Meanwhile, Ju-rim lightly ran a hand over his face, his expression easing considerably when he saw that Gru was unharmed.
When Cheon Gyuri nodded and said, “Gru is perfectly fine,” Ju-rim gave him a brief bow.
Just then, Gru lifted his head high like a meerkat and waved at Ju-rim.
Ju-rim was about to approach him, but frowned at the crowd of reporters surging forward.
He wanted nothing more than to shove them all aside, bring Gru over, and hold him, but antagonizing people who held pens in their hands would not be a wise decision.
He had no idea what kind of articles they might publish about him—and about Gru.
Should he wait until the reporters calmed down?
While Ju-rim swallowed a sigh, Gwon Ri-yeong, who was holding Gru, was answering the reporters’ questions with an awkward expression.
“I only thought that, since I was responsible for guiding the children today, their safety had to come first…”
Click! Click! Click!
“Rather than saying I made some great decision, I think I simply did what had to be done.”
Click! Click! Click!
Applause broke out here and there, and the homeroom teacher of the Chicks Class was wiping away tears.
And Gru, who was nestled in her arms…
‘My hair…!’
The brooch on Gwon Ri-yeong’s clothes had caught in his hair, and he was struggling with it.
He had to hurry over to Ju-rim and boast that he had defeated all the monsters and become a hero!
He was stomping his feet in frustration when his hair refused to come loose.
“Yeong-ah!”
Gwon Hong-gyun pushed through the reporters and approached Gwon Ri-yeong.
“Are you hurt anywhere? Hm?”
“Father…”
Gwon Hong-gyun cupped Gwon Ri-yeong’s scratched face in his hands.
“What were you thinking? How could you say you’d stay behind in such a dangerous place…!”
“The children were there. As an adult, I couldn’t pretend not to see them.”
Click! Click! Click!
The reporters thrust their microphones between them to capture their conversation.
Gwon Ri-yeong had somehow become both the hero and the central figure of the incident.
Overcome with emotion, Gwon Hong-gyun pulled Gwon Ri-yeong into a tight embrace.
Where had she even come from? She had handled things so perfectly.
Gwon Ri-yeong, still in Gwon Hong-gyun’s arms, whispered into his ear.
“Amnesty.”
“Anything you want.”
Yes, he could grant her anything she wanted. She had done such an excellent job!
Meanwhile.
‘This is suffocating!’
When Gru, squirming between Gwon Hong-gyun and Gwon Ri-yeong, sent Ju-rim a pleading look, Ju-rim approached to take him.
Just as Gwon Ri-yeong was about to readily hand Gru over to Ju-rim—
Plop-
The brooch caught in Gru’s hair fell to the ground.
Gwon Ri-yeong’s black hair began turning red, while her seemingly gentle eyes sharpened and slanted upward. Her nose grew more prominent, and freckles appeared across her pale skin.
Gwon Ri-yeong’s build, hair, and face changed completely.
All at once, everyone clamped their mouths shut. They wore stunned expressions, clearly overwhelmed by surprise.
But Gwon Ri-yeong herself knew nothing and continued with the act.
“Father, I’m sorry. You were terribly worried, weren’t you?”
The face of Gwon Hong-gyun, who was holding Gwon Ri-yeong’s hand, was turning beet red.
Click!
Click! Click! Click!
The shutter sounds grew harsher.
‘What’s going on?’
It was around the time Gwon Ri-yeong sensed something strange.
‘Why is everyone acting like that?’
Wondering if handing Gru over to his father had caused the problem, he turned to look at the child. Gru, too, had his eyes opened wide.
‘Why is he looking at me like that?’
That was when it happened.
Ju-rim picked up the brooch from the floor.
The moment Gwon Ri-yeong—Samantha Lee—saw the brooch in Ju-rim’s hand, her eyes began shaking violently.
After examining it, Ju-rim explained matter-of-factly,
“It’s an appearance transformation item.”
Then he ostentatiously held the brooch up toward the cameras.
Click! Click! Click!
‘Damn it!’
Samantha belatedly covered her face with both hands, but the reporters’ furious shutter sounds poured in, followed by a barrage of questions.
“Is that tattoo on your hand the mark of Obsidian?”
“Why did you use an appearance transformation item to impersonate Gwon Ri-yeong?”
“Chief Secretary Gwon Hong-gyun, what is the meaning of this?”
“Did you send someone else in your daughter’s place?”
“Why did you do it? Did you foresee what would happen today? Or were you the one who caused today’s situation, Chief Secretary?”
The situation was spiraling into the worst possible outcome for Samantha and Gwon Hong-gyun.
“Chief Secretary Gwon Hong-gyun! Please answer us!”
Gwon Hong-gyun shook his head stiffly as microphones were shoved right up against his lips.
“I—I don’t know anything about this…! I know nothing!”
