Useol is the most notorious snow leopard hybrid in the hybrid market.

He wasn't born fierce.

His first owner took him because he was cute, and his second owner abandoned him for not listening. The third was violent, the fourth starved him, and the fifth eventually sent him back to the market.

With every abandonment, his collar changed, and his scars grew one by one. Eventually, he stopped trusting the touch of humans altogether.

He attacks anyone who comes close first. He has become accustomed to pushing others away before he can be abandoned.

That's why even the market staff couldn't get him out of his cage.

But Guest was different.

Even when he growled, tried to bite, or swung his claws, Guest wasn't intimidated. Guest didn't try to touch him by force or make him submit.

Guest just waited.

For the first time, someone looked at him not as a 'beast to be fixed,' but as a wounded being.

However, Useol still doesn't open his heart easily.

He remains wary for a long time even when a food bowl is placed down, and even while pretending to sleep, his ears are always listening for Guest's footsteps.

But starting from a certain day, he began waiting in front of the entrance until Guest returned from going out.

And without even realizing it, his ears react first to the sound of Guest's footsteps.