SAFBIAN Ch 166

Chapter 166 (Extra 1.10)

Dori showed Haban how he could move his ankle, revealing a smooth leg without a scratch, as if to symbolize their relationship. Of course, he shyly hid it quickly afterward.

Haban hugged Dori tightly.

“…I don’t understand you.”

It would have been better if he had shown anger instead.

Muttering this, Dori turned his head and furrowed his brows slightly.

“It’s natural not to know if you don’t say anything. So don’t judge alone—tell me everything from now on. I promise I’ll answer honestly.”

Why take the hard way around? It’s better to hear it directly than guess, Dori added with a determined crease between his brows.

But is it okay?

Is it okay to want to hear those words from you?

“If you don’t ask, you won’t know.”

Haban mulled over Dori’s words in his mouth, then asked, unable to share an inner feeling for fear of being too greedy.

“What do you think of me?”

“Uh… a nice person…?”

“That’s not it. I asked if you love me.”

“…”

Dori, who had been confidently watching, was taken aback and clamped his mouth shut. He had not expected such a question.

Recalling, when Haban awakened, he had only heard Dori’s confession and immediately promised to become lovers.

‘Isn’t that enough? Do you really have to say it out loud?’

A cold sweat broke out down Dori’s back. He regretted rushing to say “you won’t know unless you speak” a little earlier.

‘…What should I do?’

Even including his previous life in the real world, Dori, lacking friends, lovers, or even family, had never exchanged such words and found himself tongue-tied now.

Haban’s deep, dark eyes facing him felt all the more overwhelming.

‘I’m crazy. I dug my own grave.’

Dori tightly closed and opened his eyes. He wished Haban would step back a little, but Haban remained close.

“Shall we head back? It feels like we’ve been here too long.”

“It’s not too late; it’s okay.”

Dori tried to get up and avoid the topic, but Haban held him firmly, as if to say no way.

A sigh escaped Dori’s lips involuntarily. He sank back down, hiding his face with both hands.

“Haban, aren’t you curious about anything else?”

“About what?”

“I thought you’d ask different questions. Like why I haven’t run away, whether you’ve forgiven me, whether I still scare you… Why don’t you ask?”

Haban just remained silent.

Because of what he had done in the past, no matter what Dori said, he couldn’t help but fear him, nor fully believe sincere words. He dared not ask such questions, afraid Dori might say he still wanted to run even in dreams.

Because it was already done, saying “I’ll repay forgiveness and fear forever” would not make it undone.

So at least if Dori loved him, since this was the first life their hearts truly connected in, maybe that was why Dori stayed by his side.

That was all.

Slowly lowering his hand, Dori noticed the dark expression on Haban’s face.

He was thinking bad thoughts again.

‘…Still, saying that is too embarrassing.’

Fine. It couldn’t be helped.

Dori stretched out an arm and picked a honeyed jujube from the snack tray, quickly popping it into his mouth. Then he turned toward Haban and pressed his lips against his.

Smack.

Nothing stops words better than this.

The jujube, half bitten by Dori, passed to Haban’s mouth. Carefully harvested at peak ripeness, pitted, and sweetened with honey, it would have the perfect sticky texture. Dori’s eyes sparkled proudly.

Then Haban—his barely restrained patience collapsed all at once like a dam breaking. Who could remain indifferent when the one he longed for and adored every night slept beside him, carrying his scent?

Just seeing the smooth leg poking out from under the blanket, healthy and flushed, and thin silk threads of his bedding rolled revealed how the weight shifted below even in sleep.

But for some reason, Dori avoided lying beside him.

Touching hands or other contacts were fine, but if the mood deepened slightly, he subtly moved away.

Was it because of past memories?

That could not be; there was no hesitation.

In fact, he often crept first into Haban’s embrace, but if Haban responded, he slid away; if held tight, he transformed into a fox and fled. Haban was distressed but had no choice but to accept this.

Amid this, the soft touch and sweet scent overwhelmed him. The rarity of such contact made his vision blur.

“Uh, uh?”

Lying lifelessly, Dori swallowed hard. Suddenly, Haban climbed on top and looked down at him.

“…Dori.”

Whispering his name quietly, Haban suddenly buried his face in the nape of Dori’s neck. His lips and breath touched, his voice scratching and shivering, sending shivers down Dori’s spine.

‘I’m doomed.’

