My Little Fox | C.Seungcheol | CHAPTER 1
synopsis : a female fox demon is assigned to kill the prince and disguises herself as the long lost daughter of the minister physician to get close to him. as she carries out her mission, many fall for her charm, including the kingdom’s only knight, Choi Seungcheol. he grows suspicious of her, but his love slowly silences his doubts. when the truth begins to surface, one question remains. will her real identity be revealed, and can Seungcheol survive knowing the woman he loves is the one who will kill the prince he loves like a brother?
starring : cheol seungcheol
pairing : general!scoups x demonfox!femreader (will be encountering with all of the seventeen casts/friends/crush/enemies/siblings)
genre : joseonera!au, fantasy!au, slowburn, enemies to lovers, fluff, romance, thriller, angst, MINORS DNI
featuring : scoups and his fellow members of seventeen
warning : 18+, SMUT!!, mature themes, swearing, alcohol, blood, fight scene, weapon, READER IS A MANIPULATOR
“Disguise yourself as the lost daughter of the minister physician and kill the last descendant of the royal bloodline.”
That was what the letter said. You did not know who sent it, but you accepted it without hesitation because it came with a small pouch filled with money. To you, money was everything, especially when you chose to continue living as a human despite the truth that fox demon blood ran through your veins.
You had been doing this kind of work for years, using your powers to earn a living. At first, you hated it. You hated being reminded of what you truly were. But life as a human was cruel. Without money, you would die. So you chose the smartest path to survive.
That was how you ended up here.
Dressed in plain clothes, you pretended to sell vegetables in the middle of town, even though you had stolen them from a shop across the street. As you acted like an ordinary vendor, the loud sound of horse hooves suddenly echoed through the area.
“They’ve arrived,” you whispered, slipping into the crowded street to see who had come.
A few minutes later, a sharp smile formed on your lips when you saw the prince carriage right in front of you. Without thinking, you moved to act. But fate had already decided otherwise.
Suddenly, you lost your footing and fell forward, only to be caught by a tall, handsome man.
“Careful where you’re walking,” he said, giving you a playful wink.
Laughter from nearby women filled the air, clearly amused by his looks.
“Ugh, does he think I’m trying to flirt with him?” you thought irritably.
When you turned back around, the horse carriage was gone. The street that had been crowded moments ago was now almost empty.
“Argh! Because of you, I missed my chance!” you snapped, pointing angrily at the man’s retreating figure.
As you let out your frustration, a voice suddenly spoke from behind you.
“I didn’t expect a woman like you to be interested in a prince like that.”
You turned around, only to see another handsome man standing there. Not the same one as before.
“Are all the men here this good-looking?” you muttered.
“Yes, I know I’m handsome, but there’s no need to—”
“Hey!”
His words were cut off when another man smacked the back of his head.
“Can you stop flirting for once? That’s enough,” his friend scolded.
The two of them continued chatting, completely ignoring your presence. Taking the chance, you decided to leave.
Meanwhile, from the man’s point of view, as they kept talking, he suddenly realized the woman was gone.
“Damn it, Dokyeom! If it weren’t for you, I would’ve gotten her,” Seungkwan complained, scanning the area, hoping to see her again.
“No need— hey, isn’t this hers?” Dokyeom said, bending down to pick something up.
“Huh? What is it?” Seungkwan asked, looking at the pink handkerchief in Dokyeom’s hand.
“Probably hers. She was the only one here just now,” Seungkwan replied.
“Come on, let’s go. I want to look for another girl,” he added casually.
Dokyeom, however, stayed silent, his eyes fixed on the pink handkerchief. Etched into it was a symbol he recognized all too well. Without saying a word, he slipped it into his pocket, already determined to uncover the meaning behind it.
You let out a loud burp, a wide smile spreading across your lips as you looked at the empty plates in front of you, nothing left but crumbs. Fully satisfied after stuffing yourself with food, Junhui tapped your shoulder and took the seat across from you.
“Hey, how did your mission go? Everything okay? Need my help—”
“No need,” you cut him off. “I’m too lazy to pay you.”
Junhui burst into loud laughter. “We’ve been friends since we were kids. We’ve gone through hard times together. You can’t possibly charge money for everything.”
You stood up, rubbing your bloated stomach. “You know, I still remember when you—”
Before you could finish your sentence, the door of the eatery was suddenly kicked open by a group of demon hunters. Almost all the demons who had been eating fled immediately. Some, however, chose to fight back.
Including you and Junhui.
