I embraced her, only to realize it was an unknown woman.
Startled, I was slow to pull away from her arms.
I must have been in her embrace for about ten seconds.
"Um, excuse ..."
The woman looked down at with furrowed brows.
Her gaze seed fierce, so I quickly lowered my eyes.
'She must be really angry.'
We were strangers, and I hadn't received permission to hug her.
Even in a world that favors physical contact, this sudden action would understandably upset soone.
I hoped she wouldn't call the police.
Worst-case scenarios flashed through my mind.
It felt like the blood had drained from my body.
"Did you think I was your rabbit friend?"
"Y-yes... I couldn't see with these on..."
As I held out the glasses, her face brightened.
Her sudden kindness made her seem like a different person from the angry one monts ago.
"I thought I'd lost my glasses. What a relief."
"Are these your glasses...?"
"Yes."
With the glasses on, her eyes turned gentle.
She hadn't been glaring at ; she'd just been squinting due to poor vision.
"Um, I-I wasn't trying to steal your glasses."
"I know. You were just playing with them while waiting for the owner, right?"
"Y-yes..."
I was relieved she understood.
My racing heart began to calm down.
"Weren't you dizzy wearing those glasses?"
"I was. That's why I hugged you, thinking you were my friend."
"That's because they don't match your eyes. My eyesight is quite poor."
The woman fiddled with her glasses fra, then suddenly burst into laughter.
I couldn't tell what her laugh ant.
"Um..."
"Oh, sorry. I just never thought I'd benefit from my poor eyesight."
"Benefit?"
"Yes. A softness that makes all the world's worries disappear... I'm so grateful, I'd like to repay you. Is there anything you want?"
I struggled to understand what she was saying.
The latter part about repaynt was likely for helping find her glasses.
"You don't need to repay ."
"But I'm truly grateful..."
"We had fun playing with the glasses too. That's enough."
I turned to look at Levinas standing beside .
She was giggling behind her hands, clearly having enjoyed playing with the glasses.
"I see. Well, thank you so much for finding my glasses. I'll have to lose them again soti."
"Y-yes... What?"
Why would she want to lose the glasses she just found?
I wanted to ask, but she waved goodbye and left too quickly.
Her departing figure seed quite cheerful.
As I watched the woman's retreating back, Levinas poked my arm repeatedly.
"King hugged soone else!"
"Yeah. I heard your voice, so I hugged thinking it was you."
"Hehe, actually Levinas was hiding behind her."
"I see."
So Levinas had been hiding behind the woman.
It was impressive she could do that with a stranger.
It was a pure, Levinas-like action.
"But I shouldn't have hidden! If I didn't, Levinas would have been caught!"
"Waa waa."
Levinas expressed her regret.
She was disappointed about not receiving the hug.
"Then shall we do it again?"
"How can we do it again without the glasses?"
In front of the puzzled Levinas, I stretched out my arms and stumbled around.
Though I wasn't wearing glasses, I pretended to be dizzy as if I was.
"Woah, the world is spinning."
"...!"
Levinas's ears perked up.
She seed to understand what I was trying to do.
"I'm so dizzy, I can't see anything in front of ."
"Hehe, Levinas is right here!"
Levinas stamped her feet, making noise.
Her expression was full of anticipation.
I stumbled towards the source of the sound.
"Is it this way?"
"More forward! More forward!"
"...Got you!"
I stretched out my arms and hugged Levinas tightly.
Perhaps it was the joy of the ga combined with the happiness of the hug?
Unable to contain her emotions, Levinas rubbed her cheeks against vigorously.
"I'm caught!"
"Hehe."
As we laughed together, Saebyeok, who had been watching us, ca closer and started clapping.
"Th-this way..."
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap-
The sound of clapping seed sowhat urgent.
I could tell how much Saebyeok wanted a hug too.
"Got Saebyeok too!"
I embraced both Levinas and Saebyeok together.
A purring sound ca from Saebyeok's throat.
She must have been feeling good.
To be honest, so was I.
I wanted to stay like this forever.
---
---
I returned ho with the children.
Perhaps because we had so much fun playing, our energy levels were high.
'This feels so happy.'
Sitting on the sofa, I looked around.
Just seeing Sophia sitting in the massage chair made my tail wag.
