A Dragon's Quest for Employment, Part 2
Flare began learning the ropes at the cafe the very next day. Lately, she found herself eating out much more often.
About a week into her training, Silvere called Flare over to the counter.
"Flare? Could you come to the counter for a moment? What you asked for last time arrived today."
Hearing those words, Flare quickly finished what she was doing and rushed over.
"Ooh~ You mean the bank account and card I asked for? Is it in this envelope?"
"Yes, that's right. There are actually two cards. One is for public use, which supports international payments, and the other... do you know what a Black Card is?"
"What's that?"
"It's a card with no limit. Since it was pure gold, the President figured transferring such a massive sum directly would be risky in many ways, so he had this Black Card issued for you."
"It was roughly 200 kilograms, which comes out to about 41 billion won. He asked me to let you know that since it's too much money to move all at once, they'll be depositing it into your account in installments. I hope you understand?"
"To think just two 100-kilogram bars of pure gold could fetch that much. Gold really is a precious resource here."
"Well, it has so many industrial and financial uses that its high value is practically inevitable."
As she spoke, Silvere pulled a business card from her wallet and handed it to Flare.
"Also, the President left his personal number. You should save it too, Flare."
"Who knows? You might need to contact him sometime."
"I'll save it for now."
Following Silvere's advice, she saved the number. Well, maybe it would come in handy someday.
"Anyway, I'll take the bankbook and the cards."
"Just so you know, there's already 2 billion won in the account."
"Got it. Now, let's get back to work."
She had a feeling today was going to be a good day.
After finishing her shift at the cafe, Flare was walking down the street in the dead of night.
Sniffle, sniffle... Waaah!
Just then, she caught the faint sound of a child crying coming from an alleyway.
It was so quiet that anyone without a dragon's keen hearing would have missed it entirely.
"A child crying? Where? I definitely heard it around here..."
She turned into the first alley. Nothing.
She tried the second alley. Still nothing.
She stepped into the third alley.
Waaah!
Found her. It was a little girl with sky-blue hair. Why was she crying here? Flare decided to approach her.
"Hey there, little one. Why are you crying all by yourself?"
As Flare approached and spoke, the girl stopped crying, startled, and scrambled backward in fear.
Hic!
"It's okay. I heard you crying and came to help. Won't you trust me?"
"D-Don't come any closer!"
She was highly on guard. Still, looking at the state of her clothes and her physical condition, she hadn't been out here for more than a day.
First, Flare needed to put her at ease.
"I'm sorry. I won't come any closer. But could you tell me why you're here?"
The girl hesitated, fidgeting, and only opened her mouth after ten minutes had passed.
"Um... this morning, Mommy and Daddy told me to wait here for a little bit. They gave me some candy, but... I finished all of it, and they still haven't come back. I was scared."
Flare understood what had happened. Dragons were no exception, but humans, too, seemed to have very similar ways of abandoning their young.
If there was a difference, it was the survival rate. Even if a dragon hatchling was abandoned, they were born dragons, so they survived well enough on their own.
Assuming they weren't hunted down, of course.
But humans were different. They didn't possess resilient bodies like dragons, and eating the wrong thing could easily kill them.
She knew there were facilities here for abandoned children. Should she send her to one of those?
Just in case, she asked.
"Do you have absolutely nowhere else to go?"
The girl nodded slowly.
A strange sense of familiarity washed over Flare, though she couldn't quite place the memory.
Perhaps that was why she made the offer.
"Then... do you want to come to my house?"
Only after the words left her mouth did she realize.
"Ah."
Back when she was shivering in rags under the rain in that alleyway, Hyun had made the exact same offer to her.
Maybe living with him for over a month has rubbed off on me.
Had she grown to resemble his kind nature, or were their true dispositions simply similar to begin with?
Silvere's words about Hyun being far too soft-hearted felt like a double-edged sword that was now piercing Flare as well.
But so what? She would just help the girl. It seemed she really was cut from the same cloth as him.
Flare resolved to open her heart just a little bit more to Hyun from now on.
Min-ah stared at the red-haired woman who had just asked, "Do you want to come to my house?"
At a glance, she looked like a high school girl in her teens, and she was far more beautiful than any of those famous celebrities.
Yet, rather than marveling at her beauty, Min-ah found it hard to hold back her sorrow and tears. Why did I have to be abandoned like this?
She knew. She was eight years old, old enough to understand that her parents not returning for this long meant she had been abandoned—just like the stories she had read in fairy tales.
Perhaps that was why she accepted the offer.
"Is it... really okay if I go with you?"
When she asked, the older sister smiled warmly.
"Of course it is. As long as I'm taking you with me, I'll take responsibility for you so you'll never be abandoned again."
At those words, the tears and sorrow Min-ah had been desperately holding back finally burst forth.
