Every single door in the place was shut tight, so there was no way to check what was inside. The only places I could come and go were the wide living room and the kitchen.
My escape method in the past had been either sneaking out through a window in one of the rooms, or bolting the moment the front door opened. The first option had a higher success rate, but if the floor was too high I couldn’t jump down, so I’d used the second method plenty of times too.
If I hid around a corner out of sight when I heard footsteps coming into the house and then made a break for it, it worked most of the time. No human could keep up with my running speed. The problem was that these ones were Suin, so there was a chance I’d get caught…
Or should I try going to the second floor? I spotted a staircase leading upward in the middle of the corridor and stopped in my tracks, staring blankly. The first floor was already quite large — there was a second floor too?
But even if I was a predator, jumping from a second-story height could injure me. Just thinking back to the time I’d jumped from the second floor in a fit of youthful recklessness and felt that jolt go through my entire body still made my head spin. I was lucky nothing had been seriously wrong.
I’d moved around diligently, but hadn’t found much of anything useful. Thoroughly exhausted, I flopped down onto the floor.
As I thought, there was only one answer. Wait for the moment the front door opens.
It was the only door the men opened and closed as they came and went. The balcony door was out of the question — they knew I could get out that way, so they’d never open it, which meant it wasn’t even on my list.
Having finished my survey, I climbed up the cat tower and groomed myself.
And somewhere between carefully watching to see when the two men in the house would leave, I fell asleep.
***
Bzzz.
I startled awake at a strange sound and opened my eyes. The room was dim, but from the faint light filtering through the curtains I realized morning had come. It seemed I’d fallen dead asleep just like that. The fact that half a day had passed startled me, but only for a moment — it was noisy outside.
That must be what woke me up.
I pricked my ears and cautiously got to my feet. Coming down from the cat tower and pushing my way between the curtains, the view of the yard came into sight. In the darkness, a black sedan was pulling in quietly.
This is the Boss’s house.
Oh — his subordinates must have come to pick him up! If he’s a person with work to do, he won’t be staying home indefinitely. Is now my chance?
But there were more men getting out of the car than I’d expected. I hesitated briefly, but came to the conclusion that it was still worth trying.
I suppressed my breathing and presence as much as possible, like a predator stalking prey, and hid myself around a corner. I crouched low, waiting for the man’s subordinates to come inside the mansion. I licked my nose with my tongue, trying to settle my nerves.
An experienced predator like me won’t miss a small opening.
Then, all at once, the living room flooded with light.
“Eo-k!”
I spun around on reflex, and there was the man — the one who’d turned on the lights — leaning against the wall. Caught suddenly in the brightness, his gleaming eyes were aimed directly at me.
I needed to slip out without the subordinates noticing, but not only had he spotted me — he’d startled me on top of it. And yet there was something strange about the man’s air. A thick, clinging scent of pheromones. Not threatening exactly, but something that seemed to cling to the body.
In the meantime, the subordinate came in.
“Huh? Hyung?”
The subordinate’s eyes went wide, apparently surprised to see the man already up.
“Did this little one cause a ruckus?”
“…If anything, the opposite.”
“Pardon?”
I was just as puzzled as the subordinate looked.
But when did you go out? You were practically glued to the man’s side. Then my body was suddenly lifted into the air.
W-wait, did he figure out I was trying to escape?
I thrashed and struggled to be let go. I was about to swipe my claws through the air when the man grabbed my shoulders to hold me still and buried his face right into my belly. My body went rigid in an instant.
“Hup—!”
It was a slow, insistent inhale — as if committing something to memory.
“Baby, you were so quiet it gave me a scare. You’re so small… I can barely see you. I thought you’d gotten out and panicked.”
Wh — s-small?
Being insulted like that made me feel like I needed to get at least one hit in to settle the score, but my body was still frozen stiff as ice.
And what was that about thinking I’d gotten out? Did he know I wanted to leave?
The man let out a small “ah” of a sigh, murmured a quiet sorry, and released me. I felt uneasy, as though my true intentions had been seen through. I forced my stiff legs to move and put distance between myself and the man.
I stared at him openly. Had he figured out that I wanted to escape? Or had he just been worried? Cats tend to hide in the strangest places, so sometimes people search for them thinking they’ve slipped outside.
If only I’d snuck out while that subordinate was gone…! When did he even leave?!
“Wh — what? Why are you staring at me like that?”