"...Is it that good here?"
"Yes. It's really great."
"A-ahem..."
Sophia turned her eyes away from my gaze.
Towards the television.
Her tail, pressed between her back and the chair, flapped up and down.
I could tell from her tail's movent.
That Sophia was happy.
"Hu, huhuhu..."
Yeoreum, sitting next to , made a strange laughing sound.
My tail perked up at the ominous sound.
"...?"
I turned to look at Yeoreum.
As if nothing had happened, my tail started wagging vigorously.
Seeing like this, Yeoreum gave a broad smile.
"Gyeoul, I think I've discovered sothing incredible."
"What is it?"
"That you use most of your energy wagging your tail."
"...Pardon?"
I did wag my tail often, but not to the point of using most of my energy, right?
I carefully looked behind .
Despite hearing such a surprising statent, my tail didn't stop wagging.
It was because Yeoreum was nearby.
"It feels like you're using all your body's energy on your tail."
"I-is that so...?"
"Yes. At least you won't gain weight because of it."
"Hehe," Yeoreum laughed and grabbed my tail.
The tail that desperately wanted to wag only twitched at the tip.
'I guess she's not wrong.'
Movent accompanied energy consumption.
A tail that wagged enough to create wind would inevitably consu a considerable amount of energy.
"Sophia, do beast-kin generally use a lot of energy through their tails?"
"It varies by species, dear. The larger and more active the tail, the more energy it consus. If we're talking high energy consurs, Argo would be an example, while Levinas would be on the lower end."
"Ah... Then how about my tail?"
"...I'd say it's quite substantial."
The word 'substantial' ca from Sophia's mouth.
Though I didn't know the exact figure, I knew it wasn't a small amount.
"So, everything I ate went into my tail...?"
"Not everything, but a significant amount of energy would have gone there."
"Oh no..."
To think I'd been wasting precious energy on my tail.
Maybe this was why I couldn't build muscle.
My mouth gaped open at this shocking revelation.
It felt like my tail had betrayed .
'I shouldn't waste energy.'
The energy used to move the body, that is, calories, was money in every sense.
If I just stopped wagging my tail, I could store more energy.
It ant food expenses would decrease.
"Ah, I think I shouldn't wag my tail anymore."
"...Is that possible?"
Yeoreum asked while patting my head.
As her hand touched , my tail began to wag even faster.
"Don't pat my head. It makes my tail wag."
"You an I can't pat you anymore...?"
"No, just until I can control my tail. Please bear with it."
Yeoreum glanced at my tail.
Her hand, hovering just above my head, was trembling.
"How long do I have to wait...?"
"Well... Let's try for a week?"
I said this, but honestly, I knew it was nearly impossible.
My tail was an uncontrollable entity.
Still, it was better than not trying at all.
I decided to practice for a week, and if it didn't work out, I'd give up cleanly.
'Let's try for just one week.'
It was hard for too, to refrain from physical contact with my family.
And I didn't particularly dislike my tail wagging.
I planned to practice for about a week, just to check if controlling my tail was possible.
---
---
'A week?'
Not touching Gyeoul for a week?
Yeoreum looked down at Gyeoul with wide eyes.
Her hands were already trembling, as if she was going through withdrawal.
'No way.'
How could she endure for a week when even a day seed impossible?
Before knowing this soft and squishy sensation, it might have been different, but now it was impossible for Yeoreum.
It was like telling soone to die.
"Gyeoul, you can't do this to your sister. Please, have rcy."
"I-I'm sorry. Just for a week..."
Regret seeped through Gyeoul's eyes.
Through those innocent eyes, Yeoreum could understand.
That Gyeoul was just as desperate about not being able to have physical contact.
'...This is it.'
If physical contact wasn't allowed, she just had to make Gyeoul initiate it.
Perhaps this was an opportunity.
Gyeoul begging, "Please hug ~" because she couldn't hold back?
Her mouth was already watering.
"Hu, huhuhu..."
Yeoreum laughed like a villain from a cartoon.
Seeing Yeoreum like this, Sophia clicked her tongue.
Sophia could see right through what Yeoreum was thinking.
"Tsk tsk."
We have four children in this house, Sophia thought to herself.
---
1/6 Enjoy the chappy!
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