Don’t Mess with the Puppy! - Vol.1 Chapter 2 Part 16
Yoon Chi-young woke up earlier than usual.
Normally, when his pheromones intensified, he would take strong medication and sleep more deeply than usual. It was strange.
As he woke up, Yoon Chi-young habitually felt around beside him. But the puppy that should have been softly grasped in his hand was not there. Yoon Chi-young half-raised his body in bewilderment. The puppy was so small that it took some time to find him even on the bed.
“…Puppy?”
Yoon Chi-young got up with a stiff face. Suspecting something, Yoon Chi-young looked around and focused his senses on his sense of smell, revealing his sensitive black wolf ears.
However, he couldn’t grasp where the puppy was. It was rather difficult to find him by scent because the puppy’s lingering traces were left all over the house.
Yoon Chi-young got up from his seat with eyes that had become sharp as if he had never opened his sleepy eyes.
He began to look around the house. Wolves usually don’t reveal their emotions with their tails, but his black wolf tail, which protruded below his waist, was twitching from a bad feeling.
‘There’s no way Heeseong would easily leave my side.’
Yoon Chi-young knew that the puppy had been anxious after hearing the howling of his fellow clansman today. However, Yoon Chi-young didn’t think Heeseong would easily leave his side, so he had fallen asleep with trust. It was because he had noticed the puppy’s character of being weak to affection.
That’s why Yoon Chi-young deliberately showed even his weak side to draw the puppy’s sympathy. He didn’t hide his suffering from the pheromones. Then the puppy would stay by his side in his arms, resting his small face against his cheek. He had treated him softly on purpose because it was cute. He believed that the puppy would have grown attached to him and wouldn’t be able to leave easily.
And now, he thought the puppy relied on him a lot.
He naturally thought Heeseong would be reluctant to return to the dirty gambling den. But the puppy had disappeared after all.
“Ha.”
As if he had never worriedly searched for the puppy, Yoon Chi-young roughly ran his fingers through his hair, his gray eyes glinting coldly. His forehead was already bulging with veins, and even his breath deepened.
Park Geon-tae.
How did that stupid fighting dog use his brain?
There really was no puppy anywhere in the house. What Yoon Chi-young discovered was Heeseong’s blood stains left in the corridor in front of the home theater room.
Yoon Chi-young headed to the living room with a stiff face. With his missing cell phone, he picked up a tablet PC that was within reach. Sitting back on the sofa, he turned on the tablet, and the CCTV footage appeared. It was the CCTV near the parking lot of Yoon Chi-young’s house.
When he fast-forwarded the time, the puppy’s figure was caught very small on the CCTV screen. It was pitiful to see him limping away with a bundle as big as his body. It was already December, so the weather was very cold. He had gone out with an injured body. Yoon Chi-young got up from his seat with a furrowed brow.
Anyway, the place the puppy would head to was obvious. The dog clan’s gambling den. It was time to go there after a long time.
***
Heeseong, who had arrived at the gambling den, deliberately tried not to think about anything. He just walked barefoot through the dirty busy streets and entered the gambling den. It was through the back door used only by the staff.
Heeseong thought of only one thing as he smelled the musty scent of the gambling den for the first time in a while.
Whether he and his brother really had no way to escape from here. But it was clear that the way out of the gambling den would only become more distant due to this incident.
“Heeseong, you’re here?”
As he entered the office, his brother stubbed out his cigarette on the desk and got up hurriedly. Park Geon-tae, who approached closely, examined Heeseong, who was shivering from the cold, and draped an old jumper over his shoulders. The guards who had been glaring at Heeseong like a traitor also all stepped back. Heeseong felt like he was going to choke up with tears and apologized first, which he rarely did.
“…I’m sorry. Brother.”
“Yeah, you should be sorry. How worried I was during that time, you bastard. Couldn’t you even contact me? Hah…”
“……”
Heeseong bit his lips tightly and lowered his gaze. He wasn’t usually the type to show tears or weakness to others, but at his brother’s words, tears welled up in his eyes.
His brother didn’t ask Heeseong any particular questions. Heeseong was rather grateful for that, as it seemed to acknowledge his hardships.
“First, drink this. You’re fine now, so relax a bit.”
“…Okay.”
