Chick 310

310

Joorim pressed his aching forehead, while Gru twisted her hands anxiously.

“So, when Mephisto wakes up, does everything go back the way it was?”

Nod, nod.

At that moment, from a distance, On Ijo lifted his head and sent them a desperate, pleading look as if begging for help.

Joorim and Gru raised their hands and waved.

“……”

On Ijo’s lips trembled as he started signing autographs once more.

Gru stared at On Ijo for a moment. Then, just as she was about to speak—

“Do you know when Mephisto will wake up?”

“Mephi’s magic isn’t recharged yet. I think if he sleeps about three more nights, it’ll be full…”

Three days—from now until just after Christmas.

That would mean it would end just before the assault on the 99th floor.

“And our memories of being here? Will everyone forget we ever existed?”

“Hmm, according to Mephi… once we go back to the future, everything we did while in the past will be ‘as if it never happened.’”

Joorim nodded, understanding.

So, we’re nothing more than observers in the past.

It made sense—if the past could be changed so easily, the present would never have turned out as it did.

‘In the end, what’s meant to happen will happen.’

That means there was never an option not to send my brother to the 100th floor in the first place.

Ever since finding Gru, some part of me had always wondered: if we didn’t send Ijo to the 100th floor that day, perhaps the tragedy could be avoided.

Even having guessed as much, the reality pressed down hard on his chest.

Letting go of this now-pointless regret, Joorim lowered his eyes.

“……”

He crossed his legs and propped his chin on his hand.

At the edge of his sight, the child idly swung her feet, while his brother was completely absorbed in signing autographs on someone’s back.

Was it his own biases that blinded him?

It now seemed almost ridiculous he hadn’t realized until now how much the child resembled his brother.

Joorim rubbed his face with both hands.

‘Han Gru.’

Was it Chloe Han who left the child at Milal Orphanage?

The same surname.

Similar face.

The ages matched.

If it was indeed Chloe who left her at the orphanage, then that meant she was already dead.

And On Ijo had disappeared on the 100th floor as well.

In conclusion, the child’s parents were both already gone.

If, just as Mephisto said, they couldn’t influence the past at all—if they couldn’t change anything like characters in a movie or novel—then…

Could he really say it to Gru in this situation?

Could he really tell her that the people she’d met here were her mother and father, and that in the present, both were already dead?

And if he did, what if Gru refused to go back?

“…Phew.”

A long sigh escaped as his head throbbed.

Unaware of the complexity overwhelming him, the child glanced over as if simply wanting to play, casting repeated looks in Ijo’s direction.

“Go ask if he’ll play. Uncle said he’d build the princess a castle, remember?”

Color blossomed brightly in Gru’s pale cheeks.

“What about Daddy?”

The word “Daddy” pierced Joorim’s mind like a hot iron.

“I’ll come over soon.”

He watched as Gru dashed away.

The child ran to build blocks with the man who might be her father.

Joorim rubbed his eyes with his fingertips.

Countless images flickered through his mind—the things he’d shared with his brother, those moments of sacrifice…

What should he even do? Had he ever been this lost before?

Watching them silently, a feeling of helplessness and emptiness suddenly overwhelmed him.

Meanwhile, Gru hesitated as she began building the castle with On Ijo.

“Uncle… Actually…”

“Hm?”

Gru hesitated, mumbling over her words.

Maybe this was the sort of thing she shouldn’t say. Still…

“Is it possible not to go to the Tower?”

On Ijo scratched his cheek, looking troubled.

Perhaps Joorim, too, was listening—Gru could feel his eyes on her.

She deliberately avoided his gaze.

She knew why he was looking at her the way he was.

She remembered the sadness in her father’s eyes when he’d said that nothing could be changed.

Gru clenched her tiny fists. If Uncle went away, everyone would be sad.

Grandpa, Daddy, Chloe Unnie too.

That’s why she wanted to do whatever she could.

“My little princess. Are you worried about Uncle?”

Nod, nod.

“Chloe Unnie will be waiting for you to come back too, I bet…”

“Is that what you think?”

His voice was light, smiling, as he asked.

Gru nodded.

“Unnie’s just… not honest with herself. But I bet she likes you a lot, Uncle.”

“Is that so?”

On Ijo playfully tapped her nose, beaming.

“Then all the more reason for me to go.”

Gru fiddled with the blocks, pouting.

“Why, though?”

Finding her adorable, On Ijo gently squeezed her cheeks with both hands and laughed.

“Because Uncle wants our Gru to build a hundred more princess castles.”

“And if I don’t want to build them anymore?”

“Even then, Uncle wants you to eat lots of good food and have fun with Chloe Unnie.”

Suddenly, Gru remembered Chloe’s smiling face, always talking about delicious food.

She looked genuinely happy.

Uncle must want us to have that same happy future.

“Uncle is a very strong person.”

Nod, nod.

“That’s why I have to go. Because it’s something only I can do.”

“…But what if you don’t go? Then maybe everyone will be even happier.”

“That’s not how it works.”

On Ijo replied firmly.

At that, Gru looked at Joorim, her eyes shimmering as if she might cry.

Joorim slowly shook his head, as if saying, “That’s enough.”

Back then, as now, there was nothing Joorim could do to stop his brother.

And for the first time, Gru understood what it felt like for Joorim to send his brother alone to the 100th floor. All day, her chest ached with heaviness and sorrow.

---

[“You’re continuing research on G-r00?”]

[“The results are exceptional. I didn’t think we’d see performance like this from such brief emotional exchange.”]

Bill sipped his coffee and patted Chloe on the shoulder.

[“Bill, is that the Company’s decision?”]

[“Why? Becoming interested in this line of research now that you’ve kept the kid around?”]

“‘This’ line of research” referred to experiments conducted on children.

[“I told you I have no interest in that kind of bullshit.”]

Chloe bit her lip hard.

They were continuing experiments on Gru.

There was no need for Bill to spell out what horrors they might try this time.

Unconsciously, Chloe clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms.

And if it came to that—would Gru ever laugh again?

Bill slurped his coffee and gave her another smile.

[“It’s better for G-r00 this way than to be disposed of, isn’t it?”]

“To be disposed of?”

Chloe let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh.

Yes, Gru was a child destined for disposal.

She’d always excused herself that those kids weren’t her responsibility, never caring what happened to the ones thrown out of the labs.

Why was it weighing on her now?

[“When are they planning to start?”]

[“Why do you care when this shitty experiment starts?”]

Bill shrugged.

[“I need to know so I can be ready…”]

[“Ha, all you need to know is that there’s nothing you can do to prepare.”]

Chloe, teeth gritted, threw her lab coat in Bill’s face.

[“Oof.”]

[“Choke on it.”]

Bill watched her storm out of the lab with a curious gaze.

Then he picked up her coffee cup, still half full.

With a sample like this, a pregnancy test should be more than possible.

If she was truly pregnant with On Ijo’s child, their entire research would face a revolution.