Inside the screen, the golden hair fluttered and a pair of golden eyes blinked as it stared at the screen. The gaze soon turned into a blank expression with the white skin blushing around the cheeks.
– This is embarrassing… Do I look fine?
The girl organised her hair with her hands and looked up while touching her eyebrows. She then opened her mouth wide and relaxed her jaws before blinking her eyes again.
Kuhum, hum…! She warmed up her throat.
– Dear everyone inside the hospital. How are you guys doing?
She started off with a trembling voice.
– I’m, doing fine. This is my dormitory and… uhh…
– Ah, thank you very much for enjoying the video I took during the vacation. I also enjoyed your response video!
– It’s already summer holidays now.
– I want to see everyone in person, but our ahjussi said I can’t do that.
– I don’t know why but…
– But I still like sharing stories even though it’s through a video.
– It like, makes my heart race…
Blink, blink. The golden pair of eyes blinked.
Woosh.
The head of a baby chicken suddenly rose up from beneath the screen and the large head completely blocked the person behind it.
– Oh, right right. Say hi Chirpy~
White strands of fur could now be spotted in between the chicken’s yellow fur. The baby chicken tapped on the screen with its large beak a few times, before walking off.
– Hehe. It’s actually time for his nap so…
– Anyway, I don’t think I can show this video to everyone right now.
– Ahjussi always checks them before I give the videos over.
– But, today…
– Hmm…
– Uhh, umm, uhh…
– I’m thinking of talking about ahjussi…
– I can tell him everything else, but I can’t talk about ahjussi to ahjussi right.
She turned her head and looked at the door. While she was throwing a glance at the door, her hair flowed down from her shoulder.
– Ah…! Before that, let me talk about things that have happened so far.
– The spring semester came to an end!
She lowered a finger one by one.
– Hmm, I finished the test? Did my assessments? And played with my friends. It was very hectic.
– These days, Gyeoul tells me that her heart is ticklish.
– I think it must be… hmm, how do I say this? Sudden growth period?
– I wonder what Gyeoul will grow to be like. Hopefully she stays cute like now.
Then, she suddenly clapped.
– Ah, do you know what’s even crazier? Yeorum-unni came first at the competition!
– Like, there was like, a placard of her face near our dormitory…! Everyone was happy for her…! And she had a lot of interviews…!
– It was very cool and enviable.
– Doing what she wants to do,
– Doing better than others, and being loved…
Her words suddenly came to a stop and her eyes turned vacant. Soon, she went ‘oops’ and gave a bright smile.
– Anyway, back then, there was this small problem.
– This is, just for you guys okay…?
– Super serious.
– I haven’t told anyone yet.
– This is a secret just between us, nn?
She said while pushing her pinky forward.
– Maybe Yeorum-unni was in a good mood after coming first in the competition.
– She was so happy that she hugged ahjussi and kissed him on like, his cheek, you know.
– Uhh… she must be crazy.
– Hmm, but if I think about it now, it’s okay. It’s understandable, and she kissed me as well.
– But you know, back then, there was me and Bom-unni as well.
– And when, Yeorum-unni, uhh, kissed…
– It was like,
– Like…
– Ah, sorry for saying gibberish.
Her expression turned awkward.
– It like, suddenly made my heart feel like it was crashing down. It made my head muddled and my hands and legs like, became powerless like a rubber band snapping off. I was holding an icecream but I dropped the whole thing…
– It was my first time feeling something like that in my life. Feeling like, I’d go crazy? Like an impulse? Like my fingers trembling and my head turning blank…?
– And I unconsciously pushed Yeorum-unni away…
– But I’m too weak and she didn’t get pushed… anyway, after that I was scolded by unni calling me crazy but…
– Ah.
– But, Bom-unni looked completely fine.
Her head tilted, and a strand of hair that was sticking out above her head bent into a question mark.
– It was like, nn? Hnn?
– Actually, you might not know but that was me empathising with Bom-unni’s feelings you know?
– Hmm… I actually don’t really know why my head turned blank either.
– I also don’t know why unni looked normal, unlike me.
– Well, that was already 3 months ago though.
– These days, I feel fine even when Yeorum-unni gets touchy with ahjussi without thinking. It’s still slightly burdensome though when ahjussi walks closer…
– Maybe it was just me thinking things.
– I’m a bit of a strange kid, you see.
– Hehe.
‘Of course’ she repeatedly said with a nod. Raising her head, she tucked her golden hair behind her ear and once it stopped flowing down, her white ears were in full display.
