Taming The Tiger Man - Genma Series #1

Ramaik turned his head. The creature labeled hobo by Fonda gave Angelina a flat expression.

“H-hi, again.” Angelina forced a smile. She felt foolish, standing by the cage with a brand-new electric shave.

Silence filled the entire room. However, not long after, Ramaik’s gaze shifted to the object Angelina was holding before he let out a long purr from his faintly curved lips.

“Uh, yes…” Angelina replied. “Y-you haven’t shaved. S-so…”

“Doctor! Can you stop stammering in front of the beast?” Nixon, who felt disturbed by Angelina’s action, voiced his protest.

Ramaik roared and caused Angelina to stagger backward. This time, however, the creature did not crash into the bars. His human eyes stared at the band-aid on Nixon’s forehead before his smile broadened.

Angelina gasped in awe. Her heart was beating faster and faster. She liked what she saw.

However, Angelina squealed in surprise, and Ramaik roared to the clashing of metal as Nixon hurled his plastic chair against the bars, shouting, “Funny, huh?! Take that, Scurvy Cat!”

“Mr. Nixon!” exclaimed Angelina, her voice cutting through the inhuman roar behind her. “Stop bothering him!”

“Doctor, it’s not fair! Why are you only mad at me?! That Scurvy Cat started it first!” The furious bodyguard pointed at his swollen forehead. “Look, who did this?”

A long, soft purr replaced Ramaik’s roar. Angelina’s eyes narrowed lazily. The brat had deliberately whacked Nixon on the head and was currently laughing.

However, since Nixon was outside the cage and Ramaik was behind bars, for the sake of fairness, she let the creature have a little fun. So she stood with her arms akimbo, defending her patient.

“It was your own doing! If you hadn’t bothered him in the first place, he wouldn’t have been aggressive towards you. So, stand there and leave him alone.”

“Your actions are very unprofessional,” Nixon grumbled. “Get your work done, Doctor. I don’t want to lose my entire lunch hour.”

Angelina ignored Nixon’s tirade. She turned her body before her gaze instantly collided with the purring cat-man.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled while pulling the plastic chair away from the iron bars.

Angelina then ducked down to reach for the electric shave and tried to catch the attention of Ramaik. That creature was still busy enjoying his actions.

“Ramaik!”

The beast’s gaze shifted. He tilted his head and stared at the razor held by Angelina with a questioning look.

“Shave,” Angelina replied while touching her chin. “Can you do it?”

A low purr sounded from Ramaik. The creature’s lips curled while his hand reached out from between the bars to request a shave from her hands.

Angelina’s brow furrowed. Ramaik’s expression was too cheerful. She halted to give the electric shaver to her patient and shook her head. “Not to be thrown!”

Ramaik’s hands grasped the bars while he gave Angelina a short protest-like roar. Yet, the woman shook her head firmly. She then pointed at her cheeks and demonstrated a shaving style. “This is to clean your face. Can you do it? If not, I have to give you—”

Angelina’s eyes widened as a tranquilizer bullet pierced Ramaik’s shoulder. She turned back and yelled angrily at Nixon.

“Mr. Nixon! What are you doing?!”

“Doctor, your actions are wasting too much time,” Nixon answered as he lowered his stun gun. “I know that I’m a good shooter. Just get on with your job.”

Angelina looked back into the cage. She held her breath in shock. Ramaik was now on his knees and breathing heavily with his eyes half-closed.

“Ten, nine…” Nixon strolled towards the cage door. “…three, two, one…”

Ramaik fell on his side. A low purr sounded from his lips.

The cell door opened. Nixon grinned as he thrust his hand inside the cell. “Go ahead, Doctor.”

What a lunatic!

Angelina picked up her belongings from the floor before walking into the cage while glaring at the smiling Nixon.

The cell door shut as Angelina knelt next to Ramaik. The woman very amateurishly began to do her job.

*****

“Doctor, it looks like you cut the right side too short,” Nixon commented for the fifth time. The man’s right eyebrow swooped up and showed a critical expression. “I can also still see the remaining stubble on the jaw.”

“Oh, shut up!” Angelina snarled at the lazy man sitting leisurely outside the cage while giving useless reviews.

“Call it what you will, Doctor, but in my opinion, the cat now looks more like a scabies-infected cat than a hobo cat.”

Angelina wiped away the sweat with her hand and breathed quickly. She surveyed her handiwork with a sour face. Nixon’s words were correct. However, Angelina was not interested in honing her hairdressing skills for animals or humans.

“It’s been half an hour, Doctor. You have 20 minutes left until the beast wakes up.”

“Maybe it would be better if you helped me!” protested Angelina fiercely. She had been busy switching between the beard shaver and hair clippers.

“I don’t think that’s a safe idea.” Nixon shamelessly refused the request. “The cat will go berserk when he wakes up.”

Of course, Ramaik will go berserk! Angelina cursed to herself. Anyone would go mad if they were suddenly drugged!

Besides, he becomes uglier.

Angelina consciously deleted the last sentence. She touched the still dirty-looking part of his jaw and cleaned it with a razor.

Ramaik’s steady breath repeatedly wafted warmly over her hands. Regardless, she tried to ignore the pounding of her heart.

Time was running out. Based on Angelina’s observations, her patient’s hair was getting shorter and may be bald if she did not improve the quality of her service.

However, the skin on Ramaik’s face was getting smoother. A drop of sweat involuntarily dripped down the creature’s cheek.

Angelina let out a tired sigh as she relaxed her neck. She replaced the shaving with scissors before lowering her head and began to smooth the back of Ramaik’s hair amateurishly.

Angelina’s fingers combed the tranquilized man’s hair repeatedly. She bit her lip in frustration. Hair flakes scattered more and more around Ramaik. However, the result was terrible.

“It’s time, Doctor.”

Nixon’s voice made Angelina rush to tidy up the scattered tools. She picked up a towel that floated in an iron bucket of warm water and wrung it out.

Angelina had just wiped Ramaik’s back when the metal door opened. “Doctor. The beast will wake up soon. Come out now.”

Angelina’s eyes scanned Ramaik and the messy cage. Still, she rose to her feet and walked out hastily.

The door closed seconds before Ramaik opened his eyes. The creature sat up and looked down. He seemed busy observing the flakes of hair that littered his body.

“I’m pretty sure your haircut is crooked,” Nixon commented as they stood far enough away from the cage.

Ramaik twisted his body and tried to scratch his own back. He subconsciously pointed out that the hair on the left side was still too long compared to the right. The Inyiak seemed to be itching from being left behind by his irresponsible personal barber.

Angelina’s lips clenched tightly. Guilt made her unable to argue. Ramaik looked very messy. However, a hungry sound suddenly came from Nixon’s stomach.

The muscular guy ignored the behavior of Ramaik, who was observing the condition of his cage with a look of confusion. He grinned broadly at Angelina as he said, “Come on, Doctor. It’s time for us to eat.”

Angelina, however, did not answer immediately. Instead, she froze in place and gulped as her eyes collided with Ramaik’s. The creature gave a low roar as if asking, What just happened?

“Um,… Mr. Nixon, what time will the cleaning service come?”

“Monday morning when the beast goes training,” Nixon replied cheerfully. “Come on, Doctor. I don’t want to faint from lack of food.”

Angelina bit her lip. She should learn to cut someone’s hair.

The woman finally walked away in a hurry from the room as her victim decided to look in his reflection of the water in the iron bucket.