How Druids Live with the Beast

Leviathan stiffened at Taeho’s presence and immediately fell backward.

“…Scary! Scary!”

The sound of his heavy breathing was so clear, it felt like his heart was being squeezed.

The look in his eyes was so intense that it felt suffocating.

He was human, yet so different from Eunho.

He resembled a vicious beast.

“Ah, Doroong. Doroong.”

Taeho stopped, hiding his hands behind him as he watched Leviathan’s frantic behavior.

“This guy is not a bad person.”

“That’s right, Leviathan. This guy isn’t a bad person. He just cares about you all a lot… that’s why he’s acting like this.”

Eunho hastily tried to explain, but honestly, he too felt like he might retreat.

Heukgyeon closed his eyes, watching the scene. He couldn’t understand what was happening.

“Mongmong, can you say something?”

“I don’t know that human.”

“…That’s true, but you’re being a bit too cold, aren’t you?”

Heukgyeon half-opened his eyes to glance at Leviathan. He had a look as though he wanted something, but he snorted in amusement.

“Figure it out yourself. I’m not a crybaby.”

At Heukgyeon’s cold words, Leviathan slumped further, and Eunho felt the urgency to speak again.

“Mongmong’s not bad either. …For now.”

***

Leviathan opened his mouth as wide as possible. Taeho, with gloved hands, examined his tongue from every angle.

“…Hmm.”

As Taeho’s words stretched, Leviathan anxiously looked around.

Fearing he might foam at the mouth, he covered his mouth with his front paw.

He didn’t want to attack anyone.

“This needs to be looked at with more specialized equipment.”

As Taeho pulled his hand away, Leviathan immediately clung to Eunho.

It was hard to adjust to the sight of a beast following so closely.

Eunho gently petted Leviathan and asked.

“Do you think his tongue can be fixed?”

“Well, his tongue hasn’t been torn as much as I feared.”

“Really?”

“However, it’s a direct hit on Doroong. When it foams at the mouth, it controls it with its tongue. First, the tongue might have been torn, which could prevent it from using its abilities properly. The power it has might come out when it’s unwanted. If that happens, it’s likely to be driven out of the group.”

Taeho looked at Leviathan sympathetically, deep in thought.

“That’s right! That’s exactly it! Wow, bro. Show me again.”

At Eunho’s compliment, Taeho puffed up and lowered his voice even more.

“If we look at the area, it seems like it was cut all at once with something sharp. Do you know what caused it?”

“I heard that the Kokatres cut its tongue.”

“…What, what did you say, Eunho?”

“Kokatres.”

Eunho rummaged through his bag to find the tablet, thinking he might have said something wrong, assuming Taeho would already know about it.

Suddenly, Taeho stepped closer, examining Eunho’s body, even inspecting his palm.

When he untied the loosely wrapped bandage, the torn wound was revealed.

Taeho’s expression darkened suddenly.

“…Eunho.”

“Yes?”

“Listen carefully…”

“I’m listening.”

“…The Kokatres has poison.”

At this serious revelation, Eunho couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, I knew that.”

“The poison of the Kokatres spreads slowly. It doesn’t kill immediately. That’s why the Kokatres is so dangerous.”

[Additional information has been inputted]

When the additional information appeared on the tablet, Eunho was satisfied, and Taeho stared, his mouth agape, at the floating tablet.

“…So, Eunho, you really are a psychic, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not. Probably not.”

Eunho pointed to the tablet.

“It’s because of the tablet.”

“…Huh?”

“And this isn’t a wound caused by an attack from the Kokatres. I appreciate the concern, but I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Then this…”

“Would it be weird if I said I did it?”

Eunho laughed playfully, but it seemed so real that Taeho shook his head.

“I’m no stranger to being strange. Didn’t you see earlier? Every time the topic of beasts comes up, I can’t help but salivate and get excited. This is a big deal. I wonder if I’ll ever get married like this.”

Taeho joked with a laugh, and Eunho smiled widely.

“Bro.”

“Yeah.”

“How should I get closer to the Kokatres?”

“…Huh?”

“I can’t forget its back.”

Eunho couldn’t stop thinking about the Kokatres’s back when it was left alone. He wondered if it was his fault for making it that way.

“…You’re not so easy, are you?”

Taeho smiled contentedly and extended his palm.

Clap.

Eunho gladly slapped his hand against Taeho’s.

***

Eunho rolled down the car window and looked around.

Leviathan also hung on and enjoyed the breeze.

The research center was much closer to his home than he had thought.

