The Symbiotic Relationship Between the Rabbit and the Black Panther

Ahin who had returned to the bedroom early today, took me to the bed without much thought.

Then, he laid down with his face facing down. There was a dull silence.

“…Hey.”

‘Why!’

What are you looking at?

As usual, I only complained inwardly and carefully stepped back. It was because his beautiful face was so close that it felt burdensome.

Then he grabbed my neck to stop my movements and slowly opened his mouth.

“Those morons…. no, those wolves attacked me once again.”

At that moment, I got frightened due to his fangs and closed my eyes tightly.

“So, I got hurt.”

‘You’re hurt?’

I opened my eyes a little, wondering if it was a big wound like the one from before.

Unlike that day, however, there were no blood stains on his blue military garment which was decorated with silver epaulets. Moreover, I couldn’t sense any smell of blood.

On a closer look, Ahin who had turned his head, pointed to his left cheek.

“Here.”

I frowned as I looked at his fair face. It was a mere scratch that would quickly disappear in a day or two.

He talks like he’s got a really big scar or something. As I scoffed, he blinked his red eyes at me.

“Won’t you treat me?”

‘Why me?’

How can a little rabbit treat your wound? Laughing at his absurd request, I shook my front foot.

“You won’t?”

‘I won’t.’

As I continued to ignore him, the smile disappeared from Ahin’s face. Soon after, he got up and lifted me up into the air.

“I don’t need a rabbit that can’t cure me. Ah–“

This irrational wild beast! Ahin opened his mouth with his head bent as if he was about to eat me.

‘Mom!’

Right underneath, the fangs were visible and I struggled for my life.

It felt that my hind legs would almost go into his mouth. Ahin, who had brought my body close to his face, widened his eyes.

“Now, are you in the mood to treat me?”

Of course. As I nodded quickly, he dropped me on the bed. Ahin, bent down once again.

How am I supposed to treat this. When I looked at the wound in confusion, Ahin’s eyebrows twitched in displeasure. It was nothing short of an unspoken urge.

‘I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it!’

I shook my head and alternately looked at my front foot and the red mark on his face.

As I remembered how he had just wanted to swallow this Miss Bibi in one bite a while ago, I wanted to make another scratch on his face with my forefoot.

‘Frustrating.’

How do I meet the needs of this jerk. If you think about it, it was impossible for a four legged rabbit to apply medicine.

As I was absorbed in my thoughts, Ahin’s eyebrows raised again, so, I quickly approached him and licked the wound.

Of course, the wound won’t get cured this way but it was the best thing to do presently.

With a blank look on his face, he straightened his head.

“This is your cure?”

Then what the hell do you want from me. Do you really want to get hit with my front paws?

My face grew more and more bewildered. Somehow, I felt that our communication was very ambiguous.

Looking at Ahin, he sighed in dissatisfaction.

“Well….”

His red eyes slowly shifted towards me. Ahin, who was staring at me, grinned and stroked my head.

“Not bad.”

As he uttered these words unknowingly, he got up and walked towards the bathroom to bandage it.

You told me to heal your wound, but now he is not even bothering with it. Having been dumbfounded, I pretended to throw  a rear-footed kick at the back of that cheeky black panther.

‘Fearful wild beast!’

Ever since the day we had met in the rose garden, Ahin’s mother’s tea time always seemed to be at the same time when I would take a walk in the garden.

Thanks to this, instead of a garden walk, being a part of that strange teatime had become a part of my routine.

“The weather is good.”

‘For sure.’

In response to the blowing breeze, I softly closed my eyes. The sunny sky was covered with clouds and the peaceful wind carried the smell of roses.

At first, the time spent with Ahin’s mother, who had long fangs, was very uncomfortable but the more I met her, the less difficult it became.

She even began to give me hay to chew on and admired me with praise.

Moreover, thanks to her habit of talking a lot, I was able to acquire quite a bit of information.

For example, Ahin had a coming of age ceremony this year. I was always busy looking away from him due to his fangs, but when I think about it, he was just a normal man.

As I blankly stared in the air, I heard a gentle voice.

“So cute, your mouth is so cute.”

“Baby, stick your forefoot out.”

“Eat this.”

Because of her pampering, I was growing fatter day by day.

Ahin, who had known about this whole tea time situation, had turned me upside down and called me a pig rabbit.

Ahin’s mother introduced herself as Valence Grace and told me to call her Miss Valence. Of course, there’s no way I can talk.

