Churu for the Angry Guide

19

A week had passed since Siwoo had spectacularly chased away the crazy guide.

Afterwards, he heard that the guide had returned to America. Since he had overheard this from a conversation between the secretary and others, Siwoo didn’t know exactly why he had gone back.

He just thought it was fortunate. He didn’t want to face such a guide ever again. He couldn’t stand the sight of that butter-slicked hair either. He hoped the guide would live in that far-off foreign land forever.

Due to the aftermath of screaming so intensely that day, Siwoo’s throat was in terrible condition for two days. Every time Siwoo made a hoarse sound, Geonho would fume and try to go after that guide.

You don’t know how angry he was. Even a week later, Siwoo couldn’t forget the expression on Geonho’s face when he saw him coughing.

He was genuinely ready to kill that guide. The secretary and Seojun barely managed to stop Geonho.

[I should have taken better care of him, I’m sorry.]

Seojun had apologized to Geonho, lowering his eyebrows as if pretending to be gentle again. He only reported the situation where the guide had bullied the cat. He said that in the process of greatly startling the cat and trying to forcibly pull it out, it had hissed loudly and hurt its throat.

[And I don’t think the guiding was a good match either.]

Saying this, Seojun suggested that this guide wasn’t suitable. He kept quiet about the harsh words he had heard himself.

From Siwoo’s perspective, it was incomprehensible why he did that. That young brat, why did he have so much to hide?

After that day, Siwoo felt a bit sorry for Seojun. Not a lot, just a tiny bit.

“Watching the rain?”

Geonho, who had finished his machine guiding and entered the room, approached the window. Siwoo was leaning close to the window, watching the raindrops falling pit-pat.

It had been raining for the past few days. The dreary summer monsoon season had begun.

Geonho scratched Siwoo’s head vigorously as he joined in watching the rain. Siwoo meowed softly, meaning it felt cool. At this, Geonho’s expression immediately crumpled.

“Is your throat hurting again?”

Geonho opened Siwoo’s mouth to check his throat. He must have thought his throat was hurting due to the quieter voice.

“This is driving me crazy… We should go to the vet.”

They couldn’t go to the vet because Siwoo had thrown a fit like he was having a seizure. Except for the occasional coughing, he was eating well, so they didn’t call a doctor.

Siwoo was trying his best to avoid going to the vet, fearing his beastkin identity might be discovered.

“Want some water?”

Meow.

“Alright, wait. I’ll bring it.”

Geonho immediately went to the kitchen. Siwoo blinked, watching his retreating figure, looking pleased.

In fact, Siwoo was currently faking a bit of illness.

That fool had made it so he could fake being sick. If he coughed slightly or just made his voice small, Geonho would shower him with treats or stick close to him, giving massages all the time.

Look at him now. Just because he meowed softly, he’s worrying seriously and going to get water.

“Here, drink.”

Siwoo purred while lapping up the water Geonho brought. He subtly wrapped his tail around the arm that was patting his bottom.

“If anything hurts, don’t hold it in, tell me. Okay?”

As if you’d understand if I told you, you fool.

Though grumbling inwardly, his purring grew louder. He liked that someone was worrying about him when he was sick. It wasn’t bad either that someone got angry on his behalf at whatever had hurt him.

Meow!

‘You’re my subordinate now!’

When he meowed powerfully with his moistened throat, the fool chuckled. Seeing him quickly relieved and smiling at his recovered voice, Siwoo realized once again how much he loved cats.

“I’ll boil some vegetables for you later. Let’s have that as a snack today.”

The fool was very devoted to the cat. From morning until bedtime, he lived only for the cat.

Whenever Siwoo saw the fool like this, he thought, he really loves cats. Not once did he think that the fool liked him personally.

Because I’m not a cat, I’m a person.

“Don’t you like vegetables? You should eat some of those too, you know.”

Seeing Siwoo suddenly become gloomy, Geonho looked for the fishing rod toy and waved it. Siwoo only tapped it lightly with his front paws, showing no enthusiasm.

Siwoo listlessly watched the fish toy dangling in front of him. He had been living comfortably, but whenever he remembered his true form, his mood would plummet.

It was almost two weeks now since he had been living in a cat’s body.

As time passed, Siwoo gradually stopped trying to return to human form. It wasn’t that he had given up. He just forgot about it while playing and eating to his heart’s content.

Moreover, with the fool sticking by his side all day, there was no chance to try transforming into a human.

Sometimes, Siwoo even felt like he had become a real cat. Just yesterday, he had unconsciously started licking his bottom in front of the fool, only realizing belatedly and feeling embarrassed as he corrected his posture.

The emotion he felt at that moment was precisely this: ‘Ah, I used to be the same kind of person as him.’

“Come here. Let’s sleep some more.”

Geonho, lying on the bed, called for Siwoo. He was sleepy again after having slept plenty from taking sleeping pills for the machine guiding. It was a side effect of excessive sleeping pill use.

