Chapter 17: Our Home

What’s the big deal about a little nosebleed?

Hyung, who insisted on calling a doctor even though I said I was fine, kicked me out.

If only the doctor, who touched my nose to check its condition, hadn’t mentioned guiding, I wouldn’t have been kicked out.

Probably.

‘There’s nothing wrong with the bone. You guided again after fainting yesterday, didn’t you?’

Hyung, who had been silently listening to the doctor putting cotton in my nose, looked at me with a serious face.

I hurriedly lied to the doctor in a stuffy voice.

‘I didn’t.’

‘Until the Guide-nim’s energy is restored, please use a machine or medicine instead. And for the next two days, please refrain from radial guiding as well.’

The doctor, with a face that clearly didn’t believe me, said he would have a guiding machine brought into the room.

He had the attitude of someone who had dealt with many Guides who lied, saying they didn’t do it, just like me.

‘I really didn’t….’

I did do it, but it wasn’t contact guiding, and all I did was release my wavelength next to Hyung and fall asleep.

It was a low-level guiding that wouldn’t have had a big impact on Hyung’s wavelength.

I did it for a long time, but my body was fine.

‘Get out.’

‘I’m really fine!’

‘I’m not fine.’

‘A-Actually, I got a nosebleed because I threw up! I usually get nosebleeds after throwing up—’

‘Come back in two days.’

After the doctor left, Hyung issued an eviction order to me as I was about to settle on the sofa.

Just when I thought we were getting a little closer.

“Hmph.”

Sitting on the bus, I pulled out the cotton stuck in my nostril with a snort.

If it wasn’t where Hyung was, the only place I could go was home.

It had been a long time since I left the team, so I didn’t even have a waiting room to stay in for a while.

Since Hyung told me to come back in two days, I decided to take this opportunity to go home and see the kids.

On the way back home, my steps were so light that I felt sorry for Hyung.

The bus I was riding for the first time in a while was empty.

Sitting by the window, I fiddled with my face the whole way home.

The spot where Hyung’s hand had touched was still warm.

Perhaps because I was thinking of Hyung who had caressed my face, my cheeks kept getting hot.

Although I was kicked out by Hyung, it was to give me some distance for my sake, so I wasn’t sad.

Rather, it seemed like Hyung was looking out for me, so I kept grinning.

What should I do with this fluctuating mood?

“Ah, hey! I’m getting off…!”

I was lost in thought and almost missed the stop for the dorm building.

The moment I shot up to press the stop button belatedly, the world spun, and I crumpled to the floor.

“Are you okay?!”

“Yes, yes. I’ll get off here.”

When guiding was sustained excessively, convulsions or dizziness would follow.

I wasn’t surprised since these were symptoms I had already been warned about, and I got up, clinging to the handle.

I bowed my head to the bus driver, who kept asking if I was okay, and then slowly came down the stairs.

The driver only started the bus after confirming that I was standing properly.

His kindness was awkward, so I just kept bowing my head.

“Wow, my knee.”

Following the bathroom incident, my kneecap throbbed from falling on it first again.

Hoping it wouldn’t affect my walking, I took careful steps.

I limped slightly, but it didn’t hurt severely.

As I walked slowly, the less crowded street of the dorm building caught my eye even more.

The atmosphere was completely different from the Center’s main building, which led to the Gates.

The Center’s main building was overflowing with people busily coming and going, while the dorm building was quiet.

It was only natural, as all the people who were here must have gone to the site and the waiting rooms of the main building.

I walked home alone, like someone living in a world separate from them.

As I got closer to home, I forgot the pain in my knee and picked up my pace.

“Kids—”

As I entered the front door, the pleasant sound of paws came running, sweeping the floor.

I knelt down and opened my arms wide for the two furballs.

“Aww, my babies!”

I met the eyes of Baekseol and Shiru, whom I hadn’t seen for over a week, and said “Aww—” at least ten times.

It was the first time I had been away from the kids for so long.

Baekseol wagged her tail and diligently rubbed her body against my calf, while Shiru, who was as chatty as Hyung, cried loudly, asking why I was so late.

“Were you sad because Daddy wasn’t here? Were you?”

Seeing even the taciturn Baekseol crying along with Shiru, my heart completely melted.

How empty must they have felt, when I, who played with them and fed them every day, had been away for over a week.

“Daddy’s sorry.”

I buried my face in the backs of the purring Baekseol and Shiru and repeatedly whispered the same words.

As I kissed them all over wherever my lips touched, the messy living room came into view.

“Whoa.”

New claw marks on the wallpaper, the kids’ toys scattered about, and dust flying everywhere.

The traces of my long absence from home were everywhere.

“That wallpaper is Baekseol’s masterpiece, right? Yes, good job. Good job.”

Baekseol was always well-behaved, but she would tear up the wallpaper whenever she was stressed.

As I told her to keep tearing it up to her heart’s content and patted her white bottom, Shiru, who was beside her, wiggled her own bottom and offered it up.

I burst out laughing and patted the kids’ butts with both hands as if playing a drum.

