Episode 5. 4. Tailgating(2)

In fact, Hwan ordered his men to hunt with the intention of first feeding the skinny kite meat. Of course, there was no way for Yeon to know the deep meaning of such a dream.

"The weather was still cool, so there was quite a bit of game."

Gungil held up two pheasants caught in one hand with an expressionless face.

"Yeah, good work… Yes, brother."

Hwan habitually grabbed Gungil by the shoulder and almost said, 'Yes, good job.' Gungil reminded me that he was now my older brother.

Congratulating Gungil, Hwan habitually glanced at Yeon.

Sure enough, when he saw the pheasant caught in Gungil's hand, Yeon's eyes were thrilled.

'pheasant… !'

Yan's eyes seemed to be screaming like that.

To Jin-Pal and Gun-Gil, it was still a kite with a calm expression, but it was Hwan who had begun to distinguish her subtle emotions. She seemed so changeable in her kite expression to him.

'Then the tail sticks out again.'

Kite rolled up his arms and spoke gibberish in an unanswerable way. Excitement was evident in his voice.

"and… . It must not have been easy to find pheasants this winter. Oh, I have to move the red bean porridge and wash the stove. The pheasant should also be boiled."

Hwan smiled heartily at Yeon's reddened cheeks.

However, the feeling of such a hwan was twisted in an instant.

'uh… . I feel bad all of a sudden.'

It was because Yeon's envying eyes looking at the pheasant were looking towards Gungil.

Of course, Yeon didn't even look at Gungil for a second, only looking at the pheasant.

The only thought in her mind was how to cook the pheasant she had encountered in a million years.

But to Hwan, that wasn't a problem.

It was unpleasant that Gungil was with him in the direction of the kite's gaze.

'I guess I should have hunted myself.'

He was well aware of how important hunting was to females. But if I went there myself, I would have to stay away from Yeon, which I hated.

So, Hwan quickly approached Gungil. Gun-gil, to be precise, blocked the kite's gaze from the pheasant in the middle.

"You shouldn't fall for your brother. I am better at hunting."

Hwan said in a serious voice as if threatening. I even crossed my arms to let people know how serious I was.

But Yeon reacted as if it had nothing to do with it.

Hwan quickly added an explanation.

"I know very well what it means for an in-house captain to be good at hunting. If I could, I'd like to show it myself. It's just that I have a lot to teach you, so I'm just staying at home with you."

It was originally not easy to capture the female wolf's heart. Hwan did his best to emphasize his competence.

"I would have caught three more pheasants."

Hwan pretended and even spread his three fingers to her.

However, Yan's reaction was more lukewarm. Yan's eyes had been following the pheasant for a while.

"Ah, that's right. He is also Hwan. By the way, quickly bring the pheasant here... ."

"Sweep, Mr. Yeon. Are you even listening to me now?"

"of course. By the way, Hwan-nim, should we take off the pheasant feathers first?"

Huh. No matter how you look at it, it was a pheasant. Hwan's ability to hunt was out of the question.

Hwan had no choice but to withdraw.

Gungil looked at the general with pity. Hwan kicked Gungil's shin while Yeon was not looking.

"Huh… !"

Gungil grabbed his shin and jumped. Then the kite was startled and ran to him.

"Oh, my pheasant!"

Regardless of whether Gun-gil moaned or not, Yeon brushed off the pheasant that had fallen on the floor and blew out loud. Hwan's expression softened a little.

The four of them cooked red bean porridge together and set the table. The pheasants were also cleaned and orphaned, piled up like a mountain, and prepared to eat.

The small room became narrower as the family of four sat around it, especially the three tall men. However, the food was generous enough to break the legs of the dining table.

It was a feast for the first time in a long time.

Yeon was looking forward to the taste so much that it was hard to sit with her butt on the floor.

But one problem arose.

It was that no one would touch the table that was fully set.

'Why is no one eating... ?'

Yeon felt her stomach burn.

Originally, the tail of the herd was lifted last, even if it ate prey. I thought it was normal for humans too.

The lowest ranked in this group was Kite. So Yeon waited for Hwan to lift the spoon first.

But Hwan just sat there, as if waiting for something. At the same time, Jin-Pal and Gun-Gil were not even touching the spoon.

Yeon couldn't understand why the three men were staring at me at the table.

"I… . Aren't you eating?"

In the end, Yeon, who couldn't stand the impatience, spoke first.

Then Hwan replied as if it were natural.

"Yeon-nim has to eat first to eat."

Yeon looked at Hwan in surprise.

Now that I see it, Gun-gil and Jin-pal are also holding back saliva dripping from their mouths, waiting for my hand to open the spoon. Jin-Pal was even staring at the kite with eager eyes.

"Am I the first?"

Yeon asked if he had heard it wrong.

"Of course."

The answer that seemed natural came back.

I was a little surprised for a moment. Yeon pondered a little, and finally came to a conclusion by herself.

'This, I guess it's polite for humans to have a woman open a spoon first.'

Humans had a lot of old-fashioned rituals such as etiquette and manners. Yeon remembered the story of Grandma Suni, who said that trying to understand them only hurts her diaphragm.

Even in Rang's group, the female Rang couldn't even touch the prey before taking a bite first. Yeon understood in the same context.

Of course, in reality, she was being treated as a female of Hwan, the head of the group. Again, only Yeon did not know.

In the end, as soon as Kite opened a spoonful, Jin-Pal and Gun-Gil started eating red beol-tteok.

"Sweep! Yeon-nim, the taste of the food will be ruined!"

Hwan clicked his tongue as he saw this. He hit the two men's claws with a spoon. Either way, the two beasts continued their gluttonous meal.

"A beggar was in the boat! Anyway, you lose all face in this town!"

Even his older brother, Gun-gil, yells at him, but Yeon is distracted by red bean porridge and doesn't notice.

Ignoring Yeon, I also hurriedly put a spoonful of red bean porridge into my mouth.

'delicious… !'

Soon, the heavenly taste unfolded in the mouth.

Jinpal's new egg core inserted at the end was a godsend. Compared to the red bean porridge now, the Injeolmi I ate earlier was new blood.

