Don’t Mess with the Puppy! - Vol.2 Chapter 5 Part 3
Hodu was a young dog beastman who couldn’t even transform into a human yet.
A beastman lived in their original form from a young age and could only gradually transform into human form when they were about six or seven years old. Because of that, Hodu, who was still young, had no choice but to spend all day in the form of a puppy.
As expected of a large breed puppy, the yellow puppy was plump and overflowing, filling up Heeseong’s two hands. On top of that, he was at an age where he still ate baby food, so he required a lot of attention. Fortunately, he was at an age where he had been weaned.
The problem was that Hodu was a young child who had suddenly come to an unfamiliar place.
Awooo! Awoo, awooo!
As soon as Hodu woke up in the morning, he began to cry uncontrollably.
The young puppy was wary of Heeseong and feared Yoon Chi-young, who was taller and more imposing. Even when they tried to comfort him with snacks, Hodu desperately hid behind the curtains, trembling with his plump tail curled up. It was heartbreaking to see.
In front of him, Yoon Chi-young spoke quite affectionately while holding a bowl of egg porridge.
“It’s okay, Hodu. Come on. Let’s eat.”
Even when Yoon Chi-young gently coaxed him, Hodu panicked and hid his eyes behind the curtain.
It was understandable. Yoon Chi-young maintained a half-beast state due to his injury. Putting aside his pitch-black wolf ears and finger-length canine teeth, his characteristically strong pheromones were revealed, causing Hodu to instinctively avoid him. Hodu would howl and even shed a few tears, scratching at the glass door whenever Yoon Chi-young’s hand approached. No matter how friendly Yoon Chi-young acted, Hodu only saw him as an enemy.
“Why is he only afraid? I even suppressed my pheromones as much as possible….”
“……”
Behind the lamenting Yoon Chi-young, Heeseong delinquently hung his arm over the back of the sofa and thought with dissatisfaction.
‘Does that bastard think food is all it takes for a puppy?’
Heeseong didn’t want to help Yoon Chi-young.
In fact, if he followed his heart, he wanted to tell him to raise the puppy on his own and leave. He hated the sight of Yoon Chi-young fawning over and being kind to a puppy other than himself. Heeseong, who was sitting curled up on the sofa, turned his gaze away with a tight expression.
At that moment, Yoon Chi-young brushed back his black hair and muttered worriedly.
“Strange. I’m good at taking care of puppies….”
“Good at taking care, my ass.”
Heeseong openly sneered. Yoon Chi-young’s arrogance was ridiculous.
Of course, Yoon Chi-young was indeed good at puppy care. He was good at grooming, cleaning ears, and meticulously taking care of meals.Skinship… Affectionate, gentle words were also frequent, and he truly raised the puppy like a king. Thinking about it, Heeseong’s irritation soared. Come to think of it, he had the right to be arrogant.
‘…It’s annoying.’
But now, the fact that his affection was directed towards another puppy kept making Heeseong feel petty and sad.
He vaguely felt that this was jealousy, but he didn’t want to assert that it was such a simple emotion. Strangely, Heeseong felt a greater sense of anxiety than that.
It was the anxiety he had felt when he thought his father would sell him off because he was frail, or when he thought he might be expelled from the pack if he didn’t prove his worth to his brother. Although Heeseong knew that those days were different from now, he didn’t like this situation itself.
At that moment, Yoon Chi-young approached the sofa listlessly and sat next to Heeseong.
“Baby. Can’t you help me with the puppy a little…?”
Yoon Chi-young opened his eyes pitifully and rested his cheek on Heeseong’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Hodu’s whimpering and crying continued incessantly.
He brought the puppy on his own, and now he’s asking for help. Heeseong turned his head away, hiding his eyes that looked like they were about to cry. For Heeseong, Yoon Chi-young’s disgusting request and Hodu’s crying were both stressful. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.
“Well. You brought him, so figure it out yourself.”
Heeseong got up heartlessly and went to the kitchen to take out a glass of water.
Behind him, Yoon Chi-young seemed to be sulking, but he didn’t urge Heeseong any further. He was trying to comfort Hodu on his own again, talking to him. But Hodu just kept crying miserably.
Awoo, awoo!
As a fellow dog beastman, Heeseong could understand every word the young puppy was crying. Commonly used words could be understood even if they grew up in different packs.
‘Mommy… Daddy! Where are you?’
“……”
Tak.
Heeseong, who had taken a sip of cold water, put down the glass irritably. His eyes were sunken with sorrow above his tightly closed lips.
Heeseong didn’t want to hear Hodu crying. It kept reminding him of the times he was left alone in a house where no one ever returned. The days when he felt only despair, knowing that crying was useless and he would be alone forever.
Indeed, he couldn’t leave things like this.
In fact, the child was not at fault. And Heeseong didn’t want another puppy to feel the same way he had felt that day. If he got angry, it should be at Yoon Chi-young, and the child should be comforted first.
Having made up his mind, Heeseong strode into the living room and transformed into a small puppy.
In an instant, his stride became smaller, and the pile of clothes he was wearing collapsed. A white puppy emerged from within, wriggling, and after dramatically shaking its body, it headed towards Yoon Chi-young.
Woof.
‘You, go away.’
“You’ll take care of the puppy?”
Heeseong roughly nodded his head and approached Hodu. He pushed Yoon Chi-young’s thigh with his front paws to make him go away—although it had no effect—and directly approached behind Hodu’s back.
