Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Su Wen—The First Breeze of Spring

Occasionally, he felt that humans were very strange creatures.

In the beginning, he thought human clothes were the same as a snow leopard’s fur: meant for keeping out the cold. But a snow leopard’s fur doesn’t change constantly.

After becoming human, he put on clothes too. He remained puzzled by why humans felt the need to change their “fur” every few days; he didn’t feel the need—to him, this was the hide he had acquired upon becoming human.

Fitting into human society was exhausting. He wore human clothes and ate human food, yet he remained a beast. Everyone who saw him conveyed the same emotion through their eyes; it took more than ten years for Yun Shu to truly understand the meaning of that look.

It was loathing, or perhaps loathing mixed with pity.

One summer, a strange smell erupted from Yun Shu’s body. He tried to lick himself clean, but the scent remained. It wasn’t the rot of mountain carrion he was used to; it was something stranger. He dove into a mountain river. The smell lessened, but his clothes became heavy. He realized for the first time that clothes and fur were not the same thing.

He could lick fur clean, but he couldn’t lick clothes clean. Furthermore, fur didn’t become heavy or pull him deep into the river’s currents.

At that moment, he thought it was better to be a snow leopard. He could run free on the mountains, and if he saw a human, he could hide behind a rock and observe them secretly, never worrying about being chased or beaten, because they could never find him.

Beneath the calm surface of the river were hidden undercurrents. The flow was pulling him toward the depths. He felt his body trying to shed his clothes, but the “fur” that wanted to burst out of his human form was pinned back by the heavy fabric. Water began to invade his nose and eyes, yet he could still hear sounds—distant voices coming from beyond the riverbanks.

“Mama—Papa—” The same voice: “Jie—” “A child fell in the water!!”

The voice grew closer and closer. Then, another distant voice: “Don’t move!! We’ll go get someone!”

But that first voice drew even closer, shouting as if right in his ear. It was a familiar sound, a voice he had heard even back when he was a snow leopard.

“Don’t be afraid!! Don’t be afraid!! Don’t be afraid!!”

Yun Shu wanted to respond. He opened his mouth, wanting to let out a long “Awoo—” so the person could hear him. But as soon as his mouth opened, the river water rushed in, bubbling out of his throat.

“Hurry!! You guys hurry up!!”

The voice rang out again. Yun Shu, who had started to go still, began to thrash once more. The distant voices stayed far away, but the near voice was right there. He felt himself being grabbed; his arms and the back of his clothes were seized by two hands in a death grip.

He was still sinking. The distant voice approached, letting out a sharp cry: “Wen-wen!!”

A sudden surge of strength from somewhere lifted Yun Shu out of the water. Then one hand, two hands, three hands—he was pulled onto the shore. He spat out the river water, and his eyes, blurred by the soaking, regained their clarity.

A person was crouching in front of him. The clothes on his chest and arms were wet, and damp hair clung to his forehead. He was smiling—brownish-black eyes curved, a tiny black dot of a mole beneath one eye, and a small dimple denting one side of his pinkish lips.

Yun Shu reached out and gently rubbed that little dimple.

The person froze, but laughter erupted around them. Yun Shu didn’t know what they were laughing at. They seemed happy, just like the person in front of him. When humans were happy, they smiled like this.

Yun Shu imitated him, curving his eyes and lifting the corners of his mouth. He smiled back, but his voice was raspy and unpleasant, so he shut his mouth and listened to the other’s laughter instead.

It sounded like the rustle of anemones in a light breeze.

Adults nearby took them to a small house that moved with the wind, next to a house with four wheels.

“Mama,” the person spoke, but not to him. “His hair is white. Is it dyed?” The “Mama” said, “I don’t think so? He doesn’t look like a child who would dye his hair.” “Oh,” he realized. “Then it’s a genetic mutation.”

They were all inside the small house. Yun Shu stood timidly to the side. He watched the boy take off his shirt. Instead of rushing to put on dry clothes, the boy turned to his sister and made a gesture Yun Shu didn’t understand, lifting his arm. “Look at my muscles. Good thing I didn’t train for nothing. If I weren’t this strong, I couldn’t have saved a kid!”

The sister scoffed. “If you train muscles as a kid, you won’t grow tall. If you plan to be this height at eighteen, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” His expression changed instantly; not growing tall seemed like a terrible fate. “Impossible!! My goal is—188!” The sister left, measuring her height against his as she walked by. “Wait until you get past my 177, little shorty.” “Aaahhh!!! You’re short!! Your whole family is short!!” The sister arched an eyebrow with a provocative smile. “Exactly. So you’re short.”

Fuming, he chased her to the tent flap. The wind slipped through the gap, sending a chill through the room. He shivered and retreated into the tent, quickly pulling on his clothes.

The wind was cold. Yun Shu only realized it now; his heavy clothes were still dripping. When the wind hit him, he recoiled, goosebumps rising on his skin.

“Whitey!”

