DM Chapter 39
As Kirill entered through the front door and casually glanced at the two, he approached Gayeon, but she extended her palm forward, stopping him.
“Go wash up.”
“Gayeon.”
“Look at the smell of blood. What the hell did you catch?”
He was covered in blood from head to toe. Sarin was surprised by the sharp smell of blood that struck her from the moment the front door opened.
“Wolves and various things.”
“Where are you injured?”
“Check for yourself.”
Kirill spread his hands wide, smiling at Gayeon. Her gaze shifted between his legs, and she sighed heavily.
“Go to the bathroom.”
“I want to do it first.”
“Kirill!”
Unlike when he left, he appeared refreshed and cheerful. Kirill, solely focused on Gayeon, disregarded Sarin’s presence and quietly disappeared into the bathroom without further provoking her. Dark footprints appeared in the spot where he had entered and passed.
A long trail of blood.
There was no sign of Owen.
When Gayeon went to find tools to clean up the bloodstains inside the house, Sarin went outside the door. Stepping outside, she felt a sharp contrast in temperature. She couldn’t hear the people handling the wolf carcass speaking in Russian.
Following the bloodstains into the warehouse, she found the relocated wolf lying on a large metal table, and the men were just finishing up. In the meantime, Owen was sitting on a chair, leaning back with his hands on the armrests, his legs spread wide.
“…Owen.”
It was a small voice, so soft that she didn’t realize she had called out.
With his hands resting on his thighs and his upper body half-bent like a dangerous beast, he turned his head to look at Sarin. His appearance resembled Kirill’s. He was covered in blood. The blood that had already dried on his face cracked as he smiled.
“I told you to sleep well, but you looked like you didn’t sleep a wink.”
Owen slowly straightened his bent upper body and released his clasped hands. He then gestured for Sarin to come closer.
The men who had moved the wolf were already gone from the warehouse. The smell of blood was unbearable. With every breath, the metallic smell pierced her nose.
Once, when they caught a wild boar in the village, the smell of blood vibrated throughout the entire village. Just one animal’s death left such a mark on the entire village.
Sarin didn’t know why she had come to this warehouse.
In fact, Gayeon occasionally pretended not to notice when Sarin’s gaze turned towards the window during their conversations. She reacted sensitively to even small noises and listened intently to the sounds coming from outside.
“Miss Lee Sarin.”
With blood on his face, he quietly called out to Sarin again.
“Come on. You promised to behave nicely and quietly.”
As he spoke, reminding her of the agreement, Sarin’s legs, which seemed stuck, moved.
Squelch
Startled, she stepped back as she unwittingly stepped on a pool of blood in the warehouse. Owen’s smiling face froze into an expression of disapproval, unable to tolerate her actions.
Owen wiped his face with blood-stiffened hands and stood up. Slowly, he rises from his seat and approaches her.
The scent of blood intensified gradually, to the point where it seemed like he might be the one injured.
Owen approached the iron table in front of the giant wolf’s carcass, the blood still dripping and pooling under the table.
“I was just… kind of surprised….”
Sarin couldn’t see anything else due to the wolf, but as Owen moved, she finally noticed the devices laid out beside him. A chill ran down his spine as she saw the rows of knives, hooks, and other things she didn’t recognize.
He grabbed a knife with the blade curved inward as if he were familiar and twirled it lightly in his hand, his gaze still on Sarin.
Spare the deer, kill the wolf.
He said he didn’t kill unless it was an animal he’d hunted himself. Faced with this completely different scenario, Sarin couldn’t gather her thoughts. She stood there, unable to approach, just watching Owen’s actions.
From under the wolf’s jaw to between its legs, he swiftly sliced through the skin with precise strokes.
“Ugh.”
The smell of blood was thick, but it was only the beginning, and as he made new cuts to remove the hide, more blood poured out.
She wanted to run away at that very moment.
“My grandfather had a hobby of taxidermying animals he caught without wounds.”
Nikolai gathered his grandsons and even demonstrated directly. The grandfather imposed his long-standing hobby on his grandsons.
So Owen immediately understood what Kirill meant when he asked him to go hunting. It was about fulfilling the wish of the one who caught the biggest prey without significant injuries, just like when he was a child, hunting alongside his grandfather.
Owen shot the wolf in the eye, and Kirill pierced its forehead.
