Eunho, drenched in sweat, caught his breath in front of the door. Running all the way here had left his entire body exhausted. He felt like he might collapse at any moment.
If I just go in and lie down at hyung’s place…
Eunho knocked on the door. Knock, knock. The sound was so faint it barely echoed down the hallway.
“Hyuuung.”
He called out to Eunchan in a small voice. There was no sign of movement from inside.
“Hyuuung, it’s me, Eunho…”
“……”
“Hyung, please open the door…”
After tapping at the door with his tiny paws, Eunho slowly slid down to the floor. What if hyung wasn’t home? The thought, which hadn’t occurred to him while he was running, suddenly surfaced.
If not Eunchan’s place, he had nowhere to go. His school friends’ rented rooms were outside this neighborhood, requiring a bus ride, and Eunho had no warm, welcoming parents to turn to.
And he couldn’t go back to Yi-beom’s house.
Was Ahjussi really the only one he could rely on? Just as Eunho licked his lips—
“Eunho?”
The closed door opened. Eunchan peeked his head out through the gap. He resembled Eunho, but his features were more mature—strikingly handsome.
“Hyuuung!”
“But what on earth happened to you…”
Eunchan looked down at the shabby rabbit. The fluffy, pale pink rabbit looked like it had rolled around everywhere, practically a wild rabbit now.
The tear stains left clearly on its face were simply unbelievable. Without realizing it, Eunchan raised his voice.
“What the hell is this…!”
“……”
“Come inside first.”
Squatting down, Eunchan opened his arms. Eunho hurried into them with quick little hops.
Carefully holding him, Eunchan stepped inside and placed him on the sofa. Then he went straight to the kitchen and returned with a wet towel.
“Why are you so filthy? And why are you still in rabbit form?”
“Huh?”
Eunchan wiped Eunho’s face here and there with the damp towel. Ugh—he didn’t like the feeling of water soaking into his fur, and Eunho shook his head wildly.
“Stay still for a second. Even as a rabbit, you still don’t listen.”
“Huuh, nooo.”
“What do you mean, no.”
Letting out heavy sighs, Eunchan wiped away the tear stains. He cleaned the tiny paw pads and washed off the clumped dirt, muttering,
“You could’ve humanized and run over. Why suffer like this running all the way here as a rabbit?”
Humanized? Only then did Eunho realize that Eunchan wasn’t in rabbit form. Other than his light brown hair having turned pink, there were no visible changes.
Had hyung only partially transformed, like Ahjussi? The news had said that the degree of Beastman transformation varied by person. They said people with stronger self-control or mental fortitude were more likely to retain their human appearance, but even that wasn’t certain.
Still, they had said no one had yet found a way to humanize. Replaying the news he’d seen a week ago in his mind, Eunho tilted his head.
“How do you humanize?”
“Huh?” Eunchan’s expression turned odd.
“Didn’t you read the news… I mean, the booklet from the government?”
“Booklet? What booklet?”
“They sent out a manual to everyone! How to practice humanizing! It even said to call the agency if it doesn’t work.”
For a moment, Eunho’s face went blank. He hadn’t seen the news or any booklet at all. He’d been shut up in his room the entire time, avoiding Yi-beom.
Seeing his dazed expression, Eunchan burst out as if he were about to lose it.
“It was distributed ages ago. The people who can humanize are all living like normal. Well, not everyone yet, but still.”
“Ages ago…?”
“Yeah. A while back. You think Koreans would just stop going to work because they turned into Beastmen? They found a way and went back.”
If only he could’ve had more than a week off. Eunchan sighed deeply, thinking of the company he had to return to tomorrow.
“Your school will probably lift the closure soon too. Though they’ll need more detailed laws first.”
Even after Eunchan went to rinse the towel, Eunho remained sitting blankly on the sofa. Yi-beom, who hadn’t fully animalized from the start, must have heard all this news first.
Even the last time Eunho saw him, he had been looking at his phone. Eunho clenched his tiny paws tightly.
So in the end, he’d deliberately told him nothing.
So he could eat me.
Every line of Eunho’s reasoning ended at the same conclusion—that Yi-beom was going to eat him.
Even so… a lover of five years… Eunho’s body began trembling again.
Eunchan came out of the kitchen holding a few pieces of dried carrot. Sniff sniff—catching the delicious smell, Eunho’s nose twitched.
“Can I eat that?”
“Yeah. Ever since I turned into a rabbit, I’ve been craving this like crazy.”
As if dealing contraband, Eunchan secretly handed Eunho the dried carrot.
Chomp. Eunho immediately bit into it.
