Chick 167

167

“Gru has money too!”

“I mean, do you have as much as I do?”

“…As much as you?”

Gru asked, puffing out her cheeks like a walnut.

“That’s right.”

“M-maybe I… do…”

Gru mumbled, unable to answer confidently, her adorable face making Kang Je-i chuckle before she masked her expression once more.

“Hmph, ahem.”

So she’s trying to disarm me with cuteness. What a dangerous little brat.

Kang Je-i, her lips twisted spitefully, waved over a staff member.

When the clerk scurried over, she pointed to the products she and Gru had both touched.

“Wrap all of these up for me, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The employee bowed, and Kang Je-i curled her lips in a mocking smile toward Gru.

The satisfaction of having bested a five-year-old.

Her little revenge for having her English, honed overseas for two years, called into question.

Ham Hong-gi, seeing right through Kang Je-i’s petty motivations, gazed at his friend with weary eyes.

‘Let’s just go home.’

It hadn’t mattered how long it had been—Kang Je-i was hopeless as ever.

He was about to slip away without Gru noticing.

Brrring!

His phone rang loudly.

“Oh!”

As Kang Je-i placed her phone to her ear, her eyes landed on Ham Hong-gi, and she lifted her hand.

“Damn it!”

Nervously, Ham Hong-gi glanced toward Gru.

Gru, spotting him, looked up with round, sparkling eyes.

Despite his misgivings, Gru waved at him cheerfully.

“Hang-hang-gi!”

“Yes!”

Instead of heading out as he’d planned, his steps carried him straight into the watch store on the opposite side.

“What? Hang-hang-gi?”

Kang Je-i snickered, and though Ham Hong-gi wanted to grab her by the collar and shake her, the order from his master—“live kindly”—was far too strong to disobey.

Meanwhile, Kang Je-i received the shopping bags the attendant had packaged, then shook the bags at Gru in triumph.

“See this? That’s big sister’s spending power.”

The mental age of someone picking a fight with a five-year-old hovered somewhere near three.

Ham Hong-gi felt his face flush with secondhand embarrassment; he was reminded painfully of his own past.

She was the ultimate example of what not to do.

Ham Hong-gi jabbed Kang Je-i in the side.

“What are you doing? Stop picking a fight with a kid. Weren’t we going to get lunch?”

“You imbecile. How can I eat after being disrespected like this?”

“When were you ever disrespected, you maniac? You’re making a scene for nothing. Just let it go!”

“No way! She started it! Why would a kid come to a luxury store with no money?”

Ham Hong-gi shouted, “She has loads of money!” while Kang Je-i pointed at Gru, who pouted as she stared at the shaking shopping bags in front of her.

‘Was she Hang-hang-gi’s friend?’

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together.

Kang Je-i had dismissed Gru for being young, assumed she had no money, spoken in bizarre English, and interfered with Gru’s shopping.

Gru rummaged through her bag.

‘Hang-hang-gi’s friend = Gru’s subordinate.’

A proper preschooler never neglects to set their minions straight.

‘Let me bring enlightenment!’

Gru pulled out her quokka wallet and raised it triumphantly over her head.

It was the rod of loving correction, wielded in the name of guidance.

Just then, Kang Je-i recognized the watch on Gru’s wrist and lowered her sunglasses.

‘Wait, that watch…’

A smartwatch that worked even in dungeons, it was a marvel of advanced technology, commanding a tremendous price.

She’d wanted to buy one, but only about a hundred existed worldwide.

The difficulty was not cost, but figuring out how to buy it at all.

‘Why does that little brat have one…?’

Kang Je-i prodded Ham Hong-gi.

“You know her, right? Who is she?”

“Sigh… Who she is—well…”

“That!”

At that moment, Gru pointed toward the center display, illuminated by a spotlight.

Kang Je-i’s face twisted a touch.

It looked like a mere watch, but it was in fact the pinnacle of magical technology.

To make it portable, it required revolutionary battery engineering to maximize the efficiency of magic stones.

