PHUW 101

“Why all of a sudden?”

“It’s hard to explain, but I just feel it.”

Jeong Mok turned on the hazard lights and slowed down, then pulled the car over at the entrance of a side street leading from the main road into the neighborhood.

The faint-colored eyes of the one sitting in the passenger seat, who kept staring outside, held unease and restlessness. It was not simply that his expression had stiffened. His complexion was paler than ever. No matter how one looked, he was frightened.

Jeong Mok unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned forward.

“Look at me.”

The face turned toward him. He stretched out his arms and wrapped around Haeri’s stiff shoulders.

“Why are you so scared?”

“I don’t know.”

His pale hand reached out and gripped the lapel of Jeong Mok’s jacket.

“If it’s too much, should we go back today?”

“……”

An Haeri did not answer. Jeong Mok gently patted his trembling back.

“You don’t have to find your memory. As long as you’re okay, hyung doesn’t care either way.”

Woof.

Gom-i, who had been sprawled out the whole ride, lifted his body and shoved his huge head forward. His damp muzzle brushed against Haeri’s curls, then his warm tongue swiped across his forehead. His thick front paw raked across the leather of the passenger seat.

“Gom-i says it’s fine too.”

“Hehe.”

The one who had been quietly nestled suddenly laughed. Then, as if it were enough, he straightened up. He smiled, his eyes were a bit red and wet with tears.

Slurp slurp.

Before Jeong Mok could reach out, Gom-i beat him to it. The dog stood on his hind legs and pushed his body into the small space between the driver’s seat and passenger seat. Jeong Mok and Haeri were pushed apart like separated family members, each shoved toward their window.

“Hey hey.”

Shoved around by the thrashing of the giant dog, who didn’t know his own size and insisted on climbing forward, Jeong Mok tried to push him back before that massive rear end made it through. But in the cramped space, his upper body strength alone could not handle Gom-i. On top of that, Gom-i stubbornly tried to cling to Haeri.

“Ugh! Gom-i! You’re heavy! Your paw, paw! Ack!”

The weight of the beast pressed down through the paw braced on Haeri’s thigh. Ahn Haeri screamed. Afraid his leg might really get injured, Jeong Mok quickly got out of the car, rushed around to the passenger side, and opened the door.

“Gom, out.”

When Jeong Mok grabbed the leash and pulled, Gom-i, uncomfortable himself, hopped out. Only Ahn Haeri, who had been trampled all over, gasped raggedly in pain.

“Hey! How can you step on hyung with that body! I thought I was going to die!”

Haeri, whose tears had already dried, grabbed Gom-i’s head with both hands as it pushed in again and yelled.

“Why do you like it! You hurt hyung and what’s so good about that! Why are you smiling! Don’t wag your tail! Stop your butt!”

Even as he raised his voice to scold him, Gom-i only wagged his tail harder, pleased. An even more upset Haeri unbuckled his seatbelt, and this time Gom-i, mistaking it for play, leapt around and barked loudly.

“Gom-i, quiet.”

This neighborhood wasn’t a place for a giant dog to run free. But whatever had gotten him so excited, he didn’t listen at all.

“Please bring my wheelchair.”

At Haeri’s request, Jeong Mok pulled a foldable electric wheelchair from the trunk and set it up. He also grabbed a leash thick as a five-hundred won coin, made for giant dogs. While he wrestled Gom-i into the leash, Haeri sat in the wheelchair.

Honk honk!

A car came down from the other side of the road. A mid-sized car might have been able to squeeze past, but this car was too big.

“Just a second.”

Jeong Mok climbed back into the driver’s seat and moved the car. Meanwhile, Haeri led Gom-i up onto the sidewalk. The other car soon disappeared. But the road conditions here were too poor to leave the car parked illegally. It wasn’t just that other cars had to edge around. City buses could not get past without crossing the centerline to avoid Jeong Mok’s car.

“Hyung, didn’t you say Gwanrim Motors is up ahead? Couldn’t you park there?”

“Aren’t you going home?”

“Well, since we came this far, let’s just go check the motorcycle.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“Yes. Thanks to hyung and Gom-i, I feel better now.”

Haeri smiled awkwardly. Even then, cars that had been blocked slowed down, honking as they passed.

“I’ll go with Gom-i, so hyung, take the car ahead.”

Then Haeri apologized to the nearby drivers, “I’m sorry!”

Jeong Mok didn’t want to waste time and make Haeri get cursed out needlessly. It was a short distance to Gwanrim Motors. But there, even the sidewalk was lined with motorcycles. There wasn’t a single parking space.

A middle-aged man came out from the direction of Gwanrim Motors, he shook his head and hand roughly at Jeong Mok, who had rolled down the passenger-side window.

“You can’t park here.”