“What do you want here?” Junhui demanded, gripping the hilt of his sword.
“You already know what I want,” the man replied coldly. “The last descendant of the White Cat Demon bloodline and—”
His gaze shifted to you, who had been silently observing them.
“—the legendary White Fox, younger sibling of—”
The man suddenly turned his head, looking behind him at a figure you hated more than anything.
“Hong Jisoo,” he said quietly.
Junhui, standing beside you, immediately glanced at you with worry. He knew how broken your relationship with your brother was, especially after discovering that Hong Jisoo, the original fox demon, had chosen to join the demon hunters and abandon his younger sibling. Since then, almost all demons had despised your existence, as if you were the villain in this story.
“I quite enjoy watching sibling drama,” the man sneered. “How about we just—”
His words were cut short when an arrow pierced straight into his leg.
Everyone turned toward the direction it came from. Standing there was a woman dressed in red.
“Aunt Han,” you and Junhui said at the same time.
“Dare to lay a hand on my people,” Aunt Han said coldly as she continued firing arrows without hesitation.
You and Junhui followed her lead. Junhui swung his sword while you wielded your vermilion umbrella as a weapon. One by one, the demon hunters fell.
Until suddenly, your body was slammed against the wall by a powerful aura that felt painfully familiar.
When you opened your eyes, your brother stood before you, his sword aimed precisely at your pulse point.
You were not afraid.
Instead, you let out a bitter laugh. “You really want to kill your own sister that badly?” you shouted, eyes filled with hatred and resentment. “Go on! Kill me! Just do it!”
“Y/N—”
“Don’t say my name!” you screamed. “My name doesn’t deserve to come from your mouth!”
In a blink, you unleashed your power, throwing Jisoo against the opposite wall before turning and running out of the place.
Jisoo, who had just managed to stand up, could only stare in the direction his sister disappeared.
“Hey, Jisoo! What are you doing? Go after her—”
Before the man could finish, his body was lifted off the ground, suspended in midair. His hands clawed at his throat as if being strangled.
“Don’t try to order me around,” Jisoo said calmly. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Before he could do anything further, a woman shoved him hard. His power lost focus, and the man dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
The woman glared at Jisoo, warning him for what felt like the millionth time. This was not the first time he had harmed his own teammate, and the reason was always the same.
Hong Y/N.
The younger sister of Hong Jisoo.
Because beneath all of it, Jisoo only wanted what he believed was best for her.
Running. That was all you were doing.
Your legs burned with exhaustion, yet you kept going. Not because you were a coward, but because your heart felt unbearably heavy. Tears flooded your eyes, but none of them fell. Your chest ached as memories of your brother stayed painfully vivid. Loving him was still easy. Accepting reality was not. Knowing that your own brother had become your greatest enemy felt like the cruelest curse you had ever been given.
Lost in your thoughts, you ran without paying attention to your surroundings. Suddenly, someone slammed into your shoulder, sending you crashing to the ground. Before you could even react, the person was already gone.
You pushed yourself up, brushing dirt off your clothes, when a loud voice rang out.
“Hey! Hey!”
Turning around, you found yourself facing guards who looked like royal soldiers.
“Sorry, miss. Did you see someone running through here?”
“Oh, yes!” you answered quickly. “They ran that way. Go catch them! They even bumped into me earlier!”
Your finger pointed eagerly in the direction the stranger had fled. But before the guards could leave, one of them stared at you suspiciously.
“Wait. What’s that in your hand?”
You looked down and froze. A large pouch of coins rested in your palm, something you did not remember holding at all.
“Huh… when did this happen?”
Before you could react, the guard lunged toward you. Instinct kicked in and you turned and ran.
“I knew it! That person hit me on purpose!” you cursed under your breath while sprinting. “Now I’m stuck dealing with this mess. Where am I even supposed to run?!”
But fate was clearly not on your side.
You glanced back for only a second. In that moment, your body collided with something solid, and you fell forward, landing on top of someone else. You squeezed your eyes shut, bracing yourself for pain.
It never came.
Instead, you felt something surprisingly comfortable beneath you. Soft, yet firm. Without thinking, your hands began to move, exploring instinctively, your lips curving into a small grin, eyes still closed.
Before you could do anything more, your wrists were grabbed tightly.
Startled, you opened your eyes.
And there you met a pair of eyes that felt like they would change your life forever.
And just like that, you became the lost daughter of the minister physician.
