Naru and the Dangerous Association Figure
“This is the current Awoken legislation of the Republic of Korea. Housing an unregistered Awoken in a private residence without reporting them will be held against Awoken Han Yerin.”
The Awoken who called herself Kim Seoyeon spoke to me with a completely blank expression.
I gritted my teeth, cursing myself for having even briefly hoped the Association might be different, and prepared to throw this Association official out of my house on the spot.
But right before the anger spilled over, I forced myself to stay calm.
“Are you threatening me right now?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then why bring that up?”
“If I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize. I simply had no choice if I was going to convey the situation accurately.”
“Explain. If I’m not convinced, I’m throwing you out this instant.”
“Understood. To cut straight to the conclusion: the Association has no intention of punishing Awoken Han Yerin.”
“…What?”
“I came here to help.”
“You came to help Naru?”
“Yes. And you as well, Miss Han Yerin.”
“…”
“Regrettably, Miss Han Yerin is currently in violation of the law. However, if we act now, we can still get through this without any issues.”
“Get through it?”
“Yes. There is one loophole in this legislation.”
She showed me one of the Awoken-related statutes and continued her explanation.
‘An Awoken individual must report to the Association within one month of awakening.’
“Miss Naru has not been Awoken for a full month yet, has she?”
“What? Even I don’t… Ah!”
I had only met Naru recently; there was no way for me to know exactly when she had Awoken. But the moment I grasped the meaning behind Kim Seoyeon’s words, I shut my mouth.
The fact that no one could determine when Naru had Awoken meant, conversely, that there was no evidence she had failed to report. No one could prove whether a month had already passed or not.
In practice, the law urged people to report within a month, yet it was impossible to verify whether that month had actually elapsed.
“This statute is less about hunting down unregistered Awoken and more about pressuring them to come forward. Even if the exact moment of awakening is unknown, the fact of being Awoken can still be confirmed.”
More precisely, the one-month clock started from the moment the Association became aware of the awakening.
“So Naru isn’t an illegal Awoken yet.”
“And by extension, Miss Han Yerin can remain a temporary guardian who urgently protected a child from a natural disaster, rather than someone who hid an Awoken.”
“…”
Hearing that, I lowered my bristling wariness by one notch and continued the conversation.
At first I had thought the Association was still the same self-serving organization that twisted everything to its own advantage. But her follow-up words made me feel that something had changed.
Before Naru woke up I had skimmed the online reactions to yesterday’s broadcast. The Association was being absolutely roasted. People were demanding that an organization that took so much in taxes actually do its job and give Naru proper support right now.
The old Association would almost certainly have pretended to offer help just long enough to quiet the flaming public opinion, then retaliated later. That was why I had been so on guard…
Did the Association really change after that incident?
“Of course, you will still need to bring Miss Naru to the Association for measurement and complete the Awoken registration afterward.”
“I understand. I’ll take her in the near future.”
“But the real problem comes next.”
“…?”
“In truth, I was ordered by the Association to come here and make you take down yesterday’s broadcast and issue an explanation.”
“I figured as much. But I have no intention of taking the video down or explaining anything. Shouldn’t the Association be the one explaining?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“With that kind of talk you expect me to… wait, what?”
I had tensed up, thinking this was the real point of her visit, but her clean, immediate agreement left me staring at Kim Seoyeon in blank confusion.
She continued in that same unreadable, expressionless voice.
“Right now I am not here as a member of the Association. I am here as Kim Seoyeon.”
“Meaning…?”
“I came because I wanted to see cute Naru.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence stretched between us.
Did she just say something completely unhinged with a straight face?
No… maybe I misheard?
“I came because I wanted to see cute Naru.”
“You don’t need to say it twice! What is that supposed to mean?”
“Haa. I thought Miss Han Yerin of all people would understand, but apparently not. Very well. Allow me to explain.”
Still completely expressionless, Kim Seoyeon spoke with deadly seriousness.
“Do you know what justice in this world truly is?”
“Justice? Why are we suddenly talking about justice? I have no idea what you’re getting at.”
“The answer is simple. Cuteness.”
“Cu… cuteness?”
