Chapter Text
Kim Rok Soo was no stranger to suffering.
He had your stereotypical tragic upbringing; orphaned at a young age, abused and bullied in the place he was meant to call home, struggled to find a job to support himself and put him through school, watched as everyone he loved and thought of as a family died before him, was currently living through an apocalypse—
Just, truly your textbook definition of ‘tragic’.
However, no amount of suffering and tragedy could’ve ever prepared him for this…
The last thing he remembered before waking up, was reading 5 volumes of a book series he’d borrowed for one of his increasingly rare days off. ‘The Birth of a Hero’. Your standard fantasy story of a young man being isekai’d into a new world, only to then be burdened to solve this new civilizations problems.
The main character was obviously a Korean teen, and the setting was not so subtly based on historic Western Europe. Kim Rok Soo remembered the book was unusually detailed with its world building and descriptions of the characters—
But none of that mattered at the moment.
How could he even spare a thought or connect the setting of the book with his current predicament?
He had four legs.
Hold on, he might not have emphasized that enough.
He had four legs.
More specifically, he had a set of four furry black paws with slightly blunted claws that he could retract (interestingly enough) to top them off. Kim Rok Soo had an aching suspicion that should he turn around, he’d also find a bushy tail behind him.
What did he do to deserve this?
Not only was he now stuck in this foreign animal body; he’d also been rudely awoken by sudden pin-pricks of cold wetness. Fat drops of rain pelted him from above, while the sticky muddy ground sucked him in from below.
He barely had time to register all of this before the increasingly heavy shower and claps of screeching thunder had him tripping over himself towards the closest dry hollow he spotted in his periphery. Turns out walking with 4 legs was much more challenging when you’re used to two. Who knew?
Kim Rok Soo sighed. The universe just seemed to love messing with him— he wasn’t even sure if you could call it bad luck anymore— It’s like the world just went ahead and said “fuck you in particular” to him.
Now that he’d found himself a somewhat dry and mud free place to wait out the deluge, he could finally take the time to figure out just what sort of body he was working with.
As he suspected, looking behind him did, in fact, reveal a bushy red and white tipped tail. Touching it with the tip of his nose revealed a somewhat bristly texture, similar to a painter’s brush.
Lifting one of his forepaws, he rubbed the top of his head and confirmed the existence of two pointed and soft furred ears. Lastly, he brushed his newly acquired paw against an elongated snout, catching on a set of highly sensitive whiskers along the way.
The gears in his brain spun into overdrive to picture what he looked like now, trying his best to recall the time before the apocalypse when animals were more common; albeit, still rare in the urban jungle he lived in.
The fact that his snout was long and his tail was more bushy than sleek seemed to speak of more canid features. However, his retractable claws and long sensitive whiskers were much more feline in nature than any dog he could think of.
He had a sinking suspicion that whatever creature he’d come to possess was definitely not of a domesticated variety. As if the fact he woke up in the middle of a forest wasn’t a good enough indicator to his current social status.
Still, he had somewhat hoped he could’ve lived the comfortable and relaxed life of a tamed pet. He wasn’t above tossing away some face to please an owner if that meant he could live a slackers’ life.
Shaking away those unhelpful thoughts, he focused instead on observing his new world.
Kim Rok Soo was 98% certain he was no longer in the same world he had been before falling asleep. For one, this world was far too green. Even the mountain that Choi Jung Soo’s family was buried in wasn’t nearly this lush, beautiful and full of life.
The skies also weren’t nearly this blue! How could they be with all the destruction and smog released from burning or destroyed buildings after onslaughts of monster attacks?
Lastly, there were far too many animals and wildlife just casually roaming around. He could still hear the birds chirping through the shower and his heightened sense of smell could pick up the trails of various other creatures nearby.
They’d mostly disappeared after the first wave of attacks from the monsters through the portals, too smart and world weary to ever be dumb enough to reveal where they were so easily. Especially seeing as monsters attacked all living creatures indiscriminately.
This was not a world devastated by a monster apocalypse. It was far too peaceful. As for why he doesn’t just assume this is his world before the apocalypse… he just had a hunch.
Luckily, the rain was starting to clear up. The once pelting drops slowly tapered off to a drizzle, before stopping all together. Taking a few extra cautious moments to observe the weather, Kim Rok Soo left the cover of the tree hollow he’d sheltered in to take a better look of his surroundings.
