Chapter 56

I was gazing at my swaying shadow when…

Regaining focus, I handed my phone back to Seorin.

The expression captured was embarrassingly shy, so it wasn’t exactly to my liking…

But Seorin seemed incredibly satisfied, so I decided to leave it as is.

‘Too awkward to ask for a retake anyway.’

As I was feeling somewhat complicated about it…

Seorin pulled me into her arms and spoke calmly.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible. Wait just a little, alright?”

Though a bit sad, I nodded understanding there was nothing to be done.

*

A few days later.

Today was the day Seorin mentioned she’d have to leave for a while.

After busily preparing various things, Seorin looked at me and spread her arms wide.

Wondering why, I looked up to see…

Seorin smiling softly like Chae-a and declared confidently.

“I won’t be seeing you for a while, so let’s fill Hae-un’s affection quota quickly. Of course, Chae-a too.”

At that, Chae-a ran up to Seorin as if she’d been waiting and hugged her, then laughed and waved me over.

“Hae-un too!”

“Okay…”

Normally, I didn’t mind being hugged by someone else…

But now that I had to take the initiative, it felt somewhat embarrassing.

It was funny to feel shy now, but still… After hesitating a bit, I closed my eyes tightly and hugged Seorin.

“Ahhh, so happy~”

Seorin embraced both Chae-a and me tightly, rolling around before looking at us with sparkling eyes.

“I’ll definitely solve all the problems and come back. Wait just a little, alright?”

While nodding despite feeling somewhat powerless…

A good idea popped into my head, and I quickly called out to Seorin.

“Matte! There’s something to do!”

“To do?”

“Un!”

I nodded and called over Somtul who had been watching us silently.

As if he’d been waiting for our call, Somtul bounced over immediately…

I patted him and made a request.

“Can you maybe enhance Seorin’s equipment?”

“Pii!”

“Really? Thank you!”

With that, enhancing Seorin’s gear began.

Though this world mainly revolved around Seorin’s munchkin abilities, I wanted to do something for her since she always tried her best for me…

“Really? Sister is so touched…”

Seorin looked like she might cry from happiness as she rubbed her cheeks against mine vigorously.

“Eeeeekkkk…”

My face jiggling made strange noises escape me.

Trying to act mature, I covered my mouth with my hands…

“Uhbuhbuh…”

But my small palms couldn’t stop the sounds completely.

Just as I was flustered…

Somtul approached Seorin’s weapon, emitting light to start the enhancement.

The dazzling scene…

Though I’d seen it many times now, it wasn’t particularly special anymore…

Still, the light was quite beautiful, so I found myself staring blankly when…

Someone knocked on the door and spoke.

“Seorin, it’s time to go. Head to the meeting place.”

Recognizing Han Arin’s voice…

She peeked into the room and looked at me expectantly.

Wondering why, I stared at her for a moment…

Thinking she might want something, I quickly ran over, only to find Han Arin grinning widely as she picked me up and addressed the counselor.

“Did you see that? Hae-un came running first! I wish I’d recorded it to show others.”

Ah, so that’s why she did it.

Realizing I’d fallen for her trick and struggled to get down in retaliation…

But Han Arin kept apologizing and calming me down until I felt embarrassed by my own behavior and settled down.

‘…So silly.’

They say the body follows the mind…

But I kept wondering if I was acting immature because I was caught up in everyone’s warmth.

Feeling deeply ashamed, I resolved to set a new goal to make up for it.

‘I should try to act more mature while everyone’s away.’

Determined to work even harder on what I’d previously planned, I pondered what kind of training I should do when…

Han Arin gently put me down and spoke calmly.

“Hae-un, can you promise me one thing?”

“Nye.”

“Don’t leave the association premises while we’re gone, alright?”

At that, I nodded and looked at Han Arin…

She extended her pinky finger and suggested we make a promise.

“Alright, let’s promise.”

Looking at the pinky coming toward me, I smiled bashfully…

Then Han Arin, seemingly ready to go, slowly released her hand, patted both mine and Chae-a’s heads alternately, and left.

“…”

The room suddenly grew quiet.

Though I wasn’t lonely with Chae-a and Somtul around…

I still felt quite empty as I struggled to climb back onto the bed when…

Chae-a made a suggestion.

“I want to grow crops.”

“…Crops?”

“Yes! When people, ants, and shamans return, I want to give them delicious food!”

At that, I blinked, thinking it would be difficult in reality…

But then I wondered if using magic could make growing crops possible, so I nodded.

“Indeed, as Chae-a said, I do want to treat everyone to food.”

One of my dreams since coming here was to invite precious people to my lair and treat them to food…

So I decided to try this opportunity and nodded.

* * *

Though I declared my intention to farm…

A big problem arose: we no longer had a guardian to take us everywhere.

‘Until now, Seorin or Han Arin always took us, so we could go anywhere anytime…’

But now that they were both absent…

Without a guardian, it was awkward to leave the hospital room freely, leaving us with no choice but to wait for someone to come.

‘Of course, we could ask the counselor for help to go out…’

However, the counselor couldn’t leave their post for long due to their main duties…

Ideally, we should find another guardian to accompany us… but no one came to mind, leaving us slumped in disappointment.

‘Asking Grandma Leseia would be too much trouble, same goes for the Elder Dragons… Most viewers are strangers, so it’d be awkward to ask them too.’

Thus, unsure what to do…

The counselor seemed to notice our dilemma and kindly called me over.

“Hae-un, is something wrong?”

Encouraged to speak freely…

I hesitantly explained our current predicament, prompting the counselor to messily pat my head and praise me first.

“Oh, good job deciding not to go out without an adult.”

“…”

Though I didn’t dislike the praise, it felt somewhat embarrassing as I wagged my tail rapidly…

The counselor continued, looking at me.

“Hmm, so you need a guardian. How about I be your guardian?”

Startled, I quickly shook my head.

“No way. The counselor is busy, so it’s fine.”

“No matter how busy, I have plenty of time for Hae-un and Chae-a. Besides, I’m here partly for you two anyway.”

Come to think of it, that’s true.

Feeling renewed hope, I sparkled my eyes as the counselor continued calmly.

“Let’s go in an hour? I just need to finish what I’m doing now.”

“Ye-yes! Thank you very much!”

I bowed as deeply as possible to express my gratitude…

Chae-a beside me giggled and approached, bowing deeply just like me.

Seeing Chae-a, I patted her head approvingly…

Then Somtul inflated and deflated repeatedly, clearly wanting praise too.

‘Somtul wants praise too, huh?’

I petted Somtul’s head and praised him enthusiastically until he was satisfied when…

Someone knocked on the door and called us.

“Is anyone inside?”

A familiar voice.

Racking my brain, I finally remembered it was Researcher Jeong Jae-hyun from the lab where we’d asked for Somtul’s treatment.

‘The person who helped cure Somtul.’

Thanks to them, I got the white chair and met Somtul, so I was extremely grateful…

Excited to see them again, I tried to open the door immediately…

‘…My hands don’t reach.’

Facing the shocking reality that my hands still couldn’t reach the doorknob despite previous attempts…

I resolved to stretch more as I sulked.

The door opened cautiously as Researcher Jeong entered and greeted us.

“Hello teacher. And hello Hae-un and Chae-a too.”

Following proper etiquette…

I bowed, prompting Researcher Jeong to smile warmly and address us.

“I actually need some help from Chae-a. Can you assist?”

Hearing this, Chae-a blinked innocently before replying cheerfully.

“No!”

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