A/N: I meant to have this chapter out sooner, but I ended up rewriting it (several times). Here it is in its final, final form.
I know I haven't updated "Good Girl, Bad Fox" in months (oops!). There's been a LOT going on. But I will try to get a new chapter of that out soon.
In other news, I finished the second draft of my novel, and I am about to start my third! :)
Okay, on with the chapter :)
In the years since she'd last seen him, Yi Jeong had matured. His outline was broader and sharper, though his boyish grin hadn't left him. If anything, his smile was even more dazzling as he turned to her, a bouquet of purple hyacinths in hand.
Not that Ga Eul cared to be dazzled. Or fooled.
What was he doing at her school after so much time? She felt ages away from him in her black and gray pencil-style dress and her vibrant copper hair color, which wasn't new but was certainly new to him.
At the same time, she felt like he was looking through all that and seeing only her schoolgirl self in headbands and sweatpants. Already, she could feel that girl resurfacing in his presence, attention-starved and trusting.
She didn't like it.
Nevertheless, Ga Eul closed the door behind her. She didn't want him to stay there, but she also didn't want him to cause a scene in the hallway. And Yi Jeong could definitely cause a scene. It was what the F4 did.
"Ga Eul-yang." Yi Jeong spoke first. His voice was filled with emotion, just as she remembered. But it belonged in the past. She was 'little human' now, the name both a tease and a threat and somehow warmer than her given name.
"Yi Jeong Sunbae." Ga Eul swallowed. "W-what are you...I mean...when did you get back?" She frowned. "I didn't hear about it in the news."
"I just arrived. I didn't want anyone to know yet."
"Oh."
"Except you." He smiled again, and she felt like she was out of her body watching him. Like she'd watched this scene before, but in another life, and in that life, it had unfolded differently. She had smiled back. She had run to him.
In this life, she did no such thing.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay in Korea." Ga Eul moved with purpose, crossing the room to gather up the paperwork and supplies she needed for the weekend. It felt good to look away from him and have something to occupy her hands. She began stuffing everything she needed into the black leather work tote Rang had bought for her. He had let her pick it out, so it was inexpensive, nothing that would impress Yi Jeong. Still, she slung it onto her shoulder like a piece of armor, a reminder that she was loved and she was doing just fine without him.
"I didn't come to see Korea, actually. I came to see you."
Ga Eul stood in silence, clutching the handle of her bag until her knuckles whitened. When she found her voice again, she turned.
"Sunbae, don't you think you're three years too late?" she asked him, quietly but firmly.
Yi Jeong shifted on his feet, appearing unnerved.
Good. He should be unnerved. How dare he...after all this time…
"I can explain." His forehead creased painfully, and his eyes beseeched her. This was the way he'd looked at her when she'd told him she wouldn't look for him anymore. On the stairs at Namsan. A lifetime ago.
She'd been strong then. She needed to be strong once more.
"Please don't," Ga Eul answered. "I don't care anymore. I'm on my way out, and I think you should leave."
"Ga Eul-yang." He said her name softly, like a prayer. "Please just hear me out."
He took a step towards her, and she was aging backwards again. Feeling eighteen, with his hand stretched out towards her in a club.
She blinked. She would be strong.
"No. You're the one who stopped talking to me. You're the one who decided to stay in Sweden. And then you just...cut me off like I'd never been important. Why should I listen to you now?"
"Because I…" Yi Jeong took in a shaky breath. "I love you."
Ga Eul inhaled sharply.
"I've always loved you. I was just too...afraid...to do something about it before. But I'm here now, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran away again. Please give me the chance to make it up to you."
Ga Eul's eyes widened in shock, and something akin to horror. He approached her again, but she stumbled back.
"Yi Jeong Sunbae," she reprimanded, "whatever you think you feel for me doesn't matter. I have a boyfriend."
"A boyfriend who's your soulmate?" he asked.
Her...soulmate?
Ga Eul's ire resurfaced.
How dare he use that word against her.
"Yes, actually," she spat. "He is."
Perhaps the confidence in her tone bothered him because he didn't say whatever he was about to say next.
"Look, Sunbae, I don't want to revisit the past, and I don't think you should want that either. You have so many good things happening for you. You're a successful artist. You live in a foreign country. And you still have your friends. I'm sure you have a soulmate out there too, but it's not me." Not anymore.
