The Dog Grass Birthday Party
I’ll teach you how to throw a dog-grass birthday party. Following the instructions of the man who introduced himself as Kim Hyunwoo, we managed to hold one. I hadn’t thought it necessary, but we did it for Levinas.
“Yum yum.” Levinas accepted the food someone offered her. I hated taking anything for free, so I pulled some pocket money from my bag. Twenty thousand won. Money I could spend however I liked. I immediately held out the crumpled bill to Kim Hyunwoo, but he waved his hands in refusal.
“Money’s fine.”
“But the food…”
“It’s okay. Just showing up for someone’s birthday is enough to make them happy.”
I understood what he meant, yet that only applied to people who brought gifts. It felt strange that we, who hadn’t brought anything, were being welcomed so warmly.
Maybe money makes him uncomfortable. Giving cash as a birthday present probably did feel awkward. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a fresh roll of tape. It could fix anything that was broken—an essential item for life.
“Then please take this as a gift.”
“Tape?”
“Yes. It’s useful when clothes tear or something.”
“Hey, that’s pretty good. Thanks.”
Kim Hyunwoo accepted the tape with a smile. I was glad he liked it.
“King, King.”
Tap tap—Levinas, sitting beside me, poked my shoulder. The moment I turned, she shoved a piece of salad into my mouth.
“It’s delicious grass! You should eat some too, King!”
“Okay.”
Because she was a herbivorous beastkin, she loved vegetables the most. Even though I was a carnivorous beastkin, I ate the greens she gave me with genuine enjoyment.
“King, why do we eat tasty things on birthdays anyway?”
“To celebrate the day we were born.”
“I see.”
Crunch crunch—Levinas nibbled on chicory like she was playing the Pocky game, her front teeth working steadily. After stuffing the green leaves into her mouth, she tilted her head.
“But why celebrate the day you were born?”
“Because it’s special…?”
“Huh? Why is the day you were born special?”
Why was the day you were born special? It was a surprisingly profound question—one I couldn’t answer, since I knew nothing about philosophy.
“I don’t really know either. Why is a birthday special?”
I looked around to see if anyone else had the answer, but for some reason everyone I met eyes with quickly glanced away. The only one who spoke was Kim Hyunwoo, the birthday boy himself.
“Levinas, what do you think it would’ve been like if there was no winter?”
“Hic…!”
A cherry tomato slipped from Levinas’s hand and fell to the ground. Her face looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
“King would disappear?!”
“No, not actually disappear. I’m just saying, for example.”
Kim Hyunwoo hurriedly corrected himself.
“It would be so sad! Rain made of sadness would pour down inside Levinas!”
“Right? That’s why we say thank you for being born and celebrate.”
“······!”
Levinas’s eyes widened wider than I’d ever seen them. She looked as though she’d just received a great revelation.
“King! Thank you for being born!”
“Yeah. You too, Levinas.”
Hehe. Her tail wagged as usual. From now on, it might not be so bad to remember other people’s birthdays.
**
After the birthday party ended, we returned home. Han Yeoreum was stroking Saebyeok’s head while the black-haired girl lay sprawled across the sofa, purring contentedly.
“You’re back?”
“Yes.”
I washed my hands and feet, then sat down beside Han Yeoreum. Levinas hopped up and settled herself on Han Yeoreum’s lap.
“What were you two doing outside?”
“We were going to plant carrots, but we ended up joining a birthday party instead.”
“A-a birthday party…?”
Han Yeoreum’s hand, which had been petting Saebyeok, froze. Her brown eyes trembled.
“Yes. We even ate cake together.”
“R-really? Whose birthday was it today…?”
Thump thump. I could hear Han Yeoreum’s heartbeat. It sounded rougher than usual, as if she’d been startled.
“It wasn’t anyone’s birthday we knew. Some people having a party in the park let us join in.”
“Ah…”
With a long sigh of relief, Han Yeoreum’s body slid limply backward. Levinas, who had been sitting on her lap, tumbled onto the floor.
“Kik kik.”
Fun. So fun. Levinas immediately hopped back onto Han Yeoreum’s lap, asking for it to happen again.
“Winter, when is your birthday again?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Y-you don’t?”
“No. I don’t know when I was born.”
More precisely, I didn’t know when this body had been born. That was why I couldn’t celebrate its birthday.
“Hmm… Then how about we make the day we first got close your birthday?”
“The day we got close?”
“Yeah.”
When was that again? I searched my memory. It had to be the day the horned rabbit stabbed me in the stomach.
“You mean the day I got my stomach pierced?”
“Ah, no! Not that day!”
