A Tiger Rolled Into My Life, Bringing Chaos With It - Chapter 18

The heat enveloping them evaporated in an instant. The closing distance between them stopped in place, and even the intensity of emotions was helplessly scattered by the alarm sound.

Tinya reflexively pulled her hand away and turned off the alarm clock.

“I-I need to get ready for work.”

Leaving those words behind like an excuse, she hastily escaped to the bathroom. The desire in Cher’s eyes slowly receded. What remained in its place was a short sigh that escaped like a small laugh.

“Should have done it at night.”

He wanted to continue where they left off, even if it meant paying her entire day’s wages himself, but the already broken mood wouldn’t be the same even if they tried to force it. Cher looked down at his lower body with an irritated expression.

The middle of his pants was protruding like a small hill. Beyond discomfort, pain was starting to set in. Even if he wanted to take care of it himself, she had occupied the bathroom. Finally, he turned down the corners of his mouth and transformed into his animal form. Perhaps because he had become smaller, s*xual desire subsided in this form.

Indeed, after spending a few minutes in animal form, he gradually felt better. Tiga would have laughed heartily if he had seen this, but surprisingly, Cher wasn’t in a bad mood. Although disappointment remained, he could clearly feel that her attitude toward him had changed. Reflecting on how she was before last night made the change even more apparent.

“Still, I’ll make her pay for the full half-year.”

She might have softened after just a week, but that was beside the point. He felt he needed to make her pay for the time she had ignored him to ease his resentment.

Meanwhile, Tinya, who had fled to the bathroom, was busy calming her pounding heart while silently screaming.

‘I almost gave in!’

Thankfully, the alarm rang; otherwise she might have exposed herself completely. And then try going to work in that state. Unable to concentrate all day, thinking about mating, grabbing the wrong brush, getting scolded by Pupu, ruining customers’ moods… The consequences of one mating act would be too severe.

How could she be like this again when it hadn’t been long since she reproached herself for mating with a carnivorous shifter? Tinya was increasingly losing faith in herself.

‘Get a grip.’

With wide eyes, Tinya firmly steeled her resolve. After washing up, even if he tried to seduce her again, she could pretend not to notice. She almost wavered when she saw the bathrobe he had bought yesterday, but she clenched her teeth and reinforced her determination.

When she opened the door with a resolute face, he wasn’t in the room. Instead, the sound of a knife on a cutting board suggested he was in the kitchen.

Tinya dried her hair and carefully moved toward the kitchen. Cher had apparently changed clothes and was wearing a black sleeveless top. The tight garment fully revealed his broad, thick back.

‘Is he okay…?’

Approaching nearby, Tinya glanced sideways to peek at his front. However, his lower body was hidden by the sink and apron. Cher had sensed her presence early on and smiled imperceptibly. Despite being a rabbit, she acted just like a cat.

As he cut a piece of fruit, Tinya’s gaze naturally turned to the cutting board.

“What is this?”

As expected, she quickly showed interest. Since Cher had randomly grabbed items during yesterday’s shopping, she didn’t know exactly what he had bought.

“Apples and oranges. Haven’t you tried them?”

“No.”

Cher picked up a slice of apple and put it in her mouth. Tinya opened her mouth like a baby bird to receive it, and her eyes soon widened. Her face, which turned around in surprise, was filled with a sparkling light. Her enlarged pupils and slightly flushed cheeks showed, without words, that she was thoroughly satisfied.

“Delicious?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Go sit down. Take a fork.”

Tinya grabbed a fork and sat at the table. When Cher brought over a plate of fruit, she immediately speared an apple.

“Ah. Thank you for breakfast.”

Just before eating, as if suddenly remembering to express gratitude, she looked up and greeted him. Then she took a big bite of the apple. As the flesh spread in her mouth, her expression changed rapidly. She seemed to have completely forgotten what had happened that morning. Her repeated murmurs about how delicious it was sounded like someone had put them on replay.

Seeing how much she enjoyed it, Cher briefly thought, ‘If I offered her a few more fruits and suggested mating, she’d probably agree.’ Of course, his pride would never allow him to do something like that.

***

Tinya set off for work with a light step. Even though she had brushed her teeth, a subtly sweet aroma still lingered in her mouth. It had been a shocking taste. So much so that she momentarily forgot about romaine lettuce.

For someone who always bought 80% hay and 20% romaine from the nearby market, it was truly a new world. The sweetness that burst with each bite and the softly spreading aroma kept bringing back memories.

‘I feel like I can still smell it.’

