218 – Haildo If This Goes On #3
Lee Jin-A dashed to the nearby rice fields.
She grabbed and pulled up the dry weeds with her hands, screaming, “Aoo-! Aoo-oo-!”
She looked like a lonely female wolf.
Just as I had become a large squirrel beast, could Lee Jin-A also be turning into an animal?
I pondered that thought for about ten minutes.
Lee Jin-A, who had been rolling around in the rice fields howling, appeared somewhat calmer. Her face, which had been as red as a tomato or a forge, seemed to have settled down a bit but was still flushed.
“Hey! Are you Haildo?”
“Kkungkkung-!”
“Stop barking…! Hey! Why are you Haildo? You’re just a squirrel! Just be a squirrel! You’re not Haildo! You’re just…, what’s it called, a big cute squirrel! Just say that…!!!”
“Grurrr…!”
Lee Jin-A was stubbornly denying reality.
I was extremely angry about this situation.
Every hair on my body stood on end, and even my tail, which had been out of control, bristled with fur. I was truly a furious squirrel beast at that moment.
But strangely, I kind of liked this version of myself.
It felt as if the ‘wild’ magic was surging within me.
I could sense an elemental emotion and instinct bubbling up inside my body that I couldn’t usually feel.
The intense ‘strength’ coursing under my skin felt like confidence!
If I could remember this feeling well, I instinctively felt it would surely come in handy when I returned to being human someday.
At that moment, I had felt the magic of the honey ant Ahn Ahn for just a brief moment when I fought the「Superconductor Dragon」.
If I could get used to this squirrel’s magic and someday call upon Kkungkkungi’s strength─? It wouldn’t be far-fetched for the Were-Beast, Were-Squirrelman Haildo to be born.
Swoosh-.
At that moment, Lee Jin-A swept her palm from her forehead to her chin. After just pulling up weeds with both hands and causing a ruckus, she thought to touch her face with those hands.
Of course, Lee Jin-A’s face was always white and without a single blemish.
“I think I roughly understand what happened. Obviously, the Nymphs caused some trouble and you, Haildo, got involved, right? To solve it, you need the Nymphs?”
“Kkungkkung-!”
Lee Jin-A must have a background as a street-smart gangster, as she was quick to catch on! She accurately diagnosed the situation without me explaining!
Lee Jin-A sighed multiple times with a “Huh-.”
“Does that mean you didn’t deliberately make me worry or screw things up by being late?”
“Kkungkkung-!”
I nodded vigorously and wagged my tail from side to side. Could it be this delightful to have someone understand me?
Seeing me like that, Lee Jin-A seemed to feel better somehow, or perhaps found it very funny, and let out a small chuckle.
“What are you, so foolish? I’ll let it slide since you weren’t trying to mess with me. So where are the Nymphs? Have they gone out to the rice fields? Since I don’t see any small animals, they must be with the Nymphs.”
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh-.
I drew a five-leaf clover with my front paw.
Lee Jin-A asked, “A fan?” It seemed that what I drew looked more like a propeller with five wings than a five-leaf clover.
Scratching her head-.
Lee Jin-A soon scratched the back of her head with a puzzled expression and stood up.
“Wait a sec. I’ll go find the Nymphs. Don’t cause any more trouble. A person turning into an animal? This shouldn’t happen. Seriously. But… you’re really Haildo, right?”
As she said that, Lee Jin-A couldn’t stop looking around.
She must not have been able to shake off the feeling of being in a setup, like a hidden camera situation.
It would probably feel the same if the opposite happened.
If some large, yellow cat were to walk around me saying, “I am Lee Jin-A,” I would surely be so surprised that I would spin five times in midair.
Swoosh-.
Before long, Lee Jin-A left to find the Nymphs and resolve this situation.
Now the bizarre circumstances should come to an end.
Thinking that, I returned home, curled up on my bed, and closed my eyes for sleep.
# # #
Did I sleep for about ten minutes?
I woke up to some strange presence.
Raising my head, I saw a familiar car gliding into the village from a distance.
It was quiet and smooth.
It was Seo Ye-rim’s electric car.
“Haildo! Illinois is here!”
Yesterday, I had sent a message to Seo Ye-rim saying, “Illinois is at my house.” It seemed that receiving that message prompted her to come and meet Illinois today.
“Haildo isn’t here?”
Clack, clack-.
Even though my absent response meant I wasn’t home, Seo Ye-rim boldly opened the front door and effortlessly unlocked the door lock to enter.
It was a very unreserved action, to the point that someone might mistake her for the owner of the house.
But upon reflection, this house was one of Telos’s small office buildings, and if we examined it closely, I was actually a tenant, so the real owner was indeed Seo Ye-rim.
“Oh my gosh, what’s this? I thought a wild boar had come into the house. Wow, that’s surprising. What is this? This big furball, wow-. Really, wow-.”
Seo Ye-rim, who had entered the house without hesitation, found me curled up on the bed and gasped, placing her hand on her chest as if greatly startled, saying, “Wow, wow-.”
Suddenly, a mischievous idea popped into my mind: What if I pretended to be a squirrel just like this─?
I had always been the one getting pranked by Seo Ye-rim.
This time, I would enact my revenge.
Soon, Seo Ye-rim spoke.
“Huh? Now that I look closely, you’re not a wild boar but a squirrel? Why is there such a big squirrel here?”
“Kkungkkung-!”
“Haildo, you little rascal, you’re just bringing all sorts of animals and creating a zoo. And I see you’re even bringing girls. Should I say something?”
“Kkungkkung-!”
“So you think so too? You seem smart. I’ve seen plenty of squirrels, but you look the smartest among them. Although you don’t seem as smart as Kkungkkungi-.”