"No, it is you." Yi Jeong took one more step towards her, and then he did something she'd never seen him do. He dropped to his knee and confessed, "I always knew it was you, even when I didn't want to admit it to myself."
"How can you say that now?!" Tears filled Ga Eul's eyes, and she tried to hold them at bay. She didn't want him to see that he still affected her, that his presence brought up too many forgotten emotions. Too many broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. "What gives you the right to say that now? To come here now? You broke your promise to me. Don't you remember? And you didn't even have the guts to admit it back then. You didn't even break off whatever it was we had. Not that I ever knew what we were, exactly. Not that you ever told me. And in the end, you just vanished."
"I know, I know." Yi Jeong dropped his head. "I should have asked you to be my girlfriend before. I was being stupid. And I didn't want to leave things that way, but I thought I was protecting you. You know how my world is. My grandfather already suspected something, and if I came back to Korea without having a plan, I didn't know what would happen to you. To us."
"You mean you didn't know what would happen to you." Bitterness flooded her voice, and at least Yi Jeong had the good sense to look ashamed.
"That's true," he admitted. "I didn't know if I was strong enough to walk away from...all of it. It's a shitty life, but it's the only one I've ever known."
"And now? You're prepared to walk away?" she queried doubtfully.
Yi Jeong nodded.
"Why? Why now? What's changed?"
Yi Jeong stood.
"When I heard you might be getting married, I couldn't stand the thought of losing you forever. That's what made me realize how stupid I had been. You were there for me when I was at my lowest. I want a chance to be there for you the rest of your life. You're the most wise, most kind, and most beautiful woman I've ever known, and I promise if you give me one more chance, I'll try my hardest to be the soulmate you deserve. Starting right now. I'm moving back to Korea."
The soulmate you deserve.
Ga Eul glanced out the window of her classroom door. Once, Rang had appeared there as himself. I have a hall pass for you, he'd written on a sheet of notebook paper that he'd plastered to the window. He'd grinned and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and she'd burst out laughing and had to cover it with a coughing fit.
How she wished he'd appear there now and make this nightmare of a moment stop.
Her gaze shifted to the hyacinths, the same flowers Rang had given her when he'd apologized for...well...a lot of things.
When I heard you might be getting married…
Surely, it was Jan Di who had planted such an idea in Yi Jeong's brain—she'd deal with her friend later—but suddenly, Ga Eul had a thought that chilled her to the core. Two thoughts, actually, one right after the other.
One. If she hadn't been in a serious relationship with Rang, Yi Jeong would not be in front of her right now. He would still be in Sweden, content with the knowledge that he had her as an option.
Two. If she hadn't been with Rang, learning from him and being loved by him, she might have been moved by Yi Jeong's entreaties. She might have been naive enough to take him back. And maybe things would be good—he had been her original soulmate, after all—or maybe things would be good at the beginning, but eventually, Yi Jeong's fickleness and cowardice would win out again, despite his best intentions. She didn't think he was a bad person, but he habitually made shitty choices, and she didn't trust him.
So he'd only come back for her when he thought she belonged to someone else? Well, she did belong to someone else. Someone who showed her he loved her every day by actually building a life with her. She'd trusted Yi Jeong's promises before, but she didn't want any more empty words. She wanted to be stalked and bitten and cuddled until she couldn't breathe. She wanted to fight and make up, to go out on dates at night and stay in on rainy mornings.
In place of her original soulmate, she'd take a pet cat and an evil fox. Even if she did believe Yi Jeong, she would never break Rang's heart in order to be with him.
"I'm sorry, Sunbae, but you've lost your chance with me. No amount of apologies will make up for what you did. I waited on you for so long, and honestly, I got next to nothing in return. But I'll forgive you if that's what you need to move on with your life. I've moved on with mine, and I think it's best if we never see each other again."
"But Ga Eul-yang—"
"Please leave." Ga Eul pursed her lips. She hardened her heart against the panic in his eyes. Despite the tears spilling down her cheeks, her voice didn't waver. "This is my classroom, and I'd like to gather my things."
