UR Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Soo-hyun’s thin shoulders trembled as he spoke.

“Yeah. I know. I admit it—I was scared, so I pushed you to take my place at that blind date. And then I got jealous because the guy looked so damn impressive, and I said awful things that hurt you. I admit all of it, I-bom.”

“…What?”

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? They say people change drastically right before they die. Soo-hyun had suddenly appeared, clinging to him and pleading, his complexion looking far from healthy. I-bom stared at the man clutching his clothes.

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

“Please. I—I haven’t been able to sleep because of nightmares. Your boyfriend—the tiger. He turns into that convenience store cat, then into a tiger, and comes after me! In the form of that… Ae-ong, or Weoong, whatever! He keeps popping up in my dreams and crying right in my ear! He turns from a cat into a tiger, then—augh!—then there’s two of them, then ten, then twenty, then thirty! All crying in my dreams, telling me to apologize to you. So… fuck. I—I can’t sleep! Do you know how close to insane you get when you can’t sleep? I-bom, I was wrong. Please, just accept my apology.”

“…Wow. I guess you really haven’t been sleeping. You’re rambling.”

Somi muttered, watching Soo-hyun sob and beg. No wonder—his lips were pale and chapped, and deep dark circles had hollowed his face in just a few days.

“Shit. If I’d known what that Conscience Fever thing actually was, I wouldn’t have messed with you… No—no, I-bom. I was completely in the wrong. I spoke to you like trash. It’s all my fault. And I already went to my dad and told him the truth about how you didn’t steal from the convenience store. Okay? So please, just… forgive me.”

“Hyung.”

There was something in his words that I-bom couldn’t just let slide. His eyes blinked slowly, brows knitting together.

“The convenience store cat… tiger? You mean that yellow striped cat, right?”

“Yes! That striped cat. Eun Beom-ho, right? In my dreams, he keeps turning into a tiger, then back into a cat… then bringing a whole pack of his friends to cry in my ear!”

“A cat turning into a tiger… You’re sure? And that tiger is Beom-ho?”

I-bom grabbed Soo-hyun by the collar.

So it’s true. The thing he had been half-suspecting really was true. Soo-hyun’s messy head lolled as I-bom shook him, and he gave a limp nod.

“Who the hell else would that tiger be?”

The shadows beneath Soo-hyun’s eyes twitched.

* * *

The heavy footsteps echoing in the quiet room were not human. Eun Beom-ho lightly leapt over the terrace. Long, fractured streaks of the scattering red sunset stretched across the window. Something—a faint black shadow—fluttered lightly on the terrace attached to the second floor, like the one at the resort he had visited with I-bom.

The mountain’s energy surrounding the relief station was perfect for purifying murky qi. Just like washing oneself in clean water, he needed to cleanse his clouded mind with the mountain’s pure energy. Letting out a short breath, Beom-ho hopped down. To circulate his qi more quickly, it was more effective to move in his true form rather than in human shape.

“We-ong.”

He had chosen this deliberately, knowing that nothing good would come from venting his anger at those around him. His yellow tail swayed as he stretched his body out.

For the mountain lord, keeping a calm heart while straddling the line between human and nonhuman was no easy task. But that didn’t mean he could cut off all relationships with them. He wasn’t a god—he couldn’t just destroy everything in a fit of rage. All he could do was move selectively, like shifting game pieces while looking down on the world from above. Every action beyond what was necessary would only add to his karmic burden.

Kang I-jun, who feared legal authority, would end up in prison, and Kang Soo-hyun would suffer mentally for a while. Both would pay dearly for making life hard for his partner. Closing his eyes, Beom-ho opened his jaws. To restore clarity to the vessel of his murky heart, he needed to calm himself in his true body like this.

Step, step.

Footsteps approached from a corner of the terrace where no one usually went. Beom-ho pricked his ears and held his breath in the direction of the sound. The family in this house all knew his true identity, but still—just in case.

“Weoong-ah.”

Step.

An all-too-familiar voice reached his ears.

Beom-ho froze mid-motion, his eyes going wide. His sharp pupils, tensed in alertness, were unconsciously softening into rounder shapes.

