PUPPY 12

It was a very instinctive movement. Though no one else was visible in the alley they had walked down together, something bothered him.

“Stay here for a second.”

“Why?”

“…I’m going to go check something.”

Juwon threw his bag on the ground and started walking with big strides, then broke into a run. He could hear Seowoo’s voice shouting something from behind him.

He ran so fast that by the time he reached Seowoo’s house, he felt out of breath.

“……”

Juwon examined the corner of the wall around Seowoo’s house. He couldn’t see any sign of a person, but Juwon had definitely felt a gaze. Juwon lifted his eyes from the ground and took a deep breath. But all he could smell were familiar scents.

“Meow—.”

Juwon’s ears twitched at the sound of a cat crying in the distance. At the end of the wall sat a yellow cat with a scar near its eye. Before their eyes could even meet, the cat leaped away and disappeared.

Standing in the middle of the alley, Juwon scanned his surroundings once more, then turned back with uneasy steps.

After the park outing, which Juwon considered a light stroll and Seowoo thought was akin to extreme training, the two decided to have lunch first.

“Ah, I’m so tired….”

A groan escaped Seowoo’s lips as they walked to the restaurant. He had always thought that although Juwon was energetic, he wasn’t the type to be easily distracted, but today, Juwon was a bit of a handful.

‘Juwon, we have to go this way.’

He kept trying to leave the walking path and go onto the dirt trail.

‘Juwon, where are you going….’

Even when they were walking in step, he would suddenly dash far ahead.

‘Cha Juwon…!’

He even tried to run towards the dogs that were joyfully playing fetch with their owners, making a startled Seowoo call out his full name. After that hectic walk was over, he was completely drained of energy and, more than anything, famished.

After some deliberation, the two chose tonkatsu. It was a restaurant not too far from the study hall and was rumored to be delicious. Even at the early hour of 10:30 on a Saturday morning, there were several customers inside. Not long after they ordered, the thin and crispy fried tonkatsu was served.

“Ah, wait a minute, I have to take a picture and send it.”

The sauce drizzled over the tonkatsu was still steaming, making the photo come out blurry.

“Are you getting personal training?”

“No.”

“Then why the picture?”

Juwon, seeing Seowoo take a picture of his food for the first time, asked with a curious expression. Juwon, who had ordered the extra-large tonkatsu, cut a large piece and put it in his mouth.

“I talked to my parents yesterday, and they asked me to send them a picture of what I’m eating today. They’re overseas for work.”

“It’s a good thing it’s not convenience store ramen today.”

“They all really hate ramen.”

Seowoo smiled shyly with the spoon in his mouth.

“So that’s why you live with your grandparents.”

“Yeah. My hyung used to live here too, but he’s doing his military service now, so I live with my grandparents and someone named Jihye noona… she’s my prospective sister-in-law.”

Jihye, who lived on the same floor as Seowoo, was the first boarder in his grandparents’ house. She became close with Seowoo’s older brother, Ryu Sunwoo, because they were the same age and went to the same school, and they naturally developed into a couple.

His hyung and Jihye noona had already registered their marriage, but they had postponed the wedding ceremony until his hyung finished his public health doctor service.

“I thought she was your biological sister. You two looked alike.”

Juwon said, recalling Jihye’s face which he had seen in passing. He had naturally assumed they were biological siblings because their pale faces and slightly light-colored hair were similar.

“I don’t look much like my hyung, but strangely, I’ve heard a lot that I look like Jihye noona. Noona is super nice and treats me well, so she feels like a real older sister.”

“Nice and treats you well? That’s not a real older sister.”

Juwon shook his head, thinking of his own sister. The human Cha Hyewon, or Grace the Genius Dog, didn’t beat him for no reason, but she also never doted on him for no reason either. Praise and rewards were not things that just fell from the sky.

“Ah, you have a noona.”

“I have a noona and a hyung.”

“What’s your real noona like?”

Seowoo asked as he swallowed the tonkatsu he had been chewing.

“She’s just sitting there, and then suddenly she says I need mental training and gives me a punishment drill? Then you can consider her a real older sister.”

“Does your noona hit you too?”

Juwon replied to Seowoo’s question with a serious expression.

“My noona’s front paw slam is no joke. I just go flying.”

“Haha.”

Seowoo laughed brightly at the exaggeration from Juwon, who was nearly 190 cm tall.

“It’s true. When I was little, I couldn’t even look my noona in the eye.”

Juwon’s expression remained serious to the end as he described his sister’s front paw slam.

🦴

Break Time

The handwriting, looking as if it had been hastily scribbled, appeared before the eyes of Seowoo, who was focused on solving a math problem. A Post-it note with writing on it fluttered in front of Seowoo’s eyes.

