The Fox Who Refused to Be Left Behind
“Tell me.”
“I think I need to go to Inwol tomorrow. It’s my grandfather’s memorial day.”
“Hmm.”
He answered in a voice that suggested he had no particular interest. Unsure whether he had truly understood, Yeo-won repeated herself slowly and carefully once more.
“If I’m lucky, I’ll catch the last bus back tomorrow. At the latest, I’ll be home by the morning after next.”
“I see.”
His plain reply allowed her to breathe a small sigh of relief, and she rose from her seat.
“Then shall I pack a bag and order something to eat? You don’t have to eat if you don’t want to, but please keep me company.”
As Yeo-won turned to head toward the bedroom, a puzzled voice from behind stopped her in her tracks.
“Why pack a bag?”
“Just in case I end up staying overnight.”
“There will be no need.”
“Why not?”
He tilted his head as if he genuinely could not comprehend her reasoning.
“If you need anything, you can simply return here. There is no reason to burden yourself by carrying luggage.”
At those words, Yeo-won’s expression hardened in an instant. Countless thoughts flashed across her face as she stared at him, and then she asked again, her voice laced with disbelief.
“You’re not… planning to go with me, are you?”
“That is correct.”
Once again, the answer came back simple and direct.
“How far?”
“Wherever you go, naturally.”
Horror flooded Yeo-won’s face. Though he spoke as if it were nothing, his words meant he intended to follow her all the way to her family home in Inwol.
“Did I not tell you? I promised to remain by your side at all times.”
He rose from his seat and approached her. The smile that graced his exquisite features felt somewhat coercive.
Yeo-won racked her brain desperately. Praying that her suspicions were wrong, she asked him,
“…Pardon me for asking, but are you planning to hide your presence and follow me?”
“Why should I do such a thing?”
For a moment, Yeo-won stared at Shin-wol with a complicated expression. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she clenched both fists tightly.
“You can’t.”
“…”
“You cannot come with me. I’ll be back soon, so please stay here. Or you may return to the palace if you wish.”
Her experiences up until now had taught her one thing clearly: if she did not state her position firmly right now, he would never understand.
At her resolute attitude, Shin-wol’s eyebrows twitched.
“It seems you have not been listening to me.”
“I heard you perfectly. That I’ve become a target for the eodukseoni.”
“Then this must mean you do not mind dying this time.”
“That’s not what I mean at all. I simply cannot bring you to my family home. I’m grateful that you’re worried about me, but if it’s dangerous, I’ll take Cheong-sil with me…”
“You already saw how useless that furball was last time.”
Shin-wol cut her off, openly displaying his displeasure.
But even so, she could not simply take him along. Setting aside the act of bringing him, the mere thought of presenting him before her grandmother was unimaginable.
It was not his appearance that transcended eras that worried her. Shin-wol would undoubtedly be far more skilled at transformation than Cheong-sil, yet there was an even greater problem.
Even in an unremarkable rural village, his arrival would undoubtedly cause an enormous stir.
Definitely in the worst possible way.
Inwol was a remote mountain village. From the news that the daughter of the persimmon tree family in the back house had given birth to a granddaughter, to the rumor that Soon-i’s family down the alley had brought home a new puppy, the concept of privacy simply did not exist there.
If I bring Shin-wol, the whole village will be buzzing with talk that the granddaughter from the apricot tree house has brought home a marriage prospect.
Though she would only bring him once, the rumors would follow her for the rest of her life. From long ago, her grandmother had always despised useless gossip.
If she brought him for no good reason, she might never hear the end of it from her grandmother.
He was generally kind toward her, but he maintained a cold attitude toward most other living beings.
If, by some chance, she offended him and he stopped sharing his spiritual energy with her grandmother…
Though she doubted it would come to that, there was no such thing as an absolute with Shin-wol. If there was even the slightest possibility, it was better to eliminate it from the start.
As Yeo-won stood there with a grave expression, lost in thought, he lifted her chin with his fingers.
“Am I less trustworthy than that useless clump of fur?”
“That’s not what I’m saying. If I take you with me, we’ll definitely get caught up in pointless rumors. That’s why I don’t want it.”
“And what of it?”
“What do you mean, ‘what of it’? You may not understand, Shin-wol, but people love spreading useless talk.”
“Useless talk… I see. So they will say that I am your lover, is that it?”
Yeo-won flinched as if he had struck the exact mark.
Though his voice carried clear disdain, Yeo-won felt embarrassed deep inside. She quickly turned her head away, pretending to be unaffected.
