Chapter 74: Concerns (1)

Pureumi’s mishaps didn’t end there.

Knocking over the display stand with her water gun was just the beginning.

“Eek! Bad water! Don’t bully my friends!”

“Huh? Surrender! Surrenderrr!”

“Hmph! Mama says we can’t let evil go unpunished!”

“Aaaahh-!”

If this hadn’t been Chungseong Guild but an actual amusement park, giving cold showers to guild members dressed as clowns and zombies for the children could have been quite troublesome.

Still, Lee Sunghwan and Han Dayeon didn’t intervene.

Why bother when the child was having so much fun?

“I’m glad she seems to be enjoying herself.”

“I didn’t know Pureumi had such a playful personality.”

“She probably had a lot bottled up inside, not being able to play like a normal child until now.”

They were actually pleased to see this new side of Pureumi as she bounced around like an excited foal with her tail on fire.

After all, wasn’t this party meant for the children to enjoy themselves freely?

She hadn’t committed any serious crimes – it was natural for a young child to cause minor trouble.

If anything, it had been stranger how she always acted so mature and cautious before.

“Ugh! Can’t take anymore! Retreat!”

“Wooow! Pureumi defeated the villain!”

The guild staff were happy with their bonus pay.

The children and parents were enjoying this rare spectacle.

If the outcome was good, wasn’t everything good?

“Unkie! Sister! Mama!”

All three hurried over at Pureumi’s call.

“Unkie! Hold this too!”

“Alright.”

By now, a train of various prizes Pureumi had collected followed behind Lee Sunghwan.

A 3-stage transforming robot, a Ppoppoping doll[1], a fire-breathing mecha dinosaur, cat headbands, and more.

She planned to hide them in her room… and give them to Mama as presents one by one!

But while Pureumi gathered items like a squirrel collecting acorns, Gyeonwoo’s hands remained conspicuously empty.

Uncle worked so hard to set up this party…

“Pureumi! Try this too! You get prizes for however many fish you catch!”

“Ooh! Pureumi will catch all the fishies!”

Every time she saw Pureumi happily playing with others, an unbearable fear welled up inside Gyeonwoo.

Did she deserve to be among these happy children?

What if she ruined the atmosphere?

She’d just be causing trouble for everyone.

Maybe she was even holding Pureumi back from getting along with others.

“Mama! Mama too! Come play too!”

Even when pulled into games by Pureumi, Gyeonwoo couldn’t focus properly and won no prizes.

The contrast was stark – Gyeonwoo’s empty hands versus Pureumi’s arms overflowing with prizes.

Finally, seeing such an obvious difference…

“Um… uncle.”

Gyeonwoo awkwardly smiled as she tugged Lee Sunghwan’s sleeve.

“Hmm?”

Only then did he notice something off about Gyeonwoo’s mood.

Though her expression seemed unchanged with its usual smile…

Her normally bright yellow eyes had grown dull.

Was something bothering her?

He’d thought she was just awkward or shy about not playing well like Pureumi…

“Watch Pureumi for me.”

“Yes, I will.”

Lee Sunghwan immediately knelt down to meet Gyeonwoo’s eyes.

“If you have something to say, feel free to tell me.”

Finally, Gyeonwoo hesitantly spoke up after fidgeting nervously:

“Um… I’m tired, can I go home and rest…?”

This unexpected request to leave caught him off guard.

If there was a problem they could solve it, but wanting to go home meant he couldn’t even identify what was wrong.

Though he wanted to ask what was bothering her…

Lee Sunghwan hid his concern as he gently stroked Gyeonwoo’s soft hair.

“Alright. You must be tired after everything that happened. I was thoughtless. I’ll take you home.”

Gyeonwoo felt an indescribable warmth from the Guild Master’s touch.

It was as if each strand of hair had gained sensation, making her heart tingle.

She hadn’t understood before.

That this tingling feeling was uncle’s love.

How much care he showed without words.

“N-no! Let Pureumi keep playing. And uncle needs to rest too.”

Lee Sunghwan noticed Gyeonwoo’s consideration too.

Though they’d played for a while, it was barely past 7 PM.

Pureumi and the other children were still energetically running around everywhere.

She probably didn’t want her early departure to make Pureumi and the others leave too.

However, it was about a 30-minute trip from headquarters to the Han sisters’ house.

Obviously not a distance this small child could travel alone.

While he couldn’t keep restricting Gyeonwoo like a child forever, the Guild Master offered a compromise:

“Then Han Dayeon and Pureumi can keep playing, and I’ll just take you home.”

Of course, Gyeonwoo wouldn’t accept this compromise.

As if she’d expected his opposition…

“Hehe, bet you didn’t know I can teleport? See you at home later!”

She jumped back and vanished in an instant.

She’d made a wish to return home.

“Haah… Her abilities are so impressive, I can’t do anything.”

If there was any consolation…

Han Yuyeon should be done with work and back home by now.

