Eunho let out ragged breaths as he ran toward the apartment entrance. In the distance, he could see Yi-beom’s back.
“Ahjussi!”
Despite Eunho’s desperate cry, Yi-beom didn’t turn around. At the sight of that indifferent back, Eunho’s heart dropped with a heavy thud.
“Ahjussi!”
Eunho scampered over to Yi-beom’s side. He’d been crying and running and causing a whole commotion—his heart felt like it would burst—but he didn’t stop.
Finally, Eunho rushed in front of Yi-beom and looked up at him. Then he spread his short little legs wide apart.
“Why—hngh—why won’t you answer me?”
“……”
Yi-beom walked past him.
As he brushed by, Eunho’s eyes widened.
“H—ah!”
Frozen stiff for a moment, Eunho quickly darted in front of Yi-beom again. He spread his arms wide this time, but it was useless.
No.
Eunho lunged forward and bit down on Yi-beom’s pant leg.
“Ahjussi!”
Only then did Yi-beom stop walking.
“Why—hic—won’t you stop? I’m right here.”
With an impassive expression, Yi-beom looked down at Eunho. His gaze was so cold that Eunho let out a hiccupping sob.
“Wh-why—hngh—are you looking at me like that?!”
“Like what?”
“You’re looking at me the way you look at your employees! Hngh! Th-that bad look!”
Eunho’s eyes trembled in shock. The same gaze he used for Secretary Ahjussi or the other men in suits. In five years of dating, this was the first time. Growing anxious, Eunho sank his front teeth into Yi-beom’s pants with a sharp chomp.
Yi-beom stared down at Eunho, who was chewing and tugging at his clothes, with an incredulous look.
“I don’t have a hobby of clinging to someone who says they don’t like me.”
When Yi-beom lightly lifted his pant leg, Eunho—still biting with his front teeth—tumbled backward with a flop. Blinking in a daze, tears spilled from his eyes.
He didn’t even have the strength to get up, so he just lay there, tears streaming down his face. The rabbit, sprawled out flat on his back, looked like someone throwing a tantrum in the middle of the road, insisting no one could pass. Of course, he was much cuter and more adorable than that.
“Do you—hngh—hate me now?”
At the trembling voice, Yi-beom let out a small sigh and slipped a hand into his pocket. His fingers brushed against a pack of cigarettes, but he didn’t take one out.
“……Who was it that said they didn’t like it?”
“I—hic—I never said I didn’t like you……”
“……”
“I just—hngh—said I was s-scared…!”
Even while hiccupping, Eunho answered properly each time. At that, Yi-beom let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded. Eventually, he released the cigarette pack he’d been turning around in his pocket and pulled his hand out.
“Jung Eunho.”
Yi-beom crouched down and grabbed both of Eunho’s feet in his hands.
“If you run out of my house saying you’re leaving, does that mean you hate me or that you like me?”
“I—I didn’t say I hated you—hngh!”
“Right. Someone who likes me just scampers off and runs away. Is that it?”
The corner of Yi-beom’s mouth twisted upward. It was the expression he wore whenever something displeased him.
“Guess you and I have different definitions of ‘liking,’ Eunho. Yeah?”
“……Hng.”
“Our Eunho runs away from his boyfriend’s house and says he’s scared his boyfriend’s going to eat him. That’s what ‘liking’ means, right? Hm?”
When Yi-beom lightly shook the rabbit’s feet he was holding, Eunho’s body wobbled. For a moment, Yi-beom almost smiled at the sight of his pink belly, but he kept his expression in check.
“Right?”
Eunho shook his head rapidly. He had only been scared of Yi-beom; his feelings for him had never changed. Eunho still liked Yi-beom.
“Hngh, n-no.”
“No, even though you ran all the way out here?”
“I—I didn’t run away! I just—hngh—w-wanted to see hyung! I missed hyung!”
“Then.”
Yi-beom lowered his voice. His eyes turned fierce, and Eunho sucked in a breath.
“What’s this about ‘eating’ you?”
Eunho recalled what he’d seen in the study. Just imagining Yi-beom holding a knife made his lips tremble.
“Y-you said rabbit tastes better.”
“What?”
“Y-you were holding a k-knife. And you said rabbit tastes better… Ahjussi was going to eat me.”
Realizing that the suspicion he’d half-dismissed was actually true, Yi-beom let out a helpless sigh. It seemed the foolish rabbit had mistaken him for sharpening himself, not an apple.
Ha. Of all things to misunderstand.
Yi-beom tightened his grip around Eunho’s feet.
“So you thought I was going to kill you.”
Eunho pressed his lips tightly together. It was hard to deny it, considering everything he’d done up until now.
