Seo Jaehoon personally laid me down on my bed and left the room. Of course, he left the door exactly half open, even though I thought he would close it completely. That merciless bastard.
I looked down at the blanket pulled up to my neck and let out a shallow sigh. On the floor, there was a puppy cushion that I didn't know when it had been placed there, and a puppy that was really only 1/10 the size of the cushion was sleeping.
Seo Jaehoon's soft voice, telling me to lie down properly on the bed and think of a name, echoed in my mind. A name... a name... I pondered what name I should give the puppy, dwelling on my messed-up situation.
Hmm... Murphy? No, no. I can't give it such a terrible name...
"Sally...?"
Yeah, it's not like these bastards are going to ask what it means. It's cute and adorable, so it would be perfectly fine to call it Sally, right?
I quite liked the name that suddenly came to mind. If possible, I hoped and prayed that Sally, like her name, would bring me only good things disguised as coincidences. Like escape, or an opportunity to escape.
Plus, it's the start of the semester, so once classes start, I won't be stuck with these bastards all day... Then the heart that's beating like crazy in front of these bastards will calm down a bit.
I turned sideways, slowly moving to the edge of the bed, and reached out to gently stroke the head of the soundly sleeping puppy, no, Sally.
I hope I can go back home as planned once the semester starts. I want to commute from Ha Yeoul's house, wherever that is, instead of living alone in this luxurious house.
Actually... I'm really worried that I'll completely fall for these bastards someday, though I don't know when. I don't think I can trust myself anymore.
I said I was scared, as Seo Jaehoon told me to do a little while ago, but it's not just scary anymore. My body faithfully reacted and responded to Seo Jaehoon's touch, making strangely ticklish sounds.
A sigh escaped from my slightly open mouth. Seo Jaehoon's words from before, that he would do his best, floated around in my head.
***
I felt a hand pulling me in my sleep and opened my eyes. What... what's going on? I barely managed to lift my heavy eyelids and saw Mo Taehee standing before me.
"Um, what... what is it? Mo... Taehee?"
"You need to wake up, Yeoul."
"...Why?"
Mo Taehee smiled at my dazed question. Why is he smiling?
"It's the first day of classes today. You said you wanted to go to school."
"Huh...?"
My eyes widened at the word "classes." Mo Taehee, looking neat and tidy as if he had been ready for a while, was touching my face. Yeah, he was gently rolling my cheeks in his palm like kneading dough. When I flinched at his lingering touch, his warm palm gradually moved downwards.
"Taehee? I... um, I'll get up and wash..."
"Yeoul."
"Yeah...?"
Whenever Mo Taehee called my name in such a low voice, my body would really twitch and tremble, even though he wasn't doing anything. Mo Taehee didn't stop moving his hand and moved his lips as if he had something to say.
"I fed Sally food and water."
"...Th, thank you..."
"But Yeoul, Sally isn't that Sally, is she?"
This... perceptive bastard.
"Huh? What..."
"I was wondering if it was that Sally from 'Murphy's Law'."
"..."
"Since you keep saying that nothing's going right for you these days, I thought you might have named her with that in mind, hoping she'd bring you unbelievable luck like a coincidence. It makes me a little uneasy."
Yeah, even you can see that nothing's going right for me, huh? This scary bastard. I shuddered at the chill I felt as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning.
It's true that I named her with that intention, but I nonchalantly mumbled like a denial that it wasn't. At my faint voice, Mo Taehee smiled as if he had heard something interesting.
I slowly raised my upper body, carefully watching Mo Taehee, who still couldn't take his eyes off me. With that movement, Mo Taehee's hand fell away from my face.
"It's not that?"
"Yeah... just because she's cute. The name is. No, the puppy is. Ah... the puppy with that name..."
Ah... I messed up my words. I was going to say that the puppy was cute and that the name suited her well.
"She looks like you, Yeoul. They say dogs resemble their owners."
I raised my head to meet Mo Taehee's eyes, but I couldn't bear it for even a moment and looked away. I looked around, reflexively searching for Sally. Where is she... she was definitely sleeping under the bed. I need something to block this bastard and me...
"Sally's in Jaehoon's room. She was whimpering, so I let her in."
"Ah... is that so?"
"I didn't want to wake you up."
