Birthday (2)
Birthday (2)
"Seong-hwan-ah, did you buy all of this?"
"I grabbed everything I could see."
After loading everything into the trunk, I peered into the cage on the back seat.
It seemed completely unaware of what was going on, lying flat on its stomach with its eyes closed, trying to sleep.
At two months old, it was still at the age where it needed a lot of sleep.
"Still, you got everything we need..."
"Because I studied hard."
"Really? Then what's this?"
A-ra was testing me, making sure I hadn't just bought things without asking the employee about the essentials.
I confidently told her what she was holding.
"Heartworm medication."
"And this?"
"Poop bags."
It was still a long way off, but we'd be able to walk together along the apartment's interior paths someday, wouldn't we?
Because even though Pomeranians are small dogs, they still need walks.
As if realizing I was a man who'd thought of everything,
A-ra closed the trunk door and got into the driver's seat.
"I'll drive, so you sit in the back and watch the puppy."
"Thanks."
I'd wanted to stay by its side
because it might get scared once the car started moving.
As expected, A-ra understood my feelings well.
*
I opened the door to the small room next to the master bedroom.
Even calling it small just meant it was small compared to the other rooms;
this room alone was quite large, nearly 6 pyeong.
"Should we use this room?"
"It's great because it's right next to the master bedroom."
Since we had many unused rooms, we could give this puppy an entire room and still have plenty left over.
If this were the house I used to live in, I would have made a walk-in closet or something next to the master bedroom,
but after moving into the penthouse, there was a large separate dressing room inside the master bedroom, so this room had been sitting completely empty.
Was the only thing in there a small TV and a Switch or something?
It was practically my personal room.
"Right? But is it better to sleep together when they're young?"
"From what I researched, it's not recommended. They said you need to let them adapt first."
Puppies need to be separated to adapt to a new environment and need time alone.
Holding them and doting on them should be done when they're awake, not while they're sleeping—that's more than enough.
On top of that, there are many cases of puppies being crushed to death while cute owners try to sleep in the same bed with them.
I didn't even want to imagine something like that happening.
"A parent's heart is naturally torn apart with pain...."
"You thought it through well."
After making the room nice and warm, I laid mats across the entire floor so it wouldn't be slippery.
Because babies can injure their cartilage if they slip, mats are absolutely essential.
And finally, I placed a cushion in a corner.
I washed the food and water bowls clean and set them down, then set up the fence we'd bought earlier to a suitable size.
It was a fence that could be separated and arranged into any shape, which was why it sold so well,
and we really had been recommended a good product.
One might ask why we needed a fence if we were giving it a whole room anyway,
but I wasn't putting up a fence to confine this little one.
I was going to keep the door open at all times and let it explore the house to its heart's content.
The fence was merely to create a territory it could call its own home.
"Then shall we take it out of the cage..."
With a trembling heart, I released the latch on the cage.
And I gently opened the door, coaxing the puppy to come outside.
"Baby, come on out."
"It's not coming out?"
"It's still anxious because it's a new environment."
"It's not because it's scared of you, Seong-hwan?"
What was my wife saying about her rabbit-like husband?
Wondering why it wouldn't come out, I peered inside the cage once.
"Ah, there you are."
The moment it arrived at its new home, it was fast asleep inside the cage.
Was it highly adaptable?
***
Leaving the puppy, which had been sleeping soundly since day one, alone for the moment,
we called Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho over to decide on a name.
By now, even with A-ra nearby, the two of them had gotten used to it and no longer felt awkward.
Considering how chaotic things had been at the beginning of last year, it really felt like a completely different era.
So the four of us—me, A-ra, Jeong Hwan-yi, and Lee Min-ho—sat on the floor of the room where the puppy was snoozing away,
pondering the puppy's name.
"Our family dog's name is Taeng-gu, so I don't think I'll be much help."
"I think it's cute, though?"
"It's a name my older sisters gave it, so it's got that female touch, you know."
It didn't seem that strange to me...
Well, it definitely didn't seem to suit a Pomeranian.
Wouldn't it be cute if you gave a name like that to a dog like a pug?
"Then how about something like Cotton Candy?"
This time, A-ra suggested a name.
Cotton Candy, huh...
"Wouldn't it be a bit hard to call out? Cotton Candy-i? Candy-i?"
"Hmm... you're right."
Usually, when you call a name often, one or two syllables is most convenient.
Even with a person's name, doesn't it feel awkward and stiff for no reason when you say their full name, surname included?
