46
A Siberian Husky, known for having the highest occurrence of odd eyes among dog breeds, sat obediently in front of Set with its tongue lolling out. Set was almost hiding behind Yeon Ji-ho, glaring at the dog.
“Oh my, why is he suddenly acting like this? He’s not usually like this.”
The husky had a thick leather collar around its neck, and although the owner was trying to pull it away with a taut leash, the dog remained seated, not budging an inch. Its gaze was fixed on Yeon Ji-ho, eyes sparkling.
However, with its tongue sticking out and its peculiar smile, the husky looked adorable to Yeon Ji-ho. As Yeon Ji-ho stared down at the husky, a large hand suddenly covered his eyes.
“Ji-ho, don’t look carelessly into that creature’s eyes. They’re eyes of misfortune.”
Set’s voice, full of wariness, whispered in his ear. Despite having odd eyes himself, Set looked at the husky’s odd eyes as if they were something abhorrent.
Yeon Ji-ho gently removed Set’s hand from his eyes. Then, turning his head slightly, he whispered to Set.
“It’s rude to say such things. It’s that person’s companion animal.”
“…Companion? …Animal?”
Yeon Ji-ho left Set for a moment and stepped forward. He asked the owner if he could pet the husky, and the owner nodded with a smile.
Yeon Ji-ho slowly knelt down beside the husky, which still showed no intention of moving. Then, very slowly, he reached out his hand towards the dog. Set watched anxiously from behind.
However, as soon as Yeon Ji-ho’s hand touched it, the husky flopped over and immediately showed its belly. The owner, watching from behind, chuckled and said it was asking to be petted, so Yeon Ji-ho smiled and placed his hand on the soft belly fur.
“Ah… It’s really cute.”
“Usually, Ttaengcho never does this with strangers. He must really like you.”
“I really like this friend too. Right? We’ve taken a liking to each other, haven’t we?”
As Yeon Ji-ho gently stroked its body with a soft smile, the husky shivered slightly. Yeon Ji-ho, not taking his hand off the dog, gestured to Set with his eyes.
Set slowly knelt down and approached. Swallowing hard, he followed Yeon Ji-ho’s lead and placed his hand on the dog’s back.
The moment his fingers touched the fur, Set involuntarily flinched. The incredibly soft sensation felt as if it was welcoming him. As he turned his gaze, he saw odd eyes identical to his own staring back at him.
“You’re a foreigner, right? Your eyes are the same color as our Ttaengcho’s.”
“Ah, yes. The eyes are very pretty, aren’t they?”
“Of course. I brought Ttaengcho home because I thought his eyes were so beautiful when I first saw him.”
Set silently stroked the husky’s belly while listening to the conversation between Yeon Ji-ho and the owner. Yeon Ji-ho casually mentioning that the eyes were pretty, and the owner saying he brought this animal home because of its eyes.
An indescribable feeling washed over him. Was this how Shango felt earlier?
Set quietly turned his head and met Shango’s eyes, who was standing a step back, watching them. Shango looked at Set quietly for a moment, then blinked slowly. He was thinking the same thing as Set.
“Well, have a nice day! Bye, Ttaengcho!”
“Thank you. Come on, Ttaengcho, it’s time to go!”
Soon after, the husky and its owner disappeared into a corner of the shopping mall. Being so beautiful, the husky attracted a lot of attention as it waddled away with a majestic attitude.
Watching this, a thought suddenly struck Set.
If not only himself but all of the Gorgon’s Beasts had been born here, could they have been happy? Could they have lived without being discriminated against, without being stoned while walking down the street, without being abandoned?
“Ji-ho.”
“It was really cute… Yes?”
“Maybe… you might be a symbol of good luck.”
Set’s words, after organizing his thoughts, were somewhat out of the blue. But Shango, who had been listening silently beside them, nodded in agreement.
“…That’s right…”
“Me? Not at all. I’ve never won anything when I tried things like lucky draws when I was young.”
“No. You are luck itself for us.”
He meant it. Set pressed his chest, feeling a twinge in his heart.
In Asterra, in the world he came from, whenever they tried to do something, it always felt like they were blocked by something, things never worked out. It wasn’t that the Gorgon’s Beasts were emotionless about taking lives from the beginning. It’s just that all situations flowed as if they were scripted.
