Farewell, Fairy Friend
A man materialized out of thin air like a bolt of lightning.
A handsome fellow with blazing red hair and a bold, roguish face spun around to survey his surroundings with an utterly dopey expression, then asked:
"D-did somebody call foh me?" (Did someone call for me?)
He said it with a toothbrush foaming at the mouth, no less.
"Kang Howon?"
A member of Field Team Na. A Teleporter — and, as it happened, the senior of Lee Seohyeok, the twins' guardian…
No, never mind that — did he really have to make an entrance like this out of nowhere?
When everyone except Yoo Jinchae just stared at him in dumbfounded silence, Kang Howon seemed to register the mood for the first time and shrank back.
"Uh…. um…. ith a liddle embawassing." (It's a little embarrassing.)
As he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, Yoo Jinchae pointed at the floor with her chin.
"Get down here first."
"Yeth ther!"
"Rinse out your mouth and come back."
"Yeth ther."
Under Yoo Jinchae's orders, Kang Howon was escorted to the bathroom by Kwon Haeseong. Only after watching him go all the way did she add, in a tone meant to soothe the remaining teachers, whose faces still showed plenty of alarm:
"He acts like that, but he's actually useful."
Ah. Right…. Sure.
Judging by the atmosphere, the person Yoo Jinchae had promised to introduce to me must have been Kang Howon…. Meanwhile, from the corner I could hear Park Edeun urgently pressing Kang Sagwa: "What did Jinchae even do before this? She's not actually in loan sharking, right? Right?"
After a brief, awkward silence hung in the air, Kwon Haeseong and Kang Howon returned from the bathroom and broke it.
Kang Howon cast a quick glance around the room, spotted me, flashed a grin, and settled into a spot near mine.
"Busy today?"
Yoo Jinchae asked him.
"……No? Well, I'm free today, actually. Our team leader and Unseong are both away on business, so Seohyeok and I are kind of taking it easy."
"Perfect timing. I've got a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
When Yoo Jinchae's gaze swung toward me, Kang Howon, seated right next to me, naturally followed it.
"What kind of trouble did you get tangled up in this time?"
Please don't say it like it's impressive.
It was killing me, how unfair it all was — but I had no choice but to answer.
"Yes…. I really need your help. I'm desperate for it, Mr. Howon."
Afraid Kang Howon might bolt, I rushed through the whole situation.
The absolute circus of a crisis: Taejae had smuggled Elumis out of the dungeon and into the kindergarten.
And after hearing everything and my request, Kang Howon…
"Sure, why not. It's not like it's difficult."
…readily agreed to help!
"I won't even need to use my teleportation. Every field team has dungeon management authority for the lower floors. No need to hide anything or make excuses — I can just waltz in on official business and quietly set it down."
"Thank you so much…."
I wanted to bow my head to the floor to express my gratitude, but as an intellectual, I decided against going overboard. Instead, I wanted to offer some small token of appreciation…. But then—
"I wouldn't call it a reward, but since I'm grateful, tell me if there's anything you want."
…Yoo Jinchae?
Why are YOU asking that?
Seeing her steal the words right out of my mouth, I hastily waved my hands to cut her off.
"No, no. Ask me. Whatever you want or need, take it."
But then again—
"……Just tell me. Tell me."
…Kwon Haeseong?
Why are YOU suddenly kicking up a fuss too?
"Those two don't have any money. You know I'm the richest one here."
"Tell…. tell me."
Everybody get lost.
"Tell me. Tell me."
Stay out of it, all of you. I'm the one giving the reward here.
Kang Howon watched the three of us squabbling over who would get to thank him with obvious amusement, then quietly raised a hand.
"So there was tear-jerking camaraderie left in this world after all. Anyway, I don't need any of that…. Mr. Na Hwiyeon?"
Yes! Me! Talk to me! How much do you want? My limit is one month's salary.
"Come along with me. That's my condition."
"But are you sure this is all right? I'm the one who suggested it, but…. it's a pretty random condition, isn't it? Those two other teachers seemed pretty put out about it, too."
