Good News

Good News

Yuna probably meant to ask if Somteol would find the pet food tasty when eating it.

But from the employee’s perspective, since Yuna didn’t specify the subject, it might have sounded like “I’m going to eat this, is it delicious?”

That’s why the employee looked at Yuna with a very bewildered expression.

After seeming to ponder for a moment, they calmly replied.

“Uh… well. It’s not bad, I guess?”

It wasn’t exactly saying it was delicious, but.

Yuna seemed to take this at face value, as her eyes sparkled while she told us.

“They said it’s delicious.”

Chae-a was the first to react to those words.

Chae-a stared blankly at the pet food upon hearing it was delicious, then spoke to us with a very expectant expression.

“Wow, then Chae-a wants to eat it too.”

“Okay. I’ll ask Somteol for permission and eat together.”

“……?”

The employee listening to this seemed to think it couldn’t go on any longer and waved their hand, speaking urgently.

“That’s not for people to eat, so you shouldn’t eat it.”

Hearing this, Yuna looked down at her tail blankly.

Then, tilting her head, she said.

“Then is it okay for a gumiho?”

“Huh?”

The employee was at a loss for words, as if they hadn’t thought about that.

Thinking it would be too much trouble if I left things like this, I decided to quickly buy the item and leave.

I took out a 10,000 won bill and handed it over with both hands, saying.

“I’ll buy this.”

The price was 5,500 won.

It’s a bit expensive, but I thought I could afford this much for Somteol, and as I was receiving the change.

The employee rummaged in their pocket and picked up a snack from the side desk, saying.

“How about eating this instead of that pet food? This will taste better.”

Chae-a was about to accept it gladly at those words.

But having already caused as much trouble as possible, I couldn’t let her eat the snack too.

So I shook my head and politely declined.

“It’s okay… Thank you for offering.”

“O-okay?”

We left the confused employee behind as we all lifted the pet food together, grunting as we carried it out of the convenience store.

*

When we brought this back, the counselor spoke to us with a rather bewildered expression.

“Pet food?”

It seems they were surprised that we bought pet food instead of snacks or something similar.

I explained to the counselor why we bought this.

As soon as the counselor heard the name Somteol, they nodded in understanding and smiled.

“Ah, it’s food for Somteol. By the way, isn’t it heavy? Let me carry it for you, okay?”

At those words, Yuna shook her head and said.

“It’s okay. It’s a gift for Somteol, so we should carry it like this.”

“You’re so mature, Yuna. Is it because you’re the older sister?”

“Yes. I have to do my best because I’m Ha-eun’s older sister.”

I’ve heard this misunderstanding so many times that I don’t even feel like explaining it anymore.

As I was absentmindedly looking up and fiddling with the pet food.

I saw Somteol bouncing towards us from far away.

‘Looks like he was bored.’

I told him to wait, but seeing that he came all the way here, he must have been lonely.

I was wagging my tail to welcome Somteol, when Yuna spoke to him in a slightly more excited voice than usual.

“We brought you a present.”

Then, carefully holding out the pet food, she apologized for what happened earlier.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know better.”

Ha-eun’s tail and ears are drooping sadly, as if afraid I won’t accept her apology.

While I’m patting Yuna’s back, who is looking around nervously, and telling her it will be okay.

Somteol looked at the pet food and chirped ‘Peep!’ while rubbing its face vigorously against the food bag.

‘Looks like it likes it.’

Was it hungry for the pet food?

Feeling sorry and thinking I should have gotten it sooner if I knew it would like it this much.

I gathered my thoughts and moved towards the lair.

*

I filled an appropriate amount of food in Somteol’s special bowl and handed it over.

To be precise, the counselor did most of it, but I did carry the bowl, so.

It’s not entirely wrong to say I handed it over.

‘Anyway, the important thing is that Somteol is eating the food with great delight.’

I couldn’t tell if it was because the food was incredibly delicious or if Somteol just particularly liked pet food.

As I was stroking Somteol’s back, thinking it was nice to see it eating well.

Chae-a, who had been watching this, stared blankly and then.

“Looks tasty.”

She drooled while staring at the pet food.

I was very surprised watching Chae-a’s behavior.

Worried that Chae-a might eat the pet food, I tried to stop her, but before I could, Chae-a grabbed a handful and put it in her mouth.

I can hear chewing sounds coming from beside me.

I’ve heard that it’s not a big problem if humans eat dog or cat food, but.

Even though it seemed a bit wrong to let her eat this, I was about to tell her to spit it out.

