?!

?!

 

With the belated help of Seo-rin, we were able to clear up the misunderstanding that dad’s hand wasn’t actually in the ‘Dad’s Hand Pie’. 

While I was awkwardly smiling at the relieved kids, 

Seo-rin picked me up and rubbed her cheek against mine vigorously. 

 

“Ha-eun didn’t misunderstand, did she?” 

 

Of course, I’m an adult, so I wouldn’t have such a misunderstanding. 

But knowing they wouldn’t believe me if I said I was an adult, I just nodded awkwardly with a smile. 

As Seo-rin was rubbing my cheek for a while, Han A-rin asked us a question. 

 

“Is there anything you want to eat today?” 

 

I pondered for a moment at that question. 

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of anything I particularly wanted to eat, so I was about to shake my head when 

Seo-rin made a suggestion.

 

“How about kalguksu? I think it would be really delicious if we have fried rice at the end.” 

“Not bad. Then let’s go eat at Mamma’s Hand-cut Noodles nearby…” 

“?!” 

 

At the mention of Mamma’s Hand-cut Noodles following Dad’s Hand Pie, Chae-a and Yuna, who were nearby, froze again. 

Seeing their reaction, I awkwardly smiled, discreetly turned my gaze away, and pretended not to have heard. 

 

* * * 

 

“It’s squiggly and yummy!” 

“That’s right. Yuna thinks the onions are yummy too.” 

“Yum yum.” 

 

Unexpectedly, it seemed the kalguksu suited their taste well. 

After eating the kalguksu, the kids showed very satisfied reactions. 

Seeing this, I chuckled and patted their heads, thinking it went well, when Chae-a added a somewhat serious comment. 

 

“Did you eat well? You should say ‘Thank you for the meal’ to Yum-yum!” 

 

Just hearing that, it’s impossible to guess what Chae-a wants to say. 

Considering there was a recent broadcast about being grateful for the ingredients we eat. 

I thought it might mean to be grateful to the ingredients we’ve eaten. 

 

‘…Isn’t Mamma supposed to mean Mom?’ 

 

As I came to that conclusion, a cruel truth suddenly dawned on me. 

But I decided to pretend not to notice such minor issues and awkwardly turned my head away. 

 

Anyway, after eating the fried rice too, we were lying on the floor, rubbing our big bellies and giggling. 

Han A-rin, seeing us like that, chuckled and playfully said. 

 

“Kids? If you lie down right after eating, you’ll turn into cows?”

 

Chae-a stiffens at the mention of becoming a cow, then anxiously looks at the building outside the window. 

Wondering why, I turn my gaze to see what she’s looking at and notice a store with a sign that reads ‘Beef Specialty Restaurant’. 

 

‘Ah.’ 

 

While I was thinking that this must be the reason why Chae-a was so flustered, 

Chae-a, seemingly unable to bear it anymore, quickly starts to wake up Yuna, Seo-a, and me, saying, 

 

“We need to get up…! Otherwise, we’ll have to say thank you…!” 

“…?” 

 

Yuna and Seo-a look at each other, tilting their heads, completely clueless as to why Chae-a is behaving this way. 

As I was contemplating whether to tell them the truth while watching their reactions, 

Han A-rin picks up Chae-a and says it’s time to prepare to go home. 

 

* * * * * 

 

Around the time Ha-eun and the other children were heading home, 

The hunter community was in an uproar over a post uploaded by Seo-rin. 

 

— 

[Video of Ha-eun reading a storybook to Seo-a] 

 

– (Video) 

Hahahahaha, to explain the situation. 

Ha-eun is reading a storybook to teach Seo-a how to read, isn’t it just too cute? 

Ah… I’m really living thanks to Ha-eun. 

— 

ㄴ Oh my hahahahaha This is out of this world cute. Look at how she talks. Saying things like “nata ttwoyo” and “kwang haettwoyo” is just too adorable. Ah hahaha 

ㄴ OmnipotentHa-eunEternalLightProtectMe 

ㄴ What’s with this person? 

ㄴ Hahahahahahaha But every time I see the animal pajamas, it’s really cute. I should send some as gifts to my cousins too.

— 

 

Ha-eun was reading a storybook to Seo-a in the video! 

Actually, this video was first uploaded on Instagram, so those who wanted to see it had already seen it. 

As the wise Han A-rin says, “Cute things are always good to watch,” so even though many people had already seen the video, it was still receiving a lot of attention. 

 

While Seo-rin was very satisfied watching this scene, 

she noticed one comment that caught her eye. 

 

ㄴ Ha-eun is really cute. So when will there be a fan signing event? 

 

It was a comment requesting a fan signing event! 

Of course, the person who wrote this was probably not seriously wanting to get an autograph, 

but rather jokingly using it to express their admiration. 

