< Title: The Puppy Raised by the Owner’s Family in Our Company >

You know… the more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

At first, I just thought it was a bit odd that it sometimes walked on two legs or quietly sat in on meetings.

But lately, it rides the escalator by itself, uses a laptop in the company café, and, I swear I’m not joking, it even types with its front paws.

When I try to see what it’s doing, the puppy barks at me, so I can’t get close. But today, I caught a glimpse and saw it chatting with the chairman’s grandson on KaTalk. I’m serious.

I thought no one would believe me, so I secretly took a picture and attached it below.

Even the chairman’s family treats it like a person, and honestly, I’m starting to feel like it’s human too. This is confusing.

└ You don’t have a dog, do you? That’s just what happens when the dog’s the alpha of the house
└ LOL you got gaslighted by a dog
└ Maybe KaTalk was just left open by coincidence
└ There’s a dog in your company? I’m jealous of your office perks

< Chapter 1 >

I don’t like dogs.

Ever since I was about six years old and got bitten on the leg by one as big as me.
Since then, even the sight of a small puppy made me freeze or run away in panic.

Then one day, when I was in my first year of middle school, on a chilly day that stung the tip of my nose, I met a silly-looking little dog.

It looked a bit like a rice cake, or maybe like a potato dumpling.

A small, pale ivory-colored puppy sat quietly inside a cardboard box.

‘Please love me.’

The phrase was scrawled across a piece of paper hanging from its neck, as if written in haste with a marker.

People walking past the pile of trash stopped as if on cue.

“Isn’t that one still a puppy?”

“Wow, can’t believe someone threw it away.”

“So pitiful…”

After a brief pause, they all moved on.

Step by step, countless legs passed by. Pity for an abandoned animal wasn’t enough to stop busy feet for long.

The problem started after that.

‘…Why are you following me?’

The puppy had escaped from the box and started waddling after me.

Step step, pat pat.

The sound of my shoes and its tiny paws hit the ground out of sync. I couldn’t take it anymore and spun around sharply.

“Don’t follow me.”

Then I stomped my right foot firmly.

“Go away.”

Despite my sharp warning, the puppy didn’t even blink.

Not only that, it wrinkled its little nose and showed its bean-sized teeth.

I couldn’t help but let out a small, amused laugh. Did it really think such a puny threat would work on me?

“I’m sorry.”

Apparently, it worked perfectly.

With that, I turned back calmly and walked away, clutching the straps of my backpack.

Step step, pat pat, step step, pat pat.

‘It’s still following me.’

This was serious.

Even though it was early autumn, sweat ran down my back as if it were mid-summer.

Step step step step, pat pat pat pat. My walking pace quickened.

‘How long is it going to follow me?’

Tap tap tap, pat pat pat! No matter how much I ran, the footsteps behind me never stopped.

All the way until—

“Grandmaaa!”

“You’re home, huh? What’s that weird thing following you?”

All the way home.

Why, seriously why.

* * *

The puppy’s shameless behavior after invading my house didn’t stop there.

‘Could you please go outside and not come near me?’

Even after a week.

‘Why did you have to pee on my new school uniform… why…’

Even after I started high school.

‘That’s my food, not yours.’

Woof!

‘My food…’

Woof!!

‘…’

Even after I entered college, it never left our home and still tried to eat my meals.

That’s right. A stray had completely taken over our house.

Time passed, and now that I’m about to start my senior year at university, I still don’t like dogs.

Still…
Dogs…

“…”

I sat on the floor, staring at the memorial table.

Dog chews, sweet potatoes, dog biscuits. Finally, my gaze landed on the framed photo of the proud little puppy.

A lump rose in my throat as if a ball were stuck there.

Why had the dog been abandoned by its previous owner? At first, I thought it was because it looked so dopey.

‘Seori, you’re home?’

‘Come here, Seori.’

‘Hey, Seori~’

No matter how often Grandma called my name, how could the dog think it was hers too?

I tried to change its name, but that stubborn fool never responded to anything but “Seori.”

Eventually, Grandma started calling us “Human Seori” and “Dog Seori.” Around that time, I realized the real reason the dog had been abandoned.

‘Hey, what’s wrong with it?’

Dog Seori had been sickly since birth.

