Crazy bastard.
Jinwon thought to himself as he looked at Kwon Yi-beom. Sitting on the sofa, Yi-beom stared at the screen with a seriousness greater than ever before. It was a monitor that had been hastily installed on the office wall that very morning.
Several large windows filled the monitor. Each one showed surveillance footage from inside Yi-beom’s house.
This is seriously a crime.
Just as Jinwon clicked his tongue and shook his head, Yi-beom pressed the remote. The screen showing the terrace where Jung Eunho stood enlarged.
“Cute.”
His flustered expression was completely exposed. Ever since hanging up the phone, Eunho had been spinning in place like a hamster that had lost its sunflower seeds.
Rabbit ears fluttered from his head. Looking back and forth between outside and inside the terrace, Eunho bit his lip. What should I do? The shape of his mouth said it plainly.
“I told you not to bite your lips.”
“Boss, he can’t hear you.”
Jinwon, who had been watching, suddenly blurted out.
“There’s no audio function.”
“Why doesn’t he listen these days?”
“I’m telling you, Eunho-ssi can’t hear you.”
Ignoring Jinwon entirely, Yi-beom held out his hand. He was asking for the report. With a deep sigh, Jinwon handed over the organized documents.
“After reviewing the surrounding surveillance cameras, it seems he went to Clear Animal Hospital with Kim Chanwoo.”
“He went inside the animal hospital?”
Yi-beom’s gaze, which had been fixed on the screen the whole time, finally shifted.
“Yes.”
Why would he have any business at an animal hospital? Yi-beom slowly rubbed his chin. Maybe he was hurt somewhere—he had checked the rabbit’s body thoroughly while he slept at dawn, but there hadn’t been any obvious injuries.
“And Moon Sobin. Nothing special?”
“He seems to run a café as well… and he frequently hosts rabbit gatherings at Moon Bar. That’s where he met Kim Chanwoo too.”
“Must have too much free time.”
I don’t even have time to go on dates with a rabbit because of work.
Yi-beom’s eyes carefully scanned the report. From family relations to assets and recent card history, everything was written in detail on the pages.
“It’s highly likely one of them received treatment. They deliberately didn’t leave hospital records.”
“What about Kim Chanwoo’s side?”
“He’s perfectly fine.”
“Neither of them is injured, yet they went to a hospital…”
Hmm. Yi-beom let out a low murmur. His thick fingers tapped lightly against the report.
“If it’s not an external injury, then it’s something internal.”
“……”
“Or they went all the way there to meet this guy.”
The latter seemed unlikely. The Jung Eunho Yi-beom knew was highly wary of strangers. Maybe because he had grown up rough, he never let his guard down until he figured out what kind of person someone was. It was one of the traits Yi-beom liked about him.
Even if it was Kim Chanwoo’s acquaintance, it made no sense for him to go to an unfamiliar neighborhood without a special reason.
“Is that water deer bastard his lover?”
Otherwise, it didn’t add up. Yi-beom’s eyes narrowed.
“Well… there’s a bit of a problem.”
Hesitating, Jinwon flipped the page in Yi-beom’s hand to the back—the section listing assets and account history.
“There’s quite a lot of suspicious funding.”
“You said he runs two businesses.”
“The café and hospital couldn’t possibly earn this much. The sources of the deposits are unclear too.”
“So?”
“……We haven’t found concrete evidence yet, but in my opinion.”
Yi-beom’s tapping finger stopped.
“It looks like government funds.”
The government… Recently, their movements had been unusual, and Yi-beom had been keeping an eye on them. The entire Kwon family had been lobbying and digging for information, yet everyone kept their mouths shut about what was being planned.
Every day, the news reported incidents caused by carnivorous Beastmen, and various portal sites were flooded with posts about the dangers of carnivores and the aggression of Beastmen. Because of that, public opinion increasingly leaned toward separating living areas based on dietary types.
As if someone were deliberately stirring the wind. Things were progressing quickly and urgently.
“Keep watching.”
Yi-beom said, setting the report down.
“If we can’t see the head, we follow the tail first.”
“……Should we assign someone to him?”
“Do it. Find out who he meets, whether he contacts anyone—report everything.”
Grabbing his coat, he stood up. Inside the monitor, Eunho was trying the doorknob again. Watching him, Yi-beom’s eyes curved slightly.
It was time to step into the screen himself.
***
After hanging up the phone with Yi-beom, Eunho couldn’t stay still.
“W-What should I do?”
He sank down in front of the closed front door. He needed to ask Sobin more about pregnancy right away, but there was absolutely no way to get out.
Biting his lip nervously, Eunho soon gathered strength in his legs and stood up.
“I can’t just stay like this.”
