I thought I was only recording a video, not realizing I had started a broadcast.
I blinked and tried to recall what I had done.
'Surely...'
I had come outside, counted the fish in the pond, and picked up trash and empty bottles.
I had also run around the grass field trying to catch a grasshopper.
Even though I hadn't done anything particularly blameworthy, I started to feel an unexplained fear.
"Did I do something strange?"
"No? You were just cute."
"Cute?"
The idea of me, far removed from cuteness, being called cute was absurd.
It meant I must have looked very strange.
Feeling despair, I raised my hand to my head, finding my ears drooping.
"Should we end the broadcast first?"
"Yes..."
I cautiously lowered my hand and picked up the smartphone.
The screen was filled with chats scrolling up rapidly.
-Do beast-kin usually eat insects?
-I know reptilian ones do, but I guess mammalian ones don't?
-Yeoreum, please take good care of our Gyeoul ㅜㅜ She's eating insects ㅜㅜ
-Oh Daybreak Guild...
-Still, it was cute how she was playing with the insect, right?
Is eating insects really that strange?
I sighed deeply and pressed the button to end the broadcast.
Click-
The screen went off, but the remaining chats continued to appear for a while.
-Gyeoul bye bye.
As if saying farewell, someone's chat appeared last before I put down the smartphone.
Then, I sighed deeply again.
"Why is Gyeoul sighing so much?"
"I'm worried that people might have thought I was strange."
"Huh? But you were just cute. The scene with you catching the grasshopper was really exciting."
"That can't be..."
Me, cute?
That's dreadful.
I drooped my shoulders, rejecting Yeoreum's words.
"Why? What was strange?"
"Well... I've never been called cute in my life..."
I was someone far from the concept of cuteness.
How ridiculous must I have looked for them to call me cute?
I walked towards the guild building, drained of energy.
'Well, whatever...'
Being the subject of ridicule was part of my everyday life.
I straightened my back and walked proudly, even though my ears and tail were drooping.
I ignored them.
"So, um... was taking pictures fun?"
"It was okay."
"Ah, okay."
I felt Yeoreum's gaze on my back.
After standing there for a while, she quickly approached me.
"Gyeoul, how about trying a hobby next time?"
"A hobby?"
"Yes. What about drawing?"
Drawing.
A hobby a normal person would do at home.
I nodded towards Yeoreum.
"That sounds good."
"Okay. Then I'll just take care of some things for ten minutes and go in. Will you go ahead?"
"Yes..."
<+>
"Pff."
Sitting on the bench, Yeoreum brushed her face with her hand.
Despite thinking she had grown accustomed to it, she couldn't help feeling sad.
"Sigh..."
It was heartbreaking that an eight-year-old child, who should have grown up surrounded by love, had never heard anyone call them cute.
Even though many people said she was cute, she vehemently denied it, insisting it couldn't be true.
Knowing what life Gyeoul had lived, Yeoreum felt nothing but despair.
'It's all my fault.'
Slap-
Yeoreum slapped her cheeks as if to console herself.
The sound was loud enough that people nearby turned to look at her, including Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk.
"What are you doing here, Yeoreum?"
"Oh, Jinhyuk, Yu-na's here too."
Yeoreum was going to keep her guilt to herself, but decided to spill everything to them, knowing she needed everyone's help to assist Gyeoul.
"Well, you see..."
Yeoreum recounted everything that had just happened with Gyeoul, including her reaction to being called cute.
"You mean, she never heard that before?"
"Yeah."
"Well, given her circumstances, I can see why Gyeoul might have a hard time accepting it."
Jung Yu-na nodded, understandingly.
Choi Jinhyuk, who had been quietly listening, then spoke up.
"So, what are you planning to do now?"
"I want to start by finding things Gyeoul likes. We decided to draw together later at home."
"Drawing?"
Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk exchanged looks.
After a moment of silent communication, Yu-na cautiously spoke.
"Should we join you?"
"Together?"
"Yes. The more people tell her she did well, the more confident she'll become."
"That makes sense."
Praising Gyeoul together with everyone.
Although it was obvious, it was also the most fundamental approach.
Yeoreum decided to follow Yu-na's suggestion.
<+>
Yeoreum was incredibly wealthy.
The thought of drawing with someone like her made me shiver in apprehension.
