The forest they lived in was much larger than they thought it was. It spanned on and on as if it never ended and some places the two of them hadn't even been too yet. They didn't know where exactly the edge of the forest was or what was beyond it.
On this journey they went in the direction where the sun rose (East). Min leisurely walked ahead of him whilst stopping occasionally to make sure he was keeping up.
"I'm right behind you," Lee Hyunjin chuckled.
Grrrr.
"Uh huh, but moving slow is fine t—
Grrrr
"Min-ah! Put me down! I said I'd walk!"
Min ignored him and kept walking after dumping him on her back.
Usually whenever they went for a walk they'd mark the tree where they stopped before heading back. This was easy to do with Min's claws.
When she scratched the tree, four jagged, long and deep claw marks would be left and every time Lee Hyunjin would wonder if the tree would continue to live after that, he was grateful that she wouldn't use her claws on him.
If Min was not Min the day he arrived here he might have been nicely shredded and eaten. How nice it was to be a live, regardless of where.
This time they went passed the last mark they left and about a hundred feet away from that mark, Min suddenly went rigid.
The fur on her body stood on end and she growled viciously.
"Min-Ah? What's wrong?" Lee Hyunjin immediately reached out petting her so she could calm down.
Grrrrrrr
"Is there something there?"
Min didn't answer him and instead circled around, she paced back and forth restlessly. She was obviously agitated.
"There doesn't seem to be anything," Lee Hyunjin said after looking around. "Is it something you smell? If it makes you uncomfortable let's go back okay?"
Grrrrrrrrrr
"Eh? Are you sure?"
Grrrrr
"It's fine then let's go."
Min finally stepped forward and the scene came into view clearly.
White cloths were strewn about and some of them were stained with what Lee Hyunjin guessed was blood.
Lee Hyunjin looked around cautiously.
There were absolutely no bodies in sight. It was more like the blood stained clothes had just been tossed there.
"Is it the blood you were smelling?" He asked Min. Min responded affirmatively.
Now he understood why she was on edge. There had been humans here and perhaps she didn't take well other humans as she did him and also the fact that blood was shed agitated her more.
Min probably thought that they might be more humans and they might try to attack the two of them.
"It's fine Min-ah, there's no one here."
Min walked carefully through the place and the two of them examined everything as they passed. It looked like a fight had broken out but they couldn't tell whether people died or not.
Well it wasn't their business and it was best not to get curious.
Among the many white robes scattered around, Lee Hyunjin managed to spot one with no blood stains at all. It was a pleasant surprise and his eyes sparkled.
Oh well might as well get some new clothes.....
He stopped Min, got down and picked up the stainless one, he also picked up another that had less blood, he tried to rip off the stained part but found that he couldn't. No matter how he pulled the cloth wouldn't rip.
"Am I that weak?" Lee Hyunjin sighed dejectedly and tossed the robe on the ground. I shouldn't be greedy, one is more than enough.
"Let's go."
The duo directly headed back to the cave before going to the lake so Lee Hyunjin could wash his new clothes.
When he checked the white robe again he found it was even his size and also miraculously it was clean. As if it wasn't laying on the ground at all there wasn't even a speck of dirt on it.
Lee Hyunjin got a bad feeling. It was the feeling he gets when something was likely to bring him all sorts of bad luck.
This kind of thing was too good, so much so that he almost thought he was lucky to have found it but for him anything that made him seem 'lucky' would lead to misfortune or rather crap.
Still he decided to take a risk simply because he really needed new clothes. He hadn't gotten to the point where he was comfortable wearing a skirt made of leaves and vines.
He ignored the instinctual warning and happily took his new clothes. Like a child that just got his first Christmas gift.
Lee Hyunjin washed it in the lake and he was sure it looked even whiter now if that was even possible. Its appearance was immaculate and he momentarily felt nervous to try it on.
Why was it so clean?
"Min-Ah what do you think?"
Min glanced at the robe disinterestedly then she looked back at Lee Hyunjin who's eyes were sparkling.
He was obviously happy to have found it so she didn't want to tell him that something was weird about the robe not only did it have the same smell Lee Hyunjin had when she first found him but in Mins eyes the robe had a sort of pristine glow and some words were even written on one sleeve but Min couldn't read human language.
She turned her gaze away from the bothersome thing, if the human was happy then let him be happy.
.
.
.
.
<A certain day>
Lee Hyunjin had just realised something very scary. You know that feeling a child gets when they are told they'll be having a little brother or sister?
At first they are happy about it but at some point they start wondering whether mom and dad would love them less.
That was not the feeling Lee Hyunjin was having right now. In fact he couldn't describe the feelings he had.