In the end, Lee Min-ho couldn't come up with any name and was just staring into the cage.
Actually, we had lied and told them to come see the puppy,
then called them over to ask for naming help, so the two of them must have been dying to see the puppy.
"Oh? I think it's waking up?"
"Really?"
The puppy, which had been fast asleep until just moments ago, woke up and did something resembling grooming,
then looked at the open door and started coming outside.
Considering there was a cat in the room right next to it at the shelter,
I wondered if it had watched and learned.
"Wow.. how many months old is this little one?"
"They said about two months, and that it was returned once."
"Returned....? Sigh....."
Since Jeong Hwan-yi also raised a dog, hearing the word 'returned' made her sigh.
It wasn't even an adult dog, just a young puppy who'd already been returned—she must have been dumbfounded.
"But considering that, it follows people really well."
"The shelter worker was someone animals loved... but are you sure that's following you well?"
The sight of it biting Lee Min-ho's finger and refusing to let go—
in what world was that following someone well?
Far from following him well, it looked like it was going to bite his finger off.
"If it's only biting Lee Min-ho's finger—and he's cursed to be hated by animals—it's actually gentle and nice."
"Oh..... a skill holder."
"There they go again, getting all excited amongst themselves and making things up? This is all just acting spoiled because it likes me, I'm telling you."
Looking at the gentle, sweet baby puppy growling and biting his finger without letting go,
how in the world did he arrive at the answer that it was all just acting spoiled because it liked him?
"Baby, if you keep that in your mouth, it hurts."
"Hey."
"Oh dear..."
I gently opened its mouth, removed the finger, and held it gently in my arms.
Just like when it stayed calmly in my arms at the shelter, it stayed calm at home too, looking ready to close its eyes at any moment—it was truly like a baby.
"I can't tell if it follows you well, or if it really hates Lee Min-ho."
"Really? A-ra noona, try holding it."
"Uh.. uhh..."
A-ra took the little one, lying quietly with its eyes closed, and held it in her arms.
I never dreamed that a living being other than me would end up in A-ra's arms...
"It's cute..."
"She's your daughter, noona."
"Daughter...."
A-ra's face suddenly flushed red, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Seeing that, Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho chuckled and rose from their seats.
"Hey, we're heading out now."
"You have to name it."
"A child's name is something a married couple decides together. Well then, A-ra-nim, we'll be going now."
As the mood between the two of us gradually shifted in that direction,
they seemed to be considerately making themselves scarce.
"Right, we need to name it soon."
"Lil' One...."
She'd said it so quietly to herself that I barely heard it,
but it seemed she had decided on a name for the puppy.
"Huh?"
"How about Lil' One?"
Was it because it was wriggling and squirming in A-ra's arms?
It seemed just right and cute for a puppy's name, so I didn't think it was bad at all.
"Lil' One is nice. It's cute too."
"Right?"
Only then did A-ra set the puppy down from her arms, lying on her stomach to look into the puppy's eyes.
She stared at it for a long time, as if wondering what it wanted to do, and then it let out a loud 'Woof!'
"Noona, do you like the puppy too?"
"N...no I don't..."
"Oh, that's a lie. If that weren't true, the behavior I've been seeing since you were sitting a moment ago would be inexplicable."
"Th...that was, because you said she was my daughter..."
Her face turned as red as a carrot, and she finally covered it with both hands.
It wasn't just the puppy that was cute—my wife was becoming just as cute, if not more so.
"Looking at it now, noona is cuter than Lil' One."
"C...calling a woman 'cute'... you shouldn't do that..."
"What's wrong with that?"
Leaving the puppy, which had gone back into its cage and started falling asleep again, I firmly grabbed A-ra's wrist.
And I pulled her sharply, guiding her to tumble right into my arms.
"Ugh.. I'm embarrassed."
"You're in your husband's arms, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
"B...but Seong-hwan, you get embarrassed when you're held in my arms too!"
"That's only when we're outside. At home, I'm not embarrassed at all."
The problem was that A-ra tried to hug me at all times and places.
I never disliked it when she did it at home.
In fact, even when she did it outside, it was just embarrassing—
I absolutely did not dislike it.
"Shall we let the puppy sleep like this, and noona head to the master bedroom with me?"
"Uuuhh....."
In the end, though she was too embarrassed to speak, she nodded her head.
Calling someone so cute I wanted to lick them—wasn't that the highest praise I could only use for my A-ra Noona?
I held her hand and went into the master bedroom.
What happened afterward, I'll leave to your imagination.