It was only an hour’s drive.

“Is all of this land part of the research center?”

“Yeah. The research center is huge. You can see a lot of barren land, right?”

Taeho laughed happily, gazing into the distance.

“But why did you buy so much land, hyung? Does the country really give that much support?”

“Support? It’s great. Right now, no one knows more about the beasts than we do. This land is used to protect the beasts when they’re in danger, treat them, rehabilitate them, and for many other purposes.”

“Still, they really let you buy land like that?”

“It might surprise you, but the government takes all matters related to the beasts pretty seriously. You can see it just by looking at the size of the research center. Of course, my reputation plays a big part too.”

“But the beast caretakers are like that?”

At Eunho’s question, Taeho’s face in the rearview mirror stiffened slightly.

“Honestly, I don’t like the beast caretakers much either. To be frank, I completely hate them. Just yesterday, there was a mess because of a beast.”

The beast was just in its own house, but someone who happened to see it got scared because of its size and reported it.

It ended up with another confrontation with the beast caretakers.

Taeho let out a short sigh and fiddled with his hair.

“However, from the standpoint of those responsible for the beasts, I can understand their struggles. I only need to worry about the beasts, but they have to take care of both the beasts and the people.”

“Both?”

“That’s why the place was created. It’s made up of people with special abilities, so they have strength and they earn a lot of money.”

The car stopped.

Taeho turned around, his face filled with deep dissatisfaction.

“So, what you’re saying is, they were given a lot of money to do both jobs well, but they only pick a side? That’s basically stealing salary, right?”

“They are thieves! Eunho, you’re surprisingly easy to talk to. Honestly, I’m not looking for a middle ground, I just want them to take care of the beasts.”

“If they can’t do that, then they need to be thrown into an environment where they have to handle both with very little money—maybe that’ll make them wake up.”

Eunho grew to dislike the beast caretakers even more.

To be honest, he felt a bit envious.

Back when he worked at a company, he had wanted to be a salary thief, too.

“I want to be a beast caretaker.”

Pfft.

Hearing Taeho’s laughter, Eunho got out of the car, and Leviathan also got out and began looking around.

“Don’t do that, come into the research center. See, it’s huge, right?”

Taeho reached out his hand beyond the window.

At the tip of his finger, the research center appeared.

It looked like it was floating on a large platform, built in a dome shape. Even without Taeho’s explanation, it was so distinctive that it could be recognized at a glance.

“I intentionally made it like this. I bought the land around the research center for the beasts, and in order to observe them well, this shape is the most optimal.”

Taeho also got out of the car and looked at the building.

Rather than pride, there was a mix of regret in his gaze.

“You’re trying to observe the beasts from the center?”

“That’s right, Eunho. I set it up to create diverse environments, but most of them aren’t even working.”

Taeho awkwardly smiled.

He thought Eunho would understand without him needing to say the next part.

‘There are no beasts, right?’

Eunho immediately picked up on Taeho’s concern.

“Leviathan.”

Eunho called out to Leviathan, who was still looking around.

Maybe the new environment was unfamiliar, but Leviathan hadn’t even lowered its tail.

“…Huh?”

Leviathan responded belatedly.

“What do you think? Does it look like an ideal space to you?”

Eunho figured that another beast might understand these things better.

Leviathan frowned slightly at the question.

“…It’s weird.”

“How is it weird? Can you explain?”

Hyeokgyeon, as usual, was already running around, as if it didn’t care.

Without even needing the eyes of a raptor, it was clear that black smoke was fluttering around.

“…There’s no smell. It’s a really strange place.”

“No smell?”

“Yeah. Everywhere usually has different smells, but not here.”

Sniff sniff.

Leviathan walked up to Eunho and sniffed him. It closed its eyes tightly, then suddenly opened them wide and hopped around on its hind legs.

“Eunho’s scent is the strongest.”

“…I just took a bath.”

Eunho awkwardly sniffed at himself, feeling embarrassed. He hadn’t realized he smelled that much.

“…Eunho, can you tell me what Leviathan is saying? I’m really desperate right now.”

Taeho clasped his hands together as if in prayer and looked at Eunho with intense desperation.

No matter how hard he tried to listen, one side was speaking human language, and the other side was just making “beep beep” or “bwoong” sounds.

—You can hear the words of the beast.

At first, Eunho thought he was hearing things.

He wasn’t sure if it was some new superpower or what, but all he could think was that it was madness.

To be honest, throughout the conversation, he even felt a strong desire to study Dorong’s language right then and there.