"But—"
"Now." She crossed her arms and activated the stern teacher pose she'd perfected with her students. No matter how Yi Jeong's presence affected her, she was no longer a naive, lovesick school girl. She was a damn good teacher and the girlfriend of a totally badass nine-tailed fox. This was her classroom, and she wanted him out of it. For once, she was not going to leave first.
Yi Jeong looked like he might say more, but he swallowed whatever it was.
"I'll let you pack up then. You look like you've had a long day."
"Too long. Much too long."
Yi Jeong nodded.
"It was good to see you," he noted fondly.
Ga Eul smiled, her lips drawn tight. She didn't answer.
"Well...goodbye." With a polite bow and a brilliant smile, he left the hyacinths on one of her student desks and made his exit.
Ga Eul didn't exhale until he'd left the room, shutting the door behind him. She tossed his flowers in the trash bin, then sank into the chair behind her desk, all the energy sapped from her body.
If he'd only come to apologize for the way things had ended, or to politely inform her that he was back, maybe that would have been fine. But to act as though she owed him an audience...to fling himself at her like he expected her to take him back so easily after so long...the nerve of him.
Frankly, she'd never felt so insulted. And it had been years since she'd felt so small. Like she'd been thrust back into the body of her twenty-three-year-old self. She wanted to lie in bed and cry and hug her stuffed animals like she'd done after that awful video call when he'd told her he wouldn't be returning.
No, actually.
She wanted to hug her real live fox. But then he would ask what was wrong, and when he found out, he'd be furious. And who knew what would happen to Yi Jeong then?
Yi Jeong had hurt her, sure, but she didn't want him to die because of it. He still meant something to a past version of herself.
That decided it then. She couldn't tell Rang.
If she wanted Yi Jeong to live, she had to keep this distressing moment to herself, right?
Right?
Ga Eul covered her face.
But she wanted to tell Rang so badly. She definitely didn't want to hide things from him, and she wanted his comfort, even if it came with a side of claws.
Speaking of Rang, her phone buzzed with a message from him. She picked it up from her desk and read are you done? and then, immediately afterward, be there in five.
Ga Eul stared at the messages through watery eyes. The words blurred and reappeared.
Foreboding gnawed at her stomach. It warred with her urgent need to hear Rang's voice telling her everything would be okay.
What had Shin-joo said?
At some point, someone might force you to make a decision you don't want to make. But there's nothing you can do if that happens except choose one way or the other.
Ga Eul wanted to do the right thing, but in this situation, what if there was no right thing? Just two bad options. She had to hurt either Yi Jeong or Rang, and she wouldn't hurt Rang. Not after everything he'd done for her.
She'd promised to always be on his side.
Besides, if she didn't tell Rang about Yi Jeong's visit, he would find out on his own, and then he'd be pissed at her for not informing him. He might even think she was hiding something, which was the last thing she wanted. She never wanted to lose his trust now that she had it.
"I'm sorry, Sunbae," she whispered.
Yes, she replied, wiping tears from her cheeks. I'm done.
The walk to Rang's car was both too short and too long, but when she'd finally made it inside and closed the passenger door, Ga Eul was surprised at how easily everything spilled out. Rang had taken off his navy blue sport coat, and she clung to it as she spoke, breathing in its scent of pine needles and safety. She tried not to cry, but that was a losing battle.
When she finished, Rang had a death grip on the steering wheel. He looked like he might punch out the windshield.
"I'm going to kill him." He gritted his teeth, not looking at her. It wasn't an expression; she knew that much.
"No, no, you don't need to do that. I told him off. He won't come back." She laid a hand on Rang's arm to calm him, but he tensed as if he might pounce on the next person he saw.
"Won't come back?" he snapped, meeting her gaze. "He's a chaebol. He does what he wants. He'll be back." Venom dripped from his lips. "Unless I beat the shit out of him first." His eyes darkened with an anger that didn't just tip over into murderous intent; it drowned in it. The steering wheel warped under the pressure of his fingers.
This was the Lee Rang she'd heard so much about but had seen little of firsthand—manic without humor, violent without mercy. The temperature in the car had dropped exponentially; at least, it felt that way to Ga Eul, who was torn between being warmed by Rang's protectiveness and being terrified of what that protectiveness would cost.
Rang had every right to be upset, of course, and deep down, she knew he was correct. Yi Jeong would be back. He hadn't seemed defeated when he'd left, merely resigned to finish their discussion another day. The F4 didn't take well to being told 'no.'
