Chapter 80: The Truth About Harang

I had been licking Delphine’s cheek for nearly ten minutes when she subtly tilted her head back.

“Ha-Harang, I think you can stop licking now…”

“Huh? Already?”

I still hadn’t tasted enough to be satisfied.

Blinking in disappointment, I looked at Delphine, whose cheek now glowed with a smooth shine.

‘Wow.’

It was as glossy as freshly glazed pottery.

For a moment, I wondered if my licking had some kind of whitening effect.

Raxy Bora must have noticed it too because she walked up beside me and kept staring at Delphine’s face.

‘That’s interesting.’

Maybe my saliva actually had some kind of whitening ability.

After all, I had never licked one spot for such a long time before.

‘Should I test it out?’

Still in Delphine’s arms, I began licking the back of my hand without pause.

If I kept it up for another ten minutes, I’d see the results.

As I continued, moving my tongue diligently, Raxy Bora suddenly picked me up.

“Harang, how about we take a break?”

“Yeah, let’s take a break.”

I didn’t bother asking where we were going to rest.

I was just being carried, after all.

Whoever did the heavy lifting could decide where to rest.

Instead of worrying about it, I just kept doing my thing.

Lick, lick

As I kept licking my hand, Delphine poked my side.

“Harang, your body feels like a balloon.”

“A balloon?”

I tilted my head, looking at Delphine in confusion, and she giggled behind her hand.

“Yeah. You’re so light, it feels like you’d pop if I poked you with a needle.”

Her gaze drifted toward my chest.

For some reason, I felt a chill run down my spine.

“…Delphine, you’re not actually going to poke me with a needle, right?”

“That depends on what you do.”

“Ool…”

Wait a minute.

I was the one who started teasing Delphine first.

And now I was on the receiving end?

Feeling defeated, I had no choice but to stop licking my hand.

‘Delphine might be just as sharp as I am.’

She knew how to turn my own words against me.

Letting out a sigh, I slumped into Raxy Bora’s arms.

She carefully sat down on a park bench, and I ended up resting on her lap.

“Harang, do you feel any better?”

“Yeah. Playing around made the pain go away.”

“That’s a relief.”

Raxy Bora spoke as she gently stroked my belly.

Thanks to her, I felt good enough to look around.

My eyes wandered, taking in the well-maintained park.

Lush green trees, vibrantly colored flowers

The vitality of nature was everywhere.

It was hard to believe this park was part of a hospital.

‘It would’ve been even better if everyone else was here.’

Like Raxy and Jinhyang.

No matter where we went, we were always together.

“Raxy.”

I lightly tapped Raxy Bora’s thigh with my palm.

“Hm?”

“Where are Yoon Bora and the Boss?”

At my question, Raxy Bora’s hand momentarily froze.

Just for the briefest moment.

But she soon resumed stroking my belly, so there didn’t seem to be a problem.

“Yoon Bora had something to take care of, and the Boss is talking with the hospital director.”

“The hospital director?”

“Yeah.”

That meant Jinhyang was somewhere in this hospital.

Realizing she wasn’t far away gave me a strange sense of relief.

I even started looking forward to seeing her.

‘When will she get here?’

Once she arrived, I’d rub my face against hers.

Maybe even lick her cheek.

Just thinking about it made me happy, and my tail wagged instinctively.

‘Oh, right. I’m a patient right now.’

And patient gowns were invincible.

A patient was basically a god.

Maybe, with a patient gown on, I could make requests that would usually be hard to ask for.

“Hehe.”

Maybe being sick wasn’t so bad after all.

I could act as spoiled as I wanted.

Thud

Harang’s hand suddenly lost strength and slipped off the bench.

Her body didn’t move an inch.

“Harang?”

Raxy Bora shook Harang’s body, but she didn’t wake up.

At that moment, Raxy Bora’s heart pounded wildly, as if it had lost all restraint.

“Huh?”

She stared down at Harang, who remained still, unable to move herself.

Then, Delphine, who had been sitting beside her, reached out and placed a hand on Harang’s chest.

“She’s asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“Yes. She took her medicine after eating porridge earlier.”

Delphine nodded toward Harang as if urging Raxy Bora to check for herself.

Gulping, Raxy Bora placed her hand over Harang’s chest.

Her small, light body had a faint, steady heartbeat.

She brought a hand under Harang’s nose and felt the soft warmth of her breath.

“Haa…”

Raxy Bora let out a deep sigh of relief.

Now that she thought about it, Harang always slept like the dead.

With everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten.

“Unnie, Harang must’ve been really tired.”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

Raxy Bora chuckled softly at Delphine’s words.

She gently rubbed Harang’s belly.

Then, as she felt the warmth beneath her palm, her expression darkened.

It wasn’t just warmth it was hot enough to be uncomfortable.

This was definitely not a normal body temperature.

Please, let there be nothing wrong.

Just as Raxy Bora looked up at the sky

“There you are.”

Jinhyang’s voice came from behind.

