Doberman

 

Eden City had inflated Owen’s size, swelling everything about him out of control. He had become a formidable devil, nurtured by Eden City. Now that he had devoured the great thing, he was untouchable.

Owen stood up with a satisfied smirk on his face. Only then did the dogs, with gentle faces, follow Owen, wagging their tails.

As if perfectly timed, the door behind the sofa opened. Absent-mindedly stepping forward, Sarin found Owen and Yuri.

“You haven’t left?”

“Yuri will prepare breakfast. Eat.”

“Really?”

Before Sarin could blush at the sight of him in front of her, Owen moved. As he approached her with determined steps, the dogs followed, pressing their faces against her clothes and charmingly seeking affection. Watching her pet each dog in sequence with meticulous care, Owen extended his hand and affectionately stroked Sarin’s head.

“You’re going to see the child. Let’s go together.”

“Yes, but… together?”

“I think you should introduce me formally.”

Formally? Why and how?

Before Sarin could think about it, Owen disappeared through the door she’d left open.

In the space he left behind, only Yuri and she remained.

“There’s no need for breakfast.”

Sarin broke the awkward silence. Eating something now would certainly add tension in this situation. She wordlessly patted the dogs that had come up to her. The dogs’ affectionate gazes suddenly reminded her of what had happened earlier.

‘You slept too well for someone in discomfort.’

She was surprised at what she saw when she first opened her eyes, and then she realized this is what it feels like to have someone by your side.

The comfort of his arms around her gave her a brief moment of relief, but then she realized she shouldn’t feel that way, so she pushed herself away from Owen. It felt wrong to seek comfort from a man who should be causing her the most discomfort. She couldn’t bear the gap between them.

Their relationship was purely out of necessity. But he kept crossing the unspoken line between them.

“What if I get used to being around someone?”

Sarin asked in a hushed whisper to the three dogs that were watching her.

If she became accustomed to it before leaving, how would she endure the sense of loss? She couldn’t find an answer, even when she asked herself.

It was a bottomless pit anyway, so why bother?

Sarin gently touched her chest, which trembled with frustration. The loss of her other half had not yet been fully felt. It still seemed as if her hands could touch an emptiness.

No one told her how much loss she needed to experience before becoming numb to it.

She feared that Owen, the arrogant man, might become a loss to her. Once she got used to it, it would be over.

Owen had to remain a fearful presence for her. She shouldn’t even question the small, sweet things he showed her.

Her sister couldn’t endure Eden City in the end.

Sarin finally understood that sentiment a bit. There was no hope of staying here anyway. It was a dangerous and alluring city of pleasure. In such a city, there was no sanctuary for the two sisters, Irin and Sarin. Her sister realized it quickly, and so did she.

“Ha….”

Something felt out of place.

Sarin looked at the things he called her things, the things that took up most of Owen’s space. Her eyes narrowed. It was a feeling of wanting to take a step back, with nothing but a desire to avoid the unfamiliar objects whose prices she couldn’t even fathom.

Thump.

Blue barked softly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Clever.”

Sarin smiled at Blue and praised her while gently patting her head. She would probably miss them occasionally once she left this place.

Thud.

Just then, the door behind her opened.

Sarin turned her head at the sound, and there stood the same perfect-looking man, his face as stern as ever.

“Let’s go.”

Yuri, who had been waiting a short distance away, led the way, his face dejected.

Naturally, Sarin was about to follow him, but she hesitated when she saw Owen’s outstretched hand. When he looked down at his hand, indicating that she should take it, she hesitated before firmly grasping his strong hand. A ring with the same temperature as the man’s body clung tightly to her finger.

Without further thought, Sarin walked side by side with Owen, matching his pace, and left the room.

She expected him to let go of her hand soon, but strangely, he held onto it the entire way to the hospital. As they neared Hayan’s room, Sarin’s pace slowed. When Owen stopped for a moment, she realized that this wasn’t the front of the patient’s room.

“You said you raised a child.”

“What? Ah….”

“Then why are you so nervous?”

Of course, he expected her to be happy. If not with excitement and anticipation, at least she shouldn’t have looked like this. He felt cold sweat from their tightly held hands, seemingly full of tension.

