For no good reason, my heart softened.
'…What was around here again?'
I stood up and fluttered my wings. Then the gaze that seemed like it would stare at the sky forever shifted to me.
He looked like he was watching my wings.
“Graah graaah. Grruh-grruh graaaarrr.”
How about that—see, I’m not a lizard, right? Wait here. I’ll bring you something to eat.
Beating my wings in a flourish, I rose into the air.
A flicker of surprise passed through Kim Wooju’s eyes.
Smirking in satisfaction, I headed for the fruit trees I often visited.
'…Mm, this one tastes like an apple, this one like a pear. This one like a melon. That should do.'
I filled both foreclaws with fruit.
Granted, in this small body it wasn’t much, but it would be enough to get him through today.
If he ate and rested, he’d be able to move sooner.
The moment he could move, I’d toss him out of the dungeon.
Armed with fruit, I soared back toward where Kim Wooju was.
'What, he kept watching the way I left….'
He was staring holes into the direction I’d flown.
Our eyes met for a split second and I flinched, but I acted like nothing was wrong, buzzing over to him and setting the fruit just barely within arm’s reach, then quickly pulling back.
Kim Wooju tilted his head.
“Is this… for me to eat?”
“Graah graah.”
Yeah. Eat so you heal faster.
Think of it as giving an extra rice cake to a brat you can’t stand.
“…The lizard is commendable.”
“GRAAAAHH grah-grah!”
Who keeps calling who a lizard!
I couldn’t take it anymore. I marched up and whacked his shin with my short, stubby legs.
No. No, it’s not. I am not a lizard!
“Heh… heh-heh.”
What was that villain’s chuckle supposed to be?
Startled by the creepy laugh from above, I jerked my head up.
Kim Wooju was just staring at me blankly, expressionless.
Did I mishear? I cocked my head. Yeah, I must’ve misheard.
Who goes “heh-heh-heh” like that—
He’s not a comic-book protagonist….
Deflated for no reason, I kicked his unresponsive foot once more and then hurled a piece of fruit at his face.
As in, eat this and shut it.
Sadly, it didn’t hit his face.
He caught it lightly in one hand and started stuffing the fruit into his mouth.
Yeah, stuffing—just like that.
As if he couldn’t even taste it, he tore into the fruit in a frenzy. I watched him with my eyes dimming a little.
He must’ve been hungrier than I thought.
Something about the way he looked like he’d been starving for a long time dragged up memories of my own hungry childhood, and pity welled up.
Lost in thought, I kept watching him—then our eyes met.
Kim Wooju’s eyes curved in a sly arc.
I stared, dumbstruck.
That smile was hypnotic; I couldn’t look away.
My mouth went dry. Every scale on my body prickled upright.
As if he’d never smiled, he looked away from me and slowly licked the sticky pulp from his fingers with his tongue.
I swallowed without meaning to.
He was just licking fruit from his fingers—so why did it look so indecent?
Like he was caressing… No. Get a grip.
I shook my head hard and turned my back to him.
If I kept looking, I had the weird feeling I’d pounce on him without thinking.
Maybe because I hadn’t… done anything in a while since becoming a dragon, my nerves felt raw and on edge, unlike me.
This was all Kim Wooju’s fault.
Why was every little thing he did so damned suggestive?
In person, the impact was stronger than in the webtoon.
So that’s why the comments were plastered with stuff like Nine-Tailed Fox Kim Wooju, Middle-Aged Villain You Can’t Help But Love, Claim Me, Kim Wooju! and the rest?
I finally understood why he was more popular with female fans than the protagonist.
'Get a grip. Get. He’s a guy, same as me….'
I’m only like this because I’ve gone without for too long.
In this body, I should call it mating.
You’re supposed to take care of that regularly, and I haven’t even once in this body.
Wait—how would I even do it like this? Where is it? Don’t tell me… that?
I looked myself over, then jolted and shook my head violently.
I’m being a pervert. Right now.
I’m human. I may look like this on the outside, but I’m still human. Instead of thinking about mating in a dragon’s body, I should be thinking about turning human again somehow and then doing it.
Clutching my head, I drowned in self-loathing.
If I’d noticed Kim Wooju glaring at me from behind with eyes like he’d devour me at any second, I wouldn’t have sat there so relaxed at his side….
I didn’t notice that gaze.
Damn it….
***
“Hey.”
“Lizard.”
Who does he keep calling a lizard.
“It’s cold. Let’s stay together.”
“Come here. Yeah?”
I can’t hear you. I hear nothing.
Before I knew it, the sun had set and the night was pitch-black.
He still hadn’t recovered enough to move; he sat frozen in place. Worried, I kept my distance and watched him.
Maybe he’d warmed to me because I brought him fruit, but he kept gesturing me over.
Do I look crazy?
To go over there?
Since when do you treat a dragon like a mutt.
I pretended not to hear and looked elsewhere.
This was only for today.
I’d applied herbs, so by tomorrow his monstrous regeneration would have him mostly patched up.
Then I’d kick him out immediately.
“…You’re mean.”
At last, tired of calling me, he stuck out his lower lip by himself, folded his arms, let his head drop with a soft plop, and closed his eyes.
Finally thinking of sleeping, huh.
When he shut up, the surroundings went quiet.
Not even the sound of insects.
That was all because of me.
Maybe it was because a dragon’s aura is strong—bugs, animals, even monsters wouldn’t come near me.
Convenient, sure, but a little lonely. Maybe that’s why it felt kind of nice that, for the first time in a while, someone wasn’t scared of me and treated me casually. Even knowing he was a villain. That’s how terrifying loneliness is.
Watching Kim Wooju sleep quietly, I yawned and was about to close my eyes too when his brows knit slightly.
“Mm.”
Whether from cold or pain from the wound, he was breaking out in cold sweat and trembling all over. It bothered me.
He was asleep anyway—no harm in checking his condition, right?
I’d treated him; it would be a pain if he didn’t heal.
I inched closer bit by bit.
He must have been fast asleep; he didn’t wake even when I approached.
I considered casting a healing spell and leaned in to study his face—when both of his hands shot out and seized me.
“GRAAAAH!?”
Startled, I didn’t even fight back, just blinked—and suddenly I was yanked into his arms.
I snapped back to myself and ground my teeth.
'That bastard! He tricked me!'
This was already the second time. Getting caught by Kim Wooju…!
Fury flared at being duped. I was about to cough up a fireball and blast him—when I heard the soft hiss of his breathing.
I stopped struggling, lifted my head slightly in his arms, and looked up at him.
He was sleeping, breathing evenly with a boyish face, as if he’d never been trembling.
I glared at him suspiciously.
'That was just sleep-talking? You’re not faking sleep and playing dumb?'
In the webtoon, Kim Wooju was sly and calculating.
A man who knew how to use his handsome face.
But judging by his age, this was long before the original story began.
Which meant it was more likely he was the doormat version from his early backstory.
Before he became a villain, Kim Wooju did have a mild phase.
'…Fine. I’ll let it slide this once. Just once.'
In the end, I went limp.
Strangely, I felt soft toward Kim Wooju.
It was all because I’d been alone so long.
Whether as a killer or as a dragon, I’d always had no one around me.
Falling asleep in someone’s arms—it had been ages.
Warmer than I expected, his embrace loosened the tension in my wary eyes, and I slowly closed them.
'I don’t even care anymore….'