PUPPY 41

Seowoo’s eyes wavered at Juwon’s completely unexpected words.

“…Why?”

“You said he’ll get better if he keeps going to the hospital. Once he’s healthy, someone will take him in right away.”

Before grooming the dog, he had taken a picture and posted it on an app, and he had also put up a note on the bulletin board on one of the animal hospital’s walls saying they were looking for the dog’s owner. Juwon, who had been by his side through that whole series of events, was now speaking as if he’d had a sudden change of heart.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? We agreed to find his family.”

Words welled up inside him, wanting to burst out. But Seowoo was the type who extremely disliked creating confrontational situations. Holding back the words that might offend Juwon, he forced a smile. Even seeing Seowoo’s awkward expression, Juwon didn’t stop talking.

“There were a lot of people at the hospital who said he was cute.”

“Cha Juwon, why are you suddenly saying things like that.”

Despite Seowoo’s efforts to continue the conversation without things getting unpleasant, Juwon kept bringing up adoption.

“Pomeranians are popular, so….”

“No.”

Cutting Juwon off, Seowoo stopped in his tracks.

“Seowoo.”

Juwon looked at Seowoo, who had stopped in his tracks. Juwon’s heart wasn’t at ease bringing up the idea of putting the dog up for adoption instead of finding its owner. But the moment he met Seowoo’s gaze, he realized that his own distress was nothing compared to Seowoo’s.

“…You said he’s sick.”

“……”

“Since he’s sick, he has to go back to his original family.”

Seowoo said in a voice so quiet it would be missed if one wasn’t listening closely. Then he bit his lower lip so hard it turned red.

“……”

“Being sick… it’s hard.”

As he added these words, Seowoo felt his throat suddenly tighten and burn.

There had been times when the treatments were so painful and agonizing that he had wanted to escape the situation. He knew it wouldn’t help his illness get better at all, but he had wanted to just run away. The only reason he had been able to endure the distressing situation was because his family was by his side.

Seowoo recalled the image of the puppy making pained noises as it got its shot. The frown on Seowoo’s face showed no sign of smoothing out.

“Sorry. I was being thoughtless.”

Juwon, who had been watching Seowoo, apologized quickly.

“No, I didn’t mean to say anything to you….”

“……”

“I just want to send him back to his family. It hasn’t been long since we posted on the app, and the animal hospital might call, so let’s wait.”

“…Okay.”

Juwon’s mouth tasted bitter as he answered.

In his mind, Juwon thought about the hospital bill he had paid today. The dog grooming fee had been free, thanks to a fellow therianthrope favor. But all the other costs had been shouldered entirely by Juwon.

Seeing that he had spent a considerable amount of money at an animal hospital run by a therianthrope veterinarian, he had notified his parents in advance, in case they might misunderstand and think he was the one who was hurt.

The moment he sent the message 「I’m not sick, it’s a hospital bill for a dog I’m fostering」, the reply came back: 「The dog must be in very bad shape….」. It was because the bill had been for an amount that far exceeded the allowance Seowoo had scraped together with all his might.

That was why Juwon couldn’t shake his suspicion toward the dog’s original owner.

Juwon and Seowoo’s conversation ended peacefully, but the atmosphere between them had sunk very low. Seowoo felt it too.

“How did Oh Dongjae kiss his girlfriend with so many people in the park.”

Walking slowly, Seowoo glanced at Juwon and spoke, trying to break the heavy atmosphere.

“Maybe they went somewhere out of sight.”

“There aren’t many places like that here…. I feel like everyone would see them if they kissed.”

At Juwon’s words, Seowoo looked at the walking path and said. The path had been newly created, and the roadside trees were all young. Even if there were occasionally tall trees, they were right next to the path, so there was quite a lot of foot traffic. Ah, it occurred to him that it might have been much later at night than it was now.

Then somewhere around here….

“You too.”

“Huh? Me? What?”

Seowoo, who had only been thinking about Oh Dongjae kissing his girlfriend, widened his eyes at Juwon’s question. He wondered if he had unconsciously blurted out something about a kiss with Cha Juwon. But Juwon’s next question was a very serious one.

“Was it hard when you were sick?”

“Ah….”

A sigh escaped Seowoo’s lips at Juwon’s question. After hesitating for a moment, Seowoo nodded his head as if he had made a decision and answered.

“I was okay. My family was with me.”