As they killed people and engaged in wars between humans, their emotions gradually dulled. At some point, they didn’t even think about killing when they took someone’s life. Set and all the beasts might have subconsciously thought that perhaps they were really born as killing machines.
However, since meeting Yeon Ji-ho, Set’s life started to work out strangely well in every aspect. As if even that had been arranged…
***
Buying clothes was easier than expected. Or at least, half of it could be considered easy.
Set, after all, had been a duke, and therefore was used to wearing custom-made clothes. So shopping for clothes in a store came quite naturally to him.
The problem was Shango. He seemed to have never worn anything other than armor or commoners’ tunics, and had no intention of doing so, fumbling every time he tried on clothes. He seemed to find it strange to see himself in nice clothes.
“Both of you worked hard shopping today.”
“…I never want to do it again…”
“Ji-ho, you’re the one who worked hard.”
Each of the three held different paper bags in their hands. Yeon Ji-ho loaded all of them into the back seat and the pickup truck bed before getting into the driver’s seat.
Shango and Set returned to their original positions, but neither of them looked particularly happy when getting into the car. They seemed to be remembering the motion sickness they experienced on the way there.
Yeon Ji-ho chuckled and handed Shango some anti-motion sickness stickers he had bought at the pharmacy in advance. Then, he opened one himself and lifted Set’s hair to stick it behind his ear.
“Mr. Shango, try sticking this here too. It will help with the motion sickness.”
“…This toy…?”
“Yes, it’s real. But it takes a while for the medicine to take effect, so it can’t be helped at first.”
He had originally planned to buy something to drink, but thought the concept of ‘medicine to drink’ might be unfamiliar to the two, so he chose this instead. Shango also clumsily followed Yeon Ji-ho’s actions and stuck the sticker behind his own ear.
Only after all this was done did the car start. Yeon Ji-ho took the wheel and smoothly drove out of the shopping mall parking lot, saying,
“I’m glad we at least bought gifts for Mr. Isquis and Mr. Apophis today. I felt bad for leaving just the two of them there.”
“There’s no need to feel sorry.”
“Snakes and birds are too stupid to notice such things…”
As Set and Shango responded without hesitation, Yeon Ji-ho chuckled. He remembered their reactions a few hours ago in the shopping mall when he said he was buying gifts for Apophis and Isquis.
At first, they both objected, saying there was no need for gifts, but once they started choosing, they considered it very seriously. After much debate, they finally chose gifts to be taken back and given to them the next time they crossed over.
As he drove, chatting with the two about various things, the car soon arrived near Yeon Ji-ho’s pension grounds. As Yeon Ji-ho was smoothly turning the steering wheel to park his pickup truck in its designated spot,
“Ji-ho. There’s someone in front of the house.”
“What? Who?”
Since they had left with Uncle Soo-cheol’s permission, there was no reason for Seon-rok and Soo-cheol to visit his empty house. Yeon Ji-ho frowned as he looked in the direction Set was pointing and saw an unfamiliar man.
“Who could it be…?”
It was a face he had never seen before. However, he couldn’t just drive up to him abruptly, so Yeon Ji-ho finished parking first and then got out of the car.
Set followed behind him. Shango stayed behind to gather the luggage, so only Yeon Ji-ho and Set approached the unfamiliar visitor.
“Excuse me, who are you?”
“Ah! Hello.”
The man had an attractive, friendly smile. Even upon closer inspection, Yeon Ji-ho couldn’t recall his face at all and furrowed his brows.
“Well, it’s nothing much, but… don’t you remember me?”
But at that moment, a phrase flashed through his mind.
‘I heard that house’s son just returned from Seoul. They say he’ll be here for a while. That’s why Young-chun was asking if you’d be interested in a blind date.’
Yeon Ji-ho’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. But before he could say anything, the other person spoke with a bright smile.
“It’s me. Seo Sung-won, we were in the same class in 2nd grade of elementary school!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Seo Sung-won’s face turned somewhat red. He spoke carefully, as if embarrassed.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s rude to come suddenly, but when Uncle Seon-rok said you had returned from your trip, I really wanted to see you…”
Yeon Ji-ho thinned his lips and clenched his molars. So, do you have no sense of awareness?
Can’t you feel this burning gaze on my back, even though I’m turned away?
