By Zephyria 
Hong Ye-seong sent a reply around the time the shop was closing.
: Okay~
: I’ll come tomorrow!
Good. Eui-jae replied with a circle-drawing emoticon. Then he glanced sideways at Sa-young, who was getting ready to go home. It felt a bit wrong to leave the puppy alone after sending all his brothers away.
“Sa-young, can I sleep here just for tonight?”
“Huh?”
Sa-young agreed more readily than expected.
“Well… okay.”
“…Why are you agreeing?”
“Huh?”
Sa-young tilted his head sideways as if asking what nonsense Eui-jae was talking about now. Eui-jae scratched his cheek and retorted.
“No, I thought you’d lie down and refuse again.”
“That’s different. Back then, you were insisting on living in the tiny room, but today it’s just sleeping for one night. And…”
The purple eyes glanced sideways, toward the pet cam.
Ah.
This guy, seriously. Eui-jae pressed his forehead. No wonder he agreed so readily. Sa-young, you had it all planned out… Sa-young, holding the tablet under his arm, kissed Eui-jae on the cheek.
“See you in the morning, Hyung.”
Wait, you’re the only one seeing me tomorrow morning. Aren’t you going to be watching me all night? Eui-jae asked with a complicated expression.
“Can I cover it with a blanket?”
“Just try it.”
“But, watching through that all the time… isn’t it a bit… perverted?”
“Hmm… I don’t think that’s something for the person who told me to tie myself up to say.”
“That was unavoidable!”
Sa-young retorted sullenly.
“Do you really think I’ll watch all night? I’ll just check if you’re sleeping properly. It’s rare for Hyung to sleep well.”
“…Really?”
“It’s not like I’ve only seen Hyung sleeping once or twice…”
“……”
“Seeing the real thing is better than a low-quality screen anyway.”
The smiling face with upturned lips was annoying, yet somehow he couldn’t look away. Eui-jae let out a small sigh. Then he kissed the softly curved lips. It was a gentle kiss, lips meeting lips. Their eyes met. Eui-jae whispered while cupping Sa-young’s cheeks.
“…Sleep well. Sweet dreams.”
“……”
Sa-young held the hand cupping his cheek, leaned his cheek into the palm, and closed his eyes. A small voice, as if whispering, replied.
“Sleep well. Have sweet dreams…”
\ \ *
The next day, Hong Ye-seong appeared around 11 AM, looking sluggish. He was still wearing green sweatpants, with a white eye patch over his left eye. Holding a roasted sweet potato bag in his arms, he dragged his slippers straight into the Hanover Soup Restaurant. The savory and sweet smell of roasted sweet potatoes wafted strongly.
“Hello~ I brought roasted sweet potatoes. Why did you call me?”
He yawned widely, then paused when he saw the lineup seated in the soup restaurant. Of course, Cha Eui-jae, Lee Sa-young, Honeybee, Yoon Ga-eul, and Bae Won-woo. Hong Ye-seong, receiving the gazes of all the Awakened, rolled his eyes and asked.
“Whoa… It’s not that the Doomsday has appeared again, is it?”
“Is he joking with that?”
Honeybee rested her chin on her hand, looking incredulous. Eui-jae strode over to Hong Ye-seong and grabbed his shoulder.
“Hey, Hong Ye-seong.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Do you want to raise a puppy?”
“A puppy? What puppy? Suddenly?”
“No, Director Ham rescued a dog…”
“Ah, long, long. If you talk that boringly, will it even reach my ears?”
Honeybee jumped up and headed behind Hong Ye-seong. Then she pushed his back, propelling him forward.
“Just see for yourself first!”
She pushed his back hard with both hands. Hong Ye-seong flailed, saying “Whoa, whoa,” but managed to balance himself in front of the fence. At that moment, his eyes met black bean-like eyes. A white, chubby puppy was hanging on the fence, wagging its tail vigorously.
“Uh…”
Hong Ye-seong stared at the puppy as if entranced. Behind him, Honeybee gave a thumbs up.
“There, see? It’s over quickly, right?”
Her ability to take action was indeed on par with Eui-jae’s. Eui-jae approached Hong Ye-seong and opened the fence for him.
“Go in.”
“Uh, uh…”
Hong Ye-seong took off his slippers and entered the tiny room. The white puppy panted and scratched at the green pants. He carefully sat down in the room. The puppy circled around Hong Ye-seong, then, smelling the sweet potatoes, buried its nose in the bag.
“Oh my, it’s sniffing, it’s sniffing.”
“I think it’s sniffing the sweet potato smell, not Hong Ye-seong’s smell.”
“Shut up!”