Heeseong also knew, as he was the same kind of puppy. When in puppy form, seeing a person caused tremendous pressure due to the difference in physique. From a puppy’s low perspective, only the person’s hands or feet that were held out closely were visible. It was impossible to tell who was who, and it was only frightening in an unfamiliar place, no matter how many kind words were heard.
Indeed, it was best for a similar species to comfort him.
The white puppy plopped down behind Hodu, who was pointlessly hiding his eyes behind the curtain.
‘…He’s really big even though he’s young.’
As expected, a large breed was a large breed. Now that he had transformed into a white puppy, Hodu was twice the size of Heeseong. On top of that, judging by his refined appearance, he seemed to be from a foreign Retriever family, but then again, his ears were standing upright, so he wasn’t. In any case, he was definitely a young master, but his mother and father seemed to be of different breeds.
Heeseong was curious about what breed Hodu was, but for now, he decided to calm the child first as a senior puppy.
Woof!
The white puppy barked bravely. It was to speak puppy to puppy.
At that, Hodu, who had been whimpering and crying, finally showed a reaction. He looked back with teary eyes and seemed to be intrigued by the white puppy. His short tail, which had been hidden the whole time, was also slightly raised and wagging.
Soon, Hodu approached Heeseong and carefully sniffed him with his body lowered. Still, he didn’t stop his whimpering cries, so Heeseong had to personally scold him.
Woof!
‘You! Why are you crying? Are you a baby?’
The white puppy frowned and stomped his front paw. He had intended to scold him, but when he actually saw the young one in front of him, his heart softened, and he couldn’t be too harsh.
Soon, the white puppy spoke to himself with a serious face, looking somewhere else.
‘…Well, he is a baby.’
In front of him, Hodu whimpered and lowered his body, trying to bury his nose in Heeseong’s fluffy chest fur. When the twice-as-large body pushed with its weight, the cotton ball-like body swayed. Heeseong, who had barely regained his balance, shouted at the puppy again sternly.
‘But a puppy over 1kg shouldn’t cry!’
After speaking firmly, Heeseong looked somewhere else with a serious face again.
‘…This one seems to have been over 1kg since birth.’
Meanwhile, Hodu knocked Heeseong over and buried his face in the white fluff. He must have been so happy to meet a fellow species that his short tail wagged busily, and his incessant crying subsided. The white lump only found it burdensome.
‘Ugh… Just do whatever you want.’
Heeseong was about to push Hodu away but eventually gave up. He didn’t want to be harsh on the child like he had experienced at the casino.
Moreover, he didn’t like that he seemed like the scary father he had been scolding Hodu a moment ago. The child is a child, so he should cry. Rather, it would be much more beastman-like and happier for a puppy to live by being honest and crying whenever he needed to.
Meanwhile, Hodu snuggled into Heeseong’s fluff. Since he was only young in age but twice the size of Heeseong, the white puppy struggled to be buried under Hodu as he fell over. Heeseong sighed as he barely escaped from the troublesome puppy’s embrace. Still, Hodu wasn’t crying anymore.
Now that he was comforted, it was time to feed him.
‘Come on. Let’s eat first.’
When Heeseong first showed an example by eating the egg porridge Yoon Chi-young had handed over, Hodu also ate the egg porridge with relief. Perhaps he was hungry on the inside, as he emptied the bowl of egg porridge as big as Heeseong’s body.
After eating to the point of licking the bowl clean, Hodu immediately tried to lean against Heeseong and hide in his fluff. Perhaps the stress of coming to an unfamiliar place was significant, as he excessively relied on and clung to Heeseong. Heeseong tried to push him away in annoyance, but the young one was so strong that it was insufficient to move him away like when he was buried under a pillow.
In the end, it was Yoon Chi-young who rescued the white lump buried under Hodu.
“I was wondering where my puppy went again.”
‘Stop kissing me! I hate you the most!’
Even though the puppy flailed, Yoon Chi-young showered kisses all over the white body. He didn’t forget to move the puppies to the bed and take several photos. Heeseong, who was already exhausted, had to comfort the large one snuggled up in his fluff while lying on his pink belly. Hodu was looking for his mother with babbling even after eating his fill.
‘Mommy, Daddy…’
‘…Call mehyung.’
‘Mommy…’
‘I said call mehyung.’
While the white puppy was muttering in resignation, Hodu suddenly fell asleep. He was curled up on his side, tightly holding the white lump’s body with his front paws.
Yoon Chi-young looked at the two with adoring eyes and gently removed Hodu’s front paws from the puppy.
“It’s cute… Shall we just raise him?”
‘You raise him on your own.’
The white puppy turned his head away as if sulking. Heeseong was still angry. He still hated the sight of Yoon Chi-young being happy.
Yoon Chi-young kissed the puppy’s forehead and spoke worriedly.
“Baby.”
‘What.’
“But I think I can only see a puppy of our own now… How should I take care of Hodu?”
“……”
Yoon Chi-young, who was lying next to Heeseong, gently stroked the puppy’s forehead with his fingertips. He had a smile on his face that wouldn’t leave, as if he was so happy about something.
The white puppy, whose mood had improved a little, lay down, slightly holding his wrist. The two black eyes also became misty with sorrow and relief. Heeseong had no idea why Yoon Chi-young’s simple words made him feel so reassured.
***
