I’d wondered what the matter was, and it turned out to be a really big deal.
‘……?’
The child was wearing star-shaped sunglasses, a bojagi wrapped around her head and tied neatly beneath her chin.
Mephisto, perched atop her head, was also sporting a matching handkerchief.
Perhaps unable to find sunglasses small enough for the baby bird, two tiny slices of cucumber had been stuck over its eyes instead.
Seeing Jurim at a loss for words, the flustered sitter hurriedly pulled a hat from the dressing room.
“Gru, let’s wear a hat instead of that. Okay?”
“I don’t wannaaa—”
Pitter-patter—
As Gru, with Mephisto on her head, went pitter-pattering out, the sitter chased after her with quick steps, pleading.
“This hat is prettier, isn’t it~? Gru, let’s try this hat on~”
“Nooo—”
Pitter-patter—
As Gru dodged and weaved to escape the sitter, the baby bird’s body swayed left and right.
When a cucumber slice fell off, Mephi pecked at it with its beak and, fluttering its wings, stuck it back over its eye.
“……?”
Jurim stared at them, speechless for a time.
‘Why? She’s not the type to be stubborn about things like that.’
Even accounting for Gru’s somewhat lacking fashion sense, today was unmistakably different from usual.
Far from being stubborn about fashion, she was a child who was weak to praise; if told this dress was prettier, she would immediately take it off and change.
The commute sitter, at a complete loss, finally caught Gru and held her in place.
“Why is our Gru being so stubborn today? Did something happen at kindergarten?”
“Nuh-uh.”
Shake, shake.
“Then what is it? Won’t you tell only Auntie?”
“Se—secret!”
Unable to watch any longer, Jurim stepped in.
“Are you going to kindergarten like that?”
“Yeah!”
At that firm, resolute voice, everything about the potion crisis evaporated from his head in an instant.
It was dizzying. Jurim wiped his face, and the commute sitter stomped her feet anxiously as though it were her fault.
What is it now? What’s going on? It’s not the fashion from some cartoon she’s been watching lately, is it?
No matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure it out.
“Did something change in your state of mind?”
“Ginger?”
“Not ginger—state of mind. Tell Daddy why.”
Gru’s eyes went wide.
Daddy!
Right, it was Daddy. Gru twitched the corners of her mouth, put her hands behind her back, and swayed her body this way and that.
Should she tell Daddy? Since it was Daddy.
After hesitating, Gru spoke in a small voice.
“……Because I have to hide. My face.”
“Why hide such a pretty face?”
“Actually— Ah, you can’t tell anyone about this either.”
“Okay.”
“Promise. Stamp. Copy, laminate.”
Only after hooking pinkies and making a firm emphasis did Gru stand on her tippy-toes and whisper into Jurim’s ear.
“Because. Gru is. A counterfeiter.”
Hm. Jurim’s eyes rolled before his brow furrowed slightly.
A counterfeiter? Was she talking about IAMGROOT123?
“Did you just realize that now?”
“Gasp!”
Gru turned deathly pale and covered her mouth with both hands, stepping back.
Daddy already knew?
Only then did Jurim realize he’d misspoken, and he covered his mouth with his hand.
Her teary, coral-colored eyes were somehow brimming with feelings of betrayal and shock.
Flustered, he picked Gru up.
“For now, I will take Gru to kindergarten myself.”
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry, what should I do.”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry and please go back inside.”
After sending the sitter back, Jurim sat Gru on the sofa.
When he sat down beside her, Gru squirmed up onto Jurim’s lap. Then she pressed her cheek firmly to his chest and began to whimper and talk.
“Gru is a criminal. If caught, I might even stand trial.”
Until now, she hadn’t known at all what it meant when people said the potion business was illegal. That it was a bad thing was something she’d only just learned.
“Was that why you were worried?”
“Yeeees…… What if I go to children’s prison?”
“Children’s prison?”
Gru trembled and nodded.
Children’s prison was a place swarming with nasty, toad-like elementary schoolers who called Gru “chickpea.”
