Chick 313
by Cristae313
“Oh—”
As Groo was tying ribbons on the tree, she looked out at the balcony and rounded her lips in surprise.
Beyond the large balcony blinds, Chloe and On Ijo were kissing each other again and again.
“Stop watching.”
Joorim, hanging fairy lights, pulled Groo into his embrace.
Despite that, Groo twisted her neck to keep watching the pair.
“Love!”
“Looks that way.”
Groo clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her cheeks flushing pink.
Bang!
[Quest Complete!]
At that moment, a quest was completed, stamped with a cat’s paw print.
‘Love! They’ve come together!’
The leaves quivered with vibrant life.
Opening her status window, Groo saw that the Affection Tree, once at adolescent stage, had now become a mature tree.
‘Then!’
At last, her title would be unlocked!
Groo stared at the status window, full of anticipation.
‘Thump-thump!’
Just then—
“Peep!”
Mephisto gave a small cry and floated out of the inventory.
“Mephi!”
“Piii!”
Mephisto, still a bit unsteady, flitted through the air and settled in Groo’s arms.
“Are you fully awake now?”
“Pipipii!”
Mephisto nodded and nuzzled against her cheek.
It was time to go back.
Joorim couldn’t take his eyes off the scene of the child welcoming Mephisto, and hesitated for a moment.
How much would it hurt to tell her the truth?
And if he didn’t—how much would she resent him if she learned it later?
“Groo.”
Still—they had to prepare to return.
Swallowing a distant fear, Joorim reached for her small hand and took it gently.
“It’s time to go.”
Pretending not to know, closing his eyes to the rest.
“Already?”
“Yes.”
He felt pressed for time.
If they didn’t leave soon, there would be no turning back.
“Aren’t we going to say goodbye to unni and uncle?”
“You’ll just forget them anyway. It’s better to leave quietly.”
“…”
Joorim was firm.
He was about to threaten Mephisto, gripping his neck and demanding he hurry and take them back, when Groo suddenly blinked.
The girl stood still, as if entranced, gazing forward.
Concerned, Joorim gently rested his hands on Groo’s shoulders.
“What’s the matter?”
“Daddy, you’re here.”
“Yes.”
“You’re here…”
Yet for some reason, Groo’s voice was steeped in sorrow.
She looked up at Joorim.
When her eyes met his unexpectedly, Joorim inhaled sharply. Tears trembled in her eyes.
‘Why?’
“Daddy, how sad would you be if Groo weren’t around?”
The unexpected question twisted Joorim’s face with pain.
He knew—instinctively—that the child had realized something.
Groo looked down again, staring quietly ahead.
A window she hadn’t yet read hovered before her.
[Caregiver Quest: Join Mom and Dad together in love]
[Complete!]
Why had Chloe and On Ijo been eligible for Caregiver Registration, even without building up Affection Points?
It was simple.
‘Because they were Groo’s mom and dad.’
Groo looked at Chloe and On Ijo, holding hands.
Joorim followed the direction of her gaze.
Their backs were those of a family who would be even happier together with the child.
But even knowing that—
“If Groo weren’t here… I’d be hurt. Too hurt. I’d feel as though I no longer have a heart—so much pain I might as well turn to dust and vanish.”
“I see…”
For a moment, Joorim was terrified of what might be going on in the depths of that small mind.
Could she be thinking of remaining in the past?
Even with the risk that, in time, she might become a lost child and vanish from history?
“Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”
He tried to keep the tremor from his voice. Pretending composure had never been this difficult.
Yet he broke soon enough.
“Unni and uncle… are they Groo’s real mom and dad?”
“…”
His throat tightened, air constricting.
Groo’s large eyes filled with tears, glistening.
As he, flustered, reached out with his sleeve to wipe her tears—
“If I go back… in the world where Groo lives… there’s no mom or dad, is there?”
Groo sensed it, intuitively.
The one who sent her to the orphanage.
The one who named her ‘Han Groo.’
Chloe Han. Her mother.
The very person who, after sending Groo to the orphanage from the G folder, was said to have died.
Drip, drop.
Tears poured steadily from her eyes as Groo lifted her gaze.
Joorim wiped her tears away, endlessly.
If only he could carry all her sadness for her.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you…”
Groo’s small head nodded, perhaps in understanding.
“But… I can’t. I can’t live if Groo isn’t here.”
A desperate voice broke free.
“…”
The child didn’t answer.
Joorim turned her face toward him, shielding her from seeing her true parents’ backs.
“We have to go back. Otherwise, your very existence could disappear.”
“…”
Joorim pressed his forehead lightly to hers, eyes squeezed shut.
“If that happens, you won’t find happiness. No one—”
“…No one?”
“Yes, no one.”
When Joorim opened his eyes, soft coral tears were streaming steadily down his cheeks.
“They’re going to love each other. They’ll bear the fruit of that love. That’s you.”
Groo blinked her reddened eyes slowly, repeating the word love silently in her heart.
