Chapter 89

"Bro! What do you have in your hands?" Park Min-ya immediately saw the object Park Ji-hoon was holding behind his back and asked in surprise. After speaking, she couldn't wait to step forward and extend her hand.

Park Ji-hoon finally breathed a sigh of relief and had no more heart to tease her. He took his hands out from behind his back and said, "Don't always dress like this, every time I don't know if you're wearing shorts!"

"When did I not wear shorts? You're just imagining things!" Park Min-ya rolled her eyes and said.

"Uh!" Park Ji-hoon blushed at her words and then argued with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, "I'm just afraid of such situations!"

"Do you mean I should dress like this next time?" Park Min-ya bent down to examine the little creature in front of her, not even looking up as she spoke.

Park Ji-hoon was speechless. They were siblings, yet not quite, and since they were both old enough when they met, they usually spoke and joked around quite casually.

"Don't reach out!" At this moment, seeing Park Min-ya about to reach out to tease the little creature in the cage, he hurriedly stopped her.

In his hands was a large cage containing a pet ferret about the length of a forearm. Recently, "Sunny" had officially started filming, and CJ had paid him the director's fee, screenwriter's fee, and other expenses, making him much more financially comfortable. He immediately bought this little creature for Park Min-ya to keep her company.

It was less than 2 months old, with a panda-like color pattern, darker limbs and tail, dark brown eye rings, black and shiny eyes, white fur, and a pink nose. It was curled up slightly, seemingly a bit scared.

A very cute little creature.

"What's wrong?" Park Min-ya immediately pulled back her hand when she heard Park Ji-hoon's voice and looked up to ask.

"It's still young and also shy, it can easily bite you," Park Ji-hoon said. "If you want to hold it, it's best to wait a few days. The seller said that for the first few days, it's best not to let it out until it gets used to the environment, and then you can play with it more."

"Okay." Park Min-ya nodded and suddenly asked, "Bro, aren't you tired of holding the cage all the time?"

"I'm holding it so you can see it more easily!" Park Ji-hoon said irritably.

"Hehe..." Park Min-ya giggled and said, "Now you can put it down."

"Let's put it in the living room for now." Park Ji-hoon turned and said, "I put the care manual on the sofa."

"Okay." Park Min-ya followed him to the living room and couldn't help but pick up a few small toys on the sofa out of curiosity.

"They're not for you to play with, they're for it," Park Ji-hoon said with a smile. "Ferrets are lively and like to chew things, so I bought a few toys for it. You can give it a bath tomorrow, and remember to clean its cage frequently and trim its nails..." He relayed everything the seller had told him.

It was a bit complicated.

"Got it!" Park Min-ya nodded and said, "Let's call it 'Xun Xun.'"

"It's a female ferret!" Park Ji-hoon said with a dark face.

"It's fine." Park Min-ya said nonchalantly.

"I care!" Park Ji-hoon twitched his mouth.

"Raise a big one, then raise a small one." Park Min-ya ignored him and flipped through the care manual, speaking in a resigned tone.

"Do you want a beating?" Park Ji-hoon said in frustration.

Park Min-ya immediately ran away.

"OPPA, you're back." At this moment, Park Ji-hyeon came out after taking a shower and saw the two siblings facing off. She smiled and said, then suddenly saw the little creature in the cage, let out a light exclamation, and ran over, asking happily, "Is this a pet ferret?"

"Yep." Park Ji-hoon nodded and said, "I'll leave it to you two to take care of it."

"Ah?" Park Ji-hyeon was taken aback and said, "I heard pet ferrets are quite delicate."

"They are when they're young, but they get better as they grow up," Park Ji-hoon said. "Follow the care manual, and there won't be any problems." It was bought from a very reputable pet store and even came with an identity card.

"Okay." Park Ji-hyeon nodded.

"I'm going back to my room." Park Ji-hoon waved and returned to his bedroom.

Park Min-ya and Park Ji-hyeon studied the care manual together. As for the little ferret, due to the new environment, it occasionally scratched the cage, making some noise.

When Park Ji-hoon came out after changing clothes and was about to take a shower, he found the bathroom door open. Park Min-ya and Park Ji-hyeon had already let the little ferret out and were giving it a bath in the laundry basin, using the ear cleaner and shampoo provided by the seller. The little creature was naturally fond of water and let the two of them bathe it without struggling.

"Bro, wait a moment!" Park Min-ya looked up and said when she saw him.

"Did it bite you?" Park Ji-hoon asked with concern.

"Is it as scary as Bro said?" Park Min-ya said, "Xun Xun is very well-behaved!"

"Maybe it likes the smell on you," Park Ji-hoon said. "And, change its name quickly!"

"This name sounds good! Right, Ji-hyeon?" Park Min-ya said seriously.

