Chapter 172 |
‘He’s worried about this.’
Of course, the trait of being the third most fragile sunfish wouldn’t just disappear. Even if Song Inmyeong was frightening and this group was suspicious, it was ultimately due to his personality that he was stuck between them, suffering. Given his personality, It wasn’t that strange that he approached Lee Jaehun, who was already pitiful and worrisome.
‘That’s why he tried to save someone in a flower field and got swallowed whole.’
Of course, it wasn’t a truly bad situation; it was just that he had no leeway. After all, he was being threatened by a murderer and stuck in the middle of a cult or brainwashing group. Even in the midst of all that, the way he coaxed and soothed a 6-year-old kindergartener and worried about a complete stranger was truly unusual. To put it bluntly, he was a pushover.
“…….”
D⋏mn it, right. I’m not really in a position to be thinking about that right now.
‘Especially at this point, Officer Kim’s misunderstanding about this group probably hasn’t been cleared up yet.’
The words of Detective Hong Kyungjun, whom he had encountered while coughing up blood, also bothered him. The detective had made a remark similar to Officer Kim Yeonwoo’s misunderstanding.
Read at Novelib.com
But of all times, Song Inmyeong had to show up here.
‘That trash b⋏st⋏rd, d⋏mn it. Totally useless. I’m going to grind that crazy head of his in a blender and pour it into the food waste disposal….’
His past life’s sharp tongue even slipped out without him realizing it.
It was even more absurd because Song Inmyeong seemed to genuinely believe the ‘Jung Inho cult leader theory.’ Detective Hong and Officer Kim, well, they hadn’t directly seen how the group lived and what the situation was, so he could understand their misunderstanding. But that idiot Song Inmyeong, why on earth did he believe such a delusion?
The protagonist was indeed a creepy b⋏st⋏rd, but he was still a chick who hadn’t fully grown yet….
Whimper.
Read at Novelib.com
“……?”
Lee Jaehun’s brow furrowed at the faint whimpering sound of a dog. Was it a hallucination?
Whine….
“…….”
Yelp, whimper.
D⋏mn it, no way.
‘I know, I know.’
Is this what they call a snowball effect?
Read at Novelib.com
‘I had a bad feeling about this ever since Kang Mina mentioned it, d⋏mn it.’
He had actually anticipated this to some extent. It was also the reason he had tried hard not to fall asleep even with his eyes closed. It was natural for an animal that had tasted human touch to return to its owner. He had thought it wouldn’t be much different for the abandoned dog monster.
The voices of two students reached Lee Jaehun’s ears.
“…Is that a monster sound?”
“That time, when you weren’t there, Park Dahoon, a dog-like monster came….”
“Huh? Then isn’t this dangerous?”
The diligent night watch students, keenly aware of the faint sound, began to worry about who they should wake up. It was their first important mission, so they were probably even more sensitive. Unlike the other adults, they knew that they had no special physical abilities other than running on two legs.
Read at Novelib.com
“…Ha….”
In the end, Lee Jaehun had to get up.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Ahjussi…!”
As he lowered his voice so as not to wake the others, Park Dayoung also lowered her volume. The current situation seemed quite overwhelming for Park Dayoung, who had encountered the abandoned monster dog once before.
“That thing before. When Yeonhee unnie was crying….”
“The abandoned dog monster?”
“…That was an abandoned dog?”
Read at Novelib.com
It seemed the word ‘abandoned’ had a way of tugging at people’s heartstrings. Kang Mina had been like that, and now Park Dayoung’s expression was quite subtle as well.
Ignoring it lightly, Lee Jaehun asked,
“So what’s the problem?”
Instead of the hesitant Park Dayoung, it was her younger brother Park Dahoon who spoke up.
“I think that abandoned monster dog is nearby.”
“…Is that so?”
Lee Jaehun briefly organized the situation in his head.
Read at Novelib.com
‘I can’t be sure, but the protagonist and Senior Associate Kang are likely awake, but judging by the atmosphere, they don’t seem like they’ll get up right away. And there’s an abandoned dog monster wandering around nearby….’
After a moment of contemplation, he continued,
“I think… I know that monster.”
“…….”
Park Dayoung and Park Dahoon’s expressions simultaneously became quite strange. They seemed to realize that his words didn’t simply mean ‘I know of it,’ but rather ‘I have a relationship with it.’
