Episode 4. 3. Wolf Nari

"Why didn't this happen… ."

After putting the rice in the stove that couldn't even light a fire, Yeon was in trouble.

Preparations for wintering by myself alone were being carried out in their own way.

The proof was that the beasts of the whole mountain were slender alone in the early winter when they were supposed to gain weight.

Throughout the fall, the kite kept everything that would go into its mouth in this thatched house. Like squirrels preparing for the winter, each family stored every food they obtained in a thatched warehouse. In the end, I lost weight alone in the season of paralysis, when horses are said to gain weight.

After stocking up on everything the wolf could eat, he started preparing things to eat with the human body just in case.

But the problem started after that.

Even if he could transform into a human, he was still a beast. All she knew about humans was what she picked up from old wolves like Grandma Sooni.

In fact, I had to struggle because I didn't know how to use a thatched house. From how to open the furnace to how to make quilts, everything from one to ten was unknown.

Every morning I went down to the private house and peeped at people's lives, but it was the same.

When the estrous season approached, the kite intended to be in human form. I wondered if it would be a little better if I endured that period as a person and not a wolf.

'I don't want to endure the pain of heat again. To do that, you have to live in human form for at least seven days during estrus... .'

The motivation was sufficient, but the process was not easy.

When I was young, I often went to private houses with my older sister Rang. She used to borrow girls' clothes from an empty house and have fun at the market.

As Grandma Soon-yi taught, she did not forget to pay the price after borrowing something from a human being. She mainly hunted small wild animals such as pheasants and wild mice, and left them at the gate the next day. So the things people use are familiar to the eyes.

'But I don't know how to write... .'

So was this rice.

With tears in her eyes, Yeon traded the leather of the raccoon that she hunted for this rice.

At first, the merchant was wary of Yeon, a strange woman in old clothes. But when she showed me a quality raccoon hide, she immediately sold the rice.

Originally, the idea was to use the leather to make winter clothes. Because the human body does not have hair, it cannot endure cold weather for long. But now that I think about it, I don't know how to make clothes in detail. The more I did, the more I had to do.

Yeon let out a sigh.

You said you were working hard, but fall is already gone and early winter has arrived. It was great that he had done this on his own, but it seemed wrong to live in abundance.

'Still, if I manage to survive this winter, I'll come up with a trick next year and my life will gradually improve.'

Yeon had hope.

It seems that I have been eating only frozen acorns and dried radishes all winter, but I gained strength again.

After autumn passed and winter came, Yeon was completely kicked out of Rang's group.

According to the original plan, the kite seemed to exist, but it was intended to gradually disappear within the group.

However, Rang witnessed Daegwang talking to Yeon again. In that way, Rang's blue teeth forced Kite to leave the group completely. It was a complete banishment.

Since then, Yeon has developed a habit of completely erasing her traces. It was in preparation for the unexpected.

'Now that I'm being ostracized like this, there's a chance I'll be followed.'

Since Lang had driven him away like that, he could have been treated as a toy to relieve the blood by the young males of the pack. Retaliatory bullying was a common punishment for outcasts.

Daegwang was still a problem. Even after pushing Yeon's stance to this point, he didn't seem to have come to his senses yet.

"Yuna, wait a moment. This brother will somehow convince Rangi to bring you back."

Daegwang continued to say such crazy things until the very end.

Yeon didn't listen to what he said and ran away from Daegwang. He hadn't seen or smelled him since.

Every time Yeon thought of Daegwang, he felt frustrated and angry as if he was being crushed under a large rock in the mountain.

However, she had no choice but to drive away her feelings for Daegwang. She hardly even thought of Lang as her sister. Even if she chewed her anger, it was only hard for herself.

'At least I won't be bullied in front of me anymore.'

There was no giggling at me, no misinformation of the meeting place, no holding back the pee every night.

For fear of encountering a mad bear, my liver trembles when I stretch out even one step outside the candle, and I can't close my eyes for more than three or four hours at night, but it's better than sadness.

Of course, there were also many difficulties.

Afraid of being left alone, Yeon almost morbidly wandered the mountains, erasing her tracks. In most places, he walked around in human form, and when he was forced to take the form of a wolf, he probably erased his footprints and scent. He always wore an aromatic pouch made of ground pungent grass leaves and flower petals around his neck. Thanks to that, I was able to survive on this mountain as a young female alone.

growl

I felt sick to my stomach because I was hungry. Yeon grabbed her by the waist and suppressed her hunger.

The most lonely and exhausting thing after being kicked out of the group was when I was hungry.

The kite often went hungry because it had to procure food alone, which it usually did in groups, and had to store large amounts for mistletoe.

