Chapter 1253. Uniting (3)

Grrrrr!

“W-what the heck!”

“What kind of dog is...”

The passersby freaked out and hurriedly stepped aside.

A huge dog the size of a small cow was energetically trotting down the sidewalk with thick chains around its neck. Its bulging, rippling muscles and sharp fangs proved that this dog’s breed used to be deployed in rough situations way back in the past.

Of course, none of that could be considered a problem right now. Because the actual problem was with the dog baring its fangs and growling at every passerby!

Grrrrrr!

Who wouldn’t freak out and back away when a menacing dog the size of a cow growled at them!

“Aigoo~, sorry about this. My dog is a bit temperamental, you see...”

The owner was supposed to reprimand the dog for threatening other people for no reason. However, the man holding the growling dog’s leash showed no signs of wanting to stop his pet any time soon.

As a matter of fact, he loosened his grip on the leash ever so slightly whenever people got close enough, causing the dog to lunge at them!

‘Eiii! That son of a b*tch!’

‘What an irresponsible dog owner that is! He didn’t even muzzle his bloody dog!’

All the passersby shot the dog owner glares of dissatisfaction and rebuke, but none of them voiced their unhappiness at him. Most people had no desire to get into an argument with a man holding the leash of an angry dog, after all!

“John! Let’s go!”

Bae Seok-Myeong patted the dog’s back as this subtle yet addictive sense of superiority filled him up.

‘Hah! Look at them wetting their pants!’

How could he not feel like he was at the top of the world when people were running scared of his dog? Knowing that this terrifying canine’s master was him, and that only he could control it, was the source of ecstasy not easily available in a daily setting.

Muzzling large dogs while taking out for walks was the rule around here, but Bae Seok-Myeong had no plans of doing that. A muzzle instantly robbed people of their fears, after all! Of course, they would still be scared of Bae Seok-Myeong’s dog, but the intensity of fear would be much lower.

Even though he was breaking the law, he never got in trouble for it. Even the police officers trying to enforce the law got too scared of his dog and couldn’t do anything to him.

“Mooooommy!”

A small child spotted a dog bigger than him and ran toward his mother in terror. Most adults wouldn’t turn around and run away just because they saw a large dog, but children shouldn’t be expected to react the same way as adults.

WOOF! WOOF, WOOF!

The dog grew even more agitated at the sight of a small child running away and began bucking wildly.

“John! Stop! Calm down!”

Bae Seok-Myeong sensed the powerful tugging on the leash and began pulling at it as hard as he could. It felt like his dog, imaginatively named John, was a lot more agitated than usual today. Despite its owner yanking at the leash, the dog showed no signs of backing down.

As a matter of fact, Bae Seok-Myeong was getting dragged forward by the dog’s sheer power, instead!

Dogs from large, powerful breeds could easily out-muscle human adults. Even without using its fangs, such a dog could handily overwhelm human beings with its superior athletic abilities.

“John!”

Bae Seok-Myeong shouted loudly while pulling at the chain even harder. The complexions of the nearby people paled in fright as they realized he was having a tough time restraining his own dog. In the middle of his struggle, though, Bae Seok-Myeong was basking in this feeling of pure satisfaction.

“That’s enough, John! Stop it n...

Huh

?”

That was when it finally happened.

Crack! Craaack, snap!

The taut leash suddenly began letting out dull, weighty noises. And then, the chains snapped, and the broken leash jerked and danced in the air.

WOOF! WOOOOF!!

The agitated dog charged forward at full steam like a racehorse that heard the firing of the starting pistol.

“

Kkyaaaaahk

!”

“W-what the f*ck?!”

The crowd screamed and urgently scattered in all directions. Fortunately for them, the dog’s glare was locked on only one spot. Unfortunately, that spot was where a mother was hugging her frightened child. The dog was making a straight beeline toward those two humans as the drool flooded out from its maw.

“Someone stop that dog!”

“Police! Call the police!”

The passersby felt vague relief and massive terror after realizing they weren’t the canine’s target. A dog that size attacking a mother and a little child? Those two obviously didn’t stand a chance!

