Even a Lonely Squirrel Has Its Burrow - Chapter 43

Chapter 43

 

After setting the food from the refrigerator on the table and sitting down, it didn’t take long before Sa Muheon appeared with his hair still damp.

 

The meal proceeded in silence, as there wasn’t much conversation between the two.

 

Watching Sa Muheon consume an astonishing amount of food as usual, Garam cautiously spoke up.

 

“…I ate with a junior today.”

 

“I heard. You ate with that kid I saw last time.”

 

“Oh, yeah.”

 

It seemed Sa Muheon had already heard about it from Jang Seokgyu, as he nodded and continued eating.

 

“But… that junior told me something.”

 

Instead of responding, Sa Muheon simply looked up at Garam.

 

“Um, that you’re a snake shifter….”

 

“Ah.”

 

Hearing Garam’s cautious words, Sa Muheon swallowed his food and seemed to contemplate something for a moment.

 

“Yeah. I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

 

“Oh….”

 

Garam had been worried about bringing up what he had heard from someone else, but seeing Sa Muheon’s calm reaction made him feel slightly relieved.

 

“Did you hear anything else?”

 

“They just said you’re kind of famous….”

 

Hearing Garam’s vague response, Sa Muheon chuckled as if it was to be expected.

 

“Well, it’s not me who’s famous, but my mother.”

 

Not knowing how to respond to that, Garam hesitated while Sa Muheon resumed eating.

 

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, it’s true that I’m a snake shifter, and it’s also true that my father was human. Because of that, snake shifters don’t really like me. Thanks to that, my mother’s reputation among them also took a hit.”

 

He spoke as if it were no big deal, seemingly unaware that his words only made Garam more concerned. Unable to figure out how to respond, Garam decided it was better to keep quiet.

 

The only sounds left at the table were the clinks of utensils against dishes.

 

As they continued eating in silence, Sa Muheon suddenly made an inexplicable remark.

 

“You don’t need to worry just because I’m a snake shifter.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Garam blinked in confusion at the sudden comment. Looking at Sa Muheon, he saw only a calm expression staring back.

 

“…What’s there to worry about?”

 

Not understanding what Sa Muheon meant, Garam carefully asked, watching his expression.

 

Sa Muheon furrowed his brows slightly and examined Garam’s face. After staring for a while, perhaps thinking Garam was joking, he eventually sighed when he realized Garam genuinely didn’t understand.

 

“…Never mind.”

 

Watching his reaction only made Garam more curious. He stared intently at Sa Muheon, who finally gave in to the persistent gaze and set his chopsticks down.

 

“Ha….”

 

“…Can’t you just tell me what it is?”

 

Hearing Garam’s hesitant question, Sa Muheon rubbed his face and looked tired as he finally spoke.

 

“It’s just… there are prejudices about snake shifters. I was saying you don’t need to worry about things like that.”

 

“Oh….”

 

“I figured you wouldn’t understand, so I was going to let it go….”

 

Samutheon’s gaze carried a hint of frustration as he looked at Garam, who lowered his head, feeling guilty.

 

The table, already quiet, felt even more suffocating as the sound of utensils scraping dishes became unusually loud.

 

There wasn’t a single shifter who didn’t know about the prejudices against snake shifters. Garam knew about them too, but he had never thought of Sa Muheon in that way.

 

Feeling ashamed that he hadn’t understood the implication, Garam muttered softly.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s fine. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

 

Brushing it off, Sa Muheon stood up as if signaling the end of the meal. Garam’s eyes followed him.

 

“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know in advance that there’s nothing to worry about in that regard. Some people tend to overthink things.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Hearing Garam’s subdued response, Sa Muheon finally seemed satisfied. He cleared the dishes he had used and headed to his bedroom.

 

Left alone, Garam couldn’t shake off his embarrassment. Unable to finish his own meal, he cleaned up the remaining food and retreated to his room.

 

Closing the door behind him, Garam felt drained as he dragged himself toward the bed.

 

Thud—!

 

Collapsing face-first onto the bed, he buried his head in the blanket, not even caring that he was short of breath.

 

“…Ha.”

