KCDT Chapter 36

‘Still, I need to calm down, calm down. The child is startled.’

After repeating deep breaths in and out, some of the heat in his head dissipated. Since the wrinkles on the clothes had already been smoothed out long ago, Yujin put down the iron and hung the clothes on a hanger.

Yujin, who had planned to iron his own shirt as well, completely unplugged the iron due to the fatigue caused by mental stress.

“Are you angry again because of me…?”

The startled Yujin explained that it wasn’t like that, but Haniel remained gloomy. He became discouraged by the situation where the atmosphere worsened whenever he opened his mouth, even if Yujin wasn’t angry at him.

Despite Yujin’s attempts to comfort him, Haniel’s mood remained low, leaving Yujin momentarily flustered. However, he soon made a firm resolve. Knowing that he couldn’t take full responsibility for a child from another world, he had purposely refrained from intervening beyond the basics.

‘No matter what, this isn’t right.’

Yujin lowered himself and sat in front of Haniel. In fact, even he wasn’t sure if what he was about to do was the right thing.

He hadn’t studied child psychology or early childhood education, so how could he know? He was merely trying to change his attitude of turning a blind eye to a child he couldn’t take responsibility for.

“Listen carefully, Haniel. I’m angry right now. Very angry.”

“Yes…”

Haniel bit his lip and lowered his head. It seemed that Yujin was indeed angry because of him. Yujin had been kind to him, so Haniel wanted to make him happy in return, but it pained him to fail so quickly.

“But I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at the people who have been taking care of you.”

“At the Fathers…?”

Haniel seemed to not understand why Yujin, who had never even met them, was angry at them.

‘…Will it be okay?’

Yujin, about to speak, hesitated for a moment at the thought that suddenly occurred to him. He wondered if he was simply unable to control his anger or if it would have a negative impact on Haniel.

‘…No, I should say it.’

Although he still couldn’t take full responsibility for Haniel, he couldn’t use that as an excuse to ignore a child who didn’t even know he was being abused and brainwashed.

Yujin didn’t know what impact this conversation would have on Haniel, but he decided to go through with it.

“Because those people have done something utterly absurd to you. Look at this. Each layer of fabric rustles, and it wrinkles like paper with just a little bit of force, yet they made clothes out of it, dressed you in them, and scolded you for wrinkling them. Does that make sense?”

“But that’s just education for my proper posture…”

Haniel tried to make Yujin understand, but Yujin firmly shook his head.

“That’s not what education is. Education is about things like not running around in crowded places, not about making you cautious even when simply walking.”

Isn’t it like telling him to be so quiet that he shouldn’t even make a sound while breathing? He might be able to endure it for about 10 seconds, but eventually, he needs to breathe. If they say the sound of his breathing is noisy and call him a bad child, is that truly proper discipline?

“I don’t really…”

Despite being swayed by Yujin’s impassioned speech, Haniel still seemed confused and ended up averting his gaze and shaking his head. Seeing his reaction, Yujin turned his head away, feeling like sighing.

He wasn’t blaming Haniel for not being persuaded. He was just frustrated imagining how much brainwashing disguised as education must have occurred for Haniel to become like this.

“…Alright. For now, I’ll keep these clothes separately.”

“Okay…”

Perhaps naturally, a long silence fell between the two after that. No matter how much Yujin assured Haniel that he wasn’t angry at him, Haniel was too preoccupied with the fact that he had opposed Yujin’s words, making it impossible to do anything.

‘Hmm. What should I do about this?’

In situations like this, even Yujin didn’t know what to do. Again, he had never raised a child or had a deep understanding of child psychology.

In fact, apart from everything else, this was the first time he had encountered someone with a personality like Haniel’s.

A child who was kind and gentle but had a certain stubbornness, and yet was afraid of being disliked by others and kept a close eye on their reactions.

‘It’s difficult…’

No matter how many times Yujin reassured him, Haniel was immersed in his own anxiety, leaving Yujin helpless. Even now, Haniel was trailing behind Yujin, but whenever their eyes met, he would avoid his gaze.

‘Should we go out somewhere…?’

Yujin was still anxious. He had urged Haniel not to call him “Yujin-nim” outside, but he worried about what would happen if he did.

But what did he regret the most after sending Cairo away like that? Despite thinking that Cairo would return someday, Yujin had kept him at home, thinking it wouldn’t be right away, and that was his greatest regret.

It didn’t have to be anything grandiose. Even just taking a walk together near the house after work would have made Cairo happy…

Remembering his regret from that time, Yujin could firmly make up his mind.

‘…Yes, let’s go out. I just need to pay more attention.’

He couldn’t repeat the same regret. With his resolve set, Yujin stopped doing the household chores he had been keeping himself busy with.

