Ahjussi can’t sleep well without me……
And yet, with a rabbit there, he’d fallen asleep in ten minutes. Eunho felt like slapping Yi-beom’s cheek and waking him up right this second.
Seriously, how can he do this?
A fresh wave of betrayal washed over him, and Eunho trembled. Still, there were plenty of things to do before Yi-beom woke up.
Carefully climbing down from the bed, Eunho tensed his whole body. Soon he transformed into a human and, lifting his heels, slipped out of the bedroom.
He had left his own phone in the alley long ago, and he was too scared to touch Yi-beom’s. Given the nature of his job, it was probably loaded with security programs.
In the end, Eunho chose the laptop. He hurriedly accessed a portal site and clicked the mouse. The sound of typing echoed through the dark room.
When he searched for male pregnancy, phrases like “What men should prepare for pregnancy” and “For healthy sperm production?” filled the screen. None of it was the information Eunho wanted.
He was scrolling quickly through the page when his hand froze.
“Can men get pregnant?”
It was finally what he’d been looking for. He quickly clicked the blog, and a strange cat-shaped emoticon popped up on the screen.
“Today we’re going to learn about pregnancy! Pregnancy refers to the fertilized egg implanting after the sperm and egg meet. To think you have to carry it for ten months—how can your heart not ache ㅠㅠ?”
When was it going to mention male pregnancy? As Eunho hurriedly scrolled down, the content abruptly ended.
“We’ve now learned about male pregnancy.”
What did it even explain……? Dumbfounded, Eunho scrolled back up. Even reading it again, there was nothing related to the title asking whether men could get pregnant.
“What is this…….”
Even after searching for a long time afterward, there was no clue about male pregnancy. The only things that came up were overseas news articles about women who had undergone gender reassignment surgery and become men, then gotten pregnant.
The more he searched, the more anxious he felt. Eventually, Eunho closed the laptop and rubbed his eyes.
“What should I do?”
Baby. The term still felt awkward in his mind. Eunho’s expression darkened.
“But if I just go ahead and have it…… there are too many complications.”
Even if he somehow endured until childbirth without Yi-beom finding out, what came after would be the problem. He might lose his life during surgery. And even if, by some miracle, he gave birth safely, whose family registry would the child be listed under? Yi-beom and Eunho were only lovers, after all.
No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t reach a conclusion. Dejected, Eunho tidied the room again. He put the laptop back into the bag just as it had been and placed it in the wardrobe.
Transforming back into a rabbit, Eunho crawled onto the bed. Yi-beom had turned toward his pillow, and Eunho could see his face. Unlike his own gloominess, Yi-beom’s expression was peaceful.
So annoying.
How could he not even try calling once? Even saying he didn’t need Secretary Ahjussi to look for him.
For no real reason, Eunho felt resentment toward him and placed his tiny paw on Yi-beom’s cheek. Then, as if kneading laundry, he pressed down firmly on his cheek.
No matter how wrong I was, how could you do that!
Angry, Eunho stopped kneading and started thumping his cheek instead, but Yi-beom pulled the rabbit in with his thick arm.
Uwah!
Crushed against his chest, Eunho flailed his four legs. He even tried biting his chest with his front teeth, but Yi-beom didn’t let go.
“Jung Eunho.”
Yi-beom, whom he thought was asleep, spoke. Startled, Eunho’s eyes widened into circles and he froze. A voice followed, as if holding something tightly in check.
“I’ll let it slide only so far.”
“……”
“How far do you think I’ll tolerate this?”
Thump, thump. Eunho’s heart pounded as if it would burst. Since when had he known? From the beginning?
Or had he seen him transform into a human earlier?
His rabbit ears flapped urgently to either side. It was a relief that Yi-beom hadn’t actually brought home a new rabbit—but explaining everything that had happened until now still felt overwhelming.
……Maybe he’s just talking in his sleep.
In the end, Eunho chose avoidance. For now, he just had to get through this situation. He let the strength drain from his legs and flopped onto his side like a real rabbit.
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. After focusing on his breathing for a while, a soft purring sound naturally slipped from his mouth. In time with the sound, his belly rose and fell repeatedly.
“Ha.”
He heard Yi-beom give a hollow laugh, but he didn’t open his eyes.
“I can’t exactly send you off to a real rabbit cage……”
At some point, Yi-beom opened his eyes and looked down at the rabbit. At the word cage, the rabbit’s long eyelashes trembled faintly.
Had shamelessness rubbed off on him? It was absurd how he kept flapping his ears and pretending to be a rabbit without a shred of guilt. Yi-beom’s eyebrow arched.
“There are no carrots there. No apples.”
“……”
“No me, either.”
