Chapter 63: Furry Encounters

“Did I perhaps say something wrong?”

I asked carefully into the awkward silence.

“How did you know?”

Ah, I was right. 

Seeing the big dog, Chaechae, playing gently with the relatively small Jayden, I roughly guessed as much.

“Haha, people who raise large dogs in their yards usually have more than one.”

“Before coming here, we used to have a Pomeranian like Jayden.”

“Woof?”

Jayden seemed to recognize his own name instantly and ran toward us with curiosity, wondering what we were talking about.

“Not you~”

“Haha, Jayden really is smart.”

The wife stroked Jayden’s head as she spoke, and from the warmth yet faint sadness in her eyes, I could tell she was remembering another dog.

“Woof! Woof!”

Then Chaechae, seeing that sight, hurriedly ran over with her big body.

Me too! Me too!

With a bright smile, her fluffy white fur fluttering as she ran—it was almost beautiful.

I used to have such nice brown fur too.

“Alright, you want me to pet you too?”

“Woof!”

Yes!

The husband petted Chaechae’s fur and continued the conversation.

“She was only four years old… but she suddenly crossed the rainbow bridge.”

“She was such a healthy dog that it really shocked us. And with other things happening, we decided to leave Seoul and move down here.”

Only four years old… crossing the rainbow bridge so suddenly—it must have been heartbreaking.

“Was it… a car accident or something?”

When young dogs cross the rainbow bridge suddenly, it’s most often due to accidents. 

I asked cautiously.

“No, nothing like that. It seems like she kept eating something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. We never gave her anything weird ourselves… so we have no idea where she got it.”

They hadn’t given her anything, but she ate something strange? 

Once could be an accident, but if it continued until she got sick… something was off.

“Could it have been from neighbors, or maybe she picked something up while on a walk?”

“Maybe? We asked around—no one said they fed her anything. And we always kept an eye on her during walks, so she couldn’t have eaten anything weird. It must’ve been our fault for missing something.”

“Whine… whimper.”

No… it’s not your fault.

Chaechae, sensing her owner’s sadness, rubbed her face against their leg to comfort them, and both of them looked at her with loving eyes.

Someone who loves dogs this much could never have been careless.

You could tell just by looking. 

People like them wouldn’t neglect their pets—just like my owner, who never left any chocolate around the house.

“If we lost Chaechae too, we wouldn’t be able to live. That’s why we came down here.”

“The people in the village are so kind, and everyone’s been really welcoming. We’re glad we came. Even she loves it here.”

Perhaps realizing that the mood had gotten too heavy for a first meeting, she tried to change the topic.

“Oh! The director said his nephew is some kind of dog whisperer!”

“D-dog whisperer? Me?”

“Yes!”

What on earth did that man say this time?

Unlike my flustered self, the couple looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“He said that if we ever meet you, we should ask you about anything we’re curious about.”

“What did my uncle even tell you…”

“He said you can talk to dogs!”

A man who rarely talks suddenly decided to say that?

It was just like Kyungho to be endlessly soft toward kind-hearted people who love dogs.

“Haha, that’s a bit exaggerated. I just tend to understand what they want easily. You can ask me anything you’re curious about.”

“Oh! I do have something. Every morning, she only wakes me up! Why is that?”

The husband asked with genuine frustration.

You’re asking that seriously?

“I hate to say this, but… she probably sees you as her food-delivery guy.”

“Haah, I knew it.”

He covered his face with his hand, as if he’d already guessed my answer.

“Haha, see? I knew it from the way she teases you all the time.”

“It’s all just her way of showing affection.”

“Oh! And also, she…”

“That one—”

Even though my words might not sound believable, the way they listened with full sincerity made me speak seriously too, conveying what Chaechae wanted to say.

“You’re being loved a lot, aren’t you?”

“Woof!”

My owner really loves me.

That much was already obvious.

“Oh! What’s your YouTube channel name again? The director mentioned it a few times, but I keep forgetting.”

“The channel’s called Chaeroun TV.”

“Ah~ Chaeroun TV! I’ll subscribe right now!”

“Oh! Thank you, new subscriber~”

I quickly pulled out my smartphone and searched for Chaeroun TV on YouTube.

Huh? 

1.2 million subscribers?

I thought it was just a small channel, but this was huge.

“You have so many subscribers!”

“Haha, just a few.”

“I had no idea you were so famous!”

“Oh, no~ Not that famous, really.”

They tried to be modest, but even I knew that 1.2 million subscribers was no small feat.

Our company’s YouTube channel only had 20,000.

“That’s amazing.”

While I was browsing through their long list of videos, a strange voice came from over the fence.

“Unni~”

A woman, probably in her late twenties, entered the garden carrying shopping bags in both hands, and Chaechae ran up to her as if she were familiar.

“What’s all that?”

“She’s our video editor—she helps us with our videos.”

“Oh, hello.”

When I stood up to greet her, she approached with curious eyes.

“Who’s this?”

“Oh—this is the director’s nephew.”

They briefly introduced me, and she seemed to recognize the name right away.

“Ahh, really? You don’t look like your uncle at all! You’re so handsome~”

After chatting briefly with the editor, I decided it was about time to leave.

“Then, I’ll get going now.”

“You could stay a bit longer.”

“You’re not leaving because of me, are you? Please, stay a little more!”

