Chapter 4 : A Name Without a Master

“What, what is this?” 

The hand that had been reaching to tug at her clothes no longer held the thick brown fur it once did.

Instead, there was only a slender finger and pale white skin. 

“Have you seen my dog? Where did it go…?” 

“Here, I’m…”

Gasp! 

Instead of a dog’s bark, a human voice burst from my throat, startling me so much that I clamped both hands over my mouth. 

Did I just speak human words? 

She looked at me as if I were some strange person, then kept searching for me—me—even though I was standing right in front of her. 

“Baby~ You looked so tired, where did you go? Baby~” 

I couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

I tried to dismiss it as a fleeting dream, but the vivid sensations were impossible to explain away. 

She called out “Baby~” and wandered off somewhere, leaving me frozen in place, overwhelmed by the bewildering situation. 

“Am I… human now?” 

I examined my body—long legs, smooth skin, fingers that moved freely.

They were unmistakably human. 

“Sorry, I’m a bit late. It’s vaccination day for the cows.” 

While I was marveling at my new body, a middle-aged man carrying a large bag approached and casually struck up a conversation with me. 

“Where’s the dog? People just abandon them in the countryside like it’s nothing. This place has everything you’d need, you know.” 

He seemed to assume I was the one who brought the dog. 

“Let me open the door for a sec.” 

“Oh.” 

He asked me to move so he could open the clinic door.

Recalling how my owner used to walk, I stood up on two legs for the first time in my life. 

This is weird. 

Walking on two legs felt awkward, and the view from above was unfamiliar. 

“Doctor! The dog was right here just a moment ago, and now it’s gone!” 

She came running back to the clinic after searching everywhere but failing to find me.

Of course, she couldn’t find me—I was right here. 

“Huh? Then who’s this?” 

“Me…?” 

When she asked who I was, I had no answer.

I couldn’t exactly say, “I’m that dog!”

Who would believe me?

Even I, who had lived my whole life as a dog, knew that much. 

“Did you come to the clinic for something? Where’s the animal?” 

“Well, I…” 

“Where did it go? It was such a good dog, and I only stepped away for a moment. You really didn’t see it?” 

Both of their gazes turned to me at once. 

“Uh… the owner took it.” 

I wasn’t sure if I was speaking properly, but I stumbled through the words. 

“Really? Oh, thank goodness.” 

“Not abandoned, then. That’s a relief. So, what are you doing sitting here, sir?” 

What should I say?

Should I introduce myself? 

“I’m… Hyun, Hyunjae.” 

“Hyunjae?” 

“Who’s Hyunjae? A celebrity? Oh! Are you an idol?” 

The woman who brought me here studied my face closely after hearing my name. 

Idol?

Does she mean those singing kids? 

“No wonder you’re so good-looking.” 

“I’m not an idol…” 

“Then an actor? You look kind of familiar.” 

I shook my head at her words.

She kept asking what I did, but I was running out of answers and starting to feel smaller and smaller. 

“No?” 

“So, why are you at an animal clinic?” 

“I’m… looking for my owner.” 

When I cautiously mentioned Jaehyun, both of their eyes widened in shock. 

“Your… owner?” 

“Owner?” 

Is it weird to say I’m looking for my owner?

They told me I could find him at this clinic. 

“Yes, my owner…” 

As I nodded, their expressions twisted. 

“Oh my God.” 

“No way, it’s probably just a nickname, right?” 

Nickname?

I knew some of the words my owner often used or ones I’d heard frequently, but unfamiliar ones were hard to understand. 

“The one who feeds me, bathes me, and puts me to sleep.” 

Thinking they might not know what an owner is, I added an explanation. 

“That’s crazy.” 

“How old are you?” 

The woman gasped, holding her forehead, while the middle-aged man asked my age. 

Two years old, but I probably shouldn’t say that.

I kept my mouth shut, and the man gestured for me to come inside as he opened the clinic door. 

“Come in and let’s talk.” 

The clinic was small and old but felt oddly cozy. 

“Sit down.” 

In his words, I settled onto a round cushion in the corner. 

Hmm, softer than it looks. 

“Whoa… Doctor, should we report this?” 

The woman pointed at her smartphone. 

“Not there, sit on the chair.” 

“Oh.” 

Right, owners don’t sit on the floor like that.

I still couldn’t fully grasp that I was human, so I’d instinctively sat on the floor like before.

I quickly got up and sat on a proper chair.

As soon as I did, they surrounded me and bombarded me with questions. 

“This ‘owner’ person didn’t do anything weird to you, right?” 

“Weird?” 

Weird? What does that mean? 

“You know, like locking you up, hitting you, or touching you all over.” 

“No way.” 

I frowned and firmly denied it.

What nonsense. 

“He looks like a high schooler or maybe just an adult.” 

“Yeah, he seems a bit… slow.” 

Slow?

Me, who’d been called a genius dog my whole life?

That’s unfair! 

“Do you have an ID? A smartphone?” 

ID?

What’s that?

Smartphone?

I was a dog until just a moment ago—how would I have those? 

