Geuru returned to the room and, grunting, dragged over the blanket Jurim had covered her with yesterday.
“Oof-cha, huff-cha.”
Just as Jurim had done for her, she crept over to roll him up like a caterpillar and spread the blanket over him.
At that very moment, Jurim’s eyes opened into thin slits. He blinked a couple of times, then spoke in a cracked voice.
“……You’re up already?”
I wasn’t supposed to wake him!
Flustered, Geuru began patting Jurim’s chest.
“There, there, sleepy, sleepy~ our Guild Mastew~”
At the off-key lullaby, Jurim swallowed a small laugh.
“I’m already wide awake.”
After stretching, he lifted Geuru right up, carried her to the bathroom, and set her on a stool.
He squeezed toothpaste onto Geuru’s toothbrush, then made a call somewhere.
“This is On Jurim. No. It’s nothing else. I’d like to take her to kindergarten myself today. Yes, thank you.”
Geuru pricked up her ears.
‘Kindergarten? The Guild Master?’
*
The way to Saebom Kindergarten was thrown into commotion by the sudden appearance of a famous person.
“Is that On Jurim?”
“On Jurim?”
“Why is he here?”
Holding Jurim’s hand on the way in, Geuru felt all the eyes on them, pressed her lips tightly together, and walked stiffly like a creaking robot.
Geuru knew why everyone was staring only at them. Jurim, who had paid far more attention to his outfit than he usually did when going to work, looked even more wonderful today.
‘Proud!’
As exclamations of how handsome he was burst out here and there, Geuru raised her eyebrows even higher to pretend she was calm. It was her attempt to show the proper attitude as his companion.
“……?”
And Jurim tilted his head as he looked at Geuru, who had become more solemn than usual.
Was kindergarten that hard for her?
Just as he was considering taking her back home today if she seemed too unwell, the homeroom teacher of the Chick Class greeted them suspiciously.
“Hello……?”
Jurim smiled and greeted her.
“My greetings are late. I’m On Jurim, the one who has taken charge of Geuru.”
The teacher, whose mind had been a mess trying to figure out why On Jurim was here, flushed and hurriedly bowed.
“Oh, no, no. Not late at all.”
She had known that a sitter had begun helping with drop-off and pick-up, but to think the person who had adopted the child was On Jurim.
Then what about marriage? His wife? She forcibly held back all sorts of questions that surged up and greeted the other children arriving at school.
Meanwhile, Jurim bent down toward Geuru.
“I’ll come when it’s time to go home too.”
“What about work?”
“This is more important work.”
He said it indifferently, but Geuru couldn’t hide the pounding in her heart.
Nod, nod.
Then, after sweeping his gaze over the kindergarten children arriving, Jurim crouched down to meet her eyes and whispered to Geuru.
“In my eyes, you look like the prettiest princess out of all the other children.”
Only then did Geuru smile bashfully.
Feeling much more relieved, Jurim lightly pinched Geuru’s cheek.
“If you’re upset, you can get angry. You can fight too.”
“But……”
I’m not supposed to cause trouble……. As Geuru mumbled while glancing at the teacher, Jurim lowered his voice by her ear as though telling her a secret.
“Do whatever you want. I can take care of everything for you.”
Jurim was someone who told her that she was the prettiest in the world, and that no matter what happened, he would be on her side.
A helpless smile kept slipping out.
It felt as if her chest had filled with pompoms, cheering her on nonstop like a cheerleader.
Soft and fluffy. Confidence that made her feel she could do anything filled her up like a squirrel’s jar of acorns prepared for winter.
Before she knew it, her hurt feelings had turned to dust and flown away.
‘The Guild Master is amazing……!’
Geuru puffed out her chest like a pigeon, snorted through her nose, and flung both arms up. As if telling him to hurry up and hug her.
At that, Jurim awkwardly hugged her.
“Geuru feels like she can do anyfing.”
“You look that way.”
“When kindergarden is over, I wanna go with Auntie.”
“Why?”
