Chapter 63

The chirping of a bird announced the morning. Naru, who had been sleeping together in Gyu-yeon’s bed, twitched his ears as he felt the warm embrace. The sparrow chirping near the window since earlier kept bothering him.

Naru burrowed deeper into Gyu-yeon’s arms and nibbled his lips. It seemed he was eating something in his dream.

“…”

Gyu-yeon, who usually slept more than Naru, unusually opened his eyes first. Half-awake, he instinctively raised his arm and hugged Naru’s body. But something was odd.

Something fluffy was tickling Gyu-yeon’s neck. From the feel of it, it wasn’t an insect, nor did it seem like the blanket; the sensation was rather strange.

Gyu-yeon brushed the fluffy thing away with his hand. It had only touched him briefly, but it felt somewhat squishy and soft. There was also a faint warmth to it.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, Naru, who had been sleeping soundly, let out a moan. Gyu-yeon reached out habitually and patted her back. The whimpering immediately subsided.

Gyu-yeon, about to close his eyes and fall asleep again, frowned. The sensation he’d just felt was tickling his neck again. Maybe because his sleep was being disturbed, he was getting irritated.

His large hand swatted the fluffy object again. This time he struck it down as if catching a mosquito.

“Kkeu-ing…”

Was the sound loud? Naru, who was breathing raggedly, whimpered again. Gyu-yeon patted her back the same way as before.

He thought he might be able to sleep now, but an unknown object kept touching Gyu-yeon’s neck. Because of it, sleep fled far away. Frowning grimly, Gyu-yeon got up.

“Ha, what’s constantly…”

He snapped his eyes open and looked around the bed. He even scanned the empty air just in case, but there was no sign of the thing that had been tickling his neck. The only ones there were Gyu-yeon himself and Naru.

Wait a moment.

Gyu-yeon rubbed his eyes as he looked at Naru, who was asleep soundly. Then he looked at him again.

His breath caught. Not only that—his body froze and he couldn’t think of moving. Discovering something, Gyu-yeon was so surprised he gaped as if he couldn’t believe it.

The room was enveloped in silence. The only sound was Naru’s steady breathing.

“Haum…”

Naru turned over with a small yawn and changed position. Then the fluffy-looking thing shifted direction as well.

Twitch.

Could it be that what was tickling my neck was that? Is that possible?

Gyu-yeon’s expression was pure bewilderment. At the end of his gaze was Naru. Or more precisely, Naru’s head.

Something white was sprouting above his light-colored hair. Gyu-yeon relaxed his stiff body and approached Naru. Feeling his presence, Naru instinctively turned and hugged Gyu-yeon’s arm.

Gyu-yeon, who quietly offered his arm, broke into a cold sweat as he examined Naru’s head.

Is he still dreaming?

Blinking once or twice, he reached out with his other hand and touched the white something. The outside was fluffy and soft, while the inside felt moist and squishy.

So this was definitely…

It was puppy ears. Pure white puppy ears.

Gyu-yeon quickly withdrew his hand and took a step back. Each time something moved and the blanket rustled, the white puppy ears perked up. As if they were focusing on the sound.

Gyu-yeon recalled past events with Naru. Once, Naru had told him he was a puppy. He had said it with such a serious face that he had been taken aback.

In truth, Gyu-yeon had not believed him. How could a person be a puppy? In his life, he’d never heard of puppy humans existing in this world.

But that absurd being was right in front of him. He could hardly believe it, but no matter how many times he looked again, they were certainly puppy ears.

“Crazy…”

His mind went fuzzy. Gyu-yeon stood up and paced near the bed in a daze. Trying to calm himself wasn’t easy.

Eventually, after hesitating, he decided to shake Naru awake from his dream world.

“Song Naru, Song Naru, wake up.”

“Ugh…”

Every time he touched his body, the ears fluttered. Gyu-yeon couldn’t take his eyes off the ears as he woke Naru.

After a moment, Naru, who had been talking in his sleep, slowly opened his eyes. Gyu-yeon was speechless. When his eyes were closed, he thought it might be a trick, but seeing them open made it feel truly real.

Unaware of anything, Naru reached both arms toward Gyu-yeon, acting cute and asking to be held. Confused, Gyu-yeon pointed at the puppy ears with his fingertip before hugging him.

“Head?”

“You, your ears are…”

“Huh? Oh, uh…?”

Naru, who had been poking around the top of his head following Gyu-yeon’s fingertip, fiddled with the ears and tilted his head. He looked as if he didn’t know why they were there either.

Twitch. Twitch.

Naru lowered his hand and tried moving the ears as he wished. At first he couldn’t believe it, but seeing them move at will made him feel they were indeed his ears.

After twitching his ears a few more times, Naru cheerfully called out to the stunned Gyu-yeon.

“I-I’m back!”

Not “I’m a puppy” but “I’m back.” His head spun. Unlike Gyu-yeon’s confusion, Naru genuinely looked happy.

