By Zephyria 
“You told me before that you wanted to raise a puppy.”
Moon Gyeon-woo replied, looking at the overjoyed Yeon-rok with a fond gaze. Come to think of it, there was a time when Yeon-rok had considered getting a dog because he felt lonely while being mistreated by Moon Gyeon-woo and Choi Hwan. Though it never happened due to Moon Gyeon-woo’s cold refusal.
“It’s a puppy from a shelter that was scheduled to be euthanized. I just couldn’t leave it alone, so I decided to foster it for a few days.”
“Euthanized…? That’s absolutely not allowed!”
Yeon-rok hugged the puppy tightly. Its soft fur was so cute and lovely. Despite being a puppy, its weight and volume filled his arms, suggesting it would grow into a large dog. While sitting in a chair and kneading its oversized paws for a moment, a question suddenly occurred to him.
“But Hyung, didn’t you say you have allergies? Is it okay to bring a dog home?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
What? Then was he just making excuses back then to screw with me? Yeon-rok felt a slight sting of disappointment, but he let it slide. The puppy was far too lovely to dwell on such things.
Naturally gentle and a total ‘people-person,’ the puppy became the darling of the entire house. Mrs. Park complained about the shedding but still made and fed it homemade treats, and even the bodyguards took turns petting it. No one scolded the puppy, even when it barked happily.
Choi Hwan was the last person to find out about the puppy’s existence. He had been unable to properly return home for several days while clearing a backlog of schedules, only noticing the adorable creature belatedly.
“What’s this? A puppy!”
Choi Hwan’s face, which had been exhausted as he dragged his feet into the house, instantly brightened. He headed straight for the puppy and petted it vigorously with the touch of a true dog lover, doting on it completely.
“It’s just a baby, but it’s already much bigger than Bori. Look at the size of those paws. Just how big is it going to get? Huh?”
Choi Hwan raised a dog named Bori at his family home. He had shown Yeon-rok a photo before; it was a truly cute Maltese that clearly showed it was deeply loved. Yeon-rok felt a bit bitter, thinking that the people in that house seemed to cherish the dog more than their own son.
“Gyeon-woo Hyung brought it here to foster.”
“What ever possessed that cold-blooded man to do such a thing?”
Choi Hwan scoffed, yet he adored the puppy without any prejudice. After playing with it until his remaining energy gave out and crawling into his room, Choi Hwan let out a desperate scream the next day.
“Aaaaagh!”
Startled by the scream that echoed all the way down to the first floor, Yeon-rok rushed over. Choi Hwan was collapsed in despair in front of his dressing room. Because he had so many clothes, he used a separate room as an additional closet.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Yeon-rok’s jaw dropped as he looked inside the dressing room. All the luxury goods Choi Hwan had painstakingly collected were strewn messily across the floor. And they weren’t just strewn. The puppy, which had been hopping and playing over the luxury items, ran over happily panting and licked Choi Hwan’s nose.
“My Di…! Ballen…! Gu…!”
Choi Hwan wailed sorrowfully, yet he still petted the puppy as it wagged its tail. The puppy let out a whimper, as if it had no idea why he was crying. Yeon-rok first picked up the puppy—which had clamped its mouth onto Choi Hwan’s hair—and held it in his arms. It had become heavier over the past few days, having eaten and slept well. Yeon-rok worriedly checked the puppy’s mouth.
“You didn’t eat anything strange, did you? The door should have been closed; how on earth did it get in here?”
Upon hearing those words, Choi Hwan snapped his head up. He entered the room and scrutinized the ruined luxury goods. Then, he lifted one of the items that was drenched in dog saliva and fur.
“This wasn’t done by the puppy!”
“But there are tooth marks right here…?”
“No, this was in a place the puppy could never reach. I remember clearly. I put this bag up there! This one too, and that one!”
Now that he mentioned it, Choi Hwan was right. The high shelves that had been packed with luxury goods were empty. Moreover, only the most expensive items that Choi Hwan cherished most had fallen, making someone’s malice blatantly obvious. And there was only one person in this house who would do such a thing to Choi Hwan.
“Moon Gyeon-woo—!”
Choi Hwan stood up abruptly in indignation. He ran to Moon Gyeon-woo’s bedroom and pounded on the door as if to break it. Since it was Sunday, Moon Gyeon-woo should have been home, but the firmly closed door didn’t open for a long time.
Huh? Didn’t I just hear a sneeze from inside?
As Yeon-rok tilted his head, Moon Gyeon-woo, wearing headphones, finally opened the door. He crossed his arms with a relaxed expression. A satisfied glint appeared in his eyes as he saw the ruined luxury bags.
