< Chapter 9 >

I might turn back into a dog.

My heart dropped, and I pushed Seok Haewon’s arm away.

“Don’t touch me.”

The words came out sharper than I intended. Covering my mouth, I took a step back.

“It’s nothing. Just a hangover.”

“You looked perfectly fine just a moment ago.”

He gave a disbelieving laugh and stepped closer again.

“I told you, it’s a hangover.”

“Then why not just say you got sick the moment you saw me.”

My vision split in two. I nodded weakly, pretending to agree with whatever he said.

One Haewon. Then two. The man was multiplying in front of me. I turned and ran blindly.

I circled around the café and stopped once I reached an empty area, leaning against a wall to catch my breath.

‘Am I really changing again?’

No, maybe it was just dizziness or an upset stomach. It sometimes happened when I overworked myself.

“Urgh.”

The nausea rose again, twisting my insides.

“Ha…”

I slid down to a crouch and pressed my aching forehead.

Now that I’d blamed it on a hangover, it really did feel like one.

I suddenly remembered the first time I got drunk as an adult. Seori had barked at me in panic, horrified by my staggering state.

That image flickered through my mind, and then my eye level began to drop lower and lower.

* * *

A cold winter wind swept past, tugging at the hem of Haewon’s coat.

“…”

He stood frozen, unable to take a single step.

‘Don’t touch me.’

Could someone really get that sick from a hangover so suddenly?

Buzz, buzz.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Haewon flinched and checked the screen. It was Madam Song.

“Yes, ma’am.”

As he answered, his eyes scanned the area. The pale-faced Seori, who had been retching moments ago, was gone.

[Haewon, did you take the puppy with you?]

Her anxious voice came through the receiver.

“No. Why, what happened?”

[She’s nowhere in the house. I searched the whole place, even the garden. I think she went outside. Oh dear, what do we do?]

The dog had vanished again.

Haewon clicked his tongue, lowering his voice.

“Could someone else have taken her out, like before?”

[No, that can’t be it. You were the last one to leave the house. No one else came after you.]

Madam Song spoke quickly, sounding flustered.

[I checked the gate cameras and the ones along the walls, but she doesn’t show up anywhere. The back door camera broke, and now I’m wondering if she slipped out when I went shopping. Oh no, what do I do…]

“I’m coming home. Keep looking for her. Check under the couch or inside the cabinets—”

Haewon stopped mid-sentence. Still holding the phone to his ear, he turned his head.

“Park Sundae, stop eating random things.”

An old woman tugged gently on the leash of a gray dog. In her arms was a small white dog. Haewon froze.

That ridiculous head size, that perfectly shaped little body. It was her.

“…”

[Haewon? Are you there?]

“…Is this a ghost or something?”

[What? Speak up, I can’t hear you.]

“I found her.”

[You did? Where?]

“She’s right in front of me.”

Haewon ended the call and approached them.

A shadow fell over the old woman and the puppy as he stepped closer. The sunlight behind him cast a long outline over the ground.

Gone from the house, now sitting happily in someone else’s arms.

He was too baffled to even laugh.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

“Oh my.”

The woman looked up at him, craning her neck.

“The dog you’re holding, where did you find her?”

“This one? She ran straight to me the moment she saw me.”

Not just followed, but ran. Haewon’s sharp eyes moved to the little dog.

Finally noticing him, Seori awkwardly lifted a paw in greeting.

“Mya, myang.”

Busted.

“She yours, young man?”

“There can’t be two dogs in the world with a head that big.”

“Why’d she follow me then? Go on, sweetheart, go home.”

The woman gently set the dog on the ground.

Seori looked between the two of them, back and forth.

Haewon or Grandma. It felt like a choice between two fates.

‘What do I do…’

Right after turning into a dog again, I had run into Grandma and her dog Sundae on their walk. Without thinking, I’d followed along.

Grandma was one of the oldest regulars at the lake park, someone Dog Seori and I had often walked with.

Even Sundae had recognized me, wagging his tail every time our eyes met.

Between Grandma and Sundae, the smarter choice for help was obvious.

I was about to take a step toward them when Haewon suddenly crouched down in front of me. Our eyes met.

‘I don’t like making eye contact.’

For a moment, the image of Haewon standing in the rain with that cheap convenience store umbrella flashed through my mind.

He extended a hand toward me.

