Hiccup

Hiccup

Donation? Could she be talking about the donation feature on my broadcast?

Blinking as I looked at this, I hesitantly said to Han A-rin,

“Donations are okay. Since many people help on the broadcast, I’d rather give to them.”

When I first came to the association, I had no abilities or strength.

I briefly thought about trying to earn money through broadcasting, but

‘That was assuming I could entertain people or give them vicarious satisfaction.’

I thought it wasn’t right to receive donations in a situation where I’m not doing anything, or rather receiving help instead.

I thought I already felt sorry, and I didn’t want to do anything more to feel sorry about.

I was quickly shaking my head, but

“Ha-eun?”

A gentle yet warm voice.

At that voice, I unconsciously raised my gaze and answered.

“…Yes?”

Hearing my answer, Han A-rin smiled brightly and said to me with a slightly playful tone,

“Unnie doesn’t listen to those weaker than her. That’s why our graduate students can’t escape from unnie either.”

Graduate students? Was Han A-rin a professor?

Wondering if the “Recruiting Graduate Students” that occasionally appeared in the chat was Han A-rin, I raised my tail nervously.

Han A-rin patted my head and continued speaking.

“Hehe. I’m joking. But unnie thinks it’s better to keep donations open. That way unnie can donate… no, surely there will be people who want to donate.”

No matter how I thought about it, I still felt sorry and hesitated.

Han A-rin patted my head and said,

“If you still feel sorry, how about thanking the donors? Unnie doesn’t know well so I can’t say exactly, but when you receive a donation, you usually give a thank you reaction.”

“Reaction…?”

“For example, calling them unnie, or giving a kiss to the screen, or doing a dance.”

“…?”

I felt puzzled as Han A-rin’s examples seemed a bit strange.

But thinking the world might have changed and people might demand different reactions now, I nodded.

After pondering for a moment, I recalled something I had seen before and asked Han A-rin a question.

“I saw on TV… do I have to pour soy sauce on my face or something? Can I not do that…?”

At those words, Han A-rin showed a very bewildered expression and asked me back,

“S-soy sauce?”

“Yes. Like this, they lift it up and shower with soy sauce.”

“Uh… hmm.”

Han A-rin seemed at a loss for how to answer, looking blank for a moment.

Then she quickly changed her expression and said to me,

“You must never do that. Okay?”

“Why…?”

“That’s, well. Right, because it doesn’t suit Ha-eun. Let’s do something else.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant by it not suiting me.

But I didn’t want to pour soy sauce on my face either, so I nodded.

Han A-rin looked at me like that and muttered something like ‘I think it would be better to watch over her every time she broadcasts…’ while folding her arms.

I was about to ask Han A-rin if she was okay, but

Thinking it would be better to give her time to think alone, I shook my head and turned my gaze away.

‘Then I should think about what kind of thank you to give.’

Of course, donations might not come in, so this might be getting overly excited for nothing.

But still thinking it would be better to prepare in advance, I was slowly getting down under the bed when

Suddenly, I noticed a doll carefully placed to one side.

A dog doll with a band-aid temporarily attached to prevent further tearing.

I was going to ask the counselor to repair it, but she was too busy and I had forgotten for a moment.

‘Ah.’

As it happened to be Han A-rin who gave the gift, I felt tension slowly rising.

I tried to move my body slowly to hide the dog doll from Han A-rin’s view, but

‘It’s too big.’

Because the dog doll was quite large, it was difficult to completely hide it.

Seeing this, I thought it was a big problem and urgently tried to cover mainly the largely torn parts while hiccuping, when

Han A-rin looked at me like this and said to me with a pleasant smile,

“Oh my. Our Ha-eun liked the doll unnie gave as a gift?”

“… Y-yes.”

My tongue keeps getting tied.

To hide my embarrassment, I wiggled my toes and nodded, when

Han A-rin chuckled and approached me, saying,

“Thank you for treasuring the dog doll. It’s a doll I chose very carefully for Ha-eun.”

As those words were heard, the doll’s cotton stuffing poked out even more prominently.

Apparently, as I pushed my body in to hide the doll,

Pressure was applied and the stuffing inside the doll was pushed out.

‘W-what should I do?’

If she sees the carefully chosen dog doll so terribly torn, Han A-rin will surely be very disappointed.

Furthermore, thinking she might be sad or angry,

I tried to subtly push the stuffing back in with my hand, but the stuffing escaped my grasp and fell out like high school seniors craving freedom.

The thought that this is a big problem overwhelms my mind.

I thought it might be better to kneel down and beg even now.

