Chapter 08
“……”
“…….”
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, his eyes met the child’s.
In the silence, Baek Seunghyeok froze, his hand still gripping the doorknob.
‘……I didn’t expect her to be awake.’
It was still early in the morning, with the sun only just beginning to rise.
He had assumed the child would still be asleep, so he had come in on an impulsive whim, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of her face before leaving.
But she was already awake, staring at him with bewilderment and confusion in her eyes.
“……What is it, Dad?”
It was Yujin who finally broke the silence that had stretched between them.
She spoke cautiously, her eyes anxiously searching his face.
“Well……”
Baek Seunghyeok’s lips parted, then closed again.
If she was asking what he wanted, there wasn’t really any particular reason.
He had simply felt an impulsive urge to check that she was safe before leaving.
“I’ll be away on a business trip for quite a while, starting today. So before I left, I thought I’d…… come see your face for a moment.”
In the end, Baek Seunghyeok found himself trailing off awkwardly, a manner of speaking completely unlike him.
Even after hearing his answer, the child said nothing, merely blinking repeatedly.
Her reaction was unmistakably one of bewilderment, as though she couldn’t understand why her father was acting this way.
Reading her thoughts at a glance, Baek Seunghyeok let out a self-deprecating chuckle before he even realized it.
For some reason, the situation struck him as almost absurd.
‘Our relationship is so awkward that even saying goodbye before leaving feels unnatural.’
It was a moment that drove home just how he had treated that child all this time.
Baek Seunghyeok was reminded once again of the moment Yujin had disappeared yesterday.
It had been a primal fear unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
Even during a crisis in which his company had nearly suffered hundreds of billions of won in losses, he had never felt anything like it.
And what came rushing in after that fear was regret.
Using his inexperience with children as an excuse, and his busy schedule as another, he had never once given her a warm embrace or sat down to have a kind, heartfelt conversation with her.
Yet it was only when he realized that he might actually lose her that he finally understood.
Just how irresponsible and foolish a father he had been all this time.
“……I heard from the chairman. He said he’d be assigning someone to look after you.”
After taking a moment to steady himself, Baek Seunghyeok slowly approached the bed.
“From now on, don’t go wandering around outside alone like you did yesterday. If there’s anything you need or anywhere you want to go, tell your secretary. Understand?”
By Baek Seunghyeok’s standards, he had done his best to soften his voice and speak in a gentle tone he had probably never used in his life.
But as he drew closer, the child flinched, her shoulders trembling.
Then, clutching the blanket tightly, she lowered her gaze slightly and murmured in a tiny voice.
“……O-okay.”
Her awkwardness and unfamiliarity with this situation were plain for anyone to see.
The sight pierced Baek Seunghyeok straight through the heart.
But this was his own karma, and he had no one to blame but himself.
……Could their relationship really change?
“All right. Take care of yourself.”
Baek Seunghyeok swallowed down the bitterness rising inside him and quietly stroked the child’s head.
“……Phew.”
The moment Dad left the room, I finally let out the deep breath I’d been holding in.
‘Th-that scared me.’
He had suddenly shown up in my room, and my heart had nearly leaped out of my chest.
And when he brought up my secretary, I’d gotten even more nervous.
What if he’d somehow found out about the promise I’d made with Grandpa?
The conversation I’d had with Grandpa in his study yesterday came back to me.
“I’ll assign someone to accompany you, so go see that director again tomorrow.”
Grandpa had given me permission to meet Director Yoo again.
But that didn’t mean he approved of my becoming an actress.
“Go on, then. Do things your way. I’ll be watching to see whether you’re actually qualified to do so.”
This was a kind of test.
A test to see whether I really had what it took to become an actress.
And the standard Grandpa would use to judge me was undoubtedly the new mission the fox had given me.
The objective of the new mission was……
To deliver a performance so overwhelming that I would outshine the other veteran actors!
Yesterday, I’d been so happy that I hadn’t given it much thought. But after thinking it over carefully, I realized it was an incredibly difficult condition.
I had to deliver a performance that could surpass actors who were much older and more experienced than me, after all.
Which meant……
‘……I need to get that person on my side!’
My eyes sparkled with determination as I recalled the first goal I’d set for myself yesterday.
Last night, the fox and I had put our heads together and spent quite a while discussing this mission.
The problem was that the word “outshine” was incredibly vague.
Everyone had their own opinions when it came to acting.
Besides, Grandpa was extremely busy with company matters. There was no way he would come to the filming set to watch my performance in person.
So how would Grandpa know just how overwhelmingly well I’d acted?
There was only one answer.
The very person Grandpa had promised to assign to me!
Grandpa had called her a secretary, but I’d seen this kind of character in dramas countless times.
A spy, in other words!
She would undoubtedly follow me around everywhere, reporting absolutely everything I did back to Grandpa.
“Mhm, mhm.”
I nodded to myself in agreement.
In other words, if I wanted to succeed at this mission, I had to make sure that person gave Grandpa an absolutely glowing report about me.
Hehehe. That shouldn’t be difficult at all!
A little later.
I was sitting on the sofa, waiting for my secretary, after finishing breakfast.
The fox, who had woken up late, spoke triumphantly inside my head.
—With the divine charm of the Fox God, I can easily bewitch her!
“……”
Really?
I pursed my lips and let out a doubtful little hum.
The fox sounded incredibly confident, but I was just a little skeptical.
‘But…… it didn’t work yesterday, either.’
When I’d dropped the business card yesterday, the fox and I had used its charm ability while lying to Grandpa.
But it hadn’t worked at all.
In the end, Grandpa had summoned me to his study and interrogated me about what had happened.
At my suspicious stare, the fox hurriedly waved its front paws.
—Th-that was clearly because that man has an unusually powerful aura!
‘……Really?’
—Of course! There are exceptionally rare humans whose auras are incredibly powerful!
It sounded fairly plausible.
After all, my grandpa was basically a tiger in human form.
And not just any tiger, but an incredibly powerful alpha tiger.
At my thoughts, the fox puffed out its tiny chest again, looking triumphant.
—Exactly! My charm should work on just about any ordinary human, so stop doubting me!
……And then, a little while later.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Baek Yujin. My name is Kang Jina, and starting today, I’ll be serving as your personal secretary.”
Her hair was neatly tied back, and her black suit was perfectly pressed, without a single wrinkle.
The woman, whose eyes looked incredibly sharp behind her glasses, bowed politely to me.
I blinked a few times before awkwardly returning her bow.
“……H-hello.”
“Yes. Then I’ll brief you on today’s schedule.”
No sooner had the introductions ended than she pulled a tablet out of her bag with a swift motion.
“We’ll depart from your residence at 10:00 a.m. and arrive at the JB Films headquarters at 11:00 a.m. You have a one-hour meeting scheduled with Director Yoo Taeseong and the key personnel. In the afternoon……”
“……”
Rapid-fire, rapid-fire.
An endless stream of long, complicated words poured from her mouth without pause.
‘I-I’m getting dizzy.’
Her words came so quickly, as though she didn’t even need to breathe, that my head started spinning.
After finishing her explanation without stumbling over a single word, she promptly tapped the tablet’s power button and switched it off.
Then, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she spoke firmly.
“If you have no questions, I’ll escort you to the car in five minutes.”
“……”
—……
The fox and I were both left speechless.
We could easily tell what this meant.
—W-well, um. It seems humans have grown much tougher in the time I’ve been away.
There was absolutely no way our charm ability would work on this woman.
