Chapter 11: Tension and Submission

“So, Harang, you think people will find you disgusting?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you think that…?”

She kept asking repeatedly, as if she couldn’t understand.

Again and again.

At this rate, there would be no end.

We were both just stubbornly holding onto our own points of view.

‘Bora probably just has unusual tastes.’

Yoon Bora didn’t understand the standard of what’s considered normal.

Normal aesthetic sense, and normal beauty.

Yoon Bora was already living an extraordinary life.

She had to have an extraordinary sense of things, too.

‘Should I just go along with her for now?’

I wasn’t confident in logically explaining how much of a niche my appearance falls into.

I didn’t have the skill to persuade anyone.

‘…!’

I stroked my chin in thought.

For now, I should just go along with what Yoon Bora thinks.

I didn’t want to get into a never-ending argument with her.

If we both kept insisting on our own views, our relationship would eventually fall apart.

“Bora.”

“Huh?”

“I think I might have been overthinking it.”

“What do you mean?”

I might be wrong.

I implied that to Yoon Bora.

To let her feel like she had won this argument.

“Surely, somewhere out there, there must be someone who likes me.”

People have different tastes.

There had to be someone out there who liked people with tails.

Probably not many, but still.

‘That should be good enough, right?’

I said what I thought Yoon Bora wanted to hear, so this argument should be over in her favor.

She must be satisfied, I thought, as I looked at her.

But her expression didn’t look good.

“Th-that’s not…”

Yoon Bora’s eyes lost focus.

She was looking at me, but it felt like she wasn’t seeing me.

As if she was deep in thought.

Did I say something wrong?

A bit flustered, I called her name.

“Bora?”

“Y-yes?!”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Of course I did, Harang. You’re right. There are so many people in the world!”

Heh.

Yoon Bora awkwardly smiled and patted my head.

‘She didn’t listen to me at all.’

I was the only one being serious.

This is why people shouldn’t be so serious.

I flopped down, exhausted.

“I’m so sleepy. Can I go to sleep?”

“Yeah! Of course!”

I pulled the blanket over myself and lay in bed, looking up at Yoon Bora.

She sat by my bedside and didn’t leave for a long time.

It seemed like it would take a while for me to fall asleep.

Harang, clearly tired, fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Yoon Bora felt a bit guilty, wondering if she had kept her awake for too long.

“Haah…”

With a deep sigh, Yoon Bora gently stroked Harang’s hair as she slept.

She thought back to the conversation they had just had.

—Surely, somewhere out there, there must be someone who likes me.

That one phrase, spoken with resignation, clenched at Yoon Bora’s heart.

As if Harang were saying that there was no one here who liked her.

No, it wasn’t just “as if”—that was surely what she meant.

‘I really do like Harang, though.’

But Harang must not like me.

Yoon Bora felt a little sad.

‘She’s so pretty.’

What could this lovely girl have gone through to make her think she was disgusting?

Yoon Bora couldn’t understand.

Though she couldn’t pry into what had happened to Harang, who was surely the victim of some incident…

‘This must be why her self-esteem is so low.’

Since she thought of herself as disgusting, it was natural for her to fear people’s gaze.

She probably believed that her every action would repulse others.

That’s why she might have found more joy in being alone.

When no one was around to judge her.

‘Don’t rush things.’

Time and understanding will eventually help.

“Alright then.”

Yoon Bora gently moved Harang’s pillow and slid her own knee under Harang’s head.

Harang’s ears twitched at the slight disturbance.

“Hehe.”

Smiling, Yoon Bora began to stroke Harang’s ears.

She was trying to smooth out any tangled fur she could find.

But surprisingly, Harang’s ears were well-maintained.

‘I thought she hated washing.’

It turned out she was cleaner than expected.

Feeling a sense of pride, Yoon Bora began cleaning the insides of Harang’s pink ears.

She used her thumb to carefully make sure they were spotless.

‘Mmm…’

After she finished, Yoon Bora looked at her thumb, now carrying Harang’s scent.

‘How can I resist this?’

Giving in to instinct, Yoon Bora brought her thumb closer to her nose.

Sniff, sniff.

Yoon Bora had expected the familiar scent of a kitten.

But to her surprise, it smelled like a fragrant fruit.

“Hm.”

So, this is what she smells like.

It might’ve seemed a little strange, but for someone who loved cute things, it was an irresistible temptation.

No one could resist this.

There was no helping the embarrassment.

“Hehe.”

Yoon Bora smiled shyly, her face blushing.

She wriggled in discomfort, but decided she could stay like this for an hour or so.