The guy who came to wake me up took the puppy to Seo Jaehoon's room because he was afraid of waking me up... His words didn't quite make sense, but I nodded quietly. My heart was pounding from the morning, and it wasn't a good sign.
I lowered my head sharply, as if trying to hide my stiff face, and swung my legs out of bed.
"Thanks for waking me up, I'm going to wash..."
"I'll take you to the bathroom."
"No! No, really... I can do it alone—"
I shuddered reflexively. When this bastard carried me to the bathroom twice, I clearly remembered what happened inside both times.
I waved my hand, saying it was okay. I glared at Mo Taehee with eyes that said to please let me go alone, and then stepped onto the floor.
My body swayed as always. This unhelpful body.
Mo Taehee wrapped his arm around my waist as if he knew it would happen and held me in his arms. I wanted to curse, but what was even more frustrating was that I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.
"I want to wash you."
"...You crazy bastard—"
Eventually, the moment when embarrassment overcame fear came. I muttered "crazy bastard" at Mo Taehee. At the words that came out without my knowing, my hand reflexively covered my mouth.
"Ah, that's... no, not a crazy bastard... are you crazy, no."
I desperately made excuses while also watching Mo Taehee's reaction. This bastard is the scariest of the three, and I said that to him... I'm not in my right mind.
"It's okay. It's not like you've only cursed at me today or yesterday."
"Ah... I, I'm sorry. I... I'm not fully awake yet..."
"You look like you're going to fall while washing. You're even weaker in the morning."
I wanted to deny it, but it was all too true, so I couldn't deny it properly. My vision was distorted from the moment I woke up. As Mo Taehee said, it was worse in the morning. It was a fact that I really, really couldn't deny.
I walked, no, was carried to the bathroom, half leaning on Mo Taehee's body. Yeah, that was the most accurate expression. My feet didn't do their job at all, as if I didn't know why they were even there.
Mo Taehee easily lifted my body and put me in the shower booth like before. A large hand with an unexpectedly warm temperature pulled up my clothes... My hand, for once moving according to my will, grabbed Mo Taehee's arm.
"I, I can really do it alone, Taehee."
"Yeoul."
"I'm a little out of it right now, but it's not like you need to wash me..."
I tried to soften my words as much as possible. There were so many curses of all kinds that could have been inserted in between, but Mo Taehee is... scary, so I spoke as kindly as possible. So please understand and get lost.
"You'll get seriously hurt if you fall in the bathroom."
"No, I won't fall... really."
"How can you be so sure?"
Do I really have to guarantee that my body won't fall in order to convince this bastard? And so what if I fall? It's my body.
"Ah..."
Really, it was like talking to a brick wall. The conversation with Mo Taehee was strangely repetitive. The end of the conversation was always, "What if Yeoul falls?"
I couldn't help but sigh at the conversation that seemed like it would never end. My body, stuck to the wall, had nowhere else to go...
"Ah, I don't think I need to wash."
"Why?"
"I'm just going to wash my face without showering... I think I just need to wash my face."
I said the same words as that day, and Mo Taehee lowered his head and buried his face in my neck like that day.
"Yeoul, you really..."
"...only smell good." His hot breath spread hotly around my neck.
"Hng—"
The moan I let out, unable to bear the ticklishness, echoed loudly in the bathroom, changing its original intention against my will, just like that day.
Mo Taehee's lips stuck to and fell away from my neck. The lips that stuck and fell away with wet sounds gradually moved upwards.
"Ahng— no, wait..."
"Yeoul."
"Stop it...!"
"You were afraid of dogs, weren't you?"
My body froze for a moment at Mo Taehee's words in the echoing space. My movements to escape quickly subsided.
I'm scared of dogs? Me? Shit...
I carefully traced my memories back to the past. I remembered Seo Jaehoon's voice behind me as I fearlessly reached out to touch the puppy.
"...It's definitely not ha-."
What was the word that was blurred before that, that I couldn't hear clearly? What was that familiar word that I vaguely heard?
As I was lost in other thoughts with a frozen face, Mo Taehee moved his large hand and cupped my cheek.
"Ha Yeoul used to be scared of dogs. He hated them reflexively. I think he said he was bitten when he was young."
"..."
"What does that matter? Right, Yeoul? You could like them now, it's possible, right?"
I remembered. The voice scattered in the wind.
"It's definitely not Ha Yeoul."
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