Wooyoung roughly closed the penthouse door and started unwrapping his bibimbap. It was a cold February Sunday and his cook had called in sick, so he had to improvise. Annoying. He scoffed and reached for his metal chopsticks in the kitchen, eating while standing with a bored expression and leaning against the counter. He was halfway through his meal when the doorbell rang again. Who the fuck is it now. An old woman stood outside his door. She was a beggar, clothed in rags, and she used a cane to stand properly. She held a rose in her other hand. Wooyoung looked at her with disgust.
"Who let you in? Why didn't the guards stop you?"
"Would you like to buy a rose, sir?"
"I would like for you to get the fuck out."
"It's cold outside, I could use some time inside your house, if you'd be so kind."
"That's never gonna happen. Leave now, before I call security."
"You don't have it in you to have mercy for a poor beggar from the streets?"
"It's not my concern whatever you are and why. You're disturbing me. Get out."
A bright beam of light invested the old woman, and Wooyoung couldn't look directly at her anymore. He protected his eyes with his arm and squinted them, trying to understand what was happening before him. When the light became a little less flashing, he could see that the old beggar wasn't there anymore: in her place, a stunningly beautiful young woman stood in all her might.
"W-what... I don't- I don't understand..."
"Jung Wooyoung. You rejected a poor old woman asking for benevolence. You showed no kindness, you weren't humble. You only care about your money and your status. You have no mercy in your heart, no graze or sympathy. You are blinded by shallowness and bromide. I shall give you the right punishment for your action. Or lack of, that is."
"No, please. You can come in. I will buy you your rose. I will be a better man. I promise!"
"It's too late. I will turn you into what your heart truly is: a beast. And this rose shall become the symbol of your decay. If no one loves you for who you are before the last petal falls, you will remain that beast forever. This is my retribution."
Before Wooyoung could beg the woman for forgiveness, he would already feel his body aching and turning and he would scream in pain. His hands and feet turned into paws, his arms grew a thick fur, his handsome face turned into a muzzle. His screams turned into growls and he couldn't recognise himself anymore. One look into the mirror and he was so horrified he smashed it into pieces.
"Why... why me?"
"That's not the right question, Wooyoung. Ask yourself, 'why was I like that' and push yourself to do better. I'll be gone now. You'll never see me again."
And in another bright beam of light, she disappeared.
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