* * *
“Hmm… other than drinking a bit of water, he seems fine. No signs of concussion or memory loss.”
Go Junwoo, a raccoon beast-person and traditional medicine doctor, reported Saewoo’s condition to Jibeom.
Jibeom glanced through the slightly open door, observing Saewoo, who sat on the bed headboard, staring off blankly.
“He seems really unwell.”
“Hmm… judging by his pulse, it seems he’s been suffering from a long-standing illness. He’ll need thorough care. For now, he should just sleep well, eat well, and get plenty of rest.”
“What? Is it… incurable?”
“Well, if you look at it that way, yes. But when I spoke to Saewoo briefly, he seemed to be managing it well. His diet is remarkably regular.”
In truth, before meeting Jibeom, Saewoo had led a stable life.
Knowing from the start that the character he’d inhabited was terminally ill, he had made the necessary choices to survive.
Jibeom, unaware of all this, looked deeply troubled.
“Though… he threw up everything he ate.”
“Oh? What did you give him?”
“Dumpling stew. Seed dumplings. I heard birds like them…”
“Seed dumplings? I haven’t heard of that before. Did he overeat?”
“It didn’t look like much to me—barely enough to feed a bird, but he did say he ate more than usual.”
Recalling what he found shocking about Saewoo, Jibeom shook his head.
“Overeating isn’t good for him. Sparrow beastmen naturally have smaller stomachs, so they’re more sensitive. And vomiting doesn’t necessarily mean overeating; even slight changes in environment can set them off.”
“Ha… So he’s basically a delicate case?”
“Well, yes. He’s fragile. Not the type you can push around but one you need to nurture and protect.”
“….”
Jibeom remained silent.
Though he didn’t want to argue with the expert, he’d believed he had already been taking good care of Saewoo.
“Why not just ask him about this stuff? You’d get more out of him than out of me. …What’s with that look? Want me to leave already?”
Junwoo seemed to have more to say, but Jibeom didn’t care.
Without a word, he slung Junwoo’s medical bag over his shoulder and slowly pushed him toward the door.
“Fine, fine, I’ll go. But… hey, one more thing.”
“What.”
“Did you two…?”
“Get out!”
With a mischievous grin, Junwoo asked his question, only for Jibeom to shove him out the door with a hard kick.
“Ahhh!”
Hearing a yell from outside, Saewoo perked his ears.
‘What’s with all the noise….’
He was curious about what was going on, but his mind was hazy, and his body felt heavy, making him reluctant to move.
Likely, it was from the stress of the past day, combined with the effects of the medicine he’d taken.
‘Now what….’
Even as drowsiness weighed on him, Saewoo couldn’t help but worry.
Seeing the sunlight pouring in through the large window beside his bed, he guessed it had been a full day since he’d arrived.
Was it really okay for him to be here, resting so comfortably in a predator’s home?
His mind was full of anxieties.
Especially about the building he’d been swindled out of.
It seemed his long-held dream of a rental business was no longer realistic.
But was there even a way to get rid of the building quickly?
Actually, catching the scammer should come first…
“Sigh…”
As Saewoo let out a deep sigh, lost in these various thoughts—
Bzzz.
Somewhere nearby, his phone vibrated.
Startled, he turned and saw his phone on the nightstand.
At least Jibeom had taken the trouble to retrieve his phone from the chaos.
“Jin^( ˙◊˙ )^ho”
The caller’s name flashed on the screen as Jinho.
Saewoo took a deep breath and answered.
“Saewoo!”
“Yeah, Jinho.”
Maybe Jinho had been worrying about him through the night; as soon as he picked up, Jinho called his name, leaving Saewoo wondering where to begin explaining.
-That panther beast-person! The one named Yoon Jibeom!
“Hm?”
But Jinho wasn’t calling to ask about Saewoo’s condition; he went straight to the topic of Jibeom.
Last time, he’d mentioned asking his lover, Taekwon, about it, but this was a bit sudden.
“Well… Why? Did you find something out?”
Saewoo replied calmly, trying not to sound taken aback.
