LEANING on the wall while trying to calm herself down, Joohyun finally made her way to the living room of the huge house that Seulgi owns. She was stupidly lost for about half an hour. She had no other choice but to go with Seulgi since her house was technically more inhabitable due to last night’s fire. Sleeping on the streets during winter will just kill her.

She could still remember how her jaw dropped at the sight of Seulgi’s house. It wasn’t just a simple house but a literal traditional Korean mansion. There were no second floors but the scope of the land was really huge to the point that a garden and a lake fit in the middle. 

Joohyun wasn’t surprised to see that Seulgi would have attendants in her house but she didn’t expect them to be so young. When they arrived, they were greeted by two girls in a uniform and just one look at them, Joohyun could say that the two might be university students as well. The one with jet-black hair is called Jimin while the one with red-auburn hair is called Minjeong. 

The two attendants were obviously shocked about Seulgi bringing someone home. It seemed like Seulgi never really brought anyone with her to her house. Joohyun was the first one in their whole university to ever see this grande house. She couldn’t help but to wonder what kind of business Seulgi’s family is running.

“Joohyun-nim—“

“OH MY!” Joohyun squealed when someone suddenly called her from the back. When she turned around, she saw Minjeong’s face who looked rather surprised at her reaction as well. “M-Minjeong-ssi, right?”

“Yes.” The attendant bowed her head. “I was about to go to your room and check on you but I see that you’re already up. Seulgi-hyung-nim is looking for you.”

“E-Eugh…” Joohyun suddenly felt chills run over her body.

“Is there something wrong, Joohyun-nim?” Minjeong worriedly asked. 

“I-I just can’t believe that you call Seulgi like that. T-That’s so old fashioned.” Joohyun said with a face that seemed like she had an upset stomach.

“Oh right, these days only the men are being called hyung, am I right?” (A/N: Hyung-nim was used to be uni)

Joohyun’s eyes squinted. “Do you guys have any problem with time or something? Why do all of you speak weirdly like you are from another part of history?”

“I am sorry for the confusion, Joohyun-nim. I will make sure to learn more about the name designations of this time.” 

A loud sigh came out of Joohyun. She still couldn’t get it but she just let it be. “How about starting with the way you address me? Joohyun-unnie is fine. I bet you are younger than me.”

“Y-Younger than you?” Minjeong gasped, her eyes were wide. “W-What year were you born, Joohyun-nim?”

“I am 24 years old.” Joohyun answered nonchalantly. “You look like you’re a freshman in college, Minjeong-ssi. Am I right?”

“A-Ah?” Minjeong looked more unsteady. “B-But I am three hun—“

“Minjeong!”

Joohyun flinched with that loud call from the other attendant called Jimin. The brunette came running towards them and immediately gave a polite bow when she met Joohyun’s eyes. “Good morning, Joohyun-nim.”

‘Here’s another one…’ Joohyun just forced a smile. “J-Just Joohyun is enough actually.”

The two shook their heads in sync. “We can’t call you like that. You’re a special visitor of Hyung-nim.” Jimin answered with a worried look on her face. 

‘If you all just know… I am actually being casted as a pet.’ Joohyun didn’t answer anymore. She knew nothing would go through. 

“Anyway, Joohyun-nim. I hope you had a good rest. Hyung-nim is looking for you. Let me lead you to her office.” Jimin then escorted Joohyun out of the living room. Before the two left, she gave Minjeong a secret glare for almost spilling their secret. The younger girl lowered her head as a form of apology before following the two.

Just going to Seulgi’s office felt like an exercise for Joohyun. It would take a lot of time to get used to that huge house. Jimin knocked on Seulgi’s door. “Hyung-nim, Joohyun-nim is here.”

“Let her in.” 

Joohyun subconsciously gulped at the sound of Seulgi’s voice. The door opened for her and the two attendants just let her in before closing the door for her. Joohyun stood in awe once more when she saw how huge Seulgi’s office was. There were a lot of antiques in the room and Joohyun thought she was inside a museum or something.

