The Commercial

I hoisted the sack of feed just out of the raccoons' reach and warned the pair.

"You two looking to get your treat ban extended?"

"Ptooey."

"Then we ain't eatin' it!"

At that, they slapped the floor—tap, tap!—as if deeply offended, and eased a step back. Calling it a retreat was generous, though. Their eyes stayed locked on the sack, ready to lunge the moment I slipped, and falling back was nothing but a sophisticated little ploy to make me careless.

I had no intention of losing the whole sack to them, so I set it on a table neither one could reach.

"Aw, no!"

They looked genuinely stricken to see it moved somewhere they could never touch. I spared the performance a light scoff and fished a little feed out of the bag.

"Here. Try a bite."

I laid a few pieces on my palm and let the animals take turns. Maybe the smell read as delicious by their standards—whatever the reason, they scrambled to wolf it down, though not one of them had ever tasted this kibble before. From Jjamong to Natae to Cheongho, I doled it out until my palm was slick with spit.

"How's it taste?"

The ones who'd eaten it bounced and hopped, declaring it delicious. Natae, cradled in a guest's arms, even tried to steer his human toward the sack.

"Hey, hey, calm down. Settle down... Stop!"

Deaf to every plea to settle, they hurled their greed at the kibble. Maru couldn't get up on the table, so she gathered herself as if she meant to bring the whole thing down with a body slam.

One use of it was, fortunately, enough to kill the attempt—but I couldn't help looking badly startled. I truly hadn't thought she'd go after the table itself.

"Just from the way you're acting, I can tell it tastes good."

"Then couldn't you give us some more?"

"Yes, sir. Couldn't we eat just a little more, sir?"

"……………………A little more."

A few crumbs had apparently only left them hungrier. Every one of them except Maru—still locked stiff—latched onto me. I let out a short laugh, handed over just enough to soothe them, and turned to the raccoons.

"You want some?"

"Hurry up an' gimme it!"

Daepodong and Sopodong claimed the spot the dogs had left and plastered themselves against me. I gave them a light pat, then offered them kibble too.

"Ooooooh!"

"Th-this is the taste!"

They picked the pieces up one by one in their front paws, marveling the whole time. Their heads bobbed hard with excitement, and they clutched the kibble to their chests as if they'd sooner die than let anyone take it. I burst out laughing, left them to it, and went looking for the cats.

Namcat, Ssangdungi, Poksini, and Chikin-i came trotting at my call—though Namcat, of course, sauntered in late, as if he'd only happened to be passing by. The cats that gathered shot a sidelong glance at the dogs, who were still eating with obvious pleasure.

"You called. So talk."

Typical cat. Not a scrap of manners. To Namcat, I wasn't an owner so much as a convenient human—the one who understood him, fed him, and gave him a place to sleep.

I glared for a moment, decided glaring would get me nothing, and pulled out the cat kibble. The moment I tore the sack open and gave it a shake so the smell would drift, their reaction hit.

Whoosh!

All four tails shot straight up at once, as if they'd held a meeting about it, hard enough to cut the air.

"There. Eat up!"

Seeing how badly they wanted it, I simply poured the kibble out. They charged as if they meant to hunt the stuff down, and Chikin-i—shortest legs of the bunch—was the fastest of all. Watching him sprint with drool streaming from his mouth, I got a very clear sense of the kibble's power.

I watched them crunch away for a moment, greedy for every piece, then sent Ma Sitak a message that the reaction was excellent. Right after that, I called Auntie Yeonhui, who would be up on the third floor, hard at work editing.

True to her word, Auntie Yeonhui appeared on the first floor once about ten minutes had passed.

"What's going on?"

"We need to make a video."

"A video...? Oh! You mean that commercial you mentioned before? I heard you went out somewhere today—so you were off signing the ad contract! Hmm, now, how should we shoot it... You said it was a feed commercial, right? That stuff Daepodong and Sopodong are stealing over there, is that it?"

It sounded like a string of questions and left no gap to answer. I was still staring blankly when her last line landed, and my head snapped around.

"Ack! You two!"

Somehow they'd gotten up there. Daepodong and Sopodong were on the table with their faces buried in the sack, shoveling kibble into their mouths. I hauled both of them out in a rush and sealed the bag so they couldn't lay a paw on it.

"Noooooo!"

Faced with feed they could never reach no matter what they tried, the two raccoons fell into despair. I ignored them and turned back to Auntie.

"First things first, we need to advertise that feed. You can do it, right?"