After slurping over half a bowl of red bean porridge, Yeon quickly picked up his chopsticks.

Since Yeon hadn't touched it yet, the pheasant meat remained intact.

How could I have endured almost running into a pheasant that hadn't even plucked its feathers earlier? .

Yeon quickly picked up a piece of pheasant meat and dipped it in sauce.

'I feel like crying... !'

It was really good.

When Hwan sliced ​​the green onion and dipped it in the sauce stir-fried with garlic, the taste was superb. I boiled it with dried jujubes and whole garlic, and it didn't even smell fishy.

"Is it delicious?"

Watching Hwan eat Yeon, he asked with a satisfied face.

"yes. Really, yup, delicious."

Yeon responded by pushing red bean porridge and pheasant meat into her mouth.

'I'm glad I decided to stay in human form.'

Yeon, admiring the taste of the cooked food, thought so.

"Eat slowly. I pretend. I'll do beef ribs later."

Hwan said while removing the red bean crumbs from Yeon's cheek with his thumb.

"Cow, beef ribs… ?"

Yeon raised her head as she almost buried her face in the bowl of red bean porridge.

Sorani, was that an edible beast in the first place?

Hwan, who had been looking at the wide-eyed kite as if he was dying of cuteness, answered.

"yes. Beef ribs. Oh my, your jaw drops."

He closed the chin of the kite where the pill had fallen and said.

"You have to chew thoroughly. Fifty times left and right, okay? please follow Om nom nom, om nom nom."

Yeon's jaw started to move by itself, following the person who offered to cook beef ribs.

Om nom nom. Om nom nom.

I put my face down and everything. He said he would feed the cow someday, but what can I do?

"ruler… . gulp!"

gulp!

"Haha, you did very well."

Hwan covered his mouth with a clear expression of suppressing laughter and stroked Yeon's head.

In this way, the kite emptied red bean porridge and pheasant meat one after another with the side dish of the future called short ribs.

But something strange happened. Certainly, the pheasant meat, which was for four people, did not decrease at the time.

Upon closer inspection, not to mention Hwan, Jinpal and Gungil had not touched the pheasant meat at all.

'Oh, why don't you eat... .'

Gungil caught two pheasants. Since we had to share two of them among four people, each person took half of them.

Of course, that was when it was justly distributed. Yeon knew very well that the logic of the world was not so easy.

My big belly was in a position to eat with three big men. Of course, the amount and speed of eating also differed significantly.

He could not even lift a few spoonfuls of kite, so he thought he would skip the fish. She didn't even want to be greedy. Of course, I thought I had to give in. Anyway, isn't it a guesthouse? It is also the lowest in terms of rank.

Yeon pondered over and over again, and then spoke out with a big heart.

"Yeah… . Why don't other people eat meat?"

In fact, Yeon could have pretended not to notice and kept putting pheasant meat in her mouth. But her conscience pricked her a little. Still, I have no shame, it was too selfish as a member of the group to eat all the meat side dishes by myself. It wasn't even acting as a proper tail.

"ah! Then I only have one salted fish... ."

Then, Jinpal was delighted and raised his chopsticks. It was as if he was waiting for Yeon's invitation.

bang-!

Then the table rattled and shook. Yeon looked at Hwan in surprise at the noise that would resonate throughout the whole house.

Hwan's fists were clenched and he was on the table.

"ah. My hand slipped. I'm sorry. Come on, let's eat."

Hwan smiled softly and invited Yeon to cook again.

Only Jinpal stood firm with his hand raised. His chopsticks had already fallen and were rolling around on the floor.

Gungil also pretended not to know the current situation and slurped red bean porridge. I didn't know that I would only be scolded by Hwan for tampering with Yeon-nim's food.

Yeonman didn't know what the situation was, so he asked Jinpal again.

"Ah, don't you eat… ?"

Jinpal responded quickly.

"I suddenly remembered, but I get diarrhea when I eat only pheasant meat."

Looking at Gungil, he also answered quietly.

"I say that pheasant meat is not suitable for my constitution."

Yeon had to be puzzled by Jin-pal and Gun-gil, who gave up meat to me as if it was natural.

Yeon looked at Hwan suspiciously for the last time.

"I am thinking of going vegetarian today. haha."

Hwan smiled brightly and replied.

Yeon thought.

'Humans are very special.'

She said she wouldn't eat it, but she had no reason to recommend anything else.

I had no idea that everyone was voluntarily or intentionally considering it for a kite that would eat meat for the first time in a while.

Yeon started to open the spoon again. She emptied the remaining pheasant meat to the floor. I was already eating well enough, but while receiving support from Hwan, who told me to eat better.

* * *

It was a moonlit evening.

After dinner, Yeon sat down on the floor with her belly full and even ate Hallabong from Hwan. Hwan took it out from under the sleeve, saying that Jinpal had just hidden it in his luggage.

Hwan put all the peeled Hallabong into Yeon's mouth without putting a single bite in his mouth.

'When spring comes after winter, I will pick peaches.'

It was a truly perfect day.

After taking care of dessert, Hwan politely withdrew, saying, "Now, stop going in and rest." I wondered if the three men could sleep in a really small room, but the three of them went into a small room.

'I thought the servants were only suffering, but now that I see them, they all have a lot of money.'

If wolf tails were like human servants, there would be nothing to be sad about.

Yeon's misunderstanding about humans only deepened.

Yeon went to the water jar and washed herself thoroughly before entering the large room.

In the room, there was already a blanket on the floor when Hwan visited.

No matter how you look at it, it seems that the first person is the second person, but Hwan behaves as if this is so natural that he is confused again.

'Anyway, he must be a good person.'

The fireplace was hot, and the duvet was dry in the sun during the day to remove mold, so it was quite soft. In addition, after a long time, I ate until I was full, so I fell asleep.

Before living with Hwan, Yeon did not know how to turn off the stove, so she squatted in the shape of an animal on a pile of grain in the warehouse and went to sleep. She was a little cozier and warmer that way. But now there was no such luxury.