The ground squelched uncomfortably between the pads of his paws and he quickly adjusted his steps to walk over more solid areas with grass. He took a sniff of the air, heavy with the scent of what his animal brain so helpfully filled in as water and prey.
He supposed it could be worse. He could be stuck in this animal body with an entirely human brain and sensory perception. At least this brain still had some leftover survival instincts and abilities. It’d be a helpful guide for him through this adjustment and learning period.
He quickly approached a puddle that’d formed from the rain and stared into his murky reflection. Through the brown tinged surface, he managed to make out a mostly red pelted creature with what was probably a white belly and throat under all the muddy muck. Along with that, he had black tipped ears, a pointed snout, and long rigid whiskers laying near flush with the sides of his face.
He was a fox… a very red fox at that.
Kim Rok Soo felt a headache fast approaching.
He’d already known he was likely a wild animal, but a fox? Really? A fox was one of those unfortunate creatures that not only had a short expected lifespan of 3 - 4 years on average without human intervention; but it was also notoriously given a bad reputation no matter the time period or place. The most value foxes had in the eyes of non-enthusiast or sympathizers would be for their exotic coats and warm fur to line expensive clothes with!
Other than their depressing commercial value, they were simply an annoyance, a pest in the eyes of society. Even if he were to try to take shelter in a human settlement, he’d have to be careful to stay out of people’s sights, lest he raise alarms and get chased out or killed for being a wild diseased beast.
He couldn’t just live in the woods either. While his leftover survival instincts from the animal brain he took over could help distinguish things like edible foods, prey, likely danger or water sources; he didn’t have the practical experience or know how to use this information to live a decent wild life. Not to mention his current body already looked extremely emaciated.
Besides, him, hunting? Hah! Even if his body had the energy, he could only just barely walk straight with four legs! He didn’t even have the motivation to want to learn either, not when his keen nose could pick up the scent of civilization in the form of fire…
His stomach was already beginning to growl at the thought of fire cooked meals.
Taking one last disgruntled look at himself, he got up, shook out his water clogged pelt, and started on his trek towards civilization. Even if the only life he could expect to live there would be the life of a thief who rummaged through trash and had to roll around in shit everyday, it still beat starving to death! He hated pain and last he checked, death by starvation was one of the worst ways he could think to go.
Besides, he’d already put up with a lifetime’s worth of hard work. Why go and waste his already shortened lifespan doing even more work? Just to keep up his dignity? Dignity wouldn’t feed him!
He continued forward with a renewed sense of urgency, justifying it as needing to get a better understanding of where he was and when. If he could sneak a bite of something cooked along the way… then that was just an added bonus.
By the time he stopped to rest, the sun was already approaching the midpoint of its journey across the sky. He sat on his haunches, panting. Apparently, he might’ve given his new sense of smell more credit than it deserved.
His paws were already aching and the scent of fire had only grown marginally closer; the smell enveloping the whole area and changing directions with the wind. For all he knew, he could’ve been walking in circles and been none the wiser.
The only reason he was sure he hadn’t back-tracked on himself was because he could hear the sound of a stream he’d been tracking from a distance growing closer and closer. His sense of hearing seemed much more reliable than his nose in this case.
Kim Rok Soo was starting to get thirsty anyways, he figured there’d be no harm in going to get a drink before continuing on his way.
Besides, wasn’t there that saying that when lost one might have better luck encountering civilization by following a stream?
With that thought in mind, he pushed himself back onto his paws and worked himself up to a trot; his ears twitching slightly atop his head as he adjusted his course to head directly towards the stream.
Finally, he pushed through a patch of ferns and came face to face with the hidden brook.
The water was a little more brown than he would’ve liked; but he took it as an aftereffect of the recent rainfall. He couldn’t exactly be picky either, not when his throat already felt scratched raw with each panting parched breath he took.
With a quick cursory look around the bank to make sure the coast was clear, he dipped his head down and attempted to drink the water.
It was a frustrating affair, seeing as he now lacked the hands to scoop the water and the lips to suck it up like a human would. In the end, he awkwardly ended up sticking out his tongue.
After a few clumsy attempts, he gradually began to master the art of catching the water with each lap of a tongue; gathering it into his mouth and gulping them down with gusto. The muddy taste could hardly compare with the relief it brought his tired body.
With his thirst quenched, his body was now free to complain about its other problems… such as his achingly empty stomach.
