PUPPY 64

“…I’m okay now.”

Seowoo said in a barely audible voice to his family standing outside, still unable to open his eyes. His grandfather cleared his throat with a loud ahem.

“Well… now that we’ve confirmed Seowoo is okay, let’s us go downstairs.”

“His friend is late too, so he should… get going soon.”

“Yes… His parents must be worried.”

At his family’s words, the completely naked Juwon answered cheerfully.

“Yes. I’ll get ready and go. You can go down first.”

The family, who had been thinking of staying to talk with Seowoo, hesitated for a moment at Juwon’s confident farewell but eventually left Seowow’s room.

“…Is this a dream?”

“Right now? No, this is reality.”

To Seowoo’s self-deprecating mumble, Juwon replied in a firm voice that this was reality.

“You… but, Jjokko, no, Jjokko is.”

“Were you surprised?”

“Of course I’m surprised!”

Seowoo’s brow furrowed as he lifted his face.

And you call that a question…

Seowoo snapped back in response to Juwon’s appearance, which was so calm, unlike his own. It was a ‘snap’ by Seowoo’s standards, but it wasn’t a loud voice at all.

“Where’s Jjokko?”

Jjokko, who was there just a moment ago, had disappeared, and in his place was Juwon, and a naked one at that.

“I’m right here.”

At Juwon’s words, Seowoo felt as if he’d been struck on the head.

“…What does that mean?”

Seowoo said with a slight frown. Then Juwon shrugged his shoulders slightly and spoke… no, he barked like a dog.

“Yip! Yip!”

Although his body had changed and his voice box had grown larger, deepening the sound, the yapping sound was almost identical to when he was a puppy.

“What happened? Why are you here? There was a puppy here.”

Please, let it not be true. Let it not be true.

Seowoo prayed earnestly in his heart.

“I am…”

“……”

“Because I am Jjokko.”

But the words that came out of Juwon’s mouth ruthlessly trampled on Seowoo’s small hope. He felt a throbbing headache coming on again.

Seowoo thought that for the sake of his mental health, it would be better to believe that Cha Juwon had appeared through a sudden dimensional shift, rather than that Jjokko had turned into Cha Juwon. Just as his strength gave out and his body was about to go limp, Seowoo became conscious of Juwon’s bare body touching his.

“First of all.”

“……”

“My nosebleed has stopped now, so could you please move your body.”

Seowoo said to Juwon in an awkward voice. He had stiffened his body, feeling that he shouldn’t move rashly.

“Huh?”

“Your body keeps… touching me.”

At Seowoo’s words, Juwon also replied in a slightly flustered voice.

“Ah, sorry. Are you tired?”

“Uh… I was about to rest. You should go home now too.”

“Okay. Seeing you with a nosebleed, you must be tired.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Get some rest.”

With those words, Juwon stood up from his spot. As the blanket covering his lower body fell, his breathtakingly naked form was revealed again. Curiosity almost made his eyes wander, but to be polite, Seowoo squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them into a thin slit.

“…Are you going to go out like that?”

“Yeah, I can just run.”

With those words, Juwon opened the door and walked right out. A shocked Seowoo quickly got up and went outside.

“Cha Juwon—!”

But where Seowoo looked, there was only a small puppy, Jjokko, walking away with a wiggling butt instead of Juwon.

🦴

After taking a deep breath, Seowoo opened the door and came out into the yard, where his grandmother and grandfather greeted him with awkward smiles.

“Seowoo, you woke up a little late today…”

“Yes…”

It was natural for his grandfather, who fed the cats and birds every morning, to be in the yard at this hour. But it was surprising that his grandmother, who usually woke up late, was awake at this time. As Seowoo swallowed nervously, his grandmother spoke to him in a determined voice.

“Seowoo, your grandmother and grandfather don’t wish for anything else. We just need our Seowoo to be healthy.”

“Ye-es…”

Seowoo nodded at his grandmother’s words. As an awkward silence continued, his grandfather opened his mouth with a deep sigh.

“There are many married couples who live without having children.”

“That’s right, Seowoo. There’s no need to be discouraged. As I’ve said time and again, your grandmother and grandfather just need our Seowoo to be healthy.”

“…But, our Seowoo isn’t an adult yet.”

“…Yes.”

“I mean, not yet…”

What kind of misunderstanding do they have to be saying things like this? Since he liked Juwon, he couldn’t just make the excuse that they were just friends. But they weren’t at a stage in their relationship advanced enough for his grandmother and grandfather to be thinking so far ahead. Seowoo shook his head and tried to stop his grandmother and grandfather.

“Ugh—, I don’t want to talk about this with you, Grandma and Grandpa.”

His grandmother and grandfather’s eyes were as shadowed as Seowoo’s, as if they hadn’t been able to sleep.

“Alright. We’ll talk later.”

“Your mother said she’ll call after you get back from school, so be sure to answer.”

