Chick 309
by Cristae309
Chloe gave a wry laugh and moved Gru behind her.
Gru hid herself behind Chloe’s legs, clinging tightly to her.
Chloe’s lips softened slightly at the warmth.
Then, noticing a steady gaze fixed on her, Chloe looked up.
It was Joorim.
Come to think of it, why exactly was On Joorim here? Because of his brother? Was that really necessary?
Sensing Chloe’s puzzled stare, Joorim pointed to his neck.
“We both have a mole in the same spot as Gru.”
“…?”
“…?”
Chloe absentmindedly stroked her neck, while Ijo whipped his head around and stared piercingly at Joorim.
Watching them, Chloe commented dryly,
“Oh… Are you trying to flirt with me?”
“What?!”
Ijo’s eyes widened in disbelief, while Joorim curved his lips in a mysterious little smile.
Provoked by his brother, Ijo grabbed Joorim by the shoulders and shook him.
“Joorim? Aren’t you going to deny it? You can’t just not answer! Say something, will you?”
But Joorim merely allowed himself to be rattled about, his face serene.
“What did I do?”
“You’re supposed to deny it. Why did you even follow me here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the training center? Please go. Seriously, just go, okay?”
As Ijo spluttered in desperation, Chloe let out a sudden, small snort.
Ijo shot her a wounded look.
Still trying to suppress her laughter, Chloe cleared her throat and spoke.
“That’s enough joking around. I’m getting ready for work, so you’d all better get out of my house while I’m asking nicely.”
With her order, Chloe ushered both men out the door with a firm hand.
She told them not to wait outside either, then slammed the door and headed for the bathroom, where she splashed cold water on her face.
Yet a gentle smile lingered on her lips.
Thinking back to how desperately On Ijo had tried to chase out his brother, she chuckled to herself, then caught her own reflection in the mirror.
‘Are you going to fall in love with him?’
It was as if her mirror image was the one asking that question.
“Sis, America is the land of opportunity.”
Her father used to say this every chance he got.
“If we work hard enough, we’ll have a good life.”
Hope and belief were woven into every word.
Her father wore worn-out clothes and labored at construction sites until his hands were calloused; her mother worked tirelessly in restaurants, day and night.
Chloe knew better than anyone how hard they worked.
That, to her, was what love was.
Chloe Han was exceptional even among the long lineage of the Han family.
A quarter Korean on her grandfather’s side.
Beautiful, with a sharp tongue that couldn’t get by without slang, platinum hair so fine it floated away without care, a belief that no god of mercy watched over humans.
A living testament to the American dream achieved through sheer tenacity, despite an undocumented family status.
A slum-born prodigy who graduated early from the Ivy League.
A tenacious survivor who, instead of becoming a government researcher, struggled through the system to secure citizenship for her undocumented family.
All her achievements came from loving in a single direction.
Devotion, blind faith, sacrifice, self-abnegation.
That was the love Chloe had learned from her parents.
But that kind of love doesn’t end in a happy ending.
Her parents, having dreamed of the American dream all their lives, passed away as soon as they gained citizenship, their health failing rapidly.
Chloe was devastated, and thus ended the sacrificial, consuming love that had consumed her and her parents all their years.
Only when her parents died did she realize—
All her achievements now meant nothing.
‘What a joke.’
Suppressing her discomfort, Chloe plunged her face into cold water once more.
Affection always fades away in vain.
She knew now that the only way not to go mad from loss was not to have it in the first place.
A brief image of On Ijo crossed Chloe’s mind.
Act like an adult, Chloe.
You might want something just because it’s pretty, but being an adult means resisting the urge.
So it’s best not to get involved any further…
—or so she’d thought just yesterday, but why was someone always on the other side of the door the moment she opened it?
As Chloe prepared to leave for work and swung the front door wide, there stood Ijo, holding a bouquet of roses, head cocked in question.
“Going out? To work? On a Saturday?”
“There was an urgent call from the lab…”
She gave a vague answer, and Gru, still clinging to her hand, ran to Joorim, throwing herself into his arms.
Joorim scooped the child up with practiced ease.
It wasn’t just Chloe who found the sight deeply unsettling.
As Chloe felt a strange pang of jealousy, On Ijo’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Have you two met in secret behind my back?”
“They act like they’ve always known each other…”
Chloe and Ijo spoke at the same time.
At that, Gru nodded reflexively, and Joorim seized Gru’s cheeks and wobbled her face around.
Then, with shameless confidence, he declared,
“Nope.”
Gru—her cheeks caught in his hands—chimed in as well.
“Nope!”
“……”
“……”
Joorim paid their incredulity no mind and spoke as if guardian to Gru.
“If you’re off to work, I can look after the kid, right?”
“Excuse me?”
Chloe bristled, but Gru—still holding her cheek to Joorim’s—looked up at her with sparkling, hopeful eyes.
Anyone could see Gru wanted to stay with Joorim.
Sensing this, Ijo backed up his brother.
“Looks like Joorim and Gru really bonded. Don’t worry, leave the little princess to us—we’ll take good care of her.”
Chloe glanced down at her wristwatch, sighing deeply.
At least these were people whose identities she could trust.
There were no tests scheduled for Gru today, and Chloe had only planned to bring her along because she had no one else to watch over her—so, really, it wasn’t so bad.
After a moment’s thought, she clicked her tongue with resignation.
“I’ll be calling often, so make sure you answer.”
“Yay—!”
And so, today’s caregivers for Gru became the On brothers, On Ijo and On Joorim.
Just as Joorim had planned.
A bustling kids’ cafe on a Saturday.
In a place overflowing with children and parents, two brothers in hats pulled low entered, carrying a child.
With the Tower still under assault and their faces regularly splashed across the news, it was best to keep their features hidden.
“Should Uncle build a castle for the princess out of blocks?”
“Yes!”
“But you have to give Uncle a kiss on the cheek in return.”
As Ijo teased Gru in a whisper, Joorim raised his eyebrow.
After scanning the cafe for a moment, Joorim suddenly—
Yanked!
“Huh?!”
Pulled off Ijo’s hat and threw it aside.
“Hey!”
“It’s On Ijo…”
Chaos broke out instantly inside the kids’ cafe.
“Wow! It’s On Ijo!”
“Are you really On Ijo?”
As a crowd of children and parents pressed in all at once, On Ijo cast a deadpan look at Joorim, who responded by waving at his brother as if to say, “Do your best.”
Then, holding Gru’s hand, Joorim led her to a quiet table.
Gru sat down across from him.
“On Groo.”
Startled by his formal tone, Gru stiffened her shoulders and replied,
“Yes, sir…”
“What happened?”
After a moment of rolling her eyes, Gru began sharing every bit of knowledge she’d received.
“So, Yulian’s not an ordinary puppy either…”
“I’m sorry…”
Come to think of it, none of the things my kid brought home were ever quite… ordinary.
Should have known from the moment she gave a puppy such a grand name as ‘Yulian.’