Massage

Massage

 

Fortunately, this time I was able to prevent the Spirit User Uncle’s destruction.

Covering the flowers and pebbles given by my precious friends with both hands, I shout again to the Spirit User Uncle.

“An dae-yeo…!”

At those words, the Spirit User Uncle chuckles and says to me.

“I’m sorry… From now on, I’ll make sure to ask first.”

“… Nye!”

Although it’s a bit late, it’s a relief that he’ll ask from now on.

I let out a sigh of relief and explain to him what these are.

“This was given to me by my friends, so I can’t lend it.”

“This was given to me by my friends, so I can’t.”

At those words, the Spirit User Uncle awkwardly smiled and said.

“Is that so? But that flower looks like it’ll wither if left alone. Should I bring some water?”

Hearing that, I turned my gaze to look at the flower.

To be honest, even if water was brought, it seemed like it wouldn’t last more than a few days.

But wanting it to last even a little longer since it was left as a gift for me, I nodded.

At my nod, the Spirit User Uncle snapped his fingers and summoned a blue turtle.

Pointing at the flower, he said, ‘Supply it with water.’

Whoosh

The turtle smiled happily and then began to spray water from its mouth, soaking the flower.

Normally, watering like this would cause the water to spill and wet the floor.

‘Maybe it’s because it’s given by a spirit.’

The water that flowed down beside the flower rose up again and enveloped the flower.

As a result, without wasting a drop of water, it made the flower vibrant again.

‘How amazing.’

While it seems exactly the same as Earth, seeing things like this makes it clear that it’s a different world.

As I was staring at this in wonder,

The Spirit User Uncle stroked the turtle’s back with his finger and continued speaking.

“I’ll come to water it once a day. I’ll try my best to keep the flower from withering.”

Is it really okay?

From what Seo-rin told me, he’s an extremely busy person, so I was going to say it’s fine because I felt like I might be causing a lot of trouble.

I hesitate for a moment because I don’t want to let the gifts my friends gave me go to waste.

So after thinking for a bit, I decided that if I feel sorry, it’s right to pay the price for it.

I bowed my waist to the Spirit User Uncle and said.

“Thank you! If you need my help, please let me know…!”

“Like a shoulder massage?”

“……?”

I blinked my eyes, wondering if that was right.

The uncle rubs his own shoulders and tells me.

“Well, you know. My son won’t do it, so I’d like to get it from my daughter.”

I wanted to deny it somehow, but it became awkward to deny, so I just kept my mouth shut and nodded.

The Spirit User Uncle laughs and tells me.

“If you really don’t want to, forget it. I was just joking.”

It felt sincere for something said as a joke.

So, although a bit embarrassed, I decided to give the Spirit User Uncle a massage and said.

“I’ll do it!”

At my words, Seo-rin, who was next to me, shouted ‘Me too, me too!’

Suddenly, the number of people I had to massage increased to two.

While I was blinking in confusion at this situation, this time Chae-a steps forward proudly and tells us.

“Chae-a can do it well too!”

Seo-rin giggled at those words and said to Chae-a.

“What? Chae-a, are you good at massages?”

“Yeah! I gave a massage to a puppy!”

Puppy massage…?

It sounds like it would be soft and warm because of the fur.

As I was smiling, thinking I’d like to try it too.

Seo-rin praised Chae-a profusely and patted her head.

“Really? Our Chae-a is amazing, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, Chae-a is amazing!”

Chae-a seemed extremely happy to be praised, giggling and jumping up and down.

Then, as if wanting to show how good she was at massages, she ran to Seo-rin and started kneading her shoes.

“What, what are you doing?”

“Massage!”

“Ah, I see?”

The massage Seo-rin mentioned was probably meant for shoulders, not shoes.

I was laughing because Chae-a’s actions were so cute.

The Spirit User Uncle next to me started stretching awkwardly, almost artificially, and spoke to the air.

“Ah, I’m stiff. I wish someone would give me a massage.”

Feeling increasingly guilty at those words, I reluctantly decided to give him a massage.

Suppressing my embarrassment, I stood behind the Spirit User Uncle.

Then I tried to massage Spirit User Uncle’s shoulders with all my strength.

‘It’s so hard…’

Whether it’s because my strength is weak or his shoulders are tense, they’re really hard and I can’t massage them no matter how hard I try.

Having no choice, I decided to use my second method and started pounding his shoulders randomly with my fists.

Thump thump thump thump

Because my strength is weak, it feels more like tapping with my fingers rather than hitting.

Feeling strangely hurt in my pride by my unexpectedly weak strength, I tried to exert maximum force to make up for it.

Thump! Thump!

The sound just got a little louder, but couldn’t escape from the tapping sound.

As I was wondering what to do in this situation, Spirit User Uncle smiled at me as if very satisfied and said.

“Ha-eun, you’re really good at massages. Here, some pocket money.”

“… It’s okay! I can’t take it since you gave me water.”