Still, she had to give Yi Jeong a chance, even if he didn't deserve it. She had loved him once, and she truly didn't want him to suffer, only to leave her alone.
"How about this? If he goes back to Sweden and leaves me alone, you do nothing."
"Nothing?!" Rang's expression soured further. "I don't know how humans do things, but foxes don't stand idly by while someone moves in on their mate."
"Well, it's not like he's going to steal me. I'm right here."
"You're damn right he's not going to steal you. He's not going to get within shooting distance of you."
"Rang, he came to see me once. Maybe he'll realize how stupid it was, and he'll never come back." Even as she spoke the words, she didn't believe them, and indeed, Rang gave her an incredulous look.
"Little human."
"If he leaves me alone, then leave him alone, okay?" Ga Eul twisted his shirtsleeve. "But if he bothers me again, I won't stop you from hurting him. Just promise me you won't actually kill him. Please."
Rang gave her a hard stare.
"I told you. Anyone you don't kill—"
"—will continue to be a nuisance. I know. But shouldn't his punishment be equal to his crime? He stole four years of my life, not my whole life."
"He was supposed to be your soulmate for your whole life!"
"But that doesn't matter because I met you. You're my soulmate now, not him. And I'm really happy with you, but I couldn't live with myself if he died because of me."
"It wouldn't be your fault. You didn't make him come back."
"I know, but I can stop you from killing him."
"You think?" Rang scoffed.
"I'm serious. Maybe he won't listen to me, but you will." Ga Eul sniffled, and her voice broke. "You always listen to me. Right?"
"I don't take orders from humans, little human."
"Please," she begged, dissolving into tears again. She tugged Rang's arm to herself and cried into his shoulder.
Rang's white shirt dampened with Ga Eul's tears as she shuddered against him, and he didn't get it. Why did she care so deeply about someone who had brought her such pain? Her first love had abandoned her, and now he'd had the nerve to insult her by begging her to take him back. Rang had seen how upset she was when she'd gotten in the car, but now she seemed even more upset by the prospect of Yi Jeong's death.
She was too soft for her own good, and she didn't understand what Rang meant when he told her killing was necessary. The world she had grown up in was as shitty as ever, but in some ways, it was kinder. She could afford to be compassionate; it wouldn't get her raped or killed. Not as a rule, anyway.
In the world of Rang's childhood, weapons were power. Those who couldn't kill were killed. Those who couldn't defend themselves were taken advantage of, again and again. If someone was stupid enough to forgive, they'd only find themselves stabbed in the back later. Literally.
He didn't trust Yi Jeong. Or any of her former friends barring Jan Di, whom he grudgingly respected.
No, Yi Jeong had two things he didn't like in a human. Money and connections. Neither of those things would be enough to stop Rang, of course, but Ga Eul was too vulnerable. And Rang had a feeling that if Yi Jeong really wanted to, he would employ every method he could to steal her back, whether Ga Eul was willing or not. No matter how much it made her cry.
Rang would not let that happen.
And yet, he was making her cry too. She seemed genuinely afraid of what he might do, and he didn't like for her to be afraid.
Maybe he won't listen to me, but you will.
Rolling his eyes at his own weakness, Rang snatched back his arm.
"Fine. I promise I won't kill him." He supposed he could creatively torture him instead. Humans in the current era were weaker than ever before, afraid of the tiniest wounds. Comfort had made them soft.
"And I'll leave him alone for now," he added. It didn't matter. Yi Jeong would be back.
"But no one upsets my little human and gets away with it. If he comes back for any reason and does anything, his ass is mine. Deal?"
Ga Eul nodded, still sniffling.
"Then remember, a deal is a deal. You don't get to renegotiate with a nine-tailed fox."
She nodded again. She was trembling, and she looked so small in the passenger seat, even smaller than usual, as if she'd shrunk under the weight of the day.
Rang sighed. He didn't feel like comforting her; he felt like finding that bastard So Yi Jeong and wringing his neck. Crossing his arms, he spent a few minutes sulking and taking deep breaths to force down his anger. When he felt relatively calm, Ga Eul was still curled up in the seat, looking miserable.
"Don't cry, little human," Rang added. "I promise," he assured her, "nothing will happen to him that he doesn't bring on himself." He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's going to be okay. Do you trust me?"