As her eyes closed, Yeon suddenly remembered the sachet.

'When can I remove it?'

It was uncomfortable to have a stuffy nose, and it was cumbersome to fill incense every time. She even thought about taking it off subtly while sleeping.

'no. But it's still dangerous.'

The estrus of the kite was very close. It seemed like it would explode within a month.

If you don't wear the sachet, the scent of horned cloves will bloom all over your body and attract male beasts from all over the mountain.

Even a large stray male who sniffed his horns could be dangerous if he came and ran into Hwan's party.

After all, humans have neither claws nor fangs.

It was a kite that believed that Hwan and the others were human.

Yeon decided to kick the sachet harder, worried about the three strong men sleeping in a small room. Had he heard Yeon's decision, he could not have imagined that Hwan would have stopped it with his devastating force.

'They are like benefactors. I can't let other beasts change me.'

It was a rather unique reason, Yeon thought to herself.

This is the reward of the beast. Well, then.

Yeon thought, not even dreaming of it, that if Hwan could steal the sachet, he would be the man who could steal the liver of the housewife.

'Why? I feel more relieved to think that I am not alone in this thatched house, even though I am a complete stranger.'

Nothing had changed in the thatched house, but Yeon felt comfortable that three more people had entered. Not just herd animal instincts, Yeon is starting to feel like family to her real Hwan party.

'I'm not alone this winter.'

Yeon thought as she relaxed her eyes.

Somehow, it felt like the warmth of the ondol was spreading to every corner of my heart.

* * *

"Oh, hey! Get out of the way! It's still narrow... !"

"Brother, take your arms off my face. I cannot sleep."

"Jinpal. Gun Gil-ah. If you don't want both of you to be kicked out naked in the middle of winter, shut up and go to sleep."

"… … ."

"… … ."

There were three men, the size of a tiger, in a small, narrow room.

At least, Hwan was seated on the side of the wall close to the large room, his arms folded and his eyes closed politely. She was struggling to find a place to lie down next to her, with her tall arms and long legs bent over.

"I remember the times when I was crying and needing milk in my mother's den, sleeping together like this. How nice it is."

"Hey!"

"what? hee hee... ?"

"I like it so much. suck, sir... !"

Jin-Pal wept at Hwan's ax eye and replied by eating mustard.

"If you don't like it, go out and sleep. never dried."

Hwan calmly taught Jinpal.

Jin-Pal kept his mouth shut because he did not want to be homeless even in the body of an animal during this severe winter.

I peeked to the side to see what Gungil was doing.

Sure enough, whether in the form of a beast or a person, he was a carefree military leader who would fall asleep as long as his head touched them.

It was obvious that Hwan would also start snoring soon. Jin-Pal suppressed her resentment and went to sleep, holding back the sound of her sobbing.

Unaware of Jin-Pal's feelings, the moon was bright that day.

There was even a hole in the ceiling of the small room, through which the moonlight streamed in. Hwan, who used to occupy more than a third of the seat by himself and stared at the ceiling with his head resting on his arm, looked at the scene and thought.

'My kite's features are brighter than the moon.'

Even in the dark, the face of the kite I saw during the day shimmered.

'Anyway, I thought only the face was my preference.'

I really liked his diligence in his work, his willingness to learn anything, and his simple yet intelligent personality. At first glance, the tone that seemed cold was only because of the storm, but when you get to know him, you can feel that he has a deep heart.

How do you choose only cute and pretty things?

'I want to get my maid soon.'

Hwan's mouth opened as if saliva would drip.

The hand I held briefly during the day is so small. Shaking off the dust for a moment. The head I stroked was so round. Thinking about it one by one like that, it seemed that the compliments would never end.

'I must have slept all day.'

Hwan laughed at himself and laughed like a madman. His love for kite was deepening with the night.

* * *

Hearing the chirping of birds, Yeon opened his eyes in the morning feeling refreshed for the first time in a long time.

Normally, I would wake up in the cold, but today was different. It was still hot inside the blanket, as if someone had left the stove open all night. There was even sweat on his forehead.

Yeon got up and tidied up the futon.

When I opened the rattling door, I saw a mat someone had left.

'Are you Mr. Hwan... .'

It was the first time Yeon had been treated like this, so he didn't know how to react.

'As expected, Hwan-nim is a strange person.'

After pondering for about a second, Yeon gulped down the water. I wondered if Hwan-nim had poisoned the water he was drinking.

'Cool and sweet.'

It was bizarre. The taste of the water couldn't be that good because the pill floated on it.

Yeon held the water in her mouth and thought.

'If you receive something, you must give something.'

He hurriedly approached the water jar, poured water into three wooden glasses, and set them aside in front of the small door.

'This should work.'

Maybe you haven't woken up yet, but there was a rattling sound from inside.

Kite put a towel on her shoulder with a brisk walk and set off to fetch water for the jar.

Filling the jar with water was what Yeon did every morning.

There was a spring within a few steps from the thatched house. It wasn't far, and the water jar was small, so it filled up quickly after going back and forth a few times.

'Should I increase the number of jars now that the number of family members has increased... .'

Yeon worried and walked in the direction of the water jar he had just visited.

However, there was an unexpected scene there.

The man's broad back was lowering the pot on which he was standing. It wasn't one, it was two.

It was Hwan.

Unknowingly, Yeon stared at Hwan, who was filling the water jar instead of herself.

'You have a lot of power... .'

I thought you must have slept in late. He was a man who didn't sleep in the morning more than I thought.

Hwan, who filled the water jar with the two jars he had brought with him in an instant, exhaled and slowly turned around.

"Are you up now?"

It was as if he already knew that Kite was there. He approached me with a sad smile from the morning.

"I brought a table, but are you still thirsty? Would you like another glass of water?"

"Oh, no… . Not that."

Yeon hesitated.

Originally, people who do such a good job are supposed to raise their boundaries.

When Yeon treated Hwan strangely, I felt that I was a bit withdrawn.

"I can fill that water jar… . It was originally my job."

"ah. I have to take Yeon's work from today. I also thought about adding a couple more water jars as my family has grown anyway."