They were frustrated with me, but I was just as frustrated, unable to explain properly. 

“Where’s your family? Who do you live with?” 

“Oh! I have a family.” 

I’d briefly forgotten about the word “family.” 

“I came to find Jung Jaehyun.” 

I calmly said my owner’s name.

If I could just find him, he’d believe me, and everything would be fine. 

“Who’s Jung Jaehyun?” 

“No idea.” 

“He’s in movies and dramas…” 

“You mean the Jung Jaehyun, the actor?” 

“Yes!” 

Finally, they got it!

My owner was famous, just as I’d heard. 

“The Jung Jaehyun who died recently is your family?” 

“Huh?” 

What did he just say?

I might not understand complicated words, but I knew exactly what “died” meant. 

“No, he’s just hurt.” 

He was just injured, not dead. Who’s dead? 

“You’re not talking about the famous actor, are you? The only actor named Jung Jaehyun is that one.” 

“What, the actor who died from drugs?” 

The word “drugs” from the man’s mouth hit me hard.

It was a word I’d overheard the day Jaehyun got hurt, when those guys were talking. 

“He’s hurt. There’s no way. He hit his head, so he went to the hospital.” 

“It’s been a while since he died.” 

“Let’s see… Wow, it’s already been three weeks?” 

Three weeks?

I didn’t know exactly how long a week was, but I recalled the numbers from that day. 

“7, 1, 4.” 

“Yep, July 14th.” 

The woman, looking at her smartphone, confirmed the exact date I remembered. 

“Oh…” 

The blood on that guy’s hands, the shocked look when he saw me, the way he called someone as my owner lay collapsed—it all started piecing together in my head. 

“Oh… Ohh.” 

My breath caught, and tears poured uncontrollably, streaming down my face. 

“He’s crying? Was he really family? I thought that actor said on TV he was an orphan.” 

“Everyone’s got their own story.” 

The woman looked flustered, and the man handed me a tissue from nearby. 

I was with my owner that day.

Everything happening to me now felt so cruel. 

If only I… 

If I’d become human sooner, I could’ve saved him. 

The tears wouldn’t stop, and they quietly watched me cry.

After some time, when I calmed down, they asked about my home. 

“Okay, calm down. Where’s your home? I’ll take you there.” 

My owner was gone, and the manager had abandoned me.

I no longer had a home. 

“There’s no home.” 

“You said you were looking for your owner. You must know where the house you lived with them is.” 

Even if I went back to the house I shared with my owner and said I was his dog, no one would believe me.

And even if they did, they wouldn’t let me, who was at the scene that day, go free. 

“I don’t remember.” 

I decided to play dumb.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way to make them understand. 

“You just said Jung Jaehyun was your owner…” 

“I’ll talk to him. You can go if you’re busy.” 

The man cut off the woman, who glanced at me and left the clinic. 

Once she was gone, the man asked me more directly. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Jung Hyunjae.” 

“How old are you?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Have you graduated high school?” 

“I don’t know.” 

I stuck to denying everything. 

“Hmm… Memory loss or something?” 

Memory loss! I remembered a drama where the main character had amnesia, forgot everything, but fell in love with the woman who took him in. 

“I don’t remember anything else.” 

That drama suddenly gave me a big hint. I decided to mimic the amnesiac man from it.

It was the best I could do in this situation. 

“All I remember is my name and Jung Jaehyun. That’s it.” 

I lowered my head and spoke softly, like the character in the drama. 

“How did you get here?” 

“I don’t know. I just opened my eyes, and I was here.” 

I looked at him with trembling eyes, as if I were confused about why I was here.

In the drama, that look got him a place to stay. 

Please, take me in. 

With this big body, I couldn’t hide in the bushes to sleep, and without soft fur or a cute tail, I couldn’t charm anyone for food.

I had nowhere to go. 

“Haa…” 

The man looked at me and let out a deep sigh. 

“My mind’s all blank…” 

“Doctor! Doctor!” 

I was about to ask if I could stay a few days when someone shouted and burst through the clinic door. 

“Doctor! My baby!” 

A woman rushed in, holding a small white dog in her arms. 

“What happened?” 

“I don’t know, I looked away for a moment, and it collapsed on the floor!” 

“Let’s lay it down over here and check.” 

The man took the dog and hurriedly went into a room labeled “Examination Room.” 

Should I follow? 

Curious, I followed them in. 

“What’s wrong with my baby? It’s not serious, right?” 

“It looks okay for now, but let’s take an X-ray and do a blood test.” 

“There was some chocolate on the table—could it have eaten that and collapsed? Oh no.” 

“Chocolate? Let’s do a stomach flush just in case.” 

The man put on a white coat and moved quickly, while the woman stomped her feet anxiously, staring at the dog on the white table. 

What are they doing? 

I couldn’t quite follow what was happening. 

“Please, please save my baby. I can’t live without this one!” 

“Don’t worry too much. A stomach flush should fix it.” 

“It’s just sulking and sleeping, isn’t it?” 

My single comment made the room go silent.