Proficient Even at Dog Massage
I had somehow become proficient even at dog massage.
The moment I started working on him, Hodu flopped onto his belly as if nothing had ever been wrong and stopped that frantic panting. Heat still rose from his body, but he clearly felt good.
Han Seoyeon, who had been nothing but suspicious at first, quietly watched the whole thing unfold.
Around the time I had cleared most of the red spots, I found a purple one on the nape of Hodu’s neck.
Dogs have complexes too…? This really is some kind of dog plague.
I figured I could use this as well.
“Has Hodu ever had any bad habits? Or something you don’t see in other dogs?”
I asked while carefully examining the nape. The butler answered in Han Seoyeon’s place.
“Hodu has never barked once since he was a puppy.”
A dog that couldn’t bark. All he knew how to do was pant. A large retriever with zero ability to guard the house. Of course the poor guy would think of it as a complex.
From the owner’s perspective, a silent dog might even be convenient. But maybe that complex stress was the decisive reason Hodu had gotten hurt in the first place.
“Treatment starts with finding the root. Hodu’s self-esteem has dropped quite low. Did you know that?”
This time I looked straight at Han Seoyeon instead of the butler. She gave a small nod, as if something had clicked.
“Because of that, Hodu was terrified he might be abandoned at any moment. So even with an injured leg, he dragged himself around trying to look healthy in front of his owner.”
“Ho… Hodu…”
Han Seoyeon’s eyes instantly welled up. Realizing that the dog she had only ever thought of as cute and healthy had been carrying that kind of pain clearly hit her hard.
Whether my deduction was right or wrong didn’t matter. I had just laid down a pretty solid story.
From now on, anything I said would carry the weight of an expert’s words.
“Starting today, Hodu will begin to bark.”
Apparently even an expert’s words only go so far.
Han Seoyeon wiped her damp eyes with her sleeve and gave a hollow little laugh.
“It won’t work. I’ve taken him to every famous veterinarian. They all said it was congenital—impossible. I don’t even know how many clinics we visited. And still, impossible.”
“…”
I said nothing and simply kept rubbing Hodu’s nape in slow circles.
Hodu must have felt good again; he stuck out that huge tongue and suddenly licked the wrist I was using to massage him.
Look at this little bastard.
His eyes were brighter and more sparkling than when he looked at the butler—like he knew I was the one healing him. Looking closer, those eyes were clear and pretty. The nose, the big sturdy jaw… this was a handsome dog. A real looker.
He must have been charming the ladies left and right.
While my mind wandered, I finished clearing every last purple spot from his nape.
The surface that had been burning hot gradually cooled until it returned to normal body temperature.
Hodu suddenly scrambled to his feet—but instead of running to his owner, he planted both front paws on my thighs and started frantically licking every part of me he could reach.
I hated being covered in dog drool, but I was aware of Han Seoyeon’s gaze, so I forced a smile.
“He’s healthy again…”
The butler murmured in astonishment. Han Seoyeon still wore a look of pure disbelief.
I scratched Hodu all over, repeating “pretty boy, pretty boy.”
And then, at some point—
Woof! Woof!
A huge sound burst from Hodu’s mouth.
I hadn’t even been sure it was actually possible, so goosebumps raced over my whole body when he barked. Imagine how the owner and butler felt.
Han Seoyeon was so startled her legs gave out and she sat down hard. The butler just stood there gaping. On her knees, Han Seoyeon tightly hugged Hodu’s waist while he happily woof-woofed away.
“Oh my god… oh my god… Hodu, Hodu! You can bark now!”
I wanted to swagger like crazy on the inside, but I held it in.
The moment Han Seoyeon came close, her scent washed over me.
She was completely absorbed in Hodu and had no idea where I was looking, but I was staring straight down the valley of her bent-over chest. The clothes weren’t loose enough for a clear view, yet the volume and sensuality still came through at a glance.
They say you see as much as you know. Lately I had seen plenty of naked women with great bodies, so even that thin glimpse of cleavage was enough for me to roughly picture her entire silhouette. And even if it hadn’t been that good, I could just imagine whatever I wanted.
Either way, my little buddy reacted instantly. That was how good Han Seoyeon’s body was.
