Sua blinked her eyes with a flustered expression on her face.
Sua’s confusion. Sua’s bewilderment. Her ah.
“…Milk?”
Even as she herself said it, Sua felt embarrassed.
“…Are you asking for milk?”
But Sumi soon nodded her head.
“Yes. Isn’t it a symbol of maternal love?”
“No, but, uh, um….”
Sua’s head began to spin. Even if she wanted to give it, she couldn’t. It wouldn’t come out if squeezed. How was she supposed to calm her down?
“Uh, well… you’re too old for that, right?”
“I’d like to experience it once.”
While Sua could understand Sumi’s request, the problem was that she simply couldn’t provide it, leaving her in a dilemma. In the end, delaying was the best option.
“Since I’m about to go out, let’s handle something else first….”
“Mm, I understand.”
Surprisingly, Sumi agreed rather quickly.
“May I, um, climb on top of you? I’d like to see the world from a height similar to that of a mother. It might help broaden my thinking.”
“Alright. That much should be fine.”
Truthfully, wearing an Arctic fox like a scarf was an absurd act in itself, yet Sua moved swiftly without any hesitation.
…What can I do? This is better than the first request, at least.
◈◈◈◈◈
And now.
The entire production team had stunned expressions.
“What is that?”
“The scarf is pretty thick, huh?”
“What if we just get the fur stripped off?”
Then someone shouted.
“Ah, it’s still alive! The fox is unharmed!”
They relaxed. It seemed it wasn’t brought after being hunted.
However, they couldn’t help but be surprised again soon.
Upon closer inspection, the fox clearly looked delighted, even wagging its tail. What’s going on? Why are you wagging your tail?
Sua was intimidating, but the fox was adorable. An incongruous yet subtly harmonious combination. It gave the production team much to think about.
“This is going to be tough. Are we really here for a variety show? We’ll probably have to give out an envelope of money for every question.”
“Can we even proceed with this?”
Producer Kang Hyun-seong summoned the courage to speak first.
“Hahaha! Sua-ssi, please don’t stress yourself too much. Today it’s a variety show, not a movie. Could you try to relax a little?”
Sua nodded her head in response to the producer’s awkward smile.
“I’ll do my best.”
Her voice was as cool as the wind.
Because of this, Producer Kang Hyun-seong couldn’t understand Sua’s intentions. Was she naturally calm, or was she in a foul mood?
Ultimately, the best thing was to grin and bear it as he greeted her.
“Alright. Please do your best. We’ve placed some chairs on the futsal field, so feel free to take a seat. Once filming starts, please remove your sunglasses.”
“Yes. I will.”
“Hahaha! Thank you!”
After laughing heartily, Producer Kang’s demeanor immediately shifted to one of fatigue as he turned around and shuffled away. Meanwhile, the entire production team, who had been watching all this, expressed their worries.
“The acceptance speech was pretty thorough, wasn’t it?”
“In the short film ‘Sword,’ she also gave off a taciturn vibe, didn’t she? It suits her well, so she seemed to be playing a role similar to her actual personality.”
Wi Ji-hye would cut her head off if she heard those words.
“Did we make a mistake inviting her?”
“No. That Arctic fox is incredibly cute. Let’s reduce Sua’s screen time. Let’s focus on the Arctic fox instead.”
Meanwhile, Sua headed toward the futsal field.
At the futsal field, portable chairs were arranged at regular intervals, but so far, she was the only one there.
Sua sat down on a chair and then gently placed Sumi, who was around her neck, on her thighs, like a white blanket.
Pound-pound-pound…
Her heart was trembling.
“I thought this MuteTube variety show would be simple, but it’s surprisingly large-scale, isn’t it? It feels similar to filming a drama…”
There were various lights around the chairs, cameras lined up at the front, and the production team members were rushing around within her field of vision. It was bound to make her feel quite nervous.
A different atmosphere from a drama set.
“I intended to hide my expression behind my sunglasses, but it seems I have to remove them once filming starts. What if I make a mistake?”
But soon, she steadied herself.
Doing nothing can cover half the issues. This adage had saved Sua up until now, and it wouldn’t fail today. That’s what she believed.
At that moment,
“Sua, there you are!”
Seo Yeon-joo appeared, carrying a Sphynx cat.
“…Yeon-joo noona?”
“What? You’re not even surprised. Did the director tell you I was coming? Seriously, asking me to keep it a secret seems futile.”
Though she seemed unfazed, she was actually incredibly surprised.
Simultaneously, she felt glad. This must be how it feels to meet someone from your hometown on a battlefield.
Then, other actors began to arrive one by one.
Sua and Sumi blinked their eyes.
Parrots, raccoons, Sphynx cats—various fascinating animals made their appearance. They were even more impressive in person.
“…”
Everyone gathered, and the atmosphere became a bit awkward.
“Sigh, this feels suffocating. It’s not like we’re in an interview room. There’s no need to be so stiff, especially when time seems to drag.”
