➪Of sleepless nights and rare beauties|| SUNGTARO

𝐓𝐰𝐨

His hiccups grew louder as big tears streamed down his face. He opened his mouth and let out a loud wail, hoping his dada would hear him and come to his rescue.

“Dada!”

The person holding him flinched at the loud voice and annoying crying. He didn't expect his next meal to be a cryer. He preferred his food to be the silent ones.

He made his food look at him. It was obviously a kid, probably four or five. Well fed with how stubby they looked. Also spoiled seeing as how they called out for this person called 'dada'. Maybe it was their parent.

Shotaro stared at the bright yellow eyes that were staring back at him. The stranger had bright yellow eyes that contrasted their dark black hair. There were two pointed ears similar to a werewolf on his head.

And if it was, what type of parent would let their kid walk here alone at this hour? This hour was perfect since there were no horses owned by merchants and vehicles by nobles, but it was the worst hour to walk alone since predators used this time to hunt. Unfortunately for the person, he caught this crying kid.

He winced, wolf ears flattening at the deafening sound of the kid's cry. “Nae—hey kid!” he called the child, “quit crying.”

“y-you...you're gonna eat me!”

Well at least he knew his fate, the person gave credit to the child. “I am, but I can't eat you if you keep crying. Naevis, will you stop crying? I'm not going to eat my food when it has snot running down its nose.”

“I can't wipe it. I don't have a tissue!”

Oh bother, the person grimaced, “Well that's not my problem. I'm starving.”

“You're evil mister.”

“Excuse me?” The person was flabbergasted at what the child said. He knew children were honest, but he didn't expect this child to be blunt. Children usually say he's mean or simply cry! This kid, this kid was different.

Shotaro had stopped crying, but he was heaving, “You're evil. Dada said you won't go up there.” He pointed at the clear sky, “But down there.” He lowered his hand and pointed to the ground.

The person felt their mouth hang open in shock. This kid, this kid was really something else! “Y-you're dada said t-that?”

Shotaro nodded his head, “Yes, he did.”

The person closed their mouth. Why? Why can't he just get over this thing and eat the kid? He closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and gave the kid a deadpanned look, “Look kid, why don't we keep our mouth shut so that I can eat you, yeah? We can see if what your dada said about going up or down being true.”

He opened his mouth wide and neared Shotaro to his mouth when Shotaro placed his stubby hand on his nose, stopping the person.

“Your breath sticks, mister. Do you brush your teeth? Dada said we should brush our teeth so that people would like to talk to us.”

The person felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs. Was this kid telling him his breath stinks? He stared at the kid's big dark brown innocent eyes. He moved the kid away.

“Naevis, I've lost my appetite.” the person grumbled, placing Shotaro down on the ground. He crouched down before sitting on his butt crisscrossed. He pursed his right elbow on top of his right knee, chin resting on his open palm. “You're a weird kid.”

Shotaro, who was dusting off his outfit, paused before lowering his arms at his side. So he was right, he was a strange kid. “I guess no one wants to be my friend now.” he mumbled.

The person looked at him with wonder before panicking as he started crying again. The person scrambled, crawling until he was in front of the kid. “Hey kid, quit crying. Why are you crying this time? I'm not gonna eat you!” That didn't seem to work because the kid was still crying. Dear Naevis—"Hey, hey, hey! I'm your friend okay?"

“Y-you...you're not my friend...you w-want...you want to eat Taro!” Shotaro wailed, face turning red with how hard he was crying.

“Huh? Taro, right? No, no, I'm not gonna eat you. I don't eat humans, see?” the person showed a big smile, showing his terrifyingly sharp canines similar to a wolf.

Shotaro scrunched his note, “you have something on your teeth mister.”

“I do?” The person was reconsidering getting an appointment with a specialist the next time he visits the town. “Er well...That's cabbage! Yes, see, I'm a vegetarian.”

“a vevevarian?” Shotaro looked at him innocently, eyes red and puffy because of all his crying.

The person sighed. Right, he was talking to a kid. “A vegetarian. I don't eat meat.”

“You don't?” Shotaro stared at them skeptically, “Why?”

“Just because.” So that you can stop crying, “Anyway, what are you doing here walking all alone kid?”

Shotaro stared blankly at them before remembering, “I'm supposed to be going to school! I'm going to be late. Dada is going to get mad.” he turned around, about to take a step forward when the strange person grabbed him again by the collar.

“Wait a minute little guy. You can't be walking in this forest all willy-nilly. You're gonna get yourself eaten.” The person was worried. For one thing, this kid was lucky it was them who first noticed and not some other wild creature.

“Like you were about to?”

The person sighed, “Yes, like I was about to.” The person rose, carrying the kid with him. “Let's do this instead, I'll walk you to the entrance of the town, okay?”

“Dada said not to talk to strangers.”

“I was about to eat you. I can assure you we're past that stage already.” The person replied sarcastically, rolling their yellow eyes. “What do you say kid?”

Shotaro pouted. He didn't trust this person, “I don't know your name.”

“It's Sehun, and since now you know it, let's take you to school.”