“Uh, yeah.”
When they put everything together, there wasn’t actually much they could cook. Chanwoo awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He’d only cooked a few times on dates; he really had no talent for it.
“I thought I packed everything carefully, but this is kind of… awkward.”
When he used to pack lunchboxes before, it seemed fine. Chanwoo glanced sideways at Eunho, who was staring at the ingredients.
“Should we go buy more?”
“No. This is enough.”
Eunho replied, fiddling with the bagged carrots.
“Let’s just throw everything in and stir-fry it.”
The two men nodded resolutely.
After that, things moved quickly. This time, Chanwoo took the assistant role while Eunho handled the main. Not that there’s really a chef and an assistant when it comes to fried rice, but still.
Inspired by Yi-beom’s rabbit apple, they decided to try making tiger rice balls. They tossed in rice cakes, sausage, chives, squid, and all kinds of vegetables, stir-fried them together, then mixed the rice in.
Wearing plastic gloves, Eunho mashed the rice together with surprising seriousness. Squeeze, squeeze—he shaped the rice in his hands and placed the finished ball on a plate.
“……”
“……”
It wasn’t round.
It was, quite literally, a fist-shaped lump of rice. The imprint of his hand was clearly stamped into it. Chanwoo and Eunho stared blankly at the fist-shaped rice ball.
“That’s fucking a fist rice ball.”
“…..It’s a tiger pattern.”
Anyone could see it was just handprints, but Eunho hurriedly picked up olives and stuck them on. He placed one on each side and added strips of seaweed. A face was complete.
He began kneading a second rice ball. Completely focused, Eunho lowered his head, which made his necklace dangle down.
“Huh.”
From behind, where he was plucking grapes, Chanwoo spoke up.
“That’s a necklace I haven’t seen before.”
“Mm. Ahjussi gave it to me this morning.”
“Ahjussi?”
Chanwoo’s eyes narrowed. Something inside the pendant flickered—shining. It wasn’t quite a reflection of light.
“Can I take a closer look?”
“Yeah. I can’t take off the gloves, so just look.”
Chanwoo set down the grapes and took the pendant in his hand. This…
He stiffened as he watched the light blink on and off in a steady rhythm.
This looks like a tracker.
It wasn’t an ordinary necklace. As Chanwoo examined it, he looked up at Eunho.
Eunho was excitedly shaping another rice ball.
Chanwoo had heard many things while frequenting Moon Bar. Recently, there had been disappearance cases and murder cases. Ever since the world changed, crime had increased too.
The victims were always herbivore Beastmen. And this time as well, they said a carnivore Beastman had been caught as the culprit. Biting his lip, Chanwoo looked at Eunho—cheerfully making rice balls without even knowing he was wearing a location tracker—and felt his stomach twist.
Jung Eunho was too loose. Too gentle. So gentle he probably wouldn’t even realize if he was walking straight into a tiger’s jaws.
If they’re dating well like they are now, that’s fine…
But if not, it was dangerous.
To a carnivore Beastman, a herbivore Beastman was something edible.
“Hey, Jung Eunho.”
“Yeah?”
Eunho answered while placing olives on top of a rice ball.
“What if Ahjussi… by any chance…”
Gulp. Chanwoo swallowed before continuing.
“If he put something like a location tracker on you… what would you do?”
“A location tracker?”
The olive perched on the rice ball dropped with a soft plop. What kind of random question was that? Eunho’s eyes rolled.
To Eunho, a location tracker was something you saw in morning dramas. The plotlines were almost always the same—usually a kind-hearted female lead meeting a crazy husband and eventually turning dark.
To catch proof of her husband’s affair, the heroine used all sorts of devices. One of the most common was a location tracker. With just that, she could find out he was cheating, that he was an industrial spy, even that he had committed murder. Thinking about morning dramas, Eunho hummed thoughtfully.
“A location tracker… I guess if someone put it on, there must be a reason.”
The husbands in dramas always deserved it. So really, they should’ve just lived properly from the start.
“And if Ahjussi put it on, I don’t mind.”
“You don’t mind…?”
“Yeah.”
I only go between home and school anyway. Adding that, Eunho opened the drawer and took out a lunchbox container. It was light pink, the same shade as his hair.
Watching Eunho place the tiger—or maybe cat—rice balls into the container, Chanwoo was rendered speechless.
Is this gaslighting…?
Quietly turning away, he pulled out his phone and sent a message.
