Chapter 58: I'm a Dragon, Hear Me Roar (3)

As time passed, the night grew deeper. The streets became so dark you could barely see in front of you. Only the occasional flicker of long-neglected streetlights broke the darkness.

"I want to go home..."

Huddled up, Suryeon was still crouched in the building. She couldn't move a step.

"Are they gone now...?"

Peek—

Suryeon cautiously lifted her head to check outside. She didn't hear the homeless people's voices anymore. But scared by the dark, unlit street, she quickly ducked her head back down.

Swoosh—

"The bad humans seem to be gone... But it's too dark to move... I'll wait until Dad comes..."

Suryeon crouched down again, hiding herself. She sighed, feeling trapped.

"When will I be able to go home... What if Dad can't find me...?"

I can't stay here forever. Dad has to find me.

Suryeon 's eyes welled up with tears at the thought of not being able to go home.

"I need to go home... When is Dad coming…?"

Drip, drip—

Tears slowly fell to the floor. Suryeon felt both frustrated with the situation and disappointed in herself.

"Sniff... I didn't come out expecting this... Sniff... I should have listened to Dad..."

As Suryeon started to cry,

Whoosh—

The dark night sky began to cry too. Suryeon cried harder, her sobs hidden by the sound of rain.

"Waaah... I just wanted to see the outside world and have fun... Why did this happen…?"

Suryeon buried her face in her knees and cried endlessly. As she cried, the rain from the sky grew heavier.

"Waaah..."

Rumble! Crash!!

Lightning struck with the heavy rain. Suryeon cried more than she ever had in her life, desperately wishing for her dad to find her.

"Daaad... Sniff..."

***

Where on earth did this kid go?

I ran through the streets, searching hard for Suryeon, but there was no sign of her anywhere.

To make matters worse, heavy rain started pouring from the sky.

Whoosh!!

"Why is it raining so hard now? This is crazy."

The streetlights aren't even working, and with this rain, I can barely see anything.

I took shelter in a building for a moment to catch my breath.

"Haa... At this rate, I might not find her until morning."

I need to narrow down the search area first.

I racked my brain, trying to guess where Suryeon might be.

"With this rain, she's probably hiding in a building. And if she hasn't come home, she's likely lost. She must be far from home."

After organizing my thoughts, I headed into an alley, braving the heavy rain.

It's a place nicknamed "Ant Hill" around here because of its narrow, complex paths. If you take a wrong turn, you might end up in a shelter for unsavory homeless people.

"Normal people would never go in there. But a curious cat like Suryeon ..."

She must have gone in.

Thinking this, I ran through the dark alley.

Was my guess right?

Trash cans were overturned, and boxes were scattered about.

"There was definitely a chase here. I just need to follow the trail."

Whew—

Trying to stay as calm as possible, I quickly ran through the Ant Hill. At the end, I found a street full of abandoned buildings where no one lived.

"...She's definitely here."

There's a stench, the distinctive smell of drug-addicted homeless people.

I clenched my fists and searched the rainy street. Then, I made eye contact with a group of homeless people sheltering from the rain under a building.

"Hey, there's someone over there."

"A fit guy in his 20s... He'd fetch a good price compared to that brat."

Slurp—

The homeless group approached, licking their lips. They quickly surrounded me. Looks like this wasn't their first time doing this.

"It's because of trash like you that kids can't walk around safely."

"Ha, what's this bastard saying?"

"I heard what you said earlier. Were you looking for a kid about this big?"

"...You know that blue brat?"

At my question, the homeless group's eyes changed. The playfulness disappeared, replaced by a predator's gaze.

I clenched my fist and stretched out my arm.

"First, one down."

Thud!

One homeless person fell to the ground.

Rumble!!

At the same time, a fierce lightning bolt struck from the sky. I spoke sincerely to the others who were backing away slightly.

"You bullied my daughter. You're dead now."

These kidnapper are scum barely qualifying as humans.

I won't show them any mercy.

I charged at the homeless group with magic surrounding my hands, along with the heavy rain.

"Where's my daughter!?!"

It was the moment the thread of reason I'd been holding onto snapped.

***

"Waaah... When is Dad coming...?"