The fear in Ga Eul's eyes abated; she nodded again.
"Good." Rang ran his fingers through her hair. His next words felt like a promise he was making to himself. "You should."
On Monday, Yi Jeong returned just as Rang predicted he would. This time, he held a thick manila folder instead of a bouquet.
Plopping the folder down on Ga Eul's desk, he explained, "I know you don't want to see me, but as your friend, I felt I should warn you. I had Woo Bin look into that guy you've been seeing, and neither of us like what we found."
For a moment, Ga Eul stared at the folder, struck dumb. She'd assumed that if Yi Jeong came back, he would send flowers and gift baskets to her office or make a donation to her school. That he would show up with tickets to a flashy art exhibition or invite her to a gathering of the F4 that was inner circle only. She'd thought he would gift her a specially made piece of pottery. She'd thought he would try to win her back with his unique brand of expensive charm, so what were all these photos of Rang doing on her desk?
"You looked into my boyfriend." Her voice quivered with irritation. "Why?"
"I had to know if you were safe. And clearly, you're not. Your boyfriend seems to be living under a false identity."
Ga Eul closed the folder and shoved it at him.
"Frankly, I don't think that's any of your business, Sunbae. And I'd hardly call us friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have papers to grade." She picked up her red pen and refused to look at him.
"You're not even curious?" he asked as she checked her answer key.
"No." Ga Eul marked an answer incorrect on her student's test. "Clearly, you think separating me from him will get you what you want, but you're wrong."
"I'm not…" Yi Jeong scoffed. "I just thought you should have this information!"
"Well, you thought wrong. I don't want it."
"But there's no trace of him anywhere! He's got loads of money and property, but he wasn't in any system until a few years ago. He has no family records. No school records. No medical records. No employment records—"
"Let me guess. No criminal records either." Ga Eul stopped writing and arched an eyebrow.
"Not official ones, but he's been spotted near the sites of multiple mysterious deaths. People that get near him disappear. He's dangerous, Ga Eul-yang."
A chill prickled Ga Eul's skin as Yi Jeong spoke. He wore a flashy suit, as usual. Though, in the past, she'd paid little attention to the indicators of his wealth—he'd become simply 'Sunbae' to her—now her eyes drifted to the family ring he always wore, the monogram on his handkerchief, the dossier he waved around like it contained information anyone might find at a library...
Rang had been right. Yi Jeong was being a nuisance, only worse. She should have let Rang beat him up before. She saw that now. What was he planning on doing with this information anyway? Was it just to scare her away from Rang? Or did he actually intend to hurt Rang with it?
If any human could hurt Rang, it would definitely be a member of the F4 with their endless resources and connections. Most definitely the mafia prince, Woo Bin Sunbae, if he decided to do his best friend a favor. She liked Woo Bin, and she didn't want to think ill of him, but she couldn't let that happen. She had to put a stop to this.
Ga Eul shoved up from her desk and gave him a look of admonishment.
"Wow, Sunbae. You said you came back for me, but instead of showing me you care about me, you've decided to drag my boyfriend's name through the mud."
"I'm just trying to protect you—"
"Protect me?! Sunbae, you've been gone for seven years. What did you expect me to do? Put my entire life on hold waiting for you when you might never come back? I'm happy now, and you need to accept that. I'm sorry if you're not happy with your life, but you did that to yourself. I didn't do it, and my boyfriend certainly didn't do it, so leave him alone."
"Ga Eul-yang, I'm serious. This guy has ties to the mafia."
"Woo Bin Sunbae has ties to the mafia."
"That's different. I've known Woo Bin my whole life."
"Oh, I see. You've known Woo Bin Sunbae your whole life, but if you hadn't, you couldn't possibly give him the benefit of the doubt. How are you any better than all those people who judged him in high school?"
"Ga Eul—"
"Sunbae. My boyfriend is a good person, but even if he's not, he's good to me, and I love him." She jabbed her finger at Yi Jeong. "So if you put one finger on him, if you cause one hair on his head to be harmed, I will never, ever forgive you. Do you understand?"
Yi Jeong blinked; he frowned as if he didn't understand her. As if what she'd said was unintelligible.
