Don’t Mess with the Puppy!

Yoon Chi-young gently stroked the puppy and asked Ji Young-bae, the subordinate of the Gang-in clan. Although the puppy kept biting his hand, Yoon Chi-young always thought of it romantically. And Ji Young-bae always answered honestly.
"Yes, Director... It’s saying, ‘You son of a bitch.’"
“Damn cute... Got it, let’s go home quickly and be alone together.”

Ji Young-bae usually understood only half of Hee-sung’s words, but he always caught the curses perfectly. Because curses have no dialect. For Hee-sung, that was at least less frustrating, but the problem was that Yoon Chi-young wasn’t affected by any of it.
When Yoon Chi-young got into the back seat of the car, the exhausted puppy calmed down. Maybe he didn’t even want to see his face; he buried his head into Yoon Chi-young’s firm abdomen and began his own kind of meditation.
Yoon Chi-young, gently stroking that potato-sized head, asked, “Do you like ramen, Puppy?”

‘Do I like it?’ It was a random question. Hee-sung thought it wasn’t worth answering and kept his sulky posture.
He hated ramen. He had eaten it so many times at gambling halls that he was sick of it. So Hee-sung actually preferred just warm rice mixed with soy sauce.
Ignoring him, Yoon Chi-young asked kindly again, “Then, grilled prawns?”

“…….”
Hee-sung didn’t want to react. Really.
But then his white tail twitched and the tip of it busily wagged on Yoon Chi-young’s thigh. At that honest reaction, Yoon Chi-young burst out laughing and lay down sideways in the back seat, holding the puppy. For the first time, Hee-sung resented his own tail.

‘…I only like grilled prawns. Just prawns.’
Stubbornly thinking that, the puppy gently pressed his tail down with his front paw.
The precious food he ate for the first time even melted his tail. Maybe it was because someone prepared food just for him. It was the first time in his life.

Still, Hee-sung vowed not to be swept away by that special feeling, but the tail he pressed down with his paw kept twitching like a living thing.
Returning to the house with the all-black interior, a hearty Korean meal was spread out. In the middle of the table, grilled prawns were even set up to eat right away. Very hungry, Hee-sung was desperate to be fed quickly as soon as Yoon Chi-young washed his hands and sat down.
Yoon Chi-young fed the puppy porridge first — baby food for beastmen children — and said,

“I’ve never fed anyone like this in my whole life.”
‘Who’d think a boss of another organization would feed me?’
Hee-sung was now used to talking to himself. Maybe Yoon Chi-young was too, because while peeling grilled prawns with his long fingers, he spoke gently to Hee-sung in a warm voice.
“Puppy. I have to go somewhere I don’t want to tomorrow... You’ll come with me, right?”

‘No.’
Hee-sung didn’t want to go. Somehow, he hoped to escape from Yoon Chi-young, or at least try to transform into a human.
And in fact, the puppy wanted some distance from Yoon Chi-young, who was crazy about skinship. Yoon Chi-young fiddled with the puppy’s body so much that Hee-sung dreamed his body was being crushed like clay. The puppy also needed time to rest alone.

When the puppy didn’t react but only looked at the grilled prawns with shining eyes, Yoon Chi-young spoke sadly.
“You won’t come? I can’t go anywhere without you...”
‘…Fuck.’

Grilled prawns dangled like bait right before Hee-sung’s eyes. Even if the puppy stood ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) up on his two legs at the table, the prawns only got farther away.
Hee-sung looked up at Yoon Chi-young with full emotion. But before charming Yoon Chi-young’s smiling face, the grilled prawns caught his eyes first. The plump, reddened meat was seasoned just right.
In the end, his tail betrayed the puppy first. The tail that had been wagging busily suddenly bit the grilled prawns and made him unwillingly accept.

“So, you’re coming with me?”
‘You were going to take me anyway.’
No matter how much the puppy fussed, Yoon Chi-young would have taken him anywhere. Given that he had been carrying the puppy in his arms for the past three weeks, it was easy to predict.

“Tomorrow is the succession ceremony for our sister’s headship.”
In the peaceful atmosphere, Yoon Chi-young peeled grilled prawns for the puppy and said,
“I have two older brothers, a sister, and a younger sister...”

‘Five wolf siblings? That’s more brutal than any fairy tale.’
“I wanted to be the head like my siblings when I was younger.”
‘Why didn’t you?’

