*
“Dad, Geuru fetched it!”
“…….”
Jurim’s face contorted into one of blank astonishment at Geuru’s unexpected behavior.
It was from that very moment that murmuring voices began to be heard from the surroundings.
“Hey, isn’t that On Jurim over there?”
“Guess he made the kid fetch a frisbee for him.”
“Goodness……. How could he do such a thing.”
To Jurim, an S-Class, the surrounding whispers sounded as loud as if they were being driven straight into his eardrums.
Shortly after, he saw people tapping away at their phones without rest, as if sending messages somewhere.
Jurim’s face hardened at the sight.
“No, Daddy didn’t tell Geuru to fetch it, but…….”
As Jurim took the frisbee while speaking, Geuru panted and wagged an invisible tail.
“Dad, should Geuru fetch it again?”
Jurim squeezed his eyes shut.
No matter how indifferent he was to the gazes of those around him, the misunderstanding that he had made his own child fetch a frisbee was truly dreadful.
Regardless, Geuru was still looking at Jurim with a bright, innocent smile.
Jurim rolled his eyes, looked around once, and then soon checked his wristwatch.
“It’s time…… to go to work……. Let’s go now. Daddy has to get to the office.”
“Already? Geuru wants to go too.”
Geuru quickly hugged Yurian to his chest and spoke.
“You’re not going to play more?”
“Nope. Geuru go with Dad.”
Geuru bounced ahead to lead the way, and Jurim followed behind, saying he understood.
Geuru, who had been looking back at his approaching dad with an innocent face, turned to the front and put on a sly smile.
‘Kuku. I finally managed to escape from the dog park.’
No matter what, making a person act like a puppy was too cruel.
‘I need to turn back soon.’
First, I should get to the company and prepare a few things.
Just then, the puppies around them began panting and circling Geuru.
“Woof woof!”
“Ah, no don’t!”
Geuru hugged Yurian tighter so he wouldn’t get scared.
At that, Jurim spoke to the owner and had the puppies kept far away.
In the meantime, Yurian—who had been hugged so tightly by Geuru that he could barely breathe—let out a heavy sigh.
How had he ended up in a position where he was being protected by a little brat like this?
‘No, not again.’
Yurian rested his chin on Geuru’s arm with a sulky expression.
Thinking that being petted like this was something he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
*
Meanwhile, at Hyeonak, a Hyeonak tour for the general public was in full swing.
Lea, who had been secretly following at the very tail end of the Hyeonak tour, pushed the large glasses back up her nose as they slid down to the tip.
‘Uncomfortable! Dizzy!’
Was the problem that she was wearing glasses she’d never once worn in her life, and such ridiculously thick ones at that, all to hide her face?
Feeling as though she might dry heave at any moment, Lea excused herself to the restroom for a moment, left the group, and let out a sigh in front of the bathroom door.
When she took the glasses off for a moment, her nauseated stomach felt a bit better.
‘These damn glasses……!’
Anger surged up, but it was impossible to walk around without them.
And for good reason—if her face was discovered, it would be troublesome. Because this place was enemy territory!
She had sneaked her way in here for the sake of children like Geuru.
She would surely find evidence that Hyeonak was conducting experiments on children and report them!
“Huu…….”
Lea took a deep breath to calm her queasy stomach. And it was just as she was about to put her glasses back on and resume her operation.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, two long shadows fell over Lea’s head.
“Well, if it isn’t……”
“Lea Müller?”
Lea found herself in an incomparably uncomfortable situation.
‘Gidan? Sereuhi?!’
Why here, why now, of all times?!
Gidan and Sereuhi stood in a way that trapped Lea against the wall, surrounding her.
Lea broke out in a cold sweat and lowered her head deeply.
“Y-you’ve got the wrong person.”
At the whisper-like voice, Gidan twisted up the corner of his mouth in a smirk.
Creeped out by that meaningful smile, Lea tried to quickly dodge sideways.
But faster than that, Gidan propped his foot against the wall, blocking her.
“As expected, you’re quick.”
“…….”
That was Gidan for you. Lea’s eyes narrowed.
Should she throw down right here?
It was just as Lea was raising her mana so she could use a skill to escape.
Gidan tilted his head slightly and spoke like a back-alley delinquent.
“I heard our kid owed the German team a favor?”
“Huh?”
“Before the friendly match.”
