Predator Alert chapter 8

Jeongseo, confused by the situation, just stared at the two of them.

“Hey!”

Pyo Yoontae, the only one who hadn’t turned to face the door, was still focused on Jeongseo.

He seemed oblivious to Hayan’s voice, idly playing with Jeongseo’s ear again as it moved away from his head.

The soft scratching of his ear with his fingertips made the rounded ear tremble.

“I said hand over the results.”

Hayan’s voice grew more threatening, but Pyo Yoontae maintained his relaxed smile, not even turning his head.

Finally, Hayan’s piercing gaze shifted to Jeongseo.

Despite his white hair, Hayan’s eyes were pitch black, even darker than Jeongseo’s, making him seem all the more menacing.

Jeongseo, unable to move his head, only let his eyes slide over.

He revised his earlier thought: Hayan was definitely a fierce predator, like a tiger, even though he was small.

“Yoontae, the head of Class 5 is calling you…”

“Who?”

Jeongseo was nearly breaking out in a cold sweat under that threatening gaze, but Pyo Yoontae remained calm.

“Look in front of you…!”

Jeongseo finally pushed Pyo Yoontae’s face away with his palm.

Only after his cheek was slightly squished did he turn to look at Hayan.

“What was that?”

His tone was dripping with condescension. T

he head of Class 5’s lip twitched slightly before he let out a bitter laugh.

“I said, show me the mock exam results.”

Pyo Yoontae glanced at the person before him, then snickered and pulled out the results from his desk drawer, handing them over.

It was unexpected, considering Jeongseo thought he wouldn’t give it up so easily.

The expression on the head of Class 5’s face began to twist as he snatched the results.

His hands, clutching the small piece of paper, trembled.

“Why did a rich bastard like you transfer here?”

He slammed Pyo Yoontae’s results down on the desk.

Jeongseo, watching them nervously, couldn’t help but peek at the results. His eyes widened in surprise.

‘Every single number is… 1!’

“Whoa,” Jeongseo’s mouth hung open as he stared at Pyo Yoontae with a newfound curiosity.

Without a second thought, he slid his report card, which had been carelessly left on his desk, into a drawer.

He didn’t think Yoontae was bad at studying, but he didn’t expect him to be this good either.

After all, he’d never seen him really focus in class.

As Jeongseo marveled at him, an intense, silent battle of wills unfolded between Hayan and Pyo Yoontae.

“Why do you care whether I transfer or not? You sure love sticking your nose in other people’s business.”

“Who said we’re friends, you brat? If you’ve been drenched in private tutoring, go hang out with the other overachievers. Why’d you come to this backwater and ruin everything?”

“What did I ruin? Can’t think of anything.”

Pyo Yoontae tilted his head slightly and tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.

“Oh, you mean your grades? That top spot you held among the average kids?”

“What the hell did you just say?”

The tension in the air was so thick it felt like a punch could fly at any moment. Only then did Jeongseo realize the seriousness of the situation, darting his eyes around in concern.

While Pyo Yoontae continued to smirk, Hayan, the class leader of 5th period, wore a menacing expression.

Suddenly, Jeongseo made eye contact with a student in the front row, who seemed to be signaling him urgently.

A kid whose name Jeongseo didn’t even know was nodding at him frantically.

Confused, Jeongseo nodded back.

“Guys.”

Jeongseo cautiously stretched his arms out over Yoontae’s desk, leaning in between them. The tense atmosphere loosened just a bit.

Jeongseo glanced back and forth between Hayan and Pyo Yoontae with his wide eyes and said,

“If you’re going to fight, do it quickly. Class is about to start.”

Hayan’s fierce expression was quickly replaced by one of utter disbelief.

“What the hell are you talking abou—”

The bell rang. The 5th period class leader glanced at the clock.

“I’ll win for sure next time.”

With a harsh threat, Hayan shook his curly hair and stormed out of the room. Jeongseo, still sprawled over Yoontae’s desk, perked up his ears slightly.

Only when the sound of footsteps disappeared down the hall did Jeongseo slowly return to his seat.

A dark gaze followed the slow retreat of his back and waist, but Jeongseo was unaware.