Han Yeoreum shouted loud enough to make me jump. My ears and tail drooped in surprise.
“Then when…?”
“Do you remember the day you first opened your eyes at the guild?”
“Ah…”
She meant the day I transformed into a beastkin. It was a monumental day—like being born again. Making it my birthday wouldn’t be so bad.
“Do you think you can wait until next year?”
“No, it’s fine. I’m good at waiting.”
“Right. You are.”
Hehe. Han Yeoreum smiled happily. Seeing everyone at home happy made my own mood brighten.
“Yeoreum! Stretch your legs forward!”
Pat pat—Levinas tapped Han Yeoreum’s thigh. Han Yeoreum extended her leg diagonally.
“Like this?”
“Yes!”
Levinas slid down her leg like it was a slide. I felt proud of Levinas, who could always find something fun no matter the situation.
“Fun?”
“Yeah! Yeoreum is a total playground! She can even be a slide!”
“How did you know? Big sis is actually a playground human.”
“Hic! Does Yeoreum have a swing too?!”
“Of course.”
Han Yeoreum stood up from the sofa and lifted Levinas high into the air. She swung her back and forth like a swing while walking around the house. Saebyeok immediately pressed herself against my side.
Purrrr—Saebyeok curled up and let out a cat-like sound. I stroked her head in Han Yeoreum’s place.
“Saebyeok seems more like a cat than I do.”
“The adults made me this way.”
“The adults?”
What kind of adults would change Saebyeok’s body like that? I’d thought it would be rude to ask, but I was genuinely curious.
“They tried to make a body similar to yours, but they didn’t fully understand beastkin traits. So they just added cat instincts instead.”
“Ah…”
They’d added cat habits because they thought it would be similar. That explained why she seemed more cat-like than me.
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve actually become a cat.”
“Does it bother you that you have things you didn’t have before?”
“It’s fine. Everyone likes it.”
That was true. Saebyeok’s cat-like aloofness was part of her charm. If she was okay with it, then it wasn’t a bad thing at all.
“Saebyeok, want to try an experiment?”
“An experiment?”
“Yeah. I think we should figure out how strong your cat instincts are.”
If we knew her instincts in advance, we could prevent accidents. Saebyeok seemed to understand and nodded.
“But what kind of experiment?”
“First, this.”
I pulled a stalk of dog grass from my bag—one of several I’d picked by the roots to eat. I waved it gently in front of Saebyeok’s face.
Swish swish—
Her vertical pupils began to widen into perfect circles.
Whoa. Did my pupils do that too? I’d have to check in a mirror later. While thinking that, I kept waving the grass.
“······!”
Saebyeok’s head followed the dog grass left and right at an alarming speed. Her arms stayed pressed to her chest in her prone position, and her legs tensed slightly, ready to pounce at any moment. If someone as strong as her suddenly lunged, it would be dangerous. I worried for a second, but thankfully she didn’t attack. She only tapped the grass lightly with her curled fists, just like a cat.
“Hehe.”
She really looked like a cat. No, not like one—she was a cat right now. Feeling a little mischievous, I brushed the grass against the spot between her eyebrows.
That was when Han Yeoreum returned from the kitchen.
“What are you two doing?”
“We’re doing an experiment.”
“An experiment?”
“Yes. I heard Saebyeok has cat instincts.”
“Is that so…?”
Han Yeoreum trailed off and stared at my tail. It was standing upright and swaying gently, exactly like a cat’s.
It wasn’t just like a cat’s tail. It was a cat’s tail.
“…I have some instincts too, but Saebyeok’s are stronger.”
“Really? Don’t you two look similar?”
“I don’t think so…?”
Did other people see me the same way they saw Saebyeok? I got excited about fish, but I didn’t react to moving objects like this. Feeling wronged, I looked up at Han Yeoreum—only for Levinas, still held in her arms, to kick her legs back and forth.
“Levinas too! Levinas too!”
“Levinas too?”
“Yeah! Levinas wants dog grass too!”
Since I had plenty, I pulled out another stalk and waved it in front of her face. Still held under the arms by Han Yeoreum, Levinas swung her head left and right, following the grass.
“Levinas is a horned rabbit, but she looks like a cat.”
“I guess she’s just playing.”
Tap tap—I gently poked Levinas’s nose with the grass. Just as I tried to touch her lips too, she bit down on the stalk.
Nom nom nom—
The entire stalk of dog grass disappeared into Levinas’s mouth. Even the leaves attached to it were gone. She hadn’t been playing—she’d been trying to eat it. Han Yeoreum and I could only stare blankly at Levinas as she chewed.