The subordinate shifted back uneasily as I kept my round eyes fixed on him. He seemed like a careless sort of person, but surprisingly, he was meticulous about securing the doors. There wasn’t a gap in sight to slip through.
I clicked my tongue, snapped my head away, and made for the small hideaway house on the cat tower. The man and the subordinate moved about busily. They seemed to have somewhere to be, early in the morning. I’d have to try again when they left the house later.
I moved carefully whenever the two of them weren’t looking at me.
Beyond the yard, a swarm of Suin in pitch-black suits milled about, but I figured I could move once the car had left. I’d made every preparation, and yet I found myself locking eyes with the man again.
I was holding my breath and hiding in secret — how did he notice?!
“Baby, are you seeing me off?”
Who said anything about seeing you off! I was just hanging around nearby because I wanted to get out—!
Then the man walked over and murmured to me.
“I’ll be back late today. Be good and have fun. I’m worried about leaving you alone, though…”
The man reached out toward me and I bolted away. He gave a small smile, and just like that, he was out the door.
My plan of slipping out in the gap when the two of them left had fallen apart. I was almost starting to wonder if he’d deliberately lured me into letting my guard down.
I pulled back the curtain and ran to the balcony — I could see the two of them making their way toward the car.
Then the Boss turned and looked back. He looked at me and mouthed something. Reading his lips roughly, it seemed to say I’ll be back soon.
Don’t come back soon. Why would you rush back.
There was only one reason, really. I was tapping the floor with my tail when the car pulled away.
Silence settled all around. I turned and took a quiet look around the empty house. There was no one here but me. A strange restlessness crept in for no good reason.
It’s just because the man’s been acting strange. Putting on that gentle act. A Tiger Suin being fond of a cat — what’s that about? Most would just dismiss me…
I looked around. Something caught my eye that hadn’t been there when I’d woken up a little while ago. Food and water, set out in generous amounts to tide me over during a long time alone.
Beyond that, there were a few things that hadn’t been there yesterday either. Cushions arranged around the enormous cat tower. And scattered about as if to play with — little stuffed toys shaped like mice and fish.
Still. I’m leaving anyway.
He had given me a hint. Right now, it was just me here.
Once the car had driven far enough from the house that silence fell completely, I could escape. With the owner of the house gone too, escaping was possible. In this state it would be hard to get out in my true form, but if I changed back into my human form it would be easy.
The moment I focused my mind, I returned to my human form.
A different kind of freedom from returning to my true form — I stretched with a full-body reach. My disheveled brown hair was about to poke me in the eye and I swept it back, taking in my surroundings.
Changing back to human was all well and good, except that I was completely naked.
“Clothes — I need clothes!”
I started throwing open every tightly shut bedroom door, searching for something to wear. True to a large mansion, there were empty rooms, and what appeared to be a study, bathroom, and utility room. Then I discovered one room blazing with an almost blinding brilliance.
The rows of watches glittering under the fluorescent lights made my eyes go funny. Even I, who knew nothing about luxury goods, recognized the famous brand names — lined up neatly inside display cases. Some of them were worth as much as a car.
Dazzled by the sheer brilliance of it, I nearly reached out a hand without thinking.
“Gasp — n-no stealing…!”
When I was little, my father would sometimes ask me to transform into my true form and steal valuable things for him. Back then he’d deceived me into thinking it wasn’t wrong, that it was fine to take them, and I’d gone along with it a few times — but I had no desire to become someone like my father now.
First of all, this looks like it might be a dressing room…
I made a deliberate effort to ignore the watches and opened the wardrobe. The clothes and ties inside were clearly all expensive too. The problem, if there was one, was that they were all pitch-black suits? They were arranged so immaculately that touching anything would obviously show. And they were absolutely nothing like something I’d ever wear in the first place.
On top of that, the sizes were so large it would look exactly like I’d stolen my father’s clothes to wear. If I walked out in those, I’d draw unnecessary attention for no reason. I closed the wardrobe and opened the drawers. Similar story.
“You don’t have to advertise being a loan shark, you know…!”
Don’t you own a single ordinary sweatshirt? A little while later, in the very bottom drawer, I found a plain T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Ordinary clothes that didn’t look particularly expensive.
Without a moment’s hesitation I put them on and stood in front of the front door.
It had only been a few days, but quite a lot had happened. I turned and looked back, and said:
“Let’s never meet again.”
Bang—!
I slammed the door shut behind me, and my escape was a success.
