Volume 1 – Chapter 0: Prologue

Yoon Chi-young had recently rediscovered the zest in his once dull life.

It was the vitality brought about by raising a puppy.

The puppy, which would bite him relentlessly every day, ruined clothes and valuables either by tearing them apart or dropping them in water, and would purposefully sneeze on his face, wagging its tail only for pretty girls.

Woof! Woof!

<What’s that? You like me a lot? Want to go home quickly?>

Whenever he tried to interpret the puppy’s intentions through one of his subordinates familiar with dog behavior.

<Yes, sir… It’s saying, ‘You little brat.’>

<Ha, so damn cute… Alright, let’s go home and spend some time together.>

The puppy was adorable even when it cursed.

Yoon Chi-young still loved the puppy even when his fingers were covered in cuts and his phone shattered into pieces after falling from the 27th floor of an apartment building. He liked it when the puppy boldly stole his food, leaving traces around its white-furred mouth, and the pretense of friendliness it showed only in the presence of food.

At first, he was simply amused by teasing it, but later he grew fond of its soft and warm body. Then, he was charmed by how it schemed to torment him, and eventually, he cherished the puppy for warming his lap when he had grown accustomed to being alone.

But then.

“……”

Yoon Chi-young found his puppy in a dark alley.

Just a month after being taken in, the puppy had run away, only to return a day later, bloodied.

Its once white fur was matted with blood, and its soft tongue hung limply from its agape mouth. No response came even when he called its name, as its body temperature grew cold.

With a face about to crumble, Yoon Chi-young cradled the white puppy in his arms.

“Gyeon Heeseong…”

“……”

“…Why did you go out on your own?”

If the puppy disliked him, it could have just stayed by his side and continued to torment him, instead of appearing injured and tearing his heart apart. He wanted to tell it that it had finally succeeded in tormenting him as it wanted, but there was no response even as he held it in his embrace.

“Why…”

Yoon Chi-young shed tears for the first time since he met the puppy, an unimaginable sight back then.

He had only wanted to tease the puppy that seemed to dislike him.

He never wanted to come to cherish the puppy more than himself, as he did now.