A Tiger Rolled Into My Life, Bringing Chaos With It - Chapter 11

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The moment she opened her eyes and saw the tiger, Tinya reflexively held her breath. The sound must have been quite loud, as Cher opened his eyes.

“It’s been several days now; shouldn’t you be getting used to it?”

“…Being startled isn’t something I can control.”

Tinya subtly averted her gaze from his weary look. It had already been four days since he started staying here. It was no exaggeration to say that being surprised by the tiger lying on her bed every morning had become a routine. In a house without even a single sofa, the bed was the only place for Cher to rest, and because the bed was so small, he had no choice but to maintain his animal form while sleeping.

Four days like this. She should have adapted by now, but strangely, Tinya’s level of surprise seemed to increase with each passing day. Cher blamed her slow adaptation, not realizing that the reason was that he curled up close to her face while sleeping.

“Being so timid, how do you keep working at the grooming shop?”

“Ch-Cher, you hit your head every time you go to the bathroom!”

Irritated by his constant teasing, Tinya snapped back before fleeing to the bathroom, careful not to meet his eyes. Even so, she was particularly careful about the sound of the door closing. Two days ago, she had slammed the door, and Cher had knocked and lectured her for quite some time, leaving her with a nightmarish memory.

“Really now.”

Should he consider this adaptation or still unfamiliarity? It was better than the beginning when she couldn’t even make eye contact, but the progress was so minimal that he couldn’t be entirely positive.

Cher got off the bed and transformed into his human form. As soon as his tall body appeared, he moved to pick up a light green short-sleeved T-shirt. Though it was supposedly the largest size in men’s clothing, it fit him perfectly. The problem was the large orange carrot print emblazoned in the center.

The carrot was actually decent. The T-shirt he wore yesterday had a purple background with a large pink heart on it. Cher had thought he didn’t have any particular preference for clothes, but that was a misconception. That thought was only possible because he’d always had basic clothes readily available.

The only fortunate thing was that despite giving her money, her spending habits hadn’t changed—she had only bought five outfits initially. That was truly fortunate. If she had bought more than ten outfits with such designs, he wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

Today, he was definitely going out. He had completely abandoned the idea of entrusting her with buying clothes after these few days.

He took romaine lettuce for her, avocado for himself, and tofu from the refrigerator. Being in the herbivorous district, it seemed meat wasn’t even distributed. Tinya’s face had turned pale when he asked about meat, which confirmed this fact.

‘Tsk. And I can’t even visit the carnivorous district.’

Still, it wasn’t unbearable. Though occasionally, he did crave the taste of meat.

By the time the tofu was turning golden brown, Tinya, seemingly finished with her shower, quietly emerged into the kitchen. She was carefully gauging his mood, perhaps concerned about having raised her voice earlier.

“Sit.”

“Yes!”

Tinya seemed slightly relieved by the unexpected lack of scolding. Her face soon brightened when she saw the romaine in her bowl. Taking a warm shower and then having romaine for breakfast, she momentarily felt like the wealthiest person in the world. She swallowed and poked the romaine with her fork. Before lifting it, she expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you for preparing breakfast.”

The number of times he had set the table was equal to the number of meals they had shared. Whether breakfast or dinner, he would prepare it in advance and wait, so she inevitably sat across from him to eat. With each repetition, the once uncomfortable dining setting gradually became a bit more familiar. Of course, she still couldn’t interact with him as freely as when he was a tiger cub, but she could now engage in light conversation during meals. The expression of gratitude was part of this.

He responded to her thanks with just a brief smile. He seemed to have given up correcting her, as she continued to thank him even though all he did was rinse the food in water.

“Today, I’d like to go out with you after you finish work.”

After swallowing half a block of tofu in one go, Cher spoke up. Tinya, who was chewing her romaine, looked up.

“Do you need something?”

“Well, clothes and such.”

“I can buy clothes for you…”

“There’s quite a lot besides that. You won’t be able to carry it all with those heron-like arms, so I need to go myself.”

