UR Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The lights in the restaurant went out, and I-bom slowly walked out with the man.

Above the hotel windows, the lights still glittered brightly, but the outside, where the two of them stepped into, was dark and silent.

“……”

The man took his car keys from the inside pocket of his coat.

I-bom slowly lifted his head. Stopping his deep thoughts, he turned his gaze, and at the very end of it was the man, looking right at him. From exactly the spot where I-bom could see him.

“Let’s go.”

“……”

“I’ll take you home.”

The man held out his hand. Remembering the warmth of his touch from earlier, I-bom instinctively covered his face with the back of his hand. He thought that rubbing his heated face with his cooler skin might calm it down.

I-bom’s eyes curved as he smiled as brightly and innocently as possible. Once today was over, they wouldn’t see each other again. As someone who was only here as a stand-in, there was no reason to cling or hold on. Still, that didn’t mean he wanted to part ways in a messy way.

The ending of this play had already been decided.

Eat a meal and then say, ‘Goodbye. I only caused trouble, didn’t I? My family isn’t much, and I wasn’t a good match for a blind date either, right? Let’s not meet again.’ Then part neatly, and that would be that.

That’s what he should have said… but the words just wouldn’t come out. Unable to say even that one phrase, ‘Goodbye,’ I-bom simply kept his mouth shut.

“I’m sorry for showing you something unpleasant. I made a mistake. I should have stayed quiet with so many people around… but I let you be insulted by Mr. Soo-hyun’s words.”

The man bowed his head to I-bom. I-bom widened his eyes and shook his head. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t his fault. It was because that cheetah beastman had said something strange to him. That wasn’t entirely the man’s wrongdoing.

“Ah, no, it’s fine.”

Without realizing it, I-bom stammered. Even though his mind had calmed down, he still felt dizzy and light-headed, almost as if he were drunk.

‘Was it because of that cheetah beastman earlier?’

He pressed his temples firmly with his fingers. He thought that once he got home, he should take some headache medicine.

“I-I’m fine…”

He didn’t hold any particular resentment toward the man. Even seeing the apologetic look on his face didn’t bother him, because he knew better than anyone just how badly half-beastmen were treated among people.

It was far rarer for someone to show him genuine kindness from the start, so he was satisfied enough with the warmth the man had shown.

It was just that the words, ‘You met him to protect your pureblood beastman image,’ and, ‘Your intentions are obvious,’ still lingered in his mind like residue that wouldn’t wash away.

Yes. That was true. How could a half-beastman meet a pureblood without any conditions? Though it was surprising that the man wasn’t the cheetah beastman Soo-hyun had assumed, I-bom had always expected there was some kind of story behind it.

And from what was said earlier, he could now be certain. As expected… this was probably just a blind date for show, to maintain the image of the beastmen.

In the end, there had been no need for him to act so pathetically. The conclusion had been decided from the start.

“Wh-what he said wasn’t wrong.”

“Soo-hyun.”

“It’s true that half-beastmen aren’t all that great. For someone like me, it’s hard to even get a proper job, and I get paid less than other races for part-time work. People don’t like us either. So actually… I don’t usually go around telling people I’m a half-beastman. You know how prejudice is, right? Everyone only sees it negatively, never positively.”

It was nothing new to him. The man had said that the cheetah beastman had insulted I-bom, but in truth, I-bom had been more intimidated by the threatening aura than hurt by the belittling words toward half-beastmen. Until the man got angry and told the cheetah beastman not to speak like that, I-bom hadn’t even considered it an insult.

“So that’s why I… I’m fine.”

Some old denials were like wounds that kept being gouged open and split until they hardened into fossils. Scars that had become so solid and deep that they could no longer be dug into—until he no longer even recognized them as denial or insult.

“But are you… really a tiger beastman?”

