Playroom

Playroom

 

It was too big to be called a playroom, and a bit small to be called a playground.

As I stood there with my mouth open, staring blankly at the surprisingly well-decorated playroom.

Han A-rin looked at me and chuckled, asking for my opinion.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

No matter what my current body was like, I was an adult.

So even when seeing something like a playroom, I was planning to nod coolly and say ‘It’s fine’ nonchalantly.

But all those plans went out the window the moment my tail started wagging rapidly.

As I was trying hard to catch my tail, which was moving too fast to grab.

Ha-eun enters the playroom with the black cats, smiling brightly as she speaks to me.

“Wow, this looks like a castle!”

It certainly does look like a well-built castle from this perspective.

I nod my head quickly in agreement.

Chae-a shouts “Amazing!” and runs quickly towards the castle.

As much as I wanted to run after Chae-a.

I wanted to maintain my last bit of dignity as an adult, so I tried my best to calm my excitement and act as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

‘It feels like going to an amusement park for the first time.’

How should I describe this…

The feeling of things you’ve only imagined suddenly popping into reality?

I don’t remember exactly what I saw or did when I was young.

But I smile, thinking that I can still vividly feel the emotions I experienced back then.

‘It feels similar to that time.’

Thinking that my heart is pounding unusually, I look at this scene.

As I’m about to quietly head towards the entrance below, Seo-rin starts squealing while looking at me.

“Ha-eun! Chae-a! Look at me! Let me take just one picture!”

Because she’s shouting so loudly, it’s impossible to pretend I didn’t see her.

Though it’s embarrassing, I think it’s better to let her take a picture, so I awkwardly make a V-sign with my fingers and turn around.

Seo-rin laughs playfully and tells me.

“Actually, it’s a video.”

“……”

After giving Seo-rin a sulky look.

I decided to pretend not to see Seo-rin and crawled into the inner part of the playroom.

‘It’s like a maze.’

There was a mix of small winding slides and passages that could go back and forth.

I smiled, thinking it looked like they had made the passages that hamsters run through much larger.

As I was moving forward, thinking how strangely fun this was, Chae-a suddenly popped out from the side and called me.

“Ha-euni!”

She seemed to have come through the balls scattered nearby.

Chae-a’s hair was standing up and flying around like a lion’s mane due to static electricity.

I carefully tidied Chae-a’s hair while asking her a question.

“Is it fun here?”

“Yes! It’s the most amazing and wonderful place in the world…! Chae-a is happy!”

As if wanting to express how incredibly happy she was, she flapped her hands and giggled.

I smiled back at Chae-a, finding her adorable.

Thinking it might be good to continue our adventure soon, I said to Chae-a.

“Then shall we go forward?”

“Yes!”

I gestured to Chae-a, who was nodding her head quickly, and crawled forward.

* * * * * 

Lee Seo-rin was blankly staring at the backs of Ha-eun and Chae-a as they entered the large play structure.

She called out to Han A-rin while letting her smiling expression fade.

“I have something I’d like to say for a moment, if that’s okay?”

“Sure. Sit here. Would you like some coffee?”

“Ah… Thank you.”

Han A-rin hands over the coffee and dessert somewhat skillfully while making eye contact.

Taking a small sigh at that gaze and gathering resolve.

Then, bringing up a serious matter that had been postponed for a while.

“It’s about Ha-eun.”

The moment Ha-eun’s name was mentioned, Han A-rin quickly erased her relaxed expression and put on a serious face.

Seeing this change in expression, I smiled bitterly and brought up an uncomfortable truth that had been temporarily set aside.

“Do you know about the Elixir?”

“I do.”

“Then, about Ha-eun being experimented on?”

“That too… ah.”

Just mentioning these two keywords was enough for Han A-rin to seemingly understand everything I wanted to say, as she closed her eyes calmly with a subdued expression.

It might be good to give her time to think.

As I deliberately wait without saying anything, a rather calm voice is heard.

“I can’t tell you much, but I’ll just say that the association is already making efforts to obtain the Elixir.”

It was the most hopeful news among all the information I had heard.

Just as a smile was about to spread across my face at those words.

Han A-rin smiled bitterly and added one more thing.

“However, the outcome doesn’t seem like it will be very positive. There are only 3 elixirs left, and the guys holding the elixirs aren’t particularly difficult to deal with.”

“Ah.”

 

“Moreover, while the association is decisively supporting Ha-eun, their policy is that they can’t make excessive investments in an individual.”

