Chapter 20

20. It's Show Time

‘What’s this supposed to mean?’

After overhearing his parents’ conversation, Siwoo recalled the bizarre videos he had seen on MyTube.

A chuckle escaped him.

At that moment, his eyes met those of a passing staff member.

“……”

“……”

Siwoo puffed out his cheeks and then pressed them with his hands.

“Puuu-! Bubu!”

The staff member, who had seen Siwoo’s facial antics, tilted his head in confusion and turned away.

Did he just chuckle?

With a question that would never be answered, the staff member moved on.

“Huuu-”

Siwoo sighed.

‘Bubu...’

It was something new and unfamiliar.

It was intriguing.

Siwoo turned his gaze to Director Bae, who was visible in the distance.

Director Bae had said he needed to prepare, but he was just loitering around.

Only the surrounding staff were busy running around.

Director Bae’s appearance was the epitome of ordinary and neat.

A dandy hairstyle, oval-framed glasses that gave an intellectual vibe, and a snow-white dress shirt.

He looked like a model student from a wealthy family.

Siwoo took his eyes off Director Bae, who was walking around the set with a water fountain, and went to find Boksil and Nero, whom he needed to take care of.

Boksil was wandering around the set as if she were out for a stroll.

“Bok~ Shi~”

‘When Boksil needs to go, she should go to the potty pad over there.’

If she goes anywhere else, her mother might have to apologize.

At Siwoo’s instruction, Boksil looked at Siwoo and then nodded vigorously.

Siwoo gave her a thumbs-up, visible only to her.

Boksil was like a sponge, absorbing everything he taught her.

This shoot was no cause for concern for Boksil.

The problem was...

‘Where did he go?’

“Eo~”

Bang- Bang- Bang-

Wearing his shoes, Siwoo walked around looking for Nero.

– Woof!

Boksil called out to Siwoo.

The rental set, which recreated a typical household, had Boksil barking at the bottom of a crib in the baby room.

“Eo~”

Siwoo lay on the floor and peered under the crib.

Nero had crawled deep into the corner.

In the darkness, Nero’s eyes gleamed.

“Awa~”

‘What are you doing in there? Come out.’

– Meow~

He said he wanted to take a bit more time to get the feel of the place.

Siwoo decided to give Nero some time to adapt.

When the time came, he would come out on his own, ears flattened.

“Bok~! Karrlek!”

Siwoo played hide-and-seek with Boksil, passing the time.

After a while, the staff called Hyunju.

“Ma’am~! We’re going to start styling the kids~!”

“Okay! Oppa, can you find Nero for me?”

After entrusting Nero to Dojin, Hyunju took Siwoo and Boksil to the staff.

Since he had done this before during movie shoots, Siwoo was familiar with the process of being styled by professionals.

First, he changed his clothes-

‘A doctor’s coat?’

The 14-month-old Siwoo put on a doctor’s coat.

“Wow~ So cute! Ma’am. There’s also a pair of glasses, but the baby might not like them. Should we put them on later? Or should we put them on now to help him get used to them?”

Before his mother could answer, Siwoo reached out his hand.

‘Just let me see the full setup in the mirror.’

“I’ll wear them? Ma’am, Siwoo wants to wear them...”

Hyunju replied.

“Yes, please put them on. He usually walks around well even with sunglasses on.”

The stylist put a frame without lenses on Siwoo’s face.

“Oh~ Siwoo looks so cool! Like a doctor!”

“Ahhh.”

“Yeah. Glasses. You’re so articulate~ Wearing glasses and transforming into a scientist~”

Was it a doctor’s coat or a scientist’s lab coat?

Siwoo, wearing a white lab coat over a shirt with a cute black tie and glasses, had his hair neatly styled.

After all the preparations were complete, the stylist sister handed Siwoo a mirror.

In the mirror, Siwoo, transformed into a baby scientist, sat with sparkling eyes.

Without being called, the surrounding staff naturally gathered around.

“Kyaa~ So, so cute! How can he be so adorable? He’s an angel, an angel.”

“Really cute. He looks even cuter in these clothes.”

“I have a feeling this will turn into a legendary video?”

The reaction was热烈.

The baby scientist Siwoo got up from his chair and walked in front of the staff, making a pitter-patter sound with his shoes and smiling.

“Wow~! Look at him walking!”

