UR Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“…Well, yeah, maybe it’s not.”

Soo-hyun’s expression subtly shifted at I-bom’s unusually firm tone.

He stared at the round crown of I-bom’s head as the younger bent politely to pick up the jerky packets on the counter—then suddenly slapped his own thigh as if something had come to him.

“Oh, right.”

Smack. The sound made I-bom turn his head.

“Yes?”

“I just remembered what I wanted to say. Have you seen your brother lately?”

“My brother?”

I-bom tried to recall what his brother had said earlier.

‘I’m gonna go play pool after finishing my group project.’

…And then he’d mentioned he wouldn’t be coming home.

Wasn’t he supposed to be going with Soo-hyun?

“Yeah. You don’t know?”

“No, I’m not sure…”

I-bom shook his head honestly. When it came to I-jun’s whereabouts, it was likely Soo-hyun knew better than him. After all, they’d both grown up in Aji Village and had been best friends since before they started grade school. That’s why it was strange for Soo-hyun to even be asking.

“I thought he was staying over at your place.”

“Ah, really? He hasn’t been to my place in a few days now.”

Since they used to hang out and crash at each other’s houses all the time, “a few days” probably felt like forever to Soo-hyun.

“Really? I didn’t know.”

I-bom was the middle child of three siblings. As a kid, the attention had always gone to the oldest, while the youngest got all the sympathy. He’d had his own wants and dreams, but nobody really paid much attention to the one stuck in the middle. Then, after their parents passed away, it didn’t help that his older brother happened to be the smart one—so all the relatives’ concern had gone straight to him. Maybe I-bom just accepted that as normal.

His brother had always cared deeply about being the center of attention. He was jealous, didn’t like being told what to do, and hated it when I-bom got involved in his personal life. Even yesterday, when I-bom was left alone, his brother considered a simple “come home” message to be overstepping his bounds.

“You’re kinda indifferent, huh? Don’t even worry when your brother doesn’t come home?”

Whether he knew the backstory or not, Soo-hyun said that with his usual cheerful smile.

“Ah… well…”

I-bom trailed off, opening the lower cabinet. His mouth tasted bitter. Anything he said would just sound like he was badmouthing his own family.

Even though he’d known Soo-hyun forever and their families were close, he couldn’t say everything easily. At the end of the day, Soo-hyun was still I-jun’s friend. If he started venting about his brother, it would inevitably turn into gossip. I-bom didn’t want to cross that line.

He silently pulled out a wooden broom that had been shoved in the cabinet. The night-shift worker apparently didn’t use it—it was still neatly tucked away where I-bom had left it.

“It’s nothing serious. I just have something to get from him, but he’s been ghosting my calls lately.”

…Something to get?

A slow, creeping sense of unease made I-bom pause.

“…What do you need from him?”

“Hmm…”

Soo-hyun trailed off. I-bom quickly studied his reaction. Growing up around debt collectors knocking on their door looking for his dad, he’d developed a good sense for these things.

Thankfully, judging by how Soo-hyun just blinked and dragged out his words, it didn’t seem like anything urgent or serious. If it were, he’d probably be yelling or grabbing him by the collar, like people had done before. I-bom let out a quiet sigh of relief and quickly grabbed the broom again, trying to act normal. Whatever it was, at least it wasn’t that.

“…Is it like clothes or shoes? Want me to check the house for you?”

He swept the floor with more enthusiasm than usual. The spot where the hiking group had just left was dirty with dust and dirt. Chatting with Soo-hyun was nice and all, but there was no telling when the manager might show up and start picking a fight.

‘Didn’t I just clean this place? It’s dirty again already.’

“No, it’s not anything like that—”

“If it’s not urgent, I’ll let him know when he contacts me.”

I-bom quickly cut in, gently pushing Soo-hyun’s back. If it wasn’t something urgent, he wanted to delay hearing whatever it was for as long as possible.

---

“Whoa, no way. I-bom!”

Ding-ling.

So much for pushing him out the door—Soo-hyun came flying back in less than a minute later. He was panting, sweat beading on his forehead, tongue half out. He must’ve been walking while looking at his phone, spotted something, and sprinted right back in.