“I came because I have business with your shop.”

The man, who had been angry, faltered a little and looked at Jeong Mok again.

“But you can’t park here.”

Jeong Mok intended to park regardless, even if he got a ticket for illegal parking or the car got towed. But he gave up quickly. It was because of the city bus. It wasn’t just a regular car or taxi, blocking a bus was too much of a bastard move.

He had no choice but to search the navigation for a public parking lot. It was 400 meters from here. Parking there and running back would be faster. He was about to call and say he was heading for the public parking lot.

Bzzz.

A vibration came from the seat beside him. Ahn Haeri had put his phone in the car’s door pocket and forgotten it. Likely because Gom-i had distracted him.

“Damn.”

He considered getting out and bringing it to Haeri first. But as he tried to open the driver’s side door, a furious bus rushing from behind blared honked. It was nearly on him. He had no room to step out from the driver’s seat. Parking quickly and coming back was better.

It had been a mistake to come alone with Haeri, without any staff, Haeri wanted to quietly handle this matter privately because it was connected to his past. If he had brought his chauffeur, there would have been no trouble over the car. It was also his own oversight that he had not anticipated the situation of being unintentionally separated from An Haeri.

But nothing major would happen. They were in the middle of a big city. It was a street right in front of their destination, and this time Gom-i was right beside him.

As soon as he parked in the public lot, he called the security team. Striding quickly, he explained the situation and instructed them to send people.

The moment the call ended, he jogged toward Gwanrim Motors. Far down the straight road he saw Haeri and Gom-i. From there, only a narrow crosswalk stood between them and Gwanrim Motors. He slowed his pace and raised his hand.

Gom-i spotted him and stomped his front paw. He was so excited he tried to move without looking ahead. To anyone not familiar with a dog’s body language, it would have seemed like nothing, but to the nearby owner it was enough to cause alarm.

“Gom-i, stop.”

Even though it was a narrow street leading into an alley, it was still a road buses used. Before Jeong Mok, startled, could raise his hand to stop him, Haeri grabbed Gom-i’s leash first and pulled him back. At that same moment, before the crosswalk signal changed, a village bus tried to make a fast right turn and was approaching.

Jeong Mok quickened his pace. The village bus had to stop, blocked by the car ahead, and came to a halt straddling the crosswalk. Then the walk signal came on. Tailgating cars behind the bus also surged forward, and the crosswalk became jammed. Even an able-bodied person would have trouble crossing. A wheelchair certainly could not. He assumed they would wait for the next light.

Woof woof!

Gom-i barked loudly.

‘He’s going to get scolded by Haeri.’

This wasn’t a quiet street but the busy city. A dog that didn’t obey here deserved a scolding. At the same time, Jeong Mok worried, what if the stubborn dog thrashed and overturned the wheelchair.

Because the road was narrow, the crosswalk signal was short. Once the reckless cars that had barged in cleared forward, the bus and other cars also began to move out. Spotting another bus turning into the alley, Haeri suddenly pulled Gom-i’s leash back. Soon more vehicles followed into the crosswalk.

Woof woof! Woof woof!

Gom-i kept barking. It was nothing like a cheerful bark. A feeling of dread swept over him. Jeong Mok, who had been walking leisurely, ran toward Haeri’s side.

Honk honk!

Car horns blared. Not just one or two. A gray van zoomed past. It was clearly speeding. But Jeong Mok didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he ran for the crosswalk now tangled and blocked with cars.

Woof!

Gom-i was thrashing in the middle of the crosswalk. Haeri was nowhere in sight. At first Jeong Mok thought the cars were hiding him. But when he blocked a turning car and crossed the road, he saw the wheelchair toppled over. Haeri was gone.

“Haeri!”

Woof!

“Ahn Haeri!”

Jeong Mok frantically scanned around. Haeri was nowhere on the street.

Woof woof! Woof woof!

Gom-i went berserk. Twisting his neck, swiping his front paws in the air, every bark made the right-turning cars blare their horns in fright.

“Hey, get that dog out of here!”

Someone rolled down a passenger window and shouted at Jeong Mok. But when he glanced at them, the passenger hastily rolled the window back up. He strode closer to ask if they had seen Ahn Haeri, if they knew what had happened to the injured boy who had been here. But the car sped away. In that moment, Gom-i barked again.

In a daze, Jeong Mok looked at him. Gom-i was trying to snap the leash. Strong as he was, he had no way of breaking the heavy-duty leash for giant guard dogs that was hooked around a metal bollard set to block vehicle entry. The dog thrashed, twisting his neck in every direction, panting as if he was suffocating, and barked toward Jeong Mok.

Jeong Mok stepped forward and reached his hand toward the dog.

Woof!

The fierce teeth clamped down on his forearm.