17. The Twins

17. The Twins

“Huk…!”

“Huk!”

The eyes of the two wolves, who had been rolling around on the bed, widened. Then, both of them jumped off the bed simultaneously with powerful leaps. What followed was a sprint.

“Seol-ah!”

“Seol-ah!”

The two of them hugged me tightly at the same time.

They hugged me so hard I couldn’t breathe properly. All I could do was struggle and shout.

“L-let me go!”

As soon as the arms constricting me loosened, I immediately jumped back to create some distance. Finally, I could breathe in the fresh air. “Kkang!” a cry escaped me.

“”Are you okay?””

“Mmm.”

Yura and Yuri loved hugging me. Like cats seeing a dangling cat toy, they always rushed at me whenever they saw me.

Thinking about it, I felt like prey, but I told myself it was just a feeling. Probably.

“”Are you here to play?””

“Of course!”

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t here to play, but to uncover the identity of this strange stone. However, it’s definitely okay to play a little while Uncle looks for information.

The twins’ eyes sparkled at my words. It seems they were bored because the weather prevented them from going outside. So, they must be very happy that I came.

Yura and Yuri are identical twins, looking exactly alike. Their white hair, perky ears, and rough yet soft young tails all resembled each other. They even wore the same white ribbons on one ear.

But if you look closely, their appearances were slightly different.

“I want to touch Seol-ah’s tail….”

First, Yura. Yura is the younger twin, and she always has sleepy eyes. Her voice is also slightly drawn out, a voice that somehow makes you feel tired.

“I want to touch Seol-ah’s tail!”

Then there’s Yuri. Yuri, the older twin, always wears a bright and lively expression, unlike Yura. Her voice is also loud and energetic.

Although there are such big differences, it’s true that they are hard to distinguish when you see them. So, Uncle Cheol-su took a special measure: he tied ribbons on their ears in different directions to distinguish them….

“Kkang!”

“”Tail!””

A chilling sensation ran down my spine. My mouth let out an unidentifiable scream, and my body trembled violently. Looking back, my fluffy tail was being squeezed and shriveled in the grip of two pairs of hands.

“Let go of this!”

“”Yes!””

Yura and Yuri are about my age, but they are stronger.

All wolf suins are strong, so it’s strange that I’m weaker, but I am also a wolf suin, and the daughter of the leader, so if I grow a little more, I’ll become a strong wolf like my sister.

Anyway, the important thing is that Yura and Yuri can’t control their strength well. I feel like my precious, big fluffy tail is being crumpled unceremoniously.

“Don’t just touch my tail!”

“But Seol-ah’s tail…” “It feels fluffy and nice!”

“Touch it gently, gently!”

“”Okay!””

Uniquely, these twins like to speak at the same time or in succession. But I know. This way of speaking is actually a kind of role-playing.

When I visited Uncle’s house before, I overheard them practicing speaking in unison. Despite appearances, as a former adult, I didn’t reveal that I had overheard them to protect the children’s innocence.

Heh, both of them are slightly taller than me, but they look so cute.

With my permission, Yura and Yuri began to stroke my tail vigorously. It felt strange, not like Sister’s familiar touch, but like the clumsy touch of young children.

“Huh…?” “There’s something strange inside your tail!”

“Ah, that’s….”

I reached into my tail and pulled out what was inside. The transparent sparkling stone and the picture book. Both are treasures I cherish.

“You still have this picture book…?”

Yura looked at my picture book from side to side and said. I puffed out my chest and shouted.

“Of course! How much I cherish it! I read it every single day!”

“Ugh… this is childish and not fun… Seol-ah has a childish taste, hmm hmm.”

“What?!”

Unbelievable! How wonderful this is, and you call it childish!

And to call me childish after I’ve even hunted is an insult that I, a full-fledged wolf suin, cannot tolerate. I growled and said.

“I’m not a child!”

“But you are a child… 8 years old.”

Yes, 8 years old is still practically a child. But I am different.

“I even went hunting with Sister last time!”

“Really…?”

“Yes!”

Yura’s eyes widened. I took a breath and put my hands on my hips, chuckling. Yura and Yuri, who haven’t gone hunting yet, must be envious of me. My pride swelled.

“Seol-ah went hunting?!”

“She must have fought a rabbit and lost….”

“Yeah, that seems likely!”

Yura and Yuri talked to each other and came to an absurd conclusion. I stamped my feet and denied it.

