Chapter 40

The situation was awful. The phone wouldn’t work, the place they stayed evoked a basement, and the older men were scary. Naru, who’d been fine while digging potatoes, soon missed Gyu-yeon.

He was annoyed but not resentful, irritated yet wanting to see him. To anyone, it was love.

Naru peeled off from Geon-hu and stepped into the shower, only to get cold water. Used to washing with warm water, he shivered at the cold, but rinsing away the grime made him feel somewhat cleaner than before.

In the flickering-lit shower, Naru washed precariously and put on his dirty clothes again because he hadn’t brought any other clothes.

Geon-hu, who had been waiting his turn, was horrified the moment he saw Naru. He’d bothered to wash only to put the dirt-stained clothes back on. It was an act he couldn’t understand.

“Hey, you didn’t bring any clothes?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s serious. And you’re going to put that back on?”

“……”

When Naru didn’t answer, Geon-hu sighed. He went into his room and came back with a change of clothes: a plain white short-sleeve T-shirt with no pattern or picture.

Naru carefully took the shirt and nodded in thanks. He went into the shower stall, changed, and when he came out Geon-hu’s expression finally relaxed.

He scanned Naru’s appearance and frowned again, as if something else bothered him.

“Take off those pants. You’re among men anyway.”

“N-no. I don’t want to.”

“What, you’re going to sleep in those filthy things? I can’t lend you my pants.”

“I said no!”

“You’re stubborn as hell.”

His T-shirt was clean, but his pants were still filthy. If he went into the blankets wearing them, the older men would surely curse him. The shirt was huge on Naru, much smaller than Geon-hu; even if he took off the pants, his underwear wouldn’t show.

Naru shook his head and backed away, repeating he didn’t want to. Geon-hu approached without malice, trying to grab the pants.

“Come on, just take them off. They’re dirty.”

“No, get away!”

A tense standoff began. Naru tried not to undress, and Geon-hu tried to make him. As they struggled for a while, movement was felt behind them.

“What are you doing here? Geon-hu, you bastard, why are you bullying the kid?”

“Don’t mind him. I’m not bullying; I’m trying to help.”

“Help, my ass. Look at him, can’t you see how pale he is?”

Geon-hu checked Naru’s complexion belatedly and backed off apologetically. He’d meant to help, but objectively the situation did look a bit strange.

Geon-hu scratched his neck awkwardly and offered a sincere apology, but Naru only nodded perfunctorily and left.

By the time Geon-hu had finished washing, the sun had already set. The older men spread the smelly blankets on the floor and lay down one by one. Of course, Naru was among them.

He was used to falling asleep soothed by the cozy scent of a blanket, but sleeping in a place that smelled musty was hard.

Geon-hu tossed a pillow next to Naru and stretched out his long legs. Naru, tucked into the corner, curled up tighter. Group living was truly exhausting.

“Am I going to eat you?”

“……”

“Hey, there’s a bug crawling over there. You should come this way.”

Whack!

Geon-hu, who had been laughing while looking at Naru’s back, noticed a crawling bug. The old floor and walls showed a few insects. Geon-hu, teasingly warning him, gaped at Naru’s next action.

Naru, who looked like he couldn’t catch a bug, smashed a cockroach with his bare hands — not a small one, but a big one. Geon-hu, who swore he’d never touch a cockroach, applauded.

“Wow, you killed that with your bare hands?”

“……”

Naru wiped his palm on the blanket and closed his eyes as if annoyed — a sign to stop talking. Geon-hu, who read him perfectly, added a few more words and then promptly dozed off. He seemed like the type who slept as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Naru, who closed his eyes first, couldn’t sleep even after two hours. He kept thinking of Gyu-yeon and it tortured him. As soon as he entered this place, memories of the basement surfaced, leaving him unable to sleep properly.

Just sleep. Don’t think about Gyu-yeon, just sleep.

As Naru tried to force himself to sleep, he was startled shortly after.

“……!”

It was because his ears and tail, which had disappeared, suddenly reappeared. The ears popped up and twitched flamboyantly. If he had been alone, it wouldn’t matter, but there were several people nearby now. He had to leave the room before anyone noticed.

Naru rose stealthily and checked around. Luckily, everyone was asleep. He slipped outside carefully and ran to the field as far from the lodgings as possible.

At the edge of the field stood a small shed for storing farming tools. Shaking with fear of meeting a wild boar, Naru went straight in and shut the door.

The problem was that this place was scary too: dark, closed-off, and musty. With his ears and tail out, his nose felt more sensitive and the moldy smell seemed stronger.

Hiding in a corner, Naru crouched and sobbed. He had sent Gyu-yeon a message telling him to regret it, but the one regretting most was himself. After suffering outside, the world seemed cruel.

