Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Dragon Search (1)
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Dragons and peaceful daily life on a certain day.
An unidentified large box had been delivered to the front door.
"That's weird. Packages don't come around here. Who sent this?"
There was no sender information.
Judging by how it was left in front of my house, it was definitely a package for me.
I picked up the box and placed it on the dining table.
"I wonder what's inside."
"Hey, Dad! What's that?!"
This kid with ghost-like timing.
Hwaryeon approached me, full of curiosity about the box.
More importantly, can 'hey' and 'Dad' really coexist in the same sentence?
I'd just learned something new.
Anyway.
I tapped the package with my hand and began explaining.
"Hwaryeon. This box is called a delivery."
"Delivery?"
"Yeah. It's a very convenient service where you put things in a box and send them to someone else."
"So that means there's something inside?! I'm curious, so open it quick!"
"…You're not even Korean, so why are you so impatient?"
Hwaryeon wagged her tail furiously, dying to know what was inside.
I was curious too, so I tore open the box right away.
Rip-!
I peeled off the tape and opened the box.
"Oh?"
Inside were all sorts of frozen foods I hadn't expected.
"Chicken breast. Protein fried rice. Salad. Grilled mackerel. Sports drinks…"
All high-protein foods for diet management.
Who the hell sent this?
Did I already get a fan?
'I haven't even made a signature yet. This is awkward.'
That question was answered by a small note enclosed in the box.
-We sincerely welcome your passing of the Hero Qualification Exam. We determined there were issues with your diet from the exam results, so please maintain a steady intake of nutrient-rich meals. If you need anything else, please contact us.
Hero Association.
My new workplace had sent these high-protein meals as a welfare perk.
I hadn't even gone in once, but I was already feeling a surge of loyalty.
"Nice, nice. This month's food budget will have some leftover."
"Dad! Is that meat? I want meat! Give me meat!"
"You just ate. No. Dinner time."
"Tch."
Hwaryeon clicked her tongue with a face full of dissatisfaction.
But this time, she gave up without throwing a tantrum on the floor.
She was probably saving her ultimate move.
I took the frozen foods and put them one by one into the fridge.
"Now that I'm paying the electric bill, things feel a bit more livable."
Last month, I was short on cash, so the electric bill was overdue.
But this month, Gu Bong-gu took less money, and I didn't pay the gas or water bills.
So I was able to pay off the overdue electric bill in full.
"The bio purifier and bio gas range really pulled their weight."
If I get the chance, I should give the airplane and boat vents some air.
As I was thinking about rewarding them for their great work.
Suryeon approached me with her usual expressionless face.
She stood in front of me and opened her small mouth.
"House owner. I have something to say."
"Yeah, go ahead. What's up?"
Suryeon pointed at my pocket with her finger.
"The smartphone in your pocket. Give it to me."
"Smartphone?"
"Yeah."
Suryeon held out her hand, asking for my smartphone.
Asking for the smartphone out of nowhere.
I couldn't help but hesitate a little.
"Hmm, a smartphone…"
"No?"
"It's not that. Why do you want the smartphone?"
"I saw humans using smartphones on TV. Most humans use them. So I want to try it too."
In short, she wanted to understand humans better.
Suryeon was probably asking to borrow it for that reason.
No real need to refuse if that's the case.
"I'll lend it to you for a bit. But don't press anything weird."
"…What do you take me for? I'm a dragon. I won't do anything strange."
"You look like you might."
"…I won't. Don't doubt a dragon."
Suryeon furrowed her brow, her pride hurt.
"Got it. I won't doubt you. Take it and play."
"…"
Suryeon snatched the smartphone and turned away coldly.
Before heading to her designated corner spot, she asked me.
"But why is Hwaryeon calling the house owner 'Dad'? What happened?"
"Uh, it's a long story. Just a lot of stuff happened."
"…So that's why Hwaryeon started calling the house owner 'Dad'?"
"Well, you could say that."
Temporary dad for now.
But you could say that day was the trigger.
"…I see."
Suryeon took that answer and sat in the corner, picking up the smartphone.
For some reason, her face looked incredibly complicated.
"Is Suryeon in a bad mood today? Choryeon."
"Yes, Father!"
"Do you know why Suryeon is acting like that today?"
"Hmm…!"
Choryeon thought for a moment, then smiled brightly.
"I don't know! She seems the same as always?"
"So you're saying Suryeon always has a bad mood face?"
"Yes, isn't that right?"
