Chapter 36

“Where are you going.”

“You weren’t answering your phone, so I came to find you…”

“Why would you come looking for me.”

His emotions were growing more intense, but the voice that came out was oddly calm. Naru noticed that Gyu-yeon’s mood was different from usual. There was a chill to it, as if he had no feelings for him at all…

Naru, who often butted heads with Gyu-yeon, began to tread carefully. Was Gyu-yeon angry because he called many times? Naru had called simply because he missed Gyu-yeon, and he was worrying because no matter how long he waited, there was no answer.

At first the line rang for a long time then cut off, the second time it disconnected immediately, and after that only a message saying the phone was turned off played.

Naru had an uncanny instinct about trivial things. Realizing something must have happened to Gyu-yeon, he bit his nails and decided to throw on a cardigan and leave the house. He had a feeling, for some reason, that Gyu-yeon wouldn’t come back home.

As he hurriedly opened the door, Naru felt deeply relieved — Gyu-yeon’s face was right in front of him.

Yes. He had certainly been relieved. He thought he’d worried for nothing.

Yu Gyu-yeon was strange.

“I was worried.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah. I was worried, so I was going to go look for you.”

“You, who are you to worry about me?”

Who are you to worry about me. It wasn’t his usual snippy tone. Naru could take any words. He’d become used to being cursed at for a long time, and living together had taught him what Gyu-yeon’s personality was like, so it didn’t bother him.

His head began to sink. Right now Gyu-yeon was genuinely angry at Naru. It wasn’t mere sniping; he treated Naru like someone he would never see again.

Naru was hurt for the first time. He never imagined that Gyu-yeon, who was like an angel to him, would act so coldly. And he didn’t even know the proper reason why this was happening all of a sudden.

This feeling — he’d forgotten it, but it still hurts. Being hurt is so painful.

The pain he’d forgotten grew vivid again. The first thing he felt was the fear of being abandoned. Naru unconsciously begged and begged.

Please, don’t let Gyu-yeon abandon me.

“You — who are you. Who are you to have shamelessly been by my side all this time!”

“You told me to. I…”

“Why didn’t you say anything? If you’d said no from the start!”

“You brought me with you. I thought I was going to live with you from now on, ugh!”

Gyu-yeon grabbed Naru’s shoulders roughly. Naru, looking at Gyu-yeon with a painful groan, couldn’t bear the malicious look and lowered his head.

The veins standing out and the bloodshot eyes reminded him exactly of the Previous owner. Those eyes that pressed and tormented Naru whenever things went wrong, staring as if they might discard him at any moment.

What was wrong? Even in this moment of being coldly cast out by Gyu-yeon, Naru didn’t know why. If he could restore what was wrong to its original state, could they get along like before?

From Naru’s point of view, the situation made no sense. Gyu-yeon was the one who bought him, and Naru, who had been wary of that Gyu-yeon, slowly let down his suspicions. No matter how he looked at it, Gyu-yeon seemed like his new owner, and living together he had come to accept him as his true owner.

He thought he would only be happy now.

“You weren’t the person I was looking for, so why…”

“Huh…?”

“Are you not understanding, or pretending not to know? You weren’t the person I was looking for.”

He had seen a light for a moment, but the world was dark after all. Naru felt his heart drop to the floor. It felt like falling from the sky to a dirty ground and being trampled.

At first he thought he had misheard. But Gyu-yeon continued plainly, as if he would crush Naru: you were not the person I was looking for.

Naru had his existence denied by the person he loved most.

He had thought he could withstand any words. He had no immunity to this kind of thing. Somewhere in his chest it ached and burned.

Naru lifted his head to meet Gyu-yeon’s eyes and a tear fell. Until he left, everything had been fine. Everything had definitely been fine.

When Gyu-yeon came home they’d cook dinner together, trade their usual banter, and, like a few nights ago, fall asleep in the same bed.

Naru held onto a small hope and tried to hold onto Gyu-yeon. He didn’t know what had happened outside, but perhaps Gyu-yeon had misunderstood something, so it would be best to talk first.

Though he couldn’t even control his own heart, Naru prioritized Gyu-yeon. He gently wrapped his hands around Gyu-yeon’s hand on his shoulder and tried to speak calmly.

“No, it might be a mistake. I don’t really know what’s going on, but if we talk it through it’ll all be resolved…”

Slap!

Naru’s hand was pushed away. Stunned, Gyu-yeon coldly brushed his hand off and just glared at Naru in silence.

Looking at his hand with a face of disbelief, Naru couldn’t hold back the rising tears. The drops that hit the ground left clear marks.

In that moment, Naru’s eyes became empty and emotionless.

I — I’ve been abandoned by Gyu-yeon.

Naru bit his lip and cried silently. He had only felt the fear of possibly being abandoned until now; this was the first time he’d actually been discarded. Standing in front of Gyu-yeon felt humiliating.