Yes, exactly this scent. Something like the sweetness of apples, or the pleasant smell of well-ripened grass leaves warmed by sunlight. Tinya sniffed around following the scent and then paused.

…It seemed to be actually coming from somewhere.

The scent seemed to be spreading in the air like a lingering aroma from this vicinity. Tinya stopped walking and turned her head following the direction of the smell. Her gaze moved up to a zelkova tree. On a large branch, half-hidden in the shade to avoid the early morning sunlight, was a figure. Someone wearing a deep hood was sleeping leisurely with arms crossed.

The source of the scent seemed to be that shifter.

‘Why is he sleeping here?’

Although she wondered, she thought it wasn’t a big deal since there were even groups of rabbits that went running morning and evening. She lowered her head. He seemed to be in a deep sleep, so better not wake him up. Tinya tiptoed past.

However, when she returned after work, he was still in the same place. Not even his posture had changed.

‘Could he be dead…?’

Being close to the peace zone, she was concerned, but if he were dead, he wouldn’t be sitting so neatly.

What should she do?

If he had been in that state throughout her workday, he must not have eaten anything. The thought of him being hungry bothered her. As if by coincidence, Tinya had a banana that Pupu had given her to eat on her way home. She had originally planned to share it with Cher in return for the apple he had treated her to…

‘I should give it to him.’

Perhaps because she had experienced hunger herself, she couldn’t just pass by. Tinya carefully approached the zelkova tree and gently placed the banana underneath. She was a bit scared to speak to him. She didn’t know who he was, and she was worried he might get angry if she woke him up.

But if she just left it, insects might be attracted to the banana. After pondering for a moment, Tinya moved away from the tree and began singing in a slightly louder voice than usual.

“Come to Greyden~ Where herbivorous and carnivorous shifters stay together~”

She was making noise through song because talking loudly to herself would seem strange, but once she started singing, it felt a bit embarrassing. Moreover, the only song she knew was the Greyden logo song she had heard while waiting at the city hall for her residence permit.

Her ear tips hidden in her hair grew hot with embarrassment, but Tinya tried to sing the logo song as naturally as possible. While deliberately slowing her pace.

Rustle.

The sound of branches shaking rang out. He’s awake. Tinya widened her stride a bit more. Afraid that suddenly stopping would look even stranger, she had no choice but to continue singing to the end.

“Happy Greyden, Joyful Greyden. La la la la la…”

How embarrassing!

Without even a chance to look back, she hurried her steps. Even after moving far away from the zelkova tree and until her home came into view, her bright red face showed no signs of cooling. From the middle part of her journey, she practically ran.

“Huff, huff.”

As she opened the door, breathing heavily, her eyes immediately met Cher’s, who had come out to greet her. Seeing her flushed appearance with her chest heaving, he casually asked.

“Did you run here?”

“Yes, huff… huff. I’m dying…”

“Looks like you were sprinting. Was someone chasing you?”

“No. I just… huff, huff… wanted to run.”

“Suddenly?”

Cher recalled the rabbit shifters who ran with strange chants and made a sour face. Imagining Tinya running alongside them seemed so incongruous. Tinya made up an excuse that she sometimes did this and entered the house.

Until then, she had no idea that she would encounter the man in the tree more often than she expected.

The day concluded without much incident, except for eating dinner, getting caught by Cher while showering with cold water, being scolded with “I said I’d pay the utilities too, what nonsense is this,” and switching to hot water. He nagged so much that she no longer found it strange when he entered during her bath.

“Don’t worry about money and use hot water. “

“I’ve never seen someone so stupid in my life.”

“If I catch you using cold water again, I’ll come in and monitor you every time you bathe. “

Really now. I was just trying to save his own money, that’s all. It’s not like I did something wrong. Though his words were clearly meant for her benefit, his tone and expression were so hatefully annoying that it made her feel upset. Tinya grumbled profusely as she pushed herself toward the inside of the bed.

In fact, there had been a small argument about the bed position yesterday. Though it ended as merely expressing opinions, because her protest was too weak to be called an argument.

To Tinya’s question, “Wouldn’t it be better for you to sleep on the outside since I have to go to work?” his answer was:

“No. If I push you in my sleep and you fall, that would be more problematic. I wake up early in the morning anyway, so it’s better if I sleep on the outside.”

At the time, she agreed because it wasn’t wrong, but thinking about it now, his tone was full of sarcasm, just like now. A tone that made her blood boil. If his strategy was to replace instinctive fear of carnivorous shifters with anger, it was quite successful.

After all, Tinya oscillated two or three times a day between ‘Well, he is paying for everything’ and ‘How can he speak so annoyingly?’