Chapter 92: First Winter (1)

In the cold winter, I bent my knees and checked the children's clothes.

"Everyone wear your padding well. It's cold outside."

Three dragons. No, three penguins in warm padding looked at me.

I sat in front of the bright red penguin and zipped up the half-closed zipper all the way.

Zip-!

Perhaps not liking the zipper being fully closed, Hwaryeon puckered her lips like a duck and grabbed the zipper with her finger.

"I feel stuffy! I'm going to unzip it!"

Zip-!

Hwaryeon unzipped what I had just zipped up. Then, snorting with satisfaction, she said.

"Hmph, finally it's not stuffy! I like being free after all!"

I looked at the red penguin with the unzipped jacket and said.

"Hwaryeon, if you go out with the zipper down, your soul will become free."

"Hmph, do you think I'd lose to such cold?! Dad, you really don't know me at all!"

"..."

Let's see when we go outside.

I prayed for Hwaryeon's confident stubbornness to break. Then, I decided to check another penguin's clothes.

"Let's see, Suryeon... You're dressed neatly."

"Of course, Dad. it's me."

Suryeon adjusted her padding collar to a sharp angle. She looked like she was intoxicated with her 'neat self' no matter how I looked at it.

"At home, you just touch your smartphone and giggle, but you dress neatly at least."

"...Dad, what did you mean by that?"

"Ah, the speech bubble changed."

I meant to think it only in my mind, but I accidentally said it out loud.

"What's wrong with how I am at home?"

Glare-

Suryeon glared at me sharply. I deliberately ignored the blue penguin's gaze and turned my head. Then, I decided to fix the messiest Choryeon's clothes.

"Choryeon, your hood is tucked in."

"Oh? Is it? I didn't know! Thank you, Father!"

Smile-

Choryeon thanked me with a bright smile. Come to think of it, I don't see the one who was always stuck to Choryeon. Surely not, right?

"Choryeon."

"Yes?"

"Are you not going vegetarian anymore? How did Mangmung taste?"

Pat, pat-

I patted Choryeon's belly protected by the fluffy padding. Then, Choryeon's face turned red as she protested.

"I didn't eat him! I'm embarrassed, Father! Mangmung is right here!"

Choryeon unzipped her tightly closed zipper. As the zipper reached her neck, suddenly Mangmung's face popped out from inside the padding.

"Woof woof-!"

"What, you hid Mangmung inside the padding?"

Choryeon scratched Mangmung's head with her finger and said.

"Yes! The weather got cold, so I thought Mangmung would be cold in the bag! I kept Mangmung warm!"

Puff-

Choryeon puffed up her shoulders, seemingly wanting praise.

'As expected, Choryeon is the best at loving friends.'

I can't help but praise her. I patted Choryeon's head.

A kind of cascading petting phenomenon occurred where Choryeon petted Mangmung, and I petted Choryeon.

"..."

Was Suryeon jealous of this sight? She was watching with a frown, then grabbed my collar and said.

"Dad, we don't have time for this. We'll be late for kindergarten."

"Is it that time already? Did everyone put their lunchboxes in their bags?"

The three penguins nodded simultaneously. I checked their bags once more and opened the door to head outside. Then the cold wave hit us.

More precisely, it hit Hwaryeon, who had her zipper half down.

"C-C-Cold..."

"...I told you to zip up all the way, you stupid penguin."

"I-I-I'm... n-n-not a p-penguin...?! I-I'm Red Dragon Lee Hwaryeon...!!!"

"Here we go again. Just zip up."

I zipped up the violently shaking zipper and put her hood on. Only then did Hwaryeon's shaking body stop. Hwaryeon muttered in a voice full of cold.

"Ugh... I can finally live..."

"You experienced it directly last time. You're really stupid, aren't you, Lee Hwaryeon?"

"I'm a dragon...! Don't call me stupid...! If you cross the line, I'll bite you even if you're Dad...!!"

Roar-!

Hwaryeon bared her teeth at me threateningly. I just looked at her cutely and walked towards the kindergarten.

"We'll be late at this rate. Let's all go quickly."

"D-Don't ignore me!!"

Hwaryeon moved her short legs and followed belatedly. I set off for kindergarten with the penguins at the start of winter.

It was a slightly dark day with clouds in the sky.

***

Even in winter, my job didn't change much. I just go around dimensional gates, performing Lee Ha-jun's door-locking routine.

"Maybe it's because I've increased my workload recently, but my body is definitely tired."

Ugh-

I want to go home quickly.

I came out of the dimensional gate, pounding my stiff legs with my fist. Then, the Association employee waiting for me said.

"Hero Lee Ha-jun. Another dimensional gate has appeared nearby."

