* * *
“So, what’s the outcome?”
Jibeom asked, seated on the porch outside the dimly lit side room, where only a faint lantern burned.
He kept his voice unusually low, mindful of Saewoo, who was sleeping inside.
“Yes, well… as you instructed, I tracked down a few of those lowlifes involved in the illegal property sales…”
“And?”
“And… well, after shaking up a few of the higher-ups in the organization, they confessed. But, according to the expert who reviewed the deal, it seems the contract itself isn’t technically a scam, just as the squirrel guy mentioned.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, after reviewing the current situation, it seems the best approach is to transfer ownership…”
“Hold on.”
“Yes, sir.”
The subordinate, who had been calmly explaining everything while holding a tablet, fell silent at Jibeom’s command.
Jibeom closed his eyes, appearing to deliberate, then slowly opened them again.
“…Only beasts are allowed to live there?”
After a long pause, Jibeom’s gaze sharpened as he asked.
“Yes, sir. That entire area at the base of the mountain is designated for beast-kin only, excluding the building owner. It’s… a ridiculous situation if you think about it. How did the law turn out like this…?”
Even his subordinate seemed baffled by the absurdity of it.
If you think about it, having only a beast owner in a zone restricted to non-beasts must be quite a predicament.
“Here’s what we’ll do.”
Jibeom spoke decisively, as if he had made up his mind.
“Gather a complete report on the property owners and any beast-kin currently residing in that zone. Bring it to me.”
“…Pardon? E-every single one?”
Jibeom’s command left his subordinate wide-eyed.
He seemed overwhelmed by the workload, which Jibeom noticed, narrowing his gaze.
“What, are you saying you can’t handle that?”
“No, no, of course I can. I’ll get it done…”
The subordinate nodded, sweating nervously.
There was clearly some reason he couldn’t refuse Jibeom’s orders.
When you looked closely, this subordinate seemed different from the other men who followed Jibeom.
He wore the same black suit as the others, like a gangster, but with sharp, rimless glasses.
And there was an unusual, tiny badge on his chest pocket.
“So…”
The subordinate slipped his tablet into his bag, then asked cautiously,
“Sir… how should I… relay this to the chairman?”
“What? Sir? What did you just call me?”
Jibeom turned around, his eyes flashing gold.
The subordinate shrieked and jumped back in fear, overwhelmed by Jibeom’s predatory aura, despite being a fellow feline beast.
“Oh! N-no, sorry! Brother!”
“Keep it down, idiot. You’ll wake the kid.”
“Huh? Kid?”
“What.”
“No, nothing.”
The subordinate quickly backed down under Jibeom’s sharp gaze, though it took him a moment to realize that “kid” meant Saewoo.
‘But, from my investigations, Jibeom and the fledgling bird are the same age… Kid?’
He made a confused face but schooled his expression under Jibeom’s scrutinizing gaze.
“So, Brother… what do you plan to do with that ledger?”
With a mix of concern and curiosity, the subordinate asked cautiously.
Jibeom wiped his sock on a wooden post, smirked, and replied,
“It’s fine if a tiger’s fangs are dull.”
“…Pardon?”
“Our little fledgling shouldn’t get devoured by just anyone but me.”
“Mmm…”
Saewoo, curled up atop the plush cushion, slowly awoke.
His drowsy eyes blinked open as he stared at the faint glow of the lantern nearby.
“Huh…? When did I…?”
Sitting up abruptly, his cheeks were flushed, and his hair was messy.
The warm floor had made him feel drowsy, and after so many sleepless nights, he finally felt refreshed and relaxed.
“Did I really fall asleep…”
He was at a loss.
Right before he’d dozed off, he’d insisted to Jibeom that he wouldn’t sleep at all.
[S-sitting, sure… But I won’t lie down or fall asleep!]
[Sure, sure. Come over here; it’s warmer here.]
[I’m not moving.]
[Ah, it’s warm here. Just right to relax with some pumpkin sikhye.]
[…]
[Stretch out your legs. No one’s watching.]
[…Fine, just one leg…]
Jibeom lay there like a king, while Saewoo gingerly stretched out only one leg, warming himself by the floor.
The heat was so comforting that he found himself nodding off before long.
Jibeom had predicted this correctly.
Ever since that day, he hadn’t slept well, barely surviving under a feather quilt to fend off the cold, which made him sleepy in no time.
[Come over here.]
[No, I don’t want to.]
[You’ll doze off there and bang your head. Do you want a bruise or a lump?]
[You…!]
Right as Saewoo was about to snap back, annoyed, Jibeom left to answer a call, leaving Saewoo alone, nodding off as he waited for dinner, nearly planting his head on the table.
‘Just a little more rest…’
After fumbling around for a while, he eventually curled up at the edge of the cushion.
After that, he remembered nothing.
“Did he… move me while I slept?”
Since he didn’t smell any other beast nearby, it must have been Jibeom.
His face burned with embarrassment.
After insisting he wouldn’t sleep, he’d only lasted ten minutes before curling up on the cushion.
What must Jibeom have thought?
Feeling bashful but grateful that Jibeom had skipped his own meal for him, Saewoo gently opened the sliding door to peek outside.
But the porch and the brightly lit courtyard were empty.
He thought he’d heard Jibeom’s voice as he drifted in and out of sleep, but maybe it had been a dream.
“Where did he go…?”
Saewoo slipped on his outer garment, stepped out to put on his shoes, and left the porch.
His shoes felt chilly after being left outside, but after sleeping on the heated floor, the coolness was refreshing.
Tap, tap, tap.
Although he’d heard this was the ancestral home of tiger beastkin, strangely, he didn’t feel afraid.
Maybe it was because he couldn’t sense the distinct scent of a predator, or maybe it was because he was technically a guest.
Either way, after a good sleep, he felt clear-headed and unusually at ease.
And, most of all, he wanted to find Jibeom.
Creak.
“Huh…? Where am I…?”
Saewoo walked to the nearest building, only to hear a woman’s laughter from somewhere down a narrow path.
Drawn in, he followed the sound and found a brightly lit guest house.
“Is this another guest area…?”
No male voices could be heard, yet he had a strange hunch that Jibeom might be inside.
After a quick glance around, Saewoo removed his shoes, stepped up onto the porch, and took a few cautious steps toward the source of the voices.
“So? Did Yoon Jibeom come here?”
He stopped short, ears pricked.
“Well, well, isn’t that surprising? I never thought he’d walk into the tiger’s den on his own! After all the begging, I never heard a peep from him. And now he brings along a ‘lover’?”
A hearty laugh filled the air, followed by the soft flutter of a feathered fan, casting a shadow on the sliding door.
‘Lover…? No way, they’re not talking about me, are they…?’
Saewoo hesitated, wondering if they might be talking about him, and crept closer to the sliding door.
“Who is this scoundrel?”
“Ack!”
Just then, a woman’s sharp voice rang out as the sliding door flung open.
“Oh, no… I’m… just a guest…!”
A familiar scent, the same one he’d smelled around the tiger beastfolk, filled the air, and Saewoo felt his arms firmly restrained.
Startled, he tried to wriggle free, but the sound of a folding fan snapping shut halted him.
“Wait… you two. Let him go.”
At the woman’s firm command, the tiger beastfolk released Saewoo immediately, and as his view cleared from the hulking figures, Saewoo crouched slightly, looking around with caution.
‘What… what’s going on? I should make a run for it… turn into a small bird and escape… huh?’
For a moment, Saewoo couldn’t believe his eyes.
The woman in front of him, who was being treated like a queen, was not a predator.
She was a swan beastfolk, like him—a bird.
* * *
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🤔
Good