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Choi Jung Soo's spirit animal, a golden retriever nearly 70 centimeters long with the same innocent drooping black eyes as his master, ran forward to bite the hem of Kim Rok Soo's coat. It rubbed against its feet and wagged his tail excitedly. With the golden retriever hijacking, Choi Jung Soo's figure appeared: "Rok Soo, Rok Soo--"
Before Kim Rok Soo could rip off his clothes from the dog, which was being chewed like a crumpled newspaper, Choi Jung Soo pounced on him, as if two golden retrievers had made him their prey at the same time.
“Rok Soo, tell me what is your spirit animal--”
“Definitely not. Ask your dog to let go of my clothes! Why does it always like to bite my clothes? It has chewed all my clothes!”
“Because my dog loves Rok Soo as much as I do, and it's happy every time it sees you.”
After Choi Jung Soo clapped his hands, the golden retriever dropped his ears grimly and padded back to Choi Jung Soo's feet.
Although he hated having his clothes bitten, Kim Rok Soo still felt like a bully every time he sees the dog's slumped expression when it is being scolded.
It was merely Choi Jung Soo's spirit animal, why would he care?
Kim Rok Soo suppressed his guilt, clasped his hands to his chest and said, “You don't need to know about my spirit animal, I don't need a spirit animal to use my powers.”
"Then it should be alright to show me your spirit animal--"
Lee Soo Hyuk, who was sitting in the office, heard the conversation clearly and couldn't help but interject, "Oh, Rok Soo's spirit animal..." Lee Soo Hyuk smiled wryly, ”Hmm, it’s super tiny and cute.”
Kim Rok Soo looked at his team leader with great disrespect and anger.
"Team leader, you’ve already known what Rok Soo's spirit animal is? It's not fair! Rok Soo, why can you tell the team leader, but not me?" Choi Jung Soo instantly showed an expression of betrayal, but immediately replaced it with an expectant look, "Then, team leader, can you tell me? please?"
Kim Rok Soo glared warily at Lee Soo Hyuk, who was smiling brightly, and his eyes clearly conveyed the threat of ‘if you dare to tell him, I'll kill you’.
Lee Soo Hyuk was unfazed and said slowly, “After all, spirit animals are the privacy of team members, so it's better to let Rok Soo tell you in person.”
Kim Rok Soo squinted his eyes, clearly not buying Lee Soo Hyuk's pretentious speech. As expected, Lee Soo Hyuk began to steer the topic into his favorable way: “But, Rok Soo-ah, I think if you make good use of your spirit animal, you can further expand the scope of your abilities.”
“My ability already has a wide enough range now, I don't need...”
“With the aid of a spirit animal, you can double your vision on the battlefield." Lee Soo Hyuk raised his hand, a pompous black hawk appeared in his hand.
“Although the characteristics are not quite the same, but your spirit animal is also very suitable for scouting and moving stealthily. One advantage is that it can sneak into a narrower space. My black hawk is still too conspicuous after all. Think about it, if the last operation could let your spirit animal do the scouting first, shouldn’t it be possible to avoid the monster's subsequent raid?”
Kim Rok Soo recalled the last battle, although no one died, but a number of people in other teams suffered serious injuries due to the raid. He turned his head away and admitted through clenched teeth, "... It's true. But, my spirit animal is not suitable for battles."
“The first lesson of the guide, the type of spirit animal does not affect the spiritual power. If you want, your spirit animal can also act like my black hawk.”
Said by the sentinel who had a black hawk as a spirit animal, Kim Rok Soo rolled his eyes.
From their conversation, even dull like Choi Jung Soo guessed Kim Rok Soo's true spirit animal form.
”I know, Rok Soo's spirit animal is also a bird, right?”
Lee Soo Hyuk confirmed Choi Jung Soo's guess with a bright smile. Seeing that there is no point in hiding it any longer, Kim Rok Soo covered his face and let out a long sigh.
A green little bird, smaller than the size of a palm, emerged from Kim Rok Soo's head. It was a Swinhoe's white-eye. Its half-squinted eye made the white feathers around the eyes stand out.
Kim Rok Soo used the back of his hand as a springboard for the little bird. The bird looked around, as if just waking up from a dream, its dark round eyes filled with curiosity.
Reflecting Choi Jung Soo's mood, the golden retriever at his feet lifted his forelegs and rested them on Choi Jung Soo's thighs, almost like a child on tiptoe.
"Can I pet him?" Choi Jung Soo took a deep breath, his eyes shining.
Kim Rok Soo reluctantly nodded and Choi Jung Soo reached out to take the bird. The little jumped into Choi Jung Soo's palm and rubbed its cheek against Choi Jung Soo's finger affectionately.
