He’s a Fox Ch 15

Chapter 15

As befitted a beloved “Moongmoo”*, Yuri had indeed never once hissed or unsheathed their claws—

but in an emergency, who could say?

At only three years old, they had already learned how to use both claws and teeth to a decent degree,

having been raised and taught not only by their parents but also by their older brother—

all three of their guardians having led rough lives.

An emerging young predator with obvious potential, versus a fox clumsy in everything from start to finish.

After a brief mental comparison, the tiger had no difficulty reaching his conclusion.

Without a doubt, Yuri would win.

Certainly, anyone planning a kidnapping wouldn’t be foolish enough to target someone like that—

but even if by some unlikely chance that happened, Yuri could handle it.

Well… unless they tripped over their own feet while running away, which was entirely possible.

That was how insignificant the fox appeared in Kangwoon’s eyes.

What even is this?

It felt almost too plausible to have been fabricated.

Just look at them now—covered head to toe in mud.

It made him feel almost ridiculous for having been cautious until now.

If the fox before him were actually a kidnapper,

they could make history as one of the greatest con artists who ever lived.

And so the Easterners’ stereotype of foxes as habitual tricksters** would only grow stronger.

With that, the tiger let go of all the wariness he’d felt toward this uninvited guest who had wandered into his den.

After a long sequence of misfortunes, this was the first time something vaguely resembling luck had happened—

though the fox himself had no inkling of it and merely shook his mud-caked forepaws vigorously to dry them.

Thanks to the speedy rescue, the situation ended without bite or scratch marks—

but unfortunately, Hohyun’s appearance was beyond salvage.

Rolling across the muddy ground, he looked like something dredged up from a fryer, crusted in bread crumbs.

The cats had all scattered, so Kangwoon could have set him down—

but if left alone, the fox would probably roll again.

Already filthy, he didn’t want to let it get any worse.

Still holding the fox tucked under one arm, the tiger craned his neck to peer off toward where Yuri had vanished.

It seemed they had entered the bushes; there wasn’t a trace of orange, or even anything close to that color.

If they had met a cat, they would have been chattering so excitedly that the whole estate could hear—

but since it was silent, it seemed the long-awaited meeting had yet to happen.

For now, finding Yuri was out of the question.

It wouldn’t be hard to locate them, but bringing them back now would only prompt them to pout about being denied a meeting with a cat because of “Oppa.”

For something barely the size of a fist, where did they get a temper like that?

Every single person they met swore they were unmistakably blood of the Beom family***,

and the tiger sighed at the thought of his youngest sibling.

Of course, leaving the cub entirely alone wasn’t an option—

not out of worry for their safety, as this was a place they roamed alone every morning.

Rather, Kangwoon’s concern was that Yuri might enjoy conversing with a cat so much that they would suddenly decide to bring the little animal home.

One extra mouth to feed was plenty with just the dog.

To prevent the catastrophe of his sibling “cat-picking” after “dog-picking,”

he decided to send the crocodile—who was likely waiting obediently at home for the young lady’s return.

The plan was to have him watch from a distance,

and if it looked as though Yuri might suggest cohabitation to a cat,

he was to bring up the dog to persuade her otherwise.

That would probably make even the stubborn baby tiger relent.

After dispatching the crocodile from the front door,

Kangwoon headed straight for the bathroom.

Hohyun’s eyes widened in surprise.

From the moment he had rolled on the ground under the cats’ paws, he had instinctively known a bath was coming—

but he had not expected the tiger himself to be the one to give it.

He had assumed Kangwoon would simply hand him over to the crocodile and go back to find his sibling.

What Hohyun didn’t realize was that the tiger wanted to avoid answering the question of

“Why is it okay to keep a dog, but not a cat?”—and was thus foisting the crocodile onto Yuri instead.

Stiff with nervousness, the fox held still as Kangwoon, unfazed by his hesitation,

did what he always did by habit—checked the temperature of the water.

With a shhhhhh sound, the shower water soaked the fur on his palm and flowed to the floor.

No shivering from cold—still, since the fox was wet, warmer was better.

When the warmth became enough that it could be felt even through the thick pads**** of his paw,

the tiger crouched low.

