Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 150
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 150
“Then, it wasn’t because we have different mothers that Hyung hated me, right? I really have confidence that I won’t get in Hyung’s way…”
“…”
“Thank you for coming to get me, Hyung.”
Baek Cheonji clenched both fists tightly.
The words he squeezed out with all his courage barely managed to form complete sentences.
However, his hyung did not respond to this.
“…”
For a moment, he stiffened frighteningly… Then it seemed like he consciously relaxed his expression.
Baek Cheonji didn’t notice this quick change in Baek Cheonhyeong’s expression.
Instead… A little later, he just smiled brightly while watching his hyung slowly nod his head.
‘Hyung didn’t get angry, and he even said sorry to me…’
That fact alone was enough.
He didn’t know his hyung’s true feelings, but…
The fact that he came to get him.
At least he confirmed that his hyung didn’t hate him.
-Clatter.
“Now, we’ve resolved the urgent matter, so let’s eat first.”
Later, when Teacher returned with lunch boxes, Baek Cheonji no longer had a chance to talk alone with his hyung.
“Teacher, why are you here?”
“Teacher also came to find Cheonji, following your hyung.”
“Ah…! Then what about me, what about Nabi?”
“Nabi~ is probably at home eating snacks right now, don’t you think?”
“I see… I thought Nabi came with Teacher too. Since they’re brothers…”
After saying that, Baek Cheonji reflexively glanced to the side.
“?”
Then he saw his hyung, who hadn’t even touched his lunch box.
‘Does the food not taste good…’
But after that, he was too busy listening to Teacher tell him about ‘the process of finding him’ to pay attention.
Thanks to Na Hwi-yeon’s amazing storytelling skills, the survival variety show suffering expedition journal was instantly transformed into an ‘exciting adventure with magic’…
Innocent Baek Cheonji listened intently to the fantastic adventure story of his hyung and teacher, completely unaware.
“We met bad robbers on the train, and Cheonji’s hyung coolly went like this and like that-!”
“W-wow…!”
“…”
Baek Cheonji, who was listening to such an exciting story that made his palms sweat, lost track of time.
Before he knew it, it had grown dark outside the window, showing scenery somewhere between late autumn and early summer.
He had been so absorbed in the story, but at some point he realized he had fallen asleep.
“…”
When he regained consciousness, it was a quiet night when everyone seemed to be asleep.
Baek Cheonji deliberately didn’t open his eyes and lay still.
He could feel his hyung’s presence right next to him, and a stiff business suit jacket was carefully placed over his body.
He squeezed his eyes shut tighter.
The surroundings were quiet. With his eyes closed, even small sounds seemed louder.
The sound of grass brushing against the window.
The sound of wind.
The sound of blankets rustling.
And…
“Baek Cheonji.”
…Hyung’s voice?
‘Huh?!’
Just when he thought he might have heard wrong, the calm voice continued flowing without stopping.
“You’re right. The mothers who gave birth to you and me are different.”
Baek Cheonji held his breath at this unexpected story.
“But I don’t know where you heard such things… You don’t need to worry about that.”
“…”
“I decided long ago to think of my stepmother as my real mother, and that thought hasn’t changed until now. And separately from that.”
He felt fingers stroking his hair.
He almost flinched and moved, but Baek Cheonji clasped his hands together and stayed as still as possible.
‘Hyung doesn’t seem to know I’m awake!’
“…I decided to think of you as my younger brother from the moment you were born. Honestly, yes, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t confused.”
…Hyung doesn’t lie.
This was one of the few pieces of information Baek Cheonji knew about his hyung.
Others might think Baek Cheonhyeong would shamelessly tease people without batting an eye, but…
‘Hyung hates lying.’
-“Baek Cheonji, just don’t lie.”
Once when he had secretly eaten candy and only got caught by his hyung, that’s what his hyung said instead of scolding him.
And Secretary hyung had told him too…
-“Ah, the CEO really hates lies. And when someone lies to him, should I say he knows like a ghost? Just looking at him, he looks like he’d tell all kinds of lies… So that’s how you got caught eating candy right there?”
Therefore, what his hyung was saying now wasn’t a lie… it wasn’t.
‘It’s the truth.’
Baek Cheonji swallowed hard.
“In the end, I acknowledged that I had gained a brother. Because that’s a clear fact.”
The touch brushing through his hair was affectionate.
“And brothers can’t be a hindrance to each other. You’re not my hindrance, you’re family I need to protect.”
-“Then, it wasn’t because we have different mothers that Hyung hated me, right? I really have confidence that I won’t get in Hyung’s way…”
“I don’t hate you. Rather, I like you…”
Through his closed eyelids, tears unknowingly welled up.
“Thank you for coming back, Cheonji.”
“…!”
-“Thank you for coming to get me, Hyung.”
Only then did Baek Cheonji realize he had been feeling hurt.
-“Then, it wasn’t because we have different mothers that Hyung hated me, right? I really have confidence that I won’t get in Hyung’s way…”
Seeing his hyung not refute those words… it seemed like his hyung was acknowledging it.
But, but it wasn’t true.
Because just now his hyung had given him a clean denial and clear reassurance.