“…You told Mom and Dad too?”

A frantic voice burst from Seowoo’s lips at his grandfather’s words. His already large eyes grew even wider in shock.

“Sunwoo said he thought it would be best…”

“Hyung knows too?”

“……”

His grandfather and grandmother nodded. A secret he thought was his alone had become known to three generations of his family in a single night. Seowoo stood there, rooted to the spot in a daze.

🦴

He waited in the alley for a long time, but there was no sign of Seowoo coming out of the house. Juwon looked around, confirmed that no one was there, and shook his head to pop out his puppy ears. When he pressed himself against the wall and perked up his ears, he could hear Seowoo’s sigh. What arrived soon after was a short message that read,「Go on ahead.」

Juwon’s ears and the corners of his mouth drooped to the ground as soon as he checked the message. With a short groan, Juwon turned on his heel. If it were up to him, he would have liked to wait stubbornly in front of the house, but recalling what happened yesterday, he couldn’t just be stubborn or act cute.

Seowoo, who arrived at school, didn’t speak to Juwon or even give him a single glance until the end of the second period. An anxious Juwon hovered around Seowoo. When Seowoo stood up, he would immediately get up and approach, circling around him at a certain distance. He followed Seowoo around so conspicuously that even the other students noticed the strange atmosphere between the two.

“Cha Juwon, look at me for a second.”

Just before the start of the third period, which was replaced by a self-study session, Seowoo finally called out to Juwon.

“Uh oh, this has a married-couple-fighting vibe.”

“Hey…”

Kim Dongwon said in a playful voice, looking at the two and laughing. Yang Juhyeon made a regretful face. Then he let out a short sigh towards Kim Dongwon.

The two left the classroom and headed to the short walking path that surrounded the school. As the bell for the third period rang, the students who were outside instantly disappeared, leaving only the two of them.

Seowoo scanned his surroundings and asked Juwon with a frown.

“No matter how much I think about it… I can’t make sense of what happened yesterday.”

His head was still in a state of chaos.

“……”

“What was that, yesterday?”

At Seowoo’s question, Juwon averted his gaze diagonally and said in a slightly smaller voice.

“You said it would be a problem if your grandparents saw the puppy in your room.”

“…What does that mean?”

“So I changed, into a human.”

At Juwon’s words, Seowoo let out a groan, ‘Ugh.’ Then he said with wide eyes.

“Us being in bed together naked is more of a problem than bringing a puppy in…!”

“…Ah.”

“…Ah?”

“Sorry, I didn’t think of that. My family is open-minded about same-sex relationships.”

At Juwon’s unimaginable answer, Seowoo gasped, Hah—. His grandmother and grandfather, who hadn’t scolded him, saying that as long as he was healthy that’s all that mattered, were not ordinary either, but Juwon’s family was even more formidable. Seowoo, who had been at a loss for words, came to his senses and spoke again.

“E-even so, we’re students.”

“Ah… right.”

“…But what happened? Can you really turn into a puppy?”

After looking around once more and confirming that no one was there, Seowoo looked up at Juwon and asked in a careful and secretive voice. He had clearly seen it with his own two eyes, but it was still an unbelievable fact, so there was no conviction in Seowoo’s voice.

“Yeah. I just, can change.”

“You were always still before… but why did you suddenly change yesterday? Was it really because you were worried I’d get in trouble?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

At Juwon’s answer, Seowoo clamped his mouth shut. Since it was an act born of consideration, he had nothing more to say.

“How do you change?”

At Seowoo’s question, Juwon, who had maintained a relaxed expression until now, tensed up slightly. This time, Juwon glanced around. Then he threw out the answer he had prepared in anticipation of Seowoo’s question.

“Do you know the Frog Prince?”

“The fairy tale?”

“Yeah. The fairy tale where a prince who was turned into a frog becomes human when he gets a kiss.”

“…I know it.”

“It’s a similar principle. Do you remember when our lips briefly touched?”

“…Yeah.”

Last time, Juwon had been careless while transforming at school and was spotted by a human. Because of that, he had no choice but to transfer schools in a flash.

Seowoo was loyal and kind, so it was unlikely he would tell his parents, but if he were to get caught by any chance, he would have to transfer again. He didn’t want to leave the Seowoo he liked and go somewhere else.

So the answer he came up with was this ‘Frog Prince’ analogy. He thought he could get away with vaguely explaining that he was under a spell and had to receive a kiss to change his form. Not only would his identity as a were-animal not be revealed, but he could also get a kiss from Seowoo. It was the best possible clever trick Juwon’s mind could come up with.

‘He’ll probably say, “try changing once,” and kiss me as an experiment, right?’

At that thought, the corners of Juwon’s mouth automatically turned up. But the voice that flowed from between Seowoo’s lips was as cold as ice.

“…Did you harass a puppy?”

With a frown, Seowoo was glaring at Juwon with a look of contempt in his eyes.