UR Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“That’s weird. We didn’t have any issues during the heart rate tests. What were you doing when it spiked like that?”

“It gave a warning saying my heart rate suddenly shot past the normal range.”

Beom-ho stood up, tugging off the towel around his shoulders. His neatly swept-up bangs were damp with sweat, a few strands falling gently across his forehead.

“…No, I mean what exactly were you doing when it said your heart was going crazy?”

Ji-ho fiddled with the smartwatch as he asked.

There were a few common causes for heart rate spikes: hyperventilation, extreme stress, intense exercise. And knowing his cousin, Ji-ho assumed it was probably the last one—Beom-ho was a workout maniac, after all.

Then, after a moment of silence and a pensive look, Beom-ho spoke.

“I just… met someone.”

“Oh, so you were talking to someone? Maybe a business contact or something?”

Ji-ho responded absentmindedly while switching the watch into admin mode.
To reconfigure the program properly, he needed details about the situation: the user, their vitals, the context. So what could’ve possibly caused a heart rate anomaly in someone like his cousin—who rarely got emotional, never raised his voice, and treated everyone with a cool, impartial calm?

And all he had to go on was: “I met someone.”

Ji-ho briefly imagined Beom-ho stuck in a conversation with some cultist, politely entertaining nonsense because he couldn’t just walk away.
It was hard to get under Beom-ho’s skin. His presence was imposing, quiet, composed—but not someone you’d want to provoke. Even Ji-ho, who’d known him forever, had never seen him transform or lose control.
In fact, he often settled petty dominance fights between rowdy beastmen with nothing but a smile. Calmly. Effortlessly.

So what kind of person could possibly throw off that steel composure?

Ji-ho moved swiftly, fingers gliding across the screen. He tapped on a notification that read:
“New record! Your heart rate skyrocketed!”
A location tag blinked beneath the message.

“Let’s see… checking the log. There’s a record of your heart rate suddenly jumping. Highest ever recorded. It says Manwol Mountain… huh? Wait, what? 200 BPM?!
Why is the location… a convenience store?”

A visit to Manwol Mountain wasn’t unusual—after all, the mountains were a tiger’s domain. Ji-ho often hiked there too.
But a convenience store? Why would someone’s heart rate spike that dramatically there?
He looked over at Beom-ho in disbelief.

“…What happened? You know the media’s been stirring up fear lately, calling for harsher punishment for beastmen. People are scared.”

Ji-ho’s jaw dropped. This couldn’t be right. Beom-ho, the literal embodiment of calm, with a BPM that high? It didn’t even seem possible. Not unless he’d climbed the mountain doing handstands the whole way.

“…You didn’t actually kill someone, right?”

“Would killing someone make my BPM go up?”

“…Wait. Did you actually—?”

It was a joke, but Ji-ho suddenly choked, coughing awkwardly.
He was human, but as a half-beastman—unlike Beom-ho, a full-blooded tiger—he couldn’t help but feel the subtle inhumanity that still clung to his cousin.

“Come on, don’t be ridiculous, Ji-ho.”

Beom-ho laughed.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Killed someone… or something really exciting happened.
Eun Ji-ho furrowed his brow, mentally turning things over. What could possibly stir this guy up so much?

“If you didn’t kill someone, then… maybe you met someone you like? Someone you love?”

“…….”

At the sight of the subtle flicker of irritation in Beom-ho’s eyes, Ji-ho realized—oops. That was a misstep.

Ha…
Ji-ho laughed awkwardly.
Yeah, right. Love? What nonsense.
The cousin he’d known his entire life had never—not once—confessed to someone, let alone shown romantic interest or courted anyone. Even the idea felt absurd, and he’d been the one to suggest it.

“Forget it—just ignore what I said, it was dumb—huh?”

Ji-ho suddenly frowned and sniffed the air. He scrunched his nose, inhaling cautiously. The thick scent of sweat and post-workout musk filled the space—but now that he was paying attention, something else caught his nose.

Something… strange. Subtle, but unmistakable.

His expression twisted with disbelief.

A scent.

Not Beom-ho’s. Something foreign, faint, and very telling:
a beastman in heat.

More specifically, the residual scent of another beastman’s pheromones. Someone smaller. Sweeter. A mix of light musk and a hint of something almost… sugary. Likely a small breed—maybe a dog, cat, or rabbit.