The crowd reflexively snapped their heads in the direction of the dog’s owner, but Bae Seok-Myeong was plopped on his butt, unmoving, still not comprehending what had happened.

The mom discovered the vicious dog charging toward her and her son and instinctively held her child tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and lowered her head. Getting up and escaping didn’t even cross her mind. All she could think about at that moment was protecting her child no matter what.

In the blink of an eye, the dog reached its intended victims, and it pounced on them.

“

Kkyaaaaaahk

!”

“Somebody stop that dog!”

Everyone squeezed their eyes shut as cries of half-despair rang in the air. They didn’t want to look since they had no confidence of witnessing the ensuing carnage.

Soon, that dog’s sharp fangs would dig into the frail flesh of its victims. And then, everyone would hear the goosebumps-inducing screams, and...

...Where were the screams?

The freaked-out passersby cautiously opened their eyes and turned their heads to look.

“...

Huh

?”

The charging dog was no longer charging at its victims, but plopped down on the ground. Right before the creature was the mother, still crouching and shielding her son.

The dog seemed to have lost its desire to attack, as it kept its head low and shook it left and right.

The emotion of ‘panic’ was easily noticeable from its body language. But that didn’t last for long.

The dog curled up on the ground, its tail tucked in, and began trembling pitifully.

Whimper, whimper...

The dog even began whimpering pitifully and wetting itself, too!

“...Huh? What’s going on?”

“What’s gotten into it?”

The crowd couldn’t understand what happened and stared at the frightened dog in utter confusion. That old saying about dogs being capable of emoting the most out of animals seemed true from this example. The pure dread and terror etched on the dog’s face was shockingly vivid for all to see, after all!

“...What’s wrong with that dog?”

“What are you standing around for?! Do something! Help the woman out!”

“...! Ah!”

Well-built menfolk among the crowd cautiously scanned their surroundings. However, no one stepped up to stand between the mother and the dog. They all just faltered in silence, waiting. That was because, even if the dog was too terrified to move, anything could still happen.

The scared child’s sobbing continued to stab into people’s hearing. But then, something unexpected happened.

Clomp, clomp!

A man leisurely walked out from the back of the crowd and into the open. Since everyone was standing still, his figure was even more eye-catching.

He approached the mother desperately embracing her child unhurriedly, then bent down slightly to help the woman up.

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

“S-sorry?

Oh, uh

... Yes, I am.”

“It must’ve been terrifying for you. But it’s alright now.”

“...?”

While still making a flustered face, the mother made sure her son was unhurt before taking him away from the dog. The man lightly patted the crying child on the head.

“Don’t cry.”

“...?”

The child miraculously stopped sobbing just then. Maybe he had instinctively realized the threat was gone.

The man turned to stare at the whimpering dog next. The dog flinched nastily when the man’s gaze locked onto its eyes and curled up even more. Its trembling had gotten even worse and more noticeable.

Whimper, whimper...

Eventually, sickly yellow liquid began trickling on the ground. The man stood there observing this scene before walking up to the dog. The crowd gasped in concern just then.

“W-wait a sec, that’s...”

“Won’t that be dangerous?”

The man stood right before the dog and studied it some more. The dog, despite how pitifully it trembled, didn’t dare get up and flee. Its legs cautiously reached out before retracting. It sheepishly raised its head, only to lower it in a hurry. These actions kept repeating themselves again and again.

This scene was reminiscent of a little puppy cowering before its angry owner.

The man, Kang Jin-Ho, wordlessly stared at the dog before reaching down and poking it slightly on its head.

“Do not ever charge at humans again. And don’t bare your fangs, either.”

Woof...

The dog obviously couldn’t have understood Kang Jin-Ho, yet it barked as if it did. He peered closely at the dog before nodding once.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Maybe the dog took that as permission? It cautiously approached Kang Jin-Ho before rolling on to its back and exposing its belly.

“Good dog.”

Kang Jin-Ho gave the dog a good belly rub. A creature that menaced every passerby only a minute ago seemingly had transformed into a cute little puppy and acted adorably... as if its life depended on it!

‘What the hell?’

‘Was that guy a dog in his previous life? Or maybe he’s a dog trainer?’

‘He could be from a dog pound. Or a dog breeder. Or runs a dog meat business!’

