Fluffy Fluffy

Fluffy Fluffy

 

After eating jajangmyeon, we unpacked our belongings.

In fact, since most of our luggage consisted of dolls and snacks, there wasn’t much to unpack.

However, because we had to place the dolls where Chae-a and Yuna wanted them, it took longer than expected to organize everything despite not having much luggage.

“Wow, it’s perfect…!”

“It’s pretty.”

As they were both satisfied with the time we spent, I was nodding my head proudly when.

Seo-rin patted my head and said.

“Ha-eun must be happy that her older sisters decorated the house so well, right?”

At those words, my lips unconsciously pouted.

I had been patient until now, but at this point, I was a little angry…!

So to express my dissatisfaction, I stuck out my lips and narrowed my eyes, but.

“Huh? Are you imitating a duck? Oh, that’s so cute. Can I take a picture?”

Seo-rin didn’t notice at all and just took out her phone.

I sighed at Seo-rin’s behavior, shook my head, and gently looked to the side.

“So? Blackie sleeps here, and Fluffy sleeps here! Got it?”

“Meong!”

“Peep!”

“Good!”

For now, Chae-a was talking to Blackie and Fluffy and dancing around here and there.

As for Yuna…

“Ha-eun told me we can avoid the rain. Ha-eun is so smart.”

“Really? Ha-eun is amazing, isn’t she?”

“Yes. Ha-eun will become the sun when she grows up.”

It seemed like Han A-rin was having a deep conversation about something.

I thought it would be better not to listen to the details, so I was trying to ignore it.

Seo-rin rubbed my cheeks vigorously with her palms and said.

“Finally, we can live together now. Oh, I’m so happy…”

Until now, I had to stay in the hospital room with the counselor for the sake of my mental health.

But now, thanks to the association’s judgment that I’m okay, I can come out.

I can now stay with Seo-rin, whom I’ve been separated from for a while.

I’m wagging my tail vigorously, thinking how happy I am that Seo-rin is expressing her affection.

Seo-rin hugs me like an attachment doll, makes a strange laughing sound, and then slowly opens her mouth.

“We’ll watch movies together, eat delicious food, and I’ll read you fairy tales every night, okay?”

I was a bit embarrassed about the fairy tales and was about to shake my head to refuse.

But Chae-a, who had suddenly approached from the side, showed a very excited reaction and her eyes sparkled.

“Fairy tales… amazing. Chae-a wants to hear fairy tales too…!”

Then she starts to shake her hands pleadingly, clasping them together.

Seeing this, Seo-rin, with an expression of trying to hold back laughter, said to Chae-a.

“Then I’ll read to Chae-a too, so don’t worry.”

“Woah!”

Chae-a was really excited, dancing happily.

Then she put a bottle cap from her pocket into Seo-rin’s hand and said.

“Admission fee…!”

“Huh? Oh…! Th-thank you!”

It seems Chae-a really wanted to hear the storybook reading if she was willing to give away a bottle cap she considers treasure.

I chuckled watching the flustered Seo-rin, then turned my gaze and slipped outside.

‘Well then, I should prepare too.’

Determined to prepare something Seo-rin would like, I looked around.

Remembering something suitable among the luggage I brought, I hurriedly searched through the dolls.

‘I originally intended to use it as emergency food.’

Thinking there’s nothing else I could give right away, I took out the chocolate.

‘The most delicious-looking chocolate.’

After carefully holding the chocolate I had planned to eat on a special day, I approached Seo-rin and held it out, saying.

“Eat this!”

At my words, Seo-rin waved her hands in surprise.

But I pretended not to see and put the chocolate in Seo-rin’s arms, nodding with satisfaction.

‘I hope it tastes good.’

As I was thinking I hoped she’d be happy, Seo-rin laughed softly and patted me vigorously while saying.

“Did you copy Chae-a?”

“…?”

“Well, little sisters do have a habit of copying their older sisters. Oh my, what should I do with our cute Ha-eun? Ah, I can’t help it. I’ll have to keep you with me for life.”

Ha-eun’s misunderstanding continues to grow.

I frantically waved my hands to explain that it wasn’t like that.

But Seo-rin seemed to have no intention of listening to me and just kept rubbing her cheek against my head.

“……”

Although I felt wronged, I liked Seo-rin hugging me, so I just lay there limp, unable to do anything.

Yuna came running over and started doing an incomprehensible dance.

I stared at her, wondering what she was doing, and when Yuna stopped dancing at an appropriate moment, she looked at me with an expectant expression.

“?”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand, so I just blankly watched Yuna.

Yuna tilted her head in confusion and then spoke to Seo-rin and me.

