You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 2

Unable to contain my rage, I trembled and breathed roughly. Seeing that, a passerby asked the owner.

“Is that bird foaming at the mouth?”

“It has a bit of a bad temper. Haha.”

“It’s shaking and trembling, is it okay?”

“Haha. It’s just filled with rage.”

Who has a bad temper?!

“Chirp! Cheeep!”

Once again, overwhelmed by uncontrollable emotions, I rolled my eyes back and gnawed on the metal bars. The customer raised an eyebrow strangely, stared for a moment, and slowly backed away. The owner waved goodbye to the departing customer and approached me. He bent down to observe me inside the cage, and his gaze was incredibly rude.

What are you looking at?!

I glared at the owner with fury-filled eyes. As I stared at him with fiercely raised eyes, the owner made a “hmm” sound and spoke.

“I’ve never seen a bird like this before. It’s cute, but it’s the world’s most demanding one.”

Where should I sell this?He muttered softly and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

Hearing what the owner said, I defiantly turned my head away. Then the owner chuckled and returned to his spot. Now there was no one around me.

In the hardly regained quiet atmosphere, I calmed my mind and hopped over to the food bowl. I’m hungry, so I should at least eat. If I die like this, nothing will come of it.

I put the small pellets piled high in the food bowl into my mouth. The dry, crispy pellets turned to powder and disappeared in my mouth. It had the texture of incredibly tasteless biscuits.

If it at least had some flavor, I would’ve been prepared to raise the owner’s cruelty index by eating a lot, but to me, who used to be human, it was tasteless and even bitter when chewed for a long time. To think I’m eating such garbage. I had no choice but to squeeze out tears and put it in my mouth to fill my stomach.

And so, another day passed, and darkness fell. The animals around me all fell asleep, breathing softly. I sat blankly among them, staring at the ceiling.

“Cheep.”

When can I go home? Why am I even in this situation? What on earth happened to me?

These days, as soon as night falls, my mind is filled with dizzying thoughts. Before coming here, just one more day and the exam period would’ve ended, and on that very day, I had plans to drink with friends, go to karaoke, and sing like crazy. But why did I suddenly become a bird overnight?

Observing the people passing by during the day, their attire seemed old-fashioned, like something out of a Hollywood movie. Moreover, they seemed to use completely different fabrics from where I lived.

Does Korea even exist in this world?I wanted to deeply ponder how to realistically break through this situation, but ever since the first day I arrived here, my blocked thinking didn’t smoothly clear up. If I use my brain even a little, I lose focus and get tired. Is it because my head has shrunk…?

If I could go back, even if it were the first day of exams, it would be fine. I’d just stay up all night studying for exams, and if I couldn’t focus, I’d chit-chat with friends while using social media. Then, when I got tired, I’d lie on the bed, enjoy social media, and fall asleep without a trace.

Sigh. I let out a deep sigh and looked up at the sky. I didn’t have many friends, but I truly missed them.

They must know I’m missing, right? My story must be on the portal sites, and my flyers must be circulating on social media, right?

…Social media?

Come to think of it, before I came here, I think I did something…I tried hard to recall with my non-functioning brain. I had a feeling that if I didn’t remember it right now, it would never come to my mind again.

What was it? What was it? While talking with friends…

At that moment, a single post flashed through my mind.

『Pressing this button will transport you into the world of the genre I write.

(You can leave once the story is finished. But if it’s not completed, who knows)』

Share = Press Like = Don’t Press

Comment: Guys, I’m contemplating whether to press the button, lol. Studying for exams is so boring.

➥You already pressed share, dummy. You pressed the button, haha.

➥➥I only pressed share to show you guys. My heart hasn’t pressed it yet, lol.

Could it be… really…? But that’s absurd. No, at this point, what’s not absurd?This situation itself is already absurd.

I blinked my eyes weakly. As if it was due to my bird brain, I put my non-functioning brain into full operation and tried to organize the situation. Only then did something finally start to connect. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve laughed it off as a hypothetical, but now that it had become reality, I couldn’t take it lightly.

I clutched my overloaded head, lay down on my back, and thrashed about.

“Cheeep! Cheep!”

Oh my! Oh my goodness! I’m so frustrated, I could die!

The sound of me rolling around inside the cage echoed. As I frantically collided here and there in the small space, I couldn’t even notice someone coming down from the upper floor of the store.

🐤

The owner, who had come downstairs for a drink of water, turned his head towards the source of the noisy cage sound. A tiny bird, the size of a fist, was rolling around haphazardly inside the cage. It was that bird again.

