Late at night in the kennel of Red Castle.
About twenty smart guard dogs, including Shepherds and Dobermans, were asleep.
Since these intelligent dogs were well-trained to manage their needs and the kennel was regularly maintained, it was relatively clean, though it had a slight odor. The kennel, a detached one-story building separate from the main house, was divided by iron bars with dirt floors into two sections, each holding ten dogs.
One of the Shepherds, looking sleepy, suddenly lifted its head. It stared at a small shadow reflected in the large window high up near the ceiling of the kennel and then stood up to look out the window.
The other dogs, which had been asleep, were now awake and focusing their gaze towards the window, but none barked.
The dogs silently watched the shadow in the window, and all at once, their gaze shifted to a small hole in the roof where Lucy, illuminated by light, her eyes shining pumpkin-colored, peered down at them. The dogs in front of the hole flattened themselves on the ground, sending a look of submission towards Lucy.
Lucy then slipped through the hole and jumped into the kennel.
Entering the Doberman section first, Lucy strutted confidently, stretching her front legs and prowling around the kennel, causing the ten Dobermans to turn their heads following her path.
Even though the introduction of a cat into a dog kennel could have caused chaos, the Dobermans were overwhelmed by Lucy's presence and lay quietly on their bellies.
Some dogs covered their eyes with their paws, and as Lucy approached, others rolled over to show their bellies and stuck out their tongues.
After inspecting the Doberman kennel, Lucy looked satisfied at the Shepherds who showed the same submissive behavior as the Dobermans.
Lucy then settled in the center of the kennel and turned her head towards the Doberman section again.
Meowing softly, the ten Dobermans sitting on the floor rose simultaneously and lined up in front of the Shepherd kennel's iron bars.
The Shepherds too straightened up and focused on Lucy, who was murmuring softly.
Meowing as if conveying a message, the dogs flattened their heads to the ground. The mysterious scene unfolding in the kennel at night was mesmerizing, though no human was there to witness it.
The next morning, an organization member checking if the dogs were okay after the night came into the kennel with a sack of food on his shoulder and tilted his head looking at the dogs.
"Why aren’t you barking? Are you all sick?"
The dogs, which usually would have jumped around and barked at the sight of the food sack, were quiet, prompting the member to put down the sack and examine them.
Although the dogs were drooling, all of them sat with their buttocks glued to the floor, looking at him, which worried him as he opened the barn door, and the usually docile dogs suddenly rushed out.
The strong dogs bolted out so fast that the member, trying to hold their leashes, ended up being dragged along the ground, yelling.
"What, what’s going on!! Hey, stay put!"
The members on patrol duty in the garden saw the dogs pouring out of the kennel behind the main house and were taken aback.
As the dogs surrounded a smaller building where Geon and Byung-joon were, they began barking at the roof all at once, causing a few bats hanging underneath to flutter away startled.
The rushing members, bewildered, grabbed the dogs’ collars trying to pull them back, but the dogs resisted and continued barking.
Miroslav, having just dressed after an early morning shower, heard the dogs barking and came outside the main house to see twenty dogs drooling and barking fiercely.
Staring at the scene, Miroslav fastened his belt and waved a hand, prompting the nearest organization member to approach quickly.
“What’s going on?”
The member with short black hair slightly bowed his head.
“It’s not clear yet.”
“Where is the person managing the kennel, and why are all the dogs out?”
“That, over there…”
The member pointed towards the kennel manager, who appeared to be sprinting out covered in straw. It looked as though he had tried to stop the dogs but was overwhelmed by their sudden behavior. Miroslav gestured.
“Go and lock them up. Don’t bother Kay this early in the morning.”
“Yes!”
Watching the member run off, Miroslav then noticed bats flying above the annex.
“Is it because of the bats?”
Miroslav yelled out loudly after spotting Byung-joon startled by the noise.
“It’s the bats! Shoot them down!”
As soon as Miroslav gave the order, about ten members began shooting at the sky with machine guns, and the bats hit by the bullets fell to the ground.
The guard dogs quickly tore the fallen bats to pieces, scattering their
remains across the lawn.
The two bats that weren’t hit quickly flew away from the annex, and the barking dogs, as if nothing had happened, sat down neatly and looked at the members holding their leashes, panting and sticking out their tongues as if asking for food.
After each member, sweating coldly, led one or two dogs back to the kennel and returned, Geon, with his hair messed up like a bird's nest and Lucy on his shoulder, peeked out of the annex door.
“What’s going on? Sounded like gunshots.”
Though the models were equipped with silencers and didn’t make much noise, the sound was still recognizable as gunshots, hence his question.