When he lifted his head, he saw Juwon leaning diagonally against the study hall desk, looking down at him. As Seowoo carefully opened his mouth, Juwon lowered his head and brought his ear closer.

“How did you find me?”

Juwon, for whom today was the first day registering at the study hall, had been assigned to a different floor. Although Seowoo had roughly told him where his seat was, he was amazed at how Juwon had found him at once among the maze-like rooms.

“I followed your scent.”

Juwon, who had brought his lips close to Seowoo’s ear, whispered in a low voice. Seowoo’s eyes crinkled into a smile, thinking it was a joke.

But Juwon was telling the 100% truth. Although the air purifier was on, the nature of an enclosed space meant scents didn’t disappear completely. Thanks to that, Juwon was able to find his way by following Seowoo’s scent.

“Let’s take a little break.”

Juwon waved the Post-it note that said ‘Break Time.’ Seowoo had been sitting at his desk for a long time and was getting fidgety too.

“Ah, I want to eat ramen….”

Seowoo, walking out of the study hall room, muttered in a small voice without realizing it.

“I’m hungry too. Want to go to the convenience store?”

“Then lend me some money. I’ll give it back….”

He hadn’t brought his wallet and was about to ask Juwon to lend him some money when suddenly, his nose started bleeding profusely. He hadn’t thought that studying after coming back from a walk was a demanding schedule, but his body seemed to have taken it differently. Seowoo’s already pale face turned even whiter. The two of them went into the restroom together to wipe away the nosebleed. The small study hall restroom became crowded.

“Ryu Seowoo.”

“Ugh….”

Seowoo slightly raised his gaze at the voice calling him. Juwon had a serious expression on his face.

“Are you trying to get first place on the mock exam?”

“No, I get nosebleeds sometimes.”

“Don’t tilt your head back too much and wait.”

Juwon gently pressed the middle of Seowoo’s nose bridge with two fingers, applying moderate pressure.

“…I think it stopped.”

“It’s still bleeding a little.”

Juwon said as he lowered his head to examine Seowoo’s nose. The gushing flow had weakened, but it hadn’t completely stopped yet.

“I can do it myself.”

Seowoo said, blinking, during the ensuing silence. He was grateful, but the question of whether Juwon really needed to be the one pressing on his nose occurred to him later.

“You’re really weak.”

Juwon said as he placed his clean left hand on Seowoo’s forehead after confirming that the nosebleed had stopped.

“I’m not that weak.”

“You don’t have a fever, huh?”

“Uh….”

“Really no fever?”

Juwon tilted his head, removed his hand, and brought his own forehead to Seowoo’s. It was certain he didn’t have a fever. Because Juwon’s forehead, pressed against his, was much hotter.

“I think your forehead is hotter….”

“I have a high body temperature naturally.”

“I see….”

Even after Seowoo’s reply, Juwon didn’t move his forehead away, like someone deep in thought.

“Are you sure you don’t have a fever?”

“I think I just got a nosebleed from being a little tired.”

With their foreheads touching, it was awkward to know where to look. The distance was too close, and Juwon’s lips kept catching his eye. The problem was that he was the only one feeling this awkwardness.

“Let’s go no….”

Just as he was about to gently push away the placid-looking Juwon and open his mouth, the closed restroom door flew open with a bang.

“So I told my mom straight up, right?”

The person who entered the restroom while on the phone was Yang Juhyeon.

“Ah, excuse me.”

Before Seowoo could even call out to Yang Juhyeon, Yang Juhyeon bowed his head, closed the door, and turned to leave as if he were being chased. Watching him, Juwon asked Seowoo.

“Isn’t that Yang Juhyeon?”

“It is. I guess he didn’t recognize me.”

“He probably thought we were kissing in the restroom.”

“…Isn’t that a problem too? This is the men’s restroom.”

“Not really.”

Juwon said as if it were no big deal.

“What if Yang Juhyeon teases us.”

“About what?”

Juwon, who had grown up in a beastkin society where even love that transcended species, like combinations of beastkin and humans, was permitted, had no prejudice against homosexuality.

Besides, Ryu Seowoo was a ‘real friend,’ not some potential lover, so Juwon felt perfectly justified regardless of whether Yang Juhyeon misunderstood and teased them as he pleased.

“He’s a bit of a prankster too…. If he finds out it was us two, he’ll tease us about dating.”

“Then let’s say we’re dating.”

Seowoo nodded at Juwon’s light tone, which he let out with a small laugh. Then, he gestured with his chin towards the restroom door and said.

“…Let’s really go now. Before more people come in.”

“Ryu Seowoo.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t get sick.”

As he said that, Juwon stroked Seowoo’s head. Juwon’s large hand completely ruffled Seowoo’s hair.