Jin Ye-seul and I headed straight out of the academy.
I contacted Hyun-woo Choi, just in case, and I was told that I had an urgent matter with Han Soo-young and that he would join me in a while.
When asked what was going on, he smiled as if he was in trouble, told Master that he had suddenly contacted him, and just said he didn’t know the details.
“But there are a lot of people.”
“I know. Everyone, like us, the exams are over, aren’t we going out to play?”
Jin Ye-seul and I talked as we walked.
The road was already clogged with buses and taxis for a long time.
“Oh, hey. huh.”
Jin Ye-seul was walking as if humming and jumping about what made him feel so good.
She had a very different look from what she had seen at the guild invitation before, and if she was a grown-up last time, this time she was in a way that matched her age.
Most of all, it’s the first time I’ve seen her wear a skirt with plain clothes.
Except for the party dress I wore back then.
“Why are you together?”
Jin Ye-seul gently lifted the skirt to my gaze and giggled.
Then he looked at me with a soft gaze and said.
“Jihyuk can show you more if you want.”
“Don’t say that scary thing.”
She pouted her lips as if it wasn’t funny at my sullen answer.
“Coward… .”
She muttered a little, but didn’t feel the need to answer.
We arrived at the zoo in no time.
Around Orge Academy, it was not difficult to find facilities such as a zoo, starting with other amenities, but it was actually a zoo and several research facilities were attached.
Research and experiments on monsters were also being conducted here, and on weekdays, the site was opened to the general public and tourists, and various rare animals or monsters without danger were displayed.
“Hey, there are slimes too. Wait, an orc on a goblin… ? And what kind of harpy… .”
Jin Ye-seul, who was looking through the pamphlet, muttered as if she did not understand.
“I came to the zoo, not the dungeon.”
“What, have you never been here before?”
“yes.”
Jin Ye-seul nodded her head.
Then he folded the pamphlet and gently reached out and grabbed my sleeve.
Her hand was so strong that I couldn’t get out of it.
“We still have a lot of time, so let’s take a look around. I want to see goblins teasing me.”
“You want to see crocodiles and penguins?”
“Um, that’s the last one. When I eat, I usually eat the last thing I like the most.”
“It must smell like a goblin… . It is especially famous for poisoning body odors. Let’s go see the slime instead.”
“Ugh, that’s right.”
Jin Ye-seul frowned slightly as if disgusted, and pulled me away.
Then he looked at this side with a smirk and said.
“Still, because I came. I want to see Jihyuk with you.”
Saying that, she slowly moved the hand that was holding the sleeve of her shirt and grabbed my hand.
I glanced at her, but I could only see her back, so I couldn’t see her expression.
As I was wondering what to do with her reaction, I could see her ears burning red.
I quietly walked as she led.
We walked around and saw monsters like goblins, orcs, and slimes, and sometimes we saw animals like lions and giraffes.
The fact that I have been to the zoo can only be counted if I add up to this time, so I was able to enjoy it unexpectedly too.
“Now let’s go see the crocodiles, crocodiles!”
Jin Ye-seul, who was wearing an animal headband over her head, smiled and said.
And, as you might think of it, Jin Ye-seul was also a beauty no less than Han Soo-young, so she was attracting the attention of the people around her.
Either way, Jin Ye-seul was smiling brightly and looking only at me.
“Big.”
“… I know. Was the crocodile really that big?”
We mumbled as we looked at the crocodiles lying under the railings.
In fact, the crocodiles to see were huge.
It was large enough to swallow me whole, and it lay still on the floor as if it were dead.
“Look at the sunbathing. Alligators love to sunbathe.”
Jin Ye-seul looked down at the crocodile with sparkling eyes and said.
She looked at me as if she knew it.
“Ji-hyuk, do you know why the word crocodile tears came out?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
“Alligators cry when they eat something. However, this is not because they feel guilty or sad, but rather because they are stimulated when they eat food.”
