Chapter 8: Are you my brother of hers?

Still, the way these two were reacting was a little much! Did their elders never teach them how to control their fear in front of a Zulna? How will they attract a female if they're acting like wimps?

Wenshi thought disapprovingly.

"Tch! Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm not here to fight. Ease up!" Were they abandoned at birth that they became too judgemental and cautious about everyone else?

Deus, still pointing at her, was visibly shaking.

"You!"

"Hmm, what about me?" Wenshi blinked, watching him patiently as if waiting for something entertaining to come out of his mouth.

She even smiled slightly—but unfortunately, her subtle grin did nothing to ease the tension. If anything, it made the two snakes' faces grow even paler as if looking at a monster who was about to pounce at them.

'Argh, these stubborn youngsters!' Wenshi fumed, irritated by the way they were eyeing her.

She was already exercising as much patience as she could. And before she could get a single word out, the blue snake stole her thunder and spoke first.

"Hey, moron!" Shul whisper-yelled, snappily grabbing his brother's hand and shoving it down. "What are you doing? Don't say anything rude, or we'll become that nasty bird's next meal!"

Then, lowering his voice further, he added in a desperate tone, "Just look at her belly! Maybe she hadn't digested her last meal that's why she was acting lenient. Stop pushing her buttons, Deus. Aren't you afraid?! Stop it!"

Wenshi, who could hear them perfectly well, dropped her jaws in utter disbelief.

"What nonsense—" Isn't he the one badmouthing me right now?!

Haa...

Wenshi breathed deeply trying to stop herself from doing something irreversible and livid. She could feel her synapse bursting, in sheer indignance unable to keep up with these snakes' ignorance. She was so angry, but she was more furious that she couldn't punch their mouths, fearing they might die from the impact!

'Argh, this clueless fellow is really asking for a good smacking. Should I just eat him? Should I? Maybe I should just try...' she mused, though she initially had no actual intention of eating beast kin. But she's seriously considering it now!

"I-I'm...!" Deus' breath hitched and stuttered. His gaze darted back to her, and to his chiding brother and felt more and more dejected. Then suddenly, he was on the verge of tears, sobbing in between hiccups.

Hic!

"I'm really scared! So what?!"

Wenshi's face stretched and parted her speechless lips, feeling so weird and confused at the same breath.

Wait... Is this grown man... actually crying?

"Wow!" she unconsciously blurted out. Wenshi was flabbergasted. How could she not? It was the first she had seen a full-grown beastman acting like a crybaby for crying out loud!

Well, look at him squeezing those water beads falling from his eyelids. He looks really flustered.

"Is... he for real?" her face crumpled and caustic.

Wenshi couldn't help but criticize while barely maintaining a passive expression which was almost ruined by her astonished tone.

On the other hand, Shul who was standing beside him turned bright red and equally flustered. Clearly, he was too embarrassed to even say anything and just hit his brother who was making snakes lose face.

"Ouch!" Another smack landed on Deus' head.

Sensing the start of another fight, Wenshi rubbed her stomach gently and whispered to her unborn child while eyeing Deus' face with so many qualms. "Baby, promise Mama this, when you grow up, don't be a wimp like this man. Otherwise, I'll tie you up to a tree right above a swamp filled with vicious crocs until you man up!"

Very quickly, a tiny, reassuring kick responded to her as if afraid his mother would really come up with such a torturous trick for him in the future.

With a clear expression of pure betrayal, Deus, who had just suffered another blow from his brother, looked at Shul resentfully and touched the place he'd been repeatedly hit. For some reason, the green jade snake felt so awful as if he was bullied and had become a body bag for this asshole!

"Damn it, Shul! You're obviously hurting me more than her, you know?!" he whined, his tail lashing in frustration. "Are you really my brother or hers?!"

"Tsk!" Shul clicked his tongue and came to a sudden stop. What was he thinking, acting without a plan? Not only had he tossed their supplies onto the mushy ground, but he had also practically invited disaster to their doorstep.

"You deserve every single one of those smacks."

Deus sniffled indignantly. "You little—!" Fart! His brain stuttered, failing to string together a proper retort.

In the end, he exhaled sharply, trying—and failing—to calm his frayed nerves.

"Fine! I won't say anything bad, but I must set things straight! It's her fault! She kept ramming into our tree—what if the trunk couldn't handle it? Where will we go after?" His voice cracked as if he were reliving the tragedy all over again.

To which he suddenly felt the need to say, "And my dinner… my dinner is ruined because she keeps making a fuss and shaking the whole tree!" Deus sniffled through all the injustice and glared like a bullied toddler.

"Ah, so it was all because of his spilled dinner," Wenshi blatantly chimed causing the green snake to flinch and grow beet red like a flustered wild cat.

"N-No it's not!" he hastily retorted which clearly no one buys. He turned to his brother for support but the other just looked at him like what the fuck.

Deus felt seriously upset until his eyes turned dewy and tearful, "It's not about the food! That woman is the whole problem… She's trespassing! Right in our home!"

Shul, who had been wracking his brain for a way to make the intruder leave, turned to stare at his brother, his expression crumpling in disbelief. He looked at Deus as if questioning whether he had flung his common sense away along with the items he threw out of the tree.

"She's a—shameless—argh!" Shul quickly cut him off by pulling his fork tongue before he could say something more severe, pushing the woman to sever both their heads from their necks. He clamped a hand over his mouth and pressed his forehead against his arm.

Looking at the woman's expression darkening like the bottom of a boiling kettle, the blue snake's already troubled face became ghastly white and swallowed hard.

Instinctively, Shul just blurted out without thinking, "No—Noona!"

"…"

---

"Noona" (누나) is a Korean word used by a younger male to address an older female, typically an older sister or a close female friend who is older than him. It carries a sense of familiarity and respect. In some contexts, it can also be used affectionately, even in romantic relationships, when a younger man refers to an older woman he is close to.

A/N: Please don't ask me how a beastman Saturn knows Korean. o((>ω< ))o