Whichever fox once possessed this body of his must’ve been as terrible a hunter as he’d currently be, seeing as he could see every rib through the somewhat scruffy appearance of his pelt. The fox had likely been deprived of nutrition for at least a few days; and, well, he didn’t feel sick or hurt elsewhere as far as he could tell.
Sure his paws stung but that was more a result of his non-stop walk through the woods; occasionally tripping over his own feet when he forgot he had to keep track of four limbs instead of two.
The feeling of an empty stomach brought up unpleasant memories he’d rather not let surface at the moment. To ward them off, he stuck up his nose and began taking deep inhales of the area. He even opened his mouth slightly, finding he could pinpoint scents better this way.
Eventually, he noticed a slightly sweet scent trickle into his nose. He whipped his head to follow it, his paws bringing him to the source of the delicious smell before he could even think to command his body to move.
At the end of the scent trail, he found a pile of assorted loose berries on the ground. They were just on the cusp of being ripe, appearing in shades of reds and deep blues.
Their presence together in a pile on the ground was highly suspicious. Kim Rok Soo knew there was absolutely no way they could’ve been gathered there naturally. Some other animal might’ve been storing them there. Or, more likely, it could very well be a trap.
He scented the area once more, but the delicious smell of sweet berries was far too potent to his starved brain. His paws were itching to go forward and gobble them up, but he hesitated.
His human brain was warring with the animal inside, trying to focus on the very real danger of this situation. Ultimately, his human common sense won over, giving him that little bit of patience to look over the situation carefully.
Using his sharp canid eyes, he once again scanned the clearing, his ears straining to pick up any unusual sounds. Of course, that was difficult when he wasn’t exactly sure what sounds would count as unusual in this world.
Thankfully, his eyes spotted something that stuck out as slightly unnatural. There was a lump in the leaf litter close to the berries. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a simple rope and snare trap.
He snorted at the rudimentary design, filing that bit of information away to deal with later. With his senses on high alert, he padded out towards the trap, being cautious of where he placed each paw so he didn’t accidentally stumble upon some hidden trigger.
He walked up along the rope, nosing at the leaves tactfully covering the majority of it so that he could follow the line to the grounding component. Once he found the stake, he made quick work of digging it up, the rope falling slack and harmless as he disarmed the trap.
Satisfied with his work –and after giving the rope a quick kick with a back paw to make sure there was no tension left in the line– he casually walked back to the pile of fruit and began to wolf down the meal.
Some of the berries were a tad too tart for his usual liking; but at that point, they may as well have been the most delicious thing he’d ever eaten.
That was the benefit of starvation he supposed. Anything would taste good if you were hungry enough.
It was far from filling, but it would have to make do for now. Once he’d finished and licked the berry juice from his muzzle, he quickly slunk back into the underbrush.
He didn’t travel far, just out of sight of the clearing. Once he was sure the bright red streaks of his un-muddied pelt wouldn’t be seen by anyone who walked by, he settled down to wait.
Why was he waiting so close to what could’ve been a dangerous trap for him? Well, obviously someone must’ve set it up. Seeing as the berries had been relatively fresh too, it had to have been recent. Whoever set that trap would surely come to check on it eventually.
It was a better plan than aimlessly following his nose that may or may not be leading him closer or further from his desired destination. He was in no rush. There was a water source close enough and he probably wouldn’t be able to catch something he was willing to eat even if he tried. It was one thing to adjust to newly gained and heightened senses like sound and smell; but with his still very human conscious intact, it was an entirely different story to dehumanize himself to the point of eating mice, voles and other critters that usually sustained a fox’s diet if he had other options. Therefore, conserving energy by waiting here was the only reasonable thing to do.
He lay his head between his two front paws, curling a slightly more matted tail around himself to act as a sort of blanket. If he wasn’t so hungry, this would be close to the ideal slacker life he’d always wanted.
Closing his eyes, he let himself doze on and off, his ears on constant alert to keep track of his surroundings while the rest of him lazed away in the warm afternoon.
The crack of a twig breaking was what broke him out of this near peaceful trance.
His eyes snapped open, the pupils of his amber eyes narrowed to slits as he focused on the clearing he could see through the leaves of his bush.
There was a… young boy there, dressed in a simple tunic, leather boots and a vest. He had a quiver and arrow on his back with a small dagger on a belt strapped to his hip. His hair was a dull shade of brown with a pair of gloomy brown eyes to match.
