To Step Into the World (3)
Before I could even shake off the awkward atmosphere from the cafe or the strange warmth lingering from Yuri’s smile, Som greeted me the moment I stepped through the door.
“Oppa!!!”
I pulled her into my arms without thinking. Even while I’d been smiling and talking with Yuri, Som’s face had never left my mind. The instant her warm body pressed against mine, I realized it had never been just a fleeting image. Thinking of Yuri’s bright smile at the same time felt like betraying this blindly devoted creature.
Continuing to meet Yuri so clumsily was only giving her false hope. Yet giving up on the relationship entirely felt like cutting the rope and running away out of sheer cowardice. I was stuck in a dilemma, each foot sunk in a different swamp.
“Hmm… What are you thinking about while you’re hugging Som like this…?”
Som, still wrapped in my arms, lifted her head and stared straight up at me.
“Huh? Sorry, sorry. It’s nothing~”
“.... You smell like a bad female.”
She ignored my answer completely, burying her nose in my shirt and letting out a low growl.
“Som, you can’t say things like that…!”
Her animal instincts sometimes sent chills down my spine.
“Anyway, I brought a present for you. Aren’t you curious?”
I quickly changed the subject, pointing at the delivery boxes stacked by the entrance. Right. Time to push the complicated thoughts aside. Dealing with her came first.
As I tore open the packages one by one, a smile crept across my face at the thought of letting Som experience the world. She sniffed at the colorful objects she’d never seen before, equal parts wary and curious.
“Whoa… What is this??”
“This is a fairy tale book. Look, it has pretty pictures like this… and fun stories. I’ll read them to you later.”
“Whoa… Yes! Yes!”
Som’s entire body wiggled with excitement. I patted her head once before pulling out the next item.
“And this is… a Korean alphabet poster.”
“...Studying…?”
The sparkle in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a dull, fish-like stare. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.
“If you learn well… um… I’ll grant another wish you want.”
I tossed out the bait, half resigned at this point.
“Teach me!! Som wants to study! Right now… right now!!”
“...This kid really… Let’s clean up first.”
“Please grant Som’s wish…!!”
As expected, she had only one goal. I barely managed to calm her down and continued organizing. My once sparsely furnished studio apartment, which had only contained basic dog supplies, was rapidly transforming into something resembling a children’s goods store.
Among everything, the item that took up the most space was a pink dollhouse that didn’t suit the small one-room at all. Som seemed completely enchanted by the dollhouse I’d bought on a whim.
“It’s so pretty… Is this a house? Som’s house?”
“Yeah. It’s a house just for you! Want to build it together?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Following the instructions, we clumsily assembled the tiny plastic furniture. Som picked up two dolls with her inexperienced hands and laid them side by side on the miniature bed.
“Oppa! Look! This is the room for Oppa and Som! They’re stuck right next to each other, see?”
She looked exactly like an innocent child. But hidden within that purity was always something chilling.
“And on the front door, we’re going to put a hundred locks.”
She pointed at the small plastic door and declared it with deadly seriousness.
“That way… those bad women can never come in. This is a house for just Som and Oppa. Ehehehehehe…”
Where on earth had she learned about “locks”? Her words dripped with blind obsession. I felt both endeared and a shiver run down my spine at the same time. Still, good is good. What could I do? This month’s credit card bill would be tight, but seeing her smile so brightly made my heart feel full even if my wallet was empty.
“Come here, Som. I’ll read you a picture book now!”
“Really??! That sounds fun!!!”
The terrifying obsession she’d shown toward their “house for just the two of us” had vanished without a trace. She set the doll down and ran into my arms, burrowing against my chest. I leaned back against the floor, letting her rest against me. While wondering what to read, I picked the most famous one—Snow White.
“Once upon a time~ there lived a princess named Snow White~”
Using my heartbeat as a pillow, Som gazed at the colorful illustrations with sparkling eyes.
“One day, she ate an apple given by the evil witch…”
“The witch is bad!! Som will scold her!”
Watching her get so immersed and angry made me fight back laughter. I stroked her hair and turned the page.
“When the prince kissed the princess, she woke up! And so the prince and princess… lived happily ever after~”
Even after I closed the book, Som stayed quietly in my arms for a while, lost in thought. I simply smiled, finding her adorable.
