The White Tiger Clan’s Baby Cotton Ball - Chapter 199

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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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Side Story 22

Gaya leaped over the window and into the room.

Soya and Ga Hyeon, who had been sitting side by side at the desk, simultaneously looked up at him.

“Gaya Elder Brother?”

“Elder Brother…?”

Ga Hyeon’s expression became quite displeased.

This was because Gaya was adorned with sparkling jewels hanging all over him from head to toe.

Every time he took a step, the jewels hanging on his body swayed together with a jingling sound.

It was dazzling enough to hurt the eyes whenever they reflected sunlight.

Gaya, who was obviously deliberately dressed up with great effort, sat down boldly in front of Soya.

“What… are you doing right now, Elder Brother?”

“I need to cultivate Somsomi’s aesthetic sense.”

Gaya answered in a deliberately serious voice.

“Aesthetic sense?”

At the sudden talk of aesthetic sense, Soya asked back with a puzzled expression.

“Look carefully, Somsom. No matter how you look at it, I’m better than Father, right?”

“Huh…?”

“I have more handsome eyes than Father, a more handsome nose, and more handsome lips.”

Gaya began explaining his good points one by one.

“When I transform into beast form, my ears perk up cutely and even my tail fur is glossy. My tiger whiskers are very cool too. And this is a secret.”

Leaning slightly toward Soya, he showed his palm and whispered as if telling a very important secret.

“My paw pads are pink. Like Somsom’s eyes. Very cute.”

“…?”

Unlike Soya, who only blinked in bewilderment, Gaya was very serious.

“How about it, Somsom. Do you still think Father is cooler than me? If so, think again. Father is older than this elder brother and not cute at all. He’s an old tiger with four children.”

“What exactly are you teaching Soya right now, Elder Brother?”

Ga Hyeon, who couldn’t listen anymore, spoke up in disbelief, but it had no effect on Gaya.

“Oh my. Look at your second elder brother. They say ugly ones get angry, and there he is just getting mad because he knows he’s uglier than me.”

“Gaya Elder Brother, I think that saying was a bit wrong just now…”

“And Somsom. I’ll give you this.”

Gaya now began rummaging around in his sleeve to pull something out.

“It’s tastier than what the youngest tiger brought. It’s bestowed by His Imperial Majesty.”

“…? Did you watch Yul Elder Brother come and go?”

“Is this that homework? I’ll do it for you instead. You rest here, Somsom.”

Following the gift offensive, he even went so far as to snatch the brush and paper from Soya’s hands.

It was a more childish display than anyone else’s, copying exactly what his younger brothers had done after calling them childish.

“You’re being childish, Elder Brother.”

Ga Hyeon criticized Gaya in a cold voice.

“You’re doing all sorts of ridiculous things to win over your young little sister’s favor.”

“What? Ridiculous things?”

“Yes, ridiculous things. Soya, don’t fall for such schemes. Our Soya is smart, so she won’t fall for them.”

“Ha! You’re one to talk when you’ve been saying all sorts of things to Somsom.”

Gaya also confronted him, criticizing Ga Hyeon in return.

“All that talk about attacking someone precious to them if you want to provoke someone. Where did you learn such wicked things to teach your sister?”

“Targeting the enemy’s weakness is the most basic military strategy. If you don’t even know that, you must have wasted your time on the battlefield.”

Ga Hyeon snorted briefly and spoke sarcastically.

It was then, as the two were growling at each other with Soya in the middle.

“Cotton Ball…!”

Gayul, who had come to visit Soya’s room again, widened his eyes at seeing his two brothers bickering.

“What? Are the elder brothers fighting?”

“Yes. I don’t know why both of them are acting like this when they’re not even babies.”

“The elder brothers are like that because they’ve lived their age in vain. *Sigh*. What can we do? We have to understand them all.”

At Soya’s explanation, Gayul shrugged his shoulders and said.

“I suppose so, right? When will the elder brothers become adults, oh my.”

Soya let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

* * *

The four White Tiger siblings climbed Horim Mountain together harmoniously.

Soya and Ga Hyeon sat on the ground weaving flower crowns, and Seolyeo, who had followed along as always saying he needed to protect Soya, wandered around looking for flowers that Soya liked.

‘Tch. In the end, I couldn’t get Somsom to say I’m cooler than Father.’

It was when Gaya, leaning against a wooden pillar, was watching them alone with a sullen expression.