“Grurrr…!”
“What? You even understand what I’m saying? Wow, that’s amazing. Do you know where Illinois and Haildo went? If you tell me, I’ll give you a pear. Pears are very delicious in autumn.”
Could the speaker’s feelings be the same as mine listening to the soft words of the twisted hero, Um Seok-dae?
I never expected that Seo Ye-rim, who always treated me with authority and annoyance, could speak such soft words.
That kindness and warmth felt almost enchanting, so I inadvertently replied, “I’m Haildo!”
“Kkungkkung-!”
“Yeah, what kind of conversation could I have with you? I was just asking. Haildo could have gone out to play with the Nymphs. Then should we just wait a bit?”
Five minutes, ten minutes.
Tick-tock, tick-tock-.
Seo Ye-rim sat cross-legged on the sofa, shaking her ankle.
About 15 minutes passed?
“I’m bored.”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim stood up and opened the drawer in my room.
She seemed very bored as she rummaged through my drawer.
“…Looks like there aren’t any hidden photos of girls. Did you forget your phone too?”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim picked up my phone.
Then she chuckled.
“It’s not a pattern or a fingerprint. There are still people who lock their phones with a four-digit code. Haildo, you old-timer. A four-digit number. Four digits….”
Seo Ye-rim made a snorting sound and entered the number 1110 into the phone.
November 10th.
That was my birthday.
“Oh, dear, isn’t this your birthday?”
0927.
The next number Seo Ye-rim entered was my lunar birthday.
“Not this either? I thought this narcissistic Haildo would definitely have his birthday as the password. Then perhaps….”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim entered 1004.
To some, this might seem to mean ‘angel’ in heavenly terms, but that wasn’t the case at all; it actually referred to Seo Ye-rim’s birthday, October 4th.
“…Not this one either? I really don’t understand. This is ridiculous.”
I couldn’t understand either.
Why should I use Seo Ye-rim’s birthday as a password for my phone? I couldn’t comprehend that she would take that for granted.
It seemed that being a third-generation conglomerate and an S-rank celebrity meant having a different way of thinking.
“0169. Not my height either…. 0049…. Is it my weight…? What is it, Haildo? What exactly did you set as the password? Now that I think about it, didn’t I once ask for your shoe size?”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim glanced at her foot, which was wrapped in stockings. I did indeed ask her about her shoe size once during the ‘shoe incident’ because I was trying to compensate her in some way.
What else could I do if she insisted, “Pay me back with the same one!”?
“0240…. Not this either. What the…? Locked?”
Did my phone get locked due to continuous failed password attempts? My phone was locked solid.
After that, Seo Ye-rim called someone on her phone.
“Uh, Young-eun. What’s the code you use when you accidentally lock your phone after several wrong attempts? Uh. Telos’s phone. Ah, okay. Got it. No, it’s nothing major.”
Beep-.
Seo Ye-rim fiddled with my phone and returned to the password input screen.
But instead of immediately entering the password, she called someone.
“Uh, Yu Ara. It’s Seo Ye-rim. It’s nothing. I’m just curious when your birthday is. What? No, it’s just that we’ve been classmates, but I feel like we’ve never really known much about each other until now?”
Seo Ye-rim’s voice was bright.
It sounded like she was calling a close friend, yet her face was not smiling at all; instead, it was icy.
I was quite surprised to find out if this was how girls communicated.
“1201….”
Seo Ye-rim entered the numbers into the phone with a very cold and sharp expression.
Vroom-.
The phone vibrated.
It was the sound of the password being incorrect.
“Of course!”
Even though the password was incorrect, Seo Ye-rim surprisingly seemed to feel good, clenching her fist. Soon, she also called Lee Jin-A.
“Uh, Jin-A? It’s me. You were on TV and did a great job, right? So I’m thinking of giving you a commercial. I need your birthday, though. Oh, really? Just a few days left?”
Click-.
0921… Seo Ye-rim entered the numbers into the phone.
Vroom-.
Again, the phone vibrated.
It was the sound of the unlock failing.
“That serves you right!”
Seo Ye-rim looked delighted, raising her fist as if she were celebrating. Then she tossed my phone aside as if she had lost interest and went back to the living room.
Now she seemed to have time to spare, looking in the mirror to check her teeth or smelling her palms, wrists, and shoulders.
“…I’m sweaty and sticky, so should I take a shower?”
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim soon slightly lifted her skirt and began to peel off her stockings. I was taken aback and startled to see her white legs and underwear that I shouldn’t be looking at.
Pudadadadot-.
“Kkungkkung-!”
Is she going to shower here?
And to suddenly start undressing in front of me!
Regardless of that, the sound of water splashing could be heard from the bathroom.
Did about ten minutes pass?
Seo Ye-rim, dripping wet, stepped outside.
Then her expression twisted.
“What? Why isn’t there a single towel in the house? How am I supposed to dry off?”
While Seo Ye-rim looked around, her eyes caught mine.
I felt a rush of tension.
Her expression was truly one of mischief and a strange hunting instinct.
“No, wait, there’s a big fluffy towel here.”
My sharpened ‘wild’ sense since becoming a squirrel told me to escape.
I had to run away—.
Padat-.
But before I could move, Seo Ye-rim dashed over and hugged me with her wet body!
“Wow, you dry off so well! But why are you so jumpy? Are you hungry? Or did someone come?”
Seo Ye-rim, this rascal, is drying off my body!
I felt dizzy from the sensation of my fur getting wet and the unexpected softness…!
“Alright, go on.”
Whoosh-.
Generating light heat to rapidly evaporate the moisture on her body, a dry Seo Ye-rim seemed to have seen someone entering the yard.
“What? That’s Jin-A and the Nymphs?”
