Chapter 54
"It's delicious, right?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"Uncle, eat more."
Baek Hamin, his small hands full of snacks, tried to shove them into my mouth. Shaking my head to indicate I'd had enough, I passed the child off to Baek Eunseong.
The other children had each found their spots and were resting, but Baek Gyeongmin was the only one standing beside the teacher, asking when the class would resume.
"Baek Hamin."
"Yeah, want more snacks?"
"No, I'm fine. Go bring Baek Gyeongmin over."
"Gyeongmin hyung?"
As Baek Hamin, who had been looking around, reached out his hand, morning glories that had grown rapidly tapped Baek Gyeongmin's hand.
"Hyung! Eat snacks first!"
Baek Gyeongmin, who had been hesitating, approached hesitantly at Baek Eunseong's gesture. Sitting on the very edge of the mat with only his bottom perched, Baek Gyeongmin nibbled on his snacks without meeting anyone's eyes.
In the distance, I could see Do Yudam hovering around Jeon Jiyoon. Jeon Jiyoon hadn't prepared anything to feed the child during break time, so he was just standing there blankly.
Seriously, Jeon Jiyoon. He's a guardian in name only—what is he actually doing? Clicking my tongue, I waved my hand at Do Yudam and gestured for him to come over.
"Nooo!"
Baek Hamin rolled around on my lap, saying he didn't like it, but Do Yudam, who had approached at some point, bowed shyly to me and Baek Eunseong.
"Hello."
"Yeah, sit down."
"Just sit!"
"Hamin."
Baek Hamin squirmed as he tried to grow thorny roses around Do Yudam, only to be stopped by Baek Eunseong. Do Yudam easily plucked off the vines and took a seat next to me.
With Baek Hamin tucked firmly under one arm, throwing a tantrum, Baek Eunseong handed Do Yudam a snack. Do Yudam accepted it obediently, munching away, then fiddled with his wrist and whispered to me.
"Hey!!"
Baek Hamin's loud shout erupted the moment Do Yudam leaned close to my ear, making me miss half of what was said, but with hearing as sharp as an S-rank hunter's, I could catch the latter part.
"...Wouldn't it be faster to unwrap the wires before doing it?"
"You saw earlier, right? If you unwrap the wires before pressing the power button, the shape gets distorted, and you could get hurt by the debris."
"What if I can escape before it collapses?"
"Try it if you want."
When I answered indifferently, Do Yudam nodded, his blue eyes brimming with enthusiasm. Does he think he won't get hurt just because his body is sturdy? He doesn't even know how to activate his passive skill yet. I firmly added one more thing.
"If you get hurt, no more classes from now on."
"Then I'll just do it without unwrapping the wires."
Do Yudam, who answered swiftly, started eating his snacks with an expression that asked what had just happened. Baek Gyeongmin, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, approached on his knees and looked at Do Yudam disapprovingly.
"But the teacher told you not to do that."
"No, doing it that way is faster! Who's actually going to do it for real?"
"You're not supposed to do it that way in the first place!"
"Yeah, neither of you do it that way."
Was this how Minister Hwang Hee felt? Caught between Do Yudam and Baek Gyeongmin, I repeated that both were right, then hugged Baek Hamin, who suddenly climbed all over me and threw himself into my arms.
"You guys are childish."
"Exactly."
I thought Do Yudam and Baek Gyeongmin were unusually mature for their age, but looking at them like this...
"Total kids, just kids."
At my muttered words, Baek Gyeongmin stared at me with a startled face.
"A kid? Me?"
"Well, are you a kid or an adult?"
When I let out a hollow laugh at Baek Gyeongmin's bewildered expression, he furrowed his brows as much as he could and glared at me. I stuck out my lips and grabbed Baek Gyeongmin, who was trying to dart off the mat, with my other arm.
"I'm not Hamin!"
"Is there anyone here who doesn't know you're Baek Gyeongmin?"
As I patted his back in response to his sullen voice and loosened the tightly knotted flow, I could see the child's raised shoulders gradually dropping. Seeing that his breathing had eased, it seemed his tension had completely melted away—or so I thought, in that very moment.
"Remove your hand, Hunter Seong Dohyeon."
The secretary of Baek Jiseong, who had approached at some point and grabbed my wrist, was glaring at me with furious eyes. I looked down at my hand, which had gone pale from lack of blood circulation, then spoke.
"You're the one who should remove your hand."
I gestured with my eyes for the scowling secretary to look to the side.
A golem that had puffed up its body in an instant, roses blooming flamboyantly as if to strangle him, and Do Yudam with his claws bared. Baek Gyeongmin looked around with a flustered face, then glared at the secretary.
"What do you think you're doing? Do you think I can't even protect myself?"
Baek Gyeongmin spat coldly, then apologized to me several times before leaving with the secretary. Do Yudam also soon bowed his head, saying thanks for the snacks, before disappearing somewhere.
Once the children were gone, Baek Eunseong gently grasped my wrist. Perhaps it was because of his cautious fingertips and gaze examining me, my hand felt inexplicably stifled, and I whipped my head away. I didn't forget to demand that he file a work injury claim, saying I was dying of pain.