It seemed that Hwan-nim had already gone through the same worries as me.

Yeon was quickly deprived of work.

At that time, I saw the military road approaching. Like Hwan, he was also carrying a water bottle full of water.

Yeon tried to help him quickly. He wanted to do it at least in the yard where he was deprived of work to do.

"Hey, don't touch me. Then you get hurt."

Hwan quickly dissuaded her from doing so.

Yeon became embarrassed. you can't even do this Losing my job suddenly made me feel worthless.

"But it was my job."

Then, one of Hwan's eyebrows went up.

"Don't you have more things to do, Yeon-nim? I can't make you do such trivial things."

"yes… ?"

what else to do?

Yeon had never heard such a thing. At the same time, her heart dropped.

'As expected, he did a good job because he had something to do.'

Yeon swallowed dry saliva.

The vigilance that seemed to have been released in a hwan-limit suddenly soared again.

What's going on? Surely it wasn't a gang of swindlers who said they would sell it somewhere after feeding it well for a night.

All kinds of thoughts ran through Yan's head.

'Should I run away now... .'

Yeon glanced away, looking for a way to escape.

However, Hwan silently left the filling of the jar to Gun-gil and held Yeon's hand tightly.

Kite was startled, but the grasp was so strong that he could not shake it off.

"Yeon-nim, come here."

Hwan brought Yeon home and sat him on the courtesy floor. And with a serious expression, he said it all.

"Ego… . do it."

Yeon suddenly opened her mouth as the shape of Hwan's mouth told her to. Like yesterday, it was a reflexive reaction now.

"iced coffee… ."

Then something popped into his mouth.

When I chewed it, it was sweet. It was dried persimmon.

"Yeon-nim, please eat it and sit down. It is very important."

Hwan smiled and smiled softly. Then she turned her back to try to fill the water jar again.

Yeon opened her mouth and almost dropped the dried persimmon. Of course she didn't drop it. It was a kite that never dropped food.

Yeon sent a wish and thought blankly.

What a strange man.

He smiles whenever he sees me, a snack comes out of his hand, and he rests when he opens his mouth.

'My heart is itching... .'

Strangely, Yeon kept feeling like a bug was crawling around her heart. This feeling intensified, especially every time Hwan-nim acted so tenderly in front of her eyes.

After thinking about it, Yeon came to this conclusion.

'I think it's because I ate something sweet in the morning.'

Yeon remembered what Grandma Soon-yi had said about not being too accustomed to human food. She also thought that there was nothing wrong with what the elders said.

* * *

After Hwan filled the water jar, he sent Gungil hunting.

"Once again, I am better at hunting. However, I have a lot to teach Yeon, so I decided to stay at home."

Hwan repeated this to Yeon several times.

"It is not a lie, it is truly true. I'm really good at hunting, Mr. Yeon."

Meanwhile, Hwan kept looking at Gun-gil with a disapproving expression. Gun-gil smoked a different chung with ignorance.

"Yes. Of course, Mr. Hwan."

Yeon gave a rough answer. His tone was polite, but there was an indifference that could not be hidden.

In fact, she was preoccupied with anticipating what Gungil would hunt again today.

'Why do you keep boasting that you're good at hunting?'

Yeon thought that Hwan was playing a prank on me as usual.

I never knew in my wildest dreams that I was jealous of the interest in Gungil. Even though Yeon is really interested in the prey he will catch, not the military path.

"Then, I will go."

Gungil shook his head once with a blunt expression and left.

Yeon said to Gun-gil, who was going hunting, in the sense of cheering.

"Deer meat is delicious at this time of year!"

It was never a burden to come to hunt deer. Of course, I'd be happy if you really caught it.

Seeing this, Hwan rubbed his chin with a dissatisfied expression.

"Looking at it now, it seems that Yeon-nim doesn't listen to others very well. Well, she is something that often happens to women who are elegant and even smart like Yeon."

Yeon, who seemed to have everything perfect, also had one drawback.

The point was that even if you were weak to eat right away, you were too weak. When it came to food, he didn't really listen to anything else. Could it be because I've been starving lately? My obsession with food was a bit different.

Hwan decided to understand.

The fact that there are not too many flaws is humane, no, isn't it wolfish?

'This way and that way, it's just that you're cute. It's better to eat well and be healthy than to be sluggish because you don't eat well. Cancer, then.'

Hwan has already made up his mind to love everything about Yeon like a saintly gentleman.

However, I felt that I had to correct the habit of constantly looking at males other than myself for food.

Hwan muttered again as if talking to himself.

"Huh, great. I'm really good at hunting... ."

I didn't want it to be like this. Hwan thought about what to do.

Gungil departed and Yeon was again led by Hwan's hand and sat down on the floor. Another dried persimmon lingered in his mouth.

"Now, if you sing it again, I'll give you another dried persimmon. Who is better at hunting?"

Hwan waved dried persimmons in front of Yeon's eyes and waited for an answer.

"Ha-Han."

Yeon answered while munching the dried persimmon in her mouth.

To be honest, he was a bit annoying to me for continuing to be persistent even though I knew it. No matter how benevolent he was, troublesome things were troublesome. Why do you keep saying the same thing over and over again?

However, when Yeon saw dried persimmons coming out of Hwan's sleeve, she changed her mind. I thought I couldn't even say a word.

"As for Sanang, Han-nim grows more."

Yeon chanted several times while chewing on dried persimmons that spread in her mouth.

After completing the injection training, Hwan looked at the kite with a pensive face and sighed.

"great. Whoa. I have to go hunting for a cow sometime, this is really... . Are you weak with food?"

Yeon Eun-hwan did not understand why Hwan was so worried.

It was true that Gun-Gil, who was good at hunting, looked great, but Yeon thought that Hwan, who was proudly sitting on such a Gun-Gil, was also a great person.

'It's okay since Hwan-nim is good at everything else.'

Of course, I never knew that Hwan somehow made an excuse to feed me dried persimmons.

Hwan made Yeon sit on the floor again and started working on something else.

"Will you chop firewood?"