Naru lifted his head, pushed hard against Gyu-yeon’s chest, and shouted.

“Do you hate me that much? You brought me here. You saved me.”

“…”

“I didn’t know anything. But you — Gyu-yeon, you put me to sleep in a warm place, hic, gave me tasty food, bathed me with clean water, you showed me all of that! And yet, if you abandon me, how am I supposed to live now…?”

Glaring at Gyu-yeon with resentful eyes, Naru turned the front door handle forcefully. He then ran past Gyu-yeon and dashed out. It happened in an instant.

Gyu-yeon couldn’t bring himself to stop Naru as he ran out. Not that he couldn’t — he simply didn’t have the presence of mind. His head was spinning trying to understand what Naru had just said, and his body had frozen stiff.

Song Naru cried. The one who usually brushed things off with a bright smile and made people uncomfortable was crying truly, sorrowfully — like someone genuinely wronged.

Gyu-yeon didn’t know how he should act.

If he went after him and brought him back, then what — what would he do? Pretend it never happened and live like before? Besides, why did Song Naru look at him with such resentment? He should know why he’s angry. Why?

Instinctively having held the doorknob, Gyu-yeon relaxed his grip. It seemed right not to hold him now. Turning away with an uneasy feeling, Gyu-yeon ignored Naru and went back into the house.

Meanwhile, Naru ran without direction and entered a gloomy alley. He had the habit of hiding there when he escaped from the basement, so his body moved on its own. Finding a cramped space, Naru curled up, buried his face between his knees, and cried.

“Ugh, sob.”

Perhaps because of his habit of crying quietly, the tears didn’t fully break out. Sobbing as if swallowing his emotions, Naru suddenly looked down at his feet.

His white socks were darkly stained, and he had a sneaker on only one foot — pitiful. Meanwhile the day grew darker and storm clouds filled the sky. They say misfortunes come all at once; it seemed not to be wrong.

Squeezed between a trash can and a utility pole, Naru quietly stared at the sky. The storm clouds that could burst into rain at any moment drifted right above his head. He kept his mouth tightly closed and tears streaming down, and finally raindrops began to fall one by one.

Plop, patter.

Once the raindrops began, they quickly grew heavy. When he came to his senses, rain was pouring from all around. Of course, without an umbrella, Naru was taking the cold rain over his whole body.

“Ugh…!”

It happened then. Naru suddenly grabbed his butt and sprang up. He felt something strange — the ears and tail that had disappeared when he came here had reappeared without warning. Surprised, he touched behind his butt and felt a fluffy tuft of fur.

The ears too. White puppy ears were drooping atop his head. Flustered, Naru covered the tail and ears with his hands, not knowing what to do.

They had clearly vanished before — why would they pop out at this timing?

If he had been in a time when he knew nothing, he would have run around like this without fear, but Naru had adapted to this world now. If he showed his puppy ears and tail, people would surely find it strange.

No matter how hard he tried to hide them by will, the tail and ears did not obey.

What is wrong with me that I’m always like this?

Abandoned by the person he trusted, the situation the worst, no one helping. Nothing went his way.

Feeling sorrowful, Naru grabbed his tail and ears and pulled hard. The tail hurt as if it would be torn off, but he didn’t stop pulling.

“Ugh, I’m so frustrated. Nothing ever goes my way!”

With a pop, blood flowed from the wounded ear. The tail fur got tangled and became a mess. In just a few minutes, Naru was in shambles and continued to mistreat his body.

Whine. Whine. Whimper.

As his whole body was becoming covered in wounds, he heard a puppy’s cry by his feet. Looking down at the familiar sound, Naru found a soaked puppy.

Whine.

Being a Beastkin and able to understand dogs, Naru could comprehend. The puppy, recognizing Naru as one of its kind, was telling him to stop and worrying about him. Naru finally stopped hurting himself.

Whine. Whimper!

The puppy stood on its hind legs and comforted the crying Naru. Each time its small forepaws tapped his knee, Naru’s shoulders heaved even more.

Whine. Whimper, whine. Woof!

‘Are you okay? What’s wrong? Did something happen? Does it hurt?’

It was genuine concern. Although it couldn’t see him in human form, Naru was greatly comforted by this little puppy.

Biting his lip and holding back the swelling sorrow, the moment Naru met the puppy’s eyes his tears burst forth.

“Hic, wwaaah, I — I was abandoned by my owner, wwaaah. Gyu-yeon is bad, damn it, wwaaah.”

Whine. Whine.

‘I was abandoned too. Don’t cry. Come here for now.’

The puppy, looking at Naru with a pitiful expression, slowly began to move. Seeing it head deeper into the alley, it seemed to have its nest that way.

Naru wiped his eyes with his sleeve and followed the puppy closely.