"Dungdung! I've missed you soooo much!"
Ji Seokwon rushed toward his beloved younger brother with both arms spread wide.
Naturally, Dungdung calmly stepped aside without so much as a reaction.
"Hi, Seokwon. Come in."
Even though he'd ended up embracing nothing but air, Ji Seokwon wasn't hurt in the slightest. This was how things had always been.
Grinning from ear to ear, he followed his baby brother into the living room, only for his eyes to widen.
The living room was... a complete mess.
He'd heard that the apartment had gotten a little cluttered, but how bad could it possibly be? His youngest brother had been so fastidious that he'd put away his own toys even as a toddler.
Yet by any ordinary person's standards, this place was thoroughly untidy.
Beneath the white wall stood food and water bowls and a little hideaway.
Long, cylindrical springlike contraptions of unknown purpose lay scattered haphazardly around the apartment. Toys that looked certain to jingle when shaken were strewn across the floor.
Several books were piled on the table, bearing titles such as:
There's a Ferret Living in My House
The Beginner Ferret Owner's Survival Guide
Ferrets: A Storm in the Palm of Your Hand
Why Do Ferrets Sprint at Full Speed at Three in the Morning?
There was another hideaway at one end of the sofa.
A tiny white creature poked just its head out and stared at him.
The last time he'd visited, the little fellow had been asleep, so he hadn't realized just how adorable it was.
It looked like a living doll.
Clear black eyes that seemed freshly washed in a stream, a tiny triangular mouth, a pink nose, and little ears that kept twitching in response to every sound.
Its round eyes brimmed with curiosity.
Kyit!
The ferret made a little noise at Ji Seokwon, as though it had something to say, then promptly disappeared back inside.
"Seokwon, sit down quickly. You're scaring him. Apparently, when people stand over small animals, they can seem threatening."
"Ah... Right, right. Can't have that. Of course. Okay."
Ji Seokwon sat on the stool attached to the sofa.
"I'm glad the little guy's recovered. What's his name?"
"He doesn't have one."
"Why? Too many candidates to choose from?"
"How could I name him when I'm not keeping him?"
"You're not keeping him?"
"I'm emigrating soon, remember?"
"Oh, right. Of course. That's true. You can't exactly keep a pet when you're about to emigrate."
Even as he said it, Ji Seokwon looked around the living room again.
How the hell is this an apartment where someone isn't keeping a ferret?
There were even several index tabs sticking out of The Beginner Ferret Owner's Survival Guide.
"How long did you say you've been living with this little guy?"
"I told you, we're not living together. He just sleeps here."
"Got it. Like putting up a temporary shelter for a stray cat so it can get out of the rain."
"Yeah. He's usually gone during the day and only comes back to sleep at night, but for some reason he's here this afternoon. You got lucky."
"This is the thirtieth floor. How does he get in and out?"
"He rides on a crow's back."
"What? Since when do you make jokes?"
"Hahahaha!"
Ji Seokwon burst into laughter.
His younger brother quietly closed his mouth.
Meanwhile, Ji Seokwon's mind was racing.
As far as he knew, his youngest brother had picked up this ferret on December 3. He remembered the date precisely because he'd visited the apartment that very day.
And now the year had changed, and it was February 2.
This lone wolf had spent an entire two months under the same roof as this tiny ferret.
Dungdung didn't merely keep his distance from people. He avoided pets, too, whether dogs, cats, or anything else.
Perhaps it was because having an animal nearby could ease his loneliness.
And the reason he couldn't allow his loneliness to be eased was that he needed to become accustomed to it.
Ji Seokwon thought,
For someone like him to keep an animal close for two whole months... couldn't that be a sign that something is changing?
"......"
Couldn't it mean he still has a chance to adjust to the world? Maybe he hasn't realized it himself, maybe he refuses to admit it, but somewhere deep down, he's still not ready to accept a lifetime of loneliness.
"......"
Dungdung wants to change. There must still be a spark of determination and hope burning somewhere inside him...!
"Seokwon."
"Ah, sorry. Ahem. Hmm."
Ji Seokwon cleared his throat and hurriedly gulped down some water.
He looked around for something, anything, to say, and his eyes landed on an unfamiliar object.
"What are these greenhouse-looking things?"
"Ferret tunnels. They're toys for ferrets."
"How much do things like that cost?"
"Three hundred thousand won."
Kyink!
The ferret, which had been sitting quietly inside its hideaway, suddenly made a noise.
It sounded almost like a sneeze, or perhaps a startled squeak.
His younger brother glanced over with concern, then turned up the temperature on the heated cushion.
"That's not much."
"Yeah. Even though I had them custom-made, they were surprisingly cheap."
"You had them custom-made?"
"Everything on the market was too big for him.... Apparently, ferrets like squeezing into tight spaces, so I didn't have much choice. But he doesn't really play with them."
And you still have the nerve to say you're not keeping this animal?
Ji Seokwon couldn't stop the thought from springing naturally to mind.
Kyee.
The ferret poked its face out of the hideaway.
Before Ji Seokwon could properly admire those round eyes, tiny nose, and triangular mouth, the little creature dashed out and plunged straight into the custom-made, three-hundred-thousand-won tunnel.
