When I woke up, the book page was stuck to my cheek.

Last night, after ending the call with Yoo Ji Ho, Choi Yoon couldn’t fall asleep. After forcibly trying to sleep by opening any book, he had no memory. It seemed he had passed out just like that.

Fumbling for his phone to check the time, it was early morning. He turned over and tried to sleep again, but his mind only became clearer.

Kim Tae Rin. Park Jae Sun.

Father and daughter.

His stomach felt uneasy again. How did those two end up in that kind of relationship?

First, Kim Tae Rin at eighteen, having left the orphanage, would have had no money.

On the other hand, Park Jae Sun, as a successful plastic surgeon, had more than enough money.

No matter how they met, they seemed able to give each other what they wanted.

It didn’t feel good. It was strange. Sad, and also angering.

At the same time, he knew well there was no reason for him, a third party, to experience such emotions. In that brief moment with his face buried in the bedding, emotions went up and down like a hamster wheel.

But…….

Choi Yoon tossed and turned irritably.

……It might not be true.

They could be business partners in the shadows. Even if they appeared as lovers on the surface, one or both of them might not be sincere…….

It wasn’t particularly comforting. Yoo Ji Ho’s information had never been wrong.

After thrashing about on the innocent bed, Choi Yoon admitted that further sleep was impossible. He got up reluctantly.

When he left the room, the morning sunlight was circling bluishly in the hallway. The bedroom was closed.

He quietly went to the bathroom to wash up and fix his hair, so as not to wake Kim Tae Rin.

Only then did he look somewhat presentable.

He should have paid attention like this earlier. He had been so preoccupied with all sorts of things that he’d forgotten something important.

Choi Yoon’s carelessness must have played a part in Kim Tae Rin looking at him with disgust rather than admiration.

She must have thought his appearance was lacking. Guessing this left a bitter taste in his mouth. I don’t get treated like this anywhere else.

Going downstairs to the first floor, the hall was filled with the scent of water-soaked wood and moss. It was cool, as if heavy rain had fallen into the restaurant and was slowly drying in the morning sun.

Somehow the whole restaurant felt like a giant living, breathing tree.

As he drank water at the counter and looked out the window, the weather was bright. He thought he should bring some clothes and his wallet from the car.

Choi Yoon opened the door and went outside.

Transparent sunlight, refreshing air, and a very slight presence was felt. Even before checking, he had the intuition it wasn’t human. A small sound, chap-chap-chap.

Choi Yoon stopped abruptly in the doorway, looking at a small animal eagerly eating something in one corner of the yard.

At first he thought it was a doll. Its fur was so clean it felt artificial.

But looking closely, the fur was more silver than simply white. The surprisingly tiny body, barely 20cm, was covered in silvery down, and as it buried its head eating something, the sunlight rolled and sparkled off its back with every movement.

My goodness.

Look at that fluffy little bottom. As if cotton candy had flown in, a cloud had fallen, or dandelion seeds had declared they would start moving from today. Its very existence was so seriously cute it felt like fainting. It was hard to breathe.

Wanting to see the front of this small thing that disarmed people with just its chubby bottom, Choi Yoon approached quietly.

Its face was completely buried in a green ceramic bowl so it wasn’t clearly visible, but the occasionally visible ears were quite large and perked up. Not quite a rabbit, a puppy? Definitely not a cat.

Come to think of it, there was no tail. It’s not that it didn’t have one originally, it seemed to have been cut off. Thinking that this tiny thing had lost its tail made his heart sink.

The small creature suddenly stopped its eager eating. It pulled its head out of the food bowl.

A fairly long muzzle, with the black nose tip soaked in water-softened feed. It stuck out its small pink tongue to lick its nose, then turned this way.

Even that small movement was imbued with the characteristic clumsiness of a newborn creature, heartbreakingly pretty. The slightly upturned almond eyes stared intently at Choi Yoon.

Lacking the wariness typical of wild animals, Choi Yoon was slightly surprised. Was it because it was so young?

Not a puppy then. A wolf? No, no. A fox. A white fox. What was it called again? Arctic fox?

“Hello.”

He greeted softly, trying to gain even a little attention.

The fox stared at him for a moment, then buried its muzzle back in the food bowl.

Choi Yoon crouched down as close as he could without making a sound, watching the small fox.

Do they raise it here?

He held his breath and reached out his hand. He wanted to touch even a single strand of that sunlit fluffy fur.

But afraid it might run away startled, he couldn’t quite make contact, hovering anxiously in the air. Even that was enough to feel the surprising warmth of the young creature heated by the sun.

But why hadn’t I seen it until now? I stayed in the restaurant for a full day but only saw it today.

Even with the harsh weather of thunder and lightning, I had no memory of seeing this baby fox inside the restaurant. Would this little one have been outside in such wind and rain? Kim Tae Rin didn’t seem heartless enough to neglect such a tiny baby.

The chap-chap-chap sound disappeared. The fox neatly licked the empty bowl clean with its tiny fingernail-sized tongue, then diligently licked its own mouth clean before looking at Choi Yoon with an innocent face.

Then it turned its body abruptly. As it was about to leave, Choi Yoon reflexively grabbed it.