The puppy listened roughly and quickly ate another grilled prawn. Then, accidentally dropping some on Yoon Chi-young’s pants, Yoon Chi-young didn’t scold but just told him not to eat the fallen ones, peeled new prawns, and said,
“But I wasn’t in a position like that.”
“……?”

There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. The puppy looked up at Yoon Chi-young with curious eyes.
‘Why?’
He tilted his head to show he was curious, but there was no answer. Yoon Chi-young just prettily peeled prawns and placed them on the puppy’s plate. Hee-sung glared unhappily at the suddenly gloomy Yoon Chi-young, then quietly pushed the plate toward him.

‘Is he sulking at the puppy now?’
It wasn’t that he gave up the prawns to cheer the puppy up. He was just a little full, and he felt concerned because the guy who was always pestering him was so listless.
When the puppy pushed the plate with his front paw, Yoon Chi-young finally smiled gently. Then he ate the prawn the puppy had conceded. He even tried to kiss him, but Hee-sung recoiled with disgust and moved backward.

Still, Hee-sung secretly cared about him.
‘…Is this guy a gang boss who has no family or friends to talk about these things?’
At least his friend Mal-soo had broken bones himself, but now he was talking to the puppy alone, giving him affection. It seemed family matters weren’t good either; as far as Hee-sung saw, Yoon Chi-young had no contact with his family, his sister despised him, and most beastmen he met feared him. Hee-sung still had some friends in the organization, so he felt a little sorry for the always alone Yoon Chi-young.

The puppy shuddered.
‘Why am I pitying him?’
He was filthy rich, so what was the point? The puppy frowned tightly again and didn’t lower his guard.

Having worked in a gambling hall, Hee-sung knew how much money Yoon Chi-young gambled away in one night. He threw away easily what Hee-sung would need years just to breathe and survive.
“Come on, have one more bite.”
Then Yoon Chi-young cut a piece of grilled short rib about the size of a thumbnail, stuck a few grains of rice to it, and offered it. The puppy, carefully considering it, took the short rib and ate it. Then he looked around the table. Luxurious food was spread on the vast marble table, but only Yoon Chi-young and himself sat there alone.

‘…Still, this kind of thing can’t be measured by money.’
Hee-sung thought bitterly and walked toward Yoon Chi-young’s side at the table. Then he jumped directly onto Yoon Chi-young’s lap. It was the first time he came to him first. Yoon Chi-young seemed to know this and ignored his meal to hold the puppy.
Suddenly, his older brother’s nagging flashed in Hee-sung’s mind:

〈Hee-sung, you bastard, how are you going to be so soft-hearted? Just because someone treats you well doesn’t mean they’re a good person.〉
But watching Yoon Chi-young’s delighted, handsome face, the puppy couldn’t leave his side.
‘If my brother saw me like this, he’d nag again…’

Hee-sung felt pathetic but quietly stayed in Yoon Chi-young’s arms.
Yoon Chi-young held the puppy and enjoyed a late meal happily. Though he got scolded once for spilling sauce on the puppy’s white head.
The wolf clan’s event was elegant and magnificent.

The ceremony was held at a hotel with a high ceiling that Hee-sung had never been to in his life. There, the puppy, whose head was stained with sauce — which didn’t come off even after washing — hung on Yoon Chi-young’s hand and watched the purebred wolves. There were famous baseball and soccer players, high-ranking industry officials, and actors.
The strange thing was that everyone, at least on the surface, came to greet Yoon Chi-young warmly.
“Long time no see, Director. How have you been?”

Yoon Chi-young’s answer differed depending on the person. Of course, the wolves’ reactions also changed accordingly.
If he said, ‘I’ve been a bit busy, thanks,’ the wolves would pale and be at a loss.
If he said, ‘I’m the same as always,’ the wolves would find him intimidating and forcedly smile.

It seemed that only when he said, ‘I’ve been a bit bored lately,’ would they relax. The wolves’ faces brightened when they heard that.
‘Do they all hate getting attention from Yoon Chi-young?’
Having seen this scene so often from the arms of Yoon Chi-young, the puppy had come to analyze the wolves’ reactions. They all feared or dreaded Yoon Chi-young, and deep in their eyes was a trace of contempt. In contrast, Yoon Chi-young wasn’t especially intimidated whether his counterpart was an elder or a celebrity, which was curious.