'I'll just have to learn how to light this fire and take care of myself.'

The kite ignited hard, but fanned the furnace.

'By the way, this guy's fire doesn't light up very jingly.'

Yesterday too, I stayed up all night drying the marten's fur and meat. In particular, drying with high-quality leather was a laborious task. With it, Yeon wanted to use it to make gloves for use as a human body throughout the winter.

'Gloves, quilted underpants, cotton skirt... .'

Recalling what he had to make, Yeon let out a sigh.

Winter clothes were essential. Even though it's early winter now, the breath is already blowing. Yeon searched through empty houses in the village and tightened the old clothes she could barely find with both hands.

'I think it'll be fine as long as you're not hungry and cold, but that's so difficult.'

It was the first time for Yeon to do everything with the human body, so even the smallest things were not easy.

In between, I had to grind aromatic powder to put in the sachet pouch I always wore, and I had to think about how to survive the winter with the herbs and acorns I had collected.

Then, my heart was in a hurry. I thought I had already finished the work, but the hand of sending the debt kept slowing down. My eyes seemed to close a little too. Drowsiness and hunger seemed to come alternately.

'Even though I'm sleepy, I have to endure it.'

She hurriedly rubbed her sleepy eyes.

A skein of Yan's black, round hair peered into the fireplace. There is still no sign of burning.

It was time for her to struggle with fatigue and figure out how to eat this rice.

"That's not what you do."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

"Egg money!"

The kite screamed as if it bounced up from the floor. I was so shocked that I kicked my butt.

"Okay, are you okay?"

Yan's eyes widened at the low, gentle voice that seemed to be concerned about me.

human, human He also seemed to be a very young man.

It was dark inside the shade where the fireplace was, so I couldn't see the man's face, but the shadow covering her was huge.

Yan's heart started beating like it would jump out.

To Yeon, the existence of this human man was like a thunderstorm. In an instant, all sorts of thoughts ran through her head.

'Who is it? I'm sure he's not the owner of this house... . Are you a wandering hunter? But in this early winter? Are you a stranger who lost his way while climbing a mountain?'

The human that appeared behind the love was none other than Hwan.

After Hwan changed into a human form, he was wearing the best clothes he had. He too was a little embarrassed.

'Oh, don't you know how to speak?'

The female I was looking for was in human form, so he also approached in human form.

Just as there are individuals who can turn into human figures in every mountain and those who do not, there were many individuals who did not learn how to speak in human form.

It would have been a great disappointment if she had not learned human speech.

'Should I go back to my wolf form even now?'

It was kind of considerate. If you blindly approach a lone female in the form of a large male wolf, you may feel threatened.

However, I briefly overlooked that Hwan was the same in human form. Even in his wolf state, Hwan was a male-headed wolf weighing well over 100 pounds. Of course, even with a human body, he easily surpassed one or two heads of ordinary men.

It was the same in front of this woman now. Even standing upright, the woman looked so small that it barely fit on his chest.

Yeon was frightened to the point of fainting.

'What can I do? Should I run away?'

Yeon thought as she felt her liver tighten.

'I-I'm going to change into a wolf's form and fly to the mountain right now.'

I briefly thought about threatening him in wolf form, but I gave up. If it was a human man like that, even if I transformed into a wolf, I wouldn't chase it away, and I wouldn't know if I would be hunted again.

Yan's eyes quickly scanned the human man.

The man was wearing a white quilted cotton robe with a slightly bluish hem. Her topknot was well-groomed, with her hat off and hanging down behind her neck.

Since he was young, Hwan had traveled all over the world, so he experienced a lot and learned a lot. He was naturally interested in human affairs as well. In spite of the luggage he always carried, he carried human clothes. Originally interesting, it was also a temper to see the end by biting and dragging until exhaustion.

Because of that, Hwan was a beastman who was well versed in humans to the extent that he could settle down in a quiet village and live as a human.

Yeon, on the other hand, was different. The bigger her head was, the more her sister Rang hated going to her human village, so even if she stepped in, she would only watch her briefly. Even though she was pretending to be a human with her eyes and ears, something was clumsy.

It was the same even now. Hwan's mouth was smiling, but his eyes were the same as those of a beast. To finally find the female he had been looking for all year round, it was because he was a little excited and couldn't hide his beastly appearance.

Even if he was just a little familiar with the faces of ordinary people, he would be able to tell that he was different from the average man.

But Yeon didn't. She thought Hwan was just a perfect human man. She never really thought that there would be other possibilities.

For example, that Hwan is a male who met a young female just before estrus.

It is also that he is a young wolf in full blood, who has been wandering for nearly a year in search of the cloves I sowed last year.

