PUPPY 10

“We need to be careful too… Seeing those flyers posted makes my heart… Yes, if I hear any news, I’ll contact you again. Take care.”

Juwon’s mother, who had been on the phone with someone for a long time in a worried voice, let out a deep sigh. As she hung up, Juwon’s father also asked with a troubled face.

“Sinsa-dong?”

“Yes…”

After a brief exchange of glances, the two looked at Juwon, then got up and went out to the living room together. The sound of the two of them whispering cautiously as they walked could be heard.

Juwon, sitting at the dining table, was just staring at his phone screen. If it were the usual Juwon, he would have perked up his puppy ears out of curiosity and eavesdropped on his parents’ conversation, but right now, he had no interest.

Juwon, who had been fiddling with his phone under the table with one hand, now placed it right on top of the table.

「what are you eating lololol」

「eating ramen in secretㅠㅠ」

Juwon was exchanging messages with Seowoo. They sometimes sent funny pictures or short reels, but most of their messages were ordinary things.

Should I ask why he’s hiding? Or should I ask what kind of ramen he’s eating? Juwon took a spoonful as he sorted out the priority of the questions popping into his head.

On the luxurious marble dining table was a single, simple soup bowl. And inside it was…

None other than dog food.

Juwon, a dog shapeshifter, had to consume not only the nutrients necessary for a human body but also enough nutrients necessary for a puppy. The most efficient way was to eat dog food consistently, but since it tasted so damn bad, he tended to neglect it. That’s why his parents would occasionally serve him only dog food for dinner like this.

「why are you hiding?」

After some thought, Juwon sent a message to Seowoo. But feeling like something was missing, he sent an emoticon of a puppy with a question mark popping up over its head. Unfortunately, the model for this emoticon was his hyung, Dowon, not himself.

「my grandma and grandpa hate it when i eat ramen because it’s bad for youㅠㅠ」

「ㅠㅠ」

Juwon, who chuckled at the message that arrived, sent a crying emoticon in return. Then he took a large spoonful of the dog food and ate it in one bite. Although it was barbecue-flavored, the kibble was dry and tasteless.

Ah, I want to eat ramen with Ryu Seowoo too…

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of longing as he sat there eating dog food. He said he likes rice cake and dumpling soup, should I bring him some? Juwon quickly finished the dog food as he tried to recall how many boxes of the product were left in the pantry.

Seeing as they had served him only dog food sprinkled with nutritional powder without any side dishes, it seemed his parents were quite determined today. It’s so dry… While he was crunching on the dog food and texting, his parents, who had gone out to the living room for a secret conversation, were coming back to the kitchen.

Even without turning around, he could immediately tell who was walking from which direction by the sound. The sound of his parents’ conversation as they returned to the kitchen also grew clearer.

“I was going to ask Junseok to bring some dog food.”

“There’s still an unopened bag, so I should tell him to deliver it as is.”

“Exactly, I think he’s eating even less since he moved out to live on his own. Cha Juwon, don’t leave any food, eat it all.”

“I am eating…”

Juwon replied, taking another large spoonful of dog food. But his parents, at his reply, instead let out a long sigh and sat down facing each other at the table. At the sudden focused stares, Juwon smiled and asked.

“What, this is making me uncomfortable.”

“…Juwon.”

“What, did I do something wrong?”

Even at Juwon’s lighthearted question, his parents’ serious expressions did not soften. As the heavy atmosphere continued, Juwon glanced at them and quickly averted his gaze.

Never make eye contact when you’re getting scolded.

It was a survival rule Juwon had learned by instinct. Among dogs, staring fixedly into another’s eyes was no different from throwing down a challenge. When he was younger, Juwon had also rebelled a few times by staring intently into his noona Cha Hyewon’s eyes. But his noona, the strongest of the three siblings, would mercilessly land a kick with her front paw.

Juwon, avoiding his parents’ eyes, wracked his brain as much as possible, trying to recall his wrongdoings, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps because he was taking after the calm personality of Ryu Seowoo, his closest friend, he had been living a really quiet life lately. His mother, watching Juwon’s eyes dart around, spoke first.

“Things have been a bit grim lately.”

At his mother’s words, Juwon finally let out a short sigh. A detailed explanation didn’t follow, but Juwon immediately understood what his mother wanted to say.

Recently, an unsettling rumor had been circulating that a dog shapeshifter had been kidnapped. Judging from the frequent phone calls lately and his parents’ darkened faces and atmosphere after their conversations, he could guess that it wasn’t just a ‘rumor.’

“Is it really serious?”

“It is…”

His mother nodded at Juwon’s question. At his mother’s unusual reaction, Juwon also tensed up and sat up straight.

