After a light handshake, Kim Ye Rin abruptly stood up from her seat. She went to the counter, opened a drawer, and took out a large white box. It was a first aid kit.

“Shall I disinfect it?”

Opening the first aid kit wide on the table, Kim Ye Rin pulled out the chair right next to Choi Yoon and sat down facing him. Kim Ye Rin’s knees slightly brushed against the lower part of Choi Yoon’s knees.

Just that was enough to make Choi Yoon tense up. But before he could awkwardly avoid it, Kim Ye Rin naturally turned her body first to create some distance. She took out the disinfectant and said,

“Let me see.”

Choi Yoon obediently placed his left arm on the table.

Kim Ye Rin lowered her head and closely examined the wound. She asked,

“How did you get hurt?”

Though they weren’t touching, there was barely any space between them. The long, full ends of her hair spilled over Choi Yoon’s thighs, then brushed against him as Kim Ye Rin swept it back, before falling heavily again. His whole body tingled.

Kim Ye Rin suddenly looked up. Her pitch-black eyes stared straight at him. Not knowing what it meant, Choi Yoon tensed slightly as he met her gaze.

Kim Ye Rin frowned. He thought he heard her click her tongue.

“I asked how you got hurt. Did you have a scuffle with the police?”

Ah, Choi Yoon shook his head.

“Then?”

“As I was trying to leave the checkpoint, an elder came close. The police stopped him from passing and there was a physical altercation. I got hurt trying to break it up.”

Kim Ye Rin’s hand paused as she was unscrewing the disinfectant cap.

“A physical altercation?”

Kim Ye Rin hurriedly asked further.

“Which elder? What did he look like? Was he badly hurt?”

“He went home fine. I don’t remember his name, but he had a tiger tail.”

“Ah,” Kim Ye Rin nodded.

“He lives around here and was probably trying to go to town to sell something. It’s too much that they’re stopping even that.”

“The elder was already quite angry. They let humans pass right away if they have ID, but they say youkai could be in league with the disguised ones, so they need to bring a human guarantor. Only then will they allow them to go out and come back in.”

Kim Ye Rin frowned.

Choi Yoon decided not to mention that the tiger youkai grandfather had angrily overturned the handcart he was pulling, causing the crops to roll on the ground and become unusable, or how he got injured in the process of barely managing to pull the elder off when he rushed at the police and grabbed them by the collar. There was no need to make Kim Ye Rin feel worse.

After a moment of silence, Kim Ye Rin tapped the disinfectant stick at the opening to get some out.

“This might sting a little.”

It stung a lot. As soon as the stick soaked in disinfectant touched him, Choi Yoon instinctively flinched. Before he could relax, Kim Ye Rin’s hand came and gripped Choi Yoon’s wrist. She firmly pressed it down on the table.

Holding it fixed like that, Kim Ye Rin disinfected Choi Yoon’s wound while blowing on it.

As he quietly watched Kim Ye Rin fanning with her hand to help the disinfectant dry well, Choi Yoon thought he wanted to brush back that softly flowing hair. He wanted to check.

If they were disguised, there would be evidence.

The body would reveal the answer. If it was a deer youkai, there would be scars from removing antlers; if it was a beetle youkai, there would be scars from cutting off wings. If he could just catch that…

“Wait a bit for it to dry, then I’ll apply some ointment…”

Kim Ye Rin suddenly looked up. Their eyes met.

Only then did he realize how close they were. Choi Yoon reflexively pulled back. The chair leg scraped the floor with a screech.

Kim Ye Rin, now a hand’s width away, asked,

“Do you have something to say?”

“No.”

“You look like you have a lot to say.”

“I don’t.”

Kim Ye Rin stared at Choi Yoon for a moment, then pulled the first aid kit closer. She took out some ointment, squeezed a little onto a cotton swab, then grabbed Choi Yoon’s wrist. Holding it firmly so it wouldn’t move, she carefully began to apply it along the raw wound.

Taking advantage of her full concentration on the wound, Choi Yoon was able to gaze intently at Kim Ye Rin. From very close.

Youkai have manifestation points.

This referred to parts that remained even after shedding their animal form and transforming into human appearance.

It varied for each youkai and individual, but for quadrupeds it was usually the tail, ears, or horns, while for insects and birds it was wings. Reptiles sometimes had scales sprouting sparsely on their skin, and there were cases where they looked human on the outside but had horizontal or vertical pupils.

If the manifestation point was a tail, ears or claws could be easily hidden or revealed. But the tail could never be concealed by will alone. Surgery was the only way to remove it.

Because it was clearly visible on the outside, to live as a disguised one, there was no choice but to prepare to die and remove the manifestation point.

Not knowing what kind of youkai Kim Ye Rin might be, there were several places to check.

First, her pupils seemed fine. She didn’t appear to be wearing contacts either.

Then other places. If ears or horns were cut off, the scalp. If there was a tail, the end of the spine. If wings were broken, the wing joints…

A pulse throbbed on the captured wrist.

…She smells delicious.

From Kim Ye Rin’s round shoulders, from her ear exposed by carelessly swept back hair, came a scent like fried onions or roasted tomatoes.

He realized his heart was pounding severely only afterwards.

Kim Ye Rin’s thumb was diagonally pressing on Choi Yoon’s pulse. Glancing slightly, her eyes were calm, lowered in concentration. Just as he wondered if his heartbeat had been detected, Kim Ye Rin released Choi Yoon’s hand.

