Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: Shedding (3)
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As time passed.
The once spotless house gradually turned into a mess.
"Anyway, Dad's not here! No one's watching! Just eat these snacks and let the crumbs fall!"
Crunch- Crunch-
Hwa-ryeon had given up on cooking and was filling her belly with potato chips.
She didn't care about the crumbs spilling everywhere.
"Hmph, the floor's getting dirty? If you want it cleaned up, Dad, get up and do it yourself!"
Crunch-
Hwa-ryeon blatantly dropped crumbs while eating right in front of Lee Ha-jun.
But Lee Ha-jun just lay there with his eyes closed.
He didn't even twitch.
"Raaargh-! Get up-! Or I'll force you to-!"
Whoosh-
In her anger, Hwa-ryeon reached out toward the shed skin enveloping Lee Ha-jun's body.
At that moment, a thin stream of water splashed onto Hwa-ryeon's hand.
"Dragon Laser Beam."
"Ah, it's cold!"
"Don't touch Dad, Hwa-ryeon sis. If you interfere, Dad could die."
Su-ryeon coldly swatted Hwa-ryeon's hand away.
She hadn't slept properly, and dark circles had formed under her eyes.
"You don't touch them while they're shedding. That's basic dragon knowledge."
"Hmph, I know that! But what am I supposed to do about how frustrated I feel!"
"We're all frustrated, but we're holding it in. So stop dropping those snack crumbs. Mangmung feels sorry for them."
Whoosh-
Hwa-ryeon turned her head to look at Mangmung.
There, Mangmung stood on its hind legs, running the vacuum cleaner.
"Mang... mang..."
Sigh-
It looked depressed from having so much to clean.
Seeing this, Hwa-ryeon nodded slightly.
"Okay, Mangmung does look a bit pitiful! Fine!"
"Good choice, Hwa-ryeon sis."
With that, Su-ryeon headed to the master bedroom.
Then, she flopped onto the bed.
Thud-
"...I thought I could handle it without Dad. But I guess there's still a lot I don't know."
Haa-
Feeling helpless, Su-ryeon let out a breath and buried her face in the pillow.
"...It smells like Dad."
She knew it would take a long time.
But she hadn't realized waiting would be this hard.
"Even after starting elementary school, I'm still just a kid."
Su-ryeon stared at the A-pad on the bed.
She didn't feel like playing any games.
So she just lay there with her eyes closed, breathing in Dad's scent.
"..."
The voice that had filled the house every day.
She used to think it was just nagging.
But now that it was gone, she missed it terribly.
"Dummy Dad..."
And so, Su-ryeon lay on the bed, endlessly waiting for the shedding to end.
***
After Lee Ha-jun began shedding.
The dragons' conditions worsened day by day.
Hwa-ryeon was filled with anger inside.
Su-ryeon holed up in the master bedroom, lying in bed under the covers all day.
Cho-ryeon simply lay beside Dad, silently gazing at him.
"When will Father open his eyes..."
Stare-
Cho-ryeon lay on the floor, gazing intently at the closed-eyed Lee Ha-jun.
In case there was any movement.
Except for bathroom breaks, she stayed lying next to Lee Ha-jun.
"I knew it would take a long time. But I didn't realize waiting for Father like this would be so hard. Father must miss me too, with his eyes closed like that."
Whoosh-
Cho-ryeon reached out toward her lying father.
But she stopped short and pulled her hand back.
"...Father's right here in front of me, but I can't even touch him. This is torture."
Dissatisfied, Cho-ryeon puffed out her cheeks.
At that moment, someone tapped Cho-ryeon's back.
"Mang mang-!"
"It's Mangmung. Why are you calling me?"
"Mang mang-!!"
Whoosh whoosh-!
Mangmung tapped the lying Cho-ryeon and pointed to the balcony.
There were plants growing on the balcony.
"Mang mang-!"
"Oh, right. I've been so worried about Father that I only stared at him. Thanks, Mangmung."
Pat pat-
Cho-ryeon gave a weak smile and stroked Mangmung.
Then, she got up and staggered toward the balcony.
Cho-ryeon looked like a wilting flower.
"Ma... mang..."
Mangmung was worried about her.
She might dry up, shrivel, and rot black like that.
The sight of Cho-ryeon without her usual vibrancy felt unfamiliar.
So.
"Mang mang-!!"
Dash dash dash-!
Mangmung ran energetically, hopping around Cho-ryeon to cheer her up.
"Mang mang-! Mang mang-!"
"Such an impressive tail speed, Mangmung. You might fly into the sky at this rate."
Huff huff-! "Mang mang-!"
Mangmung spun its tail furiously and came back with a watering can in its mouth.
Cho-ryeon took the watering can and watered the plants.
"Mang mang-!"
Mangmung clapped like a seal toward Cho-ryeon.
No matter how down Cho-ryeon was, Mangmung was determined to get her up.
If she gave up on watering the plants, it wouldn't be Cho-ryeon anymore.
"Mang mang-!"
"Good job, Mangmung. Let's head back to the living room."
"Mang mang-! Mang mang-!"
Mangmung nodded and dashed to the living room.
