Predator Alert chapter 20

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Together, there?

Jeongseo looked up at Pyo Yoontae with a confused expression, but he only had a faint smile on his face.

“Isn’t it normal to sleep separately? That’s what they do in webtoons.”

“They must not be very close. We’re really close, so we’ll sleep together.”

His words felt a little off, but he was so confident that Jeongseo didn’t argue.

He had spent most of his life at home with his family or a few neighbors, so he didn’t really know what was normal between friends.

He glanced at the bed.

It was big enough for three people to sleep comfortably.

And.

‘We’re really close, huh.’

It felt nice to think they were that close.

Feeling good, Jeongseo cheerfully said, “Let’s go to sleep then!” and headed towards the bed.

“Jeongseo, you sleep on the inside.”

“Okay!”

Without hesitation, Jeongseo jumped onto the bed and snuggled under the blankets.

Click, the lights went out, and the door closed.

The room went dark for a moment, but soon Pyo Yoontae climbed onto the bed and switched on the bedside lamp, casting a soft yellow glow around the room.

“I can’t sleep with lights on.”

“It’ll turn off by itself in 40 minutes.”

Jeongseo nodded and buried his face into the pillow.

Everything—the blanket, the pillow—was soft and cozy, and the room was filled with a pleasant scent.

Plus, sleeping with someone else nearby made his feel less lonely.

Surprisingly, he found that sleeping over at a friend’s house wasn’t as awkward as she’d imagined.

“This is my first time sleeping over at a friend’s house. It’s so exciting. And your bed is really nice. I always sleep on a mat on the floor.”

Pyo Yoontae turned towards him.

Even though the bed was big enough, he lay so close that his scent wafted over to him every time he moved.

“Isn’t the floor hard?”

“It’s harder than a bed, but you get used to it. I wonder if Seobok is doing okay. He’ll probably look for me if I’m not there.”

Even though he had left plenty of food and water for Seobok in the morning, he couldn’t help but worry.

He’d also filled the chickens’ feed bowls to the brim.

“He’s not a puppy anymore. Why are you so worried?”

“……What if he thinks I abandoned his again?”

Once, he had gone back home to grab some cucumbers she’d forgotten at school.

Before he even reached the gate, he had heard Seobok’s sad howling.

His whimpers had been filled with anxiety, fear, and sadness.

And recently, since he had been staying late to study, Seobok had started sleeping under the porch instead of in his house.

It felt like the faint sound of Seobok’s sorrowful cries could still be heard.

The brown ears above his head drooped slightly.

Pyo Yoontae reached out and gently touched the tip of one.

The soft touch inside his ear made Jeongseo shrink his neck.

The rustling sound tickled somewhere deep within his ear.

“Wolfdogs are smart enough to already know that you’ll come back. Besides, we’re half-beasts. I’m sure they understand everything we say.”

Even though Pyo Yoontae’s words didn’t contain phrases like “It’ll be okay” or “Don’t worry,” it was clear that he wanted to comfort him.

Jeongseo felt more at ease, and the worry that weighed on his lifted a little.

“That’s true. Seobok is really smart. I should give his some treats when I go back tomorrow.”

As Jeongseo spoke energetically again, Pyo Yoontae chuckled softly and this time, fiddled with his brown hair.

“Enough about the dog. Tell me about yourself, Jeongseo.”

“About me?”

“Yeah, anything. I just want to listen.”

With the soft lighting behind him, Pyo Yoontae’s face took on a relaxed look.

When their eyes met, Jeongseo’s heart raced uncontrollably at the sight of his eyes curling in a contented smile.

And then, Jeongseo thought about how Pyo Yoontae treated his like this—how much more gentle would he be with the one he called his first love?

Would he stop teasing and saying mean things to his first love?

‘…It’d be nice if he did that with me, too.’

That thought crossed Jeongseo’s mind unintentionally.

“Why are you so quiet? Do you not want to talk?”

Pyo Yoontae lightly tapped Jeongseo’s tightly sealed lips.

Even though it was a fleeting touch, Jeongseo flinched at the strange thoughts he had been having just moments ago.

Seeing Pyo Yoontae’s puzzled look, Jeongseo hastily changed the subject.

“I’m just thinking about what to say. I don’t really have any interesting stories.”

“Childhood stories, family stories—it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to hear it to be entertained.”

‘He’s curious about me.’

The soft tone of his low voice wrapped around Jeongseo’s ears.

Feeling restless, Jeongseo fidgeted with his fingers before opening his mouth.

“When I was young, it’s not like anything major happened, but until I was about 10, I didn’t know I wasn’t my parents’ child. I’d been raised by my grandmother since before I could remember. And one day, I asked my brother, without much thought, why he always hid his ears and said I wanted to see them.”

The expression on his brother’s face, caught off guard, was still vivid in his mind.