– Hmm…
– …
– Should I get an earring like Bom-unni…?
– Her flower earring was pretty.
She smiled bashfully.
– Anyways, that’s it for today.
– Phew~ I think I feel slightly better now.
– I can’t talk about such an enormous thing to ahjussi, right? Naturally, I can’t speak to Yeorum-unni and Bom-unni either and Gyeoul is, well…
– Even if someone told me to do this again, I don’t think I can do it. It took a lot of courage you know.
– Anyway, thank you for listening. Phew, I won’t get any reply back but I’ll be assuming that you’re all happy still. Then, let me just stop the recording…
Her eyes that were bent into crescents slowly widened. After spotting something, her eyes became circles before turning into a frown.
– Nn? Nn?
– No…
Her eyes turned sorrowful.
– I didn’t click on the record button…
***
Zhou Luxun came fourth.
The name of Yu household came in handy once again. Despite Lyun being heavily injured, Erfan Guild didn’t react in any way – they weren’t able to do anything in fact. Since the Communist Party of China had a bad relationship with the Association, they couldn’t be too sensitive over such a trivial matter.
As for the community service, he was too bothered to do it and delayed it.
Meanwhile, BM was quiet. According to the clone, it seemed that he had disappeared from the underground labyrinth.
‘Wish you a great day today as well, my lord.’
Alright.
Clone 2 was diligently being educated by Clone 1. He would grow to a decent level by the time the plan came into fruition.
In the midst of all such things, summer vacation for Unit 301 began.
“Ahh, I’m gonna die…”
Yu Jitae resumed training Yeorum. The spartan training session started yet again just like the winter vacation training they had.
Yeorum still hadn’t fought Yong Taeha or Tyr Brzenk yet. Tyr Brzenk wasn’t interested in the competition itself while Yong Taeha avoided her with the help of the group chat.
There wasn’t any reason to snipe them either, so there hadn’t been any chance for them to fight as of yet.
Yu Jitae predicted that Yeorum had already exceeded the level of a cadet, but he was planning to put her at least in the 100’s worldwide by graduation, so that she could fight against and beat Javier Karma from SAN before the end of her Amusement.
And that would also allow her to survive after she returned.
“Ah… my fucking entire body hurts, seriously…”
After coming back to the dormitory, Yeorum collapsed onto the sofa without even washing herself.
Pulsation, breathing and walking. What Yeorum was learning after all those was ‘standing up’. To stand firmly on the ground on two feet.
It might sound absurd but Yeorum didn’t complain and besides, the ‘standing up’ that Yu Jitae demanded was to stand straight even in the most extreme situations without ever falling down.
And after the training session, her veins had been broken and she had bruises on her waist, thighs, calves and feet. Yu Jitae carefully manipulated the mana and massaged her legs while she was lying down on the sofa, so that she could heal them back up.
Since he had been repeating this procedure recently, Yeorum laid down obediently with her head buried into the sofa.
“…”
That was when he felt a gaze from somewhere. Turning around, he found Bom who was writing a novel on the living room table, staring at him. These days, she didn’t stay in her room and instead wrote in the living room.
“Why.”
She had a weird yet indifferent look on her face and remained silent. She merely stared at Yu Jitae for a while, before looking away and focusing back on her novel.
“Ah, thanks. Ima go rest for a bit.”
After the massage, Yeorum gave a long stretch and walked into her own room when Bom’s gaze headed towards her. It stayed on her for longer than usual and remained on the door of the room for a while even after it closed.
Yu Jitae felt a similar gaze again at night.
Kaeul, Gyeoul and the baby chicken were playing with a small elastic ball after dinner, when the Doonga Doonga time suddenly began. Gyeoul struggled to lift the large baby chicken up. If the chicken got slightly bigger, it would make them look like Sisyphus and his rock.
In any case, Kaeul lifted Gyeoul up and then shook them left and right. The Regressor still had no idea about the reason behind this conduct, which tended to occur regardless of the time.
“…Please do, Doonga Doonga.”
Gyeoul suddenly requested that while being hugged by Kaeul. Yu Jitae, who had been vacantly watching them from the sofa, replied half a second late.
“You mean me?”
Nod nod.
“Why?”
“…We need 4 floors, to make Doonga Doonga.”
The baby chicken was the first floor, while Gyeoul was the second and Kaeul the third. It seemed that they had set an actual principle for themselves.
It was meant to be Bom’s turn to participate, but she seemed to be outside and was nowhere to be seen right now. Left with no other choice, Yu Jitae stood up and approached them, when Kaeul suddenly spoke in fright.