 

A muffled sigh escaped into the blanket. Garam turned over and stared at the ceiling.

 

“Why did I act like that….”

 

His murmurs scattered into the air.

 

Garam’s face was still flushed red. As if washing his face, he vigorously rubbed his warm cheeks and tightly shut his eyes. The conversation he had just had kept replaying endlessly in his mind.

 

Since shifters had animal forms, even while appearing human, they were still influenced to some extent by the characteristics of their animal forms.

 

For example, Minjae, a cat shifter, couldn’t handle hot food well, and Garam, a squirrel shifter, had an unusual fondness for nuts. shifters inherited certain traits based on their animal forms, and for some, these traits became unfavorable stigmas.

 

Of course, while they were influenced by their animal instincts, shifters were more human than beast. They could suppress their instincts and make rational decisions. Yet, prejudices against certain shifters existed not only among humans but also within the shifter community.

 

One of the most notable examples was the prejudice against snake shifters, which Sa Muheon had mentioned.

 

The prejudices against snake shifters were numerous. Negative images associated with snakes had persisted since ancient times and were still deeply ingrained in modern society. Snake shifters were widely believed to be cunning or cold-blooded, almost as if it were an established fact.

 

If that were the extent of it, it might not have been so bad. But the prejudices went further than that.

 

“Sigh…”

 

Garam let out a deep sigh.

 

The most secretive prejudice against snake shifters was related to their mating cycles. Snakes were known to have unusually long mating seasons, and it was believed that snake shifters inherited this trait, experiencing prolonged and intense mating periods. Additionally, unfounded rumors suggested that snake shifters went through their cycles in groups, further adding to their stigma.

 

It was commonly known that snake shifters had long mating seasons, often discussed as a fact by many.

 

However, when Garam first heard that Sa Muheon was a snake shifter, he had never once thought of it in that way. That was why Sa Muheon’s earlier reaction made him feel slightly wronged.

 

“Who would’ve even thought about that….”

 

Squirrel shifters didn’t experience mating cycles very often. At most, it occurred once a year, and even then, it was so mild that it barely warranted being called a mating cycle. It simply made their bodies feel slightly restless.

 

So it was only natural that Garam hadn’t considered such thoughts when looking at Sa Muheon. But it seemed Sa Muheon hadn’t thought that far either.

 

Garam hugged a pillow and rolled around on the wide bed, trying to shake off his embarrassment.

 

After messing up the blankets for a while, Garam let out another sigh and sprawled out on the bed.

 

“I didn’t even get to talk about the part-time job….”

 

He hadn’t managed to bring up the topic he had intended to discuss and had only made things awkward with Sa Muheon. It felt incredibly unfair.

 

Garam opened his banking app again to check his account balance.

 

Even though he had already checked it several times and memorized the numbers, he verified it once more and continued calculating in his head. Thankfully, if he managed his remaining funds carefully, he could get by for a few more weeks without any major issues.

 

If Sa Muheon allowed him to take on a part-time job, it would still be a month before he received his first paycheck. That made him slightly worried about covering his living expenses in the meantime.

 

As a last resort, he considered borrowing money from a close friend or explaining the situation to Sa Muheon and asking him for a loan.

 

“…It’ll work out somehow.”

 

Garam murmured to himself as if trying to reassure himself.

 

A part of him felt certain that Sa Muheon wouldn’t approve of him getting a part-time job, but he couldn’t completely abandon hope just yet.

 

For now, fixing the awkward atmosphere between them took priority.

 

“Sigh…”

 

Thinking about the earlier situation made him let out another sigh.

 

However, it wasn’t something he could resolve immediately. All he could do was hope that time would smooth things over.

 

Concluding that worrying any further would only be a waste of time, Garam pushed himself up from the bed.

 

It was a bit of an effort to leave the soft bed and head to the desk, but he knew he had to finish his tasks today to make things easier for himself tomorrow. So he trudged over to the desk.

 

Fortunately, the hardest part was simply making himself sit down. Once he started flipping through his books, he quickly became absorbed in the content.

 

The light in Garam’s room stayed on late into the night.