Chick 157
by Cristae157
Sergey grimaced.
“Are you crying again?”
“Oh, just seeing you healthy makes me…”
“I know exactly why you’re crying, so would you stop already! I told you, it’s not your fault!”
When Sergey scolded him, Siwon suddenly pulled Sergey into a tight embrace.
Caught off guard by his brother’s sudden hug, Sergey let out a long sigh, his face half drained of spirit.
‘Ah, I shouldn’t have let my mind wander to the past.’
Ever since he’d woken up in the hospital, there had been so much crying that it took two days before they could even hold a proper conversation.
For Sergey, who had neither the skill to comfort a weeping person nor the coldness to simply stand by and watch, those days had felt like an eternity in hell.
“That’s why… How many times do I have to say it. That was Irina’s doing. You don’t have to feel guilty about any of it.”
At Sergey’s oft-repeated words, Siwon simply nodded in silence.
Taking a steady breath, Sergey summoned the memories of the past.
Holding Irina’s hand, he’d left the orphanage, was sold here and there, became a test subject, and then Irina had even gone as far as to break him out, keeping him close by her side.
All just to ruin and keep Jin Siwon for herself.
With eyes grown cold, Sergey continued,
“And Irina’s already dead.”
He’d been told after the fact that her body had been completely burnt and her ashes buried somewhere. It must have been a final gesture of kinship.
Siwon had offered to tell him where Irina was buried if Sergey wished to know, but he had only shaken his head.
‘I’m not exactly glad she’s dead, nor do I regret not killing her myself.’
Just as when he’d learned Siwon was his brother, he felt no stirring; only a calm indifference.
‘Maybe it still doesn’t feel real.’
He had only watched the memories resurrected by the elixir as if they were scenes from a film.
Perhaps those memories had been buried too long to awaken any intense emotions now.
Sergey only wondered, briefly, where the anger that had driven him all those years had gone.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve been swept along by so much lately I haven’t had time for anything.’
While he was lost in thought, Siwon wiped his tears and grabbed the suitcase. As he was about to leave the hospital room, he turned back.
“So, where will you stay now? You’re welcome at my place. There are plenty of rooms.”
“You make me uncomfortable. You cry too much.”
Sergey firmly turned down the offer, and Siwon’s mouth drooped in disappointment.
Siwon seemed determined to play the older brother now, but for Sergey, who still couldn’t quite grasp it, the discomfort only grew.
“Then should we go to a hotel?”
After a moment’s consideration, Sergey replied to Jin Siwon’s question.
The String Guild Leader’s office.
After a special acting lesson from his veteran colleague.
In front of the sofa where Gidan and Nayeon sat, Groo waved two branches in her hands back and forth.
“A tree when the wind blows!”
“The wind blows, too?” asked Gidan.
Groo paused mid-wave, tilting her head.
“Um, it might blow.”
“Right, even if we’re indoors, wind could blow.”
Gidan bit his lips, trying not to burst out laughing under Jooreum’s watchful eye.
Nayeon, sitting beside him, was entirely engrossed in how adorable and pretty Groo was, clapping and snapping photos whenever possible.
“Tree Groo, you’re so cute! Groo, look here for me!”
Cheered on by Nayeon, Groo lifted her branches high again.
Click! Click!
Amid constant shutter sounds, Groo displayed a few more of the skills she’d learned from Woo-joo: anguished gestures as a tree nibbled by the deer, a tree longing for revenge, and so on.
Knock, knock—
After a short knock, the guild office door swung open.
Seeing who had arrived, Groo called out,
“Oppa!”
She dashed across the room and leapt at Sergey, who lifted her high.
“Oppa, Oppa, are you better now?”
“I’m fine, that’s why I was discharged. What’s with the branches?”
“Mm, because Groo is a tree.”
“And is that why you have the sprout on your head, too?”
“Not exactly…”
Trailing off, Groo threw her arms around Sergey’s neck and rubbed her soft cheek against him.
“…Sergey Oppa, don’t get sick anymore.”
Her voice overflowed with concern.
Sergey gently patted the child’s back.
“…All right.”
“Everyone worried a lot!”
“I won’t get hurt again.”
While Sergey comforted Groo, his eyes suddenly met Gidan’s.
After refusing visits because of the ever-clingy, tearful Jin Siwon, this was the first time he’d seen Gidan since Jeju.
