Chapter 197: Orientation
The setting of this novel is Earth in a parallel universe.
[Seo A-jeong’s Point of View]
“Is that Jeong-mi’s villa over there?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I parked in the space marked for the owner’s unit near the villa entrance.
“No elevator, right?”
“No.”
I wanted to see his room on the fourth floor too, but I’d already spent too much time at school. I’d walked all the way back near Sinchon Station and then come here—it was already 3:10. I was supposed to meet Hyeong-cheol at 4:30, and factoring in a stop at the pet shop, there simply wasn’t time.
“Then let’s just drop the luggage at your place for now.”
Jumi’s studio was on the first floor, so I decided to leave the clothes there for the time being. She nodded and got out. When I opened the trunk she pulled the suitcase free and headed into the building.
Not just Hyeong-cheol…
Right after I’d hung up on Hye-yun’s call at dawn, Jini’s voice had spoken in my head. Inside my bag was a certain collar; once I bought a dog, I was to press four scrolls against it. A simple mission. I was glad I didn’t have to paste the scrolls on my little brother himself, though I wondered why four were necessary. Still, I didn’t bother questioning it.
—Any man who comes into contact with that puppy will automatically be exposed to the scrolls. Up to four of them.
Jumi made two more trips before I heard the trunk slam shut.
Clack.
Then she climbed into the passenger seat beside me.
“Poppy. I’m going to give you one piece of advice. As your old best friend.”
“Yes…? Yes, ma’am.”
Jumi sat up straight, tense, watching me.
“You know Kang Ho, right? The one who gave you the tattoo.”
“Yes…? Yes. Teacher Kang Ho. I know him.”
Ian had said there was no longer any need to hide things and that I could start revealing them one by one. So I gave my best friend a sincere warning.
“Kang Ho is Master’s clone.”
“What?!!! That’s… ah… so that’s why, even though it was just a tattoo, he had me completely naked…”
She started in shock, then suddenly nodded as if it made sense. There were so many strange things already that she seemed ready to accept it at once.
“There are a lot of women over there, aren’t there?”
“Yes… S-surely not? Are some of them going to be cut loose that way, ma’am?”
Fear filled her face. I gave a soft snort of laughter and nodded, then reached out and stroked her hair. Relief slowly returned to Jumi’s expression.
“Mm. Once Master gets back from America he’s thinking of making one more clone and… cleaning out the bitches. Starting with that big maternal aunt and the second maternal aunt. You and Pomi and Posuni are a little at risk too.”
“M-ma’am. I don’t want that. Master… to Master…”
Her eyes welled up. Oddly, it sent a thrill through me. I smiled brightly and reassured her.
“Don’t worry. You’re Master’s personal female… rabbit, and you used to be my best friend. I don’t know about Pomi and Posuni, but I’ll talk to Master and make sure you don’t get separated and sent away.”
“Ma…’am. Thank you.”
“So at school you’ll have to do all the things I can’t bring myself to do. You understand? Everything Master wants. Forget shame and all that…”
“Yes… ma’am.”
Stroke, stroke.
Jumi’s eyes lit with fierce resolve. She nodded. I smiled, started the engine again, and pulled away.
Through the Geumran Tunnel and all the way to the apartment shopping strip she stayed quiet, clearly turning a lot over in her mind. Normally she would have been chattering nonstop.
I parked in front of the pet shop in the commercial block beneath the apartments.
“Jumi, wait here. I’ll go buy the puppies first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Through the glass I could see mostly small breeds—Chihuahuas, Pomeranians.
Hmm… if that’s all they have, it won’t do.
Hye-yun had mentioned Golden Retrievers, and I needed an extra-large breed to hand over to Hyeong-cheol. Nothing but toy dogs was on display.
Go inside. I’ve already taken care of everything.
Ah… yes.
At Jini’s words I glanced once at empty air, then stepped into the pet shop. A woman in her thirties greeted me warmly.
“Welcome.”
“Hello.”
She had been cleaning cages; she set down her tools, wiped her hands with a tissue, and came over.
“Looking to adopt a puppy?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of two female Golden Retrievers. And my father’s place wants a larger pair—male and female. Do you have anything like that?”
She nodded and walked toward the back of the shop.
“Follow me. We usually only stock small and medium breeds, but we took some in yesterday. Ah—our shop only rehomes dogs from local residents. We don’t get them from puppy mills or anything like that, so don’t worry.”
“All right.”
Past the counter deeper inside, two cages sat on a desk. A pair of golden Golden Retrievers, and spotted puppies that looked like Dalmatians.
“Wow, they’re big.”
“Of course. The Retrievers are large breeds too, but these Great Danes grow to nearly seventy centimeters at the withers. And both of these ones come from parent dogs a full meter high at the shoulder… so they’re on the bigger side even among them.”
A meter?
I couldn’t quite picture it. But looking at them, the white coats with black spots were pretty, and the drooping black ears were charming.
“They’re called Great Danes?”
“Yes. Germany’s national dog.”
“Are these two from the same parents?”
“Ah, no. You can see the size difference, right? The bigger one’s the male, the smaller the female. The male was born a few days earlier. There’s apparently a club for Great Dane owners; the previous people got them through that, but living in an apartment they just couldn’t manage… so different parents for each.”
“How long until they’re full-grown?”
“Hmm… by six months they’re already bigger than most other puppies. But you do have a yard, right? They’re large breeds…”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t as if this was a part-time job. If needed, Father had money; we could move to a house.
The owner nodded and watched me look over the dogs.
“I’ll take all four.”
“Ah. Of course. And just a moment.”