Not realizing that he had urgently cut off her words, Tinya pouted at the “heron legs” expression. Though she had never actually seen heron legs, she understood what he meant when he held up chopsticks and said they were no different.

“My arms aren’t like heron legs…”

“What do you mean? You could barely carry four blocks of tofu.”

“…I was carrying avocados too.”

Tinya meekly countered, but Cher responded with a snort.

“Right, impressive. But this time there’s more to carry, so I need to go.”

Tinya couldn’t argue further and buried her face in her romaine again.

After she left for work, Cher, left alone, soaked in warm water to wash off any remaining scent, then changed into the long-sleeved T-shirt she had bought. Though no one in this district would recognize his face, he pulled a hat down over his head just in case.

Since he was going out anyway, he should buy not only clothes but also a variety of food ingredients. As he mentally organized his shopping list, his eyes suddenly fell on the bed in the corner. His gaze, lazily observing that narrow and small bed, resembled that of a predator eyeing its prey.

***

Today, Tinya had only one customer, a cheetah shifter. Though not frequent, this customer came often enough that Tinya recognized the face immediately. Although cheetahs have short fur, it’s fine and abundant, making an anti-static spray essential. It took quite some time to spray the entire body and brush it, but this customer only gave the basic tip.

Tips from carnivorous shifters varied widely. Some customers added as much as they could afford, while others gave nothing at all. Still, since basic earnings were guaranteed even with just one customer, Tinya wasn’t particularly disappointed. Rather than anxiously wondering how much tip she might receive, she preferred customers who chose the three-hour-long course. The longer the time, the more money she earned.

Today’s customer had chosen the three-hour course, but coming at an awkward time, it prevented her from taking any more customers. Nevertheless, perhaps due to her newfound financial comfort, she didn’t feel the anxiety she used to. Thinking back to the days when she counted customers daily and worried about money, the tiger shifter’s sudden cohabitation request had indeed benefited Tinya. Though her conscience wasn’t entirely clear since it violated the law.

She was worried about him going out suddenly today. She had thought of ways to avoid detection, but being in the wrong made her heart race unnecessarily.

‘It’ll be fine if he comes back quickly.’

After dusting off the remaining fur from her body with a duster, Tinya received her daily wage from Pupu and headed toward the herbivorous district. As she got closer to home, tension overwhelmed her. Taking a small deep breath, she opened the door, and a large silhouette filling the entrance came into her view.

Tinya unconsciously stepped back at the overwhelming size. With his hat pulled down, he looked unfamiliar, and for a moment she thought he was a different shifter.

“Why, why are you at the entrance?”

After composing herself, she asked, and he shrugged.

“I heard you coming, so I came out. Are you going inside before we leave?”

“Ah, yes. I have something to get.”

As Tinya took off her shoes to enter the house, Cher casually added:

“Money? I already have it.”

“Not money.”

Cher’s gaze followed her as she entered the bedroom. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, looking into the room, lost in thought. What else could she need to prepare besides money? While he was tilting his head in confusion, Tinya came out holding something. In her hand was a headband with rabbit ears attached.

“…You want me to wear this?”

“You need to wear this to avoid being caught.”

No, it would probably make him look even more suspicious… Aside from the fact that she had such a thing at home, it didn’t suit him at all. Not elephant ears, but rabbit ears. Where in the world would there be a rabbit with such a large build?

Unaware of his displeasure, Tinya was asking him to bend down so she could put the headband on him.

“I think the hat would be better.”

“No. The rabbit ears are better.”

Though her tone was firm, her frozen face and hands gripping the headband so tightly that they lost color clearly showed her nervousness. She looked like she might cry if he kept refusing. Finally, Cher took off his hat. His pressed hair puffed up slightly. He bent down to match Tinya’s eye level. With evident relief, Tinya carefully placed the band, slightly thicker than a thread, on his head. Then she gently brushed his silver hair over the band to conceal it naturally.

Cher felt conflicted—half wanting to go to the bathroom to look in the mirror, half not wanting to see it with his own eyes.

“Am I really going out like this?”

“Yes. And there’s one more thing to do.”