Ah……. It seemed he was talking about when Geuru got hurt and they had treated him.
“A favor? Nothing like that happened…….”
But she had no desire to get unnecessarily entangled here.
If they asked why she was at Hyeonak wearing glasses like these, she would have nothing to say.
So she tried to brush it off as something she had never heard of, but Gidan wasn’t listening.
“Let’s escort her, Sereuhi. We should show our hospitality too.”
“Yes?”
Lea blinked.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding…….”
But before she could finish speaking, Sereuhi grabbed one of Lea’s arms with a look of annoyance. Gidan snatched her other arm.
And then they lightly lifted Lea and escorted her to the lobby.
“Uweeeek!”
Lea looked around, trying to ask people for help.
But there were only people looking at Gidan and Sereuhi curiously as if they were celebrities, or employees giving glances as if to say, “Those two at it again.”
‘What’s going to happen to me now!’
Lea squeezed her eyes shut. If she had known this would happen, she would have told her colleagues where she was going!
Then, a clear, ringing voice was heard.
“Big brothers, are you doing something fun while leaving Geuru out again?”
Geuru, who had just finished a walk and arrived at work, stood with both hands on his hips, putting on an angry expression.
For some reason, a small fluffy puppy was pulling the leash held in Geuru’s hand to its maximum length, staying as far away as possible.
As if it wanted to run away from there.
“Oh, Geuru-Geuru. Perfect timing. Have you eaten?”
“Nope, haven’t eaten.”
“Great, then let’s go!”
Gidan took Geuru’s hand with his now-empty hand and led him.
“Huh?”
The place the two of them were led by Gidan and Sereuhi was the Hyeonak cafeteria.
“Ooh~ food~”
As if used to it, Geuru picked up his personal Teenieping tray and stood at the back of the serving line.
“You use this instead of that.”
As Lea tried to pick up a children’s tray following Geuru’s example, Sereuhi stopped her and handed her a regular tray.
“What is this?”
“Food.”
“It’s food.”
Sereuhi and Gidan spoke one after another.
“……Suddenly food?”
Then, Geuru stood on his tiptoes and placed a Yoplait on Lea’s tray.
“Yoplait, drink it.”
As Geuru smiled brightly, Lea returned an awkward smile.
‘……Yoplait?’
What was that?
Following them, Sereuhi and Gidan placed galbijjim, yangnyeom chicken, kimchi, bibimbap with various vegetables, and more on top of Lea’s tray.
“Auntie, she’s our friend. Please give her a lot.”
“Oh my, so you’re our Dani and Sereuhi’s foreign friend. Eat lots~”
Even the doenjang jjigae that the cafeteria cook specially ladled out full was placed on the tray.
Lea, her eyes full of question marks, was led by the minors to a table.
As soon as she sat down, Lea’s eyes trembled.
What was this.
‘Harassment?!’
She first took off her glasses and placed them beside her, then neatly folded both hands on her lap.
In the large metal bowl, the bibimbap was topped with colorful ingredients arranged neatly, looking quite delicious.
When she secretly sniffed the scent, it was incredibly diverse—pungent, savory, and sweet.
“Lea, have you tried Korean food?”
“No…….”
“Wow, you haven’t lived. Right, Sereuhi?”
Sereuhi let out a sigh.
Gidan had said the same thing to her too when she first came to Hyeonak, feeding her Korean food.
“Hm…….”
Lea, with the bibimbap before her, barely managed to pick up a bean sprout with clumsy chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
‘It’s savory.’
But other than that, it was just vegetables that didn’t taste like much.
Was this really harassment? It was just as Lea was chewing on the vegetables while suspecting harassment once again.
“Unnie…….”
“Hm?”
When Geuru, cheeks stuffed full of food, called out to her, Lea—who had been struggling with the bibimbap ingredients—looked around.
“…….”
“…….”
Gidan and Sereuhi, frowning deeply, and Geuru were all staring at Lea.
“……Why?”
At Lea’s heavily intimidated question, Sereuhi, sitting across from her, took her bibimbap bowl.
Then she began mixing the egg, vegetables, rice, and sauce together.
After adding a spoonful of doenjang jjigae and mixing it, Gidan sitting next to her nodded with a satisfied expression.
“……?!”
Lea trembled and covered her mouth with both hands.
They were clearly truly trying to harass her.