Yun Shu dazed for a moment until he was called a second time. He realized the boy was talking to him. He imitated the boy again, curving his eyes and lifting his lips into a smile.

The boy seemed amused by his clumsy expression, but the laugh didn’t last long. He reached out, grabbed Yun Shu’s soaking arm, and pulled him further inside. There was a pile of clothes that the mother had just dug out of a suitcase.

He pointed generously at the pile. “Pick whatever you want. Once you’re dressed, we’ll take you to find your mama.”

Yun Shu didn’t understand the words, but he thought the voice was beautiful. A few seconds later, the boy looked at his mother. “Mama, is he a little dummy?” Mama said, “Just get him changed first. Maybe he doesn’t understand Mandarin.”

She moved to unbutton Yun Shu’s clothes, but the boy stopped her. “Men and women shouldn’t be too close, Mama,” he said. “I should be the one to help him change.”

So the mother stepped aside, handing him a towel and clothes. Yun Shu watched as the boy peeled the heavy, filthy “hide” from his body. Once the clothes were gone, a strange scent wafted up. Yun Shu saw the boy’s eyebrows knit together. When humans were unhappy, their brows furrowed, as if they were angry.

He had seen this expression many times, but this was the first time he felt “shame.” He smelled the boy; he smelled good, fragrant. He, however, was smelly.

Once the “hide” was completely removed, the boy didn’t rush to dress him. He remained frowning, looking at Yun Shu’s body. Then he reached out and pressed gently on a spot.

Yun Shu winced back in pain, but quickly returned to his original position because the boy’s frown deepened. He didn’t speak to Yun Shu, but called out to the side: “Mama, Papa! The little dummy looks like he’s been bullied!”

Mama didn’t come over; Papa was outside. She only said, “Then get his clothes on first. We’ll go find his parents in a bit.”

“Okay!” He took a warm towel and wiped Yun Shu’s body. His movements were gentle but clumsy, barely getting him clean. But he was satisfied with his masterpiece. He pulled out his own clothes and put them on Yun Shu, piece by piece.

The fragrance from the boy’s skin seeped into Yun Shu through the clothes touching his body. Yun Shu looked down, sniffing his new “fur” lightly, and then looked up. It wasn’t intentional or practiced; he simply gave a pure smile.

The boy’s brow relaxed. His eyes curved, and his mouth lifted. He gently rubbed Yun Shu’s recently dried hair and looked into his eyes, sighing, “Your eyes are so beautiful.”

“Beautiful” must be a human word for good things, because the boy looked very happy.

“Su Wen,” he said. “My name is Su Wen. Whitey, what’s yours?” Yun Shu didn’t understand, so the boy muttered to himself, “Well, if there’s really a language barrier, I guess I’ll just have to call you Whitey.”

“Su… Wen…” Yun Shu struggled to produce the human syllables. He had never heard them before, yet he felt they represented something wonderful. Like prey caught in winter, the first breeze of spring, or the first ray of sunlight at dawn.

It was warm. It made him happy, making him want to roll around on the grass.

The person in front of him laughed again, sounding incredibly joyful. The little dimple by his lip deepened—a beautiful little hollow that Yun Shu wanted to swallow into his stomach.

…

Yun Shu reached out, cupped Su Wen’s chin, leaned in, and kissed that little dimple.

Su Wen froze. Two seconds later, he grabbed Yun Shu’s face and pushed him aside. His cheek was covered in saliva. He was a bit annoyed. “You’re licking again!”

But seeing Yun Shu’s dazed, misty eyes, his anger vanished, replaced by half-confusion and half-teasing. “Do you not know how to kiss?”

Now it was Yun Shu’s turn to freeze. He doubled down: “I do.”

“Bullshit,” Su Wen tapped him on the forehead. “If you did, you wouldn’t be licking me like a cat at a food bowl.”

Fine. He didn’t know how. Other than Su Wen, he had no one else to kiss. Where was he supposed to practice?

“You need to practice more, Yun Shu,” Su Wen said, his words ambiguous and his eyes unreadable. “Otherwise, when that person you like comes back and you start dating him, you’ll get dumped if you don’t even know how to kiss.”

Hearing this, a surge of energy rose in Yun Shu’s body. He leaned in again. Before he could touch Su Wen’s face, Su Wen covered Yun Shu’s mouth with his hand. “Who am I?”

With his mouth covered, Yun Shu’s voice was muffled. “Su Wen.”

Bingo. The correct answer. But Su Wen didn’t let go. His expression remained unreadable. “Then what is our relationship right now?”

Just as Yun Shu was about to speak, Su Wen pressed his hand firmer; he purposefully didn’t want him to answer.

A few seconds later, Su Wen let go and placed the ceremonial robe he had taken off onto Yun Shu. “Try it on.”

Yun Shu was stunned for a second. “Try it on?” He looked down at the robe, then back at Su Wen. “Isn’t this yours?”

“If I tell you to put it on, put it on. Why are you talking so much?”