[BotB] Chapter 12

Ahhh.

AHHHHH.

KAHHHHHH.

The terrifying scream of the male fox she heard earlier echoed like a bell tolling. The gentle touch on her cheek kept transforming into tiger's paws in her closed eyes.

When would he leave? The short time Dohwi sat next to her felt like an eternity. Sweat trickled down her body.

Dohwi, who had been caressing her ear and head for a while, slowly stood up like a regretful person.

Creak. As his footsteps slowly receded from the bedroom, Sohwa finally exhaled the breath she had been holding.

A strange unease crept in. The sanctuary she always considered comfortable was no longer safe.

Although she hadn't directly witnessed Dohwi transforming into a tiger, there were too many oddities. Not only the deer bones but also what he had done alone this early morning raised suspicions.

The most horrifying thing was the scream of that fox. The miserable fate of the fox that had died seemed exactly like her own future.

There was no sound of the main room door opening, so she stealthily peered outside through a paper window and saw Dohwi burying something under the cherry tree.

He wasn't trying hard to hide it but rather casually dug the ground with his hand, threw something in, and carelessly covered it with soil again.

Dohwi, who had finished his work in the meantime, stood up smoothly and dusted off the buried soil. Thud, thud. The sound of his large hands hitting each other woke the morning air.

Sohwa, who had returned to her room in a hurry, fell into a deep worry with the blanket over her.

"Could it be another deer bone?"

However, the sound and the shadowy figure didn't seem like a bone; maybe it was leftover meat.

"Let's not be curious."

There is a saying: curiosity kills the fox.

Sohwa forced herself to sleep, making this resolution several times.

Tossing and turning, she suddenly realized that the area between her legs was damp.

***

Before the rooster could crow, Sohwa had woken. She headed for the outhouse, carrying a blanket drenched in urine. Urinating on a blanket at this age. Nothing else could be as shameful. Sohwa’s face burned. What a disgrace it would be if someone discovered.

Thinking that she needed to wash the blanket quickly before Dohwi found out, her hands moved quickly. A long hand reached out from behind Sohwa, who was hunched over, vigorously drawing cold water with a gourd.

"Did you have that hideous dream again?"

"Oh, my gosh!"

Dohwi gently embraced the startled Sohwa. She almost doubled over as he chuckled.

"Be careful."

At the sound of his voice directly above her head, Sohwa flinched and closed her eyes. Dohwi's low and deep voice lingered longer today.

Worried that she might get caught, Sohwa quickly stood up, clutching the wet blanket. But Dohwi seemed to already know what had happened.

"Underwear too."

"I, I'll take care of it."

"How can you put your hands in this cold water?"

Dohwi, shook his head, a twinge of pity in his gaze. He looked at the cotton blanket and then at her and clicked his tongue.

"Bring your underwear too."

"Are you crazy? No!"

Although Dohwi was in charge of doing the laundry and she wore the underwear he washed, it was a different story with urine-soaked underwear. It was shameful, but because she was in a hurry to change the blanket, she hadn't changed yet.

Dohwi gently took the blanket from her and scolded her.

"Hurry up and remove it.”

Startled, Sohwa rushed to her room, quickly changed her clothes, and hid her wet underwear deep in the clothes rack. No matter how much he did her laundry, she couldn't show him her urine-soaked underwear.

Soon, Dohwi, who had hung the blanket in the yard, came in with breakfast. The savoury smell of oil made her stomach rumble.

-Thinly pan-fried pumpkin, deep fried anchovy, sweet potato stems mixed with perilla seeds, plain white rice, and soybean paste soup with shepherd's purse.

Her mouth watered at the sight of the abundant early autumn meal.

The anchovy fry was especially sweet and tender, which was Sohwa's favourite food. Dohwi, who even held a spoon for her, asked her worriedly as she couldn't take her eyes off the anchovies.

"Would it be better if I'm by your side?"

"Huh?"

He scooped out only the flesh of the well-cooked anchovy and placed it on her rice.

"At night. Shall I stay by your side, so you won't have nightmares,” he calmly continued.

"It's alright. You must also be tired. How can you stay up all night to protect me."

"We can sleep together here."

"What?"

Sohwa stared hard into Dohwi's brown eyes. She doubted whether he was speaking in his right mind.