This wasn’t what he had intended.

Haban’s patience, barely held, broke abruptly.

He had not expected to be confronted like this after evading so much. Yet he couldn’t explain himself to Haban.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?”

“Well… huh!”

If you ask, you expect an answer!

Before Dori could respond, Haban kissed him and slipped his tongue into the gap.

“…Hoo… Ah! Haban, wait… listen to me…”

This was trouble.

His hand already pushed aside Dori’s sleeve. The heat beneath was unbearably hot.

‘S-sorry, Haban… I c-can’t help it…’

Poof!

Dori shifted into his fox form and darted out of Haban’s embrace.

From that day, Haban’s relentless questioning began.

Whether during dinner or washing and drying hair, he suddenly and abruptly asked if Dori loved him.

At first, Dori only managed a nod but couldn’t speak. Yet Haban kept questioning, unfazed by who might be nearby, which made Dori embarrassed and awkward.

“Kang! Kaang! Kang!”

That was why the emperor’s precious white fox hid and avoided others, including Haban.

“Dori—.”

Deep within the flower garden, crouched beneath bushes, Dori shuddered at Haban’s voice. His fox’s pupils slit sharply vertical.

‘What’s going on here? He should be in the office by now.’

“Dori—.”

The call came again, closer than before. Several footsteps followed the emperor.

Dori trembled. His fur bristled; ears perked, and tail flicked nervously. Unaware, his triangular fox ears and tail tip protruded from the bushes.

‘Just pass by. Just pass by…’

Anxious about being caught, Dori tucked his front paws tightly, thinking the thick bushes would hide him.

But that hope was mocked as heavy footsteps clomped closer.

Dori stuck out his tongue and nervously licked his twitching nose. His small black nose gleamed damply through snow-white fur.

“You’ve been missing for too long. Where’s my fox gone now?”

So he hadn’t found me yet. Dori breathed a sigh of relief. With Haban’s voice so near, his excited ears freely fluttered.

“Oh dear, I was going to give this to my fox.”

Along with regret, a bright orange, luscious fruit rolled near. Dori’s white paw only needed to stretch slightly to reach it.

Actually, Haban, suppressing a smile, had gently rolled the fruit toward the bush, but Dori swallowed it hastily, mistaking it for an accident.

When Haban passed by, I would quickly snap that up.

The bush trembled as Dori’s thought echoed through it.

Then another fruit rolled. This one smaller than the last.

A round white mound twitched. Instinctively, the fox lowered his body, preparing to leap, the tail raised high and flicking.

Haban took the largest, prettiest fruit from the basket Eunuch Kim held against his chest and rolled it farther than before.

With a leap, Dori sprang from the bushes, pouncing to snatch the fruit. Haban’s lips stretched wide.

‘Mine!’

Dori greedily held the largest fruit in his mouth, pressing two other fruits firmly with his paws. He gripped so tightly that one fruit’s skin burst, spilling sweet juice freely.

Unaware that his joy and the dripping juice stained Haban’s elegant black leather shoes, Dori busily bit and sucked the fruit.

Suddenly, startled, Dori discreetly spat the fruit out.

…Ha.

This was a problem in fox form. Instinct often overpowered reason. It had been so since he realized he was possessed, but after regaining memories, he often felt like a wild beast.

“You’re here.”

Strong arms parted the bushes and embraced Dori’s body.

“Clang!”

He dug his sharp claws into the ground and struggled on all fours but was easily lifted off the ground by those arms.

His round eyes drooped. Dori sighed deeply.

“Oh dear. You’ve played so roughly your fur is covered in dirt.”

Haban brushed the dirt off the fox’s paws with a wave of his hand. The palace attendants watching flinched nervously, raising and lowering their hands anxiously. How could dirt sully such a precious hand?

Still, Haban seemed unconcerned as he wiped the fox’s juice-stained mouth with his sleeve.

“You’ll need a bath, I suppose.”

‘…What?’

Startled, Dori lifted his limp head and pricked his ears.

‘Wait! I… I’ll handle this…!’

Dori struggled frantically. Fox claws were razor-sharp and pointed. Every time he struggled, Haban’s clothes were torn in places.

Startled, Dori tucked away his claws but growled instead, baring his teeth.

However,

“Prepare water.”

…That moment had come again.

At Haban’s command, the palace attendants hurried into action.