“Yes, yes. As you probably know, Inwol is a mountain village, so they’re even more obsessed with that kind of gossip. That’s why—”
“So what does any of that matter?”
“Ugh.”
Once again, a powerful force turned her head back toward him.
“Is a mere scandal more important than your life?”
Was it her imagination? Today, of all days, Shin-wol seemed unusually persistent. Normally, at this point, he would have lost interest and told her to do as she pleased.
“In case you have forgotten, it was I who saved you from the eodukseoni.”
“I know.”
“And how many times have I helped you besides that?”
“I’m grateful.”
Yeo-won felt that something about this conversation was strangely off. It was as if their focuses were subtly misaligned.
She looked up at his face quietly, and her eyes gradually widened as if she had realized something.
No. It couldn’t be. Surely not.
She was desperately trying to deny the absurd thought that had risen in her mind when he looked down at her with an unusually upright gaze and said,
“If you wish to touch my tail, I shall reveal one or two for you.”
Finally, Yeo-won’s mouth fell open. Even as he watched her sputter in shock, Shin-wol’s face remained quite serious.
So this was what it was about.
“Are you… jealous of Cheong-sil?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
For a brief moment she regretted it, but Shin-wol’s expression quickly soured.
“What nonsense you speak.”
“…”
The hand that had been gripping her chin slowly released her. He crossed his arms and stared at her. Though irritation still lingered on his face, he ultimately could not hold back, and laughter burst from her lips.
“Haha, ahahaha!”
When Yeo-won laughed out loud, Shin-wol’s expression shifted to one of utter bewilderment.
Tail. Her tail. He must have seen her somewhere brushing Cheong-sil’s tail from time to time.
She should have been angry at the fact that he had been watching her, yet Yeo-won found the entire situation so absurd and ridiculous that she could only laugh.
In the end, he had been upset about the fact that Cheong-sil was allowed to do something he was not.
After laughing brightly for a long while, Yeo-won caught her breath and spoke.
“Brushing Cheong-sil’s tail isn’t exactly a hobby of mine.”
He narrowed his eyes and glared at her. Yeo-won continued to chuckle softly.
“Still… I would like to see your tail at least once, Shin-wol. I bet it’s big and magnificent.”
When she spoke innocently while tracing the corner of her eye with her finger, he replied in a low voice, “Obviously.”
It seemed all foxes took great pride in their tails.
“Haah, I don’t even know anymore.”
After laughing so hard, it felt as if the tangled mess in her head had been swept away, leaving her refreshed.
“Shin-wol, then make a few promises with me.”
With the remnants of laughter still lingering on her face, Yeo-won began to request several conditions from him.
*
The bus that had been racing down the highway for quite some time came to a stop at a rest area. As soon as it parked, Yeo-won stepped off through the front door.
“Ah, my back hurts.”
Once off the bus, Yeo-won stretched her stiff body in every direction, letting out a long yawn.
She already had a job that required sitting for long periods, so why did her back hurt so much more whenever she rode a bus?
As Yeo-won rolled her neck from side to side, a massive man descended behind her. Having to duck his body far deeper than the others, the man’s identity was none other than Shin-wol.
She turned to check on him and suddenly froze.
Even though his appearance had always been beautiful, when transformed into a human, he radiated an overwhelmingly majestic aura that was difficult to put into words.
And it was not merely his handsome features.
The graceful way he walked, the arrogant tilt of his gaze—every single movement he made possessed a special power that captured people’s attention.
Because of this, Shin-wol drew every eye simply by standing there, yet he himself appeared completely unconcerned.
Yeo-won approached him and whispered softly.
“Is the bus bearable for you?”
He made a displeased face and answered in an equally quiet voice.
“I fail to understand why we must ride this thing. It is a waste of time.”
Shin-wol’s transformation was incomparably perfect compared to Cheong-sil’s.
When Yeo-won showed him a few photos as reference, he instantly copied the hairstyle and clothing style, completing his transformation in a single breath.
He had not forgotten to change his eye color either, but the real problem was his face.
‘Is it impossible to change your facial features?’
“Why?”
‘Because you stand out too much.’
Being too handsome was, in fact, a problem. If he went outside with that face, they would inevitably face exhausting situations, so she had cautiously made the request.
“It is possible to change into an entirely different person’s face, but altering the facial structure itself is impossible.”
‘Hmm…’
Using a face straight from the internet might lead to annoying complications. After thinking for a moment, Yeo-won eventually compromised and decided to let him go as he was.
But the moment they left the house, she quickly realized what a foolish decision that had been.