Chapter 118: You Wanna Get Hit? (1)

"So-eun's running a little late, isn't she?"

"She is... You don't think something happened, do you?"

Noona and I were waiting at the zoo entrance for So-eun to arrive. We'd built our house inside the zoo grounds, which made it impossible for the kindergarten shuttle to get anywhere near us — though that wasn't the only reason. So-eun had also insisted, quite forcefully, that she wanted to go to kindergarten with Bboni.

When she declared she would handle the commute herself, riding on Bboni's back, the two of us worried and then gave in anyway. We didn't forget to attach Cheongho, who could fairly be called the strongest bodyguard alive. Personally, I rated his combat power at roughly ten high school girls — which, for the record, put him level with twenty special forces operators.

Even so, the worry wouldn't quite leave me, so I checked So-eun's location at once. I'd bought her a children's phone with a tracking app already installed and put a GPS bracelet on her wrist besides, so finding her wasn't hard.

"She's on her way, at least. Just moving a little slow. Maybe she found something interesting to look at?"

On the tracker she was creeping along at a pace you could never mistake for a ride on Bboni. She hadn't stopped, though, so it looked like she'd be here any minute — and sure enough, after about five minutes of waiting, So-eun came trudging into view.

Something was different from usual. Any other day she would have come darting in on Bboni's back and thrown herself into our arms, but now she was drooping, walking along with Bboni's reins in her hand.

"So-eun?"

"Daaad..."

When I went over to her, she looked strangely downcast.

"What's wrong with my So-eun? Does something hurt?"

"Nuh-uh."

It didn't seem to be pain. She shook her head hard and clung to my leg, and Noona came over too, feeling So-eun's forehead and ears to make sure she really wasn't sick.

"So-eun, what's wrong?"

"Mooom. What's a camp?"

"A camp? Oh — camp?"

"Mm..."

So-eun nodded at Noona's question.

"It's when you play in a tent and then sleep there. But why do you ask?"

"Jaemini said I'm a dummy 'cause I don't even know what a camp is!"

"What!"

I was appalled at my dejected daughter's words. Calling my daughter a dummy? I was not letting that slide. Our So-eun was brilliant — she'd already learned all her letters, and she had her times tables down cold!

"Suhwan. Could you hold still for a second?"

I was already plotting how to march over and have it out with the parents of this Jaemin — Jammin, whatever the brat's name was — when Noona pinched my cheek. Did she just read my mind...?

Having headed off my rampage before it could start, she crouched down and met So-eun's eyes.

"Then how about So-eun goes camping too, so Jaemin can't tease you like that?"

"Camp!"

"We'll go on a camp even more amazing than Jaemin's. So amazing he can never, ever tease you again. Got it?"

"Yeah!"

Noona's soothing skill wiped the gloom off So-eun's face in an instant. She climbed back onto Bboni and headed into the zoo — not toward the house, clearly, but straight off to run wild.

"Aaah!"

A scream rang out from inside the ticket booth as Bboni and So-eun vaulted clean over it. Right — hadn't someone said there was a new hire on tickets today?

I was drifting on that thought when Noona's face suddenly filled my vision.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, there was a scream from the ticket booth just now. I thought they said a new person started today."

"Figures... If it weren't a newbie, who would even scream? They leave a perfectly good entrance sitting there and jump over it every single day."

"True. But why are you looking at me like that?"

I felt a flicker of puzzlement at the way she was staring straight into my face. What, does she want a kiss? I was just considering a little bump of the lips when she opened her mouth.

"We're going camping. Right?"

"Oh. Right. We're going. Someone dared look down on our So-eun? I'll make sure they never do it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again."

"Don't go taking it out on a kid. Just think of it as making a good memory for So-eun, and let's go."

"Don't worry. I'll handle all the prep, so Noona, you just decide what we're eating. I'm gonna step out for a bit."

"...This uneasy feeling is just my imagination, right?"

"I told you there's nothing to worry about. Hehe."

I left Noona — looking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠faintly uneasy — behind me and got moving. I had a friend who knew his way around camping, and with his help I came back loaded down with gear and threw myself straight into getting ready.

Maybe because of what she'd heard from that kid Jaemin, So-eun started saying she wanted charcoal barbecue, and roasted marshmallows too. I prepared this and that exactly the way she wanted, and before I knew it the trip was only a day away.

There was just one problem. A typhoon, the kind that liked to drop in as the season turned toward autumn, had arrived. Rain was pouring and the wind was blowing hard, which meant camping was out of the question.

"Hiiiing!"

From inside the house, So-eun gazed gloomily out at the streaming rain and pressed her unhappy face to the window.

"...I shall step away for a short while."

"Where are you going? There's a typhoon."

"Worry not!"

Yubu regarded So-eun for a moment, then sprang into the air and cut through the rain toward somewhere unknown. A few hours later he came back, his whole body a wreck, as if he'd just been through some ferocious fight to the death.

"What the — where have you been? And what's with that look?"

"Nothing... happened... at all!"

In the end he never said where he'd gone. But unlike the battered Yubu, the weather began to improve.

The gloomy day brightened in no time, the sun coming out, and a smile like sunlight settled at the corners of So-eun's mouth. Thanks to that, by the next morning the weather was good enough for a proper camping trip.

