The fox yokai fought the grim reapers to protect the elderly couple. However, no matter how much potential he had to become a Divine Beast, he was far too young to contend with grim reapers.
The grim reapers harvested the souls of the old couple. Perhaps moved by the pitiful sight of the fox cub crying—kyang, kya-wooong—one of the grim reapers spoke.
‘Young fox yokai, these souls have accumulated great virtue. They will be reborn into this land as humans once more without incident. If you wish for your fates to cross again someday, then live well and accumulate virtue.’
After the grim reapers departed, Yoha stayed by the elderly couple’s side all night long.
Guarding their empty bodies, which had left this world as quietly as if they had fallen asleep at the same moment.
As he cried for a long time, dawn broke, and the television turned on. The old couple had set it so that the TV would automatically turn on at this hour every morning. Yoha perked his ears at the boisterous music.
A famous singer was dancing and singing on the screen.
He remembered how the old couple would clap along, sing with the music, or hold hands and dance together.
That was when the young fox yokai decided how he would live the rest of his life.
“The genre Grandma and Grandpa liked back then was trot, but once they reincarnate and become young again, they’ll probably like genres that fit their age, right? That’s why I thought idol music would be perfect. Well… it was also important to become famous somehow—idol or not—and let my name and face be known.”
“They won’t remember you anyway. They’re basically completely different people.”
“I know. That’s fine. Even if they don’t know me… I realized that’s still fine.”
There are things people must do, even if they seem meaningless. Things you simply cannot live without doing. For Yoha, that thing was being an idol.
The fox pushed himself up. As he shook the dirt from his silver fur, he added,
“Honestly, I like idol life itself now. It’s pretty fun. The members are fun, the fans are cute. It’s rewarding, too….”
“…….”
“Destroying the marble and throwing it up every night is hard, but compared to my trainee days, this is nothing. Though I guess a human who just sits around comfortably working at a rental shop wouldn’t know that.”
“What?”
Dojin, who had been listening sincerely with what passed for an open heart, suddenly scrunched up his face.
“What the hell did you just say? A human who sits around comfortably working at a rental shop? Wanna try living at the shop for just one day? Do you have any idea how much crap self-employed people have to deal with? On top of aftercare for nightmare customers like you, we work from dawn to dawn with no days off!”
“What are you talking about? I don’t need any aftercare. And we work from dawn to dawn too! Our shoot the day after tomorrow runs from dawn to dawn!”
“We do that 365 days a year, you little shit!”
The young fox yokai and the young Jangsa started bickering again.
Kkiwoong….
Kkiwoong let out a long, weary sigh.
Yoha froze in surprise as he staggered out of the bathroom. The living room lights—previously dark—were on, and Chiho stood in the center of the room with his arms crossed.
“Yoha. What the hell are you?”
For a moment, Yoha thought he had asked the question.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? I just went to the bathroom. Why are you standing there like that? You scared the hell out of me.”
“Why do you go to the bathroom at this same time every night?”
“…Y-you—how do you know that?”
This time, Yoha was genuinely shaken. Since when had Chiho been this perceptive? Just as Yoha’s eyes widened, a voice came from the kitchen.
“Yoha-hyung, we all noticed.”
“We can’t just let this slide anymore. Sit down here and let’s talk honestly.”
Darta—and even Seungheon—were seated at the table, pointing to an empty chair. Everyone except Mason, who went to bed early, was gathered. Yoha’s heart began to pound.
How much do they know…?
Nervous, he sat down, and Chiho immediately took the seat beside him, as if blocking his escape. Seungheon, the main vocalist and leader, stared at him with sharp eyes—eerily similar to a rental shop employee.
“Lately, you go into the bathroom at a specific time and come out ten to twenty minutes later. And every time, you’re even paler than usual and staggering around. You’ve also lost five kilograms in just a few days.”
“M-Mason lost weight too.”
“He’s dieting. You’re not.”
Yoha’s eyes rolled helplessly. Fox yokai were known for being sly and unflappable, but when Yoha panicked, it showed all over his face.
“We talked among ourselves about why you’ve been acting strange.”
“S-so?”
“This is our conclusion. You’re dating someone, right? You go into the bathroom at the same time every day to talk to them on the phone.”
“…….”
“And that person is making things hard for you?”
“…….”
An idol’s dating scandal. In some ways, even more serious than being a fox yokai—no, that wasn’t the point.
Yoha’s mind raced. They were wildly misunderstanding things, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to play along. Say he was dating, say he was fighting with his girlfriend, say it was hard… then say they broke up after filming ended.
When Yoha stayed silent, Seungheon continued.