'If it's too much pressure, I should refuse.'
I remember hearing once.
Some expensive paints cost over ten million won.
Yeoreum, being so wealthy, might casually buy and use such paints.
If it felt wrong, I'd rather just stick to paper and pencil.
As I was making this resolution, I heard footsteps outside the door.
Not just one, but three sets of footsteps.
'Who could it be?'
As I listened intently, someone opened the door and entered.
Peeking around the corner of the L-shaped corridor was a familiar face.
"Gyeoul."
"Ah."
It was Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk.
My tension, which had risen sharply, slowly subsided.
They were like colleagues who had faced life and death with me.
Delighted, I ran towards them.
What amused them, I couldn't tell, but Yeoreum and Jung Yu-na both smiled silently.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Just happy to see a friend, that's all."
"Friend?"
I understood Yeoreum, but was Jung Yu-na also my friend?
Overwhelmed with joy, I clasped my hands together as if praying.
"Will you be my friend?"
"Yes, yes. We're friends."
Yeoreum and Jung Yu-na.
I had made two friends.
Overcome with emotion, I stood there blankly as Yeoreum, having taken off her shoes, led me inside the house.
Sophia and Levinas.
Jung Yu-na and Choi Jinhyuk.
And Yeoreum and me.
The house was spacious, but it felt a bit cramped with everyone inside.
"So many..."
That all these people were my friends was unimaginable to me a year ago.
As I looked around at them with shining eyes, Yeoreum poked my shoulder.
"Here, art supplies."
"Ah, okay."
I took the materials Yeoreum handed me.
I expected fancy paints, but she gave me children's crayons, colored pencils, and a sketchbook.
Wasn't this too childlike?
I looked up at Yeoreum holding the art supplies, but she just laughed obliviously.
"What are you going to draw, Gyeoul?"
"Um, I don't know?"
I realized I wasn't good at drawing.
Maybe I should just draw something simple and finish.
I sat down at the table and opened the sketchbook.
"Levinas also wants to draw..."
"Sure. Do you want to join us, Levinas?"
"Yes!"
"Are we all drawing together?"
Zzzzip-
Yeoreum tore out pages from the sketchbook and distributed them to everyone.
This impromptu art club was unexpected, but not unwelcome.
I didn't particularly like drawing, but enjoying a common hobby with everyone was new to me in this life.
'Maybe I should draw something I like.'
Something I like.
I had been fond of survival genres, especially zombie apocalypses.
Surviving day by day, using various skills in a world where death was always imminent.
My fondness for this genre helped me survive in this world, despite the difficulties.
Living in a tent deep in the mountains did have its own romantic appeal.
'I'll draw a zombie apocalypse.'
To depict a ravaged city, I drew crumbling, burning buildings and twisted zombies around them.
Of course, my drawing skills were so poor it looked like a child's crayon drawing.
"Hmm..."
Finally, I drew myself surviving in a zombie apocalypse.
I placed myself, the sole survivor, in the center of the drawing, making sure to include my distinctive white ears and tail.
'...Not great.'
Had I changed since becoming a child?
Or did I draw too quickly?
My drawing skills were worse than ever.
I decided I needed to focus and try again, just as I was about to crumple the embarrassing drawing.
Yeoreum's eyes widened in surprise.
"Why did you crumple the drawing?"
"It was bad."
"Come on, show it to me. It might be better than you think."
"...I really drew it badly."
I hesitantly unfolded the crumpled paper under Han Yeoreum's watchful gaze.
Feeling embarrassed by everyone's attention, I unfolded it very slowly.
Perhaps due to the wrinkles, the depiction of a devastated world felt even more chaotic.
It was as if a child living through a zombie apocalypse had drawn it.
This actually turned out to be a pretty good effect.
Should I crumple it a bit more?
As I was pondering this, Yeoreum dropped the colored pencil she was holding.
She looked as if she was startled by something.
"People are bleeding here...? And this one in the middle is Gyeoul...?"
"Yes. That's me."
"The buildings are all destroyed...?"
"Yes. The world has come to an end.*"
Everyone looking at the drawing had their mouths open in shock.
Even Choi Jinhyuk and Sophia, who always maintained serious expressions.
Maybe I had drawn better than I thought.
<+>
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