chapter_0623

623 – Errand

623 – Errand

“Yah!”

“Uwak!”

Thud thud—!

We played, attacking the floor as we followed Saebyeok.

It was an earthquake game, but only Saebyeok and Haneul could create any meaningful tremors.

Boom—! Boom—!

As Haneul slammed the floor with her mechanical arm, the ground shook and dust flew up.

The destructive power was on a different level from my thudding.

“We fought the earthquake and won!”

“Wow!”

Bomi declared our victory.

I didn’t know how we had defeated the earthquake, but we cheered with the kids anyway.

“You little rascals.”

“Oh, Sophia.”

“What are you all making such a racket for?”

Pulling on the kids’ ears one by one, Sophia didn’t spare mine either.

“We were scaring the earthquake away.”

“Did you feel it too?”

“Yes.”

“Be careful; aftershocks might come.”

I wondered why Sophia had come during work hours.

It seemed she was worried about the earthquake.

“Okay. We will.”

It wouldn’t hurt to heed Sophia’s advice about safety.

Since aftershocks might come later, we decided to stay indoors.

Our house wouldn’t budge from any ordinary earthquake.

“Kids, let’s go home.”

“Okay!”

I returned home with the kids and watched television.

On the screen was a program correcting children who seemed to be going off track.

“Hey! Don’t just stand there!”

A boy who looked about the same age as our kids threw a punch at what appeared to be his parents.

It was a shocking act of disrespect that we could hardly imagine.

“Thwack! Thwack!”

Gaeul stomped on the ground while watching the television.

Even though she knew the TV couldn’t hear us, she seemed startled and threatened it to stop.

“Wow…”

Attacking family and friends, that little kid was quite violent.

Having only seen well-behaved kids until now, I was taken aback by such a violent child.

“This situation reveals the child’s violent tendencies…”

I watched the television quite seriously.

Then I realized that the cause of the child’s misbehavior also lay with the parents, and I was shocked.

“Is it family education?”

I glanced at our kids.

They were so good that they wouldn’t go off track, but I thought it might be good to provide at least minimal education.

“Studying is one thing, but family education is different.”

But what should I do for family education?

I secretly asked Sunny about family education.

“Life habits, character education, and… fostering independence?”

It was true that our kids tended to rely heavily on those around them.

Of course, I didn’t think that was wrong, but I still wanted them to have the ability to solve problems on their own.

“I guess Gaeul has the highest family dependence.”

I decided to try the education Sunny suggested.

**

The next day.

I gathered the kids together.

It was to execute the education plan I had set up yesterday.

“Okay, today I’m going to give you a very special mission.”

“A special mission?!”

“Yes. There will be a reward for those who succeed.”

The kids showed excitement at the tasks I was assigning.

I gave each child their mission in turn.

For Levinas, who loved playing with toys and eating snacks, I assigned a cleaning task.

For Haneul, who was still awkward at taking care of someone, I assigned a walking mission with the Divine Beasts.

And for Gaeul, I sent her on an errand to buy something.

I didn’t give any specific tasks to Bomi, who always gets things done, and Saebyeok, who was always mature.

But that seemed unfair, so I paired Bomi with Levinas and Saebyeok with Haneul.

“Since there’s a wonderful reward, everyone should work hard, okay?”

“Yes! Aratta!”

“Yes…!”

As the kids set off on their missions, only Gaeul remained behind.

Gaeul was just staring blankly at the note I had given her.

“Juin Ikku?”

“You can buy this at the big mart we always go to. Want to go get it?”

“Gaeul-ik?!”

“Yes. Just you, Gaeul.”

Was going to the big mart alone to buy something a high-difficulty mission?

Gaeul hesitated for a while, watching me.

“Gaeul, you don’t need to be too scared. I’m sure you can do it.”

“Hex…!”

Gaeul’s drooping eyebrows began to perk up.

Maybe she regained her confidence, as she lifted the Wooden Caliber high.

“Gaeul-ik will do it!”

Yah!

Gaeul shouted with determination and dashed forward.

I turned her around to correct her direction.

“Gaeul, the mart is that way.”

“Yah!”

There was a mistake in direction, but Gaeul didn’t lose her spirit and ran ahead.

I secretly followed behind her.

Though Gaeul often went out to pick up empty bottles, it was her first time going to the big mart alone to buy something, so I was worried.

“Hex…”

As Gaeul stepped onto the road, she looked around for a while.

Not remembering the way, she sniffed around and stood the Wooden Caliber upright on the ground.

Thud—

As the unsteady Wooden Caliber fell to one side, Gaeul ran toward the direction it fell without hesitation.