The bird was smaller than Choi Jung Soo thumb, and he was almost afraid he would crush it if he closed his palm, so he only dared to gently stroke its head with his fingers. The bird obediently lifted its chin and accepted Choi Jung Soo's grooming.
Kim Rok Soo's always pale face showed a rare blush as he saw his spirit animal pampering itself like a pet bird: "... Ahem, I can't quite control its actions."
"It’s sooooooo cute, I’m going to be melted by little Rok Soo’s cuteness!" Choi Jung Soo looked at the bird in his hand, which was straightforward and cuddly, then looked at Kim Rok Soo, who couldn't hide his blush, and snickered.
"That's a Swinhoe's white-eye, don't call it with that weird nickname."
"Look, it waves its wings when I call it little Rok Soo, it must like the name. Rok Soo, you have to let little Rok Soo out to play more often to understand its mood better."
Kim Rok Soo, for the first time, did not refute Choi Jung Soo's comment, just sighed deeply again.
In a moment, the bird in the Choi Jung Soo's palm was squinting and napping again in sync with Kim Rok Soo's yawn, and Choi Jung Soo put the bird on his head in imitation of how the bird had rested on Kim Rok Soo's head. “I wish I could capture this scene.”
As soon as the bird reached the nest-like environment, it dropped its eyelids.
"It's tired, I'm going to put him away." Kim Rok Soo said.
"But it's only been out for a short while, and he's sleeping well on my head right now."
"If you like to use your hair as a bird's nest, then you can have it."
At Kim Rok Soo's words, the little bird sensed the owner's displeasure, started to poke and peck at Choi Jung Soo's head with its sharp beak. After pulling and measuring the toughness of Choi Jung Soo's hair, the bird picked up a handful of hair, apparently planning to use Choi Jung Soo's brown hair as nesting materials.
"Ouch-- I know you like me a lot, but this will make me bald!"
"It doesn't like you, it just wants your hair to build its nest."
"Rok Soo-ah, if Jung Soo is bald, he'll sadly look at the mirror like a shaved dog, so why don't you pluck his hair from somewhere else?"
"What other places..."
Choi Jung Soo protested loudly, "Hey!"
After knowing what team leader meant, Kim Rok Soo responded by grabbing the folder on Lee Soo Hyuk's desk and hitting Lee Soo Hyuk on the head, but the black hawk steadily blocked the attack with its sharp claws. The little bird also suspended its nest building task and flew to Lee Soo Hyuk, squealing in annoyance.
Lee Soo Hyuk grabbed the little green bird, the bird instantly lost its temper, its round eyes staring at Lee Soo Hyuk.
“Well, little Rok Soo also like me very much. They say that spirit animals reflect the personality of their owners, so -- ”Lee Soo Hyuk let go of the green bird in his hand and generously spread his hands to welcome Kim Rok Soo, "Rok Soo-ah, do you want a hug?"
"Absolutely not!"
Choi Jung Soo took the opportunity to hug Kim Rok Soo from behind and pushed him into Lee Soo Hyuk's arms. He ruffled Kim Rok Soo's hair and said, “This is the revenge for letting little Rok Soo bite my hair!”
The black hawk flied near to the golden retriever lying on the ground, and groomed the dog’s fur. The little bird also flapped its wings in the air, hesitated. Until the black hawk took the initiative to raise its wings, then the little bird landed and curled up into the gap left by the two animals.
The two birds and the dog snuggled up to each other, enjoying the warm afternoon sunshine by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the meeting room.
*
Honestly, when Lee Soo Hyuk said he wanted to train Kim Rok Soo's spirit animal to fight, Choi Jung Soo had a slight doubt in his mind.
‘The little Rok Soo is so cute and cuddly, wouldn’t it be a big problem during the battle?’
Choi Jung Soo's worries disappeared after the mission later.
When he saw the little Rok Soo swoop down from a tall building, like a matcha-colored bullet, and knocked out a two-story high monster with its tiny claws carrying spiritual power, Choi Jung Soo somehow felt a sense of survival.
Moreover, the attack pattern of the little green bird was unusually similar to that of a certain black hawk.
Choi Jung Soo looked up at the black hawk circling high above and had mixed feelings. After finishing the attack, little Rok Soo, which cannot hover like a hawk, desperately swung its wings in an attempt to imitate the black hawk's flying posture.
... Should a Swinhoe's white-eye fly like this?
Choi Jung Soo can't help but have doubts, and then he looked at Kim Rok Soo to his right, who was charging along with the sentinels...
... A normal guide doesn't seem to be fighting like this either.
Choi Jung Soo decided not to think about it too much.
Existence is justification.
-- Especially when that being is Kim Rok Soo, everything is justified.