Raxy Bora slowly turned her head.

“Unnie, you’re here?”

“Yeah. How’s the kid doing?”

Jinhyang placed a hand on the back of the bench and looked down at the sleeping Harang.

“She doesn’t look sick, but her fever hasn’t gone down.”

“Hm…”

Jinhyang reached out and took Harang into her arms.

She gave a small nod.

“She’s still burning up.”

“Yes. Even after taking fever reducers.”

Raxy Bora sighed heavily.

She had already lost count of how many times she had sighed today.

And once again, she let out another deep breath.

“Don’t worry too much. Yoon Bora went to get the cure.”

“Huh? Really?”

Raxy Bora looked at Jinhyang in surprise.

Jinhyang wasn’t the type to lie.

“Raxy Bora, you know the kid’s from the feline family, right?”

“…Yes.”

When Raxy Bora nodded, Jinhyang smirked.

“She’s a Silver Tiger.”

“Silver…?”

Raxy Bora looked down at Harang, still asleep in Jinhyang’s arms.

Now that she thought about it, her fur color did resemble that of a Silver Tiger.

Though her personality was the complete opposite.

‘So that’s why the Silver Tiger was protecting Harang.’

Could it be that it recognized her as one of its own?

Unable to believe it, Raxy Bora clutched her arms.

‘I feel so guilty.’

When Harang had insisted she was a tiger, Raxy Bora hadn’t believed her for even a second.

She had thought Harang was just a kid with big dreams of being a hero.

Who would’ve thought she was actually a tiger

And not just any tiger, but a Silver Tiger, the apex of the feline family?

Raxy Bora awkwardly ran a hand through the back of her head.

“You remember the Silver Tiger we saw in the mountains, right?”

“Yes. Harang even named it Silver.”

“Yeah. The hospital said treating a Silver Tiger would be much easier if there’s an adult of the same species nearby.”

“Then…?”

Gulp.

Raxy Bora swallowed hard not out of nervousness, but out of anticipation.

“Yoon Bora went to the mountains to bring one back. We’ll have to put our hopes on that.”

“Ah…”

“It was a mistake not bringing the Silver Tiger with us in the first place.”

“Yeah.”

They had planned to bring it if Harang wanted, but with the accident happening so suddenly, they didn’t have time to think about it.

Raxy Bora sighed in regret.

She could only hope Silver was still there.

Even with her eyes closed, Harang instinctively knew

That she was in Jinhyang’s arms.

The soft embrace, the familiar scent, the steady rhythm of movement with each step she could tell without a doubt.

“Boss…”

Harang barely cracked her eyes open and looked up at Jinhyang.

Her vision was blurry, and she wanted to rub her eyes.

But her hands had no strength, so all she could do was blink.

“You’re awake?”

“Yeah…”

As she dazedly stared at Jinhyang, a gentle hand reached out and rubbed her eyes for her.

The soft touch eased the tension in her eyelids, and she let out a silly giggle.

“How do you feel?”

“My body feels happy.”

“Happy?”

“Yes. I’m happiest when I’m with you, Boss.”

There was no other way to describe this feeling.

Her body could only express it physically.

Like a puppy that finally reunited with its owner wiggling, wagging, bouncing around in joy.

Of course, she didn’t have the energy for that, so all she could do was nuzzle against Jinhyang.

The softness of Jinhyang’s cheek against hers was irresistible.

So, she gently nipped at her ear.

Not hard just enough to show affection.

She wagged her tail in delight.

But for some reason, there was no sound of bells ringing.

Struggling, she lifted her tail.

Her bell was missing.

“My bell…”

It was precious to her where had it gone?

She sniffled slightly as she stared at her tail.

Jinhyang grabbed it and gently lowered it.

“Yoon Bora took it.”

“Yoon Bora did?”

“Yeah. She thought it might help bring Silver back.”

Ah.

If it was for Silver, then there was no helping it.

Harang relaxed her tail and turned to Jinhyang.

“Boss.”

“Hm?”

“…It hurts a lot.”

“…Really?”

Worry seeped into Jinhyang’s voice.

Harang chuckled inwardly at her reaction.

“I might die, so can you grant me one last request?”

“…What is it?”

For some reason, Jinhyang’s voice dropped into a low murmur.

It wasn’t like she was actually going to die.

Harang wasn’t sure why Jinhyang was reacting so seriously, but she decided to go ahead with her request.

“Can you stop calling me by my name?”

“My name?”

“…”

She couldn’t keep calling Jinhyang “Boss” forever.

It was time to change how she addressed her.

“You want to call me Jinhyang-unnie?”

“No. I’m just going to call you Jinhyang.”

“No.”

“Ehh…”

Jinhyang was firm.

Harang had thought it would work.

Feeling disappointed, she pouted and lightly bit Jinhyang’s ear again, tugging at it playfully.

Jinhyang retaliated by pinching Harang’s cheek.

“If you call me, you can use my name whenever you want.”

“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”

Of course, she only meant she would consider it.