She brought out paperwork, filled it in briefly, then handed me booklets covering breed-specific care points, feeding, and so on. She carried the two cages out, loaded them into the back seat, swapped the Great Danes onto a new collar, and I pressed the four scrolls against it.
The scrolls vanished. I closed the cages again.
After parking, Jumi waited in the car while I sat in the Boong-boong waiting for Hyeong-cheol.
When I think about it, it’s strange. My feelings toward my little brother have been wiped this cleanly…
Maybe because I’d been hit with one shocking experience after another in a single day, every scrap of affection for him had simply disappeared. No—more than disappeared. I’d been so thoroughly assimilated into Ian that the thought of how to torment Hyeong-cheol further actually gave me a thrill. That was all he had become to me.
Then someone came down from above, and at first I didn’t even realize it was Hyeong-cheol. The appearance was too shocking.
That child is…
Wearing my clothes. Whether it was a wig or not, the hair now fell to the shoulders in a bob, and the coat over my dress made the whole look so natural that there was zero sense of wrongness—completely a girl. Only the shoes didn’t match; white sneakers.
…What on earth happened in a single day…
Master had given me a heads-up, but it was still so jarring that no words came out.
He—no, she—came close and, with a surly expression, held out a bag.
“Noona. Here. Laptop and digital camera. Everything’s inside.”
“Uh… yeah. But your outfit?”
“Hm? This? I feel like I’ve finally found my identity.”
“Ah… c-congratulations.”
I was too flustered. And the bright smile when Hyeong-cheol said the identity had been found didn’t sit well with me. This was starting to feel less like punishment and more like a reward.
“Noona. Can I alter your clothes so they fit me better?”
“Sure. Take them all.”
“Really? …Thanks.”
“But are you okay? You kept saying you were hearing weird voices. So I wondered if maybe…”
“Ah. I’m fine. Ever since the monk came by yesterday. That bastard Ian… anyway, tell him thanks.”
“You know? That I’m with Ian?”
“Yeah. Mom… too. When I saw Mom’s video I wanted to kill him. Damn it. But he helped get that treated… still doesn’t mean I like the guy.”
“Mom’s video?”
“The sex video of Mom and that bastard. Noona, you’re with Ian together with Mom, right? Aren’t you?”
Hyeong-cheol’s displeased face, a flicker of anger underneath. Seeing that, I was glad I’d prepared the dog beside me. Still a long way to go.
“Yeah. Mom and I are going to file the marriage registration with Ian. I’m heading straight to the district office after this.”
“Fuck… haah… fine. So you’re not coming home, then?”
The anger shifted into something anxious the moment the question of not coming home came up. As if not coming home was the condition for putting up with our relationship.
“Why shouldn’t I come home? I thought it was weird you asked me to meet at the playground today…”
“Th-that’s later. I got a boyfriend. We’re going to live together.”
“What? And Dad?”
I already knew. Still, I asked after Father’s well-being just to confirm.
“Dad too… once the divorce with Mom is finalized, he’s going to marry. My boyfriend’s friend.”
“…Haah, whatever. Then I’m never going home… so take these and raise them. The environment for raising these kids, and if four guys live in an apartment the rumors will get filthy, so move somewhere like a residential complex.”
Only then did Hyeong-cheol’s eyes drop to the cage by my left foot. The two Great Dane puppies were asleep inside.
“What’s with the puppies?”
“You always wanted a dog. Mom was against it. I went to buy one for our place, thought of you, and got these. Figured it might feel lonely with only two of you at home.”
Hyeong-cheol showed interest, then crouched and lifted the cage.
“Whoa. Great Danes? And almost purebred-looking? Noona, how did you even get these? I heard pure ones are hard to come by even through rehoming among people who know each other. Something this close to purebred.”
Liked them.
In that instant a tremendous thrill raced through my entire body.
Dad and those two Pakistani foreigners were targets too. Part of Jini’s mission.
Not a single scrap of feeling for Father remained either. He had been nothing more than an obstacle that got in the way of my love.
“Lucky break. Someone at the pet shop just up the street said they couldn’t keep them in an apartment and dropped them off. I went looking for Golden Retrievers and saw these, so I bought them.”
“Thanks, Noona. I was wanting something like a Cane Corso or Great Dane anyway.”
A bright smile.
Then the pet-shop owner’s warning came back to me, so I passed it on to Hyeong-cheol—and added something extra.
“Don’t do the ear-cropping surgery. Just treat any ear infections if they come up. And no neutering either.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t do cosmetic surgeries like that. And if they have pups I’m going to raise all of them too.”
“Really? That’s good. Then later, can you give me a few of the females among ‘the ones you birth’?”
I deliberately lowered my voice on the “ones you birth” part so it wouldn’t carry clearly.
“Huh? Sure, whatever.”
“Then I’ve given what I was going to give and taken what I was going to take, so I’ll go. But isn’t today your OT?”
“I only have to show up for the new-student welcome. Right now I just want to stay home.”
“Okay. Call if anything comes up.”
“Yeah. Noona, go ahead. I’ll look at these little guys a bit longer before I leave.”
Hyeong-cheol couldn’t take eyes off the puppies. The moment a hand slipped into the cage to stroke the male, Hyeong-cheol’s body lit up.
I turned away so the grotesque smile of pure exhilaration wouldn’t be seen.
Mission complete. Seo A-jeong, two adjustments to your talent are now available. Tell Kim Ian—he will understand.
But somehow this feels like a reward for Hyeong-cheol…
The thought that it was a harsh punishment for the other three and a prize for Hyeong-cheol left a sour taste.
I watched Jumi get out and open the driver’s door for me, snorted a quiet laugh, and shook the thought away.