Chick 154
by Cristae154
“…Grue, what is this?”
Swallowing his mounting questions, Jurim gently pointed at the sprout and asked.
“Um?”
Ah—Grue flashed a wide grin.
“It’s my plant. Grue’s raising it.”
She stroked the wilted sprout tenderly.
‘Seriously? On her head?’
Jurim stared at his daughter, as if seeing an alien whose flowerpot was her own head—but after a moment,
‘…Well, it’s cute, so I suppose it’s fine.’
He decided to accept his daughter as she was.
She didn’t seem hurt, and this alien sprout, she said, was hers to raise…
Cradling Grue, Jurim checked on Serhi.
The treatment seemed nearly complete; the acorn was now fully merging into Serhi’s chest.
‘So that’s the elixir…’
It was the acorn Grue often showed off. She’d said it came from the RP dungeon, carrying it like a treasure wherever she went. He’d always thought it was cute.
‘Well, it is a treasure.’
If it truly was an elixir, then using it now wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. If anyone had realized Grue had it…
Stroking Grue, Jurim steadied his heart.
So, is everything settled now?
‘…’
Abruptly, Jurim stared at his left hand.
When he saw Grue safe, he sensed the master of the 99th floor given over to relief.
It left Jurim with an odd feeling.
It was the first time he’d sensed an actual living presence from the master of the 99th floor.
Whether that was good or bad, Jurim’s brow furrowed in mild displeasure.
‘Who does he think he is to Grue?’
Just because they shared sensations, did he presume he was Grue’s father too?
At that moment, the helicopter arrived to transfer Serhi to the hospital, together with paramedics and Jin Siwon.
“Where is the patient?”
“Over there.”
Moving aside while holding Grue, Jurim deliberately brushed away his irritation.
After accompanying Serhi to the hospital, Grue underwent a battery of tests with all sorts of machines before coming out into the hallway with a sigh.
Jurim, who worried even an alien sprout might grow atop his daughter’s head, was the reason.
The doctor explained several times that it was merely perched above her scalp—and only then did Jurim seem satisfied.
After the exams were done,
On the way to Serhi’s room, Jurim paused.
“Let’s go home for today.”
“Aw. Not visiting Serhi oppa?”
“I heard he woke up.”
“Oh!”
Lowering his gaze in deep concentration, Jurim continued,
“He’ll probably be discharged soon. Let’s just go for now. Don’t bother him.”
“Bother?”
What does he mean, bother? Grue cocked her head in confusion, but Jurim just gave her a little pat on the back.
Huh?
He said it’s fine, so it must be fine.
Did Dad hear something?
If Grue was S-rank, she might be able to hear too.
‘Hup!’
She focused all her energy, concentrating hard—
‘…’
But nothing, no matter how carefully she listened. Grue pouted.
‘Still, he woke up. Serhi oppa woke up!’
Feeling cheered, Grue beamed, swinging Jurim’s hand joyfully back and forth.
“Have you done everything you needed in Jeju?”
“Mm? …Ah!”
Grue turned to Jurim in surprise.
He was probably asking about Serhi and Gidan’s situation, but there was certainly something left to do.
Grue cleared her throat, stood up straight, and asked in a serious voice,
“Dad. What about Nayeon? Did you, um… fall in love?”
“Nayeon? Shin Nayeon?”
Jurim frowned, as if the idea of ‘falling in love with Shin Nayeon’ made him bite into something sour. Grue hastily clarified,
“N-no, I mean, a matchmaker date!”
“Haa… Who told you that?”
Oops!
“Um? Grue doesn’t really remember…”
Eyes rolling in practiced deflection, Grue got her cheeks pinched by Jurim.
“Huaeang.”
“Chairman Nam?”
“Hngg…”
“Shouldn’t talk like that in front of a child… It wasn’t Nayeon, it was someone else.”
Someone else? Grue rubbed her sore cheek and pressed further.
“Who?”
“Someone you don’t know.”
“Whooo?”
“Why do you keep asking?”
“‘Cuz… if Dad falls in love, Grue needs to know too.”
Twisting and squirming, her manner made Jurim let out a chuckle.
“Then you don’t need to—because I got rejected.”
“Gasp!”
Jurim ruffled Grue’s hair, then took her hand and led her out of the hospital.
As they walked, Grue stared up at Jurim—who drew plenty of glances even inside the hospital—and murmured,
“Knew it, a minus…”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, Dad… Grue’s here for you.”
Standing at the hospital entrance, Grue hugged Jurim in a comforting gesture. When her tiny hand patted his backside, Jurim barely held back his laughter, his words trailing off.
“Yeah. Dad can’t live without Grue.”
“Let’s go to kindergarten together someday!”
If Dad learned his manners at kindergarten, he’d be perfect!
“…Suddenly?”
Grue, ignoring Jurim’s confusion, offered him a sad smile, took his hand, and patted his hand with the other.
‘A grownup would be embarrassed about going to kindergarten, for sure.’
For the sake of his pride, Grue quietly resolved to sneak him into kindergarten herself.
And so—
It wasn’t long before the rumor that On Jurim had been rejected started making its rounds through the entirety of Hyunak, thanks to a kindergartner who knew no secrets.
Chapter: To Nurture Life Is to Bear Responsibility
Two days after returning from Jeju.
All that was left was to wait for a fully recovered Serhi to be discharged—a stretch of happy days.
Or at least, it should have been…
Grue stood up straight before Jurim, who was lounging on the living room sofa, and spoke in a clear voice.
“I’ll take him for walks every day. Grue will eat only half a bowl of rice and feed the babies with the rest.”
Jurim watched this bold presentation of future plans, tilting his head.
“Ongru.”
“Yes!”
“Do you think I’d be happy if you ate only half your rice?”
“You’d not be ha…ppy…”
“Exactly.”
Tsk. Judging by his reaction, Plan One was a bust.
On to Plan Two.
Grue smoothly lowered her head.
“I apologize.”
As Grue sprawled herself flat, Jurim rubbed his brow.
“Ongru, be honest.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where did you find this?”
He pointed at the hamster—crudely shaped, as if hastily sculpted from clay.
The hamster, with dead glassy eyes, was kneeling beside Grue.
‘Should’ve been more careful about this.’
She’d managed to get Beilak home by hiding him in her bag—but she couldn’t keep him there forever.
‘He needs to eat something!’
Intending to secretly feed Beilak from the fridge, she quietly slipped him from her bag when—
“What’s that?”
“Eek!”
Jurim had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
Grue, pouting, stammered her reply.
“J-Jeju Island…”
Jurim let out a breath, staring up at the ceiling.
“Figures. Where else would something like this come from…”
An SSS-class monster wouldn’t just be rolling around outside the dungeon for anyone to pick up. Someone must have gone out of their way to catch and bring one back.
“Grue can take really good care of him…”
And my daughter is the one who picked him up…
The hamster gave a bored yawn, sharp teeth glinting like a shark’s.
If only, like the other kids, she’d brought home a stray cat or dog.
Why does my child bring home things this ominous? Not even a slime, but an SSS-class monster…
Oblivious to Jurim’s exasperation, Grue replied innocently,
“He’s mine now. Right?”
Nod.
The hamster gave a cocky little nod.