“Cuteness is the justice of this world!!”
She pushed up her black-rimmed glasses and pressed on.
“I want to bury my face in Miss Naru’s tail.”
“???”
“I am so thoroughly captivated by Miss Naru’s cuteness that I want to go sniff-sniff, huff-huff while nuzzling her belly.”
“?????”
“Just squishing her ears and cheeks and holding her in my arms would give me the strength to finish three bowls of plain rice.”
“W-wait…”
“Ah, I happened to notice some fur that appears to be Miss Naru’s scattered around the house. May I take this?”
I had no idea when she had already gathered a whole clump of Naru’s fur, but one thing was now crystal clear.
This woman was not normal.
Even now she was breathing roughly, cheeks flushed, still expressionless, carefully sealing the fur into a clear ziplock bag as if it were treasure.
“Ahem. Forgive the rudeness. In any case, there is a more important matter than my personal desires. Within the Association there are still some old-fashioned… ahem, conservative upper management who are pushing for the video to be deleted and for retaliatory disciplinary action. But it will not become a major problem.”
“When you say it won’t be a problem, are you referring to the legal loophole you mentioned earlier?”
“That is part of it. But I will stake my name on ensuring nothing disadvantageous happens to Miss Naru. So you need not worry about that part.”
“…”
Right now I was far more worried about the person stuffing Naru’s fur into a ziplock bag than about the Association.
Cold sweat ran down my back as I seriously debated whether I should trust this woman or not. It wasn’t that I doubted her because she was an Association employee; she simply felt dangerous in an entirely different sense.
“First, put down the fur you’re trying to take.”
“!!!”
“It’s the obvious thing to do. Making that shocked face won’t help…”
Her blank expression cracked for the first time, but all I could manage was a sigh.
“Ahem. Anyway, there is another issue I need to explain.”
“No, stop changing the subject. Put it down and leave.”
“Miss Naru currently has no legal guardian. Therefore the only thing the Association can do is locate an orphanage and send her there.”
“Are you even listening to me?”
“However, I have another method.”
“You’re going to pretend you can’t hear me until the very end… Haa. Fine. What method?”
“Adoption.”
“Adoption? But I…”
“I will be the one adopting her.”
“???”
“Because I gave birth to Miss Naru.”
“Excuse me?!”
“The moment I saw Miss Naru, I understood. This is love. This is maternal instinct. Yes—I gave birth to Miss Naru.”
“Please calm down a little.”
“Even if we are not connected by blood, I now have a child.”
After that she poured out her love for Naru without pause for quite some time. Only when she finally regained a shred of sanity did she clear her throat and continue.
“Ahem. Once again, my apologies for the discourtesy.”
“…”
“This too is a matter for later. Speaking of more urgent things first: as I mentioned earlier, she will need to complete Awoken registration at the Association and also undergo a health examination. Non-human-form Awoken are rare, so the Association will soon send a specialist.”
“Just checking… that specialist…”
“Yes. It will be me.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead as a headache bloomed.
“Please do not worry. I have obtained every relevant certification.”
“There are certifications for non-human Awoken?”
“Yes. Because non-human Awoken differ from ordinary Awoken in various ways, there are multiple certifications for providing mental and physical support.”
It was true that Naru sometimes behaved like an animal…
But watching the woman who was even now stealthily collecting Naru’s fur from the chair, I felt zero confidence. If anything, the atmosphere made me want to hide Naru away.
Yet for Naru to live a normal, happy life, Association support was essential, whether I liked it or not.
Looked at that way, wouldn’t it be better to cooperate with someone who genuinely liked Naru rather than with a stranger?
I glanced at her again—and immediately shouted in horror.
“W-why are you trying to eat that?!”
“I was curious about the taste.”
“Put it down this instant!!”
I seriously wondered whether accepting this woman’s cooperation was a good idea.
But in the end…
“I… understand. Then I’ll leave it to you. Just… please don’t do anything Naru hates.”
“Please do not worry. Such a thing will never happen.”
“Put the fur down while we talk.”
“…”
Manager, Kang Subin Design
Association Awoken, Kim Seoyeon Design