PUPPY 56

“What is it…, I’m going to take the call…”

“Don’t.”

Juwon said, looking at Seowoo. It was a soft tone, but Juwon’s clear intention could be felt within it.

“I think it’ll just take a moment…”

Seowoo’s gaze turned to his cell phone. As if he had something important to say, the call from Seo Jae-ha showed no signs of ending.

“Seowoo.”

Juwon called Seowoo in a low voice.

“…Yeah?”

Looking at Seowoo, who met his eyes, Juwon decided he had to say the words that had been lingering in his mouth.

The words ‘I like you’….

If possible, he had wanted to choose a place with beautiful scenery, a place that would be memorable, like when they walked the promenade together, or on the hill where he had carried Seowoo on his back when they took graduation photos, to say it.

This was the ordinary alleyway from the study room to home that he walked with Seowoo every day. But the reason that ordinary path felt special every day was because he walked it with Seowoo.

“…I like you.”

Juwon also knew that saying something like this while preventing him from answering a call from someone else could sound like a complaint. Even so, Juwon couldn’t just brush off Seowoo’s question of ‘Do you like me?’.

“I like you.”

Juwon said again, putting emphasis on each and every word. In the quiet alley where only the vibration of Seowoo’s cell phone could be heard, Juwon’s low voice resonated. There was something in the unadorned and sincere words that tugged at the heart.

“……”

Seowoo realized that when a person is too surprised, they can’t say anything.

‘I like you.’

It was as if he could still hear the words Juwon had just said, ringing in his ears. It wasn’t a dream or imagination, but reality.

“You… me.”

Unable to form a complete sentence, Seowoo uttered the words as they came to his mind, and the strength drained from his hand. At the same time, his thumb slid across the screen, and the call with Seo Jae-ha, which he had been ignoring, was connected.

— Hello.

As soon as the call connected, Seo Jae-ha’s voice was heard. ‘What should I do.’ The flustered Seowoo mouthed the question to Juwon, his mouth agape.

At the appearance of the uninvited guest, Juwon ran a hand through his hair, then simply shrugged his shoulders as if there was nothing he could do.

— Seowoo, I have good news.

“Ah, hello.”

At Juwon’s reaction, which seemed to permit the call, Seowoo greeted Seo Jae-ha a beat late.

Seo Jae-ha’s voice coming from the cell phone wasn’t loud, but Juwon, with his good hearing, could clearly hear the conversation without much effort.

— Sorry. I just started talking without even saying hello….

“Ah, no. It’s alright.”

Seowoo replied politely to Seo Jae-ha in a respectful tone. Juwon, who was watching this, smoothly moved to Seowoo’s side.

With his arm around Seowoo’s shoulder, he brought his lips close to the ear that wasn’t holding the phone. Although he already knew the caller was Seo Jae-ha, a mischievous urge arose. Juwon deliberately asked, as if blowing air into Seowoo’s ear.

“Who is it?”

You scared me. Seowoo’s eyes widened as he looked at Juwon.

“It’s the hyung I told you about before.”

Seowoo said in a voice so low that Seo Jae-ha couldn’t hear, pointing at the cell phone. He seemed to want to say it was the hyung who had shattered his phone last time.

— Seowoo?

Over the receiver, Seo Jae-ha called for Seowoo.

“Ah, yes…. What good news?”

‘Sorry. I’ll hang up quickly.’

Seowoo mouthed to Juwon, moving his lips exaggeratedly. Then he reached out and took Juwon’s hand.

‘Okay.’

Juwon, following Seowoo’s lead, answered with just his mouth shape instead of making a sound. Juwon gently removed Seowoo’s hand that was holding his. Then he moved Seowoo’s hand to cup his own cheek. Juwon gently shook his head as if acting cute.

They had frequent physical contact like putting an arm around a shoulder, wrapping an arm around a waist, or just hugging, but it was almost the first time Juwon had acted cute like this. Seowoo stared blankly at the novel sight.

— It’s nothing much, but I reported the dog meat trader we saw the other day.

At the words that he had reported the dog meat trader, not only Seowoo’s but also Juwon’s interest, who was listening from the side, shifted to Seo Jae-ha.

“…Reported him?”

— I got advice from a friend I know. Remember the truck we saw then?

“Yes….”

— I ran into it again today while passing by the area. Last time it was an empty truck, but today it was loaded with animals.

“Ah….”

A short gasp escaped Seowoo’s lips at Seo Jae-ha’s words. Just imagining it made a wave of nausea wash over him.

— Vehicles transporting animals have to get a permit from the local government, but it seems most dog meat traders operate illegally. As you saw, it didn’t look like he would have gotten a permit for something like that.