"Ah, yes. When the snow starts to fall, this work becomes arduous, so you have to do it in advance."

Looking at it now, even though Hwan was smirking, he was secretly sincere.

Hwan set the kite comfortably and started chopping firewood like a small iron.

Year, I couldn't just sit down and eat dried persimmons there, so I peeled the bellflower that I had picked.

After keeping an eye on the plants humans often eat, he saved them whenever he saw them in the mountains. But I didn't know how to eat, so I had to ask Hwan.

"If you eat bellflower sliced ​​thinly with ginger and marinated with honey or taffy, it is perfect in winter. Hot bellflower ginger honey tea on a snowy day."

Hearing Hwan's words and imagining them, Yeon's mouth watered.

honey. Honey is delicious even if you lick it with a wolf's snout. If you eat it with the mouth of a human with a developed sense of taste, how amazing will the taste be?

"If you melt ice in a pot and make tea, it tastes so good. We will do it later."

Hwan made another promise.

This time, he even held out his finger to say that we should do it together. Yeon wanted something like that.

Then Hwan smiled and put Yeon's little finger on my little finger.

"It is a token of promise."

Hwan put her finger on mine and pressed it hard.

learn something new from him

When Hwan's tall smiling face was added, Yeon's heart started beating again.

Yeon thought.

'As expected, I must have eaten too many sweet dried persimmons in one day.'

Hwan taught them how to open bellflowers one by one. He also demonstrated a few times. After seeing it, it wasn't difficult, and Yeon immediately started peeling the bellflower with her skilled hands. He was thinking of trimming the ginger as well after peeling the whole sack.

Hwan smiled and said, "Let's do dipping in honey together later." Yeon said he would know because he didn't know how to do it anyway.

After that, it continued to be work.

Yeon sat on the floor and took a mouthful of the dried persimmons that Hwan handed her from time to time and peeled bellflowers. Hwan glanced at the kite and cut firewood.

"Your small and fine hands are very good at picking bellflowers."

Yeon wanted to advise me to see if the ax was chopping the firewood properly, not his foot, while I was handling it, but I held back.

'It looks a bit scary to see him holding an ax and smiling like that.'

However, apart from Yeon's concern, the ax in Hwan's hand cut through the tree very well. The beat even made me crazy. Well, he was good at everything.

In fact, I also glanced at the ring while opening the bellflower. It wasn't intentional.

Every time the exposed tendons and muscles of the ring wriggled as if they were going to break with the firewood, the eyes bizarrely turned to it. Eyes move randomly, but can it be called a kite?

'Hmmmm. Even a human man can look cool.'

It was the first time. I thought the human body was so cool.

The tall height and elongated limbs move dynamically, which is different from the body of the beast I usually see, and it came to me in a different and colorful way.

"The day is cold, but I put on my body and it feels hot."

He suddenly spoke, and Yeon lowered her eyes in surprise.

It wasn't intentional, but it seemed like I had been stealing away from him.

But suddenly, something unexpected happened. Isn't Hwan licking his upper lip?

'… … !'

The hand knife fell from Yeon's hand as he was opening the bellflower.

Yeon opened her eyes wide. I looked at the upper body of her man spreading out in front of her eyes.

He turned his neck from side to side and moved his arms as if to warm up.

"Oh, never mind. Sweaty... ."

Hwan twisted his waist from side to side and trembled. Every time he moved, at first glance, the muscles that were brushing between his collar were revealed.

He was a big human man, I thought, but when I saw him in person, his body was trained with muscles comparable to that of an animal. Above all, the abdominal muscles that seemed to have been dug out by someone with a knife were carved into her stomach. oh my god.

"Chu, aren't you cold!"

Unknowingly, Yeon lowered her head as if she had sunk her head into a balloon flower tube and shouted.

It was strange. Do humans normally wear their tops even in winter like that? Not even having hair.

"Yeon-nim, hot or cold everything depends on this mindset."

Hwan replied with a chuckle. It was revealed that his abdominal muscles were folded in half as he bent down to stand up the fallen piece of wood. Yan's gaze, seeing it, followed him as if possessed again. Oops, I quickly laid my eyes down again. My heart beat randomly.

throbbing.

For some reason, it felt like my earlobes were burning. When she put her hand to her ear, it was sure to be hot.

'Why am I saying this?'

Hwan, not knowing how he felt about the relationship, continued to open his mouth with a friendly smile.

"If you train your mind and body appropriately at the right time, you won't be cold even with your top covered in the middle of winter like me… Etch!"

I'll be happy Yeon unknowingly moved the bellflower tube away from Hwan's sneeze.

"This isn't it."

Hwan also seemed to be a little surprised, and his inner feelings came out.

Then it is. Liu slowly glanced at Hwan. There's no way it won't be cold in this weather.

Yeon suddenly let go of her pretense, as if she had been fascinated by Hwan's animal-like physical beauty. Even so, she pictured in her mind again the abs that looked like a picture earlier. It was strange how his heart trembled.

Hwan is also true. There was a surprisingly empty corner. If at first he was just a scary but somehow kind man, the more he looked at her now, the more he discovered an unexpected side of him.

Yeon was gradually becoming comfortable with the man named Lee Hwan. To be honest, I went crazy. she didn't like it This man who keeps flirting with me in front of me.

Hwan smiled shyly and put on his clothes again.

"It is a body that once trained while being bathed in waterfalls that were colder than frost. Cool."

"Yes, yes. You will."

Yeon narrowed her eyes and handed the cloth to Hwan. And then, without realizing it, he was startled.

Oops, I wanted to. Unbeknownst to me, it was an original speech habit.

'Did I tell you not to be too bubbly?'

I was terrified. No matter how much I started to feel comfortable with Hwan, he was still my benefactor. He was a man no different from the owner of a kite living in this thatched house.

Even in Rang's group, she had been in trouble with other females a few times because of her unfriendly and inconsiderate personality.

Maybe that's why, from a young age, Yeon was more comfortable in a relationship of top-down. Of course, I was able to forcefully fit in between the haha ​​and hoho. But he didn't last long, so I used to have time alone again.

