Chapter 53

Is it really time to say it now? Naru, sweating cold drops, glanced at Gyu-yeon. His steady eyes were reassuring, but he worried whether that gaze would stay the same after he told him about his past.

“Do you happen to like puppies…?”

“Why that out of the blue?”

“Do you like them?”

“Just… I do, I guess.”

Thump. A large stone dropped into Naru’s chest. He had planned to test Gyu-yeon’s feelings a bit before revealing he was a puppy Beastkin, but his unexpected answer left him flustered.

Gyu-yeon frowned and tilted his head at Naru’s abrupt question. He only wanted to hear about his past, so why was he suddenly asking if he liked puppies? He found it hard to understand what he was trying to say.

To lighten the awkward mood, Gyu-yeon added an explanation. Nervous, Naru stiffened and only rolled his eyes.

“I don’t like the shedding much, but they are cute to look at.”

“Oh, r-really?”

“But anyway, I asked you to tell me about yourself—why are you talking about puppies?”

Well, because my identity is that I’m a puppy Beastkin…….

Naru sighed in frustration, unable to blurt out what he wanted to say. From Gyu-yeon’s reaction, his view of dogs wasn’t particularly good or bad, and he was torn over whether to tell him.

In the end, Naru decided to slowly tell him that he was a puppy Beastkin. Since what Gyu-yeon most wanted to hear was his past, there was no need to bring this up first.

Swallowing a dry swallow, Naru clenched and unclenched his hands to calm himself. His palms were sweaty from the nerves and felt slippery.

It was the first time Naru had told anyone about his past. He had been confined all this time and had no one to tell—no family, no friends.

Starting a dark story was harder than he expected. After hesitating for a long time, Naru counted one, two, three in his head before he parted his lips.

“When I was little, I lost my whole family. There was an accident while we were moving; my mother and the youngest died, the other siblings panicked and ran off somewhere, and I stayed protecting my mother and the youngest and got caught by strange people and was sold.”

He continued in a calm tone, but his voice trembled despite himself. Having finally brought up his story, Naru eagerly watched Gyu-yeon’s reaction.

Gyu-yeon was excessively shocked. He had vowed not to be surprised by anything Naru might say, but upon hearing that shocking statement he stared wide-eyed as if struck on the back of the head.

There was an accident while moving—why did the other siblings run away? It didn’t make sense. A normal person would have called for help first and tried to save their family.

And Naru said he stayed and was caught by strange people who sold her. That part was also incomprehensible. No matter how many crimes there are in the world, he’d never seen victims at an accident scene being captured and sold.

For now, since Naru had started to struggle through his story, he had to hear it to the end. Gyu-yeon hid his shock and nodded as if urging him to continue.

“When I first met the Previous owner, I was really scared. I thought it would be okay because they treated me well at first….”

Recalling the past, Naru lowered his head with a bitter look. Hearing the unfamiliar term “Previous owner,” Gyu-yeon frowned and anxiously awaited what came next. From Naru’s expression and tone, it didn’t seem like it would be a pleasant story.

“When I got a bit older, they suddenly locked me in the basement,”

“What?”

“They—locked me in the basement and I stayed there all the time. I tried to escape, but I was always caught and brought back….”

The more he heard, the more unbelievable the story became. Gyu-yeon repeatedly doubted whether he’d heard correctly. Thinking it might be a joke, he checked Naru’s expression and, seeing his darkened face, exhaled sharply.

This wasn’t merely a hard life. The person called the Previous owner was clearly a criminal, and Naru was a victim.

As Gyu-yeon’s expression grew sterner, Naru hurried to patch up her story.

“It was like hell for me. B-but I did escape! I met you while running away, so I’m glad.”

“……”

“When I was brought here, I thought I’d been sold like before, so I just stayed still….”

Now the mismatched pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together a bit.

Shaken by back-to-back shocks, Gyu-yeon sat dazedly and sorted through his tangled thoughts. So, he met me while running away from the Previous owner, and Song Naru thought he’d been sold again and stayed put—was that it?

Hearing Naru’s situation brought a wave of guilt. Though there had been a misunderstanding, Gyu-yeon had still brought Naru in; he was no different from the trash who called himself the Previous owner.

