“…Tae-yi.”
Seeing Haram looking up at him with an expression that clearly said he had something to say, Tae-yi brushed the dirt from his hands and slowly approached.
“Back then, what I said to you in the field… I didn’t mean it. If you ever got hurt and collapsed again, I’d still bring you home and take care of you.”
“I know.”
The immediate reply made Haram blink in surprise and look up at Tae-yi. Smiling faintly, Tae-yi gently brushed Haram’s cheek—not with his dirtied palm, but with the back of his hand.
That innocent little squirrel would’ve taken him home and treated him even if he’d just been bleeding from the nose. That’s the kind of person Da Haram was.
“Don’t apologize. You don’t need to feel guilty either.”
Da Haram had just been unlucky. It was nothing more than rotten timing—Chairman Kang Tae-jin just happened to pick this countryside spot for his resort development, and Tae-yi just happened to collapse on the mountain behind Haram’s house. That was how he’d gotten dragged into the brothers’ war.
Just horrendously bad luck.
“…Still, I’m sorry.”
Haram bowed his head, voice low and strained with guilt. Knowing how long Haram would stay deflated once his mood dropped, Tae-yi let out a quiet sigh.
Getting this worked up over saying one harsh thing… He was still a squirrel Tae-yi couldn’t quite understand.
“If you’re really that sorry, then kiss me.”
“Wow, I’m suddenly not sorry at all.”
His guilt rapidly evaporated thanks to Tae-yi’s teasing tone.
Feeling awkward, Haram glanced around and began pulling up peanut plants at random. Tae-yi chuckled quietly overhead, but Haram stubbornly kept his head down and worked.
After a while, Haram shuffled closer and mumbled,
“By the way, these peanuts… they’re yours. You bought and planted them.”
“You keep them.”
Hearing Tae-yi respond without hesitation, Haram murmured under his breath,
“Still…”
He knew full well that Tae-yi had bought those seedlings and replanted them just for him. And yet Haram had unloaded his resentment, blaming him for things he had nothing to do with.
Even though he’d already apologized, the guilt started swelling again.
“I did it because I wanted to. I used your field without even asking permission, so unless you’re planning to charge me rent, don’t make that face.”
“I’ll collect the good ones and give them back to you.”
“I’m not eating them, even if you do.”
Tae-yi’s reply came with forced gruffness as he reached out with his dirt-covered hand and gave Haram’s soft cheek a gentle pinch.
Then, without hesitation, he gathered the peanut seedlings he’d stacked in a corner and walked out of the field.
Haram lightly brushed the dirt off his cheek, eyes following Tae-yi’s broad back.
Did it because he wanted to…
That hit deeper than a hundred apologies ever could.
The more he turned it over in his mind, the more the knot in his chest loosened.
It really was better than saying ‘sorry’.
With a faint smile, Haram gathered the remaining seedlings into his arms and followed Tae-yi.
***
“You’re getting the car dirty.”
“I don’t care.”
Tae-yi responded as he loaded the harvested peanuts into the trunk.
Even though they were bagged up, there was no way to keep all the dirt from spilling. Haram hovered at his side, bouncing anxiously on his feet.
Tae-yi had been told the peanuts needed to be sorted, washed, and dried for at least a week before shelling them, and so he was loading up the bags to bring them back to the house.
“What are you gonna do with all that?”
“Dry them in the garden.”
Dry peanuts. In that beautiful garden.
Just imagining it made Haram cringe at the thought of ruining the view.
He kept pacing and chattering beside Tae-yi, trying to protest, but Tae-yi had clearly made up his mind.
Bringing them all the way back just to dry them out and return in a week was way more efficient than making another trip down.
“Director, I think we’ll need to use the backseat too…”
They’d already loaded the front, but two more bags remained. Tae-yi glanced at Haram, who was trying to convince him to go back to the yard, then said,
“Da Haram can just go squirrel mode.”
“…Me?”
Well, who else was going to shrink themselves down to pocket size?
After a moment of hesitation, Haram de-transformed into a small squirrel.
Disappearing from view in an instant, he was soon scooped up by Tae-yi, who crouched down to retrieve him from the pile of clothes on the dirt.
Cradling the palm-sized squirrel and gathering up his clothes, Tae-yi climbed into the backseat.
Chief Yoon, having loaded the last bags, returned to the driver’s seat.
Each time the car moved, dirt spilled from the bags with soft thuds.
Watching anxiously from Tae-yi’s palm, Haram let out a nervous squeak.
“It’s just dirt. We’ll clean it. Stop fidgeting—your feet are tickling me.”
