The Fox Child's Secret
“Huh?”
Yeo-won barely had time to be surprised before Cheong-sil sprang up from his spot and began leaping into the air. With one mid-air somersault, his four stubby paws transformed into human hands and feet. After two spins, his pointed snout became a child’s face. On the third rotation, Cheong-sil landed lightly on the floor. Before her now stood not a fox pup, but a young boy.
Cheong-sil, dressed in a white jeogori straight out of a history textbook, beamed with a wide smile.
[Is this acceptable now-seumnidayo?]
His golden eyes sparkled under the fluorescent lights. When the stunned Yeo-won could only stammer, Cheong-sil spun in place, inspecting his new body from every angle.
[A human body is so uncomfortable-seumnidayo. My tail keeps getting in the way-seumnidayo.]
When he turned around, his pants had slipped down slightly because of the tail.
To be honest, Cheong-sil’s appearance was far from fully human. Whether by choice or inability, his ears and tail remained fully visible, twitching constantly. His golden eyes and bright orange hair were far too striking to take out in public.
There were countless things she could have pointed out, but one in particular had to be said.
Yeo-won reached out with trembling hands and gently touched Cheong-sil’s head and ears. She stroked the fluffy hair and velvety ears, then her fingers brushed against his plump cheeks. At her touch, Cheong-sil blinked his large eyes and let out a happy “hehe” laugh.
Ah… this was too, too…
‘So… cute…’
He had been adorable as a fox pup, but his child form was on another level. Even the perked ears and swaying tail seemed intentionally charming. Before she knew it, Yeo-won was completely lost, squishing and poking him. His soft cheeks repeatedly puffed out and smoothed under her fingers. The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
[Ugh, stop touching me now-seumnidayo!]
Annoyed by her persistent hands, Cheong-sil shook his head vigorously to free himself. The sight of his pouting lips finally snapped Yeo-won back to reality.
She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. She needed to think rationally. As adorable as Cheong-sil was, she absolutely could not bring him to the meeting.
Steelening her softened heart once more, Yeo-won looked down at him.
“Cheong-sil, just because you turned into a human doesn’t mean I can take you with me. Like I said earlier, it’s extremely dangerous outside…”
[Liar!]
Cheong-sil shrieked. His large, round eyes filled with tears. He pressed his lips into a tight triangle, desperately trying to hold back his sobs.
[Are you calling Cheong-sil an idiot again-seumnidayo?!]
Finally, round tears rolled down his cheeks like glass beads. His small body shook with each sob. So he had been paying attention to that conversation. Maybe she had been too careless, assuming he was fine just because he was a spirit.
She did feel sorry, but she had convinced herself that if he didn’t bring it up first, it couldn’t have bothered him that much.
“That’s not what I—”
She reached out to wipe his tears, but he had already burrowed under the blanket, leaving her hand hovering uselessly in the air.
[Humans are all liars-seumnidayo! Liars will be punished by the heavens-seumnidayo!]
Between his angry sniffling came the occasional hiccup of a sob. A glance at the clock told her it was time to get ready and leave. She felt bad for Cheong-sil, but she briefly considered ignoring him and heading out anyway. But what if he followed her anyway? That would be an absolute disaster.
No matter what she chose, it seemed she was doomed to suffer. Staring at the lumpy blanket, Yeo-won let out a deep sigh and made her decision. She picked up her phone and dialed a number.
After two rings, the call connected.
“Hello, this is Han Yeo-won. I’m calling because I’d like to ask for a small favor.”
When Yeo-won arrived at the production building, she took the elevator straight to the third floor and pressed the button for the conference room. The moment the doors opened with a ding, she walked confidently to the meeting room on the right without hesitation.
She had been here once before, so she found it without getting lost.
Inside sat Kim Young-ju, the manager she had met once before, and an unfamiliar woman.
“Welcome. Designer-nim, you must be tired from coming all this way. Would you like something to drink?”
While Young-ju rose smoothly and greeted her with practiced ease, the woman beside her gave a timid bow, looking somewhat intimidated.
“No, thank you. Just water, please.”
Young-ju smiled brightly and signaled to the nearby employee, who jumped in surprise and hurriedly set a glass of water in front of her. A flicker of irritation crossed Kim Young-ju’s eyes, but Yeo-won pretended not to notice.
She had probably been scolded harshly for her earlier mistake.
“Ah, and this is…”
Young-ju’s gaze drifted downward.
“My nephew I mentioned.”
“Oh my, is he mixed? He’s absolutely adorable.”
Cheong-sil, who had been hiding behind Yeo-won’s leg, peeked his head out. At the sight of his doll-like cuteness, Young-ju kept exclaiming in delight and crouched down to meet his eye level.
“What would our little nephew like to drink? We have grape juice and orange juice.”
