4 – Banished (2)
Yeoul decided to leave the apartment for now. He judged that it would be better to avoid any unpleasant encounters with Ryoun, who might come out of the door and see him standing aimlessly.
Pressing the elevator button and waiting for it quietly, that’s when it happened.
The door of the adjacent apartment, which had been open, and a yellowish something peered out from there and spoke to him.
“Um, if it’s okay with you, would you like to come into our house…?”
* * *
While Yeoul and Ryoun were having a conversation in front of the entrance.
A person who lived next door to them was listening attentively to their conversation.
Hmm, it seems like the family of the child who lived alone next door has returned.
From the conversation, it seems like they are returnees.
It seems like the younger sibling has missed the older sibling a lot.
The house that didn’t seem like someone was living in will become quite lively.
But the person called “oppa” doesn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about coming back.
Nods, nods. She, who initially felt awkward hearing the conversation that unintentionally reached her ears, was now listening with interest, even adding filler words, while being fascinated by the siblings’ words.
How did she end up being able to hear that conversation? The siblings weren’t even speaking loudly. The apartment she currently lived in was recently completed, so there were no soundproofing issues either.
If she were an ordinary person, she wouldn’t have been able to hear even if the neighbor shouted.
To be clear, she was not an ordinary person.
She was a first-generation dimensional refugee – a different species who crossed over from the world she used to live in ten years ago to Earth.
According to the racial classification made by the humans on Earth, she was a werewolf. And not just any werewolf, but a werewolf of the dog breed.
With the keen sense of smell and hearing that dogs have, she could vividly hear the sounds from the next door as if someone was whispering in her ear, unlike an ordinary person.
With her yellow ears perked up on top of her head and her long, bushy tail swaying through the hole in her pants, she stopped what she was doing and listened intently to the conversation next door.
As the voice, presumably her younger sister, began to tremble and emotions started to flare up.
Feeling the increasing intensity of her sister’s emotions as she listened to the siblings’ conversation, she wanted to tell her brother, who seemed to only respond mechanically, not to do that and to comfort her sister.
The impression of the girl next door, whom she occasionally met during their cohabitation, was good to her. Despite living alone at a young age without parents, she exuded brightness in her words and expressions, making her feel better just by being around her.
However, no matter how bright she appeared, there was no guarantee that her inner feelings were the same, and it seemed that the girl next door was pretending to be cheerful to conceal her sadness.
That’s why she thought it would be possible to heal her emotional wounds a little now that her family had returned after a long time…
The cries of the turbulent teenage sister seemed to have never reached her older brother, who only repeated emotionless reactions. Eventually, the older brother was finally kicked out of the house.
Ah, what should I do about this…
She paced back and forth in place.
Although she only had a very slight connection with the girl next door, she couldn’t help but feel restless about someone else’s affairs.
She couldn’t even understand why she felt this way. Was it because of her own personality, which liked people and empathized with their emotions? Or was it because of her own species, the characteristics of a dog-human hybrid?
She understood her angry younger sister’s feelings towards her brother, who only responded coldly, as well as her brother’s feelings of being evicted from home after 10 years of being away.
She thought her brother’s response was slightly, just slightly in the wrong, but still!
As her thoughts continued, when she realized her brother was a returnee, she fell into a slight panic.
If he had just returned today after being in this world, then he must have nothing – no money, no place to stay…?
Then what would happen to that person called her brother? Would he have to face the nights of December in South Korea head-on with only one set of clothes on his body?
Was there anyone she could ask for help? Did she have any means of contacting someone?
What if something went wrong while he slept outside like that? The world these days is so unpredictable…
What should I do, what should I do…!
She genuinely started to worry about him, someone whose face, age, and even name she didn’t know.
After repeating her worries over and over again, she finally made up her mind.
She decided to at least look at how her brother was dressed.
If he really was kicked out with nothing. If he was kicked out… Let’s think about that then.
She opened the door very carefully, so that he wouldn’t hear any noise from outside. She peeked through the crack and looked around…
To her surprise, there was a man with long hair wearing tattered clothes, barefoot in front of the elevator.
Moreover, in his hand that was empty, judging from the piece of cloth that couldn’t even be recognized as a pocket, it was clear that he had truly been driven to the streets with nothing.
Upon seeing him, a few words involuntarily escaped her mouth.
“Uh, if it’s okay with you… would you like to come into our house…?”
Even for her, with a personality that liked people, she regretted saying it… but once the words were spoken, they couldn’t be taken back.
When he turned his head and expressionlessly expressed his acceptance, she finally brought the unfamiliar man into her home.
***
“Excuse me.”
“Yes…”
She covered her face with her hands, whether it was because she felt regret for what she had done or not, Yeoul paid no attention and stood barefoot at her doorway.
“Ah, just a moment…!”
After seeing that, she crossed the entrance and went into the house, bringing indoor shoes from somewhere.
“You can wear these shoes…”
“Thank you.”
She took the lead and walked from the entrance to the living room, and he followed her silently without saying a word.
“Um, hello… hahahaha…”
“Yes, hello.”
“Well, I mentioned it at the door, but… um… I didn’t invite you here for any strange purpose…”
“I am Song Yeoul.”
“Oh, yes. Yeoul-ssi. So, I did not invite you in for any strange purpose at all. So, I…”
She raised her hand and covered her ears.
“Because I am a werewolf. I unintentionally heard the conversation with my sister. I’m really sorry for listening without permission… But, I was worried that you would be driven away naked… Oh, it might sound strange now that I say it, but I didn’t mean it like that…”
She had reached the point where she didn’t even know what she was saying while speaking. Her ears twitched irregularly and her tail wagged on its own.
Whether she talked nonsensically or not, Yeoul observed her quietly. It was because her appearance was something he had never seen before.
Clearly, it was a human body and a human face. Strangely, there were ears on top of her head and a tail on her buttocks.
Except for those, she was no different from a human, but these two elements indicated that she was not an ordinary person.
Moreover, those two even moved as if they were real body parts. This was what Lyuhwan described as a different species. Yeoul thought that the world had really changed a lot.
Seeing her appearance, Yeoul thought of one word.
Golden Retriever.
“So, what I mean is…”
“I understand.”
“Yes, yes?”
“I understood everything you said. Thank you for being considerate.”
“Yes… Oh, right. My name is Kang Soyoung.”
“I understand, Soyoung-ssi.”
Soyoung suddenly thought that Yeoul was an emotionally detached person. He didn’t seem to care much whether she said strange things in confusion. His facial expression was rigid like a machine.
He didn’t seem to have any, um, strange emotions towards her either.
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Because of Yeoul’s consistent emotional detachment, Soyoung felt relieved.
Yeah. What can I do now that she’s already in the house? Yeoul doesn’t seem to care much either, so I should just relax.
Soyoung led Yeoul to a door.
“You can sleep here. Oh, if you want to take a shower, you can use the bathroom inside. I’ll bring you clothes if you need them.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Although there was no need for him to take a shower, he did not refuse because taking a shower was one of the few routines he followed.
“In that case, if you’re taking a shower, I’ll leave the clothes at the door. Oh, I only have my clothes… is that okay?”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Since she wasn’t petite, it seemed like the clothes would fit her.
She went to her room, and Yeo-ul also went to his room.
* * *