Chapter 28

It’s not that I was imitating adults; I wanted to argue that I was being mature, but…

This time around, as usual, if I were the one to say such a thing, its effect would diminish, so I sent a signal to the counselor for help.

“Huh? Hae-un suddenly wants some snacks?”

The counselor failed to recognize my signal and simply smiled faintly at me.

Realizing that I could only rely on myself, I became dejected when—

Chae-a, who was sitting next to me, stepped forward and spoke up on my behalf during the broadcast.

“Haeuni is an adult…!”

Could she have read my mind?

I couldn’t figure out how she managed to say exactly what I wanted to say.

As a gesture of gratitude, I gently held Chae-a’s hand, causing her to flap her hands happily.

Anyway, I had intended to declare that I wasn’t imitating adults—I was being mature—but—

[Discovery – Judging by how she takes care of her younger sibling, Chae-a does seem more like the older sister, doesn’t she?]

[SeorinSeorin – As always, Chae-a really takes good care of Hae-un. She speaks so clearly too.]

[SpiritBeastCute – Spirits are indeed quite mature.]

Something about the responses felt off.

While looking at the chat window filled with comments implying Chae-a was more mature than me, I resolved to assert my maturity by tidying up the blanket, picking up fallen trash, and petting Chae-a’s head.

[HousekeepingMaster – Wow, she really knows how to clean! Wish my own kids would tidy their rooms too.]

[WetTissues – Oh man, I want to help clean this up! Watching her tail wag while cleaning is just too cute.]

[RichAndSuspicious – There seems to be a chocolate wrapper under Hae-un’s bed.]

No one acknowledged my maturity.

Why is this happening…?

As I thought about what went wrong, I tapped the floor with my tail in frustration.

Seeing this, Chae-a looked slightly shocked and asked me:

“Is Haeuni upset…?”

Hearing this, I quickly grabbed my tail and shook my head frantically.

Chae-a sighed in relief upon seeing this and smiled brightly again.

“That’s a relief!”

“Yeah…”

Looking at Chae-a’s cheerful face, I reaffirmed that I needed to be extra careful with every action around children.

Just then, someone knocked on the door and entered the room.

“Hae-un? Are you here?”

When I checked who it was, Han Arin appeared.

Wondering if her busy schedule had ended, I tilted my head in curiosity as Han Arin called out to me and said something.

“Hae-un, do you remember Perseus from before?”

Although I don’t recall the exact details, I vaguely remembered him from the original novel and nodded.

Han Arin seemed to ponder for a moment before continuing her question.

“Would you like to meet Perseus later? Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. It’s entirely up to you.”

Upon hearing this, I hesitated.

I had read somewhere that dragons highly cherish their kin, especially hatchlings, often overprotecting them.

‘If they’re overprotective, it means they’ll do anything to protect me.’

In the worst-case scenario, they might cut all ties I’ve built so far and forcibly take me to where dragons live together.

‘Am I overthinking this?’

If they were the type to do that, they would’ve already taken me by now.

Still, better safe than sorry, so I decided not to meet him.

As I made this decision and shook my head to indicate refusal, Han Arin smiled faintly and continued.

“I see, you don’t want to right now. Alright, I’ll let them know.”

Does she look kind of excited?

She whistled a tune as she left, leaving me puzzled.

Then the counselor turned to me and asked,

“Hae-un, can you tell us why you don’t want to meet Mr. Perseus?”

It’s less that I don’t want to, and more that I feel uneasy about meeting him…

But saying this outright would mean I’m suspicious of someone I haven’t even met yet.

Deciding to maintain politeness, I opted for a roundabout explanation.

“Because I want to play with Chae-a…”

The counselor tried to suppress her laughter and replied, “O-oh, really?” while turning away.

Confused as to why she turned away, I noticed the chat rapidly filling up with messages.

[HazyThoughts – Ahahaha! Such nobility! Playing with Chae-a is important after all.]

[WantToPossess – Haha, playing is totally justified. Hae-un is still little, so she should play more.]

[GrantWishes – How to decline meeting Perseus: Say you’re going to play with Chae-a.]

Apparently, my reason for declining was strange.

Realizing this, I considered giving another excuse, but—

“Sniffle…”

The counselor was laughing so hard she almost choked.

Now it was awkward to make excuses. I watched her as I swished my tail dejectedly.

Suddenly, Chae-a picked me up confidently and declared,

“I’ll play with you!”

Due to my earlier statement, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

As Chae-a dragged me off somewhere, I tightly clutched my tail.

* * * *

—-

[???: Meeting Perseus is less important than playing with Chae-a.

– Everyone gasps in shock.

Meanwhile, Chae-a is happily dancing around.]

Commenter: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Perseus got completely rejected. Maybe Hae-un is secretly the strongest character in this world?

Commenter: Yeah, legit. She’s so adorable though. I wish she’d stream more often!

