He’s a Fox Ch 19

Chapter 19

At the end of the hallway, in front of the door they had reached, stood a familiar brown bear.

Hohyun was certain it was the same bear who had come to the kitchen earlier that morning to see Kangwoon.

Opening the door for the tiger, the bear gave Hohyun a slight nod as well.

Since ignoring a greeting was out of the question, the fox returned it—bowing his head politely.

At the sight of the small black-furred creature dipping its head, the bear gave a short, deliberate cough.

His face, while not as intimidating as the tiger’s, was still plenty fearsome.

Most people, upon hearing the word “bear”, might picture something round and cuddly, like a teddy bear—

but real bears looked nothing of the sort, their long, angular muzzles especially contributing to a fierce appearance.

However, having spent enough time in the mansion to grow accustomed to predators,

Hohyun could detect the goodwill in his expression.

With a quick pat-a-dak wag of his tail, the fox stepped past the doorway into the room.

The air inside was saturated with the tiger’s scent—clear evidence that this was where Kangwoon stayed whenever he wasn’t with Yuri.

One wall was fitted with a large window, and beside it stood a grand solid-wood desk.

A little farther away were a sofa and a table, the general color scheme on the brighter side.

Honestly, it was quite different from what he had imagined.

In movies and dramas, such rooms usually featured dark-colored furniture,

perhaps even a tiger pelt spread across the floor.

Ah… maybe since he’s a tiger himself, he avoids doing that.

While the fox’s thoughts meandered, Kangwoon gestured toward the sofa in the center of the study.

“Sit there.”

Trotting over, the fox clambered up without delay.

Unlike the living room sofa, this one was upholstered in fabric rather than slippery leather, making it easy for him to get a grip.

But mid-ascent, he froze—startled at the sight of a thread that had snagged loose, likely caught on a claw.

Dangling halfway, he glanced back warily at the tiger.

Catching his eye, Kangwoon asked, slightly quizzical,

“Need me to lift you up?”

Surely he wasn’t being serious—was he really suggesting the fox couldn’t get onto a sofa barely fifty centimeters high?

Though he admittedly had given plenty of reasons to look unreliable, this was not a misunderstanding he wished to endure.

Shaking his head quickly, he noted with relief that the tiger didn’t seem to care about the loose thread at all.

At ease, the fox finished climbing up.

Once he was seated, the tiger placed a stack of papers on the table in front of him.

Even at a glance, the thickness was striking…

Before he could read a single word, Kangwoon met his gaze.

“That contract I mentioned earlier. Give it a read.”

His paw pads grew damp with nervous sweat.

Turning each page with trembling paws, Hohyun began to read—

and the more he read, the more familiar the content seemed.

Beom Kangwoon (hereafter referred to as Party A) and _(hereafter referred to as Party B) hereby enter into the following employment contract…

No matter how many times he reread it, it was undoubtedly an employment contract.

To summarize the densely printed twelve pages:

— Contract term: one year, automatically renewed unless a termination request is submitted.

— In exchange for pay, the fox would play with Yuri, adhering strictly to certain conditions.

The first clause was to never pose any threat to the child.

Others included refraining from foul language or any undesirable habits in her presence,

and never disclosing anything witnessed during the contract to outsiders while it was in effect.

Violation of these terms would incur a hefty penalty fee as well as potential legal disputes—

but for a contract, such clauses were expected.

Still, it was so unexpected that the fox could only stare at it in silence.

Of all the contracts he had seen, this one had the best terms by far…

But what did this have to do with removing the collar?

Sensing his puzzlement, the tiger began giving a concise explanation of his family tree.

“There are five of us in my family, counting me and Yuri—my parents and three siblings.”

Father, mother, and three children.

Hohyun, noting the age gap between him and the baby tiger as well as Kangwoon’s capable, caretaker-like demeanor, immediately assumed he must be the eldest.

Given how easily he could have a child Yuri’s age if he had married early, Hohyun was prepared to believe there might be a sibling between the two tigers.

But contrary to his guess, Kangwoon was the middle child.