He said it wasn’t wrong to date. Anyone could date. But it shouldn’t damage one’s health. Health was the most important thing, and Yoha had lost too much weight lately. You should date healthily, not ruin your health for a relationship….
Listening quietly, Yoha realized Seungheon wasn’t angry at all. He was just worried.
“Okay. I’ll talk to them one more time tomorrow and settle it. Don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“But who is it, hyung? Another idol? Which group? Or a civilian?”
“Come on, we’ve got filming starting early tomorrow. Let’s all get some sleep.”
“Yoha-hyung, I’m curious. Can’t you tell us who it is? Don’t you trust us?”
“Darta. Let’s respect his privacy.”
Seungheon cut off Darta’s invasive questioning and dragged him toward the bedroom.
Yoha headed to the bedroom with Chiho. As Yoha tried to lie down, Chiho stared at him intently. With too many guilty secrets, Yoha couldn’t endure the gaze.
“What. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
“Hey.”
“What? Why?”
“…….”
Chiho stared a moment longer, then spoke just as Yoha was about to snap.
“Don’t date someone who makes things hard for you.”
“Huh?”
“Go to sleep.”
Chiho flopped onto the bed. Yoha muttered about how weird he was and pulled the blanket up to his chin.
Thinking he’d gotten past a major hurdle, Yoha finally relaxed. Just one last trip to the rental shop tomorrow, then on filming day he’d face the shamans as a perfectly ordinary idol.
Confidently.
***
Khaek, keh, keh!
The fox painfully spat out the marble. It was far smaller than the one from the first day, but the pain felt even worse. Dojin collected the tiny marble, barely a centimeter in diameter.
“This crap is finally over. That was rough. See you. Don’t get caught tomorrow.”
“Uh….”
Drained of energy, the fox staggered to his feet and crossed through the door formed in midair.
Dojin watched the fox disappear beyond the closing door.
Normally, he would’ve picked a fight—’Are you kidding me? What was hard for you? I’m the one who suffered. All you did was spit out a marble and I picked it up.’—But… he really did seem exhausted.
“Master, this is the last fox marble.”
Entering the shop, Dojin handed the marble to Iri, who was folding a ‘Distant Butterfly’. When Iri grasped the marble and opened his hand, the already tiny sphere shrank further, becoming no bigger than a grain of rice.
Dojin briefly wondered, Up until now, you completely erased them—why this time? But he wasn’t curious enough to ask.
“Yoha’s stamina must be very low right now. Tomorrow—no, today. I hope he doesn’t collapse during filming.”
“Even if his stamina’s down, he’s still a Yeongmul. What’s there to worry about? Worry about yourself, Master.”
Iri thought that worrying about him, an Immortal, was probably the most pointless thing of all—but he swallowed the thought to avoid provoking his disciple.
Dojin sat beside Iri, rubbing against his arm and shoulder as usual.
“But his human transformation is basically perfect. Why would he go so far as to suffer just to drain his yoryeok? Most shamans wouldn’t notice anything. Doesn’t he know how many fraud shamans there are in Korea?”
“Even if you tell them outright that the opponent is a fraud, fox yokai will still fear shamans. That fear is deeply embedded in a fox yokai’s soul, so it’s not easy to overcome.”
“So it’s basically hard-coded into them. Like how humans are afraid of the dark?”
“Something like that. Have you gotten close with Yoha?”
Dojin made an incredulous face.
“Do you think we got close? One more day and we’d have thrown punches.”
“They say people bond through fighting, but don’t actually punch him.”
“I said we didn’t get close! There’s no way. It was the last day anyway.”
Dojin flailed dramatically, rejecting any notion of bonding with Yoha.
“I know what you’re thinking, Master, but I’m too busy trying to win my unrequited love to be making friends. Maybe once that works out, I’ll feel like making friends.”
“…….”
This was when Iri decided to change the subject.
He had just finished writing a letter, so he folded a ‘Distant Butterfly’ and handed it to Dojin. Sending it off would be Dojin’s task.
“Where’s this one going?”
“To the White Tiger of the Heaven-and-Earth Seas.”
“You’ve been exchanging letters with them a lot lately.”
“Go send it off and come back… where’s the ‘Silver Pencil’?”
“Huh? The ‘Silver Pencil’?”
“…….”
“Ah…!”
Only then did Dojin realize they needed to retrieve the curio—the ‘Silver Pencil’—from Yoha.
“Aaaagh! If you’re done using it, return it yourself, damn it!”
“It’s too late tonight. Go get it tomorrow. And don’t throw punches.”
“Uuuughhhhh.”
Dojin pressed his forehead into Iri’s shoulder and groaned for a long while.