‘That crazy avian creature…’

When he first brought it in, he thought it wasn’t a breed with a nasty temperament since it was captured so nicely. However, as time passed, the bird’s personality was hitting the peak of grumpiness. Now he was curious to see how much filthier it could become.

When he scooped water from the bucket in the corner of the store, the rolling bird must have heard the sound and stopped moving to look this way. For a moment, a chill ran down the back of his neck. What’s with that little bird? While feeling embarrassed, he was also worried that it might cause another commotion, but strangely, the bird remained still. It didn’t even blink its eyes, making him wonder if it had been hit with some nearly worn-off magic spell.

Seeing the usually rowdy fellow so quiet, he felt strangely sorry for it. He put down the cup and approached the bird. The bird’s gaze followed his movements. Standing in front of the cage, he extended a finger and poked the tiny bird.

“Are you okay? Why are you acting like this? Aren’t you going to make a fuss like before?”

“Chirp.”

The bird responded as if it was communicating. He gently moved his finger and rubbed it, but the bird didn’t move.Since it’s responding, it must be fine.Clicking his tongue softly, he went back upstairs to the store to go back to sleep.

“Cheeep…”

Behind the store owner’s turned back, the bird’s whimpering voice echoed pitifully.

🐤

Today, as usual, I started the day by gnawing on the metal bars. How fun. Ignoring the faintly screaming metal bars, I fiercely attacked them with my hard beak. As I was frantically making a commotion alone, for some reason, I slowly stopped my actions due to the atmosphere of the store being different today.

What’s going on? It’s even more chaotic today.

Tilting my head and blinking, I hopped to the opposite side. Looking outside through the gaps in the metal bars, I saw the store owner and someone who seemed to be a part-time worker packing various things. It looked like they were going somewhere…

Where are they going?

Blinking my eyes, I blankly watched them hurriedly packing. Then, the part-timer, perhaps finding it strange that I was unusually quiet, approached me with big strides and gently made eye contact with me. Then, a single finger poked through the metal bars. This is my chance! I promptly pecked down with my beak.

“Ouch!”

“Chirp!”

I triumphantly flapped my short wings. The pecked finger must have stung because I could see the part-timer diligently rubbing it with another finger.It’s fun! It’s fun!I burst into laughter like a child.

“Cheep cheep! Cheeep!”

I wiggled my body as a victorious gesture. The part-timer stared at me intently for a moment, then burst into laughter.Laughing?

I stopped wiggling my body and tilted my head, looking at the part-timer. Then, he briefly cleared his throat, saying “ahem, ahem!” and approached the owner, who was organizing something in the back. They whispered and talked quietly, and then the owner approached me.

What?The moment I tilted my head to the other side, he raised a cloth that was placed next to him and covered my cage with it.

“Cheep?”

In an instant, my surroundings became pitch-black. The light was completely blocked due to the cloth covering my cage.What’s this? Why is he covering it with a cloth?It wasn’t the owner’s usual behavior, so I felt uneasy. Not knowing what to do, I hopped around in place. What is he trying to do by doing this?

Hopping around didn’t seem to alleviate my anxiety, so I gnawed on the metal bars.

Creak. Creak.

Take off the cloth! Take it off!

But no matter how noisily I acted, there was no sign of the cloth being removed. With my vision blocked, I couldn’t even tell if the owner was nearby. Only the footsteps of busy people filled the air.

Plop. I plopped down.What’s this? Is he planning to dispose of me somewhere because I’ve been too unruly?Dumbfounded, I lay on the floor and stared at the dark space.If you’re going to dispose of me, set me free…

I don’t know how much time has passed.Suddenly, when I came to my senses, I realized I was being carried somewhere. The cage was swaying side to side, making me feel like I was going to get motion sickness.

“Cheep! Cheeep!”

I’m getting motion sickness!

As I made a small protest, the swaying stopped. It felt like I was being put down somewhere. As I sat still and stiffly raised my head, the cloth was slightly lifted.

What I saw before my eyes was the owner’s large face and the scenery outside. Looking a bit further ahead, I could see a cart capable of carrying luggage behind his back.

“Chirp! Chirp chirp!”

Where are you going?

When I fiercely tapped my foot down, one of his eyebrows furrowed. He muttered something softly, but it was almost at the level of babbling, so I couldn’t hear it well.What did he say? Where am I going?Although he wouldn’t understand, I asked, “Cheep cheep?”

“Stay still~”

As expected, he didn’t understand my question at all and immediately covered me with the cloth again.

“Cheeep…”

Darkness fell once more. Anger rose within me as I couldn’t do anything.

I’ll show you. I’ll show you what happens when a small bird gets angry.