The boy looked… to be dressed in a historic fashion. Very… Western too. Kim Rok Soo had a bad feeling about this.
He looked stupefied by what he were seeing in the clearing. Not long later an older man followed him out; probably his father based on his similar features. The younger boy pointed at the disarmed trap stating that “Something dug up the trap!”
The older man looked between the boy and the trap, raising a brow as he quipped back “You sure you didn’t just drive the stake into the ground too shallowly?”
The boy was obviously upset by this false accusation. He seemed absolutely certain that he properly hammered in the stake and even tried tugging on it before he left. He pointed at the hole left behind where the stake used to be.
“Look! There are scratch marks around the hole! I’m sure something must’ve dug it up!”
The older man just shook his head and sighed. He patted the boy on the shoulder and reprimanded him for being far too imaginative.
“Animals are too stupid to have thought to dig up the trap first. Otherwise, why would this be the first time I’ve ever seen a trap end up in this state? Come on, just reset the trap and make sure to bury that stake properly this time!”
The boy still looked wronged. He scanned the area, kicking aside some leaves to look for some clues; but evidently he gave up as he began resetting the trap. He dropped another handful of berries on the ground within the snares range.
Before he left he made extra sure to tug on the rope attached to the stake to make sure it wouldn’t be coming loose easily. With one last glance around the clearing, aggrieved, he gathered his things and followed after the older man who left ahead of him.
Rok Soo waited a little bit longer before slowly starting to follow after the pair. While the pile of berries was tempting, he wasn’t stupid enough to waste time on such a small treat when there was a bigger fish to catch in front of him.
Using a combination of his hearing and sense of smell to track the pair, he kept up with them at a distance. Occasionally, he glimpsed them through the trees, but quickly ducked back into cover before they caught sight of his red fur.
They continued to travel like this, the two humans occasionally stopping to check on a trap and even gathering a few caught animals from time to time. The scent of fresh blood from the knife wounds used to incapacitate and bleed the prey, making Kim Rok Soo’s mouth water more than he was comfortable with.
He was ready to collapse by the time they led him to the outskirts of a city. A huge stone wall between him and the human made civilization. There were guards at the gates, dressed in rather medieval armour and equipped with equally medieval weaponry.
His eyes quickly scanned the situation, determining it would be difficult to slip in unnoticed at the moment. Especially not with the patches of his flame red pelt making him stick out like a sore thumb against those dull grey rocks and brown hoof trodden roads.
What he did notice though, was the gaudy golden turtle symbol waving along with the flags hanging on either side of the gate. He didn’t want to acknowledge the slowly piling facts pointing to a certain fantastical conclusion, but that symbol was fairly damning evidence.
It was the crest of the Henituse family.
The same family that housed the first minor villain that the hero, Choi Han, from ‘The Birth of a Hero’ was destined to beat to a pulp in the beginning of the story.
The book was written too descriptively to be able to ignore such clear evidence. The city infront of him was no doubt Rain City. The first place Choi Han will go to once the village he called home is burned down and all the inhabitants are slaughtered– and Kim Rok Soo, was now in the world of that book… In the body of a fox no less.
This was beyond the level of background character; he may as well have been given the role of a tree in a school play!
But that suited Kim Rok Soo just fine. He didn’t want to get involved in their struggles. He didn’t want to work hard or have the burden of knowing he could change the outcome of this world’s story. He was just a pathetic animal with a natural lifespan of maybe 9 years maximum if he ever did find a human host to take him in. What could he do to help?
Sure he could leave and avoid getting mixed up in the plot he’d read about entirely; but who knows how long he’d have to travel to get to the next town in this inconvenient body. How soon could he find his next meal out here in the wild?
Rain City was such a big place and he was such a small fox. Surely even he couldn’t be so unlucky as to get tangled up with the characters in this world with such slim probabilities right?
Comforting himself in his sound judgement and with a growing confidence in his theory, he started to come up with a plan to get into the city. Eventually, coming to the conclusion that he’d have better luck sneaking in under the cover of darkness. So once again, he settled in to wait.
Rok Soo was pleasantly surprised to find this body came equipped with some pretty good night vision. It made his plan just that much easier to execute under the cover of darkness.
Following in the shadow of an approaching cart, he slipped past the guards and immediately headed towards the darkness of an alley. Using a mixture of his nose, keen eyes and hearing, he quickly slunk along building walls and located what he assumed was a waste bin of sorts.
