Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Peok peok peok.
Beating my own waist with my fists like crazy, I barely raised my head and looked ahead. There, as if proving that the pain from a moment ago was definitely not a dream, a blonde little girl actually existed.
A world where even kind people commit fraud.
I had learned dozens of times that you shouldn't judge people by their looks alone, but at first glance, she looked like a troublemaker with a bit of a temper.
The only redeeming thing was that she had smoother skin and more beautiful features than any child I had ever seen.
Blonde hair and blue eyes.
An ideal balance straight out of a fairy tale, with flowing golden hair that seemed woven from threads of gold.
If there was something unusual...
"Ears, ears!"
Her ears were incredibly sharp and long, no lie. No matter how I looked at it, they weren't human ears.
"......Doh't look!"
Whether it was because she had a short tongue or because Korean was difficult for her.
The little girl in front of me naturally spoke with a lisp.
[Keep in mind.]
[The better parent you become, the stronger my blessing will be, and the worse you treat those pitiful children, the more the blessing can disappear at any time.]
That bitch still hasn't left?
[Always, everywhere, I will be watching you.]
Total stalker.
Anyway.
"What do you want me to do?"
I picked up my pants and put them on while looking at the little girl in front of me.
It's not like I personally knocked someone up and fathered her.
Even though I've worked as a host all this time and have cum inside many women's vaginas or had a shit ton of sex,
I had never gotten anyone pregnant even once.
Because I was thorough about that.
"Usually, fathers say that if you have a daughter, you wouldn't hurt her even if you put her in your eye."
Why do my testicles tremble just from looking at the little girl in front of me?
No joke, seriously.
"Is it because she's not my biological child?"
Maybe because I've been alone for a long time, and because being a host isn't just about sex—it's a job where you live off your words.
I had a habit of blurting out my thoughts like a broadcaster.
The problem was that normally it wouldn't matter, but now there was a child next to me who could understand what I was saying.
"......Hate u-u."
"Huh?"
"Dis-disgusting! I to-tally hate guys like you!"
Peoeok!
"Keoheoeeook!"
Hit again with a critical hit punch that struck my testicles precisely, my back bent over, and I felt drool flowing from my mouth as I had to blankly watch the blonde girl run to the corner of this narrow studio apartment.
That fucking little brat is trying to kill me... not once but twice, hitting my precious ones.
[How can you say such things while the child is watching!]
No, just go already!
How long are you going to keep watching.
From what you said earlier, you made it sound like you'd go far away immediately. But you've been stuck right next to me all day long.
[I can't leave because I'm anxious watching what you're doing! Do you know how busy I am!]
"Fuck, I didn't say anything wrong."
Lately, my life has been on a downward spiral, so I've been suppressing my temper to get by.
As I always say, I'm a person far from being kind or good.
It's not for nothing that I call myself trash.
"Did I say something wrong? She's not my biological child, and I'm really fucking grateful for the blessing. But suddenly being told to be a parent, how can I become a good parent overnight? What even is a good parent in the first place?"
I've never even experienced what good parents are myself, so what do you want from me?
Or should I call people like my parents good parents?
I have never once felt grateful to my parents for giving birth to me.
If they were going to give birth to me, they should have done it with a golden spoon in my mouth.
Being born with a dirt spoon was already not something to be thankful for.
"What do you want me to do about it."
[Well...]
Well?
[...That's a problem you'll have to solve on your own.]
Look at her, she can't even answer properly because she's in trouble herself.
In the end, it's up to me to figure it out.
"Hey, testicle murderer."
I called out to the little girl who had her back turned to me and was burying her face in the corner of the moldy studio apartment.
"Still, we should at least exchange names, right? What's your name? I'm Kim Hyun-woo. Hey, excuse me? I asked what your name is."
"......What's the point of knowing that."
Is she still hung up on what I said earlier?
Kids really are annoying animals.
If it weren't for that blessing that could cure my erectile dysfunction, I would have kicked that brat out long ago.
"Oh, alright, alright. I'm sorry. I guess I misspoke."
"Don't come clos-ser!"
Chalsak.
I stretched out my hand to apologize with the best of intentions, but seeing the girl coldly slap it away, I couldn't help but get a little angry too.
I'm the one who got hit in my precious parts twice, and now when I try to be kind, she rejects me first.
"......"
A son of a bitch would be better.
I swallowed back the words that almost burst out in anger and let out a deep sigh.
"Ah, fuck."
I just muttered in frustration like I usually do, for no reason.
I saw the body of the little girl buried in the corner flinch greatly.
Watching her, I felt like I was the only one who was a dirty bastard, which made me uncomfortable and annoyed.
I was clearly trying to be nice, wasn't I?
It was the other party who didn't accept it, so what more do you want me to do? It's not like I'm her slave.
"Gulp, gulp!"
Feeling frustrated for no reason, I took out water from the fridge and drank it while putting a cigarette in my mouth.
Chik, chiik.
I lit it and took a cool puff like usual, and I felt a little more alive.
"Phew... let me clear my head like this."