"You truly think your soulmate is this person?" His words came out slow and thick with meaning, but she recoiled, acid on her tongue.
"Nothing could have convinced me of that more than your presence in my classroom right now." Ga Eul crossed her arms, and they stared at each other. There was nothing left to say, but she feared he would say something anyway.
He did not. He gave her another bewildered, slightly wounded look, but eventually saw himself out.
He would try again another day. She could sense it. Maybe he would send the flowers next. The tickets, the pottery.
Ga Eul texted Rang to pick her up. She packed away her things, but this time, she didn't cry.
In the span of a single conversation, the student version of Yi Jeong she'd spent many happy nights video chatting with, complaining about their individual studies, had faded, making way for this business-like Yi Jeong whose top technique for showing he cared, apparently, was investigating someone she cared about.
Rang had been pissed before, but now it was she who felt like bending a steering wheel.
"I heard your hand recovered from a horrible injury. Let's see if it can recover from being removed."
"Y-you're..insane." Yi Jeong tried to keep his voice steady. "My family...won't rest until—"
"One moment. I have to take this." The blade's threatening coolness left his skin. When Yi Jeong dared to glance behind him, he saw that the fox had taken a phone call.
A phone call? In the middle of torturing him?
He laughed aloud at the absurdity of it. At how he'd been tricked. At the lingering terror of the fox's threat. And then, with the fox distracted, he squirmed all the more feverishly. He had to get out of his bindings. He would not lose his hand this way. His pottery. His life.
The fox hung up his call after very few words; he cast Yi Jeong a bored, doubtful look, then crossed the length of the room to the door.
Yi Jeong thought he couldn't possibly be surprised further that evening—after all, he'd been bound and beaten up by a nine-tailed fox, a creature straight out of legends—but he was shocked into a stupor when a copper-haired woman in a strapless black dress stepped into the room: Ga Eul, her hand interlocked with his captor.
Yi Jeong froze.
Ga Eul stepped inside tentatively at first, but the fox said something inaudible and smiled at her, and this appeared to embolden her. She straightened and looked Yi Jeong dead in the eye. As they approached, she let go of the fox's hand, and he fell behind her like a bodyguard.
She stopped directly in front of Yi Jeong, and except for a slight tremor in her hands, which she clasped at her waist, she was the embodiment of poise.
"Like I said, I'm Ga Eul's pet fox." The fox grinned, clearly eating up Yi Jeong's bewilderment. "She's in charge here. This was her idea."
"My boyfriend likes watching humans make terrible choices," Ga Eul explained quietly, "so I thought he would enjoy watching you make one." As she spoke, she glanced to the side, then down. And if he'd doubted it was really her—and not another fox impersonating her—he doubted no more. Her eyes spoke her discomfort at seeing his bloodied state. Those same brown eyes that had lit up whenever he'd joined their video chats.
Using her compassionate nature to his advantage, Yi Jeong tried, "Ga Eul-yang, is that really you? If it's you, y-you have to help me."
Ga Eul's eyes snapped back to him, enflamed. Instead of sympathy, his words drew ire.
"Help you? You would have put a target on my boyfriend's back."
"No, no, you misunderstood. I was only trying to warn you—"
"I don't need a warning from you. I don't need anything from you, Sunbae." Ga Eul's voice cracked. "Why can't you just let me be happy?"
"I…" Yi Jeong trailed off, open-mouthed, as the fox circled his arms around Ga Eul and kissed her temple with disgusting fondness. Even more sickeningly, Ga Eul leaned into him instead of pulling away. The fox offered her a smile filled with too much warmth for the monster that had just beaten his face bloody. But worse was the smile she returned to him—it was tiny but full of love, genuine and trusting. The fox hugged her and planted several kisses down the side of her face while keeping one eye on Yi Jeong.
The fox was taunting him, and he hated it, but he couldn't deny it was working. If Ga Eul had protested even a little, if she'd shown any signs of struggle…
But she didn't. Even when she pulled away, it was a natural unfurling of two bodies that seemed used to being entwined. The fox straightened behind her and let her go, save for his hands that swept delicately across her body. From his fingertips, crooked black claws shot out, and he pressed one set to her stomach; he used the other to sweep aside her hair and trace a delicate line down her neck. Finally, he paused with the tips of his claws resting on her bare shoulder.