‘Are you mad?! Isn’t he too handsome to be running a dang dog meat business?! And he’s young, too!’

Once the situation had calmed down somewhat, Bae Seok-Myeong got up and rushed toward his dog with the broken leash still in his grip.

“John!” Baek Seok-Myeong called out, his expression distorted from the sight of his dog asking for a belly rub from Kang Jin-Ho. “Come here!”

He reached down to grab at the dog’s back, but that was when Kang Jin-Ho suddenly stood up.

He glanced at Bae Seok-Myeong. “Are you the owner?”

“...Sorry?

Ah

, yes, I am...” Bae Seok-Myeong meekly replied while trying to gauge Kang Jin-Ho’s body language.

He couldn’t understand it. His dog was a Rottweiler, a breed known for its aggressiveness. In fact, even the owners would have trouble restraining the dogs if they went into an attack mode. These dogs were known to be highly loyal to their owners but also utterly merciless to any creatures perceived to be threats.

Fatalities related to Rottweilers happened not too infrequently in other parts of the world. So, how could the catastrophe of an aggressive breed of a dog pouncing on a person end in such a whimper?

Kang Jin-Ho asked in a somewhat cold voice. “What were you doing while your dog was about to harm another person?”

“...!” Bae Seok-Myeong snapped out of his thoughts from how icy that voice was. “

Oh, uh

... I’m sorry.”

Unhappiness welled up in his chest just a little. However, he couldn’t lose his cool since his fault in this situation was as clear as day. If it hadn’t been for Kang Jin-Ho’s timely interference, a terrible incident could’ve happened today. And Bae Seok-Myeong would’ve been held accountable for it.

“John, let’s go!” Bae Seok-Myeong shouted after fixing the broken leash to the dog’s collar somehow. He yanked at the leash, but the dog flopping on the ground didn’t even budge an inch. He impatiently shouted again, “Come on, let’s go!”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes when Bae Seok-Myeong grew more irritated. “Wait.”

“...Sorry?”

“Do you see that?” Kang Jin-Ho asked while casually pointing to the ground next to the dog with his chin.

Bae Seok-Myeong could see the dog’s yellow piss staining the ground. “Oh... Yes, I can.”

“Mop it up.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I said, mop it up.”

“...” Bae Seok-Myeong dazedly stared at Kang Jin-Ho. No one had been brave enough to talk to him this way while he held John’s leash, so this was a fresh experience for him. “H-hang on, how am I supposed to mop up my dog’s piss...?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t reply. He simply stared at Bae Seok-Myeong with icy eyes.

Whimper

!

The dog stopped acting cutely after noticing Kang Jin-Ho’s mood. It hurriedly turned around and flattened itself to the ground as much as possible.

“...!”

Bae Seok-Myeong alternated his gaze between his dog and Kang Jin-Ho before stumbling back as unknown fear took over his thoughts.

“Do you want me to show you how to mop that up?”

“N-no, sir!” Bae Seok-Myeong replied with a shaky voice, then cautiously took his jacket off. And then... he began mopping up the dog urine with that jacket!

Kang Jin-Ho observed that scene for a little while before addressing Bae Seok-Myeong in a cold, withdrawn voice. “Do not raise something you can’t handle. This nonsense won’t make you a stronger person, after all.”

“...”

Bae Seok-Myeong’s head faltered weakly. Kang Jin-Ho reached down and patted the head of the once-vicious dog. “You’ll also get scolded again. Understand?”

Whimper...

Kang Jin-Ho lightly flicked the dog’s head, then stood straight. Since this dog now knew how scary things could get, it’d never bare its fangs at humans again. Animals tended to be more honest and simple-minded than human beings, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho turned around to leave, only to notice a familiar figure walking closer. He smiled in silence at this familiar figure.

This figure, Lee Hyeon-Su, glanced at the dog. “I didn’t know you changed your job to a dog trainer, sir.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled wryly at Lee Hyeon-Su’s sly jab. “I’m not interested in stuff like that.”

“But, sir. Judging from how you controlled that dog, maybe we should consider opening pet stores instead of pizzerias? Should we proceed?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but sigh under his breath.