With conflicted feelings, Gyu-yeon wiped his face and avoided Naru’s gaze. He couldn’t face those eyes just now.

It was shocking that such things happened in this supposedly good world, and it was hard to believe Naru had endured such injustices.

After a moment of silence, Gyu-yeon asked in a low, husky voice.

“Why didn’t you report it while you were trapped?”

“I had no means to report it, and even if we go through things like this, no one helps us….”

“No one helps? That’s impossible—the police can’t just pretend not to know about something like that.”

It was one thing to have no means to report it, but to say no one would help was absurd. For a case that could involve kidnapping, confinement, and even assault, the police not intervening was impossible.

Naru’s half-resigned face was pitiful to the point of frustration. When Gyu-yeon replied in a tone of upset, Naru seized the chance and cautiously changed the topic.

“What if I came from another world?”

“What…?”

“Would you believe it, Gyu-yeon? In another world, even if things like this happen, the police might not help.”

“No, I don’t believe it.”

Gyu-yeon shook his head firmly at Naru’s words. Another world existing? That sounded like something from a fantasy novel. The world Gyu-yeon lived in was reality, not fantasy.

Naru nodded as if he had expected that. Even he had found it hard at first to believe she’d crossed dimensions into the real world, so someone like Gyu-yeon, with no such experience, wouldn’t understand right away.

Naru actually felt relieved Gyu-yeon didn’t believe him. If he wasn’t going to believe it anyway, he could freely tell his story.

“Then don’t believe me—just listen.”

“……”

“Actually, I’m a puppy Beastkin. Like someone who can turn into a puppy. Beastkin are seen as inferior to normal people, so they’re treated poorly. So even if we’re kidnapped or sold to someone, no one helps us.”

A flood of hard-to-believe statements poured out. Gyu-yeon thought there was no other world, but he tried to make sense of Naru’s words. Even if he often said odd things, he didn’t think he would spin fantasies in a moment like this.

A puppy Beastkin. Someone who could turn into a puppy…….

Mulling over Naru’s words, Gyu-yeon carefully recalled things that had happened: burying her head in a bowl to eat cereal, being scared of the hair salon, and her much lower-than-normal common sense.

It felt strange, but thinking of him as a puppy Beastkin made his clumsy behaviors make sense.

With a confused expression, Gyu-yeon blinked hard. Part of him understood, but another part was tormented at the thought that the whole story might be a lie.

“So you’re really a puppy, or—something like that…?”

“Yeah.”

“Then prove it.”

Right, seeing it with his own eyes would make him believe.

At Gyu-yeon’s urging to prove it, Naru made an embarrassed face. When he came into the real world, his ears and tail had disappeared, so there was no way to prove he was a Beastkin.

Feeling his head and rear, Naru shook his head and answered.

“My ears and tail disappeared when I crossed over here. I can’t even turn into a puppy anymore.”

“……”

Gyu-yeon narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Naru’s words. Suddenly suspected, Naru hastily added more.

“But, uh, my ears and tail did suddenly come out recently! When I was escaping, the tail and ears that hadn’t shown up then popped out, and it was really scary, it was like that.”

He’d asked him not to believe her, but now truly earnest, Naru did his best to explain. Gyu-yeon nodded as if indifferent—he surely wouldn’t believe even if he saw him transformed, at least for a few days.

After Naru finished speaking, silence lingered between them. The conversation ended awkwardly, and Naru, who wanted to say more, only opened her mouth slightly without making a sound.

Not knowing what to do, Naru watched Gyu-yeon and cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. Gyu-yeon, however, seemed lost in thought and ignored even small sounds.

Naru suddenly felt anxious. He had intentionally avoided telling him to avoid a mood like this, and now that things were unfolding as he feared, he felt uneasy.

“Gyu-yeon.”

“……”

He called Gyu-yeon’s name carefully. Lost in thought, he didn’t respond and only stared off into the distance.

Annoyed by his demeanor, Naru pursed his lips. His brows, usually neat, were now deeply furrowed.

He swallowed and was about to call his name again, but then leaned forward.

“……!”

Unaware Naru was coming closer, Gyu-yeon flinched at the soft touch. Looking down with dazed eyes, he saw Naru peck him quickly and pull away, blinking.