Yeon looked nervously at Hwan.

'What if he gets angry?'

I was scared. I'm afraid that Hwan will threaten me with the ax that he used to chop wood. If it was Lang, he would definitely have done that. That she clambered up to me, her sister and her chief.

"Thank you, Mr. Yeon."

However, Hwan politely accepted the cloth I handed over. And with that, he puffed and blew his nose. He turned it over and wiped the sweat on his forehead with the other side.

ah. Yan blinked his eyes.

You are not angry.

The fear of being kicked out disappeared without a trace. I was afraid that he would change his cold expression right away and neglect me. There is no such sign. Even if he just made a scary expression with that big size, everyone would lower their tail on their own, but there was no sign of that.

'… … thank god.'

A sense of relief came over me. At the same time, I also laughed a little.

Yeon spoke in a voice full of laughter.

"What if you wipe your sweat with the cloth you wiped your nose with?"

"Ah, I will wash my hands and face before entering the room. I will not defile the house."

Somehow, the polite answer came back.

Yeon looked at Hwan blankly, surprised to see if he was serious.

Hwan looked at me with a soft smile on his lips. If that face wasn't sincere, Yeon seemed to be able to do that even if he held the knife in his hand in reverse and cut the bellflower.

Yeon felt strange for nothing. It's confusing, and it's good. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like a cloud.

'It's strange. Why are you doing this?'

The cause must have been because of this kind person in front of me.

"Whoa, it's almost over. After cutting all the firewood, I have to help Yeon-nim and I get food to eat throughout the winter."

At a glance, his chopping of firewood was already in sight.

"… Please."

Yeon replied calmly. It was a voice that, at first glance, seemed to be intimidating.

Since it happened like this, I decided to treat Hwan with my personality. I didn't want to forcefully decorate myself in front of Hwan. Then, he glanced at Hwan's eyes. I was afraid of making a mistake twice.

Somehow, the corners of Hwan's mouth went up after hearing Yeon's answer. Somehow, it seemed that Hwan also liked my reaction as it was.

'thank god.'

Yeon thought to herself. In fact, my heart shrank a little. It was fortunate that he didn't hate me for pretending to be arrogant about not having anything.

Yeon didn't hate Hwan to hit her like this. I was nervous and, to be honest, it was good. She had felt it before, but Yeon-eun Lee-hwan was starting to like her man more and more.

'Really, why am I like this?'

In the aftermath of seeing Hwan's naked body earlier, her slightly reddened cheeks became hot again. Yeon quickly cooled her skin with her cold hands.

'What's wrong with being close with the landlord?'

Yeon made an excuse for nothing.

Hwan, who had finished organizing the firewood, hurriedly approached. Seeing Yeon's red cheeks, she hurriedly tidied up her balloon flower basket.

"Come on, let's go inside. My cheeks are already red."

Yeon did not even know in her wildest dreams that Hwan misunderstood me as being cold and deliberately rushed to chop wood.

'It's not because it's cold... .'

Yeon pretended not to win and thought as she followed him into the room.

The two entered the room side by side and sat down huddled together and began trimming bellflowers.

Hwan kept his promise. Before he entered the room, he thoroughly washed his hands and face with water. Seeing Hwan keep his promise, Yeon felt her breasts react abnormally once again.

While working, the conversation continued to overflow in the room. Most of them were Hwan's jokes and Yeon's giggles. Then there were times when we stopped talking, but strangely, it was comfortable without a word.

The two of them peeled the bellflower, which had already opened more than half of the kite, and peeled the ginger. Then it was the turn of the greens and vegetables.

Dried dried radish, bracken, pumpkin, and radish were subdivided into small pieces and woven together with straw.

Hwan chopped firewood well and trimmed vegetables well. In Yan's eyes, there was nothing he couldn't do. He was a man with very good hands.

"that… . You don't do it badly."

I was going to praise him, but maybe it was because I was not in the habit of doing it. Then, in the end, the sound of doing it came out hateful.

Yeon spit out those words and wanted to punch me in the mouth.

'Eww, if I speak softly.'

Still, as soon as Hwan heard Yeon's words, he smiled brightly.

"Maybe it's because I heard Yeon-nim's compliment, my heart is pounding."

Yeon was dazed again for a moment. Somehow I immediately understood the words I had heard for the first time in my life.

You're saying that this kind of feeling makes your heart thump.

I'm sure you're talking about the feeling of bugs crawling in my heart.

In any case, Yeon found out that Hwan and I share similar feelings. In this way, she felt very close to him again.

But it was strange. I thought that the closer I got to Hwan, the more comfortable I would feel, but on the contrary, I felt more uncomfortable. It was as if someone had put firewood in his chest. It was like being stabbed with a needle.

Yeon was only now realizing little by little. That these feelings are not because of dried persimmons.

Yan's heart felt a little frustrated.

'You're crazy, you. against humans.'

Yeon muttered inwardly.

For a long time, I was silently shaking my hands, but Hwan suddenly said this.

"Let's boil soup with this later."

Again, it was a promise.

Do you have a lot of things to do together like that? can you do it all

"great. Do that, Mr. Hwan."

But, expecting that again, Yeon nodded.

Maybe it was because of that promise, Yeon thought.

What if Hwan leaves without keeping all those promises? If that were the case, somehow, Yeon seemed to be a little sad.

After spending half a day tinkering with vegetables like that, the two straightened their slumped backs.

"Oh, by the way, I have something to show you."

Suddenly, Hwan's eyes lit up as he looked at the kite.

"What is it?"

"Just follow me."

Hwan took Kite to the warehouse. Again, I grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

Cham-hwan grabbed Yeon's hand as if it were his own.

It was a bit embarrassing to look at others, but since Gungil was also out hunting and Jinpaldo was not around, I thought so. To be honest, it was big and warm, so it felt good.

After arriving at the warehouse, Hwan did not let go of Yeon's hand and pointed out the items piled up in the warehouse and explained it.

"That is fermented soybean paste, and that is jujube cheong. also… ."

Now that I see it, everything I thought was abandoned in the warehouse was stored food.

