An Errand
"Noona. What if we sent So-eun on an errand, too?"
"An errand? Out of nowhere?"
"You know the thing. You send little kids out on an errand, then sneak along behind them to see whether they do it right."
"……That does sound like fun, though?"
Noona looked as if my suggestion were winning her over. So-eun already went to kindergarten and back on her own, so there wasn't much to worry about in the first place—and if we sent her off with Cheongho and the other animals, every one of them more than fit to serve as a solid bodyguard, we wouldn't have to fret over her safety at all.
"So what were you thinking of having her do?"
"Hmm. Couldn't we just have her buy a snack and a drink, one of each?"
"Let's give it a try."
Noona smiled softly and nodded.
Having settled on sending So-eun out and tailing her in secret, we set about getting ready at once. Not that there was much worth calling preparation. With one exception.
"Master. What is it, sir?"
"We're going to send So-eun on an errand and follow her without her knowing. Even if you see us trailing along, you are not to let on. Understood? And if any of the others go with her, pass that along to them, too."
"Uh……. Yes, sir. Understood."
I briefed Cheongho, who would be going along as her bodyguard, on the one rule that mattered. The last thing I wanted was to get caught by So-eun mid-sneak because of the animals. Once I'd told him to spread the word to whoever else tagged along, Noona and I called So-eun over.
"Heehee!"
She came running on light feet and planted herself squarely between us. The sight of her hugging both our legs at once was cute past all reason.
"So-eun. Mommy and Daddy have an errand for you. Will you do it?"
"Yeah! I will, I will!"
Whether she'd learned about errands at kindergarten or not, she thrust out one tiny fist to show just how willing she was. I let out a short laugh and drew a single ten-thousand-won bill from my pocket.
"Take this. You know the convenience store down at the bottom of the hill? Go there and buy one bag of potato chips and one orange juice. You can do that, right?"
"Yeah! I can do it!"
So-eun took the bill I held out and clutched it tight, as if it were something precious.
"Off you go."
"I'll be back, sir!"
She bobbed a little bow at us and went pattering off at a run—with a whole retinue of animals at her side, of course. The ones she'd chosen for the errand were the usual pair, Bboni and Cheongho, plus Nureongi, who had lately been distinguishing himself as her third arm. On top of those, she snatched up Igito, a rabbit that had been lingering by the zoo entrance, and looked determined to bring it along.
Needless to say, Noona and I were following behind her, keeping a little distance.
"Yubu, I'm counting on you."
"Set your mind at ease! I shall not lose her—not for anything!"
We'd even sent Yubu up into the sky. If by some slim chance we lost sight of So-eun, we meant to use him as aerial surveillance equipment…… no, not that. A drone…… not that either. In any case, we meant to make use of him.
While we were launching him aloft, So-eun drew near the zoo's exit. The staff, whose usual work was keeping the animals from escaping, looked thoroughly baffled to see her driving a whole procession of them toward the gate.
"Huh? If it isn't our zoo's little princess. Where are you off to, Princess?"
"An errand!"
The ticket clerks at the entrance spotted her, and at the word errand they broke into fond smiles and opened the gate. So-eun strode through with plenty of spirit, and the animals trailed after her.
We followed as well. Other people would have recognized us, so we had face masks on, and to keep anyone from thinking it strange that we were trailing So-eun, we'd put on white T-shirts with "Dad" and "Mom" printed across them. It was a mildly embarrassing getup, but with the masks hiding our faces we chased after her, courage fully intact.
"Heeheehee, potato chiiips~!"
She went bouncing down the road, so full of pep she could hardly contain herself, and she seemed absolutely delighted to be on her way to buy potato chips. Then, lively as she'd been, she suddenly stopped.
"Haneuliii!"
She'd spotted a squirrel moving among the trees, nothing more, and she'd stopped because she mistook it for Haneuli.
"Woof!"
She'd halted out of nowhere and was about to veer off somewhere else, so Cheongho eased himself into her path. No one had told him the destination, but he knew at least this much: wherever she was heading now was not the way there.
"How come?"
So-eun looked puzzled at having Cheongho block her. Soon enough, though, she realized the squirrel she'd been watching wasn't Haneuli after all, and she set off toward the convenience store once more.
"Potaaato chiiips~ heehee!"
Singing her potato-chip song as she went, she before long had the store standing right in front of her. It was a road she'd walked now and then with her hand in ours, so she could find it easily enough without getting lost. At any rate, with the place before her eyes, she picked up her pace and hurried toward it.
Clank!
She tried to open the door, but it was shut fast. It rattled and clanked and showed no intention of opening.
"Uuung……. But I've got an errand to do!"
Finding it locked, So-eun stamped her little feet in distress. Watching her, we were just as thrown by a turn we hadn't seen coming.
"Suhwan, what do we do? Looks like it's locked."
"Yeah……. Should we just tell her to come back, even now?"
