Yeonwoo pressed his eyelids together with force, as though closing them even for a moment would spell disaster. He made a deliberate effort not to let his gaze wander to the garden he’d been staring at vacantly. He had to keep himself sharp.
Unlike the cold storage room, the bedroom was warm. It would have been easier if the sun beat down hot enough to be uncomfortable, but the light filtered through the trees was seeping into the room in just the right amount. His body was growing drowsy on its own, and one moment of carelessness could unravel his nerves entirely. To make matters worse, now that the man’s pheromone scent had faded from the room, a faint cypress fragrance lingered in its place — drawing Yeonwoo further into temptation.
Not knowing what the scent was, Yeonwoo eventually pinched his own nose shut. Every time he breathed it in, his mood lifted, and that was a problem. It would have been so much easier to hold out if there were even one cold, musty corner to retreat to — but even the bathroom was warm and smelled pleasant, which only made things worse.
This is a disaster…….
Yeonwoo, looking like he was about to cry, swiveled his head back and forth. He was looking for a spot where the sunlight didn’t reach. He searched every corner but found no shadow to be had. Just as the corners of his brows drooped even further —
Knock, knock.
Someone tapped at the door.
“Master?”
His expression brightened immediately, and Yeonwoo leapt to his feet and opened the door. But the person who had come to the room was not Muksirok. It was the attendant who had recited the menu to Yeonwoo earlier, standing there holding a low dining table.
“I received word to bring the meal to your room.”
“……Oh!”
Understanding the situation at last, Yeonwoo hurriedly stretched out his hands to take the table.
“It is heavy to carry yourself. I will bring it inside for you.”
The attendant didn’t hand over the table, and Yeonwoo instinctively stepped aside. The attendant, bowing politely, walked in without a single wobble and set the table down in the center of the room. It was the perfect spot to dine while looking out at the garden.
With one more bow, the attendant quietly left the room.
Click —
Left alone again before the closed door, Yeonwoo approached the dining table. The food that had gone cold had regained its warmth.
Gulp.
The appetizing smell had grown stronger too, and saliva flooded his mouth. The gentle heat rising from the food shimmered more visibly in the sunlight. Yeonwoo swallowed again and again before finally pulling himself together.
“Oh no, I almost — that would have been terrible.”
Yeonwoo, who had somehow gotten his face right up close to the food without realizing it, startled and yanked himself back. He’d nearly eaten as if in a trance. He glanced around the room for no real reason, as though someone might be watching — then his stomach let out a loud growl.
“Wh — why is it doing this.”
The moment he pressed both hands against his stomach, an even louder sound rumbled out.
“I, I need to p — put this away quickly…….”
Yeonwoo hurriedly lifted the dining table. Contrary to the attendant’s warning that it was heavy, it was light. Yeonwoo, for whom carrying and moving far heavier things was a daily routine, tilted his head — then nodded as though it made sense. Of course he was stronger, being male-bodied. And his body felt noticeably lighter too, probably from eating and sleeping well.
After a brief deliberation, Yeonwoo moved toward the bathroom. If the master arrived and there was food sitting out in the room, he would surely be scolded. He might even withhold his seed, saying the mood had been ruined.
Yeonwoo glanced around the bathroom and carefully set the dining table down in one corner. The moment its legs touched the floor, the soup sloshed slightly, and his heart lurched along with it. Of course, even if it spilled he could just lick it up — but he wanted to make it last as long as possible. This amount felt like it could stretch to five days, or maybe even a whole week.
One of the virtues his brother used to praise him for was that he ate little, which meant he cost less. He’d already boldly declared as much to Muyeong, so he wanted to prove his words weren’t a lie. The food tucked away in the corner wasn’t going anywhere — but he glanced back at it once more for no real reason before scurrying out of the bathroom.
Now it was time to wait for the master to come again.
Five days had passed since he’d made that firm resolve to prove himself without fail.
He won’t come today either.
It was the hour when the birds that had come diligently since the early morning dew had begun to drift away one by one. Yeonwoo, still standing guard at the door as always, already wore a dejected expression. And no wonder — far from fulfilling his duties as a surrogate, he hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of a single strand of the master’s hair. His confidence had been steadily burrowing underground this whole time.
He had been told he’d be attached to the master day and night — and yet, through all the sunrises and sunsets, all he had done was retrace that first day’s mistake and torment himself over it.
“Haah…….”