“What are you talking about! I didn’t lose to a rabbit! Sister said I was amazing when I fought!”

“That’s impossible….” “Because Seol-ah is very weak!”

“Ugh… Ask Sister later! Sister knows everything!”

Upon hearing the word ‘Sister,’ Yura and Yuri hugged each other and started to tremble. After pouting and puffing out my cheeks for a moment, I asked them.

“Why are you like that?”

“Seol-ah’s sister is very scary….” “That’s right, she even got really angry at Father before….”

“Sister gets angry?”

I swear to the heavens, Sister doesn’t get angry easily. She takes care of me gently, brushes my tail… Well, yes, of course, she gets angry if I do something very wrong, but I know very well that Sister’s true nature is kind and quiet.

“That’s impossible. Sister doesn’t get angry.”

“”No….””

“You must have seen wrong. Or maybe Uncle did something veeery wrong to Sister back then!”

The twin sisters from another family, and Sister’s younger sibling. It’s obvious who knows more about Sister.

“By the way, what is this gem?”

“It looks pretty….”

Children change their interests in an instant. Yura and Yuri stopped talking about Sister and said, holding the transparent sparkling stone I brought.

And as expected, this time too, the stone turned gray, becoming an ordinary stone.

“Huk…!”

“Uh oh?”

The twins, flustered, wondering if they had touched something wrong, turned the stone around and around. They even rubbed it on their clothes and shook it to try and restore it, but the stone remained gray.

“Y-it’s because Yuri touched it wrong…!”

“What? No! I just held it!”

“I don’t know, it’s Yuri’s fault…!”

As the twins fell into a panic, I stepped between the two sisters, who were starting to crack, and held up the stone with a chuckle.

“Ta-da!”

“”Huk…?!””

The stone held high in the air refracted the room’s light with its clean and brilliant appearance. Mesmerized by its beauty, Yura and Yuri stared at the stone with sparkling eyes.

“Isn’t it amazing! It turns transparent when I hold it?!”

“”Wow!!””

Be even more amazed! I proudly began to show off the stone.

The stone faded as soon as it was in Yura and Yuri’s hands, but it returned to its original state when it came back to me. After repeating the exchange several times, Yura and Yuri, their blue eyes sparkling, asked me.

“I want one too…” “Where did you get it?!”

“I gave fish to an Arctic fox, and it gave me this as thanks!”

“”Arctic fox…?””

Yura and Yuri tilted their heads.

“What is an Arctic fox…?”

“I don’t know either!”

Huk, come to think of it, according to Uncle Cheol-su, foxes haven’t been seen for 8 years. Adults might know, but children wouldn’t know about foxes.

“I’ll explain! Give me a notebook and a pencil!”

“”Yes…!””

The twins handed me writing utensils from the desk. Using my excellent artistic sense, I began to draw the Arctic fox I had seen.

Fluffy fur, a foolish face, blunt triangular ears, and most importantly- a very fluffy tail!

“This…” “It looks like Seol-ah!”

“What are you talking about!”

Of course, my tail is very, very fluffy, but comparing me to a fox is rude. I am a great, magnificent, strong, and powerful wolf.

“But it’s true….” “The blunt ears, the big tail,” “The silly face, the small body, it’s all the same as Seol-ah…!”

“Ugh….”

Hmph. Pouting, I closed the notebook, stopping my drawing. This way, Yura and Yuri won’t see the Arctic fox. Naturally, they won’t get the pretty stone either.

Realizing this, the two of them looked at each other and gasped.

“Sorry….” “We were wrong!”

“Hmph!”

“Seol-ah is a very cool wolf… right?” “Of course! Absolutely! Seol-ah is so cool!”

Hoo, hoo. I feel a little better.

“Okay. I’ll let it slide this time!”

“”Wow!””

I opened the notebook and continued drawing the fox. Soon, a drawing perfectly depicting that foolish fox was etched into the notebook, and thus, the two of them learned about an animal they had never seen before.

“If you give fish to a fox…” “You get this stone?!”

“Yes!”

Probably?

I can’t be sure since I’ve only met one fox, but it’s likely.

Perhaps my words sparked the children’s imagination, as they looked at each other and made a firm resolution.

“If we see a fox, we’ll definitely give it fish…!”

“Me too!”

Hoo, how cute.

As I smiled contentedly, I suddenly looked out the window and saw that the snow had stopped.