There was a huge window in the middle where you can view the pond and in front of that window is where Seulgi’s desk is located. The girl was folding the newspaper that she was reading before Joohyun arrived. 

She then stood up and took a look at Joohyun but the latter immediately stiffened up when she saw the bandage around Seulgi’s head. She then remembered how she threw a bottle of water that hit her right in the back of her head. Joohyun used more force than intended and she was surprised at it as well.

She was pretty sure Seulgi would be able to evade it.

“Good morning, Joohyun.” Seulgi answered with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

‘I slept like a baby! It was the first time I slept in such a comfortable, huge bed!’ Joohyun smiled awkwardly. “Y-Yes… T-Thank you for taking me in for the night.”

Seulgi just smiled again. She then asked Joohyun to sit on the sofa set in the middle of the office. The blonde then sat on her seat. “Remember that I am not just taking you for a night. I’ll be taking you in for a year.”

Joohyun wanted to retort but she didn’t know exactly what to say. Seulgi picked the phone beside her. “Jimin-ah, please bring in the breakfast. I will eat with Joohyun.”

It didn’t take so much time before a knock was heard and the door opened. Jimin and Minjeong then entered with a cart full of food that Joohyun’s mouth literally watered. It’s the first time she’d be having breakfast for years. 

The two just fixed the table for them and left right away. “Go ahead, Joohyun. Have your fill.”

“D-Do you usually eat grande like this?” Joohyun asked while looking at the different dishes laid in front of her. 

“Not really.” Seulgi picked her utensils up. “I don’t know what your taste is when it comes to food so I asked Jimin and Minjeong to prepare all the foods that they like.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened at Seulgi’s thoughtfulness. “Y-You don’t have to go like this for breakfast… I-I can’t eat all of this.”

“There’s no need to worry. Just eat whatever you can—”

>>Fast forward>>

Seulgi had to admit it, she was indeed amazed. She kept looking at Joohyun and the table back and forth, couldn’t believe that Joohyun finished all the food. “Wow…”

“What are you wowing for?” Joohyun asked, her cheeks tainted with embarrassment. “We can’t waste food! Do you know how much other people are having a hard time just to have something on their plates?”

“I only said ‘wow’, Joohyun.” Seulgi shook her head with a smile on her face. She was happy that Joohyun really had her fill. She then called Jimin and Minjeong again to clean the table and told them to have their own breakfast before going back to their chores. 

“What’s up with having two youngsters as your attendants, Seulgi?” Joohyun finally asked about the two. “Don’t tell me you have a hobby of adopting girls?”

Seulgi chuckled before taking a sip of her coffee. “Jimin and Minjeong are my disciples. They’ve been with me for quite some time.”

‘No wonder they talk weirdly like you. Disciples, huh? Another weird way to call people.’ Joohyun thought to herself. “How long is that ‘quite some time’ anyway, Seulgi-hyung-nim?”

“There’s no need for you to know Joohyun. Let’s just say it’s just a really long time.”

Joohyun looked at Seulgi with disbelief and disappointment. ‘What’s hard in telling me about how long? Did she suddenly lose the ability to count?’

“I have a lot of questions in mind but I guess we have to fix one thing first. The house that I am renting got burned and I guess I don’t have anywhere else to go as of the moment. That’s why I—”

“You’re already my pet, Joohyun~” Seulgi merrily said before raising a document out of nowhere. “As you can see here, I got your thumb mark as a sign to this contract while you were sleeping~”

“What the—” Joohyun’s jaw dropped dramatically. She then looked at her thumb and saw some traces of the ink that Seulgi used. When she looked back at Seulgi, the girl was even smiling proudly as if she did something that deserved to be praised. “Kang Seulgi!”

