The Trash Wants to Live

Even though these gifted people were criticized as being useless by other people, they had still been given the minimum salary of new employees at a major company, so the guild members of Sungwoon were very loyal.

In addition to the annual salary, the benefits of the medical foundations and Sungwoon company were enormous… So the prevailing opinion among employees was that it would be foolish to abandon Sungwoon just for a little more money.

In fact, there were love calls to anyone above the guild’s team leader. With the intention of stealing Sungwoon’s know-how, they tempted the employees to come to them, saying that they would give them twice the annual income that Sungwoon gave them, but all the employees refused.

It was partially due to loyalty, but also because they understood the working conditions and benefits would be worse since none of the newcomer guilds were better than Sungwoon. It was likely that the people who went for the money were the ones who would regret it later.

In any case, there were no gifted people leaving Sungwoon. However, that didn’t mean gifted people only joined Sungwoon. Some joined guilds created by people they knew, while others joined government affiliations.

Nevertheless, most guild conditions were more severe than Sungwoon; this was especially true of the Korean government. All of the benefits and conditions for the gifted people were paid for by taxpayers’ money, and it was difficult to gain public sympathy when the gifted people didn’t stand out. Therefore, the best condition that the government could give was that if they became gifted people of the nation, they would automatically be given a civil service position.

The whole country was stirred by the remark. There were mixed feelings about letting employees of a newly created government agency automatically assume the position of a seventh-grade civil servant, no matter what ability they had.

Those who were preparing to become civil servants were angered that they had to put in all their energy and study to become a civil servant, while others could get it easily through the sheer luck of having an ability. Some of them even gathered in front of the National Assembly Building to protest, but the government remained steadfast.

So far, most gifted people had already been taken by companies such as Sungwoon, so the only people who became affiliated with the government were those who were waiting to see what would happen, or those who were patriotic enough to reject company offers and devote themselves to the nation.

Aside from the former, public opinion quickly tilted in a positive direction since the latter were truly grateful people who turned down great benefits, devoted themselves to the nation and risked their lives.

Moreover, since the first gate to appear was resolved within a few hours, some believe that the threat might not pose a danger to them, but such luck wouldn’t last long. Those who saw the bull brought out of the gate expressed concern about how violent and threatening the carnivorous animals would be, considering even the herbivores were larger and more threatening than Earth’s cows.

Thanks to this, the protesters were branded as people blinded by their own interests and quietly disappeared. Thus, the National Headquarters for the Management of Gifted People was be established.

However, despite the establishment of a national headquarters, Sungwoon was still considered the best organisation of gifted people.

Thanks to me, I thought Ki Jae Mu’s mouth was going to tear1…

At a recent family gathering, I couldn’t help but laugh as I remembered the smiling Ki Jae Mu. Ki Young Woo, my uncle, had frowned while looking at me when Ki Jae Mu clapped and said that I looked like him and that he could see a bright future.

He stared at me coldly and got caught by Ki Jae Mu. Because of that, I had to hear Ki Sung Yoon making offensive remarks about me to Ki Jae Mu.

Ki Yoon Jae’s father still hadn’t returned to Korea, but through Ki Jae Mu’s words of satisfaction, I found out that the U.S. side had been very active in providing him with various favours due to our partnership.

I was really dumbfounded by this person who had rarely contacted me before and still had not contacted me at all since.

Is this a family?

I didn’t know what family meant, since I’d never had one, but it felt strange because the family relationships I had experienced indirectly weren’t like this. Was this the family relationship of the chaebol?

There was nothing resembling familial affection.

Go In Hyuk also went to study abroad.

I had said that if he studied abroad, all the mistakes he had made previously would be forgiven, so Go In Hyuk agreed without hesitation. He wanted to go right away, but due to formalities, he wasn’t able to go until a month later. After he left, the two students who hung out with Go In-hyuk became ordinary students. Surprisingly, they didn’t cause any more trouble.

The school after Go In hyuk’s absence was peaceful, and no one caused problems because most of them were too busy bragging about how awesome their household was.

Everyone kept their mouths shut in front of me because I had unofficially sheltered several orphans.