The moment he said it, irritation surged up. Fuck, what was he even doing? It was ridiculous that carrots and apples were being placed on the same level as himself. Letting out an irritated breath, Yi-beom hugged the rabbit tightly.
The rabbit was warm. About the same temperature as when he held Jung Eunho. The first time he held him, he’d been startled, thinking he had a fever—Eunho’s body temperature was that high. When he slept holding him, he was warm like a little baby.
Feeling the warmth of fur against skin, Yi-beom closed his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re hiding. But the sooner you tell me, the better it’ll be for your mental and physical health.”
Despite his calm expression, his voice was ominous.
“I’m holding back even now.”
***
Flailing both feet, he jolted awake from the dream. Still feeling his heart pounding, Eunho placed a hand over his chest and steadied his breathing.
What kind of…… dream was that?
Perhaps because of the memories from the day before, even in his dream Eunho had to run from someone. Thinking he would die if he were caught, he ran frantically through the alleyways. He shouted for help, but there was no one anywhere in the alley who would come to his aid.
His breath climbed to the tip of his throat, and his legs ached and pulled. Just as Eunho burst into tears and turned a corner, yellow eyes flashed in the darkness.
It was a tiger. A tiger that looked twice his size approached slowly without taking its gaze off him. It moved like a predator hunting its prey.
N-no!
That was the moment Eunho went poof and turned into a rabbit.
The house-sized tiger gathered its legs and sat down in front of him. Then it lowered its nose toward him. It was a rabbit-style greeting.
Uung?
Why would a tiger do that, why?
Tilting its head, the tiger blinked both eyes. It seemed curious why he wasn’t returning the greeting.
Kkiing?
Its eyes were gentle—nothing like a tiger’s. Round eyes, soft fur, even its paws pressing nervously into the ground as if unsure what to do. It was hard to believe this was a tiger that ruled the jungle.
Looking at it like this, it’s kind of cute……
Its body was so large he had to tilt his head back to see it properly, yet it kept whining softly, kkiing kkiing, which tugged at his heart. Was it a cub? After looking the tiger up and down, Eunho slowly stepped forward.
“You…… are you really a tiger?”
“Kkiing……”
“Are you lost? Where’s your mom?”
At that moment, the tiger lunged at him.
I-I’m going to get crushed……!
Just as he quickly covered his head with his two front paws, the tiger’s body began shrinking. At last, it became smaller than the palm of his hand and slipped right into Eunho’s belly.
It was a strange dream. A tiger—not even a rabbit—and yet so gentle. Lying on the bed, Eunho blinked. There was no sign of movement; it seemed Yi-beom had left early in the morning.
“It wasn’t even a rabbit, so why did I dream about a tiger?”
Lost in thought, Eunho sat up. In the process, his tail got caught under his backside, and he had to wiggle vigorously to free it.
No matter how he tried to think of something else, he couldn’t forget the tiger from his dream. Its politely gathered paws and the way it had rubbed its face against him. It was as vivid as if it were drawn right before his eyes.
At that moment, something Eunchan had said long ago surfaced in Eunho’s mind.
“They say your prenatal dream was a rabbit.”
“A rabbit?”
It had been when he was briefly staying at his aunt’s house. His aunt said the dream she’d had last week was unusually vivid, and when she announced her pregnancy, the whole family had gone out to eat in celebration. Of course, it had been a family that excluded Eunho and Eunchan.
Even late into the night, no one returned, as if the dinner kept going. After tossing and turning for a long time, unable to sleep, Eunchan spoke as if to comfort him.
“They said there were so many rabbits on a hill. Every single one was beautiful and pretty, and Mom stared at them for a long time before hugging one.”
“……”
“That was you. Jung Eunho.”
“……”
“……Well, I guess Mom picked wrong.”
Eunchan added, roughly ruffling his hair. Liar. Swatting Eunchan’s hand away, Eunho sat up.
“……It could’ve just been a dream.”
“Prenatal dreams aren’t just ordinary dreams, idiot.”
Laying Eunho down beside him, he continued.
“They say even after you wake up, it’s vivid. And even after a day passes, or two days, you don’t forget it.”
“……”
“You’re not going to believe Mom?”
“……No.”
Back then, those words had been a comfort. Like proof that there had once been a family who celebrated him. Only after hearing Eunchan’s words had Eunho finally been able to fall asleep.
Transforming into a human, Eunho touched his lower abdomen. A vivid dream you can’t forget. He repeated the words he’d heard back then.
“Was that tiger…… really you?”
As he gently rubbed his palm over it, he felt like he could hear a faint kkiing from somewhere.
“I said I was going to have surgery.”
“……”
“So you came out because of that?”
The way it had cried kkiing kkiing and rubbed its head against him felt somehow like it was begging him not to abandon it. Maybe that was why he hadn’t been scared.
If it was that kind of tiger, maybe it would be okay.
