NOVEL NEXT chapter 156
― “Young-a.”
“You got a dog? Wait, huh? No? But you said ‘walking a random dog’?”
There’s no way Gang Jaegyung would delay his stream just because he couldn’t walk a dog, right? I asked in confusion, and from the other end of the line, I heard a quiet laugh.
― “I was on my way home from a workout, and I saw a husky wandering around with a leash still attached—guess the owner lost hold of it. Huskies can be dangerous, so I coaxed it over and I’m taking it to an animal hospital now.”
“The stream?”
― “This felt more urgent, so I posted a notice. Huskies are strong, and they can be dangerous in certain situations. They might not bite people, but they’ll chase smaller dogs or cats like prey. They’re super curious and love running, so they could end up as roadkill.”
He sounded like an expert. And he actually managed to lure in and escort something that dangerous to a vet? Yeah, it’s definitely a husky.
In the middle of the call, I heard the leash tug and Gang Jaegyung expertly say, “Tsk, no. Don’t do that,” like he was correcting the dog. Yep. Definitely a husky.
“Well... if it’s that kind of situation, fine.”
― “Why? Did I keep you waiting long?”
“I’m waiting for Mirror Dungeon, not you.”
― “We said we’d queue at 12:20, and it’s already past 11.”
“Yeah, and if you’re delaying your stream, you might not make it to Mirror in time either.”
He kept fishing for a specific response, so I dodged as much as possible. Then, after a pause, he spoke again, voice laced with a subtle smile.
― “You were worried, weren’t you? Enough to message first?”
I hung up on him.
God, this guy... I know it’s wrong to say this, but he’s the kind of dude other guys hate. If he acts like this around girls too, they’d definitely think he was flirting. What am I supposed to do with this clueless bastard?
Just when I was actually starting to get worried about him, Gang Jaegyung bombarded me with messages. Pop-ups appeared across my dimmed screen—apologies filled with frantic tone and typos.
I turned my phone screen back on.
[Gang Jaegyung]
ㅠㅠㅜㅡ,
sowy...
djokn’t maen ti...
itwaz axidnet ;0; 11:21
[Me]
then send dog pic 🐶 11:21
[Gang Jaegyung]
wait amoment!!! 11:22
His typos were brutal. Probably because he had the leash in one hand. So that earlier message—“walking random dog”—he must’ve typed that out slowly and carefully, like some kind of dramatic setup. What a weirdo.
While reading his typos out loud for fun, a new photo arrived.
Let’s see what kind of wild, dangerous beast delayed Retaking’s stream by a whole hour.
But instead of some snarling brute, the photo showed a strikingly handsome husky, black and white like a wolf, stretching its snout toward the camera with curious eyes. And... next to it, another husky was wrapping its arms around the first one, flashing a bright peace sign.
Why the hell was he in the dog picture?
[Me]
ㅋㅋ
cute
except one of u 11:24
[Gang Jaegyung]
ㅠㅠ.. 11:25
I expected him to start whining, but after that message, he went quiet. He didn’t seem upset—when he’s sulking, he gets more talkative. He’d said he was at the vet, and with all the typos earlier, I figured he was just too busy to keep texting.
I stretched and glanced at the clock. 11:26. Dusk was still in maintenance, so I had nothing to do for the next thirty minutes.
There was nothing to do at my desk, so I flopped onto my bed. But just lying there for thirty minutes felt pointless. What should I do? Not enough time to go to the gym... but maybe I could run a lap around the apartment complex by myself? There’s CCTV and security nearby...
The thought flashed through my mind, but I gave up right away. I’m the kind of guy who can’t even go to the convenience store alone. Who am I kidding?
I rolled around, crumpling and twisting the bedsheets beneath me. I’m bored. I’m restless. I wanna play. I wanna do Dusk. I wanna hang out with Gang Jaegyung. I want something—anything—to happen!
Eventually, I gave up and called the one man responsible for keeping me entertained.
― “What’s wrong?”
“Whuugh.”
― “Young-a?”
“Whuhhh.”
― “...I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“I’mfffffth nn dddddd n mmmmugh.”
― “...Are you in danger?”
Because I was too lazy to get up and kept talking face-down, Gang Jaegyung’s voice turned cautious—dead serious.
Right. This guy’s job does mess with his instincts. His brain always leaps to worst-case scenarios.
I lifted my head from the mattress.
“I’m just lying on my stomach, that’s why I sounded weird.”
― “Ah... It sounded like your mouth was covered or something. Glad you’re okay.”
