Baby’s Tail

Baby’s Tail

 

Seo-rin is the protagonist of this world.

And not just any protagonist, but a overpowered, justice-serving one.

In other words, this means that even if there are crises, she can resolve them without much difficulty.

To explain further, everything tends to lead to Seo-rin’s strength.

‘That’s why in the original work, Seo-rin’s growth rate was incredibly fast.’

The Seo-rin I’m seeing now is growing at a rate several times faster than that, which is visible to the eye.

I’m not sure of the exact reason.

Unlike in the original work where she didn’t receive support from others, I thought it might be because in this world line, she interacts with various people and rises more easily.

‘Since the basis is overpowered, refreshing, and domineering, originally her growth was a bit slower due to conflicts here and there.’

I heard that here, far from that, people like Han A-rin and Spirit User Uncle tend to support her, making her progress even faster.

As I was blinking absentmindedly, wondering about Seo-rin’s journey that now included connections,

Seo-rin smiled at me while fixing my hair.

“After we wash up, I’ll read you a storybook. Let’s go wash up quickly, okay?”

As soon as we got home, Seo-rin took care of all three of us, patting our heads.

As I was staring at Seo-rin while nodding,

Yuna’s eyes sparkled, and she put her hands together like Chae-a always does, saying,

“I wanna… see the storybook.”

She must have really wanted to see the storybook.

Yuna, who usually has an indifferent expression, came close to Seo-rin as if clinging to her and acted cute.

As I was blinking at Yuna’s unexpected behavior, this time Chae-a ran over and said,

“Chae-a too!”

Seo-rin was instantly surrounded by the little ones and smiled as if she was extremely happy.

Then she nodded and said.

“Well then, shall we go?”

The three of us nodded our heads in unison and scurried after Seo-rin.

* * *

I sat there in a daze, applying lotion to my freshly scrubbed cheeks.

There were various reasons, but I felt extremely sleepy after washing up.

Because of that, I was sitting there blankly when Seo-rin, standing behind us, skimmed through the storybooks and asked us a question.

“Is there any storybook you’d like to read?”

It seems there were too many types to choose from.

I was about to say that anything would be fine, but.

‘Yuna and Chae-a might have something they want to see.’

As I was staring at the two of them, allowing them to choose what they wanted.

Yuna tilted her head as if she didn’t understand and said to me.

“It’s better if the baby chooses.”

Then, as if telling me to choose, she looked at me and gestured towards the storybooks.

“……?”

Since Yuna seemed determined to yield to me without changing her expression.

I had no choice but to look at Chae-a, who was nearby, intending to let her choose what she wanted, but.

“That’s right! Ha-eun should choose!”

She passed the choice to me with a bright, beaming smile.

As I blinked in surprise at those words.

I noticed Chae-a glancing furtively at a green storybook.

‘It seems she wants to read that one.’

Ha-eun was relieved to have noticed it, albeit late, and pointed it out while talking to Seo-rin.

“This…”

At those words, Seo-rin pulled out a green storybook and told the title.

“Three Bears? Wow, you really picked a cute storybook, didn’t you?”

What on earth is a really cute storybook?

While I was spacing out, wondering about it.

Chae-a, who was next to me, showed an extremely excited reaction and said to me.

“Woah, Chae-a wanted to read that too…! It’s great!”

She seems very happy that we chose the same thing.

Chae-a was jumping up and down excitedly.

Then she hugged me from behind and dragged me to the living room while saying.

“Shall we go?!”

Seeing Chae-a so excited, I felt my mood lifting too and nodded.

*

It seems the main reason for reading a storybook was to ‘help us fall asleep easily’.

At first, we were going to read in the living room, but thinking the kids might not sleep if we read there.

Seo-rin had picked up the three of us, including me, and placed us on the bed.

I was lying on the soft bed, spreading my arms wide and wriggling around.

Yuna saw this and tidied my bangs while saying.

“You shouldn’t sleep with your nose blocked. You know that, right?”

She probably thought I was wriggling my body because I was trying to sleep.

I nodded to clear up the misunderstanding and then sat up.

Seo-rin came over with a storybook about three bears and said.

“I’ll read it to you, so come here.”

To be honest, I wasn’t very interested in storybooks.

But it seemed awkward to refuse at this point, so I reluctantly sat down next to Seo-rin.

Seo-rin looked very satisfied as she opened the storybook.

“Shall I start reading then?”

With that, Seo-rin began reading slowly, as if reading a Korean textbook.

“In a peaceful forest, there lived a family of bears…”

Although it was a bit awkward, she seemed to want to make it as immersive as possible for us.

