Chick 176
by Cristae176
Hunter from the Chick Class Is Being Filial! Episode 176
Serhi looked from the astonished guild master to Lee Taemin, letting out a groan.
“Ah.”
He didn’t appear to be in any pain, but decided that showing some sign of it was better than nothing.
Serhi frowned and indicated Groo with a toss of his head.
[“You were thinking of hitting him?”]
Serhi spoke fiercely, causing the flustered guild master to stammer and apologize repeatedly.
“So-sorry! Sorry! That wasn’t my intention!”
[“Damn bastard, do you want to be reported?”]
“No, no, that’s not it, there seems to have been a misunderstanding… Hey, Taemin. He’s your friend, right? Talk some sense into him, okay?”
The guild master pushed Taemin—who had been standing dazedly—forward.
Then he quickly made his getaway.
Serhi, watching the man leave with utter contempt, picked Groo up properly.
After confirming that Groo was unhurt, Serhi grumbled,
“Do you go around getting hit by lugs like that?”
Taemin checked Serhi’s face with a strangely distraught expression.
“Hey, are you all right? Let me see. Want to go to the infirmary?”
“It’s fine. He was so damn weak, it didn’t even feel like I got hit.”
Upon hearing Serhi’s coarse language, Groo began to squirm.
Serhi changed his tone, apparently irritated.
“He was incredibly weak, your guild master.”
Taemin suddenly burst out laughing at Serhi’s odd way of speaking.
“You’re right. That guy’s incredibly weak.”
Groo nodded in satisfaction, watching the two high schoolers converse using proper language.
Perhaps thanks to this upright and healthy exchange, Serhi’s favorability meter shot up above his head.
The thermometer, marked in mercury, had risen two whole degrees.
‘Oh!’
Did it go up by two degrees at once?
When he checked his savings bank, 1,000 points per degree had been deposited, totaling 2,000 points.
‘This…!’
Incredible!
To gain 2,000 points so quickly!
As a brief silence fell, Taemin spoke awkwardly, looking a little sheepish.
“Thank you. I know it might be late to say this now… But you really didn’t have to take the blow for me.”
What is he talking about? Serhi had never intended to take the blow for him. He’d only gotten hit because he’d tried to stop Groo from running out.
“No—”
Serhi tried to clear up the misunderstanding but was cut off by Groo.
“If it happens again, Serhi oppa will take the blow for me!”
“…?”
Me?
Serhi, who’d had absolutely no intention of doing so, was at a loss as Groo shouted,
“Because Serhi oppa is so kind!”
The little brat said it with the utmost ease, as if reciting a well-known truth.
Taemin nodded, his face full of guilt.
“I think I misjudged you. I thought you just put up walls around people and didn’t care about anyone else.”
“No—”
That’s not a misunderstanding, that’s the plain truth.
“Exactly!”
But the little one kept cutting him off, spreading more misunderstanding.
“Serhi oppa just isn’t good at making friends. So you need to do well by him, okay?”
Taemin exchanged a smile with Groo, finding him cute.
“Yeah. I kind of owe him, too. I’ll make an effort with Serhi.”
“No need to…”
“Mm, Groo will just trust oppa.”
They carried on their conversation, leaving the person in question out of it entirely.
“…?”
What about my opinion?
He felt like a high school son whose kindergarten guardian had told another kid, “Please play well with my child.” It was a feeling too miserable to put into words.
But what could he do? Serhi brushed it off, thought nothing of it, and left, holding Groo in his arms.
Unaware that Groo and Taemin had secretly exchanged numbers via Bluetooth.
Groo, grinning, snapped pictures with his phone and sent a message.
It’s Serhi-oppayo
Looks like I’m making another friend
Serhi-oppayo, you’re amazing
Jin Siwon
Truly amazing (tears)
Thank you for letting me know, Groo (tears)
Groo
Serhi-serhyo
Come to the rooftop
at lunchtime
A challenge, perhaps.
Serhi, resting his chin in his hand while checking his phone in class, strolled out as soon as the bell rang.
Whatever the reason, it was probably something trivial. Staying in the classroom only meant enduring those intense stares, which he found unpleasant.
He considered several reasons as he headed up to the rooftop.
“…What the hell is this?”
Seeing a crowd gathered with Groo, Serhi turned to leave immediately.
But voices calling his name stopped him first.
