Ryu Taeha’s head tilted even more exaggeratedly to the side.
“Why is that shitty? As a Guild Leader, I recommended another Guide.”
“You should have at least had someone else do it. Guild Leader shouldn’t have said it directly.”
Just as Yeoul finished speaking, a new mutant monster emerged from the Gate. Ryu Taeha gestured with his chin, meaning to focus on the mission, and stepped back.
“I’m different from Guild Leader.”
Ryu Taeha, who had been creating a Teleportation Gate, turned his head at Yeoul’s voice.
“I won’t confuse Dawoon hyung or make him suffer emotionally. I won’t make the person I like suffer.”
Between the mutant monster’s screams, Yeoul’s low bass resonated flatly.
Hearing that confident declaration, Ryu Taeha left a response befitting him and disappeared.
“Yeah, you do all the good stuff.”
* * *
Around midday when bright sunlight poured down, Dawoon, lying in bed, lightly shook a fishing rod toy.
The feather attached to the long stick swayed gently as if taunting. A pure white front paw that stretched out to catch it weakly tapped the feather.
Dawoon, lying on his side, watched the cat touching the feather for a while. The small face of the creature, which had somehow become even rounder thanks to eating and sleeping well, was languid.
“Still sick?”
Even though two days had passed since visiting the animal hospital, the cat still had no energy.
“What are you going to do if a young thing has such slow recovery?”
Clicking his tongue in pity, he put down the fishing rod and gently stroked the cat.
Actually, he who said that was in the same boat when it came to lacking energy.
Even though Dawoon had been rolling around in the lodging with the cat for two days straight, his condition wasn’t good at all. He thought his condition would recover if he slept soundly like last time, but what do you know. Rather, his body gradually drooped and he even developed a low fever.
Why is my body getting worse even though I’m resting…
Dawoon, who had been kneading the cat’s body like dough, let out a deep sigh. Even the breath he exhaled was mixed with faint heat.
The cat, who had been glancing at such a Dawoon, slowly raised its body and then suddenly did something admirable.
“Are you really… a genius cat?”
The small body that had been squirming brought over the blanket that was far away. The cat covered Dawoon with the blanket that had been pushed to the edge of the bed as he tossed and turned, then burrowed between the blanket and Dawoon to even serve as a warm heater.
“You’re so cute I could die.”
Dawoon, who chuckled, hugged the soft body tightly. Because its fur was pure white, it felt like really touching flour dough.
No. The texture was even better than that.
“What are you to be this cute? Hm? What are you going to do being this pretty?”
Meow.
The cat, swaying its tail, wrapped its short front paws around his head as if imitating Dawoon. Though it was just at the level of placing its paws on his head, the intention to hug back together was conveyed.
Dawoon leisurely spent time touching the small body that stretched like rice cake in various ways. Thanks to the cat that only did cute things, there was no time to be bored.
When he touched his forehead due to the bothersome low fever or coughed lightly, the cat diligently groomed as if nursing Dawoon and patted him with its long tail.
“Are you taking care of me? Thank you. Aww, pretty thing.”
Of course, it was Dawoon who attributed meaning to it alone, but it became quite a comfort. He was experiencing the effects of the famous animal therapy in real time.
“Going to sleep again? Eat and then sleep.”
The cat’s eyes closed weakly. Perhaps it wasn’t hungry yet because it ate feed heartily in the morning, the cat closed its eyes without regret.
Dawoon played with the sleeping cat’s front paws as is, then stretched and got up.
“Ha, I should at least take a half-body bath.”
Thinking it might help to soak his stiff body in hot water, he got off the bed. At that sign, the cat opened one eye slightly, then jumped up at the sight of Dawoon taking off his top.
Meow—!
“Why. You want to wash together too?”
Dawoon, who had already bathed with the cat frequently, knew well that he liked water. Unable to bear to kick out the cat who dragged himself into the shower booth with his sick body, he chuckled and washed together every day.
They say cats originally hate water, but this one is really peculiar in many ways.
“I’m going to take a half-body bath today though. The water’s hot, so it’ll be hard for you.”
Meow.