Baek Cheonji’s excessive obsession with his role and achievements had started from his admiration for Baek Cheonhyeong, but deep down, anxiety always lurked.
The underlying belief was that only by being an exemplary and good younger brother would his hyung think of him as a brother.
It was the kind of thinking a child would have to receive attention and love.
However.
‘Not anymore.’
Hyung doesn’t hate me.
Hyung likes me.
‘He just likes me. Because I’m his younger brother.’
Baek Cheonji maintained his act of sleeping while wiggling closer to Baek Cheonhyeong.
Then he grabbed his hand that was quietly resting beside the seat and closed his eyes.
Only then did drowsiness pour over him along with relief.
Before losing consciousness, Jeon’s words flashed through his mind.
When he had asked ‘Would Hyung want to see me?’, Jeon had answered in a firm voice.
-“Cheonji, your hyung really wants to see you. I saw it.”
‘Jeon was right.’
***
The next day, I faced the Baek brothers whose atmosphere had subtly changed.
“Hyung, eat this.”
“Yeah, you eat quickly too.”
A noticeably softened atmosphere.
The way they looked after each other without being burdensome was even somewhat heartwarming.
‘After having that kind of conversation last night, it’s understandable.’
Though it was closer to Baek Cheonhyeong’s one-sided confession.
For reference, I was lying down in the seat next to them and heard everything Baek Cheonhyeong said last night.
‘I secretly listened, but that’s fine for me.’
Who do you think coached all of that?
‘I did!’
In the morning, I went out to clean up the mess Baek Cheonhyeong had made, partly to give the two some space to talk alone.
‘What I had to do to pay damages for that bastard tearing off the door.’
I actually sold Nabi’s most precious hexagonal box of chocolate snacks that cost over two thousand won each to cover the door compensation.
Nabi said ‘Just leave that one alone!’ so I really tried to save just that one no matter what happened…
‘But there were no other snacks left to sell…’
I had no choice but to take out a loan in a different way.
-“Nabi, you know what this is, right?”
-[ I know, it’s what they give you when you buy snacks. But I said I can’t give up those snacks. ]
-“Right, Nabi said you can’t… Instead, I’ll give you this. With just this, you can buy any snacks you want.”
-[ …Really? ]
Someone’s going to have to pay back the loan from snack expenses when we get out.
If I went through all that trouble to give them space, they should have at least had a proper conversation!
What do you think I felt when I came back to find the atmosphere even more awkward?
‘I couldn’t stand it.’
I immediately called Baek Cheonhyeong aside secretly, asked him what happened, and coached him again.
‘I didn’t expect to hear about family matters in that process though.’
Anyway, Baek Cheonhyeong listened very well to the coaching I gave with all my heart and soul.
-“It’s simple. What’s right is right. What’s wrong is wrong, point it out. Don’t lie for no reason.”
-“Ah, most importantly… Don’t avoid things because you’re embarrassed and be honest.”
This is the result of that.
“Hyung, you’re coming home with me, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll stop by.”
“Yeah!”
‘This is it, this is what I went through all that trouble to see.’
It was worth enduring getting so angry I almost lost my mind several times along the way.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen Cheonji smile like that.’
The train journey with the Baek brothers who had reconciled so dramatically ended safely and well.
And we returned to that place where we first opened our eyes in the dungeon, ‘Spring Village.’
“But… huh?”
“…The snow has melted.”
The ‘Spring Village’ we returned to had its snow melting and was returning to its original appearance (which Baek Cheonhyeong and I hadn’t seen before).
Warmed weather.
Clear sky.
Pleasant wind.
Green fields revealed after all the snow melted?
Getting off at the train station, we could overhear conversations around us as we moved.
“That white-haired man apparently fixed all the heating stones and left.”
“Who?”
“You know that weird guy! The one who suddenly appeared a few years ago and settled down here.”
“Ah, Jan? No, was it Jeon?”
“That’s right! I don’t know where he got them, but he apparently found new heating stones, replaced them, and left.”
“Oh ho, he did a good deed. We should thank him. So where is he now?”
“I don’t know, he suddenly disappeared somewhere. Without a trace. Really, he’s like the wind.”
What is all this about?
So… presumably, the heating stones that were damaged by Cheonji’s ability when he didn’t take the frequency medicine have already been replaced?
‘And if it’s Jeon…’
“It seems to be that guy.”
“…Yes, who could it be?”
Was there some other way to get here before us across a distance that takes two full days by train?
‘I definitely saw the white-haired man with Cheonji… And the way he disappeared at some point too.’
Besides this…
He was suspicious in many ways.
Even though I only saw his silhouette, there was something strangely familiar about him.
Anyway, in ‘Spring Village’ where the snow had almost completely melted, we walked around checking the atmosphere…
And at the end, we found it.
“Let’s go home.”
The gate exit, that is.
‘It was sitting right in the middle of the field, but we couldn’t see it because it was buried in snow.’
It’s comedy if it’s comedy that we only discovered the gate exit now that all the snow in the field has melted…
‘At least we found it now.’
Having already spent time in the dungeon, we crossed the gate exit without hesitation.
Outside, it was still a dark evening.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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