This is what has changed in the world, in the country, in the school…

If I had to pick one thing that had changed at home, it would be that the guests who visited my room have changed. In the past, Ha Hyun Seo visited to sleep together with me, but when he became a middle school student and started growing, Jung Yi Joon blocked him from coming over. Ha Hyun Seo had asked, “Why are you interrupting me?” I was also wondering why Jung Yi Joon meddled, but Jung Yi Joon was determined.

“Now that you are all grown up, you have to sleep alone.”

Even then, he kept glaring at me, but I could clearly see the thoughts in his eyes.

If you let him in, I’ll kill you.

I thought I would sleep alone from then on, but then a new invader appeared. The invader’s name was Cookie.

『”The house is bigger!”』

As soon as Cookie arrived at the mansion, he was so delighted that his territory had expanded. The attendants were confused for a while as he kept attempting to mark his area in the corridor. Of course, Cookie was also puzzled, but…

『”Ki Yoon Jae! Stop these people! Whenever I try to mark my territory, they erase it! You bad guy! You’re a bad guy!”』

I pretended not to hear it, as I didn’t want to smell urine in the house, let alone in the garden. I was the only one who could hear Cookie’s innermost thoughts, and to other people, it would only sound like a cute cry, so there was no big problem.

Whether it was naive or just had bad memory, Cookie’s sulking didn’t last long.

I silently looked at the cleaned territorial marking for a while and walked away. When I came back after another round, he called my name and tried to get me to hold him in my arms.

『”Ki Yoon Jae! I’m hungry!”』

When he was still living in the single room, he only ate simple dog food. On the other hand, at the mansion I let him eat raw meat, so Cookie couldn’t keep his mouth shut. When I first brought Cookie to the manor, Jang Eui Yeol said he was sorry that I had to do so and said I could just feed him dog food, but Cookie got angry when he heard that.

『”Jang Eui Yeol! You stupid fellow! You bad friend! I know how to eat meat too!”』

I shook my head to help Jang Eui Yeol, who got flustered when he saw the Cookie barking in my arms, asking him, wondering how he could say something so mean.

“I’m just doing it because I want to. This isn’t a big deal to me.”

Should I say that it felt similar to buying snacks for kids with a small amount of money? …In the end, Jang Eui Yeol looked somewhat delighted, and Cookie began to twitch his hips with joy.

『”As expected… Ki Yoon Jae! Good friend! But since you’re giving it to me, give me a little more! One more spoon!”』

Cookie was served according to its size because it looked like a small dog, but that must have been unpleasant for Cookie. Even after he finished eating, I often saw him grumbling and whining tantalise several times.

Cookie came to me whenever he wanted to eat something because I was the only one who could hear what Cookie was saying. As the number of times increased, however, I began to wonder if it was okay for me to give snacks without any limitations. Fortunately, the veterinarian we hired for Cookie said there were no problems.

“As the young master said, even though he really eats a lot… Cookie doesn’t gain as much weight as I thought.”

There was no change in body shape or weight. I even ran some tests to see if there were any parasites or other problems, but nothing came out of it. Was it just because it’s a divine beast? …I had no choice but to accept it and move on.

Thanks to this, Cookie was scamming all kinds of foods and snacks out of me as he wanted, and perhaps because of that, he seemed to like me more than Jang Eui Yeol.

These days he stopped trying to mark his territory, but instead he started to make quick round-trips around the house in the middle of the night to arrive in front of my door.

『“Please open the door! Ki Yoon Jae!”』

Then he yelped until I opened the door. To others, it would sound like soft whining and a cute paw scratch on the door, but to me it sounded like a loud cry. So in the end I couldn’t do anything but open the door. But when I opened the door, he walked past me, leapt up onto my bed, and looked at me as if asking why I wasn’t coming in.

“Why aren’t you sleeping at your place and coming to my room?”

『”This is my place!”』

It seemed that Cookie had made the whole mansion his own territory, including the garden. He didn’t recognize my room as Ki Yoon Jae’s room, but rather as a place where he slept within his domain. Even though I placed the cushions he used in Jang Eui Yeol’s room, he always only slept in my room… I didn’t know if a divine beast’s sense of territory was especially unique… I couldn’t figure it out.

If you eat in the dining room, play in the garden, and sleep in my room, what do you think Jang Eui Yeol’s room is for?