Unexpected (7)
Unexpected (7)
"Miss Ha-na."
'......?'
Baek Ha-na was heading toward the waiting car after leaving the temple when a voice called her. She turned and spotted Claire, who had come outside alone oddly, and immediately ran toward her.
"Big Sis!!"
"Did you enjoy your shopping?"
Claire smiled gently, kindly stroking Baek Ha-na's head. The girl had wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face against her chest.
"Yeah. It was fun. I saw so many really amazing things, and we also went to an alchemist...? We went there too, but the smell was so awful it was hard......."
Peeking up slightly while still in Claire's embrace, Baek Ha-na chattered on about the day's events.
Claire, finding Baek Ha-na utterly adorable, rubbed her soft cheeks with her palm as she replied.
"I'm glad to hear you had fun. If it's possible, we should spend this summer abroad."
"For real?"
"If the professor permits it."
"Ugh......."
Baek Ha-na's face scrunched up slightly as she whispered.
"...He'd probably give permission, but I don't think Woo-jin will come with us."
"...That does seem likely."
Claire couldn't deny that part either.
After all, anyone who knew anything about Baek Woo-jin knew he absolutely loathed anything bothersome or noisy.
"But Miss Ha-na."
"Hm?"
Baek Ha-na, who had been purring contentedly while enjoying Claire's touch, blinked her long eyelashes.
"Would you mind telling me what conversation took place inside?"
"Ah......."
Baek Ha-na's blue eyes, which had been gazing up at Claire so adorably, rolled away to avoid her gaze. The sight was so cute that Claire had to put considerable effort into controlling the corners of her mouth.
"It's a, a secret......."
"I think I'll be a little hurt."
"Ah, B-Big Sis...?"
Claire's half-lidded, listless eyes made Baek Ha-na panic.
"Uuuh, I-I want to tell you, but... ngh......."
Baek Ha-na's fingers, still wrapped around Claire's waist, fidgeted restlessly. Feeling every bit of it, Claire finally couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Pfft... I was joking. A promise made with the Great Beings is important."
"I-I thought you were serious...!!"
As Baek Ha-na pouted her lips and protested adorably, Claire simply laughed, pulling her into a full embrace instead of just cupping her cheek.
Watching the scene from a distance, Na Yeon-ju blinked both eyes and spoke.
"They look exactly like really close sisters."
"Don't they?"
"Yep. And it's my first time seeing the Executor laugh, you know."
At that, Maria smiled gently and nodded.
"Unless you're one of the people here, you'd probably never see the Executor laugh in your entire life."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes."
Because the respected Executor never showed any emotion except in front of the best friend she now held in her arms and the lover inside the temple.
"...I'm jealous of Big Sis Ha-na. I want the Executor to pat me too."
"Oh dear, come here. I'll pat you instead."
"Hehe~"
Na Yeon-ju, who had been watching Baek Ha-na and Claire with envious eyes, laughed happily at Maria's gentle hand stroking her head and clung to her side.
"Ah, he's out."
The firmly shut temple doors opened, and Baek Woo-jin, draped in a black coat, stepped outside.
"Why is the professor wearing glasses?"
"I wonder......?"
Those glasses he'd worn since the age of fifteen, the first time Maria visited the mansion.
Maria had asked Baek Ha-na in the past, but Baek Ha-na had also answered that she didn't know the reason.
"...It's a real shame I can't see the professor's face directly... but on the other hand, I think it's a relief. If I saw his face directly, my heart definitely wouldn't be able to take it."
"Well......."
Maria had tried to act as calmly as possible at the hotel, but she couldn't bring herself to deny her cute youngest friend's answer. Her own heart had pounded so hard it felt like it would break the first time she saw the video.
"Ahem, still, we shouldn't ask the professor directly, right?"
"Oh, we shouldn't?"
"...Well, the professor might not say anything, but the Executor might scold you later."
"Huk... Th-then I'll stay quiet...."
"There, there, good girl."
Maria patted Na Yeon-ju's head a little more firmly.
"See you later!!"
Baek Ha-na, who had returned alongside Baek Woo-jin, waved a hand toward him as she ran back to her friends.
"We decided to eat dinner together. Yeon-ju? Just follow that car."
"Oh, got it."
"Let's hurry and get in."
Baek Ha-na quickly opened the rear door and climbed in, with Nam Seo-hee following behind her. Shortly after, Na Yeon-ju and Maria also got into the driver's seat and passenger seat respectively.
"We'll head out."
Following the limousine that moved first, Na Yeon-ju slowly guided her car after it.
"...Anything happen?"
Only after the car started moving did Idni, who had been lying as if dead, raise her body and ask her friends.
"Huh? No, nothing happened."
"...Really?"
At Baek Ha-na's answer, Idni wore a strange expression for a moment before letting out a short sigh.
"What were you doing inside before you came out?"
"Secret."
"Wha?"
Idni glared at Baek Ha-na, who was pulling out her smartphone with a playful smile. But maybe she knew she couldn't win even if she tried.
"Hey, hey, Maria. What were you doing inside before you came out?"
"Who knows?"