Kyeeng. Kyink. Kyeeeeng.
It scurried rapidly through the tunnel, popped out of an opening, then scrambled straight back inside.
Sometimes it stopped halfway through to turn around in place, twisting its long body this way and that.
After sitting quietly all this time, it had suddenly chosen this exact moment to start playing with the tunnel as enthusiastically as possible.
It was almost as though the creature were saying, You should've told me it cost three hundred thousand won sooner! Honestly, what am I going to do with you?
"......"
His younger brother silently watched the performance.
He wasn't exactly smiling, but his gaze lacked its usual dry indifference.
After playing in the tunnel for about ten minutes, the ferret emerged, panting.
It trudged back into its hideaway, then came out again chewing vigorously on something.
Still working its tiny mouth, the little white animal climbed onto his younger brother's lap and stretched out at full length.
His brother gently adjusted the ferret into a more comfortable position and stroked its fur.
"If it's not to your taste, you don't have to play with it."
Squeak....
Watching them, Ji Seokwon thought,
That's literally a pet and its owner.
"Ahem. So, uh, what's he eating? A squid tentacle?"
"Ginseng. He likes it. Eats it really well."
Ji Seokwon knew next to nothing about animals, so he simply assumed that ferrets must naturally eat ginseng.
Now that the brief whirlwind of activity had passed and everything had settled down, it seemed like the perfect time to broach the real reason for his visit.
"Dungdung, as you know, the reason I came today is...."
No. Don't jump straight into it. I'll start with some small talk about myself, build up the mood, and then bring it up.
"Dungdung, why are people the way they are? I'm so fucking stressed out. Our company's on the verge of the biggest deal in its history, but then one of our very important customers from an oil-rich country loses his pet parrot...."
He launched into the story of the missing parrot.
Three days had already passed since the bird disappeared, and they hadn't found so much as a single feather.
"The contract we're negotiating right now is worth thirty billion won, but when you add all the deals that'll follow from it, we're talking three hundred billion. Three hundred billion! Even the government is paying attention to this deal. And our precious oil customer is putting off signing because of one damn parrot. Does that make any sense? Why the hell did he bring his pet all the way to a country this cold in the first place? I just feel sorry for the bird. With weather like this, it's obviously dead by now. An innocent little life lost because its owner was selfish."
"Sounds rough, Seokwon."
"We even hired three animal detectives, you know? They're obviously scammers, but we have to show His Royal Oiliness that we're making an effort. They ran around the hotel calling themselves detectives, and in the end, they couldn't find a single feather. They said they couldn't do it and recommended somebody else. What was his name again? Hae Tam? Anyway, that bastard's probably a scammer too, so I didn't bother contacting him."
He was getting so worked up just talking about it that his complaints grew increasingly passionate.
He didn't notice the ferret peeking out between his younger brother's fingers and staring directly at him.
"Anyway, that's enough about me. Can your big brother get to the actual point now?"
"Not if it's about emigrating."
"It's not about emigrating."
"......"
"You're coming up on the registration deadline for next semester, aren't you? Have you registered?"
"You said this wasn't about emigrating...."
"It isn't. It's about your education. Two completely different subjects."
"......"
His younger brother stared at him with dark, lowered eyes.
The pressure made Ji Seokwon's stomach clench, but he forced himself to keep his eyes wide and meet that gaze.
Don't back down now.
I don't care how impenetrable your defenses are. I'm going to convince you today!
When he'd announced that he was coming to settle the matter once and for all, his siblings had sent him off with a chorus of encouragement.
"We're counting on you!"
"You've got to convince him, Seokwon!"
"Dungdung does open up to you more than anyone else, at least."
"The fate of our entire family rests on your shoulders!"
Bearing such a weighty mission, he couldn't possibly retreat now.
"This sounds like it's going to take a while, so I'll get us something to drink."
His younger brother let out a small sigh and stood up.
That meant he was at least willing to hear what his brother had to say.
Ji Seokwon felt relieved, but his heart was still heavy. He rubbed both hands over his face.
The faint clatter of dishes came from the kitchen.
He was mentally organizing what he wanted to say when his eyes met those of the ferret, which was sitting on the cushion, staring at him with bright, alert eyes.
Only the very tip of its ginseng root remained.
"Hey. Hey, you. You don't have a name, so what am I supposed to call you? Kim Ferret? No, wait, we're the Ji family, so I'll call you Ji Ferret."
"......"
"Try to win that guy over for me, will you? Convince him not to leave Korea, okay?"
"......"
"Make him start doubting that decision of his to spend the rest of his life alone. Make him think, How could I possibly live alone when I'd have to leave behind something as cute as you? Make him realize he ought to have at least an animal by his side."
"......"
"People can't live entirely on their own. You probably don't understand that, though."
"......"
"No human being is destined to spend their whole life in loneliness and then die alone...."
He knew his younger brother would be able to hear him.
But he had to say it anyway.
Because his younger brother needed to hear it.
The ferret blinked its black eyes once, then gave a small nod.
It looked almost as though it had understood every word.
Rather than finding it remarkable, Ji Seokwon felt a little bitter.
I'm so desperate that I'm even projecting my own feelings onto an animal.