At this rate, they were going to run into each other.
Bryce hurriedly tried to hide behind a tree.
“What’s that?!”
But he was a step too late while trying to take Pipi away.
“A rabbit? I hate rabbits more than anything in the world!”
Mars shuddered while staring fixedly at Pipi, then belatedly noticed Bryce.
“Bryce? Why are you here?”
“Why are you here, hyung-nim?”
“Your older brother asked first, so answer me!”
“Why are you here, hyung-nim?”
“Seriously, you siblings are both obsessed with tormenting me!”
Bryce had no idea what exactly they had supposedly done to torment him, but he got irritated seeing Mars only getting angry without answering the question.
Anyway, for some reason, Mars looked almost insane.
“Grr, grr!!”
Then suddenly he charged at Bryce.
Normally, Bryce would have easily dodged a punch from Mars.
But Mars’s hand was strangely fast.
“Ugh!”
And powerful.
Bryce collapsed onto the ground from the strong impact.
Maybe because of his intense rage, Mars’s punches were much faster and fiercer than usual.
Before Bryce could even get back up, Mars charged again.
“It’s all because of you siblings! Because of you!”
His fist flew toward Bryce again. Bryce tightly shut his eyes.
But at that moment—
“Pii!”
“Piii!”
The two rabbits body-slammed Mars.
“Argh!”
Mars lost his balance. In that moment, Bryce rolled away and escaped.
He got away, but the places he had been hit throbbed painfully, making his head spin. He couldn’t put strength into his body.
“Pii!”
Pipi hurried over to Bryce.
“Pii……”
The spot touched by Pipi’s front paw stung. Bryce saw red blood smeared on the tiny paw.
Tears welled up in Pipi’s face. Bryce reached out and stroked the tiny rabbit.
“I’m not dead, Pipi.”
At that moment, light began shining from Pipi’s paw.
The light wrapped around Pipi’s whole body, and within it, Pipi inhaled deeply and closed its eyes.
Then when Pipi opened them again, there was determination in its gaze. And certainty.
Pipi stretched out its paw toward Bryce’s wounds.
“Pii.”
Bryce felt the pain gradually fading away.
Then, from beside them, came another cry.
“Pii!”
“Rabbit, this time you’re really gonna get it!”
Mars had tightly tied up Geumtokki.
“Now you can’t move anymore, huh?!”
Mars wrapped his jacket around Geumtokki over and over before tying it up, then shouted viciously.
‘Where is that kind of strength even coming from?’
Normally, Geumtokki would have escaped from Mars’s grasp immediately.
But now Geumtokki had been tied up like that.
Mars lifted the struggling Geumtokki high into the air inside the jacket.
Then he tried to throw him hard.
‘No!’
Bryce immediately threw himself toward where Geumtokki would fall.
Thankfully, he managed to catch him.
Thud!
Bryce landed on the ground while tightly hugging Geumtokki.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
He could feel wounds opening across his body as it scraped against the ground.
“Hahaha!”
Seeing Bryce and Geumtokki collapsed, Mars burst into loud laughter and turned around.
“That’s what you get! Who told you to mess with me?!”
Laughing heartily as though satisfied, Mars walked away, then suddenly turned back and shouted,
“Tell Rize that next time, it’s her turn!”
Then, apparently in an excellent mood, he walked away with his shoulders bouncing.
Inside the jacket, Geumtokki was quiet, as though he had fainted.
He would suffocate at this rate, and since he had been tied so tightly, there was no way he could escape on his own.
‘Hurry and get him out…….’
But at that moment—
Light burst out from the jacket trapping Geumtokki.
‘What?’
Bryce let go of the jacket from his arms and pushed himself up.
Along with the light, the jacket began swelling.
No, more accurately, it wasn’t the jacket swelling.
The golden rabbit inside was swelling.
‘What in the world…….’
At that moment.
Riiip!
With a tearing sound, the jacket split apart.
