DMWP V2C4 Part 5

As a young child, Yoon Chi-young was very happy.

Born as the fourth of five werewolf siblings, Yoon Chi-young’s earliest life memory was of mingling and playing with his fluffy siblings.

They would chase each other’s tails, play hunting games, and have tug-of-war with dolls. The victor was always either Yoon Chi-young or occasionally his older sister, Yoon Geon-young. Adults praised Yoon Chi-young and Yoon Geon-young as the next clan leader candidates, saying they were born with it.

〈As expected, Geon-yeong and Chi-young were born with strong pheromones, so they’re growing fast.〉

〈Then am I similar to my older sister?〉

As a child, Yoon Chi-young was simply happy to be told he resembled his sister. To Yoon Chi-young, his sister was a friendly rival, a friend, and a trustworthy family member. All the siblings felt the same way, so the five wolf pups got along well without any sense of competition, caring for each other.

Among them, Yoon Geon-young was calm and intelligent from a young age.

〈From now on, don’t leave my side and be careful. As the Clan Leader’s children, we can be attacked at any time.〉

〈Why…?〉

At the eldest sister’s words, the second oldest, Yoon Jin-young, shrank back, curling his tail and asking. The other siblings also gathered around, fluff pressed together, and listened intently to their eldest sister’s words.

〈The faction opposing the Clan Leader, aiming for the position, might bite us to death.〉

〈Like in the wild?〉

Yoon Chi-young asked lightly with a smile.

In the wild, male wolves often killed cubs of a different bloodline upon sight. As beastmen were born with strong animal instincts, it was something that could never be ignored.

However, Yoon Chi-young, who was the strongest and largest, wasn’t afraid of anything.

〈Even if that happens, I can protect you all!〉

At the blackest wolf’s words, the siblings chattered noisily. Still, I want to stick with my big sister, I’m with the fourth! Me too. They were just dividing sides with their words, but the five wolves were always together.

Even those trivial daily moments were happy memories for Yoon Chi-young.

Because that day’s happiness didn’t last long.

Afterwards, Yoon Chi-young experienced three nightmarish events.

The first nightmare was around puberty.

‘What’s this smell…?’

Late at night, Yoon Chi-young woke up to a subtle smell. There was a smell of blood in the air, like when he had a nosebleed. Looking around, an eerie silence hung in the dark, spacious room.

〈Hyung… Where are you?〉

Young Yoon Chi-young naturally looked for his older brothers first. Since childhood, the three brothers had been close and often fell asleep together in the same room.

However, the second oldest brother’s appearance was different from usual. His brother was collapsed in a strange state in front of the doorknob.

〈…Hyung?〉

Yoon Chi-young approached his brother step by step. The room was dark, but with his keen eyesight, Yoon Chi-young could clearly make out his brother’s appearance. Looking closely, his brother’s figure was distinctly visible in the moonlight seeping through the window.

The second oldest brother was lying in a pool of blood, his pajamas torn horribly as if attacked by a beast. Next to him, the eldest brother could also be seen hiding under the desk. He was crouching, unconscious, with blood flowing from his leg.

〈Hyung… Hyung! Are you okay? Hyung! …Mom… Dad!〉

Yoon Chi-young immediately hugged his second brother and sobbed. At the sound close to a wail, lights came on one by one in the vast Clan Leader’s residence late at night. Yoon Chi-young was 13 years old at the time.

Afterwards, Yoon Chi-young lived in the hospital for a while to stabilize.

Out of anxiety, he would constantly grab the staff and ask them things, or eagerly wait for his family to answer his questions, but no one told Yoon Chi-young anything. He couldn’t see his parents for a while and could only meet them on the day of discharge.

However, Yoon Chi-young couldn’t return home. On the day of discharge, his father took his young fourth son to a secluded region.

〈Father, why am I not going home?〉

〈……〉

〈Who attacked my brothers? It was the anti-Clan Leader faction, right…?〉

His father didn’t answer the question. He was the clan leader of wolves who valued silence and courtesy. Yoon Chi-young, who had been sick and tired of that teaching since childhood, followed his father with disappointment. His father wouldn’t give him any answers anyway.

However, Yoon Chi-young only understood his father’s intention that day when he was fully grown. His father simply didn’t want to get attached to his fourth son.

That day, without any other answer, his father gave Yoon Chi-young a condition.

〈Chi-young. If you complete the training well, you can return home.〉

〈Training? What training?〉

〈…It’s the Watcher’s training.〉

After informing the young wolf pup, his father took him to a house in a remote countryside. The house was surrounded by a lush forest, but it was a place devoid of human warmth. Yoon Chi-young, terrified, clung to his father and asked,

〈I want to be the Clan Leader. Father… I don’t want to be a Watcher. Can’t I stay at home too?〉

〈Chi-young.〉

Leaving his fourth son there, his father persuaded the child who was anxiously looking around.