She began to explain so in a pleasant voice.
“Oh really? I really didn’t know.”
“That’s why I like crocodiles.”
Jin Ye-seul still muttered with a smile on her face.
“I think my family looks like a pretentious person.”
After saying that, she looked at me in amazement.
Then he asked me with a slightly red face.
“Oh, I heard… ?”
As I nodded, she wiggled her hands in embarrassment.
“Um, sorry… . Without realizing it, I stopped saying it out loud. I’m really sorry for making you worry.”
So sullen, she quickly grabbed my hand.
And then, as if he would not forgive the rebellion, he said, dragging him along.
“Now then, let’s go see the penguins, penguin! Because I have seen alligators.”
“Is that so? Because penguins are cuter than crocodiles.”
I thought it was going to be an awkward atmosphere, so I clashed and walked as I was led.
The penguin kennel was located not far away, and unlike the crocodiles, there were quite a number of people there.
“After all, penguins are very popular.”
“You’re cute. People like cute things.”
When I answered that, Jin Ye-seul looked at me.
“Then Jihyuk, do you like me too?”
“Well, rather than cute… .”
“yes?”
Strength enters the firm, gripped hand.
Jin Ye-seul smiled and looked at me.
But the eyes weren’t smiling at all, so I nodded quickly.
“It’s pretty. yes. Pretty rather than cute.”
“Ah, that’s it… ?”
Jin Ye-seul, who quickly relaxed her hands, let out a small laugh.
As I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a keeper was walking towards the kennel with a bucket full of fish.
“Hello, I will start feeding the penguins from now on!”
As she said that, she waved her hand with her characteristic high voice.
Couples, students, and children around them responded with excitement or applause.
The zookeeper skillfully received the response and blew a whistle at the penguins.
Then, penguins from all over the kennel began to wumble and approach, and cheers erupted here and there.
Jin Ye-seul also looked at it with twinkling eyes, so I gently moved forward with her.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a penguin eat… .”
Jin Ye-seul muttered in a low voice as if moved.
It was not, but the appearance of a penguin catching a flying fish with its beak in the air and slurping it was somehow addictive.
I looked at him and said as if answering.
“Eat really well.”
“yes… .”
We stared blankly as we watched the penguin eating the fish.
Then, the people around were noisy, so they looked at each other and saw two penguins clinging to each other.
“Hey, there you go again… .”
The keeper made a familiar expression.
Two penguins clinging to each other are like… . They were playing pranks on each other as if showing affection.
At that sight, I could hear the couples and students around me making squealing noises.
“The two of you are really good.”
Jin Ye-seul said so and looked at me gently.
“Even penguins express their affection like that.”
peek.
“Even between animals, if you show affection like that, they will accept it.”
wiggle wiggle.
“Ah, the one on the left is only receiving the affection the one on the right gives… . Like someone.”
Jin Ye-seul said that and was staring openly at this side.
Then the zookeeper, who was looking at us, smiled bitterly, then approached us and said in a low voice.
“Hey, actually… . They are both boys.”
“… yes?”
Jin Ye-seul turned her head and looked at her as if she had heard it wrong.
However, the zookeeper was still smiling as if in trouble.
“Really. Actually, penguins… . There are quite a few cases of homos*xuality. Just like those kids.”
“Oh that… . Yes, it is.”
Jin Ye-seul said so and nodded her head in an awkward manner.
Then he pulled me away as if to get out of here quickly, but the face I saw at that time was so red that I couldn’t see it again.
“I’m hungry, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat something, Jihyuk-ah… !”
Having said that, Jin Ye-seul did not drag me, but began to drag me almost as if abducting me.
I was drawn to her helplessly, but I couldn’t say anything to her non-stop muttering.
“… will die If that happens, all three of us will die.”
With her face flushed red, she muttered non-stop in a voice that looked like she couldn’t believe it.