Silence settled between them. Yi-beom looked down at Eunho, and Eunho, unable to meet his gaze, simply held back his tears. A chilly wind brushed past the two of them.
I should’ve thought it through before running out.
Regret, which had been slowly creeping into his heart from the moment he saw Yi-beom, came flooding in.
There’s no way Ahjussi would do that.
The Yi-beom Eunho had known until now might have been a little ruthless and scary, but he wasn’t someone who would kill him. If Eunho were ever in danger, he’d sooner cut off his own arms and legs.
I should’ve asked what he meant back then. Then Ahjussi would’ve explained that it wasn’t like that……
He already missed Yi-beom’s embrace. He wanted to lie on those knees that had frightened him so much and purr while resting. Eunho lowered his head deeply.
“Jung Eunho.”
A low voice rang out.
“I know you’re scared. I know you can’t help it.”
As if to reassure him, Yi-beom stroked Eunho’s back. The touch was gentle.
“I know.”
“……”
“But couldn’t you try trusting me a little?”
Eunho lifted his head. His eyes met Yi-beom’s, who had been watching him all along. His jet-black eyes were filled entirely with Eunho’s reflection. Whether he was human or a rabbit, Yi-beom’s eyes had always been filled with only him.
“If you don’t trust me, I think it’ll be hard.”
“……Hngh.”
The tears he’d barely stopped began to fall again. Yi-beom held out both hands toward him.
“Come here.”
As if bewitched by those words, Eunho leapt into his hands. With his short paws, he hugged one of Yi-beom’s hands as tightly as he could. He couldn’t wrap both hands around it, so he had to settle for just one.
Feeling his warmth, Eunho relaxed. More than fear, being held by Yi-beom right now was what mattered most.
“Hngh—hic—I’m s-sor—!”
“That’s enough.”
Having safely retrieved the rabbit who’d run away from home, Yi-beom stood up.
“Couples fight. It happens.”
Yi-beom’s hand gently stroked Eunho’s head. Wiping his tears and smoothing his fur had become quite familiar.
I want to hug Ahjussi face-to-face too!
Eunho pumped his legs earnestly, but with such short limbs, the most he could manage was hugging a hand.
Why did I have to be a rabbit of all things!
It felt unfair. If only he’d been a koala or a panda—or even the same tiger as Ahjussi!
Flailing, Eunho pushed strength into all four legs. When he stretched his feet outward, something felt strange.
What is this?
Before Eunho could even tell Yi-beom that something was wrong, his body began to change slowly.
Like branches sprouting from a tree, arms and legs grew out from his four limbs.
In an instant, Eunho succeeded in transforming into a human. He blinked rapidly. Looking down, he saw his body.
This was… a human body.
Not a rabbit—a person!
“Ahjussi!”
Eunho hurriedly lifted his head. Yi-beom was staring at him blankly.
“I—hngh—I turned into a person! A person!”
Humanized, Eunho was dazzling. His light brown hair was tinged with pink, and atop his head were adorable ears.
And below that, above his pale pink buttocks, was a small, cute tail.
“Fuck.”
Yi-beom’s eyes darkened.
For the first time, Yi-beom thought that a world where animalization existed wasn’t so bad.
“Ah!”
Yi-beom quickly pulled Eunho into his arms. It was late at night, so the apartment parking lot was empty, but there might still be people who had come out for a smoke.
If only he had a coat—but he’d rushed out wearing just a tracksuit.
Without hesitation, Yi-beom yanked off the short-sleeved T-shirt he was wearing.
“Put it on. Hurry.”
“Huh?”
“Put it on.”
Only then did Eunho realize he wasn’t wearing a single thread.
Ah.
His cheeks flushed red.
“O-okay……”
In Yi-beom’s arms, Eunho rustled around. After wriggling into the clothes, he whispered,
“When I wear it, it smells like you, Ahjussi.”
“……Since when does a grown man have a scent?”
You do.
Eunho slipped his head slightly inside the T-shirt. Pulling the collar up to his nose, he inhaled deeply, and Yi-beom’s scent washed over him.
A subtle woody fragrance seeped into his senses. It wasn’t sweet or fresh—just refined. Breathing in a scent that resembled Yi-beom, Eunho let out a small giggle.
Hearing him grow quiet, Yi-beom glanced down at him—and his eyes widened slightly.
“Let’s go.”
Yi-beom quickened his pace.
***
Yi-beom didn’t speak the entire way home. Cradled in his arms, Eunho stole glances at him. From what Eunho could tell, Yi-beom didn’t seem angry—just a little troubled.
Is it because he was misunderstood?
Eunho parted his lips, wanting to add some kind of explanation. But with nothing in particular to say, he simply remained quiet in his embrace.