We stood there fretting over what to do while So-eun hopped anxiously in front of the door. The fretting didn't last long.
"Ooh……. Bathroom! Heehee, they went potty!"
Gone to the restroom.
Please wait a moment.
She'd found the notice stuck to the door, and she came over to Cheongho wearing a bright, innocent smile. She plopped down on the ground any old way, and Cheongho was beside her in an instant, curling himself around her so she could lean quietly into him. Nestled there, she stroked the Igito cradled in her arms, over and over.
She'd been petting the rabbit in a vacant little daze for a while when someone approached in a uniform marked with the convenience store's logo.
"Hi there. Did you come to the store?"
"An errand!"
"Just a second."
The part-timer nodded at the sight of her and went straight to opening the door. The key turned, the lock gave, and the moment the door swung wide So-eun sprang to her feet. Almost at once, though, the part-timer stopped her.
"Sorry, but you can't bring the dog and the rabbit inside. We sell food in here, so animals aren't allowed. And that…… a sna— a snake?!"
Watching Nureongi slowly lift his head from So-eun's shoulder, the part-timer looked flustered for a beat. But they soon studied her more carefully and nodded. This was the convenience store closest to our zoo, and it didn't take long to work out who she was.
"So you're the princess. I only glanced, so I didn't realize. Sorry I didn't recognize you. And the snake can come in. He doesn't shed fur, so it ought to be fine."
"Thank you, sir! You guys wait right here!"
So-eun bobbed her head at the part-timer, left Cheongho, Bboni, and Igito outside, and went in. We couldn't follow her all the way into the store, but the front was clear glass, so watching was no trouble.
Once inside, she made straight for the corner packed with snacks. The potato chips, sitting around the middle of the display, fell perfectly into her line of sight, and she picked up a bag with a delighted face. That look didn't last. The orange juice was up higher than she was tall—somewhere her outstretched hands could never reach. She couldn't even have opened that refrigerator door to begin with…….
Anyway, she puzzled over it for a moment, then looked to Nureongi, the one she used as her third arm. Her little mouth moved, and Nureongi, who had been draped limp across her, whipped himself upright.
"He really is just like So-eun's own arm……."
Noona couldn't hide how dumbfounded she was by what came next. Raised up, Nureongi bit down on the refrigerator door's handle and hauled it open. With the door ajar, he moved his head wherever So-eun gestured and started choosing among the products, then bit the drink she'd settled on and pulled it out for her.
Having successfully secured both of the things we'd sent her for, So-eun started toward the register with a sunny smile. She stopped again almost at once.
"Why'd she stop?"
"Uh……. I think she's looking at the kids waiting outside."
Halted where she was, So-eun did seem to be gazing at the animals waiting beyond the glass. And as if to prove it, she started moving again—straight for the pet-treat corner tucked in the back of the store. Soon we could see her picking out several things there. Zooming in with a phone camera, we made out items like jerky meant for dogs.
"……So teaching her that the kids have to eat too, whenever there's food, comes back around like this."
We'd sent her to buy something to eat, and here she was buying something for the animals as well. The trouble was that the money I'd given her fell woefully short of covering our items and those treats together. The part-timer was waving their hands at the ten-thousand-won bill So-eun held out. Noona and I watched, curious to see how she would solve this one.
"What? Why's she just coming out?"
The result landed a fair distance from whatever solution we'd been turning over. She had left every last item sitting on the counter and walked outside.
"Yubuuuu!"
Once she was out, she suddenly started shouting up at the sky. She seemed to be calling Yubu, and Yubu—who had been circling nearby to begin with—flew down to her at once.
"Give this to Daddy!"
She handed him a rolled-up scrap of paper and sent him off. He drifted through the air for a moment, then came winging toward me from an out-of-the-way spot.
"……What is it?"
"I know not. She seemed to bid me deliver it unto you, and so I have brought it."
I took the paper Yubu offered and unfolded it.
Give me money!
Faced with a demand for money in the crooked, tottering letters only a very small child could produce, Noona and I both fell silent. Still, it was a solution of a sort, so I had no choice but to draw a few more bills from my wallet and press them into Yubu's grasp.
"Take these to So-eun."
I rolled the bills tight and set them in his talons, and he flew straight to her.
"Heehee, thank you!"
So-eun took the bills from him, gave his beak a little stroke, and went back into the convenience store. She held out the money I'd sent, received her things and the change, and came out again.
"Home we go!"
With the bag of purchases in hand, she tied it to Bboni's saddle and set off for home once more. At that, Noona and I hurried back ahead of her and waited.
"I'm back, sir!"
We didn't have to wait long before So-eun returned, the bag swinging from her hand. I praised her for a job well done, and Noona opened the potato chips and the orange juice she'd brought. So-eun seemed to love eating her favorites; she kept working her mouth, a sunny smile never once leaving her face.
"You all worked hard, too. This is from So-eun."
And then I fed them, one by one, the animal treats she had bought and brought home.