Chapter 28

28. Only have sweet dreams. It's Christmas, after all.

The first day of December.

A terrifying wife was released.

And to coincide with the movie's release, the PetPWorld CF cat snack ad also began airing.

Nero was shown running across the sea, splashing water, with a tuna half-eaten and flapping.

Papa-pa-pa-pa-!

With the flapping tuna attached to his body, Nero, with a terrified expression, was racing at the speed of light on the sea—

Suddenly, a Churu appeared and fell.

The Churu dangled just out of reach in front of Nero's face, who was running at the speed of light.

Nero's pupils dilated.

Nero leaped with all his might, grabbing the Churu, the lifeline to end this nightmare, in his mouth.

In an instant, like a fish on a fishing rod, Nero, who had bitten the Churu, and the tuna that had bitten Nero, soared into the sky.

Piercing through the clouds and the atmosphere, Nero and the tuna flew to Mars, covered in red soil.

Boom- boom- boom-

With grand music, baby Siu appeared, flapping his scientist's coat.

Nero, finally free from the tuna, punched the flapping tuna on the ground and asked Siu,

"Where are we?"

Siu stretched out his hand dramatically.

"Ahhhh-!"

—Welcome to PetPWorld-!

At the same time, overly dramatic high-quality music that evoked the mystery of the universe played.

Siu led Nero to a nearby greenhouse.

"Boo~ Puu~"

—I am using Earth's tuna to research cat snacks here.

Upon entering the shabby greenhouse, a state-of-the-art research facility appeared out of nowhere.

A short sequence showed the systematic process of making snacks.

After the PetPWorld tour, Nero, seeing the many people working hard to make cat snacks, burst into tears and howled towards the Martian sky.

"Meowwwww~!"

Startled!

Nero, who had been howling in his dream, woke up and jumped up, looking around.

There was no tuna, no Mars, no baby scientist.

Everything was just a dream.

"Ha... I feel so weak lately... and I keep having scary dreams..."

As Nero lay down on the living room floor, dejected.

A mysterious call came from the snowy sky outside the window.

"Bubuya-!"

Startled, Nero jumped onto the windowsill.

And like a cat that had spotted a mouse, he looked up at the sky with a joyful face.

Something was descending through the snow.

Rudolph, with a red nose, was pulling a sleigh.

Inside the sleigh was Siu, transformed into a baby Santa.

Kwooo!

Flames shot out from the red boots with rockets on Rudolph's feet.

The sleigh reached Nero's house in an instant.

Siu, in the sleigh, waved his hand, and the window opened.

"Uhhhh-!"

—Omega-3-!

Tuna cans started pouring in through the open window.

"Buhbu-!"

—DHA-!

More tuna cans poured in.

Nero, buried under the pile of tuna cans, opened his eyes wide and lifted his head.

Siu, riding the sleigh, turned back and shouted as he ascended into the sky.

"Auuuu-!"

—Contains ginseng concentrate-!

Nero, watching the sleigh fly away, raised his voice.

"Dr. Siu-! Thank you-!"

Siu's face, rising into the sky, was shown in close-up.

Siu, looking at the blue sky with falling snow, cooed.

"Unyun~"

—Only have sweet dreams.

"Awooo~"

—It's Christmas, after all.

Siu's laughter, accompanied by Christmas carols, echoed throughout the world.

* * *

The PetPWorld CF, aimed at the Christmas season, successfully drew a positive response from viewers.

It created a clear synergy effect with the romantic comedy family movie, "My Too Scary Wife," which was sweeping the winter movie theaters.

After finishing dinner, Hyun-ju sat on the sofa, checking comments on her phone.

—Please make the last train unavailable. It's Christmas, after all.

—Who would give 10 billion won to buy clothes? It's Christmas, after all.

—While watching the CF, I wondered if humans can eat cat tuna cans.

—Sure, it's Christmas, after all.

The line Siu left at the end of the CF, "Only have sweet dreams. It's Christmas, after all," was being reused infinitely in the festive atmosphere leading up to Christmas.

Even in TV dramas and variety shows, it was used in various ways, from sweet lines like "Do you want to meet me? It's Christmas, after all," to desperate lines like "Please give me my overdue salary! It's Christmas, after all!"

Hyun-ju was simply amazed and surprised by how many people were interested in Siu's CF and were repeating the lines with enjoyment.

"Our Siu must be very lucky. The movie is doing well too."

Hyun-ju said to her husband Do-jin, who was coming out after brushing his teeth.

Do-jin replied with a slightly playful tone.

"Our dear is already a bundle of luck for being born to us."

"…What? Suddenly giving me goosebumps."

"Well, what, it's Christmas, after all? Ha ha. Shall we make a tree?"

Do-jin, with a slightly red face, brought in a large box from the front door.

It was the Christmas tree they had ordered this time.

Siu, fully dressed in ultra-fine fibers from head to toe, waddled over.

"What's this~?"

Siu pointed at the box with his small fingers.

After 18 months, Siu had entered the language explosion period as planned.

Babies generally experience a language explosion between 16 and 24 months, when many neurons in the brain connect, leading to the maturation of the frontal lobe and the acquisition of new abilities.

Although his pronunciation was immature, various words like "What's this?", "I'm bored", "Mom, hug me", "I love you~" were gradually coming out of Siu's mouth.

Do-jin hugged Siu once and answered.

"It's a Christmas tree. Tree~"

"Twii~?"

Siu looked up at the tall box with sparkling eyes.

Do-jin tore open the box and started taking out the items inside, placing them on the living room floor.

In the process, something soft touched Do-jin's hand.

"…Surprise. Nero, when did you get in there?"

Nero, who had sneaked into the box without anyone noticing and was lying there like a part of the delivered tree, slowly blinked at Do-jin.

A cat's slow blink is a sign of trust, meaning he believed Do-jin wouldn't take him out of the box.

Do-jin petted Nero's head and let him play in the box.

"Let's make it together?"

Do-jin set up the tree first.

Hyun-ju and Siu approached the tree with decorations in their hands.

Bubu also brought a silver pinecone in his mouth.

Nero, seemingly uninterested, remained engrossed in the box and didn't come out.

Do-jin and Hyun-ju started decorating the tree, while Siu and Bubu handed the decorations on the floor to their parents.

While wrapping the tree with LED lights, Do-jin asked Hyun-ju,

"By the way, you said you're meeting Director Lee Han-su tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, tomorrow."

"What about me?"

Hyun-ju stopped her hands.

"What do you mean? You said you'd come home late tomorrow."

"Well, I asked Kyung-su just in case, and he said he could switch my shifts."

Hyun-ju's eyes widened.

"Are you going to go with me? I'd be fine, but…"

"Since it's an important discussion, I thought I'd go and listen."

"Sure. If it's not inconvenient for you, I'd be happy."

"It's fine. What's inconvenient? Anyway, Director Lee Han-su… probably won't remember an actor he met briefly 10 years ago. I just want to do my