Pat-pat, tap-tap, thump-thump.

I also made drum sounds with my mouth and enjoyed a lazy time with the kids.

Home is the best, after all.

Thanks to the beings who needed my touch, I found comfort for my helpless heart.

Filling my empty insides with a peaceful feeling, I giggled and asked Baekseol and Shiru.

“We should clean up quickly before Hyung comes. Right?”

Baekseol, who was lying on top of Shiru who was meowing in agreement, seemed displeased about something and tapped the floor with her tail.

I rested my chin on my hand, pretending to grab the fluffy tail every time it touched the floor.

“Baekseol, Chul-soo Hyung will be here soon too. Don’t worry.”

Meow.

“Really. I’m telling you he’ll be here soon.”

Meow.

“He’ll probably be here next week?”

At my uncertain voice, Baekseol didn’t even reply and just yawned.

Anyway, she’s a psychic when it comes to intuition, just like Hyung.

“Want a snack?”

Iyaong!

Tempting the kids with a snack, I went to the kitchen.

I moved leisurely so I wouldn’t get dizzy again and took out the snack box.

“Okay, Shiru, stay still. Wait.”

It was hard to get the snack out because Shiru wouldn’t leave my arms.

I used to strut around the living room, getting piggyback rides and hugs from Hyung just as often as Shiru does with me.

“Do you like it? Do you like it that much?”

At the rustling sound, Baekseol perked up her ears and stood on her hind legs.

Shiru was already jabbing from my arms, asking for it quickly.

“Eat slowly.”

I put the snack on the Churu-exclusive plate and watched the kids eat before going into the cat tower room.

“Ms. Yeong-i.”

Yeong-i, sitting in her usual spot, was in her ‘loaf’ position.

I smiled widely at her round backside and called Ms. Yeong-i a few more times, but there was no response.

The way she doesn’t easily give her attention is just like Hyung right now.

“Have a snack.”

I approached Yeong-i, who was sitting in a fluffy, freshly-baked loaf position and looking out the window, and offered her a Churu.

Only then did Yeong-i turn her head and meet my eyes with an indifferent face.

To be exact, she was looking at the Churu.

Still, it was a relief that she showed interest in the snack.

I tore open the Churu pouch while attempting to give Yeong-i a kiss.

If it were Baekseol and Shiru, they would have rushed over and stuck their heads out, but our Yeong-i just sent a look that said, ‘bring it here’.

“Is it good?”

Leaning against the sturdy cat tower, I watched her pink tongue slowly lick the Churu.

Yeong-i, who resembled me, ate even a single Churu at a snail’s pace.

“Yeong-i-ya.”

Yeong-i, who was focused on the Churu, met my eyes for a moment before licking again.

Leaning my head against the cat tower post, I listened to the ‘chap-chap’ sound and whispered lowly.

“Chul-soo Hyung doesn’t know that his grandmother passed away.”

Chap, chap, chap, listening to the comforting sound, I confessed my worries.

I wasn’t an eloquent speaker like Hyung, but at home, I was quite talkative.

“I think Hyung erased all the painful memories because it was too hard for him.”

Yeong-i stopped eating the Churu and stretched.

She scratched the scratcher carpet, stretched her limbs out, and met my gaze.

It seemed like she was trying to listen to my story intently, so I thought she was admirable and stroked her head.

“What should I say when he finds out?”

Honestly, I don’t know.

I had been confident that I could hold onto Hyung if he collapsed, but in reality, I didn’t know how.

If he needed guiding, I could just crawl in while he was sleeping and pour it on him.

I couldn’t think of a way to comfort Hyung, who was grieving after losing all his family.

“What would that feel like?”

Losing your family….

It must be how I would feel if I lost Hyung.

The thought alone was so horrifying that I shook my head.

With no parents or grandmother, the only ones I had to lose were Hyung and the kids.

I had never lost anything yet, so I couldn’t even imagine how Hyung felt.

To be blunt, I wish Hyung would just be satisfied with me alone.

Just like how I only need Hyung.

I suppressed the selfish thought that I couldn’t even confess to Yeong-i and just bit my lip.

“Huh? You want more?”

Suddenly, Yeong-i placed a paw on the back of my hand, which was holding the Churu.

Meeting my gaze squarely, Yeong-i licked the Churu again and, for some reason, finished it all.

“Does it suit your taste?”

I examined Yeong-i, who seemed to have gotten a little thinner in my absence, and rubbed my cheek against hers.

When I tried to sneak a kiss, the sharp-as-a-knife Yeong-i pushed my chin with her cotton-puff paw as if to say she didn’t want that.

Who does she take after with this iron wall defense?

It’s not me, and it’s not Chul-soo Hyung.

“Just let me do it once. Hmmm? Just once.”

Hearing me beg Yeong-i for a kiss, Baekseol and Shiru also gathered at the cat tower.

At the sight of the kids purring and rushing over, asking to be played with, I gladly rolled up my sleeves.

As I excitedly waved toys with both hands and spent a passionate night with the kids, my thoughts of Hyung never left me.