Author's POV
NIGHT BEDROOM
The only light came from the moon silver slits through the curtains.
You were fast asleep, finally.
Your breath even. Your lashes trembling. Lips soft and slightly parted as if still whispering to the cubs in your dreams.
Taehyun sat at the edge of the bed, unmoving.
His eyes were locked on you on the bandage around your ankle, the faint swelling of your wrists, the tiny frown that hadn't yet left your brows even in slumber.
His fingers reached out to trace the back of your hand, but he didn't touch.
He didn't deserve to.
He looked at you as if you were something breakable... no, not breakable. Already broken and still so willing to shine.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered, voice barely audible, like a prayer.
He leaned closer, brushing a featherlight kiss to your temple.
☆FLASHBACK
FEW DAYS AGO, ZOO TRAINING GROUND
The zookeeper handed him the baby tiger cub.
"This one's almost the same age and size. We can train him to respond to her voice recordings. The cubs have strong memory it may work."
Taehyun didn't speak.
He just looked at the tiny creature who purred and wriggled into his chest without resistance. So innocent.
So unaware of the pain it was meant to cover.
"She shouldn't know," Taehyun finally said, low and final. "Ever."
The zookeeper nodded.
"We'll begin scent therapy. And hand-raising. He'll bond faster that way."
Taehyun gave the cub to the trainer, slowly. The little one clawed to stay in his arms.
Just like the other one used to.
He swallowed hard.
His heart cracked again.
"I already failed her once."
PRESENT — BEDROOM
You whimpered in your sleep. Your body shifted restlessly. You turned toward him unconsciously, legs curling closer, foot brushing against his thigh. Your lips parted softly.
"…Leo… Tiger…"
Taehyung tensed.
You were dreaming again. Calling them.
His throat closed up.
The guilt curled tighter in his gut like a venomous thing, but he didn't move away when you clung to his shirt in your sleep. Didn't breathe when you pressed your face into his chest like a lost child seeking warmth.
You wouldn't remember in the morning.
You hadn't heard his confession earlier.
You were still healing.
But you had held him tightly, even in sleep.
You still needed him.
He looked at you like a man who was drowning quietly.
Then pulled you into his arms and whispered, "I'll take the lie with me to the grave if I have to. As long as you're happy… as long as you smile again."
His fingers stroked your hair, lips brushing against your forehead.
"I'll protect your heart… even if it hates me one day."
♡
MORNING — BEDROOM
Sunlight creeped in like a nosy friend through the curtains, catching on my tangled hair, his bare shoulder, and the mess of blankets tangled around our legs.
I scrunched my nose as I stirred, whining softly as I stretched arms over his chest, one leg shamelessly flung over him.
"Mmm… morninggg…"
"Morning, sunshine," Taehyun groaned with a crooked smile, voice still thick with sleep. "You're literally glowing today. Is that happiness? Or mental instability?"
I gasped. "Excuse me?!"
"You're way too cheerful for someone who cried like a tragic heroine two nights ago," he teased, eyes still half-closed.
"I'm allowed to cry! I'm a soft and sensitive endangered species!"
"You're a chaotic zoo mascot."
I smacked his chest with my palm. "Yah! You married this zoo mascot!"
"Regretting it every morning," he said… and instantly flinched when I pinched his nipple under the blanket.
"TAEHYUN!!"
"AHHH! ABUSE! ABUSE!!"
He tried to grab my wrist, but I wriggled like a gremlin, hair everywhere, giggling like a devil. He finally caught both my hands and pinned them to his chest.
"You want me to call the zoo and return you with the cubs?" he whispered with a smirk.
I narrowed my eyes.
"…Call them. I'll go back and become queen of the jungle. You'll cry in bed at night, hugging my pillow, whispering my name like a ghost."
He stared at me for a beat. Then burst into laughter.
"You idiot," he whispered, eyes creasing, smile so damn fond. "You're really sunshine this morning, aren't you?"
"I'm warm and blinding," I declared, puffing my chest.
He leaned in, eyes soft, lips barely an inch away.
"Blinding, yeah. To my sanity."
Then kissed me like he was the one burning.
KITCHEN – LATE MORNING
He's at the stove. Loose gray shirt hanging off one shoulder. Hair still a little messy from sleep. Cooking like a calm domestic husband… and I ruin the peace with my entrance.
I walk in well, limp in with an exaggerated sigh.
"Why does it smell like smoke and divorce in here?"
Taehyun turns around slowly, eyes squinting at me.
"It smells like love and pancakes, you ungrateful woman."
I eye the pan.
"…Is that love? Because it's very, very black on one side."
"It's caramelized."
"It's charcoal."
He groans. "Yah, do you always wake up and choose violence?"
I hop up on the counter like it's my throne, swinging one leg and cradling the injured one like a drama queen.
"I choose honesty. Can't help it if you can't handle the truth."
He walks over, places the (burnt) pancake on a plate next to me and lifts an eyebrow.
"You know what else I can't handle?"
"What?"
"You. In this shirt. Looking too pretty to insult. And yet here you are."
I blink, then glance down. Oh. I'm wearing his white button-up. A bit oversized. My hair is braided sloppily. No makeup. Just swollen lips and soft morning eyes.
"I'm a natural beauty," I say smugly.
"You're a national disaster," he deadpans.
I gasp, offended. "You! You're the disaster! Emotionally constipated, face like a Greek god, always making girls cry!"
He leans in, close to my face. "You're the only girl who matters. And you cry over everything, babe."
"Take that back."
"Nope."
"You know, I'm sane now," I warn.
He leans even closer, lips brushing my jaw.
"Good. That means you'll clearly remember how much I love you when I kiss you breathless later."
I shove a burnt pancake in his mouth.