“No, no. It’s common sense for adults who received a massage to give pocket money to kids, so keep it.”

With those words, Spirit User Uncle reached out and put money near the head of my animal pajamas.

As I was feeling restless thinking that money kept piling up near the head of my pajamas.

Spirit User Uncle stretched and said to us.

“Well, I’ll be going now. If anything happens, come find me anytime.”

“Yes! Thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing.”

Although he has destroyed or cracked my rare items before, I still think he’s a very kind person as I wag my tail gently.

Seo-rin, who was receiving a massage from Chae-a behind her, calls me.

“Ha-eun, what are you doing? Come to your sister quickly.”

Then, as she always does, she spreads her arms, gesturing for me to become her attachment doll.

Although it was a bit embarrassing, it was something we’ve done so many times that I hugged her without hesitation.

Seo-rin hugs me and carefully says.

“If anything hurts or feels strange, tell your sister right away. Okay?”

Since there was nothing like that at all, I nodded with a puzzled look.

Seo-rin rubbed her cheek against mine haphazardly and said.

“Oh, really, how would I live without Ha-eun and Chae-a?”

“It’s okay, Seo-rin can do it.”

“No, no, your sister can’t live without Ha-eun.”

Judging by how clingy she is today, it seems like she had a tough time with something.

Thinking it’s right to comfort her at times like this, I’m patting Seo-rin’s shoulder as she holds me, when.

Chae-a, who was near us, stares at us blankly and then says something with a serious expression.

“Chae-a wants to go on an adventure too.”

“Why?”

“Yeah. I want to play with the ants, praying mantis, and blackies…!”

Although Chae-a was reacting calmly, it seems she was quite sad that the blackies and insects had left.

Looking at Chae-a like that, I thought it would be good to comfort her, so I nodded and said.

“Then let’s go to the park in front…! Okay?”

“Yes!”

Since Ha-eun had warned us not to go out.

After getting permission from Han A-rin, we decided to go to a nearby park and first went to find Han A-rin’s office.

*

“Oh, little ones! Did you come to see your big sister?”

Han A-rin’s office was near the playroom.

As we entered, Han A-rin and many hunters welcomed us.

I felt a bit shy with all the attention on us, but I thought that as an adult, I should be able to handle this level of attention, so I nodded.

“Yes…!”

“Really? Oh, what should I do? I think I’m going to cry from emotion.”

While I was at a loss watching Han A-rin pretending to cry in front of us.

Chae-a saw this and hugged Han A-rin while shouting.

“Don’t cry! If you cry… I’ll throw stones at you and tell you to go away!”

“… Huh?”

Han A-rin froze in shock at these surprising words.

I was just as shocked as Han A-rin and stared blankly at Chae-a.

Chae-a looked at us and tilted her head.

“Are you okay now? Yes! Then you don’t have to go!”

Seeing that Han A-rin had stopped pretending to cry, Chae-a smiled brightly as if all problems had disappeared and then wandered off somewhere.

Watching this, I felt a bit down and fell into thought for a moment.

‘… Could this be one of the things she experienced while coming to meet me?’

It seems like it was when she said she ate whatever she could find because she was hungry.

It hurts my heart even more because she said it so innocently.

I’m thinking that from now on, I should do my best to make sure Chae-a doesn’t experience such things.

“Then… can we go for a walk!?”

Chae-a comes back again, grabbing Han A-rin’s and my hands, urging us to go for a walk quickly.

Han A-rin couldn’t seem to say no to Chae-a’s request.

She nods awkwardly with a smile.

“Okay? Then let’s go for a short walk.”

“Yeah!”

Chae-a seems to be thoroughly enjoying going out with us, humming an unidentifiable song while holding our hands tightly.

I’m giggling because I find Chae-a so cute.

Han A-rin picks us up and speaks to the hunters around us.

“We’ll be out for a bit, so please wrap things up here.”

“Ah, yes.”

The people around us nodded, showing somewhat regretful reactions.

Han A-rin saw this, smiled slightly, and then slipped outside.

*

As we come outside, clear and fresh air welcomes us.

The sunlight is warm too, making me feel a bit relaxed as I’m enjoying it.

Chae-a, who was next to me, carefully pulls me and whispers.

“Ha-eun, look over there…!”

That’s when I looked to the side and saw someone playing frisbee with a dog.

I was staring blankly, thinking how cute the dog was and how amazing it was that it could fetch the frisbee.

Chae-a whispers to me in a very serious voice.

“Chae-a can do that too.”

“Huh?”

“So Chae-a is going to take that and get praised too…!”

With those final words, Chae-a steels her resolve and runs straight towards the frisbee.

I tried to reach out to calm Chae-a down, but before I could grab her, she had already gone far away.

“I got it!”

Chae-a’s voice echoes from far away.

Chae-a succeeded in getting the frisbee, and then started running towards the adult who threw it, giggling along with the dog.