chapter_0617

617 – Love Letter

617 – Love Letter

“Ubuub bubuub.”

Gaeul covered her mouth and made an effort to speak.

However, ventriloquism was far too advanced a skill for our Gaeul.

“Gaeul, can’t you do it?”

“Naeng. Ikguannya.”

Gaeul shook her head.

Even though she was close to the answer, it seemed she thought it was wrong since it didn’t come out properly.

‘Hmm…’

What should I do in this situation?

I couldn’t say it was wrong just because I wanted to protect her innocence after she got the answer right.

After pondering, I decided to tell Gaeul the answer privately.

“Gaeul, actually, it’s correct for a person to say this.”

“Gu-ae?!”

Gaeul’s sudden loud voice made the other kids turn to look at us.

Startled, I placed a finger over my lips.

“Gaeul, this is a secret, so you have to speak quietly.”

“Gu-ae…?!”

This time, Gaeul answered in a very small voice.

She was always good at listening to me.

“Right now, we’re in a performance, so I’ll tell you how to do it after the show.”

“Naeng…!”

We happily watched the puppet show.

Perhaps because I promised to reveal the secret of ventriloquism, Gaeul seemed to enjoy it even more than the other kids.

“Chuin!”

After the short performance ended, Gaeul handed me a puppet.

It was an ant Divine Beast puppet.

“Ventriloquism is about opening your mouth but speaking without moving your lips as much as possible.”

“Lipsul.”

“Yeah. Look, like this… Gaeul an-nyeo.”

Since I wasn’t very good at ventriloquism either, my pronunciation was quite muddled.

But Gaeul giggled, saying my ventriloquism was good enough.

“Chuin chaekgo!”

Bouncing around, Gaeul ran over to me.

Seeing her reach out her hand for the puppet, it seemed she wanted to try it too.

“Here, Gaeul, you try.”

“Hek…”

Gaeul hesitated for a moment after receiving the puppet.

She seemed to be moving her lips silently, then raised her eyebrows and lifted the puppet.

“Junni-ju-a.”

“Jun… huh?”

Since Gaeul already had a hard time pronouncing words, it was even more difficult to understand her ventriloquism.

Junni? Since it’s Gaeul, it probably isn’t the kind of slang I think it is, right?

As I was unable to comprehend, Gaeul stopped ventriloquism and spoke normally.

“Chuin ju-a.”

“Aha.”

So that meant she liked it.

Hearing Gaeul say that made me feel inexplicably happy.

“Shall we practice ventriloquism more?”

“Naeng!”

**

“Ganni. Gaekgunni.”

The next day, Gaeul practiced ventriloquism again.

Unfortunately, her skills didn’t improve, but Gaeul didn’t seem to care at all.

‘That’s our Gaeul.’

Her effort and perseverance were among the things that made Gaeul so wonderful.

After leaving Gaeul to practice, I moved to find the other kids.

“This is delicious rice ball!”

In front of the guild container, by the extinguished campfire, Levinas had laid out a mat and was playing with the kids.

Seeing him place tissues on the grass and call them rice balls, it seemed they were playing house.

“This is a side dish…!”

Haneul placed thin and thick wires next to the tissue rice balls.

I couldn’t tell what kind of side dish it was.

“Haneul, what kind of side dish is this?”

Unable to contain my curiosity, I joined the kids’ play.

Haneul answered with a bright smile.

“This is anchovy…!”

“Aha.”

Now that I heard it, it did look like anchovies.

The unique fishy and salty taste of anchovies came to mind, making my mouth water.

“Then I’ll have this!”

“I’ll have this.”

Bomi placed a few stones down, and Saebyeok placed three goblin magic stones next to them.

Just as I was about to ask what kind of food it was, Gaeul approached with the ant puppet.

“Mum-mya?”

Was she trying to communicate through ventriloquism?

Her speech was quite awkward, but thanks to hearing ventriloquism all day, I could understand her roughly.

“We’re going to eat. This is food.”

“Ing…?”

Was she confused because I said it was food while looking at the stones and wires?

Gaeul, who had been carrying the ventriloquist puppet all day, put it down and widened her eyes.

It was clear that it wasn’t food, but she looked puzzled since I said it was.

“Ikgu donmaengi.”

It was the moment Gaeul pointed at the stones.

Bomi giggled and picked up the tissue rice ball.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Nom nom nom.

Bomi tore a bit of the tissue and put it in her mouth.

That alone was enough to surprise Gaeul.

“Mu-yak?!”

Gaeul’s eyes widened in shock.

Bomi offered a stone to Gaeul.

“Have one, Gaeul. It’s delicious.”

“An-na-an-nya.”

“Why? This is really tasty!”

“······?”