“If I was taken away like that, I would just die with a knife in my mouth… .”
* * *
Jin Ye-seul liked animals.
It was not a lie to tell Yoo Ji-hyuk that he likes crocodiles and penguins.
In a way, it must not have been unusual for her to reflexively cherish animals, who could not be attached to her family and other people around her.
She liked animals.
Giving trust to this place as much as giving trust.
And this was especially true in terms of revealing one’s thoughts or intentions.
However, there were animals that she hated too.
sheep.
Jin Ye-seul truly hated sheep.
The fact that the wild nature has been castrated and domesticated, so that without a human being, it is impossible to control one’s own body.
The fact that he is so afraid that when a natural enemy appears, he cannot escape properly and causes panic.
The fact that he is obsessed with such a subject and only follows the path he has always taken.
The fact that he doesn’t even notice when a threat approaches, he doesn’t notice until just before he dies.
Even if he put his hand inside his body and grabbed the aorta, he could not resist and die.
In all respects, it was enough for Jin Ye-seul to hate sheep.
And Yoo Ji-hyuk resembles Yang.
It wasn’t because his zodiac sign was simply Aries.
He really, really resembles a sheep, Jin Ye-seul thought.
It looks more like a cat than a sheep.
Jin Ye-seul giggled as she was handed the paid cotton candy.
While being wary of those around him, he is infinitely gentle towards those around him.
The fact that even when someone like you is right next to you, you don’t feel how dangerous it is.
What’s more, he doesn’t notice the danger even when there is another person beside him as well as himself.
Even so, the fact that he would accept everything even though he knew everything in the past.
He resembles a sheep.
Jin Ye-seul didn’t like sheep.
However, Yoo Ji-hyuk resembles a sheep.
Jin Ye-seul is now a good sheep.
“… … .”
Then, excited at the thought of sharing cotton candy, she headed to the table where Yoo Ji-hyuk, who had bought a simple snack, was waiting.
There will be no Han Soo-young, because this moment was the time to take control of him with peace of mind.
So, without realizing it, Jin Ye-seul hummed and walked with a cotton candy in one hand.
And in front of her like that.
Sit right next to Yoo Ji-hyuk.
I saw an unfamiliar man talking to me in a friendly way.
“… under?”
A single emotion was engraved in Jin Ye-seul’s eyes, which instantly reminded him of the sight of penguins he had seen before.
* * *
“Hey, can I sit down?”
The man said so and sat right next to me without permission.
He murmured, “It’s hot, it’s hot,” and flapped his collar.
Every time that happened, the excessively red dyed hair stood out in particular.
He was an ordinary-looking man.
It must have been in the early 30’s at most.
He had such a neat impression and a likable face, so he might have been younger.
“That, what is it? Yoo Ji-hyuk, right?”
And there was a kind of familiarity in his appearance.
He grinned and held out his hand to me.
“nice to meet you. Oh, my name is Jaejoon Lee.”
Red hair dyed so excessively that even middle school students wouldn’t do it.
A plain and neat impression.
A voice that is somehow believable.
I knew who he was.
“Even though I lack a body, I am serving as the head of the Thorn Cross Society.”
Jaejoon Lee.
A clan of the World Tree and the head of the Thorn Cross Society.
Also, Lee Ye-eun’s uncle, a man who accepted the branch of the world tree.
And a crazy human who accepted the factors of the Seven Evil Species into his body.
[You have come into contact with a being who has received the fragments of another Seven Evil species!]
[In his heart, you can feel the energy of the Seven evil sect ‘Sbangali’… .]
[Deep in your body, part of your soul, Margot’s energy is stimulated and begins to move!]
[Margo’s power begins to take hold within you!]
Numerous notification windows began to appear in front of my eyes.
But I had no choice but to focus on the man in front of me more than them.
“I hope we get along well.”
He held out his hand to me and gave me a bitter, sympathetic smile.