POSSESSED 12

“You’re very hungry, aren’t you? Here, make sure to chew it well.”

Yeonji opened her mouth like a baby bird and stuffed it full of pork cutlet. In the process, the sauce got smeared all over her mouth. I immediately grabbed a tissue and wiped around the child’s mouth.

“Slowly, chew, chew.”

While watching Yeonji eat, I turned my gaze toward Baek Joomyeong.

This situation felt surreal all over again. It wasn’t that I was full of excitement or felt like I was in a dream—anything like that. It was just that it didn’t feel real that Baek Joomyeong—the main gong of the original work and the S-class Hunter everyone raves about—was merely slicing my pork cutlet.

“Thank you.”

Baek Joomyeong returned my portion to me. I admired the neatly cut pork cutlet before quickly picking a piece up and eating it since I was hungry.

Mmm, they really have good pork cutlet here.

“Teacher…”

“Hm?”

“Here you go.”

I wondered why she was calling me. Yeonji poked a piece of her pork cutlet with her fork and stretched her arm all the way out toward me. Touched by the child’s consideration, I covered my lips with both hands and asked.

“Are you giving Yeonji’s pork cutlet to Teacher right now? For me to eat?”

“Yees.”

I felt my heart tingle at the child’s loveliness that could more than pierce the sky. I accepted the bite and ate it well, not forgetting to thank the child.

“Thank you. It tastes so much better because I’m sharing it with our Yeonji.”

Then, feeling a strange sensation, I looked at Baek Joomyeong. Baek Joomyeong, who had been watching me and Yeonji, grinned as soon as our eyes met. It was a casual smile, but for some reason, I felt embarrassed, so I stopped smiling back and returned the fork to the child with a request.

“Yeonji-ya. Should we give one to uncle too? It would taste good if you share it with uncle, right?”

It’s awkward for me to be the only one eating while he’s watching like that.

Yeonji, nodding her head up and down to show she understood, poked a piece of pork cutlet with the fork. Then she gave it to Baek Joomyeong, who was sitting next to her. Baek Joomyeong awkwardly accepted the pork cutlet and ate it.

Yeonji’s anger had completely dissipated. Even when she was leaving the daycare, she had a pouty face upon seeing Baek Joomyeong, so I worried that the child’s heart might have been deeply hurt. However, meeting Yeonji again after work, she was melting and smiling.

“Give uncle too.”

“Uncle too? Okay.”

Baek Joomyeong, who was about to eat his own food, hurriedly grabbed his fork at Yeonji’s words. He poked a piece of pork cutlet to give to Yeonji, but the child shook her head, saying it wasn’t for her.

“No. It’s not for Yeonji.”

Watching that quietly, I had a hunch. Surely, it couldn’t be.

“This is for Teacher.”

The child pointed accurately at me, and Baek Joomyeong looked at me following that gesture.

As our eyes met again, he looked flustered. But the moment he curled the corners of his mouth and tried to give me the fork, Yeonji hurriedly stopped her uncle’s actions, saying that wasn’t it. For a voice that sounded urgent, the child’s face was somehow colored with anticipation.

“Uncle has to feed her, aaah!”

The two of us looked at each other at the same time, and then looked at Yeonji at the same time. I couldn’t understand the child. Why was she expecting Baek Joomyeong to feed me?

“Teacher is someone who can eat by himself, so it’s okay even if uncle doesn’t feed him.”

“Yeonji can eat by herself too… but Teacher fed her!”

“Teacher was wrong to do that. Sorry, Yeonji-ya. Teacher interfered when Yeonji could have eaten on her own.”

I apologized, saying that while I couldn’t promise never to feed her again, I would let Yeonji eat what she could by herself. At that, the child got sulky, saying that wasn’t the point. Pouting her lips and looking at me and Baek Joomyeong in frustration, she said dejectedly.

“It tastes better when you share…”

It tastes better when you share. I had told the child that. It was meant to mean “it tastes good because you shared your portion, you’re so brave for knowing how to give,” but it seemed the meaning was incorrectly processed during the process of feeding each other.

Feeding each other is only okay when the counterpart is Yeonji; it couldn’t be established between me and Baek Joomyeong.

“Give it to Teacher. Teacher too, slowly, chew-cheew.”

Yeonji showed her persistence toward Baek Joomyeong.

It wasn’t as if that young child had a mission to make Baek Joomyeong feed me something, so why did she want him to feed me? It only made things difficult for me.

“Baek Yeonji.”

Baek Joomyeong looked at Yeonji sternly and called her name. His intentionally lowered voice made Yeonji tremble slightly. The child immediately looked ready to cry. Perhaps having no intention of making her cry, he relaxed his facial muscles.

He must be conscious of me. Baek Joomyeong, lightly knitting his brows as if apologetic, handed the fork to Yeonji. He tried his best to resolve the situation gently.

“Let’s do this. Yeonji can feed Teacher again.”

“No! Uncle do it!”

“Baek Yeonji. Why are you suddenly being stubborn?”

“Uncle didn’t give any to Teacher! Teacher too… uncle…! You have to share…!”

Yeonji didn’t just lower her head; she turned her body completely toward the back of the chair. Baek Joomyeong began to discipline Yeonji, asking what she was doing in the middle of a meal.

I rolled my eyes, thinking about what would be best to do. I didn’t want to interfere with his discipline, but since this was time meant for Yeonji, I wanted to take the child’s side.

Whatever. Let’s not overthink this. Feeding someone a piece of pork cutlet is nothing.

“Yeonji is right. We should all share nicely. It’ll taste so good if uncle feeds Teacher.”

Thinking about it, it was funny. From Yeonji’s perspective, it would look like we were the ones being unreasonably stubborn. This was easy if approached from a child’s pure perspective. There was no need for two adults to desperately try to persuade her that this wasn’t right.

I sent a signal to Baek Joomyeong with a wink so Yeonji wouldn’t see. Since he seemed not to understand, I mouthed the words, “Hunter-nim, please feed me.” Only then did Baek Joomyeong understand, his eyes slightly widening.

“I will eat well. Ah.”

I made a sound while opening my mouth as wide as possible so Yeonji couldn’t resist looking. I even leaned my body close to the table so it would be easy for Baek Joomyeong to feed me.

If the drum is struck, the gong must be hit. Baek Joomyeong stopped hesitating and fed me the pork cutlet. I saw his face become cluttered with various emotions, but I paid no mind. I just chewed thoroughly and kept saying, “It’s delicious.”

Since it was my turn this time, I picked up my fork and poked a piece of pork cutlet. I told Baek Joomyeong, “Aaaah,” forcing him to accept it.

“I am fine.”

As far as I knew, Baek Joomyeong wasn’t lacking in social awareness. However, he refused my attempt to feed him.

I sighed inwardly. It was just before Yeonji sat back up properly. Even while she was just staring at the back of the chair, she was observing me and her uncle. Yet he refused, saying he was fine.

Excuse me, if it’s for Yeonji’s sake, you shouldn’t do this.