"Waaah!"
The older sister pulled her into a tight embrace and spoke gently.
"There, there. It's going to be okay now. I'm here. And if not me, that guy will take care of you too."
Why am I like this? She's a stranger... Is the sorrow of being abandoned really this terrifying?
Even wrapped in the arms of a stranger, she couldn't forget the warmth.
Though she felt quite embarrassed, she ended up crying herself to sleep.
And when she woke up, she was inside an unfamiliar house.
Flare gently adjusted the little girl, who had cried herself to sleep in her arms, into a more comfortable position.
How sorrowful she must have been. To fall asleep crying in a stranger's arms, she must have been utterly terrified.
The fear of abandonment was no different for dragons than it was for humans.
At least dragons could survive on their own, whereas here, it was practically impossible for a child to live without help.
"You must have been so scared. I'll take responsibility for you now, just like he did for me."
With those words, Flare cradled the girl comfortably and carried her back home.
Only when she reached the entrance of the building did she realize she had brought a child home without saying a single word to Hyun.
How should I explain this to him? She pondered for a moment, but thinking about how the child must have been starving since morning, she decided to leave the explanations for later.
When she unlocked the door and stepped inside, Hyun greeted her warmly, but his expression shifted subtly the moment he looked at her.
"Flare? Is that... a little girl you're holding...?"
"Yeah. Her parents abandoned her this morning and vanished. I heard her crying on my way back, and when I looked, she was crying in a secluded alleyway."
"And it looks like she hasn't eaten anything all day. We need to feed her."
Abandoned by her parents? To think there were still people like that nowadays. He couldn't understand why anyone would leave a child in an alley, but feeding her was the top priority.
"Alright, keep an eye on her. I'll whip up something quick."
While Hyun rummaged through the refrigerator looking for something to feed her, the little girl opened her eyes.
Still cradled in Flare's arms, the girl looked around. Spotting Flare, she buried her face deeper into her chest.
Then, she asked where they were.
"Where are we...?"
"You're finally awake. Aren't you hungry?"
Seeing her awake, the older sister asked if she was hungry. Min-ah was about to say she wasn't, but right at that moment—
Her stomach let out a loud growl.
Growl!
"Ugh... that's so embarrassing... Please pretend you didn't hear that..."
With a bright red face, Min-ah pleaded, but the sound had already echoed through the house. Just then, a man walked out of the kitchen holding some food.
"Yeoreum, looks like she's awake. Put her on the sofa. I brought some food, so feed her a bit."
The man called the older sister 'Yeoreum'. It seemed that was her name.
They seemed very close. It looked like they lived together in this house.
"Is your name Yeoreum, Unni?"
When she asked, the older sister smiled and replied.
"Yep, that's right. Han Yeoreum. What's your name? It's a bit awkward not knowing what to call you."
"I'm Han Min-ah. Um... can I eat that?"
Min-ah asked, staring at the food on the table.
"Hmm? Of course. Let me feed you. You must be exhausted from all that crying."
It was embarrassing. Having such a beautiful older sister feed her wasn't bad, but she still felt shy.
"N-No, it's okay. I can eat with my hands."
Saying so, she picked up a cream bread from the plate and took a bite.
One bite, two bites, three, four... and it vanished in the blink of an eye.
While she was eating, she could feel both the older sister and the man who had brought the bread watching her with warm, pleased smiles.
"Um, it's embarrassing when you stare like that..."
"Is it okay if I call you Min-ah?"
"Yes. You saved me, Unni, so please call me that."
"And this guy with me is Kim Hyun. We live together. Well, technically, I'm the one freeloading here."
"Tell me when you're done eating. I'll help you wash up, okay?"
Once Min-ah finished eating, the older sister carried her into the bathroom, gently took off her clothes, and washed her with warm water.
"You were already pretty, but now that you're all clean, you're absolutely adorable."
"For now, let's wear this. I got some children's pajamas as a free gift."
(They were pajamas that a clerk had secretly slipped in as a free gift when Flare went clothes shopping, having mistaken her and Hyun for a couple.)
The older sister dressed her in the pajamas. Min-ah wondered why they fit so perfectly, though.
"They look great on you. Shall we go to bed now? You can sleep with me in my bed."
"We're a bit short on rooms, so you'll have to share mine for the time being. Sorry about that."
"No... it's okay. Thanks to you, Unni, I have a place to sleep. Thank you."
As she said this, the older sister tucked her into bed, pulled up the blanket, and began to gently stroke her hair.
Whether it was the soothing touch or just because she liked the older sister, a yawn escaped her lips in no time.
Yaaawn...
Her eyes fluttered shut. Just before she drifted off to sleep, she heard the older sister's voice.
"Goodnight, Min-ah."