"…"
Choryeon tilted her head innocently, clueless.
"I thought she had a bad mood face every day… Guess not!"
Her bright face and words that weren't.
Choryeon might be even scarier than I thought.
I need to be careful too.
***
"Hmm…"
Suryeon tapped away diligently at the smartphone.
But she couldn't focus on it easily.
Because her worries weren't resolved.
"Hmm, Hwaryeon hated the house owner the most. How did she suddenly start calling him 'Dad'?"
When the hell did those two get so close?
What happened while I wasn't looking?
Choryeon aside, even Hwaryeon acting like that.
I don't like it.
'I hate that things happen without me knowing. And we're dragons. We need pride and dignity. That's not dragon-like.'
Bad mood.
But her head understood to some extent.
Things can happen without you knowing.
And the house owner is a decent human, better than expected.
'I saw the house owner working hard last time. I even wanted to help. But he's not someone I can fully trust. He tried to break his promise.'
Still, trying to break a promise doesn't make him all bad.
He worries about our meals every day, yields food to us as much as possible, keeps showing concern.
'But trusting humans is hard, and dragons sticking together raises survival chances… Ugh, I don't know.'
Her head got it.
But her heart wouldn't follow.
So to resolve this frustration, Suryeon grabbed the smartphone.
"I'll dig up everything about the house owner. No secrets left from me."
She needed to know exactly what kind of person Yi Ha-joon was.
"I'll see it with my own eyes and learn enough to convince myself."
Otherwise, no way she'd accept it.
Suryeon tapped the smartphone, recalling words from a human on TV.
-Even as the world grows chaotic, people don't let go of their smartphones. The smartphone has become a person's double, containing everything about them. It's their persona itself.
Some human said smartphones and humans are one and the same.
The essence of humans swallowed up in the smartphone.
So Suryeon decided to properly investigate Yi Ha-joon.
"What should I press first? Contacts. Need to know who he's close to."
To see what humans he formed relationships with.
She opened contacts and checked the names.
"Hmm, Gu Bong-gu… Office manager Jo Hyun-gyu… Cranky old lady… Just three…"
No way.
That's it?
Suryeon widened her eyes in surprise.
"Most humans have over 50 contacts on average, but the house owner only has three…"
Does the house owner have no family or friends?
Makes sense. He always comes back late from work.
No way he'd have friends.
"Unlike dragons, humans need friends and get lonely easily. The house owner is fascinating in many ways."
More intriguing than sad.
It meant he was different from ordinary humans.
Dragons tended to be interested in special humans over average ones.
"House owner has no friends. Got it. Next info…"
Suryeon pressed for the next info.
But maybe because her hands were small.
She accidentally clicked the wrong spot.
Beep- Beep- Beep-
"…How do I turn this off?"
She'd hit the call button by mistake.
Suryeon rolled her eyes, trying to end the call.
But Suryeon was good at deep thinking, not quick reactions.
"End… Need to end it… Where is it…"
-What the hell, calling this late and messing around. Yi Ha-joon.
"…"
A gruff middle-aged voice from the smartphone.
The name on screen was Gu Bong-gu.
Suryeon glanced at Yi Ha-joon, sweat dripping.
Glance-
"House owner is cleaning the fridge…"
Plenty of time to fix this.
Suryeon turned her gaze back to the smartphone she'd messed up.
-Hey, if you called, say something. You messing with me now?
"…This voice is the human who hit the house owner."
-What? Voice too small, can't hear. More importantly, did you pass the exam? How'd it go?
"…Why is this human acting friendly after hitting the house owner?"
Zap-
As far as she knew.
The house owner and this guy weren't on good terms.
No way he'd be friendly with someone who hit him.
Suryeon recalled Gu Bong-gu on the other end and shot back sharply.
"Human, don't act unnecessarily friendly."
-What? Kid's voice? You're not Yi Ha-joon. Who are you?
"You know nothing about the house owner. Don't pretend to be close."
-What? Hey, who the-
Tap tap tap-
Suryeon said that and rapidly tapped the screen.
So fast her hands blurred.
She hit extra spots uselessly, but the call ended normally.
"Whew, barely handled it."
Suryeon wiped cold sweat and sighed in relief.
Then picked up the smartphone again to search for Yi Ha-joon info.
Because she hadn't fully understood him yet.
"Next, search history maybe."
What info would come up next.
Suryeon was starting to enjoy using the smartphone.
She had a strong desire to gather info.
Even if the target was human.
"I'll uncover everything."
Click-