chapter_0578

578 – Cloud Candy

578 – Cloud Candy

Our taste buds were so sensitive that even the bitterness of coffee could knock us out.

Given that, it was only natural for our bodies to break down after consuming the bitter concentrated red ginseng extract.

“Ugh.”

My wrist twisted up and down, and the tip of my tail trembled.

Unable to withstand the bitterness, one by one, we collapsed from our seats.

“Thud.”

Gaeul lay flat on her back, and I lay down next to her.

Then Levinas leaned over our bodies, and Bomi lay down by our heads.

I wanted to rinse my mouth with water because it was so bitter, but I couldn’t move as if my body was paralyzed.

“Ugh…”

Noticing that our condition was serious, Saebyeok dashed to the kitchen.

Thankfully, it seemed she was going to bring us some water.

“W-what’s wrong…?”

Among those who had consumed the red ginseng extract, only Haneul was standing upright.

Haneul didn’t even understand why we had collapsed.

“H-Haneul…”

“Master…?”

“Ugh…”

I wanted to tell her I was okay, but no words came out.

As I tightly closed my eyes, someone entered through the front door.

The presence that came into the house was none other than Sophia.

“……!”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she saw us collapsed.

Startled, she hurried over to us and sniffed the red ginseng extract that was smeared on her chin.

“Oh, red ginseng. It’s red ginseng.”

“I thought you were spitting blood.”

The red ginseng extract was indeed red.

Mixed with saliva, it looked even more like blood.

Did I unintentionally scare Sophia?

I wanted to apologize, but I couldn’t open my mouth due to the bitterness.

“First, drink some water and then we can talk.”

“Okay.”

We gulped down the water that Saebyeok had brought us in one go.

Thanks to the cold water washing away the bitterness, we were able to regain our senses.

“Phew, I thought we were in big trouble.”

I shook my head quickly, like a puppy shaking off water.

In the swaying world, I saw Sophia staring intently at me.

“Gyeoul, why did you eat the red ginseng?”

“Well…”

“I’m sorry… I suggested we eat it…”

While I was pondering my answer, Haneul spoke up first.

Seeing me hesitating, Sophia smiled kindly.

“I’m not scolding you; I’m just asking why you ate the red ginseng.”

“Because it’s food for adults…”

“Adults?”

Did Sophia realize something from Haneul’s explanation?

She chuckled as she looked at us.

“Just because you eat adult food doesn’t mean you become an adult.”

“Gyeoul?!”

Gaeul’s face turned to disappointment.

After barely swallowing the bitter red ginseng, it was disheartening to learn that it wasn’t a way to become an adult.

“Do you want to become an adult?”

“Ugh…!”

“Being an adult is something time creates, not food. You probably need to sleep for about four thousand nights.”

“Four thousand?!”

Gaeul folded and unfolded her hands about three times before finally putting them down.

The number four thousand seemed too high for her to count.

“Master! Master!”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go play!”

Gaeul, who had entered the bedroom, came out with a pillow and blanket.

After laying out the bedding on the living room floor, Gaeul quickly began to sleep.

“Snore.”

Gaeul wasn’t really sleeping; she was just pretending.

After a couple of snorts, she woke up from her act and stretched.

“Gaeul, have you already fallen asleep?”

“Cold. I’m just pretending.”

Gaeul, who had been wagging her tail while looking at me, covered herself with the blanket again.

I quickly realized why Gaeul was making snoring sounds.

“Are you trying to sleep four thousand times to become an adult?”

“Cold.”

Gaeul nodded her head while pretending to sleep and getting up repeatedly.

Unfortunately, this way, she couldn’t become an adult.

“Gaeul, you can’t do it like this. Sleeping soundly at night and waking up counts as one.”

“Gyeoul?!”

“Yes.”

Gaeul’s ears and shoulders drooped.

Seeing that, Sophia lifted Gaeul’s ears up.

“Gaeul, why do you want to become an adult?”

“Because…”

“Because what?”

“Because I want to eat cloud candy.”

“Cloud candy?!”

Gaeul’s face lit up with excitement.

Cloud candy, huh? Could she be talking about cigarettes?

Sophia seemed to know what cloud candy was, looking quite flustered.

“Gaeul, cloud candy is very bad for your body. That’s why only adults eat it.”

“Bad?!”

Gaeul’s eyes widened.

It’s a fluffy cloud, yet it’s bad for your body; it was only natural for her to be confused.

“If a child eats it, they could… collapse, so be careful.”

“Ugh…”

Gaeul nodded, indicating she understood.

Still, she couldn’t hide her disappointment.

It seemed Gaeul thought of cigarettes as a very delicious treat.

**

Once again outside, we played tag at the swimming pool playground.

But for some reason, Gaeul was just staring at Haneul.

“Bad!”

Gaeul pointed at the clouds in the sky.

