Don’t Mess with the Puppy! - Vol.1 Chapter 2 Part 14
The next day, Heeseong still felt drained of energy. He could only eat a small portion of the egg porridge he usually enjoyed in the morning and blankly stared out the window.
“It pains my heart when the puppy doesn’t eat…”
‘…Just eat it yourself.’
Heeseong pushed the teaspoon away with his front paw. It was the first time the puppy had leftovers of the egg porridge. Yoon Chi-young quietly stroked the puppy, checked the date, and examined the wound on Heeseong’s leg. The puppy had no energy to pay attention to such things and lay sprawled on his thigh.
The puppy was confused. The worries from last night lingered until the morning.
Yoon Chi-young engaging in fratricide, and Heeseong, who could understand it in his head but struggled to accept it in his heart.
And the increasingly strong pheromones of the wolf approaching mating season, and his own heart that feared returning to being human despite it all, were confusing.
Even at the office, Heeseong leaned against Yoon Chi-young’s embrace. Now, when someone received a warning from Yoon Chi-young and turned back in fear, or when he witnessed a scene where someone’s life hung by a thread, he felt nothing. It was partly because he had seen many cruel sights at the gambling den, but the main reason was that he had grown accustomed to this place.
‘At first, I didn’t want to get caught as the beastmen who punched Yoon Chi-young in the face…’
But now, deeper concerns filled his fluffy body to the brim. Heeseong always viewed situations without much hope. As a result, the worries he couldn’t resolve only deepened.
‘…Yoon Chi-young will try to kill me anyway when I turn back into a human.’
Even though it was obvious, it bothered Heeseong.
No matter how fond Yoon Chi-young had grown of him, it was affection for the puppy, not for “Heeseong the dog.” He had been lucky to deceive him by pretending to be a puppy, but if Yoon Chi-young found out that he was actually a beastmen, and the one responsible for the incident, he would abandon him without hesitation.
Heeseong didn’t expect anything more from Yoon Chi-young anyway, but it was strange that his heart kept growing heavy.
Just then, something was held out in front of the puppy’s nose.
“Here, nom nom.”
“……”
Yoon Chi-young offered him a dried sweet potato slice. Heeseong, who had been lying on the desk, only glared at Yoon Chi-young in annoyance for a moment before turning his head and refusing the snack.
“What’s wrong with the puppy…? Are you sick?”
Yoon Chi-young mumbled worriedly and lifted his puppy in front of his face. He seemed concerned about Heeseong’s unusual behavior. Unlike usual, when he would bite and throw tantrums when hugged, the puppy remained slumped and gloomy, tightly shutting his mouth.
Soon, Heeseong was placed back on the desk. Yoon Chi-young leaned his head close to the weakly sprawled puppy and asked gently, as if comforting a lover.
“If you’re sick, should we go home? Hm?”
“……”
“Or are you tired of this place? Should we go to the beach together?”
‘…No. Don’t bother me.’
Even at the question, Heeseong curled up his body and hid his head, as if he didn’t want to listen. Today, Yoon Chi-young’s kindness toward him wasn’t making him angry or happy. He couldn’t deceive him and live as a puppy forever anyway.
At that moment, one of the organization members cautiously spoke to him.
“Boss. I have a separate report to make.”
“Just say it.”
Yoon Chi-young spoke quietly while only stroking the puppy. His low voice was completely different in tone from when he doted on the puppy.
The organization member reported concisely.
“We’ve captured the racoon clan you mentioned last time. Also… the manager of the dog clan’s gambling den has come to see you.”
“……”
The one who reacted to those words was Heeseong. The puppy finally lifted his head and turned to look at the reporting organization member.
‘My brother came all the way here?’
Usually, the gambling den manager kept even the customers’ information secret, so he wouldn’t visit a customer unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead, he had to always be ready to welcome customers, as his brother used to confidently say.
But if he had come to the wolf clan’s headquarters, it meant there was a big problem that he had to resolve in person no matter what. For example, the issue of his own disappearance.
However, the decision-maker nonchalantly stroked the puppy and said.
“Send him away. Tell him I’m on a date.”
“Yes.”
A date, he said. It was clearly an excuse to ignore the gambling den manager. But the organization members left the room after giving a solemn answer. Only Heeseong, who had just shaken his body and stood up, became anxious.
Woof…!
If his brother had come all the way here, it must be a serious matter, and no matter how much he thought about it, the only reason could be the incident he had caused. But he couldn’t let him be turned away like this. Heeseong frantically scratched Yoon Chi-young’s arm and pulled his sleeve with all his might to stop him.
