Mistaken for a Monster's Baby

Emotionally detached, calculating and possessive researcher bottom × self-deluded, love-struck tentacle monster top (all right, they're really just two hopeless romantics)

Blurb:

Ye Xun was about to complete his revenge plan that very day. The lunatics at the research institute would drink the carefully prepared potion and eagerly await their "evolution."

As luck would have it, something unexpected happened. A newly captured test subject escaped and accidentally drank every last potion.

Ye Xun could only watch as the monster gulped down the fruits of six years of his work in two swallows.

That dose was enough to poison any test subject at the institute to death. He hadn't planned to hold it against a monster that was about to die, but the problem was, the monster didn't die.

Ye Xun figured the potion's effects must not have been strong enough and that he needed to keep researching. Still, he couldn't let the monster off lightly.

He would tame it and put it to use. As for how to tame it, he knew that craft better than anyone.

Everything went smoothly. The monster grew more and more docile and obedient, until one night Ye Xun opened his eyes and realized he was moving...

The monster had picked him up, blankets and all, and run off with him.

Ye Xun closed his eyes again amid the jolting, thinking it was a hallucination. Then he heard the monster say:

[Go to sleep. We'll be home when you wake up.]

Ye Xun: ?

After that, more and more strange things happened. Fresh animal flesh appeared in his room in the morning. Deep and faint marks surfaced on his pale skin. By day and in his dreams, an ever-present gaze followed him everywhere...

The monster said, "You're a young one. I have to protect you."

The Attis were the most extraordinary of the otherworldly species. They had long lives and remarkable healing abilities, no fixed biological form, and were the most tempting prey of all. Now, only one youngling remained lost in the outside world.

One of the reasons Thelos had come to the research institute was to find that youngling and take it back to the homeland of the otherworldly species.

Then, by chance, Thelos tasted the human's blood. Its berserk state was quickly soothed, and even the wounds from battle vanished completely.

Thelos was certain that the two-legged creature called Ye Xun was the youngling it had been searching for.

The youngling looked frail and probably hadn't reached adulthood yet. There were always others eyeing it greedily, too. Thelos resolutely took on the duty of raising it, diligently feeding and keeping it company.

The youngling was a little willful and not entirely satisfied with Thelos's care, but Thelos could put up with that.

The youngling also seemed to trust Thelos more and more, and they got along wonderfully. The only problem was that Thelos's mating season was approaching.

The fever clouded its mind, and it yearned for Ye Xun to soothe it.

"I'm not one of your kind, and I'm certainly no youngling. What, are you angry? Going to eat me?"

Afraid the youngling would hurt itself, Thelos wrapped a tentacle around Ye Xun's wrist and took the knife from his hand.

What was all that gibberish? Eat... eat what? How?

After that incident, Thelos knew its desire for Ye Xun was anything but ordinary.

The youngling refused to be fed, saying it had reached adulthood. But adults needed more energy to stay active, so Thelos would have to switch to a more efficient way of feeding it.

At night, the monster surrounded him, its tentacles rising and falling as they delivered something. Ye Xun heard it murmur:

"There you go. Eat a little more."

Reader's Guide:

Human × tentacle monster, 1v1, both virgins, fictional setting, happy ending, romance-focused, flawed characters, and a mutual descent into madness.

Theme: Love can take many forms.