“No, it’s fine. Jayden, let’s go!”

“Woof!?”

Already?

Jayden seemed unwilling to leave, as if he wanted to play with Chaechae a little longer, but since someone else had arrived, it was only polite to step away.

“It’s time to go now. Jiwon said he’s coming over this evening.”

At the mention of Jiwon, Jayden immediately stood up, shaking his tail as if to say, let’s go quickly!

It was the result of Jiwon always bringing snacks and toys whenever he visited.

“I’ll be going now.”

“I feel bad—you’re leaving because of me, right?”

“No, not at all~ I only came to drop something off anyway. Thanks for the tea.”

“Come visit again next time!”

As I was about to leave with Jayden, I heard them talking about me from behind.

“The director’s nephew is so handsome! He could be a celebrity.”

“Right? I was shocked too when I saw him.”

“Did you record any footage of him? If he appeared in a video, it would definitely go viral.”

“I filmed it so that his face doesn’t show. He said he didn’t want to appear.”

“Unni! You’ve got no sense at all. You should’ve convinced him somehow!”

It sounded like the editor was scolding her for letting me escape being filmed.

So the editor doesn’t just edit videos, huh?

Either way, it had nothing to do with me, so I took Jayden and headed straight home.

“This is the VIP you were talking about?”

“Yeah. Crazy, right? Who would’ve thought someone like that lived in our neighborhood?”

I told Jiwon everything that happened today, and he was just as amazed to hear that the YouTuber had 1.2 million subscribers.

“They said it’s a daily vlog channel, but it seems like the dog videos are the most popular.”

“Wow~ these view counts are insane.”

Jiwon showed me his phone, pointing at one of the videos.

[Hello, Chaeso. Let’s meet again someday.]

The video had been uploaded a year ago—it seemed to be a farewell video for the dog that crossed the rainbow bridge.

“How many views did it get?”

“Over five million! I’m not an expert, but that’s basically celebrity-level numbers.”

“Really?”

So they were actually famous, huh. No wonder their yard was so big and beautiful.

“With that kind of following, they must make a lot of money, right?”

“Well, top YouTubers these days can make enough in a month to buy a luxury car.”

“How much does a luxury car even cost?”

“Hmm, I’m not exactly sure, but the good ones probably start in the hundreds of millions of won.”

“You’re so annoying.”

Of course he’d say that—who else owns multiple imported cars and doesn’t even know the prices?

“I told you, they were gifts~ gifts!”

“That makes it even worse.”

At my words, Jiwon shrugged, as if to say I was just born this way.

“Have you packed your things yet?”

He’d been pestering me to go on a trip with him, so I finally gave in and agreed to travel with him before my next schedule. 

Our destination: Phuket.

“There’s still a week left, why would I… wait, you’ve already packed?”

“Got my passport ready, and even bought a brand-new suitcase.”

A suitcase—still wrapped in plastic—was proudly sitting in the corner of the clinic.

“You know you have to take your shoes off on the plane, right?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m not that dumb.”

What kind of ancient joke was that?

“We’re flying business class. Of course you keep your shoes on in economy, but this is business.”

Really? They don’t mention that online. Is business class different?

I looked at him suspiciously, unsure, and Jiwon burst out laughing.

“Pfft—hahaha! You actually believed that?”

“Ugh!”

“Just follow my lead, hyung. I’ll treat you to the full-course experience~”

Judging from his usual behavior, he didn’t seem very trustworthy, but since he’d been overseas countless times, I decided to believe him—just this once.

“You’re not exactly reliable, but fine, I’ll trust you.”

“Trust! Loyalty! Brotherhood! Without those, I’m nothing!”

“Yes, yes~ But seriously, you’re feeling okay, right?”

He suddenly grew serious.

Last time Hayoon stayed over, she was groaning in pain all night, and I could tell Jiwon had been worried too. 

The symptoms hadn’t shown up in a while, but there was no telling when they might return.

“That’s random… but yeah, I’m fine. Totally fine.”

“Don’t make me get in trouble later—if something’s wrong, tell me in advance.”

It hadn’t mattered much before since I was unemployed, but now that I had work, rushing over suddenly wasn’t easy.

“I’m fine. Oh! And don’t forget to pack your swimsuit.”

“Swimsuit? I don’t have one. What kind should I buy…”

“How about a speedo?”

“Do you want to die?”

“Why~ I think it’d look great on you.”

Jiwon looked me up and down with a teasing grin.

“I’ll buy it for you—your very own speedo.”

“This man may look normal, but he’s actually very conservative. I’ll pass.”

“No way, this is your chance to break out of your shell. I’ll even measure your size.”

“Aaaagh! Get lost!”

When I lunged at Jiwon to pull his pants down in revenge, he dodged frantically, and Jayden, excited by the commotion, burst out of the room barking.

“Woof! Woof!”

Me too! Me too, I wanna play!

And just like that, time flew by, and the day of our trip finally arrived.

“Let’s go.”

Jiwon’s driver kindly dropped us off at the airport, and at Jiwon’s insistence that “this is what cool people do,” we stepped out wearing sunglasses.

“Wait—hey, that’s Jung Hyunjae.”

“Who?”

“Donghyeok, from Blue Sky Spring!“

That definitely wasn’t part of the plan.