When I turned my gaze back, Baek Gyeongmin was handling the magical beasts with skilled hands, as if he had never hesitated at all. Watching him perfectly take down even the Medillon that appeared afterward, I clapped my hands inwardly and looked down at Baek Hamin, who was clinging to me like a koala.
"Aren't you going to do it?"
"I already did earlier."
"Those are different magical beasts from before."
"They're the same magical beasts anyway!"
"How are an Otjio and a Medillon the same magical beast? Do you think Pani and Lili are the same?"
Baek Hamin, who was working his mouth at my words, buried his face in my chest with an indignant expression. I gestured to Baek Eunseong, who was quietly holding back his laughter, to take his nephew away, but then changed my approach.
"Do Yudam is pretty good."
"I'm better!!"
Baek Hamin shrieked again before darting off like a bullet, trailing rose petals behind him. When I snorted, Baek Eunseong cleaned up his seat and smiled as well.
Hmm. Even so, this is a dungeon. Is it really okay to enjoy a picnic this leisurely?
To prevent any unforeseen dangers, I looked around and sensed the flow, only to see Baek Gyeongmin suddenly running wildly toward me. Baek Gyeongmin came right up to my nose and caught his ragged breath. In his small palm lay two magic stones.
"See! It's not that kid!"
"Yeah, right. Go get checked before you lose them."
I had no idea what not being a kid had to do with bringing magic stones, but Baek Gyeongmin turned around with a dignified expression. Watching the child's retreating back, I murmured softly.
"Getting worked up over being called a kid is pretty childish itself."
"Is that so?"
When I turned my head at the softly questioning voice, Baek Eunseong was looking at me with a smile. I gave a casual nod and watched the children squealing, showing no signs of leaving even though the magical beasts had been cleared, and the teachers sweating as they tried to wrangle them.
Jeon Jiyoon was gathering the children with wind, but the kids giggled as if it were a fun game. Jeong Uichan also dashed here and there to round them up, but the children ran away faster than his speed.
"The kids usually listen well, but I guess it's because we're in a dungeon. Hahaha."
The teacher let out an awkward laugh as he went to catch a child hiding among the guardians. I watched the seemingly endless game of tag before sending out my thread.
The thread that had been fluttering lightly in the air soon split into multiple strands and snatched up the children. Pouting and sticking out their lips with whiny sounds, the kids finally accepted reality when Jeon Jiyoon created a wall of wind to trap them, and they began to line up in rows.
After the noisy dungeon raid finally wrapped up, I was about to leave with Baek Hamin when I stopped at a voice calling me from behind.
"Hunter Seong Dohyeon, if it's not too much trouble."
"It is too much trouble. Let's stop here."
"Please join the Association!"
I turned away from Jeon Jiyoon, who was begging with tears in his eyes. If I had any intention of joining the Association, 'Seong Dohyeon' would have joined long ago. The same went for other guilds. Since 'Seong Dohyeon' seemed to have no interest, I planned to live the same way as long as nothing special happened.
As soon as I got home, I washed up and collapsed face-first onto the bed with a sigh. I wanted to fall asleep just like that, but I forced my body up and pressed down firmly on the mattress. Did it always feel like this? It seems to have gotten softer.
Tilting my head in curiosity, I burrowed under the covers and let out a short sigh. Would it look pathetic if I asked them to pack this blanket when I go home? If I use this and then go back to my own blanket, it'll be too uncomfortable to sleep.
* * *
Hamin, who had been watching through the slightly opened door, gave Eunseong a thumbs-up.
"Shh. Uncle Dohyeon is sleeping."
The small, fern-like hand pressed firmly against his lips. Leaving the gap of the slightly open door behind, Hamin gave Eunseong a thumbs-up with his other hand.
Eunseong was smiling with an innocent face, but this was all a strategy he had devised to keep Dohyeon here.
From what Eunseong had observed so far, Dohyeon was the type of person who would leave immediately if asked outright to stay. So they had to plant something in his heart that would keep him from leaving, or if he did leave, make him miss this place so much that he would come back.
The first step of that plan was changing the environment. Eunseong secretly decorated the house little by little so that it would be so comfortable Dohyeon wouldn't even think of his original home.
For Dohyeon, who loved the sunlight, he installed new windows and hung the curtains high. Hamin, who noticed the gradually changing house, cleverly placed Dohyeon's favorite snacks all around.
Perhaps thanks to that, Dohyeon hadn't even noticed that a week had already passed since the one month he had promised to stay. At some point, he began to accept the meals Choi Jaegeun prepared without any resistance, and when it was time for Hamin to go to the Academy, he naturally looked for the knight and headed out the door together.
Since he was such a suspicious person, Eunseong planned to quietly tie him to the house without making it obvious. Eunseong smiled softly as he watched Dohyeon melting into the massage chair like a rice cake.
He thought it would continue like this from now on, but...
"Hey, I'm going out today."
He absolutely couldn't take it today!