chapter_0612

612 – Bad Children’s Day

612 – Bad Children’s Day

“Hey…”

I wanted to poke Hanyeoreum’s frozen cheek, but my body wouldn’t move.

Reluctantly, I just stared up at Hanyeoreum, and she let out a strange giggle.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m reminded of the first time I met Gyeoul.”

If it’s the first time…

“…You’re the famous homeless person around here…!”

Hanyeoreum covered my mouth with both hands.

Her flustered expression was somewhat amusing.

“I was talking about a little further back…”

“That’s not what you said!”

“What?”

Hanyeoreum removed her hands from my mouth.

Thanks to that, I could speak properly.

“I’m just joking.”

“Oh dear, our Gyeoul is playing a scary prank.”

Though I said that, Hanyeoreum was gently patting my head.

Despite the tiring situation, my tail wagged as if it were squeezing out joy.

“But why did it remind you of the first time you met?”

“Back then, you were so mean to Gyeoul that I thought it would take a while for you to get close. But look, we’ve already become family!”

“Ah…”

Indeed, I never imagined our relationship would turn out like this at first.

It was truly a situation that made me feel nostalgic.

‘But this feels like a story we’ve told before.’

I wondered if it would be okay to tell it again.

Just as I was thinking that, Hanyeoreum suddenly picked me up.

“Our Gyeoul must be tired, and I’ve been holding her too long. How about we go to the room and take a nap?”

“Okay.”

Hanyeoreum took me to my room.

Since a lot had happened today, I decided to go to bed early and wake up to play happily with the kids.

**

The next day.

I was lying blankly on the living room floor.

I had planned to have fun playing with the kids today, but I couldn’t think of any good games.

Swimming pool? Hide and seek? Tag?

It would be fun to do them all together, but was there a more fun and special game?

When I turned to the side, Levinas was staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Levinas, what are you doing?”

“Imitating Wang.”

“Was I doing that?”

“Yep!”

Next to the giggling Levinas, Gaeul was also staring blankly at the ceiling.

It was funny to think that the three of us were looking up at the ceiling with the same expression.

“Gaeul, were you playing an imitation game too?”

“Huh?”

Gaeul looked puzzled.

It didn’t seem like an imitation game; she just seemed to be in a daze.

“Hmm…”

It felt like a waste of time to keep doing this.

Should we just play at the swimming pool playground today?

Just as I was about to get up to suggest a game to the kids, Bomi came running into the living room with a big smile.

“Hey, everyone! Do you know what day it is today?!”

“Why? Is today a special day?”

“Yes! It’s a very, very special day!”

If Bomi was talking about a special day…

“Hmm… Is it a birthday?”

“No! Today is Bad Kids’ Day!”

Bad Kids’ Day?

It was the first time I had heard of such a day.

I thought Bomi might have made it up, but judging by Levinas and Haneul’s reactions, it didn’t seem like it.

“Wow! I can’t believe today is Bad Kids’ Day!”

“Right…? I totally forgot about it…”

With Levinas and Haneul saying that, I couldn’t help but believe it was a real day.

But Bad Kids’ Day?

It seemed like a bad day, so I was puzzled as to why the kids were so excited about it.

“Kids, what is Bad Kids’ Day?”

“Bad Kids’ Day is a day to act like bad kids!”

“Uh… Isn’t that a bad thing…?”

“No! It’s a good thing! It’s a day to learn that you shouldn’t act like a bad kid!”

“Ah.”

So it has its own lesson.

If that’s the case, there was no need to stop them.

“So, what kind of bad kid are we going to be?”

The kids took a moment to think about my question.

The first to answer was Levinas.

“Today’s Levinas is Violent Levinas!”

“Violent Levinas?”

“Yep!”

Levinas threw punches into the air.

She even kicked out in a pretty cool way.

“Wow, that’s a really bad kid.”

“Is that so…? If it’s too bad, should I do something else…?”

“No, it’s Bad Kids’ Day, so you have to do at least that much.”

“Um…!”

As Levinas nodded, as if she understood, Bomi raised her hand excitedly.

“I’m going to be a robber!”

“A robber? If you’re a robber, you can’t be alone!”

“Yep! Gaeul is a member of our robbery gang.”

Gaeul, who was pointed out by Bomi, wagged her tail happily.

There was a high chance she didn’t know what a robber was.

“What does a robber do?”

“A robber wears this and asks for a hundred won.”

Bomi handed Gaeul a black mask.

It was a mask that a robber would wear, but it had holes for Beastmen’s ears.

“Do I wear it?”

“Yep. If you wear this and hold out your hand asking for a hundred won, everyone will give it to you!”

“……?!”

Gaeul hurriedly put on the mask she received.

It felt like she had been tricked by Bomi, but I decided to let her find out later.

After all, today was Bad Kids’ Day.