“Cute! Cute! Cute!”

“I want to take a picture with him-!”

The reaction intensified with a bit of fan service.

This is science.

“Okay, let’s dress Boksil too!”

Actually, the stylist, who specialized in pet grooming, picked up Boksil.

“Our Boksil has already had a grooming? I’ll just do a little touch-up~”

Placing Boksil on the chair where Siwoo had just been sitting, the stylist took out her grooming tools.

Shasha-shak-!

After trimming Boksil’s fur at the speed of light, she brought out a few dog outfits.

All of them were products designed and produced by Pet World.

– Hehe!

Boksil wagged her tail, her eyes full of anticipation.

Boksil usually enjoyed wearing new clothes.

“Boksil is so excited? Let’s see which outfit suits her best~”

The stylist tried various types of clothes on Boksil and chose the one she would wear for the shoot.

Without any instructions or requests from Siwoo, Boksil completed the fashion show like a model dog.

Clap clap clap-

Siwoo clapped, saying Boksil was indeed Boksil.

– Woof woof woof~

Boksil, following Siwoo, stood on her hind legs and clapped enthusiastically.

The staff went wild, calling Siwoo and Boksil adorable.

Next was Nero’s turn.

Nero, who had come out from under the bed, was playing with Dojin in the living room.

Dojin shot a red laser point on the living room wall, and Nero jumped.

Pfft!

Whirl whirl whirl whirl-

Dojin moved the laser point around.

Nero’s face moved rapidly up, down, left, and right.

Pak!

Lifting both front paws simultaneously, Nero tried to catch the laser point with a strong pounce, as if hunting.

However, the laser point, of course, could neither be touched nor caught.

– Meow!

As Nero started to get frustrated with the repeated misses, Hyunju appeared and grabbed him.

“Nero, let’s go and try on some clothes.”

Instinctively, Nero raised his claws at the hand that was interfering with his laser point hunt.

“Eo~!”

Startled.

At Siwoo’s voice, Nero’s rationality returned.

Nero’s vision, which had been focused solely on the laser point, widened.

Nero rolled his amber eyes around, looking for the missing laser point, and arrived at the fashion show venue heated up by Boksil.

– Meow?

Where am I?

Many people were looking down at him.

The sensitive Nero called out to his big brother Siwoo.

– Meow!

While Nero was conflicted about whether to run away or not, Siwoo came over and placed his hand on Nero’s head.

“Eo~ Gancha~”

‘It’s okay. It’s not scary. It’s just putting on clothes. See Boksil in her clothes? She looks so cool like that.’

Nero looked at Boksil under the chair.

A cute casual suit.

The mischievous brown poodle he knew was gone, replaced by a dignified model dog standing proudly and looking down at him.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, she did look quite cool.

– Meow.

“Eo~”

After a few seconds of eye contact with Siwoo, Nero sat down obediently.

– Purr purr purr purr~

While making the 25Hz purring sound that cats make when they feel good.

As Nero calmed down, the stylist brought his clothes.

Unlike Boksil, who had tried on several outfits, Nero’s was a single piece.

Hyunju asked.

“Nero doesn’t have many clothes?”

The stylist looked a bit apologetic.

“Yes, what can I do? The director asked us to just put this one on Nero...”

She showed Nero’s clothes.

Nero lifted his face, expecting a cool outfit like Boksil’s.

* * *

It was a tuna.

A tuna that swam the Pacific Ocean.

Siwoo and Boksil stared blankly at the strange, very strange, something that was neither fish nor fowl, which was supposed to be Nero’s outfit.

Even Siwoo, who had lived a hundred lives, was surprised by this outfit.

Simply put, it was a giant tuna costume.

The tuna’s mouth was wide open, and Nero’s body was inside it.

Only Nero’s face and front paws were visible outside the mouth.

Nero’s hind paws were also visible under the tuna’s belly, but the tuna’s body was so large that they were not visible from the outside.

Director Bae explained to Dojin and Hyunju.

“Most cat treats contain tuna. This means cats eat a lot of tuna. So, this time, the tuna is attacking. Later, Nero will eat a can of tuna to get revenge.”

Dojin thought.

‘...It’s the same character I heard about 10 years ago.’

Director Bae continued.

“Usually, in foreign ads, a baby and an animal get along well, and