I flinched a bit, but played it cool.
“So. What’re you doing now?”
― “Still heading home. Might be cutting it close.”
“Hurry. I’m fucking bored.”
― “Even if I ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) hurry, the Dusk servers are still down.”
Right... I had no rebuttal for that. I went silent. Then a new thought popped into my head.
“By the way. Did you ever have a dog?”
― “Yeah.”
I knew it. He did seem good with dogs. And he knew a lot about them.
“What breed?”
― “Border Collie. Black and white. She was beautiful.”
Wow, the smartest dog breed in the world. Of course he had one.
As soon as I showed interest, Gang Jaegyung lit up and started rambling before I could even ask more.
― “We grew up together. I was just a baby when we got her. My mom was always busy, so I spent more time with the dog. One time, I tried to walk her by myself and got distracted by a car’s license plate... totally got lost. But Beryl led me all the way home. She was smarter than me, really—she matured faster. I think I learned more from her than anyone else.”
That explains a lot. Dude really is like a dog.
“Her name was Beryl?”
― “Yeah. My mom named her. Uh... yeah. She did.”
...What’s with that pause? Why does everyone—including my uncle—talk like that? Either say the whole thing or don’t say anything at all.
I sat up and demanded:
“What were you gonna say?”
― “It’s nothing.”
“What were you gonna say.”
― “No, seriously, it’s nothing...”
“What were you gonna say.”
― “Man, you’re really stubborn. You know that?”
“What were you gonna say.”
With a defeated sigh, he finally answered:
― “She named her after the element. Beryllium. It’s kind of a dumb TMI, so I wasn’t gonna mention it. I figured you might not know what that is.”
“...You wanna die? I still remember the periodic table. Number 4, beryllium. H-H-He-Li-Be-B-C-N-O-F-Ne-Na-Mg-Al-Si-P-S-Cl...”
― “...Young-a, you’re shockingly intense sometimes.”
“I know.”
Okay, I had just remembered it. Who even uses that crap now? I don’t know if I’m impressive, or if Korea’s rote education system is.
No, it’s me. I’m impressive.
“Got any pictures? Show me.”
― “Ah... no photos. Maybe a few at my mom’s house.”
“No photos? Why not?”
― “I didn’t understand why pictures mattered when I was a kid.”
He mumbled, almost to himself, “I kind of regret it now.”
That’s when it hit me—I’d misunderstood something.
“...She’s gone now?”
― “Yeah. She died.”
Right. He said they got her when he was a baby, and dogs don’t live past twenty years. Of course she’s gone.
...But still. Most people soften that kind of thing. Say they “crossed the rainbow bridge” or “went on ahead.” At least say “she’s not around anymore.”
Sometimes Gang Jaegyung is surprisingly sensitive—but other times he just drops blunt bombs like that, and it catches me off guard. He’s always been direct, even on stream. Maybe I’ve just gotten too used to this side of him.
Anyway, I hope I didn’t bring up something sad. Unlike Retaking, this guy’s a crybaby in a big body. I didn’t want him tearing up over Beryl, so I quickly changed the subject.
“Send me a few pics if you find any later. Where are you now?”
― “Mm... maybe fifteen more minutes.”
His voice sounded normal. Good.
“Take a taxi.”
― “Not worth the money at this distance.”
Oh, come on. I frowned and grumbled.
“Then take the bus.”
― “Walking takes about the same time. I’m just treating it as exercise.”
“Then run.”
― “Even if I run, the game’s still under maintenance. I can’t do anything.”
“Ugh, whatever. Just run.”
― “...You’re stubborn, intense, and you’ve got a mean streak.”
“Your poop is color poop.”
― “Poop is naturally colored.”
“Oh, shit. You’re right.”
― “You’re stubborn, intense, mean, and dumb.”
“Add more. I dare you.”
― “...Never mind.”
As we kept chatting, I straightened out the disaster of a bed I’d made while rolling around. My phone was hot against my ear, but I didn’t care. I kept talking to Gang Jaegyung about nothing at all.
Then, faintly, his voice began to echo—followed by the sound of a keypad being pressed.
― “I’m home. Gotta start stream setup. I’ll text you later.”
“’Kay.”
The call ended. My ears rang from how long we’d been talking, but I was already used to his voice, and once I put on my headset, it’d fade away anyway.
I sat down at my desk and launched the game launcher. The patch downloaded, and finally—
[Retaking’s Stream Has Started: Let’s Date in Mirror Dungeon ^~^)]
A notification popped up.
The stream had begun.