With the hand not holding the showerhead, he tapped the floor twice.

The fox shuffled forward hesitantly.

Warm water fell onto the tip of his tail, still caked with drying mud.

Since they had come straight home from rolling on the ground, the wet clumps rinsed away quickly.

Murky water streamed off his fur, but the fox’s attention wandered elsewhere.

Because the tiger was crouched low to bathe the small, four-legged fox,

his face was closer than Hohyun had ever seen it—

almost too close to look away from.

He noticed something hidden by fur at a distance—

a scattering of fine scars covering the tiger’s face.

They didn’t seem to be from any major injury,

but they looked as though something had clawed at him.

Too big to have been Yuri’s doing… who could have scratched a tiger this big?

His next thought was that Kangwoon looked nothing like Yuri.

While the cub had a pale orange coat, Kangwoon’s was dark brown, almost like earth,

and his features were far sharper.

The fur along the line of his eyes was thick and dark, the ends turned upward—

giving him such a fierce look that when his mouth was closed, his presence was intimidating.

So different from the round, endearing face of the cub

that if beastfolk tigers were not so rare, one might even have doubted they were related.

Still, one feature was the same—both had bright pink noses.

On Yuri, the color was so sweet that even Hohyun, unrelated as he was, sometimes wanted to nip at it.

But on the massive tiger, it carried a strange kind of force.

As the fox stared up, fascinated, the tiger glanced at him and asked:

“Do you usually get caught up in accidents like this?”

“Kyng…”

After a short hesitation, Hohyun nodded.

Indeed, big or small, misfortunes had always been scattered throughout his life.

The incidents in the tiger’s den were extreme even for unlucky “Yeohyun,”

but though the degree was worse, they weren’t unlike what usually happened to him.

At the confirmation, Kangwoon clicked his tongue.

Fortunately, the mud hadn’t seeped into his undercoat,

so shampooing was quick.

There was not a hint of hesitation in the tiger’s firm hands as he worked up lather and scrubbed mainly the upper body.

After all, while he knew the fox was sentient beastfolk, the form before him was still a furry animal.

And Hohyun, who had countless experiences of being scrubbed like laundry by the crocodile, submitted without fuss.

“Alright, left front paw up.”

“Kkuung.”

“Now the right.”

After lifting his paws in turn on command, the bath was almost complete.

The tiger covered him with a large towel and carefully removed all remaining moisture with deliberate, gentle movements—

a far cry from the crocodile’s rather rough handling.

With a vigorous shake that made a frrrup sound,

the fox flung away even the tiniest droplets clinging to his fur, then hurried straight to the door.

Standing there, staring up at the tiger as though urging him to open it,

he made Kangwoon pause in thought.

Even though he’d been towel-dried, his fur wasn’t fully dry.

His entire coat was still damp, and that included his paws.

Wet paw pads meant more chance of slipping—

and since the fox tripped plenty even in the best conditions, that was worrying.

In Kangwoon’s eyes, the fox had now been officially categorized as less trustworthy than Yuri.

Thus, only 26 minutes after putting him down, he lifted him up again,

carrying him to the living room sofa and setting him safely on the cushions.

Here, at least, there was little chance of falling.

“Go on, do what you need to do.”

“……”

With no playmate at hand, there wasn’t anything Hohyun particularly needed to do.

He simply stared blankly up at the tiger, who tilted his head in return.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Kaek.”

“Alright. Let me know if you need anything.”

The fox shook his head. Not really… oh! Wait!

Something popped into his mind—a thing he both needed and had to say.

To converse with a feline, he needed a certain… item.

And to get it, he would have to get down from the sofa—

which was, admittedly, a bit high for him.

A fall from there wouldn’t break his legs,

but it did take a little courage to leap down.

Stretching his front paws into the air and then drawing them back again,

the fox wavered, then looked up at the tiger with bright, glistening eyes.

notes

** Common Korean folk-belief and stereotype depicts foxes (especially in mythology) as cunning tricksters or swindlers.

*** “Beom” (범) is the Korean word for “tiger” and here refers to the tiger family line.

**** “Paw pads” are thick, cushion-like parts on the underside of an animal’s paw, often referred to as ‘toe beans’ colloquially when talking about cats or dogs.