* * *
‘Why does he think he’s scary? If you just look at Erdian’s outer appearance, he’s incredibly handsome. Is it possible that the child instinctively knows who he is?’
Maybe it was because Erdian was an imposing adult.
When Seo Woohyun was young, he used to think the director of his orphanage was enormous and intimidating.
It wasn’t until he was leaving the orphanage that he realized the director was much smaller and more fragile than he’d thought.
To a ten-year-old dragon, Erdian must have looked huge.
Even Seo Woohyun found his size imposing, so it must have been overwhelming for the child.
“Yeah. We have somewhere to go together.”
“…I see.”
Seo Woohyun glanced at their group, waiting in the corner of the lounge.
They had a lot to do, and delaying things further made him uncomfortable, even though Erdian had reassured him to take it easy.
‘But it was a good conversation.’
Despite the slight inconvenience, Seo Woohyun felt a deep satisfaction. He’d gotten the child to promise not to steal anymore, and that was enough. Even if it was just a temporary vow to get out of the situation, it was enough to warm Seo Woohyun’s heart.
‘I thought I’d left my meddling ways behind, but clearly not.’
At the orphanage, Seo Woohyun had never had a reliable adult to depend on, but he always felt lucky. At least there had been no abuse or violence.
Still, he couldn’t just turn a blind eye to the thieving child.
It reminded him too much of the troubled younger kids at the orphanage.
“How about you stop sleeping outside and go home instead? I’m not forcing you, but I’m worried.”
Even though the child was a dragon, the thought of a ten-year-old living alone seemed both dangerous and lonely.
Seo Woohyun’s concern was evident in his tone, and the child hesitated before mumbling.
“…I’ll think about it later.”
Malrang’s face fell again.
Seo Woohyun knew he was pushing his luck, as this was just unnecessary interference at this point.
All he could do was nod quietly.
Just as the conversation was winding down, the child tugged on Seo Woohyun’s clothes again.
There was something more he wanted to say.
“Hyung, actually…”
“Yeah?”
“My mom and dad used to come looking for me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“But no matter how many days I wait now, they don’t come anymore. My brother and sister used to come instead, but they stopped, too…”
Having finally dropped his guard after being comforted, the child poured out the fear that had been swelling inside him.
The uncertainty had been growing too large for him to hold back any longer.
If the person in front hadn’t asked about the family, he could have just ignored the unease in his heart.
He could have roamed freely through the human world, causing mischief and stealing whatever he wanted, only to return home when he grew tired of it.
But somewhere along the way, after pulling all his pranks and returning home, his family stopped rushing to find him like they used to.
Instead, they just scolded him until he cried.
“Is it because I made trouble that they don’t like me anymore?”
“…”
“Is that why they don’t come looking for me now? What if I go home and they tell me to leave?”
Wrinkles formed again on the quivering chin of the sobbing child.
This was the first time he had ever revealed his true identity and even his real name to someone, though technically, it had been discovered by accident.
‘There’s no one else but this hyung who would hold me like this.’
He could use various types of magic and was agile, so his little acts of theft, which felt like minor rebellions, always succeeded.
No one had ever caught him in the act.
It amused him to watch humans from afar, bewildered when their belongings suddenly disappeared without them noticing.
But that was it.
His heart felt empty.
Then, he met Seo Woohyun.
For the first time, someone heard his name and didn’t laugh but comforted him, saying it must have made him upset.
He was happy that someone was on his side and enjoyed the gentle hand that patted his head.
“Hyung, what should I do?”
In the end, he couldn’t help but pour out his anxious feelings to Seo Woohyun.
As the child gazed up at him, teary-eyed, Seo Woohyun swallowed hard.
He understood the child’s anxiety.
How bad must things be for him to confess such worries to someone he had just met, someone he had intended to steal from?
He wanted to offer the usual words of reassurance, to tell him that his family couldn’t possibly abandon him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
It wasn’t as if Seo Woohyun had been abandoned at an orphanage from the start.
He had memories of living with his father.
He recalled the day he lost his father in a bustling city.
He also remembered the last words his father had left him with.
‘Hey, wait here for a bit. I’ll be back soon, okay?’
His father never returned, even after night fell.
Thankfully, the police brought Seo Woohyun back home, but the real issue was that his father didn’t welcome him back.
‘Damn it. What rotten luck. You came back here without even realizing I’d abandoned you? You’re so clueless… Forget it. It’s not like you’d understand anyway.’
Not long after that, his father left him at the orphanage.