Min had become much-much lazier than usual, the two of them were already (cave) shut-ins that only came out to eat or bath or just wander around finding new places but now, Mins daily routine had noticeably changed.
She only ever got up to go eat and when she did eat, Lee Hyunjin was scared the fish in the lake would go extinct. Sometimes she'd go as far as eating half his plants or the entire batch.
Min didn't even like to eat plants at all unless they were used to season the fish so why was she now stuffing herself with those sour plants?
And also even if she stayed in the cave all day, Lee Hyunjin realised that she'd sometimes sneak out at night and she'd be gone for hours before returning.
Also yes, if you happened to guess it then you're right.
Min was pregnant.
Why hadn't he noticed this at first? Her stomach was starting to bulge and the only reason he saw this was because she now liked to have belly rubs from time to time. So yes again, it definitely didn't feel like an 'I ate way too much' bump.
At first Lee Hyunjin thought she was just eating too much but then he realised that wasn't the case at all. Mins mood swings were different than usual. If she didn't want to move then forget it, even if she was sleeping on his chest she wouldn't budge no matter what.
Lee Hyunjin wasn't a doctor, he never even had a single pet, no wait he did have one hamster but it ran away when he opened it's cage.
He didn't know anything about jaguars or what happens during their birth and even if Min was a human he still wouldn't know what to do.
"Min-Ah, these are things you tell people before you start living with them you know?"
What if that wolf had actually managed to hurt her when she went to save him? What would've happened?
Was it okay for her to soak in the water so long while pregnant?
What about the plants? They gave Lee Hyunjin a stomach ache so what if they were poisonous for infants?
Lee Hyunjin was seriously panicking, this was a whole other situation.
Just what was this situation?
Having little brothers and sisters was fine especially if they were small and cute, they'd be like mini versions of Min and he looked forward to it but at the moment he was preoccupied with all the possible complications.
Unlike Lee Hyunjin's worried expression, Min was busy gnawing on fish whilst watching him pace back and forth. She was completely relaxed as if Lee Hyunjin was worrying in her place.
Min squinted her eyes at him then slowly got up. Her stomach had gotten bigger and heavier as she walked she could feel the extra weight. She sat back down carefully.
"Min-Ah, what's wrong? Are you in pain?" Lee Hyunjin rushed over.
Min was quite pleased with this panicked version of the human. He gave her more of the nice tasting fish with the plants and also rubbed her belly more often. He petted her fur whenever she wanted which was very soothing.
Lee Hyunjin scratched behind her ears and the Jaguar instantly relaxed. She yawned and lolled her tongue out of her mouth ready to sleep.
Lee Hyunjin after making sure she was fine directly fell back into his cycle of worries.
How far gone was she?
What would happen when it was time to give birth?
Jaguars aren't at risk of a miscarriage right?
He wasn't even sure if Min was a jaguar, she only looked like one!
Lee Hyunjin remembered that his pretty teacher told him animals can be very protective of their kids so did that mean he would be disowned and thrown out for their sake?
He frowned and continued to think about the kids that would be born anytime soon, what about raising them? How would that go? How do you raise baby jaguars?
Would they even like him? What if worse come to worst and all the crap that follows him around rubs off on them?
Maybe...
Maybe it was about time he went looking for help, someone who would know more about Jaguars...
He'd have to leave without her and also preferably leave her in the starry cave.
It was better to go now while she could still move about and run than when her stomach got bigger and she became too vulnerable. She didn't seem too far gone right now so it should be safe.
Well it's not like he was strong, even though he'd been living in the jungle all this time, he hadn't gotten much stronger especially since he was carried around a lot and didn't even eat meat.
Lee Hyunjin decided not to tell her just yet, he knew she would protest and throw a fit if he said anything just now. Though she understood the things he said that didn't mean she would accept them.
Min fell asleep again and when next she woke Lee Hyunjin went with her to the starry cave.
"Min-ah lets stay here for a bit okay? Just until the kids are born."
Grrrrrr
"Don't be so stubborn, you know it's safer here for both of us."
Grrrrrrrr
"Min-ah, right now it's best if you don't have to fight even if you're stronger than me. We are staying here for however long it'll take, I'll still get plants for you and it's easy to fish from here."
Grrr
"Good girl," he sighed in relief, good thing she was being lazy otherwise that conversation would've been longer.
That night, after they both fell asleep, Lee Hyunjin found he couldn't fall asleep and suddenly he sat up.
His eyes wide open because of the realisation that came to him in form of a question.
Who's the father? (O_O)
(A/N: If you like this story please remember to vote and leave a comment! See you in the next chapter!😁)