Chapter 162: The Gate That Tried to Close

Another lively day began as usual.

At dawn, I secretly ran several laps around Namsan, playing monster-hunting games while avoiding humans, and just a while ago, I raided a department store’s refrigerated warehouse and stole a ton of Korean beef.

Is that okay to do, you ask?

What kind of question is that—of course it’s not okay!

The reason I could steal so freely was because neither Sehyun nor that Seon Jaeyul bastard was around.

Sehyun was in Busan, and I think Seon Jaeyul said he was going somewhere, but I can’t remember where.

Anyway, it meant I had the house all to myself and could enjoy some freedom.

Of course, I cherish my loyal pet human Sehyun, but sometimes it’s nice to enjoy freedom like this.

You could call it the single life of an intellectual urban monster.

Heh!

Now that I say it out loud, it sounds kind of cool.

I should write that down and reuse it later.

“High boy, high boy, mmm, high boy, high boy….”

Humming a song I’ve been into lately, I stood in front of the door.

Where did I put the key again….

After rummaging through my secret pocket for a while, I pulled out a human arm—no, the house key.

When that Seon Jaeyul bastard registered my key’s fingerprint on the keypad, he hurled so many curses at me that my ears still hurt.

Calling it a horror movie, calling me a psychopath.

He sure was great at introducing himself.

“Gack!”

I took out the stolen meat in the kitchen, neatly placing some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer.

What if they ask where the meat came from later?

If Sehyun asks, I’ll say Jaeyul bought it.

If Seon Jaeyul asks, I’ll just ignore him.

That idiot can’t understand my words anyway.

I set aside a few pieces to eat now and placed the biggest pan on the induction stove.

Sssss—.

I put the refrigerated Korean beef onto the heated pan.

It smelled appetizing, but still… something felt lacking.

Sehyun’s braised beef was so good….

No matter where I stole food from, it never tasted like that.

I don’t know what kind of magic ingredient he uses.

Still, since it was expensive Korean beef, it looked pretty tasty.

I was about to flip it a bit more and move it to a plate when—

“Poppy!”

It was Sehyun’s voice.

Why was he back already?

I can’t let him catch me grilling meat!

Startled by the distant voice, I jumped down to the floor and sprinted to the entrance, leaping into Sehyun’s arms.

Only then did I realize how stupid I’d been.

I could’ve just stuffed the pan and meat into my secret pocket!

I panicked.

“Jaeyul!

Seon Jaeyul!”

Without giving me a chance to stop him, Sehyun headed straight for the kitchen, calling that bastard’s name.

“Seon Jaeyul isn’t back yet….”

“Jaeyul’s not home?

Then what’s that?”

Sehyun pointed at the induction stove.

If Jaeyul wasn’t home, then who had been cooking?

That was the question.

I pretended not to understand and played dumb.

Maybe Jaeyul stopped by briefly.

Maybe a passerby came in to grill beef.

I don’t know.

These complicated mind games gave me a headache.

“Poppy, let’s go.”

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Sehyun didn’t pay much attention to the meat on the stove.

No, it seemed all his focus was elsewhere.

“Go where…?”

“Let’s go save Jaeyul.

This is something only you can do.”

…Seon Jaeyul?

Why would I save that bastard…?

Honestly, I’d prefer it if he quietly died somewhere.

“I can’t find him.

I can smell Seon Jaeyul, but it’s faint and scattered—this isn’t the right path.”

“Not here either?

How is that possible…?”

I had no choice but to enter the gate with Sehyun to look for Seon Jaeyul, just like he wanted.

I absolutely didn’t want to cooperate, but it was hard to ignore my pet human hopping around anxiously like a dog desperate to pee.

I knew what Seon Jaeyul meant to Sehyun, so I could roughly imagine how he felt.

“How have we not run into a single search team member?”

I shut my eyes tight and focused, trying to track Seon Jaeyul, but I just couldn’t catch his trail.

The scent of humans—including Seon Jaeyul—lingered all over the gate, but it was all faint.

My sense of smell reaches a few kilometers around me, and since nothing felt strong, it meant he wasn’t nearby.

“Let’s try another path.”

“Another path?”

“There seem to be a lot of branching paths here.

I’m going.”

Without waiting for Sehyun’s reply, I ran.

Honestly, at this point, I wasn’t running to find Seon Jaeyul anymore.