“… So that essentially means it’s impossible for the association to retrieve the elixir, right?”

 

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see about that.”

Saying we’ll have to wait and see was a euphemistic denial, so

 

I slowly calmed my emotions and fell into thought.

‘It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting much anyway.’

 

From the beginning, I had made up my mind to obtain the elixir with my own strength, so it wasn’t a big problem.

Of course, as I was still a trainee who wasn’t even treated as a formal hunter yet, all plans were unstable.

 

But still, I wasn’t too worried because I had been growing faster than planned so far.

“Still, don’t worry too much. If the association can’t get it, the dragon clan will, and if the dragon clan can’t, I’m here.”

 

Others might have believed those words, but

Perhaps because I had done most things ‘alone’ except for situations when I was with Ha-eun, I don’t quite trust it.

 

‘So rather than trusting others.’

Thinking I should build up my strength and either steal or obtain the elixir, I decided to move as I had planned.

 

“Mung mung!”

Chae-a and I had been wandering through the maze for a long time.

 

Rather than taking a long time because the maze was long, it was because

Small chocolates were hidden here and there in the corridors.

 

Whenever we found one, we were delayed as we split it in half to share between Chae-a and me.

 

I was looking at Chae-a’s protruding belly, wondering if I should stop feeding her.

Because Chae-a hugged my hand and smiled brightly, I couldn’t stop giving her snacks.

‘Chae-a is so cute.’

While I was patting her head enthusiastically, thinking this must be what it feels like to have a younger sibling.

The little black ones that had been following us closely approached me and started explaining something eagerly.

“Meung! Meung-meu-eung!”

As expected, I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

When I tilted my head to show I didn’t understand at all, the little black ones seemed to realize it wasn’t working and started tugging on my clothes, pulling me to one side.

‘Ah, so they wanted me to follow them.’

Nodding to show I understood, I was about to crawl in that direction.

I noticed Chae-a grabbing my body with a desperate expression, looking at me.

It seemed she didn’t want me to leave her behind, so I hugged her body and dragged her along, which made Chae-a giggle and snuggle up to me.

After following the little black ones for quite a while, what we saw was.

A golden box and numerous toys placed around it.

I hadn’t expected them to prepare even this, so I stared blankly at it with sparkling eyes.

Then, gathering my thoughts, I approached the golden box.

‘I wonder what’s inside?’

Considering they had scattered snacks throughout the passageway.

There’s a high chance they put snacks in it.

That made me happy in its own way, so filled with anticipation, Chae-a and I opened the box lid together.

“Wow!”

I could see a bottle cap with a mix of red and gold colors.

I was giggling while watching Chae-a jumping up and down next to me.

Chae-a grabbed the bottle cap and placed it in my hand with a bright smile.

“This is for Ha-eun…!”

“Huh?”

“Since I’m the older sister, I’ll give it to you!”

“……?”

Isn’t it the opposite?

I wanted to point out the mistake, but there was nothing more awkward than saying no here, so I had to keep my mouth shut.

It felt oddly unsettling, but I decided to let the small things go, appreciating Chae-a’s thoughtfulness in giving it up for me.

Anyway, now that we had completed our exploration, it was time to head back.

Chae-a fidgeted beside me, looking at me with a very cautious voice as she made one request.

“Hey, Ha-eun… Can I see the bottle cap? Just for a second!”

I’m not sure exactly what she meant by “just for a second,” but.

Guessing it might have come from “just one more time,” I handed her the bottle cap.

“Wow, it’s so sparkly, just like stars!”

Seeing how much she liked it, I was giggling inside.

I was about to tell Chae-a to take the bottle cap back, but.

‘That would be disregarding Chae-a’s sincerity.’

Deciding to find another way to return it, I continued speaking.

“Then let’s say we both own it equally. Got it!?”

Chae-a was so happy about the idea of sharing ownership that she bounced around with a bright smile.

Soon after, she hugged me and started rubbing her cheeks against mine vigorously.

I patted Chae-a’s head and waited patiently until she calmed down.

* * *

We returned triumphantly with the precious treasure (a golden bottle cap) found in the playroom.

The first thing I saw was Han A-rin smiling contentedly.

Wondering why she was smiling like that, I tilted my head in confusion, and Han A-rin said something to me.

“Ha-eun? Would you like to join the Hunter Association too?”

Hunter Association?

At those words, I blinked, wondering if that was really okay.