As the night deepened, the inside of the fox’s belly grew hotter.
At first, he thought it was warm only thanks to Adrian’s body heat. But as time passed, that heat started from the pit of his stomach and spread throughout his entire body. It was as if he had swallowed a small sun in his belly. The pleasant lethargy that had made his joints loosen comfortably disappeared, and a sensation arrived as if his hide would burst, stretched taut.
‘Hot….’
The fox panted and stuck his nose out from under the blanket. It felt like hot steam was being expelled with every breath.
Adrian pulled the fox tighter in his sleep. Normally those strong arms would be the safest fence in the world, but now they felt like shackles choking his breath. Because every time Adrian’s hot body temperature touched him, the bead inside his body vibrated and reacted like crazy.
His body itched. The flesh beneath his fur tried to stretch out on its own. His toe bones twitched, wanting to elongate.
This was wanting to transform. Because the bead had eaten too much curse, the small fox’s body couldn’t handle it, so it was clamoring to transform into a larger human. It was a struggle to survive.
‘No.’
The fox bit his lip tightly. He had promised Theodor. He absolutely wouldn’t become human in front of Adrian. Because if he became human, Adrian would dislike him.
But the more he tried to hold back, the fiercer the heat became. If he stayed like this, he might really burst with a bang and transform into a human. In Adrian’s arms, in the form of a naked man.
Just imagining it made his fur stand on end. He had to escape. He needed to get some cold air, even briefly, and cool down the heat.
The fox carefully twisted his body. Adrian’s arm pressed heavily on his belly. The fox held his breath and very slowly, little by little, slipped out from under the arm with movements that flowed like liquid. Adrian frowned and groped with his hand, but the fox quickly dragged a pillow with his teeth and shoved it under his hand.
When he dropped off the bed, the cold marble floor touched his paw pads. That coldness was so welcome that the fox lay with his belly on the floor for a moment.
‘Whew….’
But the floor’s coldness alone wasn’t enough. Inside his body still boiled like a furnace.
The fox staggered toward the balcony. The large glass door was closed but fortunately not locked. When he scratched the gap with his front paw and pushed with his head, the door opened smoothly.
The night air rushed in.
The fox crouched down under the balcony railing. The cool breeze burrowed between his heated fur. He opened his mouth wide and breathed in the night air. As the cold energy filled deep into his lungs, the raging bead showed signs of gradually calming down.
That’s when it happened.
Crack.
Without warning, his shoulder blade twisted. The impulse he had been suppressing finally burst out.
“Keuk….”
The fox groaned in pain and scratched the floor. His front paw tried to elongate. His claws transformed into human nails and made scraping sounds on the floor. His vision repeatedly rose and fell.
No. Not here. What if someone sees?
The fox desperately curled up his body. When he so desperately wanted to become human, it wouldn’t budge, so why was it trying to transform into a human on its own when he didn’t even want it? The fox buried his head in his knees and repeated like a chant. I am a fox. I am a small, cute fox. I am not a nine-tailed fox, but a black fox that Adrian likes.
Cold sweat soaked his fur. He struggled to maintain his beast form while forcibly suppressing the energy the bead was emitting. The pain of bones trying to pop out on their own was like twisting and wringing his entire body.
How much time had passed?
The muscles that had been spasmodically jumping gradually quieted down. The bead also seemed to have quieted down again, unable to overcome its master’s stubbornness. The fox collapsed on the floor as if exhausted. Only rough breathing echoed on the balcony.
He barely stopped it.
Just as he was about to close his eyes in relief, he felt a cool presence behind him.
“……”
There was no sign of a person. No footsteps either. But instinct warned him. Someone was watching.
The fox stiffly turned his head.
Adrian was standing in front of the glass door.
His expression, standing with his back to the moonlight, was hidden in darkness and couldn’t be seen. But his sleepwear shirt was disheveled and his feet were bare. It was exactly as he looked after waking from sleep.
How long has he been there? Did he see my bones elongating? Did he hear the strange sounds?
Fear froze his heart. The fox backed away and pressed his body against the railing.
Adrian slowly approached. One step, two steps. Every time he moved, his shadow engulfed the fox.
