Chapter 6

17

I didn’t tell anyone I was going to leave.

I planned to spend my last three days with them.

The first day was for the merfolk.

After all, I’d lied to him the last time.

I asked if there was anything he wished for.

He thought for a long while.

“I was an orphan from childhood. The other children bullied me, and my teachers didn’t like me. If you’re asking what I wish for…”

“My wish is for you to stay by my side forever. Will you?”

My heart skipped a beat. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.

Afraid he’d get suspicious if I took too long, I hurried to answer,

“Of course! But right now, I want to learn how to swim. Will you teach me?”

Ever since I’d nearly drowned in the bath, I’d realized I absolutely had to learn!

I needed to become my own source of oxygen.

The merfolk stared at me in surprise. After a long moment, he broke into a radiant smile.

“Of course.”

His beauty took my breath away all over again. I quickly looked elsewhere, trying not to let him bewitch me.

The merfolk was unquestionably the best-looking of the three.

He was a wonderful teacher—patient and gentle. I learned to swim in no time.

The moment I got it, I shouted with delight,

“Look! I can swim!”

I didn’t notice how the merfolk’s gaze had deepened.

He swam quietly over and wrapped an arm around my waist. His fingers began to set my skin alight.

“Master, I told you before…”

“If you don’t belong to me alone, I’ll punish you…”

…

The second person I spent a day with was the white tiger.

He looked fierce and held a high rank, so hardly anyone dared approach him.

He trained and competed all by himself.

I slipped away to watch one of his matches.

When I arrived, he hadn’t gone into the ring yet.

The other competitors were surrounded by people. The enormous white tiger was the only one lying alone on a mat.

The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up.

I waved and ran over to stroke his fur.

“Good luck! After the match, I’ll take you out to eat!”

He was clearly more excited than usual. He finished the fight as quickly as he could.

After winning, he shifted into human form and made a point of showing himself off to me before accepting the blanket to wrap around his waist.

Unbearable. Truly unbearable!

…

The last one was the spirit fox, who was full of resentment.

When he saw me, he said pointedly,

“So it’s finally my turn?”

I gave him an awkward smile.

He raised his chin proudly.

“I may not be as handsome as that damn merfolk, but what’s that stupid tiger doing ahead of me? Why is he before me, too?”

With no choice, I had to sweet-talk him with one compliment after another.

He wore an expression that said, “I know you’re lying, but I like hearing it.”

That day, I went with him to an amusement park.

The truth was, my family had been poor when I was a child, and this was my first time there.

Perhaps the spirit fox had never been, either. He excitedly dragged me from one attraction to another.

At a stall, I picked up a fox-ear headband and handed it to him.

He said reluctantly,

“It’s not as pretty as my real ears…”

Hearing that, I looked at the bunny-ear headband I’d just picked up and said regretfully,

“Then I won’t wear one, either.”

The vendor cheerfully chimed in,

“Fox ears and bunny ears are a matching couple’s set! A handsome couple like you two will look great in them!”

The spirit fox panicked.

He snatched the fox-ear headband and put it on, immediately changing his tune.

“Right, right, right! You’ll look great in yours! We’ll look even better wearing them together!”

Then he bought two ice creams, one for each of us.

Suddenly, he spotted the Ferris wheel and turned to me.

“Come on. Ride it with me!”

The lights had just come on. He’d clearly never ridden a Ferris wheel before; he looked around, touching everything with curious fingers.

I sat across from him, holding our two ice creams.

As the wheel climbed higher, his face paled. He couldn’t bring himself to look down.

I took a bite of my ice cream.

“Are you afraid of heights?”

He tried to sound tough.

“…I’m not.”

Just as the Ferris wheel neared its highest point, he dropped to his knees with a thump.

I panicked, thinking he’d fainted.

Instead, he pulled out a strand of golden fox fur, his face bright red.

“I… I thought you liked this fur of mine. I-I’m giving it to you!”

My eyes widened.

“Is this the one that lets me command you to do anything?”

He nodded proudly.

Then he remembered what the white tiger had teased him about and added for emphasis,

“It doesn’t stink! I even sprayed it with perfume!”

Seeing my hesitation, he pushed it into my palm and leaned his whole body against me.

“Ah, I’m suddenly a little scared of heights…”

Before I could react, he went limp against me, boneless as a rag.

At that moment, the Ferris wheel reached its highest point.

He suddenly asked,

“You won’t leave us, will you?”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. I hesitated, then nodded.

The next second—

He lifted my face and kissed me.

18

In the blink of an eye, it was time for me to leave.

Fortunately, with the system’s help, I managed to get away.

The system sighed.

【When I think back, I thought you wouldn’t last past three episodes. I kept running off for noodles every few days. But out of all the people on my missions, you were the only one who survived—and you even exceeded the mission requirements! You can’t judge a book by its cover. The ocean’s depth can’t be measured with a cup!】

I rolled my eyes.

No wonder it was never around.

Back in the human world, I returned to my ordinary life.

Actually, I’d lied to them again.

My life wasn’t all leisurely days spent petting cats and walking dogs.

In fact, I was barely able to support myself in the human world.

Before the Bureau gave me the mission, my boss had just fired me.

One line—“If you don’t want to work overtime, you don’t love this company”—was all it took to kick me out.

Time moved at different speeds in the beastfolk and human worlds.

It was still spring for the beastfolk, but the New Year was almost here in my world.

I sent out countless résumés. Not one got a reply.

On Little New Year’s Eve, I walked the streets alone, planning to buy something to eat.

I suddenly remembered the merfolk had once told me he had no parents.

I smiled bitterly.

I had parents, but they’d divorced when I was little and quickly started new families.

To them, I was a risk—a disruption that might upset the balance of their new households.

I had parents… and yet it felt like I didn’t.

I pushed open the supermarket door.

The store was buzzing with holiday shoppers.

Suddenly, someone cried out,

“It’s snowing!”

Everyone excitedly hurried outside to look.

It was the first snow of the year.

But to me, filling my stomach mattered more.

I dropped a packet of dumplings into my basket, paid, and carried my things outside.

By the time I stepped out of the supermarket, the snow was falling harder.

It settled in my hair and slipped down my collar. I hunched my shoulders against the cold.

The shopping bag was heavy, its handle biting into my hand and leaving it red.

I was about to switch hands when a pale hand reached out beside me.

He took the bag as if it were the most natural thing in the world, tilting his umbrella over me.

I looked up.

My eyes met his deep green ones.

The warm yellow streetlight fell across his silver hair, lending him a softer air.

He smiled tenderly.

“Come on. The other two are making dumplings at home.”

“We’ll get back just in time to eat them hot.”

(End)