Seo Yeon-joo broke the silence first.
“Daeho-ssi, what’s that? A raccoon?”
“Looks like a raccoon, right? It’s a raccoon.”
“Oh, did I make a big mistake?”
“No, it’s understandable. The American raccoon is called a raccoon. Racoons don’t have stripes on their tails, while raccoons do.”
“Aha, so is a raccoon a kind of raccoon?”
“That’s not correct. Racoons belong to the dog family, while raccoons belong to the raccoon family. If raccoons are distant relatives of dogs, racoons are cousins of foxes.”
“Complicated…”
Thanks to Seo Yeon-joo’s active leadership, the atmosphere became much more relaxed, and before long, the futsal field was filled with chatter.
Eh? Did Sua join the chatter?
“…”
Sua was alone… Sua was isolated…
“Rather fortunate. At least I won’t make any verbal blunders.”
No one approached Sua, and Sua herself lacked the courage to initiate conversation.
Of course, the actors’ true thoughts were different.
“The Arctic fox is genuinely cute, but I can’t approach it.”
“Wow, it’s like the real deal. Scary.”
“I don’t have the time to mind my place as a newcomer, but still…”
Then Producer Kang Hyun-seong announced.
“We’re about to start filming!”
◈◈◈◈◈
“Hello, MuteTube viewers! And here we are with the greatly awaited episode on pets! It’s finally starting!”
The opening came with Producer Kang Hyun-seong’s resounding voice.
Wearing a snapback cap with the brim pointing to the back, he was famously the office joker in the industry. Simultaneously, he was skilled enough to tease others without causing discomfort.
Because of this, his shows were both intense without being overly shocking.
Like when idols dived into the ocean on winter days, or when actors with real estate wanted to eat a bag of ramen and rolled around in the mud…
“Alright, we have a whole host of distinguished guests today!”
Granted, today’s episode wasn’t a standard variety show, but Kang Hyun-seong’s voice still carried a playful tone. This was why Sua couldn’t relax at that moment. What if he made her do something strange?
“Everyone, please give a brief self-introduction. One line of readiness is essential, right? Oh, and the pets’ readiness is included too!”
How could they figure out and announce the readiness of the pets? Natural laughter erupted from all sides.
“Alright, let’s start from the left.”
The first person was Seo Yeon-joo.
“I’m Seo Yeon-joo, and this one is Chil-ggi, a Sphynx cat. His readiness might be…”
Seo Yeon-joo grabbed the cat’s front paw and changed her voice.
“Hello everyone! I’ll do my best today!”
It was a scene where it looked like the cat itself was talking.
Everyone smiled warmly. Seo Yeon-joo’s ideas, actions, voice, and the cat—all were undeniably cute.
The introductions carried on, reaching Yang Ha-rin.
“I’m Yang Ha-rin, and this is Umbrella the gray parrot.”
Producer Kang Hyun-seong’s mouth dropped open.
“Parrot! Familiar, but incredibly rare to see in person! Only 2% of people keep them as pets!”
“That’s true. Raising one is extremely challenging. They’re intelligent, so you can’t neglect them; they get hurt easily. That’s why I’ve been receiving help from an aviary.”
Yang Ha-rin spoke to the parrot.
“Umbrella, you have a call.”
“Hello! Hello!”
“The call is from an American.”
“Hello! Hello!”
Gasps of admiration erupted all around.
The intelligence was impressive, but the voice was even more surprising. It could easily deceive someone into thinking it belonged to a young girl.
“What’s umbrella’s readiness for today?”
“I’ll work hard, everyone!”
The audience that had been eating popcorn reacted right then.
─ This parrot seems pretty similar to Sua, doesn’t it?
─ Not at all. This parrot doesn’t have any special privileges, does it? It has already surpassed Senior Sua, so we should view it that way.
─ Ah, yes. He hasn’t meddled with magic power.
Sua narrowed her eyes and looked at the Sua Guild during this moment, while all the attention around her was tilting heavily towards Yang Ha-rin.
First, an upward curve graced the corner of Producer Kang Hyun-seong’s mouth.
“Miss Ha-rin, this bird is just too smart! Could this be a human in disguise wearing a parrot mask?”
The parrot’s performance and the unfiltered astonishment of famous actors—all of it was captured perfectly on camera.
“This actually got me interested in parrots.”
“Chil-ggi, can our Chil-ggi talk like that?”
“This is amazing. The voice is so human-like.”
The other actors also began to show increasing interest.
Even Sua, who was naive about the world, instinctively felt it.
If this continues, this episode will turn into the Yang Ha-rin special. It was unacceptable for her screen time to be completely edited out with no cuts.
‘I need to pull off something big, it seems.’
And just then,
Producer Kang Hyun-seong turned his gaze to Sua.
“Well, it’s Sua’s turn now.”
Sua swallowed her saliva. Her turn had come.