Beom-ho wasn’t the type to lose his mind, even in beast form. Ji-ho didn’t think anything crazy had happened. But still…
Could it have been some lunatic beastman who tried to mount him?
That didn’t seem right either. The scent was too mild, not strong or aggressive.

“You said you were on the mountain, right? Okay, I have to ask seriously.”

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t do anything… you can’t take back, right?”

“No.”

“No—don’t just shut me down so firmly like that!”

This scent… it had that unmistakable edge of arousal. A beastman’s chemical signal, subtly released during moments of intense attraction. Maybe Beom-ho had touched someone? Something intimate?

“You smell like—like, uh… y’know, that. Like… you know… m-m—”

Ji-ho cleared his throat, his voice dropping in embarrassment.

“I didn’t do anything like that.”

Beom-ho replied flatly. He stood tall, cool and composed, face scrubbed clean and not a hair out of place. His broad chest and sculpted lats radiated strength and control.

“R-Right. Of course.”

Ji-ho forced a laugh. Yeah, right—mating? At a convenience store? That’s ridiculous.
If he said nothing happened, then most likely someone else had left that scent on him.
Still… who in their right mind would dare leave heat pheromones on Eun Beom-ho?
His heart thumped nervously at the thought. Ji-ho had never seen his cousin truly angry, but even so, smearing that kind of scent on someone without permission? That was crossing a serious line.

“I just… happened to like the person I met there.”

But the words that came next were even more shocking.

「Tiger-nim. Isn’t Manwol Mountain nice?」

The wind rustled, giggling as if pleased.

「There aren’t many mountains this good in Seoul. Have fun while you’re here. Go ahead and transform, too.」

The wind’s confident tone made it clear—it knew exactly why Eun Beom-ho had come: to purify his energy.

“……”

The north wind began to blow.

The gentle western breeze that had been pleasantly cooling his sweat shifted direction, signaling the coming change in seasons.
Between the scent of multicolored maple leaves, a dampness drifted lazily into the air.

Winter would arrive soon.

「It’s the tiger-nim.」

After drinking an energy drink and stepping deeper into the mountain, the life within stirred with a quiet buzz, welcoming Beom-ho’s presence. Wind, grass, soil, and air all blended together, clustering warmly around his beast form. The gentle murmuring voices brushed through his hair, soothing and pleasant.

“……”

He stretched out his arms and gave them a light shake. The movement was both strong and fluid, and the tight muscles of his lower abdomen twitched.
Taking off his sunglasses and carefully setting them down, he gave a little hop.

Tap.

In an instant, the large figure—well over 190 centimeters—transformed into a small, fluffy catlike creature.

Weo-ong.

A soft, fuzzy baby tiger let out a thin sound as it rolled around the grass.
The damp, fragrant scent of wet mountain grass seeped gently between his thick fur, brushing against his nose.
Rubbing his body alone and basking in the essence of the mountain—this was a special joy reserved only for tiger beastmen, guardians of the mountain spirit.

“Tch…”

Just as he was about to roll in the grass again, rustling with delight, a grumbling voice reached him nearby.
The scent drifting in on the wind was odd. Not an animal. Human, but not quite.
Beom-ho perked his ears and focused in on the presence.

“Tch… That’s too much.”

He moved differently in human form than he did in beast form, and being 190 cm tall wasn’t the same as being a tiny tiger cub.
Beom-ho instinctively realized he had just moved like a human without thinking.

He didn’t slip, but his body had sprung forward like a coiled spring, exposing himself when he’d intended to stay hidden. A mistake.
He instinctively gripped the grass with his claws, but the dampness from earlier rain and a mistimed release made him slide forward anyway.

Weong!

Realizing his blunder, Beom-ho yelped—and then quickly shut his mouth.
But the human sensed him, and turned his head.

Damn.

Beom-ho knew his voice would only sound like babyish mewling to a human.
And he also realized—the person he’d run into now was the very same human he’d met earlier.

「Oh, I remember. That cute baby student from the convenience store. Right, Tiger-nim? Judging by the scent, he’s a dog beastman, isn’t he?」
The cheeky north wind giggled again, confirming what Beom-ho already knew.

Yes, it was true. Just like the wind said—this was the same adorable little dog beastman from before: the baby student.

“Kitty?”

Beom-ho froze, ears twitching. He hesitated.

This one… he had already taken a liking to.
Seeing that sweet, smiling face, Beom-ho shamelessly curled up the corners of his mouth into a smug little grin.

“Weo-ong.”

Maybe he’ll pet me?

The tiger’s tail swayed gently, harmless and soft.