Eunho tapped the back of Yi-beom’s hand lightly and smiled with crescent eyes.
“Ahjussi’s making things too hard on me, so the baby’s taking my side.”
“……Nonsense.”
“It’s true, though?”
With a scoff, Eunho cleared his throat. Then he moved Yi-beom’s hand, rubbing it over his belly.
“Baby, are you in there?”
Silence.
“Daddy’s here. Aren’t you going to say hi?”
Same as before. Not only was there no kick—there was nothing at all. Hah. As if it were absurd that he’d believed Jung Eunho’s nonsense even for a moment, Yi-beom pulled his hand away.
“Stop playing around.”
“……Kwon Yi-beom, fucking bastard.”
At that instant, Yi-beom’s body went rigid.
“Fucking bastard!”
This time it wasn’t just bam—it was baaaam! The fetal movement grew strong enough to be seen with the naked eye. Yi-beom froze with his hand still pressed to Eunho’s lower belly. Before he knew it, a tiger’s tail had sprung out behind his back.
It was unbelievable—that it reacted only to curses directed at him.
And of all words, to “fucking bastard.”
Was it listening to everything?
Recalling how he had once made Eunho say “fucking bastard,” Yi-beom narrowed his eyes.
Of all things, it had to hear that.
There were so many better things it could’ve heard. Well……. After a brief hesitation, Yi-beom clenched his teeth. Lately, he hadn’t said a single pretty word to Eunho. It had always been break up, erase it—those were the only things he’d said.
As Yi-beom faltered, Eunho let out a small laugh.
The baby’s on my side.
Not Ahjussi’s—mine. A strange satisfaction bloomed inside him, like winning one of those “Do you like Mom or Dad better?” questions.
At the same time, worry crept in. Feeling fetal movement could mean the birth was drawing near. Remembering Professor Hwang’s words—that there were still few research results about Beastman childbirth—Eunho looked up at Yi-beom.
“Ahjussi.”
He couldn’t put it off any longer. His steady gaze turned toward him.
“I’ll ask one last time.”
“…..What.”
Eunho wrapped both feet around his lower belly, as if covering the baby’s ears. Seeing that, Yi-beom’s mouth tightened.
“If you really say no this time……. then we’re breaking up. Us.”
Just saying the word break up made his chest drop. Thud, thud—his heart pounded loudly, but Eunho steadied himself.
He wasn’t alone anymore. As much as the baby inside his belly was taking his side, he had to take the baby’s side too. The clothes clenched in his toes wrinkled as much as his tangled heart.
“Are you going to leave me and go to that woman?”
Yi-beom frowned. That woman? He briefly wondered who Eunho meant, then realized it was Su-hee. He had assumed Younguk and Jinwon would’ve explained she was his cousin, but it seemed Eunho had been misunderstanding all this time.
He was about to tell him she wasn’t a girlfriend—then closed his mouth again.
Is there really a need to correct it?
He hated, suffocatingly, the idea of Su-hee being mistaken as his girlfriend—but thinking of Eunho, it wasn’t something he couldn’t endure.
It might even make it easier for him to let go.
Looking at the rabbit staring at him with trembling eyes, Yi-beom sighed. Then he nodded.
“Yeah. I’m thinking of trying things out with her.”
His cold voice echoed down the hallway.
He’d thought tears would spill first—but instead, his heart settled strangely calm. Taking a deep breath, Eunho pushed against Yi-beom’s chest.
“Okay.”
A firm voice came out. Surprised by the reaction that differed from what he expected, Yi-beom was just about to call Eunho’s name when Eunho pulled his body back as far as possible, trying not to touch him. Between Yi-beom’s arms, a plump rabbit bottom popped out.
He still couldn’t believe Yi-beom’s words about having someone else. Before the pregnancy, they’d been stuck together like glue. After the pregnancy, both Yi-beom and he had been too busy chasing and being chased to have the space to look at anyone else.
What matters most is…….
Eunho met Yi-beom’s eyes.
Ahjussi didn’t look at that woman with these eyes.
There was a high chance that the woman he’d seen wasn’t a new lover. But more meaningful than that was the fact that Yi-beom wanted to break up badly enough to lie like this.
That alone was enough. With his ears knocking stiffly together, Eunho said,
“Let’s say we’re breaking up starting now.”
“……”
“You chose this…… Ahjussi, you’re the one who abandoned me.”
At the word abandoned, Yi-beom’s face twisted.
“Why would you phrase it like—”
Before he could finish, Eunho sprang—hop!—down to the floor. Then, without a shred of hesitation, he walked to his room.
Yi-beom stared blankly as the plump backside disappeared through the doorway. Haah. He let out a sigh, staring at the slightly open door.
What the fuck……. Is this even going the way it’s supposed to?