It was a long time ago, so he couldn’t remember the details, but the long-term hospitalization was not a pleasant memory for Seowoo. He could see a well-maintained walking path outside the window, but going out to play required permission and preparation. The preparation process was so troublesome that he would usually just give up on going out. Even if he dozed off in the evening, he would have to wake up again for tests, so it was hard to even sleep properly. Yet, the reason he could say he was okay back then was because it was all in the past, and he had his family, who still supported him by his side.

“…Then that’s a relief.”

“Yeah.”

As they were walking along the path again like that, Juwon suddenly started walking toward the edge of the path, as if he had discovered something. The tail of the puppy, which had been listlessly following Seowoo, began to wag slightly.

“Come here.”

“Huh? Why?”

“There’s a playground here.”

Juwon said, and then slipped behind a tree. Unlike the roadside trees along the path, which were all slender, the trees around the playground were tall and dense. It seemed they were probably meant to block the noise of children that would come from the playground.

“I couldn’t see it well because of the trees. Ah, so it connects to that apartment complex over there.”

Opposite where Seowoo and Juwon were standing, there was a path leading to an apartment complex. The path leading from the walking trail was probably not an official entrance, but a path that had been trodden down by many people passing through. There was no one in the playground, where a single streetlight was shining.

“He must have done it in a place like this.”

Juwon, looking around, murmured quietly as if to himself. Curious about his meaning, Seowoo lifted his head and asked Juwon.

“Did what?”

“A kiss in hiding.”

Hearing Juwon’s words, Seowoo quietly whispered, “Ah—.” It was from that moment that he began to feel his heart, which he hadn’t been conscious of, start to beat fast.

As Seowoo swallowed hard, a question of ‘Huh?’ popped into Juwon’s mind. When he looked down, Seowoo’s face was clearly tense. Conscious of Juwon’s gaze, Seowoo lifted his head slightly, and their eyes met.

Could this be….

Oh Dongjae’s voice rang in both of their heads at the same time.

‘You’re making eye contact, and then one of you closes your eyes? That’s the timing for a kiss.’

“……”

“……”

Their gazes met again. This time, Seowoo’s eyes wavered for a different reason. Juwon felt all five of his senses become acutely heightened. Juwon’s heart began to pound like crazy. The sight of Seowoo’s trembling eyelashes slowly lowering seemed to be in slow motion. Now is the time….

Kiss timing.

Juwon’s instincts hit him hard. Holding his breath, Juwon slowly extended his right hand. Cupping one of Seowoo’s cheeks with his hand, he took one step closer. It was his first kiss, no, first time kissing, but his instincts were faithfully giving him orders.

The moment Juwon tilted his head slightly and moved closer to Seowoo….

“Whimper! Whimper!”

The puppy, which had been silent until now as if it wasn’t even there, let out a loud noise for the first time.

“Ah….”

At the sound, Seowoo slowly opened his closed eyes. His face, visible under the streetlight, was flushed red.

“Let’s finish….”

Unable to let such a perfect moment slip away so futilely, Juwon tilted his head again. Trying to forcibly piece the broken atmosphere back together, Juwon made a pathetic effort.

I was the only one with a secret crush, so why is Cha Juwon….

He couldn’t understand why Cha Juwon was bringing his lips close at what Oh Dongjae had called the perfect kiss timing. But it was an opportunity he absolutely did not want to miss, so Seowoo squeezed his eyes shut again.

“……”

“……”

The moment their breaths brushed against each other’s faces as they drew closer, the puppy started barking again.

“Yap! Yap!”

The puppy barked with all its might, so much that it was impossible to ignore. It seemed like it had been perfect timing…. Now there was no turning back. As Seowoo awkwardly turned his head away, Juwon made a sound like a low growl.

“Where are you going. You can’t move like that.”

The little puppy had gone so far that its leash was taut. Unlike its listless state until now, it was so excited that it even jumped up and down on the spot.

“Ah, really….”

Juwon let out a deep sigh and looked at the puppy with a resentful gaze. He himself was half-dog, but he thought that dogs were sometimes so damn clueless. Out of regret, Juwon tapped the ground with the tip of his shoe. Seowoo, watching Juwon, added a comment as if to speak for the puppy.

“I guess it was bored just standing there.”

‘Why did Cha Juwon try to kiss me?’

Although he spoke as if nothing had happened, the only question that kept popping up in Seowoo’s mind was ‘Why did Juwon.’ He had thought it was a one-sided affection, but the assumption ‘Could it be, Cha Juwon too.’ arose. Seowoo felt his face grow uncontrollably hot.

“Hey, hey, walk slowly.”

Despite Juwon’s scolding, the place the puppy kept trying to run to was the small fence surrounding the playground.