[Hyung, I think something’s wrong with Eunho.]
Eunho had always been strange, but with the tracker on his mind, Chanwoo failed to remember that. A reply came quickly.
[What’s wrong with him?]
[He’s wearing a location tracker… and when I asked, he said he doesn’t mind.]
After hesitating a moment, Chanwoo typed again.
[I think he’s being gaslighted.]
The recipient was Moon Sobin.
[That’s serious.]
[I think we need to rescue him quickly.]
Just as the reply arrived, Eunho closed the lunchbox.
***
He must’ve finally gone crazy.
Reading the report, Jinwon thought so. Reclined loosely against the black leather sofa, Kwon Yi-beom had been smirking to himself for a while now, his eyes fixed on the papers in his hand.
I knew he’d end up like that.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Jinwon sighed. People really should cultivate a good heart.
Otherwise, you end up going insane like that bastard.
Well, Kwon Yi-beom had never been quite sane to begin with, but today he seemed especially out of his mind. Keeping his expression neutral, Jinwon continued reading the report.
“The Cheongdo branch will open tomorrow. We’ve prepared the VIP area, and there’s more than enough cash on hand.”
“The one handling the currency exchange?”
“We selected the same person who worked in Hong Kong. Shall I show you the documents?”
Yi-beom, legs crossed the other way, shook his head.
“It’s fine. I’m sure you handled it.”
He set down the ledger he had been holding. It listed the monthly profits of the establishment and the sources of funds that had flowed to VIP clients.
As if waiting for that moment, Jinwon took the report back. He sometimes made improper remarks, but few people handled work as efficiently as he did. Every time he brought up Eunho, Yi-beom felt like cutting him off, yet he kept him around because it would be hard to find someone who worked as well as he did.
Yi-beom took out his phone and tapped the screen. A red dot was marked on the map.
It moved busily around inside a house. His smile deepened.
Every time the red dot shifted, it felt as though he was watching Eunho. Said he was packing a lunch. Is he doing that now? Imagining Eunho waddling around, wiggling his hips as he moved, laughter slipped out.
“President.”
Growing uneasy, Jinwon finally spoke.
“What are you looking at… that keeps making you smile like that? It’s unsettling.”
“Something.”
“Are you checking where the guy you threw in last week has drifted to?”
“……”
“Somewhere in the Pacific? Or toward the South Sea?”
“Is your mouth bored?”
When Yi-beom’s cool gaze turned on him, Jinwon snapped his mouth shut with a small gasp. Sitting with his chin propped on one hand, Yi-beom looked like a tiger. A tiger lying down, lazily swishing its tail.
But Jinwon knew that if you provoked a tiger at times like that, you’d see blood. A tail swaying from side to side meant it was ready to hunt at any moment.
“If you’re bored, should I cut it off? You don’t need it anyway.”
“……Need it, what do you mean I don’t? I have to brief the report.”
Answering timidly, Jinwon sat back down. If not that, then what? He racked his brain while stealing glances at the smirking Yi-beom.
Ah.
There was only one reason Yi-beom smiled like that.
Could it be?
“Is it Student Eunho?”
“Yeah.”
Without taking his eyes off his phone, Yi-beom answered.
“I put a location tracker on him.”
At those words, the papers slipped from Jinwon’s hand.
“You know that’s a crime, right?”
“The company you work for isn’t exactly legal either.”
“That’s different.”
“What’s different? They’re both mine.”
At last, Jinwon shot up from his seat. Yi-beom looked at him with an expressionless gaze as Jinwon stared at him in shock.
“What?”
“……”
“Do you want to swim to the Pacific too?”
Jinwon quietly sat back down. Come to think of it, maybe lovers tracking each other’s locations wasn’t so strange.
“My apologies.”
Today as well, Jinwon apologized to Eunho.
***
The weather was bright and clear. Neither cold nor hot—perfect for a date.
Maybe because spring had arrived, Eunho’s heart felt light and buoyant too. Holding the lunchbox in one hand, he walked lightly toward Yi-beom’s company.
In front of the building, he spotted a familiar silhouette. The distinctive build and height, and the men in black suits standing behind him. It had to be Yi-beom.
“Ahjussi!”
Eunho ran up to him. Unable to contain his excitement, his ears perked up between his hair with a little twitch.
“How did you know I was coming?”
“Just a feeling.”
Without changing his expression, Yi-beom replied.
“How could I not know? When you’re coming.”
