* * *
“HEY!!!”
CRASH—!
A piercing yell rang through the air, so sharp it felt like it could shatter glass.
“You absolute idiot! Do you even realize where you just went?!”
It was Hoyoon, a white leopard beastman.
He was roaring furiously at someone—a much smaller, younger marten beastman.
“S-s-sorry…! B-but… I-I put so much effort into making it, and… they called it ugly….”
The marten beastman stammered, unable to even meet Hoyoon’s gaze, his eyes welling up with tears.
Even as he spoke, he clutched a crumpled flyer in his hands, muttering over and over.
“H-Hoyoon… Do you think this is… ugly too? Is it… really that bad…?”
The way he kept asking was downright unsettling.
No matter what anyone said, he was obsessively fixated on whether the flyer was ugly, as if possessed.
“Hah….”
Hoyoon let out an exasperated sigh.
He looked at the marten beastman, who was staring at him with desperate eyes, but didn’t bother answering. Instead, he simply slumped into a chair.
“This is driving me insane….”
Thanks to his clueless subordinates, things kept going south.
The situation was already messy enough when the leopard beastmen distributing rental flyers got caught by Jibeom, putting Hoyoon in an awkward position.
But now, the idiot who designed the flyers was causing even more trouble.
“…….”
Hoyoon glanced at the marten beastman, who was still clutching the worn-out flyer with a dejected expression.
He looked pitiful at first glance, but that was just appearances.
Despite looking like a seven-year-old child, the marten beastman actually had dwarfism—he was only a year younger than Hoyoon, a full-grown adult.
His appearance made him seem out of place in this line of work, but ironically, it also made him incredibly useful.
That’s why Hoyoon kept him around.
Not long ago, after developing an interest in Baek Saewoo, the marten beastman suddenly suggested making and distributing rental flyers.
At first, Hoyoon wasn’t too keen on the idea, but after hearing the information the marten had gathered, he figured that helping problematic beastmen find housing might work to Saewoo’s advantage.
‘And then, naturally, Saewoo would take notice of me….’
Originally, Hoyoon had planned it so that Saewoo would catch him in the act of distributing the flyers.
But that was a grave miscalculation.
Saewoo had been downright offended by the flyers, and worse, he immediately suspected Jibeom as the culprit.
The entire thing had backfired.
Hoyoon was frustrated beyond belief, while Jibeom, in turn, started holding the leopard beastmen hostage to uncover who was behind it.
Hoyoon had no choice but to step back for now and wait for the right moment.
With Jibeom practically glued to Saewoo’s side, making a direct move would be risky.
‘…And I doubt Yoon Jibeom will just let this slide.’
Jibeom hadn’t taken any direct action regarding the illegal flyer incident.
That alone meant he had already figured out that Hoyoon was behind it.
It was only a matter of time before he reached out.
“…Hoyoon.”
Just as Hoyoon was calming himself and organizing his thoughts, the marten beastman cautiously spoke up.
“What? If it’s about the flyers again, I’ll shred every single one of them.”
“Eep—!”
At Hoyoon’s cold, merciless words, the marten beastman flinched violently but still hesitated before stepping closer.
“N-no… It’s not that….”
Just as he was about to say something else, he stole a glance at Hoyoon’s expression, hesitated again, and finally opened his mouth.
Bzzzzzt—
A low vibration suddenly sounded from the phone on Hoyoon’s desk.
As soon as he checked the caller ID, he let out a quiet scoff.
Of course. It was Jibeom.
“Shut up.”
“…….”
Hoyoon shot the marten beastman a sharp look, warning him to stay silent, and then picked up the call.
“Well, well. The guy who never calls first—what’s the occasion? You actually reaching out to me? I thought you were busy playing house with your little date?”
He immediately started with a sarcastic jab, expecting Jibeom to snap back with his usual temper.
But there was only silence.
“…What? Why aren’t you saying anything? Did the call drop?”
Just as Hoyoon checked his phone in confusion, a deep, rough voice finally came through.
—Why the hell are you doing this?
“…….”
Hoyoon’s face hardened in an instant.
The air in the room grew cold.
The once lighthearted atmosphere turned heavy, and the marten beastman shivered at the sudden chill.
“…Oh, so we’re starting with an interrogation, huh? And if I ask why I should answer, are you expecting me to just obediently spill everything?”
Hoyoon finally responded, but the only reply he got was a long, drawn-out sigh.