“Just because.”

Meeting Hayan was always nerve-wracking. She checked to make sure she didn’t look disheveled, that her complexion was okay, and reassured herself that it was okay a few times before she found the courage to meet him.

If she showed anxiety, the child would become anxious too. Sarin always had to appear composed. At least she was an adult compared to Hayan.

When she answered with “just because,” and Owen stared at her silently, Sarin sighed.

“Yeah, I’m nervous; I don’t know what I look like right now.”

Owen rubbed Sarin’s pale cheek once with his other hand, but the color didn’t return.

“Your sister’s death was an accident.”

“Will Hayan think so, too?”

“Perhaps she will come to understand.”

She sighed after Owen threw his words casually. He then took out a handkerchief from his pocket. Lifting Sarin’s hand held by him and spreading her palm, he gently wiped the sweaty parts with the handkerchief.

As he gently pressed on the center of her palm, as if doing acupressure, her tense body oddly relaxed slowly.

“Ah….”

“It’s better if you focus on other things.”

She found herself watching Owen’s face, who seemed as if soothing a child. He looked up from Sarin’s palm and made direct eye contact with her. As he chuckled softly, she realized it was Owen she was focusing on, not the sensation in her palm.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After wiping Sarin’s hands clean, Owen walked with her again.

A few more deep breaths calmed her nerves, but she still didn’t know how to introduce Owen to Hayan. He waited for Sarin to open the door to the hospital room first.

When she opened it, she saw Hayan’s face, looking scared and a man sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and arms folded. It has the same face as Owen’s.

It was Pavel.

Without hesitation, Sarin leaped into the room.

“Aunt….”

The pale child tried to get up as soon as he saw Sarin. Pavel, who had been sitting next to Hayan, stood up, his hand reaching for the child’s chest pressing it firmly. The interpreter, as startled as Hayan, cried out.

“What are you doing?”

Sarin rushed to Pavel, pushed him aside, and pulled Hayan into a hug. The needles and various devices attached precariously to the child’s hand made a loud noise. Pavel, who smoothly stepped back, shrugged his shoulders.

“Why? He’s my son. Is it wrong for a dad to meet his son?”

“Just because you’re his father…”

The interpreter, Han Yujin, quickly wiped away her tears and said, Pavel, who passed the security guard outside and came in, looked so amazingly similar to Hayan that she believed him and translated for him.

However, as he kept spitting out things the child shouldn’t have heard, Han Yunjin kept her mouth shut. At that moment, Pavel threatened her.

Living in Eden City, there was no way she didn’t know what this place was like.

Despite her efforts to soften Pavel’s words, he growled more and more, maintaining a tense state. Despite delivering only the bare minimum to the child, Hayan, sensing the atmosphere, shivered uncontrollably.

“You brought him here to show me, right?”

Taking a step back, Pavel’s finger pointed at the child in Sarin’s arms. He looked at it as if it were an interesting toy. Seeing Sarin’s bewildered face, Pavel’s face lit up with joy. At that moment, Owen grabbed him by the back of the head and pulled him away.

“What the hell!”

“I know you’re his biological father; I don’t mind you coming and going but you should observe some manners.”

Owen spoke with an unwavering tone. When Pavel nodded in understanding and raised his bandaged hand as a sign of surrender, only then did Owen release his grip.

“Auntie…. I have two dads.”

Hayan whispered to Sarin with a subdued voice, without bursting into tears.

“Hayan, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Until Pavel left this place, Sarin couldn’t ask what he had said.

Pavel liked the way the woman’s face turned pale at his sudden intrusion, and the way Owen couldn’t get angry in front of the child. It annoyed him that he was speaking in his native language, but he decided to let it slide.

Pavel rubbed the back of his neck and smirked.

This was a different face from when he received Owen’s warning. He was caught off guard by the unexpected mention of that story, but Pavel knew. He knew that Owen wouldn’t stutter when it came to that.

“The old man told me to take care of the child. That’s why I came to see him, so don’t make a scary face.”

Owen looked at Pavel with a face that didn’t show anger or amusement, revealing nothing about what he was thinking.

“I would never entrust him to you!”

Sarin shouted, hiding the child behind her.