“So my brother told me he was human, not a shape-shifter. That’s how I found out I wasn’t their biological child, and I spent about three days in shock. I still remember how my grandmother, my mom, and my brother were all on edge trying to comfort me.”

Especially his brother, who, feeling responsible, would always bring home lots of treats for Jeongseo after school for a while.

“Looking back now, it wasn’t like we weren’t family—blood ties were the only thing missing. But I still wonder why I was so hurt back then. Though sometimes…”

‘Being the only shape-shifter still bothers me…’

His last words trailed off and never went out of his mouth.

The room was filled with silence. Jeongseo glanced at Pyo Yoontae, wondering if his story had been too heavy from the start.

Pyo Yoontae wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t look uncomfortable either.

He was simply gazing at Jeongseo, seriously.

“This is too heavy of a— Ah!”

Suddenly, Pyo Yoontae pulled Jeongseo towards him and lightly bit the tip of his ear, which had been twitching as he spoke.

It didn’t hurt, but the unexpected action made Jeongseo struggle.

The more he squirmed, the tighter Pyo Yoontae’s arms wrapped around his waist.

“What, what are you doing?!”

At Jeongseo’s startled shout, black ears popped up on Pyo Yoontae’s head, and he licked Jeongseo’s ear.

The rough sensation made Jeongseo’s eyes widen in surprise.

Pyo Yoontae laughed mischievously and this time, licked Jeongseo’s cheek.

It wasn’t Jeongseo’s imagination—Pyo Yoontae’s tongue was really rough.

“I’m a feline, remember? Grooming.”

Grooming—a gesture of affection and trust that humans didn’t have.

For the first time in his life, Jeongseo was receiving grooming, and it felt like bubbles were forming in his chest.

When the barbed tongue licked not only his weasel ears but his human ears too, it tickled so much that Jeongseo’s shoulders tensed up.

Even though he’d never experienced it before, Jeongseo instinctively understood that this was something only done between close companions, so he didn’t push Pyo Yoontae away.

When Jeongseo stayed still, a soft purring sound filled the air.

Having petted cats at his grandmother’s house sometimes, Jeongseo knew this was the sound cats made when they were happy.

Even though he knew Pyo Yoontae was a black panther, in moments like this, he seemed just like a black cat.

As Pyo Yoontae’s tongue licked Jeongseo’s cheek, Jeongseo winced slightly.

Unlike fur, it felt like his bare skin was being sanded down as it was continuously licked.

“…It stings…”

At Jeongseo’s quiet mumbling, Pyo Yoontae finally stopped grooming.

A lock of Jeongseo’s hair was slightly pressed down.

The faint scent of Pyo Yoontae and his warm embrace made Jeongseo feel drowsy.

“Are you sleepy?”

“Yeah… What the—?”

Half-asleep, Jeongseo was startled by something tapping his thigh.

Lifting the blanket, he saw a long, black tail flicking back and forth.

It was Pyo Yoontae’s tail.

As Jeongseo watched, fascinated by how it moved far more flexibly than his own, Pyo Yoontae raised it higher, almost teasingly.

Jeongseo’s eyes sparkled as he asked cautiously.

“Can I touch it?”

“Go ahead.”

With permission, Jeongseo carefully grasped the black tail.

The soft fur felt pleasant to the touch.

Ever since meeting Pyo Yoontae, Jeongseo had experienced many new things.

Maybe, without even realizing it, there had been an empty space in his heart.

It felt like something was being filled in that space now.

As he played with the tail, Jeongseo absentmindedly asked,

“What was your first love like? How did you meet?”

Pyo Yoontae let out a short hum from his throat before speaking.

“When I was 8, I got lost in the mountains.”

For a moment, Jeongseo’s heart dropped with a thud.

“It was snowing heavily, and I’d gone up the mountain alone. I thought I was going to die there when suddenly, something that looked like a white rat showed up. I thought it was just a rat, but it turned into a person.”

Jeongseo’s hand froze as it played with the tail.

“Thanks to them, I safely made it down the mountain, called my dad, and went home. After that, I kept going back to the mountain to meet that person who had saved me. They never told me their name, and they were always bouncing around excitedly, which annoyed me. But it was fun being with them, so I didn’t mind. Then, one day, they just stopped coming without a word. It pissed me off.”

“…”

“The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, so I tried to erase them from my memory. But they kept popping up.”

Pyo Yoontae’s voice was growing quieter, as if sleep was overtaking him.

“Maybe it’s an obsession.”

Jeongseo’s brown eyes wavered violently.

Pyo Yoontae pulled Jeongseo closer, hugging his like a body pillow, as his eyes slowly closed.

“But I only get obsessed with the ones I love.”

The mood light, set on a timer, went off.

The room was instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness, and Pyo Yoontae mumbled, “Let’s sleep now.”

But Jeongseo couldn’t fall asleep.

In fact, his drowsiness had completely disappeared.

It seemed that Pyo Yoontae’s first love… might actually be him.