* * *
Saewoo was baffled.
“How are you feeling?”
Seeming to have calmed down a bit, Jibeom asked in a much lower tone.
Though his expression was fierce as ever, Saewoo absent-mindedly replied that he was fine.
“Haa…”
Jibeom frowned, apparently not satisfied with the answer.
“You’re okay? Really? For real? Huh?”
He repeated, his tone making it clear that if Saewoo’s words were a lie, there’d be consequences.
‘W-what? Did I say something wrong? Should I have said I wasn’t okay…?’
Saewoo felt utterly confused.
Now that he knew Jibeom’s role as the villain, he became overly conscious of his every word.
Plus, he figured that if he wanted to get out of this safely, he’d have to keep Jibeom in a good mood.
Gulp. Saewoo swallowed nervously and hesitated before shouting:
“…I’m not okay!”
“What?”
“I’m… not okay…”
But even as Saewoo said this, Jibeom’s expression remained deadly serious, as if this wasn’t the answer he was looking for either.
Judging by his face, he seemed even more irritated.
“Haa…. Fine.”
Jibeom let out a sigh of frustration, carefully set Saewoo back onto the bed, and walked out of the room without another word.
“What… the heck? I told him what he wanted to hear, so why is he reacting like that…?”
As Saewoo sat there blinking in confusion, Jibeom came back in.
This time, he held a piece of paper and a pen.
“Here.”
“……?”
“If you’re not okay, then write down what would make you feel better on this.”
Holding the paper and pen that Jibeom handed him, Saewoo was left speechless for about a minute.
“Go ahead, write it down.”
As Saewoo struggled to understand the situation, Jibeom sat down right beside the bed.
Contrary to his words, the atmosphere didn’t feel particularly “comfortable.”
‘So… he wants me to write down what I need to feel better…?’
Saewoo felt lost trying to figure out Jibeom’s intentions but started to write something on the blank paper anyway.
‘Hm… what I want is….’
Ultimately, he thought the best thing was to just ask to be sent home.
But then he paused.
He might not be the sharpest, but he knew enough to realize that saying that out loud would likely backfire.
He couldn’t risk that after coming this far.
After much deliberation, Saewoo discreetly wrote something down in a spot where Jibeom couldn’t see and handed the paper back.
Click.
“…I’m done.”
“What? Already?”
Apparently, Jibeom expected a long list from Saewoo, raising an eyebrow as he took the paper.
His eyes, which had been so intense, narrowed as soon as he saw the last item.
‘1. Medicine
2. Find the real estate scammer
3. Blanket’
“Blanket…?”
Jibeom looked up from the paper and glared at the blanket that was still crumpled in the corner.
“What’s with that?”
Saewoo scratched his head awkwardly, a bit embarrassed by Jibeom’s reaction.
“Well, I was curious where you got the blanket. It’s really comfortable…”
“That thing?”
Jibeom made a face as though he wasn’t pleased by Saewoo’s compliment of the blanket.
“How can that be comfortable? It’s just duck feathers.”
‘Oh. Duck feathers, huh… Makes sense….’
It seemed that in both the human and shapeshifter worlds, duck feathers were known for being the warmest and lightest.
The only difference was that in this world, ducks were known for their sensitivity and close-knit communities, living only among their own kind.
Saewoo nodded to himself, deciding to go shopping for duck feather bedding with Jinho later.
“What’re you nodding about?”
“Ah…”
Jibeom seemed to take this the wrong way, looking visibly displeased.
“And what’s so comfortable about it? My fur is way better, you know?”
Without a hint of embarrassment, he puffed up his chest, clearly proud.
‘Black panther fur is supposed to be comfortable…?’
Saewoo, however, grew serious.
If that were the case, he would have heard of it by now.
And if black panther fur was truly better than duck feathers, he would have suggested Jibeom make his own blankets.
But Saewoo kept his mouth shut, not wanting to end up as dinner.
“Also, I brought the medicine.”
Jibeom let out a frustrated sigh through his nose, as if he were holding back anger, then changed the subject first.
Saewoo, initially unable to understand, widened his eyes once he finally caught on.
“Wait… My medicine?”
“Yeah, your medicine. Morning, noon, evening, and before bed, right?”
“How do you….”
“How else? I brought it from your place.”
With each of Jibeom’s responses, Saewoo’s eyes grew larger.
This meant Jibeom already knew the entrance code to his building and his apartment’s password.
Simply being careful about locking the doors wasn’t going to cut it.
‘This… I don’t think I can handle this alone. He’s way more insane than I thought….’
Realizing he might need to send an SOS to Jinho, he glanced over to where his phone was.
“Hm… that real estate scammer….”
Meanwhile, Jibeom rubbed his chin, staring intently at Saewoo’s ‘Find Real Estate Scammer No. 2’ note, and then abruptly stood up.
“Wait here.”
With that firm command, Jibeom left the room.
“……”
Thankfully, unlike earlier when he’d brought paper and a pen, it didn’t seem like he’d be back right away.
Left in the silence, Saewoo sat there for a moment, staring blankly, before glancing around and clenching his fist.
‘I need to escape from here…!’
[Forget thinking about escaping like a bunting. If you try, I’ll tie your ankles down.]
Was he serious? Or was he just trying to scare him…?
But given everything Jibeom had done to him so far, Saewoo knew it wasn’t entirely impossible.
Feeling uneasy, he glanced at his pale ankles lying on the bed.
They were thin and almost ghostly white, thanks to his skin breaking out in hives when exposed to too much sunlight.
Just imagining them being tied and possibly breaking with the slightest pressure gave him chills.
But he couldn’t let himself wither away inside a predator’s den.
Click.
He got off the bed and started inspecting the room.
Other than the window by the bed, everything was locked shut.
It was obviously a high-rise apartment, so opening a window casually was out of the question.
To his dismay, even the window had a lock with a passcode on it.
Feeling defeated, he still noticed that, in his bunting form, he could probably fit through the space by the bed window.
Whoosh.
When he opened the window, the weather was calm, with only a soft breeze.
With some luck, he figured he could glide through the air and escape.
“I’m not messing up this time.”
Saewoo recalled how he’d turned into a bunting without opening the window the last time he tried to escape and quickly climbed back up onto the bed.
Poof!
Before Jibeom could return, Saewoo transformed into a bunting and leapt toward the window.
Or rather, he tried to fly out through it.
Thud…!
“Tweet?!”
(What the heck?!)
Saewoo was startled, his head smacking into something, sticking like it had gotten caught in a sticky web.
With his crown firmly stuck, he flapped his wings in a panic.
“Tweet! Tweeeet!”
It was no use.
He wanted to know what was going on, but his vision was limited, and he couldn’t see clearly with his head stuck.
All he could think about was getting out before Jibeom came back.
“Tweet…!”
Desperately, he tried pushing himself away with his feet.
But the moment his claws touched whatever invisible force had caught him, they stuck there too.
“Tweet! Tweeeeeet!”
(What the—?! Now my feet are stuck too!)
Panicking, he scrambled to free his feet, but it was pointless.
The more he struggled, the stronger the adhesion became.
“Tweeeeeet…!”
(Aaaah… what the heck is this…!)
In the midst of his frantic squawking and flailing…
Click.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“……!”
It was Jibeom—the one person he didn’t want to see—back in the room, catching him in the act.
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
Thanks for the chapterrr, Mc is soo cute
… will this count as escaping xd