Hwan's expression brightened when he discovered something at that time.

"found. This one. I was going to show you this."

Hwan took something out from the dark corner of the warehouse.

"This is the most precious thing here."

Then Hwan suddenly made a spleen expression. He whispered softly into Kite's ear. Yeon felt a pleasant goosebumps rising from his warm breath in his ears.

"Gun-gil and Jin-pal secretly soaked him. I'm just giving Yeon-nim a special notice."

Kite sniffed. Even if my nose was blocked by the sachet, I could still smell the sour scent.

Hwan raised a jar in front of Yeon with a sincere attitude, as if taking out an orb.

"It's raspberry liquor."

"… Bokbunja liquor?"

Hwan made a very profound expression.

"yes. It's a very precious thing, but I can't bear to explain why it's precious... . It's something like that anyway."

Hwan's expression as he explained seriously was somehow reminiscent.

Come to think of it, one day Daegwang and other young males went down the mountain in human form and stayed up all day before returning. At that time, one of the group found him lying in the shape of a wolf at the entrance of the mountain, drunk and drunk.

Yeon replied with a serious expression.

"ah… ! It is this that weakens the mind and produces pathologies such as delirium... ."

"yes. as soon as… ."

"Is it poison?"

Hwan's eyes widened at Yeon's words.

There seemed to be some misunderstanding.

"Huh… . It's true, Yeon-nim's words aren't wrong... ."

Then he stroked his chin and muttered something very troubling.

Yeon guessed Hwan's attitude and hurriedly removed his hand from the bottle.

I remembered what Grandma Suni had told me not to touch poison like that.

"But I can't say that this is poison… ."

Hwan stroked Yeon's chin as if looking at her, then muttered.

"Alcohol makes the average person feel good."

Yeon blinked her eyes.

"People feel… . Do you think it will make you feel better?"

"yes. very good."

Hwan continued.

"Rather than a poison that weakens the mind and produces pathologies such as delirium… . As if riding on a cloud, it makes you enjoy a mysterious feeling that you don't know whether it's a dream or real life... . It is close to the dew of immortals."

Yeon narrowed her eyes.

"Is it the dew of the gods?"

Hwan smiled mischievously at Yeon.

That face seemed to be testing me.

Before I knew it, Hwan's face was right in front of me. She felt her heart throb for no reason.

"Would you like to try it?"

The expression on his face as he suggested it looked very sinister.

Yeon took a step backwards involuntarily.

"I am… . It seems fine."

"no way. You don't even try."

It's bitter, he clicked his tongue. Yeon thought for a moment that his face looked very handsome.

"How are you? How, would you like to share a drink with me tonight?"

Hwan took one step closer to me. The two of them got so close that their noses almost collided. Their eyes met, and their eyes turned to their tightly closed lips.

'gulp… .'

Yeon swallowed a dry saliva. Her heart was beating like crazy.

A human man is pushing his face this close, but why doesn't he think of avoiding it... .

"Whoa-am-!"

It was then. Jinpal yawned as he walked out of the small room with a gurgling sound.

"… Sipal."

At the same time, Yeon opened her eyes.

'Did you just curse?'

There must have been something rude coming out of Hwan's mouth. It's also an incredibly savory curse.

It must be my misunderstanding. Kite dismissed it as unimaginable and quickly gave up his thoughts. To be gentle and carefree, it was no better than a thousand-year-old Imoogi. Of course, it was from Yeon's point of view.

Sure enough, Hwan quickly managed his expression and smiled brightly at Kite.

"Jinpal bird… . No, I think he woke up. Let's postpone our good times until later."

He said something bitterly with a grinning expression.

As he turned to Jin-Pal, his shoulders looked somewhat droopy.

'I was curious about the taste... .'

As he followed him, he secretly thought that Yeon was a bit sad.

'What about this? It looks like I'm going to fall for a human being like this.'

Yeon, who mistakenly mistook Hwan for a human being, was discouraged.

Even so, her heart was still beating like a little bird.

* * *

Jin-Pal seemed to have had a hard time sleeping last night.

Yeon glanced at Jinpal's pale face.

For some reason, I thought it was my fault for occupying the large room last night, and my conscience pricked me a little.

"Leave it there. It comes back to life when it's time to eat anyway."

Hwan said that it was all his karma and blocked Yan's gaze towards Jin-Pal with his body.

"Please look at me one more time when you have time to put it in his eyes."

Yeon ignored that and said to Jinpal.

"I put the water on. Please eat."

Hwan's eyes lit up when he discovered that Yeon had left three glasses in front of the small room in the morning.

"Oh, if I knew this would happen, I would have slept in too. What if a person with a cute face is cute too?"

Because of Hwan's injector, Yeon wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

Why does this man show so much interest in whatever I do?

I drank all three cups while clearing my nose in a very comfortable position, as if Jin-Pal had decided to stop hanging out with Yeon during the night. I didn't forget to hum a song on the street titled "Good Year". For some reason, as soon as Hwan heard the song, he punched Jinpal in the head. After that, he became as quiet as a lie.

Not long after Jinpal happened, Gungil also returned from hunting.

The game this time was four quails.

Seeing Yan's eyes unmistakably return to the prey, Hwan quickly grabbed her.

"Hmmmm."

And he cleared his throat like someone who had something to catch up on.

ah. Yeon saw one of his eyebrows go up and quickly thought of something.

"… Hwan-nim is better at hunting."

Hwan smiled contentedly and opened the way to Quail. Only then was Yeon able to receive quail from Gungil and trim it.

Gungil also brought quail eggs. Hwan taught them how to cook side dishes by boiling quail meat and eggs in soy sauce.

Dinner that night was jangjorim, cooked with rice and soy sauce. It was also served with wild vegetables that the two of them trimmed together throughout the day.

This time, the three young men did not touch the spoon before the kite opened one spoon first.

Yeon just thought it was going to be like that now. He thought it was enough to do as they were comfortable with.

Yeon took a large spoonful of smoky rice and topped it with quail sauce. put it in your mouth all at once.

'wow. I feel like crying.'