She gave each character a somewhat lively voice before reading their parts.

“The papa bear was fat, the mama bear was slim, and the baby bear was very cute, they say.”

It seemed like they had turned a children’s song into a storybook, as the familiar lyrics were written in the book.

Just as I was thinking how cute it was made.

Chae-a, who was very excited, buried her face in the storybook and said.

“Woahhh, I’ve never seen such big white fluff before… It’s really amazing…”

Then, gently stroking the picture with her palm, she continued.

“It looks like it might go ‘roar’…!”

I was quietly laughing at Chae-a’s cute words.

When Yuna shook her head with a solemn expression.

“No, it’s not ‘eoheung,’ it’s ‘kreang.'”

“Kreang?”

“Yes. It goes ‘kreang’ and roars. I saw it when I was little.”

At those words, Chae-a’s eyes sparkle as she nods her head and shouts ‘Kreang!’

I’m smiling at Chae-a and Yuna, who are looking very proud.

Seo-rin ruffles both of their heads and continues speaking.

“As peaceful days went on, Papa Bear said, ‘Today, the interest rate has been lowered.'”

“…?”

Why does the interest rate suddenly come up?

Just as I’m feeling dizzy from the sudden start of this unidentified story,

Seo-rin continues speaking with a smile on her face.

“Honey, you didn’t invest in stocks or coins, did you? Just thinking about how we almost lost our house last time…”

Thinking that today’s children’s books are too difficult,

I’m wondering if it’s right to tell such stories to babies already,

When Yuna and Chae-a suddenly start having a difficult conversation.

“That’s right! Interest rates are important…! It could have a big impact on our economic situation!”

“It’s difficult, but that’s right. It’s a sad story, but loans are…”

As I’m trying to grasp what’s going on, thinking “What’s this situation?”

Suddenly, my tail jumps up and flutters, saying,

“Now I’m going to leave to find freedom…! I don’t want to go ‘ang-nyang-nyang’ anymore!”

Then it starts shaking its head vigorously.

I stretched out my hand to grab the quickly disappearing tail…

…?

Oh.

Something has become too bright.

As I was blinking my eyes wondering what was happening.

Seo-rin stroked my hair and said.

“Ha-eun must have been very sleepy. You fell asleep right away when I was about to read you a book.”

I fell asleep?

Hearing that, I blinked in confusion and shook my head while saying.

“I didn’t sleep.”

“Pfft, really? Okay, let’s say you didn’t sleep. Come here, I’ll wipe your drool.”

Seo-rin wiped my mouth with a handkerchief while saying.

“But what did you dream about? You were hugging your tail tightly and saying, ‘Don’t go! I’m sorry!'”

“……”

At those words, I recalled the shocking scene I had seen earlier.

My tail running away, not wanting to be cuddled anymore.

Remembering that scene, I blinked and felt my face turning bright red as I buried it in the pillow.

‘So, so embarrassing.’

I didn’t realize that not only had I had a strange dream, but I had also spoken about it out loud.

As I was trembling, trying to suppress my embarrassment.

Yuna patted my back from beside me and said.

“Ha-eun, Yuna will hold your tail for you. So don’t cry, okay?”

After Yuna’s words that essentially delivered the final blow, I was crumpling up, thinking I really wanted to cry.

Chae-a picked me up and said.

“Ha-euni is a baby, so it’s okay! You know?”

Then she made me hold my tail and my hand together and said.

“And let’s make up?”

Then she made my tail shake hands with me, swinging it back and forth.

I was dazed, wondering if this was right.

My tail suddenly perked up on its own, and as if forgiving me, it snuggled against me and started rubbing against my face vigorously.

I was gasping for air, finding it hard to breathe properly due to the tail’s sudden display of affection.

Seo-rin looked at me like that, smiled, and then said one thing.

“Looking at it this way, Ha-eun’s tail seems alive, doesn’t it?”

I agreed with that too.

While I was holding my tail and trying to calm it down with “ang-nyang-nyang”.

Yuna spoke to us with a very serious expression.

“Ha-euni’s tail is not just a tail. It’s a baby tail.”

“A baby tail? What’s a baby tail?”

“It’s a tail this cute. As cute as a baby bear.”

At Yuna’s words, the tail swayed as if agreeing.

Watching this, I was really thinking I didn’t know what was what.

Seo-rin, as if she had a good idea, came to us with a suggestion.

“Then shall we go ask Perseus if Ha-eun’s tail is really alive?”

Everyone nodded their heads quickly and their eyes lit up at those words.