Chapter 6: The Fox Mascot

As expected, although he wasn’t the oldest among the kids, his movements were smooth and his core was stable. He even managed to catch the beat of the music from time to time, something most children treated as background noise.

One of the judges nodded approvingly. “This one’s really good. He matches the rhythm, and his movements have dynamic contrast.”

Another judge scribbled on the score sheet and nodded in agreement. “His limbs are long and slim but quite strong. He must have had at least some training.”

But more important than all of that was the boy’s innate sense of swag, rare for someone so young, that’s what truly set him apart from the other kids.

“He’s got the makings of a performer,” one judge suddenly remarked with admiration. “To have that kind of stage presence at such a young age, how rare!”

And that was precisely what made Lee Soo-man, who happened to be passing by, suddenly stop and take notice.

After working as a singer into his thirties, Lee Soo-man had finally taken the plunge a few years ago and founded S/M Planning. Over the years, he had made some money producing records. But when he looked at companies that were formally training and producing artists, a thought suddenly crossed his mind:

Why can’t I open my own entertainment company?
After all, the income split from artists is far more lucrative than record production.

That was when ambition began to churn inside him like crashing waves. He believed in himself. He believed that his decisions could someday cause a tidal wave in Korea’s entertainment industry. The only prerequisite was to gather enough talented, exceptional “artist puzzle pieces” that he could mix and match as he pleased.

Quietly, Lee Soo-man stepped closer to the group of judges and listened in on their conversation.

When one of them suddenly laughed and said, “That little girl who did ballet earlier also had great stage presence isn’t she this boy’s younger sister?” Lee Soo-man followed the judge’s gaze, and his eyes immediately lit up.

There’s a saying in China: “At three, you can see what they’ll be like at seventy.” Though originally meant to describe how a child’s character is already evident at that age, in the eyes of an industry veteran like Lee Soo-man, it applied just as well to looks.

This child had such refined bone structure, his delicate features resembled a little porcelain doll.
But… the age. He sighed. He was looking for trainees, not auditioning to be a babysitter.

Still, he quickly reconsidered. If this kid joins my company in a few years… this brother-sister duo could definitely bring something special. His company hadn’t even been formally registered yet, but in Lee Soo-man’s mind, he was already envisioning a bright future.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back and leaned in slightly to ask one of the judges,
“Are those two kids siblings? Did that girl dance too?”

Unaware that the judges were discussing them at the judges’ table, the two little ones were both caught up in their own excitement.

As soon as Gwon Jiyong (Kwon Jiyong) stepped off the stage, he immediately threw himself into Han Lanjie’s arms. After rubbing his head against her affectionately, he whispered proudly,
“Omma, wasn’t my dancing great?”

Dancing on stage had felt a bit different from performing on TV shows. All the eyes in the audience had been focused solely on him, and it made his heart feel like it was floating.
Hmm… just like his dad said being drunk felt his head was fuzzy, but all he knew was that he was amazing!

“Wasn’t I awesome?” His ears were red, but his tone grew increasingly confident.

Before Han Lanjie could answer, Eun chimed in first,
“Jiyong was super awesome! Now we have two stuffed toys!”

Jiyong instantly broke into a grin. Still half-buried in Han Lanjie’s arms, he turned his head toward Eun and reached out to pinch her chubby cheek.
“Eun, are you happy because I did great, or because of the stuffed toy?”

“Eh?” Eun’s little head froze for a second, then she answered honestly,
“Happy because of the fox!”

Jiyong’s smile froze for a beat, he had lost to the camera earlier, and now he had lost to a fox plushie.

But he couldn’t blame Eun; she was still young and at the age where playing was everything.
He only had himself to blame for asking that kind of question!

Their hushed conversation was soon drowned out by the host’s voice as he returned to the stage to announce the results.

“Every child was wonderful today, but this is a competition, and only the top three can win prizes!”

He looked around the audience and didn’t draw things out, he got right to it and began announcing names.

Eun clenched both her tiny fists, pressing them to her chin. Her big eyes were full of anticipation, and she muttered under her breath,
“Eun, Eun, Eun…”

Jiyong was more reserved, but his relaxed hands by his side also slowly clenched, and his gaze shifted from Eun to the stage.

“The children whose names are called, please come up to the stage. Third place: Kim Mina!”

Jiyong’s eyes dimmed slightly.
Eun, however, was completely unfazed and continued whispering her name eagerly.

“Second place, Lee…”

Eun held her breath, silently chanting in her heart,
“Eun, Eun!”

Her body instinctively leaned a little toward the side of the stage, as if she were ready to dash up the moment she heard the words “Eun.”

Lee Jin was already thinking to herself, I’ll go buy her a little stuffed toy afterward. After all, she was brave enough to go on stage and dance.

Even though their home was already overflowing with her daughter’s stuffed toys… what could she do? She could only spoil her!

