Chapter 9:
A low voice in harmony with the tranquil melody flowing through the restaurant gripped Seoha’s heart tightly. As if someone had clamped her lungs shut, her breath caught, and she parted her lips slightly.
Ethan gently pressed down on her lower lip with his thumb. His fingertip brushed her even teeth as he spoke in a whisper.
“I want to sleep with you.”
It was a childish and blatantly obvious attempt at seduction, but strangely, Seoha didn’t hate it.
On the contrary, her body heated up, and her mouth went dry.
‘Did he release pheromones again?’
No, that wasn’t it. There wasn’t a hint of that scent.
This was entirely her body, remembering that night, reacting with anticipation for another.
She must be crazy. Seoha scolded herself internally. She absolutely didn’t want Ethan to notice her current state.
“Move.”
She shoved Ethan roughly, but of course, he didn’t budge easily.
He stood firm like a massive boulder.
Fine, if that’s how he wants to play, I have my ways too.
Crunch.
Seoha stomped on his foot with all her strength.
“…!”
The pain seemed intense—Ethan winced and stepped back. The power of her high heels became evident in that moment.
Seoha didn’t miss her chance and slipped out of his grasp.
And before he could grab her again, she hurried away from the scene.
Practically running, she returned to her seat where Jinwoo looked at her strangely.
“What’s wrong? You look like someone was chasing you.”
“…It’s nothing.”
As she sat down, Seoha glanced behind her. Ethan was nowhere in sight.
At least he wasn’t crazy enough to follow her.
Not that he could be called normal either.
As she caught her breath and drank some water, the food arrived—all of it exactly to Seoha’s taste.
“Oh right, about the thing we were talking about…”
“Oh really?”
The food was delicious, and the conversation with Jinwoo pleasant, but Seoha couldn’t concentrate with Ethan on her mind.
As she kept glancing back, Jinwoo frowned slightly.
“Did something happen on your way back from the restroom?”
…Should I just tell him?
It might be better in case they run into Ethan again. Seoha cautiously began.
“Do you know someone named Ethan Miller?”
Jinwoo’s eyes widened a bit as he looked at her.
“How do you know that name?”
“I happened to find him hurt the other day and treated him.”
“At the animal clinic?”
“Well… something like that?”
It had actually been at her house, but saying that would’ve made Jinwoo flip out, so she made up an excuse.
Jinwoo looked openly displeased.
“What the hell, that guy. Still getting into fights even after coming to Korea.”
“Is he someone you know?”
“Of course I know him. He’s one of our kind, and he’s famous among us.”
Oh, so he’s a wolf beastman too. At least they weren’t enemies—that was some small comfort.
“What’s he famous for?”
“Looks, for one, but also for his violent personality. Even his clan’s elders can’t control him.”
Violent, huh? She couldn’t say for sure, but he definitely didn’t seem like the nicest person.
“And I heard he often gets into fights with beastmen from other species.”
She had assumed his injuries were from work-related meetings, but maybe they were just from brawling.
That day, the blood on Ethan’s body hadn’t all been his.
That meant some of it was his opponent’s—and she didn’t even want to imagine what had happened to them.
“Try not to get involved with him,” Jinwoo said, his face full of concern.
“I’m already involved once, so I’m a little worried… but if something happens again, just ignore him cleanly.”
“Yeah.”
If only I could ignore him…
Seoha sighed inwardly and took another sip of water.
She, too, hoped her unfortunate connection with Ethan would end here—but something told her it wouldn’t.
✦
For beastmen, pheromones were a matter of pride.
So being insulted like that, Yerin returned home in tears and raged, recounting everything in detail.
Her family, furious, filed an official complaint to the Miller family, and the elders exploded in anger—not at Ethan, but at Noah.
They simply didn’t dare to confront Ethan directly.
[Dammit! Ethan Miller!]
After over an hour of being chewed out by the elders, Noah roared like a beast and called for Ethan.
Ethan, completely unfazed, was sitting on the sofa, staring intently into a mirror. His expression was unusually serious.
[What is it? Something wrong?]
Ethan didn’t normally look like that.
Had he gotten into another fight with a different species? Concerned, Noah asked carefully.
[Who picked a fight this time? Tigers? Foxes?]
[…Noah.]
