Su Yang had a bad feeling when he saw Little Hus’ reaction. “No, I’ll buy things back for you to sniff out instead.”
Little Hus did not look too concerned as he answered, “Then, it might take who-knows-how-long to sniff something out.” He even dug his nose using one of his edges.
‘Damn it! I’m being blackmailed by my dog...I mean, my bolster!’
Fortunately, when Little Hus saw Su Yang gnashing his teeth, he knew he should not and must not go too far with his request, so he said, “Su Yang, look. People walk their dogs almost every day, but ever since I’ve followed you, I’ve been stuck in the house. My fur is growing long.”
“It’s normal for a dog’s fur to grow,” said Su Yang.
“Well, at least, I still could look through the window when you put me in the basement but now, I’m stuck in this virtual space and there’s not even a window here,” Little Hus complained.
“There are windows here. They just can’t be opened,” said Su Yang.
“So, I think you should take me out for a walk. I’m not asking for too much, just half an hour. What do you say?” Little Hus was looking forward to his answer.
Whenever Su Yang pictured the scene whereby he walked a bolster while others walked their dogs, his head hurt. The scene would be awesome, and if the husky picture on the bolster moved around like an animated picture and sized up his surroundings, it would surely go out of control.
Su Yang rubbed his temples to ease the swelling. “But you are a bolster, not a real dog.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a dog,” said Little Hus.
Su Yang gave up. He wanted Little Hus to help him after all, so he compromised, “I’ll carry you instead and we can walk around the neighborhood for a bit.”
Little Hus shook his head. “No! I want to walk on my own!”
Su Yang almost lost his mind when he heard the answer. A bolster walking around the neighborhood in the middle of the night? How frightening would it be?! If people found out about Little Hus, his name would be all over the headlines.
Su Yang rejected, “Keep dreaming!”
Little Hus casually closed his eyes. “Then, you can kiss your chances and opportunities goodbye.”
Without saying anything, Su Yang walked away.
After Su Yang left, Little Hus slowly opened his eyes. ‘Huh? Did Su Yang really leave? Is he mad at me?’
Little Hus squinted his eyes and pondered the situation. ‘What if the negotiation goes south? What if Su Yang makes me clean the floor again? Should I encourage the silly Deeny to buy a cleaning robot? I can just lie down on it and pretend to clean. The dumb Su Yang won’t even notice!’
Little Hus grinned sinisterly at the thought of toying with Deeny and Su Yang in his paws.
Who said that a dog could not be smart? He was the smartest dog around!
While he was dreaming about the future, Su Yang came back.
Little Hus looked like he had already won the war. He looked at Su Yang confidently and said, “Oh, what’s wrong? Do you regret what you just said? Let me tell you something. I’m raising the terms! I want to play outside for an hour!”
Su Yang smiled thinly. He brought a net and tossed it over Little Hus. After he caught Little Hus, he dragged the husky bolster up from the pool.
Inside the net, Little Hus got nervous. “What are you doing?! What are you doing?!”
Su Yang did not care about the husky’s squealing. He grabbed the bolster into the bathroom and tossed it into the washing machine.
“I’m walking you right now, but in circles. Come on, let’s walk!” Su Yang then shut the hatch and turned on the washing machine.
The washing machine started to spin.
As Little Hus also started to spin along with the motion, his tiny edges tapped the hatch nervously and screamed, “SU YANG! SU YANG! I’m sorry! I was wrong! Let me go!”
Su Yang grinned. “Come on, didn’t you say you want an hour? I’ll wait for you.” He set the timer on the washing machine for an hour before he went out for dinner.
An hour later, Su Yang came back to the bathroom and saw Little Hus passed out in the washing machine.
He knocked on the hatch. “Hello there. How was it? Fun?”
Stars were spinning above Little Hus’ head and he could barely speak in a proper manner, “I-I-I... not...fun...”
Su Yang raised his volume. “Not fun? I guess the spinning wasn’t enough. I’ll add more time for you.”
Little Hus widened his eyes immediately and pleaded, “No! No! No, I’m sorry. I was wrong! Su Yang!”
“Was it fun?”
“Y-Yes, it was fun!” Little Hus nodded repeatedly.
“If it was fun, why not go for another spin?” teased Su Yang.
Little Hus almost broke down in tears. “Okay! Okay! I was wrong! I will never do it again!”
Su Yang smiled thinly. “What did you do wrong?”
The question struck Little Hus’ soul like a bolt of lightning. “I shouldn’t ask you to bring me out for a walk.”
“Wrong,” said Su Yang.
Little Hus was slightly confused. “I-I shouldn’t negotiate the terms?”
“Wrong.”
“Then, what did I do wrong?”
“You shouldn’t take advantage of the situation and blackmail me!” Su Yang said in an even stricter tone.
Little Hus lowered his head in guilt.
“You want to go out and play; I get it. You want to negotiate the terms with me; I can accept it too. We live in a fair place, but you can’t just blackmail me because I want your help with something. Are we enemies?”
Su Yang activated his ‘trash talk’ mode and became indomitable in every way. Even the naughty b*stard Little Hus was defeated and brainwashed by him. The husky’s head hung even lower as Su Yang lectured continued.
The lecturing went on for a full 20 minutes. After Su Yang made sure that Little Hus realized his mistakes, he released the bolster from the washing machine.
As Little Hus shook himself dry after he came out, Su Yang looked at the bolster and said, “Since you want to go out for a walk, I’ll take you out for a while.
“However, you must promise me something first. You cannot show any expression and mustn’t do anything strange. You cannot simply move your body as well. Just become a normal bolster.
“If you break the promise, I’ll never bring you out anymore.”
Little Hus looked at Su Yang in surprise. He did not expect to lose the war and still get the chance to go out. His heart contained nothing but delight at the moment. He nodded repeatedly and said, “Sure! Sure! Sure!”
Su Yang rapped his head and said, “Dry yourself. We’ll leave when you are done.” He then went out of the bathroom.
After he came out, he smiled pleasantly.
‘A slap in the face before giving him a reward! The tactic has been useful since ancient times. Can’t the lesson passed down by our ancestors even deal with a husky, I mean, a bolster? Hahaha, it’s more than enough!’
A while later, Little Hus obediently hopped out from the bathroom. “Su Yang, let’s go!”
Su Yang touched the bolster to make sure it was dry. He then carried Little Hus in his arms and reminded him one last time, “Remember, don’t you talk or show face in front of people. Do you hear me?”
Little Hus nodded repeatedly. “Don’t worry! Take it easy!”
Since he promised to behave, Su Yang brought the bolster back to the real world.
After they came out of the basement, Su Yang thought about where to go. He decided to visit the Uplus Convenience Store near his neighborhood first. It was the closest convenience store and they were quite well-equipped with products, so there were more choices to choose from.
If Little Hus could not sniff anything there, Su Yang would have to go to the supermarket.
‘Let’s hope I can get what I want in Uplus.’