He tucked the shirt that had peeked out from under his vest back into his pants.

Satisfied with his now-neat appearance, Jeongseo pulled out his Calculus I textbook.

The math teacher, who was usually punctual, was surprisingly late today.

“Hey.”

Pyo Yoontae spoke in a low voice.

“Did you want us to fight?”

“Wasn’t that what was about to happen?”

Pyo Yoontae let out a dry laugh at Jeongseo’s matter-of-fact reply. Like I’d fight that little punk, he thought, giving Jeongseo a sidelong glance as he asked playfully,

“Who do you think would win?”

Jeongseo fell into deep thought.

He didn’t know much about the Class 5 leader, but judging by his aura, he seemed like a ferocious beast.

If they fought in human form…

Jeongseo glanced to the side.

Pyo Yoontae would win, but if they fought in their true forms, it might be a close match.

As Jeongseo stayed silent for a long time, Pyo Yoontae’s expression slowly hardened.

“What, are you seriously considering who would win between me and that little rat?”

Isn’t the answer obvious?

Pyo Yoontae’s voice held an edge of irritation, causing Jeongseo to straighten up.

“…Rat?”

Jeongseo stared at him in disbelief, but Pyo Yoontae, now visibly annoyed, kept a straight face.

He wasn’t smiling at all.

“He’s a hamster, even smaller than you.”

A hamster?

No way!

Shocked, Jeongseo instinctively pressed down on his tailbone. He was so startled that his tail almost popped out.

“You didn’t know?”

Pyo Yoontae smirked crookedly at Jeongseo’s reaction.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a hamster, Jeongseo?”

“…I’m not!”

“You said rats are your prey, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah, they’re my prey.”

Even though it was clear Jeongseo was lying, Pyo Yoontae found himself completely amused.

His momentary irritation melted away as he teased Jeongseo with a soft chuckle.

“Isn’t your true form even smaller than a hamster? Show me sometime, Jeongseo.”

“No way!”

In the end, Jeongseo snapped at Yoontae again.

But the difference from before was that Jeongseo was now used to Yoontae’s teasing—his tail didn’t even twitch.

Instead…

“You really do a lot of things, Jeongseo.”

Pyo Yoontae squinted his eyes slyly and tapped Jeongseo’s newly sprouted whiskers.

Jeongseo hurriedly covered his mouth. Instead of his tail, whiskers had popped out this time.

Jeongseo’s face turned bright red.

“Everyone, hope you had a good weekend. Just a heads up, they’re doing construction at Yehwa Park because of the sinkhole, so don’t go playing around there, okay?”

So that’s why there were signs all over the place on the way here.

As he listened to the homeroom teacher’s end-of-day announcements, Jeongseo secretly nibbled on some chocolate.

He had a handful of round chocolates in front of him.

As he reached for another one under his desk, a large hand appeared beside his.

Jeongseo swatted it away. A muttered curse came from his side, but he didn’t care.

If Yoontae were just a bit nicer, he would’ve given him all the chocolates. What a shame.

“Okay, that’s it! Let’s go home! I want to leave on time too! Don’t forget your phones. Skip the formalities.”

With that, the teacher quickly grabbed his bag.

Everyone rushed to grab their phones, and Jeongseo joined the crowd to retrieve his as well.

As he returned to his seat and turned on his phone, a notification popped up. Jeongseo’s expression brightened instantly.

Pyo Yoontae, who had waited until the crowd thinned out to get his phone, noticed Jeongseo’s change in demeanor and raised an eyebrow.

Casually draping an arm over Jeongseo’s shoulder, he peeked at the screen.

[Hyung: Baby, I’ll come pick you up when school ends.] 3:12 PM

…Baby? Pyo Yoontae’s eyebrows knitted together, but before he could say anything, someone shouted.

“Baby!”

A man was waving and smiling brightly from the open back door.

Jeongseo immediately shrugged off Yoontae’s arm and dashed over.

“Hyung!”

Clearly thrilled, Jeongseo’s tail popped out and swayed in the air as he ran.

Pyo Yoontae looked down at his awkwardly suspended arm.