SAFBIAN Ch 6

Chapter 6

 

Dori was flustered.

He had let his guard down because the changes like Wonwoo’s behavior or Hori’s hostility hadn’t broken the major development in the original work—the wedding ceremony.

‘Why has everything changed this much?’

His confused thoughts quickly settled. So what? What mattered was that today, he planned to escape from this village.

But perhaps reading his expression, Wonwoo’s face contorted even more fiercely.

“You’re not leaving.”

“…What’s wrong with you! Let go, let go!”

His arm was forcibly grabbed with rough strength. As Dori shook him off by shrugging his shoulder, Wonwoo gritted his teeth and pressed him low.

“Be quiet. You want to get caught?”

“Don’t make me laugh! Afraid of what the other foxes might think? Guess you are scared.”

The grip tightened. In the blazing eyes, feelings of inferiority and self-doubt surged.

‘Wait a second… this is seriously dangerous?’

The moment he realized, Wonwoo tried to push Dori down.

He gave all his strength, but the difference in physique was obvious, and resistance was easily blocked. As Dori lost his balance and fell, Wonwoo climbed on top of him as if to pin him down.

He should’ve just coaxed him and sent him back gently!

He didn’t expect him to pounce like a lunatic!

“Ugh! Mmph!”

Pain tingled in the back of his head from the impact. As he flinched, a large palm covered half his face.

Dori’s eyes widened as his mouth and jaw were suddenly pressed down.

“I wasn’t planning to rush it like this, but it won’t take long.”

A thick thigh slid in between his legs. The gaze looking down at him from a tilt was sticky.

Dori resisted with all his might. He raised his knee, anchored strength in his heel, and looked for a chance to kick his groin.

However, there was a significant difference in power between a fox just becoming an adult today and a fully grown one. Wonwoo pinned Dori’s limbs as if fixing them down and licked his own lips.

“It’ll sting a little, but it’s okay. You’ll feel good soon.”

In an instant, he loosened the ribbon and yanked the collar, grabbing and tearing the fabric apart. His gaze briefly lingered on the exposed smooth skin, then he buried his nose into Dori’s nape and took a deep breath.

‘He’s really going to mark me!’

He’d seen it in the original work. A fox’s mate mark was carved by biting the nape.

Cold sweat trickled down his back.

“Mm, mmph! Mmph, mmph!”

“Hm? What was that?”

‘Let go of me, you crazy bastard!’

He had never held someone’s hand, nor liked anyone. Whenever he met someone’s eyes, they’d quietly avoid him first—he never even had a chance to feel affection.

Yet now, as if possessing a book wasn’t enough, this outrageous thing was happening!

Dori’s pupils trembled wildly.

“…Ha. Escape? You? With what skills do you think you’ll survive? All you’ve got is that pale, vulgar body.”

As Wonwoo opened his mouth, sharp fangs were revealed.

No! I don’t want this!

Don’t do it!

You bastard!

While Dori struggled, the tip of Wonwoo’s fang dug into his soft flesh.

At the same time as a sharp pain, a strange energy spread through his body. Something surged through his veins, as if it were devouring him from the inside.

“Huuu…”

Dori let out a ragged breath.

He was anxious. He was scared.

His vision buzzed and his toes curled. His mind floated up as if ascending, then slammed down to the ground repeatedly.

His tongue stiffened from fear. Tears that wouldn’t come no matter how hard he tried welled up and blurred his pupils.

At the spot pierced by the twin fangs, a faint red mark began to form.

Only after seeing it slowly rise did Wonwoo lift his head.

“…Is it done?”

A pact that binds a mate.

Within a circle, incomprehensible characters appeared one by one along the rim. When the interior filled completely, the mark would take effect.

To a fox, there’s no greater satisfaction. And yet, his mouth went dry with disappointment, and he was anxious. Something felt missing. Perhaps because the full ritual should be completed by joining bodies and driving the fangs in at the same time?

“Hah, hahh…”

Wonwoo quietly watched Dori’s warm breath scatter beneath his palm, then hurriedly pulled down his waistband.

That was when it happened.

“Wonwoo! Wonwoo!”

Hori’s voice rang out. Even worse, it was getting closer.

“Shit…”

Dori looked up at Wonwoo checking the closed door.

A face full of filthy lust, the pressure of a thigh pinning him down, the burning heat felt through the cloth.

He snapped back to his senses.

Where did the strength come from? His limp hand shot up and grabbed the stiff erection tightly.

“Aaagh!”

Wonwoo screamed, and footsteps rushed closer.