'Fuck, it's beautiful.'

While the kite lay face down on the ground, Hwan thought.

His heart was beating like crazy. He pretended to be calm and relaxed, his hands behind his back and a worried expression, but his hands were sweaty.

'Is this okay? It's the first time I've ever been so stunningly beautiful in a human form.'

Hwan had never been attracted to the human form. I swear I never once thought it pretty, with little ears on the side of my face and no hair on my skin.

Every time he walked through the streets, human women looked at him and snorted when they dropped something like a handkerchief next to him.

However, the female beast in front of him was different.

The round head was small and cute. Her hairless white skin was glazed and shiny like a freshly baked bowl.

How fine was his black hair, which was clumsily braided and fell down to his shoulders. I thought it would look good if I put a wild flower in it. No, what kind of flowers would not suit you?

I didn't like her skinny body, but that's enough if I feed her well all winter and make her plump.

'But why the hell are you scared?'

Hwan was worried. The woman's eyes widened slightly in fear.

Even in the midst of that, Hwan really liked Yeon's slightly raised eyebrows. Imagine glancing at him with those eyes while he was in wolf form, and his throat naturally dried up.

'I bet that I spoke kindly in my own way... .'

Hwan was unfair. Because it was sincere. Even if I couldn't understand people's words, I would have known that there was no hostility in my voice.

He was dressed in decent clothes. As long as her neck was trimmed and her topknot was enough, she wore it neatly and well. She gave Jinpal a hard time. Her heart was in a hurry, but she even dipped herself in the water of a nearby valley to abdicate before coming. She thought it was freezing down to her balls, but that was no big deal.

I did everything I could to make a good first impression.

"You seem to have fallen quite hard, are you okay?"

Hwan cleared his throat and asked once. And she cautiously tried to approach her woman. Then she became a woman in a state of confusion and sat down, taking four steps back.

There was only one thought in Hwan's head.

'ruined.'

It seems that a good first impression was wrong.

It seemed that the giggling of Gun-gil and Jin-pal, who were hiding somewhere in the wind, could be heard from here. Hwan thought that if he returned, he would break his brothers' necks.

Meanwhile, Yeon was still distraught.

She collapsed, unable to even stand up, and stood motionless.

'Human men can grow like that.'

Yeon's eyes quickly scanned everywhere except for the part of Hwan's face that was hidden in the shadows.

Although he wore a decent hem of a coat, covering his large physique did not hide it. Perhaps because I had my back to the sun, a huge shadow cast a long shadow as far as where the kite fell.

Yeon thought, trapped in the man's shadow.

'ruined.'

At a glance, Yeon guessed that the clothes were only worn by people of very high status among humans. It was clear that she had come a long way from the luggage she wore behind her.

Is it a nobleman? Or maybe it's a pilbu in nice clothes. Either way it didn't matter.

It was when the two males and females were repeating 'ruined' inside themselves for different reasons.

Kite was the first to speak.

"Who, who are you?"

It was a question I managed to soothe my surprised heart. I just wanted to know who you are.

Then the man straightened his back as if he was relieved and sighed.

Huan was relieved inwardly.

'thank god. He can speak human language.'

Mental communication was impossible between wolves that were not in the same pack. It was said that even if Hwan turned into a wolf right now, he would not be able to communicate easily with Yeon, a female he met for the first time. It was one of the reasons most beastmen used humanization when first meeting another group of beastmen.

Of course, Yeon didn't notice why he was relieved.

Hwan cleared his throat and told the truth.

"I am the owner of this house."

Then, Yan's mouth opened. For an instant, a look of discouragement fell across the woman's face.

'… this?'

Hwan felt frustrated once again.

I met this woman only four times and opened my mouth, and in those four times, she put on an expression that the world had collapsed.

'Where did I make a mistake?'

Even if I thought I was scared because of my size earlier, what the hell did I do wrong this time? Hwan's head was spinning around.

'Ah, I'm wrong now.'

Kite felt like the world was collapsing. A painful sound came out of his mouth.

'There was an owner in this house... .'

Acorns and dried herbs that I had piled up in the storage room of this house passed by in Yeon's mind.

It wasn't a lot, but I couldn't say it was too little. Because of collecting them, Yeon couldn't bring herself to eat all fall and lost weight. Suddenly, however, the owner of this house appeared.

There was only one thing Yeon could think of.

'I'll be kicked out of here.'

Judging by their behavior, they did not appear to be hunters or slashers. If so, he seems to be a pretty well-to-do noble from the village, but what happened to this mountain? Sometimes I heard a rumor that the son of a well-to-do family would stay all winter in a thatched-roof house at the edge of a mountain like this to study the past.