Grace’s name had a strange feeling of deja vu, but almost every nobleman in the black panther territory must have heard about it somewhere at least once.

“Try this, too.”

Valence, who was watching me eat handmade hay, had a very subtle expression on her face.

She reached out and flipped my body out of nowhere.

“…Baby.”

Her voice was much lower than usual, so I glanced at her. Valence, who touched my neck, opened her mouth again.

“For a while, hold your breath and think about pressing down the blood vessels in your body.”

Stop breathing and press down on my blood vessels?

I didn’t get the meaning of her words, but her voice sounded so strict that I immediately stopped breathing as instructed.

‘What, what is this?’

It was a kind of feeling that I had never experienced before. Did she want me to press down on this energy. As I remembered her vague words, I tried hard to draw blood to my face.

After a while, I heard her somewhat generous voice.

“That’s brilliant. Well done.”

While receiving her compliment, I tried to draw energy in my body just as I had done now.

Today’s day was much more special than usual. Even though it was early in the morning, Ahin somehow picked me up and got on a carriage.

And Evrin, who arrived shortly after, also rode in the carriage.

The front door of the mansion opened with a loud, clattering noise. Since I came to this place, it was my first time ever going outside the mansion, so I was afraid but also somewhat excited.

‘Wow…!’

As Evrin lifted the window, the scenery outside had changed completely.

It was a street lined up with high buildings and green roofs. I was able to understand the status of the black panther territory which was ahead of every other territory.

‘Interesting.’

It felt like the little world I had known was falling apart. It was such a happy and desperate moment for me to experience the outside world.

In hesitation, I tried to stick my paws out of the window.

Will a day come where I’ll be able to look at the outside world by myself and not through someone else? Somehow, the refreshing breeze felt new.

“Come on, if you can’t catch this doll, you will be eaten.”

After saying those words, a small doll connected to a thread floated in front of me.

How dare you. I opened my eyes and shook my paw. But, ironically, the doll missed my front foot.

“It’s because your legs are short.”

“……”

“Fat rabbit.”

Ahin’s movements in controlling the thread couldn’t be more hateful.

Evrin, who was watching from the opposite side, breathed lightly.

“Sir Ahin, It will be served on your plate in the morning. In such a situation, bunny-nim might really come to hate you. Even now, it has a hateful look.”

At Evrin’s words, Ahin stopped shaking the thread and looked at my face. His red eyes blinked through his silver bangs.

“That’s a pretty good look.”

“That’s right. Bunny-nim, please continue to hate Sir Ahin with all your heart.”

“That’s good too. It adds thrill.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.”

Their conversation was far beyond my understanding, even with my standards, which have never been met by many.

I was so irritated that I gave up and kicked the doll with my front foot. In a moment, the doll turned into a sandbag.

“An invincible rabbit.”

“Look here, this rabbit might be the first ever rabbit fighter to be born.”

Evrin, with a serious expression, brought his face closer. Angered, I pushed his forehead back with my hind feet. These black panthers had a knack of making people angry.

“Evrin, I guess it doesn’t like you very much either.”

“Right. Bunny-nim, please understand my tender heart.”

What a long way to go. Ahin then suddenly lifted me up and placed me in his jacket pocket. It hurts! The ruthless hands showed no sign of change.

“We’re almost at our destination.”

The coachman could be heard outside the window. Seeing that the carriage had slowed down, it seems we were already at our destination.

Soon after, I got off the carriage and faced a large stone building causing my complexion to turn blue. A building with which I had few memories but they were hardly every forgotten. The place they arrived at was a temple.

‘This can’t be.’

It was a place where I would never want to step in because I didn’t have any good memories of the temple. Why is it the temple?

In the midst of struggling in the pocket, something passed through my mind.

Sometimes, young shapeshifters who have not achieved humanization on time are brought to the temple and blessed with holy water. Of course, I’ve been through that process several times.

However, I made no progress in humanization even by my coming of age ceremony, so I was taken to the temple again in order to perform a diagnosis on me.

Apparently, Ahin must have come to the temple to confirm my identity since he had sensed pheromones from me, even though I look like an ordinary little rabbit.

In fear, I began to struggle in his pocket.

“Be quiet.”

Since I wouldn’t stop kicking with all my strength, Ahin pressed my head.

However, I had to resist this time no matter what, so I bit his pocket. We don’t need to go out, so let’s just go back. I hate temples.

I looked up eagerly, but without any further delay, Ahin and Evrin stepped into the temple.

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