“Euung. It’s on TV. It’s an island where bad children are gathered.”
The bad children gathered in children’s prison only ate carrots and onions while performing child labor.
Child labor meant peeling onions while crying during the day, and doing endless homework at night.
It was an inevitably terrifying situation.
As Gru earnestly explained the parts from a children’s drama and looked at Jurim, Jurim bit his lip tightly.
“And if I go to prison, Mephi also has to make electricity with a treadmill!”
“Peep?!”
Mephisto, perched atop her head, bristled its feathers and trembled.
It wanted to be a warrior of justice more than anyone.
The words that it wanted to become brave like Daddy, who defeated towers and saved people, were absolutely not a lie.
But!
‘Gru is a child criminal—!’
‘Peeeep—!’
As the child and the baby bird turned pale and trembled like drenched puppies, Jurim squeezed his eyes shut and patted their backs.
Instead of asking, ‘Why is Mephi dragged away by association?’ Jurim opened his mouth kindly.
“You won’t go to children’s prison. You saw the police officers in the dungeon last time, right?”
Nod, nod.
“The police officers said they’ll let it slide just this once.”
“R—really?”
Jurim stroked the child’s head.
“But you know you can’t sell potions on Onion Market anymore, right?”
Mm-hmm!
“Also, if you go outside and say you’re a counterfeiter, is that okay or not okay?”
“Not okay.”
“Good. Then shall we take off the bojagi now?”
“……”
“Are you still scared?”
Shake, shake.
Gru quickly took off the bojagi and sunglasses and tossed them aside.
Jurim cupped her flushed cheeks and shook them left and right.
“You’re brave.”
“Hehe!”
Gru gave Jurim a smooch on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck.
When she was with Daddy, it was warm and floaty, and she felt like she could do anything.
As she rubbed her cheek against his neck over and over, Mephi flew over with a flutter and relocated to Jurim’s shoulder.
Jurim removed the cucumber slice that had fallen onto Gru’s head and pressed a kiss to her tiny head.
“Gru, I’ll be filial to you.”
A gentle, low chuckle pitter-pattered down over her head.
“Okay.”
Yes, she would do an incredible act of filial piety.
It wasn’t many days after she’d made up her mind like that.
*
‘What is filial piety.’
While delving into that fundamental question.
Articles about the potion depletion crisis began pouring onto the portal site’s main page.
[Potion ingredient supply crisis met with full government response…… preparing replenishment plans through global supply chains.]
[Government: Potion supply will be resolved shortly……. appeals to refrain from hoarding for emergency patients.]
[Small guilds gather fifteen thousand potion bottles through relay donations in threes and fives.]
[“Stepping up in difficult times is the duty of large guilds,” NAG Guild Leader Gu Sin-hu makes a whopping 3 billion won donation.]
While clicking on an article featuring a photo of the flatfish uncle, Gru discovered one more thunderbolt fact.
Not only ‘Onjurim,’ but ‘Hyeonak’ also had far too many enemies.
[“If it’s for sick children,” large guilds including NAG, Brom, and Hon extend helping hands…….]
[Comments]
[best] Jukchangman: As expected, Hyeonak is missing lol. No raids, no donations, worst guild since Dangun.
Iamgroot!: Hyeonak is in other articles too. http://dailynailg.com/news/1233/..
Jukchangman: What you brought is a dog-Jurim puff piece lololol
Jukchangman: Other guilds have good deeds pouring out from every press outlet, but Hyeonak?
Jukchangman: Probably sucking on candy while evading taxes
Jukchangman: I’m ashamed Hyeonak is Korea’s largest guild! tsk tsk
Jukchangman: Hyeonak should step down instead of holding other guilds back.
‘Jukchangman……! His comments are so fast!’
By the time Gru had typed each letter, Jukchangman’s comments had already run another twenty or so below.
“Eek!”
Soon after, as if they had received some signal, haters including Jukchangman surged in all at once, and Gru’s comment was instantly hidden under accumulated reports and disappeared.
“Kyaaah!”