“If you let me go, I’ll tell you.”
It wasn’t because he was clever. In the past, Eunho would’ve trembled and spilled everything before anyone even asked. Now he looked used to receiving Yi-beom’s touch as his hair was washed, and even to talking back to him.
“You’ve grown a lot, Jung Eunho.”
“Ahjussi, you’re already fully grown though….”
At the sight of Eunho constantly pushing his luck, Yi-beom flicked water at his face.
“Ah!”
Soaked through, Eunho shuddered. A sulky glare shot toward Yi-beom.
“Are you going through puberty? Jung Eunho?”
“I-it’s fifth puberty, actually!”
Eyes wide, Eunho quickly threw himself toward one side of the bathtub. Grabbing the outer shower head, he turned the water on.
With a loud shaaaaa, the sound of running water filled the bathroom.
***
Shower or not, the two kept splashing around for quite a while. Calling it play would’ve been generous—it was closer to venting frustration. Eunho was sulking because Yi-beom said he had no intention of getting married, while Yi-beom was irritated that Eunho refused to explain himself to the end.
In the end, only after Eunho lost the battle of stamina and raised both hands in surrender did the shower finally end.
Ah, seriously!
Even while drying his hair, Eunho kept glaring at Yi-beom’s phone, but it was useless. As if he had noticed the intention, Yi-beom never left Eunho’s side.
This isn’t good!
Even in bed, Yi-beom pulled the blanket up while tightly wrapping an arm around Eunho’s waist.
“Stop thinking nonsense and go to sleep.”
He muttered as he covered Eunho’s eyes with his hand.
“You can’t go out anyway.”
“If you’re not even going to get married, i-isn’t it weird for us to sleep together?”
At the constant wedding talk since earlier, Yi-beom slowly opened his eyes.
“You were that kind of style?”
“I-I don’t want to sleep with someone who says they don’t want to marry me either, you know?”
Seriously ridiculous. Eunho muttered quietly and removed Yi-beom’s arm from his waist. It was so strong that he had to push with both hands with all his might before it finally came off.
“Hm.”
Clutching the blanket, Eunho rolled his body away. Like a cocoon, he rolled all the way to the far end of the bed, the opposite side from Yi-beom.
As the warmth that had been touching him moved away, Yi-beom’s brows lifted high.
“You’re not coming back over?”
“If I do, I’ll turn into a rabbit.”
At those words, Yi-beom stopped moving toward him. He looked at Eunho with an expression that said, Are you really going to be like this? but Eunho just scoffed and turned his head away.
And he won’t even marry me. Eunho frowned as he chewed over what he’d heard at the dining table.
How could he say that?
How could you tell someone who’s pregnant with your child that you won’t marry them?!
They said pregnancy made emotions swing all over the place, and just thinking about weddings and babies again made irritation bubble up. A huffing breath slipped out.
He even locked me up, didn’t he?
Someone couldn’t even report him because they were worried Ahjussi would suffer in prison. Grinding his teeth, Eunho squeezed his eyes shut. Even if he jumped over and bit Ahjussi right now, it wouldn’t help anything.
Fine. For now… I’ll aim for dawn.
He had already checked where Yi-beom left his phone. The table beside the bed. It was definitely on top of it. If he secretly called someone with it around dawn while Yi-beom was asleep, it might work.
Turning his body to the opposite side, Eunho held his breath. His eyes, at least, were like a tiger’s—despite being a rabbit.
***
Eunho, who had dozed off for a moment, wiped his drool. Huh—morning already? He blinked quickly, only to see that it was still dark outside.
Thank goodness!
It still seemed to be dawn. Slowly slipping out from between the blankets wrapped around him, Eunho glanced beside him.
Huh?
Yi-beom wasn’t there. Did he go get water or something? Just as Eunho quietly got up to leave the bed—
Under the table where the phone had been placed, something large was lying there. A dark shadow stretched all the way to Eunho’s feet. Gasp. Drawing in a breath, Eunho’s body trembled.
A tiger that looked twice the size of Yi-beom’s human body was crouched beside the bed. Yellow fur, black stripes, and paws that looked like they could send a rabbit flying with one swipe. Pop—with a sound, Eunho’s body shrank.
“N-no.”
At that moment, the closed eyelids lifted. Beneath them, golden eyes appeared.
“Aah!”
The rabbit stumbling backward fell flat on his backside. It was nothing like the one he’d seen in his dreams.
The tiger slowly rose and approached him. Its fur stood on end, as if it too was in an excited state. A deep shadow fell over Eunho’s face.
