A full week had passed since their time on the deserted island, and the rest of the members had already gone back to their daily lives. Since Tae-oh and Chi-yu had taken a month-long vacation, they still had plenty of time left, so they decided to travel together to another zone. Because their fathers had been so disappointed about not meeting them last time, the two planned to stop by Zone Z first before heading elsewhere.
But before they could even set out for Zone Z, Myung Jun-su called. He wanted the passcode to Hyun Tae-oh’s house.
“Why my house?”
—Why do you think, you punk? To send the kids over.
“Kids?”
—I mean the animals you brought to my place. They’re all healthy now, so it’s time for you to take them.
“Wait, why are you bringing them to my house?”
When Tae-oh frowned, Myung Jun-su exploded.
—What, you expect me to keep them forever?!
“……”
—Don’t argue. Take them and figure it out. Either find them homes or raise them all yourself.
“Professor, you should keep one.”
—Yeah, right. Like I have the time for that?!
“You could make time.”
—Cut the crap. I don’t get attached to animals. And especially not these ones. They’ve already suffered too much because of humans. They deserve real owners, not someone like me.
“…Fine. We’ll come by.”
Tae-oh hung up.
“What?” Chi-yu asked, looking at him.
Still gazing at Catdog, asleep inside the Ridune, Tae-oh said,
“Looks like we need to stop by home first. Remember the animals we rescued from that N building?”
“Oh, right.” Chi-yu nodded.
“The professor says they’re done with treatment, so we should pick them up.”
“Ah, so you’ve been keeping them at his house all this time.”
“Yeah. That owl especially wasn’t doing well.”
“Is it okay now?”
“Seems so. So yeah, home first.”
“Right. We’ll need to find places for them to stay.”
Tae-oh nodded, picked up Catdog, and wrapped an arm naturally around Chi-yu’s waist. In the next instant, they teleported.
***
Tae-oh looked over the dog, cat, penguin, owl, and alpaca that Myung Jun-su had sent along and sank into thought. With Catdog already in their care, there was no way he and Chi-yu could raise all five.
Maybe Chi-yu was thinking the same thing, because after petting each of them in turn, he looked up and asked,
“Should we put them up for adoption?”
“Adoption?”
“We could call Jun-hyung and the others, and have each of them take one.”
“Mm.”
“Like the professor said, they’ve already gone through beastification experiments. Regular people couldn’t raise them safely. But if it’s someone who understands their situation…”
“That makes sense. Each person takes one. We’ll keep the last one ourselves?”
“Yeah. If everyone takes one, just one will be left—and we can raise it.”
Tae-oh nodded.
“Let’s do that.”
***
Min Yu-hyun, Yoon Do-jae, Lee Jun-hyung, and Beom Do-il sat lined up on the sofa, watching as the animals bounded around the living room—some racing across the floor, some grooming themselves in the middle of the table, others tottering about while the dog barked and chased after them noisily.
“So… you want us to raise these?” Yu-hyun asked, incredulous, pointing at the cat licking its fur.
“Yeah. Each of you takes one.”
“…And why, exactly?”
“Why else? Because they’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“There are shelters, you know.”
“These ones were used for beastification experiments. Too dangerous for ordinary people to keep.”
“Ahh, right.”
Jun-hyung nodded. Yu-hyun shook his head.
“I’ve never raised an animal, and I don’t want to. And besides—”
The owl suddenly flew over and perched on his shoulder.
“Whoa,” Chi-yu and Jun-hyung both breathed in unison.
The owl’s striking beauty looked strangely perfect on Yu-hyun.
“It suits you,” Do-jae muttered without realizing it.
Yu-hyun glanced over at him.
“Then you take it. Looks like it likes you.” Tae-oh gestured toward the owl with his chin.
When Yu-hyun turned back to the bird, the owl swiveled its head to stare right at him.
“I really hate hassle.”
The owl bobbed its head as if it understood.
“I’ll only feed you.”
Another bob.
“I won’t play with you.”
Bob, bob.
“Alright, that’s settled then. Yu-hyun gets the owl.” Tae-oh nodded, then turned to Do-jae. “And you.”
Do-jae looked troubled as his eyes flicked between the dog, cat, penguin, and alpaca.
“I’ve never had a pet before…”
“I haven’t either,” Yu-hyun said flatly.
Do-jae looked at the owl still perched on Yu-hyun’s shoulder, oddly well-matched to him.
“Shouldn’t we name them?”
“Oh, right. Names,” Yu-hyun muttered, staring at the owl. “What should I call you…”
“Since Yu-hyun’s raising it, how about Min-bae?” Do-il suggested.
Jun-hyung burst out laughing, earning a shake of the head from Chi-yu.
“Jun-hyung, even if he’s your boyfriend, don’t laugh at stuff that lame.”
“What? Lame?! This is comedy gold!” Do-il yelled.
“I think just Ol-bae works better. Short for owl,” Do-jae said.
All eyes turned to him at once.
“Ooh, neat and simple. Ol-bae,” Jun-hyung agreed, and the others nodded too.
Do-il grumbled that “Min-bae” was much better, but the decision was already made.