“Um, just ’cause……”
Because the Guild Master was busy, and he stood out, and even if he didn’t come all the way to pick her up, she would no longer be jealous of the other children.
Jurim looked puzzled for a moment, but soon accepted it.
“All right. Call me when you get home.”
Nod, nod.
Geuru tightened her arms around him.
“Guild Mastew, I love you.”
Jurim, who had been holding her back, pressed his lips together. After hesitating, he finally managed to let out one word.
“……Okay.”
He did not return the words I love you, but his voice, swallowing a smile, was very gentle.
Giggling, Geuru bounced into the kindergarten.
Jurim rose and rubbed his suddenly hot throat.
Then he bowed to the homeroom teacher.
“Please take good care of Geuru.”
*
That afternoon.
Hyeonak conference room.
Sitting with his legs crossed, Jurim kept checking the clock, looking restless.
It was already five in the afternoon. By now, she should have been dismissed and had more than enough time to get home, but the call was quite late.
Had she been bullied by her friend today? Had she risen in status from stable keeper? Had anything happened?
Jurim had spent the entire day with his head in a muddle, repeatedly forming plans to go to the kindergarten and scold a four-year-old on her behalf, then falling into self-loathing.
Even in the midst of that, the reports continued endlessly.
New guild member Park Guseung had gone deathly pale because the Guild Master had been deep in thought the entire time, wearing a dark expression.
When Park Guseung began tripping over his words again and again, everyone in the conference room grew uneasy.
Bzzzz—
Just then, a vibration sounded. Jurim immediately picked up his phone and stood.
“Let’s take a short break.”
“G-G-Guild Master?!”
When Park Guseung called out in a shrill voice, Jurim furrowed his brow. He waved a hand as if annoyed and grabbed the doorknob.
“Someone cuddle Hunter Park Guseung a little, will you? If he starts crying like that, we’ll be here all night.”
“……Pardon?”
Cuddle him so he doesn’t cry?
It sounded kind, yet cold.
Leaving only a strange silence behind in the conference room, he swiftly went out and answered the call.
On the screen appeared Geuru’s face, looking down from above.
She had clearly placed the phone on the floor and made a video call.
—Guild Mastew!
“Did you just get home?”
—Yees, I played with Haeri at the playground before coming home.
“With Haeri? Did you make up?”
And Seojun, who had hurriedly followed him out, saw Jurim and Geuru smiling, then quietly went back into the conference room and closed the door.
—Haeri said, um, it was ’cause Geuru became a Huntew and played more with other friends.
“Yeah?”
—She said sorry, and we decided to be friends again starting today.
“That’s good.”
—Yees. And, today at kindergarden, I drew you, Guild Mastew. I’ll show you when you come home.
Jurim smiled.
“Geuru, you’re bad at drawing.”
—N-No, I’m not!
Geuru rummaged through her bag, took out the drawing, and held it this way and that before asking the sitter for help.
—Auntie! Help me with this…… It won’t showww.
—Oh my. Geuru, what’s this?
—It’s Guild Mastew!
—My goodness! Our little puppy is good at drawing too.
Laughing brightly, she turned the camera toward Geuru holding the picture.
Jurim, who had been expecting just a little, narrowed his eyes.
The thing drawn on the paper had all four feet on the ground like a dog.
‘Isn’t it not even human to begin with?’
A fundamental question arose, but seeing the eyes sparkling with expectation and all the hearts drawn in the background, he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“It’s novel and creative. Put it in my study.”
—Yees!
There came the sound of little feet pattering, and then Geuru shoved her face back onto the screen.
At the sight of her clear, smiling face, something inside him tickled and clamored.
Whenever Yun Seojun held out pictures of his children and smiled with that stupid look on his face, Jurim had scolded him inwardly, wondering what there was to be so happy about.
But seeing his own face reflected in one corner of the screen, wearing the same stupid expression as Yun Seojun, Jurim frowned.
—Today, we did a pwesentation about what we did on the weekend.
The child chattered on endlessly, but not noisily.
He had a great deal of work to do, but he wanted to listen to every bit of her trivial talk.