Chapter One: He Picked Up a Little Puppy

"Why are High School dramas like this?!!! How the fuck could they spend time flirting around like that?!!! Did they go to school to flirt? Why are hot guys driving sports cars to school?!!! Just because they're rich kids, they already have driving license even if they're minors?!!! And, of all the girls they could get, they would choose to fight over an unpopular clumsy dumb girl?!!! Why is my high school life not like that? Fuck! I'm even prettier than that actress, why did I suffer so much in high school?!!! Back in my day, I wasn't even allowed to have a boyfriend!!! Fucking shit! No one even asked me out!!! I studied so much, I even went to cram school… I went to two schools at once, and not one bastard dared to hit on me! Fuck it! I wish these motherfuckers fail their exams!!!" Kiara was lying on the sofa watching an idol drama set on a "prestigious high school".

She just graduated college last year. She quickly got a job but she was scammed when the company announced bankruptcy. The bosses left and she was one of those unfortunate employees who did not get paid and got a smear on their resume. She came back home just a few months when she proudly told her parents she's going to live as an independent capable woman. Now it's been months and she's still on job hunt. This explains thirty percent of her temper, the other percentage lies on her innate personality.

She's so loud that her voice could even reach the neighboring houses. This irritates her younger brother who could hear her loud voice even when he's wearing earphones.

"Keith!!! Hey Keith!!! KEEEEIIIITTTHHH!!!!" She roared.

Keith took off his earphones, left his room, walked down the stairs, and went to the living room. "It's almost nine. Why are you shouting like a madman again? Is there a fire? Is my room two blocks away? Is your larynx preinstalled with the latest microphone technology? What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked as calm as he could and as sarcastic as possible.

Keith is the youngest in the family. He has three older sisters. The eldest, Kylie has already left their home and had a family with two kids, twins. Next, Kyrie who is working and living abroad, the official bread winner of the family. Then, Kiara who wanted to get the hell away from their house as soon as possible but failed. And him, the youngest, who suffered the indignation his family caused. They're all loud as hell. They're so loud, all the secrets, almost all the things he wanted to keep privately were announced to the whole neighborhood. They're so loud and at the same time even if they're smart, they have no self-awareness at all. They don't realize that their normal speaking volume is 15 decibels. When they have family conflict, even without gossiping, the whole neighborhood would know all the details through primary source. And yeah, his parents were also loud as shit. He alone is aware, he alone felt so much shame in behalf of his family.

"You little shit. Is that how you talk to your sister?!!" Kiara was annoyed more because of how sarcastic Keith was.

"Then what the fuck are you on again?"

Kiara tsked and rolled her eyes then she pointed the remote control towards the TV. "Look at these high school kids!!! They're so annoying! They're flirting around and they even have cars. High school!!! Minors! They date, they have cars, and they also don't study at all!!! Can you see their audacity? Their top 1, that hot guy… people say he's the hottest but I think the second male lead is hotter than him. Anyways, he's good at sports, he's popular, and he's rich! This fucking little shit has everything!!!"

"Here we go again." Keith mumbled and sighed. "So what? That's just drama! If that's adapted from a novel and then the adaptation stepped on the real plot with a piece of a shitty script, I'd shout the hell out of that director's ass with you! But that's none of my business. Now, why do you have to call me for this nonsense?"

"Nothing."

Keith took a deep breath. He chanted in his mind, "This is not the first time. Calm down. This is not the first time. Calm down…"

"Make me some coffee." Kiara demanded.

Keith, the youngest, the errand boy did as what he was told thinking after making her coffee, he can finally go back to his room and read.

He put the coffee on the coffee table. Then Kiara opened her mouth again.

"You're also a high school student, right? Sorry I was insensitive. Even though you can't relate to them, I mean you're not top 1… unlike us. You're not good at sports, and you don't have a girlfriend because you're always reading weird web novels! What I want to say is that, don't be annoying! Okay?!"

The chants in his head stopped. So he fired back, "You talk as if you can relate to them. HAHA"

Kiara looked at him with killing intent. "YOU LITTLE FUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!" She roared so loud that all the dogs in the neighborhood were scared they barked as response.

"Why don't you sleep instead of watching idol drama? You've been watching overnight and you're not stopping at all! Give the TV a rest. If that TV were a person, his dark circles would be as dark as your personality!" Keith somehow loudly voiced out his rebuttal. Indeed, it's in their blood.

