Their Monster Boyfriends

*Three fairy-tale-style stories about non-humans

■ Story One: The Lion Beneath the Moon

I met someone in the forest. He always wore a white lion mask. It looked strange, but it was beautiful, its white fur as pure as moonlight.

Until one day, when something happened and I couldn't stop crying in front of him, he suddenly stuck out his tongue and licked my face.

My first thought was that his tongue had backward-pointing barbs, and the licking stung a little.

Then it hit me, a little belatedly... That lion mask seemed to be real.

■ Story Two: The Zombie Servant

The count's daughter was always accompanied by a servant named Alis. He was exceptionally tall and handsome, and everything he said and did was elegant and gentlemanly.

Everyone thought he seemed less like an ordinary servant and more like a down-on-his-luck nobleman.

Only Haiya, who had transmigrated into the count's daughter, knew that he truly wasn't an ordinary person, because he was a zombie.

Not the kind that hops around in Chinese movies, but the kind of corpse in Western tales that comes back to life able to talk and move.

Haiya wasn't afraid of him, though. In the stories she'd read, he was a zombie devoted to his master, and she was his master.

But sometimes Haiya thought being too devoted wasn't a good thing, because he always clung to the rules governing master and servant, which could never be broken.

For example, she'd already lifted the covers and patted the empty space beside her, inviting him to get in.

But he still insisted on going back to the cemetery to sleep.

"All right, then." Haiya climbed out of her warm bed and stood on it, ordering him around. "Go get my coat."

Alis didn't move. "Where are you going at this late hour, Miss?"

Haiya: "Back to the cemetery with you, to sleep."

"...Miss, your status is too noble. You cannot sleep in a cemetery."

"Oh." Still standing on the bed, Haiya crossed her arms and met his gaze. "Then choose one: the bed or the cemetery. That will decide where I sleep, too."

Alis: "..."

On the one hand, he couldn't let his noble master sleep in the cold, filthy cemetery with him.

On the other, he couldn't overstep his place by climbing into his master's bed.

...Fine.

He'd sleep with her.

[As a servant, you must obey your master and satisfy all their needs.]

■ Story Three: My World

The world loves you.

Theme: Stay positive no matter what crises you face