Unlike Gru, who was overjoyed to see him, Chloe’s face was sunken.
Brrring—brrring—
As the bell rang repeatedly, Gru urged Chloe, who showed no sign of moving anytime soon.
“It’s a visitor! A visitor!”
“Mm….”
With a sigh, Chloe reluctantly answered the intercom.
“Mr. On Ijo.”
At the sound of Chloe’s voice, On Ijo’s face brightened.
His expression softened so gently that it looked as though it might melt.
‘Oh.’
Covering her mouth with both hands, Gru’s eyes sparkled.
His face was so soft and tender that Gru thought this must be exactly what someone looked like when they had fallen in love.
For a moment, Gru’s chest swelled like a balloon.
‘Love?!’
As Gru gazed at him expectantly, thinking of that soft, fluffy word, On Ijo spoke.
- I’m sorry for coming here without warning. You haven’t been answering your phone….
Chloe replied with an expression that said this had become a nuisance.
“I thought we’d already said everything over text.”
- I came to talk about that.
“Haa…. My position hasn’t changed. What happened between us was only a brief chemical reaction, and I don’t want to continue it with unnecessary and exhausting meetings.”
- Just a moment, Cici. Chloe. Let’s talk face-to-face.
“I don’t make a habit of repeating myself. You’re smart enough to understand by now, Mr. On Ijo.”
- Chloe….
Watching On Ijo cling to her desperately, Gru’s mouth fell open.
“Hmm?”
What was this atmosphere? Gru’s vision spun.
Was this right?
Chloe had spoken so coldly, and her uncle’s soft expression had been reduced to a miserable wreck.
‘This can’t be… can it?’
Had Uncle been rejected…!
Gru had never imagined that her first meeting with her uncle would involve him being so spectacularly dumped.
As though it made no difference how sad On Ijo was, Chloe drove the final nail into the coffin.
“My cousin’s child is here right now, so if you don’t leave immediately, I’ll report you for threatening a home with a woman and child inside.”
On Ijo’s face stiffened, and Gru’s mouth fell open again.
‘D-Did he hate Uncle so much that she’d even report him?’
Chloe took Gru by the hand and headed toward the bathroom, saying that they should wash up.
‘What do I do!’
Being dragged toward the bathroom, Gru blinked blankly.
When she looked back, On Ijo was mouthing something beyond the screen, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He was probably calling for Chloe.
“Big sis…?”
Gru considered suggesting that Chloe should tell her what had happened.
But the moment she saw Chloe, no words came out.
Chloe was the one who had uttered those heartless words.
So why did her face look just as utterly shattered as On Ijo’s?
‘…?’
As Gru grew confused, a whole crowd of question marks rose above her head.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
[Emergency Caregiver Quest]
[Let’s help the prospective caregiver ‘Chloe’ honestly express her feelings to the person she loves!]
[Reward: High Attachment Index]
The person she loves?
A high Attachment Index?!
Gathering Attachment Index points will unlock locked titles!
Gru’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
*
The next morning.
Rubbing her eyes, Gru rose and yawned as she left the unfamiliar room.
“Haaaah.”
Gru instinctively reached for the door, intending to go find Dad, then let her shoulders droop dejectedly.
‘Dad isn’t here….’
What was the future like right now?
Dad would be worried if he found out that Gru had disappeared.
Thinking of Jurim grieving, Gru grew anxious and opened her inventory to take Mephisto out.
“Mephi, Mephi.”
The little bird, which had been sleeping, narrowed its eyes. It still looked half-asleep.
“Mephi, are you that tired?”
“Peep….”
Before the word had even finished leaving its beak, Mephisto’s face drooped forward.
It seemed sleep had won out.
Gru sighed.
“Can’t be helped….”
It seemed Mephisto needed to sleep for a much longer time before recovering his strength.
For now, all she could do was wait until he was able to wake up completely.
After putting Mephisto back into her inventory, Gru quietly opened the front door while thinking over what had happened the day before.
Creak.
On Ijo, who had been dozing off with his arms folded beside the entrance, opened his eyes and staggeringly rose when he heard the door.
It seemed he had spent the entire night outside the door.
Gru lifted her head and looked up.
A man with features resembling Jurim’s, though more refined and gentle, stood before her.
‘It really is there.’
A window stating that On Ijo could also be registered as a caregiver had appeared before her eyes.
Why could Big Sis Chloe and Uncle be registered as caregivers right away, even though she hadn’t raised their Attachment Index separately?
Was it because this was the past? Or was there another reason?
As Gru stared intently at him through the status window with suspicious eyes, On Ijo awkwardly tidied his face and smiled.
“Hello?”
“Hewwo.”
On Ijo squatted down in front of Gru to meet her gaze.
“I’m Uncle On Ijo. I’m Chloe’s, um… friend.”
“Fwend?”
To Gru, their relationship seemed less like friendship and more like one-sided, excessive attachment.
Considering that he had waited outside the door all night despite being coldly rejected the day before, that assessment didn’t seem entirely wrong.
As if to prove her point, On Ijo repeated the word friend with a bitter smile.
“Yeah, a friend. How is Chloe right now?”
“She’s still sweepin’.”
“I see.”
“Yesh.”
Gru nodded, then hesitantly held out a hand.
Her palm touched On Ijo’s nose. Cold seeped in from the tip of his prominent nose.
“It’s cold outside….”
On Ijo was wearing only a shirt and a thin coat in the middle of winter.
He was crouching there so he could meet Gru’s eyes, whether or not his coat dragged on the floor.
Gru extended her other hand as well. When she stroked his cheeks, frozen stiff from spending the night outside, with her small, soft hands, he chuckled in his throat.
His low, quiet laugh sounded remarkably like Jurim’s.
On Ijo closed his eyes and rubbed his face against the little hands, feeling their warmth, then opened his mouth.
“I don’t think I’m cold at all anymore, since my friend is worried about me.”
“Liar.”
“Is it that obvious?”
When On Ijo opened his eyes and asked mischievously, Gru giggled.
“Actually, Uncle’s heart is cold. I miss Chloe….”
Resting his chin on his arms atop his knees, he made a childish, whining sound.
Pretending to wipe away On Ijo’s tears, Gru said,
“There, there. Grown-ups aren’t supposed to cry.”
“This is a secret, but grown-ups cry a lot too. And Uncle cries even more.”
“Then don’t. There, there.”
“All right. There, there.”
On Ijo gave her a sheepish smile.
Watching the faint dimples in his cheeks, Gru glanced briefly inside the house.
Chloe still hadn’t gotten up. Under normal circumstances, Gru would never have let him in, but….
She remembered how Chloe’s face had crumbled into a complete mess after she heartlessly drove On Ijo away.
‘Helping her be honest with the person she loves….’
According to the quest, there seemed to be some reason Chloe couldn’t accept Uncle.
Gru fidgeted with both hands before whispering,
“Come inside.”
“……Huh, me? Um, I’m just….”
On Ijo hesitated, then sighed.
“I think Uncle can wait here.”
“But it’s cold outside.”
“Even so….”
“O-kay. Gru will help Big Sis Chloe, who’s all messed up.”
After firing off those words, Gru tried to shut the door at once, but the toe of a dress shoe wedged itself into the gap with a thud.
“All messed up?”
“…….”
“You don’t want to talk about it?”
Nod, nod.
“……Friend, have you eaten breakfast?”
Shake, shake. Gru shook her head.
“Uncle’s a good cook. Want to try some?”
“Yesh!”