Jinho’s voice lowered as he whispered urgently.
-Saewoo… you don’t need to know anything else. Just run!
“Huh…? Why?”
Saewoo was confused.
Sure, he’d initially been intimidated by Jibeom, a predator… but he’d been treated to a meal, even lent a jacket.
Despite Jibeom’s rough language and occasional gangster-like demeanor, he hadn’t shown violence toward him…
Hm, maybe running wasn’t a bad idea.
-No time for why, Saewoo. That beast-person… he might be quiet now, but in the past, he once fought Taekwon over territory.
“A turf fight…?”
-Yeah, they clashed over a region, and Taekwon ended up giving up. Oh, he said you’d recognize what that meant.
Slowly, memories from the original novel came back to Saewoo.
Thinking it over, he recalled why this beast-person BL story took a dark turn.
The main plot hinged on the “misunderstanding” between the protagonist couple, which started when the main character acquired a lawless area.
Taking control of that territory dragged both leads into countless crimes.
So, for the couple’s happy ending, Saewoo had aimed to clear things from the start, convincing the main character to give up on that area with genuine advice.
Thanks to this, he’d even earned enough money to buy a building.
He’d thought it was all resolved back then…
-But then, when Taekwon gave up that region, Yoon Jibeom took it instead and went through hell.
‘What…?!’
The unexpected revelation froze Saewoo on the spot.
It turned out that the one Jibeom had been fighting over the territory back then was actually the story’s villain character.
So, in conclusion, the black panther shapeshifter, Yoon Jibeom, was apparently the villainous entity.
‘Why… of all people… did they have to pick up someone like him?!’
Saewoo let out a silent scream of frustration.
By focusing solely on his own survival and the main couple, he had completely ignored the side characters.
-…Saewoo? Are you listening to me? You’re not dealing with something, right?
While Saewoo was in a daze, Jinho was about to say something else but got worried when there was no response.
“Ah, no… I’m fine. I was just thinking about… some old memories.”
Saewoo quickly made an excuse, sighing quietly so Jinho couldn’t hear.
Really, if it were up to him, he’d just take Jinho’s advice and run without a second thought.
There was no benefit to getting tangled up with any character in the original story—especially not the villain.
[Don’t even think about running away like some fragile bird. I’ll just tie you down if you do.]
‘Gasp…! Right, he even says creepy things like some obsessive possessive type…’
-Saewoo, I think I need to go now. I’ll call you back later. You’re really okay, right?
“Uh? Yeah, it’s just…”
Saewoo thought about telling Jinho everything, but now that he knew Jibeom’s true nature, he figured he’d just need to keep his wits about him.
So, reassuring Jinho not to worry, he hung up the call.
Making the wrong move and upsetting the storyline again could spell disaster.
“Haaa…”
A long sigh escaped him.
Maybe it was because so much had happened in such a short time, but he was feeling incredibly drained.
“Life among shapeshifters is rough, after all. Shouldn’t pick things up carelessly…”
Saewoo slumped down, convinced that if only he hadn’t encountered Jibeom, he wouldn’t be in this mess.
Plop.
“But… I’ve felt this for a while now, but this bed is really comfortable…”
Not only that, the blanket was incredibly warm and light.
It even smelled nice, which was part of the reason he hadn’t left the bed.
Snnniff.
“Why does it smell so good…?”
Maybe it had been freshly laundered.
Or maybe it had been sun-dried just right.
No matter how expensive the fabric softener, it’s rare for the scent to last this long.
Saewoo thought he’d have to ask Jibeom when he came back, burying his face in the blanket in the meantime.
Clank.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Suddenly, the door burst open as Jibeom entered.
He picked Saewoo up with one arm, threw the blanket aside, and began stomping on it as if it had attacked Saewoo somehow—a bizarre sight, to say the least.
“You okay?”
Then he looked down at Saewoo, who was now in his arms, and asked.
Saewoo, caught off guard, just stared.
The so-called “villain” Jibeom’s gaze was full of worry, far from the menace Saewoo expected.
* * *
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What was wrong with the blanket??
…