“That’s weird, he came right away last time……”
The kid muttered sulkily.
Hong Seungpyo curved one corner of his mouth up in a small smile. It seemed like he was the only one here who was meeting this cat for the first time. He found himself curious — what kind of charm had that cat worked on Heo Dooyoung to make him this disappointed.
He fixed the cat with a sharp look. The one who lost the staring contest was the stray, making its way alone through a rough world. The cat turned away coolly and left the area with a kick of its back legs.
Dooyoung clicked his tongue in disappointment, then planted his hands on his knees to stand up — only to sink right back down from a dizzy spell. To make things worse, his legs gave out completely and he landed flat on his backside. Seungpyo reflexively lifted one foot and caught Dooyoung’s rear with it to keep him from hitting the ground.
At the unexpected steadiness beneath him, Dooyoung snapped his head up. His gaze collided head-on with Seungpyo’s, who had the sky at his back. Dooyoung, slow to react by nature, startled belatedly — and, as if to make Seungpyo’s effort completely pointless, dropped back down onto the bare ground with a thud.
Seungpyo’s dark brows twitched.
“What are you doing?”
“…Huh?”
“Are you doing this on purpose to annoy me?”
He knew perfectly well that wasn’t the case, but Heo Dooyoung’s spinelessness occasionally crossed a line, and he couldn’t help snapping at it. He let the irritation dissolve with a sigh, then reached a hand out toward Dooyoung. But Dooyoung was a kid who knew how to get up on his own. He pushed himself to his feet without any help and dusted off his backside.
Seungpyo’s expression went blank — then he broke into a dry laugh and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. His gaze drifted over to the empty milk carton. Following the look, Dooyoung glanced down, then belatedly fumbled to hide the carton behind his back.
“Why the milk?”
“It, it went bad……”
“Ah. Right, don’t drink it if it’s gone bad.”
It was a tone loaded with concern, and at the same time laced with quiet condescension. The logic being: spoiled milk won’t do, but perfectly fine dog food is fair game.
“Mrrp.”
The cat, which Dooyoung had thought had left for good, had crept back over and was now rubbing its face against his calf. A few mackerel-tabby hairs lodged themselves into his dark grey school uniform trousers. Dooyoung fought to keep his expression from melting into something embarrassing and primly stepped back. The cat only followed along, bumping its enormous head against him insistently.
“G— go away. Shoo.”
The desperate voice trying to push the cat away trembled faintly. Dooyoung felt mortified, as if Seungpyo had caught him in some secret hobby of his.
Seungpyo, who had been watching in silence, spoke with a perfectly straight face.
“Is this mutual? Judging by the way someone with a pair of nuts is acting, it looks like one-sided devotion to me. Or — wait, are you the one making moves?”
Dooyoung blinked rapidly. He genuinely had no idea what Seungpyo was on about, talking to a stray cat like that. After a moment’s deliberation, Dooyoung scooped the cat up in his arms and slipped out of the alley.
Seungpyo watched him leave without so much as a backward glance and huffed a quiet laugh. Apparently the Mutt had him pegged as some kind of cat murderer.
It was just as Dooyoung rounded the corner. Seungpyo had come right up close behind him and yanked him back in a motion that was almost like an embrace. The startled cat slipped free from Dooyoung’s arms and landed lightly on its feet.
Dooyoung felt his heart plummet in a dead vertical drop into some bottomless pit of hell. He thrashed, grabbing at the hands clamped around his wrists. His mouth was covered, both arms pinned — and his vision flickered white.
“Shh.”
Seungpyo’s lips, pressed close to his ear, let out a gentle hushing sound as they soothed him.
“Look over there.”
Dooyoung looked where he was pointing, eyes brimming with unshed tears. There were Lee Juhak and Kim Jinho, playing at a claw machine.
“If you walk out now they’ll spot you. Stay here a little longer.”