“Ha-eun isn’t copying me.”

It seems she must have heard what Seo-rin said earlier.

I shook my head in confusion at Yuna’s words, trying to convey that it wasn’t like that.

But Yuna kept doing her strange dance, waiting for me to copy her.

‘… I don’t get it.’

Feeling like she would keep this up all day if I kept pretending not to notice, I reluctantly decided to copy Yuna.

As I awkwardly flapped my hands and followed her strange dance,

Seo-rin, who was watching from the front, burst into laughter and said to me,

“Sh-should I record a video?”

The sound of her stifled laughter spread all around.

Just as I was feeling embarrassed and raising my tail nervously,

Chae-a, who never misses out on a dance, came running over urgently, giggled, and started copying Yuna’s dance.

That’s how the unidentified dance began.

In fact, it’s hard to even call it a dance since everyone was just swaying and flapping their hands.

It would be more accurate to describe it as flailing their hands and feet.

‘I wonder if Seo-rin and Han A-rin just find it cute.’

They were just smiling happily while filming it on video.

I decided to set aside my embarrassment in this heartwarming situation and, like everyone else, started to smile along.

* * * * *

Han A-rin gently patted the blanket while looking at the sleeping babies.

Then she spoke to Seo-rin, who was stroking Ha-eun’s hair beside her.

“How’s the hunter life treating you?”

At this question, Seo-rin paused her hand and gave an awkward smile.

With a somewhat complicated expression, she replied.

“It’s good… Everyone’s been very helpful and supportive, so I’m doing well.”

Knowing her recent activities, I found her words somewhat amusing.

Setting aside the fact that she wasn’t forming parties with anyone and was trying to hunt alone.

She was considered a promising talent, evaluated to have abilities that could reach the level of the few S-class hunters, with skills that were beyond imagination.

‘So rather than saying others are helping her.’

It would be more accurate to say she’s doing well on her own.

But perhaps wanting to speak humbly, she omitted all of that and gave credit to those around her.

I smiled slightly at Seo-rin’s words and then gestured to go outside.

If we continued talking here, we might wake the babies, and moreover, I was planning to discuss things that the babies shouldn’t hear.

So I carefully slipped out and slowly opened my mouth.

“I want to talk about Ha-eun.”

As soon as Ha-eun’s name is heard, Seo-rin’s eyes change.

Thinking that such an expression seemed to be looking at herself, she calmly opened her mouth.

“The association thinks Ha-eun’s condition has improved considerably.”

At the word “improvement,” Seo-rin’s expression brightens.

It seems that she was expecting bad news, but hearing good news brings relief in many ways.

Looking at Seo-rin’s expression, she calmly continued speaking.

“Do you remember Ha-eun’s self-loathing behavior, acting like she had to leave soon, and showing excessive attachment to her tail?”

The behaviors she showed when she first came to the hospital room.

To others, they might have seemed just cute or mature.

But knowing Ha-eun’s background situation, it was difficult to simply think of them as cute and move on.

‘In the first place, it doesn’t make sense for a baby to be mature.’

Being mature usually means receiving such an evaluation when behaving in a way that adults would like.

In other words, it meant that the baby was not acting like a baby.

‘If we interpret this further.’

It meant that she was observing adults’ reactions to behave in ways they would like.

The fact that a 3-year-old baby was mature implied a not-so-good situation.

However, after meeting Chae-a and Yuna recently, such behaviors have decreased significantly, so the association has evaluated that she has improved a lot.

“Yes, I’ve heard she’s been much better lately.”

Seo-rin nods her head in agreement, indicating that she feels the same way.

I continued speaking calmly while observing her reaction.

“So, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you, Seo-rin. If you have time, could you take the kids to visit the dragon area?”

“The dragon…?”

“Yes. I think it would be good if you went, Seo-rin.”

“Um… Okay.”

Although she seemed not to fully understand why I was specifically sending her.

She didn’t seem to mind as long as she could go with Ha-eun.

As I was smirking at her reaction.

“… Chae-a needs to pee.”

I see Chae-a opening the door and coming out.

I blink in surprise, wondering when she came out like this.

Chae-a runs over and clings to my leg, whimpering.

“Chae-a wants to sleep more… but I’m hungry… And I don’t wanna go… It’s scary.”

She seems very sleepy, nodding off while trying to say something.

As I quickly pick up Chae-a and try to take her to the bathroom, Seo-rin looks at me and says.

“Then I’ll go tomorrow.”

“Alright, I’ll let Perseus know. Go together.”

As I watched Seo-rin nodding, I prayed for good things to happen there.