[BotB] Chapter 33

//Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas~

07. It Means I Love You

As Dohwi had prepared a generous lunch as usual, he gently woke Sohwa up.

"Come on, Sohwa, wake up. You need to eat and regain your strength." 

However, Sohwa, deeply asleep, didn't show any sign of having heard him. Eventually, Dohwi's hand, which had been softly shaking her shoulder, slowly moved downward. 

"Are you still in pain?" 

In the dawn light, he touched the soft calf beneath the covers, a calf that he had marked. Dohwi's hands kneaded the calf like dough, then stealthily moved up the thigh, grasping her pretty buttocks in his hand. 

It was then that Sohwa, seemingly half-asleep, twitched at the tickling touch and murmured, 

"I can't do it. I can't do it anymore..." 

It was a nonsensical mumble. In response, Dohwi's self-satisfied lips twisted into a smirk. 

Anyone would think she'd been up all night engaged in those activities. Since last night, Dohwi hadn't been able to touch Sohwa properly at all. 

He had wanted to carefully check her body to make sure that the place that had received him wasn't torn or hurt, that her back wasn't bruised or her bones broken from holding her too tightly, and he had wanted to enjoy the early morning with her, but Sohwa had completely refused. 

Even the slightest touch seemed to cause her pain, and she had banished him from the inner rooms with that excuse. 

This reaction wasn't entirely unexpected. 

Foxes are known to be quite dramatic, but as a particularly sensitive individual, Sohwa was even more so. She would run away at the slightest strong breeze, fearing someone was coming to catch her — that was just how she was. 

"Dohwi, I don't really have an appetite." 

With a hoarse voice as if in pain, Sohwa turned to lie back down, but Dohwi persistently helped her sit up. 

"Don't be like that, eat. You need to eat to get your strength back, okay?" “....” Heavy-lidded eyes stared at the dining table. It was a steamed white duck dish, generously stuffed with dates, chestnuts, and garlic. On one side, a fragrant tarakjuk, a type of porridge made from ground pine nuts and sesame seeds, was giving off its aroma. 

Despite the care that went into preparing a meal fit for a king, to Sohwa it seemed nothing more than a devious plot to ensnare her. 

She only picked at the sour-dressed cucumber salad as Dohwi, who had been watching her without taking his eyes off her, pushed the white duck dish towards her as if frustrated. 

"Shall I feed you?" 

"...No, Dohwi." 

Sohwa wasn't in the mood to eat at all. She felt embarrassed for having urinated in front of Dohwi, for having screamed until her throat was raw. And it was awkward to make eye contact when she kept envisioning that enormous baton in front of Dohwi's face. 

'Maybe it's not a tiger, but a horse.' 

Whether it's a horse or a tiger, this relationship seemed far from normal. The baton flickered in the hallucination and seemed to say so. 

"Dohwi, I've been thinking all night..." 

He didn't seem to listen and gracefully scooped up some tarakjuk, blew on it, and pushed it towards Sohwa's lips. 

"Here, ah..." 

She swallowed without tasting, then gently held Dohwi's hand that was about to scoop more porridge. 

"Dohwi, you know... we can't do this." 

He had been smiling faintly, but then he froze like a wooden puppet. 

"I want a happy family too, you know. I'd prefer it to be ordinary." "You liked it," Dohwi responded sharply, his eyes glaring with an unsettling clarity. 

"You were the one crying out beneath me, saying you loved it." 

"That, that was..." 

"You were more into it than me. You were so wet it was more than enough to drench my hand and you desperately begged with your legs wide open..." 

"Dohwi!" 

Goodness, what a thing to say at the dinner table! Sohwa's face turned bright red, and she covered her cheeks with her hands. 

"How could I believe we can't be together when I saw how much you enjoyed it for the first time?" Dohwi said with a gentle smile, as he cooled the porridge. 

"I was going to wait until you got used to it before I took you during your next heat... but I guess we can't wait. I'll get the dragon pearl now. It's not even far away." 

"What do you mean by that?" 

He chuckled lowly and pushed the porridge between Sohwa's lips. 

"It means we're going to make a baby tonight." 

Dohwi carefully wiped away the porridge dribbling from her lips with his thumb. 

"My cute fox." 

He recalled the previous night, how he had completely marred her face with his seed, and felt himself stir again. Dohwi smiled mischievously, as if he was a seducer.