When the time came, the succession ceremony began.
The purebred wolves sat solemnly in their seats, facing the ceremony with grave expressions. The surroundings were bright and lavishly decorated, but Hee-sung sensed a subtle tension in the air. It was probably due to the pheromones emanated unconsciously from the nervous wolves.
“This smell bothers you, right? Stay there for a bit.”

Concerned about the puppy, Yoon Chi-young surprisingly left Hee-sung elsewhere. His expression was full of displeasure. Hee-sung, who wasn’t sensitive to pheromones, didn’t care much, but ended up in the hands of Ji Young-bae, one of the organization members standing by the wall of the venue.
“Do everything the puppy wants.”
Having received this special order, Ji Young-bae nodded seriously. As soon as Yoon Chi-young returned to his seat, Hee-sung tried to mumble what he wanted.

‘Help me escape.’
“Do you want to go to the restroom?”
“…….”

The puppy gave up right away. Since only half the words were understood, even a little conversation with Ji Young-bae tired Hee-sung out. He found even Yoon Chi-young’s muttering to himself more comfortable.
The sulky puppy was looking ahead when he suddenly noticed something strange.
‘What is that?’

The purebred wolves gathered in groups of three to five around round tables. However, at the prime spot up front, Yoon Chi-young sat elegantly all alone.
Curious, Hee-sung pointed at Yoon Chi-young with his front paw and asked Ji Young-bae,
‘Is he being ostracized?’

“No, he’s not.”
‘Oh, did he understand that right away?’
The puppy’s black eyes shone as he looked up. Ji Young-bae, always expressionless and serious, was there.

“The director is not a potato, but a wolf.”
‘You’re annoying, too.’
Hee-sung slapped Ji Young-bae’s hand with his paw in frustration. It was always like this, so he gave up on conversations.

Still unable to contain his curiosity, this time he made his body language clearer.
‘Why is he alone?’
Fortunately, Ji Young-bae seemed to understand.

“Oh. It’s a special treatment. The director is the watcher of the clan.”
‘Watcher?’
Hee-sung couldn’t express the word “watcher” in body language, so he exaggerated his puzzled reaction. Ji Young-bae understood from his tilted head.

“The wolf clan values purity and dignity, so they are strict about internal conflict and betrayal.”
‘What’s that?’
“Therefore, the wolf clan has a watcher who directly handles seeds of conflict and traitors.”

‘…What?’
The puppy’s face blanked out. Through his black eyes, he saw Yoon Chi-young’s broad back sitting alone at the table.
‘So being a watcher means… watching over relatives and killing them with your own hands if they betray?’

Come to think of it, last time Yoon Chi-young said he hoped his sister wouldn’t die at Yoon Gun-young’s hands. Judging by the implication, Yoon Chi-young seemed to have experience personally dealing with relatives.
〈But I wasn’t in a position like that.〉
However, it didn’t seem Yoon Chi-young became the watcher by his own will. Something was strange.

The puppy vigorously wagged his front paws and tail, showing body language to Ji Young-bae.
‘How does that work?’
‘Who becomes the watcher?’

‘Why did he become it?’
After several communication errors, Hee-sung finally got the answer he wanted.
“Oh, the watcher has always been the strongest, who inherited the purest wolf blood through generations. But they grow up separated from family and trained alone from a young age.”

‘If he’s the strongest, why isn’t he the leader?’
Hee-sung pointed his paw at Yoon Gun-young standing on the stage. He couldn’t understand why Yoon Gun-young, not the strongest Yoon Chi-young, became the next clan leader.
Ji Young-bae seemed to expect the question and answered gravely.

“The leader of the wolf clan is elected as the wisest.”
‘…Crazy bastards.’
That meant Yoon Chi-young was raised separately from his kin to fight among themselves precisely because of his strong wolf blood.

“…That’s why all clan members fear the watcher.”
Everyone was wary of the watcher—even family. Hee-sung stared long at Yoon Chi-young’s back.
‘Why would a family ostracize their own kid?’

The puppy felt inexplicably upset by the situation itself. He didn’t know why. At least the fighting dogs who raised Hee-sung didn’t train someone to be a fratricidal assassin. It was unthinkable among fighting dogs united by loyalty.
‘I want to go to him.’
“Pardon?”