“Oppa!”
“Serhi-ser!”
“Hello, Serhi-hyung.”
Groo waved excitedly, Kitahn followed suit, and Wooju greeted him with a nod. Lee Taemin stood beside them.
Groo pointed to an empty spot next to Taemin.
“Oppa, your seat.”
“Dani brought your lunch for you. Good, right?”
“Hyung, I raised these radishes myself. Please, have some.”
“These are potatoes I grew!”
“Uh…”
A little bewildered, Serhi sat down and accepted the simmered radishes and stir-fried potatoes piled atop his lunchbox.
Taemin let out a laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re really good at Korean.”
“Ugh, so annoying.”
“Mind your language, Serhi-ser.”
At Kitahn’s rebuke, Serhi shot him a glare.
“Why are you here?”
“To see my baby, obviously.”
Kitahn hugged Groo.
“Dani oppa came to have lunch with Groo!”
Groo hugged Kitahn back.
“Why, is that a problem?”
“Ugh, seeing the same face since morning makes me sick.”
Kitahn laughed, patting Taemin on the shoulder.
“Taemin, even if he talks like this, Serhi’s a good guy.”
“Right, Serhi oppa is nice! Be good friends.”
Groo tapped Taemin on the hand.
Receiving warm encouragement from both a friend his age and a kindergartener, Serhi blushed.
“Will you both be quiet?!”
Meanwhile, Wooju, growing uneasy at the sight of Kitahn and Groo hugging each other, wedged himself between them.
“…Hyung, don’t just go hugging Groo… Boys and girls shouldn’t sit together after they turn seven.”
Wooju mumbled, sending a sulky, watchful glance at Kitahn, who merely smirked in reply.
Ugh! That mischievous grin made Wooju’s shoulders tense. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes—it said, ‘This is fun to watch, huh?’
Wooju tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, but it was hopeless.
As expected.
‘This is fun.’
That was exactly what Kitahn was thinking.
It looked just like unrequited love—perhaps he should tease a little? Just as he was thinking that, magic trembled in Wooju as he grew flustered, catching Kitahn’s attention.
Ever since their first meeting, Kitahn had known Wooju’s magical reserves were large, that he’d awaken someday…
“Wooju-wooju, have you by any chance awoke—”
“Yes?”
Wooju’s eyes shook violently as potato fell from his chopsticks.
“Why, what is it? Nothing’s going on with me…”
His awkwardness was plain to see.
Kitahn had merely meant to ask if he’d awakened.
For most people, awakening was nothing short of a blessing.
Especially in Korea, where passing entrance exams was a living hell—awakening only brought advantages no matter the path you chose.
‘…Is there something else going on?’
Kitahn tousled Wooju’s hair with a shrug.
“No, never mind.”
Only then did Wooju breathe a sigh of relief.
“So do you and Serhi hyung live together?”
Taemin asked as he accepted some potato stir-fry from Groo.
“Why do you call him ‘hyung’ and me just ‘Serhi’?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Second year. First year.”
Kitahn flashed a V to announce he was in his second year.
“He should have been made to repeat a grade…”
“Hey, don’t say scary things. I’m haunted by nightmares that I wake up as a first-year every morning, you know?”
Kitahn shuddered, hugging himself with both arms.
Serhi inclined his head towards the ashen-faced Kitahn.
“I live with this thing. You can imagine how awful that is, right? Super awful.”
“Aw, too mean.”
“Ahahaha!”
The group chatted amicably, and while the older boys traded stories he cared nothing about, Wooju placed a bit of simmered radish on Groo’s lunch.
Just then, as Groo bit into the salty radish with a happy snap—
Pop! Mephisto poked his face out from Groo’s bag.
“Is it good?”
“Mhm. This is the first time Groo’s had radish stew.”
“Me too. It feels like something only old grandpas eat.”
“Should have grown something else besides radish.”
“What? Green onions?”
“Mmm… Wouldn’t that be weird? Wooju, you’d seem like a grandma.”
“Why?!”
Mephisto watched Groo and Wooju, eating together and chatting quietly.
All that Groo’s gaze held were his friends and Wooju in particular.
At such times, Mephisto felt a chill in his shoulders and a flutter in his chest.
Now five years old and starting preschool, Groo was busy forming new connections, and Mephisto could sense from the child’s gaze that he was gradually being left behind.
Today, just like now.