PUPPY 30

“What’s your name?”

The puppy, whose fur was disheveled as if no one ever brushed it, always stood in front of the door at around the same time. The strange thing was that there was always black soot on his mouth, as if it had been freshly applied.

“Wait just a moment.”

“……”

Outside, even a small bark would startle Seowoo and make him look around, so Juwon waited quietly.

“I’ll wipe your paws.”

Seowoo, who had brought the paw wipe that had now become Juwon’s exclusive property, said as he wet it. Before secretly letting Juwon into the room, Seowoo would wipe the soot from Juwon’s paws and mouth. Juwon enjoyed the gentle touch of Seowoo’s hand as he softly stroked his face. Walking on the streets barefoot had been quite uncomfortable, so it was nice that Seowoo cleaned him up so thoroughly.

“All done. Come in.”

After meticulously checking all four of Juwon’s paws, Seowoo’s permission was granted. The moment Juwon rushed into Seowoo’s room as if he had been waiting for it—

“Ruff! Ruff!”

‘…Sis?’

At the sudden sound of his sister’s voice, Juwon’s body instantly froze stiff.

“Grace, what’s the answer to this one?”

At the sound of his sister’s manager’s voice that followed, Juwon’s tension eased and he let out a sigh of relief. Although he called it a sigh, in his puppy state, it was closer to a ‘whew!’ sound.

The source of his sister’s voice was a video from the <Genius Dog Grace> channel. Looking at the cell phone screen, Juwon could finally relax.

“Grace, you’re so smart!”

At the manager’s exaggerated reaction, Seowoo’s gaze briefly turned to the cell phone. After tapping the screen to pause the video, Seowoo this time carefully stroked Juwon’s head.

Since he was in the middle of hiding his identity, Juwon had been washing himself roughly with soap lately, instead of the organic shampoo his sister was currently selling through group buys. Because of that, the shine of his fur was considerably diminished. When Seowoo stroked his head like this, he felt a sense of regret about that.

“Should I give you a name?”

Seowoo, who had been sitting with his knees bent, rested his head on one hand and lay down at an angle. As Juwon had been making a daily appearance in Seowoo’s room recently, he had noticed that the heating in Seowoo’s room was always running strong, to the point of being a little hot regardless of the weather outside.

Perhaps because of that, Seowoo was always dressed in similar attire inside the room. Namely, short pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt. The dolphin shorts were stimulating in their own way, and the wide-legged shorts in theirs, so Juwon was always at a loss as to where to look.

“Paw.”

“Ruff!”

At Seowoo’s words, Juwon immediately offered his paw. Thanks to Seowoo’s constant training lately, his paw shot out as if by reflex.

“So smart.”

Saying that, Seowoo stroked Juwon’s head with one hand. Sometimes, acting cute like a dog in front of the person he liked made him feel a sense of self-loathing, but he couldn’t help it if it felt good, so Juwon stuck his tongue out and laughed with a happy panting sound.

“You might have a name, but I don’t know it.”

“Ruff! Ruff!”

‘You know it too.’

Juwon replied with a short bark. However, words that completely failed to grasp Juwon’s feelings flowed from Seowoo’s mouth.

“How about Pink?”

“Ruff!”

‘What kind of…’

At Seowoo’s words, spoken while blatantly looking at his front paw, Juwon’s expression changed completely. His pink tongue retracted, and without realizing it, the corners of his mouth twitched and he let out a small growl.

Just because a part of his body was pink, his nickname couldn’t become ‘Pink.’

If nicknames were made that way, Seowoo would have to be Pink too…

Feeling a sense of unease at the puppy’s gaze, which seemed to be scanning him up and down, Seowoo asked cautiously.

“Why not Pink?”

“Grrrrr…”

Could it be that he doesn’t like it because he’s a boy? Come to think of it, even though he played with the puppy every day, he didn’t even know basic information like its gender.

“By the way, are you a girl or a boy? Come here.”

“Ruff ruff!”

“There’s too much fur, I can’t see.”

Seowoo removed the arm he had been resting his head on, lowered his posture by lying on his stomach on the floor, and tried to blatantly look between Juwon’s legs.

“Ruff!”

‘Wow, what is this…’

There was no way he could show him without any preparation, so Juwon barked shortly and abruptly lay down flat. With his belly pressed to the floor and only his head peeking up, he let out a low growl, to which Seowoo laughed and replied, “Okay.”

“Then what should we name you.”

“Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!”

‘Cha! Ju! Won!’

Juwon pronounced his own name distinctly.

“Jjokko. How about Jjokko since you’re a little squirt?”

Seowoo asked after a brief moment of thought. In his own way, Seowoo had chosen something that was gender-neutral and not too contrary to his image.

