Chick 234
by Cristae234
In her excitement, Groo failed to notice.
That Mephisto, sitting on the bed, was glaring at Wooju with a terrifying look.
“…?”
Wooju was the only one who sensed the sharp, piercing gaze directed at him.
“…Beep!”
When their eyes met, Wooju stared back at the white bird who, in turn, looked away.
“…?”
Wooju parted his lips in confusion, while Mephisto tried to calm his bubbling rage by turning his eyes to his own wings. His sharp gaze quickly softened into one of sadness.
Mephisto let out a long sigh.
Meanwhile, Groo left the room, announcing she would go fetch snacks.
Wooju took the opportunity to organize and select more photos to show Groo, while Bailach, perched on Wooju’s shoulder, was drooling.
Every now and then, unable to resist, Bailach licked Wooju, taking a little taste.
“…….”
Mephisto clicked his tongue. What an indecent brute.
The reason Bailach acted this way was surely because of the pure mana that Wooju carried.
Prey like that could greatly amplify one’s power.
That was why monsters, driven by instinct, would hunt and devour humans.
They were drawn by the energy humans contained.
Yet Mephisto simply couldn’t understand it—what was so important about that power?
According to Bailach, Mephisto’s very existence had been reconstructed, and perhaps this was all part of that, but… Mephisto had an instinctive aversion to consuming humans.
He just didn’t want to.
But…
‘If I gained power, could I become human?’
Mephisto gazed at Wooju.
Such pure mana, so tempting for Bailach, was possessed by this tiny child, hardly more than a mouthful.
It was as he was thinking this—
“Muut! Myumyu!” (Mephisto! What are you doing right now?!)
“Beep?!”
Unconsciously, Mephisto had settled on Wooju’s other shoulder and was licking his cheek.
Wooju, caught between the two monsters, had his face smeared with drool and looked around with a perplexed expression.
“Myumyu myuu, myumyu?” (You shameless brat, are you eyeing my prey now too?)
“Beep! Beep beep beep?” (Ha! Just because I licked him a bit, he’s your prey?)
“Myumyu…!” (You little…!)
Enraged, Bailach immediately pounced.
“Myuut!”
“Beep!”
Mephisto didn’t back down.
The two rolled across the floor, pecking and biting one another, feathers and fur flying as they fought. In the chaos, Wooju bolted from the room, calling for Groo.
“G-Groo!”
“Hm?”
It was some time later when Groo, called back by Wooju, broke them up.
Now, before Groo, the baby bird and baby hamster knelt, staring down in shame.
Mephisto’s feathers were plucked and his head had turned curly, while Bailach had a bald patch on his back and scratches around his mouth.
Both were so thoroughly battered that blood glistened here and there among the wounds they’d inflicted on each other.
Groo held a trembling Lukcipher in her arms, comforting him.
It seemed the baby had been frightened by how viciously the “big brothers” fought.
They bickered like this all the time, but plucking out feathers and fur was a bit much, and left Groo worried.
“Mephi, Bai. You have to get along. If the big brothers always fight, what do you think the baby will learn?”
She lifted Lukcipher’s two little front paws for emphasis.
“Kyu…”
Lukcipher whimpered nervously.
Bailach, looking wronged, pointed at Mephisto.
“Myumyu! Myumyu!”
“Beepbeep.”
“Myuu! Myu!”
“Beep beep!”
The two started firing back at each other with noisy accusations.
“……”
But Groo, half-lidded, let their complaints wash over her.
They must have had their reasons to fight so fiercely, but… she couldn’t understand a word!
And she couldn’t exactly humanize Bailach just to get his side of the story.
‘That would be too unfair to Mephi.’
Mephisto couldn’t explain his part, and then only Bailach’s version would become the truth.
She needed to listen to both sides and be an impartial, teacherly judge—like a proper kindergarten teacher.
That meant, for now…
Groo grabbed a wing and a tiny paw, forcing the two to make their peace.
It was the reconciliation technique teachers often used in daycare.
Often, just forcing a quick apology would be enough for young children, who would soon forget and be friends again.
“Say sorry.”
“Beep—”
“Myumyu!”
Mephisto stuck out his beak and muttered something, to which Bailach responded sulkily.
Groo rolled her eyes with a smile.
‘Was that… an apology?’
Are they still fighting?
Judging from all the beeps and myumyus, it seemed their emotions hadn’t really settled.
Teaching a kindergarten class was really hard!
While Groo was getting a taste of the trials of childrearing, Wooju watched the whole scene with fascination.
Neither Mephisto nor Bailach was a normal animal—they were monsters.
Yet Groo seemed completely at ease handling them.
Sensing Wooju’s gaze, Groo glanced over furtively.
She couldn’t give up now.
Groo’s image of herself as fair and mature couldn’t be destroyed.
‘No way. I have to show Wooju something cool…!’
So—
“Well done. Now you have to get along, alright? Understand?”
Determined to let the conflict go for now, Groo wrapped things up and moved on.
Mephisto gave a soft beep and flew onto Groo’s head.
Bailach scurried into the bag and zipped it shut.
Groo sighed, stroking Lukcipher.
The little bunny was so anxious he kept trembling.
“Fer, you don’t have to be scared anymore.”
Joorim had said boys always fought, after all.
After a few days, they’d probably make up and get along again.
Yes, no doubt about it.
In time, everything would return to normal.
‘It’s not normal at all!’
Several days had passed since Mephisto and Bailach’s fight.
But contrary to Groo’s hopes, things did not improve between the two.
Just before the pop-up store commercial shoot, Groo zipped open her bag a little.
From within, Bailach poked his face out and glared murderously at Mephisto.
Mephisto, perched on Groo’s head, met his gaze intensely.
Zzzt!
Groo let out a sigh at the almost crackling atmosphere between them.
“Are you two going to keep this up?”
“Beep!”
“Myut!”
Mephisto glared, eyes narrowing to triangles, while Bailach bared his teeth with a snarl.
They always managed to make up after fighting before, but this time, since the last brawl, they remained stuck in this hostile standoff.
“Enough, enough.”
Groo waved her hands, stepping between them.
“That’s enough. If you fight again, you won’t get to see Wooju’s shoot later. You both know what Wooju’s filming this time, right?”
“…!”
Bailach hesitated.
Wooju’s upcoming shoot was for the sequel to ‘Zombie City,’ a movie that had drawn ten million viewers: ‘Zombie City 2.’
As the title implied, it was full of zombies.
Since ‘Zombie City’ was one of Bailach’s favorite films, he froze.
“Beep beep beep!”
Mephisto laughed tauntingly at Bailach, who, in frustration, clenched his tiny fists and trembled.
“If Mephi keeps this up, no snacks later.”
“…!”
“Myut myut myut!”
This time, it was Bailach’s turn to laugh mockingly.
Mephisto’s eyes widened, but Bailach, not wanting to engage further, ducked back into the bag.
Apparently, he didn’t want his stubbornness to keep him out of the ‘Zombie City 2’ set.
And Mephisto, it seemed, was just as eager to see it.
“Beep!”
He snorted and turned away.
“Groo needs to do her shoot now, so Mephi, you stay in here.”
Groo opened her chest pocket.
“Beep.”
Mephisto flapped over and slipped inside.
Groo tapped the bulging pocket and let out a sigh.
“Aigo… Parenting is really hard.”