"Shall we head out?"

"Go! Camp!"

I let out a short laugh at So-eun throwing her arms and legs up from her car seat, and pulled the car out at once. Between the mountain of luggage and the handful of animals who'd insisted on coming along, it felt heavier than usual. The campsite was about two hours away, and since we were bringing a whole crowd of animals, we'd reserved the entire place.

"We're here!"

"Waaah!"

The moment she got out of the car, So-eun hopped onto Bboni and started tearing all over the campsite. There was hardly anything to play on at a site tucked against the mountainside, but for So-eun that alone was playground enough. She led Bboni and the animals straight into the woods — exactly the sort of sight that would worry ordinary parents, but not us. Cheongho was right there beside her, so there was nothing to worry about at all.

Anyway, I smiled after her and turned straight to putting up the tent. A big, expensive, nice tent turned out to be harder to pitch than I'd expected. Slotting the poles this way and that, fitting them through the holes, setting the position, driving in the stakes, and tying off the lines — by the time I was done, sweat was pouring off me.

Still, once the big tent was up and the shade tarp in front of it was finished, it felt deeply satisfying. The tent and tarp looked more beautiful than I'd imagined. Money well spent, after all.

"Whew. I'm beat."

"You worked hard. I'll sort out the inside, so rest a bit."

Noona gave me a few pats — I'd suffered through the hammering to secure the tent and the hauling of heavy bags — and immediately started organizing the luggage. After a quick tidy of the dishes and the food, she came over beside my chair and dropped into the empty one.

"Hoo. It's tiring, but the view's pretty nice, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I think I'm starting to get why people go camping."

Pitching the tent had been rough work, but sitting back and resting like this felt pretty restorative. And as Noona and I were taking that easy rest, a few of the animals started loitering around us. Bboni, Cheongho, and the five Tokkiz had gone up the mountain with So-eun, but some of the others hadn't followed.

"Bring some grub over here."

"Gimme some too."

"Hah, this is nice. Get off somewhere without the brats and look how good it feels."

The only three animals left around us — Daepodong, Sopodong, and Namcat — were hanging about. Daepodong and Sopodong in particular had their eyes glued to the little snacks set out on the table, the ones Noona and I had left there to nibble while we rested. And Namcat, as if he'd shrugged off some parenting burden he didn't even usually carry, was loafing at his ease in a perfect cat-loaf.

"You two Podongs hungry?"

Seeing them loitering — the two raccoons, specifically — Noona scooped them up. She gave their fur a light stroke, bristly-looking and yet soft, and fed them snacks they could actually eat.

"Kyah, this hits!"

They crammed their muzzles so full the snacks nearly spilled over, devouring them like gluttons. Indoors, it was the kind of scene where you'd have vacuumed up the raccoons themselves rather than the crumbs. Out here, they could scatter snack bits without a care.

"Suhwan. Don't you think it's about time we found these two mates?"

"Want me to be honest? You just want to see baby raccoons."

"...If you know, don't ask."

Noona had a particular soft spot for the baby animals kept at home — at the zoo, to be exact — and she clearly wanted baby raccoons. Just as So-eun went through life with rabbits stuck to her, Noona was going through hers with baby animals stuck to her.

"Huh? Babies?! So I get to mate?!"

"Hey! I can do it just as good!"

"Ugh..."

The two raccoons heard me and immediately started raising a ruckus. These guys have been lonely, huh. I peeled off the ones trying to climb my body like a rock face, and the ones that latched right back on only let go once I promised I'd find them mates. Once the oddly expectant raccoons dropped off, peace returned.

I scooted a little closer to Noona and enjoyed the quiet.

"Should we call So-eun back soon? It's going to get dark before long."

"Let's."

Already a faint red was creeping into the sky, as if the sunset were thinking about settling in.

"So-eun—!"

I shouted toward the mountain she'd disappeared into. I'd tried calling, only for the ringtone to go off inside the car, and with no one else around I didn't hesitate to yell. The moment I did, a dozen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or so birds shot into the sky — the crows and magpies that had flown all the way here from home under their own power.

"I called her, so she'll be here soon."

I sat back down with a strangely cleared-out feeling after the big yell, and from far off came the sound of Bboni running. With it came So-eun's voice, shouting from a distance.

"Moooommmmmyyyyy! Daaaaaddddddyyyy!"

"So-eun, time for din— ...So-eun, who's that on your head?"

I'd been about to welcome the So-eun who'd come running, but I had to stop mid-sentence. There was a creature I'd never seen before, perched on top of her head.

"You wanna get hit?"

And of all things, it was a flying squirrel, looking ready to hurl an acorn at any second. Something about it stirred an old memory — a pink squirrel, from a long time ago.

"New friend! I met him over there!"

So-eun bounced up and down with the flying squirrel in her hands. She seemed quite taken with its small, cute looks.

I let out a small sigh at the sight and pulled out my phone.

The Siberian flying squirrel was an endangered species, so I dumped the matter of a permit to keep it onto the elephant uncle. Still, permits tended to come through easily because I was a Druid, so it wasn't exactly a hard job I was handing off.