‘Yes, with our Eunho, everything will be solved!’

“Hyung…? Your eyes suddenly changed. My instincts are going off right now?”

Eunho took a step back, startled by the intense change in Taeho’s gaze.

“…Ah, sorry. I was just thinking for a moment.”

Eunho didn’t want to know what he was thinking. He wasn’t even curious.

Instead, Eunho ignored the thought and relayed Leviathan’s words to Taeho.

“Leviathan says there’s no smell here and that it doesn’t like it. Of course, this is Leviathan’s opinion as a Dorong. Other beasts…”

Taeho collapsed onto the ground.

He stared at the floor with a dazed expression.

“…I intentionally tried to remove the smells. I know beasts don’t like the scent of people, so I did that. I invested so much money into this.”

As Taeho muttered, Leviathan’s antennae drooped.

It took a few steps back, then immediately ran behind Eunho and grabbed the hem of his pants.

“…This person is strange. Really strange.”

“Leviathan.”

“Yeah?”

Leviathan looked up at Eunho.

“When money is involved, people change. Money and people are connected by the soul. Without money, people die.”

Leviathan nodded seriously at Eunho’s words.

“People die without money.”

It was some interesting information.

But what exactly was money?

Leviathan thought about something enormous, then clenched its front paws tightly.

“…We have to walk here.”

Taeho exhaled deeply and began walking forward.

It was a place meant for beasts, but it had become a place where they did not come. For some reason, it looked so sad today.

‘…That’s why they didn’t come.’

The reason was simpler than expected.

Without even realizing it, Eunho had been anxiously trying to figure out various reasons.

As no words came from Eunho, who was usually very talkative, Taeho’s steps grew heavier.

‘…Right.’

On the way to the research center, Eunho had been so excited that he bragged about various things.

How large the research center was, how many unusual machines it had.

But the research center they actually saw was almost like an empty wasteland, so it wasn’t surprising at all.

Eunho was surely amazed too.

‘…Must’ve cost a lot of money.’

Eunho couldn’t offer any comfort as he watched Taeho’s heavy steps.

The most difficult thing in the world was money.

When Eunho extended his arm, Leviathan eagerly ran up and hung onto his tail.

Being a creature that liked to stay still, Leviathan seemed happy just by doing that.

Eunho looked around.

Though Leviathan had said there was no smell, it looked different to him.

It was lively.

It felt like nature was enthusiastically signaling that something was about to happen.

‘Even so, since I’m not the owner of this land, there’s nothing to be done…’

Eunho turned his head.

It suddenly felt like something was urging him to look over there.

He saw a beast sitting on a tree with its young.

It looked like a graceful owl. Its neck was adorned with a thick layer of feathers, and its wings were so long that, from a distance, it almost looked like it was wearing a cloak.

It had a calm expression, but when their eyes met, it flapped its wings. In that instant, it disappeared.

‘…Wow. Was it wearing an invisible cloak?’

Eunho couldn’t help but be fascinated. As Leviathan moved its head, another beast appeared in that spot.

“Eunho, I think I picked the wrong spot…”

“Still, at least one spot seems right. …Huh?”

Taeho and Eunho spoke at the same time.

When Taeho turned his head, Leviathan, hanging from Eunho’s arm, also looked at him. Eunho smiled as he took something out of his bag.

“No, I think I picked at least one good spot. I think I’ve seen about ten beasts?”

As Eunho smiled and put on his glasses, suddenly all the lights in the research center turned on.

“…Ughhh!”

“…Ughhhmm!”

Eunho and Leviathan squeezed their eyes shut in pain from the sudden light attack, and a harsh wind rushed past, crossing between the two humans and the beast.

“What’s that light?”

When the voice of the black dog was heard from behind, Eunho cracked his eyes open.

Taeho was already wearing sunglasses.

“…Hyung. You should’ve said something before my eyes burned out. It’s a bit sneaky to use the equipment by yourself.”

“Sorry, everyone. It just happened instinctively. The lights have been acting weird lately. I don’t even know how many times this has happened now.”

Shaking his head, Taeho took out his cellphone and contacted Gaeul.

“Hey, Gaeul. Sorry, but can you call a repairman? The lights are acting up again. I think I might go blind at this rate.”

“Hyung.”

At Eunho’s call, Taeho lowered his head.

“It won’t help even if you call a repairman.”

“Do you know anything about this?”

“No. But the beast is laughing over there.”

Eunho raised his finger, pointing at the beast hanging from the top of the research center.