"Come on," Rang whispered, clutching Ga Eul to himself. "Let's go home."

Ga Eul nodded against him, and he lifted her off the trunk of his car and deposited her safely on the ground.

The drive back to his apartment was quiet; if Yu Ri had been with him, laughter would have filled the space; they would have eaten jokbal or bossam and gotten drunk reliving the best parts of disassembling their prey. It was more fun to share such victories with an accomplice, and Rang certainly had the adrenaline to burn, still high off the terror in Yi Jeong's cowardly face. His muffled screams. His tears. The delicious scent of his fear.

But Ga Eul was not Yu Ri—she couldn't rejoice in others' suffering; it wasn't in her nature—and when he'd asked if she was hungry, she'd shaken her head—a first. Using his coat as a blanket, she'd curled up in the passenger seat of his car and hadn't said a word the entire drive home.

He no longer felt that she was judging him, though, so he couldn't judge her. Not when her soft heart allowed her to love him.

Once they'd parked in his garage and had made it inside the elevator, she made a little sound, and he thought she might say something else about Yi Jeong's wounded state, but instead, she said, "I didn't want him to take you away from me. I could have forgiven him for a lot of things but not that." A lone tear streaked down her cheek, and she brushed it away.

Rang smiled.

Now that reminded him of Yu Ri—her protectiveness.

Moving to stand in front of Ga Eul, he took her hands.

"No one's going to take me away from you." He hardened his jaw. "If I've lived this long not wanting to be alive, can you imagine how much longer I'll live now that I want to?" Of course, there was the small matter of that contract he needed to sign, but he'd get to that soon.

Swallowed up by his red coat, Ga Eul cracked a smile. Her face was splotched and crusted with snot, and her nose and eyes were rubbed raw, but she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen, and she was his.

His name is Lee Rang, she'd told Yi Jeong, and he would never hurt me.

She was right, for all her human naivete. It was easy for him to think he'd destroy the world for his soulmate—in the past, he'd have destroyed the world for almost no reason at all—but here was the woman he would stay his hand for. He'd realized it earlier, when he'd stood over Yi Jeong's helpless body, axe in hand. The sweet surge of power had been dampened by the memory of her standing in between them.

Apparently, he wouldn't do a damn thing if she asked him not to, even if she only asked him with her eyes.

"I have a surprise for you," he said, remembering something he'd been wanting to show her. Suddenly, he felt ready for her to see it. Or, maybe, like she needed to see it.

"A surprise?" She peered up at him, then shook her head. "I don't know if I'm in the mood for a surprise right now. Maybe tomorrow."

"You'll like this one. I promise."

"Um..."

"I promise." Rang made a pouty face, and she, predictably, caved. He didn't know how she managed to be stern with her students.

"All right, but I can't promise to act too enthused. I'm really tired, and the past few days have been a lot, and I just—" She dug her fingernails into his palms.

"Shhh-shhh. You'll like this one," he repeated, pulling her from the elevator.

He led her into the hallway and through the apartment door, then paused to remove his shoes in the entryway.

"Stand there," he instructed, taking her by the shoulders and positioning her in front of the door. He untucked his dress shirt and began unbuttoning it.


Ga Eul watched her boyfriend strip with none of her usual excitement. The days since Yi Jeong's reappearance had worn her down, and the events of the evening had been the final straw.

When he'd gotten his shirt off, she said, "Oh, Rang, I'm really not in the mood for—"

"In the mood for what?" He unlatched his belt, his eyes flashing mischievously. "Where is your mind going, little human?"

"What do you mean, where's my mind going? You're the one who's stripping!"

Her wild fox curled his lip and snickered.

Silly little human, his eyes said, though she was being perfectly rational.

"Just close your eyes, and don't open them until I say you can."

"But—"

"Don't you want to follow directions like a good human?" He tossed his pants aside, and his smirk deepened. His fox eye appeared, its glimmer more tease than threat.

"No," Ga Eul said honestly. She sagged against the door. "I want to sleep until the end of the month." She pleaded with her eyes, and he sobered up and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I promise, you can sleep as long as you want if you close your eyes and trust me," Rang urged.

Ga Eul's gaze drifted down to his black boxers, then up to the jagged scar ripping through his ab muscles, then up to his broad shoulders, then back to his face. She wanted to tell him that she couldn't deal with his antics right now, even if she normally found them amusing. She wished she could get drunk, but after everything that had happened, she still had to work the next day, and it was way past her bedtime.

