Chapter 8
During that time, the relationship between Baek Hamin and me had changed significantly.
To something rather, annoying.
"Samcheoooooon..."
Baek Hamin, lying sprawled on the mart floor, looked up at me with pouty, tearful eyes. His green eyes were filled with longing, but I ignored him lightly and silently pushed the shopping cart.
No, I tried to push it. Unfortunately, contrary to my will, the cart didn't budge. It was because Baek Hamin had wound vines all over the cart's wheels. If it weren't for this, I would have finished shopping and gone home already.
"Why. What now."
"I want Buni..."
"It's at home."
"No! That one is Buni Riri! This one is Buni Buni!"
"No. We promised to buy only one, either Buni or Riri."
I swiftly scooped up the flailing Baek Hamin and placed him in the cart.
The rabbit doll series called Pani or whatever all looked exactly the same, distinguished only by whether they had a blue ribbon on the left ear or a pink ribbon on the right ear, then sold separately under the names Buni and Riri—a character absolutely steeped in commercial greed.
I bought you a fork and plate, that should've been enough. Why do you need more?
I tossed a gummy worm at Baek Hamin, who was puffing out his lips and putting on his "I'm sulking" act.
"Pay for it first, then eat."
"Okay."
Only then did Baek Hamin's mood improve, smiling brightly as if he had never pouted in the first place. Meanwhile, I crouched down and plucked the vines tangled around the wheels one by one.
"Throw a tantrum one more time and I'm really not bringing you out again."
"Mm."
Baek Hamin glanced at me, then hugged the gummy worm tightly and nodded.
Seriously, when he first saw it, he recoiled in disgust, but look at him drooling with joy after tasting it once.
"Samcheon, carry me now."
I lifted Baek Hamin, who was reaching out from the cart, and held him by the bottom.
Actually, Baek Hamin hadn't been affectionate toward me from the start. Even while calling me "Samcheon, Samcheon" with his mouth, he used to stare at everything I did with wide eyes, monitoring me. Even when eating, he would only put food in his mouth after I took a spoonful first.
After doing that for a week, he must have found it impossible, because not only did he start stretching his legs to find a place to sleep, he began treating my house like his own.
Just look at him now.
"Samcheon, eggs are on sale."
Baek Hamin took out a crumpled flyer and unfolded it. I could see a list of ingredients written in colored pencil at the corner—had he decided what to buy before leaving home?
This is Baek Hamin? Who would believe this child, perfectly adapted to commoner life, is the precious jewel of the Baekwoo Guild? Even I would never believe it.
Is that why Baek Eunsung hasn't come looking? Because no one could even imagine Baek Hamin being here?
I smiled awkwardly at the employees who handed Baek Hamin fruit samples, praising my younger sibling for being so resourceful.
"It's nice that you came out to play with your hyung. What are you going to make?"
"Not hyung, samcheon. Eggs are on sale, one pack per person, so samcheon and I will each buy one pack and make soy sauce egg rice for dinner."
"Oh my, alright. Eat deliciously."
Having put two packs of eggs in the cart, I called Baek Hamin with a serious face.
"He wants to eat more."
"Yeah."
I rubbed my forehead, at a loss for words.
Isn't he eating... too well?
Whenever we went to the mart, he would want to snack on things, so I thought it might be better if he was full and fed him two whole bowls of rice right before we left.
But he wants to eat rice again.
I doubted it could be true, but I wondered if the Baekwoo Guild had starved this child. After finishing checkout, I neatly folded the receipt and stored it in my wallet. On the day I tear out the compensation money, I'll charge them down to the last won.
Baek Hamin, who had devoured two loaves of bread and three jars of strawberry jam as soon as we got home, patted his full belly and brought out the Pani coloring book.
Meanwhile, I looked at my quiet phone.
Why is there... no contact?
It's unpleasant enough just having it saved, but I know Baek Eunsung's contact number, and Baek Eunsung also has mine.
If it were the Baek Eunsung I knew, he should be knocking on my door right now. Just knowing his beloved nephew was in the house of Sung Dohyun, who extremely disliked him, would make him anxious enough to go crazy.
'But why on earth is there no news at all?'
With my arms crossed, I looked at Baek Hamin singing a strange song. Then a question suddenly occurred to me.
Did Baek Eunsung truly cherish Baek Hamin?
In the original work, the "Baek Hamin Side Story" was naturally told from Baek Hamin's perspective, so there was a possibility he had deluded himself into thinking Baek Eunsung loved and cherished him.
If so, the lack of contact would make sense, but... no, even so, could he really be this completely silent when his nephew has gone missing?
"Samcheon, you know..."
"Yes, Baek Hamin. You called it right. Where's your uncle?"
"Samcheon? Ah, Eunsung samcheon? He'll be out soon?"
Out... soon? From where?
Seeing my bewildered expression, Baek Hamin took out a phone from his bag—huh?
"A phone?"
"Yeah."
"You had a phone?"
"Yeah!"
...But why didn't you say anything? Baek Hamin waved the phone in front of me as I stood there dumbfounded with my mouth open. On the lit screen, Baek Eunsung and Baek Hamin were smiling brightly with their cheeks pressed together.
