The Werewolf Hwanggu
Could three girls even ride on an ordinary bicycle?
Of course, if we were willing to hold some absurd, awkward pose, it might have been possible for all three of us. I simply couldn’t be bothered.
In the end, with Hwanggu along for the ride, we all ended up walking.
"Hwanggu."
"Yes!"
"Make sure you pull that thing properly."
"Yes!"
Hwanggu nodded at my words.
The bicycle, now too crowded to ride, was solved by having Hwanggu drag it along behind us.
She really did listen to me well. If she’d had a puppy tail, it would probably have been spinning like a propeller.
"Hmmm..."
Aurell looked thoroughly displeased by Hwanggu’s addition to the group.
Even now, she kept glaring at Hwanggu as if she still didn’t trust her.
Despite that unpleasant look, Hwanggu only beamed and kept perking her ears up again and again.
"Mm..."
I silently looked back over my shoulder.
Having gotten off the bicycle, our speed was pitifully slow.
I’d thought we might reach Seoul before sunrise, but at this pace we’d be lucky to make it by the next day.
Wouldn’t it be better to let Hwanggu run while Aurell and I rode the bicycle?
Just as I was thinking that, my gaze met Hwanggu’s.
Those sparkling eyes looked harmless enough. The corners of her mouth lifted just slightly, shaping a smile that was almost annoyingly cute.
"Hehe..."
Hwanggu grinned at me like an idiot.
And looking at that face, I suddenly remembered what had happened earlier.
How could I forget that pitiful look she’d given me as she followed along beside the bicycle?
Yeah.
I really was weak to kids.
Thinking of Hwanggu’s miserable little expression made a dull ache twist in my chest.
To make such a cute, helpless kid run on all fours?
That was just cruel.
As if shaking off the worries floating through my head, I gave my own head a quick shake.
Hwanggu, who had been meeting my eyes, looked startled by my sudden movement—but then she shook her own head to copy me.
"Eh, eeh...!"
Aurell was not about to let that pass quietly.
As if determined to prove she could imitate me too, she leaned forward just a little in front of me and started shaking her head with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Her blonde hair fluttered wildly with the motion, blurring my vision.
What on earth were they doing?
I narrowed my eyes and looked back and forth between Aurell and Hwanggu.
Even though they currently wore the faces of small, adorable girls, maybe the two of them had both been middle-aged men before.
Grown adults doing that sort of thing. Wasn’t it embarrassing?
Though, to be fair, it did suit them very well right now...
Lost in those pointless thoughts, I walked on for quite a while before I suddenly felt the world around us brighten just a little.
"Charlotte-nim...!"
At Aurell’s voice, I gave a small nod.
It wasn’t just my imagination.
The faint moon had begun to disappear, and in its place came the extremely obnoxious sun.
As if announcing the arrival of morning, the soft darkness around us began to peel away.
"This way!"
I hurried forward.
I had to find somewhere the sunlight wouldn’t reach—somewhere we could rest without worry.
Hwanggu, following behind me, tilted her head as if she didn’t understand my sudden urgency, but I had no time to explain.
With every passing moment, that hateful sun drew closer.
We didn’t have much time left.
Then, just as that thought flashed through my mind, I spotted a large staircase between two collapsed buildings.
It led underground.
I had no idea what the inside would be like, but at least it looked better than the roofless buildings on the surface when it came to avoiding the sun.
"This way!"
At the end of the stairs leading underground, we found what used to be a bookstore.
I forced open the half-crushed door and shoved the children inside.
A bookstore built underground.
A very safe place where sunlight could never reach.
The inside of the bookstore, unlike the world outside, was still mostly intact.
The books scattered messily across the floor and the broken shelves were unfortunate enough, but the fact that the building itself stood without any major collapse was impressive.
"This place is..."
"Looks like a bookstore."
I tried the light switch nearby, just in case.
But of course. With the power cut off, there was no way anything would light up.
Only the lonely click of the switch echoed back.
Aurell and Hwanggu seemed fascinated by the smell of the place, because they kept sniffing the air.
Mold, dust, and the distinct scent of ink from the books all mixed together into something strangely peculiar.
"Charlotte-nim."
"What?"
It was Hwanggu calling me.
She was gripping the bicycle handle tightly and looking at me.
I’d told her to pull it properly, and apparently she wasn’t willing to let go even here.
"Is this the destination?"
"No, this is just a place to rest for a bit. And park the bicycle somewhere decent."
"Yes!"
Hwanggu nodded and rushed off to carefully set the bicycle down in a suitable spot.
After confirming that, I started dragging a nearby bookshelf that looked intact.
Ggrrkk—!
"Charlotte-nim?"