She even waved her hands at the clouds approaching us.

Was she trying to push the clouds away with the wind?

Because of the cloud candy, even innocent clouds had become bad entities.

“Gaeul, Gaeul.”

“Ugh…?”

“Do you want to try our good cloud candy?”

“Good?!”

“Yes. I realized there are good cloud candies too.”

Somewhere in our kitchen, there was a cotton candy machine.

Cotton candy could definitely be called a good cloud candy.

“Good, let’s go!”

“Okay. Can you wait a moment?”

I brought the cotton candy machine from the kitchen.

Levinas’s eyes widened like a Horned Rabbit when he saw the cotton candy machine.

“Wow! What is this?!”

“Levinas, do you remember this?”

“Yes! Levinas made clouds with this and ate them with Wang!”

Leaving behind the swimming pool playground that Levinas loved, he sat in front of the cotton candy machine.

Our children, who had been playing happily, also approached the machine.

“Can we do it?”

“Yes!”

I preheated the machine and added sugar.

After a while, white, cloud-like cotton candy began to emerge from the machine.

“Wow…! Clouds are really coming out…!”

“Cloud!”

I wrapped the cotton candy coming out of the machine around a stick.

As the cotton candy grew fluffier, Gaeul lay flat on the ground.

“Here.”

I handed the appropriately wrapped cotton candy to Gaeul.

Then, Levinas, who was watching, seemed to remember something and giggled, “Gaeul, you have to wash the cloud candy in water before eating it…!”

“Oh?”

That was a prank that Jeong Yuna had played on Levinas a long time ago.

Was the lineage of pranks continuing like this?

I watched Gaeul with a subtle sense of anticipation.

“Ugh…”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Gaeul ran toward the swimming pool playground.

The swimming pool playground had purification magic on it, so it was safe to drink.

Gaeul dipped the cotton candy stick into the water of the swimming pool playground and stirred it around.

When Gaeul pulled the stick out again, the cotton candy was gone.

“Huh?”

Gaeul looked around the stick.

She even held her breath and put her face into the water of the swimming pool playground.

“Hehe.”

Seeing Gaeul like that, Levinas grinned mischievously.

Thinking it was a tremendous prank, Bomi exclaimed in admiration, “Levinas, that prank was amazing!”

“Yes! But actually, this prank was taught to me by the magician Yuna!”

“Wow.”

I could feel Bomi’s admiration for Jeong Yuna rising in her heart.

With an incredible look, I pretended not to notice and continued making cotton candy.

“Master, cloud!”

Gaeul approached me holding an empty stick.

With the stick in hand, Gaeul had a blank expression.

“Gaeul, actually, clouds disappear when you dip them in water.”

“Huh?”

“Just now, Levinas was playing a prank.”

“What?!”

Gaeul stared at Levinas with wide eyes.

Levinas, perhaps feeling guilty for playing a prank, approached Gaeul with the cotton candy.

“Gaeul, let me feed you this.”

Levinas tore off a bit of cotton candy and put it in Gaeul’s mouth.

Gaeul’s ears and tail perked up after tasting the cotton candy.

“Cloud…!”

Gaeul stood there in a daze for a while.

The sweet cloud that disappeared in an instant was enough to give a child a huge shock.

“How is it? Isn’t the cloud delicious?”

“Ugh…!”

Gaeul shook her head back and forth like a bobblehead.

Levinas, feeling good too, took out soap bubbles and blew them toward the sky.

Whoosh—

Dozens of soap bubbles burst in the air.

Then the bubbles swirled around us like round smoke.

“Cloud! Cloud!”

“Wow! It’s cloud magic!”

“It’s so beautiful…!”

Did Levinas create cloud magic for Gaeul, who wanted cloud candy?

I smiled and looked back at Levinas.

Levinas was just staring with Horned Rabbit eyes.

“What is this?!”

**

A few days ago, children came to Kwon Arin with a broken game controller.

They asked if there was a way to fix it since it couldn’t be repaired at the blacksmith’s.

Kwon Arin told the children she would fix the controller and then bought a new one.

It was easier to buy a new one than to fix it.

While carrying the newly bought controller, Kwon Arin witnessed a shocking scene.

“Cloud candy is delicious!”

“Puffy!”

The laughter of the children and the white smoke rising into the sky.

Could it be that the cloud candy I was thinking of was real?

Hidden by the bushes, she couldn’t see the children properly.

Feeling anxious, Kwon Arin pushed through the bushes and ran toward the children.

“Hey! You guys…!”

Kwon Arin shouted loudly toward the children and saw them.

The children, startled while eating cotton candy.

The bubbles bursting and creating smoke.

Kwon Arin realized she had made a huge misunderstanding.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for your comments and recommendations! They always give me strength…!

Young readers, you shouldn’t eat cloud candy…!

───

Thank you for the 4 coins, Byeolbitgonyangi!