Chapter 86

Han Arin panicked at Chae-a’s words, then quickly waved her hands as she began to explain.

“By ‘black bean noodles,’ I didn’t mean the Kamangis! I was talking about the food called black bean noodles… Anyway, it wasn’t about Kamangis.”

She babbled on uncertainly for a moment before letting out a long sigh and telling Chae-a:

“There’s no need to worry.”

At this, Chae-a let out a sigh of relief, grinned mischievously, and said:

“Have you eaten black bean noodles? Chae-a hasn’t even tried them yet!”

“You’d probably love them. I’ve never seen a baby who doesn’t like black bean noodles.”

“Wow… But Chae-a isn’t a baby! She’s an adult!”

“Yeah, yeah, even adults rarely dislike them.”

Chae-a seemed satisfied with this answer and shook her round cheeks vigorously while giggling. They decided to eat black bean noodles, but since delivery would take a bit, they agreed to use the waiting time to move their things from the hospital room.

Honestly, Han Arin thought there wouldn’t be much stuff to move. But upon entering the hospital room, they realized there was a mountain of things to relocate.

“Cookies and dolls…!”

They had stacked up all the gifts they’d received into a mountain, treating the hospital room as if it were filled with decorations that had always been there. Of course, thanks to Han Arin using magic, moving these items wasn’t too difficult. However, Yuna looked a little sad as Han Arin struggled under the weight of an oversized doll.

“It’s nice here…”

Apparently, Yuna had grown attached to the place. Han Arin set down the doll momentarily, patted Yuna gently, and smiled reassuringly.

“Of course, we’ll come back again!”

Hearing this, Yuna brightened up and nodded enthusiastically. Feeling relieved that Yuna’s mood had improved, Han Arin hugged the doll tightly once more when the counselor teacher approached them slowly and spoke.

“The teacher will be elsewhere soon, so instead of this room, please come to the one across the hall, alright?”

“Hmm!”

“You must visit. Otherwise, the teacher might feel very disappointed.”

As the counselor smiled playfully, Chae-a, who was walking alongside them, asked in confusion:

“Huh? Why is the teacher leaving? Will you come with us, Chae-a?”

Then she ran over, grabbed the counselor’s hand, and tried to drag her along.

The counselor realized what Chae-a meant—living together at home—and hesitated for a moment before responding carefully:

“Ah, Chae-a, from now on, the teacher needs to be somewhere else.”

Despite the counselor’s calm tone to avoid stirring emotions, Chae-a tilted her head, unable to accept not being able to stay with the counselor.

Before Han Arin could say something to comfort Chae-a,

“The teacher also has to go home, so she’ll be somewhere else.”

Yuna explained on behalf of everyone. Upon hearing this, Chae-a stared silently at the counselor for a moment, then smiled brightly and waved goodbye.

“See you later!”

Her overly easy farewell left the counselor looking somewhat hurt, but Han Arin was grateful that Chae-a hadn’t cried. With that, they finished moving the rest of their belongings, and Han Arin struggled to carry the doll.

*

After finishing moving, the black bean noodles arrived just in time. They gathered around, laid out newspaper, and placed the noodles and sweet-and-sour pork on top. Since sweet-and-sour pork wasn’t something they ate often, everyone’s eyes sparkled, especially Seorin, who giggled and pinched Han Arin’s cheek.

“You’re drooling already.”

Realizing she was indeed drooling, Han Arin shook her head and swallowed.

Seorin pulled her close affectionately and said:

“Sister will cut the noodles for you, so just wait.”

But Han Arin shook her head; she preferred eating directly rather than cutting the noodles. Emphasizing “Of course!” twice, she sat politely and waited patiently for the noodles. Seeing this, Yuna giggled, pinched her cheek, and teased:

“Is Haeuni hungry? Let me take care of you!”

Clearly, Han Arin’s eagerness to eat the noodles was obvious. Embarrassed, she buried her face in her tail until Seorin served her some noodles on a small plate.

“If you want more, just say so. Now it’s Chae-a and Yuna’s turn.”

Looking at the noodles in front of her, Han Arin carefully lowered her tail and slowly picked up the fork to stab a noodle, which she then pushed into her mouth.

