Living with the Dangerous Beast-Chapter 9: Start to Act

「It’s strange... I clearly saw the monk coming in here. Didn’t you see it too, Sohwa?」 frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

「Y-yes, let’s get out of here....」

Dohwi didn’t explicitly say the monk was a serpent, but even the simple-minded Sohwa could deduce that much.

It was odd how the appearance of the monk seemed untouched by the passing decades, but if he truly was a serpent, it explained a lot.

His manner of speaking and his kind nature made her think he might be a wise, old softshell turtle from a distant, clear river....

But now it became clear that the monk was actually a centuries-old serpent.

Sohwa thereafter limited her visits to the monk. And even during those rare visits, she was never alone; Dohwi always accompanied her.

“Don’t see that phony old monk anymore. He doesn’t help you that much, AND he only makes you anxious.”

“B-But... He’s not that type of person who would lie to us....”

“He’s a SERPENT, Sohwa. Don’t tell me you can really trust a serpent?”

“Dohwi! You shouldn’t speak about the monk like that. Besides... H-He might not actually be a serpent. Maybe we just saw a hallucination... Or we might have just mistaken him with someone else!”

Insisting on not jumping to conclusions without concrete proof, she raised an eyebrow wearing a stern expression on her face.

Dohwi sighed at her unwavering trust in the monk.

“I’m just worried. He might eat you up any day.”

His blunt, chilling statement made Sohwa’s eyes widen. But that was it. Her trust in the monk of Ogyeam was still deep and unshakable.

“Our monk is a disciple of the great monk of Taeryong Mountain. He would never do such a horrid thing.”

Sohwa mentioned someone that Dohwi knew well, which made him chuckle for a moment.

Luckily, he quickly masked his expression, and Sohwa, failing to catch Dohwi’s ill-mannered expression, hurried her steps home.

“The monk is a good person. Don’t think badly of him.”

After that, Dohwi never mentioned the monk of Ogyeam again.

Yet he also didn’t bother trying to hide his displeasure regarding Sohwa’s near-loyal trust towards the monk.

Still, it was quite natural for Dohwi to question Sohwa’s nearly unconditional trust since he didn’t know what had transpired between the monk and Sohwa before his arrival.

“Hmm... The Great Monk of Taeryong Mountain....”

Dohwi muttered quietly.

“I’d like to meet him someday. Though I doubt he would.”

* * *

It was late in the night. As usual, Dohwi prepared a hearty dinner, watched Sohwa eat, cleared the table, and then set up the bedding in Sohwa’s bedroom.

After arranging the bedclothes, he sat next to Sohwa, gently stroking her head for a long time, as if he had absolutely no intention of leaving until dawn arrives.

The feeling of Dohwi’s large hand, big enough to cover her entire head, was quite pleasant, so Sohwa didn’t bother to push him away. If she closed her eyes like this, sleep would soon follow.

“Goodnight, Sohwa.”

“Mm-hmm.”

His act of leaning in deeply to kiss her cheek was filled with unmistakable affection.

Dohwi watched for a moment as Sohwa closed her eyes.

Once her breathing became even, he extinguished the candle and left the room.

It had been quite a while since Dohwi had started to look after Sohwa until she went to sleep.

Sohwa had always thought Dohwi was dutifully repaying the kindness she had shown by taking care of him.

But today, every action from Dohwi felt suspicious, perhaps due to the monk’s words she had heard during the day.

‘Where does he go every night?’

She had seen Dohwi a few times leaving the house in the middle of the night when she woke up to use the bathroom.

And whenever she did, Dohwi would return hurriedly, looking like he had been outside.

Even in the darkness, she could see something staining his pants, and he was drenched in sweat, as if he had been running in the mountains.

‘Is he making sure I’m asleep every nightso he could slip out without getting caught...? I need to know what he’s up to.’

The thought that he had forgotten how to return to his original form seemed like a lie. He was probably out hunting alone every night. Dohwi never really liked the food humans ate.

Quietly, Sohwa pulled back the cotton blanket and crawled on her knees to the door, making a small hole in the paper door.

Peeking outside, she saw Dohwi, wearing only thin undergarments, striding out of the gate.

‘Is he really going hunting?’

Sohwa considered following Dohwi but realized it would be impossible to keep up with him on her own. Given her already poor sense of smell, losing him in the mountains would be a disaster.

After all, Mount Yeehwang wasn’t the steepest nor highest mountain out there, but it was still a mountain.

Looking at the silk bedding Dohwi had prepared, Sohwa recalled the monk’s advice from earlier in the day.

‘He said to dig under the cherry tree.’

Since Dohwi would be out until 3 AM, this was the only chance Sohwa had before the ever-attentive and quick-witted Dohwi returned home.

Resolving to act, Sohwa quickly ran to the guest room. It seemed absurd to be doing this in the middle of the night, but her curiosity was unstoppable.