Their furrowed brows as if they were doubting their ears, their narrowed eyes, and their slightly parted lips all seemed to show why they were siblings. The fact that they could make such similar expressions despite their differences in age, gender, and appearance was definitely a mystery of genetics.
‘They’re also the same in that they don’t ask any more questions recklessly.’
Hesitantly, Park Dahoon opened his mouth.
Read at Novelib.com
“…I… see…”
It was what he said instead of asking, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’.
‘They’re quick-witted.’
And they definitely lowered themselves before someone they wanted to latch onto.
Park Dahoon was fast and had good stamina, but he couldn’t fight, and Park Dayoung was good at using her head but lacked physical ability. They were accustomed to lowering themselves and adapting their words to adults, so this was closer to a survival instinct than being perceptive.
That was why Park Dahoon gave a nonsensical answer instead of asking, ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’. He didn’t want to upset Lee Jaehun, even if it was a very trivial matter.
“…You can ask me why I didn’t tell you.”
Read at Novelib.com
And this was also an opportunity to take care of the two siblings’ mental state, even if only slightly.
“It’s nothing special. I just didn’t have the chance to say it. The atmosphere got awkward because of that strange… Song Inmyeong guy.”
“Ah, that….”
“Anyway, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a big problem, but can we just quietly move on?”
There was no need to dwell on this topic. These thoughtful individuals had a knack for engraving sentences from passing conversations in their brains and analyzing them. If he left them alone, they would interpret things in a positive light, so Lee Jaehun, who was already mentally exhausted and physically unwell, only needed to solve the immediate problem.
At his question, Park Dayoung firmly grabbed her brother’s hand as if to stop him from speaking and nodded repeatedly.
“Yes, yes. Of course it’s okay. It’s what you’re doing, Ahjussi.”
“…Oh, okay… Thanks.”
Read at Novelib.com
“I just hope you don’t get hurt any further. If you don’t mind me saying.”
Her gaze was fixed on Lee Jaehun’s hand. The hand that had been bitten by the abandoned dog monster before sunset, the hand that now bore faint teeth marks.
‘…I thought it wouldn’t be noticeable.’
Indeed, neither Jung Inho nor Ha Sungyoon had paid much attention to Lee Jaehun’s hand. This was partly because he had subtly avoided their gazes, but the main reason he could do so was that despite the bleeding, there were no clear marks left on his hand. There were some scabs, but his hands were so dⁱrty that they weren’t easily visible.
But it seemed he couldn’t avoid the eyes of the officially recognized top 1 perceptive characters.
“You’re not being rude. I’m always sorry.”
“We’re the ones who should be sorry.”
Read at Novelib.com
If the protagonist were awake and listening to this conversation, he’d be fuming ⁱnsⁱdㅌ, but Lee Jaehun pretended not to know and quietly stepped outside the clearing where the bonfire’s light reached.
And not far away, he found a puppy trembling and hiding.
“…Are my eyes playing tricks on me?”
D⋏mn puppy, my foot, that’s a monster. A monster that gnaws at my precious sanity….
‘Let’s keep my wits about me, please.’
Lee Jaehun cursed his thick rose-tinted glasses, which turned even a proper monster into a cute puppy, and banged his head with his hand. Perhaps because his mental strength had decreased, his physical condition had worsened beyond imagination, and his judgment had also declined. If this state continued, it seemed like it would be a little troublesome.
When the abandoned dog monster, startled by Lee Jaehun’s actions, flinched, he felt a pang of regret, but he was relieved to see that it only trembled and didn’t do anything dangerous.
‘I’m glad my lost mental strength and spilled blood weren’t meaningless.’
Read at Novelib.com
He slowly bent his knees, met the monster’s gaze, and gently called out to it.
“…There, there, come here. Good boy, good boy. Oh, you’re so cute.”
Whimper.
“Oh, you’re so pretty. You’re such a good boy. You’re so smart. Yes? Pretty.”
The monster wagged its tail, especially at the word ‘pretty’. Considering that monsters of the same species looked similar but were actually all different creatures with their own characteristics, it was highly likely that this monster’s favorite words were compliments like ‘pretty’. It seemed particularly happy whenever it heard those words.