“Whoa…”
His eyes widened. If this was what drugs tasted like, he could understand addicts. It was on a completely different level from the apples, pears, or cabbage Yi-beom used to peel for him.
“Tasty, right?”
Because of that, he couldn’t even answer Eunchan’s question. Nom nom nom, nom nom. Eunho chewed frantically, making little sounds.
Petting his younger brother, Eunchan’s eyes grew complicated. No matter how kindly he looked at it, the way Eunho tore into the dried carrot made him seem like a pitiful rabbit that had been starving before running away.
“You…”
Eunchan spoke carefully.
“Did that Kwon brother-in-law starve you?”
“……”
“What is he, anyway? A dog? A deer?”
Suddenly, Eunho’s appetite vanished. The piece of dried carrot he’d been chewing dropped to the floor with a soft thud. Noticing the unusual reaction, Eunchan added,
“If not that, then a horse…?”
“……”
“The news said there aren’t many carnivorous Beastmen… Is he carnivorous?”
Eunho let out a deep sigh. He was carnivorous. And not just that—he was a tiger at the very top of the food chain.
Pressing his tiny paws firmly over his eyes, Eunho heard Eunchan shout,
“He’s really carnivorous? That’s why he starved you?”
“…No.”
He hadn’t starved him. Even if he didn’t show himself, Yi-beom would always leave vegetables or fruit in front of the door. Peeled and cut so they were easy to eat.
“What do you mean, no! That’s why you ran all the way here!”
“N-no!”
“Kwon brother-in-law, wow, already fallen that hard. He gobbled up a kid ten years younger, and now he’s going to throw you away?”
“That’s not it!”
Each of Eunchan’s words flew like arrows and lodged in Eunho’s heart. He’d been cursing Yi-beom the whole way here—but even so, he didn’t like hearing anyone else insult him. Not even his hyung.
The fact that Yi-beom didn’t come up to the second floor because he was afraid Eunho would be scared, that he quietly left food during nap time, that he would silently come to look at his face late at night—those were proof that there was still affection left. At least, Eunho wanted to believe that.
“He hasn’t thrown me away yet!”
“Yet? So there’s a possibility?”
Eunho’s lips trembled. This time, he couldn’t deny it. After hesitating over his answer, he lowered his head deeply.
“Haah.”
Watching his stubbornly silent younger brother, Eunchan scrubbed his face dryly with his hands. Then he sank down in front of the sofa and took the rabbit’s two paws in his hands.
His kind and innocent little brother had a slightly naïve streak. He could act sharp and decisive, then suddenly say something ridiculous and head down a strange path. Dating Yi-beom had been one of those things.
“Eunho.”
“……”
“You know I was against it at first.”
At that, Eunho slowly raised his head.
“Yeah…”
“The only reason I accepted him was because he seemed like he’d treat you well. That’s it.”
The sharply honed gaze, the dozens of scars visible when he rolled up the sleeves of the suits and shirts he always wore. There was no way not to know what kind of job the man his younger brother had brought home as his lover had.
Recalling the day he first met Yi-beom at the Korean restaurant, Eunchan continued.
“He looked completely smitten with you.”
“……”
“I told you then. If that bastard ever looked like he was going to hurt you, you were to tell me.”
He’d listened with one ear and let it out the other. Thinking that Eunchan’s words from that day had now become reality, a lump of sorrow surged up in his throat.
As Eunho swallowed back his tears, Eunchan lightly shook his paws and asked,
“Tell me properly.”
“H-huh, w-what.”
“Did you run away because you thought he was going to hurt you?”
There was no hiding it anymore. Nodding with difficulty, Eunho let out a broken sob and said,
“Hic, he, he said rabbits taste better.”
Hic. Just remembering Yi-beom holding a knife made his blood run cold and his heart drop. Waaaah! Eunho finally burst into tears, bowing his head deeply.
“He w-was going to eat me, hyung!”
Waaah. Eunho buried his face into the sofa, sobbing. Eunchan stared blankly at the crying rabbit.
—Ding dong.
The doorbell rang. Immediately after, there was the heavy thud of fists pounding against the door.
Eunho and Eunchan’s heads turned toward the door at the same time.
“Open the door.”
It was Yi-beom.
***
With bloodshot eyes, Yi-beom glared at the door. In his hand, like a weapon, he clutched a rabbit-shaped apple.
Grit. The sound of teeth grinding slipped from between his lips.
“Jung Eunho.”
From inside came a sharp intake of breath. Yi-beom’s lips twisted crookedly.
“Are you going to open the door right now?”
The moment he realized Eunho was gone, Yi-beom had immediately run to Eunho’s older brother Eunchan’s house. After all, there were only a few places his rabbit could possibly go.