As Yoon Bora made that decision,

“Mmm.”

Harang mumbled in her sleep, rubbing her cheek against Yoon Bora’s thigh.

Time passed, and the next day came.

I stood next to Jinhyang like a criminal.

I was waiting for punishment for what had happened yesterday.

But Jinhyang didn’t say anything to me.

She wasn’t even looking at me.

She was just scribbling something with her pen.

‘Sigh.’

It made sense.

She probably didn’t want to speak to a useless person who only caused trouble.

‘Why did they give me this rank in the first place?’

They should’ve just assigned me some trivial tasks.

I glanced at Jinhyang resentfully, then lowered my gaze to her hands.

Since I had nothing else to do, I thought I might as well see what she was writing.

“Don’t look.”

“Yes.”

I quickly bowed my head.

For the next few minutes, all I could hear was the sound of her pen scratching across the paper.

‘What should I do?’

Knowing Jinhyang, I might be standing here for a few more minutes… or even hours.

There was no way my mental endurance could last through that.

It wasn’t so much about my legs hurting, but standing in front of Jinhyang without doing anything was even more torturous.

At this point, I decided to go with a straightforward approach.

Bow my head and apologize.

“I’m sorry.”

At my sudden apology, Jinhyang paused.

She looked up at me from her seat, then placed her pen down.

She tossed it with a little more force than usual.

Thud—

The pen rolled off the desk and fell to the floor.

Hearing the sharp plastic sound, I swallowed nervously without meaning to.

“What are you sorry for?”

Jinhyang said as she stood up.

Now that she was taller than me, I had to tilt my head up to look at her.

The pressure made me take a step back.

“Well, um, I…”

“Don’t stutter.”

“…”

“…”

How could I not stutter in this situation?

She was the one scaring me.

I wanted to protest, but I kept my mouth shut.

Jinhyang was too intimidating to argue with.

As I stayed quiet without saying anything, Jinhyang approached me.

“I told you not to stutter, not to stay silent, didn’t I?”

Thud, thud—

Her footsteps were heavy and intimidating.

Was she coming over to hit me? Startled, I got into a defensive stance, but Jinhyang merely walked behind me.

“Uh, um…”

I turned my head to check on her.

She was reaching toward my tail.

‘Not that…’

Instinctively, I moved my tail to avoid her touch.

That’s when Jinhyang froze in place.

Her body was still, but her eyes rolled in my direction.

Her gaze spoke for her.

‘Give it to me.’

That was probably what she was thinking.

‘Wow, her personality really is the worst…’

I had practiced moving my tail to avoid her, but now I regretted it.

Knowing I had no choice but to submit, I sighed inwardly.

‘Sigh…’

Reluctantly, I moved my tail back into her hand.

The pressure of one of the top three hunters in Korea was immediately applied.

“Eek!”

A strange sound escaped my lips, and I quickly raised my hand to cover my mouth.

How could I make a sound that only a woman would naturally utter?

The embarrassment and confusion made my face flush.

‘W-what was that? Seriously, what was that?’

It didn’t hurt, but the intense sensation left me tearful.

This had to be some kind of curse.

“Haa…”

By now, I had figured it out.

The stronger the pressure on my tail, the more overwhelming that strange sensation became.

Sniffling, I wiped away my tears and kept an eye on Jinhyang.

I feared she might do something else cruel.

But to my surprise, she seemed to have calmed down and walked back to her chair.

“You can’t go out alone anymore. Every time you do, you get into trouble.”

“I’m really sorry.”

I apologized without a hint of defiance.

That weird sensation she’d caused made me feel strangely submissive to her.

Like Pavlov’s dog.

“Well, you’re still an employee, so I have to take care of you.”

With that, Jinhyang pulled out her smartphone and called someone.

“Did you find out who it was? Really? Hmm…”

Her phone conversation only lasted about a minute.

After hanging up, Jinhyang glanced at me and spoke.

“Try not to cause any more trouble.”

“Huh?”

“Go now.”

She waved her hand dismissively.

I stood there, confused, unsure if it was really okay to leave.

I hesitated, backing away slowly as I watched her, but she wasn’t paying attention to me anymore.

‘Is it really fine to go?’

If it was, then I’d better leave.

Just as I reached for the doorknob, Jinhyang suddenly spoke again.

“Leave the broadcast on.”

“What should I change the password to…?”

“Just leave it as is.”

“What if that guy from yesterday comes back?”

I was a bit worried, but since Jinhyang had told me to, I decided that next time I’d kick him out quickly.