I was worried about Sehyun, who hadn’t taken even a moment to rest, and wanted to lead him somewhere safe.

I headed toward a place where the scent of water was strong.

There was something I wanted to tell Sehyun, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

‘Seon Jaeyul isn’t in here.

If he were… he was probably eaten by another monster.’

I didn’t want to say it out loud.

If I thought positively, there was still a chance he’d already escaped the gate, but if that were true, Sehyun wouldn’t be tearing through the gate like this.

Following the scent of water, we reached a space with a large spring and trees.

Jin Sehyun drank just enough water to avoid collapsing and then tried to climb back onto my back.

“Let’s check somewhere else.

There has to be a place we haven’t gone yet.”

His voice and movements were full of anxiety.

It was obvious that the longer this dragged on, the worse his condition would get.

“Sehyun, do you really think Jaeyul is here?

Hiding his scent this thoroughly?”

I dropped the playful tone and spoke carefully.

It was basically the same as giving him the answer.

Sehyun might be a bit dumb, but he would understand what I meant.

And honestly, even for me, the idea of Seon Jaeyul disappearing was… a little—no, a lot—unpleasant.

After all, we’d lived together for years.

Family?

Friends?

Pet humans?

Whatever we were, it would be a lie to say I felt nothing.

Annoyance counts as affection too.

But Sehyun came first for me.

If Jin Sehyun and Seon Jaeyul were both about to fall into lava, and I could only save one, I’d save Sehyun without hesitation.

That’s why I wanted Sehyun to come to his senses and face reality.

“…You’re asking if Jaeyul is really here?

Well, of course….”

Sehyun’s expression gradually stiffened.

It seemed he’d finally realized he might be wrong.

I was about to give him time to collect his thoughts when a strange sensation began.

It felt like the entire space was shaking.

Sehyun didn’t seem to notice, but it was definitely not a good sign.

I took off running like mad with Sehyun on my back.

As time passed, I began to realize what it was.

I wasn’t completely sure yet, but it seemed the gate was starting to close.

We’d gone in too deep to guarantee we could make it in time.

Still, we had to try.

There was another exit, but I wanted to avoid it if possible.

The secret space of the Seon Jaeyuls.

If by some one-in-a-thousand chance we ran into another Seon Jaeyul, it would be instant death.

The others aren’t as soft as the one I know.

“Faster, Poppy!”

Jin Sehyun seemed to sense something was wrong.

We entered the gate to find Seon Jaeyul, but he wasn’t here, and now the exit was suddenly closing…?

Something about this smelled rotten.

A filthy stench that would attract swarms of dirty flies.

“You can’t fix humans, after all.”

Yeah.

Sometimes it feels like monsters eating humans is actually the right thing to do.

Call it purification.

“There!

Just a little more, Poppy!”

When the glow of the exit came into view, my heart raced even faster.

I pumped my four legs harder than I ever thought possible.

Just a little more.

Just a little….

“…Poppy… stop running….”

We failed.

The light hadn’t vanished completely, but at this speed, reaching the exit was impossible.

If only I’d been a little faster.

If only I’d noticed something was wrong a little earlier.

Then this wouldn’t have happened….

To make matters worse, I was exhausted and could barely maintain my true form.

I shifted back into a puppy and was held in Sehyun’s arms.

“Rest comfortably, Poppy.

I’m sorry.

This is my fault.”

But Sehyun’s voice was brighter than I expected.

There was nothing positive about the situation, but he sounded far less despairing than I thought he would.

Probably because he believed Seon Jaeyul might be safe.

If someone had created this trap to imprison Sehyun, then the claim that Seon Jaeyul was missing was likely a lie.

You fool.

Worrying more about that ill-tempered, psychopathic lunatic than your own safety.

That’s exactly why I need to stay by your side forever and protect you….

“Hyung.”

What?

Am I hallucinating…?

There’s no way I’d hear that voice here.

Yeah.

It’s a hallucination.

“…Thank goodness.

I’m really glad you’re safe.”

Ah, Seon Jaeyul….

You cursed bastard!

Unable to let Sehyun go, you even jump into a gate that’s about to collapse.

You really do find new ways every day to prove how insane you are.

“You too.

I’m glad you’re safe.”

The two of them pulled each other into a tight embrace.

With a small, fragile puppy like me stuck right between them.

Ah—ugh!

You bastards!

Am I invisible or something?!

You ungrateful, black-haired beasts!

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