< Chapter 11 >

“It’s me, Kim Seori. I lost my phone at the café.

If you happened to pick it up, please hold on to it for me.

I can’t go get it right now because of… circumstances.”

After reading the email, Haewon frowned slightly.

If she had sent it, that meant she’d gone through the student contact list distributed at the start of the semester.

Of all the easy ways to reach him, she chose that one even though she wasn’t sure if he was the one who had her phone.

‘Why though?’

He figured out the reason quickly enough and smirked.

She must have hated the idea of calling him. Just seeing his face was enough to make her feel nauseated like she had a hangover.

Feeling oddly annoyed, Haewon hit “Reply.”

“Why can’t you come get it?”

Not long after he sent it, the phone buzzed.

“I have some circumstances.”

Haewon had no intention of respecting those circumstances. He typed again.

“What kind of circumstances?”

No response came. Was she thinking of what to say or just refusing to answer?

He stared at the phone, waiting ten minutes. Then it buzzed again.

“Dog.”

Just one word, yet it could mean several things.

1. It’s something to do with a dog.
2. She’s in a dog-like situation.
3. Meeting you feels like dealing with a dog.

Context suggested the first, but instinct said the third.

Haewon tapped his thumb against the screen.

“You calling me a dog?”

The reply came almost instantly.

“Nno”

The extra vowel was glaringly obvious. Definitely intentional.

The corner of his mouth twitched, then flattened again.

It didn’t make sense. Who leaves their phone behind for days in this day and age, no matter what’s going on?

Propping his chin on the phone, he thought back. There had been plenty of strange things recently.

‘Let me pay.’

She had dragged him to that café under the excuse of a team report and then got flustered when she couldn’t buy the coffee herself.

It might have been nothing if it were anyone else. But this was Kim Seori.

Normally she would have turned away the second the company visit ended. She had always left like he was invisible.

Recalling her back as she walked away without ever once looking back, Haewon lowered his gaze. His long lashes cast faint shadows beneath his eyes.

And there was the awkward tension she had with her classmates too. None of it made sense.

“If you don’t need the phone, just throw it away.”

“Whhy wwould I thrrow it away”

The more flustered she got, the worse her typos became.

“Then come get it.”

“I told you I cccan’t”

Even her “typos” felt like genuine emotion.

Haewon began typing a final message.

* * *

“Saturday, noon, in front of the lake plaza. If you don’t show up, I can’t guarantee the hostage’s safety.”

Two days had passed since Haewon sent that message, holding her phone hostage.

Now it was Friday, the day before the showdown.

And me?

“Daengdang, I’ll be back soon from grocery shopping, okay? Stay good while I’m gone.”

“Woof.”

The kind smile I gave Madam Song turned grim the second she left.

This was bad.

For days, I had been trying to force myself to sleep so I could change back into a human, but all I did was sleep soundly and wake up as the same refreshed puppy.

‘So I can only turn human when I fall asleep unintentionally?’

All I had managed to figure out were a few half-baked theories.

Hangover and deep sleep. Those were the symptoms tied to transformation.

And there was always a time delay before it happened.

When I thought about it, I had felt a bit dizzy during that company visit. And the time I turned back into a person, the sleepiness had hit harder than usual.

If there was a delay, I could use it to my advantage.

With renewed determination, I dashed off toward the laundry room, the one with the thinnest glass door in the house.

‘Perfect.’

Thanks to the sock I had wedged in the doorframe, which Madam Song thankfully hadn’t noticed, the door was still slightly ajar.

‘Ugh…’

As I squeezed my big head through the tiny gap, my eyes watered from the pain.

Grinding my teeth, I pushed harder until I finally popped through and sprinted outside.

Time to dig an escape route.

If I ever transformed outside, I’d need a way back into this house, the only safe place I had.

‘Alright.’

I took a deep breath, rolled up my imaginary sleeves, and started digging like my life depended on it.

* * *

That evening, Seok Haegang, the Vice Chairman and Haewon’s father, came home early for once and was immediately faced with a dilemma.

There, lying in the garden, was a heap of fur.

It was the dog his son had recently grown attached to.

Haegang’s usually expressionless face twitched slightly. The dog was lying limp, its face and paws covered in dirt.

…Was it dead?

He gently nudged its rear with the tip of his shoe. No reaction.

Kneeling down, he placed a finger under its nose. A faint breath tickled his skin.

Still alive.

He sighed in relief, but the next problem struck immediately.

