UR Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Judging by the intensity of the winds outside, the advisory would soon escalate into a full-blown storm warning.

Holding a stack of overtime request forms, Eun Sung-jun strode down the hallway.

“Oh! Hello, Secretary Sung-jun!”

A familiar face greeted him from the opposite direction—Chief Jung from the PR and Planning Department. Her wavy bob suited her well.

Eun Sung-jun’s eyes glinted as he returned the greeting.

“Hello, Chief Jung.”

She’s probably a beastman, right?

With a polite, easygoing smile, he waved back.

A fox beastman? Or a wolf?

Subtly, he took a careful sniff of the faint scent lingering around her.

Her perked-up, twitching ears stood out above her smiling face. The soft, plush double-layered fur gave off a subtly toasty aroma—more fox-like than wolf.

“Did you just get back from a business trip? I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Chief Jung lowered her gaze slightly, brushing a hand through her sleek, glistening hair.

Eun Sung-jun adjusted his glasses and smiled.

“Ah, not a business trip. I accompanied the President to Samho’s founding anniversary event today.”

“Oh, right! I almost forgot—your CEO is the grandson of Samho’s chairman.”

She nodded, as if just recalling the connection.

Eun Sung-jun worked at KAPS, a specialized security firm. Their CEO, Eun Beom-ho, was the direct grandson of the chairman of Samho, a massive corporate empire.

While KAPS wasn’t officially a subsidiary of Samho, anyone even remotely interested in the business world knew there were strong ties between the two.

“Yes, that’s why I was out all day.”

“Oh, so that’s why I didn’t see you around. But then, how are you managing all your work? You must have a ton piled up…”

“Well… I’ll manage. See this? I’m on my way to submit my overtime request.”

With a lighthearted chuckle, Eun Sung-jun lifted the clipboard in his hand.

“Oh no, so you’ll be working late tonight?”

It was meant to be a casual joke between colleagues.

But then, Chief Jung’s expression fell slightly.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well… I heard there’s a new salmon restaurant near the office, and it’s supposed to be amazing.”

She spoke hesitantly, a slightly bitter smile on her lips.

“So I was wondering… if maybe you’d like to have dinner together?”

“…Pardon?”

Eun Sung-jun’s eyes widened behind his glasses.

His neatly groomed eyebrows twitched slightly, and after a brief pause, he reached up to loosen his tightly knotted tie—as if suddenly feeling a bit too warm.

“Dinner…?”

The corner of his lips twitched, as if his mouth had gone dry.

Through Chief Jung’s silky strands of hair, a faintly sweet scent wafted toward him—brushing against his skin like an invisible touch.

A subtle, inexplicable fragrance.

It sent an odd shiver down his cheek.

Eun Sung-jun tried his best to maintain a neutral expression, not wanting to appear clueless.

And then, she asked, softly—

“Secretary Sung-jun… do you have a partner?”

Chief Jung’s cheeks flushed red as she whispered her next words—her voice so soft, so intimate, that Eun Sung-jun instinctively perked up his ears.

He quickly shook his head.

“Ah, no. I don’t have a partner yet.”

“I see. Me neither. And, well….”

Beastmen could recognize their fated mates through eye contact and the resonance of their heartbeats.

Some changed partners frequently, but for the average beastman, it was a lifelong search for the one.

And at the core of it all was heat season.

“I… I’m about to go into heat soon.”

Chief Jung’s bashful smile made Eun Sung-jun gulp.

“Y-Your heat?”

“Yes. Embarrassingly enough, I still don’t have a partner to spend it with at my age.”

In beastman culture, discussing heat cycles and partners was a bold, unmistakable form of flirting.

Eun Sung-jun swallowed again.

“I’m a fox beastman, but… I actually prefer deep, long-term relationships with one partner.”

So she was a fox, just as he had suspected.

But fox beastmen were known for their complicated love lives. The fact that she had never had a proper partner was surprising.

“Secretary Sung-jun, are you… an ordinary beastman? What species are you?”

“Ah, my parents are both leopard cat beastmen.”

Feeling a bit flustered, Eun Sung-jun covered his mouth with his hand as he spoke.

Leopard cats and foxes were a good match.

Not only did their heat cycles align, but their temperaments often complemented each other well.

Given how hard it was to find a compatible dating partner, the fact that someone within the company had taken an interest in him—and was also a carnivore beastman—made his heart pound.

“Oh my!”