“Ahem… Madam, your posture…”
The butler must have noticed where my eyes were; he cleared his throat pointedly.
What came back was a sharp retort.
“You think posture matters right now? Hodu barked! Hodu!”
Then she turned those sparkling eyes on me.
“Are you the Second Coming of Jesus? God Himself? How is something like this even possible?”
Honestly, I had no idea either.
I shook my head and quickly cooked up an explanation.
“A human body and an animal body are different, yet they share a similar framework. The important thing is that everything is organically connected. Twisted muscles, contracted fascia—no abnormal phenomenon exists without a cause.”
After I finished speaking, I looked at Han Seoyeon’s body quite openly.
She had just heard my words, so she didn’t find it strange. If anything, she seemed to push whatever I looked at farther forward—chest when I looked at her chest, hips when I looked at her hips.
This ability of mine… it really came in handy.
Even though she was quite a few years older than me, Han Seoyeon was a beauty anyone would recognize. Shame she had a husband. In the past I would have envied that husband; now I didn’t. If a woman like this were my wife, I’d be the one fretting that some guy like me might latch onto her.
Because from this moment on, I fully intended to see this woman naked.
I held no personal grudge against her husband. A man’s instincts simply refuse to be controlled at will.
I propped my chin on one hand, enjoying the view, then spoke to her.
“In your case, Ms. Han Seoyeon, it’s clear you’ve been taking excellent care of yourself.”
“Really?”
Han Seoyeon twisted her waist this way and that, looking proud. Damn, she really knew how to move that waist.
She was a funny woman. At first she had been half-doubting, half-furious, completely dismissing me—and now she was even doing cute little poses in front of me.
“That doesn’t mean there are no problems at all. If a meaningless dot appears on a drawing already full of pictures, no one notices. But put a single dot on pure white paper and it jumps right out. You may possess perfect beauty, Ms. Han, but you’ll want this fixed quickly.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“We should… move somewhere private. This is something I need to discuss with you alone.”
Han Seoyeon jerked her chin at the butler. He withdrew with Hodu.
Hodu refused to leave my side for a while. He rubbed against me even more than against his actual owner, Han Seoyeon. Gratitude, most likely. For a human it would be like giving speech to someone who had never been able to talk.
Thinking of it that way, I suddenly felt the reality of these hands being the Miracle Hand.
The Second Coming of Jesus, huh. Judging purely by what these hands could do, that description wasn’t entirely off the mark.
I had never actually read the Bible, but I knew the story of Jesus healing the lame.
“Alright, he’s gone. So? What’s wrong with my body? If you couldn’t say it in front of the butler, should I be bracing myself before I hear it?”
“No. First I’d like to ask a few questions.”
“Sure, ask me anything.”
“Please have a seat first.”
I seated Han Seoyeon and moved behind her. Then I began touching the red spots visible on her shoulders. It was less a massage and more a lingering, suggestive caress.
“These may be sensitive questions, but I need you to answer. If anything feels embarrassing or too uncomfortable, just say so.”
“Ah… alright…”
As I worked the red spots loose, a reaction seemed to hit her; Han Seoyeon’s voice grew a little faltering. Hot residual heat rode on her exhaled breath.
“How often do you and your husband have relations in a week?”
“What?!”
“I’m asking because it’s necessary for assessing your physical condition.”
I thought of Park Yuyoung. She had been a flower that had lost its scent—a woman who once considered suicide because she couldn’t feel sexual pleasure at all.
To shake a married woman’s heart, this kind of question was probably the most important one.
And sure enough.
“With my husband… almost never. We started sleeping in separate rooms not long after we got married.”
“I see. That explains it…”
“You’re… really something… Now I get what Mikyeong unnie was talking about.”
“Lee Mikyeong? What did Ms. Lee Mikyeong say about me?”
“Mm. That you talk like you already know exactly what’s inside her head… that you feel like a shaman.”
Did she now. I just gave a small snort of laughter. Coming from Lee Mikyeong, it made sense. I had resolved her complex, after all. The things I had said about the wrinkles on her neck suddenly came back to me.
Lucky break. The gears were meshing and starting to turn smoothly.
The next line I would drop was obvious.
“Having regular sexual relations is the solution Ms. Han Seoyeon needs.”