Byung-joon, hiding the bat remains scattered on the ground from Geon, grimaced and said.
“Bats have been coming to the annex recently, seems like the dogs got excited seeing them. It’s nothing, go back to sleep. You have work to do today.”
Geon, rubbing his sleepy eyes, then petted Lucy, who was curled up on his shoulder.
“Lucy got scared, huh? Let’s go back to sleep. Aah~”
Peace returned to Red Castle after a brief commotion. As the two bats that had stayed away near the main house chirped, one flew up.
In a castle at the core of the Himalayas.
On a stone chair covered with a red carpet, Cushion sat slanted and then stood up.
“Hmm? Look at this?”
He licked his lips with his red tongue as he looked at a screen floating like a hologram in front of him, showing what seemed to be a view from above Red Castle.
The shaky screen seemed to show a view from a bat's eyes, which Cushion observed.
“Just yesterday, a mere house cat killed my familiar, and today, dogs and humans?”
He watched as the last bat in the screen, being targeted by an organization member, suddenly fell to the ground after a severe shock.
Turning off the chaotic screen, Cushion rose from his seat and twitched his eyebrows.
“Something's going on. Hehehe.”
Sitting alone in the eerie castle, Cushion's body flickered out, emitting purple smoke that swirled around.
* * *
It was late morning by the time Geon woke up, lying in bed with something pressing on his sternum. Opening his eyes, he saw Lucy sitting on his chest, locking eyes with him, and he smiled slightly, stroking the cat’s head.
“Is this comfortable for you?”
Though Geon got up, Lucy seemed to have no intention of moving, so he naturally set her down next to him and got dressed for school.
“You can’t come to school, so stay and play at home, Lucy. Got it?”
After placing Lucy on the cat tower and giving her a snack, Geon left the house, while Lucy, left behind, blinked her pretty eyes and soon sprawled out, licking her fur.
Riding the car Miroslav had provided, Geon arrived in front of the school and stretched after getting out of the car.
Feeling a bit stifled due to the slow progress on 'The Song of Water,' Geon walked around the school, noticing there weren’t many people around.
Occasionally acknowledging people who recognized him with a smile, Geon walked, lost in thought.
“Is bending the only way to express three emotions? If so, the musical limitations become quite clear… Music comprised only of pulling notes up or down seems too simple, doesn’t it? What should I do?”
With his hands in his pockets, he walked and then stopped in front of the school gates again. Today, he didn’t feel like going into the practice room, so he sat down on the steps at the entrance.
“Would be nice if someone could teach me, but I can’t get help from the professors, so I guess I have to figure it out myself… Ugh, it's frustrating.”
Geon placed his chin on his knees, which he had pulled up, and stared straight ahead, noticing a man setting up a canvas on one of two benches across from the school.
It was rare to see someone painting near Juilliard, a music-focused college.
“Someone’s painting, are they drawing the school?”
Curiosity piqued, Geon stood up and approached the man painting.
Whether Geon approached or not, the person, with a pen held up as if framing the school, had a slightly sharp-looking, pale face.
Trying not to disturb, Geon walked around to the back to view the painting, and his eyes widened.
The painting radiated light, mixing various colors of emotions.
‘The colors in the painting… one, two, three, four? Four emotions?’
Astonished, Geon unknowingly moved closer to the painting. As he did, he suddenly noticed the man’s head turning towards him, and he awkwardly stepped back, laughing nervously.
“Ahaha, sorry for disturbing you.”
The sharp-faced man unexpectedly smiled warmly and shrugged.
“It’s fine.”
Taking the friendly response as an opening, Geon cautiously asked.
“Are you painting the school?”
The man turned his head towards the school and replied.
“Yes, it’s an interesting place.”
“What’s interesting about it?”
The man lifted his brush and pointed it towards the school.
“It’s a building mixed with various emotions—Juilliard, that is.”
As the conversation turned to emotions, Geon, grasping at straws, asked eagerly.
“What are they? Can you explain more?”
The man put down his brush, crossed his arms, and looked at the school.
“Passion, joy, jealousy, anxiety, hope, ecstasy, studiousness and obsession, calmness and intuition—these diverse emotions mix together. If expressed in colors, they would be red, orange, yellow, green—these four colors.”
Hearing the man speak on the exact topic he was pondering, Geon’s face brightened.
Hoping to gain some insight, Geon, eyes filled with anticipation, offered a handshake with a smile.
“I’m Kay from Juilliard.”
After a glance at Geon’s hand, the man wiped his paint-stained hand before firmly shaking it, smiling.
“I’m Sion, Sion.”
As they shook hands in front of Juilliard, a chilly gust of wind, uncharacteristic of early summer, blew around them.
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