“Alright, Ol-bae’s done. Now you.” Tae-oh pointed his chin at Do-jae. “Pick one.”
The atmosphere made it clear that “not picking” wasn’t an option. Do-jae sighed and chose the cat that looked like Catdog.
The yellow-and-white cat was smaller than Catdog.
“Knew it. You looked like a babysitter whenever you fed Catdog. You’ll be great with a cat.” Do-il gave him a thumbs-up.
Catdog, being friendly and always hungry, never caused trouble—he just came for food naturally. But this cat seemed different—independent, not especially affectionate, though not fearful either. Considering the torture it must have suffered in the lab, that was understandable. Still, Do-jae wasn’t exactly warm himself, so Chi-yu worried a bit about how they’d get along.
In any case, Do-jae had chosen the cat. Jun-hyung picked the dog.
That left Do-il with the penguin and alpaca.
He stared at them for a long while, torn. Neither seemed like an obvious pet. Honestly, he had no clue how to raise either.
Chi-yu helped him out.
“You’ve got water powers. Wouldn’t the penguin suit you?”
“Oh, that works.” Jun-hyung chimed in, pointing at the dog in his lap. “Besides, I saw it playing really well with the penguin earlier. If you raise it, they can keep playing together.”
“Really? Then I’ll take the penguin.”
Simple as ever, Do-il agreed right away.
“What about names?” Chi-yu asked, and the group began discussing names for Do-jae’s cat, Jun-hyung’s dog, and Do-il’s penguin.
For the cat: “Cheese” (Yu-hyun’s idea, from its yellow fur), “Go-yang” (Do-jae’s plain abbreviation of ‘cat’), and “Noo-rung” (Tae-oh’s idea, meaning “yellowy”).
By majority vote, the cat was named Cheese.
Jun-hyung named the dog “Beom-ee” himself—partly as a joke about Do-il sometimes acting like a dog. His affection for Do-il was obvious.
Chi-yu, who had once worried Jun-hyung would never escape Jeong Moo-young’s shadow, felt relieved that Do-il had helped him move on.
As for the penguin, Do-il had first named it “Hyung-guin,” but Jun-hyung vetoed that.
“Since my dog’s Beom-ee, how about we call the penguin Jun-ee?”
“Jun-ee?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s okay, but isn’t Hyung-guin cuter?”
“Nope.”
Jun-hyung’s blunt rejection left Do-il sulking.
“Beom-ee and Jun-ee. Sounds like a couple. I like it,” Chi-yu said.
“Yeah, it’s cute,” Yu-hyun agreed.
When everyone else chimed in that Jun-ee suited better and sounded like a couple name with Beom-ee, Do-il’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Easily swayed, he happily agreed to Jun-ee.
Tae-oh then looked at everyone, his voice low.
“Sorry if this feels like I’m dumping responsibility, but you’re the only ones I can trust with them. Still… if you truly don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“What, after making us name them and all, you’d take them back?” Do-il scoffed.
“He’s right. If we really didn’t want them, we would’ve said so,” Yu-hyun added. Do-jae said he was fine with it, and Jun-hyung just smiled and nodded.
“…Thanks.” Tae-oh murmured.
And so, they each left with their sudden new pets—leaving only the alpaca behind.
Chi-yu looked at the alpaca wandering the living room. Why the lab had chosen an alpaca of all animals to experiment on, he had no idea—but surprisingly, it was adorable. Its long lashes and large, gentle eyes were endearing, and beneath its calm look was a curious spark.
It sniffed at Catdog, licked at the Ridune, and circled around it.
Chi-yu thought, It’d be wonderful if Catdog could wake up and get along with it.
“You like Catdog too? I bet Catdog will like you just as much.”
Resting his chin on his hand, Chi-yu realized they hadn’t named the alpaca yet. He called out to Tae-oh, who was busy in the kitchen.
“Tae-oh.”
“Yeah?”
“What should we name it?”
Chi-yu walked over. Tae-oh, remembering Chi-yu’s offhand comment that morning about craving rice cake dumpling soup, was carefully preparing broth for it.
“You name it.”
“Hmm.”
Chi-yu hugged his broad back.
“Should we go to the bedroom?”
He only embraced him because the moment felt peaceful and happy—yet Tae-oh instantly ruined the mood with his ridiculous reply.
“No. Pick a name first.”
“Don’t you have any ideas?”
“Nope.”
“Since it came after Catdog, how about Al-nyang?”
“Why would it be the younger one?”
“Because it arrived after Catdog.”
Tae-oh said it like it was obvious. Chi-yu chuckled softly and rested his forehead against his back.
“Al-nyang sounds weird.”
“Then Ge-pai.”
“What’s Ge-pai?”
“‘Ge’ from Catdog, ‘Pa’ from alpaca.”
“That’s even weirder.”
“Then what do you want?”
“It’s white, so… maybe Hayangi. Whitey.”
“Catdog and Hayangi, huh?”
“They don’t really connect, but don’t they kind of fit together?”
Tae-oh nodded and half-sang,
“Well, if Kang Chi-yu made it, who am I to argue~.”
Chi-yu let out a helpless laugh and hugged him tighter around the waist.