After that incident, you were taken straight to the royal residence for supposedly robbing a prince. At first, you resisted fiercely. You had never even seen the prince’s face, let alone robbed him. As far as you knew, your mission was to kill, not steal. You even argued that this crime was far too easy for you. In your mind, you were more suited for assassination missions. Killing was what you were good at. What you liked.
As your punishment was about to be decided, a familiar man appeared and ordered everyone to stop what they were doing. He told the guards to remove your restraints.
At that moment, happiness rushed through you. You thought you were finally getting your freedom back, ready to return to your missions as usual. But before you could turn toward the exit, your name was called out loudly.
“Y/N. This belongs to you, doesn’t it?”
The man pulled out a pink handkerchief, a mysterious symbol carefully stitched into the fabric.
“Yes! That’s mine! Where did you find it?” you blurted out, reaching for it.
Before you could take it, he tucked the handkerchief away and told you to follow him.
And just like that, you ended up in a luxurious room, dressed in clothes far too expensive for someone like you.
How did this happen? All because of that handkerchief.
In truth, you could not even remember where the handkerchief came from. What you did not know was that it originally belonged to the lost daughter of the minister physician. The symbol embroidered onto it was a mark of their family, proof of blood ties.
The thought made your chest ache.
You had never known a family’s warmth. Never felt the love of a mother or a father.
Only a brother.
And even that…
Several days had passed, and your life had truly changed, one hundred percent.
Every morning, you would be fetched by the palace maids, dressed in new garments, and gently guided to the dining hall. Everything looked breathtakingly beautiful. Yet you knew you were not supposed to enjoy any of this. Your mission was still unfinished.
Today, you planned to make a move, to finally learn about the last bloodline of the kingdom.
Prince Kim Mingyu.
“Y/N, later today we will be holding a celebration to honor your return. Make sure you wear something more luxurious, my child,” said the man you now called father, or rather, the father of the lost daughter of the Minister Physician, Kang Doyeon.
Everyone said you had gone missing as a baby, kidnapped during the chaos of war. That was why you still used your real name, or more accurately, you had accidentally spoken it when he first asked who you were.
“Y/N? Are you listening?”
“Ah yes, father. I hear you. But I don’t think there’s really a need to do something like that,” you replied, acting as humble as possible. In this place, you could never reveal your true self.
“No. Your presence deserves to be celebrated. But unfortunately, the prince won’t be able to attend the ceremony,” your father cut in.
The only word that truly reached your ears was prince.
You immediately looked up. “What do you mean, father?”
“Our prince has been sent far away to sharpen his mind, to prepare himself to one day take the king’s place,” he answered calmly.
How am I supposed to carry out my mission like this? you cursed inwardly.
Then you asked, “Why so suddenly? Doesn’t the king still look healthy and strong?”
Your mind flashed back to the king’s face from yesterday, when you had ‘accidentally’ crossed paths with him, though in truth you had deliberately wandered that area, hoping to find the prince.
“Hm… the truth is, our king is suffering from an illness, one that exists internally,” he said.
“What do you mean?” you pressed on.
He sighed softly. “It’s nothing, Y/N. Just enjoy the life you have now. Father knows you’ve suffered a lot while I wasn’t there to protect you. Don’t worry about such matters. What’s important is that my child is finally here with me.”
He stepped closer and pulled you into a tight embrace.
Without you realizing it, tears slipped down your cheeks, moved by the warmth and affection from the man who now stood as your family.
“Why are you crying, my child?”
“Hehe, it’s nothing, father. I just…”
Before you could finish your sentence, the doors of the dining hall swung open.
The man you had collided with a few days ago stood there, breathless.
“Forgive the interruption, sir,” he said urgently. “But the king is in danger right now.”
Your father hastily pressed a kiss to your forehead before rushing out, leaving you standing there alone, your mind echoing with his words from earlier.
At the moment you watched your father leave, you accidentally made eye contact with that man, one who looked incredibly imposing. His eyes stared at you with pure hatred, as if he knew exactly what you were doing behind this act of yours.
“That man is terrifying, I need to be careful around him,” you muttered, rubbing your arm uneasily.
“Be careful of who?”
You immediately turned around, only to see two men who looked familiar, gazing at you with gentle smiles.
“Um,”
“Hehe, sorry, we startled you,” one of them said as he rubbed the back of his head. Meanwhile, the man beside him, dressed in full swordsman attire, offered you an apologetic smile.
“I’m Seungkwan, and this is my friend, Dokyeom. I never expected the woman I met at the market before to be the daughter of our Minister Physician.”
You returned a smile, though your heart was still racing from the earlier shock.