Despite whimpering as if it was incredibly scared, it eventually came up to him and rubbed its head against him, causing Lee Jaehun to blink.
“…Let’s see, the breed is….”
Read at Novelib.com
“Isn’t this one a Pomspitz?”
“Ah, jeez, you scared me.”
Park Dayoung made an embarrassed expression at Lee Jaehun’s ordinary tone expressing surprise as she quietly approached from behind.
“S-Sorry…. I was curious, so I followed you.”
“No, it’s fine, but….”
“Park Dahoon is still on watch duty. The other adults haven’t woken up either. Don’t worry!”
“I wasn’t worried about that.”
Judging by her slightly excited demeanor, Park Dayoung seemed quite pleased to have a ‘secret’ of their own. People tended to feel closer when they had something like this to share. It wasn’t strange that Park Dayoung, who always pretended not to care but was constantly concerned about relationships, was excited like this.
Read at Novelib.com
“Are you okay seeing this guy? I mean, does your head hurt or do you feel sick…?”
“Ah… I’m fine. I guess I have a healthy mind. I’m not really scared.”
“Huh.”
It was a bit funny to hear the words ‘healthy mind’ come out of that chick’s mouth.
‘If you were to analyze it, she’d be among the top 5 craziest.’
Of course, the undisputed number one was our protagonist. Actually, at the moment, Song Inmyeong was unrivaled, but their directions were different, and he was planning to get rid of him soon, so he excluded him in advance. Jung Inho was still a chick, so he had much more potential for growth than that hopeless art psychopath.
Lee Jaehun, who was contemplating what to say, slowly nodded.
“…You’re strong…”
“R-Really?”
“Of course, I know how strong our Park siblings are.”
Usually, the residents of the white house on the hill had much greater combat strength than ordinary people. It was one of the reasons they had been able to survive in this crazy other world….
“…No, rather than that.”
Lee Jaehun, who had barely managed to gather his scattered thoughts, continued.
“A Pomspitz? Isn’t that, isn’t that a mix of a Pomeranian and a Spitz…?”
“Oh? You know a lot about dogs?”
“This guy is a Pomspitz?”
Muttering so, Lee Jaehun put his hand under the abandoned dog monster’s armpits and lifted it up. Of course, he didn’t lift it into the air, as that could scare it or strain its body, but rather helped it stand on its two feet. The monster, as if it liked the human touch regardless of what it was, just laughed and wagged its tail enthusiastically.
Yeah, uh, yeah. Now that I look closely, it’s quite….
“…A Pompitz?”
“My friend raises one, so I know them well. It looks exactly the same as when they shaved all its fur off! It looks a bit rough now, but if it had a bit more fur, it would be obvious.”
“Well, the fur is a bit sparse, but it’s cute when you look closely. Its actions are funny too.”
“…….”
“…D⋏mn it, yeah. I must be really tired.”
Lee Jaehun sighed at the word ‘cute’, which even Park Dayoung couldn’t affirm.
But the bigger problem was that, as he got used to it, it really did look cute. Since half of dogs were made of fur, if he just managed its fur well, wouldn’t it look pretty in other people’s eyes too? It was one of the few officially recognized gentle monsters, and it seemed to understand words quite well.
After a moment of contemplation, Lee Jaehun opened his mouth.
“…Should we wash it in the lake?”
“…Oh?”
“Well, if the other world is based on human thoughts… then there must be a reason why these guys are dⁱrty…. Just like how the dogs at the abandoned dog shelter look amazing after they’re cleaned up….”
Perhaps because of his headache, he could feel his vocabulary deteriorating.
“…….”
“…….”
A brief silence followed.
“…Ahjussi, have you ever raised a dog?”
Park Dayoung asked a question she would naturally ask.
To which Lee Jaehun replied,
“I have.”
“Wow, that really doesn’t suit you.”
“I think so too.”
In his past life.
‘I didn’t raise one in this life because it’s a hassle.’
Past life aside, even before he remembered it, Lee Jaehun in this life wasn’t exactly normal either. Was it easy for someone to be the first to arrive at work early in the morning and the last to leave late at night just for the fun of picking on his company employees? Though his direction was quite pathetic, he was quite a crazy fellow in this life as well. That pathetically crazy guy lived alone in a large house without feeling particularly lonely.
