Chapter 8: Kaeul / Autumn (2)
“Ahjussi. I’m not following you because of the bread. I’m not an easy kid like that.”
“Yeah.”
“Right! the sausage bread was delicious. It was a lot better than Askalifa’s finest sausage… anyway! It’s definitely not because of the bread, okay?”
“Right.”
“That doesn’t mean it was because of the macaron either. Of course! The crunchy outside and the moist inside and the cream inside being so sweet and delicious makes me want to eat more… but, but…!”
“I got it.”
Gangnam-gu, Nonhyeon-dong, the dragon and the Regressor were on their way back as the Gold Dragon repeatedly muttered “Anyway, that’s not the case! Okay?”, with a huge bag full of bread in its arms.
“…Okay.”
When Yu Jitae agreed, the baby chicken made a bright smile, with cream plastered on its lips.
Well, if you say so.
*
“Welcome back, my lord.”
Arriving back home, Yu Jitae found his copy, Bom and Yeorum already there. The best sofa that Yu Jitae always laid down on was occupied by Bom, who looked back and forth between himself and the copy with blinking eyes. Then, she widened her eyes seeing the Gold Dragon.
On the veranda next to the sofa, a red-haired girl, whom he was seeing in person for the first time was standing there – that was Yeorum.
Judging from how there was smoke coming out of her mouth, it seemed that she was having a smoke. As far as Yu Jitae knew, the things loved by the red race were along the lines of alcohol, gambling and drugs…
“Uwah, Green! Red!”
Finally, the Gold Dragon holding a bag of bread entered the house wearing a bright expression and while saying “Gold”, Bom hugged the dragon with a smile.
Yeorum bounced the cigarette butt off with her fingers before coming back into the living room. He was worried whether it would be possible to regulate her or not, but she was surprisingly docile and her lowered gaze reflected her gloominess.
When are we going to do that ‘strategy’?
Yu Jitae turned towards Bom. Perhaps feeling his gaze, a pair of green eyes looked back at him, and despite not saying anything, Yu Jitae felt there was no need to worry.
Meanwhile, the blonde approached the redhead.
“Red, Red. Have you been well?”
“…”
“Nn? Nn? What’s up? It’s me. We’re seeing each other for the first time in a year. How have you been?”
Even though it was being ignored, the baby chicken continued starting a conversation but without giving a reply, Yeorum walked into Yu Jitae’s room and closed the door behind her.
It looked way too natural for a freeloader.
“Red. Did something happen? I received some delicious food so let’s eat together!”
Knock, knock. That was when the Gold Dragon started knocking on the door.
“Gold.”
Bom called the baby chicken and shook her head. That simple action calmed the dragon down like magic.
“Then, do you want to eat this with me, Green?”
“Nn, sure.”
The two of them started eating bread together. At the same time, they chatted, about how they had been, and what sorts of experiences they had. At the start, it was just the Gold Dragon blabbering on its own but later, it connected through to Bom’s story.
“Uwah, really? Street musicians are that great?”
“Nn. It’s amazing right?”
“There were sirens performing in Green’s lair right? A, are they better than that?”
“I think so.”
Currently, they were talking about the street performers in Firenze streets. Bom, who had been travelling a lot had felt and seen more things in the same period of one year compared to the Gold Dragon. Such stories flowed like rivers, until it reached the story of her arrival here when the Gold Dragon asked.
“‘Bom’?”
“Nn?”
“Did he call you ‘Bom’, Green?”
“Aaah, it’s my name that ahjussi gave me.”
“…?”
Gold Dragon’s eyes widened.
“Is it like, a fake name?”
Bom shook her head.
“No, it’s my name.”
“Un? How? Why? We’re hatchlings right? We haven’t gone through the coming-of-age ceremony yet so how could someone give us a name, that’s not an alias?”
“That… it just happened that way.”
From Yu Jitae’s point of view, it was a conversation he could not understand. Was there a problem with giving them a name?
“Wow I see. Then, since the four seasons go bom, yeorum, kaeul, gyeoul… I must be Kaeul then?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Yeorum’s red and Gyeoul’s blue right?”
The baby chicken made a ‘hehe’ smile.
“Hmm, it’s our precious names though, there’s no way he made them that simple.”
Bom replied, but in fact, that was the answer.
*
That night, Yu Jitae gathered the dragons to the living room, and asked about their ages.
“I’m twenty years old.”
“I’m ten!”
“…”
“And she’s fifteen.”
Since Yeorum was still moody, Bom answered him in her stead. It was great, because their names suited the order of their ages as well.
“Let’s call you guys Bom, Yeorum and Kaeul. And when that’s born, we’ll call it Gyeoul.”
Pointing at the necklace hanging on Kaeul’s chest, Yu Jitae said that as Kaeul then asked back with widened eyes.
“Did you know already?”
Of course.
The blue gem embedded on the necklace was in fact a dragon’s egg in a polymorphed state. The Blue Dragon was yet to be born but was scheduled to be born soon.