〈If you do well in the Watcher training here, you will be able to protect your family.〉

〈Family…〉

At those words, the young wolf erased the anxiety in his gray eyes with effort.

Surely it must have been the anti-Clan Leader faction that attacked his brothers. Firmly believing that, Yoon Chi-young nodded, trying to act mature.

〈Father… Then I’m staying here until I finish training?〉

〈…Yes.〉

〈What about my brothers? Will they be okay?〉

〈……〉

Without answering, his father entrusted Yoon Chi-young to a governess. Watching his fourth son awkwardly holding the governess’s hand and standing there, trying to be composed, his father spoke with eyes devoid of emotion.

〈Your brothers are fine now.〉

And so, Yoon Chi-young came to live with a governess in an unfamiliar place.

Fortunately, life in the new place wasn’t bad. Yoon Chi-young spent most of his time comfortably in his true form, and the governess and staff took care of him with utmost devotion.

However, the loneliness of being separated from his siblings was inevitable.

Awooo!

Every night, Yoon Chi-young howled in search of his siblings. Although he was just getting stronger and growing in size quickly, Yoon Chi-young missed his siblings and was afraid to be alone.

〈Governess… Why do I have to stay in my true form?〉

〈Young master…〉

〈When will the training end? I miss my brothers…〉

〈…You can briefly return home after this winter’s training ends. It will be alright.〉

The governess was by Yoon Chi-young’s side as his family and teacher. She was a former soldier and very strong. Although old, the wise and steadfast governess cared for Yoon Chi-young, who was growing weary from loneliness, with love.

However, after 3 years, the second nightmare came.

〈What the…?〉

It was early dawn before sunrise.

Yoon Chi-young, who had fallen asleep as if collapsing from dizziness, woke up on the hard floor instead of the bed. Puzzled, he looked around and felt a subtle sense of déjà vu. The surroundings were unusually quiet, and there was a taste of blood in his mouth. His head also throbbed as if it would split, and he barely got up from his spot with a rough breath.

〈Governess…〉

Getting up, Yoon Chi-young looked for the governess first. He had a bad feeling.

And Yoon Chi-young’s intuition was not wrong.

〈Governess…?〉

The governess, who had been nagging as usual until he fell asleep, was stopping the blood flow from her shoulder in the bathroom. Yoon Chi-young’s eyes widened in shock.

〈Governess, governess! Are you okay?〉

〈Young master…〉

Yoon Chi-young approached in surprise, but the governess couldn’t meet his eyes. She just tried to hide her wound and act composed.

〈I’m alright, young master… Nothing, happened.〉

〈Don’t lie, you’re bleeding so much…!〉

Yoon Chi-young spoke with eyes that looked like he would cry. The governess was Yoon Chi-young’s only family and teacher in the unfamiliar place. However, the wound she had received was deeper than he thought. It was unbelievable that she, a former soldier, had been attacked like this. Yoon Chi-young gave her first aid with worried eyes and called an ambulance, trembling at his fingertips. At that time, Yoon Chi-young had not yet fully shed his boyish appearance.

〈…Governess, do you know who attacked you?〉

〈……〉

〈If we tell Father, he definitely won’t let this slide.〉

〈…Young master.〉

Even while gasping for breath in pain, the governess quietly stared at Yoon Chi-young. After a moment of silence, she stroked the boy’s head and smiled with composure.

〈I’m really alright.〉

〈Governess…〉

〈This is no one’s fault.〉

The governess spoke stubbornly and moved to the hospital. Even afterwards, she never told him what had happened that night.

However, Yoon Chi-young didn’t let the incident slide. He informed his father, the Clan Leader, and said it must be the work of the anti-Clan Leader faction. His father accepted Yoon Chi-young’s opinion and said he would definitely “resolve” the matter.

After that day, security was tightened at the house where Yoon Chi-young lived.

Moreover, he gained three same-age friends. They were all wolves who had come for training like Yoon Chi-young, to receive Watcher training.

However, amidst the rigorous training, the four became closer friends than anyone else. Upon hearing the most important condition to pass the Watcher’s test, they even made a promise together.

〈How can the condition to pass the Watcher’s test be directly judging the clan? I don’t like it. I can’t do it.〉

〈I can’t do it either…〉

〈Me neither. I want to be the Clan Leader.〉

Yoon Chi-young agreed. The condition to pass the Watcher’s test was to personally deal with a relative who had tarnished the clan’s honor.

Horrified by the cruel selection criteria, he promised his three friends to reject the Watcher’s test altogether. The adults could handle it if there was no next-generation Watcher, he thought.

Then, not long after Yoon Chi-young came of age, the third nightmarish night came to him.

‘I can’t move my body…’

Waking up on the cold floor, Yoon Chi-young couldn’t even move a fingertip. As if it wasn’t his own body, each muscle was strained with excessive force. Struggling to lift his head and look at himself, he was covered in wounds.

However, the situation around him was even more serious. The house reeked of blood, making it difficult to breathe, and the sound of someone gasping in pain could be heard. Yoon Chi-young’s mind was hazy from the headache, but he managed to get up and stagger into the living room.

