"Am I supposed to eat this with a fork?"
"Huh?"
Even when looking right at the flustered middle school customer's face, I didn't realize what was wrong.
...I this a new kind of torture?
The three middle school students, who seemed to be a group, were giggling amongst themselves a step away. What was so funny? I felt like crying.
"I'm so sorry. I'll get four spoons ready for you."
Hyeonju suddenly appeared from behind and placed four spoons on a tray. Only then did the students take the tray and leave the pickup counter, glancing back at me with expressions that said they were dying of laughter.
"Ah."
It belatedly hit me, what the customer carried away wasn't cake, but strawberry shaved ice. And it was one I had made myself. 'This is the first shaved ice order of the year,' I had thought earlier.
"You don't seem to be doing well today."
Hyeonju, who usually wasn't one to beat around the bush, spoke sharply. Feeling a bit awkward, I scratched my cheek.
"I guess it's because I couldn’t sleep well."
"You said you overslept."
...Right. That was the excuse I made this morning.
Hyeonju's uniform looked like a prosecutor's robe. I felt like a criminal being interrogated in court.
I did make a few mistakes today that I normally never would. Just a little. A tiny bit. Mistakes I made were repeatedly cleaned up by the manager and Hyeonju.
Hyeonju looked calm, but the hidden sharpness in her eyes made me flinch. However, that was only for a moment. My mind couldn't focus on the cafe work and kept wandering off somewhere else.
...If Hyeonju catches me off guard, my life will be miserable for a whole year. No, not just a year. It might last until the day I quit this cafe.
Once marked as an 'incompetent worker' by Hyeonju, she will ruthlessly find fault with you until the day you leave. Like a hunting dog that never lets go once it bites. Always with a expressionless face and a flat tone of voice.
That was how she made six soft-hearted part-timers quit already. The soft-hearted manager couldn't bring himself to fire part-timers who were constantly late or absent without notice, so he asked Hyeonju to step in whenever he struggled.
...And now, Hyeonju's merciless radar was aimed right at me.
"An iced hot chocolate, too."
"..."
It was the owner's slender voice that saved me.
"Hye... Hyeonju."
Peeking his head out from behind the staff room door, he called Hyeonju.
It was a sign telling him to stop glaring as if he were about to kill me. Hyeonju looked at the owner. The owner shook his head left and right.
Hyeon-ju let out a short sigh after holding his breath so still it made me wonder if he was even breathing. Nice, boss.
"If it's tough, rest inside. I think it'll be quiet until Wonhyuk comes. Lunchtime has passed, too."
To be honest, I didn't want to rest. Although Hyeonju was glaring at me with a look that said, 'Go inside quietly while I'm asking nicely,' if he weren't, I would've wanted to grab a mop right away and wipe down the shop floor. I felt like keeping my body busy would quiet down my dizzying mind a bit...
"...Call me if there are a lot of customers."
"Yes."
I entered the break room with a somber tone.
The reason I was made to feel so incompetent and miserable all day was precisely because of that man who looked just like Raum.
The man, who claimed to be Raum, stood up, saying he would prove it since I wouldn't believe him.
'You hid food here and told me to find it by scent.'
He giggled foolishly holding a nosework blanket. When I didn't react at all, the man frowned slightly, ran out of the room again, and this time returned with a tug toy, a stuffed doll hanging from a harness as big as my forearm.
'You told me I could bite and tear it, so I tore it off.'
He opened his mouth wide to reveal white teeth and bit into the tip of the stuffed doll.
My body froze solid at the strange behavior displayed by the man. What on earth is going on?
Not only that, the man hovered around me, babbling on about memories that only I and Raum would know.
'...You said you wanted to move near Sun-oh's brother because you were stressed. You said you wanted to live as a family with just me, excluding his family.'
I couldn't focus on the man's words at all. Not only had the shock of my precious pet dog turning into a human overnight not worn off yet, but that grand, naked body roaming around kept dizzying my field of vision.
"Could you... please sit down completely before talking?"
I rubbed my brow and asked with difficulty.
'Well, I think that's a good idea. I don't dislike being wrapped around you either.'
However, whether the man was lost in his own imagination, he couldn't hear my voice.
My effort to view this absurd situation realistically kept crumbling. My head grew even more chaotic because of that thing glaring right in my eyes. Eventually, my reason reached its limit.
"Please don't walk around with your penis dangling! I don't want to see it!"
Crazy. I said it. I blurted it out.
However, my face felt hotter than the man who was actually naked. The man blinked his clear eyes once, lowered his head, and looked down at his own penis. Then he looked back at me. His expression transformed oddly.
'As if you haven't seen it before.'
'......'
'It's not like you've seen it once or twice. You even used to fondle it.'
"Stop talking."
'You said I'd make a great son-in-law.'
The man smiled brightly, as if saying it couldn't get any purer than this. The man's good looks shone. The halo seemed to radiate brilliantly not only around his face, but also around his penis.
...Crazy bastard.
I ignored the man and silently prepared to leave for work. I didn't even reply to his farewell telling me to have a good day.
"Haa."
I escaped to work in the morning, but I inevitably had to face that man again in the evening.
The drag list on my smartphone search history was already stretched to its maximum limit.
[Dog human]
[Can a dog become a human]
[Dog disguise]
[Dog looks like a human]
[Evolution theory]
[Experimental subject escape]
---
Even though I stared at my smartphone until my eyes almost popped out, I couldn't find any content about a dog turning into a human form. Just in case, I posted a question on Knowledge iN (Q&A site), but I only got cursed at, being told, "If you're going to make up stories, make them original and fun."
I tossed my smartphone onto the table and buried my face in my hands.
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