PUPPY 49

“This is strange.”

The bowl, which would normally be empty, still had a little kibble left in it. The situation was the same for the water bowl left out for the cats to drink. This had been going on for several days now.

“Did the cats go somewhere else….”

Seowoo’s grandfather changed the water in the bowl to fresh water, threw out the soggy kibble, and then refilled it. He considered putting in a little less kibble than before but changed his mind and filled it generously.

“Meow.”

Not long after, a gray cat that seemed to have been hiding in a corner approached. The gray cat even allowed his grandfather to stroke its head while it ate. It was a cat he had grown quite fond of.

“Where did all your friends go? Why are you all alone?”

“Meow.”

To his grandfather’s question, the cat simply replied with a meow. A dark shadow fell over his grandfather’s face as he gazed at the wall, listening to the chirping of the birds.

“Grandfather.”

“Seowoo, are you going to school?”

“Yes. What were you doing?”

“Oh, just feeding the cats.”

“Did any of the others come besides that one?”

“They’re usually not very visible anyway…. But today, it’s just this one.”

“…That’s really strange.”

There were a few cats that checked in every morning when his grandfather refilled the kibble and water. The gray cat, which was currently monopolizing the kibble, was a prime example, and there was also a ginger cat that gracefully and nimbly leaped over the wall. For a while, a cat with a scar above its eyebrow had also visited frequently.

“You’ll be late. Go on.”

“Yes, I’ll be going now.”

“Okay, then.”

“Ah, Grandfather. Today is the mock exam, so after it’s over, I’m going to… eat with Juwon before I come home.”

Seowoo said to his grandfather. It was just a normal outing with a friend, but his voice trembled slightly, perhaps because he was conscious of Juwon. After bidding his grandfather farewell, Seowoo turned and opened the gate.

“Juwon.”

At Seowoo’s bright and excited voice, a tone he had never heard before, his grandfather turned his head.

Through the gap of the gate as it closed with a creak—, he could see Juwon, the youngest son from the tile-roofed house, embracing Seowoo tightly in his arms.

‘…Did I see that correctly?’

Faced with this unfamiliar scene so early in the morning, Seowoo’s grandfather squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. In his now-clear vision, he saw Juwon and Seowoo stuck together without a single gap between them.

🦴

Due to the teacher’s circumstances, homeroom was skipped after the mock exam. Seowoo, the class president, had to go get something from the gym, so he left as soon as the exam was over and came back. When he returned to the classroom, what greeted him was Juwon, sitting alone in the empty room.

“Did everyone leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow…. It’s only been about ten minutes, they’re all gone already?”

Juwon nodded his head emphatically at Seowoo’s question. The moment they heard there was no homeroom, the kids had packed their things in perfect unison and left in a noisy rush, chatter-chatter-chatter, like a swarm of locusts.

“When they said no homeroom, everyone cheered and ran out.”

“Wow….”

“They should run like that when they play soccer.”

Juwon said, recalling the inter-class match where he had scored three goals but suffered a humiliating defeat due to poor defense.

“Did you wait for me? I’m sorry.”

“I wanted to wait, so why are you sorry?”

At Juwon’s casual reply, thrown out as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Seowoo’s face, which was completely unprepared, turned bright red.

‘Did Juwon always talk in a way that could be misunderstood like this?’

Or am I overanalyzing, giving meaning to every little thing? Every word Juwon said seemed to be aimed straight at his heart.

Wondering how to respond, Seowoo recalled a conversation he had with Dongjae a little while ago.

‘It’s about a friend of mine….’

‘Ah, what a cliché way to start. What’s your love problem, Ryu Seowoo?’

Seowoo had never sought advice from Dongjae, who always had a girlfriend. First, he hadn’t been interested in any girls until now, and second, he didn’t think Oh Dongjae’s advice was all that effective.

However, after Oh Dongjae’s ‘kiss timing’ lecture, Seowoo had no choice but to have blind faith in him. At Oh Dongjae’s invitation to share his worries, Seowoo poured out questions as if he had been waiting for the chance.

‘When you go from being friends to having a crush, how should you talk? Is it better to act comfortably like before? Or is it better to show a little that you’re interested?’

‘What…. Who is it? Where did you meet? A private academy? A study room?’

‘It’s not about me.’

‘Right, right, it’s about your friend. Are you sure you’re crushing on each other?’

‘…We’ve kissed on the face before.’

Seowoo replied, recalling how Juwon had pressed his lips to the bridge of his nose instead of giving it a little nip. At that, Oh Dongjae made a slightly surprised face and nodded, saying, ‘It’s a crush, then….’

