IRPT 2

Chapter: 2

Yoon-sung hastily gathered up some clothes, tucking them under his arm.

Then, with both hands, he lifted the small, trembling white-furred creature at his feet.

The rabbit twitched its mouth and swung its front paws like a boxer.

Yoon-sung smirked, raising the corners of his mouth in mockery.

“What can you even do in that state?”

He held the rabbit in his arms, speaking low, almost as a warning.

The rabbit struggled violently.

“Don’t you think you’d better stay still if you don’t want to get penalized?”

Only then did the rabbit slowly relax its legs.

Yoon-sung skillfully supported its hind legs.

White fur clung ferociously to his black sweater.

That’s why I hate furry things.

With a frown and annoyance, Yoon-sung said,

“You idiot. See all this fur? I’ll leave it in the locker for you. Go wash it.”

At the left of every entrance in the school, there was a knee-high wooden box with a lid—exclusively for Seon Ha-dam’s things.

The rabbit tapped Yoon-sung’s chest with its tiny front paws as if in disbelief.

What could it possibly do with those soft, weightless little punches?

Yoon-sung completely ignored all of the rabbit’s reactions.

After roughly tossing Ha-dam’s clothes into the dormitory locker, he asked irritably,

“Which floor?”

Seon Ha-dam’s roommate had been Oh Yuna for five years, and their room was 206.

Though everyone at school knew this, Yoon-sung consciously pretended not to know anything about Ha-dam.

Maybe it would make him feel a bit more comfortable.

The rabbit tapped his hand twice with its tiny front paws.

Soft, fine fur brushing against his skin sent shivers down his spine.

If only he could put this small, warm bundle down and run away immediately.

“Dare to run away? Yoon-sung. You still don’t understand your father’s teachings properly, do you?”

Suddenly, a rough, commanding voice echoed in his mind.

Yoon-sung tensed his arm.

He couldn’t afford to drop it by mistake.

He strode past the dormitory entrance and up the central staircase.

Before he even asked about the room number, he stood swiftly and accurately in front of Room 206, fitted with a pet door.

“Consider yourself lucky.”

As he relaxed his grip, the rabbit leapt down as if it had been waiting for this moment.

It didn’t run off immediately, though; its front paw paused as it pushed the pet door open.

The rabbit then turned toward Yoon-sung.

“…Why.”

Seeing it standing upright, front paws suspended in midair, helplessly unsure what to do, Yoon-sung could guess what it wanted to say.

Recent rumors circulating around school.

Unpleasant, yet he didn’t want to pay them any attention.

If it were something he absolutely had to know, he would find out anyway.

“Go clean your ears and get some sleep.”

Clicking his tongue in a showy way, he stepped out of the rabbit’s line of sight.

Once outside, he removed his sweater and placed it in the locker.

He wanted to take off the white short-sleeve T-shirt, now carrying the rabbit’s scent, but attracting attention with excessive actions was for fools.

He hurried toward the boys’ dormitory.

He wanted to change clothes as soon as possible.

In the meantime, he took out his phone and sent a message.

[Visited Seon Ha-dam’s artifact museum.]

The message immediately showed as ‘read’.

As always, there was no reply.

Ha-dam pouted and banged on the pet door. It rattled loudly.

Annoying little brat.

How many times had he been held like this? The shame kept growing.

Besides, he didn’t even know why he had tried to communicate earlier—it made no sense.

Had his mind wandered for a moment?

It must have all been because of that terrifying sound—

“Seon Ha-dam…? What are you doing there? Not sleeping?”

Yuna stirred and sat up.

Realizing it, Ha-dam hastily grabbed the trembling pet door.

The rattling stopped quickly, but Yuna had already stepped out of bed.

“Why did you suddenly become a rabbit in the middle of the night?”

Yuna rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked.

Ha-dam couldn’t respond.

Feeling frustrated, he tapped his chest.

“This doesn’t seem like something that can be explained in a word, right? Fine, we’ll talk tomorrow. Come inside and sleep.”

