I Became a Cub in the Elven Kingdom

September had just begun.

The worst of the heat had eased, and autumn, with its high, clear skies, was close at hand.

A small change had come over the French-style mansion in Apgujeong. The lady of the house, who had always been busy going out, had finally begun to grow attached to her home.

Hayeop had been terribly mistaken at first. He’d thought she disliked Tteokbeongi because he was a stray, all dirty and scruffy.

He’d even heard her recoil at the smell of dog. To Hayeop, Tteokbeongi smelled like injeolmi toasted in a frying pan, warm and nutty.

But it seemed her true feelings had been quite different. Only now did Hayeop understand what his mother had once told him.

“Everyone needs someone to come up and fuss over them. That’s how you find a place where your heart can settle.”

She had said something like that. These days, the lady took Tteokbeongi out for a walk every day. She’d even taken him to a grooming salon and doted on him. The skies grew high, and Tteokbeongi grew fat. Perhaps it was true that animals knew exactly who loved them.

“What a life that dog has.”

Their days were as peaceful as the warm sunlight. Hayeop was washing dishes with his mother, chatting quietly as they worked, when he noticed something.

“...She left almost all her rice again today?”

Looking at the bowl, less than half empty, Hayeop couldn’t hide his dismay. She seemed to have lost her appetite, just when the harvest was plentiful and there were so many delicious things to eat.

“Did she not like it?”

Hayeop tried a little of the braised short ribs she’d left behind. He’d wondered if they had gone bad, but they tasted just like the portion he’d eaten: wonderfully sweet and savory, perfect with rice.

“It’s because she eats alone, that’s all.”

His mother’s matter-of-fact remark drew a small sound from him.

“Ah.”

The lady might have found comfort in the dog, but her relationship with the young master remained cold as ice.

Lately, it had grown even worse. The young master now came to the room where Hayeop and his mother ate and joined them for meals.

They had deliberately bought a larger low table and prepared more side dishes, but surely he would be more comfortable at the big dining table. Still, he insisted on eating with them.

Hayeop loved it, but sometimes he felt sorry for the lady. Did she eat all alone at that enormous table? He had never seen her do so, yet the thought troubled him, as though a stone were rattling around inside his chest.

If he hadn’t been in this house, perhaps she wouldn’t be quite so lonely. He felt as though he had stolen the young master from her.

After all, wouldn’t loneliness feel greater in a space the size of a football field than in a single room? Hayeop could eat heartily anywhere, but he hated eating alone. Being by yourself could make a person terribly lonely.

He was scrubbing a plate until it squeaked and letting out a long sigh when his mother called him softly.

“Hayeop.”

“Yes?”

He turned. His mother stopped washing the dish in her hands and lowered it back into the rubber basin full of suds.

“We...”

What was she about to say?

She began, then shook her head as though she’d changed her mind. It wasn’t like her to seem so uncertain.

“What is it, Mom?”

“We...”

The words that followed left Hayeop motionless, his lips parted like a goldfish’s.

“Should we tell her?”

“...Mom.”

Soapy water ran down Hayeop’s slender fingers. If even he was worried about the lady, how much more must his mother be? The lady had quietly looked after his mother all these years.

“And I don’t feel right watching you live here in hiding.”

“I know.”

“I’ve lived in this house for fifteen years. Aren’t we family by now?”

To say he wasn’t afraid of telling her after all this time would be a lie. No one knew what might happen. But Hayeop nodded and said he understood.

Before meeting the lady, he washed thoroughly and put on freshly laundered clothes.

“Are you ready?”

He nodded. Then he took his mother’s hand, opened the kitchen door, and stepped forward carefully, one step at a time.

It was a path he took every day, yet today it felt utterly unfamiliar.

His legs ached with nerves each time his feet touched the floor. A warm light glowed in the spacious kitchen.

“Ma’am.”

She was sitting alone at the large table. Hayeop wondered what she was doing there, then saw her gazing at an old photograph over a glass of wine, with some pickles set out beside it. Tteokbeongi sat in her lap, and she patted his plump bottom.

She was looking at a child in the faded photograph. There seemed to be sadness around her eyes, and the sight made Hayeop’s heart ache.

“Yes?”

She turned her gaze toward them slowly. Her hair was swept up high, leaving the graceful line of her neck bare. The shape of her parted lips was just like the young master’s.

“And with you... Is that my son’s friend?”

Hayeop bowed politely. When she recognized him, she looked puzzled.

“Ma’am, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it? You’re frightening me.”

His mother seemed to steel herself. She wiped her wet hands on her apron and guided Hayeop out from behind her.

“The truth is, this boy is my son.”

“...What?”

The lady looked deeply shocked. She covered her open mouth with one hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Hayeop bowed his head. Of course she was shocked that they had deceived her. He couldn’t help thinking anxiously that he would have no grounds to complain if she threw them out.

She sprang up and came toward him. Oh no—there was still more he had to tell her. Hayeop was already terrified. Cold sweat ran down his back.

“There’s something else I need to tell you.”

The words weighed on his lips like lead. He was about to confess the secret he had kept buried in his chest for so long when the lady took hold of his thin arm.

“Your son? You had a son?”

Her question pushed Hayeop’s confession aside. Was it really so astonishing that his mother had a son?

“I wasn’t trying to keep it from you,” his mother said.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she explained with difficulty. She had been ill, and she’d felt she was imposing on the household. She’d thought she ought to leave, but she had grown so fond of the lady that she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“And I kept worrying about the young master. That made it even harder to leave.”

“Oh, you poor things...”

The lady looked at Hayeop and burst into tears. Her reaction was so unexpected that he could only stare. He’d thought she would be angry, but her eyes were full of pity and tenderness.

“You practically lived here. You hardly ever went out.”

Had she gone all that time without seeing her son? the lady asked.

“Yes. My ex-husband raised him.”

How had she borne missing him? Tears rolled down the lady’s cheeks. At the sound of her sorrowful crying, the plump white dog in her lap tilted his head and licked her cheek. ℯℯ𝑙.

“Oh, please don’t cry.”

Hayeop’s mother passed her a handkerchief from nearby. The lady pressed it to her eyes.

She really was beautiful. Yet there was an air of loneliness about her that made Hayeop ache for her.

“That’s just the life I was dealt,” his mother said.

She comforted the lady instead, saying that at least she and Hayeop were together now, and patted her back.

“Let’s not sit here crying. Have a drink with me.”

They brought out whatever side dishes were in the house, and the three of them shared soju.

His mother said wine was no drink for a day like this; when people needed to talk things through, it had to be soju. They sat around the large table. Clear glasses were filled, and warm conversation passed between them.

“How could you lie to me without so much as blinking?”

At the lady’s reproach, Hayeop glanced at her nervously and tucked his lower lip between his teeth, ashamed.

“I—I’m sorry... I really didn’t mean to deceive you...”

Even he knew how shameless and unthinkable it must seem. How much worse must it be to someone who had been raised as gently as she had?

Unable to meet her eyes, Hayeop kept his head bowed. Then he heard a little laugh above him and looked up.

The lady’s large eyes curved softly as she looked at him. Their shape, like the curve of a fish’s scales, reminded him so much of the young master.

“I’m only teasing.”

She told him it was a joke and that he shouldn’t look so guilty. With one hand, she picked up the soju bottle.

“Don’t you know a joke when you hear one? A joke.”

Hayeop didn’t actually know the word she used, but from the way she said it, he guessed it meant she was teasing. When she seemed about to pour her own drink, he quickly took the bottle and poured a modest amount into her glass.