"Why don't you tell him his options, jagiya?" he murmured in her ear. The pupil in one of his eyes had narrowed to a slit; fiery gold filled out the rest of it.
Ga Eul clasped her delicate human hand over the clawed one pressed to her abdomen. Had she really been bewitched? Did it scare him more if she had not?
"Sunbae, you have two options. The first is this. If you insist on staying here and pursuing a relationship with me, you will let my boyfriend cut off both of your hands." Ga Eul's voice trembled over the last phrase, and Yi Jeong wasn't certain he'd heard her correctly.
He couldn't have. Ga Eul was the reason he could use his hands in the first place.
"Ga Eul tells me you value your skills as a potter above all else," the fox explained. "You say you're willing to give up everything to be with her?" The fox gave him a cruel smile. "Prove it."
Yi Jeong paled.
Of course, he'd said that, but...his hands? The fox was mad. He'd give up his money before he'd give up his hands. Pottery was the only thing he knew; it was his talent and his refuge. But Ga Eul knew that. She knew everything about him, though apparently, he didn't know her as well as he'd thought.
"Ga Eul-yang, you...you really want me to give up my dream?"
"Why not?! You made her give up her dream," the fox snapped.
"The second option…" Ga Eul cleared her throat. "The second option is that you go back to Sweden immediately. You tell no one that this happened. You forget anything you learned about my boyfriend, and you never contact me again."
"Never again in your measly human lifespan. You don't even look at her from afar," the fox growled. "Because if you do, I won't hesitate to chop off your hands and maybe your feet for good measure."
"This is insane. You're fucking insane," Yi Jeong rasped.
The fox chuckled.
"No. This is me taking pity."
Yi Jeong furrowed his brow.
"Oh, not on you. On Ga Eul. She doesn't want to see you paralyzed from the neck down."
"It's okay, Sunbae." Ga Eul smiled sadly. "You should pick your hands. Please pick your hands. Don't worry about me."
"How can I not worry about you?! With this...this…" He shot the fox his most hate-filled, disgusted look.
"His name is Lee Rang." Ga Eul brushed the fox's hair away from his forehead. "And he would never hurt me."
I bet you thought the same thing about me, Yi Jeong almost said. He winced from the thought and from the pain and from the image of Ga Eul staring so lovingly at his attacker.
"That's right." The creature sneered. "She doesn't need you to save her from the big, bad fox, so go away."
Yi Jeong hardened his jaw. He wanted to tell the monster he would never go away, that he would take Ga Eul back from him if that was the last thing he did. He was So Yi Jeong, after all; not even a nine-tailed fox could possess more charm than him.
But Ga Eul didn't concern herself with charm, and indeed, he couldn't imagine the creature in front of him being charming. He couldn't imagine Ga Eul being seduced by a fox in the ways that humans were seduced in the legends, so he couldn't make sense of the scene in front of him, and he didn't know how to fight it. And his hands...his hands…
Yi Jeong hung his head.
"Or, you know, prove to me that you're worthy of her," the fox taunted.
"Don't, Sunbae. It's okay."
Yi Jeong glared at the floor, and he glared at the fox. He set his lips in a grim line. What if he refused to answer?
"Hands it is then." The fox grinned and wrenched his axe free of its sheath.
"Wait, wait." Ga Eul bolted in front of the fox, and Yi Jeong exhaled.
The creature wouldn't chop off his hands as long as she was standing there, right? And she wouldn't leave them alone until she knew he was safe...right?
Giving him those options...It had to be for show. A bluff. She wouldn't...She couldn't...
"Ga Eul, we had a deal." The fox's eyes flashed.
"I-I know, but he hasn't answered yet." She shook her head frantically.
"Are you going to leave, or do you want me to put you outside? You promised." The fox's gaze darkened again, but he looked more hurt than angry.
"I know, but…" Ga Eul broke off; she tipped her chin up to the fox, and they stared at each other with an intensity that was too intimate for Yi Jeong's taste, even with her back to him. Finally, she said, "I know. I'm sorry." She shuddered out a breath, and the tension in her muscles dissolved in defeat. "I'll wait outside," she whispered, almost too soft for Yi Jeong to hear.
"Ga Eul-yang," he whispered out of shock as she retreated, and she stopped at the sound of his voice. She stiffened.