“Yes. That’s true.”

— I don’t know how it will end, but you seemed really shaken up last time, so I wanted to let you know. Won’t things be a little quieter for a while?

Juwon’s brow furrowed as he listened to Seo Jae-ha’s words. He had been listening fine up to the part about reporting the dog meat trader, but at the part where he said he really wanted to let Seowoo know, he couldn’t help but think, ‘Is this something that needs to be said so considerately?’

“Thank you…. Well then, I.”

Seowoo, who had been giving awkward and soulless responses like ‘Yes.’, ‘Ah, yes.’, ‘Really.’ throughout the call, hinted that he wanted to hang up.

— …But Seowoo.

“Yes?”

— Have you decided on an adopter for Gureum? I really hope Hye-yoon adopts him. What do you think?

At Seo Jae-ha’s question, Seowoo’s mouth closed for a moment. Seowoo still hadn’t made a firm decision in his heart.

“…I haven’t decided yet.”

— Will it take long?

“Uh, well, I have something to do right now, so I’ll contact you again later.”

— Okay, make sure to call me back.

Seo Jae-ha’s gentle voice flowed through the phone. It was the voice of a relaxed and composed adult. After politely replying, “I will,” Seowoo hung up the phone without hesitation.

Once the call ended and silence fell, a sense of tension hit him a beat late. It was the moment Seowoo, recalling what Juwon had said to him before he took the call, lifted his head.

“Seowoo.”

“……”

“I’m jealous.”

Juwon said, looking down at Seowoo with his black eyes.

“Jealous? Of who, because of this hyung? This hyung is just…”

“Don’t meet other men besides me.”

To the rambling Seowoo, Juwon frankly stated what he wanted. He had tossed out his petty jealousy of not wanting him to meet other people, packaged in a cute tone.

Is this a little childish?

Juwon thought so, but Seowoo took it completely differently.

‘I’m going to fall for his assertiveness.’

Seowoo wanted to return the words Juwon had once said to him, verbatim. That it wasn’t his, but Juwon’s assertiveness that was more amazing, and that’s why he felt like he was going to fall for him.

‘…I like you.’

This is seriously crazy.

Seowoo thought back to what Juwon had said to him again. Just mulling over Juwon’s confession gave him a thrilling feeling, as if his heart was dropping. Because he was so happy….

He thought he was the only one who liked Juwon, but Juwon liked him too. Are we starting to date from today? What should I say in reply. Just as Seowoo, who was pondering this, was about to say something, anything.

“I won’t rush you for an answer, I’ll wait. Give it to me when you’re ready.”

I’m very patient, you know. Juwon added in a low voice.

“…Huh? Oh. Okay.”

Since Juwon said he would wait and to take his time answering, it felt like he shouldn’t just blurt out that he liked him too. At that moment, one person came to Seowoo’s mind.

‘Oh Dongjae…’

It seemed he would have to consult the dating expert Oh Dongjae again. About how to express his feelings of ‘I like you’ in a sophisticated and cool way.

“Let’s go.”

Juwon said with a smile. Seowoo nodded and walked side by side with Juwon. Instead of voices, only the sound of their two pairs of footsteps pattered on. Unlike before, Seowoo didn’t find this silence unbearably awkward or fidget-inducing. We can be happy even without having a happy conversation. Seowoo thought, smiling slightly. It felt as if his excited heart was floating buoyantly in the quiet alley.

“I was thinking…”

Seowoo, who was walking, opened his mouth in a small voice.

“Yeah.”

“For Gureum’s adoption, I think the noona we met the other day is the best option.”

“…Why?”

“Someone contacted me after seeing the post on the app, but it was a bit… weird.”

To find a good owner for Gureum, Seowoo had posted not only on his personal social media but also on the missing animal app that Juwon had introduced him to.

He had put time and effort into writing the post, but the result was disappointing. Sometimes, Seowoo would read the adoption stories on the app’s main screen. Reading those stories, he unconsciously thought, ‘Gureum is pretty and young, why doesn’t this kind of luck come to him?’

In the end, he too had been placing Gureum’s value on being ‘pretty, and a young puppy’. He didn’t like it when other people judged Gureum solely on his appearance, but he felt a sense of self-loathing, thinking he wasn’t much better, and his mood had sunk.

Thinking he could find a better owner if he took his time, Seowoo had been leisurely looking for a home for Gureum. But lately, Seowoo had been feeling that his judgment might be wrong.

The anxiety that if he kept dithering like this, he would miss out on a good home, was only growing. As a result, his heart couldn’t help but lean toward Kim Hye-yoon, who was the best candidate among the ones Seowoo had.