“No way…”

“…”

“Mr. Beom-ho. It’s you, isn’t it?”

Through the stretched black shadows, the thick yellow tail gave a small twitch. Stiff and upright, it froze in place as if sensing danger. The round back of his head slowly turned.

Monster. Scary.

Those were the words he had heard most often. A tiger was the king of the mountain, a spirit beast, and an agent of the mountain god. Born as a great tiger, he had earned fear and awe from everyone.

If he had been born small and cute like his father, perhaps others would have loved him. His father had a boyish, radiant, adorable appearance that drew affection from all.

When he tried to play, bounding about and pouncing, or if he so much as stepped into someone’s arms, people would either faint or burst into tears. He wanted to play, but there were no humans whose spirit was strong enough to dare play with him.

“Being born a mountain lord means you are destined to be lonely,” his grandfather had told him firmly when he pouted.

Would he ever meet someone who would not fear him, but love him? Beom-ho wondered as he shifted his large body.

Hello. What’s your name?

The young man before him looked at him and smiled warmly. Even in his true form, humans usually flinched or avoided him, but this one approached without hesitation.

…Weoong.

From the smiling young man came a gentle waft of sweet pheromones, a fragrance that lured him in. They were the raw pheromones of a freshly-adult beastman still learning to control his energy—nothing like the sultry, seasoned kind used to seduce.

This beastman simply blinked, gazing at him with light brown eyes, clear and unwavering. Like sunlit ripples on a lake—pure, transparent—and as curious as a child seeing something new. Beom-ho found himself staring, captivated. For the first time, the mountain lord who looked down on all things took an interest in someone.

Only love me. Only care for me. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I’ll give it all to you. Just give me a chance. Give me your heart.

My name is Eun Beom-ho. Pleased to meet you.

In case he might be afraid, he had hidden his true self, pretending to know nothing, just to approach him.

Not everyone in the world is good. And though he was a mountain lord, neither was he. Everyone wanted to live rightly, but not everyone did. The disappointment and cynicism that followed—that too, was his burden to bear. And yet… he was afraid.

“Weong.”

…Before he could speak, I-bom had figured it out.

What should I do?

Unease flickered in Beom-ho’s golden eyes. His paws hesitated, unsure where to step. Thunder rumbled in the clear sky, born of his agitation, and the low growl of the heavens soon flashed like the sharp gleam in his eyes.

Would he be disappointed? Would he hate me?

Beom-ho froze, unsure what to say. This was the missing puzzle piece in the long, unbroken story between him and I-bom—

That he had been “that” cat.

It wasn’t an intentional lie, but it hadn’t been entirely honest either.

I-bom had accepted his courtship, but part of him still feared—would this man understand his concealment? He had revealed himself freely, shown him his true body because he trusted him… but would he forgive even this?

Whether he understood Beom-ho’s desperate, anxious heart or not, I-bom spoke calmly.

“…The truth is, I’ve been trying to find Weoong so I could bring him home. No matter how big he is, an animal is still an animal… He was the first cat I ever opened my heart to, so I wanted to be with him.”

“…”

“Mr. Beom-ho.”

The eyes looking at him were clear. This was a human unlike the foul, murky kind—pure, bright, and irresistible. From the first moment, he had caught his attention, and he had wanted to merge their energies.

“It’s you… isn’t it?”

“…”

If I tell him… what will happen?

Will you be afraid of me too? Will you say, like Kang Soo-hyun, “You’re a monster”?

Beom-ho looked at I-bom carefully. His gaze slowly swept over him, observing. His breathing was just a little faster than usual, his heart pounding. On his face was an emotion different from before.

Its name was…

“I-bom.”

The heavy, deliberate steps were filled with apprehension. The commanding presence of the mountain lord was gone, replaced with tangled threads of yearning and fear, his breath ragged with emotion.

“…Don’t push me away.”

Beom-ho’s voice trembled.

“…Ah.”

I-bom took a step closer. Amid weather as turbulent as a lightning strike in a clear sky, he approached without hesitation, eyes as steady as when they first met. Beom-ho, instead, found himself stepping back.

“…It really is you, Mr. Beom-ho.”