After that, the two of them guided you around the place, sharing stories about the king and his prince. Hours passed before they finally waved goodbye and went on their way.
As you lay down on your bed, your eyes suddenly caught sight of a letter placed at the edge of the table. You reached for it and began to read.
“Congratulations on your achievement. This is your reward. Be careful while you are here. If you need assistance, look to the moon at the nine o’clock direction. Remember, never run away from our mission.”
Your hand immediately grabbed a pouch filled with coins. Your lips curved into a smile as the letter dissolved into smoke the moment you clenched it in your grasp.
“Don’t worry,” you whispered with a sinister smile at your reflection in the mirror. “The prince’s life is in my hands.”
Under the moonlight, your shadow slowly shifted, transforming into a demon with eight tails and fox ears.
After being guided by Dokyeom and Seungkwan the day before, you decided to walk on your own today.
After all, what else could you do?
Your mission had to be postponed, your target wasn’t here. So, you took this opportunity to experience something unfamiliar, the life of the wealthy. With that in mind, you headed toward the market.
But before you could take more than a few quick steps, your ears caught the sound of clashing steel.
Without thinking, you followed the noise.
The moment you saw him, your heart began to race.
Your breath hitched.
Goosebumps spread across your skin.
It was him, the man you had bumped into before, the man whose gaze now locked onto you as if he recognized your soul.
"His name is Choi Seungcheol"
A small gasp escaped your lips when you suddenly realized someone was standing beside you. Before you could scream, a hand covered your mouth tightly.
“Shh, shshsh. Lucky it’s noisy here, otherwise we’d be caught already,” he whispered, pulling you into a more hidden corner.
“Hi! My name’s Chan. What about you?” he said cheerfully, extending his hand.
“O-oh, I’m Y/N,” you replied awkwardly.
Before you could properly shake his hand, he grabbed yours enthusiastically.
“Nice to meet you, Y/N!”
You smiled faintly as you steadied yourself, and Chan stood beside you, pointing toward the two warriors fighting in the open space.
“The one wearing green, that’s Minghao. He’s known as the Master of Martial Arts,” Chan explained.
Before he could even take another breath, you found yourself asking about the other man.
“And the other one?”
Chan grinned. “Ohhh, that’s Choi Seungcheol. Our general. People call him the Master of the Heartless.”
Your eyes stayed on the man as Chan continued.
“See that sword over there?”
You nodded, noticing the weapon placed carefully at the side.
“That sword is basically his life. No one has ever touched it. And once he does, every enemy dies in seconds. He kills like he has no emotions. In fact, he’s never shown interest in any woman. There was once a princess who liked him, you know? He rejected her right in front of her father.”
You scoffed softly. “How arrogant.”
“Right? Exactly,” Chan said, but suddenly he stepped back and tripped over a large wooden crate.
The loud crash echoed through the area.
Minghao immediately stopped fighting and turned toward your hiding spot.
And just like that, you and Chan were standing right in front of them.
A chill ran down your spine when you felt Seungcheol’s gaze settle on you, unmoving and unreadable.
“What are you two doing here?” Minghao demanded. “Do you even realize this is a restricted area for commoners?”
Seungcheol leaned casually against the wall, lifting a water flask to his lips. He took a slow sip, never once looking away from you.
Your mind went blank.
Chan nudged you gently. “Hey, he’s asking you,” he whispered, only to be cut off immediately.
“Did I say you could speak?” Minghao snapped.
Chan fell silent.
Minghao turned back to you. “What is your name?”
His stare was sharp, but that wasn’t what made your heart pound.
It was Seungcheol’s gaze, unblinking, piercing straight through you.
“H-Hey! I asked you!”
“Y-Y/N! I’m sorry, my name is Y/N,” you answered quickly.
Then the man who had remained silent finally spoke.
His voice alone sent shivers down your spine.
“Y/N, the daughter of the Minister Physician.”
“Y-Yes, that’s me,” you replied.
Chan’s eyes widened in shock. He hadn’t expected that you're the lost daughter, the one who people keep talking about.
Before anyone could say anything else, a voice interrupted from behind.
“Forgive me, my lords. His Majesty requests Lady Y/N’s presence immediately.”
And just like that, you were taken away, leaving Chan behind to face everything alone.
As you walked off, Choi Seungcheol continued to watch you from behind.
His lips moved softly, almost tenderly, as if the name itself held power.
“Y/N.”
LET'S MOVE TO THE NEXT DESTINATION
[chapter 2]