“Hey, hey! Don’t you even think of splashing your coffee on me!” Seulgi then passed her the contract. “It’s blank. I was just joking~”

“You really…” Joohyun looked at the paper from every angle possible. “There’s no such thing as hidden ink in here, right?”

“There’s none~” Seulgi then stood up and took a laptop from one of her drawers then handed it to Joohyun. “This is my old laptop. You can go ahead and make the contract. I will review it after it’s done and then give you my feedback. I’ll just be at my work desk.”

‘Work? She works? This girl who spent three whole days in a manga cafe?’ Joohyun’s eyes squinted while she watched Seulgi go back to her desk. “May I ask what kind of work you are doing?”

“Hm?” Seulgi was surprised at Joohyun’s sudden curiosity about her. “I am not really working. I am just looking for another piece of land to buy.”

Joohyun literally became a fountain of coffee when she spat her drink. She hurriedly wiped off the coffee with her sleeves. “What did you just say?”

“I said ‘I just buy lands’.” Seulgi answered as if it was the most common thing to do on the planet. “I purchase them and have my team do the rest. They’d present to me possible plans to turn it into something where we can earn money but at the same time, protect the ecosystem that’s in that land. I just buy lands, review plans and give approval. That’s what I do.”

“Y-You do such a thing while attending college!?” Joohyun asked in disbelief. “W-Where did you get the money to do so? H-How are you doing all of this on your own?”

Seulgi just smiled and busied herself with her iPad. “At my current age, I would be a huge embarrassment if I am still poor.”

“What—” Joohyun was taken aback. “Are you ting on me?”

“Hahaha! I am sorry, Joohyun. It’s not what I meant.” Seulgi shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s just say it’s our family’s culture? Yeah, I guess let’s just say it like that. Now, go ahead and start with your contract because I am really excited to sign your adoption paper~”

“Shut the hell up!” Joohyun rolled her eyes before facing back the laptop.

“I will, don’t worry~”

And Seulgi did stay silent during the time Joohyun was making the contract. In no time, Seulgi fell asleep (after buying hectares of land). Joohyun heard soft snoring and her attention was taken off from the document that she was writing. 

“She actually fell asleep? Now, this is the Seulgi that I know.” Joohyun stared at the sleeping blonde for quite a while. “Does she really have to wrap her head in a bandage? This silly girl… Too much for pretending…”

Last night’s events flashed back in Joohyun’s mind. She knew what she saw. She believed what she saw wasn’t a delusion. She knew she didn’t make it out of the house by herself but the nurse said that the firefighters saw her by the gate of the said building passed out with the baby secured in her arms. She knew someone came to save her… and that someone isn’t a human at all. 

It was someone with eyes resembling the eyes of a fox. Joohyun could still remember the intense feeling that she felt when she saw those slit pupils inside orange irises looking at her. There was no way for her to count it but she saw what seemed to be tails behind the silhouette of her saviour. 

And she also knew exactly who resembled the voice that she heard that time.

Joohyun silently stood up from her seat and walked towards Seulgi. She then picked up one of Seulgi’s fountain pens and removed the cap. She looked down at Seulgi with those eyes lacking glow before she raised the fountain pen, aiming at Seulgi. “What’s your real identity, Kang Seulgi?”

Joohyun then swayed the pen downwards but before she even reached Seulgi with it, the latter grabbed her by the wrist with her eyes still closed. Joohyun gasped, but she gasped even harder the moment Seulgi opened her eyes. 

Vertically slit pupils inside orange irises. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Joohyun?” Protruding canines! Joohyun saw protruding canines! Seulgi’s hold to her wrist tightened to the point that she dropped the pen. Joohyun’s face crumpled in pain before Seulgi pulled her and had her sit on her lap. “I am asking, answer.”

Joohyun tried to free herself but Seulgi’s strength was something else. That’s the first time in her life that she felt helpless in front of someone when it comes to strength. “L-Let go!”

“Were you just about to hurt me?” Seulgi asked, her face was so near that Joohyun could f