"Hey...... you're going to act like that too?"
When Idni reacted as if hurt by her best friend's answer, Maria simply shrugged her shoulders and continued.
"We waited outside, and Ha-na went into the prayer room alone. Meaning I don't know either. Got it?"
"...What. Then wouldn't it be nice to just say that from the start? Tch."
As if all the disappointment she'd shown moments ago had been an act, vitality quickly returned to Idni's gloomy face.
"Hey, Baek Ha-na. Are secrets allowed between us?"
"Yeah, they are."
"...You heartless little bitch."
"Yep, I'm heartless."
"You...!!"
"Eek?!"
Baek Ha-na jumped at Idni's rough hands suddenly gripping her sides.
"Tell me!! Tell me!!"
"Uheheh, ah, ha...!! St-stop...!!"
"Not a chance until you tell me!!"
"Haa, ah, s-seriously, stop iiit...!!"
Even though she could easily shake her off at any time, she was going along with it willingly. Enjoying this immensely, Idni moved the hands tickling Baek Ha-na's sides a little higher. The moment she did.
"Kyaaat?!"
Along with an utterly flustered scream, a pair of snowy white beast ears sprouted above Baek Ha-na's head. Simultaneously, the bushy tail that had grown out moved like a whip and wrapped cleanly around Idni's head.
Crunch──!!
"Umph...?!"
As her entire face was suddenly caught, Idni flailed.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!!
She repeatedly slapped the rear seat mat with her palm. But Baek Ha-na's tail mercilessly tightened around her head, and before long, Idni sagged limply into the seat.
"I told you to st-stop......."
Her face flushed bright red, Baek Ha-na covered her chest with both hands and grumbled timidly at Idni, who was already out cold. Watching this from beside her, Nam Seo-hee fell into deep contemplation.
'...Tail-choking.'
It was the first moment Nam Seo-hee felt envy toward Idni.
**
[ Raven Building ]
Swoosh.
The brush laden with black ink left the canvas.
Wiping the sweat streaming down her cheek with the back of her hand, Le Coléon smiled radiantly as she gazed past the canvas and spoke.
"It's finished. You may move now."
-M-my neck is so stiff...!!
-Oof, my back. Hey, massage my back a bit.
-Quit whining.
-...I'm tired.
No sooner had those words ended than the girls, each brimming with personality, began to chatter and work out their stiff muscles.
'There isn't a single girl here who isn't beautiful.'
As someone who held beauty above all else in the world, she felt nothing but immense love for the girls before her eyes.
-Now, gather your things and head down. It's late, so don't make any other stops and go straight back to the hotel.
The girls, who had been bouncing around, were instantly subdued by their strict guardian and loaded into the elevator.
Just as she was feeling a slight regret at their departure, Baek Woo-jin approached Le Coléon.
"It was a sudden request. Thank you for accepting it."
"Hehe, while it was indeed sudden, I am actually the one who should be thanking you."
A single, sudden phone call.
A call asking her to prepare food that twenty-year-old girls would like, and requesting that she paint those children together with them.
To Le Coléon, both were truly trivial matters, so she made the arrangements without giving it much thought. However, the moment she saw the girls who arrived with the two who had briefly stepped out, she received an enormous shock.
Because the six girls were all beauties with distinct personalities, not a single one overlapping with another.
For that reason, Le Coléon ended up having to paint five pieces—adding two more to the number she'd originally planned—but rather than feeling fatigued, she felt more fulfilled than ever.
"If you, the person directly involved, are satisfied, then I suppose that's all that matters."
"Not just satisfied; I feel as if I have received a great favor."
It wasn't an empty platitude meant to flatter the other's status.
Le Coléon genuinely felt that she had received an unexpected boon today.
Not only had she captured the features of a man and woman who looked as if carved by a god—her original goal—but she was also able to paint six girls, each with their own distinct charm. She was certain that, in her entire life so far or whatever life remained, no day more exciting and satisfying than today would ever come.
'No, perhaps there is just one more day left.'
Le Coléon carefully lifted the small black box she had placed beneath the canvas.
"This is the item you desired earlier today."
"Didn't you say it would be sent through the auction?"
At Baek Woo-jin's question, Le Coléon answered in an exceptionally polite voice.
"As I have received a favor beyond what I'd hoped for, I prepared this to repay even a small part of it."
"I won't refuse."
Baek Woo-jin accepted the box and put it away.
"That......."
Baek Woo-jin, who had been turning away without any lingering attachment, paused briefly and looked at Le Coléon.
"Go on."
"...If you two ever hold a wedding ceremony, would you grant me another opportunity to paint the two of you?"
"As long as it doesn't take as long as it did today."
"Ah......!!"
Le Coléon bowed her head.
"I shall be certain to make it so."
"Good."
With a short reply, Baek Woo-jin turned away.
Le Coléon spoke toward the man and woman boarding the elevator.
"I will send the paintings to the location you mentioned, along with the items."
No reply came back.
Le Coléon watched the closed elevator for a moment, then took out her smartphone and called her chief secretary.
-Yes, Head of the Family.
"Establish a branch in Korea."