King of the Wilderness

"I know."

Lin Yu’an nodded, then with a slow yet resolute motion, pushed open the door.

"Creak—"

The metallic screech of the heavy iron door opening was particularly jarring in the silence of the arena.

A familiar chill, mingled with the scent of ice, snow, and animal fur, rushed in.

Almost at the moment the sound resounded, the icy sculpture in the corner moved slightly.

December slowly lifted its furry head, its once dull obsidian eyes warily looking towards the doorway.

When it saw the familiar tall figure clad in a white protective suit, the wariness in its eyes froze instantly.

Time seemed to hit a pause button at that moment.

There was first a flicker of incomprehensible confusion in its gaze.

As if asking: Is that you? Is it really you?

Then immediately, that confusion was replaced by a volcanic eruption of ecstasy! Those dark eyes burst forth with a brilliance enough to pierce through the polar night!

Its body began to tremble uncontrollably. From its throat came a suppressed whimpering "Awoo" sound.

It wanted to rush over!

Every cell in its body screamed, urging it to throw caution to the wind and dive into that warm, familiar embrace as it did in childhood!

But just as its four little legs were about to spring into action, it... froze on the spot.

The impending joy was forcibly suppressed by a more complex emotion.

An emotion mixed with grievance, anger, and a hint of pride after being abandoned.

Slowly, it turned its head away in an extremely stiff manner.

With its fluffy rear facing Lin Yu’an at the entrance.

It even deliberately scraped at the snow in the corner with its back paw, creating a "shh shh" sound, as if to say, "I’m busy here, no time for you."

With all its body language, it expressed its discontent to the heartless man at the door.

"Hmph! You still know to come back?"

"I don’t miss you at all! Not even a bit!"

"Go away! I never want to see you again!"

Seeing its childish yet adorable demeanor, the heart of Lin Yu’an, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled.

He knew it was okay. As long as it could still get angry and throw a tantrum, it hadn’t truly forgotten him.

A spoiling smile appeared on Lin Yu’an’s face.

He didn’t walk over immediately but instead squatted at the entrance, lowering himself to meet its gaze on the same level.

Then, in the gentlest, softest tone, he coaxed the little one who was sulking.

"December?"

"My dear girl, what’s wrong? Don’t recognize your dad anymore?"

The white figure in the corner flinched an ear noticeably, but stubbornly refused to turn back.

"Aww, still mad?" Lin Yu’an’s voice carried an exaggeratedly appeasing smile, "It’s Dad’s fault, Dad was wrong, okay?"

"Dad went to a faraway place to do something important. But Dad promises, every minute, every second, I was thinking about my dear girl."

"Look, the moment the task was done, I flew back to see you without even going home first."

"Really not going to pay attention to me anymore? Then... then I’ll have to leave, okay? I’m really going to leave..."

He deliberately slowed his pace, each word like a feather gently tickling December’s sensitive and fragile heart.

Lin Yu’an didn’t say anything more but turned around, slowly and deliberately grasped the heavy iron door handle again.

This action immediately aroused December’s vigilance. Its body stiffened slightly, but it still didn’t turn back.

"Click."

The crisp sound of the metal bolt moving was particularly piercing in the silent arena.

Lin Yu’an’s voice wafted over again, accompanied by a sigh pretending to be about to depart.

"Alright then, seems my dear girl really doesn’t want to see me."

"Then... Daddy’s leaving now, okay?"

He began to open the heavy iron door, inch by inch, pulling it outward.

"Creak—"

This sound was the final straw for December.

Finally, it couldn’t hold back any longer.

All its pride, all its disguises, all its grievances, crumbled in that moment.

It suddenly turned around, those obsidian eyes already brimming with aggrieved emotion.

Then it let out a howl, as if to release all the grievances, yearning, and fear accumulated over the past month!

In an instant, its four little legs erupted with terrifying power incongruent with its depressive state!

Like an uncontrolled avalanche of white, filled with endless longing, it barreled recklessly towards Lin Yu’an!

"December!"

Lin Yu’an laughed and opened his arms.

The next second, a huge and heavy force crashed hard into his embrace.

He was knocked back onto the snow by its force, collapsing into a sitting position.

But his arms wrapped tightly around the warm, heavy, furry body.

"Whimper... awoo... woo..."

December pressed its head, already a size larger than a basketball, forcefully against Lin Yu’an’s chest, making all sorts of petulant, complaining, and accusing sounds.

It was narrating, in its own language, the eternity-like wait, every minute and second of the past month.

It extended its warm, rough tongue, licking Lin Yu’an’s protective visor recklessly, fogging it up completely.

Lin Yu’an just sat there in the cold snow, letting the 60-70 pound little creature act spoiled on him at will.

"Alright, alright, my dear girl, I know you missed me, I missed you too. Daddy won’t let you face anything alone ever again!"

In the surveillance room outside the quarantine area, Max watched the screen showing the seamless embrace of the person and the bear.

For the first time, she tangibly felt the pure emotion between Arctic creatures crossing species, beyond explanation by any scientific theory.

In the arena, after a long while of consoling, Lin Yu’an finally remembered the secret weapon he had brought.

He gently nudged December, who was still wriggling in his arms, and then like performing magic, produced the insulated food box.

Opening the lid, the aroma of fresh trout and rich fish oil instantly filled the cold air.

"Okay, dear girl, I know you haven’t had a good meal in a while."

Lin Yu’an scooped a big chunk of pink fish paste from the box and offered it to December’s mouth: "Here, try the delicious food Daddy made for you."

However, to his surprise, December only sniffed at the fish paste absentmindedly with its nose, then once again buried its head in his chest, making "woo woo" sounds.

It seemed to say: I don’t want food, I just want you.