Chapter 4 - Dragon? No, Lizard.

At the moment, I’m locked in a standoff with a legendary dragon. Or more accurately, a cheeky little lizard that just bit my hand.

“Hissss-!”

“Oh, still hissing at me?”

“Hissss-!!”

“You little brat… can’t even recognize your father!”

I hadn’t exactly pampered it yet, but I had planned to. And this is how it repays me, biting its father’s hand?

“So, you want to challenge me?”

“Hissss-!”

“Stop that, you tiny lizard!”

“Hissss-!!”

“Alright, so this is how it’s going to be, huh?”

“Hissss-!!!”

I stopped moving and simply glared at the lizard. In turn, it started glaring right back.

"..."

"..."

This was a test of will. A battle of who would break first—a stare-down.

‘Born only 10 minutes ago, and you think you can take on someone who’s been alive for 23 years?’

Let’s see who wins. Whoever looks away or blinks first loses. I stared straight into the dragon’s slitted red eyes.

"..."

"..."

About two minutes passed.

My eyes began to sting, and my eyelids started trembling.

‘Hmm.’

To be honest, I was reaching my limit.

'This little guy’s holding up pretty well.'

Meanwhile, the lizard’s eyes didn’t flinch, not even a twitch.

I could sense defeat looming.

‘Am I going to lose?’

To a dragon that’s been alive for only 12 minutes?

Me?

‘No, I won’t lose.’

I boldly declared to the red lizard staring at me, even as I gently closed my stinging eyes.

“If you bite my finger again and don’t recognize your dad, I won’t let it slide.”

“Hissss-!!”

I didn’t lose.

I simply forgave the red lizard this time.

‘Honestly, trying to beat a creature that’s only 12 minutes old is just petty, right?’

It’s disgraceful for an adult to seriously try to beat a child.

I decided to let this red lizard off the hook with my cool and generous adult attitude.

“Because I’m a grown-up.”

“Hissss-! Hissss-!”

The red lizard seemed to protest, but I ignored it and shifted my gaze to the side.

By then, a blue dragon had emerged from its egg and was quietly watching me.

Unlike the feisty one, this one seemed much calmer.

“...” “Are you the quiet type? You’re not hissing at me like that ill-tempered lizard.”

Good. Come here.

I reached out to pet the blue dragon.

But as my hand neared, it quickly recoiled.

“Huh?”

“...”

“Did you just avoid your dad’s hand?”

“...”

The blue dragon didn’t even bother hissing back at me. It simply stared for a moment before casually turning its head away.

It seemed like this one didn’t see me as its father either.

Which, considering we were completely different species, made sense.

“They said creatures born from eggs see the first person they meet as their parent… was that all a lie?”

I felt betrayed by textbooks that always claimed to tell the truth.

But life never lets you wallow in disappointment for long.

“Hisss… hissss…”

The last dragon, a green one, was approaching me.

“Hissss-! Hissss-!”

Despite the red lizard’s fierce warnings, the green dragon made its way toward me without hesitation.

Could it be?

“You… you don’t think I’m like those other lizards… do you see me as your father?”

“Hissss-!”

The green dragon let out a sweet, gentle sound, a far cry from the red one’s aggressive hissing.

“So, you really do think I’m your dad… I’m sorry for calling the grass type trash… I take it back…”

I was overcome with emotion.

As if to respond to my feelings, the green dragon moved closer and began licking the finger the red one had bitten earlier.

Oddly enough, the pain seemed to subside a little.

“Dragon saliva has healing properties too?”

“Hissss-! Hissss-!”

“Really?”

“Hissss-!”

The dragon already seemed to understand me, bouncing excitedly as if to confirm my words.

'I don’t know if you’re a boy or girl, but you’re adorable. From now on, you’re my daughter.'

But just as I was basking in this newfound joy, reality hit—as it always does.

There’s always someone who can’t stand seeing another person happy.

“Hissss-!!”

Maybe the red lizard couldn’t tolerate seeing me and my daughter getting along.

It suddenly appeared, biting her tail and dragging her off in the opposite direction.

“My… my daughter!”

I cried out like a grieving father who had just lost his child.

“My daughter…!!”

“Hissss-!”

We reached out for each other, but our hands couldn’t meet.

Her little claws were too short, and the red lizard was dragging her away faster than I’d anticipated.

‘A dragon is still a dragon, I guess.’

After that, I chased them around my studio apartment, trying to get my daughter back.

But every time I got close, she’d be pulled farther away.

Even my neighbor started banging on the wall, complaining about the noise.

I couldn’t save her.

“...”

“Hissss…”

And so, we were forced to keep our distance.

Thanks to the troublesome red lizard, my daughter and I had to be apart for a while.

Meanwhile, the blue dragon just sat there staring into space, completely indifferent to everything that was happening.

‘...So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?’

If that’s how they want to play, I have no choice but to lay down the law.