—I’m hanging up.
“What?!”
Jibeom’s voice was flat and unwavering, as if he had already decided the conversation was over.
That rattled Hoyoon.
He shot up from his seat, his face visibly tense.
“Do you even know—?! About Baek Saewoo and Ye Taekwon—?! I know—”
—Not interested.
Hoyoon clenched his phone so hard his knuckles turned white.
No matter what he said, Jibeom didn’t care.
And that… threw Hoyoon off more than anything.
“You… don’t believe me? I even got confirmation from Ye Taekwon.”
Not long ago, he had stopped by Ye Taekwon’s company to snap some photos of the CEO’s office.
It was all for this—he figured that if Yoon Jibeom found out they were in contact, he might take an interest.
“– Don’t act like a damn brat.”
But Jibeom’s reaction was pure disgust.
“– There won’t be a second time. If you show up in front of Baek Saewoo again, be prepared to lose your hand.”
“Whaaaat? My hand? Did he really say my hand?! Ahahahaha…!”
Click.
Jibeom hung up before Hoyoon could even finish laughing.
At the same time, his laughter died on the spot.
“Huh….”
As the room fell silent, another predarot hesitated before cautiously approaching Hoyoon to finish what he was about to say.
“Ho—”
“Ha! I’m pissed… I’m so damn pissed!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Unable to contain his anger, Hoyoon slammed his phone against the desk over and over.
The force was merciless, leaving dents in the wooden surface.
His rage filled the room, thick with the scent of a predator’s pheromones.
Not the aura of a white leopard—he radiated the sheer menace of a hundred-year-old nine-tailed fox.
Dambi Suin, watching Hoyoon’s terrifying outburst in a daze, wisely decided to slip out of the room.
This was one of those times when avoidance was the best strategy.
Thud.
Left alone, Hoyoon finally slumped into his chair as if his anger had settled.
But even then, he muttered incomprehensible words under his breath for a while before letting out a bitter scoff.
“Fine… Let’s see what happens to that precious little fledgling of yours.”
He pulled out his phone and smirked as he scrolled through his photo gallery.
It wasn’t a picture of some random chick to fill the void this time—it was Baek Saewoo, nestled in the folds of Jibeom’s coat, his cheeks flushed pink.
“Haah….”
Saewoo let out a long sigh, rubbing his flushed cheeks with the back of his hand.
He couldn’t shake the words his doctor had just told him at the hospital.
[Your blood test and hormone levels confirm it—you’re definitely in heat. I understand you don’t want to accept it, but it’s time to face reality.]
A few days had passed since Jibeom coldly left him.
Even after getting plenty of rest, his heart wouldn’t stop racing, so he had visited the hospital.
Unlike last time, he underwent a proper examination—and the results confirmed it.
There was no more ignoring it.
Like the doctor said, he had to accept it.
So, he asked if there was a suppressant specifically for avian beastmen.
[As you know, avian beastmen don’t have regular heat cycles like quadrupedal beastmen… To put it simply, avian suppressants are extremely hard to come by.]
That much was true.
Saewoo had searched online just in case, but suppressants for avian beastmen were rare—most didn’t even bother using them.
[For now, I’d suggest considering a rut partner, like I mentioned before…]
His doctor, unaware of his situation with Jibeom, casually offered the suggestion.
Horrified, Saewoo had walked straight out of the office.
At the time, he had been too stunned to think about it, but now he regretted even bringing up the idea of a rut partner in the first place.
Still, now that his heat was confirmed, he had to deal with it.
The symptoms were only getting worse, and if his pheromones started leaking out, things would get messy fast.
In this world, an avian beastman’s heat wasn’t something that could be endured through sheer willpower.
If they didn’t take suppressants or find a mate, the consequences could be dangerous.
And since the duration wasn’t fixed, it could last as long as three months.
That’s why the doctor had suggested a partner so seriously.
“Haah… What do I do….”
Saewoo let out an even deeper sigh before sinking onto a nearby outdoor bench.
This unexpected heat had completely thrown his life off balance, and he needed a moment to breathe.
“Mom! Look! I wanna see that!”
That’s when he heard it—a child in a wheelchair excitedly pointing at something.
Saewoo’s gaze naturally followed, landing on a massive advertisement across the street.
A poster for the musical “Swan Lake” was plastered across the mixed-use building.
* * *