“Why are you out here?”
His husky voice was low. It was a flat tone where he couldn’t tell if he was angry or worried. Instead of answering, the fox curled his body smaller. His trembling body wasn’t because of the cold but because of the fear that he might have been discovered.
Adrian knelt on one knee in front of the fox. He reached out and touched the fox’s body.
“You’re damp. And like a fireball.”
Adrian’s brow narrowed as he touched the fur soaked with cold sweat. He seemed to have misunderstood that the fox was sick from the heat that rose while holding back the transformation. Adrian silently lifted the fox. And confined him in his arms.
“Are you trembling from the cold? Or did you have a nightmare?”
Adrian didn’t wait for the fox’s response and came back into the room. He closed the balcony door and even meticulously drew the curtains. The room was once again submerged in darkness and silence.
He didn’t go to the bed but sat on the sofa, placed the fox on his lap, and wrapped him in a blanket. As if nursing a sick child, he bundled the fox tightly and held him in his arms.
“If you’re sick or need anything, wake me. Don’t go anywhere. Stay where I can see you. If I wake up and you’re not there….”
Strength entered his arms. It was a grip that seemed crushing, but the fox didn’t whimper that it hurt. Because the anxiety embedded in Adrian’s voice was transmitted to him.
The fox pressed his ear to Adrian’s chest. Thump, thump, thump. His heart beat fast and hard. It wasn’t the peaceful beating from when he fell asleep earlier. The surprise and fear from when he came out looking for him still remained.
I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to run away.
The fox pulled his front paw out from the blanket and gripped Adrian’s collar tightly.
I’m here. I won’t go.
Adrian grasped the fox’s paw with his large hand.
“Yes. Stay here.”
He seemed to intend to spend the night holding the fox. The fox had no choice but to be trapped in his embrace. The heat still remained inside his body, but it didn’t feel like it would burst like before. Listening to Adrian’s anxious heartbeat, his own pain felt like nothing at all.
The fox recited inwardly while receiving Adrian’s touch.
It’s okay if I don’t become human. If you hold me this tightly, I’m fine being trapped in this small fur hide for life.
Sleep slowly came over him. The fox closed his eyes. Like that, the precarious night was passing.
***
The morning sunlight squeezed through the gap in the curtains and drew a long diagonal line on the bed. As soon as the fox opened his eyes, he sniffed. He had been moved to the bed at some point, and Adrian’s arm that had been pressing on him all night was gone.
The fox raised his head in surprise. The sound of water came from inside the open bathroom door. It seemed Adrian was washing up. As relief washed over him, the fox dropped his head back onto the pillow.
His body felt stiff. Whether from overeating yesterday or from wrestling with the heat all night, all his muscles ached. The fox stretched out his front paws and yawned. Cracking sounds came. Fortunately, there was no terrible sensation of bones elongating or fur peeling off.
‘Did it all digest?’
The fox pressed down on his belly. His taut belly had deflated a bit, and the churning that had turned his insides upside down had also subsided considerably. It was thanks to the bead working hard all night.
Then what about Adrian?
The fox’s ears perked up. Since I ate all that nasty smoke, Adrian must be completely better now. He should be flying around—that would be normal.
Just then, the sound of water stopped and Adrian walked out of the bathroom. His damp blond hair covered his forehead, and between the loose robe, his solid chest was visible. The fox wagged his tail and ran to the end of the bed. It was to check Adrian’s complexion.
But.
The fox’s tail stopped awkwardly. Adrian’s complexion wasn’t bad. It was the face of someone who had slept soundly all night. But there was something strange about the smell.
‘Huh?’
The fox tilted his head. He had definitely eaten it all yesterday. He had scraped it all clean. He jumped off the bed and clung to Adrian’s leg.
“What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”
Adrian asked indifferently and bent down to pick up the fox. Instead of answering, the fox buried his nose near Adrian’s solar plexus. Sniff sniff.
There was a smell.
That nauseating, fishy metallic taste he had smelled yesterday. The black smoke he thought had disappeared was rising faintly again from deep in Adrian’s heart. Though much fainter than when he first saw it, it was definitely there.
It didn’t go away.
