“I called you so Ah-in doesn’t go home alone, so why are you following me?”
I was walking between Hae-in and Ah-in as if they were being escorted, carrying seri.
“I am not the one who is in danger now. Oppa and Blue Dragon are in danger. We have to escort you.”
Looking at Ah-in’s determined eyes and tightly closed lips, anyone who bumps into Ah-in today will have a taste of the Jiu-Jitsu Purple Belt.
“Right. Bro. What if you come to my house right now? Our house is probably more secure than yours. At night, I am there.”
Hae-in rises a bit more. Under his brown hair, looking at his big, worried eyes, he looked like a large, docile dog. Hae-in looked overlaid with the image of a certain dog breed who said it would be nice to thieves and would lick them to death.
“Fine. I don’t leave the house very often, so I’ll take care of myself.”
“Are you okay by yourself? Should I be with you at your house for a while?”
“What? Are you trying to stop me from getting married?”
“That would make sense if it would stop my marriage, but why would I be worried for you? I’m just saying that I’ll make a big sacrifice to protect them.”
“Ah, really, these overprotective siblings, you tire me out……”
I grunted and pulled up my scarf, but smiled under the scarf that covered my mouth. How reassuring it is to have a friend who will stand by you no matter what. Even though spring hasn’t come yet, I have been getting warmer.
“Pyaaong~”
“Meow~”
Seri didn’t make a single beep at the hospital and was given an injection without a single sound, but when she saw the blue dragon and the white tiger, she acted foolishly and went into Baek-ho’s arms as if she had done something big. Blue Dragon licks Seri in Baek-ho’s arms as if he’s proud too.
“Seeing that Seri is fooling around, it seems like she’s saying she got a booboo here and asking for them to blow the pain away.”
“Yeah, I’m so proud seeing taking of her like an older brother?”
“I finished the first round today, when is the second?”
“Three weeks later. The second shots can be done after the adoption.”
“You didn’t vaccinate Blue dragon right?”
“Yeah, he’s different from regular cats, so we couldn’t vaccinate him at will. I don’t know what effect it will have. I said I’d like to leave my sister alone.” f
The unrealistic scenery of drinking coffee and discussing the vaccination of dragon hatchlings can’t be this natural. At first, I thought it was really nonsense and tried to deny it as much as possible. I was just trying to find a reason that could be convincing somehow, but I guess I was deeply immersed in the fantasy of a new reality that we don’t even know about.
The two cats and one baby dragon, who were grooming each other, were all sleeping peacefully with the three of them buried in each other. It was lovely to see Blue Dragon and Seri sleeping side by side on Baek-ho’s fluffy belly.
“You say that the story you’re writing is based on Blue Dragon and Baek-ho?”
“Yeah, I got the motive, but of course it’s not the same story. It is a story of a blue dragon who accidentally crosses a dimension from another world, meets a divine beast from the east, becomes friends after twists and turns, and helps solve problems in each other’s world. I’m trying to use it in a slightly heavy atmosphere because the Shinigami is coming.”
“Dragons are a staple in fantasy, but it’s refreshing to link them with the god of death. It has a completely different atmosphere from your home except that it’s for dragons and white tigers. Can’t anyone imagine seeing it like that?”
Hae-in waved his hand toward the sleeping blue dragon with his belly exposed defenselessly.
“Will he become a dragon when he grows up? Then you will go back to your original world, right? He can’t keep living here. But just because a cat raised it doesn’t mean you’ll be bullied by dragons or something like that, right?”
I looked at Hae-in’s face full of stupidity. The freedom of thought is truly admirable. However, I followed Hae-in’s fingertips and looked back at the sleeping blue dragon.
After hearing Hae-in’s words, I suddenly became worried too. Our blue dragon, who grew up in the hands of cats, eats cat food, uses cat toilets, and is good at golgolsong, squid, and udada. There was needless worry.
******
No one has contacted me since that day looking for a blue-haired cat. The story of dragons and tigers also progressed quite a bit, but while I was writing it, I was not called into an illusion of another world.
I, who had been tense for a while because of the sense of alienation I felt from a person named Lee Ho-jun, was able to relax and return to my daily life as the peaceful days continued.
The calendar turned over and it was March. And the day of the adoption came.
Before putting seri in the moving cabinet, I said hello to the white tiger and the blue dragon, but only the experienced white tiger knew the meaning. Baek-ho spent an exceptionally long time licking every nook and cranny of Seri’s body and looked at Seri with plain yet bold eyes, but Blue Dragon and Seri didn’t know anything and just patted each other.