"YOU'RE TALKING AS IF YOU DON'T HAVE DARK CIRCLES YOURSELF! I SAW YOU LAST NIGHT, YOU ALSO SLEPT LATE! YOU WERE READING ALL NIGHT!!! GIVE THE TV A REST? WHY DON'T YOU UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FIRST?"

"Haha! At least I slept! And for your information, I read god level novel last night, unlike your taste in your watch list, I-" Keith wanted to say more but stopped talking.

This time they finally heard the sound of the engine of their parent's car. They came from work dinner party. Their parents are teachers at Keith's high school. They just finished all the preparations for opening of new school year, thus the school staffs threw a dinner party. The bickering of their kids were so loud they could hear them two blocks away.

They knew they would get another round of loud lecture, Kiara turned off the TV and arranged the pillows in the living room, picked up some scraps of candy wrappers, went to the kitchen, took three clean plates, and acted as if she's washing them. Keith wanted to go upstairs and lock himself in his room but his name was the first one his mother called.

Keith opened the door and went to them. "Ma… Pa… Is the dinner party over? It's still early. It's not even nine."

His mother carried a big plastic bag filled with food leftovers from the restaurant of their dinner. This is another annoying habit his parents have. Every party they attend, they would surely bring home the left-overs. That's why, Keith doesn't like to go with them to parties and gatherings. The task of gathering and packing leftovers are always left to him. It was so embarrassing. Last year, a teacher hired a catering service to treat the teachers and other staffs to lunch during the sports fest, his mother and father made him not just eat with them, but also bring home all the left overs. The process of doing it out in the open in front of his teachers was the most embarrassing of all. This incident was known to all the teachers. He was allowed that day to go home and drive his parents' car to bring home the foods he scavenged for his family. Thankfully, the sensitive part was omitted and only the fact that he ate with the teachers and left the school driving their car was spread to the school.

"Feed that to your dogs." She bid as she pointed at the newly bought dog food. And then went inside.

"We didn't go to their drinking party. Have you eaten?" His dad explained and patted his shoulder.

"Not yet. Kiara did not cook at all. I did my part."

"It's okay. She knew we're bringing home some foods from the party."

Then, his dad also went inside. He just sighed and did as he was told. He carried a ten-kilogram bag of dog food. Then he fed the dogs he took in, they were strays but somehow, they ended up living in their yard and even built them their own cabin. Ever since he was a kid, he would feed some of the dogs outside their house every night. It was cute at first, their parents were so proud of him. However, soon after that, almost all the dogs in the neighborhood would gather in front of their house as if he was organizing a feeding program. They ended up adopting 9 of them. At night, people wouldn't walk in their street at all. People wouldn't even get surprised if some dogs outside their house are breeding or in the middle of knotting. Aside from the loud voices of the family, their dogs also contribute to the noise pollution. They're typically the worst neighbor to have when you're dreaming of a peaceful life.

After doing his chore, he went back inside, the food leftovers from the party were on the dining table. Kiara reheated them and was now eating to her heart's content as if her mother's nagging was less annoying than the main character in the idol drama she was watching. He sat and ate too. Now the nagging was also directed to him. He kisses his parents ass, so the nagging was lighter. Kiara got reprimanded because of how much time she spends on watching drama and time she spends on finding a job, the ridicule does not reach at professional level, but on personal, and spiritual level. And then the conclusion ends with, "… Kiara, where is your brain?!!!" The harshest part was their mother's mouth was the loudest.

His mother looked at him raising her eyebrows, "And you, Keith! You're always reading nonsense. You're always on your cellphone or your computer!!! School is starting tomorrow. Instead of reading fictions, read the books in our study. Look at your eyes! You're too young but you're almost blind!"

Keith murmurs quietly… "How can I look at my own eyes?"

"What did you say?"

"I said this sweet and sour pork taste really good, ma." He smiled after chewing.

Keith looked at his sister and smiled as if he won. But their mother was not done yet. She continued with a louder voice, "If you don't spend too much time reading nonsensical novels, you could have been the top 1!!! Look at your sister Kylie and Kyrie! They're the top of their class! Look at where they are now!"

"Ma, I'm also the top of my class." Kiara tried to cut in.

"Yeah, and look where you are now… Seriously? If you want me to use you as example when I lecture your little brother, instead of watching the TV all day, --"… Because of that the lecture was extended until Kiara finished washing the actual plates that needed to be washed.