“Why? Did something bad happen?”
“Did something bad happen?! You, you! You did this!”
Choi Hwan growled, thrusting the bag with clear puppy tooth marks toward him. Moon Gyeon-woo shrugged and played innocent.
“I did? Do these look like human tooth marks to you?”
Then, he spoke to the puppy in Yeon-rok’s arms in a tender voice.
“Our little puppy, do you like expensive cowhide?”
“You crazy bastard! Do you know how much this costs?! This is an item that’s hard to get even if you have the money!”
Seeing the other man in such deep grief, Moon Gyeon-woo’s face brightened even more. It was a smile like a poisonous flower.
“Oh dear… Since it’s the weekend, I must have left the window open for a bit to ventilate the house, and the puppy must have gotten in. How unfortunate.”
“What do you mean, ‘how unfortunate’?”
“I told you, you should be more careful with your locks.”
It was a cunning trap designed around Choi Hwan’s nature as a dog lover who couldn’t bring himself to be angry at a puppy. Yeon-rok clicked his tongue inwardly. It was a win-win for Moon Gyeon-woo: he got to screw over Choi Hwan while appealing to Yeon-rok by bringing in a cute puppy.
A furious Choi Hwan trembled violently. However, fearing he might get his hair yanked by Yeon-rok like last time, he simply ground his teeth in silence.
“Just you wait. I won’t let this slide!”
He hurried back to the dressing room to salvage whatever items were least damaged. Yeon-rok, holding his head in a headache, scolded the beaming Moon Gyeon-woo.
“Gyeon-woo Hyung. You went too far this time.”
“Did I? I guess I did. I won’t do it next time.”
Moon Gyeon-woo spoke sweet nothings because he was in front of Yeon-rok. However, looking at his expression, he didn’t think he had done anything wrong in the slightest. Watching him quietly, Yeon-rok approached him while holding the puppy. Moon Gyeon-woo flinched slightly. Come to think of it, except for when he first brought it in, Yeon-rok had never seen him touch the dog.
“The puppy is really cute. Hyung, do you want to try holding it?”
Moon Gyeon-woo took the puppy into his arms with a hesitant touch. He petted it carefully, but before long, he whipped his head away. His body shook violently. Yeon-rok sighed.
“You really do have a dog allergy.”
Only then did Moon Gyeon-woo stop hiding it and let out a massive sneeze. While he sneezed several times in a row, Yeon-rok took the puppy back into his arms and stepped away. Moon Gyeon-woo laughed, sniffing with a flushed face. He had been fully prepared on the first day, even getting an injection at the hospital, but he couldn’t do that every day.
“I’m fine, so if you want to raise it, you can. I can just live while taking medication.”
“Aren’t you already taking medication right now?”
Moon Gyeon-woo only smiled without a word. The puppy was truly cute, but Yeon-rok shook his head. It was meant to be temporary fostering in the first place, and he couldn’t keep a dog in a house where someone had allergies. After all, he couldn’t exactly kick out his name partner, Moon Gyeon-woo. Fortunately, one of the bodyguards, who was particularly fond of the puppy, decided to take it and raise it well.
And after that day, the relationship between Choi Hwan and Moon Gyeon-woo spiraled uncontrollably downward.
Yeon-rok frowned at the sound of angry shouting. Mrs. Park, who was teaching Yeon-rok how to cook, clicked her tongue.
“I wonder when that chaos will ever end.”
“I know, right… Oh, this is great.”
“Our young master is quite handy with his hands.”
Mrs. Park tasted the tuna tartare that Yeon-rok had successfully made and praised it as excellent. While she was happily plating it, Moon Gyeon-woo came downstairs with a face that looked absolutely livid. He paced around looking for Choi Hwan, and when he found he wasn’t there, he tore at his hair and made a phone call.
“Yes, I’d like to recover some data. Yes… I spilled a drink on it… I don’t care about the estimate. …It takes that long? Is it really impossible within this week? Yes, yes…”
From the sound of it, Choi Hwan had spilled a drink on Moon Gyeon-woo’s laptop. Yeon-rok brought him a plate of beautifully plated tuna tartare. For the record, the tuna had been ‘prepared’ by Yeom Cheon-ho himself. Moon Gyeon-woo spoke weakly.
“Thanks, Yeon-rok-ah. I’ll enjoy it.”
His devotion in forcing himself to eat the tuna tartare deliciously despite being so enraged was touching. The plate was emptied, but Yeon-rok didn’t leave; instead, he sat next to Moon Gyeon-woo and asked seriously.
“Can you two just stop now?”