Drip, drip—

Suryeon kept crying, hiding in the building. No matter how hard she tried to control her emotions, the tears wouldn't stop.

"I wanna go home... Sniff... I'm scared..."

How long would she have to stay here? What if the bad humans came looking for her?

Suryeon trembled and cried, frightened by these thoughts.

Then suddenly,

Tap, tap—

Footsteps could be heard through the sound of rain. Scared, Suryeon covered her mouth with her hands.

Gasp—

'A-Are those bad humans coming...? It sounds like they're entering this building...'

Suryeon held her breath, covering her mouth to avoid being discovered. But the footsteps kept getting closer to her.

Tap, tap—

The sound of someone climbing the stairs. Suryeon stared at the stairway, holding her breath.

'Please don't come up...'

Suryeon prayed for them not to come. But eventually, the footsteps reached the floor below her.

'I-If they come... I'll shoot my Water Laser Beam and run away...'

Just as Suryeon was pointing her finger, scared,

Tap—

The owner of the footsteps came up the stairs and faced the terrified Suryeon.

"Phew, here you are."

The owner of the footsteps was Ha-jun. Ha-jun shook his wet hair and approached the stunned Suryeon. Suryeon 's pointed finger dropped limply.

Thud—

"D-Dad... Sniff..."

Roll, roll—

Suryeon ran into Ha-jun's arms, sniffling. She beat his chest and burst into tears.

"Sniff... Why did you come so late…? I-I was scared to death..."

"You went so far, it took a long time to find you."

"Sniff... That's true... You're right... But I feel so wronged..."

Sniffle—

Suryeon cried like a child in Ha-jun's arms, grumbling. Ha-jun hugged her and spoke gently.

"I was going to scold you until you cried. But you're already crying, so what should I do?"

"Waaah..."

"Sigh, I'll scold you later. Let's go home. The rain has stopped just in time."

"Sniffle..."

Ha-jun held Suryeon 's hand and left the building.

Stars shone in the bright night sky after the rain. Suryeon held Ha-jun's hand tightly, as if she'd never let go.

"Sniff..."

"Stop crying now, crybaby. Dad took care of all the people who bothered you."

"I'm not... Sniff... Crying because I want to... It's just coming out..."

Suryeon grumbled, feeling wronged. Ha-jun smiled, finding her cute.

And so, the father and daughter pair walked under the starry night sky, heading home, hand in hand, warm despite the rain.

***

After returning home, I first said to Suryeon.

"Let's eat first."

"...Okay."

Maybe she was embarrassed from crying.

Suryeon sat down without any resistance, her eyes swollen. Then I spoke to Hwaryeon and Choryeon, who were watching me nervously.

"You two sit down too. We need to eat."

"Okay...!"

"Yes...!"

Thud—

The children sat down immediately, but they were still watching me cautiously. They seemed worried about getting scolded.

"Looks like you all know what you did wrong?"

Nod, nod—

The children seemed to know their mistakes well, nodding their heads at lightning speed.

"I'm still not letting you off. You need to be scolded for what you did wrong."

Dejected—

The children hung their heads, looking deflated. I distributed the ox bone soup I had brought to them.

"Let's eat first. You must all be hungry."

"..."

"Come on, Suryeon, eat too. You cried a lot, so you need to eat a lot."

At my words, Suryeon snapped back.

"I-I didn't cry that much...! Just a little..."

"Let's say that's true."

Even after we got home, we had to stay outside for another 5 minutes because she was crying.

What does she mean she didn't cry much?

I decided not to say more, afraid Suryeon might start crying again.

"Just eat, Suryeon. You must be hungry since you didn't have lunch."

"...Okay."

Suryeon picked up her spoon and put some ox bone soup in her mouth.

Slurp—

"...It's cold."

"It's been a while. Should I heat it up?"

"...No, I'll eat it like this. It's my fault anyway."

Suryeon said this and continued eating the cold ox bone soup. Hwaryeon and Choryeon also ate the cold soup without any reaction. They seemed to be reflecting deeply on what happened today.

'...I wanted to eat it warm.'

I couldn't be the only one eating warm food. So, I reluctantly put the cold ox bone soup in my mouth too.

Still, maybe because we were all together eating without any incidents,

Slurp—

It felt like quite an impressive dinner.