‘Stop taking so many pills. It’s not good for you.’

Even for an Esper, the amount of sleeping pills he took was too much. Siwoo worried every time he saw Geonho chew and swallow the pills like cat food, without even water.

Squeak!

‘Move over, you idiot!’

Just after worrying about Geonho. When Geonho lay down on the mouse toy, Siwoo swatted at him without hesitation. If he crushed it with that big body, the toy might burst.

“Sorry, sorry. Here it is. It’s alive.”

Geonho burst out laughing and quickly retrieved the mouse, making it squeak. At first, the sound had been annoying, but because Siwoo liked it so much, he too had grown fond of the mouse.

Even though he had bought a whole box of toys, Siwoo always hugged only this mouse when sleeping. This white mouse was the only toy allowed on the bed. He always held and sucked on the one that looked just like him.

“If it bursts, I’ll sew it up for you. Don’t worry.”

To think he even knows how to sew. He was the perfect subordinate to use.

Squeak― Squeak―.

Siwoo played with the mouse tail that Geonho was waving. His eyes were on the mouse, but his mind was lost in other thoughts.

Lately, strange thoughts kept occurring to him.

The nonsensical idea of just living here as a cat like this… Such thoughts were gradually blooming.

“I’m back. Someone welcome me.”

Jihan appeared in Siwoo’s dazed vision. He showed up knocking on Geonho’s open door.

“Oh, go back.”

Geonho greeted him casually, grabbing Siwoo’s front paw and waving it roughly. He seemed to treat Jihan the most comfortably. Seojun and the secretary also talked the most when with Jihan.

On the other hand, Siwoo didn’t particularly like him. Now he felt more uncomfortable being alone with Jihan than with the youngest.

It was because of Jihan’s characteristic penetrating gaze.

Sometimes, he would stare at Siwoo persistently. Though his eyes held no malice, they made Siwoo feel strangely uncomfortable. It felt like he could see right through him.

“Have you eaten?”

Jihan, who had taken off his coat, stood in front of the door again. It was something Siwoo noticed every time, but he really took good care of the people around him. It seemed like the guild ran smoothly thanks to him. To Siwoo, he seemed more like the leader.

“I told you not to take too many sleeping pills. You might end up sleeping forever at this rate.”

“Don’t say such things with a smile.”

Geonho, annoyed with Jihan, pulled over a pillow. He first let Siwoo rest his head on the pillow and covered his body with a thin towel. It was the towel used as Siwoo’s dedicated blanket.

“Can I give him a treat?”

After getting Geonho’s permission, Jihan brought the Churu that Siwoo went crazy for.

Churu!

Siwoo, who was about to get up at the rustling sound of the packet, lay back down. It wasn’t the red Churu he liked, but the organic healthy Churu. That one doesn’t taste very good.

“How picky. Only liking the unhealthy stuff.”

Jihan, undeterred by Siwoo’s sullen reaction, offered the healthy snack. Though he didn’t welcome it, he knew Siwoo would eat it well if given.

Sure enough, as the Churu approached his mouth, Siwoo quickly stuck out his tongue. Even if it didn’t taste great, Churu was Churu. It was still a precious treat that Siwoo couldn’t get enough of.

“Is this really tasty?”

Jihan, who was squeezing out the Churu, suddenly tilted his head. He found it curious that Siwoo didn’t seem to get tired of it despite eating it almost every day.

“I’m a bit curious about what it tastes like.”

“It’s just fishy. Nothing special.”

At Geonho’s clear answer, Jihan’s head tilted even more.

“You’ve tasted this?”

“They say humans can eat it too.”

“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should, right?”

“I feed it to him every day, so of course. I had to try it to see if it was okay.”

Geonho answered proudly. Jihan shook his head and held his tongue at Geonho’s bold expression that seemed to ask what the problem was.

Siwoo inwardly laughed while licking the Churu. He found it funny how the fool who had stolen his Churu was being such an idiot.

“Hyung, close the door when you leave.”

Geonho, who had been yawning repeatedly, closed his eyes, seemingly at his limit.

To think an SS-class is losing to sleeping pills. Swallowing a sigh, Siwoo eagerly licked at the remaining Churu.

In his enthusiasm, he ended up licking Jihan’s hand as well.

At that moment, Jihan, who was squeezing out the remaining Churu, and Siwoo, with his tongue out, froze simultaneously.

He had licked Geonho’s hand quite often, but this was the first time with Jihan.

‘Oh, s-startled me…’

The moment his tongue touched Jihan’s skin, Siwoo felt a tingling sensation he had never experienced before. Surprised by the sensation that felt like static electricity, Siwoo’s eyes widened.

“That surprised me.”

Jihan’s loosely upturned mouth corners also stiffened slightly. Unlike his playful voice, he too looked a bit dazed.

It was understandable. The sensation that spread from the fingertips where the rough tongue had touched was something he knew well.

“I thought I was receiving guiding.”