Chick 158

158

Click! Click!

As flashes erupted from all directions, Groot swallowed hard.

‘There are too many people!’

The pressure was on an entirely different level from presenting at kindergarten.

‘I’m scared.’

Soon, the deer would appear and pass by Groot, and then the hunter would show up, looking around.

Then Groot would have to tell the hunter where the deer was hiding.

‘W-what do I do? My head is spinning!’

Behind her, the other children were also growing anxious and restless in front of the large audience.

Just then, her eyes met Jooreum’s.

He seemed to notice how nervous Groot was, and mouthed the words,

‘It’s okay if you can’t do it.’

Groot glanced once at her grandfather, Mr. Hongsam, her older sisters and brothers, and then focused on the cloudlike comfort she always felt with her dad.

‘I want to do well!’

Inhale!

I am a tree!

At that very moment, the friend playing the deer came bounding onto the stage toward Groot.

‘Here comes my mortal enemy, Groot’s sprout-eater!’

Immersed in her role, Groot glared fiercely.

So fierce was her expression—as if she were truly meeting her worst enemy—that the child playing the deer stopped short, shoulders twitching.

“…?!”

The deer approached to eat Groot Tree’s sprouts, but, unnerved by a menacing expression she couldn’t explain, hesitated—

And then bolted offstage.

Groot smiled with satisfaction, watching the deer retreat.

‘I protected my sprouts.’

No matter how the play was supposed to progress, Groot, having triumphed over the deer, snorted in glee.

‘The time for revenge is near.’

The teachers hurriedly ushered the hunter onto the stage.

The hunter was supposed to stand in front of the tree and say, “Where did the deer go?” Groot would then point out the direction, and the hunter would chase the deer offstage, ending the scene.

But…

“…”

Clutching a long bow, the hunter hesitated, lips pressed tight.

Faced with the overwhelming crowd, and struggling under the pressure of delivering the play’s very first line, panic completely overtook her.

“Uuuu…”

The hunter’s face crumpled as she lowered her head, on the verge of tears.

Family members watching from the audience sighed in sympathy, while the teachers standing to the side of the stage fidgeted helplessly, unsure of what to do.

“H-hunter!”

At that moment, Groot waved her branches, catching the hunter’s attention.

“You’re looking for the deer, right?”

The hunter, gripping her bow, nodded with teary eyes.

“Y-yeah!”

Groot grinned.

“The deer is over there!”

As Groot helped move the play along, the hunter’s face brightened with relief and she lowered her bow.

“Thank you, tree…”

She stepped forward and gave Groot a tight hug.

“Mhm.”

Groot, her nose tingling with emotion, hugged her back and patted her with her branch.

There was laughter from all sides at the unscripted, heartfelt hug between tree and hunter.

Teacher Jeong Yoon waved for them to exit, and Groot, nodding, shuffled off awkwardly, still embracing the hunter.

In the end, the teachers had to swoop in and carry the children offstage.

---

The rest of the play progressed much as it had at the beginning.

Whenever a child forgot their line, was on the verge of tears, or struggled to leave the stage, the teachers helped guide them.

Yet because almost all of the audience was family, the charmingly clumsy performance was met with hearty applause.

And Groot—

‘I protected my sprout!’

She was so engrossed all the way to the final bow that she didn’t even realize how much fun she was having.

When the Chick Class’s play finally ended and Groot went backstage to change, bouquets were thrust before her from all sides.

“Groot-Groot, how are you so good at acting? I’m seeing you in a whole new light!”

“Amazing, Groot! You were so cute!”

Gidan and Nayeon showered her with praise, and Groot seized Wooyoo’s hand and raised it above her head.

“I practiced a ton with Wooyoo!”

Wooyoo nodded proudly.

“You did even better than in practice.”

“Hehe!”

Then, as the family members started filing into the dressing room, the leader of the String Guild’s raid team raised his hand.

“Okay, everyone—pictures first, before the reporters start pouring in.”

“How did you all end up coming even to a child’s recital?”

While the raid team grumbled, someone asked politely from behind.

“Shall I take the picture for you?”

It was Haeri’s mother, Park Mirim.

“I want to be in it, too!”

Haeri wedged herself between Wooyoo and Groot, making a cute cheek-heart.

As expected, their daughter didn’t shy away.

Park Mirim smiled wryly and snapped several photos until Haeri was satisfied.

After that group photo, the guild members were soon mobbed by crowds—everyone wanted pictures or autographs, and sweat broke out all around.

The teachers did their best to hold off the reporters, but it was impossible to fend off all the family as well…

Even Jooreum couldn’t be stern with the families of Groot’s friends, and willingly posed for pictures too.

Onsoohyung and Groot watched, smiling warmly.

“Groot, let me hold your flowers.”

“Okay.”

As Groot handed the bouquet to her grandfather, Haeri dashed over.

“Groot! Let’s tell the guild leader and go to the playground.”

Guild leader?

Blinking at the unfamiliar term, Groot remembered—it’s what she used to call her dad to Haeri, instead of “Dad.”

‘But not anymore.’

Fist clenched, Groot declared in a loud voice.

“N-not the guild leader, it’s Dad!”

Wooyoo, standing by, gaped in astonishment.

‘He’s Dad now?!’

But Haeri only nodded unconcerned.

“Then let’s ask your dad and go to the swings.”

“Mhm. Wooyoo, can you come too?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!”

“Mom! I’m going to the swings with Groot and Wooyoo!”

“O-oh, I’ll come join you soon. Play safe!”

“Okay!”

Waving, Park Mirim turned to Jooreum.

Groot was now asking him—could she play with Haeri?

Jooreum, in the middle of signing something, gladly nodded, a tender smile on his lips.

He really was a father now.

Park Mirim found herself dabbing at her suddenly tingling nose.

‘Good for them.’

Chapter: Dads

Inside a TV station’s waiting room.

Jooreum thought to himself that he’d been coming to the station even more often than dungeons these days as he waited for the “Three Guild Leaders, Three Colors” special broadcast to begin.

It had been a way to redirect some of the spotlight away from Jjapso onto himself, but if he’d known everything would end up overlapping like this, he wouldn’t have scheduled anything for today.

Jooreum checked his watch anxiously.

‘It should be about time for the results.’

Time flew by, and it had already been two weeks since the interviews for Groot and Serhi’s school admission, after they both passed the written tests.

Today, the results were to be announced.

Groot was bright, but Jooreum couldn’t help worrying that she might have said something odd during the interview.

‘She said she didn’t say much…’

He’d never been this nervous for himself.

Even when he was waiting for his own college acceptance, he’d been calm, while his father and brother made all the fuss…

As these memories resurfaced, Jooreum glanced to the side.

Seated next to him was another visibly anxious man.

“Any word on the results? Still nothing?”

It was Gu Shinhoo.

With his stylist fussing over him, Gu Shinhoo was going from call to call on speakerphone as his makeup was touched up.

Gu Shinhoo’s daughter, Gu Heeyeon, had also passed the written test this year and was waiting for her interview results.

‘He’s so nervous, it’s making me anxious too.’

Jooreum glared at Gu Shinhoo, who, after hanging up, sent his stylist away and clutched his phone desperately.

Caught between these two anxious fathers, Chun Kyuri, who was lounging in a corner with her phone, let out a scoff.

To see those two so agitated—it was something she’d never seen, not even during major raids.

She thought to herself, maybe before being guild leaders, at heart, they really were just dads.