Park Geon-tae poured Heeseong a glass of alcohol. Heeseong calmly wiped the corners of his eyes and sat on the old leather sofa. The creaking noise of the old sofa and the dirty floor somewhere beneath it were visible. Only then did Heeseong feel the reality of returning to the gambling den.
Park Geon-tae also sat in front of him. He looked at Heeseong, who was quietly drinking, with eyes that seemed to understand everything, then carefully opened his mouth.
“Heeseong… You must have suffered a lot during that time.”
“…No. Brother. You must have had a hard time.”
Heeseong felt really sorry toward his brother. His brother must have suffered a lot because of his disappearance. Moreover, it must have been difficult to easily find Heeseong’s whereabouts since he had disappeared in the territory of the wolf clan, but he was grateful that his brother had called for him even through howling.
Looking at the oversized clothes Heeseong was wearing, Park Geon-tae carefully asked.
“Were you really with Yoon Chi-young during that time?”
“…Yes.”
“How did you end up being with him…? Did that bastard threaten you to give him your body or something?”
“Ah, no. I was living as a puppy because of my injury, and Yoon Chi-young… just treated me like a pet.”
At those words, Park Geon-tae visibly sighed with relief.
“I see. A pet. That’s a relief…”
“……”
Heeseong wanted to correct the word “pet” for some reason but held back. It was because he couldn’t say that his relationship with Yoon Chi-young was more than that. Yoon Chi-young had really treated him as a puppy and didn’t ask for anything.
That’s why Yoon Chi-young’s side felt comfortable instead.
As soon as he thought of that, Heeseong shook his head with a start. Now that he had returned to his brother’s side, he shouldn’t have such foolish thoughts.
When Heeseong, whose throat was burning, had finished his glass, his brother carefully opened his mouth.
“Then, anyway, Yoon Chi-young thought of you as just a dog.”
“……”
“Then it’s fine, Heeseong. You can just come back to the organization.”
Heeseong wasn’t happy about his brother’s words at all.
For the past five years, Heeseong had constantly told his brother that he wanted to leave this place. But he said it was okay to come back. He rather wanted to run away together and escape. With the money Heeseong had saved, they could safely leave the organization if they had just that.
However, that hope was shattered by Park Geon-tae’s following words.
“Brother. Let’s just… even now…”
“Half of the hole created by the missing goods has been filled with the money you had saved. Let’s start over with the rest, Heeseong.”
Park Geon-tae had also swallowed the money Heeseong had earned over five years along with the money from selling drugs, but he didn’t mention it. He had already learned how to deceive Heeseong with his glib tongue from Kwon Ki-hyuk. And it was easy for Park Geon-tae to target the cash and accounts Heeseong had saved. It was something he had prepared for a long time.
“…What?”
But it wasn’t for Heeseong.
He had returned to his brother risking his life, but it was like a bolt from the blue. With the shock slowing down his judgment, Heeseong had to stare at Park Geon-tae for a long time to understand the situation.
You poured all my money into that, so pay back half of it again?
With what? While doing the bottom-tier labor?
Heeseong, who had been standing in a daze, got up from his seat, staggering belatedly. It was unclear whether it was because he was in despair over the situation or because his leg injury made it difficult to walk. Heeseong asked his brother, stammering.
“M-my money, why? Brother, I… I’m the victim.”
“Heeseong…”
“With that money, we promised to get a house together and leave. Brother, why on earth?”
They had definitely made that promise three years ago. Park Geon-tae clearly remembered it too.
But now, Park Geon-tae only wanted to get a house with the woman he loved.
“Why on earth?!”
“Heeseong… Why are you yelling? Do you think you’re the victim now?”
“Then what is it?”
Park Geon-tae, who had been looking down at Heeseong, let out a long sigh. Park Geon-tae, who had been looking at Heeseong as if he were just young, hardened his expression.
“Don’t you think this is all something you brought upon yourself?”
“…What?”
“You lost the goods, and I’m saying I’ll resolve it nicely for you. Why are you acting like this? Huh?”
Park Geon-tae, who was sitting on the sofa like a delinquent, took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Heeseong staggered up to him and glared at Park Geon-tae.
“F*ck… Brother.”
Smack!
Heeseong forcefully slapped away the lighter Park Geon-tae was about to use to light his cigarette with his hand.
“Talk to me properly first.”