‘I’m going to him. Me.’
The puppy showed his body language decisively, his eyes shining intensely. But Ji Young-bae hesitated, glancing between the fist-sized puppy and Yoon Chi-young.
“But...”

The puppy glared sternly at the hesitant Ji Young-bae.
Finally unable to resist the puppy’s shining eyes, Ji Young-bae carefully entered the solemn hall. After all, orders must be followed. The boss said to grant the puppy everything he wants.
“Director.”

In the middle of the ongoing succession ceremony, Ji Young-bae was the only one moving and speaking. He carefully handed the angry puppy to Yoon Chi-young, who glanced with a bored expression.
“The puppy insisted on coming to see you...”
“Ah... Come here.”

Yoon Chi-young smiled for the first time. He took the scowling puppy into his arms. Some displeased clan members’ eyes gathered, but no one dared openly confront Yoon Chi-young.
Lastly, Ji Young-bae didn’t forget to pass on one more message.
“And the puppy said... not to get discouraged.”

“Cough, cough...!”
Yoon Chi-young, who was drinking wine, choked. The bright red liquid dripped from his mouth and left a mark like a rose petal on the puppy’s white back.
‘Hey, you...’

Suddenly splashed with wine, Hee-sung grimaced fiercely and glanced between his back and Yoon Chi-young. The sauce stain on his head had smelled delicious all day, making him angry, and now fragrant wine was added to his fur.
But Yoon Chi-young wasn’t in a mood to care about the angry puppy. Covering his face with a large hand, he was busy suppressing laughter while his shoulders trembled lightly.
‘You spilled wine on my back and laugh?’

Although annoyed, the puppy proudly stayed in Yoon Chi-young’s arms until the event ended. When he caught the displeased looks of clan members, he stared fiercely at the purebred wolves.
Even after the event, the puppy did his part.
‘You’re a son of a bitch, too.’

‘Fuck you, too!’
Whenever purebred wolves cautiously approached Yoon Chi-young, the puppy bared his teeth and tried to bite his own hand.
The arrogant puppy’s fierce expression made the wolves look like they wanted to kill him on the spot, but noticing the cold gaze from Yoon Chi-young, they withdrew, promising to try next time.

“Hah, our puppy chases away all the annoying wolves.”
Yoon Chi-young laughed openly for the first time in the vast hall.
Then he saw his reflection in the nearby marble. Under the golden chandelier, his happily smiling face looked like a scene from a movie. Even the ill-tempered puppy in his arms felt perfect. It was a feeling he’d never experienced at a family event before.

The Gang-in clan gambling hall opened at night. Park Gun-tae arrived late, sitting in his office with a serious face, lost in thought.
〈Your youngest likes grilled prawns.〉
Yoon Chi-young had said so last time. It could have been a simple remark, but Park Gun-tae couldn’t let it go easily.

‘There’s no way that bastard has eaten something as precious as grilled prawns.’
Hee-sung worked 6.5 days a week and slept without fail on his days off. He acted like a sleep demon who preferred sleeping to eating, due to his weak body. Moreover, Park Gun-tae almost never gave him a salary under the pretext of managing it, so Hee-sung likely had no money to buy anything.
Because of that, Park Gun-tae found Yoon Chi-young’s words suspicious. It might be a clue that Hee-sung, who had disappeared from the wolf clan, was being kept alive.

‘If Gang Hee-sung is alive... someday our boss will find out that I skimmed money.’
This time, Park Gun-tae embezzled drugs received from the wolf clan for personal gain and pinned the blame entirely on Hee-sung.
That day, the drugs Hee-sung received were worth about 100 million won.

Although it was common money flowing through the gambling hall, it was personally crucial for Park Gun-tae.
‘I finally tried to quit this business... damn it.’
When young, Park Gun-tae got deeply in debt from gambling and had to work empty-handed. After working hard to pay off most debts and getting promoted to gambling hall manager, he found another dream.

He met a woman he wanted to marry. Having lived as an orphan without family, Park Gun-tae wanted a happy home. To do that, he had to pay off his debts completely and leave this world before the woman found out and ran away.
〈Let’s quit together after this job.〉
What he said to Hee-sung was actually meant for himself.