“Oppa…”
“Yeah?”
“If someone kisses you… do you really wake up from sleep?”
“Huh? In the book… it seems so.”
I answered without thinking. At that moment, Som’s head shot up. Her black eyes were shining with frightening intensity—the same way they had when she declared the dollhouse was theirs alone, or when she guarded my scent-covered clothes.
“Heheheh… Understood, Prince…”
Seeing that strange yet bright smile, I suddenly realized what I had just done.
“Som…?”
“Oppa! Then Som will wake you up with a kiss every morning!”
“What was Rule Number One again…?”
“Kissing wakes you from sleep! It’s not licking! Kissing!”
It seemed Rule Number One had been completely erased from her mind. She looked at me with eyes that said just wait until you wake up. I stared at the remaining books on the shelf—Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid—with a horrified gaze and let out a deep sigh. I seriously considered selling them.
The next morning, what woke me wasn’t the familiar whimpering I’d grown used to over the past few days.
Chu.
A soft, squishy sensation on my forehead.
Chu.
This time it was my cheek.
I frowned in my half-asleep state. As if waiting for that exact moment, a wet, rough tongue swept around my lips.
“Slurp…”
“Som…!”
I opened my eyes in surprise, only to find her bright face filling my entire field of vision.
“You’re awake? See? It really works when I kiss you!”
She looked down at me with the proudest expression in the world, as if she had successfully cast the “magic spell” she learned from the fairy tale last night.
“Rule Number One… no licking…”
“This isn’t licking! It’s kissing! Like the prince does!”
“That was still licking!”
“But this is the fastest way!!”
The word “rule” itself seemed to have lost all meaning. Ignoring me completely, Som pressed another kiss to my cheek while shouting, “Master is awake!” like a victory cry.
“Sigh… Yeah. I’m up.”
I eventually sat up, wiping my wet cheek with the back of my hand. I tried hard to erase the unfamiliar sensation from my mind. That hadn’t been a dog’s tongue. It had clearly been the touch of lips.
…I must be crazy. What am I thinking about Som for?
I ruffled her hair with a bitter smile. At this rate, I worried she might eventually demand that I kiss her awake while she was sleeping instead. Her black eyes, looking up at me, sparkled with the same expectation they’d held while reading the fairy tale last night.
…It probably wasn’t such an impossible worry after all.
After breakfast, I sat Som down in front of the Korean alphabet poster spread out on the living room floor.
“Come here, Som. We have to study too, right?”
“Huh?? Study…?”
Her face, which had been happily eating just moments ago, instantly turned sullen. As if I could read her mind, I threw out the bait.
“Hmm… I guess Som doesn’t need a wish anymore. No kiss then…”
“Ehh! No! Som will study! Teach me!”
Seeing how simple and easy she was to handle, I couldn’t help but laugh. I sat beside her and pointed at the first character.
“Okay, Som. This is ‘gieuk.’ Gieuk. Can you try?”
“Gi… gieuk…?”
She rolled the unfamiliar sound on her tongue and repeated after me.
“Good job, Som! And this is ‘nieun’…”
Using every gesture I could, I explained the Korean alphabet as earnestly as if teaching a child about the world for the first time. What surprised me was Som’s reaction. She learned far more enjoyably and quickly than I had expected.
“Wow… Som’s really good at this?”
“Hehet… Thank you…”
When I vigorously stroked her head, she wiggled her whole body with joy as if wagging a tail. Thankfully, my clumsy efforts hadn’t been in vain.
By reading books to her, teaching her letters, and letting her experience new things, it seemed other elements besides “me” were slowly entering her world. I quietly looked down at Som, who was nestled in my arms and murmuring the newly learned and in fascination.
Yes, this was the beginning. If her world gradually, bit by bit, filled with broader things instead of only me, then maybe someday that suffocating obsession would ease a little.
I held onto that faint yet desperate hope.
That was exactly when it happened.
Som, who had been quietly studying the letters in my arms, suddenly lifted her head.
“But Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
Her black eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“What about the wish..?? Hehehe.”
“You…”
I stared blankly at the face that looked so innocent yet burned with desire. Then I could only ruffle her hair and laugh helplessly.