NTFT | Volume 1.21

Did he come to see me just a day later because he was afraid he’d forget my face?

He said to leave the front door open. Turned out, there was no need to bother with the front door at all. He could’ve just had his burly minions smash the door in with brute force.

Cleaning up the mess afterward was easily handled with a bit of money to keep mouths shut.

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“Our Pretty one, didn’t see you for just a day and you’ve gotten even prettier.”

“I’ve always been awed by looks, but you noticed? Got quite an eye. Guess the fresh air out here does wonders for my beauty, huh?”

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Yeah, a day without seeing your mug, enjoying some freedom, good food, and drinks—it’s pretty great.

My face was all puffy from the salt and alcohol I had the day before, looking pretty hilarious.

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“Ha, that’s right. Flew all the way here from Seoul on a high note? Made time for a date and this is what happens.”
“A date? Really picked something out of character. Turned out better than expected though, didn’t it? Added a bit of thrill to the mix, made it fun.”

His eyebrows twitched. He didn’t drop his sarcastic tone, clearly annoyed.

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“Think of it as just a walk then. So, time to head back, Pretty one.”
“Not feeling it. Who’s this for?”

We stood there, arms crossed, in a tense standoff. I wasn’t planning on giving in easily, nor was I going to just follow him quietly.

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The trade for money and a liver was easy enough, though it turned out the liver wasn’t human after all, and the money wasn’t something I needed from him specifically.

“Beomha hyung?”

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Euijong suddenly interrupted our conversation, pretending to know me. I looked at him, finally remembering the name of the crook, scratching an itch with relief.

Euijong looked quite surprised, but the crook didn’t even glance at him and just waved his hand dismissively in response.

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“Yeah, Euijong. Long time, no see.”

“Hyung, what are you doing here?”

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“What? You two know each other?”

I was also surprised. What kind of bizarre coincidence was this? The place we had fled to was a parking lot, and the car we had commandeered belonged to a resident of the same building. How are they this close? And he seemed pretty friendly with the guy too.

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Ah, maybe not. Euijong wasn’t even looking at him.

Why is he staring me down like this? If you greet someone, you look at them.

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The crook’s eyes were fixed on me, glittering menacingly.

He seemed angry, glaring as if he wanted to grind me into dust.

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His gaze was oppressive, making me uncomfortable, so I turned to Euijong. Euijong made an awkward face and responded to my question.

“Yeah. Something special… going on there.”

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“What? How can you be ‘special’ with that guy?”

The meaning of ‘special’ I knew seemed different from this.

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‘Special’ usually meant a particularly close or unique relationship.

Right now, ‘special’ didn’t seem to fit.

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He was probably planning to kill you. I could maybe escape, but Euijong would definitely be in danger.

What was going on?

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Confused, I stared at Euijong when a deep voice unexpectedly hit my ears like a hammer.

“Euijong, I’m busy with love business here. Could you and your friends leave quietly? Your outfit is really bothering me.”

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“Ah, this, this outfit…”

Euijong flinched at the mention of his clothes.

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He looked scared and embarrassed, like someone caught in an affair. He had showered the previous night and was still in his bathrobe, unwisely without proper clothes underneath.

Same for me.

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Shit, this is like some trashy morning soap opera.

This sucks.

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“Beomha hyung, are you dating this guy? Did you kidnap and confine Mi Hong hyung?!”

Euijong had just realized who had been chasing his car the day before and looked like he’d been hit hard.

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His gaze moved from my face to the crook’s.

“Hyung, are you insane? Don’t you know that kind of thing will get you arrested? No matter how much…”

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“Euijong. Since when have you cared so much about what I do?”

“What?”

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“Let’s leave it at that. We’ll talk later.”

“Beomha hyung!”

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“Take him out. Even if he resists, make sure he goes home unharmed.”

“Yes, I understand.”

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“Hyung!”

Euijong was dragged out through the front door, shouting back at me until the last moment, his voice full of unjustified outrage.

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“Mi Hong hyung! Don’t worry! I’ll come back! Hyung, just hang in there! Beomha hyung! You’d better watch out! If you’re gonna date, do it nicely! Don’t go kidnapping or confining people. Ah! Let go! Let me go!”

The crook looked like Euijong was a tricky one to handle.

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It was definitely hard to predict.

He seemed smart, a medical student, but his actions were like those of a clueless, wealthy young master.