"I have to go to that one too, right?"

"Yes, I think that would be best."

Well, when other heroes enter, they sometimes come out injured. It's right to send me, the safest option, to the dimensional gate.

I sighed tiredly and opened my smartphone. As it happened, there was a message from the culprit of this situation.

[Crazy Dragon Follower Association President]

[How's work lately? You asked for more work, so I specially assigned you a lot of tasks. By the way, when are you going to show me the dragon you follow? I showed you the Yellow Dragon I follow. I even heard you received a kiss. I'm really envious of that. I haven't even received such a reward. How did it feel? Was it soft? Did it feel moist? Please reply-]

"This crazy Association President. He looks so proper, but why is his message so long?"

He's quite the madman.

I couldn't check the entire content of the message, so I shook my head and put my smartphone in my pocket. Then, I headed to the next area I was called to.

"...I'll be late to kindergarten today."

The sky is getting dark too. I need to finish quickly and return.

I quickened my pace to earn more money to raise the kids in a better environment.

"...Is it already snowing?"

***

Beep- Beep-

In the kindergarten where most children had already left, the sound of a retro game echoed.

"Hmm..."

Suryeon pressed the Tamagotchi buttons, diligently raising Mold #3. This time, she raised it healthily, exchanging opinions with Hwaryeon. Mold #3 was about to enter the next stage.

"But you know."

Glare-

Suryeon glared at the humans crowding around her. Multiple gazes were focused on the small screen. The owners of those gazes were none other than Mingu's gang.

"That's not how you do it."

"If it were me, I would have cleaned it thoroughly."

"I thought Suryeon was good at everything. Guess she's not good at games?"

Snap-!

Was Mingu's gang's words irritating? Suryeon's hands trembled as she said.

"You worthless humans... How dare you mock my gaming skills...?"

"Suryeon's triggered. We're in trouble! Let's all run away!"

Pitter-patter-!

Mingu's gang teased Suryeon and immediately ran away. They knew something terrible would happen if they didn't escape. Suryeon looked at the fleeing children and muttered quietly.

"...Just wait. I won't forget. I've remembered all of you."

Although she still didn't know their names well, Suryeon decided to remember their faces specifically.

"But, you know."

"Huh?"

"Was it Mingu?"

Suryeon looked at Mingu, who hadn't left yet, and said.

"Why are you still here?"

"M-Me?"

"Yes, who else is here besides you? Humans are really stupid, I tell you."

Mingu kept his mouth shut at Suryeon's words. He still found it difficult to understand Suryeon.

'...She's human too, but why does she keep talking about humans this and that? That whole family is just weird.'

Mingu shook his head as if there was no answer. Then he opened his mouth to speak again.

"Hey, Lee Suryeon, you-"

However,

"Dad's here."

Jump-!

Suryeon put the Tamagotchi in her pocket and left the room without even saying goodbye. As she quickly went down the stairs, the dad she had been waiting for was waving his hand.

"Suryeon!"

"...Dad."

"Dad's here. Sorry I'm late! Let's all go home!"

The children gathered on the first floor at Ha-jun's words. The children briefly greeted Gu Bong-gu and left the kindergarten, heading home.

White snow was falling from the dark sky that greeted them. The penguins walked, looking at the white snow.

"Wow, is this snow!? I want to eat it!"

Lick-

Hwaryeon stuck out her tongue and ran around trying to eat the snow. But realizing it didn't taste good, she clicked her tongue.

"It's just water! This!"

"Of course. This is just frozen rain falling from the sky."

Suryeon calmly looked at the falling white snow. She analyzed the endlessly falling snow, letting it hit her face.

"It feels cool and nice. Dad, I can make this fall from the sky. Want to see?"

"That's... let's see that later, Suryeon."

"...If you say so."

Huff-

Suryeon turned her head as if sulking. Meanwhile, Choryeon played with Mangmung, walking on the gradually accumulating snow.

"It's snow! Snow! Snow is falling from the sky, Father! Isn't this natural phenomenon so beautiful! It's so pretty!"

Choryeon spun around as if she had become an ice princess, with the dark night as her backdrop. Below her, Mangmung, the princess's attendant, spun along with her.

Ha-jun watched this scene quietly along with the snow and thought to himself.

'I ended up spending winter with these dragons- no, penguins after all.'

‘It was something I never imagined.’

Ha-jun chuckled and shouted at the spinning Choryeon.

"Be careful, it's slippery! You might get hurt!"

"Yes, Father! I'll be careful! Thank you for worrying about me!"

"Woof woof-!!"

An evening more valuable than anything else. It was their first winter night spent together as a family.