This time it was Aurell who spoke.
She gently pushed on the huge bookshelf and asked me, "Why are you moving that?"
"To make some usable space."
I answered while looking around the area.
Books had spilled everywhere, covering the floor so thoroughly there was barely room to set foot.
How were we supposed to rest in a place like this?
So I planned to use the enormous bookshelf like a broom.
Understanding my intention, Aurell dragged over another shelf and helped me.
Ggrrkk—!
Ggrrkk—!
The heavy, massive bookshelves scraped along with a grotesque noise, leaving long, ugly scratches across the floor.
If the owner of this bookstore had seen us, would they have screamed?
While I was worrying about a bookstore owner whose fate was unclear, the clearing of the space was finished.
"Hmm..."
I stroked my chin as I looked at the empty patch we’d made.
It wasn’t a bad place to rest for a while.
I pulled out a sofa buried under a mound of books and shoved it into the cleared space.
The condition of the things inside was surprisingly decent. It seemed the reason no one had come into the bookstore was that the collapsed exterior building had blocked the entrance.
At that moment, Hwanggu, who had been watching me from the corner, trotted over.
"What are we doing now?"
"Just rest for a bit. We’ll leave when the sun goes down."
It seemed Hwanggu had been hoping to help with something.
But the tidying was already finished.
Her face fell a little, and she only nodded.
Then she went to a suitable spot, lay down on her belly, and curled up.
It was less like a human movement and more like the way canines rested.
I looked at her with mild disbelief.
"Charlotte-nim!"
Then Aurell’s voice came again.
When I turned, I found that Aurell had used books to build a large chair.
"Ta-da!"
She proudly thrust her small chest forward, as if showing off her creation.
"I made it for Charlotte-nim!"
I folded my arms and studied the chair Aurell had made.
The stair-like stack of books beneath it, and the massive seat built on top, looked grand enough to appear in a movie—as if it were some kind of throne.
She’d stacked them with that level of precision in such a short time?
"Please sit down already!"
"Hmm..."
With a slight expression of hesitation, I walked over slowly.
She’d made a book throne for me, so surely I could sit on it at least once out of appreciation for the effort.
It wasn’t like I was pleased with the throne made of books or anything.
Thud—
The backrest wobbled precariously behind me, so I couldn’t exactly relax, but it was surprisingly convincing in appearance.
I crossed my legs and rested my chin on one hand, trying to strike a suitably regal pose.
"Wow!"
Aurell looked delighted at the sight of me.
Then Hwanggu, who had been watching from a distance, suddenly sprang up and began gathering books from around her.
It looked like she was trying to make something too.
Stack by stack, the books rose neatly—but never reached above Hwanggu’s height.
She built three walls out of books.
Then, at the end, she placed a wide wooden plank on top and finished the roof.
Hwanggu smiled with obvious pride at her creation.
And then she slipped right underneath it and curled up into a ball.
Hwanggu had built herself a house out of books.
Watching that, I found myself lost in thought.
Sitting on a throne made of books like this stirred up old memories.
Memories of childhood, when I’d built secret bases out of books, chairs, and blankets and played in them for hours.
I suddenly raised my hand and clenched it into a fist.
It was a tiny hand, no different from the one I’d had as a child.
No—this hand was even paler and softer-looking than back then.
Just like Aurell and Hwanggu wore the forms of girls, I too wore the body of Charlotte, the small and cute vampire girl Charlotte.
So then.
Maybe just a little bit...?
Yeah, just a little.
It wasn’t like there was anything else to do before the sun went down anyway.
I nodded to myself and got up from my seat.
"Charlotte-nim?"
I didn’t bother answering Aurell.
Instead, I naturally moved to another spot and started carrying books.
As I built up the walls of the book structure, Aurell came over to my side and began helping me.
"What are you making?"
Looking at the long wall of books, Aurell asked me that.
I hesitated for quite a while before answering.
"A castle..."
"A castle?"
That was when Hwanggu, who had been hiding in her own little house, poked her head out and shouted.
Judging by the way her ears perked up, she must have heard our conversation.
Hwanggu looked deeply interested in my declaration that I was making a castle.
She slipped out of her house and ran toward me.
"Hey!"
Aurell blocked Hwanggu’s way, but Hwanggu didn’t seem to care at all.
"I want to make a castle too!"
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
It was only for a brief moment that I felt embarrassed about grown adults playing like children.
There was no one around to see us. None of the kids here knew what I’d originally looked like.
So it would be natural to act like a small vampire girl named Charlotte.
I nodded and allowed Hwanggu to join the construction.
Vampires and werewolves were incredibly strong, so we could carry a lot more books at once.
And so the three of us worked hard, building a castle.
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