S Chapter 41

When outside guests arrive, everyone, except for designated staff, is forbidden from leaving their private rooms or resting areas. This applies even more strictly to my younger brothers. I don’t know what they’re so worried about, but they completely lock the children’s doors. If they can’t even move freely in their own home, how is that different from confinement?

‘I need to finish this quickly.’

I sighed deeply, worried about the kids, when the fellow who had been walking silently suddenly offered an apology.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“You got hurt because you humored my stubbornness.”

Regardless of the actual situation, I thought it wasn’t an apology one should make to someone who seemingly abandoned them and disappeared, but it was undoubtedly true that he saved my life. Shin Jukyeong nodded, remembering the hell he had gone through. I guess I can accept an apology this small. More importantly, how much did Won Go-yu spill?

“Did you tell them I was at that club too?”

“Don’t worry. Only Grandfather knows.”

“That’s the biggest problem.”

“Don’t worry about expulsion. I explained it well. And he didn’t come here to talk about that today. He just came to check on your condition because he was worried. Don’t worry, he won’t make things difficult.”

‘This tactless fool. Does he really think Won Chung-bae is such a kind person… Well, I guess he’s kind to you.’

Shin Jukyeong secretly sighed. Won Go-yu says it’s fine, but to me, it looks exactly like the walk to get scolded.

‘I hope he doesn’t say anything unnecessary in front of Father.’

I don’t want to create any unnecessary commotion. Father, who has no interest in his children, always thinks my collapse was due to poor health, as usual. But what if that old man Won Chung-bae suddenly spills everything…

‘Just in case, maybe I should loosen my calves.’

Shin Jukyeong shuffled along weakly, and Won Go-yu glanced back. He gave a small laugh after seeing Shin Jukyeong’s subtly pouting expression, then quickly covered his mouth as if someone might see. His steps seemed oddly light.

He was an even more petty old man than I expected. His image, stroking his beard and chuckling heartily, is unforgettable.

‘Damn it.’

There was no direct mention of the club. However, every single word was infuriating. For example, ‘Such excellent grades and impeccable appearance, it’s truly a shame he couldn’t Manifest; the Hunter Association has lost a great talent,’ or ‘I’ll send you a good herbal medicine for side effect treatment. You must get well quickly to lead this household in the future! At Chairman Shin’s age, it would be embarrassing to have another child now. Hahaha!’ things like that.

Unless you’re an idiot, you’d know. That was clearly a jab. To put it more bluntly, it was ‘Congratulations on messing up your child-rearing.’

That’s when I realized. Ah, this is retaliation, isn’t it? I could feel him sharpening a knife, even though he was just smiling. It’s definite. He’s clearly retaliating against the young brat who abandoned his grandson and ran off.

‘Who saved your grandson?’

Shin Jukyeong had to suppress the urge to argue. There’s a limit to repaying kindness with hostility.

Thinking about it again, the reason he stormed in so abruptly was also perfectly transparent. Would an old man who knows Father’s personality come here for no reason? He must have come knowing that if he provoked Father now, Father, thoroughly enraged, would relentlessly scold me.

This isn’t a victim mentality. If it’s that sly old man, he’s 100 percent here with such malicious intent.

In fact, if we summarize the conversation, it was, ‘Our grandson manifested as an amazing S-rank, but your son didn’t, haha? I’ll personally write you a recommendation letter for the Hunter Academy, so how about he comes and works in administration instead of becoming a Hunter?’

Saying such a thing to someone who devoted his entire life to making his son a Hunter. The hidden meaning is obvious without needing further explanation…

The situation unfolded as expected. Father’s deeply wounded pride and anger had to be endured by Shin Jukyeong alone. He raged that Shin Jukyeong was insufficient, causing him this humiliation. A beating with the cane was naturally administered.

Father intended to torment Shin Jukyeong severely, and Shin Jukyeong, a professional Hunter who never missed an opportunity, decided to go all out, since things were already like this, and truly show him the torment. It was a strategy to ruin his reputation while he could. Using a crisis as an opportunity!

Shin Jukyeong boldly asked his father, who was furious and raging:

‘Father, by the way, do I smell like savory rice crust?’

After that, his calves getting beaten to a pulp was, in a way, a natural progression.

Returning to his room, Shin Jukyeong was unable to meet anyone until nightfall. Father, utterly furious, had put him under house arrest under the guise of “recuperation.” It was probably meant as a command to reflect deeply. Because of this, he couldn’t even receive visits from his younger brothers. Hmm, perhaps the other kids couldn’t come out either? If so, it would be because of him.