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“Pretty one, isn’t that enough walking for now? Let’s go. I can take you on a leash for walks if you feel cooped up.”

“What? A ‘leashed walk’? You really pick the lowest words, huh?”

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“Why, don’t like it? I feed you, house you, wash you, care for everything. If that’s not ‘keeping’, what is, huh?”

“Do I look like a dog or pig to you?”

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“No. I know you’re not. Not a farm animal but a fox, coveted for your liver.”

He walked toward me, grabbed my chin, and forced me to look at him, our eyes meeting.

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Silence followed as our eyes searched each other. His grip tightened, gradually becoming uncomfortable.

Crazy bastard. His grip was filthy strong.

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“If you need a wagging tail, find another fox. Or maybe Anna. She wouldn’t be too bad.”

“What? Anna?”

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“Didn’t you say she was a pushover? Working you over because she thought you were an easy mark. I’m not the fool here, you are.”

“What? What random nonsense is that?”

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“Anna doesn’t care about the likes of me. She only played along because you showed interest.”

I poked him in the chest, and his head bowed slightly, his brow furrowing.

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What I was saying now was not based on any evidence or speculation, just plausible-sounding nonsense.

Because I needed to buy time.

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“When you made me masturbate, it wasn’t for me but for you, to show you that profane dick willingly.”

I slowly wrapped my arm around his waist, moving down to grab his ass, deliberately provoking him. He grunted softly, standing rigidly as he faced me.

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“Anna’s pretty enough, right? You can play with her lower half all you want, and with that outfit, she’s ready for bed right now. Just hike up her skirt.”

I ran my hand up to his ear, gently heating him up as he talked about Anna—or perhaps because our bodies were pressing together, his temperature noticeably rising. He leaned his head down slightly and grabbed my neck.

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“Our Pretty one, you’ve got some talent for erotic storytelling. How about writing erotica next time instead of doing sex shows? Seems like you’d get a good response.”

He smiled and leaned in closer, his lips following the shape of mine, meeting them just as he tilted his head. His lips pressed deeply, his moist tongue entering my mouth. I didn’t reject his kiss but opened my mouth, accepting his lips and tongue.

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Saliva mixed, our breaths swallowed, I secretly focused on enjoying the moment. Then, finally, it was time.

“A kiss adds romance to a farewell, doesn’t it?”

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Nine tails spread out like a fan. It was finally time to return to my true form.

***

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One of the most powerful symbols of a Gumiho was, as the name suggested, its nine tails.

A Gumiho wasn’t born with all nine tails; they grew as it gained power over time.

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Each tail appeared at different times, and I was somewhat slower than other Gumiho, perhaps because I was lazier, but when I finally had all nine, they were notably powerful and beautifully lush.

My friend sincerely congratulated me and was happy for me, but even though he had reached nine tails a hundred years before me, his were already disappearing one by one.

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As each tail disappeared, his strength waned, and he gradually realized how difficult it had become to harvest livers.

Losing strength was coupled with the difficulty of obtaining human livers firsthand.

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Slowly, he felt the temptation of trials.

For a Gumiho, its nine tails were more than just a special symbol; they were a source of power.

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Losing a tail wasn’t just losing a part of its body; it faced a profound sense of loss and deprivation.

Before a Gumiho could become human, it had to pass the test of whether it could really give up being a ‘Gumiho’.

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It wasn’t easy. It had to abandon everything it had worked for to grow its tails, resist the temptation of power, and give up the perks of immortality—a tragic fate.

During this process, some Gumiho used the livers they had eaten to regain strength and recover their tails.

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However, recovering tails required more than just ten human livers, making it a much more arduous process.

Gumiho faced a challenging journey to become human, enduring mental burdens and trials, and friction with the outside world was inevitable. Gumiho were a fiercely independent and autocratic species that did not easily accept other Gumiho; they did not simply let weaker ones be.

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Only the strong survived, so other Gumiho might kill or disappear, or, ironically, get killed by humans once their identities were exposed.

He had gone through all this and vowed to protect his tails. But he collected human livers more ruthlessly, and I dealt cleanly with any external nuisances, either killing them or, if I was lucky, eating their livers.

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‘Bonha, wouldn’t it be easier if I got the livers for you? You don’t even have one tail left.’

When his last tail disappeared, he had exactly ninety human livers. From that point, he looked completely human, and needed just ten more livers to fully lose the power of a Gumiho.