“Cha Juwon. What is the unwritten rule of our kind?”

His father, who had brought warm milk with honey, handed a cup each to Juwon and his mother. He could tell just by the smell. It wasn’t milk for people, but pet milk…

“Do you think I’m a baby?”

Juwon stuck out his tongue to check the milk’s temperature, and having judged it to be fine, he drank it in one go. He also immediately wiped away the milk stain on his mouth roughly.

“Then are you an adult?”

“Almost an adult.”

“Cha Juwon, I asked what the unwritten rule is.”

Despite Juwon’s playful tone, his mother did not relax her expression and spoke sternly. Realizing that this was not a situation he could easily get out of, Juwon let out a short sigh and recited the unwritten rule in a mechanical voice.

“For the prosperity and protection of our kind, shapeshifters will act altruistically and help each other.”

“And?”

“We will not reveal our identity unless to a partner with whom we will spend our entire lives.”

It was the unwritten rule of their kind, one that anyone born a shapeshifter would have heard from their parents or guardians until their ears rang. When they were young, they learned it as a song and had to recite it almost every day, so it was impossible to forget.

“And if the unwritten rule is broken.”

“If one’s existence is revealed and becomes a threat to the survival of the species…”

“The punishment is.”

“Immediate execution.”

“I’m telling you to be careful.”

Yes, yes. Juwon replied, nodding his head. The punishment of immediate execution sounded a bit eerie, but in reality, such a punishment was rarely carried out.

If one carelessly gets their identity revealed, they usually get their fur shaved off and are banned from going out. For a dog shapeshifter, for whom it is no exaggeration to say they live for walks, it was a rather harsh punishment.

The history of humans and shapeshifters living together was long, but not all of it had been good. When splendid civilizations blossomed in human history, shapeshifters were regarded as game for show. When darkness fell upon human society, they became objects of curses. There were also times when they became subjects of biological experiments or were forced by state institutions to use their ability to transform. That’s why shapeshifters hid their identities and lived mixed among humans.

The belief in advanced science and technology was quite blind, so the existence of shapeshifters, which could not be explained scientifically, was very naturally dismissed as superstition or delusion.

“It’s been quiet for a long time, but now again…”

His mother, who was about to bring up a dark topic, looked at Juwon’s face and let out another long sigh.

“So, Cha Juwon, be careful. Got it? Don’t go around wagging your tail.”

“I won’t get caught.”

Juwon replied, chewing on the remaining dog food.

“Your ears are sticking out right now, what do you mean you won’t get caught.”

His parents said in a worried voice, looking at the two puppy ears perked up on top of Juwon’s head.

“It’s because I’m at home.”

“What if you suddenly get a video call, can you hide them quickly?”

To his mom and dad who were asking even with strange hypothetical situations, Juwon showed them how he could quickly hide his ears and then make them reappear.

“Even if I get a video call, I’ll never get caugh—”

Wait, a video call?

Just then, a good idea popped into Juwon’s head.

“I’m just saying to always be careful… okay?”

His parents’ plea flowed into one of his human-slash-puppy ears and drifted straight out the other.

Why have I been bothering to text all this time? I should have made a video call.

Juwon sighed, thinking of his jelly-like paws that had been overworked until now.

🦴

Seowoo, who had washed up and returned to his room, immediately checked his phone. Over 300 messages had arrived in the chatroom with Kim Dongwon, Oh Dongjae, and Yang Juhyeon. Seowoo, whose personality couldn’t stand to leave notifications on his phone, opened the chatroom.

「is this what a breakup is supposed to feel like, so empty and lonely?」

「ah i wanna go to a PC baaaaaaaang so badㅠㅠ」

「Oh Dongjae’s profile pic is crazy lololol he’s got what it takes to make his ex-gf run for the hills」

「shut up」

「Dongwon, just one hour, let’s go?」

「gtfo lol hyung is gonna study and get into Hankuk University」

「i’ll pay for the PC bang, let’s go?」

「let’s go lolol」

「me too」

「should we ask Cha Juwon too? lol i heard he plays games sometimes?」

「yep yep let’s get Cha Juwon and Jeong Hyeonwoo too for a 5-man queue?」

「let’s go let’s go let’s go」

Juwon’s name caught Seowoo’s eye as he was scrolling past the long, drawn-out chatter without reading it. His friends’ conversation seemed ordinary, but there was an undercurrent of caution when they mentioned Juwon. It was a subtle difference that only Seowoo could distinguish.

So Cha Juwon plays games too…

Seowoo turned off the screen and went to sit at his desk. Just as he was about to open a book, his phone buzzed. He thought a message had arrived, but it was an incoming call.