She often had stomach troubles that kept us up all night, and sometimes her eyes rolled back suddenly, sending us rushing to the vet.

Her previous owner must have found all that too troublesome.

That’s why we could never send her away. I couldn’t. If I did, that silly, fragile little dog would’ve ended up back on the cold streets.

That poor thing who used to wheeze and groan so often… last year around this time, she crossed the rainbow bridge.

“…”

We grew up together, so why did time move so much faster for you?

Curled up on the floor, I stared blankly at the memorial table, lost in thought.

Kim Seori.

Grandma named me that because I was born on the day of the first frost.

I don’t know who my father is. My mother disappeared after giving birth to me, and I only vaguely remember attending her funeral when I was seven.

Grandma, who was forced to raise me, sometimes clicked her tongue and muttered,

‘That poor thing grew up too fast for her own good.’

I didn’t laugh, didn’t cry, didn’t show much emotion. Maybe that’s why the adults thought I was mature for my age.

But I had no choice. Pretending to be strong was the only way to survive.

Grandma, already bent with age, still had to work to make ends meet. Her life was hard enough without me whining.

‘Hey, did you hear? That girl Kim Seori is dirt poor. She lives with just her grandma.’

‘So she was pretending to be all fancy for nothing?’

On days when it was too exhausting to act tough, when every word felt like a thorn, Seori appeared.

She was the only one I could be honest with. The only one I didn’t have to put up walls for. My closest family and my only friend.

‘Seori!’

The one who made my strange name feel special… is gone now.

Thud. I leaned my head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

‘Pet loss? There’s no special cure for that. You just grieve, time passes, and the memories fade…’

They say time heals all wounds, but that’s a lie. Even now, when I open the front door, I still feel like I can hear her little paws tapping on the floor.

As I sat there absentmindedly, I suddenly remembered the sign around her neck the day we met.

‘Please love me.’

It was almost funny. Because in truth, I was the one who had been loved.

“Seori…”

I wish I could be like you.

I wish I were someone who could love as freely as you did. Then I wouldn’t be haunted by all the things I didn’t do for you.

“I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry I got annoyed when you woke me up to play. Sorry for forgetting you while I was busy with my life outside. Sorry for forcing you to go to the vet when you were scared. Sorry for yelling when you spat out your medicine.

“I’m sorry, Seori. I really am.”

Were you happy being family with someone as lacking as me? All I could do was cry with regret that night.

* * *

The next day was the first day of winter break. Nothing seemed special until late that night, when I went out to the convenience store.

I stood in the dark alley, looking around.

People’s feet moving busily at the end of the alley, cigarette butts scattered on the ground, a drain that seemed to stretch endlessly.

‘That’s weird…’

Why did all these ordinary things suddenly seem so noticeable?

‘Did my eye level just drop a little?’

I blinked several times, rubbed my eyes, but the world around me seemed so tall and far away.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and turned my hand over.

‘Black circles?’

There were several of them. I brought them close to my nose and sniffed.

‘This smell…’

The scent, the shape, the texture. I couldn’t be wrong about it. I’d seen and smelled it more times than I could count.

These were dog paw pads.

‘Why are these on my hand?’

As I stared at my paws, I noticed clothes on the ground. A gray hoodie, white sweatpants, and slippers. They were the same clothes I’d been wearing.

“…?”

I touched my face. Instead of smooth skin, I felt… fur. Fur. Fur everywhere.

“…??”

I rubbed at it again and again until I got dizzy and collapsed.

Since when did I have a furry face? I don’t remember growing a beard.

While I was still trying to make sense of it, I heard voices from outside the alley.

“Hey, look over there.”

Two people pointed straight at me.

“Look at that puppy, lying down like a person. Its belly’s so round.”

“It’s staring at us. Uh… hey, let’s just go. That dog’s eyes are kinda freaky.”

Why were they pointing at me while talking about a weird dog?

A bad feeling crept over me. I stared down at my paws in disbelief. A sudden thought struck me.

‘No way.’

I jumped up and grabbed both sides of my face.

No way, it couldn’t be.

‘I wish I could be like you.’

Hey, Dog Seori.

When I said I wanted to be like you, I didn’t mean I wanted to become you.

Please…