And when he turned around to face Haniel, their eyes met, startling Haniel. Yujin’s lips curled up at Haniel’s cute, flustered expression, as if he hadn’t expected Yujin to turn around so suddenly.

“Shall we go out for a bit?”

“Wow… Yujin-niiiiii-ahhh.”

As soon as they left Yujin’s house, a completely different scenery from Haniel’s original world was revealed. Everything was different. The building styles were different, and the flat ground beneath their feet was different.

Even the people walking around were all different. Unlike the people in Haniel’s world who always tried to receive even a little bit of God’s warmth through their neat and tidy appearance, the people here, dressed in unusual attire, were busy going about their own way, occasionally glancing at Haniel.

Startled, Haniel almost called Yujin “Yujin-nim” despite his urging, and he lengthened his words in confusion.

“Gasp! What if someone heard?”

Worried that Yujin might receive unfavorable attention because of him, Haniel anxiously scanned their surroundings with a tense expression. His appearance resembled a nervous baby meerkat, which was adorable.

“It’s okay. I don’t think anyone heard.”

As Yujin raised his free hand and patted Haniel’s head as if pressing down on it, Haniel relaxed his shoulders in relief.

It was quite cute how Haniel straightforwardly believed Yujin’s words, making Yujin want to laugh, but he suppressed it and leaned down to whisper in Haniel’s ear.

“But we can’t get caught next time, so how about we whisper in each other’s ears if we have something to say?”

At that, Haniel’s shoulders trembled greatly, as if startled.

“Oh, sorry. Did I scare you?”

Thinking that the whisper might have been too close, Yujin tried to pull away with an embarrassed smile, but Haniel clung to his arm as if holding onto him and shook his head vigorously.

“N-no! Not at all!”

‘It doesn’t seem like it’s not the case.’

His face was completely flushed. Was he really okay? However, Yujin, feeling overwhelmed by Haniel’s desperate insistence despite his reddened face, nodded his head in agreement.

“O-okay. Let’s whisper to each other.”

“Yes!”

Only when Yujin nodded his head, agreeing to whisper, did Haniel finally smile brightly and release his grip on Yujin.

‘Is whispering that enjoyable…?’

Although Yujin couldn’t understand, seeing Haniel’s beaming face was pleasant, so he let it go, thinking that what was good was good.

The place they were heading to was just a large supermarket in the neighborhood. However, for Haniel, to whom everything in this world was new, even the scenery that was ordinary to Yujin made his eyes shine.

He still seemed scared, holding Yujin’s hand tightly, but the way he looked around with sparkling eyes made Yujin feel quite proud.

‘I’m glad I brought him out.’

Feeling strangely pleased, Yujin held Haniel’s hand and entered the supermarket. That’s right. Haniel was still outside, observing the large, rectangular building and the people gathered in small groups around it, unable to even enter the supermarket yet.

“The inside will be even more amazing.”

“Wow…”

Yujin was right. For Haniel, who was only familiar with life in a quiet and sometimes desolate temple, the crowded supermarket on a weekend was like a different world.

He almost bumped into people, prompting Yujin to pull him closer, but even that was fine.

“If you feel uncomfortable at any point, let me know.”

“It’s okay. I’m not uncomfortable at all.”

Even if there were this many people from a different world who looked the same, it wouldn’t be strange for Haniel to be scared, but his eyes only sparkled, which was admirable.

“Alright. Let’s go in.”

Careful not to lose Haniel, Yujin interlocked their fingers and skillfully pushed the cart with one hand. In fact, he had suggested letting Haniel ride in the cart, but Haniel refused, seemingly anxious about letting go of Yujin’s hand.

Yujin, who had enjoyed riding in carts until he was quite grown up, felt a bit disappointed, thinking it would be fun if Haniel tried it, but what could he do if Haniel refused?

And so, the two of them, holding hands tightly, carefully made their way through the crowd and explored the supermarket. Haniel, in particular, couldn’t keep his head still, constantly looking around. For him, such a large market was a first, and moreover, there were various unfamiliar items that amazed him.

“Can commoners buy these things?”

Furthermore, each item appeared to be of the highest quality, prompting Haniel to ask Yujin.

“Commoners… Uh, there are some expensive things among these, but most of the products displayed here can be bought by anyone.”

Yujin had momentarily forgotten, but hearing the word “commoner” reminded him that Haniel was from a different world.

‘Thinking about it that way, it might have been fortunate that I didn’t bring Cairo here.’

Even the gentle Haniel used the word “commoner” without hesitation, so what would have happened if Cairo, a real crown prince, had been here? Yujin shuddered at the thought that an irreparable incident might have occurred.

“Um, can we go over there too?”

“Why not? Let’s go.”

Yujin, who had shuddered at the thought of what could have happened, started walking again as Haniel gently tugged on his hand.