It was delicious too. It wasn't just delicious, it was awesome.

In the midst of internal admiration, Gungil and Jinpal rushed to the rice. As usual, Hwan watched Yeon eat his meal happily as usual, and began to eat slowly, one drink at a time.

The freshly cooked rice was fluffy. The side dishes were also salty, so there was nothing better.

Hwan brought a bowl of water to Yeon who was choking while eating and said.

"I should be able to use soybean paste by next week. Let's eat it with siraegit soup."

Jinpal stood beside him.

"I want to pick some mushrooms tomorrow. We have to get rid of everything left before it snows."

"I saw wild boar footprints on the way. It's been a long time since I've been able to eat pork."

Gungil also mumbled as he ate two bowls.

Since the four of us ate, the food we had stored quickly ran out. However, as the four of us started working again, the warehouse began to fill up quickly.

'It's strange.'

Yeon thought as she ate three bowls of rice.

'Even though I eat so much every day, I get full quickly.'

It was something I could never have imagined when I was preparing for a winter day by myself. The workers working together were so important.

At the end, everyone poured water on the nurungji and finished it off with boiled porridge.

"Keep it off."

Everyone sat on the floor and bounced their feet, but Jin-pal burped.

"Ugh, if I only eat vegetables, I burp like this."

Yeon thought of Jinpal as a strange man.

If you eat meat you get diarrhea and if you eat vegetables you burp. So, what the heck should I eat on a regular basis?

"Old man, Jin-Pal is the son of this dirty dog. Yeon is here."

When Hwan confronted Jin-pal, Yeon responded quickly.

"I am okay."

I couldn't daunt the precious worker who would be picking mushrooms tomorrow. Yeon had thoughts.

However, upon hearing that, Hwan pursed his lips.

"Seeing this, Yeon-nim is more kind to the other two guys than me."

"yes?"

Yeon was dumbfounded. More than that, I was embarrassed to hear that I was kind to someone for the first time.

"yes… ?"

Jinpal also looked at Hwan with wide eyes, as if wondering who was kind to whom. He said that if there was anything wrong with Jin-Pal, it was the fact that he was here with him.

Anyway, I was so afraid of jealousy. Kill all the wolves.

Yeon opened her mouth with a hint of resentment.

"Who do you think I was kind to? Jinpal-nim is a worker who will pick mushrooms. And Gungil-nim has been able to properly hear his voice. Then it was awkward, so I just... ."

As I made excuses, my voice diminished. It was awkward to talk about my inner feelings.

'To Hwan-nim, it's just... It's because I feel most comfortable.'

Yeon was originally like that. If it's awkward and I don't like it, I've been more polite for no reason. Part of it was because I didn't want to get caught, and I drew a line from the beginning because I was afraid that if I lost, the end would be worse.

As a result, he behaved bluntly to Hwan, who was comfortable with him, as usual, and trembled with all sorts of petty remarks. It wasn't because I wanted to, it just happened naturally.

From a young age, she was hit by her older sister Rang and was hit by other cubs, so she learned how to yield and give up. She lived the life of a torso caught in the middle, then down to her tail.

Acting like me, not me, was my daily routine. Be patient, run away and avoid.

Then, when I was with Hwan, I felt like I was only Yeon myself. I became more honest and expressed myself clearly.

Not a good wolf, not a good wolf. As an ordinary female who wants to take care of herself and profit.

'hot… .'

I was ashamed of myself for suddenly thinking about this with the ring in front of me.

'So what are you really trying to do?'

Yeon self-helped and blamed herself. Why do you feel the heart of love for humans?

It is not an illusion. It was a clear feeling of longing. It's not just a joke like dried persimmons.

'It's not another beast, but it's a human... .'

It was a huge misunderstanding about Hwan, but Yeon didn't even know it. So her troubles were bound to deepen with each passing day.

Yeon turned her head away from the hwan.

At that time, Hwan, who was examining Yeon's expression, suddenly started to tremble with a loud voice.

"I know, Yeon. I know everything. I know it's because I'm comfortable with it. I'm so handsome, but I'm kind and comfortable, so what if my kite falls for me?"

The kite was hot. Because what this man spits out as a joke is all true.

How can this man know my heart so well? As if all you had to do was read an open book.

"What are you so worried about?"

Hwan looked at me and smiled. A smile like the pure blue autumn sky filled his face.

"You can marry Lee Hwan."

he said in a playful voice.

As if what I said was correct. As if only you could choose Yeon.

Beside him, Gungil was dozing with his arms crossed, his head propped up as if Jinpal was starting again, but he wondered what it would be like.

Yan's heart was really leaning.

Maybe it's because I've been slowly permeating from the moment I saw him in the first place.

Even though I already know that there is no turning back. Maybe from the time when I was blushing every time I saw him.

Hwan came to Yeon. His big hand grabbed Yeon's hand again and dragged her. Hwan's hot index finger and thumb wrapped around Yeon's red nose from the cold.

Yan's lips parted blankly.

"It is very red. Is it cold? Shall we go in now?"

he smiled kindly.

Yeon bit her molars tightly. I wanted to hide my feelings.

I couldn't make eye contact for some reason, but Hwan grabbed her hand and pulled her.

Hwan murmured as they entered the room together.

"I hope it snows soon."

"yes? Why?"

Yeon didn't understand that kind of fantasy.

The only time I had good eyes was when I was a baby, but now I thought it was just a nuisance falling from the sky.

When it snows, there is less to eat and the cold gets colder. Besides, when the cold, white snow piled up, my feet got sore and it was difficult to even walk.

Hwan replied. His cool answer burst out with breath.

"If snow comes quickly, winter will pass quickly and spring will come again."

Yeon thought that it was a wonderful answer.

Hwan turned his head and looked at the kite, smiling brightly.

"I want to greet spring with Yeon-nim as soon as possible."

Yeon paused for a moment. I thought it was difficult.

Let's welcome spring together.

He is a person who likes promises. The promises made together increased again. What if you can't keep it?

But I didn't like it. The weather is gradually freezing towards midwinter, but Yeon's heart is melting more and more.

wonderfully.