Dawoon held the cat with one hand while pulling down his pants. As he put the clothes he’d been wearing on the bed and opened the bathroom door in his underwear to first fill the bathtub with water.
Bzzzz—.
The cell phone placed on the bed vibrated. Dawoon was about to ignore it, but eventually moved at the consecutive vibration sounds.
[Hyung, did you eat?]
It was a text from Yeoul. He’d already received a similar text early in the morning. Even while working busily, he worried about the meals of someone rolling around at home.
[Yeah, did you?]
As soon as Dawoon sent a reply, the cell phone rang again.
[I ate.]
[Are you resting well?]
[Aren’t you bored?]
“Ah, send them together…”
Because the youngest sent one sentence at a time separately, the cell phone whined endlessly.
[Yeah, I’m fine. Not bored. You’re working well, right? Don’t worry about me and focus on work. You might get hurt.]
Dawoon was the type to fill the text box densely in one space. The tone was more plain than his actual speech, but the content was warm.
That feeling seemed to have been conveyed to the person reading the text too.
[Wow]
[You’re worried about me?]
Along with a quick reply, loud happy emoticons poured out. Dawoon’s laughter burst out at the procession of cute emoticons that didn’t match Yeoul’s image at all.
“The youngest is the youngest after all.”
Dawoon leaned his upper body against the bed and focused on the texts for a moment. The cat, who rubbed its face against Dawoon’s bare chest, slightly covered the phone screen with its tail.
Meow.
“Yeah, just a moment.”
When Dawoon was pressing down on the cat’s crown with his chin, a new text came. This time it wasn’t a briefly fragmented text but a photo.
“What’s this now.”
Yeoul sent a photo with only half his face showing. The photo captured his handsome face deliberately scrunched up in a sad expression.
[I don’t want to work]
[I want to play with hyung]
Emoticons with the same expression as Yeoul in the photo lined up and filled the screen. Apparently really not wanting to work, Yeoul sent not just his selfie but a bunch of trivial photos.
The pitch-black sky of the Gate and broken pebbles, and the word “Dawoon” made with those stones, and even a bizarre-shaped flower.
Dawoon, who frantically looked at the over ten photos one by one, had a quite pleasant face.
Since the youngest was acting like the youngest, honestly it was fun rather than bothersome. It felt like having a conversation with a younger sibling.
“Why did you take this again?”
Dawoon, who laughed emptily at the photo of an empty water bottle, glanced down at the cat. Since it was quiet, he wondered if it had fallen asleep again. The cat was quietly watching Dawoon.
“Yeoul is funny. He really doesn’t want to work.”
Dawoon showed the photo by thrusting the phone screen toward the cat.
However, the cat didn’t give a glance to the photo or anything and only looked at Dawoon. Dawoon, unaware of this, giggled while carefully flipping through the photos Yeoul sent.
The cat, exhaling through its nose, leaned languidly against Dawoon’s embrace. The swaying tail softly wrapped around Dawoon’s bare upper body.
Dawoon, who had been continuing the texts for several minutes, gradually wrapped up the conversation. While talking about the photos, he forgot the fact that Yeoul was on duty.
[Work now. Let’s play after it’s all done. Stop texting and hang in there]
Yeoul, who had been sending replies in real time, went quiet for a moment. Looking at the disappeared read receipt, Dawoon left the screen on and waited for a reply. Sure enough, the answer came quickly.
[Okay]
[Rest well]
[Eat your meals properly]
[Don’t eat ramen]
“Ah, so noisy.”
Dawoon, who lightly picked at his ear, finally put down the phone. His eyes were all sore from looking at the small screen for a long time.
However, unlike his grumbling words, his expression looked quite pleasant. Though it was bothersome, it seemed he didn’t dislike Yeoul’s concern for him.
“Let’s wash up now.”
Meow!
Just as he was about to head to the bathroom again, holding the cat that had waited obediently, the phone rang again.
Bzzzzzz—.
This time it wasn’t a text but a call. And the caller was also different. Though the business was similar.
—Our Dawoon, are you resting well?
At Ryu Taeha’s gentle voice that continued as soon as he pressed the call button, the wrinkles between Dawoon’s brows deepened.