“Delicious…”

It was so good that her tail wagged uncontrollably without her noticing. Lost in the rich, salty, and slightly sweet flavor, she spaced out until Seorin placed a piece of sweet-and-sour pork on her plate.

“Hae-un’s mouth must be small, so even one noodle seems hard to eat.”

With a playful tone, Han Arin glanced at her plate and saw a strand of noodles cut neatly in half. Though she thought she had stuffed her mouth full, the cut made her feel awkward—but then she thought:

“This means I can eat more than others with the same amount!”

Deciding it wasn’t entirely bad, she chewed happily.

“Try the sweet-and-sour pork. It’s sweet and delicious.”

Upon hearing “sweet-and-sour pork,” Han Arin nodded quickly, finished her noodles, and took a big bite of the pork. However,

“That looks like a puppy bite, so cute! Oh my goodness, I have to take a picture of this!”

Because her mouth was so small, only a tiny chunk had been bitten off the pork. Watching Seorin take a photo of her meal, Han Arin tilted her head in confusion. Just as she refocused on the noodles, Yuna and Chae-a started stacking sweet-and-sour pork onto her plate.

“Eat more, little one?”

“Yes, eat lots! Please!”

In no time, her plate became a mountain of sweet-and-sour pork. Panicking, Han Arin thought:

“At this rate, my plate will become a mountain of sweet-and-sour pork!”

Deciding to escape, she grabbed her plate and stood up. Suddenly, Somtul let out a “Pee!” and came forward, opening its mouth wide and making chewing motions. It seemed to be asking for sweet-and-sour pork too. Carefully picking it up with her fork, Han Arin offered it to Somtul.

“Pee!?”

Somtul reacted with surprise, jumped up excitedly, and began hopping around them while chirping.

“It must taste really good.”

Thinking how well it suited Somtul’s taste, Han Arin smiled. Meanwhile, Chae-a, who was stuffing her mouth with noodles, asked:

“But how do they make this? It’s black, so do they make it out of night?”

“Night?”

“Yes! When it gets dark at night, they collect it and make this!”

Chae-a mimicked grabbing something in the air. Amused by her expression, Han Arin chuckled. Nearby, Han Arin suddenly looked surprised and said:

“Oh my gosh, how did you know? This is exactly made from night!”

At this revelation, Chae-a’s eyes widened in amazement. Looking at her bowl of noodles, she exclaimed:

“Amazing… Chae-a should learn to make this someday!”

“…”

“Even the Kamangis say so.”

Chae-a wiped her hair sticking to her face with her palm and suggested:

“So, Haeuni and Yuna, let’s go catch some night together? Know what I mean?”

“I understand! Yuna can jump high, so I’ll definitely catch it!”

“Great idea!”

Han Arin blinked at their noisy conversation while continuing to eat quietly. Then Han Arin made a proposal:

“Speaking of which, babies, if you get bored while we’re gone, how about visiting the daycare center nearby? It’s not really a school, more like a playroom, super fun!”

Confused, Han Arin clarified further:

“Yes, it’s a babysitting service provided by the association for our welfare. You can learn things, have cookie parties, and it’s supposed to be really enjoyable. What do you think?”

Han Arin probably suggested this because the mana circulation research might take longer than expected. After pondering for a moment, Han Arin decided it might be worth trying once and nodded. But Yuna and Chae-a froze stiff and said:

“If you go in, you can’t come out. No playing. It’s scary!”

“Yes… Plus, they only teach boring stuff, you have to sit still for a long time, and you can’t bring animals!”

“Hmm?”

Hearing this, Han Arin quickly waved her hands in panic.

“N-no, that’s a regular school! The one I mentioned isn’t a real school, it’s… uh… something like a school, don’t worry!”

So flustered that her words came out jumbled. After calming them down, Han Arin told her:

“We’ll try it another time when the opportunity arises! For now, let’s focus on practicing mana, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Hmm, maybe we should ask Sung Na-yeon to look after them for a while.”

While Han Arin was thinking aloud, Chae-a and Yuna approached her and whispered:

“If someone says you have to go, run to the mountains! Got it?”

“Kamangis will help! Don’t worry, Haeuni…”

The fear of daycare planted by Jin-a was evidently strong, as they were already plotting their escape. Listening to their concerns, Han Arin chuckled awkwardly, unsure how to reassure them.

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