UR Chapter 97

Chapter 97

“Ah, I’ve been found out.”

He clicked his tongue and scratched the back of his head, then straightened up lightly.

If his hearing was fine and this wasn’t a dream… what had the man just said? He’d called someone “Father”…

I-bom stood there blankly, eyes wide, and looked at the man in front of him.

“Haa… I came because I had something to say to you, I-bom.”

Eun Beom-ho closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips. A vein twitched across his smooth forehead as he let out a sigh.

“I sensed a strong aura surrounding the building, so I rushed over thinking it might be something trying to harm you.”

“Ah…”

For some reason, the man who never seemed flustered looked a little unraveled today.

“But of all people…”

He bit his lower lip and stopped mid-sentence, then turned his head to face the man standing across from him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“If you’d at least given me a heads-up, I wouldn’t have been so startled.”

The man, who looked somewhere between an adult and a boy, seemed almost young. I-bom had assumed he was some kind of idol or celebrity, but then he had called him “Father.”

“If I hadn’t come, would you have even mentioned you were meeting someone?”

He crossed his arms confidently.

“Do I have to hear from your secretary that you’ve been meeting someone? At first, I thought you were seeing a con artist, so I followed you out of concern. You remember when you got lost as a child and it almost turned into a disaster? Your mother told me to let it go, but you think I can just switch off my concern like that?”

“…That was years ago. Am I a kid? How is that supposed to justify following your grown son now?”

Beom-ho’s brows furrowed into a hard expression.

“Son.”

The boy—no, the man—spoke firmly, as if to calm him down. When he spoke to I-bom, he had seemed immature and out of touch with the world, but speaking to Beom-ho, there was an unmistakable air of authority about him.

“A child is always a source of worry for a parent, no matter how old they get.”

“So, why are you here?”

Beom-ho’s tone was cold and accusatory.

“You thought I-bom was a con artist. With your personality, I’d imagine you’d threaten him—am I wrong?”

“What would I threaten him for? Do you think I’m some thug?”

He replied shamelessly. Beom-ho clearly remembered the first time they met, when the man had used talk of auras and enchantments to try and suppress him. But now, he only shrugged, as if the concept of guilt was foreign to him.

“I just wanted to see what my son’s lover looked like. You’ve been hiding him so tightly I started to wonder how pretty he must be not to show me.”

“……”

“And why would I follow you around? I can ask the mountain, and there are at least a dozen spirits who’d tell me. Unlike you, I’m quite popular.”

He leaned casually against the wall, blowing lightly on his neatly groomed nails. His pale gray lashes fluttered faintly in the breeze, and yes—he did have the kind of looks that would make him well-liked by spirits.

“I see.”

Still, Beom-ho’s hardened expression didn’t ease.

“Have you never considered that maybe I had a reason for keeping him to myself? And for your information, meeting I-bom was classified. You’re saying you had the mountain spirits investigate him? I’ll have every one of them disciplined.”

He pulled out his phone with a cold expression. I-bom didn’t know what kind of punishment he was talking about, but the thought that he might be the cause made him panic. He quickly grabbed Beom-ho’s arm.

“Be-Beom-ho.”

“……”

“I… I didn’t have any trouble with your fa… father. He’s actually a fun person. We’ve only talked a few times, that’s all.”

Beom-ho had once told him he was the mountain lord, the ruler of the mountain. That meant he could communicate with these so-called spirits. Maybe pureblood beastmen could speak to a broader range of beings than others.

“S-so… maybe you don’t have to punish the spirits?”

“See? Young people these days are so uptight. We just talked, that’s all. And you wonder why others find you scary. What if someday I-bom starts saying you’re terrifying because you’re obsessed with him?”

His father chimed in from behind, throwing in another jab. Beom-ho’s sharp gaze flickered once more before softening slightly as he slowly looked at I-bom. Letting out a deep sigh, he nodded, as if conceding.

“…Fine. Forget the discipline.”

Then Beom-ho made a call from his phone.

A neat voice came through the receiver.

—Yes, this is the secretary’s office.

“Ah, secretary. It’s me. Please leave a note for my mother to come pick up my father.”

* * *

“Um, Beom-ho.”

I-bom hesitated, tugging lightly at his suit jacket. From the look of his perfectly tailored suit, it seemed like he had been somewhere earlier that morning, and the sight made I-bom’s heart skip a beat.

I wonder where he went, looking so handsome.

But before he could even ask, Beom-ho slowly lowered his lashes.

“Hoo… I-bom, I’m truly sorry.”

His expression was steeped in something like quiet sorrow, as though weighed down by concern. I-bom stared blankly at this unfamiliar look on his face.

“…My father has caused you trouble.”

“Oh, no. It’s just… he looked so young that when you called him your father, I was shocked.”

Considering Beom-ho was only about ten years older than him, it meant his father would have had to be around fifty to have a son that age. But the man’s smooth, youthful face and style made it impossible to imagine him as someone in his fifties.

“It’s not that he doesn’t feel like your father… Ah, maybe I’m just being prejudiced?”

“…Among pureblood beastmen, there are some whose appearance follows a timeline closer to that of spirits than to humans. In our family, that’s my father.”

“……”

“Tigers vary, but there’s a specific type born as a great tiger. Age and hierarchy are usually determined that way. My father happened to be born a lesser tiger, so he appears younger than he really is. In fact, my mother is the stronger of the two. If you watch TV, you might notice that my grandfather and my mother handle most of the public affairs.”

I-bom recalled the brief glimpses of his grandfather’s face on the news. He had looked healthy and youthful, but still in a way that matched the human idea of his age.

“…That’s fascinating. I’m a half-beastman, but… in reality, I’m more human than beastman, so I don’t know much about purebloods.”

“……”

“So that’s why I was surprised. There really was nothing going on with your father, so you don’t need to worry. And… well, don’t feel so guilty about it. Next time, you should tell me more about your family.”

At his words, Beom-ho touched the corner of his mouth, as though savoring the moment. His gentle smile brimmed with anticipation.

“I-bom, your heart is as beautiful as your face.”

His voice softened as he reached out. His fingertips brushed the back of I-bom’s neck, and as I-bom flinched, Beom-ho leaned down and pressed his lips to his. No words were exchanged, but the air grew hotter as their hands found each other.

* * *

“So… was there something you wanted to tell me? You said earlier that you ran here because you got close and then were startled by something.”

When the long kiss finally broke, I-bom fanned his flushed face as he asked. The deepening heat of the kiss had been enough to make his body feel light and unsteady. The way Beom-ho’s fingers had roamed, brushing and lingering, was enough to make it seem like they could collapse anywhere at any moment.

I-bom was still wondering when he should answer his earlier question about dating him.

“Ah, yes. I did come because I had something to say.”

Pulling him close by the shoulders, Beom-ho pressed a soft kiss to his earlobe and whispered. His bright, smooth eyes gleamed with life.

“…I-bom, do you want a part-time job?”