In other words, Yu Jitae had gathered four dragons already.
After that, he talked about how their life here would be, like he had explained before to Bom. Do not hide your presence from me – that was the only wish the Regressor had for them.
While he was at it, he decided to teach them basic rules regarding how to talk to people higher and lower in terms of age and social hierarchy as well as titles. He did it thinking that putting them into a hierarchy would make things easier, and they followed nicely.
As the dusk neared behind the window on a certain weekend night, Bom and Kaeul talked to each other as unni and dongsaeng*. She said they viewed each other as strangers but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Crime’s not allowed apparently, Yeorum-unni.”
“…”
Until then, Yeorum did not say a single word. The direction she faced and looked were different from others as well, seemingly in a different world by herself. Around the time Kaeul who attempted to constantly talk to her was about to be depressed, Bom came up to Yu Jitae and gestured with her eyes.
She would be starting the strategy now, it seemed.
The strategy was rather simple.
Yu Jitae would handle the situation, after which Bom would take care of Yeorum. According to Bom’s words, the damage to Yeorum’s pride wasn’t an issue that could be resolved any time soon, but unlike pride, it was possible to make her mood get better.
And there, Yu Jitae would chime in with a hand.
Hatchlings leaving on their first Amusement easily found happiness from trivial things. Bom, who had more social experience compared to others knew exactly what they wanted, as well as how those could be achieved.
It was possible because she was from the green race that could sympathise with others, better than what most of the other races could.
The pair of green eyes glanced across Yu Jitae’s eyes. After walking past him, Bom walked up to the two of them, and crossed her arms.
“Guys, do you want to go outside?”
“Nn! But where?”
“There’s a good place nearby. Let’s go have fun.”
“…I’m fine.”
“Come on. Let’s go.”
And as previously planned, Yu Jitae called out to Bom.
“Bom.”
“Yes?”
Then, he threw his wallet.
“Uh?”
Receiving the wallet, her eyes turned into circles. It was the expression made by Bom, who always had a dry set of reactions, when she was really surprised.
“Go have fun.”
“Really? Thank you ahjussi. By the way, how much are we allowed to use?”
“As much as you want.”
*
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $181]
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $375.54]
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $475.30]
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $600]
The Regressor blankly looked at his hologram display.
“…”
Right now, Yu Jitae was reading a book by himself. When he had nothing to do, he would either read books or watch movies. Although he didn’t feel much from it, it was an effort to melt into the daily lives like others.
By closing his eyes, he could still feel their auras, so he wasn’t worried. Occasionally, his watch received messages from the bank. At the start, it was five to ten dollars, so he thought they were using money on food but,
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $1990]
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $2150]
The amount was getting larger and larger.
What in the world were they buying?
‘If needed, I will go stop them.’
His copy who usually lived within the alternate dimension [Shallows of the Abyss (S)] talked to him but Yu Jitae shook his head.
However, that was when another message hit his watch.
[Origin Bank Credit One-off Payment $41239]
Did they buy a car or something?
[Origin Bank Credit card’s limit has been exceeded.]
That was the final notification message. The entirety of the wealth, frugally saved for a few years by the Yu Jitae before the regressions had vanished in an instant.
However, he didn’t care too much. Things that could be grasped in his hands whenever he desired did not have any meaning to it and thus, he was not interested in materials or honour.
Soon, the three dragons came back with their hands filled with shopping bags. First off, Bom walked up to him and gave him the wallet before whispering, “Sorry ahjussi. We used too much”.
In response to the Regressor’s words, “Did it go well?”, Bom returned a small smile and faintly gave a nod.
“Ahjussi, look at this. I bought this as well!”
Next, Kaeul ran up and bragged about the latest watch model. He wondered where two thousand dollars had gone off to, but that must have been the cause.
“Ahjussi bought all these for us right? Thanks a lot. I’m so happy! It’s amazing. Really amazing! Ahjussi’s the best! Uaaah!”
She suddenly ran up to him and hugged him. Although the Regressor was taken aback for an instant, he gave a light embrace back.
And behind her, Yeorum with the same moody complexion as before entered the living room.
The same watch Kaeul had on was also hanging on Yeorum’s wrist but that wasn’t the end. On her waist, there was a sword he was seeing for the first time – it was an artifact. He immediately understood what $40000 had been used on, because most Level 1 artifacts had the same cost as a car.
Around the time Kaeul separated herself, Yeorum slowly walked up to him. Then, while dodging his eyes, she suddenly held the sword up and held it up for display.
“This, I bought it outside. I lost my sword so…”
That was because Yu Jitae threw it away somewhere in the desert.
“That was your money right?”
“Yeah. Do you like it?”
“Well, just… I used it once.”
Yeorum halted her words. Then, it seemed like she wanted to say something, but soon formed a frown.
“……it wasn’t much.”
Leaving such words behind, she entered the room, while holding the sword artifact with a tight grip.