[BotB] Chapter 5

'Did wildcats inherently have this much stamina?' She wondered.

More than a fox? Trying to appear unfazed, she ended up struggling more. She picked and ate grapes and stayed in bed for a few days after returning home.

The raccoon, Hoyoung, came to her house when she hadn't shown up at Ihwang Mountain for a few days.

"Are you sick?" Hoyoung asked.

Hoyoung had a melancholic personality for a raccoon but was originally irritable and had a hoarse voice.

"Anyway, it's bothersome." He said.

He brought her a basket full of apricots and plums and was surprised when he found 'the creature'.

"Eek! What is this?" He exclaimed.

The creature, which had been gentle, bared its teeth to Hoyoung. For the first time, she saw the creature's fangs.

"This stupid thing! Where did you pick up a tiger?" Hoyoung scolded.

Hoyoung, terrified to the point where his ears and tail stuck out, fled in fear.

She didn't take it seriously, even while watching him run out of the house as if his tail was on fire. She didn't think his fuss was that big of a matter.

'Huh, why would there be a tiger on Ihwang Mountain?' She thought.

Moreover, wasn't it too small for a tiger? She had heard that tigers had a body as big as a house and paws as big as a pot lid. But this creature was only a little bigger than her.

"Are you, by any chance, a baby tiger?" She asked, startled.

She checked the creature's paws out of anxiety. If it was a tiger, it should have claws.

'They said it looks like a sickle used for farming.' She thought.

But no matter how hard she looked, the creature didn't have those terrifying claws. Its front and back paws were just fluffy and squishy. Feeling good, she stroked it for a while and then checked its mouth.

"I definitely saw fangs here earlier...." She mumbled.

But strangely enough, those fangs were gone. The creature just obediently entrusted its mouth to her hand with a clueless look in its eyes.

"Yes, if you were a tiger, you wouldn't be so tame and cute." She concluded.

Since ancient times, tigers have been known as beasts that rule the mountains, so humans also called them 'mountain lords'. She had no intention of humbly calling it a mountain lord.

"If you really are a tiger, I can just throw you out then, right?" She asked.

She should have heeded Hoyoung's warning at that time.

But she, who had already become accustomed to the cuteness and warmth of the small creature, didn't think much of it.

***

It was the day after Hoyoung's visit. She woke up to the unfamiliar voice of a boy.

"Master, please wake up. The sun is already high in the sky." He said.

"...Huh?" She responded.

When she rubbed her eyes and got out of bed, a boy with unfamiliar eyes stared at her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Who am I? It's me. Why don't you recognize me?" The boy answered, disappointed.

The boy brought a peeled apple with a disappointed expression. As she ate the beautifully peeled apple, she made a guess.

'I heard that if humans live alone for a long time, a bride called a 'woollongi' inevitably comes.' She thought.

Could it be a 'woollongi' bride who has lost her way?

But she wasn't that much of a fool. First of all, the boy was a male. Dark hair and long and melancholic eyes that were slanted to the sides. Mysterious brown pupils. Even though his face was pretty like a girl's, his voice and skeleton were clearly a boy's.

"Could it be..." She mumbled in surprise as she swallowed the apple.

"Black cat? The one I picked up?" She asked.

"That's right, Master." The boy replied, smiling harmlessly.

He handed her a basket of cleanly washed cherries. She naturally accepted them and smiled happily.

"My goodness. You were a beast man, too,” she said.

She thought it was just an animal because it couldn't speak. As she ate the cherries, she fell into deep thought.

Given that no parents were around when she picked it up, it was clear it had been abandoned like her. Instead of asking the heartbreaking question, 'Where is your family?', she asked about its species.

"Are you a wildcat?" She asked.

No matter how she looked at it, a tiger couldn't be this tame.

"I think so." He replied.

"Hmm." She responded.

The answer was suspicious, but there was no way to confirm it.

"Well, we will know when you return to your true form."

Sohwa had planned to ask any feline mythological creature they came across, confident that he was a feline.

"How old are you?"

"I'm not sure..."

The boy hung his head, gloomy. In his current human form, he looked to be in his mid-teens.