The dog was filthy, especially around the mouth, where clumps of dirt clung stubbornly.

His eyes narrowed as they trailed down to its belly. It looked smaller than before. Maybe Madam Song had it on a diet out of worry about its growing chubbiness.

‘No way.’

Had it actually eaten dirt?

He inhaled deeply, picked up the grimy dog, and walked back into the house.

“Madam Song.”

Silence.

“Madam Song?”

He checked the kitchen, the laundry room, every room. No sign of her.

Haewon was out learning company work, and even the secretary had already gone home.

‘Now what…’

Standing alone in the middle of the house, Haegang looked down at the muddy dog in his arms. Even its little tongue sticking out was smeared with dirt.

He grabbed his car keys and headed out. There was no time to waste.

* * *

At the nearest animal hospital, Haegang rushed in and placed the dog on the counter.

“First time visiting?” the receptionist asked brightly.

“I think it ate dirt.”

Her face turned serious immediately.

“Did it vomit or show any other symptoms?”

“When I found it, it was already collapsed.”

“Alright, we’ll take a look right away. Please fill out this admission form while we check on your pet.”

She took the dog and hurried inside.

Haegang looked down at the form, pen trembling slightly in his hand.

♡ Pet’s Name ♡

The cute design irritated him. And the name? He had no idea.

He was about to write “Dog” when he remembered something Madam Song had said that morning.

“Daengdang is such a good and calm puppy.”

Daengdang. Of all the possible names, why that one?

After finally filling out the form, he sat in the waiting area.

‘…It can’t die.’

Chairman Seok could show up any time, and Haegang knew his father would not take the news well. Besides, he’d seen how Haewon had been oddly attentive to this dog lately.

Even that arrogant, lazy son of his had carefully wiped the puppy’s paws himself.

A middle-aged man sitting nearby glanced at him and asked,

“How’d it end up eating dirt?”

Haegang pieced together what he knew so far.

It liked to stick its big head into narrow places, barked once like a broken machine, and acted like it was missing a few screws.

“I think it’s a bit… slow.”

The man chuckled. “Same as my Ddung. Still a baby, huh? Once it grows up, it’ll learn what not to do. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried.”

The man glanced at him and immediately recognized the look.

His daughter had called it the “dad phase of reluctant affection.”

“I was the same when my girl brought home that mutt. I threw a fit at first, but now I let Ddung lick my face all the time.”

That statement nearly broke Haegang’s composure.

“Why would you let it do that?”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s unsanitary.”

“That’s just normal.”

“Excuse me?”

The conversation was going off the rails.

Just then, a staff member poked her head out.

“Guardian of Seok Daengdang, please come in!”

There was no such person as Seok Daengdang in the family registry.

Did this clinic treat pets as family members? Suppressing a sigh, Haegang entered the exam room.

Meanwhile, Seori, who had been trying to push away the vet’s face with her hind legs, froze solid.

‘Why is he here?’

Before she could even think, the vet handed her over to him.

“The puppy’s quite anxious, so I’ll explain while you hold her.”

Caught off guard, Haegang stiffly took her into his arms.

Seori froze too.

‘What is happening right now.’

By the time she came to her senses, she was already in an animal hospital. And seeing him there only made things worse.

The vet smiled, oblivious.

“What a fuss she made earlier, but now she’s as calm as can be in your arms.”

Their eyes met for a split second. Both of them immediately turned away.

The air between them grew heavy with awkward tension.

“From the test results, it doesn’t look like she actually ate any dirt. Did you see her eat it yourself?”

“…No.”

“Then it’s likely she was just playing around. See? Her stomach’s clean, and her condition is great.”

Seori blinked up with the biggest, brightest eyes she could manage, desperate not to get hospitalized.

“Still, it’d be best to watch her for a few days. If she shows any strange symptoms, bring her in right away. I’ll prescribe a small amount of medicine, just in case.”

Leaving the exam room, Haegang sighed deeply.

He was exhausted. The animal hospital was a bizarre world.

Before he could escape, a nurse called out cheerfully,

“Seok Daengdang! Don’t play with dirt again or you’ll scare your daddy!”

Daddy?

Haewon was his only child.

He looked down at the dog in his arms.

Their eyes met again, and they both instantly turned their heads in opposite directions. Despite being pressed close together, the emotional distance between them was huge.

“…You are not my child.”

“Woof.”

Seori had never had a middle-aged dad like this either.