Living with the Dangerous Beast-Chapter 85: A Love Letter

“I’m sure of it. Baby wildcats are spotted, not striped like you. And they don’t have such fierce cries.”

“....”

“You are, aren’t you? A tiger.”

Dohwi kept his red lips sealed, pretending not to hear and keeping his eyes downcast.

But Hoyoung slammed his hand on the table with a bang.

“That dumb fox might have been fooled, but we’re not falling for it!”

At that moment, Dohwi’s quiet eyes slid upward.

“And what?”

“...!”

“What if I am? What will you do about it?”

His lips moved gracefully as he stared at Myojin.

“You better keep your mouth shut. Cat.”

“What... what did you just say?!”

“Watch your tongue, or I’ll break your neck.”

Myojin’s lips trembled.

She exchanged a glance with Hoyoung before jumping to her feet in alarm.

It really was true.

This thing that had wandered into Mount Yeewhang was indeed a tiger—a very dangerous one!

“Y-you... Are you planning to eat Sohwa after all she’s done for you?!”

“Why would I eat something like her?”

Hoyoung, starting to relax, suddenly froze as Dohwi licked his lips.

“I’d rather eat you.”

“Gah!”

Terrified, Myojin and Hoyoung bolted from the house.

The loud commotion caused Sohwa to peek her head out, cherry basket in hand.

“What’s going on? Where are they going?”

“They said they’re eating dinner at home tonight.”

“What? All of a sudden?”

Puzzled, Sohwa looked outside but eventually came back inside, sighing.

Dohwi offered her a cup of omija punch and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead.

By now, Dohwi had grown slightly taller than Sohwa.

His body seemed to grow rapidly, driven by his desire to reclaim his adult form as quickly as possible.

“Did they leave because I didn’t serve them meat?”

“Maybe.”

“But Myojin and Hoyoung both know my situation....”

“Raccoons do love meat.”

Sohwa’s shoulders slumped.

She looked pitiful, but Dohwi, already finding even this dejected fox unbearably cute, had no intention of comforting her.

“What were you talking about with them?”

“We were talking about hunting.”

“Hunting?”

“They asked if I had already picked out my prey.”

In that moment, Dohwi could swear he saw Sohwa’s fox ears perk up, despite her human form.

“You have your eye on something, huh? Do you?”

“Not really.”

Dohwi shook his head, and Sohwa pouted like a disappointed child.

“Why don’t you ever tell me these things? If you were going on your first hunt, I’d cheer for you the whole way!”

‘Yeah, right. You’d probably throw a wrench in the whole thing before it even started.’

Dohwi hid his wicked thoughts behind a playful smile, looking like the perfect obedient pet.

Just then, as dusk began to fall, someone knocked on the gate.

“Oh my goodness!”

Startled, Sohwa ducked under the table like a turtle, while Dohwi lifted his head to gaze beyond the gate.

Outside the wall, a pair of massive antlers loomed.

That persistent stag man was here again, as relentless as ever.

“Lady! Ms. Sohwa!”

Hearing her name in a soft call, Sohwa trembled.

“P-Please go home! I don’t want to have any kind of relationship with you!”

She yelled, her voice almost a scream, and the stag shouted back, asking her to at least accept the gift he had left at the gate before he turned away.

His heavy footsteps echoed as he walked away, but n either Sohwa nor Dohwi spared a single thought of pity for him.

“Is he finally gone?”

Sohwa peeked outside, and when she returned, a basket of green grapes was already in her hands.

It was the ‘gift’ left by the stag.

‘She’s really taking that?’

Ignoring how his insides were burning, Sohwa sat down and started plucking the grapes off one by one, leisurely munching on them.

“They’re quite sweet. Here, try some yourself!”

“....”

“It’d be a waste to throw them out.”

Dohwi reached into the basket and took out a silk letter.

Sohwa hadn’t even glanced at it.

With a slight scowl, he flipped it open roughly, revealing a neatly penned message.

[Miss Sohwa... I simply cannot put aside these feelings I hold for you. I heard you like green grapes, so I brought you some, hoping you might think of me as you enjoy them.

Yours, with only a pure heart to offer,

Manrok]

“Hah.”

A laugh of disbelief escaped him.

Pure heart?

Showing up at a young woman’s house day and night despite her clear rejection—since when did people call that a ‘pure heart’?

Grinding his teeth, Dohwi tucked the letter back into the basket, his gaze icy.

“I just made up my mind.”

“Hmm?”

Sohwa, who had been biting into a bunch of grapes, looked up curiously.

“My first hunt. I decided just now.”

* * *

Dohwi was still quite a young tiger.

Even though he remembered every bit of his fiery past as a half-god who roamed Mount Taeryong, his body was not yet fully developed.

To truly begin hunting, his fangs and claws needed to grow longer and stronger.