pop pop

pop pop

Pop pop pop pop

Every time I move vigorously, popping sounds echo.

As I see all the spirits and spirit users’ gazes turning towards me, I feel like I want to hide in a mouse hole right now.

The spirits watching me nearby started flocking towards me as if enchanted.

“Meow.”

“Woof woof!”

“Squeak squeak!”

Numerous animal (spirit) forms surrounded me, clinging to me and showing excited reactions while each saying something in their own way.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

But I could feel that they all approached me happily, so I found myself wagging my tail vigorously. The Spirit User Uncle next to me smiled and said to me.

“The spirits like the popping sound Ha-eun is making.”

Hearing those words, I blinked and looked down blankly.

Considering just the sound itself, it was cute but too noisy and embarrassing, so I wanted to erase it if possible.

‘But the spirits like it.’

At least while I’m here, I decide to leave it as it is for the spirits, showing my embarrassment.

A puppy next to me that was looking at me starts licking my cheek randomly.

A warm and soft sensation!

I’m so surprised that I freeze up instantly, standing still like a statue.

Chae-a, who was next to me, seemed to think this wouldn’t do, so she quickly approached and pushed away the puppy and cats while saying.

“Ha-eun is scared like this!”

It seemed she was trying to protect me by embracing me.

I felt embarrassed again watching Chae-a’s actions.

‘I should be protecting Chae-a, but Chae-a is protecting me…’

It feels like my tail is standing up straight from the embarrassment of being protected by a baby.

Feeling my face getting hot, I rub my cheeks with both hands.

Then, pulling myself together, I said to Chae-a.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing! I’m your big sister, so it’s natural!”

“…?”

It’s quite awkward to deny it in front of Chae-a, who looks very proud and happy.

After a moment of internal conflict, I think that if Chae-a is happy, that’s enough, and I smile awkwardly.

The Spirit User Uncle smiles warmly at us and says.

“Chae-a takes good care of her little sister. Now, Chae-a, since you did a good deed, uncle will…”

“Meow!”

“Huh?”

Chae-a still seems to be angry at the Spirit Master uncle.

She starts to threaten him by raising both hands high, like a lesser panda.

 

I pat Chae-a’s head to calm her down, and she stops threatening and snuggles into my arms.

“It’s okay.”

 

While I’m comforting Chae-a and patting her until she calms down,

The Spirit Master uncle reveals a very sad expression and says to me.

 

“Um… it was just a joke.”

At those words, the Spirit Master uncle standing next to him smiles as if he finds it amusing and says,

 

“Well, you reap what you sow. Why don’t you try giving her a gift that Chae-a might like and try to win her over as much as possible?”

“I guess I should…”

 

I looked at Chae-a with a strange expression as I heard the conversation from the side.

From my perspective, the way to appease Chae-a’s anger wasn’t to buy her gifts, but to tell her how cute insects are.

 

I contemplated for a moment whether to tell them this answer or not.

‘The person who destroyed my lair twice.’

 

Remembering that he destroyed my precious lair, I got a little sulky and kept my mouth shut.

It’s true that he’s been incredibly kind and I’m grateful to him, but I felt that this was a separate issue.

 

‘Anyway… I’ll keep watching, and if it seems like they really can’t find the answer, I can tell them then.’

So I decided to leave it alone for a while, when

 

The cat in front of me lifts its front paws and repeatedly opens and closes them, then starts to express something by pressing firmly on the floor.

Wondering what it means, I tilt my head, and Chae-a next to me giggles and explains what it signifies.

 

“The kitty wants to make popping sounds too!”

Ah, so that’s why it behaved like that.

After pondering for a moment at those words, I made a request to Somteol, who was observing the situation from above my head.

“Somteol…! Can you make popping sounds for the spirits too?”

Upon hearing this, Somteol thought for a moment, then nodded and chirped ‘Pii!’

It then went down and blew a white light into the plastic bag I was holding.

‘A plastic bag?’

I didn’t quite understand why it chose to put it there specifically.

But thinking that Somteol must have its own reasons, I watched.

The cat, which had been looking at me enviously, suddenly thrust its body into the plastic bag and started moving its paws wildly.

Pop pop pop pop pop.

The popping sounds spread quickly as it moved.

Surprised by these sounds, I looked at Somteol with wide eyes.

‘Could it be that when enhancing, you can enhance in any way you want?’

Thinking that this would be amazing if true, I continued watching.

Somteol, looking very proud, pushed its head towards me and started laughing with a ‘Piii!’

“Well done!”

“Pii!”

After vigorously patting Somteol’s head, I decided to get back to work and looked around.

‘Now, the attention won’t be focused solely on my popping sounds anymore.’

You’ll hear popping sounds from here and there.

I thought I could clean with less attention on me, so I tried to move around and clean, but.