“Uhhh, Gyeoul!”
“…Nn.”
“Can we just have 3 floors today?”
“…Nn? No.”
“Why why? Don’t you think 3 is enough?”
“…We can’t, do that.”
Meanwhile, Yu Jitae went behind Kaeul. He just had to grab her on the waist and lift her up.
“M, mommy…”
Kaeul was shocked and buried her face on Gyeoul’s back.
He didn’t know what had made her this flustered but regardless, Doonga Doonga itself wasn’t that difficult. Yu Jitae lifted Kaeul up into the air.
Seemingly enjoying the Doonga Doonga that suddenly increased in height, the baby chicken chirped out loud and Gyeoul screamed out in joy.
But it seemed that Kaeul was scared.
“Ah, ahjussi. Let me down please…”
“What?”
“Hurry…”
She asked with her head lowered, so Yu Jitae let the kids down.
That short Doonga Doonga was apparently enough for them and Gyeoul and the baby chicken chuckled excitedly as they ran around the living room, while Kaeul hurriedly escaped into her room.
That was when he felt that same gaze again.
It was unknown when she had come back, but Bom was standing in the entrance staring at the living room. When her eyes met with Yu Jitae’s, she gave a faint smile before lowering her back and picking up the black plastic bag that was on the ground.
“Guys. I bought some snacks for us.”
After that, they ate the snacks and watched a movie.
It was another normal day of the summer holiday that wasn’t particularly out of the norm.
***
The next morning, Bom showed him a paper and asked.
“Ahjussi.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I go on a short dispatch?”
There were two types of dispatchments in Lair. One was short-term and the other was long-term. The short-term dispatch was around 3-4 days long and they would complete a task outside of Lair while long-term dispatch was quite literally a long counterpart that continued for months.
Yu Jitae checked the paper Bom showed him.
It was a list of short-term missions and locations that had been confirmed by Lair.
“What made you want to do it?”
“To study for my novel and… I also wanted some fresh air.”
“I see.”
“You already know how I enjoy going on trips, right.”
Right. Yu Jitae nodded in response. While going through the list, he found a decent one.
“Then let’s go with this.”
“Hmm… the snowy mountains in North America?”
“Yeah.”
Bom nodded with a slightly brighter expression.
That was when Yu Jitae added.
“It would be a great place to take Gyeoul along.”
These days, Yu Jitae was focusing on Gyeoul. The child started feeling ticklish around her heart, which meant that it was about time for her to shed skin.
A ‘short-term dispatch’ had to be accompanied by the guardian. And if he were to bring Gyeoul along, the best place would be somewhere that was next to water.
But after hearing that, Bom closed her mouth and looked into his eyes. Although her gaze was still indifferent, it had a slightly different light to it than before and he had been seeing that gaze a few times recently.
He was slightly curious, but that was when Bom hesitantly opened her mouth.
“…Hmm, in that case, I’ll go ask the education department if there is room or not.”
“Ah, right. There’s a lot of demand for dispatch locations so go ask them now.”
“Okay.”
When she returned after going to the academy district, there was a disheartened look on her face.
“Why.”
“It’s full, apparently.”
“That’s not good.”
“That paper was from a week ago. It’s my fault for being too late.”
It was understandable. Short-term dispatchments were considered in the final grades and were very popular with cadets.
“Apparently this is the only thing remaining now…”
Bom showed the list again.
There was only one location that didn’t have a line going through.
[North of Africa Ancient Beast Epidemic Ef-014 Virus Outbreak in the Area]
Ancient beast epidemics were very infectious and were rampant in North African regions that weren’t hygienic.
According to the contents of the mission, they had to scout out the source of the epidemic and had to retake any place that had been filled by monsters. But ‘Ef-014’ was a virus that could infect even a superhuman so these missions tended to be avoided the most.
Cadets were soldiers and everyone understood how some could die during the education, assignments or dispatchments.
There was a reason no-one took it till the end.
“Do you think, we can still do this?”
Dragons and the Regressor were immune to the likes of epidemics. However, dragons became extremely fragile and sensitive both before and after shedding their skin and it wasn’t a suitable place for Gyeoul to be at.
Leaving the child behind weighed on his mind.
He pondered for a bit. Thinking back, Bom hadn’t requested him for anything recently and the trip was only two days or a week long at max.
“Do you really want to go?”
Bom gave a nod.
Thus, Yu Jitae decided to go on a short-term dispatch with just Bom.