Aside from when he bathed or hid his food, Yeonwoo kept his post by the door at all times. It was so he could greet the master the moment he arrived and be ready to fulfill his duties, just as he had been taught. But the master never came.
Counting the days he had let slip by uselessly on his fingers, Yeonwoo rubbed his dry, gritty eyes without even noticing he had let out a heavy sigh. When his eyelids began to flutter and droop, he pinched his own thigh. Whether from having grown used to it or something else, the drowsiness wouldn’t budge. He wished he had an awl or a sharp twig — but there was no way to get one, and that was a problem.
Unaware that his senses had been dulled from staying up for days on end, Yeonwoo pinched his thigh harder. From his forearms to his sides to the inside of his thighs. Beneath his clothes, everything was already swollen red — but Yeonwoo paid it no mind.
In the beginning, what had driven him was the need to prove himself. Now, it was nothing but anxiety.
[There will be an examination soon. Once the schedule is set, I will come to bring you.]
Even the hope Yeonwoo was barely clinging to had been worn down from being turned over in his mind so many times. Perhaps they had decided he wasn’t even worth examining and had left him here to be forgotten. Maybe word had already been sent back to the Ninth Cluster. At this rate, he might be returned like damaged goods before he even had the chance to beg to be punished for his stupidity.
Imagining the future bearing down on him, his breath caught in his chest. It felt more exhausting than forcing his body through hard labor. His heart was so heavy he almost longed for grueling work instead. He feared being scolded by his adoptive father and brother — but what weighed on him more was the thought that he might fail to repay the cluster’s debt, that he might not be able to help the beastmen who had been abandoned just like him.
[Yeonwoo, you have to do well. It all depends on you. The cluster has to survive first before we can go out to the outer zone and bring the beastmen to safety, doesn’t it? There are beastmen dying in the outer zone, more than a few.]
[The omega hyungs who came before you worked hard and helped the beastmen. You need to follow their example. Isn’t that what you owe to the hyungs who left before you so you could be saved?]
[If you don’t want their lives to have been in vain, just do your part. Alright? You only have to do your part well. It’s not that hard, is it?]
“Father…….”
After the voice engraved in his mind finished echoing —
Knock, knock.
“Y — yes!”
Yeonwoo answered reflexively and jumped to his feet. He hadn’t dared hope it was the master. Because at this hour, it was always an attendant who knocked.
[I will bring your meal.]
[Um, th, the thing is, I still have a lot left from before…….]
[I have been instructed to bring three meals a day.]
The conversations with the attendant were always the same. No matter what he said about eating little, she responded like an automated reply — she had been instructed. And after meals, there was even a set time for a walk — and whenever he came back from outside, the food he’d stored in the bathtub was gone.
He hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask who had taken it, but Yeonwoo suspected it was the attendant who brought his meals. Going back over their conversation from the day before, he was nearly certain.
[I, I’m really quite f — full…….]
[That can’t be right.]
[What?]
[……I’ll be on my way.]
She had turned and walked away as though she hadn’t said anything at all — but Yeonwoo had heard her clearly. It had been a tone full of conviction, one that couldn’t have come without her checking just how much food was left. When he was in beast form, his ears would droop and his hearing wasn’t always sharp — but in human form, Yeonwoo could hear even small sounds with perfect clarity.
Wasting provisions was the kind of thing that earned you resentment — and the last thing he needed was to be misunderstood as wasteful on top of everything else. He snuck a glance toward the bathroom, drew in a breath, and opened the door. Since saying he wasn’t hungry was pointless, he had been planning to try again, this time asking if he could just eat what was left.
But the person standing in the doorway was not an attendant.
“M — Muyeong.”
“I will escort you outside.”
“Y — yes!”
Is today’s walk happening earlier?
Yeonwoo, none the wiser, hurried after Muyeong. He was a little worried that the food from yesterday’s dinner might disappear again, but there was nothing he could do. He was already out of favor — he didn’t want to fall any further.
He had expected a walk, but the place Muyeong led him to was the reception room attached to the annex. It was the same room where Yeonwoo had received his first meal when he’d first arrived at the annex. Just as he had that day, Muyeong wordlessly opened the door and stepped aside as if to say, go in.
Right up until that moment, Yeonwoo had had no expectations at all — and then his eyes went wide and round.
“M — master!”
In the seat where Yeonwoo had sat before, Muksirok was seated.