"Yep!" Park Ji-hyeon nodded with a smile.

Park Ji-hoon twitched his mouth in helplessness and turned to say, "Call me when you're done." He didn't want to waste time.

"Got it!" Park Min-ya said.

Although he didn't like going out much, staying at home all the time, even reading books or writing, could get boring. Now, with such a cute little companion, he was clearly much happier.

As for those complicated care instructions, he didn't pay much attention. Taking care of it personally would foster a bond.

...

In the following days, driven by a wave of positive reviews, "Uncle" performed spectacularly at the box office.

On August 8th, after the first weekend, "Uncle" successfully topped the weekly box office with 1.202361 million viewers, firmly outperforming the two Hollywood blockbusters, "Inception" and "Salt"!

Mostly young people, fortunately, the movie was rated for viewers 15 and older, otherwise, the number of viewers would have been significantly reduced.

A chorus of amazement! The media sang praises.

Once again, it exceeded everyone's expectations! Before this, no one had thought the movie would break the million-viewer mark in its first week. In just two days of the weekend, it had 772,631 viewers!

Park Ji-hoon, who carried the film alone, received countless accolades and skyrocketing popularity, appearing on the front pages of media outlets daily and dominating the search headlines for the week!

"A genius refined by time!"

"Ten years of honing, finally showing its edge!"

"Once it flies, it soars to the sky!"

After ten years of persistent effort, he finally achieved success, undoubtedly the best and most positive topic. Some media even defined him as a symbol of the Korean spirit.

Fame spread far and wide!

He could no longer take the bus. On the morning of August 7th, he took the bus to the filming site, but ended up signing autographs all the way, and a few girls who looked like students followed him until he got off.

After returning that day, he considered buying a regular car. However, after receiving a call, he changed his mind.

An advertisement invitation from a car company!

While the terms offered were much higher than before, they were still far less than he had expected. So, he didn't agree. After the final box office results of "Uncle" and a few awards at the year-end ceremonies, his value would definitely increase several times. After all, he was still considered a "newcomer" at this point.

Previously, he had received many advertising invitations, but all of them were "taking advantage" of him, treating him like a naive young man and thinking he could be easily deceived without an agency.

Now, he was waiting for the right offer, in a period of rapid appreciation. He had no plans to take on any advertisements—these advertisers had irritated him. Each time he received a call with excitement, he was treated like a fool, which was frustrating.

It seemed he needed to find an agent.

Two days later.

Park Ji-hoon and Sulli went to a music practice room at MBC TV. The program team, seeing that "Uncle" had good box office and reviews on its first day, decided to arrange this stage performance. Now, the PD of "We Got Married" was almost beaming. It wouldn't be easy to get Park Ji-hoon to perform on stage again in the future! How many famous actors would regularly appear on variety shows and perform on stage?

They had to seize this opportunity—this was the thought of all the program staff. SBS TV's weekend variety show "Running Man" had seen a decline in ratings after the first episode. The second episode was 7.8%, the third was 7.4%, and the fourth, with Park Ji-hoon's participation, was 8.9%. On August 8th, the second part of the episode with Park Ji-hoon's appearance saw the ratings soar to 12.3%! It was a small miracle.

If they didn't seize this opportunity now, the "We Got Married" program team could all be fired.

"Congratulations, OPPA!" Upon meeting, Sulli's first words were to congratulate Park Ji-hoon. After the first-week box office results of "Uncle" came out, all nine of them were stunned! Especially Yoon-a, Yoo-ri, and Soo-young, who also had acting careers, Yoon-a had muttered, "I need to be nice to Ji-hoon OPPA from now on." In the morning, she was given a strict order by Soo-young to get an autograph! The other members rarely had the chance to meet Park Ji-hoon.

"Yep." Park Ji-hoon smiled and nodded, asking, "How are you prepared?"

"OPPA, how about we sing our song together?" Sulli asked tentatively.

"Which song?" Park Ji-hoon asked.

"Rundevilrun." Sulli carefully observed his expression. In theory, she had already apologized to him, and it was just work, so he shouldn't be petty. But for some reason, this time, she couldn't help but be cautious.

"Isn't this song not suitable for me to sing?" Park Ji-hoon frowned slightly and said.

"Make some changes, and OPPA can play the guitar to accompany me!" Sulli said with bright eyes.

"Uh!" Park Ji-hoon suddenly looked hesitant and guilty.

Sulli looked at his expression, blinked in confusion, and then suddenly thought of something. She straightened up and asked in surprise and shock, "OPPA, didn't you continue learning?"

"Sorry." Park Ji-hoon touched his nose and said awkwardly, "I've been too busy lately."

"Aah—" Sulli frowned, very dissatisfied, and turned her head. This was an excuse! When filming "Uncle," he was so busy and tired, yet he still managed to learn. Why couldn't he now?