It was a sea of blood.

His friends, as well as the staff who attended to them, were all collapsed and bleeding. Yoon Chi-young stood in the middle of it, his face deathly pale. He couldn’t respond to the surreal sight. A sharp ringing filled his ears along with a terrible headache.

‘I’m dizzy…’

Yoon Chi-young staggered, painfully holding his forehead. It felt like his mind was fogged, and it was hard to even keep his balance due to the strong nausea. Looking at his leg in the throbbing pain, he too was injured and bleeding from his leg. However, Yoon Chi-young tried to recall his memory without even paying attention to the wounds.

Something was strange. It was spine-chillingly eerie that he couldn’t remember anything even though he was injured and the surroundings had turned into a sea of blood.

‘Before I fell asleep… What was my last memory?’

Fortunately, the memory just before losing consciousness was vivid.

‘I’m sure the governess… was being attacked by my friends…’

Yoon Chi-young looked around with hazy gray eyes. It was an unfamiliar sight. However, among the friends who had collapsed with their legs horribly twisted, the words Yang Hye-chan had said lingered in his ears.

‘Ji-chan said it was the Clan Leader’s order…’

Yoon Chi-young looked at the friend who had easily betrayed him with indifference.

Staggering, Yoon Chi-young barely contacted the Clan Leader’s people. Saying his friends were hurt. Begging them to help. Insisting that someone must have broken in.

This time too, his father came without much comment.

The injured beastmen were transported to the hospital, and Yoon Chi-young was taken in by the Clan Leader’s people. However, the way they did it was strange. They confined the injured Yoon Chi-young to a room, barely giving him food, and thoroughly monitored him without even talking to him until he recovered.

As soon as he regained his energy, Yoon Chi-young sought out his father. Fortunately, the Clan Leader’s beastmen called his father for him, and he was able to meet him.

Yoon Chi-young’s mind was hazy, but one thought was clear. The thought that he couldn’t forgive his father.

〈Father… Why did you stand by and watch?〉

Upon meeting his stern father again, Yoon Chi-young got angry first.

〈You’ve been condoning it since the governess was attacked.〉

〈……〉

His father stared at Yoon Chi-young with a terribly expressionless face. Throughout the three nightmarish events Yoon Chi-young experienced, his father’s reaction was always the same. Yoon Chi-young had long realized that his father was someone he couldn’t expect anything from, but this time, he couldn’t help but blame him. Otherwise, he felt like he would go crazy. He felt that he needed to at least know where this incomprehensible threat had started from in order to breathe.

〈You definitely promised to resolve it.〉

〈……〉

〈I told you it was the work of the anti-Clan Leader faction!〉

〈…Chi-young.〉

After a long while, his father spoke softly. The way he looked at the situation as if he were a third party was terribly insensitive. Yoon Chi-young couldn’t hate his father’s gray eyes, which were the same as his, more than anything.

〈Do you still not understand?〉

〈…Understand what?〉

His father kept silent for a moment as if pondering. It wouldn’t be to give his son a moment. If he really did, he wouldn’t have delivered the following words like an announcement and wouldn’t have neglected Yoon Chi-young all this time.

〈It was you who attacked your brothers, attacked the governess, and turned your friends into half-bloods.〉

〈……〉

〈Think carefully from the beginning, Chi-young.〉

〈……〉

It was a shocking statement.

Strangely, his understanding was slow. Yoon Chi-young glared at his father without any reaction. Rather, he thought it was an absurd story his father had made up to punish him.

However, an eerie sense of déjà vu crept up his spine like goosebumps. The sight of his siblings, his governess, and his friends getting hurt, which he occasionally dreamed of as nightmares, couldn’t have been his doing, he thought.

Yoon Chi-young trembled, clutching his head. His head ached as if it would shatter. His heart raced, and the wounds he had suffered were reopening, bleeding again.

〈…N-no. Father. I, I don’t have such memories…〉

〈Chi-young.〉

His father didn’t comfort his son. Yoon Chi-young was used to that, having experienced it ad nauseam since childhood. However, the feeling of his life being shaken in the hands of his cunning father was so disgusting and difficult to bear.

〈You’re smart, but you’ve always had trouble grasping situations properly because of your emotions.〉

〈……〉

〈I’ll give you some time to recover, so pull yourself together and come out.〉

His father left Yoon Chi-young alone in the room. Even as Yoon Chi-young crawled on the floor, suffering from nausea, his face deathly pale as he looked down at his trembling hands, his father left him be. He thought it was just one of the processes his son had to endure alone.

The path to becoming a Watcher was painful and arduous. To the point where everyone refused, and the Clan Leader had to create one.

〈Congratulations on passing the Watcher’s test.〉

With those words, his father closed the door. Shortly after, beyond the door, a rough breathing sound of a wolf and the noise of an animal roughly destroying objects could be heard. However, no one opened the door for him.

*