SAFBIAN Ch 37

Chapter 37

 

‘I can’t just lie here with my eyes open forever.’

Dori groaned and sat up. Every time he stepped down, the soft bedding sank deeply, making it difficult, but he was a proper fox.

Soon, Dori exhaled a long breath and leaned against the head of the bed. His sparkling golden eyes scanned the room. The flashy things were unfamiliar no matter how often he saw them.

It’s here!

Dori’s pupils slit vertically.

‘It’s Haban!’

The heavy sound of leather shoes approaching from afar. The rustling footsteps of the palace attendants following behind. Soon, the attendants stopped at a certain distance. Only Haban entered the room.

“Why are you sitting like that?”

The door, which had been tightly shut and unmoving, swung open.

Haban crossed the threshold. His hands were full of scrolls or something similar. It seemed even the emperor did not have an easy time.

The door silently closed again behind him.

“Kang!”

Haban, who had casually dropped the load and turned around, pressed his nose bridge. Dori stood on two legs and stretched out his front paws wildly but quickly lost his balance and fell. Haban sneered and lifted the corner of his mouth.

Dori curled up on the bed as if that had been his intention from the start. Haban approached and patted his head. His prim little tail thumped the bedding as if annoyed, but in truth, it wasn’t unpleasant. No, it actually felt good.

“Were you well-behaved today?”

The same question as yesterday. When Dori looked up at him with aggrieved eyes, Haban lightly flicked his forehead.

“Why do you look at me with such irreverent eyes?”

Haban’s eyes narrowed gently.

Thick-jointed fingers boldly parted the white fur. As the fingertips moved in circles, the fur coiled and uncoiled. Haban’s touch was full of playfulness.

When Dori tried to slip away, his scruff was firmly grabbed. Startled, his two ears trembled with a flap.

“Look at you. Wiggling your bottom so rudely—whose safety do you think you’re ensuring?”

Haban rolled up his sleeve once. Then he gently patted the plump mound with his broad palm.

Immediately, Dori’s round eyes widened like teacups.

How disgraceful!

Dori was too embarrassed to even get angry. This shameless man had trampled on his purity without mercy.

‘You, Haban! I’ve preserved it so carefully, and yet you……!’

Dori swallowed his unspoken words, burning inside with frustration.

“Huh. You’ll be scolded if you keep looking at me like that.”

Pat, pat!

The soft fur of the fox’s bottom was flattened under the large palm and then fluffed back up. Dori’s heart also dropped with a thud, flattened for a moment before returning to place.

“Kyang! Kyaaang!”

Of course, Haban saw him only as a fox, so he casually tapped the spot where the tail met the body, then massaged it. Holding one side of Dori’s rump in a full hand, he smiled, remarking that it was fortunate the flesh had filled out.

Dori let out a low grumble with a pouty face.

‘No one has ever touched me there before…….’

Some might say it was just a bit of bottom-patting, nothing to fuss about, but to Dori—who had so little—it was his most precious possession: his own body.

‘I was saving it for someone special, someone to share my life with.’

Dori turned his head to the side without Haban noticing and let out a sigh.

‘It’s all over now.’

So unfair. He hadn’t even had a single romantic relationship in real life, and now this. If he’d known his bottom would be taken in such vain, he would have done all sorts of things without holding back.

Or maybe he was just fated to never have love. He cursed the author of the novel and lamented inwardly.

‘Just let me get out of this novel. I’ll definitely grab someone and fall in love. No, I’ll live scandalously and play wildly!’

While Dori was seriously formulating a new plan, the bed behind him sank and rose. Haban lay down beside him, propping up his head with an elbow for once.

In the blink of an eye, Dori was pulled into his embrace. His four legs flailed.

“Let’s just stay like this for a bit. I’m a little tired.”

His eyes, which looked at Dori, were red, and his voice, hoarse and cracked, made him seem truly worn out. Haban lay on his side, facing Dori, and wrapped his arm around the fox’s slender waist before closing his eyes.

Nestled beneath Haban’s chin, Dori tilted his head and then buried it quietly.

Foxes, by nature, liked the cold. Snow-covered mountaintops, frozen valleys, biting winds. Standing bare in those elements had always felt refreshing.

