"Phew."
Jung Yu-na sighed, and Choi Jinhyuk just kept staring at the ground.
They both looked as if they had committed a crime, just sitting there.
Did something unpleasant happen?
Yeoreum approached the two listlessly hanging figures.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, Yeoreum..."
Jung Yu-na, usually brimming with confidence, seemed to have lost her vitality.
It was likely related to something about Gyeoul.
"Is it because of Gyeoul?"
"Yeah. We messed up..."
"Messed up?"
"Yes. You see..."
Jung Yu-na explained everything that had happened a few minutes ago in a weak voice.
From going around with Gyeoul giving out chocolates, to Gyeoul getting scared and running away.
After hearing the whole story, Yeoreum clicked her tongue.
"Jinhyuk probably scared her with his tone."
"Seems like it."
"Haaah…."
Jung Yu-na sighed again.
Choi Jinhyuk hung his head as if responding to her.
Their attitudes were like they had faced the end of the world.
Yeoreum clapped her hands to wake them up.
"Stop blaming yourselves. First, you need to apologize to Gyeoul."
Clap, clap!
The loud noise seemed to snap them out of it, as life returned to their eyes.
"We should apologize, but..."
Will the child even accept it?
Wouldn't she accept it just to avoid further interaction?
While Choi Jinhyuk was mumbling to himself, Yeoreum spotted Gyeoul running towards them with a basket of chocolates held high.
Tap tap tap tap-
The sound was similar to a cat running on a wooden floor.
Since Gyeoul is a feline beast-kin, her steps were quite light.
Why was Gyeoul, who had run away in fear, coming back here?
As Yeoreum pondered, Gyeoul approached Choi Jinhyuk with a stiff face and lifted the basket of chocolates.
"Ch-chocolate, please take one..."
"Ah, okay."
Choi Jinhyuk reached into the basket Gyeoul offered.
He kept glancing at Gyeoul, not understanding why she had returned.
Without saying a word, he took a chocolate, and Gyeoul, swallowing hard, ran off again.
Choi Jinhyuk, Jung Yu-na, and Yeoreum just watched Gyeoul's retreating figure.
Perhaps Gyeoul was trying her best in her own way.
✱✱✱
"Haah."
I had handed a chocolate to Choi Jinhyuk and returned to the container house.
On the way back, I also gave one to the convenience store clerk, who always looked sad.
Whether it was from the running or the fear of people, my heart was pounding.
'I did it.'
I had managed to give a chocolate to the intimidating Choi Jinhyuk.
It was clumsy, but it was the best gesture of goodwill I could offer.
'Better than doing nothing at all.'
Let's not rush and just take one step at a time.
Maybe someday I'll be able to speak confidently in front of people without feeling intimidated.
"Hoo."
Even though I was scared before doing it, I felt somewhat relieved after.
While tapping my satisfactorily pounding heart, Sophia approached me.
"How did it go, did you give out the chocolates?"
"Yes. But I just gave the chocolates and couldn't manage to say anything."
"That's fine. That's enough for now."
Sophia nodded at me.
Her simple gesture brought me a sense of relief.
"Sophia, this is the first time in my life I've talked to so many people in one day."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I've almost always lived alone, so I never had much chance to talk to people."
"Uh-hum..."
Did I say something strange?
Sophia looked serious, her lips downturned.
"For someone who has lived alone, you are quite smart."
"Me?"
"Yes. I heard you never even had proper education. But to be this intelligent is surprising."
"That's, well..."
I scratched the back of my head at Sophia's indirect compliment.
I never attended school in this world, but I did receive a proper education back on Earth.
I felt guilty, like I was deceiving her, but I couldn't reveal my past life.
They would just think I was insane.
"In my opinion, Gyeoul, you are doing just fine. So don't feel down just because you were alone."
"Yes..."
Sophia was trying to comfort me.
Feeling somewhat shy, I quickly stood up.
"I'll go do some housework now."
"Let me help. What are you planning to start with?"
Sophia's question made me involuntarily tense up.
I was about to start the second step of living like a civilized person.
The first step was getting along with neighbors, and the second step was...
"I'm going to do laundry. I've decided to start living like a proper human from today."
"My goodness."
Sophia's eyes widened in surprise at the fact that I was going to do laundry.
Leaving her behind, I stepped into the tent now used as a storage space.
I was going to get some laundry and 'laundry soap,' which I had bought for the first time in this life.
"Good thinking, Gyeoul. People should do their laundry."
Sophia, forgetting about her sore leg, followed me closely.
She even took the initiative to pick up my dirty clothes.