The smell was… rather pungent, but beneath the smell of rot and decay, there was something just about palatable.
Steeling himself, he held his breath as he pushed away the rubbish on the top and uncovered the mostly bones carcass of what was likely a pheasant at some point. He dragged the boney meal out of the pile and quickly fled to the nearest hidden and quiet corner.
He was back to starving by now. While there was little to no meat left of his meal, he soon found his fox teeth were actually quite capable of mashing through the tender bird bones.
While it couldn’t be considered a hearty meal, it did help restore more of the energy he used throughout the day. Like the berries he found earlier in the day, it was better than nothing, that’s for sure. For his first human made meal since turning into a fox, it could’ve been a lot worse.
He wasn’t sure if he was ready to stoop to eating bugs and literal garbage quite yet. Though, he was pretty sure he could find enough leftovers like such to make do for now anyways.
Kim Rok Soo could go back out to try to find more food before the night was over, but he had a feeling that would be trying his luck. He’d rather find a safe and comfortable place to make a home for himself instead.
He’d have to hide out there during the day after all, so it would be better to find someplace comfortable and with a source of water while he could still move around freely. As far as he knows, he wouldn’t likely be a welcome sight in a city like this.
Just as he was getting ready to leave, he heard a commotion coming from the only exit to this alley he’d taken shelter in.
‘Of course it just had to be there.’
He thought in annoyance as he sneakily crept towards the source of the sound.
If he wanted to leave, he’d have to exit this way. Hopefully whatever was causing the disturbance was distracting enough to let him slip by unnoticed. Once the people were in sight, Kim Rok Soo was quick to understand the situation.
An older couple was surrounded by a gang of slightly drunk thugs. They were yelling loudly, their flushed faces screwed up in anger as they berated the defenceless older couple for not allowing them to enter their bar.
“What gives old man! You gunna kick us out? We’re loyal customers, been drinkin here for ages!”
The old man looked pale and uncomfortable, his hands slightly shaking as he said “You haven’t been paying your tabs. We can’t keep serving you until you pay off your debts.”
The group of younger drunken men grew enraged at his answer. One even lifted a bottle threateningly over his head as he said
“We ain’t got that much on us right now! We’ll pay when we pay old man, now you better run along and fetch us a to drink while we’re still askin nice!”
The wife of the older man had more guts than her husband. Continuing to refuse even with her palms filing with sweat. They’d obviously been dealing with this band of thugs for a while now; and from the looks of it, the men had no intention of ever paying off their tabs.
Kim Rok Soo shook his head in disgust. These types of trashes existed everywhere, it didn’t matter what time period, place, or even world!
There was nothing he could do for the old couple, no one would be expecting him, a fox, to step in anyways. Just as he was plotting his next course of action to leave relatively unnoticed, a glass bottle came flying from the dark and shattered just shy of where he was hiding.
His fur puffed up, his back arching as he just managed to hold back a bark of shock.
A stumbling lone figure came down the street. Another half full bottle of alcohol in the arriving young man’s hand. Though his face was similarly flushed like the rude thugs, he had a more noble air around him; his expression a mixture of haughtiness and arrogance.
He took another stumbling step forward before he glared at the thuggish group of people for daring to block his way.
“Such an eyesore. If you’re too poor to pay then don’t go out at all! Get out of the way of paying respectable people.” He drawled.
The men who at first looked ready to fight whoever was bold enough to toss a glass their way now looked pale and ready to bolt. The first man, probably still hyped up on drunk confidence, argued back.
“You- this is nun’ya business! Go mind yur own business!”
His worlds were slurred with spittle in his stuttering rage. The newcomer seemed hardly phased by that though. Instead, he took a long look up and down at the man and arched a delicately carved brow.
“Ho, there’s really someone who hasn’t heard of my reputation around these parts before?”
The man seemed confused by his words, squinting hard and swaying forward unsteadily as he looked at the young man again. His companions were already starting to back away, one even pulling urgently on his arm to get him to move back.
You could see the moment the cocky thug seemed to piece things together. The flush of alcohol almost instantly drained to leave behind an ashen white face. He sputtered an incoherent string of curses, before turning tail and fleeing with the rest of his buddies. Shouting out a last ditch “You! W-we’ll remember this!” Over his retreating shoulder.