Then, it dragged out the vacuum and started cleaning the area.
It figured clearing the dirty trash around was the priority.
Trash bins only think about trash, after all.
"Mang mang-!"
For the sake of its owners struggling without Dad.
Mangmung rolled up its sleeves and got to work.
Because without them, it would have been eating roadside trash.
"As expected, Mangmung is so smart. Good job, Mangmung."
"Mang mang-!!"
Mangmung thought now was the time to repay them.
It was Mangmung who stepped up when the owners were down.
***
Lethargy spirits had descended on the Dragon's Nest.
"Hey, Lee Su-ryeon! Come out and eat! I made fried eggs!"
"I smell burning. Not eating."
"I went to the trouble! This pisses me off!"
Bang-!
Lethargy Spirit No. 1.
Lee Su-ryeon.
Hwa-ryeon sighed as she faced her.
"All you do is lie in bed! What the hell are you even doing!"
Whoosh-
Then Hwa-ryeon looked at Lethargy Spirit No. 2, Cho-ryeon.
Cho-ryeon was staring piercingly at her sleeping dad, holding Mangmung in her arms.
"Staring like that won't make Dad finish shedding faster!!"
"...It might end faster."
"It absolutely won't! So come eat!"
"No thanks, I'm not eating. I'll eat when Father opens his eyes."
Stubborn refusal from Lethargy Spirit No. 2.
Hwa-ryeon was furious to the top of her head at their lethargic states.
"Hoo... What am I even talking to you idiots about! Forget it!"
Whoosh-
But she held back and headed to the table alone.
She figured fighting in this situation wouldn't help.
"If you had the will to fight, sure! But in that state, it'd be no fun!"
She didn't want to fight these lethargic idiots.
With that, Hwa-ryeon started eating.
"I did it just like the internet said...! Damn..."
Rice that turned into mush from bad water control.
Fried eggs that were misshapen and burnt from a failed flip.
Hwa-ryeon shoved the food into her mouth.
"...It tastes bad. Even I made it, but it's too bad!"
She thought she'd like it since she made it herself.
But cooking was too hard.
Too high heat and the food burns instantly; follow the internet and it still comes out weird.
"How does Dad do this every day?"
A scruffy-bearded dummy dad.
How did he handle such complicated cooking so well?
Suddenly, Hwa-ryeon felt Lee Ha-jun was a giant.
"At first, his cooking wasn't even that good! But at some point, it got tasty! Is it the hour he spends cooking?"
If so.
"Well, if a dragon like me cooks, I can't lose to Dad! This is my victory!"
Muahaha-!
Hwa-ryeon celebrated her predicted win.
"I'll win all the way to the end anyway!"
With that, Hwa-ryeon started devouring the rest of the rice.
No matter how bad it tasted, you couldn't waste food.
"They say in hell, you have to mix and eat all the leftovers! I don't want that!"
She practically never died, so hell wasn't likely anyway.
But Hwa-ryeon didn't want to go, so she forced down the rest.
"Ugh, finally finished!"
Her stomach wasn't full.
But Hwa-ryeon cleared the table and carried all the dishes to the sink.
"Hmph, there sure are a lot of dishes! What to do?"
Look around- Look around-
Hwa-ryeon scanned the room and found a suitable target.
"Mangmung!"
"Mang?"
"Come hewe!"
Grab-!
Mangmung, brought from the sleeping Cho-ryeon's arms.
Hwa-ryeon placed a chair in front of the sink and stood Mangmung on it.
"Agent Mangmung! I'm giving you a special mission!"
"Mang-?"
"Complete this mission, and I'll make you an employee of Dragon Ranger!"
"Mang...?"
What's that?
Mangmung didn't seem particularly interested in becoming a Dragon Ranger.
But that didn't matter.
"I make the decisions! So hurry up and do the dishes!"
"Mang..."
"Refuse, and I'll eat you! Raaargh-!"
"Ma, mang mang...!!"
At Hwa-ryeon's threat, Mangmung immediately started washing dishes.
Hwa-ryeon smiled in satisfaction.
"Hmph, that's more like it!"
With that, she headed to the living room.
Gurgle-
"...Did I eat too little?"
Hwa-ryeon looked at Lee Ha-jun lying in the living room.
She never realized cooking was this hard normally.
But with Dad unable to move, this was her chance to truly understand.
"...Dad's food was tasty. And making it every day must be tough."
She missed it.
She missed the dinners Dad made every day.
She missed Dad's delicious meals.
Because she was still too young and didn't know how.
"...Ah, no! I can do it! Don't let lethargy spirits stick to me!"
Shake shake-!
Hwa-ryeon swung her fists in the air, shaking off the lethargy spirits.
"I can do it! Nothing's impossible!"
Let's go-!
Hwa-ryeon reignited her resolve.
"I'm Red Dragon Hwa-ryeon! Eldest Hwa-ryeon! I won't break!"
She wouldn't be lethargic like the other dummies.
Hwa-ryeon shouted confidently.
To fill Dad's absence as much as possible while he was gone.
It was the fate of the eldest, one could say.
"Raaargh-! Bring it all on-!"
Hwa-ryeon never backed down.