“Kuhng, Gyu-yeon…”

His phone was still acting up. He couldn’t call Gyu-yeon even if he tried. Pride didn’t matter. Naru thought he’d rather be hurt than not have Gyu-yeon take him back.

Naru wrapped his fluffy tail around his and trembled. He was cold, hungry, and sleepy. Would he have to live like this forever if he became homeless?

Aaaaaaaaah!

“Gah!”

A man’s scream echoed from a nearby mountain. Naru covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. Since the screams repeated, it sounded less like a man and more like a barking deer.

Naru barricaded the shed door thoroughly, afraid some unknown animal might come in. Still uneasy, he hid among the tools.

The night dragged on. Wishing the hellish hours to pass, Naru slowly closed his eyes, and exhaustion washed over him, bringing sleep.

Early morning, Naru, who had barely made it through the night, opened his eyes. Having slept in an uncomfortable position, his whole body ached.

Sunlight filtered through the small window in the shed. With daylight, some of the fear eased.

Creak.

Naru opened the door and looked over the empty field. He touched his hips and head and found his ears and tail were gone overnight. Relief.

“Oh, there you are. Hey! I was wondering where you went — you went to work early?”

“Uh…”

Geon-hu, who had just come onto the field, saw Naru and hurried over. Apparently everyone thought se’d run away. He’d merely slept in the field, yet Naru had somehow become the most diligent youth among them.

The farm was busy from morning. Naru was again assigned to dig potatoes. Holding the now-familiar pink basket and hoeing, his eyes kept drooping. Lack of sleep had clearly weakened him.

Naru couldn’t focus on work. He was sleepy, worried about Gyu-yeon, and wanted to turn on his phone. His mind was inevitably scattered.

“What’s wrong with you today?”

“Nothing.”

“I thought you were going somewhere last night.”

“Huh? You saw me?”

Suddenly a bomb dropped. Geon-hu, who Naru thought was asleep, said he’d seen Naru leave the lodging last night.

It had been dark, so he wouldn’t have seen his ears and tail. Naru glanced at Geon-hu with a pounding heart. He looked pitiable as he tried to read the situation. Geon-hu continued as if knowing nothing.

“What did you see?”

“Well, I mean, you leaving… I didn’t see clearly — just some rustling.”

Phew. What a relief. Naru breathed out in relief. Thank goodness he only heard rustling.

“You didn’t steal any money, did you?”

“No.”

Geon-hu joked slyly and laughed cheerfully. Naru finally loosened up a bit. The gloom he’d carried eased momentarily thanks to Geon-hu’s constant chatter.

This was much better than brooding alone. Regaining some energy, Naru hoeed vigorously, planning to relieve stress by digging the earth.

Chitchatting while digging, it became noon. When the farm owner announced lunch, everyone ate together, then returned to the field to dig more potatoes. It was repetitive work, but Naru didn’t find it taxing.

When he staggered occasionally, Geon-hu would steady him, and the owner rewarded him hard work with an extra rice cake.

“Here, because you showed up early today, 100,000 won.”

“Thank you.”

By sunset the work was done. Naru, having received his daily wage as yesterday, smiled faintly. Due to an unintended misunderstanding he got an extra ten thousand won. Nineteen ten-thousand-won bills were neatly folded in his pocket.

Fiddling with the bills in his pocket, Naru pulled out something hard to the touch: his phone, which wouldn’t turn on due to a dead battery.

With a sullen face, Naru tapped the screen and stamped his foot in annoyance. Geon-hu, who was following him back to the lodging, tilted his head at the sight.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“It won’t turn on.”

“Phone? Ah, the battery must be dead.”

Geon-hu snatched the phone from Naru’s hand and rummaged through his bag, telling him to wait. After digging deeply into the bag stuffed with clothes, he finally pulled out a charger as if he’d found what he was looking for.

Naru’s face lit up. Excited at the thought of checking his phone, he scampered over to Geon-hu’s side.

He resented Gyu-yeon, but what could he do? He still wanted to contact him.

Geon-hu found an outlet and plugged in the cord. When he connected the jack to the phone, the screen flashed. He helped pull Naru, who was squatting beside him, to his feet.

“It’s better to charge it a bit before turning it on, so wash in the meantime. You smell kinda gross.”

“You’re gross too. Lend me some clothes.”

“Are you crazy? Why are you so bold now? Fine, I’ll lend them to you. Here!”

Geon-hu tossed a black T-shirt to him. Smiling faintly at his teasing, Naru headed to the shower. After washing, he could finally call Gyu-yeon.

As for making it on his own — forget it. Naru no longer had confidence. They said owners who abandon dogs never regret it, but with misty eyes Naru decided to trust Gyu-yeon.

Gyu-yeon will look for me. He’ll regret it. No, he has to regret it.

Biting his lip hard, Naru splashed cold water over his head.