Joorim again wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“And that fruit will come to find me. And we’ll keep getting happier and happier. That’s the future waiting for those of us who go back.”
“…”
“My brother always said: if he didn’t go into the tower, no one could find happiness.”
Nod, nod.
“That’s right. If you don’t go back, no one can be happy.”
The memory of On Ijo declaring no one could be happy echoed as Groo clutched Joorim’s sleeve.
If she didn’t go back, at the very least, her father before her would be wretched. Overwhelmingly so.
Just like when she sent her brother into the 100th floor alone—so much so, it would break him.
She couldn’t leave him like that. She loved her father too much to make him unhappy.
Head bowed, Groo choked back her sobs, shoulders trembling.
Watching silently, Mephisto spread his wings wide and held Groo in a tight embrace.
[You have to go, Groo.]
A message, unquestionably sent by Mephisto, appeared before her eyes.
He rubbed his small head against Groo’s cheek.
[The past is nothing but the past. No matter what you try, you can’t live in it forever.]
Held by both Mephisto and Joorim, Groo gazed at her parents’ retreating forms.
“I’ll love you even more. So let’s go back together. Please.”
“…”
When she blinked slowly again, more tears spilled from her lashes.
“If you want to say a last goodbye—”
The child shook her head.
“I’ll just go.”
Because saying any more would make parting even harder.
Joorim bit his lips with relief.
Eyes tightly shut, Groo wordlessly wrapped her arms around Joorim’s neck.
A glow radiated from Mephisto.
That light wrapped around Groo and Joorim, spreading warmly, as if to comfort their choice.
Chloe stood in a daze before the empty tree in the living room.
On Ijo, coming in after her, asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“What was I just doing?”
He smiled gently.
“We were going to decorate the tree, weren’t we?”
“Two trees?”
“Oh, yes. Not just Han Groo, but two trees now.”
“Groo…”
Chloe murmured, as if something had slipped her mind and was now shrouded in mist. But the thought faded quickly.
She stroked her belly and glanced toward where the listening device was hidden.
Groo slowly opened her eyes to someone shaking her.
“Myu!”
“Kyu!”
It was Bailach and Lucifer.
‘Where is this…’
The golden, fragmented afterimage of the past disappeared, and the roar of jet engines filled the air from all directions.
Groo tried to rise, but a firm chest held her close.
Hiding her face against him, Groo avoided the worried stares.
Sniffle, sniffle. The sound of her crying continued.
Joorim, patting her small body, checked his watch—only a few minutes had passed. He sighed.
‘A mere instant…’
Frowning, he pressed kiss after kiss to Groo’s hair, buried against his chest.
He cradled her for a long time, holding her close until she finally quieted.
Rubbing away the remaining tears on his chest, Groo sniffed deeply.
A strange emptiness swept over her.
Groo clenched her empty hands into fists, as if to hold tight to the image of her parents’ backs she’d last seen.
Her real parents had loved each other.
She was the fruit of that love.
Did her mom and dad love her, too?
The question came to her only now, belated.
Why had her mother sent her to the orphanage?
Then, she heard the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
‘Title…’
She still hadn’t checked her unlocked title. Groo opened her status window.
[A message left in the title is unlocked.]
At first, you were nothing but a part of my sense of responsibility.
When did I start to love you?
Was it when you first started kicking inside me?
When I began to secretly carry your photos close, even while pulling my belt tight around my waist?
Measuring when love began is always a puzzle.
Just like not knowing when I started loving your father.
After On Joorim returned alone from conquering the 99th floor, I decided to run away.
I think I sensed, even then, that death was close.
Because I realized the Company was experimenting on me.
No matter how well I tried to hide it, they must have suspected I was carrying a child.
Sneaking into the lab at night, unlocking all the glass doors holding the children captive—that was exhilarating. The act of a lifetime.
I entrusted the children to someone I trusted, spirited away the research data.
It was difficult for an ordinary pregnant woman to evade detection by a major corporation.
Still, so long as I felt you inside me, I felt as though I possessed all the happiness in the world.
When I gave birth to you in an abandoned, run-down shed in the mountains, do you know what joy those months with you brought to me?
But soon I had to run again, so I put your name down at the orphanage and sent you away.
With the name someone had told me: Han Groo—so you’d never be alone.
The research data will disappear with me.
Now the world is free from destruction, and I hope they will never again perform cruel experiments on children like you.
I’m sorry, but I will remain part of you—watching over you.
In the end, this is what my way of loving is.
I hope you won’t chase only after achievement.
I hope you’ll learn about relationships, about love.
I hope you’ll go on to live fully in the world your father saved for you.
I love you.
I love you so very much.
Mom loves you so, so much, Groo.
[(Unknown Title) lock is released.]
[Title: ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■]
The square blocks concealing the title began to disappear.
[Title: Mom Loves Groo So Very Much]
A lump rose to her throat.
Her mother had loved her so much.
And even now, she was always with her, still loving her.