# Chapter 37
Jaeha woke up confused in the middle of the day.
At first, he was surprised by how bright it was, and then felt disoriented by the unfamiliar space. Fortunately, by the time he sat up in bed, he remembered this was the resort he had come to yesterday with the Esper guard.
“What? How long did I sleep?”
He quickly checked his phone for messages from Jaeyoon, only to find they had been read but not answered.
“This jerk. He read my messages but didn’t reply?”
He was annoyed, but thinking about the video he saw yesterday, he figured Jaeyoon must be busy. Even Jaeha had slept much longer than usual because of yesterday’s events.
When he left the room, Dorim, who had been quietly watching TV on the sofa, ran toward him.
“Oppa, you’re up?”
“Yeah, Dorim. Were you alone?”
“Yes. Oppa, do the growth exercise!”
“Huh?”
Dorim, who had been sitting on the sofa until just now, grabbed Jaeha’s hand and stood in front of the TV. On the children’s program, adults in cartoon character costumes and children were moving to the music.
‘Aren’t these usually morning programs?’
Though with on-demand viewing, the time slot didn’t really matter.
“Oppa, stretch stretch!”
“Sure. Dorim stretch too.”
With his eyes barely open, Jaeha held Dorim’s hands and did the exercises together.
Then he sacrificed a printed guide sheet so Dorim could follow along with paper folding. Dorim looked for colored pencils, but there weren’t any. When Jaeha found a pen and gave it to her, she proudly showed him each letter she wrote.
“Wow, our Dorim writes so well.”
“I want to put stickers on this.”
“You’re right. We should buy stickers, colored pencils, and a sketchbook.”
“Now?”
When Dorim looked up at him with sparkling eyes, she was very cute, but they were in this accommodation for safety. Since it would be difficult to leave freely, Jaeha hedged.
“I’ll try to get them soon, Dorim.”
“Shasha and Nana too.”
“What, what are those?”
“Shasha is the big sister, and Nana is the little sister. They always have to be together.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure to get both of them.”
Dorim usually didn’t ask for things when she was with Dojoon and Jaeha. But now she kept asking and reaching out her hands, which was adorable. Still groggy, Jaeha rubbed his stiff eyes and kept nodding.
“I’m hungry.”
“Didn’t you have breakfast with Dojoon?”
“In the morning, he went to study with scary uncles.”
The scary uncles were probably Koo Kicheol or Kim Byungtae taking Dojoon away. Jaeha understood they might be giving information to Dojoon who had become an Esper, but he was annoyed seeing Dorim whining from hunger.
“Come on, they should feed the child first. What was so urgent?”
As Jaeha grumbled, he realized the fruit basket on the table wasn’t just decoration and grabbed a banana.
“Dorim, eat this for now. I’ll wash up quickly and come out.”
“Okay!”
Figuring he should at least look presentable to walk around the resort, Jaeha hurried to the bathroom. He also felt grimy after being caught in the dust storm and running around yesterday. He wondered how tired he must have been to sleep so late in such a state.
“Ugh, worse than when I pulled two all-nighters in a row.”
In the bathroom, he saw his bird’s nest hair and grimy face. Dorim must be an angel to have smiled at him looking like this.
“I better wash quickly and feed Dorim.”
In the bathroom, he noticed there was no CCTV like the one Kim Byungtae had scolded him about. He found it odd but was relieved to be able to wash in peace.
There were new clothes in the closet, so a freshened-up Jaeha took Dorim’s hand and left the room cheerfully.
“You’re awake, sir.”
“Aah! You scared me!”
When a dark shadow spoke next to the door, a startled Jaeha wrapped his arms around Dorim and stepped back. The dark shadow was a tall man in a black suit.
“Who… are you?”
“Forgive my late introduction. I am Cheonoh, Seo Jaeha’s personal guard.”
“What? But I’m not an Esper.”
“Yes, and neither am I an Esper.”
In response to Jaeha’s wariness, the man bowed and showed his center access card. It looked familiar to Jaeha, like the card he had received when entering the accommodations yesterday.
“Personal guard… Isn’t the accommodation supposed to be safe?”
“Of course it’s safe. Please consider me more as a center guide than a guard.”
Cheonoh, who had been waiting outside the door, felt guilt and responsibility for failing to protect Jaeha among the Esper guards. Even knowing Jaeha’s safety wasn’t a concern in the accommodations, he had volunteered as Jaeha’s guard and was standing watch.
“That seems like a waste of manpower…”
“Oppa, I’m hungry.”
“Oh, right. Is there a restaurant here?”