There was no winner. The problem arose from the beginning, as two targeted the same prey.
“This one has a wound on the forehead, making it difficult, so we can only use the skin.”
The wolf was easily four or five times the size of a grown man.
It must have been the leader of the pack, but there was no pack when they found it. Either he’d been chased away, or he’d left on his own.
This was a common occurrence when the time came.
Moreover, such wolves were the most dangerous. They don’t have a pack to protect, so they go all out. They were fierce and ruthless.
His estate was located east of Eden City, far from the city. Around the transition from winter to spring, bears and wolves that had awakened early from hibernation roamed the area, making it an ideal hunting ground.
This season was when animals, starving and lacking food, descended into the village and posed a threat to people. Some level of population control was necessary. So, it was the favorite hunting season for their grandfather.
“Miss Lee Sarin.”
Owen called Sarin once again. The blade in his hand was deeply soaked in blood.
Strangely, she couldn’t turn away. Despite the nauseating smell of blood, his relentless voice immobilized her.
“…Yes.”
“I’m surprised. I thought you’d vomit like you did in Orbis.”
Owen smiles from the corner of his eye and opens his mouth to speak to Sarin. He wiped the blade of the knife in his hand with a dry cloth and bit his lip. The beast knew a hot, narrow den he could crawl into, burrowing into a body that seemed to collapse at any moment.
He licked his lower lip. The taste of the beast’s blood was rich.
Owen gestured to her again. It was a face that said he wouldn’t tolerate her resisting any longer.
“Come here.”
Unable to refuse the man’s call, Sarin reluctantly shifted her unsteady feet. Owen watched her, slowly removing the clothes that covered him.
He removed his hunting coat, which made his massive body seem even more intimidating than it already was.
Inside the warehouse, a chilling breeze made Sarin shiver.
As people left and closed the warehouse, the only light inside was a faint afternoon light seeping through the cracks and the yellow light above the metal table.
“Ha.”
Sarin sighed.
Her breath was foggy. For a moment, she felt a chill wash over her and realized she hadn’t even bothered to put on her coat. She huddled her shoulders and stopped a few steps away from him.
“My cousin has this peculiar fortress that rises with just a sight of blood.”
Her distance was within his reach.
Sarin forcibly swallowed her dry saliva. Owen’s gaze scrutinized her body. Even though she was wearing the long, thin dress Gayeon had given her, she felt as if she were standing before him naked.
Although the person had already seen her naked body, she still felt strange, trying to think about what was appropriate.
“I thought he was just a pervert, but strangely…”
His warm, blood-stained hand rested on Sarin’s shoulder, tracing the boundary between flesh and fabric.
“I think I know.”
Continuing his words, he smiled with a sharp look. His hand, which descended from her shoulder, grabbed her forearm and walked briskly.
The half-naked man reached a makeshift shower in one corner of the warehouse. It was barely a shower, just a place to wash off the blood immediately after a hunt. It lacked any partitions, and only a hose dangled from above.
Swoosh.
As he turned on the water, a cold drop fell to the ground.
Startled by the chilly droplets splattering on her, Sarin squirmed. Holding her hand, Owen stepped beneath the falling water.
From head to toe, he washed his blood-soaked body. Her arms were entirely drenched due to his hand still holding onto her. It was cold—so cold that her teeth stuck together.
A white haze rose from the cold water that touched his body.
Just as Owen had said, his excited body was burning with heat. Sarin looked at the haze that resembled his own breath.
As his briefs and pants clung to him and refused to come off, Owen let go of Sarin’s hand, which was already freezing cold.
The sound of clothes hitting the floor echoed. Sarin glanced down at his toes for no reason. It seemed like she could faintly hear laughter from above.
Blood mixed with water disappeared into the drain. When only clear water flowed, the sound of water abruptly stopped.
“I thought you might come to your senses, but you still don’t seem to be in a good mood.”
The heat hadn’t subsided.
When he killed the wolf, adrenaline had made his head explode, but now he was overwhelmed by a different kind of excitement. His lower body, standing stiffly in a manner not much different from that of his detested cousin, was in such pain that it seemed to groan.
With one hand running through his hair, he exhaled deeply.
“Shit. I’m all wet.”
Even if he pretended to regret it, Sarin already knew the man’s intention. It was too late to retreat. She was still only a few steps away from the man, within arm’s reach.