‘…I’m sorry.’

The kids must be bored too.

“Young master. Your meal is at the door. You absolutely must eat!”

Kang Seo-oh’s worried voice was heard from outside, but only a few times. Even that was cut short when Father’s executive secretary came and dragged him away, citing that he was “disturbing the young master’s rest.”

“Shall I eat them all?”

Eve, who had woken up, asked.

‘No. They’re family.’

“No. They’re not family. Family is Jukyeong and Eve.”

‘…I agree to some extent.’

Shin Jukyeong smiled softly at Eve’s clumsy comfort. Well, anyway, as long as Shin Jukyeong was in the room, that was all that mattered, right? Shin Jukyeong quickly transformed into Rakun. It was a chubby sight he hadn’t seen in a while. Eve burst into laughter beside him.

“You’re a fat rat~”

‘I’m Rakun.’

I kindly explained, but she kept teasing me, calling me a fat rat. Damn it, Eve.

‘Be quiet. Eun likes me this way.’

Shin Jukyeong puffed out his tail in annoyance.

“(◎▽◎) Hahahahaha~!”

‘Eve.’

“Can’t I even laugh freely? I’m an evil contributor.”

Why would a villain contribute? That’s so kind. What is this, a villain wannabe? Shin Jukyeong shook his head and corrected her.

‘You mean an exploitative corporation. And I, if you ask me, am a freelancer. A private company.’

“Too difficult.”

Leaving Eve’s whining behind, I quickly slipped out of the room. It was implicitly understood that as long as Shin Jukyeong was in his room, it was fine.

‘I’m worried about the kids, after all.’

With my now-familiar four-legged body, I slipped past the surveillance and through the hallway, only to find two large men guarding the door. Do they really need to go this far…?

‘Father must be truly enraged.’

Today isn’t the only problem. I might have to tread carefully and crawl around for a while. Still, thinking about how I ruined his reputation fills me with satisfaction.

Hmm. Now that I look back, wasn’t Won Chung-bae actually providing covering fire for me? It’s as good as him nailing down the fact that ‘your son is not suitable material to be a successor.’ I hated him earlier, but now I feel a renewed sense of gratitude.

‘Thank you for purposely taking the trouble to criticize me.’

And so, pat-pat-pat, thump-thump-thump—I diligently scurried on all fours, visiting all the rooms from Jae-min’s to Eun’s. They were all sleeping soundly.

Finally, I moved pat-pat-pat, thump-thump-thump again, all the way to U-dam’s room. I jumped onto the doorknob, and it creaked open. My Rakun body was still too short, so I had to struggle a few times, but this much effort was nothing to see my brother.

‘Is U-dam sleeping too?’

Sure enough, he was lying on the bed. I perked up my ears and heard faint breathing. Hehe, Shin Jukyeong chuckled softly and cautiously approached just to see his face. But then…

“What’s this?”

Click, a flash suddenly illuminated him.

“Woooweeeeeeng!”

Shin Jukyeong was startled and jumped. His fur bristled from his round ears to his fluffy tail. It was fortunate that he was in his transformed state, letting out animal cries of ‘woo-weng, o-weng,’ because if he were human, he would have already let out a string of curses.

“Binggu?”

Last time he called me Sukja, no, Baeng. He calls me whatever he fancies. I was annoyed and playfully punched him with my maple-leaf-like paw, but U-dam just chuckled briefly. Then, he suddenly picked me up, saying he missed me.

“I missed you, Escargot 13-se.”

Just a moment ago, he called me Binggu. U-dam casually carried the transformed Shin Jukyeong to the bed. Then he poked and prodded my belly.

“Wow, this is healing.”

His face, as he mumbled to himself, looked exactly like a teenager’s. It would be great if he smiled like that more often.

“I was bored anyway, so this is perfect.”

U-dam suddenly poked Shin Jukyeong’s nose.

‘…?!’

“Oh. It’s moist? Good. I’ll borrow your nose for a bit. I just ran out of hand cream.”

Then, with a very polite expression and voice, he gently violated the black little bean. With his now-moist hands, he picked up a book lying nearby.

And so, Shin Jukyeong had to fulfill his role as the page-turner, or “hand moisturizer” in charge, while U-dam read for about 30 minutes. After giving up his nose a total of twenty times and enduring two “I’m gonna eat your nose” playful snaps, he was finally liberated from his humiliating, yet not entirely humiliating, ordeal.

“Come here.”

U-dam, having finished reading, turned off the night light and lay down. Shin Jukyeong, pretending to understand, climbed onto his brother’s stomach.