Chapter 83: You’re terrible at this
Since it was the weekend, the hallways were bustling with kids chatting. Unlike last time, stealing something openly wasn’t an option.
Even if my head wasn’t working right due to the heat cycle, I wasn’t careless enough to make such a basic mistake. The accident with the spirit? That doesn’t count—I didn’t know what I was dealing with.
And I did fix it, didn’t I? Doesn’t matter how the process went, as long as the result was good.
I casually walked into Dogeon’s room as if it were my own. Yeonho, perched in his little nest, was grooming his fur. The moment he saw me enter, he leapt into the air in shock.
Ouch. It kind of stung to see him so openly afraid of me.
Dogeon, meanwhile, was still sound asleep. Since I hadn’t woken him today, he seemed to have forgotten how to wake up on his own.
Maybe he stayed up late, but still—he’d been asleep for over nine hours. Humans can survive just fine on 4–5 hours of sleep. Isn’t he overdoing it?
I was about to wake him the usual way—by brushing my tail against his nose—but then I remembered my self-imposed “no physical contact” rule. I stopped myself just before my tail made contact.
“…That was close.”
It’s scary how strong habits can be. I’d only been doing that for about a month, yet my body acted on its own.
Dogeon, the actual subject of my inner conflict, lay sprawled out without a care in the world, completely oblivious to my presence.
I felt ridiculous for worrying about him meeting other girls. A guy snoring away like that wasn’t about to meet anyone.
Hard, scary tasks like meeting girls require getting up early, preparing thoroughly, and psyching yourself up.
“Yeonho. Come here for a second.”
I called out to Yeonho, who had been nervously watching me. His face clearly said, What does she want now? I picked him up and plopped him down on top of Dogeon.
“…Still not waking up. Alright, you can go back now.”
Yeonho gave me a look of pure resentment, but I generously let it slide this time.
Still, no matter how defenseless people are when they sleep, this was excessive. If I had any ill intent, I could’ve done something awful to him, and he wouldn’t even notice.
Wait. I could just pick him up and take him away right now, couldn’t I? He wouldn’t even know.
No, what am I thinking? Kidnapping is a step too far. At most, I could invite him over to my place one day—casually, of course.
“…Hey, wake up.”
I gently tugged at the edge of his blanket, urging him to get up. If I didn’t, he’d probably sleep all day, and I really didn’t want that.
“…Huh? Wait, why are you… not wearing clothes?!”
Seriously? He usually slept fully dressed, so why today, of all days, did he decide to sleep shirtless?
And of course, as if to rub salt in the wound, his body was absurdly well-built. It felt like my sense of male pride was taking a hit.
Feeling an inexplicable sense of defeat, I threw the blanket over his face. Not because I was embarrassed or anything.
I mean, sure, I’m a girl now, but I used to be a guy. There’s no way I’d get flustered or excited over another guy’s body.
The pain in my lower abdomen? That’s just a heat cycle thing. Nothing more.
“…Hoyeon? What time is it?”
Finally deciding to get up, Dogeon groggily asked me the time, still half-asleep and barely processing the situation.
“Ugh…”
“Put some clothes on. Right now!”
I had no interest in his impromptu strip show. He needed to cover up before my brain overheated.
I tossed his clothes onto his face and even turned around out of courtesy.
Just in case, I threw some underwear into the pile. Surely no one actually sleeps completely naked, right? Still, better safe than sorry.
“…Oh, right. Thanks, Hoyeon. That was a close one.”
As I heard the sound of him getting dressed, I muttered complaints about how he was acting like some savage. When he finally said he was done, I turned back around.
And then I noticed.
His underwear wasn’t there.
…
“…Dogeon.”
He must’ve realized what I was about to say because he hastily started explaining himself.
“…You see, sometimes people feel like doing something they wouldn’t normally do. Last night, it was hot, and I thought, Why not try sleeping like this for once? I… uh… forgot you might come in. Sorry.”
I understood perfectly, but somehow, something he said felt even more annoying.