Chief Jung clapped her hands in delight, looking genuinely thrilled.

“I actually joined the company as a special hire for beastmen, so I don’t know much about the others here. But for some reason… my eyes always wandered to you, Secretary Sung-jun. I just had this feeling we’d get along. You know what I mean?”

“Ah, th-that’s… quite a coincidence! Haha!”

Eun Sung-jun ran a hand through his hair, trying to act natural.

He forced himself to stop fidgeting with his glasses—that would make him look too nervous.

Instead, he straightened up slightly, attempting to look composed, confident, and in control.

There was no way he was going to blurt out something stupid like “Actually, I’ve been stealing glances at you, too.”

No. He had to act cool and experienced.

—”Attention all employees, thank you for your hard work today. The 1-1 shuttle bus heading northwest toward Gyeonggi Province will depart in five minutes. Please proceed to the main entrance if you plan to board.”—

The announcement over the speaker system shattered the moment.

It was an office-wide reminder that the workday was over.

Startled, Chief Jung checked her wristwatch, her round eyes blinking anxiously before looking back up at him.

“Oh! I need to catch that bus. You said you were working late, right? Shouldn’t you go submit your overtime request now?”

She awkwardly changed the subject, sounding almost hesitant.

But Eun Sung-jun wasn’t about to let this slip away.

He clenched his fists for a brief moment, easing the tension in his body, before finally mustering up the courage to call out to her.

“Chief Jung!”

She turned back to him, eyes wide, lips slightly parted.

Without her even saying anything, he could see the question in her gaze.

“Please… wait just a moment.”

For a second, she froze, her hand covering her mouth.

Her fiery, expectant gaze said she already understood his intentions—without him needing to explain.

“Let me inform the President that I’m leaving for the day… then let’s have dinner together.”

“Sung-jun, you’re here?”

A standalone building.

From the tiger’s throne—the office positioned right in the center—the tall mountain peaks were visible through the window.

Beyond the office doors, Eun Beom-ho’s calm voice drifted out. Eun Sung-jun quickly hurried inside.

“Ah, you’re still here.”

Setting down the approval documents, Sung-jun strode toward the voice.

He had told Chief Jung to wait for him, but mustering the courage to tell his boss he was skipping overtime to go home had taken some mental preparation.

Especially since today, Eun Beom-ho hadn’t been in the best mood.

But luck was on Sung-jun’s side today.

The President spoke first.

“Leave early today. I have somewhere else to be.”

“…Where are you going?”

Internally, Sung-jun cheered.

What perfect timing.

He had been racking his brain over how to ask for early leave, but Beom-ho had just dismissed him on his own.

And judging from his tone, his mood wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier.

Trying to keep the corners of his mouth from curling up too much, Sung-jun subtly craned his neck forward.

As he moved closer to the slightly open door, he caught sight of Eun Beom-ho changing clothes.

With a slight arch of his back, he slipped on a shirt, his taut waist muscles shifting under the movement.

A well-defined, disciplined physique.

One glance was enough to see that this body had been carefully maintained.

Sung-jun coughed and quickly averted his gaze.

“Gah—do you have to take your clothes off anywhere and everywhere?”

“There’s no one watching.”

While Sung-jun feigned disinterest, Beom-ho continued getting dressed, now bending over to change his shoes.

A pair of rugged black combat boots—thick-soled and dangerously sturdy-looking.

He loosened the laces before tightening them firmly, his movements precise and practiced.

Watching this, Sung-jun muttered under his breath.

“Am I not ‘someone watching’?”

A model-like height.

A perfectly straight posture with broad, commanding shoulders.

A well-defined, sculpted build—the kind that didn’t just happen but was built through years of training.

A strong chest, a long, sharp neckline, and strikingly handsome, chiseled features.

He had always thought Beom-ho looked best in suits, but somehow, this military-style outfit suited him just as well—if not better.

Honestly, at this point, he should’ve just been a model instead of a businessman.

Unconsciously, Sung-jun stole glances at his boss, his shoulders slightly hunched as if to shrink away.

“Ah, my bad.”

“Not that I mind, but… Where exactly are you going?”

“Why?”

“Your outfit is… different from usual. Combat boots, cargo pants…”

As Beom-ho chuckled lightly, he grabbed an aviator jacket from the coat rack and slid it over his shoulders.

Sung-jun’s lips parted slightly.

Without realizing it, he was watching intently.