Chapter 22: Gyeoul / Winter (2) (1/2)
Lair was pretty cold during the dawn, despite Haytling’s protective walls stopping the chilly air of the stratosphere. Today, the sky appeared taller than usual.
That morning, Yu Jitae walked outside alone in order to create an identity for Gyeoul. Adding one more child to the virtual Yu household that had already been formed wasn’t a difficult task. However, the processing speed of the underground wasn’t as fast as himself and by the time he was returning home, it was already midday.
On the way back, a strange yet hazy wave could be felt by his senses. Sensing that, Yu Jitae stood still and looked up at the sky. There was a fissure being created in the sky, as something crawled out through the gap.
Are they coming already? It’s a lot faster than other rounds.
With such thoughts in mind, Yu Jitae carried his feet.
He visited a toy store on the way home and bought a small doll. It was a blue, ugly teddy bear. It’s name was apparently a ‘blue bear’ and he chose it because Gyeoul’s hair colour was also blue.
Taking care of everything, Yu Jitae returned to the dormitory. Leaning on the guardrail of the window, Yeorum was having a smoke.
“…”
When their eyes met, she let out a gush of smoke.
“What is that?”
Staring at the teddy bear, she asked.
“A gift.”
“What about mine?”
“There’s none.”
“Give me mine.”
“Is there something you want?”
“Un.”
“Use your own money.”
“…”
Smoke gushed out of her two nostrils.
That looked a bit like a red dragon.
Yeorum spitted on the ground and it landed right in front of his feet. When he raised his head back up, she was already long gone.
“Welcome back.”
When he walked into the dorm, he found the baby chicken welcoming him while wearing a wide smile on her face with half her body still inside her room. Meanwhile, Yeorum was on the sofa watching TV without even sparing him a glance.
Four days ago, he had applied for Haytling’s public speech academy with Kaeul and they would head there everyday around this time.
“Are you ready?”
“Ah, yes. I mean no. Wait. I don’t like these clothes so let me change into something different!”
Her room door was then shut. He pondered whether he should wait outside, but decided to walk into the dorm.
He felt a gaze from the other side of the corridor. Turning around, he found Gyeoul carefully walking up with a nervous expression.
For some reason, it seemed like she was trying to read his countenance. With tightly sealed lips, she stared at Yu Jitae’s face and would stealthily turn her eyes away whenever their eyes met.
When Yu Jitae turned his head away, she would stare at him once again, before carefully treading one step after another, as she hesitantly approached him.
That was when Yeorum, lying down on the sofa, opened her mouth.
“Was waiting for you.”
“Huh?”
“That kid was waiting for you. Ever since I woke up in the morning, she was sitting in front of the door watching it.”
Chewing on the remote, she added a few more words.
“Like a dog looking for its owner.”
He didn’t think much of it. Walking up to Gyeoul, he rested his hand on her head and shared a simple greeting by saying, “Did you sleep well?” Gyeoul did not say anything in response, and merely closed her eyes tight.
The moment he retrieved his hand, Gyeoul raised both her hands and carefully caressed her own head, with widely opened circular eyes.
“It’s a gift.”
Yu Jitae handed the teddy bear in his hand to Gyeoul and turned around.
“How’s Bom.”
“Still sleeping.”
Yu Jitae headed to Bom’s room and found Bom curling her body in like a prawn in a deep sleep. Placing a hand on her forehead, he felt it almost reaching boiling temperature.
Her fever was extremely intense but when he asked Yeorum, she replied by saying that it wasn’t that big of an issue in dragons’ standards.
“You’ve been watching that drama for a few days now.”
“Yeah, this is interesting. It’s an American drama where they fight with swords and spears but there are like seven seasons to it. I was bored to death.”
He couldn’t understand whether it was interesting or boring.
But that expression on Yeorum’s face was that of a red race before running out of their home and making trouble so Yu Jitae left some words telling her to not cause trouble. Her response, “Am I a kid?” pierced through his ears.
“Ahjussi! I’m ready!”
“Okay.”
Before long, Kaeul left her room along with a ‘tada’.
The children received three types of clothing as they entered Lair, with them being a school uniform, a ceremonial dressing and clothes to wear during battles. Currently, Kaeul was wearing a ceremonial dress that was worn during festivals and events. With a blouse on the top and a h-line skirt beneath, there was also a laurel tree brooch – the symbol of Lair – attached on her chest.
“How do I look?”
“Pretty.”
“Good!”
Yu Jitae was about to take Kaeul outside when a miserable gaze entered his sight. It was Gyeoul, hugging the teddy bear with both her arms.
“Do you want to go together?”
A flower bloomed on her hesitant expression and with a tightly sealed mouth, she slowly gave a nod. When Yu Jitae reached forth with his hand, she slowly started walking which gradually got faster, until she toddled her way into Yu Jitae’s arms. Raising Gyeoul up into his arms, he took Kaeul outside.
During the way, Kaeul continued fidgeting with the script that had been worn out in the mere span of a few days. Even without doing that, it would remain in her memories, and yet she examined the script endlessly regardless.
***
After finishing the declaration, Kaeul slowly closed her mouth.
“Hmm…”
Inside a lesson room of the public speech academy, the owner, Ahn Kimoon made a frown as wrinkles filled his forehead that had been revealed in an M shape.
“…”