Yuna nodded, understanding perfectly without a word.

It helped that she had been his close friend for ten years.

Ha-dam stretched out his arms—or rather, front paws—toward Yuna.

Yuna lightly picked him up, holding him close, and rubbed her face against his neck.

“Oh, my little one. So cute as always. I want to nibble you.”

Despite her clear, delicate voice, her tone was rough.

Although he had heard it many times, it sometimes startled him.

An instinctive reaction of a lower-tier animal in the food chain.

Nestled in Yuna’s arms, Ha-dam obediently went under the covers.

Yuna arranged the blanket so that Ha-dam’s pink nose was completely covered.

“Todam. You know I do Miracle Morning, right? Don’t cry in the morning when I’m gone, and don’t be late! Got it? Now, sleep~!”

Yuna patted the blanket gently as if putting a baby to bed, then returned to her own bed.

Being treated like a baby while in rabbit form had become routine.

Even Ha-dam himself admitted that the pure white rabbit in the mirror was unbearably cute.

Short ears, a round pink nose, and a mouth shaped perfectly like the letter ‘ㅅ’.

Black eyes shining like obsidian, and fur so soft it begged to be touched.

In the end, Ha-dam decided to accept his cuteness in rabbit form.

He even playfully acted cute in front of Yuna sometimes—covering his eyes with his paws or crossing his ears.

When he did, Yuna would squish his cheeks and whisper:

“Todam. Let’s live together forever. If I leave, I’ll kill you. Hehe.”

Hearing lines worthy of a male protagonist madly in love, Ha-dam couldn’t help nodding vigorously.

It seemed she truly meant “kill you”…

But Yuna didn’t just verbally care for him.

“He still turns into an animal, huh?”

“Shouldn’t we keep him locked up?”

“Right? Feed him hay too.”

“You crazy idiots, shut up!”

Yuna always scolded classmates who laughed, keeping them in check.

However, even she couldn’t stop complaints from parents spreading through other students.

“How old is he, yet he still turns into an animal? It must be bad for the kids’ emotional development. Can’t he be separated?”

“If a friend turns into a rabbit, how will children perceive their own identity?”

“Is it reasonable to replace all doors because of one student? Installing lockers was enough. Tsk. They must have surplus budget.”

“The principal doesn’t seem concerned about Ha-dam. What is the board even doing?”

When adults talked like this, Ha-dam felt like a criminal.

Shifters are born human but can also turn into animals while balancing pheromones.

After age five, they live solely as humans.

This process wasn’t some absurd magic or fantasy.

Medical measures were necessary to maintain pheromone balance.

Even when appearing completely human, instincts remained.

Thanks to this, many shifters used their animal senses to amass wealth and prestige.

Some rose to societal leadership, others shone in arts or sports with their unmatched abilities.

From such a privileged position, Ha-dam was extremely incomplete.

Some even argued that he should be confined at home for life after graduation.

His mere existence could expose the shifter world, so the concern wasn’t unfounded.

“Ha-dam, the principal considers you an important member of the Beast Academy. So stay strong.”

Every year, his homeroom teachers repeated the same words.

It didn’t bring great comfort, but at least it reassured him that he wouldn’t be expelled immediately.

Ha-dam had no other school to go to if he changed into an animal—only Beast Academy.

He curled up in the blanket.

To return to human form, the key was lowering his heart rate as much as possible.

On noisy days like today, it would take over an hour…

But why on earth was Byeol Yoon-sung still awake at this hour?

The guy who hated breaking rules more than anyone else.

“Go clean your ears and sleep.”

And suddenly, ear cleaning?

Had he heard that sound too, just like him?

Ha-dam couldn’t find an answer despite turning it over in his mind.

“Todam, listen carefully. That guy, Byeol Yoon-sung, is the toughest here. You know my instincts aren’t kidding, right? So stay out of his way if possible.”

Yuna disliked Yoon-sung intensely.

Far more than Ha-dam did.

He asked her reasons several times, but her answer was always the same:

 “He’s tough.”