The young man with vibrant red hair, pale alabaster skin and handsomely carved features snorted at the empty threat. He took another swig of the alcohol in his hand, his eyes slowly roving towards the old couple still standing in the now empty street.
The old man nearly squeaked in fear, squeezing out a choked “y-young m-m-master Henituse!” With a barely perceptible bow, before he quickly tugged his wife’s hand as the two disappeared back into the bar they came out of.
It was a rather rude reaction, considering the young red-head’s intervention had ultimately benefited them.
The young man, Cale Henituse, seemed to sigh at the overly dramatic departure of the couple. However, his eyes revealed a calm acceptance, used to this sort of response as he took yet another slow drink.
Kim Rok Soo was frozen in shock. His head empty aside from a single thought. “No. Way.”
In such a big city such as this, he just happened to have the unfortunate luck to run into probably the last person he wanted to see— no more than an hour after he snuck in.
Cale looked exactly as he was described in the book. Wild red hair, stupidly expensive and elaborate clothes, a red drunken flush, half lidded reddish brown eyes and an arrogant personality to go with it.
He looked every bit the trash young master he was described to be in the book. However his actions thus far didn’t exactly scream trash. Sure, he threw a bottle in his tantrum, but had it not been to help out that old couple? Kim Rok Soo banished the thought before it could take root, he didn’t want to dwell on it. The less he knew, the better.
He was still congratulating himself on making the correct decision to not get involved when amber eyes met reddish brown.
‘Aigoo, he saw me.’
The pair of fox and human entered a staring contest. Neither one could look away from the other as they both sized each other up. Kim Rok Soo almost couldn’t breathe. His first day in Rain City and he already ran into the first villain described in the book. Was he just destined to live a torturous existence?
Before he could overthink or try to come up with some escape plan, Cale’s lips pulled up into a sneer as he spoke.
“That’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen.”
Kim Rok Soo, a fox: …
“It even smells like trash!”
Kim Rok Soo who just finished digging his last meal out of the trash: …
Cale snorted, amused at what appeared to be an offended look creeping onto the face of the small animal hiding in the shadow of the alley. He crouched down, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a napkin with a half eaten madeleine on it. He placed them both on the floor, pushing it towards the fox.
“You look like a gust of wind will blow you over. Can’t you even feed yourself properly filthy beast?”
Kim Rok Soo shot Cale an incredulous look. ‘Who did this guy think he was? Could he do any better if he was put in his position?’ His eyes seemed to say.
Still, he wasn’t above eating freebies given to him, so he quickly grabbed the madeleine and chomped it up in a few ravenous bites. He went back to staring at Cale once he was done, a look of ‘that’s it?’ Scrawled across his face.
Cale puffed out another amused laugh at the stubborn little creature behaviour. Usually animals were afraid of him and would run as soon as he tried to approach. This one was not only unafraid of him, it was even bold enough to demand more food after already gobbling up his offered snack in such a thankless way.
The redhead picked up the napkin and tossed it into a nearby bin. Then, he began to walk away, which, okay, he was a villain, but at least he didn’t add littering to his list of evil offences.
Just as Kim Rok Soo was about to deflate in disappointment of the lack of food and go off to look for some place to hide out, he heard a noise from the direction Cale left in.
Turning his head, he saw the redhead squinting at him. The young man clicked his tongue and gestured with a flick of his finger to follow.
“Well? Didn’t you want me to feed you?”
Kim Rok Soo who paused once more, weighed his options.
On the one hand, if he followed Cale, there was a small possibility he might get caught up in the story. Maybe, a 10% chance really. How involved could he get as a fox anyways?
On the other hand, if he followed Cale and got adopted as an exotic pet of sorts, he could expect a lavish and pampered life as the pet of a filthy rich household. He wouldn’t have to lift a paw for the rest of his life, nor would he have to really mind his manners. What, with being the pet of a trashy young master, who would dare call out his actions?
He could always leave before Choi Han showed up anyways assuming he hadn’t already. No one said he had to stay or owed the Henituse family anything. He was just a wild animal— and it’s not like he really asked for Cale’s help. The young man offered to feed him all on his own, so it was really his fault for humanizing or having expectation of a wild creature.
Rationalizing the idea in his head, he quickly made up his mind and followed after the young man.
What he didn’t notice, was the small relieved and almost hopeful smile that graced Cale’s lips the moment he realized the fox was really following him.