‘It’s not like she can read minds. Of course you have to make it super obvious when you talk.’

“Did you do well on the exam?”

“Um…. I don’t know. Did you check the answers?”

“No, should we check now?”

“Sure.”

Taking out his phone, Juwon searched for and opened the mock exam answer key. At the top of Juwon’s phone screen, notifications of DMs were piling up. Juwon hadn’t posted any new pictures since the one he had taken with Seowoo.

Yet, strangely, his number of followers was increasing every day. Seowoo knew this because he checked Juwon’s social media like a habit when he woke up. But he had absolutely, absolutely no intention of stalking him.

“This one…, number 3.”

“Got it right.”

Juwon and Seowoo’s exam papers, as they checked the mock exam answers together, were being filled with circles. Last month, his mock exam scores had faltered because he wasn’t feeling well, but it seemed his scores for the important June mock exam were quite good, so Seowoo was in a good mood.

Lately, including finding a home for Gureum, Seowoo had been spending his weekends with Juwon. It was a relief that it hadn’t affected his grades. He felt a surge of confidence that he could maintain his grades without wavering, even if they started dating.

“Number 29 is 4, number 30 is 1. Ah, why is this one 1? I got it right by guessing.”

“I was confused by this one too, but since there are two verbs here, you need a conjunction. This one only acts as a pronoun, so this is the answer.”

“Ah…. That makes perfect sense.”

“I’m pretty good at English.”

‘It’s not like she can read minds. Of course you have to make it super obvious when you talk.’

Seowoo recalled Oh Dongjae’s words and swallowed with a gulp. He didn’t know how to show it, but he thought it would be a good idea to compliment someone he had a crush on.

“You’re good at English, and you’re good at soccer, too.”

He said, tapping the end of the pen Juwon was holding with his own pen.

“That’s true.”

At Seowoo’s words, Juwon replied in a relaxed voice, raising one corner of his mouth. Juwon put down his pen and tapped Seowoo’s fair-skinned hand with his finger.

His gesture of shrugging his shoulders as he answered was filled with a sense of ease. Seowoo looked at Juwon and asked, with no other intention whatsoever.

“Are you good at everything you do with your body?”

“…Huh?”

This time, it was Juwon’s face that instantly turned red.

🦴

“Grrrrr.”

Juwon, who always acted docile in front of Seowoo, bared his sharp teeth and growled. In front of him was a round plastic ‘dog language translator.’

“Jjokko, don’t do that, try talking. Like, woof!”

It was cute that Seowoo was imitating his barking sound, but he didn’t feel much like cooperating.

“Woof!”

‘Seowoo, you can tell just by looking at this. It’s a scam.’

Juwon barked shortly, letting out his long inner thoughts. The words ‘Translating’ appeared on the screen of the translator, which had recognized Juwon’s voice. Seowoo looked at the translator’s screen with expectant eyes.

“Wow, I think it’s translating.”

[I am filled with rage.]

“Rage…?”

Seowoo looked at the screen with a puzzled expression for a moment. Then he lifted his gaze and saw Jjokko, baring his sharp teeth and making a low, grrr, sound. Jjokko’s expression was the very picture of rage, so Seowoo had no choice but to accept the result the translator showed.

“Why is he angry?”

Seowoo mumbled as if to himself while looking at the screen. There had been occasional times when it was frustrating that they couldn’t communicate when he snuck into Seowoo’s room in his dog form and barked, but there had never been a day like today.

“Woof! Woof!”

‘Who said! I’m angry!’

[I have been wronged.]

“Wronged…? Why do you feel wronged, Jjokko?”

“Woof woof! Woof!”

‘I don’t feel wronged, so why does it say I’m wronged!’

Juwon tried his best to convey that he was not angry at Seowoo and was not feeling wronged. But Seowoo simply looked back and forth between the translator and Juwon, marveling to himself.

“This is amazing. How does it get it right?”

Words could not express Juwon’s frustration at having to just watch Seowoo get it all wrong.

“Woof! Woof!”

‘To think you bought this piece of plastic trash with your own money, it’s such a waste of your allowance, Seowoo.’

Regardless of what the translator said, Juwon conveyed his message to Seowoo.

“…Jjokko?”

However, Seowoo’s eyes, which were looking at the translated screen, were shaking violently. What could he have seen to make him look so shocked? Curious, Juwon approached Seowoo’s side and looked at the translator.

His long, drawn-out complaint about Seowoo’s poor spending habits had been condensed into a short phrase.

[You are trash.]