He couldn’t give up like this—not for the tiger from his dream. If his belly started to swell at this rate, Yi-beom would immediately bring Professor Hwang, and then he’d be dragged straight onto an operating table.
Clenching his fists tightly, Eunho sat on the sofa. At times like this, he needed to stay calm.
Shouting outside won’t work. There are guards out there… and they’re all Ahjussi’s people, so they won’t help me.
Then what should he do? Eunho’s round tail thumped against the floor.
Even if I run out the moment Ahjussi opens the door, I’d get caught right away.
Physical confrontation wasn’t an option. Scrap that idea too.
Since there’s no way out… calling someone seems like the best choice.
Eunho’s eyes scanned the living room. The house phone, the intercom, even the laptop had long been cut off from the outside world. He needed to use a cellphone that had come from outside the house.
Ah. A spark lit in Eunho’s eyes.
Ahjussi’s phone!
Of course Yi-beom’s phone would work. That’s it. Eunho jumped to his feet.
First, he’d apologize to Yi-beom and try to please him, then wait for an opening and use his phone to call Sobin. The idea of reporting him had long since completely vanished from Eunho’s mind.
How should I distract him completely? Eunho’s eyes rolled as he thought. After a while, he remembered how Yi-beom had gotten excited seeing him wearing nothing but a white T-shirt.
The corners of Eunho’s lips curled upward.
White tee!
He hurried up to the bedroom and stripped off his clothes. Wearing nothing underneath, he pulled out one of Yi-beom’s white T-shirts from the closet and put it on.
“But why does he… like this so much?”
It wasn’t a lewd costume, nor a stylish suit. Just a plain white undershirt. With his small tail peeking out, Eunho looked at himself in the mirror.
Since Yi-beom’s T-shirt was bigger than his body, the hem swayed around his thighs. Beneath it, his pale legs were exposed—legs so smooth they felt almost embarrassing to call a man’s.
“I should’ve worked out…”
Thinking of Yi-beom’s firm thighs, Eunho touched his own legs.
“I should’ve agreed when Ahjussi offered to help.”
When Eunho struggled to keep up with Yi-beom every night, he had said Eunho’s stamina was too weak and offered to teach him how to exercise. Worried that Yi-beom would push him even harder if he improved, Eunho had used school as an excuse to refuse. If he had exercised back then, would he have gained at least a little muscle? Pressing his soft thigh, Eunho muttered to himself.
At that moment, the sound of the front door opening echoed.
Gulp. Swallowing nervously, Eunho slowly walked out of the bedroom.
“Jung Eunho.”
As he came down the stairs, he saw Yi-beom unbuttoning his shirt. His gaze clung heavily to Eunho’s body.
“You…!”
Eyes lowered more than usual and flushed cheeks created a strange atmosphere. His helpless expression and the small hand gripping the hem of the T-shirt were equally provocative.
And because Jung Eunho was wearing it, the white T-shirt looked like the undershirt of a school uniform, stirring Yi-beom’s darker impulses. Damn it. Forcing himself to look away, he headed toward the dining table, intending to moisten his dry mouth.
This isn’t right. When Yi-beom turned away with what looked like an angry expression, Eunho panicked. He quickly hurried after him.
“Ahjussi… are you mad?”
“……”
“Is it b-because I pretended to be a rabbit? Or b-because I lied to you, Ahjussi…?”
Setting down his water glass, Yi-beom sighed. He had planned to scold him harshly, but seeing Eunho hesitate like this made it hard to say anything sharp. Afraid he’d be swayed even more if he turned around, Yi-beom stared at the table as he answered.
“You know exactly why.”
His low voice echoed. Ah, no. Thinking he had made Yi-beom even angrier, Eunho quickly wrapped his arms around him.
“I-I won’t do it again!”
Pressed against his broad back, Eunho rubbed his face against him.
“I’ll s-stay quietly at home and listen well. I won’t even talk to Uncle Younguk anymore…”
“……”
“Won’t you calm down?”
Of course, he had no intention of actually staying quiet—but right now, what mattered was easing Yi-beom’s anger. He needed him off guard to use his phone.
As Eunho tightened his arms, Yi-beom slowly turned toward him.
“You said you’d report me. Gonna send me to prison?”
“H-How would I even report you… you said unlawful confinement only gets two years…”
Eunho swallowed hard.
“And I… I don’t think I could handle waiting for you in prison.”
“You’d report me with your own hands, then say you’ll wait for me too?”
“……When I started seeing you, Ahjussi, I was prepared for that much, you know?”
From the moment he learned about Yi-beom’s job, he had braced himself for prison visits someday. Yi-beom insisted he only exploited loopholes in the law and wasn’t a criminal—but to Eunho, that sounded exactly like something a bad person would say.
