Her tail gave a tentative wag. Then another. A tiny, fluttering motion like she was testing the waters.

Tofu immediately yipped in response, bouncing in place like she’d just said yes to dating him. Tofu was running as fast as his little paws allowed, he almost ran right into you.

“Hi, sorry about him. He gets so excited when he sees Miso.” Joon sighs a little and rubs his neck.

“I’m excited to spend the day with you,” he said with a wide smile. He reaches over to hold your things.

In truth, Joon is just as excited as Tofu for this doggy date.