Lee Jaehun’s vanity didn’t give him time to be lonely, and all sorts of luxury goods filling his closet made him happy. This meant he had no need for an extra mouth to feed and clean up after, since he was living well on his own.
‘In the first place, it takes a lot of determination to bring in a new family member who doesn’t speak the same language…’
But now that he remembered his past life, he did have some special feelings for dogs.
“People used to just hand them to me, telling me to raise them.”
He had ended up with three dogs that way.
“…They just handed you dogs to raise?”
“Yeah.”
“T-That’s really irresponsible…. You shouldn’t force someone to raise a dog…. Both the owner and the dog become unhappy….”
“I’m glad that our Dayoung has the right mindset.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“You even know how to retorts.”
Park Dayoung, who had been stealthily gauging his reaction, asked,
“But, uh, who gave you the dogs…?”
“…….”
Normally, he would have kept his mouth shut and not answered, but perhaps because the screws in his head were loose, he didn’t feel like doing so. After rolling his eyes for a moment, Lee Jaehun looked at the abandoned dog monster again and opened his mouth.
“A long time ago, people I… um….”
“…….”
“…people I liked?”
He wasn’t sure if this was the right way to put it.
“Yeah, people I liked gave them to me. About three people, each gave me one.”
“…Were they people you met in the otherworld?”
“Well.”
They were all connections from his past life.
A disobedient junior brought one. A woman he got along with brought one. The son that woman gave birth to brought one….
‘Ah, is that wrong?’
Later, they even brought a female dog, so if he saw those dogs giving birth to puppies, would it be wrong to say one each? He ended up taking on the original dog, its wife, and their numerous children.
As he was lost in irrelevant thoughts, Park Dayoung’s cautious voice reached him.
“What… What kind of people were they?”
“Life’s all the same. A good guy, a bad guy, and a good and bad guy…. Well, I don’t know. I think I thought that way before, but now I’m not sure.”
“Did those people bully you, ahjussi?”
“I was the bully, so don’t worry.”
Park Dayoung said,
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s true.”
They all left because I bullied them so much.
“Because I ruined their lives….”
“…….”
“…Ah, crazy. My brain must be fried. Forget it, it was all nonsense.”
Lee Jaehun vigorously rubbed the abandoned dog monster’s face and then took his hands off. He kept thinking that if he washed it once in the small lake, it would look much prettier, even though it looked strange because of its tattered cloth skin and colorful plastic button eyes.
The monster snuggled into his arms as if to settle in Lee Jaehun’s hand, which had moved away.
“See? Isn’t it cute?”
“…I don’t think you should show that side of it to other people.”
“They’d think I was bewitched by a monster. I know. Especially since they seem to think I’m not in my right mind these days, I should be careful about things like this.”
After a moment of hesitation, Park Dayoung spoke again.
“Still, it’s kind of adorable. Like a real puppy…. It looked really ferocious before. You seem to be really good at taming dogs, ahjussi.”
“Is that so?”
“I know this, this is, uh, There are no bad dogs in the world… ”
“Tsk.”
“Kang Hyuk….”
“Hey, don’t tease an old man who’s almost 40. You’re still wㅌt behind the ears.”
“Sh, I haven’t even finished talking yet.”
After a long pause to choose her words, Park Dayoung spoke.
“Ahjussi.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry to keep asking, but you’ll stay with us, right?”
Looking up at her, he saw the student’s face filled with anxiety.
“Sometimes, ahjussi, you seem more comfortable with monsters than with people like us, so it’s a bit….”
“Strange?”
“I feel uneasy. I’m worried you’ll settle down with comfortable monsters instead of people who just dump their baggage on you.”
“Listen to what this kid who’s barely 20 is saying.”
“So even if you really become a monster later, you have to stay by our side. Even if you turn into algae like that, or become tattered like this puppy… don’t go anywhere.”
“…….”
“Okay?”
He readily answered.
“I’d like that.”
* * *
Perhaps Park Dayoung was right.
These monsters were creatures he had seen throughout his previous life, but the common sense held by the people around him and their resulting behavior were vastly different. To put it more bluntly, it felt like living with monsters he had never seen before.
This situation where he had to shout, ‘I’m a monster like you,’ among them….
“But you love me, honey.”
Right.
“Come back to me now.”
You’re right, my love.
“I need you.”