Chapter 2

Hands in his pockets, the youth followed me out of the café. I found a deserted alley and demanded furiously, “Who the hell are you?”

He gave me an almost mocking smile and said nothing.

A brat in his teens. Surely I could take him?

I sneered, clenched a fist, and swung at him.

A fierce gust suddenly swirled around him. I narrowed my eyes, unable to see. All I felt was an icy palm closing over my fist, twisting it behind me and slamming it into the wall. Crack. My wrist broke. I screamed in pain, breaking into a cold sweat.

When I opened my eyes again, the silver-haired youth was gone. A silver-haired young man about my height bent over me, holding me down. His golden irises were ringed in black. With his high nose bridge, exceptionally long lashes, and cold, stern face, one glance was enough to frighten anyone.

“An ignorant human dares attack his king?”

His voice had lost its cute, wheedling softness. Now it was low and harsh.

Slender fingers gripped my chin. “What, you don’t remember me anymore? Of course. A liar tells so many lies. Why would he remember one of so little consequence?”

Forced to look up at him, I suddenly recalled something from my childhood. “You’re that big-tailed fox!” I blurted.

Humiliation instantly turned to anger. “You’re a big-tailed fox! I’m the Fox King! King!”

I felt a furry paw smack my face, then lost consciousness completely.

What fucking rotten luck. Fainting twice in one day? I wasn’t supposed to be some delicate Lin Daiyu!

So what if he was the Fox King? Did that give him the right to hit people?

Did the foxes have no laws at all?

By now, waking up anywhere would hardly have surprised me.

But this time I was in my rented apartment.

One bedroom. Small, but enough. I worked overtime all year and only came back to sleep, so comfort didn’t matter.

Right now, though, I was lying on the floor while the long-limbed silver-haired man lounged on my bed, eating chicken wings and watching television.

Beautiful, sure. But utterly lacking in manners.

I scrambled up and found my wrist completely restored. I had no idea how long I’d lain on that cold floor, though. My whole body hurt.

He glanced at me and ignored me.

I simply sat on the floor and thought back.

If he really was the snow fox I’d met as a child…

Then I probably didn’t have long to live.

Twenty years ago, I was fifteen.

I’d gone with my parents to visit relatives in the Northeast and was running wild through a snowy forest.

Apparently, a northeastern brat who didn’t get into a few beat-worthy scrapes was a disgrace to his bloodline.

When I chased a snow fox through the woods, I hadn’t expected to lose my friends and get lost. I certainly hadn’t expected to encounter poachers.

They claimed to work for a zoo. A snow fox had escaped, and they needed to catch it right away.

Of course, they couldn’t fool me. I was a big kid of fifteen. Two shifty-looking men dragging an iron cage—did they think I was stupid?

Realizing I wouldn’t be easily fooled, they simply pulled out a gun and threatened me.

“Catch the fox for us or die. Your choice.”

I didn’t want to die, so I chose to catch the fox.

If I’d had a phone then, I wouldn’t have been so helpless.

A snow fox wasn’t easy to catch, especially in a forest white with snow.

But I seemed to attract animals naturally. While chasing the fox, I’d not only encountered three dopey roe deer and two wild rabbits, but even a pheasant had come right to me.

The poachers were delighted. I was speechless.

Why were they all running toward me? Couldn’t they see humans were their natural enemies?

The two men seemed to have noticed my peculiar gift. They deliberately sent me out to lure the snow fox, saying they’d shoot me if I hadn’t caught it by dark.

I squatted on a conspicuous snowy slope and waited for one to come to me.

After more than an hour, I was almost frozen stiff when a snow fox finally appeared.

It peeked at me for a long time. Then, like the other foolish animals, it slowly approached.

“Stupid fox, don’t come over,” I whispered. “There are bad people here. Run!”

But the fox didn’t understand human speech. Its big, fluffy tail left a trail in the snow. It stopped five paces from me and stayed still.

Like two idiots, we stared at each other for a long time without moving.

The sun had set. Soon it would be dark.

I knew my time was running out.