"Cough, cough!"
That was when.
In this damn narrow studio apartment, I hadn't even blown the smoke in the girl's direction, but the ventilation was so shitty that the smoke circled around and stabbed her nose.
The harsh smoke made the girl burst into coughs, and witnessing that, I clicked my tongue and quickly stubbed out the cigarette into a paper cup that had become like a hedgehog.
"Fuck, cigarette prices these days... can't even smoke properly."
I thought that I should return to being a host right away and earn money so I could escape from this damn studio apartment.
After putting out the cigarette, an awkward silence filled the studio apartment again.
"......"
No lie, it was a silence that choked off your breath.
What do you want me to do, seriously.
'It would be much more refreshing to just go out and look for a new host bar. Oh, that sounds good. Go out and smoke some fresh air too.'
Just as I was thinking that and about to stand up.
Kkeu-euk, kkeoreureuk.
"......"
Before I could even tilt my head wondering if I misheard, the sound came again.
The studio apartment was damn small and had no soundproofing, so the sound echoed very loudly.
Kkeoreureureureureuk...
I confirmed that the source of the sound was the moldy corner, specifically the girl's stomach, and asked.
"Are you hungry?"
"Sh-shut up... not hungry."
The way this kid talks.
Ah, she said she was over 140 years old, didn't she?
Kkeoreureureuk.
"Definitely hungry."
Ewoo.
I let out a small sigh and stood up.
I wondered if there was any food left at home.
Since my life started going downhill, I didn't remember putting anything in this cramped studio.
Ddak.
I checked the fridge and the cupboard, but as expected, all I found were two small cup noodles at best.
"At least there's this."
To break the awkward silence, I played music on my phone.
The song was Chopin's Nocturne.
Specifically No. 20.
It was a posthumous work discovered after Chopin's death, a classical piece known to have been composed when Chopin left his homeland and arrived in Vienna, Austria.
The reason I, with my lousy head, specifically knew this was because there was a woman among my clients who was crazy about classical orchestras.
To open up conversation with that woman over drinks and build a connection, I needed to study things like this.
And as I studied, naturally my ears also became accustomed to classical music.
Honestly, it's true that classical music is good as sleep music.
"......"
The song, Nocturne No. 20, was not too cheerful but rather had a strong sense of loneliness and pathos, and the girl's trembling seemed to calm down a little.
Bogeul bogeul.
In that calmness, the water in the kettle slowly began to boil.
I quickly added an appropriate amount of water to both cup noodles.
The greatness of instant cup noodles lies in the speed at which they are ready.
Not long after, I confirmed that the noodles had softened appropriately, gently loosened both cup noodles, and called out to the girl who was still wary of me and buried in the corner.
"Hey, eat."
"I-it's fine... I don't need to eat."
"Is that so?"
With a 'tuk,' I opened the lids completely and brought the steaming cup noodles close to the girl, waving them around.
I saw the girl's nose twitch and her head automatically follow the movement.
Seeing that, I naturally let out a laugh.
She's definitely a child after all.
"Eeek!"
As if embarrassed by her own actions, the girl jumped up and down with a bright red face.
I sat cross-legged in front of her and quietly held out the cup noodles.
"Hey, I'm annoyed by you too. I'm not a good enough person to take care of a child who suddenly appeared. But what can you do? Ah, but you might not know that since you're a child."
There are things like that for adults.
What can't be helped, can't be helped.
You have to accept what you have to accept.
"Anyway, from now on, I have to take care of you for both of us to survive. In that sense, we're already family, family."
"......"
Watching the girl flinch at the word 'family' made my mouth feel bitter for no reason.
Looking closely, it wasn't just her stomach—she seemed starved in many other ways.
Why is she so fierce?
"I don't know about other things, but one thing I learned from my parents is that everything is about making a living. A ghost that died with a full stomach looks better. Haven't you heard that?"
"What's that supposed to mean..."
"It means that no matter what, let's not let our stomachs go empty. Even though I've ended up like this, I don't starve to the point where my stomach sticks to my back like you. I know it's just cup noodles, and it might seem like I'm trying to show off, but I'm not giving this to you expecting anything in return. Once I start working as a host again and doing well, I can feed you plenty of things way tastier than this."
I just spoke a little kindly, like I would to a host bar customer, but the girl's wariness had softened a lot compared to before.
Just when I thought everything was settled after handing her the cup noodles,
"Kkyaaeeut!"
Teolgeureok.
"Hey!"
As soon as she received the cup noodles, the girl couldn't handle the heat and spilled them on the floor.
But what was even more surprising was the girl's reaction in that situation.
Even though it must have been very hot and painful, she was watching my reaction.
"You..."
In that moment, feeling a strange surge of emotion, I was about to say something but quickly picked up the girl upon seeing her thin fingers turning bright red and ran to the sink.
Sswaaaaa.
While quietly holding the girl and washing her fingers, I felt that her weight was so light that I doubted whether someone was actually in my arms.
"Fucking..."
For no reason, a curse word slipped out without me realizing it.