Wild For You

2. An Unusual Tiger

When Taehyung had passed out in front of the rundown building, the skies had decided to open up on him. As he lay winded, groggy, confused and slightly passed out, he got drenched to the bone. If anything, all Taehyung wanted to do at that moment was die. As he came to in the pouring rain, he noticed that the rain had let up around him a bit. Looking up, he saw a man staring down at him holding a black umbrella.

The man looked to be about the same age as him. His jet black hair was plastered to his head despite having the umbrella - which indicated he hadn't felt the need to open it before - as his caramel brown eyes looked over him. He didn't seem afraid of Taehyung like a normal person would be. In fact, he had reached out a hand to try and nudge Taehyung to his feet.

Taehyung didn't want to go with this beanpole looking loser, but he also knew he didn't have a choice. He kept his wits about him to the best of his ability as the man ushered him towards the run down looking building he had passed out in front of. For all Taehyung knew, he was being lured inside to be killed.

If he died, would he get his human form back?

Taehyung wasn't sure if he wanted to gamble his life away on finding that fact out. The interior of the place he was led was dark and drafty. He had to follow the man towards a glowing beacon of light towards the back of the shop where it was obvious he had set up camp. Until then, Taehyung found himself having to navigate around piles of junk that were stacked up everywhere. When he made it to the semi lit area out back, Taehyung watched as the man sat the closed umbrella off to one side. There wasn't much to be seen. The light was emanating from one lantern and it showed the man's sleeping bag with a few blankets on top, a small pile of books, a single electric plug in burner, and several canned goods. The windows that were at this back portion were covered by layers and layers of old newspapers that looked like some sort of creepy, discarded art project.

"It's not much," Taehyung heard the man say as he dragged a gray blanket off his sleeping bag, coming towards him with it.

He let out a snarl when the man got closer. He couldn't help it. He was wet and absolutely miserable. This loser would probably only make it worse.

"Stop it," said the man. "I'm just trying to help."

The man spread the gray blanket about the protesting Taehyung who eventually settled onto the ground with one last whine. The man looked satisfied for a moment as he moved towards the cans of food. Taehyung figured the man was either dumb or had a death wish for turning his back on a tiger.

"Let me get you something to eat. I don't have much, but I'm also starting from scratch."

Taehyung watched the man as he popped open a can of processed meat that he had picked up. The man turned back to him after, placing the open can down before his face. Taehyung leaned forward to sniff at the meat in the can before letting out another low growl of disgust. It smelled revolting.

"Just eat it," said the man as he grabbed a can of his own, sitting with his back against the far wall as he watched Taehyung glare at the contents of the can as if they could transform into a five star meal.

"You need to not be picky. You're lucky I found you before someone else did. They might have put you in a zoo - though I heard those are becoming crowded. More than likely they would have put you down if they found you. So be happy with your canned meat."

Taehyung was surprised that this man was daring to talk to a tiger like that. He watched him in amusement for a minute as the man sighed, poking at the meal in his own can that honestly didn't look any better.

"I've never made smart choices," he said into his can as he prodded it with a plastic fork, "All my life I have disappointed my parents. When I told them that my aspiration was to run a book shop instead of becoming a doctor like they wanted, they kicked me out. It's how I ended up here talking to you - a tiger I found in the rain. For all I know, you could eat me instead of the food I gave you. I could be dead in a matter of minutes. If my parents could see me now, they'd laugh at my stupidity..."