“What happened?”

“‘In Search of Answers’ is airing a special episode tonight!”

He shoved his phone right in front of I-bom’s face. An article on a portal site was open on the screen.

“A special episode?”

“You know, the thing we were just talking about! The breaking news story!”

Soo-hyun excitedly waved his hands and spoke loudly.

“About that cheetah beastman attacking someone in Seoul—we were saying how scary it was with those ahjummas, remember?”

“Ah, right…”

“They’re broadcasting it tonight. ‘Beastmen: Human or Animal – The Bloodshed at the Spring in Seoul.’”

I-bom recalled the anchor’s voice from earlier announcing the news: This just in…

“Really? That’s fast. Not even on NewTube, but already going live?”

“Yeah, well… Hold on.”

At I-bom’s question, Soo-hyun leaned against the glass door and tapped at his phone. He was checking all the related articles that came up.

“Looks like it was already in the works. Talk about timing. Apparently, they’ve been gathering cases of beastmen attacking humans for this special.”

In Search of Answers was the longest-running investigative program on public broadcast. It covered everything from serial killers to unsolved mysteries, so hearing that they were suddenly doing an episode on beastmen was surprising.

It wasn’t like beastmen frequently attacked humans. Since the 19th century, when beastmen and humans began living together without segregation, beastmen hadn’t been involved in that many shocking or violent crimes. But in recent times, some far-right groups had started agitating for beastmen to be separated again.

“The culprit’s been identified, so they’re even including interviews with the victim’s family at the end of the program. Crazy, right?”

Soo-hyun clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow.

“People are already fighting in the comments section—likes, dislikes, all-out war.”

On the phone screen he showed, the article headline read in bold: “Brutal Attack in the Heart of Seoul… Perpetrator Identified as Cheetah Beastman.” Just as he said, the comment count was climbing rapidly.

The idea of a predator suddenly transforming and attacking someone in the middle of the city probably triggered a deep sense of fear and anger among the public.

“That’s terrifying. A cheetah showing up in the middle of Seoul?”

But it wasn’t just the general public who were scared.

“Ugh! Dogs are at least cute. But have you seen a cheetah’s teeth? Their claws?”

Even Soo-hyun was exclaiming in disgust.

“If a cheetah really bit someone’s neck in the middle of the city… yeah, that would be terrifying.”

I-bom lowered his voice and cleared his throat, glancing around anxiously to make sure no one overheard. After all, to most people, a half-beastman like him was still a beastman.

“They’re totally different from us canine-types. I don’t get why people fawn over cheetah beastmen like they’re cool or something.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! I find all the feline-types scary. Cheetahs, tigers… Ugh.”

Soo-hyun shuddered and shook his head. He seemed genuinely repulsed.

“Anyway, with things being the way they are, don’t feed any stray cats or dogs near our store either.”

“Feed them?”

“Yeah, food. With this kind of incident, people are going to start nitpicking over beastmen feeding animals too.”

“It’s unfair to lump all beastmen together like that… Pureblood beastmen aren’t so bad. I mean, look at Samho, or Power Electronics. All the big-name chaebols are run by pureblood beastmen, aren’t they?”

“That’s exactly the problem!”

Soo-hyun crossed his arms seriously and nodded at I-bom’s words.

“Purebloods have all the power and money, so they always slip through the cracks. That just leaves us—half-beastmen like you and me—and the ordinary ones without any big names behind them to take the hits.”

“Oh…”

I-bom nodded slowly, dazed. It was a hard truth. Beastmen had always been talked down to and unfairly judged for the longest time. When he thought about it, Soo-hyun wasn’t wrong.

“So yeah. If any of them show up, don’t feed them. Just chase them off.”

Weoong… The cat came to mind.

He was a gentle thing. Maybe too fluffy for his own good, and he always looked like he didn’t have any friends. Big as he was, he felt skinny to the touch. What if he starved to death?

Weoong… will he be okay?

That pitiful “Weooooong” sound echoed faintly in I-bom’s ears.