“That— that one?”

A chunky, silver-grey smartwatch gleamed under the lights.

Model number: CSE-A0.

Gru had indicated the model one tier above the one she wore.

As a concept piece at the very forefront of technology, there was only one available in Korea—estimated price, three billion won.

It was more for show than sale, intended to promote the watch brand.

“How could you possibly buy that?”

“You can’t, unni?”

Stung, Kang Je-i snapped back.

“W-what are you, the daughter of some chaebol conglomerate? Is your family’s company top-ten in market cap or something? That’s not something you buy with just money—you need to be that outrageously loaded to even consider it…”

She never finished her sentence.

“Miss On Gru! There you are! I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

It was the department store’s general manager.

Though his sharp features could seem daunting, to Gru he appeared only warm and genial.

“Hello, mister.”

Gru greeted him, and the man gave a deep bow.

“Do you remember me?”

“Ye-es. You said hello at my birthday.”

“So clever—such a good memory! Haha! When I heard you’d be shopping today, the chairman insisted I take great care of you. But when I couldn’t find you, I was worried I’d have to send you off without even a proper greeting—my heart almost gave out!”

Joking about his near-panic, the general manager smiled and Gru beamed back.

Kang Je-i, eavesdropping on their exchange, rolled her eyes in shock.

If the “Chairman” the manager referred to was…

‘Nam Ji-won?’

Nam Ji-won was now the head of the nation’s leading company by market cap.

Why would such a person personally ask someone to look after this child?

Even as Kang Je-i registered this ominous intuition,

Gru plucked a cute, decorated check card from her little quokka wallet.

“Gru, please wrap this one up for me!”

Gru delivered her loving guidance by demonstration to her so-called subordinate.

‘Gru uses her card!’

When Gru said she wanted to shop, Jurim had lifted the card’s limit and taught her how to use it; she’d been fidgeting to try it out just as she’d learned.

Both Kang Je-i and the shop clerk were struck speechless.

Understandably so, since the check card was adorned with a chick character blowing hearts.

The clerk, doubtfully, whispered to the manager, “N-not, installment… since it’s a check… card…”

The manager nodded, indicating it was quite alright, and the employee reluctantly swiped the card.

He wondered if, perhaps, all this was nothing but make-believe for Gru and the manager, trying desperately to rationalize the absurdity.

But then—

‘It went through?!’

The chick-blowing-hearts check card had paid all at once: three billion won, in a single charge.

“P-payment, it’s… complete…”

Could this be real?

She glanced at the manager, but he merely smiled, radiating satisfaction.

Hands trembling, the clerk retrieved the watch from its display, packaged it, and handed it to Gru.

Kang Je-i’s eyes wavered violently. Gru, bursting with pride, set her hands on her hips.

And that is why you must never judge a child by her age.

Gru confidently shoved the watch box into her bag.

“…!”

Kang Je-i sucked in a breath.

How could she handle a thing like that so carelessly? Her own hands would have shaken too much to even touch it.

The manager, not sparing a glance for anyone else, assured Gru again and again to let him know if she encountered any difficulty, then departed.

“……”

Ham Hong-gi looked down at the now-speechless Kang Je-i.

“She’s the daughter of Guildmaster On Jurim. She really is a chaebol granddaughter.”

If she was On Jurim’s daughter, that would make her the granddaughter of Chairman On Soo-hyung.

And on top of that, the child appeared to have none other than Chairman Nam Ji-won as a personal patron.

With her face turning beet red, Kang Je-i shouted,

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner! Hang-hang-gi, you crazy bastard!”

“Hey! And stop calling me Hang-hang-gi!”

Raised voices echoed as the two hurled rebukes at one another, and the staff scurried to pacify them.

‘Just as I thought… birds of a feather…’

Musing thus, Gru watched their bickering a moment longer before solemnly tucking her quokka wallet back into her bag.

‘I’ve drawn forth the wallet of justice. It would be best to seal it away again.’