Gwon Hong-gyun hurriedly tried to escape, but pushing his way through the crowd was no easy feat.
Samantha did not even consider trying to flee from among the S-ranks and let out a sigh.
She irritably swept her curly hair back. Now that things had come to this, the thought that her career as a mercenary was over left her mind blank.
In a sudden fit of anger, she grabbed Gwon Hong-gyun by the nape.
“I only took a job from this man.”
“You crazy—!”
Gwon Hong-gyun whirled around with a ferocious expression, but Samantha’s opened mouth did not stop.
“We made a deal using our captain’s amnesty as collateral. And then he told us to attack the children.”
Gasps came from here and there.
Visitors and reporters alike looked at Gwon Hong-gyun as if he were a piece of trash.
“You really—!”
Gwon Hong-gyun reached out to cover Samantha’s mouth, but before his hand could touch her lips, Samantha twisted his arm.
“Aaaagh! Let go of me! Do you know who I am? Let go, you hear me!”
Laughter erupted from all around at the ridiculous sight.
Click! Click! Click!
The reporters swarmed like piranhas toward the delectable news story.
*
[(Exclusive) Chief Secretary Gwon Hong-gyun Accused of Inciting Chicks Class Attack]
[(Exclusive) Obsidian Mercenary Samantha Lee Arrested]
[President Draws a Line, Saying He Had No Knowledge… But Deeply Feels Responsible for the Series of Events]
[(Special Focus ON) The Chicks Class Attack? What Will Become of the Mephisto Series mk.3 Contract?]
[(Photo Article) Chief Secretary Gwon Hong-gyun’s Arm Thoroughly Twisted]
*
Samantha Lee, a mercenary of Obsidian, was arrested at the scene.
As articles from the Blue House poured out, calling the chief secretary who had incited the attack a case of “individual misconduct,” Gru, armed with every kind of good fortune and having foiled the conspiracy, still could not escape his disciplinary lesson after returning.
He was far too proud of himself for resolving the incident, and had cheerfully confessed that he had gone back to the scene.
Kneeling before Ju-rim, Gru lowered his head.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Are you allowed to throw yourself into dangerous situations or not?”
“No ’lowed.”
“Then why did you do it?”
At Ju-rim’s question, Gru looked up at him once, then lowered his head again and mumbled with a pout.
“Wasn’t dang’rous.”
“What?”
When Ju-rim asked again in disbelief, Gru logically explained why it had not been dangerous.
“Gru had Baei, and the duck clip, and Poku, and the Mephisto series…”
“…”
Watching him count them off one by one on fingers as small as maple leaves, Ju-rim bit his lip slightly, rendered speechless.
This tiny little one had far too many things at his disposal.
Hearing Shayer burst into laughter inside his head, Ju-rim furrowed his brow.
So that was why Shayer had not appeared even when Gru was in danger. It seemed he had already known that Gru was not actually in danger.
Ju-rim sighed and sat down on the sofa, then ended up grumbling,
“Daddy…”
“That’s right, Gru’s got the strongest daddy, too.”
Gru suddenly thumped a fist into his palm as though he had remembered something.
“And Sister Chyu, too.”
“Chyu?”
“Yeees.”
Ju-rim had seen those soap bubbles before—the ones that had held the monsters at bay for a while.
They had clearly belonged to Chuen.
‘Will we be able to meet her again?’
Gru opened his mouth wide with a delighted grin, but Ju-rim pressed him for an answer.
“Who’s Chyu?”
“She’s Gru’s fwend.”
Having said only that, Gru toddled over to Ju-rim’s lap and sat down.
Ju-rim let out a deep sigh.
“Don’t make Daddy worry.”
“Yeees. Gru loves Daddy, too.”
Gru wrapped his arms around Ju-rim’s waist and rubbed his soft cheek against him.
Trying to smooth things over with cuteness again. Ju-rim pressed a hand to his forehead, then gently bit Gru’s cheek.
“Eekyaaa!”
The child’s laughter spread through the room.
While playing around with Ju-rim, Gru suddenly said as though he had just remembered something.
“But there was somethin’ a lil’ weird.”
“What was weird?”
“Umm, on the monster. It said ‘failure.’”
“Failure?”
“Yeees. So I asked the mercenary teacher, but they said they didn’t know what had failed, either.”
Did he mean the Obsidian mercenary who had been captured this time?
Ju-rim pondered for a moment, then began to fiddle with the child’s glutinous-rice-cake-like cheek.
“All right. Daddy will look into it.”
“Yeees.”
Brrring—
Just then, his cell phone rang.
Ju-rim checked the number and tilted his head in puzzlement. After setting Gru down beside him, he rose from his seat and answered the call.
“Yes, this is On Ju-rim.”
After quietly listening to the other person’s greeting, Ju-rim replied,
“Yes, I can talk. Mr. President.”