Seojun stood in the yard, his body already ward up from a series of daily routine exercises. The morning sun painted long shadows across the ground as he shifted his weight forward, pressing a single finger against the solid earth. His entire body lifted, balancing effortlessly in a vertical handstand.
Balancing effortlessly on a single finger, Seojun lowered his body until his nose nearly touched the ground. His muscles remained motionless—no trembling, no wasted movent. With a slow inhale, he pushed himself back up doing it repeteadly.
He exhaled slowly, enjoying the quiet mont—until he felt sothing cold slither around his neck.
"Master, he's awake."
Silla, in his snake form whispered in his ear coiled around Seojun's shoulder. Seojun stood up, exhaling slowly as he wiped the sweat from his brow. His muscles relaxed after the workout, he turned and headed inside,
In the corner of the room, a lion stood on guard, his dark fur bristling as he growled lowly. His sharp eyes darted between Huno and Nymira, who stood on either side of him as if cornering a dangerous beast.
"Can't you calm down? You just woke up." Huno sighed, sitting lazily with his tail wagging.
"So grumpy," Nymira added, flicking her feline ears.
The lion cub bared his teeth. "Hah! Do you think you can fool ?! Look at yourselves! You're both weakened! You don't stand a chance against !"
He let out a confident laugh. Huno and Nymira paused, then looked down at themselves.
A Rottweiler dog and white ragdoll cat. Their ears twitched. Their expressions soured.
"Shut up! This is just a disguise!" Huno barked, clearly annoyed.
"Huh? And have you looked at yourself?" Nymira shot back, her tail flicking smugly.
The lion blinked, confused. Then he looked down—and his fur stood on end.
A cub.
Not the mighty lion he had always been.
Not the powerful guardian of his master.
Just a tiny, fluffy cub.
His eyes widened in pure horror. "W-WHAT IS THIS?!!"
His tail puffed up, his ears flattened, and he started running in circles, frantically checking every part of his body.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO ?! WHY AM I SMALL?! WHO DID THIS?! THIS IS A CURSE! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS!!"
Huno and Nymira exchanged looks before bursting into laughter.
"Pfft—HAHAHAHA! He just noticed!!"
"What a reaction! This is the best thing I've seen all day!"
"Master! The two are bullying the lion!" Silla exclaid, his silver body slithering down from Seojun's shoulder.
Huno and Nymira, who had been laughing at the panicking cub, imdiately turned defensive.
"No, we're not!" Huno barked.
"He started it tsk." Nymira flicked her tail, pointing at the flustered lion cub.
Silla, still wrapped around the chair leg, narrowed his eyes. "You both look suspicious."
"You leech! Co here, I'll bite you!" Huno growled and lunged at Silla.
Silla hissed and quickly slithered away, leading Huno in circles around the living room. Nymira just sat back, watching in amusent.
Seojun, who had been silently observing, shook his head and sighed. He then turned to the small lion cub, who was still trembling slightly from earlier.
"How are you feeling now?"
The cub's golden eyes widened as he snapped his gaze up at Seojun.
"You! What did you do to ?! Bring back to my master! This instant!" He roared, his voice small yet filled with desperation.
Huno imdiately stopped chasing Silla and let go of his tail.
"Hey, it's the Abyss Lord you're shouting at. Be respectful," Huno warned, his ears twitching.
Silla, now curled back up comfortably, added, "Right now, you're in your weakest state. What we look like is just our appearance. We can change whenever we want, but you?" His golden eyes glead. "You're stuck as a cub. You know what i an right?"
Nean stiffened.
For the first ti—he felt fear from them.
'What is this? Why am I feeling this?! Is it because I'm weakened?! Damn it!'
The three beasts surrounding him were releasing a powerful aura, their intimidation pressing down on his small body. His fur stood on end, and no matter how much he tried to suppress it—his instincts scread danger.
But before his fear could take over—he was suddenly lifted off the ground.
"Hey, calm down, guys. He's just in shock. I'll handle this."
Seojun's voice was calm, almost lazy, but with absolute authority. Nean wanted to struggle, but his body refused to move. The pressure was too much for him to resist.
Seojun walked to the sofa and sat down, placing Nean beside him. He gulped, staring at the powerful human next to him.
"You're curious about what happened, right?"
Nean's ears twitched.
"Isn't that obvious?!" He snapped before realizing his mistake.
Three pairs of glowing eyes instantly glared at him.
'Crap.'
His ears flattened, and he quickly corrected himself. "Y-Yes… Tell what really happened."
Seojun leaned back, crossing his arms.
"Your master entrusted you to ."
Nean's breath hitched.
"And you were able to et your master, right?" Nean didn't answer,
"I should have killed you."
Nean's small body tensed, but Seojun continued.
"But your master begged to forgive you. I've seen everything—your suffering, your loyalty, how you stood your ground for your master."
The lion cub stayed silent, his ears twitching slightly.
"If you don't want to be alive, you can approach Huno. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to end you."
Seojun then stopped speaking as a sudden ringing sound ca from a holographic screen in front of him. He glanced at Nean, who remained silent, his expression unreadable.
'I'll let him think for now.'
With that thought, Seojun answered the call. Alex's voice ca through the screen.
[We'll be going there. We have a lot to talk about. A month was enough.] Before Seojun could reply, another voice cut in—Alexa.
[Na-ah! Don't even think about avoiding this matter! Whether you like it or not, we'll settle things now!]
Seojun sighed. "Okay, okay, just co."
Alexa suddenly added, [Anyway, are you gonna pick up Auntie at the airport?]
Seojun leaned back, glancing at the ti. "Yeah, just waiting for the plane to land."
[Oh! Since we're on the way, we'll pick her up instead,] Alexa proposed.
Seojun shook his head. "No need. I'll handle it."
[Tsk, don't be difficult! We're already nearby, it makes more sense for us to go.]
He exhaled, knowing there was no point in arguing. Once Alexa set her mind on sothing, there was no changing it. "...Fine. Just let know when you get Mom."
[See? That wasn't so hard,] she said smugly before ending the call.
anwhile, Silla had his eyes on Nean, who was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed.
"What do you think? Will he accept his fate now?"
Huno, who was sprawled on the floor lazily, let out a low chuckle.
"It's either he fulfills his master's wish… or he ends up in my hands. Hehehe."
Silla frowned. "Your hands? Ha! No way! I will be the one to end him, you mutt!"
Huno imdiately shot up, his fur bristling. "What did you just say, you slimy worm?! You think you can do it faster than ?!"
"Of course! I can squeeze the life out of him before you can even take a step!" Silla hissed, puffing up.
"Ha! As if! My bite will be quicker than your slow slithering!"
Their argunt grew louder as they got closer, almost ready to fight again—until Silla suddenly noticed sothing. His eyes widened.
"Hey, hey! Stop! Look over there!" He pointed his tail toward the couch.
Huno turned his head and saw it too—Nymira was sitting next to Nean, quietly talking to him. The two imdiately stopped their bickering.
"Nymira's talking to him?"
"Oh, She step up ha"
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