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But the problem was that getting those ten livers was extremely difficult once most of the Gumiho power was lost.

‘I’ll just take your sentiment. Thanks.’

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His memories came back to me more often. Maybe it was because I had temporarily become human and then a Gumiho. I couldn’t focus on what was right in front of me; only his thoughts desperately came to mind.

“I’m showing you this because you seem to have forgotten. Watch closely. This is what a ‘Gumiho’ really is, you crook.”

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I splendidly spread out my nine tails. They were more beautiful than the famously ornate peacock, a dazzling pure white with a lustrous finish that gently waved and dominated the atmosphere.

For a moment, my tails seemed to have missed me during our time apart, wrapping around my neck and swimming around my body as if delighted to greet me.

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“This is my true form. You might think you’ve captured me, but you’re mistaken. I was just staying and fitting in for a while. You’re really nothing more than that.”

I wanted to show him just how much of a gap there was between us. And I was planning to use my power to move far from here.

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However, his expression didn’t falter. Instead, he leisurely admired my form, then shoved his hands into his pockets and spoke up.

“Really? That’s what you’re sticking with? If you’re such a grand ‘Gumiho’, why did you bother escaping all the way here? And why steal someone else’s car to do it?”

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His point was valid. It had been a troublesome and laborious escape, involving annoying incidents and having to face his ugly mug again.

“I didn’t not escape, I couldn’t. The reason is…”

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His gaze shifted. He wiggled his eyebrows, moving his eyes from my face down my body to fixate on my lower abdomen.

His brazen gaze landed precisely there.

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“Isn’t it because of that problem down there? It’s been a while since you kidnapped me, so it must be about time. Isn’t this why you’re showing off your true form now, trying to impress? I think my guess is right.”

He smiled confidently, not changing his expression even though he might have figured it out.

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If we never met again, that would be fine.

“Nice imagination. You should be a writer. With that kind of imagination, you might make it as a third-rate writer.”

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It seemed best to end the unnecessary conversation here. I had regained my strength, and there was no reason to keep exchanging painful words here.

Energy radiated from my tails, swirling with light. He raised his arm to shield his eyes from the brightness.

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“Scared now, so you’re going to tuck tail and disappear?”

His arm reached out towards me. Clearly, he wasn’t planning on letting me go easily.

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I had tried to leave peacefully. That didn’t seem to be working. As he approached, I caught him with my tails. I could feel his substantial weight in my grasp.

“It would have been nice if you had just gone quietly. Guess you can’t do that, huh.”

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I opened the window with another tail.

We were about five stories up, and below was an unused swimming pool filled with icy water for the winter.

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“Can you swim?”

“What?”

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“More importantly, I wonder if your bones are sturdy enough.”

“You….”

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“Whatever happens, saving your life is your problem. So, I’m leaving because I’m annoyed.”

That should be enough time spent playing nice.

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Meeting a Gumiho and surviving with your liver intact is lucky enough as it is.

I threw his body out with my tail. He thrashed, trying not to be caught, but my tail slipped around him like a snake, tightening like shackles.

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“Planning a farewell already?”

I could feel his fierce resistance through the tail. He had strength, but not enough to overpower me now that I was in my true form.

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“Isn’t a farewell after a meeting natural? I even gave you a romantic kiss to spare your feelings.”

Before throwing his body out, I lifted his face with my tail to look at him one last time. He looked awkward, but his face wasn’t one of fear.

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I was puzzled that he was about to be thrown out, but casually blew him a kiss and winked lightly.

“Satisfied now? Then let’s really say our farewells. Take care. To the nameless human.”

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A faint light enveloped my body. I hadn’t chosen a specific location, but somewhere out at sea seemed about right.

The weight in my tail was palpable, but it felt light as I sent him out beyond the balcony.

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My tail safely flung him out, and he was quietly thrown without a scream. I didn’t look back as I disappeared with the released energy.

***

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I felt each cold grain of sand twist under my feet. The gentle waves lapped between my toes, soaking them with seawater.

The sea spread vast before me. The winter sea was painfully beautiful and cold, but it made me feel freedom more directly than ever.

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“Ah, the air is so sweet. It would have been perfect to go into the sea in the summer.”

I kicked the cold seawater as I walked along the shore. My feet quickly turned bright red from the cold, but it wasn’t bad. I could walk as much as I wanted, then, at the moment the waves crashed mightily.

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I spread out my nine tails.

I moved freely, led by the waves to a new place.

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