ven if her face was so pretty that it made breathing difficult, it was absolutely no good if you fell for her because of that.
“Even if a woman can cook pretty well, has a lot of money, is skinny, has a good figure, and is pretty, wears some pretty good clothing, and is smart, it’s not necessarily good.”
If she was bright enough to get into the University of Korea, then she had to be considered brilliant. Even though they took math together, Seo-yoon solved the practice problems in the workbook way too easily. She was even quick to understand and solve parts that the class was going nowhere with.
“In some ways, it’s more regrettable for me.” Lee Hyun walked with his head held high.
Seo-yoon was unexpectedly following him well. That she wasn’t wearing high heels was part of the reason, but her stride was also quite fast. At the simple thrill of going to Lee Hyun’s house, her face was flushed to the point where it was obvious. It was her first time visiting a man’s house, and she had happy expectations on what kind of chicken she should bring as a friend.
“We’re here.”
Lee Hyun went into a secluded neighborhood opened his own house’s door lock by lock. There were a whole 7 locks on the front door! A separate password and even a card key were required.
As Seo-yoon approached the doorway, Lee Hyun blocked the entrance with his body.
“I’ll say this in advance, but you can’t go into my house and just touch things. I know where everything is, okay?”
Lee Hyun was suspicious and even treated her like a thief! That was primarily because outsiders didn’t often come into his house. Choi Ji-hoon had sometimes visited while meeting Lee Hye-yeon, but she didn’t bring him that often after the electronics repairs ended.
Lee Hyun was on full guard.
Seo-yoon nodded. “…”
“Come in for now.”
Seo-yoon walked through the door.
Woof, woof, woof!
A big dog the size of a calf swiftly ran over, lay on his belly, and barked cutely. His adorable bark didn’t match his large physique.
The charm of Dogmeat, the name that Lee Hye-yeon had given him himself!
Lee Hyun explained hurriedly, “He’s a dog we’re raising. He’s an extremely dangerous fellow, so it’s safer to stay back.”
When Seo-yoon extended a lovely hand, Dogmeat even wagged his tail fiercely.
A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 better than a human’s. He smelled the subdued fragrance of the short rib patties and the smell of the previously departed Half Sauce Half Fried on Seo-yoon and was going to be friendly with her.
Just like when dogs become instinctively wary when they see a dog meat trader, when he saw Seo-yoon, he came running in at the good feeling she gave off and was writhing in welcome. He was prancing around Seo-yoon wagging his tail as he enthusiastically marked his greeting of welcome.
Lee Hyun shouted, “Hey, hey! Stop that, Dogmeat, you’re gonna bite someone again, right? Just last week you bit someone and hospitalized them. No. Go away!”
Woof, woof.
Dogmeat just wagged his tail and quietly returned to his doghouse. Even after being falsely accused of having bit someone, Dogmeat was utterly docile.
‘A chicken is a few thousand Won at the market, but you can get 200 thousand Won ($~200) for a dog! Not on your life!’
Dogmeat had extraordinarily plump flesh and was exercised, so his muscles were good. They hadn’t even sold him when a dog meat dealer came and offered 350 thousand Won (~$350), so there was way too much of a shame to give him to Seo-yoon.
“…”
Seo-yoon approached a wire meshed enclosure with hasty steps. Within the wire mesh, rabbits were hopping around.
Seo-yoon quickly wrote on a note with a pencil.
Can I touch them? This is my first time being this close to a rabbit.
“Go ahead. Ah yeah, be careful ’cause it hasn’t been long since the rabbits gave birth to babies.”
Babies? Where?
“They’re inside the pen.”
Seo-yoon looked at the rabbits in fascination, like a kid eating a hamburger for the first time.
Lee Hyun was OCD about sanitation, so the inside of the mesh was very clean and in good shape. There was a generous heap of grasses for the rabbits to eat, and baby bunnies with bodies about 2 or 3 fingers wide were wriggling in a shaded corner. Even though they were just babies, they had long ears and their hind legs were moving as if to hop around on the ground!
“Aahhhh.”
As if she were singing, an exclamation flowed from Seo-yoon’s lips! It was like a pretty and clear whisper.
She clung to the rabbit hutch, peering in with sparkling eyes. Unable to touch the babies because they might get scared, her expression was one of extreme regret.
“You can touch them.”
“…”
However, Seo-yoon was unable to readily touch them.
“It’s okay. They’re babies who haven’t even opened their eyes yet.”
That wasn’t why Seo-yoon was worried, but Lee Hyun put his hand through the mesh and pulled out a baby.
“Here.”
When he lowered it onto the back of Seo-yoon’s hand, the baby bunny kicked weakly as it wriggled. Seo-yoon embraced the baby bu