Suddenly, tears welled up in Yan's eyes.

'I struggled hard all this time... .'

It was thanks to this cho that she was able to endure even if she was kicked out of the group and became a loner after being subjected to such things by her older sister and his wife.

I was full of hope, thinking that I could at least survive this winter here. I forgot the hunger, sleepiness, and hardships and focused on surviving.

'It's over. How should I live now... .'

It was a kite with a hard core. However, she was shocked to learn that the rope she believed in was a rotten rope.

Still, I couldn't give up.

Yeon took care of herself and got up. It was like crying and grabbing straw.

First of all, I posted a greeting to the owner of the house.

"I'm sorry. lily. I didn't know that the landlord was there, and I misunderstood that I was in an abandoned house, so I made an excuse."

Her heart was pounding because she was about to be kicked out at any moment, but Yeon tried to stay calm.

Hwan suffered from the sound of his heart beating madly with hospitality.

'crazy. Her voice is beautiful.'

Of course, Yeon had no idea that Hwan was thinking like that. I just assumed he was speechless, angry at the unexpected intruder.

Yeon shook her head while Hwan chewed on her voice and admired it.

It will start snowing in a few days. By the time it snows, the river freezes. When the whole mountain froze, the kite, which had nowhere to go, either died of cold or starvation.

Yeon opened her mouth while lying on her stomach.

"… Actually, I am a girl who was born and raised in the mountains, but my parents died after being bitten by a mad bear in Musan, leaving me alone."

There was nothing wrong. Except the parents are wolves, not humans. because it's not a lie

Yeon skipped her saliva and continued talking while bowing to the man.

"… I found this thatched house after wandering around without a place to go after being angry with someone I considered like family. I thought it was luck and I thought I would spend the winter here."

It was all true. The fact that Daegwang and Rang were kicked out of the group after being hit by their older sister's rice, and the preparation of mistletoe in this thatched house.

"… So I have nowhere to go... ."

Even as Yeon spit out the words, she wondered if this was right.

Still, the person who spoke to me seemed kinder than I thought, so it took courage. However, the first time he had seen it without shame, and even when he asked for a human man to stay in this house, it did not come out even after death.

If it was another female, I wanted to drop her at least once. However, it was not easy due to the nature of Yeon who can not talk empty words.

Yan's nose turned red. Her hand also trembled. Even the tips of her ears are already earning from the cold.

"… Ha, so... ."

Yeon couldn't bring herself to say anything behind her back. My stomach was hungry, my hands and feet were cold, and my head was ringing because I couldn't sleep properly for several days.

Yeon was proud of the subject. At that moment, my situation seemed very poor. I was embarrassed to speak.

Yeon closed her eyes.

Should I just turn into a wolf and run away?

Then the man suddenly opened his mouth.

"… I."

A low, grave voice burst out urgently. As if looking for something to say, the man's backstory was a little delayed.

"It's been a long time since I've been away from this house, so there's a lot to do here and there, and I have a mutt to take care of... No, because there are two people."

Yeon lay face down on the ground and opened her eyes. I felt a human man approaching with a clattering sound.

Yeon had not fully grasped the situation until then. It seemed that the man had come right in front of the kite before he knew it.

Yan's nose flared up.

'Are all human men's smells so good?'

Although it has turned into a human, it still has a keen sense of hearing and smell. If not as much as when he was a wolf, he was twice as good as a normal person.

In fact, what Yeon smelled was the male scent of Hwan mixed in the sachet she wore around her neck, but she didn't even know it in her dreams.

Yeon, intoxicated with the scent of the man who had approached without her knowledge, wrinkled her nose a few more times. As a result, the man's large feet were visible in Yeon's field of view.

"I need someone to help me survive this winter, and my wife and children seem to be perfect."

Yeon wondered if I had heard it wrong.

"Can you help me?"

Yeon did not understand what the man was saying.

So, are you asking me to share the mistletoe with you when you see me for the first time?

The man asked again.

"Raise your head. I want to see your face."

He felt a tingle in his throat and slowly raised his head.

Yeon was a little surprised that the man's eye level was the same as mine. At the same time, I was embarrassed that he knelt down in front of me.

The man's beautiful eyes were smiling. Yan's heart started milling beans, beans.

I swear today was the first time I thought human men were attractive. If it had a protruding tail, it would probably have flapped like crazy and rustled from side to side.

"Come spend the winter with me."

The man held out his hand.

"I am a hwan. what is your name?"

Yeon opened her lips to face a smile that I did not know.

"… kite. Kite."

The man named Hwan smiled as if he knew that.