“…You forgot about me. Even though I wake you up every day.”
“Well, uh, I was really sleepy, you know… Haha…”
I almost reached out to grab his head in frustration but stopped myself. Calm down. Be understanding.
“…Fine. It happens. Just don’t do it again, okay?”
“Right, got it.”
I made it clear that his room wasn’t exclusively his private space anymore, then slumped into a chair across the room.
“…By the way, Hoyeon, you seem pretty free today.”
“Huh? I’m busy watching you.”
What does he mean “free”? Watching him is my task right now. He probably just saw me as a bored friend dropping by.
“Oh… I see. Well, I don’t have much to do today either. Want to go somewhere?”
With my green orb gone, I wasn’t in the mood to go outside.
“No. Not today.”
“Alright… Then how about we play a simple game? Sitting around like this is kind of boring.”
Sure, what Dogeon had in mind was probably something simple like rock-paper-scissors or Cham Cham Cham. But when two people get together, even watching leaves roll by can become entertaining, so it didn’t matter.
“…Sounds fine to me.”
“The winner can ask the loser anything they want… How about those rules? Is that okay?”
Oh? He was the one suggesting a wager this time.
Last time, I lost because the heavens decided to play a cruel joke on me. But this time, it was going to be a pure contest of skill, so I was confident.
After all, I’m a beastkin. I have animal instincts, don’t I?
No matter how much of a protagonist he is, there’s no way I’d lose to a mere human. I can predict the flight path of a mosquito; surely, I can guess one of three choices in rock-paper-scissors.
“Are you confident? I’m planning to settle the score from last time.”
“Of course I’m confident.”
Hoho, I liked his boldness. As expected of my—
Wait, no. That’s not what I meant.
…Ugh. My mind’s slowly getting eaten up by my body’s instincts. Maybe I shouldn’t have seen him at all today, like I resolved this morning.
“Hoyeon, are you feeling alright? Your face is kind of red.”
There wasn’t anything wrong with my health, but… maybe my head wasn’t in the best shape.
“No? Not at all! I’m perfectly fine!”
“Alright, let’s start, then.”
He grinned and suggested we begin, fully aware I wasn’t fine. Typical of him.
“Loser takes the blame… Rock-paper…”
I focused all my senses on reading his next move. It was 100% going to be scissors. My instincts told me so.
““Paper!!””
But Dogeon played rock, the same as me. How? It was definitely going to be scissors.
“…A tie.”
Something felt off. I had given it my all, absolutely certain of my instincts. There was no way I could be wrong, so why did we tie? This method had even worked against my black wolf elder brother.
Dogeon, seemingly unfazed, readied himself for the next round with a look of mild disappointment. Hold on. Something’s weird here.
“Dogeon, wait. Something’s wrong…!”
I couldn’t accept the situation. My instincts couldn’t be wrong, and yet this was happening.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re backing out. Are you… scared of losing?”
“…No. Forget it.”
His comment immediately snapped me back to my senses. How could I back down after being accused of chickening out?
“Alright, then. Again. Loser takes the blame…”
“Rock-paper-scissors!”
If my instincts were messed up because of the heat cycle, then I’d just throw out anything at random. My instincts told me he’d play paper this time, but for some reason, I felt like scissors was the right call.
So I played rock, but Dogeon… actually played paper.
“Oh, I won.”
Was he somehow deceiving himself as he played? Or did he know I was relying on instincts? Either way, it was unsettling.
“…So? What’s your question?”
I couldn’t hide my annoyance and answered curtly. Dogeon didn’t seem to care, looking at me with a strangely serious expression.
“Well… this might be a sensitive topic, but Hoyeon, do you not have a heat cycle?”
“…What.”
Neither my body nor my brain could process what he’d just said. Comparing it to human terms, he had basically asked a girl, Do you not get your period?
What the…
A hundred thoughts swirled in my mind, but I couldn’t get a single one out of my mouth. I didn’t even know what I was supposed to say.
After what felt like an eternity of deliberation, I finally managed to utter one word.
“…………No.”