The big tiger pointed to the middle spot in the family lineup as himself and began speaking of his elder sister, Beom Taeryeong.

“I’ve got an older sister, two years my senior, and her relationship with our father is… not great.”

Tigers were territorial animals, and tiger beastfolk possessed a similarly strong territorial sense.

Though as intelligent beings they didn’t simply attack “intruders” on sight,

their possessiveness over what they considered theirs was intense, regardless of age or rank.

Even parent-child relationships were no exception—

and therein lay the problem.

In nature, when an alpha weakened with age, the next generation would naturally inherit their role.

But Beom Jae-gwon, head of the family and father to the siblings, was well over seventy and still in robust health.

Though his children were well into their thirties, he showed no intention of stepping down.

True to the possessive nature of a tiger beastfolk, he had no desire to give up what was his—

leaving only minor tasks for Taeryeong and Kangwoon.

The younger son had grown up accepting this without resentment,

but the eldest daughter was different.

Born with the title of heir from the moment of her birth,

she came to deeply resent her father once she grew old enough to understand the situation.

Said to be a mirror image of her father in his youth—both combative and ambitious—

she had, from her mid-twenties, openly sought to seize his position.

Her narrative was simple: the old tiger was a setting sun, and she, younger and more driven, should take over.

But her opponent was Beom Jae-gwon—not someone to underestimate.

In physical combat, she likely had the advantage, but their “matches” were not of that sort.

For nearly a decade, her father successfully repelled all her advances,

and her frustration grew.

Three years ago, this familial feud reached boiling point…

coinciding with the birth of the family’s late-born youngest child.

Upon hearing the news, Kangwoon had clicked his tongue, thinking their parents had lost their senses in old age.

But Taeryeong’s eyes gleamed—

not from affection for the newborn sibling, but from calculation.

She reasoned that their father would inevitably be weak to so young a child.

While the others fussed over the infant’s wellbeing,

she planned to abduct the baby—timing it for when their father was away on business and their mother recovering.

Luckily, thanks to Kangwoon abandoning his own work to remain at the family estate,

her plan failed.

Even so, the scheme threw the whole household into upheaval.

Given the numerous external dangers and the fact that even their only sister would attempt kidnapping for personal gain,

it was decided that—for safety—Yuri would spend most of her time at her brother’s home rather than with their parents.

After all, the smaller, less populous residence offered far better security.

Hohyun, who had sensed the tiger’s earlier wariness but not understood the reason, was speechless.

His sole thought was:

What a dysfunctional family…

Coming from a warm, loving household himself,

everything about this was incomprehensible—

but the notion of parent and child clashing could be brushed off as something peculiar to the wealthy.

What truly shocked him was that a child barely old enough to read a clock was caught up in it all.

Kangwoon, unruffled by the fox’s horror, concluded matter-of-factly:

“In short, because my eldest sister’s like that, anyone connected to Yuri can’t be left unchecked.”

The ability to switch between human and animal form allowed for surprising freedom—

a small beast could navigate around CCTV blind spots,

and in human form, public transport and other transport means were easy to access.

So the tiger had decided to put in place a small safeguard before removing the collar.

As far as Kangwoon was concerned,

even if Hohyun was too much of a pushover to beat a baby tiger,

it was always better to overprepare.

A few sheets of paper wouldn’t themselves protect Yuri—

but they’d surely help deal with any backlash after she was rescued.

From this, the fox realized the employment contract before him was the tiger’s minimum safety measure.

Having laid out the background, Kangwoon picked up a fountain pen from the table.

“Go over it carefully—and if anything needs changing, or if you have questions, say… No—point to it with your paw.”

Hohyun had no complaints about the terms—but he did have questions.

Taking the papers gently in his mouth, the fox hopped down to the floor.

After all, to point with his paw, the document needed to be within his line of sight.

The gap between the sofa he had been on and the desk where Kangwoon sat was not small.

Even for a tiger, reading 9-point font on A4 paper from this distance would be impossible—

and as he trotted over to the desk to set the papers down,

a sudden thought flashed through his mind.