The moment Cheong-sil innocently blinked and opened his mouth to speak, Yeo-won cleared her throat loudly.
“Ahem.”
At the sound, Cheong-sil clapped a hand over his mouth. When Young-ju tilted her head in confusion, Yeo-won quickly explained.
“I’m sorry. My nephew lived abroad until recently, so he doesn’t speak Korean very well yet. Would orange juice be alright?”
“Of course. Please, have a seat.”
Thankfully, Young-ju didn’t press further and simply guided them to their seats. A bottle of juice was placed in front of Cheong-sil, and once Young-ju sat down, the meeting began in earnest.
On the surface, Yeo-won smiled calmly, but inside she was burning with anxiety.
When she glanced sideways, Cheong-sil was curiously turning the juice bottle this way and that. Meanwhile, the tail she had stuffed into his overalls kept twitching, threatening to pop out, so she secretly pressed it back down.
In the end, Yeo-won had decided to bring him along. It felt safer to keep the little troublemaker right beside her than to leave him somewhere he might cause chaos out of sight.
She had first asked the company for permission.
‘My nephew is staying with me due to personal circumstances, and I don’t have anyone to watch him. Would it be alright to bring him along? I promise he won’t disrupt the meeting.’
‘Sure, that’s fine.’
After thanking the accommodating manager, she had asked Cheong-sil to hide his ears and tail. But he said his spiritual power was too low to conceal them, so Yeo-won had rushed to the children’s clothing store near their house and bought a bucket hat and a pair of overalls.
Only after extracting multiple promises that he would absolutely not speak in front of others could they finally leave the house.
On the way, Cheong-sil kept making low, beast-like growls because his ears and tail felt stuffy, which flustered Yeo-won, but that was the least of her worries.
Even though the bus ride had only lasted about thirty minutes, she felt as exhausted as if she had traveled for hours. While her mind wandered, the explanation of the project came to an end.
“That’s all for the explanation. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I’m fine.”
In truth, her mind had been elsewhere and she hadn’t listened properly, but since they would send the materials by email later, it didn’t matter. More than anything, she just wanted to take this ticking time bomb home as quickly as possible.
“Then we’ll end the meeting here. Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a meal? There’s a great Korean beef restaurant nearby.”
“Yes, I’m alright. I have my nephew with me.”
“We could all eat together…”
Young-ju looked genuinely disappointed as she escorted Yeo-won all the way out of the conference room.
“Take care on your way back. I’ll send the files today. Goodbye, little nephew.”
When Young-ju waved cheerfully, Cheong-sil tilted his head. He blinked a few times, watching her, then waved back. Young-ju squealed with delight and turned to the employee beside her as if showing off.
“Oh my goodness, did you see that, Ji-won? The baby waved at me!”
“Really?”
Pretending not to hear Young-ju’s excited voice, Yeo-won pressed the elevator button. She let out a sigh of relief, but then Cheong-sil tugged insistently at the hem of her pants from below.
[Human.]
Startled by the voice coming from below, Yeo-won quickly crouched down.
“Cheong-sil, we had a promise.”
When she whispered while glancing around, Cheong-sil fidgeted. Sensing something was wrong, she leaned her ear closer, and he immediately spoke.
[It’s hard-seumnidayo.]
“What?”
[My spiritual energy is running low, so it’s difficult to maintain this human form-seumnidayo…]
No! Yeo-won whipped her head around. As if to prove his words true, faint fox whiskers had appeared on Cheong-sil’s cheeks. She felt the blood drain from her face.
If she walked around the middle of the city with a fox, every eye would be on them.
And that wasn’t all. Someone might take a photo. It could spread all over the internet.
“Then what do we do?”
[I’m sleepy-seumnidayo…]
Every time Cheong-sil blinked, the faint outline of his fox form shimmered through. Yeo-won’s mind went completely blank. Should she carry him and run? Hail a taxi? A thousand thoughts raced through her head, but she first scooped him up into her arms.
She couldn’t let him walk any farther. Fortunately, Cheong-sil didn’t resist and nestled quietly against her chest.
At that exact moment, the elevator opened with a ding. From her crouched position, Yeo-won saw a pair of men’s dress shoes. Reflexively, she pulled Cheong-sil’s bucket hat down firmly and twisted her body to hide him as much as possible. Thankfully, he still looked human for now.
She tried to step around the man and enter the elevator, but their paths crossed and he blocked her way. She moved to the side again, only for him to block her once more. When she tried to slip through the gap, he stepped in front of her again. Not once, not twice, but three times. It was clearly intentional.
Annoyed, Yeo-won lifted her head to tell him to move aside, only to freeze the moment she saw his face. The very last person she wanted to meet right now was standing right in front of her.
“Sunbae?”
Jae-young was looking down at her with a surprised expression.