Honeybee and Bae Won-woo, who were peeking only their heads over the door to watch, bickered. Eui-jae also stuck his head out, watching Hong Ye-seong and the puppy. The puppy scratched at the paper bag with its front paws and whined.
“What. Do you want some?”
Hong Ye-seong scratched his head, then pulled out the half-eaten roasted sweet potato from the bag. He cut off a fingernail-sized piece of the well-cooked yellow sweet potato and offered it; the puppy quickly took it. The puppy whined as if asking for more and scratched at his knees.
“……”
As if entranced, he cut off another small piece and offered it. Honeybee whispered.
“He’s entranced, entranced.”
“Hmm, it is cute though.”
“But won’t dogs get fat if they eat sweet potatoes?”
“That much is fine.”
“Lee Sa-young, since when did you become a puppy expert?”
“A few days ago.”
Hong Ye-seong lifted the puppy onto his lap. Soft and warm fur, a squishy and chubby body, panting breath, and a white tail wagging left and right like it had a motor.
“……”
Everything was different from Cluck. Cluck wasn’t this warm, soft, or squishy.
But the white body and the black, round, bean-like eyes were the same.
The moment Cha Eui-jae and Lee Sa-young headed toward the source of the Doomsday, Hong Ye-seong sent the two toward the source, prepared for the end. He wouldn’t escape. There would be no one to come save him in a place like this.
He was prepared, but the fear didn’t dissipate. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to die in a place like this. He had many things he wanted to do. He wanted to live more. At that moment, the Eye of the Apocalypse disappeared. Simultaneously, the pure white void was torn black. A round, white body jumped out from the black rift.
[Snap out of it!]
His own voice flowed from Cluck’s beak. Hong Ye-seong’s eyes widened. Cluck, and another Hong Ye-seong, led him, who couldn’t move, through the shattering dimensional rift.
A space where black emptiness and a shattered world scattered like fragments. Hong Ye-seong, holding onto Cluck, stared at the scenery flashing by through his fading consciousness.
‘Hong Ye-seong’ said.
[We have to go back.]
Where to?
[To your home!]
Home?
[Yeah. You’ve been through a lot, other me!]
He felt his empty Soul filling up. A dazzling light poured into his vision.
When he opened his eyes, it was the Seowon Guild’s hospital room. On the bedside table, a flowerpot with a few flowers and a ceramic Cluck were placed.
Right after the System disappeared, Cluck stopped functioning. It was an inevitable result since it used Mana Stones as its power source. Maybe he shouldn’t have used Mana Stones as the energy source. He regretted it, but regret is always a step too late. Hong Ye-seong hugged the non-functioning Cluck and cried his eyes out.
He had to endure the emptiness he tasted for the first time. Cluck was the first thing he created after Awakening, a part of himself.
Hong Ye-seong carefully stroked the puppy squirming on his lap.
Probably, Cluck’s empty spot would never be filled.
But…
“…I think it would be nice to have a friend to live with.”
Because being alone is lonely.
Hong Ye-seong asked the white puppy, who was biting his clothes, in a low voice.
“Do you want to come with me?”
A while later, Hong Ye-seong came out of the tiny room holding the white puppy. As soon as they sensed his presence, Eui-jae and the others, who had scrambled back to the table, looked at him sharply.
Hong Ye-seong lifted the white puppy high. It was a valiant pose, like lifting a lion cub in the intro of Lion X.
“I’ll take this one.”
Nice! They looked at each other and nodded. Yoon Ga-eul smiled brightly and asked.
“What will you name it?”
“Since it’s Cluck’s sibling, Jjokko.”
“Wow, that name is really—”
Thump, Honeybee covered Bae Won-woo’s mouth with her palm. Mph, mphmph! Bae Won-woo struggled as if wronged, but no one paid attention. Ga-eul clapped her hands together.
“That’s good! Cluck’s sibling Jjokko.”
“Right?”
Hong Ye-seong held Jjokko’s paw and shook it.
“Take care of me from now on, Jjokko.”
Arf! Jjokko answered with a loud bark.
\ \ *
A while later, a photo arrived from Hong Ye-seong. It showed Jjokko excitedly running around a grassy yard. A long text message came with it.
: It’s really amazing. This guy refuses chicken, you know? If I give it to him, he growls fiercely. I think he knows it’s his brother. Is he a genius dog? Should I report it to a broadcasting station?
Hong Ye-seong’s SNS, which had been inactive for a while, became active again. The first photo was of Jjokko clinging closely to the smooth Cluck. His profile picture also changed to a dignified photo of Cluck sitting, and his name changed from Hong Ye-seong to another name.
KKOKKO.
Ceramic Artist
Hong Ye-seong began making various pet supplies.