Chick 338

338

“Is it because I didn’t say anything that you’ve come to catch me?”

Gru spoke with worried eyes, and Joorim, Ijo, and Kazuki all comforted her, gently patting her head.

“No, that’s not it.”

“No, no, Princess.”

“That’s not it at all, Gru-chan. Alice just wants to borrow the ho-mi for a little while.”

“Borrow the ho-mi?”

“Yes. There’s something Alice wants to try using it for.”

Something she wants to try? Gru lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her hands.

“If she borrows it… what’ll happen to Gru’s ho-mi?”

“…”

The adults fell silent at Gru’s question.

Even if Alice used it, any actual surgery would require medical staff to participate.

That would inevitably reveal the ho-mi’s S+ rating.

If that happened, Gru’s toy would once again be claimed by the state. That was what Gru feared.

“…”

“…”

“…”

A brief, heavy silence passed among them.

“Mmm. I guess we can’t lend it out.”

It was On Ijo who broke the silence first.

“I’ll take Gru and go now.”

“Wait, wait.”

“What is it?”

Kazuki and Joorim, surprised, tried to stop him, but Ijo simply turned away, holding Gru in his arms.

Gru looked up at them with wide, anxious eyes.

“Hyung.”

Joorim called to Ijo, grabbing at his arm.

Ijo turned back halfway and spoke.

“Gru said she doesn’t want to.”

Joorim arched his brows, dissatisfied with Ijo’s detached attitude.

“Still, isn’t it too serious to just walk away from?”

Even as he spoke with stubborn emphasis, Joorim felt a strange sense of discomfort at his own words.

The reason he couldn’t say, “You can keep the ho-mi,” to Gru, or let Ijo just leave, was that he, too, had a daughter now.

Alice’s situation no longer felt like someone else’s problem.

“Yeah, but it’s not ‘our’ problem, is it?”

Yet Ijo spoke with a strangely gentle tone.

Joorim blinked in surprise.

It was a strange situation.

Normally, he would be the one saying it wasn’t their concern, and Ijo would be the one urging Gru to give up her ho-mi for Alice and her child.

After all, Ijo was the man who’d once laid down his life for humanity.

But now, the two were saying the exact opposite things.

Perhaps because of this peculiarity, Jin Team Leader’s words suddenly echoed in his mind.

“Please ask one more time whether this is really On Ijo.”

A chilling sensation poured over his head.

Like being doused with ice water—

Joorim grabbed Ijo’s shoulder as he tried to walk away, turning him back around.

“You heard everything Alice said.”

“I did. And?”

“You’ve changed a lot, hyung.”

“….”

Ijo’s face darkened at Joorim’s biting words, and he stared back at him.

Tension hung in the air; Gru rolled her eyes nervously as she sensed it.

Kazuki cut in between them.

“I’ll hold Gru-chan for a bit. Come here.”

Before Ijo could answer, Gru stretched her arms out and allowed herself to be picked up by Kazuki.

“Gru-chan, shall we step out with uncle for a little while?”

Kazuki looked at Joorim as if to check for permission.

Joorim nodded just as—

“Uncle, it’s okay. I want to talk to Alice-unnie.”

“Hm? About the ho-mi? You don’t have to force yourself.”

“Still…”

Gru looked up and met Joorim’s eyes.

Joorim had said that this wasn’t a light topic.

There must be a reason if her father said so.

“Then let’s ask Alice if she’ll show us another cute baby picture!”

“Okaay~”

Gru responded brightly, and Kazuki gently carried her as he opened the hospital room door.

At that moment, Ijo, who’d meant to stop Kazuki, hesitated and turned back to Joorim.

“Hyung, Gru says she wants to hear her out.”

Ijo let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

“You know that’s really just pressure, right? Making it seem like it’s her choice.”

As he said it, Ijo removed Joorim’s hand from his shoulder.

Joorim clenched his empty fist and bit down on his lower lip.

He knew it too.

What he’d done wasn’t really letting Gru choose, but giving Alice a chance.

Ijo had seen straight through it.

“…”

“…”

The standoff lingered a while longer.

How much time had passed—

Crash!

A chair clattered inside, and the door burst open.

Kazuki stood there, mouth agape in alarm.

“What’s wrong?!”

“What happened?”

“Um, Gru-chan…”

Joorim and Ijo hurried into the room.

Alice, now off the bed, was hugging Gru tightly.

“Hrk! Huuu—!”

Joorim’s eyes trembled as he looked at Alice sobbing in Gru’s arms.

Had Gru, after hearing Alice’s story, decided to lend her the ho-mi?

But how could a child so readily trust and act on the words of someone who wasn’t even Fakeclaw?

As those thoughts flickered, he saw Gru patting Alice’s back as she held her.

In her small right hand, she held something.

But it wasn’t the ho-mi.

There was only a small aluminum tube clutched in her fist.

Joorim kept his gaze on it, and Gru grinned, holding the ointment up high.

“Daddy! I used Ssoq-Ssoq ointment and took out unnie’s callus!”

…Callus?

Joorim’s gaze narrowed.

---

Five Minutes Ago.

“Unnie, are you hurt somewhere?”

Gru looked worriedly at Alice, who was lying in bed.

[“Hm? Wait, who’s this tiny sweetpie?”]

[“She’s Joorim’s daughter. Isn’t she cute? Looks like she’s worried about you.”]

Kazuki kindly provided the translation for Alice, who didn’t know Korean.

[“Wow! You have a daughter? She’s adorable!”]

Gru squirmed and fidgeted, flustered by Alice’s repeated “so cute!” exclamations.

[“Even when she’s shy, she’s so cute! I never thought Joorim could have such a baby. How did this happen? What about her mother? I’d love to meet her!”]

[“She’s adopted. Long story.”]

Kazuki laughed as he explained.

Gru stared intently at their conversation, lips parted in awe. Hearing English, it felt as though the words swirled right past her ears.

Gru kept one eye on the unusually mellow Kazuki and the gesture-prone Alice. Then she noticed the tumor embedded in Alice’s arm.

‘Unnie has a callus on her arm.’

Didn’t that hurt?

Come to think of it, at first Alice had wrapped that spot in a bandage.

Gru rummaged through her backpack.

She happened to carry just the right ointment to remove calluses.

It had originally been made by extracting Gru’s skill “Pluck Away,” and was also the base material for the ho-mi.

Rummaging. Gru took out the little aluminum tube.

[Ssok Ssok Pluck-Away Ointment (S)]

Ointment specialized for pulling things out.

One day, the nanny’s walk had seemed odd, and upon asking, Gru discovered a large callus on her foot and made this very item.

‘After just one application, the nanny’s massive callus had popped out right away.’

Recalling the relief of that day, Gru rubbed her nose and squeezed the ointment onto her hand.

[“So did things go well with Mr. Ho-mi? What does he think? I can pay any price—just let me know!”]

As Alice chatted with Kazuki, Gru began applying the ointment to the tumor on Alice’s arm.

Squelch, squelch!

“Gru-chan, no!”

“Eh?”

Was that not allowed?!

Startled by Kazuki’s outcry, Gru’s hand froze. At that very instant, the mana stone tumor embedded deep in Alice’s arm detached and fell away.

Plunk, roll…

[“Uh…?”]

“…Eh?”

Alice and Kazuki both stood stunned, gaping at the mana stone that had rolled free.

Gru, thinking she had done something terribly wrong, began to shuffle her feet, tears brimming.

‘Maybe that wasn’t a callus I was supposed to remove!’

Her vision spun dizzily.

On the verge of tears, Gru picked up the mana stone with both hands and held it out to Alice.

“S—sorry?”