UR Chapter 101

Chapter 101

“Um… why did you bring me all the way here?”

At I-bom’s question, Eun Beom-ho slowly set down the tongs he had been holding. Looking down at him, he gently ran his hand over I-bom’s hair.

“It is a part-time job. But… not the kind you’re thinking of.”

“Then, what kind?”

“……”

Beom-ho glanced at the meat on the grill, then picked it up piece by piece with the tongs. Placing the perfectly grilled vegetables and meat onto a plate, he carefully set it down on the table in front of I-bom.

“It’s a healing part-time job—resting well in a place with good mountains, good water, and fresh air.”

“…What?”

“Here, you just eat lots of delicious food and relax. How about it? Difficult, right?”

“Th-that’s ridiculous. That’s… just playing around, isn’t it?”

I-bom raised his voice as if offended. When he was told to come work part-time at a resort, he had followed along, but now he was being told to sit comfortably, eat delicious food, and rest? He widened his eyes in disbelief.

“This is… a scam. Where in the world do you get paid three hundred thousand won a day just to rest and play as you like?”

“Really? Then think of it as a reward vacation.”

Beom-ho gave him a slightly apologetic look before shaking his head.

“Everyone needs time to breathe and rest. You live far too busily, I-bom. You take care of your younger sibling, look after your grandmother when she’s sick, and you work too.”

“……”

“Don’t you think it’s time someone gave good I-bom a reward? Happy Bunny happened to be on break, so I thought, at least for this time, you could live comfortably—without worrying about money or work.”

“…But still. That means you lied to me… won’t you get a fever?”

I-bom looked at him worriedly. Beom-ho let out a small chuckle at that teary face. So he wasn’t worrying about the work—he was worried about something else.

“It’s fine. If I get sick, I get sick, that’s all. Here, it’s cooked just right. Try it.”

Without a care, he cut the meat, still dripping with juices, into neat pieces with a knife. Then he speared a piece with his fork and held it out toward I-bom.

“……”

I-bom looked at the piece of meat in front of him with a troubled expression. It was a glossy, aromatic steak that gave off a savory scent. Eating steak together in the fresh mountain air under the stars—any steak would taste good like this, but this one was grilled so well that its pink and brown hues blended perfectly, making it look irresistibly delicious.

“If you feel sick… you have to tell me.”

Swallowing hard, I-bom took the piece of meat and bit into it. The savory, flavorful steak he had never tasted before melted softly in his mouth. His eyes went wide as he chewed, his cheeks puffing. Watching this, Beom-ho’s face softened with satisfaction, and before I-bom knew it, the other had taken off his gloves and was playing with the tip of his hair and his earlobe.

“…Well? Is it grilled well?”

“It’s really delicious!”

I-bom seemed unaware that Beom-ho was casually touching him here and there. Instead, he subtly leaned his head into Beom-ho’s hand. Now seeming quite comfortable with the contact, he no longer shied away. Seeing this, Beom-ho let out a quiet laugh and pulled I-bom’s body toward his chest. He couldn’t tell whether the heat in his body was from the fire pit’s warmth or from their closeness.

* * *

“Thank you for the meal. I’ll do the dishes.”

I-bom patted his full stomach and spoke politely. He was already getting paid while doing nothing but relaxing, so there was no way he could let Beom-ho do the dishes too. Besides, Beom-ho had obviously been stuck in front of the hot grill the whole time, grilling meat, and hadn’t even eaten properly himself.

I-bom began stacking the empty plates neatly. It would be easier to carry them all at once and wash them right away.

“You didn’t get to eat much because of me.”

Normally, he would have insisted they eat together, offering food back and forth, but this time, faced with such delicious meat he had never tried before, he had simply accepted whatever was given to him and devoured it without thinking.

He bit his lower lip. According to Beom-ho, he had prepared high-grade beef and pork from various cuts so I-bom could taste them all. Maybe that was why he had eaten so much his stomach was now round and full. Looking down at his distended belly, I-bom let out a sigh.

“Just watching you eat fills me up.”