“A-Ahjussi.”
Sniffling, Eunho called out to Yi-beom, but no answer came. His knees weakened, strength draining from his legs.
“Ugh.”
Tears dangling from his eyes, Eunho hurriedly scrambled backward. W-what do I do? Hiding behind the curtain, he called Yi-beom again.
“Ahjussi, h-hey… please snap out of it.”
“……”
“Ahjussi?”
Was he not conscious? Eunho cautiously peeked his head out from behind the curtain. At that exact moment, the rabbit’s nose bumped bonk against the giant tiger’s face.
“Aaaah!”
The rabbit, pale with fright, instantly leapt onto the bed. The tiger followed in a single bound. Because of the sharp claws, the mattress on the tiger’s side sank deep.
Soft pink fur scattered all over the room. A feather drifted down onto the rabbit’s nose as he stared blankly upward, and Eunho let out a shriek.
The tiger loomed over the rabbit. Thick legs planted down on either side so he couldn’t run anymore.
“H-huff.”
Now he couldn’t even breathe properly. Before he could scream again, the tiger shoved its head forward.
A cool nose touched him. Sniff sniff—as if smelling him, the tiger’s mouth suddenly opened wide. Sharp fangs glinted inside.
Thud—Eunho toppled backward.
“I told you I couldn’t let you go out.”
Yi-beom lifted the rabbit wedged between the bed and the wall with his foot. He had tucked his claws inward so he wouldn’t scratch him.
“Why don’t you ever listen?”
Maybe scaring him a little would stop him from trying to mess with the phone. Pulling the rabbit into his chest, the tiger let out a low rumble. Curling his body around, he pushed the rabbit to the innermost spot.
It felt like this was the only way Eunho would finally give up. The method wasn’t exactly good, but…
Yi-beom thought as he licked the rabbit’s fur in one direction.
Marriage, huh.
It wasn’t that he had never thought about it. After all, the one who wanted to tie Eunho to himself more than anyone else… was Yi-beom.
Letting out a low growl, Yi-beom smacked his tail against the floor.
I don’t want to drag him into this side.
What his family did couldn’t be brushed off as merely “bad things.” It was far dirtier and more complicated than that. The reason he had taken over the casino work he’d never cared about was because, at least, it was just a place money passed through—it felt less filthy.
Remembering Eunho’s visibly hurt expression, Yi-beom sighed.
“Haah.”
Resting his head beside the rabbit, Yi-beom took a deep breath. Even after turning into a rabbit, Jung Eunho still smelled like Jung Eunho. A soft, clean scent that knew nothing about anything dirty.
***
When Eunho woke up in the morning, Yi-beom was nowhere to be seen.
I’m screwed.
He quickly looked at the table beside the bed. If Yi-beom wasn’t here, there was no way his phone would be either. Sprawled in the middle of the bed, Eunho let out a long sigh.
“I should’ve woken up at dawn yesterday.”
Every time he breathed, his plump belly rose and fell. Just as he exhaled a long breath, something flashed through his mind.
“Dawn?”
Eunho hurriedly sat up. Looking down, he saw a round rabbit belly and feet.
“So y-yesterday wasn’t a dream?”
That meant the tiger that chased him like it was going to eat him hadn’t been a dream after all. Even thinking about it again sent chills down his spine, and Eunho gasped, placing a paw over his chest.
Yellow fur lay beside the pillow. Grabbing it with both paws, Eunho made a strange expression.
“So it really was Ahjussi….”
Remembering how he’d been chased far away from the phone, Eunho pressed his lips together. He must’ve noticed the plan to steal the phone early and tried to scare him.
Ugh. Guess I’ll have to scrap the plan to steal Ahjussi’s phone for a while. Eunho drew a red line through the plan written in his mental notepad.
“Maybe I should just starve instead…?”
If it looked like he might actually starve to death, wouldn’t Ahjussi let him out? He hated skipping meals more than anything, after all. Muttering to himself while making a new plan, Eunho hopped off the bed.
The starvation plan was scrapped the instant he came down the stairs.
“Oh my, Eunho student! Long time no see!”
“Ahjumma!”
A lady in an apron stood in the kitchen. Aah! Unable to contain his delight, Eunho leapt toward her.
“Oh my!”
Because he tucked his hind legs too quickly, Eunho didn’t jump very far and ended up dangling from her apron. At the adorable sight, she burst into laughter without realizing it.
Supporting his plump little bottom with both hands, she set the rabbit down beside the sink.
“I heard you turned into a rabbit. You really are a rabbit, huh?”