As he was about to let out a held breath, she grabbed him again. Kim Ye Rin lowered her head. For an instant, Choi Yoon thought she was going to kiss his forearm.

But Kim Ye Rin stopped very close, then pursed her lips prettily and blew.

Her breath swelled like cotton candy over Choi Yoon’s exposed forearm. If warmth could be seen, it would have bloomed like a beautiful flower.

Kim Ye Rin twisted the ointment cap closed and rummaged in the first aid kit for a waterproof bandage.

Kim Ye Rin applied the bandage over the wound. She pressed firmly around the edges with her fingertips to make sure it didn’t lift. The wound was lightly brushed, but Choi Yoon didn’t have the presence of mind to react.

“I don’t think it will scar.”

Kim Ye Rin continued as she closed the first aid kit.

“It’s fortunate it ended with just this much.”

“I wish I’d been hurt worse.”

Choi Yoon muttered. Kim Ye Rin gave him a puzzled look. Choi Yoon added,

“It would have been better if I’d been hit by the police. I had my phone camera on. Then I could have immediately collapsed, been taken to the hospital, and then hit the media.”

Thinking about it again, it was regrettable. Anger rose up right after.

“While I didn’t lay a hand on them, how could they push and pull that old man so roughly? It wasn’t unexpected, but still…”

About to spit out more, Choi Yoon closed his mouth. He thought simple venting was meaningless. After all, he had chosen to stay here to change things like this.

Kim Ye Rin asked,

“Shouldn’t you take care of your body? You’re expensive, aren’t you?”

“That doesn’t scare me. If I could just grab public opinion, even breaking an arm would be fine. What I fear is not me getting hurt, but no one knowing that the people here are getting hurt.”

Kim Ye Rin quietly gazed at him, then reached out to brush off some dust from the edge of the bandage on Choi Yoon’s arm. She said,

“You should wash with warm water and change into clean clothes.”

Choi Yoon wanted to ask to borrow an umbrella. He thought he should go down to the car parked on the side road under an umbrella and bring one set from the overflowing clothes in the back seat and trunk.

But before he could open his mouth, Kim Ye Rin stood up first.

“I have some men’s clothes. Our builds aren’t similar, but the loose ones should fit alright.”

Men’s clothes? An ex-boyfriend?

Choi Yoon was quite taken aback.

He had thought all that talk of lovers was just an excuse to side with the disguised ones.

Kim Ye Rin went up the stairs and opened a storage space diagonally hidden in the landing between the first and second floors.

Choi Yoon got up and followed Kim Ye Rin. Standing a step or two below her, he leaned his upper body slightly, gripping the railing, to peer over Kim Ye Rin’s shoulder.

The storage was quite large and deep. Several comforters and soft-colored winter clothes caught his eye.

Kim Ye Rin neatly ran her fingertips down from the top of the neatly stacked items, then crouched down. The cotton skirt rustled as it crumpled on the wooden floor.

Choi Yoon spoke to the back of her head.

“If you lend me an umbrella, I can go to my car. I have some clothes there.”

“It’s raining a lot. The road might be slippery and you could get hurt, so just wear this for tonight.”

Kim Ye Rin answered without turning around. As she concentrated on searching with her head bowed, Choi Yoon quietly gazed at her slender exposed nape. He thought the stray wisps of hair were pretty.

Kim Ye Rin pulled something out from the bottom shelf. It was a rather stylish set of home wear.

“Will it be too small?”

Kim Ye Rin muttered as she stood up. Turning to face him, she unfolded the top and lightly held it against Choi Yoon’s shoulders. Kim Ye Rin’s expression brightened slightly. She said,

“I think it will fit.”

“Is it alright for me to wear such a precious keepsake?”

“Pardon?”

The pretty hands smoothing out wrinkles in the clothes suddenly stopped. Kim Ye Rin looked up at Choi Yoon. Their eyes met. A troubled look flashed across Kim Ye Rin’s face right after.

“Ah.”

She averted her gaze and answered.

“Yes. It’s fine. Please wear it.”

Choi Yoon silently grasped the clothes in Kim Ye Rin’s hands. Kim Ye Rin cleared her throat and pointed behind Choi Yoon.

“You saw where the bathroom is earlier, right? It’s at the far end over there.”

Then she quickly went down the stairs. After gathering the first aid kit and mug from the table where they had been sitting, she clutched them to her chest and slipped into the kitchen. Choi Yoon followed Kim Ye Rin’s retreating figure without blinking.

See. It’s a lie.

Eventually, Kim Ye Rin came out to the counter and put the first aid kit in a drawer. As she turned to go back into the kitchen, Choi Yoon read tension in her slightly tightened lips.

Loved a disguised one who died. Attended protests for that person.

How ridiculous.

Who did she think would believe such a shoddy love story? By his guess, Kim Ye Rin had probably never had a proper relationship.

To begin with, a romance with a disguised one? It was absurd.

Choi Yoon slowly exhaled towards the prettily cunning woman making clattering sounds as she entered the kitchen.

She told such a blatant lie that would be exposed in less than a day.

She probably thought it was just a prank since they wouldn’t meet again, but Choi Yoon had no intention of letting it slide. He would be staying here for at least a month, up to three months at most.

His gaze followed Kim Ye Rin’s movements as she skillfully navigated the small, well-tended kitchen visible below the railing.

Of all the many professions, she chose the food service industry. Did she think she wouldn’t be exposed with customers coming and going several times a day?

So fearless.