I knelt on the floor, put my hands together, and said,

“I-I’m sorry…”

Thinking just putting my hands together might not be enough to show how sorry I am,

I rubbed my hands together and sincerely apologized, and Han A-rin froze and urgently said,

“H-Ha-eun? What’s wrong? Did unnie do something wrong?”

She seemed very flustered, as her usual composed tone disappeared and an urgent tone suddenly came out.

Hearing that voice, I was about to carefully tell the truth when

Murmuring sounds were heard from outside.

“Thank you so much for helping Ha-eun last time.”

“Haha. It’s an unwritten rule for spirit users to help each other, so of course I had to help.”

Judging by the voices, it seemed to be Seo-rin and the spirit user uncle.

Thinking my appearance might cause misunderstandings for others, I was about to get up when

“Huh?”

I ended up making eye contact with Seo-rin who was opening the door to come in.

A momentary silence fell.

I saw Seo-rin’s hands trembling as she pointed at me, then

Soon she began glaring at Han A-rin with an extremely angry expression.

“What… are you doing now?”

Usually she always used polite speech and showed respect to Han A-rin, but

Now, perhaps because she was overwhelmed with anger, she glared while using informal speech.

Realizing Seo-rin was seriously angry, I hiccuped and tried to stop her, but

“Seo-rin, you’re here? Why don’t you sit down first?”

The counselor, who had been watching this whole mess, chuckled and calmed Seo-rin down.

At that gentle voice, Seo-rin stiffened slightly and blinked, then

With a much more subdued expression than before, she carefully said,

“Uh… huh?”

It seems she realized it was a misunderstanding.

Thinking it was fortunate the misunderstanding was quickly resolved, I was sighing in relief when

Han A-rin, creaking like a machine, said to me with a voice full of bewilderment,

“So Ha-eun, why were you kneeling?”

At those words, I carefully hugged the dog doll I had hidden behind me and said,

“This… torn. That’s why.”

(This was torn, that’s why.)

Han A-rin looked at the dog doll with fluffy stuffing poking out with an expression mixed with relief, then

Soon let out a long sigh of relief and said to me kindly,

“From now on, you shouldn’t kneel and beg. Okay?”

“Yes… And I’m sorry for ruining the doll…”

“No, it’s okay because I can easily repair a doll like this.”

Han A-rin lightly flicked her finger and restored the dog doll at once.

I was surprised looking at the neatly repaired dog doll, when

Seo-rin, who had been watching this whole situation from the side, looked around here and there, then seeming to think it wouldn’t do, bowed deeply to Han A-rin and apologized.

“I’m sorry!”

At the voice echoing in the hospital room, Han A-rin waved her hand and calmly said,

“It’s okay. Since it was about Ha-eun, it’s understandable. I think I would have acted similarly if it were me.”

Seo-rin still seemed sorry and kept bowing repeatedly to express her apology.

Han A-rin looked at Seo-rin like that and then turned her gaze to me and said,

“Then Ha-eun? Shall we talk for a moment with unnie?”

Wondering if she wanted to scold me separately,

I decided to just say sorry no matter what and bowed my head deeply.

Han A-rin hugged me and patted my head vigorously while saying,

“Ha-eun, you said sorry to unnie, right?”

When I nodded, Han A-rin smiled playfully and said to me,

“If you’re really sorry, won’t you grant unnie one request?”

“A request…?”

Is there a request I can fulfill?

I was looking nervously, wondering what if it’s too difficult or hard to grant, when

Han A-rin pointed to a neatly folded ‘animal onesie’ on a nearby bookshelf and said,

“Would you wear the animal onesie for me?”

“……”

At those words, I blankly stared at the animal onesie.

A blue shark-shaped animal onesie.

It was extremely cute, but it was an embarrassing outfit for me to wear, so I wanted to refuse, but

“I’d really like it if Ha-eun wore it. If you wear it, I think all the heartache from the torn doll will fly away.”

Because she said such words, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

Feeling my face burning up, I was briefly considering running away when

“… Hunter Han A-rin.”

Seo-rin beside me called Han A-rin in a somewhat serious voice.

Wondering why, everyone’s attention focused on her, and Seo-rin said to Han A-rin with sparkling eyes,

“Can I call you unnie too?”

“Sure. Oh right, Seo-rin, you chose this onesie, didn’t you? You really have good sense.”

“Thank you.”

As if their fight a few minutes ago was a lie, they exchanged compliments back and forth.

Feeling awkward as I wasn’t used to this, I was stammering when Seo-rin brought the onesie and calmly said,

“In that sense, let’s hold a fashion show for Ha-eun. We bought it, so it would be a shame not to try it on.”

Hiccup.

I felt an indescribable fear coming over me and my body trembled.