At least Gyeonwoo wouldn’t wander off somewhere else or face trouble from intruders.

“Huh? Guild Master, where’s Gyeonwoo?”

“Said she was tired and went home.”

“What?! You let her go alone?!”

“She teleported herself home. Doesn’t she usually do that?”

“Haah… I didn’t know she could do that too. Maybe she wasn’t feeling well… I should send her a message.”

Han Dayeon immediately pulled out her smartphone and opened her messenger.

She found the contact saved as ‘Pig’ at the top of her chat list and sent a quick message.

Meanwhile, at the same time.

[Sister… a, a message came!]

Han Yuyeon, who had been sprawled out, slowly raised her head at Gyeonwoo’s voice from her smartphone.

“Huh. What is it at this hour?”

They went out playing with Gyeonwoo and Pureumi without me.

Did something else come up?

What a pain.

Though irritation welled up, having Gyeonwoo’s voice as her notification sound was the trap.

“Ugh… I can’t ignore a child’s voice, seriously…!”

Feeling like she’d be ignoring Gyeonwoo if she ignored the message, she reluctantly crawled over like a slug to check her messenger screen.

[Gyeonwoo teleported home so keep an eye on her. She seems down about something. Check her temperature if she goes to bed early in case she has a cold. Pureumi’s busy playing so I might be late.]

“…What’s this.”

Unusually serious content.

A long message unlike their usual one or two word exchanges.

“Is this someone else? Was I hacked?”

Gyeonwoo teleporting home?

But that bitch of a sister can’t come because she’s playing with Pureumi?

Am I supposed to believe this?

Scroll scroll

Han Yuyeon immediately checked their previous messages.

[Pig] : Buy tomatoes (4 days ago)

[Me] : k

[Me] : going home (3 days ago)

[Pig] : k

[Me] : kids? (2 days ago)

[Pig] : cafe

[Pig] : going to kindergarten (11 hours ago)

[Me] : k

Seeing their messages from this morning still there, it wasn’t from someone else…

Though exhausted from closing Gates all morning with her useless team members, she decided to trust the message and look for Gyeonwoo.

“Nng…”

If she really teleported home, she’d be somewhere in the house.

With Gyeonwoo’s small frame, it would take minutes just to search the mansion, and they might miss each other checking different places.

She couldn’t just break through walls either…

“Ah shit. Don’t want to use this but guess I have no choice.”

If it’s for Gyeonwoo, I can endure this much!

Han Yuyeon closed her eyes tightly and focused on her hearing.

As her Awakened ability concentrated in her ears, her surroundings gradually grew louder.

“Kim Seongyeong! Get over here!”

“Ah, why again today!”

“I heard you went to Busan without saying anything! It’s all on the card!”

“Th-that was to buy a gift for the girl at Guild Master’s house!”

“…Oh really?”

Beyond the nearby Kim family’s casual conversation…

“Hah, hah, oppa there…!”

Someone’s explicit lovemaking with all sorts of wet sounds and groans.

“Ah fuck.”

Simply enhancing her hearing meant she couldn’t filter out these disgusting sounds.

She needed to pick out Gyeonwoo’s voice or footsteps from all this…

“Sister?”

“…Huh?”

Why was the voice coming from right in front?

She cautiously opened her eyes…

“Um, hehe… d-did I come at a bad time…?”

Gyeonwoo stood right in front of her, face bright red as she awkwardly stared at the ceiling.

“…What?”

Only then did Han Yuyeon realize how her appearance could be misinterpreted.

Having just showered, she was sprawled on the sofa wearing only panties.

Still in that position looking at her smartphone with eyes closed and ears perked up.

“U-um, I know l-lewdness is a sin but… since it’s sister’s first time doing this, I think it’s okay… H-having a hobby is fine sometimes!”

Add to that Gyeonwoo’s trembling voice…

“Aaaah! It’s not like that! You’re just a kid, what kind of things have you been looking at to think that way!”

She’d gotten in the habit of not wearing a bra at home since her chest was so small.

Han Yuyeon quickly jumped up and wrapped a blanket around her bare torso.

“Right! Actually this is perfect! Come here!”

“Eeeh?!”

She immediately lifted the dazed Gyeonwoo.

Dangle dangle

The tiny body swayed helplessly as she was grabbed by the armpits.

She’d been concerned lately about Gyeonwoo getting corrupted from spending too much time on her smartphone.

Her armpits felt cool to the touch – no fever at least, so that was good.

“You’re not tired yet, right? Let’s study with sister until Pureumi comes back.”

“What? S-study all of a sudden?!”

“Yes! But if you listen well today, I’ll answer any questions you’ve been curious about. How’s that?”

“…Really? You’ll answer anything?”

And so Han Yuyeon and Gyeonwoo began an impromptu education session.

Starting with the sex education they’d been putting off.

[1. raei: Ppoppop (뽀뽀) is an onomatopoeic word in Korean that refers to a “kiss” sound. So I’m guessing a toy making a kissing motion?]