Dooyoung couldn’t understand why Seungpyo was avoiding those two. Weren’t they all in the same crowd? The way things stood right now, it almost seemed like he was helping him.
The cat, having slipped free of the alley, was now loafing like a loaf of bread under a nearby street tent. Just then, Lee Juhak — having blown through every last coin — whipped his head around with an irritated look on his face. The way his eyes settled on the cat was insolent.
Seungpyo shoved Dooyoung deeper into his hold, like he was about to bolt.
“These guys — the moment they find out it’s your friend, they won’t think twice about hurting it.”
Friend.
Just that one small word, and his chest stung as if it had been dragged across sandpaper. Dooyoung hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod. Seungpyo was right. No matter how much Lee Juhak and Kim Jinho acted like they’d sold off every shred of their humanity, they’d never hurt animals.
But the moment he was involved, that changed.
Like that one.
Seungpyo stared intently at the side of Dooyoung’s face, which was full of wariness. A cool breeze scattered Dooyoung’s hair strand by strand. The few strands tickling Seungpyo’s nose carried the smell of a blanket dried crisp and warm in the autumn sun.
The fine hairs standing up along his cheek. The redness of his nose from the cold. The soft rustle of his lashes every time he blinked. This was far more entertaining than that early morning hours ago, when he’d lain in his room alone, turning the features of Dooyoung’s face over in his mind.
The palm clamped over the Mutt’s mouth had grown damp. The hand gripping his own was trembling like someone with a palsy. That thin hand — more bones than flesh — was as cold as ice. When Seungpyo let his gaze slide upward, he found Heo Dooyoung struggling to hold back tears.
Right then, Lee Juhak and Kim Jinho moved on. Seungpyo, reluctant as he was, let Dooyoung go. Dooyoung braced himself against the wall and gasped for breath, drool and all. Only then did Seungpyo realize he’d had Dooyoung’s airway completely blocked off.
Having nearly sent a whole person to the other side, he rubbed Dooyoung’s spit off his hand against his other hand and said:
“Sorry.”
His tone and expression made it abundantly clear he wasn’t sorry in the least. That, somehow, was what left Dooyoung looking baffled.
Seungpyo, expression perfectly serene, reached out to steady Dooyoung. Dooyoung gave a small shake of his head in refusal, but Seungpyo ignored it and grabbed hold of him by force. Then he wiped Dooyoung’s face — wet with spit and tears — with his own sleeve.
Once Dooyoung’s face was dry again, he lingered like he had something to say, then whispered quietly:
“I’ll, I’ll go.”
“Where?”
“Work……”
“Say it louder. I can barely hear you.”
Seungpyo tilted his ear in close toward Dooyoung’s mouth. After a brief hesitation, Dooyoung slowly moved his lips.
“Work… I have to go.”
Again, a small voice that could be snatched away by nothing more than an early-winter breeze. The sound of Dooyoung’s voice, thick with breath, sent a chill down Seungpyo’s spine.
“…Is your voice always this quiet?”
“……”
“I’m not scolding you. I’m asking because I’m curious.”
Dooyoung rolled his eyes and answered slowly.
“…I just, don’t talk much.”
“Why?”
“J— just because.”
“Just because why? Because you’re an outcast?”
Dooyoung, who had been looking down, raised his eyes. A deep crease lined his thin upper eyelids. Seungpyo had asked boldly enough, but when those dark irises sank to something pitch-black and unreadable, Dooyoung took an involuntary step back. Then he turned and tried to run.
“Who said you could.”
Seungpyo snorted and grabbed Dooyoung’s bag strap, yanking him back sharply. Dooyoung flailed his arms wildly trying to keep his balance. Seungpyo caught him from behind before he could fall and set him upright.
“I saved your friend for you, and you’re just going to give me nothing in return?”
“…What kind of return?”
“Hang out with me.”
“Huh?”
“I said hang out with me. I’m new here and I don’t have any friends.”