Baek Hamin, operating the phone with his small hand, made a call, and after a moment, Baek Eunsung's voice burst out.
—Baek Hamin! Where... ...right now...!
Though there was crackling static mixed in, it was definitely Baek Eunsung's voice. Whether there was some issue, the call couldn't continue and was cut off, and unlike me who was confused, Baek Hamin held out the phone to me with a calm expression.
"Samcheon is in a dungeon right now."
"No, why didn't you tell me that now."
"You didn't ask."
Well, I didn't ask, but...!
Baek Hamin tilted his head at me, unable to say anything out of disbelief.
"And Eunsung samcheon said that samcheon knows everything?"
I know everything?
Ah, I understand what he means. Wasn't Sung Dohyun the guy who did all sorts of things to interfere with Baek Eunsung?
He even paid an Oracle Hunter to see the future, so in Baek Eunsung's eyes, it would make sense for him to see Sung Dohyun as someone who knew all his movements. But that's not me, that's the original 'Sung Dohyun'.
I kept repeating "Ha, ha, ha" sounds and searched the news on my phone.
[Breaking News: Baekwoo Guild Completes Dungeon Conquest!]
A dungeon? Suddenly?
No, they said it was family matters. Does the Baekwoo Guild solve family matters in dungeons?
Unable to hide my absurd expression, I pressed the breaking news. As if he had just come out of the dungeon, Baek Eunsung was glaring at the camera with a more sensitive face than usual.
It was a face that made me feel bad just looking at it, so I turned off the live broadcast and went over to Baek Hamin.
"Hey, it seems like Baek Kyungmin went too. Were you supposed to go together but couldn't?"
"Yeah. Kyungmin hyung said he needed something, so I was going to enter the dungeon with him."
No, they were going to take this child into a dungeon?
The more I heard, the less I understood the Baek family's actions. Could Baek Kyungmin also be under a curse? Did they think they could lift the curse in a dungeon, so they brought Baek Hamin along?
If not, it was clearly child abuse.
Even I sometimes have nightmares on days I faced monsters, and they wanted to show a child such a horrific place.
"That Baek Eunsung, seriously..."
As I clicked my tongue, Baek Hamin, who had completed his drawing, sat on my lap. I rolled up my pants and used my ability to suppress the curse on Baek Hamin's swinging legs, but only sighs came out.
Right, if he was in a dungeon, it makes sense that there was no contact until now...
"Samcheon, you know."
"I get it now. This one is Ro, this one is Poni."
"No no, that's not it."
I thought he was giving me another surprise Pani matching quiz like usual, but apparently not. Baek Hamin hesitated for a while before asking in a small voice.
"Samcheon, are you and our samcheon not on good terms? And Riri and Buni too."
This kid is quick to notice.
As a reader, I had no ill feelings toward Baek Eunsung, but the body's owner, Sung Dohyun, must have ground his teeth just thinking of Baek Eunsung's name, as my heart beat unpleasantly.
"We're not on good terms."
"I see."
Baek Hamin, being clever, didn't interrogate me about why we weren't on good terms and quietly started building blocks.
I looked at Baek Hamin's things placed all around the house. If they had just completed the dungeon, they would need to calm their excitement, so they'd rest for about a day before rushing over. Looking at the clock, I started organizing things within reach.
"Why are you organizing? I'm going to play with them more."
"No, you need to prepare to go back home now. Your uncle will come tomorrow."
At those words, Baek Hamin made a shocked expression.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation; it seemed he had become quite accustomed to this life, not even thinking about returning to Baekwoo.
Baek Hamin clung to me with a face about to cry. I went around the kitchen with Baek Hamin attached to my shin, fried eggs, and mixed rice in Baek Hamin's personal bowl.
"Let's eat."
"Uung... samcheon... give me kimchi."
Baek Hamin, chewing his rice with a gloomy face, suddenly looked at me with a face of realization.
"Samcheon! Samcheonsamcheonsamcheon."
"Call me once."
"Samcheon, have you ever tried kimchi made with Aplasian?"
"No."
I didn't know what Aplasian was, but it sounded similar to Rafflesia. But making kimchi with that? I don't want to eat it.
"There's a person named Jaegun ajussi at our house, and he cooks really well?"
"Is that so."
Baek Hamin, whether he wanted to boast belatedly or was complaining about the side dishes, went on about how the sausages Jaegun ajussi grilled weren't just regular sausages and the eggs weren't just regular eggs.
"Next time, do you want to come to our house and try it?"
"No."
After learning that I could return home by repairing the M-rank belt, I had been intentionally avoiding accumulating new experiences.
Thinking about how I obtained the viewing conditions just by wanting to go home, it was possible that I possessed this body because my past self had wished for it.
Just by merely thinking about it, my world of residence had flipped. It was an absurd hypothesis, but there was nothing else that came to mind.
Therefore, I had to avoid accumulating special memories in this place as much as possible. I couldn't be unreasonably dragged back here again by thinking that I wanted to eat the food I had here, or wanted to do something I did back then, after returning to my original world.
"Eat a lot when you go back. For now, eat this."
I looked at Baek Hamin nodding sullenly, then shifted my gaze to the scored sausages.
He ate so well that I thought he had no complaints, but was he actually picky about food?