Rustle—

Pink flower petals fell down like rain from above his head.

“…?”

Frowning slightly and looking up, he saw a large tiger on top of a flowering tree, shaking the branches.

“Cotton Ball! I’ll make flower rain for you!”

Gayul laughed heartily and shouted excitedly.

‘That idiot.’

An adolescent tiger that had completed its first growth was as large as an average adult man.

Since everyone kept calling him a baby tiger, he probably really thinks he’s a baby with that huge body.

“It’s dangerous, youngest. You’ll break the tree doing that.”

“Hmph, are you being competitive?”

At Gaya’s warning, Gayul snorted.

“What? Why would I be competitive with you?”

“Can’t help it, I guess. I understand that elder brother is being competitive with me because I’m such a wonderful elder brother who picks out only the things Cotton Ball likes.”

“You think I’d be competitive with a tiny guy who still smells like milk?”

Gaya felt wronged.

“Listen well, baby tiger. I’m not being competitive with you. I don’t need to in the first place, I’m just worried that tree won’t be able to support your weight.”

But Gayul, excited by the delusion that his elder brother was being competitive with him, didn’t listen to his words at all.

Instead, he only shook the branches even more.

“Baek Gayul. Listen to elder brother. You’ll really break the tree doing that.”

Ga Hyeon, who was next to Soya, also said something to Gayul.

However, Gayul persisted without coming down despite his brothers’ repeated urging.

Gayul’s head was already filled with thoughts of making Soya happy by creating the flower rain she liked.

“No way. If you’re envious of me making flower rain, just say you’re envious…”

“Yul Elder Brother, don’t do that and come down quickly.”

At this moment, Soya urged Gayul.

“The flower crown I’m making for elder brother is finished.”

“Huh? Already?!”

Gayul, who had shown no sign of coming down from the tree, jumped down at Soya’s single word.

“Here, this is it.”

Soya smiled brightly and placed the flower crown on his head.

The flower crown perched on the large tiger’s head looked adorable.

“Hmm, is it too small?”

“No. It fits me perfectly! Thank you, Cotton Ball!”

To Soya, who was tilting her head, Gayul made purring sounds and showed his delight.

Gaya, watching this scene from the side, raised one eyebrow and tilted his head askew.

‘Hmm?’

The youngest, who never listens, doesn’t cause trouble in front of Soya and becomes well-behaved.

Even the rebellious second son becomes a bit more gentle and kind, which is quite mysteriously….

‘Soft and fluffy?’

Yes, soft and fluffy.

In front of Soya, the brothers mysteriously became soft and fluffy.

Considering that tiger beast-people are generally born to be aggressive, it was quite a remarkable thing.

[Should I say… soft and fluffy? Or maybe fluffy and warm? Gentle and round?]

Gaya gradually began to understand Sanyu’s words that had once seemed so puzzling.

Soft and fluffy. Fluffy and warm. And gentle and round.

It wasn’t just the brothers who became soft and fluffy.

The flowers blooming around Soya, the birds flying about, and even every strand of the blowing wind were fluffy and warm and gentle and round.

And even his own heart watching over it all.

‘How amazing.’

He thought he understood why Jeok Sanyu had called Soya a jewel.

Watching her like this, Soya truly sparkled and shone.

Even sitting and playing on the grass field without wearing a single common jewel, she still shone.

‘Father brought home a jewel.’

Jeok Sanyu’s words were right.

Soya was a jewel.

The most beautiful jewel in the world.

“Gaya Elder Brother!”

Soya’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“Elder Brother, don’t just stay there by yourself. Come over here and play with us.”

Soya called to him with a bright smile.

“Well, shall I?”

At that smile that warmed his heart just by facing it, Gaya also let out a short chuckle and nodded his head.

[I keep wanting to protect her, you know. From all the evil things in the world…. So she can always see only good things, hear only good stories, always.]

At some point, Gaya had come to completely agree with Jeok Sanyu’s words.

He always wanted to show her only good things.

He wanted to tell her only good stories.

So that bright smile could warmly color the White Tiger Palace for a long, long time.

She was a sister he only wanted to protect like that….

“I can’t see Seolyeo.”

Soya cried.

“Seolyeo is….”

She cried so sorrowfully and loudly that it seemed all the moisture in her body might dry up completely.

“Seolyeo has disappeared.”

It was a summer day when Seolyeo, his sister’s longtime childhood friend, vanished without a trace.

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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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