“Robbery gang, let’s go get a hundred won!”

“Yay!”

We followed Bomi and ran out of the house.

Our first destination was the office where Sophia worked.

“Give me a hundred won!”

Gaeul held out her palm to the office staff.

Even though her face was covered by the mask, they could easily guess it was Gaeul.

“One hundred won?”

“Yep. Give me a hundred won.”

“Oh my…?”

Yoo Sang-ah and Momoa, who didn’t know about Bad Kids’ Day, blinked in surprise.

Sophia seemed momentarily flustered, but then nodded as if she understood.

“Oh, it’s Bad Kids’ Day.”

“Bad Kids’ Day?”

“Yes.”

Sophia explained Bad Kids’ Day to the office staff.

Thanks to that, people could understand the good intention behind it.

“What happens if you don’t give me a hundred won?”

“If you don’t, Levinas will punch you!”

Bomi pointed at Levinas.

Then Levinas made a scary face and threw punches into the air.

“Bad Kid Punch! Bad Kid Kick!”

Levinas even shouted out her cool move names.

The office staff hurriedly pulled out a hundred won, feeling somewhat threatened.

“Here’s a hundred won.”

“I have a hundred won too.”

“Give me a hundred won!”

With her ears perked up, Gaeul received a hundred won from the office staff.

But suddenly, Gaeul started to feel uncomfortable with the hundred won in her hand.

“…I can’t take this.”

Gaeul returned the hundred won to the office staff.

It seemed she instinctively realized that this wasn’t right.

“Gaeul, we’re going to return this hundred won later.”

“Later?”

“Yep. Right now, we’re just pretending to take it while we’re playing.”

“Wow…”

Maybe because she felt relieved that she would return the hundred won, Gaeul looked at ease.

Levinas, who had been listening to our conversation, ran over to the people who had given the hundred won and whispered,

“I’ll return the hundred won later, so don’t worry too much…!”

Even while playing Bad Kids, our kids weren’t really bad kids.

**

“We’re the hundred won robbery gang!”

Jingle jingle—

We ran through the park with our pockets full of coins.

My heart raced with guilt for doing something bad.

“This is the first time I’ve done something so bad in my life.”

Even pretending to do something bad felt like this; I wondered how scary it would be to actually do something bad.

As I placed my hand on my pounding heart, Saebyeok tapped my shoulder.

“I found our next target.”

“Next?”

Kwon Arin and Ensia were where Saebyeok pointed.

Upon spotting them, we all ran simultaneously as if we had made a pact.

“Give me a hundred won!”

Gaeul, wearing the mask, ran over, shaking her coin-filled pocket.

The pocket had the names of people whose hundred won we had to return.

“One hundred won?”

“Yep, give me a hundred won.”

Gaeul politely held out her hand to the two.

Kwon Arin looked puzzled, while Ensia understood and pulled out a hundred won.

“Oh, it’s Bad Kids’ Day.”

“Bad Kids’ Day?”

Ensia explained Bad Kids’ Day to Kwon Arin.

Upon hearing the explanation, Kwon Arin’s eyes sparkled.

“Actually, I’m a kid too.”

“Huh?”

“Yep. I’m a big kid.”

Hehe.

Kwon Arin, who laughed playfully, pointed at Gaeul’s coin pocket.

“Should I go to the training center and get people to give me a hundred won?”

“Give me a hundred won?”

“Yep. Gaeul should stay here at the convenience store, and when I bring back the pocket, Gaeul can take it. Then no one will know Gaeul has a hundred won!”

“Wow…! That’s a great idea…!”

Levinas’s ears perked up in excitement on behalf of Gaeul.

Seeing Levinas react positively, Gaeul naturally nodded as well.

I felt something was off, but I decided to just watch for now.

“Then I’ll go and come back. Will you wait at the convenience store?”

“Wow…!”

Gaeul handed her coin pocket to Kwon Arin.

She even waved goodbye as she watched Kwon Arin walk away.

Thirty minutes passed as we waited for Kwon Arin.

No matter how long we waited, Kwon Arin didn’t come back.

“Maybe she’s running a bit late!”

“Wow…!”

As time passed, Gaeul’s face turned more and more anxious.

Finally, after an hour had passed, Gaeul’s eyes widened.

“Huh…?”

At this point, Gaeul couldn’t help but realize.

Kwon Arin had run away with the coin pocket.

Was she trying to teach a lesson that bad behavior gets punished?

I glanced at Levinas and Gaeul, observing them.

“Why isn’t she coming…?”

“Huh…?”

Realizing late that they had been tricked, Levinas and Gaeul stood there with blank expressions.

It was a fitting end for bad kids.

Of course, our kids weren’t really bad kids.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

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

Gyeoul’s heart is racing from doing bad things (pranks)…!

───

Thank you for the 9 coin support, AABABBA!