“Come here.”

His tone was firm but not harsh.

Before I knew it, my paws moved forward on their own. By the time I realized what I was doing, he had already lifted me into his arms.

‘Wait… why did I do that?’

Why was I leaving Grandma behind? Had I really turned into a dog, body and mind? My paws had completely betrayed me.

Panicking, I started to squirm.

“Oh my, look at her go. She must really like you, young man.”

“She’s never this obedient.”

“She just recognizes her owner now.”

Haewon shook his head. That couldn’t be right.

This silly little thing didn’t even know how to bark properly yet. All she could do was make one clumsy “myang” sound like a broken robot.

“Is this yours too? She was nudging it with her paw earlier. I can’t figure these new gadgets out.”

The old woman handed him a white phone. Haewon froze as the screen lit up, showing a picture of Seori cheek to cheek with her dog.

‘Kim Seori?’

He remembered her rushing out of the café earlier. She must have dropped it then.

“She must’ve lost it while running around.”

Haewon gave a faint smile and slipped the phone into his coat pocket.

Watching him, Seori’s eyes gleamed.

‘Perfect.’

No plan, but perfect anyway.

She hadn’t brought anything important when she left, and now her phone was in his hands.

‘If I unlock it in front of him, that’ll prove who I am.’

She let out a small, pleased huff.

Haewon glanced down at the strange little dog and sighed. Maybe she really was possessed.

“At least I found both the dog and the phone. By the way, do you have a girlfriend?” the old woman asked.

“No.”

“Then do you have a type?”

“Maybe someone I can tease?”

Not that kind of type.

Both the old woman and Seori glared at him in disgust.

“Come on, Sundae, let’s go. Before we catch something from this weirdo.”

Pulling on the leash, Grandma shook her head.

‘He’s got broad shoulders, so I thought he’d make a good match for Seori, but…’

He was hopeless. Too handsome for his own good, and that kind of look would only cause trouble for someone like Seori who didn’t know how to deal with people.

Grandma sighed. She hadn’t seen Seori since her dog had passed, and it still weighed on her heart.

“I hope she’s doing alright. She must be hurting more than she lets on.”

She walked away, not seeing the little dog waving her paw in farewell.

Beside her, Sundae barked frantically.

“Woof woof woof!”

“Stop whining for food, greedy boy!”

Poor Sundae could only bark in frustration.

* * *

“Here, a towel to wipe her paws.”

Madam Song handed Haewon a warm cloth.

“I still can’t believe she found her way all the way to you.”

“I guess she followed my scent or something.”

“How amazing. She must really think you’re her owner. I was so worried, you little rascal.”

After lightly scolding the puppy, Madam Song went into the kitchen.

“Owner, huh.”

Haewon muttered the word under his breath. It seemed to please him more than it should have.

Uneasy, Seori scooted backward.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Haewon held out the towel.

“Well? Aren’t you going to clean your owner’s feet?”

Right, of course.

For a moment, I actually reached for his foot before realizing and tossing the towel away.

“Give it here.”

Haewon chuckled and began wiping my paws instead. He looked focused, but his touch was clumsy.

So, he wasn’t perfect after all.

I glanced around the living room.

How strange, that this was a place I could only stay in when I was a dog, but had to flee from when I was human.

Still, at least I had a clue now.

Before changing, I’d felt nausea similar to a hangover.

‘When I turned human again, I fell asleep first.’

Even considering how tired I’d been, that sleepiness had come too suddenly to be natural.

‘So hangover and sleep… why those two?’

Why couldn’t I just change like a normal person? The answer hovered just out of reach.

‘Let’s say it’s some kind of magic, and Dog Seori was the one who cast it…’

Hangover and sleep. From her perspective, what connection could those have?

‘Wait.’

A ridiculous theory crossed my mind.

Dog Seori had never liked me drinking. Whenever I got drunk, I’d crawl around on all fours, and after a deep sleep, I’d wake up walking upright again.

‘No way. So I turn into a dog when I’m drunk, and back into a human when I wake up?’

No, that couldn’t be.

I rubbed my face roughly in denial.

“Your face too? You’re lazy.”

Haewon, still wiping my front paws, clumsily rubbed the cloth under my eyes.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling, finally accepting the absurd truth.

‘Seori…’

You really think I turn into a dog when I get drunk, and back into a human when I wake up.