But Park Gun-tae wasn’t very sorry for deceiving Hee-sung.
‘I took in a stray, fed him, gave him shelter, cleaned up his messes, and raised him, damn it.’
Though he used Hee-sung’s wages to pay off his debts, Park Gun-tae believed he deserved it. Five years of raising him should be enough. He grew up entirely alone.

Lacking guilt, he planned his scheme boldly. Wolves wouldn’t dare touch the Gang-in clan boss, so he planned to get rid of Gang Hee-sung in that territory and steal the goods.
He postponed the payment deadline and, after some time, started causing a fuss claiming he wanted to find a younger brother he cared about. Territorial wolves would bare their teeth to ward off intruders for trivial reasons. The Gang-in clan boss would just curse his youngest for running off with the goods and let it go.
But if Yoon Chi-young was keeping Gang Hee-sung alive...

‘Is that cannibalistic wolf bastard threatening me?’
Since the bad deed happened in the wolf clan’s territory, it could be seriously offensive.
‘Still, there’s no way that psychopath would play with a dog.’

Park Gun-tae didn’t even imagine Yoon Chi-young feeling affection for Hee-sung. Even if he kept Hee-sung, it would only be as a toy to be discarded after some fun. Hee-sung’s personality was nasty anyway; he wasn’t someone to meet normally.
But even without affection, if Yoon Chi-young had Hee-sung, it was dangerous. If this plan was exposed, Park Gun-tae would become the wolves’ target.
In frustration, Park Gun-tae tried to get information through connections. Luckily, there was one madman who kept searching for Gang Hee-sung.

“Fuck, why are you asking me about Yoon Chi-young? Go get Gang Hee-sung yourself!”
It was Kwon Ki-hyuk, a talkative beastman.
Recently, with a cast on his right arm, he came to the gambling hall drunk, always searching for Gang Hee-sung. Every time, his eyes reddened wildly as if looking for his mortal enemy.

“Boss Kwon, I’m really desperate too...”
Park Gun-tae tried to soothe him gently in a room attached to the gambling hall.
Anyway, Kwon Ki-hyuk was close to Yoon Chi-young. Since he was madly searching for Gang Hee-sung, if he dropped a clue, he might provide information.

“Actually, our Hee-sung disappeared from the wolf clan’s territory this time. But no matter how much we try, we can’t find any trace...”
“From Yoon Chi-young’s territory, Gang Hee-sung?”
“Yes. The main body is a small white dog.”

“…….”
Kwon Ki-hyuk’s brows furrowed oddly. After a moment of thought, he drank another shot and asked,
“Is it possible for a full-grown adult’s main body to be a puppy?”

“Yes. Gang Hee-sung was especially small. The father was a Jindo dog, and the mother was a very small Maltese, I think...”
Park Gun-tae revealed Hee-sung’s lifelong secret without hesitation. His own neck was on the line, so he had to leak information somehow to get a clue.
Then Kwon Ki-hyuk chuckled.

“This is fucking ridiculous... Give me a pen.”
He found a pen and roughly sketched something on paper with his left hand. It was a sloppy drawing, roughly two potatoes stuck together. With folded ears attached, he showed the work to Park Gun-tae.
“Is the main body really this small?”

“…Yes.”
“Ha, fuck. Then it’s right.”
Kwon Ki-hyuk laughed as if he hadn’t thought of it before.

“Yoon Chi-young has recently started carrying around a small white puppy. A tiny dog limping on its back legs.”
“……!”
Then it was highly likely Gang Hee-sung. The client said they stabbed a knife into Gang Hee-sung’s thigh. Park Gun-tae felt a chill. Whatever Yoon Chi-young’s plan was, his scheme must not be revealed.

“Boss, if you tell us more in detail, we can…”
“If I tell you.”
Kwon Ki-hyuk arrogantly leaned back in his seat. Since his arm broke, he had grown particularly gaunt. He roughly crumpled the paper and said,

“When you get Gang Hee-sung back, sell him to me.”
“…….”
“I’ll give you all the info and whatever you want if you promise.”

At the edge of Park Gun-tae’s gaze, he saw the crumpled paper with the roughly drawn puppy. Though he cared about the younger brother, it wasn’t worth risking his life. And Park Gun-tae wanted to handle the matter cleanly, at least this last time.
Still, just in case, he asked,
“What do you intend to do with Gang Hee-sung?”

“Why?”
Kwon Ki-hyuk chewed on his snack and tilted his head in a rough manner. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his red gaze gleamed.