However, she was too tired to argue, and her stomach was in too many knots for her to sleep properly anyway.

"Okay," she agreed quietly, closing her eyes.

"Good little human." Rang's voice warmed her skin, and soon his hands were on her back, warming the flesh there. He tugged his jacket off her shoulders and unzipped her dress, and she didn't fight him.

When she'd been stripped down to her underwear, she couldn't imagine where his mind was if not there, but she let him pick her up and crush her naked body to his, his hands warm and firm beneath her hips. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and whimpered when his feathery soft hair brushed her cheek.

"Open your eyes," he whispered just as her feet brushed against something soft and wispy. By the time her eyes were fully opened, she'd already guessed what it was; still, she gripped Rang tighter in astonishment at the sight in front of her.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Fanned about behind him, reddish gold and glowing, were nine thick, fluffy tails. They emerged from a singular knot at the base of his spine and curled up into the air, regal and ethereal. They were fiery as his fox eye, yet solid as the red fox he often turned into for her amusement.

"Your...your tails...I can see them," she rasped, staring wide-eyed over his shoulder.

"Mmhm," Rang murmured, kissing her cheek.

"I can see them," she repeated, rather dazed. "I thought you said I couldn't see them."

"You couldn't"—kiss—"and now"—kiss—"you can."

His tone was too teasing, and Ga Eul shot him a look.

He managed to look mildly guilty.

"Okay, fine. I lied. You could have seen them at any time. Forgive me?" Rang pulled a face.

Ga Eul raised an eyebrow, but really, she wasn't surprised that Rang had lied about such a thing, and she couldn't be upset now that he'd chosen to show them to her, unprompted. It was an act of trust.

"I don't know. Do I get to cuddle with them?" she teased.

Rang smirked.

"Why else would you be undressed?"

The question struck her as absurd, and she laughed.

"You're so dumb."

Rang reeled back in mock-offense.

"I'm fluffy," he reprimanded. "Like a cat. You like cats."

"No, I know," she added gently. "You're trying to make me feel better."

"Yes, but if you don't like it, I'll put the tails back," he noted petulantly.

"No, I like them!" She reached out for one, as if reaching for it would make it stay, and the tail curled up to meet her hand. It was followed by another tail, then another one. They caressed her face; they encircled her arms; they slipped around her back and curved up between her breasts, ticklish and soft. "They're so beautiful," Ga Eul mumbled in amazement. She smiled, stroking the tail nearest to her face.

"They like you too." Rang spoke so softly that Ga Eul nearly missed it. When she glanced at him, all the teasing had fled from his expression, leaving his true emotions exposed.

Relief, she thought. Like he'd just put down a burden he'd been carrying for a long time.

Relief and...contentedness.

She met his eyes, and he looked away.


"Let's hurry up and cuddle before you fall asleep like that," Rang announced. "I'm not going to hold you up all night." He carried Ga Eul over to the bedroom, trying to ignore the persistent shivers where his tails touched her skin.

As a rule, Rang didn't show humans his tails. Unlike his brother, he wasn't one for spectacle, preferring to be viewed as a weapon instead. All teeth and claws.

His tails were a symbol of his power, but they weren't weapons in and of themselves. They were as soft as they felt. As vulnerable too. This made them highly sensitive, he realized as Ga Eul continued stroking them.

He got a brief reprieve when she disentangled herself to lay on the bed, but when he laid down next to her, she curled right back into his body, her back to him, and his tails rushed to swaddle her again like they had minds of their own.

Yes, they did like her very much. Perhaps they knew she wouldn't hurt them, that she thought them beautiful.

Rang clung to her tighter, and his tails encircled her as fully as they could. The thought of losing Ga Eul had been unbearable before, but after tonight, it was unthinkable. She was the only human who'd tried to understand him, who'd chosen him over one of her own kind. And she loved his tails because she loved everything about him. Because she loved him.

He would never be a monster to her. A creature who caused nothing but harm.

So, for her, he would be soft. He would wrap her in the softest part of his cruel body and hold her close, and her world would be soft again.

Thinking on this, he closed his eyes and snuggled closer to her, her scent and her warmth calming him. He waited until he heard her breathing shallow; then he let sleep take him, leaving his tails bright and exposed in the darkened room.