[Yeah? What’s up?]
[Am I ugly?]
[Yeah, wait… What??]
What the hell?
Noah had thought something serious was going on, and now Ethan was saying this?
He was so baffled, it actually made him more worried. Ethan never acted like this.
[Are you sick?]
Noah placed his hand on Ethan’s forehead.
[No fever… should I call Arthur just in case?]
Arthur was Ethan’s personal physician—a man in his sixties with just as much nagging energy as Noah.
Just as Noah pulled out his phone to call, Ethan snatched it away.
Snap—
And broke it clean in half.
[You crazy mutt!]
Noah shrieked and tried to retrieve it, but the phone was already useless.
[What the hell are you doing?!]
[You were about to do something unnecessary.]
[Unnecessary?! I was just calling Arthur!]
[To turn a perfectly healthy person into a patient?]
Noah almost said, “You call this healthy?” but stopped himself.
Saying it now would only earn him a beating.
[So why are you suddenly asking if you’re ugly? Did someone say that to you?]
[Not exactly.]
Ethan slumped back against the sofa and ran a hand over his face.
[There’s a woman who won’t fall for me.]
[A woman… didn’t fall for you?]
Ethan’s personality aside, even Noah, a fellow guy, had to admit he was exceptionally good-looking.
And yet someone had resisted?
[Does she have no sense of beauty or what?]
[No… I don’t think that’s it.]
[Then it must be this!]
Noah clapped his hands and grinned.
[She saw you open your mouth and—]
Smack—
[OW!]
Ethan smacked him in the head. The mirror he was holding slipped and clattered onto the sofa.
[What the hell! I was just trying to help!]
[Sounded more like you were insulting me.]
[Ha… ha… no way…]
His delayed reply was less than convincing.
Ethan gave Noah a glare, then picked up the phone from the table.
Still no message from Seoha.
Well, she had thrown away his business card. Of course she wouldn’t contact him.
‘But I don’t think she hates me.’
If she had, she wouldn’t have looked at him like that—with that flushed face.
Then why does she keep pushing him away? What’s the issue?
Ethan toyed with the phone, deep in thought—but no answer came.
He’d never experienced this before.
Usually, women who acted all proud at first would be swooning by the second meeting.
But Seoha had been the opposite—giving everything at first, and then denying him any room afterward.
It was like giving a child a taste of candy and snatching it away.
How could he take that candy back?
[Oh yeah.]
Noah, still rubbing his head, suddenly spoke.
[Remember when you asked me if pheromones could come out involuntarily?]
Ethan’s gaze shifted from the dark phone screen to Noah.
[I asked around, and apparently, it’s never happened before.]
[You sure?]
[Absolutely. I contacted every beastman I know and checked the books too.]
If Noah was that confident, then it had to be true.
So then, what was that incident where his pheromones escaped without his intent?
Did his subconscious think it had to release them?
It was a first for him—just like everything related to Seoha.
It was the first time someone other than Lime had caught his eye.
The first time he spent the night with a woman he just met.
The first time he waited for a message.
The first time pheromones leaked out without his control.
[Interesting…]
She was like a breath of fresh air in his dull, repetitive life.
So even if Seoha said she didn’t like him, he had no plans to let her go.
At least, not until he lost interest.
✦
By the time the monthly seminar ended, it was quite late.
The sun had set, the streets were dark, and the cold wind pierced through her thick coat.
I need to get home quickly. Seoha wrapped her coat tighter and headed to the bus stop.
She checked the time for the next bus, but just then her phone buzzed in her pocket. Unknown number.
Spam. She hit reject and slipped it back in her pocket.
Almost immediately, the phone rang again. Same number.
Was spam always this persistent?
Normally, they wouldn’t call back.
Maybe it wasn’t spam.
Hesitant, Seoha answered the call.
“Hello?”
Just then, her bus arrived.
“You sure took your time answering.”
A familiar voice hit her ear through the receiver.
That voice…
“Ethan… Miller?”
“Ethan Miller? That sounds so distant.”
She heard the exact same line again—not from the phone, but from right behind her.
No way.
Seoha spun around in shock.
“How about you call me more casually, since we’ve already spent a night together?”
And there he was—Ethan, leaning smugly against a post, looking right at her.