Mindful of Kang Howon trailing behind me, I answered his question.
"I'm hardly in a position to be picky right now. I'm just grateful."
Kang Howon's condition was none other than 'accompanying me through the process of returning Elumis.'
Yoo Jinchae and Kwon Haeseong had stepped forward offering to just hand over ten million won as a fine if that was what it took…
"Do you think ten million won grows on trees? Stand down, both of you."
…but I stopped them.
The man should be getting bows of gratitude from me, not the other way around.
He wasn't even taking money — he was offering to handle it right away, no strings attached. All I felt was thankful.
"Besides, it's not like Mr. Kang Howon is someone with an uncertain identity, or a bad person."
"……."
"The teachers only said all that because they're worried about me."
"……Everyone seemed pretty sincere about the worrying, though."
No, that's because my track record is so spectacularly dramatic.
Not even a day had passed since I'd been caught in a hostage situation in a dungeon, after all.
It's probably not Kang Howon himself they distrust — it's just the idea of me going anywhere that unsettles them.
That was only my guess, of course.
I brought Kang Howon along toward Dolphin Class. He'd asked to check on Elumis's condition first, and I was happy to oblige.
When I opened the door and stepped into the classroom…. there were the children, sitting in a circle with the crowns of their heads pressed together.
I hurried over to check, and sure enough — right in their midst sat the insect cage holding Elumis.
"……What did I say, kids?"
I snatched up the insect cage. Groans of protest rose from the children, which I resolutely ignored.
I had very clearly placed it on top of the bookshelf.
"You said we could just look with our eyes…."
Right, and Cheonji follows directions so beautifully.
"Then what's this, then?"
"Nobody ever said don't touch it. Sorry."
Good grief. Taejae. Of all people.
What good does an apology that fast do you?
Sigh…. Discipline could wait. For now, I quickly handed the cage over to Kang Howon.
"You kept a monster…. in an insect cage?"
"I didn't have anywhere better to put it."
"……So that's what they mean by brave out of ignorance."
Kang Howon let out an incredulous laugh and peered at Elumis inside the cage.
Even amid all this, I could still hear Elumis's voice.
"Hey! You rootless little brat! What's your name?!"
"You keep banging your head against the wall. Stressed out?"
"Get over here! Why won't you come here?!"
"No thanks?"
"Are you hurt somewhere?"
"Why do you keep telling me to come over? You can't even get out of there."
"I'll kill you!"
"I'll kill you! Heheheh, go ahead and try!"
What the….
Are Elumis and Nabi fighting right now?
Unbelievable.
In that tiny window of time?
"Mr. Hwiyeon, I think we need to get this one back to its home as soon as possible. It's not doing well. I don't know whether monsters can get depression, but those symptoms are exactly it."
Kang Howon said, gathering up the cage. It seemed he was speaking without any knowledge of the two immortals' little feud.
But either way, I agreed with that opinion a hundred percent.
I nodded in affirmation and lowered my gaze.
Five young children, eyes glued to Elumis held in Kang Howon's hand.
The time had finally come to say it.
Resting my hands on my hips, I put on my sternest voice.
"What did I say?"
"……Don't bother the fairy…."
"B-but I didn't bother it!"
"I was just giving it love! The fairy liked it too!"
"We even gave it a name. Deokgu. And Deokgu liked it!"
"I did NOT like it! I hate all of you! And YOU! I'm not Deokgu!"
Elumis seemed to be having a full-blown panic attack.
"See? Elumis is having a hard time too. It's time for our fairy friend to go home now. Come on, everyone, let's say goodbye to the fairy friend."
With those words, I took the cage from Kang Howon's hand and lowered it to the children's eye level.
Troublesome as it is, these moments matter.
First, Taejae nodded and slowly stepped up to the cage.
"Fairy……. *sniff*."
Then he suddenly burst into tears. And as if it were a prescribed procedure, the tears began to spread sideways through the group.