Gidan eyed the suitcase Sergey had brought and stuck out his lip.
“I was thinking of making your room into storage.”
“Leave it alone. Don’t sleep in there before I do.”
“Hmph. Then where’s Dan supposed to sleep?”
“Not my problem. Sleep on the living room sofa or whatever.”
“So mean.”
Despite his words, Gidan burst out laughing and threw his arms around Sergey and Groo.
“Ah! You maniac! Let go of me!”
“Nope, not happening.”
As Gidan clung to him, Groo promptly joined in, hugging Gidan as well.
“Let’s all be friends.”
“Yes, let’s be friends.”
“Haa…”
With a sigh of resignation, Sergey gave up. Then Nayeon suddenly jumped up and wrapped the three of them into a group hug.
“What are you—?!”
For the first time in his life, being hugged by a girl left Sergey’s face burning red.
“I want to join in too.”
“N-no, enough already!”
Why is everyone always so insistent on hugging?
At that moment, Nayeon called gently,
“Sergey.”
“Y-yes?”
Stunned, Sergey replied in formal speech, causing Gidan to burst out in snickering laughter.
“Don’t just play with these two—you should get to know me better, too.”
After darting his eyes back and forth, Sergey mumbled a quiet answer.
“…Okay.”
“Ahahaha!”
Gidan could no longer hold back and erupted in laughter while Sergey clenched his teeth.
‘Damn it!’
In the end, there was only one place left to turn.
Sergey shot a pleading look to Jooreum, who was sitting like an onlooker in his chair.
Yet Jooreum only propped his chin on the armrest and smiled faintly.
“Welcome back.”
At Jooreum’s greeting, Sergey pressed his lips together.
‘Fine, ask help from someone who will actually help.’
Instead, Sergey stammered his reply.
“…Yeah.”
Relationships with others had always been unfamiliar.
Other people’s concern and attention felt only bothersome and annoying.
But the scathing anger and wounds of the past had dulled without him realizing it.
Things like playful bickering, light embraces, or a simple welcome among friends stirred far deeper emotions now than his old pain.
For the first time, Sergey felt he had truly come home.
Thump!
The distinct sound of a cat’s paw stamp.
It meant the long-forgotten Caretaker Quest had been completed.
[Caretaker Quest: Welcoming the New Caretaker!]
[Let’s welcome the new caretaker! Help the caretaker, unfamiliar with their new surroundings, make a friend they can lean on.]
[Quest Complete!]
‘Heehee!’
Groo beamed and embraced her caretakers tightly.
One week later.
The small theater where the recital would be held.
Jeong Yoon, homeroom teacher of the Chick Class, stood by the principal’s side, shifting restlessly and unable to hide her unease.
Looking around at the crowded theater, the principal murmured as if speaking to herself,
“Should’ve rented the main auditorium instead.”
“It does feel that way, doesn’t it…?”
Jeong Yoon added a sheepish laugh out of a misplaced sense of responsibility.
Meanwhile, the shutter noises were relentless.
Click! Click!
Family members, journalists, and guests all had their phones and cameras out, focusing on a single spot even before the show had begun.
Toward the group seated at the front of the theater.
There, next to the On family’s father and son, On Soo-hyung and On Jooreum, sat Woo-joo and her manager, surrounded by the String Guild’s top members and Jin Siwon engaging in lively conversation.
‘So Woo-joo was that Seo Woo-joo…’
Jeong Yoon let out a helpless laugh. Never would she have guessed that the Woo-joo whom Groo always talked about was the child actress herself.
Because of the guests Groo had invited, the small theater hosting the recital was taking on the atmosphere of a year-end broadcast awards show.
The principal patted Jeong Yoon’s shoulder as she fidgeted.
“Don’t be so nervous, Teacher Yoon. It’s fine. I’ve never had a student like Groo before.”
“I’m sorry. Until now, her father has been very good at keeping her from attracting too much attention.”
“Well, that may have been the case up to now, but when it comes to a child’s recital, there’s not much you can do.”
“Yes, with recitals…”
“But our Groo seems very cherished by everyone at String, doesn’t she?”
“She really is.”
As the two teachers shared a pleased smile, Groo, dressed in her tree costume, squeaked onto the stage and took her place at center stage.