He had said he was a feline predator, but I-bom never would have guessed. Who would immediately think of a tiger upon hearing “feline”? Among the large breeds, a tiger beastman was at the very top tier. And judging from the way that Manager Kim had addressed him earlier as “President” and “Young Master,” it was obvious he came from a family of considerable social standing.

“…Are you afraid?”

He leaned casually against the car. Standing there in front of it, offering to drive him home, he didn’t get in—just stood there, his clear gaze meeting I-bom’s in the dark, boundless city night where no starlight could be seen.

In the darkness clouded by the city’s smog, the man’s eyes shone with a brightness that stood out as beautiful.

I-bom slowly shook his head.

“No, not at all. I just… realized why you didn’t tell me.”

Even if cats and tigers were the same species, the sense of threat between them was worlds apart.

“……”

“Strangely enough, I wasn’t scared at all. If anything, that other man scared me… but not you, sir. I really wasn’t scared of you at all, so I never thought you might be a tiger beastman.”

“……”

“It was… fascinating, actually. This is my first time meeting one.”

“Soo-hyun, thank you.”

I-bom looked up.

Soo-hyun had made a fuss about how scary tigers were, but strangely, the man hadn’t felt threatening at all. Was the fear of being devoured by a predator something that varied by species? He didn’t know. Still, regardless of any danger to his life, a tiger beastman was undeniably a being of enormous stature.

“Usually, people are afraid. But I hope not all tiger beastmen are seen as scary. I’m not going to cause trouble like that cheetah beastman did. So…”

Even with his eyes closed tightly, I-bom could feel the man’s unwavering stare—persistent, unrelenting. Even when he tried to be cold and realistic, thinking of running away, that deep gaze set a trap that made escape impossible. It was almost unbearable.

“If I’ve done something wrong, tell me.”

From the start, he had done nothing wrong. All of this was I-bom’s fault.

…Because he was only a stand-in, because he wasn’t Kang Soo-hyun.

He should have said that everything had been misaligned from the very first button, so there was no way this could continue. But the words wouldn’t come easily, and it hurt.

“You haven’t done anything wrong. And I’m… not afraid of tigers.”

Each time he forced the words out slowly, his throat stiffened. The dryness of his breath from the tension was almost painful. With every breath, the faint scent of the man’s skin lingered at the tip of his nose. Just being near him made him want to bury his face in his chest and hold him close… but he resisted.

“…If you’re the representative of the tiger beastmen, then you must be from a chaebol family?”

He didn’t know exactly which company, but he had seen in the news that pureblood tiger beastmen were part of conglomerate families.

“……”

“I’m sorry, but you’re way out of my league. Like I said, I’m a busy student who needs to study for exams, and my family situation… I don’t think I’m a suitable blind date for you. How could someone like me possibly…”

I-bom bit down hard on his lower lip and shook his head. Since he was only here as a substitute, he had no intention of revealing too much.

“To be honest, and I’m really, really sorry for this, but at first I thought you were… some kind of scary predator. I even wondered if maybe you were on this blind date with me because you couldn’t find anyone to marry.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile, laying out his cards one by one—everything except the biggest one: that he was a stand-in for Kang Soo-hyun.

“If you’re a tiger beastman, then you’re the top among the feline predators… no, among all predator beastmen. Honestly, it feels like meeting a celebrity.”

“…In that case, can’t you reconsider?”

He blinked as he stood listening to I-bom.

“Do you dislike celebrities? My nieces say they want to marry one.”

“I’m not your niece, sir.”

I-bom shook his head, troubled.

“Ahem, sorry. I only mentioned celebrities because… they say it’s even harder to meet a tiger beastman than a celebrity. Magazines say meeting one is a blessing. That’s how rare it is. …Anyway, thank you for the meal today.”

Whether he wanted to or not, I-bom had done his best.

“…For me, it’s no blessing at all.”

“…What?”

“They say meeting a tiger beastman is a blessing… but my existence, to me, is misfortune.”

“……”

“Because my very existence is what made you reject me.”

I-bom was left speechless.