NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: No Turning Back
Seeing the large snake, Yueul instinctively made a threatening noise for the first time as a weasel.
「Sssss!」
He tried to look as intimidating as possible, leaping around to confuse him.
But to the three-year-older black mamba, it was just a cute display. The black mamba quickly ensnared the dancing weasel, squeezing tightly as if to crush him.
‘...I’m going to die!’
It was his first brush with death. His breath was cut off, his vision blurred, and the mamba’s large body completely enveloped him. With his characteristically cute face, the black mamba flicked his tongue at the weasel.
The black viper opened his mouth, threatening to devour Yueul.
Just then, a teacher’s voice intervened,
「Stop!」
The mamba’s grip loosened, allowing Yueul to breathe again.
Since then, Yueul transformed and fled at the mere sight of Wooheon.
Even Wooheon’s languid eyes reminded him of that day, making it impossible to face him.
“Sigh... What should I do?”
Yueul shot up from the bed.
「But you, Mr. Lee, are in urgent need. Your debt keeps growing, you drift from one part-time job to another due to a lack of qualifications, and even those jobs don’t last long or pay low wages because of our society’s discrimination against anthropomorphs.」
It was true. Yueul was desperate. Without even a college degree, he bounced from one part-time job to another.
As Wooseok mentioned, he often received ridiculously low wages or was dismissed due to discrimination against Anthropomoprhs.
Anthropomorphs were required to wear a pink wristband indicating their status to work in human society. Although the anti-discrimination law was phasing out the practice, many service industries still mandated it.
Once it became known that an Anthropomorph worked there, complaints surged, and customers dwindled.
「Yueul, I’m sorry. Customers kept filing complaints, so I had no choice.」
Each time, he reported it to the association. They did their best to help, but it always ended inconclusively. He eventually ended up feeling that his frequent reporting was making him even harder to find a job.
“The company even has a dormitory for its employees... So if I’m lucky, I can stop living in this inn....”
The association was already known among Anthropomorphs for paying well, and if what the president said was true, he would have the chance to earn even more than other new recruits.
Yueul rubbed his face with both hands. He was terrified of Kang Wooheon, but his current reality was equally frightening.
His ex-boyfriend, who had sincerely counseled him about his sexual orientation, gradually changed. He started hanging out with thugs and made Yueul earn money through illegal keeper work.
Making the situation even worse, he got into cyber gambling, secretly used Yueul’s name, and left him buried in massive debt.
If he continued living like this, it was obvious that he had absolutely zero chance of paying off the debt during his lifetime.
Finally determined, Yueul picked up his phone and messaged Wooseok.
[Mr. President, this is Lee Yueul. Thank you for the offer. I’m not sure if I can meet your standards, but I’ll do my best.]
After sending the message, Yueul lay back on the damp blanket.
This was a matter of survival. He had to survive the black mamba he feared the most to escape his hellish life.
All he wanted to do was ‘survive’ and live a new life, even if that required him to face his biggest fear.
* * *
Wooseok chuckled upon receiving the message. He knew it. He knew that Yueul would accept his offer it.
He had no other choice since his life was far from perfect. He knew that his offer was obviously the only chance Yueul had to get himself out of this weasel hole of a life.
[Then I’ll schedule an interview for you tomorrow at 4 PM. You need to impress Wooheon, but I’ll support you as well. Thank you.]
[FYI, the Anthropomorph Investigation & Rescue Team is on the 3rd floor of the main building.]
After sending the message, Wooseok looked at Wooheon sitting on the sofa.
Although they were brothers, their images were different. They shared the same deep black hair, eyebrows, and dark, intense eyes, but that was where the similarities ended.
Wooseok had a cute and gentle image similar to a black mamba, but Wooheon did not.
He had a more stereotypical snake-like appearance: sharp, upturned eyes, languid yet piercing gaze, and a strong jawline that exuded masculinity along with a seductive aura.
If it wasn’t for his jet-black hair, he might have been mistaken for a king cobra.
“How’s work?”
“We’ve rescued four, but three of them are refusing to talk.”
“Are they the same as the ones we rescued before? Any aggressive behaviors?”
“All the same. No aggression.”
Wooseok sighed briefly. The anthropomorph anti-abuse law had pushed people into hiding.
Anthropomorphs, treated as toys and abandoned, wandered the streets, and the association‘s job was to rescue them.
However, recently, more and more rescued anthropomorphs have shown no signs of aggression and, more importantly, have refused any type of communication.