Beom-ho shrugged and ran his hand along I-bom’s waist. I-bom grimaced and looked around, searching for where to take the stack of plates.

“Come on…”

At the edge of his vision, he spotted the sink in the distance. Seeing the neatly placed rubber gloves there, he headed in that direction.

“Guests aren’t supposed to do the dishes.”

Beom-ho was just about to pull I-bom back by the waist when—

“Ahem.”

A cough and the sound of someone approaching came from somewhere. With one arm still around I-bom’s waist, Beom-ho turned his head. On the opposite side, a middle-aged woman stood smiling.

“……”

“Young Master, I’ll handle the cleanup. Why don’t you take your sweetheart outside for a look around? You brought him all the way to Gangwon Province, after all… understood?”

The tiger’s aura outside seemed unusually restless, and the energy of the mountains surrounding the resort was in a stir. Inside, the atmosphere had been endlessly warm and comforting—like being embraced—but stepping outside, there was a dark, heavy feeling in the air.

Normally, tiger aura was said to be so intense that most beastmen couldn’t bear it, but for some reason, I-bom only ever felt comfortable in it.

“It won’t be too dark, but if you trip you could get hurt, so be careful.”

Beom-ho took I-bom’s hand and led him slowly down a narrow trail.

His footsteps made a soft crunching sound and seemed almost weightless. Maybe it was because he was a pureblood beastman, or perhaps because he was the Mountain Lord, but it felt as though the mountain’s energies were gathering around him in a protective, almost mystical way.

“Wow…”

I-bom let out a breath of awe. People said Manwol Mountain’s hiking trails were beautiful, but the mountains deep in Gangwon Province had an entirely different atmosphere from those in Seoul. If Manwol Mountain was bright and vibrant, this place felt closer to ancient, primeval grandeur.

He gazed blankly at the dense conifer forest spread before him. Snow lay soft and fluffy over the branches, turning silver as it reflected the moonlight.

“Wow… I’ve never been to a mountain like this before.”

A mountain lit solely by moonlight, with no artificial lights at all—it was unfamiliar yet enchanting. I-bom glanced around, taking in the scenery.

Having fallen asleep in the car, he had no idea how far up they had driven, but it seemed the trail was higher up than he’d thought. Before long, thin fog began creeping up between the pitch-black surroundings. Startled by the chill wrapping around his feet, he looked at Beom-ho.

“It’s because of the altitude. You could call it mountain fog—clouds hanging halfway up the slope, like this.”

“It feels like special effects.”

Beom-ho, amused by how easily I-bom was impressed, pulled him a little higher up the path.

Even with the dizzying drops beside sheer rock paths and the uneven trail littered with stones, strangely, he didn’t feel afraid. Holding Beom-ho’s hand, he felt as if the tiger’s aura was protecting him as well.

Whooosh—

Before his eyes, fine white powder swirled in the air. First the fog, and now wind carrying powder? Turning his head, I-bom realized what it was.

“It’s… so beautiful.”

His eyes darted around in wonder. They were frost flowers—clusters of ice frozen solid like delicately carved crystal, clinging to the branches. Reflected in the sharp moonlight, they looked like an art form impossible to create through ordinary means.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

He murmured softly as he picked up a branch. Every bulge on the stiff, frozen wood was adorned with a sparkling clump of frost flowers.

“You can only see them here because this is private land where no one comes. They probably wouldn’t show up well in photos, so seeing them in person is everything. I’m glad you like them.”

I-bom slowly nodded. There was no way this mysterious beauty, viewed in the pitch-dark, could be captured in a picture. He tucked the sight of the snowy landscape firmly into his memory.

‘…What’s that?’

Amid the world of frozen white, something caught his eye—a tangled clump of plants, like a bush, breaking the monotony. In a slope otherwise covered in lifeless winter blue, it was the only spot that seemed alive, like a thriving vine. Carefully, he reached out toward it. Unlike the other hard, frozen winter plants, this one carried the fresh scent of greenery, damp and alive, brushing the tip of his nose.