My Scumbag System - Chapter 248

Chapter 248: The Fox, The Sketchbook, and The Calculated Lie
I found Soomin in the library the next evening, tucked away in a quiet corner where the shelves muffled sounds from the rest of the building. She sat cross-legged in an oversized leather chair that swallowed her petite frame, a sketchbook balanced on her knees while a small desk lamp cast a warm circle of light around her. Her pink hair fell forward to obscure her face as she concentrated, the tip of her tongue poking out between her lips in that unconscious way people do when they’re focused.

I approached slowly, making enough noise that I wouldn’t startle her by scuffing my shoes lightly on the carpet and clearing my throat.

“What are you drawing?”

She jumped anyway, nearly dropping her pencil as her eyes went wide with surprise.

“S-Satori! I’m sorry, I was just…” She moved to close the sketchbook while her cheeks flushed pink.

“May I?” I gestured to the book, keeping my voice low and my expression curious rather than demanding.

After a moment of hesitation where her fingers tightened and then relaxed on the cover, she handed it over.

The page showed a detailed sketch of a harbor at sunset with fishing boats bobbing on gentle waves and mountains rising in the background. The style was simple but evocative, capturing not just the scene but the feeling of it. Surprisingly good work, filled with genuine emotion even if it wasn’t professional quality.

“Hwaepo?” I recognized the scenery from her file since I’d studied each team member’s background extensively. Knowledge was always the key to manipulation.

Her eyes widened as the blue deepened with surprise and something that looked like pleasure.

“You know about my hometown?”

“The fishing village on the northern coast, right? Known for its scallops and the annual Lantern Festival where they float paper boats with candles down the harbor.”

“You actually researched it?” Her voice went soft with wonder, like no one had ever bothered to learn about her home before.

I shrugged and returned the sketchbook, watching as her fingers caressed the cover with an almost protective touch. “I like to know about my teammates. Where they come from shapes who they are.” That wasn’t exactly a lie since intelligence gathering was essential for effective manipulation. Know your targets and their weaknesses, know what matters to them, and you can own them.

“Do you miss it?” I sat in the chair opposite hers, and it creaked under my weight while the leather felt cool against my back.

She nodded, her fingers tracing the outline of a boat in her drawing while her nail made a soft scratching sound against the paper. “Every day. It’s so quiet there and simple. The ocean tells you when to work and when to rest. The tides are more reliable than any clock.”

“Nothing simple about the city, huh?”

“Everything here is so loud and fast and complicated.” She glanced up at me briefly before her gaze skittered away like a shy animal. “Especially people. Back home, everyone is straightforward. Here, it feels like everyone has a hidden agenda.”

A faint smile tugged at my lips because if only she knew how right she was, especially about me.

I leaned forward and lowered my voice like I was sharing a secret, creating an invisible bubble around just the two of us. “Your other self isn’t an enemy, Soomin. She’s a part of you, the part that’s not afraid and knows how to survive in this complicated world. If you can learn to work with her instead of fighting her, you’ll be unstoppable.”

Her fingers tightened on the pencil until her knuckles went white. “She’s so wild and dangerous. When she takes over, I…” She swallowed hard. “I’m afraid of what she might do.”

“So is the ocean during a storm, but the fishermen of Hwaepo still sail, don’t they? They’ve learned to read the signs and work with the water instead of against it. It’s not about fighting nature, it’s about understanding it.”

Something in her expression shifted as a tiny spark of hope lit her eyes from within.

“Do you really think I could control it? Without losing myself?”

“Let’s find out.” I rose from my chair and offered her my hand, feeling her small warm palm slide into mine with that tangible trust she wore like a second skin. “Not by fighting dummies or sparring. Just by practicing the transformation itself, finding the boundaries, learning where you end and she begins if there even is a division at all.”

Later in one of the small training rooms, Soomin sat cross-legged on a mat while the dim lighting cast soft shadows across her face. Her eyes were closed and her breathing came slow and steady, her chest rising and falling in rhythm with the metronome I’d set up nearby. Tick, breathe in. Tock, breathe out.

“Focus on the feeling,” I said while keeping my voice calm and even, moving around her in a slow circle. “Don’t push it away and don’t grab for it. Just feel it moving through you like a tide, coming in and going out.”

Her pink hair began to shimmer as white bled from the roots downward like frost spreading across a window. The single ethereal tail materialized behind her and glowed softly in the dim room, casting its own pale light across the floor. Her eyes opened, still her own deep blue instead of the feral electric glow of her fully transformed state.

“I can feel her,” Soomin whispered, her voice trembling but still her own rather than the growling purr of the fox. “She’s excited and happy to be acknowledged. Like she’s been locked in a cage for so long.”

“Good. Now hold it and find the balance point. You’re not fighting her, you’re dancing with her. Leading without controlling.”

For nearly a full minute she maintained this partial transformation, the longest she’d ever managed without the fox personality taking complete control. When she finally released it, sweat beaded on her forehead and her shoulders slumped with exhaustion, but her smile was radiant.

“I did it,” she breathed while looking at me with something close to worship, her eyes shining with unshed tears of relief. “I actually did it. I was still me.”

“That’s just the beginning.” I helped her to her feet, and her legs trembled slightly as she leaned on me for support, her body warm against mine. “With practice, you’ll be able to access her strength while keeping your mind. Best of both worlds.”

She looked up at me with gratitude written all over her face. “How do you know so much about this? About Aspects and control?”

I didn’t answer right away, just guided her to sit back down on the mat before grabbing a water bottle from my bag and handing it to her. She drank like she’d been wandering a desert, grateful and trusting.

“Experience,” I said finally. “And observation. You’re not the first person with a split-personality Aspect I’ve encountered.” That was a lie, and she was actually the first, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Really?” Hope sparked in her eyes again like a flame catching on dry tinder. “Did they learn to control it?”

“Eventually.” Another lie that came easier than the first. “It takes time and patience. The right guidance.”

She nodded and absorbed every word like gospel truth, which was exactly what I needed. Hook, line, and sinker.

“Can we do this again tomorrow?” She asked with that eager, desperate edge that told me I had her exactly where I wanted her.

“We can do this every day if you want, until you’ve mastered it completely.” I sat down across from her and mirrored her cross-legged position.

“Every day?” Her eyes widened like I’d just offered her the moon. “But don’t you have other training to do? Other people to help?”

“I make time for what’s important.” I held her gaze and let the words sink in deep. “You’re important, Soomin. Your growth and your control, that matters to me.”

Her cheeks flushed pink, deeper than before, and she couldn’t maintain eye contact as she looked down at her hands. “Thank you,” she whispered. “No one’s ever made time for me like this.”

Perfect. Exactly what I wanted to hear.

I stood up and offered her my hand again, pulling her to her feet. “Same time tomorrow then, and bring that sketchbook. I want to see more of your drawings.”

Her face lit up like I’d just given her the greatest gift. “Really? You want to see them?”

“Really. Art reveals a lot about a person, their thoughts and feelings and fears.” I smiled and let it reach my eyes, made it genuine. “I want to understand you better, Soomin. All of you, both versions.”

She practically glowed with happiness as she clutched her sketchbook to her chest like a lifeline. “I’ll bring all of them. I have three more books at home.”

“Looking forward to it.”