Just past her thirties, Lee Jin would never admit that she actually liked those “useless” things too.

“Second place, Lee Soo-joo!” A little boy walked up to the stage with a dejected expression, showing no joy at all in winning.

Eun’s tears welled up in her eyes, big drops threatening to fall. She turned to look at Gwon Jiyong with distress,
“What do we do? There’s only first place left. It must be Eun’s. What about Jiyong?”

When she said that, not only Han Lanjie and Lee Jin, but even Jiyong and Gwon Domi were stunned.

Where did this blinding, sun-like confidence come from?

But in the very next moment, when the first place was announced, this little “sun” suddenly dimmed.

“First place, Gwon Jiyong!” The host’s voice rang out, reaching everyone’s ears at once.

Han Lanjie gasped in delight, covering her mouth, her eyes filled with pride. Lee Jin smiled warmly, and Gwon Domi even jumped up in excitement,
“Daebak! My little brother got first!!!”

Jiyong gave a shy smile.

Everyone was immersed in the joy except for Eun. Her world was crumbling. Her expression mixed disbelief and heartbreak.

Eun… Eun didn’t win?!
How could that be?

Her tears, initially shed on behalf of Jiyong, now fell for herself. She sobbed loudly, watching Jiyong walk toward the stage and turning back with each step,
“Eun danced too, so why isn’t the fox mine?!”

As soon as her daughter cried, everyone turned to look. Lee Jin quickly crouched down and pulled her into a hug, gently comforting her,
“How about Omma buys one for Eun, okay?”

Feeling sorry for her daughter, she still tightened her mask and silently thanked the parent who had warned her earlier. They really knew what they were talking about.

Gwon Domi reached out and held Eun’s soft little hand, giving it a playful squeeze. Just moments ago she had been cheering loudly for her brother, but now she gently comforted her:
“Eun was amazing! To unnie, Eun is number one! Jiyong is number two!”

Meanwhile, Gwon Jiyong, who had won first place, felt a little bad for Eun, but as he stood on stage with the other two children, watching the tiny paper confetti shoot into the air, he felt nothing but joy.

First place! He was first place!

He was the youngest and shortest among the three, creating a dip in the middle as they stood in a row.
But when he looked up and saw the confetti burst into the sky and float down before his eyes, he felt taller than every other kid there.

The two loud pops of the party poppers drowned out every other sound, and his happiness completely washed away the earlier worry for Eun.

Still smiling, he accepted the medal from the host, and excitedly turned to run off the stage. After a few steps, he suddenly remembered, he hadn’t even looked at the medal yet!

He held it up to inspect it. The round medal had, right at the center, the amusement park’s signature image of a little fox.

His steps faltered, and he came to a stop.

Gwon Jiyong turned to look down from the stage. The confetti had already landed, and his line of sight was completely unobstructed.
Under the sky stood Eun, crying for the first time in two months, in front of him.

In his mind, the image of the medal was slowly replaced by that of the two puppy dolls, and the crying Eun in front of him seemed to morph into the image of himself crying those two times.

He pressed his lips together and gripped the medal tightly in his hand. The little fox emblem pressed into his palm, bringing a slight warmth and itchiness.

The next moment, he decisively turned around and ran back up the stage.
“Um! The second-place kid, can you stop for a second?”

He spoke so quickly, as if afraid he might change his mind in the next instant.

“Can I trade your fox doll for my medal?”

Eun was lying on Lee Jin’s shoulder, her vision blurred by tears. When a fox doll suddenly appeared before her eyes, she thought she was seeing things.

She tried hard to open her eyes wide, and as she finally made out the scene before her, she also heard Jiyong’s childish voice:

“Eun, look what this is?”

“Foxie!” Eun instantly let go of her mom and lunged at the plush doll.

Throwing herself onto a doll bigger than herself, Eun looked as happy as if she were riding a cloud car, so joyful she could float into the sky.

Jiyong had been hugging the fox doll that wasn’t much smaller than him. When Eun leapt at it, he almost fell over, but thankfully Han Lanjie was right behind him and steadied him just in time.

His chubby little face was all smiles.
“Mm, it’s for Eun. Don’t cry anymore, okay?”

Eun looked up in surprise, tear tracks still wet on her cheeks.
“Really? You’re giving it to me, Jiyong?”

“Yes.” Jiyong’s innocent little face beamed with a bracket-shaped smile.
He didn’t mention that he had traded his medal for it.
“Because Eun gave me two puppy dolls too.”

Eun hugged the fox doll from the front, while Jiyong stretched out his arms behind it, as if they were hugging each other through the toy, smiling and gazing at one another.

Han Lanjie and Lee Jin exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but smile. One of them took out a camera and captured this moment of pure innocence.

Just as the heartwarming scene froze into a photo, a man’s voice came from beside them:
“Hello, are you the parents of these two children?”