With my back turned to them, I spoke in the most authoritative tone I could muster.

“Fine, if that’s how you’re going to act, then so be it. I didn’t agree to take care of you because I wanted to be your dad. I’m only doing this because of a promise. I’ll lay out some blankets for you, but whether you sleep or not is your problem. You’re dragons. You can take care of yourselves.”

Holding onto the last shred of my pride, I gathered the broken eggshells and threw them into a trash bag, then shoved it into a corner.

I spread out blankets in the tiny apartment, making sure to clearly divide my space from theirs.

“This is mine. That’s yours. Step over here, and I won’t go easy on you.”

“Hissss…”

I whispered softly to my daughter, who let out a sad, disappointed sound.

“You’re allowed to come over, my daughter.”

“Hissss-!!”

Of course, the red lizard jumped in to interfere, but at least for a moment, I could feel the bond between me and my daughter.

No matter how fleeting.

“Anyway, take care of yourselves. I’m going to sleep.”

I had just returned home after six long months living outside. My body was exhausted, and as soon as I lay down, drowsiness washed over me…

“Take care of yourselves… you’re dragons, after all… I’m too tired… I’m going to sleep…”

With that, I flopped onto the floor, my face sinking into the worn-out pillow, now patchy and flat.

I had no energy left to think or move.

“Sleep well… everyone…”

***

Tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet!

I was woken up by the chirping sound of birds coming from my ancient phone alarm.

Living in a basement—not even a semi-basement—I had to rely on alarms and clocks to tell me it was morning.

“Ugh, I’ve had enough of that fake bird sound…”

I groaned and turned off the alarm, and the room fell silent again.

Anyway.

“I guess I woke up early.”

I had planned to sleep in to recover from my fatigue, but out of habit, I woke up at the usual time.

I thought about lying back down, but I felt surprisingly refreshed, so I decided to get up.

“Six o’clock. A time that feels oddly familiar to me.”

I still had a debt to pay off, so maybe I should just go to work.

Not to mention, I needed to buy food for the lizards.

Oh, and speaking of food, I didn’t have any money for groceries today.

I splashed some water on my face to wake myself up and stood.

Snore, snore.

“…They’re sleeping well.”

The dragons were snoozing peacefully on the blankets, all huddled together except for the blue one, who had chosen to sleep off to the side.

“But can I really leave them alone while I go to work?”

Even though they were dragons, they’d only been alive for a day.

Was it safe to leave them by themselves?

I was a little worried, but…

“…They’ll figure it out. They’re dragons, not lizards. That dragon said they could take care of everything on their own.”

Technically, I wasn’t their dad anyway.

My job was just to keep them safe until they grew into adults, as promised.

And no, it’s not because I was bitter about not being recognized as their dad.

“Besides, if I don’t go to work today, I won’t even have money to buy food.”

Either way, I had no choice but to work today.

I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face—no point in taking a shower since I’d just be sweating later.

Not to mention, I didn’t want to waste even the small amount of water I’d be charged for.

“I left some chocolate bars on the table for them to snack on… Time to head out.”

I headed to the door, preparing for another long, tiring day. But just as I was about to put on my shoes, I noticed a pair of slitted eyes watching me from afar.

“Blue lizard. You awake?”

“...”

“Why not keep sleeping? Did I wake you up?”

“...”

The blue dragon gave a slight nod.

At least it understood me.

‘If it’s awake now, it’s going to have a long day ahead of it while I’m gone.’

Hmm.

Maybe I should leave something on to keep it entertained.

I decided to finally make use of the tiny TV mounted on the wall, which came with the apartment and for which I had been paying a mandatory subscription fee without ever using it.

Click.

“Oh, it works.”

People appeared on the screen.

I didn’t want to get sucked into TV myself, so I quickly looked away.

“Well, at least it’s not completely useless. The subscription fee wasn’t a total waste after all.”

“...”

“What should I put on? Maybe the news? Dragons should stay informed about the world, right? What do you think?”

“...”

The blue dragon didn’t respond.

It probably didn’t know what the news even was.

I set the remote down on the table and put my shoes on.

“Well, watch whatever you like. I’ll be back later. Don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone, got it? I’m heading out!”

“...”

“…Why am I even talking to you? You’re not going to answer anyway.”

For some reason, I felt full of energy.

Leaving the apartment didn’t seem so bad.

At least when I came back, it wouldn’t be to a dark, empty room.

Someone would be waiting for me.

Feeling oddly fulfilled, I closed the door behind me.

“I wonder what they’ll like. Should I try feeding them meat first? No, why would I waste good meat on them… Oh, right.”

I should come up with names for them. I couldn’t keep calling them red lizard, blue dragon, and green dragon forever.

I mused over possible names as I headed for the stairs, walking lightly for once. Climbing out of the darkness of the basement and into the light, I felt like today was going to be a little different.