Living as a Beastkin had been difficult, but the ears and tail were part of Naru’s body. In truth, there was another reason he was so joyful.

He could finally show Gyu-yeon his true form. Last time he had seemed completely unconvinced, which left him bitter, so he was truly relieved that the ears had appeared now.

“Wait, Song Naru. Please give me some time to adjust.”

“These are my ears. I told you before, I’m a puppy!”

“Calm down. Calm down. Just a moment.”

Naru ran toward Gyu-yeon and bounced around. It was fascinating how both ears fluttered together. The situation was anything but familiar, but one thing was certain: Naru with puppy ears was adorable.

Ha, this is absurd.

Gyu-yeon almost let out a nervous laugh without meaning to. It wasn’t because of Naru’s behavior—he was baffled at himself for finding his appearance cute in the midst of it all.

Wait, did I just hit Song Naru’s ears earlier?

Despair washed over Gyu-yeon’s face. He hadn’t realized it was ears when he hit them, but regardless, it was as if he’d hit Naru, so he felt apologetic.

He approached Naru and examined the puppy ears closely to check whether they were hurt or torn.

“You’re not hurt, right? Do the ears not hurt?”

“Huh? It did sting a bit while I was sleeping earlier…”

“Come closer.”

Not understanding the reason, Naru fiddled with his ears saying they hurt. Feeling guilty, Gyu-yeon gently pulled Naru closer.

Naru was in a good mood from the morning. It felt like a dream to have slept in Gyu-yeon’s arms all night, and he felt proud to be able to face him in his true form as soon as he woke.

“Heh, that’s ticklish.”

“It’s not hurting?”

“No, can you touch them more?”

When Gyu-yeon touched the ears, Naru curled up. The inside of the ear was being touched and it seemed ticklish. Still, he leaned in and asked him to keep stroking them.

Gyu-yeon finally let out a sigh of relief and roughly ruffled Naru’s hair. He was still too startled to lavish him with affection.

“Do you believe me now? I’m a puppy.”

“…”

“Do you believe me? Gyu-yeon, do you believe me?”

“Yeah, I believe you.”

Would revealing he was a puppy make him that happy? Excited, Naru bombarded Gyu-yeon with questions. Staring at him in a daze, Gyu-yeon silently nodded.

Only then did Naru, a step away, wiggle his hips excitedly and leave the room. He was going out to get ready for work in this state.

Naru’s figure running out in rhythm looked more lively than usual today. Those ears were fascinating every time he saw them. Even the slightest movement made them flutter, and his eyes kept going to them.

In fact, the ears fluttering this much was a small bit of fan service from Naru. Normally, walking wouldn’t make the ears shake like this. But because Gyu-yeon was watching, he deliberately shook them cutely.

Gyu-yeon came to the living room belatedly and found Naru pouring cereal. It looked exactly like a puppy pouring its own cereal to eat.

“Ha…”

Gyu-yeon felt conflicted. He had just become officially in a relationship with Naru, but with his partner having puppy ears, he felt like he was doing something terrible. He felt like worthless trash.

Is this right?

“Gyu-yeon, do you want some of this too?”

“I’m fine. You eat.”

When he waved his hand to decline, Naru brought his own bowl and sat at the table. Gyu-yeon sat in the opposite chair and quietly watched him eat.

So people like this really exist in the world. Oh, or rather, in another world. Then the idea that another world exists must be true. Ha, insane…

“I’m curious—how did those ears come out?”

“I don’t know either. They didn’t come out before, but suddenly they did…”

“How are you going to go to work like that?”

“…”

Work. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t go outside looking like this. Naru, who had been delighted that the ears appeared, now wore a sullen expression.

Gyu-yeon was equally troubled. He couldn’t shove them back in for him, and if the ears didn’t disappear, Naru would have to stay cooped up at home.

“Try to put them in.”

“They won’t go in…”

“Isn’t there any way?”

“I don’t know.”

Naru frowned as he pressed his ears down with her hands. Trying to force them in made them hurt. Worried, Gyu-yeon saw the slightly swollen ears and grabbed Naru’s hand, telling him to stop.

“Don’t do it on purpose, they’re already swollen.”

“I want to go to work.”

“…”

Gyu-yeon, looking at Naru with pity, suddenly smiled at the corner of his mouth. Ah, he shouldn’t laugh, but the laughter kept bubbling out.

Naru’s pure white ears were drooping. They had been perked up earlier, but with his sulky expression they bent downwards on both sides and looked cute.

“…Why are you laughing? Is it funny?”

“Ah, don’t look at me for a moment.”

“Why? I’m really upset.”

“Turn your head, Song Naru. Please.”

Gyu-yeon felt he might go crazy. Every time Naru pushed his face close and showed his droopy ears, the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.

He didn’t want to like something like this.

Yu Gyu-yeon, pull yourself together. The kid is seriously upset—what are you doing?

Ah….

Gyu-yeon turned his gaze away and faced Naru, then completely turned his back.

No, this won’t do. He’s fucking cute.