The adoptee said that he could come pick it up, but I decided to pick it up myself. Animals adopted through Cloud Animal Hospital are always taken by my sister or me. That way, you will feel more secure and you will be able to see the environment of the adoptee once.
“Thank you for taking me this far. The whole family was waiting for the day when seri came. In the meantime, Seri has grown a lot. Thank you so much for taking such good care of me.”
Everyone in the adoptee’s family had a good impression, and the atmosphere in the house was so much that I could feel that I loved cats at a glance, so I was relieved.
A remarkably pretty tricolor cat sneaked up to me and stopped a little further away.
“Wow, that’s a really pretty tricolor.”
“thank you. He’s the cutie of our house. I was rescued from being hit by a motorcycle when I was a kid. He’s friendly to other cats, so he’ll take good care of seri. My name is Yuri.”
“It has the same name as my friend. Yuri, please take good care of our tax collector.”
“Nyay~”
As Yuri cried in response, Seri, who was on my lap, cried briefly.
“Mirong~”
“Oh? Is the cry a bit unusual? But cute.”
“Ah, haha, our cat’s cry is a bit unusual, so I think Seri learned it.”
She’s still a baby, so if she stays with Yuri, she’ll cry like a normal cat soon. I wiped my sweaty forehead with the back of my hand.
“Health handbook here, even the first vaccination. I also brought some of the food I ate. I used this brand for sand, but I’m not a particularly sandy kid, so I’ll use anything. and······.”
I carefully added what I said whenever I sent a dog or cat I was protecting for adoption.
“If, by any chance, there is a problem with seri and it is difficult to raise them, or if the adoptee is unable to raise them due to circumstances, please do not send them to another place arbitrarily and please contact me or my sister. We will bring it back without saying anything, so please do not worry and feel free to contact us.”
“Aww, is that possible? We also thought about it carefully and made a decision. Don’t worry, seri is now the youngest in our family.”
The adoptee smiled as if he was saying everything, and I was relieved to see the atmosphere of the place of adoption.
Since my sister has a very good eye for people, there were no cases of adoption accidents among the animals we adopted, but I have seen such cases several times among the people around me.
There are cases where they were adopted saying they would love and care for them like family, but they were dismissed because a human baby was born, and there were cases where they lost them and couldn’t find them because they did not contact them. There are times when I get beaten up or kicked out for having a bad habit like Rey.
So, after adopting an animal that I have been protecting, I am always nervous at first. I’m not sure if I’m getting along well, being loved, and doing well, like a mother who gave her daughter in marriage, but after hearing the news that she’s doing well, it won’t take me a month or two to feel relieved, and now I’m relieved that I can forget about that house.
I couldn’t move well when I was about to leave seri, who was shuddering in fear in an unfamiliar place. It’s something I go through every time I send in for adoption, but it’s always difficult because I’m not used to it. Although this process is difficult, I should never have to do temporary protection again, but when I see Ray’s adoption and love and happiness, I’m happy to do it again.
When I returned home empty-handed, Baek-ho approached me as if he knew it would and rubbed his head on his leg as if to comfort me, but Blue Dragon opened his eyes and looked at my hand.
“Piyah?”
We went out together like we did when we went to the hospital, so I thought we would come back together, but I was surprised that I came back alone.
I stroked the blue dragon’s head without saying a word. It’s not something that can be put into words. It’ll be fine after some time.
I’ve only had it for 3 weeks, but now that seri is gone, the house is lonely. I don’t even feel like writing today, so I have to go to bed early.
Before going to bed, the adoptee of seri sent me a picture of seri and Yuri together. Even though Seri is unfamiliar, it seems like she is relying on Yuri because she is hard at work. Don’t worry, it will get better soon.
Thank you. My mind was at ease.
At dawn, I woke up thirsty and my back was a bit empty. These days, I always slept with Baek-ho, Blue Dragon, and Seri tangled on my back, but one less.
When I woke up, there was no blue dragon.
Blue Dragon was sitting in front of the front door and staring at the door.
I approached and hugged the blue dragon.
“Pirong?”
His eyes seemed to be crying.
“I’m sorry, Blue dragon, Seri is no longer here. Sorry.”
“······· Piaeeng!”
Blue Dragon pushed me away and ran to Baek-ho. I sighed as I looked at the blue dragon who was in Baek-ho’s arms and buried his head.
Our blue dragon learned what farewell is. He’s now one step closer to adulthood.