“Yes. I’ll guide you to either the restaurant or the staff cafeteria, whichever you prefer.”
When Cheonoh moved forward, Jaeha followed. Although the sudden presence of a guard was awkward and surprising, he could still smile thanks to Dorim, who playfully swung his hand while singing innocently.
“Grumble~ grumble~”
“Oh no, Dorim must be very hungry. Let’s go eat.”
“Yes! I want to eat a lot.”
“I’m sorry. Next time, wake oppa up if you’re hungry.”
Looking at the floor map next to the elevator, Jaeha’s eyes lit up when he saw there was a separate staff cafeteria. He was sure it would be cheaper than the restaurant, even if the place was disguised as a resort.
‘But they have staff cafeteria marked separately while disguising as a resort?’
Or maybe they had reverted the map display to its original state, just like they changed the lobby.
Seeing Cheonoh getting into the elevator with them, Jaeha awkwardly asked:
“Um, I heard the accommodations were safe, do we need to stay together?”
“Please don’t mind me and go about your day as usual. If you find it burdensome, I can watch from a less visible location.”
“Oh, no. You don’t need to hide. Um… have you eaten?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Please be comfortable.”
Despite Cheonoh’s reassurance, it wasn’t easy for Jaeha to feel comfortable.
When they arrived at the staff cafeteria, it was quiet, probably because lunch hour was ending. Only a few people were in line, so it was soon Jaeha and Dorim’s turn.
“Nothing spicy for you, so what can Dorim eat… Dorim, how about omurice and cheese pork cutlet?”
“Yes. I want to eat a lot.”
“Sure, Dorim can eat it all.”
Dorim showed cute greediness from hunger. Fortunately, being a staff cafeteria, they could quickly receive pre-made food.
As soon as they sat at the table, Dorim moved her spoon toward the omurice. Even with her small mouth opened wide, she could only fit half an adult spoonful, so despite eating enthusiastically, the amount barely decreased.
“Eat slowly.”
“Okay okay.”
When Jaeha cut the pork cutlet into smaller pieces, Dorim stuffed her cheeks until they bulged. Jaeha couldn’t stop smiling at how cute Dorim was.
Resting his chin on his hand as he watched, Jaeha noticed stares gathering around them. If he had been alone, he might have wondered why, but assuming they were looking at cute Dorim, he didn’t feel tense.
He didn’t realize that what they were actually looking at was him, Jaeha, about whom rumors had started spreading among the center staff.
‘Well, our Dorim is really cute.’
Dorim, who had been diligently poking at the pork cutlet with her fork, stared at the next table. Following her gaze, Jaeha saw red kimchi stew bubbling in an earthenware pot that looked spicy even from a distance.
“Oppa, I want kimchi stew too.”
“It’s too spicy for you, Dorim.”
“I want to eat the tingling meat from before.”
“Ah, that…”
The kimchi stew with Black Pig meat that Jaeha had made for Dorim was closer to soup than stew, so Dorim could eat it. Having tasted Black Pig meat before and finding it delicious, Dorim started begging Jaeha as soon as she saw the kimchi stew.
“I want kimchi stew.”
“I’ll make it for you later, Dorim.”
“No. I want tingling meat.”
Jaeha was flustered by Dorim’s sudden stubbornness. Usually, Dorim was so well-behaved that she rarely threw tantrums when with Dojoon. When Dorim put down her fork without even eating half of her meal, Jaeha became anxious.
“When we get home, I have frozen Black Pig meat, so I’ll make it with that. For now, let’s eat the omurice.”
“No, I won’t eat.”
When Jaeha insisted it wasn’t possible, Dorim began to tear up. A uniformed employee who had been glancing at them from the next table approached with a smile.
“Excuse me, are you a new Esper?”
“What?”
“Seeing that your little sister complained about a tingling sensation, it seems you might have used untreated Black Pig meat.”
When Jaeha just stared blankly, not understanding what this meant, the employee, perhaps seeing an opportunity to befriend a new Esper, blurted out what was common knowledge to them.
“Though ownership of personally caught magical beasts technically belongs to the Esper, taking them out untreated can be dangerous for ordinary people.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Of course. While it’s excellent protein… I mean, it has awakening effects for Espers or potential awakeners, if ordinary people consume it as is, they can experience side effects like your sister mentioned – tingling in the mouth or fever.”
This might have been something Jaeyoon would have told him, but Jaeha had dismissed it as part of the concept. So now, he listened carefully to what the employee was saying.
“So I could have put Dorim in danger with the food I made without knowing.”
Even Dorim, who had been whining, became quiet when she saw Jaeha’s serious expression.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