“Ha-eun, you don’t need to clean. Just rest.”

“Oh, I’ll do this? Come on, Ha-eun, why don’t you sit here?”

Whenever I tried to clean, countless interruptions came in, and if I just picked up trash, I fell into an endless cycle of being seated in a chair…!

At this point, I became somewhat stubborn and thought I would clean no matter what, so I kept going down while struggling.

“Cleaning finished!”

The Spirit User Uncles took away my job by clearing all the trash before I could pick it up.

I was so frustrated and sad about that, I sat down on the floor helplessly and blankly.

Then I heard someone coming in.

“Ha-eun, Chae-a, sister is here… huh?”

Wondering who it was, I checked and saw Han A-rin’s face.

It seems she came here right after finishing her work.

While I was looking at Han A-rin with a blank expression, she became very flustered and started asking people around about the reason.

“Well, is it because we threw away the trash instead? I’m not sure either.”

“Maybe she’s tired?”

Since she couldn’t get a clear answer no matter where she asked, Han A-rin thought for a moment.

Feeling that this wouldn’t do, she decided to ask me directly about the reason.

“Ha-eun, why are you like that?”

At that question, I was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to answer.

I realized I was embarrassed to admit that someone else had cleaned up the trash I was supposed to clean up.

So I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, then spoke in a roundabout way while shrinking back.

“I’m useless.”

“Huh? What?”

Han A-rin stiffened in shock, as if she never expected me to say such a thing.

“H-Ha-eun, useless? Who said that? Did the Spirit User Uncle say that?”

At those words, I quickly shook my head to deny it before any misunderstanding could arise.

Then I spoke honestly.

“There’s nothing I can do… That’s why.”

“Oh.”

Han A-rin puts on a serious expression after hearing my words.

I opened my mouth to tell her there was no need to think so seriously about it.

“It’s okay, it’s nothing.”

But Han A-rin doesn’t seem to think so, as she sets her expression and says to me.

“Ha-eun, can I take a look at you?”

“Yes…?”

“Contrary to what you think, Ha-eun, there are so many things you can do. For example, you dance well, you’re good with your hands, you decorate rooms well…”

It seems Han A-rin is praising the things I’m good at in order to deny my statement that I can’t do anything.

But from my perspective, it was no different than suddenly praising me with a serious expression.

It only added to my embarrassment.

‘Ugh.’

My head is spinning from embarrassment.

As I’m staggering, thinking this is the most embarrassed I’ve ever been, Han A-rin hugs me tightly and says,

“So from now on, you won’t say things like you can’t do anything, Ha-eun, or that you’re a useless person, okay? You understand?”

I wanted to deny it since I didn’t say it to that extent.

But fearing I might hear what I just heard again if I denied it, I nodded reluctantly, and Han A-rin nodded with satisfaction and let me go.

*

Nothing particularly special happened after that.

Except for the spirits gathering in one place to play with bubble wrap, and the fact that Spirit User Uncle gave us several pieces of furniture.

As I was shaking my head at the pile of furniture in front of me, thinking I couldn’t accept this much, Spirit User Uncle looked at me and said,

“Then let’s give just one to Ha-eun, and the rest to Chae-a. I’ve wronged Chae-a a lot, so this is a fair settlement? No, compensation? No, what should I call it?”

“Just call it a gift.”

“Ah, right, a gift. Let’s say it’s given as a gift.”

With those words, I ended up receiving several pieces of furniture as if they were being pushed onto me.

Among them, the most eye-catching was the small furniture made by the spirits.

‘It looks like furniture exclusively for Somteol.’

It was too small for me to use, but it was just the right size for Somteol to use.

I giggled, thinking I hope Somteol would be happy using it, and then looked around at the other furniture I received.

‘A large desk, a whiteboard, and furniture made of wood.’

Normally, I would have said it’s absolutely not okay to receive this much after just a few conversations.

But because Spirit User Uncle insisted, “This is given because I feel sorry for Chae-a, okay?” I had no choice but to accept it.

It was probably because while I could have refused if it was given to me, it was awkward to refuse things given to Chae-a.

‘And on top of that.’

“Wow! It’s really beautiful!”

Chae-a seemed to like the furniture given by the Spirit User Uncle, constantly exclaiming in admiration.

Since it became awkward to return it, I decided to accept it, though it felt shameless, and bowed deeply.

“Thank you very much…!”

“If you’re thankful, come here to play often. The spirits say they’re happy to see Ha-eun and Chae-a.”

“Yes!”

As I thought about how happy I was to see the spirits too, I smiled and giggled.

Then I sensed that it was time to finish decorating the lair.

‘I should decorate as much as I can with what I’ve received.’

 

Thinking that Grandma Lecia would surely be satisfied if I decorated it diligently, I steeled my resolve.