Chapter 59
The next day.
After feeding them a hearty breakfast, I lined up the children against the wall and said.
"Now that we've eaten well, it's time to do what needs to be done."
"I-Is it finally that time?!"
"..."
"This is the expected outcome..."
Squeeze—
The children closed their eyes tightly. They looked afraid of being scolded.
'Even if it hurts my heart, I have to scold them.'
Yesterday's incident could have easily turned into a major accident if luck hadn't been on our side.
Drug-addicted homeless groups don't hesitate to engage in human trafficking. No matter how much we clean up, there will always be more trash.
Anyway.
"Choryeon, you can leave if you don't want to be scolded."
"Father, is that really okay...?"
"Yeah, Choryeon didn't do anything wrong."
Judging that she was the only one who hadn't done anything wrong, Choryeon moved behind me, glancing at Hwaryeon and Suryeon.
I decided to continue with the scolding session.
"First, Lee Hwaryeon."
"W-Why me?!"
"I heard that yesterday, when Suryeon was trying to leave, you didn't even try to stop her?"
"Lee Choryeon! You told on me!?"
Whoosh!
Hwaryeon, feeling betrayed, shot eye lasers at Choryeon. Choryeon quickly turned her head away from that gaze.
"I-I don't know anything about that!"
"I'll deal with you later!"
Grrrr—
Hwaryeon gritted her teeth at Choryeon. I bent my knees to make eye contact with Hwaryeon and said.
"If you say anything to Choryeon later, you'll be in even more trouble."
"Hmph."
"Lee Hwaryeon. Tell me exactly what you did wrong. Say it yourself."
"...!!"
Flinch—
Hwaryeon trembled when asked to state her own wrongdoing. She mumbled, hesitating to speak.
"M-My fault...! My fault is..."
"What is your fault, Hwaryeon? Say it yourself."
"My fault is... My fault is...!!"
Clench!
Hwaryeon clenched her fists and barely managed to shout.
"As the oldest sister! I didn't stop Suryeon from leaving! I shouldn't have let her go!"
"You understand well."
It seems that while Hwaryeon was waiting for a long time yesterday, she must have thought a lot about whether she should have stopped Suryeon.
'If she knows her mistake, I guess I don't need to scold her more.'
I patted Hwaryeon's stiff shoulder, as she was scared of being scolded, and said.
"Let's do better next time, Hwaryeon."
"Okay! I'll do better!"
"Good, you can go stand behind me too."
"Okay!"
Scurry—
Hwaryeon ran behind me with a big smile. She must have really hated the idea of being scolded.
"Next, Lee Suryeon."
"..."
"If you have something to say first, go ahead."
"..."
Shrink—
Suryeon hung her head low, depressed, and mumbled.
"...I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone out. I couldn't resist my curiosity. It was a stupid thing to do."
"You understand well."
This little troublemaker with her misplaced smarts. Maybe because Suryeon had gone through a tough experience, just looking at her dejected attitude and eyes, I could tell she was reflecting on her actions.
"You're not going to cry again, are you?"
"No..."
"It doesn't look like you're not."
I lowered myself to look up at Suryeon's face, which was hanging down.
'...She looks like she's about to cry.'
Ahem.
I decided not to tease her anymore. Still, I should speak sternly.
"Suryeon."
"Yeah..."
"I know you're smart. I also know you feel cooped up always being at home. But even if you're curious, I want you to try to hold back a bit."
"Yeah..."
"There's a saying that curiosity killed the cat, you know."
"Curiosity killed the cat..."
Suryeon nodded as if she had realized something after hearing those words.
Even without me getting heated and scolding them, it seemed the kids understood their mistakes on their own.
"Should I say these kids are smart... They are smart for 6-month-olds, but..."
Sigh—
I hope nothing like this happens again.
When I thought I couldn't find Suryeon, it felt like my heart dropped.
"Kids."
"Yes!"
"Yeah..."
"Yes!"
"Let's do better next time."
I patted each of the children's heads in turn. With this, yesterday's incident was well wrapped up.
'...It must be frustrating to always be cooped up at home.'
Maybe I should increase their opportunities to go out.
But for that, I'd need to clean up the neighborhood.
I decided to think more about that later.
***
After the incident, Suryeon started acting a bit strange.
"Listen up, everyone."
Suryeon sat Hwaryeon and Choryeon down and began her speech.
"I learned something from going outside."
"What's that, Suryeon?"
"I realized that all humans, except Dad, are trash."
Chilling—
Suryeon shared her impressions of the outside world.
"I went out and headed for an alley. But then, humans started chasing me. I had no choice but to run away."
"Wait!"
Flash!