"Nothing I can't do. It's not like the stuff is illegal. But do you have a storyboard in mind? Or did the sponsor ask for a specific format? They usually want something highlighted, don't they?"

"I can make it however I want. I put a clause in the contract saying the video's mine to shoot as I please."

"Really?"

She looked genuinely astonished.

"Wow, I'm jealous... You have no idea how much I had to watch the sponsors' moods back at the network. Mind the edit, do this, do that. Such a pain. One lunatic even asked me to photoshop a fried-chicken box, can you believe it?"

She must have had a few things bottled up; the grumbling just spilled out. I didn't bother chiming in. I only gave her a short laugh.

"That won't happen anymore, will it? You're the one making this video. Want to try it your way?"

"You mean that? For real?"

"Of course. Go wild."

At that, her eyes sparkled, bright and eager. A small worry flickered through me about whatever video she was about to create—but for now, I decided to leave it in her hands.

"We're rolling!"

At her word, I traded a signal with Noona and led the animals in. If we stuck to the proposal Auntie had written and shown me, I was sure we'd come away with a very good video.

"Boss. We'll start with Natae."

"All right. Natae, let's begin. You remember what I told you earlier?"

"……………………Yes."

I glanced at the action cams in Noona's and Auntie's hands, then set Natae down so he'd sit cleanly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the frame. Circling wide to stay out of the shot, I dropped a small prepackaged pouch near him with a soft plop. I'd torn it open just a little beforehand, so some of the contents spilled, and Natae reacted. It was nothing more than a sway of his tail—but a reaction was a reaction.

"Natae!"

At my call, the koala who'd only been swishing his tail hesitated, then slowly rose. Once up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he went straight to the spilled kibble and started to eat.

"Kyaaah! Natae actually moved!"

Auntie, capturing every second of it, was thrilled. The shot had been her idea. Natae was famous for not budging all day, so she figured footage of him moving at the sight of the feed would be more than enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠promotion. She'd thought up plenty of other shots too, and we moved straight on to the rest. By the end, nearly every animal had been filmed for the commercial.

After Natae came Maru: a shot of her tearing along like a maniac, then skidding to a halt at a bag of kibble nearby and wheeling straight toward it. The point was simple. A dog who all but lived in a straight line would change direction for this feed.

Next we filmed Jjamong and Chikin-i flailing their short legs, desperate to climb somewhere high. Noona and Auntie kept cooing oh no, oh no, and from the way they melted over it, I figured the promotional effect was as good as guaranteed. We also caught the eight geese shredding a bag of bird feed to pieces, and Cheongho—posted by the counter, guarding Noona—sneaking a glance at the kibble.

"It would've been a huge hit if Cheongho actually ate some..."

"Can't be helped. That could hurt his image as a military dog. Those dogs go through incredible focus training. We can't film one getting distracted by food."

"Nnngh... Then I guess I'll have to be satisfied with this. Oh—instead, I'll cut in a separate shot of him loving the kibble after he's finished working."

I shrugged at her disappointment and immediately led the animals on to the next location: home.

Only one species was left. The raccoons. The others, Yubu and Hanmu among them, either had no suitable feed to offer or simply weren't all that interested.

"First we'll draw every curtain, kill the lights, and shoot with the lighting turned way down."

Following her instructions, I made the house deeply dim. With the curtains drawn and the lights low, the two raccoons' eyes glittered, throwing the light back.

"You remember what I explained earlier, right? Do it just like that, and I'll lift the treat ban on the spot. Deal?"

"Just trust us!"

Daepodong and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sopodong looked overflowing with confidence. I snorted a laugh and started the camera.

The two of them sidled into the frame and glanced around, for all the world like burglars casing a room after breaking in. They even killed the sound of their footsteps, creeping with extreme care toward the drawer that held the feed. They opened it so slowly the creak came out as barely a whisper, pulled the sack free, and tore it open.

Crunch. Crunch. The sound of kibble being chewed. I snapped the lights up bright and closed in fast.

"Gotcha, you little punks!"

At that, the raccoons flinched hard, then frantically shoved the kibble into their mouths. I held out a toy handcuff to each of them. Cuffs sized for a human wrist obviously had no chance of fitting—but just as we'd planned, the two clutched what I offered and followed wherever I led them, still chewing the kibble packed in their cheeks.

"That's a wrap! Wonderful work!"

And with that, filming for the commercial was done. It was edited at once and uploaded to my channel, to a chorus of cheers from the sponsor.