“Ah… This bastard’s temper.”
Park Geon-tae laughed in disbelief at that temper. Heedless, Heeseong glared at his brother and exhaled roughly.
During that time, Heeseong had saved quite a lot of cash, working day and night. Although he received the least amount of money in the organization, it had been five years. The money he had saved while enduring all sorts of humiliation from customers.
But he had given that money to the organization. And he was told to start working from the beginning again. It felt like the small hope that had sustained his sacrifices was shattering.
His brother patted Heeseong’s shoulder, who had become dazed from the shock, and said.
“Heeseong. Originally, you were about to die as soon as you returned, but I talked nicely to the organization to let it slide like this. If you had just brought the goods properly, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I told you, that was taken from me too! Suddenly, some guys I didn’t know attacked me…”
Thud. Heeseong’s knees collapsed while speaking.
It wasn’t because he was in despair over the situation. It wasn’t because of the leg injury either. Suddenly, his body lost strength, and it became difficult for him to even stand on his own. Seeing Heeseong like that, his brother didn’t ask if he was okay. He was just relieved, looking at his wristwatch.
“Brother, I… my body…”
“The drug sure takes effect late.”
Heeseong’s eyes widened, glazed over. He tried to lift his head, which had lost strength, but Heeseong instead toppled over to the side. Heeseong, who had collapsed on the dirty gambling den floor, shivered. He seemed to know why his body wasn’t listening to him.
The alcohol Park Geon-tae had given him a moment ago.
It must have contained drugs. Heeseong glared at his brother with bulging eyes like a fighting dog. It seemed like he would fall asleep at any moment, but Heeseong tried to move on his own, keeping his eyes open as if it were his last struggle. However, only his fingertips trembled, and a pathetic question leaked out of his mouth.
“…Why? Brother… why to me…?”
“Heeseong, f*ck. How much have I done for you?”
Park Geon-tae roughly dragged Heeseong’s body and got angry.
“I brought you in when you were half-dead on the cold streets, fed you, and raised you! Heeseong, why can’t you do give and take?”
Even after hearing those words, Heeseong didn’t care. It was something he often heard anyway. It was a rebuke his brother always made when he was drunk. That’s why Heeseong had stayed and worked at the gambling den that he hated to death for his brother’s sake.
However, from the following words, Heeseong could understand what Park Geon-tae really wanted.
“When a customer asks you to suck it, you can suck it, and when they ask you to spread your legs, you can spread them! Huh? Do you know how many customers and sales I’ve lost because of your temper?”
“…Ugh…”
“If you had been more flexible from the start, the sales would have tripled! You bastard.”
Heeseong finally understood why his brother had raised him.
His brother had initially brought him in out of an impulsive sympathy, and later, he had invested in him because of his good looks.
‘Brother had already abandoned me a long time ago…’
Heeseong, whose body had lost strength, collapsed and shed tears. He felt pathetic for clinging to a futile place. He had been desperately holding onto a place that he didn’t need to in the first place as if it were his last lifeline. Having been abandoned once by his family, he had desperately clung to someone he alone considered family, not wanting to be abandoned again.
Seeing Heeseong’s miserable tears, Park Geon-tae said bitterly.
“I’m sorry, Heeseong… But if you had done well, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“……”
It would have been better if there was no mercy at all. The clumsy mercy that had always kept Heeseong trapped in the dirty gambling den couldn’t feel more sordid. Heeseong, whose body had lost all strength, shed tears but glared at Park Geon-tae with hateful eyes.
Park Geon-tae avoided that gaze and tightly tied Heeseong’s hands behind his back. Even as his consciousness faded, Heeseong couldn’t understand why he was restraining him.
Park Geon-tae called someone separately to the office and said.
“Make sure no one sees as much as possible, and don’t use the back door. Go out through the side door near the kitchen.”
The person Park Geon-tae had ordered wasn’t a gambling den employee. Heeseong tried to move his body until the very end with bulging eyes, but he was already in a situation where his body was roughly wrapped in cloth and carried over someone’s shoulder.
‘No. If I fall asleep now…’
Heeseong tried to struggle and move his body somehow. But his consciousness only grew hazier. Unable to even open his eyes anymore, Heeseong trembled his eyelids and closed his eyes as if collapsing.
***