Hwaryeon raised her hand, pointing out something odd.
"But why did you run? You're a dragon! Couldn't you have just fought and won?!"
"That's because you didn't see those humans' eyes, Hwaryeon. Eyes full of malice. Eyes lost in darkness. If you saw them, even you would have run away."
Was she getting goosebumps just thinking about it?
Suryeon rubbed her arms as if she had chills.
'Well, I guess homeless people would be shocking for a child to see.'
Even as a fellow human, I didn't want to consider them human. Worried the children might misunderstand, I chimed in.
"I think there's a misunderstanding. There's Gu Bong-gu and Grandma too. You shouldn't think everyone is trash. What do they call this again? The fallacy of hasty generalization?"
I'm not sure since I haven't been to school in a long time.
Anyway, I remember it being called something like that. Suryeon quietly agreed with my words and said.
"You're right, Dad. Humans like Gu Bong-gu and Grandma are good humans. But from what I've seen, most humans are trash."
That's probably because she hasn't met many people. Maybe the shock of meeting the homeless people was too great because Suryeon didn't seem willing to change her mind.
'Well, she'll probably change as she lives longer.'
I looked at Suryeon, who had gone through this series of events. She had stopped her speech and was muttering something in the corner.
"Heh, all humans are trash... Except Dad, all humans are trash..."
"Looks like she's got a bad case of chuunibyou."
"The world is probably trash too... The world is trash..."
"Oh boy."
I feel like even if I took her to a doctor, they'd say this chuunibyou is incurable. I sighed and got up from my seat. Seeing this, Suryeon looked at me and asked.
"Dad, where are you going? Are you going to work today?"
"I'm going to the bathroom."
"Hmm, I see..."
Why is she suddenly acting like this? She never showed this much interest in me before.
I finished my business in the bathroom and opened the door to come out. Then, Suryeon, who had been waiting by the door, spoke to me.
"Dad, where are you going now?"
"Me? I was going to the living room..."
"Let's go together."
Swish—
Suryeon, who had been waiting for me outside the bathroom reached out her hand to me. I took her hand, feeling a bit bewildered.
'Why is she acting like this? It's not like she has separation anxiety.'
I held Suryeon's hand and headed to the living room. Seeing this, Choryeon asked curiously.
"Father, why are you holding Suryeon's hand?"
"I don't know...? She just asked me to hold her hand."
"Suryeon never seemed interested in Father before... This is strange...?"
"Yeah, it is."
I find it odd too. It definitely feels like something changed inside Suryeon after that incident.
'This isn't good...'
Feeling uneasy, I sat down in the living room to rest. Suryeon, who usually sat in the corner using her smartphone, sat next to me today while using her phone.
Maybe because of this, Hwaryeon and Choryeon started looking at Suryeon as if she were a strange person.
"Lee Suryeon! Who are you?! You're not the Suryeon I know?! You impostor! Reveal your true identity!"
"Hwaryeon, you've watched too many cartoons. I'm the same as always. Don't make a fuss over nothing."
Suryeon lightly brushed off Hwaryeon's words. Still, Choryeon continued to look at Suryeon strangely.
Staaaare—
"Hmm... Hmmmm..."
As if she had some complaint, she puffed up her cheeks. I tried to rest in this uncomfortable atmosphere.
Then, before dinner, I gathered my courage and said to the children.
"Kids, shall we go for a walk together? It's been a while, and I have time today."
At those words, Hwaryeon and Choryeon jumped up and shouted excitedly.
"Great! Let's go!"
"I'd like that too, Father! Let's all hold hands and go out!"
Beaming—
The children immediately started preparing to go out. However, Suryeon remained seated in the living room, staring at me. She looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Do we have to go out, Dad?"
"I was planning to."
"I don't want to go out, Dad. I want to stay home."
Despite usually enjoying outings, Suryeon declared she wouldn't go out. Seeing this, I recalled yesterday's incident and today's changes.
'Could it be that she's started to fear going outside?'
Has Suryeon started to fear going out because of what happened when she went out alone yesterday?
For a child who should be running around and playing to refuse going out, that was clearly not a good thing.
'This could be a big problem.'
Has she developed trauma?
Suryeon sat firmly in the living room, reaching out her hand to me and saying.
"Dad, don't go out. Stay with me. I want to stay home."
In Suryeon's eyes, there was a hint of fear mixed in. It seemed Suryeon had developed a fear of going out. I scratched my head, watching Hwaryeon and Choryeon preparing to go out behind me.
"This is a bit troublesome."
What should I do? Does one crisis lead to another?
"I don't want to go out. It's dangerous outside."
Somehow, I had an ominous feeling that a hikikomori dragon might be born.