"Ga Eul-yang," Yi Jeong repeated, louder this time, but she didn't return to him.
Instead, she picked up the red jacket that the fox had discarded on the couch. Hugging it to herself like a child might hug a blanket, she hurried out of the room.
And then, she was gone.
A few minutes later, Rang had left Yi Jeong tied up and bleeding in the dark. He'd washed the blood off his hands and ensured the security footage had been altered. He'd shifted back into the woman and then back into himself.
When he reached the parking lot, he found Ga Eul and Yu Ri sitting on top of his white Volvo. Ga Eul was sobbing into his jacket, and the female fox was rubbing circles on her back.
Rang's heart throbbed like it always did in the presence of her tears. He'd been beyond relieved when she'd chosen to flee the room; honestly, he didn't know what he would have done—or not done—if she'd decided to stay and beg.
But she hadn't, which was curious. All humans begged when put under the knife, but not Ga Eul. She'd kept her promise. She hadn't tried to wiggle out of her deal with him, though she had presented him with her own idea for Yi Jeong's punishment, probably to prevent him from doing something worse.
It had cost her something; this whole night had cost her something. He could see it in her splotched face as she raised her head. She'd lost a bit of her soul that she'd never get back. He should know, having lost his soul entirely over the years.
Did she want to be with him that much? She'd even chosen him over her original soulmate.
His heart throbbed again, swelling so full he thought it might burst.
"I told you, you didn't have to come," he scolded his girlfriend as he stopped a few feet from her and Yu Ri.
Ga Eul shook her head.
"I had to come," she choked out. "He had to...know it...came from me." Ga Eul sniffled. Snot was dripping from her nose all over his coat, and her red-rimmed eyes were swollen. He couldn't take her pitiful state.
"Yu Ri, will you leave us alone?" he asked.
Yu Ri nodded, giving Ga Eul a goodbye hug, which the human feebly returned.
"Thanks for staying with her," he added.
"No problem." His friend slipped off the trunk and slunk off to her car, leaving Rang alone with Ga Eul in the glare of the brightly lit garage.
"Don't cry, little human." Rang touched her face, tears welling in his own eyes. Taking his jacket off her lap, he arranged it carefully around her shoulders.
Ga Eul gripped the edge of the trunk.
"I know I'm too forgiving sometimes," she said, "but I can't help it. Once I love someone, I just…" Her voice rose higher, then broke off.
"I know." Rang skimmed his thumb along the underside of her eye, swiping a tear as he went. Her purple butterfly necklace, shimmering on her collarbone, looked misplaced alongside his red jacket and her black dress. The color was mismatched, of course, but it also belonged to a more innocent version of Ga Eul.
Ga Eul's lip quivered.
"I would never make you change for me, though."
"I know," he answered right away. Stepping closer, he pressed a kiss to Ga Eul's temple, a softer kiss than the ones he'd given her in front of Yi Jeong. Just a brush of his lips to let her know he was there.
"But you don't have to cry," he whispered. "I didn't take his hands."
Rubbing his pants pocket, he felt around for Yi Jeong's fingers; they were too small, lost in the space where a whole hand should have been.
A fox had hardened him once; now a human was wearing him down.
Maybe change was inevitable.
"W-what?" Ga Eul's voice was as watery as her eyes.
"I didn't take his hands. I just took his index fingers."
His index fingers.
A souvenir.
A warning.
"You took his index fingers?" Ga Eul echoed disbelievingly.
"Yeah, just the two. But I think he'll be running back to Sweden very soon." He gave her the threatening smile she liked, and slowly, very slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up.
"You took his fingers," she repeated, even softer.
"I took his fingers," he replied, matching her softness.
"Thank you," she whispered, the relief in her eyes cracking his chest open.
"No need to thank me, little human." He pressed another kiss to her temple. Despite what Yi Jeong might think, or anyone else for that matter, he wasn't enough of a monster to make her cry like that. Once, he would have called that his curse. The part of his humanness that he could never shrug off entirely.
But it didn't feel like a curse at the moment. Not a curse or a weakness or a burden.
It felt like the thing that made Ga Eul wrap her arms around him and squeeze him so tight he could feel her tucked against his bones. It felt like the warmth in her voice when she said, "I love you, Lee Rang. You're such a good fox."