At Seowoo’s suggestion, this time Juwon fell into thought. Jjokko. It tended to evoke the image of chocolate upon first hearing, so it was a nickname usually given to brown dogs, but it was much better than Pink. Moreover, Juwon, who had grown up with restrictions on chocolate snacks since he was young, was crazy about chocolate.

“Ruff!”

As a sign of agreement, Juwon offered one of his front paws to Seowoo. It was meant as a high-five, but Seowoo tickled Juwon’s pink jelly-bean toe pad with his finger.

“Does it tickle when I do this to your paw pad?”

“Ruff! Ruff!”

Of course it tickles. Juwon, whose one paw was caught, moved his body to get away from Seowoo. With a thud sound, Juwon bumped into Seowoo’s cell phone. At that, the paused video on Seowoo’s cell phone began to play again.

“Grace, then what about this one? Choose one of the O, X cards!”

“Let’s try this later too.”

Juwon shook his head from side to side. Juwon knew this video well. It was a video showcasing the intelligence of the genius dog Grace, and it had over 5 million views.

Behind his sister’s cute and smart appearance lay the tears of Juwon and his older brother, Dowon, who had acted as stand-ins during dozens of rehearsals. Juwon once again shook his head from side to side as a sign of refusal.

“Right? It’ll be fun, won’t it?”

He hadn’t realized it, but Seowoo had a slightly stubborn side to him. Juwon let out a small snort and shook his head. Seowoo, looking at Juwon, gave a bright smile and this time made a gun shape with his hand and said.

“Jjokko, look at this. Bang!”

“……”

Wasn’t he satisfied with him immediately giving his paw when asked? Just as he was about to contemplate whether or not to play along with Seowoo—

“Should you roll over? So I can see your belly? Bang!”

Seowoo’s command became detailed and explicit. Behind his playful and friendly expression was a curiosity filled with the determination to find out Juwon’s gender.

Right now, since he was in his puppy form, he could accept the situation as it was, but if he were in his human form, it would have been a truly lewd command.

Looking at Seowoo who was once again feigning to shoot a gun, Juwon flipped over onto his back and then immediately got back up.

“Ah, I didn’t see it!”

Looking at Seowoo’s genuinely disappointed face, Juwon thought that he had done the right thing by visiting as a puppy. He could see sides of him that were hard to see when he was a person, or find aspects he had missed from a different perspective. The strange thing was that, whether he was in human form or puppy form, his feelings for Seowoo only grew stronger; he never felt disappointed or disliked him.

🦴

The daily life of a high school senior rolled on steadily in the hamster wheel of school records, studying, mock exams, and early admission preparations. The spring that had come silently and melted the winter quickly disappeared, and it became as hot as the beginning of summer.

“Isn’t the world going to end at this rate?”

“It’s freaking hot.”

At the words of Yang Juhyeon and Kim Dongwon, Seowoo also nodded his head in agreement.

“It’s hot…”

Seowoo was not only sensitive to the cold but also to the heat. Moreover, he wasn’t in very good condition today. Kim Dongwon and Yang Juhyeon, standing in front of Seowoo who was leaning against the wall with his mouth shut tight, were in special attire.

“But that hanbok is freaking gorgeous. Is it your sister’s?”

“Hohohoho. That is correct. It is an authentic hanbok.”

At the question from Yang Juhyeon, who was wearing a white mask, Kim Dongwon demurely covered his mouth and spoke.

“Ah, I was about to puke, you crazy bastard.”

“If you puke, you die. I swiped this after my sister wore it once.”

“Hey, isn’t the jeogori ripped?”

Just then, the front door slid open with a rattle, and Oh Dongjae from another class appeared, waddling. The moment they saw Oh Dongjae, Yang Juhyeon and Kim Dongwon let out a sigh as if he were unbearable.

“You crazy bastard, aren’t you hot?”

“I’m dying of heat.”

And for good reason, Oh Dongjae was wearing a dinosaur costume, the origin of which was unknown. It was a wonder he could even manage to get in and out of the door wearing that thing. But even Oh Dongjae’s appearance didn’t stand out much today. That was because the place was filled with kids who were more flashy and eye-catching.

The reason for wearing such special outfits today was for the graduation album photoshoot.

“I thought you were joking.”

Juwon, who had stepped out for a moment and returned to the classroom, came close to Seowoo and stood there, watching the chaos.

“Juwon, did you really not bring anything?”

Seowoo raised his head and asked Juwon. At the school he had attended before, everyone took their graduation photos normally, so Juwon had dismissed his friends’ talk of wearing mascot costumes and dresses as a joke.

“Uh… don’t tell me you brought something too?”

At Juwon’s question, Seowoo nodded his head. At the words that even Seowoo, who seemed to have no interest in such things, had prepared something, Juwon made a surprised face.

“I just brought a hat. I thought it would look plain if I just took the picture normally.”

“What kind?”

At Juwon’s question, Seowoo opened his bag.