“It’s delicious.”

An unexpected comment was heard from beside me.

“… It’s delicious?”

“Yeah. It tastes like grain. Does Ha-eun want to try some too?”

At that question, I was struck with immense curiosity.

I’ve always wondered what dog food tastes like when I see dogs eating it.

‘Since Chae-a and Somteol say it’s delicious too.’

Actually thinking that the dog food might be tasty, I stared at it for a moment and then nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Here.”

With those words, Chae-a grabbed a handful of dog food and held it out to me.

I stared at the brown-colored dog food in front of me, then picked it up and was about to take a bite.

“W-wait a minute!”

The counselor behind us panicked and started to stop us.

“If you’re hungry, I’ll buy you something delicious. You shouldn’t eat that. No no, no no.”

At the words “no no,” Chae-a tilted her head in confusion and said to the teacher.

“This isn’t no no…! It’s delicious!”

When she said it was delicious, the counselor was momentarily speechless, blinking and staring at Chae-a.

Then, as if squeezing it out, she came up with an excuse.

“Really? You know, Chae-a…? If Somteol takes away the food, Somteol will be sad, so Chae-a and Ha-eun should eat something else, okay?”

At those words, Chae-a blinked and then nodded.

 

Watching this, I felt a mix of emotions, feeling somewhat disappointed but also relieved that we wouldn’t eat it.

Next to me, Yu-na secretly placed a piece of pet food in my hand and said,

 

“This is a secret.”

What could “is a secret” mean?

 

Judging by how Yu-na was sneakily glancing at the counselor,

It seemed her words got mixed up while trying to speak secretly.

 

While feeling the texture of the pet food in my hand and seriously contemplating what to do with it,

The counselor sighed and said to us,

 

“Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you, so if you’re hungry, make sure to tell me next time, okay?”

Hearing those words, I finally couldn’t resist my curiosity and put the pet food in my mouth.

 

“Blegh.”

If told to eat it, I could probably manage, but it was extremely unpleasant.

 

First of all, it was bland…! The taste was subtle. And the texture was strangely rough, so anyway, it was weird!

As I was suffering, unknowingly drooling, the counselor spoke to me in a flustered manner,

 

“Ha, Ha-eun, spit it out here, spit.”

This might be the first time I’ve seen the counselor so flustered.

 

Finding this a bit amusing, I was spitting into a tissue,

When Yu-na, who was next to me, looked at me with an extremely apologetic expression.

 

“Ha-eun, are you okay…?”

From Yuna’s perspective, she was just trying to do something I liked by bringing me food.

She seems to have been quite surprised seeing me struggle.

Seeing Yuna’s tail and ears drooping dejectedly, I nodded to indicate I was fine and opened my mouth.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

As I was patting her head to show my appreciation for her concern.

Cotton seems to have finished eating, as it chirped and then flopped onto the floor.

As I picked up Cotton and was about to return to the hospital room, I heard someone calling me from afar.

“Ha-eun!”

Looking to the side, I saw Seo-rin waving and running towards me.

Worried that Seo-rin might fall, I watched her with concern, but then decided to approach her instead.

“Have you been doing well?”

Seo-rin picked me up and started spinning around.

‘Oh, I’m getting dizzy.’

My head is spinning because of how fast we’re turning.

As I was giggling dizzily, Seo-rin told me something.

“I have good news!”

Wondering what it could be, I tilted my head.

Seo-rin put a small pass around my neck and said.

“From now on, Ha-eun can freely go outside the association if you want to.”

At those words, I opened my eyes wide and looked at Seo-rin.

I never dreamed this would suddenly be allowed, since they had always said it was absolutely forbidden for safety reasons.

I was so excited about this permission that I was wagging my tail vigorously and smiling, when the counselor nearby added:

“But make sure to wear the hairpin given by Grandma Lecia on your head when you go out. Understood?”

The moment I heard that, I could understand why going outside was allowed.

‘I guess they thought it would be okay because the hairpin has all kinds of protective functions.’

As I was gently stroking the hairpin stuck in my hair and wagging my tail,

Chae-a excitedly said to me:

“Then… can we go to the park and playground too!?”

I nodded my head in response to that question, meaning it was possible.

Chae-a was very happy and listed all the things she wanted to do.

“I want to make a house for the earthworm unnie, and make a secret base with the black ones too!”

Just hearing about it sounded fun, so I was nodding my head,

When Yuna, who had been watching this from the side, calmly spoke up.

“Then I want to go find mommy and daddy.”