“You in here? Wonwoo! Are you in there?”

Bang, bang! Hori knocked on the door.

“Move….. before I break it…!”

“Guh!”

Wonwoo suppressed a groan of frustration. Yet inside Dori’s hand, the repulsive flesh still squirmed.

“You, how…?!”

While the mark was being formed, awareness should’ve been hazy. Only the lust for the mate should remain. But Dori’s eyes were now crystal clear.

“Wonwoo! Time’s up! Everyone’s waiting!”

…Damn it.

Wonwoo cursed through clenched teeth and let go of Dori. Then, as if forcibly made, the half-formed mark began to fade away.

It had failed.

After staring down briefly at Dori, whose chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, Wonwoo tidied his clothes and stood up to open the door. Just then, Hori entered in a hurry, clutching the hem of her long robe.

“Were you two just…”

With a piercing gaze, she looked between Dori lying on the floor panting and Wonwoo standing neatly dressed.

“Dori didn’t feel well. Said he probably wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding, so I congratulated him in advance. He says he’ll be fine alone, so let’s go.”

As he pushed Hori on the back, Wonwoo briefly looked back. His gaze was fierce, like flames dancing in his red hair.

‘Wait. Even if you run, I’ll come for you.’

That was what his eyes said to Dori.

“Ugh, damn it.”

His bundle was stolen.

It was everything he owned, and now it was all gone.

Sniff.

Dori sniffled as he was packing. He belatedly rummaged under the mother-of-pearl chest and the blankets, but found nothing useful.

‘I spent my whole life here, and this is all I have?’

In the cloth laid out on the floor were a few tops and pants patched at the elbows and knees, and a pair of socks with the toes worn through. So shabby, it was pitiful.

Lastly, he dropped a few coins with a clink and stared down at them, his lips trembling, then tied up the bundle.

Then, hugging his bundle tightly, he jumped to his feet.

‘Let’s go!’

Creak.

Dori opened the paper sliding door and carefully looked to both sides. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, he hurried down the corridor, and snowflakes blew in through the window. A cool, refreshing breeze swept in.

In that moment, a scene from the novel flashed in his mind.

[Foxes loved the cold. They loved it so much they rolled around in the snow bare-bodied.

The day snow blanketed everything from the roof tiles to blades of grass in the yard, the elder’s precious daughter Hori formed a union with the village’s finest fox, Wonwoo.]

The original story described Hori’s wedding as something incredibly beautiful, making Dori’s miserable, sorrowful state even more stark by comparison.

Lavish wedding attire versus patched rags. Hori’s smile and Dori’s tears. It used opposing imagery to amplify dramatic effect.

Dori took a deep breath. He quietly set down his bundle and peeked toward the front yard, which was covered with a tent. The ceremony was already underway.

“My goodness.”

All the foxes were blessing their union. The most beloved fox and the most gallant fox had become husband and wife. The same hands that threw stones and pointed fingers at Dori now clapped with joy without hesitation.

Hori in her red wedding robe and Wonwoo in his blue one filled Dori’s eyes.

Throb.

…Sniff.

Dori sniffled again. His eyes kept stinging as if something had gotten in them.

‘Why can’t Dori live like that?’

Even Dori admitted Hori looked beautiful as she smiled brightly. Unlike Dori, born under misfortune, Hori grew up cherished and loved by all. Behind her swayed a lush red tail.

‘White fur is pretty too…’

Dori drooped his head helplessly. Then, he subtly swayed his hips and reached forward to grab his tail. A bundle of pure white fur filled his hands.

‘Unlucky fox brat!’

That was what the village foxes would say every time they saw the white fox in his true form. If he showed up like this on what should be a blessed wedding day, fist-sized stones might come flying just like usual.

‘I have to leave before they find me.’

He let go of his tail and picked up his bundle again, tying both ends tightly across his body. Avoiding the wedding in the front yard, he ran across the back veranda and descended into the yard leading to the back mountain.

His feet sank deeply into the snow.

“Eep! Cold!”

Poof—

Realizing the shock, Dori hastily transformed into a fox.

In winter like this, it was better to be a beast than a human. Other foxes wouldn’t be seen in their fox form on such snowy mountains, but he was a white fox.

He tapped the ground with his forepaw, then leapt forward and ran up the mountain as if flying.

Even the birds must have gone to watch the wedding, as the entire mountain was eerily quiet. Unintentionally looking back, he bumped into a branch and a pile of snow fell on his head.

Dori quickly climbed a high rock and looked down at the village below. Just in time, the final part of the wedding ceremony was taking place.