Haram, who had been restlessly kicking his tiny feet in worry, immediately stilled at Tae-yi’s words.
Feeling a bit reassured, he glanced up at Tae-yi’s teasing smile, then turned his head to the window, resolutely ignoring the dirt-covered bags.
***
It was pitch dark by the time they arrived at the mansion.
Having dozed off in Tae-yi’s hand, Haram rubbed his mouth and looked up at him groggily.
“Did you sleep well?”
Tae-yi, tablet in one hand, began getting ready to exit the vehicle as Haram stirred.
“Squeak, squeak.”
I’ll help carry them.
Seeing Chief Yoon haul the bags inside, Haram quickly signaled that he’d go put on clothes, but Tae-yi didn’t seem to understand—or care to.
“Just stay there.”
He placed Haram on the living room sofa, then began hauling the bags to the garden with Chief Yoon.
“Chik, chitter…!”
Wait, hold on…!
Unable to just sit there, Haram scrambled up the stairs to the second floor.
Struggling with the steep steps, he heard Tae-yi’s voice call out:
“All done. You don’t have to come.”
“…Squeak.”
…Sorry.
He’d tried to hurry, but it was already over.
Standing halfway up the stairs, Haram scratched his head awkwardly, then quietly resumed climbing.
As he walked slowly down the hall toward his room, his tiny nose twitched at an unfamiliar scent.
It wasn’t Tae-yi.
It wasn’t Chief Yoon either.
“…Chirp? Chirp?”
Someone new?
The hall did seem a bit cleaner than before. Maybe a housekeeper had come?
Shrugging it off, Haram sniffed a few more times, then transformed back into human form in front of his door.
He was in a hurry. He wanted to wash the peanuts and lay them out in the sun before morning.
Even if they weren’t his crops, he couldn’t help but feel attached.
Quickly throwing on clothes, Haram headed back downstairs.
“I’ll do it! Let me!”
Like a kid throwing a tantrum, he rushed over to keep Tae-yi from touching the remaining bags.
“You can’t do this alone. Let me help.”
Tae-yi looked between the stacked bags and Haram.
But Haram firmly shook his head.
“This was always my job. I’m fine. You should get back to your work.”
He’d already made Tae-yi do way too much today. Even if Tae-yi said he wanted to do it, Haram wanted to handle the rest on his own.
Seeing Haram’s resolute face, Tae-yi thought for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle and gently smoothed the tight line of his lips.
If the farmer wanted to work his own land, best to let him.
“I’ll be in the study. Call me if you need anything.”
“…Okay.”
Back in the study, Tae-yi stood by the window before getting to his backlog of work.
He watched as Haram poured the peanuts into a huge stainless steel basin out in the garden.
He didn’t even know such a big basin existed in his own house.
Smiling faintly at the sight of Haram working busily, Tae-yi eventually sat down at his desk.
No time for a shower—he dove straight into the mountain of tasks waiting for him.
His neck ached as he rolled it back with a heavy sigh.
Sure, he’d done some field work, but not enough to make his whole body feel this sluggish.
Taking a short break, Tae-yi suddenly grabbed his phone and checked the date.
Rut’s about to hit.
On top of being ridiculously busy, now rut season was just around the corner.
The thought alone made him scowl.
And now, with an Omega squirrel under the same roof, he had to be even more cautious.
He opened a drawer and checked the white bottle inside—packed full of suppressants.
He closed his eyes briefly, the tension already starting to creep in.
***
“…There’s a limit to how much you can love something.”
The low voice echoed in the still air of early dawn.
Tae-yi, who had dozed off lightly in the study after working in poor condition, didn’t frown even as he stretched his stiff body and glanced outside.
He didn’t frown when he saw a mat laid out in the middle of the garden with peanuts spread all over it.
What made his brow twitch was the silvery-gray lump nestled among the peanuts.
Thinking he might be seeing things, he even opened the window and leaned out, but the view didn’t change.
Da Haram had reached a whole new level—he loved the peanuts so much, he was now sleeping with them.
Tae-yi let out a dry laugh and immediately left the study.
Out in the garden, he walked straight over to the fluffball.
“Try sleeping next to me like this for once.”
He never came near Tae-yi’s room, no matter what.
How insulting.
Feeling a little miffed, Tae-yi nudged the squirrel curled up between the still-damp peanuts.
Stirring, Haram stretched out his limbs and blinked blearily up at the figure looming over him.
When his blurry vision cleared and Tae-yi came into focus, Haram jolted upright.