He nearly fainted as soon as he grabbed it, as its softness and warmth far exceeded Choi Yoon’s expectations in cuteness.

Moreover, as this small thing was also a living creature, its rapid heartbeat was transmitted fully to both palms. The shallow heartbeat unique to young creatures made Choi Yoon freeze, not knowing what to do.

The fox’s short chubby four legs awkwardly flailed in the air. The fox turned its head to look at Choi Yoon.

The black eyes buried in the shimmering silver fur seemed to stare at Choi Yoon, then opened its mouth wide. It bit. Chomp.

Ack, Choi Yoon dropped the fox and fell on his behind at the same time.

Though its limbs weren’t fully grown, its canine teeth must have grown first as it hurt quite a bit. Two round drops of blood formed on his thumb.

“You……!”

Choi Yoon couldn’t finish his words.

Slip-on shoes with crushed heels, short cotton pants revealing bare ankles stood right in front of him.

The other person bent their knees and crouched down, skillfully picking up the fox sprawled on the grass. Holding the fox tightly to their chest, the man looked at Choi Yoon with a bright face.

Choi Yoon sitting down, the man crouching, their eye levels matched perfectly.

Teenager. Choi Yoon witnessed up close that age’s excessively vigorous freshness for the first time in a very long time.

“Did it bite you?”

The male student asked. Somehow that one question sounded like a curse. After blurting that out, the male student pulled one corner of his mouth into a smirk. It was clearly a sneer.

Without waiting for Choi Yoon’s answer, the male student lifted the fox high in the air and made baby-talk sounds.

“That’s why you get bitten if you grab like that. Right, Hambak? Why touch when you’re not even close? Really funny person.”

The male student showered the fox’s plump belly with kisses. The fox squeezed its eyes shut and flailed its four legs, but didn’t bite.

Here Choi Yoon felt slightly pathetic, as being looked down on by that dust-speck of a creature was utterly unfamiliar.

“Where’s noona?”

The male student asked abruptly, and Choi Yoon answered half a beat late.

“Who?”

“Noona. Tae Rin noona.”

“She’s probably sleeping.”

“Oh.”

The male student blinked, then chuckled.

“Just speak casually. I’m younger.”

“Casual speech to a stranger is a bit. We’re not even close.”

He answered with a jab.

The male student shrugged.

“Other adults speak casually if they look younger than them.”

There was nothing particular to say to that. Choi Yoon had always spoken formally even to child actors who rolled around like pinecones on set, being so tiny.

“Except noona. Tae Rin noona only dropped formalities after we got closer.”

Speaking as if proudly showing off something precious, the male student lightly stood up while holding Hambak.

Choi Yoon also got up and dusted off his behind. He was troubled, wondering if mud had stained the borrowed clothes. With no proper dry cleaners in sight, could it be removed by hand washing?

The male student said abruptly:

“Han Seo Jung.”

“I’m…….”

“Choi Yoon. I know. It’d be strange not to.”

Han Seo Jung smirked.

Then he looked up at the second floor bedroom window and muttered:

“Why is noona sleeping in so unusually?”

With long limbs and a balanced body from exercise, especially the beautifully straight shoulder line, he looked stylish even in a cheap t-shirt. His unkempt hair made his clean forehead and cheeks look even more youthful.

“Not answering the phone either, how long is she going to lie around sleeping?”

Han Seo Jung grumbled. He cradled Hambak in one hand and gave its fluffy back a few short kisses. His gaze remained fixed on the second floor.

That, that. Looks like he likes Kim Tae Rin.

He easily grasped the situation.

A boy not yet fully matured but already grown tall, at just the right age to fall into first love.

A woman who could be everyone’s first love just by being a neighbor, capturing the gaze of all who see her.

It was a quiet neighborhood with flower scents on every breeze, a bright May. It would be stranger if feelings of liking didn’t bloom.

Moreover, Han Seo Jung was deliberately showing off. How childish.

His throat felt dry. Choi Yoon rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Didn’t noona say she usually wakes up early in the morning?”

“She didn’t say anything like that.”

Ah, Han Seo Jung turned his head outwards and smiled. At first glance there wasn’t much impression, but now looking closely, the corners of his mouth turned up quite prettily when he smiled.

With a friendly face, Han Seo Jung skillfully caressed Hambak in his arms.

“Noona didn’t say.”

He seemed somehow pleased as he muttered that. Feeling slightly upset, Choi Yoon didn’t respond.

Han Seo Jung said:

“Well, I guess there’s no obligation to say. It’s not like you two are anything. Right?”

Though it was true, it was strangely irritating how he kept pointing it out.

“How old are you?”

“Me? High school senior.”

“You’re not going to school?”

Han Seo Jung shrugged and answered:

“There’s a state of emergency, you know.”

“So you can’t even go to school? As a student?”

“School? Well, I guess I could go to school if I don’t get shot and die while passing through checkpoints.”

With an nonchalant face, Han Seo Jung lifted Hambak with both hands like flying an airplane.

“They don’t go easy on students. Right, Hambak?”

The subtext was strange, so Choi Yoon thought he needed to address it.

“Why do you say things like that? That you could get shot and die. Have the police ever fired?”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“They could shoot anytime, right? Isn’t that obvious?”