 

‘It might be fun if we do something like that.’ 

 

As the person who left the comment suggested, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to try it out, so Seo-rin found herself pondering over it. 

 

‘We should do things like this often. It might help boost Ha-eun’s self-esteem.’ 

 

Although Ha-eun seemed fine on the surface, 

if you observed her behavior closely, you could tell that her self-esteem was lower than one might think. 

It was unclear why Ha-eun, who was loved by everyone, had low self-esteem… but one thing that could be guessed was that the reason for her low self-esteem might be related to the terrorist attack. 

 

‘Having experienced such a thing at a young age, it’s unavoidable.’ 

 

For children, parents are everything and have a tremendous influence, 

but in Ha-eun’s case, she lost her parents, who could be called her everything, due to the terrorist attack. 

It seemed that she might have developed low self-esteem due to the immense sense of loss and pain. 

 

‘Usually, when children face problems they can’t understand, they tend to think it’s their own fault.’

 

So to fill this, we need to clearly make her realize that it’s not her fault.

Furthermore, I nodded, thinking that it would be good to have her meet many people who like Ha-eun.

 

‘Of course, we’ll need Ha-eun’s permission.’

 

Thinking that she might be okay with it, I called out to Ha-eun.

 

“Ha-eun!”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to have a fan signing event?”

 

At this question, Ha-eun’s eyes widened.

She shook her head vigorously, saying it wasn’t possible.

 

I couldn’t hide my surprise when I heard Seo-rin’s sudden suggestion to have a fan signing event.

After all, fan signing events were something that only famous celebrities did…!

 

Honestly, I was shaking my head, thinking that no one would want my signature.

Then Yuna, who was holding my hand tightly, expressed a question.

 

“What’s a fan signing?”

“Um, a fan signing is where… where you get a signature from someone you like… no, it’s an event where a famous person gives out signatures.”

 

Seo-rin starts to explain, stumbling over her words as if finding it difficult to explain at Yuna’s level.

As I was blinking blankly while listening to this explanation,

Yuna’s eyes started to sparkle as if something in Seo-rin’s words caught her attention, and she began wagging her tail vigorously.

 

“Then Yuna wants to get a signature from Ha-eun too.”

“Signature? Oh, sign? Should we?”

 

Yuna seemed unsure of what a signing event was. 

But she said she wanted to keep doing this, probably because she wanted to play with me. 

I giggled at Yuna’s words and nodded in response. 

 

“Then I’ll do it for you when we get home!” 

“Yay.” 

 

Yuna seemed happy at the thought of getting my signature, wagging her ears and tail to show her good mood. 

As I was gently patting Yuna’s head while watching her behavior, Seo-rin asked me a question. 

 

“I won’t make you do it if you really don’t want to… but why don’t you want to do it?” 

 

I answered Seo-rin’s question honestly. 

 

“I don’t think anyone will come.” 

 

There’s nothing sadder than getting your hopes up only to be disappointed. 

When I expressed this directly to Seo-rin, she smiled confidently and said. 

 

“That won’t happen! Even if it did, couldn’t we just call the elders?” 

 

Wouldn’t calling the elders cause an uproar at the association? 

As I stared blankly at Seo-rin, wondering if it was really okay, 

She smiled brightly and explained why it would be fine. 

 

“Even if not the elders, there’s me and A-rin unnie, Yuna and Chae-a and Seo-a, plus the Spirit User Uncle and the counselor teacher…” 

 

As I listened to the list of names of people I had met and formed relationships with, I started to think it might be okay. 

 

‘But if only people I know come, isn’t it just a social gathering rather than a signing event?’ 

 

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

I nodded, deciding to bury the minor truth. 

 

* 

 

To be honest, I’m not sure why we’re doing a fan signing event. 

But since Seo-rin seemed to really want to do it, I decided to go along with it for now. 

 

‘It doesn’t really matter anyway.’ 

 

Since it wouldn’t be a big problem, I decided to give it a try and was preparing for the signing event when. 

Chae-a asked a rather fundamental question. 

 

“So, what do we need to do for a signing?” 

 

To that question, I answered ‘sign’. 

Chae-a still seemed confused and tilted her head while looking at me. 

Looking at Chae-a like that, I decided to explain what a signature is. 

 

‘It’s usually done with a pen and paper.’ 

 

But since we don’t have those now, I thought it would be better to do it on a phone, so I started writing the name Yu Ha-eun on my phone. 

As my hand was weak, it unintentionally looked like a signature, and I was awkwardly smiling when. 

Chae-a, seeing this, seemed to have an idea and said something to me with sparkling eyes. 

 

“I know what that is! It’s a worm, big sister!” 

 

I gaped blankly as I watched my signature instantly transform into a worm.