The Chick Class Hunter is Being Filial

"Watching you dads squirm is pretty entertaining."
To Chun Gyuri, who didn’t have any kids, it was nothing more than amusing.
Gu Shinhoo, who had looked like he might’ve been praying a second ago, flared up at her teasing tone.

“Squirm, seriously? Guildmastuh Chun, my Hwiyeon got a perfect score on her mock interview. You have no idea how articulate she is.”
Chun Gyuri shrugged, and Gu Shinhoo glanced sideways at Jurim as he continued.
“Guildmastuh On, I understand why you’d be worried. Your daughter’s only five, right? Early admission’s not exactly easy.”

Jurim snorted at Shinhoo’s provocation and responded shortly.
“She’s a genius.”
Chun Gyuri sneered as she looked at Jurim tapping nonstop on his knee and Gu Shinhoo trembling his legs.

Look at these two acting tough.
She grinned mischievously.
“How about you both put your phones here on the table?”

“For what?”
Gu Shinhoo tightened his grip on his phone. Jurim raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s bet on whose daughter calls first. Whoever passes is obviously gonna call right away. Isn’t that right?”

Implying that a quick call means they passed, and a delay probably means bad news.
Jurim narrowed his eyes in distaste.
“Is that necessary?”

But Chun Gyuri, still harboring some petty grudge over the RP Dungeon press conference fiasco, knocked on the table, clearly enjoying herself.
“What’s the harm? It’ll be fun. We still have time before the interview segment.”
She beamed, making it obvious she was having fun since it wasn’t her issue.
Then Gu Shinhoo was the first to place his phone on the table.

Tap.
“I’m curious too. Will Guildmastuh On’s little genius call first, or will it be our Hwiyeon?”
“You really are a Hwiyeon dad, huh. Well? Guru’s dad—you’re not gonna chicken out, right?”

Both Shinhoo and Gyuri looked directly at Jurim.
“……”
In the end, Jurim sighed and placed his phone on the table with a reluctant look.

Tap.
The two phones lay side by side.
The tension among the three of them hovered thick in the air as their eyes darted between each other and the still, silent phones.
Then, at this most nerve-racking moment, Gu Shinhoo clasped his hands together like he was praying.

Please, just this once, let me win.
Hwiyeon, you can do this.
You’re gonna call Dad first, right?

And then—like time had stretched a minute into an hour—
Bzzzzzz—
A phone buzzed.

“……!”
All three of them snapped their eyes to the table.
Only one of the phones was ringing.

Jurim slowly reached out and picked his up. He smirked as he glanced over.
“Guess Hwiyeon’s running a little late.”
“Ah……!”

Gu Shinhoo trembled as he picked up his own phone with both hands.
“Hwiyeonaa!”
Jurim, pretending to be unbothered, immediately walked out of the waiting room and pressed the answer button the moment he was through the door.

Guru’s voice came blaring out on the video call.
—“Daaaaddy! DaddyDaddyDaaaaddy!!”
At the sound of Guru’s excited voice, Jurim—despite himself—felt a wave of relief wash over him.

“It went well?”
—“Yeeeah! I passed! Woojoo and Ser Oppaw passed too!”
Guru squealed and bounced, briefly disappearing from the screen before popping back up again, her flushed face glowing.

—“We’re even gonna have a congratuwatowwy pawty! And guess what else!”
“You’re gonna hyperventilate at this rate.”
Jurim chuckled quietly, brushing his thumb over the part of the screen where her cheek was. Of course, what he touched was just a cold glass display—not the warm, soft cheek he wanted to hold.

Still, he rubbed the screen a few more times, as if that might somehow let him feel her.
He wanted to praise her, to hug her tight.
Then Guru said,

—“Daddy, come fast too! We’re waitin’!”
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon.”
Guru made sure to remind him several times to bring the candy with the long name. Jurim promised again and again.

Ever since that paparazzi photo, he’d even been getting advertising requests, and still couldn’t remember the ridiculous candy name.
Just then, a staff member came running to the door of the waiting room.
They saw that Jurim was still on the video call and motioned for him to wrap it up.

Jurim nodded.
“I have to hang up now. I’ll call you again after work.”
Still bursting with excitement, Guru nodded so hard her whole head wobbled.

Could she really be that happy?
Jurim hesitated, unable to hang up just yet—until Guru suddenly leaned in close to the phone camera and whispered,
—“Daddy, I wuv you.”

That sweet voice, always enough to make him smile.
Jurim finally gave the answer he once hadn’t been able to say.
“I love you too.”

Guru grinned wide.
***
Airport Terminal

A man dragging a suitcase through the airport suddenly stopped in his tracks.
On a TV nearby, On Jurim’s face was being broadcast.
<“No, Guildmastuhs don’t really meet up in private. But if we do? Hmm, we sometimes bet on stuff. Nothing serious, though...”>

<“Why would you bring that up here—?!”>
<“Ahahaha!”>
The camera caught Gu Shinhoo’s outraged face, Chun Gyuri’s laughter, and Jurim’s completely shameless smile.

The man stared at the screen for a while, then finally turned and headed for the exit.
The taxi driver would be waiting. He couldn’t afford to dawdle anymore.
He adjusted the collar of his long coat, which trailed down to his ankles.

Winter hadn’t ended in Korea, so he’d rushed to pack something warm—but the thin cashmere coat wasn’t cutting it.
After confirming the taxi’s license plate, he got in. The driver gave a slight bow and spoke.
“Mr. Han?”

“Yes.”
“Let’s see~ Your destination is 61-7, Sangshin-ro, Bundang, right? Bun~dang.”
The driver enunciated carefully, just in case his passenger was a foreigner, which made Han smile.

“Yes, that’s correct. Please take me there.”
Noticing the dimples showing beneath his sunglasses, the driver awkwardly chuckled.
“Oh! ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) You speak Korean really well, sir.”

“Do I? It feels super awkward—I haven’t spoken it in ages.”
“Nah~ You sound totally native~”
Han smiled again.

“You’re a real looker, you know. Even with the sunglasses, I can tell. The kind of face young people go crazy for these days. So what brings you to Bundang?”
“Ah... A friend passed away. I’m going to pay my respects.”
“Oh jeez. That’s right. There’s a memorial park there... I shouldn’t have asked something so tactless.”

“It’s alright.”
“So you’re heading back to your country after?”
“No. I’m staying in Korea. I’ve got a position now. Things to do.”

“Good decision. Korea’s a very safe and nice country.”
As the driver continued to boast about Korea and listed tourist spots, Han replied now and then while staring out the window.
Eventually, the taxi pulled up to the front of the memorial park.

Han bought a bouquet of white chrysanthemums at the entrance and walked straight in without hesitation.
He stopped in front of a newly made grave.
The simple headstone had no name—just an inscription in Kyrusan.

“May you find a way to love in the arms of the divine…”
Lowering his sunglasses revealed coral-colored eyes.
Within his irises, a black pupil formed the shape of a triquetra.

“This is the place.”
Someone else had already visited—another bouquet lay at the foot of the stone.
Han placed his chrysanthemums down.

With both hands in his coat pockets, he quietly read the inscription.
In the arms of the divine...
“Please take me with you.”

He suddenly recalled the bold girl from Kyrus.
A country where children’s cries never stopped—surely a land without gods.
Even knowing how many children had been sacrificed, Han had still taken the girl’s hand.

Because he was drawn to her resolve to tear down a nation without gods.
“Rest well there, Irina.”
Just as we hoped, the Tower will be rebuilt.

Please watch over it from above.
Part 1 — Complete