"Nam Taejae, are you crying?…… Why, why are you crying…… If you cry, then I get sad too!…… *sob, hiccup*!"
"*Waaahhhhh*……."
"B-bye-byyyyyyye…… *sob, wail*."
"Lee Seora, don't cry. Hold it in! I'm about to cry too!"
"Taejae…. don't cry. When you cry, my heart hurts too…."
"*WAAAAHHH*!! Don't take it away!"
Kang Howon scratched his chin with a baffled expression as the room dissolved into a sobbing free-for-all.
"Children really do cry with zero warning signs, don't they."
Before long, Taejae was hugging the cage and wailing at full volume.
"*Sniff*, *hic*! F, faaairy! Deokgu! D-don, *hic*, gooo……!!"
"Could someone…. translate that?"
"He says don't take the fairy away."
*Sigh*…. I knew this would happen.
Apparently one day was enough for them to get attached. I patted Taejae, who still had his arms wrapped around the cage, and gently explained the situation in the softest voice I could manage.
"I know goodbyes are sad, but the fairy has to go home now. Taejae, you had fun with the fairy, even if it was just for a little while, right?"
"*Hiccup*…… Yes…."
"*WAAAAAHHH!*"
Undeterred by the crying echoing off the walls, I pressed on stoutly.
"And you can go visit the fairy again later. If you and our friends are this sad, our fairy friend is going to feel bad too."
"……But I'm sad."
"Being sad is completely natural. So instead, cry it out quickly and send the fairy off strong! You can do that, right?"
"*Sniffle*…… Yes…."
There we go….
*Whew*.
The moment Taejae finally managed to stop crying, the other children snapped back to normal just as fast. The only one thrown off by this sudden ceasefire was Kang Howon.
"Children…. dry up just as quickly as they flood, don't they."
Making a valiant effort not to look at Kang Howon, I knelt down in front of Taejae, who was still wiping his tears.
Everything was so chaotic I forgot the talk I actually needed to give.
Comfort was comfort — discipline was discipline.
"Taejae, we asked the fairy in the dungeon, remember? We asked if it wanted to go outside. And what did the fairy say then?"
"……It said it didn't want to go."
That's right! I even did one-on-one interpretation for you!
"Right. So why did you sneak the fairy out? Didn't you think of the fairy as your friend?"
"……I did."
"But you took the fairy outside without telling me. That means you ignored the fairy's wishes. And if you do that, you can't be friends. The most important thing between friends is respect and looking out for each other."
I carefully pointed a finger at the cage as I spoke to Taejae.
"But I know you didn't do it on purpose, our Taejae. So what should we do now?"
"I have to…. apologize."
"That's right. Apologize and ask for forgiveness."
Then Taejae, who had been staring at the cage for a long moment, sniffled and went on.
"…I'm sorry, fairy. I just…. I wanted to be your friend. There were so, so many fun things outside, I wanted to show you them all."
"I've lived a long, long time, and I have never once seen anyone kidnap someone to be their friend!"
"I thought you were like Cinderella's fairy godmother and could grant wishes too…… but I guess, you can't. Still, I was happy."
"Only YOU were happy! Only you!"
"Fairy…. please forgive me."
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he pleaded, heartbreakingly sincere — but the malicious fairy held firm.
"Mr. Hwiyeon, did Elumis forgive me?"
"……."
"Forgiveness, my foot — just send me home!! I refuse to speak one more word to this deranged little human child!"
Uh…. hm. I'd guess it won't forgive you even in the afterlife.
But much as it pained me toward Elumis, I knew the moment had come for a little white lie.
I'm sorry. Truly, fairy.
"Fortunately, the fairy says it forgives you…. what a relief."
"WHAT? When did I! When did I EVER—!!"
At those words, Taejae hugged the cage tight, his face glowing with gratitude.
"Thank you, fairy."
Ignoring the fairy's shriek ringing painfully in my ears, I quickly turned to Kang Howon.
"Let's send it off as soon as the kids go home."
At this rate, our fairy friend really was headed for a diagnosis.