But strangely,

‘It’s warm…….’

Dori snuggled into Haban’s chest. The large man’s body gave a sense of security, and his broad chest felt cozy.

The hot body temperature unique to one who trained his physique and the light breaths of someone asleep tickled Dori’s fur, making him burrow deeper and close his eyes. His swaying tail wrapped around Haban’s thigh.

On a lazy afternoon, the lush tail swayed gently as if to comfort Haban.

After checking the waterway that ran from the valley to the fields, Wonwoo was returning to the village. He was in a hurry, as the elders and the village chief were gathering at the elder’s house to discuss the future.

As he left the narrow mountain path and approached the pagoda where the sacred object had vanished, the village’s unsettled atmosphere became tangible.

Groups of red foxes chatted about the whereabouts of the sacred object whenever they gathered. The women sitting by the stream near the village entrance, where the ice had melted, were no different.

“What a disaster this is. We’ve never had the sacred object stolen before.”

Someone vented their frustration, breaking the dam of discontent. Wonwoo paused his steps and quietly listened without making a sound.

“Of course! The thief must be a fox. What if the gods become angry at us?”

It was the sacred object that protected the village. It had existed since before their parents were born. The red foxes, who had never imagined someone would dare steal it, were in turmoil.

Naturally, suspicions turned toward a certain fox.

“They say it was the white fox, right?”

“No one saw it with their own eyes. But could it be true?”

“We were all at Hori’s wedding. The only one who left the village was that fox, wasn’t it?”

“How could he not even celebrate his sibling’s wedding and do something like that?”

“With that snowy fur, he looks like an ungrateful brat from the start!”

The laundry was pounded harshly. Thwack, thwack, the laundry beaten with paddles was quickly rinsed and placed back on the washboards.

“While we’re at it, just between us, why didn’t the elder kick that kid out sooner…….”

“He’s still his child. How could he?”

“But we have Hori! Because of that white fox, our Hori’s path is now tainted. What if the fox god gets angry at us? Someone has to take responsibility!”

“Shh. Quiet. Anyway, the elder has regained consciousness, and the seniors are all gathered at his house, so the conclusion will come soon enough.”

Having heard this much, Wonwoo turned on his heel. Everything was unfolding as he had intended, but hearing Dori being accused as the thief still left a bitter taste.

‘More pissed off than I thought.’

Though his steps remained calm, inside he was boiling. As he headed toward the large tiled house in the distance, Wonwoo glanced around the village once again.

The red fox village he once dreamed of as a child, and the one he now saw as a sacred protector, were completely different. They seemed proud of the village where they were born and raised, but in truth, they were a selfish group that rejected anyone outside themselves.

Even now. If they truly cared for the village and wanted the sacred object back, they wouldn’t just wait for the elder to wake up—they’d go out and look for it themselves.

‘Those cowardly, selfish foxes wouldn’t dare leave the village anyway. The conclusion’s obvious, but they’re still infuriating.’

They always hoped someone else would step up while they held back. That made it easier for him to leave the village, but it didn’t change how displeased he was.

Before long, Wonwoo arrived at the elder’s mansion and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

At the weak voice of the elder, he opened the door. Inside, several of the village elders and even Hori from the separate wing were gathered, discussing intently.

“You’re finally here? You’re late, even though you said you were checking the waterways.”

Thud.

With the sound of the door closing, the meeting began.

“What does everyone think?”

“I’m sure it’s that cursed bastard who took it.”

The old woman from the persimmon tree house shouted and then coughed harshly. Even so, her gaze was fierce enough to kill Dori on sight.

“She’s right! He definitely took it to bring misfortune to our village!”

“I think I saw him at the village entrance that day!”

“Right? Wasn’t he carrying a big bundle?”

“Everyone, check if anything is missing from your homes too. That rascal probably took everything valuable and left the village! I’m telling you!”

“……”

The elder lying in the seat of honor closed his eyes quietly.

Why had this happened during his generation? A storm of deep, unspeakable thoughts passed through his mind, and he couldn’t hide his pain.

“Father……”

Hori, breaking down, clung to the elder’s arm and burst into tears.