According to his plan, this was better. If Eunho lost his affection for him, then soon he’d hate the baby too. And then, from Eunho’s perspective, there’d be no need to risk his life to give birth.
So why does it feel like shit?
It felt utterly, completely like shit. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going wrong. After staring at the narrow crack of the door for a long moment, Yi-beom finally turned away.
The entire way back, the thought of going to talk to him again—even now—drifted through his head. But he didn’t go looking for Eunho. Yi-beom’s tail smacked against the floor—thwack, thwack.
***
The sky was pale pink. Before a sea dyed the same rosy hue, Yi-beom stood. At the unreal scenery, he looked around.
The sand crunching underfoot and the sound of waves were just like reality. One vivid dream. Even as he thought that, Yi-beom reflexively turned toward where the house—where Eunho would be—should’ve stood.
Instead of a house, something round and enormous rose up. It stretched from the ground to the sky, so large its full shape couldn’t be taken in at once. What the hell is that. Just as Yi-beom frowned—
Boom! The ground shook.
A massive pillar approached toward him. Boom, boom! Each time it moved, the earth trembled.
“Dad.”
A voice came from somewhere. The tone was slightly high—like a child’s voice. Dad? Yi-beom looked around, but he was still alone.
He muttered lowly.
“Where’s Dad? There’s no one here.”
Bright light wrapped around the pillar. The column that had reached from earth to sky slowly shrank. Only then did Yi-beom realize it was an animal’s leg.
And one with the same pattern as his own beast.
A tiger about the height of his calf sat in front of him.
Its tail thumping against the ground.
The tiger cub snapped its eyes up sharply.
“Why are you like that to Mom?”
“What?”
“Why do you only pick the meanest things to say?!”
As if unable to contain its anger, the tiger barked, “Rawr!” Not even a puppy. Sitting down, Yi-beom met its gaze.
Even though it was a tiger like him, it felt completely different. A fierce beast should overwhelm with sheer majesty—but the one before him had no majesty at all, only overwhelming cuteness.
Slightly drooping eyes, small round pupils, black markings that looked like eyebrows, and even a tongue peeking out. None of it was tiger-like.
Maybe because it’s still a cub. When Yi-beom poked its tongue lightly, the tiger quickly pulled it back in.
“Why are you sticking your tongue out?”
“I-I wasn’t sticking it out—! A-Anyway!”
The tiger barked again, “Rawr!”
“Forget the tongue! Why are you like that to Mom?!”
“Who’s your mom? Did you get lost or something?”
“You’re the one who got lost, Dad!”
“And badly!” The tiger bared its teeth with a little “kaak!” sound. Inside its mouth, adorably tiny fangs were revealed.
Yi-beom lifted the tiger’s chin. Turning its face this way and that, he examined it. At first, he’d wondered if it had lost its father and was calling just anyone Dad—but the more he looked, the less that seemed to be the case.
As if displeased, the tiger clicked its teeth together. Over that image overlapped the rabbit who used to show tiny rice-grain-sized teeth.
No way.
Don’t tell me this is my child? As Yi-beom frowned, the tiger swatted his hand away with a soft paw.
“Hurry and bring Mom!”
“You…….”
He was at a loss for words. He’d always referred to it as this or that, so he didn’t know what to call it. After hesitating over a form of address, Yi-beom finally spoke.
“Are you…… baby?”
At the word baby, the tiger froze. Soon, with its head lowered, a whimpering sound escaped it—like a cub calling for its mother.
Without thinking, Yi-beom picked the tiger up. There was nothing certain, but the tiger that somehow resembled Eunho was whining, and he couldn’t just leave it be. Severe case. Diagnosing his own illness, Yi-beom stroked between the tiger’s ears.
If this wasn’t just a random dream, then the child inside Eunho’s belly must be a tiger.
And not one that resembled him, but a soft, gentle tiger that took after Jung Eunho. Facing the tiger that seemed half Eunho and half himself, his heart stirred. It felt similar to when he’d first felt the fetal movement. At the unfamiliar sensation, Yi-beom’s hand kept moving.
“N-Now’s not the time for this. Dad……..”
Purring—gurr—the tiger leaned into his touch, then turned its head toward the sea.
“We have to go get Mom.”
“What?”
At the incomprehensible words, Yi-beom asked back.
“You mean Eunho?”
Until the moment he’d fallen asleep, he had checked Eunho through the surveillance camera. After tossing and turning for a long time, Eunho had curled up under the bed and fallen asleep. The soft purring sounds had been audible even through the screen; he’d figured Eunho would probably sleep in late tomorrow.
The tiger grabbed Yi-beom’s hand with both paws.
“Mom only has you, Dad. I want to save him, but…… I’m still not strong enough.”
“What are you talking about?”
With a small whine, the tiger rubbed its head against the back of his hand.