An arm burst out through the gap and roughly tore the jacket away.
‘……?’
Bryce could only freeze at the unbelievable sight before him.
What came out of the jacket was none other than…… a person.
And not just any person, but a tall man with an incredibly imposing presence and a solid build.
‘Who is that? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before…….’
Bryce couldn’t tell who he was, but the man’s arms looked thick enough to tear apart a jacket, Mars, or anything else with ease.
The man slowly stood up.
Under the darkness covered by clouds, he turned to Bryce.
“Thank you for helping me.”
There was no hostility toward Bryce in his eyes.
But the moment he turned his head toward Mars, those eyes filled with cold killing intent.
Mars, unaware of anything happening behind him, was still walking away while humming.
The man strode toward Mars with long steps.
And just as Mars turned around at the sound of footsteps—
“Aagh!”
Mars dropped to his knees after being kicked behind the knee.
“I warned you.”
The man spoke quietly without expression.
At that moment, Bryce saw Mars trying to raise his fist again.
‘That punch was way stronger than usual…….’
Bryce hurriedly called out to warn the man.
“Mister!”
The man visibly flinched.
For some reason, his expression looked oddly dejected.
Meanwhile, Mars’s fist was already flying toward him.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have called out……!’
But Bryce’s worries proved unnecessary.
Right before the punch landed, the man lightly caught Mars’s arm.
Then twisted it sharply.
“You use a sword with this hand, right?”
“……W-what?”
“Then if I ruin this one, you won’t be able to use a sword for a while.”
“……!”
At that moment, the clouds cleared.
The moon trapped behind them was revealed.
Mars’s terrified face became clear under the moonlight.
Seeing that, the man glanced toward the knight order building as though remembering something.
“Go back quietly and stay quiet. There won’t be a next time.”
The man grabbed Mars by the collar, gave his warning, and then violently threw him aside.
Then he walked over to Bryce.
“Take the rabbits and head back first.”
“What about you, mister?”
“I have a favor to ask. If Rize asks, don’t tell her about me. Especially don’t tell her you saw me transform.”
Bryce nodded.
If his noona found out that the rabbit she carried around every day while calling it cute was actually a huge, muscular man, she would probably be shocked.
“And one more thing.”
“Yes.”
“……Call me hyung. Not mister.”
“…….”
After saying that, the man hurried toward the knight order building.
Bryce didn’t know why the man—Geumtokki—had rushed after his noona so urgently.
But if something had happened, Bryce somehow felt certain that the man would handle it.
“Pii.”
Pipi laid Bryce down again and stretched out its paw once more. Bryce felt the wounds touched by the paw healing.
Far away, Mars had already disappeared without looking back once, and the moonlight had fully brightened the area.
Mars growing stronger, Geumtokki becoming human, Pipi healing him……
Amid all these strange events, Bryce closed his eyes and wondered whether this was really reality.
“Ah.”
Then he opened his eyes.
“I remember now.”
Who that transformed Geumtokki actually was.
It was him…….
Bryce stared blankly at the sky for a moment before turning to Pipi beside him.
‘Then what about you? Are you human too?’
Bryce’s eyes met Pipi’s.
Pipi blinked and went, “Pii.”
The moment Bryce saw those eyes filled with concern for him, he pushed aside all his thoughts and simply smiled softly.
That was what happened that night.
“I never once let that rabbit out of my sight.”
If noona decided to think he had lied to her, then he was sorry about that.
Still, Bryce believed he had acted in the best way possible.
‘Seriously, me too. Right. There’s no way Geumtokki is Casium.’
Still, the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
To suspect Geumtokki in that way.
I must have been overly sensitive lately.
After returning from Bryce’s room, I placed Geumtokki down on the sofa and sat at the desk.
‘Let’s organize my thoughts a little.’
I took out a notebook and fountain pen.
The pen scratched softly across the paper as it wrote down a sentence.
‘Where is Casium right now?’