Though he’d assured the caregivers he would return when his situation improved, he never came back—not once, until Seo Woohyun left the orphanage upon reaching adulthood.
Sometimes he thought of his father after that, but Seo Woohyun never sought him out.
He had too many things to deal with just trying to survive.
It was last year, he thought, when he learned that his father had left some debts that were now passed down to him.
After that, he learned that his father had died. If his father had abandoned him, he should have at least lived well on his own, but no—he left behind only debts.
While going through the process of renouncing his inheritance, Seo Woohyun thought he was lucky. At least there were no illegal loans involved.
“Huuuu…”
The child was crying uncontrollably.
Seo Woohyun held him close and stayed silent.
As he reminisced about his past, his expression didn’t reflect sorrow. It was too long ago to feel sad anymore, no matter how often he recalled that day.
Life is full of ups and downs, isn’t it?
Seo Woohyun was okay.
At least enough to console the child crying in his arms. He chose silence over clumsy words of comfort.
Despite sniffling for a long time, the child didn’t pull away from him.
The child occasionally sniffled but didn’t babble anymore.
He seemed to have calmed down a bit, and Seo Woohyun was about to awkwardly say goodbye when it happened.
Smoke began rising from the child’s warm, tear-streaked body.
Seo Woohyun was startled and instinctively loosened his hold on the child.
“I knew it when you started bawling.”
As Eridian clicked his tongue, a small, sky-blue tail peeked out from the child’s clothes.
The child who had been sobbing in Seo Woohyun’s arms was now gone, and only a small lump was left beneath the pile of clothes.
“What… what’s going on?”
Seo Woohyun muttered to himself in confusion, and Eridian answered with a nod.
“The transformation wore off because he’s exhausted. That’s his real body, a hatchling.”
Seo Woohyun glanced at Eridian, hesitant to touch the small creature.
When he silently asked if it was okay, Eridian nodded.
Gaining a bit of courage, Seo Woohyun lifted the clothes to reveal the tiny body curled up inside.
Tears welled up in the hatchling’s blue eyes, confirming that this was the same child who had been clinging to him and sobbing earlier.
“Hyung…”
Its tiny front paws twitched, as if asking to be held.
Seo Woohyun carefully lifted it, and the little round head burrowed into his arms, still sniffling.
It was much smaller than he expected.
The hatchling was no bigger than the length of his forearm, like a small puppy.
Its skin felt smooth and thick, like touching a layer of soft leather.
As he adjusted his hold, lifting it slightly higher, his hand brushed against its soft belly.
‘It’s so warm and squishy.’
He couldn’t help but pet its belly a few more times, mesmerized by the unexpected texture.
The hatchling, halfway through crying, mumbled gruffly.
“Why are you touching my belly…?”
Each time the little body inhaled, it rose and fell, making a soft purring noise.
Seo Woohyun realized the hatchling’s belly was a source of embarrassment, a complex for it.
Considering it had run away from home because of its name, this made perfect sense.
“I wasn’t doing it on purpose. I was just adjusting my hold.”
“Hmm…”
Fortunately, it seemed the misunderstanding was cleared up, as the hatchling stopped growling.
Seo Woohyun had a knack for comforting kids.
He still kept in touch with a few younger kids from the orphanage, and they were quite close.
He thought they’d be surprised to hear about this situation.
The hatchling’s belly kept rising and falling as it breathed deeply, soft and squishy.
Even though he had no intention of touching it anymore, it was so irresistibly pleasant that he kind of wanted to do it again.
‘I guess I understand why they named it Malrang. Still, naming a kid Malrang seems a bit… Well, it doesn’t really matter since they get their real names after the coming-of-age ceremony, right?’
It reminded him of how, in the Joseon Dynasty, children were often given odd names to protect them and save blessings for later.
Perhaps dragons had a similar custom.
“Hyung, I’m sleepy… I want to sleep.”
“Huh?”
The hatchling’s big eyes began to close as it settled into a comfortable position in Seo Woohyun’s arms.
It was still too young to maintain a human form for long, and after the emotional stress it had just gone through, its body demanded rest.
Dragons recovered through sleep. Before Seo Woohyun could respond, the hatchling had already fallen asleep.
Seo Woohyun, at a loss, glanced around in bewilderment.
He had planned to soothe the child and part ways, but things had become more complicated.
‘Why is it suddenly asleep? I wasn’t planning to take it anywhere…’
He could feel cold sweat forming on his back.
* * *
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Love it so muchh
Keep him with you 🥺
Cute🥺🥺🥺🥺
Thanks for the chapter.