Gaeul received Bomi’s stone.

She looked like she was contemplating whether it was okay to eat it.

“Ikgu… ikgu… kkaekudak.”

In the end, did Gaeul choose not to eat it?

As Gaeul fell back with a thud, Bomi approached her with the stone.

“I’m telling you it’s delicious!”

Bomi shoved the stone into Gaeul’s mouth.

Bomi, who usually didn’t play rough, what was she doing?

Just as I was staring at Bomi and Gaeul in surprise, Gaeul’s ears perked up.

Gaeul, who had fallen back, got back up and started chewing on the stone.

Her tail was wagging rapidly.

“This is…”

Only then did I notice the sweet smell emanating from the stone.

The stone turned out to be chocolate shaped like a rock.

“Choco!”

Gaeul giggled and ate the chocolate.

Just as I reached out to try one, Saebyeok reached for the goblin magic stone first.

“Yum.”

Crunch crunch—

Saebyeok chewed on the magic stone like candy.

Could it be that wasn’t a magic stone but candy?

Curiosity piqued, I put the goblin magic stone in my mouth.

I thought it was candy, but unfortunately, it had no sweetness at all.

“Saebyeok, this isn’t candy, is it?”

“Yeah. It’s just a goblin magic stone.”

“Eh.”

Surprised, I spat out the magic stone I had put in my mouth.

“Chuin, ikgu an-nya.”

Gaeul shook her head, pointing at the magic stone.

And then she gently patted my head.

“This can’t be.”

What can I say, it was a bit shocking.

**

After playing house, we moved to a convenience store to buy drinks.

While walking slowly, I spotted Dahee sitting on a park bench.

She seemed to be deep in thought, leaning on the bench with both hands and looking down at the ground.

Was it a problem she was dealing with alone?

Or could it be something I could help with?

Not knowing what it was, I decided to approach and ask.

“Dahee, what are you doing?”

“Ah… I was just thinking.”

“Thinking? Is it something hard to share with me?”

“No, not particularly.”

After a moment of hesitation, Dahee looked around.

Even though she confirmed there was no one nearby, she came closer to me and whispered softly in my ear.

“Winter, don’t you think Woosung has become a lot more mature lately?”

“Um… I guess?”

The little kid who used to be greedy with cards had become a reliable boy.

Nodding in agreement, I noticed Dahee’s face starting to turn a bit red.

“Right? He has become handsome, hasn’t he?”

Oh?

Could it be what I think it is?

Suddenly feeling a rush of innocence, my tail perked up as well.

“Dahee, do you like Woosung?”

“Uh, yeah… At first, I didn’t feel that way, but the more I see him, the more handsome he seems.”

“I see.”

Indeed, the current Woosung was a boy charming enough to capture the hearts of girls his age.

I could fully understand why Dahee was showing interest.

‘Who would have thought Woosung would turn out like this?’

I felt a sense of pride, as if I had raised him myself.

It was a moment that made me feel inexplicably elated.

Dahee fidgeted with her fingers, displaying a shy demeanor typical of a girl.

“So, I was wondering if Winter could help a bit…?”

“With Woosung?”

“Yeah… I don’t know what to do…”

I pondered for a moment at Dahee’s hopeful gaze.

In situations like this, I thought it would be best to take a straightforward approach.

“If you don’t know, how about writing him a letter?”

“A letter?”

“Yeah, a letter with your feelings.”

“I’ve never written a letter before…”

“It’s okay, I’ll help you. Let’s think about it together.”

I’m not great at writing letters either, but it was better than not trying at all.

Seeing that my suggestion resonated with her, Dahee nodded vigorously.

“Then I’ll try writing a letter at home, and after we’ve both written ours, we can compare and refine them.”

“Sounds good.”

With renewed energy, Dahee headed home, and I sat on the bench and took out my notebook.

As I wrote in the notebook, I contemplated what words would be good to include in the letter.

–
Gallant.

–
Handsome.

Were these words too simple?

“Umm…”

I tapped my lips with the pen, lost in deep thought.

After sitting alone on the chair for over ten minutes, my family began to approach me.

“Winter, what are you doing here?”

Hanyeoreum placed her hand on my head.

Alongside Hanyeoreum were Master and Choi Jin-hyuk.

“I’m writing a letter.”

“A letter? Why a letter all of a sudden?”

“Just a love letter.”

I looked up at Hanyeoreum and chuckled.

Suddenly, the air grew cold.

“Love… letter…?”

Hanyeoreum froze with her hand outstretched, and Choi Jin-hyuk took a deep breath and looked at Master.

When Master turned to look at us, he wore an expression I had never seen before.

What kind of expression could that be?

I widened my eyes at the unfamiliar expression.