"Was I that dirty...?"
"It's more than just dirty, you look more like a wildebeest than a person."
"Is that so..."
Now that I had transformed into a Beast-kin, being compared to a wild beast might have been a compliment in a way.
Such were my thoughts as I gathered the laundry, but something was off.
Several items of clothing were missing.
'What's going on?'
I had exactly thirteen pieces of clothing set aside for laundry.
But now, I could only see ten.
"Sophia, have you seen my clothes? Some seem to be missing."
"I'm not sure. Did you leave them somewhere else?"
"That's impossible..."
Every item was crucial for survival, so I remembered the location of each one, down to the last pebble.
The inexplicable disappearance of clothes was suspicions.
'Could it be a thief?'
But there was a barrier here, so how could anyone get in?
Puzzled, I decided to do the laundry first.
I picked up the clothes and headed to the pond with Sophia.
✧✧✧✧✧
Splash!
Jumping into the pond, I looked up at Sophia.
She was staring down at me, her face rigid with surprise.
"Sophia, come on in."
I reached out my hand to help Sophia, who was uncomfortable with the water.
However, she just stepped back, showing her palm.
"I don't like water."
"...Aren't you a shark?"
"That's exactly why, when I'm near water, my instincts as a shark start to come back."
The idea of shark instincts sounded quite frightening.
"Eh, Sophia, does this mean you don't even take showers?"
Ugh.
Even I take showers.
I couldn't help but frown at the thought.
"...Showers are fine. The danger is in the feeling of swimming."
Ah, I see.
So it's okay to just get wet.
I handed the laundry up to Sophia, who was standing above me.
"Then, could you help me from up there?"
"I can help, but... is it really okay to do laundry here?"
"Yes. There's a purification spell on the water, so any contamination gets cleaned quickly."
"That's interesting."
Sophia, expressing her amazement, sat down by the pond.
As her ankles touched the water, I could see her complexion improving in real time.
'So, she has a thing with water.'
It's water for her, how about for me?
I pondered this question as I began doing the laundry.
Swoosh-swoosh
Just rinsing the dirty clothes in the water started to clean them, thanks to the purification spell in the pond.
'I guess I still should use soap.'
After rinsing the clothes well, I carefully soaped them outside the pond.
Sophia, sitting beside me, helped with the soaping.
As we silently focused on our task, people around us began to murmur.
"Look, the kids are hand-washing their clothes."
"Sigh... I wish I could buy them a washing machine..."
At the word 'kids,' Sophia visibly shuddered.
I too was irritated, but seeing Sophia stay calm, I just kept doing the laundry.
After all, I didn't have the nerve to get angry at them.
"Sophia, they think you're a child."
"...Just focus on the laundry."
"Okay..."
Swoosh-swoosh
I kept an eye on Sophia as I washed.
Dirt and nature's green had deeply stained the fabric, but thanks to the pond's purification magic, it was all washed away cleanly.
The clothes looked almost new.
As I happily examined the clean clothes in the sunlight, Yeoreum approached us.
"Wow, is Gyeoul doing laundry?"
"Yes. I'm trying to live like a civilized person now."
"Oh, I'm so moved..."
Tears welled up in Yeoreum's eyes.
Why was she so moved just by laundry?
I looked up at her, bewildered.
"Gyeoul, but couldn't you just use a washing machine for laundry?"
"A washing machine is too expensive..."
"There's a laundry room in the guild building. It only costs two thousand... no, just five hundred won per use."
Five hundred won per use.
It was quite expensive, but considering the time it took for laundry, it wasn't too much.
And I was now earning forty thousand won a day.
"I can use it too?"
"Sure. We're neighbors, after all."
Neighbors.
My tail wagged at the sound of that pleasant word.
It felt like I had already become a normal person.
'I should use a washing machine from now on.'
I could do other things with the time saved.
Just as I was about to wring out the damp clothes, Yeoreum took them away.
"I'll do it. I'm strong."
"Okay."
Squeeze-
I looked up at Yeoreum as she wrung out the clothes.
There was something I really wanted to ask her.
"Um, isn't there a barrier around our house?"
"Well... actually, we haven't set up the barrier yet."
"Oh, then maybe someone stole it."
"Stole...?"
Yeoreum froze in place, water dripping from her elbows.
"Yes. I left the laundry under the tent, and someone seems to have taken a few pieces."
My favorite clothes.
Of all things, they had to steal those.
As I shook the laundry with a feeling of loss, I heard a ripping sound from Yeoreum's hands.
She had torn my second-favorite piece of clothing with her strength.
<+>
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