Commenter: Anyway, Perseus approached the association faster than expected. I thought it would take a month or so.

Commenter: Probably because of the Hunter Exam? They wanted to avoid exposing her to potential dangers.

—-

The Hunter community erupted into chaos once again due to Hae-un rejecting a face-to-face meeting with Perseus, the idol of hunters and a symbol of overwhelming strength.

Of course, rejecting someone isn’t necessarily unusual.

Individual circumstances and various surrounding issues can create situations where rejection becomes unavoidable.

‘Yet it became such a big issue because…’

Perseus’ proposal was rejected with a reason so cute it bordered on absurdity.

Specifically, the trivial and almost comically mundane reason of “playing with Chae-a.”

People went wild over this seemingly rational yet irrational reasoning, and one particular post rose to the top.

—

[Perseus Official Statement: I understand.

– Hatchlings should prioritize playtime.

Still, I hope we can meet sometime in the future.]

Commenter: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Perseus seems flustered and is just blurting things out.

Commenter: He probably didn’t expect to get rejected.

Commenter: If I were him, I’d probably say something similar out of confusion ㅋㅋㅋㅋ.

Commenter: I also want to play with Hae-un!

—

Even after being rejected, Perseus expressed no resentment and kindly requested a future meeting.

His unusually gentle demeanor contrasted sharply with his usual image, prompting a flood of posts.

Among them, one gained rapid traction:

—

[Perseus’ Timing Seems Suspiciously Perfect.

– Hae-un suddenly taking the Hunter Exam without warning, and Perseus showing up—both seem oddly coincidental.

After pondering for a few hours, I suspect there might be a power struggle between the Association and the Dragons.]

Commenter: Agreed. The Association created an exception rule to make Hae-un a Hunter, securing a legitimate reason to protect her directly.

The Dragons, seeing the Association’s attempts to keep control over Hae-un’s protection, sent Perseus as a warning to back off.

Commenter: This is all too confusing. Let’s just be friends.

Commenter: Hae-un is just too cute.

—

This speculative post analyzed Perseus’ surprisingly quick arrival.

Seorin narrowed her eyes and muttered,

“Hae-un is mine to protect.”

Hae-un and Chae-a are precious siblings she wouldn’t give up to anyone.

Thinking she would protect them no matter what challenges arose, she lightly bit her lip when a soft laugh came from beside her.

“Seorin, even if you’re determined, you still need to focus during meetings.”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Not really. To be honest, I was checking the Hunter Community too.”

Not sure how to react to Han Arin, who was still somewhat awkward despite growing closer, Seorin hesitated when Han Arin offered her a candy and said,

“Don’t try to handle everything alone. The more you insist on doing things yourself, the harder it gets in this world.”

“… Okay.”

“Sure, you’re incredibly talented, so you might not have felt the strain yet… But people can stumble sometimes. If you fall, you might find yourself in a situation you can’t handle. It’s good practice to learn how to lean on others.”

Listening to Han Arin, Seorin nodded.

Han Arin smiled faintly at her reaction and continued,

“I sound like a hypocrite considering I spend most of my time locked up in the lab, huh?”

“No, not really.”

Though she couldn’t deny it entirely, Seorin remained silent with an awkward smile until Han Arin sighed softly.

“Still, it’s advice based on experience, so please take it to heart.”

“Yes.”

Feeling like she understood, Seorin nodded when something stirred in her pocket.

Thinking it was a bug, she opened her pocket only to find Kamangi rolling around inside.

‘What are these guys doing here?’

Baffled by the unexpected development, Seorin blinked repeatedly at the Kamangi.

* * * *

I was being dragged somewhere by Chae-a.

Though technically moving somewhere, since Chae-a could only drag me within the confines of the hospital room, I followed passively.

Suddenly, Chae-a leapt onto the desk, grabbed a phone, and dashed toward me.

“This is Hae-un’s!”

Is she saying we must continue streaming even if we collapse?

Deciding to follow Chae-a’s professional dedication, I stared blankly at the phone screen when a message from our mysterious viewer appeared.

[MysteriousViewer – Miss Hae-un, if it’s not too much trouble, could you meet Perseus? He has been eagerly anticipating this meeting for days.]

This is the first time Mysterious Viewer has made such a request, so I’m conflicted.

As I contemplated the mysterious viewer’s request, another comment caught my eye.

[MysteriousViewer – Considering how much he wants to meet you, Perseus even prepared churros for you. Perhaps meeting briefly and grabbing a snack wouldn’t be bad.]

At the sight of this sentence, I unconsciously grinned and nodded.

Grabbing my wildly wagging tail, I started imagining how delicious the churros would be when—

I realized I shouldn’t act this way.

If Han Arin suggested it, my safety should be fine.

Besides, I wouldn’t be going alone—Han Arin would be with me, so there shouldn’t be any major issues.

Swallowing nervously, I thought,

‘Still, those churros sound yummy.’

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