“Should we have jumbo shrimp together today?”
“……”
But Yoon Chi-young only languidly asked Heeseong. Seeing that, Heeseong realized that he had no choice at all. It was the consequence of remaining as a puppy.
Heeseong had a luxurious Korean meal and jumbo shrimp for a late lunch. He sat in Yoon Chi-young’s arms and ate the food he fed him. Most of it was high-end cuisine he was tasting for the first time in his life, but Heeseong had absolutely no appetite. Moreover, the lingering thoughts in his mind tormented him constantly.
‘My brother must have come here because of me.’
It had been almost a month since he disappeared. During that time, not only his disappearance but also the vanished drugs must have made the dog clan boss not leave his brother alone. He must have intimidated him with his typical bulldog personality to somehow resolve the issue.
The puppy ended up eating less than half of his usual portion.
Yoon Chi-young didn’t blame or scold the puppy for that either. He simply ignored all the reports that came in that day and kept the puppy in his arms without letting go.
Eventually, as if concerned about the slumped puppy, Yoon Chi-young lifted the puppy and asked.
“Should we go home early today?”
‘Why are you even asking?’
He was going to do as he pleased anyway. Yoon Chi-young always asked the puppy for his opinion. Sometimes he even asked about matters that involved someone’s life. His monologues had become a familiar part of Heeseong’s daily life.
“Let’s go home, eat something delicious, and get some good rest.”
As expected, Yoon Chi-young picked up the puppy in his arms and stood up. The puppy simply remained in his arms, disgruntled. He was confused, but this guy always seemed at ease, which only made him irritated.
Yoon Chi-young put on a fancy coat and headed toward the corridor. The puppy only gazed sadly at the scenery outside the window of the tall building. As it was evening, howling could be heard from somewhere in the wolf territory, as usual.
Awooo!
Howling was a common sound in beastmen society. It was heard every time there was a festival, and when the dog clansmen were bored after drinking heavily. That’s why no one in the wolf territory paid attention to the howling.
Awoo!
Except for the puppy who grew up among fighting dogs.
“…!”
Heeseong pricked up his folded ears. Modern beastmen only howled when they were extremely excited, but fighting dogs were different. The patterns of howling differed in each territory so they could find each other.
One long howl, followed by two short howls after a pause.
It was the howling pattern used by Heeseong’s organization. They used to do it at drinking parties or organizational gatherings, but it was the first time he heard them howling to find each other.
‘My brother is looking for me.’
Heeseong instinctively knew that his fellow clansman was searching for him. Otherwise, there was no way the gambling den’s dogs would howl near the wolf clan’s headquarters.
The puppy immediately tried to reveal his location.
Awooo-!
The puppy’s howling was somewhat clumsy. But it was also a sound that announced that he, too, was a proper fighting dog of the gambling den. Heeseong instinctively informed his fellow clansman of his location through howling. He hadn’t forgotten the howling he used to imitate among the large Jindo dogs. In fact, he couldn’t forget it. Dog clans had strong solidarity, just like wolves. Upon hearing the howling, Heeseong began to search for his fellow clansman more by instinct than reason.
At that moment, as if sensing an intense gaze from above, the puppy’s body was deeply buried in someone’s arms.
“Tsk.”
It was Yoon Chi-young.
He looked down sternly with his gray eyes and gave a warning. As if soothing a young animal. But Heeseong, far from calming down, tried to push him away hard with his front paws.
‘Who do you think you are!’
The puppy struggled and was desperate to look back at the window where the sound was coming from, even for a moment. Then Yoon Chi-young let out an unusually low sigh, different from his usual self. His expressionless face was unimaginable compared to when he usually acted affectionately toward Heeseong.
“Ha…”
With his gaze turned cold, he muttered to the organization members following behind him.
“Those howling right now, kick them out of our territory immediately.”
“Yes.”
As soon as he spoke, three organization members transformed into wolves. Three huge gray wolves ran out of the building at high speed and disappeared. After that, Yoon Chi-young completely covered the puppy with his coat and hid him in his arms as he got on the elevator.
‘Let go! Let me out!’
The puppy squirmed restlessly inside his arms. Unlike usual, Yoon Chi-young didn’t soothe the puppy and quietly stood with the coat wrapped around him.
Soon, the elevator door quietly closed in front of Yoon Chi-young’s face, which had frozen coldly.
***