It was a gamble, but surprisingly, she was headed in the right direction.

“Come to think of it, the Wooden Caliber moved on its own before.”

Should I say it seems to have a will?

While I was staring intently at the Wooden Caliber, Gaeul soon arrived at a small playground.

“Wow.”

Gaeul’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed the playground.

Then she glanced at the direction the Wooden Caliber had indicated.

“……”

Between the playground and the big mart, Gaeul chose the playground.

“Hex…!”

Gaeul charged toward the playground.

Pushing the swing with her hands, she giggled, then spun around on the merry-go-round a couple of times.

“Whoosh.”

She slid down the slide and moved the seesaw up and down with her hands.

Gaeul clapped her hands, letting out joyful screams typical of a child, and hurriedly dashed out of the playground.

I thought she had gotten so caught up in playing that she forgot her errand, but she quickly played and then moved to do her errand again.

Thinking she had wasted time playing, Gaeul ran toward the direction of the mart.

When she crossed the crosswalk, she raised her hand high, and my heart melted.

“I guess I worried for nothing.”

Our Gaeul is surprisingly sharp.

It was a moment that made me feel a sense of pride.

As Gaeul entered the alley, a huge obstacle appeared before her.

A giant dinosaur figure sitting alone on one side of the road.

The dinosaur had its mouth wide open, showing sharp teeth.

I wondered why such a figure was in the alley and realized it was because an animation festival was often held nearby.

There were many large figures among the cosplayers.

It seemed like they had left the figure they used there for a moment, and it just happened to be in Gaeul’s path.

“……!”

Gaeul faced off against the dinosaur figure for a while.

Even though it was placed in the corner, not the center of the alley, she was frozen in place by its intimidating presence.

I wondered what choice our Gaeul would make.

Would she take another path?

I was worried, but our Gaeul was stronger than I thought.

“Yah!”

Gaeul threw a stone at the dinosaur figure’s feet and then started running.

I followed behind her, examining the figure.

“Wow…”

It was indeed scary.

With such quality, a child would inevitably be frightened.

I tried to keep my distance from the figure as I followed Gaeul.

It was a bit intimidating.

“Ha.”

After running like that, we arrived at the big mart.

Both Gaeul and my tail wagged simultaneously at the sight of the mart.

Gaeul entered the mart with her chest puffed out, as if she had already completed her mission.

“……”

As soon as Gaeul stepped inside the mart, her tail stopped in an instant.

Though I couldn’t see her face, I instinctively knew she was making a blank expression.

“Chwing…”

Was it because the mart was so big?

Gaeul’s shoulders drooped.

The good thing was that our Gaeul was a bit of a celebrity.

“Gaeul, why are you here alone?”

“Ikku.”

“This is… you came for an errand?”

“Yes!”

A woman I had seen before in the park spoke to our Gaeul.

Thanks to her, Gaeul perked up and started wagging her tail again.

“The toy section is over there.”

“Jokki?”

“Yes. There are many fun toys over there.”

“Gommawu…!”

Bowing deeply, Gaeul greeted the woman.

What Gaeul brought back from the toy section was none other than a hula hoop.

“Hex…!”

Did buying something give her confidence?

Gaeul stepped onto the escalator to buy the next item.

“Oh dear.”

Unfortunately, Gaeul got on the wrong escalator.

She was supposed to take the escalator going up, but she got on the one coming down toward her.

Gaeul stepped vigorously on the escalator, but she was just going in place.

“I remember doing this at the airport before.”

I had struggled against the moving walkway, and the escalator was the same.

Was it still too difficult for Gaeul?

Hmm.

As I let out a long sigh of disappointment,

“……!”

Gaeul perked up her ears and turned around, getting off the escalator.

Then she got back on the escalator next to it.

“Wow, wow!”

Our Gaeul did it.

I let out a joyful exclamation, but when Gaeul turned around in surprise, I quickly hid.

I almost got caught because I was too happy to be following her.

“Gaeul has grown.”

I followed Gaeul with a happy heart.

Where Gaeul headed was the pet shop.

“A pet shop?”

There wasn’t anything to buy at the pet shop.

Didn’t I just send her on errands for toys and snacks?

I watched Gaeul with a puzzled expression.

What Gaeul chose in the pet shop was none other than animal treats.

“Oh.”

I guess she considers that a treat too.

Well, she can’t be perfect yet.

Still, just riding the escalator well was a satisfactory errand.

A word from the author (author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thanks for the comments and recommendations too! They always give me strength!

I was reminded of a Japanese variety show from long ago.

It was a show about sending kids on their first errands…!

I felt really warm watching it…!